List of minor Apogee Software video games

The following is a list of the earliest, lesser-known video games published by Apogee Software. For a full listing of Apogee/3D Realms games, see list of 3D Realms games.

Games

Adventure Fun-Pak

Adventure Fun-Pak is a collection of four video games created by Scott Miller and various independent developers who submitted their programs to Apogee for publication. Miller categorized these submissions by genre and released this collection and the companion Puzzle Fun-Pak as non-shareware commercial products. Each collection was sold as a single package distributed on one floppy disk.[1] Apogee re-released both collections as freeware on 28 May 2004.[2] The following games are included:[3]

Beyond the Titanic

Beyond the Titanic is a text adventure game written by Scott Miller for MS-DOS in Pascal in September 1984.[5] No images accompany the game's textual descriptions, but a variety of colors are employed to enhance the layout of the game's text. A panel near the top of the screen continuously displays the player's score and number of moves thus far. Also included is the ability to save the game and restore a previously saved game. The game begins on the sinking ship Titanic from which an escape must be sought. Upon doing so the player character is swept away into a mysterious underground complex. The objective of the game is to escape these predicaments and find a way to return home to San Francisco.

Originally released in 1986 before Miller founded Apogee,[6] the game was later branded and advertised[7] as an Apogee product. Both it and Supernova are the only two games published by Apogee as traditional shareware. Miller permitted the full game to be freely copied and distributed by its users, but they were encouraged to "register" it by sending him a cash donation to compensate him for his effort, to "encourage the author to make new and better games" and to qualify for "telephone support and clues".[8] Although he had hoped that donations accompanying user registrations would become a significant source of revenue, this expectation failed to be realized as most users did not register the game.[9] He concluded that this strategy was not the way to start.[6] It seemed to him that gamers were "more apt to simply take what they could get for free"[9] and that he needed to introduce a greater incentive to get users to register his games. Miller's experience with Beyond the Titanic and Supernova led him to develop the Apogee model which would become Apogee's standard method of marketing future releases.

Beyond the Titanic was re-released as freeware by Apogee on March 10, 1998.[10] The source code for the game was released as free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on March 20, 2009.[11]

Supernova

Supernova is a text adventure video game designed by Scott Miller for MS-DOS and published by Apogee Software. The game's text was co-written by Scott Miller and Terry Nagy. Although Supernova ' s plot is unrelated to that of Miller's previous text adventure Beyond the Titanic, its game engine and look and feel represent an evolutionary development from the earlier game. No images accompany the game's textual descriptions, but a variety of colors are employed to enhance the layout of the game's text. A panel near the top of the screen continuously displays the player's score, location, number of moves thus far, and the player character's condition (e.g. thirsty). Also included is the ability to save the game and restore a previously saved game. Miller wrote that the game features over four hundred sound effects, 16-color ASCII graphics, a hint command and a parser which recognizes over a thousand words.[7] The game begins with the player character seeking employment on the surface of a barren mining planet. As the game progresses, the player discovers that an imminent supernova is threatening to destroy a planetary civilization. The main goal of the game is to save its inhabitants from this imminent catastrophe.

Originally released in 1987 before Miller founded Apogee,[6] the game only made Miller around $1,000 while distributed through disk magazines like I.B.Magazette and Big Blue Disk.[22] After the rights reverted to him, the game was later branded and advertised as an Apogee product.[7] Both it and Beyond the Titanic are the only two games published by Apogee as traditional shareware. Miller permitted the full game to be freely copied and distributed by its users, but they were encouraged to "register" it by sending him a cash donation to compensate him for his effort, to "encourage the author to make new and better games" and to qualify for "telephone support and clues".[23] Although he had hoped that donations accompanying user registrations would become a significant source of revenue, this expectation failed to be realized as most users did not register the game.[9] He concluded that this strategy was not the way to start.[6] It seemed to him that gamers were "more apt to simply take what they could get for free"[9] and that he needed to introduce a greater incentive to get users to register his games. Miller's experience with Beyond the Titanic and Supernova led him to develop the Apogee model which would become Apogee's standard method of marketing future releases.

Apogee also sold the game's Turbo Pascal 3.0 source code and marketed it to "novice programmers trying to learn the 'tricks of the trade'".[7][24]

Supernova was re-released as freeware by Apogee on March 26, 1998.[25] The source code for the game was released as free software under the GPL-2.0-or-later license on March 20, 2009.[11]

References

This software catalogue was distributed as a README text file accompanying early Apogee releases. Scott Miller. Other Games From Apogee Software Productions Apogee Software, 1989^

Joe Siegler. Some Ancient Apogee Games Released as Freeware 3D Realms, 28 May 2004, retrieved 1 April 2012^

In-game instructions. 2004 freeware release.^

Samuel Stoddard. What's Apogee's relationship with Softdisk? The Apogee FAQ (Version 7.2w), RinkWorks, 30 September 2005, retrieved 3 April 2012^

3D Realms Site: Master Download Page legacy.3drealms.com, retrieved 2025-12-11^

Detailed Release Timeline 3D Realms, retrieved 6 April 2012^

This software catalogue was distributed as a README text file accompanying early Apogee releases. Scott Miller. The Games From Apogee Software Productions Apogee Software, 1990^

Beyond the Titanic Apogee Software, 1998^

David Kushner. Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture Random House, 2004^

Joe Siegler. Beyond the Titanic Released as Freeware! 3D Realms, 10 March 1998, retrieved 6 April 2012^

Joe Siegler. Several old games released as Freeware 3D Realms, retrieved 26 March 2009^

Chris Parker. On-line Guide to PC MagNet PC Magazine, 10 September 1991^

In an interview, Jumpman Lives! designer Dave Sharpless states that this change of planetary setting was not a deliberate design choice.^

Dave Sharpless Interview (part 1/2) The Jumpman Lounge, 30 September 2004, retrieved 3 April 2012^

Lon Matero. Jumpman Lives! Lon Matero's Apogee Page, 28 May 2004, retrieved 3 April 2012^

Joe Siegler. The Apogee Legacy #11 - Dave Sharpless 3D Realms, 20 March 2006, retrieved 3 April 2012^

Dave Sharpless Interview (part 2/2) The Jumpman Lounge, 30 September 2004, retrieved 3 April 2012^

Joe Siegler. Jumpman Died! 3D Realms, 25 February 1999, retrieved 3 April 2012^

Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia Micro F/X Software/Apogee Software, 1987^

Joe Siegler explains the rationale for not accepting a license agreement from Paramount.^

"We do not retain any copyright or control on the following titles: Star Trek Trivia, Star Trek: TNG Trivia, and Jumpman Lives! (which means we don't care what you do with these three games - we don't have anything to do with them anymore)".^

Richard Moss. Shareware Heroes Unbound, 2022^

Supernova Apogee Software, 1998^

Supernova Instructions, 1998^

Joe Siegler. Supernova Released as Freeware! 3D Realms, 26 March 1998, retrieved 6 April 2012^

Trek Trivia Apogee Software, 1986^

List of minor Apogee Software video games

Games

Adventure Fun-Pak

Beyond the Titanic

Jumpman Lives!

Puzzle Fun-Pak

Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia

Super Game Pak

Supernova

The Thor Trilogy

Trek Trivia

Trivia Whiz

Word Whiz

External links

References

title	Adventure Fun-Pak
italic title	no
developer	Apogee Software
publisher	Apogee Software
designer	various
released	1989
genre	various
modes	Single-player
platforms	MS-DOS