What is the Apple IIGS - Newsfeed

Sweet 16 Makes Progress

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0200

Eric Shepherd has been making very good progress on updating Sweet 16 for MacOS X - finally perhaps paving the way for user friendly IIGS emulation on a contemporary operating system.

However, it hasn't got the approval of Bernie ][ the Rescue's original authors, Henrik Gudat and André Horstmann, who are both MIA, and Sweet 16 cannot be released without their consent. Sweet 16 is based on the core of Bernie and couldn't exist without it. If you know how to reach Henrik or André, please let them know of the efforts Eric has made with Sweet 16 and his very generous offer of letting any potential proceeds of Sweet 16 go back to the original authors. Alternatively, you can also politely support Eric's work on Bernie's own forum.

The Lone Entry of 2005

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0200

Another year ticks over! Just a quick message to say that I'm still alive and kicking, although work on this archive isn't - but that's mainly because nobody has contributed anything in the last year!

Some worthwhile news: The Apple IIGS gets a write up in the UK mag Retro Gamer although the editor completely removed the interview with me and writer of the article Jason Walsh (note too that since originally writing this article, Retro Gamer is no longer published by Live Publishing). On the plus side, however, the magazine also includes features on games the Last Ninja and Dungeon Master and both articles make mention of the IIGS versions of each of these games - and include either screen shots or box imagery from the Fairway! Hopefully this will be a trend in future issues and the IIGS versions of games will appear alongside the more popular European systems.

Two New Archives

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 00:00:00 +0200

Hello again! That's right, the Fairway's back, bigger and better than ever before, now on a brand new server together with two new Apple IIGS archives!

French speaking IIGS users rejoice! I have included French language versions of the following games: The Bard's Tale, Defender of the Crown, Life & Death, Monte Carlo and Rocket Ranger.

I have also included some new memorabilia - promos for Destroyer, World Games and PBI's games.

You can continue to help out the Fairway with game box or archive submissions by uploading files via FTP:

whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za
username: apple2gs
password: apple2gs

(Please use the new submission system)

For convenience, I have also separated all previous News into their respective years.

Minor Updates

Mon, 23 Jul 2001 00:00:00 +0200

Some minor updates: I've added a pop up menu on the home page so you can quickly jump to your favourite Apple IIGS games! External links now open a new browser window and I've added a few things to the FAQ.

Old School Updates

Sun, 10 Jun 2001 00:00:00 +0200

Some updates! Dan Chisarick has sent in heaps of game box scans: California Games, Deja Vu 1 and 2, Hacker II, Omega, Test Drive 2 California Challenge and Supercars. Big thanks to Dan for all of these!

Olivier Goguel, ex-lead programmer for the Free Tools Association, has created a page dedicated to the memory of the FTA. The page is still under construction, but includes music from the Nucleus Demo of 1989, in MP3 or RealAudio format.

Incidentally, and I forgot to mention this with my last update all those months ago, Ninja Force's webpage features reviews and downloads of IIGS 'scene' demos, including demos created by Ninja Force themselves, the FTA, the GSA, the East Coast Connection and others.

The Fairway Version 2.0

Sun, 25 Feb 2001 00:00:00 +0200

Welcome to the Fairway v2.0! New in this update is a new user interface, large sized game box images, a pre-installed version of System 6 on a 4 meg 2image volume, character disks included with Bard's Tale 1 & 2, no broken links, re-proofed text, more promotional images and the inclusion of Easter Eggs for a few games.

Bernie ][ the Rescue v3.0 preview was released around Christmas. A nice present indeed, as its primary improvements have been made with games in mind - a new full screen mode and incredible improvements to sound.

In other news, Cinemaware has well and truely began work on their next generation of games. They're currently working on Wings for the Gameboy Advance, but their biggest game in development is Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown. I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing, in that this request isn't relevant to the IIGS, but if Mac users who would be interested in that game becoming available for the Mac, please visit Cinemaware's site and let them know it's not just PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox gamers that want Robin Hood: DOTC.

Minor Updates

Sat, 22 Jul 2000 00:00:00 +0200

New thumbnails for Manhunter New York, GBA Basketball, Impossible Mission 2, Superstar Ice Hockey (thanks David Graton) Life & Death and Aaargh! (thanks Gary Boettcher). There is an updated list of box scans I'm still after below. Also added is a newer version of Dungeon Master, thanks to Brendan Bellina, that includes a patched version which allows the user to save on the same disk as the application as well as letting you to play from System 6!

Ultima I Archive Removed

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 +0200

I have been asked to remove Ultima I from the Fairway as it is currently being prepared for re-release by Shareware Solutions II. I have done so.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but my academic commitments have priority over the Fairway. Just a nice little tidbit for you all: Mitch Spector sent me word that Cinemaware has been reborn! They aren't detailing plans for new games yet, but their rationale is the creation of games as equally enjoyable to what they had been creating since Defender of the Crown. Thanks for the news Mitch, although I'm over a month late in sharing it, it was certainly great to check out when I first got your email regarding Cinemaware's return!

Bernie v2.6 Released

Sun, 23 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0200

Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.6 has been released. Apart from even cooler integration between the Mac OS and GS/OS, mouse support has been improved, now allowing Teenage Queen to be played properly.

I was mailed by a couple of people mentioning that Le Manoir de Mortvielle is not a finished game, and therefore can't be played properly. I fixed a few links to different emulators on the Welcome page. Alessandro Bonzi has sent in a scan for the Immortal, a thumbnail of it now replacing the existing hack I made.

New Year Goodies

Sun, 02 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0200

Lots of little goodies for the new year. Brutal Deluxe programmer, Antoine Vignau, has written a crack for Gold Rush, so playing the game no longer requires the manual! Antoine has also sent in two unreleased games: Passengers on the Wind and Le Manoir de Mortvielle.

Nicolas Bergeret has sent in a scan for Full Metal Planete, which I believe is from the IIGS version, which was actually released in France. Nick should know, because he did the graphics for the IIGS version!

Chris Klimas has typed up the manual for Final Assault, the mountaineering game that's had me stumped on how to play it for years.

Lastly, KEGS, the Apple IIGS emulator for Unix, Linux and OS/2 has been updated to version 0.57.

3427 Unique Visitors!

Mon, 29 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Hard Code, owner of Inwards, has informed me that the Fairway has received 3427 unique visitors, which I'm very glad to say has surpassed my expectation of just how popular the Fairway is. Having said that however, I'm disappointed there haven't been over 3000 offers to submit scans of the remaining game boxes that are still on the wanted list ;-)

Some fun links for you all: Ninjaforce has opened their funky new page at, oddly enough, www.ninjaforce.com. Nice domain! Check out the latest screenshots of their up and coming IIGS game Kaboom!

Also, check out Aaron R. Willis' page devoted to the IIGS game War in Middle Earth.

ShrinkIt Archive Additions and other Udpdates

Wed, 03 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0200

The ShrinkIt! archive is now online! Owners of real Apple IIGS machines are now able to download each archive to use on their real equipment. It is recommended that when downloading the ShrinkIt! archives, that you force your browser to download to a file, by either selecting the command by the contextual menu that appears when the mouse button is held down or using the right mouse button. Alternatively, hold down the option key on the Mac and click on the link and for the PC, I believe it's shift.

There's a whole new bunch of updated thumbnail images: 4th & Inches, Jack Nicklaus Golf, Shanghai, Hunt for Red October, Tower of Myraglen (thanks Lachlan Arnott), Roadwar 2000, Mini Putt, Space Quest 1, Paperboy (thanks Michael Bradley), Monte Carlo (thanks Frank Bannon) and Qix (thanks to myself on that one).

Full Metal Planete Addition

Tue, 28 Sep 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added the virtually unheard of game, Full Metal Planete. Added better thumbnail images for Arkanoid II, Bubble Ghost, Dark Castle, Defender of the Crown, Final Assault, Jigsaw and Shadowgate. Thanks goes to John Balestrieri for all of these new scans. Subsequently, the wanted game box scan list has been updated. Keep em coming guys!

Bernie ][ the Rescue v2.5 and iGS Released

Wed, 22 Sep 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.5 has been released! The new version supports better integration between GS/OS and the Mac OS, i.e. you can now simply drag and drop files between the Mac and IIGS desktops. More importantly for gamers however, is that sound has been improved - no more low volume problems. Testing the new version myself, I have to report that it's absolute aural bliss now. There don't appear to be any incompatibility fixes for games however, apart from the exception that Mean 18 now takes key input every fourth second or so, but the sound improvement has been worth waiting for.

On the same day that the new version of Bernie has been released, Mac users were doubly blessed. A new version of XGS, for PowerPC and 68k Macs has been released. The new version is now called iGS, the 'i' standing for 'improved'. The program is a lot easier to use now, not to mention that it's useable at all; previous versions of XGS failed to run with MacOS 8.5 or higher. Get it from Michael Bytnar's XGS page.

Still no joy for Windows users wanting to emulate the IIGS. I haven't heard of XGS development becoming anyone's priority, nor do I know what happened to reports of a promising emulator called dApple. If anyone has information regarding IIGS emulators for Windows, contact me so the word can be spread to relieve the suffering of Windows users everywhere. In the meantime, they could always install BeOS and checkout Sweet 16!

The Fairway's New Home

Mon, 13 Sep 1999 00:00:00 +0200

As you may have noticed for the past two weeks, the Fairway has moved to its new home at Inwards. Thanks bigtime to Hard Code for hosting the archive on Inwards. Thanks also for helping sort out the early teething problems.

Server Issues and Updates

Wed, 25 Aug 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Sorry about the archive not being enabled over the weekend. Server problems beyond my control I'm afraid. Anyway, to compensate, I'm going to keep download access enabled from now until the archive moves to its new home in two to three weeks. Thanks to all those who offered alternatives for the Fairway relocation! In the meantime, enjoy the new archive additions: The Lost Tribe and Revolution 76. I've also included a new thumbnail graphic to John Elway's Quarterback (thanks to Steve McCartt) as well as updated its documentation. I've also updated the docs for WindWalker.

Archive Temporarily Disabled

Fri, 06 Aug 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Bad news I'm afraid. The archive has had to be temporarily disabled, with demand outweighing expectation, as downloads have exceeded a point where the connection for succeeding downloads must be paid extra for. Since I haven't paid for the connection thus far, the Fairway has been lucky up until this point. You can still view the web pages, but none of the links to archives are functioning.

I will sort something as soon as I can, but don't hold your breath for anything soon. I do apologise.

Minor Updates and...Crash Bandicoot?!?

Sat, 31 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added better thumbnail game boxes for Black Cauldron (thanks Paul Lunga), Man Hunter: New York (thanks Tyler Van Tighem), Roadwar 2000 and Battle Chess (thanks Willie Yeo). Finally got round to adding more of a plot description for Dungeon Master (thanks Nicholas Marx). Keep those best quality JPG, 300dpi, 1:1 scans of gameboxes coming in. I've updated the list below of what still remains to complete the archive.

Sorry for the recent lack of updates, I've been bogged down with Uni again since semester started three weeks ago, and I've also been addicted to Crash Bandicoot Warped, played under emulation on my G3. I haven't had so much fun with a new game in ages :-) For those that don't know, Crash Bandicoot is the brainchild of Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, former IIGS developers who created Dream Zone and Keef the Thief. Interestingly, I've found five secret levels, one of which is called Ski Crazed, which was their first ever game on the Apple II. They haven't forgotten their roots, and it's also evident at their site www.naughtydog.com.

Anyone willing and able to write a SoundSmith/MegaTracker plug-in for SoundJam? :-)

Minor Updates

Mon, 19 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added better thumbnail game box images for Dungeon Master, Neuromancer, Balance of Power, Questron 2 and Transylvania 3 thanks to Mary Sauer. Also added better thumbnails for Spirit of Excalibur and Gold of the Americas (from the Mac versions). Thanks goes to Willie Yeo for these, and I'd also just like to thank Willie for scans he has provided in the past. Finally, I've also added a better thumbnail for Serve and Volley, which was included with a mint condition ROM01 Apple IIGS - much thanks to Barbara Brook, for allowing me to clean out your cupboard!

Minor Updates

Sun, 11 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added ChessMaster 2100, Shanghai II, The Secrets of Bahras and the rare, unreleased game Project Neptune. Thanks to Ton for ChessMaster and Bahras and thanks goes to someone who now wishes to remain anonymous for Shanghai II and Project Neptune.

Minor Updates

Thu, 24 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added Mixed Up Mother Goose and Gold of the Americas. I've updated all links to external pages so that they won't appear in the right hand frame for the Fairway (I hate frames as much as everyone else. Really :-) Email me if the problem persists.

Minor Updates

Mon, 21 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added the difficult to find Spirit of Excalibur. I also added Future Shock 3D, which I believe is also an unreleased game. And for the hordes of IIGS emulating Bridge players, I've also included Artworx's Bridge 6.0. Much thanks goes to Dr Tom for Spirit of Excalibur, as well as a lot of other recent additions to the Fairway archive. Thanks also goes to Ton for Bridge 6.0. I've been recently receiving the same missing games from both Dr Tom and Ton only hours apart from each other. Thanks guys.

The very excellent guys at F.E. Systems (formerly Bright Software) have made their intense side scrolling shoot-em-up Space Fox available FREE for registered users of Bernie ][ the Rescue.

Minor Updates

Sat, 19 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Added Ancient Glory to the archive. Also added a good, totally working copy of Dream Zone on 2image! Much thanks goes to Ton for that. I've noticed different people have sent me copies of Roadwar 2000, or asked if I would like it and couldn't figure out why. To my embarassment, I've since checked if it was even listed in Role Playing Games, and it isn't! It's now fixed.

I've had a couple of requests to make links to sites where you can purchase remaining stock of Apple IIGS games. So, I've included relevant links to Wayne's Computer Store and Applied Engineering from the Fairway's game pages which have specific games in stock. It would probably be best for prospective buyers to contact each retailer before buying to find out about the condition of the packaging and inclusion of documentation of the games you might want to buy.

Minor Updates

Sat, 12 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0200

I've updated the link for the Bernie compatibility list (thanks Henrik) and the links to Huibert Aalbars IIGS homepage from the pages Laser Force and Jigsaw, which are devoted to his games. I've also replaced the Transylvania III game box with the real one.

Sarien URL

Fri, 11 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0200

Oops. Forgot to include the URL for the Sarien AGI Interpreter. I've also cleaned up some layout problems, which were effecting both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer separately. I've also included a date last updated at the welcome page, so you'll all know when to read the news.

Time for some News

Thu, 10 Jun 1999 00:00:00 +0200

It's time for some news. Thanks to everyone for the compliments since the page's public announcement during Easter. It's really made the site worthwhile. Just remember, I'm open to game, game box and game documentation submissions. Any IIGS commercial game you don't see here - I'll want!

Recent additions to the archive include Out of this World, Beyond Zork, Pick n Pile, Vegas Craps, World Tour Golf and Magic Johnson's Basketball.

The ShrinkIt version of the archive should be online in the near future. I'll keep you all informed.

I've been informed about a universal Sierra AGI Adventure gaming platform interpreter. IIGS users should swell with pride - the project is wanting to use the files from the IIGS versions of Sierra's AGI Adventure games because of their advanced sound and music, which none of the other versions had. For those that don't know, AGI was the platform with which Sierra created King's Quest 1 to 3 (and 4 on the IIGS) Space Quest 1 & 2, Leisure Suit Larry, Manhunter New York and San Francisco, Police Quest, Black Cauldron and Mixed Up Mother Goose. Because of this universal AGI interpreter project, the IIGS version of Manhunter San Francisco would be doubly appreciated, as it is currently not included in the archive.

The Site Officially Opens!

Thu, 11 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0200

The site opens! Please both enjoy and contribute to the Apple IIGS Gaming Memory Fairway to help make it one of the most comprehensive gaming archives available.

Welcome to version 3.0!

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

This has a been a long process, combining new graphic design, new archives and content, a content management system, a forum (which requires registration, which should reduce that damn spam!) a blog and probably heaps of other things I’ve forgot to mention because there’s so much that’s new.

I invite everyone to explore the site all over again, because you’re bound to find, for example, many more educational software archives, soundtracks to many games, a hand picked selection of the best freeware and shareware apps and games, a new hardware section AND a new section devoted to IIGS books and magazines.

There are many people to thank for the updated site. Firstly, thanks many times over to Rane Bowen. This guy is responsible for the content management system (Silverstripe, for those interested), finding ways of importing all the data I had accumulated and creating the HTML and CSS templates, based on my Photoshop mock-ups, to visually tie it all together.

Thanks also to Greg Wildman, who continues to support this site by hosting via his web server and also providing great support to ensure the site has the level of convenience it has now.

Also, there are a few people who’ve helped and prodded in the last couple of years since I decided to upgrade the site.

Thanks to Mitch Spector, equally fanatical about IIGS games as myself, for your enthusiasm for the IIGS, the wonderful game soundtrack recordings and expansion card scans.

Thanks also to the Aussie IRC crew, Andrew Roughan, David Wilson and Ewen Wannop (a wolf in sheep’s clothing!) for providing expansion card scans and keeping on the lookout for IIGS related packaging and book material and making scans when available. Robert Spitz has also been very helpful in this area as well. Henry Courbis at Reactive Micro also submitted hardware scans, specifically for the TranswarpGS and Vulcan Gold controller card.

Shaun Olson also deserves a pat on the back, for unwittingly testing the new upload system for the site, before I’d even made it public! Google is just getting too good at listing sites – just how many of you saw version 3.0 of the site before I announced it!? Also Shaun submitted many book cover scans – brilliant!

One last point: If when you load a page and you come across an error message like this:

'Security', 'db/$Action' => 'DatabaseAdmin', '$Controller/$Action/$ID/$

OtherID' => '*', 'images/$Action/$Class/$ID/$Field' => 'Image_Uploader', '' => 'RootURLController', 'sitemap.xml' => 'GoogleSitemap', )); Director::addRules(1, array( '$URLSegment/$Action/$ID/$OtherID' => 'ModelAsController', )); // Load error handlers Debug::loadErrorHandlers(); // Connect to database require_once("core/model/DB.php"); if(isset($_GET['debug_profile'])) Profiler::mark('DB::connect'); DB::connect($databaseConfig); if(isset($_GET['debug_profile'])) Profiler::unmark('DB::connect'); // Get the request URL $baseURL = dirname(dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'])); if(substr($url,0,strlen($baseURL)) == $baseURL) $url = substr($url,strlen($baseURL)); // Direct away - this is the "main" function, that hands control to the appropriate controller if(isset($_GET['debug_profile'])) Profiler::unmark('main.php init'); Director::direct($url); if(isset($_GET['debug_profile'])) { Profiler::unmark('all_execution'); Profiler::show(isset($_GET['profile_trace'])); } ?>'

don't worry about reporting it. We know it exists and we're hoping to fix it soon! In the meantime, simply hit the reload button until the page loads normally.

Enjoy the site!

Sweet 16 v2.0 Beta 17 is Released!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Good news everybody!

After first demonstrating the emulator at Kansasfest in July Eric 'Sheppy' Shepherd has now publicly released the latest beta version of Sweet 16 v2.0.

After playing with it for a couple of hours, it's a lot more stable than the previous beta running on my Dual 2.3Ghz G5. I've been throwing FTA demos at it and it's handled them with aplomb, except the Xmas Demo and its border effects. The volume sounds a little too loud, creating a little audible distortion, in a similar way to how Bernie would when you raise the volume slider built into its preferences. But it's a joy having all these demos run without a hiccup in small window as I perform lots of other tasks (such as writing this news entry).

This new version of Sweet 16 is major step forwards! Other features include joystick support (yes!) a new full screen mode and rudimentary TCP/IP support using Marinetti 3.0b1. Congrats to Sheppy!

Quick Updates

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Just a couple of quick updates: the RAM-GS card by Sequential Systems has been added to hardware and Mark Percival has kindly given permission to include all versions of Micol Advanced BASIC and its accompanying manual from his own site.

Updates to the Site

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200

The first batch of updates has arrived: Robert Spitz reminded me that I already had scans that he submitted for the CMS SCSI Card, the original Apple SCSI Card and the Apple SCSI Sandwich II Card. The RAM-GS scan is forthcoming Robert, trust me! :-)

Also, David Schmidt has sent in an image of his Applied Engineering RAM Keeper, with accompanying accoutrements.

We've been experiencing some teething problems since version 3.0 of the site launched last week, most notably randomly appearing error messages (we're still looking into that) and problems with download .zip files appearing to be corrupt. The problem seems only to happen to those of you using Internet Explorer 6 and 7 to download your IIGS goodies. A quick and easy solution would be to use Firefox 3 or even Safari for Windows instead. If you'd prefer to continue using Internet Explorer to visit this site, this Microsoft Help article might fix the problem:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308090

In short, try this:

For case 1:

Before you download, make sure that the Confirm open after download option is selected. To verify this:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click Folder Options.

3. Click the File Types tab.

4. Scroll down to and click the .zip extension.

5. Click Advanced.

6. Verify that Confirm open after download is selected.

For case 2:

1. Click the hyperlink, and then click Save or Save this file to disk in the File Download dialog box that appears.

2. In the Save As dialog box, specify a location to save the file to (for example, Desktop), and then click Save.

3. When the download is finished, open the .zip file, and then extract the files that are contained in it.

Utility Updates and Orbizone Goodies

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Greetings Programs!

First of all, I need to note that Tony Costa should have been thanked at the time of relaunching the site. He provided innumerable scans of packaging such as the elusive Cryllan Mission, Secrets of Bahras and Kaleidokubes as well as many more scans for apps, books and educational software that made version 3.0 more than just a face lift.

This weekly update includes, amongst other things, updates to the Apps/Utilities section including packaging scans of The Graphic Exchange, Foundation and Six Pack all courtesy of Andrew Roughan. Additionally, a new archive has been created for GS Font Editor when David Wilson submitted a scan of the box, I realised I hadn't included it on the site!

Another omission I made was to neglect including a disk image archive for Visualizer. I have since added a 2image for version 1.08.

For those with more of a trigger finger, you can now enjoy more scenery as you blast everything in sight. Wade Clarke has submitted his own level graphics for the classic Pangea Asteroids clone Orbizone. I'm delighted to report I have egg on my face when I replied to Wade by saying that not many people took advantage of being able to include your own graphics and levels to Pangea's games, because coincidentally, I have found many more graphics and levels for Orbizone rummaging through mirrors.apple2.org.za.

Also, I have included a little detail to some of the most elusive of unreleased games for the IIGS, with what little knowledge we have about those games.

Last but not least, I've correctly changed the release status of Balance of Power to 'Reclassified Freeware' as the designer, Chris Crawford, has made every version available for free.

Happy Birthday Apple IIGS!

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0200

On this day in 1986, the Apple IIGS was first released. But good luck trying to get one: supply of the machines dribbled slowly into the market and most of the Apple faithful had to wait months to procure a IIGS for their very own.

22 hardly being a milestone year, there are only very modest updates to include: Thanks to Andrew Roughan and David Wilson, who both provided scans, the Programmer's Reference for System 6.0 has been added to the Publications/Books section. And more rummaging through mirrors.apple2.org.za revealed that GSNumerics has been reclassified as freeware, so I have made it so on the site.

Also, if any of you tried the RSS feeds for both News and the Blog and had trouble, well, the RSS feeds are now working properly.

New Game surfaces: Subversion

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0200

George Rentovich has let me know a couple of times via email that 'What is the Apple IIGS?' has always been missing the game 'Subversion', a title I had never heard of. However George has been unable to find his bought copy of the game, but my own personal scouring of the Apple II mirrors has actually revealed a working, cracked version of Subversion! The game itself is a turned based submarine strategy game wrapped in a very System 6 friendly application and written by former IIGS stalwart Jason Harper. To dish out death from below from the comfort of your mouse, go to the Subversion archive.

Brian Greenstone Interview

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0200

John from the Retro Mac Cast let me know of their interview with Brian Greenstone (who basically is Pangea Software) in their 91st episode to talk about the games he's done over the last 21 years, including Xenocide and Senseless Violence (Brian needs to know that many more people appreciate his IIGS efforts than he realises!). Additionally, John has also provided a PDF version of the Xenocide manual, so that's included now with the Xenocide archive.

Everything Old (well, a couple of things) is New Again

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Two Apple IIGS classics have recently been re-released for the 21^st century.

Hyper Studio 5 has been released for Mac OS X, jointly developed by Roger Wagner and Software Mac Kiev. The hypermedia authoring application is still a favourite with schools and they've been crying out for a Mac OS X version of the program for years. The update also includes a player for playing legacy Hyperstudio stacks, but that only includes stacks made with Mac Hyperstudio version 3.0 onwards. Software Mac Kiev also maintains other classics that were available for the IIGS - the Print Shop and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for Mac OS X.

First reported by Touch Arcade, for gamers out for a bit of nostalgia on the go, Crystal Quest, that venerable shoot-em-up released for the IIGS back in 1989 is now available for the iPhone. The wonderfully idiosyncratic sound effects have been retained along with original gameplay in the ‘Classic' mode of the game. But there is also a new ‘Modern' mode with equally zany sound effects and updated graphics.

InCider, II Alive and A+ Cover Collection Complete!

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0200

I'm very happy to announce that all three collections of InCider, II Alive and A+ are now complete in relation to their cover scans.

Thanks to Wayne Bibbens at Wayne's Computer Store, I managed to procure these last remaining issues to plug the holes in my almost complete collection, but only after overcoming email problems, researching best postage methods and working around the sliding value of the Australian dollar to the greenback. Thanks for bearing with me Wayne!

The volumes in question are:

InCider Magazine - December 1986
A+ Magazine - January 1987
II Alive Volume 1, Number 1 March April 1993

I also bought the April 1993 issue of InCider/A+, which reduces the number of cover scans for that collection to 2 only!

Also, to complete the InCider collection, I added the January 1989 issue, which has been in my collection for some time, but posed a bit of a problem in regards to retouching: let's just say it wasn't in mint condition! It's come up pretty nice after applying my Photoshop retouching techniques, don't you think?

Now, this is the part where I ask you to beg, borrow or steal copies of the remaining InCider/A+ (Issues March and May 1993), Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide (Fall and Winter 1987; Spring, Summer and Winter 1988) and GS+ (Issues Volume 1, Issue 1 to Issue 6; Volume 2 Issues 1 and 2) magazines. If you don't have the necessary hardware to scan in these magazines beg, borrow or steal that too!

Subversion and Hoverblade Scans

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Delving deep into the boxes of my Apple IIGS collection in my parents' attic, I found my original Hover Blade manual and have scanned its cover as a 1-bit TIF, as this is the only image used for its packaging (it originally shipped with a photocopied manual and two disks). I wasn't able to find my old, trusty Hyperstudio digitising card as I was hoping, but perhaps someone else might be able to help out there? ;-)

George Rentovich has found his original copy of Subversion and submitted a scan for its box, which I have included with the Subversion archive.

Also, don't miss my review of the CFFA card. I've included a tonne of goodies to go with it - specifically, 32meg 2images which include every hard drive installable game and educational programs as well as most applications which you can quickly transfer to your compact flash cards for use with your real IIGS hardware, for those that require strict verisimilitude to their nostalgic sessions that emulators can't provide.

eBay Action...in Australia?

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Newsworthy for this site at least, eBay Australia was a flurry of activity this past week. An Apple IIGS with 1.25meg of RAM, an Apple High Speed SCSI card, SCSI hard drive and two 3.5" floppy drives sold for $901.00 (Aus) to the highest bidder. This is a high price indeed and just goes to show how these vintage Apples are actually going up in value.

Then another Apple IIGS appeared a couple of days later, also from a seller living in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. This particular IIGS included little other than its total RAM of 512k and two 3.5" floppy drives, but it was a Woz model which was cosmetically in good shape. Better still, it included all the original packaging that was also in good shape.

What the hell, I'll take a plunge, take advantage of being able to pick up without paying postage and bid with what I successfully bid on a IIGS loaded with a ZipGSX, 4 meg of RAM and a Vulcan hard drive back in 2003.

Proving again that the value of the IIGS is actually on the increase, I was outdone for my bid of $256. But only by $5!

Congratulations to the recipients of these IIGS. I hope you'll be able to make full use of this site to fully explore the potential of this unique vintage Apple machine.

32 Meg ProDOS Partition Updates

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Hi all! I've done a little housekeeping with the 32 meg ProDOS partitions:

I added a few useful conversion utilities to SoundSmith, as well as its full documentation. I also added the wonderful Audio Zap v2.0 for all your audio editing needs. Both updates can be found on the Audio and Utilities 2image.

I've also been marking folders red for the programs that are refusing to run from System 6.0.1. Keep that feedback coming in and I will continue to maintain a clearer picture of which programs are working from the hard drive.

I have removed all ampersand characters from the 2image filenames and have re-zipped each partition using Stuffit with maximum compression setting used in the hope this may correct some of the issues some people were experiencing. I still recommend you use Firefox or Safari to download any of the 2images on this site.

If you're still having problems using the 32 meg partitions with emulators or getting them onto a compact flash card via CiderPress, please add your experiences to the comments on the CFFA Review. I know that converting those 2images to Raw format has enabled their correct use with KEGS v0.91.

Additionally, I've collated a list of all the games that currently can't be run from a hard drive:

Aaargh!

Bubble Ghost

Gauntlet

Great Western Shootout

King of Chicago

Impossible Mission

Paper Boy

Rocket Ranger

Dream Zone

Destroyer

Grand Prix Circuit

Hostage

Hunt for Red October

Pirates!

Silent Service

Test Drive II

Tomahawk

Blackjack Academy

Bridge

4th and Inches

GBA Basketball

Hardball

Serve and Volley

Skate or Die

Street Sports Soccer

Superstar Ice Hockey

Winter Games

World Games

If you can remember having a hard drive installable version for any of these games (and there are detailed cracks listed here and there, but my sector editing skills are not up to the task) look it up and submit it so it can be included on these 32 meg volumes.

Making KEGS-OSX Easier to Use...by a Comic Book Hero?

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Paul Laroquad recently got in touch and let me know about version 0.4 of his KEGS Slot Droppers for Mac OS X. 'Tha what?!' you're probably thinking. Well, the KEGS Slot Droppers make it easy as dragging and dropping a disk image onto each dropper and then KEGS will start up automatically to boot from whatever has been dropped. This is especially useful for the KEGS-OSX build, as despite that it's more optimised, it still requires you to manually key the location of the disk images(s) you want KEGS to see.

Paul's also created an amazingly illustrated comic, with himself as the 'hero', that's easily appreciated by Apple II fans. Bizarre, but another wonderful example of the Apple II entering into the contemporary art space again.

Christmas Bonanza!

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Happy Holidays everyone!

I've assembled a fairly big update to the hardware section. Thanks to Ewen Wannop, the archive now holds a scan of the Applied Engineering DataLink 2400 internal modem. Thanks also to Henry Courbis of Reactive Micro for scans of the MicroDrive IDE, MicroDrive IDE Turbo and the GS-RAM Ultra. Last but not least, many thanks to Collin Douglas for contributing a scan of the uber rare Future Pad board, for use with the Futureshock 3D game. Never thought I'd live to see the day for that one! As told to Collin by its developer Jeff E Johnson, ‘it uses variable capacitance to sense how high you hold your hand over the pad.' It plugged into the joystick port on the IIGS.

Additionally, I've included downloadable manuals for Applied Engineering's Vulcan, Sonic Blaster, GS-RAM III, PC Transporter and the RAM Keeper along with manuals for the FingerPrint GSi, Sirius RAM, and the ZipGSX accelerator. These wonderful manuals were created by Wayne Stewart, who has made the best with what the PDF format can offer: all the text is searchable and even the chapters on the contents pages are linked to their relevant pages in each manual. To boot, the PDFs actually contain text instead of bitmap scans of each page, resulting in very small file sizes. If anyone can let me know how to reach Wayne and thank him for his efforts, please let me know.

The icing on the cake for my Christmas, Brian Wiser has scanned his available issues of the Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide, filling out most of the gaps in the archive's collection.

And as Michael Stephens has reminded us on comp.sys.apple2, you can spread some Christmas cheer on your IIGS with his Christmas Demo; ready to go in both 2image and ShrinkIt archive!

I'll be travelling to England, France and Italy throughout January, but I hope to check my emails as often as I can, but expect longer response times.

Merry Christmas everyone!