Playing Around
It isn't all programming around here! Some days it is fun to just play around. I was adding an image to my other site which led to me reviewing some of my old Flickr images. In turn, I ran across my Wordle of Reid's for Fun image (article here)…
Posted Feb 16, 2012 by Steven
1 min read
Road Hog Improved
What's this, another version of Road Hog? Yep. This is January's Program converted to machine code using MCoder II. I was surprised how easy it was. Although MCoder is an integer compiler and limits some BASIC commands, I only needed to change a few lines to get Road Hog to run…
Posted Feb 14, 2012 by Steven
1 min read
February's Program: Light Walls
February is upon us and that means another program of the month. This month it is another one from 1983: Light Walls. In case you hadn't guessed, it has its roots in Tron. The game requires you to steer right (".") or left ("z") to avoid hitting the light walls…
Posted Feb 09, 2012 by Steven
2 min read
ZX81 Emulator on Android
As more and more people turn to mobile and tablet devices for their entertainment and consumption needs, it is becoming harder to share my ZX81 preservation project. I remember how excited I was when I found a Java based emulator that would run my ZX81 programs on the web…
Posted Feb 05, 2012 by Steven
2 min read
January's Program: Road Hog
Welcome to the new year! Starting off the second season of monthly programs is January's program Road Hog. Road Hog is a driving game similar to my later Flywheel game. I hesitate to call it a racing game as there is no acceleration. You just move the car left or right using the "z" or "." keys…
Posted Jan 14, 2012 by Steven
3 min read
A New Year of ZX81 Programs
Well, the celebration of thirty years since the introduction of the ZX81 is now over. For the last year I've been bringing you an original ZX81 program each month as a tribute to my first computer…
Posted Jan 10, 2012 by Steven
2 min read
December's Program: Creature
I can't believe December is here and the year is almost over. To celebrate the last program of the month, I present Creature, an animation program. Unlike many of the smaller programs submitted throughout the year, this one is the largest weighing in at 14KB…
Posted Dec 03, 2011 by Steven
3 min read
November's Program: Lander 2
November is here and the year is flying by. This month's program Lander 2 is an earlier one from 1983. Oddly, the game displays Space Lander. Not very original as I've used that name before. I'm using the name I noted in my listing.
Although it has graphical elements, it is really just a counting g…
Posted Nov 03, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
October's Program: 1985
October's program is one of my later games from 1985 which is aptly named 1985. It has decidedly simple game mechanics. It is an alternative reality 1985 where the Earth is gone. Humans are colonizing Earth II, but you need to clear the mountains for agriculture needs…
Posted Oct 03, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
September's Program: Odyssey
This month I present another simple game, Odyssey. It doesn't include instructions, so here is a quick synopsis. An evil computer has trapped you in a space ship. To escape, you have to remove the memory boards in order to shut down the computer. Sounds familiar…
Posted Sep 03, 2011 by Steven
3 min read
Space Lander 2011
I couldn't leave well enough alone. All that analyzing and nitpicking of the original Space Lander made me wonder what it might be like if I had rewritten it. Almost 28 years later, here is the reborn version of Space Lander 2011.
I tried to stay true to the original, keeping most of the key graph…
Posted Aug 21, 2011 by Steven
4 min read
August's Program: Space Lander
Okay, this may not be the large program I promised, but I choose Space Lander for a different reason: it's horrible! Okay, maybe it isn't that bad, but it definitely wasn't one of better programs. This was from 1983, clearly one of my earlier attempts…
Posted Aug 17, 2011 by Steven
3 min read
June's Program: Beo One
I was searching through my stack of programs and decided to choose a short and sweet program for June. Beo One is definitively short, clocking at just 33 lines of code. Well 35 if you include the two new save and run lines I added…
Posted Jun 06, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
April's Program: Sphere
I've been a bit busy this month so I choose a relatively short program in order to not miss my self imposed deadline. To that end, I present to you April's belated graphic program: Sphere. This program will easily run on a 2K ZX81…
Posted Apr 26, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
March's Program: Lock & Fire
March's program is Lock & Fire. I wrote this graphic game in 1985, although I have to admit I don't remember it much. It is a bit hard to play as the keys aren't very sensitive and the aliens jump around as you try to "lock" onto them…
Posted Mar 26, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
Digging for Old Books
For some time now I've listed the ZX81 books I own on my original ZX81 web site, but I hadn't put much effort in searching the web for them. Mainly this was because I already own them, but mostly because it never occurred to me to do so…
Posted Mar 05, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
February's Program: Golf
This month's program is a simple game of Golf. Although not overly exciting, it does show off a few ZX81 BASIC features. One oddity of the ZX81 is that π (pi) is built in, something I haven't seen in other languages. In this case, it is used to calculate the direction of the golf ball…
Posted Feb 19, 2011 by Steven
2 min read
New ZX81 Programs Section
I've added a new Programs section that lists all of my ZX81 programs available so far. The list includes the name, a brief synopsis, and options to list or run the program as available. I still need to add a more complete description option…
Posted Jan 23, 2011 by Steven
1 min read
Slow Going
I really meant to have a number of my programs converted this month. I found a tape player and have been trying to load my ZX81 programs off the original tapes; however, I keep running into a problems. I'm not sure if it is my microphone, the recording software, or my emulator…
Posted Jan 21, 2011 by Steven
1 min read
Pardon the Dust and Debris
I'm in the process of updating the old flat design of this site into a more dynamic one. The original site was designed in the nineties for use on GeoCities and its various requirements and stipulations…
Posted Nov 21, 2010 by Steven
1 min read