Robert Sundling
@robertsundling.bsky.social
Solo game dev and retro enthusiast, making indie games since the DOS days. Currently working on RASDAN, a DOS/VGA game I started in 1996 and never finished. It's still for DOS! Why not?
Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way, The Universe.
Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way, The Universe.
Pinned
GitHub - RobertSundling/ADVGEN
Contribute to RobertSundling/ADVGEN development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
Back in 1991, I wrote a fully functional text adventure development system for DOS. I never ended up making any actual games with it, and it's now been untouched for almost 35 years.
Just for fun and historical interest, I've decided to make it and its source code freely available on GitHub. Enjoy!
Just for fun and historical interest, I've decided to make it and its source code freely available on GitHub. Enjoy!
I feel like maybe 10% of my life is now spent charging batteries. It increases every year. It didn't used to be this way. Remember when you didn't have to charge your game controller or your mouse or your flashlight or your snowblower or your book?
I'm not sure if this is better or worse.
I'm not sure if this is better or worse.
December 30, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I feel like maybe 10% of my life is now spent charging batteries. It increases every year. It didn't used to be this way. Remember when you didn't have to charge your game controller or your mouse or your flashlight or your snowblower or your book?
I'm not sure if this is better or worse.
I'm not sure if this is better or worse.
Well, that was short lived. 😢 The second time I went to power on my Commodore 64 Ultimate, my monitor insists there‘s no HDMI signal detected. Tried multiple monitors, TVs, and a receiver; all say the same thing. Tried the Commodore+N trick while booting; no difference. Anyone have any tips?
December 21, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Well, that was short lived. 😢 The second time I went to power on my Commodore 64 Ultimate, my monitor insists there‘s no HDMI signal detected. Tried multiple monitors, TVs, and a receiver; all say the same thing. Tried the Commodore+N trick while booting; no difference. Anyone have any tips?
I finally gave in and upgraded to the new Alexa so that we could turn multiple lights on or off with one command.
For some reason, after every response she now adds “Don’t worry, Bob. Everything is under control.”
It’s quite disconcerting. I’m definitely feeling that things are NOT under control.
For some reason, after every response she now adds “Don’t worry, Bob. Everything is under control.”
It’s quite disconcerting. I’m definitely feeling that things are NOT under control.
December 21, 2025 at 12:18 AM
I finally gave in and upgraded to the new Alexa so that we could turn multiple lights on or off with one command.
For some reason, after every response she now adds “Don’t worry, Bob. Everything is under control.”
It’s quite disconcerting. I’m definitely feeling that things are NOT under control.
For some reason, after every response she now adds “Don’t worry, Bob. Everything is under control.”
It’s quite disconcerting. I’m definitely feeling that things are NOT under control.
🎶 One of these things is not like the others… 🎶
Happy New Commodore Day, everyone!
@commodoreofficial.bsky.social
Happy New Commodore Day, everyone!
@commodoreofficial.bsky.social
December 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
🎶 One of these things is not like the others… 🎶
Happy New Commodore Day, everyone!
@commodoreofficial.bsky.social
Happy New Commodore Day, everyone!
@commodoreofficial.bsky.social
My wife and I had a fun time playing Utopia on our new “Intellivision Sprint” this weekend. I hadn’t played it in almost 40 years; she hadn’t played it ever. Unlike many other Intellivision games, it really still holds up as-is! I have a feeling we’ll become evenly matched pretty soon.
December 15, 2025 at 12:06 AM
My wife and I had a fun time playing Utopia on our new “Intellivision Sprint” this weekend. I hadn’t played it in almost 40 years; she hadn’t played it ever. Unlike many other Intellivision games, it really still holds up as-is! I have a feeling we’ll become evenly matched pretty soon.
I'm considering switching to lead-free solder. Any suggestions on the best lead-free solder on the market today for hand-soldering? Mostly SMD components, but still some through-hole.
@polpo.org - Any experience with lead-free solder for prototyping?
@polpo.org - Any experience with lead-free solder for prototyping?
December 4, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I'm considering switching to lead-free solder. Any suggestions on the best lead-free solder on the market today for hand-soldering? Mostly SMD components, but still some through-hole.
@polpo.org - Any experience with lead-free solder for prototyping?
@polpo.org - Any experience with lead-free solder for prototyping?
@patbiosteamist.bsky.social Did you see that Walgreens has a Respiratory Illness Index Tracker again? It says it's updated once a week. The last update was November 8. It's different from their old one. Don't know if it's useful or not. It's *something*.
Respiratory Illness Index | Walgreens
Track flu and COVID-19 with our Respiratory Illness Index map. Get local updates and find links to virtual care, and vaccines and testing at a Walgreens near you.
www.walgreens.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:51 PM
@patbiosteamist.bsky.social Did you see that Walgreens has a Respiratory Illness Index Tracker again? It says it's updated once a week. The last update was November 8. It's different from their old one. Don't know if it's useful or not. It's *something*.
Reposted by Robert Sundling
Are you ready for #PicoIDE? It seems to be telling me it's ready. Coming soon: ATAPI optical disc emulation and IDE hard drive emulation. picoide.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Are you ready for #PicoIDE? It seems to be telling me it's ready. Coming soon: ATAPI optical disc emulation and IDE hard drive emulation. picoide.com
In 1998, I wrote a NewtonScript bytecode disassembler and package dumper for my own use, so that I could create patches for Apple Newton software.
Today, I dusted it off, built a shiny new Makefile for it for modern systems, and am releasing it as open source on GitHub. Enjoy!
Today, I dusted it off, built a shiny new Makefile for it for modern systems, and am releasing it as open source on GitHub. Enjoy!
GitHub - RobertSundling/Newton-PKGDUMP: Apple Newton Package Dumper and NewtonScript Bytecode Disassembler
Apple Newton Package Dumper and NewtonScript Bytecode Disassembler - RobertSundling/Newton-PKGDUMP
github.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:15 PM
In 1998, I wrote a NewtonScript bytecode disassembler and package dumper for my own use, so that I could create patches for Apple Newton software.
Today, I dusted it off, built a shiny new Makefile for it for modern systems, and am releasing it as open source on GitHub. Enjoy!
Today, I dusted it off, built a shiny new Makefile for it for modern systems, and am releasing it as open source on GitHub. Enjoy!
Sadly, the New York Times still hasn’t updated their Spelling Bee word list to include King’s Quest III characters.
October 26, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Sadly, the New York Times still hasn’t updated their Spelling Bee word list to include King’s Quest III characters.
Throwback Thursday: The first thing I did when I got a car with a USB port was see if I could connect a floppy drive to it to play music. I could! Granted, I did have to build a custom disk image by hand, since the floppy disk had to be formatted as if it were an SD card and not a floppy.
October 24, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Throwback Thursday: The first thing I did when I got a car with a USB port was see if I could connect a floppy drive to it to play music. I could! Granted, I did have to build a custom disk image by hand, since the floppy disk had to be formatted as if it were an SD card and not a floppy.
It's time! After 33 years, I'm adding Gravis UltraSound support to my DOS game engine. 😄
I never owned a GUS back in the day, so it never happened. Now I've got a PicoGUS from @polpo.org (and a great emulator from @86box.net). So off we go!
Step 1A: I mirrored the final GUS SDK (v2.22) on GitHub.
I never owned a GUS back in the day, so it never happened. Now I've got a PicoGUS from @polpo.org (and a great emulator from @86box.net). So off we go!
Step 1A: I mirrored the final GUS SDK (v2.22) on GitHub.
GitHub - RobertSundling/GUSDK222: Gravis UltraSound, PC GamePad, and Analog Pro SDK V2.22 (GUSDK222.ZIP)
Gravis UltraSound, PC GamePad, and Analog Pro SDK V2.22 (GUSDK222.ZIP) - RobertSundling/GUSDK222
github.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
It's time! After 33 years, I'm adding Gravis UltraSound support to my DOS game engine. 😄
I never owned a GUS back in the day, so it never happened. Now I've got a PicoGUS from @polpo.org (and a great emulator from @86box.net). So off we go!
Step 1A: I mirrored the final GUS SDK (v2.22) on GitHub.
I never owned a GUS back in the day, so it never happened. Now I've got a PicoGUS from @polpo.org (and a great emulator from @86box.net). So off we go!
Step 1A: I mirrored the final GUS SDK (v2.22) on GitHub.
I am increasingly a fan of the Monaspace font family (monaspace.githubnext.com).
I've added support for Monaspace features to the GUI TTY interface for my DOS game engine (which takes the place of an external MDA monitor). It's fantastic to be able to customize its look and feel so thoroughly.
I've added support for Monaspace features to the GUI TTY interface for my DOS game engine (which takes the place of an external MDA monitor). It's fantastic to be able to customize its look and feel so thoroughly.
September 30, 2025 at 12:03 AM
I am increasingly a fan of the Monaspace font family (monaspace.githubnext.com).
I've added support for Monaspace features to the GUI TTY interface for my DOS game engine (which takes the place of an external MDA monitor). It's fantastic to be able to customize its look and feel so thoroughly.
I've added support for Monaspace features to the GUI TTY interface for my DOS game engine (which takes the place of an external MDA monitor). It's fantastic to be able to customize its look and feel so thoroughly.
It's crazy the kind of stuff you end up writing when you're building a network stack for DOS from scratch in C++26.
August 8, 2025 at 11:53 PM
It's crazy the kind of stuff you end up writing when you're building a network stack for DOS from scratch in C++26.
Congratulations to the GNU Compiler Collection team for their successful launch of GCC 15.2! Great work, everyone! 🥳
GCC 15 Release Series
- GNU Project
gcc.gnu.org
August 8, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Congratulations to the GNU Compiler Collection team for their successful launch of GCC 15.2! Great work, everyone! 🥳
I'm testing GCC 15.2 today.
I just used it to build the various test programs for my game engine for all available platforms, including DOS and Windows.
Success! But it's always hilarious to me to see a test that runs at 60 fps in DOS on a 486 with a VGA run at 13,000+ fps on a modern machine.
I just used it to build the various test programs for my game engine for all available platforms, including DOS and Windows.
Success! But it's always hilarious to me to see a test that runs at 60 fps in DOS on a 486 with a VGA run at 13,000+ fps on a modern machine.
August 7, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I'm testing GCC 15.2 today.
I just used it to build the various test programs for my game engine for all available platforms, including DOS and Windows.
Success! But it's always hilarious to me to see a test that runs at 60 fps in DOS on a 486 with a VGA run at 13,000+ fps on a modern machine.
I just used it to build the various test programs for my game engine for all available platforms, including DOS and Windows.
Success! But it's always hilarious to me to see a test that runs at 60 fps in DOS on a 486 with a VGA run at 13,000+ fps on a modern machine.
GCC 15.2 drops tomorrow. Got a head start today and built a cross-compiler for my 32-bit DOS apps from the 15.2 RC.
It's working well so far!
(It reports as 15.1.1, but that's fine. I didn't touch gcc/BASE-VER or gcc/DATESTAMP, where I could have bumped it up to "15.2.0 20250808" had I wanted.)
It's working well so far!
(It reports as 15.1.1, but that's fine. I didn't touch gcc/BASE-VER or gcc/DATESTAMP, where I could have bumped it up to "15.2.0 20250808" had I wanted.)
August 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM
GCC 15.2 drops tomorrow. Got a head start today and built a cross-compiler for my 32-bit DOS apps from the 15.2 RC.
It's working well so far!
(It reports as 15.1.1, but that's fine. I didn't touch gcc/BASE-VER or gcc/DATESTAMP, where I could have bumped it up to "15.2.0 20250808" had I wanted.)
It's working well so far!
(It reports as 15.1.1, but that's fine. I didn't touch gcc/BASE-VER or gcc/DATESTAMP, where I could have bumped it up to "15.2.0 20250808" had I wanted.)
I always end up so many levels away from what I'm actually working on.
I was thinking it'd be great to remotely control my various vintage PCs from my main workstation, with them all in little windows. Now I'm investigating custom SVGA + PS/2 keyboard/mouse + power control KVM-over-IP solutions...
I was thinking it'd be great to remotely control my various vintage PCs from my main workstation, with them all in little windows. Now I'm investigating custom SVGA + PS/2 keyboard/mouse + power control KVM-over-IP solutions...
August 6, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I always end up so many levels away from what I'm actually working on.
I was thinking it'd be great to remotely control my various vintage PCs from my main workstation, with them all in little windows. Now I'm investigating custom SVGA + PS/2 keyboard/mouse + power control KVM-over-IP solutions...
I was thinking it'd be great to remotely control my various vintage PCs from my main workstation, with them all in little windows. Now I'm investigating custom SVGA + PS/2 keyboard/mouse + power control KVM-over-IP solutions...
Making decent progress on my 640x480 to 320x240 linear mode SVGA project.
I first wrote a CRTC register dumper, then examined values on a card with a 320x240 linear mode. It's pretty clear how this card does it.
Next step will be to take an SVGA card without the mode and apply these same changes.
I first wrote a CRTC register dumper, then examined values on a card with a 320x240 linear mode. It's pretty clear how this card does it.
Next step will be to take an SVGA card without the mode and apply these same changes.
August 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Making decent progress on my 640x480 to 320x240 linear mode SVGA project.
I first wrote a CRTC register dumper, then examined values on a card with a 320x240 linear mode. It's pretty clear how this card does it.
Next step will be to take an SVGA card without the mode and apply these same changes.
I first wrote a CRTC register dumper, then examined values on a card with a 320x240 linear mode. It's pretty clear how this card does it.
Next step will be to take an SVGA card without the mode and apply these same changes.
My challenge this week is to take SVGA cards with linear VBE 640x480x256 color modes and tweak CRTC registers to turn those into linear 320x240x256 color modes. Some cards expose such a mode already, but not all. The performance gain over Mode X is worthwhile. I’ll open source what I find.
August 6, 2025 at 2:27 AM
My challenge this week is to take SVGA cards with linear VBE 640x480x256 color modes and tweak CRTC registers to turn those into linear 320x240x256 color modes. Some cards expose such a mode already, but not all. The performance gain over Mode X is worthwhile. I’ll open source what I find.
Reposted by Robert Sundling
"The deal is the latest development in a saga involving some of the video game industry’s lowest-paid workers. It comes after Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard, Raven Software’s parent company, leaving the roughly two dozen testers to negotiate with one of the world’s largest tech companies."
These Wisconsin video game workers were first to unionize at a major U.S. studio. Three years later, they have a contract.
The deal at Raven Software in Middleton affects quality assurance testers, some of the video game industry’s lowest-paid workers. It caps a saga that included a strike and a purchase by Micro…
wisconsinwatch.org
August 5, 2025 at 5:17 PM
"The deal is the latest development in a saga involving some of the video game industry’s lowest-paid workers. It comes after Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard, Raven Software’s parent company, leaving the roughly two dozen testers to negotiate with one of the world’s largest tech companies."
Ullrich von Bassewitz's BGI drivers are excellent SVGA reference code.
The comments are in German. As English alternatives exist, human translation may not be worth the effort, but I used GitHub Copilot to translate the comments to English for my own use.
Someone else may find this useful as well.
The comments are in German. As English alternatives exist, human translation may not be worth the effort, but I used GitHub Copilot to translate the comments to English for my own use.
Someone else may find this useful as well.
GitHub - RobertSundling/uvb-svga-bgi-english: English language translation of Ullrich von Bassewitz's SVGA BGI drivers
English language translation of Ullrich von Bassewitz's SVGA BGI drivers - RobertSundling/uvb-svga-bgi-english
github.com
August 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Ullrich von Bassewitz's BGI drivers are excellent SVGA reference code.
The comments are in German. As English alternatives exist, human translation may not be worth the effort, but I used GitHub Copilot to translate the comments to English for my own use.
Someone else may find this useful as well.
The comments are in German. As English alternatives exist, human translation may not be worth the effort, but I used GitHub Copilot to translate the comments to English for my own use.
Someone else may find this useful as well.
I'm working on a special-purpose MOD library today and testing it with MOD files by Dr. Awesome (Bjørn Lynne) while listening to his new album Point of Significance. Perfect blend of old and new.
@bjornlynne.bsky.social
@bjornlynne.bsky.social
Point of Significance by Bjørn Lynne on Apple Music
Album · 2025 · 16 Songs
music.apple.com
August 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I'm working on a special-purpose MOD library today and testing it with MOD files by Dr. Awesome (Bjørn Lynne) while listening to his new album Point of Significance. Perfect blend of old and new.
@bjornlynne.bsky.social
@bjornlynne.bsky.social
Reposted by Robert Sundling
We Did It. Commodore Is Home.
With the final payment locking in the deal CEO Peri Fractic signed the final contracts in The Netherlands, officially acquiring all 47 original Commodore trademarks. After decades adrift, the brand is finally where it belongs - with fans.
#WeAreCommodore
commodore.net
With the final payment locking in the deal CEO Peri Fractic signed the final contracts in The Netherlands, officially acquiring all 47 original Commodore trademarks. After decades adrift, the brand is finally where it belongs - with fans.
#WeAreCommodore
commodore.net
August 1, 2025 at 3:51 PM
We Did It. Commodore Is Home.
With the final payment locking in the deal CEO Peri Fractic signed the final contracts in The Netherlands, officially acquiring all 47 original Commodore trademarks. After decades adrift, the brand is finally where it belongs - with fans.
#WeAreCommodore
commodore.net
With the final payment locking in the deal CEO Peri Fractic signed the final contracts in The Netherlands, officially acquiring all 47 original Commodore trademarks. After decades adrift, the brand is finally where it belongs - with fans.
#WeAreCommodore
commodore.net
Back in 1991, I wrote a fully functional text adventure development system for DOS. I never ended up making any actual games with it, and it's now been untouched for almost 35 years.
Just for fun and historical interest, I've decided to make it and its source code freely available on GitHub. Enjoy!
Just for fun and historical interest, I've decided to make it and its source code freely available on GitHub. Enjoy!
GitHub - RobertSundling/ADVGEN
Contribute to RobertSundling/ADVGEN development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Back in 1991, I wrote a fully functional text adventure development system for DOS. I never ended up making any actual games with it, and it's now been untouched for almost 35 years.
Just for fun and historical interest, I've decided to make it and its source code freely available on GitHub. Enjoy!
Just for fun and historical interest, I've decided to make it and its source code freely available on GitHub. Enjoy!