Search found 124 matches

by Bizzley
Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:51 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Of course it's ok not to contribute, nobody should feel they have to. But I have noticed you're very vocal in your criticisms on this board, which seem to be mostly of the "in hindsight, they should've done this" type. You should write another book, I'm sure it will be useful for people d...
by Bizzley
Mon Jun 17, 2019 1:55 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

It's not the people that are flawed its the logic of asking people who don't have the hardware to contribute to the hardware that is. I have positively contributed £185 of my own money to this project. I won't count the suite of graphic utilities I wrote for the Next in 2017 since they were for my o...
by Bizzley
Mon Jun 17, 2019 1:15 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

If you're only into the classic machines, that's still there with the bonus that the machine is able to behave like a 48k, 128k, +3 or pentagon. The ula implementation for each of these three types is not quite 100% yet but it will get there. Maybe you want to help out in that department :) ? Do yo...
by Bizzley
Sun Jun 16, 2019 12:38 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Whoever promised an update every two weeks made a mistake. Nothing happens in two weeks - it should be a regular update once a month even to say nothing happened, and extra updates for real news. That would have been Henrique Olifiers himself in the Kickstarter Update dated April 2nd 2018 - " ...
by Bizzley
Sat Jun 15, 2019 7:10 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Come on, on the last point. I take personal offense at being accused of being apathetic and holding lack of concern. I (and others) donate hours upon hours of sparse free time to make the product as good as it can be. This does not change the reality of how long it takes to make something physical ...
by Bizzley
Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:43 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

The board only option has been delivered a long time ago, over 300 of them went out - it was said at the time if you dont want to wait for full kits back the board only - I'm sorry you didnt take that option If we'd been told at the time that the full kit was going to be a good two years away - and...
by Bizzley
Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:11 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

I really don't understand what people expect to happen by moaning continuously, its late and that's it - nothing anyone can do about it, would you prefer a product with either no keyboard or one that doesn't work? I know what I would like as a backer, a working keyboard. Right now I'd be happy with...
by Bizzley
Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:25 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

According to their Twitter feed: "Still waiting on news on the keyboard. There are a few different threads happening in parallel. Changes to the hammer size, domes, contact design which requires new tooling. Hoping to have results soon!" Backers were told a month ago that minor changes wer...
by Bizzley
Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:59 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Hallucinogenic experiences in Spectrum games, new and old, with d2010
Replies: 50
Views: 39848

Re: Hallucinogenic experiences in Spectrum games, new and old, with d2010

Some people take images from old Spectrum games and put them on mugs, T-shirts, Mouse Mats and Playing Cards. Others take those same images and make strange avant-garde videos out of them. It means what it is, a personal piece of media that someone spends a lot of their own time and effort creating ...
by Bizzley
Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:26 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Create a fullscreen scrolltext
Replies: 23
Views: 5107

Re: Create a fullscreen scrolltext

Image

Proportional text looks a lot better. (Font is an old 42CPL one since I already had the sizes for the letters)
by Bizzley
Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:26 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Create a fullscreen scrolltext
Replies: 23
Views: 5107

Re: Create a fullscreen scrolltext

Image

Big enough?
by Bizzley
Thu May 30, 2019 1:17 pm
Forum: Sinclair Miscellaneous
Topic: Spectrum memes
Replies: 1216
Views: 197466

Re: Spectrum memes

Image
by Bizzley
Wed May 29, 2019 12:44 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: JSW Central - a website dedicated to Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy games for the ZX Spectrum
Replies: 31
Views: 7630

Re: JSW Central - a website dedicated to Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy games for the ZX Spectrum

Let me just add that the details of the latest JSW Central update are available here . Since many of the games you list were created by both commercial and non-commercial MM/JSW editor programs have you thought about adding info and links to these editors as well? Perhaps even a basic How-To guide ...
by Bizzley
Wed May 15, 2019 7:13 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short
Replies: 40
Views: 8689

Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

PeteProdge wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:43 pm I'm filming the final bits for this Out Run video this weekend, then it's all a case of editing it.
It didn't take this long to put Gone With The Wind together!

Any sign of the video heading this way or has it crashed and burned on the side of the road?
by Bizzley
Mon May 13, 2019 1:33 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Who is the manufacturer of these keyboards, anyway? I guess they have experience in keyboard production and these issues should be solved during testing process, instead of being delayed that much. If a company with the experience that has been suggested can't get their prototypes or their machine-...
by Bizzley
Mon May 13, 2019 12:06 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Looks like they're re-doing the keyboard membranes now? It's not just the Right Cursor key that doesn't work reliably, it's quite a few composite key presses that are prone to failure as you can see from the picture and mentioned in the latest Update. They are going to try three different designs f...
by Bizzley
Wed May 08, 2019 1:36 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Some of the comments made by Jim Bagley and Mike Cadwallader in the repost by @toot_toot certainly do seem a little worrying. With the Next having officially been promised for delivery before end Q2 2019 (June 30th) you would expect everyone on board with the project to at least stand by that date, ...
by Bizzley
Tue May 07, 2019 4:47 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

Looks great, both case and box! Obviously, all problems have been resolved, now is the delivery time. :) From the Specnet website expo page - "our wonderful backers who got to see a prototype cased Next for the first time" I'll be putting the flags out when they show a production cased Ne...
by Bizzley
Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:53 pm
Forum: Sales/Commercial
Topic: The ZX Spectrum Explored by Tim Hartnell
Replies: 42
Views: 9859

Re: The ZX Spectrum Explored by Tim Hartnell

For some books it may worth the effort to take existing PDFs and make CBZ files with Imagemagick or any other software, then let Archive.org make all the OCR and PDF generation process. A couple of points. Contributors have no control over the creation of PDFs on archive.org, the PDF derived by the...
by Bizzley
Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:58 pm
Forum: Sales/Commercial
Topic: The ZX Spectrum Explored by Tim Hartnell
Replies: 42
Views: 9859

Re: The ZX Spectrum Explored by Tim Hartnell

A .CBR is just a set of images (usually .JPG) compressed in a RAR file. And a .CBZ is just a set of images compressed in a ZIP file. They just change the file extension to indicate "intended to be viewed like a book". For ZXDB, we prefer a set of book scan images stored as PDF instead of ...
by Bizzley
Sun Apr 28, 2019 1:54 pm
Forum: Sales/Commercial
Topic: The ZX Spectrum Explored by Tim Hartnell
Replies: 42
Views: 9859

Re: The ZX Spectrum Explored by Tim Hartnell

If you're on a budget then use a proper flatbed book-scanner like the Plustek Opticbook 3800 or 3900. These have a very small distance between the edge of the scanner and the start of the scanning plate, approximately 5mm, that allows you to get in real tight with the guttering without having to bre...
by Bizzley
Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:47 am
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The best classic Speccy game A-Z POLL OF POLLS
Replies: 82
Views: 12747

Re: The best classic Speccy game A-Z POLL OF POLLS

PeteProdge wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 7:43 am For a purer outcome, well, The Other Place has R-Type first-placed in their Top 100.
I wouldn't put any faith in that - "Due to rampant voting abuse for this game, you can no longer vote for it."
by Bizzley
Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:29 am
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The best classic Speccy game A-Z POLL OF POLLS
Replies: 82
Views: 12747

Re: The best classic Speccy game A-Z POLL OF POLLS

"Nostalgia is rose-tinted; keep your contribution chatty, informal, and positive." Some of us come here for exactly that. You'll be OK here then, I only chat about the really nasty stuff that went on with other old-coders, the libel laws prevent us from putting it on the record. Anyway, b...
by Bizzley
Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:54 am
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The best classic Speccy game A-Z POLL OF POLLS
Replies: 82
Views: 12747

Re: The best classic Speccy game A-Z POLL OF POLLS

So basically whatever gets voted "The Best Classic Spectrum game", the one that will achieve that top accolade, to be known around here forever after as the best of the best.....will be because maybe just 9 or 10 people end up voting for it?

Good Luck laughing that one off in the future!
by Bizzley
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:56 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion
Replies: 423
Views: 86283

Re: ZX Spectrum Next Discussion

The lead time is very short on the manuals. They won't be printed until just before they are needed to avoid having to pay storage costs. I've got a spare bedroom, and my attic is only half full, so if they need somewhere to store a few boxes of manuals until they're needed then I reckon I could do...