Spectrum Computing

Posted: **Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:49 am**

Dear all,
I've been working for months writing a follow-up of my previous text adventure game, The Queen's Footsteps viewtopic.php?p=31740#p31740

The new game is called Silk Dust and can be loaded from tape on the ZXSpectrum 48K. I also prepared a version for the +3 that currently comes in three separate disk images (but I am planning to reunite in a single one). Silk Dust is now in advanced beta testing phase and it can be freely downloaded from there:

http://davbucci.chez-alice.fr/index.php ... ge=English

(I will add the download links on my Itch.io page when the game will reach version 1.0).
Parts 1 and 2 are almost complete, I am not planning to add other puzzles, just fix bugs and typos. Parts 3 and 4 are playable, but I may still change some details in them.

Today is April 19, 1907. You, Emilia Vittorini, arrived yesterday in Varenna, on the shore of the beautiful Lake Como. You are hosted at the magnificent Villa Briccorosso; Princess Lucilla Briccorosso is preparing for the Silk Road Race, a 10,000km rally raid between Cairo in Egypt and Peking in China, to be done by car.

You represent ITA, founded by your father, the company that built the car the Princess just bought to use during the rally. The car is supposed to be delivered today. Your role will be to assist the delivery and make sure everything is perfectly functional.

I would be glad to receive feedback about the game, for it has not been played a lot on the Spectrum yet and I would like to be sure it woks well on this computer.

Cheers,

D.

Posted: **Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:15 am**

I am currently playing queen's footsteps on zx and c64 for some reason. Great atmosphere and sense of world. I'm terribe at these games though.

One thing that seemed a shame is that loading on emulator or divide the loading screen flashes up for a second only, meaning you can't see it. It's a shame there is not a pause so we can see the great art work

Looking forward to the new game

Posted: **Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:36 am**

Jbizzel wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:15 am I am currently playing queen's footsteps on zx and c64 for some reason. Great atmosphere and sense of world. I'm terribe at these games though.

I'm glad you like it! If you need some hints, don't hesitate to write me a PM.

Jbizzel wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:15 am One thing that seemed a shame is that loading on emulator or divide the loading screen flashes up for a second only, meaning you can't see it. It's a shame there is not a pause so we can see the great art work

I noticed it, but I don't currently know how to fix that. It is a nice feature of the Z88dk target that you can specify a splash screen while loading, but on the emulator it show only for a fraction of second.

Posted: **Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:31 pm**

Can you put a pause right at the start of the game, so you have to press a key before anything happens, that way the screen will sta up until the user hits a key?

Thanks for the reply, I found a walk through on YouTube so I use that if I get stuck

Posted: **Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:53 pm**

I added a small delay (3 to 4 s) at the beginning of the game (in Silk Dust). That will not add an unreasonable length to wait, but will allow to show the splash screen.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:59 am**

DarwinNE wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:53 pm I added a small delay (3 to 4 s) at the beginning of the game (in Silk Dust). That will not add an unreasonable length to wait, but will allow to show the splash screen.

The delay us the perfect length, just tried it. Great stuff

I finished part one of the Queen's footsteps, the c64 disk download doesn't have part 2 on your website? Or am I doing something wrong.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:05 am**

Jbizzel wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:15 amOne thing that seemed a shame is that loading on emulator or divide the loading screen flashes up for a second only, meaning you can't see it. It's a shame there is not a pause so we can see the great art work

Depending on your version of esxDOS (7.3 or newer I think, certainly in 0.8.8) you can issue:

Code: Select all

.tapein -p

And it will toggle “SCREEN$ pause” on. (Issue the command again to toggle it off, etc.) I think it was a user-requested feature over on the esxDOS forum.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:17 am**

flatduckrecords wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:05 am Depending on your version of esxDOS (7.3 or newer I think, certainly in 0.8.8) you can issue:
Code: Select all
.tapein -p
And it will toggle “SCREEN$ pause” on. (Issue the command again to toggle it off, etc.) I think it was a user-requested feature over on the esxDOS forum.

I have the latest version of esxdos, so I'll try this, thanks. I've never noticed this option in the esxdos guides and manuals. Good to know

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:15 am**

Jbizzel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:59 am I finished part one of the Queen's footsteps, the c64 disk download doesn't have part 2 on your website? Or am I doing something wrong.

Normally yes, the game is supposed to be complete. I just checked by downloading it and tried on the Vice emulator and part 2 starts correctly.
Did you get an error or something?

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:18 am**

Hi, I used bmc64. I got to the end of part one and it gave me the password and then prompted me to restart the game,.which just took me to the beginning

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:26 am**

Hi [mention]DarwinNE[/mention]

If I load the game fresh now, how.do I enter the password for part two?

I want to meet my cat

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:30 am**

The behaviour you described is normal.
At the end of part 1 you have to load again the game and select part 2, as the game is too large for the memory of the C64 (and the 48K Spectrum).

To enter the password, you just have to type the two words written in capitals at the end of part 1.

Silk Dust will work exactly the same way on the Spectrum (and the C64).

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:37 am**

[mention]DarwinNE[/mention] ok, sorted my issue! Sorry. Yes it works fine.

I didn't realize you had to reload the game from the start. I was thinking you could put the password in from where you left off.

Very sorry... User error on my part.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:20 pm**

No problem! I'm glad you could pet the cat at the beginning of part 2 of the game

Posted: **Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:15 pm**

Wonderful new release...

https://planetasinclair.blogspot.com/20 ... -dust.html

Posted: **Sun Jun 06, 2021 12:03 am**

Glad to see that my game has been already reviewed! BTW, version 1.0 is out today!

It can be freely download from Itch.io: https://darwinne.itch.io/silk-dust
or from my blog: http://davbucci.chez-alice.fr/index.php ... ge=English

It is perfectly OK for me if someone wants to add it to a database of Spectrum games (as already done for Two Days to the Race and The Queen's Footsteps)

Enjoy!

Posted: **Sun Jun 06, 2021 12:06 am**

Just to announce that Silk Dust 1.0 is out

You can download it from my blog (the link is in the first message of this discussion) and from Itch.io: https://darwinne.itch.io/silk-dust

I hope you will enjoy it!

Posted: **Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:48 am**

DarwinNE wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 12:06 am Just to announce that Silk Dust 1.0 is out

You can download it from my blog (the link is in the first message of this discussion) and from Itch.io: https://darwinne.itch.io/silk-dust

I hope you will enjoy it!

Brilliant. Thanks. It looks every bit as good as TQF so far.

Posted: **Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:24 pm**

Hi to all. Here are some news about Silk Dust.

First of all, Poly.play is going to distribute a physical version:

https://www.polyplay.xyz/Silk-Dust-Coll ... X-Kassette
https://www.polyplay.xyz/Silk-Dust-Coll ... 3-Diskette

Then, I wanted to write some music inspired by the game atmospheres. The first piece is called Villa Briccorosso and is dedicated to the magnificent villa on the shore of the Lake Como where the game begins:

The second theme is dedicated to Augusto, the father of the protagonist Emilia. He is a wise man, sometimes a little concerned of the adventurous nature of his daughter. He deeply respects her, though:

If I will compose other pieces, I will post them here.

Posted: **Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:28 pm**

Waiting for mine. I loved testing this adventure...

Posted: **Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:30 pm**

Thank you very much for your support, Andre!

Posted: **Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:54 pm**

That is beautiful music. I'm ashamed to say that haven't made time for this game yet, but I will. I love the heart and soul that goes into these projects.

Posted: **Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:07 pm**

A lovely project indeed!

Posted: **Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:17 pm**

Thank to both of you! I'm glad you appreciate it.

Posted: **Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:41 pm**

New piece of music: Gardens of Varenna:

Spectrum Computing

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