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Guest tictoc
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Guys, i checked archives and cannot find a reference to this so i'll post it anyway, privateer and the sequel (righteous fire) can be obtained free at www.underdogs.com that is if you havn't got it and want it, there is a bunch of other free d/loads there including elite and elite2

tic

[This message has been edited by tictoc (edited 01-27-2001).]

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Ahh yes, The Underdogs, how long I've known them to be around for, and how useful they've been..

Of course, there's also the never-ending debate as to if what they're doing is legal or not. IMHO I think it's a sweet idea to make no-longer-easily-available-or-sellable games available for download, but I'm curious what the actual developers think about their games being posted available for free many years after they've gone out of style.

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Commodore. Parias

ICV-Galatae, Sanctuary Storage Facility (Sygan)

Balor Fleet

ICQ 1293359

Staff member at HardNews

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While I doubt Origin approves of Privateer related materials being available, The Elite games are an interesting story...

As you may know Elite was done by Ian Bell and David Braben. Ian Bell has made Elite available to anyone who wants it at: http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/clara.net/i...webspace/elite/

There you can pick up a copy for virtually every platform it was created for!

However Bell's site has shutdown and moved a few times apparently due to pressure from David Braben who apparently wants to release Elite only to paying members of "The Elite Club"

For David Braben's take on things you can check out The Elite section under games at: http://www.frontier.co.uk

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Well as Elite was mentioned... why not once again remind of a great work of mr JJ for his full supported win32/directX + working joystick support for Frontier: First encounters a must have for all FFE owners at: http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/

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Cmdr Jason Cloud

GCV Silver Lining, GENESIS (Moon)

26 Squadron Commander, 2nd squadron

Prime fleet, Gamma Wing

[This message has been edited by Papi (edited 01-28-2001).]

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That's a good point.

Since the work I do pretty much required me to switch to Win2K and more specifically the NTFS file system, I pondered what to do about all my old games that were no longer working.

I disliked the idea of multiple partitions and drive letters floating around as I have done that before and it quickly gets annoying.

So I made a bootable CD that extracts and runs DOS games to a ram disk.

Using several utilities for DOS I wrote a batch file that will run a game when prompted and check the NTFS drive for save games and load any found. The game then runs and afterward the updated saves are written back to the NTFS drive.

If you do happen to have a FAT partition or two, the batch files will still work by rearranging drive letters allowing the game to still run from the drive letter it was installed to.

So far it works with over two hundred DOS games that I have installed. It should give over 620K free conventional memory on almost any PC it is run on. The only real requirement is that you have a SB compatible card (works with a SB Live, AWE32-64, or SB16)

I also have added basic network utilities to it including Web browsing, VNC, MS net client, Novell Net client, Ghost (can be used with a multicast server too).

It has become my ultimate one disk solution for troubleshooting and dos gaming.

So far the only game I have trouble with is the 11th Hour which seems to leave some junk in memory that the NTFS driver doesn't like as it reboots the machine when saves are written to the NTFS drive. Still you can play and save to floppy or FAT partition for that particular game untilI figure out a possible workaround (if there is one).

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While I support the concept of Abandonware, it is illegal. There is no "debate" about this. If there is it is between gamers, not gamers and the industry. The companies who develop/release games own copyright for the next 70+ years. Until then, they are free to do as they please with the software, but putting it up on websites and giving it to whoever comes along is piracy, plain and simple.

When BC3K becomes five years old, how will you feel when you see it on an Abandonware site? I'm not sure how Derek would feel - flattered or threatened - but I personally would be revolted. As a copyright holder myself, seeing someone stealing your intellectual property is just as good as someone telling you your work is great and taking it from you without giving you a single penny.

Just had to vent a little. I'm not directing this at anyone and am just posting it for the benefit of those who might not realise that Abandonware is illegal. I also recognise some developers have allowed their games to enter the public domain. Just hoping to clarify things. wink.gif

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Right, it's illegal no matter if it is being sold or not. I wonder who came up with the whole abandonware concept anyway?

I buy my games anyway because I like the little things like manuals and maps and stuff...remember the Infocom games? They used to give out cool little things. I still have a lot of them.

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I acctually own Privater and RF, but when I got it my first computer didn't have enough speed for it to run, so an couple years later I got this computer it wsa the first thing I tried and it wouldn't work for me at all, so I was wondering if anybody knows an link that tells you how to run this game with win98.......

oh look my first post on this board!

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Since when did copyrights mean that no one could use the item unless they paid for it? A copyright means that no one can SELL an intellectual work other than the copyright holder. In other words, I can't make money off things you do, you can't make money off things I do.

But if someone distributes something free of charge, that's a different can of worms. The only time a copyright comes into effect is when the copyright owner ASKS for the distribution to stop. If the distribution doesn't stop then, it's illegal.

I really don't think the companies that created those "abandonware" games really care all too much. Underdogs.org has been around for some time now - you would think they would have been shut down if it were truly illegal.

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Hey, Ohso, care to share that nifty little proggy?

I own Privateer and Strike Fighter and would love to play them again smile.gif Alas, i'm stuck in the Win2k world myself...

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Insurgent Two, Akira

ICV Nevermore, Spectre HQ (Antis)

Minister of War,

Insurgency

Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series

ICQ 13379858

[This message has been edited by Akira (edited 01-30-2001).]

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Mmmm... downloaded privateer and wing commander, but none of the two I was able to get to work... conventionnal memory thing again... didn't wanted to make to much changes in config.sys... only one time I heard of a computer with 1024kb of conventionnal mem (it was a 286 cwm16.gif ), you know, the maker of the computer was BRIGHT!!, but he was alone. Too bad.

Hey, by the way, Microsoft said a long time ago that no computer will ever need more than 640kb of memory. Sure. cwm27.gif

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Commander Epsilon 5

UCV-StalkerIV

Fleet-unregistered

"Hmmm... what's that? Nothing anymore."

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  • 5 months later...

Aw man. A timout caused my reply to die. Okay, here's a quick rehash:

You are right. If you, say, photocopy an article with the intent to sell it to someone, you are violating the rights of the owners, be they the paper or the writer.

However, if you photocopy an article with the intent to use it in a school essay, it is STILL violating the rights of the owner.

Ideally, the owner would be PAID for the use of their work, and nobody in their right mind works for free, right? So by photocopying the article and using it, you are reaching into their pocket and taking a crisp cool twenty.

Please visit the following website for further information - I'm sure they can explain it better than I can. When you go there, visit the "What is copyright" section, amongst others. This is a canadian agency, but it has american counterparts with similar goals.

http://www.cancopy.com

The bottom line as I see it: Abandonware causes developers/publishers to lose out on potential revenue and is thus harmful, regardless of whether it is still supported, regardless of whether the owner cares or not. If jimmy bob decides to go out and buy BC3K, but see's it on Underdogs.org instead and uses that copy, Derek has just lost out on a certain sum of money. You take out your trash once per week and leave it at the side of the road. You don't disavow yourself of it: you still own it and are still responsible for it, whether you care about it or not. Keep in mind that for most writers and programmers their work is their only source of income. There's journalists out there slaving away at .50/word in order to pay the rent and all they see is their final payment, when they should also be seeing revenue from people who photocopy the work. I'd bet you would feel pretty bad if someone walked into your home and said, "Boy, this furniture is covered in dust and hasn't been touched in years. Obviously you don't give a damn, so I'm gonna take it." It's NOT YOUR PROPERTY!

Sorry about the rambling tone. I feel strongly about this.

[ 07-10-2001: Message edited by: Gryphon ]

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