TI99ers On-Line User Group

Is there a TI-99/4A Magazine?

Yes, MICROpendium has been around for over ten years now, and is still in print. Their address is:

Micropendium PO Box 1343 Round Rock TX 78680

A 6 issue (one year) subscription is $35 for domestic (U.S.) subscribers. The rate for new subscribers is $25 for the first year.

NOTE: MICROpendium is no longer published. However, there is a website where it is archived. That URL is http://ti99.home.insightbb.com/microp.html.

FAQ courtesy of Jim Reiss

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What are some of the Infocom Adventure games?
Adventure games on the TI-99/4A

Here is my 'starter list'.
- Bill Gaskill

Legend: AM=Adventure Module, TOD=Tunnels of Doom module, Parenthesis=(year, author)

A Medeival Graphical Adventure - (unknown, unknown)
A Star Trek Adventure - (unknown, unknown)
Acme Misadventures - Ridgemont High - (unknown, Sabotage Software, AM)
Adventure in the Realm of Gondor 3560 A.D. - (unknown, unknown)
Adventure in Oz - (1983 - Steve Davis, Programs for the TI Home Computer)
Adventure of Bigfoot - (unknown, Curtis Borders, fairware, AM)
Adventure Package (1982 - Data Systems)
Adventureland (1978 - Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Airline (1983 - (Ann and Phillip Case, Adventure Int'l)
An Adult Adventure - (1985, SDP, AM)
Assault the City (1985 - John Behnke, Asgard, TOD)
Basements and Beasties - (Barry Traver)
Carfax Abbey (1987) - (David Vincent graphical adventure, fairware)
Castle Adventure - (1983, unknown, XB)
Castle Darkholm (1990) - (Randy Cook, Asgard, AM)
Castle David (1985) - (Keith Bajura, public domain)
Castle Hallways - (unknown Patrick Crosbie, public domain)
Castle Mygog
Catacomb (1982) - (Werner Brothers, public domain)
Cave Maze (1983) - (Jon Todd, public domain)
Classic Adventure
Clueless (unknown) - (Ed Sanders, public domain)
Computer Nightmare - (John Behnke, Asgard, TOD)
Computer Quest - (Asgard, TOD)
Computorama - (unknown Rusty, AM)
Cutthroats (1984) - (Infocom)
Daring Adventure in K-Mart - (Asgard, TOD)
Dark Tower - (John Behnke, Asgard, TOD)
Deadline (1984) - (Infocom)
Deathship I & II (unknown) - (unknown Aardvark Software)
Deliver the Cake (1981) - (Furman Smith, public domain)
Desert Dilemma
Devil's Dungeon (unknown) - (Ralph Newkold, public domain)
Disaster - (unknown Gerry, AM)
Discovery at June Lake - (unknown Kurt Browning, AM)
Doomcastle (1982) - (Sam Pincus, Data Systems)
Dragon's Lair, The (unknown unknown)
Dungeon of Math - (1980, A. Lockhart)
Dungeon of the Castle of No Return - (unknown unknown)
Dungeons I & II - (unknown unknown)
Egypt
Eight Orbs of Drangonkind - (Asgard, TOD)
Enchanter (1984) - (Infocom)
Escape from Mars - (unknown Ed Sternberg, public domain)
Escapade (unknown unknown)
First Days in Eden (1985) - (L. Steven Cheairs, fairware, AM)
Gallifraen Adventure - (Asgard, TOD)
Gerry's Place - (unknown unknown AM)
Get the Gold! An Enchanted Adventure (1983) - (Frank Elsesser, Compute!, Dec83, p.132)
Ghost Town (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Gnome (unknown unknown)
Golden Voyage, with William Demas (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Good Doctor from Gallifrey - (Asgard, TOD)
Haunted House (1982) - (Scott Morgan, American Software Design & Distribution)
High Adventure (unknown) - (Todd Coe, public domain)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984) - (Infocom)
Hobbitt (unknown) - (unknown public domain)
Hollywood Hijinx (Infocom, Barry Boone, Asgard)
In Search of El Dorado
Infidel (1984) - (Infocom)
It's a Jungle Out There (1982) - (Albert L. Allen, public domain)
Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure (1982) - (George F. Steffen, Tex*Comp)
Knight Ironheart (1983) - (Adventure Int'l)
Legends (1987) - (Donn Granros graphical adventure, Asgard)
Legends II (1989) - (Donn Granros and Ed Johnson graphical adventure, Asgard)
Lost Gold - (1986, Ray Price, AM)
Magic Rings of the Gnomes - (unknown Randy Cohen, TOD)
Matilda's Dilemma - (unknown Bob Viering, Buffalo Chip Software)
Miner 49'er (1982) - (Scott Morgan, American Software Design & Distribution)
Mission Impossible (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Monster Combat (1980) - (Lee Chapel, public domain)
Moon Survival Adventure - (unknown Gene Hitz)
Munster Family Adventure - (1982, Bill Genovese)
Murder Mystery - (unknown unknown)
Murder in the Mansion: A Who Done It (unknown) - (Jack Sughrue, public domain)
Mystery at Raven Mountain (1985) - (Keith Bajura, public domain)
Mystery Fun House (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Nerds Revenge - (Asgard, TOD)
New Quest - (unknown unknown)
Ninja - (unknown Jim Beck, fairware)
Nomad I & II
Old Dark Caves (1985) - (Donn Granros graphical adventure)
Old Dark Caves: The Lower Caverns (1988) - (Donn Granros, Asgard)
Oliver's Twist (1989) - (Lynn Gardner, Mickey Cendrowski, Asgard)
Operation Sabotage - (1983, Bob Chmela)
Parts of Speech Dungeon Adventure - (1984, Jack Sughrue, public domain)
Pharaoh's Gold
Pirate Adventure, with Alexis Adams (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Planetfall (1984) - (Infocom)
Plundered Hearts (1992) - (Infocom, Barry Boone, Asgard)
Polar Trek - (unknown Rick Kellogg, fairware)
Pyramid - (unknown unknown)
Pyramid of Doom (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Quest - (1983) - (W.J.Tomcanin, public domain)
Quest 99/4 - (unknown unknown)
Quest for the King - (1985, Walter J. Dollard, fairware, TOD)
Quest for the Magic Maker Diamond (1987) - (Bill Wrona, Asgard)
Questsword - (unknown unknown)
Raise Quest - (unknown unknown)
Rattlesnake Bend (1990) - (Mickey Cendrowski, Asgard, AM)
Return to Pirate's Island (1983) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Ringwraith's Lair - (1981, Fantasy Computing)
Savage Island, part 1 (1981) - (Adventure Int'l)
Savage Island, part 2, with Russ Wetmore (1981) - (Adventure Int'l)
Secret Chambers (unknown) - (Steve Patterson, fairware)
Shipwrecked - (unknown L. Searcy & L. Pierce, public domain)
Sorcerer (1984) - (Infocom)
Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle (1984) - (Adventure Int'l)
Space Mine - (Asgard, TOD)
Spiderman (1984, many, AI/Questprobe) - (Adventure Int'l)
Starcross (1984) - (Infocom)
Stationfall (Infocom, Barry Boone, Asgard)
Stellar Explorer - (unknown Dan Farrow, public domain)
Strange Odyssey (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Superman (unknown) - (unknown public domain)
Suspect (Infocom, Barry Boone, Asgard)
Suspended (1984) - (Infocom)
Swords & Sorcery - (unknown Sam Moore Jr.)
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, with Philip Case and Kern McNair (1985) - (Adventure Int'l)
The Big Texas Spy Adventure (unknown) - (Sydney Michel, public domain)
The Colossal Cave I & II - (unknown unknown AM)
The Count (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
The Crystal Cavern - Sorcerer's Apprentice (unknown - Dataquest)
The Doors to Eden (1985) - (L. Steven Cheairs, fairware, AM)
The Dragons of Hong Kong (unknown) - (Ken Woodcock, public domain)
The Four Vedas (1982) - (Scott Morgan, American Software Design & Distribution)
The Great Avocado Adventure - (unknown G&T Software, AM)
The Hulk (1984) - (Adventure Int'l, Questprobe)
The Leather Goddesses of Phobos (Infocom, Barry Boone, Asgard)
The Lost Dutchman Mine (1982) - (Eric Steenburn, CMS Software, XB)
The Lurking Horror (Infocom, Barry Boone, Asgard)
The New King (1983) - (Mike Stewart, CMS Software)
The Phantom of Blackmoore - (1983, Paul Granese)
The Quest (1987) - (Jim Beck, fairware)
The Quest for the Key Pt 1: Search for Mergen's Keep (1983) - (Mike Stewart, CMS Software)
The Quest for the Key Pt 2: The Enchanted Keep (1983) - (Mike Stewart, CMS Software)
The Search for the Lost Dutchman's Gold (1983, Pam Dusek)
The Smurf Adventure - (1985, unknown public domain)
The Twelve Dungeons of Remzak! - (unknown Ray Kazmer, fairware)
The Valley - (unknown unknown)
The Volcano Fortress - (John Behnke, Asgard, TOD)
The Wizard's Dominion (1982) - (Thomas D. Johnson, American Software Design & Distribution)
Tomb of the Grey Elf - (unknown John Stephens, fairware, AM)
Treasure Quest (unknown Chris Bobbitt)
Voodoo Castle (1981) - (Scott Adams, Adventure Int'l, AM)
Welcome to Madame Fifi's Whorehouse (unknown unknown)
Welcome to Sherlock's Home - (unknown unknown)
Witch's Brew (1989) - (David Bishop, Asgard, AM)
Witness (1984) - (Infocom)
Wizard's End (1989) - (David Bishop, Asgard, AM)
Zoom Flume (1989) - (Lynn Gardner, Asgard, AM)
Zork I (1983) - (Infocom)
Zork II (1984) - (Infocom)
Zork III (1984) - (Infocom)

This is probably only some of the Infocom Adventure games, but currently that is all I have.

Bill Gaskill
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Who is TI employee Joe Curry?

From the August 1980 issue of the Texas Instruments Home Computer User's News:

============
Schematics Available

Would you like to see what's inside your Home Computer? Schematic drawings of the TI-99/4 and input/output pin assignments are now avail-able from Texas Instruments. For each data packet, send $10.00 plus your state sales tax, for copying, shipping and handling, to:

Texas Instruments
P.O. Box 53
Lubbock, TX 79408
Attn: Joe Curry
Dealers Parts Dept.

Send check or money order.
All orders must be prepaid.
============

Bryan Roppollo was able to contact Joe Currey who now lives in Arizona and got the following response (excepts from that e-mail):

I was in fact the guy who wrote the technical reference manual for the 99/4 and 99/4a. All those diagrams in the book were hand-drawn by yours truly.

You probably won't believe this, but there never was any formal effort devoted to technical writing in any of the TI home Computer products. I became involved because I was in charge of Technical support for all of the TI consumer products and having previously worked as a Tech Writer for the Radar and Digital systems Division of TI, I sorta fell into the responsibility of creating a technical reference manual. All the other books were written by Dr. Ralph Oliva's group (The TI Learning Center).

Later I moved on to another Division at TI (TI Supply) to manage a retail store in The Seattle area and still later as a field sales manager for the computer division that made the large systems before being bought out by HP.

TI has since gone back to its core business. <snip>

The order of the day was to cut back on all the non-semiconductor businesses. The Radar and Digital systems division was sold to Ratheon. The printer division was sold to Genicom. Watches were just closed down and all the calculators ended up being produced off-shore and the rest of the consumer products group was scaled back. TI supply was sold to one of the big semiconductor clients that previously bought products from us. And as I said, the computer products group was sold to HP. They mainly wanted our clients not particularly our products.

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Who were the Jim Peterson Achievement Awards winners?
The Jim Peterson Achievement Awards
as administered by the TI-Chips of Greater Cleveland, Ohio

The preamble for the Jim Peterson Awards (Penned by Jim Krych in January 1996).

The late Jim Peterson made an invaluable contribution to the Texas Instruments 99/4A home computer community. His selfless and tireless work in many areas of TI-99/4A related material made him recognized throughout the world-wide network of TI-99/4A users. As such, in an effort to further the spirit that his work had started, the following award system is enacted: The Jim Peterson Achievement Award. This will recognize TI-99/4A users and user groups for their outstanding achievements. The awards will be broken down into four areas. They are as follows: TI-99/4A Software, TI-99/4A Hardware, TI-99/4A Community and Geneve 9640 achievement.

To see who the award winners are from 1996 to the current date, check out the TI Awards selectin on the Main Menu.
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