Strike Commander

Liked it too. I'll never forget when once my fuel tank got hit, and I ran out of fuel long before reaching the airfield, but I still somehow managed to glide to it and land the plane with engines off :D .
 
I didn't realize that this game is now termed "AbandonWare" and it is a free to download at the link above. Apparently you need "Dosbox" to run it.

I believe the game was delayed 2 years.
 
Electronic Arts continues to own the rights to Strike Commander, and in all likelyhood will for many, many years.
 
The term "abandonware" is bullshit coined by people who want to feel good about their theft. Citing an entry in a toy encyclopedia doesn't make it any more acceptable, especially around here.
 
"especially around here."
-- Explain Further.

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"toy encyclopedia"
-- What is a toy encyclopedia?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia
"At this point in time, a variety of studies to date have tended to suggest that the science entries of Wikipedia are of a similar order of accuracy (and similar rates of both serious and minor errors[2]) to Encyclopædia Britannica"
 
More than a few of the administrative staff (obviously including myself) have little love for Wikipedia, and even less trust in it, their self-backslapping page aside.

As for the studies, I know the Nature article had serious flaws in it, and I bet without too much effort most of the pro-Wiki stuff (often found in places that cite Wikipedia entries... can you say "conflict of interest"?) isn't exactly models of accuracy, either.
 
"Electronic Arts continues to own the rights to Strike Commander, and in all likelyhood will for many, many years."
-- Correct. 95 year copyright. We'll be dead before it expires.
Note: I don't endorse breaking copyright laws.
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"The term "abandonware" is bullshit coined by people who want to feel good about their theft."
-- The term theft becomes a little gray, if a game is "impossible to purchase". It is still a copyright violation though.

Other examples are defunct game makers releasing games with permision, and defunct game makers "losing their copyright documentation". An example about MECC is cited in the article.
 
Anyway, back to Strike Commander

I really liked Strike Commander, and it is amazing how ahead of its time the graphics were. I remember being astonished that I could see my weapons hung under my wings in flight. Man, everything about that game was awesome!
 
No, it doesn't become gray at all. There's only one Mona Lisa, so it's ok if we steal it because it's impossible to purchase! It doesn't matter if it's hard to find, if they haven't very explicitly made it publicly available then you're breaking the law.
 
"No, it doesn't become gray at all. There's only one Mona Lisa, so it's ok if we steal it because it's impossible to purchase! It doesn't matter if it's hard to find, if they haven't very explicitly made it publicly available then you're breaking the law."
-- Outstanding debate. Great Point.

The mona lisa is a physical object that has value. Software, is more like music; It is a "virtual object".

Example 1:
Disco music may be considered out-dated or obsolete. It may not be in stores, because it has no demand... no value.

Example 2:
A 15-year old dos-based video game that doesn't run on windows MAY be considered defunct or obsolete. It may be unavailable to be purchased because it has no value.
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However, I agree that is illegal to "copy" an artistic work, regardless of "No Value", without permission.
 
No, it's really not. At any given time there are a couple of copies on Ebay. Plus, Strike Commander is a game (that I think at least) is worth having an actual copy of, I only have my manual now, but I read it every-once and a while and lose myself in the fond memories I had with Strike Commander.
 
No, it doesn't become gray at all. There's only one Mona Lisa, so it's ok if we steal it because it's impossible to purchase! It doesn't matter if it's hard to find, if they haven't very explicitly made it publicly available then you're breaking the law.
The Mona Lisa is a terrible example - it's not ok to steal it, but it is perfectly ok to copy it.

(Of course, that's not in the least bit relevant to software, the difference being that copying the Mona Lisa takes a significant effort and the end result is a copy, not an exact replica of the original)
 
Legalities aside I am 99% sure that you wouln't be all that impressed with any abandoneware version of Strike Commander. That little beast DOES have a copy protection (unlike any DOS WC games). It recognizes the system it was installed to and doesn't run all that well (read: it runs, but you will encounter 'interesting' problems in the game) on another system.
 
Legalities aside I am 99% sure that you wouln't be all that impressed with any abandoneware version of Strike Commander. That little beast DOES have a copy protection (unlike any DOS WC games).

You mean I imagined having to enter in the mass of a Ralari, or the ESK rating of a Javelin (IIRC) missile, to play WC1 or Secret Missions 1? ;)
 
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