Most liked posts in thread: What's new Pussycat too?

You know what they say Paul. If youc can't remember it then you are probably still living it

 

Not had much of a chance to play with the N64 this week but going to give it a good run out soon. I'm not a big fan of FPS but I do like a game of Doom now again.

Glad to hear you are giving the Atari ST some love. I really think it's an under-rated machine. I know the Amiga is generally better but the ST was my first 16-bit computer and I have some great memories of it. I have an STE with 4 meg and a 1 meg STFM set up a the moment. The STFM has a gotek fitted but the STE I'm keeping as original as possible. Thinking about getting a grease weasel to move some images on to floppy disks for it.

Saw your post in the chat Richie and I already have a PS2 and Xbox 360 but if you are thinning your 8-bit herd at any time then I'd be interested in anything Amstrad, BBC or Oric related maybe...

 

Oh you bitch....

 

Nothing new in the way of retro this week (unless you count a couple of vintage look metal signs for the mancave and a Now compilation of Jukebox Classics). Did have a play with the Nintendo 64 earlier. Ridge Racer is excellent on it but I'm really going to need to do a deep delve and try out some of the titles I haven't heard of before. Bitmap Books have just released a new N64 book so I'll pick that up at some point as they are always worth reading and finding a few undiscovered gems in.

Less than a week now to the release of the Atari 400 Mini - really looking forward to that one.

 

So long as they made it through, Al.
I guess the seller thought "I've made next to nowt on these so screw packing em up carefully/well... I can't be arsed" etc.
I;ve had stuff sent to me after I've bagged a bargain and they've similarly arrived in shabby packaging... human nature, I guess but never mind - they're now gonna be very much appreciated by you and that's all that matters.

 

My thoughts exactly Andy, at least he did actually send them!

Some nice articles in them but I probably enjoy looking at the old adverts the most

 

Bootiful, buddy, truly bootiful.

You've got a sweet-looking flush there, Al.

 

It's a very well put together piece of plastic that's for sure @Andy Barr

Getting on better with the joystick than I expected, it has a nice feel to it and the display is very good as well. Played Basketball and Missile Command which are built in and the emulation was excellent.

The only issues I have found are that some games loaded from USB have the top or bottom of the screen cut off. You can adjust the aspect ratio but it doesn't have a wide enough margin for every game yet. A lot of titles like Pole Position, Leaderboard etc that I have played are fine though. Also it would be nice to be able to select more than 128kb of ram and VBXE options in the emulation for games that require it.

Overall though I can see it getting a fair bit of use from me, it's a neat little system and stuff like being able to easily save games or rewind them (very useful when you lose a life during a game!) are excellent quality of life improvements.

Most importantly it feels authentic when you are playing it and gives you that hit of retro that we all chase after

 

It's just nice to see our A8 range get a bit of recongition amongst all the other systems that have been revisited the last few years

Who would have thought that in 2024 you would be able to buy a new VCS or Atari-8bit system lol

 

Nice one Richie, always good to see the ST getting a bit of love

 

Do you have an archive of your PD/Shareware library Allen ? Which library was it ?

 

It was called PD Force (yes, original I know). Only sold locally at first by advertising in the regional newspaper. Back in those days I would deliver the disks in person sometimes and even show people how to use them! Built up a steady customer base using word of mouth and also attending any local computer fairs around Glasgow back when we had things like the Microfair. Also had a very early stall at the infamous Barras Market that totally confused people when they asked for pirated games lol.

Sadly I don't have anything left from that time like catalogues or the original disks. Wish I had kept them as I remember working on my catalogue disk for ages and making it pretty neat.

Somewhere in my archives I probably have a photo or two from those early days, will need to look them out and scan them into the PC sometime.

 

Yeah, keep a look out and if you ever dig any classic retro photos of you "at large" on the Glasgow micro marketplace, manning your stall or copying games "live" as the cops make a bust (!!??) then you know that this is exactly the RIGHT PLACE to display such photographic evidence, Al!! I know exactly what you mean about spending hrs putting together disk games directories and software lists and I recall Brenski sending me a smart piece of software for the Atari 8bit classic which was piss easy to update/edit and then you went through your list with a joystick and the list flew up/down the screen and you could dump it all to printer... again, if I manage to find any old tat/evidence from this era then I too will upload it here "for old times" sake.... memories are made of these, eh, fellas?

 

Definitely need at least 2MB of RAM to load some of games off HDD especially ones that needed 1MB on disk. Seems to be the general rule of thumb that you double the RAM needed when running from a hard drive. Exxos’s shop has two versions of 4MB upgrade so will have a think. I think there is a way to disable the onboard RAM by tying some resistors to 5v, I don’t fancy desoldering the original onboard 512KB. It’s a neat little gadget this ACSI2STM. It has a RTC as well as 3 micro SD slots so in theory you could have 9 partitions I think. Loads games in seconds ( Pera’s site has HD ready games to download ) can copy downloaded games from PC to SD Card just by drag and drop.
I was going to get a PiStorm for my Amiga but you’re straying into the realms of emulation and I could have the same performance or better using Amibian on my Pi 3+. So I was looking at Terriblefire Accelerator or ACA500Plus instead but they are not cheap. So that’s for later, I tried to buy an A590 HD yesterday but was outbid sadly so I’ll keep trying.

 

After my latest raid across the border I managed to pick up a few retro goodies. I'm sure either Paul or Andy made a joke about making 5 purchases. Well, I managed it lol



The majority of the above I picked up on the last day or two. So we have from top left clockwise;
1) an Atari ST mug
2) couple of copies of Raid Over Mosco for the Amstrad CPC (that might give a clue to what is going to in the next photo...)
3) Galaga 7800 - I saw this on a Gumtree advert and it was only a 40 mile or so diversion on the way home so just had to go pick it up, good condition box and came complete with manual. One of my Holy Grail titles.
4) F1 for the Megadrive. I didn't realise berfore that this was based on Vroom so had to snap it up when I saw it fully boxed in CEX
5) Striker for the Megadrive, because it's a football game and I love football games
6) a floppy disk created out of bead art
6) Warlords 2600, really chuffed with this as I think it's a great game and although I already had the cart on it's own this was a sealed copy complete with manual. Got it from one of my favourite retro games shops, in Scarborough, for a bargaintastic £8.
7) Saroo SSHD loader - this was something I ordered online from eBay before going on holiday. An SD card solution for the Sega Saturn that plugs into the cartridge slot so you don't need to remove the cd drive or open up the console. So far it has ran everything I've tried and the load speeds are amazing. It also acts as a ram and save cartridge as well as running both import and UK games.
8) North West Computer Museum user guide - on the Holiday Monday I made a trip to this great computer museum about 40 miles from Blackpool. It was amazing. I'll do a seperate post about it when I get a chance as it is worthy of it's own thread.

and now to reveal....


Yes! I managed to get an Amstrad CPC 464 again. This was something I'd been keeping an eye on from eBay and when it hadn't sold I contacted the seller and managed to agree an offer and pick it up near Leeds on the way home. It came with a box load of around 30 games on cassette (belt recently replaced) and the colour monitor. Haven't had a chance to set it up yet, but will give it a good clean and hopefully manage a little play at some point over the weekend.

With all the above it means I spent a little bit more than I really should have so have cancelled my planned trip to Blackpool Play Expo in October but think this lot will keep me busy anyway

 

Brilliant, Al.
You never fail to hit the target on these cross-border raids of yours - another huge success by looks of things! Paul, clearly that Hadrian geezer who you put up to put a wall up with a bit of bish bosh brickying and plastering aint done a very good job has he, pal? He's bleedin letting Al and his retro troops kilt their way through our collections

Eeh, what's he like? Anyhow, I'm gonna start in reverse order - I lurve to see someone splashing out a bit and buying a system and the Amstrad CPC464 all-in-one set-up never fails to impress and I like the back-story too - you were patient, made an offer and picked up on yer way home - you'd done your homework and you deserved that little win with a little beauty you've got there (and 30 games tapes PLUS those Raids Over Moscow should be loading up before very much longer!)

And what else have you got in there - some of it I aint got a clue but get the general gist eg. Saroo and F1/Vroom. So, the former's a Sega Saturn SD card solution - and more and the other is a racing game for the Megadrive? Reet, got it - check point - extended play - Al, select top gear and play yer heart out, my good man. Oh, and Striker too - was this out on the Amiga too? I seem to recall the title... maybe not.

PLUS! Bead art - snazzy and an ST mug and Warlords - a fab 2600 title. Mate, you've done your Xmas shopping early this year - that haul is full of personal treats and why the hell not, I mean what do we work for - just paying bills? I think not - excellent purchases and do tell us more about the Blackpool / North West museum in your next post, mate.

By heck, pal, both you and ya wallet must be...

KNACKERED!?

I know what - brew on, feet oop and get that Amstrad booted THEN relax!

 

You got it, Al.

I'll be there, fella.

You pick Rich up and I'll nip down and pick-up Paul from Ull International... tram shed (we aint got an airport, Paul). We did have then someone ran orf with the runway...

 

Thanks Richie, very kind of you to offer. I'm going to try and pick up an SD card solution though as I am rapidly running out of space with well over 200 original software titles. Have barely been able to look through the box of games that came with the CPC but think there might be closer to 60 tapes.

Is the DDI-5 still the best SD solution for the Arnold?

 

If you want a really good expansion get an M4 from Duke on the CPCWiki group ( WiFi & SD Card )

 

No you would need one of them as well but you can have 30 Rom banks that you can use and switch in and out. You can get a 1MB RAM expansion fairly cheap and then then get a M4 expansion board so you can have several expansions connected at the same time.
I have one of these boards kicking around. I might have a RAM board as well in my spares bin. I’ll have to check.

 

Started to give the 464 a clean and remove the stickers that had been put on the monitor casing. Had time for a quick game of Storm (budget Gauntlet style game) earlier and it's looking and sounding good. Still got another box of tapes to work through but after some research think I'm going to save up for the DDI-5 SD card and memory expansion as it seems to do everything I want with the minimum of fuss. The cave has now reached it's capacity just about!

 

Oh dear Andy, so excited to find a game on the old Oric that you mix it up with a totally different game on another 8bitter

Oric Stormlord looks pretty neat for the system, have you played it? I've not played the CPC version but I did find a video of it on YouTube and it looks a right cracker, very colourful land good chiptune music.

 

No, I'm still to properly engage with this little beauty on the Oric, Al.

It looks a work of art on the CPC464.

Have only watched the You Tube clip a few times and keep saying, like I do with the Klyde's Collection post, I MUST GET ROUND TO DOING THIS ONE DAY!

Unfortunately, right now folks like my uncle Russ need support (his wife still very ill in hossie with a hazy patch on her lungs), as does me mam (less confident, more anxious and doddery by the day) and even uncle Harry relies on his weekly fish n chips courtesy of yours truly making a trip out to his, so there's always somewhere I'm dashing to after work.

As you guys'll know, some days there just aint enough hrs in the day to be a retronaut...

 

Too true Andy, that's why it's nice to be able to jump on here when we do have a bit of time and share our bits and bobs with like minded folks

 

Finally made my way through the bundle of tapes that came along with the CPC 464. Sixty six titles in total including some right gems such as Batman, Rainbow Islands, Harrier Attack, Kane and Storm. Have kept around a dozen titles including the must haves mentioned here and will take the rest along to my local vintage store at the weekend. Want to see if I can find Oh Mummy, 180 Darts, and 3D Death Chase. That will keep me going while I save for the DDI-5 SD card reader.