Bridge Over Troubled Water

I've done the first exam of CCNA course, so this week I'll work again on the game. The map is done, I'll start with the interface design and with the interactivity of the interface, buttons, sliders etc.

I have an exam this saturday (first part of CCNA course) and I'm doing some subnetting exercise, so I've got less time for the game. However I've started with the map, it will be very simple: it will be formed by a first level with the outlines of the states, and by a second level with the actual shapes of the countries. I want the game to playable with the mouse, so the shapes of the countries will be interactive elements, clicking on them will display a screen with the policy options for the current turn. There's other minor adjustements I'd like to implement later; for now I'm trying to write down some basic planning, with all the things to do, I'm sure this will bring some order, along with new ideas.

The stupid game of the title is almost finished. Meanwhile I started looking for maps of the Middle East on the web. I haven't decided yet whether to use satellite maps or not. The memory usage is not an issue I think, rather it's a design issue, I just don't like games that use those maps.

I'm not a programmer, so even the most stupid thing like building a small memory game for me is an absurd difficulty. Before I start the cme project I'd like to have at least a basic knowledge of the program. Another difficulty is that I bought the lite version, which has very very limited features. I hope these restrictions do not come up when I'm already at a good point with cme.

Many many thanks to Mr. Eastman, he has been very kind letting me remake "Conflict: Middle East", an old and simple, yet incredibly funny for me, strategy game about politics and war. This project will let me have a good training in the use of Quest3d. Agreeing to the conditions put by Mr. Eastman I'll keep this blog to inform on the development of the game. In the end the game will be completely freeware, and also the code, or better the file containing the channels, will be shared with everyone for free. Probably you'll find the code somewhere on www.quest3d.com. Note that I've just started to use the program, so the actual development of the game could take some time.
Again, many thanks to Mr. Eastman.

From: Marco Fera
To: David Eastman
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 7:17 PM
Subject: conflict middle east

Dear Mr. Eastman,
I am a young indie developer. I literally loved your game "Conflict: Middle East", and I would like to try to develop a re-make of this little jewel to train myself in the use of Quest3d, an authoring program I'm learning. I'm asking you the authorization for this re-make, obviously it would be clearly stated that my game is just a clone, and you would be credited for the original. Also, this version would be freeware.
I tried to look at Virgin Interactive, the original owners of the rights for the game, but it seems the company has been sold to other companies that eventually bankrupted, so it's a bit difficult to contact the old proprietors.
Feel free to deny me the authorization, I will understand it: I can only imagine the efforts you put in that game. Please, let me know any remark or suggestion.
Thanks for your time
Marco Fera

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From: David Eastman
To: Marco Fera
Subject: Re: conflict middle east
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 16:50:53 -0000

Hi Marco,

First of all thank you for asking me. You are more than welcome to go ahead.
I probably had a part of my contract that stipulated that rights returned to me after a period in which the game wasn't published. Either way, there is no legal issue.

My only restrictions are are:

- The game and code must be freeware
- Keep a development blog if you can, and make your code available via a website.
- Yes, please credit me! Thank you.
- I have no code, so you are on your own.

Other than that please enjoy yourself and keep me informed as you go (via the blog). You will probably want to innovate in places so please do.

regards


David Eastman