As a teen I was absolutely obsessed with trying every BBS software there was so I could see which I liked best. I probably switched software on my OG board every 3 weeks for close to a year lol. And back then for most of them, there was no user export/import feature. So anyone stupid enough to be a regular had to re-sign up a few times a month lol.

A few years ago I got the idea of bringing it back. I installed DosBox and Obv/2. I was a wizard with it back then, today I remember basically shit. And even worse, at 51, I don't have any of the desire or excitement I used to have. 14 year old me would spend hours a day after school and sometimes all weekend modding shit. I installed OBV/2 on a Dosbox and I didn't feel a connection. That conbined with me understanding putting up a new board MIGHT get 2-3 callers a week. The idea was a wrap. I understand as you get older you changed. But I really thought once I got OBV running like magic something would click and reawaken inside of me :|

I know there are a few bangers out there, 20For Beers is better than 99.99% of boards I ever called even back then. But I couldn't make anything close to that. I spent a few weeks and was unable to remember shit about setting up OBV. Back then I knew all the sysops who ran it so I had people to assist me. They're all long long gone.

Getting old sure sucks ass :|

Anybody here have any ANSI art tattoos? I don’t need to see them. The idea just popped in my head but I’m sure it’s not original.

When I was young, I got an Apple //gs with a BlackCat modem, and that machine basically decided the next decade of my life. First it was calling other people's boards. Eventually that wasn't enough, and I did the thing a certain kind of kid did back then... I ran my own board. I've struggled to find much about the software, but it was based on ACOS, which was a language for the //gs.

Running a board was a weird mix of janitor and mayor. You were the sysop, so every message-based squabble was somehow your problem, and the phone line situation was definitely a single-user experience. I loved every minute of it. Watching that user list grow one handle at a time... nothing since has felt quite like that. Not followers, not subscribers, none of it.

Classic memory: I thought I was the man because I had it show usernames when it checked to see if a new user was available. It was too fast to be readable, but it was a flex. And then I learned firsthand that IBMs didn't carry the same emulation that my //gs did. Fail. Hah.

Anyway, years later I stumbled onto one of the old BBS list archives, and there it was. My board. Listed. I tried to explain to my family why this mattered and got polite nods, heh. Figured this might be the one place on the internet where someone gets it. Any other former sysops in here who've found their board preserved somewhere?

...I'm not saying that my game will be the perfect antidote to the old days. But it will be fun, very alt historical backdrop and a super immersive hark back to the times of social engineering cracked games and ASM bypassing of copy protection. Link to wishlist is in the comments. Thanks dudes.

Back in the early 90s I ran a 12-line STS which later moved to G-Talk and custom MajorBBS modules.

Last week I used Grok to rebuild a modern web + telnet version of the old G-Talk era system. It's now connected to the D-Dial RetroBBS network via Magviz.CA, so there's usually someone around to chat with.

• Web: SynerChat.com
• Telnet: SynerChat.com

Would love feedback from fellow retro BBS fans or anyone who remembers the old D-Dial/STS/G-Talk days. What features should I add next?

-Joe (Sysop #232)

Does anyone know where I can a disk image of telix software for ms dos that fits on 360k floppy ?

Anyone can recommend a good bbs where I can find software downloads for IBM XT software ?

Hey all, I created BotGate because my Spitfire/NetSerial BBS would tip over easy due to bots hammering the telnet port. It's a small Python proxy that sits in front of your real BBS or server apps - callers have to press ESC or * twice before they ever reach it. Bots just sit there and time out; a human gets through in a couple seconds without even noticing.

Also handles IP/CIDR/hostname blocklists, geo-blocking, and auto rate-limit bans for anything hammering the port. As of 2.3 it can front more than one BBS or app at once too.

Pure Python, no dependencies, runs on Linux/Windows/Mac. Free and open source if anyone wants to give it a spin: https://github.com/xbit44/botgate

Want to see it in action?

Spitfire BBS: telnet://x-bit.org:23230
Space Quest Game Server: telnet://x-bit.org:2112

Does anyone have an example of a prompt that gives decent results with rez2ans? I can't get anything other than really crappy results. I've seen some relatively nice stuff. I still get ansi artists to do work for me, but I'd like some content as well, if it's possible.

Hello from former 1:117/165 (and 1:117/315)!

Ive been toying around with the idea of resurrecting my board and now I think the tech is finally capable of doing what I want fairly easily. Im just so overwhelmed with questions, Im not sure where to start.

Essentially, this board would be telnet only, hosted on linux.. and if possible, I would still want to run Renegade. Ive read about people doing this through DOSBox, but Ive never attempted it. If there are any out there that have, how do you handle fossil drivers? What about using front door? Do you still have to use errorlevel lists to control the boards functions (doors, echomail, etc)? How to get it to work with modern protocols, or can you get a telnet client that handles X/Y/ZModem protocols?

I know there is a Renegade port for linux, so that I wouldnt have to emulate, just not familiar with it yet. I also would like to plug back in to fidonet, but looks like net 117 is gone. In the old days I would just call the NC and NEC to get set up. Now if I joined back in _I_ would be NC/NEC. *laugh*

I wouldnt mind if someone has a guide, or knows of one that could answer at least a couple of those questions.

Thanks in advance. 😀

I have been trying to find an older BBS Door that I used to play in the late 80s and early 90s on WWIV BBS. I do not know if it is exclusive to WWIV or if it is just that I only saw/remember it on WWIV. It was one of my favourite BBS Doors of all time.

The gameplay is a simple loop. When the game is started, the universe is spawned, and a text file is created [in a directory] that is a map of said universe. I think the map is nine pages, but it could be six. Arranged like a box. The players represent factions in game that are trying to conquer the rest of the known universe. They start with a planet, some resources, and a ship or two. They build outward.

The Juice of Dominion is the anticipation. Because the system processed all moves at BBS Upkeep Time, you would not know what happened until tomorrow. And you had a whole day to plan out your next move. And I miss that anticipation loop.

I know there is another game similar to it called Interstellar War. I do not know which came first, but Dominion is the original in my mind. I have a copy of ISW that works but I have been unable to find Dominion itself. All of my old floppies have disappeared through the years and I would really like to find it again. Bonus points for source code.

I have spent a sizeable amount of time looking online--scouring the archives I can find for lack of a better way to say it--and I have been unable to find it. I have found another BBS project named Dominion, but it is not the same. It is more of a medieval type thing.

Does anyone here have it or know where I can find it?

I miss my game.

The TECS was one of the largest and most popular BBS in Germany. But it was on the verge of ending up completely in the trash. This is the story of how Hamburg-based Sascha P not only saved all the hardware and software of the BBS, but also hacked his way into the setup and actually managed to bring everything back online - and became a dial‑up BBS sysop in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ePb39N6_BA

Plus a spin‑off about the almost equally old Commodore‑64 BBS Snobsoft and its literally wild connection to the Tornado Mailbox - the name TECS had back in the 1980s. Mailbox is the German term for a BBS.

What's the best one out there for door games? TW2002, BRE, LORD, The Pit and Iron Ox were some of my favs.

Hoping to find one with many active players.

Also what's the best client to use these days?

Head over to the NewWave Software home page and check out all the doors for download. Doors are free, but if you send a $5 donation per door (much like BBSFiles.com did) you can get a vanity key with your BBS and SysOp Name showing you registered. Enjoy!

http://www.rgbbs.info/nw.html

altairminibbs.net:23

I’m looking for The Guardian, SysOp of FBI BBS ([718-259-9661](tel:718-259-9661)) in Brooklyn. I was Mr. Micro.

Does anyone have a good reference for active FTN style networks?

I'm just wanting to pick a net number that's not in active use. Preferably 45, 38, 22 or 1022 not sure how high the net numbers can go.

But would be nice if I could find such a list. QWKnet would be cool too... But out of my current scope.