I have a folder of .ANS files I’ve collected from this site, and when my terminal opens it loads a random one from the folder. It’s a silly little things but it gives me that “connecting to a BBS” nostalgia feeling every time I open the terminal.
If you use a Gemini browser, you can visit gemini://ansi.hrtk.in/list/ and render 50k+ ANSI/ASCII images as if you are downloading them on a modem. It's terrific.
There's a program called `durdraw` for Linux that works well for 'playing' the files. But it won't leave it on the screen afterward as far as I can tell. Also look for the Perfect DOS VGA 437 font.
Durdraw actually can open the files directly from 16colo.rs (File Open screen, tab to or click on "16colo.rs archive"). You don't need to download them first.
It also includes a program called "durview" for just viewing instead of editing the files. It works quite nicely for browsing the live 16colo.rs archive.
Since Durdraw and Durview automatically convert from CP437 to Utf-8, you don't need a custom font. It's very nice.
For leaving on the screen, you can load the ANSI file in Durdraw, then save it as a Utf-8 ANSI. That converts the character encoding to be Linux compatible. Then you can just "cat" the file from the console.
It's an ncurses application, so it will be switching to and from the alternate screen buffer at startup and exit; and might even be using the control sequence that causes the alternate screen buffer to be auto-cleared when switched off.
TheDraw, ACiDDraw and PabloDraw were the most popular ANSI editors in the BBS era, with modern alternatives like Moebius and SyncDraw still used today.
Durdraw is a modern and powerful ANSI editor for Linux/Unix/MacOS/WSL. Unlike other ANSI editors, it supports Unicode/Utf-8 encoding and 256 colors. Frame-based animation with custom speed control, too.
Unrelated, I asked Grok to "Generate ANSI art of the cover of the first issue of Iron Man War Machine" (I did this back in the BBS days for a friend's welcome screen) and it repeatedly outputs:
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It's been going for a minute and still going as I submit this comment
And a little video on youtube that made me rediscover this nostalgia recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHgcrdv8zpM
https://16colo.rs/pack/blndr2025b/BLENDER2025B-2STONED.ANS
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitchX
Here are some examples:
https://16colo.rs/pack/acid-100/ANSI-100.ANS
https://16colo.rs/pack/sense-19/logos-19.ans
https://16colo.rs/pack/awe-20/MID-BX.ASC
durdraw -p file.ans
It also includes a program called "durview" for just viewing instead of editing the files. It works quite nicely for browsing the live 16colo.rs archive.
Since Durdraw and Durview automatically convert from CP437 to Utf-8, you don't need a custom font. It's very nice.
For leaving on the screen, you can load the ANSI file in Durdraw, then save it as a Utf-8 ANSI. That converts the character encoding to be Linux compatible. Then you can just "cat" the file from the console.
https://durdraw.org
Other modern editors are Moebius and IcyDraw (part of Icytools).
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It's been going for a minute and still going as I submit this comment