I received an e-mail yesterday from Matei Petrescu (matei@ppm.ro) and decided to publish it here so he can probably receive some more resonance:Hello,
I didn't know anything about "Stunts" until 2010, when I made version 1 of
a driving simulation game which I called "simcar" and is available at
http://simple3d.sf.net . I posted an announcement about this game at
http://happypenguin.org (which no longer exists since 2 or 3 years) and
some people wrote there that it reminds them of "Stunts". So I went to see
what this "Stunts" game is about. I downloaded a version from some
"abandonware" site, played it, wasn't initially very impressed but found
some things in it which inspired me to add some new elements into my game,
which eventually become 2 games, the second one being based on Open
Dynamics Engine (
http://www.ode.org ) and available at
http://skunks.sf.net and called "skunks" (you can see here that this time
the name is inspired from "Stunts").
At some point in time I discovered that even in 2012-2014, "Stunts" is
still quite popular within a certain community and that even competitions
are held on various sites (
http://stunts.hu,
http://kalpen.de/stuntsetc.) where copies of several versions of the game, which is there claimed
to be freeware, can be downloaded. The fact that some thousands of tracks
made by many people exist does make the game much more interesting and I
even found that some completely new cars were added to the original
version. The 3D graphics, with low resolution and lots of other problems
distract the attention from the fact that the cars move very
unrealistically and I find this to be one of the few cases where 2 wrongs
(graphics and car movement) make a right. The graphics leave a lot to the
imagination and the awkward handling makes the cars controllable with a
keyboard. Also interesting is the fact that this game shows what a 386 CPU
can do.
But there are some problems. The game is NOT freeware. I found on a site
that somebody checked with Mindscape and Broderbund. This is irrelevant as
long as the screen shows "Copyright 1990 Distinctive Software". I agree
that copyright laws are ridiculous and extending copyright for more than
20 years, especially for computer programs, is even more ridiculous and
constitutes an unacceptable intervention of the state into the economy.
But those laws are there and are going to stay there because the world is
ruled by masons, bankers, oil companies etc. A way to certify that
"Stunts" is freeware does however exist and is exemplified at
http://worldofspectrum.org . It involves getting written permision (like
in email) from all people involved in making the game (Don Mattrick, Kevin
Pickell etc.). Or their successors, in case they followed Colin McRae,
who, as I found out these days, committed suicide in 2007 and also killed
his son in the process. And "Colin McRae Rally" was a much newer game.
So copyright laws are ridiculous and they stifle progress, which is why I
only use free software (starting with GNU/Linux operating system) with a
few (properly) freeware games for DOS and ZX Spectrum, which have some
historical significance. "Stunts" is the only software that I use and is
not free(ware). The authors may not mind, but nobody checked. The irony is
that the actual CRACK might be copyrighted, as when I type "stunts_k.exe",
some text about "Copyware Neverlock Loader .... registered ... " shows up.
So I'm not suggesting to replace "Stunts" and the previously mentioned
competitions with my game(s), but I think they could be a nice addition,
considering:
- they are 100% free as in freedom, including "game data" - all GPL;
- realistic physics;
- tracks and cars are even easier to create than in "Stunts";
- software rendering (but done properly, with z-buffer)
- no 3D acceleration
- a Pentium 2 at 400 MHz is sufficient (with a version compiled and
configured for such a situation);
- that means they will run on practically any computer made after 1998;
- easy to compile, only standard C and SDL (1.2 or 2) libraries used;
- loops and corkscrews on both sides (left and right) and loops with 3
diameters;
- besides, any new type of track element can be added;
- extremely easy to HACK with, as the source code is both available and as
simple as it can get for a driving simulation;
- 3D models are in simple text files: one with vertices and triangles, one
with colours and one with data for backface culling;
- support from me, as much as I can offer.
I don't have much time to develop the games and, considering their current
popularity, not much motivation either. So I thought I'd let you know.
Matei
