Source:Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter, January 2001
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The Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter, January 2001 issue. |
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| Date |
January 2001 |
| Author |
Eamon Adventurer's Guild; Tom Zuchowski (editor) |
| License |
Permission has kindly been granted by the copyright holder for this copyrighted item to appear in the not-for-profit Eamon Wiki website. Permission granted by Matthew Clark in email with Huw Williams on 22 November 2012. |
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The Eamon Adventurer's Guild
January 2001
Final issue!
Yes, I'm afraid it is true. This is the final issue of the EAG newsletter. It has been a struggle for several years to find the time to do the newsletter, and I have finally reached the point where I just can't do it any more. But it has been a really great 13 years!
Annual Financial Report
EAG Finances for 2000:
| Starting Balance | $55.67 |
| Income | |
| Eamon CD | 185.00 |
| Gifts | 23.00 |
| Renewals | 238.00 |
| Total Income | 446.00 |
| Expenses | |
| Copier | 81.66 |
| Postage | 144.09 |
| Supplies | 214.11 |
| Total Expenses | 439.86 |
| Ending Balance | $61.81 |
A net gain of 6.14 for the year. A very good year! Especially when you consider the expenses tied to the Eamon CD project. CD-related expenses were $300.59, for a net loss of about $115 for the project. Some of that went for startup costs for getting the CD off the ground, such as the CD labeling kit.
I sent out "junk mail" flyers to the 60 most-recently expired EAG members, thinking that they might want the CD. The costs for doing that amounted to about $21. The response was good, and there was a gross income of $66 on that endeavor. That amounts to about a $15 loss on the effort, but I think it was worth it to get the CD in the hands of more people who want it.
I never did figure out exactly what it costs me to make and mail a CD, but I estimate that there was a net profit of maybe 30 cents on each $3.00 CD sale. Profits on the $7 international price probably averaged about $1.50. I should have priced international at $6, but I wasn't sure what it would cost and so I priced it conservatively.
Closeout Expenses
I had not planned to shut down the EAG with so many outstanding issues to fill, but you people just kept renewing! Bless you all. The refunds for unfilled EAG newsletter obligations amount to $141.75. In addition, the final EAG member CD mail out will cost approximately $75. This puts the EAG's final bottom line at approximately -$156 in the hole, money that will come out of my own pocket. As you can see, I am not walking away from the EAG for financial reasons!
Inside This Issue
We have a fresh review from Frank Kunze of Operation Crab Key, an Eamon that Frank has long felt deserved better than it has received from past reviewers.
Also, Frank put forward a new Eamon adventure that he sold to Softdisk but does not believe got published before Softdisk shut down publication.
Eamon Adventurer's Guild
Thomas Zuchowski, Editor
This document is released to the Public Domain. Any part of this newsletter may be reproduced without permission. Please honor the privacy of the members listed herein, and ask their permission before distributing their names or addresses.
If you would like to add your own Eamon adventure to the EAG list, send it on a disk to the above address. It will be assigned an adventure number, and tested for bugs and other problems. An informal critique and disk with bug corrections will be returned for your final comment, action and approval before release.
Our mail-order Eamon vendor:
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/kulasoft
Eamons are available online. I recommend these sites:
- ftp://ftp.gmd/de/if-archive/games/appleII/eamon/guild/
- http://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/eamon/
- ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/eamon/
Here are some more:
- http://www.ecnet.net/users/mumbv/pages/eamon/index.shtml (also has emulators)
- ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/doc/misc/if-archive/games/appleII/eamon/guild/
- ftp://babylon.caltech.edu/Zocalo/pub/apple2/8bit/games/eamon/
- http://www.lysator.liu.se/eamon/
- http://www.eamonag.org/
Last but far from least, http://www.wbwip.com/a2web/ has links to just about every Apple II site that there is.
Product Announcement
| From: | "Cindy Adams" <adams@primenet.com> |
| Subject: | A2Central Announcement |
| Date: | Friday, October 27, 2000 7:44 PM |
A2Central.com now shipping Apple II system and starter kit disks:
A2Central.com is pleased to announce that effective immediately, we're able to ship Apple II system software disks for US $2.00 per disk. This includes Apple II GS System 6.0.1 and Apple II System Disk 3.2 (for all Apple II computers with 64K of memory. Also available are HyperCard IIgs, the Apple II SCSI Utilities, the Apple II Video Overlay Card Utilities, and more.
We have also created Apple II Telecom Starter Kit disks. These disks, with several versions available depending on which Apple II model you have, come preconfigured for a standard setup of the Apple II model you use. Each bootable ProDOS disk includes Modem Mgr telecommunications software and an assortment of key utilities needed when downloading Apple II software from online services, including ShrinkIt. These disks, too, are available for $2 each.
A2Central.com is providing these disks at cost to help newcomers to the Apple II community get their new computers up and running.
Please visit http://www.a2central.com/shop for details and an order form.
A2Central.com is an authorized Apple II user group. All Apple software is distributed under license from Apple Computer Inc.
This announcement may be distributed or reprinted freely, as long as it is unaltered.
Eamon Walk-Through List
| 7 | The Devil's Tomb | Dec00 |
| 19 | Death Trap | Mar98 |
| 62 | The Caverns of Doom | Mar97 |
| 74 | DharmaQuest | Mar00 |
| 77 | Temple of the Trolls | Mar99 |
| 107 | The Last Dragon | Dec99 |
| 114 | Thror's Ring | Dec96 |
| 116 | The Iron Prison | Dec99 |
| 120 | Orb of My Life | Sep98 |
| 126 | Pyramid of Anharos | Jun98 |
| 127 | The Hunt for the Ring | Dec98 |
| 129 | Return to Moria | Jun99 |
| 132 | Rhadshur Warrior | Jun96 |
| 145 | Buccaneer! | Dec97 |
| 147 | The Dark Brotherhood | Sep96 |
| 150 | Walled City of Darkness | Mar96 |
| 161 | Operation Endgame | Jun97 |
| 194 | Attack of the Kretons | Jun00 |
| 206 | Curse of the Hellsblade | Dec00 |
| 220 | Catacombs of Terror | Sep00 |
| 239 | Idol of the Incas | Sep99 |
| SD137 | Redemption | Jun00 |
Here is a list of Eamons that have been considered but not done in this column because they have solutions either in standalone programs, or "online" as you play. This is not a complete list!
| 165 | Animal Farm |
| 166 | Storm Breaker |
| 183 | The Boy and the Bard |
| 204 | Sanctuary |
| 240 | Heart of Gold |
Always check your Eamons for bonus programs on the disk! Several of the better authors have been known to do this on occasion.
New Adventures
Edgar's Adventures
by Frank Kunze
Frank sold this Eamon to Softdisk shortly before they shut down publication of their Apple II side. Frank did not have a subscription to Softdisk and does not know if this Eamon was ever published. In any event he never received anything from Softdisk to indicate that it was published.
Because of Edgar's uncertain situation, it has been added to the list as a Softdisk title, but without a number.
Frank is undoubtedly one of the top three programmers to ever write an Eamon adventure. This Eamon is extremely well crafted, with a flawless, sophisticated user interface and quite an ongoing plot line. Edgar did indeed have some interesting adventures!
I played it through for validation purposes before adding it to the CD, and I did not need to bother with a map or even much in the way of notes. But it was a very interesting, mildly challenging play from start to end. I give it a (9) rating, and a (7) for difficulty.
Edgar is a real treat to play. Be sure to check it out!
Adventure Reviews
#71 Operation Crab Key
Reviewed by Frank Kunze
| MAIN PGM Version: | 4 |
| Extra Commands: | None |
| Deleted Commands: | None |
| Special Features: | None |
| Playing Time: | 15-45 minutes |
| Reviewer Rating: | 5.0 |
| Average Rating: | .0/2 |
Description: "While sailing the Great Lake Eamon you are caught in a dense fog. After several hours of aimless wandering you land upon an island in a strange land."
Comment: The above is a brief summary of the actual into text. The variation in playing time stems from the fact that I played it on the ApplePC emulator at a very fast speed. This is an old Eamon with no speed-ups and would run slower on an actual Apple II.
I felt that this adventure deserved a modern review after reading Bob Davis' harsh review and rating. Don't get me wrong, this is by no means a masterpiece, but I found it to be amusing and pretty well written. Other than some obvious typos, I found few spelling or grammar errors.
The map is large (100 rooms) but laid out so simple that mapping is unnecessary. The descriptions are interesting and pretty funny at times. The theme is based on the James Bond adventure series and it features several classic Bond villains as well as 007 himself.
Where it really falls down is its lack of special events. The only modification to the standard v4 MAIN PGM is a REM statement dedicating it to Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond). My theory is that the author, while having some decent writing skills, knew little or nothing about Applesoft programming. Still, the story moves along remarkably well through the use of some one-way passages and doesn't stray from the theme at all.
This is a version 4, so you have to type complete names and commands for everything. There is one empty secret room that can only be found by moving in an unlisted direction and a deathtrap room that has been permanently sealed off (I'm assuming the author didn't know how to implement it). One of the monster descriptions has been accidentally wiped out with a carriage return. The text is still intact on the disk and I fixed my copy using the Copy II Plus sector editor. (Track $10, Sector $03 change: A2 8D A2 to A2 D9 CF)
One final warning. Some of the descriptions use stormy language and/or adult suggestions. This isn't inappropriate if you consider the theme it is based upon. I didn't find anything obscene or profane in what I saw, just some stuff in the PG-13 area.
Difficulty of 4.
And that's all, folks!
Thank you ever so much for you support over the years! I have toyed with the idea of shutting down since at least 1996, but your warm letters and regular renewals have kept me going with a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart.
If you have email, be sure to keep me up to date with your email address. If I see anything of interest to the Eamon community, I will let you know about it.
Tom Zuchowski
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