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Thread: Apple ii 2 // mania

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) ianoid's Avatar
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    Default Apple ii 2 // mania

    We're in transition so my collection is in storage. Somehow I decided I have enough desk space for a classic computer setup. After a botched attempt at a C64 set because the disk software is pretty easy to find, having lost interest after buying a dead drive, I decided that the most efficient use of space was an Apple //c setup with the little monochrome green monitor. C64 is usually the easiest and cheapest way because the drives need less adjustment typically, compared to Atari 8-bit drives.

    Managed to get a setup working, although I found out my Apple (//e //c) joystick had a non-working button. Opened it up and now it doesn't work at all. I think I need my soldering iron and some pix to figure out where that loose wire inside goes.

    I can't believe how psyched I am to have this up and running. I spent countless hours playing mostly pirated Apple 2 stuff when I was in jr. high and high school. I even wrote a very short program to test my joystick buttons.

    I NEED a working joystick because I've found that most programs surprisingly require it. If anyone has one to sell me or trade to me, I'll be very appreciative.

    Anyway, here are some points of wisdom or whatever:

    Try not to open up your Apple II joystick, it isn't as easy to fix as an Atari joystick.

    Use a high quality shielded RF cable, preferably with a ferrite core or else you will get a lot of interference.

    Apple //c power supplies are not very easy to come by and might cost you as much as a computer.

    Apple //c+ computers are the ones with the built in 3.5" drive. They are a lot more valuable.

    Even mildly warped discs might work. Even perfect looking discs might not.

    Wizardry requires 2 disc drives. Can anyone confirm this?


    ---

    I can't find the 'best' Apple 2 forums. Any suggestions? If you search for classic video game stuff on google you get DP posts, and sometimes Atari Age for that. Where should I be hanging out for Apple //?

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    I don't know if there are forums, but have you tried one of the user groups?

    http://a2central.com/

    A lot of these websites do look like they're updated and contain decent info, but they've been done so by someone who hasn't moved past 1998 in terms of HTML and web standards...they're even in a Web Ring (when's the last time you saw one of those?)

    http://www.a2-web.com/index.html

    There are also a few blogs out there, from the looks of things. My guess would be that you should contact one of those vendors or blog owners and ask them where the action is.
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    Wizardry definitely doesn't require two disk drives.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Raging Prawn View Post
    Wizardry definitely doesn't require two disk drives.
    Dangit, my copy asks me to create a user disc using two drives. I wonder if it's a version thing or a //c thing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ianoid View Post
    Dangit, my copy asks me to create a user disc using two drives. I wonder if it's a version thing or a //c thing.
    That is weird, it should detect that you only have one disk drive and respond accordingly. I'd test this myself, but I have two disk drives and can't disconnect one (disk duo).

    The problem with //c+'s is that almost no Apple II software was released on 3.5" disks. I think about 5 games were made on 3.5" disks (all with a 5.25" version available) and about 5 or 6 more modified by fans to make them work on 3.5" disks. The extra speed is also fairly worthless in this day and age because it was mainly for productivity apps which are no longer useful (the extra speed screws with most games unless you like a serious challenge). I don't know why they're worth so much other than they're fairly rare.

    The //c is a nice compact system, but I still think the IIe is the way to go for pure game playing.
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    Strawberry (Level 2) cityside75's Avatar
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    Interesting timing on this thread, as I'm in a similar situation. I happened upon an Apple IIGS at my local goodwill a couple months back, but it was missing some pieces and came with no software. As luck would have it, a couple weeks later I found a guy on Craigslist unloading huge boxes of Apple II software for practically free. When I went to see the software, he also threw in all of the pieces needed to complete my system (this guy has MOUNTAINS of 8 bit computer "stuff" in his basement). In addition, I've since purchased a few other items from him that seem to be worth far more on ebay than he's charging me, including a SCSI card so that I can eventually hook a hard drive/zip disk/etc to the system. I now have a complete IIGS system, including two disk drives and monitor, a joystick and tons of software to go through (much of it is educational/business/public domain software but there are plenty of games too). I also have a cable on order that will allow me connect the IIGS to one of my PC's here and use ADT pro to download and save to disk anything I can find on the internet. I understand there is a repository called Asimov that contains nearly all Apple software ever produced. Like you, I've been in geek heaven reliving my school days playing games on the Apple already, and with this functionality it's just going to get even better.

    Anyway, in answer to one of your questions I've been relying on http://www.applefritter.com for most of my information and have found them very helpful and useful.

    I see you're in Illinois, I'm in the Chicagoloand area - If you are looking for any particular software (especially educational or business software) let me know here or via PM. Like I said, I have about 6 big boxes of software I've yet to go through and would be happy to take a look. I'm going to need to move a lot of it out eventually so the wife doesn't have a meltdown .
    Last edited by cityside75; 02-16-2012 at 02:08 PM.

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    If you ever get it to work don't forget to try this:

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    Quote Originally Posted by ianoid View Post
    Dangit, my copy asks me to create a user disc using two drives. I wonder if it's a version thing or a //c thing.
    Maybe the game was released in two different versions?

    I remember in one of the ol' elementary school computer labs, the one or two computers with two disk drives were strongly sought after as they were the only ones that could play MECC's "Spellevator". I was quite surprised to see it running on a computer with only one drive a little while later.
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    I was told by a friend with a manual that you can use the original Wizardry disc as the scenario disk, but to make a back up (which seems like the wise thing to do), you need two drives. If you played a pirated game it wouldn't matter because you wouldn't care about corrputing the original. This is an issue with other RPGs, like Ultima games. I have an original disk of Ultima II that boots but the back side Player disc was hole punched and played 8 ( I could use a working copy or original of that disk to get my Ultima II on.

    I wonder if my kids would like Ultima II in it's simplicity (they are 7 and 9). They do play modern games. I'm hoping to do some text adventuring with them, although some text adventures are too 'guess what I'm thinking' to be fun for them.

    And QOF thanks for the cheat! I'll probably try to grind some characters up for Wizardry and Ultima. I find myself reflectin fondly upon early challenging parts of games before you become a demi-god. Like in Fallout 3 when you start out a Rad Roach is pretty scary. Or an Orc in Ultima II.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ianoid View Post
    Dangit, my copy asks me to create a user disc using two drives. I wonder if it's a version thing or a //c thing.
    The Apple IIc was my first computer and Wizardry was the first game that I purchased for it. It didn't require 2 disc drives. You do need to create a character disc for saves but that's about it.

    BTW, my IIc had a 5 1/4 drive, not a 3. 1/2 drive.

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