Cyningstan

@cyningstan.bsky.social

398 Followers 294 Following

Hobbyist retro-game developer. Writing for the ancient IBM PC of 1981: fun in all four colours. I appreciate the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Psion pocket computers too. Also an ancient board game nerd. Website: http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/

Traveller Central Supply Catalogue Update 2023 next to a Hewlett Packard 100LX MS-DOS compatible pocket computer, both closed.
A brand new copy of Traveller⁵ tabletop RPG, a set of 3 hardback volumes in a slipcase.
Traveller TTRPG Book 6: Scouts. A US Digest sized booklet cover in black, with "Book 6: Scouts" in red, "Traveller" in Yellow, and "Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future" beneath. At the bottom, the publisher's name "Game Designers' Workshop" in Yellow.
Entering a dungeon in The Chambers Beneath, with some subtle differences from normal gameplay. The palette is now a hot light green, red, and yellow on a red background. The status message that normally says "You feel bold/confident/afraid/terrified" now says "You feel hot!"
Don Bisdorf's Athena Station, an MS-DOS game running on a Hewlett Packard 100LX that is STILL in need of a good dusting.
Krauri looks across the room at the table, before deciding that it is of no tactical use. The table is enlarged in the inset.
The player is just starting the fourth level of the Conveyors level pack, and is considering which robot to choose. The card readers are at the top right, with obstructive crates which will have to be moved out of the way, or shot. The cards are on the lower left, in a walled off section that takes up a large part of the map. There are four parallel conveyor belts leading out of that section. A single guard robot starts beside one of the data cards, ready to start moving the cards onto the conveyor belts to be carried towards the player's robot. A forcefield at the bottom left will destroy the guard robot when its work is done.
Anthaen ponders the chair but has no time to sit and rest. An enlarged version of the chair is shown in the inset.
An array of buildings and characters illustrate how well a barony is doing.
This level has two chambers, and a single conveyor belt between them. The cards are in the left chamber, the readers in the right, and one robot starts in each chamber. The robots in this screen shot haven't yet moved, but you can see a list of commands ready for Strider, chosen for general manoeuvrability to work in the first chamber. Carrier waits in the second chamber. Carrier can pick up one card while pushing another around Sokoban-style.
This ship is heading for the nearby city of Velauri to trade. Velauri will make 9 gold per turn trading with ships coming in from all seaward directions.
Anthaen examines his favourite part of the wall. This section is enlarged and shown in the inset.
The barony display, with the amount of land highlighted.
Agab the Warrior has progressed very quickly to the use of the Warhammer, the heaviest bludgeoning weapon in the game. This was perhaps at the expense of the proper armoured protection to go with it. But only the future will tell whether Agab has chosen the right path. The warhammer is enlarged in the inset.
This level has four conveyor belts, running left to right. At the left end of each is a guard robot, which will push the card on to the conveyor belt before destroying itself in the adjacent forcefield. On the right, the conveyor belts end in forcefields, which will destroy any card that isn't picked up in time. Robot spawners are at the top of the screen, while card readers are at the bottom. We see the level before the robots are placed.
Avuscorp's forces around an archipelago.
Nestled in the mountains, the city of Velsna brings in 9 iron each turn from mines in the surrounding area.
The cursor indicates an area of open floor in the corridor between Aulsere and Stan's body, with an enlarged version shown in the inset.
This barony has a backdrop of scenic mountains.
Yaneve the Warrior is using the new Tunic that she bought from Shami at the weapon shop. It provides a little protection from the hits of the monsters. The tunic is enlarged in the inset.
This level is split into two chambers, one with the data cards and one with the readers. A pair of conveyor belts head from the card chamber to the reader chamber, but no conveyor belts or other openings allow a robot to come back. Strider is pushing the first of three data cards onto one of the conveyor belts to be carried through to the other chamber. Strider can do likewise with the other cards, before using the second conveyor belt to move themselves. The cards can then be picked up off the conveyor belt and carried or pushed to the card readers.
The cursor highlights an ice shelf.
This small forest supplies the empire with 3 wood per turn, through the adjacent city of Veia.
A complete mission location, when the player's units have all entered. None of the enemy units have yet been spotted. In normal play, the player views a 9x9-tile window onto this map.
A barony in first place, with a huge city on the horizon.
Yaneve the Warrior buys a sword from Shami with weaponsmith. Yaneve knows it would be wisest to have the sword checked out at the magic shop before getting rid of her dagger, just in case the sword has any unpleasant curses on it. The sword is enlarged in the inset.
The twelfth level of Double Trouble is about half way done. Soldier has destroyed the strafing guard that inhabited the alcove at the top right, and is pushing the data card safely towards the reader. Multibot, though, has waited a long time for the shoot and step left instructions it needs to safely deal with the guard at the bottom left.
The cursor highlights an ice flow off the edge of a large ice shelf.
The city of Tarchna sits in the middle of a mighty plain, and brings the empire 12 food from the surrounding area.
The K53 is an experimental spacecraft for secret missions. Originally a standard fighter, the cockpit was expanded from 2 seats to 4, its laser armament was removed, and its dorsal shield unit was replaced with an experimental cloaking device, allowing the craft to get close to hostile destinations without detection. Coming to a future game, possibly...
The player is about to start an Annihilation mission. Instead of accepting a random team, or the default one of each unit type, they're opting to have two soldiers, doing without a scout on this occasion.
Eight baronies and their coats of arms.
Ekon the Warrior has just started his adventure, and is using a staff to defend himself from the monsters. This is the ideal weapon for anyone with good Bludgeoning skill, or anyone with a low Bludgeoning skill who can't yet afford anything better. The staff is enlarged in the inset.
The droids are just beginning their adventure in the eleventh level of Double Trouble. Soldier is going to employ a lot of precise timing in the first turn, ensuring its shot from the turntable is fired in the right direction. It needs to hit the forcefield generator, and definitely not the data card. Bouncer has a somewhat simpler task. Note how the conveyor belts across the middle will prevent a droid just jumping over the forcefields.
A crystal node lies off the coast of an island.
Gryvix is about to hand a blade to the newly freed hostage Aken, so that Aken can move over to their colleague Vaigon and free them too, leaving Gryvix for exploration and combat duties. Having Blade Combat skill at level 2, Aken can also use the blade for self defence.
The Chambers Beneath in a red, green and brown on black palette.
Phamart the Ranger has laid a snare to entrap the serpent. All Phamart needs to do is fire once at the serpent to get its attention, even with just the sling to avoid wasting arrows. All being well, the serpent will be ensnared, and Phamart can finish it off using the sling before the serpent frees itself. The snare is enlarged in the inset.
Both droids are taking different approaches in the multiple chambers of Double Trouble level 10. Soldier is shooting the forcefields to traverse the complex, while Multibot is jumping over them.
A volcano pokes up above the sea surface.
Jade has won the game! Having already slain three Obsidian warriors, seen on the bottom left at Jade's feet, they have then captured the Obsidian warriors remaining on the highway. The alternating colours in the stack show that the stack has been captured and recaptured a few of times.
Jeindrire the Medic is equally competent in blade combat and light firearms, and is strongly considering looting Thestia's laser pistol, to use instead of their blade. But Jeindrire can't carry both without becoming encumbered and slowing down, which makes this a difficult choice.
Meleel the Ranger has just bought a Sling from the ranger supply shop. The sling can fire any pebbles that Meleel picks up from the dungeon floor. The game doesn't trouble the player about picking up ammunition for the sling; it's always assumed that there are small projectiles to hand. The Sling is enlarged in the inset.
In level 9 of Double Trouble, Soldier is set up to travel to the turntable, position itself, and fire at the guard, all in this turn. It will take Carrier a bit longer to do the same thing, as it needs the shoot instruction from the library instead of having it in ROM.
The cursor highlights an area of deep water.
A game in progress. Several warriors are out on the track, and Jade has captured one of Obsidian's warriors, placing one of their own warriors on top of it. Jade must now drag that capture home to be slain without being recaptured by the menacing Obsidian warrior ahead.
Bulleth the Scout uses their Stealth skill to peer into a long corridor without being detected and immediately attacked by the enemy Ceirrassi. Bulleth should now retreat back into the room behind, and let a soldier or an auxiliary take care of Ceirassi.
Aren the Ranger is wielding a Shortbow. Because he is also using a Quiver, Aren doesn't need to hold the arrows. The Sling in Aren's other hand guarantees that when Aren runs out of arrows, the Sling will automatically take over as the primary weapon, and Aren will always be able to defend himself. The Shortbow is enlarged in the inset.
The eighth level of Double Trouble is mindbending. Both droids began in the top left chamber, and Bouncer has travelled against the conveyor belts to reach the bottom left chamber where both the data cards are. Thinker waits for the data card to travel down the conveyor belt.
The cursor highlights the shallows off the coast.
The game has just begun: Obsidian (with the black warrior pieces) took the first turn and presumably threw a 2, moving their first warrior from the city. Jade's five warriors (green on the Psion LCD, grey here in the emulator) are still at home, waiting for Jade to throw the casting sticks and move one of the warriors out.
Vametier the Medic is already carrying as much as they can reasonably manage: a strength of five, minus two, gives three, which is the number of items they are already carrying. In this gathering mission, carrying the items should be left to Vemetier's colleagues if the player wants Vametier to have the energy to perform their medical duties.
A Psion Series 3 and a Hewlett Packard 100LX playing Barbarians.
Lanera the Warrior has found a Shield in the dungeon. She can't yet use it, as it requires Dodging:2 skill and Lanera doesn't have Dodging skill at all. But the shield can be put aside for a while, maybe stored in the safe deposit box in the merchant shop, and picked up again when needed. The shield is shown enlarged in the inset.
The droids have just begun to solve the puzzle of Double Trouble level 7. Thinker is about to rush to pick up the phaser, ready to fire at the guards in the next chamber before the pick-up and shoot actions disappear from the library. Soldier has the same errand; it has the shoot action in its ROM but must still rush to pick up the data card in time.
Sandbanks on the coast of an island.
A screenshot of the settings screen. These are the default settings: "Human vs: Easy Psion, Throws: Culin, Captures: Forward, Pieces: 5, Highway: Finite." The settings are explained in the manual, but for a quick introduction to the game these are probably the best settings to start with.
The player's units make opportunity attacks during the computer's first turn. One of the computer's units, Oxybre, is unfortunate enough to enter the vestibule immediately after the player's units take up a defensive position. After Tapheran the auxiliary and Usay the scout fire at Oxybre, the medic Amiren shows that marksmanship isn't their strong point.
Brittina the Mage is about to read a scroll before descending into her first dungeon. In this particular run the M scroll is the Magic Dart spell, but these letter assignments are random. So a different set of letters will represent each spell from one run to the next. The scroll is enlarged in the inset.