Spectrum Computing

With download links?

About 50:50, as I'm more likely to bring up a classic game for a quick go (and often it's Manic Miner ), but I'm just as likely to go for something in MAME. But when I do play a new Speccy game, if it's a particularly good one, I'll be playing it for longer. But every time someone posts a poll, I se...

It's overdue but I'd like to give the following permissions: To ZXDB in general, permission to distribute programs and source code I've posted into any public forum (WoS or Spectrum Computing so far) as demonstrations. So far this includes 50Hurts, my part in ColorPrint48, River Raid Tech Demo, Bi-C...

Ah, that would explain it. Seems a bit of an odd choice though. You mean that plug-in numerical keypad, not the keyboard?

Does anyone know what goes on in the 128K (and +2 but not 48K or +2/+3) interrupt routine? I wrote another multicolour engine at the weekend and was meddling with the timing. It was supposed to replace the interrupt routine with just a single RET instruction, then I use EI and HALT whenever I want t...

Depends on what I want to do. For something like River Raid , I'd probably leave it with the 00001111 pattern so I can paint the scenery in 4x1 extra-wide blocky pixels and scroll it vertically at any speed instantly. Horizontally, you could have two colour buffers prepared, and swap between them to...

My original River Raid Tech Demo used 8x1 multicolour and read the data from a buffer, so by changing the start address of the buffer you could scroll it. It used a 00001111 pattern in the background so it only moved the colours, not the pixels. I've just got an 8x2 multicolour function working that...

Where are my 50FPS full screen scrollers with loads of fully unrolled data-as-code (think Amstrad CPC) masked sprites taking advantage of the whole available 128K extra memory? Where are the '25 FPS and less screen', Cobra-like (or maybe even omni-directional, same thing more or less) games in full...

As an aside, the reason I personally find the subject of scrolling interesting is because I know for a fact it's something the Speccy can do quite well - maybe C64\NES level, with just a bit of exaggeration - and that we're not quite there yet in terms of existing works. Not sure where you expect m...

Depends if you were getting a flat salary to work in-house, a fixed sum as a contractor on a single project, royalties from the software house acting as publisher, or an in-house salary plus royalties. To get £50K off a game that sold 300 000 units would only need around 17p per copy getting back to...

I can do alright in ZX BASIC and maybe knock up something in compiled BASIC.. You could try Boriel's readily compilable ZXBASIC, or try downloading the CharAde bundle from the 'Spectrum Files' link in my sig. It's a simple extension to BASIC for drawing large character-based sprites and backgrounds...

Is there a challenge / competition in the offing then? TSW's Tube Mice ? Ulster's James The Cat ? Tube Mice vs James The Cat: Ultimate Smackdown!!! TVS made the Rupert cartoon. There were a couple of Rupert games though the licensing credit on WoS goes to Express Newspapers, publishers of the regula...

Never realised Gnasher was originally written in BASIC. That's pretty good for a game with multiple 2x2 moving objects.
I guess the Mastertronic release was run through a BASIC compiler?

I realise it's a quote, but let's not get into posting threads with titles that are openly abusive, to anyone.

My parents bought my brother and I separate magazines (once we each outgrew our comics phases) so I got to see YS and Sinclair User . I inititally had Sinclair Programs , as I'd seen it advertised in Sinclair User . I did read its game articles which were few, but I vaguely remember them developed w...

Commando , by absolute miles. The arcade version is mean and horrible to play. I'm afraid I had an ST by the time I was playing Midnight Resistance , and that's a great version. I also preferred its version of Strider , with smaller sprites that don't rather ridiculously overlap the scenery. It's s...

To speed up your buffer scroll: Align it with a memory address divisible by 32, then use SLA (HL) for the first byte, RL (HL) for subsequent bytes. Use DEC L between bytes and only use DEC HL at the end of a row. To optimise it more, make two instruction buffers(one for each third of the screen you'...