ZX Vega+ Discussion

For experts to discuss very technical stuff and newbies to ask why the Spectrum they bought off ebay doesn't work.
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beanz
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by beanz »

Ast A. Moore wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:35 pm
Joefish wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:02 pm Apparently Jonathan Cauldwell has said he's sick of the whole Speccy scene and is packing it in.
I was wondering why he disappeared from Twitter. Too bad he took it to heart. I (kind of) understand his frustration, but why such a drastic “I’m done with the whole Speccy scene” move? Is there a scene? There are people who grew up with the Speccy and love it. Some of them are not particularly pleasant individuals, but wouldn’t it have been more productive to ignore them, rather than completely pull out of something that you’ve held dear most of your life?
As I recall (well per one of George's youtube videos) Jonathan had said he would quit the scene if the backers didn't get their Vega+ units...so...
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Ast A. Moore »

beanz wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 9:09 pm
Ast A. Moore wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:35 pm I was wondering why he disappeared from Twitter. Too bad he took it to heart. I (kind of) understand his frustration, but why such a drastic “I’m done with the whole Speccy scene” move? Is there a scene? There are people who grew up with the Speccy and love it. Some of them are not particularly pleasant individuals, but wouldn’t it have been more productive to ignore them, rather than completely pull out of something that you’ve held dear most of your life?
As I recall (well per one of George's youtube videos) Jonathan had said he would quit the scene if the backers didn't get their Vega+ units...so...
Jesus. Why on earth would someone promise something like that? Oh, well. I don’t think I want to know. I’m not on Facebook, so I haven’t followed the drama too closely. The information I gathered from other sources was enough for me to stay way clear of the whole thing.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by ZXDunny »

It does seem to be ab awful shame that some of the most talented of the Speccy's scene - the ones who basically help keep the whole thing going - feel they need to leave its communities. This makes me sad, and I'm sorry that this happened.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Morcar »

Jonathan has had enough of certain individuals harassing him and I can't say I blame him. To think that some of these people have used his tools to make games and that those very tools have revived the homebrew scene. People need to give him credit on what he has done and I for one thank him for putting in the work for the community.

As for the very same people who seem to push people out for speaking out. I think it speaks volumes and shows that they have a very limited view on the whole crapfest that is the Vega+

There is more to this story than what we are being told about both on RCL and the other side. I for one hope it will come out sooner rather than later because although it's only a minority we do have a toxic corner of the community that are following like blind sheep.

Before any of you say it yes I did play a part in the Vega+ crapper and I have apologised for any offence I caused, but when you have people sending you abuse every day and even doxxing you. I think you can imagine anyone would be angry and would speak their mind with not giving a damn what happens next.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by ZXDunny »

I think that what will happen next is that the whole thing will just disappear.

There will be the occasional success story to rouse the troops, of some people winning small-claims judgements and suchlike.

There will continue to be calls to boycott/attack anything that the former directors of RCL are involved in - witness the vitriol being thrown at Planet Computers right now for their Gemini projects (I myself advocated caution on that one due to their involvement in the RCL affair, and they acquitted themselves admirably with a strong and importantly available product), or the various outfits that have affiliations with Levy. Any news that shows him to have been pushed out or removed from an event or somesuch will be met with glee.

Maybe small dramas - such as former directors being reinstated with an air of "oh ho! Things are gonna get moving now!" quickly followed by "ah, no they're not."

I suspect there will be things like meetings possibly (unlikely now, I think) or court dates that come and go with no real resolution.

And the leaked email drip-feed that was putting out new bits of highly incriminating gossip on an almost daily basis has now pretty much fizzled out, with no discernible ill-effects for the erstwhile RCL employees at the centre of it all.

It's easy to see why people are upset - they have lost money after all, and Uncle Clive has (unsurprisingly) abandoned them to their fates. But there is literally nothing to be done now. The backers will continue, where they can be bothered, to try and get their money back, and the rest will claim great victory when one manages to do so.

But nothing else will happen.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Vampyre »

Personally I had little interest in the thing from the start, and even less so now, but the whole debacle has been a toxic mark on the scene that has fractured it almost beyond repair. Prominent members of the scene leaving over it is an utter shame.

What didn't help was the two factions (and I'm talking about the scene, not the company itself) being constantly at war and, let's face it, the side that believed it was a complete mess won out in the end.

It also didn't help that higher profile members of the scene supported it, primarily WoS leadership and followers IMO, but I don't really blame them here; they were lead down the garden path with false promises. But it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth the false promises they regurgitated only to backtrack completely.

It may have happened, I long ago left any toxic Spectrum social media, but it would help if the two factions could find some middle ground, apologise to one another and move on. I don't think that's going to happen given the egos and bitterness involved though.

I've kept my mouth shut from the start about it, waiting to see how it would play out, but it would have been better that it had never been thought of. I never saw the point anyway: a Nintendo DS is a far superior mobile alternative.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Ralf »

Jesus. Why on earth would someone promise something like that?
I can confirm he did it. Jonathan engaged quite strongly into Vega+ project, gave his unconditional support to it and said many times it will be delivered to backers. I believe it was his feeling of "honour" - if it turns out that I lied, I'll quit.

Personally I don't approve his support for David Levy who seems to be very shady businessman with "sharp business practices" as someone called it. Jonathan made a bad choice but well, sometimes it happens to all of us.

But I respect Jonathan for his other deeds at Spectrum scene and this means to me he still deserves some respect, not hatred.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by 8BitAG »

It's a sobering reminder that community sites like WOS and Spectrum Computing should keep projects like that at arm's length... Offering to help make connections between the companies and people who could help in the community is fine, but it is extremely risky to get involved more deeply with a commercial venture. Especially when these commercial ventures often aim to exploit IP whose ownership is pretty nebulous.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by PeterJ »

Agreed ,

Can I stress that we have never, and will never have in the future any commercial connections.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by PeterJ »

PeterJ wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:22 pm Agreed ,

Can I stress that we have never, and will never have in the future any commercial connections.
Although if anyone from Sony is reading this and they want to sponsor the site in return for a 55" Ultra HD TV I'm open to bribery!
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Joefish »

PeterJ wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:22 pm Agreed ,
Can I stress that we have never, and will never have in the future any commercial connections.
So who pays the hosting bills then?
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

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Joefish wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 4:59 pm
PeterJ wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:22 pm Agreed ,
Can I stress that we have never, and will never have in the future any commercial connections.
So who pays the hosting bills then?
Me from my personal bank account, £15 plus VAT per month from Digital Ocean. I also pay domain registration. A very kind user donates £10 per month, but I cover the rest. The SSL certificate is through let's encrypt which is free. I have also previously had two one off donations from users.

There may be a time in the future (especially if we need more space or the donation stops) that I need to ask for help with the bills, but for now I'm fine.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Joefish »

Fair enough.
I was a bit narked to see fingers going into pies surrounding the CGC. I pay for a chunk of webspace with not a lot on it anyway, and did wonder why something as small-scale as that needed commercial backing.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Morkin »

Joefish wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 5:10 pm Fair enough.
I was a bit narked to see fingers going into pies surrounding the CGC. I pay for a chunk of webspace with not a lot on it anyway, and did wonder why something as small-scale as that needed commercial backing.
Might have been a 'pay per UDG' arrangement...
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by 1024MAK »

Vampyre wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:39 amWhat didn't help was the two factions (and I'm talking about the scene, not the company itself) being constantly at war and, let's face it, the side that believed it was a complete mess won out in the end.
IMHO everyone looses. No one wins. The backers don’t get the item they were expecting, and if they get anything, it is far later than they were led to believe. We won’t even talk about the lack of quality.
The splits, in fighting and so on in the community will take a long time to heal.
Members of the community who were upset don’t forgive the other people who annoyed them.
Some talented members leave the community.

And all the deliberate misleading or deliberate winding up that went on has not helped one little bit.

It does not surprise me one bit that some social groups have degenerated into something you may see in a junior school playground.

In short, we have the worst possible outcome.

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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by jmk »

It really is time for the public figures associated with the project to think about what is happening. A wasteland is being created in the name of justice.

They really should consider the long-term implications of being associated with some of those acting in their names. Thank them for their efforts in supporting their cause, but draw a clear line between that which is acceptable and that which is not.

Simply put, this must cease.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Vampyre »

1024MAK wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:40 pm
Vampyre wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:39 amWhat didn't help was the two factions (and I'm talking about the scene, not the company itself) being constantly at war and, let's face it, the side that believed it was a complete mess won out in the end.
IMHO everyone looses. No one wins.
Oh, don't get me wrong. When I say won, it's the hollowest of hollow victories.
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PeterJ
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by PeterJ »

RCL have been given an order to wind up by the courts. If we hadn't already given up hope of getting any money back, now is the time to put it down to experience.

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history

Papers will appear within 5 days.

That's the risk of crowdfunding...

Thanks for continuing to keep this thread good humoured and factual.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by AndyC »

A really sad end to what should have been a fantastic product. It always felt like something that should have been entirely achievable, but somehow wandered off on a bad route due to the individuals involved. And probably a sign we won't ever see a speccy handheld device ever.
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stupidget
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by stupidget »

Just get one of these instead!!!! Drooollll


Image

https://www.dorchester3d.com/printing/b ... t-handheld
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Seven.FFF »

Baggers has one of these that he walks round making everyone jealous with :D
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stupidget
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by stupidget »

Seven.FFF wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:39 pm Baggers has one of these that he walks round making everyone jealous with :D
I saw in the posts on the site that he’d got one. Lucky bugger, or should that be Bagger? 🤣
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Joefish
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Joefish »

I just set myself up with a DS Lite and ZXDS. Really impressive, Mr Rak.
Haven't quite figured out what all the options do, but I love the keyboard on the touch screen.
The card's not going anywhere near my 3DS XL though.
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by PeterJ »

Hi [mention]Joefish[/mention]

Interesting. Did you follow a write up for this, and is it quite straightforward? Which if the Nintendo DS models is best? I've looked at them in CeX (Think they used to be called Computer & Games Exchange) and there seem be be lots of different similar models.
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Joefish
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Re: ZX Vega+ Discussion

Post by Joefish »

Not really a write-up, but it was fairly easy.
I picked the DS Lite because with the models after that (DSi, XL, 3DS etc.) they (a) started to have firmware that would update, try and counter the cards, and lock you out of the on-line games store and (b) they dropped the GBA cartridge slot off the bottom. Note that all the different models have different power supplies, stylus sizes, and screen sizes if you want to buy stick-on protectors. Even on the DS Lite with the same display behind them, the two screens are slightly different apertures.
I got the R4 Upgrade SDHC card off eBay in the end. You also need to buy a micro SD card. The R4 packaging gives you a website to go to. You go there, find the downloads, find the card you've got, and download files. Unzip them, and put them in the root of the SD card. No need to re-format it, or firmware flash the R4 card. It just works. But it will time out if not updated, so in years to come you'll have to set the date back on your DS to 2019.
The ZXDS files you just unzip and put in the root of the SD card too (with various directories from the unzip). You can move the ZXDS.nds file (which is the main app) from its directory up to the root of the card. I don't know if that's essential, but I did. .TAP files then go in one of the folders you copied across with ZXDS. Then you put the micro SD in the R4 and put it in the DS. It shows up as whatever game they nicked the signature files off.
Some homebrew and emulators require patching to enable saving. I can't remember where I got it from but there's a Windows version of the patcher, and you need to download the appropriate patch file for your R4 card. I don't think ZXDS needs it.
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