
 The November '94 Ware Report, by The Renegade Chemist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  MAJOR NOTE : As you are about to see, tons of stuff came out last
               month.  None of us (especially me) had time to do anything
               about that magazine.  So forget it.  Just the ware report,
               plus my humorous commentary will have to do.  Enjoy.

               Sorry this is so late.  But I've been busy, and lazy too.

 Rules Addendum :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 1.  Updates will receive only 1/2 credit.  Commonly, games are updated over
     the weeks/months/years after their release, and these bug fixes and
     upgrades are reflected in the versions shipped to the stores as restock.
     This new rule will also cover US releases, which are only renames and
     bug-fixed versions of titles already available in Europe and elsewhere.
     Just going to the store and buying a game, then discovering that its
     a new version, does not give a group the right to release it and try to
     claim full credit for it.  This rule does NOT affect expansion disks
     or commercial uprades as long as they are sold independantly of the
     game, ie are not available for free from the publisher.

 2.  To clarify the rules about who gets credit for what :

     a.  Every group releasing a cracked, working version within a reasonable
         amount of time (this is subject to the bias! bitching that I talked
         about last time, but fuck it) will get FULL credit for the release.
     b.  A bad crack/non working version will be noted as 'BAD CRACK' in the
         release's size, and the releasing group will receive name credit
         for the release only, no bytes are added to their monthly total.
         The same will happen with an 'UNCRACKED' copy of the game.
     c.  If group A releases a game uncracked, and group B releases only a
         crack, not the whole game, then each group will receive one half of
         the release's total byte points on the monthly total.  However, if
         a lame group comes along and re-releases the game with just a few
         hundred kb added to it as the crack, several days or even hours
         after the original version, I *will not* let them get away with it.
         One important point to remember is that there is NO REASON to re-dl
         the whole game over again for just a little patch or cracked exe,
         and I won't stand for people who try to make you do just that.

 3.  New Features

     a.  Game Ratings.  This system operates on a 0 - 9 scale, 0 being the
         lowest, 9 being the highest.  Games are rated based on how much
         weight the release carries, what company its from, quality, etc.
         I know that this system is subjective, but I have done my best to
         be OBJECTIVE.  I am still listing the size of each release, as well
         as the total stats, so you're welcome to go by whatever you wish.
     b.  Group Rating.  A group's monthly rating is the average of all their
         game ratings for the month.
     c.  Group Score.  A group's score is calculated by multiplying the
         bytes awarded for the month by the group rating, then dividing by one
         million (the number of bytes in a meg - duh).

 
 Ware Report :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Game Name                     Disks   Rated    Release Size     Bytes Awarded
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Razor 1911
~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Dawn Patrol                    4/4      6       5,544,900         5,544,900
 Fifth Fleet                    5/5      5       6,368,094         6,368,094
 Fighter Wing                   7/7      6       7,961,152         7,961,152
 Flight Commander 2             4/4      5       5,715,982         5,715,982
 FPS Football '95 Upgrade       4/4      3       4,967,650         4,967,650
 Harpoon Classic for Windows   18/18     4      25,763,440        25,763,440
 Harpoon 2 Battleset : Westpac  2/2      5       1,794,240         1,794,240
 The Incredible Machine 2       2/2      8       2,769,445         2,769,445
 The Incredible Toon Machine    3/3      7       3,877,177         3,877,177
 MS Flight Sim 5 : Japan Scnry  1/1      4       1,418,373         1,418,373
 Legions for Windows            5/5      5       6,547,333         6,547,333
 NASCAR Racing                  4/4      9       4,758,253         4,758,253
 Operation Body Count           3/3      6       3,122,793         3,122,793
 Project X (Final Sales)        2/2      6       2,474,157         2,474,157
 Rise of the Robots SVGA       14/14     9      19,376,570        19,376,570
 Tom Landry Football '94        1/1      5       1,168,205         1,168,205
 Transport Tycoon               2/2      8       2,467,793         2,467,793
 Warcraft : Orcs & Humans       4/4      8       5,534,020         5,534,020
 The Yukon Trail for Windows    6/6      5       8,198,726         8,198,726
                                        ~~~    ~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                        114    119,830,000       119,830,000

 Number of Monthly Rel.  : 19
 Release Quality Average : 6
 Razor 1911 Group Score  : 718.98

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 Genesis
~~~~~~~~~
 Boppin' (Registered)           1/1      4       1,425,387         1,425,387
 Eight Ball Deluxe v2.0 Update  2/2      1       2,546,086         1,273,043
 The Goldtree Engine            6/6      3       3,608,530         3,608,530
 Jammit                         2/2      5       2,610,289         2,610,289
 Jigsoft for Windows            1/1      3       1,387,417         1,387,417
 Lemmings : Chronicles          4/4      7       5,094,226         5,094,226
 Metaltech : Battledrome        2/2      8       2,639,552         2,639,552
 Menzoberranzan                 7/7      8       9,776,831         9,776,831
 Panzer General                 5/5      6       6,588,650         6,588,650
 Sim City 2000 for Windows      2/2      5       2,426,390         2,426,390
 Skunny Karts (Final Sales)     1/1      4       1,450,653         1,450,653
 10 Strategy Games for Windows  4/4      3       2,729,875         2,729,875
 TV Guide Crosswords (Windows)  1/1      3         733,770           733,770
                                        ~~~    ~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                       60.00    43,017,656        41,744,613

 Number of Monthly Rel.  : 13
 Release Quality Average : 4.62
 Genesis Group Score     : 192.86

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Hybrid
~~~~~~~~
 Ultimate Body Blows            4/4      8       5,765,650         5,765,650
 Rise of the Robots VGA        10/10     7      13,847,229        13,847,229
                                        ~~~    ~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                       15.00    19,612,879        19,612,879
 Number of Monthly Rel.  : 2
 Release Quality Average : 6.5
 Hybrid Group Score      : 127.48
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Paradox
~~~~~~~~~
 Dawn Patrol                    4/4      7       5,544,900         5,544,900
 Frankenstein                   4/4      5       5,360,375         5,360,375
                                        ~~~    ~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                       12.00    10,905,275        10,905,275

 Number of Monthly Rel.  : 2
 Release Quality Average : 6
 Paradox Group Score     : 65.43

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Tyranny
~~~~~~~~~
 Complete Military Simulator    6/6      3       2,230,397         2,230,397
 Go Mo Ku for Windows           1/1      3         494,864           494,864
                                        ~~~    ~~~~~~~~~~~~      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                         6       2,275,261         2,275,261

 Number of Monthly Rel.  : 2
 Release Quality Average : 3
 Tyranny Group Score     : 6.83

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Comments from TRC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Another year is about to draw to a close, but this is a sad time for the PC
 scene, as the scene is about to end up on the rocks.  With so many software
 publishers going CD ROM only, soon the only real scene left will be on the
 consoles.  This means that Razor now holds the record for the most meggage
 ever released in a single month by any non-utils group, EVER, and more than
 likely, the only month that will ever be able to hold a candle to November
 will be December.  We'll have to see what happens ..

 Anyway, I probably don't need to point out the fact that this month Razor
 silenced the doubters once and for all, releasing three times as much as
 the second best group, Genesis.  I've heard a lot of talk about 'the old
 Razor' though.  I don't like to hear this kind of nonsense as there was no
 'old' Razor 1911.  A few of us had to take a little time out of the scene,
 and during this time a handful of self-absorbed opportunists decided to
 split and form their own group, Legend.  Though hatched from a rotten egg,
 Legend gained a decent reputation for quality cracks.  Eventually, feeling
 that 'we are unable to be number one on our own' (a direct quote from
 Shadow Master), some of the guys from Legend misled a large portion of
 their group into the false pretense of a 'merger' with the much besieged
 Pentagram, to form the new group Genesis.  The purpose of Genesis'
 formation was simple - nobody could hold a candle to Razor 1911, and the
 sore losers had to band together to stand a chance.  This is fine with us.

 This month Razor proved that it is still the best group around, and that
 it will be a tough team to beat, even with the dirtiest group on the
 block (Genesis) out gunning for and threatening our members.  We'll see
 what happens in December ..

 As far as releases go, Razor also proved that it could put out the best
 quality games on the market, with such long awaited titles as Nascar,
 Rise of the Robots, Transport Tycoon, and the sleeper release of the year,
 Warcraft.  The scene can anticipate many more quality releases soon.

 About the report. Genesis, though beaten badly, did make a decent showing
 late in the month with a few good releases to make up for all the crap
 they released at the outset.  I guess that user backlash forced them to
 rethink their position on releasing budgetware, as the only lame thing
 out from them since has been the 2 week old registered version of Boppin',
 which every other group passed on after playing the crappy preview.  It
 looks like they will be forced to play a decent game from now on, as
 quality groups like Razor 1911 have made it clear to the scene that you
 don't have to release a batch of $9.99 windows games to get to the top.

 Hybrid made a decent showing with a couple of nice fighting games, though
 the VGA version of ROTR wasn't a big deal, Team 17's great game Ultimate
 Body Blows definitely rocked the house.

 PDX did okay the first couple days of November, then dropped outta sight.

 With the loss of its driving force, Eos, Tyranny has slowed to a crawl,
 with only two small releases (one of them supplied by Eos) and a lame CD
 ROM title.  I expect that they won't even be on the chart for December.

 I haven't bothered listing the smaller groups on the Ware Report, as
 nobody cares about them anyway.  If you don't like it, leave me mail.

 Be cool out there.

 The Renegade Chemist
 Razor 1911
 The Ware Report

