2026-07-04 - Old Computer Challenge Introduction

Tekk wrote:

I'd like to encourage people to hand-make something during their OCC week and share it somehow, be it on their page, on the mailing list, or in IRC. Write a story, make some music, publish a new program. Just flex your creative muscle! [1]

Make something? Always!

As part of my OCC in 2025, i typed in a 1980s BASIC program listing for a prototype business application. I ported it to QBASIC.EXE, then to FreeBASIC [2]. Finally, i ported this to run on BasLinux using `mawk` and `dialog`. I used an IBM ThinkPad T500.

This year i plan to type in a 1970s BASIC program listing for a simulation game. I plan to use an IBM PC 330 (Type 6657) running SvarDOS.

Goals:

• Port the game to run in QBASIC.EXE
• Port the game to run in AWK.

Extra credit goals:

• Add configuration options for ANSI colors
• Design an EGA font for pseudo-graphics
• Port the AWKA compiler to DOS
• Compile the game to a standalone .EXE

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