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Author Topic: SOFTDISK  (Read 5600 times)
The Romero
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« on: October 26, 2003, 10:00:00 AM »
Softdisk was a company started in 1981 in Shreveport, Louisiana and at first it published Apple II programs collected on a disk.  You subscribed for 6-months or a year and each month you got a disk full of ... stuff.

Later, Softdisk started adding disks for other platforms like C64, Mac, Apple //gs and PC.  The PC disk was the most successful.

I started working at Softdisk in 1989 on the PC disk.  I wrote several programs for it, several were games but most were utilities.  Here's the list (not published anywhere else before):

Magic Boxes (A2 to PC game port)
Twilight Treasures (A2 to PC game port)
Pyramids of Egypt (A2 to PC game port)
Instaview (PC TSR file viewer)
Speedview (PC file viewer)
Blank-It (PC TSR screen blanker)
Chime (PC TSR utility)
How To Weigh An Elephant (A2 to PC game port)
Same Or Different (A2 to PC game port)
Speedbrake (PC TSR utility to slow your comp down)
Sub Stalker (A2 game)
Dangerous Dave (PC game)
Double Dangerous Dave (A2 game)
Zappa Roids (PC game)
Zappa Roids (A2 game)
Alfredo's Stupendous Surprise (A2 "game")
Eskimo Jo (prototype/never published)
Pixel Puzzle Maker (PC utility)
Dinosorcerer (A2 to PC game port)
MouseIt (PC TSR to use mouse in programs w/o mouse support - thanks Frenkel)
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that's before the Gamer's Edge games like Slordax, Shadow Knights, etc.

In my career I've written an INSANE amount of utilities to make games.  The list is probably as long as the list of games I've made.
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John Romero
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Kyuna
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« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2003, 10:01:00 AM »
Oh, I see.  Thanks for the information.  I thought "softdisk" was another term for "floppy disk" or "CD" or "zip disk" or some other sort of disk/disc.
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"The last thing I need are ya blokes tellin' me what I need!" - Andy Capp

"I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime, in darkness surround me, shores of a solar sea...Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun, sleeping, weeping, with you..." - Sleeping Sun, Nightwish
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« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2003, 10:50:00 AM »
I remember it was mentioned quite a lot in 'Masters of Doom'.

That book maybe is my fav book of all time (so far)  
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Brick_Sledge
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« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2003, 11:17:00 AM »
I don't have any of John's Apple II games.

I do have one by Tom Hall though, Recollect (a Beatles quiz).
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Kyuna
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« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2003, 12:47:00 PM »
I don't have ANY Apple games.  I don't even know what the heck the Apple II is.
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"The last thing I need are ya blokes tellin' me what I need!" - Andy Capp

"I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime, in darkness surround me, shores of a solar sea...Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun, sleeping, weeping, with you..." - Sleeping Sun, Nightwish
The Romero
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« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2003, 07:34:00 PM »
Well, when I put my Dangerous Dave section together, I'll be posting the A2 version for everyone to play.  And a link to the best A2 emulator (link is on the site's main page).
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John Romero
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« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2003, 07:36:00 PM »
Heh, that would be pretty cool. I never played Dangerous Dave, it was really before I got into computer games. I've only read about it.
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Kyuna
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« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2003, 07:40:00 PM »
At least you're one up from me.  I've never heard of Dangerous Dave.
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"The last thing I need are ya blokes tellin' me what I need!" - Andy Capp

"I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime, in darkness surround me, shores of a solar sea...Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun, sleeping, weeping, with you..." - Sleeping Sun, Nightwish
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« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2003, 07:44:00 PM »
http://rome.ro/article_saga_dave.htm

It's a good read. You should also read some more pieces that focus on Mr. Romero. Especially the piece about the Daikatana development, and Masters of Doom. They're really good reads that go in-depth on his achievements, creative genius, and other topics.
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Kyuna
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« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2003, 08:03:00 PM »
I'll read it later.  Right now, I've more important stuff to read.

O-Chem, Civ, Law and Bio.
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"The last thing I need are ya blokes tellin' me what I need!" - Andy Capp

"I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime, in darkness surround me, shores of a solar sea...Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun, sleeping, weeping, with you..." - Sleeping Sun, Nightwish
SpaceMarine
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« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2003, 04:42:00 AM »
Dangerous Dave...good games.

DD in the Haunted Mansion is my favorite.
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JohnRomeroWorshiper
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« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2003, 09:48:00 PM »
John's got such an impressive career, ... it's not even funny.
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Kyuna
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« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2003, 09:50:00 PM »
Well, if you have a net worth of $ 10 million (which is the info I've received from one of the links on these boards), you probably have the career to show for it.
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"The last thing I need are ya blokes tellin' me what I need!" - Andy Capp

"I wish for this nighttime to last for a lifetime, in darkness surround me, shores of a solar sea...Oh, how I wish to go down with the sun, sleeping, weeping, with you..." - Sleeping Sun, Nightwish
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« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2003, 10:24:00 AM »
Aww yeah, Softdisks were the win! I remember getting those in the mail then heading over to my preacher's house...he always had a beefier PC than I. Good times!
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« Reply #14 on: November 03, 2003, 06:01:00 AM »
John Romero also made MouseIt, a TSR that let you use your mouse in programs that don't include built-in mouse support. It's on Big Blue Disk 47.
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