(This is part five of the chronicle of my Retrochallenge 2016/01 submission, which is to port some classic Star Trek text games to the Mattel Aquarius. To jump to the beginning, go here.)

Thank Heavens for the Internet Archive

Today I came across Mike Mayfield’s personal account of the history of STTR1. This information was rescued from a defunct website by the fabulous efforts of the Internet Archive:

That page was part of a more general survey of the early Star Trek text games. I noticed a Palm Pilot version. I’ll be trying that on the Palm III I use for weekend To Do lists.

Work Begins on STTR2

I’ve begun working on (or at least mulling over) an enhanced version of STTR1 for the Aquarius that will take advantage of the system’s modest graphics and sound capabilities.

The set of goals is not solidified but at a minimum:

• Use a fixed display (not scrolling). Left half is Short Range Scan, right half is output of all other commands except the Galactic Record.
• Change color palette to something more thematic
• Add a title screen
• Draw a grid for short and long-range scans

 

Never an endeavor so doomed.

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