Mark J. Koch

Don Daglow and Rebecca Ann Heineman to be honored at 2026 Game Developers Choice Awards Don Daglow will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Rebecca Ann Heineman will posthumously receive the Ambassador Award.

Don Daglow and Rebecca Ann Heineman to be honored at 2026 Game Developers Choice Awards

Screen shot of a marked up hex editor view of one of Neuromancer PC's data files. The top of the file has offset locations as two bytes and those offset locations are pointed at to get the actual game data. So much more to decode in this game.

I've made a lot of progress on my #neuromancerpc restoration and it's largely playable (let's call it alpha), but I'm not done reverse engineering the original game's data files... #neuromancer #java #javafx #retrogaming #gamedev

True story... Around 1994 I worked at Sun Microsystems on a hand-held tablet project. Our prototype's UI was the same OpenLook UI as all our other workstations. I pleaded with my boss to invite Mike Okuda a peak so that we could get his take on what a UI might look like. But alas, I was told "no".

Before this project I had looked at Scumm and couldn’t make heads or tails from it, so I wrote my own engine in JavaFX for this. Someone could make a custom game using the engine if they wanted to. I am working on a more modern open engine though for “Chiba City Blues”. After this, Godot…

Here's a video tour of my Rack Synth progress. Pretty much working and making noises. Lot's of tuning to do but it works!!! Will spend the next two months documenting on GIThub.
#asmr-synth #electronics #synth #eurorack

ASMR is what I am calling my synth design. Advanced Synth Modular Rack. EuroRack on steroids. Two I2C buses, 32 programmable patch channels on backplane, digital or analog, Slot detection. Metric dimensions. 3D printed chassis. “DreamLand” Breadboard is one of the modules for hacking experiments.

ASMR synth rack with modules resting on table below

Modular module showing 3D printed face plate colored with a sharpie.

Modulator module wired up onto a proto PCB with a CHIPz op amp circuit board.

Now that my multi-day cooking adventure is done, soldering up the fourth #PCB in my modular #synth project. Hope to have a working sound machine in a couple more days. #asmr-synth #soldering #electronics

Celebrated game developer Rebecca Heineman dies at age 62 The gaming community mourns a beloved mentor and LGBTQ+ advocate with a storied career.

I wrote an obituary of celebrated game developer Rebecca Heineman for Ars Technica:

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...

My end of the year goal is to make this pile of circuits into a working analog #synth. Then, and only then, am I allowed to go back to #gamedev on my #javafx #neuromancer PC remake while sipping egg nog. Too many hobbies.

Although I knew of something called Burger DOS and Rebecca's nickname to it, I had no idea what it was use for in relation to Neuromancer C64. Now I know too! So today, two people have answers regarding this tool that Becky created.

One of my for-fun #gamedev projects involves restoring an old PC game called #neuromancer which is based loosely on the book by William Gibson. One of the folks who worked on the original is Rebecca Heineman @burgerbecky.bsky.social , who passed away this week. RIP Rebecca. You are not forgotten.

A nice way to end the week! Got my #synth module working. Based on an open source design by Hagiwo. #RasPi #Pico2 based and using Arduino libraries, generates waves from tables or math. I added OLED and UI code. I think the PCB components need work as the output looks a little funky. #asmr-synth

All I see is Arthur Dent and Zaphod Beeblebrox. #hhgtg #douglasadams #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy #thehitchhikersguidetothegalaxy #towelday #dontpanic #scifi

My quad output power supply for my Eurorack alternative idea. Many engineers don't know it but you can make a typical buck regulator put out negative voltage if you swap the ground and Vout lines. The Vout is grounded and the common lines inside the circuit will output a negative potential of the desired output voltage. Feels unintuitive when designing, but works well. Also, this design uses the HUSB power negotiation chip to allow the board to be powered with a USB-PD capable laptop supply. Using the HUSB chip, those supplies can negotiate a range of output voltages like 5, 9, 12, 18 and 20V at 3 or more amperes. I'm using 20V in this design to then generate the +15, -15 and 5V needed for analog synthesizer circuits.

This bodge is the missing Zener. I needed a zener of around 11.5V but only had some 3.2V laying around. So I hooked four SOT023 type in series to get close to the value I wanted. Kicking myself for not studying the data sheet more at design time. It's right there.

The data sheet for this buck regulator shows that for output voltages above 12V, a zener is needed to bring the boost voltage into proper range. Once I did this, the whole thing just worked.

#synth rack progress! One regulator wouldn't start up, so it took a deeper read into the data sheet to realize I'd missed some components needed for voltages above 5V (a zener and cap). #Zener ended up being a stack of Zeners to achieve desired value. Not my prettiest fix. #pcb #kicad #electronics

I don’t have a #Mouser parts purchasing problem! I can stop any time I want. #kicad #pcb #engineering

Upon finding this stainless steel bowl at #ikea that looks suspiciously like a half scale #R2D2 head…. Challenge accepted!

ASMR Synth Rack backplane, ten slot, featuring PCI-type edge connectors. Not actually PCI. Mine has four voltages, 18-24V, +15, -15 and 5V. There's two I2C busses, slot detection and 32 undefined "patch" lines. The inserted synth cards can negotiate the use of the patch lines for analog audio/control voltage and digital uses. Back plane can be up to 16 slots. Currently working on a 100% 3D printable chassis design. It will be 100% open source.

ASMR two slot backplane for bench development purposes.

Prototype ASMR hardware as received from the PCB fabrication service. Bottom is 10 slot backplane. Bottom right is a two slot back plane. Center is three experimental boards: top is a breadboard experimenters board, middle is a power supply (USB-PD in, +/-15V and 5V out) and bottom is an implementation of Hagiwo's amazing MOD2 synth module ( I added a one inch OLED display). Right are two face plates for the rack system: The breadboard PCB faceplate and the power supply faceplate.

Example of how the ASMR cards plug into the backplane. A rack chassis will be made soon to bring it all together.

My #JLCPCB bounty included my prototype #PCB s for a new type of rack #synth that I am thinking about. Think #eurorack but dragged into the new millennium. Backplane has two #I2C busses, slot detection, and 32 negotiated patch signals. Slightly larger such that old ER modules can nest inside.

My KIM-1 replica, affectionately named "KIM-1000". An all surface mount version based on the original 1970's schematic. I attempted to add a Cyberpunk-ish style to the edges.

My KIM-1 replica, affectionately named "KIM-1000". An all surface mount version based on the original 1970's schematic. I attempted to add a Cyberpunk-ish style to the edges.

Yay! The main #PCB for my MOS #KIM-1 replica arrived today from #JLCPCB! The sub-boards seem to fit. Bringup will take awhile since there's a gross chip-pin-numbering error on one of the smaller boards and I'll have to re-fab it. But I'll be able to partially assemble it and test a few things.

A Printed Circuit Board with what looks like a PCI connector edge. There is a warning imprinted onto the board that states, "Absolutely NOT PCI! Do NOT attempt to use in a computer. SMOKE, FIRE or SMELLS MAY OCCUR."

When your latest #PCB uses a #PCI connector (super dirt cheap) and you want the customer to know that they should not even be tempted to plug it into a PC. I used the connector but the pinout and voltages are nowhere near those of PC Cards. At least the warning will be entertaining. #KiCAD

It's alive! Keypad/Display #PCB module for my #kim-1 replica is working! Mostly based on the original 1970s #schematic, using modern parts. I wrote a PCB test fixture using Arduino and #rp2040 #raspberrypipico module from #adafruit. My first time using a rp2040 was mostly painless. #65C02

Tracking the person delivering my #UPS package. This individual should get a job in professional gerrymandering. Has driven past my neighborhood twice already and returned to multiple places they were before. Package is also an hour after the original delivery window. This is performance art.

When a billionaire/celebrity/philanthropist looks at your profile on LinkedIn and you’re not sure if you should be elated or worried.

My #analytical brain, every time I touch something and get a #shock: "I've been sitting still for five minutes! Why am I loosing so many #electrons so quickly? Is there something I can do about it?" #zap

That #feeling you have when you do a #GIT commit before going to help a family member with something for almost six hours. My day is gone but ideas in my head are check-pointed. #codelife

World Traveller, Rick Steves, as a pickle! Support your local PBS station to keep getting more Rick.

This is a public service announcement for you to support your local PBS station! #PBS #RickSteves

KiVAD render of the MOS KIM-1000. A modern take on the KIM-1 CPU board from the 1970's. I really wanted one of the original KIM-1 boards as a kid but, being a kid, no money. However, when I reached college, my degree included theory and hands on with our very own Z-80 systems that we got to build using raw components and wire wrap! Worked the same as the KIM-1 and we even had to write our own operating program. The following semester we got to expand our Z-80s with the peripheral of our choice. I built a full robot that I'd already been working on since I was 14-ish. I programmed it to work like the "Big Track" toy. I handed all my original documentation, schematics and code to the professor to get my grade (should have made some photocopies at least). Never did get any of that back. This was a couple years before things like floppy disks and ease of and access to printers.

OK. Why not? SPOILER ALERT! ... Labeled as "Suggestive" to blur image for those who don't want to see it before it's a real thing.

Do I show the 3D render of the whole thing or do I make everyone wait for the final real system in a couple months?

Hey Johnson! You can always reach out to me for Arduino questions. Also, Adafruit website has many tutorials, products and code for doing the exactly kind of stuff you want to do.

My @oshpark.bsky.social PCBs arrived. They are part of my #kicad project to create a #KIM-1 #65c02 computer replica, with a twist. I started with the original schematic but broke it into SMT modules. Each module is a castellated #PCB "stamp" for a larger main board that I'm finishing up.

If they ever reboot "Back to the Future", they should use the #CyberTruck. Except, on this new set of movies, to activate time travel, you'd have to rear-end the CyberTruck using a different vehicle at 88MPH. It would help add one more metaphor to the "Back" part of the name in the title.