Woot 2019 Tape Magazine

[Ralf]

I tried the test and with 28% I'm a village idiot

But I don't feel offended. The questions were interesting and I many cases I had a feeling that I just had it on the tip of my tongue.
Parser was also not very generous, For example it didn't accept "David Thorpe" as the name of the man.

If it was A) B) C) D) kind of test then probably all of us would score higher.

Thanks for the test, Now I'll wait a few weeks and try it again

[DouglasReynholm]

Parser was also not very generous, For example it didn't accept "David Thorpe" as the name of the man.

If it was A) B) C) D) kind of test then probably all of us would score higher.

2% better than I Ralf!

True about the parser, I lost out on FD Thorpe too, though I knew the answer, and putting spaces between words, even though correct got me wrong. Multiple choice next year please, I hate feeling like a loser!

Also, as a Brit in his mid 40's (the local target demographic I suspect), I have never, ever heard of Engadine before - sounds French?. That adventure spoof summed up 8 bit adventures to me, I got far better at adventures in the point and click era. /blasphemy

The rest of it? Woot was a hoot! Thank you R-Tape.

[Ast A. Moore]

Woot was a hoot!

By my estimate, it was a hoot and a half.

[llewelyn]

That was brilliant, by far the best yet. whoever came up with that irritating desert island text entry game was a genius! It brought back so many frustrating memories....thanks everyone, splendid effort.

[R-Tape]

Dammit! I thought I covered that question, it has 9 possible answers:

db 'F. DAVID THORPE',255,'F DAVID THORPE',255,'F.D. THORPE',255,'F. THORPE',255,'F THORPE',255,'FD THORPE',255
db 'FREDERICK DAVID THORPE',255,'FRED THORPE',255,'FREDERICK THROPE',255

There are others I expected to cause problems, and some I think I was too generous with, e.g. Sabre Wulf allows these:

db 'SABREWULF',255,'SABRE WULF',255,'SABREWOLF',255,'SABERWULF',255,'SABER WOLF',255

Also, as a Brit in his mid 40's (the local target demographic I suspect), I have never, ever heard of Engadine before - sounds French?. That adventure spoof summed up 8 bit adventures to me, I got far better at adventures in the point and click era. /blasphemy

Sometimes one gets lost in a creative haze; I have no idea how engadine popped into my head. I had it in a café once and it was dead nice.

[Alessandro]

I cannot read the magazine now as I am on holiday abroad these days, but from what I can see another great issue has been put together Congratulations to everyone involved, with a special thank you to Dave for starting it all, and let's celebrate the establishment of a Spectral tradition in the 21st century

[djnzx48]

Just checked it out and it looks like another great collection. As well as the mag itself, so far I've enjoyed the creepypasta-esque '5 rings' and Papa Noel. I was particularly impressed by Ralf's New Year picture.

[R-Tape]

I was particularly impressed by Ralf's New Year picture.

Me too. Great piece of art, and a terrifying snapshot of a typical British town centre on a Saturday night! Though to be fair New Year's Eve is especially... ebullient.



Perhaps one of the more challenging SCREEN$ for compression too. ZX7 came in at 6206 bytes, and ZX7 + RCS 5563 (though in this case I didn't compress, for paging related reasons).

[DouglasReynholm]

I was particularly impressed by Ralf's New Year picture.

Me too. Great piece of art, and a terrifying snapshot of a typical British town centre on a Saturday night! Though to be fair New Year's Eve is especially... ebullient.



Perhaps one of the more challenging SCREEN$ for compression too. ZX7 came in at 6206 bytes, and ZX7 + RCS 5563 (though in this case I didn't compress, for paging related reasons).

Okay, raise your hand if you are a fan of https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK ..? I just came from there to here and that's one of their theme pictures (the original camera shot, not this brilliant rendition). I realise it's available from other sources, but a good time to ask!

[R-Tape]

Okay, raise your hand if you are a fan of https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK ..? I just came from there to here and that's one of their theme pictures (the original camera shot, not this brilliant rendition). I realise it's available from other sources, but a good time to ask!

It's new to me. Probably won't make it my homepage! Seems to be bite-sized chunks of wibble about anything from sprouty farts to ornithology.

Actually, that's Woot 2020 sorted then.

[Ralf]

I was particularly impressed by Ralf's New Year picture.

Thanks!

And if somebody doesn't know what it's all about here's the original


I'm definitely more into making games than drawing pictures but when I saw it I immediately had a feeling I'd like to recreate it on Spectrum. Just neeeded a few years to complete the job

And this picture became so famous and viral that it even appeared in Polish internet. I don't remember exactly when I saw it first time but it must have been some Polish news website.

[DouglasReynholm]

Actually, that's Woot 2020 sorted then.

A lot of us looking forward to it already!

What happened to the Viz-like 'top tips' section?

[DouglasReynholm]

I was particularly impressed by Ralf's New Year picture.

Thanks!

And if somebody doesn't know what it's all about here's the original


I'm definitely more into making games than drawing pictures but when I saw it I immediately had a feeling I'd like to recreate it on Spectrum. Just neeeded a few years to complete the job

And this picture became so famous and viral that it even appeared in Polish internet. I don't remember exactly when I saw it first time but it must have been some Polish news website.

Thanks Ralf. So proud!

[R-Tape]

A lot of us looking forward to it already!

What happened to the Viz-like 'top tips' section?

I don't understand - it was on the Tape Magazine itself: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=35139, you press "T" to scroll through the tips.

I've got a horrible feeling that a lot of people have not actually seen the magazine, and thought the 'Stonehenge scroller' was the end (when it's just the intro). I failed to mention on the tape that you need to press O+P to scroll through the magazine. Could people spread the word that you should press "P" during the Stonehenge scroller to page forward.

Is that what's happened?

[DouglasReynholm]

A lot of us looking forward to it already!

What happened to the Viz-like 'top tips' section?

I failed to mention on the tape that you need to press O+P to scroll through the magazine. Could people spread the word that you should press "P" during the Stonehenge scroller to page forward.

Is that what's happened?

Yep, looks like it, will check again over weekend if no-one else gets there first. I can't quite put my exact finger on why I thought there might be more than I could get to, but I did.

[Spud]

I failed to mention on the tape that you need to press O+P to scroll through the magazine. Could people spread the word that you should press "P" during the Stonehenge scroller to page forward.

Is that what's happened?

Yep, looks like it, will check again over weekend if no-one else gets there first. I can't quite put my exact finger on why I thought there might be more than I could get to, but I did.

It wasn't obvious but a bit of keyboard whacking soon helped me figure out there was more.

Absolutely fantastic work Mr Tape all in all, and also to everyone who contributed. The Woot magazine is an absolute Christmas treat. Standout moment for me is the Desert Island section, especially the text adventure.

[Joefish]

Hard to work out that was 't' and not an up arrow. Should probably have used a capital 'T' in the instructions!

[Joefish]

By the way "Jeremy ZXMan" is a (very clever) pun on "Jeremy Paxman". He's famous in the UK as a journalist, well-known now as the presenter of the quiz 'University Challenge'.

Reminds me of a script I sold in the 80s about an extra-terrestrial using a small dog and Spectrum games to abduct children. Benji, ZX and the Alien Nonce. Dunno what became of it...

(I'm JOKING).

[uglifruit]

I've got a horrible feeling that a lot of people have not actually seen the magazine, and thought the 'Stonehenge scroller' was the end (when it's just the intro). I failed to mention on the tape that you need to press O+P to scroll through the magazine. Could people spread the word that you should press "P" during the Stonehenge scroller to page forward.

Is that what's happened?

I'm sorry to say that that's exactly what I did, the first time.

[R-Tape]

I'm sorry to say that that's exactly what I did, the first time.

Nooooo! Going by this thread and a PM, quite a lot of people have mistaken the magazine for a crappy mute scroller. I can't believe I've squandered so much work with a silly oversight like that.

If this has been discussed elsewhere, e.g. on facebook, could people pass the message on that there is actually a written magazine with reviews, stories and demos after the scroller.

I hope elmundospectrum don't mind me linking to their animated gif. Here is some of the other magazine content. I'll change the tape for the next update, but for now:

PRESS P DURING THE STONEHENGE SCROLLER, THEN O & P TO PAGE BACK/FORWARD

[Ralf]

I've got a horrible feeling that a lot of people have not actually seen the magazine, and thought the 'Stonehenge scroller' was the end (when it's just the intro). I failed to mention on the tape that you need to press O+P to scroll through the magazine. Could people spread the word that you should press "P" during the Stonehenge scroller to page forward.

Yes, that was a tough moment for me. It was not obvious that you have to press 'P'. Actually I watched all the scroller and then nothing happened so I started banging on some random keys until by chance I pressed 'P'

[llewelyn]

Same method worked for me too Ralf! I tried S and Q for start and quit, then space bar and Enter. I eventually went for the old QA first and then tried OP

[R-Tape]

An updated version of Woot! has been installed. In this one there is a "use OP" message, "t" is changed to "T", and the 'stonehenge' scroller automatically moves on so you can't miss the magazine. Same download links as the first post.

Can people pass the message on please. Sorry for the oversight.


Also...

Spoiler

In case nobody has spotted yet, Desert Island SCREEN$ has two possible endings depending on your black mirror choice of cereal.

[uglifruit]

An updated version of Woot! has been installed. In this one there is a "use OP" message, "t" is changed to "T", and the 'stonehenge' scroller automatically moves on so you can't miss the magazine. Same download links as the first post.

Can people pass the message on please. Sorry for the oversight.


Also...

Spoiler

In case nobody has spotted yet, Desert Island SCREEN$ has two possible endings depending on your black mirror choice of cereal.

This is great. And I completely *didn't* spot that thing that you've spoilered. That's great.

Spoiler

("oh my god, it's full of frosties")

[Alessandro]

Finally managed to go through the whole magazine. Again, great job and congratulations to everyone involved, what a great way to end the year

At the end of the quiz I scored 63% with several "close enough" answers, at least now I know that I am a buffoon

The desert island section in particular was hilarious, and even enhanced my knowledge - before reading it, I believed that the Engadine was a region in the Swiss Alps. Now I know that it is also a cake. Well, you learn something every day