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Domain: prowler-pro.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to prowler-pro.com.

Comments · 16

  1. Global Wars by StormCrow · · Score: 1 · on BBS Documentary Starting To Film

    For a internet playable game similar to Global Wars, check out World at War.

  2. Modern Adventures (Interactive Fiction) + Lunatix by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on History Of Infocom aka The Creators Of Zork

    First, a plug for my own graphic/text adventure, written about a year ago. It's called "Lunatix: The Insanity Circle" and can be downloaded here (the ZIP file is here). Several screen shots are shown here. It can also be downloaded from www.download.com with info and download here. It's freeware, and I get constant feedback (still) about it (kudos, questions, hint/walkthrough requests, etc).
    There is an active usenet community for Interactive Fiction at rec.games.int-fiction, and a HUGE (and very complete) archive of games at the ftp.gmd.de archive. These kinds of games are alive and well!
    :::: Mike Snyder

  3. Modern Adventures (Interactive Fiction) + Lunatix by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on History Of Infocom aka The Creators Of Zork

    First, a plug for my own graphic/text adventure, written about a year ago. It's called "Lunatix: The Insanity Circle" and can be downloaded here (the ZIP file is here). Several screen shots are shown here. It can also be downloaded from www.download.com with info and download here. It's freeware, and I get constant feedback (still) about it (kudos, questions, hint/walkthrough requests, etc).
    There is an active usenet community for Interactive Fiction at rec.games.int-fiction, and a HUGE (and very complete) archive of games at the ftp.gmd.de archive. These kinds of games are alive and well!
    :::: Mike Snyder

  4. Modern Adventures (Interactive Fiction) + Lunatix by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on History Of Infocom aka The Creators Of Zork

    First, a plug for my own graphic/text adventure, written about a year ago. It's called "Lunatix: The Insanity Circle" and can be downloaded here (the ZIP file is here). Several screen shots are shown here. It can also be downloaded from www.download.com with info and download here. It's freeware, and I get constant feedback (still) about it (kudos, questions, hint/walkthrough requests, etc).
    There is an active usenet community for Interactive Fiction at rec.games.int-fiction, and a HUGE (and very complete) archive of games at the ftp.gmd.de archive. These kinds of games are alive and well!
    :::: Mike Snyder

  5. Re:Global War? Pretty close! by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    Pretty close. My company hosts Blue Dragon's World at War browser-based web game at the Prowler Portal.
    :::: Mike Snyder

  6. Re:Global War? Pretty close! by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    Pretty close. My company hosts Blue Dragon's World at War browser-based web game at the Prowler Portal.
    :::: Mike Snyder

  7. Re:Because I like PHP... by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia
    :::: Inherently flawed? I guess that depends on your perspective. As a web-game developer myself (been doing it for 3 years -- I use Perl), I've found no real problems. The biggest concern I have with my latest project ( StarLock ) is that my company will have to purchase our own server and T1 (which I'm not looking forward to, at $1k per month).

    :::: I think the biggest concern (and probably cause for the biggest misconceptions) is that most web games aren't very good, either because the authors aimed too small, weren't very skilled, host on slow (typically "free") servers, or give their game an unprofessional/haphazard look. This leads to the idea that web games are "inherently" flawed or simply not worth a look.

    :::: Another problem is the ease with which people can create fake accounts (ruining the "fairness" of a game). Cookies and IP logging cut down on this tremendously. Yet another problem is that most web games are written "for fun" and are put online for free. Being free isn't necessarily the problem -- free is good -- but free games tend to be splatter with annoying banner ads (talk about cheating your sponsors -- who clicks on those things except to get extra turns), they're usually on free web hosts which are often lagged down with too many other sites, and they're overrun by cheaters since the admin has no real incentive (it's a "free" game after all) to do anything about it.

    :::: In short, everything has its place. Web games are great for people on the move (at work, school, home, Aunt Bertha's house) who want to play their game without installing a special client program at every stop. They're also good for busy people if they're designed with the BBS philosophy in mind (time is limited, so each day starts a new round of turns).


    :::: Mike Snyder

  8. Re:Because I like PHP... by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia
    :::: Inherently flawed? I guess that depends on your perspective. As a web-game developer myself (been doing it for 3 years -- I use Perl), I've found no real problems. The biggest concern I have with my latest project ( StarLock ) is that my company will have to purchase our own server and T1 (which I'm not looking forward to, at $1k per month).

    :::: I think the biggest concern (and probably cause for the biggest misconceptions) is that most web games aren't very good, either because the authors aimed too small, weren't very skilled, host on slow (typically "free") servers, or give their game an unprofessional/haphazard look. This leads to the idea that web games are "inherently" flawed or simply not worth a look.

    :::: Another problem is the ease with which people can create fake accounts (ruining the "fairness" of a game). Cookies and IP logging cut down on this tremendously. Yet another problem is that most web games are written "for fun" and are put online for free. Being free isn't necessarily the problem -- free is good -- but free games tend to be splatter with annoying banner ads (talk about cheating your sponsors -- who clicks on those things except to get extra turns), they're usually on free web hosts which are often lagged down with too many other sites, and they're overrun by cheaters since the admin has no real incentive (it's a "free" game after all) to do anything about it.

    :::: In short, everything has its place. Web games are great for people on the move (at work, school, home, Aunt Bertha's house) who want to play their game without installing a special client program at every stop. They're also good for busy people if they're designed with the BBS philosophy in mind (time is limited, so each day starts a new round of turns).


    :::: Mike Snyder

  9. Re:Web games by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    Telnet isn't the answer. Web games can be fast enough. In fact, web games played over most of today's high-speed connections go much faster than BBS games did at 14.4k when they were popular. I have the somewhat unique perspective of coming from the BBS door-game programming days (I wrote Lunatix, which is listed as one of the all-time classics, plus a VGA terminal/script language called RageTerm which is pretty obscure since it was released late in the days of BBS popularity) -- AND I've been developing web games for the past three years. One thing I'm sure of is that web-based wins out over telnet. Easily.
    :::: Mike Snyder

  10. Re:Web games by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    Telnet isn't the answer. Web games can be fast enough. In fact, web games played over most of today's high-speed connections go much faster than BBS games did at 14.4k when they were popular. I have the somewhat unique perspective of coming from the BBS door-game programming days (I wrote Lunatix, which is listed as one of the all-time classics, plus a VGA terminal/script language called RageTerm which is pretty obscure since it was released late in the days of BBS popularity) -- AND I've been developing web games for the past three years. One thing I'm sure of is that web-based wins out over telnet. Easily.
    :::: Mike Snyder

  11. Re:Web games by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    Telnet isn't the answer. Web games can be fast enough. In fact, web games played over most of today's high-speed connections go much faster than BBS games did at 14.4k when they were popular. I have the somewhat unique perspective of coming from the BBS door-game programming days (I wrote Lunatix, which is listed as one of the all-time classics, plus a VGA terminal/script language called RageTerm which is pretty obscure since it was released late in the days of BBS popularity) -- AND I've been developing web games for the past three years. One thing I'm sure of is that web-based wins out over telnet. Easily.
    :::: Mike Snyder

  12. Lunatix Online by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia
    :::: The first-ever "LORD-clone" (more accurately, a "LORD-parody"), Lunatix, was released way back in March 1995. Two years ago, we rewrote it for the web and it's still going strong at www.lunatix-online.com . This is one of the few "web ports" of a classic BBS game that has actually been developed by the people who wrote and own the original (maybe even the only).
    :::: Some other BBS-style games are linked at our games portal page here . We're also knee-deep in development on a new one, StarLock , which was going to be a BBS game before the whole market dried up.

    :::: Mike Snyder
    :::: Prowler Productions
    :::: www.prowler-pro.com
    :::: Mike Snyder

  13. Lunatix Online by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia
    :::: The first-ever "LORD-clone" (more accurately, a "LORD-parody"), Lunatix, was released way back in March 1995. Two years ago, we rewrote it for the web and it's still going strong at www.lunatix-online.com . This is one of the few "web ports" of a classic BBS game that has actually been developed by the people who wrote and own the original (maybe even the only).
    :::: Some other BBS-style games are linked at our games portal page here . We're also knee-deep in development on a new one, StarLock , which was going to be a BBS game before the whole market dried up.

    :::: Mike Snyder
    :::: Prowler Productions
    :::: www.prowler-pro.com
    :::: Mike Snyder

  14. Lunatix Online by Wyndo · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia
    :::: The first-ever "LORD-clone" (more accurately, a "LORD-parody"), Lunatix, was released way back in March 1995. Two years ago, we rewrote it for the web and it's still going strong at www.lunatix-online.com . This is one of the few "web ports" of a classic BBS game that has actually been developed by the people who wrote and own the original (maybe even the only).
    :::: Some other BBS-style games are linked at our games portal page here . We're also knee-deep in development on a new one, StarLock , which was going to be a BBS game before the whole market dried up.

    :::: Mike Snyder
    :::: Prowler Productions
    :::: www.prowler-pro.com
    :::: Mike Snyder

  15. Global Wars door game also available on the Net by Leperflesh · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    If you played Trade Wars, chances are you also played Global Wars, the BBS Door version of the boardgame 'Risk'(TM).

    BlueDragon has re-created Global Wars on Prowler-Pro: he calls his version World at War, and he has made it look and feel very much like the original Global Wars. I've been playing for months now, it's just as addictive as the original. Be sure to read through the help info on the login page to discover what all the variants are.

    -Leperflesh

    Note: Risk(TM) is a trademark of Parker Brothers or somebody; World at War is a reverse-engeneered, HTML based game that is based on Global Wars, and not Risk(TM). I am not a lawyer.

  16. Global Wars door game also available on the Net by Leperflesh · · Score: 1 · on A Little Bit Of BBS Nostalgia

    If you played Trade Wars, chances are you also played Global Wars, the BBS Door version of the boardgame 'Risk'(TM).

    BlueDragon has re-created Global Wars on Prowler-Pro: he calls his version World at War, and he has made it look and feel very much like the original Global Wars. I've been playing for months now, it's just as addictive as the original. Be sure to read through the help info on the login page to discover what all the variants are.

    -Leperflesh

    Note: Risk(TM) is a trademark of Parker Brothers or somebody; World at War is a reverse-engeneered, HTML based game that is based on Global Wars, and not Risk(TM). I am not a lawyer.