Programming like it's the 80s.

[Tawmis]

This was a fun video.




It reminded me when I made my own little text adventure game that I put online called, Final Soul.
Very much inspired by Colonel's Bequest and Sierra in general.

http://tawmis.com/finalsoul/

[notbobsmith]

I didn't create my own programs, just copied them like her. For me it was programs from "Family Computing". One of the programs that I really liked was one that would generate a word search. Enter a list of words, and the program would place them in a grid and then fill in the rest with random letters. You could then print the whole thing out:

https://archive.org/details/FamilyCompu ... 3/mode/2up

I also tried the CIA game here. It took forever to type in, but I could never get it to work.

https://archive.org/details/bfwag/mode/2up

[Tawmis]

OoOooo. Those might be fun to try.

I think I still have PowerBasic somewhere on one of my external drives.

[Rath Darkblade]

I think I still have PowerBasic somewhere on one of my external drives.

Tonight, we're gonna program like it's 1999!

Ugh - that reminds me of what a greybeard I am.

[Tawmis]

I think I still have PowerBasic somewhere on one of my external drives.

Tonight, we're gonna program like it's 1999!

Ugh - that reminds me of what a greybeard I am.

I am such a greybeard, my personal Youtube is "Tawmis Greybeard."

[goatmeal]

I remember trying to type in some of the programs from the old Rainbow magazine for the Radio Shack Color Computer -- brutal!!!

Invariably I would make a mistake (or numerous mistakes) somewhere in my hunt-and-peck typing that prevented the program from working, and I seldom had the patience to track down the error(s); this was back in the day when the early computers didn't have an editor program...

I was so grateful when my dad ordered the monthly cassette (and later diskette) subscription option that contained all of the programs from the magazine -- already typed-in and error-free!

[notbobsmith]

OoOooo. Those might be fun to try.

I think I still have PowerBasic somewhere on one of my external drives.

I do remember these programs being very picky with the version of BASIC that they were compatible with. I had a Tandy 1000 with the version of GW-BASIC they mention here. Sometime I would try programs that had a slightly different version of GW-BASIC and they wouldn't work.

[Rath Darkblade]

On a sidenote, why does the presenter's haircut and T-shirt immediately remind me of the 80s?

The only way that could be any more 80s is if the backing music was "The Transformers Theme", played softly on a synthesiser. Either that, or Europe's "The Final Countdown". Or any other 80s hair-metal song.

[Tawmis]

Invariably I would make a mistake (or numerous mistakes) somewhere in my hunt-and-peck typing that prevented the program from working, and I seldom had the patience to track down the error(s); this was back in the day when the early computers didn't have an editor program...
I was so grateful when my dad ordered the monthly cassette (and later diskette) subscription option that contained all of the programs from the magazine -- already typed-in and error-free!

Hah! That's how I self taught a lot of my "IT" knowledge. Like, back in the early days of the internet, when websites weren't such a common place, I'd find a website I like - copy and paste the code into notepad, then save it as a .htm file, and launch it via the browser - then tweak the code and see what it did - and when I got it to do what I wanted, I'd put it into my Geocities site, with the stuff coded with my stuff.

Same thing with programming... I'd program, run, have errors. And find them. Even in the aforementioned "Final Soul" game I had friends play it and find bugs, so I could go find it and fix it. I am bummed I no longer have the original code, because I did find more bugs after I worked with Collector to make an installer - where it'd say a door was open, when it really wasn't, because the right event had not yet been triggered. (I'd also like to fix what I consider a similar issue that LSL2 had with the bag in the airplane) - there's a part in the game where it requires something very specific to be typed a specific way - and I have no idea what I did there to cause that.

OoOooo. Those might be fun to try.
I think I still have PowerBasic somewhere on one of my external drives.

I do remember these programs being very picky with the version of BASIC that they were compatible with. I had a Tandy 1000 with the version of GW-BASIC they mention here. Sometime I would try programs that had a slightly different version of GW-BASIC and they wouldn't work.

Hah! I had a Tandy 1000 (SX) also!

On a sidenote, why does the presenter's haircut and T-shirt immediately remind me of the 80s?
The only way that could be any more 80s is if the backing music was "The Transformers Theme", played softly on a synthesiser. Either that, or Europe's "The Final Countdown". Or any other 80s hair-metal song.

President's hair cut and t-shirt?

[DeadPoolX]

On a sidenote, why does the presenter's haircut and T-shirt immediately remind me of the 80s?
The only way that could be any more 80s is if the backing music was "The Transformers Theme", played softly on a synthesiser. Either that, or Europe's "The Final Countdown". Or any other 80s hair-metal song.

President's hair cut and t-shirt?

I think you misread that. Rath wrote presenter, not president.

[Tawmis]

On a sidenote, why does the presenter's haircut and T-shirt immediately remind me of the 80s?
The only way that could be any more 80s is if the backing music was "The Transformers Theme", played softly on a synthesiser. Either that, or Europe's "The Final Countdown". Or any other 80s hair-metal song.

President's hair cut and t-shirt?

I think you misread that. Rath wrote presenter, not president.

You are correct.

[Rath Darkblade]

On a sidenote, why does the presenter's haircut and T-shirt immediately remind me of the 80s?
The only way that could be any more 80s is if the backing music was "The Transformers Theme", played softly on a synthesiser. Either that, or Europe's "The Final Countdown". Or any other 80s hair-metal song.

President's hair cut and t-shirt?

Yes, I wasn't sure if Tawm was being sarcastic here, or asking a question.

The perils of not seeing people's facial expression!

But I was wondering, "What does the President have to do with it? And when does the President wear a T-shirt, anyway?"