PC Software

Programs

All programs made available on this page are free software (also called open source software) unless otherwise specified.

LOCKJAW

Tetromino game with an all-new engine that incorporates concepts from the newer Tetris games. In this game, you set the rules. But this game is free software and not sponsored or endorsed by The Tetris Company.

Learn more about LOCKJAW

bmp2tiles

Older game consoles (1984 to 1991) store their graphics as 8-by-8-pixel tiles. This command-line program converts .bmp files to the formats used by game consoles, the same formats supported by 8TED (below). It supports sprite sheet conversion at various cel sizes.

Download bmp2tiles (15 KB; includes source code and Windows binaries; Windows binaries require Allegro 4.0 DLL; building from source requires Allegro library)

NES Tools

Older game consoles (1984 to 1991) store their graphics as 8-by-8-pixel tiles. Most paint programs do not support the formats these consoles use. That's why there's 8TED. This program can edit tiles stored in the native formats of the NES, Game Boy, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and more. Use it to hack existing ROMs or to create graphics for your own ROMs.

The package also includes programs to create screen layouts for NES games, convert bitmaps to an NES CHR, remove duplicate tiles in an NES CHR, and pack data using run-length encoding.

Download NES Tools (59 KB; includes source code and Windows binaries; Windows binaries require Allegro 4.0 DLL; building from source requires Allegro library)
Read NES Tools Manual (18 KB text file)

Tetanus On Drugs™

This tetromino game that simulates the effect of hallucinogens is the predecessor of LOCKJAW: The Overdose. Not sponsored or endorsed by The Tetris Company.

Download Tetanus On Drugs (110 KB; includes source code, Windows binary, and media data; Windows binary requires Allegro 4.0 DLL; building from source requires Allegro library)

Windows 9x boot screen randomizer

Still using Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition? Tired of the boring old clouds that appear whenever you restart your computer? This program will choose a random bitmap out of a folder you select and set it as your startup screen. Put it into Start > Programs > Startup, and get a different boot screen every time you restart your computer.

Download w9xstart (168 KB; includes source code, Windows binary, and four sample images; Windows binary requires Allegro 4.0 DLL; building from source requires Allegro library)

Clearize

Microsoft ClearType exploits the misalignment of colors in LCD display systems to draw anti-aliased text with better resolution than a perfectly aligned display would allow. (Read this page for details.) This program uses a similar sub-pixel antialiasing technique on arbitrary bitmap images in bmp, pcx, or tga format, or more if you download plug-ins and recompile the program. It supports command-line options to optimize for both RGB order displays (such as most laptops) and BGR order displays (Game Boy Advance; some iBooks).

Download Clearize (154 KB; includes DOS binary and source code; building from source requires Allegro library)

freepuzzlearena™

freepuzzlearena was one of the first games I published online as free software, back in 2000. It consists of a collection of several puzzle games, a typing tutor, and a mouse tutor. Download source and Windows binary. Requires Allegro DLL (below).

Dependencies

• Allegro 4.0 DLL (317 KB; required for running Allegro applications on Windows; unzip this into each folder containing an Allegro app)
• Allegro 4.0 source code (2687 KB; required for building Allegro applications from source). You don't need this unless you have a C compiler installed or you are redistributing a GPL'd program that uses the Allegro library.

Links

• MinGW (compile Allegro based programs for Win32)
• DJGPP (compile Allegro based programs for MS-DOS)
• CWSDPMI (run DJGPP compiled programs on plain MS-DOS)
• Info-ZIP (unpack .zip archives)