Nostr notes by Cyningstan

Congratulations!

2026-05-28T15:22:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…keqe
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Congratulations!

Your empire might be bounded by the sea. The sea is completely ...

2026-05-18T18:10:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…a3l6
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Your empire might be bounded by the sea. The sea is completely impassable to your armies, but any port city will bring in 3 gold from sea trade for each adjacent sea square, in addition to that raised by taxes. Save the empire from the #Barbarians by downloading the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga

Mountains in #Barbarians are sources of iron for your weaponry. A ...

2026-05-11T15:51:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…hdtm
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Mountains in #Barbarians are sources of iron for your weaponry. A city beside the mountains will get 3 iron from each adjacent mountain square. Traversal is extremely difficult for your troops, though, and it can take several turns for an army to make the climb. The game is available from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga

If your empire is blessed with forests in #Barbarians, then you ...

2026-05-04T11:55:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…7k0d
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If your empire is blessed with forests in #Barbarians, then you may have a free source of wood: each city generates 3 wood for each adjacent forest square. The trees can hamper the movement of your troops, though, taking a couple of turns for them to make it through. Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga

Your empire in #Barbarians has up to 4 different types of ...

2026-04-27T19:14:14Z

Your empire in #Barbarians has up to 4 different types of terrain, the most plentiful being plains. This is where food is grown, and the flat landscape is easy for your armies to traverse. A city generates 3 food for each plains square that surrounds it, including plains squares shared with other cities. Get the game from https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #ibmpc #msdos #cga

For my other hobby of ancient #boardgames I self-published a book ...

2026-01-18T13:42:19Z

For my other hobby of ancient #boardgames I self-published a book over a decade ago: "A Book of Historic Board Games." History, rules and strategy for twelve board games spread across the world and across time, some of which you might not know about. You can buy it from https://www.lulu.com/shop/damian-gareth-walker/a-book-of-historic-board-games/paperback/product-1re9pzq4.html or from some better known sources...

Taking a break from MS-DOS, I've been working on a game for ...

2025-11-30T12:38:11Z

Taking a break from MS-DOS, I've been working on a game for the #PsionSeries3 pocket computer, of which I own too many. Dragonfell is a #HOMM inspired game where two sides raise armies of creatures and send them against one another across a decaying land, trying to seize the other's citadel. That game goes into beta test today, hopefully for a release by Christmas. There may be an #msdos version in future, as it's different enough from HOMM to be worth porting.

Recently I released #Barbarians for #msdos, a simple strategy ...

2025-11-07T14:05:18Z

Recently I released #Barbarians for #msdos, a simple strategy game about repelling a barbarian invasion in ancient times. 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. The rules stated that picking up "abandoned projects" was allowed, and Barbarians for MS-DOS was a project I'd put aside at the end of 2024; the jam was the perfect time to pick it up again. https://cyningstan.itch.io/barbarians-dos #gamedev

I noticed that the "Equip your character" box was missing ...

2025-09-08T20:34:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…3ptx
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I noticed that the "Equip your character" box was missing the Archery combat skill, for which the recommended item is Sling. I've corrected that and re-uploaded the guide to https://cyningstan.itch.io/the-chambers-beneath

Almost nobody has time or inclination to read manuals nowadays. I ...

2025-08-21T15:28:27Z

Almost nobody has time or inclination to read manuals nowadays. I know that, even though I still write them. But if you go into The #ChambersBeneath without some foreknowledge then you're sure to die quickly and often. Luckily, I've put together a 1-page quickstart guide. It gets you started, and has some handy information for later in the game. I'm sure even you have time to take a look at it! You can get it from the same place you got the game: https://cyningstan.itch.io/the-chambers-beneath

Here is The #ChambersBeneath running on a Book 8088, badly ...

2025-07-06T15:46:19Z

Here is The #ChambersBeneath running on a Book 8088, badly photographed. Like my other games, it has a command line option to invoke the default CGA nostalgia palette, which I used because brown on this screen appears as bright orange. #msdos #cga

An updated collage of my four latest games for #msdos on the ...

2024-12-12T23:15:06Z

An updated collage of my four latest games for #msdos on the #ibmpc. That's quite a range of colour for humble #cga!

All these games are available from my web site, http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/ and from my Itch page https://cyningstan.itch.io/

If you want to support further development, then the easiest ways are to follow the Ko-fi links on my web site or to make a donation when downloading from Itch.

I haven't posted this pretty thing in a while. Even on an RGB ...

2024-11-13T14:47:53Z

I haven't posted this pretty thing in a while. Even on an RGB screen where it's reduced to 4 colours, CGA still offers a variety of palettes, more varied than people realise. In this diagram I've weeded out the ones with duplicate colours, leaving 78 unique palettes in total. #ibmpc #msdos #cga

Auxilliaries support the Solders. They are armed with a Laser ...

2024-09-14T13:51:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…h44f
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Auxilliaries support the Solders. They are armed with a Laser Pistol, and have the Light Firearms skill necessary to use it. Sometimes they have a helmet or body armour. #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga

Soldiers are the backbone of your missions. Their main skill is ...

2024-09-10T13:52:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…8u0g
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Soldiers are the backbone of your missions. Their main skill is Heavy Firearms, they carry a Laser Rifle, and are protected with a helmet and body armour. #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga

Your team in Star Cadre: Combat Class is made up of up to four ...

2024-09-07T13:13:57Z

Your team in Star Cadre: Combat Class is made up of up to four different unit classes. In addition, there are enemies and hostages. Over the coming weeks I'll describe each of them. Play the game at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/downloads/261/star-cadre-combat-class

It's still warm enough here for some outdoor gaming. Here is ...

2024-09-01T14:08:15Z

It's still warm enough here for some outdoor gaming. Here is Star Cadre: Combat Class running on an HP100LX. As usual with my phone photography, it looks better in real life. #starcadre #ibmpc #msdos #cga #hp100lx #hp200lx