Enlarge / Gotta say, this looks like a lot more than 3 points of damage. (credit: Digital Eclipse)

The original Wizardry , started by a Cornell University student in 1978 and released in 1981, was a mostly text-based affair, with just enough primitive Applesoft BASIC graphics to hint at what was happening. It was published by a newly formed Sir-Tech software, with just enough polish to stand out from the Ziploc-bagged crowd. And it was polished and play-tested enough to find its audience. It's likely the first party-based RPG, and it all but created the genre "dungeon crawler."

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, as has been released in early access for PC today after two years of development, is a whole lot more than just "enough." It's adding fine-looking graphics, a whole bunch of quality-of-life improvements to navigating and managing your party, and quicker combat and spell selection. But it's built on top of the same code as the original. "You can even view the original Apple II interface as you play," developer Digital Eclipse says .

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  Here's how combat looked in the Apple II version of Wizardry , and … [credit: Digital Eclipse ]

There are more enhancements to come, too, as the game is under development—you can even read the team's " Roadmap to October ." It costs $30 now on Steam and GOG , but will likely cost more at final release. Console versions look like they'll follow after the final PC release, "before the end of 2024."

Enlarge / I mostly recognize this early laptop from its resemblance to a similar-looking computer in the film 2010 . It's up for auction along with hundreds of other old Apple computers. (credit: Julien's Auctions)

If you've been thinking your home or workspace is perhaps deficient when it comes to old Apple hardware, then I have some good news for you. Next week, a massive trove of classic Apple computing history goes under the hammer when the auction house Julien's Auctions auctions off the Hanspeter Luzi collection of more than 500 Apple computers, parts, software, and the occasional bit of ephemera.

Ars reported on the auction in February , but Julien's Auctions has posted the full catalog ahead of the March 30 event, and for Apple nerds of a certain age, there will surely be much to catch your eye.

The earliest computers in the collection are a pair of Commodore PET 2001s; anyone looking for a bargain on an Apple 1 will have to keep waiting, unfortunately.

Enlarge / An example of eight papercraft vintage computer models designed and assembled by Rocky Bergen. (credit: Rocky Bergen )

Yesterday, a Winnipeg, Canada-based artist named Rocky Bergen released a free collection of miniature papercraft vintage computer models that hobbyists can assemble for fun. They are available on The Internet Archive in a pack of 24 PDF files that you can print out on letter-size paper and fold into three dimensions.

Among Bergen's Barbie-size papercraft models, you'll find representations of classic computers originally released during the 1970s and '80s, such as the Apple II, IBM PC 5150, Commodore 64, Apple Macintosh, and even the rare Apple Lisa 1. You'll also find papercraft models of a few classic game consoles like the Sega Master System and the Nintendo GameCube.

Bergen began creating the papercraft models in the summer of 2016, starting with an Amstrad CPC 464 he designed for a CPC fanzine. "I grew up with a Commodore 64 and have always been a fan of old computers and their industrial design," Bergen told Ars Technica. "I would love to have a huge collection of them, but it's not always practical for people to have a massive amount of hardware with them at all times."

Enlarge / The Dvorak layout is now available for iPhone. (credit: Benj Edwards / Ars Technica)

Tired of QWERTY? Starting with iOS 16 —which launched last month—the Apple iPhone now supports the 86-year-old Dvorak keyboard layout natively. Previously, Dvorak typing aficionados needed to install a third-party app to use the layout.

Dvorak uses a different arrangement of keys than the standard QWERTY layout with the aim of improving typing speed and ergonomic comfort. August Dvorak and William Dealey invented the layout in 1936 after studying the deficiencies of the QWERTY typewriter keyboard, which was already 60 years old at that point.

Apple and Dvorak have an interesting history. The company first included native Dvorak support for its computers in the US model of the Apple IIc , released in 1984. It included a special "Keyboard" button that would swap the layout between QWERTY and Dvorak logically, but the physical keycaps would need to be re-arranged to match if you needed a label reference.