New Apple II Owner, advice-suggestions

[Dashopepper]

A couple weeks ago I found "The Book of Adventure Games II" at a thrift sore and got the computer gaming bug again. I have a pretty large video game collection but not much knowledge when it comes to vintage computers. The top result on Google is from AtariAge and like most posts here it pretty much does a complete 360 and ends with people disagreeing abut something off topic. But I figured an Apple IIe is what I'd most be interested in. After a week of looking on Craigslist I made an offer on one with a color monitor but it had sold. So I went for my second choice and made a low offer for it and ended up bringing it home for $100.

 

 

I think I made the better choice as this one came with the serial to USB adapter and a box of new floppy disks. After a few days of a steep learning curve I figured out how to get ADT working and started making some disks (my serial card was in sot 4 and couldn't get it to transfer until I put it in slot 2). My first game I'm playing is from my guide, called "Critical Mass." I'm just about through it and having a lot of fun.

 

It has an 80 column card so I bought a 64kb extended card from ebay for $9. I have a revision B board so from what I can tell it should work in my machine?

 

Some questions I have are should I get a joystick and if so which one? Does it just plug in somewhere or is it another expansion card?

 

What do you do with your ugly yellowed space bars? Can I just pop it off and spray paint it?

 

Any recommended games or programs I should try out?

Edited August 20, 2016 by Dashopepper

[CGQuarterly]

That was a good deal for $100, especially with the ADT cable and some blank disks included. There is a 16-pin connector on the motherboard to plug in a joystick. Do yourself a favor and buy one of these:

 

http://retroconnector.com/products/apple-ii/joystick-adapter-for-apple-iic/

 

Then you can just buy a normal 9-pin joystick. I have a Kraft KC3 and it's alright. I don't think I've ever used an Apple II joystick that I thought was awesome. They're all just OK. Honestly, I don't really play games on my A2 that need a joystick.

 

You can pop the yellow space bar off and use something like Retrobrite to get rid of the crappy color. Check "The 8-Bit Guy" YouTube channel, as he's used that method to whiten an Apple IIc. No need to spraypaint it.

 

As far as what games or programs you should check out, it depends on what you're in to. The //e will play most of the games that came out for the system, so the world is your oyster.

[spacecadet]

Most Apple II joysticks were really "computery", for lack of a better word. I had a Kraft joystick for a long time and they were sort of a standard; everybody had them. Early Krafts had a super-thin stick; a later version had a thicker, bat-style stick (still thin by most standards). The CH Mach II and III were also popular; both the Mach III and the later Kraft model look really similar, but I'm not sure which came first or which is better. I think both had adherents. Right now I'm using a Suncom stick that's basically like a cross between all those; it's not bad and it has rounded edges for comfort but it still has that kind of different feel.

 

Most Apple II sticks you'll find have kind of a loose, light movement with really long travel because they are analog sticks, unlike, say, Atari's joysticks that were digital. You were meant to grip them with a couple fingers and kind of push the stick around lightly for precision, rather than hanging on and yanking the whole stick like an Atari joystick.

 

You do need some kind of a joystick if you plan to play many games. I'm not sure if there are many games that outright require one, but I know there are a *lot* that are basically unplayable if you're using only the keyboard. So they may as well require a joystick.

[Osgeld]

Should be noted older models of apple it's don't use the 9 pin de connector but rather plug into a dip socket on the motherboard

 

It's easy to make an adapter, and it's easy to convert analog joysticks to work with the apple by adding some capacitors in the joystick, unless you want an authentic joystick

 

The quick version of retro brute is pop it off remove any metal drop it in a clear container of hydrogen peroxide and sit it in the sun all day... even that basic formula will take most the yellow off

Edited August 20, 2016 by Osgeld

[CGQuarterly]

Should be noted older models of apple it's don't use the 9 pin de connector but rather plug into a dip socket on the motherboard

 

 

It's like you didn't even read my post.

[Osgeld]

what post

[CRTGAMER]

The Apple II Joystick plugs in with fragile pins inside, have care you don't bend them. Probably one of the best games to discover the advantage of the vintage Apple Analog stick would be Choplifter. You have to push up slightly to maintain altitude while flying to rescue people. Throw in spinning forward to drop bombs on the tank while hovering lower. Really a neat game that has lost the "helicopter collective" stick capability on console editions of the day.

[Osgeld]

chop lifter and night crawler (a centapede play a like) are my go to, "eh I want to mess with the apple for a bit" games

[Keatah]

Any recommended games or programs I should try out?

 

Back in the day we'd always get a hard-on for games from Sirius/Gebelli, Br0derbund, and Sub-Logic. There's so much good stuff it's hard to pick one single starting point.

[Dashopepper]

My 80 column extended card came in and works. I started a little Prince of Persia but am going to hold off until I get a joystick figured out.

 

One game from my guide I'm interested in is called Amazon, based off the Michael Crichton Book/Movie Congo. But it looks like every file of it is a .nib and as far as I can figure that means it's stuck in emulation land. I played a little on my raspberry pi but I think I'll try to hold off and get my hands on the real thing. What percent chance does an average Apple II floppy have of still working today if I get it from Ebay?

[JamesD]

The ones I have were stored in an attic for 10+ years and probably a basement before that. They work fine.
I use a CFFA3000 these days.

[Keatah]

My 80 column extended card came in and works. I started a little Prince of Persia but am going to hold off until I get a joystick figured out.

 

One game from my guide I'm interested in is called Amazon, based off the Michael Crichton Book/Movie Congo. But it looks like every file of it is a .nib and as far as I can figure that means it's stuck in emulation land. I played a little on my raspberry pi but I think I'll try to hold off and get my hands on the real thing. What percent chance does an average Apple II floppy have of still working today if I get it from Ebay?

 

Probably pretty good unless it has mold growing on it. I got disks from 1976 (not apple) that are still functional. And of course out of nearly 4000 apple disks, I think 3 or 4 may be bad?

[Keatah]

But it looks like every file of it is a .nib and as far as I can figure that means it's stuck in emulation land.

Not necessarily. With some computer calisthenics and a little patience, you can make a real floppy of some nibs. I just did, but I only bothered with the first disk of Amazon to see if it worked. It did.

 

Are you familiar with the following?

 

Applewin

Copy II+ 5.5

Bag of Tricks

 

I see you've successfully used ADTpro so that's half the battle right there.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Keatah