Tag Archives: CGA

MartyPC: PC emulation done right

I would like to give a heads-up about the new PC emulator on the block. It is called “MartyPC”, which indeed is a reference to Marty McFly from the Back To The Future movies. And indeed, that is a tribute … Continue reading

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development, Software news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The DOS SDK

A thing I have been working on, on and off, for many years now, is a set of headers and helper routines for programming DOS machines directly on the hardware in assembly and C. As you may recall, my earliest … Continue reading

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

VGA and MCGA, what’s the difference?

When running old DOS games, you often have to manually select which type of graphics adapter you use. Some games allow you to select VGA for 256 colour mode. Others use the term MCGA for 256 colour mode, and some … Continue reading

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Area 5150, a reflection

As I said in my previous coverage of Area 5150, I was not sure whether I should comment on the demo. But I have given it some thought, and have decided to give some background info on the development process. … Continue reading

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Area 5150: 8088 MPH gets a successor

In case you have missed it, over the weekend, a new demo for IBM PC with CGA was released at Evoke, under the name Area 5150. It placed first in the competition, which should not surprise anyone: I was wondering … Continue reading

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Just keeping it real at Revision 2019

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

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The IBM Music Feature Card and Yamaha FB-01

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Any real-keeping lately?

The 5-year anniversary of my inaugural ‘Just keeping it real’-article came and went. Has it been that long already? It’s also been quite some time since I’ve last written about some oldskool coding, or even anything at all. Things have … Continue reading

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

Commander Keen 4: now in 16-colour composite CGA!

Perhaps you have already heard it through the grapevine, but just to be sure, I’d like to mention that VileR (of 8088 MPH fame) has patched the Keen 4 code and redid all the graphics to make the most of … Continue reading

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

That’s not Possible on this Platform!

The past year-and-a-half have been quite interesting. First there was the plan to form a team and build a demo for the original IBM PC with CGA. We weren’t quite sure where it would lead at first, but as the … Continue reading

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment