Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Moderator: Alastair
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Have caught up with your posts now, webowl. Apologies if it looked like we were ignoring your comments. I've reached out to a couple of people that I know are archiving and accurately imaging some pretty rare Apple II disks, to ask them to look out for the missing game. Odyssey was so extensively advertised, for quite a long period of time, that it's hard to believe a copy doesn't exist out there... somewhere...
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
This is possibly a little off-topic, but if you are referring to the SoftSide Adventure of the Month series, these are all available. I've certainly got a copy of all 30 games for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit, but missing Crime Adventure, James Brand Adventure, Witches' Brew, Dateline Titanic, Arrow One, Robin Hood, The Mouse That Ate Chicago, Alaskan Adventure, Danger Is My Business and Jack the Ripper II for the TRS-80. I originally subscribed to these and played all the games on the Atari 8-bit. Happy memories.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Re Softside and Hassett: I am talking about emulator images on the internet, and not somebody's original diskettes in their attic (or such) (I have 2 diskettes as well, but cannot read them---my Apple II stopped working in the 1990s). Most of these games are not able to downloaded to play in either Applewin or an Atari emulator (nor TRS-80).
Some people have reviewed these games. For example, one reviewer in Australia played Mystery Mansion by Greg Hassett on the TRS-80 and has a copy he edited to complete the game. But he never made it available on the internet for others even though all of Greg Hassett's games are definitely in the public domain. And this is the most wanted Greg Hassett game on the planet.
If you have those Softside games, why don't you try to get them imaged. And if they already are, can they be downloaded? I searched for them, but to no avail.
Some people have reviewed these games. For example, one reviewer in Australia played Mystery Mansion by Greg Hassett on the TRS-80 and has a copy he edited to complete the game. But he never made it available on the internet for others even though all of Greg Hassett's games are definitely in the public domain. And this is the most wanted Greg Hassett game on the planet.
If you have those Softside games, why don't you try to get them imaged. And if they already are, can they be downloaded? I searched for them, but to no avail.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Jason Dyer (an adventure author and blogger from the US) covered the (Hassett) Mystery Mansion early last year for his "all the adventures" project. He said he got the game from Ira Goldklang's collection... I'll ask him if he has a link.webowl wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 4:22 amSome people have reviewed these games. For example, one reviewer in Australia played Mystery Mansion by Greg Hassett on the TRS-80 and has a copy he edited to complete the game. But he never made it available on the internet for others even though all of Greg Hassett's games are definitely in the public domain. And this is the most wanted Greg Hassett game on the planet.
Edit... I might not need to... Here's Ira's site.... http://www.trs-80.com/
...Mystery Manor is there for download. (I can't post a direct link to it, as it blocks external downloads, but if you use the search facility then it appears)
There are 21 entries for Greg Hassett games on that site, although obviously not all of them are adventures.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Thank you for the information about Mystery Mansion. I tried that site in the past and did not find it. However, I did find it just now after 3 search attempts. Unfortunately, that file is corrupted. In the TRS80gp emulator, when you get to the title page, an input command overwrites most of the lower part of the initial title screen, and then the screen does not allow input, but just scrolls indefinitely saying you are emptyhanded and activates the printer output system. This corrupted file (presumably caused by a machine error by the user who supplied the file) would explain why other websites say the game is no longer on Ira Goldklang's site.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
That seems strange, as that's where Jason explicitly says got the file from and he obviously played it to completion for his two blog posts. Might it not be an emulation issue?webowl wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 1:19 pmThank you for the information about Mystery Mansion. I tried that site in the past and did not find it. However, I did find it just now after 3 search attempts. Unfortunately, that file is corrupted. In the TRS80gp emulator, when you get to the title page, an input command overwrites most of the lower part of the initial title screen, and then the screen does not allow input, but just scrolls indefinitely saying you are emptyhanded and activates the printer output system. This corrupted file (presumably caused by a machine error by the user who supplied the file) would explain why other websites say the game is no longer on Ira Goldklang's site.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
The game does work. I tried it again after my last post. I forgot to use the -ld function in the command line input for the trs80pg emulator. The game is in LDOS and not TRSDOS. Thus, ignore what I said in my last post. The game is working now.
Thank you very much for the link to the game.
Thank you very much for the link to the game.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Just played the game on the TRS80gp emulator with no apparent issues. EDIT: Oh, you got it working. Cool.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
I was talking about emulator images. They must be available somewhere, because I got them from somewhere, but probably not all from the same place. A couple of the Atari images are incomplete because they do not include the intro program provided by the SoftSide staff.webowl wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 4:22 amMost of these games are not able to downloaded to play in either Applewin or an Atari emulator (nor TRS-80).
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.
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If you have those Softside games, why don't you try to get them imaged. And if they already are, can they be downloaded? I searched for them, but to no avail.
In the case of the Atari 8-bit images, I added bug fixes from my game playing notes and also added save/restore from an article I was planning to write for Page 6, but never got around to submitting. As it happens, I submitted the Atari images to Atarimania about a month ago, together with screen grabs. It looks like they've either ignored it or haven't got around to uploading them yet. I've done my bit. Complain to Atarimania.
If you send me a PM with your email address, I'll email all 30 games to you. Just specify Apple or Atari or both. My Atari versions are auto-running disk images with bugs fixed and save/restore added (as mentioned above), so this might be your best option.
One other thing, I also ported the missing Jack the Ripper II from the Apple II or TRS-80 version (I forget which). This was promised for the Atari, but never delivered, as the magazine went out of production. This is the only Atari version of this game available anywhere!
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Garry: Thanks for your offer. I will send a PM.
Do you know if "Curse of the Sasquatch" by Greg Hassett is the same as "Search for the Sasquatch" on the Apple II, also by Greg Hassett (according to one website which lists both by him). I never heard of this before. [I do not want to start a new thread for what may be an obvious answer, namely, they are the same, or an error.]
Do you know if "Curse of the Sasquatch" by Greg Hassett is the same as "Search for the Sasquatch" on the Apple II, also by Greg Hassett (according to one website which lists both by him). I never heard of this before. [I do not want to start a new thread for what may be an obvious answer, namely, they are the same, or an error.]
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
SoftSide adventures sent.
'Curse of the Sasquatch' is a machine language game for the TRS-80. I haven't heard of 'Search for the Sasquatch', so I can't help with that one. The only Greg Hassett game that I've come across for the Apple II is 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', but this may have been ported from The Captain 80 book of BASIC adventures.
'Curse of the Sasquatch' is a machine language game for the TRS-80. I haven't heard of 'Search for the Sasquatch', so I can't help with that one. The only Greg Hassett game that I've come across for the Apple II is 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', but this may have been ported from The Captain 80 book of BASIC adventures.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Thanks Garry, I got the files. Will check them out later.
There were 6 Greg Hassett games on Apple II diskettes in the early 1980s (I still have diskette copies, but no way to run them). The 6 games were: Journey, House of 7 Gables, King Tut's Tomb, Sorcerer's Castle, Voyage to Atlantis, and Enchanted Island.
I spent the last few days searching for my Apple II documentation files. I finally found the file for "World of Odyssey". I have dot matrix printouts I made in 1982 for the hexadecimal dumps of the room description/map listings from side 2 of the game diskette, the catalog of side 1, and a printout of the Applesoft program from side 1. This shows that the game is similar in construction to Colossal Cave, but not the same rooms or story. I also have my handwritten notes I made while playing the game detailing where each room goes by the possible directions (N,S,etc.), and partial maps I made. I did these types of notes in the late 1970s when I played Colossal Cave and its sequel game on a university Burroughs mainframe computer. The sequel game is now lost to history since I don't recognize it among any of the available z-code variants.
At the top of the program listing, Powersoft had a sentence stating that "Listing this program ruins the fun".
There were 6 Greg Hassett games on Apple II diskettes in the early 1980s (I still have diskette copies, but no way to run them). The 6 games were: Journey, House of 7 Gables, King Tut's Tomb, Sorcerer's Castle, Voyage to Atlantis, and Enchanted Island.
I spent the last few days searching for my Apple II documentation files. I finally found the file for "World of Odyssey". I have dot matrix printouts I made in 1982 for the hexadecimal dumps of the room description/map listings from side 2 of the game diskette, the catalog of side 1, and a printout of the Applesoft program from side 1. This shows that the game is similar in construction to Colossal Cave, but not the same rooms or story. I also have my handwritten notes I made while playing the game detailing where each room goes by the possible directions (N,S,etc.), and partial maps I made. I did these types of notes in the late 1970s when I played Colossal Cave and its sequel game on a university Burroughs mainframe computer. The sequel game is now lost to history since I don't recognize it among any of the available z-code variants.
At the top of the program listing, Powersoft had a sentence stating that "Listing this program ruins the fun".
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
Two questions:webowl wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2020 2:42 pmI spent the last few days searching for my Apple II documentation files. I finally found the file for "World of Odyssey". I have dot matrix printouts I made in 1982 for the hexadecimal dumps of the room description/map listings from side 2 of the game diskette, the catalog of side 1, and a printout of the Applesoft program from side 1. This shows that the game is similar in construction to Colossal Cave, but not the same rooms or story. I also have my handwritten notes I made while playing the game detailing where each room goes by the possible directions (N,S,etc.), and partial maps I made. I did these types of notes in the late 1970s when I played Colossal Cave and its sequel game on a university Burroughs mainframe computer. The sequel game is now lost to history since I don't recognize it among any of the available z-code variants.
At the top of the program listing, Powersoft had a sentence stating that "Listing this program ruins the fun".
a.) any updates on World of Odyssey? Were you going to try to scan it or get it over to someone who could?
b.) could I hear some more details on the "sequel game?" I've had enough exposure to weird Colossal Cave variants I might have an inkling what it is related to (they haven't all been converted to z-code).
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
In response to the questions asked regarding the disks of "World of Odyssey": I will not mail them ever and nothing will be done until the covid crisis subsides [note that I made my original post on this game a few weeks before the worldwide covid lockdowns in 2020]. I need to find someone in the Seattle area that I can meet in person and work with who can export the disk to a .dsk file. I assume someone from the old Call A.P.P.L.E. group in the 1980s may still be around who can possibly do this, but it may be a long time coming. At the moment I have no time to pursue this in 2022 and probably most of 2023 due to significant issues and extensive long-distance travel.
I do not have a listing of the game's assembly code program for "World of Odyssey". I only have a very long dot-matrix list of the game text messages in all rooms (much too long to scan, etc.).
The sequel game to "Colossal Cave" was most likely an unknown custom variant by a programmer at the University of Washington where it was available in the 1970s and 1980s. It is not one of the variants on the internet archives which we were available a few years ago (I checked those for rooms and point scores against my handwritten notes from the 1970s). It has since vanished into the ether.
I do not have a listing of the game's assembly code program for "World of Odyssey". I only have a very long dot-matrix list of the game text messages in all rooms (much too long to scan, etc.).
The sequel game to "Colossal Cave" was most likely an unknown custom variant by a programmer at the University of Washington where it was available in the 1970s and 1980s. It is not one of the variants on the internet archives which we were available a few years ago (I checked those for rooms and point scores against my handwritten notes from the 1970s). It has since vanished into the ether.
Re: Lost Apple II commercial text adventure game
There are certainly some interesting variants and "sequels" out there. Jason is definitely your man when it comes down to helping to track things like that down. He's covered some really obsure and interesting games, such as Crystal Cave; which I guess you could almost describe as a "sequel" https://bluerenga.blog/2019/06/12/crystal-cave-1980/webowl wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 11:39 pmThe sequel game to "Colossal Cave" was most likely an unknown custom variant by a programmer at the University of Washington where it was available in the 1970s and 1980s. It is not one of the variants on the internet archives which we were available a few years ago (I checked those for rooms and point scores against my handwritten notes from the 1970s). It has since vanished into the ether.
Definitely a lot of great people out there able to extract material from the most stubborn disk, so I'm sure when it's a better time to archive Odyssey you'll be able to find suitable help.