rec.autos.simulators

But tonight, I opened the CEASER III box and was greeted by a quick refernce
card and a 200+ page manual INDEXED!.  The GPL box contained 2 manauls (well
1 manual and 1 hefty strategy guide that is very well written)

BRAVO! sierra for the quality of the presentation and the support for the
game out of box with good books.

BIGGER BRAVO! for the fact that my wallet is only $34.99 lighter per game!
I am used to paying nearly $50 for new releases to satiate my habit.  good
games, fair price, good pack -ins.  sounds like a deal to me.

edk

Jag
For the latest information on the "UO Lawsuit", go to:
http://headline.gamespot.com/news/98_09/30_uoclass/index.html
http://ultima.scorched.com/library/lawsuit_2.html

Z.

Blizzard is obvious, and i'm sure Valve will find a new home if they need
too. Papy? not sure. Kind of a specialist piece (heavy race simulation) than
no big publisher really seems to touch.

Virign has been cut up for the hordes, (EA) takign westwood, and a few other
pieces, but not the lot.

How long till Activision and EA are but left?

Z.

Well...

EA somehow is associated with Janes, so I wouldn't really see why they
wouldn't try to buy Papyrus. They are extremely IMHO similar game designing
companies, with similar goals in two different virtual realities.

Not that I want to go further in the discussion (this could add quite a
number of posts), but I would seriously see the Motor branch of Sierra
Sports (mostly Papyrus Design Group) be a potential for Electronic Arts.
As I was talking with one of the heads..  it could be a very win/win
situation if Cendant really wants to buy all their shares into the whole
deal (as it seriously seems to tend to).

EA is the dominating sports software company for games.. we agree on that.
They have more money to spend than about everybody for game developing and
also licensing.  Especially that if GPL doesn't really sells well, I don't
see how they could rely on 1 title (being Nascar Racing 3) for their future
in ***.  The NROS doesn't go nowhere for the moment (lost in all the
legal stuff it seems). N99 will be a seller but just to get a little bit
more money for N3 developing I would speculate.

Not restarting a war with Papyrus employee that Sierra Sports isn't the way
to go ( <flame away to you know whom ;-D> ), but I would "think" they
probably (and hopefully) check out elsewhere in case there's better
opportunities for the future of the company. They are still the Papyrus
Design Group, not at 100% affiliated with Cendant or Sierra.

Speculation, still...

- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard!
- Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s.
- Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking)
- Sponsored by http://www.racesimcentral.net/
- "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--

Again, as above, i don't see it.

Yes, but very much licensed base run of the mill sports games. Not great, but
the license's generally are ;)

What you are suggesting here are but reasons for EA to avoid aquiring Papy ;)

Correct me if i'm wrong, but Papy is owned by Sierra? and hence owned by
Cendant?
They may have in the past operated as a indepedent development unit, but they
are a Cendant company.
(like Valve/Blizzard...etc)

Z.

Is Valve a Sierra/Cendant company? I'm not positive, but I don't think
so. True,
Sierra is publishing Valve's game but it's not unusual for publishers to
be
different from developers. And Sierra does have a history of publishing
3rd
party games.

Dave
Humongous Entertainment

: EA somehow is associated with Janes, so I wouldn't really see why they
: wouldn't try to buy Papyrus. They are extremely IMHO similar game designing
: companies, with similar goals in two different virtual realities.

: Not that I want to go further in the discussion (this could add quite a
: number of posts), but I would seriously see the Motor branch of Sierra
: Sports (mostly Papyrus Design Group) be a potential for Electronic Arts.
: As I was talking with one of the heads..  it could be a very win/win
: situation if Cendant really wants to buy all their shares into the whole
: deal (as it seriously seems to tend to).

: EA is the dominating sports software company for games.. we agree on that.
: They have more money to spend than about everybody for game developing and
: also licensing.  Especially that if GPL doesn't really sells well, I don't
: see how they could rely on 1 title (being Nascar Racing 3) for their future
: in ***.  The NROS doesn't go nowhere for the moment (lost in all the
: legal stuff it seems). N99 will be a seller but just to get a little bit
: more money for N3 developing I would speculate.

: Not restarting a war with Papyrus employee that Sierra Sports isn't the way
: to go ( <flame away to you know whom ;-D> ), but I would "think" they
: probably (and hopefully) check out elsewhere in case there's better
: opportunities for the future of the company. They are still the Papyrus
: Design Group, not at 100% affiliated with Cendant or Sierra.

: Speculation, still...

Papyrus would be a good fit for EA, and would have been a good
acquisition for for EA three years ago if they hadn't been outbid
by Sierra.  Papyrus and EA go back a long way: the original Papyrus
racing sim (Indy 500 or whatever it was called) was published by
EA.  More recently Papyrus did Road Rash for Windows 95 for EA and
actually finished that project after it had been acquired by
Sierra.  On the other hand, the genius behind the Papyrus racing
sim code may or may not stay with the company when his 3-year
non-compete agreement expires this fall (I really have no idea),
and without an exclusive agreement with Nascar, all that leaves
at Papyrus is a lot of old (but good) code and a lot of steering
wheels and foot pedals.  EA may or may not want to start a development
group in the Boston area, with or without those foot pedals...

Hard to imagine any other parts of Sierra fitting well with
the EA product line.  Imagine EA publishing junk like Lords of Magic!
But Blizzard and Papyrus makes sense.
--

Thanks for refreshing my memory about those titles.. I just forgot... but
adds up to the speculation. I also was about sure (from talkings with
ex-Papyrus employees) that EA was/is still thinking about Papyrus.  Im not
saying that their present owners aren't good... but I would be pretty happy
about the change.

As I was thinking... there is already a couple of Papyrus ex-employees
working at EA ?  Rich Genter is one of them... I think or oh he's still in
that 3year contract ? . . Ah yes.. the 3-year non-compete agreement. That's
really heavy.  I know not "everybody" has it in their contract, still.
Hmmm.... I don't want to get more into that.. not that I don't want... but
as today, I saw "just" 5 people who are ex-employee, employee or just posted
under a <papy.com> news reference (Hello Randy hehe ;-D ). It's not a
"public debate", but it's still something we should always talk. I mean.. no
harsch to anybody working there, we are just speculating...

I would  say that with a CART license still free (who could be an extreme
hit in 2years depending on the CART situation). There's always "other"
projects ahead that just aren't said in public as normal.  But I was pretty
happy they got about every license out of GPL. That was really impressive
(but we won't  have Jeff Gordon for Nascar99 but that's understandable).