August 12, this year, shall mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the most influencial microcomputer, the IBM PC (also called the 5150). PCjam is where we shall get together and showcase our programs made for the 5150 in commemoration of the event.
This means, for those who are not aware of the 5150's capabilities, that we program with the following limitations and rules:
- Must be compiled/written for an 8088 processor.
- Must support either the CGA or MDA chips (or both). Example modes include:
- Graphical 320x200 resolution, 4 colors;
- Graphical 640x200 resolution, 2 colors;
- Textual 80x25 resolution, 16 colors;
- Textual 40x25 resolution, 16 colors;
- Traphucal 160x100 resolution, 16 colors.
- 8-bit audio using the second channel in the PIT
- If reliant on MS-DOS, must be version 6.22 or lower
- 640kb of RAM maximum for the PC. No expanded memory is allowed
- It would be great if it worked on real hardware. This is not a must, though (read below)
- The program itself can be anything: game, utility, demo, bootable, hosted, etc.
If you're new to the scene, we recommend the Open Watcom v2 C MS-DOS toolchain and DOSBox-X as your emulator. If you know what you're doing, then you know what to do :).
Both are available to download below.
Although it is a "game jam" in a sense, it's not traditional. It's not a competition, and you may include projects you've already worked on in the past. The idea is to have a neat selection of programs towards the end of the event.
If you are new to retroprogramming, no worries. Here is a set of references, tutorials and tools for assistance:
- Open Watcom v2 toolchain
- A project template with a Makefile for the above
- DOSBox-X
- Netwide Assembler
- Dev86, an 8086 toolchain for Unices
- gcc-ia16, a GCC backend for the 8086 architecture
- Introduction to MS-DOS C programming with Open Watcom v2
- Video programming guide
- Audio programming guide (TBA)
For support in 8086/8088 Assembly programming and PCjam in general, there is the Assemblers Community on Matrix and Discord.
Other communities are not affiliated with PCjam and must not be used for PCjam questions, nor DOSBox-X, OpenWatcom or PCem support. Please use them appropriately.
If you have a program to share, send it or a link to midsmail@protonmail.com. If it complies with the rules, it'll appear below and be available to download for all for free. Doesn't matter if you're a newbie; it's about the journey.
The deadline is August 12, the anniversary. Excuse the classic method of submission; Itch was considered but dropped.
EttinOS |
Spread! |
8088ify |
sprite for MS-DOS |
Tetris Attack |
Nyan Cat v1.0 |
Small C Compiler |
Toledo Atomchess |
ICRE Raymarcher |
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