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

From our friend Fredrik Ramsberg: For the first time, we’re throwing a PunyComp. Write your own text adventure, using the PunyInform system. Win money and glory! Some quick facts: Judges are expected to cast their votes after playing a game for one hour. Hopefully this puts the focus more on short games, which can be done with high quality even in the limited time available. All the details can be found on the competition page:  https://itch.io/jam/punycomp-2024

From Stephen Huemann: ORCA/C 2.2.1 is a new release of the ORCA/C compiler for the Apple IIGS. Major changes since ORCA/C 2.1.0 include: Changes since ORCA/C 2.2.0 include: The ORCA/C manual has been updated to cover the new features in ORCA/C 2.2. A readme file and detailed release notes are also available. This is an update package designed to be installed on top of an existing copy of ORCA/C 2.1 or later. Instructions on applying the update are available here. Note that the disk image must be…

Colin Leroy-Mira has announced the update to WOZamp, the Apple II music and video player. WOZamp v18.0.1 gets RadioBrowser support for easy webradio streaming to your Apple II, plus a few fixes here and there. For more information about WOZamp or to download the latest version, check out the website at:https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/wozamp-an-apple-ii-music-and-video-player/

The MAC OS X based Ample MAME interface has been updated.   Kelvin Sherlock, the curator of the Ample Interface introduced additional support for the retro Macintosh Portables. This release of the Ample interface marks the 61st release of the emulator and  brings the Ample package up to MAME 0.269 and includes a modified MAME package which allows emulation of those machines included in the interface. Some of the features of the Ample interface include the ability to control almost…

The wonderful DreamGrafix paint program by Jason Andersen has been updated.  The DreamWorld portion of the package is now at version 1.02+ and according to the Facebook posting by Brutal Deluxe’s Antoine Vignau, it now loads LZ4 256/3200 color picture files. You can get the package file from https://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/products/thirdparties/ or from https://github.com/dwsJason/Apple-IIgs-Binaries The Manual for DreamGrafix is available for download in PDF format at:https://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/documentation/applications/misc/DreamGrafix-Manual.pdf

The Clock Signal Emulator (CLK) has been updated.   The latest release includes a host of updates to several of the emulated platforms including the following changes: To download the latest release, check out the GitHub page at:https://github.com/TomHarte/CLK/releases/tag/2024-08-27

PunyInform, the adventure game programming library by Fredrik Ramsberg has been updated. PunyInform 5.6 allows users to create Z-Machine compatible programs, allowing them to be easily ported to multiple platforms. This latest release of Puny Inform includes a slew of updates, fixes, and new functionality included in the release. Information lated to the latest version includes the following: Repository: johanberntsson/PunyInform · Tag: v5_6 · Commit: 7edfd4a · Released by: fredrikr Important to note when upgrading: Changes in functionality: Optimizations: Bugfixes: The library and full source code is…

A revamp of the Apple II Disk II Analog board and the Motor Control board have been in the works for the past several years. Now that work has come to fruition and the new ReAnalog and Motor Control boards are available through Chris Torrence’s CT6502.ORG website. About the boards The ReAnalog Card is a recreation of the original Apple Disk ][ Analog card from 1978, using modern components and a printed circuit board. This allows the sensitive magnetic signal…

The latest version of Kelvin Sherlocks Ample front end for the MAME emulator has been released. Ample version 0.268 includes additional front end support for the Retro Mac Platforms including the Mac IIfx, Quadra 900 and the Quadra 950. The Ample front end also includes the complete MAME 0.268 emulation system. Some additional changes in the base MAME emulator includes changes to the Apple IIgs driver as specified below:The Apple IIgs driver now supports host integration with a custom ATINIT…

The full release of the Version 1.4 chain of the Apple II Desktop graphical interface for the Apple II computer has been released. Joshua Bell, the curator of the Apple II Desktop project has been adding features and fixing issues with the project at a high rate of speed over the past several months. Thus, the latest version, Apple II Desktop 1.4, includes a slew of new advances and changes in the operation of the interface including the following items:…

R&R Auctions has announced the release of a pre-production Apple II Motherboard (REV1) for auction on their site as part of their “Steve Jobs and the Apple Computer Revolution” auctions lot. The Motherboard auction started at $500 but is expected to draw bids of over $5,000. It is currently unknown what the actual source of the board is, however, internal speculation is that this is one of the rate Apple II boards which were part of the famed Tony Diaz…

About 15 years ago, Eric Shephard had a grand idea for advancing the Apple IIgs. The idea was to revolutionize the Apple IIGS computer allowing it to communicate seamlessly with other computers. Well that dream has finally been realized. Stephen Heumann announced during his Kansasfest 2024 presentation the initial public release of the new SMB FST for GS/OS 6.0x, now allowing the sharing of Apple IIgs Files, file types and the associated resource forks. SMB FST for GS/OS Version 1.0…

From our friend Jeremy Rand over at Rand-emonium Software: This is a new desk accessory for the Apple IIgs which solves Wordle puzzles for you. Rather than being the game, this can be used to solve the puzzle for you by telling you the best guesses (hopefully). It will give you its first guess of a five letter word. Then, you should click on each letter to set each to the correct colour: Note that if the letter appears multiple…

A collaboration between Stefan Wessels and the venerable Brutal Deluxe Software has produced a new version of the 1982 arcade game, Time Pilot, for the Apple IIgs. The original release of the program did not include audio and had a few minor glitches which were worked through both in real time and offline. The new version of the program now includes the fully qualified Audio and also fixes a glitch associated with the 1940’s level Bomber which was lagging when…

Joshua Bell has announced the the latest pre-release of the Apple II Desktop, version 1.4 Beta 2, a Graphical User Interface operating system for the Apple II. This release marks a significant milestone in enhancing the user experience for Apple II enthusiasts, offering a range of new features, bug fixes, and improvements. As always, it is essential to use beta software with caution, as it is still in the testing phase. Try It Now To experience the latest features of…

Brandon Robert has announced a major update to the JACE Apple II Emulator for Java. JACE 3.0 requires user to have Java version 17 installed and will emulate the Apple II with the following addon and peripheral specifications: According to the author, JACE is a mature cycle-accurate emulation of an Apple //e computer. The full library of software for that series is 100% compatible with this emulator, as well as many popular hardware add-ons. Some of the other features of…

For those users still running their retro macs, this is another return to normalcy for you. Weatherbot is an app specifically made for users running Macs with Mac OS 7 – 10.11 (El Capitan) which will provide the 7 day forecast to your desktop. Some of the Features include: There are three versions of the app: One for the 68K Mac, the PPC and the Intel based machines up to Mac OS X 10.11. System requirements for the Weatherbot app…

The Ample graphical interface for Mac OS X has been updated. Ample 59 with its retro Apple II, Apple II clone and Retro Mac series primary focus, has been updated to include the items included in the MAME 0.267 emulation system. The Ample interface has been updated recently to also include Atari, Tandy, Dragon and Oric computer platforms. Ample 59 can be downloaded from the Ample Github page at:https://github.com/ksherlock/ample

MacEffects has announced that that the BOOTi Hard Drive card for the Apple II computer is once again available through the MacEffects website. BOOTi is a Hard Drive emulator card which simulates a block device on the Apple II. MacEffects is best know in the Apple and Macintosh communities for their clear cases and special replacement keyboards. For more information or to purchase the BOOTi card, check out the MacEffects website at:https://maceffects.com/products/maceffects-booti-hard-drive-emulator-for-apple-ii-series

Ciderpress II, the command line based version of the Ciderpress App for Windows has been updated to version 1.02. Included in this release are the following changes: The full Installation instructions for the App can be found on the GitHub page at: https://github.com/fadden/CiderPress2/blob/main/Install.md The following Installation instructions are a brief version for those already familiar with the system: There are pre-built binaries for 32-bit Windows, 64-bit Windows, 64-bit Mac OS, and 64-bit Linux. Downloads with _fd are framework-dependent, meaning you…