Home of Retro PC Gaming
Currently hosting 5 games published by Ron Balewski!
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Home of Retro PC Gaming Currently hosting 5 games published by Ron Balewski! |
| Combine 'Em 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Shareware (full version) | Puzzle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developed by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Screenshot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Combine 'Em is a puzzle game where the object is to reduce a group of blocks to a single block by pushing them into each other, or destroying them with bombs. The blocks are called Combiners, and each one has a letter value between A and L. Combiners of the same letter can be combined. Each combiner also has a number value which indicates how many blocks are inside of the combiner. The rules are different in each level, and determine how far a piece slides when pushed, and how many blocks each Combiner can hold. If an A2 is combined with an A2, it will turn into an A4 if the limit is high enough, otherwise it will upgrade into a B1. Completely filled Bs become Cs, Cs become Ds, and so on. This is important because only combiners of the same letter can be combined. While moving Combiners and bombs, one must avoid or destroy Stoppers, of which there are two varieties. Regular Stoppers prevent pieces from being pushed, but can be destroyed by bombs, while Bomb-Proof Stoppers are indestructible. The level grid can be up to 50×50 in size, and custom levels can be designed. The game has very nice music. The game is fully unlocked, but a newer version, v2.0, is available only as a registered version. It adds new types of squares and bombs, teleporters, direction changers, one way gates, bomb-proof Combiners, and a built-in puzzle designer.
Ron Balewski still sells the registered version of this game for $20 on floppy disk or download.
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| Mah Jongg -8514- 1991 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (always) | Traditional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developed by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graphics: 8514 1024×768×256c | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Think about Mah Jongg -V-G-A-. Now think about it running at 1024×768 with 256 colors, featuring tiles with intricate, shaded pictograms and calligraphy that cast shadows across their tiles. This hidden gem is Mah Jongg -V-G-A- rewritten for the 8514 graphics standard (created by IBM to replace VGA), and it looks absolutely amazing. Sadly, there were no further versions because the standard never became widely adopted. To play it you'll need a genuine 8514/a graphics card, an 8514-compatible graphics card such as the ATI Mach 8 and Mach 32, and the IIT AGX, or a SVGA graphics card with at least 1MB of video RAM and an 8514 emulator. This game can be played in DOSBox by using the Multiple SVGA Chipset plugin to emulate a Tseng Labs ET4000 graphics card, and RIXAI8 to emulate the 8514. Version 0.6 was a public beta, and Ron Balewski confirmed that it may be considered freeware. Complete version history:
This game never left the beta stage and was never sold, and author Ron Balewski has generously released this game as freeware.
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| Mah Jongg -V-G-A- 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | Traditional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developed by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graphics: VGA 640×480×16c | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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One of my all-time favorite DOS games. I had never played Mahjong solitaire when I discovered this game, but it was so easy to use that I was able to figure it out without reading the instructions, and now it's the only DOS version I play. It looks great, it tells you when you're out of moves, and it's easy and intuitive to use. After each "official" release, a number of revisions were released with the same version number. Differences are listed in fixes.doc. Version 3.1 / Serial No. 5524 fixes a bug that existed in v3.0 and 3.1 that caused a divide by zero error on CPUs faster than 50 MHz, and also includes Mah Jongg for Windows v1.0.
Author Ron Balewski has generously released this game as freeware. Mah Jongg '97, a Win32 version, is still sold for $20 on CD-ROM or registered download.
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| Mah Jongg for Windows 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Shareware (full version) | Traditional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developed by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A Windows port of Mah Jongg -V-G-A-. Very little is different from the DOS version, except that the sounds seem a bit nicer, and the menu on the right side of the screen has been replaced with a Windows menu bar. The game is fully unlocked, but a newer version, v3.1, is available only as a registered version. It supports a new 1024×768 resolution with 256/true color tile format and includes both of the tilesets from Mah Jongg -8514-, adds WAV sound effects, and can magnify old 640×480 tilesets to 1024×768.
Ron Balewski still sells the registered version of this game for $20 on floppy disk or download.
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| Mah Jongg LapTop 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | Traditional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developed by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by Ron Balewski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graphics: CGA 640×200 mono | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A monochrome version of Mah Jongg -V-G-A-, this game does an admirable job of bringing Mahjong solitaire to monochrome and LCD screens. The tiles for the winds, flowers, seasons and all three dragons are easily identifiable, and the game has most of the features of the VGA version. The game doesn't automatically tell you when you're out of moves, which is a complaint I have about many Mahjong solitaire games. There is also no timer, but the game is well worth playing if you can only display one color. Mah Jongg LapTop v1.1 Freeware (64k) Play online Author Ron Balewski has generously released this game as freeware. Mah Jongg '97, a Win32 version, is still sold for $20 on CD-ROM or registered download.
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