jheronimus wrote on 2024-09-30, 08:57:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-09-30, 05:58:

Which Discords are you usually on if I may ask? I don't think there is a Vogons Discord, is there?

The Retro Web's one 99% of the time. I tried others, but found TRW discussions to be of most use for my interests.

And no, I haven't heard about Vogons' server, but I think a lot of old-timers are on the TRW one.

Ohi, I'm there as well! I'm also on the RMC Discord as well but the discussion there is usually about late 90s hardware than late 80s/early 90s I am more interested it.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-09-27, 18:30:

I've started to feel nostalgic for Windows 7 and have been thinking of a revisiting a 4770k (Haswell) / Win7 system which is what I used to use about 10 years ago.

I am still running a i5 4570 at work. The performance is essentially modern for my needs.

appiah4 wrote on 2024-09-30, 12:16:

I'm also on the RMC Discord as well but the discussion there is usually about late 90s hardware than late 80s/early 90s I am more interested it.

Haven't seen that one, I'll check it out.

I think the one thing I'm really missing is some kind of a server about sound cards. There's Sierra Music and Memories, but it's more about Roland stuff whereas I'm more interested in cards that can take custom soundbanks.

jheronimus wrote on 2024-09-30, 17:50:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-09-30, 12:16:

I'm also on the RMC Discord as well but the discussion there is usually about late 90s hardware than late 80s/early 90s I am more interested it.

Haven't seen that one, I'll check it out.

I think the one thing I'm really missing is some kind of a server about sound cards. There's Sierra Music and Memories, but it's more about Roland stuff whereas I'm more interested in cards that can take custom soundbanks.

Well, while not exactly about sound cards the Mister FPGA Discord has a very active MIDI channel that discussed a lot of MIDI and PC audio related stuff..

IMO, once you've built a finite amount of systems from around the time periods you cherish the most, and tinkered around with the hardware setups that can offer you the experience you wanted (and such for games) there are only so many new developments or fresh 'unexplored' areas that this hobby can start feeling repetitive.

As with other aspects of life, it's essential to switch back and forth between different activities & hobbies in order to keep the fire alive.

386SX wrote on 2024-09-30, 09:15:

Sometimes I've got so many problems I don't have the right free mind to focus on this hobby and I've barely the time to do something else before going back home from work so much tired I'd directly go to sleep.

I hope things will get better sooner or later.

sometimes life throws you many challenges, hope things improve to allow you some rest

i think this kind of thing is a major % of our occasional absences

subhuman@xgtx wrote on 2024-10-01, 10:52:

IMO, once you've built a finite amount of systems from around the time periods you cherish the most, and tinkered around with the hardware setups that can offer you the experience you wanted (and such for games) there are only so many new developments or fresh 'unexplored' areas that this hobby can start feeling repetitive.

As with other aspects of life, it's essential to switch back and forth between different activities & hobbies in order to keep the fire alive.

yes, that's another reason. there is a point where any vintage hobby is kind of "done", not really of course but in terms of the scope of things we personally wanted to achieve

i have found that over the last 10 or so years the ability to run almost anything in emulation, virtual pcs, dosbox, patches and gog has essentially removed the need for old hardware in experiencing the game* and hence much of the motive for getting hardware.

* depending on whether a 100% matching experience is wanted, i mean CD sounds, HDD noises, pc fan vibration, occasional frame rate loss, crt and so on

Yeah, we're getting HDD noise emulators, CRT scanline/fishbowl emulators, all we need now is a Win98 bluescreen emulator, derp=RND*99,999 IF derp=31337 THEN display bluescreen.png

Yeah I've explored what I've wanted to explore on the hardware side, and the old games aren't as engaging to me as they used to be. So there are other things I'd rather spend time on. I also liked it here more prior to the youtube popularization of old computing. I found this place back in 2002 when I learned of VDMSound to get DOS game audio working better in XP.

I got busy being sick for 4+ years, selling my brand new home because I can't work anymore, and moving across the United States to solve my health issue. I'm just barely starting to go through my retro hardware I packed up, but not sure how well I can continue the "hobby" due the health issue.

dogchainx wrote on 2024-10-01, 16:27:

I got busy being sick for 4+ years, selling my brand new home because I can't work anymore, and moving across the United States to solve my health issue. I'm just barely starting to go through my retro hardware I packed up, but not sure how well I can continue the "hobby" due the health issue.

Sounds rough man, hope you are feeling better now and get even better soon.

DosFreak wrote on 2024-09-26, 12:47:

Wait.....we can leave?

I’m pretty certain I had an account here quite early after moving from offshoots from the bravenet forums -2006ish

I was either deleted, banned or simply forgot the account.

Don’t remember the circumstances anymore , I was back on uncreativelabs, tech support guy forums, diyelectriccar, various yahoo groups, and specific crack forums dejeepbrat in an attempt to remove a dongle from a bankrupt high end software I still used but couldn’t upgrade the os because of the dongle.

Sort of wish I archived bookmarks over my decades online, many places I never bookmarked and had memorized until I quit visiting said forum.

Technically, I didn't leave the forum, but my activities here have dwindled due to having different priorities and shifting interests. As far as the retro computing hobby is concerned, I still enjoy it when I find something exciting.

rmay635703 wrote on 2024-10-02, 18:48:

Sort of wish I archived bookmarks over my decades online, many places I never bookmarked and had memorized until I quit visiting said forum.

I'd guess most old forums have long since vanished taking all the content with them (and not on archive either)

(a couple of interesting articles about vanishing internet..
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190401-w … -early-internet
https://mashable.com/article/internet-doesnt- … t-digital-decay
)

Relax, said the watchman, we are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you want but you can never leave!