Sunday, September 28, 2014

The Lost PC Game Versions

Updated 12/12/2023

Originally this blog entry was titled "The Lost PCjr. and Tandy 1000 Game Versions".  However, several years later there are very few games known to have any special support for PCjr./Tandy graphics or sound remaining unavailable.  So I have decided to expand this list with other notable games.  You won't find these games in any DOS or ROM collection, on any abandonware site, from any torrent site, or to buy from any legitimate retro PC game selling site like Good Old Games.  Where I know of corroboration for these games, I will give it.

Congo Bongo - IBM PC CGA Composite Version
This game, like Tapper, came as a "flippy" disk.  This is a disk where both sides are independent of each other and can be used in single or double sided drives.  Flippy disks were rare on the IBM PC, and flippy disks for the IBM PC have two index holes, so each side can be detected by the index sensor.  One side had graphics suitable for RGBI monitors, the other side was meant for composite color monitors.  The composite color version has yet to be preserved and distributed.

Digger - IBM JX
Windmill Software's Digger for the IBM PC does not run on the PCjr., but there was a version of the game released for the IBM JX, the PCjr.'s Australian/Japanese cousin, which does and should have enhanced sound and music.  

Dragon's Keep - PCjr.
Based on installation instructions in the manual, which give instructions for the PCjr. and magazine articles and sales lists from the time period, this game was ported to the PCjr.  This does not conclusively establish that this version was released.  For example, the manual for King's Quest V contains installation instructions for the Atari ST but King's Quest V was not released for the Atari ST platform.

EcoQuest 1 - EGA 16-Color
EcoQuest uses the Sierra SCI1 engine, and like other SCI1 games, it had separate 16-color and 256-color versions.  Other SCI1 games like King's Quest V and Conquests of the Longbow have their 16-color versions available, this is the only one which is not available.  For these games, Sierra would convert and some cases redraw 256-color 320x200 VGA graphics into 16-color 320x200 EGA graphics and release the EGA versions separately.  Later EcoQuest 1 was converted to the SCI1.1 engine prior to its CD-ROM release.  This SCI1.1 version had a driver (EGA640.DRV) to convert 256-color 320x200 VGA graphics into 16-color 640x200 EGA graphics at runtime via dithering.  Only the EGA 320x200 16-color version is unavailable, but due to the release dates between December 1991 and June 1992 for the SCI1 and SCI1.1 versions, respectively, Sierra may have decided to wait and let the newer engine do the work which would otherwise have had to have been done by hand.

Gauntlet II - Tandy DAC Disk
Gauntlet II had a bonus disk, which you may have had to send away for to Mindscape, that added digitized sound support for owners of a Tandy 1000 with a DAC, such as the TL, SL and their successors.

KinderComp - Tandy
KinderComp was released in a separate version for the Tandy 1000.  The only known disk copy is too corrupt to be read

Mouskattack - IBM PC
A 2019 discovery of this Sierra port from the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers : https://www.mobygames.com/game/mouskattack/cover-art

Trivia 102 - IBM PC
Digital Learning Systems released five trivia games as published by IBM: Trivia 101, TV and Cinema 101, Music 101, Trivia 102 and Trivia 103.  All but Trivia 102 have been dumped, and Trivia 102 has been confirmed to exist and was auctioned off in 2022 as an IBM JX release.  All Trivia games should have some PCjr sound support.

Ulysses and the Golden Fleece - PCjr.
A version of Ulysses was reviewed in PCjr. Magazine Volume 7 and a special PCjr. version was used and shown in a screenshot of the game.  The screenshot was similar to the PCjr. release of Wizard and the Princess with blocky 16-color graphics and a cyan font.  While this version was sent to a reviewer, it  is possible that it may not have been released to the general public.  

Zuran Defender - IBM JX
This was originally an early (1983) IBM PC game, and in this form it has been dumped.  Later it was released for the IBM JX with (according to its creator) enhanced PCjr sound support, and that is not dumped.

Many games that were originally on this blog post or could have been have been transferred to this blog post.  Hopefully one day this blog post will disappear.

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