tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.comments2024-03-13T20:58:21.647-07:00Gaming After 40StillGaminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366215127642090500noreply@blogger.comBlogger1279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-60574625684502089842022-02-14T13:38:55.261-08:002022-02-14T13:38:55.261-08:00If it disappeared at some point, I see it there no...If it disappeared at some point, I see it there now in February 2022. Maybe there was a temporary licensing glitch, I think I played it shortly after it appeared on the service.StillGaminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18366215127642090500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-32878091525348514302022-02-11T08:03:31.861-08:002022-02-11T08:03:31.861-08:00I saw a notification in my spam folder, clicked it...I saw a notification in my spam folder, clicked it and yeah, been awhile! I've had 2 kids since I last read your blog!! Welcome back :)NoAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01455525593586493779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-27108049099535867332022-02-10T12:19:12.830-08:002022-02-10T12:19:12.830-08:00The solution on Sean Murphy's site has a diffe...The solution on Sean Murphy's site has a different way to get the Green Key. It recommends intentionally getting a lobotomy "so that every move you make produces a second, random move". The go into the electroshock therapy room, grab the key, and hope your random move takes you out the door before the nurse tackles you.<br /><br />I like your solution better - fewer steps and works every time!Rick LaMonthttp://www.dotcsw.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-997177935722896872022-02-06T11:55:16.233-08:002022-02-06T11:55:16.233-08:00I may have spoken too soon, looks like the email a...I may have spoken too soon, looks like the email address I have is now outdated. Hoping he checks in on this post again someday!StillGaminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18366215127642090500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-1991968474769074602022-02-06T11:48:32.772-08:002022-02-06T11:48:32.772-08:00Hey, Jeff -- sorry it has taken me so long to catc...Hey, Jeff -- sorry it has taken me so long to catch up with your comment. I actually got an email from Bob Hess about this game a few months after your comment was submitted (long before I got to moderating it!) Let me talk to him and see if I can get you connected!StillGaminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18366215127642090500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-88069164667872124932022-02-02T14:21:23.170-08:002022-02-02T14:21:23.170-08:00Madness and the Minotaur was written by Tom Rosenb...<i>Madness and the Minotaur</i> was written by Tom Rosenbaum, the founder of Spectral Associates. He then wrote other uncredited games including <i>Color Space Invaders</i>, <i>Color Meteoroids</i> (a.k.a. <i>Microbes</i>), and <i>Ghost Gobbler</i>. These four titles formed the core of Spectral's catalog during their first year.<br /><br />Rosenbaum then recruited and trained freelancers, including myself, to write games on a royalty basis. Among the first to join was John Gabbard.<br /><br />John wrote:<br />"I met Tom as Spectral Associates was just forming, right around 1981. I had just re-enlisted in the army and used part of my bonus to purchase a color computer. I ran across Tom while in the local Radio Shack Computer center looking for games. We started talking and Tom saw how excited I was about the Coco and offered to teach me how to write games in assembly language. The first program I wrote for Spectral was <i>Keys of the Wizard</i>. I use the term “wrote” very loosely, because the underlying code was from <i>Madness and the Minotaur</i> and most of the “writing” I did was in the form of map changes, dictionary changes and room descriptions changes. There were a few code changes and additions that changed the way battling creatures worked, and that gave a few of the creatures the ability to “catch your scent” and follow you, but it was mostly <i>Madness</i> code."Rick LaMonthttp://www.dotcsw.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-48252995259129853152022-02-01T16:25:05.382-08:002022-02-01T16:25:05.382-08:00Two more gotchas:
Be sure to bring the shovel whe...Two more gotchas:<br /><br />Be sure to bring the shovel when going underground. You can't <b>ROW BOAT</b> without it.<br /><br />You may carry up to two items when you <b>GO CRACK</b>. The game has a bug where it loses count of how many items you're carrying. If you <b>DROP</b> items one by one, it may think you're still carrying two items when all you have is a lit torch. The workaround is to <b>DROP ALL</b> to reset the count to zero and then <b>GET TORCH</b>.<br /><br />On the plus side, the desert <i>is</i> mappable. Just <b>DROP</b> a shovel here and a canteen there as breadcrumbs. There are only nine locations above the cliff that say "You are lost in the desert." plus another five around the pool and one next to the pyramid. It only seems extensive because many locations loop back on themselves if you go the wrong way.<br /><br />If you work quickly, you can <b>FILL CANTEEN</b> with oil first and <b>DRINK</b> later. This saves a trip back to the desert. Then you can finish the game without drinking again.stabguyhttp://www.thehiddenblade.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-58358276970214015692022-02-01T10:42:09.640-08:002022-02-01T10:42:09.640-08:00Thanks. Great discussion of an obscure and frustr...Thanks. Great discussion of an obscure and frustrating, but strangely compelling game. I have fixed many of the oddities you noted. The strange wrap arounds in the map. Now you have 60 moves with the flashlight, not just 40. When wandering in the dark, you will die less quickly. All the problems with integers related to the random numbers are fixed. Few spelling errors corrected. Now when carrying the dime into a phone booth you are guaranteed to be transported to one of the other booths. You have a 5 item limit, instead of 4. Formatting of the final victory message is fixed. When the monsters get relocated, they don't get sent to the Foyer, where you can drop your items before getting the key and transferring them outside. This prevents an arbitrary game loss simply because the monster has gone there and can prevent you picking up items. Bit of a shaft really. Also, the 3rd floor phone booth will always transfer you to another phone booth, so you can't get trapped on the 3rd floor before getting the dime.<br />HOUSE can be tried here: http://faculty.cbu.ca/jgerrie/MC10/JG_M ... dings.htmljgerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04063695347287888310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-19368581735926318622022-01-27T08:41:02.681-08:002022-01-27T08:41:02.681-08:00Welcome back!Welcome back!solar penguinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00728740139045059913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-75733578321943501842022-01-17T11:27:30.294-08:002022-01-17T11:27:30.294-08:00The nuclear reactor reminds me of Scott Adams'...The nuclear reactor reminds me of Scott Adams' "Mission Impossible" adventure, although in that adventure the real threat was a bomb, not just a reactor that had been irresponsibly abandoned by the people who are supposed to shut it down.<br /><br />I had to chuckle at the LOOK SCREEN results. MREM'S/YR is a real unit (milli-REM per year), but the slash in the middle of MEG/WATT would make it "meg per Watt". What would "meg" mean here? Megabytes? Megabytes per watt sounds like a measure of how energy efficient a hard disk or a block of RAM chips are.<br /><br />Anyway, it's nice to see this blog active again! I thought you might have fallen into a black hole or something.Roger M. Wilcoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03237003726428732709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-44136185279599262742022-01-10T13:32:40.783-08:002022-01-10T13:32:40.783-08:00"It's been a while... quite a while... ne..."It's been a while... quite a while... nearly two years!"<br /><br />Always glad to have you turn up in the RSS reader!Rowan Lipkovitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-2428013640297488142022-01-09T09:19:02.834-08:002022-01-09T09:19:02.834-08:00Glad to see a new post!Glad to see a new post!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15757387488201250945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-59978808068915172142022-01-09T04:18:27.903-08:002022-01-09T04:18:27.903-08:00Will give this one a try, first text adventure to ...Will give this one a try, first text adventure to tackle in 2022!Rogelio Pereahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757391500007845358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-11780215736677926982021-12-19T18:17:24.086-08:002021-12-19T18:17:24.086-08:00Right on. I live in Rockford and visiting the UP o...Right on. I live in Rockford and visiting the UP often.instazomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13727836397835977771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-48788033275628829142021-12-17T06:47:53.663-08:002021-12-17T06:47:53.663-08:00fun fact. If you eat the unicorn you can put it in...fun fact. If you eat the unicorn you can put it in your inventoryAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13004774788183840810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-55367917880702912312021-12-03T18:50:58.653-08:002021-12-03T18:50:58.653-08:00We were able to get a perfect score of 100/100 on ...We were able to get a perfect score of 100/100 on this one (in jgerrie's MC-10 version) by leaving every stray item in the closet. Fun little game, and thanks to jgerrie for fixing what would otherwise have been some frustrating bugs.PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-16170937466072100282021-11-17T09:26:44.773-08:002021-11-17T09:26:44.773-08:00The graphics look substantially worse than the pc-...The graphics look substantially worse than the pc-98 version. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828591712228406832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-71199083749342918632021-11-13T06:29:16.290-08:002021-11-13T06:29:16.290-08:00We were very glad to find this entry right after c...We were very glad to find this entry right after completing Lighthouse Adventure, as it clarified a few things for us. The game has some clever elements but its dependence on SEARCH for the dead smuggler is really irritating and inconsistent, as every other place in the game uses a repeated EXAMINE to find hidden items. That one totally eluded us.<br /><br />So how did we get past the password puzzle? Only by chance: out of frustration, we tried typing in a couple dozen things, and one of them was MARY (following JESUS as you might guess). Cue astonishment!<br /><br />Finally, the first time we got to the large room, the boat wasn't there. No idea why: do we need to try to enter it with the lantern unlit first, or was it just a random glitch? But a BASIC type-in game should be deterministic enough to sort that out.PK Thunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14416777230563913195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-72205235725740661622021-10-16T22:09:42.750-07:002021-10-16T22:09:42.750-07:00When you get a chance, try taking the knife withou...When you get a chance, try taking the knife without taking the piece of paper at the beginning. And try to explain that one...Hammerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04493785495354730982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-37970169704169200702021-08-19T11:03:09.290-07:002021-08-19T11:03:09.290-07:00Me too! In fact my skill is referred to as "P...Me too! In fact my skill is referred to as "Park and Shop" by my husband and kids and anyone else who regales my efficiency. On the other hand, maybe only OCD peeps even enjoyed the game to begin with!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13076414455662133766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-75265609109852838452021-08-08T08:05:54.721-07:002021-08-08T08:05:54.721-07:00An old post, I know, but as I'm currently doin...An old post, I know, but as I'm currently doing a little research into this game I thought I'd flag up that (what appears to be) the original listing is in Computer & Video Games magazine issue 11 https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_0011/page/36 <br /><br />The Spectrum version seems to be unofficial.Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13404777027150456268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-73175251718954669062021-06-07T21:17:00.724-07:002021-06-07T21:17:00.724-07:00I stumbled across this page because I was also a f...I stumbled across this page because I was also a fan of his work. I had a Coco in 1983 and played Mega-Bug, Sands of Egypt, and after a memory upgrade, Zaxxon. I have thought about him occasionally since. I learned to program on that Coco in Basic, and that led to a very rewarding career in programming and telecommunications. Thank you to all the early software developers who inspired this introverted teen. Thank you Steve!Rogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14177629154761153634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-26539345471662847082021-06-07T21:14:12.601-07:002021-06-07T21:14:12.601-07:00That's a great story.That's a great story.Rogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14177629154761153634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-14241388754718311282021-04-04T12:55:40.290-07:002021-04-04T12:55:40.290-07:00Thanks for reviewing my old video game! Wonderful...Thanks for reviewing my old video game! Wonderful review and very fun reading it.JGrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10208660779839428160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7274560874062585311.post-73589920711966239512021-03-25T00:45:24.815-07:002021-03-25T00:45:24.815-07:00Saving the seahorse allows you to survive a third ...Saving the seahorse allows you to survive a third capture by the Boot Patrol (there are other ways out of the first two).<br /><br />SAVE is a meta-command that's not intended to be used with an object. The error message you received means that there's no such object as GAME in the room.arcanetriviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02033767865654085177noreply@blogger.com