It took me a little while to understand what I was doing so wrong last time. It was almost hilarious in hindsight. So to recap, I’m using the Layer 2 port ($123b) to switch which bits of the video screen are...
NextProse (part 3)
So last time we’d gotten to the point of having the screen set up right, and drawing things in. Then came the moment of truth: I wanted to write a routine to draw arbitrary pixel pairs. Just to understand that I...
NextProse (part 2)
OK, so I regrouped. I went away and thought a little bit more about what I was trying to do and how wildly I was trying to do it. Did it really need to be fully in assembly, from scratch? Well, no, not as such. And did...
NextProse (part 1)
Last time in Arantor’s Ego Needs A Check, I outlined the general concept of NextProse. So let’s recap: a word processor designed to fit on the ZX Spectrum Next. Even allowing for the Next’s OS and all...
NextProse (prologue)
OK, fine, it must be about time I talked about this. My adventure into borderline insanity, stage 1. Descent into madness, pride before a fall, Arantor’s ego, pick 3. So anyway. I am one of those people lucky...
Spring catchup
How has it been more than six months? Actually I know the answer to that: I’ve been super busy with work. It’s one of those projects that I’d love to talk about – I know we’re doing a...
Autumn recap
It feels weird to be writing like this but it’s about time I did so. First up, I posted the entry from NYC Midnight’s 1000 word flash fiction to the short works, I still have another couple of stories to...
Aranoid: Empowerment
At this point we had the shell of a working game – the bat could keep the ball in the air, bricks get broken etc. I was still putting off dealing with the balls going off the table and the inevitable joy of...
Aranoid: Revenge of Physics
As we left it previously, I’d added a screenshot of a basic setup. The reality was actually a lot more complicated as to what had really happened there. I’d already started setting up an object that was, for...
Introducing Aranoid
I’d mentioned before that I’d been working on a game, and here’s some words about the game. Mechanically, it’s a riff on Arkanoid – breakout with powerups – but it’s also a...