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Floppy Days 147 - Lorenzo Hagerty, Dynasty Computers Hello, and welcome to episode 147 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for January, 2025. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this podcast. This month is another interview from my backlog, as I continue to get the opportunity for interviews with some amazing icons from the early personal computer days. This month, that person is Lorenzo Hagerty, who founded Dynasty Computer Corporation in 1979. Dynasty was the first network marketing company to exclusively carry the then new home computers with a repackaged Exidy Sorcerer. If you recall, this was a couple of years before IBM brought out their first PC. I've had a few recent interviews with people involved with the Exidy Sorcerer, including Howell Ivy, Paul Terrell, and Vic Tolomei. However, this is the first one with someone from outside Exidy, who purchased the Sorcerer in bulk and repackaged it for the general public. Please note that I do plan to get back into producing episodes covering specific vintage computers. Coming up in 2025 will be coverage of machines like the HP97, the Lobo Max-80, the Dragon, and the C64. Research for those is underway, so expect those soon.
SCP-079 is an anomalous Artificial General Intelligence inhabiting a 1978 Exidy Sorcerer micro-computer Content Warnings: Implied murder, rogue AI Transcript Patrons Elia Menin, Nicky Green-Lysher, Bianca Burett, Morgan Kirkwood, GrandMoffDabkin, Claudia, Sadee Jones, and Inna Tsvik Cast & Crew SCP Archives was created by Pacific S. Obadiah & Jon Grilz SCP-7579 was written by PlaceholderMcD Script by Kevin Whitlock Narrator - Chris Harris-Beechy Hishakaku - Melissa Lusk Valis - Ashlee Jones O5-8 - Kale Brown SCP-079 - B. Narr Dagon - Scott Paladin Bold - Katrina Pecina Temp Dir. - Jeremy Ellett Steel - Anver Mahmud Isabi - Madeleine Moore SCP-7579 - B. Narr Helen.AIC - Shelby Novak Art by Eduardo Valdés-Hevia Video produced by Dakota Miller Theme Song by Matt Roi Berger Original Music Composed by Dana Creasman Sound Designer - Chris Harris-Beechy Showrunner - Daisy McNamara Creative Director - Pacific S. Obadiah Executive Producers - Tom Owen & Brad Miska Presented by Bloody FM www.Bloody-Disgusting.com www.SCParchives.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scp_pod Store: https://store.dftba.com/collections/scp-archives TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scppod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/scparchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scp_pod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/scp_pod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scppod Discord: https://discord.gg/tJEeNUzeZX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
TCW Podcast Episode 212 - The Exidy of the 70's Following our examination of Ramtek, we now turn to Exidy, founded by Pete Kauffman and Samuel Hawes. Exidy began by producing Pong variants during the Pong boom. John Metzler joined in 1975, creating Destruction Darby, later licensed to Chicago Coin as Demolition Derby. After Metzler left, Howell Ivy revamped the game into the notorious Death Race '98, the first nationwide controversial video game for violence. Exidy's first microprocessor-based game, Car Polo, wasn't a major hit but was ahead of its time, foreshadowing Rocket League's concept of cars pushing a ball into a goal. They continued innovating with popular games like Circus, a precursor to Breakout. We finish our look at Exidy in the 70s with their venture into the computer market with the Exidy Sorcerer, which showed promise but was overshadowed by VisiCalc's release for the Apple II. TCW 211 - Ramtek: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/ramtek/ Art Bell Interview Malachi Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O8-t9M7xDc Larry King Coaches Conan On His Interview Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I02Y8hRzpqE Soft Questions? Larry King Explains His Interview Style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqNyfeIyNc Sean Evans Reveals His Secret Interviewing Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq5CWKTUNCQ 'Hot Ones' Guest Impressed by Sean Evans' Questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnhnYABROAg Hockey Tennis Exidy (Picture Needed): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/hockey-tennis TV Pinball Case: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/tv-pinball TV Pinball Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_1kAlO8G6c TV Pin Game: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/tv-pin-game Exidy Destruction Derby (Cabinet & Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLMmz1gdTVs Chicago Coin Demolition Derby (Cabinet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AodIwNpqYQk Chicago Coin Demolition Derby (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kRQ2OEJkNY Death Race 2000 (1975 Trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp5FUoa4K7c Death Race cabinet pictures and flyer: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/death-race Death Race Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fg-QN6tJPc Death Race Gameplay (MAME): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBBtt72aJLA The Media VS Death Race (VGHF Article): https://gamehistory.org/media-vs-death-race/ Score Newspaper Article, Flyer, and Cabinet Pictures: https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/mrnrug/exidys_score_lost_arcade_game_1977_the_first/ Exidy Car Polo Cabinet Picture: https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/car-polo Car Polo Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmZKvLRFpiI An Introduction to Rocket League: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os7TTRtF-HI Robot Bowl (Pictures and Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/robot-bowl Robot Bowl (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRLdN6dCLu0 Meadows Lanes (Gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Fj136NZQ8 Meadows Lanes (Pictures and Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/meadows-lanes Robot Bowl Ball Return Cabinet Picture: https://www.gamesdatabase.org/media/arcade/artwork-cabinet/robot-bowl Circus (Gameplay Original Hardware): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTxNk1NqTFc Circus (Cabinet Pictures and Flyers): https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/circus TCW 202 - Advanced Balls and Paddles Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/advanced-balls-and-paddles-part-2/ The Exidy Sorcerer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWseXQDrhJY New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1 Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This week on ARG Presents, the boys have a go at the RARE Exidy Sorcerer Computer! This is another obscure machine, but with the backing of a successful computer chain and a great arcade manufacturer, what went wrong? We'll learn a bit of history, and try a few games as well! Join Amigo Aaron and THE BRENT as we try out ASTRO ATTACKER and Arrows and Alleys!
This week on ARG Presents, the boys have a go at the RARE Exidy Sorcerer Computer! This is another obscure machine, but with the backing of a successful computer chain and a great arcade manufacturer, what went wrong? We'll learn a bit of history, and try a few games as well! Join Amigo Aaron and THE BRENT as we try out ASTRO ATTACKER and Arrows and Alleys!
Paul Terrell - Exidy Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 129 for August, 2023 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with your host, Randy Kindig! If you're a regular listener, you'll know that we're in the middle of a series of episodes where we talk with Paul Terrell. Paul has been credited with essentially jump-starting the personal computer industry in many ways, not the least of which was by buying the original Apple I computer from the just-getting-started Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and selling it in his equally-famous computer store, The Byte Shop. This was one of the first personal computer retail store chains in existence. Paul was also a member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and attended the West Coast Computer Faire. He was involved in the development of both the Exidy Sorcerer and BYT-8 computers and he later went on to start ComputerMania Inc. which was a chain of computer stores created with the purpose of renting computers and software. The first episode with Paul (June 2023's episode) was a sort of overview before Paul's time being involved with Exidy and the Exidy Sorcerer computer. Last month was segment 1 of 2 focusing directly on Exidy and the Sorcerer. And, this month is segment 2 of 2; again focusing on Exidy and the Sorcerer. You'll hear more about how the Sorcerer came about, hear Paul's insight into why certain design decisions were made, and what mistakes were made. The Sorcerer was truly an early, important machine, and had impressive features for the timeframe that it came out. As a reminder, if you want to hear additional information about the Sorcerer and about Exidy, there are 2 other Floppy Days Podcasts you'll want to listen to: Episode 17, where the Sorcerer is covered in detail - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20 Episode 114, which features an interview with Howell Ivy. Howell was the principal designer of the Sorcerer and recollects his time at Exidy. - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-114-howell-ivy-exidy-sorcerer-and-exidy Paul decided he would really like to be able to talk about his incredible career in its entirety, including an amazing number of industry-impacting contributions, more than just the time with Exidy, and I of course was ecstatic that he decided my humble podcast could be a good medium for that. What that means for the listener, is that you can expect an even broader series of continued podcasts with Paul in the near future, interspersed with other computer-based and interview episodes along the way. I really hope you enjoy the Paul Terrel series in general, and this episode should give you a nice wrap-up on his involvement with Exidy and the Sorcerer! New Acquisitions Console5 - http://www.console5.com Okimate 10 printer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okimate_10 ATR8000 - https://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n4/ATR8000.html Happy 1050 - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/happy-1050-upgrade-for-atari-1050-disk-drive/?ref=Floppydays Atari Joystick USB Adapter (JAKAdapter) - http://kair.us/projects/jakadapter/index.html Upcoming Shows VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ World of Retrocomputing - September 16-17 - Kitchener, Ontario, Canada - https://www.worldofretrocomputing.com/2023-worc-expo Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Amiga38 Germany - Oct. 6-7 - Das Rote Krokodil - Kunstwerk Mönchengladbach - https://amigaevent.de/WB.html The Interim Computer Festival - Oct. 7-8 - Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Dragon MeetUp - October 7-8 - The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge - https://www.facebook.com/events/225011523831254/?ref=newsfeed Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Paul Terrell Interview Paul on LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-terrell-2441a17/details/experience/ Paul on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/paul.terrell.92/ Paul at WikiPedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Terrell Interview with Paul at NextShark - https://nextshark.com/paul-terrell-apple “Today in Apple history: The Byte Shop, Apple's first retailer, opens” by Cult of Mac - https://www.cultofmac.com/457420/byte-shop-opens-tiah/ “The Man Who Jump-Started Apple by Harry McCracken”, August 23, 2007, PC World - https://web.archive.org/web/20110511184229/http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/005240.html
Floppy Days Episode 128 - Paul Terrell - Exidy Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 128 for July, 2023 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with your host, Randy Kindig! If you're a regular listener, you'll know that we're in the middle of a series of episodes where we talk with Paul Terrell. Paul has been credited with essentially jump-starting the personal computer industry in many ways, not the least of which was by buying the original Apple I computer from the just-getting-started Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and selling it in his equally-famous computer store, The Byte Shop. This was one of the first personal computer retail stores in existence. Paul was also a member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and attended the West Coast Computer Faire. He was involved in the development of both the Exidy Sorcerer and BYT-8 computers and he later went on to start ComputerMania Inc. which was a chain of computer stores created with the purpose of renting computers and software. This guy has had an amazing career and I am truly honored to be able to bring you a series of interviews with Paul for the podcast. Paul and I will be covering his entire career, from his early beginnings, thru the Byte Shop years and his time with the nascent Apple Computer, and beyond. The first segment (last month's episode) was a sort of overview before Paul's time being involved with Exidy and the Exidy Sorcerer computer. This segment is part 1 of 2 focusing directly on Exidy and the Sorcerer. You'll hear how the Sorcerer came about, hear Paul's insight into why certain design decisions were made, and what mistakes were made. The Sorcerer was truly an early, important machine, and had impressive features for the timeframe that it came out. If you want to hear additional information about the Sorcerer and about Exidy, there are 2 other Floppy Days Podcasts you'll want to listen to: Episode 17, where the Sorcerer is covered in detail - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20 Episode 114, which features an interview with Howell Ivy. Howell was the principal designer of the Sorcerer and recollects his time at Exidy. - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-114-howell-ivy-exidy-sorcerer-and-exidy Paul first contacted me after the interview I had with Howell Ivy and Howell's involvement and remembrances of the Exidy Sorcerer. He really liked Howell's interview and wanted to add a few details and give his perspective on the Sorcerer. As we talked further, Paul decided he would really like to be able to talk about his incredible career in its entirety, more than just the time with Exidy, and I of course was ecstatic that he decided my humble podcast could be a good medium for that. I really hope you enjoy the Paul Terrel series in general, and this episode should give you a nice perspective on his involvement with Exidy and the Sorcerer! Upcoming Shows Vintage Computer Festival West 2023 - August 4 & 5 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Atari Buy/Sell/Swap/Trade Event - August 5th 10am-2pm - 15 miles SE of Charlotte, NC - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/352517-atari-buysellswaptrade-event-august-5th-10am-2pm-15-miles-se-of-charlotte-nc/ ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 17-20 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2023-se Fujiama 2023 - Aug. 30 - Sep. 3 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2023/ VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Amiga38 Germany - Oct. 6-7 - Das Rote Krokodil - Kunstwerk Mönchengladbach - https://amigaevent.de/WB.html The Interim Computer Festival - Oct. 7-8 - Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Paul Terrell Interview Paul on LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-terrell-2441a17/details/experience/ Paul on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/paul.terrell.92/ Paul at WikiPedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Terrell Interview with Paul at NextShark - https://nextshark.com/paul-terrell-apple “Today in Apple history: The Byte Shop, Apple's first retailer, opens” by Cult of Mac - https://www.cultofmac.com/457420/byte-shop-opens-tiah/ “The Man Who Jump-Started Apple by Harry McCracken”, August 23, 2007, PC World - https://web.archive.org/web/20110511184229/http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/005240.html
Floppy Days 127 - James Shackel Estate Haul and Paul Terrell Intro Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 127 for June, 2023 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with your host, yours truly, Randy Kindig! I'd bet there are few listeners who don't know the name Paul Terrell. Paul has been credited with essentially jump-starting the personal computer industry in many ways, not the least of which was by buying the original Apple I computer from the just-getting-started Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and selling it in his equally-famous computer store, The Byte Shop. This was the first personal computer retail store in existence. Paul was also a member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and attended the West Coast Computer Faire. He was involved in the development of both the Exidy Sorcerer and BYT-8 computers and he later went on to start ComputerMania Inc. which was a chain of computer stores created with the purpose of renting computers and software. This guy has had an amazing career and I am truly honored to be able to bring you a series of interviews with Paul for the podcast. Paul and I will be covering his entire career, from his early beginnings, thru the Byte Shop years and his time with the nascent Apple Computer, and beyond. This first segment is a sort of overview leading up to Paul's time involved with Exidy and the Exidy Sorcerer computer. You'll hear a small bit about Bill Gates, the early Micro-soft, the Byte Shop, the early Apple, the Homebrew Computer Club, the West Coast Computer Faire and a whole lot more. Later episodes will be focused primarily on a single topic, such as the Sorcerer, the Byte Shop, etc. Paul first contacted me after the interview I had with Howell Ivy and Howell's involvement and remembrances of the Exidy Sorcerer. He really liked Howell's interview and wanted to add a few details and give his perspective on the Sorcerer. As we talked further, Paul decided he would really really like to be able to talk about his incredible career in its entirety, more than just the time with Exidy, and I of course was ecstatic that he decided my humble podcast could be a good medium for that. I really hope you enjoy the series in general, and this short episode should give you a taste of the things to come!
https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Howell Ivy, Co-founder of Exidy and Developer of Exidy Sorcerer Computer Welcome to Floppy Days episode 114 for May, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host. Again this month, I have a special interview show for you that actually has been a few years in the making. Some time ago, I had come across and had gotten initial contact with Howell Ivy, who it turns out was co-founder of Exidy and was instrumental in the development of the Exidy Sorcerer computer. The Exidy Sorcerer is a machine that I covered clear back in 2014 in episode 17 of Floppy Days. It was a very early machine, just after the release of the home computer triad of the Commodore PET/Apple II/TRS-80 Model I and before the Atari 400/800, with great graphics, a Z-80 processor, and one of the first home computers (after the VideoBrain) to have plug-in cartridges (these based on the 8-track tape cartridges). After the initial contact with Howell, he went silent and I was unable for the last few years to get an interview set up. Finally, recently, I was able to get a response and quickly got the interview in the books. I also recorded a video for an interview for the first time! The link to the video interview on YouTube is in the show notes here. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions Mattel Aquarius Aquaricart and 32K RAM "Combo Pack" - https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 Apple II Yellowstone Disk Controller - Big Mess o' Wires Upcoming Shows Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297 The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/ KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF West 2022 - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Interview Links The History of Exidy - http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html Howell Ivy interview at RetroGamer - https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/
Could this be the best computer to come out since the holy trinity?! It is made by Exidy, who's arcade games have always been fantastic! Listen to find out! Also in the greatest coincidence ever, we talk about some Olympic winter sports games, a game called Hippodrome, and an awesome trading game called Taipan!Website -https://historyofvideogamespodcast.comTwitter - https://twitter.com/HistoryofVideo1Email - historyvgpodcast@gmail.comHosts - Ben & WesMusic - Arranged and recorded by BenCan you guess this week's transition music? The theme is 'Best of Ben's friend Joe'
Yes, I know what your thinking, it's short but felt this SCP deserves its own episode. SCP-079 is an Exidy Sorcerer microcomputer built-in 1978. In 1981, its owner, █████ ██████ (deceased), a college sophomore attending ███, took it upon himself to attempt to code an AI. According to his notes, his plan was for the code to continuously evolve and improve itself as time went on. His project was completed a few months later, and after some tests and tweaks, █████ lost interest and moved on to a different brand of microcomputer. He left SCP-079 in his cluttered garage, still plugged in, and forgot about it for the next five years. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
I had a chance to sit down with Dave to talk about the Exidy Sorcerer and his early projects at Commodore. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/amigospodcast/message
Welcome to Episode 66 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where we try to relive our youth by talking about computers nearly as old as we are. Vintage Computer Festival Midwest #11 recently happened on Sep. 10 and 11, 2016 in Elk Grove Village, IL and I managed to find my way there again this year. Once again, I had an incredible time at the event and thought I’d share some of it with you. I managed to get a few interviews, meet several people I had never met before, catch up with old friends, and come home with far more items than I left with. So, I plan to give you a quick run-down of the event through my eyes and I hope you find this interesting. Links Mentioned in the Show: my presentation, you can find it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNTiEZl30Fg Edladdin controllers - http://www.edladdin.com Podcast on the Exidy Sorcerer - http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20 Peter Bartlett - http://bartlettlabs.com/ Evan Wright - http://mrwrightteacher.net/ Transkey II - http://ataribits.weebly.com/transkey-ii.html John Strong - http://strongware.net/ Jim Brain - http://store.go4retro.com/ Chicago TI-99/4A User Group - http://www.chicagotiug.com/tiki-index.php?page=HomePage Cosmac Elf - http://www.cosmacelf.com/news/win-an-elf-at-vcfmw.html 00:00 Theme Song 01:20 Ads 01:49 Intro 02:34 CoCo Crew Ad 03:21 Presentations Discussion 05:53 My Presentation (audio) 27:56 My Exhibit 31:21 Intro to Peter Bartlett Interview 32:00 Peter Bartlett Interview 34:54 Intro to Evan Wright Interview 35:35 Evan Wright Interview 44:41 Intro to Simon Wells Interview 45:18 Simon Wells Interview 59:26 My Purchases 1:07:36 What I didn't buy, TI-99 UStream, and Cosmac Elf Exhibit 1:11:19 Conclusion
Aric Wilmunder: Star Raiders II, Temple of Apshai Here’s how Aric Wilmunder introduced himself to me: “When The Last Starfighter didn’t do well in the theaters and marketing re-branded the Atari 800 Last Starfighter game as Star Raiders II, they didn’t take into account that there was already an actual sequel to Star Raiders that was just a few months away from completion. I was the designer and solo engineer who worked for about a year on the project as a member of an R&D team inside Atari Coin-Op. A friend helped me copy the disk image a few years back and when I saw Steve Hales post your tweet about the source code [for Star Raiders] I thought there might be some interest. “The game was close to being finished, but there were still parts that needed polishing like the enemy AI, so I’ve been hesitant to release it since it might be judged as a finished work. I’d hate to wait 30 years to release the game just to get a bad review.” Aric Wilmunder started writing programs on the Exidy Sorcerer computer, then worked at Automated Simulations, writing the Atari 8-bit conversions of Star Warrior; Crush, Crumble, and Chomp; and Temple of Apshai. Next he worked at Atari’s corporate research department, where he worked on Chris Crawford’s Gossip game. Then, in the R&D department at Atari coin-op, he created Star Raiders II for the Atari 8-bit computers — a game that was never finished nor released. Later he worked at LucasFilm games, where his work included the XEGS version of Ballblazer. This interview took place December 5, 2015. Teaser quotes: “A music video on the Atari 800. So it was video and art being displayed on the Atari 800 that was in sync with music that was playing off of a CD.” “[In Star Raiders] Because you’re targeting the Xylons, you’re putting them in your crosshairs, you’re actually their A.I. ... All they had to do was this very simple A.I. to move around, and the closer you track them, the more accurate they become. ... [Doug Neubauer] let the player fight themselves.” LINKS Download Star Raiders II ATR file and documentation (click Show All): https://archive.org/details/StarRaidersII_Wilmunder Video of unreleased, unfinished Star Raiders II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb03mSdMaYc Aric’s web site: http://www.wilmunder.com/Arics_World/1980s.html Custom PC Magazine article about SCUMM and interview with Aric (see page 86): http://issuu.com/duongkim/docs/custom_pc_-_2015.10 AtariAge discussion about Star Raiders II: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/246591-wilmunders-star-raiders-ii-released/
Recorded live from VCFSE 2.0 in Roswell, GA! Main topic: The Exidy Sorcerer. Special guest host David Greelish! Links Mentioned in the Show: Books 32 BASIC Programs for the Exidy Sorcerer by Tom Rugg - http://www.amazon.com/32-BASIC-programs-Exidy-Sorcerer/dp/0918398355 Emulation JSorcerer - Java based - http://www.liaquay.co.uk/sorcerer/ Multi-Emulator Super System (MESS) - http://www.mess.org/ Current Web Sites The Exidy Sorcerer as seen in Tezza’s Classic Computer Collection - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEnsYJOjh2k Exidy Sorcerer Hardware Review from Creative Computing - http://www.trailingedge.com/~dlw/comp/exidyrv.html Exidy Sorcerer at oldcomputers.net - http://oldcomputers.net/sorcerer.html The Trailing Edge - Exidy Sorcerer information (documentation, catalogs, price lists, ROMs) - http://www.trailingedge.com/exidy/ The Exidy Sorcerer at DigiBarn - http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/exidy-sorcerer/ The Center for Computing History - history, books, magazine articles - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/5396/exidy-sorcerer-ii/ Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Exidy-Sorcerer-Computer/153210461406202 The Old Computer ROM and Emulation Site - downloads of many Sorcerer programs and ROMs - http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=Exidy/Sorcerer Archive.org - https://archive.org/search.php?query=exidy%20sorcerer Sorcerer ROMs at NitroROMS - http://nitroroms.com/list/Exidy%20Sorcerer/by-name/page-1 References Golden Age Arcade Historian Blog - http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_20.html Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exidy_Sorcerer Closing Throwback Network (http://www.throwback.net) Classic Computing Website (David Greelish) - http://www.classiccomputing.com