Hi, I’m contacting you because I want to make a homebrew tribute USB. I’m collecting as many content creators as possible. I also want to include a profile for each one, with a few details, such as their logo, avatar, name, work completed, projects, etc., so you can see who’s behind their creations.
That profile, along with any material you allow me to upload, will be placed on a USB drive. This will act as a database of creators and their creations, and will be updated as I connect with new people.
The USB I’m thinking of creating will be one of those rubber-type USBs, shaped like a Spectrum computer, something that looks really nice. The idea is that those who contribute material, and if they want to buy one or more, will get it at cost price, and those who just want to buy one, it will cost a little more.
The idea is that if enough are sold, enough to recover the initial investment, the profits that the rest of the USBs could generate will be distributed among the people who have contributed material to the project, via transfer, PayPal, or however possible, even if possible, that the USB will be free. Obviously, you can buy more than one, but only one of them can be free.
It’s not necessary or mandatory to buy the USB, only if you like it or want it.
If you’re interested in this project, you can contact me at this email, flopping@gmail.com. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know and I’ll answer them. Do you think the idea is a good one? Would you like to participate in the project? Let me know. Best regards.
Hi, if you give me your cell phone number, I’ll add you to the Telegram group we have for creators, so we’re all in the same place and informed at the same time. Does that sound okay?
I think to have a Telegram account, you need a mobile phone number. I can keep you updated on the progress by email. It’s not the fastest, but it might help. My email is flopping@gmail.com. Write to me and we’ll stay in touch. Best regards.
OMG, I can't believe you managed to reproduce Mike Singleton's original engine all the way back in the 1980s! It took me half of last decade to make something similar, and then for modern computers. No way I could get mine to work on a Speccy.
Sadly I don't really have the patience or energy for a game like this anymore. I'm still glad you're sharing it with us. Thanks!
Yeah, my engine was a bit simpler than his, it only supported NSWE views and movement. But on the other hand, it had RLE bitmap stretching, which meant I was left with a lot more space for scripting & stuff.
Those times were fun.
But I don’t really expect anyone to have the patience for something like that today. It’s really just an intriguing piece of history now. I mean, even if you know exactly what to do it’s like 12 hours of play or somesuch.
Yeah, those were different times and we all tried doing stuff that hasn't been done before... And now, pretty much everything has already been "done before". It's intriguing and maybe a little sad to watch these two different points in time simultaneously.
Indeed. However the older I grow the more I'm fascinated with projects like this (or more recently with games like Nox Archaist or Realms of Antiquity) because I can fully appreciate the pioneer spirit behind it. It intrigues me how it's possible to achieve such projects with the very limited resources of these old computers. That's something I appreciate much more than any triple A production with fancy graphics and whatnot.
Well... it's good for the creator when the medium is limiting. It's a bit why I think most modern CGI movies suck... if you can do *anything* you wish you lose the gravitas. I mean we got some really brilliant games on ZX Spectrum and other 8bit computers, even later 16bit like Amiga & ST... And now you can't fit a texture for a thimble into a 48K. Having to fit a game into a 48K block makes you focused as hell :) And having possibly any resource you can think of... I don't really know what that makes you, probably not focused, needlessly excessive I suppose?
Exactly! There is a connection between limitation and reaching perfection. I remember a thought I once read in a work of Baltic philosopher Hermann von Keyserling: If we have no limits to our aspirations we will stay incompetents in all fields. The more options and possibilities there are the harder it is to perfect yourself. The CGI-technology is a good point. I always wondered why most movies after 2000 seem so cheap and uninteresting to me while in the 90ies there still were some good movies. I'm almost sure it has to do with the excessive use of computer technology and the boundless possibilities it opens. While we can still enjoy 100 years old Chaplin movies I'm almost sure nobody will talk of all the CGI-Superhero-stuff in 10 years.
By the way: I just purchased myself a TI-84+ calculator - simply because I intend to figure out what can be achieved on such a limited device There are tons of games and programs.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hi, I’m contacting you because I want to make a homebrew tribute USB. I’m collecting as many content creators as possible. I also want to include a profile for each one, with a few details, such as their logo, avatar, name, work completed, projects, etc., so you can see who’s behind their creations.
That profile, along with any material you allow me to upload, will be placed on a USB drive. This will act as a database of creators and their creations, and will be updated as I connect with new people.
The USB I’m thinking of creating will be one of those rubber-type USBs, shaped like a Spectrum computer, something that looks really nice. The idea is that those who contribute material, and if they want to buy one or more, will get it at cost price, and those who just want to buy one, it will cost a little more.
The idea is that if enough are sold, enough to recover the initial investment, the profits that the rest of the USBs could generate will be distributed among the people who have contributed material to the project, via transfer, PayPal, or however possible, even if possible, that the USB will be free. Obviously, you can buy more than one, but only one of them can be free.
It’s not necessary or mandatory to buy the USB, only if you like it or want it.
If you’re interested in this project, you can contact me at this email, flopping@gmail.com. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know and I’ll answer them. Do you think the idea is a good one? Would you like to participate in the project? Let me know. Best regards.
Juan.
Sounds good. Let me know what you need from me, and when.
Regards, Matija
Hi, if you give me your cell phone number, I’ll add you to the Telegram group we have for creators, so we’re all in the same place and informed at the same time. Does that sound okay?
Hmm… I don’t have a smartphone or Telegram. Any other possibility? If not, I will look into getting a Telegram account.
Hi Charon.
I think to have a Telegram account, you need a mobile phone number. I can keep you updated on the progress by email. It’s not the fastest, but it might help. My email is flopping@gmail.com. Write to me and we’ll stay in touch. Best regards.
Juan.
OMG, I can't believe you managed to reproduce Mike Singleton's original engine all the way back in the 1980s! It took me half of last decade to make something similar, and then for modern computers. No way I could get mine to work on a Speccy.
Sadly I don't really have the patience or energy for a game like this anymore. I'm still glad you're sharing it with us. Thanks!
Yeah, my engine was a bit simpler than his, it only supported NSWE views and movement. But on the other hand, it had RLE bitmap stretching, which meant I was left with a lot more space for scripting & stuff.
Those times were fun.
But I don’t really expect anyone to have the patience for something like that today. It’s really just an intriguing piece of history now. I mean, even if you know exactly what to do it’s like 12 hours of play or somesuch.
An incredibly ambitious project for the Speccy. I played it years ago. I'm glad you put it up here!
Thanks, I am glad you gave it a try! I know it's quite "rough around the edges."
I've not heard of this before but I feel like I'm reading a description for The Elder Scrolls 0.
Yeah, those were different times and we all tried doing stuff that hasn't been done before... And now, pretty much everything has already been "done before". It's intriguing and maybe a little sad to watch these two different points in time simultaneously.
Indeed. However the older I grow the more I'm fascinated with projects like this (or more recently with games like Nox Archaist or Realms of Antiquity) because I can fully appreciate the pioneer spirit behind it. It intrigues me how it's possible to achieve such projects with the very limited resources of these old computers. That's something I appreciate much more than any triple A production with fancy graphics and whatnot.
Well... it's good for the creator when the medium is limiting. It's a bit why I think most modern CGI movies suck... if you can do *anything* you wish you lose the gravitas. I mean we got some really brilliant games on ZX Spectrum and other 8bit computers, even later 16bit like Amiga & ST... And now you can't fit a texture for a thimble into a 48K. Having to fit a game into a 48K block makes you focused as hell :) And having possibly any resource you can think of... I don't really know what that makes you, probably not focused, needlessly excessive I suppose?
Exactly! There is a connection between limitation and reaching perfection. I remember a thought I once read in a work of Baltic philosopher Hermann von Keyserling: If we have no limits to our aspirations we will stay incompetents in all fields. The more options and possibilities there are the harder it is to perfect yourself. The CGI-technology is a good point. I always wondered why most movies after 2000 seem so cheap and uninteresting to me while in the 90ies there still were some good movies. I'm almost sure it has to do with the excessive use of computer technology and the boundless possibilities it opens. While we can still enjoy 100 years old Chaplin movies I'm almost sure nobody will talk of all the CGI-Superhero-stuff in 10 years.
By the way: I just purchased myself a TI-84+ calculator - simply because I intend to figure out what can be achieved on such a limited device There are tons of games and programs.