Buone notizie in arrivo, anzi ottime ... ancora un po’ di pazienza e ci siamo!
:-D
Carlo
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Da: Kickstarter <no-reply@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Data: 25 febbraio 2018 22:28:41 CET
A: carlo.malantrucco@xxxxxxxx
Oggetto: Project Update #25: ZX Spectrum Next by Henrique Olifiers
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February: a hard, long month in review
Posted by Henrique Olifiers (Creator)
February has flown by, and it's already (high) time for an update of what the
Spectrum Next team has been up to while crafting your new computer. There
have been many battlefronts opened in January and February on the push to
wrap up the project, thus brace as this is likely our largest ever update!
The box
Mike has been relentlessly pushing the box forward, with the design and
materials finally locked and greenlit. There was a lot of back and forth on
the options of foam innards versus polished cardboard, external box (the box
to ship the box within, as no one will want to have their Next's box
scratched up) and clever cutting to ensure the computer is neatly seated and
protected from all sides.
Alfredo is now adapting the images and print to the box's format, as we've
moved away from the traditional style to a more robust and elegant cap and
tray design, more akin to what one would expect from a high end manufacturer.
Note the pictures below are from the final box prototype, without the
finished printed images and lacquer. Still, for boxs fans, it's as cool as it
gets:
The closed box - note this is not the final finish, missing printing and
lacquer
The inside, with the Next tightly inserted and protected
Top layer removed revealing the manual underneath
The naked box. Much sexy.
The manual
The printed and wirebound manual is a big part of the Next's crowdsourced
nature, and has been in the works for months now with more than a dozen
collaborators helping with its composition under the coordination and editing
of Phoebus. It's impossible to overstate how much effort and passion the
community has poured into the crafting of this piece of Speccy history, and
how much we all owe them and Phoebus for going the extra mile to produce it
with the detail and care they've put into it.
Creating an updated version of the Speccy manual was already a significant
undertaking, but when it came time to incorporate all the new functions of
the Next, plus the ever-evolving nature of the Next Basic, things got
complicated: how to edit a book whose chapters keep on shifting as fast as
the Next's ROM and feature set?
And while the cover artwork (done) will remain a secret kept for the unboxing
of your Next, here are two chapters of the manual (pdf) for you to check out
the incredible work about to be concluded, as it's now almost done:
Next Manual Chapter 5
Next Manual Chapter 7
Games! Apps!
The Next titles continue to surprise with their gorgeous graphics and
gameplay, with 25 prods in development (that we know of!) We've also been
granted the rights to distribute old classics, such as Sanxion, ensuring
there will be a lot of new and old stuff to play on the Next from day one.
Lords of Midnight, No Fate, Warhawk and QuakeStar
Speaking of apps, we'll now kick off the development of the internet apps
connecting the Next to the web using its Wi-Fi module. While some groundwork
has been done and the functionality is in place, the UI/usability aspect of
it needs a lot of love -- that's the work ahead.
In the meantime, marvel at the new generation of Speccy software being brewed
in physical form: how cool is it to see a game boxed like Dungeonette by
Adrian Cummings coming to life?
Dungeonette getting physical, by Adrian Cummings
Case works
The month was filled with final adjustments to the board and daughterboard
thanks to out-of-specification replacement parts that we got instead of the
intended originals. One would think that a single millimeter would not be a
big issue, but in Rick Dickinson's world of exquisite precision and purpose,
it would have meant a redesign of the Next case to accomodate the difference!
Thus we had to spring to action and secure yet again a part that's no longer
produced (at least to the specs we need), the DB9 joystick connector, and
send the 6,200 chunky culprits back to its spawner.
A single millimeter meant the case wouldn't close properly
Other adjustments included moving the DB15 (VGA/RGB connector) 1mm back to
allow some safeguarding distance between the board and the case, and a
reposition upwards of the internal cable connector on the daughterboard which
was touching the keyboard enclosure. Thus the Next board version 2B is born!
The original daughterboards had their connectors in the wrong position,
causing them to touch the keyboard above -- new one to the right
As of last week, we've now finalised all the adjustments and validated the
neat fit of the hardwarde inside the case, thus the final phase of the mold
carving can finally begin. We'll have mold pictures shortly, as we originally
hoped these would be done by the end of January. Now it's pushing to get them
done as fast as possible to ship the Next!
Firmware
The team is currently working on the versions 0.8b & 0.8c of the firmware,
with yet another update of the NextOS thanks to the relentless Gary
Lancaster. To say the NextOS is surpassing everyone's expectations would be
quite the understatement -- from the ability to load files from the SD as if
they were loading from tape, including the borders (but much faster if you so
wish) to new BASIC commands such as Functions -- the NextOS is now the
de-facto Speccy BASIC and operational system, with the largest feature set
out there.
If only the Speccy had this BASIC back in the day...
Version 0.8b will also include a new mouse driver and support, and... ZX81 3D
Monster Maze! Yes, the old gem that made so many people scream back in the
early eighties will be included in the Next with the blessings of Malcolm
Evans, the original creator of the game.
Meanwhile, Victor and the community have been wrapping up the specs of the
Next features at last, aiming at the version 1.0 of the firmware in the next
couple of weeks -- the version that will ship in the box. Currently under
work is the finalisation of the Copper (the coprocessor) and the DMA
optimisations required by some coding tricks to be possible.
The video below by Mike Dailly, who originally thought out the Copper for the
Next, is done entirely with it, with no work from the Z80 CPU that remains
free to do other stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El_Ub5FRXgM
Following the capacitor mod by the community (thanks again, Pokemon!) helping
a lot of the users nail HDMI incompatibilities and noise, it has been added
to the design of the 2B board version, thus shipping in the final version of
the Next. No need to bring up your soldering iron!
The capacitor mod, a thing of the past -- soon!
And while the Turbo Sound's three AY chips with their six channels is nothing
new to the Spectrum Next by now, hearing it in action is another thing
altogether -- so turn up the volume for the video below:
https://www.facebook.com/Z80ULA/videos/1495599280535126/
Wrapping up...
This is the final stretch for the project before it ships, with the molding
of the case and keyboard started. With the help of the entire community,
grouped around the manual, firmware, games, apps, sourcing of extras such as
power supply and SD cards, the discovery of mods to make the Next better...
With the help of the community, the Next is happening. Later than scheduled,
yes, but around the corner nonetheless.
In the next weeks we'll be adding smaller updates to the website, FB group
and Next Forum with the progress of the molding, as we're aware the curiosity
is running high for the final date and, of course, seeing the Next in the
flesh at last. If you are as anxious as we are, you need these updates indeed
to bridge the delay we've caused to the shipping. The good news is that after
all the past adjustments and care, we expect few or no surprises in this last
phase of the project. Fingers crossed and...
Stay tuned!
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