Monkey Business: First Commercial Amiga Game - It Exists! BELIEVE IT or NOT!!!

[malko]

Originally Posted by jotd

So the "original" dump was broken/corrupt? [...]

Post #29

[jotd]

Any way to put that on an "official" downloadable site? I suppose that if we don't have permission we cannot.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by jotd

Can Ross explain what he did to make this game work properly?

Originally Posted by ross

Sure:
1) researching for an alternative source for the game background (mac or atari)
2) no dump available but I've found a compact disk for Atari ST [Automation Menu Disk 042 (1989)(LSD - Was -Not Was-).st from TOSEC] that contain a one-filed working version
3) I've zero experience on Atari ST so installed Hatari and played with internal debugger
4) was so easy that after very few time i'm on depacking data background code of Monkey
5) see message http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=...8&postcount=45
6) on Amiga code, found what track are use to load backgrond data
7) inserted data on ADF and voilà

Genius and elegant, all at once!

Originally Posted by jotd

okay, check the zone Included the disk image (even if I did an install program, but it works on Ross fixed version, sooo).

Tested nicely on A1200/030 here. Thanks Jeff!

BTW I haven't tested the fixed ADF.....so I assume this game is played from keyboard only??

Originally Posted by jotd

Any way to put that on an "official" downloadable site? I suppose that if we don't have permission we cannot.

Are you talking about the Monkey Business ADF, or the WHD installed game/installer that you upped to the Zone? What would be the problem exactly anyway?!

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by NorthWay

a) Infocom did indeed have pre-release machines available as has been documented. I believe it was said so in "The Amiga Years" book.

Not surprising it's in Bruce Bagnall's Amiga book (bought it, but I'm yet to read it), but I know I've read it in a few other places well before the book was published.

Incidentally, the date on the main exec of Planetfall is November 7, 1985. IIRC, it's significantly earlier than the dates on any main exec of other Infocom games released for the Amiga in 1985/86. I will have to go back and check the other Infocom games, though, to satisfy my own peace of mind.

b) Mindwalker often gets touted because it was actually widely passed around among developers before the Amiga release, as a beta version obviously. I don't know what that says about pirating or "testing before buying" among 'professionals'. Well, depending on if it was the author himself passing it.

I wouldn't discount the aura of Mind Walker being the only Amiga game to be released on the C= label, and probably in-and-around the time (first quarter of '86 IIRC) of the A1000 first being launched in the UK and other parts of Europe.

[desiv]

Originally Posted by DrBong

BTW I haven't tested the fixed ADF.....so I assume this game is played from keyboard only??

Funny, I didn't try it with the keyboard.
Joystick works.. ;-)

[TjLaZer]

I added the WHDLoad install that was posted with a nice icon that I made. Runs well on my A1200/060 and also Vampire A500!

[fgh]

Why not ask the developer if he can confirm the release date?
http://ronfortier.com
https://mobile.twitter.com/ronfortier

[DrBong]

@fgh
I'd already thought of doing that, but I've been trying to find some direct contact details for him. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to do a thorough search yet. If worst comes to worst, I come up empty, I guess I'll just send him an email through the facility on his company website and cross my fingers for a reply.

[malko]

While browsing for something else, found this. Maybe of any interest for someone.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by DrBong

Tested nicely on A1200/030 here. Thanks Jeff!

BTW I haven't tested the fixed ADF.....so I assume this game is played from keyboard only??

Originally Posted by desiv

Funny, I didn't try it with the keyboard.
Joystick works.. ;-)

Thanks for the heads-up. Yes, the WHDLoad version does work with a joystick here......apparently my joystick extender cable had popped slightly out of the joy port, which is why it didn't respond to joystick control the first time I tried it!

Originally Posted by malko

While browsing for something else, found this. Maybe of any interest for someone.

An interesting advert for sure - particularly since it features a very youthful Trip Hawkins - but unfortunately it doesn't really shed any light on the question we're trying to answer. Marble Madness in that EA advert, for instance, was released in mid-1986 and Return to Atlantis (incidentally, previewed in the premiere Sept '85 issue of Amiga World) was massively delayed(!) and released around March/April 1988.

[Dunny]

I'm not sure that a requirement for 512KB of RAM is any indication that a game must have come out later on - I bought my A1000 at launch and opted for the 512Kb expansion, which it was delivered with.

[Gordon]

So what are peoples opinions of the game it self? How does it compare to Donkey Kong?

[DrBong]

@Dunny
My feeling is that the Lorraine initially had higher memory specs than the A1000 (512k ram or perhaps even 1-2MB, as it was originally conceived as a games console), but Jay Miner and his team were probably overruled by C=. It may have been a relatively late cost-cutting decision since memory prices fluctuated wildly during the early to mid-80s and the competition (read: Atari ST) had only 256k as stock standard initially at release, while the Mac was bestowed with a relatively paltry 128k ram when released in 1984.

The fact that C= had the A1050 256k ram expansion ready to go when the A1000 hit retailers in the U.S. may lend some support to that notion. I'm sure the usual suspects will vehemently disagree, though, just coz they can!

@Gordon
Crappola compared to a fair few home versions of Donkey Kong that I've played on 8-bit machines, never mind the arcade version. Particularly crappola if you consider that, by 1985, home conversions & clones of Donkey Kong were a bit old hat and distinctly 8-bit......yet Monkey Business was the best initial offering that could be put forward (no, really?!) for the all-singin', all-dancin' powerhouse that was the Amiga 1000, you know the wunderkind widely lauded at the '84 CES show and the July '85 launch in the big Apple with Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry & co.

Hmmm, putting my smart arse comments aside.....I think I probably would've been a touch disappointed spending Christmas '85 with Monkey Business and little else on a brand-spanking, big-ticket item Amiga 1000. Hopefully I wouldn't have had to part with my C64 before Christmas to trade-up to the new A1000!

[desiv]

Originally Posted by Gordon

So what are peoples opinions of the game it self? How does it compare to Donkey Kong?

I've only played the first screen and part of the second.
My initial thought is that it felt like Donkey Kong.
It had the same fun... At least initially.


I would have had fun with that game back in the day.
Now, would I have been disappointed in the sound and graphics?
Yeah. It looks like a decent Public Domain game, or an OK 8-bit game.
I wouldn't have wanted to pay too much for it... ;-)
But almost all of that original batch (with the notable exception of MindWalker) had a rushed 8-bit dump feel.
The weird thing about this game is that it wasn't that. It was a 16-bit port (Mac and ST). So, it really should have looked better.

But I am putting that down to maybe it was a Mac port (and not an ST port). And Mac gaming back then wasn't all about graphics and sound. ;-) I am sure the ST owners were equally disappointed with that game. Mac owners probably thought it was a decent effort. ;-) (I had more than a few friends with 256k and early 512k Macs. Early gaming there wasn't a graphical/sound extravaganza... :-)

[clebin]

I had it running in FS-UAE once, but it won't run for me again.

The character feels pretty good to control and moves quite smoothly. The graphics are basic but I can overlook that (never hurt Chuckie Egg). But it's remarkably un-fun to play for some reason. I've played much worse MS-DOS games like Jumpman which are less boring.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by clebin

I had it running in FS-UAE once, but it won't run for me again.

Not sure about FS-UAE, but I'd imagine it would be similar to WinUAE so you need to use the following config with ross's fixed version i.e. "Monkey Business (The Other Valley)[h Niwa Software][f 100% ross, beta].adf":

... A500
... OCS
... KS 1.2
... 512KB Chip RAM only

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by desiv

It looks like a decent Public Domain game, or an OK 8-bit game.
I wouldn't have wanted to pay too much for it... ;-)
But almost all of that original batch (with the notable exception of MindWalker) had a rushed 8-bit dump feel.
The weird thing about this game is that it wasn't that. It was a 16-bit port (Mac and ST). So, it really should have looked better.

But I am putting that down to maybe it was a Mac port (and not an ST port). And Mac gaming back then wasn't all about graphics and sound. ;-) I am sure the ST owners were equally disappointed with that game. Mac owners probably thought it was a decent effort. ;-) (I had more than a few friends with 256k and early 512k Macs. Early gaming there wasn't a graphical/sound extravaganza... :-)

Methinks it would've been a Mac port rather than a ST one. From what I've been able to piece together, the ST version may have actually came in early '86 after the Mac and Amiga versions were released in quick time in the lead up to Christmas '85.

Funny you should mention knowing Mac gamers back in the day. I only remember people playing Mac games at university here in Oz. Mac games certainly weren't stellar before the likes of Shufflepuck Cafe` came along towards the late 80s, although I have to admit that icon-driven adventures like Déjà Vu were pretty impressive despite the monochrome graphics.

Originally Posted by clebin

The character feels pretty good to control and moves quite smoothly. The graphics are basic but I can overlook that (never hurt Chuckie Egg). But it's remarkably un-fun to play for some reason. I've played much worse MS-DOS games like Jumpman which are less boring.

Ho-hum and un-fun are the words to describe Monkey Business. Spot-on, for mine!

[desiv]

Originally Posted by DrBong

Funny you should mention knowing Mac gamers back in the day. I only remember people playing Mac games at university here in Oz. Mac games certainly weren't stellar before the likes of Shufflepuck Cafe` came along towards the late 80s, although I have to admit that icon-driven adventures like Déjà Vu were pretty impressive despite the monochrome graphics.

I'd almost be tempted to say there were no good early Mac games, but...
I remember playing a game called Continuum (think Thrust on the C64) that blew me away at the time. It made my roommate almost not feel too bad about his Fat Mac. ;-)

(Worth taking a look at if you have never seen it and are interested in 68k Mac stuff)

http://www.ski-epic.com/continuum_downloads/

[DamienD]

I remember playing Dark Castle on a friend's Mac and thought that was pretty good, but yes it had monochrome graphics

[DrBong]

@DoubleD
Yeh, the Dark Castle games series originated on the Mac and were so successful that the games were ported to just about every computer platform under the sun. Most platforms back then had their share of shining lights in the games arena, even the Mac and PC!

Originally Posted by malko

While browsing for something else, found this. Maybe of any interest for someone.

Here's a more interesting EA advert for the question we're trying to answer. EA actually announcing the availability of their first 7 Amiga software products (DPaint, Skyfox, One on One, ArcticFox, Financial Cookbook, Seven Cities of Gold, Archon) for purchase in early 1986.

https://archive.org/details/amiga-wo...86-03/page/n11

Originally Posted by DrBong

Infocom probably had developer machines from C= and had everything set-up in-house from a software/hardware point-of-view to quickly port text adventures between different platforms in a matter of weeks. It is well-established that they had cross-platform facilities set-up in-house for 8-bit platform development per se way before any of the 16-bit machines like the ST and Amiga were launched.

Originally Posted by NorthWay

a) Infocom did indeed have pre-release machines available as has been documented. I believe it was said so in "The Amiga Years" book.

Clicky, clicky, they did! -----> https://archive.org/details/amiga-wo...86-01/page/n71