o7 Gratz on 40.
Here is my 5150, although it is from '84 (256KB "B" model, but it is still neither an XT or AT - since it is 63W PSU, bays are dual 5.25" 360K, and cassette port). The attach JPG filesize is ironically 640KB (original is much larger, but the cropped for-web version came out to 640KB). In the photo, I have Sopwith ready (actually Sopwith II, since it has the birds). That joystick I have isn't very good, but the color matches - it is good for Paratrooper though.
I didn't know Sopwith was multi-player until this past summer. Perhaps it can be combined with the new mTCP tools to make it multiplayer across modern internet!? (I forget if Sopwith uses Interlink, or some kind of serial connection -- maybe there is already some adapter to sling that protocol over IP?)
I wrote DestinyHunter for the 40x25 Commodore PET. In porting that to the IBM PC, I didn't realize MDA didn't support a 40 character wide mode, that was only CGA. So unfortunately my port only uses the CGA text-mode addresses (in same 40x25 mode) [and I haven't finished adding audio to the PC version, but the 32K PET version has audio].
But now with mTCP available and working very well - I am kind of motivated to try to make some kind of 8088-based multiplayer network game.
Also, I wanted to be able to load my DHUNTER.COM from cassette (as I can on the PET -- which is only about 50 CPS, so it takes about 9 minutes to load!! I think the PC cassette is 200-300 CPS?). Mostly I just wanted to demonstrate that the program isn't dependent on DOS [or to demonstrate how it could be a useful machine, even if you happened to have no disk drives at all -- you could still load things from a tape via Cassette BASIC].
Except I can't find a way to WRITE the program to tape (the 5150CAXX.EXE program didn't work for me, and as a 32K program DHUNTER is too large to just bake into a long sequence of DATA values in a BASIC program the just POKEs into RAM {even if I could, I don't have a way to "paste" that into Cassette BASIC and do the initial recording to tape - I'd have to print it and type 32,000 hex values correctly}). But I have so many other projects now, I'm not sure if I'll get back to this.
BTW, I am trying to find a CCR-82 in clean/good condition. I have the CCR-81, but that's large and the one I have the door hinge doesn't hold open. (it still works ok, just I think the smaller -82 would be more cute next to a 5150 -- unless there some other suitable "small cassette" deck?).
And while I have an original MDA/CGA card, I did source an ISA VGA just so I don't have to use an MDA-to-VGA adapter. [those adapters work fine, but need the extra power so it's more annoying cabling]. An "authentic" monitor would be nice, but I'm in a no rush for it. [ it'd be nice to show how the original 63W power supply was designed to have a cable from it, going to the monitor ]
I did toss in an RJ45 ISA NIC, thankfully the modified 3COM driver on github works. Then after adding the XT-IDE, I just disabled the disk drives (removed their power cables) and just keep the disk drive dust cover on full time. [ although I'm working on a 37-pin to 34-pin adapter, so I can use the external floppy connection - I really don't want to open the case up more then I have to at this point ] The NIC is fun thanks to the mTCP tools - I can FTP files on without removing the CF card, or do some IRC, and use SNTP to set the system clock sync'd to a website during startup.
And I did add an ISA SB 2.0 - I can play MOD files just fine at ~13 KHz (that's fun since I can shuffle play them, like a 5150 powered juke box), but other then that things like Lemmings, SimCity, KQ4 are just to slow on the 4.77 MHz 8088. I'm ok sticking with mostly pre-1988 titles. I'm also realizing we kind of need a list of what software can function on a 64KB-only, 256KB-only, and 512/640KB only setup. The 3COM driver SETUP CFG requires over 256KB, and also basically any DOS installation from 4.0 or newer requires over 256KB (to do the install, not necessarily to boot the DOS after the install is finished).
Also the WiModem232 is fun, through the serial port [ except I only have 1 serial port, so it competes with the serial mouse ]. Maybe this device too could be used as a point-to-point data channel for games like Sopwith?
My notes using WATCOM C to do programming on a modern machine to make a real-mode .COM program for 8088 (tiny model limited to single segment of 64K):
https://destinyhunter.org/ibm-5150-development-notes/
In-work notes of my 5150 setup:
https://destinyhunter.org/voidstar-ibm-pc-5150/