Old Imagine Games Fixed

It's amazing that fixes are still being found for ancient Spectrum games. Take two classic Imagine games for example, Arcadia and Ah Diddums, released in 1982 and 1983 respectively.

Both of these games suffered from a mysterious problem that caused the player ship (or teddy bear) to randomly move on its own, and in the case of Arcadia, fire on its own too.

This could sometimes cause you to destroy the last alien when you wanted to leave so you could get onto the next level.

Now, thanks to Lee Tonks over on the World Of Spectrum forums, both of these games can now be played as they were meant to.

Entering the following pokes will correct the problem.

Arcadia	29236,62 29237,255
Ah Diddums	29568,62 29569,255

For anyone interested, the issue was around the fact that games are looking for input from a Fuller joystick, and as none are connected, the random movement occurs. Obviously this doesn't happen if you do have a Fuller joystick, or you have set your emulator is use one.

It seems the developers didn't try the games without the joystick - or maybe they did, but couldn't fix the problem.

A big thanks to Lee for fixing these games. Although old now, both games are still enjoyable to play.

I covered the full set of Imagine games in Episode 20 of the show.

Read more »

No Show This Month

Don't forget folks, there will not be a show this month, the first time in over 3 years!

After putting out 40 episodes I think I deserve a little break, don't you? I will take a month off, but typically I am already gathering material for the next series.



The next series will be back at the end of June, and I already have the full ten episodes planned out including some great features.

I am also working on the next issue of The Spectrum Show Magazine, and without the pressure of the show, I am really enjoying this. The issue is coming along quite fast, and is already over 50% complete. It will most likely be ready before the next episode, so keep an eye for updates on twitter and here.

Thanks for your continued support.

Read more »

Baldy ZX

It's finally here, the Spectrum version of my 1992 Amiga PD game, Baldy.

It has taken a while and many, many attempts, so I am pleased to finally release the game to the public.

Before you jump in and download it, please remember this is not meant to push Arcade Game Designer to the limits, it is not meant to do anything different and it is not meant to impress. It is simply a re-creation of the Amiga game.

Like it's counterpart, it has 20 levels in which Baldy has to collect a number of games. In the case of the Spectrum, these are tapes rather than disks of the Amiga version.

The first ten levels are identical to the Amiga version, the last ten are new levels.

For more information about my Amiga game, click here to read about it.

The Story:
Some nasty person has stolen Baldy's games, but realising they were not modern, they threw them away as they ran off.

Help Baldy recover his games through 20 action packed levels, avoid the spikes and moving projectiles.

Screenshots:

Download:
Download BaldyZX here.

Vega Version (ULA Plus)
Download the TAP file.
Download the key map file. (right click and save as)

Read more »

Spectrum Show Magazine 5

The new issue of the Spectrum Show Magazine if now available, check out the links top left to download that and all the other issues.

This issue is the start of the shows Ultimate Play he Game special, and it will continue next issue.



There are also the usual reviews and features, including material not in the video show.

It would be nice to get some material from other sources, so if you fancy helping out, get in touch. It could be just a game review, or your favourite Spectrum related story, or your memories, anything. Go on... you know you want to...

Read more »