The new version of M4FE v2.0.2, a frontend for the wifi M4 board by Abalore is available. It features compatibility improvements.

CPCEC (windows) is a new Amstrad CPC emulator by CNGSOFT released some days ago, which replaces CPCE (dos/windows).

A seventh release is available today, the news are :

• Fixed a bug in the YM3 file recording, another one in the ZXSEC internal timings, and one more in the debugger commands with optional parameters
• Fixed a Z80 emulation bug in IRQ logic. Configuration (computer model and file paths) is kept across sessions in a INI file
• Tapes can be browsed, either by file position (WAV and CSW) or by block (CDT, TZX and TAP)

There is a graphical menu since the third release.

The last version of RASM is v0.112 (5th April 2019). This multi platform assembler (linux, windows, but not only like MorphOS on Amiga) let you program for Amstrad CPC.

The online documentation is available.

update v0.111

• error management code cleanup
• new options with directive INCBIN for wav import
• allow EDSK with invalid track sector size or supernumerary tracks if sectors are DATA compliant
• bugfix confusion between generated global labels and local labels for export
• bugfix EQU with generated names AND curly brackets formulas inside a loop
• bugfix invalid REPEAT values will increment the error counter



update v0.112

• bugfix single NOP wasn't increment nop counter ^_^
• bugfix NOP count with ADD/SUB/XOR/AND/CP (IX+n)/(IY+n)
• bugfix in WAV importv

In quite old times, creating a new adventure game without programming it from A to Z meant using programs like :

• The Quill written by Graeme Yeandle and published by Gilfsoft (a british company created by Tim Gilberts in the early 1980s) on ZX Spectrum in December 1983. With the success of the tool Gilsoft released Illustrator to add graphics to games written by the Quill. First published on ZX Spectrum, it was also released on Amstrad CPC, C64, Atari 8bit, Apple 2, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. It was using a parser with only verb noun understanding
• Professional Adventure Writer (PAW) sometimes called PAWS for Professionnal Adventure Writing System is also written by Graeme Yeandle, Tim Gilberts and Phil Wade, still published by Gilsoft in 1986. It featured graphics directly without an addon, a better parser, could use 128 Ko (at least on ZX Spectrum). It was released on ZX Spectrum and other CP/M computers but did exclude the BBC Micro and C64. An updated CP/M version of PAW was ported for MS-DOS under the name PC Adventure Writer. A bit more history about Quill and PAW on Graeme Yeandle's website and Stefan Vogt's website (including download of the Quill and PAW for several computers) and an interesting interview of Tim Gilberts by Stefan Vogt. PAW was used recently for the game Doomsday Lost Echoes in 2016 (original web site of the game). Check Gilsoft's Text Adventures' Engines Reservoir if you want to write a game with PAW
• Graphic Adventure Creator (GAC) written by Incentive Software in 1985 by Sean Ellis on Amstrad CPC initially and later to ZX Spectrum, BBC, Acorn Electron (without graphics), C64 and also at STAC (ST Adventure Creator) on Atari ST
• DISEÑADOR DE AVENTURAS DE AVENTURAS AD (DAAD) or Adventure Designer for Aventuras AD was written by Tim Gilberts in the late 1980s for the company Aventuras AD. So he wrote a new multi platform adventure writer which could target 8bit and 16 bit computers like C64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and PCW, MSX, Atari ST, Amiga and MS-Dos. It was programmed from 1988 to 1991 but development stopped with the banruptcy of Aventuras AD. DAAD was used recently for the game PANDEMIA XXI

DAAD could have been lost forever, except that the systems disks were found in 2014 by Mr. SAMUDIO and released in the public domain sadly without english support which was missing. Happily Tim Gilberts teamed with Stefan Vogt (author of Hibernated 1 released in 2018, a science fiction adventure) and restored and extended the english language support, and letting use a modern editor. The new version supports the same platform than the original DAAD. A new version of DAAD (v2 R2) (all tools to create a new game) was released in 2018 and a DAAD compiler v2.42 update in 2019. DAAD also supports the german language now.

But today you can use other tools than excluding or complimentary to DAAD :

• WinPAW by Douglas Harter for windows of course
• SUPERGLUS by Carlos Sánchez
• ngPAWS (next generation PAWS)
• inPAWS, a multi platform compiler/extractor for Gilsoft's PAW by Mastodon to write games for ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC (InPAWS source)
• Antur (Welsh for adventure) by Stefan Vogt is a transcompiler, meant to assist 8-bit & 16-bit text/graphic adventure authors. It converts sources for Gilsoft's PAWs to sources ready to compile in DAAD. It was used to port many adventure games, see Spectrum Adventurer (his web site) who wrote several thread on CPCWiki

So want to write game, what about reading tips about using Quill/PAW/DAAD by Stefan Vogt ?

I happily received my Repoker de Ases par 4Mhz which is a compilation of games made by 4Mhz in a cartridge, a dandanator in fact.

With its 1 Mb RAM and 1 Mb ROM, I was able to launch the only 1 Mb demo on Amstrad : bad apple, nice also with SymbOS with so much memory. Dont forget the 512 Kb RAM drive and also the wifi like the M4 board by Duke. It is only lacking more AY for more sound channels, but it will be for the next release as stated by 4Mhz.

P.S. : the first paragraph is the truth, it is quite possible that the second one is an April fool.

From Rhayader Computers's tweet I went to its web site of his shop at Mid Wales Plus in the United Kingdom, which sells several things but what interests us is mugs, mouse mats and coaster with an Amstrad CPC theme, but also for other 8bit computers.

CPCEC (windows) is a new Amstrad CPC emulator by CNGSOFT released some days ago, which replaces CPCE (dos/windows).

It's the fourth release : Onscreen indicators (hide them with -O); fixed bugs in ZXSEC that slowed emulation down when the frameskip wasn't zero, and another bug in audio recording on WAV files.

There is a graphical menu since the third release.

A new video by RetroManCave about the Amstrad PC 1512 and Amstrad PC 1640 which started the compatible PC train in Europe.

ACE v1.18 by Philippe Rimauro is an Amstrad CPC emulator for MorphOS.

Caprice Forever v2019-03 by Frédéric Coste is a modified version of the Caprice emulator (by Ulrich Doewich) for windows.

• Fix FDC read failure detection
• Fix FDC regression to load MegaBlasters
• Upgrade Graphics Explorer GUI
• Improve Memory Editor
• Preliminary CT-RAW image disk read
• Add 4M RAM expansion
• Add Digiblaster audio channel
• Fix minor bugs