An odd thought, but....

Velociryx · September 23, 2002, 12:59

I wonder if Activision would consider selling the source code to some other company? (say...like Velocigames, Inc, perhaps?

) it's clear enough that they consider it a dud (dropped after only one patch), but it's got potential, I think....would be an interesting thing to at least contemplate....

-=Vel=-

FrustratedPoet · September 23, 2002, 13:02

Send them an email and find out, mate.

Martin Gühmann · September 23, 2002, 13:29

Just wonder if they would release it for free.

-Martin

Locutus · September 23, 2002, 14:06

Hmmm, what's that smell?

Wait, I would recognize that from a millions smells

- I smell potential!

SMIFFGIG · September 23, 2002, 15:13

now thats the best idea

ive heard all day

Maquiladora · September 23, 2002, 15:46

Playing with the modders dreams I tells ya!

Quote:

Just wonder if they would release it for free.

-Martin

Various people have written asking for the source havent they? I see no reason why they would give it away for free, even if it did flop.

Velociryx · September 23, 2002, 15:48

Well then....I say it bears some looking into....mind you....at this stage, and for the foreseeable future, it's just what I said...a thought....an idea....and probably one that Activision will not be interested in, but....::shrug:: I'm game to give it a look....

-=Vel=-

Locutus · September 23, 2002, 16:14

BTW, I don't think it matters an awful lot in this case as you're trying the 'commercial' rather than the 'charity' route (as Martin proposed), but you still might want to be aware of the fact that there are a number of Apolytoners (about a dozen) who worked for/with Activision on this game. Most notably Harlan, who made the Alexander the Great scenario, but also a bunch of others who served as alpha/beta testers. The ones still (more or less) active on Apolyton today are WesW, Harlan, Paul and myself - and Markos and Dan were also side-ways involved. Although I don't expect you to need potentially influential names to help out, it might be useful to know they're out there...

Velociryx · September 23, 2002, 16:22

No, no, that's good! Outstanding even! In fact, if you guys can recommend a specific person I can get in touch with at Activision, that'd prolly be better than sending a "generic" e-mail to the "faceless" company. Good stuff, this....

-=Vel=-
(who is currently experiencing the "I can't wait to get the H3LL out of work so I can get home and get back to my game" syndrome...

)

Locutus · September 23, 2002, 17:01

Well, I'm afraid Activision went through some reorganisations shortly after they released CtP2 and got rid of all of their development teams (they're a publishing-only company now), so I have no idea who would still work there... Normally I would find the senior producer of CtP2 (Parker Davis) the most logical person to contact (the most senior Activisioner I've ever spoken to, I think), but he probably no longer works for Activision... If you're very lucky Harlan, Dan or Markos might know more, but I wouldn't count on it.

Peter Triggs · September 23, 2002, 17:58

I think Dan Hagerty (one of the game designers) still works for Activision. At least he did last March:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/356/356030p1.html

It wouldn't hurt to ask him what he thinks of the idea anyway.

edit: Bloody advertising! Follow the continue to interview button at the top of the page.

Locutus · September 23, 2002, 18:31

Hmmm, interesting. Well, I don't recall ever having met him, over email or forums, and he wasn't nearly as important as Parker Davis, David White or Joe Rumsey, but I suppose it might be worth a try contacting him about this...

Dale · September 23, 2002, 19:17

*tries to calm myself down after reading about source code*

*drooling* Oh, what I could do with THAT!!!!!

Velociryx · September 24, 2002, 10:58

Thanks for the tip! I'm off to do some scouting....

-=Vel=-

Velociryx · September 25, 2002, 11:26

Sent that e-mail off last night....'course, I'm expecting either a "get outta here kid" reply or "oh, well, we couldn't part with it for less that 20million bucks" or something equally rediculous, but....it was kinna cool to sit down and compose the outline of my proposal....

-=Vel=-

Wise Ass · September 25, 2002, 14:33

Wasn't it mad doc games that developed CTP2? You could try and contact them they might also have some of the information on who to contact and what not.

Martin Gühmann · September 25, 2002, 17:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Velociryx
Sent that e-mail off last night....'course, I'm expecting either a "get outta here kid" reply or "oh, well, we couldn't part with it for less that 20million bucks" or something equally rediculous, but....it was kinna cool to sit down and compose the outline of my proposal....

-=Vel=-

First it would be good to get an answer, but I think Activision could be coorperative, otherwise CTP2 wouldn't be so much moddable.

Quote:

Originally posted by Wise Ass
Wasn't it mad doc games that developed CTP2? You could try and contact them they might also have some of the information on who to contact and what not.

I wasn't able to find any sign on the CTP2 that wasn't the Activision logo. So contact is Activision.

-Martin

Wise Ass · September 25, 2002, 23:42

Look in the manual for where I found Mad Doc. You would have to get the rights from Activision however development studios are usually more accessable.

mapfi · September 26, 2002, 05:09

I don't know what's the standard in corporate america nowadays but I'm not sure email is the right way to make a commercial offer. I'd assume they won't take it seriously. You might be better off if you used snail mail and wrote to their CEO... (even if he doesn't get to read it - it probably be forwarded to the right persons)

Martin Gühmann · September 26, 2002, 07:48

Quote:

Originally posted by Wise Ass
Look in the manual for where I found Mad Doc. You would have to get the rights from Activision however development studios are usually more accessable.

So far I wasn't able to find them, could you give me a page and a chapter. So I could find it in the German version of the manual, if it is there.

-Martin

Velociryx · September 26, 2002, 09:03

Not to worry....I'm not doing the proposal via e-mail....my first communication amounted to a scouting expedition....just....exploring for the moment....

-=Vel=-

Locutus · September 26, 2002, 11:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Wise Ass
Look in the manual for where I found Mad Doc. You would have to get the rights from Activision however development studios are usually more accessable.

I worked for the company that made CtP2 (well, 'worked' is a big word, I didn't get paid or anything) and I'm pretty sure the name of that company was Activision, not Mad Doc

However, the core of the AI engine was originally designed by Dr. Ian Lane Davis, who left Activision to found Mad Doc Software in late 1999 (6-9 months after the release of CtP1). It's quite possible he and some other Mad Doc employee's served an advising role on the development of CtP2 and maybe even did some minor bits of programming, but it was Activision itself who developed CtP2.

BTW, I found out on the
Mad Doc website that CtP1 sold 750,000 copies, not the 250,000 that we always thought - that's not all that much less than Civ3

Martin Gühmann · September 26, 2002, 12:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Locutus
BTW, I found out on the
Mad Doc website that CtP1 sold 750,000 copies, not the 250,000 that we always thought - that's not all that much less than Civ3

750000 copies that means

From this number it would be wrong not to make a sequel, so we have CTP2.

Any chance to get a CTP1 news item about it?

-Martin

Locutus · September 26, 2002, 12:37

Well, it's not really 'news' is it? It's prolly been on that website for years...

Maybe I'll ask Dan or Markos...

Martin Gühmann · September 26, 2002, 13:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Locutus

Well, it's not really 'news' is it? It's prolly been on that website for years...

Maybe I'll ask Dan or Markos...

Yeah that's why asked if there is a change to post it as news item. But actual if we see it from our point of view then this piece of information was just discovered. But I fear it is too less.

-Martin

SMIFFGIG · October 6, 2002, 08:31

So whats the latest on this then.... WE NEED THAT SOURCE CODE

SMIFFGIG · October 22, 2002, 21:14

Ok this is kind OT but kinda not
Anyone heard of a game called Birth of the Federation (star trek game) well this was a civ like game but only star trek and in space (very similar idea to civ, turn based, colonize planets build city improvements etc) and quite good for a star trek game

Anyway this game actually involved people who where involved in civ2 (quite I few if im right) in its making
It was also an Activision game, it was also abandoned very early on after its release (ctp2 anyone)but this game hasnt been kept alive to anywhere near the amount ctp2 has (which im glad is still firmly alive). The point is BOTF can be modded to and there are mods for it, how good they are I dont know. A passionate group of modders for BOTF who (are?) where making a BOTF2 mod actually managed believe it or not get the SOURCE CODE from ACTIVISION? I find that midly promising for ctp2 and its a star trek game too (big franchise). However im not sure how active this modding team are, they dont seem to have a web site (although several different links point to one which are all dead), the info is obtained from only forums and they are oldish posts (and pretty dead forums) Oh well just thought id share the info no matter how worthless it is

P.S. If u want to find more info i cant remember the exact sites i looked at but i searched on google for BOTF2 i think it was (I do not have this game)

centrifuge · October 22, 2002, 21:22

Activision still makes money from the discount games...Don't they? If this is the case, my assumption (and it is only an assumption) is that they no longer sell BOTF in any sense. If this is the case, I wouldn't expect a source code for CTP2 until they cease making $$$ from it or recieve a very good offer

Velociryx · October 23, 2002, 10:35

All quiet on this front so far, but I'm still interested in the idea and quietly exploring....

-=Vel=-

Locutus · October 23, 2002, 15:37

SMIFFGIG,
Actually, BOTF was made by Microprose, not Activision, and although people have hacked the exe extensively and there have also been a number of FreeCiv-like projects where people recreated the game, AFAIK no source code was ever released. The project you seem to be referring to is ST:Evolution (formerly known as Universal Evolution, formerly known as Rise to Power, formerly known as BOTF2 - I might have missed an alias or two

), a Czech project which is, as I mentioned, a FreeCiv-like project where they program their own game from scratch but make it look like BOTF as much as possible (but of course they make a lot of improvements to it as well). So unless I missed something, no source code for that game was ever released, not by Microprose and certainly not by Activision...

(However, I do know that for a few other games, such as IIRC Doom and Wolfenstein, the source code was released, but AFAIK none of these games were made by Activision)

BTW, BOTF rocks!