Magrathea

2015 -2016  Giant Space Owl (incomplete)   comic

2018            Clicky Clicks Dungeon (complete)  interactive fiction

2019            5 rings                          (complete)  interactive fiction

2019 -2020 UFO a Dracula             (incomplete)   interactive fiction

2021            The High Fortress          (complete)  game zx spectrum

2021            Last Christmas Ever      (complete)  interactive fiction

 

 Hi there. Most of 2020 I spent trying to work out a new plan. 2021 I spent finishing projects I already had underway.
 I've got no projects planed for 2022 and beyond. Nothing that I would share on this site or my twitter. Anything else I was planing or said I was doing is canceled. With the exception of Giant Space Owl, which I would like to complete at some point. And still hope to work on a few hours a week. It sounds a bit dramatic but this is just tidying up and being clear about where I'm at. So no surprises if its a bit quite around here. But this is not the end for chip-fork. I think of it like Magrathia. I'm simply hibernating, and suspending production awaiting the moment conditions are right. See you then.

Woot! 2021 Vaguely interactive fiction for christmas zx version out now

the Woot! 2021 Christmas compilation is out now! You can read about the full contents and download it all from here.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6017

It includes the ZX spectrum version of my Vaguely interactive fiction for Christmas. Your work as a music video director takes you to Old Codgers Shed of Videomancy. Will this be your....... Last Christmas Ever?
Not really a Christmas ghost story but you know where I'm coming from. Go from location to location choosing the occasional option.

 

Vaguely interactive fiction for christmas 2021 online edition

Your work as a music video director takes you to Old Codgers Shed of Videomancy. Will this be your....... Last Christmas Ever?
Not really a Christmas ghost story but you know where I'm coming from. Go from location to location choosing the occasional option. Play in browser free right now. 

https://chip-fork.itch.io/last-ever

 

I've just released my new interactive fiction for Christmas. Although just the browser version is out now, the ZX Spectrum version will be out in a couple of weeks. This is the project I didn't finish in time for last Christmas. But I picked it up again after completing the high fortress and did all the pencil crayon stuff for the artwork. My intention was that it be a little project produced between when the call went out on the spectrum computing forum in October and finished by the start of December 2020. Still here it is now.

The High Fortress

 

 

I completed my new project for the ZX Spectrum. In it you use the rockets on your castle to fight dragons. You can read about it more and download it from here.

https://chip-fork.itch.io/the-high-fortress

 

JULY UPDATE

Chunky Fringe and Digitiser live 4th September

It's still to be definitively finalised. In theory the events will be going ahead because all restrictions will be lifted. but I'm not confident that they will be going ahead. Given rising cases things may need to be shut down again. So we will have to see what happens there.

I have been working away on a project to show should chunky fringe happen. I have most of the coding done. But none of the presentation. I had big ideas for how it could be. But I might need to keep it simple. I want it to be a surprise on the day should it go ahead. So I won't say more. But i have been putting in the time to have something fun.

Giant Space Owl

Mostly I've been focused on the above. But I have printed out a pencil version of book two. The idea being that it would aid with proof reading as any changes can be drawn on. It's nice to hold it in my hands like that. But it is lacking colours. I'm wondering if I should colour book two and release it. Or maybe plow on with drawing the rest? I would really like to complete it one day.

Interactive fiction for Christmas.

After finishing the chunky fringe project for September. I plan to return to this to finish it up in time for December

MAY update

 It would be nice to have a new website. But that's not on the cards right now. If I can't update here I'll tweet about stuff instead. And the big dates to look out for are.
Early September when Chunky Fringe happens, hopefully I'll have a little something to show off.
Check here for info on Chunky Fringe
Early December. I'll be putting out my vaguely interactive fiction for Christmas.
Check  the spectrum computing forums for news of the Woot compilation.   

March Update

 

 Here is a handy chart of projects that are 100% not finished. I guess I might be able to use the same graphic next month too. I've written some words too but perhaps the image is enough.

February Update

 Writing this months update helped get my thoughts in order. That's not the version you're getting to read though. Also when I woke up the next day I had a whole different set of ideas about what to do next. I'm still thinking about what's next and how to shape it. There are a lot of different directions I could go in and projects I could be working on next. But here are things that are definite.

January Update

 I'm still working on my vaguely interactive fiction for Christmas. I've been working on the artwork. There's lots of illustrations. And I've been converting them to the zx text versions. It's taken so long that I've been able to get a bit of distance from all the writing which I went through today as I was inserting the images. And I'm pretty pleased with it. 

 

December Update

 

 December has drifted away. It became clear that I wouldn't be able to finish my vaguely interactive fiction for Christmas, in time for Christmas. So it will be for next year instead. It's not in the tradition of Christmas ghost stories because it's mostly just weird, and it's not really a tradition because I've only done one before. and it can't be annual if i can't do one for every year. Apart from that I'm really pleased with it.

Update for the month of Bluaghblurber

 

Here's what I've been up to this year and a selection of teletext pages I've made.

January Update

Thanks to everyone who downloaded my Christmas ghost story as part of the WOOT! compilation. there's a play through here. It even has a little description and review. Thanks to Modern ZX-Retro Gaming. Their channel shows a real dedication to cataloging new spectrum releases.

December Update: Bonus Christmas ghost story. Out now!

Free Bonus Download

5 Rings, my vaguely interactive Christmas ghost story is out now for the ZX Spectrum. You are traveling home for the holidays and stop off at a village known for its standing stones! A place you haven't visited since childhood. 

Ghost stories were a popular staple of tv at Christmas particularly in the 70s. Although not normally set at or featuring Christmas this is my go at that sort of thing.  I've been focusing on putting this together over the last month or so. Thanks to everyone on the spectrum computing forum who've been supportive since I started doing Speccy stuff.


download for FREE it's part of the WOOT! Christmas compilation. Which has many seasonal contributions. You'll need a ZX Spectrum emulator or a way to run files on original hardware.

click here to download WOOT! 2019 bundle

woot! 2019 description, contents and download


EDIT (if the tap file loads it should run)

November Update: But in December

Shorter projects. coming soon....

October Update

Doing monthly updates made more sense when things were going well! I've been working on tools this month. Even though I'm making progress it might not be so interesting to read about. So as it's halloween month I've decided to introduce a new character called goth apple to liven things up a bit.

September Update

August Update

Attending Chunky Fringe

Last time I was working to complete a demo to take to Chunky Fringe. I can report that I was able to get ready in time. And I'm very pleased with how the day went. I was invited to take part in the Chunky Fringe by David Walford. The Chunky Fringe was a room of exhibitors and panels. Full of stuff related to Teletext, Digitiser and a little of retro computing. It provided a bit extra for people on the way to the Digitser Live Show. you can read about the Chunky Fringe on David's site. you can also browse the Chunky Text teletext service created to coincide with the event with many contributors. I'm very thankful to David for inviting me to take part.

July Update

Progress on follow up to clicky click.

i have a playable version of the first chapter on pc. The first chapter introduces a wrestler who's been invited to perform the opening ceremony for a jumble sale. But he unfortunately encounters dracula's ufo. i also have the synopses for all chapters. Each chapter will be about the size of clicky clicks dungeon. i've got designs for characters and models for some of the environments. 

Getting Ready for Chunky Fringe

My focus at the moment is getting ready for Chunky Fringe. i plan to show off the spectrum version of the first chapter. i have a version using the same art style as clicky clicks dungeon. with the wire frame lines. here's how the jumble sale looks now with the model i made and the zx graphics. i might go with this depending on things turns out.

But my hope is to switch to a style of art that uses text characters. so i'm trying to integrate that and get it up and running. All the 3d modeling work may have been overkill. As the text art is quite different. And less able to convey details. But it fits in with other stuff i'm doing and i like how it looks.

Mowgawr

i made this print recently for a show in Falmouth. It features the Morgawr, which is a Cornish sea monster. i got it printed at A2 size and it looked amazing so big. i'm so used to seeing everything i make on small computer monitor or phone screen. i really recommend printing out your artwork and printing BIG!
i want to make more stuff like this. So even though the zx spectrum can't display as many characters i'm pressing ahead with working in this style.

Giant Space Owl

i'm not a fan of deadlines. But as i'm aiming to have the demo ready for chunky Fringe space owl has lost its day a week. It currently stands at 41 penciled pages. i can tell you that its shaping up to be very very odd.


That's all

It's starting to be a long time since clicky clicks dungeon was released. i was hoping to be putting stuff out more frequently. but it's not looking like that. it all just takes a long time. Anyway most important thing to take away is to come to Chunky Fringe on saturday 20th july. At the Harrow Arts Centre. Play my new project. Hang out. The Chunky Fringe page explains it better than i can.

writing and planing stuff in the gaps each day

i've been working on the successor to Clicky Clicky. With early development for a bunch of titles. Including Mathew Hopkins bmx trials. But the one with dracula and ufos is emerging as a favorite. It's got that old super 8 reel feel.

Converting images to text with custom fonts.

I've been mucking about with JP LeBreton's  edscii http://vectorpoem.com/edscii/ . there's also a successor called playscii http://vectorpoem.com/playscii/ . I've been auto converting images with a custom font.