Thread
Developers You Could Do Without!
A while back there was a poll about favorite software developer. Now it's time to look at that topic's alter-ego...
What is a software developer you could do without?*
My vote goes to Sierra. I recall playing a game called "Mixed Up Mother Goose" in elementary school. It was confusing as to the objective of the game, the graphics were subpar by Mac standards, and the navigation was horrible. The rest of the class felt the same way for the most part.
I've looked at their old catalogs, etc and have seen very little that even looks good from this company. The graphics never looked good from what I saw of their product reviews, etc.
* If you could, please do not say Microsoft. I know many of you do not care for Microsoft but don't want to see this become an immature "I hate Microsoft" thread.
What is a software developer you could do without?*
My vote goes to Sierra. I recall playing a game called "Mixed Up Mother Goose" in elementary school. It was confusing as to the objective of the game, the graphics were subpar by Mac standards, and the navigation was horrible. The rest of the class felt the same way for the most part.
I've looked at their old catalogs, etc and have seen very little that even looks good from this company. The graphics never looked good from what I saw of their product reviews, etc.
* If you could, please do not say Microsoft. I know many of you do not care for Microsoft but don't want to see this become an immature "I hate Microsoft" thread.
I'll second Sierra. I used to love their adventure games as a kid, but never did get through one without a few hints. Story telling was always child-like or more of a hack-job (writer sense, not computer sense).
Lotus, for not pushing Improv until it was the dominant metaphor for spreadsheets. Modern spreadsheets are still a grid of cells. I can replicate their functionality and more using awk or python.
Sorry, but I'm going to say Microsoft. Microsoft ain't all bad, but their products are very hit and miss. On the plus side, they have fairly long support cycles, modern products are generally stable, and they pretty much let people modify their product how they please. I do have my complaints, which is why I added them to my list, but I won't go into them because of that flame bait aspect.
Lotus, for not pushing Improv until it was the dominant metaphor for spreadsheets. Modern spreadsheets are still a grid of cells. I can replicate their functionality and more using awk or python.
Sorry, but I'm going to say Microsoft. Microsoft ain't all bad, but their products are very hit and miss. On the plus side, they have fairly long support cycles, modern products are generally stable, and they pretty much let people modify their product how they please. I do have my complaints, which is why I added them to my list, but I won't go into them because of that flame bait aspect.
never played space quest. I know there is another game I owned "StarWarped" that I wish never got out of the idea room. It was a novelty PC game I found at the local do-it-yourself hardware store (yes, that's right. they sold software games at a "Home improvement" store. Weirdest combo I have EVER seen)
I wish i never got that game. No one even wanted it. It was like a REALLY bad b-rated movie that got stuffed into a game and was made even worse. They also made a couple games called "PYST" and "DRIVVEN" or something. it was a sequel to MYST and RIVVEN
EDIT: did a quick look. The developers were "Parroty Interactive"
I wish i never got that game. No one even wanted it. It was like a REALLY bad b-rated movie that got stuffed into a game and was made even worse. They also made a couple games called "PYST" and "DRIVVEN" or something. it was a sequel to MYST and RIVVEN
EDIT: did a quick look. The developers were "Parroty Interactive"
I played a bit of Space Quest on the Apple II, and another version on the PC. Wandering around in the beginning was kinda fun, but I always got stuck.
I've since grown to hate adventure games, graphical or text. Graphical since they usually reduce to pixel hunting at some stage of the game, and text because they usually have puzzles that only make sense in the creator's minds. Still, there are a few good text adventures and I still love the artwork in the Myst series.
I've since grown to hate adventure games, graphical or text. Graphical since they usually reduce to pixel hunting at some stage of the game, and text because they usually have puzzles that only make sense in the creator's minds. Still, there are a few good text adventures and I still love the artwork in the Myst series.
Bah. The ability to solve an adventure game has little to do with intelligence. Here's why:
1. You have to realize that there is a puzzle to be solved. Sometimes this is obvious (e.g. a panel of buttons), but quite often the hints are subtle. Sometimes they are so subtle that you may think nothing of them. For example: you don't realize that a puzzle exists until you realize that you are not making progress in the game.
2. You have to figure out the nature of the puzzle. If the puzzle is presented straight up. This may be obvious, either with the puzzle clearly stated or something you can figure out by trial and error. In other cases it may be hard to figure out the nature of the puzzle. For example, you may understand that you are not making progress because you cannot find a hidden passage, but you need to recognize the puzzle that allows you to unlock the passage first.
3. Finding a solution to the puzzle. This is (arguably) the only one that implies any form of intelligence because it involves a problem solving process.
Another hitch with adventure games are limitations in the user interface. In a text adventure game, there may be literary or linguistic references that you do not understand. In a graphical adventure game, a graphical element may not give an obvious clue as to another passage or where stuff is hidden (which leads to ransacking rooms, or pixel hunting).
1. You have to realize that there is a puzzle to be solved. Sometimes this is obvious (e.g. a panel of buttons), but quite often the hints are subtle. Sometimes they are so subtle that you may think nothing of them. For example: you don't realize that a puzzle exists until you realize that you are not making progress in the game.
2. You have to figure out the nature of the puzzle. If the puzzle is presented straight up. This may be obvious, either with the puzzle clearly stated or something you can figure out by trial and error. In other cases it may be hard to figure out the nature of the puzzle. For example, you may understand that you are not making progress because you cannot find a hidden passage, but you need to recognize the puzzle that allows you to unlock the passage first.
3. Finding a solution to the puzzle. This is (arguably) the only one that implies any form of intelligence because it involves a problem solving process.
Another hitch with adventure games are limitations in the user interface. In a text adventure game, there may be literary or linguistic references that you do not understand. In a graphical adventure game, a graphical element may not give an obvious clue as to another passage or where stuff is hidden (which leads to ransacking rooms, or pixel hunting).
Seriously, Space Quest (and some of the other Sierra games) is exceedingly illogical, infuriatingly difficult, and relies on 80s/90s pop culture to get half the stuff.
Even when it came out you didn't have to be stupid to give up on it.
http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Space%20Quest/
Even when it came out you didn't have to be stupid to give up on it.
http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Space%20Quest/
Those old games were meant for kids, so you have to think like a kid from the 80's to understand the puzzles.
The only game developer I would like to see go away would be EA. Once upon a time EA had some good games, but then they decided to buy out other good games developers and destroy them completely (Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Maxis, etc).
The only game developer I would like to see go away would be EA. Once upon a time EA had some good games, but then they decided to buy out other good games developers and destroy them completely (Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Maxis, etc).
Yes Madden and Nascar [year] both are just retarded to update. I have Nascar '99 and the only differance really is just SOME new cars and a few more tracks. Otherwise its the same thing. And the stupid thing is that the stats of each driver/player are no different.
Longtime Madden fan...I usually buy the newest one every two years since I like my rosters to be up to date. The years I don't buy Madden I try to use create-a-player to make the new draftees and shuffle the guys around who got traded or signed as free agents. One year of that is fine but after two NFL drafts there are a lot of new players in the league plus the attributes on all players may have changed. Not to mention some of the older guys retire.
I'd like to see downloadable rosters for Madden so I don't have to buy the same game over and over again...I know it wasn't a possibility for Game Cube (which is what I used to play Madden on until I got the Wii) but I'd imagine Wii, PC, Mac, etc would all be doable. Even if there was a $15 fee I'd do it. Not sure if EA would do that or not but I think they'd get a lot of hardcore NFL fans like myself who would buy the new rosters.
I'd like to see downloadable rosters for Madden so I don't have to buy the same game over and over again...I know it wasn't a possibility for Game Cube (which is what I used to play Madden on until I got the Wii) but I'd imagine Wii, PC, Mac, etc would all be doable. Even if there was a $15 fee I'd do it. Not sure if EA would do that or not but I think they'd get a lot of hardcore NFL fans like myself who would buy the new rosters.
)] ]'>As a kid in school in the early 90's Sierra was the stuff. I agree though, the adventure games were downright hard. If you weren't getting what the programmers wanted you to get you were just plain stuck. The whole King's Quest series, Gold Rush, Police Quest and Space Quest...all classics.
I was never up for the Larry series though.
I was never up for the Larry series though.
I loved Sierra games.
Especially Jones in the Fast Lane, Hero's Quest: Quest for Glory, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and others.
I also loved Microprose for Master of Orion. Best. Game. Ever.
The game I couldn't beat was Rise of The Dragon.
Man this thread sent me on an abandon ware download spree for my T42.
Especially Jones in the Fast Lane, Hero's Quest: Quest for Glory, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and others.
I also loved Microprose for Master of Orion. Best. Game. Ever.
The game I couldn't beat was Rise of The Dragon.
Man this thread sent me on an abandon ware download spree for my T42.
So I just beat Jones in the Fast lane. Now I just need to figure out how to get sound working. I think XP only uses config.nt and autoexec.nt for DOS stuff but it has been a very long time since I fiddled with this kind of stuff. Kind of shocking to fire up a game and have no sound.
Flash port of Jones in the Fast Lane ;D
http://rambo3.googlepages.com/jones.html
How do they do that???!
Speaking of sound, I had the game on a USB stick and I took the stick into work. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if it would still run on a modern XP machine. Fired it up with the sound turned down, then realised that DOS doesn't respect Windows' volume controls. Damn, that was embarrassing! [8D]
http://rambo3.googlepages.com/jones.html
How do they do that???!
Speaking of sound, I had the game on a USB stick and I took the stick into work. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if it would still run on a modern XP machine. Fired it up with the sound turned down, then realised that DOS doesn't respect Windows' volume controls. Damn, that was embarrassing! [8D]
Sierra also published The Incredible Machine. Dynamix developed it though.
I also enjoyed Lode Runner and the King's Quest series, although some of them were impossible to get through without hints. Ten years later, I can finally use the internet to find a walkthrough.
I honestly don't pay attention to developers enough to hate any one in specific... other than the obvious. [}
] ]'>
I also enjoyed Lode Runner and the King's Quest series, although some of them were impossible to get through without hints. Ten years later, I can finally use the internet to find a walkthrough.
I honestly don't pay attention to developers enough to hate any one in specific... other than the obvious. [}
] ]'>