Dr Johnny Blanchard

Dr Johnny Blanchard

@onlyretrofans.com

Screenwriter Roguegunners Productions Author #Retrocomputing/#RetroGaming: https://www.youtube.com/@reenthused #IndieDev: https://tonsomo.itch.io #Film: https://www.youtube.com/@roguegunners NoAI especially GenAI

1.3K followers672 following7.2K posts

If a filmmaker makes a film entirely using AI then I hope no cast or crew ever work with them again, because they’re selling you out, they’re selling out your craft and your future. And the same goes for any film festival that awards an AI generated film, don’t submit films to them again

I also need to commission the loading screen / box art for Quantum Hop 2. Here's the original art - unfortunately I found out later that it was probably created using AI - so I can't use the creator. The new one should include the same themes, Astronaut, Portal, Chicken adds a robot and drone

The Speccy is in fairly good shape, everything is in the box too (including the now returned manuals that arrived as part of the lot) including the guarantee card which was filled in but not sent away - I suspect a model 2 or 3 (will find out when I inevitably have to open it)

Wait? Did the printer come with a copy of Horizons? Well, either way that makes two copies in this lot - obviously doesn’t make up for the lack of Make a chip or Survival

And the contents, a boxed 48K spectrum and printer and a bunch of manuals, books and tapes. Yes I have too many Spectrums already, but I put a low bid on it and won

Good drive by Norris to get fifth there, and Piastri for holding off Russell. Real shame the Red Bull had issues off the line again, really spoiled what could have been a nice fight - even if it might only have lasted a couple of corners given Antonneli’s soeed

Ah, another slop “look and this game and make it this instead” release, I think YouTubers who don’t give a crap are the big problem, it’s an incentive for slop merchants because their game will appear on a large channel. So we get no imagination, poor performance and no bug fixing

Dr Johnny Blanchard reposted

I also have a slightly discounted bundle of my ROM Cartridge Slot interface (Interface 2 compatible, also features a switch to select +3/+2A to make it work on those models) with one of the 16 Bank Flash Memory cards. eBay: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11743775... #zxspectrum #retrogaming #8bit #indiedev

Quazar@samcoupe.com

🟢 Back in stock... 16 Bank Flash Memory Card for the #ZXSpectrum (with Interface 2 or similar) or the #SAMCoupe (with ZX-ECUTOR Interface). Pre-flashed with 2 games + 1 utility. 🌐 www.ebay.co.uk/itm/117466520352 🌐 zx.samcoupe.com

I didn't consider releasing this because I wasn't able to get it working to a degree I was happy with. But I designed this so people could make Spectrum games using BASIC, for those that don't know BASIC is a learning language - so I thought it would be a useful tool. 1/2

As it turns out I could never get it to work and then I discovered CVBASIC which does work (and I ended up using it for a couple of Jurl versions) Eventually I tried adding CPC and C64 support, which is worse Anyway, here's Rainbow (named when it was just Speccy) github.com/jonn-reenthu...

github.comGitHub - jonn-reenthused/Rainbow: Develop games for retro machines using an advanced version of BASICDevelop games for retro machines using an advanced version of BASIC - jonn-reenthused/Rainbow

Dr Johnny Blanchard reposted

🕹️ Hi talented #gamedevs! I hope everyone is having a nice Saturday 💜 Here's a #screenshotsaturday post! Reply to this post updates for your #games (any game links, photos, videos etc) 🎮 💜 like 🗨️ comment 🔄 repost! #indiegame #saturdayscreenshot #gaming #indiedev #gamedevelopment

This morning has mostly been working with the Steam version of Jurl. Whilst dealing with Herexis I noticed that Jurl no longer worked on my Mac, so i'm currently trying to get a new version uploaded. It's proving a long job because both Godot and GodotSteam have updated quite a bit since #IndieDev

One of them just emailed saying that their 'offer to review my game' was limited to 30 days, so I had better send the key quickly!!! Here's your key OFF-FUCK - i've scrambled it for security purposes

Turns out there's an official steam way of connecting with curators. I only found out because one of the curators asking me for keys happened to mention they were part of it. As usual with Steam the actual link to it was hidden halfway down a random page

My dream is to one day get enough funds in my Steam account that Valve will stop sending me emails telling me my game hasn't sold enough for me to receive a pay out

My new game Herexis is finally out in Early Access on Steam. It's my homage to the old Laser Squad game. It's early access because I have a lot to do still, the campaign mode needs to be added, multiplayer and it needs new graphics and music #IndieDev store.steampowered.com/app/5349340/...

store.steampowered.comSave 10% on Herexis on SteamHerexis is a Sci-fi turn based strategy game. Designed to appeal to strategy fans that like the simple turn based games of the past with simple graphics and mechanics. Just the stuff you need to enjoy...

I think the important facts with the recent security issues is that the problems exploited weren’t new and were already known about but exploiting them took huge effort, but an LLM will sit there and use every documented technique until it finds a way.

It isn’t doing anything clever, it’s just not getting bored, disorganised or needing to stop - the things that generally stop humans from achieving this stuff. And there lies the issue, when you can just point and forget, you WILL find exploits somewhere

The more terrifying thing is that this is a sales channel for the LLM companies, they see this as good press. Frankly they need to be held to account. It wasn’t that long ago that a dev who made a DoS platform was arrested, he didn’t run attacks he just licensed the tool - how is this different?

I remember having lots of arguments when they were suing Apple and Google and pointing out the only reason they were doing it was because it meant they could stop parents refunding loot box payments

Dr Johnny Blanchard reposted

Joy Radar is a fantastic name for this bit of kit for the Famicom, and something I've seen a similar thing for the Master System: a wireless RF signal transmitter. Say goodbye to cables going to the TV; instead embrace, well, from what I've seen, poor image quality. 📖: Technopolis, June 1987

I've been working on the Vectrex port of Jurl recently, because the Vectrex Mini is coming soon, so I figured it would be a nice addition. It's sort of almost there, probably. I say probably because I no longer own a Vectrex so it's only tested in emulation and it's only just Jurl

Hell, contact me in future - despite being in leadership rather frontline development for the last 30 years I bet I know more than the people you drag on. And for retro computing/gaming stuff I definitely do

Dr Johnny Blanchard reposted

#ThrowbackThursday with Dig Dug on the Sord M5! 🪏💻 Released in 1982, this early home conversion of Namco’s arcade classic came on ROM cartridge, but the rubber-key keyboard made control tricky! Find it on our main gallery 👾🕹️

Dr Johnny Blanchard reposted

We need shelf space. FAST Stealth needs shelf space. This is bad news for the computers currently occupying the shelf. So: CLEARANCE SALE at the RISC OS London Show. Complete RISC OS machines from £99. Our ruthless approach to inventory management could be your gain. #risc_os