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35th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
What a glorious achievement and thing to have.
That's amazing! I've always wanted to know who did this.
I never even got halfway! Nicely done
To be fair it was probably more a case of me being the first kid sad enough to write to them to say I'd completed it..!
Nice of them to write back though.
To be fair it was probably more a case of me being the first kid sad enough to write to them to say I'd completed it..!
Nice of them to write back though.
Don't be modest. In my mind you are now the ONLY person to complete Sabre Wulf, and if I was a mod that would be your tag.
Ha ha..!
I'm more proud of the letter I had published in C&VG...
Got some serious kudos at school for that.
Look at you getting all over the place!
Anyone remember walking into Dixons/Rumbelows/Boots and typing:
10 PRINT 'I do smelly farts';
20 GOTO 10
That semicolon could make you a coding legend in seconds.
I had a ZX81, Speccy then C64, and was only one of two times I had the two main platforms at once because both did specific things really well.
The Spectrum was unsurpassed for 3D for its time - Vector and isometric 3D ran far better on the Speccy, but the C64 handled sprites, colour, sound and scrolling wayyyy better.
My favourite game of that time was probably Starstrike 2, with proper filled vectors:
https://youtu.be/ebuADX_cZXk
I was mainly a C64 guy, but the Spectrum was my real intro to home gaming.
Ps. I also went to school with Richard Leadbetter & Jason Page, remember Rich writing text games using The Quill and playing Rainbow Islands endlessly on the machine Graftgold had in their office while they worked on the conversion...and Andy Braybrook buying a Fiat X-19 with the money he got from Gribbly's Day Out
10 PRINT 'I do smelly farts';
20 GOTO 10
That semicolon could make you a coding legend in seconds.
I had a ZX81, Speccy then C64, and was only one of two times I had the two main platforms at once because both did specific things really well.
The Spectrum was unsurpassed for 3D for its time - Vector and isometric 3D ran far better on the Speccy, but the C64 handled sprites, colour, sound and scrolling wayyyy better.
My favourite game of that time was probably Starstrike 2, with proper filled vectors:
https://youtu.be/ebuADX_cZXk
I was mainly a C64 guy, but the Spectrum was my real intro to home gaming.
Ps. I also went to school with Richard Leadbetter & Jason Page, remember Rich writing text games using The Quill and playing Rainbow Islands endlessly on the machine Graftgold had in their office while they worked on the conversion...and Andy Braybrook buying a Fiat X-19 with the money he got from Gribbly's Day Out
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Seriously impressive development of ZX Next : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOl9zJDLgvs
Damn that's impressive, I've just backed the pi version.
Absolutely adore the spectrum, remember begging my mum for a whole year to buy it but it changed my life. Never gave up the computing bug after that and am still a geek a good 30 years later.
My two are still displayed pride of place in my home cinema
Damn that's impressive, I've just backed the pi version.
Absolutely adore the spectrum, remember begging my mum for a whole year to buy it but it changed my life. Never gave up the computing bug after that and am still a geek a good 30 years later.
My two are still displayed pride of place in my home cinema
OMFG you've got a Big Trac! Is it an original from way back? Did you ever get the tipper?
I've got an original big track and the new version, plus the tipper somewhere in my garage.
Great thread, so many fond memories of my first gaming device and of all those careless gaming nights when I was a child. I still play the occasional Chuckie Egg and Dizzy on the emulator, but nothing compares to the satisfaction of successfully loading a game from a cassette without error, on the real thing.
Here are some of my favorites:
The Way of the Exploding Fist
Treasure Island Dizzy
Raid Over Moscow
Three Weeks in Paradise
Into the Eagle's Nest
Match Day
Paris-Dakar
Saboteur 2
Last Ninja 2
Quest for Tires
Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix
Here are some of my favorites:
The Way of the Exploding Fist
Treasure Island Dizzy
Raid Over Moscow
Three Weeks in Paradise
Into the Eagle's Nest
Match Day
Paris-Dakar
Saboteur 2
Last Ninja 2
Quest for Tires
Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix
Team Andromeda
Member
The system that got me into gaming way back in 1984. Love the system and its still class even today. Gift From the Gods was one of my all time fav games
SlipperyFishes
Banned
Dizzy and Saboteur were the shit! First game I remember with a timed countdown escape.
My first computer - a pass-me-down from my cousin, who had upgraded to an Acorn Archimedes. I still remember the elation I felt at seeing that plastic basket filled with cassette tapes one Christmas, as my aunt (RIP) gifted it to me.
I was so young, I barely have strong memories of any particular game. Standouts for me included Rick Dangerous, Blood Brothers, and some other weird scrolling shooter, where you controlled a ball. All hard as nails. In hindsight, I'm particularly proud of the two named games, as they were blind purchases from the Boots high street store, that turned out to be good.
Ofc, I didn't appreciate this machine at the time as much as I could have, because I always wanted to be playing Chuckie Egg on the BBC Micro, or Way of the Exploding Fist on my cousin's Archimedes. Always the way.
I was so young, I barely have strong memories of any particular game. Standouts for me included Rick Dangerous, Blood Brothers, and some other weird scrolling shooter, where you controlled a ball. All hard as nails. In hindsight, I'm particularly proud of the two named games, as they were blind purchases from the Boots high street store, that turned out to be good.
Ofc, I didn't appreciate this machine at the time as much as I could have, because I always wanted to be playing Chuckie Egg on the BBC Micro, or Way of the Exploding Fist on my cousin's Archimedes. Always the way.
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
[Redacted as the member no longer wishes to be associated with this website, and the reputational damage and distress caused by association with this website. In addition, the user considers that the action of the management, and the nature of the site and members of its community, renders the original terms and conditions of this site void, and it unconscionable for either side to be bound to them. The user reasserts their IP rights in all content and does not give any authority for its continued usage on this website. Despite requesting that the user's account be deleted, in accordance with data protection rules which apply to this website over multiple jurisdictions, the admin team have failed to delete this account, requiring the user to take its own steps to ensure the valid deletion of data.]
ThePeoplesBureau
Member
Even though my introduction to the Spectrum was with an 128k +2, about 10 years ago I had a strong urge to own a boxed 48k. I sourced it from a dear old chap who was running a home business in the electronics repairs and restoration game, and he got me a very clean model, box in excellent condition with original inserts, and refurbed no less. It remains one of the crown jewels of my gaming collection.
Outrun
Member
Man.... I totally forgot that the Big Trac existed, until now...
Wow.
Into the Eagles Neat.
This thread is awesome. So much memories.
5 to 10 quid would net you a new release. Games were sold at the market. Games were often bought on faith, covers and screenshots.
ThePeoplesBureau
Member
Suddenly remembering when game prices started shifting to £8.95 - £9.95 for 'big budget' releases. I think Ocean did it a lot, but if a game was over a tenner, it was usually a flight sim or something with fancy packaging/big box.
I still have my original copy of this, the big box was pretty great!
I still have my original copy of this, the big box was pretty great!
My first PC as a kid - and probably the biggest reason I got into the industry. I'm kind of tempted to look for an original machine on Ebay one of these days.
So many things to reminisce about - but what's fascinating is that 35 years later, people still make software for it, and we started getting games(they run on original 48k hw) that look like what you see below a few years ago:
I mean these would probably make even C64/CPC owners back in the day jealous - though granted, they feel somehow un-spectrum like outside of the palette because of all the colors...
So many things to reminisce about - but what's fascinating is that 35 years later, people still make software for it, and we started getting games(they run on original 48k hw) that look like what you see below a few years ago:
I mean these would probably make even C64/CPC owners back in the day jealous - though granted, they feel somehow un-spectrum like outside of the palette because of all the colors...
Robin64
Member
It's pretty crazy what modern coders can do with Spectrum hardware.
Like streaming video or porting Doom.
Like streaming video or porting Doom.
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
My fondest memories will always be gaming on the old rubber keyed 48k Spectrum.
Matthew Smith interview (Manic Miner), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LymCezUg7HI
Matthew Smith interview (Manic Miner), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LymCezUg7HI
My first PC as a kid - and probably the biggest reason I got into the industry. I'm kind of tempted to look for an original machine on Ebay one of these days.
So many things to reminisce about - but what's fascinating is that 35 years later, people still make software for it, and we started getting games(they run on original 48k hw) that look like what you see below a few years ago:
I mean these would probably make even C64/CPC owners back in the day jealous - though granted, they feel somehow un-spectrum like outside of the palette because of all the colors...
Yeah, there's what appears to be more than two colours in an 8x8 pixel block there, which *shouldn't* be possible. I don't know if I'm not reading where the block boundaries lie correctly, or if they're using some sort of extension to the spec that allows more in a block, but those shouldn't work on a 48k Speccy.
(I emphasise 'shouldn't', because some odd things can be done with exploiting bugs in the ROM!)
Edit: And a bit more research led me to the Nirvana Engine. Well, that explains that! Very impressive. And now I'm trying to recall where I've heard the name of Einar Saukas before.
Edit2: In a completely different environment, it turns out! He worked with Neil Manke on a bunch of high-profile Quake and Half-Life level packs, including the They Hunger series.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I don't know what was actually the first tie-in ever but there were two licensed Journey games before that game.
ThePeoplesBureau
Member
Also consider...
Deus Ex Machina (1984): "The game was the first to be accompanied by a fully synchronised soundtrack which featured narration, celebrity artists and music. The cast included Ian Dury, Jon Pertwee, Donna Bailey, Frankie Howerd, E.P. Thompson, and Mel Croucher (who also composed the music)."
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
[Redacted as the member no longer wishes to be associated with this website, and the reputational damage and distress caused by association with this website. In addition, the user considers that the action of the management, and the nature of the site and members of its community, renders the original terms and conditions of this site void, and it unconscionable for either side to be bound to them. The user reasserts their IP rights in all content and does not give any authority for its continued usage on this website. Despite requesting that the user's account be deleted, in accordance with data protection rules which apply to this website over multiple jurisdictions, the admin team have failed to delete this account, requiring the user to take its own steps to ensure the valid deletion of data.]
vonStirlitz
Unconfirmed Member
[Redacted as the member no longer wishes to be associated with this website, and the reputational damage and distress caused by association with this website. In addition, the user considers that the action of the management, and the nature of the site and members of its community, renders the original terms and conditions of this site void, and it unconscionable for either side to be bound to them. The user reasserts their IP rights in all content and does not give any authority for its continued usage on this website. Despite requesting that the user's account be deleted, in accordance with data protection rules which apply to this website over multiple jurisdictions, the admin team have failed to delete this account, requiring the user to take its own steps to ensure the valid deletion of data.]
Deus Ex Machina was a fascinating experiment, the idea was that it was intended to be the gaming equivalent of a concept album, so each segment of the gameplay has a fixed length and is designed to be accompanied by audio from the cassette, with some aspects of the game synced to events in the audio.
I think there's an argument that Automata were one of the most interesting companies in the early days of gaming. So much experimentation in wild and crazy directions.
Yea - basically multi-color implementations move the limitation onto a per line (or per 2 lines) basis effectively eliminating vertical color-clash and allowing for well - things that weren't even done on other PCs of the era (high-res graphics with this many colors).mclem said:
Worth noting that the possibilities haven't been fully exhausted either - thanks to modern hardware and software tools, we can get really creative with optimized raster processing, things that wouldn't really be possible doing things "manually".
I assume it's through something along the lines of modifying screen memory in the middle of the refresh? That was my first thought when I realised it was possible.
thesuperfunk
Member
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
On the pc EGA & VGA demos used to do that with re-programming the palette every scanline, or was it ever other scanline.
The very first game I had on my spectrum was a platformer called Dynamite Dan, which was in the style of Jet Set Willy. We used a poke cheat to remove all the monsters from the game, and yet despite that we never finished it. Spectrum games were *hard*.
I doubt it, it's buggy as hell. Dropping off a platform through a door then being trapped behind that door was so annoying.We bought a second hand 48k and it came with loads of games, so it lasted ages, but the first game I purchased outside of that was Booty.
And now I'm wondering if adult-me could beat this with my years of gaming experience.
Also on one of the first screens (maybe even the first) the pattern of movement of the pirates was such that it was basically impossible to get the item beyond them. We only ever managed it once and we weren't sure how even then.
Yes, we're all going to die soon.
One little thing about the ZX spectrum is that to me it proved that the Z80 was more powerful than the 6502. With no sprites or hardware scrolling programmers had to tap every last drop of performance out of it. And when they did games like chase hq, R-TYPE and hard drivin out performed the C64 versions.
I'm Spartacus
Member
This thread needs some Magic Knight.
I don't recall too much about Finder's Keeper's other than gameplay wise it was radically different than the others in series. Spellbound and Knight Tyme were definitely adventure games of an extremely high calibre. Just looking at the shots above reminded me of the depth and complexity you had to achieve to solve the puzzles. If my memory serves me correct, I think I did complete Spellbound and got as far as moving the spaceship around on Knight-Tyme but these games were hard but a lot of fun. never played the last one, Stormbringer, however.
I don't recall too much about Finder's Keeper's other than gameplay wise it was radically different than the others in series. Spellbound and Knight Tyme were definitely adventure games of an extremely high calibre. Just looking at the shots above reminded me of the depth and complexity you had to achieve to solve the puzzles. If my memory serves me correct, I think I did complete Spellbound and got as far as moving the spaceship around on Knight-Tyme but these games were hard but a lot of fun. never played the last one, Stormbringer, however.
Ps. I also went to school with Richard Leadbetter & Jason Page, remember Rich writing text games using The Quill and playing Rainbow Islands endlessly on the machine Graftgold had in their office while they worked on the conversion...and Andy Braybrook buying a Fiat X-19 with the money he got from Gribbly's Day Out
Jason Page did some p. dope soundtracks back in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INw2rzGZQ-8