Badger Trails by Sherston Software

[chocky]

I am currently on an extreme nostalgia trip. Who needs drugs when you have old Arc games?

My next target of affection is Badger Trails. I have slight PTSD from getting run over so many times on the road (surely if I try to cross it the 30th time I will make it across???) but loved the game even if I never got close to completing it.

How can I get hold of a copy? Sherston Software no longer exists and I would dearly love to play it again on my Arculator. Watching Youtube videos just doesn't scratch the itch.

[richw]

Unfortunately, Sherston seem to be heavily defending their copyright, so you'll need to track down some floppies.

I vaguely recall playing a demo version. Perhaps it was on an 'Acorn Computing' cover disk? Hopefully the Acorn magazine cover disks are all available somewhere, so you should be able to track down the playable demo!

[chocky]

Wow! Defending the copyright of a 30 year old game that can no longer be purchased that runs on a computer last sold ~25 years ago made by a company that dissolved 6 years ago* on an extremely niche platform! I am impressed at their passion! Bravo sirs/madams!!

Thanks for the tip. I shall go demo hunting.


*https://find-and-update.company-informa ... y/01805882

[chocky]

Replying to my own post, hope it's okay. Time for some digital archeology.

Here: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det ... ppy-discs/

I read this: "Feb-93 Megadisk 5 - Ego: repton 4 / Badger Trails"

On archive.org I was able to find a photo of the disk:

But now I am at a dead end. I think my best hope is to ask the computing history museum if I can borrow their cover disk.

[Pernod]

Replying to my own post, hope it's okay. Time for some digital archeology.

Here: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det ... ppy-discs/

I read this: "Feb-93 Megadisk 5 - Ego: repton 4 / Badger Trails"

On archive.org I was able to find a photo of the disk:

Acorn Disks 01 2_0009.jpg

But now I am at a dead end. I think my best hope is to ask the computing history museum if I can borrow their cover disk.

... or grab from http://www.arcarc.nl/archive/Magazine%2 ... ting/1993/

[chocky]

... or grab from http://www.arcarc.nl/archive/Magazine%2 ... ting/1993/

Oh my god!!! Thank you so much!

On a side note, if anyone knows "Simon Hosler" please can they ask him kindly to release his software to the APDL (did I get that right?). i.e. make it free.

[Sophira]

You're probably thinking of releasing to the "public domain". The APDL was a specific public domain library that, sadly, no longer exists. (RIP David Holden.)

That said, at the risk of coming across as a pedant, nowadays the term "freeware" should be used; general understanding of copyright law has come a long way since the 90s. Back then, "public domain software" was used as a catch-all to mean any kind of free software that didn't require registration. Nowadays, though, "public domain software" means something much more specific: Software where the original author has waived their copyright ownership and are thus allowing people to do whatever they please with the software, including modifying it. Most software authors will not want to do this, but will be more than happy to make the software freeware as they still own the copyright in that case.

[chocky]

What a legend David Holden is!

Yes, freeware is a good word for it.

[paulb]

That said, at the risk of coming across as a pedant, nowadays the term "freeware" should be used;

One should exercise care in using the term "freeware". As the GNU project notes, it has no well-defined meaning, often being used carelessly to refer to Free Software. Also, "freeware" often referred to original works that were deliberately released free of charge in the first instance.

(Free Software itself is not exactly the best label for the separate phenomenon that it describes, but the inadequacy of the English language in this particular respect, along with the observation that the opportunity for choosing a better label has long since passed, means that we are largely stuck with it.)

general understanding of copyright law has come a long way since the 90s. Back then, "public domain software" was used as a catch-all to mean any kind of free software that didn't require registration. Nowadays, though, "public domain software" means something much more specific: Software where the original author has waived their copyright ownership and are thus allowing people to do whatever they please with the software, including modifying it.

I'd agree with the remark about a gradual evolution of the public's understanding of copyright law, or at least a broader appreciation of it in the public sphere. However, "public domain" has practically had the same meaning over the last few decades, and so the banding around of "public domain" or "PD" back in the day was probably out of ignorance of what that meaning actually was, as opposed to any shift in that meaning.

Most software authors will not want to do this, but will be more than happy to make the software freeware as they still own the copyright in that case.

Indeed. Also, in some places it is not technically possible to release works into the public domain, anyway. Hence the formulation of licences like CC0.