Disczines

[Zoe Robinson]

I wish we could make a diskmag project as a community, instead of having multiple people doing their own thing. But I guess that will always be a consequence of having different opinions on how it should be done.

That's always going to be the problem though. I have ideas of how I want to make my discmag (basically I'm going to resurrect my old Teletext simulator code and work from that) which will be wholly incompatible with how you want to do yours. It's like having our own websites, really.

I'd be happy to contribute to other magazines, and to have contributors send stuff in, but I think that's as close to a full-community thing you're going to get because we won't all agree on everything.

[mr_lou]

That's always going to be the problem though. I have ideas of how I want to make my discmag (basically I'm going to resurrect my old Teletext simulator code and work from that) which will be wholly incompatible with how you want to do yours. It's like having our own websites, really.

Hm, I dunno. 8-bit Memoirs works in a similar way: You press a 3-digit number to go to a page.

I'd be happy to contribute to other magazines, and to have contributors send stuff in, but I think that's as close to a full-community thing you're going to get because we won't all agree on everything.

Well we could start by expressing wishes and see when we disagree.

I've always expressed my preferences: Diskmags like Bad Mag and Ovation is a good example of how I think a CPC diskmag should be.
And obviously, if it should be another platform, 8-bit Memoirs is a good example of how I think it should be.

How does those differ from what you want?

[Zoe Robinson]

Damn man, I wish I could pull up a copy of Sector Nine right now. That was my disczine from back in the day and it would make describing what I'm going for so much easier.

Basically, I'm looking to emulate almost the entire look & feel of Ceefax/Teletext. I liked what I saw of 8-Bit Memoirs (and I must order a copy when I have some spare cash one of these days) but the resolution is too great for what I'm going for and you've got multiple columns of text; which doesn't work with the aesthetic I really want from my design. I can see the influence of Bad Mag on 8-Bit Memoirs and I have to say you've captured the style perfectly. It's just not what I'm going for.

I do like the use of background music, that's great. I also like the reminiscing thing, plus the inclusion of graphics and images are lovely. However, I can't see me including either in my disczine because it goes against the Teletext aesthetic. What I'm really looking to do is make the magazine seem like it could be something you loaded up on your TV using the Teletext button.

[GUNHED]

... and 30% bitching about other discmag people.

In all seriousness though, I've been considering making a discmag for quite a while now; just to see if I could. Maybe I'll take this thread as the kick up the backside I needed to actually get on with it.

Yes, that may be true for some mags, but won't happen (an never happend) for any mag I did contribute. Good luck with yours. Would be great!

[mr_lou]

I liked what I saw of 8-Bit Memoirs (and I must order a copy when I have some spare cash one of these days) but the resolution is too great for what I'm going for and you've got multiple columns of text; which doesn't work with the aesthetic I really want from my design. I can see the influence of Bad Mag on 8-Bit Memoirs and I have to say you've captured the style perfectly. It's just not what I'm going for.

Thanks!

What I'm really looking to do is make the magazine seem like it could be something you loaded up on your TV using the Teletext button.

Maybe this is useful then?
https://edit.tf/

[Zoe Robinson]

That's a cool site. Thanks for the link.

[Zoe Robinson]

Just a quick demo of the Block Nine disk 'zine, displaying the formatted text routine for printing the editorial stuff to the screen. It's written entirely in BASIC and this new routine (which I am so using in my future text adventures) makes sure words don't run across multiple lines on the screen while also coping with pen colour changes via the CHR$ special commands.


This is very early stuff, as you can imagine. The code does not yet support images (which it will by the time I'm ready for the first issue to be published) and I've yet to decide whether to include music (and whether there will be multiple tracks to choose from, if I do).

[Zoe Robinson]

So I decided to add a couple of coloured lines to the bottom of the screen, where additional information can be run. If I decide to go with music, this will include the controls to change the track and start/stop the music.

[mr_lou]

ETA on the release date? 

[Zoe Robinson]

This test issue will hopefully be ready by the end of the month, as I want to get it out there to gauge interest.

[mr_lou]

This test issue will hopefully be ready by the end of the month, as I want to get it out there to gauge interest.

Then you'll need some music coded with BASIC? To keep it "clean". Or will you use STarKos music?

[Zoe Robinson]

I'll probably go with using trakker music and start/stop it with a CALL command, yeah.

[Zoe Robinson]

Okay, the layout is starting to take shape. I'm going to take a break and then code in the navigation script; which will let you flick through the magazine using "previous" and "next" buttons, as well as jump back to the main menu or move to a distinct page by typing in its page number. Once that's done, the bulk of the coding will be over with because that's basically how the 'zine's engine will work.


I'm planning to save this core as a separate file and MERGE in all the individual pages as and when needed. This will make it simpler to produce future issues; because I won't have to take code out of issue 1 to produce them.

[mr_lou]

How can people contribute with content?Just mail you an ascii file?

[Gryzor]

Nice! But... Mode 2?

[Zoe Robinson]

I considered Mode 2 for text and may well end up switching to it for the main body of the screen but I really like the chunky look of the top and bottom bars in Mode 1.

With regard to contributions, either drop me a private message on here; or email me the ASCII text (include ASCII art if you fancy it and I'll do my best to incorporate that, too) at zoe@zoerobinson.com.

[mr_lou]

My favorite mode for a CPC diskmag is MODE 1 but with 4x8 pixel 4-color characters, to put a shadow on the font. Looks awesome. 
Can be done with BASIC too.

[Gryzor]

My favorite mode for a CPC diskmag is MODE 1 but with 4x8 pixel 4-color characters, to put a shadow on the font. Looks awesome. 
Can be done with BASIC too.

That sounds nice, got an example?

@Zoe Robinson , yes, like that too, but it's text after all!

I also love the mode 2 font, to be honest.

[Zoe Robinson]

4x8 pixel, 4-colour characters? That sounds like quite a challenge. I'll have to look into it...

[mr_lou]

That sounds nice, got an example?

4x8 pixel, 4-colour characters? That sounds like quite a challenge. I'll have to look into it...

It was in that BASIC thread, posted by @ZbyniuR
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/basic-programming-tips/msg117620/#msg117620

EDIT: That is how I imagined making a BASIC Diskmag myself. The font can be made with SYMBOL commands (or the equivalent PRINT commands).
And then add some BASIC Music too, just to keep it all straight BASIC.

[Zoe Robinson]

Holy mother of crap, that font is amazing!

[Gryzor]

Yeah, had totally forgotten about that thread. That's awesomeness.

[SkulleateR]

It really is, I use that also in some of my projects ( like : https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/displaying-'readable'-text-in-mode-0/msg178199/#msg178199 )


BUT, if you flood the screen with text, it´s really hard to focus on it after some time, personally I would use it maybe for menu or short texts and for the articles go back to normal font ...

[mr_lou]

It really is, I use that also in some of my projects ( like : https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/displaying-'readable'-text-in-mode-0/msg178199/#msg178199 )

BUT, if you flood the screen with text, it´s really hard to focus on it after some time, personally I would use it maybe for menu or short texts and for the articles go back to normal font ...

Not a normal font. But yes, the 4x8 pixel font should be a plain color + shadow. Not 2 colors + shadow. That'll just hard on the eyes.
The font should be 1 plain color + shadow.
For example, white font + black shadow on a dark red background. Then you have one color to spare for other stuff.

I would also suggest/advise to make it possible for the user to change colors.

[Zoe Robinson]

There's a quick update on the 'zine code, with a video showing how it currently works, on the Amstrad CPC 464 Facebook group.