> how the F did anyone get any answers to tough questions before the Internet? My first serious programming attempts were on my MSX computer. And not only ther

> how the F did anyone get any answers to tough questions before the Internet? My first serious programming attempts were on my MSX computer. And not only there wasn't any internet access, but I knew no one owning a computer even with the same CPU (a Z80A). There wasn't any dedicated publication in my country, either. I basically was on my own, with two books : Rodney Zack's "Z80" and an MSX programming technical book, and could discuss programming problems only with a couple of friends owning entirely different machines (C64, Apple II). I went as far as writing my own assembler in MSX-BASIC because I couldn't afford to buy one; then used that to write my own games. I had my share of tough questions; I remember my frustration with the existing MSX graphic modes, and I tried to elicit the machine to create new ones, for which I partially succeeded. That is, I tried to reverse-engineer the hardware by making it crash repeatedly. So the answer to the question is : by trying again and again, and thinking really hard about it.