Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Playing in the MUD

Multi User Dungeons brought a social aspect to computer RPGs, some with opportunities to do creative world building. We talk a bit about our experiences with these, and some about their background.

Topic/Feedback Links:

• LambdaMOO at 50 Years of Text Games
• Out of the MUD: The Origins of the MMORPG
• Text-Based VR: Explore the Pioneering World of MUSHes
• Osborne 3
• Morrow Pivot
• Zenith Z-171
• Osborne Vixen
• Memories of Bob Spencer
• “Computer Games” music video by Mi-Sex
• Rabbit RX83
• NEWPRINT/80
• World Turtle Day

Retro Computing News:

• Past and Future Turtles
• TurtleSpaces
• MITS/Pertec/iCOM FD 3202
• MITS/Pertec/iCOM FD 3712
• MITS/Pertec/iCOM FD 3802
• Teletext preservation by accident

Vintage Computer commercials:

• Austext
• Ceefax demonstration

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Ceefax mug

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: CORE9 universal remote
  • See also: About the CL9 Core controller
• Earl: Osborne 1
• Paul: Jupiter Ace 4000
  • New Micro-Professors I
  • Chatbot
  • Relax
  • See also: Dalek Relaxation Tape
  • Max Machine

Closing notes:

• People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction
• Z80 Playground

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: This sandwich tastes suspiciously like a ZX Spectrum

Another topic-free episode, this one discussing the smuggling of Spectrums, satirical adventure games, BBS simulations, IBM clocks, CoCo paint programs, and various other tangents.

Retro Computing News:

• Full Motion, Double High-Res Video Playback on the Apple IIe
• 1988: P.R.E.S.T.A.V.B.A.
• 50 Years of Text Games
• Gaming the Iron Curtain
• RetroBridgeBBS (GitHub)
• RetroBridgeBBS (Hackaday write-up)

Vintage Computer commercials:

• Hayes modem
• US Robotics 56k modem

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Cryptex USB stick

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Colorware COCO MAX HI-RES PACK input module Tandy TRS-80
  • Capstone Home Alone the Computerized Coloring Book
• Carrington: 600 page 1980s Computer Chip Handbookc
• Paul: Two Sanyo VM 4509s
  • Early IBM real time clock
  • Coleco Adam power supply
  • See also: Making an internal Adam PSU
  • Some Osbornes and some disks you can’t have
  • NEC PC8201a set

Closing notes:

• PunyInform

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Retro Development

Writing new software on old computers. How is it different now, would you go back to how it was done then? What did you use then?

Topic/Feedback Links:

• Arcade Machine (Broderbund, Atari & Apple)
• Graphics Magician (Penguin, Apple, C64, Atari)
• Nox Archaist
• SKALD
• PunyInform
• 8bit-Unity
• Amiga Addict magazine
• BBC Micro Live (magnets vs. floppy disks)
• Bits and Bytes
• BBC Computer Literacy Project
• Texture Archaeology
• American Vandal
• Brick

Retro Computing News:

• How to paint a TRS-80 Model III case
• Retro365
• Modern Mac on retro display




• Lost CompuServe, GEnie, and The Source game discovered in Copyright Office
• Castlequest compiles!
• Castlequest source
• Robert Noyce, 60 years ago, granted patent for integrated circuit
• Mockingboard 4c+

Vintage Computer commercial:

• Amstrad 8256 (1985)

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Crackers: The Gold Rush (book)

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: Apple “Leading The Way” internal cassette
  • See also: Leading the Way (Apple video)
• Paul: Perfect gift for the Mac enthusiast who you don’t like very much (video adapters)
  • Times Two, more disk space via magic
  • ZX80, ZX81, TS1000 lot
  • TS2068 RGB->HDMI
  • Requires: RGB->HDMI
  • Early CAPTCHA (“HUMAN” pin)
  • Amstrad PCW 8256 sort of
  • Amstrad PCW 8512 potentially
  • John Romero’s shareware pillows

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Period Peripherals

When you use retro computers, do you also use retro peripherals? That is, do you stick with appropriately vintage keyboards, monitors, and mice? Does mixing and matching vintage computers with new peripherals ruin the experience or aesthetic? Or do the (supposed) benefits of modern keyboards and displays outweigh the heresy?

Retro Computing News:

• B-Roll footage from inside a 1982 Sears store
• Halt and Catch Fire Syllabus

Vintage Computer commercial:

• Mattel Electronics Baseball

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Throwboy shirts

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: The Chip Shop Basicode tape
  • See also: Example broadcast of The Chip Shop’s “takeaway service”
• Paul: Broken Baseball
  • Mac security brackets
  • Learn WordPerfect VHS tapes
  • New TRS-80 game
  • eMate-inspired RPi case
  • eMate 300

Closing notes:

• TRS-8-Bit

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, and Blake Patterson

Topic: Something, Something, Retrocompute

No topic this time, really, just various news items and eBay auctions. Accelerators, printers, a new Atari 2600 game, Microsoft history, a strangely familiar host’s gift idea.

Retro Computing News:

• A2turbo Card
• Mockingboard-T (Mockingboard clone with tube amp)
• Audacity Games (Circus Convoy, for Atari 2600)
• Circus Convoy trailer
• Plex launches Arcade with Atari games
• Yellowstone 3.5 Inch Drive Support!

Vintage Computer commercial:

• IBM AS/400

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Atari 130XE spiral notebook

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Practical Peripherals SwitchPort //c
  • iMac Timex alarm clock
  • Video: iMac Timex alarm clock
• Paul: GTE XT300 (link now dead)
  • See also: Computerworld Ad for GTE XT300
  • See also: Retro scan of the week, Feb 25 2007
  • See also: The DAK Catalog
  • Forethought PowerPoint manual
  • See also: Version Museum
  • See also: GUIdebook Gallery

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, and Blake Patterson

Topic: Video Out, Volume One: A-Ap

Techniques for getting video out of an old computer. Particularly, it turns out, if it is an Amiga. Part one of several, no doubt.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Testing, cleaning and tuning up a small IBM VGA monitor
• CoCoVGA
• RetroTINK
• ZX-HD
• PLAdvanced+ PLA replacement
• JCM III encoder
• LEGO NES
• Retro Rewind
• 99% Invisible episode on the last moments of The Sims Online
• Atari monitor with a disk drive in it
• The Amiga Show

Retro Computing News:

• Amiga A1100
• Build A Brand New ZX Spectrum From New Parts
• Building a new C64 in 2020
• Altair 8800 Built from New Equipment in 2018
• BMC64 and family, VICE on bare metal RasPi

Vintage Computer commercial:

• Commodore 128 1985 commercial

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Retrocomputing masks

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Old Apple Macintosh Lot And IBM
  • TI Hexbus PCM Prototype Card
• Earl: California Computer Systems (CCS) S-100 Computer
• Paul: SuperPET
  • Apple II circuit board making kit
  • Brøderbund Arcade Machine
  • Homemade IIe Card cable
  • Flip N File

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed