PacManPlus Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 ...but alas, a few years ago, I was given the letter of 'denial' when I asked for permission to do this. (this is just a single screen demo, but a glimpse of what I would have done) test.A78 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 That is one nice single screen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 What is it other than a nice cool graphic? Is this a board game? Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 http://well-of-souls.com/tower/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Bob, The graphic demo is cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Just call it the 'Wizards Dungeon' when you need to descend the 3 levels to save the princess which requires you to find 3 keys across 4 kingdoms. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Yeah, seriously... Just call it something of your own and add your own storyline to it. There's no way anyone could legally deny you of making that. David Crane has some good input a while back about the legality of game ideas in the Lynx forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Yeah, seriously... Just call it something of your own and add your own storyline to it. There's no way anyone could legally deny you of making that. David Crane has some good input a while back about the legality of game ideas in the Lynx forum. Wow, thanks for pointing that out. I missed his post at the time it was written, but I agree that it's a good one. Here's a link, so nobody has to go searching for it: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/203147-pitfall-for-atari-lynx/?do=findComment&comment=2605472 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 Thanks, guys- but the whole idea of me wanting to do this was because I wanted to use the actual 'slides' from the tower, and because the game has nostalgic value to me; changing what I consider the key elements would dilute that for me ( IMHO ). Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammR25 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Shadowy Citadel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 One wonders how the android, java, and flash versions WERE approved (if). Assuming they were, perhaps asking those authors what concessions they had to give or offer to get an approval? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammR25 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 They probably paid a licensing fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 http://well-of-souls.com/tower/ Very cool. It is a shame. That would make a nice addition to the 7800 library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Thanks, guys- but the whole idea of me wanting to do this was because I wanted to use the actual 'slides' from the tower, and because the game has nostalgic value to me; changing what I consider the key elements would dilute that for me ( IMHO ). Bob Understood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Hi Bob Looks great....Would be a cool titlescreen for a game,i would like to see???? You know,what i mean ........ greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) Hmmm.... Edited May 7, 2013 by Trebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 They probably paid a licensing fee. I would have gladly done that, if I were given the option: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/186219-dark-tower/?do=findComment&comment=2347330 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Well you can always wait until 2031 and cite the Berne Convention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thursday83 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 That's OK Bob, let's do Angry Birds for the 7800 instead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I would have gladly done that, if I were given the option: http://atariage.com/...r/#entry2347330 Take a look at post #10 and #12 in that thread....very interesting indeed! From Wikipedia: Rarity Working copies of Dark Tower are increasingly difficult to find, and thus highly sought after by collectors. This is primarily due to two things: (1) wear and tear on the tower unit, which tended to experience technical faults with the light bulbs and carousel after prolonged use, and, (2) the fact that the game went out of print shortly after release due to a lawsuit brought against Milton Bradley for intellectual property theft. Litigation Dark Tower was the subject of trade secret litigation in 1985. Two independent game developers named Robert Burton and Allen Coleman submitted a game to Milton Bradley entitled "Triumph" that involved an electronic tower as the centerpiece. Milton Bradley rejected the game, but proceeded to release "Dark Tower" some time later. The inventors sued for misappropriation of trade secrets and won a jury verdict for over $700,000. The trial judge, however, vacated the jury's judgement. Despite finding that Milton Bradley had likely "plagiarized the plaintiffs' idea without so much as a by-your-leave" the judge proceeded to issue a directed verdict for the defendant because Burton and Coleman had signed a contract waiving any contractual relationship (which arguably included any duty of confidentiality). The First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, finding evidence that Milton Bradley entered an implied agreement to keep the game confidential and reinstated the damage award.[1] 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Take a look at post #10 and #12 in that thread....very interesting indeed! From Wikipedia: Rarity Working copies of Dark Tower are increasingly difficult to find, and thus highly sought after by collectors. This is primarily due to two things: (1) wear and tear on the tower unit, which tended to experience technical faults with the light bulbs and carousel after prolonged use, and, (2) the fact that the game went out of print shortly after release due to a lawsuit brought against Milton Bradley for intellectual property theft. Litigation Dark Tower was the subject of trade secret litigation in 1985. Two independent game developers named Robert Burton and Allen Coleman submitted a game to Milton Bradley entitled "Triumph" that involved an electronic tower as the centerpiece. Milton Bradley rejected the game, but proceeded to release "Dark Tower" some time later. The inventors sued for misappropriation of trade secrets and won a jury verdict for over $700,000. The trial judge, however, vacated the jury's judgement. Despite finding that Milton Bradley had likely "plagiarized the plaintiffs' idea without so much as a by-your-leave" the judge proceeded to issue a directed verdict for the defendant because Burton and Coleman had signed a contract waiving any contractual relationship (which arguably included any duty of confidentiality). The First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, finding evidence that Milton Bradley entered an implied agreement to keep the game confidential and reinstated the damage award.[1] Seeing the above has inclined me to post this again (After I removed it previously): See here: http://well-of-souls...er/dt_about.htm "The Dark Tower site is brought to you by the Well of Souls. It was created on 9/1/97, and was my very first web site, so forgive the sloppy nature of the pages. This site is not connected with or endorsed by Milton Bradley (or its parent company, Hasbro) in any way. Most images on this site and much of the text are scanned from the instruction booklet that comes with the game. They are used without permission. Big thanks go out to Death Lock for recording and sending in the sounds." The website has been using and continues to use images, text, instructions booklets, sounds from the game without permission. Since 1997 the website has been up with no problem(s). Additionally, the Dark Tower PC game (downloadable at the page linked above) released its software under the "GNU General Public License Version 2, June 1991". That in harmony with what bennybingo posted would lead me to believe that the letter from Hasbro is more of a knee jerk reaction to the request than what has actually been done or in effect regarding rights and protection of the "Dark Towers" property from the perspective of Hasbro/Milton Bradley in recent years (The last two decades). A website up since 1997 without permission using all the game's material: images, sounds, instructions, etc., game(s) published under a GNU GPL, including full contact links and emails from the author(s)/publisher(s), again without issue, but evidently is only an issue if done on the Atari 7800 platform. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Here's a few screenshots from the unreleased Vectrex game - with its respective overlay (Didn't even realize or made the connection to the board game until this time and the website info): Not sure how much it ties to or plays along with the board game, but looks pretty darn good, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 It gets even better, same site: http://well-of-souls...wer/vectrex.htm It provides the Vectrex game rom for download, emulator links and complete game instructions. Again, website up since 1997. So the PC, Android, Adobe Flash, and even the Vectrex platform = No Problem. Atari 7800 platform = Problem. It just doesn't make sense. Not a dig to Bob by any means, I just think the Hasbro reply to him was/is hollow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 (edited) Someone managed to create a free Droid version with all the artwork https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mow.droidtower Edited May 8, 2013 by Goochman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 They couldn't give Bob permission because they didn't own the rights to it because of the law suit. They just didn't tell Bob that fact. Allan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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