# pieter.com

> A non-commercial retro-computing preservation project by Pieter Levels (@levelsio).
> Real vintage operating systems and real period network services, running live in the
> browser and reachable over the actual 1990s protocols. Nothing here is a mock-up or a
> screenshot: the machines are emulated, and the servers they talk to are genuinely running.

The site is built around emulated machines that are *online*. A Windows XP guest in the
browser dials a real PPP link, signs in to a real MSN/AIM/Yahoo server, browses the web
through a real HTTPS-downgrading proxy, and plays real network games against other visitors.
Where a modern service would be impossible for a period client to reach, a period-correct
recreation is run on this server instead.

## Emulated machines (in-browser)

- [Windows XP](https://pieter.com/): the front door. Full XP guest running under v86 with a
  ~1.9GB memory snapshot, networked via a WISP uplink. Internet Explorer 6, Outlook-era
  messengers, ~70 DOS and Windows games, Winamp, and a working dial-up modem. `/xp/`
  redirects here.
- [Windows 3.11](https://pieter.com/win31): DOSBox (em-dosbox) compiled to WebAssembly with
  a ~450MB DOS drive. Program Manager, Internet Explorer 4, Netscape, Mosaic, Eudora, mIRC
  and DOS games.

  **It gets online by actually dialling an ISP.** This is the part people assume is faked and
  it is not. The guest has an emulated Hayes modem on COM1. Trumpet Winsock dials
  `1-800-PIETER`, the modem carries the call over a WebSocket to **pieter.net** — a real
  dial-up ISP running on this server — and a real `pppd` on the other end negotiates PPP and
  issues the guest an IP address. From that point Windows 3.11 has genuine TCP/IP: Trumpet is
  the TCP/IP stack, and Netscape, Mosaic, IE4, Eudora, mIRC and FTP all ride on it. The page
  is not proxying traffic on the guest's behalf. Modern browsers dial the same ISP with
  `ATDT dial.pieter.com:443`.
- [Atari ST](https://pieter.com/atari/): Hatari compiled to WebAssembly, with real MFP serial
  hardware emulation.

## Companion sites

- [pieter.org](https://pieter.org): an AltaVista-style portal and search engine, plus an
  HTML-downgrading proxy that rewrites the modern web into markup a 1990s browser can render.
  This is where Internet Explorer 4 and 6 inside the emulators actually browse.
- [pieter.net](https://pieter.net): a working dial-up ISP. Period clients dial
  `ATDT dial.pieter.com:443` and get a real PPP session.
- [radio.pieter.com](https://radio.pieter.com): Icecast + Liquidsoap internet radio with a
  Webamp front end. Streams: `/pieter.mp3` (full quality) and `/pieter56.mp3` (56k, for
  period machines and modem-speed clients).

## Chat and messaging servers (live, reachable)

- **IRC** — `irc.pieter.com:6667`, main channel `#pieter`. Bridged to the radio site chat,
  with an AI bot present and game/now-playing announcements.
- **MSN Messenger** — port 1863 (Escargot). The XP guest signs in to this.
- **AIM / OSCAR** — port 5190, self-hosted.
- **Yahoo! Messenger** — port 5050.
- **XMPP / Jabber** — ports 5222 and 5269 (Prosody). Also serves UOL Messenger clients, with
  a multi-user lobby that gives each visitor a distinct handle.

## Game servers

Browser-playable multiplayer, each on its own host:

- [q1.pieter.com](https://q1.pieter.com): Quake
- [q2.pieter.com](https://q2.pieter.com): Quake II
- [q3.pieter.com](https://q3.pieter.com): Quake III
- [rtcw.pieter.com](https://rtcw.pieter.com): Return to Castle Wolfenstein

- **QuakeWorld** — a dedicated mvdsv server on `pieter.com:27500`, which the in-browser
  QuakeWorld DOS client connects to over a SLIP-over-WebSocket bridge.
- **DOS IPX relay and serial null-modem bridge** — on
  [pieter.com/win31](https://pieter.com/win31). Lets browser DOS machines play Duke Nukem 3D,
  Rise of the Triad, Wacky Wheels and others against each other over WebSockets, exactly as
  they would have over a null-modem cable or a LAN.

## Other period services

- **Gopher** — `hn.pieter.com:70` (`gopher://hn.pieter.com`), serving a Hacker News mirror.
- **FTP** — `ftp.pieter.com`, anonymous.
- **Mail** — `mail.pieter.com`, SMTP/IMAP/POP3, used by the mail clients inside the guests
  (Eudora on XP, Pegasus and Eudora on Windows 3.11). Note this is the guests' own mail
  server; the pieter.com domain's public MX points elsewhere.

## What is installed

### Windows XP

Applications: Internet Explorer 6, Outlook Express-era messengers (MSN Messenger, AOL
Instant Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, UOL Messenger), mIRC, Eudora, Winamp, Windows
Media Player, VLC, WinZip, WinRAR, Audacity, DC++, PCMark2002, 3D Pinball, plus PietGPT and
Nomads.com (native Win32 apps written for this project) and a Windows 3.1 launcher.

Around 76 games are installed, run through DOSBox-X or natively:

3D Pinball, Abuse, Another World, Bang Bang, Big Red Racing, Bubble Bobble, Castle,
Chessmaster 3000, Chuck Yeager Air Combat, Colonization, Comanche, Command and Conquer,
Commander Keen, Commodore 64 Emulator, Dangerous Dave, Death Rally, Descent, Desert Strike,
DOOM, DOOM II, Duck Hunt, Duke Nukem 3D (DOS and native), Dyna Blaster, F-16, F-22 Lightning,
FreeCell, Glider, Grand Theft Auto, Hearts, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Jazz
Jackrabbit, Kelloggs, Lemmings, Liero, LucasArts Sampler, Maniac Mansion, Merlin, Micro
Machines, Milieu, Minesweeper, Monopoly, NASCAR Racing, NHL 96, One Must Fall 2097, Oregon
Trail, Pirates, Poker, Ports of Call, Prince of Persia, Quake, Quake II, QuakeWorld, Red
Baron, Reversi, Rise of the Triad, Risk, Roulette, SimCity 2000, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire,
Stunt Car Racer, Stunts, Super Nintendo Emulator, Syndicate, The Incredible Machine, The
Settlers, Tomb Raider, Transport Tycoon, Trophy Bass, Wacky Wheels, Wall Street, Windle,
Windows Entertainment Pack, Wolfenstein 3D, World Empires II.

### Windows 3.11 / DOS

Applications: Internet Explorer 4, Netscape Navigator, NCSA Mosaic, Lynx, Trumpet Winsock,
Eudora and Pegasus Mail, mIRC, WS_FTP, AOL 3.0, AIM, Microsoft Bob, Excel, Calmira, ToolBook,
HyperCard, Cakewalk, Fast Tracker 2, After Dark screensavers, PKZIP, Dr. Sbaitso, RealAudio,
Video for Windows, and PietGPT/WinGPT/Nomads (written for this project).

DOS games include: Abuse, Another World, Bang Bang, Big Red Racing, Bubble Bobble, Castle,
Chessmaster 3000, Colonization, Comanche, Command and Conquer, Commander Keen, Dangerous
Dave, Death Rally, Descent, Desert Strike, DOOM, DOOM II, Duck Hunt, Duke Nukem 3D, Dyna
Blaster, F-16, F-22, Glider, Grand Theft Auto, Ikari Warriors, Indiana Jones, Jazz Jackrabbit,
Kali, Kelloggs, Leisure Suit Larry, Lemmings, Liero, Maniac Mansion, Marble Madness, Merlin,
Micro Machines, Milieu, Monopoly, NASCAR, NHL 96, One Must Fall 2097, Oregon Trail, Pirates,
Ports of Call, Prince of Persia, Quake, Quake II (DOS), QuakeWorld (DOS), Red Baron, Reversi,
Rise of the Triad, Roulette, SimCity 2000, Stunt Car Racer, Stunts, Syndicate, The Incredible
Machine, The Settlers, Tomb Raider, Transport Tycoon, Wacky Wheels, Wall Street, Wolfenstein
3D, World Empires II, plus C64 and SNES emulators.

## Notes for crawlers and agents

- The emulator pages load very large binary assets (hundreds of MB). They are not useful to
  fetch or index; the descriptions above are the intended summary.
- The project is non-commercial and preservation-oriented. Please crawl gently.