McPhail

Sad to see so many big names in the ZX Spectrum world associating with Yandex and equally frustrating seeing such talented game developers who have produced some mind blowing stuff.

This was a very fun video. I'm curious - does the keyboard help? From what I'd read, the ROM keyboard polling on the '81 was so poor that it contributed to a lot of the frustration we all attributed to touchpad keys. Can you use it for decent typing?

ITYM Super Rintelligence

Bluefin The next generation cloud-native Linux workstation, designed for reliability, performance, and sustainability.

I've been a Project Bluefin user for 4 months. I love it. If you want to run Linux but are put off by the chores and plumbing, this might be for you.

projectbluefin.io
gld.mcphail.uk/posts/i-may-...
gld.mcphail.uk/posts/how-to...

Z80 shifts | Mike Dailly Get more from Mike Dailly on Patreon

Quick post for everyone to re-share my Z80 shifts cheat-sheet.

www.patreon.com/posts/z80-sh...

Yep. It’s CPC! Let’s go! www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...

An unanswered DM indicator

There's no point DM'ing me on here because I won't age-verify, so I'll never be able to read it or reply. Sorry.

If you'd like to try ZX Spectrum development, my dev container has the tools you need to get started in BASIC, assembly or C. Works in Windows, Linux and MacOS, and even works from your browser!

github.com/mcphail/spec...

After a lot of rewriting, I'm back to the point where my game produces valid grids (I think). Next step is to make it produce _solvable_ grids in reasonable time Much harder!

#ZXSpectrum #RetroGameDev #Z80 #RetroComputing

It'd be interesting to see some different biomes and maybe some undulation of the landscape, but only if it did not negatively impact the gameplay. It is pretty close to perfection already.

Looks like one for @nerdydaytrips.bsky.social :)

Wasn't expecting it to go there!

Working through the Boriel BASIC book.

#ZXSpectrum #SpectrumNext

I was really hoping you'd plug swampy in.

Corbyn only sees in black and white :)

Kevin Toms Football Star Manager on Steam The original retro-­styled football management game remade and re-released in 2025. It's a faithful recreation of the original groundbreaking 1982 Football Manager, the title that launched the football-management genre!

It's been a long time coming, but my Football Star Manager will soon be available for Steam.
https://bit.ly/fsmsteam

#KevinToms #FootballManager #FootballStarManager #KTFSM #FootballGame #SportsGame #FootballSim #SoccerGame #Steam #SteamGame #SteamRelease #ClassicGame #RetroGame

I've read and reviewed Next Tech: Get the Best from your ZX Spectrum Next by Simon N Goodwin. It is excellent. Go and buy it if you are interested in the work @specnext.com is doing.

gld.mcphail.uk/posts/book-r...

#RetroComputing

I'm never going back to Matrix I should love Matrix. It is a decentralised, privacy preserving, multi-platform chat tool. Goodbye Slack and your ridiculous free limits. Adiós Discord and your weird gamification. Suck it IRC with your obscure syntax and faint stench of BO. WhatsApp and Telegram can stick their heads in a bucket of lukewarm sick and sing sea shanties! Let's join the future! The problem is - Matrix is shit. Not …

New blog post: I'm never going back to Matrix

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/07/im-never-going-back-to-matrix/

I should love Matrix. It is a decentralised, privacy preserving, multi-platform chat tool. Goodbye Slack and your ridiculous free limits. Adiós Discord and your weird gamification. Suck …

Indeed!

I've read and reviewed Next Tech: Get the Best from your ZX Spectrum Next by Simon N Goodwin. It is excellent. Go and buy it if you are interested in the work @specnext.com is doing.

gld.mcphail.uk/posts/book-r...

#RetroComputing

For an unknown reason, Santa insisted my ZX81 was listed in the classified ads of the local paper before he would even countenance a discussion with me about a Speccy.

It is a fantastic place to visit these days, but there's still craziness under the surface.

Manchester, on the other hand: visited it last year; first time I'd been since the bombing. I felt it had lost a lot of its old soul? Clearly thriving, though.

Having thought things had settled down a bit, my acceptance of a work placement at the Ulster Hospital landed on my doorstep the morning of the '96 bomb. Spent the middle of July watching Belfast burn. Strange days.

Bobby Tables ordered the magenta!

It unlocks a lot of knowledge which has been hidden away in Facebook and other unavoidable places.

I'm only 100 pages in, but it is engaging, detailed and insightful. It can be rambling and unfocused, but Simon is clearly passionate about his digressions which keeps it entertaining. It isn't comprehensive: there are allusions to future volumes.

2 ZX Spectrum programming books on a table

Yay!

#ZXSpectrum

2 books arriving today: Boriel Basic for ZX Spectrum: A guide for beginners... and those who are not so much, and Next Tech: Get the Best from your ZX Spectrum Next

Hurry up, postperson!

#RetroComputing #RetroGameDev

"Macrame is part of our culture"

I'd love to see a sitcom set in an alternate reality 1970s Northern Ireland where they're building a peace wall to separate the paramilitaries of Saga and the Rotary Club.