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Idea for Rejuvenating Emperor

RA1024

By RA1024
in Emperor: Battle for Dune

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RA1024

RA1024

Posted
Posted

I've been thinking these past few months about how we could possibly rejuvenate emperor.  I think we'd all like to see more players and more games going like the good old days but without emperor being marketed, it's just not going to happen.

Another area I know we'd all like to see is bug fixes like the backspace problem, being able to escape out of the load screen, and not freezing during load.  EA is of course not going to put any time into it since it no longer generates revenue for them so that leaves fixing bugs to volunteers.  It would be great if they would open the source like ID has done for their older games like Quake but I doubt this is likely to happen.

I think the fear of letting their competitors see their trade secrets (even though the game engine is out of date) would keep this from happening.  I see two possibilities at this point.  We could attempt to raise money to buy the source code like they did with the Blender 3D ( http://www.blender3d.org/cms/History.53.0.html ) or we could try to convince EA to let us fix the program under their supervision.

I think the 2nd option would be an easier route to take.  My thoughts are that we could form an organization aimed at keeping Emperor alive in conjunction with EA.  The organization would have access to the source code (not open source) and would work to fix bugs and add features like the ability to save replays.

I still think this would be hard to get them to agree to unless there was something in it for them.  My thoughts would be to set this up so people could download the game from EA for a reduced cost.  Maybe like a $9 download or something.  That would allow EA to make money on the game without having any real costs such as printing boxes, making cds, shipping to distributors, etc...  The organization could take over the support of the game and the game servers relieving EA of this task with a portion of sales going to the organization.

I think if we gave them a way to make money on something that is a current liability without them having to do any real work, it might be a win win situation.

So what do you all think?

GUNWOUNDS

GUNWOUNDS

Posted
Posted

Seems like a big endeavor. BUt it would be nice to have a perfect copy of Emperor with no bugs.  However to tell the truth i am happy with emperor as it is on your server... we just need more players.

And scar is working on that as we speak... he put Emperor up for Bit Torrent Download and he is getting tons of people uploading it from him.  With Bit torrent being massively popular now it will only be a matter of time before people start flocking to the RA1024 server in droves.

Perhaps this is a cheaper/easier alternative to your suggestion RA?

erjin999

erjin999

Posted
Posted

I cant help thinging they would never go for it anyway.

Of course, if they did I would love to donate loads oftime, but I cant sayI hold out much hope.  ???

Megashrap

Megashrap

Posted
Posted

Seems like a big endeavor. BUt it would be nice to have a perfect copy of Emperor with no bugs.  However to tell the truth i am happy with emperor as it is on your server... we just need more players.

And scar is working on that as we speak... he put Emperor up for Bit Torrent Download and he is getting tons of people uploading it from him.  With Bit torrent being massively popular now it will only be a matter of time before people start flocking to the RA1024 server in droves.

Perhaps this is a cheaper/easier alternative to your suggestion RA?

Well I wouldn't say tons, but hopefully word of mouth about the game from ones that are getting it and have never heard of it or played it,(and there are alot)will spread. But it's going about the same rate vs. people getting newer games. :)

alchemi2

alchemi2

Posted
Posted

Well i've always maintained that all EA have to do is some minimal work on fixing the few outstanding bugs and do a remarketing exercise and they would reap the finacial rewards, Emperor graphics and playability are excellent even by todays standards and a lot of the old problems of lag and crashes would not exist now as most peoples computers/connections well exceed the required specs.

The e mail campaign we all launched to get WOL fixed actually worked dispite many saying it wouldn't, maybe we could do the same again and launch a campaign to email EA over remarketing Emperor as a budget game or doing a redirect to RA's server. ;)

erjin999

erjin999

Posted
Posted

If anything DOES work, it will be most likely to be the one involving the least amount of work. Remarketing it would probably not be the least amount of work, I think. Maybe RAs idea might, if enough bpeople got behind it.

ps501

ps501

Posted
Posted

What actually may work even better, is seeing if with a few more mods - assuming they would allow it -- as opposed to just bug fixes -  the code could be modified in some way (more maps, campaigns etc) and call it Emperor: II The New Order (Or something) and then charge for the D/L's from EA, etc.  They may go for something like that.

ps501

ps501

Posted
Posted

On second thought - does this thread actually have merit?

1) What is the programming talent out there that could/would support this effort?

  A) If this was a business venture:

      -) Where are you located?

      -) is relocation an option

      -) Income concerns

      -) Project timeline

  B) If this was a semi-serious venture

      -) how many hours could/would you dedicate with some compensation?

2) What is the business resource out there to support the (re)development

  A) Venture Capital is much easier to obtain now (compared with 36 months ago)

  B) It wouldn't take too many hours (maybe 300 or so) to put together a pitchable business plan.

      (Not trying to sound like a pompus ass, but based on personal experience with about 5-6 people we could get a decent enough business plan together to pitch out there.  I contacted EA IR; and basically the westwood games are dead.  (big surprise) The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS, EA GAMES, and EA SPORTS BIG  Dune would fall under "games" area; however it appears from their filings that games is more focused on "Sims" "harry potter" and "lord of the rings" than on the dune games (actually in skimming the reports, I don't find any mention going back quite a bit!)...  Longer story shorter - I think there could be some actual traction, if we could get an understanding on the metrics.  Probably have a couple of webcast meetings - if its viable - then have a few sitdowns to develop a new plan - and pitch it. 

Is there any actual *serious* interest here?

erjin999

erjin999

Posted
Posted

Interest, yes. Talent :P Perhaps not here... Unless you were talking about doing it more professionally where it is done in a proper way using hired skill to produce Emperor 2: The Whatever You Called It.

Nuvollari

Nuvollari

Posted
Posted

hiya..omg guys, u really want MORE people???Go to wol server and recruit new players(i know its really hard) or share to ur friends ur cd key :)(i tried it work like 3-4 players in the same time :)...dunno if my suggestions are usefull but at least u can try. :)

P.S.:I think gun's right...we just need more players!

Megashrap

Megashrap

Posted
Posted

too bad you got your fast computer too late to enjoy emperor in all its glory at speed 8.  Its sad you only got to experience emperor in a lagged clouded perception at speed 1.

LOL, yea it does play better at normal speeds.  ;D

Voodoo Daddy

Voodoo Daddy

Posted
Posted

If the game is dead, and therefore not producing a revenue stream for EA, What makes you guys think that they wouldn't sell the code?

Second question- Is there anyone in the Dune2k community who would know how to "fix" or modify the code?

RA1024

RA1024

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm a programmer so yea I could possibly fix it but it would likely take some time as the coding would likely be extensive.

Me & PS501 had a good chat the other day on messenger and we may have found a few ways to get EA to let us promote/fix Emperor but only time will tell.

Rostok

Rostok

Posted
Posted

for a start, i played plenty of games with new pc gun

i just got over the game finally, possibly due to this being my last year of school. Anyway, im looking forward to red alert 3 now :P Hope that this community can sortve transfer over to that, u guys R O C K (as kal would say :P)

Nuvollari

Nuvollari

Posted
Posted

Well...i think this game is gonna die soon...ATM the max players on it,is around 15 players(remember its the max.)... In less than 3 years this game is going to be dead...for sure  :( ....

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