Feedback: Please let us know what you think of our magazine!
 

The title says it all: please spill your guts. What needs improvement, what is missing, what should be left out?

Also, make sure to rate our magazine (starting with issue 1) using the poll.

The first issue is just a small taste of the next issues, however, so we're well aware that it's too short ;). Expect the next issue to contain 4-5 times as much easily.

http://www.abandonia.com/en/node/25024

Nice and well done.
Congrats -(again)-.
:)

Nice, but... those quotes in the articles felt so... out of place. Shouldn't you quote some sort of deep lines instead of a line explaining a certain game mechanic? I mean... it just feels wrong. I thought quotes in magazines like that was for memorable lines in the articles. Great work, still!

Too bad I wasn't able to (or perhaps was just too lazy to) contribute with an article. I'll do my best to write something for the next issue.

Just...wow!

Keep on the good work!

Great work, guys !!! :clap:
I gave you only 4 points because the magazine is too short for me.
I think that next issue will have 5 stars !!!
Thank you for first abandonware magazine on the market :)

It's good. The "Consolitis" article had me chortling like a sadistic hyena. :D

Now let's start typing at the 2nd one, shall we? :spyder:

This is niiice ;)
I'll checkif I have enough time to write something myself, if i have then i'll send txt file to TFH

Excellent first attempt and it has (at least for me) achieved one of it's objectives by encouraging me to have a go at playing the likes of Mechwarriors and Fallout as for years I have played mainly point and click adventure games and read about them in the "Adventure Lantern" reviews.

It's clear a lot of work has gone into putting the magazine together like the watermark images embedded in some pages (not sure if that is the correct term?) and the clean, clear layout with box outs and a colour scheme that matches the website, nothing jumps out and hits you like it shouldn't be there so if it looks right it usually is.

It's refreshing to read an honest review about older games rather than the stereotypical "It's old, needs DOS, low resolution and it's 2D" therefore it's not worth playing attitude, only the smallest of very small points I would say is as the magazine gets bigger maybe have the download as a zip file as well as a pdf.

Conclusion. A very solid first issue, well put together with informative reviews by people that obviously know what they are talking about and are passionate about older games, bring on the next issue. :clap:

Well done guys, I really enjoyed the magazine. The chance to focus on particular games, and highlight them beyond what is possible on the main site (mainly thinking of Dreamweb here, I love that game).

Just a couple of technical points though; the page numbering was one step ahead of the page numbers given in the contents page due to the cover being page one. In a magazine that's intended for a web release, to be read mainly in .pdf format, it'd be a nice thing to have them in step with each other (ie, count the cover as page one in the contents). Also, it'd be cool to have clickable links to the appropriate games along with the reviews, again, it's something that can be done in a web-based magazine.

Have some further kudos on the magazine though, I really did enjoy it.

Just having a cursory look, this looks very impressive. Poor Commander Keen. :D I look forward to reading the rest later. :)

great stuff! i always enjoyed abandonia, but this magazine made me sign-up as well. Keep up the good work, maybe i'll send in some stuff as well some day.

BTW I'm using Foxit-reader 1.3 and it keeps crashing at page 11 (number 10 in the mag)? weird.

Your computer doesn't like you, at all, poor you.
I'm using Foxit 1.3 and I don't have problems, no crashes, no weird things, the mag runs fine.

:thumbs: NICE!

Very very nice!

It was about time. :tongue: I hope to contribute something someday.

One thing I don't like is the shaded text for the "gaming sins" section. Shadowed text may be okay for headings but IMO it's bad for a full article.

I use 3.0 which is the current version... By the way, page 7 is shown borked (see attachments depending on zoom). It shows OK in Acrobat Reader. What did you use to make the PDF?

I used Indesign - I used standard ways to make the pages so there's nothing that should create problems.

Anyway, glad you all like it! Hopefully this means more people are willing to contribute for the next issue ;).

Well most magazines use it to quote important parts of the review - they don't have to be memorable :p. It's not always easy finding lines to quote, either so I had to make do with what we had.

Yes, since it was shown OK in Acrobat I suppose it's a bug in Foxit, and I've just registered in their forums to report it. It's just that they'll probably find that info useful to track the bug.

True. Guess we'll have to spend a little more time discussing which lines to pick in the next issue, eh? :p

EDIT: I'd say the info about a game's release date should go somewhere close to the title (perhaps around the top margin of the page?), it feels a little misplaced at the end.

Good morning...

just want to tell that I love the idea of Abandoned Times and of course the magazine itself. Very well done :woot: especially the articles of Mechwarrior and Commander Keen [... It’s rumoured that, after the trauma of having seen his baby sitter being eaten by aliens, Keen was never quite the same again.] :hysterical:

Keep up the good work :thumbs:

My two cents...

- I don't like the cover. It's a bunch of images arranged randomly on a generic gradient background.

- I dislike the whole "Versus" idea. I'm afraid that editors will simply be afraid to rate a new game gigher than the old one, since that would be a "blasphemy", and thus the old game will be typically elected the victor simply for being old.

- There's a phrase loosely hanging ("...Duke of Ander's Moon is anointed") at the top of page 9.

- The quote on page 10 is rather pointless and badly chosen, as Simoneer pointed out.

- I disliked the "2D or not 2D" article. It states a lot of obvious information ("2D is just not fashionable anymore. Young gamers prefer flashy 3D" - no, really?) and basically says nothing new. We all know that 2S graphics are all right, there's no need to take up a whole page for it.

- Typo near the bottom of page 13 ("Please vivist...")

Newsflash: that's what magazine covers in the 90's did except for the "gradient" which is simply the forum's colour.

Well think of it like this: most modern sequels are based on great classics. They won't make a sequel to a poorly selling and unloved game, now would they? The idea is to compare games and not to plainly review both (something which Fubb didn't quite get sadly enough) and to see how they changed the sequel compared to the original.


Nothing special that - it's not hanging loosely anyway, it's just the end of the paragraph of the previous page. I try to avoid such things but there are worse flaws in the design - like the quote on page 11 having too much space below. Having to create a mag from scratch in a month is no easy feat so such errors are to be expected in the first issue.

Well it was one of the better lines to quote - I personally don't see how it's pointless - not anymore than the other quotes anyway.

Listen Up! is meant to be a soapbox. It's not an informative article but is just someone talking about an experience or something he likes, dislikes, finds interesting but wants others to hear about. In this case, I believe the idea of the article is a very solid one: why always go for 3D when 2D can do the job as well? Whether it's something "new" or not, is not the question - we're dealing with 15 year old games here, so if you're looking for "new", I suggest just reading a Playstation 3 magazine (although the generic crap in there is hardly new either).

Already been noted.

No, they didn't. They used a large image for the cover's background, and sometimes added some little screenies on the cover. Take a look at those or those for instance.

Well, I'd expect the quote to say something about the game's quality, not just a random phrase picked from the description of gameplay. But okay then.

So, you're saying that Abandonia Reloaded is not a place for new and original opinions? Instead, we should repeat the same things that everyone know already and that have been said millions of times in the past? Because that's what your response suggests.

Point 1: Granted, some magazines didn't use single images, but a lot did (especially European ones). Besides, you're forgetting something important which stops us from doing the same anyway: how DID those magazines get their hands on large images? It's called press packages - PR people used to send these along with game previews and reviews. It contained huge images (often 3D renderings) of game characters or game art to use in covers & articles.

We don't have this advantage so we have to make do with what we have. I can't stretch a 200x100 image to cover a full page - it would look hideous and then people would have complained about that. The pixels would be the size of a pin! Unless we find some (unlikely to exist) site that collects these old press packages, we're pretty much stuck to using these smaller images, I'm afraid. At most we can contact the old publishers and ask for the old press packages but it's unlikely they still have them. But it's already a hard task finding images fit for the front cover - boxshots are the only bigger images we have and they're not even fit for stretching.

Point2: well when I skim through an article, I try to find lines that are fit for quoting but they're often either too long or don't make sense as a quote. I may take some extra effort to find a better quote but I can hardly rewrite the review to get some. We still have amateur writers here who do this as a hobby so you can't expect the quality of a professional magazine.

Point3: I'm not sure why you involve Abandonia Reloaded? Or do you mean Abandoned Times? The truth is, every oppinion or idea has already been written down somewhere. With hundreds of magazines all over the world and several columns in each magazine, it's unlikely for any new column to be completely new or original. Besides, it was mostly a nudge towards indie developers to not always go for 3D when they don't have to. If you feel you have a better, new and original oppinion to spread, just write it down and submit it!

AH CRAP MISTYPE SORRY

I was simply addressing your answer, which said: "so if you're looking for "new", I suggest just reading a Playstation 3 magazine". This sounded as if you didn't want anything "new" in Abandoned Times.

Well we deal in old games so when you're talking about old games, it's not likely for there to be a lot of fresh stuff, is there? Interviews will try to break this a bit and we also have indie/retro reviews but most of the stuff still deals with 80's & 90's games and, as a result, the columns can hardly talk about new things such as DRM, patching on consoles, etc.

I printed it and really enjoyed...it really gives a special feeling!

Perhaps a tech part could be included, some tutorials for DosBox, Scummvm, vdmsound, front ends.

I give it a 4, can't wait to see the next issue :)

I totally agree with Dave:

Maybe I'd like some different in the layout (what about the fabulous stripe in the center? Different colours for every kinds of articles and other ideas discussed in the past...)
But all the work is great and I'm proud of you all! :clap:

I'm so sorry that I had no time to be involved in the creation of that first issue...

Keep going on!

Haven’t finished it yet but really enjoying it so far.

Keep up the good work and here’s hoping for many more issues…:clap:

Really good Red! Thanks for putting a month of your life into that :D... btw I like the 'gaming sins' section alot.

My first design had the stripe (just check the early layout topics) but Fifth and others didn't like it so I dropped it.

The colours may still be added but I didn't have enough material to create a system. I'll change some stuff later on as well - tweak the look.

It's awesome! Keep it up folks!! :)

I don't think you should feel pressed to use quotes only because it's traditional in magazines. Their use is practical, not aesthetical. They're for the people who won't read the whole thing, and are most useful in long interviews. My advice would be: if you find many great quotes, highlight them, if you find none, no need for them. It's normal that articles and reviews are more uniform than interviews.

I liked it, so I voted four as there is room for improvement(The cutout on the fist page... RAWR!) and such.

Page 6 was killer also.

I liked it, but on one page the background made the text almost unreadable. :(

Two words: monitor settings. Some people have really really bad monitor settings where they set them far too dark - contrast or brightness - which will get you into trouble anywhere. I'm afraid it's not up to us to cater for those with bad settings - you'll just need to properly set your screen up and you'll be fine. I was very careful not to make the background too dark - if it's still to dark, you got your screen set up to be waaaay too dark.

IMHO it has nothing todo with how I calibrated my monitor.

page 10/11. paragraph that starts with fortunately. the word "sometimes" at 3/4 is not really sharp because of the background. I am nitpicking I know, but maybe there is room for improvement...

edit: I just checked the jpgs and it there it is alright. Guess I have different fonts in my pdf viewing program

Hmm, I suggest you don't use any of the non-Adobe viewers. People have reported other problems including text running out of the boxes. Adobe Reader is free anyway and works for Windows, Mac & Linux. I made the JPGs just in case people absolutely couldn't use Adobe Reader but other than that, there's nothing I can do.

The bug in Foxit is being fixed:

Off topic, but I don't know what's wrong with using a non-Adobe viewer... The PDF specification is public, so there's no reason why others wll get it wrong more often than Adobe.

(/off topic)

Finally got around to look at it. Great so far, although I really hope next one will be lot bigger.

Also, the cover is quite a mess. Just bunch of pictures stitched on the same page. Yeah yeah, they might have used the same style in the past, but its bad when Im looking at it. Or maybe you just did it wrong.

great job, folks. really enjoyed it! thanks much

Actually, I understand your points Mr. Deadd. Now please, tell us what we can do to make it better? What's your WOW factor? If can please you, we can surely please the rest of the human race, eh?:D

I read the entire mag and all 4 pages of this topic. I must say, I can hardly resist replying to every posting here, with a very, VERY long post. Since it may get long, I am going to continue this with the staff.

Think I'm safe saying,

There is no doubt, that we want everyone to enjoy AT Magazine. Everyones thoughts and positive suggestions are most appreciated and considered important to us.

Retracted.

What do you mean by retracted Pete? I've been seeing the same word posted by you in several other threads.

Uh... That he has retracted the post? That is, change his mind about writing what he did, and replace that text with ''retracted''. Since you can't delete posts.

Personally, I just change the text to something fitting in those cases...

But the post doesn't say that it has been edited, so I don't know if it really is what you say or something else... although what you say makes sense.

If you quickly edit after you post something, or just don't edit too many times, the edited-thing doesn't appear under the post. Try it. :p


...As you can see, the ''last edited by''-thing has appeared under my post now. That's because I edited it like... 7 times. After having revisited the thread, too.

:doh: Ah, I see.

Actually I figured it out... if you edit your post within the same minute that you posted it won't show up as 'edited'. But it still stumps me... why would he write something, post it, then immediately remove it? And... he wrote it in at least 6 or 7 other threads I've seen around. So its something he's doing on purpose obviously.

I wouldn't mind myself with this and wouldn't continue this :offtopic:

Concur - thanks Japo.

Retracted = Redacted = if you can't remember it when it was first posted, why think about it now?
Read as:
I removed the posts because I wanted to (as I can't delete them) and hadn't anything to say that would "fit in". I'm not changing my opinions, but I know when they are not going to be read as they are intended - that's it.

To be dropped and forgotten, carry on "on topic".
Final Word.

Let's get back on Topic, eh? ;)

Well, I was sold on this mag just with the CONSOLITIS article! Never had that explained so clearly 'in print' before!

I really hop this ends up in retail stores at $3.99, so people can understand more clearly the history of PC gaming. Also,I am old enough that I worked in the PC games business back in the early-mid nineties and therefore saw the original reviews of many of the titles we look back on so fondly now!

I will most definitely be offering articles and reviews for this mag, as I have many of the classic games you carry on this site sitting on my shelves in their original packaging (see my comment on what went in the 5th Fleet box!), haven't yet seen how and where you want articles, etc sent, but I haven't looked hard yet as I just wanted to get this posted saying you are on to a great thing here and I am really hoping it goes from strength to strength!

I would make one recommendation, and that's to not call it anything to do with Abandonware. Un Dos Tries (The No.1 magazine for DOS that's free!) is a stupid title, but it takes us away from abandonware, which is not what this magazine is going to be about strictly, it's just going to be about playing older games on today's PC's and what was good or bad about them, both in themselves and compared with modern games. As long as it's title is Abandonwarish, it will only ever be a very small magazine on this site. With a more generic title, I don't see why it would not be carried by all the other abandonware and PC gaming history sites.

Search 'retro gaming' in google and you get a load on console gaming sites. The only thing on the web with regard the old DOS games, outside of abandonware sites like this, is where there are fan pages to individual games, series of games or publishers.

So despite how small and insignificant this mag is at the moment (no slight intended), it is the only magazine talking about PC gaming of the eighties and nineties!

With over 10 million DOSBox's downloaded (as of the end of 2008), there is huge potential for this magazine, and I would look at it's potential in a much more holistic way! :)

All I would say in closing, is with the publication of this magazine, maybe you can tweak these threads, so when reading from top to bottom of a page, and going to the next page in the thread, you do not have to manually scroll to the top of the next page to carry on reading!!!

I'd even wager to say far more than just 10 million considering many people get it from other sources (including pre-packaged games) - DOSBox definitely boosted Abandonware sites. Before, there was only VDMS that was tricky to get working and had plenty of drawbacks. DOSBox did need a few years before the majority of PCs had CPUs powerful enough to run most games.

And yes, PCs and Amigas are often forgotten when it comes to retro gaming. In fact, there was a retro gaming exposition last year in Belgium. When I visited their forums and offered to bring my rare PC games to them, I got laughed at. "The PC hasn't got any worthwhile games" was the ignorant reply. Very sad but even while the organisers of the expo said I was welcome to come, I said thank you but no. If the other participants were going to be so arrogant and ignorant, I preferred to save the effort for an expo that had some real gamers instead of fanboys.

Just a quick thought, I couldn't find a link anywhere on the main page to the magazine. I only came across it after going to the Help Wanted section.
I'm on the site close to everyday and haven't really noticed anything mentioning the magazine, maybe some more promotion for it would be helpfull.
Aside from that, I really enjoyed the first issue.
Looking foward to more of it.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1276/abtimes.th.png
:)

Well, it's not really that visible, you expect people to give a fuck about those tabs. Wouldn't it be better with some banner or something? I think the visibility would be a lot better that way...

That's a good point, of course there should be a banner for ABtimes.
And a banner for the search function, seems also hard to find that one.
And a banner pointing to the tutorial section, seems also hard to find that one.
And a banner to ' My settings', seems also hard to find that one.
And a banner to the FAQ section, really hard to find that one.
And a banner to .... know what, lets banner every function, sub, news, anything and everything that's on the site and forum.

BANNERS! FTW!

:no:

Well, you are taking the banners thing a little too far. I mean, all those thing could be hard to find, or not, but if you need them, you better learn to find them (although the user control panel is hidden well :rant:). But the magazine is something we want to even the casual visitor to know. Because if the magazine is only read by the same people that writes it (or by the people who read the articles on the AT forum) then why bother? We could post whatever we want in the forums and it would be the same. The magazine was meant, AFAIK, to be read by anybody, and having it in a place that the casual visitor would not see it seems to defeat that purpose...

And if you don't like banners, fine. But then propose an alternative. Or, at least, don't mock what others say. You could have said that without the mockery.

Honestly, there is a full sub dedicated to ABtimes on the forum, not really hard to see, isn't it?

Better so?

Well not that many people visit the forum compared to site visits so I do want some sign on the front page when the second issue comes along. Newsposts get pushed down far too quickly with all the updates.

Ask to add an extra tab, somewhere between 'featured games' and 'my account/forum' ... ?

Listen, I don't want to say that ABtimes isn't a good initiative, it is good, really.

But you can't add banners for every important function/sub on the site/forum.

Yeah except that ABTimes is a completely separate entity yet is tied to Abandonia so why couldn't we? We don't have anything else like it on Abandonia so I don't really see your point.

I don't see why we shouldn't add an extra tab for AB Times, if we can (can we?)

GREAT magazine guys! Keep them coming! Of course, larger next time. Just wish it could be 12 a year in hardcopy. :clap:

Thanks for the great mag!

That WOULD be awesome!

I really did enjoy the magazine. I regularly pick up a UK magazine by the name of Retro Gamer (which due to importing here in the U.S.A. is very...costly.) I advise checking it out for some layout tips and guidance.

Your Fallout Versus article seemed to use a different scoring track compared to the game reviews, so there was a little bit of a loss of continuity there, though that may have been intentional. What are the chances that you could put links to AB Times in the individual game sections when they appear in the magazine? That would serve to call it out in a subtle way, but it would serve to reinforce the message you are trying to send. Create a little graphic and place it under the download button so that people can see it and check it out. As the archive grows, it will become even more integrated with the site.

Just a few thoughts. :)

I'll try to give it a good do-over for the next issue - if need be, it will get pushed back. The second issue needs to be full and big with a lot more content but also look crisper and more real. The first issue had severe limits in both time and content so I had to make do with what I had but now I already got twice as much content as I had for the first issue.

Where to start? I haven't made a post here at Abandonia for a long time. At last, I have something worth saying.


Right, now that we have that out of the way let's get down to business.

I really like the idea of Abandonia Times, the opportunities it offers are endless. At last the so-so 'review ridden' front-page will have something that I want to 'read more' about.

One of the things that turned me away from Abandonia was that it felt pretty much like one big catalogue. A great catalogue at that, but still it felt like a 'shopping list' of old-school games. The reviews, ratings and reader comments were interesting for sure. However, at the end of the day Abandonia was all about the games. They stood by themselves.

That's not necessarily a bad thing but for people like me that follow the gaming industry, as much as the games themselves something was missing.

Following the 'modern industry' there's so much more to gaming than just the finished product. The developers, the community, the corporate conspiracies. It's a bit like one big soap-opera. All of those 'other bits' are interesting too.

Abandonia Times presents Abandonware fans with a an avenue to explore that side of gaming as well. We've always had the old games but now we have a place for the other old things as well. You know, a place for all those bedroom, bathroom and workplace discussions.


I really hope some of the writers will move into looking at the 'abandoned industry' as well. Exploring the themes,messages and mechanics of all those old gems as well.




In this article, we are introduced to a great looking game. What do we learn though? For people like myself that have not played the game before, it is hard to understand why this game is special. What makes this game worth playing?

Admittedly, the magazine is written for Abandonware fans so some familiarity with games in general can be expected. However, if the magazine aims to appeal to a wide audience it may be a good idea to make sure each and every article is accessible to a complete and utter Abandonware noob. In other words, make sure I can keep up? ;)

How can this be accomplished? Talk more about the game in general. Try to avoid getting caught up in all the little details. Why does this game appeal to you?

From the article I assume that the setting and style of game appeal to the writer. Beyond that, there's very little the author mentions that really sells the game to me. A casual reader.

Instead, I am bombarded with small details that refer to the shortcomings of the game. A clumsy inventory system and a dated GUI (wasted screen space). As well as a final criticism of the overall length of the game.

Now, the author must have liked the game in order to tackle the task of reviewing it. There's something about this game, that makes it worth my time.


The last few sentences of article hint at what define this game. '...game with an interesting story, aren't any other games quite like it... for Blade Runner fans, it may hit the right spot.

By this time, the reader has already been exposed to a few of the shortcomings of the game in painstaking detail. Why aren't the positives illustrated in a similar light?

I just feel the balance is slightly 'out' with this article. Which as I said earlier, hints at a possible problem with the magazine as a whole.

Each 'element' of the magazine must stand-alone. I shouldn't have to have played these games before to enjoy the article. I should take something away from what is written, even if I have never heard of Abandonware before.

A personal reflection on an old classic is great. Better suited for a blog or feature though. Not a review. If the Abandonia Times is aiming for a magazine feel, then the articles themselves need to have focus.

Remember, this is not a personal blog. You are writing for a reason, not just to let out all of your internal thoughts.


I have a small suggestion, that may help bring focus to each article:

A pretext. - Make sure each article has a purpose. Why is this article being written. What does it show, what is its function?

If the article is a review. Fine. Let's review.

Be sure to point out the pro's,con's, points of interest, etc.. but stick to reviewing the game. How you do this is up to you. Just make sure it gets reviewed. That is the primary purpose of the article.

If there are other things you feel need to be said, then be sure to include them. Just try and get an actual review of the game in there somewhere as well.

Again, using DreamWeb to illustrate my point:

Knowing that there's an infinite amount of items to pick up, and a small amount of screen space to work with means very little without context. I'm still asking myself, Why do I even want to play this game?

As a whole, I was very impressed with the magazine. I hope my detailed feedback feels more like constructive criticism than mindless bashing. Hopefully a few of my points will ring true.

(This is a lengthy reply, that I may have to edit in the near future. I'm far to 'close' to it at this moment in time, to notice my mistakes. If anything is shouting at you, feel free to correct me.)

Good luck with your next issue.

- Sean

Ed-Note: My first post since 2006, that's how much I like this idea!

Hmm, anybody had a chance to read this yet?

:3:

I'd like to know if I was being overly critical, or if people agree with what I have said. I am planning to write a feature or two of my own. I will look for other ways to help out as well. :)

Yes. Thank you for your feedback. :hysterical: No, seriously. You're probably right, but I think red knows about these things already.

Thanks for the reply. Fair Point, I'm sure he is already aware of some of the shortcomings of the first issue. As well as the many great things, and limitless potential of the magazine.

Sometimes, having an 'alternative' perspective written down helps when you are looking back over things. I'm writing a screenplay at the moment, and although I knew something was 'off' I couldn't quite pin it, or correct it until somebody else had pointed it out clearly for me!

I just wanted some sort of reply back, as I wasn't sure if I came off as insulting. Not my intention.

Really looking forward to the second issue, and I have a few ideas for my own articles already.

Great I love it !!I dont know if you gona make a new issue (I ll check out later about that in the forum ) but it looks promising keep the good work!!!

Awesome :thumbs: Your'e all deserving of a virtual Hi-Five!

And I agree with the criticism about the quotes. Unless they are to highlight something incredibly awesome that will make the reader want to read the article. Don't use them.

Otherwise a great first issue. :rocks:

Great stuff, guys.

:thumbs:

Is the next one coming soon?

By the end of the year.

Love it! Want more! Heres some ideas for articles for ya.

How it all started with real-life ARPAnet developer and cave-explorer, William Crowther, who decided to make Thus "Adventure" was born. The great-grand-daddy of them all!

King's Quest coverage. The original was fully and faithfully redone with enhanced graphics and sound by an amateur game designer. Something about her story would be interesting too as she went on to found her own inde game co after the huge success of her fan-made ramake.

I'd also like to see a section dedicated to those of us who have always fantasized about making something similar to our favorite classic game but thought it impossible [and it nearly was back then!]. Now there are an endless variety of ways we can do it for free and with very little effort. I recommend starting the section off with a nice little history of game-makers starting with the revolutionary Adventure Construction Set by Stuart Smith. I've found much better since then but nothing to match the feeling it gave me back then of being able to actually create my first game and really feel that I was only limited by my imagination!

Oh btw: There is an excellent remake of ACS called Adventure Creation Kit by Chris Hopkins. He created it in the 1990's but went back to it in recent years to provide some bug fixes and updates based on feedback when he realized there was still a few people interested in it. You can find those people in their own sub-forum at joltcountry bbs er... forums. ;)

Although ACS was the first graphical game maker there were actually already text-adventure game design kits or languages before that. Now called Interactive Fiction or IF for short there is a fair-sized very active community of players/authors built up around the genre today and the IF development software has really become quite sophisticated as well far more user friendly. I would definitely include TADS3 and Inform 7 as the latest and greatest to evolve from that scene.

Then theres all the many modern RPG game makers that evolved from the graphical game maker represented by ACS. There were the Klick team game makers which are now very out of date but still could be fun for beginners or kids. The RPG Maker series by Enterbrain (not free), and many clones of it came out later that are open source.

There are really powerful but easy to use game authoring softwares that can not only make RPGs but can make pretty much any kind of game you want.

Game Maker by YoYo Games is probably the most popular and well known.

Express Game Maker is another popular one.

Construct may be counted along with those last two as one of the big three of todays virtually unlimited game making software with fully developed user friendly front end making programming optional.

The Game Creators dot com develops several different types of game making software including Dark Basic and FPS Creator.

For those seeking to use or learn programming to make games there are also great tools for getting started with that. Such as Flashpunk for programming flash based games. And XNA for programming games in C#. Pygames helps you get started programming games in Python. And there are tons of tutorials on creating games with Java using the friendly Eclipse IDE. I left out many many other options for the sake of space but those were the ones that really stand out.

hey guys,

where would i put some constructive criticism about this project? not that there's a lot, but because it is quite... basement level...
i don't want to appear to anyone to be disparaging something that you all hold dearly and into which appear to put a lot of time, thought and effort. esp. not in public

my motivations are purely selfish, but i have been known to do great things in order to get the things i selfishly want (in this instance, a copy of a simant remake).

just so you know where we stand.