90-Day Retro Game Dev Acquisition Track

Metadata

Field	Value
source	../retro_game_dev_language_advisor.html
document	Retro Game Dev Advisor: Assembly vs. Fortran (1980s-1990s Constraints)
kind	html-section
section_id	roadmap
lines	263-318, 542-614
findings	D04-C2 D04-C3

90-Day Retro Game Dev Acquisition Track

Compare milestones across a 12-week development trajectory targeting vintage hardware.

Weeks 1–4

Weeks 5–8

Weeks 9–12

Assembly Track (x86 DOS / Mode 13h) Bare-Metal Rasterization

Fortran Track (OpenWatcom FORTRAN 77) Mathematical Engine

90-Day Deliverable Comparison

Assembly: A smooth 60/70 FPS 2D action game, tile scroller, or pseudo-3D raycaster (Wolfenstein style) running directly on real mode DOS.

Fortran: A deep, complex simulation game (e.g., orbital space flight dynamics, procedural galaxy generator, or tactical wargame engine).

Linked script: Roadmap phase data (lines 542-614)

The recommendation logic / numbers below are claims too; review them.

        // Roadmap Data & Switch Logic
        const roadmapData = {
            1: {
                assembly: [
                    "Registers (AX, BX, CX, DX, SI, DI) & Real Mode segment math",
                    "Setting BIOS Video Mode 13h via INT 10h (320x200 256-color)",
                    "Direct pixel plotting at physical memory address 0xA000:0000",
                    "Fixed-point integer arithmetic (16.16) & shift operations"
                ],
                fortran: [
                    "FORTRAN 77 / Modern Fortran free-form syntax & strict typing",
                    "DO loop structures & multi-dimensional array mapping",
                    "ASCII / ANSI terminal graphics rendering loops",
                    "Game state data structures & deterministic random seeds"
                ]
            },
            2: {
                assembly: [
                    "Fast RAM double-buffering & string blitting (REP MOVSW)",
                    "Hooking hardware interrupt INT 09h for lag-free keyboard bitmasks",
                    "Polling status port 0x3DA for CRT vertical retrace (V-Sync)",
                    "Sprite clipping, transparency masking, & dirty rectangle updates"
                ],
                fortran: [
                    "Cellular automata terrain & procedural map generation algorithms",
                    "Matrix operations for orbital mechanics / physical trajectories",
                    "Integration of linear algebra logic for tactical combat systems",
                    "File Save/Load binary serialization"
                ]
            },
            3: {
                assembly: [
                    "Fixed-point trigonometry LUTs for 2D tile scrolling or pseudo-3D raycasting",
                    "Programmable Interval Timer (PIT 8253) music/sound interrupt hooks",
                    "Profiling assembly loops in DOSBox-X debuggers",
                    "Shipping a complete, smooth 60 FPS standalone DOS executable (.COM/.EXE)"
                ],
                fortran: [
                    "Procedural galaxy generation & trading economy web engine",
                    "Coupling simulation core with low-level drawing harness / C subroutines",
                    "Optimizing loop unrolling & array non-aliasing execution",
                    "Deploying a complete procedural strategy / flight sim game"
                ]
            }
        };

        function switchPhase(phase) {
            [1, 2, 3].forEach(p => {
                const btn = document.getElementById(`btn-phase-${p}`);
                if (p === phase) {
                    btn.className = "px-3 py-1.5 text-xs font-mono font-medium rounded-md bg-slate-800 text-amber-400 shadow-sm border border-slate-700";
                } else {
                    btn.className = "px-3 py-1.5 text-xs font-mono font-medium rounded-md text-slate-400 hover:text-slate-200";
                }
            });

            const asmContainer = document.getElementById('assembly-roadmap-content');
            asmContainer.innerHTML = roadmapData[phase].assembly.map(item => `
                <div class="flex items-start text-slate-300 space-x-2">
                    <span class="text-indigo-400 font-bold">&gt;</span>
                    <span>${item}</span>
                </div>
            `).join('');

            const ftContainer = document.getElementById('fortran-roadmap-content');
            ftContainer.innerHTML = roadmapData[phase].fortran.map(item => `
                <div class="flex items-start text-slate-300 space-x-2">
                    <span class="text-cyan-400 font-bold">&gt;</span>
                    <span>${item}</span>
                </div>
            `).join('');
        }

Raw HTML (lines 263-318)

        <section id="roadmap" class="bg-slate-900 rounded-2xl p-6 sm:p-8 border border-slate-800 shadow-xl space-y-6">
            <div class="flex flex-col md:flex-row md:items-center justify-between gap-4">
                <div>
                    <h3 class="text-xl font-bold font-mono text-white flex items-center gap-2">
                        <span class="w-3 h-3 bg-cyan-500 inline-block rounded-sm"></span>
                        90-Day Retro Game Dev Acquisition Track
                    </h3>
                    <p class="text-slate-400 text-sm mt-1">Compare milestones across a 12-week development trajectory targeting vintage hardware.</p>
                </div>
                <div class="inline-flex p-1 bg-slate-950 rounded-lg border border-slate-800">
                    <button id="btn-phase-1" onclick="switchPhase(1)" class="px-3 py-1.5 text-xs font-mono font-medium rounded-md bg-slate-800 text-amber-400 shadow-sm border border-slate-700">Weeks 1–4</button>
                    <button id="btn-phase-2" onclick="switchPhase(2)" class="px-3 py-1.5 text-xs font-mono font-medium rounded-md text-slate-400 hover:text-slate-200">Weeks 5–8</button>
                    <button id="btn-phase-3" onclick="switchPhase(3)" class="px-3 py-1.5 text-xs font-mono font-medium rounded-md text-slate-400 hover:text-slate-200">Weeks 9–12</button>
                </div>
            </div>

            <!-- Content Grid for Phases -->
            <div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 gap-6">
                <!-- Assembly Track Card -->
                <div class="border border-indigo-500/30 bg-slate-800/40 rounded-xl p-6 space-y-4">
                    <div class="flex items-center justify-between">
                        <span class="font-bold text-indigo-400 font-mono text-sm">Assembly Track (x86 DOS / Mode 13h)</span>
                        <span class="text-xs font-mono bg-indigo-500/20 text-indigo-300 px-2.5 py-1 rounded-full">Bare-Metal Rasterization</span>
                    </div>
                    <div id="assembly-roadmap-content" class="space-y-2.5 font-mono text-xs">
                        <!-- Dynamic Content Inserted by JS -->
                    </div>
                </div>

                <!-- Fortran Track Card -->
                <div class="border border-cyan-500/30 bg-slate-800/40 rounded-xl p-6 space-y-4">
                    <div class="flex items-center justify-between">
                        <span class="font-bold text-cyan-400 font-mono text-sm">Fortran Track (OpenWatcom FORTRAN 77)</span>
                        <span class="text-xs font-mono bg-cyan-500/20 text-cyan-300 px-2.5 py-1 rounded-full">Mathematical Engine</span>
                    </div>
                    <div id="fortran-roadmap-content" class="space-y-2.5 font-mono text-xs">
                        <!-- Dynamic Content Inserted by JS -->
                    </div>
                </div>
            </div>

            <!-- Attainable Milestone Summary -->
            <div class="p-4 bg-slate-950/80 border border-slate-800 rounded-xl">
                <h4 class="text-xs font-mono font-semibold uppercase tracking-wider text-amber-400 mb-2">90-Day Deliverable Comparison</h4>
                <div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 gap-4 text-xs">
                    <div class="flex items-start space-x-2">
                        <span class="text-indigo-400 font-mono font-bold">Assembly:</span>
                        <span class="text-slate-300">A smooth 60/70 FPS 2D action game, tile scroller, or pseudo-3D raycaster (*Wolfenstein* style) running directly on real mode DOS.</span>
                    </div>
                    <div class="flex items-start space-x-2">
                        <span class="text-cyan-400 font-mono font-bold">Fortran:</span>
                        <span class="text-slate-300">A deep, complex simulation game (e.g., orbital space flight dynamics, procedural galaxy generator, or tactical wargame engine).</span>
                    </div>
                </div>
            </div>
        </section>

Review findings for this part

The findings come from ../../findings/ (pass 1). The script matches them to this part by source line.

ID	Severity	Evidence	Status	Location	Problem
D04-C2	critical	KNOW	open	L552 vs track title	The heading of the Fortran track is “OpenWatcom FORTRAN 77”. But week 1 teaches “FORTRAN 77 / Modern Fortran free-form syntax”. FORTRAN 77 is fixed-form. Free-form syntax started in Fortran 90. Week 3 teaches “array non-aliasing execution” and loop-unrolling optimization. These do not matter on DOS targets without SIMD.
D04-C3	critical	KNOW	open	L353, L577, summary card	The page says “Locked 60/70 FPS”, “guaranteeing locked 60 or 70 FPS without tearing”, and “smooth 60 FPS DOS executable”. VGA Mode 13h refreshes at 70 Hz. Thus V-Sync locking gives 70 or 35 fps. On a 70 Hz display, 60 fps judders. Mode 13h has no page flipping. Thus the “guaranteed” tear-free claim is wrong (review 02, C4).

Review worksheet

1. Goal of this part

What does this part try to show, or help the reader decide?

2. Key claims to test

#	Claim	Evidence given (citation / data)	Verifiable?
1

3. Adversarial review

Strongest counter-argument:
Unsupported, overstated, or outdated claims:
Source quality (primary vs. blog/forum/marketing):
Omissions / what a skeptic would ask:
Internal consistency with other segments:

4. Evaluation

Does the segment achieve its goal? (Yes / Partly / No)
Confidence: (High / Medium / Low)
Required fixes: