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General discussionTrying to remember an old-time Apple ][+ game(9 posts)solved(9 posts)solved
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Posted December 03, 2013
My first "real computer" was an Apple ][+. I had bought several games that were sold in ziploc baggies hanging from peghooks at my local ComputerLand. They also had a HUGE 3-ring notebook bursting at the seams full of stupid and bad old BASIC programs that mostly were typed in from magazine listings. But it gave you SOMETHING to play with!

Anyway, for years I've been trying to remember this one game I thought was really cool. It used a technique of overlapping rectangles to create the illusion of objects getting larger (when they get closer) or shrink when they move away. I seem to recall that the rectangles were all the same size, and they were probably "stacked" to represent a far-away object, but as the objects got closer, the overlapping rectangles would spread out to increase the overall size of the object. Very trippy. Today you would probably say this was an early attempt at voxel graphics (like the groundbreaking helicopter game Comanche Maximum Overkill), but I don't believe it was anywhere nearly that sophisticated. The "voxels" were probably 8x8 pixels each, solid color, and this was on an Apple ][ from probably 1980 or so.

This game I remember had spaceships, and when you got close enough, there were two "astronauts" inside you could see "talking" (moving their rectangle lips!) Does anyone remember this game? Maybe the astronauts were just part of the "intro" and the gameplay might have been something entirely different. Anyone recall?

I sold my Apple to buy an IBM PC back in 1982. I had a TON of stuff for the Apple... 2 floppy drives, Microsoft Z80 Softcard, Mountain Computer synthesizer, the Apple Pascal system, Fortran, and a buttload of games, most of them I can't remember! When I later got married, we bought my (schoolteacher) wife an Apple ][c (which I still have and it still works) but I'd sold most of the games when I got rid of the +. (sigh) The good old days, right?
Post edited December 03, 2013 by tritone
This question / problem has been solved by ZapMcRaygunnimage
Posted December 03, 2013
The overlapping objects make me think of Spectre, but that didn't come out until 1990 and was a tank game instead. In the video linked you can see the recording of people talking when you select the About button. Note, the sound goes terrible for the part, I'm guessing emulator troubles. :P The gameplay starts about 52 seconds in. It was a capture the flag kind of game, you against opposing AI controlled tanks, with a crazy good AI. You could upgrade your tank as the game went on. There were a lot of different versions of Spectre, Spectre Supreme, Spectre VR, Spectre Challenger was more wire-frame and a demo, etc, etc.

The only space shuttle game I can think of from 1980 is Tranquility Base, a lunar landing game, where you keep landing your shuttle and trying not to explode on the rocks.

Edit: Not the game you are after, but this might tickle your fancy: http://www.gog.com/game/race_the_sun
Post edited December 03, 2013 by Melhelix
Posted December 06, 2013
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Melhelix: The overlapping objects make me think of Spectre...
Wow, that looks awesome! Wish the Apple II looked like that in 1982!

I'm thinking my game would probably have been by Sirius Software, or Synergistic, or Epyx, or one of those, but I might be wrong. For some reason I keep thinking the game began with the letter "E" but I can't put my finger on it. Over the past couple days I've looked through TONS of websites of old Apple II games, including YouTube, but haven't seen it. What I'm afraid of, this sequence I remember was probably just a cutscene intro, and the gameplay itself probably looked like a game of checkers. :)

It's also possible, but extremely unlikely, that I might have kept that game and didn't sell it and I might find it in a box in the basement. I did keep a few, like Ballblazer, Rescue on Fractalus, and a few old Infocom games. If I only knew which box they were in...???

FOUND THE BOX!

But not the game I'm looking for. :(

I did find the original disks for:

Ballblazer
Rescue on Fractalus
Cytron Masters (first real-time strategy game?)
The Eidolon (very early FPS like Wolfenstein 3D)
David's Midnight Magic
Bill Budge's Graphics Studio
SubLogic Flight Simulator and Enhanced Scenery
Fantavision (an awesome graphics animation tool)
Infocom games
Odyssey: The Complete Apventure
3 Scott Adams Adventures (didn't look to see which ones)

Makes me want to fire up the Apple IIc and see if they still work.
Post edited December 06, 2013 by tritone
Posted August 11, 2014
I suppose it's possible this might have been a very early IBM PC game, early-to-mid 80s? I recently saw some "Beagle Bros" products that I thought might have been the publisher for such a rectangle-based graphic presentation on the Apple.
Posted August 11, 2014
avatar
tritone: My first "real computer" was an Apple ][+. I had bought several games that were sold in ziploc baggies hanging from peghooks at my local ComputerLand. They also had a HUGE 3-ring notebook bursting at the seams full of stupid and bad old BASIC programs that mostly were typed in from magazine listings. But it gave you SOMETHING to play with!

Anyway, for years I've been trying to remember this one game I thought was really cool. It used a technique of overlapping rectangles to create the illusion of objects getting larger (when they get closer) or shrink when they move away. I seem to recall that the rectangles were all the same size, and they were probably "stacked" to represent a far-away object, but as the objects got closer, the overlapping rectangles would spread out to increase the overall size of the object. Very trippy. Today you would probably say this was an early attempt at voxel graphics (like the groundbreaking helicopter game Comanche Maximum Overkill), but I don't believe it was anywhere nearly that sophisticated. The "voxels" were probably 8x8 pixels each, solid color, and this was on an Apple ][ from probably 1980 or so.

This game I remember had spaceships, and when you got close enough, there were two "astronauts" inside you could see "talking" (moving their rectangle lips!) Does anyone remember this game? Maybe the astronauts were just part of the "intro" and the gameplay might have been something entirely different. Anyone recall?

I sold my Apple to buy an IBM PC back in 1982. I had a TON of stuff for the Apple... 2 floppy drives, Microsoft Z80 Softcard, Mountain Computer synthesizer, the Apple Pascal system, Fortran, and a buttload of games, most of them I can't remember! When I later got married, we bought my (schoolteacher) wife an Apple ][c (which I still have and it still works) but I'd sold most of the games when I got rid of the +. (sigh) The good old days, right?
That game was Hadron for the Apple II by Nasir Gebelli. It was one of the first games that had voice without requiring the use of a special sound card like a Soundblaster. When you booted it up, it said "hadron..hadron..hadron" and when you hit one of the squares with astronauts a voice said "ouch!" By today's standards it seems like nothing, but back then it was amazing to have a game with voice without needing to spend hundreds of dollars on a sound card. Another game like that was Plasmania by Sirius Software. It said "Sirius presents...Plasmania!" Also, the original Wolfenstein games (long before 3D) had voice. They were the very first to do so. The late Silas Warner was a pioneer, just like Nasir Gebelli.
Posted August 11, 2014
Bah, call me when [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eamon_(video_game)]Eamon[/url] shows up on GOG!
Posted August 12, 2014
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ZapMcRaygunn: That game was Hadron for the Apple II by Nasir Gebelli. It was one of the first games that had voice without requiring the use of a special sound card like a Soundblaster.
OMG, I think that's it! THANK YOU!

I've been trying to think of the name of this game for probably 20 years. The best YouTube video I could find was this one and unfortunately he never flies close enough to the astronauts to see their faces. But if this is the game I'm thinking of, you can fly right up to the ships. I believe at least one of the ships might have had two astronauts inside!

That really brings back memories. Looking at it now, it looks less like "voxels" than just rapidly resizing rectangles but the effect is still pretty amazing for a game this old.

"HADRON!"

UPDATE: whoa, I just found [url=http://www.elisoftware.com/media/05/a20791512cfc6f530014bb_l.jpg ]this image[/url] that clearly shows the ship with "Chet and Dave" the astronauts inside! That's EXACTLY the image I remembered. So cool, and thanks again, Zap!
Post edited August 12, 2014 by tritone
Posted March 25, 2015
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ZapMcRaygunn: That game was Hadron for the Apple II by Nasir Gebelli.
Zap, one of the most recent issues of RETRO GAMER magazine had a nice article about Sirius Software and Nasir Gebelli. Check it out if you can find the mag.
Posted March 26, 2015
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ZapMcRaygunn: That game was Hadron for the Apple II by Nasir Gebelli.
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tritone: Zap, one of the most recent issues of RETRO GAMER magazine had a nice article about Sirius Software and Nasir Gebelli. Check it out if you can find the mag.
Thanks, Tritone. I'll definitely look for that. Interestingly enough, after his Sirius Software days he ended up working with Squaresoft on the early Final Fantasy games.
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General discussionTrying to remember an old-time Apple ][+ game(9 posts)solved(9 posts)solved
(9 posts)solved