Re: Ideas for a new A2 site

["N.N. Thayer" <nnthayer@hotmail.com>]

On Jul 26, 12:37 pm, pyro00...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I would like to see a site like MobyGames.com that also includes links
> to disk images of the games in archive sites with detailed information
> about the images including:
>
> does the image work correctly?
> which version is the image? (many games had multiple releases - like
> Infocom)
> does the image include any patches? (bug fixes, cheats, added joystick
> support...)
> Is the image pristine? (no high scores, no saved characters, etc.)
> Has the image been tested to the end of the game?
> does the image have a crack screen?
>
> If this information could be user editable (a la Wiki),  over time we
> would have a good list of disk images that are good (and bad).
>
> Example of how this site would be helpful:
> I noticed recently that someone found a problem with the Time Zone
> images on Asimov recently.  The information about the bad disk image
> could be noted on the site and maybe someone else could upload a new
> image that works to an archive.  That person could make a note on the
> site about it so the next person to download the game would be able to
> find the working copy (and avoid the bad copy).
>
> So many times when I have looked for an old game online, I have found
> multiple images on various sites, and didn't know which one was best.
> Many images don't work at all, some have bugs, and some are bad
> cracks.  There doesn't seem to be any site that tracks this sort of
> thing.

Absolutely.  I agree 100%.  With the exception of the "What is the
IIGS" website, which only covers IIGS-specific games, every Apple II
disk image archive out there is utterly scattershot.  Even Virtual
Apple (which, don't get me wrong, I love for even existing) has its
fair share of bad images, and you don't know until you actually load
them up.  Completeness, organization, and level of detail range from
rudimentary to nonexistent.

And MobyGames is not the solution.  I've run across multiple titles on
there that were properly tagged for every platform EXCEPT the Apple
II.  We can probably guess about the reasons for that.  "So fix it
yourself!"  Why should we settle for MobyGames?  As Tristan pointed
out, look at what the Commodore and Atari 8-bit guys have:

http://www.c64.com
http://www.lemon64.com
http://www.atarimania.com

Look at those.  They're organized, polished, and in the case of Lemon
64, extremely thorough.  Neither "What is the IIGS" nor any other
Apple II software site stacks up to these for presentation or depth of
information.  And as pyro illustrated, there's a whole other level to
consider with the Apple II, whose software library is absolutely
colossal, and rife with the sorts of quirks and variations that come
with being the most hackable platform of its time.  Far from being an
excuse, this is all the more reason why a site devoted to careful
tracking, cataloging, and archiving of all this *must* exist, lest the
details and lore be lost forever.