Alterego Finds #001: Old Computers, New Tricks
Lemmings with better manners, an Atari with proper keys, and a second life for games that refuse to grow old.
There is a pleasing stubbornness to the retro computing world. Someone looks at a game from 1991 and decides it needs a new engine. Someone else looks at a folder containing several thousand floppy images and decides it needs a librarian. This selection brings together both sorts of endeavour, plus a few reminders that yesterday’s computers still have plenty to offer.
🐾 Lemmings returns, with fewer arguments over the mouse
🗓️ 11 October 2026 — version 1.9.2
Green-haired lemmings crowd a staircase as an oversized mouse pointer offers a construction helmet to the wrong character. Another lemming waves for attention amid the confusion.The little green-haired walkers are back on modern Macs through Ultimate Lemmings, an unofficial native macOS project covering the classic 2D games. Version 1.9.2 restores completion celebrations, fixes earned precision rewards and smooths navigation during play and through saved records.
Success now gets its celebratory music back, which is only fair after all that frantic clicking. The release supports Intel and Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 12.3 or later. Its notes label Lemmings 2 complete, while Lemmings 3 and NeoLemmix support remain in beta: an ambitious collection, with some work still underway. The developer still lists physical Intel and minimum-macOS checks as outstanding. Your management skills remain entirely your responsibility.
🔗 Source: Ultimate Lemmings 1.9.2 on GitHub ↗
💾 AmiDiskLab brings order to the floppy mountain
🗓️ 11 October 2026 — version 1.7
A retro computer collector is buried in a mountain of floppy disks while a small librarian robot begins sorting them. A box marked SORT LATER has finally reached the front of the queue.Every respectable Amiga collection eventually develops a folder called something like “Disks — Sort Later”. AmiDiskLab is an attempt to make “later” happen. Available for Windows, Linux and both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, it catalogues disk images and archives, identifies identical duplicates, groups multi-disk games and fetches artwork and descriptive information.
It also creates and extracts suitable ADF images, although it cannot magically turn every WHDLoad package into a bootable floppy. Its real appeal is making a collection usable again: finding the game, recognising its disks and knowing what you have. Version 1.7 refreshes the interface, improves grouping and spacing, refines its themes and improves native macOS integration. Sadly, it cannot explain why you kept fourteen copies of the same demo.
🔗 Source: AmiDiskLab on GitHub ↗
🪂 MDK drops back into action
🗓️ 10 October 2026 — version 1.0.0
An armoured science-fiction hero parachutes into an office chair beside a surprised worker. A laptop and a cup of coffee await his arrival.Kurt Hectic’s peculiar working day has become easier to revisit. mdk-sdl rebuilds the engine behind Shiny Entertainment’s MDK, with downloads for Windows, Linux, Apple Silicon Macs and Android. The developer reports that the complete game is playable, with optional visual enhancements, controller support and even stereoscopic display modes.
The attraction is straightforward: an inventive 1997 action game gets another route onto modern machines. You still need the original game files. Its README says Windows has been played, while Linux and macOS have only been built and started in automated checks, so those platforms deserve more cautious expectations. Its open code gives future developers something they can maintain and improve. Kurt, meanwhile, still appears to have the same terrible job description.
🔗 Source: mdk-sdl on GitHub ↗
⌨️ Atari’s 800XL comeback has proper keys
🗓️ 8 October 2026 — official announcement
An Atari-style computer wearing sunglasses proudly displays its keyboard to an admiring smartphone. Its beige-and-brown case and physical keys take centre stage.THE 800XL brings Atari’s familiar home-computer shape back with a mechanical keyboard, working cartridge slot, built-in BASIC and HDMI output. There are 25 included games, USB loading for additional software, and modern comforts such as saving and rewinding. Shipping is scheduled to begin on 23 April 2027.
The keyboard and BASIC are the interesting part. They leave room for the old habit of switching on a computer without knowing whether you will play a game or write a small program. Original cartridge support adds another welcome connection to the past. Those old boxes on the shelf may have a practical purpose again. Please try not to look too triumphant when explaining this to the rest of the household.
🔗 Source: Retro Games’ THE 800XL announcement ↗
⚔️ Moonstone hands the rules to the players
🗓️ 7 October 2026 — version 0.1.0
A battered knight changes a dragon’s strength setting to 1 on an Amiga. The dragon peers over his shoulder and objects to the adjustment.Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight was never particularly concerned with its knights’ long-term health. moonstone-ace rebuilds the game in C++ for the Amiga 1200 and suitably configured WinUAE, while letting players adjust rules through simple configuration files.
That opens the door to tinkering with the adventure without rebuilding the program. The readable source also gives enthusiasts a way to understand and extend a famously distinctive Amiga game. You need your own original disks or disk images, and this early release has rough edges, including no return-to-Workbench option yet. Nevertheless, it is an intriguing invitation to get inside the armour. The dragon would prefer you left the settings alone.
🔗 Source: moonstone-ace on GitHub ↗
🖼️ A second chance for forgotten computer pictures
🗓️ 7 October 2026 — version 1.0.0 published on crates.io
A proud curator presents an old pixel-art spaceship to an unimpressed child. The curator’s delight is matched only by the child’s lack of enthusiasm.An old picture file can survive perfectly and still be practically useless if nothing recognises it. Daniel Collin’s retro-image tackles that problem, listing support for 688 image formats across 75 platforms, including Amiga, Atari, Commodore and Spectrum machines.
There is a Rust library for developers and a command-line tool that converts pictures to PNG. That sounds modest until you encounter a folder of artwork last opened several computers ago. Making those images readable helps preserve the drawings, experiments and visual oddities that rarely receive the attention given to commercial games. Sometimes recovering a badly drawn spaceship is quite enough reason to celebrate. Whether your family agrees that it belongs above the fireplace is another matter.
🔗 Source: retro-image on GitHub ↗
🚗 GTA’s browser experiment leaves a box of parts
🗓️ 7 October 2026 — GitHub repository created
A small sports car emerges from a laptop browser beside an empty box labelled GAME FILES. A puzzled worker surveys the box and the scattered car parts.The playgta5 repository preserves a client snapshot taken from playgta5.com, according to its maintainer. It contains browser-side code and supporting scripts, but its own documentation makes an important distinction: this is a public client snapshot, not the site’s original development repository, and certainly not an official Rockstar source-code release.
The separate game-content folder is excluded, and the README says actual gameplay still needs separate browser validation. That makes this an interesting record of an ambitious browser experiment rather than a complete, verified download-and-play package. Its value is in what survives for inspection after a website disappears. Even a virtual getaway, it turns out, can be delayed by missing luggage.
🔗 Source: playgta5 on GitHub ↗
🎮 ArduDate introduces two pocket-sized worlds
🗓️ 5 October 2026 — version 0.0.1, first release
A yellow Playdate handheld opens its door to a long queue of monochrome game characters carrying suitcases. The guests appear far more relaxed about the available space than their host.ArduDate brings Arduboy games to Playdate, giving the yellow handheld another collection of monochrome diversions. Its first release includes seven games, supports users’ own game files and offers roughly 200 additional openly licensed titles through an on-device download list.
The developer reports full-speed performance in most games tested on a Rev B Playdate, with heavier titles running more slowly. Save states are absent, and older Rev A hardware had not been tested. The download catalogue was checked for basic loading, not complete playthroughs. Even so, the appeal is easy to understand: two small, inventive gaming communities now share a doorway, and Playdate owners gain another reason to keep their handheld within reach. “Just one quick game” now has considerably more ways to become a lie.
🔗 Source: ArduDate’s first-release announcement ↗
🤖 Metal Mutant moves into a browser tab
🗓️ 5 October 2026 — GitHub repository created
A bulky transforming robot squeezes through a laptop browser window. Its dinosaur head and tank treads make the entrance considerably more complicated.Silmarils’ Metal Mutant has found an unexpectedly ordinary new home: a web browser. metal-mutant-web recreates the DOS game’s engine in JavaScript, using the original game’s scripts, graphics and sounds without emulating an entire PC.
You supply your own game files, which the project says its online version reads locally without uploading them. Browser-based saves and an optional autosave feature make returning to the adventure more convenient. For anyone curious about a less frequently revisited 1991 game, this lowers the effort required to give it another chance. It also makes its inner workings available for study, rather than leaving them locked inside an ageing executable. Your browser can now contain email, shopping and a transforming robot. Productivity never stood a chance.
🔗 Source: Metal Mutant Web on GitHub ↗
🧠 Serena gives the Amiga another future to explore
🗓️ 4 October 2026 — version 0.9.0-alpha
An energetic Amiga wearing trainers runs on a treadmill beside an exhausted modern laptop. The older machine shows no interest in slowing down.Serena OS asks an entertaining question: what happens when modern operating-system ideas meet classic Amiga hardware? This independent system has its own shell and development tools. It requires at least a 68020-class processor; an unexpanded A500 does not qualify.
Version 0.9.0-alpha adds foundations for a driver-development kit, a graphics library and improved terminal tools. Even its Snake game receives attention. It remains experimental, but that is part of its interest: the Amiga becomes a place to investigate fresh ideas and write new software. A machine can be decades old and still offer something you have never tried before. Apparently nobody told it about retirement.
🔗 Source: Serena OS 0.9.0-alpha on GitHub ↗
🚁 Operation Cobra Strike remembers to check the fuel
🗓️ 4 October 2026 — itch.io publication
A helicopter pilot hovers beside a desert petrol station with the fuel gauge on empty. Waiting passengers watch as he asks whether anyone has a loyalty card.Operation Cobra Strike, from HoloCatt, revisits the pleasures of the classic Strike games: a helicopter, a sprawling map and several urgent jobs competing for the same dwindling tank of fuel. Its browser version offers five campaign missions, prisoner rescues, convoy duties and large bosses, with ammunition and armour to manage alongside the shooting.
That mixture matters. Choosing when to retreat and resupply gives the action more texture than simply holding down the fire button. Controller support and adjustable controls make the invitation easier to accept, and the creator also links a cut-down Nintendo 64 version. It is a fresh game built around an old kind of tension: you may have enough rockets to finish the mission, but have you left enough petrol to get home?
🔗 Source: Operation Cobra Strike on itch.io ↗
🛋️ The C64 gets a remote control. The sofa wins.
🗓️ 9 January 2026 — GitHub repository created
A hobbyist relaxes on the sofa and controls a Commodore-style computer using a tablet. Across the room, the computer responds with a distinctly grumpy expression.Angel “Edy” Garcia’s C64 Ultimate Control Panel puts a collection of tools for supported Ultimate devices, including the Ultimate 64, in a web browser. Change settings, mount virtual disks, switch between disks in a multi-disk game, launch programs and inspect memory without continually diving through the device’s own menus.
The useful bit is having those everyday jobs together in one place. There are also SID and MOD playback controls, streaming settings and memory views for people whose idea of relaxation involves hexadecimal. It gives capable retro hardware a more convenient dashboard while leaving the actual computer at the centre of things. You can now spend an evening managing your Commodore from another device, which is either wonderfully practical or the most elaborate way yet devised to postpone playing a game.
🔗 Source: C64 Ultimate Control Panel on GitHub ↗
🏴☠️ Monkey Island gets commentary from someone who was there
🗓️ 2 December 2025 — Mixnmojo article
A pirate watches two game commentators on a computer screen while holding a rubber chicken and a map. Books, disks and pirate paraphernalia surround the desk.For Escape from Monkey Island’s 25th anniversary, Daniel Albu joined the game’s art director, Chris Miles, for a playthrough highlighted by Mixnmojo. The reported two-hour session reaches the lawyers on Lucre Island, giving Miles plenty of opportunities to remember the work behind the adventure.
That is the attraction of revisiting a game with one of its makers: familiar rooms and characters become prompts for memories that a straightforward walkthrough cannot supply. It is a chance to look past the puzzles and appreciate the people who built the world. Bring a drink, settle in and enjoy an anniversary visit in which reaching the lawyers counts as a pleasant evening.
🔗 Source: Watch Daniel Albu and Chris Miles play EMI — Mixnmojo ↗
🖥️ THEA1200 puts the keyboard back in the picture
🗓️ 23 October 2025 — original announcement, since updated
A delighted collector unpacks an Amiga-style computer while their partner points towards the similar machines already in the house. The new arrival receives a much warmer welcome from one of them.The oldest hardware announcement in this selection concerns a machine still on its way. THEA1200 recreates the full-size Amiga experience with a working keyboard, Workbench desktop, HDMI, USB loading and 25 included games. The manufacturer’s updated announcement lists 4 December 2026 as its launch date.
The draw extends beyond its built-in game menu. Workbench and a usable keyboard promise room to explore software and revisit the everyday pleasures of an Amiga desktop. For people who remember the computer as something they used as well as played, that distinction could make this a particularly tempting return. “But you already have one” will, once again, require a carefully prepared answer.
🔗 Source: Retro Games’ THEA1200 announcement ↗
🎵 Amiga Days turns the demo scene into a listening party
🗓️ 15 October 2014 — album release; rediscovered from the archives
An Amiga fan wearing headphones enjoys a miniature four-piece funk band emerging from his computer. A tracker display glows behind the musicians while a nearby smart speaker looks unimpressed.Amiga Days (Remasters) collects music that Frédéric “Elmobo” Motte composed between 1989 and 1993, when the demoscene knew him as Moby. Its 20 listed tracks include Progressive Funk, The Last Knight and Mobyle, with material associated with groups such as Sanity, Alcatraz, Quartex and Dreamdealers. The original Protracker compositions were specially mixed and mastered for this album.
The lovely extra is in the download: the artist includes the original MOD files and a previously unreleased bonus track. That preserves something of how the music was made, as well as giving it a convenient new home in a listening collection. These tunes can step out from behind the scrolling graphics and take centre stage. Your Amiga always believed it was a recording studio. Now it has an album to wave at the sceptics.
🔗 Source: Amiga Days (Remasters) — Elmobo on Bandcamp ↗
☎️ From the archives: the mysterious “Fuck Shop” was a BBS
🗓️ Undated Demozoo entry — historical sidebar; records include 1991–1998
An Amiga enthusiast enjoys a modem’s exuberant electronic performance. Beside him, a startled cat covers its ears.That memorable name on an old copied disk belonged to The Fuck Shop, a bulletin board system in Kiel, Germany. Demozoo records its association with Fairlight and later Lightforce, and points to an Aquatic Games disk banner dated 6 October 1992 among the surviving references.
The listing turns a puzzling scrap of on-screen text into a small piece of scene history. Names, operators, affiliations and appearances in old productions help explain the network of people behind the disks. These details are easily lost when only the games themselves are preserved. The board’s name may have aged less gracefully than the hardware, but at least nobody was going to confuse it with the local library.
🔗 Source: The Fuck Shop — Demozoo ↗