Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) LED Wars

I don't think Larian sold or otherwise lost the right to publish LED Wars, or they would not have bothered attempting to re-compile the game again without the copy protection.

I got the impression it was simply too much work for too little benefit to go through code that they had not looked at in years, track down all the errors due to the differences in compilers, and then have to do a round of beta testing to catch problems or conflicts that didn't result in a compile error.
Presumably the media the original compiler was on got discarded, lost or damaged, or the compiler itself had problems on newer systems.

Could well be the case, Raze. Makes sense <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Through the link from above (Mobygames) I found out that the publisher merely published only ONE game: LED Wars.

Looks a bit strange, imho.

Hmmm... well, isn't that common? Many companies often "fold" before they even manage to start operating while others are short-lived 'cos they couldn't generate enough profits to break-even.

Very common in the games industry from what I gather, yes.

Yeah... these days, projects cost millions of bucks and the development cycle takes forever for real-time 3d projects: a reason why some developers reverted to/use 2d with 3d. This means that the publishing date is often heavily delayed and the more games you compete against, the harder it is to recoup profits.

Besides, it's always better to kill off a company if it's losing a lot of money and where there's absolutely no way left to rescue it. For an example, think of a heavily bureaucratic Japanese company where 'cos of loyalty to "tradition" and "rules", "corruption", "greed", etc., the directors/board refuses to downsize or scrap the company. The resulting factor is losses of trillions of yen(around a few billions worth USD/Euros) which sometimes has lasting repercussions on the economy and local businesses.

The other side isn't funny either, however.

We recently have the problem of Nokia shutting down a manufacturing plant with around 1000 people losing their jobs in favour to another plant in Romania - where the people earn usually less, compared to other European standards.

Meanwwhile, Nokia gained several millions or even more as pure profits.

We here in Germany still believe in kind of an social responsibility of companies - of course not that exaggerated as in your example, but still ...

Here in Germany we call companies which move from country to country in order to gain more profits as "locusts", because they settle down, eat everything, and travel further. What they leave behind is wreckage, but tey don't care in their every-hungry mood.

Releasing LED wars as freeware would imply to rebuild it to get rid of some deprecated dependencies. And getting the beast to properly compile on a modern environment is challenging, to say the least. I once managed to make it start up by cutting away lots of stuff, but as soon as someone would fire a rocket the whole game would blow up... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Still, if you got the original game it runs fine on XP.

Heh... trying to compile it in a modern environment, huh? I guess... that's little wonder why few game companies actually re-release their ancient games. It must be a pain trying to get the compiler to even function in Windows XP... what about those compilers from the Dos days? :P

Eh... you mean the game causes the computer to blow up? "Mommy, the computer is on fire." Just kidding! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

That said, I get what you mean... :P I really ought to put LED Wars on my "to buy" list in the distant future. The protection doesn't bother me unless it fries my pc, in which case, I'd start looking like my avatar. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Absolutely! Prince of Lies! Which makes me what, again? Oh, that's right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Absolutely! Prince of Lies! Which makes me what, again? Oh, that's right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*rolls her eyes* Right... me thinks you've had too much to drink of late. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Absolutely! Prince of Lies! Which makes me what, again? Oh, that's right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*rolls her eyes* Right... me thinks you've had too much to drink of late. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

I'm still the one true Lord Of Chaos! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Absolutely! Prince of Lies! Which makes me what, again? Oh, that's right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*rolls her eyes* Right... me thinks you've had too much to drink of late. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

I'm still the one true Lord Of Chaos! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*Calling for all Larian staff members*

*I repeat: calling for all Larian staff members. Request for authorisation to transfer Patient 22981 to Block 33b, containment level D. Subject repeatedly identifies oneself as "Lord of Chaos". Request for approval of Procedure 4591, Section AAA to be delivered upon subject 22981.*

Yeah, some companies these days try to look for jobs for their employees if they're doing mass retrenchment or if the plant/office is closing down. But that's probably 'cos of the laws passed in various states/countries. Otherwise, I doubt that most of them would even bother.

And yep, retrenchment is nasty. Well, having some form of social responsibility isn't that bad: if there's a way to rescue a company and the board takes the shortcut instead and kills it, then it's really messed up. It's only when things fall to the extreme(obsession towards laws, rules, etc.) that problems could go really wrong.

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Absolutely! Prince of Lies! Which makes me what, again? Oh, that's right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*rolls her eyes* Right... me thinks you've had too much to drink of late. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

I'm still the one true Lord Of Chaos! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*Calling for all Larian staff members*

*I repeat: calling for all Larian staff members. Request for authorisation to transfer Patient 22981 to Block 33b, containment level D. Subject repeatedly identifies oneself as "Lord of Chaos". Request for approval of Procedure 4591, Section AAA to be delivered upon subject 22981.* [/quote]

Heeey! That's mean! You can't section the Lord of Chaos! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Hey! We allready have a huge quote thread! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />

Übereil

Your signature is propaganda. Propaganda are lies. Ergo, your signature is a lie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Absolutely! Prince of Lies! Which makes me what, again? Oh, that's right! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*rolls her eyes* Right... me thinks you've had too much to drink of late. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

I'm still the one true Lord Of Chaos! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

*Calling for all Larian staff members*

*I repeat: calling for all Larian staff members. Request for authorisation to transfer Patient 22981 to Block 33b, containment level D. Subject repeatedly identifies oneself as "Lord of Chaos". Request for approval of Procedure 4591, Section AAA to be delivered upon subject 22981.* [/quote]

Heeey! That's mean! You can't section the Lord of Chaos! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> [/quote]

Pffttt... quit talking to the wall. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hmmm... where?

Here! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> It takes a while to get going, but once it does... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Übereil