There are two versions of Majikazo in the original file: side A was for the toast rack and +2, side B was for the +2A and +3. I found that side A wouldn't run on the +2A/+3, but side B would run on any 128K model, so that's the one I've included - and so far I've had no problems with it on the +2. The author may tell me I'm in for a nasty shock at some stage, but if that's the case, I can always use it on the +2B.
No nasty shock. The Side B version works for any model (ok, not the 16K). Side A (for 48k, 128 and +2, since it uses the floating bus to synchronize) is there because the author wanted his original (untouched by me) version included. Also, Side B has a very tiny disadventage: when taking an item there might be a slight flicker in the sprites when the sound ends.
I looked at the code, it waits for the beginning of the screen area. The wait loop is too short to fix in situ. The floating bus synchronization for the +2A/+3 would have to be added at source-code level. However, a separate version could replace it with a call to a subroutine that would handle both types of the floating bus. There’s plenty of time to do all the extra setup required, including machine type detection. I’m sure there’s also plenty of room in RAM for an extra piece of code.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.
It's already got me wondering if I should make more of these compilation tapes. After all, I've still got a few blanks, and if I'd gone through enough games I might have made it 16 tapes (numbered 0 - F) instead of 10. There'll be more games in later years, though, that I have no doubt.
For the eternal glory of Sir Clive, his wonderful machine, and doing what he explicitly didn't want us to do with it!
For the eternal glory of Sir Clive, his wonderful machine, and doing what he explicitly didn't want us to do with it!
Heh. I don’t think he explicitly didn’t want us to write/play games. He simply didn’t consider them to be worth wasting any time on, and had this “vision” of the Spectrum taking its place in education and small businesses. Well, he turned out to be right: we did learn a lot, and many a business sprang from someone’s bedroom. :P
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.
This was a really really superb thread, which gives the new development the love they deserve, congrats! And those cassettes look amazing, many many hours of entertainment to load.
However, I have a question... not a single mention to Ianna? Really? :O
Heh. I don’t think he explicitly didn’t want us to write/play games. He simply didn’t consider them to be worth wasting any time on, and had this “vision” of the Spectrum taking its place in education and small businesses. Well, he turned out to be right: we did learn a lot, and many a business sprang from someone’s bedroom. :P
"The time you enjoyed wasting wasn't wasted time." I have no idea who it was who said that (it came from a random friend-of-a-friend on Faceache in the days when I actually paid attention to that site) but it's worth repeating.
However, I have a question... not a single mention to Ianna? Really? :O
Brrrrrother makes a good point. The Sword of Ianna is another one of those games where I sensed brilliance behind it from the outset - and it would have scooped one of the Viktor Drozd awards, that I have no doubt. But it doesn't practically fit on a tape, at least not on a compilation. And when I saw the cartridge version I thought "I want one of those!" and then, as is so often the case these days, ran out of money. This one's going to have to stay as emulation-only, I reckon, unless I can convert the +3 disc image into a real disc... and I'm running out of those!
While Madge (or one of her orfspring) prepares to lay a sword on Barry Gibb and Ringo Starr and send a medal or two the way of Heather Knight and some of her cricketing cohorts at some stage later on in the year, I've got a few more honours to make myself, when I realised the awards lists from 21st-24th December weren't quite complete.
These games should be added to the Honourable Mentions for each category.
The Jeff Wayne "Excellent Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds, According To James May BMus" Award for Best 128K AY Soundtrack should also have included GraviBots. No idea why I forgot that one.
The Dave Grohl "I Can't Believe It's Not Nirvana" Award for Best Use Of Colour... on a game that isn't using Nirvana, Bifröst or any other similar trickery is further awarded to Willy The Wasp 2; looking at those wonderfully cartoony graphics it's sometimes hard to believe they all fit into standard character squares. I've gone for the second game in the series because there are large areas with a blue background - usually when avoiding colour clash it's a good idea to stick to black, but the blue works just as well. And talking of blue backgrounds, I should also have mentioned Zombie Calavera Prologue - black on blue really shouldn't work in any way (and maybe it doesn't on an old CRT TV, I have yet to test that!) but it certainly does on a monitor and an LCD TV running through SCART.
The Super Mario Land 2 "Walk In The Park" Award for any games that I managed to complete on a real Spectrum where I don't have a Multiface and couldn't use save states should also have included Zbylut Owrzodzień w Kamiennym, Kurwa, Zajebanym Czarcim Kręgu, which I'd run through many times via emulation (and the English version as well), but I remembered after the awards that I'd also had one complete playthrough on the +2.
Heh. I don’t think he explicitly didn’t want us to write/play games. He simply didn’t consider them to be worth wasting any time on, and had this “vision” of the Spectrum taking its place in education and small businesses. Well, he turned out to be right: we did learn a lot, and many a business sprang from someone’s bedroom. :P
"The time you enjoyed wasting wasn't wasted time." I have no idea who it was who said that (it came from a random friend-of-a-friend on Faceache in the days when I actually paid attention to that site) but it's worth repeating.
However, I have a question... not a single mention to Ianna? Really? :O
Brrrrrother makes a good point. The Sword of Ianna is another one of those games where I sensed brilliance behind it from the outset - and it would have scooped one of the Viktor Drozd awards, that I have no doubt. But it doesn't practically fit on a tape, at least not on a compilation. And when I saw the cartridge version I thought "I want one of those!" and then, as is so often the case these days, ran out of money. This one's going to have to stay as emulation-only, I reckon, unless I can convert the +3 disc image into a real disc... and I'm running out of those!
There was recently a tap. for Ianna, so I guess it fits in cassette now, although with a huge multiload!
Did you record Bubble Monkey Bros version with in-game music?
Gabriele Amore introduced music in some of his games. You can find them on zxbasic.uk
No, though it's useful to know that it exists. There were a few games where I swapped out previous versions for improved ones at the last minute, but this one escaped. It's been said, either here or elsewhere, that it's a lot harder to keep up with the latest versions of any games made in 2013 or afterwards (as this one was) because they're not all archived in one place.
What I'm doing now, though, is attempting to do exactly that - get hold of the Complete Collectors' Edition of 1994-onwards games, from WOS, Spectrum Computing and anywhere else. It's taken me all evening just to do 1994, and this includes anything listed on WOS as a game, plus text adventures in English. I'm not going to compile text adventures in other languages, or management type games, because they rely on me being able to understand the language - and I'm also discarding scene demos, utilities, and things like Ashley Kirkup's many, many train driving simulators - all these don't interest me. The 1994 collection stands at 101 titles, and bear in mind that "only" 114 games made it onto my final compilation, there's plenty more to comb through!
I reckon I'll have a hole in the Complete Collectors' Edition for a while as Encyclopedia Galactica is listed as "distribution denied, still for sale", only it's been out of stock for months on end. Looks like a great game, as well...
There was recently a .tap for Ianna, so I guess it fits in cassette now, although with a huge multiload!
...like there's a .tap for Prince Of Persia and Pussy: Love Story From Titanic, and they'll both need an entire C90 to fit all the levels on!
I think it may have been Street Fighter II that showed the extreme folly of massive multiloads from tape. Such a game was only suited to a disc release.
Comments
No nasty shock. The Side B version works for any model (ok, not the 16K). Side A (for 48k, 128 and +2, since it uses the floating bus to synchronize) is there because the author wanted his original (untouched by me) version included. Also, Side B has a very tiny disadventage: when taking an item there might be a slight flicker in the sprites when the sound ends.
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Member of the team that discovered, analyzed, and detailed the floating bus behavior on the ZX Spectrum +2A/+3.
A few Spectrum game fixes.
It's already got me wondering if I should make more of these compilation tapes. After all, I've still got a few blanks, and if I'd gone through enough games I might have made it 16 tapes (numbered 0 - F) instead of 10. There'll be more games in later years, though, that I have no doubt.
For the eternal glory of Sir Clive, his wonderful machine, and doing what he explicitly didn't want us to do with it!
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Member of the team that discovered, analyzed, and detailed the floating bus behavior on the ZX Spectrum +2A/+3.
A few Spectrum game fixes.
However, I have a question... not a single mention to Ianna? Really? :O
Brrrrrother makes a good point. The Sword of Ianna is another one of those games where I sensed brilliance behind it from the outset - and it would have scooped one of the Viktor Drozd awards, that I have no doubt. But it doesn't practically fit on a tape, at least not on a compilation. And when I saw the cartridge version I thought "I want one of those!" and then, as is so often the case these days, ran out of money. This one's going to have to stay as emulation-only, I reckon, unless I can convert the +3 disc image into a real disc... and I'm running out of those!
Hey, I’ll drink to that!
Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Member of the team that discovered, analyzed, and detailed the floating bus behavior on the ZX Spectrum +2A/+3.
A few Spectrum game fixes.
While Madge (or one of her orfspring) prepares to lay a sword on Barry Gibb and Ringo Starr and send a medal or two the way of Heather Knight and some of her cricketing cohorts at some stage later on in the year, I've got a few more honours to make myself, when I realised the awards lists from 21st-24th December weren't quite complete.
These games should be added to the Honourable Mentions for each category.
The Jeff Wayne "Excellent Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds, According To James May BMus" Award for Best 128K AY Soundtrack should also have included GraviBots. No idea why I forgot that one.
The Dave Grohl "I Can't Believe It's Not Nirvana" Award for Best Use Of Colour... on a game that isn't using Nirvana, Bifröst or any other similar trickery is further awarded to Willy The Wasp 2; looking at those wonderfully cartoony graphics it's sometimes hard to believe they all fit into standard character squares. I've gone for the second game in the series because there are large areas with a blue background - usually when avoiding colour clash it's a good idea to stick to black, but the blue works just as well. And talking of blue backgrounds, I should also have mentioned Zombie Calavera Prologue - black on blue really shouldn't work in any way (and maybe it doesn't on an old CRT TV, I have yet to test that!) but it certainly does on a monitor and an LCD TV running through SCART.
The Super Mario Land 2 "Walk In The Park" Award for any games that I managed to complete on a real Spectrum where I don't have a Multiface and couldn't use save states should also have included Zbylut Owrzodzień w Kamiennym, Kurwa, Zajebanym Czarcim Kręgu, which I'd run through many times via emulation (and the English version as well), but I remembered after the awards that I'd also had one complete playthrough on the +2.
And I did, last night. Two and a half litres of my home-fermented cider. It's actually not too bad.
Gabriele Amore introduced music in some of his games. You can find them on zxbasic.uk
JSpeccy-win32-portable
There was recently a tap. for Ianna, so I guess it fits in cassette now, although with a huge multiload!
What I'm doing now, though, is attempting to do exactly that - get hold of the Complete Collectors' Edition of 1994-onwards games, from WOS, Spectrum Computing and anywhere else. It's taken me all evening just to do 1994, and this includes anything listed on WOS as a game, plus text adventures in English. I'm not going to compile text adventures in other languages, or management type games, because they rely on me being able to understand the language - and I'm also discarding scene demos, utilities, and things like Ashley Kirkup's many, many train driving simulators - all these don't interest me. The 1994 collection stands at 101 titles, and bear in mind that "only" 114 games made it onto my final compilation, there's plenty more to comb through!
I reckon I'll have a hole in the Complete Collectors' Edition for a while as Encyclopedia Galactica is listed as "distribution denied, still for sale", only it's been out of stock for months on end. Looks like a great game, as well...
...like there's a .tap for Prince Of Persia and Pussy: Love Story From Titanic, and they'll both need an entire C90 to fit all the levels on!
I think it may have been Street Fighter II that showed the extreme folly of massive multiloads from tape. Such a game was only suited to a disc release.