The following is a list of the earliest, lesser-known video games published by Apogee Software. For a full listing of Apogee/3D Realms games, see list of 3D Realms games.
| Adventure Fun-Pak | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | various |
| Released: | 1989 |
| Genre: | various |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Adventure Fun-Pak is a collection of four video games created by Scott Miller and various independent developers who submitted their programs to Apogee for publication. Miller categorized these submissions by genre and released this collection and the companion Puzzle Fun-Pak as non-shareware commercial products. Each collection was sold as a single package distributed on one floppy disk.[1] Apogee re-released both collections as freeware on 28 May 2004.[2] The following games are included:[3]
| Beyond the Titanic | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Scott Miller |
| Released: | 1986 |
| Genre: | Text adventure |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Beyond the Titanic is a text adventure game written by Scott Miller for MS-DOS in Pascal in September 1984.[5] No images accompany the game's textual descriptions, but a variety of colors are employed to enhance the layout of the game's text. A panel near the top of the screen continuously displays the player's score and number of moves thus far. Also included is the ability to save the game and restore a previously saved game. The game begins on the sinking ship Titanic from which an escape must be sought. Upon doing so the player character is swept away into a mysterious underground complex. The objective of the game is to escape these predicaments and find a way to return home to San Francisco.
Originally released in 1986 before Miller founded Apogee,[6] the game was later branded and advertised[7] as an Apogee product. Both it and Supernova are the only two games published by Apogee as traditional shareware. Miller permitted the full game to be freely copied and distributed by its users, but they were encouraged to "register" it by sending him a cash donation to compensate him for his effort, to "encourage the author to make new and better games" and to qualify for "telephone support and clues".[8] Although he had hoped that donations accompanying user registrations would become a significant source of revenue, this expectation failed to be realized as most users did not register the game.[9] He concluded that this strategy was not the way to start.[6] It seemed to him that gamers were "more apt to simply take what they could get for free"[9] and that he needed to introduce a greater incentive to get users to register his games. Miller's experience with Beyond the Titanic and Supernova led him to develop the Apogee model which would become Apogee's standard method of marketing future releases.
Beyond the Titanic was re-released as freeware by Apogee on March 10, 1998.[10] The source code for the game was released as free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on March 20, 2009.[11]
| Jumpman Lives! | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Shamusoft Designs |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Dave Sharpless |
| Released: | June 10, 1991 |
| Genre: | Platform |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Jumpman Lives! is an unauthorized 1991 MS-DOS remake of the Jumpman platform game released by Epyx in 1983. In Jumpman, the player character walks, jumps, and climbs ladders and ropes to clear each level of bombs. Both the original and the remake share the same plot: a multi-level orbital science station needs to be cleared of bombs planted by a radical group.[12] In the original game the station orbits the planet Jupiter, but in the remake it is in orbit around Saturn.[13] Included in the remake are levels from Jumpman, Jumpman Junior, and some newly created ones.[14] Other enhancements in the remake include a level editor, Sound Blaster support, and three skill levels.[15]
Dave Sharpless designed and developed the game in cooperation with Apogee. Scott Miller had obtained his address from a registration text file accompanying an earlier shareware game he had self-published. Miller contacted Sharpless, who agreed to create a Jumpman remake for Apogee.[14] [16] Once Sharpless had created the level editor, it was used to create the game's 45 levels. He did most of the level design himself while Apogee developed the game's introductory graphics, ordering information screens, and bonus levels.[14] In accordance with Apogee's standard practice at the time, the game was split into three episodes. The first was freely distributable as shareware and the remaining three episodes were commercial products which could be purchased directly from Apogee. Each episode consists of approximately 12 levels.
PC Magazine's "PC MagNet News" column described it as a "clever" merge of arcade action and "intriguing" designs.[12]
Permission had not been obtained from Epyx, the holder of the Jumpman copyright at the time. When Epyx learned of its existence, the company asked Apogee to discontinue it only a few months following its release.[17] Apogee no longer retains any control over or copyright in this title.[18]
| Puzzle Fun-Pak | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | various |
| Released: | 1989 |
| Genre: | various |
| Modes: | Single-player, two player (Phrase Master) |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Puzzle Fun-Pak is a collection of four video games created by Scott Miller and various independent developers who submitted their programs to Apogee for publication. Miller categorized these submissions by genre and released this collection and the companion Adventure Fun-Pak as non-shareware commercial products. Each collection was sold as a single package distributed on one floppy disk.[1] Apogee re-released both collections as freeware on 28 May 2004.[2] The following games are included:[3]
| Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Micro F/X Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | George Broussard |
| Genre: | Educational |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia (also known as Next Generation Trivia) is a trivia video game about the TV series written for MS-DOS. Developed by George Broussard and originally published by his label Micro F/X Software, it was marketed and distributed by Apogee after Broussard joined the company. The game consists of three volumes each featuring 100 multiple choice questions related to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Questions randomly chosen from the volume's database are sequentially presented to the player, who responds by selecting a numbered response from a list. For each correct answer, the game reveals a bonus Star Trek: The Next Generation fact. Players begin the game with three credits; every ten correct responses earn the player an additional credit, but each incorrect response costs the player one credit.[19] When the player runs out of credits or has attempted all 100 questions, the game ends and the player's level of Star Trek: The Next Generation knowledge is ranked on the basis of how many questions were correctly answered. The game's look and feel is largely text-based, but multicolored ASCII line graphics and text are used to enhance the presentation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia was marketed via the Apogee model. Only the first volume was freely distributable as shareware; the remaining volumes were commercial products which could be purchased directly from Apogee.
When the Star Trek copyright holder Paramount discovered that Apogee was profiting from their intellectual property, they offered Apogee a license for the game idea. Apogee did not accept the offer, as the license would have cost more than what Apogee was making on the game.[20] Therefore, Apogee discontinued the game, and they no longer retain any copyright or control over on it.[21]
| Super Game-Pak | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Scott Miller |
| Released: | 1989 |
| Genre: | various |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Super Game Pak is a video game compilation published by Apogee in 1989 featuring a diverse selection of games previously released by Apogee or Scott Miller (prior to founding Apogee). It was marketed as an introduction to Apogee's game line.[7] The collection includes:
| Supernova | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Scott Miller |
| Released: | 1987 |
| Genre: | Text adventure |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Supernova is a text adventure video game designed by Scott Miller for MS-DOS and published by Apogee Software. The game's text was co-written by Scott Miller and Terry Nagy. Although Supernova's plot is unrelated to that of Miller's previous text adventure Beyond the Titanic, its game engine and look and feel represent an evolutionary development from the earlier game. No images accompany the game's textual descriptions, but a variety of colors are employed to enhance the layout of the game's text. A panel near the top of the screen continuously displays the player's score, location, number of moves thus far, and the player character's condition (e.g. thirsty). Also included is the ability to save the game and restore a previously saved game. Miller wrote that the game features over four hundred sound effects, 16-color ASCII graphics, a hint command and a parser which recognizes over a thousand words.[7] The game begins with the player character seeking employment on the surface of a barren mining planet. As the game progresses, the player discovers that an imminent supernova is threatening to destroy a planetary civilization. The main goal of the game is to save its inhabitants from this imminent catastrophe.
Originally released in 1987 before Miller founded Apogee,[6] the game was later branded and advertised[7] as an Apogee product. Both it and Beyond the Titanic are the only two games published by Apogee as traditional shareware. Miller permitted the full game to be freely copied and distributed by its users, but they were encouraged to "register" it by sending him a cash donation to compensate him for his effort, to "encourage the author to make new and better games" and to qualify for "telephone support and clues".[22] Although he had hoped that donations accompanying user registrations would become a significant source of revenue, this expectation failed to be realized as most users did not register the game.[9] He concluded that this strategy was not the way to start.[6] It seemed to him that gamers were "more apt to simply take what they could get for free"[9] and that he needed to introduce a greater incentive to get users to register his games. Miller's experience with Beyond the Titanic and Supernova led him to develop the Apogee model which would become Apogee's standard method of marketing future releases.
Apogee also sold the game's Turbo Pascal 3.0 source code and marketed it to "novice programmers trying to learn the 'tricks of the trade'".[7] [23]
Supernova was re-released as freeware by Apogee on March 26, 1998.[24] The source code for the game was released as free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on March 20, 2009.[11]
| The Thor Trilogy | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Scenario Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Todd Replogle |
| Released: | 1989 |
| Genre: | Maze |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
The Thor Trilogy (also known as Caves of Thor) is a maze video game published in 1989 by Apogee Software. It was developed by Todd Replogle under the Scenario Software name.
The game places the player trapped within the Caves of Thor. The object of the game is to locate three missing items scattered throughout the place. The missing items are the Female-item, the Heart-item and the Male-item. The game's interface, gameplay and graphics are similar to a previous Apogee game, Kingdom of Kroz, and to the game ZZT.
The game was originally distributed as shareware. It consists of three volumes, with only the first volume distributed as shareware, and the rest available commercially. The volumes are:
The source code of the game used to be available for U$195.00 (in 1990) directly from Todd Replogle. The game was discontinued, and it was later re-released as freeware by Apogee in December 2005.
The game includes PC speaker renditions of various classical music pieces, including Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov, two preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach, and Solfeggietto by C.P.E. Bach.
| Trek Trivia | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Scott Miller |
| Genre: | Educational |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Trek Trivia is a trivia video game about the Star Trek TV series, written in Turbo Pascal 5.0 for MS-DOS and published by Apogee Software. The game consists of ten volumes each featuring 100 multiple choice questions related to Star Trek. Questions randomly chosen from the volume's database are sequentially presented to the player, who responds by selecting a numbered response from a list. For each correct answer, the game reveals a bonus Star Trek fact. Players begin the game with three credits; every ten correct responses earn the player an additional credit, but each incorrect response costs the player one credit.[25] When the player runs out of credits or has attempted all 100 questions, the game ends and the player's level of Star Trek knowledge is ranked on the basis of how many questions were correctly answered. The game's look and feel is largely text-based, but multicolored ASCII line graphics and text are used to enhance the presentation.
Trek Trivia was marketed via the Apogee model. Only the first volume was freely distributable as shareware; the remaining volumes were commercial products which could be purchased directly from Apogee. Apogee also sold the game's Turbo Pascal 5.0 source code which it marketed to "novice programmers trying to learn the 'tricks of the trade'".[7]
When the Star Trek copyright holder Paramount discovered that Apogee was profiting from their intellectual property, they offered Apogee a license for the game idea. Apogee did not accept the offer because the license would have cost more than what Apogee was making on the game.[20] Therefore, Apogee discontinued the game, and they no longer retain any copyright or control over it.[21]
| Trivia Whiz | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Micro F/X Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | George Broussard |
| Released: | 1988 |
| Genre: | Educational game |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Trivia Whiz is a general trivia game written for MS-DOS, published by Apogee Software. It was originally published by George Broussard under Micro F/X Software, before he joined Apogee.
Trivia Whiz was distributed as shareware. It consists of five volumes (named Volume 1 to 5), with only the first volume distributed as shareware, and the rest available commercially. Each volume has 100 multiple choice questions on a large variety of topics.
The game was discontinued, and it was later re-released as freeware by Apogee in December 2005.
| Word Whiz | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Developer: | Apogee Software |
| Publisher: | Apogee Software |
| Designer: | Scott Miller |
| Released: | 1988 |
| Genre: | Educational game |
| Modes: | Single-player |
| Platforms: | MS-DOS |
Word Whiz is a trivia game written for MS-DOS, published by Apogee Software. It consists of various questions about different English words.
Word Whiz was distributed as shareware. It consists of four volumes (named Volume 1 to 4), with only the first volume distributed as shareware, and the rest available commercially. Each volume has 100 multiple choice questions, each one about a specific word.
Word Whiz is written in Turbo Pascal 5.0 and the source code was for sale for $100.
The game was discontinued, and was later re-released as freeware by Apogee in December 2005. The source code for the game was released as free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on March 20, 2009.[11]
. David Kushner (writer). Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Random House. 2004. 61. 9780812972153.