![[Logo]](/web/20080928075011im_/http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/skookum.gif)
Most of the shareware listed on this page is pretty old. These days I don't keep up with a lot of the things I used to, like computer games. Even board games have become a much smaller part of my life. But Late Antiquity still has its hold on me.
A wagering game based on a boardgame-like horse race. You can run the races automatically or step
in and move some of the horses yourself. Movement is governed by die rolls, but applied in such a way that you can make
meaningful decisions about what horses to bet on. Information available includes a racing form describing the
characteristics of each horse in the race, a tote board, and records of past performances of all 21 horses.
The trial version on this site can be registered and upgraded to the
full version (required if you wish to use the wagering feature)
at PalmGear.com
For Palm with 256-color regular or high-density display.
A simulation of a card game pitting you against three AI players, based on a design by Marcel-André Casasola Merkle. The theme is a struggle for control of a Renaissance city.
For Windows with .NET Framework.
Jotto is a traditional word-guessing game more akin to code-breaking games such as Mastermind than to the comparatively simple-minded Hangman. You guess a five-letter word and the computer tells you how many letters are matches--but not which ones. A real brain-teaser.
This version chooses from over 2,900 words and also checks your guesses against its wordlist.
For Windows and Palm.
The Animal Game, also known as Shou Qi or the Jungle Game, is a traditional Chinese board game similar to Stratego. Each player has a team of eight animals that move around the board and capture smaller animals. The object is to get one animal into your opponent's den. In this version, you play against the computer. A very enjoyable strategy game for children as young as 5, and even adults will find it challenging on the higher skill levels.
For Windows (256 colors). On-line Help.
A simple, fast-paced "dungeon crawl" based on the author's popular card game, once called "the best game since Diplomacy". You form an exploring party and enter a six-level cave full of treasures, creatures, and traps. Try to make friends, defeat enemies, and steal as much booty as you can carry. The game can be played in less than half an hour and is equally enjoyable for children and adults.
The game has 35 types of characters, treasures, and magical artifacts and allows you to set the size of the Cave and the occurrence of stairs. For Windows (256 colors). On-line Help.
![[Skookum pulley]](/web/20080928075011im_/http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/pulley.jpg)
Skookum means "mighty" or "excellent". It is one of the few surviving words from Chinook, a trade language or pidgin spoken on the coast of British Columbia and the American Northwest till about the 1920s. Chinook borrowed words from English, French, and various indigenous languages. Skookum was originally a Salish word for a demon or monster, hence something "awesome."
Some other Chinook words still in occasional
use:
Interested in language? Visit The Centre Centre and Weasel Words.
I have spent some time investigating the Battle of Adrianople.
Here are the rants about noise that I wrote when I was involved with the Right to Quiet Society. I pretty much gave up the struggle after realizing that almost no one else cared, but I still believe in what I wrote. And things have gotten worse, not better -- especially on television, which is so jarring as to be largely unwatchable.
I recently came across this article on the mysteries of programming graphics on the old Kaypro CP/M computers. I had forgotten I wrote it, and it's only of historical interest now, but it is probably the most complete documentation of the subject in existence.
Send e-mail to skookum.pete at verizon.net if you have questions. (E-mail disguised to foil spam crawlers; substitute the "at" sign.)
Learn more about my board games at boardgamegeek.com. (Yes,
in a former life I was known as Terence Donnelly.)