Roboboard and Roboboard/FX reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- G_Porgie · 2016-11-24 15:30 Who remembers this little piece of BBS technology? Back in the very early 1990's, there were very few "hi-res" graphic options for BBS's. RIP wasn't really a thing, and NAPLPS was only really used for TV advertising channels and larger online systems like Prodigy. I remember Seth Hamilton (who was probably 17 or 18 at the time) coming to a local meeting of IMEX sysops (probably one of the largest FTN networks not named FidoNet at the time) and describing a "bet" he made with another sysop that a full mouse-driven VGA-based BBS that could serve up hi-res content at 2400bps faster than ANSI was possible. Seth took the bet and developed Roboboard (later founding Hamilton Telegraphics and evolving the software to Roboboard/FX). RIPscript was developed some years later and became the closest thing to a "Standard" that I think ever existed for BBS's. I don't think I ever saw too many Roboboard systems in the wild, and I'm curious if it ever was something that broke out of our region (I believe it was actually developed in Alberta, Canada - at a time when the internet wasn't a big thing, I don't imagine distribution was all that widespread). Who else has had the pleasure of playing on one of these boards? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RazorKitten · 2016-11-24 17:20 For me it was all [Skypix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skypix). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- recourse7 · 2016-11-24 17:38 Damn. Wish I had an Amiga back then. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ellisgl · 2016-11-25 03:08 I remember it. I used run a Roboboard for a little while. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2016-11-29 02:39 I am currently hosting a RoboBOARD/FX System if you'd like to check it out... I'm currently working on creating a telnet function for the VGA Client (FXTERM) feel free to check it out here: telnet: bbs.leemagazine.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- samalex01 · 2016-12-03 10:01 I remember it well, and didn't Prodigy use this technology for its client? We only had a few BBSes in our area that setup NAPLPS or RIP graphics, and they were cool though I think most were stock. Just not practical on slower connections. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kirkman14 · 2016-12-03 22:32 I just checked my [graph of BBS software in the St. Louis scene](http://breakintochat.com/blog/2013/06/06/visualizing-314-the- st-louis-scene-in-charts/), and it looks like Robo/RoboFX peaked at 7 systems here in 1993. For comparison, there were ~130 WWIV systems at the same time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- recourse7 · 2016-12-07 13:54 Hey man. I see you are in the St louis area. I was a bbs'er from there in the 90's. Called The Den of st.louis a lot. Were you on there? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kirkman14 · 2016-12-08 17:31 I know that I called it, but I can't remember if it was in my regular rotation. I think probably not. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- spankymustard · 2016-12-28 22:53 Is there any way to use the VGA client on a Mac? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2016-12-30 22:41 There is but it will require an emulator such as DOSBox. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2017-04-09 01:30 I remember downloading and playing with Roboboard and then later the FX version. I may have briefly tried running a BBS with it at the time, as it had the feeling of being more "futuristic" than the software of the time (ie PCBoard, Wildcat, etc). I always have fond memories of those years. The first BBS I ever ran was on the C64, prior to the PC days. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EnviableMachine · 2022-12-06 01:44 I sold around 9,000 copies of it as Shareware before we moved to MediaHost when windows was more established. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- starlightbbs · 2022-12-23 21:32 I was a RoboBoard/FX v1.04 Sysop and still have the install disks with two node license. When everything moved to TCP I switched to TeleFinder and from what I know am the last fully running TeleFinder BBS beside Operator Headgap remaining and the only one fully maintained. You can look up starlight bbs on Macintosh Garden. There is a windows client that you can use for access. If anyone is looking for the full copy of RoboBoard/FX on winimage disks, let me know. If anyone has MediaHost, please let me know, - I can't find it anywhere. - ankara. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- starlightbbs · 2022-12-23 21:37 Do you still have MediaHost? I have the full installs that I had purchased for RoboBoard/FX with two node license. - ankara ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EnviableMachine · 2023-01-21 00:39 Wow! You remember MediaHost? Yeah, I have a box left, shrink wrapped still, I assume there are disks in it. I may need a USB 3.5” drive to read them ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Weird-Vast-9574 · 2023-11-16 10:22 Seth was brilliant. I was a beta tester for the roboboard. It was not Alberta though. He was based in a town in Quebec on the border with ontario. Seth was way ahead of his time and roboboard paved the way for many innovations. Unfortunately, it came to its peak just as the world wide web was becoming more main stream. Anyway, cudos to Seth and his brilliant mind.