9 ms·

Show HN: Virtual Reality DOS

206 points by sonictruth2 6y ago

vissi 6y ago
Wow, VR Commander Keen!
beshrkayali 6y ago
Pretty cool! The room has no door though :)
- DonHopkins 6y ago
  The Sims player is trying to kill you. Count your blessings they didn't put you in the pool and remove the ladders.
whywhywhywhy 6y ago
See also EmuVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqUos4MYmc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqUos4MYmc
sonictruth2 6y ago
Inspired by: https://www.emuvr.net/ https://www.emuvr.net/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/465780/New_Retro_Arcade_Neon/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/465780/New_Retro_Arcade_N... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178140/Pixel_Ripped_1995/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178140/Pixel_Ripped_1995...
gfodor 6y ago
If you liked this, don't miss: http://assets.metacade.com/emulators/win311vr.html http://assets.metacade.com/emulators/win311vr.html
- tetris11 6y ago
  Wow a 3D chillzone complete with random internet presences. Pure 90s feel
- tommica 6y ago
  Oh damn, Janus VR is still ongoing - Once I tried to make an coding environment with it, using browser based IDEs, but could not make anything happen properly :/
roosterdawn 6y ago
Simple concept, but it hits me right in the nostalgia, presumably as intended. Very well done.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
butz 6y ago
Tried running "format c:". It didn't work. So much for reality part.
- skissane 6y ago
  That's because it is running DOSBox not real DOS. One could modify this to use a PC emulator like PCjs [1] and then run real DOS under it, and then really format your virtual C drive. (FreeDOS or MS-DOS 2.x could be run entirely legally; running newer versions of MS-DOS might not technically be legal but I doubt Microsoft would do anything about it.) [1] https://www.pcjs.org/ https://www.pcjs.org/
willis936 6y ago
I wonder if it's possible to exploit a bug to modify the simulation code from the in-game terminal.
- jmiskovic 6y ago
  I'm actually working on VR environment that is fully self-modifying. Currently building code editor and hot-swapping environment. It uses Lua and LOVR engine as a host. It is a step away from a classic concept of engine/lib/framework, the stable blackbox with API you call into. It's more like code environment you can examine, extend and reload instantaneously, with some built-in safeguards for reverting code errors. I'll make a ShowHN when I get to something substantial.
  - malux85 6y ago
    Keep going this sounds so cool! Would pay for this
    - zubairq 6y ago
      Super, I would love to see this as we already in the early stages of building something similar but ours is pretty crappy UI. Making it slick is the hard part
      - malux85 6y ago
        Slick is a moving target susceptible to hedonistic adaption - crappy UI but functional is better than non-existent, I’d say release as soon as you can ...
        zubairq 6y ago
        Yeah we have released already, and actually got front page of Hacker News for 2 days, so got a lot of great feedback. You can check it out here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21734845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21734845
  - 6y ago
karmakaze 6y ago
My first thought is to package up the game hardware in a Compaq 386 style case, complete with diskette drives that the VR-DOS emulator reads. Get a time machine, take it back and have someone put on the headset and insert their favourite software into the physical/virtual PC.
ngcazz 6y ago
Now here’s a Dosbox I can use my iPad keyboard with! (iDOS 2 doesn’t support the smart keyboard folio.)
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jdlyga 6y ago
What's next, 3D LOGO?
bitwize 6y ago
I know how to flesh this out into a game: Have the setting be a high school computer lab, and have the player see how much Commander Keen or Prince of Persia they can play without the teacher catching them.
- themodelplumber 6y ago
  Funny. At my HS there was also a game where you'd hang out in the drafting lab during lunch, and try to eat your lunch food while playing Wolfenstein 3D, without the teacher noticing the food part. Crumbs on the digitizer board were especially dangerous to your wellbeing.
  - dwmcqueen 6y ago
    Our "hidden" game was one called Conflict where you were Israel. I managed to load it on the shared hardrive (20 Meg, I think).
    - themodelplumber 6y ago
      Is that this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict:_Middle_East_Political_Simulator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict:_Middle_East_Politica... Looks pretty intriguing!
      - dwmcqueen 6y ago
        Yep, that was it
    - ObsoleteNerd 6y ago
      Ours was Spectre[0] as our school had a Macintosh lab. We learned to pick locks on that lab door, to sneak in and play the game together during lunch. Thankfully the lab teacher was an extremely passionate nerd like us, so was understanding, but it still involved a fair few lunchtime detentions over the year or two we did it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(video_game)
ilaksh 6y ago
I never actually got to the VR part because there has been no real interest/participation with what I made so far, but as far as the 3D environment (plus scripting) I made VSIM (vintagesimulator.com) which is a little along these lines and the aim was to do VR eventually. But hardly anyone ever used it so I moved on.
insulanian 6y ago
Norton Commander brings back memories. Started using it in DOS days and still use two-column file managers to this day.
- unixhero 6y ago
  Ah, Orthodox File Manager you mean surely.
  - unnouinceput 6y ago
    Total Commander ftw.
    - unixhero 6y ago
      Yup. It's the best. I wish Ghisler was better at marketing and general e-commerce. I wish that project all the best for the future. Double commander has been produced which also gives total commander plugins comparability across all platforms!
    - insulanian 6y ago
      It's the only software I miss on Mac :) Using "Commander One" on Mac, but it's simply not on the same level. While we're at it, what are people using as alternatives on Mac and Linux?
      - unnouinceput 6y ago
        You can make Double Commander on Mac. it's open source and you can compile it for Mac. Double Commander is 99% same as Total Commander. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Commander https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Commander
  - insulanian 6y ago
    Yes, apparently that's how they're called :)
peterkelly 6y ago
If they can get this running windows, we can have World of World of Warcraft, as promoted by The Onion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8gE3lnpLQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8gE3lnpLQ
unnouinceput 6y ago
Ha! Soon games will have computers inside where you can program games in those, that will have computers inside where you can program games in those...ad infinitum. I wonder if our Universe is not such a game actually.
- grawprog 6y ago
  Soon? http://www.computercraft.info/forums2/index.php?/forum/35-games/ http://www.computercraft.info/forums2/index.php?/forum/35-ga...
vaibhavthevedi 6y ago
Oh my god. I never imagined this even in my dreams that something like this can be made. I am a VR developer and I am really astounded by the effort you would've put in this. Amazing job.

206 points by sonictruth2 6y ago

vissi 6y ago

Wow, VR Commander Keen!

beshrkayali 6y ago

Pretty cool! The room has no door though :)

DonHopkins 6y ago
The Sims player is trying to kill you. Count your blessings they didn't put you in the pool and remove the ladders.

whywhywhywhy 6y ago

See also EmuVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqUos4MYmc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqUos4MYmc

sonictruth2 6y ago

Inspired by: https://www.emuvr.net/ https://www.emuvr.net/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/465780/New_Retro_Arcade_Neon/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/465780/New_Retro_Arcade_N... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178140/Pixel_Ripped_1995/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178140/Pixel_Ripped_1995...

gfodor 6y ago

If you liked this, don't miss: http://assets.metacade.com/emulators/win311vr.html http://assets.metacade.com/emulators/win311vr.html

tetris11 6y ago
Wow a 3D chillzone complete with random internet presences. Pure 90s feel
tommica 6y ago
Oh damn, Janus VR is still ongoing - Once I tried to make an coding environment with it, using browser based IDEs, but could not make anything happen properly :/

roosterdawn 6y ago

Simple concept, but it hits me right in the nostalgia, presumably as intended. Very well done.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

butz 6y ago

Tried running "format c:". It didn't work. So much for reality part.

skissane 6y ago
That's because it is running DOSBox not real DOS. One could modify this to use a PC emulator like PCjs [1] and then run real DOS under it, and then really format your virtual C drive. (FreeDOS or MS-DOS 2.x could be run entirely legally; running newer versions of MS-DOS might not technically be legal but I doubt Microsoft would do anything about it.) [1] https://www.pcjs.org/ https://www.pcjs.org/

willis936 6y ago

I wonder if it's possible to exploit a bug to modify the simulation code from the in-game terminal.

jmiskovic 6y ago
I'm actually working on VR environment that is fully self-modifying. Currently building code editor and hot-swapping environment. It uses Lua and LOVR engine as a host. It is a step away from a classic concept of engine/lib/framework, the stable blackbox with API you call into. It's more like code environment you can examine, extend and reload instantaneously, with some built-in safeguards for reverting code errors. I'll make a ShowHN when I get to something substantial.
- malux85 6y ago
  Keep going this sounds so cool! Would pay for this
  - zubairq 6y ago
    Super, I would love to see this as we already in the early stages of building something similar but ours is pretty crappy UI. Making it slick is the hard part
    - malux85 6y ago
      Slick is a moving target susceptible to hedonistic adaption - crappy UI but functional is better than non-existent, I’d say release as soon as you can ...
      - zubairq 6y ago
        Yeah we have released already, and actually got front page of Hacker News for 2 days, so got a lot of great feedback. You can check it out here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21734845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21734845
- 6y ago

karmakaze 6y ago

My first thought is to package up the game hardware in a Compaq 386 style case, complete with diskette drives that the VR-DOS emulator reads. Get a time machine, take it back and have someone put on the headset and insert their favourite software into the physical/virtual PC.

ngcazz 6y ago

Now here’s a Dosbox I can use my iPad keyboard with! (iDOS 2 doesn’t support the smart keyboard folio.)

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

jdlyga 6y ago

What's next, 3D LOGO?

bitwize 6y ago

I know how to flesh this out into a game: Have the setting be a high school computer lab, and have the player see how much Commander Keen or Prince of Persia they can play without the teacher catching them.

themodelplumber 6y ago
Funny. At my HS there was also a game where you'd hang out in the drafting lab during lunch, and try to eat your lunch food while playing Wolfenstein 3D, without the teacher noticing the food part. Crumbs on the digitizer board were especially dangerous to your wellbeing.
- dwmcqueen 6y ago
  Our "hidden" game was one called Conflict where you were Israel. I managed to load it on the shared hardrive (20 Meg, I think).
  - themodelplumber 6y ago
    Is that this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict:_Middle_East_Political_Simulator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict:_Middle_East_Politica... Looks pretty intriguing!
    - dwmcqueen 6y ago
      Yep, that was it
  - ObsoleteNerd 6y ago
    Ours was Spectre[0] as our school had a Macintosh lab. We learned to pick locks on that lab door, to sneak in and play the game together during lunch. Thankfully the lab teacher was an extremely passionate nerd like us, so was understanding, but it still involved a fair few lunchtime detentions over the year or two we did it. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(video_game)

ilaksh 6y ago

I never actually got to the VR part because there has been no real interest/participation with what I made so far, but as far as the 3D environment (plus scripting) I made VSIM (vintagesimulator.com) which is a little along these lines and the aim was to do VR eventually. But hardly anyone ever used it so I moved on.

insulanian 6y ago

Norton Commander brings back memories. Started using it in DOS days and still use two-column file managers to this day.

unixhero 6y ago
Ah, Orthodox File Manager you mean surely.
- unnouinceput 6y ago
  Total Commander ftw.
  - unixhero 6y ago
    Yup. It's the best. I wish Ghisler was better at marketing and general e-commerce. I wish that project all the best for the future. Double commander has been produced which also gives total commander plugins comparability across all platforms!
  - insulanian 6y ago
    It's the only software I miss on Mac :) Using "Commander One" on Mac, but it's simply not on the same level. While we're at it, what are people using as alternatives on Mac and Linux?
    - unnouinceput 6y ago
      You can make Double Commander on Mac. it's open source and you can compile it for Mac. Double Commander is 99% same as Total Commander. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Commander https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Commander
- insulanian 6y ago
  Yes, apparently that's how they're called :)

peterkelly 6y ago

If they can get this running windows, we can have World of World of Warcraft, as promoted by The Onion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8gE3lnpLQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8gE3lnpLQ

unnouinceput 6y ago

Ha! Soon games will have computers inside where you can program games in those, that will have computers inside where you can program games in those...ad infinitum. I wonder if our Universe is not such a game actually.

grawprog 6y ago
Soon? http://www.computercraft.info/forums2/index.php?/forum/35-games/ http://www.computercraft.info/forums2/index.php?/forum/35-ga...

vaibhavthevedi 6y ago

Oh my god. I never imagined this even in my dreams that something like this can be made. I am a VR developer and I am really astounded by the effort you would've put in this. Amazing job.