Auran Developments News

[Capt_Scarlet]

I see so, so the part of Auran that owns Trainz has not gone into administration or am I reading this incorrectly?

Thats correct. Auran Developments which among other things employed all the staff was the entity to go into administration.

John

 

[big_b]

Have a read
Fury: Interview with Tony Hilliam and Adam Carpenter
Dave
http://www.warcry.com/articles/view...nterview-with-Tony-Hilliam-and-Adam-Carpenter

 

[Barry]

Have a read
Fury: Interview with Tony Hilliam and Adam Carpenter
Dave
http://www.warcry.com/articles/view...nterview-with-Tony-Hilliam-and-Adam-Carpenter

Sounds like a yukky "game", anyway to me.
Couldn't care less if it does well or not.

Barry

 

[atsfrr3000]

It was yet another cookie-cutter MMORPG, with lots of money thrown behind it, that flopped. Certainly nothing we haven't seen before.

 

[amigacooke]

I'm afraid my only interest in Fury is that it isn't the cause of the demise of development of Trainz by Auran.

 

[JCitron]

I'm afraid my only interest in Fury is that it isn't the cause of the demise of development of Trainz by Auran.

That's the way I look at it too. Imagine what kind of program Trainz could have become if that money was put towards that product instead.

Over the years, I've discovered that every business makes an error in judgement. It's just that some businesses are able to recover better than others. Let's home that Auran is one of the latter cases.

John

 

[Paulsw2]

You've made an assumption that the purchaser would be one person. This is only one possible solution. Another is collectively we purchase and do a gnu on it, a third we set up a company / coop that purchases it from Auran. We employ people to run the company / coop. Programming could be subcontracted to China / Indian if need be since there may not be any programmers left who know enough about the code.

The plus side would be that we should have stability and the organisation would not get distracted by other projects.

Whether it is doable or not depends on the price and how much knowledge in programmers and documentation is left. It may not be worth doing anything other than continue the existing DLS, forums and making existing software available.

Cheerio John

I'm with John on this. We ought to be prepared for the worst, ie. liquidation, and see if we can organise a community buy-out of the game in order to ensure its future beyond TC3.

Of course, with luck, liquidation of the company will not happen in January and the Auran Trainz team (all three of them) will be able to continue servicing the DLS, forums and undertaking any further development of the game.

However, if liquidation does happen in January, then the community needs to start organising itself now if there is to be any chance of taking ownership of the game, and the DLS, in the Auran firesale that will follow.

 

[Natvander]

Auran is NOT going into liquidation - one 'subsidiary' of Auran has gone into administration. Trainz is still owned by the parent company.

 

[Forest_Runner]

Auran is NOT going into liquidation - one 'subsidiary' of Auran has gone into administration. Trainz is still owned by the parent company.

Ahhhh.......a common sense, logical, non speculative and unpanicked post at last........

 

[AJ_Fox]

You know what they say. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Cheers

AJ

 

[backyard]

...where's the fire...

8) ...the TRS community, seams to be organized, yea, if any takers are out there, I hope you can help.

But...anyway...

And...so...

We'll have the games we bought, and even though they constantly connect with the Auran server, if my installations keep, I'm happy.

These are stand alone products, and every bit of content is saved...somewhere!

Damn, such is life, but you never know what may happen next.

So, "Don't throw the babe out with the trash."

SPeciAL!: tthe sofftwar is good, would kep like wine...but can't competz on the Globall(z) Platform, like FS-X.

Past my bedtime,

Allen/Backyard...I'll worry about it, when the monkeys fly outa my bum...

 

[CasyJ]

Will it also continue to suck up customer's developer submissions and require paid registration for download?

 

[Drucifer]

Thats correct. Auran Developments which among other things employed all the staff was the entity to go into administration.

John

I'm curious. Where was Auran Developments getting its money from in order to run its normal daily business?

 

[Euphod]

I'm curious. Where was Auran Developments getting its money from (SNIP)

That vending machine in the break room, but that was the first to go!
Ed:hehe:

 

[PerRock]

That vending machine in the break room, but that was the first to go!
Ed:hehe:

Ahhh so that explains why my can of ginger ale cost so much....I thought it had just eaten $20 before spitting out the soda....

peter

 

[Lacker]

That vending machine in the break room, but that was the first to go!
Ed:hehe:

Strewth!!! is nothing sacred anymore?

Bruce

 

[Mouse84]

Will it also continue to suck up customer's developer submissions and require paid registration for download?

You've got to be kidding, right?

In all my years of working with computers, Auran is the first, that I can remember that sells you a program, and then gives you a free server where you can upload custom additions for the program and people can download it for free. Sure they put a limit in how fast and how much you can download in 1 day, but for a VERY minimal fee, $10US a year, you can get unlimited downloads at a very fast rate. I waste $10 a month easily, on useless stuff so $10 for a years worth on a FCT is a no-brainer. What the hell do you want for nothing? I have friends at work who pay $15/mo to play a computer game online and you're whining about a company who gives you server access for free? That's the problem with the world today, everyone wants everything for nothing then they complain when they get it.

 

[AHSAN]

I'm with John on this. We ought to be prepared for the worst, ie. liquidation, and see if we can organise a community buy-out of the game in order to ensure its future beyond TC3.

Of course, with luck, liquidation of the company will not happen in January and the Auran Trainz team (all three of them) will be able to continue servicing the DLS, forums and undertaking any further development of the game.

However, if liquidation does happen in January, then the community needs to start organising itself now if there is to be any chance of taking ownership of the game, and the DLS, in the Auran firesale that will follow.

Hello

Please read this before you reply:

Read in Auran Announcements,

Update from Auran: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=19926http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=19927

and

Trainz Future: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=19927

Regards

Ahsan
North American Trainz Team

 

[wreeder]

I'm curious. Where was Auran Developments getting its money from in order to run its normal daily business?

Auran Holdings Pty Ltd

L 3 24 Macquarie St, Newstead, QLD, Australia
SIC:Offices of Holding Companies, NEC
Line of Business:Holding Companies, Nec, Nsk

What is a holding company you might ask?

A holding company is a company that owns part, all, or a majority of other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself, rather its only purpose is owning shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow the ownership and control of a number of different companies. Eighty percent or more of voting stock must be owned before tax consolidation benefits such as tax-free dividends can be claimed.

Auran Games is owned by Auran Holding Pty Ltd. Auran Games' business model seems to be taking games created by someone else and putting them in a box with Auran Games on the cover and selling the game in the Far East market. Space Hack is an example. Created by RebelMinds and first released in Europe in 2003, Auran re-released in 2006. I bought a copy, great game. I've bought a lot of these games from Auran Games.

Developing games is a risky business so Auran Development was created to do the work. Smart move business wise. Keep it legally separated from Auran Games and from Auran Holding Pty. But everything developed by Auran Development became the property of Auran Holding Pty since it is the sole investor and stock holder. Another smart move.

Auran Development's money must have come from Auran Holding Pty in the form of venture capital. News stories indicate that Auran Development got loans and grants from the Federal Government to help with the cost of developing Fury and to promote other Aussie game developers' products. Loans have to be paid back.

Chapter 11 for Auran Development was a smart business move not an act of desperation. Auran Holding Pty is a healthy money making company and Trainz is but a part. If the Trainz Classics line is a money maker than it will continue. For that matter, the same is true for Fury. If you want to have a say then spend your money and support the product.

William

 

[Drucifer]

But everything developed by Auran Development became the property of Auran Holding Pty since it is the sole investor and stock holder. Another smart move.

Auran Development's money must have come from Auran Holding Pty in the form of venture capital.

William

That's what I figured too. That's money lost. So can Auran Holding survive this lost is the question that will be answer one way or the other.