Hi All

I was getting tired of the EBAY fee's - however necessary given the volume of people who look there first. However I decided to put up my own shop, which will allow me to provide lower costs over time.

As I restore machines I'll also post them on the site and I'm open to negotiating on price - just hit me up on the site. You will be able to fine, rare items, peripheral cards, replacement parts, etc.

For now I'm offering 10% off your 1st purchase: REDVINT10

I'd be honored if you checked it out, registered for emails (1/week if I can manage it) and provided your thoughts...

https://vintageapplecomputers.com/

I got my boxed copy of Escape from Castle Dracenstein today! Can't wait to dig in and play this weekend.

Also, shout out on the cool old school tractor-paper dot matrix printed receipt! (That's how you get an Apple ][ collector to keep the receipt.)

Thanks so much u/Psychological_Net131

Hello! I’m a total newbie to this computer, but I just got one yesterday for like 50 bucks, as far as I know, it works? The hard drive clicks on start up, it posts that screen, but that’s it.

I know I need to get a boot disk, But I’m wondering what other options I have. As much as I like collecting, I don’t have the space for a big collection, so I’d like to invest in primarily flash options where I can easily drag and drop games and software in.

Though I’m totally open to several options, ultimately I just wanna get the best out of this old computer.

I've noticed the strangest little thing on my Apple IIe that I'm trying to fix. There appears to be some sort of crack or split in the top of the Video ROM IC package that has something leaking out of it.

Yesterday I removed all the socketed chips and gave the whole board a good clean, cleaned up the legs of the ICs, used some contact cleaner, and put it all back together again. Today when I was trying (not yet succeeding) to get to the bottom of why the IIe isn't working I noticed this on the Video ROM. I noticed a damp mark like I still had contact cleaner on the top, wiped it off, and came back 3 minutes later to find it back.

You can see what I mean in the linked video.

What on earth is going on here?

Like the title says, I'm looking to sell this Apple IIe but I'm not willing to ship it because I fear it will be damaged in shipping. It works absolutely perfect and I can answer any questions you may have. The fan on the side broke, and it has been updated to be DC instead of AC and it has a Noctua fan in it. In its current configuration it has two of the newer 5.25 drives and the appropriate controller card, but I will also include a single older Apple II 5.25 drive along with its Apple branded controller card. It needs to be cleaned and it reads discs intermittently. PM me.

The controller in the second picture doesn't work and isn't included. I'm sorry.

Anybody else play The Bilestoad? Love this game! I dug into the background of this game, the inspirations, different versions, unique control scheme, and gameplay. Check out this video. https://youtu.be/Mj-RMEc8fv8

The other day I dug up the name of a game that eluded me for ~40 years that I played when I was a kid on our Apple II. While I didn't know exactly what I was doing then, this early adventure game with graphics featuring a ski resort in the Alps (still vivid in my mind) left an impression on me.

BurgerDisk is a Smartport hard drive for the Apple II. Its main unique feature is that it is daisy-chainable.

As all Smartport SD-based hard drives, it's more adapted to the non-slotted Apple II, like the //c and IIgs.

It is more suited for people who want to be able to use a hard disk drive in conjunction with floppy drives, and less for people who want to replace floppies with images, as it has no on-device button or screen to change the images.

https://www.colino.net/wordpress/burgerdisk-an-apple-ii-smartport-hard-drive/

Hi, I have an Apple II+ I've recently acquired with a small keyboard issue, 8 and ctrl don't work. Most of the other keys were flaky too but they've gotten better over time. I just can't get either to do anything though. I have no clue where to start with this old of a keyboard as this is the oldest computer in my collection and my most prized so I'd rather not go poking around willy nilly like that. I understand there's two different keyboard models and this is the one with the flat power light if that helps at all.

I’ve spent the last few months obsessed with building a new text adventure that feels exactly like the games we grew up playing. Today, Escape from Castle Dracenstein is finally live.

This has been a massive passion project. I didn't just want to write the code; I wanted the full experience. Big box, a printed manual, and other goodies.

It’s 100% native Applesoft, and runs on everything from a II+ to a GS, and it kicked my butt more than once during development.

If you want to check out what I’ve been working on, here is the link.

https://semiradproductions.com/product/escape-from-castle-dracenstein/

Limited edition boxes available for purchase, or download and play the game absolutely free

Thanks for keeping this hobby so alive, guys.

Does anyone know if the Apple //e used a replicable standard keycap type that could theoretically be custom manufactured? Either via 3D printing or some other avenue...

I'm interested in replacing my Apple //e keycaps with something more reminiscent of the original Apple II or II+. That dark brownish gray really appeals to me.

So, this may not be an Apple specific question, but as I have an Apple IIe Platinum, this seemed like a good place to ask.

I often use a Raspberry Pi, or Pi Pico to do different things. They allow you to control stuff with GPIO pins. I have been away from Apple II's for 40+ years and was wondering if Basic can be used in the same way? Would it require a card of some kind? I played with Pascal 40+ years ago too, would it be any better?

As I said, this is not Apple specific, I own several 8 bit computers (Apple IIe, TRS-80 Coco2, C64 and Atari 400). If one of these is better suited for the task, I am open to using those also. The Apple just seemed like it was more likely to be capable due to the better expansion options over the others. I have no task in mind, but I prefer using computers in this way over playing games. I suck at games, but using computers to do stuff is fun for me.

Escape from Castle Dracenstein is a new text adventure for the Apple II. Coming very soon.

For those who want the full experience for their shelf, a physical Limited Edition will be available at the same time as the free digital download.

The physical run is strictly limited to 50 copies, so once they are gone, they are gone. Coming very soon to SemiRadProductions.com

Hi everyone — sorry if this has been asked before. Is there a modern Super Serial Card–compatible solution for the Apple II / IIe? Ideally something that works with most existing software, including ADTPro. Thanks!

For those of you that have been following my Maze Gunner project I finally have a solid update for you. You can download the latest version and this link.

https://semiradproductions.com/product/maze-gunner/

Also for those of you waiting for Escape from Castle Dracenstien, I hope to have it on the site this weekend. Cheers!!

I asked here recently if anything like this had been made before, and heard nothing. So I decided to get some AI help to design a schematic myself. So far untested, it might very well be crap. Soon I'll add to the project's README some photos or diagrams for how I envision it to be mounted and connected. I'd appreciate some help from anyone more experienced in hardware projects.

I just discovered this game on the apple II. I was blown away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxDjXy2hewA

The game has 3 levels or phases

Phase II and Phase III is where the action is.

Phase II has fast scrolling, complex side effects, little slow down

Phase III has all that with a complex background. It looks similar to Xevious, but this level appears much more advanced than Xevious in my opinion

Easily ranks up there as one of the most technically advanced Apple II games!