CompuServe Messages

Yep, thats right, paint fans! Brilliance is dongled at the joystick port. This should work real well for users of Real-3D and Toaster systems with GPI cables on Joy2. Worst of all, Digital Creation does not have the honesty to list this as a systme requirement. My response to receiving their package……. *************************** 4 August 1993 Digital Creations Marketing Director 160 Blue Ravine Road, Suite B Folsom, CA 95630 Re: Misleading Advertising Dear Marketing Director; As the proprietor of an Amiga based graphics and video production firm I am constantly on the lookout for packages that can increase our productivity or the quality of our output. I made the mistake of thinking Brilliance was such a package largely due to your misleading advertisements. I am looking at the one in the August issue of AmigaWorld from which I placed my order with you. NOWHERE IN THE AD DOES THE REQUIREMENT OF AN AVAILABLE 2nd JOYSTICK PORT GET MENTIONED! Now, you may consider this a professional package, but since it decreases productivity immensely, I consider it to now be relegated to creative game or amateur's learning tool. Here is the situation you ask us to live with. My machine is already dongle-ized to the point that I had to get a second I/O card to get a serial port for a modem and a parallel port for a printer. I also have a adapted analog pointing device I use in the joystick port. Now, I recently obtained Real-3D which donglized that port – gone was the pointing device and I'm back to drawing with a mouse. Now, picture me trying to use Brilliance to create a texture map for Real-3D. First I would have to power down, put in the Brilliance dongle, power up, make the map, power down, put in the Real-3D dongle, power up, create the models and render a test scene – oops – need some texture map adjustments, save scene, power down, put in Brilliance dongle, power up make adjustment to the map (are they right?) power down, put in Real-3D dongle, power up, re-render – oops, still not right – power down . . . You see, professionals do not consider individual tools as ends in themselves, but items that must integrate seamlessly into an integrated work environment. The way that you have chosen to protect the product makes it seem that you have the arrogance to assume that Brilliance is an end in itself and not just another tool in the tool chest. A paint program that prevents multi-task usage with an animation program is nearly useless and certainly not worth the price you are charging considering that Brilliance is not all that much more capable than DPaint IV-AGA. It is with deep disappointment in Digital Creations that I return my copy of Brilliance unopened and unused for a full refund plus refund of return shipping. Had you been honest enough to mention the dongle in your advertising, I would not have ordered it and you would not be in the position of loosing the amount of return postage. You are also loosing a future sale of your slot box product since it seems you have become a cynical anti-user company. I would now assume that there was some gimmick built in to force me to use only DC products in the box, and I won't take that chance. Having made a living as a software engineer (and been run out of one company for turning them in on software piracy) I can sympathize with your desire to protect your products. I would have much preferred a code wheel/manual look-up scheme as it would not have prevented me from multi-tasking the product without restriction. It is the dongle that broke my Amiga's back and is on a product that is not a one-of-a-kind so that I can get the same capability from a non-donglized package from another vendor. I will also be advising clients I do DTV/PVP consulting for that this product in particular and possibly the entire new line of DC products are not worth considering in a professional environment due to awkward, non-transparent, non-advertised product protection strategies. With regrets, Wayne M. Cole Proprietor, IHP ********************** I know piracy can be a problem, but vendors need to realize, if the protection scheme is too resource intensive they will loose sales too. I hope DC is receivein many unopened, unused returns in response to the dongle. BTW, I should add that they were very pleasant and gave me no hassles regarding a return authoization for a refund. FOR SALE: Real-3D 2.0 with upgrade to 2.035 (latest version) dongle, and docs – complete package, $475. (I need the port for a GPI cable to drive the AmiLink/Montage/Toaster combination and the CPU is moving under a bench where accessing joy2 will be a hands-n-knees job.) wmc – via Autopilot!