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Here's the deal. I personally called Contraband's offices about a month ago. I spoke to the company's president/owner himself, Bill "Burger" Heineman. Mr. Heineman was a very nice guy to speak with. I explained that with the release of EV: Nova for Windows, its opening a new opportunity for Windows users to play a classic, extremly popular Macintosh game. Also, with the expansibility of Nova through plugins, the possibilities for Windows game development using the Nova engine was huge, just like it has been for years with Mac EV. I went on to talk about how many people in the game community were looking forward to getting the .rez file format so we could begin making editors to write plugins on Windows machines ourselves. Mr. Heineman said that at the time, they had no centralized plugin format information at the time, it was still spread out in the EV: Nova source files. He added it would take him about a week to get the information together, then would email it to me. He said that releasing the information would not be a problem. Upon his request, I also sent an email to him at burger@contrabandent.com. A week and a half went by. No email from Contraband. I waited a few more days, then called again. Mr. Heineman said he had emailed it to me just a few days after I had called. On the premise that he may have not received my email or had written it down incorrectly, I again emailed him again per his request. 2 more weeks went by, again I did not receive a response from Contraband. A few days ago I emailed them again and have not received a response. I don't really expect to.
At this point, I am a few others are trying to write editors based on Mehrune's .rez format that he ingeniously figured out himself. While this has been extremely helpful so far, there are minor things that his format is not completely clear about. That's why we need to get the offical format from Contraband directly.
I am making the appeal that over the next few days, as many people as possible do the following 2 things:
It is my hope that if we get enough people talking to them via phone and email, it may prompt some action that up to now has failed to appear. To my knowledge, also as I stated previously, there has been no mention that Ambrosia itself does not want this information released. When I've talked to Mr. Heineman himself, he said there would be no problem.
As of the time of me posting this, its about 8:00am California time. This means we have a good day to hopefully get some action done. I think that people calling will get more of a response than just emails. For some, emailing is easier, though. Do both, if you can. When you call their offices, please do not be harassing and rude. Simply ask for Bill or Burger(same guy). When they ask who you are, tell them your name and you are someone who wants to write plugins for the Windows Escape Velocity Nova game they recently released and the community needs to get the format to the .rez files. Say that you are calling to request they release the .rez file format used for EV: Nova plugins. For simplicity's sake, it will probably be best to give them your own email address to send the information to, if that's the route they decide to take, or ask them to post the information in this forum. If you are the one to get the information, please post it here in this forum in this link for all of us to access and share. With the number of Windows folks alone who have emailed me about beta testing my client, we should be able to get a minimum of 20 people who should do this. Throw in anyone else willing to help, and we should hopefully have enough people to get this done.
To recap:
We're doing this for each other. Good luck, and thank to all who help.
------------------ Dawn of Infinity(formerly OpenEV): the open-source multi-player EV (url="http://"http://openevgalaxy.sourceforge.net")http://openevgalaxy.sourceforge.net(/url)
Mission accomplished: long, polite e-mail sent. Joe
------------------ "Life is tough, but it's even tougher when you're stupid." -John Wayne
Quote
Originally posted by Geuis: **At this point, I am a few others are trying to write editors based on Mehrune's .rez format that he ingeniously figured out himself. While this has been extremely helpful so far, there are minor things that his format is not completely clear about. That's why we need to get the offical format from Contraband directly. **
While I am not in specific disagreement with the move to try to get them to release the info, I do believe having a (possibly) large number of people call them is not the best way of going about it. They will release the information if and when they decide to. I also find it quite unlikely that they do not have the file format laid out in a single file, at least for planning purposes, but I guess it is possible.
Mehrune's analysis of the format may not be completely clear for every number in the header, but it is sufficiently clear for use in writing the read algorithm and was sufficiently clear for me to reverse the process and code a fully working write algorithm as well. If you have any specific questions regarding the format, email me at jeffrey@ariossoftware.com
------------------ (url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com")Arios SoftWare(/url) (url="http://"http://www.ariossoftware.com/programs/evone/")EVONE 1.0.0 - the plugin editor for EV/EVO/EVN(/url)
Originally posted by AriosSw: **While I am not in specific disagreement with the move to try to get them to release the info, I do believe having a (possibly) large number of people call them is not the best way of going about it. They will release the information if and when they decide to. I also find it quite unlikely that they do not have the file format laid out in a single file, at least for planning purposes, but I guess it is possible.
Mehrune's analysis of the format may not be completely clear for every number in the header, but it is sufficiently clear for use in writing the read algorithm and was sufficiently clear for me to reverse the process and code a fully working write algorithm as well. If you have any specific questions regarding the format, email me at jeffrey@ariossoftware.com**
As I said, I have been in contact with them for about a month and have been told 2 times they will send the information out. I also reported that when I first called, they didn't have the info in a single file. When I called the 2nd time, Burger said he sent me the information a couple days after I initially called but I never received it. Sadly, after repeated efforts have failed to get the information that the community needs, we have to resort to slightly stronger, but POLITE measures. Seeing that you've successfully written your own .rez parser based on Mehrune's format, I will definitely be talking to you this weekend on a couple minor issues. Thanks!
Still, for the sake of matters, we need the official docs from Contraband. IMHO
Originally posted by Geuis: **Still, for the sake of matters, we need the official docs from Contraband. IMHO:)
**
I could not agree more, I am just against putting undue pressure on them to make a decision that is theirs and theirs alone. I noticed your (important) emphasis on being polite, but I fear a large quantity of polite calls will be deemed anything but.
I thought that the .rez format was some kind of trademarked format. I don't think they'll just give it away.
------------------ Be the shoe What's the problem with repairing the ozone layer? We've got space shuttles and Saran Wrap...FIX IT -Lewis Black I have a fever, and the only perscription is more cow bell -Christopher Walkin I'm up an unsanitary tributary without an adequate means of transporation. -My drafting teacher
Originally posted by Icetray: **I thought that the .rez format was some kind of trademarked format. I don't think they'll just give it away.
I'm sorry. I must have written too many words for people to read all of them.
Originally posted by Geuis: Mr. Heineman said that at the time, they had no centralized plugin format information at the time, it was still spread out in the EV: Nova source files. He added it would take him about a week to get the information together, then would email it to me. He said that releasing the information would not be a problem. Upon his request, I also sent an email to him at burger@contrabandent.com.
(This message has been edited by Geuis (edited 08-26-2003).)
I sent a polite e-mail explaining who i was and that i was a plugin designer on a windows computer, and needed the file format to be released. I hope he releases it soon. I want to start testing the editor.
------------------ Hugs, Not Drugs
Thanks to everyone so far who has helped. Have yet to hear anything, but its only been a day. I'm going to send another email tomorrow, but I might call the office first.
I didnt call though... I dont like talking to people i dont know. (They scare me!) But i did send an e-mail. Thats good right? -Lord Tekk
------------------ Hugs, Not Drugs! "No, I have never been to the institution for the mentally unstable...Why do you ask?" "Being psychotic isnt so bad... I can plea legally insane whenever I kill someone."
(This message has been edited by Lord Tekk (edited 08-27-2003).)