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cyningstan.bsky.social
Cyningstan
@cyningstan.bsky.social
310 followers 260 following 720 posts
Hobbyist retro-game developer. Writing for the ancient IBM PC of 1981: fun in all four colours. Also an ancient board game nerd.

Website: http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/
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cyningstan.bsky.social
The Necromancer is the final enemy in #Ossuary. He is the cause of all the chaos you've battled through. If you kill him, then you will keep your gold... and your life! You can download the game from cyningstan.itch.io/ossuary #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Keen-eyed viewers might notice that this is a different hero from the earlier posts in this series; it seems that using the wand to fight daemons was a fatal mistake. This new hero has an intelligence of 11, however, so the wand and amulet are the best combination both for daemons, and for the necromancer who is enlarged here in the inset. Note how the inventory is full of potions, many of which will be needed for the final battle with the necromancer.
November 10, 2025 at 1:15 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Some spacecraft I designed for a possible future game in the #StarCadre series. Imagine boarding missions aboard these ships. It's going to be a long time before I get around to that game, though. #gamedev #msdos #cga
A lightly armed ship with some cargo space and some empty rooms awaiting a purpose. To the left is the rear of the ship, with engines and cargo bay. At the top, left of centre, is the crew quarters. The projecting sections at the sides of the ship (top and bottom of the plan) are the turrets with seats for the gunners. Ahead of this is a meeting room, and on the right is the bridge. An armed merchant ship. The bridge is to the left, and the "pods" above and below the central corridor are a crew quarters pod and three cargo pods. Towards the rear is a meeting room and the engines. The bridge needs more decoration. A heavily armed starship with four turrets. At the top is the bridge. Forward left and right are the turrets and room for the gunners. Straddling the central corridor are the crew quarters. Between the engines at the bottom are a meeting room on the left, and a cargo bay to the right.
November 8, 2025 at 1:27 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Recently I released #Barbarians for #msdos. This release was for the #DOSember Game Jam, a 3-month game jam for MS-DOS preceding the month-long DOSember streaming event for 2025. cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #gamedev
A screenshot from the recently released Barbarians for MS-DOS. It uses a similar layout to the versions ZX Spectrum and some Psion pocket computers. A central main map is surrounded by various information panels: on the left, information about the empire as a whole, on the right, information about the last referenced map square, and underneath, the game's name and a one-line prompt and menu display.
November 7, 2025 at 2:05 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The Dagger is a small, cheap blade weapon, the usual starting weapon for characters with Blade skill. The damage caused to enemies is based on the Agility of the player character. Get The #ChambersBeneath from cyningstan.itch.io/the-chambers... #roguelike #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Although Yaneve the Warrior could handle a Sword, there were none in the weapons shop. So Yaneve chose this handy dagger instead. She'll make do with the dagger till there's a decent sword in the shop. Her dagger is enlarged in the inset.
November 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The eleventh of the Jam Levels is the only one that needs Multibot. It needs both a gun to shoot the generator, and a spring to jump over the remaining forcefield, and Multibot is the only one that carries both. Get #TeamDroid from cyningstan.itch.io/team-droid #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Multibot begins the penultimate level. Multibot has all three attachments: walker to allow lateral movement, phaser to shoot, and spring to leap. Here, Multibot is preparing to step sideways out of cover, and shoot one of the guards who should be in Multibot's line of fire. Multibot's disadvantages are the small memory, lack of inventory, and the lack of any instruction in ROM.
November 5, 2025 at 6:38 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Once #BarrenPlanet had been tested it was time to launch it into the world. I've launched three projects since, and the process hasn't changed much. You can read about the launch process at dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/201/bar... #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga
The Barren Planet title screen, the first thing a player sees when they launch the game. This is a 3D render of barren terrain bearing a few of game game's most iconic units: the Mining Base, a Gun Platform, a couple of Ground Rovers and a few Hoverbugs. This image is used in full colour for the manual cover, but is here reduced to the four-colour palette for the CGA title screen.
November 4, 2025 at 3:02 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Daemons are spirits of the underworld, the strongest monster in the game apart from the Necromancer. Blades bounce off them, so defeat them with scrolls or the magic wand. You can download #Ossuary from cyningstan.itch.io/ossuary #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Daemons appear at level 20. Our hero's use of the wand is probably unwise here, because intelligence hasn't increased for a long time. The banish spells in our inventory would be a much better way of dealing with the daemon, who is enlarged in the inset.
November 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
That palette of yours is gorgeous, I've often wondered what could be done with it. It also has some colour mixing I hadn't noticed, like the gorgeous pearly grey in the throne room. Demon Stalkers used this palette, and I used it for a swamp mockup of a game I'm not going to make.
The first level of Demon Stalkers uses a palette of dark cyan, with light green, red, and yellow. Mockup of the swamp map of the Ice Tower, a game I planned but don't intend to develop further. Different environments would have used different palettes, the swamp having a palette of dark cyan, with light green, red, and yellow.
November 1, 2025 at 10:06 AM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The latest member of my #Psion family arrived today, another Series 3 classic 256k. I've installed #Barbarians on it, along with Ground Attack, which you can get from damian.cyningstan.org.uk/downloads/21... (I plan on creating a proper home for my Psion games eventually).
A Psion Series 3 "classic" 256k model. It's one of the newer ones, with the memory printed on the keyboard half of the clamshell case; older ones have it with the rest of the text to the right of the screen. It's running Ground Attack, a game I developed mostly in 2011/2012. The game is fun, but the computer player is inadequate.
October 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The currency of the game, gold Coins found in the dungeon can be spent in the shops, or "cashed in" for city-wide credit to free up some of the character's inventory space. Get The #ChambersBeneath from cyningstan.itch.io/the-chambers... #roguelike #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Brittina the Mage starts her adventure with twenty coins in her inventory. Some items in The Chambers Beneath can be stacked, and stacks of items have a number superimposed to show how many items are in the stack. Coins can be stacked up to 16, but Brittina starts with two stacks of ten. One stack is enlarged in the inset.
October 30, 2025 at 4:50 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The tenth of the Jam Levels in #TeamDroid bring the guards, forcefields and generators from the previous level, and add to them piles of crates that need moving out of the way. Soldier is an obvious choice for this level. Get the game from cyningstan.itch.io/team-droid #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Soldier has shot its way through the crate obstruction, and is now getting ready to shoot a guard and one of the forcefield generators. Soldier will have to shoot the upper forcefield generator to get access to the datacard. The guards shoot, so it might be a good idea to shoot the upper guard before trying to take the data card across its line of fire.
October 29, 2025 at 6:07 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Testing #BarrenPlanet wasn't an afterthought. After more than two years of development, I needed to make sure that the game worked. I discuss the testing process in a blog post at dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/200/bar... #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga
In the absence of any image specific to testing, here's a debriefing from one of the battles from First Landing, the campaign supplied with the game. The Nuvutech player has apparently annihilated the attacking Avuscorp forces, which are therefore nowhere to be seen.
October 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Spectres in #Ossuary are spirits through whose ghostly forms normal weapons pass without harm. They can only be destroyed with a wand or a banish spell. You can download the game from cyningstan.itch.io/ossuary #ibmpc #msdos #cga
We meet our first spectres on level 15. Our hero's intelligence isn't quite good enough to deal with spectres using the wand without taking too much injury, so we've opted for the banish spell instead. These have an approximate 50% chance of defeating the spectre outright, but there's also a small chance that the scroll will crumble to dust on failure. The spectre is enlarged in the inset.
October 27, 2025 at 2:21 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
If you like the #cga nostalgia palette, you can play #StarCadre in those colours. Just launch the game with the '-p' option (for palette, or purple, or pink, take your pick). #ibmpc #msdos
Star Cadre: Combat Class in play. Scout Aremiy creeps into a doorway and spots Emynt in the adjacent room. The game is played in a palette of black, cyan, magenta and white, which is the default palette for CGA graphics and is used by many CGA games.
October 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
My new game #Barbarians has a long history that predates my current interest in developing for #ibmpc with #cga graphics. Here's a composite image of it running on the #Psion Series 3 (2010), the ZX Spectrum (2012) and #msdos (2025). The MS-DOS version is at cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos
Barbarians, from top to bottom, running on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum (released 2012), the Psion Series 3 (released 2010), and MS-DOS (released 2025).
October 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The ninth of the Jam Levels in #TeamDroid introduces forcefields and generators. Forcefields can only be switched off by shooting the attached generator. The obvious robot for this task is Soldier, with its built-in phaser. Get the game from cyningstan.itch.io/team-droid #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Soldier has already destroyed a guard robot that was patrolling the central section of this level. Now, soldier is preparing to shoot both of the forcefield generators in a single turn. With the forcefields destroyed, Soldier can then access the data card and the reader.
October 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The Cloak is a garment that provides light protection. Its dark colour aids the character's Stealth skill in remaining unseen, and it also aids the character's Dodging skill for defence. Get The #ChambersBeneath from cyningstan.itch.io/the-chambers... #roguelike #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Aren the Ranger buys a cloak at the ranger supply shop. The cloak will increase the effectiveness of Stealth skill for the purpose of not being seen by monsters. If Aren develops Dodging skill, the cloak will provide a little bit of armour that will help with dodging blows. The Cloak is enlarged in the inset.
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
A lot went on in the 2½ years it took to develop #BarrenPlanet: planning, the creation of a wargame library, the coding itself, and building the content. I talk about this in a blog post at dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/199/bar... #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga
The campaign definition file for the First Landing campaign. One of the major phases of development was building this content. Each of the sixteen battles had a briefing for each side, a victory debrief for each side, and a defeat debriefing for each side: a total of six short documents for each battle: 96 in all. This added to all the battle details like the map and unit disposition, and the graphics for the campaign, was a lot of content.
October 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Many of the citizens buried in the #Ossuary were brave warriors who had fallen in battle. The necromancer has reanimated their bleached bones, and their skeletons wander the corridors and chambers. You can download the game from cyningstan.itch.io/ossuary #ibmpc #msdos #cga
On level 10 we start to find skeletons. We also found an amulet on level 8 or 9, which has changed up the combat arithmetic again. The amulet, like the wand, adds a +2 bonus to intelligence, and makes that the stat used for defence. So using the wand and amulet together provides a +4 bonus for both attacking and defending. We did also pick up an iron shield, which adds +4 to defence. So the hero's best options are either using wand/amulet for 12/12 attack/defence, or sword/iron shield for 11/13 attack/defence. We've chosen magic to fight the skeletons, which are enlarged in the inset.
October 20, 2025 at 1:25 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Hostages are present in two missions: Hostage, a single hostage to free, and Rescue, where you must rescue as many captured hostages as you can. Hostages may have useful skills. Download Star Cadre: Combat Class at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #StarCadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Aphe the Hostage has yet to be freed, and the player team doesn't have a blade among them to do the job. So they'll need to go and find one, and come back and rescue Aphe and their companion. Notice the range of combat skills which, once freed and armed, Aphe can lend to the team.
October 18, 2025 at 12:50 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
A filling and nutritious foodstuff, a Chicken can restore four hit points of health over four turns. More efficient for healing but bulkier than other foodstuffs. Get The #ChambersBeneath from cyningstan.itch.io/the-chambers... #roguelike #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Yaneve the Warrior loves Chicken. She bought these two roast chickens from the general shop for just such an occasion as this. Her health is getting low, there are still monsters around, and she needs to eat to regain her strength. Roast chicken will make an excellent meal. We manage to enlarge them in the inset before Yaneve gobbles them up.
October 16, 2025 at 1:28 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
There's no sneaking past the guards on the eighth of the Jam Levels in #TeamDroid. They watch over the entrance to the card room. They only way in is to shoot them. The obvious droid for this task is Soldier. Get the game from cyningstan.itch.io/team-droid #ibmpc #msdos #cga
Soldier gets ready to shoot one of the guards and charge into the room with the data card and reader. These guards don't move, so shooting one of them is sufficient to open up a way into the room. Once into the room, the task of putting the card in the reader is trivial, whether you have the means to pick it up or not.
October 15, 2025 at 1:15 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
The feature list of #BarrenPlanet, while it never spiralled out of control, was one of the main reasons it changed from a 1-month jam project into a major 2½ year project. I discuss the features I added at dos.cyningstan.org.uk/post/198/bar... #gamedev #ibmpc #msdos #cga
A screen shot using Barren Planet's monochrome option, which displays the graphics in 640x200 monochrome, with dithered patterns replacing the colours. The game's "Remote Turn" screen is shown, where turn files received from a human opponent are processed, and the opponent's moves played back. PBM mode was one of the new features of Barren Planet.
October 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Cadavers are the decomposing bodies of citizens who hoped to enjoy a peaceful burial in the ossuary, but who have been reanimated by the necromancer. Now they are dangerous foes to the hero. You can download #Ossuary from cyningstan.itch.io/ossuary #ibmpc #msdos #cga
On level 8, cadavers start to appear. Our hero found a sword back on level 5 or 6, but also levelled up their intelligence to 8. Continuing to wield the wand adds a +2 bonus to intelligence, providing an offensive strength of 8+2=10. But wielding the sword adds a +4 bonus to attack strength, giving an offensive strength of 7+4=11. So it makes sense to switch to the sword to attack the cadaver, who is enlarged in the inset.
October 13, 2025 at 3:29 PM
cyningstan.bsky.social
Enemies are a distinct class in Star Cadre: Combat Class. The game difficulty level determines the extent of their combat skills. Enemy stats and skills are not shown to the player. You can download the game at cyningstan.itch.io/star-cadre-c... #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga
The enemy unit Othier was the object of this assassination mission, so the player units can now exit the mission location. All of Othier's stats and skills are hidden, but he was presumably most comfortable with Heavy Firearms, as evidenced by the laser rifle that he was holding.
October 11, 2025 at 1:33 PM