Making Games for 1920s Hardware

Explore the fascinating development process of "Hello, Operator!", a unique game played on a vintage 1927 Western Electric telephone switchboard. Dive into the challenges of blending old and new technology, as a JavaScript-based game engine interfaces with 90-year-old electronics. Learn how to approach working with undocumented antique hardware, interpreting tangles of wires instead of spaghetti code, and using multimeters as debugging tools. Discover the cross-platform game engine that powers "Hello, Operator" and enables seamless transitions between prototyping in code and hardware. Gain insights into overcoming the difficulties of iterative design and user testing with 200 pounds of vintage equipment. This Strange Loop Conference talk offers valuable lessons in innovative game development, hardware hacking, and bridging the gap between modern software and historical technology.