TI-99/4A Funware Prototypes Found!

[Toucan]

HI!

Well, I just recieved a package today in the mail. Inside were prototypes for many released and unreleased games, and in addition many boxed released titles! Below is a listing of all that I got and plan on making avaliable to the Classic Gaming community at least through emulation:

 

(Screen Shots for Lobster Bay, one of the new games just found can be seen at: http://www.videogamehouse.net/Lobster_Bay_...reliminary.html )

 

Boxed Funware Cartridges:

-Schnoz-Ola

-St. Nick

-Driving Demon

-Ambulance

-Video Vegas

-Henhouse

-Rabbit Trail

 

Prototypes:

-Ant Colony

-Shanghai

-Ambulance

-Rabbit Trail

-Cave Creatures

 

Source Code Only:

-Lobster Bay

 

Let me just say right here and now that Lobster Bay is one great game! It is complete and very fun to play. It takes place underwater where you are a scuba diver trying to gather up treasures that are scattered on this platform underwater. This game has about 7 screens per level, making it a much bigger game than the normal one-screeners that Funware put out previously. There is a map above you that shows your location and where you are so you can guide your way through the ocean. It's amazing, and I should be able to get it dumped for emulation sometime this week. Also, the game Ant Colony is a new one too that I've never seen. It resembles The Attack where ants come after you and you have to spray them and their "boxes" (the boxes count down as in The Attack, but in Ant Colony the goal is to exterminate these boxes). All in all, there are some really neat gems here. I hope that everyone finds them as fun as I have today! I'll include scans of the Schnoz-Ola box for the internet as I don't think too many have seen this one before, cool picture on the box though!

[Tempest]

Wow neat! You are one lucky bastard! Awesome stuff! How come I never get lucky?

 

Tempest

[+RangerG]

Those look fun. Please post more information on them as you learn more.

 

Take care,

RG

[Albert]

Very cool, thanks for posting information about these.

 

..Al

[Jess Ragan]

Oh man, you gotta dump these. I love playing new old games.

(Wait, does that make sense?)

 

JR

[SteveW]

Shanghai? Was that supposed to be an official Activision release of the mahjongg game that came out for nearly every other platform on Earth?

[Toucan]

I'll try to get to everone's postings. Here's a rundown:

 

Tempest: Guess you were just destined to be the unlucky one. hehe. Actually, I'm usually very unlucky with these items but finally something came though! I have been hunting since 1998 and am happy that something has came out of the woodwork. I just hope that more things follow. My question is this: Could this be a sign of things to come, or just a bit of random luck. Hopefully it's NOT the later!

 

RangerG: I can say right here and now that Lobster Bay is a very good game. I like it since it has 7-8 screens per level which adds to the challenge. Here's the latest scoop on the game (you can follow along with my description by looking at some of the screen shots): You start out at your ship above water, then descend down. Once in the water you have a limited amount of oxygen as indicated by the meter on the top right of the screen. The oxygen can only be replenished by making your way back to the ship (so if you are on one of the later screens you have to hurry back to the boat or else its lights out!). There are a few enemies on the screen at various levels: The Lobster, which kills you immidiatly once you touch it; The Squid, which sprays you with ink so you can't move for a few seconds (this can be dangerous if you are low on oxygen or a lobster is near); The Puffer Fish, which will kill you once touched (as a lobster, but does not have to walk on the platforms), the cool thing on the puffer fish is it will actually turn into a spike ball and plant itself at the bottom of the ocean floor! Meaning you can't go around it, so you will have to end up climbing up the platform and getting around another way once it turns into this ball; The Oyster, the oyster will not kill you but only hold you in its shell for a a fair amount of time. So there is no real danger once the oyster closes its mouth on you other than the fact that you could run out of oxygen; finally there is the Blue Fish (looks like a small swordfish), once it touches you your oxygen will deplete much more rapidly. He's probably the most frustrating of the bunch.

Besides the enemies in the game, there are of course the various treaseures you must pick up that lay on the platform. Included among the treasures are two keys, one opens the treasure chest at the top of some purple steps, and the other will unloack the white door (these doors take you to the other end of the ocean. So unlocking the door at the far right of the screen takes you to the left door, and vice versa). After you do manage to collect all the treasures, you go into this scene that is reminicent of the Astroid Belt in Parsec, you have to shoot your spears at oncoming fish, but only the green ones will give you points and those are the ones you are supposed to hit apparently.

Other notes in the game: you can climb up and down the ropes, but the lobsters cannot. There is no jumping in this game, making it quite a bit more difficult and challenging. The purple steps are a neat concept, depending on where the arrows are pointing (they alternate between up and down), that's the direction the stairs are moving. Think of the stairs as really escalators, the arrows indicate which way they are moving, so if you need to get to the top of a stairway, you have to wait for the arrow to change. Sometimes though it will change too late and a Lobster will sneak up on you from behind. Hope this is a good explanation of where I am in the game right now, this is all I know (or at least can recall as I am typing this message right now).

 

Albert : No problem in posting the info. I know it's not "James Bond 007: As Seen in Octopussy", but it will have to do for now

 

Jess Ragan: Don't worry, these games will be dumped for everyone to play. As a matter of fact, they are already dumped and I took those screen shots from the MESS emulator. It's really just a matter of getting the games on-line at this point. So I'll make the announcement once that happens.

 

SteveW: Nope, this Shaghai is from Funware. You control a boat up a river in Shaghai, avoiding other boats that lunge towards you from the sides, picking up things on the side of the river such as gold, fish, cannons, etc. As with the other games, this too will become avaliable. I only hope I can do it before the Fourth of July!

[+RangerG]

Toucan --

 

How fast do you move in the game? What's the difficulty level? You seem to have gotten pretty far. Do you finish it like Pitfall? I am going to look at the screenshots again. By the way, everyone should check out Toucan's site - best screenshots of TI-99 games anywhere!

[Toucan]

HI!

I just posted screen shots for Any Colony at: http://www.videogamehouse.net/AntColony.html

 

In case anyone is interested in checking them out. Any Colony is ready for download, I'll have it avaliable on the Any Colony page once ready.

 

As for Lobster Bay, the game is not a fast one due to the idea of making it difficult for the person to make it through the level with all the oxygen. I guess I would describe it as a medium paced game...Not sure if that helps or not. But the point I am trying to make is that it's not too fast, and not too slow

 

As for the difficulty level, I can't get past the first found on the "Advanced" difficulty setting. However, I can make it through on the "Beginning" difficulty setting. So there is a nice variety of options depending on how challenging you want the game to be. As to finishing it like Pitfall!, each level ends with that fish swimming sequence and I have no idea on how the entire game ends if at all. I have only gotten to level 2, so beyond that point I have no idea how far it goes. It would be interesting to find out!

[+RangerG]

Thanks Toucan - Which is the best TI emulator? I want to try these games.

[Toucan]

The best is MESS. It works like a charm and in addition emulates TONS of systems. So if I were to recommend one, it would easily be MESS.

[Toucan]

To all those interested. Lobster Bay is now avaliable for Download at the Lobster Bay website: www.videogamehouse.net/Lobster_Bay_Preliminary.html . Have fun. But be sure you read the "Readme" file included, it tells you how to run the game. Since this was only source code, I had to include a cartridge with the code so you could actually play the game. If anything goes wrong, let me know. Thanks!

[SteveW]

I wish I could get a TI emulator to work on my Mac, but I haven't had any success. Besides, I just can't use a TI-99/4A emulator when I have four TI computers in my room. I wish I could somehow turn the file into something I could put on a floppy (no 5.25" floppy drives available for a USB Mac) or to turn into an audio file and put on a cassette.

[Toucan]

Stevew: PM Sent.