I agree.
I am a windows user through and through.
Thats unlikely to change.
Now the draconis stuff I don't know, like q9, bavisoft, bsc, they were
really great games, but they had their day in the sun.
It was nice and long and was a good progression, they were top of thheir
class and for their time they rocked.
But that time is long past.
I own most of these games, but to be honest a lot has changed.
Firstly the mainstream community is catching up.
Its not complete but even steam is catching up to a point.
I like itch over steam but I do have a load of realestate on that
platform and will continue to do so because of its web nature.
My other one would be gog though I don't know so much on that because
stardew was the only one and I decided it wasn't my game type I liked.
I am into the adventure visual novel and web games right now in any case
due to ears and my current life.
Its a pitty for a bit of history to go down for new players but oh well
its life.
To be honest there will become a day where blind games in fact all
accesstech including screen readers will no longer exist because they
will no longer bee needed, blindness may not exist either to a point.
What I am trying to say in that paragraph is the world is finally
catching up and is actually making progress.
Its not much now but the world has decided and is moving and its not
stopping.
And I don't think even if I could I'd actually stop it roling.
The world likes to put people in cupboards and forget about them.
I found my hole some time ago.
Its not the best nitch but its not like I haven't tried to get out, the
world has decided I need to stay there.
Point is, the world can be a real bastard if it wants to, evil to.
Its sad, but let it go, the world is moving and will probably catch up
sooner or later and faster maybe.
There are a lot of little companies all over the place.
On 17/05/2023 2:31 pm, Lenron wrote:
Look I get that apple may seem to be the best way going forward I just
feel that it shuts out a huge group of gamers. Many people don't have
a Mac or can't afford one. The Iphone yes a bunch of us might have but
still there are those that don't have one. I guess you could maybe go
for the IPad in that case. This is just one of those things that I am
hoping a huge group of gamers don't get shut out of.
On 5/16/23, Cara Quinn <caraqu...@caraquinn.com> wrote:
HI Michael and All,
Michael, thanks for your note.
As an XBox owner myself, while it would certainly be great to have more
accessible titles on the platform, I’m just not sure I may be explaining the
situation as clearly as I can, and I’m sorry for that.
When I say we do not have the resources for cross-platform development, it’s
not as if we do not have access to actual machines if we needed them.
What I mean is that in regard to our development time, we would not be able
to manage all of the hours that would need to go into this work.
this isn’t even getting into payment for our time.
So regarding porting titles to XBox when we would already not be able to
continue Windows development is just not in the cards as things stand right
now.
I’ve been on this list a while, as you all have, and I can’t help but note
that this type of discussion seems to come up again and again over the
years, and I have to wonder why this is?
anyone developing games for this community, whether they be an individual or
a company, seems to run into the same questions / concerns. Why is this?
Draconis is an ongoing endeavor which we would love to have as a main source
of support for us and our families in our day-to-day work. We simply cannot
make that happen if we’re constantly asked to basically give up everything
that we have and all past efforts as a donation.
Yes, there are some circumstances that would absolutely warrant this. If we
were no longer supporting these games at all, for example, but this is not
the case. We are simply porting these titles from Microsoft to Apple.
If we gave away everything that the company has, then how would we be able
to do anything for the community at all? -let alone attempt to sustain the
company?
In all seriousness, short of finding an angel investor, there is usually no
way to develop for the blind community in any kind of a sustainable way.
If you or anyone else has leads on funding that could assist us, I would
absolutely be open to suggestions.
Again, this is absolutely a serious question. We would certainly be open to
real avenues that would sustain the company for growth and further
development efforts.
I hope this offers a bit more clarity and discourse on this.
thanks again for your suggestions and please feel free to continue the great
discussion.
Cheers!
Cara
On May 16, 2023, at 2:09 PM, Michael barnes <c...@samobile.net> wrote:
I would like to make another suggestion. Port your titles to the xBox
since there are a lot of blind people on that platform.
Do think about releasing the Windows version of the games free since
Windows version of the games are not going to be supported.
On May 15, 2023, at 6:34 PM, Cara Quinn <caraqu...@caraquinn.com> wrote:
Hi all,
First off, let me thank you for all of the support we’ve gotten in regard
to our announcement today.
It really means a lot to us and really is an inspiration as we move
forward.
We also want to extend our understanding and apologies to all of you who
feel excluded or left out. This is absolutely not our intention, and I
hope that is obvious. :) We would never dream of making members of our
own community feel that way.
Our decision really has to come down to what we can and can’t provide. As
we mentioned, we are a small company and we want to do the best we can to
continue to provide the highest-quality products that we can produce, so
that we can offer the rich gaming experience that you’ve come to expect
from us, and that we hold ourselves to offering.
Regarding the platforms that we will be available on; We are not limiting
ourselves to any one of the Apple platforms. For now, change Reaction and
Silver Dollar are available on the Mac because of their older code-base.
We are planning to update these to bring them to all apple platforms.
Going forward, we are planning on all titles being available on all Apple
platforms. The only exception to this might be the Apple Watch as some
games may not be appropriate for the small format. So I hope this clears
this up.
Again, our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. We sure hope
that you choose to come along for the ride with us. As I said, your
support and excitement really go a long way to keeping us doing what we
do.
We hope you’ll be with us on this journey.
Cheers!
Cara
On May 15, 2023, at 10:51 AM, Cara Quinn <caraqu...@caraquinn.com>
wrote:
It's been a long while, but it's finally time to announce the start of a
new chapter for Draconis Entertainment, LLC. The dragon is awakening yet
again!
This new incarnation of the company brings big and exciting changes. We
will explain those and some of our plans for the future here, but know
that we aren't spilling all the beans quite yet. What fun would that
be!
The world has moved on!
Our first announcement is that we are bringing new and enhanced versions
of our classic games, along with brand-new titles, into the modern age
and on to Apple platforms, with an emphasis on iPhone! Thanks to
VoiceOver, the overwhelming majority of the visually impaired community
has access to at least one of Apple's operating systems, and this will
make our games available to the widest possible audience. It's hard to
believe sometimes, but that little rectangle of glass we all carry in
our pockets has infinitely more power than any of the PCs or Macs that
our legacy titles were developed on, and with the tight integration of
Apple's operating systems, we will be able to easily make new releases
available for iPhone, iPad, Mac, or AppleTV going forward. This approach
means that we can integrate newer technologies like full 3D spatial
audio, touch and accelerometer interaction, and support for console game
controllers and advanced haptics.
What does this mean for our Windows products?
We know how beloved these games have been over the years—we love them
too—and we want to bring all of them, with expansions and new features,
into the twenty-first century, so they can be enjoyed by new and old
generations of gamers alike. The support cost for the original Windows
games, some of which were new when Nintendo 64 was the hot ticket and
Xbox didn't yet exist, is simply too high to manage for a small company
like us, while also investing in the future.
We will be bringing our Windows development to a close and giving these
games new life on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and AppleTV. That said, for the
time being, we will continue to offer downloads of the installation
packages for our legacy catalog on our site, and customers who purchased
them may request replacement keys within reason. (For more details, see
the Legacy section of our new website at https://draconis.llc.)
Back in March, the legacy Draconis Score Server (DSS) and Draconis
Online License Factory (DOLF) for the Windows versions of ChangeReaction
2 and SilverDollar, migrated to a new host and received some
modernization. As you've already seen, this brought much needed
stability to both of those services.
So what’s up first?
With all of that in mind, we're pleased to introduce major updates to
the Mac versions of ChangeReaction and SilverDollar. Freed from the
cross-platform constraints of developing for both macOS and Windows, we
have been able to add some new features to these titles. The most
exciting of which is full-support for any of the console game
controllers supported by Apple platforms. These include the PlayStation
DualShock 4 or DualSense 5, the Xbox X / S controllers, the Nintendo
Switch JoyCons, any MFI controller, and others. SilverDollar now
includes a great deal of new and remastered audio, support for Apple
Silicon, and countless bug fixes and tweaks.
These upgraded titles will be available as free updates to anyone who
purchased them previously from the Mac App Store. SilverDollar 2.0 is
out now and is available for free. ChangeReaction 3.0 will have its
price reduced to $4.99 in the US when it is reintroduced in the coming
weeks. (Prices will vary based on exchange rates.)
Looking forward, the development to bring a mix of new and familiar
titles to life is well-underway, and we can’t wait to show you what
we’ve been working on! The future is bright.
We know the dragon has been sleeping for a very long time. We appreciate
your patience and support more than we can say. Thank you for the last
twenty years. We hope you'll join us as the dragon is reborn.
Cheers!
Cara
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