MtM

Calling all forum members! I know I am far from the most prominent member of these hallowed forums. However, I hope no-one will mind if I make the following suggestion:- https://www.playexpoblackpool.com/ The suggestion is that we all meet up at the above show, on Sat 23rd and / or (xor?) Sun 24th of October, 2021. I think that quite a few of us live in the North of England, so getting to and from Blackpool is not so hard hopefully. I have a decent sized car, and would be happy if there was interest or need to pick people up etc. given enough forward planning. I appreciate some folk live in other countries, but hopefully they could get there if they were allowed - what would we be without our brothers and sisters from around the world, united as we are in our love of JSW&MM? All this of course is subject to the pandemic, and the event itself could well be cancelled. However, there is pay on the door, so no one needs to commit to buying a ticket even. Tickets are £18 for an adult on either Sat or Sun. Please look at the website for more info. If there is no interest, then fair enough. I am not suggesting having a stand etc., but _perhaps_ /maybe we could have t shirts made at least and the likes of Spider, IRF, JSDanny, Norman Sword & Dr Broad, RIchard H & Geoff could all do autographs or the like 😉 Maybe even a pop up stand with speedruns being done by top folk like RBricks and Crem demoing AI finishing JSW. Just a few ideas. It need cost next to nothing, especially if we brought our own gear. I personally would like to see Norman writing a new MM from scratch in a few hours whilst cheered on by event goers! Maybe even _the_ great one, he whose name must not be said out loud, M Smith, might be there? Anyway, just a suggestion to see what people think, it could be fun - or not! Apologies if this has already been discussed amongst the forum elders 😉 MtM.

Almost QBert that JianYang!

Norman, how about a tennis themed set of screens somewhere? Seems timely at the moment with the French open, and Wimbledon approaching, and I am sure Andrew Broad would like that too 😉 I have downloaded your latest file and will give it a go tonight on the old Next. Thanks for all your top work.

Don't take this the wrong way Crem - but is it worth the effort? Sounds like a lot of time and work. If you are doing it for a specific purpose, some kind of thesis submission / research etc. then fair enough. Likewise if it is just for your own enjoyment, and ours too in a secondary fashion.

Ah good suggestion, I did just that and watched it thanks.

Video didn't work at all for me Crem - I am on Firefox latest version.

Sorry, it was a joke 😉 I haven't been able to complete it at all so far.

Some mega old hardware there Andy! Worth a fortune that lot on Ebay ...

I have done it with about 10 seconds to spare 😉

Hello Tony, welcome to the forum! That is a very impressive entrance too, a new and improved version of MM, congratulations with that. It has been a very long time since I fired up a Beeb emulator ... is there any chance of a link to a youtube video of it if there is one please? Welcome again. Now, I should know this, but I don't for sure - did JSW come out on the Beeb too? If so, then maybe that is your next project ... 😉

I don't know if this would improve it Danny, and I am not trying to create work, but maybe a table in the form of something like this Best human score - Best cpu score Central Cavern 20000 - 21000 Cold Store 20000 - 21000 You get the idea. No worries if you think it no use etc, it isn't really, just interested personally to see how far behind human players are in terms of best scores etc. I guess there is something to be learned by speedrunners from that maybe, or just people wanting to improve their playing.

Welcome to the forum nw2! Glad you found your way over from Spectrum Computing. I am amazed that IRF has so little to say about this! 😉 Given their supreme knowledge of coding! However, I am sure that others will offer an opinion and help, I hope so anyway, as IRF say it does sound like an interesting project. Keep up the good work, and welcome again.

Well, if you listen to the link above from 10 seconds onwards, and listen to the .tap from 27 seconds onwards, they are identical. It could be that the .tap is an amalgam of another tune as well, I am just trying to work that part out.

In fairness Richard, it was said a bit tongue in cheek, I have read your comments on the Next FB page previously as I stated, I know nothing anyone says really will change it. The Next FB page seems a shadow of itself to me, and the official Next forums seem a bit more active, and there are a few good people on there and certainly a few Next team members who will help out. Thanks for replying anyway, and do not underestimate your powerful influence either! Your long posts are always worth reading for a lot of people, myself included. Spider makes a reasonable point about the ease of using the FB app, which I have never done but I take his word for it, over using a forum. As for the .tap tune .... it's right on the tip of my tongue. Standby ... It is, of course, The Washington Post March... Enjoy!

So come on Dr B then, get coding 😉 Utilise the power of your dreams! Yes, I agree with the speed of JSWII as well I think, it did come to mind originally, but I particularly like the cadence of how Chuckie Egg II plays, a _hugely_ overlooked platformer. I think they are probably similar speeds left to right.

Definitely not mass multiplayer! Yes, the Spectrum could handle it, it handled all those other games. Probably 128k though.

Briefly, I was thinking about all the elements that I would want to see in my dream platform game. i) the non-linearity & mystery of JSW - it is possible to explore for the fun of exploring ii) the stairs of JSW - the diagonals are simple but very effective iii) an option for a constant in game tune like JSW / MM iv) the long swinging ropes of JSW to be climbed in the same way v) the short swinging ropes of Turmoil - unclimable vi) the ladders and ropes of Lode Runner vii) the springs of Turmoil to vault you upwards viii) the teleporters of Bounty Bob Strikes Back ix) the moving platforms of Chuckie Egg x) up / down / left / right / pickup & drop / jump controls - so 6 in all xi) the crumbling platforms of Manic Miner xii) the switches of Manic Miner - they could have an effect on that screen / other screens xiii) the simple but effective object collection and manipulation of Chuckie Egg II xiv) the vastness of JSW II but even bigger! xv) individually named screens xvi) characters the same size of MW - works so well in terms of screen design xvii) a coherent, logical and functioning game world like Chuckie Egg II xviii) the game speed of ... hmm, not sure of that one. xix) a linear section played a screen at a time like MM - only a few screens though. xx) the Swiss clock precision of Technician Ted's engine. A lot easier though! xxi) the varied and creative sprites of MM & JSW xxii) sprites that followed patterns but also chased the player on occasion to vary gameplay like Turmoil xxiii) sprites that react to the player's movement like Lode Runner Probably missed a few out. Just a daydream ... I think this game could be called... Technical Chuckie Miner Strikes a Load of Oil 😉

I may have this wrong or overlooked something, but given Norman's genius, and of course that of others too, could perhaps the beam turn different colours depending on whether it is sapping 4 / 8 / 12 units of air?, so red for 8, blue for 12, bright green for 4? Just a suggestion. Or maybe Willy would be better off changing colour, depending on what he is doing on screen, how his pixels are spread to so speak? Just to make an awkward request, I would like the end of the beam, unless it is currently in contact with MW and so displaying as above, to go through the rainbow effect of colours too, get a bit of that Defender action going there 😉 - it will show though practically that the beam in terminating there. On a roll here (!) - how about a feature whereby if the beam contacts a sprite, the sprite is stunned for a few seconds and stops moving due to the power of the beam? Or alternatively the sprite speeds up as if boosted by the beam's power?

10 seconds for me counted very scientifically using 1 thousand, 2 thousand etc 😉 I'm not joking! But it is completely playable now thank you. Just the sound to go! 🙂 It did take a long time to load, I am using 87.0 Firefox 64 bit which I think is the latest version. It looks lovely and colourful, though I note the right hand side of the screen has a flicker / shake to it on occasion? Anyway, top work Heracleum, please keep it up!

Whilst Richard is 'on' so to speak, is there anyway Richard you can use your powerful (!) influence regarding the use of FB for the Next community? I know you have tried in the past and mentioned it, in truth the open FB page is nothing like as busy as it was maybe a year ago which I think personally is a good thing, even if it is perhaps indicative of a slowing down at least of Next relevant and related material, at least that is my perception. It is also not very inclusive - if you do not use FB, as many people don't, then you cannot access everything, whereas a proper forum such as this and the decent though often quite official Next forums are pretty much transparent whether an official user or not. Apologies, this is a bit off topic.

It certainly references Toccata and Fugue by Bach I would say I don't recognise it as a genuine classical piece, I agree with IRF. It doesn't seem to appear in this list, Alchemist. https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=2669&hilit=classical

I had SkyRanger as well Spider, on original original! It was a good game but very difficult. However, the speed of the vector graphics was very impressive and effective and thought, and they featured line removal, one of the earliest games to do that to good effect I think. Definitely not built on the SD/BTS engine that one 😉 I am well aware of Contact Sam Cruise too, one I will get around to playing one day. I suppose SD & BTS both have non-classical platform elements too, might of been fun as platform games in a way. I wonder whatever happened to the Reidy's? As I say, their overall quality of output was tremendous, and varied too, never released a bad game. Who remembers The Train Game by them, in 16k on the Speccy? That was great fun, like something you would play on your phone these days. Possibly still a contender for the best 16k Spectrum game, not forgetting Sir Lancelot of course, fab theme tune that.

Well said Spider! Microsphere had a phenomenal strike rate considering it was just two people, sometimes three. Skooldaze is perhaps the greatest Spectrum game ever in a way, never really been anything like it since, other than Back to Skool. Just my opinion.

Thank you for that Norman. That is the received wisdom, and I agree it is very likely the case that someone called Adrian Sherwin wrote the Birds and the Bees, just very surprised that MS says it was Derrick Rowson in the interview. It may well be a genuine mistake by MS as I say, or even the interviewer. MS also says that Steve Wetherill was involved in the interview, again, this may be wrong, but I suppose given this is what MS says in the interview, it seems reasonable to wonder if it is actually correct or there is anything in it at least. Given that Adrian Sherwin did write Monster Muncher that is of note, and coincidence perhaps.

Hello All, I read this interview recently with Matthew Smith from 1999 https://www.kevssite.com/matthew-smith-interview/ The interview is very short. At the end, MS says something that struck me as unusual - that the Birds and the Bees was written by Derrick Rowson. Now that didn't seem right to me, so I looked it up thus:- https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/536/ZX-Spectrum/The_Birds_and_the_Bees The game is credited to Adrian Sherwin, not Derrick Rowson. We know that Derrick Rowson wrote JSW II among other things:- https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/list?label_id=3737 Furthermore, if you look Adrian Sherwin up ... https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/list?label_id=417 then you see a list of his games. Among them is Monster Muncher, a game credited to MS on his wikipedia page ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Smith_(games_programmer) Monster Muncher was written on the Vic20 apparently by MS. So, I just wonder - are there mistakes in the above? Was MS wrong about saying Birds and the Bees was written by Derrick Rowson, it could easily be a genuine mistake? Was the person who did the interview wrong in some way, typed it up wrong? Could Adrian Sherwin and Derrick Rowson be one and the same person, using a programming pen name? Could Adrian Sherwin somehow be MS, given that he is credited with Monster Muncher on the Spectrum? Not trying to start any kind of conspiracy here folks, just one or two of the above things struck me as being perhaps more than coincidental, but I daresay there is a logical explanation for it all. I thought it was interesting enough to share anyway, apologies if it is old news and has all been covered before.