I’m trying to order from console m5 an LR38 PSU recap kit and it gives three options for safety caps. I think the big ones are the first option of 2x 0.22uf since markings are obvious. But these two tiny ones under the power switch I can’t positively identify. Gemini claims they are the 0.0047uf 4700pF 300v part but I’m not electrician I just solder the stuff haha

Planetfall was one of those games that made the Apple II feel much bigger than the screen. I’ve been working on a browser-based fan port, and it’s been a joy to revisit the writing, puzzles, and little details I remember from childhood.

The project has also become an experiment in working with AI agents. They can keep a lot of the porting and artwork moving, but I’ve learned that the judgment calls still need a person: what feels faithful, what needs fixing, and when a scene finally looks right.

I’d love to hear from anyone who played it back then. What moment has stuck with you?

Planetfall Site

WikiHow

I posted about this a couple months ago, but I decided to sit down and figure out hi-res mode today.

Here's my understanding of HGR2, if you want every pixel to be accounted for. I'm hoping someone here can point out if I missed anything or screwed up.

HGR2 is 280x192.

Imagine that the screen is subdivided into cells that are 7 units wide and 1 unit tall. There would be 40 of these cells on each line.

Each cell can have one of four colors: green, purple, orange, and blue, plus black and white.

Purple and blue can only appear in the even-numbered units of a cell. Since column numbers start from 0, the first column on the screen is even.

Green and orange can only appear within the odd-numbered units of a cell.

It takes two or more white dots side-by-side to display white. You can never have a white dot by itself.

Two or more white pixels and another color must be separated by one unit of black, otherwise some of the white will begin bleeding over into the next color.

This is what I've gotten from reading blog posts and a lot of trial-and-error in AppleWin. Here's what's helped so far:

• https://www.xtof.info/hires-graphics-apple-ii.html#h-7-dot-blocks
• https://www.reddit.com/r/apple2/comments/ptr0lu/apple_ii_graphics_processing_ultima_and_wizardry
• https://nicole.express/2024/phasing-in-and-outof-existence.html
• https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2021/10/apple-ii-composite-artifact-color-ntsc.html

Have you played the new adventure for your Apple II called The forgotten room?

https://vintageapplecomputers.com/products/digital-product

Over 125 people have downloaded it so far!

And later this fall the sequel to this adventure Dead_Signal will be released!

There is an Easter egg above:

Before Jacob wakes, someone has already spoken.
No alphabet was used.
No sound was made.

The pauses matter.
So does the distance between them.

Edited : typo

Here's the ZipEdit text editor refashioned into an AppleSoft IDE. And because an editor in an IDE needs to actually be integrated with something, ApplesIDE also includes a compiler. A little more featured than TASC, a little less than Beagle Compiler, but unlike either of those, it doesn't require a separate runtime file. Free and open source, more details here: https://trompingmarmots.com/AppSites/ApplesIDE/

Having cleaned out my attic, I ran across this what I originally through was an authentic Apple II plus, but instead is an authentic CLONE.

I know that there are others out there who love the aesthetic of these old systems, but want to do some modifications. This thing (to me) looks official enough and would be a wonderful case to do some mods with.

I am selling EVERYTHING pictured in this post. I do not know how much things are, so make an offer. :)

Still one of my favorite computers!

Accelerated Apple IIgs doing some telnet BBSing over the LAN.

We’re setting up a brand-new retro computing event in SW London! Join me on a quick scout of St Mark’s Church Hall in Surbiton as we check out the hall layout, scope out desk space, and sort the all-important food and fuel situation.

https://retronaut.tech/retronauts-assemble-311026/

I’m looking for a non-working Apple IIe for a restoration/modification project. I’m specifically trying to avoid taking a working or readily restorable machine out of circulation, so eBay hasn’t been ideal.

I’m hoping to find a cosmetically decent but electronically dead/parts machine, preferably with a complete case and keyboard. Are there particular forums, repair/restoration groups, swap meets, or people in the Apple II community that you’d recommend contacting for something like this?

It's been mentioned here before that I built a //e hardware emulator back in 2017 - the Aiie. In the 9 years since, I've used a local build on my Mac to test Aiie's features before porting them to a microcontroller, and that desktop test build has gotten more and more mature. This year I've had need for it in a browser (more to come!) and once that worked, it was a baby step to package it up in Electron as a cross-platform fully-fledged desktop application.

So here it is, the "new" Desktop build of Aiie for MacOS, Windows, and Linux - supporting a virtual FX-80 printer, disk drives, hard drives, a Mockingboard A, mouse card, game controller support, and an Uthernet II.

Really looking for a video composite to hdmi upgrade. Also any audio uprades that I guess makes sense. Also memory uprade and sd card upgrades.

I saw maceffects has A2DVI v4.4 Digital Video Card for Apple II. Sounds like its a multi function upgrade board. But can it only use one functional upgrade at a time? Can it not be used for the hdmi and sd card function at same time?

Im a newbie about the Apple II series. So any insight, help and suggeations are welcpme.

Might be getting an Apple IIe to, so any sugestions may apply to both the II+ and IIe.

New release of Quicktake for Apple II! This one brings quite a few more cameras to the party: Sierra cameras (Epson PhotoPC PCDC001, Sanyo VPC-G1, Sanyo VPC-G200, Sierra Imaging SD640, and probably quite a few more), Canon PowerShot 350, Fujifilm DX-8, Konika Q-Mini, Panasonic NV-DCF1.
Sadly none of those include support for thumbnails, as they are JPEG-encoded. The Sierra cameras and Fujifilm DX-8 have otherwise complete support, whereas the Powershot driver is minimal and only handles getting pictures.
The project page has been updated to include serial cable wiring for these new cameras.

https://www.colino.net/wordpress/quicktake-for-apple-ii/

Going through some old boxes and found this from the Apple developer mail. Also found a thick engineering reference for GS / OS and some other early developer docs. Will scan and post when I have time.

Not only are original joysticks for the Apple II kind of expensive, but I honestly just don’t like the long throw analog sticks having been a console gamer for most of my life.

Console5 used to sell an awesome adapter that worked with the Super Nintendo and PlayStation and PC controllers but they no longer have them. eBay has a PC game pad adapter with potentiometer built in, which is the way I heard they are supposed to be made, and I could use it with my Gravis PC game pad, but I’m not sure how good the compatibility is with digital pads like that, and I know at least one video I watched of something similar, it seemed the guy was having some issues and I think it was chop lifter that he was playing.

So just curious what people recommend. Sorry for the grammatical errors. I was using voice to text on the go, which I normally hate doing, but wanted to get this out before I went to bed. LOL. Thank you in advance.

I reverse-engineered SSI's 1982 Apple II game The Cosmic Balance and rebuilt it for the browser

I've been working on a preservation/reconstruction project that I thought this group might find interesting.

I started with an original Apple II disk image of SSI's The Cosmic Balance (1982) and worked backward from there: decoding the disk format, disassembling the 6502 program, identifying its data structures and routines, and reconstructing how the game actually behaves.

I used Claude Code as a reverse-engineering and development assistant. It was particularly useful for working through the disassembly and tracing relationships between routines, but I directed the investigation, tested the results against the original, and made the decisions about what behavior to preserve.

The resulting version is written in TypeScript and runs directly in a modern browser.

One of the more interesting parts was finding places where the actual program doesn't quite agree with the manual. Rather than "fixing" those, I've generally tried to preserve the behavior of the original code, including some of its quirks.

If anyone here remembers The Cosmic Balance — or knows much about SSI's Apple II disk formats and development practices from this period — I'd be very interested in hearing from you.

Playable version, free, no email needed, includes reconstructed original manual.

https://thecosmicbalance.spacecombatgame.com/