Skip to content
NewA calmer, faster ZeroHour
Otherinfo

Classic PC demoscene productions running natively in the browser

Hacker News · AIby adunk ()1 min read1 · 1 read
Part of a story covered by 2 sourcesMerged summary & timeline
AI summary · grok-4.7Summaries by Vani AI

Classic DOS demoscene productions are recompiled to WebAssembly and run natively in the browser.

A browser project recompiles classic PC demoscene productions so their original DOS code runs as WebAssembly. An x86 emulator records executed blocks, which are translated one-for-one into C with the emulated machine's cycle timing, then compiled with models of the timer, VGA, and Sound Blaster. Results are checked event-for-event against the emulator. Featured free releases include Future Crew's Unreal and Second Reality, Triton's Crystal Dream II, and NoooN's Stars.

Key facts
  • DOS demos are traced on an x86 emulator and translated instruction-for-instruction into C.
  • The C plus VGA, timer, and Sound Blaster models compile to WebAssembly.
  • Output is checked against the emulator for interrupts, port access, and frames.
  • Unreal, Second Reality, Crystal Dream II, and Stars run from original files.
Explain this AI news with Vani AIWhat was announced, what is new and why it matters, in a new chat

From the original article

1 min read at treylorswift.github.io

─═≡ Classic PC demoscene productions running in the browser. ≡═─ Each demo's original DOS code, recompiled instruction for instruction, runs in your browser: The demo is run on an x86 emulator that records every block of code the CPU actually executes, over the whole demo.

Hacker News · AI

By adunk · treylorswift.github.io

Read the full article at Hacker News · AI

A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.