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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Gaming => Topic started by: Bezzen on March 27, 2003, 11:05:33 PM

Title: David Braben Q&A
Post by: Bezzen on March 27, 2003, 11:05:33 PM: I just wanted to let you know that I've posted a short Q&A with David Braben on my web page.

It's nothing much, and it won't win any pulitzers but perhaps it can be of some interest to fellow Elite and Frontier fans. :-D

Point of view: David Braben (http://fire.spejs.net/pov.php?id=4)
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: odin on March 27, 2003, 11:11:47 PM: Interesting little read, and if I might add, excellent coolio website you've got there.
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: Bezzen on March 27, 2003, 11:55:20 PM: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. :-)
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: KingTutt on March 28, 2003, 07:20:20 AM: Dude... what can I say, loved that site to bits!!!

Wow, its like taking a history lesson on every console and computer system ever known to man. Truly brilliant. Haven't seen anything like it. Good info, and its already bookmarked in my favourites.

Elite 4!? Wow, there still is hope for modern computer gaming after all.

I will definitely keep an eye out for that one! Terrific work buddy and keep it up.
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: whabang on March 28, 2003, 07:46:34 AM: I can't wait until Elite 4 comes out!
:-o :-o :-o
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: ksk on March 28, 2003, 08:17:14 AM: it would be great if DB would let somebody port all Elite (series) of games to AmigaOS4....
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: Jaruzel on March 28, 2003, 09:48:57 AM: Braben has recently run round the Net shutting down all unoffical ports and 'clones' of Elite, so I really doubt that a port to OS4 wil ever happen. :-(

-Jar.
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: Warface on March 28, 2003, 09:58:50 AM: But it won't be a bad idea to ask Braben for MorphOS/OS4 ports, out of nostalgy he may make those - yet chances of low sales might prevent it from happen.

Wonder if the next Elite will be handcoded asm or portable C... It'd be nice to have the new Elite on the new machines. Elite, often being "not that nice" than other games, still can be a killer app for a platform.
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: ksk on March 28, 2003, 10:22:05 AM: Quote

Warface wrote:
But it won't be a bad idea to ask Braben for MorphOS/OS4 ports, out of nostalgy he may make those - yet chances of low sales might prevent it from happen.

It should be possible to make an arrangement where there would be no costs for Braben, but a possibility of a small income instead.
Quote

Wonder if the next Elite will be handcoded asm or portable C... It'd be nice to have the new Elite on the new machines. Elite, often being "not that nice" than other games, still can be a killer app for a platform.

If the port is made for AA, there might be a slight change to demonstrate to Braben that it might be a viable platform in future... (if Amigainc gets their actions straight
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: xaccrocheur on March 28, 2003, 10:34:58 AM: Very cool, let's get this elite4 out now !

Damn, I knew FB, but the site is better everytime :)

pX
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: bhoggett on March 28, 2003, 11:02:59 AM: Quote

Jaruzel wrote:
Braben has recently run round the Net shutting down all unoffical ports and 'clones' of Elite, so I really doubt that a port to OS4 wil ever happen. :-(

Braben is obsessed with money and IP ownership. He also has a seriously over-inflated opinion of the value of his own achievements.

One of the removed clones, Chris Pinder's "Elite - The New Kind" was excellent, and far more worthy of attention than Braben's own Frontier games, now released as shareware depite the fact that Braben has made absolutely no effort whatsoever to make sure that these run properly on modern hardware.

I doubt very much that Elite 4 will ever be ported to OS4 or MorphOS unless Braben can make money out of it.

Personally, I sort of suspect that Elite 4 will go the way of the other Braben only efforts: much hype and not much gaming quality at the end of the line. Elite - which he did with Ian Bell - was great, but the Frontier games were not. His other games were technically good but lacked proper playablity too IMHO.

Fortunately there are still a number of Elite-like games out there, some commercial and some free, which Braben can't touch because they don't infringe his trademarks at all. Some are actually very good, though for some reason very few have a high profile.

IMHO, Braben is a petty man who was partially responsible for one great game. He's spent the last ten years living off past glories, and I doubt he has another good game in him.

Nice looking site BTW. :-)
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: Bezzen on March 28, 2003, 11:22:32 AM: @bhoggett

To Braben's defence I must say that I think Frontier: Elite II was and is a brilliant game. And Elite: First Encounters was released in beta form without his approval by GameTek who was desperately trying to stay afloat. I personally think the GameTek situation has made Braben a bit defensive when it comes to defending his rights to the games.
Title: Re: David Braben Q&A
Post by: on March 29, 2003, 01:52:28 AM: I've got to agree there. I spent countless ours on Frontier, one of my favorite games indeed.