Dan Gibson

Dan Gibson

@condact.xyz

Smart homes, text adventures, and retro-futurism https://condact.xyz

125 followers286 following72 posts

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Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

#ZXSpectrumNext conversion of first ever laserdisc video game, Adventures in Videoland. A bomber has planted a radio-controlled device on the roller coaster of an amusement park, race against the clock to disarm it. This conversion replaces the laserdisc with streamed SD card video. #retrogaming

condact.xyzAdventures in Videoland: Rollercoaster - ZX Spectrum NextConversion of the first ever lasterdisc game, Adventures in Videoland (AKA Rollercoaster) for the ZX Spectrum Next
Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

My copy of James Sinclair and the temple of the Sun God for the #ZXSpectrumNext arrived in the post today. Really nice presentation, and interesting interface with keyboard control. Looking forward to properly exploring the game.

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

Looking forward to playing James Sinclair and the Temple of the Sun God on the #ZXSpectrumNext, a small number of physical copies are now available to order. The collectors edition contains feelies such as field notes and character cards.

technoshedsoftware.comJames Sinclair and the Temple of the Sun God1942: A German transmission names a relic most scholars think is a myth: the Statuette of the Sun God, hidden in a temple deep in the jungles of Ceylon. Archaeologist James Sinclair has to reach it…

Dan Gibson reposted

#BruceSterling
@bruces.bsky.social

*I'm intrigued by aspects of model-generation images that aren't "sloppy" or "glitchy" or monstrous or surreal *Instead they have this hard-to-describe "stochastic in-between-ness" *It's like the model's "door-of-perception" has yawned open and you glimpse a radically different world backstage

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

A rather nifty tool for editing per-level background copper gradients for the #ZXSpectrumNext port of Door Door.

Dan Gibson reposted

Kay Savetz
@savetz.bsky.social

My day involves a stack of Atari computers, a laser disc player, digitizer, CRT, former Atari employee, and an ultra rare Atari cosmos How’s your day going? 

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

Door Door port to #ZXSpectrumNext now has per-pixel movement & sprite masking instead of the PC-88 4-pixel grid system, music is now native AY using up to 6 channels instead of an FM-AY HAL, it's also gained a 2 player mode and a cheat menu. #RetroGaming

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

Still uses the original's 2 frame animation but the engine copes with 8 frames per movement even on the busiest levels, my attempts at tweening leave a lot to be desired. Left the original's final position 4-pixel grid collision detection since it's intrinsic to certain gameplay elements and levels.

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

Here's a busy level test with 8 frame of character animation per 8 pixel movements. It's using colour changed version of the original's 2 frame animations for the test since my attempts at drawing tweening frames are not very good. Hopefully my next go at drawing better 4-bit sprites will work out.

Dan Gibson reposted

Gary Pinkett
@garypinkett.bsky.social

Open your ear holes for this fantastic track composed for Space Pizza. It suits the game perfectly and I am so happy that the game is going to have an awesome soundtrack. It may will be the best thing about the game!

Hoffman@h0ffman.bsky.social

#MODtober - A song about delivering Pizza in Space. Made for the forthcoming ZX Spectrum Next game, Space Pizza from @AtomicWindmill youtu.be/CL66hwzAyNY

youtu.beh0ffman - Space Pizza ( ZX Spectrum AY )YouTube video by Hoffman

Dan Gibson reposted

Anatoly Shashkin💾
@dosnostalgic.bsky.social

A new stable release of ScummVM is here. 11 new engines and 192 new games added since the last major update, as well as numerous updates, fixes, and new features for existing games: www.scummvm.org/news/20261011/

scummvm.orgScummVM :: Latest Developments :: ScummVM 2026.4.0It is hard to believe, but a quarter-century and a couple of days ago, the ScummVM Project saw its first public commit by Ludvig Strigeus aka ludde. So many things have changed, and we continue to fol...
Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

1980s licenses that would have made good text adventures: Prisoner: Cell Block H As a new remand inmate at Wentworth you must survive until your court case. Do you form allegiances with the guards or prisoners, and which faction of prisoners? Some may protect you, some may get you into trouble.

Dan Gibson reposted

Mike Hodder
@mikehod.bsky.social

31 Days of Scares - Video Game Edition Day 7 Wolfman on the C64 (1988) The last in the Rod Pike series of horror themed text adventures sees you playing a man cursed to become a werewolf. Now you must avoid killing your fiancée, whilst being hunted by villagers and finding a cure.

Dan Gibson reposted

zxprinter.bsky.social
@zxprinter.bsky.social

Ports of Colossal Cave Adventure to various classic and modern Pascal compilers including Free Pascal and my own PASTA/80, all based on an ancient version of Adventure for PDP. github.com/pleumann/adv... #pascal #freepascal #turbopascal #retrocomputing #textadventure #cpm #dos #agon #specnext

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

After conversing with Zigbee2MQTT maintainers I've released a version my Aqara firmware scraper. Queries the servers for an OTA update to a device linked to your Aqara account. A middle ground between their current method and the full tool which could wreak havoc on Aqara servers if widely used.

github.comGitHub - absent42/Aqara-Firmware-Query: Find if there's a firmware update for your Aqara devices.Find if there's a firmware update for your Aqara devices. - absent42/Aqara-Firmware-Query
Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

Early playable #ZXSpectrumNext build of Door Door mkII from NEC PC-8801. Mechanics, logic & game loop ported from Z80 disassembly, timings adjusted for 50Hz, graphics routines redone for Next's tilemap & sprite layers, FM effects & music converted to AY. After bug fixes, Next enhancements follow.

Dan Gibson
@condact.xyz

Progressing nicely this weekend, it now builds from tile and sprite sheets converted through gfx2next instead of binaries extracted from the original game, and starting to split up native code into swapped-in modules making room for expanded features.

Dan Gibson reposted

Javmaster
@javmaster.bsky.social

Retired from the war room, reporting for desk duty. 🖥️ A hand-built 6×2.5" tribute to the 80s movie supercomputer, with 4 color screens, sound, battery power, and dual ESP32s. Made to order, small batches. Coming soon. #retrocomputing #maker #esp32

Dan Gibson reposted

Michael Martin
@mcmartin.bsky.social

I've been trying to get this working since July, but... I have, and now I've written it up. Proper, HW-verified, fully-intelligible voice clip playback out of the 1-bit, CPU cycle-count controlled, #ZXSpectrum beeper. Neat non-identical prior work too. bumbershootsoft.wordpress.com/2026/09/26/d...

bumbershootsoft.wordpress.comDigital Audio on the ZX Spectrum’s 1-Bit BeeperIt’s finally time for me to wrap up this ZX Spectrum series, with a look at how to get the simple 1-bit beeper on every Spectrum model to emit high-quality digital audio. The results are quit…

Dan Gibson reposted

The Retro Adventurers
@retroadventurers.bsky.social

Infocom and Iron Curtain classic text adventures from the final years of the Cold War! With special guest Ana Meisel (ana.help), Nick and Jason take on two entertaining political-statement classics of the 1980s. retroadventurers.podbean.com/e/49/

retroadventurers.podbean.comA Mind Forever Voyaging and PRESTAVBA | The Retro AdventurersIt's Infocom and Iron Curtain classic text adventures from the final years of the Cold War! With special guest Ana Meisel (ana.help), Nick and Jason take on two entertaining political-statement classi...

Dan Gibson reposted

ourlostarcade.bsky.social
@ourlostarcade.bsky.social

Why do we call it an "arcade"? This question takes us back to the earliest days of coin-op amusement, the origin of recorded entertainment, and the tumultuous days of technology Trusts. Introducing: The First Arcade (maybe).