Pandapus

Only a short post this time. I've been designing a game called Platypus Peril using Unity, for quite some time now and as this isn't a full time project, it's still not finished. It was initially a 2D platformer which then evolved into a 3D game, in the style of Mario 64 or Yooka-Laylee. I still have all the concept work, designs and drawings etc for it, so thought this might be a good project to do on the Next whilst I learn. Obviously it won't be 3D, but I will take it right back to the low-res 2D platformer that is was going to be. I'm not sure what it will be coded in yet, z80 or maybe Boriel with Nextbuild, but I am going to start off doing some basics with both to get the player character moving and decide as it progresses. Also I'm thinking this will get me motivated in learning the Speccy Next, with it being a fun project and something I know, rather than just blindingly typing something from a book. So the next post will most likely be with creating som...

Welcome to another blog update for the ZX Spectrum Next and after some testing, my decision for my final z80 development environment. So read on and see which route I went in the end and if you are deciding to go the same way. Code editor Sublime Text has now been uninstalled and it's full steam ahead, with VSCode! So what made me come to this decision? Well although I initially liked Sublime Text for it's simplicity and clean interface, in fact I still do, VSCode tempted me with it's useful extensions and the automation of build/run features in the JSON file settings. (Maybe this can be done in Sublime, however, I didn't explore that route further.) What's changed? In my last post, I talked about the JSON file set up and having automated processes for build, run and build/run combined using the F5 and F6 keys. I also talked about finding that I didn't require the use of an SD card image in the CSpect folder or of hdfmonkey to place the NEX output file into this...

Welcome to another blog update for the ZX Spectrum Next. Last time, I posted on how to use Sublime Text to create a dev environment in z80 with sjasmplus and CSpect. Since then I have been thinking, what if I wanted to have some flexibility with the option to code in Visual Studio Code. I know a lot of people use this and in fact, I use it myself when coding with NextBuild. So here goes, lets use what we know from the last post and expand on it to include VSCode in our workflow. Just so you know, I use Windows and I am keeping the same folder structure and download locations of sjasmplus and CSpect. So at this point, it might be a good idea to read the last post and familiarise yourself on what I did before continuing. If you want to be able to use Sublime Text and VSCode, you can do all parts in both posts; however, if you just want to use VSCode, then th e key things to note are, how I set up my folders and downloading sjasmplus and CSpect. You can skip the Sublime Text part as I am ...

I have been thinking about coding the Next in z80 assembly for some time, but have been put off a bit as wanted an easy development environment without a load of faff.  Having already dabbled with NextBuild, I wanted something as simple to use.  Searching the internet and groups, had provided snippets of information in setting this up, but nothing exactly what I was looking for.  I have finally got it all working, so thought I would share my experience in this blog of how I got it all together, in the hope it would benefit others and save the struggles I went through.  What I was looking to achieve My goal was to set up an all-in-one process where I could code in an IDE / Text Editor, press build within this and then have it run through the emulator.   What I didn’t want was to code and then have to save and start typing in the terminal to run a BAT file to build/run. I wanted a simple all in one process. Software used First off it should be mentioned I am ...

Welcome to my new blog!  I am in my 50's and have used many computers and gaming consoles in my time, including developing on various systems; however, this is my first ever post on a blog!  So why wait until now? Am I having a mid-life crisis?! Well maybe….. but seriously, not too long ago I took delivery of my ZX Spectrum Next computer, having backed the 2nd Kickstarter campaign. However, I have to be honest, I haven't used it much since. I have lot's of plans in developing on the machine and enjoying retro gaming, but time has been limited. So here comes the reason for the blog. I thought if I share my journey, then not only will it encourage me to use the machine more, it will also be a learning tool for myself and maybe others, to look back on and see where the Speccy Next took me. So here goes, hopefully you will enjoy this site and maybe subscribe and visit again for some tutorials, talks about game development, the Speccy Next and even have some fun playing the odd ...