News about Amstrad CPC, PCW, Notepad NC100 NC150 NC200, PDA600 and also Amstrad PC






El Gerente - The Manager 2022, a remake by Enrique BUZON and Targhan for Amstrad CPC

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El Gerente is an enterprise simulation game in spanish released in 1984, written by DIMensionNEW and edited by Idealogic.

Enrique Buzon and Targhan has released a rameke of this game this time in spanish and in english.

They both have released a remake of the physical game Simon for the CPCRetroDev contest in 2020 : Memtrainer.


Youtube video



Three Amstrad CPC games by Fitosoft in 2022

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Fitosoft has released no less than three Amstrad CPC games in 2022 :



Veteran Megademo, an Amstrad CPC+ demo by Impact

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Impact has released a new Amstrad CPC+ demo : Veteran Megademo during the Benediction Coding Party #2, for the CPM's anniversary. The code was written by AST, Sid, Demoniak and Kris, graphics by Demoniak and Kris, music by Madmax.


Youtube video




Foursome, an Amstrad CPC demo by Pulpo Corrosivo

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Pulpo Corrosivo has released a new Amstrad CPC demo : Foursome during the Benediction Coding Party #2. The code was written by Toms and graphics by Beb.


Youtube video



CRTC³ v2 by Roudoudou, an Amstrad CPC+ demo

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Roudoudou has updated his Amstrad CPC+ demo CRTC 3, you can download CRTC 3 v2 : several bugfixes in order to keep a proper 50Hz at transitions, fix some visual glitches, a new screen conversion for the Serval, more colors, better palette choice, better dithering, and the final Wasp is now truly interactive.


Youtube video




PunyInform v4.0 by Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson to write text adventure games

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PunyInform v4.0 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.



VEZZA, a new Z-machine interpreter for Amstrad CPC and PCW by Shawn Sijnstra and Stefan Vogt

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VEZZA by Shawn Sijnstra (and Stefan Vogt) is a new Infocom/Inform/Z-machine interpreter for Amstrad CPC and PCW (and other computers) to play adventure games without needing a memory expansion (Inform format v1 to v8), under CP/M and not Amsdos.

The program you need to dowload is different if you are using an Amstrad CPC (vezza-nb.com) or a PCW (vezza-90.com).



Gemini by PulkoMandy, a 1 Mb RAM compatible CPC+ for Amstrad CPC

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Due to compatibility problems between the Amstrad Plus ASIC memory mapping and existing memory expansions, PulkoMandy has designed its own : Gemini.

This is a 1 Mb expansion with a switch to force it to 512K (in case you hit compatibility problems with something). Unlike other RAM expansions, it tracks the status of the ASIC to avoid conflicts if software attempts to map both the ASIC and expanded memory to the same address. At the moment the only software known to hit this situation is the Soundtracker DMA. But let us know if you find (or make) more :)

More info on Gemini's PulkoMandy web page.

Compatibility chart :

  • Amstrad Plus (464 or 6128) : this card is for you
  • GX4000 : why not, if you have soldered an expansion port
  • CPC 6128 : this will work, unless software tries to unlock and map the ASIC. If there is enough demand, I can make a modified (and simpler) version of the Gemini for CPC 6128
  • CPC 464 and 664: this will not work. Do not use this card on 464 and 664 machines. Since he doesn't own one of these, he doesn't plan to make a version of the card for them.

Availability : for now PulkoMandy has built a very small batch of 3 cards, and all 3 are already sold (someone really wanted to own the one with serial number 0). But he will build more (parts are on the way) and he will take preorder to know how much I need to build.

The price is 35 € including worldwide shipping. Reduced price if you come to my home to get it, or if you buy it from me during a meeting or demoparty (but tell him beforehand, so he knows how many he should bring).