Search found 729 matches

by djnzx48
Sun Nov 17, 2019 4:03 am
Forum: Programming
Topic: Easiest way to change AY I/O ports in a game?
Replies: 7
Views: 1508

Re: Easiest way to change AY I/O ports in a game?

Not solely those ports, but they're likely used more often than others. Different ports allow the use of instructions such as out ($fd), a which can be useful for saving T-states.
by djnzx48
Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:27 am
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: What are the "lost" Ultimate arcade games?
Replies: 25
Views: 5113

Re: What are the "lost" Ultimate arcade games?

Apparently they also made something called 'Zog', which I can't find any references to other than one from Leigh Loveday. (Note, btw, at 3m in that video, some short bursts of some music you may have heard in another arcade game. Buggered if I can put my finger on it at this exact moment.) Sounds li...
by djnzx48
Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:00 am
Forum: Programming
Topic: Windows toolkit for Spectrum Assembly?
Replies: 13
Views: 2951

Re: Windows toolkit for Spectrum Assembly?

Try one of these maybe.

http://hype.retroscene.org/blog/dev/946.html
https://dotneteer.github.io/spectnetide/

Or use a standard text editor + batch file and assembler.
by djnzx48
Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:38 pm
Forum: Emulators
Topic: ZEsarUX 8.1 BETA
Replies: 9
Views: 2454

Re: ZEsarUX 8.1 BETA

Nice work! But did you forget to include a DLL for the Windows version? It seems to require pthreadGC-3.dll to run.
by djnzx48
Thu Nov 07, 2019 7:28 am
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Microhobby Cassette #2 (april 1985)
Replies: 24
Views: 2457

Re: Microhobby Cassette #2 (april 1985)

I recognise that game - it's UFO Attack, written by Anthony Sherwood and featured in the February 1985 issue of Sinclair Programs.

Image
by djnzx48
Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:31 am
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Nixy 2
Replies: 8
Views: 1393

Re: Nixy 2

Very nice graphics indeed!
by djnzx48
Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:14 am
Forum: Design/Ideas
Topic: Game Engine Ideas
Replies: 24
Views: 22506

Re: Game Engine Ideas

I agree that we shouldn't try to remake existing Dizzy editors. The Magic Knight games are along similar lines, so Dizzy possibly has that covered already. (Btw, does anyone know what became of the Finders Keepers+ thing that David Jones was working on?) Looking at the Arcade Dream preview, it menti...
by djnzx48
Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:01 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Short beeper routines in assembly
Replies: 55
Views: 32331

Re: Short beeper routines in assembly

No idea. All I did was replace the table I was using previously with dynamically calculated values.
by djnzx48
Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:40 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: New Super Mario Bros (demo)
Replies: 68
Views: 11761

Re: New Super Mario Bros (demo)

The author posted some more comments here . I attempted to translate: For anyone who's interested: 1. About gigascreen and attributes: - Initially I planned to flicker with attributes using gigascreen to get intermediate colours. And that is exactly how it worked. There are videos of this working fr...
by djnzx48
Wed Nov 06, 2019 8:52 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Short beeper routines in assembly
Replies: 55
Views: 32331

Re: Short beeper routines in assembly

Any better? org 32768 main: di ld hl, 0 ld (volume+1), hl ld hl, 0 ld (time+1), hl ld hl, 0xC0DE ld de, 0 ld b, 16 xor a ld c, a ld ixl, %00101101 jp mainloop_init ; --------------------- ; runtime = 10 * 56 + 51 = 611 pwm_loop: ; / 37 xor d ; 4 / 41 [/ 97] add a, e ; 4 / 45 [/ 101] ld d, a ; 4 / 49...
by djnzx48
Wed Nov 06, 2019 5:44 am
Forum: Design/Ideas
Topic: Game Engine Ideas
Replies: 24
Views: 22506

Re: Game Engine Ideas

I'm in favour of starting a community project, as there are too few of those for the Spectrum nowadays. And I would try to contribute to the project myself. The key difficulty seems to be reconciling peoples' ideas on the overall project design.
by djnzx48
Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:10 am
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: New Super Mario Bros (demo)
Replies: 68
Views: 11761

Re: New Super Mario Bros (demo)

Daren wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:34 pm At the end of level 5-2 it takes me back to 1-3. Is this right??
I replayed this and found there is an actual ending, after World 5-4.
Spoiler
Image
by djnzx48
Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:09 am
Forum: Design/Ideas
Topic: Game Engine Ideas
Replies: 24
Views: 22506

Re: Game Engine Ideas

That idea could work. I haven't used the tool myself, but what you're describing sounds something along the lines of Dizzy Scripting Engine. (EDIT: I didn't see your edit about having a combat system) My personal vision for a game engine is something a little more complex, closer to a traditional RP...
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:42 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The gigascreen thread!
Replies: 29
Views: 4874

Re: The gigascreen thread!

So when I run the TAP of Super Mario on my original +2 plugged into a new flatscreen TV will I not get the desired gigascreen effect? Reason I ask is that all i see are reds, greens and cyans and nothing I wouldn't expect from a normal speccy game. You'll get the effect if you run it on real hardwa...
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:30 pm
Forum: Design/Ideas
Topic: Game Engine Ideas
Replies: 24
Views: 22506

Re: Game Engine Ideas

Sounds like a good idea. If I ever got my RPG project off the ground, I was intending to create some sort of PC-based editor program to use for editing the game data. I think if a generic game engine were to be created, all the specifications would need to be decided on and set in stone beforehand. ...
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:13 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The gigascreen thread!
Replies: 29
Views: 4874

Re: The gigascreen thread!

Gyron (1985) is the earliest game I know of to utilise gigascreen, for the map in the corner and the rotating polyhedron. Vradark's Sphere used a similar effect for its map. Just checked Gyron. The effect is evident on the map, but truly awful -- very, very flickery (on my DS, anyway). Don't see it...
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:07 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: New Super Mario Bros (demo)
Replies: 68
Views: 11761

Re: New Super Mario Bros (demo)

I never considered the attribute flickering in Chuckie Egg to be an intentional use of the effect. I always thought that was an artifact of the way attributes were updated - you'd see flickering if the attributes of the player were drawn and then quickly reverted to the old value (to 'undraw' them).
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 1:05 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The gigascreen thread!
Replies: 29
Views: 4874

Re: The gigascreen thread!

Gyron (1985) is the earliest game I know of to utilise gigascreen, for the map in the corner and the rotating polyhedron. Vradark's Sphere used a similar effect for its map.

As for demos, there are many that use gigascreen; Mescaline Synesthesia is one notable example.
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:27 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Short beeper routines in assembly
Replies: 55
Views: 32331

Re: Short beeper routines in assembly

Interesting that reducing the delays helped. I tried to keep the time between OUTs a constant 56 T-states to ensure regular output - 56 is also a multiple of 8 to avoid IO contention. I assume that more irregular delays would reduce the harmonics but in turn raise the noise floor. I think the proble...
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:35 am
Forum: Programming
Topic: Short beeper routines in assembly
Replies: 55
Views: 32331

Re: Short beeper routines in assembly

Here's my attempt. I don't really understand how PWM works so I ended up with some annoying high-pitched tones. Maybe I'm not toggling the speaker bit fast enough. org 32768 main: di ld hl, pwm_table + 240 ld (pwm_ptr+1), hl ld hl, 0 ld (time+1), hl ld hl, 0xC0DE ld de, 0 ld a, 1 ; pitch ld (pitch+1...
by djnzx48
Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:34 am
Forum: Showcase your work!
Topic: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?
Replies: 46
Views: 9972

Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Thanks for showing those graphics examples, they're really quite inspiring.
by djnzx48
Sun Nov 03, 2019 9:10 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Famous beeper sounds
Replies: 40
Views: 6553

Re: Famous beeper sounds

Maybe it's a little more obscure, but the sound when you die in Earth Shaker is very cool.
by djnzx48
Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:58 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Microhobby Cassette #2 (april 1985)
Replies: 24
Views: 2457

Re: Microhobby Cassette #2 (april 1985)

Hmm, probably a good idea to avoid that disassembler. It's showing the wrong instructions! 175 should be XOR A, not XOR L.

That Manic Miner clone looks interesting though.
by djnzx48
Sun Nov 03, 2019 1:10 pm
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Little bugs in the database 2
Replies: 543
Views: 114013

Re: Little bugs in the database 2

Some (minor) bugs from the last update.

Super Mario Bros 128K contains five worlds, not three.

The files marked as 'source code' from Time Blaster are not source code, but listing and symbol output files from SjASMPlus.

✓ Reviewed
by djnzx48
Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:48 am
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: New Super Mario Bros (demo)
Replies: 68
Views: 11761

Re: New Super Mario Bros (demo)

When Mario is walking the background scrolls at 2 pixels, and when running it scrolls at 4. So there's no need for the game to 'select' the right pattern it can simply keep alternating between the two and they'll blend just fine. The stipple problem does affect the sprites though, which move at odd...