News about Amstrad CPC, PCW, Notepad NC100 NC150 NC200, PDA600 and also Amstrad PC






Roland Goes Rescue 2 by Zoe Robinson, save Santa Claus and Christmas on your Amstrad CPC

-

Roland Goes Rescue 2 is the latest game by Zoe Robinson. It's of course an Amstrad CPC platform game in the spirit of Roland in Time. You can see a video of Roland Goes Rescue 2 gameplay by Amstrad Maniaque on Youtube.

You play as Roland, a hapless assistant to Father Christmas, who is tasked with rescuing all the gifts Santa had planned to deliver to the good little girls and boys of the world. Why does Roland have to do this? Because the naughty goblins have stolen all the presents!

Guide Roland around all the weird and wonderful locations in the game to collect the gifts so Santa can deliver them. If you fail, Christmas is ruined – but don’t worry, you’ll be able to try again because it’s only a game… isn’t it ?


Youtube video



The Errand Boy, a graphical adventure game by Dwalin

-

After Las Aventuras de Rudolphine Rur released in April 2020 by Dwalin, he just has released a new graphical adventure game : The Errand Boy which you can play online if you have no read Amstrad CPC computer or emulator.

The Errand Boy» is a short conversational adventure, originally written for MSDOS by Dwalin in 2021, using JSJ’s SINTAC G3 parser. Later it has been ported to DAAD, and also published for Spectrum, Spectrum Next, Amstrad CPC and MSX2. It is the first adventure that I translate into English (with the help of Jade, @lecambre and @buleste), so I hope you can forgive any mistakes I may have made. The history is the following : your boss reintroduced you as «the errand boy» … and you’re done! A thousand years of service does not deserve this, and someone will pay for it.



An unofficial Amstrad CPC mini by Retronano

-

Retronano is making miniatures computers in 3D with a Raspberry PI inside, for example an Amiga 3000, Macintosh 2, etc...

This time the target is a miniature (20% of the real size) Amstrad CPC 6128 with a Raspberry PI zero (knowing that the zero 2 is out since not very long and much more powerful). The SD card goes into the not for real disk drive of this miniature 6128, it's a nice idea.

Click on the link above for more informations including price :

  • 40€ for the model alone without electronics
  • 99€ for the model with Pi zero, sdcard with cpc emu, hdmi adapter and micro usb hub (only 4 in strock)

He takes orders by message, payement by paypal, delivery 6€ for France and 12€ for europe.

It's very nice but I have already 3 raspberry PI at home with installed Amstrad CPC emulator and in fact I am using my good old Amstrad CPC 6128+ instead or plain 6128. So I dont feel the urge to buy oe for myself.



It's Behind you : the making of a computer game by Bob Pape about the R-Type game

-

You can download the book by Bob Pape : It's behind you : the making of a computer game which is about the game R-Type that he wrote at the time on ZX Spectrum. The game was released in 1987 on Amstrad CPC with a remake by Easter Egg in 2012 (which you can see a video on Youtube).


Youtube video



Upgrading an Amstrad MegaPC with the MegaCard by Keropi

-

You are the happy owner of an Amstrad MegaPC Amstrad and you wish to offer it to me for Christmas ? So don't hesitate to buy first the MegaCard to upgrade your computer and offer it the following features :

  • ALS100 sound controller chip providing SB/SBPRO/SB16 compatibility
  • real Yamaha OPL3 FM chip
  • Realtek 8019AS network controller providing a 10mbps ethernet connection and boot rom support for XT-IDE BIOS
  • scandoubler that makes possible for the onboard MegaDrive to output a standard VGA signal
  • an optional exclusive Serdaco MIDI daughterboard - the X3GS with a 16MB Roland-licensed GS soundbank (same core features as X2GS)
  • ISA header and MIDI I/O + routing configuration for an upcoming PCMIDI MPU upgrade db

For more informations on this card and photos, go read the thread on Vogons.

You can see a video of RMC - The Cave which shows the MegaCard on Youtube.

You can also check the Amstrad PC group on Facebook where it has been showed several times already.


Youtube video



PunyInform v3.3 by Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson to write text adventure games

-

PunyInform v3.3 by Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson is a library written in Inform 6 to create adventure game (pure text, no graphic support contrary to DAAD) using the Z-machine virtual machine which will run on 8bit computers (or more recent computers too). PunyInform has a parser, knowing of common verbs and a framework to write adventure games.

PunyInform is based on the Inform 6 library written by Graham Nelson. Its goal is to make easily adventure games in Inform 6, with a manual describing the differences between the official library and PunyInform..

Games using PunyInform can be compiled in z3, z5 and z8 format (z3 being the best format for 8bit computers, other formats have more features). Compared to the Inform 6 library, it means that there is no support for the Glulx virtual machine but z3 format is important as Inform 6 doesnt support it.

To compile games written with PunyInform, you should use the Inform 6 compiler maintained by David Kinder. Binaries are available on if-archive. PunyInform needs Inform v6.35 (or more).

They are tutorials to write adventure game with PunyInform (end of the page) and all the documentation including a 8 page cheat sheet (quick reference)..

To try your game after compilation, you can use WinFrotz by David Kinder, to create map easily you can use Trizbort.

And finally, to create an Amstrad CPC and PCW disk image, you will have to use the Puddle BuildTools.




Just Get 9, a reflexion game for Amstrad CPC by cpcitor and the other days

-

Just Get 9 is atile-based puzzle game for the Amstrad CPC. If you like 2048, tetris, coloris, color flood, you’ll like it. You can visit the Itch.IO page of Just get 9 which includes a trailer video, and :

  • one-click play in-browser
  • download zip, play on your favorite emulator
  • zip contains disc image, tape images and even audio files for easy transfer to a real CPC

The beta version was awarded in CPC GAMEDEV CONTEST 2020 in Facebook group "Amstrad CPC pour toujours and beyond !". The final version is enhanced in many aspects for your gaming pleasure :

  • a gameplay based on alignment of tiles, which changes when tiles disappear, letting new ones fall and fill the gaps
  • rich dynamics making gameplay entertaining as you progress in skills
  • play with joystick or keyboard (arrows, qaop)
  • a big colorful playfield (vertical overscan 256x256 instead of the normal 320x200)
  • animation at solid 50Hz
  • music
  • digitized speech!
  • a few bells and whistles to be discovered…

Direct credits (see more credits in the zip and the game) :

  • project, coding, text, video, by cpcitor
  • music by The Other Days

Youtube video



Kilobyte Magazine issue 1 of 2021 is available

-

The first issue of 2021 of the Kilobyte Magazine is available for download. This newspaper is about consoles and computers from another time.



Black Sea a WIP Amstrad CPC game by Mananuk

-

Black Sea Treasure Hunters by Mananuk is an Amstrad CPC which beta version is available if you order the physical version. The game is already available on ZX Spectrum. You can see a video of the game Black Sea by Xenomorph.

The story of the game is the following : submarine Captain Robinson goes deep into the Black Sea to search for treasures and discover all the secrets that those waters hold. The small bathyscaphe has a very limited oxygen deposit, so you will have to go to the nearby ports to recharge the cylinders. You must be careful not to disturb the inhabitants of the sea if you do not want to end up in the depths of the Black Sea.


Youtube video