Learning about the CD32

I found an offer for a Commodore Amiga CD32 that I could not refuse. I have never owned a CD32 in my childhood, but my curiosity now and what I'd read so far made me accept the offer, and explore. It's finally here and it's in fantastic shape: I connected it to my projector, because … Continue reading Learning about the CD32 →

Hotseat playing

I have been chatting with a friend about how fun the good old days were when we played games, sitting in front of a (home) computer. Where have these days gone, when you played a game with your friends, and you'd pass the keyboard and mouse along after your turn, waiting for everybody to finish … Continue reading Hotseat playing →

Re-releases and bigbox releases

I must say that I'm positively surprised by a recent experience that I've had with one of the wonderful things that the Internet offers that weren't there 15 years ago. Clearly I'm a retro enthusiast and I like playing retro games, collecting retro hardware, and displaying things that I still have from that area or … Continue reading Re-releases and bigbox releases →

Combining timelines in Railroad Tycoon

Railroad Tycoon is trying to stretch two interesting concepts together that you can’t really marry together, because they work on two scales, magnitudes, if you will. In Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon, you’re trying to grow your railroad business, connecting cities, fuel economies in cities and regions and you’re trying to be faster than your competition, … Continue reading Combining timelines in Railroad Tycoon →

Asking LLMs what you can’t ask fellow gamers

So one of the best use cases for AI or LLMs more specifically is probably this: you won’t get a more neutral, straightforward answer without any emotions detached to this question than his – any human being who knows, will break into sweats, cursing 😊

Lemmings: rescuing Stoppers

I am still playing Psygnosis' Lemmings on my Amiga from 1991 - so here are a few more news from Lemmings: I've found it fairly sad all along, that for some abilities that you can give your Lemmings, you will have to leave them behind. The game design doesn't allow for all Lemmings to be … Continue reading Lemmings: rescuing Stoppers →

Age of Empires – I remembered it wrong

Now that Age of Empires is more than 25 years old, I thought it was about time to play it once more. After I had played the original game for a while, and after, Age of Empires II and III, I had last played the "Definitive Edition" a few years ago. One of the things … Continue reading Age of Empires – I remembered it wrong →

Level reuse

I continue to play Lemmings. During the "Tricky" set of levels, occasionally, Levels start to repeat. Well, only on first sight. The level layout is the same there as in the very first level in Lemmings: While the level layout is the same, the Lemming abilities differ - while you have diggers in the first … Continue reading Level reuse →

Annoying levels in Lemmings

Okay, I have been playing Lemmings recently - the original version on the Amiga. I uncovered a few shitty levels that I couldn't quite figure out right-away, but found they're very well designed. Look at this beginning - the goal is one screen to the right, but that's less complicated - the beginning is the … Continue reading Annoying levels in Lemmings →

Upgrading an Amiga 500, WHDload and disk trouble

With a little more time on my hands, I finally decided to plan and progress with some of my old and retro hardware and put them to meaningful and fun use. I have had two Amiga 500s for a while now, both in fair condition, and decided to keep one was pristine as possible, with … Continue reading Upgrading an Amiga 500, WHDload and disk trouble →