by Linus Åkerlund
e-mail: uxm165t@tninet.se, laker@linux.nu, liak5157@csd.uu.se
v.0.1 14/4-98
v.0.2 17/10-98 (added more email
addresses and copyright)
You can always find the most recent
version of this document at
http://hem2.passagen.se/c64linus/fortapoc.txt
Why a Fort Apocalypse FAQ?
This document can be seen as a guide to
the complex world of Fort Apocalypse,
for those who don't have a clue
as to what it is. Many questions
have been posted to
comp.emulators.cbm about this game,
probably not many enough to
motivate a FAQ, but still many
enough to motivate me to write one.
(Now try to imagine the amount
of spare time I have...) I've
collected the most relevant (and
_important_) questions about Fort
Apocalypse that have been asked
in comp.emulators.cbm, and added a few
questions myself. The answers
may not be correct, relevant, funny or
even informative, but they should
give you some sort of hint as to
what this Fort Apocalypse thing
is all about. Here we go...
1. What is Fort Apocalypse?
Fort Apocalypse is a computer game,
written as early as 1982, and
still very popular. The version
I know about is for the C-64, and the
VIC-20 version probably has never
existed, although there were ads for
it in computer magazines.
If you want to play it (you do), you have
to get a C-64 or a C-64 emulator,
and preferably a Tac-II joystick
(now that was controversial!).
2. Does it really exist, or is it just a joke?
Asking this question definitely
qualifies you as a heretic. It
definitely exists. It exists
very much. I played it this morning.
I've played it now and then for
the last 15 years, so it should exist.
(The word 'exist' is here used
in the normal sense, if you're
interested in metaphysics, try
to think of Fort Apocalypse as
something that exists in the same
way as a table, a chair or your cat
(if you have one). If you
don't think that ordinary tables and chairs
exist, then you would probably
think that Fort Apocalypse doesn't
exist either, but in that case,
at least it non-exists in the same way
as tables and chairs do.)
3. What kind of game is it?
Well, you fly around in caves with
a helicopter. It's all very
two-dimensional, and there are
other, not that friendly, helicopters,
other enemies, walls to shoot your
way through, and humans to rescue.
It's quite difficult, at least
until you've spent a few hours playing
it. A few hours probably
isn't enough, make that a few hundred hours.
4. Who wrote it?
The startup screen says:
Fort Apocalypse
by Steve Hales
Commodore version
by Joe Vierra
5. Where can I find it?
This is probably the most frequently
asked question in
comp.emulators.cbm, at least in
the last couple of weeks. The answer
is: everywhere! The first
place to look for a C-64 game is at the
Arnold FTP archive, you'll find
it there. The URL is:
http://arnold.hiof.no/ .
You can also find it at my homepage, look
at: http://hem2.passagen.se/c64linus/gamelist.html
. If both these
sites would happen to be down,
do a websearch or something, you
probably can't miss it, as it should
be on almost every C-64 games
site, and definitely in every C-64
FTP archive.
6. Is it good?
Heresy! Of course it is, why
do you think everybody keeps asking for
it?
7. What's the point of this FAQ?
Er... To spread the divine
truth of Fort Apocalypse, I suppose. Some
day, the whole world will be playing
Fort Apocalypse, and then the
world will be a beautiful place,
with no pollution, no starvation and
no broken toe-nails.
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This document is (c) Linus Åkerlund
1998. You may spread it any way
you like, e.g. put it on your own
website, send it to your friends (or
enemies), print it out and eat
it etc., as long as you don't change
anything in it, including the copyright.
If you want to change
anything in it or sell copies of
it, first get in touch with the
author.
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Emacs inside