The Bilestoad author Earthgrove Manshoe

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August 13, 2004 - 10:32am
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mutant_pie
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The Bilestoad author Earthgrove Manshoe

Does anyone here remember an early, topdown view, two person, Apple ][ game called the Bilestoad? You controlled a warrior with a shield in the left hand and a dual bladed ax in the other hand.

Supposedly the game was authored by someone named Earthgrove Manshoe, which sounds like a hippy pseudoname. Anyone here know anything about the game or its author?

Mutant_Pie

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August 14, 2004 - 6:44pm
BDub
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Google Is Your Friend

In all seriousness, Google is your friend. I typed in "The Bilestoad" and this was the first page back:

http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/GOODMAN.HTM

including the quote:


Marc Goodman is the author of "The Bilestoad," a wildly original and finely implemented Apple II game that's one of a handful of evolutionary precursors to the grandaddy of the modern fighting game, "Karate Champ" (two other such games are "Swashbuckler" and "Karateka," also for the Apple II). In "The Bilestoad," players control "meatlings" that hack and battle with axes from a top-view perspective. It offers more strategic variation than its descendants, letting the player both run away and be chased around a large arena. Surprisingly, it is still one of the most violent one-on-one games ever written, with dismemberment and decapitation being part of the normal gameplay, rather than hidden moves. "The Bilestoad," released in late 1982, is the last game Marc wrote.

Source: http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/GOODMAN.HTM

A search for "Earthgrove Manshoe" curiously comes up with a page on Applefritter which has nothing at all to do with it. Upon furthur inspection, it seems that this threads title shows up in the sidebar of those threads (in the cached version at least).

Google Is Your Friend.

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August 14, 2004 - 11:47pm
(Reply to #2)
mutant_pie
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Yes Google=capable search engine. But what about Earthgrove?

Thanks for doing the search for me. I wonder if some cracker broke the protection on the software, put his own name on the opening screen, and that's what I'm remembering? That was a common practice.

I very much agree with that review of the game, BTW. I think that now, a similar one could never be released without an "R" style rating. They left out the part about the shields, though. Also I wonder why Mark Goodman didn't produce anymore games.

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January 13, 2005 - 6:10pm
DJ Badger
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Almost the right name but not quite...

Hi... I was doing a search for "The Bilestoad" and happened upon this site. After reading this thread, I actually registered just so I could respond.

Mutant_Pie, you are very close with the name. The pseudonym that was used when Datamost released "The Bilestoad" was not Earthgrove Manshoe... It was Mangrove Earthshoe.

It was a fantastic game for the era and still one of my all-time favourite computer games. I still have the original Apple II version, on 5.25" disk (probably internally rotten and useless by now), with the box and manual intact.

Sorry to dredge up such an immensely old thread as this, but I couldn't let you go on the rest of your life still wondering about "Earthgrove Manshoe." Smile

Thanks very much,

DJ Badger

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May 19, 2005 - 1:42pm
(Reply to #4)
oldgames
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Selling Bilestoad on ebay now

search ebay if someone is looking to buy this game. I have it mint with every bit of paperwork it came with. IMAGE(http://ryannuessly.com/auctions/computergames/tn_bilestoad03.jpg)

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