Archives for the month January 2022 of Genesis8 Amstrad Page





PunyInform v3.4 by Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson to write text adventure games

- Genesis8

PunyInform v3.4 by Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson is a library written in Inform 6 to create adventure game (pure text, no graphic support contrary to DAAD) using the Z-machine virtual machine which will run on 8bit computers (or more recent computers too). PunyInform has a parser, knowing of common verbs and a framework to write adventure games.

PunyInform is based on the Inform 6 library written by Graham Nelson. Its goal is to make easily adventure games in Inform 6, with a manual describing the differences between the official library and PunyInform..

Games using PunyInform can be compiled in z3, z5 and z8 format (z3 being the best format for 8bit computers, other formats have more features). Compared to the Inform 6 library, it means that there is no support for the Glulx virtual machine but z3 format is important as Inform 6 doesnt support it.

To compile games written with PunyInform, you should use the Inform 6 compiler maintained by David Kinder. Binaries are available on if-archive. PunyInform needs Inform v6.35 (or more).

They are tutorials to write adventure game with PunyInform (end of the page) and all the documentation including a 8 page cheat sheet (quick reference)..

To try your game after compilation, you can use WinFrotz by David Kinder, to create map easily you can use Trizbort.

And finally, to create an Amstrad CPC and PCW disk image, you will have to use the Puddle BuildTools.




Quigs to develop SymbOS applications (Amstrad CPC, PCW, MSX and Elan Enterprise)

- Genesis8

The Quigs IDE is a suite of tools and editors to help developers create applications and other media for SymbOS.

Its creator and developer TrebMint aka Rob Buckley started to develop it at the end of 2004, when the SymbOS project has been continued. Together with the appearance of the SYMBiFACE in 2004 Quigs (ex-SymStudio) made the first HD-based full screen videos possible ever seen on CPC. With Quigs you can create forms, code, graphics and even video and export it to the CPC, MSX, PCW and Elan Enterprise version of SymbOS.

To resume, Quigs is a :

  • Powerful form construction kit
  • Code editor and assembler/compiler
  • Graphic and video manager
  • HTML and Richtext converter

in a comfortable PC-based integrated development environment!

There is an updated documentation in english of Symbos 3.1.



Just Get 9 patch 2, a reflexion game for Amstrad CPC by cpcitor and the other days

- Genesis8

Just Get 9 is atile-based puzzle game for the Amstrad CPC. If you like 2048, tetris, coloris, color flood, you’ll like it. You can visit the Itch.IO page of Just get 9 to download the latest version of this excellent game (patch 2).



LLum by Ivan AVILA, an Amstrad CPC game (after Dogfight and 8bit Wars)

- Genesis8

Last game by Ivan AVILA is LLum, it has been written with the 8bp library in basic. LLum is a Lumines clone for Amstrad CPC. Try to make a four square by rotating and aligning 2×2 blocks. Squares of one color will be erased when the time line passes over them.

His other games also written with 8BP are Dogfight (shoot them up in 2020) and 8bit wars a tower defense in 2021 (CPCRetroDev).




Donjon, an Amstrad CPC game in 10 lines of basic by Omebrou Corp.

- Genesis8

Omebrou Corp. (Vetea on Itch.IO) has released an Amstrad CPC games in 10 lines of Basic : Donjon, to play it use arrows to move, and space to open chests or fight ennemies.

Without emulator, you can execute any Amstrad CPC basic program inside Visual Studio code with the extension Amstrad Basic Helper.

You can find a disk image on facebook group les Amstradiens, or here is the basic listing :

10 Mode 1:ink 0,0:border 0:ink 1,26:ink 2,6:ink 3,24:dim t(30,30):pen 2:locate 17,13:? "":for i=1 to 25:for j=1 to 25:v=1:randomize time:t(i,j)=int(rnd*4)+3:q=t(i,j):border j:next:next:x=12:y=25: U2$=chr$(221):U1$=chr$(220):U$=chr$(207) 20 T$=chr$(8):Y$=chr$(10):a=1:xx=int(rnd*20)+1:yy=int(rnd*20)+1:t(xx,yy)=10:cls:P1$=chr$(143):while(a<6):a=a+1: F$=F$+P1$+P1$+P1$+y$+t$+t$+t$:D$=D$+U$+U1$+y$+t$+t$+t$:S$=S$+U2$+U$+y$+t$:wend:border 0:if m1=0 then Ch=int(rnd*22):t=0 else CH=99 30 Z$=p1$+y$+t$+P1$+y$+t$+chr$(212)+y$+t$:E$=p1$+y$+t$+P1$+y$+t$+chr$(213)+y$+t$: C$=chr$(222)+U$+chr$(223)+y$+t$+t$+t$+P1$+chr$(232)+P1$+y$+t$+t$+t$+P1$+P1$+P1$:M1$=chr$(235):pen 3:locate 15,10:? f$:locate 18,10:?f$:if jj>=1 then border 6:q=q-jj:jj=0 40 if CH<>99 then m1=0:M$=chr$(225)+y$+t$+t$+chr$(151)+M1$+chr$(182)+y$+t$+t$+chr$(191): M2$=M$:l=0:TR=CH:if CH<=2 then M$="":M2$="" else if CH<=5 then C$="":M$="" else if CH<=7 then C$="":M2$="" else if CH<=9 then C$=""else C$="":M$="":M2$="" 50 while(b<6):b=b+1:pen 3:locate 13,9+b:? D$:locate 21,9+b:? s$:wend:x$=chr$(245): O$=P1$+P1$+y$+t$+t$+P1$+P1$:pen 1:for i=1 to 6:locate 17,16-i:? h$:next:if m1=2 then m1=0:C$="" else m1=0:if TR>2 or CH=99 then c$="" 60 R$=M$+M2$:MY=(INKEY(0)=0 AND y>1 and O$<>"" and R$="")-(INKEY(2)=0 AND y<25 and x$<>"" and R$=""):MX=(INKEY(8)=0 AND x>1 and z$<>"" and R$="")-(INKEY(1)=0 AND x<25 and e$<>"" and R$=""):L=MX+MY:x=x+MX:Y=Y+MY:H=T(X,Y):if INKEY(47)=0 and ff=0 then ff=1 70 randomize time:border 0:t=t+1-(t and 8):pen 1:locate 1,1:?"SANTE ":pen 2:for i=1 to q:locate i+6,1:?chr$(228);" ":next:pen 1:locate 17,18:?C$:if Y=1 then O$="" else if X=1 then z$="" else if X=25 then e$="" else if Y=25 then x$="" 80 if h$<>"" then end else if ff then ff=0:jj=0:if M$<>"" and m1=0 then M$="":m1=1:jj=t/6:SOUND 1,0,25,12,,,25 else if M2$<>"" and m1=0 then M2$="":m1=1:jj=t/6:SOUND 1,0,25,12,,,25 else if C$<>"" and m1=0 then C$="":Q=Q+1:m1=2:SOUND 2,100,7,15:border 26 90 if Q<=1 then clear:pen 1:goto 10 else locate 17,22:? x$:pen 2:locate 15,16:?M$:locate 20,15:?M2$:if h=4 then E$="":Z$="" else if h=5 then O$="" else if h=6 then O$="":E$="" else if h=7 then E$="":O$="" else if h=10 then O$="":h$=chr$(151)+chr$(157) 100 sound 3,600-rnd*200,q/2,7:pen 0:locate 17,13:? O$:pen 0:locate 12,15:? Z$:locate 23,15:? E$:while (l=0 and M1=0):randomize time:goto 60:wend:cls:b=1:a=1:F$="":S$="":D$="":ww=0:goto 20


Melkhior's mansion by Richard Jordan for PC is available

- Genesis8

Richard Jordan has released Melkhior's mansion for windows, which is a 3D isometric remake of Atic Atac. The game will also be available for ZX Spectrum Next and 128 Kb.



An Amstrad CPC DDI-1 (for 464) modded with a memory expansion by Zaxxon

- Genesis8

Tjjq44 on System.cfg has modded an original Amstrad CPC DDI-1 disk controller for 464 with a memory expansion by Zaxxon, see the photos below and a video on youtube of the Amstrad CPC 464 loading programs from the DDI-1.

It's necessary to unsolder the 50 pins connector in order to slide in the 512 Kb memory expansion by Zaxxon.

A micro switch let you activate or not the memory expansion.

A wire is used to bridge the +5v of the Amstrad CPC and +5v of the interface so you don't rely on FD-1's power supply anymore. Initially, there's a capacitor between those two pins, you can remove or leave it, it doesn't matter. (Amstrad had done this at the time so that when the user turned off his floppy drive the CPC behaved as if the extension was not present, it avoided having to disconnect the interface or type |TAPE as soon as he wanted to use a tape).

The pins 2,4,6 and 14 have been removed inside each 34 pin connector so that the +5v does not end up on the drive pins. (be careful when opening the connectors, the plastic can break easily).

The 2 small keyed lugs on each 34-pin connector have been filed down to allow connection of any type of drive: FD-1, 3.5 inches classic, gotek...

A switch makes swapping possible between drives, A becomes B and vice versa, practical if you have a gotek and a 3 inch connected simultaneously. For the drives to be recognized, it'll be necessary to ensure that the drive at the end of the ribbon cable has its "drive select" jumper set to 0 and the one in the middle to 1 (no need to do this on a FD-1 , it will respond in any case, its location on the ribbon cable determines whether it is A or B).

The original amsdos ROM has been replaced by a 32 kB amsdos/parados ROM (soldered without stand due to insufficient room). The choice is made by setting pin 27 to 0v (amsdos) or 5v (parados). Currently it is hardwired to 0v because I no longer have micro switch on hand. (However it's not very serious, parados was very useful in order to have 720k of storage per physical diskette, with gotek storage is almost unlimited so we don't care much).

front of the modded Amstrad CPC DDI-1

back of the modded Amstrad CPC DDI-1

side of the modded Amstrad CPC DDI-1



Building the World's Newest Amstrad CPC 464 by Noel Llopis

- Genesis8

Noel Llopis has made another very interesting video : the making of a totally new Amstrad CPC 464 from a new PCB made by Bob's Bits Replica Boards.

For this first try, he didnt try to add more RAMs, ROMs or existing expansions, for the future maybe ?

Other videos with the hastag #janstrad will be released by other creators with the same idea to create some new old hardware



Connecting a Raspberry PI on Amstrad CPC from CPC-Cplink to Soyuz (by Abalore)

- Genesis8

There are actually two fonctionnal ways to connect a Raspberry PI to your Amstrad CPC :

There is also another WIP project by Zhulien : the CPC / Raspberry Pi Bridge Card, but for more recent informations you must read the thread Raspberry PI on CPC.



T2022 demo for the Amstrad GX4000 or CPC Plus by Cyrille GOURET

- Genesis8

T2022 is a demo for the Amstrad GX4000 console or the Amstrad CPC+ computer by Cyrille GOURET. The T2022 demo is available on Youtube and the facebook groupe Amstradiens.



Play MIDI music on Amstrad CPC with a Python converter and a player by LambdaMikel

- Genesis8

Michael Wessel (LambdaMikel) has written a python converter of MIDI music files which can then be read on an Amstrad CPC with a player with at least 2 hardware expansions (with 512 Kb support and soon 4 Mb support) :

MIDI was the ultimate sound during the msdos era before windows 95 and the coming of audio card with samples like the Gravis Ultra Sound, it is time that MIDI arrives on Amstrad CPC.



Perched! for Amstrad CPC and Perched 3D by Lumina Studio

- Genesis8

Perched! par Lumina Studio is an Amstrad CPC game released for the CPCRetroDev 2021 contest. You will have to climb high, higher if you want to merit the divine blue cheese ! The program is written by Paula Garcia Morales (programmation), Laura Gil Lopez (programmation, artist, music) and Jorge Perez Dominguez (programmation).

Perched 3D is a WIP version for a platform not mentionned yet.



Turbo Rascal SE v0.14, Pascal programmation for Amstrad CPC and more

- Genesis8

Turbo Rascal SE (TRSE) v0.14 is out. It's a complete suite (IDE, compiler, programming language, image sprite level resource editor) intended for developing games/demos for 8 / 16-bit line of computers, with a focus on the MOS 6502, the Motorola 68000, the (GB)Z80 and the X86. TRSE currently supports application development for the C64, C128, VIC-20, PLUS4, NES, Gameboy, PET, ZX Spectrum, TIKI 100, Amstrad CPC 464, Atari 2600, 8086AT, Amiga 500 and the Atari ST 520 (complete list here). With the benefits of a modern IDE (error messages, code completion, syntax highlighting etc) and a bunch of fast built-in tools, it has never been easier to program for your favorite obsolete system !

Join TRSE on Facebook !




WIP SYSco by AST/Imp4ct, a file manager for Amstrad CPC(+)

- Genesis8

SYSco by AST/Impact is a file manager compatible with many new DOS such as AlbiDos (usb/sd), Amsdos (Floppy A and B), iMPdos (X-Mass 128/512 partitionned) and probably the M4 board later. It features :

  • quick and easy navigation
  • copies between all the drives mention on the top
  • creating directories
  • erasing files and directory
  • renaming files and dir
  • launching and running all basics and binaries files
  • Fast Format
  • Direct Hexa Edition on files
  • etc...


A new version of ConvImgCpc by Ludovic Deplanque

- Genesis8

A new version of ConvImgCpc by Ludovic Deplanque is out (27th January 2022).

It's a windows utility to convert PC images to Amstrad CPC.



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