A top-down RPG. To left, a depiction of a village. To right, headshots and statistics for party members Trelain, Junara, Mahmud, Thal'Kan, Lucina, and Suela, all of which are some combination of blue, yellow, and grey. Bottom left are the movement buttons and a Help button. Bottom center are various controls.
The Aethra Chronicles: Celystra's Bane (DOS, 1994)
I have been slowly going through the alt-texts, adding in names to each alt-text for when the Firemen visit the next part of the library. It's slow work.
If you get to a playable demo, DM me.
Two people talk to each other. A man, in a striped polo, with an Apple II for a head. A woman, in a blouse, with a Disk II disk drive. They're using their hands animatedly. Illustration drawn by Martin Cannon.
"Martin, can you draw an image to illustrate the disk drive communicating with the computer?" "Say no more, Eric & Will." (Source.)
The Cardiac - "CARDboard Illustrative Aid to Computation", a blue cardboard computer resembling a calculator wheel. Device left is the output strip. In the left half is the 'accumulator', which is altered by three cardboard strips; a flowchart gives instructions on how to interpret the 'command' at any given step. On the right half is the memory, which is able to be written to by the human operator's pencil; to the left of each slot is a space for the operator to put a 'bug' which acts as the instruction pointer
Decimal registers, decimal assembly language, graphite-rubber memory... the CARDIAC was a different kind of computer in more than one way.
A Global Coffeeshop style ad. Column left shows a man, near, standing in South America, waving to a woman, far, standing on North America. Dense ad copy touts the abilities of the Internet, circa 1993.
5-HOUR FREE TRIAL (Source.)
Top left, the phrase "Hot pursuit through space and the vortices of time!" Top right, a vampire with scarred cheeks looks over a painting of a nose-shaaped spaceship flying through space. Center, the title "Ramware Presents... Time Lord." Down below: "The fallen Time Lord, who presumptuously calls himself The Master, is at large. The elders of Waldrom have suppleid you with the hyperspace-worthy vessel TARDIS, and commissioned you to eliminate the evil 'Master'. Your resources include clones who will fight for you, the formidible CRASER weapons of the TARDIS, and magic weapons such as Fusion Grenades and Borelian Matrix Crystals. Travelling through hyperspac ein search of the evil one, you will encounter Time Eaters, Neutron Storms, and other alien creatures and phenomena. Entering real space to search planets, you will encounter still other dangers. You will enter native settlements to buy food nd supplies - or to fight for survival. And once you find The Master can you destroy him? Bassed on Dr. Who of PBS fame. Apple Integer Basic, Disk, 48K... $29.95." Bottom left, the cylindrical CRT and keyboard logo of TSE Hardside appears, allong with an order number (with Visa and Mastercard presented).
"Based on Dr. Who of PBS fame." (Source.)
ROGUE: The Adventure Game. The game of Rogue was originated by: Michael C. Toy and Kenneth C.R.C. Arnold Adapted for the IBM PC by: John Lane. Significant design contributions by: Glenn Wichman and scores of others. Public Domain Software - 1984, not to be sold. Rogue's Name? Player
Rogue (DOS, 1984)
A building diagram for the data center that composed the Whirlwind 1. The top row is Control (C-Row), racks numbered from C1 to C15. The next row is Arithmetic Element (A-Row), racks numbered AX1 to AX8 then A0 to A7, then AD, then A8 to A15. The next row is Electrostatic Storage (E-Row), numbered EX1 to EX8, then E0 to E7, then ED, then E8 to E15. The shortened fourth row is Flip-Flop Registers (F-Row), numbered F0 to F7, then FD, then F8 to F15. The fifth row is Power (P-Row), numbered P1 to P14. Two racks outside the building are labeled P0 and P15, used for power switching and regulation. A small test room has the Test Control racks, numbered TC0 to TC17. Most racks have a unique, labeled purpose.
The layout of the Whirlwind I (MIT, 1944)
Superimposed over both halves, the title "Power Dolls". The left half has a green-to-blue gradient, the silhouette of a mecha, the words "Detachment of Limited Line Serivce Scenario Simulation Game Copyright 1994 Kogado Software Products" and the optiosn "Game Start, Data Load, Quit." The right shows a headshot of the mecha, one single green piercing eye looking at the viewer while exposed hydraulics lift the head into place from the dense armor around it.
Power Dolls (FM Towns, 1994)
A review of the Commodore 64 game Space Taxi from the 1985 issue of Run Magazine. The screenshot above shows a typical play screen, with multiple landing pads, a customer on pad 4, a fuel gauge, a shift timer, an earnings bar, a "Tip Meter" counting down, and an exit once the cabbie has finished their job in this screen. The review gave it a B, ultimately summarzing that "Space Taxi is a feature-packed game with lots of amusing twists."
Space Taxi: "You'll Need Finesse, Agility And Precision To Finish Your Shift"
( Serious answer: You'll see a repost roughly every 3-4 months, though it could happen as soon as a few weeks and it could be years. )
photo of my atari xegs, purchased at VCF SoCal for $90. photo includes keyboard and copy of mario bros XE, plugged into the system. keyboard is a rubber dome mitsumi type and probably one of the worst keyboards i’ve used. same keyboard as the rest of the XE and ST line. hardware based on atari 65xe. has 64kb of RAM, SIO port, GTIA, ANTIC, and POKEY chips. BASIC runs when keyboard is plugged in. missle command plays when no keyboard or cartridge plugged in. fascinating 45 degree angle design, but ports (outside the SIO and video / power ports) also at 45 degree angle so it is not very practical for inserting peripherals. i still personally enjoy the design, and the atari 8-bit line has a fantastic library of games, programs, and demoscene releases. works best paired with a Fujinet
atari xegs console/computer
The bot has no discretion; the bot has no timing. It has a set of parameters and the urge to post.
A review from the April 1988 Up top, the aforementioned article title, and a picture of the machine itself; the grey machine doesn't look too dissimilar from modern pizzabox computers, with a 5.25" disk drive where a modern pizzabox would have a CD drive, and a detached clickey keyboard that's not too far from IBM standard. The article touts such features as the enhanced video RAM ('an expansive 64K'), enhanced CP/M, support for multiple operating systems
CLOSE UP: The Commodore 128D
An article about Eliza, the psychoanalysis AI. The dense, three-column article includes several multi-paragraph sections, with headings "Description", "How it works", "Detailed Explanation", "Limitations", "Modifications", "A Few Comments", "What it all means," and "Geneology." The bottom of the page contains a table listing the 20 variables used over the course of the program.
Ever want to play with the world's first conversational "AI" yourself? Steve North converted it from MIT's LISP to Microsoft Basic, so as long as you've got 16K of ram you're ready to go! (Source.)
A dense - very, very dense; 45 lines in an ad that was printed at only 2.5 inches tall - purporting to be the most complete version of ELIZA available in CP/M, "for any CP/M based microcomputer system with at least 40K of ram, on a standard 8 inch diskette." The sample conversational log has the patient complaining about men in specific, then her father in specific, and then bullies in specific - and Eliza brings it all back to the fact that her boyfriend made her run the program. At the end, ordering information for the "Artificial Intelligence Research Group" of Los Angeles, California.
"HERE IS AN ACTUAL SAMPLE OF ELIZA'S CONVERSATIONAL ABILITY" (Source.)
The cover of PC Magazine ("The independent guide to personal computing and the Internet") from November 2, 1999. The headline issue, showing boxed software like Wordperfect Office and Microsoft Office in the trash, reads "THROW OUT YOUR SOFTWARE - Save Money! Run your applications over the web instead!" Big callouts mention "Special Report: Which Printer is Right for YOU? PC Labs tests 55 new Lasers, Ink Jets, Multifunctions" with pictures of some old Brother-looking printers; E-Mail Options, "The Internet Provides Multiple Ways To Keep Everyone In Touch"; John C. Dvorak, "Microsoft's Dastardly E-Mail Plot: While Hotmail Really Crashed", and "First Looks: New Desktop Systems, Adobe InDesign 1.0, Giage WebSpace, Consumer Image-Editing Software, Celeron Notebook PCs, Actiontec Call Waiting System" over a picture of a dark late 90s desktop tower.
THROW OUT YOUR SOFTWARE
An off-screen adult carries off baby Maggie, while the rest of the simpsons family (Marge, Homer, Lisa, and Bart) scream in panic.
The Simpsons (C64, 1991)
A dense Utopian Scholastic style ad for geoCalc, claiming Berkeley Softworks (creators of GEOS) rely on their own software for payables, receivables, taxes, budgets, and projections. Insets include the boxed software itself (depicting a desk), a spreadsheet showing Berkeley Softworks' own operating expenses, and a tiny order info section.
"We're selling the one thing we count on every day."
Up top, the title of the game, Knights of Xentar. Bottom, the status of Demond and Rolf, the part's members, along with menus (Item, Magic, Status, Equip, File, System) and currency (6873 Sovereigns). In the middle of the screen the head of Rolf (a blue-haired well-bearded man) says: "Hey, do you have a sudden urge to sing Culture Club songs?"
Knights of Xentar (1995) (Source.)
Top right, the text "VIDEO EXCITEMENT in the palm of your HAND" - the first words are in blocky sans serif text, but 'hand' is stretched vertically. To the left side, a kid wearing a black denim jacket, blue jeans and yellow polo jumps to hold his Tiger electronic game. Middle, the Tiger Out Run game itself - a handheld console, white with painted scenery on the edges and unlit LCD; the left circle has two buttons, the right circle has two buttons (Speed and Brake), and four function buttons are in the center; a grille for the bleeptronic speaker is on the bottom of the "console." Ad right, breathless copy describes the challenges players face when they take "the Out Run challenge." At the bottom of the ad, the logo for "Tiger Grandstand: The Leading Name in LCD Games" appears.
"Grandstand LCD Games like Out Run put arcade action in the palm of your hand..." (Source.)
The cover of the July 1991 issue of Compute. Up top, the lead story: "Complete guide to over 200 jumbo hard drives!" Page middle, a egg hovers in a vaporwave field of blue, the 'yolk' glowing as it cracks open. Additional stories are in the center: "Ten Tips for Tech Support," "The Body Silicon", "Robots In The Line Of Fire." Art by "Hiromasma Sugiura" (sp?), developed on a NEC.
COMPLETE GUIDE TO OVER 200 JUMBO HARD DRIVES!
The cover to "Programming Your Own Adventure Games in Pascal" by Richard C. Vile, Jr. In the distance, a castle appears. In the mid-ground, a red dragon blocks the path to the castle; nearby, an Indiana Jones-type character shoots at the attacking dragon.
I could make a whole sub-bot based just on programming books with dragons on the cover. (Source.)
A TRS-80 text adventure screenshot. The screan reads: "I am in a pre-war bunker. It appears to have taken quite a bit of damage and remains in poor repair. A hole exists in the west wall. You see: BIN, COT, CABINET, HOLE. EXITS: W U. COMMAND?"
In Quest of the Star Lord (TRS Coco 3, 1988, 4 disks)
An old school HP terminal, featuring CRT monitor, tape drive (internal top left), thermal printer (internal top right), keyboard (with 32 function keys and a keypad loosely based on HP calculators).
HP 9835A (1979)
Three screenshots of a face. First screenshot shows a blank face and a randomly generated face, labelled "Remember this man's face..." Second screenshot shows two slightly different faces, labelled "Sorry, that's not the man." Third screenshot shows a face in reconstruction, labelled "Okay, do you recognzie the nose?" with options for different noses.
Mugshot Memory Test, "41½ Fun Projects for the Commodore 64", Dale Disharoon
The cover of Boardwatch Magazine for July 1996. The headline story is "Netscape vs. Microsoft: Web Browser Features War Swamps the Net." It pictures a fairly poorly photoshopped 'BillGatus' of Microsoft as a Star Trek Borg and Jim Clark of Netscape dressed up as Oz's Tin Man. Other headlines: "Javascript Bozo Filter For Easy Web Access Control", "Creating Animated GIFs: A Moving Experience", and "Anonymous Remailers: For Fun & Mayhem"
Whomever wins, we lose.
In this preview of the CD contents of Computer Games magazine for June 2000, they review Storm Watch, an isometric 2D squad based tactical shooter with a dialogue section. The first screenshot shows an Action Girl selected, with movement options on a side bar; the second sidebar shows the team is composed of Action Girl and Action Guy. The second screenshot better highlights the visual style of mid-90s flat-shaded comics (animesque with heavy noir influences for Shadow Watch's takes, if the wide swaths of black framing the screenshots are any indication), showing the players talking to a bartender with various dialogue options. A side bar in the bottom left proclaims "The Goods", stating it's a turn-based strategy published by Red Storm, with "Requirements: Pentium 133, 32MB RAM, 98MB."
"A bad situation to be in..." (Source.)
Top Left, a putative illustration of Edison besides multiple prototype light bulbs - and an Apple computer. To the side, the headline "Edison had 1,800 patents in his name, but you can be just as inventive with an Apple." Below, dense ad copy with heading "How Apple grows with you," "Apple speaks many languages," "More illuminating experiences in store," and beneath, the rainbow apple logo reading Apple Computer, Inc. At the bottom, an Apple III with integrated disk drive and detached keyboard is left, and an Apple II is right, with a bamboo fan on the Apple III, which is ironic given the system's heat issues.
Edison had 1,800 patents in his name, but you can be just as inventive with an Apple. (Source.)
