New "special" issue of CRASH (with tribute to Jonathan Smith)

[HEXdidnt]

@XTM I am beyond impressed at how you put this together. Having worked 20+ years in magazines, it would be an absolute nightmare of mine to have to lay out text pages in Photoshop. I'd even take Illustrator in preference if InDesign wasn't available. Hell, MS Publisher would probably be less of a headache. The last Photoshop layout job I saw that impressed me this much was a tour brochure put together by an independent tour guide operating around Auckland, NZ. My jaw dropped when he told me how he'd done it.

How on Earth did you get the column separator lines so straight if you scanned original pages? That alone has been a bête noire for me: next to impossible to get anything dead straight on a scanner, and fixing the angle within Photoshop never gets it so perfect. Did you just redraw them? The time and effort put into this is the very definition of 'painstaking'... emphasis on 'pains', from my point of view.

But the end result is very effective - the scanned paper texture really does help to make it look authentic.

Re: spellchecking, it's often not much better if you're doing it professionally. I've worked with Editors who were functionally illiterate, let alone writers!

[Kweepa]

Wow, this was a really high quality parody! Very entertaining too, thanks.
I really want to see all those games made as CSSCGC entries.

[XTM]

@XTM I am beyond impressed at how you put this together. Having worked 20+ years in magazines, it would be an absolute nightmare of mine to have to lay out text pages in Photoshop. I'd even take Illustrator in preference if InDesign wasn't available. Hell, MS Publisher would probably be less of a headache.

How on Earth did you get the column separator lines so straight if you scanned original pages? That alone has been a bête noire for me: next to impossible to get anything dead straight on a scanner, and fixing the angle within Photoshop never gets it so perfect. Did you just redraw them? The time and effort put into this is the very definition of 'painstaking'... emphasis on 'pains', from my point of view.

Well, it wasn't too bad since I wasn't really under any pressure (as in being "on the clock") and could take my time. In fact I've never done any of this professionally, it's all just self-taught by trial and error and to be honest I wouldn't even want to do it for a living, I can't stand sitting in an office all day.

The scans were fairly straight to begin with but I know what you mean, you'll always be a tiny bit off. Well, the solution is very easy: I created a rectange the vertical size of a column (or separator line) above the scan layer. Then I simply rotated the scan layer using the rotate function in free transform until it was perfectly aligned with the rectangle above. On some pages I also copied the separator lines with a slightly smoothed selection edge (I use German Photoshop so I don't know all the command names in English) and rotated or moved them as needed. Due to the smooth edge it would still be seamless.

Yes, some it was painstaking but I always waste time fiddling about with details anyway, even when drawing stuff in Photoshop - though it does suck a bit for digital drawing, Clip Studio Paint and Paint Tool Sai are my "weapons of choice" for that.

Wow, this was a really high quality parody! Very entertaining too, thanks.
I really want to see all those games made as CSSCGC entries.

Well, I think you can buy some of them from Scumsoft in Scunthorpe, though I'm not sure if they're still trading

[Lee Bee]

I've had a detailed look through this now and really think this is superb, both in content and execution! Great attention to detail.

As a designer, I agree that laying out text like this in Photoshop would be a nightmare. Then again I do know designers who work this way all the time! And it all needs to end up in Photoshop anyway so you can make it look like a real magazine

This forum may be small but it sure has plenty of creative talent. Pete Prodge did something similar lately with his fake TV listing!

[XTM]

What's the deal with that Fantasy World Dizzy mag, were you involved?

Yeah, I've seen that fake TV listing. I didn't respond with a post (mostly because it was about British TV programmes I don't know much about) but the "heart" icon shows that I pressed it. Hey @PeteProdge, is your Our Sinclair or whatever you were going to name it ever becoming a reality?

[Lee Bee]

What's the deal with that Fantasy World Dizzy mag, were you involved?

Sorry bud, just my little joke, a fake-title cover I made for the "Out Of Context Spectrum Games" thread. Thought you might appreciate it. Fake documents and images is something I love and have made many over the years. Here's another, and an old one

[XTM]

Heh, this is turning into our little gfx banter thread now.

Good thing I know Little Britain, otherwise I may not have recognized that "egg".
The Obama is ace, nice attention to the correct shadows.

I've done tons of Photoshops, not just fakes, all kinds of funny things. Here is a very simple one, it is a German magazine for PC tips and tricks. In the original, there wasn't a blue screen.
But come on, this pic was so asking for it, wasn't it? The hand gesture! Holding a disk in the other hand! The face which I see as a cynical grin out of amused disbelief: OF COURSE this piece of trash had to spit out a blue screen just as he was about to save his work! (I'd say he only lost 10 minutes worth of work, otherwise he'd probably have a different expression on his mug)

Edit: I also like how he looks like Nicholas Cage!

[Lee Bee]

LOL that is absolutely hilarious!

[Lee Bee]

I just found the original photo!

[XTM]

Nice, complete with that dark afterglow/synchronize effect (I'm not sure what it is called but I see it below the Speccy 128 menu).

Okay, last one for tonight. While you down-/upgraded the PC to a Speccy, I was looking at my Photoshops folder and found a page from an 80s German Mickey Mouse comic which I had scanned, cleaned up, and re-texted with some weird story absolutely yonks ago. So I decided to shoehorn some SC related nonsense into the text boxes, only took 10-15 minutes or so ... the Ashens video I mention in the text can be watched here.

[Lee Bee]

LOL! I want to read an entire book of that Disney cartoon! You write so well, I'd never know you were German.

I've done similar things myself in the past with comics though I'd better not share them

Nice, complete with that dark afterglow/synchronize effect (I'm not sure what it is called but I see it below the Speccy 128 menu).

I think it's just called the scanning.

[PeteProdge]

Hey @PeteProdge, is your Our Sinclair or whatever you were going to name it ever becoming a reality?

Well, someone pointed out in the thread that there already existed a ZX Spectrum podcast called Our Sinclair, so I considered I couldn't clash with that brand, so I renamed it More Sinclair...



..and sadly it's been stuck in development hell really. I don't have enough time to devote to writing these things on a quarterly basis, so if it comes out, it'd be like an annual, although not many annuals are just 36 pages!

About four pages were completed over a couple of spare days. It's not so much the layout work that creates a challenge, it's the need for researching things so that the copy is accurate and filled with decent insights.

There's a page on a certain trilogy of games which I manage to spin into several quickfire gags. I'm thinking of using that in the hour-long comedy show I intend to perform early next year at Leicester Comedy Festival. (It's all about the history of computer games.)

[XTM]

I totally hear you on the "researching" bit. This Crap mag here pretty much only exists because I had a bunch of silly ideas that spun out of control, resulting in a mag full of made up ... crap. Not having to do much in the way of research or getting facts right and not having to be sensible not to step on someone's toes when reviewing their latest game was liberating. Maybe that's the route you should have taken too ...

[PeteProdge]

I totally hear you on the "researching" bit. This Crap mag here pretty much only exists because I had a bunch of silly ideas that spun out of control, resulting in a mag full of made up ... crap. Not having to do much in the way of research or getting facts right and not having to be sensible not to step on someone's toes when reviewing their latest game was liberating. Maybe that's the route you should have taken too ...

Yeah, this came out of love for the silly side of Your Sinclair, while also appreciating the ZX Spectrum scene. I wanted to do justice to both, but yeah, should have really kept to the comedy side. Thing is though, I'm aware it wouldn't have been much just being a load of 'wibble'. Too niche!

[Lee Bee]

Didn't know about this but looks great! I've said before I thought the Doodlebugs are too good not to be memorialised in some kind of publication. Same goes for your own threads—all that research, copy, lists, it's quality content that could easily fill a magazine or two.

Good luck with this, and take your time. There's no rush to complete. The Speccy community are in for the long haul!

[PeteProdge]

Didn't know about this but looks great! I've said before I thought the Doodlebugs are too good not to be memorialised in some kind of publication.

Yeah, it's a good idea to have lots of them in a proper physical product. It's about getting the time and resources to turn that in a reality though.

Same goes for your own threads—all that research, copy, lists, it's quality content that could easily fill a magazine or two.

Well, my day job involves a lot of writing and research (on serious technology). Once I get going, I can really ramble. Some of the threads I start end up almost being blog pieces and if it's too long, there are no responses. I think the magazine is a nice repository for my longform rambles about ZX Spectrum gaming.

Good luck with this, and take your time. There's no rush to complete. The Speccy community are in for the long haul!

Cheers. As anyone knows from my YouTube channel, I take my time with things, like to get it right and making it different from what's gone before. A similar approach is being taken on the ZX Spectrum game I said I'd start work on in early 2022.

[Lee Bee]

Yeah, I too do things very slowly because I'm a perfectionist. I've got stuff to share with the community I've been working on for years—but all at the right time, when it's ready

Well, since XTM has made a Crash spoof, and Pete is parodying YS… I almost feel obligated to complete the trio by making a Sinclair User parody

[XTM]

Well, since XTM has made a Crash spoof, and Pete is parodying YS… I almost feel obligated to complete the trio by making a Sinclair User parody

SU is so crap to begin with, can it even be parodied? Well, I guess nowadays you can at least do it safely (I'll just mention "Unclear User" ).

[Lee Bee]

SU is so crap to begin with, can it even be parodied?

It may have been the crappest of the three magazines, but I still have an affection for SU. Plus, round here, "crap" is a term of endearment!

(I'll just mention "Unclear User" ).

Ah yes, Unclear User


Should I ever do my own parody, I was thinking more of adopting this title: