If you love retro PC hardware and DOS gaming, then this is for you! Travel back to the Neolithic days of the 286, CGA graphics and the first sound cards with our guide to vintage PC hardware. Retrograde, the ultimate guide to pre-millennial hardware, is available as a free digital download now from custompc.co.uk/retro
It has nearly 100 pages of vintage PC goodness, including hardware analysis, practical guides, interviews and loads more. There's no DRM and you don't have to pay a cent for it.
Captain Comic.
Such an underrated game.
Played it lots as a kid but recall it being tough as nails (or maybe I was just too young).
@soxinthebox: I beat it as a kid after trying for what I think was probably months. Then years later I found out that because we had an XT, the game ran at about a quarter of the speed as on my mate’s 286.
300bps modems… atdt.. Still faster and more reliable than our nbn..
On Multiline chat BBS's alot of ppl would text bomb 300bps users with macros, woudl take them forever for their buffer to clear. I first started out on 14.4k modem then upgraded to the ultimate US Robotics Courier @ 28.8k which I took up to 56k x2 with software upgrades.. still got it today.
US Robotics made great modems. Their 56k was the best one I ever had.
Flex or X2 ?
@BewareOfThe Dog: Pretty sure USR Courier last firmware took it to V.92. I know V.90 label merged in support for both Flex & X2, probably hence the V.everything label. It was definitely the best modem I had. Friend had a multi-line BBS with USR Sportsters they were not bad but now and then hit & miss. I built a Fax to Email Redhat box using a Sportster. worked pretty good but some faxes didnt like it at all.
Thanks op. I'd post the direct link to the pdf but the last free magazine someone did this on from another outlet had a DCMA claim made against it.
Nice. I have a lot of older working pcs going back to 486.
Would love a paper version of it though, feels more appropriate ;)
My oldest PC is a 6x86 cyrix 166. I wish my parents had of kept the amstrad and 286
Nice.
I went back and built/acquired mine about 8 years back. Probably getting harder to find though these days but the sooner the better.
I have a couple of boxes of super socket 7 Motherboards and various other parts from the pentium era in boxes in the garage.
Will either keep me busy in my old age or make me a mint….haha
The great old days, playing Wing Commander or Space Quest or a special edition of MechWarrior 2 on my 386 with a 4MB Matrox Mystique video card.
4mb video on a 386, wowzers!
They must be confused. I had the original Mystique on a P100, although recall Mechwarrior 2 being a stutter-fest. Like pretty much everyone who was disappointed with those early "3D decelerators", paired it with a Voodoo soon after.
Yes you are right, I was confused (just shows I'm getting old), I think my 4mb Matrox Mystique was when I had my Pentium 2. MechWarrior 2 came in a special CD and played pretty well.
https://archive.org/details/mechwarrior_2_matrox
But even on the 386, I did have a good time with games like Wing Commander and Space Quests. Was really into sci-fi as a kid. I have since rebought these games on GOG.
Definitely the good old days. MechWarrior2 Mercenaries "If you're reading this, by now you know that I'm dead".
Wing Commander - A Nightmare to run!
I remember playing the original Need For Speed in my mates P100, good times, copied it to my 486SX-33 and it was a stutterfest.
I was given a working 586 recently which I’ve been playing Stunts on, so good. I’m proud to say that is the first game my 5-and-3-year olds have played in their life. 👍 no PS5s or WiiU here.
Same here. I remember having to deal with load disks just to free up memory.
I remember that one….has Mark Hamill as the voice actor yes?
I had an Atari 1040STE with a 286 Processor upgrade on their, extra ram, and an external 20gb Hard drive.
Another free PDF "The Computers that Made Britain" (https://wireframe.raspberrypi.com/books/computers-that-made-… )
3 other books too
https://wireframe.raspberrypi.com/books
and 63 issues of their Video Game magazine
https://wireframe.raspberrypi.com/issues
Happy reading!
The good old days, now life just sucks
Note sure how old you are but maybe because we were kids in those days? I'm sure my parents were struggling with the recession and high interest rates back then, so while it was good for us, life may seem suck for the adults.
They were the good old days. Though now getting a toaster with more compute power than an IBM PC that cost half the price of a car, i wouldnt say anything sucks!
I get what you mean, and agree - childhood was a great time.
But without sounding too preachy, like is what you make it and want it to be. You are in control.
Man i loved this period, and seeing graphics evolve. I remember being blown away by 3dfx at time
Links 386
Wing Commander
Lemmings
Wolfenstein3d
A10 Tank Killer
Cannon Fodder
Syndicate
Thanks Op. Downloaded and have a read. Reliving the good memories for sure.
![[eBook] Free Retrograde Bookazine PDF - July 2022 Edition from Custom PC @ Raspberry Pi](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/46/713146.jpg?h=3fcb2cd4)
286…that takes me back to the days of playing Commander Keen and Wolfenstein. Good times