Micro Mart Forum / Retro Computer Mart / Micro Mart Forums

If you could use your old computers again...

Shaun.Bebbington — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:19:15 GMT

Greetings folks,

I'm interested in knowing, if you could use an old 8- or 16-bit computer again, what would it be, and why? Also, what would convince you to turn back the binary clock and start using an old machine again? Programming, gaming, hardware modding, or whatever... all opinions welcome :-)

Regards,

Shaun.

Commodore meeting... and user group?

Shaun.Bebbington — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:30:53 GMT

Hi all,

I met up with Nigel Parker (www.commodorefree.com) and Allan Bairstow (www.commodorescene.org.uk) and Commodore globe-trotter Robert Bernardo yesterday. During which, we talked about the possibility of a UK Commodore user group, and having meetings once or twice a year, as well as either having a Commodore show, or bolting onto another event.

EDIT: The club is taking shape, as you can see from my signature, over at www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk :-)

Regards,

Shaun.

Kick Off 2 - Amiga Tournament - 4th May 2008 - Junction 2 of the M5.

Steve1977 — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:23:56 GMT

Is there any love for this game? I rememeber when the original Kick Off came out...what a breath of fresh air! (I only had Kenny Dalglish's
soccer match before that! lol).
But Kick Off 2 and Player Manager was stunning games! ahhh, the rivalries between this and Sensible Soccer eh?

If truth be told I gravitated over to SWOS because thats where the newer updates were coming from, but last year I found out that people still play Kick Off 2!
www.ko-gathering.com

They'v also ironed out some of the more stupid bugs, whilst still keeping the classic playability. Not sure if its nostalgia, but playing this with its fast pace and lush green pitch...I dunno, newer games just leave me cold!

As I said, I only joined the forum last year but already I'v made a load of friends. I'v even attended a few tournaments - mostly in Birmingham and Reading area.

Would be great if some fans are here so we can talk about the classic game. Its even possible to have a 2 player online, but local
tournaments round peoples houses are where the actions at. Pizza, Booze and Excitement - there's even an online rankings system in place, so if you ever fancied yourself the No.1 KO2 player...well, now is your chance to actually prove it.

Whilst we'v organised a 5 a side plus meal on the Saturday. To try and encourage more people to attend, the actual competition part of the
UK Champs is now being held on a Sunday (4th May infact). It's being held at the Holiday Inn on Junction 2 of the M5...you can literally see the motorway from the Hotel its that close.

This will also be the only major Kick Off tournament in the UK this year so if you'v wondered what it's all about then please dont hesitate to come!

So we can get an idea for numbers it would be much appreciated to post in this thread:

http://ko-gathering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14644

We'r really hoping that we can show all the overseas fans what a tournament in the United Kingdom is really about!!

http://ko-gathering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14644

Retro Fusion '08

stacykidd — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:06:46 GMT

Is anyone attending Retro Fusion this year? I'm giving up some working days (which I am of course distraught about) in order to travel for seven hours down south and attend said event. Rare arcades and computer geekery! I can't wait. :cool:

8-bit Music

stacykidd — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:56:41 GMT

I absolutely *love* the sound of the Commodore's SID chip. I've been making music on it with Cynthcart for a while now. Has anyone on the MM forums ever made some 8-bit music? I'm tempted to move on to some Game Boy chip tunes pretty soon, however tracking down a legit LSDJ cart is pretty impossible, phooey :hehe:

Best TV/monitor to use with C64

mam — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:10:52 GMT

Hello,I recently bought a SCART lead off eBay for connecting my C64.The picture does look better then the picture supplied by the RF lead.But it is still not as good as I remember.

I have a Panasonic LCD HD TV.The TV works great with my PS3,but not so good with the grand daddy machine.

So,what is the best TV/monitor I should be using?.I have seen commodore monitors on eBay,but what do I buy???

Any help appreciated .Thanks

C64 SCART lead,buy or make

mam — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:07:52 GMT

Hello all,:)

I'm after a scart lead for my C64.How easy will it be to make one,any advice and help is appreciated.

Thanks,MAM:)

amiga roms on floppy

mam — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:44:50 GMT

Hello.I have an AMIGA 500 and many games,but most of the games don't work any more.Because I own the original,can I copy a ROM onto the disk?.If yes,then how please.Cheers:)

Sim City "starterblock" box set

heeelp me! — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:03:26 GMT

Hi all just wondering if any1 had a clue as to what this may be worth? Its on ebay at min.
Item number: 280223326344

Cheers.

Game & watch = Cool

Just Jon — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:59:01 GMT

I have picked up a Game and Watch from the weekly flea-market in our town, I was well chuffed when I saw it, it made me smile, and for £4 I had to have it, I didn't even haggle.

Anyway, I have shown it to a group of my son's friends, and they think it's cool, despite the majority owning a modern handheld gaming device....

Because of the shape they wondered what it was when I presented it to them closed. One of the kids remarked that it looked like a cigarette case that their dad uses (brain started ticking then...).

They oggled the picture of Mario and Luigi on the "looks like the stickers in my collecting book" background, then one of them opened it. You could alsmost see their brains take a step backwards in disbelief when they saw the game itself.

Despite first appearances they were all dying to have a go and remembered their score for bragging rights. It was great to see them enjoying games that predate them by some margin.

No doubt most modern kids would rather revise geography than play with games of yore, but in this instance it was quite pleasing to see them enjoying it.

Go retro :cool:

The MW-56 is in pretty good shape to boot. The foil on the front is not heavily damaged, there are a few scratches but otherwise looks really good. If only it had a box.

Front
Open

EDIT: Should really be posted in the gaming forum? If so please move.

What retro games are people playing at the moment?

Shaun.Bebbington — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:20:28 GMT

For me, it's Astro Nell for the VIC-20 and Legend of Zelda: Link's awakening for the GB. Astro Nell is a nice game, working from an unexpanded machine, and in Link's awakening, I'm up to level 2 ;-). So, what's everyone else been playing?

Regards,

Shaun.

Amstrad PC and Locoscript PC disks and paper materials - any interest?

RonC — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:24:41 GMT

I have a book called "The Amstrad PC - Users' Omnibus" by Martin Fairbanks, Interface Publications, 1987 - together with the disks (3.5" and 5.25") of the files from the book: does anyone want it, please? You pay the postage or collect from BB4 (Rossendale, Lancs).

I have also some Locoscript material - Locoscript PC, v 1.58 and Locolink 2, each on 3.5" disk, and a paper set of tutorials and handbooks for both - again, free to good (well, any) home, you pay the postage or collect from BB4 (Rossendale, Lancs).

RonC

What 8- and 16-bit home computers do you own?

Shaun.Bebbington — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:11:54 GMT

Greetings,

I think the subject lines says it all really, but just incase, I'd like to know which computers you actually own rather than emulate. Which of those machines do you use? How often do you use them, and for what purpose? Which is/are your most used machine(s)? Do you use your Speccy as a games machine, for instance, or do you dabble in the dark arts of programming?

Also, are you having problems, such as modern television sets not working with your old hardware?

Thanks,

Shaun.

First experience with computers

NattyFido — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:26:17 GMT

My first experience of computers was in Debenhams in Croydon between 1981-1983. I would go in there on Saturday mornings and type programs into the BBC Micro all day.
The sales assistants didn't seem to mind, I think it was because I seemed to know more than they did! I would type in simple programs that filled the screen with graphics or played simple tunes. In the summer holidays I would be there all day, every day. Once I even fainted from standing still for so long!
I had a look at the other computers they were selling, but the BBC was my favourite. I remember there was an Oric, a Spectrum, a VIC-20, a TI-99A, a Dragon and a few others that never took off.

The Daddy Console game of all time.......

columbo77 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:59:18 GMT

It has got to be Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo, one of my favorite games of all time.

Others would have to be the Dizzy collection on the Amstrad. Cant beat actually having to think about a game, tried to get my kids interested but they want nothing that you have to think to much about, they stick to wrestling and fifa on the 360?!?!

I'm starting to feel old!!

ZX Spectrum keyboard

Fuzzy-Felt Bloke — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:21:20 GMT

Trying to remove the keyboard but no obvious way of getting it out. Is it glued down :w00t:

I have some keys not working.

Thanks

Tom :)

What is wrong with new games on old computers?

Shaun.Bebbington — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:21:09 GMT

Alright all,

I'm sure that there are a lot of people who frequent here that like new games for their Speccy, C64, Atari 2600 or whatever... so I want to hear from people who don't like, or don't want to try new software on old computers or consoles.

Do you think new 8- (and 16-) bit games are a waste of time? Is 'retro' purely about nostalgia for you? Are the newest games (on current-gen consoles) just so much better than anything before that (8- and 16-bit) homebrew games feel like simple token efforts to please a minority of retro enthusiasts?

I'm not going to defend "new for old" here - I think that my opinions are fairly well known already... just interested to hear what people have to say.

Any opinions will be appreciated

Regards,

Shaun.

Anyone want a nice cheap NES game?

Tippon — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:57:49 GMT

Ebay link

The story behind it :Whistling:

Home-brew games of the year.

Shaun.Bebbington — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:10:58 GMT

Okay, as 2007 has been quite an active year for home-brew development, I thought I'd start 2008 with a best of 2007 in home-brew terms. Catergories are:

Best overall game, best game by format, most original game and a special award catergory.

Forerunners are Joe Gunn Gold (C64) - best overall game and best game by format, Quantum Gardening (ZX Spectrum) - best game by format and most original game, YOOGOR (ZX81) - special award category, Cannon Bubble (ZX Spectrum) best game by format, Green Runner (Commodore 64) - best game by format and special award and Yoomp! (Atari 8-bit) - best overall game, best game by format and most original game.

All nominations are welcomed. The rules are simple. It has to be released on or after 1st January 2007 and no later than that 1st December 2007 (okay, not quite a year, but this is something that I hope to do annually, therefore games released after 1st December can be nominated for the best of 2008 awards) on an 8-bit platform as freeware, public domain or on real-media. A game only needs one nomination to be considered, and I have a whole host of games other than those mentioned that will be considered - basically everything that I have reviewed this year. So, if I've missed anything, let me know.

Thanks,

Shaun.

I forgot to say - the 2008 awards will include 16/32-bit releases as I'm going to phase in coverage of these machines too if people don't mind ;-)

Retro Computer Mart - Issue 686, 28th Feb '02

ramlink64 — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 17:05:34 GMT

Hi All,

Just wondering what everybody thought of Retro Computer Mart? Be as honest as you like,

Shaun.

Does a SNES count as retro?

Tippon — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:49:27 GMT

I've just downloaded a SNES emulator for the PC until I have room to set the console up properly, and have a few questions.

Does a SNES count as retro?

Is it 100% legal (or near enough) to download ROMs of games I already own?

What if the game itself doesn't work anymore, but I can't find a new copy to buy?

Is there a recommended site to buy SNES games from? Gamestation and CEX in Cardiff only ever seem to have a handful of football games and charge up to £10 for them :(

What emulators do you recommend for a PDA?

sentient — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:57:43 GMT

I have just purchased one of these nice little pda's and would like to run a few emulators on it but am struggling to find much. I have downloaded mameCE3 but it doesn't seem to support many roms, I have only tried a few and none seem to be on the list of working games. it also doesn't seem to be able to check which games you have rather than the entire list which is very annoying. I may have missed something, but no options seem to exist to scan the roms and mark the working titles like normal mame.
I am primarily interested in any arcade emulation such as mame, callus, final burn and system16 etc as most console games are conversions of said arcade games and are mostly inferior. Megadrive and SNES, Master System and NES also would be ok for some of the original titles too. I have heard of a 3DO emulator called freedo that has a pda version too, but not too sure how that would manage, plus you would need some serious storage for any games you played. Intersting though, would be cool to see Need for Speed running on a PDA, I used to love that game (apart from the annoying driver videos). Never had any luck getting that to work on a PC nevermind a PDA, which is a shame because I have a fair collection of 3DO games :(
Anyway and suggestions would be welcome and links to the sites even better!

system info tool for win95

compaq — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 15:16:23 GMT

anybody know of one ? its for the old laptop in my sig, having a few issues with the display drivers would like to see exactly whats in there.

btw old laptop is networked so downloading program is no problem.

Prism VTX 5000 modem for speccies

bombus — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:51:12 GMT

Did anyone on this forum ever have or use one of the Prism VTX 5000 modems? It connected Spectrums to Prestel's micronet (whatever that was).

What could they actually do?

Anyone still use one?

Just interested...

DREAMCAST

Mr COOLMAN3000 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:25:19 GMT

I have never owned one but would like to give it a go after reading the topic about great deals for under £20 never had an Amiga but did own a Atari when the kids were young and we had a Nintendo64 and Play Station 1 when they got older. so would like to give a Sega Dream cast ago.
I'm coming on 60 now and would like to get more into the retro gaming world, may be you could help me and tell me more about some of the old machines, but now jargon as I am new to this game.
It would be good if Micro mart ran a serial on retro game machines and gave links to wear you can fined out more and obtain them

old spectrum games...any of value?

sjhirst — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:19:32 GMT

hi,
ive been given a huge bag of old spectrum games to try and see what i can do with them!!
whilst it was great to delve in and reminisce like 48k match day and codemasters terra cognita im wondering if its just worth skipping them (sacrilege i know) or is there actually any rarities that might be of worth to collectors etc?

any info/ help appreciated.
regards,
steve.

Sega Master System Awards

mutantcamel — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:13:17 GMT

If you like the Sega Master System and like playing its many great games, why don't you come and vote in the 1st Sega MS Awards. Have your say on what you think are the best Master System platform, sports, puzzle games, RPG's and a whole lot more.The deadline is only a few weeks away - the 22nd of December. What are you waiting for? A bus? A Xbox 360 or PS3? Save your money and make a difference.....and getting voting.......

To vote you have to be a forum member of Sega8bit.com, but it only takes a few secs to join.

If you want to participate or find out further information, click on:

http://shinobiman.proboards15.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1192905343

Thanks

Add one...

Shaun.Bebbington — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:30:50 GMT

If you could add one feature or capability to your favourite 8 or 16-bit home computer, what would it be? For instance, would you add hardware sprites to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum? Or in-built MIDI capabilities to an Amiga?

Regards,

Shaun.

NEW DEMO FOR ZX SPECTRUM with GENERAL SOUND card

yerzmyey — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:47:28 GMT

The demo with its description is here: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=33435

Greetings!

Classic Amiga coverage in Retro Mart...?!?

Shaun.Bebbington — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:49:53 GMT

I was somewhat saddened to hear that the Amiga Mart column will not continue, at least on a weekly basis, past issue 1,000 - so I was thinking of expanding the machines that I cover in Retro Mart to include the classic Amiga computers (A500 - A4000 machines) and other 16-bit(or 32-bit) machines. This obviously won't completely plug the gap left, but it'll go a small way towards it. Any thoughts or comments are welcome (especially as I can't seem to start a poll on this very subject).

Regards,

Shaun.

80's Downloading, no modem?

Just Jon — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:30:05 GMT

"I'd like to tempt you to take part in an experiment..." Says the bearded one.

Never seen this method before [url]http://tinyurl.com/2vwc2b[/url]. A 25 minute program should get you the guess my number game in the back of the user manual of your chosen 'micro' :D

Gotta be a spoof, right?!

Atari 2600

nightminder — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:54:25 GMT

Hi, I have recently acquired an Atari 2600 (6 switch) and several games at auction, but have one big problem... There was no power cord with it!

Anybody know where I can get my hands on one? Maybe someone has a spare they are willing to part with?

Any offers or suggestions very welcome!!!

Many Thanks

Nightminder

Jason Acorn 3000

tighthead — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:58:13 GMT

Pasted this from my local classified Ads (Gwent Gazette) I don't know if it will be of any interest.

bbc archimedes 1980's 3000 acorn computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, instruction book, operating discs, plus approx 24 games, all in original packaging with manuals, collectable £10

Mike

I need a mouse for an atari 520st

djintensate — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:27:33 GMT

I want to use my trusty atari again to sequence music, But I could not find my mouse for it .

Does it use its own type or can I use a old pc mouse?

5 second bootup on c64 vs windows decades

retro — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:14:59 GMT

hi
i've been playing with my c64 with some help and advice from shem and i couldn't help noticing that it boots up in around 5 seconds compared to around 1 & 1/2 mins for windows on my pc

is the c64 so simple it takes a 1mhz cpu 5 seconds to load, when a modern cpu and fast hardrives cant load windows in less than 30seconds

my point which i am trying to make above is why has it got way complicated and why didnt it stay simple?

retro

anbody got a spare c64 casstte reader

retro — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:11:37 GMT

hi
probably shouldn't have asked but i couldn't help myself i have an old c64 in the attic the only bit that doesn't work is the cassette player/reader i have over 100 games ranging from kickstart (my fave game ever!!!) to flintstones and trivial persuit i'd love to be able to play them again on it and not in an emuator like now on my pc

also have the old atari 1200 with a copy of the first ever 3d game [battlezone] all works too and an amiga 1200 with hdd upgrade think its 40mb

retrogamer

Free to a good home

cocorico — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:19:06 GMT

I don't know if this is the right place for this... I don't know how old qualifies as retro! Anyway this is an 'overdrive' processor intended to convert a P1 based PC to 400mhz [woo-hoo!!] It is basically an AMD K62 3D Now chip, sitting on top of a circuit board which has various components, and then, that slots into the P1 socket on the board. It will work with any Pentium 1 PC from 75mhz forward. It won't work on a P60 or P66 as these had a different socket from anything 75mhz or higher.

It has never been used and is still in its original packaging. It also comes with HS/fan. The manual is missing from the box though. These are now almost impossible to get, certainly unused anyway.

This is unlikely to work in branded PC's of the era, as many of them had limitations placed on the bios setup which caused problems for DIY upgrading. Should work on 'clone' P1's.

Free to a good home. First response secures.

Thanks John

Jason

compaq — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 09:01:40 GMT

moving to Canada August 15th

Sam Coupé in the 10 Most Underrated Classic Computers!

Quazar — Fri, 04 May 2007 22:19:33 GMT

Interesting to see my photo in the Sam Coupe entry in Ian's Most Underrated Classic Computers article when I was flicking through MicroMart yesterday, but unfortunately i'm here to nitpick the entry - those that know me will know just how passionate I am for the Sam as i've been developing for it for about 13 years! ;)

[i][b]"The Sam Coupe was based around the same Z80 chip as the Speccy, was even backwards-compatible with its games"[/b][/i]

Well, yes, it had a Z80 like many other computers, although clocked faster. But the Sam wasn't natively backwards compatible though - it had to load in an emulator. (And there are plenty of other emulators for the Sam too besides the Speccy, and not just for Z80 based machines!)

Unfortunately, even to this day, the Sam always gets called just a 'super spectrum' which isn't the case, the machine really has to be seen in it's own light with it's specifications way beyond the humble speccy. Forget about emulators, and look at the proper software for the Sam!

[i][b]"It had eight sound channels to the ST's three too, which is no mean achievement considering at the time the Atari was the computer of choice for musicians"[/b][/i]

The Sam had 6 sound channels, not 8. It's not a major achievement either - it used an off the shelf sound chip - the Philips SAA1099. Comparing it to the ST's 3 channel YM sound chip isn't really an appropriate comparison - muscians used the ST because of it's MIDI capabilities not the YM! Although the Sam also has built in MIDI ports decent software for them didn't appear until 1992.

What was an achievement soundwise was the Quazar Surround soundcard released in 1995 (my first piece of hardware!) which gave the Sam six digital sound channels, up to 16 bit sample quality, and surround sound!

[i][b]"despite the fact that conversions could be simplified by combining Spectrum code with Atari ST graphics"[/b][/i]

The speccy code and Atari ST graphics was mentioned once, it was a throwaway comment in early 1990 by US Gold about their plans to port Strider.

In reality, it wouldn't be a simple conversion to go that route. Some Z80 could be reused - things like AI, but all the machine specific parts would have to be written from scratch - graphics drawing, sound, i/o and all mangled around to fit in with what memory paging would be required. You could really use any core Z80 from any platform - Amstrad CPC for example!

I can think of only two commercial releases that used parts of Speccy code at their core. Sophistry was written using dissassembled code from the Spectrum version, and updated with all new code for the bits outlined above. And 'Elite' which was an utter joke - as that was literally the ZX Spectrum version running under emulation. (I covered that a great deal in issue 14 of Sam Revival magazine and showed just what a proper Sam version should have been like!)

Really, as with any system, far better results are obtained by writing the whole game from scratch.

[i][b]"but it squeezed an incredible amount out of an aging 8-bit CPU."[/b][/i]

It sure did, the Z80 may still be old, but it's still one of Zilog's flagship processors that's still in full production and very popular in for embedded applications, and available up to 20MHz speed which is what I use in the Mayhem Accelerator for the Sam!

And for those curious as to new Sam developments that are going on, pop over to [url]http://www.samcoupe.com/[/url]

Colin.

commodore 64

compaq — Thu, 17 May 2007 22:20:58 GMT

cleaning out my loft i came across my 64 its still in its box was a later version, special edition with the terminator 2 cartridge.

i just had to give it a play for old times sake.

still a great machine.