I just downloaded Vega Strike and played it last night. Thank you to all those responsible for this great game. However, the thought occured to me last night, why not update Privateer and Privateer 2 to run on Windows 95? I mean, we know old games can be upgraded for the Windows environment because of the Kilrathi Saga... Am I off my nut? ?(so to speak) Or has this already been done?
A quick question
- Thread starter Excelsis
- Start date
upgrade them to run on 95! already been done?! ARE YOU OFF YOUR NUT!
probably not, thing is lad, great idea tho it is, wed need the source code for the games, and EA in their infinite wisdom and shittiness aint gonna give us that, now if we were to shuffle over to ID games, suggest that buying the wingcommander rights from EA wud be a good idea, then petitioning them to give unto us the source code, it wud work... hold on i have a cunning plan!
hehe seriously EA wont give us the source, now if GBA prophecy is a success and the various other space games coming out this year too, along with the wc music cd by the fatman, then EA might be more eager to do something WC, and financially getting some code minded fans to upgrade the older games is a good way of getting something for very little, wed buy it, the coders assuming they were WC fans wud probably agree to do it for free after all they get an upgrade WC too, but at the end of the day, anything other than missions and ships for the old games is in EA's ball park, not ours, and definitely not origins or chris roberts. that said, ea have been on a little of an origin rights selling spurt, with the theif 3 rights going off to ion storm and i wudnt be surprised if a similar issue happens with sys shock 3 after theif 3 is out
the problem weve had in the past in gettin EA to release the source, is that it doesnt benefit them greatly, we say that theyd get proof that WC is big, but if they havent got a team to make a new WC why would they care? the source code upgrade by fans for free is an ok idea, but the problem as usual is persuading EA, as far as they are concerned WC is a long lost prize, especially the older games, i wrote to EA back in 96 asking where i could find secret missions for WC1, and they really didnt care back then, wc is just one of those things, that they dont want, but dont want to give away, after all they do know its potential, and they dont want to risk others making a profit cos they sold it, but at the same time, they dont want to spend the money testing the water in case the market is too hot for WC or too cold (hence why this next years space sim releases could be very important to us)
if that helps at all im glad
if not, ah well i tried hehe
probably not, thing is lad, great idea tho it is, wed need the source code for the games, and EA in their infinite wisdom and shittiness aint gonna give us that, now if we were to shuffle over to ID games, suggest that buying the wingcommander rights from EA wud be a good idea, then petitioning them to give unto us the source code, it wud work... hold on i have a cunning plan!
hehe seriously EA wont give us the source, now if GBA prophecy is a success and the various other space games coming out this year too, along with the wc music cd by the fatman, then EA might be more eager to do something WC, and financially getting some code minded fans to upgrade the older games is a good way of getting something for very little, wed buy it, the coders assuming they were WC fans wud probably agree to do it for free after all they get an upgrade WC too, but at the end of the day, anything other than missions and ships for the old games is in EA's ball park, not ours, and definitely not origins or chris roberts. that said, ea have been on a little of an origin rights selling spurt, with the theif 3 rights going off to ion storm and i wudnt be surprised if a similar issue happens with sys shock 3 after theif 3 is out
the problem weve had in the past in gettin EA to release the source, is that it doesnt benefit them greatly, we say that theyd get proof that WC is big, but if they havent got a team to make a new WC why would they care? the source code upgrade by fans for free is an ok idea, but the problem as usual is persuading EA, as far as they are concerned WC is a long lost prize, especially the older games, i wrote to EA back in 96 asking where i could find secret missions for WC1, and they really didnt care back then, wc is just one of those things, that they dont want, but dont want to give away, after all they do know its potential, and they dont want to risk others making a profit cos they sold it, but at the same time, they dont want to spend the money testing the water in case the market is too hot for WC or too cold (hence why this next years space sim releases could be very important to us)
if that helps at all im glad
if not, ah well i tried hehe
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Damn those evil robots, they won't give us free stuff for no reason!
Companies do *not* give out source code because they love the people who buy their games ever-so much. It's part of a business model -- one that EA doesn't use. ID Software, the company famous for giving out source code, makes their money by licensing engines to other companies. By 'giving away' the Quake 2 source code to the world, they force the professional developers to purchase the *Quake 3* engine from them... it's all done to make money. This *isn't* how EA makes their money.
Giving out source code to fans to promote a new game doesn't make a lick of sense, either. You won't ship more units by giving the masses the ability to make their *own* version of the product for free.
(And this is all *IF* the source code still exists... which is doubtful).
Origin didn't have anything to do with the Thief series, ever.
EA has some issues regarding rights to games that were published by other companies through Origin: things like System Shock, Ultima Underworld and Abuse. Not any of the Wing Commanderses.
Yup.
Thief was by Looking Glass Studios, which went bankrupt not too long ago. Looking Glass programmed either all or part (can't remember which) of the Ultima Underworld games and System Shock, and then those games were released under the Origin label. System Shock 2, however, was released under the EA label.
IIRC, Abuse was by a company with the interesting name of crack.com.
looking glass made theif and sys shock, being a subsiduary of origin, makes them origins responsibility, since EA own origin, theif by definition goes down to them.
the ID buying the code was a joke by the way
and i notice noone commented on the suggestion i made sensibly of fans editin the source for EA to make us a wc 95 that they can then sell. forget the logistics for a moment ie wether any fan wud do that, its in EA's interest that and they mite just agree to it dont u agree?
the ID buying the code was a joke by the way
and i notice noone commented on the suggestion i made sensibly of fans editin the source for EA to make us a wc 95 that they can then sell. forget the logistics for a moment ie wether any fan wud do that, its in EA's interest that and they mite just agree to it dont u agree?
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Looking Glass wasn't a subsidary of Origin -- they were an independant company. Origin published games produced by them in the early 90s...
Let me just say this to everybody... My friend got Privateer to work on Windows 98... I forget how he did it but I know it works. I also got the original WC III (not Kilrathi Saga) to work on Windows XP except for the sound because I don't have a Sound Blaster Emulator...So you shouldn't need a code or anything to get them to work....And I got Privateer to work on my Windows 95 computer so I don't know why it wouldn't work for you.
Um...
Read what it says below. Origin had NOTHING to do with Thief. Their name isn't on the box, isn't on the title screen, and can't be found anywhere within the manual. Contrast this with Ultima Underworld, which had both the Origin and Looking Glass labels on the box, in the manual, and in the start-up screens.
Looking Glass is and always was an independent company. If they had been a subsidiary of EA (whether they were directly owned by EA, or a subsidiary of Origin), then instead of going bankrupt, they probably would have had their debts paid off by EA, and then been closed down.
And when Thief 3 (rights currently owned by Warren Specter, iirc) comes out, it will be through an independent company, as well.
Before I get deluged with e-mails from social vigilantes, I am just kidding.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
I would imagine that someone will come up with a way to edit Privateer without the source code... that's what the Ultima fans did with U7 and U8 and such.
hold on loaf, i just wanna clear this up... there are ultima fans? WOW! how do they live!
i notice the still lack of comment on trying to persuade EA to let US the fans make them a SALEABLE win95 mod of the games that they can sell for minimal loss, i mean they cud sell them on the website, avoiding the problems of sending copies out to shops and them not being sold, does no one else see benefits here?
i notice the still lack of comment on trying to persuade EA to let US the fans make them a SALEABLE win95 mod of the games that they can sell for minimal loss, i mean they cud sell them on the website, avoiding the problems of sending copies out to shops and them not being sold, does no one else see benefits here?
TC
SubCrid
Wait... why would they sell anything at a loss at all? That's just stupid 
Secondly, they have a Windows port of at least Armada *already*. They weren't willing to release it after they contracted it, and last time I asked them about it (3-6 months ago) they weren't willing to release it now.
Secondly, they have a Windows port of at least Armada *already*. They weren't willing to release it after they contracted it, and last time I asked them about it (3-6 months ago) they weren't willing to release it now.
KrisV
Administrator
I think everyone's just being nice to you. I, however, will gladly tell you that this is never, ever going to happen.
If you want to get something done, why don't you help with one of the many fan projects out there? There are plenty project leaders and not nearly enough people getting work done. You could help out with Vegastrike, according to the update I posted earlier this week it can do everything Privateer does. Instead of hoping to make Privateer 95 for EA for free, why not make a Privateer clone for free?
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wow did u read my mind to get that word i never said? or thought... hold on hey i know why i didnt say armada, cos i didnt mean it, at the end of the day vegastrike does what priv does, it aint priv, x btf does what priv does, it aint priv. result, it aint the same thing, no amount of tweaking and fixes can make it what it isnt, it doesnt have priv ships, priv's storyline or priv's cut scenes.
oh and lastly it doesnt have priv's engine, to many that may be a good thing but i have a 386 so i can go play priv, cos it looks like it is. priv aint priv without BEING priv same with any WC games, its the culmination of everything that makes WC WC
oh and lastly it doesnt have priv's engine, to many that may be a good thing but i have a 386 so i can go play priv, cos it looks like it is. priv aint priv without BEING priv same with any WC games, its the culmination of everything that makes WC WC