Name This TI-99 Game Please

[Jorpho]

Pardon me if this is the wrong forum for this kind of thing. I just thought that before I spent hours searching through 99er.net, I ought to ask here...

There's an strange TI-99/4a game I played once. As well as I can remember, it was some kind of puzzle/platform game. Each level took up only one screen, and required you to move from the left side to the right side past a variety of unusual obstacles.

Some levels featured trapdoors or jumping through hoops. Another level featured a cow jumping over the moon. A very difficult level had an arrow moving back and forth at the top of the screen that would kill you if you walked underneath it.

Any ideas? Please?
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[RucasRiot]

I have DEFINATELY played that game before but I can't remember what its name is either! It sure was fun though. I'll see if I can't find it soon.

[Jorpho]

Well, at least I wasn't hallucinating, then. Something tells me there's no ROM image of this one out there.
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[Jorpho]

I'm just going to try bumping this one more time; I remain curious.
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[Jorpho]

And to this day, the hunt continues.

[Jorpho]

What say I bump this again, for old time's sake?

[evg2000]

Don't know what game you are talking about, but I have pics for over 200 TI games that you can take a look at:
http://evg2000.com/html/TI-99_4A.htm

later,
Charles

[Jorpho]

Impressive...

I want to say Mind Challengers, but there aren't really enough pics.

[Buyatari]

Wasn't Slymoids huh?

[Jorpho]

Nah, wacky cowboys in front of a sailboat is pretty distinctive. The game I'm thinking of was much more abstract.

[Jorpho]

Sometimes I wonder if the only way I'm ever going to find this game is if I manage to find some excuse to look in the basement of those neighbours who owned it twenty years ago.

[willowmoon93]

Hello ... was wondering if you remember if this game was in a cartridge or was it either cassette or disk based?

[Jorpho]

I am at least 90% sure that it was a cartridge.

[Jorpho]

Time to bump this again.

[digitalpress]

I've got a pretty extensive TI cartridge collection, though I suppose you could play all of these games via emulator if you REALLY wanted to slog through it. It sounds vaguely familiar but I'm not getting a title in mind either. Let me try a few more questions that might jog your memory and/or help find this.

1. You're pretty sure it was on cartridge. Do you remember any other cartridge games you may have played at about the same time? If not, how about ever?

2. Did you own any other media devices? Cassette? Disk?

3. Were you an "early adopter" or "after the crash" guy, or somewhere inbetween with TI stuff?

May seem unscientific. Abandon that thought. My methods are quite effective.

[Jorpho]

1. You're pretty sure it was on cartridge. Do you remember any other cartridge games you may have played at about the same time? If not, how about ever?

Definitely Centipede, MASH, and some variety of Car Wars. Maybe (just maybe) Parsec.

EDIT: And Star Trek. Definitely Star Trek. (Looking through this list (http://chung.yikes.com/~leonard/mirrors/ti99/ticarts.html), I wonder if it could be "Video Games I" ?)


2. Did you own any other media devices? Cassette? Disk?

It wasn't my TI-99, and as I was too young to pay attention to such things, I have no idea.


3. Were you an "early adopter" or "after the crash" guy, or somewhere inbetween with TI stuff?

See above. This was around 1986, maybe a little earlier.

[digitalpress]

Every little bit of information helps. The games you were playing were really common so it's a little less likely that your game is a rare one, though I wouldn't rule it out, either. And since you were playing in 1986, that means ALL of the TI library is possible.

It doesn't sound like Video Games I, which has a doodle program, a pinbal-style game, and another even less memorable game.

It DOES sound a lot like Miner 2049'er, but some of the elements you're describing I've never seen. It could also be Junkman Jr which was a Jumpman-style game.

Many of the games in our database have pictures, which might just nail it for you.
http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/listing.cmf?system=2376

Do you have access to an emulator

[Steve W]

http://www.videogamehouse.net/

Check out Toucan's page and see if it stirs any memories. He has a decent amount of games on his list, along with a few third-party releases that might be more off the beaten path.

[Jorpho]

Do you have access to an emulator

Well, sort of. I gave up on trying to look through ROMs a long time ago when I found out so much of the TI-99 library was seemingly unavailable. (There's quite a few ROMs listed in the TOSEC database, but oddly enough I've never found that particular segment of the TOSEC database available for download.)

I'm pretty sure it's not Junkman Junior or Miner 2049'er.

[Jorpho]

http://www.videogamehouse.net/

Check out Toucan's page and see if it stirs any memories. He has a decent amount of games on his list, along with a few third-party releases that might be more off the beaten path.

I looked through there once a long time ago. It does remind me that I also played Q-Bert - it was quite impressive compared to the Coleco version, what with the actual eyeballs for Q-Bert (rather than empty black circles which seemed to penetrate his head) and the fully-rendered Slick and Sam sprites. Moon Patrol was thoroughly awesome too.

Mind Challengers was in there too, though of course it didn't make any sense to me.


Many of the games in our database have pictures, which might just nail it for you.
http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/listing.cmf?system=2376

Actually, as far as the TI-99 games go, most of the games do not have pictures.

[Jorpho]

I thought for a moment there that we were getting somewhere. :(

[digitalpress]

Actually, as far as the TI-99 games go, most of the games do not have pictures.

Jeez, dude. Don't thank me for trying or anything. I spent many hours getting screen shots for TI games. Here's another link with JUST the photos, outside of the database:

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/ti994a/

Sorry to be so inadequate.


I thought for a moment there that we were getting somewhere. :(

Sorry, I've owned a TI from "pre-crash" to present and own just about every TI cartridge and nothing quite "fits" your description. I'll put more screen shots up for you but the pictures missing from the online guide do not match your game either. Maybe you played a game that's a true rarity, that no one knows about yet!

[Jorpho]

Jeez, dude. Don't thank me for trying or anything. I spent many hours getting screen shots for TI games. Here's another link with JUST the photos, outside of the database:

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/ti994a/

Sorry to be so inadequate.

Oops. I guess I somehow missed most of the ones that have pictures.

(FWIW, for some reason the Germ Wars (http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/ti994a/germpatrol1.png) pic isn't in there (http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=9160).)

[Terminusvitae]

Awww, c'mon, you two. Searches like this can be excruciatingly frustrating, both for the person looking for the answer and the people who lend a hand. Sometimes it simmers a little too hotly, but we're all friends here, right? Well, most of us. ;)

[Jorpho]

But of course. I do not at all mean to disparage.

[Keir]

It could also be Junkman Jr which was a Jumpman-style game.Junkman Jr actually has all the same levels as Jumpman Jr, so it can't be that. No cow or anything like that in there.

Sounds like an interesting game you're looking for though. I'm betting it was a cassette game. How old were you in 1986 when you played it?

[Jorpho]

Let's say "less than 10". Mind you, I didn't actually play it, I just watched people play it. That's how young I was.

Did I mention one of the levels seemed to have a strong circus theme?

Junkman Jr was one of the games I tried on an emulator long ago; it really is quite inferior to the C64 Jumpman - not just in the severe lack of color, but also in its poor play control.

[Jorpho]

Yearly bump. Someday, perhaps, I will finally know.

[Reef-Hunter]

http://www.videogamehouse.net/gamemain.html

this is the most complete cartridge page in existence. There are pics of the title screens, retail boxes, and short gif videos of gameplay for each game. :)

[Jorpho]

this is the most complete cartridge page in existence.Really? The list of modules on your site (http://www.hexbus.com/TI-99_4A_Home_Computer_Page/The_TI-99_4A_Home_Computer_Page.html) seems to be much more extensive - though of course it lacks the screenshots.

[Reef-Hunter]

My site, Opry99er.com, does not have a list of modules, as far as I know. :). It is mainly a programmer's site... My videos are all geared towards programming and hardware modifications, and I have a development blog for my own games, but no module list. I have tutorial videos on my YouTube channel as well for modifying disk drives, programming in TI BASIC and TI Extended BASIC, and a few on other TI related matters.... I might make a video for this thread.... "The mystery of the unknown TI Game". I beg we could get an answer from the boys in the Yahoo! TI User group....

[Jorpho]

Oops, sorry, I thought you were the other new poster who just made that other thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140240) to which I linked this one. But regardless, while it is extensive, I fear that list at videogamehouse seems to be far from complete.

Not sure if this thread is particularly video-worthy. ;)

[dbiersdorf]

I don't understand, if after all this time, why haven't you just tried playing all the games via an emulator?

[Jorpho]

I don't understand, if after all this time, why haven't you just tried playing all the games via an emulator?For starters, it's pretty difficult to find a complete archive of TI-99/4A ROMs. (There is a TOSEC database, but I've never actually found the archive - just the database entries.)

Secondly, the existing TI-99/4A emulators aren't particularly user-friendly, last time I looked.

And thirdly, that would take an awful lot of time that I could use to do other things.

[Steve W]

Was it a cartridge necessarily? I was a 99'er, and I had a whole lot of cassette programs (and later floppies) back in the day. Could it have been something as simple as a type-in game, and that's why you can't find any released game info about it?

[Jorpho]

It's not out of the question, but I'm pretty sure it was a cartridge game. Seemed a bit too complex for a type-in, at least.

[Reef-Hunter]

Classic99 is VERY user friendly. It comes pre-loaded with many ROMs of games and utilities (Extended BASIC, Editor Assembler, etc.). It can be downloaded for free at theharmlesslion.com. You can get to the site through my links page in Opry99er.com. It is the best emulator available, PERIOD, and I do the majority of my programming on Classic99.

Just as a side-note, there were many many user-designed games built in the Editor Assembler environment.... Which can be put in cartridge form. They are in many many cases much more advanced and polished than ANY TI built cartridge game of the time.

[Steve W]

Just as a side-note, there were many many user-designed games built in the Editor Assembler environment.... Which can be put in cartridge form. They are in many many cases much more advanced and polished than ANY TI built cartridge game of the time.
That's the truth. I used to get software from Tigercub P.D. back in the day, and there were a heap of really astonishingly good games mixed in there. Way better than most of the games that came out on cartridge.

Jorpho, did the owner of the TI have a floppy disk drive?

[Jorpho]

Classic99 is VERY user friendly.I've heard of that one. I'll take your word for it...


You started this thread over 7 YEARS ago.

I mean, seriously?...But the lack of a source for ROMs is a much bigger problem than playing them.


Jorpho, did the owner of the TI have a floppy disk drive?It's possible, but all the other games I recall were definitely on cartridges (and are much more readily identifiable), so it seems unlikely that this one would be an exception.

[dbiersdorf]

You started this thread over 7 YEARS ago.

I mean, seriously?

Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. I feel like if you tried hard enough you could easily find this in a week.

[Steve W]

Looking over the list of released games, I can't think of any that have a cow jumping over the moon. The closest I can think of is the conversion of Popeye, with the big moon in the background. I've never played it, so I don't know if there's a cow jumping over it at some point.
http://www.videogamehouse.net/popeye.html


Of course, it could have been an educational game and you were too young to know the difference...

[Jorpho]

Nine feckin' years, and I think I might, finally, have it.

I downloaded a torrent of TI994A games a while ago but never bothered looking through them. While searching my hard drive for a copy of Cave Story just now, I happened to notice there was a game called "Old Dark Caves 2" that I didn't remember seeing in any of my browsing before.

So I Googled <"dark caves" ti994a>, which brought me to http://tigameshelf.net/xb.htm – AND THERE IT WAS.

http://tigameshelf.net/Images/VOID1.GIFhttp://tigameshelf.net/Images/VOID2.GIF

Void, by Gregory Kean
This is a somewhat surreal game with a science fiction feel where you are trying to move from one level to another by jumping over moving obstacles that will kill you on contact and activating the doorway to the next level. Requires precise hand eye coordination and cool nerves. Very original presentation and addictive albeit difficult gameplay.
An extended BASIC game, "recently rediscovered" as of September 2009, according to http://www.retroclouds.de/#post8 . (That would explain why no such game is, in fact, in that archive I downloaded.)

The mystery, it seems, is solved at last! Now I just have to figure out how to get it going, and then be immensely disappointed.

[aryoshi]

I was reading over this and I just thought I'd quickly say congratulations on possibly concluding your quest! Long time to find a game, it's amazing how hard it can be to find something like this isn't it? Just goes to show how vast and diverse the universe of gaming really is.

[Steve W]

Now I just have to figure out how to get it going, and then be immensely disappointed.

Yeah, pretty much. Extended BASIC did speed things up a bit, but it'll still play pretty slow considering what you're accustomed to. But still, it's got to be pretty satisfying to finally solve that mystery. Kudos!