Category Archives: Oldskool/retro programming

Running anything Remedy/Futuremark/MadOnion/UL in 2020

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Scali

There has always been a tie between Futuremark and the demoscene. It all started with the benchmark Final Reality, released by Remedy Entertainment in 1997. Remedy Entertainment was a gaming company, founded by demosceners from the legendary Future Crew and … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct3D, Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Batch, batch, batch: Respect the classics!

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Scali

Today I randomly stumbled upon some discussions about DirectX 12, Mantle and whatnot. It seems a lot of people somehow think that the whole idea of reducing draw call overhead was new for Mantle and DirectX 12. While some commenters … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct3D, Oldskool/retro programming, OpenGL, Software development, Vulkan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Some thoughts on emulators

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Scali

Recently I watched Trixter’s latest Q&A video on YouTube, and at 26:15 there was a question regarding PC emulators: That got me thinking, I have some things I’d like to share on that subject as well. First of all, I … Continue reading →

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Just keeping it real at Revision 2019

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Scali

I visited Revision again this year. And I took my IBM PC/XT 5160 with me. And I made a quick release. That release was a plan that I’ve had for a while, and which I mentioned in my previous blogpost: … Continue reading →

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The IBM Music Feature Card and Yamaha FB-01

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Scali

This has got to be one of the most obscure pieces of hardware I have covered so far. A sound card for the IBM PC, released in 1987. And by none other than Big Blue themselves! I am talking about … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The DreamBlaster S2P: General MIDI from a parallel port

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Scali

In the interest of catching up, here is the second blog that is long overdue. I want to talk about the DreamBlaster S2P from Serdaco. I received mine over a year ago, and it actually was an early prototype. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware news, Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Keeping it real for Outline 2018

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Scali

It’s been a while, but I’m back. Or at least, I hope to have some more time to blog again from now on. And not just to blog, because many of my blogs are the result of experimentations with software … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

An emulator that 8088 MPH doesn’t break?

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Scali

Breaking news! Or actually non-breaking news! Just now I have managed to run 8088 MPH in an emulator for the first time, with all effects showing, and giving a reasonably accurate rendition of real hardware. The emulator is 86Box, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Putting the things together, part 2: MIDI and other problems

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Scali

Remember a few months ago, when I explained my approach to playing VGM files? Well, VGM files are remarkably similar to Standard MIDI files. In a way, MIDI files are also just time-stamped captures of data sent to a sound … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

What makes the PCjr cool, and what makes it uncool?

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Scali

The IBM PCjr was a huge flop in the marketplace. As such, it has only been in production for about 14 months, and never even reached my part of the world. When I grew up, I had a vague notion … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | 3 Comments