Good source for vintage Apple II games?

[Skylark68]

I recently took my parent's old Apple II GS out of their attic. The 3.5" drive doesn't work anymore (which I have a request in the wanted area of the marketplace for another), but the 5.25" drive works fine so I've been playing a lot of old Apple II games such as Oregon Trail, Wings of Fury, GI Joe, Aliens, etc. I looked on ebay for some more old software, but there really isn't too much listed on there. Is there a site for old Apple II software for sale? I have Airheart, which was a really fun game when I was younger, but it doesn't boot up anymore, I'd like to find another copy of that sometime. Any ideas would be great.

[Tempest]

A little off topic, but did GI Joe work on your IIgs? I tried it out on mine a few days ago and it crashed at the map screen.

 

If you don't care about originals, the best way to get games is to use ADTPro. It's a free program that lets you send disk images from your PC to the Apple and it writes them to real 5.25 disks. There are multiple ways to do this, but the easiest are either by the Super Serial Card or through a Ethernet card. Disk images are all available in the Asimov Archive.

 

ADTPro Page: http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/

Asimov Archive: ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/

 

You could also buy a CF card, but those are a bit trickier to use.

 

Tempest

[desiv]

...I looked on ebay for some more old software, but there really isn't too much listed on there.

 

I just won an auction on e-bay last night for 12 of the Atarisoft Apple II games for $2 each and free shipping.

Sealed in box, although I'm going to break the seals!! MWhahahaha!!!!

 

It's out there...

 

Of course, some of them are really rare and fetch crazy money.... <cough>akalabeth<cough>

 

desiv

Edited August 16, 2011 by desiv

[boxpressed]

I know this isn't the auction forum, but there's another seller that is selling sealed Atarisoft games (seven of them for less than $20 shipped). I wanted to buy some and don't even own an Apple II!

Edited August 16, 2011 by boxpressed

[Skylark68]

I saw that auction, I'm tempted to buy them. I already have Moon Patrol, but the others would be nice to have. I guess I could leave Moon Patrol in its package... Those would be nice additions, but I'm looking for more than just arcade ports (although I know they are good ports)... I also don't really care that much about adding anymore text adventures to my library. I do like the ones with graphic additions, but I can't even beat Infocom's Wishbringer which was supposed to be a "beginner level" game. I guess I'm not that bright. haha

 

Tempest, thanks for the ideas.

 

Yes, GI Joe worked on my IIGS. I had to set the speed on the GS to "Normal" but it fired up regardless.

Edited August 16, 2011 by Skylark68

[JamesD]

There is a torrent with a lot of Apple games:

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:593A71BD1FA44CA095C7B0EE26288E9FFF2B32FF

Edited August 17, 2011 by JamesD

[Keatah]

I would learn how to use ADTpro and an emulator and download 30GB of "Warez" from the Asimov FTP. This way you can experience the full range of stuff.

[desiv]

Triple agree on the ADTPro bit, even tho I just bought some more originals..

We all love originals too, but virtually everything is on Asimov and ADTPro is a great piece of software..

 

Also, you get the "cracked" file based versions that, to be honest, I used a LOT back in the day, so it brings back memories...

 

I definitely recommend both originals and ADTPro/Asimov..

 

desiv

[desiv]

p.s. Just got my 12 Atarisoft Apple II games..

That guy ships fast and picks them well...

I think the other lot of 13 games got reposted at a slightly lower starting price..

 

Anyway, for anyone who is collecting the games SEALED for the value, you can thank me.

 

I'm breaking the seals and opening the ones I just got!!!!!!

 

All arcade classics!! (Well, except for Gremlins.. )

 

(I don't believe in not playing what I have.. I can't help it!! :-)

 

desiv

Edited August 19, 2011 by desiv

[+FujiSkunk]

p.s. Just got my 12 Atarisoft Apple II games..

That guy ships fast and picks them well...

I think the other lot of 13 games got reposted at a slightly lower starting price..

 

Anyway, for anyone who is collecting the games SEALED for the value, you can thank me.

 

I'm breaking the seals and opening the ones I just got!!!!!!

 

All arcade classics!! (Well, except for Gremlins.. )

 

(I don't believe in not playing what I have.. I can't help it!! :-)

 

desiv

 

Eh, anyone who wants the AtariSoft titles sealed for their collection should already have them. It seems the only games Atari overproduced more than their Apple II titles were their Atari 7800 titles. I bought a couple of different batches dirt cheap several years ago, and they're still being sold for relatively cheap today.

 

However cheap or expensive they may be, though, they're definitely worth the money. Atari lived up to their promise of making your computer play the "arcade hits." The Apple II line is especially impressive, proving the computer really was capable of doing games like Ms. Pac-Man and Moon Patrol justice, even with its bare-bones audio and video capabilities.

 

You'll also want to look for Mario Bros. It was never officially released, but it was leaked by crackers back in the '80s, so it's easily available now. I like the Apple II version even better than the C-64 version (also never officially released) and the Atari 7800 version.

Edited August 19, 2011 by FujiSkunk

[The Usotsuki]

Was there a version other than the Kilroy Wuzhere/202 Alliance release?

[+FujiSkunk]

Was there a version other than the Kilroy Wuzhere/202 Alliance release?

 

Not officially, no. That's the one I have.

[The Usotsuki]

Same one as me, though I dyked out the easter egg to make it more compressible.

[desiv]

However cheap or expensive they may be, though, they're definitely worth the money. Atari lived up to their promise of making your computer play the "arcade hits." The Apple II line is especially impressive, proving the computer really was capable of doing games like Ms. Pac-Man and Moon Patrol justice, even with its bare-bones audio and video capabilities.

Got em and opened em and they all loaded.

(A few took a few reboots, but I seem to remember that was pretty standard with the copy protected floppies)..

 

Yeah, the Apple II was great for some games (RPGs and Point-n-Clicks), but I was surprised at some of the arcade games, and the Atarisoft games were among the best..

 

I love the bit about Pacman just being TaxMan. It's one thing to stop someone from making a clone game, but then to also use that clone code for your own port.. Awesome.

 

I was playing them on my Apple IIc upstairs, with the greenscreen. But I have to try them downstairs on the IIe with color and a joystick.

(I need to breakdown and get another joystick really.. )

 

desiv

[dudeslife]

originals only or are you looking for images to write to disks?

Edited August 29, 2011 by dudeslife

[Keatah]

I thought that these Atarisoft games had made use of some special hidden graphics chips and modes; they were so good.

 

There were many more good games, graphics wise and play mechanics wise. And it was nice to see these things. You could tell right away that a game made use of innovative techniques that were never tried before.

 

Today, you worry about a game bogging down your system and if you have the correct settings and hardware requirements or not. Back then if a game said Apple II, it would work. The only "special requirements" that had to be met might have been a color display and joystick.

[+FujiSkunk]

I thought that these Atarisoft games had made use of some special hidden graphics chips and modes; they were so good.

 

There were many more good games, graphics wise and play mechanics wise. And it was nice to see these things. You could tell right away that a game made use of innovative techniques that were never tried before.

 

Today, you worry about a game bogging down your system and if you have the correct settings and hardware requirements or not. Back then if a game said Apple II, it would work. The only "special requirements" that had to be met might have been a color display and joystick.

 

...and memory.

 

Actually, the Apple II was arguably the most expandable system on the 8-bit market, and a few games took advantage of this. Starting in the mid-'80s, some games offered 16-color "double high resolution" graphics, which required either a IIe with the right hardware, or a IIc (or IIGS). There were also sound-card options, one of the most popular being the Mockingboard, which a few games supported, though usually as an option.

 

And did you know the Apple II had the means to support digital joysticks, the kind used by Atari and Commodore? On the motherboards up through the Apple IIe, there is a port labeled "Game I/O." With the right adapter, this port could be turned into a standard 9-pin digital joystick port. Only one game I know of took advantage of this: AtariSoft's Track and Field, which shipped with both the adapter and the three-button controller used by all of Atari's Track and Field versions. I've thought it was a shame more games didn't take advantage of this, since the arcade action games of the day usually fared much better with digital controls than with the Apple II's usual analog joystick.

Edited August 30, 2011 by FujiSkunk