About the BBS

About the BBS

The Rust Belt BBS is online and hosted from Rochester, New York where its been burning in since March of 2019. We're running the latest version of Mystic BBS and have attepted some changes to eliminate that 'fresh out of the box' look. We have a coupe FTN networks available and adding a few new networks over time. The Rust Belt BBS won't operate as a hub for existing networks but we're in the process of creating a new FTN and IBBS network called ROCnet.

The idea of the Rust Belt BBS was born on Christmas day, 2018. While my wife celebrated the holiday with the visit of family members, I was toiling away on Facebook, looking for fan pages dedicated to Proboard. After a few hours, I was connected to several BBS related Facebook groups and on my way to installing Mystic BBS for the first time. It's been almost 20 years since I've even thought about the BBS... Here I go again!

My wife and I spent our last holiday season at our Mesa, Arizona house; we sold the house in February 2019. We were headed to Rochester New York where we had purchased a house a year earlier. Rochester sits right in the middle, almost, of what would be dubbed 'the rust belt', a name given to the region due to decline of the manufacturing industry. In the wake of this deindustrialization was economic decline and urban decay that would go on for decades. What do I see when I look out over the landscape of Rochester? I see a diamond in the rough. I see something beautiful and with great potential. The Rust Belt BBS is born and taking its first steps 2020.

Like most BBSes online today, we will have all the fan favorite door games and FTN style message networks, but I'm hoping to bring something new to this nostalgic BBS renaissance.

Our Online Games

Arcadian Legends

The Arcadian Legends is a war game designed around empire building. Giving the player control of a variety of aspects of his or her empire, the game allows the player to set his or her priorities and build an empire to their personal liking. The choice must be made between war, trade, diplomacy, expansion, research and more. There is only a limited time, so players cannot engage in everything they may wish to.

Download and register from johndailysoftware.com

Arrowbridge I [ InterBBS ]

Arrowbridge I: Quest for the Orb is a multiplayer, dungeons-and-dragons-style role-playing door games for bulletin board systems. Game players explore an extensive map which features dungeons and dragon lairs. Players can fight one another, build castles and perform special missions.

Arrowbridge II [ InterBBS ]

Arrowbridge II: The Guardians of Darkness is a multiplayer, dungeons-and-dragons-style role-playing door games for bulletin board systems. Game players explore an extensive map which features dungeons and dragon lairs. Players can fight one another, build castles and perform special missions.

Barren Realms Elite [ InterBBS ]

Barren Realms Elite or BRE is a multi-player strategy door game for bulletin board systems which is set in a post-apocalyptic future. Nuclear destruction has spread across the planet, and now only a vast barren void exists. The player rules a barony and competes against the other players to become the strongest baron on the planet.

Download and register from johndailysoftware.com Read More

Falcon's Eye

Falcon's Eye or FE is a multi-player strategy door game for bulletin board systems . In Falcon's Eye, a player controls a county within a mythical, medieval world. Players must develop their county's economy, employ their people, construct buildings, create a military and expand their lands. The game was created by Mehul Patel, author of Barren Realms Elite, but is now owned by John Dailey.

Download and register from johndailysoftware.com

Usurper - Sex, Drugs, and Steel Gauntlets!

Usurper is multiplayer, hack-n'-slash-style role-playing door game for bulletin board systems. Game players can work alone or form teams as they explore the numerous dungeons of Durunghins. The goal is to reach the deepest level. Along the way, players can fight monsters - or - one another.

Falcon's Honor

An interactive role playing adventure, Falcon's Honor is set in a fantasy world in medieval times. The player's goal is to win honors from as many families as possible, and the routes to do this are extensive. Simple by design, the game is geared to players who enjoy the atmosphere and style of role playing games.

Download and register from johndailysoftware.com

Galactic Dynasty [ InterBBS ]

Arrowbridge I: Quest for the Orb is a multiplayer, dungeons-and-dragons-style role-playing door games for bulletin board systems. Game players explore an extensive map which features dungeons and dragon lairs. Players can fight one another, build castles and perform special missions.

Legend of the Red Dragon

Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD) is a text-based role-playing door game for Bulletin Board Systems. LORD is one of the best known door games and still widely used. The player's goal is to improve his or her skills in order to defeat the Red Dragon which has been attacking the village. LORD was created by Seth Robinson of Robinson Technologies.

Solar Realms Elite

Solar Realms Elite or SRE is a multi-player strategy door game for bulletin board systems and is similar in design to its successor, Barren Realms Elite (BRE). SRE has been recognized as "advanced for its time" for offering players a range of strategy options "unseen in even most current titles in the genre."

Trade Wars 2002

TradeWars 2002 is a space trading and empire-building strategy game for bulletin board systems. Game players assume the role of a space trader who travels the galaxy buying and selling resources. Players amass wealth which they can use to upgrade their ship with better weapons and defenses. Ultimately, players battle for control of planets and starbases. TradeWars was developed by Gary Martin of Martech Software.

Our Message Networks

FidoNet
FsxNet
MicroNet

FidoNet Added to RBBBS in March 2019: 1:267/585

FidoNet is a PC-based network run by hobbyists.

It consists of approximately 2,000 PC-based computer systems world-wide, operated by some 1,000 system operators, which comprise a network that exchanges mail and files via IP and modems using proprietary protocols.

FsxNet Added to RBBBS in Novenber 2019: 21:2/126

fsxNet is a fun, simple and experimental network established in late 2015.

Technologies covered by the network include (but are not limited to) BBSing, ANSI art, Amateur (HAM) Radio, Retro / Vintage Computers & Gaming, FTN communications, network protocols & topologies, encryption methods, contemporary computers (e.g. Raspberry Pi), computer coding and more. fsxNet is not an invite-only closed network, rather it is an open community and everyone who wishes to join is welcome.

Do you find it [F]un to learn about and use retro computing technologies? Would you like to be part of a group that enjoy experimenting and developing those technologies further?

Coming Soon to the Rust Belt BBS!