Original Falcon 4.0 now available via GOG.com
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Further, they usually get the rights to these old games.
Small correction, they always get the rights to sell those games. They’ve mentioned several times that sometimes it’s even harder to find the legal owner of the IP than to make old game work on modern PC.
Regardless, this release is pure win for BMS and Falcon, and for anyone who wants to further intersest in flight simulation and especially Falcon. So why, WHY, would you want to poke holes? Why isn’t the first reaction, “YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!111!!!” instead of, “Did GoG get the rights, is this all legal, can those guys download BMS or do we have to check their install to ensure it is a pure CD install?”
My thoughts exactly.
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Fact #1 - Falcon 4.0 Original CD is hard to come by and required for BMS install.
Fact #2 - People will pay upwards of $20-$30+ on the 2nd hand market in some instances just to install BMS, but often than not (probably never) will actually use the 1.08 instance.
Sooo… GOG steps in… “Let’s sell 4.0 in a “legacy” collection, state on GOGs forums that there is no use developing it from 1.08 as BMS is already available.” to the point where they link and recommend it on their forum.
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_falcon_collection_361fd/page7
ie. "Vythonaut: Falcon BMS isn’t just a patch, it’s a standalone program with it’s own installer. I guess it would be a waste of time and resources for GOG to make the original version work right, when it’s only needed to have the 4.0 installed, to be able to install BMS to your system. After the installation of BMS, you can uninstall 4.0 from your PC. "
Imagine if every BMS user who downloaded and flew BMS paid $6.00… I’m guessing it would be a substantial profit considering their development cycles.
Solution?
A - Remove the requirement for the 4.0 exe from the BMS installer.
OR
B - Only allow installer to function with original CD version by using a more complex media verification process.
Now one can argue that having the 4.0 install readily purchasable for a low price will increase traffic and interest in the sim, but considering the biggest selling point of their package is the ability to install BMS (IMO) I would be hesitant to support this.
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Agree with toonces here, this is definitely a positive step, and should be supported fully.
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Imagine if every BMS user who downloaded and flew BMS paid $6.00… I’m guessing it would be a substantial profit considering their development cycles.
Solution?
A - Remove the requirement for the 4.0 exe from the BMS installer.
OR
B - Only allow installer to function with original CD version by using a more complex media verification process.
Why stop there? We could also have a season pass, pre-order bonuses and microtransactions.
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Why stop there? We could also have a season pass, pre-order bonuses and microtransactions.
“Your squadron ran out of AIM-120C and GBU-12. Wait 6 hours for resupply or buy a resupply for 500 gold.” :shock: :D:rofl:
Seriously, I’m glad that Falcon 4.0 is available in unlimited numbers now and everyone willing to start with BMS doesn’t need to dig through ebay. Because if that is the cause, the number of BMS fliers is limited to those who bought Falcon 4.0.
At least from a legal point of view.
Someone started selling Falcon 4.0 again :woohoo: -
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Regardless, this release is pure win for BMS and Falcon, and for anyone who wants to further intersest in flight simulation and especially Falcon. So why, WHY, would you want to poke holes? Why isn’t the first reaction, “YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!111!!!” instead of, “Did GoG get the rights, is this all legal, can those guys download BMS or do we have to check their install to ensure it is a pure CD install?”
<snip snip=“”>Man alive, we’re playing a video game here, and most of you with no stake in the game would rather put stakes in it to kill it than to see it thrive. I’ve never seen a community more willing to eat its own, and I can’t even understand the “WHY”.</snip>I agree with toonces here. An explanation might be that we, as a community and even more so the devs with access to the source code, still feel a “pang of guilt” after all these years about the more or less accidental release of the source code. It sits at the core of everything that is fBMS, and no matter how hard you try to ensure that only legal owners of Falcon 4.0 can make use of it, you’ll always have an illegal product at the core: the falcon 4.0 source code.
So I’d go with the recommendation above (paraphrased): Let’s Just enjoy what we have and let the other parties worry about additional legal implications that may only exist in our common fearful imagination.
Worrying is akin to paying interest on a debt you’ve never owed, and in reality, we’re all set with “one foot in prison” anyway as a german saying goes.
All the best,
Uwe
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Great news, it means that more people will get a chance to try F4. It’s hard to recommend a sim to someone when there is no good legal way to get ahold of it. Personally my version of F4 was the Mac one, so I’m glad I can have a “proper” version of the .exe.
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Seems lots of people disagree with me but hey what else is new…
My gripe is monetizing BMS will bring it back in focus of IP holders, thus potentially re-opening old scars.
That being said if they are doing this the proper way then it’s less of an issue.
I’m a little more hesitant before throwing flowers and balloons around while sipping my ice tea.
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Seems lots of people disagree with me but hey what else is new…
My gripe is monetizing BMS will bring it back in focus of IP holders, thus potentially re-opening old scars.
That being said if they are doing this the proper way then it’s less of an issue.
I’m a little more hesitant before throwing flowers and balloons around while sipping my ice tea.
I think in the end mods like bms can only increase sales, since they are selling the old version. If the owner then wants to work on a new version based on the original source code (very unlikely i should say) then at that point yes , probably their legal team would make BMS disappear rather quickly.
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Well, no one is discussing monetising BMS Khronik.
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There is a chain of ownership over Falcon 4. GOG is currently a licensed distributer of the entire falcon family (including Falcon4). They sell it, saying anything else, like “Falcon is free now” or any other thing is just misleading.
In short, buying falcon from GOG is just the same as buying a falcon4 CD.
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That being said if they are doing this the proper way then it’s less of an issue.
If you think they (gog) are doing something wrong, ask them instead of accuse.
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In short, buying falcon from GOG is just the same as buying a falcon4 CD.
This is the official stance of the moderator team.
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Lol like something changed. Nothing changed. Instead of ppl giving plus 20 30 usd or € to some guys at eBay or wherever they give 6usd about 5.4 euros and they can install bms.
Just a price drop
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Really great news for all. Maybe next will be longbow 2
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Lol like something changed. Nothing changed. Instead of ppl giving plus 20 30 usd or € to some guys at eBay or wherever they give 6usd about 5.4 euros and they can install bms.
Just a price drop
I think that is not a bad thing, nor quite so small a thing as you make it out to be. F4 being cheaper and more available is no bad thing for BMS users.
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Good news for the community!!!
Hopefully this will expand the BMS user base so they can DL’d our stupid POC theater……LOL!!!
As far as the legality issue, it appears that GOG has resolved that. Something I have been trying to sort out with counsel since 2009 between Microprose and Atari…KUDOS to them!!!Enjoy,
demer
Puts his $'s back in his wallet…ROTFLMAO!!!