Category: Featured Article

PunyInform Coding 3: Daemons and Describing Objects

PunyInform

In this tutorial we use daemons to implement a microwave oven that can heat food and a plate of spaghetti that cools off over time. We also explore techniques to describe objects.

PunyInform Coding 2: Objects and Actions

PunyInform

PunyInform is a tool for writing text adventures for 8-bit computers and newer computers alike. If you have already installed PunyInform and gone through the PunyInform Coding 1 tutorial, the time has come to learn more about objects and actions. This tutorial goes through the different parts of a simple game where there are two puzzles to be solved, you can score…

PunyInform Coding 1: The basics

PunyInform

PunyInform is a tool for writing text adventures for 8-bit computers and newer computers alike. If you have already installed PunyInform, it’s time to start coding your first game. This tutorial will walk you through the first steps of writing a text adventure using PunyInform. The complete source code of the example game can be downloaded from this folder. I…

PunyInform, a new library for writing text adventures for old computers

PunyInform

PunyInform is a library for the Inform 6 programming language, to make it easy to create simple or advanced text adventures which will work well on 8-bit computers like the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Spectrum +3 etc. PunyInform was first released on July 5, 2020. The rootsThe Inform programming language, compiler and standard library were developed by Graham…

PunyInform: Installing the tools and compiling a game

PunyInform

I’ve given a brief introduction to PunyInform, a new library for writing text adventures for 8-bit (and other) computers. Now, let’s have a look at what you need to download and install to start writing a game using PunyInform. For this article, I will be using Windows, but you can also use PunyInform on Mac or Linux. Step 1: Install…

2023 Vintage is The New Old Writer’s Contest Winners Announced

The first edition of ViTNO Writer’s contest ended on June 30. We got to a verdict after some discussions with our judges, Randy Kindig (Floppy Days Podcast) and Kitty (@CommodoreBlog). All four entries were for the non-technical category and were about something that left a good memory for the writers, which was very nice since, depending on your past experience…

2023 ViTNO Writer’s Contest – Entry #4 – “When My Father Took Me to Night Class”

Author: Anthony Albert Date: June 30th, 2023 Category: Non-technical   When My Father Took Me to Night Class In the summer of 1982, my father signed up for a night course at the local high school.  He wanted to learn about computers and maybe use one to help the family business out – specifically, with accounting software.  This is because my…

2023 ViTNO Writer’s Contest – Entry #3 – “Only a Game”

Author: Tyson Rek Date: June 30th, 2023 Category: Non-technical ONLY A GAME Gather around my fellow Nineties Brothers and get ready to turn back the Way-Clocks as we board the express train of yesterday moving backwards at full steam through the green warp zone time tunnels all the way back to The Good Years. Back to the days before the internet…

2023 ViTNO Writer’s Contest – Entry #2 – “Pirating Amiga Stuff in the 90’s”

Author: Supercruiser Date: June 14th, 2023 Category: Non-technical   So to put things into context and the memories all tend to get a little blurred the further things go on, but this is how I recollect the below. I come from a small town in the regional area of South Australia, and my first dial up experience was with a…

2023 ViTNO Writer’s Contest – Entry #1 – “BLUE BOMBING : THE FIRST MOMENT I WISHED WOULD NEVER END”

Author: Francis Blais Date: April 28th, 2023 Category: Non-technical Growing up in Quebec, Canada, as a 90’s kid hooked on 8-bit video games, had its share of unique moments. For starters, I’m old enough to have lived the video store experience. Not the clean and abundant Blockbuster or Vidéotron experience; the small town, back-of-the-convenience-store one, with two small shelves of…