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Taking a break from this Speccy project. Got other stuff to do ATM. I have a daily rule that I never leave anything non-working, even if it means going back to the last good point. Otherwise I just get lost when i do return to it. Tidy up some bits, back it up, then shelve it for a few months.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

I think forums, blogs, and personal websites would be nice to see come back en masse. BlueSky is better used as a newspaper (big announcements, advertising projects etc.). Overcentralisation feels claustrophobic, but random sites are too scattered. Something in between would be good.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Late to the game as usual, but The Rubber Keyed Wonder was excellent! Thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. #ZXSpectrum

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

I don't like this "From Discover" thing injecting posts into my other feeds. Suggested content is a downward spiral, so BlueSky better pull their socks up, lest it become another toilet site.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Making some progress with organising code. Managed to get some non-critical stuff into &7000, and got the back buffer out of that contended memory. It's not made things that much faster TBH, but there is a slight difference and that's good.

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

I don't recall ever hearing about the '83 games crash back then, let alone feeling the impact of it. All I remember is the shelves of WH Smith and John Menzies being absolutely packed with games, and microcomputers were all the rage. The crash was an event, yes, but worldwide? Not even a blip.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Very cool hack of Megadrive Double Dragon. The new colours are welcome, but for me the big plus is the inclusion of the arcade game's sound effects. The original ones were very weak and took all the weight out of the combat. The new music is much more accurate too. Great stuff!

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

Did a nice intro sequence, but wanted to separate as a binary so it could free RAM. Spent the last week trying to un-weave it from the main program, and it was a nightmare! Even when separated, some routines just didn't work, but simply moving stuff around inexplicably solved it. Coding is weird!

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

My new NES power supply arrived, and everything works like a charm now! It's probably psychosomatic, but it feels good playing on original hardware. Especially as it's the exact same unit I had back in the day. I quite like the composite fuzz too. Reminds me of the RF into a 70s TV that I had.

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Decided to dig out my old NES for some authentic action, but the power supply has died. Changed fuse, checked wires, and tested it on another device. Zip! Replacement on the way, but still sad that my 35 year old thing has bit the dust. In true man style, it will not be thrown out.

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

An addendum to yesterday's TMNT post. I was referring to another Displaced Gamers video in which he breaks down the jump mechanics, but this dam level analysis is more relevant (and equally fascinating). #NES #TMNT

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Playing one of my favourite NES games - Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Completely forgot how to navigate the dam level, and took 3 attempts to get by it. Great game! Underrated soundtrack too. Displaced Gamers did a fantastic technical video about the controls and frame rate. #RetroGaming #NES

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

I regularly pick albums from bands I think I won't enjoy and give the entire thing a spin. It's surprising how enjoyable it is when you listen to the nuances. Other times it just doesn't click. "Don't like" and "Won't like" are very different. Give things a chance before dismissing them. Games too.

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

I haven't written anything for my blog in ages, but I got around to doing a short review of Real Double Dragon for the NES which was released last year. 2-Player heaven! #BeatEmUp #NES

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

Finally got the music working after a lot of trial and error. Had to include ORG statements in BOTH player and music data before converting to binaries, then load to those exact locations. Didn't help that I was putting them in Bank 4, too. Ok, there's maybe enough here for a showcase soon.

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

Getting some bleeps and blips now, but it's as if it can't find the music data. I hard coded the music binary to an address on export (as instructed) and loaded to that exact address from the disk, but it's not working. The Arkos Tracker forum appears to be dead, so I may need an alternative.

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

I think I found my music issue. I'm using a pre-converted Arkos Tracker player, but it's for V 1.0, and my song was made with Arkos Tracker 2. Will still have to convert the source for VASM which is a pain, but I'm hoping this'll solve it.

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

Been trying for a week to get some music playing, but can't seem to get it working. The multiple players and formats are a little overwhelming, as is the need to assemble with RASM, convert, then reassemble with VASM. It's probably something stupid I've forgotten, but it's becoming a pain.

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Longplay channels & game documentaries are some of the few remaining YouTube content that isn't clickbait or grift. Drama happens, but I tend to avoid it as the puritanical pile-ons can be just as bad as the initial crime. Regardless, #retrogaming is still one of the fun things about the internet.

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

It's been an age since I played Street Fighter II on the #SNES, but I gave it a bash today. Made it to Sagat on my first go. It's hard to overstate just how mind-blowing this conversion was. I obsessed over the Mean Machines preview for about a year before getting it on grey import. #RetroGaming

submitted 47 days ago • 1 comment

I only use Facebook to keep in touch with pals. It's long been dead as a social media site, and it seems like 95% of the content is moan-zone "nostalgia" groups where they they wank themselves silly by patting themselves on the back. No FB alternative though, so Zuck will have a captive audience.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

One of my favourite pieces of game music. The early 90s was loaded with this ravey type of tune, and it was brilliant! Body Blows and Stardust had some crackers too. Allister Brimble is the king of crisp samples. #Amiga #ChipTune

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

Spent my Christmas week dying with the flu, but back on it now. Decided to write some music, so been making instruments in Arkos Tracker and having a laugh coming up with 8-Bit beats and funky basslines. Getting the player into my Speccy code will probably be a bitch but I know roughly what to do.

submitted 50 days ago • 0 comments

A deleted scene from the end sequence of Double Dragon: Legacy. Jimmy cleans himself up for Heather, and helps an old friend start a business in place of the old gang club. A few cameos appear as well. Couldn't quite find a place for it, but it's a fun scene. #DoubleDragon #BeatEmUp #Brawler

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

The boat level background graphics in Streets of Rage always fascinated me. The detail is excellent & very atmospheric. Particularly the shading on the round containers, which looked near photo-real. SoR is more famous for it's audio, but it was a beautiful looking game too. #RetroGaming #PixelArt

submitted 61 days ago • 0 comments

Asked an AI if it could remember the name of a TV program from the early 90s. It returned a pretty convincing result, then admitted that it just made the whole thing up when pressed for further details. Good career in politics awaits.

submitted 61 days ago • 0 comments

Merry Christmas all! My Xmas message, - There is no "best". Only "favourite". - Politics isn't football. You can switch teams. - Frank Langella was an incredible Skeletor - Mike Haggar isn't dead - Kindness is not weakness - Emulation is still "real" gaming - Be Excellent to each other

submitted 62 days ago • 1 comment

The Double Dragon Dojo website is still up. For a site that's been around since 2000 this makes me happy, although it appears to have been abandoned, and the forum is full of scam bots. Still a decent, nostalgic read if you're a hardcore fan though. #DoubleDragon #RetroGaming

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

Got an old T5500 Sony Vaio (PCG-7Y1M) with Vista on it that I bought in 2007 for recording. Was thinking of wiping the drive and doing a clean Windows 7 install on it, but worried there may be compatibility issues with the laptop hardware that may have been designed for Vista. Safe or no?

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

Keeping projects under cover until they are 90% done is a new rule. The dopamine hit of posting every teeny bit of progress isn't worth it, becasue people can't grasp the concept of "work-in-progress" and will critique as if it was final, as well as offering unsolicited requests/ideas. #GameDev

submitted 68 days ago • 2 comments

Moderated comments on YouTube don't show up on the bell. You have to go to YT Studio, then to "Community", then to the "Held" tab to manually check if anyone has said anything. It's about 4 extra unnecessary clicks, and it's bullshit!

submitted 73 days ago • 0 comments

I was thinking about which retro system had the most gatekeepy and toxic fan base. You know the ones. The kind of folk in their 40s/50s who still engage in tribal playground nonsense. It's all about beating the other side, and not accepting that your machine has limits. There's at least 3.

submitted 73 days ago • 0 comments

An extensive article about what Commodore maybe could have done to stay afloat with the Amiga in the 1990s. This is a completely subjective and speculative take, so don't let your feathers get ruffled.

submitted 75 days ago • 0 comments

I'm a big supporter of unofficial fan games (obviously). They are great for learning as the assets are readily available, and it's nice to experiment with your own ideas. It's temping to charge for them due to the work put in, but don't. Donations are fine, but the game must be freely available.

submitted 77 days ago • 0 comments

Finally got some proper graphics in my Speccy game. Looks decent! Tested 4 different backgrounds with the tilemap routine and they all come out fine, though they all need to be the same length in 8x8 tiles. Not worrying about attributes for now. Just monochrome will do. Pixel dopamine feels nice!

submitted 78 days ago • 0 comments

Double Dragon II gets heat for being a copy of the first game, but it's not really. The controls are different, and the game has bosses now. Mission 2 was the only copy of DD1. The other levels are very different. The Megadrive game gave M2 an original layout which is what the arcade should've had.

submitted 78 days ago • 0 comments

Was reading an interesting post, then the feed auto-updated itself before I had a chance to finish. Now its gone. #Bluesky, please nip this rubbish right now. It's was annoying on Twitter, and it's just as bad here.

submitted 79 days ago • 0 comments