Jim LeonardThe Big Blue Wrecking Crew is back. After 7 years from 8088 MPH, we competed at Evoke 2022 with our new production called Area 5150. This is the audience reaction during the Alternative Platforms compo. It later won first place after audience voting.
To see what this demo looks like as captured from real hardware, check out our official capture video: youtu.be/fWDxdoRTZPc To see the demo as it looks on Viler's actual system (real IBM PC with IBM 5153 CGA monitor): youtu.be/BdM5j96tEpE
Download the party version here: pouet.net/prod.php?which=91938 ---- This is my personal, informal channel. Do you like the demoscene, vintage computing, video archival, or other stuff I'm known for? Check out my professional channel: The Oldskool PC: youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPC
Area 5150 Audience ReactionJim Leonard2022-08-07 | The Big Blue Wrecking Crew is back. After 7 years from 8088 MPH, we competed at Evoke 2022 with our new production called Area 5150. This is the audience reaction during the Alternative Platforms compo. It later won first place after audience voting.
To see what this demo looks like as captured from real hardware, check out our official capture video: youtu.be/fWDxdoRTZPc To see the demo as it looks on Viler's actual system (real IBM PC with IBM 5153 CGA monitor): youtu.be/BdM5j96tEpE
Download the party version here: pouet.net/prod.php?which=91938 ---- This is my personal, informal channel. Do you like the demoscene, vintage computing, video archival, or other stuff I'm known for? Check out my professional channel: The Oldskool PC: youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPCPlaying Mastertype on the IBM PCJim Leonard2022-10-12 | The following is footage of the educational typing game Mastertype, published for the IBM PC by Lightning Software in 1983. It is not a complete playthrough of every typing lesson, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.A wren bird couple in our birdhouseJim Leonard2022-06-18 | Fairly certain these are house wrens. Cute little things. ---- This is my personal, informal channel. Do you like the demoscene, vintage computing, video archival, or other stuff I'm known for? Check out my professional channel: The Oldskool PC: youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPCWhat suffering from earworms sounds likeJim Leonard2022-06-03 | I describe myself as "suffering" from earworms. Here's a short example of what that sounds like.
This is my personal, informal channel. Do you like the demoscene, vintage computing, or other stuff I'm known for? Check out my professional channel: The Oldskool PC: youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPCMagic Carpet: An engine in search of a gameJim Leonard2022-05-26 | This Bad Influence clip from the 1990s perfectly illustrates how PC/DOS game development was sometimes driven by software techniques instead of game design. Before the advent of hardware-accelerated graphics, sometimes people created technically impressive engines first, then tried to come up with gameplay that fit that engine. In this clip, we can see Magic Carpet originally first started as a Voxel engine (!), first made popular by Comanche: Maximum Overkill.Cat in 42.5 millimetersJim Leonard2021-12-08 | Just screwing around with a MFT 42.5 f/1.7 lens I got yesterday. Amy the cat was nice enough to model for me. Focus issues are my fault.Max @ 22Jim Leonard2021-11-15 | Playing around with HLG HDR footage shot on a Sony Xperia phone.RE-re-imagining Phantasmagoria in 60p: The BookJim Leonard2021-11-15 | 2021's new hotness is upscaling using machine-learning GANs trained on a suitable dataset. I decided to see how feasible this by revisiting a prior upscaling experiment from Phantasmagoria. The experiment attempts to upscale a 288x144 10fps video to something... better, I guess? Leave a comment with how you think it looks.
Oh, and I cleaned up the audio's 8-bit quantization noise in izotope as best I could.Playing Space Miner on the IBM PCJim Leonard2021-10-16 | The following is footage of Space Miner, developed for the IBM PC by Charles Karp in 1983. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
The graphics in this particular game were designed primarily for RGB displays, so the composite output colors seen here are not strictly as the developer intended.Playing Czorian Siege on the IBM PCJim Leonard2021-10-09 | The following is footage of Czorian Siege, produced for the IBM PC by Computer Applications Limited in 1983. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
Personal notes: This game, coupled with Dunzhin, is one of the first two games to produce speech on the IBM PC. They predate Castle Wolfenstein on the PC by at least a year.
If the game seems like it aligns to an 80x25 grid in graphics mode, you're correct -- the exact same game is playable on a monochrome screen using 80x25 text characters. If you boot it on a dual-monitor system, it asks you which version you want to play.A Black Labrador Enjoys A Dog ParkJim Leonard2021-04-03 | Daphne enjoys going to the dog park because of all the attention she gets.
Daphne may seem lower to the ground than other black labs; that is because she is a British Black Labrador. Her coat is also much thicker, and slightly wavy on top (also traits of British Labs).Playing Spyder on the IBM PCJim Leonard2020-10-19 | The following is footage of Spyder, developed for the IBM PC by Ed Weed in 1983. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
The graphics in this particular game were designed primarily for RGB displays, so the composite output colors seen here are not strictly as the developer intended.
Personal notes: Examination of the binaries shows this game was created in compiled BASIC.Sams Butterflies, October 2020Jim Leonard2020-10-14 | ...Birbs.Jim Leonard2020-09-05 | Grackles, pidgeons, and other random birds spotted in the back yard.Nuts.Jim Leonard2020-08-26 | We might have a chipmunk problem.August 25th, 2020: Backyard crittersJim Leonard2020-08-26 | We set up bird feeders and bowls of nuts around the back yard to see if we could attract critters. I suppose that was like wondering if water is wet, as we attracted quite a few within a few hours.Commenting Computer Chronicles, episode 1023: Computer Games (1984)Jim Leonard2020-08-04 | Let's comment on computer games, as covered by The Computer Chronicles in 1984. People interviewed include Trip Hawkins, Chris Crawford, Steve Kitchen, and Bill Budge.
This is a bit of an experiment mostly to see how YouTube Premiere handles live and offline comments. (And to see if there's any interest in doing something like this regularly on my main vintage computing channel.)Failing a DOS Out Run challengeJim Leonard2020-06-05 | I failed Marco's PC Out Run challenge! His challenge was to play the PC port of Out Run without any rehearsal on exactly the same computer he played on and see if I could beat his high score of 64 million. I did just that, but only got 45 million. I hang my head in shame.Playing Spy Hunter on the IBM PCJim Leonard2019-10-20 | The following is footage of Spy Hunter, published for the IBM PC by Sega in 1984. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
Personal notes: This game cleverly uses the 6845's start address register to scroll the entire screen downward two lines, allowing for full-screen animation in 30fps using minimal CPU resources.
Spy Hunter takes full advantage of an analog joystick (variable speed is honored), which is a good thing because the keyboard controls are quite terrible. The joystick routine is very sensitive, unfortunately, so "gamepads" can't be used (the center drifts in the program). An analog stick with trims is necessary, for fine adjustment even after the calibration is finished.Sams Butterflies, August 2019Jim Leonard2019-09-01 | Our son wanted to see what it was like to raise butterflies, and the results were entertaining and educational. This video is my attempt to document them before they were all released into the wild.
Camera gear: Panasonic GX85, Olympus 60mm 1:2.8 macro lens. Aperture was wide open the entire time which was a beginner's mistake.Cat, close-upJim Leonard2019-08-01 | Emma dislpayed a rare moment of patience with me today, so I capitalized on it by quickly shooting some macro video of her. She's quite beautiful despite being so crotchety.
Equipment: Panasonic GX85, Olympus 60mm 1:2.8 MacroNew Trier High School Class of 1989 Video Yearbook (2019 remaster)Jim Leonard2019-03-08 | Enjoy this slice of high-school life from 1989.
I wasn't aware this even existed until about a year ago (!), so when I found a classmate willing to lend it to me, I just had to try to remaster it. Details of the remaster:
- Timebase corrector used during transfer - 150+ shots were color-corrected or adjusted from the original - Frequency-domain noise reduction - No elements were removed or censored - No elements were added except for an end credit (mine, as I don't appear in the video) - Motion-adaptive deinterlacing, edge-adaptive scaling
I'm not a professional colorist, but I think the end result is much more watchable than the original VHS tape. At least there aren't any green or purple faces any more :-)Classic Gaming Expo 2004: MobyGames RetrospectiveJim Leonard2019-02-28 | Classic Gaming Expo was a gaming convention dedicated to the people, systems and games of yesteryear, with an emphasis on historic video games. In 2004, the MobyGames.com staff set up a booth area to promote the MobyGames database, and while we were there, we shot some video of the event, reproduced here verbatim (2004-era resolution and shaky-cam intact).
All of the music in the video was performed by 8-bit Weapon, who performed live in the main hall throughout the event.
More about 8-bit-weapon: 8bitweapon.comRaleigh Springs Mall TV Commercials 1975-1977Jim Leonard2018-11-23 | Raleigh Springs Mall was an enclosed shopping mall serving the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Opened in 1971 as one of the city's first two shopping malls (the other being Southland Mall), owned and managed by Angela Whichard, Inc. Raleigh Springs Mall originally featured about seventy stores. The mall was later seized by the City of Memphis to build a city Civic Center, and closed in 2016.
These commercials were commissioned by Ron Haskell, general manager of the mall in the mid-1970s. Ron presented in many of the commercials himself, having previous theater and radio experience.
The video footage was rescued from a u-matic tape, denoised, and deinterlaced by myself using Premiere, Neat Video, and qtgmc.Playing Star Trek (the arcade game) on the IBM PCJim Leonard2018-10-21 | The following is footage of Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (the official name of the arcade game), published for the IBM PC by Sega in 1983. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
Personal notes: While the on-screen animation is a little sloppy and there is slowdown at times, the gameplay is fairly authentic to the arcade original.2018 Perseid meteors barely visible against suburban light pollution | Panasonic Lumix DMC-G7Jim Leonard2018-08-14 | (View in 4K for best results. If video has compression artifacts, blame YouTube, not me) I was very pleasantly surprised to see my very first "night lapse" photography/video turned out really well: Despite severe light pollution from a suburban area, you can definitely see hundreds of stars, and even the occasional Perseid meteor.
Viewing Hints for this video: Any light streak lasting longer than a single frame (1/24th of a second) is a plane. Any light streak moving very slowly is a satellite. But if the light streak is very faint and lasts only a single frame, it's a meteor :-)
Because of the light pollution, I had to use drastically less-sensitive settings than typical night photography. The photos captured here were with my lens wide open at f2.0 (normal), but the camera was set to ISO 200 and a shutter of only 6 seconds (both not typical for astrophotography). Any attempts at increasing the ISO, or lengthening the shutter duration, caused a near complete white-out of the sky.Re-Imagining The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery in 60pJim Leonard2018-02-21 | Through various bits of software trickery, it is possible to upscale low-res images to a higher res with a simulation of added detail. It is also possible to synthesize higher framerates by analyzing the motion of objects in a video sequence. Can we use these techniques together to "remaster" poor digital video sources into much better quality? You be the judge!
The source of this video was a myopia-inducing resolution of 308x167 playing back at 10fps, and what was synthesized and uploaded to YouTube was 720p60. Avisynth was used for the conversion, with Interframe() and nnedi3_rpow2() used for processing.
Finally: What is up with that typewriter carriage? It's nearly 3x the width of the paper in the typewriter!NVScene 2008: The Other Side of Demo Programming (Martti Nurmikari) (remastered)Jim Leonard2017-11-07 | Demo coding is often claimed to rely on "The Idea", with people often disregarding the actual software design process of implementing a concept as secondary. This talk shall elaborate on the methods of both approximating an idea through code, and creating an idea with an implementation in mind.
Remastered version of youtube.com/watch?v=im4sl05IyGY from the original tapes (mine).NVScene 2008: Rendering Worlds with Two Triangles: Raytracing on the GPU (Iñigo Quilez) (remastered)Jim Leonard2017-11-07 | With the introduction of powerful shaders, long unused techniques from the past are due to return: the use of raytracing allows programmers to implement various optical effects that are difficult or not possible with standard rasterizing methods. This talk will reveal the details about the implementation of such routines and the possible pitfalls to avoid.
This is a remastered version of youtube.com/watch?v=A1iW6Z_Jc4k from the original source tapes (mine).Playing Tapper on the IBM PCJim Leonard2017-10-22 | The following is footage of Tapper, published for the IBM PC by Bally Midway in 1983. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
Personal notes: This is a very faithful port of the arcade game Root Beer Tapper. One of the better arcade ports at the time; very nice composite color graphics.
Even on Novice level, this game is really hard! (That, or my game strategies were terrible.)Re-Imagining Under a Killing Moon in 60pJim Leonard2017-09-30 | Through various bits of software trickery, it is possible to upscale low-res images to a higher res with a simulation of added detail, and it is also possible synthesize higher framerates by analyzing the motion of objects in a video sequence. Can we use these techniques together to "remaster" poor digital video sources into much better quality? You be the judge!
The source of this video was 640x360 at 10fps, and was synthesized and uploaded to YouTube as 720p60. Avisynth was used for the conversion, with Interframe() and nnedi3_rpow2() used for the bulk of the processing.gglabs CGA2RGB capture tests through StarTech vga2hdmipro scalerJim Leonard2017-07-19 | EDIT: Leaving this video up for posterity, but I've since discovered the RGB2HDMI project which is effectively perfect and totally eclipses what I was able to put together here. I'll make a video over on The Oldskool PC sometime talking all about it after April 2022. A commenter tried to leave a comment on the MCE2VGA. Don't buy or build that, it's garbage. It has fixed scaling, fixed framerates, it doesn't capture overscan, and costs too much.
Old description remains:
I think I finally have a working CGA RGB TTL video capture process. There are some quirks to work out, such as scaler issues producing moire patterns, but the moire is very subtle and is just about acceptable. Some of the colors are not quite what my 5153 produces, but they are extremely close and acceptable.
The various screens displayed are me walking through some test plates I added to The CGA Compatibiliy Tester specifically for calibrating capture equipment. More info on The CGA Compatibility Tester: http://www.oldskool.org/pc/cgacomp
The gglabs CGA2RGB converts TTL to analog RGB out, nothing more. You still need a line doubler, scaler, or capture device to make sense of the VGA output, unless you have a VERY old monitor that can handle 15.7 KHz horizontal input. More info about the gglabs device: http://gglabs.us/node/16191977 VHS tape restoration experimentJim Leonard2017-07-03 | Had some success testing tweaks to my video restoration workflow and thought it was good enough to share. Original is on the left, restored is on the right. The tape in question was recorded in 1977 from an over-the-air broadcast. (The material, a live performance of Sly & The Family Stone's Dance To The Music, was from a re-run of an earlier show, probably from 1968.)
For the curious, the workflow is a combination of hardware and software. VCR + TBC feeds to calibrated capture device, then a mixture of NeatVideo for noise removal (radius of 5, manual tuning), Premiere Pro for color correction, and avisynth for motion-directed deinterlacing and NN-directed resizing. The process is manual because 1. I like to oversee every step, and 2. the parts that can be automated are on opposite ends of the part that can't be automated (color correction). The slowest parts are the noise removal and deinterlacting. It takes about 1 hour to process one minute of footage.Software Collector Tales of Woe: Shipping Box Too SmallJim Leonard2017-06-20 | Seller crams too much software into the shipping box. Buyer cringes.1234 & abcdJim Leonard2017-06-10 | Original music and idea by Auralnauts -- Please support them and purchase the track here! http://bit.ly/2iMBDF7
I remastered a section of the original video because I loved the idea, but their lack of knowledge surrounding video deinterlacing took away from the effect. Also, some of the original sync wasn't perfect. I've timed it as perfectly as I can (down to each beat when necessary) and I think it looks/works a little better. The original video has more content in it, which you can view here: youtube.com/watch?v=4GO9-gB1H-Y
Video taken from the public-domain film The Dance Jubilee Troupe "Dance Jubilee (1956)", available on archive.orgRe-Imagining Phantasmagoria in 60p: The BookJim Leonard2017-04-29 | Through various bits of software trickery, it is possible to upscale low-res images to a higher res with a simulation of added detail, and it is also possible synthesize higher framerates by analyzing the motion of objects in a video sequence. Can we use these techniques together to "remaster" poor digital video sources into much better quality? You be the judge! The source of this video was 288x144 at 10fps, and was synthesized and uploaded to YouTube as 720p60. Avisynth was used for the conversion, with Interframe() and nnedi3_rpow2() used for the bulk of the processing.
I had ideas on how to improve my previous effort, and based on the look of this result, I think I succeeded. There is a lot more motion with a lot less image breakups. It's not HD, but it's definitely better than a 10fps postage stamp.Re-Imagining Phantasmagoria in 60pJim Leonard2017-04-29 | Through various bits of software trickery, it is possible to upscale low-res images to a higher res with a simulation of added detail. It is also possible to synthesize higher framerates by analyzing the motion of objects in a video sequence. Can we use these techniques together to "remaster" poor digital video sources into much better quality? You be the judge! The source of this video was 288x144 at 10fps, and what was synthesized and uploaded to YouTube was 720p60. Avisynth was used for the conversion, with Interframe() and nnedi3_rpow2() used for processing. Update: The second attempt at youtu.be/FLiw88itC9A is much better.Happy 40th, Anne!Jim Leonard2016-10-23 | Happy 40th to my wonderful sister.How to determine if your cell phone has a bulging batteryJim Leonard2016-10-04 | To Verizon's credit, they replaced the phone as "manufacturer's defect" (which it is) under the extended warranty that I purchased when I originally got the phone almost two years ago.
This video was edited in-camera, and I wasn't there for the entire event, so not every performer is shown, sorry. Notably missing is my own presentation of 8088 MPH and the short Q&A that followed.Cyberpunk: The Documentary (1990) (60p)Jim Leonard2015-10-23 | Cyberpunk is a 1990 documentary that explores the world that William Gibson invented with his book Neuromancer. The bulk of the documentary consists of interviews with Gibson, Jaron Lanier, Timothy Leary and Michael Synergy. A few industrial bands have their music featured as well.
"Since the 1982 publication of William Gibson's Neuromancer, the first in a groundbreaking series of science fiction novels, many of his fictional concepts have been realized. Moreover, a segment of Western youth has dedicated itself to living in Gibson's fictional world made fact.
The cyberpunk movement embraces artificial reality, bionic medicine, "smart" weapons and drugs, and industrial music. But most notably, cyberpunks are associated with computer hacking, piracy and crimes. These are young people who fight fire with fire, pitching their ethos, "Information wants to be free," against those who would control, restrict, or direct high technology. Their agenda is similar to that of the Sixties counterculture, yet their means are very different, and to some, terrifying. Cyberpunk tells how this phenomenon began and explores its implications.
Included are interviews with Gibson, Jaron Lanier, Timothy Leary and Michael Synergy. Cyberpunk is futuristic "edutainment," whose production values mirror its content. It features animation as well as live-action, and "guerilla image processing" techniques that were once available only to large production companies that could afford expensive generators. The filmmakers' declared intent was somewhat subversive: To create such density of audio-visual stimulation that even the itinerant viewer would be engaged and entertained, hardly suspecting that the results would be education and thinking."
While this video is already on YouTube in various forms, this particular version was run through my videotape restoration process which is of a fairly high quality. While no conversion process can add detail where none exists, I am confident my process retains the detail present in the original, and that this version is (as of 2015) the very best version available on YouTube.
If you'd like me to convert one of your videotapes, DVDs, or other 30i interlaced video footage with results similar to this video, contact me. If your conversion material is of interest to me or my hobbies, I'll do it for free.Playing Crossfire on the IBM PCJim Leonard2015-10-08 | The following is footage of Crossfire, published for the IBM PC by ON-LINE SYSTEMS (Sierra) in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.
Crossfire was also published for the IBM PCjr in cartridge form.
Personal notes: This is a very difficult game to play; ambidextrous control of both hands on two 4-way keyboard clusters is required to maneuver and shoot simultaneously.
Also, the video is edited; my first two attempts were cut out of the video as they showed me fumbling around re-learning the controls. That is why the game appears to start with a non-zero high score. In reality, the game does not save and restore high scores.Playing Boxer Rebellion on the IBM PCJim Leonard2015-10-07 | The following is footage of Boxer Rebellion, developed for the IBM PC by K.L. Carpenter in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game performs on the original hardware it was developed for.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact.Playing Dunzhin on an IBM PCJim Leonard2015-10-06 | The following is footage of Dunzhin, published for the IBM PC by Computer Applications Unlimited in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform.
Personal notes: This game, as well as Czorian Siege, is one of the first two games to produce speech on the IBM PC. They predate Castle Wolfenstein on the PC by at least a year.Playing Serpentine on an IBM PCJim Leonard2015-10-05 | The following is footage of Serpentine, published by Brøderbund in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough as the game has no end, and serves as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform.
Personal Notes: At one point, the "return to base" pathfinding gets confused and wanders around for half a minute. This is a bug in the algorithm and occurs at least once every game in the later mazes.Playing Pitstop II on an IBMJim Leonard2015-10-02 | The following is footage of Pitstop II, published by Epyx in 1984. It is a complete playthrough of all three PC tracks in "Semi-Pro" mode against a computer player, and serves as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform.
Personal notes: The human player's gameplay is on the top half of the screen.Playing Paratrooper on an IBM PCJim Leonard2015-10-01 | The following is footage of Paratrooper, developed by Greg Kuperberg in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform.
Personal notes: I thought the sequence where paratroopers blow up the gun was funny, so I intentionally let that happen it in the latter third of the video.Playing Cosmic Crusader on an IBM PCJim Leonard2015-09-30 | The following is footage of Cosmic Crusader, developed by Michael Abrash in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform.Playing Astro-Dodge on an IBM PCJim Leonard2015-09-29 | The following is footage of Astro-Dodge, developed by Dave Gangola and published by Digital Marketing Corporation in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform. The original game has no sound, so this video is also silent.
Personal notes: This game defined its own video mode by altering the 6845 registers to shorten the number of word columns from 40 (320 pixels across) to 32 (256 pixels across). A screen 256 pixels wide makes programming easier, as your x coordinates fit into a byte. As a result, this game has issues running in some emulators and non-CGA cards.Playing Apple Panic on an IBM PCJim Leonard2015-09-28 | The following is footage of Apple Panic, published by Brøderbund for the PC in 1982. It is not a complete playthrough, but rather just enough gameplay to serve as a reference for how the game looks and feels on the original hardware.
This footage was recorded from an IBM PC (8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz) with a ("new-style") CGA card. The audio was tapped from the PC speaker and the video was recorded from the CGA composite output. The result was post-processed from 30i to 60p; all source frames are intact. This video can be considered a reference for how this game performs on this platform.