I am not a Speccy user...!

[MacDeath]

head over heels is always a nice game.
And as far as it is 8bit version, it is always better on CPC...

one of the best use of the Mode1 to me...

[Gryzor]

So, I was thinking:

Speccy - 0-9
c=64 10-19
CPC464 - 20-99
CPC664 - 100-199
CPC6128 - 200-349
NC100 350-499
NC200 500-649
GX4000 650-799 (or is it too much of a joke?)
CPC464+ - 800-999
CPC6128+ - 1000-

Then I was thinking, maybe we should put the NCs at the bottom, along with Penpad maybe?

[steve]

I have just got to CPC 6128 status, I do not want to be demoted, let's say that over 1000 posts, people go back to speccy.

[Gryzor]

Hahaha

Yes, I know this will cause this issue, but do bear in mind that the current stratification was put in place when the forum was much smaller, so it was much easier to achieve each line...

[Phi2x]

.

[Gryzor]

I agree with you on one hand, they're there for variety's sake on the other. How would you propose that the stages escalate if we pull them out?

[Phi2x]

.

[Gryzor]

   
• Speccy: 0-9
• C=64: 10-19
• CPC464: 20-99
• CPC472: 100-149
• CPC664 - 150-249
• CPC6128 - 250-349
• NC100 350-499
• NC200 500-649
• GX4000 650-799
• CPC464+ - 800-999
• CPC6128+ - 1000-

How about that then?

[steve]

The c64 doesn't belong there, it's not even z80 based, you could have trs-80 for one grade or four as there were four models in the range.

currently the text is black, but if you were to reuse names, you could give the second speccy grade a different colour.

black speccy  0-9            or       1001-1009
red speccy    10-29                    2001-2009
silver speccy 30-39                    3001-3009
gold speccy   40-49                    4001-4009

[Gryzor]

So -wait, is this a CPC or a speccy forum?

[steve]

speccy         1-5
speccy         6-10
speccy         11-15
nc100          16-20
nc150          21-30
nc200          31-40
cpc 464        41-89
cpc 472        90-150
cpc 664        151-250
cpc 6128      251-399
gx4000        400-599
ams464+     600-850
ams6128+   851-1300
ams6128+   1301-1849
ams6128+   1850-2499
ams6128+   2500-3500

[awergh]

^ this one I like, since I wouldn't like to be an nc100 I'd much prefer to be a cpc464. It just seemed wrong to me to have an nc above a cpc.

You could always have the prototype as 10000 if you wanted something really big.

[AMSDOS]

A 6128 Plus should be more the order of 10,000 or 100,000 posts - 10,000 posts is nothing having it set to 1000 is really setting the bar too low!

[Bryce]

I've got an idea. Why don't we just leave it as it is and concentrate on things that actually matter?

Bryce.

[robcfg]

I've got an idea. Why don't we just leave it as it is and concentrate on things that actually matter?

Bryce.

I do agree, mister.

[Gryzor]

@Steve: the classification makes sense and I like it, but not the number of posts... also, no colors are supported
@awergh: shall I give you a status of 8256+ and get it over with? Just kidding... But the issue is not the number of posts but mostly the classification names...
@Bryce: I agree: let's talk about God, the universe and 42

[steve]

@Steve: the classification makes sense and I like it, but not the number of posts... also, no colors are supported

Colours not supported? ? ?....... this is the most colourful forum I have ever seen.

Are you viewing this forum on a monochrome monitor?

Heheheh funny discussion


In the attached image you can seethe settings I have set for the categories. Of course they're pretty arbitrary. So if you've got any nice ideas about it let me know

Until this thread I did not give a second thought to the classifications, but because of the image attached to this post, which showed that 277 members (the majority) had fewer than 15 posts, I thought you were thinking of changing the classifications so more members would cease to be speccys.
The number of posts I listed would make it easier for members to climb up the classes, small steps at first but as you rise up the scale, the gap between classes gets bigger.

[Nordeide]

Colours not supported? ? ?....... this is the most colourful forum I have ever seen.

Are you viewing this forum on a monochrome monitor?

Hence the need to include the PCWs in the ranking list... 

[AMSDOS]

I don't mean to cause trouble, from my perspective though the CPC464 Plus makes more sense than a CPC6128 Plus! Largely due to the fact if someone wanted to Load Tapes on a CPC6128 Plus one would need to modify the mainboard (hence revoking the warranty) of that machine. It's just seems like an oddball computer, I keep asking myself what Amstrad did this, these machines were released in 1990 and by that time CP/M was history (even in 1985 CP/M was on the slippery slope, even though the PCW machines were perhaps the last popular machines to use CP/M). At least with a 464 Plus you could add-on everything and still be able to load the large majority of budget games and if you wanted Discs & 128k you could add them on without any hassles. A CPC6128 Plus in contrast appears to be Amstrads move to compete with an Amiga! Certainly by not adding on Tape expansion suggests that, though eliminating it seems to have been a serious blow to that machine, my mind boggles over this cause you've got one machine which connects the newer machines with the earlier ones with the 464 Plus and a machine which pretends to be an Amiga and denying a vast source of CPC Software unless the machine is modified! And then there's the GX4000 Console which was made for people who had an older CPC perhaps and didn't want to upgrade to the Plus machines.

Naturally I'm disappointed that Amstrad didn't release the Plusses in Australia as well, and we'll never really know if they would have been successful, by the late 80s and early 90s I think people were trending more towards Amiga's, the C64 was revised in a new box around 1987 I think which made it look more like a C128, I guess no-one was prepared to market them here?

[ukmarkh]

I don't think even Amstrad knew what they were doing when they released an 8-bit machine in 1990. The consoles were coming, and 16bit tech was now the norm. In 1984, Amstrad competed like for like with the most popular 8-bit computers, they should have been looking to compete on a 16-bit level by 1990... even by this time it was probably too late. Amstrad should have launched a machine to compete with the Atari ST and Amiga shortly after their arrivial. Basically, they forgot about how powerful the entertainment industry was, and got carried away with what they felt was a more lucrative and less risky business market.

If time travel were possible, I'd probably go back and right things... i.e. turn up at Amstrad HQ around 1988 and give them a tiny glimpse into the future. One things for sure, computers and consoles would be a lot cheaper today, and just as powerful 

[redbox]

If time travel were possible, I'd probably go back and right things... i.e. turn up at Amstrad HQ around 1988 and give them a tiny glimpse into the future. One things for sure, computers and consoles would be a lot cheaper today, and just as powerful 

But developing a 16-bit machine would have cost quite a lot in R&D.  Adding the ASIC to the CPC to make the Plus probably cost very little.  I expect it was just a low-cost gamble to see if they could squeeze any more revenue out of their existing technology, and it didn't pay off.  But I doubt they lost any sleep (or much money) over it.

[AMSDOS]

Difficult to imagine what works and what doesn't when companies invest in something believing it's a plan which will work in the future. IBM thought they made a huge mistake when they left the blue-prints to their machine available for anyone to duplicate their machine, but fortune paid off and their's more IBM Based PCs available than anything else!    16 Bit computers were also around when the original Amstrads were coming out too, Texas Instruments had their own 99/4A home computer system which had it's own 16bit processor and IBM had their own PC Jnr in 1983! The first Amiga I think came out in 1985 as well, still an Amstrad CPC6128 managed - I guess the cost factor might have helped boost sales for the machine. Around the 90s though I'm not quite sure what happened with the CPC Plusses, I think the Super Nintendos and Sega Megadrives came out around the same time, still who would have thought a Nintendo Gameboy would out do an Atari Lynx or a Sega Gamegear which I think had 16bit processor. The Gameboy seems to have everything going against it, though even myself brought one cause I thought at the time there were more games available for it - Atari would have obviously a nicer hand held Games console, though seemed to be lousy at making any games for their machine and I think a Sega Game Gear was overly expensive, and were perhaps too busy making games for their other consoles! 

[Gryzor]

IBM-based PCs, *not* IBM PCs. If the PC had been a closed platform it would probably have struggled with some EGA variant for a few years before being relegated to the office, and other platforms would have emerged.