Swordquest Petition

[schuwalker]

At least should have Atari age or anyone interested in making a homebrew games of airworld and make some sort of contest, nothing like back then of course, I'm pretty sure any Atari fan would definitely pick this up, I would just my opinion on the matter

 

 

Honestly, even if there was no contest - it wouldn't bother me.

 

I would like it to stay to the true form of the predecessors and to the author's vision.

[10phoneman]

Please someone finally bring out swordquest airworld soon.Thanks

[IHATETHEBEARS]

Back in 2008 or 2009 I emailed the people who had been developing Airworld for the 5200. Apparently the project fell apart. I think a couple of people dropped out. And that was the end of it.

 

I’ve mentioned a couple of times in these forums that I’d love for one of the homebrewers around here to take up the project and make a 2600 game to finish off the series. Someone here once created an Airworld flyer for a contest. If you dig through the threads you can find it. It might be in the homebrew thread. I’m not sure.

 

If I had the knowledge to create a 2600 game I’d do it myself. That YouTube video on the previous page was done by me. And at the end of it you can see I made a couple of crude maps and had some ideas on how Airworld could go. I had hoped to try to learn how to code a game on my own and just do it all by myself. But… it proved a lot harder to learn than I thought. I’d still love to learn. Or I’d love to help someone do it. Hell, I’d even kick in some bucks to contribute to the project if someone were motivated to actually do this.

 

I think it should be based on the I-Ching like the original programmer wanted. I think it should have the look and feel of the other three. But dear God, make the game more fun with the action sequences! You’ll never get Atari to get onboard with this. They couldn’t care less. The only people interested in this would be the people in this forum. Just do it. Call it “Swordquest Airworld.” And be done. If anyone’s afraid of a possible cease and desist letter, then call it something else. But give us the option to get a cartridge with no label on it. Then someone can create an authentic-looking front and top label that actually says “Swordquest Airworld.” Then we can print them up and affix them ourselves. (Like they did for Red Sea Crossing)

 

We could have our own little contest right here. No one’s going to donate a $150,000 sword. But we could come up with something. And it would be fun. I don’t care if I’m in my early-40’s. I’d feel like a kid again!

[bigfriendly]

We could have our own little contest right here. No one’s going to donate a $150,000 sword. But we could come up with something. And it would be fun. I don’t care if I’m in my early-40’s. I’d feel like a kid again!

OK, So what about the comic book? It would be nice to keep the series as close to the original as possible. The exception being that (as you stated) the actual gameplay would be fun and have some purpose. Please, not another game of trial and error! I realize that prizes like the one's 30 years ago are impossible but it would be cool to have some prize that has some physical value. I'm clueless but if Airworld was brought to reality do any of you have any idea how many games might be sold? Or, would any of you have any clue how many carts might be produced for the initial run? Also, if a contest is going to be put into play the internet which was years away in 1983-84 produces a whole other issue for keeping the contest under wraps. What does everybody else think???

[Chris++]

I never knew that Swordquest players were originally intended to dig a sword out of the actual ground. Apparently, that was briefly the case, according to Roy Thomas, one of the comic-book artists:

 

"Then came Swordquest. Gerry [Conway] and I came up [to Silicon Valley] again and huddled with a couple of Atari’s engineers. The company had this general idea for a series of four interconnected games under the banner Swordquest, with a grand prize they’d promote to help sell it. A sword was to be buried somewhere in the United States, and the person who found it – working from clues that were to be embedded in the games themselves – would get a considerable amount of money.

 

"This was based on a similar gimmick that we were told had recently been used by a book company, with clues hidden in some picture book; that had sent people scrambling all over the country in search of a buried treasure. Gerry and I immediately came up with the idea that the four games should be based on the four classical 'elements' – earth, air, fire and water...

 

"Only thing is, as I recall, before we did the fourth comic, a real problem arose with the earlier treasure-hunt thing. We were told there were lawsuits in the case of the earlier book, because some overeager people hunting for the treasure were digging up people’s lawns and demolishing property. So Atari pulled the plug on the [idea]. Well, the comic book was a lot better than the game anyway."

 

The whole article is worth reading, as the writer exhibits a couple of possible books that the idea might have been "borrowed" from:

 

http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2014/12/swordquest-origins.html

Edited May 15, 2015 by Chris++

[Jinks]

If this a the petition to make it so the swordquest series is wiped from history or never mentioned ever again please sign me up. The real cause of the crash for me was unplayable unfun garbage carts like this that belonged in the dump not actual games like ET.

[schuwalker]

I never knew that Swordquest players were originally intended to dig a sword out of the actual ground. Apparently, that was briefly the case, according to Roy Thomas, one of the comic-book artists:

 

"Then came Swordquest. Gerry [Conway] and I came up [to Silicon Valley] again and huddled with a couple of Atari’s engineers. The company had this general idea for a series of four interconnected games under the banner Swordquest, with a grand prize they’d promote to help sell it. A sword was to be buried somewhere in the United States, and the person who found it – working from clues that were to be embedded in the games themselves – would get a considerable amount of money.

 

"This was based on a similar gimmick that we were told had recently been used by a book company, with clues hidden in some picture book; that had sent people scrambling all over the country in search of a buried treasure. Gerry and I immediately came up with the idea that the four games should be based on the four classical 'elements' – earth, air, fire and water...

 

"Only thing is, as I recall, before we did the fourth comic, a real problem arose with the earlier treasure-hunt thing. We were told there were lawsuits in the case of the earlier book, because some overeager people hunting for the treasure were digging up people’s lawns and demolishing property. So Atari pulled the plug on the [idea]. Well, the comic book was a lot better than the game anyway."

 

The whole article is worth reading, as the writer exhibits a couple of possible books that the idea might have been "borrowed" from:

 

http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2014/12/swordquest-origins.html

 

 

 

 

That kinda reminds me of this VCR game...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure:_In_Search_of_the_Golden_Horse

[phattyboombatty]

Someone here once created an Airworld flyer for a contest. If you dig through the threads you can find it. It might be in the homebrew thread. I’m not sure.

 

That was me . I still have all of the materials that I created. I was really excited about it. My goal was to create box, manual, and to recreate known artwork. I ran into a standstill when I realized that doing the comic book would be overwhelming. Also, no one seemed onboard to do the coding, but I still hope someone could do it!

[high voltage]

Wow I don't even remember starting that thread.

[IHATETHEBEARS]

 

That was me . I still have all of the materials that I created. I was really excited about it. My goal was to create box, manual, and to recreate known artwork. I ran into a standstill when I realized that doing the comic book would be overwhelming. Also, no one seemed onboard to do the coding, but I still hope someone could do it!

 

There it is! My daughters (who are very good artists) were willing to draw a comic book. They were pretty excited about it actually.

[Dutchman2000]

Airworld homebrew was on 5200 a few years back, if I remember right.

You are correct sir, I was the one programming it and others did the music and comic book. The project was halted after some work had been done, as I wanted to change the game to a real adventure type game unlike the previous SQ games.

[doctorclu]

At the very least I would love to see a comic book get pinned to complete the comic series.

[Buyatari]

The Swordquest items would be top items in any Atari collection. There isn't much I place above them.

The final game may not exist but at least we have this.

 

[hizzy]

Wish someone would complete this series. 64 mini-games in one cart sounds incredible. Is that even possible?

[doctorclu]

There was a 32 in one cart once so why not.

[hizzy]

There was a 32 in one cart once so why not.

 

It would be amazing if someone could do a game base on the description. I think it's do-able!

[hizzy]

These are the hexagrams that are supposed to be in the game:

 

 

 

When you enter one, you are supposed to play a mini game. Perhaps clues to a larger puzzle could be hidden in some of the mini games? Those hexagrams don't look like they would be hard to program.

[StanJr]

At the very least I would love to see a comic book get pinned to complete the comic series.

 

My wife and I wrote a full treatment and script for an Airworld comic about 10 years ago. We were trying to have it concurrent with Dutchman's project. Alas, it also went the way of the dodo...

[doctorclu]

Cool! We need to get some animators and a storyline together. Maybe see if it can be included in a Flashback some year.

 

Here is my take on how the Swordquest series would have ended...

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/25219-airworld-update-comic-is-back-on/?do=findComment&comment=3540281

[Aquadump Entertainment]

The idea of the Swordquest games is better than the actual execution of the games. At any rate, I'll pay someone $20 in tacos to finish the series.