#rescueonfractalus — Public Fediverse posts

Way back on July 28, 2025, I had a long conversation about my games career and everything else I've been doing for the past 50 years, with my old friend Mark Holmes as part of his #CinematicDesign Community. I just uploaded it to YouTube. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/c9N38sunkIg

#gamedev #LucasfilmGames #LucasArts #retrogaming #RescueOnFractalus #ZakMcKracken #IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade #RubeWorks #rubegoldbergmachine

My #Devcom 2025 talk on my first #LucasfilmGames title #RescueOnFractalus is now online for those who attended the conference, or have paid for the digital pass.
https://bizcommunity.gamescom.global/event/devcom-developer-conference-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjY4MTQ5Mw==

Hopefully in about three months I should be able to post it on YouTube as well.

Full video of our @homecomputermuseum talk now available here https://youtu.be/bOMq0dWDR_w?si=FdUhri1_mskd4Pks

#retrogaming #lucasfilmgames #lucasarts #atari #RescueOnFractalus #ZakMcKracken #puttputt #tokyodisneysea #leonardochallenge #LittleThingsThatKill #LeetaSimtar #HumongousEntertainment

From: @DavidBFox
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@DavidBFox/115119543906903821

I’m so pleased to share Annie Fox and my @homecomputermuseum talk with everyone who wanted to attend but couldn’t. Thank you Anne Bras for putting this all together. The audio gets much better about 7 minutes in when a phone was placed next to us. #retrogaming #lucasfilmgames #lucasarts #atari #RescueOnFractalus #ZakMcKracken #puttputt #tokyodisneysea #leonardochallenge #LittleThingsThatKill #LeetaSimtar

https://youtu.be/bOMq0dWDR_w?si=FdUhri1_mskd4Pks

From: @DavidBFox
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@DavidBFox/115074187722973969

Besides the #RescueOnFractalus helmet I got the large format transparency outtakes of the back cover photo shoot. I was asked to portray panic, hopelessness, fear, determination, and I’m just not an actor. Instead they used the one where I was unconscious.

The fire was real, flammable glue dabbed in the corners. Someone was standing by with a fire extinguisher just in case.

I made sure to show my wedding ring to make rescuing me more urgent.

From: @DavidBFox
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@DavidBFox/114909965842588240

Rescue on Fractalus! Helmet
42 years ago I got to be in an #ILM shoot for the box and manual of my soon to be released #LucasfilmGames Atari 800 game, #RescueOnFractalus On the cover I’m the running pilot about to be rescued, those are also my hands/knees in the cockpit. #retrogaming #spaceship

Rescue on Fractalus! Helmet. 42 years ago I got to be in an #ILM shoot for the box and manual of my soon to be released #LucasfilmGames Atari 800 game, #RescueOnFractalus On the cover I’m the running pilot about to be rescued, those are also my hands/knees in the cockpit. #retrogaming #spaceship

I just rediscovered this excellent retrospective on #RescueOnFractalus by @ign

Lots of great forgotten images and backstory.

https://www.ign.com/articles/forgotten-gems-lucasfilms-rescue-on-fractalus

From: @DavidBFox
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@DavidBFox/114482311854818680

Original #RescueOnFractalus mothership

Whoa I hadn’t seen this newer version of Luke’ Software fan remake of #RescueOnFractalus — first time I’ve seen the mothership flying and as a 3D model. The original Atari GTIA 16 shades of grey version was created by Jim St.Louis. This version looks extremely faithful to Jim’s vision. The game itself is looking fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZO1oSWi4JQ

Free download for Windows, Mac, Linux and VR at https://www.lsdwa.com/projects/fractalus/

We showed this video at the 1984 press conference announcing our first two games, #RescueOnFractalus and #ballblazer. First part has no visuals, we didn’t want to confuse people by mixing game imagery with PR footage. We held the event at the famous Kerner C building theater adjacent to ILM #gamedev

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:tcvhfoahhoc73kzikoabmevt/post/3lopygwni2s2y

Rescue on Fractalus! Video fro...

I had a lot of fun being interviewed for this article on the 40th anniversary of my first game at #LucasfilmGames #LucasArts, #RescueOnFractalus #retrogaming #gamedev Enjoy!! 👽🛸

From: @atmcashpoint
https://mastodon.social/@atmcashpoint/113923625970473646

@kryten42 that’s great. Hope you didn’t get #RescueOnFractalus via a BBS! Atari version was famously pirated.

@console Well, there was my first game, #RescueOnFractalus, where you’re killing a bunch of aliens.

Gary Winnick doesn't have much of a social media presence, but he was co-designer with @grumpygamer on both #ManiacMansion and #ThimbleweedPark. He also drew the Jaggi monster on my first #LucasfilmGames project, #RescueOnFractalus, and worked on many other of our early games (#TheEidolon #Labyrinth #ZakMcKracken)

Hey @DavidBFox I just wanted to say that #RescueOnFractalus was one of my formative gaming memories. I spent a lot of time on my Atari 800 growing up, and besides typing in games from the issues of Analog Computing magazine, yours was one of the standouts that I remember to this day.

Thanks for your work on that. You laid some key foundations in my tech life, and it continues to take me to amazing places. I hope you have a great day!

@marix1 Thanks! And thank you for calling it #RescueOnFractalus and not it’s pirated name.

Another interview today! This one by Alexandros Kofteros of the Cyprus Computer History Museum. We talked about early days at #LucasfilmGames/#LucasArts and some of the games I got to work on there. https://youtu.be/20mMKHHX92Q

#GameDev #RescueOnFractalus #ZakMcKracken #ManiacMansion #IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade #ThimbleweedPark #ReturnToMonkeyIsland

@TimOfLegend @[email protected] @Gamrok @thatdave @grumpygamer I remember when that photo of me was taken, a magazine article about our first games #RescueOnFractalus and #Ballblazer. They wanted me to really *lean* into it.

@ChrisBauer George Lucas wasn’t a video game player. I doubt he played Labyrinth. The only two games he gave feedback on were #RescueOnFractalus and #Ballblazer. I also don’t think he was very involved in the production of Labyrinth the movie, but no idea if that’s accurate.

@Newmy #Ballblazer was an amazing game. I shared an office with its designer/programmer Dave Levine while he was creating it and I was working on #RescueOnFractalus. How he got 60fps on an Atari 800 to create the 3D effect still blows my mind.

When we first showed it to the press, some were looking under the table for a laserdisc player. They couldn't believe a home computer could manage this.

@ChrisBauer Thank you Chris!! I do hope that #ReturnToMonkeyIsland isn't the last game you buy!

BTW there was a fan-created #RescueOnFractalus remake for desktop you can download for free. It's a lot how the game looked in my imagination. https://www.lsdwa.com/projects/fractalus/

@eobet Thanks! #RescueOnFractalus was my first game at Lucasfilm Games. I was lucky to have Loren Carpenter (fractal wizard who did the Genesis flyby for Star Trek: Wrath of Khan) as an office mate. He figured out all the 3D fractal code (taught himself 6502 assembly overnight, came back a couple of days later with a working demo). The game was my concept, and I did all the gameplay coding.

@denisb you’re very welcome! Did you go even earlier? #RescueOnFractalus, #Labyrinth, #ManiacMansion?

#Introductions / #introduction
Hi all, I’m relatively new here (actually created this account a while back but now have a good reason to reactivate it!). I’m DavidBFox on the birdsite, early #LucasfilmGames/#LucasArts member. Most recently, lead game programmer on #ReturnToMonkeyIsland.

Previous games I've worked on in reverse order:
#ThimbleweedPark
#RubeWorks: The Official #RubeGoldberg Invention Game
‪#IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade‬
#ZakMcKracken
#ManiacMansion
#Labyrinth
#RescueOnFractalus