I believe that Virtual ][ can do this, but it's $50--and there's no way of testing the saving ability before plunking down one's money! (Not good!)
I'm wondering if any of the free emulators out there (Sweet 16, Catakig, OSXII, etc.) can save a game in progress. I have several of them and some actually have good documentation, but neither the directions or my experimenting has netted me a way of saving a game while you're playing!
Yet, for something like Odyssey, and for any long-term game where you might get bumped off, saving as you go is essential!
So, any suggestions?
All this is preliminary to the possible selling off of some (or all) of my old Apple II stuff (if I can bring myself to part with it, yet it's taking up a lot of desk and table space! 
) (I'm sure you all can relate to that!)
Are you sure Virtual ][ costs $50 to try? I thought you could download an evaluation version for free. It must not be able to save games in progress until you pay the license fee.
Edited later:
Ahhhh, I see now. You do need to pay the $50. I paid for the limited license ($19) and I can't do it either. I've never tried before. All I can say is it is a flawless piece of software up to the point I have taken it. I don't think you would be sorry but I would also be interested in hearing about your free solution if you find it.
-good luck.
Thanks for your comment! I appreciate your noting that the $20 version doesn't save; I was tempted if it had... and I could confirm that it could save Odyssey games in progress!
I suppose one might also want to save word processing documents to a disk, although that would be more for testing purposes (especially as it'd be easier to just use TextEdit!). Years ago, I developed some cool WPL macros for AppleWriter that I'd like to try again.
But the main reason for saving would be for those old games--and Odyssey in particular.
I will definitely post back here if I solve this! I suddenly realized this morning that OSXII has a save button, but I cannot figure out what it's for! (No directions with that emulator. As far as I can tell it doesn't do full screen, which is really a plus when running an emulator-- it makes you feel as if you were back on an Apple ][ !!)
My bad, the $20 limited version will definitely saves the state of the emulator when you quit, whether it is a game in progress or anything else you are doing. I had my preferences set up so it wouldn't ask if I wanted to save the state of the virtual machine when I quit, so I couldn't find the option to do it anywhere. All you do is choose a name and Virtual ][ saves the game in progress with an icon depicting the state of the game. Double click the saved file to relaunch. Couldn't be easier. The only problem is that the relaunch takes you right into the action, kind of annoying if you're playing defender or something else fast.
Sorry about the misleading comment earlier. -novice
Oh, that's good news! If you or anyone else with Virtual ][ gets the chance, could you see if the Saving works with the old classic game: Odyssey.
Thanks!
In the meantime, I think I'll contact the developers of the free emulators and see if any of them can save a game in progress. OSXII looks promising as it even has a Save button, but I can't figure out what it does or how it works. It also doesn't do full screen.
I downloaded this disk image of Odyssey: http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/images/games/adventure/odyssey/odyssey.po.gz
I launched a new game, encountered a nice warlock who gave me a scepter and then closed the Virtual ][ window. It asked if I wanted to save the state of the machine and I said yes, named it, and saved it to the desktop. I double clicked the saved icon and the game relaunched into Virtual ][ and I was able to continue playing. The icon on my desktop was a picture of the map.
I think I used to play this game quite a bit when I was younger, I just found the store bought disk in the back of my floppy storage case. Wasn't it pretty easy to edit the code and give yourself enhanced skills, money, powers, etc? I'm pretty sure I was a cheater when I was a kid.
Fun stuff.
I think I found a way to save an Odyssey game using the demo version of Virtual ][. The Virtual ][ emulator works exactly like a real Apple II or IIe. You can play Odyssey with the Odyssey disk in the virtual drive 1 and when you quit the game you can choose to save your game to a virtual blank floppy disk by ejecting the Odyssey disk and inserting an initialized blank disk into drive 1. You can init a blank floppy disk image so long as you have the DOS System Master disk image to boot from first. Again, just like with a real Apple IIe. So make an initialized blank disk image first, and then when you are ready to quit the game, eject Odyssey, insert the blank disk, and save your game. The next time you boot from the Odyssey game, choose P instead of N and insert your save disk to load the game in progress.
It takes a fair amount of virtual ejecting and inserting disks to save and load your Odyssey game but I tried it and it works. This should work with the free version but I have no way to test.
Another Edit:
Darn, now that I think about it, doesn't the demo version of Virtual ][ have "Evaluation Version" blazed across the screen while you use it? What fun would that be? Sorry, thought I had your free solution all figured out.
You're a champ! It works like a charm. I never thought to format a blank disk image. I used DOS 3.3. I called it "DISK WITH OLD GAME". Then saved as you suggested. I was able to use it when prompted at the Odyssey startup N for new adventure or P for previous.
Also, I found that there was little swapping of diskettes! Well, compared to the old floppy-swappy as we used to call it in the early Apple II and early Mac days (there were times when you could be swapping diskettes, 10, 12, 14 times!). This is really insert saved game, reinsert program disk, and you're off the races!
I'm going to have to try this with the other emulators; perhaps there's a way to get this working.
Virtual ]['s evaluation label (EVALUATION VERSION) that it slaps on the screen is in the lower right and is fairly unobtrusive. What's not so unobtrusive, unless he's changed it, is that the demo stops every 5 minutes. His entire cripple-ware approach is off-putting and one of the worst I've seen... give us a full-working demo, perhaps for 30 days, or 20 hours total, or with progressively slow launch times, but enough so that we can truly test it! Having major features only available for $50 and being unable to test them is a nuisance. I am glad that he's got a $20 option now.
One oddity that I've noticed, however, with Virtual ][ and some of the other emulators (have to test this systematically) is that a NEW Odyssey game starts in the *SAME* place every time. On the real Apple IIs I have, it starts in a *different* place each time, with even a different set of temples, cities, etc. It makes for a more interesting game that way.
I'll have to transfer the Odyssey diskette I have to the Mac and see if that's a feature of the diskette or an issue with emulators always starting in the same place (same number rather than using a random number generator for the set up).
And I'll have to dig up some of those cheat codes you mentioned!
Much appreciate your assistance.
Well, glory be!
Your tip worked like a charm for Sweet 16, an Apple IIGS emulator. I never would have thought of formatting a blank disk, but that's the trick.
I was able to use the saved diskette in S16 and bring back up the game in progress. And Sweet 16 is FREE--completely and utterly free! It also has full screen, and as a IIgs emulator can go at much faster speeds than many other emulators.
Now, all I have to do is figure out the random start up biz so that I can get different set ups when starting up. OH, MY GOSH! I just restarted Odyssey in S16 and it came up with a different set up! You've unlocked the keys, the secret to the magic kingdom.
Of course, all this is really is virtual reality... it's not quite as satisfying as working with the actual Apple II, but it does mean I can sell some of my old Apple II equipment and not miss it as much! Much, many thanks!
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Say, you wouldn't happen to have Word Juggler 2.7 or later in your set of old diskettes, would you? Prior versions required a hardware dongle, but then they released them without that requirement-- got up to v. 2.9. That's one memory I'd like to bring back.
Sorry, I don't think I ever used Word Juggler when I was a kid and I'm not even sure what it does. There is a disk image of some version of Word Juggler here, but I haven't tried it.
http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/images/productivity/word_processing/wordjuggleriie.dsk.gz
- Glad everything else worked though!