Swordquest Petition

[Gigabyte]

I remember reading something a while ago from a guy claiming that he saw the sword in JT's house...

 

But why doesn't the community just hack up a few new games that are BETTER than the swordquest games, but still adventure titles, buy a few $100 swords and have a new event to give them away? Not as good? I guess we can't compete with 100k worth of prizes.

[tandy]

I remember reading something a while ago from a guy claiming that he saw the sword in JT's house...

 

I think that's a tremendous idea, but I'd prefer a homebrew airworld and we'd finish the contest ourselves.

But why doesn't the community just hack up a few new games that are BETTER than the swordquest games, but still adventure titles, buy a few $100 swords and have a new event to give them away? Not as good? I guess we can't compete with 100k worth of prizes.

[Rik]

Bringing back and finishing the SwordQuest contest here at AA or any other similar community would spark interest, sure.To do this on a grand scale, i don't think so, as no one else outside of the small Atari community would give a rats ass.That's not pessimism if you ask me, just a true fact.And that's not to cut down the idea either, great idea, for Atari game buffs, the ones who would give a rats ass.I seriously doubt Atari would do it.This would be a great project done by some knowledgeable folks here at AA if you will, then yeah it would be possible.A lot of folks hated the SwordQuest games even back when they 1st came out, some might still feel the same way to this day about it.Making a complete SwordQuest, with that i mean release the missing Airworld by someone who has a prototype if that exists?,i don't know, that we could purchase here, now THAT would be awesome!

Edited July 19, 2010 by Rik

[maximebeauvais]

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

do you have a picture of it...

 

I'm sure everyone will like to see it.

[horseboy]

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

do you have a picture of it...

 

I'm sure everyone will like to see it.

 

 

Go to his profile and then to the gallery.

[Video]

It'll never happen. Would be kinda cool though.

 

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

Wow that's amazing!! I thinks its really awesome that you're still apart of the community. Oh, how awesome it must be to own such a major part of Atari history. Please never melt it down like Bell did. I think what he did is pretty disgraceful.

That is a little harsh, he melted it down so he could go to college. I think education is worth more than a video game prize.

 

You mean an education that you can get most anywhere from a range of prices from free all the way up to whatever the hell you want to pay for it? I'm sure the couple thousand (assuming he get reamed here) really made a difference but to be brutally honest, while an education is important...a one of a kind piece af the value and historical significance like that will hold more value, and for far longer than any education ever will. That's not harsh, just a fact.

 

Who's education holds value today? Benjamin Franklin? Einstein? Thomas Edison? Now...what objects from the era that those people were alive in still hold value today?

 

Just saying....now....what has this bell dude contributed to society that came from his education? (part two, what are the chances it will be relevant after his death)

 

Bringing back and finishing the SwordQuest contest here at AA or any other similar community would spark interest, sure.To do this on a grand scale, i don't think so, as no one else outside of the small Atari community would give a rats ass.That's not pessimism if you ask me, just a true fact.And that's not to cut down the idea either, great idea, for Atari game buffs, the ones who would give a rats ass.I seriously doubt Atari would do it.This would be a great project done by some knowledgeable folks here at AA if you will, then yeah it would be possible.A lot of folks hated the SwordQuest games even back when they 1st came out, some might still feel the same way to this day about it.Making a complete SwordQuest, with that i mean release the missing Airworld by someone who has a prototype if that exists?,i don't know, that we could purchase here, now THAT would be awesome!

 

I don't know, when you start throwing money around, you can get people to dig in dog shit if it amused you. You'd be surprised at what I've gotten people to do in front of a camera for just a few bucks. Having kids, or not so kiddy people play some archaic game, or styled game won't bother them in the least if you tack on a multi thousand dollar prize for doing it.

[Rom Hunter]

It'll never happen. Would be kinda cool though.

 

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

Wow that's amazing!! I thinks its really awesome that you're still apart of the community. Oh, how awesome it must be to own such a major part of Atari history. Please never melt it down like Bell did. I think what he did is pretty disgraceful.

That is a little harsh, he melted it down so he could go to college. I think education is worth more than a video game prize.

 

You mean an education that you can get most anywhere from a range of prices from free all the way up to whatever the hell you want to pay for it? I'm sure the couple thousand (assuming he get reamed here) really made a difference but to be brutally honest, while an education is important...a one of a kind piece af the value and historical significance like that will hold more value, and for far longer than any education ever will. That's not harsh, just a fact.

 

Who's education holds value today? Benjamin Franklin? Einstein? Thomas Edison? Now...what objects from the era that those people were alive in still hold value today?

 

Just saying....now....what has this bell dude contributed to society that came from his education? (part two, what are the chances it will be relevant after his death)

Education gives hope.

 

That's worth more than a piece of promo gold IMO.

 

[Rik]

It'll never happen. Would be kinda cool though.

 

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

Wow that's amazing!! I thinks its really awesome that you're still apart of the community. Oh, how awesome it must be to own such a major part of Atari history. Please never melt it down like Bell did. I think what he did is pretty disgraceful.

That is a little harsh, he melted it down so he could go to college. I think education is worth more than a video game prize.

 

You mean an education that you can get most anywhere from a range of prices from free all the way up to whatever the hell you want to pay for it? I'm sure the couple thousand (assuming he get reamed here) really made a difference but to be brutally honest, while an education is important...a one of a kind piece af the value and historical significance like that will hold more value, and for far longer than any education ever will. That's not harsh, just a fact.

 

Who's education holds value today? Benjamin Franklin? Einstein? Thomas Edison? Now...what objects from the era that those people were alive in still hold value today?

 

Just saying....now....what has this bell dude contributed to society that came from his education? (part two, what are the chances it will be relevant after his death)

 

Bringing back and finishing the SwordQuest contest here at AA or any other similar community would spark interest, sure.To do this on a grand scale, i don't think so, as no one else outside of the small Atari community would give a rats ass.That's not pessimism if you ask me, just a true fact.And that's not to cut down the idea either, great idea, for Atari game buffs, the ones who would give a rats ass.I seriously doubt Atari would do it.This would be a great project done by some knowledgeable folks here at AA if you will, then yeah it would be possible.A lot of folks hated the SwordQuest games even back when they 1st came out, some might still feel the same way to this day about it.Making a complete SwordQuest, with that i mean release the missing Airworld by someone who has a prototype if that exists?,i don't know, that we could purchase here, now THAT would be awesome!

 

I don't know, when you start throwing money around, you can get people to dig in dog shit if it amused you. You'd be surprised at what I've gotten people to do in front of a camera for just a few bucks. Having kids, or not so kiddy people play some archaic game, or styled game won't bother them in the least if you tack on a multi thousand dollar prize for doing it.

Well yeah, that's true.Especially in today's economy.Winning a few hundred or even thousands would be awesome.I forgot we are looking at this from a contest point of view also.

[SuicideSquid]

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

do you have a picture of it...

 

I'm sure everyone will like to see it.

 

 

Go to his profile and then to the gallery.

 

Pretty cool. And to think I was excited to still have my Fireworld Certificate of Merit certificate proclaiming me "MASTER PATHFINDER" for getting three correct word clues.

 

I think I only really found two clues in the game and guessed right for the third one.

 

Did a lot of people actually find all the clues in the game when it was released? I mainly perused the comic book looking for the hidden words.

[psquare75]

Sigh. I could see Earthworld redone now.. on PS3

 

"EARNED: RIVER RAPID TROPHY!"

"COMPLETED: DRIPPING FIRE ROOM!"

 

Sigh.

[Rik]

Lets be honest now, how many here lost interest in Swordquest because of the boring graphics and awful game play, as many have described it.Was a chance to win the priceless treasures your only motivating factor to play?I personally didn't think the games were bad, quite ingeniously thought out IMO.I just didn't have the patience to figure out everything.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Rik

[JacobZu7zu7]

Is someone EVER going to make the final, WATERWORLD in this lifetime?

[jaybird3rd]

Is someone EVER going to make the final, WATERWORLD in this lifetime?

I think you mean Airworld; Waterworld already exists.

 

There have been fake Airworld "screenshots" that have surfaced from time to time; the one I remember best (going back a few years) was discredited by Tod Frye himself. The unfinished Airworld that Frye started has apparently been lost, as has his unfinished version of 2600 Ballblazer.

[Awesomepants]

Idea, why not write a petition for Atari to make the patches again?

[jaybird3rd]

Idea, why not write a petition for Atari to make the patches again?

I doubt it will do any good, but you're welcome to try.

[Torr]

As a kid I was given Earthworld (along with many other 2600 carts 'cause he got an nes) from my cousin in 1987. No one else I knew had it or had heard of it. I never knew about any contest, or that I was supposed to have a comic book to decipher the 'clues' I received, or that this game was based around the zodiac. Most of the rooms I was VERY off on what I thought was depicted as the 'boss' within. (it was actually the zodiac symbol!) As well most of the items I had no idea what they were. I called the talisman the Ninja Suit, the leather armor was the Strawberry however once I learned it protected you in one action sequence I started calling it the Shield! Oddly enough I did stumble across 3 clues as a child, even though I had no idea what they were; I thought they were scores, although I couldn't I figure out how the scoring worked! I found clues by `using` items (leaving) them in rooms to kill-pacify what I tought was the boss within!

 

Then around 1992 after having a Sega Master System for a while I dusted off my old 2600 and posted an ad in my school, looking to buy old 2600 carts. Of the carts I picked up, one was Fireworld. I had always wondered if there were anymore to this Swordquest game, why have a subtitle if it's the only one! SO I was very eager to try this game. I had to peel some stupid neon green antidrug sticker (you know the one, this guy, looked kinda like the guy that models for bathroom signs, with his hands covering his mouth?.. anyway...) off the front to see the artwork. I liked Earthworld better. But the gameplay! YES every room has it's own minigame! YES!, the rooms are differently shaped! YES!, it`s like I maze I'm lost already, whats this, it looks like some rooms are changing...! But in the end I never found a single clue (or scored as I thought!) in Fireworld. Then many years later around 2001 I discovered AtariAge.com when I dusted off my 2600 interest again and FINALLY learned what was up with this game series. And discovered that at least Waterworld was released. I've played the ROM and with NO help from gamefaqs.com or anything else I BEAT that sucker. It's a shame that the last one to be released and at the worst time ever was also the best of the series. It was overall an actually playable game, mainly cause it had clues, even if minor and cryptic, as to what items should go where! After learning about and downloading & reading the comics I tried to find some `logic` as to where to place the objects in EW & FW, but to no avail because it takes systematic trial & error and just pure dumb luck to obtain clues in both these games.

 

Long story short, I had no knowledge I could win gold and jewels (well not really, this was 1987), I had no idea what the point of the games were, but I can tell you EW & FW each spent a lot of time in my 2600 (and I didn`t get FW until 1992!) So that says something. Sure there were better games out there but just like ET and Pac-Man, Swordquest wasn`t such a bad series, people just love to hate on stuff, however it wasn`t that good either.

EW had too much wandering & not enough action sequences. On the other hand FW had TOO many action sequences making the trial & error aspect of the game VERY tedious. It`s only saving grace WW was sold during the crash when no one was really appreciating video games and Atari`s collapse meant no chance of winning the prizes as described on the box. Plus, I`m sure it`s blocky graphics just served as a reason to buy a Colecovision or Intellivision if you were gonna buy anything while stores where practically giving away their video game stock.

 

Obviously my love of SQ series and it leading me to AtariAge explains my username!

 

PS Was the contest version of EW ever dumped, there was that articale with that guy from Atari back in Feb of last year where he stated he had (assumingly) the only EPROM of the contest cart left, cause he was the guy that designed the contest clues. As well, ever any word on a FW contest cart dump...

Edited April 19, 2011 by Torr

[SeaGtGruff]

wait...wait......@SeaGtGruff You were the winner of the Fireworld Competition?

Yep, that was me. It was a long time ago, in a city far, far away.

 

Michael

 

 

Have you had any interesting offers from collectors for it?

I heard Hardy offered some crazy $$$$ for it, but I just read it somewhere, don't know if it's true?

Yes, it's true. I turned him down right away, wisely cutting him off before he could pull out a wad of many thousands of dollars (into the five digits), because I might have caved at the sight of it! I don't know whether he actually had the money *on* him (another Star Wars reference there), and at the time I treated his question as if it were purely hypothetical. I'd like to hang onto it as long as possible, even though these days I see it only every couple of decades (when I first got it I took it out of the bank vault a *lot*, and even drank out of it a few times). It might not be doing me much good sitting in a bank vault, but it's uber cool to drool over every once in a decade, and some day I might actually need to sell it if push ever comes to shove, so I definitely consider it to be a nest egg. I did promise John that if I ever decide to sell it, I'll tell him first so he can make me an(other) offer.

 

Michael

[SeaGtGruff]

I liked Earthworld better. But the gameplay! YES every room has it's own minigame! YES!, the rooms are differently shaped! YES!, it`s like I maze I'm lost already, whats this, it looks like some rooms are changing...! But in the end I never found a single clue (or scored as I thought!) in Fireworld.

Fireworld is actually winnable through a lengthy process of trial and error, because each "number clue" is found in the same fashion-- leave a certain number of objects in one room, and leave a certain number of objects in another room. Since there's only two rooms involved for each clue, and the number of objects is always the same (

four in one room and one in another

), it isn't too difficult to try all the possible combinations and trigger all the clues-- just very time-consuming (don't expect to do it in one sitting). On the other hand, I don't see how anyone could ever figure out Earthworld without cheating, because the number of rooms involved with each clue, and the number of objects needing to be left in those rooms, varies a great deal, becoming progressively more complex with each clue, which makes it nearly impossible to try all of the possible combinations. And then, if you finally do get another clue, you have to try all of those combinations over again, since a particular clue-triggering combination works only if you've already found the preceding clues. What a nightmare! Earthworld is hardest, Fireworld is less difficult, and Waterworld is definitely the easiest.

 

PS Was the contest version of EW ever dumped, there was that articale with that guy from Atari back in Feb of last year where he stated he had (assumingly) the only EPROM of the contest cart left, cause he was the guy that designed the contest clues. As well, ever any word on a FW contest cart dump...

I don't know if the actual contest version of Earthworld was ever dumped, but I've read a rumor that the PAL versions of Earthworld and Fireworld are the same as the contest versions. I wasn't in the Earthworld contest, so I can't say whether that's true for Earthworld. But the PAL version of Fireworld does seem to fit the pattern of play that I used to win the Fireworld contest-- although I can't say for sure, since I don't know which objects I left in which rooms, just the order of the rooms in which the number clues appeared. The dumps of the PAL versions of Earthworld and Fireworld are out there somewhere on the internet, so you should definitely search for them if you're interested in the Swordquest games.

 

Michael

[Impaler_26]

The dumps of the PAL versions of Earthworld and Fireworld are out there somewhere on the internet, so you should definitely search for them if you're interested in the Swordquest games.

 

I'm wondering why the PAL-versions are not in the 2600 Rarity Guide here on AA.

 

Anyway, here they are so there's no need to search around:

SwordQuest - FireWorld (Adventure II, SwordQuest II - FireWorld) (1982) (Atari, Tod Frye) (CX2657) (PAL).bin

SwordQuest - EarthWorld (Adventure I, SwordQuest I - EarthWorld) (1982) (Atari, Dan Hitchens) (CX2656) (PAL).bin

Edited April 19, 2011 by Impaler_26

[Torr]

Fireworld is actually winnable through a lengthy process of trial and error, because each "number clue" is found in the same fashion-- leave a certain number of objects in one room, and leave a certain number of objects in another room. Since there's only two rooms involved for each clue, and the number of objects is always the same, it isn't too difficult to try all the possible combinations and trigger all the clues-- just very time-consuming (don't expect to do it in one sitting). On the other hand, I don't see how anyone could ever figure out Earthworld without cheating, because the number of rooms involved with each clue, and the number of objects needing to be left in those rooms, varies a great deal, becoming progressively more complex with each clue, which makes it nearly impossible to try all of the possible combinations. And then, if you finally do get another clue, you have to try all of those combinations over again, since a particular clue-triggering combination works only if you've already found the preceding clues. What a nightmare! Earthworld is hardest, Fireworld is less difficult, and Waterworld is definitely the easiest.

 

PS Was the contest version of EW ever dumped, there was that articale with that guy from Atari back in Feb of last year where he stated he had (assumingly) the only EPROM of the contest cart left, cause he was the guy that designed the contest clues. As well, ever any word on a FW contest cart dump...

I don't know if the actual contest version of Earthworld was ever dumped, but I've read a rumor that the PAL versions of Earthworld and Fireworld are the same as the contest versions. I wasn't in the Earthworld contest, so I can't say whether that's true for Earthworld. But the PAL version of Fireworld does seem to fit the pattern of play that I used to win the Fireworld contest-- although I can't say for sure, since I don't know which objects I left in which rooms, just the order of the rooms in which the number clues appeared. The dumps of the PAL versions of Earthworld and Fireworld are out there somewhere on the internet, so you should definitely search for them if you're interested in the Swordquest games.

 

Michael

 

Thanks, I'll have to hunt down those ROMs and check them out...

As for the games,

Earthworld I was able to get three clues because I was confused about the point of the game. I thought I was trying to kill/pacify enemies. First I'd get the 16-4 clue just because it was there; it was the first empty room so instead of a useful item you got points! First empty room going north anyway, which I thought was the correct way since south led to an empty room and then the 'broken compass' (amulet) that sent you willy nilly through dungeons. Then I'd kill the Gemini boss with the girl's sword (dagger, but it looked like the short sword the girl on the cart had!) and get the 8-4 clue... hmmm, seems my score has been halfed, hows the scoring work in this game? Then I'd pacify the Lion boss by tying him up with the rope. Then kill the Giant Crab boss with the grappling hook (ala a giant fish hook) receiving the highest score yet 25-6! I realized I had to kill 2 bosses for this one, so maybe thats why it was so high, maybe the free score at the beginning was supposed to be 8-4 and the Gemeni boss was supposed to be 16-4 but the programmers screwed up.... But that was it, I never found out how to kill the other bosses. I assumed certain items like the Key and 'Shield' (leather armor) were purely inventory-type items and thus never left them behind. Years later finally reading about this game on the Interent I learned the errors of my ways. As well the key was necessary for the next clue... so I was screwed.

Fireworld was just too hard with the minigames. Only the eagle-shooting-snakes game and the throwing-knives-at-dragons game were remotely fair. The other were sick hard. And cheated, I knew I was losing lives when I heard that first bleep before the game even started... man... plus since certain items only mildly helped it was much harder deciphering what items were helpful to carry... but there were no bosses to beat! so is this purely a maze, I never caught on certain items opened up all the doors in the center room, I though I was unlocking passageways in a maze or something, most of my time was spent trying to master the mini-games and then wandering the maze when I needed to take a break from them!

Edited April 19, 2011 by Torr

[SeaGtGruff]

Fireworld was just too hard with the minigames. Only the eagle-shooting-snakes game and the throwing-knives-at-dragons game were remotely fair. The other were sick hard. And cheated, I knew I was losing lives when I heard that first bleep before the game even started... man... plus since certain items only mildly helped it was much harder deciphering what items were helpful to carry... but there were no bosses to beat! so is this purely a maze, I never caught on certain items opened up all the doors in the center room, I though I was unlocking passageways in a maze or something, most of my time was spent trying to master the mini-games and then wandering the maze when I needed to take a break from them!

The minigames aren't so bad once you get the hang of them. For example, the "flaming knives" have to be guided into the tub of water, so you have to learn the rhythm of moving the stick left and right to get them in. It actually gets easier as they get faster, because they form a kind of "sine wave" if you push the stick with the right rhythm. With a lot of the minigames it's just a matter of staying "alive" long enough to get into the room, even if you mess up a few times. And carrying certain objects will considerably shorten the amount of time you need to stay alive for, so you can get into the rooms more quickly and easily.

 

On the other hand, I hated some of Earthworld's minigames, because they were nearly impossible to get past unless you were carrying the right objects. For some reason, the Aquarian rapids was always one of the hardest challenges for me, because there seemed to be an annoying delay when you tried to jump on a log, and then you'd be standing on a log and it would disappear from beneath you.

 

Michael

[Torr]

Fireworld's minigames are nowhere near as hard now as when I was a kid, and I just remembered an old trick I used as a kid for catching the knives, try to push them up against one edge of the screen and then pull them back to the middle to make then all fall straight into the basket or shield or whatever.

Now to test out these PAL ROMs and see if they are different from the NTSC ROMs... EW will be easy, just test to see if the 16-4 clue pops up or not I guess, however I don't know how I'd tell if FW is any different... and even if it IS the contest variation, anybody know what the contest clues list for FireWorld were? Luckily the guy who programmed the EW contest cart kept records of his stuff and the original clues are still floating the internet, I figure the FW contest clues must be out there somewhere too...

Edited April 19, 2011 by Torr

[Torr]

Well Earthworld is definitely different, I didn't get the '16-4' clue, and somehow received the '1' clue, advancing me to level one I assume... this oughta be fun... but why would they release the contest variation as a standard in PAL countries...

[PAC MAN FEVER]

I think it would be cool if someone made Swordquest Airworld and did a contest to go with it.

The prize could be a plastic sword

[raskar42]

making an airworld game would be the easy[citation needed] part - none of the games were graphical masterpieces.

 

i think the more challenging part would be producing the comic book.

Edited April 19, 2011 by raskar42