Sharpworks

Three new homebrew games available from the Sharpworks store at : sharpworks.onlineweb.shop (also on eBay if you prefer).

I have just released a version of my ALTAIRIS game for the Sharp MZ-700 !! Feel free to check it out! loudscotsbloke.itch.io/altairis-sharp…

@hardistymark @FrontierAstro You prefer the game without suns? I’m sure there was other stuff missing too

@FrontierAstro I am!

Lovely stuff, apart from we all know the best version is on the Acorn Electron.

Viernes noche con Numbertron y el Sharp MZ-700.

@todorpgpodcast I am getting my Quick Disk drive working with mine :) it was working for a while but I think the belt has gone now so I will be buying some new belts. It stopped working just in time for the exhibition a week ago where I was going to show it off !

@SharpworksMZ It does! I am saving money to buy the amazing UniCMT, it will give a new life to this computer!

@allthingstech_p Yes indeed, many people have come past my table today and remarked that they’ve only seen the machines before in pictures or in magazines. Trying to make the machines more well known :)

@SharpworksMZ The Sharp MZ series at a Retro Fest is such a treat. These machines are criminally underrepresented in Western retro circles. The MZ-700 especially is a fascinating piece of Japanese computing history.

All set up with my MZ-80K and MZ-700 at this year’s Retro Fest

@DustinFinn I've never heard anyone refer to it as that !

To this day. I still do not understand. How people call the desktop background image a "screen saver". How did that stick - How did that happen.

@GallifreysLost @PaulCarmichaelV Lots of people saying the same thing everywhere whilst never once giving a source for their information. It could be true but who knows right now.

@PaulCarmichaelV Is this verified ? Nothing on either imdb or the BBC website

So sorry to hear that Michael Keating has died. A fine actor with a wonderful career, including a recurring role in #EastEnders, but to me he will always be the wonderful Vila in #Blakes7. RIP.

@CommodoreBlog @AmigaReposts @CommodoreKazz @CommodoreLad @nyimski I'll never forget when I heard that smart bomb explosion for the first time, most amazing sound effect I've heard in any game really.

Silk Worm. Virgin Games, 1989. #Amiga #Commodore

@WizkidCoder @DrTomTilley @CommodoreBlog @AmigaReposts @CommodoreKazz @CommodoreLad @nyimski Special Weapons Interdiction Vehicles (SWIV)

@DrTomTilley @CommodoreBlog @AmigaReposts @CommodoreKazz @CommodoreLad @nyimski I think it is brilliant that not only is this also a great port on ZX Spectrum, but also a brilliant version of SWIV as well (SilkWorm IV?) on Spectrum.

@_dareDev @UridiumAuthor Not bad at all

@UridiumAuthor The game was pretty much universally praised upon release I recall? Not just in Zzap! 64?

Just to address a comment on a video I saw about the Paradroid Gold Medal and whether it was deserved, or not. Despite the diary articles connection, there was no pressure for a good review. I can say that the Zzap! 64 guys were as relieved as I was that the game turned out well.

@qdream_ru @TopRetroGames I've never heard of that game for the MZ-80A. Are you sure it's for the 'A' and not one of the Japanese machines like the MZ-80K or MZ-80C ?

@TopRetroGames Hello! I'm playing retro Star Wars games and similar games. Could you please send me the game Super Frash (198x) for Sharp MZ-80A or tell me where I can download it?

@jrade762 @exQUIZitely lol of course. The response of the weak minded

@SharpworksMZ @exQUIZitely lol, you sat thru the process did you??…..ffs

Today versus "once upon a time"...

@jrade762 @exQUIZitely What process?

@jrade762 @exQUIZitely Not enough memory in the computer to sit there loading data in for an entire hour

@SharpworksMZ @exQUIZitely It was a cassete tape.

@jrade762 @exQUIZitely How can it take an hour? What's the baud rate?

@exQUIZitely One hour to load the next mission on the C64 version of F-19 Stealth Fighter.

@FrontierAstro @exQUIZitely Nice!

@SharpworksMZ @exQUIZitely 112k! Massive!

An average picture that you save on your phone or PC has a size of around 800 kilobytes. It doesn't do anything, it's just a static image. Now take a game like Elite which had a size of 22 kilobytes on the BBC Micro, or 82 kilobytes on the C64 - and now think about what Braben and Bell turned those 22 kilobytes (or 82 kilobytes) into. A universe with eight galaxies, each containing 256 star systems (for a total of 2,048 planets/systems). Each system also featured unique details: government type, economy, technology level, population, commodity prices, and even descriptive text (e.g., a planet known for "carnivorous arts graduates" or similar quirky combinations). If you still need a bit more help to contextualize that, try this: Elite was smaller than many modern text files or desktop icons, yet it contained (and let you freely explore!) a multi-galaxy-spanning universe that felt vast and limitless. By the way - for thos who will argue "but the universe and stars were created randomly, so that's easy" - I think you wil find that the word is procedurally (with structure), which is not random... and anything but easy. Oh, and by the way, the game also rendered 3D wireframe ships, stations, and planets in real time on processors with 2 MHz. Impressed yet? This is no slight on today's game designers. They work with what they have, and that's okay. But when you think about the worlds that some programmers created with the tools they were given, it sometimes breaks my brain trying to understand how they did it. Elite is a true masterpiece on so many levels. I played the C64 version back in the day, and even 40+ years later it still feels like one of the most incredible programming wonders ever.

@exQUIZitely What about the disk version of the BBC Elite?

@SharpworksMZ Disk space. On the disk.