Devlog
Short notes from the build, newest first. RSS
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13 Sep 2026, 05:07 UTC
The big refactor
The game used to have five separate ideas of what a computer is. Now every machine, including your own AMY 16, runs on one simulated computer with its own disk, shell and programs. Along the way the AMY 16 gained a 16-colour hi-res graphics mode, fast .COM programs alongside BASIC, separate music and computer volume controls, and two new games: BRIKOUT and the flight toy FLYING BEAGLES.
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01 Sep 2026, 16:37 UTC
A scripting language for the machines
80SHACK is going through a refactor. The goal is that the computers in the game are actually simulated: a machine has a filesystem, a process table, a terminal and programs that run on it, rather than every screen being a special case in the engine. The first large piece of that has landed. The Unix tier machines now have their own scripting language, BARK. It is small and Python-like, with indentation blocks, functions, lists and string formatting. A script is just a file on the machine, so if hello.bark sits in the directory you are in, typing hello runs it. You can read the source with cat, because it is a file like any other. Scripts run as real processes. They take time, they can be interrupted with Ctrl+C, and they appear in ps. How fast a script runs comes from the machine's clock speed, so a better computer visibly runs your code faster. Background work arrived with it. An ampersand after a command sends it to the background and hands your prompt straight back; jobs lists what is running, kill stops it. A script that sleeps waits in game time, so a job that waits five minutes waits five minutes of 1984. None of this is player-facing content yet. It is the floor the rest gets built on.
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31 Jul 2026, 12:00 UTC
Less copying and pasting for boards
Boards used to repeat themselves: every login screen and message post was typed out by hand. Common bits are shared now, so a new board takes less typing and fewer chances to slip up.
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21 Jul 2026, 12:00 UTC
Jobs that write themselves
One board now posts a fresh job every week on its own, nobody behind it wrote it by hand. Wardial the prefix it names, drop what answers, and get paid.
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07 Jul 2026, 12:00 UTC
Money that moves
BatDime wallets are real now. Dial the exchange, register one, and the rate drifts a little every day. Cash out to dollars or send coins to another wallet whenever you like.
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03 Jul 2026, 12:00 UTC
The first jobs
Real jobs went up on the Black Knight board: download a file, crack or decode it, drop it back, and get paid. Wardialling is in too, for scanning a prefix for anything that answers.
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23 Jun 2026, 12:00 UTC
We put up a sign
80SHACK has a website now, with a roadmap and this devlog. The game is still pre-alpha, but you can follow along here. There is an RSS feed if you would rather subscribe than visit.
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19 Jun 2026, 18:00 UTC
Refine and repair
A round of refactoring and fixes: cleaner internals, a couple of stubborn save and load bugs put to rest, and the help screen finally mentions how to dial a board.
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15 Jun 2026, 19:00 UTC
You can dial now
DIAL and CONNECT landed as real commands. Pick up the modem, call a number off a scrap of paper, and a board answers. The opening of the game plays end to end.
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24 May 2026, 17:00 UTC
Breaking the monolith
A big refactor: one giant file became many small ones. Nothing the player sees, and everything the game needs to keep growing.
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12 May 2026, 23:00 UTC
Secrets on the wire
Easter eggs and secrets went in early, because a hacking game should reward poking at things. Some of them are still waiting to be found.
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12 May 2026, 19:00 UTC
Save and load
A proper save and load system went in. The winter persists between sessions now: money, mail, heat, and all.
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12 May 2026, 15:00 UTC
Games inside the game
You can type in and run little BASIC programs on the AMY 16, just like 1983. Hunt the Wumpus, a snake, hangman, blackjack, a lunar lander, and more are on the tape.
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11 May 2026, 20:00 UTC
Time, at four times speed
Fixed the game clock and untangled the timing code. One clock drives the whole world at 4x real time, so sessions and days tick by the way they should.
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10 May 2026, 22:00 UTC
Too much radio
Spent far too long on the radio. It needed doing. The bedroom has sound now, and the world feels a little more awake for it.