A website was launched this week for punters who fancy a go at creating software for vintage Acorn 8-bit hardware. RetroSoftware.co.uk was set up to give a helping hand to anyone who wants to take a nostalgic trip back to the days of hacking together 6502 assembler code or wants to experience writing for 1980s microcomputer hardware for the first time. Beta testers, musicians, artists and illustrators and other contributors are also welcome to join in, we’re told.
It’s hoped the site will reach a point where it can begin publishing users’ software with proper disc releases and printed materials, just like the good old days when the Acorn Beeb ruled the classroom and fought against the ZX81 for a place in every British living room.
A number of projects are already underway on the site: a software development environment geared towards 8-bit Acorn microcomputers by Steve O’Leary called SWIFT, and a 6502 CPU assembler by Rich Talbot-Watkins called BeebAsm.
A spokesman for the site said: “Some time less than a year ago, we started to notice that a number of talented 8-bit Acorn developer bods were gathering over in the stairwaytohell.com forums. Never one to miss a bandwagon, a few pints later and it was decided the best thing to do was to exploit them all.
“Retrosoftware.co.uk is a community website designed to help people develop for old machines, particularly the 8-bit Acorn machines. As well as a forum to discuss with like-minded individuals, the site can provide you with hosting for your project and an army of volunteers to help with gameplay and platform testing, as well as artwork and distribution if you make it to a final cassette and/or disc release.”
Source : drobe.co.uk