🚀 go-pugleaf

doc...@eng.umd.edu (John Sabean) writes:
>In article <38ksg7$6...@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, j-h...@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (James Hogan) writes:
>>gme...@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au (GM Enierga) writes:
>>>	Didn't they?  Then could someone please explain why they are under the
>>>label of Electronic Arts?  I really don't buy this "we will use their
>>>distribution arm" excuse.  Some other company did that previously - could
>>>have been U.S.Gold, but I am not sure.  So far as I can tell, there is NO U.S.
>>>Gold company around today.

>>They're a wholly owned subsidiary, but still have their own building 
>>where they produce games, handle their own customer support, etc...

	Like I said, I don't buy it.  It;s only a matter of time I guess.  All
I am saying is that the Origin of TODAY is not the same Origin of late 80's -
- early 90's.  They went out very quietly after Ultima 7.


>This is true, but to be honest, the former 'owner' of Origin, Richard
>Gariott, AKA Lord British, sold Origin to EA.

	Thought so. :-(


>You can see the trend. As he became more and more of an executive a couple of
>years ago, the quality of Origin's games has gone down. I hear he's turned most
>of the control over U9 to someone else. Wouldn't suprise me a bit!

>>>	And besides all that, what would be the point of buying a CD-ROM which
>>>ou would only have very few games for?  So far I have yet to see a SINGLE CD
>>>game which necessitates the value for buying  a CD-ROM.

>>Within a year there won't be a whole lot that's _not_ on CD-ROM.

	But HOW much of THAT will make the purchase of a CD-ROM worth the $$ ?
So far, after all that's been released on CD-ROM, there's still nothing.  Just
adding speech to a game and putting it on a CD-ROM is not exactly ground-
breaking, although it is not bad I must admit.
	Even with a most recent example: NHL'95.  Now I have not seen that game
but it was made by the same guys (I think?) who did NHL'94 and which was a GREAT
game, and I have read posts describing the game is garbage-bag-filler-material..
. well, not overtime, but still for the smells!


>True enough. CDs are easier to mass produce and more efficient as far as
>installation goes. The only problem is after a while, games will need to
>be PLAYED off the CD ROM and thats just too slow for me! :) 
>(Hey, multimedia clips are fine off the CD, but game data? No Way!)

	It makes sense for Origin to put their stuff on a CD-ROM, considering
the volumes of their games... but with their recent releases, they might as well
just have not bothered at all.


>>>	WC3 might change that, but I am willing to bet NOT.  Based on the last
>>>WC-related games Origin has released (WC Academy, Privateer, WC Armada) it
>>>logically seems worth a bet that WC3 will be yet another dud in the footsteps
>>>of Pacific Strike and U8.

>>WC Academy and WC Armada are both designed to basically be simple 
>>shoot-em-up games, with no major new features to the game engine or 
>>a storyline.  Privateer, well, it wasn't done by Chris Roberts.  

	Erm... They were all highly anticipated releases, and did nothing like
was promised (though I must admit that Academy did not promise much to begin
with).  Academy and Armada should have been just one package.  And I had a look
at Armada, and you are wrong: the VGA engine of the game is absolutely great,
a BIG improvement over WC2 - just look at the shields being hit next time for
a glimmer of what I am on about.
	As for Privateer... well, what can I say?  The voice acting was
terrible, and that would be one of the game's compliments I think!  And another
thing I cannot understand: when you release a speech pack for a game, don't you
EXPECT to mean FULL speech throughout the game, not just in the battle scenes?
Or is it just me?
	As for Chris Roberts... at one stage I was beginning to think that he
was going to join those in the pedestal of greatness (you know, THAT level that
Sid Meyer has reached)... but after seeing his name in some duds, I AM beginning
to wonder.  It's the problem with trusting oversized egos and brown nosed
individuals with your masterpiece... sooner or later it will get hacked up. :-(


>>I have faith that WC3 will be a good game.  

>I want to see how they did it before I make any judgements....

	Something I forgot to add in my original post: just as I have a
"negative" history of the Origin games line, they also have a "positive".
Considering that WC1 was THAT good that made people break the 286 threshold
(like the x-1 (or was it the x15?) breaking Mach 1), and WC2 was good enough
to fill sound-card manufacturers' pockets (and especially Creative Labs'),
perhaps WC3 will be just so great that it will force everyone to get CD-ROMs.
I only pray that I will NOT have to buy a Pentium - I would much rather not
buy the game at all, no matter how great it is, than be "blackmailed" (wrong
word again, sorry) into spending A$4000 (around US$3000 I think).


>>>	Except for System Shock which is done "ex-house" by Looking Glass
>>>is there ANY game Origin has made recently which is NOT crap according to most
>>>people's opinion?

>>Most people think Armada has an excellent multiplayer mode, FWIW.

>It does have an excellent multiplayer mode. Its the one player mode that stinks!
>The artificial intelligence (or lack thereof) is easy to beat for a long time
>Wing Commander jockey, such as myself. The strategic game is completely hindered
>by this (Make a couple bases, produce heavy fighters and bombers, and go system
>by system hunting for the enemy carrier. This 'strategy' has worked for me
>everytime so far. There's no fun in that!)

	Exactly.  Now can you ALSO tell me how many people out there CAN run
Armada in university network-linked computers, or how many people regularly
phone others to play with a modem and NOT pay outrageous sums of money for, or
how many people have a mini-network in their own homes?
	Sure it is fun - but you DO need another person to make it fun.  I
personally was looking forward to the strategy bit... nothing like finding out
how good a commander you are against some of the galaxy's most fierce and
terrorising opponents!  Too bad I was disappointed - they lost a sure customer
there.

>The only thing Origin did right is that Armada WILL work on a 386/40, just fine.
>(Ignore that 486/DX2 50 Recommended garbage on the box!)

	Now THAT was surprising, though I would not know since the friend's
computer I "tested" the game on was a dx2-66.  I still have my doubts though
in regards to the 386-40.  Origin surely can't make such a silly mistake, can
they? :-)
 
						- Falcon