Search found 2279 matches

by Ralf
Sat Dec 23, 2023 5:11 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: WOOT 2023 released!
Replies: 88
Views: 5465

Re: WOOT 2023 released!

Congratulation on realising this. There's a lot of good stuff here.

In Roasty, is some weird control of the hero after flipping the switch a bug or a feature? ;)
by Ralf
Sat Dec 23, 2023 11:32 am
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Cursed Castle
Replies: 14
Views: 1004

Re: Cursed Castle

And I was using Spectaculator as well.

With exactly the same scenario - in 128kB mode game
crashed immediately after selecting Kempston, exiting the menu, entering the gameplay and pressing left or right on emulated Kempston.

As long as you don't press anything, it works.
by Ralf
Fri Dec 22, 2023 6:30 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Cursed Castle
Replies: 14
Views: 1004

Re: Cursed Castle

Nice game with obvious inspirations coming from Ghosts'n'Goblins.

Some things to be fixed:
- Kempston control is messed up
- game crashes on 128kB Spectrum
by Ralf
Fri Dec 22, 2023 2:58 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Johnny The Ghost
Replies: 17
Views: 867

Re: Johnny The Ghost

I had this game on the Gameboy, it was called Pitman
So it's Spectrum game, inspired by Atari game, inspired by Gameboy game :)

If you start looking for game inspirations, you often end with such chains.
by Ralf
Fri Dec 22, 2023 11:30 am
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Johnny The Ghost
Replies: 17
Views: 867

Re: Johnny The Ghost

So it's actually a remake of Atari 8-bit game.


Nothing to be ashamed of :) The Spectrum version keeps the good original level design and improves the
graphics and music of the original.
by Ralf
Thu Dec 21, 2023 7:57 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Johnny The Ghost
Replies: 17
Views: 867

Re: Johnny The Ghost

Very nice game!
Good graphics, nice music, smooth movement and good puzzles. What would you need more?

I wonder why this ghost is collecting Roman helmets but maybe it's not the most important thing in the game ;)
by Ralf
Wed Dec 20, 2023 6:34 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Joe blade
Replies: 6
Views: 345

Re: Joe blade

I never got into Joe Blade games.

Can't say they were bad. Just uninteresting for me. It didn't help that they were monochrome and all looked the same. And required mapping.
by Ralf
Wed Dec 20, 2023 5:34 pm
Forum: Other Retro Stuff
Topic: Just a few barely useful Vic-20 games...
Replies: 4
Views: 464

Re: Just a few barely useful Vic-20 games...

Some of these games seem to have a colour clash very similar to Spectrum.
While others don't have it.

Did Vic-20 had something like colour clash?
by Ralf
Tue Dec 19, 2023 7:34 pm
Forum: Showcase your work!
Topic: New game under development - working title "Calais"
Replies: 9
Views: 582

Re: New game under development - working title "Calais"

Pretty stuff!
It will be that as well :) Political management, diplomacy, espionage and turn-based combat, all rolled into one.
I get some Defender of the Crown vibe here.
by Ralf
Mon Dec 18, 2023 7:15 pm
Forum: Showcase your work!
Topic: New game under development - working title "Calais"
Replies: 9
Views: 582

Re: New game under development - working title "Calais"

Now I'm lost. I was going to believe it's some war simulation but now I'm not so certain :)
by Ralf
Mon Dec 18, 2023 7:14 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
Replies: 24
Views: 1036

Re: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985

Zaxxon is one of these games that have cult status on other platforms but were always nothing special on Zx Spectrum.
Just like Boulder Dash, River Raid or Donkey Kong.

And looking at the video - yes it's bad. Very slow and jerky. Certainly could have been done better.
by Ralf
Sat Dec 16, 2023 10:36 pm
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Killer Kong screenshot
Replies: 6
Views: 310

Re: Killer Kong screenshot

Nice spot!

It looks like the game on the first screenshot is the original one and the game on
the second screenshot is a later version with improved graphics.
by Ralf
Fri Dec 15, 2023 3:24 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: +3 disk games that really stand out
Replies: 4
Views: 252

Re: +3 disk games that really stand out

At the Russian forum there is a list of all +3 disk games with improvements:

https://zx-pk.ru/threads/31635-spisok-i ... t-s-3.html

The list itself is in English so don't be afraid to check it out ;)
by Ralf
Wed Dec 13, 2023 5:38 pm
Forum: Hardware
Topic: Colour clash query
Replies: 52
Views: 1589

Re: Colour clash query

The easiest significant improvement would be 16 colors for INK and PAPER, without FLASH and BRIGHT:
Yes. 16 independent colours without any BRIGHT thing.
Spectrum bright colours were too similar to their non bright versions. It was almost like Spectrum had only 8 colours.
by Ralf
Tue Dec 12, 2023 6:46 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: Xmas Card
Replies: 1
Views: 123

Xmas Card

This seems to be the same program:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... /Xmas_Card
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... /Xmas_Card

Or is there a reason that it's stored as two entries?
by Ralf
Tue Dec 12, 2023 11:13 am
Forum: Hardware
Topic: Colour clash query
Replies: 52
Views: 1589

Re: Colour clash query

Probably the best way to deal with colour clash without serious increase of the screen memory would be hardware sprites. You could even keep the background as it is, with the clash rules. It would have its limitations but with clever design most people wouldn't even notice it. The worst clash happen...
by Ralf
Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:56 am
Forum: Announcements
Topic: Woot 2023 - Submissions wanted
Replies: 72
Views: 2959

Re: Woot 2023 - Submissions wanted

In the previous years I helped with Woot but not this time unfortunately.
I'll be releasing my new game on Xmas and another one probably on New Year so Woot would be too much for me.

Good luck with your projects guys!
by Ralf
Fri Dec 08, 2023 6:43 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Bullet Spray routines
Replies: 27
Views: 855

Re: Bullet Spray routines

Bresenham is only really useful if you want to move 1 pixel at a time, which bullets rarely will want to I expect.
Well, if you want to move two pixels at a time you can always call it twice :)
by Ralf
Thu Dec 07, 2023 7:49 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Bullet Spray routines
Replies: 27
Views: 855

Re: Bullet Spray routines

I think 100 bullets may be a tad ambitious on the speccy There is a modern game called Chibi Akumas which may reach 100 bullets at its busiest moments: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/34747/ZX-Spectrum/Chibi_Akumas Click the link and check the video. About 34 minute for example. It's very unp...
by Ralf
Thu Dec 07, 2023 2:33 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Games that take place on top of a train
Replies: 12
Views: 338

Re: Games that take place on top of a train

Is there a stage in North and South or am I making that up?
Yes, but only in the disk version :)
by Ralf
Thu Dec 07, 2023 1:27 pm
Forum: Sinclair Miscellaneous
Topic: Google bard vs ChatGPT
Replies: 13
Views: 322

Re: Google bard vs ChatGPT

Chat GPT doesn't work well yet when dealing with Zx Spectrum. I tried asking some assembler stuff and the answer was crap, just dressed in some nice wording.

But I suppose it's a matter of time until it starts to give correct answers.
by Ralf
Thu Dec 07, 2023 1:20 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Games that take place on top of a train
Replies: 12
Views: 338

Re: Games that take place on top of a train

Express Raider, some stages: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/SCRtoImage.php?SCR=/conv_scr/e/ExpressRaider.scr&border=0 Dragon Ninja, the last but one stage: http://maps.speccy.cz/map.php?id=DragonNinja Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, one stage: http://maps.speccy.cz/map.php?id=DragonNinja Qu...
by Ralf
Wed Dec 06, 2023 9:45 pm
Forum: Website
Topic: How I find [CENSORED] game
Replies: 56
Views: 2525

Re: How I find [CENSORED] game

By the way, if you are after X-rated games, you can always check a copy of old WOS (current WOS is total trash) and you'll find the proper link there. https://worldofspectrum.net/archive/ It's not as actual as ZXDB but it's okay and most people would just look for Samantha Fox Strip Poker anyway ;) ...
by Ralf
Wed Dec 06, 2023 5:42 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: What's the SHORTEST Speccy game ever?
Replies: 54
Views: 2516

Re: What's the SHORTEST Speccy game ever?

Well, let me say something obvious that everyone is too shy to say. In theory you can complete many of these games really fast but in practice you won't. You will die many times and have to repeat. You will have to learn the maze, learn the rules etc. Old games were running on systems with limited m...
by Ralf
Wed Dec 06, 2023 12:19 pm
Forum: Website
Topic: How I find [CENSORED] game
Replies: 56
Views: 2525

Re: How I find [CENSORED] game

The world is a very different place to what is was 20-30 years ago Exactly. You need to be much more careful nowadays than before. About copyrights. About porn. About racism. About religion. About slightiest possibility of offending anyone with content you publish. Imagine some dumb mommy learning ...