Slashdot Mirror

Still dreaming of a 3D FPS version of Nethack.

Well actually I can think of a game that has quite some similarities with Nethack (although more maze-ish) and that's in first person 3D and that is almost a shooter (in that sometimes you can shoot and throw stuff). It's called Scarab of Ra, and works great on Mini vMac (a Macintosh Plus emulator)

Hmmm, these guys seem to have found a card shark for their game's icon. He's also around to give you advice during the game.

Some sort of dungeon game, I think the premise was exploring a pyramid. You found scrolls, rings, and potions...objects could be cursed...my favorite was when you picked up a cursed object, a little high pitched voice would go "oh no!" :-)

Might you be thinking of Scarab of Ra.

If you want to develop software yourself, then by all means go for it. Shareware-type software (without spyware or adware) is common, but some is more successful than others.

Software patents are a concern, but it is better to work at fixing the problem than simply worrying about it. Most patent infringement cases have involved large-ish companies. Though it may sound strange, a good policy is not to look for software patents. Previous postings have already mentioned this, but it is meaningful in terms of avoiding "willful infringement" which is much more serious than innocent infringement. Linus Torvalds has said that "no engineer should ever go looking for a patent" and he mentions liability as one of the reasons. Also see this article from an attorney. The best idea is not to be concerned unless you already know about a software patent i.e. compressed GIF images.

May you have the best of luck with your software development. :)

To that 1 in 23, you can get Solitaire.

Here's possibly one of the best sites on the net about the philosophy of designing shareware. Note that copy protection is not the answer!

http://semicolon.com/ShareSuccess/Shareware1.html

Basically, the author does triage. There are 3 types of people: those who will always pay, those who will never pay (pirates), and those who might pay. He focuses on trying to convince the latter group, and doesn't waste time with copy protection schemes that will just annoy the honest users and not stop the pirates.

What's wrong with copy protection:

http://www.toad.com/gnu/whatswrong.html

Some typical attack methods:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/3030/co pyfail.htm
http://fravia.anticrack.de/advanced.htm

You might want to read all of these before deciding if your efforts on copy protection are really worth it in the long run.

http://semicolon.com/ShareSuccess/SharewareLinks.h tml

The author of the first link has a page of more links that are also very good.

Here's possibly one of the best sites on the net about the philosophy of designing shareware. Note that copy protection is not the answer!

http://semicolon.com/ShareSuccess/Shareware1.html

Basically, the author does triage. There are 3 types of people: those who will always pay, those who will never pay (pirates), and those who might pay. He focuses on trying to convince the latter group, and doesn't waste time with copy protection schemes that will just annoy the honest users and not stop the pirates.

What's wrong with copy protection:

http://www.toad.com/gnu/whatswrong.html

Some typical attack methods:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/3030/co pyfail.htm
http://fravia.anticrack.de/advanced.htm

You might want to read all of these before deciding if your efforts on copy protection are really worth it in the long run.

http://semicolon.com/ShareSuccess/SharewareLinks.h tml

The author of the first link has a page of more links that are also very good.