The "unidentified game from your childhood" thread

[+Propane13]

Assuming it hasn't been archived already, do you think the History Mystery owner mentioned earlier would be willing to arrange to have his disk copied?

 

I'm looking into it.

 

-John

[+Propane13]

Name this helicopter game for PC, please... EGA graphics I believe, sort of like choplifter, though I can't remember if you picked up people or not. You had a base you could restock missiles at. You could shoot bullets that were affected by gravity, or missiles that went straight ahead. The best part was the ground that could be destroyed. I liked just digging strange tunnels through the sides of mountains with bullets & missiles.

 

I have 2 ideas.

 

The first is Striker:

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/28668/Striker.html

 

But, I really think it's a game called "Chopper Commando":

http://img.squakenet.com/snapshot/3931/6437-ChopperCommando.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopper_Commando

 

Let me know if this helps.

 

-John

[Streck]

1) Apple Educational game where you had robots on four platforms and you had to answer math problems to get your robot to the end the fastest. Any ideas?

 

2) Another Apple II math game where you had to answer math problems, which, if you got them right, gave you bombs. Then there was a second arcade segment where you flew an airplane and bombed targets with the bombs you accumulated in the first segment. The arcade game segment was really well done, making me wish that was just a game by itself and didn't involve any math.

 

Those sound like the old DLM math games, maybe. #2 reminds me of Alien Addition. Go to the Asimov archive and search the site index for "DLM" - there should be two disk images there.

 

 

3) some kind of racing game for the Apple II with an elaborate introduction, featuring a large marching band leader and a marching tune, and he walked up to the top of the screen, and the title screen appeared along with your race car. The game was a lot like Enduro, I think, and might have been called Gran Prix, but can't confirm since I've never seen a disk image for this.

 

This one I can answer with 100% certainty. It's Speedway Classic, also at Asimov. Make sure you get this particular image, since their other one doesn't work: Speedway Classic (WORKING copy) (Actioncraft - 1984) (Jean Laffite crack).dsk

 

 

Apple II game that I played in elementary school, roughly around 1985-1987 or so.

 

You had to put in percentages and you would come up with different monsters based on the percentages of ingredients you put in the computer. I played that thing for hours back in 4th - 6th grade.

 

The Incredible Laboratory, by Sunburst Communications?

 

To the people looking for History Mystery on Microzine #18 - there is a disk image of it on Megaupload. However, it seems to be bad. It's labeled as "uncracked", but the disk must have been resistant to even nibble-copying (since the image is a .nib and unbootable). I nevertheless attempted the crack described in issues #53 and #63 of Hardcore Computist, but I couldn't get a sector editor to read the image at all.

Edited August 19, 2011 by Streck

[Streck]

History Mystery, on Microzine #18, is available for download here:

 

http://www.rulecity.com/apple2/microzine/

 

Found from these threads on the Virtual Apple II forums:

 

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=716

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=713

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=72

 

Cheers!

Edited August 19, 2011 by Streck

[+thegoldenband]

Awesome. Playing it now, and looking for Napoleon and the automat (that's what'll make it the game I remember, anyway)...

[Reaperman]

This may be better in the a8 section, but I'll give this thread a shot.

 

you were a gray spider who could move along the top of the screen, other bugs ran across the bottom. You would drop down on a strand of web trying to get good bugs and avoid bad ones.

 

What is this?

Could be an obscure magazine title too, because we had tons of antic and analog mag disks around.

The worst part is that I remember looking through disks for this game when I was ~10 and I couldn't find it then, it was shown to me when I was much younger (and not operating the system myself yet)

Edited August 19, 2011 by Reaperman

[+thegoldenband]

Yes, History Mystery is indeed the game! I just beat it, after about 70 minutes of gameplay. It's not as weird as I thought, but still is a fairly quirky game. The automat's on the 6th floor, and Napoleon shows up late in the game, so I guess I must've come close to finishing it before I was interrupted (probably the end of recess or something similar).

 

So great to play it after all these years. I thought I remembered it as being more colorful, but that was probably just artifacting. Thanks to Streck and Propane13 for bringing this to a happy conclusion!

 

Now I just need to find that Model III game with "Garcon" robots, depicted in ASCII or semigraphic art, and a suspension of disbelief counter. I think I've tracked down most of the other Model III games I played as a kid, or at least I know what their names were:

 

- Quest for the Key of Night Shade (brutally difficult RPG; I have a disk image of this one)

- Kitchen Sink (arcade-style game, might've had a sequel)

- Paper Chase (humorous collegiate RPG where your objective was to get a "sheepskin")

- Galactic Empire, or a clone thereof (I still remember the planet names: Eventide, Twyrx, Viejo, Ootsi, Utopia...)

 

But this game with Garcons and suspension of disbelief, I haven't yet found.

 

Hmmm...I also remember a text adventure where one of the items was an aborigine (!). I can't remember whether that was Paper Chase or a different text adventure. Does that ring any bells for Model III buffs?

Edited August 19, 2011 by thegoldenband

[+Propane13]

@thegoldenband - what is your emulator of choice? I notice that the microzine games aren't in the Virtual Apple game list.

 

@Streck - thank you SO MUCH! I am looking forward to trying out History Mystery this weekend.

 

-John

[+thegoldenband]

@thegoldenband - what is your emulator of choice? I notice that the microzine games aren't in the Virtual Apple game list.

I'm using the emulator Virtual ][ (aka Virtual II) for OS X. Works great, but there's no Windows or Linux version AFAIK.

[Streck]

History Mystery, on Microzine #18, is available for download here:

 

http://www.rulecity.com/apple2/microzine/

 

Found from these threads on the Virtual Apple II forums:

 

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=716

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=713

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=72

 

Just FYI, further Microzines are available here:

 

http://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/public/scholastic_microzine/

 

Who knows what other games these may help people identify. One of the Apple II community's best deprotectors has joined in the Microzine archive effort!

 

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.apple2/browse_frm/thread/1359c8a6a59be51e?hl=en#

 

BTW, as far as emulators go, AppleWin seems to be the definitive emulator for Windows.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Streck

[SoulBlazer]

Where can we find AppleWin at?

 

Great job, guys! I've been following this discussion with intrest, as I also recall playing a bunch of Scholastic Microzine games on my school's Apple II system as a kid. I'd very much like to play these games again also.

 

Besides History Mystery, I also remember playing a 'Body Wars' type game where you to had to enter the body to fight diseases, and another game with a mystery of what happened to a friend of yours, and another one that was set in the American Revolution.

[+Propane13]

@thegoldenband - what is your emulator of choice? I notice that the microzine games aren't in the Virtual Apple game list.

I'm using the emulator Virtual ][ (aka Virtual II) for OS X. Works great, but there's no Windows or Linux version AFAIK.

 

As potentially the first person in a LONG time, you should consider writing a walkthrough.

 

-John

[+Propane13]

Where can we find AppleWin at?

 

Great job, guys! I've been following this discussion with intrest, as I also recall playing a bunch of Scholastic Microzine games on my school's Apple II system as a kid. I'd very much like to play these games again also.

 

Besides History Mystery, I also remember playing a 'Body Wars' type game where you to had to enter the body to fight diseases, and another game with a mystery of what happened to a friend of yours, and another one that was set in the American Revolution.

 

http://applewin.berlios.de/

 

I'm guessing the Body Wars type game is on Microzine 17 - micro agent.

[SoulBlazer]

Thanks for the help.

 

Let me try my own game that I'd like to ID....problem is, this is a long shot, as I have VERY little to go on.

 

I wasn't that old when I saw the game...my BEST guess is in the early 80's and on a IBM PC clone...but it may have been another system. It was defentily a computer game.

 

All I recall is that it was some kind of adventure/RPG game where you were exploring a old temple, or something like that, and it had a first person view of the walls and floor as you walked. Some areas were dark with traps and monsters.

 

I also recall seeing (and being freaked by due to my early age) a death scene with a snake that rose up and showed you it's body in full graphic mode before striking and killing you.

[SoulBlazer]

History Mystery, on Microzine #18, is available for download here:

 

http://www.rulecity.com/apple2/microzine/

 

Found from these threads on the Virtual Apple II forums:

 

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=716

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=713

http://virtualapple.org/support/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=72

 

Cheers!

 

How come I can't unzip these files from that site? Every time I try, no matter what program, it says invalid or unsuported archive. Help?

 

EDIT: The problem seems to be the files are either incomplete or don't download all the way. Can they be gotten somewhere else?

Edited August 21, 2011 by SoulBlazer

[retrorussell]

Got one:

Either for the Apple or Apple II, I saw kids play it in about 1982 or 1983 at the school library in 6th grade. It's an RPG and sort of like in Dragon Warrior, you are a knight, and you run around until you get in a fight. But when you do fight it's a side view close up of the combatants. An energy meter drops as you or the enemy get hit and I think you can choose from at least a mace and a sword or to use your shield. Whoever dies in the battle flashes repeatedly with a sound effect that keeps dropping in pitch until you go back to regular overhead map mode, or you die. I saw my schoolmates play this and Choplifter a lot.

[Armonigann]

O.K. I got one.

 

The game I'm thinking of, I use to play at an older brothers house in '86, '87 on a what seemed maybe to be an Apple or C64.(Too young at the time to distinguish)

 

Can't remember exactly, just remember having to boot the game from what seemed like a multi-game floppy.

 

The games main character was maybe a penguin/polar bear, and I somewhat remember ice skating being involved? I used to call it Chilly Willy but I don't think thats the real title. Also, It was definately not Arctic Adventure as this game the sprites seemed much smaller and the view was not from behind.

 

One on One Larry Bird vs Dr. J was also on the list of games(if that helps).

 

Its been bugging me for years, sound familiar?

[Streck]

Besides History Mystery, I also remember playing a 'Body Wars' type game where you to had to enter the body to fight diseases,

 

?

 

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Let me try my own game that I'd like to ID....problem is, this is a long shot, as I have VERY little to go on.

 

I wasn't that old when I saw the game...my BEST guess is in the early 80's and on a IBM PC clone...but it may have been another system. It was defentily a computer game.

 

All I recall is that it was some kind of adventure/RPG game where you were exploring a old temple, or something like that, and it had a first person view of the walls and floor as you walked. Some areas were dark with traps and monsters.

 

I also recall seeing (and being freaked by due to my early age) a death scene with a snake that rose up and showed you it's body in full graphic mode before striking and killing you.

 

The "first-person" bit makes me think of either

, or

, but that might be going back too far.

 

 

How come I can't unzip these files from that site? Every time I try, no matter what program, it says invalid or unsuported archive. Help?

 

EDIT: The problem seems to be the files are either incomplete or don't download all the way. Can they be gotten somewhere else?

 

They all unzip fine for me. *shrug* They're also available on the Asimov FTP archive, in /pub/apple_II/images/educational/microzine/.

 

 

Got one:

Either for the Apple or Apple II, I saw kids play it in about 1982 or 1983 at the school library in 6th grade. It's an RPG and sort of like in Dragon Warrior, you are a knight, and you run around until you get in a fight. But when you do fight it's a side view close up of the combatants. An energy meter drops as you or the enemy get hit and I think you can choose from at least a mace and a sword or to use your shield. Whoever dies in the battle flashes repeatedly with a sound effect that keeps dropping in pitch until you go back to regular overhead map mode, or you die. I saw my schoolmates play this and Choplifter a lot.

 

The visuals you're describing sound a lot like

. It's not an RPG though. Edited August 21, 2011 by Streck

[jmetal88]

I'm guessing that if we systematically went through one of the Apple IIe software archives, we'd find it sooner or later. But otherwise, the game itself -- or at least any reference that would unambiguously identify it -- seems weirdly absent from the whole Internet.

 

And, that, would be a travesty. We need to figure this one out!

 

I found this website, which had some interesting items:

http://www.inthe80s.com/compgame.shtml

 

There is a "Mysers house" listed, which I found zero information on while Google searching.

Then, there is "Mystery House", which seemed a little better, but the results are still not the same.

 

I also found "Hugo's House of Horrors", which also seemed to not fit the bill (not sure if this was an apple game, but "felt" similar:

 

I think we can do this.

In fact, I really want to find this.

 

-John

 

Ah, I love Hugo's House of Horrors!

 

It's an EGA DOS game, I had it on floppy in the early '90s. Also had Hugo III: Jungle of Doom. The second one was Hugo II: Whodunit?, but I didn't have that one.

 

EDIT: Wow, you can really tell that video is emulated - The music keeps skipping notes!

Edited August 21, 2011 by jmetal88

[retrorussell]

 

The visuals you're describing sound a lot like

. It's not an RPG though.

No, sorry but thanks. The fighters were much closer during battle, and it was RPG. Two enemies I remember seeing you battle were a wight and a wraith. During battle, you and the enemy raise your weapons and bring them down on each other. A low grunt-like noise sounds, then the appropriate amount of energy is depleted for the combatants. Then you raise and lower your weapons on each other again, till one is vanquished.

[Skylark68]

1) Apple Educational game where you had robots on four platforms and you had to answer math problems to get your robot to the end the fastest. Any ideas?

 

2) Another Apple II math game where you had to answer math problems, which, if you got them right, gave you bombs. Then there was a second arcade segment where you flew an airplane and bombed targets with the bombs you accumulated in the first segment. The arcade game segment was really well done, making me wish that was just a game by itself and didn't involve any math.

 

Those sound like the old DLM math games, maybe. #2 reminds me of Alien Addition. Go to the Asimov archive and search the site index for "DLM" - there should be two disk images there.

 

 

3) some kind of racing game for the Apple II with an elaborate introduction, featuring a large marching band leader and a marching tune, and he walked up to the top of the screen, and the title screen appeared along with your race car. The game was a lot like Enduro, I think, and might have been called Gran Prix, but can't confirm since I've never seen a disk image for this.

 

This one I can answer with 100% certainty. It's Speedway Classic, also at Asimov. Make sure you get this particular image, since their other one doesn't work: Speedway Classic (WORKING copy) (Actioncraft - 1984) (Jean Laffite crack).dsk

 

 

Apple II game that I played in elementary school, roughly around 1985-1987 or so.

 

You had to put in percentages and you would come up with different monsters based on the percentages of ingredients you put in the computer. I played that thing for hours back in 4th - 6th grade.

 

The Incredible Laboratory, by Sunburst Communications?

 

To the people looking for History Mystery on Microzine #18 - there is a disk image of it on Megaupload. However, it seems to be bad. It's labeled as "uncracked", but the disk must have been resistant to even nibble-copying (since the image is a .nib and unbootable). I nevertheless attempted the crack described in issues #53 and #63 of Hardcore Computist, but I couldn't get a sector editor to read the image at all.

 

 

Incredible Laboratory is correct! Thanks!!!!

[www.atarimania.com]

Reaperman, Webster Dines Out is my guess.

 

--

Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

[Tempest]

Just a bump to mine since it's been driving me nuts!

 

Apple II game, possibly by Sunburst (or some other educational outfit like MECC), where you had to care for and feed several different types of aliens. Some of them had specific food requirements and some of them had to be kept apart or they'd kill each other. You could build little barriers to keep them apart and give them specific food, I remember that much.

 

Also my wife has a request:

 

This would have been for the DOS PC circa 90-93ish (probably a cheapo shareware game). It looks like a Boulderdash clone, but played a little different. You were a little guy moving through blocks that would disappear completely when you moved (like Boulderdash), but it was one screen and there were various themes. One was a picnic scene where you had to work your way around things like apples and avoid worm enemies and one looked like it took place in the human body with blood vessels that you dug through and such. She doesn't remember having to pick up anything, just avoid enemies and get to the end.

 

Tempest

[Reaperman]

Reaperman, Webster Dines Out is my guess.

 

--

Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

Yep, that's the one

[carlsson]

I used to call it Chilly Willy

Well, there is a C64 game called Chilly Willy. It is categorized as a Pengo clone and indeed features a penguin in red and green. Quite possibly this is not the game you remember but it could be worth looking up.

 

By the way, one gotta love the cross-over music between M.U.L.E. and Dallas! One immediately starts to imagine what if Irata had findings of oil instead of crystite...

Edited August 31, 2011 by carlsson