The Coco Nation News stories for Episode 464, May 9, 2026 (May 2-May 8)

Collected and Presented by L. Curtis Boyle

Interview schedule:

Not scheduled yet, but Logan Ward and Britt Monk have agreed to come on
the show.

Upcoming conventions/trade shows of interest to Coco people:

The next live TRS-80 Trash Talk podcast (streamed live on YouTube) has
been announced: Episode 49 will be at 7 pm Eastern on May 23rd, and is
expected to last around two hours.
https://www.youtube.com/@TRS80TrashTalk

VCF-SW (Southwest) is at a slightly different date this year (May 29-31)
because of the Soccer championships, and is happening at the Westin
Dallas Forth Worth Airport. This is of course where Tandy/Radio Shack was
headquartered, so expect some alumni to be popping by!
https://www.vcfsw.org/

Retro Fest in the UK is running May 30-31st at the STEAM Museum of
Great Western Railway in Swindon, 10 am to 5 pm both days, and there is
confirmation that a Dragon Fujinet rig will be shown at the show:
https://www.retrofest.uk/

Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo is a single day event on June 20th, 2026,
starting at noon. At The Anvil Center (777 Columbia Street) in New
Westminster, BC, Canada:
https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/

The International Retro Computer Expo 2026 now has tickets available (this
was formerly BoatFest, ran by the Amigos – John, Aaron and Brent) for
their retro show happening July 10-11 (Friday/Saturday) (July 9/Thursday
vendors can set up in the evening). This is a general retro show for old
home computers, consoles and more, with gaming highlighted:
https://www.ticketsource.com/ircexpo2025/international-retro-computer-expo-2026/2026-07-10/09:00/t-qmjplra

VCF West is August 1-2, 2026 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain
View California, and there are a few local Coco people that may attend:
https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/

VCF-SE (combined with the Southern Fried Gaming Expo) is July 31-August
2 at The Marriott Renaissance Waverly in Atlanta, Georgia:
https://vcfed.org/events/otherevents/vintage-computer-festival-southeast/

VCF-MW (Midwest) is September 12-13 at the Schaumburg Convention Center
in Schaumburg, Illinois (west of Chicago proper):
https://vcfmw.org/

Tandy Assembly dates and new venue have been announced on Facebook. Oct
2-Oct 4 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at the Cincinnati Airport:
https://www.facebook.com/events/896272716427805/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

The 2nd VCF Montreal dates have been announced, and they have moved a few
months ahead to avoid the dead of winter (it was in January earlier this
year; the next one is November 7-8 this year as well):
https://cvcfed.org/vcf-montreal-2-0/

NEWS:

Dragon 32/64

1) Second Life Electronics posted a video about a boxed Dragon 32 that they
got, and to see if it still works. He also has some cassette software that
came with it, but he doesn’t have the cassette drive and cable yet:
https://youtu.be/HL9Ssu6jLk8?si=y1S5cdblZHqWFKzR

2) Julian Brown posted an update to his combined SAM/VDG enhancement board,
where it is working with 2 MB of RAM with 8K MMU blocks, and additional
text modes (32,40,64 and 80 column text modes, and a likely 320x200x16
graphics mode:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragon32/posts/4394694340790201/

Coco 1/2/3 (and multi-platform)

1) Retro Computing Roundtable from last Sunday showed an interesting book
about the Coco and MC-10, where it is organized alphabetically for every
topic pertaining to that letter (the company that made this made it for
other machines as well). Has anyone else seen this particular book before?):
https://www.youtube.com/live/xMml7kh9t_M?si=_xf52IINCb1xDWmF&t=7053

2) Allen Huffman did multiple Coco related posts on his Sub-Etha Software
blog this past week:
A) Copying screen memory to a string in Color BASIC (part 1):
https://subethasoftware.com/2026/05/03/copy-screen-memory-to-a-string-in-color-basic/
B) Talking about a bug (or at least unexpected behavior) in the INSTR
command:
https://subethasoftware.com/2026/05/03/why-is-microsoft-basic-instr-like-this/
C) A followup on INSTR, and comparing it with strstr in C:
https://subethasoftware.com/2026/05/04/basic-instr-revisited-with-special-guest-c-strstr/
D) He also posted a second article about capturing screen contents into
strings, and some of the issues that crop up (PRINT doesn’t always use
the same codes as the screen does directly):
https://subethasoftware.com/2026/05/05/poke-versus-print/
E) He also posted a question about the piracy groups that the Coco had,
and some of the hacker names they had, and was wondering if anyone knew
any of the original people. A few people answered that were involved with
some of those, and I remember a lot of people back then used Master Key (I
think that was the name) program and hardware to “crack” said programs:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164237367677641/

3) Stephen Walters posted a video (and github link) to the Coco Facebook
group where he had ChatGPT help write a keyboard synthesizer music playing
project for the Coco:
Facebook post/description:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1584107075216002/
Github:
https://github.com/voidstar78/CoCoSynth
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFH8dtNxrqM

4) Brian Blake posted a blog post about whether recapping old computers
is worth it or not, and when it is justifiable:
https://tandy-trs80.com/recap-this/

5)Cedric Beaudoin uploaded a quick demo video showing a new feature of
his ESP-32 Coco – the adding of load and save states.:
https://youtu.be/XUouTaKdhv0?si=bAsRXxEus5_6DNRE
The full update just came out, and here is a full list of the features:
Added feature: CoCo 3 Firmware
This is the firmware V 1.04
for Board Revision V1.2
-Added Hardware and Software revision in the Menu
-Added F9 to save a Screenshot. The Picture is saved on the ROOT folder
as PICTUREXXXX.BMP incremental.
-Added Save State and load State. You can now save and load game progress,
work progress, or simply use it to Fast load a game or an APP. F3 to Save,
F4 to Load, and you have a choice of 0-9 and A-Z so a choice of 36 Slots
available.
-Added in Disk menu an option to create a new formatted .DSK
-Added in disk menu FORMAT option to Format an actual .DSK File.
-Added DEL key to remove any disk in the drive (0-3).
Download link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hblj5aT13urP3Fc3VobGnCXsq-e59_41/view?usp=drive_link

6) A reddit user posted several photos of his Coco 3 collection, which
includes multiple floppy drives, modems, a full multi-pak, and more:
https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/1suws9e/just_got_a_tandy_power_switching_station_for_my/?solution=b5b7f4f34fbec2ebb5b7f4f34fbec2eb&js_challenge=1&token=bbbe4bf1c9a2b5160829c4be34da5861212407f49b87b8b78ea48ecccc55a390&jsc_orig_r=

7) Glen Hewlett released a video showing how to install and use his BASIC
to 6809 compiler for the Coco 1,2,3 and Dragon’s. This is a cross platform
compiler that can be hosted on OSX, Windows an Linux:
https://youtu.be/NFae-Dy3J3o?si=RDb4X6PKQDYUU60_

8) Retro Islander on YouTube (Jason Ross) put up a video showing his using
Claude Code AI to generate C code to make a version of M.U.L.E. for the
Coco 3 with NitrOS9 Level II (1st actual DCC code shown running around
58:30 in). He is calling it Planet Pioneers:
https://youtu.be/ifwRzb897CQ?si=91yHOCwsU3AQvRUQ

9) Tyler Durden (Coco Synthesis, who did the BASIC PacMan for the Coco 3
we played on the Game On Challenge) is working on a Coco 3 BASIC version
of Burger Time, from the looks of some questions and video clips he posted
to the Coco Discord:
(Show local file “Recording BTIME2.mp4” in Coco Nations News folder)

10) YouTube channel frozenbeefpie (Luc Dion) put up a quick video showing
a joystick testing program he wrote, originally to test the joysticks on
the ESP-32 Coco:
https://youtu.be/2jBFQM8EuqM?si=ToYrsFgco1QadTZA
DSK image download & Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/4262638377332924/posts/4320520784878016/

11) BlackStone on YouTube released a 2 minute video showing a first test
run of a machine code scroller, with just one scroll working so far. Part
of an upcoming game?
https://youtu.be/kK9ByPHwb6U?si=UthLnfCJ3JrdPfed

12) Earie’s 8-Bit Workshop released a half hour video of unboxing and
restoring a PAL Coco 1 and repairing cartridges, amongst other things:
https://youtu.be/4311e9X-KSo?si=gPNmSWtnKgDMINir

13) Daniel Hidle posted in the Coco Facebook group and update about the
game engine that he is working on with the help of AI:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164239242867641/

14) Steven Ziemba made an interesting post in the Coco Facebook group
about using the Dow Jones online service and some of it’s features back
in the day. I never used Dow Jones, only Compuserve, back in this time period:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/?multi_permalinks=10164236347602641&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen

15) Keith Frechette posted an update to his structured assembly language
translator, including talking about typecasting syntax and add/subtract
with carry syntax:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164234640332641/

16) Paul Cunningham posted the results of his retrobriting his Coco 2
case… quite successfully, I think:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164225783332641/

17) Mathew Ward posted some photos of his custom Aurebesh font in honour
of Star Wars Day, based on some BASIC lessons that Steve Strowbridge posted
almost 10 years back:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164223847977641/

18) Rich Stephens announced that the Coco 3 version of the Fujinet Weather
app is now out, and he showed a screenshot of it in the Coco Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164222072387641/
He also posted that there is new 1.6.0 Fujinet firmware, with fixes/additions
(and official Dragon support):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164217245552641/

20) Brian White posted in the Coco Facebook group some assembly source
code he wrote for the Coco 3 and OS-9 Level II back in the day:
Post:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164219828387641/
github with source link (and the fact that SHOW version 2.01 is now public
domain) The program is not as complete as Brian originally planned, but
it does show the fairly rarely used technique of adding one’s own system
calls to make writing the main code shorter and easier (Home Publisher by
Spectral / Tandy also did this):
https://github.com/bcwhite-code/coco3-show

21) Vincent Tran posted some photos of his playing the new Usurper Reborn
door game going through a PC for the modern telnet connection, but rendered
on the Coco 3 via a serial cable to the PC and using Roger Taylor’s
Netmate terminal program (one of the two to fully support ANSI graphics,
along with Twilight Terminal):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164216572402641/

22) Luciano Scharfe (from Brazil) posted multiple programs that were from
the Micro Board company of Sao Paulo, written back in 1985:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClubeColor/posts/26305652489135783/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClubeColor/posts/26305671105800588/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClubeColor/posts/26315562808144751/
He also posted some photos from the 10th meeting of the Color Rio Club
from May 2:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClubeColor/posts/26249487658085600/

23) Ciaran Anscomb announced that he “finally got the Coco 2 running
the CYD”:
https://github.com/reyco2000/CoCo2-CYD

24) Our very own Exile In Paradise has made an updated wikipedia entry
for the ESP32 Coco:
https://exileinparadise.com/esp32coco:top

25) Brian Palmer released a graphics demo by Bill Baldacchino from 1993
CocoLink magazine:
Facebook download link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164244820677641/
Details and screenshots (Coco 1 and 2 graphic):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164244807607641/

26) Not directly Coco related, but the MSDOS version of Fujinet’s Fujitzee
cross platform & networked Yahtzee game, was released. This version joins
the Coco, Atari 8 bit and Apple II versions, allowing live gameplay between
all of those machines:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164242951417641/

MC-10

1) Jim Gerrie posted in the MC-10 Facebook group a question about using AI
to generate or convert ML programs to the MC-10, starting an interesting
discussion:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/permalink/26480044201695718/

Game On news (all Coco related platforms):

1) Renga in Blue reviewed another adventure game for the Coco from the
first Rainbow Book of Adventures, this time covering Horror House by Robert
W. Magnum II:
https://bluerenga.blog/2026/05/03/horror-house-1983/

2) Amigos Retro Gaming has released their next The Coco Show – covering
a game from the UK that was available on both the Coco and the Dragon,
called Wizard’s Quest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDzq2SrJRi0

3) Rob in the World of Dragon forums posted that he has converted the
“classic Spanish Adventure Archimedes XXI” to the Dragon (originally
for the ZX Spectrum, MSX and Amstrad CPC, the latter of which this this
conversion was made from). This appears to be a graphical adventure game
with very detailed pictures:
Post:
https://archive.worldofdragon.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11352
Download link and info about the game, including the disik image download:
https://robcfg.itch.io/arquimedes-xxi-dragon

4) Jim Gerrie posted an updated version of the game Pitman, originally
written by Youtaka Isokawa in 1985. The update has different movement
sound and colours from his original port from 14 years ago. He also shows
a quick demo of the level editor (2:45):
https://youtu.be/MkGKGJO2iuI?si=CyyhYcx0vYVpWLeV

5) ZXFrankie on YouTube posted a high score attempt of Meteoroids/Meteors
(by Spectral Associates) – this was originally sold by Spectral directly
in the US and then was rebranded Microbes (with a few minor modifications)
ans sold by Tandy:
https://youtu.be/n3NujbJDW64?si=ZEYNmszE8LWIVNiS

6) chinop on YouTube put up a 5+ minute gameplay video of Lucifer’s Kingdom
on the Dragon 32, a clone of the vertical scroller Star Force from the arcade:
https://youtu.be/2FZdZzQ-4YQ?si=Km6zxh1mMh3RIpfZ

7) Floyd Resler (author of Gem Quest and other games for the Coco 3/NitrOS9)
found a collection of 83 DSK images packed with games. He made a quick
database of all of the games, who published them, and what DSK image and
filename each has. There are 838 entries:
Post about it on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164236526252641/
Data base (including search engine):
https://maccrafters.com/cocogames/

8) R.J. Lukacs posted a few screenshots and asked how other people did on
the Tandy/Spectral game The Interbank Incident:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164226266092641/

9) Brian Palmer typed in another Australian Coco game called Goldsoft
Adventure (from May 1986 Australian Rainbow magazine – a graphical adventure
game), and has posted the DSK image for it in the Coco Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164218047922641/
Details on the game including screenshots:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/posts/10164218039192641/

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