.BIN etiquette

[yorgle]

I see that .BIN's are posted in various spots for various homebrew games that also show up in the AtariAge store (Medieval Mayhem comes to mind). Is it generally frowned upon to burn such .BIN's to an eprom or my Krokodile cart? I probably would end up buying a cart version anyway if I really like the game, but also would like to try them out on real hardware before buying. I know I could just go ahead and do it and no one would know, but I really do respect the work that goes into these games and so if it's a bad thing, just say so.

[+Psionic]

Is it generally frowned upon to burn such .BIN's to an eprom or my Krokodile cart?

I'd think that copying homebrew ROMs to a Krok cart is pretty much an accepted practice. As far as burning to an EPROM (essentially making your own cart), that's a bit more shady.

 

Obviously most would prefer if you bought a cart in either case, but I don't think anyone's going to raise an issue if it's just for personal use.

[+SpiceWare]

I've often try out homebrews with my Krok Cart to decide whether or not I wish to buy them.

 

Since the ROMs are freely available, I wouldn't consider it shady to make your own cart; however, buying the cart helps supports the authors and AtariAge.

[+batari]

Burning to EPROM by yourself for personal use (I.e. playing and not collecting) on an unlabeled cart that will never be sold, given, or traded to anyone will probably be tolerated by most programmers (though you should ask first.) if you don't do everything yourself, you make a label and store the cart along with a collection, or it ever transfers ownership, I'd say without a doubt that it's not OK.

 

I am not speaking for all programmers when I say this - this is my opinion and feeling about the community.

Edited March 10, 2009 by batari

[yorgle]

Thanks for the input, guys.