Spectrum Computing

While we didn't quite reach the dizzy heights of 2022, when we had (I think) 5 SAMs in one room, nor did we attract the full pantheon of SAMazing, we had a strong enough presence. The Amstrad Anniversary table may have had pride of place at the entrance, with Roland Perry on the endtable, but the SA...

PS Is the conveyor going the wrong way on the first level deliberate? It does make it quite a bit easier. I think there's an oddity in some Spectrum (and other) adaptations of MM whereby the conveyors don't function as one-way-only platforms, and it's possible to walk along them 'backwards'. This d...

This looks amazing! I was lucky enough to get to play the Sam version at RetCon last year and was very impressed, it's very cool to see the Sam logo on a spectrum screen! Are there any plans to make a version of the full game to work on the Sam? As a 128k game it will need some help to get it runni...

OK, the mystery deepens again... Or maybe not? Given the issue with the SCART socket, I suggested to Steve that we scrutinise the floppy drive port in the second drive bay, just to make sure none of its pins had been clipped. Thankfully, it all seems intact, so that's one less thing to worry about. ...

The plot thickens further: The issue with the drive activity light on my original Atom seems to be down to the CF card rather than the wiring. When using my old 256Mb card, the activity light is permanently on. When using Steve's 4Gb card, the light blinks when the card is accessed. The issue with g...

Not much progress on last night's meet: the material I copied over to Steve's 4Gb CF card still isn't working properly via the Atom interface he was given. There's some glitching in file and record names, and several of the disk images I transferred over reported Track/Sector errors, or 'End of File...

Bit more news about this year's show: Kevin Toms has unfortunately had to pull out, but the full guest list is now available. Alongside ESPectrum , an ESP32 SoC-powered recreation of the ZX Spectrum, making its UK debut, and our regular Sinclair and SAM Coupé contingent, we have: Just confirmed: Rol...

I recently posted about the announcement that Rob Evans/wubsoft will be giving his SAM version of Arkanoid II its public debut at RetCon this year. His plan is to make it a tribute to Imagine Software's home conversions - borrowing assets from the Atari ST version, much like the SAM versions of Rick...

Just published on the Facebook page is the news that SAM Coupé stalwart, Rob Evans (aka wubsoft) will be giving his latest project - Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh - its public debut at RetCon this year. It's a tribute to the Atari ST conversion, by Imagine Software, and will support the SAM Mouse inte...

Haven't yet fixed my old Atom interface, but I was at least able to use SAMDisk to transfer a few extra bits and bobs to Steve's 4Gb CF card ahead of this week's meet... But not a single thing worked. RECORD correctly listed all the disks I'd transferred over. RECORD [number] didn't encounter any 'I...

Quite a difficult choice between two, for me... Atomic Robo-Kid looked fantastic, and played pretty well as far as the demo went, so I was surprised and disappointed that it wasn't completed and published. Could have been another R-Type level conversion. Dominion seemed like it could have been an aw...

Was interest to see something HoH related at RetCon too :) I really need to get a closer look at that, assuming Colin Porch is there again this year. His sequel looks interesting, but I have to admit that I'm glad the Next version actually has solid walls and floors, rather than following the examp...

The Plot Thickens! I had to miss the Club meet on 28/3 due to illness, but I'd loaned my SCART cable to Steve at the previous meet, so he could wire up his own cable to match. He reported that, having done so, he got no picture on any TV he tried, using his own cable, or mine. At this point, my ins...

The computer is called 'the SAM Coupé'. If it wasn't the label on the shell would have been just 'Coupé', or 'MGT Coupé'... Coincidentally, this was posted in the SAM Users Facebook group this morning: https://i.postimg.cc/WFh068mR/01-computer.jpg from https://www.nickhollanddesign.com/projects/ind...

I understood that the computer is not called "SAM Coupé" and "SAM" has nothing to do with the computer? Was that true or did I read the adverts wrong back then? I remember the same ads... adding to the confusion by treating the SAM robot as something entirely separate from the c...

Thank you, Spud ! Aside from reinstating Eugene, improving Willy's animation and fixing the Game Over screen, I think my imperatives were replacing the system font - the use of unaltered system fonts in games is an absolute bête noire of mine - and the brick textures, most of which were no better th...

Awesome presentation! Not the usual text adventure style, and I particularly appreciate the subtle changes to the font!

I may have shot down my own arguments here. Just asked my girlfriend - who is not a gamer unless you count The Sims or those rollercoaster games - to name a videogame character. Without the slightest pause: "Lara Croft".

I'm a little nonplussed by folks who don't think Miner Willy should be on a BAFTA list of iconic videogame characters... It's the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, after all. Granted, most videogames are coming out of development sweatshops in the US or Japan these days, but that d...

Will you be tarting up the level graphics at all also? The Cold Room is an abolute eye-sore - those melting platforms particularly. Yes - the whole game has had a facelift. Compare and contrast... https://i.postimg.cc/PLgXm7tc/The-Cold-Room-Original.png https://i.postimg.cc/S2cyVGRK/The-Cold-Room-R...

Was discussing this yesterday with other members of my local computer club. That list is insanely wrong. Lara Croft is certainly deserving of a place on a list of iconic videogame characters, but how is she above Pac-Man, Mario, and Sonic? How are Donkey Kong and Miner Willy not on the list at all? ...

I can't believe they just forgot. The game has 20 levels to prove Eugene wrong about what the spectrum was capable of, and that level is a symbolic flushing him down the toilet. It is CENTRAL to the games law. Well, to be fair to the original developers, Manic Miner was already 10 years old by the ...

Shall I do a cheeky Eugene reveal? Just between us? I think I shall... I mean, to be fair, he's on the promo image I put together for RetCon last year, so it's not exactly letting the cat out of the bag. So, the original Eugene sprite was a circle with stick arms and legs, square glasses, and a perm...

This year's RetCon is fast approaching! Once again, we're gathering together a wide range of retro gaming systems (along with a few new ones) and a selection of guests covering systems and software both old and new. As usual, there will be a decent Sinclair presence, and ESPectrum, an ESP32 SoC powe...

Some cool news from last night's meet: there's another new SAM at the Greenford Computer Club. There was a posting recently in the SAM Users' Facebook group from Pamela Martin, regarding her late son's machine. After chatting with our Club principle, Steve Bennet, she decided to donate it to the Clu...