tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post4805545974027889793..comments2024-03-18T21:14:09.798-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 79: Beneath Apple Manor (1978)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-7914155517015185122022-08-12T23:05:20.278-04:002022-08-12T23:05:20.278-04:00This is the first Computer RPG ever so it deserves...This is the first Computer RPG ever so it deserves a 10 just for that. The developers of Rogue must have played it the simularities are too close. I actually enjoyed this better than any Rogue game knockoff. Thanks Don you are a true Pioneer.Jamoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11875607220259234048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-83011630938463990722022-05-29T10:09:08.672-04:002022-05-29T10:09:08.672-04:00I know I'm responding to a decade-old thread, ...I know I'm responding to a decade-old thread, but just in case someone else wanders over here and wants a little more explanation on this topic, 1-bit sound isn't quite as limiting as you might think. It's a bit confusing to read about at a glance though because the term "1-bit" in this context doesn't mean quite the same thing as "8-bit" or "24-bit" or something in the context of sound hardware.<br /><br />I have the sound card in my computer right now set to do 32-bit sound at a 48 kHz sample rate. That means 48,000 times a second, the sound card fetches a 32-bit quantity that says how far in or out the speaker cone should go. In this context, the number of bits tells you how many different positions you can put the speaker cone in, so 32-bit imples 2^32 or approximately four and a quarter billion different positions available for the speaker cone (a bit overkill in terms of human perception actually :P ). A smaller number of bits implies more noise in the signal, because the different positions you can put the speaker in get further apart, resulting in more "jerky" speaker movement.<br /><br />In the case of the Spectrum's "1-bit sound," you can actually specify two parameters: pitch and on/off. When you turn on the sound, the computer plays a square wave through the speakers at the pitch you have currently set. This is a higher-level interface than a modern sound card provides, because you're not saying directly where the speaker cone should go at any given moment. Instead, the speaker cone switches between all-the-way-out and all-the-way-in at a frequency you specify. You might call this "one-and-a-half-bit" sound in a sense, because you actually have three available positions for the speaker (in, out, and center).<br /><br />It's true that this doesn't give you much control over dynamics—naïvely, you can either play a loud square wave or silence. However, if you change the frequency very fast, you can actually make a wide variety of different sounds. Since the signal is a square wave, you can kind of approximate any sound you would play on a modern computer by saying that >50% out = all the way out, <50% out or in = off, and >50% in = all the way in, and change the frequency and on/off of the beeper in the right patterns to achieve that. It can take some clever sound programming and a lot of the available CPU time, and you'll get a quite loud and noisy approximation, but that's still much better than you might expect from something people call "1-bit."<br /><br />What's more, as Giuseppe points out above, you can actually go even further in some cases. Obviously the speaker cone can't actually move instantaneously between center and all the way out or in; it has to travel through space to those positions, even if it does this very fast. If the hardware is performant enough, you can tell the speaker to start moving out and then stop it before it gets all the way there and let it start to fall back, and that lets you specify positions between just in, out, and center, effectively increasing the bit depth. At that point, you have a setup approaching the capabilities of a modern sound card, although the computer may not have many cycles left open for other things.<br /><br />I looked around a bit and I think <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZnOd_f9YjQ" rel="nofollow">this video</a> nicely demonstrates the expressive range "1-bit" sound can have. You can hear the music is still pretty crunchy compared to a modern sound card, and I bet a computer like the Spectrum would struggle to also run a realtime game while playing tunes like that, but it shows how far you can take a beeper.Zoë Sparkshttps://milky.flowersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-28695799106109553802022-05-09T13:26:20.174-04:002022-05-09T13:26:20.174-04:00There is a 2014 interview with Don Worth about BAM...There is a 2014 interview with Don Worth about BAM here:<br />https://spillhistorie.no/interview-with-don-worth-about-beneath-apple-manor/.<br /><br />They also have a couple lines from Kevet Duncombe on Moria<br />(https://spillhistorie.no/kevet-duncombe-on-moria/) used for an extensive article on the game in late 2016 (in Norvegian).Buscanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-85087547885441212792020-02-16T11:36:46.825-05:002020-02-16T11:36:46.825-05:00Get a copy of system master disk here : https://gi...Get a copy of system master disk here : https://github.com/cmosher01/Apple-II-System-Masters, then load a dos330 disk in drive 1 and the game in drive 2. At the prompt type "CATALOG,D2", then RUN BENEATH APPLE MANOR, you should enter teh game.<br />Fred. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25719807671370081532019-04-23T19:37:24.365-04:002019-04-23T19:37:24.365-04:00First of all, congratulations for your blog, M. CR...First of all, congratulations for your blog, M. CRPG Addict. Thanks to you, I've found an intelligent list of "what's we can call a RPG" for the early video games. Your passion is contagious! I'm wondering if M. Lucas Delfino has succeeded to emulate "Beneath Apple Manor" on AppleWin... When I try to run the three or four versions of the game I've found in the net, the only thing I got is a "language not available" message. I didn't find any help on the net. Can you help me? Thanks!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18364524923089582012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-18087733201364144472016-11-29T15:50:22.537-05:002016-11-29T15:50:22.537-05:00You want to download the AppleWin emulator first. ...You want to download the AppleWin emulator first. As to where I got the file, it was probably on the Asimov server. If you e-mail me offline I'll send you the file.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-51257878064986068562016-11-29T15:45:16.640-05:002016-11-29T15:45:16.640-05:00Hello!
I want to tell you that your blog inspire...Hello! <br /><br />I want to tell you that your blog inspired me to start my own cRPG journey through the years, though mine will be considerably shorter (260 games from 1975 to 2016, even less if you don't count in expansions).<br /><br />I wanted to ask you how did you manage to play the original version of Beneath Apple Manor, because I'm having a hard time finding the original game online and the proper way to run it.<br /><br />Thank you for your time!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05678807362505306453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-55686115671319790172014-12-29T18:05:33.770-05:002014-12-29T18:05:33.770-05:00Chet: Depends entirely on the style. For example, ...Chet: Depends entirely on the style. For example, Therion would work quite well as dungeon crawling music, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY-EOYJQMMY<br /><br />Also, most of their music works quite well thematically with RPGs. Another band my Dad introduced me to is Rainbow: Ronnie James Dio's first band.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-57573085693991800912014-12-28T21:16:30.588-05:002014-12-28T21:16:30.588-05:00Well that depends entirely on what kind of metal y...Well that depends entirely on what kind of metal you're listening to. Some of it is very guttural, fast, aggressive, some of it is uplifting, symphonic, some of it has a relaxing, folksy type of beat to it, and yet some is basically just ambient drone. You'll never run out of different styles of metal. =)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16698091173959436473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-54436896705208474772012-12-20T09:19:27.386-05:002012-12-20T09:19:27.386-05:00I remember the game Echelon featured digitized spe...I remember the game Echelon featured digitized speech on the PC speaker. It was pretty neat at the time.monkeyfungushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06214285597402730026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-68948776204885276612012-12-13T17:01:11.455-05:002012-12-13T17:01:11.455-05:00You might be right - unless it's in the mornin...You might be right - unless it's in the morning before I've had my coffee.Don Worthhttp://worth.bol.ucla.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-54689617309163824832012-12-13T15:57:17.077-05:002012-12-13T15:57:17.077-05:00Thanks, Don. I didn't realize there was always...Thanks, Don. I didn't realize there was always a dragon in that room.<br /><br />As you all probably don't have to be told, heavy metal isn't my thing anyway, but wouldn't you find it a little too frenetic for dungeon-crawling? I would think something more like an andante march would work better.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-6127562632361055842012-12-13T15:27:10.516-05:002012-12-13T15:27:10.516-05:00Guess I'll finish the arc and recommend Blind ...Guess I'll finish the arc and recommend Blind Guardian. You might want to check Nightfall in Middle-Earth, but all of the albums have lots of LOTR themed songs (among other recognizable fantasy series and myths). <br /><br />Quite fitting to CRPGs, having made the theme for Sacred 2 and appearing in bonus quest. Random Encounternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-55662435837463984492012-12-13T07:44:21.961-05:002012-12-13T07:44:21.961-05:00I'll have to check Iced Earth and Rhapsody out...I'll have to check Iced Earth and Rhapsody out it seems. It's not the first time someone's recommended me these bands.<br /><br />I was thinking the other night there's a song that fits perfectly with Chet's experience of losing his best Nethack character yet - Children of Bodom's Every Time I Die. Final line of the song: "it gets more painful every time I die". Giuseppenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-16452816583648011962012-12-12T21:16:45.759-05:002012-12-12T21:16:45.759-05:00I prefer Rhapsody's later stuff myself. Demons...I prefer Rhapsody's later stuff myself. Demons & Wizards is also quite good. However, I'd have to say Therion's more orchestral stuff goes with CRPGs better.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71178924044197509382012-12-12T20:52:46.245-05:002012-12-12T20:52:46.245-05:00Well I don't think it's silly!
When I'...Well I don't think it's silly!<br /><br />When I'm mining ore nodes in LOTRO I generally listen to recent Iron Maiden albums - Dance of Death, Brave New World, Final Frontier, etc. But I suppose a more appropriate album might be Horror Show by Iced Earth - maybe the Dracula track. Or there is always Rhapsody's "Symphony of Enchanted Lands" if you like symphonic power metal. Nice red dragon on the cover. :-)Don Worthhttp://worth.bol.ucla.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-28832222271261316672012-12-12T20:44:22.117-05:002012-12-12T20:44:22.117-05:00A quick and, I admit, silly question: can you by a...A quick and, I admit, silly question: can you by any chance recommend a metal song or two that you think would work nicely with the kind of dungeon crawling Chet/CRPG Addict has been doing lately in BAM (and Nethack)?<br /><br />I don't think metal is exactly Chet's cup of tea, but me, on other hand...Giuseppenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-52927852852469279972012-12-12T20:29:13.046-05:002012-12-12T20:29:13.046-05:00Wow, I know that I was born in the wrong decade to...Wow, I know that I was born in the wrong decade to fully appreciate it, but that Dragonbone can easily double as some kind of real-life Wand of Nerditude +5. Or as whatever Chet was thinking of, I'm sure. Impressive.Giuseppenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-49377346832793370462012-12-12T20:12:21.759-05:002012-12-12T20:12:21.759-05:00Nothing to prevent it. Altho you have to get your ...Nothing to prevent it. Altho you have to get your character up in experience to match dragons since the golden apple is always in a dragon's treasure chest. In fact I had written up a list of strategies in the manual and one of them was "If you get the magic item on a level, go to the next level down immediately since there is only one magic item per level". Same with if you lose permanent strength or intelligence - go "down" right away since levels are constructed to be balanced to your current stats. When I play BAM I usually use DF=5 since that's the one I play-tested the game on. I actually added the other DFs after the fact and never really play-tested them (much). And when I play I like to see how much I can avoid combat and "game" my game. Sneak in under a chest and leave the monster parked above it by resting (they are too dumb to move further away from you and around to get at you) or aggro them and lead them over to the other side of a large room, then run back - the monster gives up and goes to sleep after 5 moves. Stuff like that. See pp 19-21 here: http://www.mocagh.org/firstera/applemanor-alt2-manual.pdfDon Worthhttp://worth.bol.ucla.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-89122572687326403582012-12-12T19:16:49.102-05:002012-12-12T19:16:49.102-05:00Hey, Don. You're talking to some guys in their...Hey, Don. You're talking to some guys in their 30s and 40s who are spending untold hours per week playing computer games, so you're in good company.<br /><br />If you happen to check back in, can you confirm something for me? I was thinking about how difficult it must be to play BAM on the hardest difficulty, but I realized that a player could probably just choose to rocket down to the 40-50th level without any development or fighting, and he might get extremely lucky and find the golden apple in a chest right next to the entrance. Is that possible, or is there something built into the game that would prevent that?CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50779875683323039002012-12-12T19:04:26.076-05:002012-12-12T19:04:26.076-05:00I guess I will never grow up, eh?
W/re the Dragon...I guess I will never grow up, eh?<br /><br />W/re the Dragonbone, I remember I had to fix one of the LEDs on it once - required a trip to Radio Shack and some soldering. It's basically a piece of PVC pipe with a circuit board stuffed inside it with foam to hold it in place. I think it's a 555 timer chip. There was a later model that was a bit more polished looking, but I like my old-school dragonbone. There's one for sale on EBAY right now.Don Worthhttp://worth.bol.ucla.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-58378677060520991872012-12-12T18:05:59.500-05:002012-12-12T18:05:59.500-05:00I don't know any specifics on how they could a...I don't know any specifics on how they could achieve different volume levels, but here are a few more bits (haha) of information from another article which shed some light:<br /><br />"In the middle to late 1980's, software developers discovered that you could play digitized sound through the PC speaker without additional hardware by utilizing Pulse-Width-Modulation, which toggles the PC's internal speaker faster than it can physically move to simulate positions between fully on and fully off. (How's that for a clever hack?) Since you could get reasonable output of 6-bit digitized sound this way, some game developers decided to make use of it, either for sound effects (which was common) or for title music (which was rare)."<br /><br />"They were also cool from a technical standpoint: The programmer had successfully figured out how to output digitized sound through a device that was not designed to support such an action. How they discovered the technique of toggling the PC's internal speaker faster than it can physically move is beyond me. (Who was the first person to think of trying that?) Plus, the musicians themselves pulled some clever tricks, such as dynamic compression (in the sense of making quiet sounds louder, not the "pkzip" variety) and repeating sections, to not only make the title music better audible through the speaker, but also to make it longer."<br /><br />Anyway, it's amazing what they could achieve out of this simple device. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1eA9egHmTU" rel="nofollow"><b>HERE</b></a>'s a short rendition of Toto's Africa played through the PC speaker on a Windows 3.11 machine. Sure, it sounds very-very rough and I'm sure that computer has a very small PC speaker (most did), but it's impressive that this is possible at all.Giuseppenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-29605727910963026872012-12-12T17:14:34.751-05:002012-12-12T17:14:34.751-05:00I remember those, I saw ads for them in my Dad'...I remember those, I saw ads for them in my Dad's old Dragon magazines. There were two of them, the Dragonbone and Dragontooth.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-38873382230180095342012-12-12T17:11:17.348-05:002012-12-12T17:11:17.348-05:00I didn't read the rest of his page.
I have no...I didn't read the rest of his page.<br /><br />I have no idea what to say about the "dragonbone" except that its name and shape suggest something other than an automated dice roller.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-86813195016437007102012-12-12T16:31:39.697-05:002012-12-12T16:31:39.697-05:00Aside Don Worth's other accomplishments in his...Aside Don Worth's other accomplishments in his life, I have to appreciate his taste of music and cars. \,,/Random Encounternoreply@blogger.com