Author: A.P.P.L.E.

The A.P.P.L.E. Website is run by the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange Users Group and is open to all Apple and Macintosh fans and their friends.

Virtual II Emulator Updated to 10.3

The Virtual II Apple II Emulator has been updated. Included in this release is a bevy of bug fixes which have been reported over the past few months including: Fixed several crashes that could occur if a Disk ][ interface card has no connected drives. Enhanced compatibility with WOZ disk images available in the public domain by correcting an error in version number checking. Extended the feature to speak lines on the screen; the application can now automatically speak new…

FORTH2020 FB Group May Zoom Meeting

Preemptitive schedule for our Zoom Meeting 8.May2021– if I am missing some of you, pls. advise ! If someone want´s to give a talk in any future meeting, pls, contact me, or John HardyAbraham MollerTony LewisUlrich HoffmannDon Golding or just post on the group, you want to give a talk forth related, or you want to show us something. All of you are heartly invited to speek !  Even beginners to forth, or present yourself to the group. Is a pleassure to receive you. https://www.forth2020.org/zoom-meeting

New Apple II Game: PETSCII Robots

For those of you who follow the 8-Bit Guy, AKA David Murray, on YouTube, you will be pleased to know he has introduced a new game, this time for the Apple II computer. PETSCII Robots is a game in which it is up to you to save the universe from the invading robots. You can accomplish this through the use of a variety of weapons which you accumulate within the game, as you attempt to take on the various levels…

Apple II Passport Updated

The Apple II based Passport, a disk cracking package, has been updated — release dated 04-21-2021. The latest version of the Mark Pilgrim and Peter Ferrie produced software package has been released with the following changes: – NEW: patchers/harvey.a (Buzz Bang Harvey, Harvey by Primes) – NEW: patchers/jmp2012.a (BackAid) – NEW: patchers/pdi.a (Leadsheeter, Polywriter) – NEW: patchers/rps.a (Pac-Man Thunder Mountain release, Problem Solving in Algebra) – IMPROVED: patchers/ssprot.a (fixes Metric System Tutor) – IMPROVED: patchers/bb03.a (fixes Spanish for Mastery) -…

Full Motion Double Hi-Resolution Video Playback on the Apple IIe with II Vision 0.2

Kris Kennaway has released a video of the January 1984 Apple ad running in Full Motion Double Hi-Resolution Video complete with Playback on the Apple IIe computer. Now, before you say, the Apple IIe cannot do that, there are a few items you will need which were not available in 1984. First, you will need a 128k Enhanced Apple IIe running the software, also known as II-Vision version 0.2 by Kris Kennaway, allowing conversion or “transcoding” of the video files…

8-Bit Unity Version 0.4.0 Released

Anthony Beaucamp has just released his latest rendition of 8-Bit Unity game SDK. His Beta of the 8-Bit Unity SDK, version 0.4.0 includes a host of updates and changes. Anthony has posted the following in regard to the new graphics engine for 8-Bit Computers: After 6 months of hard work, I finally pulled the plug on new features and got down to fixing bugs. The result is here: 8bit-Unity 0.4.0! Hope you will enjoy this short overview of what’s new….

37 Years of Emulation on the M1 Mac

For those who love emulation, especially Macintosh Emulation, this one will be right up your alley. Kyle Fox has posted a picture of Shadowgate (Mac 68K version) running on the M1 Macintosh. In order to get there, he had to jump through a few hoops and architectures. The game Shadowgate itself was released in 1987 by Mindscape and is a game that offers a combination graphical / textual adventure experience that will not only entertain you but will challenge your…

Full Metal Planet for the Apple II gs Released

Brainstorm Software and Brutal Deluxe Software have coordinated to bring Full Métal Planète for the Apple II gs to the masses. Originally released in 1988 by Ludodélire and developed by Hitech productions, the Full Métal Planète strategy game was limited to French until today. The English version of the Apple II gs game was blessed by Brainstorm Software and with the programming talents of Brutal Deluxe Software, it is now available for all to play. The synopsis of the game…

Terra Nova: Fr3nch T0uch’s 256 Byte Intro for Revision 2021

The Fr3nch T0uch hack group just came out with an absolutely fantastic 256 byte intro titled Terra Nova for the Apple II. The demo was for the Revision 2021 event going on currently from April 2nd to April 5th 2021. Written on the Apple IIe, Terra Nova demos a purely text based scroller with full Mockingboard sound track. It will run on either DOS 3.3 or ProDOS with the source code also available in addition to the binary. Revision 2021…

The End of Ten-Four-Fox

Cameron Kaiser has announce the end of development on the Ten-Four-Fox application, which provided users of G4 machines with Firefox Browser capabilities. As he mentions in his writeup, the costs of the operation are a huge item with about $600 per month in accruing by providing the application. To read further, check out Cameron’s article at:https://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-end-of-tenfourfox-and-what-ive.html

Update to TXTRIS

Mario Patino, author of the TXTRIS text based Tetris clone, has released a new update to his game which is one of the entries for this years Apple II Software enthusiasts (A2SE) programming contest. The update includes a nifty little intro tune in the program. Play of the TXTRIS game is nearly true to the original, but this one is pure text and well worth the look. You can download the latest version of the TXTRIS disk image from:https://www.callapple.org/soft/ap2/games/txtris.dsk

Wade Clarke’s Memoir Site

Wade Clarke has in recent years become known for his interactive fiction game, Leadlight Gamma, including a version for the Apple II computer. Now he has put all of his apple II forays on his website including a fun look back at piracy in the Apple II world. Check it out at:https://wadememoir.wadeclarke.com

ROM Magazine — Beginnings for Bigger things

One need only to look at the names listed in the contributing authors listings and the staff listings to get an idea as to the significance historically of a magazine. One such magazine was ROM – Computer Applications for Living, a magazine that had impressive beginnings and eventually became one of the portfolio of one of the most significant magazines of the 1970’s and 1980’s. That would be Creative Computing Magazine. But we are getting just a bit ahead of…

The Usborne 1980’s Computer Books

Many kids in the 1980’s began programming computers using the USBORNE computer books, which were very colorful, step by step books that were appropriate for any age in reality. These books took you through the stages of creating programs from the idea creation, the design, the programming, modifications, and quite literally, all the way to the finished product.  These books were quite good at teaching fundamental concepts to users, giving a good groundwork upon which to build. From initial forays…

New Apple II Game — Archer

If you have ever wanted to take part in a programming contest, the annual BASIC 10-Liners Programming Contest is a good one to start with. Each year, the best and brightest programmers in the retro computing community test their metal against the rest of the world. One of the first Apple II submissions this year is a really great effort by Humberto Barbera. Humberto’s 10 line submission, Archer is a great little game that utilizes the Apple II’s high-resolution graphics…

The Queen’s Footsteps Mac 68K Version Updated

If you have not played a Davide Bucci adventure yet, you re really missing something. Created in the old style of Interactive Fiction games, Davide has created a number of adventures including his multi platform title, The Queen’s Footsteps. Synopsis of the game: “ Today is August 27th, 1904. Nine months ago, you, Emilia Vittorini, joined the Italian Archeological Expedition in Egypt led by Ernesto Schiaparelli, the director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin. You are now back in Genova,…

Dr. Mac Bob Levitus Interview on Mac Voices

As many of our readers know, the one and only Dr. Macintosh, Bob Levitus, has retired from the active Mac World. Mac Users Group Network’s Chuck Joiner interviews Bob about his latest endeavors and the goings on now that he has discontinued his focus on the Macintosh. Check out the entire interview here:https://youtu.be/gv74NJeDJrA

New Apple II Game: Escape!

This years Apple II Software Enthusiasts (A2SE) text based programming contest is producing a myriad of great new games for the Apple II computer. Raphael Rezende has submitted another entry worth mentioning in the pages of Call-A.P.P.L.E.. His new game Escape pits you against a monster in a dungeon in which, “ You found in a mine, a precious stone, and when you were returning toward entrance, there was an earthquake, that released a monster which was keeping the treasure!…

Old iMac grows up to become an M1 iMac thanks to Luke Miani

For those of us who are Apple and Macintosh fans, we are partial to our machines no matter what age they are. We always hate to see people destroy perfectly good machines. I think Luke Miani knows this as a real Macintosh fan as he has managed to turn an old iMac into an M1 Silicon based iMac with just a few turns of the screw. Having an old iMac and a new M1 Mac Mini, Luke has decided that…

Building an Early Macintosh Keyboard Adapter

If you have one of the early Macintosh computers in the 128K, the 512K or the Plus series and are missing a keyboard, then this video from Mac84 also known as Steve Matarazzo takes you through the building process of creating an adapter for a PS/2 type keyboard to be able to connect to the older Macs. This original series of Macintosh computers used RJ-45’s or phone cable type connectors and the keyboards are not very prevalent. Now, you no…