I already posted about this in another thread Re: GX4000 mod not going well console dead? :-( (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?topic=2828.msg32904#msg32904) I thought it was an interesting topic. The CPC was the very first computer I ever encountered as a 3 year old, well I might have been nearly 4 but I guess you could say it made an impression! 26 or is it 27 (?) years later and I'm still hooked! All the amazing advancements in graphics and cpu power and nothing has ever managed to amaze me more than playing 3D Star Strike for the first time all those years ago! So how old were you when you first used or saw a CPC what impression did it leave on you?
I think I was 11 or 12.
First impression: "Oh no, dad did not get a C64. WTF is a Schneider? Don't they make radios or something? Are there even games for this thing?"
Second impression (while unboxing): "Well, this looks rather professional, actually. Only a green screen monitor, but very nice build quality all around and a heavy, solid feel to it (due to extra RF shielding for the German market). And look at that manual! Aww, and that cute serif font on screen! And those floppy disks that don't look like they will break in your hands, unlike C64 disks. Maybe this won't be such a bad experience after all."
Of course compared to the C64, CPC games did turn out to suck a little, although not as badly as I had initially feared. Some were even superior to those on the C64. But the CPC is such a nicely done, educational, and interesting machine that I'm glad I got it. Perhaps BASIC is evil, but Locomotive BASIC is the exception to the rule.
1986 (because 1984 was Orwell)
Vaginally recall my Dad coming home (on a farm) with a CPC464, he got Haunted Hedges as the free game with the computer, so I've got fond memories of that game, sure it may not be Pacman, though it plays well and offers various levels of difficulty!
Early in the piece we had that computer in the house ( :o you wonder, we had a little hut out back where the computer eventually went in there). There was a problem whereby when the computer was inside our home it would interfere with the TVs consequently meaning both devices couldn't be running at the same time, removing it out to the back solved this. My Dad also got a MP-1 Modulator (cause we had the Green Screen), though wasn't impressed with it, so sent it back. Roland In Time took ages to Load (I was inpatient, even back then, I played Harrier Attack a bit as a result). My Dad got Formula 1 Simulator for me by Masteronic, I couldn't understand why it sounded different to those AMSOFT games when it used to load since it was Saved in Speed Write 1, still seemed to take a while loading! :P
My dads employer had an employee offer to get an 8-Bit computer at a reduced price. He brought home the catalogue and we went through it together. the deal was that I had to pay 50% from my pocket money. My first choice was going to be the C64, because that's what most of my friends had. But the CPC (464 with GT64) was the final choice, because it wouldn't tie-up the TV while I was using it and it was all my savings would pay for. I remember it took 4 weeks to arrive after we ordered it, the longest 4 weeks of my entire life. It came with an Amsoft (10) games pack, which I loaded one after another and played for the first day. The next day I tried programming some basic examples from this book http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Starting_Basic (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Starting_Basic) that was also supplied with it. On the third day I took it apart to see how it worked ;D That didn't impress my father at all, but it still worked fine when I put it back together.
Bryce.
My first contact with a CPC was at a friend's who had the CPC464 with a colour monitor (after a VIC20). I was visiting nearly every day, and we typed in programs from magazines.
His CPC convinced me to wish for a CPC6128 for my birthday. Mainly because of the (green) monitor, but the price was alright as well. And I liked the disks. The C64 was out of question monetarily; you'd get a C64 plus the floppy disk drive for about the same price (perhaps a bit cheaper, I can't remember exactly) of a 6128, but then you'll still be missing a monitor. Besides I was already comfortable with the Z80, since my first computer was a ZX81.
I remember my friend laughing at me playing 3D Starstrike. When flying on the surface and through the trench I tilted my body in the direction I needed to move. So I was swaying from left to right and right to left, then raising my head and lowering it. :D
My first contact was with an original (tall key) 464 back in 1985, my good mate had one as the family computer (with the colour screen).
His whole family loved it and got involved, Dad, Mum, sister...they had a fair few games but the first one i remember seeing was Gyroscope.
Around 6 months later I got my own (with colour screen), after telling Mum & Dad how good this thing was (I think I was also drawn in by the coloured keyboard). At school we were using Tandy TRS-80's so the Amstrad looked awesome.
For me the interesting part of my story & my CPC collection is that I now have both of these CPC's.
Back in 2003 (and losing contact with my mate), I looked up his parents in the phone book. Called them as I had always got on well with them.
As luck would have it, they still had the 464 in the shed as they could not stand to throw out the machine that served them well for many years (they still had it in the house till around 2000).
Anyway they were grateful to see it go to a good home. Came with all the software, books, joysticks, lightpen, SSA-1...
Shortly after that another mate got a 6128 and we played Harrier Attack heaps...don't have that particular 6128 though :)
Cheers,
Shane
To be honest, I'd never even heard of a CPC until one arrived in the house!
I used to walk *really* slowly past the computers in Smiths / Menzies when I was younger, envying the BBC most but also the Spectrum. Interestingly, the C64 never even figured in the equation for me for some reason. I saw a VIC 20 when I was quite young, but I literally didn't know anyone with a C64 and don't think I even saw one "in the flesh" until about a year ago!
Anyway, my parents got me a Dragon 32 after Dragon Data went bust, which was good to teach me programming because there was little software released after that, but about a year later my Dad bought a 464 green screen secondhand so he could work on documents at home. After finding Amstrad Action issue 4 in the shops (with a Christmas covertape!), I bought it and was allowed to try it out on the computer - after that I was hooked and I begged and begged to use it whenever my Dad didn't need it. Eventually my Dad upgraded, so the CPC became mine... :)
Quote from: ralferoo on 13:36, 24 October 11
Anyway, my parents got me a Dragon 32 after Dragon Data went bust,
So even your very first computer experience was with an obsolete 8-Bit? No wonder you like retro computers :D
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 08:48, 24 October 11
On the third day I took it apart to see how it worked ;D That didn't impress my father at all, but it still worked fine when I put it back together.
Bryce.
Haha! I used to drive my parents crazy doing that! I didn't get to pull my dads CPC apart but when I was about 5 I got a Meccano set and that screw driver could be used to disassemble anything! From that point on I voided the warranty on every birthday or christmas gift within 24 hours, I never broke anything though! But I wasn't allowed my 6128 in my room on my 11th birthday until I promised not to dismantle it, I think that lasted about 3 days until I caved in and pulled it to bits! I got very good at fully re-assembling things in the time it took to open my bedroom door!
Quote from: CP/M User on 07:28, 24 October 11
Vaginally recall ...
You recall vaginal? Really? :laugh:
Quote from: TFM/FS on 22:20, 24 October 11
You recall vaginal? Really? :laugh:
My hard luck Google Speller cannot spell Vaguely >:( Or I was just looking to see who would bother reading that story. ;)
Quote from: CP/M User on 07:49, 25 October 11
My hard luck Google Speller cannot spell Vaguely >:(
If it's a Google product, that speller probably taps into your browser history and Google searches, then bases its suggestions on what it finds there. :D
Wow, I didn't know that! Tits the spelling checker I use too. Babe I should use Threesome else! :o :D
Bryce.
My first experience with computing was when I was about 9 and a half years old in 1983, my father bought a ZX80 from a chap at work - he said it was to complicated for him to build since it was in kit form.
Alas my father had no soldering skills, and his reasoning was "Son, your good at holding a paint brush...."
Needless to say after three days and some burnt sore fingers, I had built my first computer, although I was told where everything went. Strangely enough my father then sold the machine 3 weeks later and bought me a Zx81 with Sound/Speach unit, 32k ram pack and another dongle on it I forget now... a couple of months later, I got a 48K (shared with my brother), then a 48K+ arrived for me that Christmas and my brother got the C64... good days indeed, I remember that being the best summer of my child hood (1985) =)
This was when I started programming, basic at first and then dabbled in machine code, by the time I was 11 I was a pretty damn strange kid.... as I am sure you are begining to imaging =)
I should of known at that age I wasn't to be in my dream job of an architect, scientist or even a porn star.... no.... instead software engineer would be me.... pity I felt I had something to offer the p0rn indust.... errm.... I mean the architectual world lol.
So my first introduction to the CPC, was theCPC464 in about 1988, I was at my Aunts, and her husband Chris had this strange computer - with a colour monitor I may add!!!
I was told it was VERY expensive so I was unintentionally supervised while I played a game - it was like diggeres on the Atari XL800... and that was the last of it, until I had a strange need to explore this scene earlier this year.
My first ever program was a Hunchback clone for the BBC-B in BASIC. Not long after that I managed to convince my parents to get me a Dick Smith VZ-200, and pretty well got straight into Z80 machine code (decimal, no assembler back then) after borrowing Zacks from my teacher.
A couple of years later, I'd seen a few CPCs in the shops running the Amsoft demos and was impressed, and my Uncle bought a CPC6128 with colour monitor, so I spent a day writing a Frogger clone for it in BASIC. Not long after that I got a CPC6128 + CTM myself for my birthday, on the condition that I sold all my VZ stuff.
After gathering my jaw from the floor, from watching a 2600 in action I kinda forgot the issue. My parents, having seen the glint in my eye, did not. A few years later, instead of getting me a games console, got me a proper Computer (capital C)!!!
It wasn't even my birthday, or Xmas or something. It totally came out of the blue, I guess as soon as they managed to save up for it. It must have been 1986, cause the game they got me with it was Into Oblivion (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Into_Oblivion).
The first day my dad loaded it up. The next day I wanted to load it myself but stumbled; at first I couldn't find the power button on the CPC itself - I didn't even know it was there. As a result, I thought I had broken it. My heart sunk. After all I located it, but... "Press Play then any key"?? Yeah, I can see Play, but no keys or keyholes!!! With the aid of my older sister I managed to get it running.
Computers were in my life...
Quote from: Gryzor on 19:21, 30 October 11
With the aid of my older sister I managed to get it running.
Oh, and she will never stop telling this story again ;-)
I doubt she remembers it, the CPC was never a big deal for her (thankfully)
Quote from: Gryzor on 19:49, 31 October 11
I doubt she remembers it, the CPC was never a big deal for her (thankfully)
Lucky you 8)
Yup, all to myself, she can keep her dolls and stuff.
I remember a rich friend of mine getting a 2600 almost the day they came out. Bastard! I was seriously jealous, but I didn't let it show. Bastard! We played it non-stop for months, it was unbelievable for it's time. It's also very well designed from a hardware point of view, there are still people modding them today.
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 00:16, 01 November 11
I remember a rich friend of mine getting a 2600 almost the day they came out. Bastard! I was seriously jealous, but I didn't let it show. Bastard! We played it non-stop for months, it was unbelievable for it's time. It's also very well designed from a hardware point of view, there are still people modding them today.
Bryce.
You're not referring to the Atari VCS in the original Wood grain box? I brought an Atari 2600 in the slick slimline plastic box for $50, I was happy at the time. I was spewing when I discovered how much the games were, until I got onto the Activision games. H.E.R.O is a favourite of mine, though the 2k Tennis game Activision made which I paid $10 for is also a Gem! :laugh:
I got my cpc464 with green screen early in 1985, when I was 12.
I was bouncing off the walls in excitement!
The first program I loaded was the amstrad welcome tape.
http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=6397 (http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=6397)
It just seemed completely amazing at the time.
I was desperately after an Asteroids style game, so off I went to my local Harris Scarfe's department store (where I would be frequently seen for the next 2 years perusing the amstrad stuff, until they started stocking less and less amstrad things), and I found a game that looked like Asteroids.
Unfortunately it wasn't asteroids. It was Atom Smasher.
http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=320 (http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=320)
Oh the disappointment! It was awful. Ah well, lesson learned.
After that I would regularly visit a little computer shop called Conlan Computers in the beachside suburb of Semaphore, a short bike ride from where I lived. The shop owner probably got sick of seeing me so often! :D
Those were the days...
@erwin: Sounds like you had a great childhood :)
@CP/M User: Yes it was the wood grain VCS.....Bastard.
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 00:58, 01 November 11
@erwin: Sounds like you had a great childhood :)
Indeed I did Bryce... indeed I did...
It's probably the reason why I visit this wonderful website and forum so often - I just don't want to let go of those happy memories.
Quote from: Bryce on 00:58, 01 November 11
@CP/M User: Yes it was the wood grain VCS.....Bastard.
Bryce.
Wha?? :o What did I do? I couldn't care too hoots about the Wood grain VCS model, after a while it smells all funny little a book which smells like poopies. :laugh: At least my revised model smells as fresh as the day I got it! :P
The "Bastard" wasn't meant for you, it was just me still being annoyed about my rich friend (who really didn't have a clue or interest in the device) :D
I still think the wood version was the nicest looking version of them all.
Bryce.
I have to admit the original Atari 2600 (VCS) "woody" still looks delicious!
Personally I prefer the original 6 switch release
(http://flashbackgames.co.uk/ShopResources/794/Thumbs/DSCF5619.jpg)
Spent a lot of time beating my younger brother on that machine, and it was a lot of fun to play, especially battle tanks with the ricochet bullets!!!
I did notice this nice replica (http://lorneallaire.tripod.com/arcade/woody_atari.html) some one has made
(http://lorneallaire.tripod.com/arcade/images/woody.jpg)
Drool, RetroPr0n... Do you have a picture with the top taken off? :D
Bryce.
Got a heavy-sixer myself, I can take some for you if you're interested... :)
Quote from: Bryce on 13:56, 01 November 11
The "Bastard" wasn't meant for you, it was just me still being annoyed about my rich friend (who really didn't have a clue or interest in the device) :D
"The B******", surely investing in technologies like those has made them poor! ::)
Earliest memory of the CPC is playing the nursery rhyme game my parents got for it, always loved that game.
Hey, anyone remembers a strange case that appeared on the Zone a few years back, when a guy came up and said his parents bought him a CPC as his computer - right then? I wonder how that went...
What's a hist computer?
Bryce.
Pedantic guy... "his".
Hmm, wasn't being pedantic, just didn't understand your post. But with "his" I still don't understand your post?? Am i missing something... I'll read it again.... Nope, still don't understand it :(
Bryce.
Ok.
Guy comes on the Zone about five years ago. Starts asking questions about the CPC. Says his parents had just given him one. As his first computer.
I don't see the problem, my sons first computer will be something 8-bit too. If you start with a PC, then you'll never learn how a computer really works or how to program. If we had started on a PC, how many of us would be able to program or develop hardware today? We'd just be Facebook/twitter zombies like todays kids (God I sound like my father). I read lately that this is one of the reasons why the current generation of IT students are so much worse than a few generations back.
Bryce.
Of course!
Oh, don't get me wrong, as I've said before my daughter (crossing fingers) will get something like a Pong first, then a 2600, then a CPC and then a PC.
But we're talking about toddlers here, not grown-up teenagers :D
earliest memory was reading about it in the papers and my dad getting the first issues of Amstrad User for me to lust over. Read so much about it in the run up to Christmas when i got it
Bestest Xmas ever? :)
Quote from: Gryzor on 19:41, 06 December 11
Ok.
Guy comes on the Zone about five years ago. Starts asking questions about the CPC. Says his parents had just given him one. As his first computer.
Probably because they were an only child - so everything their parents got them was soldly for them! :laugh: The Parents probably also had money - the mansion, porche/ferrari, tennis court, swimming pool, power boat, etc, etc, etc to splash around, at least that's the picture I'm getting, kid wants a CPC - kid gets their CPC! ;)
It bugs me I work my butt off for so little only to see some Jerk in a Merk come to make sure I'm not ripping anybody off! :o Even my body is starting to tell me sob stories.
Reviving this topic. :D
My first memory of the CPC is from 1985. I had bought my first ever computer magazine called MikroBitti. It had an ad of the CPC464 and 664. However it took me almost 27 years to actually get a look and feel on real live CPC and that was the CPC6128 that I bought earlier this year. The CPC was pretty marginal compared to the C64 here back in the 80's. Nevertheless, you can still find CPCs locally.
Reviving also...My earliest memory was with the 6128+ My parents got it off another family back in 1992 (I think then) and they gave me 2 disc capcom collection and a few other discs (Bart Simpson vs Space Mutants, Terminator 2, Starglider 2, Gremlins 2 the new Batch, Mini Office II and a few others) and loved playing the games, Burnin' Rubber (trying hard to complete it but not getting past lap 3) and programming the BASIC to play sounds.
Then I was given another Amstrad from the office where my dad worked and I can't remember which model it was but it had a big beige CRT and two floppy drives and came with a daisy wheel printer. Had fun with that trying to boot it (or use it) with two floppy drives but after a while, it packed in. Finally my last one was one with the CRT green screen and the floppy drive up the side of it. Belonged to a friend of my grans (Came with database and word processing software on a floppy. I was only 7 at the time and used to amuse myself by writing short stories on it, using the spell checker and it misspelling words often and then printing them on the daisy wheel printer and reading what the spell checker did. I still had the 6128+ for quite a number of years after but gave it away, sometimes wish I still had it. Good times.
QuoteThen I was given another Amstrad from the office where my dad worked and I can't remember which model it was but it had a big beige CRT and two floppy drives and came with a daisy wheel printer.
must be a PCW I guess...
It was probably around 1984-5 and I remember being allowed to play Timeman One, and Oh Mummy. We had a CPC464 green screen and the keyboard had big deep keys, but I think my mum's husband at the time sold it and we ended up with a normal key 464. He spent all his time playing games on it and had a crap load of pirates, I remember him getting C-90's off his mates then going through all the games on them.
Quote from: EgoTrip on 11:13, 20 June 12
and I remember being allowed to play Timeman One
What were you being punished for?
My first memory of the CPC was back in 1985 (December) when I was lucky enough to get a CPC 6128 with CTM 644 Colour monitor. My friend next door got a 48k spectrum a couple of years before and I remember being totally amazed by it and hassling my parents for a computer. I was amazed when my Dad (who knew absolutely noting about computers at the time) got me the CPC. Compared to the Spectrum I thought it was at least 100 times better until I met a friend who had a C64 and realised that a lot of the games just looked that little bit better due to the hardware sprites and scrolling and of course tha bloody SID chip.
However the CPC did demonstrate many times with some fab games that it could come very close or even beat the C64. As someone who enjoyed programming, I quickly realised how much better the keyboard was on the CPC - plus I had a disc drives while friends only had tapes.
Ironically it seems my Dad somehow made an excellent choice of computer and it was completely responsible for getting me into the software engineering world - damn machine! ;).
Quote from: endangermice on 23:25, 12 July 12
... until I met a friend who had a C64 and realised that a lot of the games just looked that little bit better due to the hardware sprites and scrolling and of course tha bloody SID chip.
:) :) :)
No, not due to that! It is/was due to sloppy programming of most CPC games, which have been too often bad speccy ports.
CPC scrolls perfectly, the AY is cool! And who needs hardware-sprites, when software sprites are more flexible ;-)
My life for the CPC!
Hehe some of that is very true, but with the pressures with development periods back in the 80s with some games only having a few weeks worth of development time, many programmers as you say never bothered to go the full mile on the CPC. On the C64 scrolling was dead easy, it was just as easy to use the hardware sprites so games developed in the same amount of time were generally better.
Having said that, the CPC's palette was awesome in comparison and when the machine was programmed correctly it could blow the other 8bits away. Imagine what wold have happened if the Batman demo had come out in the 80s....?
Or Trantor, or TLL ;-)
I have never been a big fan of the c64 I admit, but I think the majority of CPC games had more visual appeal. Take SMASH TV for instance, the c64 version looks horrible, even speccy ports usually have better drawn sprites than the 64. If we are talking about the coloration on the c64 then it's clearly a winner.
As for the hardware scrolling etc then there is a little more visual appeal there but again I don't think the CPC is hampered particularly badly here as any good programmer worked around this. Super Cauldron is massively superior to any c64 game I can think of and it goes to show that the CPC can compare extremely well to 16bit machines of the time.
If the CPC had had more games like Super Cauldron earlier on I think more people would have compared it with the SEGA Master System, the only other machine in my opinion that really can produce visuals on a par with some of the Atari ST or Amiga offerings. My best friend had an Atari ST back in the day and used to comment on how good the Master System was in comparison. He also used to say how much better he thought my CPC was when compared to his cousins c64 and that he thought of the cpc as an 8bit ST. Just recently I showed him the Batman For Ever demo an he was blown away, commenting that it was hard to believe it was being produced by an 8 bit machine!
I have to agree with you that, I was also astonished by the Batman Forever demo considering the hardware it's running on, it's an amazing technical feat! I think that one thing t has really helped the CPC is the availability of quality Emulators. Sure the C64 has some (CCS 64 is pretty good but i still feel its rather buggy and frequenctly crashes or behaved strangely) but nothing to touch the quality of something i.e WinAPE as a development platform which really allows you to concentrate on writing the code and not worrying about how ore going to debug it etc.
Also the fact that the CPC has that fantastic floppy interface that allows you to simply connect any 3.5" is a massive help. I'm still trying to figure out the best was to transfer game images onto the C64, there are options but all of them either expensive or limited in some way.
I love the fact that were really seeing a resurgence of the CPC and that there are loads of people getting involved with the machines again. They're great fun to program for - you can learn a lot that is still relevant today from dong so and if you're talented you can create some fantastic results!
Think got my Amstrad 464 in 84 or 85 for Christmas, so would have been about 9 or 10. Had been reading about it in Amstrad User magazine and seeing it WHSmiths and Boots.
Walked into my bedroom Christmas morning to see it all setup and Roland in the Caves all loaded up. A very magical moment in my life. My very own COMPUTER !!! From that moment onwards in my life I knew I had to be involved with computers at any chance and here I am in the IT world. My 464 was given to a friend of the family and I got a 6128 which is still functioning and sat next to me. ;D
Quote from: khisanth on 21:32, 21 July 12
... and I got a 6128 which is still functioning and sat next to me. ;D
That's what I like to read :) :) :)
My earliest memories of the CPC was when we got the CPC6128 :)
It was bought from Dixons and came with the Dixons/Ocean Top 10 compilation, which to this day, I still reckon had the best CPC games ever on it. We didn't buy any new games for ages.
I think the first game I actually got really into was Head Over Heels, oh, and Batman as well (it explains why I still love 3D Isometric games now)
Not long after, I got a C16, but once I got Football Manager for it, my brother was on that all the time so I got lots of time in on the CPC 6128. We had a colour monitor with the CPC and a tape deck for those games that I just couldn't find disc versions of (not to mention, in the town I lived in, 3" discs were hard to come by)
A few years later and the CPC got confined to the loft when it got replaced with my Amiga 500+, but then, a year or so later, the TV knackered, and I found a CPC monitor to Amiga adaptor in an ad from an Amstrad Action magazine, so the CPC got dug out and had a permanent place in my bedroom.
EDIT: Thought I'd just add that the CPC6128 I have now is the exact same one I had in 1986 .... yup, it's lasted all that time. The only fault I've ever had with it is a drive belt .... easily replaceable. Now if only my Amiga was as reliable.
@khisanth: tried to visualize the moment - entering your bedroom on Christmas morning, in the 80s... priceless. Unfortunately 40 degrees outside combines with a hot, hot wind tend to limit my imagination.
@woody.cool: so - you mean to say you got a c16 to replace the CPC or something? How does that happen? :D
Get yourself a nice ice cold beer, that might help cool you down :laugh:
Mmmmyeahhhhh, kind of frowned upon at the office.
ice cold can of coke or pepsi then ;)
Ice cold empty can of coke, filled with beer.
Ah, my earliest memories? A bit faded away. But I like to unlock long forgotten memories.
I do remember though my father bought us a CPC 6128 with green monitor. I didn't know about computers them, I never asked "Buy my this!" but it was good choice. Don't remember when it was, maybe 1988? But I still remember it cost 60.000 drachmas which I don't know what it translates to today.
I remember our first games. Galaxia, Oh Mummy, Fruity Frank, Ghost and Goblins. The sounds are on the psyche.
I remember we had pirated disks named Games 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8
I remember before that, my first computer encounter was a Spectrum, don't even know what model but probably 48k. I could be 5 or 6 years old then. But I have memory of moon patrol, my father playing and I was pressing fire.
I also remember much later I bought pixel and me and my brother selected one computer in the advertisements that we'd wish to have. Just for fun, not asking for it. I didn't know anything about computers and specs then, but somehow I selected the C64 I think because it looked great in the picture. And my father said "No, this has a cassette, it's worse than the CPC" or something. I didn't know better then.
And then I remember when we were trying to make char sprites with SYMBOL command. And also changing some ENV/ENT in basic loader of Fruity Frank and getting different sounds. And also typing all those Basic listings in magazines. Another memory is when one disk was corrupt (or had virus? On CPC?) and Fruity Frank had a bug where the monsters where walking on the score board (I would say in the border, but myabe it's incorrect, quite unlikely a bug/virus triggering CRTC for overscan correctly). I remember that and it scared me, because I thought enemies can't go outside play area, maybe they come out of screen, haahaha! I even remember when I screwed some stuff with CTRL+keys and print the symbols or a bug appeared in corrupted disk, anyway unpredictable flashing colors, sound, corrupted screen, once I wanted to run away from the room, it was night and closed lights, because it felt unnatural, like paranormal experience on the CPC, hahahaha!!!
These and more.
For the uninitiated (or non-Greeks, actually): Pixel was a legendary Greek magazine that was in its prime when the 8-bitters were Kings. Every Greek guy who had a computer back then has a very soft spot on their hearts for it...
I had an Atari 800XL that my Grandmother in Germany bought me for my first communion, and later, at the school, we had CPC6128's and I use to play Camelot Warriors with my teacher XD
I remember when I got into typing in Type-ins from some of the Magazines my father collected from the Mid-80s & when I got through those we started collecting Amstrad Action and by then it was Issue 43/44, I remember typing in the Life Game (in issue 44), which I didn't realise was a game, I merely thought of it as a Graphical Demo and you could play with the Demo to see how it evolved. Because the program was in M/C, I'd made some mistakes in that M/C and the Data Error Message came up and the program would stop. My Solution: Remove the Stop from the end of that line, problem solved and the program still seemed to work. :laugh:
1984 Dad bought a 464 colour monitor, printer and DD1 to use as a word processor, when he was not using it I was type ins, disc games, first game was Elite it came with the CPC as part of the package slog with the games bundled with it from Amsoft and that small joystick.
1985 we get the 6128, dad had ordered a 664 but the shop could not get one so he got a 6128 instead same set up as before, after that he got a PCW.
I saw the CPC464 at a classmate, and he showed me "Soul of a Robot". It was around 1985 and I was about 10 years old.
But my CPC days began some months later when my grandmother bought a CPC464 too.
I was 5. I came home from school one day to find my parents has decided my sister and I needed a computer. I don't know why and I won't complain. That old green-screen beauty changed my life.
It was 1985 and the computer was a big-key CPC 464. It lasted about 18 months before my sister spilled orange juice all over the keyboard. We were without the computer for 6 weeks because the local computer shop was "repairing" it. Turns out they had actually lost it and eventually they agreed to replace it with a new one. This one had a colour monitor and thin keys, but I loved it all the same.
The first game I played on my first CPC was "Space Hawks". My sister, due to getting home from school earlier than me, had been playing "Simon" because my Mum thought it was somewhat "educational" due to being a "memory trainer". I wasn't having any of that. I'd seen the cover of "Space Hawks" in the big box of games that came bundled with the computer and that cover had ignited something in my five-year-old brain, so "Space Hawks" it was. I've still never beaten that bastard of a game, it's too bloody difficult.
Quote from: Zoe Robinson on 00:08, 03 July 14
I was 5. I came home from school one day to find my parents has decided my sister and I needed a computer. I don't know why and I won't complain. That old green-screen beauty changed my life.
It was 1985 and the computer was a big-key CPC 464. It lasted about 18 months before my sister spilled orange juice all over the keyboard. We were without the computer for 6 weeks because the local computer shop was "repairing" it. Turns out they had actually lost it and eventually they agreed to replace it with a new one. This one had a colour monitor and thin keys, but I loved it all the same.
The first game I played on my first CPC was "Space Hawks". My sister, due to getting home from school earlier than me, had been playing "Simon" because my Mum thought it was somewhat "educational" due to being a "memory trainer". I wasn't having any of that. I'd seen the cover of "Space Hawks" in the big box of games that came bundled with the computer and that cover had ignited something in my five-year-old brain, so "Space Hawks" it was. I've still never beaten that bastard of a game, it's too bloody difficult.
I never had Space Hawks growing up, but I enjoyed playing it on the emulators, though I agree the game is hard, one of the other crack-shots here posted a video of them playing it all the way through to the end. ???
We had a suite of 6128s at my intermediate school when I was 11 and we had to learn typing (got up to 30 wpm) and also business skills by playing Lemonade stand.
An aunty also brought a 6128 and I found myself visiting them alot to play their games. (1943 / jet set willy / slot machine come to mind)
My parents must have noticed because they asked to buy it from her for my brother and I which I helped pay off by mowing my aunty's lawns.
I remember it being used for gaming only until about a year later when I decided to open the manual and learn BASIC and it just blew me away that I could make my own games.
My brother lost interest and moved onto the Master System while I would slave away with type ins and more CPC games. I even had a penpal from the UK who would send me games in the post as my town in end of the world New Zealand sold next to nothing by then.
Quote from: Morri on 00:30, 04 July 14
An aunty also brought a 6128 and I found myself visiting them alot to play their games. (1943 / jet set willy / slot machine come to mind)
My parents must have noticed because they asked to buy it from her for my brother and I which I helped pay off by mowing my aunty's lawns.
I remember it being used for gaming only until about a year later when I decided to open the manual and learn BASIC and it just blew me away that I could make my own games.
My brother lost interest and moved onto the Master System while I would slave away with type ins and more CPC games.
Amazing how similar your story is to mine.
My grandmother bought the CPC464, and I'm pretty sure it was mostly with the purpose of having her grandchildren come visit her more. :) I also remember certain games being played at my grandmother's place. (Zorro, Supersleuth, Video Poker comes to mind).
The CPC eventually ended up in our home though, in my kidbrother's room, while I got a new CPC464. So we had a CPC464 each.
My brother lost interest after a year or two and moved onto the Nintendo NES and Amiga, while I would be hooked on making my own BASIC stuff.
I stayed loyal to the CPC for a loooong time, before my urge to create music made me move onto Amiga and use ProTracker.
So I bet the games 1943 and Jet Set Willy and Slot Machine just throws you right back to your aunt's place, right? :)
Quote from: Morri on 00:30, 04 July 14
We had a suite of 6128s at my intermediate school when I was 11 and we had to learn typing (got up to 30 wpm) and also business skills by playing Lemonade stand.
An aunty also brought a 6128 and I found myself visiting them alot to play their games. (1943 / jet set willy / slot machine come to mind)
My parents must have noticed because they asked to buy it from her for my brother and I which I helped pay off by mowing my aunty's lawns.
I remember it being used for gaming only until about a year later when I decided to open the manual and learn BASIC and it just blew me away that I could make my own games.
My brother lost interest and moved onto the Master System while I would slave away with type ins and more CPC games. I even had a penpal from the UK who would send me games in the post as my town in end of the world New Zealand sold next to nothing by then.
I wish I went to your intermediate school now... all I had at intermediate was a room of C64s (and a C128). At primary level, it was also a C64 (and a Franklin).
Quote from: mahlemiut on 23:27, 04 July 14
I wish I went to your intermediate school now... all I had at intermediate was a room of C64s (and a C128). At primary level, it was also a C64 (and a Franklin).
Quit complaining. All
we had were old PC's with monochrome monitors - and a teacher who decided that we had to input all the students of the school into his own database that he had developed. I remember spending a lot of time typing in people in this system.....
I think he thought this database system was something he could sell. I remember a group of people coming to see his demonstration. I don't think it went that well though.
I'm glad we didn't have CPCs at our school. Kids at the School(s) I went to were ruthless and the computer(s) got it tough, an Amstrad wouldn't have a chance. But it was sad to see vandals get stuck into Apple ][e's & Macs >:( Yes they were tough solid computers, but a vandal is a vandal.
I am going to be showing my age here, Whilst I was in school the computer department had a major change in the computing department.
When I started (and for the first couple of years) they had a room full of BBC Model B machines with 5.25 inch drives. I used to love these and FRAK is still a brilliant game. I was initially upset that my parents bought a CPC 464 and not a BBC, however as soon as I started playing the CPC games I realised I was onto a winner at home LOL.
When the school decided the BBC's were past it they replaced them all with a collection of far less fun RM Nimbus machines
http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=Research-Machines-RM/Nimbus-PC-186/Utilities (http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=Research-Machines-RM/Nimbus-PC-186/Utilities)
Better for education I am sure, but no fun at all.
The only saving grace was that at the same time as the nimbus machines they school library took delivery of a domesday machine, an expanded BBC Master and Laserdisc drive. BBC Domesday Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Domesday_Project)
That was something I'd have loved to have on the CPC!
Craig
When I went to school, microcomputers had not been invented yet. :o
Quote from: steve on 11:28, 05 July 14
When I went to school, microcomputers had not been invented yet. :o
Now I feel young again, Thanks :)
I was a bit late to the CPC party, got my 6128 in about 1990/91 at the age of 10. My parents bought it for me second-hand with a load of games after I'd been bugging them for a computer for about 3 years and grabbing every chance I could to play on various BBCs, Spectrums and CPCs that my friends owned.
Earliest memory - getting up very early the following morning so I could play on it before school, and then couldn't figure out how to load a game! My sister came along and showed me that you had to type "|TAPE" before hitting Control+Enter. I remember being very excited waiting for Treasure Island Dizzy to load (still love the tune from that game, really takes me back whenever I hear it), only to find myself with no idea what to do - of course I immediately went right and drowned in the water - Game Over
(I did eventually beat that game after plenty of tips from my 464-owning mate down the road, although whoever decided that you only get one life needs stringing up IMO :))
My earliest memory of the CPC was 64k
Quote from: Trebmint on 12:29, 05 July 14
My earliest memory of the CPC was 64k
Ditto
My first memory of the CPC was from 1984. I had a Sharp MZ 700 at that time, and when I read about the new CPC in a Norwegian computer magazine called Hjemmedata ("Home computer") I thought it was the coolest thing ever. But I never bought one.
Then, a year or so later I saw a 6128 in a local bookstore. Yes, they were selling books and computers. It was an amazing computer. I had never used a computer with a floppy drive before and this thing looked like something from the future. Unfortunately it was also four times as expensive as the MSX (SVI 728 with datarecorder) I ended up buying the following year.
After that I never saw another CPC until 2012 when I found a 464 in a recycling bin.
It was 1984 and I'd written two type-ins for my speccy 48k so I had £100, my nan gave me £100 and I reckoned my mate was gonna buy my speccy and games for £100. That meant I had enough to buy one of these computers that looked straight like they came from the future... that was the Elan Enterprise. But my dream computer never came out.... and the CPC had the same colour keys so I got that instead.
Weird how things happen, but I'm glad I didnt end stuck with a dead machine like the Enterprise even if it still look uber cool
I can't remember the year, 84-85. I saw a 464 in a french listings magazine.
I was like amazed with the shape (like a heater) and color of the huge case. A tank. Looking very Armyish. Some friends had computers like Z81, Oric Atmos, Spectrum 48k. They looked all the same. Small and cute.
I never though Amstrad would be a phenomena. It was a very cheap advertising in that crappy TV magazine. And there was no crocodile.
6 months later I got my 464 with GT-64, Amstrad litterally invaded all the shopping centers.
I remember the awesome 664 with blue keys in a Darty shop (before I had my CPC) Kids after school were playing/copying games only on the numerous Amstrad. When I saw Boulderdash 1, I was sure I wanted a CPC.
I got my 464 at Auchan with some games (very nice bundle). I think I loaded 3D grand prix first. Probably Green Beret then. I had Pyjamarama and Manic Miner in Amsoft version, Jet set Willy 1, Cauldron and Sabre Wulf. Awesome tapes.
Quote from: AMSDOS on 06:21, 05 July 14
I'm glad we didn't have CPCs at our school. Kids at the School(s) I went to were ruthless and the computer(s) got it tough, an Amstrad wouldn't have a chance. But it was sad to see vandals get stuck into Apple ][e's & Macs >:( Yes they were tough solid computers, but a vandal is a vandal.
the cpc's did alright at our school.
Sometimes computing came after P.E. this was often playing rugby and many still had dirty hands.
The keyboards were not the cleanest. Computer lessons were wordprocessing and databases. I don't remember if there was any basic programming.
Quote from: arnoldemu on 17:14, 06 July 14
the cpc's did alright at our school.
Sometimes computing came after P.E. this was often playing rugby and many still had dirty hands.
The keyboards were not the cleanest. Computer lessons were wordprocessing and databases. I don't remember if there was any basic programming.
Hmm, interesting Hygiene rules, but then I guess it's safer to clean up after using the computer. :D
The kids at the school I went to were demolishers and I wouldn't have been surprised if the Apple Technician guy was simply making a living off our school.
Quote from: steve on 11:28, 05 July 14
When I went to school, microcomputers had not been invented yet. :o
More or less the same here. I finished school in 1986. We had computers in the school from 1984, but I was too late to get to use them, only new students (and only those doing higher maths!) got to use them. They were CBM Pets and BBC Model B's as far as I can remember.
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 10:46, 07 July 14
More or less the same here. I finished school in 1986. We had computers in the school from 1984, but I was too late to get to use them, only new students (and only those doing higher maths!) got to use them. They were CBM Pets and BBC Model B's as far as I can remember.
Bryce.
My Life might of been slightly different had the Internet not become more accessible until after I completed my last year at school, instead I was downloading Amstrad Games, using someones memory dumper to extract the M/C & typing it back into my 6128! Had no idea about Emulation then, but then it didn't take long to catch on and these habits got in the way of my studies. :( Even though I enjoyed doing what I was doing! :D
Quote from: Bryce on 10:46, 07 July 14
More or less the same here. I finished school in 1986. We had computers in the school from 1984, but I was too late to get to use them, only new students (and only those doing higher maths!) got to use them. They were CBM Pets and BBC Model B's as far as I can remember.
Bryce.
Young'uns, tsk,tsk.
I left school in 1974, the dawn of the microcomputer age was heralded by the publication of an article on building your own microcomputer in jan '75. this machine was the MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080 microprocessor. Altair 8800 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800)
There had been 2 or 3 earlier machines but they did not catch on like the Altair did.
Ok, now you've even made ME feel young :) Thanks!
Bryce.
Happy to be of service. :D
Quote from: Trebmint on 09:49, 06 July 14
Weird how things happen, but I'm glad I didnt end stuck with a dead machine like the Enterprise even if it still look uber cool
I would probably have traded my entire 8-bit collection for a working Enterprise...
Quote from: joska on 12:00, 07 July 14
I would probably have traded my entire 8-bit collection for a working Enterprise...
Yes, there have only been a few pieces of hardware I ever really really wanted. The Enterprise was the first. Then the Konix Multisystem and now the Oculus Rift
Quote from: steve on 11:50, 07 July 14
Happy to be of service. :D
I'll offer you my seat on the bus next time :D
Bryce.
Quote from: joska on 12:00, 07 July 14
I would probably have traded my entire 8-bit collection for a working Enterprise...
Make me an offer ;)
Quote from: mr_lou on 06:13, 04 July 14
So I bet the games 1943 and Jet Set Willy and Slot Machine just throws you right back to your aunt's place, right? :)
Yes, I can see myself there in the corner trying to use that horrible joystick with 1943. :) I could never stay long and it always left me wanting more.
Jet set Willy... was... just... weird... ??? I watched a longplay of it this weekend. I still don't know what's happening.
Quote from: Gryzor on 16:37, 07 July 14Make me an offer ;)
You have an Enterprise? :o
Quote from: joska on 07:47, 08 July 14
You have an Enterprise? :o
Yes, a boxed 64 one. Probably the best-looking machine I own...
And probably the most expensive one too.
I have an Enterprise 128, and I can tell you it's not the most expensive piece in my collection...
Quote from: Badstarr on 21:35, 23 October 11
I already posted about this in another thread Re: GX4000 mod not going well console dead? :-( (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?topic=2828.msg32904#msg32904) I thought it was an interesting topic. The CPC was the very first computer I ever encountered as a 3 year old, well I might have been nearly 4 but I guess you could say it made an impression! 26 or is it 27 (?) years later and I'm still hooked! All the amazing advancements in graphics and cpu power and nothing has ever managed to amaze me more than playing 3D Star Strike for the first time all those years ago! So how old were you when you first used or saw a CPC what impression did it leave on you?
I didn't own one but my best friend did (a 6128). I don't really recall what I saw first but I remember Roland on the Ropes I think and Harvey Headbanger perhaps being the first things I saw. Loved Nemesis and Nebulus on there and we had great times swapping turns playing Laser Squad against each other. Also Trapdoor was interesting indeed!
Quote from: robcfg on 12:48, 08 July 14
I have an Enterprise 128, and I can tell you it's not the most expensive piece in my collection...
I actually saw one on eBay today at a surprisingly "reasonable" price.
Oh, in 1987 in my communion, searching a gift for me :). I remember the kapy store.. And vaguely the seller of shop Teaching my parents computer. Oh i was impressed because the seller was very fast typing in the cpc keyboard I remember thinking, who it is able to write at that speed?.
The next I remember, es the army moves in the screen, and the next to this is mentally cursing the seller for letting me 5 seconds only the game.
Latter I remember the seller tell to my parents,the store was about to close, and that we could not leave saved.
Next i remember is a my parents tell me "the 6128 color is too expensive so Choose, 6128 in green phosphor, or 464 in colour."
...
......
I was defeated by A) the army moves colors. B)My total ignorance on disk or tape(or becasue the games tape were cheap). and c) the gnore the difference between 64 or 128k.
So my 464 in colour go to home.....
The next I remember, is see the closed shop after returning from vacation i think ... "phew, luckily I bought before".
Now, the place of the shop is ocuppied by a mercadona :).
I do not remember anything else from the store, only the cpc and seller :).
Quote from: Trebmint on 12:03, 07 July 14
Yes, there have only been a few pieces of hardware I ever really really wanted. The Enterprise was the first. Then the Konix Multisystem and now the Oculus Rift
I have 4 of these (Enterprises) in varying states atm ::)
You're all making me want an Enterprise now. :)
Quote from: Zoe Robinson on 16:09, 10 July 14
You're all making me want an Enterprise now. :)
Honestly they're not that amazing IMHO but I suppose it depends what you're into
Enterprise 64/128 is basically a mix of CPC with some speccy video modes as well... somewhat exotic and lacked the same Software support as CPC and Speccy... basically almost compatible with both as well (need to port though)
main issue ? in built Joystick, but no in-built Disk drive... ::)
It had two custom chips to handle graphics and sound, maybe they could have made the Enterprise better than the CPC.