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TI99 Infocom Games


Tempest

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What is the TI Professional? I've never heard of it.

 

Tempest

 

It was just TI's semi-compatible IBM clone. It had nice features and they made a transportable version as well, but it really never took off for obvious reasons (not being fully IBM PC compatible hurt that and many other systems once that became important, and there was no longer great incentive for software makers to make platform-specific versions of their software).

 

I LOVE that Infocom supported so many obscure platforms. It was cheap and easy for them since they just write the interpreter once and then all their games can run, and they can share the same packaging, just requiring a new sticker. I was taken aback a second when I didn't see any Adam releases on that list until I realized that those were only amateur 40-column CP/M conversions and not official.

 

 

 

I haven't had time to haunt the Vic 20 forums in months, but last time I was over there, I saw talk of someone making a converter to run the smaller Infocom games on that computer. I can't even imagine, with that 22-column screen... but people were pretty psyched about it. I think a lot of development is happening on the Vic with the release of the Mega-Cart, which makes 32K of add-on memory a viable thing for more than a few users.

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  • 1 month later...

Just got a hold of a supercart, came with a bunch of carts I purchased. Didn’t even know what it was for a few days, cleaned it up and changed the battery. Ok, I looked up the supercart mod and I see there are programs to manipulate this thing. Is there any program that can save what you have on it to a disk? Any help having fun with this would be welcomed. Thanks…..

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Congratulations!! I don't have one of these, but I CAN tell you that if you have a BASIC or XB program stored, it should be as simple as loading it from cart into your computer and then SAVE DSK1.PROGNAME.

 

With the Minimem cart, I have done this. Not sure about supercart, but I'm pretty sure it's the same. Might wait for a more informed opinion though... Someone who actually has one. :)

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found this for interested people :

 

avalaible adventure game on ti99

 

* Aardvark

o Trek Adventure

o Derelict

o Pyramid

o Mars

o Paranoids Anonymous

o Escape from Mars

* Adventure International

o 1: Adventureland

o 2: Pirate Adventure (aka Pirate's Cove)

o 3: Mission Impossible / Impossible Mission / Secret Mission

o 4: Voodoo Castle

o 5: The Count

o 6: Strange Odyssey

o 7: Mystery Fun House / Fun House Mystery

o 8: Pyramid of Doom

o 9: Ghost Town

o 10: Savage Island, part 1

o 11: Savage Island, part 2

o 12: Golden Voyage

o 14: Return to Pirate's Island

* Infocom

o Zork I: The Great Underground Empire

o Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz

o Zork III: The Dungeon Master

o Enchanter

o Sorcerer

o Deadline

o Starcross

o Suspended

o The Witness

o Infidel

o Cutthroats

o The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

* Mogul Software

o Pyramid

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  • 2 months later...

Hey Rodney, and welcome... I know there are caches of Infocom games on original media floating around... I am pretty sure InfernalKeith has a good chunk of them... Bill Gaskill would more than likely be the guy to talk to about original DSK images... He has just about everything you could ever want for the TI.

 

 

But if you're looking for CF7 DSK images that work nicely on a TI, you can get all those right here in this forum.

 

 

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I have all the 'playable' versions...as a hardcore preservationist, I'm much more interested in long-term preservation of _original_ DSK images to stand the test of time. I agree as much as anyone else that emulation is NOT a substitute for the real thing, but realistically, the hardware is failing while emulation continues to progress (and MESS bypassed PC99 in terms of emulation accuracy long ago). Who would have thought even two years ago that you'd be able to actually _use_ a P-Code system that most people had only read about in magazines from the era? Yet three months ago I was able to teach myself to use it based on disk images and PDF manuals...and found it amazing! Similarly, my Seagate ST-220 connected to my Myarc HFDC has been invaluable in managing my 99'er Magazine software library...yet I've never owned one, being far out of my price range when it was new. Emulation makes it possible for me to re-explore the platform in ways previously unimaginable, minus the electrocution risk. ;)

 

Long story short, I just wish that the community at large were as sensitive to preservation of original disk images (preferably in PC99 vs V9T9 format, for completeness and possible copy-protection coverage) as we are for cartridge images (which seem very well handled). For instance, where on earth are the PLATO courseware disks? The SMU Electrical Engineering Library? It would be a terrible shame if these were lost forever (and worst of all to bit rot!).

 

Just my $0.02. Keep the change. :)

 

Rodney

Edited by Rodney Hester
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I have all the 'playable' versions...as a hardcore preservationist, I'm much more interested in long-term preservation of _original_ DSK images to stand the test of time.

 

I agree, and have been involved in preservation efforts for several different platforms. The TI99 seems to be one of the areas that is largely lacking, and oddly the Apple II as well for some reason.

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We have similar blood in our veins, then. :) I was one of the first producing G64 images for the Commodore platform and am an _ardent_ supporter (and supplier!) for SPS (the Software Preservation Society, nee CAPS - originally Amiga-only, now branched into Acorn Archimedes as well).

 

I realize in the early days of "preservation" (not unlike paleontology), it was a "just get the data off the disk" approach...but there's so much more richness and subtlety to -accurate- preservation and emulation, and the opportunity to once and for all capture truly complete dumps of disks, cartridges, even cassettes (yes, I really said that) is rapidly diminishing. Someday the world will pine for what it has lost...or perhaps us old-timers that actually still care about such things will simply pass and those left behind will merely be nostalgic about the PS3 and XBox 360. ;)

 

Rodney

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  • 5 years later...

Necro thread time! I remember playing 'The Lurking Horror' on my TI back in 1989 on disk and I did not have a super cart so maybe it didn't need one.

 

I'm not sure which games require the Super Cart and which don't. I thought maybe it was based on the interpreter used, but games like Moonmist and LGOP used the same Z3 interpreter as non-Super Cart games. Maybe the last more complex Z3 games needed it? If that were the case then I'd think Lurking Horror would too.

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I gave it a go tonight. Didn't work beyond the 40/80 column menu selection. Planetfall did although only in 40 column mode. Guess it doesn't like the F18a. I will add that this version of Lurking Horror is different to the one I had. This is clearly a later version as mine at the time did not have a 40/80 column option or the 'Lost Treasures of Infocom' heading. So maybe this version does need that extra 8k. Shame it isn't looking at the memory space my SAMS is occupying!

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The sad part of it all is, I haven't solved any of them. I like collecting the 'real thing' TI software packages from back in the day, and I tell myself that SOMEday I'll have time to play and solve them all. Sometimes I even believe it.

 

I went through a walk through of all 3 Zork games just to see them finished. I have to tell you I dont see how people finished 2 or 3. The puzzles are the most obscure things in the world - Im certin the hint book was necessary to finish these or tons of ton sitting through trial and error.

 

My neighbor loved the Zork games and finished 1 but after many hours not 2.

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Together with one of my friends, I solved all Zork I-III, Planetfall, Stationfall, Hitchhiker's Guide (needed some help at few occasions), Infidel, and Lurking Horror. We failed at Deadline and never tried Leather Goddesses of Phobos and Hollywood Hijinx. I have the original Zork II + III and Deadline packages.

 

It was hard, yes, and there was nothing like Google (not even Altavista). I remember we checked some newsgroups for hints.

 

From time to time I feel I could indeed put Zork I back into the drive and try once more.

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