[Update 2] Mention “Lode Runner” to any veteran computer user and chances are they’ll not only be familiar with it, but they’ll have fond memories of playing it. It’s been remade so many times and for so many platforms over the years that many younger gamers are probably familiar with it as well. It was after the topic came up with a friend and fellow computer veteran earlier today that I became determined to find a version of the game I could run on my Mac. While there are one or more Lode Runner-like shareware games for Mac OS X, it became clear to me after a bit of searching that if I wanted the original Lode Runner, I was going to have to run it under emulation.
The world of emulators on the Mac is very diverse. I had a lot of choices available to me of which version of Lode Runner I wanted to run, on which computing platform and using which emulator. I ended up choosing the original Lode Runner game running on the Apple II, and rather than using a traditional emulator, I decided to go with one that came packaged as a Dashboard widget, that way I could quickly jump into a game of Lode Runner no matter what I was in the middle of doing, and just as quickly put it away when I’ve had my fill. Following these step by step instructions, you’ll be able to get your Lode Runner on too.
- Download the AppleIIGo Dashboard widget from the developer’s website and then click “Install” and “Keep” when Mac OS X prompts you asking if you want to download and install the widget.
- Download the Apple IIe ROM image from here. Extract the zip file if Mac OS X doesn’t do this for you automatically.
- Download Lode Runner for the Apple II from here and unzip it.
- Call up Dashboard, and click the bottom right hand corner of the AppleIIGo widget where the little “i” is.
- On the backside of the AppleIIGo widget, click the “Disks” button, followed by the “ROMs” button. Two Finder windows will open. Click the “Done” button to flip the widget over.
- Drag the file APPLE2E.ROM file that you unstuffed in step 2 to the Finder window named “ROMs”.
- Drag the file named loderunner.dsk that you downloaded and unzipped in step 3 to the Finder window named “Disks”.
- Call up Dashboard again and click on the little “i” to bring up the AppleIIGo settings again.
- Select “loderunner.dsk” from the “Disk Drive 1:” popup menu, and then click the “Restart” button.
- Play Lode Runner.
Here are the controls:
| Action | Key |
|---|---|
| Up, Down, Left, Right | I, K, J, L |
| Dig left, Dig right | U, O |
| Stop moving | Space |
| Switch to keyboard controls | Ctrl-K |
| Switch to joystick controls | Ctrl-J |
| Suicide | Ctrl-A |
| End game | Ctrl-R |
| Pause game | Esc or Stop or Ctrl-M |
| View High Scores | Return |
A more complete list of controls and commands are available here, including editing commands for creating/modifying your own levels.
Hit any key to start a game. Collect all the barrels until the exit ladder appears, then climb up the ladder to move onto the next level, all while avoiding the bad guys chasing you. Remember that bad guys will pick up barrels they walk over, which they will drop sometimes on their own or when they fall into one of the holes you’ve dug.
The only two caveats with playing Lode Runner like this is that there is no sound (the AppleIIGo emulator doesn’t support sound), and the screen can be a bit small. Those shouldn’t really get in the way of some good old school fun though, since the sound isn’t important to gameplay, and the graphics are simple enough that you shouldn’t have a problem seeing all the detail you need. Of course, you can theoretically play any Apple II game using the AppleIIGo Dashboard widget. If you successfully get any other classics running, tell our readers about it in the comments!
Have fun, and let me know what level you manage to reach. So far, I’m up to level 5.
Update 1 – 2/27/2009, 11:00 am: Updated the download link for the Apple IIe ROM because it looks like the original site is no longer live.
Update 2 – 3/24/2009, 12:25 pm: If you want to download other Apple II classic game disks, check out Virtual Apple 4.0. This is an awesome website with a great archive and a fully functional web based Apple II emulator! So if you don’t feel like messing with the Dashboard trick, or want to get your fix when you’re away from your Mac, you can play all those classic Apple II games anywhere you have internet access!
To play or download an Apple II game at Virtual Apple, click on a letter at the top to browse their archive, then click the title of a game you want to play/download. The download links are in the right hand column.
If you get any other games working in the Apple IIGo Dashboard widget, let us know in the comments!
thank you very much. I’m so grateful. I waited a lot the game of my childhood.
I have been waiting for this game for years. I have it all set up but it doesn’t let me move. My mouse will dig once to the right and that’s it.
Try pressing ctrl+k to switch to keyboard control. You’re probably set on joystick control in the game.
I downloaded lode runner and did everything the website said to do and It doesnt work. all that is shown on the widget is “APPLESOFT NOT AVAILABLE”
It appears the widget can’t find the Apple IIe ROM file. Double-check your steps, specifically steps 2 and 6. Did you unstuff the Apple IIe image file and copy the unstuffed file to the ROMs folder? You should see a file called APPLE2E.ROM in the ROMs folder that appears when you click the ROMs button in step 5.
ok, followed the steps exactly as stated and it . would . not . work.
got my hopes up and everything an now boom. this bites.
but thanks for trying.
Post more detail about your problem and I can try to help you. What do you get on your widget’s screen? Also, which version of Mac OS X are you using?
Thanks a lot for this! It works wonderfully…brings back good memories! Only thing is no sound…kinda miss that special sound effect…but hey…I am still a very happy camper! Thanks again!
brilliant stuff. thanks!
Brilliant! Works like a charm. (No sound for me either, but that is okay.) Thank you!
What fun. I used to play this endlessly on a IIC in the late 80s. I think I got up to level 110 or so. Still on 1 now but the moves are coming back. Does it work with a USB joystick? There might be one around here somewhere. The installation worked perfectly. Thank you.
The step 2 is coming in as a2e.sit but then it opens in TextEditor and I don’t get the ROM file that step 6 calls for. Therefore I get “AppleSoft Not Available” and don’t see the game. Any ideas? Is this Stuffit related?
I realized that I needed to pull in StuffIt Expander in order to pull the ROM file from the a2e.sit file. I went here to get it: http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/stuffitexpander/download.html
[...] OH MAN. did you have an apple ii like fifteen years ago? did it have lode runner? click this right now or you are a fool. BAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGH. [...]
That’s great. All my past memory about this game just comes right back. Does it have a bigger screen version? It’s kind of small.
Merry Christmas 1983ish… feels like it anyways with load runner up n’ running!
the appleIIgo link doesn’t seem to work, but that same widget was up on the apple dwnlds.
so much fun, thanks
Must have been a temporary problem with the server the widget is hosted on, because I just tested it and it’s working fine for me, but thanks for letting me know.
Thanks!,
i tried to install this but when i’d finished, it said “applesoft not available” and told me to click the apple 2e logo for more information. it looks like they updated the software, but there didn’t seem to be a new widget version. anyone know how i can fix it?
after you decompressed all the rom fie you have to load them (1-7 rom)file to the ROM space on the most right column, then it will work
I have experienced the same applesoft not available message
Allan
i have gotten to level 32 but im pretty sure its impossible
I cannot find the download link for Lode Runner. Will someone please help me? Thank you!
The link is there in step 3. Click on the word “here“.
the widget does not appear to be available anymore. Any idea where I can get it?
I’ve uptdated the link to point to the new download location. Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks for making this available!
The link for the ROM file in step 2 doesn’t work, Safari says the server doesn’t exist. Strangely, when I loaded the widget, and clicked on the ROM button, Finder shows the ROM file exists within the widget’s ROM folder. Alas, I get the “Applesoft not available” message, even after restarting the emulator. I do not see any 1-7 ROM file choices as mentioned in post #19 above.
Thanks for letting me know about the dead link. I’ve found another source for the ROM file and have updated the article. Have fun!
Are there other games for the AppleIIGo? I wasn’t sure where to look. The Load Runner is awesome.
Hi Justin. I just updated the article with a link to a website that has a whole archive of classic Apple II games available for download. Let us know if you get anything working!
Hi;
I did everything as I should, dragged the correct files into the correct folders but there seems to be something wrong with the widget..it has black areas over some of the buttons and doesn’t seem to launch Lode Runner when I hit restart. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jeremy
I loved this game as a kid. This is great! Thank you.
Wow! Works great. In the day, I was a master at LodeRunner. Made it through all 150 levels of the first LodeRunner version, and the same for Championship LodeRunner. The Championship version had a back door that I discovered. There was a “Save Game” feature that took one man away each time you saved a game for later continuation. If you dropped to just one man left and then saved the game it would decrement your “Man Count” to — not zero, but negative zero, which in the case of the program’s counter was 256 (all binary “1s”. That made practice on the higher levels much easier. Does anyone have one of the Championship LodeRunner disks we could install in this widget?
Somewhere I think I have screen dumps of five LodeRunner levels I developed that are as hard or harder than any on the Championship LodeRunner disk. If I can find them, would there be a way to pass them on to others? Possibly you could post a link to a zip file of the screen dump images in jpg form that could then be downloaded and installed via the editor by those who want them (I don’t have a web site).
I did make a few changes to your 10 instructions, as follows (sorry I couldn’t highlight the changes. I marked the changes with “***”):
1. Download the AppleIIGo Dashboard Widget from the developer’s website:
***If necessary, double click the zip file and then double click the extracted widget file.*** Then click “Install” and “Keep” when Mac OS X prompts you asking if you want to download and install the widget.
— and –
9. Select “loderunner.dsk” from the “Disk Drive 1:” popup menu, and then click the “Restart” button. ***Exit Dashboard, then enter it again. To switch to keyboard use, press Ctrl-K, not Cmd-K.***
I hope this helps someone.
Regards, and many thanks,
Tom Bank
Ooh, thank you so much! Your instructions are nice and clear. Everything works fine for me.
I’m on Level 134 with thirteen lives left. I don’t know if I’m gonna make it to level 150! Fingers crossed don’t want to start over from the beginning.
Wow! 134?!? Good luck passing the last 16 levels! I can’t imagine how tough the levels are at that level! Post back what level you finally reach as well as your score.
I would like to purchase the lode runner game… please let me know how i can… leave lode runner in the subject so I know to open it.
ty,,,
brig
well i tried to go through the steps above but step 2 did not respond. I have a mac book pro… hmmm
http://apple2.boldt.ca/?page=emulators/applepc_download
Try this … It worked for me
it is not working for me… not sure what i am doing wrong
Hey, anybody know where I can get a copy (or download a copy) of the original game for the Macintosh? I still have an operating Macintosh Plus computer and would love to play the game on it again!
Great got it to work! THX! Got a bit confused cos there was already a pinball file there and i didnt read the instructions correctly. But all good now Cheers!