He did what he must because he can
January 12, 2017 1:59 PM Subscribe
Portal Ported to Apple II. Well, not so much ported as re-imagined in Basic on an Apple II. It's only the first and last levels and end credits, but it is playable and includes an Apple II version of "Still Alive." Complete with a play-through video, source code, and a link to an online emulator if you want to try it out without installing anything.
It was made by Vince Weaver who previously gave a similar treatment to Kerbal Space Program with KSP for Apple II.
It was made by Vince Weaver who previously gave a similar treatment to Kerbal Space Program with KSP for Apple II.
I like the "CRACKED BY DEATER" on the title screen. That detail would absolutely have been on 90% of the copies played in 1987.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2017 [16 favorites]
Ahh, the good old slow-as-molasses HPLOT and XDRAW commands, which could scale and rotate. Applesoft was speed-crippled from the get-go (let's use floating point by default for everything on an 8-bit processor!)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:34 PM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 2:34 PM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Apple ][+ yes, but didn't the Apple ][ use Integer BASIC hand-coded by Woz?
posted by zippy at 3:07 PM on January 12, 2017
posted by zippy at 3:07 PM on January 12, 2017
@zippy integer basic was on the original ][, and was still there on the ][+ etc ... you could switch to it somehow, although I forget the details.
posted by nickzoic at 3:47 PM on January 12, 2017
posted by nickzoic at 3:47 PM on January 12, 2017
The moiré on the end explosion; hello tomb of horrors tunnel my old friend.
posted by fleacircus at 3:48 PM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by fleacircus at 3:48 PM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want you to know that this guy is exactly how I picture every single one of you
posted by beerperson at 3:51 PM on January 12, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by beerperson at 3:51 PM on January 12, 2017 [18 favorites]
Does this work on the Apple IIe card for the Mac? Asking for a friend.
posted by 1adam12 at 4:56 PM on January 12, 2017
posted by 1adam12 at 4:56 PM on January 12, 2017
I want you to know that this guy is exactly how I picture every single one of you
Naw, I'm the huge, loud one in a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. This guy is totally an Ice Bear, where I'm more of a Grizz.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:59 PM on January 12, 2017
Naw, I'm the huge, loud one in a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. This guy is totally an Ice Bear, where I'm more of a Grizz.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:59 PM on January 12, 2017
The Apple ][+ yes, but didn't the Apple ][ use Integer BASIC hand-coded by Woz?
Yep. The Portal program is Applesoft, though. Integer BASIC only had lo-res graphics commands (but had commands to read the paddles/joystick). If you had a 16k card you could load it in place of Applesoft.
The original Apple ][s only sold 40,000 according to Wikipedia.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:02 PM on January 12, 2017
Yep. The Portal program is Applesoft, though. Integer BASIC only had lo-res graphics commands (but had commands to read the paddles/joystick). If you had a 16k card you could load it in place of Applesoft.
The original Apple ][s only sold 40,000 according to Wikipedia.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:02 PM on January 12, 2017
beerperson: "I want you to know that this guy is exactly how I picture every single one of you"
That's lovely, but I can't code my way out of a very wet, extremely translucent paper bag.
posted by Samizdata at 7:44 PM on January 12, 2017
That's lovely, but I can't code my way out of a very wet, extremely translucent paper bag.
posted by Samizdata at 7:44 PM on January 12, 2017
RobotVoodooPower: "The Apple ][+ yes, but didn't the Apple ][ use Integer BASIC hand-coded by Woz?
Yep. The Portal program is Applesoft, though. Integer BASIC only had lo-res graphics commands (but had commands to read the paddles/joystick). If you had a 16k card you could load it in place of Applesoft.
The original Apple ][s only sold 40,000 according to Wikipedia."
Gah. The stupid 16K card emulator in the ][c. Got my hands on one for a summer off school to learn UCSD Pascal. You booted the first disk to load it into the card, then warmbooted/soft rebooted once you had the second disk in place. All good, right?
Except the ][c RAM/16K card emulator would properly reset on a warm boot/soft reboot.
I guess you could say I learned SOMETHING of Pascal that summer. I spent pretty much all summer playing the original Wizardry which WAS in Pascal. Because if I told the family member that lent me the ][c I couldn't learn Pascal, that would have meant all summer with only my VIC-20 for company.
posted by Samizdata at 7:49 PM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yep. The Portal program is Applesoft, though. Integer BASIC only had lo-res graphics commands (but had commands to read the paddles/joystick). If you had a 16k card you could load it in place of Applesoft.
The original Apple ][s only sold 40,000 according to Wikipedia."
Gah. The stupid 16K card emulator in the ][c. Got my hands on one for a summer off school to learn UCSD Pascal. You booted the first disk to load it into the card, then warmbooted/soft rebooted once you had the second disk in place. All good, right?
Except the ][c RAM/16K card emulator would properly reset on a warm boot/soft reboot.
I guess you could say I learned SOMETHING of Pascal that summer. I spent pretty much all summer playing the original Wizardry which WAS in Pascal. Because if I told the family member that lent me the ][c I couldn't learn Pascal, that would have meant all summer with only my VIC-20 for company.
posted by Samizdata at 7:49 PM on January 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want you to know that this guy is exactly how I picture every single one of you
Warm love and unicorns. That's what you need right now.
and...
posted by Benway at 8:35 PM on January 12, 2017
Warm love and unicorns. That's what you need right now.
and...
posted by Benway at 8:35 PM on January 12, 2017
*beep* click-ck-ck-ck-ck-ck-whirrrrrrrr
Hearing that computer start puts me back in seventh grade.
posted by azpenguin at 8:36 PM on January 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hearing that computer start puts me back in seventh grade.
posted by azpenguin at 8:36 PM on January 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is a triumph.
posted by Paladin1138 at 3:53 AM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Paladin1138 at 3:53 AM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
OOH. That sexy, sexy sound of a stepper motor in the floppy drive...
posted by mikelieman at 5:59 AM on January 13, 2017
posted by mikelieman at 5:59 AM on January 13, 2017
I felt embarrassed for him when he initially reached to the right hand side to turn the power on.
My muscle memory was heading to the left.
posted by plinth at 6:59 AM on January 13, 2017
My muscle memory was heading to the left.
posted by plinth at 6:59 AM on January 13, 2017
I've got a stack of Apple II machines sitting in my office. Any thoughts on the best way to play this? It look likes no one makes USB 5.25" floppy drives.
Hmm. I do have a IIc+, which takes 3.5" disks. I wonder if I have a PC with a floppy drive anywhere...
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:14 AM on January 13, 2017
Hmm. I do have a IIc+, which takes 3.5" disks. I wonder if I have a PC with a floppy drive anywhere...
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:14 AM on January 13, 2017
I read though some more of his pages, and it looks like (at least for some projects) he uses this slick CFFA3000 card, which is a USB and Compact Flash adapter, to load code. Sold out, natch, but one or two are on eBay.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:40 AM on January 13, 2017
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:40 AM on January 13, 2017
Floppy Emu might work in its stead, and as a bonus, will work with your classic Macintosh and Lisa 2 systems as well.
posted by tss at 3:12 PM on January 13, 2017
posted by tss at 3:12 PM on January 13, 2017
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posted by ckape at 2:25 PM on January 12, 2017 [3 favorites]