Can Anything Kill Crusty The Mac? TWiR with The h0ff - This Week In Retro 156

We are joined by musician/coder H0ffman this week. He gives us his opinions on a new version of the original Doom which has had features that didn't make it to the final version that we know and love. Have you heard the tale of Crusty the Mac? This plucky guy has been through a really rough time but has managed to become a very much respected part of the Vintage Computer Festival (VCF). Finally, how about a new big box game for the Amiga? It is on its way.....
All this as well as Dave's Housekeep, news in brief and our Community Question Of The Week.
If you would like to know more about everything H0ffman you can click here: hoffman.home.blog/links/
Our sponsor this week is Pixel Addict magazine. The latest issue is available to order now. The cover feature celebrates a certain Tomb Raider just as the first three games get a coat of paint ready for re-release. Visit pixel.addict.media/
00:00 - Show Opening
07:50 - OG Doom
Story Link: pyspy.neocities.org/doomdelta/
19:44 - Crusty The Mac
Story Link: hackaday.com/2024/01/23/crust...
Additional Link: geocities.ws/rehasoft/crusty
31:00 - Dave's Housekeeping
46:05 - Hassling The Hoff
Story Link: 2024.revision-party.net/
1:00:46 - Community Question of the Week
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This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Neil from RMC and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

[@lintfordpickle]

Another great episode. H0ffman makes a great guest too, just a wealth of information, and able to provide interesting technical anecdotes about various hardware and software.

[@LifeSizeTeddyBear]

Neil is clearly feeling the need to compensate so much for the lack of Australian influence on the podcast now that he merged the Star Wars "That's no moon" quote with Crocodile Dundee's "That's not a knife" and came out with "That's not a moon"

[@RMCRetro]

Just training to be a dad

[@retropanda484]

sad to hear about B-17. I wonder if they will redo Falcon, although it's not actually that old.

[@tdub8719]

It feels wrong that Chris' digital face has been removed. Put it back in somewhere. Closing info Ultima mentions = 0 😂

[@wonderdog8895]

Totally agreed about the B17 released - its a waste of time. I guess they needed a bit of money to keep them ticking over towards the proper VR supported, multiplayer game we all want.

[@tahustvedt]

#freecrusty

[@DavePoo2]

12:52 - The WAD file format was indeed designed to make the game easier to mod. The lesson was learned from Wolfenstein which was much harder to mod, so for Doom they collected all relevant assets into the wad standing for "where's all the data". I don't remember where I read this, I think it is written in the "masters of doom" book

[@roskelld]

No Chris, no Ultima. Not trying to start a conspiracy here, but.

[@proteque]

crusty the mac. such a sad story!

[@nickwallette6201]

I know! Good grief. Either fix the poor guy up, or let him rest in peace! This is the electronics equivalent of prying off fingernails.

[@Disthron]

A few years back I would have been hesitant to say that Doom would have been better with a more involved story. But today I'm much more confident. I think games like System Shock, Deus Ex and Strife really show that you could have a good story and engaging first person combat. Original Doom was fun but it is ultimately just Alien Syndrome but in pseudo 3D. That quote from Carmack about story in games has NEVER been true, not even back when he said it. Now, I don't know that specifics of this new Doom mod, but the principal is sound.

[@nickwallette6201]

"Should call it Gee Zee Doom" How about we both agree that Z is pronounced how the native speaker pronounces it, regardless of context? ;-) I've always found this a silly thing to squabble about. We've all got bigger problems.

[@ThisWeekinRetro]

What about the music of Zed Zed Top?

[@nickwallette6201]

@@ThisWeekinRetro Ahh haha... he's got jokes. (And he knows how to use them.) :-D

[@ddniUK]

Ian, you’re like a rose between two thorns there! 😂

[@GarryGri]

I have a Mac Classic that has just died, no power whatsoever. Unlike my Vectrex, which also has the same issue, I've thought of having a bash at fixing this myself (the Vectrex is soon going to be dropped of with a repair service that I recently found out is based in Fife Scotland, just like me) as it's not so valuable or important to get this fixed. But I'm mainly interested in possibly doing something else with it and keeping the CRT screen, or replacing it with a 9" vector screen.

[@808v1]

B-17 Bomber for Intellivision/Intellivoice predates them all - I think :)

[@Disthron]

I have to say, I would appreciate some screen shots or footage of the games and other things you talk about.

[@duncanstyles133]

If I had the time and the access! As it is I don’t get finished and uploaded until Thursday night.

[@DaveVelociraptor]

I did approach PsSpy for permission but didn't receive a reply. However due to the nature of it being a weekly show, with Duncan's editing happening over just a few days (a lot of work in those days!) it's possible they didn't see it in time to respond. It's just difficult when we're doing the show weekly to get as much in as we want. Neil and I feel Duncan does a stellar job.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@DaveVelociraptor He definitely does. I blame it on your (collective) insistence on getting permission to include footage. ;-D How maddeningly considerate of you all.

[@005AGIMA]

Lies!!! That's not Hoffman. I have it on good authority that the real Hoffman only has one ear in the centre of his forehead 😁. Also FIRST! 😂

[@Spozza]

Just can't keep away can you :D

[@005AGIMA]

@@Spozza I am the gum on the bottom of the This Week in Retro shoe 😁

[@ShishakliAus]

A bindi in the laundry

[@DJSvenNo1]

Agima forever!

[@theatheisthammer]

@rmc the starwars arcade you cpuld have traced the poeces on mdf and made a new accurate cabinate

[@nickwallette6201]

My irrational gripe is topical for this week's show: DRM and copyright law in general. It seems so much effort is spent preventing people from doing things that have _no financial impact whatsoever._ Or, even, in some cases, the restrictions themselves have a negative financial impact. Neil's example today is perfect: Who is losing anything by someone posting a Let's Play video, where the game's music is heard? Is anyone recording the YT stream, and scraping the audio to listen to the soundtrack, instead of buying a soundtrack album? No, of course not, it's just silliness. If there is going to be any impact at all, it'll more than likely be the opposite: Someone hears it, remembers it fondly, and seeks out a soundtrack. Why are we fighting this? It's just dumb. The punishment should fit the impact of the crime. And if I want to buy an NES cart, put it on my shelf, then download the ROM and play it on a jailbroken Vita, that should be absolutely fine with everyone up and down the chain. Sony should thank me for the purchase of their hardware. Nintendo should thank me for the purchase of the game, as should the publisher if they're someone else. Nobody was harmed.

[@piero_75]

Re: takedowns for music - why is it that KZbin is so heavily guarded for musicians but there is absolutely no automated equivalent for visual artists on the platform?? I know the 'algorithms ' would be tricky to implement but why allow someone who wrote a jingle 30 years ago the power to block videos when graphic artists and photographers just have to suck it up?!

[@SimonJackson13]

Cadjing a gu gu?

[@ArcadeCabNBud]

Neil is wearing makeup, im sure

[@ThisWeekinRetro]

Haha no I don't wear makeup darling - Neil

[@nickwallette6201]

Maybe he's born with it?

[@aaldrich1982]

I don't get being offended by the term Boomer Shooter but also wanting to ask, "is this retro?" - specifically because I don't understand why it's OK to decide when something is old but when the term Boomer is jokingly applied it hurts some people. Nobody is saying you were born before gen x, it's not a personal attack.

[@ShishakliAus]

Boomer is a dismissive term. There are a ton of things tagged as Boomer that deserve dismissal... But Doom isn't one of them

[@aaldrich1982]

@@ShishakliAus it's literally the name for the generation before gen x. After gen x is Millennial etc. That "boomer" is occasionally used as a derogatory term is more reflective of that generation's attitudes. To be offended by this term being applied to video games is missing the mark.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@aaldrich1982 It has more to do with intent, I think. I'm not a boomer. But I don't particularly like it when people use the term. It IS dismissive, and every generation has individuals with various personality quirks. I'm generally against painting with a broad brush. When I first heard the term "boomer shooter," it came across as sardonic, as if to say "one of those crusty old shooters that boomers would play." (Or, perhaps with a little more nuance, "one of those crusty old shooters that Gen-Xers would play, like a bunch of boomers," as stated by someone who doesn't know and/or care what a "boomer" is, because the takeaway is "old people" and we can't be bothered with the difference.) It's one thing if you know it's tongue-in-cheek, it's another entirely when it can reasonably be taken as derogatory. For that reason, I won't be propagating its use.

[@MagoMakes]

Where's the Cecconoid bit? Thumbnail and then bury is a great way to loose followers!

[@richneptune]

It's the last story of the day

[@MagoMakes]

@@richneptune 🤣 Nope... can't see any chapter called Story of the Day...

[@duncanstyles133]

Roundabout 48:45

[@firstsurname9893]

That's interesting, I got a thumbnail with two bald fellas peering out from behind David Hasselhoff.

[@ShishakliAus]

I mean... Does anyone WANT such entitled followers?