I dearly wanted a #PoqetPC when I first learned about them. I should have picked one up before second hand prices went through the roof. I'm glad I have the #hp100lx but I'd love to know that the Poqet's keyboard feels like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poqet_PC
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Cyningstan
@cyningstan@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Developing #retrogames for the #ibmpc of the early 1980s running #msdos and featuring #cga graphics. Turn-based strategy, puzzle and RPG! Fun in all four colours. With a fondness for Sinclair #zxspectrum and #psion handhelds too.
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50 Posts
Joined October 28, 2022
I love them both, especially the 8086 #cga variant. I don't think you can develop applications to install into them, although you can modify and rebuild the OS itself and add/replace applications that way.
If you find my #cga palette choices questionable, there's a new utility for #msdos by RetroErik that will help. PalSwap for EGA/VGA, which includes CGASwap for CGA, lets you choose your own palette and force it on just about any CGA game. The CGA version lets you choose any valid CGA palette, while the EGA/VGA version lets you choose any combination of 4 colours. Get it from https://github.com/RetroErik/PalSwap
RE: @paulvanderlaan@typo.social
There's some cool nostalgia here. In the 1980s, INPUT magazine had a series of articles about drawing 3D wireframe graphics in BASIC on the various 8-bit machines it covered. I remember a wireframe torus in the artwork. I'll have to dig it out again to see how deeply it went.
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Mountains in #Barbarians are sources of iron for your weaponry. A city beside the mountains will get 3 iron from each adjacent mountain square. Traversal is extremely difficult for your troops, though, and it can take several turns for an army to make the climb. The game is available from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Your empire might be bounded by the sea. The sea is completely impassable to your armies, but any port city will bring in 3 gold from sea trade for each adjacent sea square, in addition to that raised by taxes. Save the empire from the #Barbarians by downloading the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga
It looks like the #hp100lx will be replacing my ailing Psion Series 3 as my daily driver. I'm quite impressed with the built-in software. And of course it has all my games on it, along with a bunch of other people's games. So it won't be all work and no play. I think I need stronger reading glasses though.
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Slain enemies in #Puluc for the #Psion are stacked up in the corner of the screen, beside your player image. When you capture the last free enemy piece, the game is over and you have won! A running score is kept, so you can see how you perform against various enemies. Get Puluc for the #PsionSeries3 from https://cyningstan.itch.io/puluc
Your empire in #Barbarians has up to 4 different types of terrain, the most plentiful being plains. This is where food is grown, and the flat landscape is easy for your armies to traverse. A city generates 3 food for each plains square that surrounds it, including plains squares shared with other cities. Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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At the start of a game of #Puluc, you have five warriors lined up ready to set out from your city, and the enemy has likewise. Four casting sticks act as dice, determining how far you can move a warrior. Despite the luck element, this isn't a race: the objective is to capture or slay all your opponent's warriors. You can get the game for the #PsionSeries3 from https://cyningstan.itch.io #Psion
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#Puluc has been played a number of different ways. The version for the #Psion supports these variations by letting you tweak the rules at the start of the game. You can also select between three levels of difficulty for the computer player, or to play against a human. Get the game for the #PsionSeries3 from https://cyningstan.itch.io/puluc
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As you move your warriors along the track in #Puluc, you can land on enemies, capturing them. You then drag them home for ritual slaughter. Whether their home or yours depends on the rule variations. While you are transporting captives, your enemy can recapture you, and if THEY get home, their captured friends are freed. The game is available for the #PsionSeries3 from https://cyningstan.itch.io #Psion
You can emulate #Dragonfell on modern systems via DOSBox and a free #PsionSeries3 emulator for #msdos. There's an emulation package that provides step-by-step instructions for obtaining and installing the two emulators, as well as a version of the game packaged specifically for those emulators. Future plans might possibly include an #msdos #cga version of the game, but in the mean time, this is a good solution. Get it from https://cyningstan.itch.io/dragonfell-psion-3 #Psion
Nice Apples! - ADG-se Week 6
The CGALIB music editor is still a work in progress, but I'm looking forward to using it for my #DOSember game jam entry. Transcribing sheet music into this will be a lot easier than typing a bunch of numbers in a text file, like I did with my previous projects.
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After your first #StarCadre Combat Class game, you have the opportunity to choose the mission and the team for your next game. The default choice is one of each unit type, but you can choose a mission and tailor your team to perform best at it, e.g. more soldiers for an Annihilation mission. Or you can set everything to Random for a more interesting challenge! Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-combat-class #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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The rules of #Puluc, and the instructions for running the game, are in a PDF manual that I sincerely recommend you check out. And you can print the manual out too! Get the Puluc for the #PsionSeries3 from https://cyningstan.itch.io/puluc
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There's more to a #StarCadre Combat Class Rescue mission than getting those hostages out of there. Some of them might have useful skills, including combat skills. Giving them weapons looted from fallen enemies turns them into useful members of the team. Giving them blades in particular allows them to help free their colleagues more quickly, something that requires no skill. Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-combat-class #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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@thelastpsion I bought it when I thought I was going to get into compiler writing. I got as far as doing an interpreter and transpiler for Tiny BASIC before I moved on to other things.
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@heliopolitan And if this one starts to fail, it should be easy to find a replacement that'll run MS-DOS on the move, even if it's a modern phone with Bluetooth keyboard running DOSBox...
Today, YouTube creator Sparcie uploaded this lovely video showcasing The #ChambersBeneath - check it out for a brief overview of the game! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwR6V9WFfAE #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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@AquaClaire@ecoevo.social @csara@vmst.io And thirded, yet another happy customer of @beasts@social.mythic-beasts.com
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@alex Sadly not, EPOC32 is a different platform from EPOC16. I'm surprised nobody tried to write an EPOC16 emulator to run on EPOC32. They managed a DOS emulator for it after all.
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In some battles, you will have the ability to build new units during the course of the battle. The same units that have repair capability are the ones that will be able to build new units. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Since First Landing is a balanced campaign for two players, you can play as either Avuscorp or Nuvutech. Once you win in the role of one corporation, you might try taking on the role of the other, for extra replayability. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Building and repairing units take resources. Sometimes, you start with a resource stockpile. And sometimes you will have to gather resources during the battle. In First Landing, it is the Mining Base that gathers resources, when sited on a Crystal Node. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Each battle has a briefing, telling the player what needs to be done. The briefing will let you know whether building or repair is possible, and will warn you if resources are going to be scarce. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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You can play #BarrenPlanet against a friend. Classic hotseat mode has you taking turns at the computer. PBM (play-by-mail) allows you to each play at your own computer, packing your turns into small files that can be posted back and forth however and whenever is convenient. #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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There is a debriefing for each battle too, letting you know how you did, and sometimes giving a hint of what is coming in the next battle. The briefings and debriefings knit the action together into a story. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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The battlefield is where all the action takes place in #BarrenPlanet. Each battle has its own challenges and its own set of units to deal with them. The outcome of one battle determines which battle will be fought next. #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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First Landing is the campaign that comes with #BarrenPlanet. It features the corporations Nuvutech and Avuscorp, both very different, but both hungry for the resources of the planet Dapra. Other campaigns will become available in future. #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Sometimes units can be repaired during the course of the battle. In the First Landing campaign, it's the Mining Base that provides this facility. Future campaigns might have mobile repair units. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Finally, although #BarrenPlanet is free, I welcome donations which will encourage and help me to continue development of #BarrenPlanet and other games. You can donate on Itch (https://cyningstan.itch.io/) or Kofi (https://ko-fi.com/T6T33NHME) #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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#BarrenPlanet is free to download and play. If you want to give it a try, download it at its web page: http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/downloads/7/barren-planet If you enjoy it, please do leave feedback on the site, or in replies here! #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Winning the campaign entails making it through to a crucial last battle. Winning that battle will give victory in the whole campaign. Your chances of success may be influenced by what has gone before. #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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Some battles have strategic victory points that you need to occupy in order to win. In other battles it's just straight annihilation, where you need to destroy all the enemy units. Remember, you can donwload the game at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/downloads/7/barren-planet #barrenplanet #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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@icecreamjonsey Thank you! I appreciate the purchase, and the picture. How much memory do you have in the PCjr?
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@icecreamjonsey Ah, that's good. The only problem I could see now with a stock PCjr is the memory requirement, but yours has all the memory anyone could need...
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@icecreamjonsey I'm not sure. I write the graphics directly to screen memory, like a naughty boy. I don't know if the PCjr will like that. But I'd be interested to know!
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@icecreamjonsey Oh it's ready now! It was released last Sunday. If you check up thread to the first post the link should be up there (I'm on mobile so not easy for me to copy and paste right now). Be my guest :-)
I'd love to see pics of it running on the PCjr if it works. The only real hardware photos I have of it are my own HP 100LX which has a rather murky mono LCD screen.
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Entering a large room or corridor can be intimidating in #StarCadre Combat Class, as you've no idea how many enemies are lurking behind that door. This is a good time to make use of Stealth. Having a unit with a good Stealth skill creep into the doorway allows you to see how much danger there really is. Make sure you don't leave your unit in the doorway though, or they will be seen and attacked during the enemy turn! Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-combat-class #ibmpc #msdos #cga
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@wtfrank Not at the moment. Although it fits on a single 360k floppy if you want to transfer the files across yourself (I don't have a floppy disk drive, nor the funds to get disks written).
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@Pobs_mate_Teddy I believe the Siena runs S3 'classic' applications in compatibility mode. But I don't have a working Siena to check it out. I assume you'll see the game in 240x80 letterbox view, and will probably need pretty good eyesight too! I'd love to see a picture of what it looks like on a Siena.
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Remember to check out fallen enemies' inventories in #StarCadre Combat Class, and not only in Retrieval and Gathering missions. Some of your units might be lightly armed, and benefit from weapon and armour upgrades kindly bequeathed by the enemies you've dealt with. You might also find an extra blade or two for freeing hostages more quickly. Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-combat-class #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Ever since I saw this Q&A about "LCD mode" I've wanted to implement it in my games. My #hp100lx has the feature built in, but some #msdos #cga portables like the Amstrad PPC and the Psion MC don't. But I realised it's more complex than just inverting all the graphics as you load them. You have to make sure, for instance, that you don't invert software sprite masks, since they're working on logic rather than just aesthetics. https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/305318/what-was-lcd-cga-graphics-mode
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If a #StarCadre Combat Class unit carries more items than they can manage, they'll start to slow down, and nearly everything they do will take more of their precious action points. So don't over-equip your units, and when on a gathering mission, share out the load between the units that can manage it best. Each unit can carry a number of items equal to their strength minus 2, before encumbrance takes effect. Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-combat-class #ibmpc #msdos #cga