News about Amstrad CPC, PCW, Notepad NC100 NC150 NC200, PDA600 and also Amstrad PC







Amstrad noob, an interesting Amstrad CPC blog

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On CPCWiki some time ago I discovered the Amstrad Noob blog with a Youtube channel, but I didnt take time to write about it. It's now done, I recommend to read this blog. The last article is about the RGB2HDMI (youtube video) that I saw already being used by Retro Theory.



Version 3 of the adventure game Tristam Island by Hugo Labrande (and incoming french version)

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The version 3 of the english adventure game Tristam Island by Hugo Labrande is available for 3,99 dollars (25% cheaper starting 20th december). The demo version is limited to the first chapter of the game for a game time estimated to 1 to 1h30 hour which will let you discover the game before buying it if you are interested at this low price.

This adventure game is using the framework used by Infocom's games, the Z-Machine, which was reversed-engineered and documented in the 90s and implemented on dozens of platforms. This is how "Tristam Island" is able to be released on 36 computers (8, 16, 32 and 64 bits), including the Amstrad CPC and PCW. The game uses a library optimized for speed and size, PunyInform by Fredrik Rasmberg and Johan Berntsson.

A french version will be available this coming monday 20th december 2021 with as usual a french demo version.

If you buy either the english of french version, Itch.IO cannot permit to get the other version freely. But with the low price you can buy both : a traduction needs a lot of work and all work merits some payment. But Hugo Labrande will give you a key of the version you didnt buy if you ask him.





Roland Goes Rescue 2 by Zoe Robinson, save Santa Claus and Christmas on your Amstrad CPC

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Roland Goes Rescue 2 is the latest game by Zoe Robinson. It's of course an Amstrad CPC platform game in the spirit of Roland in Time. You can see a video of Roland Goes Rescue 2 gameplay by Amstrad Maniaque on Youtube.

You play as Roland, a hapless assistant to Father Christmas, who is tasked with rescuing all the gifts Santa had planned to deliver to the good little girls and boys of the world. Why does Roland have to do this? Because the naughty goblins have stolen all the presents!

Guide Roland around all the weird and wonderful locations in the game to collect the gifts so Santa can deliver them. If you fail, Christmas is ruined – but don’t worry, you’ll be able to try again because it’s only a game… isn’t it ?



The Errand Boy, a graphical adventure game by Dwalin

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After Las Aventuras de Rudolphine Rur released in April 2020 by Dwalin, he just has released a new graphical adventure game : The Errand Boy which you can play online if you have no read Amstrad CPC computer or emulator.

The Errand Boy» is a short conversational adventure, originally written for MSDOS by Dwalin in 2021, using JSJ’s SINTAC G3 parser. Later it has been ported to DAAD, and also published for Spectrum, Spectrum Next, Amstrad CPC and MSX2. It is the first adventure that I translate into English (with the help of Jade, @lecambre and @buleste), so I hope you can forgive any mistakes I may have made. The history is the following : your boss reintroduced you as «the errand boy» … and you’re done! A thousand years of service does not deserve this, and someone will pay for it.



An unofficial Amstrad CPC mini by Retronano

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Retronano is making miniatures computers in 3D with a Raspberry PI inside, for example an Amiga 3000, Macintosh 2, etc...

This time the target is a miniature (20% of the real size) Amstrad CPC 6128 with a Raspberry PI zero (knowing that the zero 2 is out since not very long and much more powerful). The SD card goes into the not for real disk drive of this miniature 6128, it's a nice idea.

Click on the link above for more informations including price :

  • 40€ for the model alone without electronics
  • 99€ for the model with Pi zero, sdcard with cpc emu, hdmi adapter and micro usb hub (only 4 in strock)

He takes orders by message, payement by paypal, delivery 6€ for France and 12€ for europe.

It's very nice but I have already 3 raspberry PI at home with installed Amstrad CPC emulator and in fact I am using my good old Amstrad CPC 6128+ instead or plain 6128. So I dont feel the urge to buy oe for myself.



It's Behind you : the making of a computer game by Bob Pape about the R-Type game

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You can download the book by Bob Pape : It's behind you : the making of a computer game which is about the game R-Type that he wrote at the time on ZX Spectrum. The game was released in 1987 on Amstrad CPC with a remake by Easter Egg in 2012 (which you can see a video on Youtube).



Upgrading an Amstrad MegaPC with the MegaCard by Keropi

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You are the happy owner of an Amstrad MegaPC Amstrad and you wish to offer it to me for Christmas ? So don't hesitate to buy first the MegaCard to upgrade your computer and offer it the following features :

  • ALS100 sound controller chip providing SB/SBPRO/SB16 compatibility
  • real Yamaha OPL3 FM chip
  • Realtek 8019AS network controller providing a 10mbps ethernet connection and boot rom support for XT-IDE BIOS
  • scandoubler that makes possible for the onboard MegaDrive to output a standard VGA signal
  • an optional exclusive Serdaco MIDI daughterboard - the X3GS with a 16MB Roland-licensed GS soundbank (same core features as X2GS)
  • ISA header and MIDI I/O + routing configuration for an upcoming PCMIDI MPU upgrade db

For more informations on this card and photos, go read the thread on Vogons.

You can see a video of RMC - The Cave which shows the MegaCard on Youtube.

You can also check the Amstrad PC group on Facebook where it has been showed several times already.