And while we're at it.. wtf is this?

[arnoldemu]

Emulators are good if you don't own the real hardware, but I've never understood people who have a real CPC packed away in a box and choose to use the emulator instead. It's like owning a Ferrari that's parked in the garage, but then staying at home to play Need For Speed.

Bryce.

I am one of these people so I can explain

Emulators are great for developing software.

For a start you can reload quickly if the program crashes, you can use the debugger to look at ram and hardware state, and you can easily step through the code.

You can also leverage the power of pc/mac etc to build the code and convert gfx quickly.

But developing a program only on an emulator is not the best idea.
I always test on a real cpc, because often there is some difference, and sometimes this is significant enough to require changes (e.g. some colours appear darker on a real cpc).

Now, why don't I always have at least one cpc setup?

Really I don't have a lot of space.

Our house is small, and because the wife is not bothered about my amstrads (but knows I love them and tolerates them), then she is ok for me to have them down only for a short time
Other times they get in the way.

I store them away until I need them, bring them out only for testing and set them up on the floor beside the pc.
I find this works well.
I have a few cpcs because I have one with each crtc type in them, and of course a plus and a kc compact.

The best time is when the wife and daughter go to visit her mum, then most of them come out and I setup them up for the week

[Bryce]

I can understand it for development reasons, I was more referring to people who use emulators to play games, while a real CPC is packed away in a box.

Bryce.

P.s. You didn't mention having a Ferarri in the garage, so I assume you're only "effected" by the first example.

[xesrjb]

http://www.zock.com/8-Bit/D_CPCguide01.HTML#01

xesrjb

[Bryce]

That's a very general description rather than a "Guide to building one". As well as that, using a variable resistor to slow the CPC down would be a very rough non-linear way of doing it, there's absolutely no way of knowing whether a cycle will be paused or not. The other devices mentioned usually used an NE555 or similar to give a defined speed-reduction based on the output frequency of the 555.

On a general note regarding the 8-bit Nirvana site, it has always baffled me that someone would go to the bother of writing so many hardware project descriptions without a single diagram, schematic or picture of the devices. The whole advantage of the Interweb is the fact that you can include pictures / video etc !!!

So now here's my new MegaFlash Project, in text form only:
Connect Pin 1 of the Flash to pin 6 of the 74LS374 with a 1/4 watt 10K resistor connecting pin 8 of the 74LS374 to ground. Now solder pin 33 of the 50 way connector to the cathode of a 1N4148 diode and add a 100nf capacitor between pins 7 and 14 of the 74LS04 making sure that the leads are as short as possible..... Bare with me, this could take a while, only 415 pages to go... Ok, maybe I will add a schematic

Bryce.

[TFM]

Emulators are good if you don't own the real hardware, but I've never understood people who have a real CPC packed away in a box and choose to use the emulator instead. It's like owning a Ferrari that's parked in the garage, but then staying at home to play Need For Speed.

Bryce.

That's exactly the way I see it too. Emulators are usefull if you can't use real hardware. And they are also good for debugging purposes. But I want to have a running CPC system, that is able to do everything - WITHOUT the need of having a PC.

EDIT: I think it's also a philosophical question. Some people tend to a CPC and some to a PC. So the other one is just a 'tool' and can be packed away every now and then.

If I'm at home (Munich) then I work with my CPC and I can do everyting with it I want to do (if not, I can code ;-). But a PC is just a damn tool for me, nothing else. And the PC can be packed away or thrown away, doesn't matter. But my CPCs are holy, and nobody will touch them in a rude way.

[Gryzor]

...because cops will get you, or the missus will.