SLEEPREBELLION

Sleep Rebellion Studios, LLC

An independent game studio in Beaverton, Oregon. The studio behind Half‑Byte Hero.

Meet Half-Byte Hero Watch the First Look (opens YouTube)

01 The studio

Sleep Rebellion Studios makes games for the machines that raised us. Our first title, Half‑Byte Hero, is a real DOS program: it runs natively on DOS, and it will also come to modern PCs through Steam with DOSBox bundled.

The goal is simple: build something that looks and feels like it came out of a 90s shareware catalog, and is still fun to play today.

STUDIO.NFO

Name
Sleep Rebellion Studios, LLC
Based in
Beaverton, Oregon
Making
Half‑Byte Hero
Status
Private beta

02 Half‑Byte Hero

Half-Byte Hero title art: pixel-art logo reading Half-Byte Hero, a voxel action RPG for DOS, above torches, a sword, a cauldron and a green slime.

A 3D voxel action RPG that runs natively on DOS.

  • [■] Native DOS. A real DOS game, not a modern game in a retro costume.
  • [■] 3D voxel world. A full 3D action RPG, built out of voxels.
  • [■] Shareware first. A free shareware episode comes first.
  • [■] Then Steam. A Steam release with DOSBox bundled follows.
  • Voxel hills with blocky trees and a cow, sword in hand.
  • A dungeon with red-hot floor tiles and stone blocks.
  • A market square with a building signed SMITHY and townsfolk.
  • Trading with Lorimer the innkeeper: buy, sell and talk menu.
  • A fireball spell flying across a snowy arctic voxel landscape.
  • Plains at dusk with a message: You sense that there is something magical about this place.

The story

I conceived of Half-Byte Hero as a result of the intersection of many of my life's interests: Firstly, my daughter, whose childhood fascination with Minecraft sparked the initial idea, "Wouldn't it be cool if she could play Minecraft behind me on my 486 while I worked?" Secondly, my love for retro PC hardware and gaming. Thirdly my fondness for the Borland C compiler, my first ever compiler. Fourthly, my desire to write a video game soundtrack.

I decided to create a retro game that would be aesthetically consistent with being a retro game, would run well on my 486 DX4, yet still be fun by modern standards, playable on a modern PC with an emulator, and distributable via Steam.

This is a very tightly optimized engine. It will run, at reduced graphics settings, on practically any 32-bit x86 CPU. For an enjoyable frame rate a 486 DX/33 is considered the minimum, while a 100Mhz DX4 runs the game reliably at Medium settings. Very High is recommended only for Pentium class machines, at 200mhz or better. You need EMS 3.0, at least 8mb, and a VGA card. Adlib and SoundBlaster cards are supported. Via the bundled Windows launcher, an XBox controller can be used.

I plan to release the game as Shareware following a short public beta in 2027. No firm dates yet. Stay tuned!

Chris McGraw, creator of Half‑Byte Hero

ROADMAP.TXT

  1. 1Private beta now
  2. 2Free shareware episode
  3. 3Steam release, with DOSBox bundled

Coming 2027. No firm dates yet.

Visit halfbytehero.com Watch the First Look (opens YouTube)

03 Music

Looking for Sleep Rebellion music? Visit www.chrismcgraw.com

04 Follow along

Business enquiries: chris.mcgraw@sleeprebellion.com