A2Can

Tasty nibbles along the road of Apple II software history and preservation

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

The profile picture is the disk layout for A2-FS1 by Bruce Artwick

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

@Kevin_W_Ng @kobunheat @a2can Yep the one on eBay is the second release.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

@StirringDragon @HusbandOfAyn The baggie may not be original. The contents, however, look authentic for an early release of Mystery House. The double-sticker label is exactly what Sierra did for their earliest copies - the Scotch disk sleeve is correct as well.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

@agnostic_dragon @antoine_vignau @txgx42 The custom controller uses the standard Apple II paddle/game connector, and the game is written in integer BASIC and uses standard paddle functions to capture the input. So, conveniently, just the normal emulated paddles/game controllers work.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

1/ Today is a huge day for Apple II software preservation. So huge that I'll actually post here. With the help of @antoine_vignau and @txgx42, we have managed to recover renowned game designer Dani Bunten's first game, Wheeler Dealers.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

3/ Although a copy of the game was known to be held by the Strong National Museum of Play, the contents of the cassette have never been made available and the game was considered lost until today.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

2/ Released in 1978/79 and published by Speakeasy Software, a small Canadian developer, Wheeler Dealers is a multi-player stock market simulation that only sold ~50 copies. It is the first known computer game to have been sold in a box, to package a custom 4-button controller.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

@felipepepe All depends on what you include, which is why I said arguably. If you're saying any game that was created and then modified by someone else, then yes, and there would be many examples that predate Colossal Cave. I was limiting to commercially-released games.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

1/ While a few unofficial tools and scenarios were released for early Apple II Ultimas, it was arguably Wizardry that was the original game for modders. At the time, Sir-Tech did not support any third-party scenarios and sent cease & desist letters if they became aware of them.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

Just want to point out that the entire John Besnard catalog of Apple II games is now available for play and download through the Internet Archive, mostly in the Woz A Day collection: https://t.co/x0Mm9DDRHw. Some of the games are unpublished and now available for the first time.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

Lastly, this is an early version of Wizmaster, perhaps the best known Wizardry character editor, which is part of Wizisystem by Nichols Computer Services. Wizisystem also includes maps, documentation, and other hints for the first three Wizardry scenarios.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

Another Wizardry utility is Wizi-Scout, released by Dan Gartung in 1985. Wizi-Scout allows a player to display/identify the properties of items and the characteristics of monsters. Also unpreserved until now.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

Oops. That's the wrong disk picture. Here's the correct one.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

Continuing on the topic of Wizardry, this is Wizi-Doc, by Dan Gartung. It's a full-featured character editor, not unlike a number of similar tools released during the early 1980s. This one isn't particularly well known though, and as far as I can tell, not previously archived.

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

@br

[A2Can @A2_Canada]

7/ And finally, The Emperor's Seal. These should provide quite a few hours of enjoyment for Wizardry fans!