Play on Retro is selling physyical editions of several Amstrad CPC games :

• Baba's Palace (2017), a reflexion game by Rafa CASTILLO and John McKlain
• Castaway (2022), an action game by the T Team
• Jax the Dog (2023), a platforma game by Capasoft and Digital Studio
• Shadow Hunter (2023), an action game by Mananuk, Xavisan, Xenomorph, Titan
• Space Saga which includes Space Panic (2022) and Spaceman Kerl (2022), two action games by Fitosoft
• Transylvanian Castle DX2 (2022), a RPG game by Fitosoft, adapted from a ZX Spectrum version which is also included

You can download the issues 3 (December 2022) and 4 of the frenc Amstrad CPC fanzine ùCPM by Titi. The issue 4 is out just today.

This year a remake of a Game and Watch by Nintendo was released by Team Galaxy : Octopus for Amstrad CPC+ and GX4000. Today it's still the same game but pimped for the CPC+ and GX4000 : Octopus Deluxe !

Both games were programmed by Maxit (and vocal digitalization) and Kukulcan, graphics by Titan and music by Pulsophonic.

See below for a vidéo of Octopus Deluxe. If you wish to see a video of Octopus, there is one by Amstrad Maniaque.

It's on the Facebook page of the web site that I saw CNR Team (Crack'N Rom) which working on their web site about their Amstrad productions, the fanzines Crack'N ROM and pour ses créations Amstrad CPC, les fanzines Crack'N ROM and the Carnard déchainé (wild duck).

Also mentionned on CNR's Facebook page, Toug who participated to Crack'n ROM has written a paper zine in January 2023 which I missed : CPC Fan BZH n°1 (sweet name), the second issue will be out on November 2023.

Xyphoe has written in 2022 two articles without knowing its use. Well now he knows, it's for a one time paper magazine : Amstrad Addict by David Crookes (WACCI, Amstrad Action...). This issue has an exclusive interview of Alan Michael Sugar (unknown date) and certainly an article about the racing game Vespertino by Batman Group. To order this issue of Amstrad Addict, it's here.

PunyInform v5.0 by Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson is a library written in Inform 6 to create adventure game (pure text, no graphic support contrary to DAAD) using the Z-machine virtual machine which will run on 8bit computers (or more recent computers too). PunyInform has a parser, knowing of common verbs and a framework to write adventure games.

PunyInform is based on the Inform 6 library written by Graham Nelson. Its goal is to make easily adventure games in Inform 6, with a manual describing the differences between the official library and PunyInform..

Games using PunyInform can be compiled in z3, z5 and z8 format (z3 being the best format for 8bit computers, other formats have more features). Compared to the Inform 6 library, it means that there is no support for the Glulx virtual machine but z3 format is important as Inform 6 doesnt support it.

To compile games written with PunyInform, you should use the Inform 6 compiler maintained by David Kinder. Binaries are available on if-archive. PunyInform needs Inform v6.35 (or more).

They are tutorials to write adventure game with PunyInform (end of the page) and all the documentation including a 8 page cheat sheet (quick reference)..

To try your game after compilation, you can use WinFrotz by David Kinder, to create map easily you can use Trizbort.

And finally, to create an Amstrad CPC and PCW disk image, you will have to use the Puddle BuildTools.

Ghost Trick by GGP for Amstrad CPC+ and GX4000 is a new game inspired by another on the console Neo Geo pocket by SNK vs Capcom : the match of the millenium and inspired by Ghost's Goblins. Code and sprites are by Ayor61, screens and background by Maitre Joe, music by SuTeKH/Epytheor (featuring a remix of the original music by Mark Cooksey). To finish the game you will have to collect 50 chests, it will take some time.

Amstrad Maniaque has already done a longplay video of Ghost Trick. After having seen the video, gameplay is simple, background and music are wonderful.

For the download link, it's here.

Michael Wessel is the author of several hardware expansions for Amstrad CPC which I let you discover on his github and Youtube channel.

His last making is the MegaLambda-x6(++), an Amstrad CPC expansion backplante with no less than 6 slots. You can desactivate individually each connected card. It features :

• Six standard MX4 expansion slots
• Passthrough edge connector (like LambdaBoard I, II)
• Passthrough pin header connector (like MotherX4)
• Keyhole in edge connector for hardware that requires it (e.g., DKTronics Retro Speech Synthesizer, ...)
• Wide signal traces for good signal conductivity
• Extra wide traces for GND and VCC - unlike other backplane expanders for the CPC, MegaLambda is capable of powering the DDI-1 and DDI-3 without requiring an extra power supply
• Backplane powered from either the CPC or an external 5V power supply via standard barell jack (center polarity positive)
• Double jumpers (for better conductivity) to select between CPC power and external power
• Power LED (only) if external power supply is used - polarity check!
• The 5V / VCC line of the CPC expansion port is physically disconnected from the backplane if external power is used; only GND is shared with the CPC
• CPC Reset button

Several presentation videos are available :

• the initial presentation by LambdaMikel (see below)
• the second presentation by LambdaMikel of the upgraded MegaLambda
• the presentation of Manfred Gross's Amstrad CPC which is using the MegaLambda to connect the Ultimate Midi card (also by LambdaMikel), the RSF3 by TMTLogic, and much more !

Vexed by Under4Mhz is a new puzzle game for Amstrad CPC at the first 2023 semester. Match blocks and dont leave one or you must start anew the level.

Since the initial release, joystick support has been added in v1.08, so you should better download it again if you like Vexed.

ZEsarUX X (10 years) is a multi platform emulator, Amstrad CPC and PCW (and many others). You can compile the unix sources directly or get a binary for :

• linux 32/64 bits
• Mac OS X
• Windows
• Raspberry pi (raspbian)