#textmode β Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #textmode, aggregated by home.social.
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For the last 25 years, Barren Realms Elite (BRE) has been frozen in amber, with the same ANSI title screen.
But it was preceded by _lots_ of other designs from 1992-97.
I put together a gallery of 14 of these forgotten screens:
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/05/02/the-many-ansi-title-screens-of-barren-realms-elite/
I hope you'll enjoy revisiting the changing looks of a classic BBS door game.
#bbs #retrocomputing #retrogaming #InternetHistory #history #vintagecomputing #ansiart #ansi #textmode
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πΎ π π¬
A #retrocomputing #longreads recommendation for your Sunday:
In 1992, a year before the Web opened to the public, Texas entrepreneur Don Lokke was trying to syndicate weekly political cartoons to bulletin board systems.
His "telecomics," as he called them, represent an overlooked early experiment in online comics, and a window into an interesting moment in American politics.
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/25/don-lokke-and-mack-the-mouse/
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In the decade after Ward Christensen and Randy Suess created the first BBS, there was a growing tension between commerce and the common good.
BBSes were born in a spirit of openness and sharing, but it wasn't just a hobby anymore, according to folks like Jack Rickard and Phil Becker. It was "an emerging growth industry of unprecedented opportunity."
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/16/business-of-bbsing-ansi-art-and-webcomics-part-4/
#retrocomputing #ansiart #textmode #ansi #bbs #bbsing #computerhistory #history #mastoart #comics #digipres
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In the early 1990s, as BBSes turned into businesses, some sysops and developers started making real money.
Could ANSI artists and publishers do the same?
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2026/03/16/business-of-bbsing-ansi-art-and-webcomics-part-4/
Part 4 of my series "ANSI art and webcomics" is here!
#retrocomputing #ansiart #textmode #ansi #bbs #bbsing #computerhistory #history #mastoart #comics #digipres
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Also new in #ThingUmbrella: The new https://thi.ng/text-format-image package provides conversion/formatting for bitmap output for CLI/Terminal apps, currently only via the widely supported iTerm2 format (see readme for details). Supports JPG/PNG (possibly others, depending on terminal used) as well as https://thi.ng/pixel pixel buffers (e.g. for dynamically generated images/visualizations)
Ps. The above relies on extended ANSI sequences to submit bitmap data to the terminal. If you're after actual text/character-based image conversion, you can alternatively use the functions provided in https://thi.ng/text-canvas:
https://github.com/thi-ng/umbrella/tree/develop/packages/text-canvas#image-functions
#ReleaseFriday #TextMode #Image #CLI #TypeScript #OpenSource
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Also new in #ThingUmbrella: The new https://thi.ng/text-format-image package provides conversion/formatting for bitmap output for CLI/Terminal apps, currently only via the widely supported iTerm2 format (see readme for details). Supports JPG/PNG (possibly others, depending on terminal used) as well as https://thi.ng/pixel pixel buffers (e.g. for dynamically generated images/visualizations)
Ps. The above relies on extended ANSI sequences to submit bitmap data to the terminal. If you're after actual text/character-based image conversion, you can alternatively use the functions provided in https://thi.ng/text-canvas:
https://github.com/thi-ng/umbrella/tree/develop/packages/text-canvas#image-functions
#ReleaseFriday #TextMode #Image #CLI #TypeScript #OpenSource
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Also new in #ThingUmbrella: The new https://thi.ng/text-format-image package provides conversion/formatting for bitmap output for CLI/Terminal apps, currently only via the widely supported iTerm2 format (see readme for details). Supports JPG/PNG (possibly others, depending on terminal used) as well as https://thi.ng/pixel pixel buffers (e.g. for dynamically generated images/visualizations)
Ps. The above relies on extended ANSI sequences to submit bitmap data to the terminal. If you're after actual text/character-based image conversion, you can alternatively use the functions provided in https://thi.ng/text-canvas:
https://github.com/thi-ng/umbrella/tree/develop/packages/text-canvas#image-functions
#ReleaseFriday #TextMode #Image #CLI #TypeScript #OpenSource
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Also new in #ThingUmbrella: The new https://thi.ng/text-format-image package provides conversion/formatting for bitmap output for CLI/Terminal apps, currently only via the widely supported iTerm2 format (see readme for details). Supports JPG/PNG (possibly others, depending on terminal used) as well as https://thi.ng/pixel pixel buffers (e.g. for dynamically generated images/visualizations)
Ps. The above relies on extended ANSI sequences to submit bitmap data to the terminal. If you're after actual text/character-based image conversion, you can alternatively use the functions provided in https://thi.ng/text-canvas:
https://github.com/thi-ng/umbrella/tree/develop/packages/text-canvas#image-functions
#ReleaseFriday #TextMode #Image #CLI #TypeScript #OpenSource
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Also new in #ThingUmbrella: The new https://thi.ng/text-format-image package provides conversion/formatting for bitmap output for CLI/Terminal apps, currently only via the widely supported iTerm2 format (see readme for details). Supports JPG/PNG (possibly others, depending on terminal used) as well as https://thi.ng/pixel pixel buffers (e.g. for dynamically generated images/visualizations)
Ps. The above relies on extended ANSI sequences to submit bitmap data to the terminal. If you're after actual text/character-based image conversion, you can alternatively use the functions provided in https://thi.ng/text-canvas:
https://github.com/thi-ng/umbrella/tree/develop/packages/text-canvas#image-functions
#ReleaseFriday #TextMode #Image #CLI #TypeScript #OpenSource
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I wasn't an ANSI artist in the 1990s, but more recently I've been creating animations in the Atari ST's obscure "IGS" format.
I'm most proud of an original "Calvin and Hobbes" animation I released last year that shows what might have happened if Calvin had owned _two_ cardboard boxes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS_riObN32o&t=347s
(4/5)
#calvinandhobbes #comics #webcomics #1990s #history #comichistory #igs #instantgraphicsandsound #atarist #atari #textmode
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ANSI artist Eerie is the subject of my latest in-depth #retrocomputing profile:
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2025/12/31/ansi-art-and-webcomics-part-3-eerie-and-inspector-dangerfuck/Eerie drew some amazing Calvin portraits at the end of 1994 β even though he had grown up influenced more by the tradition of French and Belgian bandes dessinΓ©es.
(3/5)
#calvinandhobbes #comics #webcomics #1990s #history #comichistory #ansiart #ansi #bbs #textmode
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"Calvin and Hobbes" was a major influence and subject for ANSI artists of the 1990s.
https://16colo.rs/tags/content/calvin
The characters were so funny, so well-drawn, so iconic. And the timing: the strip's 1985-95 run coincided almost exactly with the rise and fall of BBSing.
Calvin's irreverence was just icing for us teens.
(2/5)
#calvinandhobbes #comics #webcomics #1990s #history #comichistory #ansiart #ansi #bbs #textmode
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Rule/Yule 30 cellular automaton with a "band-pass" filter every few iterations. Done in the Bash shell using bitwise math, so each row/state is a single number of 63 bits.
#cellularautomata #cellularautomaton #rule30 #bitwiseoperators #textmode #textmodeart #oldskool #retrocomputing #unixshell #shellprogramming #xterm #joulu6 #xmastree #algorithmicart #algorist #mathart #laskutaide #ittaide #kuavataide #iterati
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Programmers of BBS door games faced a LOT of constraints in the 1990s, from slow modems to extremely limited sound and graphics.
How did they work around those limitations?
One way they pushed beyond the limits of BBS tech was by creating custom terminal programs ... front-end clients.
In 2020, I wrote a case study looking at several of these computer curioisities.
https://breakintochat.com/blog/2020/09/09/a-different-way-to-play-front-ends/
(1/6)
#bbs #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #textmode #gamedev #gamehistory #computerhistory
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Under The Spell | 3rd place #petscii at Flashparty 2025
#ascii #asciiart #art #bbs #c64 #commodore64 #computer #computerart #demoscene #digital #digitalart #petsciiart #retro #retroart #text #textart #textmode #textpunk #8bit #8bitart #classicalart #women #night #moon #magic #nocturnal #nocturne
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INapGPU: Text-mode graphics card, using only TTL gates
https://github.com/Leoneq/iNapGPU
#HackerNews #INapGPU #TTL #graphics #textmode #technology #hardware
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[Image 3/3]
When out of the armor, #Sparkster continues to stay in shape and ensure he can bear the weight of his responsibility for keeping Zebulos safe. This not only includes running and jumping, but hanging from trees and steel bars with his prehensile tail to free his arms to defend himself.
[Split from original post on April 10, 2025.]
#RocketKnightAdventures #FurryArt #MastoArt #ANSIArt #PixelArt #FanArt #TextmodeArt #FediArt #Pixel #ANSI #Furry #Textmode #γγγη΅΅
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[Image 2/3]
At this point, #Sparkster is used to maintaining his own armor and jetpack. His wealth of experience has allowed him to do the same for his fellow knights and to train new knights and engineers in the art of keeping the Rocket Knights' equipment up to par.
[Split from original post on April 10, 2025.]
#RocketKnightAdventures #FurryArt #MastoArt #ANSIArt #PixelArt #FanArt #TextmodeArt #FediArt #Pixel #ANSI #Furry #Textmode #γγγη΅΅
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[Image 1/3]
Long after the fall of the evil empire, #Sparkster from #RocketKnightAdventures ensures he and his fellow Rocket Knights remain ready to defend their kingdom.
[Split into three-image thread on April 10, 2025.]
#MastoArt #FurryArt #ANSIArt #PixelArt #FanArt #TextmodeArt #FediArt #Pixel #ANSI #Furry #Textmode #γγγη΅΅
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Fragment - placed 3rd in Flashparty 24 #voxel
#demoscene #digital #digitalart #retro #retroart #skull #death #memento #mori #voxel #pixel #pixelart #lowpoly #minecraft #marble #statue #sculpting #textmode #ascii
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βDescentβ with woxel size reduced to the minimum and erosion disabled.
Realtime version with URL params.
β
https://generator.artblocks.io/0x0a1bbd57033f57e7b6743621b79fcb9eb2ce3676/74000020?voxelWidth=1&voxelHeight=1&noNoise=1 -
Here's what I think of Bill Belichick ... an ANSI art portrait I made several years ago to "celebrate" two "heroes" of the NFL.
Originally released in Blocktronics' 2019 "Dark Side of the Block" pack.
https://16colo.rs/pack/blocktronics-dsotb/km-super-bowl-LIII.xb
#nfl #football #liars #belichick #ansiart #ansi #textmode #textart #asciiart #art #mastoart #pixelart
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const density = " _-=mNΓβ"
An alternate take on an interference test (from the ASCII playground).
#asciiplayground
#asciiart
#textmode
#realtimegraphics
#kineticart
#es6
#javascript
