SimCity style of game for GS?
limtc
My son is a fan of SimCity type of management game, including SimCity,
SimTower, etc.
Is there such a game for Apple IIGS?
Toinet
Not officially... Or there is Santa Paravia...
Av
The Wizard of Oz
Still, it shouldn't be too difficult to create for someone who is
familiar with GS programming. SimCity 1 should be easier than SimCity 3.
Later
Mike
Toinet
Sure. Ask Barbara to offer the code of the SNES version and adapt it
to the IIgs ;-)
antoine
D Finnigan
Let's hope that it would be optimized. Large towns would get as slow as
molasses. Even the SNES had a 4 MHz 65c816 and a dedicated PPU (picture
processing unit).
Regarding the overall subject, however, this is one game that I'd like
to see as well for the IIgs. Another one would be that Super Mario Bros.
game.
kgagne
Unfortunately, I don't think there's been any change in its status in
ages:
I think the version I referred to then is incomplete, regardless.
-Ken
Polymorph
Hmmm....it would seem that some of my posts through the A2Central news
server aren't making it to Google groups for whatever reason??
Anyway, here is my reply from yesterday 4/09/2009 10:39 PM:
Hi Thye Chean,
There is/was a version of Sim City programmed by Bill (now Becky)
Heineman, but it was never released due to high licensing fees (or so
rumour has it). You could always try writing to him and see if he (a)
still has the game and/or source code, and (b) if he is able to
release it after all these years?
However, the source code to Sim City was released in 2008, so it could
be a good candidate for a port. I always planned to look into it, but
the project would need more time than I have available right now.
Maybe it could be a collaborative effort?
The source code can be found here:
http://weblogs.asp.net/bsimser/archive/2008/01/10/simcity-source-code-released-to-the-wild-let-the-ports-begin.aspx
Hope this is helpful.
Cheers,
Mike
p.s. Please excuse me if my original post does eventually turn up...
--
Mike Stephens
Central Coast, Australia
Find my Apple II projects online at:
http://apple2.sytes.net/
A2Aviator
Joe
> There is/was a version of Sim City programmed by Bill (now Becky)
> Heineman, but it was never released due to high licensing fees (or so
> rumour has it). You could always try writing to him and see if he (a)
> still has the game and/or source code, and (b) if he is able to
> release it after all these years?
Seeing this thread, I decided to look around the old hard drive, and there
it was, SimCity for the IIGS from March, 1994. Double clicking on the S16,
the title screen apppeared with the name Interplay.
But, I barely moved my mouse, and it crashed. It credited a mutual friend
of Burger Bill and I for the music; I heard no music. It'd been a decade
since I last looked at this program, and it did less than I remembered.
But, then again, I last ran this on a ROM1 and I'm now using a ROM3, and
maybe that has something to do with it not working?
Oh, and I've never played SimCity, so I don't really know what to do, and
there's no docs.
This is one of those many projects started by BurgerBill, that never saw
the light of day. The file is large, 221k (did I just write that, in 2009,
that a 221k file was large? Sheesh. The times they have a changed). I have
no idea how much of the porting/programming is complete, or whether it's
just some pretty graphics.
But, I do have the uncompleted program from 1994, so if someone were to go
to the trouble of contacting the Burger for permission to make this
available...
Joe Kohn
A2Aviator
well, since then.
kgagne
> However, the source code to Sim City was released in 2008, so it could
> be a good candidate for a port. I always planned to look into it, but
> the project would need more time than I have available right now.
> Maybe it could be a collaborative effort?
I'd forgotten about that! Thanks for the reminder. There was some
previous discussion on that topic:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.apple2/browse_thread/thread/e20301944640afcb
-Ken
Toinet
> Hence my ... "Hmmmmmm.... " because it's been on my IIgs since...
> well, since then.
Sure. There are things like that...
With that kind of game, the heart of the program is its logic not the
graphical part. I mean if you do not apply the same behaviour as the
original program then it will be of poor interest.So, you either have
the source code of another version and adapt to the IIgs or you use
BB's one. With todays' emulators and other 10 MHz ZipGSx, you may get
a decent program.
On the contrary I doubt Micropolis may be written or adapted for the
IIgs. Source code is too big and difficult to translate.If one arrives
to compile it then it will be tooooo slow even with emulators.
antoine
Poster
<beb29204-4424-489a...@y10g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
Polymorph <polym...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 4, 3:17�pm, limtc <thyech...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > My son is a fan of SimCity type of management game, including SimCity,
> > SimTower, etc.
> >
> > Is there such a game for Apple IIGS?
>
> Hmmm....it would seem that some of my posts through the A2Central news
> server aren't making it to Google groups for whatever reason??
>
> Anyway, here is my reply from yesterday 4/09/2009 10:39 PM:
>
> Hi Thye Chean,
>
> There is/was a version of Sim City programmed by Bill (now Becky)
> Heineman, but it was never released due to high licensing fees (or so
> rumour has it). You could always try writing to him and see if he (a)
> still has the game and/or source code, and (b) if he is able to
> release it after all these years?
>
> However, the source code to Sim City was released in 2008, so it could
> be a good candidate for a port. I always planned to look into it, but
> the project would need more time than I have available right now.
> Maybe it could be a collaborative effort?
>
> The source code can be found here:
> http://weblogs.asp.net/bsimser/archive/2008/01/10/simcity-source-code-released
> -to-the-wild-let-the-ports-begin.aspx
>
> Hope this is helpful.
>
> Cheers,
I can help out if it did turn out to be a collaborative effort.
--
Poster
www.intaligo.com I6 libraries, doom metal, Building
sturmdrangif.wordpress.com Game development blog / IF commentary
Seasons: fall '09 -- One-man projects are prone to delays.
A2Aviator
out of money, etc. But the town never starts.
Because you can't place anything next to the power plant. It's off by
a couple pixels, so it's a great case of "Can't Get There From
Here"..
I have never looked further into it to see if it was literally that
simple, or if it was like that because thats all that was done, the
tile placement engine and the like.
It comes in at about 253K so .. it's not that big anyway.
Joe Kohn
> With that kind of game, the heart of the program is its logic not the
> graphical part. I mean if you do not apply the same behaviour as the
> original program then it will be of poor interest.So, you either have
> the source code of another version and adapt to the IIgs or you use
> BB's one. With todays' emulators and other 10 MHz ZipGSx, you may get
> a decent program.
Anyone remember the contest that I conducted through inCider/A+ about
completing an unfinished game from the FTA, with the result being Bouncin'
Ferno?
No?
Well, don't worry; neither could I. Barely. So below is the contest
announcement from 17 years ago (!!). No, wait. Below is what I submitted
to inCider/A+. The completed article in the actual magazine may have been
different (and probably was, as 17 years after writing the following
words, I can see that they could be improved upon grammatically.)
And yeah, there's an on-topic point to be made at the bottom...
---------------------------
FTA CONTEST
The French Free Tools Association, better known as The FTA, burst upon
the IIGS scene at the 1989 San Francisco AppleFest when their freeware
Nucleus demo stunned, dazzled, and astounded all who saw it during Jean
Louis Gassee's mind-blowing presentation.
The FTA, a small group of French programmers, graphic artists and
musicians continued to awe the IIGS community, releasing one smash hit
after another. Their demos, including ACS Demo, Modulae, California Demo,
Xmas Demo, Animaga, and Delta Demo pushed the IIGS to the limit with
their astounding 3 dimensional animations and rock n roll soundtracks.
The freeware FTA games of Easy Dead, Flobynoid, Star Wizard, and Mini
Prix have provided countless GS owners with innumerable hours of super hi
res fun. Their shareware disk copy program, Photonix, must be the only
copy program in existence that contains animation and music and
efficiently copies entire 3.5" disks in just one pass, using only a
single 3.5" disk drive. NoiseTracker, released in December of 1991, must
surely be the most talked about IIGS music program of 1992.
And then, as 1991 drew to a close, the FTA disbanded. According to FTA
founder and president, Olivier Goguel, "We stopped programming for the
IIGS for a lot of reasons, but we don't deny it and are still very proud
of what we've done, or tried to do on it".
The FTA may be gone, but they will surely never be forgotten. They have
left a legacy for the rest of us who remain with the IIGS. They showed us
what was possible, and they inspired and stimulated us by demonstrating
just how much fun it can be to own a IIGS. In our hearts and minds, the
FTA will live forever.
In late Spring, 1992, a package arrived in SillyKohn Valley with a
postmark of Dijon, France. The package contained a number of disks, and
they were described by Olivier Goguel as "the latest gifts from the
former FTA group to the IIGS community".
Just as the FTA's software resulted in so much joy and fun and respect for
the IIGS, we would like to use those gifts as a way to provide the IIGS
community with a positive focus. We are pleased to announce the first ever
"Shareware Solutions Contest". In an effort to double our pleasure and
double our fun, we're actually going to institute 2 different contests;
one for programmers, and one for non-programmers.
One of the programs provided by Olivier Goguel is Bouncin'Ferno. It's a
Marble Madness type game, with incredible graphics, sound effects and
music. 3 levels, each with 25 different play fields, are already defined,
and you can play the game with either a mouse or a joystick. On each
level, you'll try to roll over small objects and pick them up before
advancing on to the next level. Some objects are suspended high above the
ground, and you'll need to jump up to get them, while other objects are
hidden under 3 dimensional ramps. As it is, Bouncin'Ferno is a lot of
fun, but, it's not quite complete; there's no scoring module. But, the
complete Merlin 16+ Source Code is provided.
The programming contest rules are very straightforward: use the
Bouncin'Ferno source code to create a completed game. We don't care if
you make it a desktop program, or use the toolbox. We don't even care if
you translate it to run under Orca/M or APW. What we do care about is
game play, artistry, creativity, fun, sounds, animation, documentation,
user friendliness and compatibility with both ROM 01 and 03 machines. We
don't even care if you use the source code to create a totally different
game; just impress the judging panel of inCider/A+ editors. Make our eyes
bug out of our heads, and make our toes tap. In short, we suggest that
you let the FTA guide you in spirit, and that you create a program that
the FTA would be proud of.
Included with Bouncin'Ferno is a screen editor that will allow you to
create your own levels. So, the second contest is focused upon new
Bouncin'Ferno levels. Make them hard or make them easy, make them fun or
make them frustrating. Just submit your favorite new Bouncin'Ferno
levels, and you'll be eligible to win some valuable prizes.
As it is now, Bouncin'Ferno is hard drive installable; if copied to hard
drive, just double click on P8.LOADER to run the game. If run from floppy
disk, just boot the disk. If you have any problems booting the disk, just
run P8.LOADER from either ProDOS-8 or GS/OS. Documentation in both French
and English is also provided.
Bouncin'Ferno has been placed by the FTA into the public domain.
Therefore, all contest submissions, being derivative works, will also be
in the public domain. To enter the contests, just print out, complete and
sign the contest entry form that's provided on disk as a standard text
file, and send along with your disk to FTA Contest, c/o inCider/A+, 80
Elm St, Peterborough, NH 03458. All entries must be postmarked by
12/31/92.
We will be making the Bouncin'Ferno disk available, along with the
contest entry form, for downloading from the large online networks
(America Online, CompuServe, and GEnie). No restrictions of any kind are
placed on it, so please make sure your user group, and all your friends,
know about it. If you are unable to locate Bouncin'Ferno, send $5 (US
funds only) to: Joe Kohn, 166 Alpine Street, San Rafael, CA 94901. Add $2
for shipping outside North America.
After the contest winners are announced, the winning entries will also be
uploaded to the online networks, and will spread from there. Of course,
if you just can't wait, you can always get Bouncin'Ferno now.
------------------------------
So, what's the point of this post, you're wondering...
Despite having the Source Code, the prize winning programmer (Dustin
Mitchell) played the game, and took a series of screen shots, and used the
resulting graphics as the basis for his completed program. As I seem to
remember him explaining to me at the time is that it was just so much
easier to start programming from scratch with just the graphics, than to
try to figure out someone else's code. "Trying to figure out what another
programmer was thinking was like trying to read that programmer's mind.
And, as anyone who remembers Bouncin'Ferno, that turned out to be the
perfect solution to completing the FTA's Bouncin'Ferno.
And, just thinking about it, I'd be honored if some of you reading this
who are relatively new to the IIGS downloaded a copy of Bouncin'Ferno and
played it. And, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, I bet I
haven't even seen the game in 15 years, so I'm going to find it on my
Focus Hard Drive, and relive those wonderful years when the Apple IIGS
reigned surpreme!
Sorry my memory is hazy on all this, but the completed game is probably
online as Bouncin'Ferno 2, or just plain Ferno2.
Joe Kohn
Joe Kohn
Since posting the FTA Contest announcement, let me follow it up with a
later article, submitted to inCider/A+ on January 24, 1993, about the
prize winning entries.
Again, this is the article I submitted, not the completed and edited
article that appeared in inCider/A+. I used to have a monthly column in
that magazine called "Shareware Solutions" and this is one of those
columns...
Joe Kohn
==================================
Shareware Solutions
By Joe Kohn
Shareware Solutions, in association with the France based Free Tools
Association (FTA), announced two Game Contests in the August, 1992 issue
of inCider/A+. One contest was for IIGS programmers and one contest was
for the rest of us. The rules for the programming contest were simple: use
the IIGS assembly language source code supplied by the FTA to complete
their Bouncin'Ferno game. The rules for the second contest were equally
straightforward: use the Level Editor supplied with Bouncin'Ferno to
create new game levels to play.
The criteria for the contests were direct: "Let the FTA guide you in
spirit, and make our eyes bug out and make our toes tap". The guidelines
suggested that all entries would be judged for artistry, creativity,
playability, fun, music, sound and animation.
The challenge was issued to the Apple IIGS community and that community
rose to the occasion. Chris Thamm of Montreal volunteered to translate all
of the documentation and commented source code from French to English.
Apple II software publishers and programmers lined up to donate prizes to
the contest winners. And, of course, IIGS programmers and users went to
work, creating new games and new levels that impressed the panel of judges
and greatly surpassed our expectations.
It is with great pride, respect and admiration that we announce the
winners. For supplying the most artistically creative, beautiful and fun
new Bouncin'Ferno levels, the grand prize goes to Brett Dunst of Palos
Verdes, CA. For creating the most fabulous new game, the grand prize goes
to Dustin Mitchell of Scarborough, ME.
Both winners will receive a one year subscription to inCider/A+, a 3 month
subscription to Softdisk G-S, InSync Software's ProTerm v3.0
telecommunications program and a ProTerm T shirt, Digital Creations
Twilight II screen blanker, Econ Technology's AutoArk hard disk
compression utility, Glen Bredon's ProSel-16 IIGS program launcher and
utility system, Roger Wagner's HyperStudio authoring system software or
any other Roger Wagner program of their choice, Resource Central's
videotape and T shirt commemorating the 1992 A2 Summer Conference (better
known as KansasFest), WestCode Software's Pointless TrueType font utility,
a game of their choice from Seven Hills Software, and free online connect
time to GEnie's A2/A2Pro areas.
The original FTA version of Bouncin'Ferno is a Marble Madness type of
game, with stunning animations, incredible graphics, sound effects and
music. 3 levels, each containing 25 different rooms, were defined by the
FTA. The goals of Bouncin'Ferno are twofold: try to roll over small
objects - the more objects rolled over, the higher the score - and try to
advance to the next level. Some scoring objects are suspended high above
the ground, while others are hidden under 3 dimensional ramps. As
originally released, Bouncin'Ferno was a lot of fun, but it wasn't quite
complete; it is now!
Dustin Mitchell, a 14 year old High School Freshman who has been
programming the Apple II since he was 8 years old, studied the FTA's
Source Code and played the game to become familiar with it. While studying
the code, Dustin decided that it would just be easier for him to largely
re-write the game from scratch.
According to Dustin, "some routines were kept the same just because there
was no reason to change them. Most of the routines, however, had to be
completely rewritten because writing for GS/OS is totally different than
just taking over the computer like the original did." Dustin succeeded in
making the game run quite a bit faster than the original, and
Bouncin'Ferno II is nothing less than a masterpiece!
The game is now completely GS/OS compatible; it's even hard drive
installable and if launched from The Finder it returns the player to the
Finder upon quitting the game. True to the spirit of the FTA, it does not
use the IIGS Toolbox.
As Bouncin'Ferno II begins, a stunning scanned NASA photograph of the
earth is displayed, a wonderful sounding song is played, and a
multi-colored animated credit screen is shown. Once the game starts, the
player has the option to play the FTA's original levels, a new level
supplied by Dustin, or any other level located in the Level folder found
on disk.
In Bouncin'Ferno II, game play is essentially the same as in the FTA's
original version. Enhancements include a superimposed playing field on top
of a dazzling fractal graphic, and a musical soundtrack that plays
continuous NoiseTracker music in the background. For late night sessions,
that music can be turned off. The player's score is displayed on screen at
all times, and as energy is gained or lost, the IIGS border changes
colors. Each level is now also linked to it's own High Score module.
Bouncin'Ferno II is Dustin Mitchell's first attempt at creating a IIGS
program. Dustin is a self-taught programmer who is currently learning the
C programming language. He owns both an Apple IIGS and a Macintosh
Performa 400. Dustin aspires to be a professional programmer, and after
playing his first game, it's not difficult to imagine that someday he will
be joining the ranks of programming superstars. He's certainly gotten off
to an auspicious start!
The new Bouncin'Ferno level created by Brett Dunst is remarkably creative;
his 25 new rooms are challenging yet fun to play. In many of the rooms,
there are multiple stacked levels, and an abundant number of springboards
that cause the rolling and bouncing marble to jump uncontrollably from one
level to the other. Many rooms also have sloping ramps, hidden scoring
objects, and other 3 dimensional special effects that add to the fun and
excitement. Some rooms have so many springboards that it's possible to
just sit back and watch as the ball bounces about, picking up points and
eventually springing into the next room.
Just as the FTA dedicated many of their animated demos to fellow IIGS
owners, Brett has dedicated 8 of his 25 rooms to pay homage to IIGS
notable people, programs and products; among those he honors are The FTA,
Burger Bill Heineman, SAP (Kenrick Mock's Simple Animation Program), The
Woz (Steve Wozniak), the upcoming GS/OS v6.0.1, and the ZIP GSX.
The Bouncin'Ferno contests, like The FTA themselves, have now passed into
history, but thanks to Brett Dunst, Dustin Mitchell, Chris Thamm, and all
of the sponsors of the contests, Bouncin'Ferno II will help to keep alive
the spirit of the FTA. With their beautiful animated demos, games and
music programs, the FTA has provided the Apple IIGS community with lots of
pride, excitement and fun.
They have attained a near mythical status, and now, thanks to two 14 year
old Apple IIGS enthusiasts, their legacy will never be forgotten.
+++++++++++++++++
And again, I'd be thrilled if someone who has never heard of Ferno2
downloaded it and played it for the first time tonight.
Joe
Drew
Never heard of Ferno2, so have downloaded it and am trying to play it
now :). Mouse seems a bit erratic on couple of emulators i am using,
but will power up real GS in a bit and have a play on that :).
Thanks
Drew
Joe
> Never heard of Ferno2, so have downloaded it and am trying to play it
> now :). Mouse seems a bit erratic on couple of emulators i am using,
> but will power up real GS in a bit and have a play on that :).
Keep at it, Drew.
I also found the mouse movement to be erratic, so I went looking for the
documentation, but it didn't turn up. Admittedly, I didn't look all that
hard, so whenever I have some spare time, I'll hunt them down and see if
they explain how best to use your mouse.
It was fun just seeing that title page again, but it's hard to believe
that it's been 17 years. How time flies...
Joe Kohn
Drew
Had a go on a real GS and mouse was much better. On the emulators i
tried the mouse would only seem to go in one direction. I am going
through one of my retro moments (well the last year has been lol) and
its soo kool that I am still finding new stuff to play with and that
the Apple II community is still so active :).
Drew
Toinet
Now that we have identified three different sources...
- Becky Heineman, Tony Diaz and Joe Kohn
...and five people who have seen it...
- Becky Heineman, Tony Diaz, Joe Kohn, Eric Sheperd and Olivier
Zardini (at Becky's a long time ago)
...who among them will share it with our little community? Or send it
to me and let me upload to BD's site with all ID marks removed, if
any.
Let's talk about it a little bit after my today's conversation with
Olivier: SimCity is a 320*200*16 colors desktop program with the city
in a scrollable window. The game is not playable, it is not even an
alpha release.
What is a shame is that the game has been ported on several (let's say
all) platforms and not on our beloved IIgs, I really would like the
game to be available to the IIgs just like Olivier and I did for
LemminGS.
Antoine
A2Aviator
Like I said, you can place items, the clock does not run, the 'city'
is not active. As if there is no actual AI engine running behind it
all.
Joe
> ...who among them will share it with our little community? Or send it
> to me and let me upload to BD's site with all ID marks removed, if
> any.
I don't think that's my decision to make. It's entirely up to B. Heineman.
If permission is granted, then I'd be happy to forward my copy to
where ever.
Alex Lee of WhatIsTheIIGS wrote to tell me he asked for that permission,
so let's see what happens.
But, as Tony implied, it's more of a novelty than a game...
Joe
Toinet
> Toinet <antoine.vig...@laposte.net> wrote:
> > ...who among them will share it with our little community? Or send it
> > to me and let me upload to BD's site with all ID marks removed, if
> > any.
>
> I don't think that's my decision to make. It's entirely up to B. Heineman.
> If permission is granted, then I'd be happy to forward my copy to
> where ever.
>
I know, I know.
> Alex Lee of WhatIsTheIIGS wrote to tell me he asked for that permission,
> so let's see what happens.
>
I knew he would.
> But, as Tony implied, it's more of a novelty than a game...
>
I know, Olivier told me the same thing yesterday.
> Joe
antoine who thanks you for your video offer ;-)