HomeComp HC-77B — an alternate-history British 6502 microcomputer ecosystem starts here
I’ve just launched the first public release of HomeComp, an alternate-history British microcomputer project.
The starting point is the HC-77B: a fictional September 1977 front-panel MOS 6502 single-board computer. The idea is to build the project as if a small UK microcomputer company had really existed, releasing machines, ROMs, cassette software, manuals, adverts, tools, peripherals, and emulator support in staged historical waves.
This first release covers the September 1977 launch.
Included:
- HC-77B emulator builds
- boot/monitor ROM
- user and technical documentation
- cassette support with blank tape creation
- TTY Interface extension
- Video Display Controller extension
- Keyboard extension
- developer-facing expansion bus API / SDK material
- period-style product documentation and adverts
The HC-77B is deliberately not a polished 1980s home computer arriving early. It is meant to feel like a believable 1977 hobbyist/developer machine: front-panel operation, cassette storage, expansion capability, and a route toward richer use through external interfaces.
The main repository and wiki are here:
https://github.com/tmcd35/HomeComp
The itch.io release page is here:
https://itch.io/profile/homecomp
This is a public-domain giftware project. It is not open source overall, but the public releases can be downloaded, used, copied, shared, and archived freely. Donations are optional.
The next release phase will be Late 1977 — NIM Cassette, which will add the first official cassette software release.
I’d welcome feedback, bug reports, historical nitpicks, emulator testing, and general retrocomputing thoughts.