When I was about fifteen years old I began using Borland Turbo Pascal 7.0 (Great software!). I wrote massive amounts of code between the years 1996-2000, resulting in an impressive array of unreleased DOS programs. My specialization was special effects, especially on 80×25 text mode. I recall frequently using statistical analysis to compare different variations of a routine in order to find the fastest version. Those were the days!
This is a screenshot of one of my very first attempts to program 3D (note that there is no shading), This is from 1997, when I was about seventeen. The effect in the background is palette cycle plasma (which is inferior to real time plasma). You can download the compiled executable here (43 KB), it’s a DOS program but it should run okay on most systems. Keep NumLock on, and don’t run this under DosBox because it might get very slow.
Instructions:
Also, I found a 3,400 words long development log embedded in the source file of one of my (very old) flag projects (DILGraph – a kick ass graphics unit for mode $13 (320x200x8bit), it also had a VESA plug-in but that’s another story). I used to mix some personal stuff along with the tech stuff back then (It was both a development log and the diary I’ve never had – something like an offline blog). After reading almost all the way to the end I’ve stumbled upon the following entry:
…by the way the Arc and Line based Heart is the last procedure to be added to DILGraph in the 20th century. This is also the last entry for this millennium. 30/12/99 Logging out.
Check out what I’ve been up to 10 years ago, download HILLEL 3D R5T.
That’s what SHE said!