Lou's page is one of the reposts that I'm always happy to look at. And it has been reposted frequently.

Same plans, different game type for me. Anything old-school that has been built in a nifty way makes me want to build something from scratch :)

Love the thought of it, doubt I'll ever.

And ultimately, that's all you'd ever need in a game, right?

http://playdosgamesonline.com/lotus-the-ultimate-challenge.h...

(runs in the browser)

Nintendo still has to do that to some extent in order to get competitive performance on outdated hardware. They even managed to get Smash 4 running at 1080p60fps on the Wii U.

Back then it was just called "hardware" ;)

For me, the math is always easier when I'm writing something myself, than when I'm reading about how someone else did it. Rather than just a description of something that someone else tells you works, you've got lists of approaches that you came up with, your own opinions of positives and negatives of each, and an intuitive grasp of why you do something a specific way.

Work your way into a problem until you don't know the answer to something. Then keep experimenting with half-ideas and hunches. If you're still stuck, read some about how someone else did it; the math will be easier to tie into your own experiences, and you'll get more out of it.

Try writing some code samples in a language that's familiar to you. Keep trying until it works.