I can put together a short guide if anyone wants to try registering for a BBS (they still exist via telnet, though you'll want a better client that can do ANSI and such), but again, I don't think these would play for anyone that wasn't there back in the day. The biggest thing I can remember was the 36 (?) disc copy of CHICAGO, which was Windows 95 before it was properly released. Most boards just hosted shareware, but if you were l33t you could find warez boards that had registered versions of software or full software. There were also files to download and forums. Every game was like that in some capacity. Then your day would end, you'd go to sleep and the game would reset the next day for another set of turns. In LORD, for example, you would go into a forest and get to attack 30 enemies, get exp and gold, buy new equipment, try to kill other players, etc. Select the Serial category from the menu on the left. Edit the Speed to match the BAUD Rate you want to use. Edit the Serial Line to match the COM port you want to use. Most of the games were text based RPG and strategy games that were governed by a set number of turns each day because of the BBS model being time limited. To use PuTTY for your serial COM connections, follow these steps: Figure out the COM port you’ll be using. PLEASE do not use your OS telnet or Putty Follow these steps: 1) Install Syncterm 1.0 2) Launch it and press INS 3) Choose MBR BBS as name 4) Choose as.
![putty or syncterm putty or syncterm](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/telehack/images/2/26/Ttest-putty.png)
Most communities had text files of BBS lists that you could add your board to. Most boards only had one phone line so you would have a time limit and there would be some games to play and some files to download. You would use a modem, call up a 'server' that was run in some dude's house, and spend some time on their board.
![putty or syncterm putty or syncterm](https://www.allfordentist.com/img_medium/26556_1_1549573330.jpg)
SyncTERM BBS terminal program supporting Telnet, SSHv2, RLogin, Serial, Windows. They're a weird relic from a pre-internet age that has a strong nostalgic pull for the right demographic (probably people age 35-45).Īs others have said, it was basically a nascent version of the internet before everyone was always connected. We will need to use a secure Telnet client, like PuTTY, to access it. There isn't a lot of explanation of what a BBS is because I'd be super surprised if anyone under the age of 30 could find much interest in revisiting them outside of maybe from a historical curiosity.