Kudos and Criticism
by Ambrosia Software Users

 This section features reader responses to Ambrosia's software & service. We will include the
good with the bad, and address any problems brought to our attention. These are real people
writing real letters about real issues. Feel free to drop us a line.

Bubble Trouble Bombardment

       ARRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! ( Note: this is the sound of me restraining myself from
       double-clicking on the little fishie for "just one more game.") I hate all of you. Except for Gayle,
       because she doesn't write, support, or encourage people to play Ambrosia games. All she
       does is write your paychecks and buy you computers so you can make more games.
       Hmmmm.... OK, I changed my mind. I hate her too. =8^).

       Seriously, congratulations on the latest horribly addictive title in the Ambrosia catalog.
       You'd think I would have known by now not to download it if I valued my free time. My
       shareware fee wings its electronic way to you as we speak.

       - Edward C. Liu

Gayle's in the same boat as you, Bud. I think she is having some trouble resisting as well. Thanks for the complements. 

       Finally a game that the whole family can enjoy without developing homicidal tendancies. 

       - John Cleveland 

Oh yeah, well what about Squishicidal? 

       Once again, Andrew, you have released a game which is PERFECT for my family (and for me). My son
       is six and enjoys SWOOP, APEIRON, and BARRACK. Of course, he insists that I play with him. With
       the quality of your games, sprites, sound files, and other niceties, I never mind an hour or so of diversion
       at the computer.

       The controls are simple enough for him, yet the game offers challenges and entertainment value for adults
       as well. Many thanks from a grateful dad!

       - TeacherBC 

Our next game will be for kids as well. It will teach kids how to cut the grass, clean their rooms, do the dishes, and a whole ton of other useful household chores. I wonder how much we can get for it..... 

       What do fish do when they die? They float belly-up in their aquarium. Why doesn't Blinky do the same?
       Is it because he's a teenage mutant goldfish? I must know. I think it would be hilarious to see Blinky float
       up and off the top of the screen. Just my $.02. Keep up the good work!

       - Stefan Bill 

I think his mutant powers keep him from floating - you see he gained his powers from an accident that caused Blinky to suffer radioactive lead poisoning. So, he's part lead, which prevents him from floating. Do you buy that? 

Snapz Pro Surprises

       Snapz Pro is a great improvement over its predecessor - a real cool utility! It's also a nice toy: Right after I
       had downloaded the thingy, I spent quite some time taking snapshots of everything on my monitor I could
       get hold of; Which was next to everything indeed - with the exception of the Snapz Capture palette ;)

       - Frank Behnsen 

I've never thought of it as a toy, but hey, you won't hear me complaining ;) 

       I am overwhelmed by Snapz Pro! This is a tremendously useful product, undoubtedly the best available.
       At three times the price it would be a good value. At twenty dollars, it is the best value I've ever seen in a
       utility program.

       I am a multimedia producer working on a two-monitor system. Snapz Pro allows me to capture whatever I
       need, wherever it's displayed, and quite quickly. Great job!

       - Tom Jacobs 

We are glad to hear this. We wanted to make capturing screen as easy and convenient as possible. 

       With Snapz Pro I can save more formats, but do I really have to register again???

       If this is your company policy: Shareware is doomed. The idea is that once paid one gets updates.
       Renaming your product prevents this. Snapz Pro is (in your point of view) a different product then Snapz.
       Just keep in mind it really looks more like an update, renamed to get more money from the registerd
       users........

       I wonder how other people will react.

       - Albert Zeeman 

Snapz Pro is a complete rewrite of our screen capture utility. We are charging an upgrade to Snapz Pro ($10 to registered users) because we have invested a great deal of time and effort into the product and we feel that the product is more valuable than it was in the past.

Considering that Snapz had only one feature (it captured only the screen), Snapz Pro has, well, many more features, and is a must see for anyone who needs a screen capture program. We welcome you to download it and check it out. 

Name that tune...

       (ahem; a one and a two)
       Snaaaapz betttaaa twoo worrrkss finnnee soooo faaar...
       noooo crassshesss yetttt, myyy dooorr's ajarrrr
       noooo funnny snappshottts onnnn myyy scrrreeen
       soooo liikkkee I saaaidd, it's praaaiseee I singgggg...

       - /bambam 

Yes, beta testing can make you crazy, please use in moderation. 

       Dashing through the Snow...
       In a two legged-twin cannoned war machine...
       Up in flames my enemies go,
       Screaming all the way.
       Plasma on armor rings...
       Making spirits low...
       How fun it is to toast Hector pilots who're two slow!
       Oh...
       Jingle Bells
       Missile shells,
       Whoa, that's a big gun!(how Freudian)
       Shoot him dead... 
       Or instead, frag 'im now it's fun!

       Happy Holidays...

       - Tygres Heart 

Maybe some people take the holidays too seriously. 

Help, I'm being attacked!

       Uh...this is the SECOND TIME I've met up with you [in EV] and you attacked me for no reason at all.
       Fortunately, I made a new weapon called "death ray" that concentrates the power of a forklift into
       super-safe beam. Safe for me anyway. You burned. Confed cruisers die in 1.3 seconds to this thing!
       Imagine what I'll use for revenge on Matt! (He blew up my Alien Cruiser...) 

       - Eric Lasota 

I'll remember that... You can run, but you can't hide ;) 

Car Crazy

       Thank You ever so much for returning my plea of help so fast. I just wanted say thank you. I'm glad that
       you guys are in straightjackets producing shareware rather than driving in a Ferrari producing commercial
       software.

       - Bryan Conlon 

Well, it's better to be in a straightjacket making games than to be in a straightjacket driving a Ferarri. Personally, I'd be content with just sitting in one, straightjacket or not. 

In Avara, anything can happen

       Where you playing Avara with Super Patriot tonight (10/28)? If not someone is and doing a good job of
       impersonating you. If you were, my son really enjoyed the session hope your stay in Tennessee is
       enjoyable, pretty time of the year to be in that part of the country.

       - Super Patriot's Mom 

This was written to Andrew. I don't think he has ever been to Tennessee. Sorry. 

       I've been having trouble with people joining servers and hassling both players with expired copies AND
       players with unregistered copies (like myself). Unfortunately these people claim to be operating under
       your good graces, or I would have simply written the whole thing off and not emailed you. I can't believe
       Ambrosia would condone the level of verbal harassment I've recieved. One "player" in particular went so
       far as to use racial and sexual epithets in his attempt to "convince" us to register Avara.

       Its too bad an otherwise enjoyable game has to be ruined like this.

       - Nathan Day 

We were concerned when we received this letter. It is nice to hear that there are those who play our games and are concerned about faithfulness to the shareware system, but we do not agree with using abusive language. Everyone has a right to play the game before registering, and everyone (most people anyway) should understand the obligation involved with shareware products.

If you are someone who has stong feelings towards another who may be using an illegal copy or a copy that may be expired, we suggest (and request) that you simply don't play them and don't join their servers. There is no need to become abusive. Leave the nagging to our registration system and play nice ;)