For old timers, very very old in case of Sapiens, I want to remind you that the original authors of the game Didier and Olivier Guillion have written a windows VGA remake of Sapiens. The game is a shareware for only 10 €.

The original music was written by Gilles Soulet, here are 2 remix of the music on Youtube :

• Sapiens - Atari ST, midi music for monotimbral synths (Yamaha MU1000 with DX)
• Sapiens Main Theme Remix

The Amstrad CPC original music of Sapiens is of course also available on youtube.

SPOILER ALERT : it's an april fool !

I knew JB le Daron as a youtubber, I discover today that he isnt just that, but also a musician.

CPC 4 Ever is his project : the best musical themes of your favourites Amstrad CPC games are remixed, with piano for example. There are already 5 tunes available on the site. Personnaly I like them very much and is awaiting for more ! See you on Twitch the 4th April at 22:00.

Often in games, the music is either written by Tom et Jerry or McKlain.

For the music of El Tesoro Perdido de Cuauhtemoc by 4Mhz, it's the turn of McKlain (listen to the music on Soundcloud).

Some parts of the music makes me think of elite's music.

The original Amstrad notepad NC100 emulator was written by Russell Marks. Nilquader has modified it, and Gnarz has modified this modification.

Gnarz's modification features :

• removed the vgalib and terminal versions
• made the gtk version compile with GTK+ 2.0
• made the sdl version compile with SDL2
• made the menu key available on modern keyboards emulate the NCs menu key
• changed the serial port emulation to allow it to use devices other than stdin/stdout. For example, the command socat -d -d PTY,raw,echo=0 PTY,raw,echo=0 creates a nice serial device emulator, whose ends are output by the command. You can specify the open end with -s, and use the other end with cat or sx or what have you... stdin/stdout is still available by passing - as an arg to -s
• some cleanups in the Makefile
• added ncconvert

Back to commercial games Xyphoe is showing Thunder Blade, an arcade game by Sega in 1987, converted on Amstrad CPC in 1988. It's a game with 2 phases, either a vertical shoot them up game or with thir person view, piloting a helicopter. Xyhpoe first tests the arcade original game, then the Amstrad CPC version at 5 minutes 30 seconds.

Colin Pitrat is the author of a port of the Amstrad CPC emulator Caprice32 initially programmed by par Ulrich Doewich.

Caprice32 features :

• Complete emulation of CPC464, CPC664 and CPC6128
• Mostly working support of Plus Range: CPC464+/CPC6128+/GX4000 (missing vectored & DMA interrupts, analog joysticks and 8 bit printer)
• Joystick support - it can be fully used with joystick only, thanks to an integrated virtual keyboard.
• Joystick emulation - joystick-only games can be played using the keyboard
• English, French or Spanish keyboards
• DSK and IPF files for disks - VOC and CDT files for tapes - CPR files for cartridge
• Snapshots (SNA files)
• Direct load of ZIP files (all formats except IPF)
• Custom disk formats
• Printer support
• Memory tool to inspect and modify memory (peek and poke)
• Experimental support of Multiface 2 (you should prefer using memory tool)
• Text mode graphics (using aalib or libcaca)

The CSW2CDT tool suite is a set of three programs whose main purpose is the encoding of computer tapes used in the Sinclair ZX and the Amstrad CPC families during the Golden Age of European videogames (1982-1994), when tapes were the most popular distribution method of commercial software :

• CSW0 is a command-line program that reads WAV audio sample files and writes CSW V1 packed samples
• CSW2CDT is a command-line program that reads CSW1 V1 packed samples and writes CDT/TZX tape images
• CSW2CDT-UI is a dialog-driven program whose graphical user interface simplifies the usage of the first two tools.

The general procedure is divided in several steps :

• The tape must be sampled as an uncompressed WAV audio file whose quality should be at least 22050 Hz. Mono and 8 bits are preferred over stereo and 16 bits
• The resulting WAV file must be fed to CSW0, that will measure all the square waves and produce a CSW V1 file. Optional flags can be used to perform band-pass filtering on the signal
• This CSW V1 file will be handed to CSW2CDT, whose task is to scan the data blocks within and build a CDT/TZX image. Again, optional flags allow for increasingly complex processing of the contents
• The CDT/TZX image ultimately needs to be tested then in an emulator that can play tape files back, such as CPCE and WinAPE for Amstrad CPC titles or FUSE and UnrealSpeccy for ZX Spectrum softwares

CSW2CDT-UI eases the procedure because its graphical user interface is more comfortable (although less flexible) than the command line : choosing the sample, generating the CSW V1 file, and encoding the CDT/TZX file can be performed by pushing buttons and choosing options. It also allows for the reverse procedure of playing back CDT/TZX images into CSW V1 files and WAV audio files with some few mouse clicks.

Dlfrsilver, loyal alphatester and main inspiration, wrote the French and English handbooks.

New version of the Amstrad CPC core for MiST by Renaud Helias is available.

• TV mode using VSYNC/HSYNC xor and Gerald VSYNC/HSYNC width formula
• This version was realised with atari forum team, testing several experimental forks
• It does output 15kHz original signal on SCART. Do use mist.ini scandoubler_disable=1 (see http://github.com/mist-devel/mist-board/wiki/DocIni)
• sorry FDC work will be for a next time : my r005.8.15 candidate version does fail 80% of arnoldemu FDC testbench...

Xyphoe is playing Galaxy Force, a Sega arcade game in 1988, converted on Amstrad CPC in 1989. You knows After Burner, then warp it in the future with aliens and you get Galaxy Force, a shoot them up which is a good port of the arcade game. Xyhpoe tests first the arcade game then starting 7 minutes 6 seconds the Amstrad CPC version.

The colors of the Amstrad CPC loading screen are really those just below...

Well CPC 4 Ever was an april fool. I fell for it nicely.

You still got the Amstrad CPC music announced on the site above played nicely on piano (done in two nights).

The game this time is an adventure graphic game in french, written in basic (hard to play without reading the listing) : Adventure 2 ou l'accusation. There is no relation to Adventure 1 ou la grotte also by Ludovic MABILLOT (Ludo's Software Distribution). JB le Daron prefered the first game to the second.

El Tesoro Perdido de Cuauhtemoc by 4Mhz is available since today as a download as disk, tape and mass storage. Run Forest run !

The Amstrad CPC 464 tape version of Ghostbusters has an ugly bug at the end of the game. And they are other bugs earlier : flickering, lack of on-screen activity, slowdown. But it is possible to avoid the bug if you choose the PK energy detector as the first object when you equip your car. Take another object, and you will get the bug.

Markus Macherey (Shining) first wrote a strategy game (tower defense) for Amstrad CPC : Defence.

Today, he is working on Pentomino, a reflexion game of course.

In this 64 Kb Amstrad CPC game, there are no less than 464 levels of puzzles with several songs to listen to. After seing the video, you will really have to use your brain in turbo mode to solve them all... It will be available for Easter.

Targhan has done many things, two are an Amstrad CPC soundtrakker (STarKos) and a PC soundtrakker (Arkos Tracker).

Today the news are good, a teaser for a new version (v2) of Arkos Tracker as an Amstrad CPC intro with a 9 channels music song, a conversion of a Rob Hubbard music. To listen to the 9 channels, you need a PlayCity sound card or an emulator like JavaCPC Desktop (check PlayCity on misc tab of preferences).

Arkos Tracker v2 will feature :

• works on windows, linux and mac
• play both psg and sample sounds
• unlimited channels
• overhauled interface
• 4 effect columns per tracker
• arpeggios and pitches inside tracks
• slow pitch and glide fxs
• import from AT1, SKS, 129, WYZ and MOD
• export to binary or sources
• any freq from each psg
• subsongs
• new format called AKY allows replay from 7 to 12 scanlines for 3 channels with a much better compression ratio than YM players

The code of this teaser is written by Targhan, font by Super Sylvestre.

Sigi - A Fart for Melusina is a platform game, a cross of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country. It's already available on Itunes, Google Play, Amazon and Windows 10 for 1,99 €.

Battle Princess Madelyn by Causal Bit Games is more a remake of Ghouls 'n Ghosts than Sigi, nice looking too. It will available at the end of this year normally for PC (Steam) and cosoles (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch).

Everybody knows the game and the music of Barbarian, but you should listen to the orchestral version by Endrody Gabor. It's the same video, first original music, then at 3m43 the orchestral version.

Jgonza is the first one to make a longplay video of El Tesoro Perdido de Cuauhtemoc by 4Mhz .

And a few minutes after, it's the turn of Metr81 for a longplay video of El Tesoro de Cuauhtemoc.

What about a touch desk with an Amstrad CPC 464 keyboard ?

For more informations about this touch desk, go to Raster.Studio.

Caprice Forever v2017-3 by Frédéric Coste is a modified version of the Caprice emulator (by Ulrich Doewich) for windows.

• Preliminary SNR session playback
• Insert Caprice32 FDC engine as fast FDC
• Add support for DualShock 4 wireless controller
• Preliminary text rendering for DMP2160 Dot Matrix Printer
• Add scripts to help entering cheat modes
• Add keyboard clash phenomenon (« Ghosts » keys)
• Add CPC 664 french machine (different hardware keyboard than UK)
• Add recent disk images list
• Add favourite disk images list
• Add display option to keep fullscreen for next session
• Use custom patterns for scanlines (see Hints)
• Add option to never update disk images
• Fix minor bugs

Alekmaul (the author of the Amstrad CPC emulator AmeDS for Nintendo DS and also of the port of Rick Dangerous for the same console) is working on a SNES version of Defender of the Crown.

Three other WIP are available on Alekmaul's Youtube channel.

the association WDA is giving on Paris 20 3,5 inch drives compatible with Amstrad CPC.

You should really go read this tweet. But beware, reading it could cause you some pain, maybe even a lot of pain...

The house doesnt provide handkerchief.

He is back : Ömer Aydin (Noisywan), the author of several Amstrad CPC musics (see below). This time with a new remake being written of Ramparts.

Lode runner Legacy is waiting for your vote on Steam Greenlight.

You maybe know Infernal Runner, but the original Lode Runner was also on Amstrad CPC after the Apple II whic was the first platform (by Douglas E. Smith : 1960-2014).

Lode runner Legacy by Tozai Games is a voxel 3D version. You can create your own levels, modify the character, ennemies, objects. There is a solo adventure axed on reflexion without ennemies. You can also play to the 150 originals levels with Apple 2 graphics (with a small 3D), or even played to new levels created by other players.

One person created a collection of 30 Gb of Amstrad CPC files as a torrent file.

You will find PDF files of

• newspapers
• fanzines
• books
• ads
• user manual
• technic manuals
• cover tapes of games
• games manuals
• cover of tapes
• maps and levels of games

Logon's run - 3D meets the aging bits par Logon System is their last demo released this week-end lors during the Revision 2017 meeting.

And for the live video live at the Revision 2017 meeting, it's here with the reactions of the public (posted by Octoate).

Pentomino by Markus Macherey (Shining) is available as announced as a download.

Krusty (Benediction) showed his Wunderbar 4k intro at the Revision 2017 meeting.

Xyphoe wrote an article in Retro Gamer issue 167 about Amstrad CPC best games and hidden gems. It's available since the 20th April 2017.

Sutekh (Epypteor) wrote another music disk : The Gemini chiptune collection, the music is composed by Gemini (Insane). There are 6 tunes.

SuTeKH (Epyteor) wrote a remix of the Target Renegade music from the C64 game, available on John Gage's Youtube channel.

Fourth version of the CSW2CDT tool suite, which is a set of three programs whose main purpose is the encoding of computer tapes used in the Sinclair ZX and the Amstrad CPC.

As it was previously stated, the Logon's run - 3D meets the aging bits demo making-of by Overflow is available on NoRecess.

Travel to the center of the earth, based on the book by Jules Verne has seen two games made on Amstrad CPC :

• Viaje Al Centro De La Tierra by Topo Soft, a video by Retro Danuart, an action game released in 1989 with 3 independants levels
• Voyage au Centre de la Terre by Chip, video by Amstrad Maniaque, an action game released in 1988

In 2012, an extended version of Viaje Al Centro De La Tierra by César Nicolas Gonzalez (CNGSOFT) was released with 2 additional levels.

After Touch Soccer is a remake of Kick OFF 2 with graphics by the original author David Screech. You can download it for PC, and also on phones (IOS and Android).

Amstrad Maniaque is a french Youtubber since 2013.

His last video is about Hire Hare by CNGSoft, which won 2nd place at CPC RetroDev 2016.

Download Hire Hare by CNGsoft, which is a 3D isometric game like Crafton and Xunk.