Re: Apple IIgs Gaming Questions

[Mitchell Spector <mitch2gs@hotmail.com>]

"Tempest" <tempest@atariprotos.com> wrote:

>1. How compatible is the IIgs with Apple II games? I've been searching
>for answers, but so far I can't find any pages that mention game
>incompatibilites. However so far I've run into at least three games
>that won't work (all originals):

    I would say about _99%_ backwards compatible with the 8-bit Apple II.
Some of the incompatibilities you may run into are not Apple IIGS-specific
issues, but simply it mimicking the same behavior you'd encounter on an
Apple IIc or late model IIe.

    Good examples are programs hard coded to use a Disk II controller
card that break with the IIc and IIgs built-in diskport, or programs that
don't like the presence of a CMOS based 6502 (i.e. 65C02 or higher).

>Stargate
>Gremlins
>Moon Patrol

    I pulled out the deprotected/cracked versions from my old collection
just now (nice to know 20+ years later they still work!) and Stargate,
Gremlins and Moon Patrol all run fine on my ROM 3 IIgs. I suppose
the originals have copy protection schemes which are incompatible,
but not the games themselves.

    I made a short list of 8-bit games I had trouble with on the IIgs some
years ago, though looking at it now in retrospect, I can tell you quite a
few DO run if you use a Disk II controller (e.g. Karateka, Drole and
Hardball). In some cases it's the cracked versions at fault, the originals
work fine.

-Karateka 
-Drole 
-Hardball
-Lode Runner 
-One on One 
-Minit Man 
-Serpentine 
-Ultima III 
-Randamn 

    Incidentally, there's a small program called "Pre-Boot" that allows you
to emulate booting from a Disk II controller. I know it helps with Hardball.

>I'm using a ROM 03 IIgs, could that be the problem?  I've heard of
>issues with the 03 ROM vs. the 01 ROM.  

    The issues with the ROM 3 incompatibilities mostly affect IIGS-specific
software (typically games and demos) and the vast majority of them have 
been patched years ago.

    As a matter of fact, the ROM 3 IIgs is actually more backwards compatible
with 8-bit Apple II software than the ROM 00 and 01. Games that require you
enable 'Alternate Display Mode' (where you see a screen filled with '2's) is
done automatically using hardware shadowing of text page 2. And looking
up my old postings in Google groups, I can see, interestingly, there were a
few programs that worked on the ROM 3 (Dazzle Draw Slide Show, Lode 
Runner) yet would lock-up instantly booting up on my ROM 01.

>Is there any advantage to using ROM 03 other than the extra memory (which I honestly 
>don't care about)? The reason I ask is that I have a ROM 01 IIgs that I was thinking
>about take the board out of, and putting it into my current IIgs.

    Several actually. Rather than repost them, I'll refer you to a posting I
made to comp.sys.apple2 a couple of years back:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.sys.apple2/msg/17d9a8ef6d780f05?dmode=source&hl=en

>2. How good is the IIgs RGB montior for Apple II games? I know IIe
>games were written with a composite monitor in mind, but they should
>work on the RGB monitor. However I've been told that the RGB monitor
>doesn't do a decent job with the double hi-res mode, which makes me
>nervous. I thought I noticed some odd color problems now and then, but
>it might be my imagination.

    It's respectable overall, but really too sharp and pure for its own good.
The effects of dithering in 8-bit Apple II games look less "impressive",
especially where the intent was for composite video to blur things.

    It should be noted that even though there's a composite-out port on 
the IIgs, its color composite video is _slightly_ different looking than 
what an Apple IIe produces. We're talking about a subtle difference
here, but enough where there was even an article with side-by-side
comparisons shown in an early (circa 1986) issue of inCider magazine.

    I've also noticed a bit of a glitch when displaying Hi-Res graphics
on the IIgs's AppleColor RGB. Sometimes you'll see some stray pixels
(a kind of fringing affect) using the Double-Hi-Res color palette which
obviously have no place in a Hi-Res graphic image. Nothing THAT
major mind you, you really have to look and stare. I had moved from
an Apple II Plus to the IIgs in the 80's and had no complaints overall.

>On a side note, I wish the IIgs montior wasn't so small compared to my
>IIe monitor.  Not to mention the inch boarder around the viewable
>screen, what is the reason for that?  Is there a way to get the picture
>to stretch to the edges of the monitor?

    Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to extend regular video 
outside the border area. Connecting up to a 27-52" television and
setting the border color to 'black' helps. :)

    One final bit of advice, even if obvious. If you're using a IIgs to
emulate 8-bit II software go into the Control Panel; under 'Display' 
set the border to "Black", under 'System Speed' set it to "Normal" 
and under 'Slots' set Startup Slot to "6". And if you have a Second
Sight video card, _pull it out_ if you plan to run any Double-Hi-Res
games.

Mitchell Spector