gautry Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 The disk was dual formatted with a copy protected boot sector, but still catalogable. I believe you needed 3.3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanrunomad Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Well wouldn't you know it, there is a mini program on the disk! The program is buggy with undefined line statements, perhaps from damage to my disk? In any event, I've made a disk image of it which includes the original BASIC program, a quickly modified version I made to make it runnable, and a HELLO program to auto start it. Have fun! Disk image is here: http://tanrunomad.com/wp-content/uploads/TomLander.do 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) We were so frustrated by the Apple Joystick that we developed an adapter with encoding hardware to allow an Atari style 9pin arcade (4 switch) joystick to plug into the Apple II 16 pin DIP connector. Playing Taxman with a WICO joystick was actually really nice. Thanks for "hanging out" with us mere mortals... Any schematics for your "adapter". I have thought about building something like this myself.. I have a bunch of WICO Bat Handle Joysticks for my C64.. MarkO Edited January 27, 2015 by MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautry Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Unfortunately no. There was only one chip (7400 series) let me see if I can remember what it was or how to wire it. Essentially we sent signal out the enunciator port to the chip telling it which of the 4 inputs to accept as a button press at that moment. It was 30 years ago . . . Unfortunately the device I have is sealed with epoxy. It could only work with software written for it and there wasn't much. Supertaxman and a really great game we did called Vindicator, which was a bit like Robotron. Really incredibly fast for the 1mhz 8 bit CPU. Our distribution died at that time as BIG organizations piled into the market with massive marketing budgets and very few people got to see it. A couple of other small game companies supported the device, but I don't recall which games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautry Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Well wouldn't you know it, there is a mini program on the disk! The program is buggy with undefined line statements, perhaps from damage to my disk? In any event, I've made a disk image of it which includes the original BASIC program, a quickly modified version I made to make it runnable, and a HELLO program to auto start it. Have fun! Disk image is here: http://tanrunomad.com/wp-content/uploads/TomLander.do Honestly it was NOT buggy. It wasn't great, but it ran fine. I'm afraid your copy is corrupted or something else is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautry Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Well wouldn't you know it, there is a mini program on the disk! The program is buggy with undefined line statements, perhaps from damage to my disk? In any event, I've made a disk image of it which includes the original BASIC program, a quickly modified version I made to make it runnable, and a HELLO program to auto start it. Have fun! Disk image is here: http://tanrunomad.com/wp-content/uploads/TomLander.do Thanks for reminding me it was called "Tom Lander" after my best buddy from Junior High School! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Re: joystick, you can build an adapter to use a PC compatible analog joystick with the Apple ][ series. I did that previously and once I followed the schematics instead of assuming they were erronous, the adapter works as expected. Generally speaking, you might find an old, analog PC joystick for as little as an old, Atari style joystick plus that this way it will work with any Apple game supporting the analog joystick. However based on last time I tried, Taxman does not? I had to use some weird combination of cursor up/down and <> keys. Perhaps there are versions with different keysets, or even versions that do support a regular joystick rather than the specific one posted about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) << SNIP >> You know, I think the bonus game, named "HAL Lander" was moved onto the front in later editions. If you've got the disk just CATALOG it and see. It wasn't that great, honestly, but it did use the Apple Joystick nicely. << SNIP >> Now you have done it!!!! You are going to set off a Search for TAXMAN Disks the likes the world has never seen, since Willy Wonka announced 5 GOLDEN TICKETS... Strangely Enough, my Boot Leg copy of TAXMAN, that I really don't play, ( seriously.. My Hand Eye coordination has always sucked, I find Arcade Games frustrating.. ) on the front of the Disk and Microwave on the back of the Disk, is sitting in my box of disks on my Smoke Test Apple ][... Time to see if it has a Golden Ticket.. I mean Bonus Game.... EDIT: Nope.... It says TAXMAN II and it is only a Binary on a DOS 3.3 Disk...... MarkO Edited January 28, 2015 by MarkO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Re: joystick, you can build an adapter to use a PC compatible analog joystick with the Apple ][ series. I did that previously and once I followed the schematics instead of assuming they were erronous, the adapter works as expected. Generally speaking, you might find an old, analog PC joystick for as little as an old, Atari style joystick plus that this way it will work with any Apple game supporting the analog joystick. However based on last time I tried, Taxman does not? I had to use some weird combination of cursor up/down and <> keys. Perhaps there are versions with different keysets, or even versions that do support a regular joystick rather than the specific one posted about. The IBM PC Joysticks were Analog like the Apple ][ , but were a different range than 0-150K Ohms... The Atari, C64 and CoCo seem to have Switch Joysticks... I know the C64 supported Paddles, which were read with the SID Chip... MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanrunomad Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Now you have done it!!!! You are going to set off a Search for TAXMAN Disks the likes the world has never seen, since Willy Wonka announced 5 GOLDEN TICKETS... Did you miss my post on this page where I said I found it and even posted the disk image of it... By the way, is this the Apple II - Atari Joystick adapter you need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Wrong gender on the DE9 connector, unless it is supposed to be paired with a gender changer. Do the IIc joysticks use male DE9 connectors, so your cable is to connect a IIc joystick to an earlier Apple model? The design as found in this picture works if you want to use analog PC joysticks on the Apple ][ computers. Please note that all of the pins 1, 4, 5 on the 15-pin connector really should be wired to +5V on the Apple, as the design indicates. The GND line from the Apple should not directly be wired to the PC joystick, also exactly as the design displays. This was the mistake I did before, assuming that pins 4,5 on the PC joystick should go to GND on the Apple, and caused none of the fire buttons to work due to PC joysticks trigger the fire buttons differently than the Apple does. http://apple2.org.za/gswv/a2zine/faqs/R029PCA2XRF.GIF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautry Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 That appears to be an adapter to the Apple Iic connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gautry Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Damn, if only we had the Internet in 1981, I could have sold a lot more software! G 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Taxman isn't very good.Super Puckman is a good pac-man clone.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O48r0djQiSQEdit: Just noticed the one in the video is a little different than the one I have on disk... Help me to understand why, because, they didn't even do the colors or maze shape right.. Ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Did you miss my post on this page where I said I found it and even posted the disk image of it... Nope... I downloaded it!! But you also mentioned that, "The program is buggy with undefined line statements, perhaps from damage to my disk?" and gautry said, "Honestly it was NOT buggy. It wasn't great, but it ran fine. I'm afraid your copy is corrupted or something else is wrong." I was looking to see if I had an Original TAXMAN, with the Mini Game on the Back ( or Front ).. By the way, is this the Apple II - Atari Joystick adapter you need? No.. That appears to be an adapter for people that Bought a JoyStick for the Apple ][e External Connector or the //c and want to use it on the Apple ][ or ][+. Remember that the Apple ][ and ][+ Only have the 16 Pin DIP Inside the Computer for the Joystick, the Apple ][e, //e, & Platinum //e have both Connectors, and the Apple //c and //c+ Only have the External DE-9 Female Connector. As an Interesting Note, I have seen some pictures of the Bell & Howell ( e.g. Darth Vader ) with an External DIN Connector for Joystick.. So you didn't have to open the Case. MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 << SNIP >> The design as found in this picture works if you want to use analog PC joysticks on the Apple ][ computers. Please note that all of the pins 1, 4, 5 on the 15-pin connector really should be wired to +5V on the Apple, as the design indicates. The GND line from the Apple should not directly be wired to the PC joystick, also exactly as the design displays. This was the mistake I did before, assuming that pins 4,5 on the PC joystick should go to GND on the Apple, and caused none of the fire buttons to work due to PC joysticks trigger the fire buttons differently than the Apple does. I have a 3rd Party Joystick that has the Apple DE-9 and the IBM DB-15 Plugs and a Switch on the Bottom to select IBM or Apple ][. I should open it up and do some looking around inside it.. And definitely Take some Pictures. MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Damn, if only we had the Internet in 1981, I could have sold a lot more software! G The Internet has created an entirely different paradigm... For more than just Software Imagine, Multi-Player TAXMAN, via the Internet.... MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanrunomad Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 The Internet has created an entirely different paradigm... For more than just Software Imagine, Multi-Player TAXMAN, via the Internet.... MarkO Where the other players play as the ghosts? That would be awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Where the other players play as the ghosts? That would be awesome! Definitely!! But Just Imagine.... Castle Wolfenstein, but you could have Multiple Escapees, and the Guards could be Human Players too. MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) On the thought of Network Castle Wolfenstein, having Humans play the SS Troops would be very do-able and Totally within the existing Game Play.. Since the Roving SS Troops, appearing in a Room with you, know your there, the Players Screens, ( Escapee and SS Trooper ) could look Identical. MarkO Edited February 3, 2015 by MarkO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoFan1981 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 (edited) I'm guessing you guys were Beatles fans - wouldn't say that just from Taxman, but Super Taxman 2 plays When I'm Sixty-Four at the title screen, so... Speaking of The Beatles, they had a song called "Taxman" released in 1966 - it was penned by George Harrison. Its lyrics dealt with the oppressive British tax system implemented by Harold Wilson, the then-leader of the then-governing Labour Party, of which out of every pound sterling the group had earned at the time, 95 pence went into taxes, hence the lyric "there's one for you, nineteen for me," referring to when the pound sterling was pre-decimal and consisted of 20 shillings. Wilson is name-checked in the lyric "Don't ask me what I want it for" whereas Edward Heath (of the Conservative Party) is mentioned in "If you don't want to pay some more." "Weird" Al Yankovic wrote and recorded a parody of the song in 1981 called "Pac-Man," which was the same year Brian Fitzgerald's Apple II Pac-Man clone we're discussing here was released... "Weird" Al didn't commercially release his version at the time, due to the success of "Pac-Man Fever." Sample lyrics: Let me tell you how it will be There's one for you, nineteen for me 'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman Should five percent appear too small Be thankful I don't take it all 'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman ~Ben Edited May 31, 2017 by ColecoFan1981 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Speaking of The Beatles, they had a song called "Taxman" released in 1966 - it was penned by George Harrison. The author clearly based the title on the Beatles song, given the sequel "Super Taxman" played "When I'm Sixty-Four" in the attract mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelDola Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Hey everyone, Found this thread while researching the Taxman game, which I recently found in a lot of old Apple stuff, to learn more about it. Awhile ago I saw it mentioned on a LGR episode, so I knew it was something interesting. Anyway, for anyone still looking for a copy, here it is on eBay! https://www.ebay.com/itm/303184966598 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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