Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Retro Computing: Raising Digitally Literate Kids with Windows 3.1 and DOS Games

2025-04-23

Concerned about online risks for their children, the author turned to Windows 3.1 and DOS era software, using retro games to cultivate their learning abilities and keyboard skills. For example, the 1985 educational game '1st Math' helps children learn math while improving hand-eye coordination and cognitive skills. The author plans to set up an old computer loaded with classic educational software, protecting children while preserving digital heritage.

(rietta.com)

Game children's education digital literacy

Moon Bugs: A Retro 50KB DOS Shooter

2025-04-22

Moon Bugs is a retro shooting game running on DOS, boasting a remarkably small 50KB codebase, free from modern game dependencies. It utilizes a unique 160x100, 16-color mode achieved by manipulating character height. Shooting down UFOs earns points, reaching certain score thresholds grants extra lives, while some UFOs deduct points. The article details game bugs and explains how to modify the game file to adjust starting level, lives, and difficulty. The author praises the game's simplicity and retro charm.

(www.michalfarkas.net)

Game DOS game

Blast from the Past: A Catalog of 80s BASIC Games

2025-04-22

This article presents a fascinating list of BASIC games from the 1980s, spanning various computer systems like BASIC-PLUS, EduSystem, DECsystem 10, and HP. From simple number guessing games (Acey-Ducey, Bagles) to complex strategy games (Gomoko, Civil War) and simulations (HMRABI, KING), the variety showcases the creativity and ingenuity of programming during that era. These games, simple yet engaging, are sure to evoke nostalgia in many.

(github.com)

Game BASIC programming 80s games

Whisky, the macOS Gaming Wrapper, Shuts Down Due to Developer Burnout

2025-04-21

The open-source macOS gaming application Whisky has ceased active development. Creator Isaac Marovitz, facing overwhelming user expectations and limited resources, made the difficult decision to shut down the project. CodeWeavers CEO James Ramey expressed empathy and acknowledged Whisky's significant contribution to the macOS gaming community. Despite the closure, Marovitz remains involved in Mac gaming, currently collaborating on a recompilation of Sonic Unleashed. The shutdown highlights the considerable pressures faced by developers of open-source projects.

(arstechnica.com)

Game

Solving Blue Prince's Propositional Parlor Puzzle with Logic

2025-04-21

This article details how to automatically solve a logic puzzle from the game Blue Prince using propositional logic. The puzzle involves three boxes (blue, white, black) each making statements, and rules stating at least one box is entirely true, at least one is entirely false, and the prize is in exactly one box. The author models the problem in propositional logic, uses a brute-force approach to find all satisfying assignments, and thus determines the prize's location. The article includes a JavaScript implementation and discusses code optimization.

(buttondown.com)

Game logic puzzles

Cyberpunk 2077: First Switch 2 Game Confirmed to Use DLSS

2025-04-21

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is the first game officially confirmed to utilize Nvidia's DLSS upscaling technology on the Nintendo Switch 2. DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling, uses AI to boost resolution without significant performance loss. The Switch 2 version will offer Quality and Performance modes in both docked and handheld, each with varying frame rates and resolutions. The Switch 2's custom NVIDIA processor and GPU, featuring RT Cores and Tensor Cores, enable DLSS and real-time ray tracing, promising a visually stunning experience.

(www.videogameschronicle.com)

Game Cyberpunk 2077

X-Ray Defense in Chess: Hidden Lifelines

2025-04-21

This article, part 2 of a mini-series, explores the defensive applications of the X-ray motif in chess. It presents multiple examples demonstrating how seemingly lost positions can be salvaged using X-ray defenses. The author highlights the often-overlooked importance of defensive tactics, arguing they are as crucial as offensive ones. Six puzzles of increasing difficulty are provided to help readers understand and master X-ray defense, emphasizing the importance of considering a piece's line of sight even with intervening pieces. Indirect contact, the article shows, can hold unexpected influence.

(lichess.org)

Game x-ray defense defensive strategies

Color Test Game: How Sharp Are Your Eyes?

2025-04-20

This is a simple color recognition game. Players need to find the one disc with a different color among many discs of the same color. After the game, the system thanks the player for their participation and encourages them to play again to provide more data. It's a small experiment collecting user visual data; the more data, the more accurate the results.

(colors2.alessandroroussel.com)

Game visual test mini game

Hacker News: C64 Audio/Video Cable Swap Demo

2025-04-20

At Revision 2025, a demo called "Signal Carnival" showcased a groundbreaking feat: swapping the audio and video cables of a Commodore 64 and still producing meaningful audio and video. This isn't a simple miswiring; it cleverly uses the C64's VIC and SID chips, driving audio with the video signal and vice versa. The demo even plays audio during loading, featuring a custom loader with on-the-fly GCR decoding. This demonstrates the unexpected potential of the C64 and impressive programming skills.

(www.quiss.org)

Game

Olympic Champ Dominates 100m at Kid's Sports Day

2025-04-20

Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a ten-time world champion sprinter, recently competed in a 100m race at her son's sports day against other parents. She utterly dominated the competition, showcasing her incredible speed and professionalism by running full-out without any showboating. The event highlights the stark difference between elite athletes and the average person.

(kottke.org)

Game Track and Field

Ryan Gosling Joins Star Wars: A New Standalone Film Incoming

2025-04-20

Ryan Gosling, star of 'Barbie,' is set to join the Star Wars universe in a new standalone film titled 'Star Wars: Starfighter,' directed by Shawn Levy and slated for release in May 2027. The film, beginning production this fall, will be set five years after 'The Rise of Skywalker' but features an entirely new story and characters, exploring a previously unseen era in the Star Wars timeline. This announcement, made at Star Wars Celebration in Japan, signifies the continued expansion of the Star Wars franchise since Disney's acquisition, with numerous sequels, spin-offs, and streaming series.

(www.cnn.com)

Game Ryan Gosling New Movie

Test Your Visual Memory: Guess the Year!

2025-04-20

Challenge your visual memory in this addictive and educational game! Examine historical photos and guess their year of origin, using a timeline slider to select any year between 1850 and 2025. Accuracy earns points – perfect guesses score maximum points. Stuck? Reveal one digit of the correct year using hints (one digit per game). A daily challenge with new photos lets you compete and track your progress.

(whichyr.com)

Game memory game visual memory

Pico-8 Fantasy Console Demo: Multi-Cartridge Game Shown at Revision

2025-04-19

A Pico-8 demo, utilizing multi-cartridge technology, was showcased at this year's Revision demoparty's "fantasy console" competition. Currently only viewable online, the full source code is available for download on Pouet. Accompanying YouTube videos showcase the game and its music creation process. The demo runs within Pico-8, downloading necessary data carts from the BBS. Some effects have also been released as standalone files.

(www.lexaloffle.com)

Game demo

Resurrecting a Lost Arcade Giant: The Galaxian3 Rescue Mission

2025-04-19

In the early 1990s, Namco's 28-player arcade behemoth, Galaxian3, captivated players. Years later, most installations vanished. This article details a two-year journey to restore a damaged Galaxian3 GT-6 in New Hampshire. The game boasts unique hardware, including dual Sony CRT projectors and LaserDisc players. The team tackled challenges like diagnosing a mysterious LED flashing fault, repairing LaserDisc players, and combating 'CRT fungus' in the projectors. Despite their success in reviving much of the game, challenges remain, showcasing the immense effort required to preserve gaming history.

(philwip.com)

Game

Open Source F1 Live Timing Client: undercutf1

2025-04-19

undercutf1 is an open-source TUI application providing a real-time F1 live timing experience. It displays crucial race information like sector times, tire data, gaps, and strategies, with support for session replays and data analysis. Utilizing the UndercutF1.Data library, it connects to the F1 live timing data stream, processing incoming information and even allowing for simulated streams for development. Additional features include a driver tracker with a track map, team radio listening with transcription (using Whisper), and easy installation across multiple operating systems. A must-have for F1 fans and developers alike.

(github.com)

Game Live Timing

Running DOOM from a QR Code: A Tale of Extreme Compression

2025-04-18

Programmer Kuber Mehta has achieved the seemingly impossible: running the classic game DOOM directly from a QR code! Dubbed 'The Backdooms,' this project utilizes zlib and gzip compression, base64 encoding, and a cleverly designed self-extracting HTML wrapper to deliver a fully playable DOOM experience without any downloads. The development journey was fraught with challenges, requiring iterative adjustments to compression ratios and QR code versions. This incredible feat showcases the power of extreme compression and innovative application design, a testament to programmer ingenuity and perseverance.

(github.com)

Game QR Code Game Compression

Procedural Textures with Simple Hash Functions: A Playground of Patterns

2025-04-18

This article explores the surprising complexity achievable with a simple hash function for generating procedural textures. The core is a concise equation: $(c_x x + c_y y + c_{xy} xy + c_{x^2} x^2 + c_{y^2} y^2) mod m < τm$. By tweaking parameters, a vast array of visually rich patterns emerges. The author delves into the mathematical underpinnings, explaining how different terms influence the resulting texture. An interactive playground allows readers to experiment and create their own designs, making this relevant to game development and digital art.

(douglasorr.github.io)

Game procedural textures

How Nintendo Legally Crushed Atari

2025-04-16

This article recounts the epic legal battle between Atari and Nintendo, and how it shaped the gaming industry. Atari initially challenged the bundled console-cartridge model with Activision, but ultimately failed in the 1983 crash. Nintendo, with its NES, introduced a lockout chip to prevent unauthorized games. Atari (Tengen) attempted to reverse-engineer this, but lost due to their lawyers' fraudulent actions. The case established fair use principles for reverse engineering but highlighted the crucial role of legal strategy in tech. While Atari technically won the right to reverse engineer on principle, their lawyers' dishonesty cost them the case.

(thereader.mitpress.mit.edu)

Game

Doom and Doom II Get Physical Releases, Including a Playable Game Box!

2025-04-16

Limited Run Games is releasing physical editions of Doom and Doom II, with the highlight being the "Will it Run Edition." This $666 limited edition (666 copies!) features a game box that actually runs the original Doom, along with cassette soundtrack, certificate of authenticity, and trading cards. Cheaper options include a Big Box Edition ($100) and a standard edition ($30). The games themselves have been enhanced with 60fps, 16:9 support, improved weapon switching, gyroscopic aiming, local 4-player co-op, online play, new maps, community mods, and a brand-new episode, "Legacy of Rust." The playable game box is a nod to the game's meme-worthy ability to run on nearly anything.

(www.engadget.com)

Game Physical Release

Minecraft Gets a Gigantic, Blocky Britain

2025-04-15

A massive Minecraft map of Britain is coming, featuring every county and a 15km buffer zone around each, resulting in over a billion blocks! Players can explore iconic landmarks, familiar towns and cities, rivers, beaches, and more. Creative mode allows for building, redesigning, and even creating minecart railways. Players can even map Britain themselves using the in-game mapping tools, recreating the work of the Ordnance Survey. Get ready to remake Britain, your way!

(www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk)

Game Map Britain

Reviving Zork: A Cosmopolitan Porting Adventure

2025-04-14

The author successfully ported the original Infocom UNIX source code of the Zork text adventure game (from 1985) to modern operating systems using the Cosmopolitan project. Cosmopolitan's 'write once, run anywhere' capability allowed a single compilation to create executables running on Windows, macOS, Linux, and more, without needing a virtual machine. The process involved resolving issues like conflicting NULL definitions, missing function declarations, and deprecated functions in the original K&R-style C code. The result? Standalone executables of the Zork trilogy, available on GitHub, letting players experience this classic game on modern hardware.

(christopherdrum.github.io)

Game

Add-Ends: A Number Puzzle Game

2025-04-14

Add-Ends is a number puzzle game where you swap black tiles to make all rows and columns add up to the target number. The game offers easy, intermediate, and hard difficulty levels, along with a custom puzzle generator allowing players to choose grid size and difficulty. A zen mode hides the timer for a more focused experience.

(madmonk13.github.io)

Game number puzzle

Procedurally Generating Forest Creatures: A Long and Challenging Journey

2025-04-12

The author spent years working on procedurally generating and animating a large number of forest creatures for their game, The Big Forest. Initially, they tried using simple parametric models, but the results were unsatisfactory. They then shifted to manual parameterization and used Principal Component Analysis to find higher-level parameters, but the results were still not ideal. Ultimately, they abandoned automated solutions and instead manually defined higher-level parameters, developing tools to assist in parameter adjustment. For animation, the author built upon previous research, using a kinematic approach and continuously refining it to achieve more natural creature movement. The entire process was challenging but also enjoyable, and the author shares their experiences of trial, error, and improvement.

(blog.runevision.com)

Game

EU Guidelines on In-Game Currency: A David vs. Goliath?

2025-04-11

The EU recently released guidelines on in-game virtual currencies, aiming to regulate questionable free-to-play monetization practices. These guidelines, however, aren't legally binding, leaving their effectiveness uncertain. The article analyzes the guidelines' core tenets and explores their impact on game developers, particularly smaller studios. Developers face a dilemma: compliance might drastically reduce revenue or force them out of the European market, while ignoring the guidelines risks legal repercussions. The author argues that the inherent flexibility of virtual worlds will likely allow developers to circumvent the guidelines creatively, rendering their actual impact minimal.

(tiendil.org)

Game in-app purchases

Blue Prince: A Roguelike Puzzle Game That Will Obsess You

2025-04-11

Blue Prince is a strikingly original puzzle game blending addictive roguelike mechanics with exceptional art and storytelling. Players explore a sprawling mansion, seeking the 46th room to inherit a fortune. The core gameplay revolves around a 5x9 grid of rooms, where each door opening presents random choices. Collecting items, solving puzzles, and uncovering story fragments through notes and clippings create a compelling atmosphere. Despite the randomness, the game subtly guides players forward, offering generous hints and rewarding exploration. The massive scale and nonlinear narrative ensure countless hours of immersive gameplay, combining puzzle-solving and collection elements.

(mssv.net)

Game nonlinear narrative

Ubisoft's The Crew Lawsuit: A Fight Over Game Ownership

2025-04-11

Ubisoft's shutdown of The Crew's servers has sparked a legal battle over game ownership. Plaintiffs argue that Ubisoft's removal of the game from their libraries and the inability to play after server closure constitutes deceptive business practices, pointing to the game's activation code validity until 2099 and in-game currency as further evidence. Ubisoft counters that the purchase agreement clearly grants only a license, not ownership. The lawsuit has ignited calls for legislation protecting players from server shutdowns and the loss of access to purchased digital games, highlighting the ongoing debate over ownership in the age of digital distribution and live-service games.

(www.techspot.com)

Game game ownership digital games

The PS3's Failure: A Licked Many-Core Cookie

2025-04-11

This post analyzes the failure of the PlayStation 3 from the perspective of a AAA game developer. The Cell processor, while boasting multiple SPE cores, suffered from limitations in usable cores and weak SPE performance compared to the GPU. The SPE's limited local memory, the heterogeneous CPU/GPU architecture, and complex synchronization mechanisms significantly increased development difficulty, hindering developers from fully utilizing the PS3's potential. The author argues that the PS3's many-core architecture ultimately failed, becoming a 'licked cookie' – a concept with great potential but ultimately under-delivered.

(darkcephas.github.io)

Game Many-Core Architecture

LetterLinks: Daily Word Puzzle Challenge

2025-04-09

LetterLinks is a daily word game similar to Scrabble. Players are given a set of letter tiles and must strategically arrange them on a board to create words and score points. The game features double and triple letter/word score squares, daily bonus word patterns, and bonus tiles. Submitting words results in a score based on validity, contributing to a daily leaderboard.

(playletterlinks.com)

Game word game puzzle daily challenge

GameNode: Manage Your Entire Game Collection in One Place

2025-04-08

Tired of managing your game library scattered across multiple platforms? GameNode is the solution! This platform lets you virtually manage all your games, update your backlog, rate played titles, and add anticipated releases to your wishlist. Connect with friends, follow their activity, and stay updated on everyone's latest gaming sessions. GameNode imports games and playtime from various sources, simplifying the process. Coming soon to iOS.

(gamenode.app)

Game game management game library social

AI's Impact on Game Development: A Developer's Struggle

2025-04-08

The rapid advancement of AI is significantly impacting the game industry, leaving many developers grappling with challenges and anxieties. This article features interviews with various game industry professionals, including artists, designers, and programmers, who share their experiences with AI in the workplace. Some companies are using AI to generate images, code, and voiceovers to cut costs or speed up development, leading to decreased quality and feelings of displacement among human creators. Many developers express reservations or outright opposition to AI, arguing that it cannot replace human creativity and emotional expression. They advocate for protecting the rights of human artists.

(aftermath.site)

Game

Category: Game