But it raises an interesting question: would it have been possible to implement that upside down floppy disk puzzle in a game?
1. Was it even possible to insert floppy disks upside down? I lived through the floppy disk era in my childhood, but I have to admit I can't remember if the drives would even let you do this.
2. If the answer to #1 is yes, would there be any way of programmatically detecting the floppy-disk-was-inserted-the-wrong-way state?
The version of Elite that I played had the standard version on one side, and a version for the "BBC Master" (which had an extra 64KiB RAM) which had more colours than the standard version, on the other.
In my defense, so were 5.25" floppies. Literally the worst.
1.a. ...unless you altered the shape of the floppy.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/5....
A fun fact in that regard: the game Karateka (an actual game for the Apple II) had an easter egg, where the team realized that their game entirely fit in the capacity of one side of a floppy, so they put a second copy of the game on the other side, but set up so that it would render upside-down.
I'd not be surprised if the inclusion of that detail in this post was directly inspired by Karateka.
They realized that inverting the screen was as simple as inverting the row-pointer array. Then they managed to convince Broderbund to ship a double-sided floppy with that change in the software.
If the other side contains other data it should be easy to detect the disk was inserted upside down just by reading it.
https://www.webcommand.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/commod...
But the Apple II mainly used 5.25” floppies. So I’m not correcting you, just adding more context.
> smell
Very expensive cigar smoke. Curiously like oranges.
> examine bar
It's a little nook in the corner of the room. Someone seems to have left a few coins there! You scoop them up and relish the jingle a few coins make in your pocket. It's scattered with the usual: a few empty glasses, a lot of bottles, three three model cars, a treatise upon the theory of panspermia written by your aunt, a statue of an elephant, and a white chess piece.
[ +5 coins! ]
> drink
Your mother made you very solemnly swear on your cherished Swim Bird plushie to not break into Great-Uncle Herbert's stash until you were married.
> drink
Your mother made you very solemnly swear on your cherished Swim Bird plushie to not break into Great-Uncle Herbert's stash until you were married. No force in the universe could compel you to break this oath.
> x chess
It's nestled among the bottles, as if trying to blend in with them. You wonder what a drink themed around a white pawn would taste like. Probably oranges. Grunkle Herbert always smelt a little like oranges, under those cigars.
> x elephant
Red jasper, the size of your fist.
> play pool
You pick up a cue and poke the balls around the baize. For a moment it's as if you're a little older, pitting your skills against Grunkle Herbert in an endless series of cozy lectures on the history of Fenn Aires, and how he made deals between its biggest players. For a moment it's as if you're him, aimlessly knocking balls around the table as he passes on his knowledge to the next generation of power. But ultimately it's just you, alone in his massive mansion, trying to piece the massive puzzle of his life back together, and wondering why you always smell oranges when you think of him.
And ultimately it was darts that he really played to win, not billiards.
> x prints
Two sparse line drawings: a raven, and a writing-desk.
> play darts
[ a dart-themed math puzzle ensues ]
----
Which parts are important? Which parts are just there to distract you? Is it important to a second-layer puzzle that this room's memories smell like oranges? Is it meaningful that there's a chess piece there? Is it meaningful that you're pretty sure this room's memories smelled like cherries yesterday?
lylejantzi3rd•3mo ago
graynk•3mo ago
I assume that was the goal of the post. Because such a game does not exist :)
But I also believed it for a moment.