Timex Sinclair 2068 Type-in Game "Dead Ducks!"

[@MarcKloos]

Interesting to see that both the moon and the duck had a not so dark black background. That makes me think this used to be a Spectrum game as both BRIGHT 0 and BRIGHT 1 black were just black whereas on the 2068 you'd see a difference between those 2 brightness levels.

[@Spriteworx]

Hmm interesting yeah I noticed that also. I just assumed they didn’t care the background was also bright.

[@MattPilz]

It is always so rewarding to enter these type-ins and have it work! Back in the early-90s we had a second hand Commodore and CoCo 2 and our local library had type-in books. I remember us renting one and spending seemingly forever to type one that was a reaction test with scoring and all. But it was my brother and I's first experience programming anything and to be able to actually have a working game after all that work was amazing. We did not have even a tape drive for ours so once typed in it only existed until we shut off the computer but I remember keeping it going for a whole weekend. Also this video inspires me to get mine going again. I have it with the twister cart and some other peripherals as well as the Backbit multicart adapter but haven't used it in a very long time.

[@Spriteworx]

That’s awesome. Type in listings are unknown to todays youth. That’s funny and amazing you typed them in with no way to save them. I also have no way to save the game I typed in and my system crashed halfway through when I moved the computer and the power cord got jostled so I had to type it in again. After that I was very careful not to make any sudden movements. It was great seeing that duck and moon again after so many years.

[@TheMacbu]

It's always a very special thing for me to see these old computers and the incredible technique behind them. You have to imagine the genius of the people that developed something like this ... Wow! 🥰 I wish i could travel back in the 80s. ^^

[@Spriteworx]

I’m sure a lot of us would like to travel back to the 80s at least for a while.

[@TheMacbu]

@@Spriteworx Yes, for some ... years. 😁

[@ZxSpectrumplus]

The 80s was the best era for computers. People were innovating and nobody cares about backward compatibility. Nowadays, it's so boring....your latest CPU and RTX 5090 does basically the same thing as your 10 years old PC but faster. Same for phones...BOOORRINNNG! The last great micros were the Amiga and ST in the 16bit eras. It's so exciting to learn every micro uniqueness!!! Thankfully, we still have some new 80s micros to play today in the form of ZX Spectrum NEXT, Commander X16 and Foenix 256. Already have an NGO(Next clone), looking to get a Foenix maybe in the future.

[@MacSociety]

I am looking on the walls... see no easter eggs of new Jay Mundy games to come. We need a teaser. ;-)

[@Spriteworx]

Haha ok will work on that :)

[@jasejj]

I'm quite surprised development tools aren't readily available with this machine given its close similarity to the Spectrum which has to be one of, if not the best-supported 8-bit micro from a community perspective!

[@Spriteworx]

There may be some tools available. I haven’t explored it that much but at a minimum I would want a text to BASIC conversion tool, a 2068 emulator and an easy to use modern media storage solution for loading and saving games. The video output from the 2068 is also pretty bad.

[@TheOriginalChazno5]

Thanks for a really interesting video about firing up your Timex Sinclair 2068 and typing in one of the first games you typed into it. Would this Basic program listing work on a ZX Spectrum 48K as I'd like to give it a go. I could double check my Fuse emulator as it may be ale to emulate a Timex Sinclair otherwise? 😀

[@Spriteworx]

Thanks for the comment. I’m glad you enjoyed watching it. Yeah according to the guys in the Sinclair group they said it should work on a Speccy but I haven’t actually tried typing it in yet.

[@eebuckeye]

I wonder how many 2068s they sold in the US. If I remember correctly the twister boards to play Spectrum games had color issues for the software?

[@Spriteworx]

Not sure how many were sold or if there were color issues but I wasn’t very picky about image quality back in the 80s.