The ZXC4 is brilliant as it uses Sinclair's original hardware to the full. Its is also great to see Interface 1's serial port in action doing something really useful. I expected programming would be complicated, but the software is in fact menu driven and extremely easy to use . Once the cartridge is programmed via interface 1 it can be used on a machine with just interface 2 (or equivalent) attached. Here's is the short video I uploaded 7 months ago ua-cam.com/video/dy6VOKtrE4M/v-deo.html
I remember the ZX Spectrum + had a reset switch, I guess that might work with the ZXC4, too? The ZXC4 device, wow absolutely amazing by the looks of things! Great video, like always thank-you. Never played the Star Trek 3000 game, looks like it's worth a try, I recollect a game called Plant fall, which I definitely remember playing and enjoying, it was on a compilation called 30-Games, think they were mainly Argus Press games, with one or two Quicksilver games Xadom was another really good game, several others but I might be going for too long. I will close by mentioning I really enjoy the arcade gameplay of Turtles/ Turpin.
Your 48K picture is crystal clear, they always look worse on a modern TV anyway. I liked operation wolf, the lightgun was great but the way the white stripe appeared on the screen to detect where the gun was pointing got a bit distracting. Can't remember if it came with the light gun or was a seperate buy. Rookie and solar invasion seemed to be the best from that pack.
I still have my old Spectrum from the late 80's, a few years back I got a SD Card reader for it and dumped a ton of .tap files, not quite the original experience but still cool to play those old games I used to love.
I always thought a big Spectrum slip up was not including the interface 2 in the Interface 1, as it would have been easier to implement full 48K Rom mode. I like Operation wolf in how smooth it plays.
I agree with you that 48k ROM games back then would have been brilliant although I expect they would have had to be much more costly than tape. One advantage of having a separate interface 2 is you can use it with third party interfaces that are incompatible with interface 1. For example an Opus Discovery disk drive. E.g you can instantly load the Last Word WP program from ZXC4 ROM, and save your documents to the Opus Discovery floppy drive disk.
You know how it's standard practice, once you've heard it a couple of times, to skip the intro bit. I don't do that with these, the music just means there's more wonderful Spectrum stuff to learn about ;)
It would be great for you to show your top 10 type-in’s ripe for machine code makeovers, the Robots one is intriguing as an idea if there was better AI on the robots and if movement was smooth
I had that star trek game on a big compilation somewhere.. maybe that 50 games thing? Cant remember. But it certainly looks familiar in all it's BASIC goodness.
Ah I remember playing the Spectrum version of Operation Wolf [6:45], and completing it after quite a lot of fun hours. I think I'd only played the arcade version once or twice and the Spectrum version was the most expensive game I'd ever bought to that point (might have been a birthday/christmas present) - had to make do with under-3 pound games mostly before that, maybe sub-five-quid a few times.
@@bier00t The Among Us 'sprites' look exactly like that. This is more of a point-and-click adventure, but the design of the characters themselves do not belong to the maker of this Spectrum game.
Superb as always, thank you! Paul, have you played Star Trek by R & R Software? I loved Star Trek games and the R&R one was by far my favourite one on the Spectrum. also, time for a review of Minder by Dk'Tronics? ;)
My 90 year old dad died 3 years ago and we have a whole drawer of the Spectrum stuff, manuals etc. and Commodore. We have no idea what to do with it all. We were going to trash it but think it may be worth something to someone hence why I am here trying to research. No idea what you are all talking about but any advice would be helpful. Thank you.
I will hapilly tell you about any item you have, what it does and the average price you could get for it. Just email me some pics. See my website for details.
@@BuckingTheTrend2008 Thank you Paul. Won't be for a couple of weeks yet till I can get some pics. The only thing I have here is at the moment is a Currah Speech 24 thing that I have no idea what it's about. Dad was well into the original computers and programming. Kept everything with manuals bless him. Bit of a prof! Thanks again will get back to you.
Really love the 4mb cartridge is anyone converting rtype so that the multiload works from the cartridge? Roll on 8mb and 16mb! Is it impossible to load save data to a cartridge? Useful for elite, also u say u set the serial port speed to 56kbits per second are u sure i thought interface 1 is 19200 maximum no? Sam coupé serial is 38400 max i think though there was a problem with the interface
Jet Pac Advanced on the ZX is the best unnoficial JP sequel out there, everything is kept the same except the platforms are now different coloures and in different positions giving a fresh challenge. The same needs to happen with Chuckie Egg 1, just recreate 8 new levels and don't mess with anything else resulting in a sequel worthy of the original, I understand programmers feel the need to also mess with other bits to update those classic games but I personally don't like when that happens, someone must create 8 new Chuckie Egg levels, It's a matter of urgency PLEASE, enough JSW clones.
It's a shame the Spectrum ROM cartridge format didn't take off. Most (all?) of the released cartridges have 7 or 8 kB of unused space in the cartridge. If games had been written specifically for the format they could've had the gameplay of something more like a 48k game...
I think spectrum should have pushed the roms more. Would have had greater games as they would not have had load times like tapes. Loved Bloodwych. Was a huge game.
It wasn't really viable with the hardware at the time. They were too expensive and the way the ROM cart system was designed it could only replace the lower 16k of ROM. To say nothing of the additional expense of the interface required to use them. ( It certainly didn't do anything to help the Timex 2086, which essentially designed with a built in Interface 2. ) It seems likely the late great Sir Clive was expecting "serious" users to stump up for his Microdrives instead, which is why those ended up integrated into the QL. In principle this offered even more storage and much faster loading than standard cassettes, though much has also been written of the reliability issues.
@@TheTurnipKing i had microdrives for my spectrum. Used the multiface 1 to move games to microdrive and of course had a interface 2 for joystics. The commodore people bought add ons like disk drives. So it would be fair to buy an interface 2 for the speccy giving you joysticks and of course the roms. They should have just invested more into it. Later when nes came out, they just worked with roms.
@@mizmera The problem is that, when faced with the choice of buying Jetpac for £10 with 5 minute load times, or Jetpac for £40+ the cost of the interface and instant load times, /most/ of the userbase went for the cassette. Or possibly more accurately, another blank cassette onto which they could copy a friends copy of Jetpac.
The ZXC4 is brilliant as it uses Sinclair's original hardware to the full. Its is also great to see Interface 1's serial port in action doing something really useful. I expected programming would be complicated, but the software is in fact menu driven and extremely easy to use . Once the cartridge is programmed via interface 1 it can be used on a machine with just interface 2 (or equivalent) attached. Here's is the short video I uploaded 7 months ago
ua-cam.com/video/dy6VOKtrE4M/v-deo.html
I remember the ZX Spectrum + had a reset switch, I guess that might work with the ZXC4, too? The ZXC4 device, wow absolutely amazing by the looks of things! Great video, like always thank-you. Never played the Star Trek 3000 game, looks like it's worth a try, I recollect a game called Plant fall, which I definitely remember playing and enjoying, it was on a compilation called 30-Games, think they were mainly Argus Press games, with one or two Quicksilver games Xadom was another really good game, several others but I might be going for too long. I will close by mentioning I really enjoy the arcade gameplay of Turtles/ Turpin.
Your 48K picture is crystal clear, they always look worse on a modern TV anyway. I liked operation wolf, the lightgun was great but the way the white stripe appeared on the screen to detect where the gun was pointing got a bit distracting. Can't remember if it came with the light gun or was a seperate buy. Rookie and solar invasion seemed to be the best from that pack.
Thanks Paul, always look forward to the show.
I still have my old Spectrum from the late 80's, a few years back I got a SD Card reader for it and dumped a ton of .tap files, not quite the original experience but still cool to play those old games I used to love.
Loved this episode, thanks Paul for the tremendous and consistent efforts to put all this together!
The ZXC4 is fantastic. Great show as always, Paul.
I always thought a big Spectrum slip up was not including the interface 2 in the Interface 1, as it would have been easier to implement full 48K Rom mode. I like Operation wolf in how smooth it plays.
I agree with you that 48k ROM games back then would have been brilliant although I expect they would have had to be much more costly than tape. One advantage of having a separate interface 2 is you can use it with third party interfaces that are incompatible with interface 1. For example an Opus Discovery disk drive. E.g you can instantly load the Last Word WP program from ZXC4 ROM, and save your documents to the Opus Discovery floppy drive disk.
You know how it's standard practice, once you've heard it a couple of times, to skip the intro bit. I don't do that with these, the music just means there's more wonderful Spectrum stuff to learn about ;)
It would be great for you to show your top 10 type-in’s ripe for machine code makeovers, the Robots one is intriguing as an idea if there was better AI on the robots and if movement was smooth
I was today years old when I found out that Cavelon was an arcade port. 🤯
Great episode as always. Thank you, Paul.
I had that star trek game on a big compilation somewhere.. maybe that 50 games thing? Cant remember. But it certainly looks familiar in all it's BASIC goodness.
Another excellent show as always!
Ah I remember playing the Spectrum version of Operation Wolf [6:45], and completing it after quite a lot of fun hours. I think I'd only played the arcade version once or twice and the Spectrum version was the most expensive game I'd ever bought to that point (might have been a birthday/christmas present) - had to make do with under-3 pound games mostly before that, maybe sub-five-quid a few times.
The characters in "Escape from MONJAS" are clearly based on the "Among Us" PC/Mobile game.
is overall gameplay or at least a concept similar?
@@bier00t The Among Us 'sprites' look exactly like that. This is more of a point-and-click adventure, but the design of the characters themselves do not belong to the maker of this Spectrum game.
Well, at least these Spaniards have a sense of humour, M.O.N.J.A.S. = N.U.N.S. And it's pronounced Mon-has.
I glad I’m not the only one that spotted the Among us look alike
Wow, nothing says Starfleet more than Genocide. Thank you DkTronics!
Excellent show. Any chance you can review Paul Farrow’s ZX Microdrive emulator cartridge for the Interface 2?
I wonder if any of my old Speccy stuff turns up on this show
Operation wolf was one of the few spectrum titles I could complete without cheating. I thought it was great at the time
The type in: Robot' game has the same gameplay as a game that was a full release for the Fairchild Channel F.
Love your show man
Another great show, cheers Paul
Superb as always, thank you! Paul, have you played Star Trek by R & R Software? I loved Star Trek games and the R&R one was by far my favourite one on the Spectrum. also, time for a review of Minder by Dk'Tronics? ;)
Good show!
That rom cartridge would be highly useful for starglider 128k! (19 minutes loading time if I remember correctly?)
Another great show 👍
Thank you for this episode Paul! About the ZXC4 ROM cartridge, can you load .trd files and is it compatible with the Spectrum +3?
Paul never heard of 'Among Us'?
My 90 year old dad died 3 years ago and we have a whole drawer of the Spectrum stuff, manuals etc. and Commodore. We have no idea what to do with it all. We were going to trash it but think it may be worth something to someone hence why I am here trying to research. No idea what you are all talking about but any advice would be helpful. Thank you.
I will hapilly tell you about any item you have, what it does and the average price you could get for it. Just email me some pics. See my website for details.
@@BuckingTheTrend2008 Thank you Paul. Won't be for a couple of weeks yet till I can get some pics. The only thing I have here is at the moment is a Currah Speech 24 thing that I have no idea what it's about. Dad was well into the original computers and programming. Kept everything with manuals bless him. Bit of a prof! Thanks again will get back to you.
Really love the 4mb cartridge is anyone converting rtype so that the multiload works from the cartridge? Roll on 8mb and 16mb! Is it impossible to load save data to a cartridge? Useful for elite, also u say u set the serial port speed to 56kbits per second are u sure i thought interface 1 is 19200 maximum no? Sam coupé serial is 38400 max i think though there was a problem with the interface
I had my Interface 2 so I could load chess instantly.
Jet Pac Advanced on the ZX is the best unnoficial JP sequel out there, everything is kept the same except the platforms are now different coloures and in different positions giving a fresh challenge.
The same needs to happen with Chuckie Egg 1, just recreate 8 new levels and don't mess with anything else resulting in a sequel worthy of the original, I understand programmers feel the need to also mess with other bits to update those classic games but I personally don't like when that happens, someone must create 8 new Chuckie Egg levels, It's a matter of urgency PLEASE, enough JSW clones.
It's a shame the Spectrum ROM cartridge format didn't take off.
Most (all?) of the released cartridges have 7 or 8 kB of unused space in the cartridge. If games had been written specifically for the format they could've had the gameplay of something more like a 48k game...
Good show old bean
Hello my fellow old farts. Great video! :)
OutRun RX? :D
Escape from M.O.N.J.A.S. looks a little bit sus....
First show AC - After Clive.
I think spectrum should have pushed the roms more. Would have had greater games as they would not have had load times like tapes. Loved Bloodwych. Was a huge game.
It wasn't really viable with the hardware at the time. They were too expensive and the way the ROM cart system was designed it could only replace the lower 16k of ROM. To say nothing of the additional expense of the interface required to use them. ( It certainly didn't do anything to help the Timex 2086, which essentially designed with a built in Interface 2. )
It seems likely the late great Sir Clive was expecting "serious" users to stump up for his Microdrives instead, which is why those ended up integrated into the QL. In principle this offered even more storage and much faster loading than standard cassettes, though much has also been written of the reliability issues.
@@TheTurnipKing i had microdrives for my spectrum. Used the multiface 1 to move games to microdrive and of course had a interface 2 for joystics. The commodore people bought add ons like disk drives. So it would be fair to buy an interface 2 for the speccy giving you joysticks and of course the roms. They should have just invested more into it. Later when nes came out, they just worked with roms.
@@mizmera The problem is that, when faced with the choice of buying Jetpac for £10 with 5 minute load times, or Jetpac for £40+ the cost of the interface and instant load times, /most/ of the userbase went for the cassette. Or possibly more accurately, another blank cassette onto which they could copy a friends copy of Jetpac.
@@TheTurnipKing true. I get that. Just think if they pushed it, the prices would have dropped. Just like any other mass produced item.
Hope he re does bak 2 skool and Sam Cruise.
Well, at least these Spaniards have a sense of humour, M.O.N.J.A.S. = N.U.N.S. And it's pronounced Mon-has.
C64 was better. Joke!
I appreciate the sarcasms and the troll bait.....But you failed man with a 😁
Spectrum very terrible sound, graphic and color.
Winner only Commodore in '80s years. 💪 😎 👍🏼