Category: Apple II

Following the Kickstarter, I have been able to iterate on the BurgerDisk’s design, and made a very similar and different hard drive for the Smartport-enabled Apple II computers. It is very similar in the sense that it has the same features: simple, SD-based storage, daisy-chainable. It is very different because it is as small as possible, at 46x46mm. I hope it might appeal to people who prefer a minimally-cluttered desk. This video shows how to install it between the computer…

The A2kit version 4.1 is released. A2kit is an open source, script-able command line interface for disk image and language manipulations, and the engine behind a number of editor extensions for Apple II languages.  This update adds a “smart copy” command that allows you to shuttle files between disk images and normal storage with less typing and less thinking. It works much like the cp command familiar to linux users, but it will analyze the disk images and the files…

From the europlus zone blog: [A]lthough it’s not far away, I’m very happy to announce the date for the next WOzFest: WOzFest RC 21/10 will be held on Saturday 2 October 2021, starting at midday Sydney time (UTC+10:00). And, to top off the year, I can also announce that WOzFest 22 will be held on Saturday 30 October 2021, starting at midday Sydney time (UTC+11:00). Why two WOzFests in one month? Well the name for ’21 should give the clue – I’m entering RetroChallenge 21/10, and it seemed a good way to…

At KansasFest in 2019, Mark Pelczarski (Penguin Software president) gave me a few boxes of disks for which he no longer had the equipment to read, but said that according to the labels, “There might be some interesting stuff on these,” wondering if the disks were still even readable and if anything could be extracted. There was indeed “interesting stuff” on the disks and here’s a small preview:  draft images from an unreleased adventure game, and a fan’s German translation of the…

From the europlus zone blog: Hot on the heels of WOzFest 18 I’m very happy to announce the date for the next WOzFest: WOzFest 19 will be held on Saturday 1 May 2021, starting at midday Sydney time (UTC+10:00). The theme for WOzFest 19 is “Freedom” – a good friend and frequent WOzFest attendee retires the day before, so I thought what better way to celebrate than to get together with Apple ][ enthusiasts?! I’ll leave it to attendees to interpret the theme as they see fit….

From the europlus zone blog: [I’m happy to announce] four test sheets covering the major revisions of Apple ][ and ][+ motherboards: WOzFest Labs Apple II Motherboard Test Sheet – Revision 0 WOzFest Labs Apple II Motherboard Test Sheet – Revision 1-4 WOzFest Labs Apple II Motherboard Test Sheet – Revision 7 WOzFest Labs Apple II Motherboard Test Sheet – Revision RFI The sheets show most major components, including product codes, which motherboard product codes are relevant for that revision, areas to…

From the europlus zone blog: I’m very happy to announce the date for the next WOzFest: WOzFest 18 will be held on Saturday 20 March 2021, starting at midday Sydney time (UTC+11:00). The theme for WOzFest 18 is “Community Service” – I’m asking attendees to bring something to upload to the Internet, to update an online resource, to do some Applesauce imaging on the night, to do some scanning, to interview a luminary via Skype…anything which contributes back to the retrocomputing community (it doesn’t even have to…

The 6502 Workshop team is thrilled to announce that Nox Archaist has been released! Journey with us back in time to the 1980s an experience an adventure inspired by classics like Ultima and Bard’s Tale. Lord British himself has traveled to Vali, the world of Nox Archaist, to help thee on thy quest! We would love to put a collector’s edition box in your hands, featuring cover art by Denis Loubet, or set you up with the Digital Edition. Order…

IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE From back in 1984 when our lead developer Mark Lemmert first had the idea to write a tile-based Apple II RPG, to the founding of 6502 Workshop in March of 2016, all the way through today, the journey has been amazing! But now, we’ve got another exciting date to add to that list… WHAT DATE, YOU ASK? None other than the official release date of Nox Archaist! On December 12, 2020, all backers will receive…

From the europlus zone blog: I’m very happy to announce the date for the next WOzFest: WOzFest 17 Oct will be held on Saturday 17 October 2020, starting at midday Sydney time (UTC+11:00). An easy date to remember! And Steve in Brisbane has confirmed QFest 17 will be held at the same time – double the Apple ][ goodness! The theme for WOzFest 17 Oct is, as it was for WOzFest SWEET16, “Community” – having supportive communities is important at the best of times, but especially so at the moment,…

Seattle, Washington — July 24, 2020 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) is proud to announce the availability of a new manual for “Higher Text Plus” written by Ron Aldrich and Darrell Aldrich in 1980. Generate upper and lower case text in a variety of typefaces, sizes, and colors from your programs for display on the Apple II hi-resolution screen.  Features an easy-to-use editor for creation of your own unique character sets, with over 90 fonts included.  Several additional…

Seattle, Washington — July 24, 2020 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) is proud to announce the availability of a new manual for “Ampermanager: Amper Soft & DOS Manager” written by Rick Sutcliffe in 1983. Ampermanager enhances the BASIC programming language on the Apple II by interfacing machine language routines directly to Applesoft with the ampersand (&) command.   Three additional utilities will help you write EXEC files, launch commands from menus, and read or write disk blocks in…

Seattle, Washington — July 24, 2020 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) is proud to announce the availability of a new manual for “ProCMD: The Commander” written by Glen Bredon in 1987. From the author who gave us Big Mac comes ProCMD: The Commander – a set of ProDOS utilities and 25 new ProDOS commands that greatly increase the power and flexibility of ProDOS in your Apple II. And you can create your own modules! Additional commands are included…

Seattle, Washington — July 24, 2020 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) is proud to announce the availability of a new manual for “ProZAP: A ProDOS Block Read/Write Utility” written by Gary Charpentier, Val J. Golding, Greg Kielian, and David Sparks in 1984. ProZAP is a ProDOS block read/write utility that is your key to unlocking many of the mysteries of Apple II disk directories, files and programs.  It uses intrinsic ProDOS routines to read, edit and write any…

Target Date All of us here at 6502 Workshop hope that you all had a great holiday season! We look forward to the new year and putting Nox Archaist in your hands. On that note, as we draw closer to release, we’ve gotten a much stronger idea of when we’ll be able to ship the game. We have every major remaining step defined and documented, and will continue to give you regular progress updates. In fact, starting with this update and…

Mike Harvey, the founder and publisher of Nibble, has passed away. Born May 25, 1938, Mike was best known for his Apple II publication Nibble Magazine as well as his Macintosh and PC magazines Nibble Mac and PC Hands On. A very successful author, Mike already had a successful career in high technology and computers before the morning when he decided to start Nibble. He had spent five years in sales with IBM and had the top sales record in…

A fragment from the lost manual of the Order of Nox Archaist Ages ago a group of philosopher adventurers discovered a powerful energy emanating from deep underground. They learned to harness this energy with their minds and project it to kinetic and psychological effect, which we now call magic. They called themselves the Order of Nox Archaist, and members were granted the use of the title “Nox”. Initially, the power was very weak on the Overworld and could only be…

Crow Cousins, the computing family who recently released a 6502, 65C02, and 65816 printable opcodes poster in true Beagle-esque fashion, announced the general availability of SpellWielder for the enhanced Apple //e, //c, and IIgs. The action / adventure game, which allows you to control the game’s protagonist as he sets out on a mission to rid the land of evil, brings the classic NES / Zelda type of look and feel to the Apple II for the first time. Explore…

The 6502 Workshop team is pleased to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for the boxed edition of Nox Archaist is now live! Click here to pledge! What’s better than a brand new, hand-coded 8-bit classic 80s era tile based RPG?  Answer: One that comes in an awesome collector’s edition box with lots of cool physical goodies! What’s even better than that?  When the game will also feature an NPC appearance by Lord British, the alter ego of Richard Garriott, the creator of the Ultima series of…

It’s official! Nox Archaist will have at least beta support for Mockingboard music when released. For more details check out the blog post here! https://www.6502workshop.com/2019/04/mockingboard-support-update.html