Macintosh Plus/Classic

[miles]

Did any of you guys have those Macintosh Pluses or Classics in the 80s?  My dad's work was all Macintosh for years, so we grew up with them until he changed jobs and had to change to PC (I was born in 79 so my first computer memories are of these).  Remember the ones?  The monitor (black and white, of course) and computer fit into the same little box.  I remember that the word processor had this cool feature that would speak what you typed.  There was also this kickass game called Airborne or something, where you had to shoot paratroopers and aircraft out of the sky?  Lode Runner was another favorite, although I also remember PC versions it seems.

Anyway, what I want to know is, first, do any of you know the game I'm talking about, and is there an emulated or updated version out there somewhere?  And second, I want another word processor that speaks to me what I type.  I get lonely.  Is their something like that too?

[jough]

That Airbourne game sounds like one of the ones that's built-in to the iPod.  That's probably it.

Yeah, I never owned a classic Mac but used them at school.  They were so much better than the PCs of the time.

Of course, I was a Commodore man at home.  Loved Lode Runner for the C64, especially since it had a level constructor so you could make your own levels.

Speaking of the iPod, though, it uses the same font (Chicago) that the old Mac used to use.  It's an old school font, but it still looks great.

[side_show]

I remember that the word processor had this cool feature that would speak what you typed.  ...I want another word processor that speaks to me what I type.  I get lonely.  Is their something like that too?

Yes, I remember this fondly.  I especially remember enjoying making my computer swear at me and speak inapropriatly in general.

I also remember going back to Mac in university when I took film editing, and being really alarmed at how elegant Mac was.

[Nabubrush]

Of course, I was a Commodore man at home.  Loved Lode Runner for the C64, especially since it had a level constructor so you could make your own levels.

I remember that fondly.

[Gimpson]

Of course, I was a Commodore man at home.  Loved Lode Runner for the C64, especially since it had a level constructor so you could make your own levels.

I never played Lode Runner on anything other than an Apple II.  There used to be several of us that would go to the public library and swap games to be played on the Apples there.  I spent many hours in that library playing Wizardry!, Karateka and Lode Runner.  I had a C64 the whole time, but didn't get into games for it until later.

[CortJstr]

Battle Chess pwnz you.

That is all.

[Nabubrush]

Of course, I was a Commodore man at home.  Loved Lode Runner for the C64, especially since it had a level constructor so you could make your own levels.

I never played Lode Runner on anything other than an Apple II.  There used to be several of us that would go to the public library and swap games to be played on the Apples there.  I spent many hours in that library playing Wizardry!, Karateka and Lode Runner.  I had a C64 the whole time, but didn't get into games for it until later.

Sorry, that's what I meant - my Dad was a (very) early adopter. We had an Apple II+, and then a bit later an Apple IIe.

Wizardry/Wolfenstein/Akalabeth/Ultima/Karateka - mmmmmm, good.

I would so love to get a PC version of Odyssey, the compleat apventure for my dad, but I've never seen one. I searched not too long ago fruitlessly.

[V-Adore]

I spent like half my elementary-school experience playing games on the AppleIIe. I think my favorite remains the game about trucking -- of course, now that I want to reminisce about it, I can't remember the name. Road Trip USA? Long Haul USA? I know it ended with "USA"... anyway, it was a trucker sim and taught us some things about commodities.

By middle school, of course, we had Macintoshes and the various crack thereon -- various Trails and The Incredible Machine. Oh, TIM, you were the biggest waste of school time ever.

[CortJstr]

By middle school, of course, we had Macintoshes and the various crack thereon -- various Trails and The Incredible Machine. Oh, TIM, you were the biggest waste of school time ever.

I had The Incredible Machine for DOS. It was like my computer had a party and only Rube Goldberg was invited!

I never could figure out the purpose of the heart-shaped balloons compared to the normal round ones. Or why they didn't burst immediately if the gravity &c was set to outer space.

[Va]

Oh, TIM, you were the biggest waste of school time ever.

Waste of school time?  That's redundant.

[St_Zartan]

OLD SCHOOL GAMERS REPRESENT, YO, ETC

I spent like half my elementary-school experience playing games on the AppleIIe. I think my favorite remains the game about trucking -- of course, now that I want to reminisce about it, I can't remember the name. Road Trip USA? Long Haul USA? I know it ended with "USA"... anyway, it was a trucker sim and taught us some things about commodities.

It was called Crosscountry USA. A few years ago, I searched high and low for a disk image of that damned game, and an emulator in which to run it - only to discover that the fuck*ng thing is unplayable without the documentation. You need to know, like, which cities supply sulfur and whatnot, and how much corn costs in Bayonne, &c.  Also you can drive a long time without sleeping and get into wrecks; this is before ephedrine was widely marketed everywhere in bright green packets as "the Trucker's Friend".

There was also this kickass game called Airborne or something, where you had to shoot paratroopers and aircraft out of the sky?

Actually called Sabotage, in that the little paratroopers would form a human set of stairs, climb up the side of your little turret, and blow it into a million little pieces.

Now here's a game I played for 100% certain back in 1st or 2nd grade that no one remembers - it was for the Apple ][ and it was called, I believe, "Pit". You were a little dude in the bottom of a pit, and you answered math questions until you either (a) climbed out of said pit or (b) a rock fell in and crushed you. The best element of "Pit" was a rattlesnake that sat with you in the bottom of the pit and did nothing except vibrate menacingly. It was awesome.

[V-Adore]

God bless you, Zartan. God bless you.

All I remember about the commodities market is that you can buy peanuts in Macon, Georgia. (I remember this because it was the first time we actually realized that we were supposed to be buying commodities and delivering them places; previous to that, the game had just been, well, a trucker sim. We weren't always the brightest kids.)

[Nabubrush]

Oh my goodness Sabotage. I had completely forgotten that.

[AugustWest]

Since we're talking about Old Skool games, does anybody else remember NukeWar for the C-64?  Kind of like Battleship, only with thermonuclear weapons?

Each side had a grid which represented their country.  During the cold war phase you built Missles, Bomber, Subs and ABM's.  Later, when the hot war started you tried to take our your opponents sites.  As the years went on, the missles became more and more accurate (in the 50's they were hit their designated target about 40% of the time -- in the 80's they were pretty much pinpoint.)

It was a pretty macabre game.  Simple graphics but fun gameplay.  Also, freaky sound effects.  A Flash version would rock.

[St_Zartan]

Since we're talking about Old Skool games, does anybody else remember NukeWar for the C-64?  Kind of like Battleship, only with thermonuclear weapons?

Sadly, my access to C-64's back in the day was extremely limited (a single friend who only had a tape drive [that never worked, so saving our terrific "Adventure Creator" dungeons was the impossible dream] and a cartridge slot), because this sounds like the sort of game that would have owned my life.

I only mention this because I did play Nuclear War. I played this game a lot. It is just as absurd and awesome as the screenshots suggest; try it, won't you?

EDIT: You can't actually download it from that last link, dammit.

EDIT ZWEI: This may be it.