DarkForce! is down until further notice...

[+DarkLord]

Well folks, I've got some bad news.

 

The DarkForce! BBS is down until further

notice.

 

The Mega STe that I've been using to run

the board has apparently suffered another

power supply failure. Thats the 2nd one

in about 4 months. I had replaced the

first one with a used one off Ebay. As

far as I can tell, thats the problem.

 

The Mega ST that I usually use is down

until I get the MFP chip socketed so I

can try the RSVE upgrade I've got.

 

So I'm left without an operational ST to

run the board for now. As soon as I get

enough funds saved up, I'll either get

the Mega ST repaired, or get a new P/S

for the Mega STe.

 

I'm sorry for any inconvenience...

[LYNXGUY]

Can ypu please explain The DarkForce! BBS and do you need an ATARI computer to gain axcess to it ?? ~thanks~

[+DarkLord]

Can ypu please explain The DarkForce! BBS and do you need an ATARI computer to gain axcess to it ?? ~thanks~

 

Hi. Well, DarkForce! is a BBS... That's a Bulletin Board System.

 

Back in the day, before the Internet was as wildly popular as it

is now, BBS's ruled. Usually it was some local computer guy,

using his own hardware (computer, hard drive, and a modem)

and setting it up for other users, usually in the same area to

call in, logon, and enjoy the system. Specialized software

took calls, managed the users, allowed e-mail on the board,

allowed file uploads/downloads, hosted message bases where

users could discuss various topics, and even allowed online

games to be played. At one point, they were immensely popular.

The name of the controlling person was a "SysOp". Thats short

for System Operator.

 

Back in the 1990's, I ran a very popular Atari based board called

"The DarkForce! BBS". When the Internet became very popular,

I shut it down (this was about 1999/2000 or so). I had no way of

getting my Atari hardware/software on to the Internet, making it

accessible to all without a long distance phone call.

 

In April 2005, the 8bitters in comp.sys.atari.8bit informed me of

a wonderful device called the Lantronix UDS10. It basically takes

a serial port and converts it to LAN use. In other words, I could

once again bring DarkForce! back to life...

 

I bought one, posted questions asking this and that about it,

and finally got it working.

 

So DarkForce! is an Atari based bulletin board system, running

on true Atari hardware and software, accessible to anyone in

the world, with a computer, via telnet. With a telnet client, you

simply telnet into:

 

darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org

 

Go through a short login process, and become a member, have

lots of fun!

 

Hope to see you on there soon...