Joel Duerksen, the author of Armoured Alliance, made 2 long public statements posted to rec.games.bolo regarding the status of AA. Be sure to read both since they are nearly 3 years apart.
This is the first statement on May 14, 1996, excerpted slightly.
Somebody asked:
I would still like a statement of some sort from the author
of AA. What is the problem? What can you do about it? Will you be
able to release it? If so, when do you think you will?
Joel responds:
Let me start from the beginning.....
Ok, I had three PCs at home, but I found myself borrowing a
Mac and driving an hour to play "Bolo" on an all too regular
basis. So I thought hey I've got a network at home, why not write
a version for the PC?
From the beginning I was creating an EXACT clone of "Bolo",
and knew that there would have to be some sort of agreement with
Stuart about release. So, I notified Stuart at a number of points
along the way to let him know that I was working on it. He
replied to a couple of my emails, but at no point did he object
or express concern (over a five year span).
Near the end of the project I talked with Stuart on the phone
about "PC Bolo". He did express concern at that point about it
having "Bolo" in the name and the use of the same graphics. So I
quickly replaced all the graphics and sound effects and renamed
it "Armoured Alliance".
However, once I was finished, it was still clear to me how
close I had come to an EXACT clone, without help or non-public
source code. Even with the graphics and the sound effects
replaced, it still feels like "Bolo".
I talked with Stuart in California recently and showed him
"Armoured Alliance" (all new graphics and sfx) and "PC Bolo"
(Bolo exact mode). Only then did he see how close it really was.
I think Stuart realizes the amount of work it took to create this
program and is optimistic about working with me in some way.
I am confident that things will work out and that my many
years of work will not be wasted. So stay tuned. But just to be
clear, any release of "Bolo" for the PC will be done by Stuart
Cheshire or an authorized company. Therefore, I am in no position
to estimate release dates, etc.
Keep in mind that if things do work out and I am involved in
a "Bolo" for PCs, I won't be able to talk about it because of
"Non-Disclosure Agreements" that will no doubt be signed at that
time. (It is standard practice.)
-Joel (author of AA)
Joel's second statement on Feb 4, 1999 is presented in its entirety. Regretably Stuart is not available for comment, so you will have to take the following statement on its own merit.
[minor edits in header to take out junk] From: "Joel L. Duerksen" <pf@gv2.com.nospam> Reply-To: homenet@indy.net.nospam Newsgroups: rec.games.bolo Subject: PF's "PC Bolo" Final Update (hmm, I guess the first as well) Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 22:10:42 -0500 There has been a lot of incorrect information floating around in here and even in Jolo's Bolo news. So, I thought I'd give you a factual and probably final update on my PC Bolo. No deal (except freeware) that I'm aware of has ever been considered by Stuart where he would earn less than 10% of the 'sale price' (before costs) and a minimum price of $25. That is $2.50 per copy.... The current standing offer to Stuart (from me) is 30% of the 'sale price' for a shareware release. ($7.50 per copy) I believe that to be fair. I have done all the work. I would do all the work for release, distribution, sales and advertising. I would also absorb all costs (and there are costs). I would obtain absolutely no rights other than to release my game and pay him a licensing royalty fee for each copy registered. Stuart would need to do nothing in regards to this, but would begin receiving a monthly check from a third party who would manage the sales (and takes a cut from my share). Before we talked with the big game companies who tossed about big sales projections Stuart had verbally agreed to 10% of each shareware sale but the last I heard from him, he wanted 50% of sales (before any expenses). I also have a standing offer to Stuart to let me release it as freeware. However, Stuart has aways made it clear to everyone that he sees any release of Bolo on the PC platform as a money making venture, so I believe that a freeware release is unlikely to ever happen. I did a lot of reading about this over the years. It is very likely that either or both Cambridge and Stanford actually have some or all rights to the game if they chose to pursue it. That would not make the situation easier to resolve and personally I don't agree that Universities should automatically have exclusive rights to all things developed while people are studying or researching, so destroy this paragraph after you read it. Since Stuart did not help or assist me in anyway, I worked only from material that I found on the net (that he distributed to the public) I'm sure I could defend successfully in court if I did a freeware release (with out his permission), but I don't have the money or time to spend defending a freeware release! With that said, I would personally have an ethical problem with doing that and so would never do that anyway. From the start I wanted to work with Stuart I figured he'd be a reasonable person, I'd have some fun writing it, and if he wanted to make money off any release I did that we'd work something out and I'd make both of us some money in the process. I was sure we'd be able to work something out since this was a DOS game and even back then Direct X games were starting to surface (it would only be a positive impact on any future WinBolo sales). Also just as I finished (several years ago), the PC game market was 'network game' crazy, people would have loved it. Now most games are network games, it is nothing special anymore, now your network game has to have incredible 3D eye candy as well to be successful. Things didn't work out the way I would have liked but hey its just a game! Stuart has not responded at all to my last several attempts to contact him. So, right now, I consider the whole issue dead, I'm not working on it, or playing it. It was fun to write, it didn't work out, its over. It wasn't the first game I wrote, and it won't be the last. Plastic Fist (Joel L. Duerksen)