I'd imagine that if they tried to take on board all the personal suggestions and listened to everyone here who thinks their ideas are better, that their project will be as successful as most of the others designed by committee through WoS forums :roll:
As it is, it appears to be actually happening, and something of a screaming success.
How many projects just get talked and argued about on here, and eventually come to nothing? We seem to have enough of those already.
"Q - Will you be able to connect keyboards or controllers via USB or Bluetooth?
A - The Vega provides and on-screen keyboard, which can be activated when required. We would very much like to make the Vega as expandable as possible, both with hardware and software, and are considering possibilities."
Purely as a fun way to waste some time, I came up with an idea for how I'd deal with the Vega's "no keyboard" issue, using Skool Daze as an example.
There would be a configuration file with the possibility of containing several keymaps. Keymap1 contains the most important controls for the game, but several alternative Keymaps can be configured, containing secondary actions.
Keymap1
DPAD= "QAOP"
BUTTON_F= "Shift" #Run
BUTTON_S= "H" #Hit
BUTTON_1= "J" #Leap
BUTTON_2= "F" #Fire
Keymap2 - (Same as Keymap1 except with the following changes)
BUTTON_S="S" #Sit/Stand
BUTTON_1="W" #Write
When the "R" button on the controller is pressed, the following menu appears but the game continues to run. Keymap2 is automatically selected, and the player can carry out the actions they need to. If the player wants to access any of the menu options they press "R" again, with a final press to exit the menu and to return to Keymap1.
except that only had 2 good games on it, and one of those was Uridium...
that was the first thing I thought of.
They sell loads of those things down the market; C64, NES, Megadrive (awesome).
I thought the C64 one was pretty good - Summer Games, Winter Games, California Games, IK, Pitstop 1 and 2.
There are loads of NES ones, including ones that have lots of Chinese pirate games; most of which are dodgy; but some are truly excellent (Street Fighter 2)
You are mistaken. AVR ZX Spectrum is absolutely clean license a product suitable for production and sale, except its name, which can change. :)
Not quite. Copyrights/trademarks etc. might not be an issue given a suitable ROM (and of course depending on what it ships with), however, I doubt it has been EM tested etc. for CE compliance. If you want to sell something electronic commerically in most of the world as a finished product it has to comply with the regulations. Just the EM testing is quite an expensive endeavour, and I doubt the AVR ZX Spectrum has been through this. The ZX Vega will have gone through this process.
The CE marking, and most of the others that I'm aware of for main regional markets, can be self certified. If you're making a simple electronic device with one off the shelf SoC and a flash chip, you really shouldn't need to be paying for expensive testing.
Purely as a fun way to waste some time, I came up with an idea for how I'd deal with the Vega's "no keyboard" issue, using Skool Daze as an example.
There would be a configuration file with the possibility of containing several keymaps. Keymap1 contains the most important controls for the game, but several alternative Keymaps can be configured, containing secondary actions.
Keymap1
DPAD= "QAOP"
BUTTON_F= "Shift" #Run
BUTTON_S= "H" #Hit
BUTTON_1= "J" #Leap
BUTTON_2= "F" #Fire
Keymap2 - (Same as Keymap1 except with the following changes)
BUTTON_S="S" #Sit/Stand
BUTTON_1="W" #Write
When the "R" button on the controller is pressed, the following menu appears but the game continues to run. Keymap2 is automatically selected, and the player can carry out the actions they need to. If the player wants to access any of the menu options they press "R" again, with a final press to exit the menu and to return to Keymap1.
Mmm, some nice effort. I hope some "relevant" folks incorporate this solution!
How would you address the lack of keys to play text adventures easily ?
Maybe a trackpad on the rear part used like a mouse to point a letter with the finger index. One button on the left to select it with the thumb of the other hand.
The CE marking, and most of the others that I'm aware of for main regional markets, can be self certified. If you're making a simple electronic device with one off the shelf SoC and a flash chip, you really shouldn't need to be paying for expensive testing.
I know they are self certified, but if you CE mark something and it does not comply with the standards (and some jobsworth somewhere WILL want you to prove it complies if you're selling a few thousand) you will face some very unpleasant penalties. This is why people pay for testing, it's a lot cheaper than losing everything you own. If the ZX AVR is on a 2 layer board and wasn't designed by an electrical engineer whose day job is to make compliant devices I would be surprised if it could pass, simple as it may be.
Now that's fine for a hobby project or something sold as a kit, but the ZX Vega is none of these things and if the Vega team don't want to be criminally prosecuted they must be able to prove that the CE mark they put on the device is warranted, and this will include things like EM testing so they can show a certificate from an approved lab to the jobsworth who demands proof from them that the device is worthy of the CE mark they put on it. I know if I were selling even a simple device in volume, I would want the bit of paper from an approved lab so I could sleep at night and not worry about the possible call from some bureaucrat somewhere who suddenly got interested in my device and has the power to shut down my entire operation if I can't prove that the CE mark is warranted.
The datasheets for your SoC and chips will suffice. EM interference isn't magic, you can tell if you're approaching anywhere near the thresholds just by looking at your component parts. If you're using off the shelf SoC's and chips in surface mount packages and not using any wireless comms stuff you shouldn't even be considering paying for that sort of testing.
The datasheets for your SoC and chips will suffice. EM interference isn't magic, you can tell if you're approaching anywhere near the thresholds just by looking at your component parts. If you're using off the shelf SoC's and chips in surface mount packages and not using any wireless comms stuff you shouldn't even be considering paying for that sort of testing.
If you're building high speed digital circuits and not taking EMC design considerations into account then you're going to end up building an unintentional radiator...
Mmm, some nice effort. I hope some "relevant" folks incorporate this solution!
Thanks!
How would you address the lack of keys to play text adventures easily ?
I wouldn't bother, to be honest. The Vega isn't for that type of game, but players could get by with the on screen keyboard (now officially announced) if they really wanted to.
I have almost all the Sinclair machines and I can't lose it.
IT'S A NEW SPECTRUM IN 2014!!!
I'm in.
Let's wait and see what we will have in our hands before saying that it's only a silly gamepad.
The only thing that isn't good that I have to wait until April :(
We know what it is. It's not a new Spectrum. Without a keyboard it's not really a computer. This is an attempt to make a console spectrum. A machine only for playing games and not for creating anything.
The Vega isn't for the serious Spectrum enthusiast that'll you'll find on WoS, it's for the casual gamer, for me the Spectrum wasn't all about games but creating something, exploring the possibilities and breathing life into new ideas.
Give me a HDMI slot and a USB port to add a proper keyboard then you'll have me interested.
Without a keyboard it's not really a computer. This is an attempt to make a console spectrum. A machine only for playing games and not for creating anything.
I guess it depends on what you mean by 'official'. These guys have somehow roped Sir Clive into pretending he's involved. It's hardly a new machine in the spirit of the ZX series. It's an emulation of a Speccy with the keyboard removed and a ton of old games (possibly) pre-loaded.
The datasheets for your SoC and chips will suffice. EM interference isn't magic, you can tell if you're approaching anywhere near the thresholds just by looking at your component parts. If you're using off the shelf SoC's and chips in surface mount packages and not using any wireless comms stuff you shouldn't even be considering paying for that sort of testing.
With a project of this scale, I would think that the banks, insurance companies and retailers will require testing to certain standards. Even if you could get away with it, considering the amounts of money already involved following two days of fishing for support, I doubt many people would want to take personal legal and financial liability for it all.
I see it's gone well over it's required 100k funding in less than two days so it's raised some serious interest no matter the criticisms of it's design.
Declaration - I've invested in one just to keep the collection complete.
I guess it depends on what you mean by 'official'.
It's a computer device with a license to use the ZX Spectrum trademark. That makes it a ZX Spectrum in my book, in the same was as the ZX Spectrum +2 is an official Spectrum.
It's as close to being a new Spectrum as you're going to get because Sky have no interest in the market (unsurprisingly).
Comments
A quick search of WOS reveals
1872 Freeware games
Of which there are
242 Arcade Platform games
441 Arcade action games
I don't think there will be a problem having 1000 games preloaded somehow.
Wrong.
Freeware is not the same as public domain.
As it is, it appears to be actually happening, and something of a screaming success.
How many projects just get talked and argued about on here, and eventually come to nothing? We seem to have enough of those already.
except that only had 2 good games on it, and one of those was Uridium
:lol:
yes!
It would be nice if it worked with the Elite bluetooth keyboard... :lol:
"Q - Will you be able to connect keyboards or controllers via USB or Bluetooth?
A - The Vega provides and on-screen keyboard, which can be activated when required. We would very much like to make the Vega as expandable as possible, both with hardware and software, and are considering possibilities."
So maybe they will develop a full keyboard.
There would be a configuration file with the possibility of containing several keymaps. Keymap1 contains the most important controls for the game, but several alternative Keymaps can be configured, containing secondary actions.
Keymap1
DPAD= "QAOP"
BUTTON_F= "Shift" #Run
BUTTON_S= "H" #Hit
BUTTON_1= "J" #Leap
BUTTON_2= "F" #Fire
Keymap2 - (Same as Keymap1 except with the following changes)
BUTTON_S="S" #Sit/Stand
BUTTON_1="W" #Write
When the "R" button on the controller is pressed, the following menu appears but the game continues to run. Keymap2 is automatically selected, and the player can carry out the actions they need to. If the player wants to access any of the menu options they press "R" again, with a final press to exit the menu and to return to Keymap1.
that was the first thing I thought of.
They sell loads of those things down the market; C64, NES, Megadrive (awesome).
I thought the C64 one was pretty good - Summer Games, Winter Games, California Games, IK, Pitstop 1 and 2.
There are loads of NES ones, including ones that have lots of Chinese pirate games; most of which are dodgy; but some are truly excellent (Street Fighter 2)
Probably.
But currently it's
One of the benefits of emulation is being able to use a decent joypad (like a NES or Playstation pad).
This thing looks a bit awkward and maybe a competition pro joystick would have been better (I HATED using keys)
Not quite. Copyrights/trademarks etc. might not be an issue given a suitable ROM (and of course depending on what it ships with), however, I doubt it has been EM tested etc. for CE compliance. If you want to sell something electronic commerically in most of the world as a finished product it has to comply with the regulations. Just the EM testing is quite an expensive endeavour, and I doubt the AVR ZX Spectrum has been through this. The ZX Vega will have gone through this process.
Mmm, some nice effort. I hope some "relevant" folks incorporate this solution!
How would you address the lack of keys to play text adventures easily ?
Maybe a trackpad on the rear part used like a mouse to point a letter with the finger index. One button on the left to select it with the thumb of the other hand.
JSpeccy-win32-portable
I know they are self certified, but if you CE mark something and it does not comply with the standards (and some jobsworth somewhere WILL want you to prove it complies if you're selling a few thousand) you will face some very unpleasant penalties. This is why people pay for testing, it's a lot cheaper than losing everything you own. If the ZX AVR is on a 2 layer board and wasn't designed by an electrical engineer whose day job is to make compliant devices I would be surprised if it could pass, simple as it may be.
Now that's fine for a hobby project or something sold as a kit, but the ZX Vega is none of these things and if the Vega team don't want to be criminally prosecuted they must be able to prove that the CE mark they put on the device is warranted, and this will include things like EM testing so they can show a certificate from an approved lab to the jobsworth who demands proof from them that the device is worthy of the CE mark they put on it. I know if I were selling even a simple device in volume, I would want the bit of paper from an approved lab so I could sleep at night and not worry about the possible call from some bureaucrat somewhere who suddenly got interested in my device and has the power to shut down my entire operation if I can't prove that the CE mark is warranted.
If you're building high speed digital circuits and not taking EMC design considerations into account then you're going to end up building an unintentional radiator...
Thanks!
I wouldn't bother, to be honest. The Vega isn't for that type of game, but players could get by with the on screen keyboard (now officially announced) if they really wanted to.
Most emissions do not come from the ICs themselves, they come from the traces and cabling where the signal paths are large loops.
Write games in C using Z88DK and SP1
IT'S A NEW SPECTRUM IN 2014!!!
I'm in.
Let's wait and see what we will have in our hands before saying that it's only a silly gamepad.
The only thing that isn't good that I have to wait until April
:(
Give me a HDMI slot and a USB port to add a proper keyboard then you'll have me interested.
Until then, good luck Chris, hope it goes well.
Correct.
With a project of this scale, I would think that the banks, insurance companies and retailers will require testing to certain standards. Even if you could get away with it, considering the amounts of money already involved following two days of fishing for support, I doubt many people would want to take personal legal and financial liability for it all.
Declaration - I've invested in one just to keep the collection complete.
It's a computer device with a license to use the ZX Spectrum trademark. That makes it a ZX Spectrum in my book, in the same was as the ZX Spectrum +2 is an official Spectrum.
It's as close to being a new Spectrum as you're going to get because Sky have no interest in the market (unsurprisingly).