Reviving this game

[geotheory]

I really love this game, Steve! From a user perspecive it's really sad that it's not available on Android anymore (I have the apk to run it on my phone), though I wonder if that was because it was not authorised by you. I wonder about getting it back in Google Play and possibly on Amazon Fire store so kids can play it again.

I'd be interested in re-writing it as a webpage. Do you have any view on this, if done non-profit? I've already tried reproducing the logic of the Android version in R, but some aspects (e.g. sequencing) remain a bit obscure.

I wonder if you might know the whereabouts of the BBC Micro port mentioned here?

[sshipway]

Glad to see someone's still getting some fun from this, almost 30 years after I wrote it...

I can't remember ever authorising an Android port, though I would have done so had it been offered for free. Possibly the person who ported it used a now-obsolete google API which would make it disappear form the store.

If you're doing it non-profit then feel free to make a web page (send me a link for it). The sequencing for movements was rather obscure as it used a recursion checking all the relevant offsets in a specific order. This didn't matter usually, but in some complex movements it could change the way a screen worked out.

I don't have a copy of the BBC Micro port. The original Wanderer was based on the BBC Micro game "Repton" though, which might be the source of confusion.

[geotheory]

Thanks for a speedy response :) Then I shall continue my efforts to try and port to Javascript or something similarly human readible. I'm also thinking of making an accompanying editor so anyone can make up and share their own new levels, and maybe others can rate them for difficulty.

This is the Android version adapted by Andreas Grothe but now gone from Play. https://github.com/geotheory/wandroid.apk It's still available from a couple of other websites. It works nicely. I managed to get to level ~45 before my phone broke, and now I have to do it all again..

[geotheory]

For info here's the credits Andreas put in the Android app:

This file should always be available to all players of the game. Feel free to add anything necessary, eg, if you create some new screens, but don't delete anything! The people in here have worked hard and deserve all the fame they can get :-)
-Steven Shipway
Wanderer was created by Steven Shipway, a first year mathematics student at Warwick University, England. The idea came from games such as Boulderdash, Xor, and especially the Repton games from Superior Software.
Later improvements came from [email protected], who designed the editor and made countless bugfixes, of which there are too many to list here. He also improved many parts of the original code, and also designed some screens. Also Dave ([email protected]), who did most of the work towards the improved level jumping routine (sorry, I had to alter it a bit due to other changes). Jason ([email protected]) is responsible for the help routine, for which I am eternally grateful since it saved me a lot of work.

I should really mention Harvey Thompson ([email protected]) as well, since he provided the idea behind the encryption system (the seeded random exclusive or). However I won't, since it will annoy him terribly!

Thanx to [email protected] (Frans) for the idea behind the addition of the balloons.

Assisting in the development were Rob McMahon (our systems manager) and Mark Sunnucks. In screen development were the following:

Screens 1,2,3,4,7,8,10,12,16,23,24,26
Steven Shipway ([email protected])
Screens 5,6
James Beckett ([email protected])
Screen 9,27,29
Kenton Oatley ([email protected])
Screens 11,13,14,19,20
Nameless ([email protected])
Screen 17
David ([email protected])
Screens 15,18,41,42
Bruce Butterfield & Son ([email protected])
Screens 21,22
Max Rockatansky ([email protected])
Screen 25
Will Bent ([email protected])
Screen 28
Frans Meulenbrooks ([email protected])
Screen 31
Alan Bland ([email protected])
Screen 32
Ed Strong (ems%[email protected])
Screen 33,35
Mark Maplethorpe ([email protected])
Screen 34,53
David Goodenough ([email protected])
Screen 36
Kevin Pickard (kevin%[email protected])
Screens 37,38,39
Paul Metcalf ([email protected])
Screen 40,50,51
Bill Martin ([email protected])
Screen 43
Bryan Ewbank ([email protected])
Screens 44,55,56
Hans Bodlaender ([email protected])
Screen 45
Mark Sergent (ai3![email protected])
Screens 48
Kevin O'Donnell ([email protected])
Tony Newell ([email protected])
Screen 49
Paul White ([email protected])
Screens 54,52,46,47
Hugo Wouters ([email protected])
Screen 57
Danny Young ([email protected])
Screens 58,59
Ronald Lamprecht (v61%[email protected])
Screens 30,60
I cant remember. If either of these is yours, please post to the net to let everyone know who is to blame!
All of these screens are possible with the current version of Wanderer (3.0).
Any new screens you have created, please feel free to post them to the net so that the rest of the wandering world can enjoy them.

The X-Windows port - which is pretty impressive - comes from Mike Cuddy. His address is cuddy%[email protected] or ihnp4!convex!cuddy. Although I haven't been able to see this one for myself a friend assures me that the graphics are fantastic.

The official PC Port for Wanderer (2.0) was done by Greg Margo, who may be found at [email protected] or ...!uunet!netxcom!gmargo. The CP/M port of v2.3 has been done by David Goodenough ([email protected]), and several other people have made PC versions as well.

The Acorn Archimedes port was done by Max Rockatansky, [email protected]. Mail him if you want a copy. (Although he could well charge for the disc...)

The port to the Amiga was courtesy of Alan Bland ([email protected]) who has included sound and graphics to the game. As before, he's the one to mail if you want to know more.

Thanks to Paul Metcalf, Mark Maplethorpe, and Kenton Oatley for personally completing all the screens (with no help) to test them (although I believe they enjoyed the task :-)

Also thanks to Paul Metcalf (again) for thinking of a name for the game!

Finally - since I will be leaving the net shortly for an indefinate period, I give everyone leave to hack about with the sources and make extensions, modifications or bugfixes and post to the net. As long as the credits remain (I must have a bit of fame :-) I'll be satisfied. Happy wandering...

2009, Andreas Grothe
I played this game in the late 1980s as a student on my first job on an alphanumerical terminal driven by a Nixdorf Unix machine competing with my colleagues. I never made it past level 20.
The reason why I started porting Wanderer to Android was driven by two challenges:
getting familiar with the Android SDK,
finishing all levels of Wanderer on a mobile phone.

• THE END -

[geotheory]

Work in progress https://maze-wanderer.github.io/

[zzo38]

I have the DOS game (PC Wanderer) on my computer; Everett Kaser had a copy, that I could download. Now I am glad to found source codes. This game is similar to Hero Hearts (which was written by Everett Kaser), which I have ported the game engine by Free Hero Mesh, so possibly Free Hero Mesh could be used to port the game (in which case many features are automatically provided by Free Hero Mesh so do not need to be added yourself, such as replay lists, etc).