RE: HW requirements

[Eric W. Brown <eric at saugus dot net>]

> Can the serial port on Commodore 128 even keep up with a 56K
> modem?

The misleading (but honest answer) is "not for long".  It (the whole 
system including serial port and software emulated UART) can handle up 
to 9600 bps without too much trouble (the C64 only up to a little over 
2400 bps) but not the full bandwidth of what a modern modem can 
deliver.

The more accurate answer however is "it doesn't have to".  Virtually 
everyone who's still using a C128 (or C64 for that matter) these days 
connect not through the native serial port, but rather through a UART 
cartridge.  There were at least three such cartridges on the market for 
fairly low money (they've always tended to be cheaper than the modems 
themselves), but competent hardware hackers have also been known to 
build them using freely available plans (do a search for "DataPump" or 
"DataPump Plus" in conjunction with "C128" or "C64", and I'm sure 
you'll be able to find a copy somewhere -- there used to be a bevy of 
FTP sites that made it available for anonymous download).

> And since I feel a wave of nostalgia coming on, __I wonder how
> easy/hard it would be to make Cconq into a BBS "door"....

That's an interesting question.  If the BBS were also to support a web 
front end, it could make for a unique Xconq experience...