The Spectrum Show #11

The new series starts here - and we're in High Definition too, so remember to use those YouTube controls to get the best resolution. 1984 kicks off and we get all the Sinclair news and latest game releases as Xmas fades away and a new year begins. We take a look at the Currah Speech Unit, letting your spectrum talk back! Some old Abbex games get scrutinised with varying results and we look at a newer title. Best viewed on Youtube. ...

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Currah Speech |Unit

We had all seen movies and television shows that depicted computers that could take, some in realistic human voices, others in a metallic and robotic way, so when a small add-on arrived on the market in 1983 that promised to give your Spectrum the same functionality, I was eager to get one and hear what my micro sounded like. The unit was quite small, just 7.5 x 8 cm and only 1.8cm thick and offered the added bonus of allowing your Spectrum's sound to be outputted through your television. Connecting it up was easy, just plug it into the expansion port of your Spectrum, swap the aerial leads and plug in the 3.5mm jack into the Mic socket. The unit had no pass through port, so had to be the last device attached, which could prove troublesome...

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The Spectrum Show #10

Welcome to Episode 10 of The Spectrum Show. This is the last episode in the series, but don't worry, I will return after a short break. In this episode we go back to December 1983 and take a look at all the Sinclair news announce the Christmas top ten. The episode is also an Automata Special covering the company and their games. Best viewed on YouTube....

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AGD Advanced Video Tutorial

I have now added a further two AGD Advanced Video Tutorials to the existing two, making four in total. The new additions cover random sprite placement & spawning and manual sprite positions & control. The videos can be found in the AGD Tutorial section - as if you didn't know! Hope your enjoying these and that we shall have some new Speccy games soon. Enjo...

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Play Expo Special

This is a very short Spectrum Show Special covering the Play Expo event in Manchester on 13th and 14th October. There is no coverage of new systems or games, just good old retro and of course the Spectrum. Previously held in Blackpool, this year sees it move to Manchester to accommodate other areas of gaming and allow for a less crowded experience – or at least that was the idea. Reports from Saturday say it was a mass of queues and long waits, not helped by power issues, but Sunday, the day I attended, seems much more organised. Best viewed on Youtube... ...

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Bounty Updated

Bounty has been updated to version 1.1. This version has many fixes as listed below. Many thanks to Richard for his assistance. Fixes and Changes: Many spelling and grammar fixes. Fix bug with lift getting stuck. Fix bug with droid shooting. Fix several minor bugs with the parser. Changed a few location descriptions so they make more sense! Changed the way some elements work (if I told you it would ruin the game!) Download v1.1 Bounty v...

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Lost Games

The discovery of an old hard drive at the bottom of a drawer re-united me with some of the games that I never completed, and I eagerly set about trying to view what condition they were in. To do this I had to track down my registered copy of Blitz Basic, load up Virtual PC and install it. Then copy all the required files into a folder and then change all the source code to point to it. It was an interesting afternoon that brought back a lot of memories. Visitors to my old website may recall a video I placed there showing level one of Transmuter, a shoot-em-up based on an old Spectrum game of the same name, this was just one of the games. Since moving the site to this blog, the video has not been re-instated, so along with my other newly...

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The Spectrum Show #9

Welcome to Episode 9 of The Spectrum Show. In this episode we go back to November 1983 and take a look at all the Sinclair news and Spectrum game releases. We have an arcade shoot-out, this time we compare all the Spectrum Galaxian clones. We review some old games and take a look at a newer title. Hope you enjoy it. Best viewed on YouTube... ...

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AGD Video Tutorials

My Old AGD tutorials have been received very well despite not actually completing them. With AGD moving to version 3.0 and beyond, I thought it was time to update them and finally complete them. I have decided it would be easier to make videos rather than type out all of the stuff in my head. This way you can see how things work, pause the video and work along at your own pace. I have completed nearly 2 hours of video so far, taking you from loading up AGD to a complete, two-screen platform game. I have plans to extend the series and extra ones to cover the more in-depth features. The new videos will be appearing slowly over the next week and can be viewed using the tab at the top of the bl...

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Toofy In Fan Land

Oh no! Someone has stolen all Toofy’s nuts and scattered them in a strange and mysterious maze in the weird and distant Fan Land. Toofy must have his nuts and so sets off to Fan Land to retrieve them. When he gets there though, his world is turned upside-down – literally! Guide Toofy in search of his forty nuts scattered about Fan Land, and keep an eye out for secret rooms – not that you can see them – they’re secret after all! Download Download Toofy In Fan Land Here Screen Shots ...

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Posted in: Toofy In Fan Land - Spectrum

The Spectrum Show #8

Welcome to Episode 8 of The Spectrum Show. In this episode we take a look back to October 1983 to get all the latest Sinclair news and latest Spectrum game releases. We go large with Spectrum gaming - 42inch Jetpac anyone! We review some older games and take a look at some newer titles. Hope you enjoy it. Best viewed on YouTube... ...

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Bounty

The galaxy is a rough place and the overstretched Galactic Law Enforcement need as much help as they can get. They of course draw the line at vigilantes, but authorised Bounty Hunters are tolerated. Bounty hunting is one of the careers with the shortest life expectancy and only drifters, drunks and mad men take it up with the hope of getting lucky. Welcome to my new text adventure game Bounty. Download Bounty here. Bounty was reviewed in Micro Mart Sep 2012 - and given game of the week in the retro section! The review is here: Screenshots ...

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Posted in: Bounty - Spectrum

The Spectrum Show #7

Welcome to Episode 7 of The Spectrum Show. In this episode we take a look back to September 1983 to get all the latest Sinclair news and latest Spectrum game releases. We have a Spectrum arcade shootout – this time it’s Moon Patrol. Which of the Spectrum versions will come out on top? We review some older games and take a look at some newer titles. Hope you enjoy it. Best viewed on YouTube... ...

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Moon Patrol Shoot Out

Released in 1982 under license by Williams, this fondly remembered game had many redeeming features and remains a firm favourite for retro fans. By this time the graphics and sound capabilities of arcade machines had improved from the single coloured sprites and simple monophonic tones found emanating from the early cabs. The bright colourful graphics with parallax scrolling and lovely animated buggy instantly drew players to it but the main attraction was the jolly tune that played as you manoeuvred along the moon’s surface. So could any of the Spectrum clones match the arcade machine? At the bottom of the list, the games that were really bad included Casey Jones from Blaby Computing (left). This game replaced the moon buggy of the...

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The Spectrum Show #6

In this episode we go back to August 1983 and take a look at all the Sinclair news and Spectrum game releases. We have the second part of our game creation feature and there is the usual old and new game reviews. If anyone wants to help with the making of this show, please get in touch. I am not asking anyone to do reviews, speak or do anything they don’t want to – but I am looking for interesting features that can be based on anything Spectrum related. (Ideally accompanied by pics or video). Of particular interest is hardware (for ideas see episode 2 with the wafadrive feature). Enjoy... Best viewed on  Youtube... ...

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The Spectrum Show #5

In this episode we go back to July 1983 and take a look at all the Sinclair news and Spectrum game releases. We have the first part of our game creation feature and there is the usual old and new game reviews. HELP! If anyone wants to help with the making of this show, please get in touch. I am not asking anyone to do reviews, speak or do anything they don’t want to – but I am looking for interesting features that can be based on anything Spectrum related. (Ideally accompanied by pics or video). Of particular interest is hardware (for ideas see episode 2 with the wafadrive feature). Enjoy the show… Best viewed direct on YouTube! (Direct Link...

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The Spectrum Show #4

Episode 4 of The Spectrum Show is now available. In this episode we look back to June 1983 and get the Spectrum news and new game releases. We also track the evolution of the joystick interface plus the usual reviews of old and new games. Best viewed direct on YouTu...

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The Spectrum Show #3

Welcome to Episode 3 of The Spectrum Show. In this episode we look back to May 1983 and get the Spectrum news and new game releases. We also have another arcade shoot-out and compare Spectrum versions of Asteroids. We also review some early Quicksilva games and look at some newer releases. Enjoy. Best viewed direct from YouTube. Click here to go to YouTube ...

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Asteroids Shoot Out

Asteroids was released into the arcades in 1979, and made a break from the traditional raster based graphics to give the game a stunning and unique look. The new technique was vector graphics, wire-frame objects calculated and drawn in real time to give a neon like feel to the whole game. Because the arcade machines required special hardware to produce the new style of graphics, home versions struggled to replicate the display. Instead the games companies used different techniques to emulate the game from sprites to custom written, maths-heavy drawing routines. So – which of the Spectrum clones can claim top dog? This is an overview of the tests that were conducted, for the full reviews of each game check out Episode 3 (link...

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The Spectrum Show #2

Episode 2 of The Spectrum Show is now available. In this episode there is a special feature about the Rotronics Wafadrive, the mass storage device that was the main competitor of the Microdrive. Also a look back to April 1983 to get the news and top selling games. Also a look at some early Vortex Games plus reviews of newer releases. Enjoy. View direct from YouTube for best resul...

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The Spectrum Show #1

The Spectrum Show, or TSS for short, came about for a mixture of different reasons, mainly to get my video editing back on form for a project I have at work, to shamelessly promote my new game and because there is nothing like it for the Spectrum (I think!). This is really a tester, to see how things pan out, and there is no guarantee there will be more, although I must admit to enjoying putting it together. The show has many segments including a look back to March 1983, old and new game reviews plus a head-to-head, comparing all Spectrum Space Invader clones. It runs for just short of fifteen minutes, which I think it about right, and I hope you enjoy watching. Best viewed directly through YouTube If I do decide to...

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Antiquity Jones

In a dusty room, deep beneath the university, Jones was tidying away some papers when he suddenly became aware of someone else in the room. Turning slowly, the silhouetted figure of a tall, long coated man stood in the doorway. “So what is it this time?” asked Jones, spitefully. His last trek for these people had ended in near disaster, and he had been left for dead by the very organisation that had recruited and paid for the expedition. “Nice to see you too.” The man said, entering the dimly lit room. “No one invited you in.” “No, no they didn’t. I will of course leave if you want me to, but then again Mr Jones, you are addicted to this game we play.” “It may be a game to you..” Jones spat back, rounding on the man. “Easy.. easy…...

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Posted in: Antiquity Jones - Spectrum

Android Shoot-out Update

My report on the current state of Spectrum emulators for Android tablets has been updated with an extended overview of Unreal Speccy. My previous attempts at getting this emulator working failed, but a recent reply on this blog gave me some pointers that allowed me to get a little further. My findings are available in an updated PDF and directly in this blog. Read the Blog version Android Speccy Shoot-out Feb 20...

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Work In Progress

I have made good progress on the new game, or should I say, the new framework. I have re-written the parser to allow multiple nouns (get, take, collect etc), shortened the code needed to actually run the game and hopefully built a solid framework on which I can simply build my games. With the complete framework, the file runs in at 6k, that includes the introduction and first location. That is a lot smaller than the previous one, and now all I have to do is add locations, objects, interactions and messages. My old BASIC game (called Vamp) has been re-worked into a mystery rather than a horror based game and so will have a different name (yet to be decided). The locations remain pretty much the same, as do about 60% of the puzzles. I have...

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What Next?

With my previous adventure complete I recently clambered into my dusty attic to locate my old folder containing all of my old notes and maps for my 80’s adventures. Sure enough there it was, still as I had left it – crammed full of detailed maps and drawings. Armed with that I narrowed down the next game for conversion and loaded up the TAP file to take a look at the locations and objects. The game is pretty basic, in all senses of the word, with some atrocious spelling! However, as with the test project, A Broken Friend, I will need to go through everything and re-write it. The locations need a good tidy up, the plot needs padding out, additional puzzles adding and a new map generated. The game will not be a 100% copy of the original, more...

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A Broken Friend

Fleg was a young scamp, always getting into scrapes and having adventures, but his most favourite thing was to play on his Sinclair ZX Spectrum. His mother had bought it for him at Christmas, a few months ago, and he spent all of his spare hours blasting aliens, solving puzzles, jumping on platforms and generally having a grand old time. Now it was broken and he needed to get it fixed so he could return to some good old classic gaming. A Broken Friend is an adventure game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Download the ga...

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Posted in: A Broken Friend - Spectrum

Progress Update

Work on the new game is going really well and I have progressed quite far into this test project. All of the locations are complete, all of the puzzles and objects are complete and the game is fully playable. The LOAD/SAVE functionality is also working – something I am relieved at as it was the major stumbling block to getting the game out. I now have to fully play-test it, checking the spelling, puzzles and interaction before finally going through the game and adding things to the parser that helps the player when required. I was leaving this to the last in case I ran out of room, but at the moment I am ok. I did have to change the compiler settings to stop the game generating OUT OF MEMORY errors, giving it an extra 4k to play with, which...

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