Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: DrewFX on September 17, 2007, 11:28:38 PM
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It has come to my attention that there are suppliers and then resellers out there selling my game Starfighter:D'Yammen's Reign illegally. As I have never given out the copyright, except for Islona Games in 1999/2000 it cannot be reproduced and sold without my consent - not for charity or anything.
I am currently investigating several resellers and suppliers who have been doing this, so please help out and report any other instance you may have seen.
I have a good idea many Amiga suppliers visit these pages, some of whom are selling Starfighter. If you know of any, or are one please let me know.
I think it's only fair that I reclaim any profits made with the sale of this game since 2000.
For everyone else - it's now free! Please grab it from here... :)
http://www.drewfx.com (http://www.drewfx.com)
There is support here...
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=31169 (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=31169)
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It's a pity that you have to deal with this. I hope that you can get these people shutdown. One way to help that is to advertise the free download as much as possible.
Hans
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Yes I should advertise as much as possible. Can people suggest other popular Amiga forums I could post to? I figured this was the most popular being Amiga.org.
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Most people on the other sites probably visit this one too occasionally. It's already been posted as a news item at amigans.net (http://www.amigans.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=308) (with a link to your thread here). There's also amigaworld.net (http://amigaworld.net/) which is more geared toward Amiga OS 4.0, but there'll still be people interested in starfighter.
You could also try morphzone.org (http://morphzone.org/modules/news/). It's about Morphos, not Amiga OS, but it's an Amiga OS 3.x compatible OS, so they're also Amiga enthusiasts. Finally, there's aros-exec.org (http://aros-exec.org/modules/news/) for AROS, which is also based on the Amiga OS API (but not binary compatible).
I can't think of any other places.
Hans
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I can understand your frustration, in principle.
But you do have to wonder if its worth the effort to stop the few remaining Amiga sellers around from selling an item they probably make only a few bucks (if that) from per year?
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@coldfish
Any bux is bad bucks. It adds up, too, across all their other illegal activities. Too bad now, though, that those people, when confronted, will say that they are free to distribute it because it's been released by the author. Until then, they'll keep on pirating and saying stuff like "the author never contacted me so I thought it was abandonware". Lame.
@DrewFX
Did you make it a news item here?
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@weirdami
Yep, I agree. It's still a waste of time though.
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coldfish wrote:
@weirdami
Yep, I agree. It's still a waste of time though.
I know many people who thought that way until it happened to them.
Drew may be able to stop the eBay sales by sending proper DMCA notices. I don't know how copyright notices work on the other side of the pond in civilization, but in the US at least it could be put to some good use.
If I see any on eBay I'll be happy to submit a copyright violation notice.
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The thing is, why should other people be making money out of my game? That's why I released it for free, to stop them. Sure there will be a few more sales, but hopefully I have stemmed the tide.
On the ebay front, I have alerted Ebay about 3 people but I don't think their piracy email system works because I keep getting robotic email replies.
I have also found a distributor and I am auditing them (hopefully).
It's not really been a waste of time so far, and it's my money. I don't care if it's 50 bucks - it's mine, not theirs. So it's basically stealing from me.
Regarding the news item - no I haven't posted it yet.
Thanks for the links, Hans.
I have contacted all of the ebayers, one gave up their source, another said it was going to charity and they contact all the developers before selling it - didn't contact me - and the other one is on the lamb. Kinda fun doing the detective work :)
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@DrewFX
I hope their charity is the broke programmers fund. ;-)
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Here is one guy (http://stores.ebay.com/Ollys-Butler_Software_Amiga_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ14076833QQftidZ2QQtZkm) selling it.
In my particular case, the seller sold mostly CDs and DVDs, and genuinely wasn't aware that most (all?) of the software was unlicensed. This "UK Software" scam outfit is probably telling their retailers it's legit.
Ya know... pirating someone else's work is one thing (and I say all things in moderation), but SELLING pirated work should be a guaranteed ticket to hell, LOL.
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Ok, emotional/irrational arguments aside.
Seeing as its now -free- software, what's to stop me burning it to disk and selling it for the -cost- of the CD-R, jewel case, printing, postage, packaging + 20minutes of my time?
I cant believe you guys are so precious about ~10 year old software on a dead (market wise) platform.
:crazy:
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coldfish wrote:
Ok, emotional/irrational arguments aside.
Seeing as its now -free- software, what's to stop me burning it to disk and selling it for the -cost- of the CD-R, jewel case, printing, postage, packaging + 20minutes of my time?
I cant believe you guys are so precious about ~10 year old software on a dead (market wise) platform.
:crazy:
that is a personal POV, and with YOUR work you can do whatever you want. you have ABSOLUTELLY NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to judge how other people feel and act regarding THEIR work. and because it is NOW a free game, it does not mean that it must be sold for 7 years without the author getting his share, no matter how small, or knowing about the sale or give permission to sale.
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The point is that there are people making a PROFIT on it, not just a few bucks for media.
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coldfish wrote:
@weirdami
Yep, I agree. It's still a waste of time though.
No its not.
Its a "feel" thing. DrewFX feels its wrong that people should be selling his game without permission, and that's pretty difficult to argue with. Potential purchasers are likely to feel that if the author has made it freely available they'd rather take advantage of that than be taken adavntage of by some (and I believe this is the correct technical term) "pikey {bleep}" on Ebay.
At the end of the day, all parties bar the aforementioned "pikey {bleep}" feel they have done the right thing - no small thing, and I would submit, not a waste of time.
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Hmm, emotional/irrational arguments aside, again.
If it was my work, which I'd decided to give up as free I wouldnt care if a few schmucks were still making a pittance out of it here and there. At least it has some value.
The sellers are hardly asking a fortune (unlike some Amiga traders), and I have my doubts there are many buyers in Amiga-land not aware it's available for free, if not and they're willing to pay the asking price for a packaged unit, where's the problem? How many units do you think they sell anyway? My guess would be a couple per year, at most?
I can understand the author being protective of his claim to fame, but put it in perspective: It's old (now free) software that worked on a small subset (Amigas with CD) of an obsolete hardware platform.
I get the impression you guys are making a very big deal out of nothing much.
Hardly a new thing in the Amiga community. :-P
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STARFIGHTER-AMIGA-CD-rom-NEW_W0QQitemZ160156279914QQihZ006QQcategoryZ98929QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STARFIGHTER-AMIGA-CD-rom-NEW_W0QQitemZ200144244913QQihZ010QQcategoryZ98929QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Here are 2 auctions selling pirate copies of Starfighter.
You can find a lot of illegal copies of software on UK Ebay which people are getting ripped off thinking it is the original software unless you know what you are looking for.
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@ Coldfish
You are missing the point by such a wide mark. But that does not supprise me from your often borderline trolling posts.
The game have only been made free to stem the tide. The game was not free and the Author had not given his permission for it to be sold by anyone since 2000.
The age of the software and/or the state of the hardware market it runs on has no relation whatsoever to if people whould be able to make money off somone elses hardwork.
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http://uk.nine.ebid.net/perl/auction.cgi?auction=1174760253-19643-568&mo=auction
Here is another one on the ebid auction site.
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@JJ
Sorry, I forgot to put my troll's hat on. :-D
/troll-on.
I understand the issue and, apart from the author gaining some attention hereabouts, I don't see there's any point in complaining about the illegitimate sale of a few CDs of -free- software.
Making it free didnt stem any "tide", there wasn't one, it just devalued the software.
...I wonder just how many $millions$ those terrible pirates are making from Starfighter? :lol:
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Don't forget this popular Amiga site.... English Amiga Board eab.abime.net (http://eab.abime.net/)
Plaz
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Most people on the other sites probably visit this one too occasionally. It's already been posted as a news item at amigans.net (with a link to your thread here). There's also amigaworld.net which is more geared toward Amiga OS 4.0, but there'll still be people interested in starfighter.
Uh?? In what way is amigaworld more geared towards OS 4.0? It might have been in the past, but that is no longer the case. I think you are confusing amigaworld with amigans.net, which is infact nearly only OS4.
But anyways i agree with other people here.. It is disgusting to sell a free game for profits, unless they made a deal with the game devs.
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no offense..
question to all:
Is this game any good? Is it worth downloading/playing? Compared to Elite... can I play this on UAE ?
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@Tomas
I think that you'll still find a larger number of Amiga OS 4.0 users at aw.net than here; a lot more talk about OS4 (well, more about the darn court case at the moment), and less about classic stuff. Anyway, there's also amigaweb.net (http://amigaweb.net/index.php), which I think is supposed to be a news site for any Amiga or Amiga-like system.
Hans
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coldfish wrote:
...I wonder just how many $millions$ those terrible pirates are making from Starfighter? :lol:
Okay, put it this way. What if YOU bought Starfighter from one of these dealers for $20, $40, $50, whatever, and then found out that now it's free? Regardless of when it was made free.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the $millions$ being collected by those pirating the software. It has to everything to do with taking something that does not belong to you and the assumption of your rights to do whatever you want with it.
You are a text book pie-rat, and obviously have never produced a creative work of your own. Otherwise I believe you would understand Drew's position. You sound just like the uninformed masses who proclaim that Janne Suni should be thankful that Timbaland used his song in its entirety to make money without giving him any credit, because otherwise no one would ever have heard it. This is an argument made over and over, and it is a fallacy.
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I think what coldfish is saying is that it would be ok to take some of his personal bellongings from his house without his permission and then sell them on ebay for profit . That would be ok I assume, given your arguments
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ok, enough of the bickering.. get over it already.
back to the game..
is it any good? fun?
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Does the game contain any notice that it can not be sold, actually in the game or its official documentation? Was it published under a license prohibiting sale? If not, while its very lame, it may not be actually illegal. I hope you can put a stop to it, but it may not be completely straightforward legally.
Also, another site to post to: LemonAmiga.org
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@murple
Does the game contain any notice that it can not be sold, actually in the game or its official documentation? Was it published under a license prohibiting sale? If not, while its very lame, it may not be actually illegal. I hope you can put a stop to it, but it may not be completely straightforward legally.
Eh. That is nonsense.
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Heh, you guys are absolutely right, I've been swayed by your well articulated and rational argument.
I stand corrected.
:lol:
Review:
http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/DBM1/StarfDR.html
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All good arguments there. Everyone's opinion is valid. Thanks for the extra links provided and tracking down sellers.
My main point is I don't see why people should still be using my software to make money. They should go make something themselves and sell it for profit. I'm sure they're not making too much. One ebayer is selling a copy for 5 pounds, and relists every month. So thats 60 pounds (or $150 Australia) a year for the last seven years I didn't get - so boo hoo to me - but you see my point? It's the principal of the thing that gets to me.
It has been and still is protected by Australian copyright law, and I don't want anyone to sell it or copy and make money from it - even if it is to cover cost of packaging, postage etc. - without my permission.
I just wanna be asked is all. I don't see why you would need to charge for burning it to cd and posting it to someone. I mean who are you going to be posting it to? It should only be a mate who doesn't have an internet connection and why would you charge him?
Regarding the game - I think it's fun, but make sure you play it on a 68030 or better to get good frame rates. I have also sucessfully run it on WinUAE - you only need Workbench 1.3 disks to get it to work. A 1.5 gig computer should run it.
Thanks for the interest everyone. I'm not trying to make a fuss - just go out and enjoy the game. I hope to have a new version of Starfighter for people to play soon. I expect a tech demo ready by December. Though it will be PC I want to port it back to the Amiga later.
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put more screenshots on your site.
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DrewFX wrote:
Thanks for the interest everyone. I'm not trying to make a fuss - just go out and enjoy the game. I hope to have a new version of Starfighter for people to play soon. I expect a tech demo ready by December. Though it will be PC I want to port it back to the Amiga later.
Are you using OpenGL or DirectX in the graphics engine for the new version? Using OpenGL should make porting it to Amiga OS 4.0, Morphos and Aros much easier. Classic Amigas would be much harder due to lack of 3D graphics hardware.
Hans
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DrewFX : First of all, thank you ;-)
I noticed that your first patch (Patch 1 - LHA) is corrupt... We can't unlha it.
PS : Excuse my really poor english.
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I've posted a new one here as well just in case Patch 1 is corrupted. If this one is corrupted for you too, then try a new download manager.
SF Patch 1 Redux (http://www.divshare.com/download/2024633-ec9)
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Hi Andy. I tried to unpack Star.lha and the files were corrupted.
Anyone else have this problem?
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Are you guys unpacking directly to an Amiga or on PC first?
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@Hans - yes it would be OpenGL. If I supported old Amiga's I would have to roll-my-own 3d engine I think (see below)
I think I'm going to need a PCMCIA card and CDROM for A1200 to finish all this off. If the LHA is not unpacking it's because I'm using a Windows based LHA archiver. Which means I'll have to repack the Star.lha on my Amiga, network it to my PC and send the files across / upload to net.
I guess I'll search around on how to do this, but any advice would be great.
Oh yeah, I think it might be possible to run Torque on the Amiga with a re-write of the platform layer, which means I can code Starfighter on the PC and then export to Amiga real quick. Of course I'm going to need a compiler on the Amiga to do all this.
So the question is should I get a new Amiga to cater for the new users?
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@TheMagicM:
there are like 30 screenshots on HOL :D
I cannot comment on the game though, not my style...
I made posts about that on EAB, amigahellas.gr and retromaniax.gr :-)
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DrewFX : It's ok, thank you very much, again ;-)
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@DrewFX
Thank you for explanation which you posted in other thread (which was closed). On polish forums I have posted your warning.
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@Batteman - so you got it to unpack?
@mailmail - thanks for reposting.
@keropi - thanks for posting to the EAB forums :)
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DrewFX wrote:
So the question is should I get a new Amiga to cater for the new users?
Yes. :-)
I haven't been able to get the game running, because I have a fairly well expanded classic Amiga with mediator/voodoo etc.
I did get an old demo of the game from an Amiga Format CD running pretty well though - I used Jean-Francois Fabre's JST program with its EXECUTE mode for this.
Can one disable the music? ;-)
I'm guessing an RTG patch is out of the question, but what would be great would be a way of reducing the chip memory the game requires in order to run. I just wondered if a way of bypassing some of the intro might achieve this?
Anyway, thanks for your efforts.
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Good luck with it, DrewFX.
you may not make that much on it, but after all, its the priniciple of the thing, isnt it.
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DrewFX wrote:
Oh yeah, I think it might be possible to run Torque on the Amiga with a re-write of the platform layer, which means I can code Starfighter on the PC and then export to Amiga real quick. Of course I'm going to need a compiler on the Amiga to do all this.
A beta port of the Torque engine already exists, I don't know about its current status though:
http://www.amigans.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=29&forum=3&post_id=371 (http://Thread on amigans.net)
check post #19 for a video of the engine in action.
Varthall
EDIT: apparently, the link tag on amiga.org seems to not be working :-?
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This is really cool if it's still in product and working. I will be following this up. This will mean any game I make will be easily ported to the Amiga.
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Ok I read this thread and have one question, Was this game only licenced out in 1999-2000 and from 2001 to the present day it has been unlicenced and unavailable for purchase?
If that is the case then the person who really should be slapped is not the pirates but infact you, for abandoning the amiga community, for removing a product you yourself created and had available for purchase from the amiga stores.
Ofcourse if you had a legally available version of your game available and still in production then I will apologise, but to me it doesn't sound like you did.
So basically people like you (or the you, you sound like) are the main reason the amiga died. They either released a product and removed it from production early, or released a product and removed support entirely so it was still filled with bugs.
That to me is more disgusting, and now your going to kick in the balls the only few amiga companies left to sell anything amiga related and scrambling for the few cents left so they can stay afloat, the people desperate for anything that would actually sell as amiga development has ground to a halt.
So I can't really cry for you, sorry.
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@keropi: thx. i'll check it out.
btw, I cant decompress the .lha file.. -lh6- unrecognized format.. which lha/lx decompressor do I need?
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Where can we download it from? Whats the specs? ECS? AGA? RTG?
I'll give it a try.
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DrewFX wrote:
All good arguments there. Everyone's opinion is valid. Thanks for the extra links provided and tracking down sellers.
My main point is I don't see why people should still be using my software to make money. They should go make something themselves and sell it for profit. I'm sure they're not making too much. One ebayer is selling a copy for 5 pounds, and relists every month. So thats 60 pounds (or $150 Australia) a year for the last seven years I didn't get - so boo hoo to me - but you see my point? It's the principal of the thing that gets to me.
It has been and still is protected by Australian copyright law, and I don't want anyone to sell it or copy and make money from it - even if it is to cover cost of packaging, postage etc. - without my permission.
I just wanna be asked is all. I don't see why you would need to charge for burning it to cd and posting it to someone. I mean who are you going to be posting it to? It should only be a mate who doesn't have an internet connection and why would you charge him?
Regarding the game - I think it's fun, but make sure you play it on a 68030 or better to get good frame rates. I have also sucessfully run it on WinUAE - you only need Workbench 1.3 disks to get it to work. A 1.5 gig computer should run it.
Thanks for the interest everyone. I'm not trying to make a fuss - just go out and enjoy the game. I hope to have a new version of Starfighter for people to play soon. I expect a tech demo ready by December. Though it will be PC I want to port it back to the Amiga later.
It's your software it's your right.
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@ nianfur
who rattled your cage, one of those who got caught selling it I take it.
Most of the people who sell things like this have never been involed in the amiga scene in a professional way and are just trying to scam momey out of die hard fans.
People like you make me sick. You and others like you think you have the right to do what you like with other people hard work.
Just because they decide to stop selling it gives no one else the right to sell it just because its no lonfer available
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Sometimes I see the point of view of the arguments that these games are unavailable and not for sale so what's the harm.
Then I remember that these people are selling someone else's work. It is a low thing to do. The very least they could do is keep a percentage aside (however small) and forward this to the author.
If they had any enthusiasm for keeping old software alive and circulating, they wouldn't be charging money for it.
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@swift240:
I deleted your post because I didnt feel like editing your language even though you used a "*". Clean it up.
@all:
so anyway, decompressing a -lh6- file ? which util on aminet do I need to do this?
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Not a problem I will use all **** from now on, I usually do, but who ever reads it will know exactly what is meant.
But those sort of people seem to get away with a lot.
To me they are parasites (not a swear word), scum (not a swear word) Inconsiderate (not a swear word), low life (not a swear word/s)
Go on have another go.
:pissed: :pissed: :pissed:
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@nianfur - Valid point there. I didn't have the money to continually sell it after I finished the deal with my publisher. I had no online method either. I would if I had the technology.
@swift240 - I missed out on some good profanity? Was it about me? Where's the love?
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nianfur wrote:
...snip...
If that is the case then the person who really should be slapped is not the pirates but infact you, for abandoning the amiga community, for removing a product you yourself created and had available for purchase from the amiga stores.
Ofcourse if you had a legally available version of your game available and still in production then I will apologise, but to me it doesn't sound like you did.
So basically people like you (or the you, you sound like) are the main reason the amiga died. They either released a product and removed it from production early, or released a product and removed support entirely so it was still filled with bugs.
That to me is more disgusting, and now your going to kick in the balls the only few amiga companies left to sell anything amiga related and scrambling for the few cents left so they can stay afloat, the people desperate for anything that would actually sell as amiga development has ground to a halt.
So I can't really cry for you, sorry.
First off, dammit, it's "you're" not "your". "You're" is a contraction of "you are" and "your" shows ownership. Your grammar, poor spelling, and poor arguments all serve the implication of ignorance.
Second off, this line of thought is parasitic. There are a number (I can't use the term "plenty" unfortunately) of legitimate Amiga sources selling legitimate Amiga software and hardware. Making a profit off the remaining Amiga supporters and enthusiasts, and newbies who don't know any better, by taking advantage of software which is either freely available or only available as illegitimate copies is a flat out crime against the community.
Once again, arguments like yours fall flat. People like DrewFX did not kill the Amiga -- check your history, you'll find that the Amiga community was falling apart if not fallen apart already by this time, and his contribution was made to bolster the remnants. And what of Holger Kruse, from whom we can no longer purchase registrations of one of the best TCP/IP stacks for the Amiga: does his AWOL status serve to destroy the Amiga community? Should either still expend the resources necessary to maintain production when sales drop below maintainable levels?
Your logic says that we should feel sorry for the Chinese companies producing cheap knock-offs of the iPhone because Apple reduced the price of the genuine article.
Pooh on you and your compatriots.
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coldfish wrote:
Ok, emotional/irrational arguments aside.
Seeing as its now -free- software, what's to stop me burning it to disk and selling it for the -cost- of the CD-R, jewel case, printing, postage, packaging + 20minutes of my time?
I cant believe you guys are so precious about ~10 year old software on a dead (market wise) platform.
:crazy:
Lets look at it a different way...
On myspace theres a load of unsigned bands with their songs available to download for free so they can get publicity, gigs, and maybe some kind of recording contract.
So would it be acceptable for me to download a load of these songs burn them to a CD and then start selling an album called "Songs of Myspace" without giving them any money or even informing them im doing it!!
I Think Not
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foleyjo wrote:
coldfish wrote:
<<< snip
Lets look at it a different way...
On myspace theres a load of unsigned bands with their songs available to download for free so they can get publicity, gigs, and maybe some kind of recording contract.
So would it be acceptable for me to download a load of these songs burn them to a CD and then start selling an album called "Songs of Myspace" without giving them any money or even informing them im doing it!!
I Think Not
I totally agree with you, however putting content on the net is opening yourself up to this kind of abuse. I dont think its -worth- getting too upset when the abuse happens. Sorry, I just dont.
In addition, if the content is of questionable quality/usefulness/relevance ie; old/obsolete ect, then the effort is further wasted (imo).
As a product designer Ive had a fair bit of experience with IP violations of my own & client's IP. In most cases it's better/cheaper/smarter to accept that a certain amount of infringement is going to occur and get on with the next big product, instead of wasting time/energy/money tracking down copyright violators.
meh.
thing/thing/thing... :-D
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[/quote]
As a product designer Ive had a fair bit of experience with IP violations of my own & client's IP. In most cases it's better/cheaper/smarter to accept that a certain amount of infringement is going to occur and get on with the next big product, instead of wasting time/energy/money tracking down copyright violators.[/quote]
Well this is a lively debate hey?
@coldfish - I totally see your point. I think the best games makers can hope for is 2 months of sales at launch before the pirates step in. That's about how long it takes for someone to break the latest Starforce encryption.
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DrewFX wrote:
Well this is a lively debate hey?
Agreed - Andrew, as this thread is getting a bit "polarised", is there any chance you would post any further info regarding actual Starfighter developments (as opposed to the whole copyright thing) to a new thread?
Just a thought. :-)
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Yep I'll post a new thread when I update my game progress. So I'm looking for the guy who did the Torque to Amiga port next.
Just one final thing... has anyone got the game to run all patched up? I'd like some closure on that issue.
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Is there anywhere I can go to actually see what this game all the fuss is about is like?
I havent seen any in game screenshots or reviews and would like to know if its worth buying off ebay :lol: by that I mean downloading
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There is a review in this thread and the previous thread. The in-game graphics aren't as good as the animations, but if you squint a little you can appreciate the combat involved even if the 3d is a little bland.
A bit of a tip to players. Press H for the hud pips which will show your pitch angle. Press C to recentre when you get lost. Gimble lock in place means when you turn pointing up or down you roll, and pointing ahead you rudder. Press HELP for all the key presses.
A - attack my target
Q - defend my target
W - toggle missiles and lasers
R - Radar range
T - Target toggle
Enter - match target's speed.
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Surely the point is that if the game is being sold for profit then DrewFX should be getting a cut, since it's *his bloody game*? And if DrewFX decides to withdraw it from sale then that's his choice. *He* created the software. *He* owns the copyright. *Nobody* else has the right to distribute his software without his permission. DrewFX has *every* right to be upset about people selling his creation without permission, and without recognising his work by giving him his cut of the profit.
Sorry but personal opinion is not really relevant. It's the law, and it's DrewFX's right.
--
moto
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Sorry but personal opinion is not really relevant. It's the law, and it's DrewFX's right.
moto
It might be wrong but it doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It also means, from an individuals' point of view, that it will continue to happen, regardless of the wishes of the author of said software. As a former beta tester for DVD Decrypter (and now ImgBurn), unscrupulus business practices by parasitic "companies" who package freeware as an all-in-one backup solution keep every dollar they make through dodgy sales. I've seen no monies at all going to the people who created the software in the first place. People "buy" this software for 50 bucks or whatever it is and then decend upon our support forum(s) because they don't know how to use it. The "company" that sold said package offers no support at all. The authors of VobEdit, PGCEdit, DVD Shrink (all Windoze DVD apps) are all in the same boat.
It might be wrong but this rather shonky behaviour won't stop just because the author asks them to.
*steps off soapbox*
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drewfx/anyone:
i'd like to try this game to see if its any good.. how do i decompress something compressed w/ lh6 compression?
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RussellB wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STARFIGHTER-AMIGA-CD-rom-NEW_W0QQitemZ160156279914QQihZ006QQcategoryZ98929QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STARFIGHTER-AMIGA-CD-rom-NEW_W0QQitemZ200144244913QQihZ010QQcategoryZ98929QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Here are 2 auctions selling pirate copies of Starfighter.
You can find a lot of illegal copies of software on UK Ebay which people are getting ripped off thinking it is the original software unless you know what you are looking for.
Surprise, Surprise. It's those ASSTUNNELS in swindon again. These guys must be linked to organised crime or something.
If anyone fancies going round with the Police some time I can provide their home address.
Here are their numbers if you want to give them a ring and shout at them!
Mobile: 07891 452 124
Office: 0870 428 5912
They've operated under many names in the past, Butterfly Media, VDirect, ForeMatt and many others.
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ASSTUNNELLS :lol: :lol: :lol:
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ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ALERT!!! WE HAVE :
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS! ASSTUNNELS!
lolololololololololol lllooolll lolol
:lol:
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Tunnels are like holes, only bigger ;-)
I mean, look at them, they are commiting fraud on a huge scale.
http://www.v-direct.co.uk/
The guys are called Vinson Pike and John Wilson
Several of their sites are registered to
21 Cheddar Road
Swindon
SN25 3HE
They are making MILLIONS, a few years ago they tried to launch their own film.
http://www.antisocial-behaviour.com
http://www.film-distributors.net
They are serious bstards, someone should get them on CrimeWatch.
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Oh man, all I saw as this:
(http://www.v-direct.co.uk/index_files/banner.jpg)
They're ripping people off, {bleep}s. Hot chick on the main page though.
To those freaks, write your own dang software!
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The company that is selling my software is also a dropshipping company. I don't want to mention them, but I have emailed them to explain themselves.
So far I've heard nothing.
Regarding the lh6 issues - I guess the best bet is if I can ask someone to unpack the main lha and patch files, re pack them with a standard Amiga compressor and upload them. From there I will transfer them to my site.
My Amiga isn't setup for big file transfers. It's a floppy action right now, or ParNET.
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The people I mention above run the dropship company called butterfly media aka "UK Software". They need to do some time in prison, the lot of them.
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yawn.. *deleted star.lha*
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@TheMagicM
so anyway, decompressing a -lh6- file ? which util on aminet do I need to do this?
Ummm, how about a program called LhA (http://aminet.net/package/util/arc/lha)?
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@DrewFX
Regarding the lh6 issues - I guess the best bet is if I can ask someone to unpack the main lha and patch files, re pack them with a standard Amiga compressor and upload them. From there I will transfer them to my site.
When creating the archives use -2 (amiga) or -o5 (unix) option to force LhA to create a "lh5" archive. This is compatible with even the older LhA versions.
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I'm having difficulties finding a Windows program to convert these files to an LHA format that is compatible with Amiga.
Can anyone suggest a known working program please?
It's just not possible to get archives off my Amiga right now.
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@DrewFX
Aren't Piru's instructions for the windows version of lha?
BTW, any progress with getting the (unfinished) Amiga OS 4.0 port of Torque?
Hans
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Piru's link is an Amiga LHA program as far as I can tell. I did have some sucess with another LHA program, but now I'm dealing with permissions which lock some of the files - I can't figure it out - will do soon I expect.
The Amiga port will be done later in the year. Patience on that one - should be good for Amigan with 50 titles available if it works.
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Instructions, not link.
Let me try again, here's the usage from the Windows port of LhA:
C:\>lha
LHarc for UNIX V 1.02 Copyright(C) 1989 Y.Tagawa
LHx for MSDOS V C2.01 Copyright(C) 1990 H.Yoshizaki
LHx(arc) for OSK V 2.01 Modified 1990 Momozou
LHa for UNIX V 1.00 Copyright(C) 1992 Masaru Oki
LHa for UNIX V 1.14 Modified 1995 Nobutaka Watazaki
LHa for UNIX V 1.14i Modified 2000 Tsugio Okamoto
Autoconfiscated 2001-2005 Koji Arai
usage: lha [-]<commands>[<options>] [-<options> ...] archive_file [file...]
commands: [axelvudmcpt]
options: [q[012]vnfto[567]dizg012e[w=<dir>|x=<pattern>]]
long options: --system-kanji-code={euc,sjis,utf8,cap}
--archive-kanji-code={euc,sjis,utf8,cap}
--extract-broken-archive
--help
--version
commands: options:
a Add(or replace) to archive q{num} quiet (num:quiet mode)
x,e EXtract from archive v verbose
l,v List / Verbose List n not execute
u Update newer files to archive f force (over write at extract)
d Delete from archive t FILES are TEXT file
m Move to archive (means 'ad') o[567] compression method (a/u/c)
c re-Construct new archive d delete FILES after (a/u/c)
p Print to STDOUT from archive i ignore directory path (x/e)
t Test file CRC in archive z files not compress (a/u/c)
g Generic format (for compatibility)
or not convert case when extracting
0/1/2 header level (a/u/c)
e TEXT code convert from/to EUC
w=<dir> specify extract directory (x/e)
x=<pattern> eXclude files (a/u/c)
C:\>
We're interested in the compression method, thus:
o[567] compression method (a/u/c)
...is the interesting part. -o5 will generate -lh5- archives.
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FWIW, LhA 2.12 from AmiNet (lha.run) handles both StarFighter patch archives without a problem. I used 2.11 to extract them.
I have also repackaged them with -lh5- and also with lzx. The files are awaiting Andy's approval for distribution.
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I've created all new files in lha5 (lzh) format. Go here to download them if you've had any problems. If you do have problems try the set provided by LoadWb (Many Thanks!)
http://www.drewfx.com/Star/star.htm (http://www.drewfx.com/Star/star.htm)
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Hi there,
I've downloaded the LHA set and unextracted all the files on a HDD partition on my A1200 (Wow, that was a lot of files...).
PS: I had to get the latest version of LHA for the extraction process to work...
I've installed from those files (Just the game without patches for now) onto a seperate HDD partition, and when I came to run the game, I was asked for the name of my system drive. When I tried to enter WB3.0 (Since WB3.0: is my system drive) I found I couldn't type the . in! Nooooooo!
I've had to enter a alternative name, and, suffice to say using a assign doesn't work, and changing the system drive name to that which I entered creates more errors than I know what to do with (Due to assigns, mainly).
DrewFX: Are there any settings files that I could tweak with CygnusED to fix this problem?
Thanks,
Hodgkinson.
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:bump:
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you know after all this... never did get it to run!
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Like this? (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=33656)
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@ Nlandlas
I don't think that's the same thing. This guy isn't copying starfighter and distributing it for a profit, just selling his old amiga stuff.
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What did you try? There are some patches available and I can walk you through it if you want.
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No this is not pirating if he owned it.
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I've never even heard of that game before your post... but... it appears the Amiga World is totally full of idiots with a double standard. If you don't like piracy and you stick by your word, great. If you are a pirate, just f***ing admit it. Don't say it's bad to copy Amiga software but ok to pirate C64 software! My core business for many years was selling original 8 bit software - well after the 8 bit computer demise. One thing I hate in this World are Amiga users with a double standard!
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Right. I've found the file in WB3.0:S/ and altered it for the WB3.0: system drive.
Next problem: The RAD drive boot priority (0) is lower than that of the system drive (5). Any ideas how I can patch the game to give the RAD drive a higher boot priority, say, 6?
Then: Running the game by forcing the RAD drive to boot with the boot menu, without any patches at this point in time, keeps on generating "File not found" errors. Inspecting with SnoopDOS revels that, for some reason, that the "Executeable" is looking in the root of the drive that Starfighter is installed to for the program files, rather than in the drawer where Starfighter is installed to. (Eg, OTHER:geologo/geologo.001 rather than OTHER:Starfighter/geologo/geologo.001)
In order to try to fix this, I've applied the SF_PATCH1_Redux.lha patch to the game (The original uploaded file diddn't extract for me, either).
Having updated the files, the "executeable" is reported as being non-executeable! :crazy:
Ideas? (DrewFX, a walk-through of the patches would be appreciated! PS. I substituted a few files into where Starfighter was looking for them and I must say it looks like a really nice game...)
I'd also like to patch the clickstop util that I have into the Starfighter startup if theres enough chipram left.
Hodgkinson.
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:bump: