Software:Stunt Copter

From HandWiki

Stunt Copter is a Macintosh game that was released in the mid to late 1980s and which involved piloting a small helicopter around a playfield. The player would have to position the helicopter and then click the mouse at the right time so that a person suspended from the aircraft would fall into a hay bale on a moving cart. Unless precisely timed, the person might fall onto the ground or injure the horse or the driver of the cart.[1] The game was developed by Duane Blehm[2] whose other games included Cairo Shootout, ZeroGravity, and PUZZ'L. His small software company was known as HomeTown Software[3] and was located in Kansas .[4] Blehm died unexpectedly in June 1988.[5][6] After his death, his parents released his games and source code into the public domain.[7]

MacAddict magazine used Stunt Copter to demonstrate software compatibility of Mac OS X Public beta.[8] A Mac OS X version of the game has been released by Antell Software.[9]

An iPhone/iPod Touch version of the game was released by nerdgames in 2009.[9][10] In 2011, an iPad version of Stunt Copter was released by Apollo Software which is noted for its similarity to the original.[11]

References

  1. Prevost, Ruffin; Terrell, Rob (1994). "Chapter 5: Fun & Games". The Mac Shareware 500: The Last Word on the Best Virus-Free Mac Shareware, Second Edition. Ventana Press. pp. 117. ISBN 1-56604-076-0. "For some reason, the game holds a stupid fascination for a few minutes before becoming witless and annoying." 
  2. "Macworld Online, Fun and Games". Macworld (IDG): 43. July 1995. ISSN 0741-8647. 
  3. "SOMAK Software Digest (commercial supplement inserted in the magazine), Arcade Games 2, Hometown Software Game Pack, p. 9". Florida Computer News (FCN Publishing) 1 (2). November 1989. 
  4. Moss, Richard (March 22, 2018). The Secret History of Mac Gaming. Random House. 
  5. "Norman Duane "Duane" Blehm (1951-1988)". Find A Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27432847. Retrieved June 20, 2018. 
  6. Moss, Richard (September 6, 2017). "Researching Mac gaming history part 2: Usenet". Unbound. https://unbound.com/books/macgaming/updates/researching-mac-gaming-history-part-2-usenet. Retrieved June 20, 2018. 
  7. Duane Blehm's Source Code on macintoshgarden.org "Source Code for Duane Blehm's games (Stunt Copter, ZeroGravity, Cairo Shootout), released into the public domain by his parents after his passing."
  8. Sammis, Ian; Reynolds, David (December 2000). "OS X Xposed, Software & Hardware Compatibility". MacAddict (Future Network USA) (52): 40. ISSN 1088-548X. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Patterson, Blake (March 29, 2009). "Simple Mac Classic 'Stunt Copter' Comes to iPhone". TouchArcade. https://toucharcade.com/2009/03/29/simple-mac-classic-stunt-copter-comes-to-iphone/. Retrieved June 20, 2018. 
  10. "StuntCopter". Archived from the original. Error: If you specify |archiveurl=, you must also specify |archivedate=. https://web.archive.org/web/20170703045713/http://www.nerdgames.ca/stuntcopter.html. Retrieved June 20, 2018. 
  11. "Apollo Software - Statys". Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. https://archive.is/20120720222439/http://www.apollosoftware.ca/stuntcopter/. Retrieved June 20, 2018.