RE: [Algorithms] pissing in the well [was: Collision detection pa tent]

[Tom F. <to...@mu...>]

I seem to remember TOCA had a ghost-car mode in it. Did they license it, or
just put their foot down and say "go on - sue us then".

Tom Forsyth - Muckyfoot bloke.
Whizzing and pasting and pooting through the day.

> From: Dean Calver [mailto:de...@ra...]
> 
> The most annoying  thing about the Atari 'ghost car' patent, 
> is that Midway
> (who now own it) ACTIVELY enforce it,
> I know because 2 years the game we had just released 
> (Powerboat Racing) was
> hit with it, we had a mode with
> a recorded ghost boat to race again. Midway told us we had 
> infringed there
> patent and could they have some
> money, I never found our if we paid or if our publisher 
> (Interplay) fought
> them.
> 
> So now we never include ghost anything in any our race games.
> 
> The actual defination involves transparency (ghost like 
> look), so if you do
> include pre-recorded cars to race again
> the visual image is very important. An lawyer thought that if 
> we had made
> the 'ghost' solid it wouldn't have affected
> us, but we were released by this time.
> 
> Usual stuff, that I'm not a lawyer and my memory be going so name of
> companies may be wrong etc
> (I pretty sure Midway brought Atari though)
> 
> Be afraid, be very afraid
>     Deano
> 
> Dean Calver,
> Senior Games Programmer,
> Promethean Designs Ltd.