I wasn’t sure in my last post how to remove the extra space from the program listings. Well, I figured it out.
Updated Program Listing
Awhile back I went searching for a decent ZX81 font and ran across ZX81 VDU. I played around adding it to my site’s footer, but I really wanted to do more with it. It’s pretty good and, unlike some other fonts I found, it has all the ZX81 graphic characters. You do have to carefully choose the font size, but that is minor issue. Overall a great font that is easy to use.
ZX81 Retro Gaming
I often search around the web looking to see what kind of ZX81 community still thrives. I truly expected to find a community in decline, but a surprising number of nostalgia sites are still out there. I found some dedicated to hardware, some to emulating, and others to software. Some are reference sites offering up tips and how to do things. Others simply have reviews of software from a different era. All of them interesting in their own way.
July’s Program: Spiders & Flies
July is almost half over, but we still have time for our program of the month: Spiders & Flies. You play a growing Venus flytrap that is searching for flies and special bugs. Use the ZX81 arrow keys to move around: 5, 6, 7, and 8. But be careful. Don’t eat the spiders lurking about or accidentally eat yourself. It’s a super easy game so you have no excuse for not trying it out.
June’s Program: Blast Off
Blast Off, June’s program of the month, is a simple game that tests your typing skills. You may find it a bit easier to play on an emulator than on a real ZX81. Fortunately, you can try now! It isn’t a very hard game if you are decent typist. It would also work well for those practicing their typing skills.
May’s Program: Up-Cake
Well it is getting late in the month and I didn’t want to pull another last-minute update. To make things a bit interesting, I used Zed Ex on my Android tablet to enter in this month’s entry. More on that in a bit. Let me first introduce our deliciously short entry for May: Up-Cake. A fast and simple scrolling game that is easy to play and hard to lose at. My kind of game!
40065 Blue Jay
LEGO’s May mini build was a Blue Jay. I thought he’d look better in a tree which I modeled in LDD. I rendered the scene with POV-Ray 3.7RC7.
Fixing for IE10 and Other Updates
I happened to load my sites into IE10 the other day and noticed the reflections were broken. Generally, I wouldn’t care much as I don’t use IE except at work. However, I thought it best that things not continue to look different. I updated reflection.js to the latest version. I also updated jquery.js as it was a bit outdated as well. So far things are looking better. I did notice my site was loading a bit slower though. I’m not sure if this is the new code or something else. I’ll keep watch and update you if something else is amiss.
Fixing My ZX81 RSS Feed
I’m doing a little Spring cleaning and ran across a little problem with my RSS feed that I failed to notice before. In some programs, the article images didn’t display properly because I was using relative paths.
DISH CINEMA Userbar (Updated)
As part of my periodic check of my userbar code, I found that DISH once again changed their pay-per-view (PPV) web page causing my DISH PPV userbar to break. I’ve fixed it again and it now displays a pretty good choice of featured movies.
6364 Paramedic Unit (Updated) and 40041 Moose
I’m a little behind in sharing some of my recent LEGO renders. One is an updated model, and one is a new one. Let’t take a look.
April’s Program: Star Dodge
Late and last-minute, I present April’s program of the month Star Dodge. A decidedly simple game that requires you to dodge stars randomly placed on the screen. Can you get your Tie Fighter shaped ship, an inverse H, past the increasingly more dense stars? Give it a try to see.
March’s Program: Raider V
In 1984, I moved that Summer from Italy back to the US. As I was Flipping through my old printouts, I ran across one that I had marked as the last program I completed In Italy. How cool is that? Seeing this, I just had to make Raider V my program of the month for March.
February’s Program: Enlarger
The old saying “time flies when you’re having fun” is so true of late. This year started with a bang and I feel like I’ve been running ever since. It isn’t that I haven’t wanted to work on my old ZX81 programs, but they often take a back burner to other past times. That said, I did find some time to sit down this weekend to type in another program. For February I present you with ENLARGER.
January's Program: Hit Man
Another year, another month, and now another program to celebrate 2013. January’s program of the month is an old one: Hit Man. From 1983, Hit Man was my attempt at creating a wall dodging program and it is a tough one to play.
693 Fire Engine
LEGO released this set in 1975 in Europe, and in 1976 as 485 Fire Truck in the US. Having grown up with these old sets, I have a special place in my heart for these short-lived LEGO mini-figs. Although I enjoy the great designs of today, I miss how simple these models are.
December’s Program: Thyime
December is upon us and Thyime is the last program of the month for 2012. My how quick the year has passed. Thyime’s elements include moving, shooting, a break through wall, and a moving enemy. It does all this while remaining fast. Thyime provides a decent game to close out the year.
Bonkers! Redux
I couldn’t help it. I updated Bonkers using MCODER II to convert the BASIC code to Machine Language. This improved the speed of the game making improving its playability. If you haven’t played the 1985 version, play it first so you can appreciate the difference. If you have, now give the 2012 version a try. Better?
November’s Program: Bonkers!
November’s program is Bonkers! and it may drive you crazy! Simply use the ZX81 cursor keys to move your X around the field, avoiding the O’s and their trails. Can you survive, or will you go Bonkers?
Turkey
Happy Thanksgiving! This is the November Mini Build from LEGO rendered with POV-Ray. I love the Mini Builds as they are quick to render and fun to build.
October’s Program: PAC-MAN
October’s program, PAC-MAN, may leave you a bit confused. Inspired by that iconic arcade game, this version has no graphics. It does have dots, cherries and ghosts. It doesn’t, however, have any pictures of those elements. Give it a try and you’ll see what I mean.
6364 Paramedic Unit
Blast from the past. This set is one of mine from 1980. I believe one of the last I received while still in Norway. This was rendered with POV-Ray 3.7R6.
September’s Program: Runner
September’s program, Runner, is nostalgic for me. When I wrote this program I had moved on to my C64. My ZX81 was starting to gather dust as I was busy learning the ins and outs of my new computer. For some reason, something tugged at me to fix my ZX81 keyboard and get it running again. After transplanting the ZX81 brains into a TS1000 case, it surprisingly powered on. I wrote Runner as a test that still worked. It did. That was the last time I was able to use the computer that had been my pride and joy for the previous three years.
August’s Program: PAC-MAN Video
Wow, August flew by way faster than I expected! Here we are at the end and I finally got around to uploading the monthly program. This month’s program, PAC-MAN Video, is a bit different. Although I call it a game, it doesn’t really play like one. It is totally random with a slight nod to you. Skill isn't required, just give it a try.
MMMB016 Fireworks
Goofing around again with some simple LEGO fireworks. Still waiting on the larger render to finish. Fireworks was the LEGO Club Monthly Mini Model Build for November 2009. Flame part courtesy of LDRAW and LeoCAD. A simple, yet effective model. Rendered with POV-Ray 3.7RC6. MMMB016 Fireworks by Safe