Quote from: Nreive on 18:40, 18 January 10
While I would get the Full Colour version, the PDF will be the most popular choice for many buyers.
Quote from: ukmarkh on 18:12, 18 January 10
This is where I'll be updating you guys with the progress of the book thus far... currently it's around 30% complete, I have already completed the book cover, along with many articles including the CPC intro and history. Please pledge your support for the upcoming book, and remember all I wanna do is break even... not make a profit. I'm thinking of only making ten full colour books available.
I think the PDF is more likely to be around £3-5 - It all boils down to what amazon and Lulu charge.
FYI - The book will also cover Speccy, Atari XL, BBC and Commodore content... but is primarily written for users of the Amstrad CPC, with the other machines used for reference and comparisons.
So Far:
Book cover - 100%
Intro - 100%
Begineers guide - 100%
Alan sugar
Amstrad CPC 464 history - 100%
Amstrad CPC 664 history - 40%
Amstrad CPC 6128 history - 90%
Magazines
Public domain
Top 100 1984 - 30%
Top 100 1985 - 5%
Top 100 1986
Top 100 1987
Top 100 1988
Top 100 1989
Top 100 1990
Top 100 1991
Top 100 1992
Interviews
DIY
Worst games on the CPC
Bloodiest games on the CPC 40%
The CPC can scroll - 90%
Speccy Ports
Quote from: Gryzor on 14:12, 21 January 10
Ygdrazil, maybe this is not too much for us (I'd pay double that!), but it may be too much for others. For instance, there are those lovely Speccy/c64 books out there but I'm not touching them because of the price - I'm simply not THAT interested...
Quote from: Gryzor on 17:37, 21 January 10
What's the minimum order qty for Lulu?
Quote from: ukmarkh on 16:52, 21 January 10Yeah, it's B&W or Colour at Lulu.com and as we know a full colour book is expensive to publish at Lulu.com
I spoke with LuLu and a few others, and they aren't interested in doing a mixed B/W & Colour book... it's B/W or colour only :-
I really wanted the book to be cheaper, as I were hoping for around 350 pages, but that would have bumped the cost up massively. Instead I've planned to release a Vol2 if Vol1 does ok. Again, I just need to tread water, and hopefully not make too much of a loss.
Quote from: Gryzor on 17:37, 21 January 10There is no minimum order requirement at Lulu.com: buy as many or as little as you want. When we did the AA tribute mag, it was done on a print-on-demand basis. This meant that customers would purchase the book and it would be printed there and then and sent out - no upfront cost to buy a certain amount of copies (which to sell on) and no financial loss.
What's the minimum order qty for Lulu?
Quote from: Gryzor on 14:12, 21 January 10BTW, The ZX Spectrum Book - 1982 to 199x by Andrew Rollings is now available as a free PDF download: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=2000926
For instance, there are those lovely Speccy/c64 books out there but I'm not touching them because of the price - I'm simply not THAT interested...
Quote from: Nreive on 12:02, 22 January 10
BTW, The ZX Spectrum Book - 1982 to 199x by Andrew Rollings is now available as a free PDF download: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=2000926
Quote from: Trebmint on 11:30, 28 January 10
Is it possible you could video this meeting, rather than the seemingly usual email exchange. That would be fun
Quote from: ukmarkh on 01:52, 28 January 10
Good news! Richard Clayton, the chap behind Locomotive has agreed to do an interview for the upcoming book. He has also agreed to do the preface at the begining of the book. I felt it was important for either Roland Perry or Richard to do this, and lets face it without the locomotive basic, the CPC just wouldn't have been the same machine, or worse; never existed.
Rest assured, a Roland Perry interview will hopefully feature, but towards the end i.e. in closing.
Quote from: ukmarkh on 12:13, 28 January 10No just record him, sitting infront of a bookcase and a computer is usual :P
Probably... but I'd prefer a pod cast if I were to do it. Don't like the idea of my ugly mug being seen across the internet.
Quote from: Trebmint on 13:23, 28 January 10
No just record him, sitting infront of a bookcase and a computer is usual :P
Do you have a beautiful wife or girlfriend who could be the interviewer. sex it up a bit woo hooo ... haha
Quote from: redbox on 12:26, 28 January 10ANT was planned before Plus I believe. It is mentioned in the PCW specification, so it seems it is a mix of CPC and PCW.
That's great news and I will definitely buy a copy of the book for my coffee table.
Sorry for my ignorance, but surely the ANT just became the Plus in the end? Or was the ANT planned after the Plus (that would seem a weird waste of time considering the Plus's commercial failure)...?
Quote from: arnoldemu on 16:29, 28 January 10Having developed for the pcw16 I can say that the 16 doesn't have roller ram, was just a straight bitmap over 38k's worth. Strangely it did have colour though the monitor was decidedly monchrome. There was a 320x480 mode which was 4 colour, though those colours were white, gray, gray and black. The two grays being the same, which is weird, guess its the gate array.
ANT was planned before Plus I believe. It is mentioned in the PCW specification, so it seems it is a mix of CPC and PCW.
Same kind of video hardware possibly but in colour.
Maybe ANT 2 became the PCW16? This has roller ram like the PCW but with colours?
So please ask if ANT 2 became PCW16 in some way.
Quote from: Trebmint on 17:30, 28 January 10I don't agree - it does have a form of roller ram and the asic "anne" specification mentions this.
Having developed for the pcw16 I can say that the 16 doesn't have roller ram, was just a straight bitmap over 38k's worth. Strangely it did have colour though the monitor was decidedly monchrome. There was a 320x480 mode which was 4 colour, though those colours were white, gray, gray and black. The two grays being the same, which is weird, guess its the gate array.
Given the added speed of the z80 compatable in the 16, if only they had allowed a 320x240 - 16 colour mode. With 1mb ram and the added processor we could have done some pretty stuff. Oh well atleast the OS sucked bigtime
If only symbos had existed they could of had a real nice machine.
Quote from: Trebmint on 17:30, 28 January 10
If only symbos had existed they could of had a real nice machine.
Quote from: Trebmint on 17:30, 28 January 10
Oh well atleast the OS sucked bigtime
Quote from: reidrac on 13:16, 06 May 19
I'm a bit late to this, but I would say: please add £££ to the price but get a good editor so the text and the layout are as professional as possible.
There are too many publications recently that let me down because I can't ignore how amateur they look and feel, and it is a shame. The CPC deserves better!
Quote from: Vince on 17:47, 26 June 20Agree. Bought that book. Udderly junky and a couple more for the Kindle, they are only 1.99 $. Which is actually a fair price. Of course, you have to buy "Volume 1" and "Volume 2" - only purpose seems to be to maximize revenue. And the selection of reviewed games is just junk. No Fruity Frank, No Sorcery Plus, come on! Do you know *anything* about the platform? Apparently not.
Kizza being one. His A-Z of Amstrad games is possibly the worst of his 'books'.
Quote from: Vince on 19:04, 29 June 20
Someone clicked that he has actually selected the same games over and over for each of the 'books', in a lot of cases he has reviewed the game on say Spectrum, then bunged the same review into each C64, Spectrum, Amstrad even Amiga and ST editions and just changed the words a wee bit.
They are not worth even £1.99. He claims to be 'Mr Atari' but he isn't Mr. Anything, has no actual retro game knowledge and just bangs them out to cash in.