Ambrosia Software policy? - Macintosh Garden

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2019, May 14 - 4:50pm

Xeriphas1994

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Ambrosia Software policy?

Greetings,

Is there a staff consensus on Ambrosia products at this time? I know about the 10-year rule... buuut... it was apparently OK, for example, to upload Pillars of Garendall when further sales were deemed virtually impossible. AFAICT, all Ambrosia titles are now in that situation.

Also the website, with its huge archive of add-ons, patches, and documentation, could be parked at any time.

I would have just started updating wiki entries, but then noticed "purchase" links being mass-removed without changing body text to match. I thought someone might be in the middle of a project and didn't want to interfere.

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!

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2019, May 14 - 5:42pm

Jatoba

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Joined: 2018 Apr 16

I can't comment on that... But I always fret a lot of Ambrosia content, such as a massive amount of Escape Velocity (EV) plug-ins and whatnot, as well as software information found within the site, are under the risk of forever being lost, since not everything gets archived by archive.org's wayback machine.

At the very least, older versions of all their software should theoretically be OK to upload here, with a link to their respective official download pages for the latest versions, assuming the respective Ambrosia download links are not broken. To test it, I just tried downloading the Escape Velocity "trial" and... http://downloads.ambrosiasw.com/ev/essentials/Escape_Velocity.bin
Dead. Link totally dead. If memory serves right, this and other links have been broken like so for some years now.

2019, May 14 - 11:01pm

(Reply to #2) #3

Franky233

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Joined: 2019 Apr 6

Their links have probably been replaced by new ones. For EV, I've got this one (works on the wayback machine as well):

https://www.ambrosiasw.com/dl/ev/mac

2019, May 14 - 11:09pm

(Reply to #5) #4

Jatoba

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Joined: 2018 Apr 16

Oh, right! Thanks for pointing that out.

2019, May 14 - 11:14pm

(Reply to #6) #5

Franky233

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YW!

2019, June 2 - 7:27am

(Reply to #2) #6

Xeriphas1994

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Minor update: I've accidentally learned that replacing "downloads" -> "downloads3" makes these links work.

2019, June 2 - 11:42am

(Reply to #16) #7

Jatoba

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Joined: 2018 Apr 16

That's good to know! I'll pay their website a visit again soon, while we still can. Would hate to see some files getting lost forever, like what happened with Fantasoft and Realmz back in the day (with specific 3rd party scenarios gone forever, apparently), so I hope to at least double-check if we didn't overlook any file.

2019, May 14 - 6:18pm

Bolkonskij

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Just talked to fogwraith and he's giving green lights to add the contents. Yes, there is immediate danger of the page going offline since Ambrosia seems to be on its last legs. I've mailed them myself asking about a potential registration of Escape Velocity. That was three weeks ago and haven't received any answer, so it may be any time now that they'll be gone.

2019, May 14 - 8:41pm

(Reply to #3) #9

mandril420

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are you going to upload escape velocity now? I got a color classic and would love to download it now

thank you!!

2019, May 14 - 11:12pm

(Reply to #4) #10

Franky233

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The game is already here. Of course, it's only the installer (trial), not registered...

2019, May 14 - 11:26pm

#11

SkyCapt

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"All the Ambrosia ever made here is still ageing out there on the loading docks!" -Lt.Starbuck

2019, May 15 - 6:08am

#12

mossy_11

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Joined: 2009 Sep 5

A lot of the plugins are preserved. I downloaded everything for several of the games a few months back, and others have uploaded archives around the place -- eg this collection of EVC/EVO/EVNova plugins on the Internet Archive or its own website. So the situation's not as dire as it seems, but it'd be great to get everything available here too.

And I don't remember if I've mentioned this on Mac Garden, but I can confirm that Ambrosia is dead. Their money guy Bernard broke the news last year on his way out the door. He was the last one out.

2019, May 15 - 6:50am

(Reply to #10) #13

Jatoba

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Joined: 2018 Apr 16

And I don't remember if I've mentioned this on Mac Garden, but I can confirm that Ambrosia is dead. Their money guy Bernard broke the news last year on his way out the door. He was the last one out.

Oh, snap. I wonder why no annoucement was made on their front page, then, or why their website is even still up (their certificate expired, though).

2019, May 15 - 7:56am

(Reply to #10) #14

Elyus

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Ah, I did not know that Bernard was officially done. Based on your book (which I love btw! ), I got the impression Andrew remains completely disinterested but Bernard was still occasionally manning support as he's done since the 2013 downsizing.

I don't know their server situation... honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's just an ancient machine shoved into the corner of Andrew's apartment at this point. But Jatoba's right, the certificate has expired and won't load on many browsers. Combined with their email system being offline and Bernard no longer there to send codes, it seems reasonable to declare Ambrosia dead.

That being said, I agree that the situation's not dire. Almost all of their games have already been backed up on the Garden. There's been a complete plugin archive on Cythera Guides for some time (based on ASW's site), and their entire forum is backed up, although I need to organize it as a static archive or migrate to a modern format before moving to CG's server.

I don't think much is at risk of being lost anymore. It could be worth saving the AT digital library, but apart from a handful of docs or webpage elements, archive.org should handle most things.

2019, May 24 - 7:42pm

(Reply to #12) #15

Xeriphas1994

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Wow. I'd seen Cythera Guides (VERY professionally done, and one of the few places anywhere to preserve fanfic, which is life-changing for many) but that archive is a whole new level of amazing. I'll test it later if my ancient browsers can still stomach Ambrosia's site. Thank you!

2019, May 24 - 7:54pm

#16

Xeriphas1994

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Just realized I never followed up to say PRAISE JAYSUS for the attentiveness and solidarity of the Mac community. I hoped, but didn't expect, that saying "Ambrosia" would attract experienced users (these issues have dragged on for years and people seem burned out at times). Thanks to all for such quick updates, and with informative links too!

Ambrosia has become like George Lucas; people are ashamed to admit they were fans once. Not me.

2019, May 25 - 12:08am

#17

scott Praed

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Joined: 2010 Oct 30

Ambrosia website is still up. You right about the browsers.
I tested the website on Safari 5.06 and Roccat 8.5 it will not connected.
I tested the website on Tenfourfox and SeaMonkey and Aurora. They all works on these browsers.
The website has not been updated. When I look at website on bottom screen and last update in 2017.
Good website on Ev plugs.

2019, July 26 - 12:00am

#18

Elyus

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I'd say Ambrosia Software is now offline for good. They've had periods of going up and down, but their entire site has been offline for a week, and the final bit of activity was heavy spamming of their forums. I suspect it was deemed too much trouble and turned off at that point.

I updated the Ambrosia Times page with a more complete archive, and I'm sorting through a full archive of their forum system to determine the best way to save that content.

A handful of games don't have standalone pages yet, like Bubble Trouble or their OS X ports like Apeiron X. I'm not sure about sharing any license codes at this point, since I'd prefer to wait a while longer to ensure there's no intention for ASW to return, but I figured it's worth noting so others can help save any games/installers/documentation etc. they might have.

2019, July 26 - 10:14pm

#19

scott Praed

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I found out ambrosia website could be gone or gone out business.
I tried different web browsers as safari 5.0.6 and Tenfourfox or any web browsers. They will not connected to ambrosia website.
The server could be gone or company gone out of business or server have problems need be fix.

2019, December 1 - 10:27am

#20

SolarstrikeVG

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Joined: 2019 Nov 1

I guess this might be a useful time as any to ask if anyone's got their port of Uplink. (aka Uplink: Hacker Elite)

2019, December 4 - 7:42am

(Reply to #20) #21

Xeriphas1994

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Hi. Is that different from the version of Uplink you could buy from the website normally? I know I have the latter someplace.

2019, December 5 - 1:48am

(Reply to #21) #22

SolarstrikeVG

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As far as I can attest so far, there was a retail port in 2003 by them which supported both OS 9 and X, which the latter also got a universal binary at some point; and later there was a version of the Apple Store (presumably by Ambrosia as well).

I don't know which version is used on their old website...

2019, December 14 - 8:20am

(Reply to #22) #23

Elyus

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Looking through the Wikipedia page and Introversion forums, it seems Uplink: Hacker Elite was the title used for distribution in the US and Ambrosia was an official partner using that title. I'm guessing that means it's not a different version, but I don't know.

Probably the bigger question is whether the one they sell now is based on Ambrosia's port or their own remade port, although as you've pointed out, the original Ambrosia release was OS 9/X and is certainly no longer sold by Introversion.

2019, December 20 - 2:14am

(Reply to #21) #24

scott Praed

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I upload Uplink to macintosh garden. Here is link to Uplink.
http://macintoshgarden.org/games/uplink

2019, December 20 - 2:11am

(Reply to #20) #25

scott Praed

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I upload uplink to macintosh garden. Here is link to uplink.
http://macintoshgarden.org/games/uplink

2019, December 20 - 3:24am

(Reply to #29) #26

Jatoba

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Joined: 2018 Apr 16

Now the OS9 version is still left to find...

2019, December 14 - 8:42am

#27

Elyus

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As a followup to this topic, there's now a partial ASW forum archive. Unfortunately, I thought it was complete or very nearly so, but I'd actually forgotten to get several of the larger sub-forums backed up. At least the chronicle boards and most of the old game discussions are saved.

Regarding the games, there's still a few later ones (like their Introversion ports) that aren't on the Garden yet, but that's also around the time they started using expiring registration codes. With their code server down, the expiring registration system is a big barrier for some of their games. EV:Nova has a hacked version for Windows that gets around it, but I don't know if anyone's found a solution for the Mac versions.

2019, December 14 - 8:49am

(Reply to #24) #28

Jatoba

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Unfortunately, I thought it was complete or very nearly so, but I'd actually forgotten to get several of the larger sub-forums backed up.

Did the sub-forums include files for download, like user-submitted files, updates, plug-ins etc., or it contained just discussion?

2019, December 14 - 9:03am

(Reply to #25) #29

Elyus

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No, only discussion. Andrew long ago disabled all the other content like downloading attachments, viewing profiles (even one's own!), and really even registering new accounts when he turned off the email server. For many years, and especially since their site is now gone entirely, the only way to get any of that information is to get a copy of the database from Andrew. I've thought about contacting him at his new consulting group (NYStudio107), but he seems to want to move on from Ambrosia.

2019, December 14 - 9:09am

(Reply to #26) #30

Jatoba

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Joined: 2018 Apr 16

I believe of all the people, you would be among the ones with the highest odds of being able to reach him and him providing help to, considering your knowledge about Ambrosia and lasting dedication.

Even if not right now, hopefully one day he will help you back. I'll just pray this won't be another Fantasoft & Tim Phillips scenario.

2019, December 17 - 2:45am

(Reply to #24) #31

Xeriphas1994

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the expiring registration system is a big barrier

Your method (on the PoG entry, dated 2012-07-04) worked flawlessly for me. Given that Ambrosia publicized this change at the time, I have to think some users included dates when redistributing codes, as in your example.

Otherwise... well, there were only so many 30-day intervals between implementation and shutdown :> and in practice I won't have to try them all, because each code most likely originates within two years of its v1.0 application release. (I would have started already but have had some hardware issues since the OP.) After a valid date is found, hopefully the trend recurs and anyone can reuse it immediately, as long as the name also matches.

2020, January 12 - 3:30am

(Reply to #28) #32

m68k

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I would love to try out most Ambrosia Games for 68k, but are the reg codes for those easy to come by?