May 12th-14th 2017 Cambridge ABUG (FULL) & Acorn World event at CCfCH

[jbnbeeb]

Any of the top 20 games listed here:

http://bbcmicro.co.uk/about.php

With the exception of Thrust, Exile and Revs because they are too hard to pick up and play.

Thanks - I hadn't seen that page before. So that's the Beebs covered.

What about the Atoms and Iyonix..? Any thoughts anyone..?

[tricky]

At some point, someone listed the top games by plays (i think) from BBCmicro, is that report also available?

[BigEd]

Should there be at least one text adventure? Especially if there's an easy one... or one with pictures.

Will there be at least one machine with a Basic prompt so people can type something in? Maybe print out a few type-ins, like a lunar lander, guess the number, or plot random triangles?

Is there a music-ish program which lets you bash the keyboard to get a tuneless cacophony? Or a mozartian melody, if you have the skill?

(Did anyone ever write a guitar-hero type game for the beeb? Or a dance-dance-revolution type game? I'm thinking a keyboard version, obv.)

[Arcadian]

Well, re: text adventures, in the section celebrating modern hardware and software developments, there'll be an Electron Plus 3 running John Blythe's new text/graphic adventure - The Darkness of Raven Wood.

[BigEd]

That sounds good!

[jbnbeeb]

Update re food:
I've booked us all in on the Saturday night at 7.30pm at the Geldart: http://www.the-geldart.co.uk/food-and-drink/ as recommended by kieranhj

It should suit us as they offer a variety of food and also don't mind taking individual orders which solves the problem of paying a bigger bill than you'd like if you've not been drinking booze....


Thanks for the software feedback - think we've got the Beebs sorted. Still looking for ideas re Atoms and Iyonix ..and also educational software besides Granny's Garden... anyone want to put suggestions forward?

[ChrisB]

Hi All - I'm hoping to visit the museum with the family on the Saturday during the day and swing by to put names to faces. Any chance of seeing Castle Defender on real hardware? - It would make my wife giggle.

[sydney]

I'm pretty sure Arcadian will have it running all weekend. If not come and see me and I'll get it on for you.

[JudgeBeeb]

Does anyone have a BeebOPL board that they could bring to Cambridge? I wouldn't mind being able to demo it to passing members of the public from time-to-time and all of mine have been harvested for various other projects. So I don't actually have a working one at the moment.

[z0m8ied0g]

Does anyone have a BeebOPL board that they could bring to Cambridge?

I'm bringing mine so am happy for you to borrow.

[JudgeBeeb]

Does anyone have a BeebOPL board that they could bring to Cambridge?

I'm bringing mine so am happy for you to borrow.

Thanks

[Prime]

I'll try and remember to bring mine too.

Cheers.

Phill.

[lurkio]

Hi, everyone. As you may know, Paul and Lee (and I to a lesser extent) have been busy working on bbcmicro.co.uk, converting and uploading Mick's DSDs and Arcadian's disc- and tape-images, and also adding "new" games whenever they're found, to try and create a comprehensive online archive of games for the Beeb.

But there's a number of rare games that haven't been archived yet, and some of those are lying in the vaults of the Cambridge Centre for Computing History, the venue for the very event that this thread is about.

As neither Lee nor I can make it, would anyone who's attending be willing to try and make copies of some of the CCH's holdings?

I believe that Jason Fitzpatrick, who runs CCH, has been open to the idea previously, and I think that our own Jason has, in the not-too-distant past, been in contact with him about it.

If this is at all feasible, and if anyone thinks they might be able to help, here's Lee's list (in CSV format) of missing Beeb games that need archiving that CCH has copies of:

Code: Select all

TITLE,PUBLISHER,Format,Box,Notes
Bee Beater,Sulis,,????,
Bonding,BBC Soft,Cassette,SW165,
Brainwaves Quiz,Arnold Wheaton,Cassette,SW143,
Butterflies / Putting,Unknown EDUCATIONAL,,????,
Cinderella,Selective,,????,
Clever Clogs Computer Tutor,Argus Press,Cassette,SW100,
Copter Dogfight,Micro User,Cassette,SW162,
Cosmos,Kansas,Cassette,SW162,Task Force – Cosmos – Demolish combo tape
Cricket Averages,South Coast Software,Cassette,SW085,
Demolish,Kansas,Cassette,SW162,Task Force – Cosmos – Demolish combo tape
Detective,ASP,Cassette,SW085,
Doom Run / Backgammon,Unknown,,????,
Exhibition Six,Kansas,Cassette,SW089,
Exploring Adventures (Tape),Duckworth,Cassette,SW150,
Fishing Game,Cambridge,Disk,SW098,
Game Core,BBC Soft,Cassette,SW047,
Games Of Logic (different version),Golem,Cassette,SW164,
Gold Collection,US Gold,Disk / Cassette,????,SECOND PRIORITY
Hereward The Rebel,Fernleaf,Disk,SW099,
Invasion,Argus Press,Cassette,SW025,
Kingdom Of Helior,Longman,Disk,SW098,
Leisure Software,Gemini,Disk,SW137,
Lost In The Labyrinth,Stack,Cassette,SW031,
Map Zap,Duckworth,Disk,SW161,
Mathemagic Land,LTS,Cassette,SW164,
Personal Quiz,Colisoft,Cassette,SW063,
Play your cards right,LWT,,????,
Quest Adventures + Creator,AUCBE,Disk,SW107,
Railroder,Stell,Cassette,SW071,Railroader
Snapple Hopper,MacMillan,Disk,SW160,
Space Fighter,Program Power,Cassette,SW016,
"Storyline, The",Daco Software,Cassette,????,CH40402
Trivial Pursuit – Baby Boomer,Domark,Cassette (and Disk),SW031,
Trivial Pursuit – Standard,Domark,Disk,SW031,Genus Edition?
Trivial Pursuit – Young Players,Domark,Cassette (and Disk),SW031,
West Quest,PASE,Cassette,SW099,
Whispy Wood,Resource,,????,
Wolfpack,Doctor Soft,Cassette,SW085,

(The "Box" number identifies the physical storage box that the tape/disc is kept in at CCH.)

[sydney]

I'll print a copy of the list and see what I (we?) can do.
No promises though as I'm no hacker.
Would I be able to play the cassette games into my laptop and post the wav files somewhere? Or do I remember Col mentioning something about needing a line in socket?

[pau1ie]

I am happy to help. I have a cassette player, but again not sure how to record it. I have a laptop, but as Sydney says, is that the best thing to use to record it? Also what program should be used? I understand Audacity is bad, but what is good?

I have a copy of acornsoft database that I can't find an image from online.

Cheers

PaulH

[leenew]

It would be good to have a seasoned game hacker there!
This is a great opportunity to archive some of these rare missing items

In the absence of a game-hack-guru, there are some utilities that do a good job. (DISC DOCTOR'S "*TAPEDISC") and a number of ready made tape copiers.

Also - for a lot of software, this may be enough

*TAPE
*OPT1,2
*LOAD""1900
you will see "FILENAME" LENGTH LOAD-ADDRESS EXECUTION-ADDRESS
*DISC
*SAVE "FILE1" 1900+LENGTH EXECUTION-ADDRESS LOAD-ADDRESS

This will often be sufficient as you aren't trying to get the game working - just get the files.....
JUST GET THE FILES...


Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

[jbnbeeb]

Accommodation question

Has anyone booked a double room at Oakley lodge that doesn't need one for friday and saturday (i.e only one of you so you wouldn't mind a single?)

I have booked a single room for two nights but my other half wants to come.. and they're fully booked.

So.. would anyone be able to swap out to a single room for two nights so I could take the double room ?

Possibly a long shot but I thought I'd ask!

Thanks,
Jason

[sydney]

JUST GET THE FILES...


Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to start a new thread about getting this stuff archived, here.

[kieranhj]

Looking forward to next weekend's activities. Been a long time since I did any tape hacking but happy to help.

I am planning to bring my A3020 which is still suffering from a RAM control line error if one of the hardware folks might be able to take a look at it please? I have a new trickle charge battery that needs soldering in, and found a couple of broken tracks towards the serial port, but no idea whether the CMOS IC is bust for instance.

[Prime]

So where are people stayng, Looks like Travelodge & Premier inn are the two closest.

Cheers.

Phill.

[kieranhj]

So where are people stayng, Looks like Travelodge & Premier inn are the two closest.

Cheers.

Phill.

I've stayed in both. Premier Inn is much better than the Travelodge.

[BeebMaster]

Hope everything goes well next weekend, if there is a 2018 repeat-run I will try to make it.

[sbadger]

Looking forward to next week. I've packed up my semi-faulty a3020, some tools and pulled out a chassis from a philips cm8833-ii I intend to re-cap.

Something I thought of though, i'd still really like to buy a physcial copy of mountain panic. Does anyone think there a chance?

[Elminster]

I shall be coming along on Saturday with the family. I worked in Cambridge for 5 years but never been to the computer musuem. That was back in 96-2001 (which I believe is 5 or 6 years before it existed, pity would have ben a good place to go at lunchtime!). What is the parking like at the weekend? And what is the cos of parking like (assuming there is one), if going to be busy I will just park in the Grafton Centre or kelsey kerridge and walk, who said Computer's werent healthy?

[JudgeBeeb]

There is free parking at the museum. However, it is a small car park and it is likely to be busy because of the event.

[BigEd]

Homebase and Asda are very nearby, although I don't know if they've got limitations on parking duration.

As I recall, there was enough parking last time.

[dp11]

I think ASDA has a three hour limit with ANPR.

[BigEd]

Thanks - certainly worth avoiding a hefty charge.

[kieranhj]

There is free parking at the museum. However, it is a small car park and it is likely to be busy because of the event.

I think last time we (ABUG folks) boxed ourselves in to the car park behind, as we didn't need to leave by 5pm like the regular visitors. Pretty sure I left my car at the museum overnight last time. Are we getting to stay after hours again this time BTW?

[Arcadian]

Something I thought of though, i'd still really like to buy a physcial copy of mountain panic. Does anyone think there a chance?

Leave it with me!