Category Archives: Programming

Rian Rookaby and the Quest for the Sun: How a School Work Experience Became a Professional Game

Posted on July 1, 2024 by admin

September 1986. I was a Year 10 student at a regional high school in New South Wales, and I was about to get my first taste of the computer industry. My work experience placement was at a local computer shop called RAMROD — … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari ST, ATARI ST, Programming, Retro, STOS | Comments Off

The Night the Modem Answered: How We Built a BBS from Scratch in 1986

Posted on June 22, 2024 by admin

Monday, June 30, 1986. The cursor blinked. The modem crackled. And then — it happened. A phone line in Umina, NSW, rang in the dead of night, and a Commodore 64 answered it. That was the moment everything changed. After six months … Continue reading →

Posted in 8 Bit Computer, BASIC, Commodore, Programming, Retro | Comments Off

Relics from the Past: Rescuing a Lost Adventure, 39 Years Later

Posted on June 1, 2024 by admin

2020. The world had stopped. Locked down, grounded, and suddenly confronted with more time than I knew what to do with, I did what any self-respecting hoarder of computing history would do: I dragged out the boxes. Dozens of them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodore, Programming, Software | Comments Off

Programming Books for Retro Machines

Posted on December 22, 2023 by admin

Over the past 4 years I have been on the look out for some programming books for the retro machines, computers and the original classic consoles from the early 1980’s when I stumbled across an author named Oscar Toledo G. … Continue reading →

Posted in 6502 Assembly Lanuage, 8 Bit Computer, C, Hardware, Programming, x86 Assembly Lanuage | Comments Off

Parachute Rescue

Posted on February 6, 2023 by admin

Introducing “Parachute Rescue”, the retro-inspired game currently in a beta release that will take you on a thrilling adventure to save falling parachute divers from the jaws of hungry sharks! In Parachute Rescue, players take control of a small rowboat … Continue reading →

Posted in HTML5, Programming | Comments Off

SNAKE – VIC 20

Posted on October 4, 2022 by admin

Had a few nights free recently so was inspired to create a simple game for the unexpanded Commodore VIC – 20 using BASIC v2.0. For those who have programmed the VIC 20 in BASIC realise that you only have 3.5KB … Continue reading →

Posted in BASIC, Commodore, Programming | Comments Off

Vital Message

Posted on August 25, 2020 by admin

My second BASIC to C conversion using the classic Usborne 1980s computer books which helped many of today’s tech professionals were inspired by the Usborne computing books they read as children. The books included program listings for such iconic computers as the … Continue reading →

Posted in BASIC, C, Commodore, Programming, Retro, Software | Comments Off

Robot Missile

Posted on August 24, 2020 by admin

Usborne 1980s computer books helped many of today’s tech professionals were inspired by the Usborne computing books they read as children. The books included program listings for such iconic computers as the ZX Spectrum, the BBC Micro and the Commodore 64, … Continue reading →

Posted in BASIC, C, Commodore, Programming, Retro | Comments Off

Blinking LED

Posted on August 20, 2020 by admin

Raspberry Pi project #1, the blinking of an LED using C and the wiringPi library. I know this isn’t necessarily anything special but I wanted to record my little projects and what better place to start than by building a … Continue reading →

Posted in C, Programming | Comments Off

Day of Week

Posted on July 29, 2020 by admin

Here is a simply C program that lets you enter a number from 1 -7 (valid options) or higher than 7 as an invalid entry. Using multiple if…else decisions the program will display a corresponding day of the week.