Hi Henning, You wrote:
This is really a shame. I was really excited after you announced your cross-platform engine and I enjoyed the MOTA betas that run on linux. Moreover, the fact that the Linux support gained as much atention as Windows was just avesome. My reply: i know. As a Linux user myself I am very disappointed in having to do this, but understand I took preorders for this game about two years ago, and many of those users are ready to ring my neck if I don't complete it on time. Since many of those on preorder only use Windows my taking time to create and design a fully operational cross-platform engine for Mac OS or Linux is, in their eyes, a waiste of time better spent on completeing a game they paid for. Therefore my decision to do this was simply to settle those accounts, and then I'll have more freedom to do what I want to with the game. That is to design and produce games using a fully cross-platform engine designed for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You wrote: want to get everything for free and now the development of the cross-platform game is even suspended. Moreover, after the Windows release, the Mac seems to be the next platform which gets attention, if I haven't got you wrong. My reply: Um...You seem to have got it all wrong here. Let me explain. First, I never said that Linux users want everything for free. I know plenty of Linux users like myself who are willing to spend some money on quality products for Linux. I myself have purchased commercial apps for Linux such as some of the Cepstral voices, and know others who would pay for commercial apps like that to as long as the price was fair. At last count there were around 87 Linux users who stated up front they would be willing to purchase games from USA Games if they were written for Linux and the price was fair. So I know there are people willing to pay for Linux specific games and products. So I haven't a clue where you got the notion I said Linux users always want something for free. Second, after we finish work on the Windows release of Mysteries of the Ancients our goal is to complete work on the cross-platform Genesis Engine. once that is done we will be able to produce games for Linux, and most likely Mac OS as well. While I may specifically have mentioned Mac OS in the news letter what I actually meant is that the cross-platform engine which is based on generic cross-platform APIs like SDL will enable to port our games from Windows to other platforms including Linux and Mac OS. I'm a Linux user myself so that is top on my list of things to do. It takes priority over Mac OS as I want to be able to play my games on Linux directly rather than via wine etc. You wrote: I actually dont understand what's wrong with the Linux version of MOTA as I found the last betas really awesome and quite playable, also the panning was fine for me. My reply: Well, technically there are two issues which I intend to correct as soon as I have time to. The first issue is that many of the Windows users who are use to the way DirectSound pans sounds were disappointed and upset at me switching to FMOD Ex because the way it pans sounds and the way Microsoft DirectSound pans sounds are totally different. They wanted me to rip FMOD Ex out and replace with DirectSound. As many users said if this wasn't done they would not pay for the game. So I'm switching back to DirectSound in order to boost sales for the Windows gaming market even though I personally do not want to. The other major issue is I based beta 19 on FMOD Ex which is an extremely expensive audio API for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Now, that i know I won't be able to target the Windows gaming market using FMOD I'm not going to pay for FMOD Ex. What I am likely going to do is drop support for FMOD Ex and replace it with OpenAL which is what I should have done in the first place. That will take me a little while to rewrite the audio portion of my engine to support OpenAL. So to summarize the situation right now. This is a very very temporary solution right now. I have no plans to drop or stop developing the Linux release of Mysteries of the Ancients. I am only pushing back the release date for it a few months until I can swap out FMOD for OpenAL and a few other things like that. HTH --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
