Retro Computers
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retrocomps.bsky.social
Retro Computers
@retrocomps.bsky.social
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Semi-automated posting of old computers and videogames. Sometimes other bits of retro aesthetics and design. ~6-8 posts a day, ~24 posts on holidays.

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retrocomps.bsky.social
Captain Claw (Monolith; Windows, 1997) (Source.)
A video game screenshot of a jungle level. A feline pirate in blue outfit dashes at an orange canine, his sword knocking the dog off the screen. Below, another dog and crates lie in wait; to the top right, four coins and a chalice float waiting pickup; above, a coin and a lizard statuette float. The top left reads 105415 treasures, 1 tesla coil; the top right reads 52 hearts, 14 shots, 2 lives. There is a checkpoint with a cat-skull-and-crossbones flag on stage left.
November 11, 2025 at 12:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Total Back Up Power Takes A Quantum Leap!
In this EXTREMELY text- and font-dense ad, a Commodore 64 is a computer flying to space, and the red Action Replay cartrige is a shuttlecraft about to dock with it. Headings include "WARP 25 BREAKS THE 5 SECOND BARRIER!!!" "PLUS UNIQUE CODE CRACKER MONITOR" and "POWERFUL DESIGN WITH ON BOARD L51 LOGIC PROCESSOR CHIP"
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Rogue (DOS, 1984)
ROGUE: The Adventure Game. The game of Rogue was originated by: Michael C. Toy and Kenneth C.R.C. Arnold Adapted for the IBM PC by: John Lane. Significant design contributions by: Glenn Wichman and scores of others. Public Domain Software - 1984, not to be sold. Rogue's Name? Player
November 10, 2025 at 12:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
In the Internet Archive's stacks, I occasionally find obviously secondhand books, such as books with a card protector in the back, or handwritten notes. This is probably the first book I've found that was signed. A tiny act of kindness, now posterized. (Source.)
Up top, the title 'CREATING ADVENTURE GAMES ON YOUR DRAGON 32'. Below, 'By Clive Gifford'. Clive himself signed below, writing "Best Wishes, C. Gifford." Below that is the protracted font which reads "Interface Publication," and the graph-paper-book logo Interface was using at the time.
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
"you have so dishonored me" (Source.)
Up top, a two page comic. A samurai in plaid looks at his CRT, showing he has fired a rocket in a Quake-like FPS killing his foe, and says: "[HP] takagawa: GG". His foe in the next panel grey floral looks at his CRT, showing he has been exploded, and types: "[HP] hero-hito: FT! you have so dishonored me." Down below, the text reads: "Concentrate. Channel. Frag. Chill out. Happy puppy has thousands of playable demos, not to mention reviews, previews, and cheats--perfectly suited for your average samurai. (Other people like Happy Puppy too.) In the bottom right, the logo of Happy Puppy - indeed, a happy puppy, with red eyes, a smug grin, floppy ear, and a patch over one eye - is surrounded by the url happypuppy.com and the slogan, "it's all games". Far bottom right, the URL games.theglobe.com appears.
November 10, 2025 at 12:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
"Trade with 2,000 planets in eight galaxies"
Top, the "Elite" logo - a gold aguila with silver wings and helmet behind the word "ELITE." Left is a screenshot for the BBC Micro B and B+, and right is a screenshot for the BBC Master; both show the player, a first person spacehip, focusing on an enemy ship with stars flying in the background; gauges appear in the bottom left and right, and the now industry standard isomettric radar on the bottom of each screenshot shows the player is surrounded. Below is dense copy, describing the complex aspects of gameplay (exploration, combat, trade, and quests); below that, the Superior Software logo (a red and white interlinked pair of Ss), the Acornsoft logo (an egg), and an order address (mail and phone only) are listed below.
November 9, 2025 at 6:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
There were quite a lot of text adventures in the 80s. Some were fantasy. Some were mystery. Some were horror. Some were science fiction. But others, well... (Source.)
An article form the book "33 Adult Computer Games In BASIC for the IBM PC, Apple II/IIe & TRS-80." The program, "Where's the necessary room?", is about the player having had too much to drink and needing to fight the way to the restroom.
November 9, 2025 at 12:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
The Monorail
An all-in-one computer from 1996. It stands on its edge, somewhat like a clamshell computer, but using standard keyboard and mouse. It looks like a precursor for the POS machines of today.
November 9, 2025 at 6:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Alter Ego (Mac, 1986)
An old System 6 status window reads: "That wraps up your status for the very first years of life. I hope you like yourself. If not, you can always try to improve in the years to come. There's plenty of time." Buttons are Continue and Escape.
November 9, 2025 at 12:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Antikythera mechanism (2nd century BC; reconstruction 2012, Tony Freeth)
A simple mechanism for predicting the Callipic cycle, a technique for estimating the time, solstice, and lunar state, used by Greek navigators. The dial on the left shows the state of six heavenly bodies, a crank, and the instructions for use inscribed on the front; the middle shows the mechanism itself, with various step gears used to multiply or divide the main gear into smaller or larger periods; the spring spirals on the back act as a kind of 'checksum', alerting the operator to the end of a calendar month or year.
November 8, 2025 at 6:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Neopets (2003) (Source.)
A screenshot of IE6, open to Neopets' Explore page. The browser is branded with a red Q logo of some ISP, since browsers back then would let ISPs brand them to imply it was the ISP's legitimate software. Below menus and clearly labelled buttons, we have a labelled address bar, a links toolbar, a Google toolbar (with search and adblock built in!), a Yahoo toolbar (with search and common Yahoo links built in). The page shows a yellow sidebar with googie font (Pet Central, Create a Pet, Neomail, World, Explore, Chat, Games, Shops, News, Help, Login, Logout); a banner in the same googie font for Explore Neopia; an event ("Something has happened:" - image of a green brutish Neopet - "GRUNDO MUST EAT NEOPETS!!! GRUNDO FETCH NEOPETS FOR MASTER!"); and a map of Neopia, each having its own games and lore to explore. The taskbar shows 12 fast-start icons, three Internet Explorer windows, a notepad window, and a MSPaint window; the system tray shows 5 resident programs beside the clock.
November 8, 2025 at 12:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
"BASIC COMPUTER ELEMENTS: comparison between manual computation and Whirlwind I computation" (Source.)
Up top, the title "BASIC COMPUTER ELEMENTS: comparision between manual composition..." The top half illustrates manual composition: a whistling man carries loose paper marked 'incoming problem' to a desk, and leaves it at a 'Notebook'; the operator, with a 'Desk Calculating Machine' to his left, works with pen and paper; the man leaves, printed folios of answers in hand. Below a horizontal rule, page bottom, the title continues: "...and Whirlwind I Computation." An arrow pointing in states "problems to be done," leading to a box labeled Input Devices; Input Devices points to a broad system bus line. Next is Storage, which reads from and writes to the system bus. Next is Control; control reads from the system bus, and writes to all boxes in this diagram. Next is Arithmetic Element; it reads from and writes to the system bus. Last is Output Devices; it reads from the system bus and writes out "Results in Desired Form."
November 8, 2025 at 6:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Leprechaun (Original Mac, 1989)
A black-and-white top-down block pusher, in the original System 6 black-and-white. Up top, a leprechaun is walking, with pots of gold to collect nearby. Down below, a troll is trapped by boulders; if the boulders are moved to retreive gold it will be free to chase the leprechaun. On the right, birds are moving around a fence to chanse the leprechaun.
November 8, 2025 at 12:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
The Game.com Pocket Pro. There's not a lot out there about it, but it came in Atomic Purple, so it can't be all that bad.
A landscape format handheld playing a Sonic game. The left has a D-pad; the right has action buttons (A, B, C, D), power, pause, and menu buttons.
November 7, 2025 at 6:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Friendship ended with glass and LEDs

now woodgrain and brass with bare or finished steel or aluminum is my friend
The nMediaPC HTPC8000, a pizzabox case made of red-finished wood with faux brass details and faceplate. The console design is taken from vintage radios (including an analog volume knob next to the standard set of USB ports); the motherboard lies down on the bottom, the drive enclosures are up top, the two huge vertical grills allow deep airflow, and it looks like it was meant to go on top of your grandma's 35" CRT The Kanto mATX case, a wooden computer tower case with steel endcaps. The top and front have circular airvents that seem to 'radiate' out from a point near the top. Jeffrey Stephenson's Aerodyne case, a mini-ITX case in which the board is mounted to a vertical mahogany panel, with aluminum siding used as both heat sink and guard; the actual computer cage is locked off with a wooden panel that features an aluminum circle with three lines extending from it, evoking the art deco style used in mid-70s airports. The Paramount 2, a Raspberri Pi case with two vertical wooden panels, strips of aluminum on the outside, a deocrative "flying wing" up top, a massive fan about 60% of the width of the case, and about 18 silver screws holding it all together.
November 7, 2025 at 4:24 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
One of the first picutres to use now-routine techniques like surface shaders, the 'Road to Point Reyes' (1983) took a team of Lucasfilms engineers an entire month to render.
A scene of a road facing away from the viewer, viewing a bay that shows Point Reyes. The road is rained over; puddles reflect the wrought iron fence and the fractal bushes, while grass is blooming to either side of the road; translucent rainbows guide the viewer's eye to the distant landscape. A sheer cliff blocks line of sight to the left.
November 7, 2025 at 12:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
THE HULK HAS GONE SOFT
In an ad that was printed on special flourescent paper to give it a "radioactive" green gradient (meaning, it scans very poorly), Commodore advertises a first party adventure game: "QUESTPROBE: THe Hulk: A Marvel Adventure." Screenshots show Bruce Banner looking in the mirror, the Hulk looking in a morror, and a transformation scene.
November 7, 2025 at 6:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Power Dolls (DOS, 1994)
A mecha equipment screen. Image top left, a picture of the pilot, wearing a grey jumpsuit and blue accents, gold earrings, a black headband, and a white bob cut. Bottom left her name and rank (Anita Shefeeld (sic), ARMY Cpl.Sgt.) and her scores (such as "Adj. to-air +6" and "Adjusted AP 15"). Cneter is the robot itself, deliberately evocative of the design of a late 80s to early 90s jet, with a 'canopy' style helmet and two large 'jet' intakes; a railgun of some type is on its right shoulder, and a missile pack on its left shoulder. The right hand column shows the current equipment in dense type; the two hand slots show silhouettes of the weapons. The bottom right gives stats for the X3A mecha as a whole (such as "Durability 60, Land defense 40"); the bar at the very bottom has the game logo (POWERDOLLS 1994 Kogado Studio) and the options 'Select' and 'Done'.
November 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Oh hey look! It's the ORIGINAL breadbox.
The prototype used to develop the Apple 1. The wooden case is adapted from a breadbox (the holes for mounting on a wall and some of the hardware for the sliding cover is still visible), the wiring is hand-soldered, giant Sprague capacitators like yellow soda cans are along the back, and the chips are hand-placed in a grid.
November 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
The Linux WatchPad
A 1998-style watch; you can tell it's from 1998 by the bevelling and the asymmetrical controls. The tiny 12x14 character screen shows a few commands have been entered AND the output, although it's not clear where the keyboard was plugged in.
November 6, 2025 at 12:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Death Knights of Krynn took the familiar gold box D&D formula and moved it the world of Dragonlance, where Arthurian heroes fought Gothic horrors.
In a landscape screenshot, the top shows a rotting knight flying on a skeletal dragon, with red eyes watching the attacking knight from the night sky. The text reads: "Maya screams in despair as she recognizes the gruesome remains of her ex-lover. Sir Karl brandishes his sword as his death dragon swoops towards the scattering crowd. Press button or return to continue."
November 6, 2025 at 6:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
"New distribution system makes programs and manuals on the spot for PC and PCjr..." (Source.)
Up top, a computer kiosk; a screen and keyboard on the left, a place for a price card on the right, and multiple shelves of storage below. On the right hand side of the storage, places to install disc burners or cartridge burners appear. The heading below the image reads "Xante: Software While-U-Wait", while the preview reads "New distribution system makes programs and manuals on the spot for PC and PCjr." The story continues below, and to some future page.
November 6, 2025 at 12:05 AM
retrocomps.bsky.social
While the early microcomputer era allowed you to get dozens of pieces of software for a very low price right from your newsstand or library rack, there was also inevitably errata to follow - unless you did painstaking bug hunting yourself.
A scan of the "Capute!" article from the August 1983 issue of Compute!. It contains bug fixes for TI Teeth Wisdom, Bee Trap For VIC, memory Trainer For TI, Atari P/M Graphics Simplified, Slow List On The VIC-20, UnNEW for VIC And 64, Minefield For 64, Checkers, Crosswords For VIC, TI General-Purpose Data Base, 64 Odds And Ends, and Retirement Planner For VIC.
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
Teens & Violence: Should We Blame The Games? (Source.)
The cover of Family PC magazine for October 1999. Below the white-and magenta logo are the words "Real Life. Real Answers." The cover image is a kid holding a gun, looking at the viewer very intensely - well, as intense as a clean-cut 14-year-old wearing his hat backwards holding a pink plastic lightgun can be, anyways. The headlines on the left hand side read: "Teens & Violence", "Should We Blame The Games?", "How to Talk to Your Kids," "9 Games Kids Shouldn't Play," "PLUS: "Halloween Fun & Crafts," "Online Trading: Tread Carefully"
November 5, 2025 at 12:05 PM
retrocomps.bsky.social
The VTech Precomputer Powerpad
A grey laptop of early 90s design, with dozens of 'function' keys for each built in application - and a surprisingly nice mechanical keyboard - but the 'screen' is a tiny 4 line 20 character LCD surrounded by a faux Windows interface.
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 AM