A BBS door is an interface between the bulletin board software and an external application, but the term is also used to refer to the application.
Doors are the most common way to add games, utilities, and other extensions to a BBS. As traditional BBSes depended on telephone dial-up connections, BBSes and door programs tended to be local, in contrast to modern Internet games and applications.
Early computer bulletin board systems didn't have the ability to run door programs but, from the 1990s and on, most BBS software had the ability to drop to doors. Standards created to pass connection and user information to a door was usually done with drop files, which are small binary or text files that were dropped into known locations in the BBS's file system.
Most door programs were designed to operate the serial port or other communications device directly until control was returned to the BBS, but later development of FOSSIL drivers allowed BBS's and doors to communicate without the door having to take the direct operation of the communications hardware.
The most common use of doors in a BBS was to allow users to play games, known as door games, but other uses included such things as classified ads, BBS lists, recipes, and parting comments from recent BBS callers.
Popular BBS door games included Food Fight, Freshwater Fishing, Global War, Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD), Nukem, Operation: Overkill, PimpWars, Solar Realms Elite, The Pit, Trade Wars, and Usurper. Inter-BBS leagues allowed users of different BBSes to compete against one another in the same game, which was especially popular with the role-playing games.
There were many other door games, some of which are still being played on BBSes today.
The focus of this category is on BBS door games and other door utilities.
Recommended Resources
Created in 2014, BBSlink is designed to allow BBS SysOps to easily add door games to their BBS, doing so without complicated set-up procedures or tight restrictions on accepted BBSes, although there may be compatibility issues. BBSlink is free to all SysOps, there is no selection criteria, and there are no splash screens or compulsory menus before loading the game. The service is run on a virtual private server in Italy. Available doors are listed, and SysOp information is given.
https://www.bbslink.net/
Involved in the underground BBS modding scene of the early 1990s, Demonic members would release BBS modifications as source code snippets, doors, tutorials, script files, ANSI modifications, and preconfigured menus. As most of its core members have moved on to other things, Demonic can no longer put out packs in a timely manner, and its work has shifted to larger projects like door games, BBS software, and larger BBS utilities, which are available for download.
http://www.demonic.net/
Demozoo is a large, regularly updated catalog of digital art productions, preserving everything from Amiga demos to BBS software to modern PC releases. Phenom supported BBS systems running on Windows, Linux, and Amiga, including BBS modifications and crew door games. Phenom, a multi-platform BBS door group founded in 2018, appears to no longer be in business, but Demozoo still offers many of its BBS door programs and chat systems, with descriptions and downloads.
https://demozoo.org/groups/83562/
DDS carries door games or other software that pertains to a BBS. Although some of the listed games can be run locally, they are intended to be run on a computer bulletin board system. DDS is a repository and distribution site for door game files and is not the author of the games. Files are distributed through the FidoNet Filebone. SysOps can ask their uplink how to obtain them or join the DDS Listserv. Door authors are invited to contact the site for distribution details.
https://www.doorgames.org/
Gameport: WorldGroup Utilities
Gameport's WorldGroup Utilities and related BBS software were part of the broader network surrounding Galacticomm's MajorBBS/WorldGroup platform, offering add-ons, door games, utilities, and modules for sysops running WorldGroup-based bulletin board systems. Gameport functioned as a commercial distributor of WorldGroup and MajorBBS add-ons, including utilities that sysops used to manage their WG systems, selling modules long after most dial-up boards had vanished.
https://www.gameport.com/bbs/
GameSrv is a BBS door game server, offering a means by which BBS SysOps can host door games. Created by R&M Software, GameSrv is not a BBS software, although it can be used to bring a DOS-based BBS server into the contemporary world, acting as a front-end to accept telnet connections before passing them off to the DOS BBS software, but it also allows DOS BBS software to run modern Win32 doors, including TelnetDoor, to connect to other systems.
https://www.gamesrv.ca/
Serving the computer bulletin board system community since 1989, Sunrise Door Software offered 16-bit door products designed to work on any BBS software capable of running door programs, including a line of doors made specifically for the WinServer and Home-PC line of products that can be played on a home computer without BBS software. While Sunrise is no longer in business, all Sunrise BBS Door Software products have been released as Donationware, a licensing model that is described here.
https://github.com/mro-1337/SUNRISE.DOORS
Founded in 1998, Jibben Consulting Services specializes in ColdFusion consulting, SQL Server consulting, and client/server application development. Jibben Software offers a line of BBS door games, which are now available as freeware, all of which support FOSSIL and several other protocols, as well as OS/2, DESQview, and Windows 3.1 multitasking, as well as other features which are listed here. Game descriptions and specifics are posted, and the software may be downloaded.
https://jibbensoftware.com/
Begun as a hobby in the late 1980s, John Daley original distributed shareware and freeware under Datagen Software Designs, which was renamed in 1996 when his product line expanded to include bulletin board system game and entertainment software, eventually acquiring Global War and Barren Realms Elite, both popular BBS door games. Offering BBS doors, BBS utilities, productivity software, and other utilities, purchases may be made online, and demos are available.
https://www.johndaileysoftware.com/
Created in the early 1990s, LOD is a role-playing game for computer bulletin board systems. Supported platforms include DOS, DOS-DPMI, and OS/2, and SuperVGA graphics on both the SysOp’s side of the connection and through a remote terminal on the user’s end. Its features are highlighted along with full documentation on gameplay. Game files may be downloaded in a compressed ZIP format. The classic LOD can be registered for use through an online purchase.
https://www.landofdev.com/
LORD - Legend of the Red Dragon
One of the most famous BBS door games, LORD was created by Seth Robinson of Robinson Technologies in 1989. Now owned by Metropolis Gameport, the current version is designed to be used with MajorBBS or Wordgroup systems, although it will play as a stand-alone program on a PC. Either the BBS or the PC version may be purchased online, and demos are available for each. Also available is LORD II - The New World and Planets - The Exploration of Space.
https://www.gameport.com/bbs/lord.html
MajorBBS Emulation Project, The
This is an open-source project called MBBSEmu that allows classic MajorBBS and Worldgroup modules to run on modern operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and ARM platforms such as Raspberry Pi. It emulates the environment needed for original MajorBBS and Worldgroup DOS modules, allowing many classic BBS games to run without maintaining a vintage DOS system. It can be run standalone via a console or integrated with modern BS packages such as Syncrhonet or Mystic.
https://www.mbbsemu.com/
Marc Brooks’ TriBBS 10.x/11.x Software
TriBBS is a computer bulletin board software designed to be installed on MS-DOS computers. Created by Mark Goodwin and marketed through TriSoft, the BBS software is currently owned by PTC Software, and the most recent version (11.6) was released in 2002. This site features a variety of utility doors created for TriBBS by Marc Brooks, some for earlier versions of the TriBBS software. Descriptions and download links for ZIP files of each are provided, with contacts.
https://www.fehq.org/tbsoft.htm
Throwback BBS is a centralized provider of classic door games and utilities, functioning much like the InterBBS leagues of the 1990s, but updated for today's telnet-based hobbyist boards. It acts as a remote host that sysops can connect to, giving users access to a huge library of games and tools without installing, configuring, or maintaining them locally. It works like modern InterBBS services like BBSlink, giving sysops a way to integrate classic door games into their own boards.
https://www.throwbackbbs.com/
Created by Rick Parrish of R&M Software, Usurper is a BBS door game, in which the player can play as a lone wolf warrior or as a part of a team in a game environment that includes more than a hundred dungeons, dungeon monsters, and computer-controlled battles. Development news and releases are posted to the site, and recent as well as older releases are available for download, including the source code. DOS, Linux, and Win32 installation instructions are included.
https://www.usurper.info/
