Supreme Cmdr

Until I have had the chance to speak with my attorneys next week, I am going to temporarily close this thread. Thanks for your continued support, the emails, calls, PMs etc. I know you guys are out there and I thank you. Right now, my focus is on getting UCAWA out to you guys so that we can get back to doing what we like doing. Playing our games.

Quoted from the same Blues thread above quote: OK, neither do I do always I agree with Smart's particular way of public self-expression,or care about his games ( just not my cup of tea), nor do I know what actually happened between him and DC,BUT, I did have one very brief experience with him and one a bit more extensive with DC. Quite some time ago I exchanged a few emails about possibly doing some work for him. we negotiated, couldn't agree on the price and that was that. in these mails he was polite, clear and up front about what he demands and what he gives and although we obviously did not get to work together it was a rather pleasant experience. no fuss, no harm, no beating around the bush. wonderful. what I have seen from DC was the exact opposite. negotiations, talks, contract drafts going back and forth delays etc.. for many months. Unfortunately I can't give away any details about this, and I am not accusing anybody of anything, but my subjective personal impression did not go in favor of DC's business practice. All I want to say with this is, just cause DS shows an eccentric attitude in the so called online community, it doesn't necessarily mean that all he says is wrong or untrue .Maybe he screws DC, maybe they screwed him, none of us who are not involved directly, will really ever know, thus none of us shall judge.

Thats so funny, I don't even know what to say. In fact, I'm not going to say anything. I'm going to let the emails and the documents speak for themselves once I've spoken to my attorney on Monday. But since this is not confidential, lets get the ball rolling with this notice which (they complied with the UCAWA aspects last night) prompted my original post which sparked the recent developments. As with last year, I'm going to arrange whatever documents and emails (those I legally can without breaching confidentiality) in chronological order, related to this issue. Fact is, they no longer have Universal Combat - A World Apart and Universal Combat Special Edition (the two follow up titles) because of issues in our first (BCMG + UC) contract. This is not a company with a lot of products; let alone be able to aford losing even one; let alone two. Anyone with access to NPD and the European sales figures, can immediately see the sales of BCMG and UC worldwide. They both made money. Lots of it and thats no big secret. If they want to make public just HOW and WHY they lost the rights to two titles (both of which were 100% completed, done, in escrow, ready to ship etc etc since 04-15-05) with earning potential in excess of $4m; just like that, let them. I'm not going to post it and have them sue me over confidentiality issues covered by the contract. EVERYTHING I've posted so far, is covered 100% by free speech and does not in any way, shape or form, breach confidentiality. I'm not stupid. All I know is, my intent in making these [non-confidential] issues public is simply because I know - FOR A FACT - that we (3000AD Inc) are not alone and too often small indies go out of business at the hands of largely unscrupulous publishers. It just so happens that I'm notoriously popular, so anything I say or write, makes the news rounds. I have dealt with the better publishing companies in my 14+ years and only had a problem with Take Two back (BC3K, 1996). Once that was settled, that was the end of that. I never had any problems with Interplay (BC3K v2.0, 1999) and nor did they with me. In fact, despite all the crap some have posted about their dealings with Interplay, I hever had a single problem with them or said issues would have been in the public domain (like all my other skirmishes). I had exclusive deals with the likes of Electronics Boutique (BCM, 2000). I have sold titles via e-commerce partners such as BMT Micro over many, many years and NEVER had a problem. I had BCM deals with several companies in International countries. In fact, two (one in Austrailia and the other in the UK) of them were later bought by Take Two. Never a problem. WHY then is it that we CONTINUE to have these problems with this publisher? Despite the fact that they are selling our games and MAKING money from them? Right after the BCM product with EB, we signed BCM Gold and UC (then BCG) with Dreamcatcher. And our problems started. I sued them in Canada in 2004 and was later settled. I then signed UCAWA and UCSE to them - turning down several offers - because I didn't want to start afresh with a new publisher and because it made sense to keep the Universal Combat franchise with them; as long as they stuck to the contract. They didn't. I walked. Without giving them the chance to screw me again. Thats the long and short of it and they are more than welcome to refute anything I have posted here. By next week, my US and Canadian attorneys will decide what I can and cannot make public. Food for thought: In my 14+ year history, I have NEVER - EVER - been sued for breach of a contract or any such nonsense. I fund my games. Develop my games. Deliver my games. When it comes to recouping my money, it becomes a matter of pulling teeth and babysitting contracts so that those I trusted with my work, can hold up their end of the bargain. ALL the money I spend in post-ship support (email, website, forum, multiplayer servers etc etc), NOT A SINGLE PENNY is subsidized by a publisher. ALL of that comes from MY pocket. We support our games way past the twelve month period required by a publishing contract. We enhance them. We improve them. We patch them. We support them. Without a SINGLE question. See what we have done with Universal Combat thus far, even given the crap we've had to put up with. Why? because we value our install base more than anything else. We don't go around saying, ....oh, we didn't get paid for the last one, so we're not supporting it. bye, bye ALL my personnel are paid out of my pocket. Even when things are tight, they still get paid. Hence the reason, six games to date, they are still the same crew. Where is that money coming from? Me. Derek Smart. How are we to recoup it? From the sales of our games. What happens when publishers don't pay us for our work; cook the books, blatantly LIE in royalty statements and no money comes in? I have to dip into my personal coffers to put money back into the company. Meanwhile, I'm still supporting the products they are SELLING. Now tell me, WHO won't be PISSED? I'm not afraid of Dreamcatcher - or anyone person or entity under the Sun. I am steadfast in what I believe in and when I sign a contract, I stick to it. I'm not some small guy that a publisher can just push around. For every attorney they throw my way, I'll send two. I don't have answer to anyone and I don't make ANY noise about ANYTHING, unless I have a VALID reason for doing so. I don't engage in legal activities unless I have a reason for doing so. If Dreamcatcher feels they have a claim against me, they know where to find me. For every claim they think they have (as per the NONSENSE and LIES they posted above on Blues), I have a counter-claim. And everyone knows by now that the person voted mostly like to die than be stepped on - or muzzled - its me. [ 06-06-2005, 09:40 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

*moved to its own thread* quote: Originally posted by Prez: From the nitwits over on Blues (Prez is a regular! ) to this:. quote:I know it's big fun to rip on Derek, and far be it from me to rain on anyone's parade, but I just wanna pipe in with my $0.02, and stir the pot a little bit. First, in the interest of full disclosure, I should preface this by saying a few things: 1) I'm the guy who brought Derek into DC in the first place. 2) I'm no longer employed by DC -- I was one of about 5 or 6 senior people let go in December. So, I have no inside info on what's gone on there in the past 6 months. 3) I consider Derek a friend. He's never been anything but straight up with me personally, and a huge supporter of me professionally. Behind all the bluster, he's actually one of the nicest guys I know. All that being said, my point is maybe he's right? Maybe DC did screw him over big time, and he's just fighting for what is rightfully his? He may not be going about it in the quietest way, but it's his way. So instead of goofing on him, maybe he should get our support? quote: Originally posted by Prez: It is my duty and my honor to defend thee on the blues forums, SC! quote: Originally posted by Prez: quote:DreamCatcher regrets that Mr. Smart has resorted to making false accusations online. DreamCatcher has fulfilled or exceeded all of it contractual obligations with regards to the two agreements signed with 3000AD and Mr. Smart. Contrary to his assertions, DreamCatcher, not Mr. Smart, terminated the last agreement with 3000AD due to non-delivery by 3000AD of UC: A World Apart. The first agreement with 3000AD governing their earlier products, BattleCruiser Millennium Gold and Universal Combat is still in full force and effect and the rights granted under it have not reverted to 3000AD. We vigorously deny any allegations Mr. Smart has made regarding our accounting and business practices.ÔÇØ Justed posted on Blues a few minutes ago. [ 06-06-2005, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

*moved* [ 06-06-2005, 08:20 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

Digitial distribution of games is the future. It is inevitable (not only for indies) and the future is now.

...sure they do!

Effective June 1st, UC and BCM Gold are no longer supported. The final 2.00.30 patch for UC will be released sometime this month. At which time the 3000AD multiplayer servers will be shutdown.

Go Mike Go!! Another day, another industry lawsuit.

Following a letter from our attorney and notification of legal action from me, Dreamcatcher have now removed all UCAWA materials from their website and forums. They have yet to remove the BCMG and UC materials because either they feel that we cannot terminate it (which we can and did) or are intending to settle (the only way thats going to happen is if they PAY us what they owe and sign documents preventing them from further cooking the books, not accurately reporting sales and royalties, sticking to the contract etc etc) the matter with my attorneys. More info is forthcoming as it unfolds. Either way, this time around - unlike the fiasco over UC which cost me several thousands of lost earnings and them getting away with merely a slap on the wrist - I am fully prepared to see this to the very - bitter - end as I don't believe that Dreamcatcher is going to be in business much longer. At least not long enough to keep conducting business (at least with us) as they have been doing since we signed with them back in late 2002. The recent Dungeon Lords release fiasco is yet another example of the kind of people we're dealing with here. Unfortunately, other indies don't have the resources with which to prevent some publishers from doing crap like this and getting away with it; just because they can. [ 06-03-2005, 08:20 AM: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

Well, they should have seen the disaster fallout by now; since DC released theirs on 05-04. Thats a whole month of hair raising wtf!?! DC only have the North American rights. Mindscape has the UK rights.

Shamelessly ganked from Blues quote: Dungeon Lords U.K. Delay [June 02, 2005, 11:31 am EDT] - 12 Comments Mindscape announces a delay to the U.K. release of Dungeon Lords, even though an English version of Heuristic Park's combat RPG is currently available in North America. Here's word on the delay, as European editions of the game were slated to ship in May: Mindscape has today taken the decision to delay the release of Dungeon Lords by three weeks, to allow the award-winning development team additional time to address and polish some aspects of the gameplay. Mindscape apologises for this delay, however, as a distributor and publisher of quality leisure and games software, Mindscape feels honour bound to offering only the best titles, produced to the highest of standards, to its loyal fan and customer base. Mindscape apologises for any inconvenience caused and its sales and marketing team are available for any further enquiries. Dungeon Lords will now be available for PC on 1st July 2005.

One - or both - of you, don't know what persistent is. The mp world - like the sp world - is persistent. So I have no idea what you folks are yammering about. If we're talking about server side client stats saving; as I've said before; there are NO plans to do that in any game other than UCO, which is designed to do that from the ground up.

I'm, I'm speechless. For one thing, I had no clue that this was even in the works. And after seeing the trailer, the only thing I remember, is a flash of White panties. What'd I miss?

Lock it up and throw away the key OK, that was just harsh. But once again, this is a perfect example of the company we've been dealing with. Rushed - yet another product to market - knowing fully (according to the devs) well, that it wasn't ready for prime time.

...I've been saying this for years

LMAO!!! Thats the first time I've seen that. How the hell did you come across that? Gamers have far too much time on their hands.

hehe, I can't wait to see what you do with UCAWA

You could start by reading the manual

If you play the original game release and the recent patch, you will have your answer. Its not just performance related. Instead of asking me questions about stuff thats out there, why - as a programmer - don't you go and take a look at both APIs? They're out there you know.

There are no plans in the foreseeable future to add new ships to the game.

FEs are not just there for fighters.

You can't assign waypoints to personnel.

quote: Originally posted by Prez: I don't know, but as a regular on the Bluesnews boards I found these guys to be WAY more civil. Absolutely. My only gripe is that Certis, the board admin, wanted to have the last word. He just couldn't resist the parting jab. Oh well, thats why we all have boards I suppose. If its one thing I hate more than anything else, its wankers who can't operate outside of the mob mentality. The sorry thing about that is, most of the Net is exactly like that. Not to mention the fact that people aren't even consistent. And then when you find yourself on the opposite end of someone whose friend owns the board (or is a regular), you have more to contend with. People are just so fake and simple minded, yet, they try to point the finger. Here on my board, I don't show favoritism whatsoever, whether you're a regular or not; every is equal. But this f*ckers have nothing better to do with their time but to stir up a hornet's nest, then cry foul when the glass hive comes crashing down. At least I'm consistent.

Another one bites the dust. First Jowood closes Wings. Now Massive (developers of Aquanox).