I'd take unsourced release dates for this type of stuff with a grain truckload of salt. Some software lists have the year for this game as "19xx" or "TBD", so apparently the release date isn't very evident... also, for what it's worth, the only references to "TriSoft", "Tri-Soft", or "Tri Soft" that come up in magazines from the Internet Archive are from the 1980s.

Of course, it's odd to imagine a fully fleshed-out platform game that predates even rudimentary examples of the genre. But if I'm not mistaken, 1979 would also be on the early side for an Apple II game that uses both color banks in HGR mode.

Not that it isn't possible, but this smells like the usual kind of spurious claim that sends the internet into bouts of revisionism. *Sits down at a desk with a "change my mind" sign*

VileR wrote on 2021-09-25, 10:42:

Not that it isn't possible, but this smells like the usual kind of spurious claim that sends the internet into bouts of revisionism. *Sits down at a desk with a "change my mind" sign*

I believe I know what you mean.. 😟
On the other hand, there are also old falsehoods and stereotypes that are considered as holy facts and "history".
640KB barrier being absolute (size of conventional memory depends on video adapter), limits of CGA (masses think it can do black/white/cyan/pink only),
the famous "640KB ought to be enough for everybody" statement that didn't happen in that way,
or the necessity of 286 systems to constantly do a reset/go back to real-mode (despite with newer himem.sys files, 286 uses LOADALL and never leaves RM) ,
the the statement that modern PCs cannot run DOS because A20 was removed years ago
(DOS runs on XTs too and doesn't need A20, neither do all programs need that wrap-around) etc etc.

However, if you mention these new insights, some people will verbally attack you and call you a liar, revisionist or something along these lines.
That happened to me a few times, too.
It seems that people take these things very personal, and don't want history to be updated with new facts.

Exactly what a lying revisionist doing lines making it personal would say.

Jo22 wrote on 2021-09-25, 15:35:

However, if you mention these new insights, some people will verbally attack you and call you a liar, revisionist or something along these lines.
That happened to me a few times, too.
It seems that people take these things very personal, and don't want history to be updated with new facts.

Yea, I guess it goes both ways. I'm always happy to have more facts, whether they point this way or the other. It's just that the claim of one website, which doesn't seem to be corroborated by any real information that I can turn up, isn't much to go by. 😉

VileR wrote on 2021-09-26, 00:46:

Jo22 wrote on 2021-09-25, 15:35:

However, if you mention these new insights, some people will verbally attack you and call you a liar, revisionist or something along these lines.
That happened to me a few times, too.
It seems that people take these things very personal, and don't want history to be updated with new facts.

Yea, I guess it goes both ways. I'm always happy to have more facts, whether they point this way or the other. It's just that the claim of one website, which doesn't seem to be corroborated by any real information that I can turn up, isn't much to go by. 😉

Sure, that makes sense. ^^ What I wrote was just meant as a general statement,
I didn't mean to sound unfriendly or to sound like a know-it-all person. 😅

It's just that I get the feeling that for the last 2-3 years, people around the world seem to
be, well, more aggressive or often play the "I'm offended" card.
No matter what you say, people are easily upset nowadays, it seems.
Even if it's a comment section or a forum (a place originally meant for discussion and sharing opinions) and the topic of discussion is
just something harmless, trivial, a technical detail or a special word. Hm.
Maybe it's just me, also. Not sure. 😅

I'm also skeptical in cases like this one (first platform game) and would look for sources that could confirm the matter.

What an unfriendly know-it-all offensive post.. Given the lack of information from searching Smooth Max, I figure the best shot would be contacting Brad Elderman himself. We should summon him to appear in front of a vogons committee of inquiry to answer our demands.

Yeah, we could call it something like the Software Truth And Reality chamber. 😉

I would think we would want to avoid new facts, old facts that have remained hidden should be given due consideration though.