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Geek Culture / Happy Birthday - ZX Spectrum! 25 Years this month!

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Redmotion
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Location: Mmm mmm.. Marmite
Posted: 24th Apr 2007 21:45 Edited at: 24th Apr 2007 21:45
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http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/04/24/zx_spectrum_25_years_on.html

Post your memories here! (If you're old enough!)

Jeez - I feel old!

Check out The Grand Machines! & Black Mesa: Source
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Seppuku Arts
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Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 24th Apr 2007 21:48
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Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...ah screw this, I'm not going to satisfy Simon Cowell with my awesome singing. I don't have any memories, it's 7 years older than I, my earliest console was the Master System.

Did The Buddha have a Zen micro?
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spooky
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Posted: 24th Apr 2007 22:14
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R Tape Loading Error

Boo!
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Dazzag
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Posted: 24th Apr 2007 22:31
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Memories? What about the surfboard that went on top of the rubber keyboard? Or the Elite Lenslok? Goddamn... Colour clashing anyone? Oh yes.... And don't forget the original 48k Speccy had the sound coming out of a speaker, like the internal one on a PC. If I remember rightly not only could you not alter the volume at all but you got the whole "Neeee-Nooooo-----Neeeeeeeee-NooNooNoo..etc" at full whack when you are trying to play a game in the dark after bedtime (ie. you should be asleep for school tomorrow). Plenty of cushions to try and shut that one up. And C90's full of games Sigh, more like a drug dealer when it came to games in school...

Heh, and don't forget 5 minute plus loading times! I remember the 128k version of Neverending music taking something like 15 minutes to load. Good music though. And I had a version of Bubble Bobble that had this cute loader that could cock up but you could rewind and try a bit again (it didn't completely crash and have to be started again from scratch). It was a duff copy so I needed two different tape recorders for some reason. Basically one recorder would work with one segment at a set volume but the other one wouldn't work no matter what. And vice versa. Took about an hour to load basically. Annoyingly it was a fantastic game...

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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Dazzag
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Posted: 24th Apr 2007 22:34 Edited at: 24th Apr 2007 22:38
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Oh yeah and a friend of mine could identify dozens of games (was about 100 at the time) just by the sound of them loading. Honest to god. If I remember rightly he was going to go onto You Bet (think that was the name) but something stopped him for some reason...

He also was the only person I knew who had a Spectrum printer (tiny tiny paper) and a Spectrum network (had something like 4 or 5 speccies linked up somehow). Guy was a total klepto... Heh just remembered he was going to try and win that Lords of Midnight competition. Basically it was a turn based fantasy game and if you printed every single move you made then once you beat the game then the first person to send in the complete printout would get a proper book written by a novelist that basically follows your quest from start to finish. But there was something like 32000 possible locations, where each can be viewed from different positions etc. Apparently you could actually beat it within like half an hour (was a bit of a cheat though), but more likely it would take like days or so. He went through a lot of paper before quiting...

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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Van B
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Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 25th Apr 2007 09:35
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Thing is you didn't mind the loading times as long as you got it loaded . I remember the spectrum vividly, happy birthday you old git!.

Skool Daze and Back to Skool were probably my favourite speccy games, very challenging, might well be one of the first stealth type games - I always found myself sneaking about out of class, trying to avoid the teachers spotting you while you write vulgarities on the blackboard . I still play them on my DS Speccy emulator, along with Highway Encounter, Bounty Bob, Manic Miner, Head Over Heels, Target Renegade, Cyclone... I still enjoy these games even after 20-some years.

Just discovered that my DS can play MasterSystem and GameGear roms, so I've been messing with that mostly - playing Sensible Soccer on the DS Rocks!, the only footie game I ever remotely liked .


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
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Dazzag
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 09:44
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Hmmm. Never considered my DS for emulation. So many games... Is there an ST one BTW?

Sensible Soccer? One of them eh? Nah, Kick off 2 is the *only* football game that counts Broke about 5 different joysticks on that game...

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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Van B
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 09:57
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Got that too, but Sensi runs a lot better.

The ST emu (StyxDS) is pretty poor, the mouse emulation absolutely blows, and it's only about 50% the speed. Really the DS is better for emulating older consoles and 8-bits. Worth remembering ScummDS though, if you like the point and click adventure games like Monkey Island (I'm thinking you do for some reason) - you can get the Scumm files and stick them on your DS - which handles them perfectly. One thing I like about the DS is it's lower touch screen, as most emulators will use that as a keyboard, the speccy emulator has a full spectrum keyboard, only missing the dead flesh rubbery feel.

It is quite nice to have a massive catalogue of roms though, I mean I probably have about 1200 roms on my 1gb SD!. I just wish they'd make a decent NES emulator for the thing.


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
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Scraggle
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 13:07
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Speaking of Emulators ...
I bought Cannon Fodder (possibly the best game of all time) from Sold Out software. The specs state that it will run on 486 DX-33 or higher, Windows 95 or Windows 98. It alos say that it WONT run on Windows ME but there is no mention of XP (before it's time I suppose).

So, does anyone know of an emulator that might get it running?

I'd really appreciate it



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Van B
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 13:11
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Maybe best to use WinUAE - I bought Cannon Fodder 2 for the PC and never got it working on any PC, tried about 5!.

So running it in an Amiga emulator might be the best route for compatibility - but more importantly the sound is probably better.

I was just playing Cannon Fodder on a SNES emulator last week, it's a great game - I always liked Sensible Software. Mega-Lo-Mania is great too.


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
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Dazzag
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 13:45
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Scraggle, try DosBox (bit rubbish) or VirtualPC (now free and a lot better, although you need a copy of an old OS, but it will run in a window within XP).

As for Scumm, yes I use it for games on my PDA. Totally awesome. DOTT is still the best point and click adventure of all time IMHO (Toonstuck was also suprisingly good for non LucasFilm games). And I have a 2gb MicroSD card for my DS (it's like tiny) so Mwahahahahaha...

Kick Off 2 on the ST was the game. Totally awesome. Amiga game wasn't quite the same speed so put me off (played the ST version for like 6 months non-stop with a friend of mine when we were unemployed, so any changes to the game totally threw me).

Is there any particular DS Speccy emulator to use that is better than the rest? Really feel like a go on Underworld for some reason... Out of interest did anyone port that 256 colour emulator to the DS? Basically there was an emulator made that added to a standard Speccy ROM and made it 256 colours. Was awesome. And the original ROM could still be used normally (ie. crap colours) on another emulator too. Only thing was that people had to obviously create the graphics. Would be great if a lot of games were converted and put on the DS (was only a dozen or so at the time).

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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Dazzag
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 13:50
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Oh, and while I'm at it, to celebrate the date then try some of these quizes I made a while back (Speccy orientated of course):-

http://www.quizardry.com/index.php?sid=6cf68b3219759850ef532009494e9aa5&id=6&list=10184

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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Scraggle
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 14:18
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I just did a quick google to see if I could get Cannon Fodder working (now that it is back in my mind I have to play it). I found the Classic Gaming Presents website that offers Cannon Fodder 1 + 2 both XP compatible for £4.99. So, I bought it, got an instant download and it play perfectly!



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Jess T
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 14:50
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I bet the creators of these old consoles never thought that in 20 years time, their games would be being played on a tiny little computer that's 100x faster where you touch the screen for a keyboard, eh?



Nintendo DS & Dominos :: DS Dominos
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Van B
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 15:19
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Yeah, considering the trouble some people would have with distribution, I imagine there's a few aged coders out there who are kinda perplexed that people still play their games. Like that Matthew Smith who made Manic Miner, his brain is kinda mince these days from too much recreation - but he's immensely proud of Manic Miner and how it's still being played today.

I wonder if anyone will play our games in 20 years, well of course some people will because I'll force them - but how cool would it be to make a game that's timeless, like Bubble Bobble, Jetpac or Manic, a game that is not only being played 20 years on, but is being converted to new formats. How cool would it be to have someone like your game so much that they remake it, that's proper accolade!.


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
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Dazzag
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Posted: 25th Apr 2007 16:19
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Yeah... really got to get off my a**e and make something to be remade in the first place.... annoyingly I like to remake games anyway.... bit of a loop....

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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