CSSCGC 2020

[PeterJ]

Obviously in the new world of SSD drives you should not use defragmentation.

I'm not in that world yet!

Gosh you must have some old kit Or should I say Retro!

[catmeows]

That sort of programming is beyond me, though... So someone else can make it.

Well... Put a row of color cells on the bottom od screen. Then have a vehicle affected by gravity and inertia, something like lunar lander. When you land on a non empty cell, carrying nothing, you will pick up the color. When you land on empty cell while carrying color, you drop it there. That way you can reorganize row of cells to have continuous runs of same color cells.
You could add laser gun and hidden hovering button and call it JetFrag. Or actually tow the cell like in Thrust.
On later levels, sprite of blue big F could fly over screen droping bombs that shuffle cells in proximity of impact.

[PROSM]

Yes, we're back at it again with a new review. [mention]TMD2003[/mention] sends us another huge game, Casio MG-777 Games!

Review at https://connosoft.com/csscgc2020/reviews/017.html

[TMD2003]

And in case you weren't all aware, which you weren't, this compilation was in effective development hell for 16 years. Game I was originally programmed in 2004 and just needed a bit of beating into shape before its release alongside the newly-written II and III. Strange what being barricaded inside will allow me to achieve, isn't it?

You can see what a real MG-777 looks like in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zbETJmXIHU

[PROSM]

What is it with this competition and gambling? Dog Track Simulator from Tomas P. is now up for your approval!

Review and download at: https://www.connosoft.com/csscgc2020/reviews/018.html

[PROSM]

[mention]Juan F. Ramirez[/mention] strikes again! This time, he's resurrected an old conversion of Mastermind!

Review and download at: https://connosoft.com/csscgc2020/reviews/019.html

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Thanks for the inlay! Classy!



"and it’s fun to play (though that last part doesn’t really have much to do with Juan)"

[PROSM]

Our beloved “Uncle Clive” will become an octogenarian on the 30th of July, so in celebration, why not write a crap game about him?

To participate, send your Clive Sinclair-related entry to our email address, marking it as belonging to “Challenge No. 4”. You have until the 20th of August to submit your game. Good luck!

[PROSM]

The reviews keep rolling in! This time, we have a Cambridge Z88 game by Jamie Bradbury, entitled Ronaprise USS 19-2020!

Review and download at: https://connosoft.com/csscgc2020/reviews/020.html

[PROSM]

[mention]uglifruit[/mention] has sent us a new game - Sarah's Garden.

Review and download at: https://connosoft.com/csscgc2020/reviews/021.html

[TMD2003]

It'd have made it into the pages of Sinclair Programs back in the day. If only it was 1982, eh?

Hopefully Sarah was considerably more chuffed with having a game named after her then she sounds from the text file...

[R-Tape]

I've fallen behind with the CGC, the next update will contain all this stuff. It'll also give me a chance to appreciate the crap (and mostly not crap actually) that I've missed.

The reviews keep rolling in! This time, we have a Cambridge Z88 game by Jamie Bradbury, entitled Ronaprise USS 19-2020!

Well done on getting this to work (something I have no intention of doing). And ZXDB will see a new machinetype in the next update!

[R-Tape]

Hopefully Sarah was considerably more chuffed with having a game named after her then she sounds from the text file...

If uglifruit's idea of gardening is deadheading every flower in sight, I suspect he's not allowed near the oleanders...

[Juan F. Ramirez]

And ZXDB will see a new machinetype in the next update!

[R-Tape]

Hehe. That's not a million miles from the Speccy I once bought on ebay.

[PROSM]

A new review has been posted on the compo website, this time for Blind Sweeper by [mention]uglifruit[/mention].

Click here to view: https://www.connosoft.com/csscgc2020/reviews/022.html

[R-Tape]

Argh and now my Speccy is calling me a failure!

This is actually pretty good, and the spech accurate - but the voice lagging behind the gameplay saves it.

You can play the game without the unit by just using the visual indicator – and I highly recommend that you do so

It took me a while to work out the "and you're getting warmer/cooler". Managed to get the case and escape with a high (yes, high) score of 68.

There's a lot of untapped potential with Currah speech. More games could do with using it, so badly.

[R-Tape]

There's a lot of untapped potential with Currah speech. More games could do with using it so badly.

Sorry. Fixed typo

[TMD2003]

That's a cracking crap game - it could probably have been sold in 1983 as well, if only anybody had heard of the original Minesweeper back then.

I'd been wondering, recently - how many more games are in the pipeline? It'd all gone quiet in the last month or so...

I'm involved in trying to move house at the moment, but the thought occurs I should spare some time to write a ZX81 game at some point, as there hasn't been one so far this year (and it also means I'd have the three main Sinclair machines all covered - it'd be a bit of a stretch to write anything for the QL at this stage, despite the practice I had typing in some QL listings earlier in the year).

[PROSM]

There's a lot of untapped potential with Currah speech. More games could do with using it so badly.

Sorry. Fixed typo

It would've worked in the context of the CSSCGC

Yes, I agree with you though, it'd be nice to see more programs with speech support. There's a brilliant game on the Intellivision called Bomb Squad where the speech is a crucial part of the experience - it gives you directions on disarming the bomb's circuits whilst also building the tension with its frantic and hurried tone of voice. I think it would be a great candidate for a Spectrum/uSpeech port, being as it's a game of a similar vintage.

(Youtube video in spoiler)

Spoiler

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLguCUMi4BQ[/media]

That's a cracking crap game - it could probably have been sold in 1983 as well, if only anybody had heard of the original Minesweeper back then.

I'd been wondering, recently - how many more games are in the pipeline? It'd all gone quiet in the last month or so...

There's a few games still waiting to be reviewed, but that'll be fixed very shortly

[uglifruit]

It took me a while to work out the "and you're getting warmer/cooler". Managed to get the case and escape with a high (yes, high) score of 68.

Was that in normal or Deluxe mode?


...And I flipping love the Currah uSpeech. It's really good fun to play with.

[R-Tape]

Was that in normal or Deluxe mode?

Normal. When there's a choice of versions or settings, I usually choose standard class

...And I flipping love the Currah uSpeech. It's really good fun to play with.

Aye I'd never really considered it before. It is pretty neat.

[NotTheActualTrashman]

A new review has been posted on the compo website, this time for Blind Sweeper by @uglifruit.

Awesome - do you have a backlog of games to get on the site? I think I've missed the deadline for challenge 4.

[PROSM]

A new review has been posted on the compo website, this time for Blind Sweeper by @uglifruit.

Awesome - do you have a backlog of games to get on the site? I think I've missed the deadline for challenge 4.

Yes, there is a bit of a backlog at the moment, and yes, I'm afraid you've missed the deadline for challenge 4. That doesn't mean you can't make a game about Sinclair, but it does mean it won't be counted towards the challenge.

[TMD2003]

I wouldn't worry too much abut deadlines - Sir Clive never did, and Douglas Adams commented on the "whoosh" sound they made as they passed by. I intended to take the ZX80 challenge but had no ideas that were any good, until the deadline was well and truly gone. Then, suddenly... "I wonder if I could make the ZX80 handle complex numbers?" And sure enough, it can, in a way.

I had no ideas for the Sir Clive's 80th Birthday challenge either, which probably means I'll think of something in November.