Seattle, Washington — November 23, 2018 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and Jeff Koftinoff are proud to announce the immediate availability of the first manual for his 1984 game Cater Killer.
Cater Killer is a multi-level action arcade game for the Apple II. The scenario is that you are alone in a world populated by Cater Killers which are very hazardous to your health. You must take food away from the baby Cater Killers and if you get all eight foodstuffs, you advance to the next level.
Availability
Cater Killer is available through the A.P.P.L.E. bookstore with production and fulfillment by Lulu.com. A disk image for the game is available on the Apps page.
Features
- Can be played with keyboard or joystick.
- There are three screens and several levels.
- Written in 100% 6502 assembly language.
- The six page manual is the first produced for this game.
Author
Jeff Koftinoff’s father, Peter Koftinoff, was an avid HAM radio operator and electronics hobbyist. During a trip from British Columbia visiting family in California, they found the original Apple II at the Byte Shop in 1978. Jeff was 9 years old and his life was forever changed. Devouring Steve Wozniak’s “Big Red Book” and the assembly code listings and schematics within, he dove head first into this grand puzzle. Soon, other people in the small town of Grand Forks, BC wanted to know where they could also purchase an Apple II, so the Koftinoff family started to sell Apple computers in Grand Forks for the Byte Shop in Vancouver BC. This turned into the Kootenay Boundary Computer Center, which was probably second personal computer store in British Columba.
Jeff joined the Call-A.P.P.L.E. computer club and when he was 10 years old contributed his first published articles to Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine. After many hours playing games written in Integer BASIC and AppleSoft BASIC, he was influenced directly by the game “Evolution” by Don Mattrick from Distinctive Software which changed the gaming landscape for the Apple II. Jeff learned to write in 6502 assembly with the mini-assembler at F666G, expanded to the Hayden Assembler, and finally the Big Mac assembler with which he created the “Cater Killer” video game published by Call-A.P.P.L.E. in 1984.
A fond memory was actually meeting the magical Val Golding who introduced the Apple Lisa in Renton, Washington. Jeff then became interested in MIDI and created live MIDI software for Atari ST and started his own company. From MIDI patch editing software for Roland Japan, SMPTE synchronization for Otari RADAR digital audio recorder, the Internet Filter for Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Digital Signal Processing for Level Control Systems and Meyer Sound, Jeff’s company was always working with exciting contracts. Eventually, Jeff focused on hard real-time systems and digital audio network transport so he became involved in the IEEE Audio Video Bridging / Time Sensitive Networking work groups collaborating with other experts and editing the IEEE standards. In 2015, Jeff shut down his company and moved to California to work at Apple on the next set of amazing technologies.
Producers
Brian Wiser — A producer of books, films, games, and events, as well as an Apple consultant, historian and archivist. Designer, editor, and co-producer of dozens of books including: Nibble Viewpoints: Business Insights From The Computing Revolution, Cyber Jack: The Adventures of Robert Clardy and Synergistic Software, Synergistic Software: The Early Games, Graphically Speaking: Enhanced Edition, What’s Where in the Apple: Enhanced Edition, and The WOZPAK Special Edition: Steve Wozniak’s Apple-1 & Apple II Computers. Producer/Director of the documentary film “Done The Impossible: The Fans’ Tale of Firefly & Serenity“, his Browncoat Cruise convention with Firefly cast, and an extra in the movie “Serenity.” Co-producer of Beagle Bros and Applied Engineering websites, the retro iOS game Structris, and co-producer/writer for CallAPPLE.org and Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine. Brian is also the author of The Etch-a-Sketch and Other Fun Programs.
Bill Martens — Apple historian and enthusiast, programmer, President of Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and co-producer of Call-A.P.P.L.E. magazine, and books like: Cyber Jack, Synergistic Software: The Early Games, Nibble Viewpoints, The WOZPAK Special Edition, and What’s Where in the Apple: Enhanced Edition. Bill also co-produced and co-programmed the retro iOS game Structris. Bill is the author of ApPilot/W1, Beyond Quest, The Anatomy of an EAMON, and multiple EAMon adventure games. He is a systems engineer specializing in office infrastructures and has been programming since 1976. And he is the production editor for the A.P.P.L.E. website CallAPPLE.org, writes science fiction novels in his spare time, and is a retired semi-pro football player.
Publisher
Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) has been a global Apple user group since 1978, with membership peaking near 50,000 in 1985. Offering many services, A.P.P.L.E. is also a book publisher and game developer, and has produced dozens of new book titles since 2013 and over 100 Apple software titles.
A.P.P.L.E. published the The WOZPAK Special Edition – a detailed book containing Steve Wozniak’s restored handwritten notes and printouts about his Apple II computer, as well as forewords from Steve Wozniak and other Apple legends. They also publish books such as: Graphically Speaking: Enhanced Edition by Mark Pelczarski, Tome of Copy Protection, Cyber Jack: The Adventures of Robert Clardy and Synergistic Software, Synergistic Software: The Early Games, Nibble Viewpoints: Business Insights From the Computing Revolution by Mike Harvey, What’s Where in The Apple: Enhanced Edition, The Colossal Computer Cartoon Book: Enhanced Edition by David H. Ahl, A.P.P.L.E. 1978 and 1979 magazine Compendiums, and the retro iOS game Structris.
Press information is available at: www.callapple.org/press
