SaaP 2007 - only $A 30.00 and you can be playing it in less than 15 minutes.
The Internet cuts out the middlemen - so I offer you a share of the gain by charging only $AU 30.00 for the one-off game. The Internet is direct - so you can download the game immediately. The Internet is world-wide - so the game is available to you no matter where you are. The Internet is interactive so you can influence the further developments of the game by posting on the feedback forum.
SaaP Online subscription: because the immediacy of the Internet allows me to deliver the game to you within hours of finishing testing of new features, I develop the game continuously and release upgrades every couple of months or so. SaaP Online members are then able to download these as and when they wish from the members' web pages. They're informed by email and on the members' forum. Membership of SaaP Online costs a further $AU 10, making a total of $AU 40.00 for 12 months. Renewal of membership (at a member's request, this is NOT automatic) is just $ 20.00 total for a further 12 months.
Of course, at the end of the 12 months you keep the game you have at that point to play for as long as you wish!
SaaP's Evolutionary Development: being able to develop the game on a continuous basis, releasing new versions to users regularly, is an enormous advantage. To begin with, it reduces bugs to an absolute minimum because only limited changes are made at any one time and if bugs do creep through then early users report them quickly and they're fixed immediately.
Secondly, continuous development and release allows users to express their approval/disapproval of new ideas and the designers to expand, modify or omit them as appropriate. Good ideas are developed further and bad ones eliminated. So user preferences have a signifiant influence on developments.
Third, the mainstream code is retained and only development code need be produced, which allows the designers to concentrate on new features and not on re-inventing the wheel. New developments are therefore much more quickly introduced than if a new game were released every couple of years and the bug concentration is kept much lower than if a complete rewrite were done.
Here's the way a SaaP Online subscription works in detail:
You subscribe to SaaP Online on our secure web page by credit/debit card for $A 40.00 (approx $US 31) or via PayPal (you pay $US 31). You receive a copy of the latest SaaP 2007 to download immediately after completing the form. This will run for 3 days (no need to be online) while we confirm the card details.
On confirmation, usually within a few hours, you receive a "Welcome to SaaP Online" email and attachment which removes the 3 day limit. This email gives you details of the SaaP Online Members' website where you can download graphic expansions for the game, earlier versions of SaaP, a version of Supremo 99 (for DOS), a copy of the classic gridiron game Headcoach and, of course, a copy of the suite of SaaP 2007 game programs. All games work offline.
Each month you receive a Newsletter that describes the progress of new developments in SaaP. Every couple of months or so, depending on the complexity of the new features, an upgrade of SaaP is uploaded to the members' website and a members-only email sent out informing you. You can download the upgrade and add to your game whenever you wish.
Usually the upgrade is done in such a way that you can install it and continue your game without interference. Just occasionally the upgrade will require you to start a new game to take advantage of it. In that case, if you wish to retain your current game, you download the complete new game and install on your PC in a different folder. There's no limit to how many times you can install a game. You can then continue your old game and start a new one simultaneously.
Code size, download times: while the Internet has the distinct advantages allowing all this, there is one major deficiency - that some users still have slow modem access. I have overcome this by using a very efficient development system to produce compact code that can be distributed without the delays that would plague other games. Code in SaaP is typically only 10% of equivalent Windows code (bloatware?) from other development systems. In addition, some graphic elements have been separated out so that they can be downloaded individually and added whenever it suits you. The game runs perfectly well without these elements but they improve the atmosphere siginificantly.
Download time for a fully working game is around 10 minutes even with a 33k modem connection. Another 25 minutes will download the graphic expansions. The complete installation takes some 30 Mbytes on your hard disk and is equivalent to around 600 Mbytes of similarly featured games developed with the appallingly inefficient systems normally used for Windows software.
Another advantage of this efficient code is that the game positively flies compared with other games with similar size databases. Even when running 8 leagues the maximum delay on a 500 Mhz, 32 Mbyte RAM PC is only 5 seconds! On faster machines there are no noticeable delays.
The SaaP Online subscription and SaaP CDROM can also be obtained off-line in the UK, USA or Australia. Click here to get information of addresses, telephones, faxes etc. You can also order through the Paypal system if you feel happier with this. Just make your payment to machoward@bigpond.com and you will receive the "Welcome to SaaP Online" message and info within 24 hours.
But quickest and cheapest is our secure online subscription/ordering site that will allow you to subscribe/order using your web browser and take the game away with you immediately.
Minimum Game Requirements: Windows 98, 500 Mhz Pentium, 32 Mbytes of RAM, 60 Mbytes disk storage, 16 bit colour depth.
The game works on Win 98, Win ME, Win NT, Win 2000 and Windows XP.
If you'd like to comment on the games, the site, learn more about Sick As A Parrot or Sick As A Parrot Online, or make a picking list of your own preferred new features then please email me or use the guestbook below. My email address is:
