In the 1980s, citizens of Central and Eastern Europe did not have access to computers. Computer games were reviewed in the niche press, however, almost no one had access to them. Computers stimulated the imagination and were the object of dreams of children, adolescents and adults. The leaders of the socialist countries knew that the future depends on computerization and understood that without computers, social and economic development would be difficult.

The VIC-20 was the first home computer produced by Commodore. The history of the VIC-20 begins in 1977, when MOS Technologies, already part of Commodore, developed the 6560 graphics chip (the PAL-6561 version was sold in Europe) called VIC (short for video interface chip). Soon the design process began at Commodore, or rather the search for a design for their first home computer, which was to be presented at CES in 1980.

This “open source” simulator was writen around 1972 and published in 1977 - long before open source movement came to existance and a little bit before it’s author got his first computer. And it runs (flies?) on a scientific calculator with a segment-display. Paul Lutus has become a legend among computer enthusiasts thanks to his brilliant career from a self-taught electronics technician to a NASA engineer. He is also a programmer who was the first one to work remotely in the 1970s.

KETTU 512 XE is my homemade computer for retrogaming which I built with a Raspberry Pi Zero and ice cream sticks. The inspiration was the Polish computer kit CA-80 and the name refers to my favourite home computer Atari 65 XE. The word kettu means fox in Finnish language. I replaced the default Retro Pie ascii art. The Need When I left my country, I left behind many things, including all my computers and laptops.

I recently moved out and left behind my D&D books and a large collection of Magic The Gathering cards. So for several weeks I was looking for an interesting computer RPG. Ideally, set in the D&D world and one in which battles would be played in a mode similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. The obvious prerequisite for this was that it was an eight or 16 bit era game so that I could run it on my retro gaming gear.

M.U.L.E. is an economic strategy you must have. Many consider it to be the best game ever made for eight-bit computers. I think I agree with that. One of the game’s breakthroughs is the availability of multi-player for up to four players. We start with choosing a colour. The computer displays the next colours, the player can reserve a colour for himself by pressing the fire-button. Then we go to the choice of one of eight available races: Mechtron, Bonzoid, Flapper, Gollumer, Leggite, Packer, Spheroid or Humanoid.

The Atari 2600, originally called VCS, was my first game console. Officially produced for almost fifteen years (much longer, considering eastern fakes), the machine was one of the first consoles to use a cartridge as a game carrier. Perhaps, as the first one, it used the 6502 processor (or rather, its trimmed version - 6507). It only had 128 bytes (yes, bytes) of RAM. The graphics chip allowed to generate graphics with a resolution of 40 x 192 px, although an efficient programmer was able to squeeze 160 x 192 px.

Palace situation turns grim crowds chant “go away” If I were a dictator, I would take everything valuable and run away. This is exactly what you need to do in the game Overthrown for the Commodore VIC-20. Some of us remember the times when eight-bit computers were every teenager’s dream. Slightly younger ones may remember the classic versions of GTA games, those with simple graphics and a top-down view. Later, 3D graphics almost completely dominated the gaming world.

This article is a continuation of the series dedicated to people who want to start their adventure with programming. If you’re just wondering where to start, check out the article: From zero to 6502 assembly - how to teach yourself programming You have already completed your first programming course. You have gone through the tutorial for the selected language. Furthermore, you analysed all the examples and performed the exercises correctly.

Even before the microcomputer boom in Europe, enthusiasts were using computer kits that they were assembling themselves. This avant-garde of eight-bit computing seemed primitive compared to popular home computers. However, it was little known computers such as the Sinclair MK-14 that inspired the first bedroom-coders. This post however is about a different computer, unknown on the West, forgotten on the East - MIK CA80, early Polish mikrocomputer. The history of modern PCs begins in 1970 when an Italian engineer, Federico Faggin, becomes an employee of Intel.