RE: Sam Revival issue 18 out now...

[warren]

Just got mine through the door today as well! Looks fantastic! I'm amazed
how crammed with stuff the disc is as well.

Nice to see the Rebelstar screens in colour, though I would say that...
;-) It's really fun doing the Sam graphics for a game I used to play a lot
back on the spectrum.

Back on the mag, I think it's amazing how much there is, still to fill all
that space, and it's all genuinely interesting and new! Nice work! :-)

> Arrived this morning, Another fine issue, Rebelstar screenies are looking
> great.  Hat off to Simon Owen, don't know where you find the time :)
>
> Anyone on the list not getting SR, your missing out, what more can you ask
> for, a top mag, in colour with a coverdisk, get to see lots of things that
> otherwise you would miss.
>
> Nice on Colin :)
>
> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> Behalf Of Colin Piggot
> Sent: 30 May 2007 11:00
> To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
> Subject: Sam Revival issue 18 out now...
>
> Issue 18 of Sam Revival is now out, and it's a jam packed issue!
>
> Let's kick off with what's on the disk. First up are the three brand new
> emulators from Simon Owen which are truly stunning! He's been busy and has
> completed his Galaksija and Orao emulators which were announced in the
> previous issue. The Galaksija is a Z80 based computer from Yugoslavia,
> while
> the Orao is a 6502 based Croation system so that's using Simon's latest
> 6502
> CPU emulator core. Both are now fully emulated on the Sam and there's a
> pile
> of games on the disk for each system. To finish off his hat trick Simon
> has
> also released an Apple 1 emulator too!
>
> It doesn't stop there! Also on the coverdisk is the latest version of
> Chris
> Pile's Sam Defender, and also Captain Comic - a classic platformer by Lars
> Perrson which was first released back in 1994 and was a remake of a
> freeware
> PC game. Wrapping up the coverdisk there's also a demo I've coded up to
> copy
> an old school effect from the Amiga and includes the source code.
>
> Onto the paper side. 40 pages jam packed with news and articles. The
> Developer Diary is bursting at the seams with information from Simon about
> all three of his new emulators, and there's also the first screenshots of
> ISAAC - the port of Rebelstar that's being developed by Stuart Brady and
> Warren Lee.
>
> This issue also sees the start of a new programming column. I've looking
> at
> recreating some demo effects from the Amiga on the Sam, and tackle a two
> layer tile based scroller.The issue wraps up with the compulsory
> sprinkling
> of Sam Snippets with bits of trivia from the Sam world. Hope you enjoy the
> issue!
>
> This issue of Sam Revival costs £3.99 for the UK, or £4.79 for EU
> including
> Airmail postage. You can also subscribe for three issues at a discounted
> price of £10.99 (UK) or £13.49 (EU) and save yourself some pennies!
>
> It's easy to order - for PayPal payments (or Credit/Debit card through the
> PayPal checkout if you dont have a PayPal account) just click on the Buy
> Now
> buttons on the website. Or for cheque and postal orders email me directly
> and i'll be happy to pass on my postal details.
>
> Subscribers copies went out in the post earlier this morning, so should be
> with you in a day or two.
>
> All the best,
>
> Colin
> =
> Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe
> 1995-2007 - Celebrating 12 Years of developing for the Sam Coupe
> Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> APB Computer Services Ltd. Registered Address: 3 Springfield, Trevadlock,
> Congdons Shop, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 7PW.  Registration Number:
> 4942193.  V.A.T. No: 826 0005 70
>
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>

GamesMaster Manual

[warren]

Hey all! Been a long time since I did anything for SAM, but I've been  
planning to have a go at creating something new over the next few  
months... Having moved house a few times in the last few years, I  
haven't a clue where my GamesMaster manual is (It's at the bottom of a  
miscellaneous box somewhere!), so I was wondering if there was a PDF  
of the manual out there somewhere?


Likewise, but less important (Since I'll be using Photoshop and  
converting), is if there is one for SamPaint? Would still be handy for  
doing tweaks and alterations.


Anyways, it's always good to get back into SAM related fun! ;-) Hope  
everyone's doing well!


Warren Lee

RE: GamesMaster Manual

[warren]

Thanks Nev! That's superb! :-D Much appreciated! If/When I find my  
original manual, I was going to offer to scan it if there wasn't a PDF  
by then, but this means I can get going on something I have planned  
now! ;-)


Andy, there were a number of smaller-scale commercial games written  
with GamesMaster. It was pretty versatile. There was also my own  
Invasion II on issue 10 of SAM Revival, if you've played it. :-)  
(Cheap plug lol!)


Warren

Quoting Andrew Park :


I've seen a few demos made with games master and it seems ok, I also think
it's a good medium to do simple quick games i may have a look into using it
myself now my spare time is returning. Has anyone written any games with
games master that we can all look at?

Andy

-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On
Behalf Of nev young
Sent: 22 July 2010 17:16
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: GamesMaster Manual

On 20/07/10 11:29, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Hey all! Been a long time since I did anything for SAM, but I've been
planning to have a go at creating something new over the next few
months... Having moved house a few times in the last few years, I
haven't a clue where my GamesMaster manual is (It's at the bottom of a
miscellaneous box somewhere!), so I was wondering if there was a PDF of
the manual out there somewhere?


There is now.

http://nevilley.no-ip.org/nfy53/sam/Games_Master.pdf

It's 74MB so I hope my web server can cope with it.

Hope it's useful.

--
nev

Re: GamesMaster Manual

[warren]

Either way, it's great to be able to have a go at GamesMaster again,  
and know what's what lol! Thanks! I can get started on my new Top  
Secret project now... ;-) (Okay, it's nothing fancy!) But hopefully  
it'll be fun. :-)


Quoting nev young :


The bad news is I've found a "proper" games master manual and scanned
that in now.

(see my reply to Frode for location)

nev


On 23/07/10 08:18, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Thanks Nev! That's superb! :-D Much appreciated! If/When I find my
original manual, I was going to offer to scan it if there wasn't a PDF
by then, but this means I can get going on something I have planned now!
;-)

RE: Dizzy (was: Porting spectrum games...)

[warren]

Hey all just wanted to say, it's really great to see all the work  
going into a possible Dizzy game for Sam. Used to love playing them,  
so can't wait! On another note, I know there's people handling the  
graphics and so forth, but if there's an overflow at some point, and  
you need someone to knock out a few extra graphics, just let me know  
if I can help. :-)


Looking forward to seeing the fantastic results!

Quoting Stefan Drissen :


I am not questioning implementing a PNG map in general - it would look
great, it's just that the Dizzy map provided makes no sense since it is
originally tile based.

-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On
Behalf Of Thomas Harte
Sent: maandag 26 juli 2010 11:19
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Dizzy (was: Porting spectrum games...)

The gamble is that anything cartoony compresses better than anything
photographic, that PNG is work subsequent to the Sam's heyday,
explaining why we're able to be much more bullish about compression
rates and that if the map stops fitting we can just break it into
multiload. It may not work, but I think it's worth investigating. That
the PC map fits into 250k and the Sam map will have half the bit
depth, less than 80% of the pixels and the memory target is 50% larger
than that is encouraging.

I'm definitely pushing the idea as a way to avoid the look of tiles. I
think that look instantly dates a game.


On 7/26/10, Stefan Drissen  wrote:

Ummm... whats the point in using a png map if the png is based on tiles?!?

I

thought the idea for using png was to allow some really nice authentic
graphics to be used that do not look tiley - which the Dizzy map obviously
does. The png idea could be very good for something NOT tile based (SCUMM
anyone?)

I think the repeating tiles are what are allowing these maps to compress

so

well.


Stefan

-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On
Behalf Of Frode Tennebø
Sent: maandag 26 juli 2010 08:37
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Porting spectrum games...

On Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:54:41 +0200, Thomas Harte
 wrote:


PNG wasn't a leg pull, though I've been unable to find the Amiga map
for Fantasy World Dizzy. However, the entire PC map (256 colour,
individual screens slightly too large) is 250 kb as a PNG. So it'd be
possible.


Would this one do:
http://hol.abime.net/pic_full/gamemap/0501-0600/502_gamemap1.png

It would take some stiching to make it 100% and fit 256 pixels wide.


Animated elements are going to need to be repainted frame by
frame so are logically separate from the background anyway.


My thought was that animated elements could be tiles in the same way as
static tiles to save any special handling of those for each screen.
However, I guess it would be rather straight forward to generalise
animations as another layer instead?

-Frode
--
^ Frode Tennebø | email: fr...@tennebo.com | fr...@irc ^
|  with Standard.Disclaimer; use Standard.Disclaimer;  |

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20:36:00

Re: Dizzy (was:Porting spectrum games...)

[warren]

Just been following things quietly (Since I'm not a programming genius  
lol!) but apart from Dizzy, think of the graphical games SAM could do  
with that many non-tiled full screens? As has been said, being able to  
use photoshop and then transfer things over, makes it all the better  
for creating some very cool stuff. :-) (Just doing the same myself  
using photoshop for a new project at the moment, but still converting  
to normal SAM files from bitmaps)


Quoting the_wub ! :


It looks better and it means that the off-the-shelf tools for creating
screens are substantially more advanced, being things like Photoshop,
and the skills for creating them are much more widespread. If people
are willing to help, they just need to use whatever they normally use.


It's a very exciting prospect!

GamesMaster question

[warren]

Hey all! Quick query... Does anyone know how to show a non-masked  
sprite over the top of masked gaming sprites in GamesMaster?


What I'm thinking, is items like stationary rectangular pillars and  
the like, that a player can pass behind, without the slowdown of  
masked sprites. Obviously background images of that type can be placed  
on in GamesMaster speedily and easily, but they can only be behind  
masked sprites.


Perhaps this is my lack of knowledge, but there doesn't seem to be any  
logical reason they couldn't also be put on AFTER masked sprite  
placement, with similarly negligible speed consequences? If so, any  
ideas how to do that in GamesMaster?


Thanks for any help or suggestions! ;-)

Warren

GamesMaster

[warren]

Hey all... Hope I've got this right, so it comes through as a new  
topic, and not in the middle of the Dizzy conversation as before. ;-)


Anyways... I'm messing around doing something new in GamesMaster, and  
I have a strange problem. My copy of the manual (Finally found it!)  
states simply that you can only use the 1st frame of a sprite for a  
blockfill. Gamesmaster itself (V 1.56) seems to verify this, as it  
won't accept a 3rd bit of info.


e.g. BFILL blocknum,spritenum

However, the copy of the manual I downloaded clearly states:

BFILL block, spr, frame
FILLS a specified block (in the current set) with a specified frame of  
a specified sprite, repeated or truncated as necessary to cover the  
area. If the sprite has a mask, the pattern will be masked and may  
contain holes or be translucent. Only the background is modified - no  
sprites are made active. For example, to fill the entire game area  
(block 1) with copies of sprite 2's third frame, use:

BFILL 1,2,3
This is useful both for creating overall backgrounds using suitable  
patterns (see e.g. "trellis.s" and "grass.s" sprite files) and for  
making obstacles and static platforms visible.


So my question is, which is right? Is it because I'm using an older  
version of GamesMaster? Or was the OCRed manual an earlier version  
that was later amended, as that function was never fully implemented?


On another note, if anyone knows any handy tips or tricks they've used  
or seen referenced for GamesMaster, let me know! It's all useful lol!  
;-)


Thanks All!

Warren

Re: Introduction and E-Tracker Query

[warren]

'fraid I can't help, as my knowledge isn't much better. ;-) Except  
that I have read quite a bit about pro-tracker being faster/better.


Of course, the other option is also to make it compatible with the  
Quazar Surround module, which would be a cool addition. :-)


It's good to hear of another SAM user working on a new game! Keep  
going! I'm sure I can speak for everyone, in looking forward to the  
results. :-D


Quoting Andrew Gillen :


Hi all,

I just subbed today but have been periodically delving into the  
archives of this mailing list for the past six months or so when  
looking for tips and ticks for programming my SAM. I've had the  
machine for about ten years or so having snapped a mint unit off  
ebay, but it's taken this long to have a real play with it beyond  
firing up Manic Miner! right now I'm in the process of programming a  
platform game for the SAM which has been coming along quite nicely  
since September of last year when on the flight home from my  
honeymoon in the States I decided to have a crack at it - some of  
you may have seen a couple of posts from me to the WOS forum which  
got me off to a good start but I thought this might be a better  
place to come for advice?


Anyway, I have one question right now regarding the E-Tracker  
compiler - took me some time to track down a copy from the web - but  
it seems to seriously reduce the speed at which a module is playing.  
Is this by design, or could there be some piece of magic I am  
missing? I snagged it off the Velesoft web page  
(http://velesoft.speccy.cz/saa1099-cz.htm). I assumed it was my code  
that might be at fault, but the module when played in the windows  
SAA application sounds just as slow as it does when played from  
interrupt in my program. The pre-compiled module plays at the  
correct speed inside the main e-tracker.


I intend to take a look at pro-tracker because I believe this offers  
efficiency advantages, but in the meantime I was hoping to use  
e-tracker so any advice would be gratefully appreciated.



Cheers!

Andrew

Re: SAM Revival 24?

[warren]

I think Colin's probably been bogged down with that dreaded virus many  
of us suffer with... WORK!! lol! ;-) I'm sure we'll see it soon  
enough. He's also got a few other things up his sleeve by the sounds  
of it, so we'll probably go from zero to ninety with cool SAM stuff  
once things get moving again. :-)


I'm trying to get back into my own new SAM game project at the  
moment... It's always a pain trying to work the time out, between what  
you HAVE to do, and what you really WANT to do. ;-)


Which reminds me... it's a while off before anything would need doing,  
but does anyone still dabble in writing SAM music? I've done something  
for my own games in the past, but obviously not as polished/skilled as  
others. So it'd be great if somewhere down the line, anyone was  
willing to work on a new game project? Full prominent credit, and all  
that, of course! :-)



Quoting Geoff Winkless :


On 9 March 2011 13:43, Wayne Weedon  wrote:

On 09/03/2011 00:21, Steve wrote:


Any news on SAM Revival 24.

.. out soon... 7th October 2010 ?


Gawd there is some life in the mailing list still!  I was about to delete it
because it was so dead.


It does feel a little like the Black Knight.

Come back here, you yellow **! I'll... bite yer legs off!

It's just a flesh wound!

Geoff

Re: SAM Revival 24?

[warren]

Thanks for the offer, David!! I'll have to take you up on that some  
time soon! ;-) I'm working in GamesMaster still, so I doubt I'll have  
in-game music, due to the speed issues, but I'll be after something  
for a main title, and perhaps an intro and finale, and a couple of  
short things for 'game over' moments, and such.


I'm also looking at having a number of cut-scenes, so might be after  
stuff for those too. :-) I'm hoping to get my first level or two  
semi-complete in the next couple of weeks, so if you want, I can send  
you something to check out.


I'm keeping the game generally under wraps for the moment, just for  
the fun 'anticipation' factor lol! And so that it can be  
mentioned/revealed first in SAM Revival (It'll be issue 25, as I know  
that despite the delays, Colin has a lot of 24 pretty much wrapped up,  
I think). Even put up a teaser image a while back.  
http://twitpic.com/2ypl4f


I think we should all try and keep in touch here fairly regularly,  
with the progress on our games and such. Just to keep the momentum  
going, and get them finished. There's too many 'almost' great games  
out there for the SAM, that never quite got finished. Let's make sure  
we do! :-D


Quoting David Sanders :


I think I may be the only regular E-Tracker user left on the planet,
so I'd be happy to help. Colin usually nicks all the new stuff I
write.


Cheers

David


On 10 March 2011 11:50,   wrote:

I think Colin's probably been bogged down with that dreaded virus many of us
suffer with... WORK!! lol! ;-) I'm sure we'll see it soon enough. He's also
got a few other things up his sleeve by the sounds of it, so we'll probably
go from zero to ninety with cool SAM stuff once things get moving again. :-)

I'm trying to get back into my own new SAM game project at the moment...
It's always a pain trying to work the time out, between what you HAVE to do,
and what you really WANT to do. ;-)

Which reminds me... it's a while off before anything would need doing, but
does anyone still dabble in writing SAM music? I've done something for my
own games in the past, but obviously not as polished/skilled as others. So
it'd be great if somewhere down the line, anyone was willing to work on a
new game project? Full prominent credit, and all that, of course! :-)


Quoting Geoff Winkless :


On 9 March 2011 13:43, Wayne Weedon  wrote:


On 09/03/2011 00:21, Steve wrote:


Any news on SAM Revival 24.

.. out soon... 7th October 2010 ?


Gawd there is some life in the mailing list still!  I was about to delete
it
because it was so dead.


It does feel a little like the Black Knight.

Come back here, you yellow **! I'll... bite yer legs off!

It's just a flesh wound!

Geoff

Re: SAM Revival 24?

[warren]

Well, that's a big part of it, work! SAM stuff doesn't pay the bills  
... unless someone wants to offer me a full time wage to work on SAM  
stuff ;)


If I win the lottery tonight... :-D

I've just a couple pages to finish writing for 24 and it'll be out.  
Coming up in the issue...


* The Witching Hour by John Vincent on the coverdisk, with some  
stunning artwork for the magazine cover by John.

* News pages
* What Happened to... Sandman's Shadow
* Developer Diary - with Simon Owen and Rob Evans
And a lot of input from readers with:
* Letters pages (7 pages!)
* Comments section (5 pages!)


Looking forward to all of it, especially The Witching Hour, which I  
meant to get years ago but never did, and the article on Sandman's  
Shadow. Looks fascinating to see what happened to it.



And about 60% of issue 25 wrapped up too so far parts include:

* SAM modifications (couple articles from people modding their SAMs)
* Developer Diary (couple entries from programmers)
* Letters pages
* Comments Section


Hoorah!! :-D I really need to get more progress made on my game... lol!

RE: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

I echo that. Thanks for the info. I bought one probably a good month  
or more ago, but I just haven't had the chance to test it yet. I think  
Colin had tried one and found it worked okay after a quick test, so  
I'm hoping mine will work too.


Shame to hear that you've had that problem! I'll let everyone know how  
mine goes, when I try it.


Warren

Quoting Steve :


Hi,

I'm sorry to hear that you have some problems with them.

I've held back on getting two, hoping to hear how good they are.

I'm keep on using Colin's PC Keyboard interface
http://www.samcoupe.com/hardkey.htm

It looks like I might be getting another PC interface for my second SAM.


Thanks for letting us know about your experience.

Steve(spt)




-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On
Behalf Of ellvis
Sent: 22 March 2011 18:55
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: keyboard membrane replacement

Hi all,

I just wanted to ask if anyone have bought new membrane for Sam from Rwap.
If yes, what is your experience?

I bought two of them. But none is working properly. I have to press keys
hard and few times to get them work. Keys "F" and "J" doesn't work at all. I
took care there are not any "waves" as the holes for plastic pins are tight,
I tried to assemble it few times - always did it very carefully. But the
results are still the same.

I will try ore or two times more, but right now I am pretty dissapointed by
it's quality.

e.

--
ellvis/ZeroTeam

ell...@zeroteam.sk
http://zeroteam.sk

ZX Spectrum support since 1996

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

Ouch! That's a real shame! Thanks for the heads-up Colin! I was  
finally going to test mine this weekend, but was in two minds due to  
the extra stress it would put on the old one again... makes you wonder  
if the guy making 'em even tested one on a SAM, or just saw an extra  
market, got the dimensions, & knocked them together without any real  
checking...


Oh well! Live and learn!

Quoting Colin Piggot :


ellvis wrote:

I just wanted to ask if anyone have bought new membrane for Sam from
Rwap. If yes, what is your experience?

I bought two of them. But none is working properly. I have to press
keys hard and few times to get them work. Keys "F" and "J" doesn't work
at all. I took care there are not any "waves" as the holes for plastic
pins are tight, I tried to assemble it few times - always did it very
carefully. But the results are still the same.

I will try ore or two times more, but right now I am pretty
dissapointed by it's quality.


After seeing ellvis's post, I've squeezed in the time this evening  
to try the membrane that I had bought from Rwap...


I tested it on two SAMs and in two keyboard assemblies... to sum it  
up, to my dissapointment it's next to useless. Pressing every key on  
the keyboard only a couple responded... and even those keys didn't  
always respond.


Time to try and get my money back

Colin
=
Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupé
1995-2011 - Celebrating 17 Years of developing for the SAM Coupé
Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

No worries! ;-) I'd have probably seen them on ebay anyway, and tried  
one, given the problems I've had in the past with my membrane.


Pity the guy making them, didn't produce a test one first and at least  
contact somebody with a SAM to try it.


Quoting Colin Piggot :


Warren wrote:
Ouch! That's a real shame! Thanks for the heads-up Colin! I was   
finally going to test mine this weekend, but was in two minds due  
to  the extra stress it would put on the old one again... makes you  
wonder  if the guy making 'em even tested one on a SAM, or just saw  
an extra  market, got the dimensions, & knocked them together  
without any real  checking...


Oh well! Live and learn!


Sorry to have mentioned them to you! :(

From what I can see in an email I received a while after I got the  
membrane and let you know about them, is that Rwap doesn't own a  
SAM


Colin
=
Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupé
1995-2011 - Celebrating 17 Years of developing for the SAM Coupé
Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/

Floppy Disks

[warren]

Just as a side issue, with regards to Sim Coupe... (sorry for the  
quick change of topic!)


This is probably a daft question, as I think I've read about the issue  
elsewhere, so forgive me... but is there no way to read/write to  
external USB floppy drives? Just thinking of my own case, and others  
are probably similar, where I use my laptop 99.9% of the time these  
days (and of course modern laptops don't have a built-in floppy drive.


Not to mention, there are increasingly fewer desktop systems that  
include floppy drives these days anyway, so even people using desktops  
are increasingly likely to find it easier using external plug-in drives.


Is it a complete impossibility? ;-)

Quoting Simon Owen :



On 4 Apr 2011, at 16:02, Simon Cooke wrote:

If SimCoupe uses rdtsc without setting the CPU thread affinity,  
there are issues on some systems where it loses track when the  
thread is scheduled onto another CPU core. Usually a bios update  
can fix this, or switching to use QueryPerformanceCounter.


It did use QPC, but only for sub-system profiling within the  
emulator.  That was becoming increasingly meaningless with  
multi-core systems, so I stripped it out a couple of months back!   
Knowing the running speed and the framerate should be more than  
enough for most users.


I remember taking special care of the issue in my floppy driver,  
where even kernel QPC could use up using different timestamps on  
some systems.  There were fix utilities available to forcibly sync  
them, and I believe modern systems should use more reliable time  
sources.  Nasty stuff though!


Si

Re: Floppy Disks

[warren]

Thanks for the fast reply! :-)

I suppose in theory, an internal-type drive in an enclosure would be  
plausible, but by the time you get to that, and the rarity probably of  
even enclosures for something like that and the added drivers, it  
defeats the purpose. Oh well... Worth finding out! ;-)


On an alternate route, I wonder if Colin could create a small PC  
program that would allow transferral of .dsk files to the allocated  
slots on a Trinity formatted SD card? Though again, I have no idea how  
plausible, as it would depend on the way the Trinity formats and  
stores things on the SD card.


Obviously it wouldn't make sense to have Sim Coupe emulate the  
Trinity, as the point is to have a device that people want to buy  
because it allows their SAM to do something they can't possibly  
emulate. But a .dsk transfer utility to and maybe from the Trinity SD  
cards might be useful? Just thinking out loud! ;-)


Then again, a completely nutty route... Since the Trinity will very  
possibly have FTP at some point, file transfer could be done in a  
round about way, by uploading or downloading files lol! So in theory,  
if you don't have a handy built-in floppy drive, you could develop in  
Sim Coupe, upload to your website, and then download to the Trinity.  
Sorry Colin, my ponderings are jumping all over the place lol! ;-)


Quoting Leszek Chmielewski :


The USB Floppys have a extremly cut down controller which is missing ability
for low level access. So the answer is no. My Acer TM312T has a external
parallel port Disc drive, and it can read and write Coupé Discs, only
because the BIOS. It would be possible to make a USB Floppy which can use
SAM discs, but not in a standard way. And it would also need new drivers.

2011/4/5 


Just as a side issue, with regards to Sim Coupe... (sorry for the quick
change of topic!)

This is probably a daft question, as I think I've read about the issue
elsewhere, so forgive me... but is there no way to read/write to external
USB floppy drives? Just thinking of my own case, and others are probably
similar, where I use my laptop 99.9% of the time these days (and of course
modern laptops don't have a built-in floppy drive.

Not to mention, there are increasingly fewer desktop systems that include
floppy drives these days anyway, so even people using desktops are
increasingly likely to find it easier using external plug-in drives.

Is it a complete impossibility? ;-)

Quoting Simon Owen :



On 4 Apr 2011, at 16:02, Simon Cooke wrote:

 If SimCoupe uses rdtsc without setting the CPU thread affinity, there are

issues on some systems where it loses track when the thread is scheduled
onto another CPU core. Usually a bios update can fix this, or switching to
use QueryPerformanceCounter.



It did use QPC, but only for sub-system profiling within the emulator.
 That was becoming increasingly meaningless with multi-core systems, so I
stripped it out a couple of months back!  Knowing the running speed and the
framerate should be more than enough for most users.

I remember taking special care of the issue in my floppy driver, where
even kernel QPC could use up using different timestamps on some systems

Re: Floppy Disks

[warren]

Thanks for that, Simon!

It certainly would be nice to be able to use the external floppy  
drives these days, since, as you said, the normal internal kind seem  
to be dying out. Though as you said, easier now with cards...


Just to show my ignorance... from what you're implying, can a Trinity  
SD card be read to and written to from Sim Coupe already then? I'd  
just automatically assumed it wouldn't be compatible immediately. :-D


Quoting Simon Owen :

This is becoming more of an issue, with Macs and newer desktops not  
having a motherboard floppy controller, and more widespread use of  
laptops...


Almost all USB floppy drives are usually limited to 720K (9-sector)  
and 1.44M (18-sector) formats.  They contain their own floppy  
controller chip, and the LBA to CHS mapping is done within the unit.  
 Unfortunately that means there's no way to access the 10th sector  
on regular SAM disks.  SimCoupe relies on being able to talk to the  
floppy controller directly, using my fdrawcmd.sys driver under  
Windows or the kernel fdrawcmd interface under Linux.


I have been thinking about support for USB floppy drives in  
SimCoupe, working within the 9-sector limitation of USB drives.  It  
would require disks to be prepared for access on a real machine (or  
using SAMdisk), so SimCoupe can recognise them as special, and to  
reserve the 10th sector on each track to prevent data being saved  
there.  On the SimCoupe side, the 10th sector in each directory  
track would be faked as holding the same reserved/hidden files.  The  
disk could then be used as normal on both SAM and SimCoupe sides,  
but with 702K rather than 780K available for data.


Nowadays it's probably easiest to use an Atom Lite interface on the  
SAM side and share a CF card between SAM and SimCoupe (or indeed a  
Trinity and SD card).  It gives a centralised store of all your  
work, and avoids the reliability issues with floppy disks – just be  
sure to back it up periodically in case you lose it!


Si


On 5 Apr 2011, at 12:19, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Just as a side issue, with regards to Sim Coupe... (sorry for the  
quick change of topic!)


This is probably a daft question, as I think I've read about the  
issue elsewhere, so forgive me... but is there no way to read/write  
to external USB floppy drives? Just thinking of my own case, and  
others are probably similar, where I use my laptop 99.9% of the  
time these days (and of course modern laptops don't have a built-in  
floppy drive.


Not to mention, there are increasingly fewer desktop systems that  
include floppy drives these days anyway, so even people using  
desktops are increasingly likely to find it easier using external  
plug-in drives.


Is it a complete impossibility? ;-)

Re: Floppy Disks

[warren]

That's great, thanks! I'll try that with my Trinity SD card later...  
The main thing I'm interested in, is being able to create stuff in Sim  
Coupe on my laptop, and just get it onto the real SAM for testing with  
ease. So if it's possible through the Atom emulation and/or SAMdisk,  
that'll do the job! When I get the chance to test it, I'll post back  
and let you know how it worked. :-)


Thanks for all the help!

Quoting Simon Owen :


Hi Warren,

The enclosure would still only work if the laptop motherboard had a  
regular floppy controller chip, and I'd be surprised if any have  
included one in the last 5 years.  The actual floppy drives  
themselves are pretty dumb, so it's all about what you've got them  
connected to.  There are some modern USB-based low-level floppy  
solutions, designed for software preservation, but they'd be  
overkill for most SAM use (and cost 50GBP+).


I'm a bit fuzzy on the details of the Trinity SD card format, but I  
think it's pretty much the same BDOS format used by the Atom  
interfaces (perhaps using Atom Lite byte ordering).  I remember  
there being an issue with some cards not using 512-byte blocks, so  
it might be best if Colin filled you in on compatibility.  Of  
course, you'll be working with the plain Atom emulation on the  
SimCoupe side, as it doesn't emulate the Trinity interface.


SAMdisk supports BDOS devices too, so you can list, get directory  
listings of, and copy to/from individual records.  If you already  
have a Trinity-format SD card, try a  samdisk list  from a command  
prompt, to see if the media is recognised.  If you're on Vista or  
Win7 you'll need to have launched the command prompt with  
Administrator rights too, to have permission to open the raw disk  
devices – the same applies to SimCoupe using them, for now.


Si

On 5 Apr 2011, at 13:11, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:


Thanks for the fast reply! :-)

I suppose in theory, an internal-type drive in an enclosure would  
be plausible, but by the time you get to that, and the rarity  
probably of even enclosures for something like that and the added  
drivers, it defeats the purpose. Oh well... Worth finding out! ;-)


On an alternate route, I wonder if Colin could create a small PC  
program that would allow transferral of .dsk files to the allocated  
slots on a Trinity formatted SD card? Though again, I have no idea  
how plausible, as it would depend on the way the Trinity formats  
and stores things on the SD card.


Obviously it wouldn't make sense to have Sim Coupe emulate the  
Trinity, as the point is to have a device that people want to buy  
because it allows their SAM to do something they can't possibly  
emulate. But a .dsk transfer utility to and maybe from the Trinity  
SD cards might be useful? Just thinking out loud! ;-)


Then again, a completely nutty route... Since the Trinity will very  
possibly have FTP at some point, file transfer could be done in a  
round about way, by uploading or downloading files lol! So in  
theory, if you don't have a handy built-in floppy drive, you could  
develop in Sim Coupe, upload to your website, and then download to  
the Trinity. Sorry Colin, my ponderings are jumping all over the  
place lol! ;-)


Quoting Leszek Chmielewski :

The USB Floppys have a extremly cut down controller which is  
missing ability

for low level access. So the answer is no. My Acer TM312T has a external
parallel port Disc drive, and it can read and write Coupé Discs, only
because the BIOS. It would be possible to make a USB Floppy which can use
SAM discs, but not in a standard way. And it would also need new drivers.

2011/4/5 


Just as a side issue, with regards to Sim Coupe... (sorry for the quick
change of topic!)

This is probably a daft question, as I think I've read about the issue
elsewhere, so forgive me... but is there no way to read/write to external
USB floppy drives? Just thinking of my own case, and others are probably
similar, where I use my laptop 99.9% of the time these days (and of course
modern laptops don't have a built-in floppy drive.

Not to mention, there are increasingly fewer desktop systems that include
floppy drives these days anyway, so even people using desktops are
increasingly likely to find it easier using external plug-in drives.

Is it a complete impossibility? ;-)

Quoting Simon Owen :



On 4 Apr 2011, at 16:02, Simon Cooke wrote:

If SimCoupe uses rdtsc without setting the CPU thread affinity, there are

issues on some systems where it loses track when the thread is scheduled
onto another CPU core. Usually a bios update can fix this, or  
switching to

use QueryPerformanceCounter.



It did use QPC, but only for sub-system profiling within the emulator

Re: Sam Coupe Testing

[warren]

Can't help you with most of those problems, but as someone else  
mentioned, that memory upgrade sounds like a custom job. The normal  
ones were extremely simple, unscrew the tiny panel underneath, slot  
the small upgrade in, and away you go! ;-)


Colin still sells the memory upgrades I think, so it could be worth  
detaching that unusual one and putting one of those in just for the  
best results (Who knows, it could be causing some of your other  
problems!)


As someone else mentioned, you should normally have 4 blue feet.  
Again, I think Colin sometimes has a few spare, so he may be able to  
help.


As for the mouse interface, the SAM used ST compatible mice with the  
MGT mouse interface. So if you can pick up or have an old one of  
those, it should work.


Warren

Quoting Rich Mellor :

I just need to pick your brains if you don't mind (and maybe your  
spares pile)...


I have replaced the TV lead from inside the power unit, and I get a  
picture on

my TV.

However, if the TV is tuned in properly - I get a black and white picture,
otherwise the start up screen is very blue.

Is there anything I can do - I had to remove the ROM and memory  
chips and reseat
them to get even an ounce of colour on screen, but it may just be  
the TV needs

tuning.

There were two SCART leads with the computer, but neither seem to  
give an output.


I seem to recall reading that the SCART is very different to normal.

Does anyone have spare SCART and cassette leads please?

Also - I have found a semi-circular rubber foot - I presume that the  
Sam should

have four of these in the holes on the side of the casing?

Does anyone have some spares?

My Sam has 512K memory, with piggy-backed RAM chips and a wire which  
runs across
and is connected to one of the pins on the internal expansion port  
(to the right

of the disk drive).

Is this normal - as it seems an awkward way of connecting it!

Finally, I have an MGT mouse interface for the Sam, and a Comms  
interface - what

is the best way of testing these?

ST Mice

[warren]

Here's something interesting...

An Atari ST mouse to usb mouse connector. In theory, this should also  
work with the SAM mouse interface, should it not? So we could use a  
modern usb mouse with the old MGT mouse interface?


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Atari-ST-USB-Mouse-Adapter-Brand-New-/120732726502?pt=UK_VideoGames_VideoGameAccessories_VideoGameAccessories_JN&hash=item1c1c3b34e6#ht_2467wt_1139

I suppose the other questions, which others will know better, are  
whether or not it would support a)optical mice and b)perhaps even  
wireless? Though I would presume there are other issues regarding  
power from the USB port, etc, for wireless and optical that might make  
it incompatible with the SAM. The item listing seems to imply that it  
would work with optical and wireless mice on the ST, so who knows?


An interesting possibility! :-)

Re: Sell a Sam Coupé?

[warren]

Hi!
2nd hand SAMs are usually very popular, so I doubt you'll have too  
many problems in that respect. :-) (Wish I had the spare cash myself!)


If you're still into retro computing and the SAM, and the RAM issue  
has frustrated you from getting back into it on the SAM, I think Colin  
still sells the 256k memory upgrades. Check here:

http://www.samcoupe.com/hardmem.htm

All the best!

Quoting Dicky Moore :


Hi all



Just wondering if there is a market out there for second hand Sam Coupés?



I have a Sam with 256K RAM. (Sadly swapped my 512k with a college friend
years ago so he could play a game I created with SCADS and we never swapped
it back.)



It has the PSU etc, and I’ve got a few bits of software with the manuals, I
think – e-tracker, SCADs (if my memory serves correctly).



Do you think there is interest in buying this? Will put it on eBay if so,
unless anyone on this list wants to make an offer?



Dicky



--

Dicky Moore | Bearcraft

07702 100 180

http://dickymoore.co.uk   |
http://bearcraftmusic.com 

RE: Sell a Sam Coupé?

[warren]

I have the same problem! (Well, no so much desk space, as no space at  
all!) but it's always nice to have the real thing up and running now  
and again. Especially with the add-ons you can now get, that the  
emulator doesn't handle, such as Quazar surround sound, and the  
Trinity interface that not only handles SD card storage, but has  
ethernet support, and is nearing completion for software that will get  
the SAM online. ;-)


Can't beat a good bit of old retro computing lol!

Warren


Quoting Dicky Moore :


Thanks for the reply, Warren.

It's glad to know that the 256k upgrades are still available. I just looked
at that links and remembered how excited I was when I got my own 256k
upgrade.

I still enjoy revisiting the Sam from time to time, but tend to use the
emulator rather than the real thing - desk space is an issue!

Thanks

Dicky

--
Dicky Moore | Bearcraft
07702 100 180
http://dickymoore.co.uk | http://bearcraftmusic.com


-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On
Behalf Of war...@wdlee.co.uk
Sent: 06 June 2011 12:04
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Sell a Sam Coupé?

Hi!
2nd hand SAMs are usually very popular, so I doubt you'll have too
many problems in that respect. :-) (Wish I had the spare cash myself!)

If you're still into retro computing and the SAM, and the RAM issue
has frustrated you from getting back into it on the SAM, I think Colin
still sells the 256k memory upgrades. Check here:
http://www.samcoupe.com/hardmem.htm

All the best!

Quoting Dicky Moore :


Hi all



Just wondering if there is a market out there for second hand Sam Coupés?



I have a Sam with 256K RAM. (Sadly swapped my 512k with a college friend
years ago so he could play a game I created with SCADS and we never

swapped

it back.)



It has the PSU etc, and I’ve got a few bits of software with the manuals,

I

think – e-tracker, SCADs (if my memory serves correctly).



Do you think there is interest in buying this? Will put it on eBay if so,
unless anyone on this list wants to make an offer?



Dicky



--

Dicky Moore | Bearcraft

07702 100 180

http://dickymoore.co.uk <http://dickymoore.co.uk/>  |
http://bearcraftmusic.com <http://bearcraftmusic.com/>

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

Hi Rich,
Thanks for taking the time to reply here. I bought one of the  
membranes, but must admit that I hadn't had the time to test it and  
discover the problems myself, till after Colin discovered and  
mentioned them, and I haven't had a chance to return mine yet.


If you sort the problem, are you planning to send out replacements  
free off charge, to those who bought one and haven't sent it back for  
a refund? If you are, then I'm happy to hang on to mine without a  
refund for now, but it would be great if you could keep us up-to-date  
one way or the other.


If you manage to fix the problem, I've no doubt that you could be on  
to a winner, as many people have had problems with their original  
keyboard membranes and eventually more will, no doubt. A successful  
solution would be very welcome!!


Please keep us updated, and thanks for the heads-up!

Warren



Quoting Rich Mellor :



Colin Piggot  writes:



Spent a bit more time on this today, and a few emails to Rwap...

Warren wrote:
> No worries!  I'd have probably seen them on ebay anyway, and tried
> one, given the problems I've had in the past with my membrane.
>
> Pity the guy making them, didn't produce a test one first and at least
> contact somebody with a SAM to try it.

I've done more testing, the new membrane does seem to have some issues with
regards to the actuation force - take it out the SAM keyboard assembly and
it works, but when fitted in the keyboard unless you batter the keys it
doesn't register. Also, I have also noticed holding the new membrane against
an old one is that when I line up the circular contact pads at one edge I
can then see at the far end of the new membrane the contacts are out by
about 2mm horizontally, that will also add further problems to the actuation
of them.

The membrane I have is now packaged up to get sent off for a refund

Colin
=
Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupé
1995-2011 - Celebrating 17 Years of developing for the SAM Coupé
Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/




I have only just come across this discussion thread and have to apologise for
the issues with these replacement keyboard membranes.

I am surprised that no-one got in touch with me to raise the problem before
Colin emailed me, as this would have helped get the issue addressed several
months ago!

As soon as Colin raised the issue, I took the decision to remove the  
Sam Coupe

keyboard membranes from sale.

I have now acquired a Sam Coupé and been able to verify the issue and am in
discussions with the keyboard membrane manufacturer who seems as  
perplexed as me
as to what is causing the issue (they now have the keyboard from my  
Sam Coupé).


We have identified that elongating one of the locating holes can  
help with the

problem, but the fact that the keys on the QWERTY... and ASDF... rows are
smaller than the other rows does not help!

I admit that I did not have a Sam Coupé when I ordered the membrane,  
howevere,
the manufacturer has many years experience of making keyboard  
membranes, and the

others which they have provided have worked brilliantly without any problems
(including ones for the Enterprise 64, Z88 and ZX Spectrum -  
remember that they

have never used or seen these machines either!).

Once the results of the investigations are complete and a solution  
found, I will
make an announcement - however, in the meantime, if anyone wants to  
return the

keyboard membrane to me for a refund, that is not a problem

Rich Mellor
www.rwapsoftware.co.uk

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

I can't speak for anyone else, but if you are going to send replies,  
please make them at least vaguely relevant. This is a place for  
discussing SAM related items, NOT vodaphone contracts, especially when  
they have absolutely nothing to do with the conversation at hand.


Quoting Roger Jowett :


are you sure if you work for voda phone you can send a letter asking
for £200 for cancellation of contract after all 85kbps is exactly the
same as the advertised 28.8mbps connection
refund anyone?

On 06/06/2011, Rich Mellor  wrote:

Hi Warren,

If we can sort out the problem, then yes, I intend sending out
replacements free of charge to those who have bought them and not
returned them for a refund.

I will of course keep people updated

Rich


On 06/06/2011 11:32, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Hi Rich,
Thanks for taking the time to reply here. I bought one of the
membranes, but must admit that I hadn't had the time to test it and
discover the problems myself, till after Colin discovered and
mentioned them, and I haven't had a chance to return mine yet.

If you sort the problem, are you planning to send out replacements
free off charge, to those who bought one and haven't sent it back for
a refund? If you are, then I'm happy to hang on to mine without a
refund for now, but it would be great if you could keep us up-to-date
one way or the other.

If you manage to fix the problem, I've no doubt that you could be on
to a winner, as many people have had problems with their original
keyboard membranes and eventually more will, no doubt. A successful
solution would be very welcome!!

Please keep us updated, and thanks for the heads-up!

Warren



Quoting Rich Mellor :



Colin Piggot  writes:



Spent a bit more time on this today, and a few emails to Rwap...

Warren wrote:
> No worries!  I'd have probably seen them on ebay anyway, and tried
> one, given the problems I've had in the past with my membrane.
>
> Pity the guy making them, didn't produce a test one first and at
least
> contact somebody with a SAM to try it.

I've done more testing, the new membrane does seem to have some
issues with
regards to the actuation force - take it out the SAM keyboard
assembly and
it works, but when fitted in the keyboard unless you batter the keys it
doesn't register. Also, I have also noticed holding the new membrane
against
an old one is that when I line up the circular contact pads at one
edge I
can then see at the far end of the new membrane the contacts are out by
about 2mm horizontally, that will also add further problems to the
actuation
of them.

The membrane I have is now packaged up to get sent off for a refund..

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

Meant to say, before I got sidetracked... ahem... ;-)

Thanks for the reply and offer of replacements. It's good customer  
service that keeps people coming back for future purchases! :-)


Warren

Quoting Rich Mellor :


Hi Warren,

If we can sort out the problem, then yes, I intend sending out  
replacements free of charge to those who have bought them and not  
returned them for a refund.


I will of course keep people updated

Rich


On 06/06/2011 11:32, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Hi Rich,
Thanks for taking the time to reply here. I bought one of the  
membranes, but must admit that I hadn't had the time to test it and  
discover the problems myself, till after Colin discovered and  
mentioned them, and I haven't had a chance to return mine yet.


If you sort the problem, are you planning to send out replacements  
free off charge, to those who bought one and haven't sent it back  
for a refund? If you are, then I'm happy to hang on to mine without  
a refund for now, but it would be great if you could keep us  
up-to-date one way or the other.


If you manage to fix the problem, I've no doubt that you could be  
on to a winner, as many people have had problems with their  
original keyboard membranes and eventually more will, no doubt. A  
successful solution would be very welcome!!


Please keep us updated, and thanks for the heads-up!

Warren



Quoting Rich Mellor :



Colin Piggot  writes:



Spent a bit more time on this today, and a few emails to Rwap...

Warren wrote:

No worries!  I'd have probably seen them on ebay anyway, and tried
one, given the problems I've had in the past with my membrane.

Pity the guy making them, didn't produce a test one first and at least
contact somebody with a SAM to try it.


I've done more testing, the new membrane does seem to have some  
issues with

regards to the actuation force - take it out the SAM keyboard assembly and
it works, but when fitted in the keyboard unless you batter the keys it
doesn't register. Also, I have also noticed holding the new  
membrane against

an old one is that when I line up the circular contact pads at one edge I
can then see at the far end of the new membrane the contacts are out by
about 2mm horizontally, that will also add further problems to  
the actuation

of them.

The membrane I have is now packaged up to get sent off for a refund...

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

Jowett, what part of: "This is a place for discussing SAM related  
items, NOT vodaphone contracts, especially when they have absolutely  
nothing to do with the conversation at hand." was too complicated??!!


If you want to post things like this, please find yourself a Vodaphone  
complaints forum or something similar.


Quoting Roger Jowett :


ditto
so you walk into a supermarket buy a loaf of bread pay for it then ask
tehm to chop it into 100 slices and walk out of the shop with only
one?
soudns fair to you does it speaking legally and you need to contact a
legal webstie in order to work that one out do you?
jeeezuz christ these c*&^nts are ripping you off left right and centre
and no one complains about the louzy service? christ no wonder they
find it so easy to send out letters asking for £200 prats like you lot
would pay it
im in breach of contract like hell i am 28.8mbps dream on i have seen
it manage 2mbps on a good day for a few minutes but barely if ever
im not paying £20 per month for 85kbps
what does it have to do with this forum?
well ok then let me use my serial comms port to use teh same external
v34bis itu t v42mnp5 modem for 115200bps connection with sam im happy
to do that when can we get it set up then?
im getting thrity fone lines from bt soon as tehy make a full refund
for the louzy broadband 30KB per second advertised as 8mbps
rubbish service in this country
i bet the yanks wouldnt put up with this rubbish

On 07/06/2011, war...@wdlee.co.uk  wrote:

Meant to say, before I got sidetracked... ahem... ;-)

Thanks for the reply and offer of replacements. It's good customer
service that keeps people coming back for future purchases! :-)

Warren

Quoting Rich Mellor :


Hi Warren,

If we can sort out the problem, then yes, I intend sending out
replacements free of charge to those who have bought them and not
returned them for a refund.

I will of course keep people updated

Rich


On 06/06/2011 11:32, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Hi Rich,
Thanks for taking the time to reply here. I bought one of the
membranes, but must admit that I hadn't had the time to test it and
discover the problems myself, till after Colin discovered and
mentioned them, and I haven't had a chance to return mine yet.

If you sort the problem, are you planning to send out replacements
free off charge, to those who bought one and haven't sent it back
for a refund? If you are, then I'm happy to hang on to mine without
a refund for now, but it would be great if you could keep us
up-to-date one way or the other.

If you manage to fix the problem, I've no doubt that you could be
on to a winner, as many people have had problems with their
original keyboard membranes and eventually more will, no doubt. A
successful solution would be very welcome!!

Please keep us updated, and thanks for the heads-up!

Warren



Quoting Rich Mellor :



Colin Piggot  writes:



Spent a bit more time on this today, and a few emails to Rwap...

Warren wrote:

No worries!  I'd have probably seen them on ebay anyway, and tried
one, given the problems I've had in the past with my membrane.

Pity the guy making them, didn't produce a test one first and at least
contact somebody with a SAM to try it.


I've done more testing, the new membrane does seem to have some
issues with
regards to the actuation force - take it out the SAM keyboard assembly
and
it works, but when fitted in the keyboard unless you batter the keys it
doesn't register. Also, I have also noticed holding the new
membrane against
an old one is that when I line up the circular contact pads at one edge
I
can then see at the far end of the new membrane the contacts are out by
about 2mm horizontally, that will also add further problems to
the actuation
of them.

The membrane I have is now packaged up to get sent off for a refund.

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

I don't know why i'm replying, sheer stubborness, i guess, but here  
goes... think this through slowly... see how each email has a topic  
heading? Yes? Even if, through some twisted logic, you think your  
vodaphone issue is related to a retro computer user group, try this  
radical idea... start a new topic, rather than jumping into &  
smothering a completely unrelated one.


Also, another radical idea... try being polite to people. It usually  
gets a better response.


Quoting Roger Jowett :


dont tell me let me guess your sending emaisl to the group from work
in otherwords you dont even have to pay for the internet connection so
why the hell should you care a jot
unless your using your mobile fone in which case teh entire webstie
doesnt appear correctly and at 10p a MB with asda mobile you are not
getting just  a teensy weensy bit fleeced?
try trasnferring emualtors
you pay for the data u use but oh look the programs dont work wont
install but youve already payed for them
so retrasnfer teh same data acouple fo dozen times
get it?

On 07/06/2011, Roger Jowett  wrote:

how does an internet service provider not have something to do with a
user group that refuses to allow people to use their sams to access
teh user group or messages?
you want me to pay an isp to access this group im telling you that im
not paying for this service from companies that cheat people
i have an itu t v44+IPR=921600 bps modem why cant i use it
why cant i use the hardware comropession capabilities
why the hell would i want ot pay onspeed to use software comrepssion
of text and html based on their servers when teh modem has these
fatures built in
this is utterly rediculous
dont complain dont complain
no and get ripped off
pillocks the lot of you
£200 for contract termination they havent kept one letter of the
contract the crooks

On 07/06/2011, Roger Jowett  wrote:

i just dont want to hear it no more i have my hair to do my makeup to put
on
and already you have given me a headache
lucky we arent...

On 07/06/2011, Roger Jowett  wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_coupe

enchoo spotted your link

On 07/06/2011, Roger Jowett  wrote:

sorry for asking you questions about how to use bmp2scr and retor X
they dont work
they didnt do what i thought they would
yousaid they had sam support they do screen reslution and mode 4 wise
but geez i cant bare teh thought of another ten hours trying to figure
out whether it has worked or not or how to use python just to get
another video uplaoded to youtube which takes another three days as i
have to trasnfer teh same video file ten times in order that vodaphone
can make even more money although the uplaod unadvertised speed is
even lower than teh advertised download speed which we dont get either
but according to legal websites we are not allowed to compalin about
it either or they have the right to hack our computer s to buitsof
course they do how dare we get valu for moeny its unheard of thats why
im running 4 64bit processors with a 32 bit operating system with aton
of softwrawe that doesnt work and when teh amchine crashes that is
bprobably my fault too
mind you the hardware drivers dont install and crash teh anticvurs
bollox utter frikking bollox this is facist crap and you know it

On 07/06/2011, Roger Jowett  wrote:

actually i need a timing belt cover!


On 07/06/2011, Roger Jowett  wrote:

ditto
so you walk into a supermarket buy a loaf of bread pay for it then
ask
tehm to chop it into 100 slices and walk out of the shop with only
one?
soudns fair to you does it speaking legally and you need to contact a
legal webstie in order to work that one out do you?
jeeezuz christ these c*&^nts are ripping you off left right and
centre
and no one complains about the louzy service? christ no wonder they
find it so easy to send out letters asking for £200 prats like you
lot
would pay it
im in breach of contract like hell i am 28.8mbps dream on i have seen
it manage 2mbps on a good day for a few minutes but barely if ever
im not paying £20 per month for 85kbps
what does it have to do with this forum?
well ok then let me use my serial comms port to use teh same external
v34bis itu t v42mnp5 modem for 115200bps connection with sam im happy
to do that when can we get it set up then?
im getting thrity fone lines from bt soon as tehy make a full refund
for the louzy broadband 30KB per second advertised as 8mbps
rubbish service in this country
i bet the yanks wouldnt put up with this rubbish

On 07/06/2011, war...@wdlee.co.uk  wrote:

Meant to say, before I got sidetracked... ahem... ;-)

Thanks for the reply and offer of replacements. It's good customer
service that keeps people coming back for future purchases! :-)

Warren

Quoting Rich Mellor :


Hi Warren,

If we can sort out the problem, then yes, I intend sending out
replacements free of charge to those who have bought them and not
returned them for a refund.

I will of course keep people updated

Rich


On 06/06/2011 11

Re: keyboard membrane replacement

[warren]

Hi!

Thanks very much for the effort to get all that sorted. It's much  
appreciated, and great that you've gone to the effort of trying to  
find the problem and fix it. :-) I'll look forward to it (no rush),  
and fingers crossed! ;-)


Warren

Quoting Rich Mellor :


Hi Warren,

I have now received a sample of two new keyboard membranes from the  
supplier which appear to address the issues - they have done a  
slight re-design and gone for a thinner membrane (more like the  
original), which has cured the problem on my own Sam Coupé


I will send you a replacement when the main order is received.

Rich

On 06/06/2011 11:32, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

Hi Rich,
Thanks for taking the time to reply here. I bought one of the  
membranes, but must admit that I hadn't had the time to test it and  
discover the problems myself, till after Colin discovered and  
mentioned them, and I haven't had a chance to return mine yet.


If you sort the problem, are you planning to send out replacements  
free off charge, to those who bought one and haven't sent it back  
for a refund? If you are, then I'm happy to hang on to mine without  
a refund for now, but it would be great if you could keep us  
up-to-date one way or the other.


If you manage to fix the problem, I've no doubt that you could be  
on to a winner, as many people have had problems with their  
original keyboard membranes and eventually more will, no doubt. A  
successful solution would be very welcome!!


Please keep us updated, and thanks for the heads-up!

Warren



Quoting Rich Mellor :



Colin Piggot  writes:



Spent a bit more time on this today, and a few emails to Rwap...

Warren wrote:

No worries!  I'd have probably seen them on ebay anyway, and tried
one, given the problems I've had in the past with my membrane.

Pity the guy making them, didn't produce a test one first and at least
contact somebody with a SAM to try it.


I've done more testing, the new membrane does seem to have some  
issues with

regards to the actuation force - take it out the SAM keyboard assembly and
it works, but when fitted in the keyboard unless you batter the keys it
doesn't register. Also, I have also noticed holding the new  
membrane against

an old one is that when I line up the circular contact pads at one edge I
can then see at the far end of the new membrane the contacts are out by
about 2mm horizontally, that will also add further problems to  
the actuation

of them.

The membrane I have is now packaged up to get sent off for a refund...

Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"

[warren]

It's great to see any new SAM game! Well done! And congrats for  
programming it in assembler. Wish I could do that, as it would give me  
much more elbow room for a couple of my own projects. (It's  
GamesMaster's fault, honest!!)


It's certainly good old fashioned platformer fun. How many  
levels/screens are there?


Warren

Quoting Andrew Gillen :


Hi folks

I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is  
pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler  
(certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high  
level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it.


You can grab it from this rather minimalist website:

http://www.joua.net/

You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it  you'd be  
forgiven for asking why..).


Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I  
appreciate any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year  
programming it and should be taking the experience gained to improve  
my skills (what skills?!) when tackling new projects which will be  
forthcoming!


If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you  
can turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing  
time. Or just turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it!


Anyway, enjoy.

Cheers
Andrew.

Re: JAM Assembler 1.13 problems?

[warren]

On a related but slightly different note... Sometime in the near  
future, I want to get back into a fairly major SAM gaming project I  
was working on. I'm going to give JAM a go (Just quickly tested it on  
my machine running Windows 7, and seemks to work fine!). :-) I made  
the mistake of working in GamesMaster again when I started it last  
year, but I hit a bit of an annoying brick wall with it (Yes, I  
know... but it worked so well for my first few games! :-D )  
Unfortunately those limitations AREN'T because of the limitations of  
the SAM, so I don't want to compromise the game from what it could do,  
simply because of GamesMaster.


So my plan is to re-program it in Assembly. And my question is... (I  
think I may have asked this before, but for the life of me I can't  
remember, so sorry if I have!) what's the best resource for learning  
it?? ;-)


Dave, I love what you've done with "Dave Invaders" :-D What did you  
read for learning how to program it?


Quoting Balor Price :

Ah.  I am a moron.  Updated from Java 6 update 21 to update 30 and  
the problem went away.


Must say, though, I would never have expected that to have been a  
problem, especially because your binaries are all JAR files instead  
of JAD midlets.  Okay I'm confused again now!


Howard


On 01-Feb-12 07:59, david brant wrote:

People do use it then, not had much in the way of feedback.

Jam Assembler does not doing anything special with the font or  
anything like that. It would be using Windows API for fonts and  
messages etc. i.e. anything standard windows stuff.


Jam Assembler not been tested on anything newer than XP though.

What version of Java is your computer using? Have you tried re  
loading Jam Assembler? I have a newer version on my computer which  
sorts out some project view issues and does method inheritance I'll  
upload it tonight with a bit of luck.


Otherwise can you send me a screen shot please.

On 1 Feb 2012, at 01:19, Balor Price wrote:



So, hmmm... while I'm fired up...

Anyone having problems with the GUI in Jam Assembler?  It's been a  
while since I tinkered, but now I'm getting gobbledygook instead  
of English in the dropdown menus and dialogue boxes... At a guess  
I'd say the font lookups had gone askew, it's a JAR file that's  
executed so it's not relying on Windows API calls or anything.   
David?


Howard

Re: JAM Assembler 1.13 problems?

[warren]

Andrew/Balor/thomas those links and info are great! Thanks very much!  
(Finding a place with all the fred stuff is great... I've got a lot of  
them, but they're all hidden in a box somewhere lol!) Think I've got  
an 'original' copy of the tech manual that I got from FRED back in the  
old days, but handy to have the PDF too!


In a few months when I have some free time, I'm planning to get back  
into my SAM game project. :-) So keep an eye out!!



Quoting Andrew Gillen :


The Fred stuff is a goldmine.

Http://Sam.speccy.cz/coding.HTML has the series I think you are  
referring to. I used some code for the define key routine in my game  
from that series.


Personally, my basis for z80 learning was from the speccy. William  
Tangs Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner helped  
massively to  get the basic concepts, then jon cauldwell's excellent  
tutorial helped with game flow and stuff like scoring.


I wrote a smAll, simple space invaders clone on speccy before moving  
on to the sam where I did a conversion of it as my first project  
(which was to be included as a hidden extra in Dave, buy I forgot to  
put it in).


Couple that lot with the tech manual and lurking on the World of  
Spectrum development forum sponging information and it all came  
together... Slowly!




Cheers
Andrew



On 1 Feb 2012, at 11:02, Thomas Harte  wrote:

I was too young to appreciate it at the time but I think Fred had a  
great series on assembly and the Sam that flowed into the sort of  
topics specifically of interest to game writers. Has anyone  
converted those to a modern document format?


Other than that I can tell you that z80 questions tend to get  
answered very quickly and in a good amount of detail on  
StackOverflow though one appears only once every other month or so,  
so it's not much of a learning resource.


On 1 Feb 2012, at 10:39, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

On a related but slightly different note... Sometime in the near  
future, I want to get back into a fairly major SAM gaming project  
I was working on. I'm going to give JAM a go (Just quickly tested  
it on my machine running Windows 7, and seemks to work fine!). :-)  
I made the mistake of working in GamesMaster again when I started  
it last year, but I hit a bit of an annoying brick wall with it  
(Yes, I know... but it worked so well for my first few games! :-D  
) Unfortunately those limitations AREN'T because of the  
limitations of the SAM, so I don't want to compromise the game  
from what it could do, simply because of GamesMaster.


So my plan is to re-program it in Assembly. And my question is...  
(I think I may have asked this before, but for the life of me I  
can't remember, so sorry if I have!) what's the best resource for  
learning it?? ;-)


Dave, I love what you've done with "Dave Invaders" :-D What did  
you read for learning how to program it?


Quoting Balor Price :

Ah.  I am a moron.  Updated from Java 6 update 21 to update 30  
and the problem went away.


Must say, though, I would never have expected that to have been a  
problem, especially because your binaries are all JAR files  
instead of JAD midlets.  Okay I'm confused again now!


Howard


On 01-Feb-12 07:59, david brant wrote:

People do use it then, not had much in the way of feedback.

Jam Assembler does not doing anything special with the font or  
anything like that. It would be using Windows API for fonts and  
messages etc. i.e. anything standard windows stuff.


Jam Assembler not been tested on anything newer than XP though.

What version of Java is your computer using? Have you tried re  
loading Jam Assembler? I have a newer version on my computer  
which sorts out some project view issues and does method  
inheritance I'll upload it tonight with a bit of luck.


Otherwise can you send me a screen shot please.

On 1 Feb 2012, at 01:19, Balor Price wrote:



So, hmmm... while I'm fired up...

Anyone having problems with the GUI in Jam Assembler?  It's  
been a while since I tinkered, but now I'm getting gobbledygook  
instead of English in the dropdown menus and dialogue boxes...  
At a guess I'd say the font lookups had gone askew, it's a JAR  
file that's executed so it's not relying on Windows API calls  
or anything.  David?


Howard

Re: Coming back to haunt

[warren]

That's very very cool! lol! :-D really enjoyed watching that. Is it  
worrying, that I recognised when Prince of Persia and Exodus were  
being played in the background, just from the music? ;-)


Would be nice if you could do that youtube thing that allows you to  
popup names and stuff, for those of us who never got the chance to go  
to the shows, and just know people by name, rather than faces. ;-)


superb!

Warren

Quoting Dave :


Here's a fun clip from the first show at Gloucester. So long ago I
don't remember what year it was, but it must've been something like
'93/94.

It was made with the aim of grabbing stills to digitise to put on the
disk mags of the day. You'll know some of the faces on it. :)

http://youtu.be/v6Gv2Ybwzh0

Dave

Re: Dave Infuriators

[warren]

Nicely done! :-D Look forward to seeing how it progresses!

Quoting Andrew Gillen :


Hi all

Just thought I'd share with you a peek at the new work in progress  
for the SAM


http://www.blackjet.co.uk/images/uploads/ani0005.gif

Not much to say on the project yet other than to say it is a  
platform / puzzler controlled with two keys; a change direction and  
a jump. The keen-eyed among you might notice there was no apparent  
input from the player in the demo, Dave navigated himself around  
based on what tile he encountered on the way.


The final game should have traps, switches and various other things  
to aid and hinder the player.



Cheers

Andrew

RE: Essential Sam Goodies

[warren]

Welcome, Graeme!! :-D

It's always good to see a new SAM user. I hope you get lots of fun  
from it, as there is a ton of stuff to get into. Others have listed a  
lot of the major software and so forth that you can get, but I'd  
really advise getting the Trinity interface from Colin at samcoupe.com  
- It's a fantastic bit of hardware and makes life much easier with the  
SD storage. Not to mention with the online stuff coming, it's going to  
be enormous fun! ;-) (I even built my own custom case for mine a while  
back -  
https://twitter.com/#!/duncansguide/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitpic.com%2F3e3ye6)


Also, if you feel like other hardware, I'd advise Colin's Quazar  
Surround sound module as well. It's great stuff! Get as many  
back-issues of SAM Revival off him as well, as he's managed to publish  
a lot of excellent items on the accompanying discs (*cough* issue 10  
especially *cough*).


You should also get a mouse adaptor from Colin, if you haven't got one  
with the SAM.


Games I would advise, Stratosphere (great addictive and action-packed  
wireframe 3D game), Lemmings, Prince of Persia, Defenders of the Earth  
(Used to get some flack, but it's fast with great graphics and lots of  
simple shooter fun), Exodus, and others... There are plenty of great  
ones that others have already listed, so I won't mention them all.  
Those are some of my favourites.


Software, I would say definitely get SAM Paint and Games Master. SAM  
Paint is truly superb if you want to get into pixel graphics, and  
Games Master is excellent for getting into making your own fun games.  
If you've done any programming in the past, it's nice and easy to dive  
in and get a few fun things going on without having to program basic  
or machine code.


Also, download as many of the old FRED disc magazines as you can,  
since they were packed with a wide selection of great demos and free  
games (*cough* especially issue 58 and issue 75 *cough*). ;-)


-> Geoff, you shouldn't give up on the SAM. :-) It's just that for a  
number of people in the SAM community Jowett has gone FAR beyond mere  
Spam, and he's marred a lot of the fun atmosphere, so it causes  
temperatures to run high. Heck, he's even posted several irrelevant  
and unintelligible ramblings on my blog, simply because I once  
mentioned the SAM in a couple of postings... and I've had the LEAST  
trouble with him. ;-) If you can put up with deleting Jowett's emails,  
do the same with the usergroup ones complaining about him, and stay on  
the list. ;-) if you leave it because of the complaints about him,  
you've still effectively let him ruin your fun of the SAM, which would  
be a real shame.


Warren

Quoting Adrian Brown :


Welcome

Head over to www.samcoupe.com as well.  Colin Piggot has some bits and
bobs to look at, when work doesn't get in the way ill hopefully
completely finish the tcp/ip stack for the trinity interface.  You can
now use flash cards instead of floppy disks which is nice ;)

As to games I know most people didn't but I liked sphera.  It was fun :D

Adrian

-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no]
On Behalf Of toberm...@cookingcircle.co.uk
Sent: 12 April 2012 12:31
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Essential Sam Goodies

Welcome Graeme! The Sam's as good 21 years later as it was Christmas
1990.  We're generally cheerful too btw.

Your best bet to find the best goodies is to visit World of Sam and have
a damn good root around! Simcoupe itself is bundled with what I would
call the best stuff, but you'll need a few things to port the PC images
back to real floppies, namely SAMdisk (by Si Owen) and a PC with an
INTERNAL 3.5 floppy drive (external won't do).

Also have a good look round Andrew Collier's Intensity site because
there's loads of great bits locked away.

As for other stuff to get, I'd advise the Atom HDD, Stratosphere,
Defender, Momentum, Lemmings, Protracker, E-tracker, SAMpaint, GI-mon,
Comet, Pyz80, some kind of SAMdac or EDDAc, SAM mouse, and every
diskzine you can get your hands on!  There's just LOADS of great stuff
available.

What did I miss?
Howard (aka Balor Price, Tobermory Womble or whatever else)

--Original Message--
From: Graeme Gregory
Sender: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
ReplyTo: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Essential Sam Goodies
Sent: 12 Apr 2012 11:19

Ok, to change the topic from current discussion lately ;-)

I am a newbie to the Sam world, I bought a machine on ebay as a whim and
to reach one of my childhood dreams of owning one. As a kid I could not
afford one and by the time I had $$$ Sam had dissapeared and it was time
for Uni.

So I now have this lovely Sam Coupe with 1.5 working drives and 512K of
memory. What games/demos/widgets sho

Re: Essential Sam Goodies

[warren]

I used to play that version of Tetris constantly, at one point. I was  
completely addicted lol! I also really loved the music on it.


Just picked up Sam Strikes Out and Future Ball off ebay, so looking  
forward to playing them. Two of those 'heard of them but never managed  
to get a copy' type games.


Out of curiosity... Has anyone (other than myself, obviously) ever  
completed Invasion II? ;-)


Warren


Quoting Tommo H :


I know it's going to make me sound tediously predictable but I still
think David Gommeren's Tetris is the quintessential Sam game, despite
not even being that fantastic a Tetris (compared to my personal
favourite, the Spectrum's Tetris 2, anyway).

Beyond that, get WaterWorks. It's another puzzle game, technically,
but it's a lot more interesting than most. You sort of have to move
pipes around to direct water, but unlike Pipemania or whatever the
water flows freely into the game environment and collects on the floor
if you let it.

http://www.worldofsam.org/node/75
http://www.worldofsam.org/node/50

On 12 Apr 2012, at 07:02, "war...@wdlee.co.uk"  wrote:


Welcome, Graeme!! :-D

It's always good to see a new SAM user. I hope you get lots of fun  
from it, as there is a ton of stuff to get into. Others have listed  
a lot of the major software and so forth that you can get, but I'd  
really advise getting the Trinity interface from Colin at  
samcoupe.com - It's a fantastic bit of hardware and makes life much  
easier with the SD storage. Not to mention with the online stuff  
coming, it's going to be enormous fun! ;-) (I even built my own  
custom case for mine a while back -  
https://twitter.com/#!/duncansguide/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitpic.com%2F3e3ye6)


Also, if you feel like other hardware, I'd advise Colin's Quazar  
Surround sound module as well. It's great stuff! Get as many  
back-issues of SAM Revival off him as well, as he's managed to  
publish a lot of excellent items on the accompanying discs (*cough*  
issue 10 especially *cough*).


You should also get a mouse adaptor from Colin, if you haven't got  
one with the SAM.


Games I would advise, Stratosphere (great addictive and  
action-packed wireframe 3D game), Lemmings, Prince of Persia,  
Defenders of the Earth (Used to get some flack, but it's fast with  
great graphics and lots of simple shooter fun), Exodus, and  
others... There are plenty of great ones that others have already  
listed, so I won't mention them all. Those are some of my favourites.


Software, I would say definitely get SAM Paint and Games Master.  
SAM Paint is truly superb if you want to get into pixel graphics,  
and Games Master is excellent for getting into making your own fun  
games. If you've done any programming in the past, it's nice and  
easy to dive in and get a few fun things going on without having to  
program basic or machine code.


Also, download as many of the old FRED disc magazines as you can,  
since they were packed with a wide selection of great demos and  
free games (*cough* especially issue 58 and issue 75 *cough*). ;-)


-> Geoff, you shouldn't give up on the SAM. :-) It's just that for  
a number of people in the SAM community Jowett has gone FAR beyond  
mere Spam, and he's marred a lot of the fun atmosphere, so it  
causes temperatures to run high. Heck, he's even posted several  
irrelevant and unintelligible ramblings on my blog, simply because  
I once mentioned the SAM in a couple of postings... and I've had  
the LEAST trouble with him. ;-) If you can put up with deleting  
Jowett's emails, do the same with the usergroup ones complaining  
about him, and stay on the list. ;-) if you leave it because of the  
complaints about him, you've still effectively let him ruin your  
fun of the SAM, which would be a real shame.


Warren

Quoting Adrian Brown :


Welcome

Head over to www.samcoupe.com as well.  Colin Piggot has some bits and
bobs to look at, when work doesn't get in the way ill hopefully
completely finish the tcp/ip stack for the trinity interface.  You can
now use flash cards instead of floppy disks which is nice ;)

As to games I know most people didn't but I liked sphera.  It was fun :D

Adrian

-Original Message-
From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no]
On Behalf Of toberm...@cookingcircle.co.uk
Sent: 12 April 2012 12:31
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Essential Sam Goodies

Welcome Graeme! The Sam's as good 21 years later as it was Christmas
1990.  We're generally cheerful too btw.

Your best bet to find the best goodies is to visit World of Sam and have
a damn good root around! Simcoupe itself is bundled with what I would
call the best stuff, but you'll need a few things to port the PC images
back to real floppies, namely SAMdisk (by Si Owen) and a PC with an
INTERN

ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'

[warren]

Off on a bit of a non-SAM tangent (but probably somewhat related for  
most of us) I came across this the other day:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8304237/ZX-Spectrum-relaunch-gaming-goes-back-to-the-future.html

Lots of you have probably already heard this, but I don't remember it  
being mentioned, so thought I would! ;-)


Supposedly a company were going to relaunch the zx spectrum this year  
(by the looks of it, as a 48k speccy keyboard that links up to an  
iPhone or similar to run an emulator), to coincide with the 30th  
anniversary, but it doesn't look like it's going to materialise any  
time soon. I know something similar is/was being planned for the C64?


However, it got me thinking... Obviously in this day and age, many of  
use want to enjoy the retro gaming experience, but we haven't exactly  
got the space to keep things set up. I intend to have my SAM set up  
permanently at some point, but I very much doubt I'd ever get the  
space to dedicate to other systems, so clearly something that  
pleasantly replicates the original experience quickly and easily with  
modern advantages would be a pleasing alternative.


So I figured, what would make an easy to use 'spectrum' emulator for  
playing all the old games? You'd want HDMI output for ease with modern  
televisions, SD card storage, and have it all fit into one of our old  
rubber keyed friends. How do you do this on a budget at that size? The  
first thing that popped into my head, is the Raspberry Pi (if it ever  
gets to selling!!). Small enough to probably fit in a speccy case,  
with HDMI out and card reader. Surely this could make for a fairly  
cheap and effective 48k Spectrum emulation experience?


I think the Speccy is particularly suited, because let's face it, for  
most of us it was about the games more than anything. I don't think  
anything similar would work for the SAM, because what makes that such  
a unique experience (for me, anyway) is the original and additional  
hardware in addition to the software. But for a speccy I could see it  
being great fun, to play the games with ease on a keyboard that  
replicates the old experience but with updated advantages. (I think a  
SAM equivalent would have to be more along the lines of Colin's  
'SAM-in-a-can' projects, but rather than old SAM parts, something that  
accurately replicates the original hardware with modern additions)


Not being much of a tech person I'm not sure about the feasibility,  
but it seems like a wasted opportunity in todays market where  
retro-gaming has had somewhat of a resurgence?


Warren

Re: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'

[warren]

There's something very cool about seeing a spectrum do all that (Even  
if it's really just the case with something else running emulation). I  
hadn't thought too much about the keyboard, but I suppose that would  
really be the major difficulty: Getting something that plays exactly  
like the original but maps to PC keyboard types for the emulator.


In theory, you could get a cheap 2nd hand spectrum (even non-working  
one), a rasberry pi or beagle, and it would come to, what, somewhere  
under £50? And assuming some relatively easy method of fixing up the  
keyboard, you could fairly easily create your own. :-) (say's the  
person who knows nothing about it lol!) It'd be cool if someone  
created a general guide for doing it cheaply that way, with the  
appropriate software for the Pi or Beagle, and some extra gadget for  
the keyboard hookup. Then it would make a nice pack to sell to  
enthusiasts with little-to-no knowledge of hardware and electronics.


Graeme, it would be very cool to see where you get with that!  
Definitely something you should get working. ;-)


Warren

Quoting Andrew Gillen :


Hi Warren

This idea reminds me of the ZX Spectrum that was modded to run linux.

Check out

http://www.retrothing.com/2009/04/modding-a-sinclair-zx-spectrum-to-run-linux.html
http://www.retrothing.com/2009/04/modding-a-sinclair-zx-spectrum-to-run-linux.html
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qh7dvaH98

That Beagleboard solution isn't a cheap one, and it requires a fair  
bit of hackery to get the keyboard sorted, but it looks like a  
fantastic result. I'd like to try the PI out in a similar capacity,  
but I lack the degree of expertise in electrical hackery  
unfortunately to see it through with any confidence of success. If I  
can find a similar membranous keyboard to that which was used on  
that set up for a low enough price, it won't stop me trying, though.


Much of the experience in playing old games is in using the old kit  
itself. No amount of PC emulation and full stroke keyboard use can  
replicate that ZX feel.


SAMwise it is different, the keyboard is of a good enough standard  
for emulation to represent a pretty accurate experience for me.


Cheers

Andrew


--
From: 
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 11:18 AM
To: 
Subject: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'

Off on a bit of a non-SAM tangent (but probably somewhat related  
for  most of us) I came across this the other day:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8304237/ZX-Spectrum-relaunch-gaming-goes-back-to-the-future.html

Lots of you have probably already heard this, but I don't remember  
it being mentioned, so thought I would! ;-)


Supposedly a company were going to relaunch the zx spectrum this  
year  (by the looks of it, as a 48k speccy keyboard that links up  
to an  iPhone or similar to run an emulator), to coincide with the  
30th  anniversary, but it doesn't look like it's going to  
materialise any  time soon. I know something similar is/was being  
planned for the C64?


However, it got me thinking... Obviously in this day and age, many  
of  use want to enjoy the retro gaming experience, but we haven't  
exactly  got the space to keep things set up. I intend to have my  
SAM set up  permanently at some point, but I very much doubt I'd  
ever get the  space to dedicate to other systems, so clearly  
something that  pleasantly replicates the original experience  
quickly and easily with  modern advantages would be a pleasing  
alternative.


So I figured, what would make an easy to use 'spectrum' emulator  
for playing all the old games? You'd want HDMI output for ease with  
modern televisions, SD card storage, and have it all fit into one  
of our old rubber keyed friends. How do you do this on a budget at  
that size? The first thing that popped into my head, is the  
Raspberry Pi (if it ever gets to selling!!). Small enough to  
probably fit in a speccy case,  with HDMI out and card reader.  
Surely this could make for a fairly  cheap and effective 48k  
Spectrum emulation experience?


I think the Speccy is particularly suited, because let's face it,  
for most of us it was about the games more than anything. I don't  
think anything similar would work for the SAM, because what makes  
that such  a unique experience (for me, anyway) is the original and  
additional hardware in addition to the software. But for a speccy I  
could see it being great fun, to play the games with ease on a  
keyboard that replicates the old experience but with updated  
advantages. (I think a  SAM equivalent would have to be more along  
the lines of Colin's 'SAM-in-a-can' projects, but rather than old  
SAM parts, something that accurately replicates the original  
hardware with modern additions)


Not being much of a tech person I'm not sure about the feasibility,  
 but it seems like a wasted opportunity in todays market where   
retro-gaming has had somewhat of a resurgence?


Warren

Re: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'

[warren]

Just bookmarked the blog! ;-) I'll keep track of that. Keep plugging,  
I say!! :-D


Warren

Quoting Andrew Gillen :


Hi Graeme

When you get round to doing it please feel free to publish a guide  
so we (royal we perhaps) may follow suit ! :)


And while I'm at it to save spamming the list twice in a row, in  
reference to your Essential SAM goodies thread, take a look at The  
Garden Centre of the Universe from The_Wub!  
(http://www.worldofsam.org/node/684) - a great game published in  
2011 for the SAM, and you can always have a look at  
http://blackjet.co.uk to see what we're up to at Blackjet ;) (sorry  
folks for yet another plug).


All the best

Andrew

--
From: "Graeme Gregory" 
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 12:13 PM
To: 
Subject: Re: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'


I have been planning for a while not to do this modification. But I was
going to use an I2C IO Extender chip instead of the USB keyboard hack.
With this I should be able to map exactly the spectrum keyboard map into
Linux. Ive had the broken spectrum and a couple of beagle boards sitting
on my shelf for 6 months or so but had no time to get soldering!

It can be done easilly with the Pi or Beaglebone as well, and they are
significant cheaper and smaller.

Graeme

Re: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'

[warren]

ahh, now if Simcoupe works on the Raspberry Pi... :-D sure, there's  
nothing like using the real thing, but I'd definitely have to build  
myself a mini-SAM emulator, even if only for portability! Hmmm...  
visions of a SAMtop spring to mind...


I keep checking those sites for the Pi, but to be honest, I'm starting  
to wonder what's happening with it. It had great momentum, and then  
just when things are about ready, the two companies who were to  
exclusively release it stop things in their tracks?


It's obviously just the conspiracy theorist in me, but I remember all  
the mentions about how the Pi would be used in oppressed countries for  
cheap and secure communications... And I can't help wondering if some  
'behind the scenes' pressure has been used to slow things down and  
make it lose the momentum it had. Or even just from technology  
companies at the prospect of something so cheap but effective that  
could potentially damage the market for expensive lower end gadgets.  
(I mean, picture how many extremely cheap home-made netbook kits could  
be released on ebay, with Pi's at their core and cheap keyboards and  
screens) O maybe I've just read too many conspiracy theory books  
lol!


SimCoupe running on a 'sortof ZX Spectrum' would just be... well,  
surreal... ;-


Warren

Quoting Simon Owen :


Bonus points if you then run SimCoupe on it, to see if it still feels wrong!

I created a quick SimCoupe binary for the Raspberry Pi back in Feb,  
which I've tested in the development VM under QEMU.  Still waiting  
for real hardware to see how well it runs though.  I was kinda  
hoping I pre-registered early enough with RS, but I've not received  
one of the magic vouchers yet.  I'll have to see if my Farnell order  
works out...


Si


On 13 Apr 2012, at 12:43, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:

There's something very cool about seeing a spectrum do all that  
(Even if it's really just the case with something else running  
emulation). I hadn't thought too much about the keyboard, but I  
suppose that would really be the major difficulty: Getting  
something that plays exactly like the original but maps to PC  
keyboard types for the emulator.


In theory, you could get a cheap 2nd hand spectrum (even  
non-working one), a rasberry pi or beagle, and it would come to,  
what, somewhere under £50? And assuming some relatively easy method  
of fixing up the keyboard, you could fairly easily create your own.  
:-) (say's the person who knows nothing about it lol!) It'd be cool  
if someone created a general guide for doing it cheaply that way,  
with the appropriate software for the Pi or Beagle, and some extra  
gadget for the keyboard hookup. Then it would make a nice pack to  
sell to enthusiasts with little-to-no knowledge of hardware and  
electronics.


Graeme, it would be very cool to see where you get with that!  
Definitely something you should get working. ;-)


Warren

Quoting Andrew Gillen :


Hi Warren

This idea reminds me of the ZX Spectrum that was modded to run linux.

Check out

http://www.retrothing.com/2009/04/modding-a-sinclair-zx-spectrum-to-run-linux.html
http://www.retrothing.com/2009/04/modding-a-sinclair-zx-spectrum-to-run-linux.html
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qh7dvaH98

That Beagleboard solution isn't a cheap one, and it requires a  
fair bit of hackery to get the keyboard sorted, but it looks like  
a fantastic result. I'd like to try the PI out in a similar  
capacity, but I lack the degree of expertise in electrical hackery  
unfortunately to see it through with any confidence of success. If  
I can find a similar membranous keyboard to that which was used on  
that set up for a low enough price, it won't stop me trying, though.


Much of the experience in playing old games is in using the old  
kit itself. No amount of PC emulation and full stroke keyboard use  
can replicate that ZX feel.


SAMwise it is different, the keyboard is of a good enough standard  
for emulation to represent a pretty accurate experience for me.


Cheers

Andrew


--
From: 
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 11:18 AM
To: 
Subject: ZX Spectrum 'relaunch'

Off on a bit of a non-SAM tangent (but probably somewhat related  
for  most of us) I came across this the other day:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8304237/ZX-Spectrum-relaunch-gaming-goes-back-to-the-future.html

Lots of you have probably already heard this, but I don't  
remember it being mentioned, so thought I would! ;-)


Supposedly a company were going to relaunch the zx spectrum this  
year  (by the looks of it, as a 48k speccy keyboard that links up  
to an  iPhone or similar to run an emulator), to coincide with  
the 30th  anniversary, but it doesn't look like it's going to  
materialise any  time soon. I know something 

Re: SimCoupi

[warren]

That's very cool! :-D

God knows how long it'll take before they start shipping RPs to  
general customers though, after all the promo stuff with schools and  
such... how'd you get hold of one this early? :-D




Quoting Simon Owen :


Seems like a promising start: http://simonowen.com/raspberrypi

Speed is fine with the normal SDL build, even with demanding titles  
like MNEMOdemo1 part 2.  It ran at about 450% with the emulator  
turbo button held (max speed but video capped at 5fps).


The OpenGL version ran very slowly in X, as though it was missing  
hardware acceleration.  That will be needed for the 5:4 aspect ratio  
feature, to make it look more like the original display.


There wasn't any sound from the 3.5mm jack, and I did see some  
warnings about not being able to find a sound device.  My monitor  
doesn't have speakers so I haven't checked whether there's anything  
over HDMI, but I doubt it.  I'm using the latest Debian build from  
13th April, so I'll need to look into drivers etc.


I had to head off to work so it's just a brief look for now...

Si

Re: Musics

[warren]

David, looking forward to checking out your music, once I remember how  
to play it! ;-)


On the issue of scrolling games...

One SAM example that jumped out in my memory was Matt Round's Santa  
Goes Psycho 2 on Fred 52. Not much use for most games, but he used a  
really neat little trick that would work well for an R-Type style  
game, where you wanted a small section at the top or bottom moving  
along at a regular rate. It could also work for a scrolling platformer  
with some limited/stylised use.


He basically had a single image repeated across the bottom, that had  
three 'layers' of graphics (you'll see what I mean if you check the  
graphics) in the image that gave the illusion of varying speeds when  
offset by an uneven amount of pixels (probably just one pixel, I  
haven't checked). So you got the impression of 3 layers of motion  
parallax.


Either way, quite a neat trick, if anyone has a look. He also left the  
file editable, so if you load up GamesMaster, you can check out the  
graphics properly.


Warren

Quoting James R Curry <8...@itdoesntsuck.com>:


Correct -

Sam Tetris used a version of the Nemesis the Warlock music.  I  
believe this may be mentioned in the scroll text, but I'm not 100%  
sure.


Great tune.

--
James R Curry


On Apr 21, 2012, at 2:16 PM, "Aleš Keprt"  wrote:

I think this is right on ZX Spectrum. I don’t know much about C64,  
but it has some graphics accelerator at least for sprites, which in  
turn let us use simpler and faster algorithms for background  
scrolling, doesn’t it?


Also, I found this in related videos:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdzfOXkZrY0&feature=related
Isn’t it the music from Sam Tetris?  David  
Gommeren or who is the autor of Sam remake?
This SID has so different sound than our simple triangular waves on  
SAA1099. But I always liked Frantisek Fuka’s remakes of SID music  
even without these SID-like sound effects. Frantisek added more  
channels to play more notes at once instead of just copying the  
original tune.


Aley

From: Balor Price
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2012 8:20 PM
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Musics

I'm currently using the delta-update (only printing the changes) in  
XOR to get 192*192 pixel scrolling.  It doesn't go at 50 frames per  
second, but looking at the C64 version of Sanxion, that's obviously  
not running at 50fps either:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDg1GX37bkU&feature=related

For example, at about 1m35 the bonus level bullets are obviously  
skipping out lots of frames to get a good speed.  The mountain  
level before that, looks like the scrolls are going 16 pixels per  
update, which looks like 25fps at most.


But I think most people forget that full screen scrolling never  
went at 50fps on 8 bit machines.  Even the ST struggled, and the  
Amiga only managed it because it had the blitter.  If you want to  
convert it, just go with whatever you can get away with!


Howard




On 21/04/2012 18:59, Adrian Brown wrote:


Yer, with limited tiles its not soo bad. The current thing im  
working on uses a change check for updates but that’s not for  
scrolling.  Im just not sure any method would work for a mode 4  
screen, its just too much data.




Adrian



From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no  
[mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Thomas Harte

Sent: 21 April 2012 18:31
To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no
Subject: Re: Musics



The best idea I've come up with is to use a very limited number of  
tiles and scroll like one of those infinite ball demos.




So, you have 8x8 tiles and 8 screen buffers. You scroll only  
either 1 or zero pixels at a time, only ever in one direction.  
Assuming it's a right to left scroll, for each movement you switch  
from one buffer to the next. Then run through each on-screen tile  
and paint only if that tile is not the same as the tile one  
position to its left.




With a small number of possible tiles and a normal sort of  
platform game layout (ie, lots of horizontal platforms) you  
shouldn't have to draw all that much. Level two of Super Mario  
Brothers would probably be an ideal usage case.




I guess that the next thing would be to store your tile map as the  
computed list of tile changes to draw per tile column, and to  
consider whether compiling your tiles so that you map from the  
combination of old tile and new to the code and draw only the  
changes gives a meaningful boost for the memory cost.




I'm not sure whether anybody else has done this sort of thing, but  
I really mean to give it a go sometime soon.



On Saturday, 21 April 2012, Adrian Brown wrote:

That’s top, im a child of the electronic sound – don’t think my  
wife is too impressed with it blasting out of the office though ;)  
 Im working on some other sam bits at the moment (when time  
allows)  For programmery people, scrolling on sam is what let it  
down imho.  Thinking of

Re: Musics

[warren]

Thanks for that!! Just listening. Very very cool!! :-D Well done!!!  
Especially considering how quickly you did it!


I'm actually thinking at some point in the near future, of doing a  
couple of 'special editions' of the two games I got published on Fred  
many-many years ago, so if you'd ever be interested in doing some for  
music for those...? let me know. :-)


Basically thinking of re-doing a lot of the graphics and adding a host  
of polishing touches and tweaks to them. (Invasion on issue 58 and  
Sniper Fire on issue 75) Maybe even add some new levels to them. That  
way I can make a couple of sorta-new small SAM games, without tons of  
effort... ;-) thinking about doing it around the end of May, when I've  
got a nice chunk of time to myself to work on projects.


Warren

Quoting Balor Price :


On 21/04/2012 21:14, war...@wdlee.co.uk wrote:
David, looking forward to checking out your music, once I remember  
how to play it! ;-)




Sorry - tried sending an attachment to the list yesterday but  
they're blocked.


Here's a version of the disk with the music compiled on it, just  
load up the basic program...   :)


http://scenedamage.com/cookingcircle/sanxion.dsk

Re: Essential Sam Goodies

[warren]

I was just going to say the same thing as David. :-) I can even  
honestly say it's one of the few magazines I find myself reading  
everything in. If you're a SAM fan, it's fascinating stuff, whether  
it's talking about new projects (hardware and software) or old games  
that never made it, and such.


Quoting da...@properbastard.co.uk:


Quoting Colin Piggot :



Regardless of you buying T'n'T back in the day, I can only supply a  
disk image of the SAM Revival coverdisk if you buy the magazine,  
besides the coverdisk also has other software on it too - not just  
T'n'T!


Colin
=
Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the SAM Coupé
1995-2012 - Celebrating 18 Years of developing for the SAM Coupé
Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Twitter: @QuazarSamCoupe


It's definately worth buying anyway :)

Re: XOR now completed!

[warren]

Just been having a quick play!! Love that it works so fast. :-) very  
cool to see another new SAM game. How many is that now, in the last  
few months? Dave Invaders, Garden Centre of the Universe and now  
XOR... :-) What next??? :-D Those making them, should see about  
getting them mentioned in Retro Gamer magazine. They've got a section  
in the magazine about new games for all the old machines, with  
mini-reviews etc. Definitely worth a bit of free promotion and seeing  
your game in print on the shop shelves. :-)


I agree with the discussion that we all concentrated on emulating the  
16bit machines too much instead of working within the limitations to  
create other stuff, but such is the way of things. We all wanted to do  
what the big-boys could. Then again, that pushed a lot of the games  
further than a lot of people expected anyway. I suppose that's another  
area where the SAM was like the Spectrum. It wasn't technically as  
advanced as say the c64 in many ways, but competed by sheer  
versatility and creativity. Such was the SAM to the Amigas and STs. I  
think over the years the SAM has certainly proved it could do great  
stuff, when pushed to its limits. Who originally thought Lemmings  
would work? It's a shame we didn't see more games that weren't as  
limited by speed, like Dizzy/Flashback types.



I'd love to see a basic test of a wolfenstein game running! :-) It'd  
really be a nice show-piece. Having said that, if someone managed to  
get it working, once the pseudo 3D engine of that was running, why not  
create the SAM's own first FPS? (Like Colin was planning with Chrome)  
No need to use the existing Wolfenstein graphics and such, when we can  
create our own for the SAM, and our own level designs, story,  
creatures, etc?


Warren



Quoting James R Curry <8...@itdoesntsuck.com>:


I remember ordering the original from one of those ZX Spectrum mail order
places.  They were never able to deliver it, for some reason, and offered
me the choice of another game, instead.

No idea what I wound up buying.

Now I can finally play it.  Looks good!  Is it in Mode 4?

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 8:21 PM, Thomas Harte  
wrote:



I played it for five minutes and it all looked very impressive. That
being said, I don't actually know the original game so I was quite
lost. Looking at the incredibly sparse World of Spectrum inlay scan
though, I think I'm meant to work things out for myself?

On 24 April 2012 18:00, Balor Price  wrote:
> Hello everybody
>
> I'm proud to present my conversion of the 1987 Spectrum game XOR.  I
finally
> kept my promise to my teenage self to finish a SAM game!
>
> You can download it for free from the revived http://cookingcircle.co.uk
>
> I hope you enjoy it (and yell in frustration).  It's 25 years old and
still
> as rock-hard as I remember.
>
> Any feedback/initial bugs found would be greatly appreciated.  :D
>
> Cheers
> Howard





--
James R Curry
8...@itdoesntsuck.com

Re: XOR now completed!

[warren]

*Watches as stuff flies over my head* Oooh, purdy colours!!! :-D

I could do graphics and level design for it lol! Very cool to hear how  
you'd go about it... Wouldn't it be a wonderful big finger to all the  
naysayers who always said the SAM couldn't compete? ;-)


Warren

Quoting Thomas Harte :


Being one of my favourite topics... the Wolfenstein algorithm is
actually incredibly inefficient. It's a linear search for every column
and then a couple of multiplies, an add and a divide to get scale.

If you instead used a combination forward/backward renderer with
portals and convex sectors, you could do significantly better for any
sort of geometry you'd expect on that level of device.

Assuming I've thought this through, costs Wolfenstein doesn't incur
would be: per visible sector you'd end up at a quadrant test, a divide
and a small table lookup per vertex, a divide, two multiplies and
three adds per visible wall. But you'd then be looking at (much the
same) two multiplies and an add every 8 or 16 columns and just two
adds per column. So you're spending a little on setup to save a lot
per column.

You'd draw front to back, zero overdraw for the world. Sprites would
be sorted per sector and I guess you'd want to walk back to the front
in sector order to paint them in, making it a stack-type thing rather
than merely a queue.

Walls could be any angle, and costs would increase as geometry
complexity increased, whereas in Wolfenstein they increase as your
rooms get larger. But freely angle walls would probably allow you to
keep the geometry simple.

Disadvantages would be indeterminate, and usually larger, level data
sizes, and the need to create a proper editor rather than just editing
in TextEdit or Notepad or whatever.

So, yes, I'm good at bluster.

On 24 April 2012 23:18,   wrote:

Just been having a quick play!! Love that it works so fast. :-) very cool to
see another new SAM game. How many is that now, in the last few months? Dave
Invaders, Garden Centre of the Universe and now XOR... :-) What next??? :-D
Those making them, should see about getting them mentioned in Retro Gamer
magazine. They've got a section in the magazine about new games for all the
old machines, with mini-reviews etc. Definitely worth a bit of free
promotion and seeing your game in print on the shop shelves. :-)

I agree with the discussion that we all concentrated on emulating the 16bit
machines too much instead of working within the limitations to create other
stuff, but such is the way of things. We all wanted to do what the big-boys
could. Then again, that pushed a lot of the games further than a lot of
people expected anyway. I suppose that's another area where the SAM was like
the Spectrum. It wasn't technically as advanced as say the c64 in many ways,
but competed by sheer versatility and creativity. Such was the SAM to the
Amigas and STs. I think over the years the SAM has certainly proved it could
do great stuff, when pushed to its limits. Who originally thought Lemmings
would work? It's a shame we didn't see more games that weren't as limited by
speed, like Dizzy/Flashback types.


I'd love to see a basic test of a wolfenstein game running! :-) It'd really
be a nice show-piece. Having said that, if someone managed to get it
working, once the pseudo 3D engine of that was running, why not create the
SAM's own first FPS? (Like Colin was planning with Chrome) No need to use
the existing Wolfenstein graphics and such, when we can create our own for
the SAM, and our own level designs, story, creatures, etc?

Warren




Quoting James R Curry <8...@itdoesntsuck.com>:


I remember ordering the original from one of those ZX Spectrum mail order
places.  They were never able to deliver it, for some reason, and offered
me the choice of another game, instead.

No idea what I wound up buying.

Now I can finally play it.  Looks good!  Is it in Mode 4?

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 8:21 PM, Thomas Harte
wrote:


I played it for five minutes and it all looked very impressive. That
being said, I don't actually know the original game so I was quite
lost. Looking at the incredibly sparse World of Spectrum inlay scan
though, I think I'm meant to work things out for myself?

On 24 April 2012 18:00, Balor Price 
wrote:
> Hello everybody
>
> I'm proud to present my conversion of the 1987 Spectrum game XOR.  I
finally
> kept my promise to my teenage self to finish a SAM game!
>
> You can download it for free from the revived
> http://cookingcircle.co.uk
>
> I hope you enjoy it (and yell in frustration).  It's 25 years old and
still
> as rock-hard as I remember.
>
> Any feedback/initial bugs found would be greatly appreciated.  :D
>
> Cheers
> Howard





--
James R Curry
8...@itdoesntsuck.com

Re: Quick attempt at a scroller

[warren]

It's very cool to see scrolling that quick and smooth. :-) We just  
need someone to use it in a game now!!


Quoting David Sanders :


On 15 May 2012 11:32, Thomas Harte  wrote:


Or, more likely, the sad realisation that I can't scale the thing to a
proper game is fast approaching...

For the record, this is it mostly at 25fps, running (essentially) full
screen with black guttering to hide the edge jittering of yesterday:

Indeed, but we can dream eh?


That is indeed some of the smoothest, fastest full-screen scrolling I've
seen on the Coupé to date though :-)

Re: Fred 58: Sam Coupe book?

[warren]

oddly enough, having looked through FRED 58 recently looking at my old  
game, I came across that mention of the book and was curious as well.  
Like others, though, I have no idea what came of it.


It would be very cool to know what happened to it and see the  
articles/images collected. Maybe someone could finally piece it  
together to one of those 'on-demand' books?


Come to think of it, maybe that's something we should all start  
thinking about. It'd be a while before I had the time, but I wouldn't  
mind working on something like that since I've pieced together a  
couple of self-published books for my local writing group. It'd be  
pretty cool if perhaps a year from now, we could all have our own copy  
of a nice image-filled hardback about the SAM Coupe. :-)


Warren

Quoting Thomas Harte :


I've transcribed by hand (aside: is there an official transcription or
extraction of the various Fred articles anywhere?) Page 5 and about
two third of Page 6 of the editorial below. Did anything ever come of
the project?

"The big (BIG BIG BIG) news this month is that FRED will be publishing
a book all about the SAM Coupe sometime this year. it is hoped that
the book will be out in time for Christmas this year and will include
many stories from people in the SAM world about their version of the
SAM story, and any experiences they have had. Some stories are
expected to be quite technical, while others will prove to be very
funny. At the moment, Colin is getting in touch with everyone who
could have a good story (including me...) and someone who is not
involved will decide what will make the final version.

"I must stress that the book IS NOT going to be a cheap, photocopied
thing. It will be produced in the same way as any paperback novel, and
could find it's way into some computer shops around the country.

"Colin Mcdonald is funding the project entirely by himself, and
although he expects to make a loss on it, feels that it is something
that many of us would like to remember our times with the SAM. at the
moment, price has not been decided.

"The main reason for mentioning about this book so early is because we
are still looking for SAM stories. If you think you have a story
relating to the SAM which you think other people would be interested
in reading about, please write down your experiences and send them to
Colin. The number of contributions is likely to be very high, so
unfortunately we can't guarantee to use your article, but please don't
let this deter you from trying. We look forward to seeing what stories
you have. The deadline is the 1st September, but the earlier the
better."

(sic)

Re: SAM on eBay

[warren]

Would love to have the spare cash for a backup SAM. :-D
From what I've seen on ebay, £225 is very very cheap for what SAM's  
normally go for.


Quoting Balor Price :


Hello sorry for spamming

I can't remember who was after a real SAM but one's being sold on  
eBay in about 6 hours:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Sam-Coupe-with-games-dos-disks-floppy-drives-joystick-and-Messenger-/160850549334?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item2573709a56

£225 is a bit pricey but it does come with a Messenger.  Not me  
selling, promise!

Hope you're all well

Howard