IRATA.ONLINE - An on-line service for Retrocomputing Enthusiasts!
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 2:49 am
Hello everyone,
I had posted this on World of Spectrum, months ago, not aware that this forum also existed, so... to explain what I have here:
( the website is here: http://www.irata.online )
IRATA.ONLINE is a multi-user on-line service specifically aimed at the retro-computing community, much in the vein of QuantumLink or similar services. It's graphical, and supports touch screen and pointing devices, and is based on the legendary PLATO system. (wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)
PLATO itself was a system that ran from some form from 1962 until 2015, but its peak years were during the late 1970s, during which, so many innovations that we take for granted were developed there, ranging from the flat screen touch panel display, to forums, to graphical multi-player games, and more.
IRATA.ONLINE itself contains a complete set of PLATO software as it was distributed by Control Data for its large customers, some 16,000 pieces of educational software, with subjects ranging from high school biology, to (and I kid you not) "how to operate a nuclear reactor"
It not only offers lessons and multi-user games, but it also provides forums, multi-user chat, as well as a complete software development environment baked into the system so that users can create new games, lessons; applications that can all be shared by all of the users of the system.
I have been working on this project for over a year, spending my time not only administering the system, but also writing new terminals for a wide variety of systems, some below, as well as trying to drum up interest in the service and foster a community around this system.
Some of the available and soon to be available terminals:
* Modern PCs (Linux, Windows, Mac)
* Atari 800
* Apple II
* Commodore 64
* Commodore 128 (uses the VDC)
* TI 99/4A (soon)
* Atari ST
* Commodore Amiga
* PC
* ZX Spectrum
* Amstrad CPC (soon) !!!
* MSX
* Coleco ADAM (soon)
* BBC Micro (soon)
* Sharp X68000 (soon)
* Sinclair QL (soon)
* more...
This is all possible, because the terminal itself is written in very highly portable C, and I have been able to port it very quickly to many different targets, and am able to do them all in parallel.
About the ZX Spectrum PLATO terminal:
* Supports ZX Spectrums with at least 48K of RAM
* Supports Spectranet, Interface 1, and + series RS232 ports for connectivity.
* Supports ZX Printer for hard copy.
It can be downloaded here:
https://github.com/tschak909/platotermz ... TERMZX_1_2
Here is a demo video of it running over Spectranet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XlppdrIAN8
If you're interested, you can try out the system using a guest account, and then sign up on the website, if you're interested.
This is something I am doing on my own time, and on my own dime, to provide a comprehensive on-line service for retro computers of all shapes and sizes, I hope you all enjoy it, as much as I do, making it.
-Thom
I had posted this on World of Spectrum, months ago, not aware that this forum also existed, so... to explain what I have here:
( the website is here: http://www.irata.online )
IRATA.ONLINE is a multi-user on-line service specifically aimed at the retro-computing community, much in the vein of QuantumLink or similar services. It's graphical, and supports touch screen and pointing devices, and is based on the legendary PLATO system. (wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)
PLATO itself was a system that ran from some form from 1962 until 2015, but its peak years were during the late 1970s, during which, so many innovations that we take for granted were developed there, ranging from the flat screen touch panel display, to forums, to graphical multi-player games, and more.
IRATA.ONLINE itself contains a complete set of PLATO software as it was distributed by Control Data for its large customers, some 16,000 pieces of educational software, with subjects ranging from high school biology, to (and I kid you not) "how to operate a nuclear reactor"
It not only offers lessons and multi-user games, but it also provides forums, multi-user chat, as well as a complete software development environment baked into the system so that users can create new games, lessons; applications that can all be shared by all of the users of the system.
I have been working on this project for over a year, spending my time not only administering the system, but also writing new terminals for a wide variety of systems, some below, as well as trying to drum up interest in the service and foster a community around this system.
Some of the available and soon to be available terminals:
* Modern PCs (Linux, Windows, Mac)
* Atari 800
* Apple II
* Commodore 64
* Commodore 128 (uses the VDC)
* TI 99/4A (soon)
* Atari ST
* Commodore Amiga
* PC
* ZX Spectrum
* Amstrad CPC (soon) !!!
* MSX
* Coleco ADAM (soon)
* BBC Micro (soon)
* Sharp X68000 (soon)
* Sinclair QL (soon)
* more...
This is all possible, because the terminal itself is written in very highly portable C, and I have been able to port it very quickly to many different targets, and am able to do them all in parallel.
About the ZX Spectrum PLATO terminal:
* Supports ZX Spectrums with at least 48K of RAM
* Supports Spectranet, Interface 1, and + series RS232 ports for connectivity.
* Supports ZX Printer for hard copy.
It can be downloaded here:
https://github.com/tschak909/platotermz ... TERMZX_1_2
Here is a demo video of it running over Spectranet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XlppdrIAN8
If you're interested, you can try out the system using a guest account, and then sign up on the website, if you're interested.
This is something I am doing on my own time, and on my own dime, to provide a comprehensive on-line service for retro computers of all shapes and sizes, I hope you all enjoy it, as much as I do, making it.
-Thom