Programming Retro Games in Python | 80s Usborne Computer Coding Book

Please note, this video is not intended as a programming tutorial, it's just to show me having a go at converting the games. Hopefully seeing this will inspire others to have a go themselves :)

Today join me as I have another go coding some retro 80s computer games. This time I'm typing in games from the Usborne book: "Computer Battlegames", using my BBC Micro Computer from the 1980s. Then I convert the games to work in the computer language Python.

Usborne website link (with book downloads) below ⬇️

Links below ⬇️ to the 8BitDo retro style keyboard ⌨️ I use in this video (Amazon Affiliate Links)

🎶 Music & Sound Effects 🎶 (Affiliate Link)
Like the music? Find my playlist with the music I've use in my videos here:
And, if you sign up to Epidemic Sound through the playlist link, you'll get 7 days for free!

[robertbreyer]

When I was younger I always found the artwork was vastly more impressive than the game.

[rlacombe]

As a 49 year old, it is refreshing to see someone so young interested in retro micros!

[mattihp]

The artwork in those books is amazing. Somehow the style always reminded me of the movie parodies in MAD Magazine

[theoDSP]

Worth noting that the `msvcrt` module is only available on Windows systems so if you are using Linux or Mac you can use the 'keyboard' module.

[OneAndOnlyMe]

Those books got me started. I never looked back. Today I'm an enterprise systems architect.

[MjArmstrong]

Just found this channel yesterday, seeing such a young person interested in our yesterday is brilliant and so are you 😇

[pcarmonac]

At 48 years old, being a dentist, I remember writing those programs in Atari Basic (it is what was strongest here in Chile), "thanks" to the pandemic I decided to return to programming and learned Python, not yet enough to dedicate myself to this passion for programming, but I do like being able to "convert" those programs from Basic to Python and see them work again.

Thank you very much Kari for the endearing content you generate.

Greetings

[maidbloke]

54 year old BBC Micro owner here. That start-up sound at 1:10 brings back so many memories. 😍😍😍

[murphygreen]

"over 40 years ago". Don't mind me crying over here

[NickT]

These books started my journey in to programming on the ZX Spectrum+ back in the 80's.

[PaulioBee]

Wow... With so many retro computer channels on here now, it's refreshing to see something a little different. The old programming books, particularly those aimed at children, may be the most overlooked aspect of retro computing. I had one such book in the 80s, and I read it over and over again, and typed in the programs that were in the back. I've spent recent years collecting many books. Maybe this will encourage me to do a little exhibition of a neat little program or two.

[josephkarl]

It's great to see you getting into rhe gateway drug that got so many of us into programming back in the day 💯

[panopolis]

10:35 thought you had 3 hands for a second 🤣 good video, keep em coming!

[Urko]

Love seeing younger people loving the stuff i used to do in my teens in early 80s. The BBC was a very upmarket machine in its day.

[xjet]

Reminds me of when I first got into microcomputers way back in the late 1970s. So much effort, so much fun.

[manoiumusicgames]

I remember programming games like this in class when I was a kid in the early 90s. I love how the artwork during those times sparked your imagination and basically created the graphics and sound of the game in hour head haha.

[barnes]

I did not know you could get those books online for free - thank you! I had so many of them when I was a kid which was, sadly, when the BBC Micro was contemporary.

[BlameThande]

I love the Usborne books, not only these computer coding ones but others too, great to see them being put to use!

[shootmcrunfast]

Awesome stuff. I used to have these books back in the day, the artwork stoked my naive young mind and I honestly imagined graphics akin to the artwork in the book!!

[ReverendPONT]

This brought back memories. My Dad subscribed to these and would program quite a few of these. I remember flipping through the pages and helping him pick what games to program.