Kroc Camen

Writing a book about a world inside an hourglass

Patreon: https://patreon.com/KrocCamen
Read the book:: https://camendesign.com/writing/nomad/online.html

Public Key

npub1xa20exrwx3e9hnzp6cwv7ze56k0kqp4rhnvn8y8yv7jufrzurdds63svg7

NIP-05 Address

kroc_at_oldbytes.space@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsrw48unphrgujme3qav8x0pv6dt8mqq63mekfnjrjx0fwy33wpkkcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsg8gl90

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relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1xa20exrwx3e9hnzp6cwv7ze56k0kqp4rhnvn8y8yv7jufrzurdds63svg7

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Last Notes

2026-08-28 07:40:47 UTC

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Sending hugs of death <3

2026-07-15 11:56:24 UTC

It's 2026 -- DOES YOUR HARDWARE ACCELERATED WINDOW MANAGER CAST SHADOWS ACCURATELY?? 1996 for comparison.
#psion #wayland #linux #retrocomputing
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/923/851/425/179/622/original/d608c38019c22b6f.mp4

2026-07-03 10:43:05 UTC

Unless you were largely cognisant during the late 90s, it's very hard to get across to you just _how_ bristling with positive energy computing was back then, just **look** at this opening screen, it screams "ARE YOU READY TO LEARN MOTHERF*CKER?!".
It has dolphins, in the clouds. How many smartphone apps welcome you with dolphins in clouds?
#encarta #90s #retrocomputing
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/855/622/050/084/744/original/b363a4946a7f5edf.png

2026-06-26 04:14:57 UTC

HTTP 371: Goose Not Valued

2026-06-22 23:00:27 UTC

Lol, I can't draw lines across my screen any more because #KDE copied #Apple and broke autorepeat
@npub1ncy…3x0q
#linux #kdeplasma #ux #ui
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/796/234/154/548/262/original/c706ef7af8152ab2.png

2026-06-16 18:29:38 UTC

#commodore #callback
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/761/198/243/288/618/original/ea30001d1698228e.png

2026-06-15 08:42:33 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@bagder/116752578588644079
More of this energy please:
“Q: The bad guys won’t rest
A: Probably not. But we will.
Q: But what if there is an emergency
A: Then we get to read about it in August. Or you get a support contract and we get to read about it earlier.”
#note1nz3…pv4u

2026-05-08 08:08:40 UTC

"As the #Fedora Project Leader, I am absolutely not concerned about the reputational damage to this project that comes with setting up an entirely new output attractive to developers who want to make use of Ai tools."
https://www.osnews.com/story/144894/fedora-project-leader-says-he-doesnt-care-about-the-reputational-damage-from-fedora-embracing-ai/
As I said with #Blender, if traitorous leaders cannot be removed from #FOSS projects then #opensource is no better than Fascism.
#linux #noai

2026-04-28 15:12:50 UTC

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A British classic
#worldglass #greggs #retrocomputing #palmtop #psion
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/482/960/279/944/987/original/b8cca3907fc56f11.jpeg

2026-04-14 12:03:26 UTC

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Currently slumming it on the train…
#psion #retrocomputing #writing #writersofmastodon #worldglass
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/402/954/887/397/496/original/1ed7cc9c9c67eac7.jpeg

2026-04-03 10:14:13 UTC

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Back to the grind
#worldglass #writing #writersofmastodon #psion #retrocomputing
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/340/235/972/314/382/original/8ffc36020c764a92.jpeg

2026-03-26 16:07:08 UTC

Sneak peak. #worldglass #writing #psion
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/116/296/325/582/700/275/original/4e455c870e4c3721.jpeg

2026-01-12 04:13:18 UTC

I can no longer find the screenshot, but in the days of #Netscape and #Mozilla, Netscape were so hell bent on pushing "search" in their browser that a Mozilla dev changed every menu item to "Search" to mock them. I think of that screenshot every time I hear of Microsoft adding yet another copilot button to Windows
https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/01/09/copilot-could-soon-live-inside-windows-11s-file-explorer-as-microsoft-tests-chat-with-copilot-in-explorer-not-just-in-a-separate-app/
#enshitification #ai #microsoft #copilot #microslop

2026-01-05 14:09:30 UTC

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It's a literal golden turd with a piece of glass stuck in it
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/115/842/880/822/225/677/original/4bd7434d83f6ea34.png

2026-01-05 13:17:29 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.online/@nikitonsky/115842181787810835
The clowns took over and are running the circus now. Complete generational knowledge loss happening here.
#note1csj…xkgs

2025-09-29 19:17:47 UTC

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Bear with me whilst I work this out; my head has been in a spin for a few days with the infinite possibilities and loose ends.
#Forth is almost wilfully, aggressively impenetrable. I respect it for what it achieves with so little but it's not for me. I realised that unlike #uxn, what I really want isn't a stack-machine but a register-machine.
People keep talking about making "simple" software but really what I keep seeing is toys. I see this in uxn with its 8-bit CPU and 64 KB program space, or Pico8 with its ridiculous 128x128 resolution and 32K token limit. Limits like these don't actually make software simple, it places a greater burden on the programmer to do really low-level engineering that's just a distraction from the program they want to write. You only have to try writing an 8-bit division routine from scratch once to know what a brutal multi-day excursion that can be. If the programmer is having to manually implement allocation and virtual memory -- things that should be completely transparent to the program -- that's not simpler software.
Simple software can be serious, can be a replacement for big, bloated software. My ideal VM would be 32 (or 64)-bits wide and assume it's running on top of an already existing OS that has hundreds of megs of RAM. Manual memory management and virtual-memory won't be the programmer's concern, they won't even have to deal with it directly. Even a 15 year old computer is going to be able to run a single VM burning up hundreds of megs with absolute ease.
#retrocomputing #retrodev #programming

2025-09-27 20:43:48 UTC

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I'm looking at this tutorial to build a minimal text-editor in C: https://viewsourcecode.org/snaptoken/kilo/index.html I don't need the text-editor, I don't want to use C for that, but it does provide the bare minimum to get a raw-mode terminal and I could build a VM / Forth using that and then forget about the OS and work in script from there upwards.

2025-09-27 19:44:57 UTC

What's the bare minimum #C89 needed to connect to the console in any OS and, in Windows (inc. XP), Linux & MacOS, enable raw mode? Asking for a friend.
Maybe there's a bare-bones framework out there for "give my app a terminal window and make the OS go away" that doesn't involve installing gigabytes of compiler suites and libraries :|
#programming

2025-09-27 16:31:25 UTC

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That's a good shout, thanks. I had forgot Lua

2025-09-27 16:24:20 UTC

Any suggestion on what the easiest, platform-independent + portable (so either #forth or a vm like #uxn) system exists that can get me writing software that works in a console/terminal within minutes? I just want to focus on the practical details of building a text-editor without fighting with compiling suites and operating systems and neither do I want to deal with "cute" arbitrary limitations (uxn, pico8 etc) that don't want to deal with real-world use cases (I have markdown files several hundred K in size I need to edit)

2025-09-15 11:56:47 UTC

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The supercomputers of the apocalypse will be made from millions of microcontrollers found in the mountains of e-waste

2025-09-12 13:44:46 UTC

I keep thinking about how 70s golden-age sci-fi books are like "Here's an incredible, out-there, trans-human concept that questions our own self-importance in the universe; but enough about that, let's focus on the most boring, awful people in this story, doing everyday normal things."
#writing #reading #scifi

2025-09-02 20:00:52 UTC

If you have *any* love for #FPS games, you must, must, must play Ashes 2063, easily one of the best FPSes ever made, and yet it's a #DOOM mod. It's just been added to #GoG so it's easier than ever to install and run! https://www.gog.com/en/game/ashes_2063
#retrogaming #gaming

2025-06-27 11:41:15 UTC

#Z80 question for experts even though I have a lot of experience with it: the Zilog manual says that the IX/IY offset is relative (signed) but I have _never once_ seen negative offsets used in the wild, e.g. `ld A, [IX-$20]`, I'm not sure all assemblers even support "-" instead of "+" in IX/IY instruction, mine doesn't yet and I'd prefer to confirm this with others first.
-- edit: answer in the replies; it is signed!
#retrocomputing #retrodev

2025-05-09 09:49:51 UTC

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME
The Material theme in #VSCode, used by 4 million users, has been deprecated. VScode automatically recommends migrating to Vira theme, even providing a button to do so for you. Vira theme has a "7 day trial period" :|
#enshitification
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/114/477/236/671/345/815/original/df9082045a6c43d1.png

2025-05-05 21:21:28 UTC

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Surely the sysgen controls that? The machine’s ROM runs sector 0 which should also be a vendor-specific bootstrap to load the pre-generated system binary that combines the generic CPM BDOS with the vendor-supplied BIOS. Since sysgen assembles a new CPM on-demand, control over which floppy is “boot” would rest somewhere there

2025-01-31 13:55:05 UTC

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Yes exactly that, but I accept that I may have made a mistake in editing the sources. This absolutely should have been a UI element to select branch. Never mind, I installed from an ISO instead; I haven’t firmly settled on a distro yet so there’s nothing on the machine to keep

2025-01-31 13:47:47 UTC

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Not all hardware is the same, I can accept that. 🤷 I'm only concerned with design mishaps and shortcomings

2025-01-31 13:45:25 UTC

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Following these instructions nuked the OS. Installed #Debian Trixie from ISO (this makes the 12th time I've installed #Linux). I have KDE, hibernate, a recent enough kernel + software, and .deb compatibility -- hopefully I can stay here. #OpenSuSE Tumbleweed was excellent and I would have stuck with that but I couldn't install some 3rd party software because .deb is often the only choice.
#LinuxIsNotReadyYet

2025-01-27 11:15:42 UTC

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Going to try #Debian testing; instructions say install stable and then switch to the testing branch...
WHY ISN'T THIS JUST A DROP-DOWN TO SELECT THE BRANCH YOU INSANE PEOPLE!?
#linux #LinuxIsNotReadyYet
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/900/026/902/892/908/original/4bac6a35492f50c8.png

2025-01-24 23:05:31 UTC

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Time for #OpenSuSE Tumbleweed! https://get.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/ The installer is quite involved but it does at least have an option to set the swap size to the RAM size! Does "for suspend" mean hibernate? I'm not sure, but we'll find out.
#linux #LinuxIsNotReadyYet
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/885/806/158/128/933/original/ac3fe86596e40d76.png

2025-01-24 20:02:58 UTC

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Installed #Debian (#KDE), hibernate works by default. Uses Kernel 6.1 and older software like Firefox ESR. I would recommend Debian if you want a super-stable KDE-based desktop, but I need something more up-to-date (but not bleeding-edge!) because as a developer I invariably end up needing to install a more recent version of a program over the LTS versions.
Now installing #Fedora 41 (KDE) because I read that it uses Kernel 6.11. This is the 7th time I've installed #Linux but I'm starting to narrow things down.
— edit: Fedora 41 does not support hibernate, lol 🙃
#LinuxIsNotReadyYet

2025-01-23 16:26:58 UTC

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Sometimes you can't make this stuff up
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/878/592/344/462/740/original/4707edb41c79d4e8.png

2025-01-23 16:03:15 UTC

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Problem #2: I use #CloudFlare WARP (https://1.1.1.1) to avoid traffic blocking on public wifi spots as I move around a lot with a laptop. On Windows, I just download and install it.
CloudFlare provide APT or YUM packages for #Linux. You're on #Arch (#Manjaro)? Well, I hope you like the terminal!
I am more resourceful than most, for I suspect the majority of current Windows 10 users would be stumped at that point. I happen to know that I can enable the AUR repository for some more software and there is a build script provided there: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/cloudflare-warp-bin Note how in the first comment that it won't work until you use the terminal to enable the service.
Regardless, something is amiss, as even when I enable the service and reboot, it's not the same UI as on Windows and doesn't even seem to be the same program. It wants me to sign in to some corporate web interface and not just enable secure DNS tunneling via a simple toggle. Here, I am at a loss.
I have installed Linux 5 times now, but now I need to change to another distro that uses APT or YUM, but *also* has working hibernate!
Now, the current state of obtaining third-party software in #Linux is much like the warring states of feudal Japan with no clear Nobunaga (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oda_Nobunaga) yet to unite the Linux software ecosystem. I don't really have a recommendation here for Manjaro, or #KDE; this is a fundamental problem with the lack of binary stability in Linux software but a lot more consideration should be given to end users who just want to run software and less attention to warring factions trying to be the one true standard (Flatpack etc)
#LinuxIsNotReadyYet
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/878/462/728/724/643/original/f92906d7d0c8099f.png

2025-01-23 11:07:15 UTC

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#Kubuntu hibernate doesn't work out of the box, so this is likely more to do with #KDE in general. That said, I did find a "solution", or rather an install option that makes hibernate work as advertised. #Manjaro does give an option for "swap with hibernate" during partitioning. Why was this not exposed in Kubutnu?
Again, my complaint is not that hibernate doesn't work because I didn't RTFM and do the leet hax in the terminal, but that under default options, the hibernate feature is present but does not work when initiated and worse still, does not communicate why nor provide a graphical means of resolving. Even Windows has a GUI for managing the swap file.
If you've had a machine running #Linux for a while and you decide to utilise hibernate at that crucial moment and it doesn't work unless you reinstall your OS or re-partition your drive and rebuild the intramfs / grub, likely requiring a reboot anyway -- why is the feature even presented as available!??
#LinuxIsNotReadyYet
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/877/304/959/577/013/original/99dd780e4bfaca14.png

2025-01-23 10:15:08 UTC

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There is a special place in hell for error messages that give a list of instructions to follow, rather than a button to actually just do the thing.
Why is this message appearing? What does any of this mean to someone who doesn't know what these things are? Wayland? KWin? Fctix? (I know what these are, but there's 600 million soon-to-be-deprecated Windows users who don't)
#Linux #KDE #Kubutnu #LinuxIsNotReadyYet
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/877/125/978/440/266/original/baba195690771f56.png

2025-01-23 09:30:34 UTC

Welcome one and all to the big #Linux BS thread! I get that it's necessary to switch to Linux, I'm imploring you to do so, and I don't want to discourage anyone but I need to document the ways in which Linux is just not ready for 600 Million more users and I don't think it's any technical limitation so much as a lack of design self-awareness.
Case study 1: A basic 1GHz Intel netbook with 4GB RAM. I installed #Manjaro. Keys, touchpad, wifi and screen brightness work, very impressive. I also really like that Manjaro is not dumbed down and I was able to get plenty of information about the hardware.
But hibernate doesn't work. Clicking the button does nothing -- already a design flaw in that it can't even tell me *why* it isn't working. A quick Internet search lets me know that `systemctl hibernate` is the console command for invoking hibernate and should give me an error message. The swapfile size is not big enough, just 512MB for a machine with 4GB of RAM.
Can I resize the swapfile, using `dd` and a number of other `systemctl` commands? Yes! Should I have to? No! If I enable hibernation and it can't hibernate because the swapfile is too small then it should TELL ME and provide a GUI to fix it, and that's without considering that it should have set the swapfile size big enough during installation anyway!
But still, that's not enough. Despite having a hibernate feature, the installation didn't modify `initramfs` & GRUB to handle hibernation! Can I do this manually? Yes! Do / Should I have / want to? Absolutely not!
Now downloading #Kubuntu in hopes that its own features actually work out-of-the-box :|
#KDE #LinuxIsNotReadyYet

2025-01-13 09:58:37 UTC

Hi, #fediverse #linux peeps -- what's your recommendations for KDE-based distros for someone switching to Linux from Windows? I can't stand #GNOME but most all distros are GNOME based and their #KDE variants are secondary considerations, so I would prefer a KDE-first distro. In lieu of knowing better I intend to go with KDE Neon

2024-12-25 09:08:29 UTC

Was go-karting with my son last night during a fireworks show and that’s the closest I’ll ever get to the last race of Ridge Racer Type 4, where the race occurs at the turn of the new millennium (it was incredible tho) #ridgeracer #psx #retrogaming
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/712/662/707/653/300/original/842e2e637bb970a6.jpeg

2024-12-22 16:00:35 UTC

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"When playing a 4-player split screen game, every person has the equivalent of a 21-inch monitor" #crt #retrogaming

2024-12-22 15:26:30 UTC

I'm only 6 minutes into this 35 minute video and the story of tracking down the world's largest CRT from 1989 is *wild*. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfZxOuc9Qwk #crt #retrogaming

2024-12-17 15:26:23 UTC

If you're writing games for retro computers like the #C64 or #ZXSpectrum please consider, firstly, being able to play 100% with a controller (that's a given), but even where the system doesn't support controllers with more than 1 button, to consider emulators mapping keyboard controls to modern gamepads such as XBox / PS4 / #8BitDo!
#Elite is a very keyboard-driven game but I really want to play on my #PSP or on PC but with a modern controller. Elite is problematic in this regard specifically due to a combination of shortcommings in both emulators and the game itself:
The game uses many separate keys for things that should just be toggles; e.g. C to enable docking computers, P to disable; T to target missile, U to untarget, D to fire missile and so on.
This on its own would not be a problem if suitable button combinations ("chords" or "aliases") can be created, e.g. "R+A" = target, "L+A" = untarget, but very few, if any, emualtors support this!!!
Fixing the emulators is not the total solution. Emulation of 8-bit systems has been adequate for decades and there will be some emulators that will never be updated (e.g. on PSP) so we need to work with already exists.
For Elite, I'm proposing to include a screen (mockup attached) that provides a set of standard keys that can be mapped for any emulator and to implement the chording within the game. I intend to make versisons for Sony and XBox controllers where L2/R2 are available.
I'd like to see this become some sort of standard so that more retro games are accessible to modern players on the hardware they want without needing to change the original hardware (gamepad adaptors) or the emulators (bit-rot).
#emulation #retrogaming #retrocomputing #retrodev
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/668/749/040/996/509/original/b0ffa22e8b7a69c0.png

2024-12-11 18:07:34 UTC

Oh, you know, only #PS3 emulation ON A RASPBERRY PI at 30fps lol https://rpcs3.net/blog/2024/12/09/introducing-rpcs3-for-arm64/ #raspberrypi #rpi #retrogaming

2024-12-11 17:49:40 UTC

#Spyro 1 is like those weird Scandinavian cartoons you would find on TV only at 5-6AM; very aesthetic, ethereal and tinged with a deep, unspoken lore and culture. Spyro 2 is more like prime-time cartoons -- loud, dumb and prone to bouts of endless talking to fill air-time. I love all 3, but I've replayed the first many, many times more than the others because every time I think of all the challenges in Spyro 2/3, I'm put off. I just want to experience the vibes man, not do chores. #retrogaming #psx

2024-12-10 16:57:28 UTC

I’m looking at all my old computers that I need to decommission for scrap or giving away and it pains me that, whilst with a ton of time and effort I can get them running as well as possible, there is no practical use I can put them to; software has failed them.
A 10 year old computer is in many respects in a worse position than a 20 or 30 year old one because it’s software is built around the same principles of today, but is unusable slow for those tasks — an 8 bit computer is more useful than a Pentium 4 machine!
#retrocomputing

2024-11-27 15:58:45 UTC

Anybody writing code for retro computers / consoles is a god amongst programmers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23OEi2xhELk
#sega #megadrive #segagensis #segacd #retrogaming #retroprogramming

2024-11-19 07:51:01 UTC

Incredible #PSP mod; 12-16 hours of battery! If only there were a drop-in modern battery replacement for the PSP :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxy_Oc3zHuk
#retrogaming (PSP is almost 20yo :x)

2024-11-17 18:43:39 UTC

A level of workmanship you can barely believe is possible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSin6MzqSCU
#retrocomputing #ibm #thinkpad

2024-11-17 18:12:21 UTC

This review of *original* #TransportTycoon is far too well produced for a mere 5K subs channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uF4Nefvz24
#retrogaming #retrocomputing

2024-10-17 21:05:42 UTC

@npub1fll…ut6u New Tower of Power software dropped; fully utilises all 5 processors: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/148783-doom-cd32x-fusion/
#sega #segagenesis #32x #megadrive #retrogaming

2024-09-16 07:56:07 UTC

Presented without comment:
#twitter #webdev #webdesign
https://assets.oldbytes.space/assets.oldbytes.space/media_attachments/files/113/146/156/126/807/285/original/af341bb53130c5a6.png

2024-09-06 18:22:17 UTC

#spelunky has been released on the #Commodore64! https://paulko64.itch.io/spelunky64
#8bit #C64 #indiegame #gamedev

2024-08-07 14:59:23 UTC

Replaying No One Lives Forever 1 after completing the sequel and... it's good. Really good.
What the #BoomerShooter of today overlooks is that after #HalfLife the #FPS had finally moved on from the so-called #DOOM clone model and could be anything it wanted. #NOLF is a perfect Y2K example that couldn't exist today. If you have any interest in FPS variety, you must play play it.
#retrogaming #retrocomputing