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







X-mem, Y-Mem and now the Z-Mem and D-Rom by TotO for Amstrad CPC(+)

-

Before the Z-Mem by TotO, there were the X-Mem and the Y-Mem : the difference is the addressing of RAM and ROM. While the X-MEM addresses the lower ROM, ROMs 0-6 and 8-31, the Y-MEM addresses the ROMs from 32 to 63. The X-MEM allows to access 512 Kb RAM using the port &7Fxx. And the Y-MEM addresses another 512 Kb using the port &7Exx.

Using the X-MEM and the Y-MEM together you get 1 Mb of expansion RAM and 1 MB of Flash-ROM for the CPC or Plus computers.

And so the new Amstrad CPC expansion card Z-Mem get 1 Mb of RAM already (but without ROMs), useful for SymbOS users or to run the demo Bad Apple which needs as such RAM as 1 Mb ! So see this demo running with a Z-Mem and a PlayCity below.

The Z-Mem manages all PAL modes for the 464/664 and 464+ users. A switch "RAM 64K/SET" let you run like a basic 6128 ou to state the quantity of memory to use up to 1024 Kb. The Z-MEM will be sold for 29.90 € for 2x512K SRAM (other configurations to be defined later).

carte 1 Mo de RAM Z-MEM par TotO

The D-ROM (dual rom) is a 2x 256Kb flash board for 19.90 €) that allows you to handle two independants sets of ROM, boot, firmware or DOS (ROM7 compatible). The principle is the same than the ROM part of the X-Mem. The card let you boot on either of them with its own firmware and basic. A switch "ROM7 YES/NO" let users with CPC without AMSDOS (or which cant be desactivated) to install their own DOS.

512 Kb ROM expansion card : D-ROM by TotO





Updated version of Zynaps (Hewson) by CPC Wiki (2011)

-

Not really a fresh news (2011), but while reading the thread about the english version of the abbaye of crime, that there is an updated version of Zynaps due to CPC Wiki user with the following updates :

  • Loader & overscan code : SyX
  • Overscan splash screen : TotO
  • Splash screen music : Neil Grieve (C64) converted by SuTeKH/Epyteor
  • Splash screen music play-routine : Targhan
  • Cheat-Mode & Raster-Logo patch : CPC-Wiki & SaroneTC


Synchronized music of 1943 (Amstrad CPC and Amiga) by John Gage

-

A new video by John Gage : synchronized music of the arcade game 1943 (Capcom) converted on Amstrad CPC by Probe Software (AY in stereo) and Amiga.

The original music is written on both computers by Jason C. Brooke with the same octave and tempo.




The Abbey of crime, an Amstrad CPC spanish game, now translated in english !

-

It's done, The Abbey of crime, the spanish Amstrad CPC game based on the book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco has been translated in english by :

Beware, it's a Work in Progress translation, but a good part has been done already.



You can now order the Amstrad CPC fanzine Quasar by Futur's on their web site

-

In 2009, Quasar switched from paper area to numeric as a wiki. Today, you can order the past issues of the fanzine Quasar, either in paper, disk or PDF format.

On main page, click on the link Le Bazar.




An Amstrad CPC 464 without its defective drive tape by Olivier Bruneau (2nd part)

-

Here are the last 3 photos byOlivier Bruneau who had an Amstrad CPC 464 with a defective drive tape, so he removed it after seing a forum where someone had the same problem and the radical solution he used. The photos now includes a DDI3 USB Floppy Emulator by Zaxon.

Thanks to Olivier for letting me put his photo on the web site.

Amstrad CPC 464 sans lecteur de disquettes 1 sur 3 par Olivier Bruneau Amstrad CPC 464 sans lecteur de disquettes 2 sur 3 par Olivier Bruneau Amstrad CPC 464 sans lecteur de disquettes 3 sur 3 par Olivier Bruneau



The shadows of Sergoth, a dungeon crawler for Amstrad CPC

-

The shadows of Sergoth is a new dungeon crawler in development for the Amstrad CPC 6128. The level shown in this youtube video of The Shadows of Sergoth are not the definite ones, and there is still a lot of things to add, like sounds, monsters, puzzles,...

The game is developped by :

  • Chris94 : specification, game programming, graphic design, level design and translation
  • Kukulcan : game story, game scripting, game intro programming and level design
  • Ced : game story, game scripting and graphic design
  • Rayxamber : sounds and musics
  • TJ/GPA : sounds and musics
  • Maxit : translation
  • MiguelSky : translation

The happy testers are : Fredouille, Galamoth, Maxit, Snake Plissken and Tanuki.

Thanks to all of them !