Update on website

There has been an update on the website.  Pop over to http://www.thespectrumshow.co.uk for the details. hint: there's something to downlo...

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DCR 1.1 Released

Deep Core Raider version 1.1 is now available. This small update fixes two bugs that, in some cases, allowed you to fly though walls. It also fixes the loader and has a few small graphics updates. You can grab it from my new website www.thespectrumshow.co.uk Remember the new website will be the place to get all updates. This blog will become an archive for historic links. Thanks to the folks over at World Of Spectrum for help and suggestio...

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It's All New

Announcing the launch of my brand new website and my new game, Deep Core Raider. A lot of effort has gone into both projects so I hope you enjoy them both. I will keep updating this blog, but gradually moving over to the website. There's no point in duplicating work! There are many sites and forums that link to this blog, so I can't remove all content, but it will not be expanded with new features. That will all be on the new site now. Visit my new si...

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Update #3

Not long to go before Virgin Media close their hosting servers and all links on this blog stop working! Yes it's a nightmare, and I have been struggling over the last two weeks with something that should have only taken two days! I'll spare you the details, but at the moment I have now completed the setup of the new hosting and transferred all the files across. I have swapped out all links to images and all game files. I have also changed the links to the magazines and type-in games. In essence the things that will continue to work are the games, type-ins and magazines. As for the rest of it, you'll have to wait a bit. My brand new website will soon be live and all content on this blog will be removed or at least have pointers to the new...

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Series DVDs Now Available

Finally, after what has seemed like an age, Series Two DVDs are now available to buy. They have been professionally mastered, with high quality inlays and fully printed discs. This was undertaken by a specialist company, so these are not hand made things! Series Two is a triple disc set containing all ten episodes of the series, plus over 25 minutes of bonus material. Series One is currently out of stock, but will be back in shortly. More details, images and buying options can be found on the DVD page (see top right for link). NOTE: I can only post to UK addresses. If you would prefer to buy series one and two together, let me know and I can put up a special combined price once the sets are back in stock...

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The Spectrum Show Ep50

Welcome to episode 50 of The Spectrum Show. It's a special anniversary episode with a real mixed bag of things for you to enjoy. In this episode we take a look back over the last three years. I review the Spectrum 128 and two 128k games Midnight Resistance and Daily Thompson's Olympic Challenge. I revisit Type-In corner and bring you unseen games. And keep watching at the end for an anniversary treat :-)...

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Little Changes

And there I was thinking Virgin had been generous in giving free hosting after they shut down their servers!! Doh!! It seems that not only is the offer for a 1 year period, after which it becomes sixty quid, but you are limited to having just FIVE pages on your new shiny website! FIVE! So that rules out moving all the content over. My next option was to check out some of my hosting suppliers I have used in the past. Customising the options (no email, no database 3gb storage) I managed to grab some hosting for 24 quid a year. Not bad really, and this also gives me the option to expand later should I want to, and add a full website etc.. Now I am waiting for things to be registered / set up and then I can move all the content across and...

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Big Changes

I have just been made aware that my Virgin webspace, along with everyone else with a Virgin account, is to be shut down on 28th April. Although not used for displaying content, I do use it to store the images, magazines, games and other material used in this blog. Virgin have offered customers a 1 year free subscription with GoDaddy to provide hosting etc, but now I have to make a big decision. Do I cease this blog and move all content to a new website or just use the hosting as I do now to hold data? The offer ends after a year and from the on it's sixty quid a year. For that amount I may as well use the full service and create a website, otherwise I will not be getting the benefit. One thing is definite though, come 28th April, some...

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General Update

This is a general update to the many things I have been doing, or trying to do, for the last 4-6 weeks. Not only have I been working on the next episode of The Spectrum Show (Episode 50 by the way!) but I have been planning the next series. Looking at what features I can do, what hardware I can play with, replying to offers of help, some of which have been great and will definitely be in the shows, and playing a few games as well. My new game Deep Core Raider has taken a bit of a back seat, but will be complete and launched soon. I am deciding whether to add a new element to the game, which will add an extra twist, or leave it as it is. Adding the extra element would mean changing each screen though and would obviously take time. The next...

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The Spectrum Show Ep 49

Welcome to episode 49 of The Spectrum Show. In this episode we take a trip through the news from January 1987. I look at the Cheetah Sound Sampler. I review Total Recall, Transmuter and The Hobbit 128. The development diary ends with the completion of the game and Geoff brings us another hidden gem. I finish with some serious software. The final version of Berzerk can be downloaded from the authors website: https://sites.google.com/site/bootleggersrealm/Downhome/Topic...

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Spectrum Show Magazine 10

Welcome to the new issue of The Spectrum Show Magazine. In this packed issue we look at MIA games and see how to load digital downloads into real hardware using various methods. There are game reviews and items not found in the video show. I am accepting reviews or features for the next issue, so get typing. You can download issue ten from the magazine page (see top righ...

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The Spectrum Show EP48

Welcome to episode 48 of The Spectrum Show. In this episode we take a trip through the news from December 1986. I look at and listen to some B-Side content. I review Pssst, Lightforce and Wunderchars. The development diary continues and Geoff brings us another hidden gems. I finish with some serious software....

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DCR - Update

DCR (Deep Core Raider) update.. Again time is against me, but I did find time to go through planet 1 and tweak the graphics and level design to make it much more playable. I also had a quick glance back through the file history to see where it all started, and to my surprise the first saved file is dated 26th October 2014. This version though is far removed from the game in front of me. It is an ideal candidate for a 'making of' feature. With level 1 complete, my attention will be on the rest of the levels, but as the next episode of The Spectrum Show is looming, my time is limited. Once the show is published, I will try to give this game some time so I can at last release it. More news as it happens....

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Deep Core Raider

I haven’t had much time to test the recently found game due to work and personal stuff. From what I have seen so far though, it may not be 95% complete as first thought, but probably around 80%. That’s still not bad. The control system is fully working, with a nice gravity effect and a rocket flame. The collisions with enemy missiles and lasers works, but a few of the moving aliens don’t kill the player yet. That should not be too difficult to add though. The scoring, planet count and lives seems to be in tact but the fuel limit check is not yet there, and there is something decidedly odd with the fuel consumption! I suspect the same variable is being used for something else, somewhere deep in the code. There are five planets consisting...

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New / Old Game

During a trawl through my old Spectrum games folders, I have located what appears to be a 95% complete Speccy game that never got released. I think, judging by the date stamps and the design of the game, and checking back through the WOS forums, I decided to shelve the game because someone else released something very similar.  Having had a few plays, the game stands up quite well, so I will have to spend some time checking everything and finding out what was left to do. There is certainly some debug stuff there (like 99 lives) and some disabled collision detection, but all things considered it looks pretty much complete. It's a kind of Lunar Lander game mixed with Thrust.. and the game contains five planets to explore...  I...

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