[ Fuzzy Memory ] The Unknown Apple Adventures
October 25th, 2008 by Benj Edwards
It’s been a while since we’ve had a Fuzzy Memory mysery to solve, but I recently received another request from someone seeking resolution of their distant gaming recollections. I’m not an oracle of infinite knowledge, so like always, I need the adept VC&G readership to help solve the mystery.
Adventures 7, 8, and 9?
Ryan wrote me a few days ago regarding a computer game from his past:
Many years ago my dad brought home a 5¼” floppy with the mysterious label “Adventures 7, 8, & 9” for our Apple IIGS. One side of the disk contained three text-based games. One took place in a carnival setting, one in the “old west,” and the other in an Egyptian pyramid.
My memories are very fuzzy, but I remember the gist of each adventure. For the carnival setting, one of the tasks that you had to do was chew some old gum, stick it on the end of a branch, and retrieve a key that was in a grate. In the old west setting, there were materials available to make gunpowder. There was also a horse called “Old Paint” that always bucked you off. The strangest thing about that one was that it got “dark” after several turns of play, and if you moved around in the dark at all, you had a very good chance of breaking your neck and the game would end.
Finally, all I remember about the pyramid setting was that there was some kind of strange portal you had to open – kind of an alien/pyramid weird combo theme thing. In any case, all three of these games were the classic “Go West,” “Get Key,” “Open Door” format and were very difficult for me at the time (of course, I was about 8 at the time, so I’d love to try my hand at them again if I just knew what they were).
The only other detail I can remember is that the reverse side of the disk had a “Planetoids” non-playable demo on it. I’m pretty certain the text-based game was developed for something before the Apple IIGS, but I’m just not sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated so I can solve this lifelong mystery!
Thanks very much in advance,
Ryan
His memories are quite detailed, which should be helpful. Also, the “Planetoids” clue is key — if that was a more high-profile Apple II game, then it should be easy to find its publisher. And the publisher of Planetoids was likely the publisher of the adventure games. I’ll let you guys do the rest.
The Search Begins
So what do you guys think? We need your help in identifying the game described above. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment on this post. The game is afoot!
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Have a memory of a computer, video game, computer software, or electronic toy you need help identifying? Send me an email describing your memories in detail. Hopefully, the collective genius of the VC&G readership can help solve your mystery.
October 25th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
These were Adventureland games 7, 8, and 9: Mystery Fun House, Pyramid of Doom, and Ghost Town, by Scott Adams (not the same as the Dilbert artist). They are playable after a fashion at http://www.astoundme.com/scottadams/ .
October 26th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hmm.. next time I need to make sure that whatever I post is actually a challenge to figure out. 🙂 I haven’t heard from Ryan yet, but hopefully he’ll post a comment telling us you’re right, Gregory.
October 26th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
A second voice to confirm Gregory Weir. They were definitely Adventureland games by Scott Adams. I’ve played and beaten all three of those games, although my experience was on the TI 99/4A. The description was very specific.
If that emulator is the one I tried earlier, it really misses some of the important system calls, and doesn’t really do the games justice. In fact, some of the games are broken and unplayable; I believe they depend on timing that doesn’t work any more.
October 26th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I just ran across my old Scott Adams archives. If you want a modern Adventure International interpreter for Windows, there’s a good one here:
http://www.heinpragt.com/advent/advent.php
Also, on that page, you can download Scott Adams’ first 14 adventure games, including games 7, 8, and 9.
October 26th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Wow! You guys were exactly right. I’d been Googling “Adventures 7 8 9” in various forms off and on for years without hitting on something, just because I couldn’t recall the name Scott Adams. I really appreciate the help – except now I’m going to be wasting countless hours catching up on my past!
November 4th, 2008 at 2:45 am
I played these games on an old teletype in our school library, sometime around 1978 or so. I got into trouble for using so much paper and was banned for a while, as I would sit and play for hours! The teletype had an old coupler modem that would dial into a mainframe somewhere. It’s been 30 years, so I forget where. I remember entering commands and having to wait up to 30 seconds for a response! But they were fun nevertheless.
November 6th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
You can still get the Scott Adams Adventures at Adventure International’s Web site
http://www.msadams.com/index.htm
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–Mike
On the Way to the Web