The Spectrum Show 32

Welcome to The Spectrum Show - The show dedicated to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

In this episode I get all the latest Sinclair news and top selling Spectrum games from September 1985.

It's the second part of our lightgun feature, and we test the Cheetah Defender.

I review some older games and a new game.

We drop into Type-in corner, we have Playing tips and the Demo Of The Month.

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Old Or New?

The new series of The Spectrum Show has, not unexpectedly, split opinion on the new introduction, music and segment intros. So, what's the story?

For the new series I wanted to change the style to mark it as a new set of episodes. I wanted to include some Spectrum sounds into the music to set it apart and highlight (if that was needed) that this was all about the Spectrum.

When I produced the music I liked it, and built the intro around it. All was well until I rendered the episode and watched it back in full. Somehow it just didn't seem right not having the original music.

Being already late, I made the decision to release it and see what happened. To be honest I wasn't happy, but then again people have different tastes.

Some people liked the new style, others preferred the old one and some suggested a mix of old and new. The new logo also split opinions! If I had liked the new format, I would have let it ride, but that little voice kept telling me it wasn't as good as it should be.

So, what am I going to do?

The original (series 2 and 3) music will return over the top of a remixed video segment for the show introduction. The logo will remain but play a lesser part (not appearing between sections).

The new music (with Spectrum sounds) will be used for other areas of the show.

But what about those section titles? Tricky... Still working on those at the moment... so can't really say how they will end up!

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The Spectrum Show #31

Series 4 Episode 1 is now available.

It's the new series! In this episode I get all the latest Sinclair news and top selling Spectrum games from August 1985.
I break out the Magnum Light Phaser and put it to the test.
I review some older games and a new game.
Type-in corner is back.
I also have two new sections; Playing tips and Demo Of The Month.
Enjoy.

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General Update

Well, it's been a busy week!
I have been on annual leave from work, which usually means for me, a hell of lot more work, and this week turned out no different. I did at least get time to do a few things and continue work on some bits and bats, so, what have I been doing...

1. Getting drunk a lot!
2. Fixing Kyd Cadet III and wondering why no one noticed the silly naming and hidden messages!
3. Preparing to re-release with an additional second level (extra 34 rooms) if I can get it to work.
4. Working on the next issue of the magazine.
5. Trying to make progress with the next episode of The Spectrum Show.
6. Eating pizza

As you can see, things have been pretty busy and that doesn't even take into account the new dinning furniture, dealing with charity shops, gardening, parcel deliveries, sick relatives and the odd few hours relaxing!

I have also just noticed that this weekend is usually the time I release The Spectrum Show (usually last weekend of the month), but because of the above, it will be a bit late...sorry!

I'll try to get it out next weekend... now.. where's that bottle of wine....

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Kyd Cadet III - Spectrum

The third in the Kyd Cadet series takes our young hero into new territory. No more nice guy, Kyd is now fully trained and ready for action.

The Eyeburx home planet is being attacked by an unknown intelligence, and Kyd Cadet has been sent to investigate.

After some initial probing, he discovers a plot to take over the galaxy by the destruction-happy Driodand race. More than that though, he discover the attack is imminent, and is being controlled from a central computer on the Droidand's home planet.

With no time to report back, he heads off to take up the challenge, collecting a light weight pulse rifle on the way.

Landing on the planet he is immediately besieged by Droidand robots but he must succeed in this new, very dangerous mission.

Oxygen is scarce, and Kyd only has a short supply. Luckily there are oxygen pods scattered around that can be used to re-fill his tanks.

Many thanks to R-Tape from WOS for the help in getting this game released.

Kyd Cadet 3 was reviewed in Retro Gamer magazine and awarded 88%.
Click to read.




Download the game
Kyd Cadet III - The Eyeburx Plee

Screenshots

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Kyd Cadet 3 - The Lost Game

Let me set the scene...

About five months ago I completed work on Mk2 of Kyd Cadet 3. I say Mk2, because I have a 80% complete platform game that was supposed to be the third in the series, but I lost interest towards the end.

This is another attempt to add a third instalment of the Kyd Cadet series, but the game-play has changed from a platformer to a kind of Exolon clone.

After a good few months of work, the game was complete along with a loader and loading screen, however, this is where fate stepped in. The version of AGD (Arcade Games Designer) I used had a known (but not to me at the time!) bug that corrupted the game code when you tried to save out the final game.

After a lot of messing about, I gave up and got very drunk. I even tried to load the code into a newer version, but this also didn't work. So, there it sat... and as other projects came along I completely forgot about it.

Today I was going through my hard drive and looking at all my half-complete games, and found it. Kyd Cadet 3 - The Eyeburx Plee, fully playable and finished. I had a few plays through to make sure, and it was 100%. So now what?

I have put out a plee on World Of Spectrum for some assistance, and hopefully I can finally get this game released. More as it happens....

Here are a few screenshots...

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