rescue me please

Way back in '98 I used to play a game called "Rescue!" back on my Performa 5200CD — which, really, was an iMac, except it was called a Performa and came out several years before the iMac did. I say precursor. Anyway, it did have the same all-in-one concept going for it. Also featured a robust 75 MHz processor, 8 MB of ram (later upgraded at an atrocious expense to 40 MB — about $10 per MB back then) and an 800 MB hard drive. Not to mention a floppy and a CD drive. I think my brother still has it working now, though as a computer or oversized paper weight is up for debate.

So, late last night I came across this game in an old mac game archive and had to play it again. Ten years, however, is a long time and a lot of things have changed.

Which brings us to:

Step One:
After a bit of searching I found a Classic Mac emulator, so I can relive the glory days of 1998 Mac computing. To add to the nostalgia, I contemplated wearing a wig, taking out the contacts and putting my glasses back on (still using the same pair from '98  and probably time for a new set).

Step Two:
Installation. Nothing funny happened here. Sadly.

Step Three:
It actually launched and worked. I was running an Operating System I hadn't seen in years. And it even recognized my files. So off browsing I went through the users folder, then my folder and the download folder, only to find nothing.
Well, that is to say, everything but the game. The files above? Yes. Below? There. Rescue!? No, of course not. Can't make things too easy, can we? The file was nowhere to be seen.

Step Four:
Alright then, maybe it's just being silly. Lets rename it with the non-emulated system to just "Rescue" and see if that works. Nope, nothing still.

Step Five:
Alright then, that's okay. Let's try moving it to the Desktop and see if it'll see it after that. Nope.

Step Six:
Still okay, just strange. Let's try making a new folder and see if that shows up. I called it "Res" and it did, indeed, show up. Below it? Certainly not Rescue. No, never.

Step Seven:
Secure myself a drink. That I can find without the aid of computers.

Step Eight:
Lets try moving the contents of "Rescue" into "Res" and just maybe that'll trick it into working.

Success!

Step Nine:
Open "Rescue! 2.0.5" and get ready to rescue (clever title, eh?) some colonists!

And then I get this error:

It is an application you dolt! I can't open an application with an application. Where's the "Open Anyways" key? Where's the bit where it gives me a gleaming bit of hope so that I think I can actually trick it into doing what I want it do and then it snatches it away? Oh, right, that was it.

Step Ten:
Of course, it's me and I'm a tad tenacious when it comes to things like this.
I contemplate downloading ResEdit 2.1.3, cracking open "Rescue! 2.0.5" and telling it that it's an application forcibly but I figure I'd get the same error about ResEdit 2.1.3. I'm not sure how I'd react to the application to fix the application that doesn't know it's an application, needing to be told it's an application. Badly I would assume at pure, unadulterated, concentrated evil irony like that.

Instead, I shut down the emulation program, opened up the disk image (think virtual disk on a disk, make believe, uh, if you're with me so far, just trust me on this one) and dropped the Rescue folder it did recognize into the application folder.

Close the disk image.

Start up Mac OS System 9 again.

Wait.

Browse to Application, Rescue and double-click on "Rescue! 2.0.5".

It worked! Imagine that. Something that seems so arbitrary working like that.

I happily played two games before getting too tired and needing to sleep. Also, it ran faster on the Performa 5200CD.

push broom?

Seemed like it'd be a good time to put up another update about this and, I must admit, it holds a fair bit more than I thought it would. Having not found any 48 inch tall books, I decided to put the tall piece on it's side. Kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

But, apparently I'm not a very good Tetris player — I don't even remember a push broom piece.

Sadly, the project itself is pretty much dead as I just don't have the tools required to do it properly. These pieces don't fit together all that well and don't even get me started on the other two pieces, the "s" and "t". Not even Dr. Frankenstein would be proud of them.

snow?

There have been a few varying reports coming in from the front about snow sightings here in St. John's. Most notably here.

Understandable, this has me as excited as a little puppy over nothing to the point of ending up on the floor in a tangle heap of legs and paws. Just like Heidi, a dog from when I was a kid that'd practically go into little fits as soon as we brought out her sweater so she could go outside and play. This level of hyper excitement, reserved for small dogs and kids that found the sugar bowl ten minutes before their parents found them, made it near impossible to get the sweater on that she was so excited about in the first place.

A fine, fine dog she was.

So. Snow? Here? I haven't seen it, but I'm still bloody excited for it.

PS — It's only a matter of time before He appears.