Questions tagged [software-development]
For questions about the software development process on retrocomputing platforms
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Retrocomputing software development process/methodologies
This is a test question based on this meta post. If the question can be reworded to be more on-topic, please feel free to suggest improvements. This is an open ended question about software ...
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How were the first ZX Spectrum games written?
Being a child of the 80s I loved my ZX Spectrum, did my best to learn BASIC but I felt like the games I was playing (Jetpac, Dizzy, Renegade etc) were perhaps not written using BASIC.
I wondered: how ...
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Back in the late 1980s, how was commercial software for 8-bit home computers developed?
When hobbyists wanted to write software for e.g. the Commodore 64, they either used the built-in BASIC interpreter (with all its limitations) or some native tools, like compilers for other languages ...
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How did Woz write the Apple 1 BASIC before building the computer?
According to his 1984 interview with Byte magazine, Steve Wozniak created the BASIC for the Apple 1 computer before he actually built the computer:
I sat down and wrote the BASIC first, and that took ...
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Which original retrocomputer OS's are still maintained and updated today, for original hardware?
I would like to know which original Operating Systems that run on retrocomputers are still being actively maintained and updated. This only applies to retrocomputer OS's that may still be used on ...
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How was the Traf-O-Data 8008 simulator developed?
Traf-O-Data was the first business partnership between Paul Allen, Bill Gates and Paul Gilbert. In order to develop the software for their custom-built Traf-O-Data machine (Intel 8008 Inside™), ...
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How can I create a split-scroll effect in an NES game?
Games like Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 were able to scroll the playfield but not the status bar:
The status bars are clearly too big to be sprites, yet they don't scroll with the ...
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What was the dithering algorithm used in Sierra and LucasArts games?
I am trying to write a program in C# that will re-create the type of dithering used in many of the old Sierra and LucasArts games. I have looked up many different dithering algorithms and none seem to ...
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How were analytics gathered on software built for retrocomputing platforms?
In modern software development, it is a common practice to include some kind of analytics tracking software to see how customers are using your software, what a typical user flow of the application is,...
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ResEdit Decompilers
What de-compilers were available for ResEdit? A friend used a de-compiler to break the copy protection on F/A-18 Hornet and I remember having one to examine how programs worked. To clarify by de-...
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