Moonbase Commander: A strategy game gem.

Uncia on 29/3/2005 at 17:24

You can't adjust the shape and position of your picture?

Malygris on 30/3/2005 at 02:07

Not without it fucking up my image at every other resolution. I don't know if it's because it's an old monitor or what, but it seems that it will give me proper picture dimensions at 1024x768 or higher, but nothing below.

(I do most of my gaming at 1024, but I do my non-gaming shit at 1600.)

I take it this isn't a common thing?

Rogue Keeper on 4/4/2005 at 09:58

So, I too got hooked on this game.

Oh heavens, this is fun! I can't believe how a game of such simple concept managed to attract me so much! I play the Underdogs rip, so I got no intro... what's in the intro?

Yesterday I managed to finish all NiceCo and Dewulf missions with gold medal, except DeWulf mission 3... that one is tough, just bronze. I have to refine my strategies and learn how to aim more precisely in the wind.
Umm, otherwise I think I'm quite good in it. Bots are stupid, they make irrational building steps. BUT they can always shoot a reclaimer at crawler very precisely!

My most fav weapon is spike. I guess I can be called Spiker, hehe. This weapon is splendid if you want to deal considerable losses to your opponent protected by dozens of plasma shields, and just one building stays unprotected. Guided missiles are also great.

Do you want to win very fast and easily last DeWulf mission with gold rating
and no bridge building? Forget about the energy pool, just destroy Sys 7 main hub. Build an ofensive unit next to your main hub (As close to the sea bank as possible. Only offensive unit can fire at so big distance.). Next turn just aim by eye at Sys 7 main hub and fire two guided missiles at it. It will be so-so. but this way you can finish the mission in a minute or two. :)

Malygris on 5/4/2005 at 17:09

The game costs like ten bucks, and you ripped it from Underdogs?

You don't deserve to know about the intro.

Rogue Keeper on 6/4/2005 at 06:58

Screw you, man. :rolleyes:

1. It isn't in any store in my city I've been looking in.

2. Underdog rips are legal. They offer it because they know it's hard to get
in stores.

3. Ten bucks is 300 Crowns for me. Quite enough for a game which ceases
to amuse me in a month. I can have 5 packs of cigs for that.
Or 12 beers in pub.

Shadowcat on 7/4/2005 at 22:20

Quote Posted by BR796164

2. Underdog rips are legal. They offer it because they know it's hard to get in stores.

Um, the vast majority of Underdogs rips are NOT legal. They offer it illegally because they know it's hard to get in a legal manner.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use them when it's not possible to find a game otherwise, but don't go thinking that they're a legal alternative to buying games!!

As far as the intro goes, well I wouldn't buy Moonbase Commander for its intro, but assuming you get plenty of enjoyment out of the game, do buy a copy if you ever find one.

I'd suggest asking your local retailer about the "Best of Atari" series of games, but I was actually unable to find any reference to the game at any of Atari's web sites, which is pretty ridiculous seeing as how I own a copy with their logo stamped on it. The UK site in particular infuriated me with some "we only keep product pages for recent releases" crap. :/

Shadowcat on 7/4/2005 at 22:37

Quote Posted by BR796164

My most fav weapon is spike. I guess I can be called Spiker, hehe. This weapon is splendid if you want to deal considerable losses to your opponent protected by dozens of plasma shields, and just one building stays unprotected.

That sounds far more like something to infect with a virus than something to spike (although I love the spike as well).

Rogue Keeper on 8/4/2005 at 09:56

Quote Posted by Shadowcat

Okay okay, I know they are not really legal. But I'm afraid they aren't objectively and generally illegal either - because there isn't one piece of abandonware like the other. Abandonware has been always somewhere in the grey field from aspects of legality. One program became abandonware, because it's publishing company has died and nobody seems to care and support the program anymore. Another software became abandonware, because it's nowhere to get in the stores for a long time, and although his publisher exists, there are very few clues he's interested in supporting it further. Various publishers have various supporting policies and how they watch their copyrights. This also creates various levels of abandonment.

I also think that The Underdogs are doing great service to the gaming community - and they are honest in what they offer and how they present it.
They are in constant contact with publishers, if possible, and when a particular game is in stores again, they remove the rips.

Quote:

(http://www.the-underdogs.org/faq.php#a5)

But isn't abandonware illegal?

Unfortunately, yes. Despite the fact that publishers no longer derive revenues from these games since they have stopped selling them (and any revenues from retailers that still sell them were gained a long time ago, at the time of sales), it is illegal to distribute them so long as copyright holders have not released them into the public domain, and 95 years after the games' release have not elapsed. For more in-depth information on this issue, We recommend the following articles and websites:

* Abandonware in a Nutshell: Why Nobody Ever Wins
* Flashbacks for Free: The Skinny on Abandonware
* Warez, Abandonware, and the SIIA
* Anti-Piracy Information at the IDSA
* The World Intellectual Property Organization

Despite the illegal status of abandonware, we believe that we are offering a valuable service to the gaming community: classic game collectors have a chance to retrieve games that have otherwise been lost or rendered defective with the passage of time. As our Disclaimer printed on every page makes clear, we will gladly remove download links to any game that is either 1) still being sold by the publisher, or 2) at the request of the publishers themselves. Encouraging publishers to continue publishing great classics of yore has always been this site's foremost goals, and we will gladly link to the publisher's order or download site without hesitation should they make their products available again, whether commercially or as freeware.

Like everyone I am carefully judging what I buy for my money. Somebody can afford to buy 3 games in a month, I do not. I have no problem buying game for up to 30 bucks if I'm convinced it's worth the money, that means if it will bring me fun for long months ahead. I can't afford to buy newest and most expensive games, therefore I buy usually soldout editions and bundles.
Megalomaniac and hyped Half Life 2 for, like 50 bucks? Including Steam harassment? No, thanks. My month salary doesn't reach 400 bucks.
MC brought me good fun first days of playing, but unfortunately I start to realize this initial fun is slowly fades away day by day, and in a month I will most likely become tired of it.
So I decided not to buy it. Sorry. If I discovered MC in a store after knowing it's good, I would most likely buy it, although if I really paid 10 bucks for it, now I would feel a bit sorry for the money. MAYBE for 6 bucks, I would take it. Instead, I can save the money for another game. Simple comparison "amount of money - amount of fun" is the key.

Another big reason for MC's purchase, probably the most important one, is multiplayer - but I don't play multiplayer.

A person who has bought that game can feel "morally superior" to the person who downloaded Underdogs rip, but - that's about it. Nobody can expect that as soon as the game is on the shelves again, people are supposed to erase their rips and immediately run to the store. This remains only a question of individual feeling - should I support publisher and developer of this game and buy it ... or not?
I feel kinda "morally superior" with a legit copy over someone who d/l-ed a warezed game and didn't bother to buy a real one. But then Warez is a different case and I never downloaded a game from warez - recognized piracy - often created by sophisticated networks of pirates, sometimes connected to other fields of criminality.

Shadowcat on 8/4/2005 at 12:14

That was possibly overkill for a response. I'm well aware of the issues, and that HOTU generally removes games that are available for purchase, or when requested to do so. Like I said, I don't personally see a problem with people using them if something isn't available. I do have really big problems with people stating that it's legal. As you seem to have been aware that it was not, I can't help but question why it was that you initially raised the opposite viewpoint as an argument in your favour.

I hope you stumble upon a cheap copy of the game at some stage, in any case!

Rogue Keeper on 11/4/2005 at 07:13

Yes, sorry, I just wanted to describe all issues.

My initial position stating the rips are legal was rather a part of retortion to Malygris' post which I found to show great deal of attitude... "you don't deserve to know about the intro, you pathetic rip-dependent lamma!"
And I went defensive.

Funny thing ... last time I had a serious discussion about c.games piracy about year ago when Thief 3 came out. That was on another, more or less local forum. Just few days after it's US release, many people discussing on that forum already played T3. When I questioned where they got the game from, it turned into heated discussion in which I ended to be an obvious moralizing idiot promoting legal ways for obtaining games. I didnt' play T3 to this day.