I've long been a Flash advocate, but it's clear even to me that Flash has simply been filling a gap that was missing in the world of HTML/CSS/JS. Apple have delivered the final blow and made it so there's not really much choice but to go down the HTML5 route. As a developer who has to turn websites around quickly, this is a major pain in the arse; doing the same thing in HTML as in Flash may be generally possible but it takes a hell of a lot longer, has to run the gauntlet of browser differences and finally be degradable for those on IE.

I'm sad to see Flash go (and at least in its current guise - as a browser plug-in - it will disappear), but I can understand the logic, even if I don't particularly like it.

I've long been a Flash advocate, but it's clear even to me that Flash has simply been filling a gap that was missing in the world of HTML/CSS/JS. Apple have simply delivered the final blow and made it so there's not really much choice but to go down the HTML5 route. As a developer who has to turn around websites quickly, this is a major pain in the arse; doing the same thing in HTML as in Flash may be generally possible but it takes a hell of a lot longer, has to run the gauntlet of browser differences and finally be degradable for those on IE.

I'm sad to see Flash go (and at least in its current guise - as a browser plug-in - it will disappear), but I can understand the logic, even if I don't particularly like it.

It'd be interesting to see this metric applied to pay-monthly MMOs such as WoW, Eve etc - but then you really do have to take into consideration satisfying gameplay per dollar, and I think the result will be 'not much'.

It definitely depends on the size of the organisation responsible for the original, but in the single developer or small team world of old games (certainly pre-mid-90s era) I think it's relevant to contact the original developer, even if the IP has since traded hands or been incorporated by a larger corporation.

In my own case, I was worried that the IP had gone to Microprose and been swallowed up and lost in the madness that resulted from them being handed around from Infogrames, Atari and so on. The way I figured it, the best person to give me the actual state of the IP was the original developer, and that turned out to be correct.

I guess another argument for it is altruism and camaraderie. As a developer myself, if I got an anonymous request via the proxy of a lawyer, I'd be dubious and repelled.

There's an early demo here, though that codebase is abandoned now in favour of a client/server architecture. You should check out http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/gooeyblob/ and http://chaosremakes.wikia.com/wiki/Chaos_Remakes_Wiki if you're a fan of Chaos :)

I'm working on a project of a similar nature for an early Julian Gollop game called Chaos: Battle of the Wizards, and I devoted a good amount of time early on in tracking Julian down and seeking his permission. It's obviously a complex and confusing process that's individual to each game, but at the most basic level there is always the intellectual property to be aware of. Also, things change significantly if you wish to make a commercial venture of the game. As said in other comments, a free 'tribute' is a lot less open to flak (unless you're 'tributing' a Nintendo game, in which case buy body armour and watch out for red dots) and will generally be ignored. If however you remake a game and whack it on the App Store for $2.99 again, you're gonna have to watch your back (if it even gets approved in the first place) For my own part, I finally got in touch with Julian via LinkedIn, and he turned out to be most gracious, supportive and polite, and he gave his blessing for me to continue (http://www.rotates.org/2009/05/20/the-man-speaks/). It's really worth taking the time to find the original developer and taking it from there.