// rare prototypes · retro hardware · build logs
HyphaStorm is a workbench for retro-tech tinkering: reviving rare prototype hardware like the original Xbox "Alpha Tower" dev kit, porting code to machines that never asked for it, and the odd experiment in clay 3D printing. Build logs to go with the videos.
// latest video
Look what this old Xbox Alpha Tower Development Kit can do!
A tour of what actually runs on the Alpha I prototype dev kit, most of it compiled with the period XDK specifically for this hardware, plus a couple of original E3 demos.
// build logs
Compiling software with the period XDK for the Alpha I prototype, and a tour of what's been tested: ClassiCube, WinQuake, Doom, SNES emulation, and the original E3 demos.
read log →The Xbox Alpha I development kit is a pre-retail prototype Microsoft used to build the original Xbox, and this one still powers on, 25 years later.
read log →Watching an early Xbox 'Dolphin' tech demo run on the Alpha I prototype, a glimpse of what pre-launch Xbox graphics looked like before the console shipped.
read log →// elsewhere on the bench
Retro Hardware
Reviving the Alpha I, the beige prototype tower Microsoft used to develop the original Xbox years before the black box hit shelves. Dumping drives, compiling with the period XDK, and porting things it was never meant to run: ClassiCube, WinQuake, Doom and SNES emulation, all on pre-launch silicon. This is the heart of the channel.
Minecraft Server
A survival multiplayer server running a bespoke suite of custom plugins: procedural mazes, custom loot tables, reworked mobs, smarter storage and a clutch of mini-games. Built and maintained in-house rather than bolted together from the marketplace.
Spigot · Paper
Standalone Minecraft plugins, published on SpigotMC and free to drop into any server: floating-island world generation, Happy Ghast taming and speed boosts, singleplayer on a multiplayer server, and player-to-player blocking.
Music · Automation
A studio that turns music-chart data into a steady stream of video content: chart rundowns, shorts and compilations, rendered and published on a schedule. The automation playground behind the scenes.
// don't miss the next teardown