Break Into Chat

Break Into Chat

Josh Renaud’s blog about BBS history, retro computing and technology reminiscences.

  • A different way to play: front-ends

    A different way to play: front-ends

    This is the first installment in my series “A different way to play” about front-end clients for BBS door games. Silent. Simple. Social. I suspect that’s how many people remember BBS door games. In our memories, we recall quaint multiplayer, turn-based, text games. They lacked sophisticated graphics, music, and sound effects — significant flaws for…

  • Tutorial: Telnet to a BBS using a terminal program in the Hatari emulator

    Tutorial: Telnet to a BBS using a terminal program in the Hatari emulator

    I’ve written in the past about my adventures telnetting to BBSes from terminal programs running inside the Hatari emulator. I’ve made some changes in my process and I thought it would be good to explain everything, step-by-step. It’s not for the novice, but it is rewarding.

  • Unearthed: Dark Fortress for the Atari ST

    Unearthed: Dark Fortress for the Atari ST

    Hey Atari ST fans! Want to play something new? Today I’m happy to share “Dark Fortress,” a previously unreleased game written by Herb Flower for the Atari ST in the late 1980s.

  • Unearthed: My Atari 8-bit cassette tape

    Unearthed: My Atari 8-bit cassette tape

    Last weekend, I was rummaging through my old Atari ST disks when I came across something I hadn’t noticed in 30 years: A cassette tape for my Atari 8-bit. As I have recounted before, I used hand-me-down Atari 800s, a 130XE, a 410 program recorder, and lots of other equipment and disks from family members…

  • Slack API documentation mentions BBS door games

    Slack API documentation mentions BBS door games

    I discovered tonight that Slack’s API documentation has a page which uses a list of BBS door games as an example of how to create option fields. Pretty wild. I would love to know who was responsible for that. Whoever you are, my hat’s off to you!

  • Fidonet archive update

    Fidonet archive update

    A couple updates with regard to the 300,000 FidoNet messages I archived. First, I have added my FidoNet message cache as a new Break Into Chat “Special Collection” (similar to the existing AtasciiTube, Door World Magazine, and BBS podcasts collections). I have included a lot supplemental material that adds context; as well as a Python…

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