Sometimes it's the small projects that are the most enjoyable.

Case in point: this month I'm building !EliteNet, which connects the #Archimedes version of #Elite to the Econet multiplayer scoreboard, so ArcElite players can compete against #BBCMicro players.

I last wrote a RISC OS application in 1995. That's 30 years ago! Turns out that BBC BASIC V is still a great language to code in.

And I've never written a RISC OS relocatable module before, so even now, this old dog is learning new ARM-based tricks.

And… ArcElite!

I absolutely love this hobby.

Carpe momentum - das #Zitat des Augenblicks: "Wo ist denn das Wasser?" - "Na, raus, als du reingesprungen bist. Es ist kein Platz für euch beide da drin." Obelix und Asterix in #Asterix als Gladiator, Seite 21. #Archimedes

On #SaturnDay here’s “Starfighter 3000”. This is a 1996 3D air combat game developed by Studio 3DO & Krisalis Software & published by Imagineer. It’s an enhanced port of a game originally released on the #Acorn #Archimedes in 1994.
#Retrogaming #Sega #Saturn

The region around #MontesApenninus including #Eratosthenes & #Archimedes at 16:59UT 6th Feb '25. Taken from Oxfordshire, UK with a #WilliamOptics 70mm refractor, #Celestron 3x Barlow & #ASI120MC camera. Best 50% of 1,000 frames #LunarPhotography #LunarCraters #LunarMountains

The Last Acorn BBC Computer Wasn’t a BBC Micro - For home computer users, the end of the 1980s was the era of 16-bit computers. The... - https://hackaday.com/2024/12/17/the-last-acorn-bbc-computer-wasnt-a-bbc-micro/ #acornarchimedes #retrocomputing #archimedes #acorn #arm

Remember that #Acorn #Archimedes game I was trying to hunt down a while back?

https://mastodon.social/@ghalfacree/113533616652282871

I (and others) searched *everywhere* - the Archimedes Archive, fan pages, every issue of Acorn User and similar that the Internet Archive has available, even PD library listings. Came up blank.

Well, my father-in-law has come up trumps... not only finding the name of the game *but the game itself*. Including documentation and the shipping packaging.

The story of #Archimedes’ “#Eureka!” moment is a famous anecdote about the ancient #Greek mathematician’s discovery of the #FirstPrinciples of #buoyancy.

Pondering how to determine if King Hiero II’s crown was made of gold, Archimedes noticed that water displaced in his bathtub was proportional to the volume of his submerged body.

This insight allowed him to measure the crown’s volume by submerging it in water and comparing the displaced water with that of pure #gold.

Good morning #BloomScrolling to see an almost archimedes spiral in a gomphrena. #flowers #Archimedes

RISC OS Gets An Update - There should be rejoicing among fans of the original ARM operating system this wee... - https://hackaday.com/2024/05/04/risc-os-gets-an-update/ #retrocomputing #softwarehacks #raspberrypi #archimedes #riscos #arm

I am very proud to present the results of my latest project...

...the first-ever fully documented and annotated disassembly of Lander on the Acorn Archimedes.

Lander was the very first game released for the ARM platform, and is arguably the only game ever written explicitly for the original ARM1 processor (there are famously no MUL instructions in there). And, of course, it's the second bona fide classic from the genius of David Braben, as this is the game he wrote next after his astonishing work on Elite.

I will be adding a number of deep dives to the site over the coming weeks, but for now, I hope you enjoy the results, which you can see here:

https://lander.bbcelite.com

And as always there is also a GitHub repository containing fully buildable source code that you can play with:

https://github.com/markmoxon/archimedes-lander

I hope you like it!

I have t seen one of these often. #retrocomputing #acorn #archimedes

#DailyRetroGame: Zarch/Virus (1987)

Seemingly co-authored by Elite creator David Braben and a sociopath, Zarch was primarily known to Brits via a Lander demo kids would sneak on to school computers. The full game expanded on its eye-popping 3D landscapes and absurdly twitchy gameplay, as you attempted to use the mouse to coax your craft to blow up enemies while not inconveniently crashing into a tree.

Play it on: #Archimedes, #Amiga, #PC

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYDGmmf9EfI

Isn't that a lovely #Acorn A3020?

Apart from the yellowed keys, it's in perfect condition.

Having a bit of a clear out and discovered these catalogues/supplements from when I had my #Acorn #Archimedes!

A little about my work. I’ve published two novels about the Numidian king #Masinissa set during the 2nd Punic War between Rome and Carthage. He played a pivotal role in that conflict, which was one of the most momentous in the Mediterranean region, and he is still widely revered across North Africa as the founding father of the Amazigh/Berber people. The books feature notable historical figures such as #Scipio Africanus, #Hannibal, #Archimedes and #Sophonisba and are available in all formats.