Developed On:
Apple II+
Developed For:
Apple II+
Published:
inCider, June 1984 issue
Language:
Applesoft BASIC and 6502 assembler
Graphics:
Lo-res
Size:
13 sectors
 
     
 

Scout Search was the first game that I got published. I actually wrote this game in August 1983 and it was called Ricochet (I named it Ricochet after the David Bowie song, which I was listening to a lot at the time). The game was originally just a dot bouncing around in a maze and I thought "What kind of game could I make out of that?"

Well, a Scoutmaster rescuing his Boy Scouts before they get mauled by the bouncing grizzly dot sounds great! And thus it was born. A little bit of BASIC and some more code to turn it into a game and a little more jacking around and I sent it off to inCider magazine - one of the most popular Apple II magazines at the time.

Yay, inCider!
As was the standard practice for inCider, they sent me a postcard (dated Feb 9, 1984) telling me they received my submission and will get back to me when they made a decision. I sent them 5 text adventures along with Scout Search - two of those I have in my list here (The Unknown and Mystery Mountain) but I have no idea what the other 3 could have been. Maybe the lo-res "adventure" games Crazy Dunjun, Relic Quest, and Trapped!


My first short article

Before Scout Search was accepted I had been submitting games to magazines for a while but they had all been rejected - some for quality reasons but mainly because of length. You see, back then games in magazines were printed and the reader had to actually type them into their computer to get the game to work!

Any game that was overly long would not get accepted. After the success of Scout Search being published, I changed my game design style to reflect the needs of the magazines which dictated that the games can't be too big or they won't be able to print them. I did the odd large game in-between these smaller ones (see Subnodule and Pyramids of Egypt) but to keep the dough flowing I chose to write smaller games for a few years.

I did see success in getting my bigger games published on disk later on. As you'll notice, many of the early games I wrote in the 80's were written years before they were published.

A final bit of info about this game: I learned 6502 assembly language during the first half of 1983 from Roger Wagner's awesome Assembly Lines: The Book. The first graphics I experimented with were lo-res and when I started writing 6502 code this was my first lo-res game.


Instruction screen
In game action!
inCider postcard

To play Scout Search, I strongly recommend downloading AppleWin and playing it in full screen mode! The link to download AppleWin is on the links page.
DOWNLOAD BRICKLAYER!
Download SCOUT SEARCH
for the Apple II



Do you have any questions about this game or would like to know something more specific about it? Email me and tell me what you need to know and I may post it on this page.

Have any comments about this game?


      

1982
Crazy Climber
Dodge 'Em
Alien Attack
Phazzar
Missle Defense
Trashman
Smash 'N' Score
Maze Craze
Crazy Dunjun
Phantasm
Alien Attack II
Trashman II
Relic Quest
Bricklayer
Phantasm II
Trapped!
Alien Attack III


1983
Mach-Six
Targ II
Brick Breaker
Alien Conflict
Enemy Attack
Scramble
Battle Zone
Frogger
Donkey Kong
The Unknown
Mystery Mountain
Jumpster
Objectoids
Alien Attack IV
Phantasm III


1984
Scout Search
Miner 2049er
Mines of Moria
Snag!
Maze Panic
Cavern Crusader
Bongo's Bash
Krazy Kobra
Subnodule


1985
Pyramids of Egypt
Major Mayhem
City Centurian


1986
Zippi Zombi
Twilight Treasures
Operation: Obliteration


1987
Lethal Labyrinth
2400 A.D.


1988
Space Rogue
Might & Magic II
Tower Toppler
Wacky Wizard
Neptune's Nasties
Dangerous Dave


1989
Zappa Roids
Sub Stalker
Magic Boxes
Twilight Treasures - PC
Alfredo's Stupendous Surprise
Zappa Roids - PC
Pyramids of Egypt - PC


1990
How To Weigh An Elephant
Dinosorcerer
Same or Different
Dark Designs
Double Dangerous Dave
Dangerous Dave - PC
Catacomb II
Slordax
Commander Keen 1
Commander Keen 2
Commander Keen 3


1991
Shadow Knights
Dangerous Dave II
Rescue Rover
Hovertank One
Keen Dreams
Rescue Rover II
Commander Keen 4
Commander Keen 5
Commander Keen 6
Catacomb 3-D


1992
Wolfenstein 3-D
Spear of Destiny


1993
DOOM


1994
DOOM II
Heretic


1995
The Ultimate DOOM
Master Levels for DOOM
Final DOOM
Hexen


1996
Quake


2000
Daikatana


2001
Anachronox
Hyperspace Delivery Boy!


2002
Dig It!
Jewels and Jim


2003
Congo Cube
Red Faction N-Gage


2004
CN Block Party


2005
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows

     
 
GAME INSTRUCTIONS
Objective:
Move your aqua dot (Scoutmaster) around the maze and touch ALL the white dots (Scouts) to save them before the yellow dot (Grizzly) touches them. And makes them scream. Collect all remaining Scouts on the screen and you go to the next screen. The game is over when no white dots are left.
Controls:
A, Z, <-, -> to move.
Extra Info:
This was the first game I wrote after learning 6502 assembly language!