Buying a CPC in 2014

[CraigsBar]

Well that's some interesting looking visual issue, but I dont know what to make of it.  The game uses a double buffered screen, so that sort of visual 'flicker' on sprites should be impossible.  I can only take a wild guess that your LCD is having issues with the video signal in some way, but I really dont know how.  Have you seen that type of ghosting on any other games?

Not that I have noticed. That one game has that issue on both of my LCD screens. An Akai 19 inches widescreen as well as The 32" Samsung I took that photo on.

No biggie for me as use a cm14 most of the time.

Craig.

[arnoldemu]

Not that I have noticed. That one game has that issue on both of my LCD screens. An Akai 19 inches widescreen as well as The 32" Samsung I took that photo on.

No biggie for me as use a cm14 most of the time.

Craig.

Is there any kind of 100hz mode or thing like that set on these screens?
Perhaps some smoother motion frame interpolation thing?

[CraigsBar]

On the cheepo akai certainly not. On the Samsung... Lemme check.

[CraigsBar]

Hmmm. 50hz only on scart. 100 or 120 available on hdmi.

[mattl]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.


I think I might get a CPC 6128, one of those CGA boxes and one of these for now -- HxC2001 HeadQuarters : HxC Floppy Emulator


Is it worth getting a 6128plus, so I can play the few extra games? (Fluff, etc rather than GX4000 games)

[mr_lou]

Is it worth getting a 6128plus, so I can play the few extra games? (Fluff, etc rather than GX4000 games)

In my opinion: No.

[CraigsBar]

In my opinion: No.

In my opinion definitely yes. Prehistorik 2 is worth it alone. And those few games include frogger.

However it is still a good idea to have a Cpc as well. If you want a value for money single system get a Cpc 6128. If you want an all singing all dancing best of the best, the get a plus.

I have 3 pluses and 2 Cpc 6128's now. Would I give any of them up? No.

The 6128 plus gets most use. It's not just the games and 4096 colours. Better keyboard and monitor count in the pluses favour too.

[MacDeath]

Prehistorik is freaking slow to me... but awesome looking and nice demo.

Anyway those PLUS are great if you want to produce something... be it some graphics or whatever...
they are the most recent models so most of them are in good state, the 5V diskDrive is quite conveniant as well and the casing is great to have a few add-inside extra wares.

Plus it can be great to have Pang, Panza, robocop2, navy seal, Plotting and a few others cartridges.

So yeah, if it is complete and in good shape and not too expensive, go for it my friends...

The classic CPC6128 is always the best choice anyway... compact design, Tape drive plug and full compatibility everytimes unless some pesky demomaker would screw his CRTC effects so the one you happen to just have doesn't work...

Tape drive plug (may be used with MP3 player/recorder anyway... superrior use than pisspoor old tapes)  may not be too hard to implement on 6128PLUS though...



Are you in America ?
I guess the 60hz is a major issue... but there may be some adapters to get proper 50hz  current, yet must be near to impossible to find a proper CRT 50hz RGB monitor, getting it shiped must also be quite expenssive... and redo all the electronic on another TV also hard.

But aren't there some TV able to perform all those ?
50/60 hz ?
I mean they were all produced in asia for international market and may certainly be switched via some slight switches inside...

[Token]

Does the + fully compatible with all the games that works on a 6128?


amstradtoday.com
"Il peut-être tout à fait sympathique de brancher un CPC+ ou une GX-4000 sur un CTM640/644 afin de découvrir les derniers nés d'AMSTRAD. Mais si vous utilisez votre CPC pour jouer, les incompatibilités de la gamme "+" avec les logiciels précédant sa sortie risquent de devenir rapidement insupportables. C'est pourquoi le joueur possédant un CPC classique préfèrera conserver sa petite brune anthracite et faire l'acquisition d'une GX-4000 pour accéder aux bienfaits de la ludothèque au format cartouche. Grâce à ce montage, les 2 machines peuvent sans problème se cotoyer sur le même moniteur. "

(google translator)
"But if you use your CPC to play, incompatibilities in the range "+" with the software before its release can quickly become unbearable."

[chinnyhill10]

In my opinion: No.

A Plus seems like a good idea until you realise just how much those cartridge games are going to cost and frankly you could go and get far more interesting stuff for the same kind of money for other systems (e.g. some of the more pricey Saturn shooters).

[CraigsBar]

A Plus seems like a good idea until you realise just how much those cartridge games are going to cost and frankly you could go and get far more interesting stuff for the same kind of money for other systems (e.g. some of the more pricey Saturn shooters).

Really? I just bought 5 from Trade in Post (OK  already have them all, but I'll be stripping them down and reprogramming the Eproms with those I am missing) for 7.50 each.


If anyone else wants a  cartridge reprogramming then I am certainly up for helping out. Pang is getting scarce now and bonkers priced, However No Exit is still cheaply available and can be easily reprogrammed


Craig


Edit: Unless of course you mean Chase HQ2: SGI in which case yes, it is a bit over the top price wise, then again only 2 copies exist as far as we know and that counts for something. I'd pay a lot for that.... but not as much as the 2 on Ebay went for. Hopefully *Someone* will find it in their hearts to dump it so we can all play it at least. There will still only be 2 originals.

[TFM]

Cyberchicken looks great on both the original monitor and my LCD one...great game by the way

seconded. The full retail version is awesome with a symbiface mouse, I cannot wait to hear it with a playcity.

Thank you very much!!! 

[TFM]

...but I'm also in the US now ...

Me too! CPC meeting in New Orleans? Haha! Just arrived yesterday and brought a CPC6128 with me. 


EDIT: I managed to get an US CTM, but I needed years to find it. They are very scarce.

[MacDeath]

concerning the PLUS uncompatibility...

Many games were patched by the Amstradists...
and many who weren't are not good anyway...

I never quite know if there is a complete list of those anyway.

Barbarian had issues but then jsut use the "Death Sword 128k" version.

concerning cartridges... the way to "emulate" them have been developed...  Just nobody actually produced a batch yet nor sold them (TotO, WTF are you doing )

[CraigsBar]

Barbarian had issues but then jsut use the "Death Sword 128k" version.

And Elite was patched so that just about covers everything. I have not found a single game (Other than those 2) that does not work. Even games that are listed on CPC-Power as not working seem to work for me on my 6128plus


Craig

[MacDeath]

Perhaps those pesky democoders who can't do jack shit beside CRTC2 models...


well, some democoders are openly anti-PLUS and would do stuff not working on those... I was quite embarrassed that one recent demo (which one ? can't remember) wasn't working on the PLUS I brought at a Demoparty/AmigaParty last year...

it wasn't Batman of course.
Phortem worked perfectly and even had a PLUS palette mode...
Revival impact coop worked well to obviously.


Was it Still rising? or Wake up... can't remember.

[mattl]

So, maybe a 6128plus with CGA monitor and that external drive SD thing? I'd like to use that as the A drive, and disable the internal drive if possible.


Okay, now I'm officially looking for a 6128plus.

[SyX]

And Elite was patched so that just about covers everything. I have not found a single game (Other than those 2) that does not work. Even games that are listed on CPC-Power as not working seem to work for me on my 6128plus

There is a few games with the "bugged" keyboard routine for CPC+ or where the disk loader try to access directly to the disk rom, have you taken a look to the games in the T&J list?

But i think the 100% of problematic games have been fixed already and you can get a crack with the fixed game... but if you find one not fixed yet, only say it and we'll try to fix it.

[Token]

concerning the PLUS uncompatibility...

Many games were patched by the Amstradists...
and many who weren't are not good anyway...

I never quite know if there is a complete list of those anyway.

Interresting, where do you found those patches or maybe it's full DSK?
Perhaps I didn't notice them on cpcpower.


Then what about the cheat menu. Is it easy like when you download a cheated version on cpcpower?


Edit: sorry SyX, didn't saw your post. 100% fixed...

[remax]

Perhaps those pesky democoders who can't do jack shit beside CRTC2 models...


well, some democoders are openly anti-PLUS and would do stuff not working on those... I was quite embarrassed that one recent demo (which one ? can't remember) wasn't working on the PLUS I brought at a Demoparty/AmigaParty last year...

it wasn't Batman of course.
Phortem worked perfectly and even had a PLUS palette mode...
Revival impact coop worked well to obviously.


Was it Still rising? or Wake up... can't remember.

From Scratch perhaps... i doesn't work on my CRTC 4 (which is supposed to emulate a CRTC 1) so i suppose it's the same on a plus

[chinnyhill10]

Really? I just bought 5 from Trade in Post (OK  already have them all, but I'll be stripping them down and reprogramming the Eproms with those I am missing) for 7.50 each.

The 3 worth having, Navy Seals, Switchblade and Pang all seem to go for silly money. Robocop 2 is worth a look if you enjoy sadistic pixel perfect jumping and unforgiving gameplay. The rest are a mix of standard CPC games (Batman, Klax) and total rubbish. Copter 271 anyone? Fire and Forget 2? Wild Streets? No Exit? All absolute crap.

[chinnyhill10]

Just a thought but why hasn't someone built a CPC cart to SD card adaptor? Load your image onto an SD card and the CPC treats it like a cart.

[Bryce]

So, maybe a 6128plus with CGA monitor and that external drive SD thing? I'd like to use that as the A drive, and disable the internal drive if possible.
Okay, now I'm officially looking for a 6128plus.

CGA is a digital RGBI system, a CGA monitor can't be connected to a CPC without extra hardware and even then it couldn't display all the colours required.

Bryce.

[arnoldemu]

From Scratch perhaps... i doesn't work on my CRTC 4 (which is supposed to emulate a CRTC 1) so i suppose it's the same on a plus

I think type 4 is closer to type 0.
Type 4 is the same as a type 3.

[arnoldemu]

Just a thought but why hasn't someone built a CPC cart to SD card adaptor? Load your image onto an SD card and the CPC treats it like a cart.

PulkoMandy and Syx have designed a simple SD card interface that connects to the printer port. There is a work in progress file system that loads files from it as if it was a disk or tape.