I've been working on a personal project for some time now called PiStudio.
It's a new development environment that runs on a Raspberry Pi and connects to an Amstrad CPC through the CPC-CPLINK from Revaldinho.

PiStudio transforms the CPC into a development workstation where you can code, compile, debug, manage files, and explore/maintain Git repositories, all directly from the CPC's keyboard and screen (in a full-overscan 92x32 character resolution). It's built around a suite of integrated tools that work seamlessly together, featuring a shared clipboard, a unified interface and the ability to open documents across applications. It's designed to run entirely offline, with certain optional features leveraging network connectivity.

At its core, the idea is simple: the Pi quietly handles all the heavy work, while the CPC remains a responsive front-end. The experience feels natural and authentic, you are working on your CPC, just with capabilities that would have felt like science fiction back in 1985!

The editor is the heart of PiStudio. It's a full-featured code editor tailored for development, but equally capable for any text file.

Key features:

• Multiple open documents with tab-like navigation
• Split-view editing (horizontal or vertical) to compare or edit two files side by side
• Find & Replace in current file or across the entire project
• Bookmarks for quick navigation between favorite files
• Fuzzy file finder for instant file lookup by name
  
• Compile the active file or a designated main file with a single shortcut. Its binary can be streamed to the CPC's memory and executed.
• The supported development languages/toolkits are Locomotive BASIC, RASM and SDCC C Compiler
  
• Code Inspector: access your variables/functions when editing the source files (ASM, BASIC and C are supported)
• Unlimited UNDO/REDO Clipboard history
• Calculator dialog with hex/decimal conversion
• ASCII/character table (CPC glyphs)
• Multi-language Spell checking
• AI-powered Translation tool
• Auto-formatting for ASM files
• Word wrap, configurable tab width
• Printer support
• Full session persistence: opened files, cursor positions, split state etc. are all restored on next launch

The debugger provides real-time inspection and stepping of programs running on the actual CPC hardware. When your program hits a breakpoint (BRK instruction), the CPC client captures the full Z80 state (with partial Gate Array support for now) and sends it to PiStudio.

Key features:

• Emulated Z80
• Full Z80 register view including all alternate registers
• Gate Array state detection (ROM selection, RAM banking) so you always know what's paged in at any address
• Disassembly panel with navigation by PC or manual address
• Memory dump panel (full 64 KB address space)
• Step into, step over, step return, continue, run to cursor
• RASM / SDCC symbol file integration (labels are resolved and displayed in the disassembly  and can be searched by name)
• Quick access to the original ASM or C source code corresponding to the current disassembly location
• NOPs counter for cycle-accurate timing/profiling
• Memory visualizer
• Text and hex search across memory
• Import/export binary data to and from files
• Export disassembly listings

A dedicated binary editor for working with raw data files, disk images or memory dumps.

Key features:

• Hex + ASCII side-by-side display
• Insert and overwrite modes
• Selection with live length and checksum display
• Cut, copy, paste
• Import/export binary blocks
• Text and hex search with replace
• Direct offset navigation
• Split-view support
• Undo/redo
• Printer support
  

A dual-pane file browser that unifies access to the Pi's file store, the CPC's physical disc drives and remote PiStudio instances on the network.

Supported drives:

• PI: the PiStudio file store on the Pi
• A: and B: the CPC's physical disc drives
• hostname: remote PiStudio instances discovered on the LAN
  
  

Key features:

• Dual-pane layout for easy copy/move between locations
• Full UniDOS support for extended file system operations (long filenames, subdirectories, modern storage devices)
• Create folders, rename, copy, move, delete
• Select files by keyword pattern
• Toggle hidden files, configurable columns (size, date, time), sort by name/size/date
• Bookmarks for frequently accessed directories
• Fuzzy file finder
• Open files directly in the Text Editor or Hex Editor
• Create DSK disc images (with the ability to navigate into them without opening)
• Create ZIP archives (with the ability to navigate into them without opening)
• Inspect AMSDOS headers
• Shell support

A full Git front-end designed for keyboard-driven workflows.

Key features:

• Initialize, open, clone repositories
• Open recent repositories
• View working tree changes and full commit history
• Side-by-side diff viewer
• Line-by-line diff viewer with word wrap
• Stage/unstage individual files or all changes
• Discard changes
• Commit with message
• Revert commits
• Sync/pull to latest
• Reset to a specific revision
• Push to remote
  

An AI-powered assistant built into PiStudio, supporting both OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Anthropic (Claude) as providers.

Key features:

• Start new conversations or resume previous ones
• Conversation history with save/load
• Provider configuration (API keys, model selection)
• Split-view layout
• Useful for quick code analysis, algorithm improvements or general programming help --

without ever leaving the IDE. It can also auto-comment your code, suggest label renaming,
translate entire documents, generate new files with AI-generated content, etc.

The Chatbot is also accessible as a tool dialog from within the Text Editor.

A comprehensive, fully offline reference encyclopedia covering all things Amstrad CPC. Articles are linked together through hyperlinks. This is a massive embedded knowledge base organized into searchable, reviewed articles (about 3MB of uncompressed text to this day).

Content categories include:

• Getting Started: choose your path: BASIC, Z80 assembly, or C
  
• History & Culture: CPC timeline, notable software, community, comparisons with 8-bit & 16-bit computers and more
• Amstrad CPC Manual: the full user manual, reformatted for quick reference
  
• Software Manuals: RASM, Maxam, DAMS, Orgams, Protext, Utopia, Starkos, Soundtrakker, OCP, Discology, and more
• Locomotive BASIC: complete tutorial, keyword reference, token table, error messages, optimization tips
• C Programming: SDCC for the CPC: syntax, data structures, embedded constraints, optimization, PiStudio integration
• Hardware: Z80 CPU, CRTC, Gate Array, PPI, AY-3-8912, FDC, ASIC, peripherals, Multiface 2, M4 Board, UniDOS, CPC-CPLink
• Firmware & Memory Map: firmware vectors, memory layout, address space by model
  
• Z80 Assembly Programming: tutorial (beginner to expert), addressing modes, interrupts, optimization, NOPs timing
• Algorithms & Data Structures: sorting, searching, compression, fixed-point math, trigonometry
• Files & Storage: file types, disc formats, DSK/SNA/CDT/CPR image formats, fast loaders
• Graphics Programming: 2D/3D graphics, screen effects, rotation, projection
• Sound Programming: AY chip programming, music players, digidrums, sound effects, tracker integration
• Game Development: sprite engines, tile maps, physics, AI, entity systems
• Demomaking Techniques: rasters, ruptures, overscan, plasma, starfield, fire, mode mixing
• Tips & Tricks: speed optimization, debugging, compatibility, useful PEEKs/POKEs
• Source Code Collections: Z80 assembly source code from community members
• Full-text search (Ctrl+F) works across all content

And finally, a System-wide configuration for PiStudio.

Configurable options:

• WiFi setup
  
• Printer configuration (LAN)
• API keys for the Chatbot
• Git user and credential configuration
• Color theme customization
• Display preferences

The client side runs a compact Z80 assembly program (available as ROM or disc formats) that:

• Switches the CPC to Mode 2 overscan for a full-screen IDE display
• Reads the CPC keyboard matrix and sends key events to the Pi
• Hardware keyboard clash are automatically detected and resolved
• Receives screen updates as character diffs (only changed cells are transmitted, for speed)
• Handles breakpoint traps: when a running program hits a BRK instruction, the client captures all the Z80 registers, the Gate Array state, and a full 64 KB RAM dump, then hands control back to PiStudio’s debugger
• Manages file I/O through AMSDOS firmware calls for reading/writing to CPC disc drives
  
• Supports UniDOS RSX commands for modern storage devices
• Includes robust timeout handling and automatic reconnection if the link with the CPC-CPLINK gets interrupted
• Debugging feature not available when running from disc
  

This post is just an announcement. While PiStudio is already quite solid in its current state, I want to complete a real personal project with it first, giving myself the necessary time to refine and improve the overall experience.

To keep the distribution simple, PiStudio will be released as a disk image to be written to a Raspberry Pi SD card.

I want to thank Rabs who initially pointed me to CPC-CPLink project and TotO, who as usual has been a continuous source of inspiration and advice while designing PiStudio.

Stay tuned!

Like every December for the past three years, it has become a small ritual for me to write about what I have been doing with my Amstrad CPC/Plus hobby during the year. I already wrote retrospectives for 2023 and 2024, so now it's time to look back at what 2025 brought. :)

This year began with the arrival of two magazines.

The first one was CPC Anachronie #2, written entirely in French. It really stands out because of its excellent printing quality. With over about a hundred pages, it mainly focuses on new games created by the community. It also includes some more general content that is not directly related to the Amstrad, which I think is a great idea. The only part I don't really connect with is the “Pop Culture” section, because it is a bit far from my personal interests (cosplay, interviews with YouTubers, and so on). Overall, I recommend it: it's a relaxing magazine to read before going to sleep.

The second magazine I received was 64 NOPs #3, and this one is entirely in English. The team behind it has clearly found its style and rhythm, as it comes out at the same time every year. It feels like much more than a magazine you read once and forget. In a way, like Amstrad Live back in the day, 64 NOPs is becoming a strong technical reference: something programmers can return to later, depending on what they are building. 64 NOPs #4 should be available for order soon, so grab a copy if you can!

If you read my previous retrospectives, you probably know how much I enjoy old computer books. I continued my “book hunting” with one rule that I still continue to follow carefully: one book per paycheck (in Canada, we are paid every two weeks). I received too many books to describe them all, but here are a few real gems:

• “Trucs et Astuces 2” (Micro-Application, 1985, French): a rare book that covers many low-level topics, such as compatibility between Amstrad models, how to create a relocatable program, and how BASIC variables are stored internally. It is definitely a great addition to my knowledge base.

• “Graphisme en trois dimensions” (Sybex, 1986, French): another rare book, and a very solid one. It explains 3D programming with a strong focus on mathematics rather than real-time rendering. I'm impressed by how deep it goes, including advanced subjects like shadows and mirroring. All of this remains very accessible, since the examples are implemented entirely in BASIC.
• “Systems Programming for Small Computers” (Prentice Hall, 1984, English): not specifically about the Amstrad, but very strong overall. It covers different aspects of advanced low-level programming. My favourite chapter is the one about building a text editor on a limited machine, with advanced topic like “how do you open a 1 MB file for editing on a 64 KB computer?”.
• “Assemblers and Loaders” (3rd edition, Barron, 1978, English): also not Amstrad-specific. It explains how to build a two-pass assembler from scratch.
• “PC Underground” (Abacus, 1995, English): focused on PC programming. I love this book because it covers unusual topics such as LZW compression, how to write a MOD player (including the file format), and much more. Many chapters can still be useful for Amstrad-related projects. There is a French edition called “PC Interdit” but some important details were lost in translation. The author is a demoscener, and you can really feel it. :)

Many thanks to my friends Tom&Jerry and KailoKyra for helping me to get some of those books.

Thanks to my friend “R.” (he will recognize himself ;-) ), my machines received a major upgrade.

My Amstrad CPC 6128 (aka. “The Development Machine”) now includes a CRTC switch with CRTC 0, 1, and 2. I can also disable the internal AMSDOS ROM (useful for a UniDOS setup located in ROM 7), and there is a big Reset button (very convenient). On top of that, this machine now has a custom MX-5 board that lets me plug in five expansion cards: Nova, Gemini, FlashGordon, Albireo, and finally a CPC-CPLINK. As a developer, this machine is basically everything I ever dreamed of.

My CPC 6128 also got a Commodore 1084S-D2 monitor. I still keep my old CTM644 as a backup, of course. The image is much sharper with the 1084S, especially when reading text in MODE 2 (80×25 characters). Another nice improvement is the stereo speakers, which are an obvious upgrade compared to the single speaker inside the CPC's keyboard. Fun detail: I bought that monitor through local ads. Since I live in Canada, most monitors here are 60Hz. The technical manual clearly says the 1084S-D2 only supports 60Hz… but that's not true. My Amstrad with its 50Hz works perfectly on it too.

But wait, there's more :-)

My Amstrad Plus also received an MX-5 with the same configuration (except, of course, the CRTC selection, since this machine has a CRTC emulation inside the ASIC).

All of these upgrades fit perfectly with my long-term goal: doing all my programming directly on the Amstrad. After years of cross-development on a PC, I now want to use my laptop only when I feel like spending a few hours coding in a coffee shop.

Many thanks to my friends “R.”, PulkoMandy and Zik for your amazing work on the hardware side!

Earlier this year, I released a new version of the HxC Manager (v4.2). It includes a few small improvements, such as using the CLR key to return to the root folder while browsing, and the C key to clear the current slot (a feature that had been removed since v3.0 and later). HxC/Gotek drives feels a bit outdated to me now that I'm using mass storage devices for the Amstrad, but they are still useful to execute track-based programs: R-Type (Easter Egg), Pinball Dreams, Batman For Ever, phX, Phortem, etc.

The first part of the year was devoted to giving Sonic GX a proper ending, along with gameplay balancing and level tweaks. I didn't track the hours I spent on it, but it was probably far too many! From June until the release in November, I shifted into heavy testing. I fixed every crash I encountered (some of them were truly challenging). In the end, I made the tough choice to focus on critical bugs and accept releasing the game with a few balancing issues and minor glitches. Another year would have been needed to polish everything to an even higher standard; but after seven years of development, I felt it was time for me to stop and finally release the beast as it was.

Sonic GX was released during Benediction Coding Party #5 in France, and I feel the launch was a real success. The game was widely discussed, played, and reviewed, and most of the feedback was very positive. I'm genuinely happy with the reception. Seeing people describe Sonic GX as a major hit for the Amstrad GX-4000 is the best reward I could have hoped for.

That said, the release was surprisingly stressful for me. Just a few hours after it went public, cartridges were already showing up for sale on eBay. We had to quickly set clear guidelines for sellers, since the game is released for free and with no commercial intent. I was also worried that players might uncover hidden crashes. Even though 3–4 of us tested the game intensively, we couldn't realistically cover every possible scenario. On top of that, I ended up providing technical support to emulator authors to help improve their ASIC emulation.

Now that almost two months have passed since the release, the most intense excitement has settled down but it was truly an amazing experience.

I want to thank “R.”, TotO, CeD, Targhan, Slype, Nemo Kantio, Rabs, Gerald... for the testing and support!

Since Sonic GX was anticipated this year, I wanted to step up communication around it. I sent a private build to the great team at Pixel Addict (an excellent retro-gaming magazine), and a preview of the game was reviewed over the summer in Issue 30. The review was positive, which gave me confidence for the final release. I also posted an update on the CPCWiki forum, where I announced that I would present the game in person with the team at Benediction Coding Party #5 in November!

I was also interviewed for Fanzine GX and 64 NOPs #4 (scheduled for publication next year). Of course, I talked a bit about Sonic GX, but those interviews covered more than just the game.

Finally, I contributed to CPC FANZ BZH #3 by writing two articles which should be released sometime next year. I truly enjoy CPC FANZ BZH. It's actually my favourite Amstrad publication with a great balance of community content, game reviews, and technical articles, plus an impressive effort to make everything look excellent. Don't miss CPC FANZ BZH #3, it's going to be great.

Over the past decade, I attended Revision 2018 to present our phX demo, which placed second in the Oldschool Demo Compo. A year later, I went to Alchimie 2019 to show a first playable level of Sonic GX. And this year, I wanted to release Sonic GX at a party. The Benediction Coding Party #5 felt like the perfect choice, both because of its date and because of the people who would be there.

For me, it mattered a lot to launch the game at an event where participants could truly discuss it and appreciate it properly. It's not at a random retro-gaming event where some people can't tell the difference between a Sony PlayStation and an Amstrad GX-4000. Benediction Coding Party #5 was incredible: honestly, probably the best demoparty I've ever attended. Eliot really knows how to organize a party: the venue is great, and it's not too far from Paris, which is ideal for visitors coming from far away.

I won't write a full party report, but the people were a big reason the event was so enjoyable. The food and drinks were truly fantastic: ATC brought an excellent homemade drink, Roudoudou (and friends) arrived with cheese and even made pizzas, and many others contributed similar treats. Prodatron also shared some great beers from Germany! :) Special mention to Zisquier, Cracky, and Genesis8: three incredibly friendly people I met for the first time and really appreciated for their great personalities. It was also really nice to see some familiar faces again: especially CeD and Targhan, who both took part in the development of Sonic GX. A special thought went to TotO, missing in person, but still with us in spirit during the event! :)

As I joked to someone at the party, one day we'll have to admit that we don't attend Amstrad parties only for the machines. We come to meet each other first, and the Amstrad is just the excuse. :)

Living in the woods in rural Québec (Canada), I can't easily travel to European demoparties. But I promised myself I would go to a similar event again in about five years, and trying to turn this into a regular habit.

Oh, and I almost forgot: I also gave a technical presentation about Sonic GX during the party, with more than 100 slides covering many different aspects of the project. I spent about a month preparing it. I didn't get much feedback afterward, so I guess it will take some time for people to digest it. :) Special thanks to Genesis8: I think he walked into a trap and maybe regretted it, because he recorded the entire presentation while holding his iPhone the whole time. What a great real physical achievement, hehe!

Wow—again, what a year. I'm still amazed by how many various activities I can do around these 40-year-old computers. I truly love this hobby: it's a real escape from the modern world. And it's not just nostalgia. It's also about creativity, in a context where everything feels understandable, reachable, and possible to master (to a certain degree, of course).

I definitely won't be making a new game or a new demo for quite a while, for sure. Both are extremely demanding, the bar has to be set very high to truly impress and make a difference.

For now, I want to focus on more relaxing projects (things with no pressure) so I can reconnect with what made me fall in love with the Amstrad when I was a teenager. I'd like to bring back that naïve, simple excitement.

I already have a clear idea of what's coming next. It has already started, and for now I can only say this: it will be different from anything I've done on the Amstrad before.

So that's it. I wish you a fantastic end to the year and a great start to 2026. See you in a year for the next retrospective!

This ambitious project began in 2018, and after seven years of dedication, we're thrilled to announce that it's now officially available for download!

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who showed interest, support, encouragement, and motivation throughout all these years -- your energy truly kept us going strong.

CREDITS
Code & Level Design: Arnaud “NoRecess” Storq
Graphics Conversion: Cédric “CeD” Quetier
Audio Conversion: Julien “Targhan” Névo
Design & Support: Richard “TotO” Gatineau
Instruction Manual: “Slype”

We sincerely hope you'll enjoy playing SONIC THE HEDGEHOG on the Amstrad console.
A little tip: yes, you can beat the game in about 10 minutes if you speedrun it -- but to achieve the best scores, you'll need to find all the Chaos Emeralds, carefully hidden across the levels…

Have fun, share the build, and let's make the GX-4000 shine the way it always deserved to!

👉 CLICK HERE to download the GAME CARTRIDGE, its INSTRUCTION MANUAL and the TECHNICAL PRESENTATION.

A new version is available.

What's new:

• CLR key added to move back to root folder while navigating
• C key added to clear current slot (that was removed since version V3.0 and +)
• ROM version can be launched with |HXC,0 or |HXC,1 to force physical drive 0 or 1
• upgraded from SDCC 4.3 to SDCC 4.4

Download the program here.

One year has passed since my post called Retrospective 2023. I really enjoyed writing it (especially after receiving some positive feedback about it), so why not create a follow-up for 2024!

This article is not intended to provide a close representation of the progress of the Amstrad community. Instead, it's an annual overview of my activities around my favorite hobby: the Amstrad CPC/Plus.

I'm going to start with literature. This topic has been a serious focus for me for a few years now, and I'm giving an increasing interest on books, magazines, and other publications related to my preferred 8-bit machines. I had a lot of fun this summer isolating myself on my patio to immerse in such readings, or simply as a healthy screen-free activity before bedtime.

To begin with, I received some high-quality magazines in my mailbox.

The first is the issue #2 of 64 NOPs (January 2024, French content). To me, that issue represents a great step-forward: varied content, mainly for advanced programmers, complemented by satellite articles (interviews and meeting reports). I admit I haven’t "digested" everything yet, but trust me that’s a good thing -- 64 NOPs is the kind of publication I enjoy revisiting, especially for its fascinating snippets of source code that grabbed my attention but take a few reads to fully understand.

But my favorite discovery of 2024 is CPC FANZ BZH #2 (March 2024, French content). I expected an enjoyable read, but I wasn’t prepared for something so captivating. The presentation is impeccable: breathtaking illustrations paired with flawless printing. The content is exactly what I expect from a magazine -- varied, technical, accessible, informative, cutting-edge, written with an humor that does not alter the professionalism of the authors.

For both 64 NOPs and CPC FANZ BZH, I’m impressed by the print quality. It’s such a leap forward compared to what was produced in the ’80s and ’90s -- I'm truly amazed!

Again, I acquired numerous books, mainly from Micro-Application (French publisher). BTW, if you read this -- I’m actively searching for the book Trucs et Astuces 2 (Volume 17), please contact me if you want to sell me a copy. But back on the topic, I had a great surprise for some of the English-language books, as I was able to purchase few of them shipped directly from the United States at a very cheap price (I live in Canada).

Few unexpected new books of 2024 also caught my interest: Generation Amstrad CPC written by Patrick Hellio and Marion et les crocodiles d'AMSTRAD by David Hecq. Both are amazing reads, I highly recommend them (I'm still not done with Generation Amstrad CPC !).

Last year, I shared photos of my printed reference documents. What I can’t buy (or buy affordably), I print myself. I have taken a step further by purchasing proper binders for better organization. As a result, I now have documentation for all major software on the Amstrad, along with classical fanzines, various articles, and few rare books.

I also keep my other Amstrad computers well-organized (I own every model of CRTC), including my beautiful Amstrad CPC 464, which I occasionally bring out for nostalgia. With such a setup, my wish of having at least one functional machine for my retirement days is secure :)

I had already printed some articles from the venerable Amstrad Cent Pour Cent magazine. But I went much further, printing even more technical articles, all neatly organized in new binders too.

If the Internet was about to collapse, thanks to all those reference materials I would have absolutely no trouble continuing my hobby solo, haha!

Moving on, another highlight has been on the hardware front. I didn’t need anything major for my 8-bit machines (I still have so much to explore with my UniDOS setup!), except for a minor speaker replacement for my Amstrad CPC 464 due to some unpleasant crackling sounds. Thanks again, Rob! :)

On the other hand, I acquired two expansions for my Amiga 600. The first is a simple Gotek drive emulating a second floppy drive (affordable and compact -- how could I resist?). The second, more exciting addition is a SDBox connected to the parallel port. It allows hot-swapping SD cards (no need to reboot) for reading and writing data. This has been a long-time wish of mine because, for the first time (in my house, at least ;-) my Amiga can exchange files with my Amstrad (via Albiero under UniDOS) without requiring a PC as an intermediary. Two fully autonomous machines that can now communicate each other, wohoo!

Finally, I have kept a good pace with my own creativity. I have made a significant progress on the programming of Sonic GX, whose latest preview released earlier this summer seems to have been well received. Since then, the game has continued to advance, and all my efforts for the rest of the year are now focused on the two final levels of the game. I’m optimistic and I now think that a release by the end of 2025 is achievable, with no pressure and at the high level of quality we are aiming for.

Earlier, I mentioned my love for CPC FANZ BZH #2. I reached out to the authors, and after few great discussions, they gave me the opportunity to write two quality articles for CPC FANZ BZH #3. It’s a true privilege for me to be published! The first article covers the best practices for programming with respect to the system (a theme too often ignored, in my opinion), and the second one explores my advanced use of sprites in Sonic GX. Don't blame me: it's all written in French. I can’t wait to see the final result once printed!

And here we are, with another year that comes to an end. The next 12 months looks just as busy, with the completion of Sonic GX and likely an in-person appearance at the next Amstrad meeting organized by Eliot in France (the timing seems perfect for me).

I'm NoRecess, I'm a geek and I'm an Amstrad nerd!!!
See you in 2025, which promises to be truly exciting (the Amstrad CPC 6128 will be 40 years old!!!).

J'ai eu l'occasion de m'entretenir avec Nicolas "Dr JVTek" PERRET pour discuter de mon parcours professionnel dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo. J'ai aussi pu aborder mon hobby qui est la programmation pour les machines Amstrad CPC et GX-4000.

So after all this time, you thought that Sonic GX was vaporware, right ? How wrong you are! :) Many things happened to the game in the last months...

First, we rewrote the title screen, this time it's almost a 1:1 with the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis version. Of course, it's fully animated with all the horizontal scrollers, if you had a doubt.

Actually, now many elements are highly inspired from the 16-bit version of the original game.

Above: the "zone name", the "scoring" and the "game over" messages are now displayed directly into the game viewport...

And below, those are screenshots of the new boss-fights, all of them featuring unique gameplay.

Now each zones have their own unique Bonus Stages...

Sonic now moves faster and features small/long jumps (as a consequence, the camera moves faster, too).

Checkpoints have been added in the middle of the maps to avoid restarting from the beginning when loosing...

Many levels were enhanced with better gameplay. Also, many bugfixes were provided, and all the numerous collision issues we had are now gone.

Those previewed screenshots/video are probably the last ones before the final release of the game. We don't want to spoil anything...

So the eternal question -- when does this game will be available to everyone !?? Well, the answer is simple: this game is a labor of love, we keep adding stuff till we can, and we will continue till we are satisfied enough with the final result. Also, we actually raised the technical bar again and again since we thought that the GX-4000 could handle it (and with reason), meaning more work for us. A tentative release now could be end of 2025, but I don't promise anything now loll. =)

To conclude this post, here is a video showing the various elements of the gameplay... here it's running on emulator (that was more practical to record the various parts of the game) but the game behaves exactly the same on the real hardware.

Thanks for reading! See you in my Xmas post ;-)

Since it's mid-December 2023, I think it's a good time to look back and see what I have done this year.

Now that I have moved into my new home and that I'm fully installed, I decided to invest massively into my hobby (for the long term). I'm really fond of the Amstrad CPC machines, it's not a secret: I grew up with those, as a kid, but also many years later as an adult. And now I want to preserve all of that for the years (decades...) to come.

One of the first thing I did, was to invest into a decent physical setup. I already had the desk, but with some reorganization I was able to properly arrange my Amstrad CPC 6128, the Amstrad Plus, the Amstrad GX-4000 and yes, the humble Amiga 600 from Commodore (I will get back to it later in this post).

This year I was able to acquire my very first Amstrad CPC 464 too! Thank you so much Rabs for the opportunity, I'm so happy with it, it will be kept in good hands!
What a lovely machine. I love the typing on it, my model has a true mechanical keyboard, unlike the membrane-based keyboards of the other Amstrad CPC machines.
I added a mandatory DDI-5 to it (a Gotek-based floppy emulator with 512Kb RAM expansion) plus a FlashGordon (ROMBoard). I tried one tape - the legendary Mission Genocide game that I got at an insane cheap price - it works well but it took more than 5 minutes to load haha (hence the need of a DDI-5).
For years I have been a 6128 user, and I reckon that I had some wrong assumptions towards the machine. Now, I can fully understand why a part of the community (many users in Spain and UK, at least) still prefer the 464s against the 6128s. And it's not only for nostalgic reasons. As I said, the keyboard is awesome and I also find the locations of the joystick + audio ports to be at a much better place than the later models (it's on the back of the keyboard for the 464s).
And while the 464 was originally sold in 1984, the 6128 was a "professionally looking" iteration in 1985 and not a true replacement, and the 464 was still sold for years after its original release date. So yes, now I consider those 2 machines as truly complementary ones, and that's totally new to me :)
Of course, not everything is good with the 464 -- the elevation from the desk is insanely high and the keyboard itself is too large to be really comfortable. But as an Amstrad fan, it's definitively a "must have"!

Another point of focus was doing the repair of my machines. One of my machines had a faulty RAM component. My good old Multiface Two device was broken for years. Another one had a faulty Z80 CPU in it. I also wished to use UniDOS ROM at ROM location 7, and this requires the installation of a physical socket. Since I have absolutely no repair skills (I'm more a destroyer than anything else, loll); I asked a friend of mine if he had time to repair those, and he kindly accepted! A truly sincere, warm "thank you"! (He will recognize himself, and I don't want to point publicly to him).
Those machines are not "simple backups for the future", they all feature a different CRTC (so yes, I have CRTC 0,1,2,3,4 in my possession :). It's great for the testing of advanced graphic algorithms relying on the graphic chip of the Amstrad CPCs.

I also decided to print physically many different software manuals, fanzines and technical articles. All themes in there, going from the 80s to nowadays. I like picking one of those before going to bed, it's a healthy, relaxing activity for the brain hehe.
More than 1000 pages were printed :)

Still on the reading topic, this year the community has been really prolific. I did not buy everything that was available, I had to be selective. I enjoyed both 64 NOPs and CPC-Anachronie (French publications). One is dedicated to programming, and the other one is mostly related to the testing of games (both old and recent ones). I spent a great moment too with the first issue of Amstrad Addict. It wasn't perfect though, but the overall presentation/content felt like a real magazine from the golden age! From the lot, I was really impressed by the quality of the printing of CPC-Anachronie, the authors really learnt from their previous publication, "Fanzine GX Issue 3".
The book from Hicks, "Memory Full", was finally out after years of writing. In all honestly, from a demomaker's point of view, despite my initial fears, no "scene drama" was found in it. It relates the Amstrad demoscene in the early days -- and that was nice to revisit that period. I have some doubts related to the printing itself - the book could have been a little bigger, and it gets hard to read close to the center of the book - but I will always give more value on the actual content over the packaging. So, all good!

Few words about my Amiga 600. I always loved this machine (even in the 90s). Being more powerful than an Amstrad CPC (but twice the price of an Amstrad back in the days...), it's a fantastic machine to use as a reference (my personal opinion is that all the new modern games and demos on the Amstrad CPC machines should try to mimic the Amiga, not the C64!). Plus, in 2023 there is still a vibrant community active for the Amiga OCS/ECS too - and the demoscene continues to impress for sure! (Hi Rhino!)
My Amiga 600 is extended to death :) with few cheap upgrades: 4Gb Flash card used as HDD replacement, 5.5Mb Fast RAM, 2Mb Chip RAM, Kickstart 3.1. That configuration is able to run Workbench 3.1, handles most of the WHDLoad games and demos, and provides massive storage for my own MOD collection.
The only missing thing was the replacement of the aging 3"1/2 floppy drive. The Gotek exists of course and is well supported on the Amiga platforms, but the original model exposes a tiny screen on the right side of the Amiga 600. I hate this suggested workflow so I never bought one through the years.
But this year, I was able to acquire a "GOEX", it's still a Gotek-based device, this time it features a great display with no hardware modifications of the case. Finally a true working solution for the replacement of the floppy drive in the A600, and I love it!

So yes, many things were done this year regarding the physical state of my hobby. I think it's important sometimes to make a pause, observe what we have and see how we can improve, and that's what I have done this year. Now I feel much better regarding my machines, I was able to put some nostalgic vibes at the right place and I know I'm good back again for the years to come. I don't plan acquiring anything "major" from now, I estimate I was able to retrieve everything I wished, and I don't want to start collecting "for the purpose of collecting". The only thing that I will continue to do, is supporting the future editions of magazines and books, because it's a physical proof than the Amstrad is still alive and I really salute the people behind all those efforts.

Of course, I'm a programmer, professionally but also on my spare time hehe.

So in parallel to the above things, my focus this year was on those 3 big topics:

• Sonic GX: I was finally able to present a preview of the Bonus Stage to the community! It seemed to be globally well received, by members of the community of course, but also some other random people coming from nowhere (Youtube, mostly). I still think developing a game for the Amstrad CPC (or here in the context, the GX-4000) is a more rewarding experience than making a traditional demo, but it's a personal feeling. To this day I'm not sure if I will get back to pure demomaking (cf. what I did in the past decades). Injecting demoscene techniques into games now seems to be more interesting/challenging to me! But it's with an intense respect and interest that I continue to follow the demoscene news.
• HxC Manager V4.1: I needed a small break from Sonic GX. Working on a such big project ask lots of focus, and I felt myself progressively interested to put my hands back into the codebase of the HxC Manager (one of my most popular program ever released for the Amstrad CPC). So, I decided to invest some time in it and paused the development of Sonic GX (my brain really asked for it). This summer I revisited completely the program, did some upgrades to the UI for a better workflow, pushed the number of slots to the maximum, made lots of internal cleaning and also fixed some stability issues. And thanks to the new acquired 464 machine, I was also able to make it compatible with it too! :)
• CATRUN V1.2: I still needed a break from Sonic GX :) This was initially a 2-night experiment about improving the traditional CAT->RUN workflow. I enhanced it through few additional weeks, and then I finally added some compatibility with UniDOS (since I had all the hardware to test it). It's done and publicly available to everyone!

Now that I released those 2 side projects, I feel that my motivation is progressively getting back on Sonic GX. I started the implementation of something new in the game and yes, if it gets properly done then once again it will raise the bar a bit higher :)

So that's it. Writing this post on my website was a beneficial experience to me. Initially I thought I wasn't that productive this year, but looking back at this post I realize how wrong I was :)
I'm NoRecess, I'm a geek and I'm an Amstrad nerd !!!
See you in 2024, another very exciting year for sure (the Amstrad CPC 464 will be 40 years old!!!).