Ah Diddums I bought along my 16K ZX Spectrum and is of course a 16K only ZX Spectrum game. It took me a long time to actually figure out what to do. The graphics are flickery, but I still consider it a kind of a classic.
Arcadia is also a 16K ZX Spectrum game and is a quite unique space shooter, and is imo also too be considered a classic (at least within the 16K space of ZX Spectrum games). The truly classic 16K ZX Spectrum games are of course Jetpac and 3D Deathchase (but they're not on this collection).
Gilligan's Gold is Bagman clone, but was made (at least the ZX Spectrum version) by one of my biggest heroes in the ZX Spectrum game developing scene, Keith Burkhill, who also made (or at least co-made) classics like Commando and Space Harrier, and also After Burner.
But a pretty fair price for the collection imo. Would probably buy it at half price, if it was released on Switch, just to get a few hours out of it (particularly Arcadia and Ah Diddums).
I suspect there will be an Amiga 500 (not 1200 as that has twice as fast a processor) core on the ZX Spectrum Next issue 3 (not sure about the first 2 issues) in a year or so, as I'm pretty sure it can run it.
Now that the Spectrum Nexts has gotten a C64 core, it's really only a matter of time imo before they get an Amiga 500 core too (Atari ST and Atari 8 bit computer cores I'm not so sure of, as I'm not sure Atari is interested in doing that).
Ok, can anyone tell me how Keith Burkhill did the "chequer board" graphics underneath the pseudo 3D (and probably also pseudo sprite scaling) enemy and obstacles graphics in the ZX Spectrum version of 'Space Harrier,' running quite smoothly on top? THAT'D be interesting to know.
The gameplay with picking up and throwing blocks kind of reminds me of 'Solomon's Key' a Tecmo arcade that was also ported to the Speccy (among others).
Technically why this game is able to achieve what it does (3D graphics with textures on a humble ZX Spectrum at a good framerate), is calculating the gameplay area graphics on a quarter of the space (thus lessening the "strain" on the processor), and then "upscaling" them to "full screen", effectively lowering the resolution by 50% on each "axis". But nonetheless very impressive.
Edit: actually now read the article and it seems it was done a different way, but I still think it could have been done the way I imagined
@slider1983 There are other options if you just want to try out some of the OG ZX Spectrum games though.
The Spectaculator emulator, https://www.spectaculator.com/downloads/ , is available for Windows PC (plus both for Android and Apple smartphones) and you can try it for 30 days for free (there's other emulators available on Worldofspectrum too).
You can find tons and tons of games for free at https://worldofspectrum.net/ (just click on 'Archive' and you'll be able to download way more than 15.000 games for free in total - plus utilities, demos etc.).
@slider1983 I get it, you have to be able to afford it naturally.
Personally I've more or less decided to go for the cheapest option, the 160£ (plus 15-20£ postage and packaging) 'Just the Board' because I bought a real ZX Spectrum 48K rubber keyed model last year and it seems to be quite easy to "retrofit" it with the issue 3 Next's mainboard (some unscrewing of the original board, some cutting "holes" in the case for the SD cart port, the HDMI port and the 2 Atari style joystick ports, and then attaching the rubber keyboard membrane to the Next's mainboard - looks quite easy with a screwdriver and a hobby knife).
@slider1983 It's crowfunding. People pay up front (and then they pray ).
No, seriously they only produce as many units as people have "pre-ordered" thus keeping production costs relatively low. But I'd imagine with the amount of success this 3rd crowfunding has had so far, there'll probably be at least one more down the line.
The system is now capable of running ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Sinclair QL, Sam Coupé, Acorn BBC (not officially though - requires some footwork by the user) and now maybe also Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX81 games and software.
And it's a nice looking quality device with a pretty dedicated userbase, so yeah, I believe there'll be one more Kickstarter campaign in a year or two (paying upfront can be a bit risky though - speaking from personal experience).
@slider1983 Happy for your compassion. But it's what happens. He was 79 and had lived a fairly happy life, largely doing things how he wanted them to be done.
After that I never really got back to working on the game, because I thought to myself that machine code/assembler level programming simply wasn't good for my mental health (too much - almost - hairpulling).
Today though, I realized that if anything could help me achieve my goal (get the game done), it is the Spectrum Next. I suddenly realized that with dedicated hardware (think an extra cpu/gpu like the Commodore 64) for sprites and pixel scrolling and the turbo mode for up to 8x extra speed of the "main processor" and the much more advanced Basic, there could be a chance I could actually finish the game.
Basic is the computer programming language that comes closest to actual english (because it's most programmed in a kind of very simple english). The disadvantages of it has always been mostly very slow speed compared machine code. The advantage has always been that it's quite easy to learn (but of course still hard to master).
I personally learned Basic by reading the excellent user manual that came with the OG rubber keyed ZX Spectrum (it was even translated to my native language by the local distributor).
I made a rather simple clone of Space Invaders one sunday afternoon, still involving shooting aliens and getting points for it (complete with score and highscore display). Later I tried to make a platformer also in Basic, but I failed miserably because I had no real idea of what the game was supposed to be about. And it simply got over my head and I lost any kind of control of what I was trying achieve.
After that last experience I stopped programming for over 30 years, again because I didn't feel it was healthy for my mental state.
But in january 2016 I got the idea for the idea for the game I've been babbling about in this comment. And as I didn't have anything better to with my life at the time, I persued the idea (as already explained) and as said later gave up.
And here I am now; if am ever going to finish the (darn?) game it will be with the aid of the Spectrum Next. Not with "real" ZX Spectrum color/attribute clash/see through graphics. No, I'll go for the 320x256 pixels graphics mode with up to 256 colors, because you never know if it will actually be good (and then it will be easier port it - not that I would contemplate trying to that - I have my mental health to consider, you know ).
@slider1983 Personally I'm contemplating buying one, not so much for its library as I have a The Spectrum and various emulators for PC and the PSP for "real" ZX Spectrum games.
No, I actually, almost 10 years ago got a really good idea for a (ZX Spectrum) game (of course a 2D game) and I did work quite heavily on it for 15 month or so (first doing some pixel art graphics with animations etc. in a free tool I'd found on the internet).
Later when I had most of the graphics for the first level down, I bit the sour apple and delved into programming Z80 assembler language because I knew I had no other option if the game was going to run reasonably well.
It was at times an almost hairpulling experience (but I did get better over time as assembler/machine code language IS quite logical fundamentally - it's all basically a number of switches you can turn off or on stretching it - computers are very black/white in the end - unforgiving but fair).
What made me give up initially, was when I realized how difficult it would be to make an actually good gameplay engine in assembler language (I had a pretty good idea how to make scrolling and animations etc. work, having studied some of the old ZX Spectrum programming/game design masters' techniques via various means).
What put the nail in the coffin though (sorry dad) was my dad getting very ill and 3 month later passing away (not young or anything though - I'm 57 myself). I felt I owed my dad to give him some decent last months and visited him almost every single day on the hospital or the recovery home the last 3 month of his life.
@phillai From what I understand from the issue 3's Kickstarter page it comes with WiFi (it was an optional upgrade on the prior versions/issues I understand). So, yes, in theory at least, as you'd have to set up a server (which for a fairly small userbase might too much to ask for).
The fact that it can run at 8x the speed (28MHz vs. 3.5MHz) of the original Spectrums and has a much more advanced BASIC language (extensive sprite support for example), could make it a dream for people who have good ideas for games, but can't see themselves go through the chores of programming in machine code/assembler language.
Edit: it comes with hardware sprite and scrolling too like the commodore 64, but while the C64 ran around 1MHz the ZX Spectrum Next can now run at up to 28MHz AND at the same time have the benefits the C64 had over the OG Spectrums.
Hardware's great (except for the screen not being as big or as good as the EXP-R's), everything's solid and the games controls well as long you don't need to use the "shoulder" buttons.
I've had the Taito one and still have the Technos one (not done with the games on that one). This one one (and the Data East one) I'm not interersted in as I've already played the games I want to from those companies via my Switch and 2 of the Evercade Data East cartridges.
But definitely good value for the money if you can live with the screen imo.
I had a C64 once, from Xmas 1984 to summer 1985 (then I digged my ZX Spectrum 48k rubber keys model out of the cupboard and returned to playing that again) and Forbidden Forest was by far my favourite game on the system.
Definitely an interesting concept with the pad (for Breakout, Night Driver etc. and, yeah, Circus as well as I quite like that one) and the track ball (for Centipede, Millipede etc) plus the numeric input as well. Could be the ultimate handheld Atari games device. But it all depends on what games it will come with (have access to).
I have a suggestion for a future firmware update: offer an option to speed up The Spectrum in Classic/Sinclair Basic mode (maybe 10 times if inputting commands doesn't become too finicky - input's very slow as it is, so maybe it won't be a problem, but do try to find the "sweet spot").
It would be really nice if Sinclair Basic would be a lot more useful for those of us who like to dabble a bit with programming action games, but find Sinclair Basic way too slow for that purpose (but find the thought of programming in machine code/assembler language too daunting).
Edit: just tried it in the Spectaculator emulator on Windows that can be sped up up to 20x; and the "sweet spot" seems to be around a 5x increase of speed (4x works really well input wise, while 6x starts to be a bit sketchy - that it even works says something about how slow input - and updating of the screen when you enter a new line of program, normally is).
Just a suggestion; Sinclair Basic is quite capable in many ways (although it seriously lacks the "ELSE" command, I admit).
Edit Edit: you can always increase the speed when you run your final (and hopefully bug free) program and vice versa when you do the actual coding.
I'm more into handhelds (and use a PSP with the FUSE emulator for my ZX Spectrum gaming primarily)... But I did manage to buy a real ZX Spectrum 48k rubber key one this spring, because I had one back 83,84,85,86, and the rubber keyboard is actually a really, really good controller for certain games (Jetpac, Green Beret, Bombjack, Chase H.Q. and Commando springs to mind, but there's many others as well).
It's rubber obviously and therefore has a really good grip, and if you have games that uses more than one button (again Green Beret, Chase H.Q. and Commando with their power ups/grenade respectively), you can assign another button than the fire button for that function (if the game supports redefining the keys, that is).
I personally use the famous QAOPM (Q=up, A=down, O=left, P=right and M=fire) configuration, plus 0 (zero not O) for that second button, as it sits right on top of P on the keyboard and is easy to reach with your middle finger. It's much more precise than even using a really good joystick or a gamepad in my experience, in certain action/arcade games, the level of control is just astounding imo.
Yeah, kinda regret I bought that real 48k, as the image quality is not great (I did a composite mod and it did help a lot though, but it's still far from perfect). So yeah, I'm definitely tempted by this one, considering the keyboard is apparently very accurately recreated. Might have to get one, it's not like it's a whole lot of money anyway (and it's Xmas soon ).
PSPs have the the thing that they uncharge over time even when fully turned off (hold the power button for a few seconds or else it will only go into sleep mode).
You'll have to remember to charge them at least every second month. When then are left too long the battery will completely uncharge and they'll become swollen over time (speaking from own experience).
I have the game on my HyperMegaTech Super Pocket via the Evercade Data East Collection 1. It's the SNES version it seems (it's has the same poor sample quality as the SNES version of Street Fighter II: The New Challengers).
It's a good fighter imo, but of course I did think at first, that it was VERY similar to the Street Fighter II games. But then after playing for a while I realized it DID have it's own identity; the music reflects the game's theme of going into different time periods in each stage and is well done for example.
I also really liked the boss stage; I thought it was really cool. But sure it leans heavily on Street Fighter II when it comes presentation, characters and gameplay. But as I said; really good game.
I actually quite enjoyed it (and it is my most played game - not really into shmups) on the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection.
Sure it was kind of unforgiving. But then I realized you could replenish your life by spending a credit mid-game and it became much more forgivable (and fun). I ended up putting around 5 hours into and actually finishing it. It was fun.
Yeah, I remember it. It was one of the most impressive early ZX Spectrum 48k games. The 16k and 48k versions of ZX Spectrums released in april 1982, so it really was the early days before licensed arcade ports started to be released big time.
I did play Scuba Dive quite a lot, but in the end I found it a bit too finicky for my taste (it requires a lot of patience and concentration and I'm more into something a bit more fast and arcadey - but yeah great game nontheless).
I still use my two 3DSs regularly almost 13 years after I bought my first 3DS. It's a great system with some great games, that can also play DS cartridges. So what's not to like?
I went for 3DS at the top spot because not only it has 2 of my top 3 favorite games of all time but also 3D effect and the double screen/clamshell design.
Number 2 is Switch and number 3 is a tie between the Vita and Steam Deck.
@Teksetter Yes, Pengo too (and Zaxxon now we're at it). But they were both developed by external developers, so there's probably some negotiations that has to fall in place (and Pengo's music, "Popcorn", the worlds first synth pop hit - I'm not sure Sega had the rights to that).
I'm still waiting for Tutankham (Konami) as it's my favorite arcade game of all time. But I've bought Crazy Climber, Frisky Tom and 8 SNK Neo Geo fighting games so far (especially the SNK fighting games has been really good value for me).
I think I can manage with my New Nintendo 3DS XL, always thought it's taking it a bit to far with these VR headsets (and besides 3D effect - and that's what it is - is not too good for your brain in my experience).
I played it back in 2005 on N64 and quite liked it (I had to import it from USA and buy a NTSC converter for my PAL N64 - yeah I really wanted to play it ).
As I said I quite enjoyed it; it was a bit buggy and clunky but it was nice enough and I almost finished it (but then a bit later I got back into the Core Design Tomb Raider games and realized how much better they really are).
I never played a KoF game until around 8 months ago where I bought '97 for my Switch Lite in an Arcade Archives sale. Then I bought '98, '99 and 2002 soon after, having done a lot research on YouTube etc.
I feel like they're the four button "cousins" to the Street Fighter games. '97 was okay, '98 was good, but 2002 is actually great imo. '99 is the odd one having a bit of tag team flavor to it and is quite strategic to play and is great too.
I would definitely say 3DS. I have had 4 over the years and still have 2 of them.
It took some time before the system really grabbed me though. The OG one - although really good hardware (metal casing I think) - just had a way to small screen to really enjoy. The XL was a big step up and was where I really started enjoy the system.
But the New 3DS XL with its stable 3D effect is one of the most important reasons why I still play the system a lot (another being it having some of my favorite games of all time).
I enjoyed Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate on Vita most at the time (and have since re-bought and replayed it numerous times on various other platforms - 3DS, Wii U and Steam) so that must be it.
Yes, Altered Beast, please; there's just something undeniable cool about that game imo ("Welcome to your doom!" plus great artwork, sfx and music too).
I got to say like Duke Nukem: "Where is it?". These games are nowhere to been seen in the Atari 50 games library (and I did download a pretty d*** big update). So where is it?
I have pre-ordered this as I've just got a Super Pocket Taito Edition a week ago.
It's a bit of an experiment I admit as Time to kill (and probably also Land of the Babes) utilizes the L and R, 1 and 2 buttons quite heavily (for strafing, walking etc.).
It will be interesting if I (quite literally) can wrap my fingers/hands around playing the two PlayStation games. If not I at least have the Advance game to play (don't know if that even has strafing).
Really looking forward to get a hands-on experience with these games tuesday (I also have the Atari Lynx Collection 2 coming a long it). Really can't wait.
I only ever had one of these LED based video gaming devices.
It was Computer Games Limited's (CGL) 1978 'Galaxy Invader'.
I bought it late 1981(iirc), and it was my first ever video gaming device. It was a very simple mix of Space Invaders and Galaxian gameplay wise.
Yeah, it seems it actually preceded Galaxian in the way the alien ships moved down the screen in a less predictable way than in Space Invaders.
I remember I got tired of it very quickly (in a couple of hours, I think) - but I only paid like 26-27 € for it back then, so it wasn't too bad.
Later in 1982 I got a Philips G7000 home console and then Nintendo's Donkey Kong Jr. and Grandstand's licensed game 'Crazy Kong' (also sold by Epoch themselves as 'Monster Panic' ) LCD powered games.
Later again in august 1983 I bought a 16K ZX Spectrum - which I upgraded to 48k at the end of the year (and the rest is history as they say ).
I also preordered the Taito one along with the Technos Arcade 1 (there were some interesting looking games on that one and I've never played any of the games) and the Duke Nukem Collection 2 (Time to Kill is pretty good and the Gameboy Advance FPS looks interesting) cartridges.
Quite a bit of a bummer that you can't remap the buttons, as I prefer the 'X' button (in this case - and on Xbox/Steam Deck), 'Y' on Nintendo systems, 'Square' on PlayStations) as the main action button (and 'A' for jumping and 'Y' - and 'B' - for special actions/weapons etc.).
But I might get the Taito one as:
1. I already played the Capcom ones and I'm not an especially big fan of Capcom's arcade games anyway (except for Street Fighter II - but this is one of the weakest versions of Street Fighter II imo).
2. The Taito games I don't already have - plus they are from my experience not as action heavy/technical as the Capcom ones (some of them only uses one button as well, I think).
Yeah this is actually something I will buy (the Taito one that is); The price is right and it's a really cool looking device too (the screens a bit small - but these are simple games, so I think it will be alright - cool you can use the Evercade cartridges as well).
Not really big on GB(A) games, but I did do some research and bought Justice League Heroes: The Flash and I think it's really cool (although I haven't played that much).
Gun Fight by Taito/Midway in the spring or summer of 1976. I remember playing it in a amusement park that is only open during spring and summertime, and the game released in late 1975 so that must be it.
It didn't blow me away (played it mostly because it featured cowboys - I was 8), I was more interested in one armed bandits and pinball at the time (wasn't until 1980/81 and Donkey Kong I got really hooked on video games).
A 2.8 inch screen is too small for me personally (I think - the OG 3DS' screen felt too small - but maybe it's different with lower resolution and old 2D games mainly).
Now what I would really want was Blaze going digital also with the EXP (and the VS - does that have wi-fi too?) and start to offer the games they already have in their library on an individual basis at 2-3 $/£/€ each.
The EXP does have 4GB internal storage (and wifi) from the get go, so it should be doable (these old roms don't take up a lot of room - and the emulators are already in there).
I actually think we might hear something about it at the Evercade 2nd showcase Blaze planning for later this month (it of course depends on whether they can get the digital rights for these games - but when then can release several consoles with excellent digital content for cheap, then why not?).
Really good collection of Taito and Capcom games on these 'Super Pockets' btw (which also gives me hope that they'll set up a digital shop for the EXP - and maybe VS too).
Steam Deck kinda reminds of that controller - a very manly device (and I actually had no problems with it - it was good for the mostly fps' and action games I played on the OG Xbox)
Wonder if he was involved in the sound design of 1982's Tutankham. From what I understand it uses two AY-3-8910 sound generators, but it doesn't sound like it uses more than 3 sound channels at the same time (and two AYs has a total of 6 channels)
What it does sound like is that the sound is sort of "beefed up"! Did they do a sort of "flanging" effect by slightly altering the voltage level of one of the AYs (or something?), while they were playing the same sound?
Lords of Shadow 2 has its issues (stealth sections not being very good; sometimes it was hard figure out where to go next etc.). But you can't take away that the game has some really good boss fights and is quite a bit of a "looker" too.
Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate is way underrated too imo. It wasn't what the Igavania fans wanted (but they're really a vocal minority if you ask me - there's a reason Konami didn't continue making those games), but was really good in its own right.
The first Lords of Shadow game is not my cup of tea though; I don't like not to be able to control the camera in a 3D game (plus it was a bit too much of a God of War (1-3 etc.) clone.
Comments 58
Re: This Collection Brings Over A Dozen Old Games For '80s Home Computers Straight To Your Xbox & PC
Ah Diddums I bought along my 16K ZX Spectrum and is of course a 16K only ZX Spectrum game. It took me a long time to actually figure out what to do. The graphics are flickery, but I still consider it a kind of a classic.
Arcadia is also a 16K ZX Spectrum game and is a quite unique space shooter, and is imo also too be considered a classic (at least within the 16K space of ZX Spectrum games). The truly classic 16K ZX Spectrum games are of course Jetpac and 3D Deathchase (but they're not on this collection).
Gilligan's Gold is Bagman clone, but was made (at least the ZX Spectrum version) by one of my biggest heroes in the ZX Spectrum game developing scene, Keith Burkhill, who also made (or at least co-made) classics like Commando and Space Harrier, and also After Burner.
But a pretty fair price for the collection imo. Would probably buy it at half price, if it was released on Switch, just to get a few hours out of it (particularly Arcadia and Ah Diddums).
Re: Retro Games Ltd's Full-Size Amiga Replica 'THE A1200' Resurfaces At Gamescom
I suspect there will be an Amiga 500 (not 1200 as that has twice as fast a processor) core on the ZX Spectrum Next issue 3 (not sure about the first 2 issues) in a year or so, as I'm pretty sure it can run it.
Now that the Spectrum Nexts has gotten a C64 core, it's really only a matter of time imo before they get an Amiga 500 core too (Atari ST and Atari 8 bit computer cores I'm not so sure of, as I'm not sure Atari is interested in doing that).
So, I presume I'll get my Amiga "fix" there.
Re: Dev Reveals Secrets Behind Stunning New "3D" Platformer For The ZX Spectrum
Ok, can anyone tell me how Keith Burkhill did the "chequer board" graphics underneath the pseudo 3D (and probably also pseudo sprite scaling) enemy and obstacles graphics in the ZX Spectrum version of 'Space Harrier,' running quite smoothly on top? THAT'D be interesting to know.
Re: Dev Reveals Secrets Behind Stunning New "3D" Platformer For The ZX Spectrum
The gameplay with picking up and throwing blocks kind of reminds me of 'Solomon's Key' a Tecmo arcade that was also ported to the Speccy (among others).
Technically why this game is able to achieve what it does (3D graphics with textures on a humble ZX Spectrum at a good framerate), is calculating the gameplay area graphics on a quarter of the space (thus lessening the "strain" on the processor), and then "upscaling" them to "full screen", effectively lowering the resolution by 50% on each "axis". But nonetheless very impressive.
Edit: actually now read the article and it seems it was done a different way, but I still think it could have been done the way I imagined
Re: Review: ZX Spectrum Next - This FPGA Powerhouse Does Sir Clive Sinclair's Legacy Proud
@slider1983 There are other options if you just want to try out some of the OG ZX Spectrum games though.
The Spectaculator emulator, https://www.spectaculator.com/downloads/ , is available for Windows PC (plus both for Android and Apple smartphones) and you can try it for 30 days for free (there's other emulators available on Worldofspectrum too).
You can find tons and tons of games for free at https://worldofspectrum.net/ (just click on 'Archive' and you'll be able to download way more than 15.000 games for free in total - plus utilities, demos etc.).
Re: Review: ZX Spectrum Next - This FPGA Powerhouse Does Sir Clive Sinclair's Legacy Proud
I'm pretty sure there's way over 15,000 games available on the ZX Spectrum though. But great and very thorough review nonetheless.
Re: ZX Spectrum Next Campaigns Adds Core For Another Classic '80s Computer
@slider1983 I get it, you have to be able to afford it naturally.
Personally I've more or less decided to go for the cheapest option, the 160£ (plus 15-20£ postage and packaging) 'Just the Board' because I bought a real ZX Spectrum 48K rubber keyed model last year and it seems to be quite easy to "retrofit" it with the issue 3 Next's mainboard (some unscrewing of the original board, some cutting "holes" in the case for the SD cart port, the HDMI port and the 2 Atari style joystick ports, and then attaching the rubber keyboard membrane to the Next's mainboard - looks quite easy with a screwdriver and a hobby knife).
Re: ZX Spectrum Next Campaigns Adds Core For Another Classic '80s Computer
@slider1983 It's crowfunding. People pay up front (and then they pray ).
No, seriously they only produce as many units as people have "pre-ordered" thus keeping production costs relatively low. But I'd imagine with the amount of success this 3rd crowfunding has had so far, there'll probably be at least one more down the line.
The system is now capable of running ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Sinclair QL, Sam Coupé, Acorn BBC (not officially though - requires some footwork by the user) and now maybe also Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX81 games and software.
And it's a nice looking quality device with a pretty dedicated userbase, so yeah, I believe there'll be one more Kickstarter campaign in a year or two (paying upfront can be a bit risky though - speaking from personal experience).
Re: Spectrum Next Kickstarter Smashes Funding Goal, Unlocking Game Upgrades And Support For Another Classic '80s Home Micro
@slider1983 Happy for your compassion. But it's what happens. He was 79 and had lived a fairly happy life, largely doing things how he wanted them to be done.
Re: Spectrum Next Kickstarter Smashes Funding Goal, Unlocking Game Upgrades And Support For Another Classic '80s Home Micro
Continued...
After that I never really got back to working on the game, because I thought to myself that machine code/assembler level programming simply wasn't good for my mental health (too much - almost - hairpulling).
Today though, I realized that if anything could help me achieve my goal (get the game done), it is the Spectrum Next. I suddenly realized that with dedicated hardware (think an extra cpu/gpu like the Commodore 64) for sprites and pixel scrolling and the turbo mode for up to 8x extra speed of the "main processor" and the much more advanced Basic, there could be a chance I could actually finish the game.
Basic is the computer programming language that comes closest to actual english (because it's most programmed in a kind of very simple english). The disadvantages of it has always been mostly very slow speed compared machine code. The advantage has always been that it's quite easy to learn (but of course still hard to master).
I personally learned Basic by reading the excellent user manual that came with the OG rubber keyed ZX Spectrum (it was even translated to my native language by the local distributor).
I made a rather simple clone of Space Invaders one sunday afternoon, still involving shooting aliens and getting points for it (complete with score and highscore display). Later I tried to make a platformer also in Basic, but I failed miserably because I had no real idea of what the game was supposed to be about. And it simply got over my head and I lost any kind of control of what I was trying achieve.
After that last experience I stopped programming for over 30 years, again because I didn't feel it was healthy for my mental state.
But in january 2016 I got the idea for the idea for the game I've been babbling about in this comment. And as I didn't have anything better to with my life at the time, I persued the idea (as already explained) and as said later gave up.
And here I am now; if am ever going to finish the (darn?) game it will be with the aid of the Spectrum Next. Not with "real" ZX Spectrum color/attribute clash/see through graphics. No, I'll go for the 320x256 pixels graphics mode with up to 256 colors, because you never know if it will actually be good (and then it will be easier port it - not that I would contemplate trying to that - I have my mental health to consider, you know ).
Re: Spectrum Next Kickstarter Smashes Funding Goal, Unlocking Game Upgrades And Support For Another Classic '80s Home Micro
@slider1983 Personally I'm contemplating buying one, not so much for its library as I have a The Spectrum and various emulators for PC and the PSP for "real" ZX Spectrum games.
No, I actually, almost 10 years ago got a really good idea for a (ZX Spectrum) game (of course a 2D game) and I did work quite heavily on it for 15 month or so (first doing some pixel art graphics with animations etc. in a free tool I'd found on the internet).
Later when I had most of the graphics for the first level down, I bit the sour apple and delved into programming Z80 assembler language because I knew I had no other option if the game was going to run reasonably well.
It was at times an almost hairpulling experience (but I did get better over time as assembler/machine code language IS quite logical fundamentally - it's all basically a number of switches you can turn off or on stretching it - computers are very black/white in the end - unforgiving but fair).
What made me give up initially, was when I realized how difficult it would be to make an actually good gameplay engine in assembler language (I had a pretty good idea how to make scrolling and animations etc. work, having studied some of the old ZX Spectrum programming/game design masters' techniques via various means).
What put the nail in the coffin though (sorry dad) was my dad getting very ill and 3 month later passing away (not young or anything though - I'm 57 myself). I felt I owed my dad to give him some decent last months and visited him almost every single day on the hospital or the recovery home the last 3 month of his life.
Continues in the next comment...
Re: Spectrum Next Kickstarter Smashes Funding Goal, Unlocking Game Upgrades And Support For Another Classic '80s Home Micro
@phillai From what I understand from the issue 3's Kickstarter page it comes with WiFi (it was an optional upgrade on the prior versions/issues I understand). So, yes, in theory at least, as you'd have to set up a server (which for a fairly small userbase might too much to ask for).
Re: Spectrum Next Kickstarter Smashes Funding Goal, Unlocking Game Upgrades And Support For Another Classic '80s Home Micro
The fact that it can run at 8x the speed (28MHz vs. 3.5MHz) of the original Spectrums and has a much more advanced BASIC language (extensive sprite support for example), could make it a dream for people who have good ideas for games, but can't see themselves go through the chores of programming in machine code/assembler language.
Edit: it comes with hardware sprite and scrolling too like the commodore 64, but while the C64 ran around 1MHz the ZX Spectrum Next can now run at up to 28MHz AND at the same time have the benefits the C64 had over the OG Spectrums.
Re: Review: Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition - Unlike SNK's Original, This Handheld Won't Break The Bank
Hardware's great (except for the screen not being as big or as good as the EXP-R's), everything's solid and the games controls well as long you don't need to use the "shoulder" buttons.
I've had the Taito one and still have the Technos one (not done with the games on that one). This one one (and the Data East one) I'm not interersted in as I've already played the games I want to from those companies via my Switch and 2 of the Evercade Data East cartridges.
But definitely good value for the money if you can live with the screen imo.
Re: New 'Cosmi: Forbidden Forests' Revives 10 Classic Games From The C64 Era
I had a C64 once, from Xmas 1984 to summer 1985 (then I digged my ZX Spectrum 48k rubber keys model out of the cupboard and returned to playing that again) and Forbidden Forest was by far my favourite game on the system.
Re: A Year Later, And It Seems The Atari Gamestation Go Is Finally Coming Out
Definitely an interesting concept with the pad (for Breakout, Night Driver etc. and, yeah, Circus as well as I quite like that one) and the track ball (for Centipede, Millipede etc) plus the numeric input as well. Could be the ultimate handheld Atari games device. But it all depends on what games it will come with (have access to).
Re: Review: The Spectrum - Does Sir Clive Sinclair's Legacy Proud
I have a suggestion for a future firmware update: offer an option to speed up The Spectrum in Classic/Sinclair Basic mode (maybe 10 times if inputting commands doesn't become too finicky - input's very slow as it is, so maybe it won't be a problem, but do try to find the "sweet spot").
It would be really nice if Sinclair Basic would be a lot more useful for those of us who like to dabble a bit with programming action games, but find Sinclair Basic way too slow for that purpose (but find the thought of programming in machine code/assembler language too daunting).
Edit: just tried it in the Spectaculator emulator on Windows that can be sped up up to 20x; and the "sweet spot" seems to be around a 5x increase of speed (4x works really well input wise, while 6x starts to be a bit sketchy - that it even works says something about how slow input - and updating of the screen when you enter a new line of program, normally is).
Just a suggestion; Sinclair Basic is quite capable in many ways (although it seriously lacks the "ELSE" command, I admit).
Edit Edit: you can always increase the speed when you run your final (and hopefully bug free) program and vice versa when you do the actual coding.
Re: Review: The Spectrum - Does Sir Clive Sinclair's Legacy Proud
I'm more into handhelds (and use a PSP with the FUSE emulator for my ZX Spectrum gaming primarily)... But I did manage to buy a real ZX Spectrum 48k rubber key one this spring, because I had one back 83,84,85,86, and the rubber keyboard is actually a really, really good controller for certain games (Jetpac, Green Beret, Bombjack, Chase H.Q. and Commando springs to mind, but there's many others as well).
It's rubber obviously and therefore has a really good grip, and if you have games that uses more than one button (again Green Beret, Chase H.Q. and Commando with their power ups/grenade respectively), you can assign another button than the fire button for that function (if the game supports redefining the keys, that is).
I personally use the famous QAOPM (Q=up, A=down, O=left, P=right and M=fire) configuration, plus 0 (zero not O) for that second button, as it sits right on top of P on the keyboard and is easy to reach with your middle finger. It's much more precise than even using a really good joystick or a gamepad in my experience, in certain action/arcade games, the level of control is just astounding imo.
Yeah, kinda regret I bought that real 48k, as the image quality is not great (I did a composite mod and it did help a lot though, but it's still far from perfect). So yeah, I'm definitely tempted by this one, considering the keyboard is apparently very accurately recreated. Might have to get one, it's not like it's a whole lot of money anyway (and it's Xmas soon ).
Re: PSA: Check Your PSP Battery Right Now
PSPs have the the thing that they uncharge over time even when fully turned off (hold the power button for a few seconds or else it will only go into sleep mode).
You'll have to remember to charge them at least every second month. When then are left too long the battery will completely uncharge and they'll become swollen over time (speaking from own experience).
Re: A Rare VHS From Data East & Capcom's 'Fighter's History' Trial Has Been Found
I have the game on my HyperMegaTech Super Pocket via the Evercade Data East Collection 1. It's the SNES version it seems (it's has the same poor sample quality as the SNES version of Street Fighter II: The New Challengers).
It's a good fighter imo, but of course I did think at first, that it was VERY similar to the Street Fighter II games. But then after playing for a while I realized it DID have it's own identity; the music reflects the game's theme of going into different time periods in each stage and is well done for example.
I also really liked the boss stage; I thought it was really cool. But sure it leans heavily on Street Fighter II when it comes presentation, characters and gameplay. But as I said; really good game.
Re: Review: Haunted Castle Revisited (Switch) - The Worst Castlevania Gets Rehabilitated
I actually quite enjoyed it (and it is my most played game - not really into shmups) on the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection.
Sure it was kind of unforgiving. But then I realized you could replenish your life by spending a credit mid-game and it became much more forgivable (and fun). I ended up putting around 5 hours into and actually finishing it. It was fun.
Re: SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos Is Coming To Modern Platforms
36 characters (18 SNK and 18 Capcom) all unlocked from the get go. A bit pricey but I think I'll bite anyway.
Re: ZX Spectrum Classic 'Scuba Dive' Gets Surprising New PC Fan Remake
Yeah, I remember it. It was one of the most impressive early ZX Spectrum 48k games. The 16k and 48k versions of ZX Spectrums released in april 1982, so it really was the early days before licensed arcade ports started to be released big time.
I did play Scuba Dive quite a lot, but in the end I found it a bit too finicky for my taste (it requires a lot of patience and concentration and I'm more into something a bit more fast and arcadey - but yeah great game nontheless).
Re: Konami's Maze-Action Game 'Tutankham' Arrives On Switch & PS4 This Week
Finally! It's my favorite arcade of all time. 7 € is bit steep, but for this I think it's worth it.
Re: Survey Reveals Japanese Gen Z Gamers Still Love Nintendo's DS Handhelds
I still use my two 3DSs regularly almost 13 years after I bought my first 3DS. It's a great system with some great games, that can also play DS cartridges. So what's not to like?
Re: BAFTA Poll Declares Lara Croft The Most Iconic Video Game Character
She's my favorite on that list, but Mario is surely more iconic than Lara Croft worldwide.
Re: Best Street Fighter Games, Ranked By You
My top 3:
1. Street Fighter Alpha 3
2. Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
3. Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Re: Best Handheld Consoles Of All Time, Ranked By You
I went for 3DS at the top spot because not only it has 2 of my top 3 favorite games of all time but also 3D effect and the double screen/clamshell design.
Number 2 is Switch and number 3 is a tie between the Vita and Steam Deck.
Re: Arcade Archives' Nintendo eShop World Record Might Be Unbeatable
@Teksetter Yes, Pengo too (and Zaxxon now we're at it).
But they were both developed by external developers, so there's probably some negotiations that has to fall in place (and Pengo's music, "Popcorn", the worlds first synth pop hit - I'm not sure Sega had the rights to that).
Re: Arcade Archives' Nintendo eShop World Record Might Be Unbeatable
I'm still waiting for Tutankham (Konami) as it's my favorite arcade game of all time. But I've bought Crazy Climber, Frisky Tom and 8 SNK Neo Geo fighting games so far (especially the SNK fighting games has been really good value for me).
Re: Meta Quest 3 Is The Best Way To Play 3DS And Virtual Boy In 2024
I think I can manage with my New Nintendo 3DS XL, always thought it's taking it a bit to far with these VR headsets (and besides 3D effect - and that's what it is - is not too good for your brain in my experience).
Re: Interview: "We Need To Take Our Franchise Back" - The Story Of Indiana Jones And The Infernal Machine
I played it back in 2005 on N64 and quite liked it (I had to import it from USA and buy a NTSC converter for my PAL N64 - yeah I really wanted to play it ).
As I said I quite enjoyed it; it was a bit buggy and clunky but it was nice enough and I almost finished it (but then a bit later I got back into the Core Design Tomb Raider games and realized how much better they really are).
Re: Poll: What's The Best King Of Fighters Game?
I never played a KoF game until around 8 months ago where I bought '97 for my Switch Lite in an Arcade Archives sale. Then I bought '98, '99 and 2002 soon after, having done a lot research on YouTube etc.
I feel like they're the four button "cousins" to the Street Fighter games. '97 was okay, '98 was good, but 2002 is actually great imo. '99 is the odd one having a bit of tag team flavor to it and is quite strategic to play and is great too.
Among my 3 favorite fighting game series.
Re: Poll: What's The Best Handheld Of All Time?
I would definitely say 3DS. I have had 4 over the years and still have 2 of them.
It took some time before the system really grabbed me though. The OG one - although really good hardware (metal casing I think) - just had a way to small screen to really enjoy. The XL was a big step up and was where I really started enjoy the system.
But the New 3DS XL with its stable 3D effect is one of the most important reasons why I still play the system a lot (another being it having some of my favorite games of all time).
Re: Poll: What Was Your Favourite Game Of Christmas 2013?
I enjoyed Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate on Vita most at the time (and have since re-bought and replayed it numerous times on various other platforms - 3DS, Wii U and Steam) so that must be it.
Re: Sega Files Altered Beast, Eternal Champions And Kid Chameleon Trademarks
Yes, Altered Beast, please; there's just something undeniable cool about that game imo ("Welcome to your doom!" plus great artwork, sfx and music too).
Re: Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Adds 12 New Games With Free Update
Ok, seems they will release 15 o'clock CET, my bad.
Re: Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Adds 12 New Games With Free Update
I got to say like Duke Nukem: "Where is it?".
These games are nowhere to been seen in the Atari 50 games library (and I did download a pretty d*** big update).
So where is it?
Re: Review: Duke Nukem Collection 2 - A Trio Of Duke's Less Essential Adventures
I have pre-ordered this as I've just got a Super Pocket Taito Edition a week ago.
It's a bit of an experiment I admit as Time to kill (and probably also Land of the Babes) utilizes the L and R, 1 and 2 buttons quite heavily (for strafing, walking etc.).
It will be interesting if I (quite literally) can wrap my fingers/hands around playing the two PlayStation games. If not I at least have the Advance game to play (don't know if that even has strafing).
Really looking forward to get a hands-on experience with these games tuesday (I also have the Atari Lynx Collection 2 coming a long it). Really can't wait.
Re: Best Electronic Table-Top Games Of All Time
I only ever had one of these LED based video gaming devices.
It was Computer Games Limited's (CGL) 1978 'Galaxy Invader'.
I bought it late 1981(iirc), and it was my first ever video gaming device. It was a very simple mix of Space Invaders and Galaxian gameplay wise.
Yeah, it seems it actually preceded Galaxian in the way the alien ships moved down the screen in a less predictable way than in Space Invaders.
I remember I got tired of it very quickly (in a couple of hours, I think) - but I only paid like 26-27 € for it back then, so it wasn't too bad.
Later in 1982 I got a Philips G7000 home console and then Nintendo's Donkey Kong Jr. and Grandstand's licensed game 'Crazy Kong' (also sold by Epoch themselves as 'Monster Panic' ) LCD powered games.
Later again in august 1983 I bought a 16K ZX Spectrum - which I upgraded to 48k at the end of the year (and the rest is history as they say ).
Re: Review: Hyper Mega Tech Super Pocket - A Wonderful Game Boy-Style Retro Gift
I also preordered the Taito one along with the Technos Arcade 1 (there were some interesting looking games on that one and I've never played any of the games) and the Duke Nukem Collection 2 (Time to Kill is pretty good and the Gameboy Advance FPS looks interesting) cartridges.
Re: Review: Hyper Mega Tech Super Pocket - A Wonderful Game Boy-Style Retro Gift
Quite a bit of a bummer that you can't remap the buttons, as I prefer the 'X' button (in this case - and on Xbox/Steam Deck), 'Y' on Nintendo systems, 'Square' on PlayStations) as the main action button (and 'A' for jumping and 'Y' - and 'B' - for special actions/weapons etc.).
But I might get the Taito one as:
1. I already played the Capcom ones and I'm not an especially big fan of Capcom's arcade games anyway (except for Street Fighter II - but this is one of the weakest versions of Street Fighter II imo).
2. The Taito games I don't already have - plus they are from my experience not as action heavy/technical as the Capcom ones (some of them only uses one button as well, I think).
Yeah this is actually something I will buy (the Taito one that is); The price is right and it's a really cool looking device too (the screens a bit small - but these are simple games, so I think it will be alright - cool you can use the Evercade cartridges as well).
Re: Best GBA Games Of All Time
Not really big on GB(A) games, but I did do some research and bought Justice League Heroes: The Flash and I think it's really cool (although I haven't played that much).
It's a WayForward game btw.
Re: Best Atari 2600 And 7800 Games Of All Time
Millipede on the 2600 is an amazing game.
Re: Talking Point: What Was Your First Video Gaming Experience?
Gun Fight by Taito/Midway in the spring or summer of 1976. I remember playing it in a amusement park that is only open during spring and summertime, and the game released in late 1975 so that must be it.
It didn't blow me away (played it mostly because it featured cowboys - I was 8), I was more interested in one armed bandits and pinball at the time (wasn't until 1980/81 and Donkey Kong I got really hooked on video games).
Re: HyperMega Tech's 'Super Pocket' Is A Game Boy-Style Handheld Which Plays Evercade Carts
A 2.8 inch screen is too small for me personally (I think - the OG 3DS' screen felt too small - but maybe it's different with lower resolution and old 2D games mainly).
Now what I would really want was Blaze going digital also with the EXP (and the VS - does that have wi-fi too?) and start to offer the games they already have in their library on an individual basis at 2-3 $/£/€ each.
The EXP does have 4GB internal storage (and wifi) from the get go, so it should be doable (these old roms don't take up a lot of room - and the emulators are already in there).
I actually think we might hear something about it at the Evercade 2nd showcase Blaze planning for later this month (it of course depends on whether they can get the digital rights for these games - but when then can release several consoles with excellent digital content for cheap, then why not?).
Really good collection of Taito and Capcom games on these 'Super Pockets' btw (which also gives me hope that they'll set up a digital shop for the EXP - and maybe VS too).
Re: "I Hated The Duke Controller" Admits Xbox Co-Creator
Steam Deck kinda reminds of that controller - a very manly device (and I actually had no problems with it - it was good for the mostly fps' and action games I played on the OG Xbox)
Re: Round Up: "One Hell Of An Adventure" - Resident Evil 4 Remake Reviews Are In
Didn't like the demo (and Leon's "new" look - he looks more or less like he did in RE2 remake), so it's a pass for me (for now at least)
Re: Interview: Konami Legends Reveal The Secrets Of The Arcade Hit Factory
Wonder if he was involved in the sound design of 1982's Tutankham. From what I understand it uses two AY-3-8910 sound generators, but it doesn't sound like it uses more than 3 sound channels at the same time (and two AYs has a total of 6 channels)
What it does sound like is that the sound is sort of "beefed up"!
Did they do a sort of "flanging" effect by slightly altering the voltage level of one of the AYs (or something?), while they were playing the same sound?
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want From A New Castlevania?
Lords of Shadow 2 has its issues (stealth sections not being very good; sometimes it was hard figure out where to go next etc.).
But you can't take away that the game has some really good boss fights and is quite a bit of a "looker" too.
Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate is way underrated too imo. It wasn't what the Igavania fans wanted (but they're really a vocal minority if you ask me - there's a reason Konami didn't continue making those games), but was really good in its own right.
The first Lords of Shadow game is not my cup of tea though; I don't like not to be able to control the camera in a 3D game (plus it was a bit too much of a God of War (1-3 etc.) clone.