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Steve's Retro Loft
United Kingdom
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2021
A collection of retro computers and other devices from the 8 bit era and possibly beyond. Mainly focusing on the Sinclair range of home computers (from ZX81 to the Spectrum 128+2 or +3 if I can find one for a reasonable price!) but I have access to a few other things as well, so don't be surprised if something else turns up. Will be looking at games, peripherals and some modifications. I may look at the occasional new thing, but primarily I'll try and keep it Retro focused.
ZX Spectrum - Saboteur! Remastered - Clive Townsend
Join me today to take a look at Clive Townsend's classic game: Saboteur, Remastered for the ZX Spectrum.
It's not a complete rewrite, but Clive's fixed a few things, made the code a bit more efficient and tweaked the graphics a little.
You can pick up a copy from here: teknamic.com/product/saboteur-remastered-by-clive-townsend-tape-only/
Clive has his own website here: www.clivetownsend.com where you can pick up his Next versions of the game.
(not a sponsored video - I just like the game!)
It's not a complete rewrite, but Clive's fixed a few things, made the code a bit more efficient and tweaked the graphics a little.
You can pick up a copy from here: teknamic.com/product/saboteur-remastered-by-clive-townsend-tape-only/
Clive has his own website here: www.clivetownsend.com where you can pick up his Next versions of the game.
(not a sponsored video - I just like the game!)
มุมมอง: 805
วีดีโอ
ZX Spectrum - Make-a-Chip - From the Software 6 pack - Did anyone buy it?
มุมมอง 703วันที่ผ่านมา
The final (for now) piece in the large box Sinclair educational titles series. The venerable Make-A-Chip from Sinclair/Incognito Software.
ZX Spectrum - Survival - Software 6 Pack filler or quality title?
มุมมอง 29714 วันที่ผ่านมา
If you've ever wondered what it's like to be soaring high like hawk then this isn't the title for you. It's a MacMillan title so don't expect a simulation, but is this just a reskinned version of Magnets?
Nintendo - Super Famicom / SNES: My Favourite Console
มุมมอง 9121 วันที่ผ่านมา
In a break from recent tradition of investigating educational titles from Sinclair I take a look at my favourite console of all time - The Nintendo Super Famicom. Today were taking a deep dive into the history and legacy of the Nintendo Super Famicom, Japan's iconic 16-bit video game console. I manage to mention Spectrum's at least once so all is not lost Sinclair fans!!
ZX Spectrum - Database Double Header - Club Record Controller and Collectors Pack
มุมมอง 130หลายเดือนก่อน
Databases - it's the content that in your heart you want. Join me to look at a couple of similar titles - Both from ICL and both could've ideally been on one tape.
ZX - Spectrum - McKensie - From my Software Projects collection - I don't know what it is either
มุมมอง 453หลายเดือนก่อน
Join me to have a quick look at one of my incomplete collections of games, where I discover what I thought was an arcade game was in fact a text based adventure - which I'm typically really bad at playing. The Artist's name was the late Roger Tissyman. Fun fact (might not be) the game was called McKensie Space Station - but the title was shrunk for the release.
ZX Spectrum - Magnets - Will you be attracted (or bored, like I was)
มุมมอง 200หลายเดือนก่อน
Welcome to another exciting video from the Sinclair / MacMillan education range. This time it's magnets. I'm not going to lie, my heart wasn't entirely in this from the start - but there you go I've warned you! Also sorry again about the lawn mower or whatever it was. There's a bit of Audio clipping when I take a look at the manual as well.
ZX Spectrum - Cargo - Your chance to get a big boat stuck in the Suez Canal
มุมมอง 310หลายเดือนก่อน
If you've ever wanted to sail the 7 seas why not also tag a bit of Cargo with you utilising this title from Sinclair/MacMillan software. Well that's probably over selling it, sailing isn't really part of this education tool.
ZX Spectrum - Glider - Live your dreams of unpowered flight.
มุมมอง 7832 หลายเดือนก่อน
If like me you're a fan of flight sims, then you might want to take a look at Glider from Sinclair/MacMillan software. Well that's probably over selling it, flying isn't really part of this education tool.
ZX Spectrum - Biorhythms - I load it so you don't have to.
มุมมอง 8492 หลายเดือนก่อน
Join me to look at a typical load once only title from ICL/Sinclair - Biorhythms. Apologies in advance - this is a terrible waste of your time!
ZX Spectrum Music Master - live your musical dream in monophonic sound
มุมมอง 4272 หลายเดือนก่อน
Join me to take a look at MusicMaster from Incognito Software. The software turns your Spectrum into a musical instrument. You can write you own tunes or as in my case butcher a classical masterpiece.
Relive the 90's - a time without smart phones - you need the Casio Cassiopeia E15
มุมมอง 2632 หลายเดือนก่อน
A quick look (mainly because the screen is terrible) at the Casio Cassiopeia E15. A PDA for the modern employee from the 1990's I used it for logging mileage on my company car - a more technology based solution than the old A5 reporters note pad!
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next Vs ZX Microdrive - Does it work???
มุมมอง 8973 หลายเดือนก่อน
So, you have a Sinclair Spectrum Next and an old Interface One and Microdrive - despite it really not being required due to the Next's SD/DivMMC interface it's an itch you need to scratch so join me in my quest to get new and old hardware to communicate. Will it work? Anyway in a clue if it worked or not here's a video that helped me sort it out: th-cam.com/video/c9WpjYkuvkk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=caVVq...
Spectrum Next - Head Over Heels
มุมมอง 4693 หลายเดือนก่อน
Join me with a quick look at the recreated Head over Heels on the ZX Spectrum Next. The game is the written by Rusty Pixels: Code: Micheal (Flash) Ware Graphics: Simon Butler Audio: Space Fractal Credit must go to original programmers Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond for a great original. For more info about the game (and others) and it's upcoming availability for none KS2 backers please visit: w...
Noisy Classic Mac II - Will I fix it, or make it worse?
มุมมอง 754 หลายเดือนก่อน
Noisy Classic Mac II - Will I fix it, or make it worse?
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next - got one!!
มุมมอง 22K4 หลายเดือนก่อน
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next - got one!!
The accessory we all wanted in the 8-bit era: The Alphacom32 Printer for the ZX Spectrum/ZX81
มุมมอง 2405 หลายเดือนก่อน
The accessory we all wanted in the 8-bit era: The Alphacom32 Printer for the ZX Spectrum/ZX81
Mac Classic II - A New old toy for the Channel
มุมมอง 109ปีที่แล้ว
Mac Classic II - A New old toy for the Channel
Pokemotion - What is it, why did I buy it?
มุมมอง 112ปีที่แล้ว
Pokemotion - What is it, why did I buy it?
Pokemon Mini - The forgotten Nintendo Handheld
มุมมอง 77ปีที่แล้ว
Pokemon Mini - The forgotten Nintendo Handheld
Hermit Retro ZX Spectrum - A fuse/Raspberry Pi based Spectrum emulator
มุมมอง 1.2Kปีที่แล้ว
Hermit Retro ZX Spectrum - A fuse/Raspberry Pi based Spectrum emulator
Starglider 1 & 2 - A quick look at the versions
มุมมอง 2902 ปีที่แล้ว
Starglider 1 & 2 - A quick look at the versions
ZX Spectrum mystery box of games 5 of 5 (Part 2)
มุมมอง 352 ปีที่แล้ว
ZX Spectrum mystery box of games 5 of 5 (Part 2)
ZX Spectrum mystery box of games 5 of 5 (Part 1)
มุมมอง 392 ปีที่แล้ว
ZX Spectrum mystery box of games 5 of 5 (Part 1)
Commodore 64C - a new/old device for the channel.
มุมมอง 633 ปีที่แล้ว
Commodore 64C - a new/old device for the channel.
ZX Spectrum - Random box of games - Volume 2 - will anything load?.........
มุมมอง 363 ปีที่แล้ว
ZX Spectrum - Random box of games - Volume 2 - will anything load?.........
Oh How I loved this game.
Mark of the Ninja is closest modern thing to this.
It was one of the stand out titles of the era
looks pretty much the same to me.
I suppose it's like a remastered album - a few tweaks here and there, but not a complete redesign.
Haven't got time to watch whole review now, but from a quick scan through the video, shame Clive didn't take the opportunity to tart up the graphics a little more colour wise, etc. Never got around to playing the original amazingly in all these years!
Not sure myself, the dark look and feel of the game adds to the atmosphere I think. That said deeper into the game it might be a bit more colourful - just not got there yet!
Nand 'n Nor is rip-off periperi chicken takeaway.
I'll have a do a search for that one!!
@@stevesretroloft They make chips too. 🍟
As a youngster in the eighties (and a penniless one), I had access to a Speccy and I always thought that Make a Chip was some sophisticated software that would somehow make it possible to design a microchip, but I could never justify buying it. Even until the last 6 or 7 years, I saw this in a CEX shop and wondered about it. Turns out it was all wank.
Some of the educational software could've been a few pages in a book to be honest. That said, some got a bit of value out of the titles.
i had it free with my 48k speccy +
I didn't :( - I did get a software 6 pack from a friend for a few quid at the time.
i did and ended up a Hardware engineer. i was 10 when i brought the computer with this on it. in 1984.
Great to hear this - I probably wasted too much time on games rather than learning.
@@stevesretroloft Gauntlet was my favourite Game and Elite.
@@alanreader4815 I did enjoy Gauntlet on the ST/Amiga - sadly never really got into elite - I do have a boxed version of it, but no Lens-Lock (although happy to play a copy of it as I do own it!
I bought that make-a-chip product and had fun with it.
Nice, I wasn't sure if it was something that anyone bought as it it was given away to so many.
I think it was a good introduction to logic gates, and I do remember having fun plopping down random gates to "see what would happen". You could sandbox/gamify it by imaging what the inputs were (a pressure plate, light sensor, etc) and what the outputs were (drive forwards, shoot laser, etc).
Huh, we had Make-A-Chip, Survival and Scrabble, but not the other 3 titles. I wonder if we got them as a 3-pack with the Speccy. Shame I can't ask my dad.
It’s one of those things I probably could appreciate more these days than back in the 80’s
@@marasmusine the boxed 6 pack typically had Make a chip, survival and scrabble with a more random collection of single cassettes. I don’t recall a 3 pack, but knowing some retailers maybe they kept some of the other titles to sell separately!
Genuine sense of bitterness at 01:50.
Indeed, though I can’t complain too much - I’ve done ok out my IT career.
This 'game' changed me. Not much. But enough. ;)
Nice that it possibly helped someone!
Heheh I played this a whole bunch back then, it was my first taste of a "simulation" type game (along with "Make-A-Chip") Being a butterfly was brutal, you could only see 1 tile distance. The lesson was insects have a short lifespan :)
It does appear to be one of the more playable educational titles.
I quite liked this as a kid, it was a nice little game. Got a few of them of course, I think it's second only to Make A Chip in commonality :)
Thanks for the comments. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to be honest.
I want a super famicom emulator with all games and an English patch lol I'm sure they're out there.I have all regular famicom games on emulator but only a handful of exclusive titles have translation
It wouldn't surprise me if something like this was available - seems everything is these days!
@@stevesretroloft Exactly👍I'm sure if we dig deep enough we'd find something.There are some with English translation but I want them all!😆
I used to play adventure games back in the day. This one looks like it was written on the Quill. Common commands are 'I' for inventory 'N' for North 'E' for East etc. The thing with a lot of text based adventures was that to save memory it just recognised the first 4 letters of that you typed. and just used 2 word commands like 'Get Torch' or 'Go Door' etc Get torch would be seen by the computer as 'get torc' Circus by Brian Howarth was a good not too difficult one to play.
Thanks for the info - seems I have a lot to learn about text adventures (i've started to collect a few of the Artic Software titles as well so maybe I'll have another go!)
A quite easy one to get you started would probably be one by the great Scott Adams. I think pirate adventure would be OK
Level 9 easily wrote the best text adventures...I remember 'The price of Magick' very fondly as I completed it all by myself which was rare for me in those days...
Level 9 do seem to be popular - it’s a name I keep hearing.
I wish I still had all my cassettes, I had to move house (rented) several times in a row in the late 90s/early 00s and all my Spectrum stuff got left behind in a cellar. Same fate befell all my Amiga stuff in the house I rented after that. When you have no money and can't drive you just have to let things go :/ Anyway, thanks for the video, I always liked the artwork Software projects used on their inlays.
I know that feeling, sold most of my stuff in the 90’s when I was buying a house. Later in the 2000’s I discovered eBay and bought a lot of it back (fortunately not at todays prices!)
@@stevesretroloft Oh, and it's usually just "INVE" for inventory in these kinds of games :) Then VERB NOUN for everything else.
Enjoying your channel m8
Much appreciated
The old games on the Nintendo and Super Nintendo were so legendary, they just made us, the retro gamers 🕹️, want to play them everyday back in the 1980's and 1990's 😹👍🕹️. Luckily, i still have the original hardwares of the Commodore 64 (tapes / disks / cartridges ) and Amiga 500 😺👍🕹️. Your channel deserves a big retrospective like 👍🕹️ from Vantaa, Finland 🇫🇮.
Thank you for your kind words Ari :)
Still such a great console mate. Never get tired of Axelay myself. We had some great j League matchups back then, until we moved on to the ISS series.
@@okami242 Awesome GRADIUS (Konami) avatar pic 😺👍🕹️. I had that game for my Commodore 64 as NEMESIS (tape).
@@okami242 Not sure why it's taken me so long to dig it out of the loft! I remember the J-League matches - looking at it now it's dated a lot, but just like the EFL - terrible referring!
One of the first games I completed was the Hobbit on the Spectrum, back in 1983. I have about 600 Spectrum games that I really should get around to playing one day!
There's quite a few titles I fancy completing at some point. I must try to beat Sabre Wulf again!
The publisher, ICL, is now Fujitsu UK. Imagine them producing such a ropey bit of business software.
LOL - I wondered why the figures kept changing when looking at Club Record Controller sub fees ;) To be honest I made it though the video without referring to another well known purveyor of database software with dubious installations/implementations across the world - thought I was quite restrained!
@@stevesretroloft You don't need the wisdom of an oracle to know to whom you are referring.
Carnage and Pins, my favourite Savile Row tailors.
Lol
No, the screens were always that shit.
It's probably my eyesight that's less tolerant of the the screen now.
Oh text adventures.. so many memories, so many frustrations! haha. ohhh I see you have a copy of Cyclone there! I love that game!
I forgot about cyclone until I reacquired it. At least it wasn’t just me with the text adventure frustration!
You can see - nothing. Riveting gameplay there 😂
The Joys of Text (based adventures) - after the stunning recent Education titles I thought I'd try something else!
Happy Towell Day!
I should have chose a more appropriate game for it. That said Douglas Adams liked Text based adventure games (he certainly wasn't a fan of graphic adventure games)
@@stevesretroloft There were a couple of "Hitch-hiker" themed games for the Speccy, but not the officially licensed Infocom one. Starship Titanic was pretty graphic-led, but still adventure driven. I think it was the non-cerebral arcade type stuff he disdained.
If you haven't done it yet, how about a review of the Speccy Game "Supergran", in honour of Gudrun Ure who died this week.
I should at some point, I’ve always avoided obtaining a copy of it as know it’s terrible!
@@stevesretroloft since when has that stopped you 😜
I do have my limits😂
@@PartarioAbdullah-Levi "A man has his pride"
Vdrive?
From what I know they emulate the Microdrive so would probably fail in the same way due to the shadow rom not being available (without all the fiddling).
@@stevesretroloft what a pity the if1 didn't have a coprocessor and an extra 16kb of video ram!
When will next file browser use 512x192?
Not sure to be honest. The Facebook group for the Next might give you some pointers.
@@stevesretroloft they don't seem very helpful I might be barred
When can we use a quad core pi zero as the accelerator what about an art package and what about the pi zero emulating the vdp9990 at least?
It does seem to be a waste of a pi to just load certain file formats. Not sure how accessible it is from the OS.
@@stevesretroloft there's a pi zero in the zx hdmi from byte delight and one for Sam surely it can emulate a video chip?
Hi! - Possibly I have a "semi automated" version to activate ROM and the access to Interface 1. This COULD work, but I'm not sure... 1st step: - Boot the Next into the common mode (NextZXOS) - Write a tiny BASIC program containing the OUT commands - Save it to the SD card - just save, don't run using SAVE "microdrive.bas" don't run it using LINE 10 or so 2nd step: - (Re-) boot the next into the common mode (NextZXOS) - Load the given Program using LOAD or the browser of the system - Enter "Command Line"- or "NextBASIC" mode - Enter command "SPECTRUM" when the program is loaded - Type "RUN" to disable the features 3rd step (most important): - Give me a hint if this does work for you... 😎
Thanks I'll give that a try at some point.
@@stevesretroloft Make it so...
The only Plimsole Mark I got was punishment for hiding in a bush during Cross Country.
I think our PE teachers back in the 80's loved to dish out that punishment. I got it for making fart noises with my arm pit in the changing room. Thanks Mr Morgan!
@@stevesretroloft Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach PE. I always wondered about the sort of person whose preferred vocation in life is hanging about a load of little boys getting muddy and sweaty in gym gear.
Uncle Clive hated videogames, but I bet he was pleased with educational titles like that.
I do wonder if all the educational titles were due to losing the BBC Schools program to Acorn.
I think the educational ones were quicker to code and therefore cheaper to produce.
Do you know how to hack a modem to serve data to these? Usually these have a 1200/75 modem, so for the server side, you need 75/1200, which is very rare.
Not sure to be honest. Although you may be able to setup a serial port on a Linux box to use this async type connection. This unit has a modem built in, but it's the old pulse dial system so won't work on a modern exchange (I also no longer have a landline either - so the linux/unix tty port is probably the only option.
Not the most exciting game ever, but actually some interesting information!
It's been interesting looking at some of these old educational titles.
I don’t remember this from when I had a ZX Spectrum, but I don’t think I missed much!
There's quite a few Sinclair branded things I doubt many of us saw - that said it might been included on the Software 6 pack (along with epic titles like Make-a-chip!)
I was trying to find it the story, but it is long gone. There was some fellow that put a ZX81 into his glider to map out the thermals. Somehow hooked up the instruments in his glider. That must have surely inspired this title! That fellow inspired me on my journey to becoming a programmer!
I think the ZX series of computers inspired a lot of us to work in IT.
I think I remember that being an article in PCW four decades ago. God, I feel old. 👴
@@PartarioAbdullah-Levi I doubt any other generation in history has witnessed the changes we've seen!
Anyone remember 'Combat Lynx' on the Spectrum?
Yes, I attempted to load it on a few of my old videos. (Seems all my copies of it are a little unreliable!)
by DURELL software ?
Gliding and ZX Spectrum both have firm place in my feed but I never expected them to intersect in the same video😮 And the surprise is comparable with that of a board game of cross-country gliding.
Wonder which came first, the spectrum game of the board game? I hope whilst brief I was able to show what the game does.
Great video, but you'd better edit out smacking from the audio stream.
Thanks for the tip - I'm still learning with video and sound.
Sabre Wulf…… fantastic to see that start screen again. One of my favourite games along with Attic Attack and Knights Lore.
It was certainly one of the classics for the Spectrum.
SURELY A NEW AGE OR SCIENTOLOGY "THANG"!!!
There's a probably a hidden Thetan level or Audit mode!
@@stevesretroloft mayB, i dunno!!!
Nothing to do with the Scientology UFO cult was ever that cheap!
My dad was never into computers but for some reason he actually typed in a biorythrms program from a magazine he brought in 84 onto my spectrum. 🤔
It does seem Biorhythms was a very 80's thing.
There was a printed listing for a biorhythms thing in ZX Computing magazine, April '84. It was better than this - more graphical.
Who knew Biorhythms would be so popular!
On pc you could always run Retro Virtual Machine and try and find a windows retro keyboard that replicates sinclair or in the very least, amstrad. There might be one out there.. maybe
There are a few options out there from what I've seen.
Good old ZX Spectrum stuff, I've got a 16k (with the 48k upgrade kit) Rubber Beermat that still works; it lives in the cupboard of old stuff along with a ZX81, a BBC B (with a 5.25 floppy drive and an original Elite floppy), a C64, an Atari STFM and an Amiga 500; with the exception of the Atari they all work fine, the Atari needs a few bits to bring it back to life.
Nice collection, I’d love to pick up both an Atari ST and Amiga - although the latter are silly prices now.
@@stevesretroloft Got my eyes on an Amstrad CPC that's been gathering dust in my mate's garage for years.
@@paulj5080 464 or 6128?
had something similar on the Acorn Electron……yes that is a real, genuine old computer 🤣 Even had Elite on it…..lmao
I do remember them, never got round to trying one. I do have a BBC so the experience is similar.
@@stevesretroloftI thought the BBC's were put in schools as far as i remember as we had them in ours. The electron i think was the home branded version of it. at least thats what I remember being they are almost identical
@@TechnoAssassin-vx6zf Yes, Acorn won the contract to put a computer in every school and the BBC ran an accompanying programme on TV at the time. The Electron was simplified device (a lot less chips internally) compared to the original BBC - but a mostly compatible device. Sadly it came in to existence just as the boom for the home micro market was over and led to the demise of Acorn as home computer supplier.
@@stevesretroloft damn, you know your stuff 🙈😂👍🏻 top banana
@@stevesretroloftFortunately they diversified into chip design and are still doing rather well under the name ARM.
Fans of the 2000AD comic might remember a Zenith story where the pop star / superhero's enemies miscalculated his biorhythms because his manager had told him to use Elvis's date of birth rather than his own for publicity purposes. The whole thing was very 80s haven't heard anyone even mention biorhythms for decades.
Hopefully I'm not going to start a come back for it!
That old WHSmith tape recorder!
Mine was the Currys own brand (Triumph) - that said it was a standard shell for many others to badge.
@@stevesretroloft ah! Thank you for the insight!
I'm glad this worked out better than the Vega or its sequel.
It has been a much better project overall compared to previous attempts.