! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
I'm saying that an Ouya with Unreal Speccy Portable installed will put a Spectrum on your TV just like the Vega, but it has the advantage that you can plug in a keyboard and a joystick.
Not to mention that Ouyas are available right now, and will cost you around half the price of the Vega if you buy a used one.
I'm saying that an Ouya with Unreal Speccy Portable installed will put a Spectrum on your TV just like the Vega, but it has the advantage that you can plug in a keyboard and a joystick.
Not to mention that Ouyas are available right now, and will cost you around half the price of the Vega if you buy a used one.
Well that's great but it's not the plug and play product that VEGA is (meant to be). The 1000 games built in are key. This is not made for people who will hunt down tap files.
Obviously the VEGA should be (and probably will eventually be) much cheaper than the current ?100 or ?150(!) price points.
Well that's great but it's not the plug and play product that VEGA is (meant to be). The 1000 games built in are key. This is not made for people who will hunt down tap files.
Obviously the VEGA should be (and probably will eventually be) much cheaper than the current ?100 or ?150(!) price points.
The Ouya is plug and play in the sense that no computer knowledge is required to use it, but I do concede that (last time I checked) there were no Spectrum emulators in the Oya store.
This may change, but if it doesn't, sideloading is trivial and well within the capabilities of most users.
As to not hunting down tap files, I have two rebuttals; firstly, I can think of at least one Android-based emulator that directly accesses the WOS archive (Marvin).
I do seek out tap files, so I haven't taken the trouble to see if other emulators do the same.
Either way, the answer is an Android app for existing devices, not a standalone device.
My second rebuttal is that the Vega is designed specifically to support those who wish to add their own tap files by providing support for an sd card.
It also looks as though the Vega doesn't support TZX files, which is also a major drawback.
Well it's a bit of a tedious thing to argue about but I think there's a difference between a plug and play spectrum with built-in games and a console where you'd have to know emulators exist ahead of time to contemplate installing one & finding the files. It might seem a small difference to someone who knows about these emulators but I didn't till you told me. And I still find the idea less appealing than a cute little speccy loaded with games.
Then again I wrote off the Ouya as waste of time ages ago so perhaps I'm a bit prejudiced.
I think there's a difference between a plug and play spectrum with built-in games and a console where you'd have to know emulators exist ahead of time to contemplate installing one & finding the files.
When I last looked at the comments left on the Indiegogo page, what struck me was the amount of people who couldn't wait to play their old Speccy games again- the implication being that the last time they played them was on a real Spectrum, decades ago.
It's perfectly plausible that plenty of non-technical people don't know that emulators exist- nor would they even consider that such a thing might exist.
Well it's a bit of a tedious thing to argue about but I think there's a difference between a plug and play spectrum with built-in games and a console where you'd have to know emulators exist ahead of time to contemplate installing one & finding the files. It might seem a small difference to someone who knows about these emulators but I didn't till you told me. And I still find the idea less appealing than a cute little speccy loaded with games.
Then again I wrote of the Ouya as waste of time ages ago so perhaps I'm a bit prejudiced.
This is a valid point. I guess the target audience is the more casual gamer.
While I agree with you about the Ouya when used as it was envisioned, it's a great machine for people who like to use emulators.
It's like a more modern version of a modded original xbox.
I just can't get pas the design of the joyapd. I mean, I know it's meant to look Old-school + Sinclair-ish, but they shouldn't have compromised function and comfort for aesthetics. The following are my thoughts (and wishes) for the joypad:
1) An analogue thumbstick. Yes, the Spectrum was never analogue, so the thumbstick would have to function purely digitally, but so what? A thumbstick is much easier to use for games like Atic Atac and Commando than a D-pad is. They should still have kept the D-Pad too, to give the user a choice of what to use.
2) The D-Pad should be one physical cross shape rather than four separate buttons, as it's easier to slide your thumb from one direction to another this way.
3) Where are the shoulder buttons? Every gamepad should have two of these, as (a) they are convenient to use, and (b) you can use either of both as toggle buttons, so that when, say, you hold down the left shoulder button, then the buttons on the face of the joypad do different functions, which effectively gives you more buttons, sort of.
4) Will the Vega joypad be comfortable to hold for long periods of time?
I use FuseX on the original XBox, and it's brilliant*, especially since the XBox's joypad is so good. Of course you lose the versatility of having a keyboard (though FuseX does have an on-screen keyboard), but the joypad is well designed, with lots of buttons, and the emulator uses it well.
* Sadly there's no ULA+ on FuseX, as the emulator was never updated, but the last version (v0.6) does everything else you could want, except make RZX files (you can view them, though).
When I last looked at the comments left on the Indiegogo page, what struck me was the amount of people who couldn't wait to play their old Speccy games again- the implication being that the last time they played them was on a real Spectrum, decades ago.
It's perfectly plausible that plenty of non-technical people don't know that emulators exist- nor would they even consider that such a thing might exist.
That's why I said previously that it's great for the Spectrum online community. They'll find their favourite game isn't among the 1000 included, or they'll need instructions, so they'll go to a site like WOS and find a world of which they were previously unaware.
I wonder how the games are going to be listed/sorted on the Vega. I mean, a thousand games (even before the user adds their own downloaded games via an SD card) listed onscreen can be actually off-putting really, as I know from MAME, since you're more likely to spend time playing games on MAME with twenty games than MAME with two thousand games, as with the latter, every time you're playing a game, you're thinking that you might well be having more fun with the hundreds of other available games that you haven't yet tried.
Even if the games are in folders according to their first letter, so you don't have to scroll past all of the games beginning with A to G, when you want to get to Head Over Heels, for example, then this is still off-putting to a degree.
Ideally, there should be a good front-end for the game loader, say each game would have an in-game screenshot*, so that when you highlight a game, you can see what it looks like during gameplay, even if you don't load the game. And the game type would be displayed on screen along with other details and an option to read the game's manual. I still use SGD (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/sgd.html) on the PC, and it's brilliant as a game loader;
Also, it would be great if the Vega would put the games in folders like:
so you can try games of any genre you feel like, though of course so many Spectrum games are difficult to characterise or fit into one genre definition.
* Well, ideally there'd be a video of each game, but that's probably asking too much of both the people involved with the Vega, and the capacity of the SD cards, so a screenshot for every game would be great.
They could have just made a replica Spectrum casing with a rubber keyboard.
I doubt it would cost much more.
You'd lose the handheld ability, but it would be a much more realistic nostalgia trip for the general consumer, as well as giving the user all of the functionality of the original machine.
This would have been impractical for other plug 'n play remakes such as the C64, but the Spectrum was tiny to begin with.
Judging by the size of the Atari 2600 remakes, a larger plastic case would not be cost-prohibitive to produce for this class of product, and membrane keyboards are dirt cheap (which is why Sinclair used them in the first place).
Elite had the right idea with their ill-fated keyboard, and Vega has the right idea with the 'Spectrum on a chip' concept.
If only somebody would put the two together.
Imagine how a device that looks, feels, and functions just like the original machine (but with 1000 games built in) would sell.
They could have just made a replica Spectrum casing with a rubber keyboard.
It's a popular option around here, but on the other hand physical keyboards seem to be poison to the average consumer these days.
Perhaps more people will gravitate towards the small size and apparent simplicity of the Vega VS an exact replica of the real thing. It's possible that the retro styling of the controller will supply sufficient nostalgic feelings for most punters.
It's a popular option around here, but on the other hand physical keyboards seem to be poison to the average consumer these days.
Perhaps more people will gravitate towards the small size and apparent simplicity of the Vega VS an exact replica of the real thing. It's possible that the retro styling of the controller will supply sufficient nostalgic feelings for most punters.
You're probably right about keyboards being poison in most cases, but just picture the scene:
Average Joe, who had fun with his Speccy when he was a kid, but hasn't really thought about it for the last couple of decades (ie the target demographic) walks past a store window (perhaps WH Smiths or Dixons?) and glances at something that looks familiar...
He does a double take. Is that a ZX Spectrum?!
Would Joe have the same attention-grabbing rush of recognition and nostalgia if he glanced at the Vega?
I doubt he'd even recognize it unless he happened to look closely at it.
You're probably right about keyboards being poison in most cases, but just picture the scene:
Average Joe, who had fun with his Speccy when he was a kid, but hasn't really thought about it for the last couple of decades (ie the target demographic) walks past a store window (perhaps WH Smiths or Dixons?) and glances at something that looks familiar...
He does a double take. Is that a ZX Spectrum?!
Would Joe have the same attention-grabbing rush of recognition and nostalgia if he glanced at the Vega?
I doubt he'd even recognize it unless he happened to look closely at it.
I see your point. At the same time, the Vega has managed to whip up an online buzz without being an exact replica; it seems to look familiar enough to get people excited.
In any case, I reckon it's likely that Elite Systems have the exclusive licence to make a replica ZX Spectrum. They have a very bad reputation around here, but it seems that they still expect their product to see the light of day.
I think that the Vega team are probably either prevented from making a replica Spectrum, or they actively decided to offer a distinct rival product instead.
It's kind of ironic that Vega & Elite keyboard are both what each other needs. There's no overlap in functionality. Put the two together (one inside the other) and you've got something.
I think that the Vega team are probably either prevented from making a replica Spectrum, or they actively decided to offer a distinct rival product instead.
I'm guessing just grew from the speccy-in-a-joystick concept. There was never any intention to implement a proper keyboard.
Why so many suggestions for something else? If people want a Vega, and it looks like lots do, they can get one. If they want a real old Spectrum, they can get one. If they want a PI or similar mini-computer, or old PC booting to an emulator front-end, they can get one.
I've never noticed people on this forum questioning anyone's purchase of any old Sinclair Spectrum models, which often cost more, and have many arbitrary disadvantages compared to random forum suggestions of emulator boxes or clones.
I have old Spectrums. I have old PCs with emulators. I have more Raspberry PI than is healthy for one person to own, a couple of which run emulators. I ordered a Vega, because it is something I want. The market for the Vega is people who want a Vega, and given the success of the Indiegogo campaign, it looks like they got it pretty right.
The release of the Vega will not stop anyone from emulating, cloning or modifying Spectrums in the way that they want. If the Vega is not what you want, then don't get one, get what you do want. ;-)
Perhaps because some of us would like something similar but not quite this?
I don't want a real speccy but I'd love something the exact shape of a real one with tons of stuff packed in and no wires.
That sounds good. I'd buy one of those, too.
I'm not trying to dictate the terms of the discussion, nobody listens to me anyway.
I just think it would be more beneficial for the community if discussion about the Vega could embrace the fantastic opportunity that it provides as a new, more mainstream, target machine to be supported. And people with other / better ideas did something about them, rather than expressing them as shortcomings of someone else's successful project.
Why so many suggestions for something else? If people want a Vega, and it looks like lots do, they can get one. If they want a real old Spectrum, they can get one. If they want a PI or similar mini-computer, or old PC booting to an emulator front-end, they can get one.
I've never noticed people on this forum questioning anyone's purchase of any old Sinclair Spectrum models, which often cost more, and have many arbitrary disadvantages compared to random forum suggestions of emulator boxes or clones.
I have old Spectrums. I have old PCs with emulators. I have more Raspberry PI than is healthy for one person to own, a couple of which run emulators. I ordered a Vega, because it is something I want. The market for the Vega is people who want a Vega, and given the success of the Indiegogo campaign, it looks like they got it pretty right.
The release of the Vega will not stop anyone from emulating, cloning or modifying Spectrums in the way that they want. If the Vega is not what you want, then don't get one, get what you do want. ;-)
I think it's because many of us have been waiting a long time for a (mass produced) product like this, and we are disappointed with the uneccessary shortcomings which have been designed into it.
The Spectrum requires a keyboard to be usable.
This sets it apart from other plug 'n play TV games.
Historically, this is because the original Spectrum did not come with built-in joystick ports like other machines. Lack of joystick ports meant that games programmers had to provide menu systems to select all the different kinds of inputs that the player might want to use.
Either they chose keys, or gave an option to define keys.
They had to offer a choice of joystick interfaces.
Nothing was standardized.
For example, if I want to play a game of Saboteur, I must do the following:
Press 'J' to select Kempston
Press 'S' to start a game
Press '1' to select 'extremely easy' (I'm not very good...)
I must do this quickly, because if I take too long scrolling around on a virtual keyboard, the game gets tired of waiting and I have to start over.
Not so on the TV game versions of the Atari 2600 (console) or the C64 (standard joystick ports like a console, and selection of games limited to what will work with them).
A plug 'n play Spectrum presents a unique problem that can only be solved comfortably with a keyboard (or support for one).
It also looks as though the Vega doesn't support TZX files, which is also a major drawback.
sna/z80/tap are easy to support because they can be loaded and run instantly (so long as the .tap file is a ROM loader) and TZX, unless it only uses $10 blocks is almost impossible to flashload for all possible combinations of blocks. It's just too complex.
People that buy this want an instant-on, instant-load machine, which snapshots/tap files can provide. There's a good reason most of the mass-storage options for the Spectrum don't support TZX files.
A plug 'n play Spectrum presents a unique problem that can only be solved comfortably with a keyboard (or support for one).
It is a good point.
I have been taking it for granted that there will be the option of key config / start sequence files, that will all but eliminate problems. If not, or for games that are still an issue, there will soon be hacks of them for Vega, in the same way there are for 128k / Amstrad / TRDos / Pentagon. I do admit that it is a bit of a lost cause for classic text adventures.
Given the demand shown for this product by how quickly it was crowdfunded, the interest shown in a 'full' Speccy keyboard version and Chris demonstrating over many years and occasional beers that he really does know what he is doing, I would be pretty surprised if an add-on keyboard, or the Vega+ model with keyboard is an idea they have dismissed.
Just for a bit of problem-solving fun, I came up with an idea for how the Vega's onscreen keyboard could be implemented.
It only has 7 keys. You use the D-Pad to get to the key you want, then select the letter you need from the grid of 4 using the corresponding button on the controller.
To edit text, you use the D-Pad to enter the text field, and use one of the buttons to delete.
Using this system, it only takes a maximum of 4 controller actions to select a letter, as opposed to a maximum of about 11 on a traditional onscreen keyboard.
sna/z80/tap are easy to support because they can be loaded and run instantly (so long as the .tap file is a ROM loader) and TZX, unless it only uses $10 blocks is almost impossible to flashload for all possible combinations of blocks. It's just too complex.
People that buy this want an instant-on, instant-load machine, which snapshots/tap files can provide. There's a good reason most of the mass-storage options for the Spectrum don't support TZX files.
D.
This is true. I've had to tweak emulator settings to get TZX files to load before, so I can see why they would not want to support them on a device intended to 'just work'.
I truly hope they do implement a keyboard somehow, even of it is just 'secret' solder pads for PS/2 or something.
I know I have been sounding rather negative about the Vega, but it's not because I don't want it to be a runaway success, quite the opposite.
I'm being harsh because I really really want this to work.
Emulators are great, but the idea of a new Sinclair Spectrum for the masses is very exciting, and I'd hate to see it fail for some trivial reason.
I know the funding goal has already been met, but I'm talking about long term, inexpensive mass availability, just like the original.
I was initially quite excited about a new Spectrum development backed by Sir Clive and Chris Smith, and I still am in as much as it's good that the ZX Spectrum name lives on.
I think it is a bit expensive at the moment. I'd probably get one at ?25, other than that, probably not, but then I have several real spectrums. As for the design of the thing, I like its nod to the original design, personally I think it's a shame it's a console, but I can see what they're trying to do. It's purely for the nostalgic that can't be bothered with cables, busted keyboard membranes, tape loading errors, terrible tv pictures (unless they do the composite mod) etc etc. On that level and with Sir Uncle Clive's backing I think they may have some success with it, and I wish them well.
What I would like to see is Sir Clive start to seriously look at Computers again. What could he come up with now, I wonder?
Psss, quick, p13z or Winston go back and edit one of your posts to say that you'd like a member to pay all of the WOS running cost for ten years, and to celebrate the ten year funding, he/she would also buy member a beer :p
! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
What I would like to see is Sir Clive start to seriously look at Computers again. What could he come up with now, I wonder?
Ah but, computers are different now. Back then they were "state of the art" new technology (most people had never seen a computer, let alone had access to one). The market was open to new ideas and there was little in the was of having to conform to someone else's standards.
Now they are like cars, freezers and DVD players. Just another normal object that you can buy.
Companies won't touch anything that does not run Windows (or sometimes Linux or Apple OS systems).
At home for games there are games consoles. For anything else there are PC's, laptops and pads etc.
Apart from games, at home I suspect most "computing" is browsing the web or shopping.
The bare bones computer for learning has been done (Raspberry Pi).
Apart from retro computing, what do you think he could come up with that he could get people to buy in large numbers?
! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
Comments
Old CRT monitor (free, or next to nothing from car boot)
Emulator (free version)
Or
ZX Spectrum from car boot
Old CRT telly (free, or next to nothing from car boot)
Replacement membrane from SellMyRetro/RWAP
Job done :-P play away :-D
But then, WoS members are not the market that the Vega is aimed at... (funny, I'm sure I have heard this somewhere before...):lol:
Mark
Repair Guides. Spanish Hardware site.
WoS - can't download? Info here...
former Meulie Spectrum Archive but no longer available :-(
Spectranet: the TNFS directory thread
! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
I'm saying that an Ouya with Unreal Speccy Portable installed will put a Spectrum on your TV just like the Vega, but it has the advantage that you can plug in a keyboard and a joystick.
Not to mention that Ouyas are available right now, and will cost you around half the price of the Vega if you buy a used one.
Well that's great but it's not the plug and play product that VEGA is (meant to be). The 1000 games built in are key. This is not made for people who will hunt down tap files.
Obviously the VEGA should be (and probably will eventually be) much cheaper than the current ?100 or ?150(!) price points.
The Ouya is plug and play in the sense that no computer knowledge is required to use it, but I do concede that (last time I checked) there were no Spectrum emulators in the Oya store.
This may change, but if it doesn't, sideloading is trivial and well within the capabilities of most users.
As to not hunting down tap files, I have two rebuttals; firstly, I can think of at least one Android-based emulator that directly accesses the WOS archive (Marvin).
I do seek out tap files, so I haven't taken the trouble to see if other emulators do the same.
Either way, the answer is an Android app for existing devices, not a standalone device.
My second rebuttal is that the Vega is designed specifically to support those who wish to add their own tap files by providing support for an sd card.
It also looks as though the Vega doesn't support TZX files, which is also a major drawback.
Then again I wrote off the Ouya as waste of time ages ago so perhaps I'm a bit prejudiced.
When I last looked at the comments left on the Indiegogo page, what struck me was the amount of people who couldn't wait to play their old Speccy games again- the implication being that the last time they played them was on a real Spectrum, decades ago.
It's perfectly plausible that plenty of non-technical people don't know that emulators exist- nor would they even consider that such a thing might exist.
This is a valid point. I guess the target audience is the more casual gamer.
While I agree with you about the Ouya when used as it was envisioned, it's a great machine for people who like to use emulators.
It's like a more modern version of a modded original xbox.
1) An analogue thumbstick. Yes, the Spectrum was never analogue, so the thumbstick would have to function purely digitally, but so what? A thumbstick is much easier to use for games like Atic Atac and Commando than a D-pad is. They should still have kept the D-Pad too, to give the user a choice of what to use.
2) The D-Pad should be one physical cross shape rather than four separate buttons, as it's easier to slide your thumb from one direction to another this way.
3) Where are the shoulder buttons? Every gamepad should have two of these, as (a) they are convenient to use, and (b) you can use either of both as toggle buttons, so that when, say, you hold down the left shoulder button, then the buttons on the face of the joypad do different functions, which effectively gives you more buttons, sort of.
4) Will the Vega joypad be comfortable to hold for long periods of time?
I use FuseX on the original XBox, and it's brilliant*, especially since the XBox's joypad is so good. Of course you lose the versatility of having a keyboard (though FuseX does have an on-screen keyboard), but the joypad is well designed, with lots of buttons, and the emulator uses it well.
* Sadly there's no ULA+ on FuseX, as the emulator was never updated, but the last version (v0.6) does everything else you could want, except make RZX files (you can view them, though).
That's why I said previously that it's great for the Spectrum online community. They'll find their favourite game isn't among the 1000 included, or they'll need instructions, so they'll go to a site like WOS and find a world of which they were previously unaware.
Even if the games are in folders according to their first letter, so you don't have to scroll past all of the games beginning with A to G, when you want to get to Head Over Heels, for example, then this is still off-putting to a degree.
Ideally, there should be a good front-end for the game loader, say each game would have an in-game screenshot*, so that when you highlight a game, you can see what it looks like during gameplay, even if you don't load the game. And the game type would be displayed on screen along with other details and an option to read the game's manual. I still use SGD (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/sgd.html) on the PC, and it's brilliant as a game loader;
Also, it would be great if the Vega would put the games in folders like:
/Platform games/Single Screen/Manic Miner.tap
/Platform games/Scrolling/CJ's Elephant Antics.tap
/Platform games/Isometric 3D/Head Over Heels.tap
so you can try games of any genre you feel like, though of course so many Spectrum games are difficult to characterise or fit into one genre definition.
* Well, ideally there'd be a video of each game, but that's probably asking too much of both the people involved with the Vega, and the capacity of the SD cards, so a screenshot for every game would be great.
I doubt it would cost much more.
You'd lose the handheld ability, but it would be a much more realistic nostalgia trip for the general consumer, as well as giving the user all of the functionality of the original machine.
This would have been impractical for other plug 'n play remakes such as the C64, but the Spectrum was tiny to begin with.
Judging by the size of the Atari 2600 remakes, a larger plastic case would not be cost-prohibitive to produce for this class of product, and membrane keyboards are dirt cheap (which is why Sinclair used them in the first place).
Elite had the right idea with their ill-fated keyboard, and Vega has the right idea with the 'Spectrum on a chip' concept.
If only somebody would put the two together.
Imagine how a device that looks, feels, and functions just like the original machine (but with 1000 games built in) would sell.
It's a popular option around here, but on the other hand physical keyboards seem to be poison to the average consumer these days.
Perhaps more people will gravitate towards the small size and apparent simplicity of the Vega VS an exact replica of the real thing. It's possible that the retro styling of the controller will supply sufficient nostalgic feelings for most punters.
You're probably right about keyboards being poison in most cases, but just picture the scene:
Average Joe, who had fun with his Speccy when he was a kid, but hasn't really thought about it for the last couple of decades (ie the target demographic) walks past a store window (perhaps WH Smiths or Dixons?) and glances at something that looks familiar...
He does a double take. Is that a ZX Spectrum?!
Would Joe have the same attention-grabbing rush of recognition and nostalgia if he glanced at the Vega?
I doubt he'd even recognize it unless he happened to look closely at it.
I see your point. At the same time, the Vega has managed to whip up an online buzz without being an exact replica; it seems to look familiar enough to get people excited.
In any case, I reckon it's likely that Elite Systems have the exclusive licence to make a replica ZX Spectrum. They have a very bad reputation around here, but it seems that they still expect their product to see the light of day.
http://bluetoothzxspectrum.elite-systems.co.uk/zxspectrum-purchase.php
I think that the Vega team are probably either prevented from making a replica Spectrum, or they actively decided to offer a distinct rival product instead.
I'm guessing just grew from the speccy-in-a-joystick concept. There was never any intention to implement a proper keyboard.
I've never noticed people on this forum questioning anyone's purchase of any old Sinclair Spectrum models, which often cost more, and have many arbitrary disadvantages compared to random forum suggestions of emulator boxes or clones.
I have old Spectrums. I have old PCs with emulators. I have more Raspberry PI than is healthy for one person to own, a couple of which run emulators. I ordered a Vega, because it is something I want. The market for the Vega is people who want a Vega, and given the success of the Indiegogo campaign, it looks like they got it pretty right.
The release of the Vega will not stop anyone from emulating, cloning or modifying Spectrums in the way that they want. If the Vega is not what you want, then don't get one, get what you do want.
;-)
I don't want a real speccy but I'd love something the exact shape of a real one with tons of stuff packed in and no wires.
That sounds good. I'd buy one of those, too.
I'm not trying to dictate the terms of the discussion, nobody listens to me anyway.
I just think it would be more beneficial for the community if discussion about the Vega could embrace the fantastic opportunity that it provides as a new, more mainstream, target machine to be supported. And people with other / better ideas did something about them, rather than expressing them as shortcomings of someone else's successful project.
I think it's because many of us have been waiting a long time for a (mass produced) product like this, and we are disappointed with the uneccessary shortcomings which have been designed into it.
The Spectrum requires a keyboard to be usable.
This sets it apart from other plug 'n play TV games.
Historically, this is because the original Spectrum did not come with built-in joystick ports like other machines. Lack of joystick ports meant that games programmers had to provide menu systems to select all the different kinds of inputs that the player might want to use.
Either they chose keys, or gave an option to define keys.
They had to offer a choice of joystick interfaces.
Nothing was standardized.
For example, if I want to play a game of Saboteur, I must do the following:
Press 'J' to select Kempston
Press 'S' to start a game
Press '1' to select 'extremely easy' (I'm not very good...)
I must do this quickly, because if I take too long scrolling around on a virtual keyboard, the game gets tired of waiting and I have to start over.
Not so on the TV game versions of the Atari 2600 (console) or the C64 (standard joystick ports like a console, and selection of games limited to what will work with them).
A plug 'n play Spectrum presents a unique problem that can only be solved comfortably with a keyboard (or support for one).
sna/z80/tap are easy to support because they can be loaded and run instantly (so long as the .tap file is a ROM loader) and TZX, unless it only uses $10 blocks is almost impossible to flashload for all possible combinations of blocks. It's just too complex.
People that buy this want an instant-on, instant-load machine, which snapshots/tap files can provide. There's a good reason most of the mass-storage options for the Spectrum don't support TZX files.
D.
It is a good point.
I have been taking it for granted that there will be the option of key config / start sequence files, that will all but eliminate problems. If not, or for games that are still an issue, there will soon be hacks of them for Vega, in the same way there are for 128k / Amstrad / TRDos / Pentagon. I do admit that it is a bit of a lost cause for classic text adventures.
Given the demand shown for this product by how quickly it was crowdfunded, the interest shown in a 'full' Speccy keyboard version and Chris demonstrating over many years and occasional beers that he really does know what he is doing, I would be pretty surprised if an add-on keyboard, or the Vega+ model with keyboard is an idea they have dismissed.
It only has 7 keys. You use the D-Pad to get to the key you want, then select the letter you need from the grid of 4 using the corresponding button on the controller.
To edit text, you use the D-Pad to enter the text field, and use one of the buttons to delete.
Using this system, it only takes a maximum of 4 controller actions to select a letter, as opposed to a maximum of about 11 on a traditional onscreen keyboard.
Bit crap? Maybe. Just an idea!
This is true. I've had to tweak emulator settings to get TZX files to load before, so I can see why they would not want to support them on a device intended to 'just work'.
I truly hope they do implement a keyboard somehow, even of it is just 'secret' solder pads for PS/2 or something.
I know I have been sounding rather negative about the Vega, but it's not because I don't want it to be a runaway success, quite the opposite.
I'm being harsh because I really really want this to work.
Emulators are great, but the idea of a new Sinclair Spectrum for the masses is very exciting, and I'd hate to see it fail for some trivial reason.
I know the funding goal has already been met, but I'm talking about long term, inexpensive mass availability, just like the original.
I think it is a bit expensive at the moment. I'd probably get one at ?25, other than that, probably not, but then I have several real spectrums. As for the design of the thing, I like its nod to the original design, personally I think it's a shame it's a console, but I can see what they're trying to do. It's purely for the nostalgic that can't be bothered with cables, busted keyboard membranes, tape loading errors, terrible tv pictures (unless they do the composite mod) etc etc. On that level and with Sir Uncle Clive's backing I think they may have some success with it, and I wish them well.
What I would like to see is Sir Clive start to seriously look at Computers again. What could he come up with now, I wonder?
Psss, quick, p13z or Winston go back and edit one of your posts to say that you'd like a member to pay all of the WOS running cost for ten years, and to celebrate the ten year funding, he/she would also buy member a beer :p
Mark
Repair Guides. Spanish Hardware site.
WoS - can't download? Info here...
former Meulie Spectrum Archive but no longer available :-(
Spectranet: the TNFS directory thread
! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
Now they are like cars, freezers and DVD players. Just another normal object that you can buy.
Companies won't touch anything that does not run Windows (or sometimes Linux or Apple OS systems).
At home for games there are games consoles. For anything else there are PC's, laptops and pads etc.
Apart from games, at home I suspect most "computing" is browsing the web or shopping.
The bare bones computer for learning has been done (Raspberry Pi).
Apart from retro computing, what do you think he could come up with that he could get people to buy in large numbers?
I can't think of anything. Can you?
Mark
Repair Guides. Spanish Hardware site.
WoS - can't download? Info here...
former Meulie Spectrum Archive but no longer available :-(
Spectranet: the TNFS directory thread
! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)