Topics

1

Announcements / Should we try again?

« on: February 04, 2021, 04:09:48 PM »

I have received a request from a former player (whom you knew as Fozzy) to try once more to bring back SpiritWars.  Do any of you have an interest in trying again?  We would need to initiate a crowdfunding campaign, find programmers, etc.  I still have all the design documents and code, but I have no knowledge of programming or how to do this.  Lord knows, I've tried.  And tried.  And tried.  And failed over and over.  Please let me know your thoughts.

2

News / Chris Brooks' Primeval Game Trailer

« on: April 01, 2018, 11:59:29 AM »

Hey all,

Chris Brooks, who was previously working on SpiritWars, has been putting together a new strategy game. He's pitched it at the Square-Enix Collective. Congratulations! Here's the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4MbScWrSvI

3

Announcements / Meet the team

« on: June 08, 2016, 10:29:03 PM »

Although we are a LONG way from having a working game, I think it's time for you to meet the team.  George--whom you know as Light--is our project manager.  Chris--sorry, Chris, I can't remember your SpiritWars name--is our lead programmer and his son, Ian is in the programming department.  Eric, whom you know as Randy's and my son, is our lead advisor and Bill, who never played SpiritWars, is our graphic artist.  I'm the MOM--I have no function other than to cheer the team on.  (I also own the game and it's trademark.)  We would love to hear from you.  We anticipate posting a screen shot or two of an updated interface.  Please let us know that you're still here.
       Love, Mom

4

Announcements / Cautious optimism

« on: May 19, 2016, 09:54:35 PM »

Hello Friends,
      I have something to share with you.  We are going to try once again to wake up the spirits.  Two former players have joined my son Eric, my friend Bill and me to form a team to attempt once more to bring back the game.  This is the first time we will use a team approach.  I am cautiously optimistic that we will make progress over the coming months.  Please watch for progress reports here.
        Love, Lyn (aka Mom) 

5

Announcements / Shall we try again? Would you be willing to help us?

« on: April 28, 2016, 08:49:19 PM »

Hello friends,
     I've tried SO many times to bring back SpiritWars and have failed at every turn, but I want to try one more time.  Eric and I have been in communication with a player you all knew as Light.  We are in the early stages of developing a plan.  We will be reviewing Randy's design documents to use as a starting point.  We will be looking at updating the graphics and our intent is to rewrite the game so players will not need to download a client.  We will need to update the chat system.  There is a LOT of work to be done but I really want to try again.  I envision putting together an advisory panel of former players.  Would you be willing to help?  My older son Jonathan recently ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to publish his book and he was successful, although he needed to raise only $7000.  We will need substantially more for SpiritWars, but at least I have an idea of what will be needed to initiate the campaign. 
     One thing I want to put out for discussion now:  I want to stay true to Randys' vision of a fair and level playing field.  I DO NOT want to move to a pay-to-win model.  In today's market, can we succeed with a subscription model?
     Please post your thoughts here.  I promise you that I will read them all.  Thank you!
     Love, Lyn   (aka Mom)

6

Announcements / An Angel Among Us!

« on: May 29, 2014, 09:03:48 PM »

Dear SpiritWars family,
  We have an angel among us!  While I hope Randy is looking down on us and smiling, he is not the angel to whom I'm referring right now.  A few weeks ago, Chris Brooks, a former player, contacted me to offer his condolences.  He had just learned of Randy's death.  Chris explained that he and Randy had often discussed the "architecture" of SpiritWars as Chris is a software developer and programmer.  Chris has offered to REWRITE SpiritWars!  We signed an agreement a couple of days ago and Chris has already begun to work his magic!  He would like your input.  Please post any thoughts you have here about the game.  Does anyone know if there is  some sort of service that would allow us to have a meeting on-line?  We could plan a time that would be convenient for Chris and everyone who wanted to attend could do so.  And I wouldn't even have to vacuum and dust before the meeting!  I  would, however, make cyber cookies just like I used to back in the early days of SpiritWars.  Please post your thoughts here!
              Love, Lyn   (aka Mom)
PS:  The font I've used here is MS Comic Sans because it was Randy's favorite.

7

Announcements / I'm sorry

« on: January 14, 2014, 09:32:23 PM »

Dear SpiritWars family,
  I have some bad--and embarrassing--news.  We have run into a major, perhaps insurmountable, problem with the SpiritWars code.  I truly believed that we were going to be able to bring back the game.  I never meant to mislead you and I hope you'll forgive me.
  SpiritWars was written in a programming language called Visual Basic 6.  This language was old even when Randy was working on it.  Randy was a self-taught programmer and did his best but didn't live long enough to learn a newer language.  He spoke of wanting to rewrite the game in .NET, the newer version of Visual Basic, but it didn't happen.  A little lesson in programming that I just learned today:  Programmers don't write all the code themselves.  They often purchase "things" that they embed or somehow utilize in their own code.  In the case  of SpiritWars, there were things called "controls" that Randy apparently purchased from a "controls" company.  Those controls are ancient and will no longer work in today's technological environment.  It will be necessary to completely rewrite SpiritWars.
  Eric and I need your help.  Please tell us what you would like us to do, keeping in mind that we don't have the money to hire a team of programmers to do the rewrite.  Should we try a kickstarter campaign?  I'm afraid that we can't do it by ourselves.  Do any of you know how to approach investors?  Are any of you programmers who would want to work as a team to bring it back?   I can't tell you why, but I don't feel ready to just give up.  I apparently still have some fight left in me to keep trying.  We NEED your input.
  Eric attends community college and I work at my small (and not very successful) business teaching people to become nursing assistants.  But even if we had no other comittments, we don't have the knowledge to move forward with SpiritWars by ourselves.  I believe that you, dear SpiritWars family, are the best people to help us figure out a direction.  I'll be looking for your comments.
          Love, Lyn   (aka Mom)

8

Announcements / Happy New Year!

« on: January 01, 2014, 07:16:22 PM »

  Happy New Year to my SpiritWars family!  I'm sorry that I've been silent for quite a few weeks.  Please don't give up on the rebirth of SpiritWars.  We are still working on it.
  When the websites for the new national health care program did not debut as scheduled, I just smiled and thought back to the projects I watched Randy develop and reflected on how software has complexities that, apparently, the designers, programmers and developers cannot anticipate.  I was neither surprised nor put off by the delays.  I was certainly aghast that the country was so angry and disgusted.  A project of such magnitude was bound to experience delays and glitches.  What should have happened, though, was  a concerted effort to develop solutions,  even if they were not elegant, and a populace willing to recognize that such an immense change cannot happen overnight.  I remember watching Randy agonize over bugs that did not  respond to his repairs, delays over which he had little control, hardware failures.  How I wish he were here to expound on the situation with his gentle humor and his insightful observations!  February 20th will mark the five year anniversary of his death.
  I challenge us all to march into 2014 with resolve to accomplish our goals, to make the world a better place, to seek out the lonely and bring them friendship, to find those who are hurting and bring them comfort, to find problems and fix them, to grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.  Please know that you are all important to me.
                      Love,   Lyn (aka Mom)

9

Announcements / Will I be able to buy and sell spirits (playing pieces)?

« on: October 26, 2013, 10:47:45 AM »

No.  Randy was committed to a fair and level playing field and he felt that a player's financial status should NOT give him/her a playing advantage.  We will be retaining the subscription model.

Some of you worried about me and my future and encouraged me to implement the "other" model to generate more revenue.  Thank you for caring.  While I hope to make some money with the game, there is another element as well.  It is a labor of love, a tribute to Randy.  I want to honor his vision.

10

Announcements / How can I help?

« on: October 26, 2013, 10:38:03 AM »

When we launch in the next couple of weeks, we'll need lots of players to test the system.  If you know any former SpiritWars players, PLEASE inform them of the new developments and direct them to the forum.
THANK YOU!!!

Lyn, Eric and Bret

11

Announcements / Why did SpiritWars vanish for 4.5 years?

« on: October 23, 2013, 11:08:18 PM »

SpiritWars was the creation of my husband, Randy Chase.  He was the designer, developer and principal programmer.  The game was launched in 1998 and was on-line continuously until his sudden and unexpected death in 2009.  I took the game off-line at that time as I know very little about information technology.  I approached many people about helping me to bring SpiritWars back.  Some made promises to me that they did not keep, others declined to help.  Some believed that if they were to help, they would be entitled to an enormous share of any profits that might be generated.  Some told me that the game was too old to merit any investment of time or money.  I received inquiries and requests continuously since Randy's death to bring back the game.  I can do that now thanks to a great software engineer named Bret.  Watch for his posts on the forum.

12

News / BIG BIG BIG NEWS!!!

« on: October 19, 2013, 11:00:50 PM »

SpiritWars is COMING BACK!!!  The contract with the programmer will be signed in the next few days and then I'll have more news for you.  It has been 4.5 years since Randy died, and I've tried many times to make this happen.  This time it looks like it will!  The programmer has already reviewed the code and a plan is in place.

A SPECIAL NOTE to those of you who made suggestions to change the design or model:  Randy was committed to a fair and level playing field rather than a model that gives a player with more money an advantage.  We will be keeping the subscription model rather than selling spirits.

The stories that some of you have posted here on the message board about what SpiritWars meant to you have meant a great deal to me.  I have carried your stories in my heart as I've grieved.  I've been learning to live a different life than the one I had with Randy.  It's been hard work and a lonely journey.  I am excited that I will have the SpiritWars family to surround me once again.
                   Love, Lyn

13

News / Progress???

« on: September 24, 2013, 09:48:37 PM »

For the last six weeks, Eric and I have had a programmer reviewing SpiritWars code.  We will meet with him in the first week of October to discuss his findings.  Stay tuned for updates here.  (And wish us luck!)

14

News / Attention!!! Attention!!! Attention!!!

« on: November 02, 2012, 06:44:10 PM »

Attention please!!!  We are being inundated by bots attempting to join so they can post spam here.  Today I have 56 "members"  awaiting my "approval".  It appears that NONE of them are human.  I'm tired of wasting my time to go through them trying to determine if any of them are legitimate, so here is the plan:
   If you are a guest and really WANT to become a member of this forum so you can read and post here, please send me an e-mail expressing your interest.  Please explain why you want to post ie., you are a former player, you are interested in learning more about the game, etc.
  You can send your e-mail to news (at) spiritwars (dot) com.

Another bit of frustrating news:  When Eric and I purchased an e-mail marketing product from GoDaddy, we were somewhat misled.  It appears that they sent out only 23 e-mails out of the 10,000 we had attempted to send.  We will now try to send out a few hundred every day or two...UNLESS...any of you have a suggestion that Eric and I can deal with.  Eric is busy with school and I cannot even use the correct terminology to discuss all this stuff.

A third bit of frustrating news:  The programmer that we started talking to is not able to help us at this time.  He is a lovely young man but just cannot take on a project of this proportion.  We will press on.....
                                                Lyn   (aka Mom)

15

News / Advice, please

« on: September 20, 2012, 12:46:03 PM »

Hi friends,
   Eric and I are still trying to figure out how to do a mass mailing to the SpiritWars community.  Randy had a database of about 22,000 e-mail addresses and we would like to get the word about the forum out to them, but we are technologically challenged.  I found a program on the internet called Send Blaster.  Does anyone know about that one?  Is there a better one?  Is there a better way?  We don't have time to enter all those addresses into a program by hand.  I'm hoping we can copy and paste them in. 
  The sooner we get the word out, the sooner we can start planning how to get SpiritWars back up and running.
  It was programmed primarily in Visual Basic.  Should we try to have it redone in Java?  Or another language?  Any advice you have for us will be greatly appreciated!
  Thank you all for being here.
                        Love,
                                Lyn