10th July 2014 - Additional local versions of emulators

Very minor update. I updated the links page and corrected some dead URLs. I also added local versions of the latest emulators and added local versions for Mac OS X and Linux.

24th November 2007 - Updates, Exile and a note about ads on the site

To prove I am still here, I've updated the site briefly and the following changes were made: Updated the getting started guide to reflect the more recent versions and success of BeebEm, updated the copyright notices on the game pages, updated a couple of games with loading instructions, removed and added some links on the Links page, and fixed a couple of typos.

Those wacky guys over at Ovine by Design have just finished their remake of Exile. Go see it -- it's very cool.

Also, just a reminder to visitors that there are absolutely no banner ads or any other type of advertisement on this site whether they are pop-ups, pop-unders or whatever. If you are getting ads or pop-ups when you visit this site, you have spyware/adware installed on your machine and I would suggest you get appropriate Anti-Virus/Spyware software. (Try Norton Security Check from Symantec and use their free security scan called "Symantec Security Check".)

8th November 2005 - Added a link to the Cholo remake by Ovine by Design

The folks over at Ovine by Design have just finished their remake of Cholo, and you can go to the site and download it Here. It's a fantastic remake.

3rd August 2005 - Added a small section on Granny's Garden

I've added a small section to the bottom of the Best of the Rest page which talks about the Granny's Garden game released by 4Mation in 1983. Unfortunately, there is no download due to copyright issues, but you can read about the game, Here

23rd April 2005 - A new home for Only The Best .. http://www.bbcmicrogames

If you're reading this news update, you're already connecting to the new home of Only the Best BBC Micro Games. After almost six years, I decided to move the site to a more 'proper' home on the web. There's still no ads, no pop-ups, and no commercial banners -- just an easier URL to remember: http://www.bbcmicrogames.com.

23rd September 2004 - Added BeebEm v1.5 link and download

I've added a link to the new release of BeebEm maintained by Mike Wyatt. Due to the fact that Mike's page seems somewhat slow if you are stateside, I've included a local download to the Emulator. Go to the Links page to get the emulator.

9th June 2004 - Link fixes

Fixed two bad links: One to the Exile cover shot, and the Best of the Rest link on the Superior Software page.

7th May 2004 - Getting Started Guide

I've created a quick Getting Started Guide to help people download an emulator, and play these classic games on your PC. Try reading through this guide if you are wanting to play classics like 'Chuckie Egg', or 'Citadel', but are not sure where to begin.

I've also added FONT tags to the pages so they should render slightly better with a more consistent appearance throughout the site. (If you are using a Mac, please buzz me an email if the pages look really weird to you. Many thanks!)

20th April 2004 - Server change

Apologies if you tried to access the site over the last couple of days and were unable to connect. The site has been transferred onto a new server, and this caused a temporary outage. On the plus side, page loads should be faster now.

10th March 2004 - Added links to Superior Interactive and new Imogen Link

I've added links from my Superior Software page to the Superior Interactive site. They have released PC versions of Repton, Galaforce and Ravenskull.

Also, I've found that Ovine by Design have finished and released their remake of Imogen. It's a free download, so all you Imogen fans: What are you waiting for? ;-)

Also added a few additional PC Game conversions to my Links Page.

18th February 2004 - Battlegame Books

Not really related to BBC Computers, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. I've recently created a small set of pages dedicated to a series of books published in the 1970's called "Battlegame Books". Originally written by Andrew McNeill, and published by Usborne, each book had four board games and cut out pieces. I played them as a kid, and couldn't find any references to the books through Google, so thought I'd set up a page. You can visit it here: http://www.rubycon.org/battlegamebooks.

17th February - Increased bandwidth

I have increased the amount of bandwidth I have available for the site. It was 128kb/s, and I now have 256kb/s. Should make downloading and viewing the pages a lot faster.

21st January 2004 - Back from a long trip to the UK

I'm back from a seven week trip back to England. I have quite a lot of email to catch up on, so if you've sent an email and haven't received a reply, I haven't got to you yet. If you don't hear back within a few days, send it again in case your email got zapped by accident.

12th October 2003 - Please don't download or run bots that download the entire site

Just a reminder - please do not download the entire site via Internet Explorers offline ability, or by running any site grabber bots. I only have a very limited bandwidth, and when you do this, you block other peoples ability to access the site. Just download what you like, and bookmark the page. It isn't going anywhere. I will install anti-bot software if needed.

26th September 2003 - Added a link to Tom Seddons Model B.

I've added a link to the new version of Tom Seddon's Model B Emulator, and have also removed the link to Richard Gellmans Beebem.

5th July 2003 - Cleanup.

I have finally cleaned up some of the bad grammar on the site, and also de-comma'd various sections that were overflowing with excess commas. Also, I've removed a few bad links, and tidied up some of the formatting.

Also, a quick reminder that Granny's Garden is not on this site. I was asked by 4Mation Software to remove it. Please don't ask me for it. Note that you can buy Granny's Garden for the PC from 4Mation's website.

Finally, Pipeline has been uploaded to the Superior Section.

8th February 2003 - BeebEm Speed issues.

Several people have emailed me over the last couple of months regarding the very slow emulation speeds they are getting in BeebEM. I can't help you with this - sorry :-( BeebEm is owned by Richard Gellman over at rickynet.net. There do seem to be several issues with BeebEM - you are not alone. However, I can't help you fix them! Do make sure that you have DirectX enabled on BeebEm, and are using a valid DirectX screen mode, such as 800*600. Not having DirectX enabled radically slows down BeebEm.

2nd February 2003 - Major update and lots of new games.

Big update. I've changed the front page. Previous new conversions have now been moved to their rightful home. I've introduced some smaller screenshots to whet peoples appetites for all the games in the site.

I've set up a brand new section called: "The Best of the Rest". At the moment, it contains seventeen new games on the site - complete with screen shot, review, and download. These games represent more classic BBC Games that I'm sure many of you have played. I will probably be expanding this section over time.

I'm including the BBC Master ROMS and the BBC 6502 Tube ROM in the ROMS Section as well now.

27th January 2003 - A new update page coming soon.

I've had lots of requests for different games, and also some suggestions on games (mostly from smaller software houses) that I didn't include originally. Therefore, over the next few days, I'm going to be putting together a "Best of the Rest" page with lots of new games and screenshots. I'll also be going through the site and cleaning up some of the typo's. Check back soon!

2nd January 2003 - Change of email / author name.

I have dropped the drbeeb@rubybay.com email address. All email to that addy will now go to ollie@rubycon.org. I was having so many problems with the old email, and as there is no need for a "semi-anonymous" email address anymore, I decided to switch over to my main email. Response to emails sent to the new address should be fast.

30th March 2002 - email address change.

The drbeeb@hotmail.com no longer works, and hasn't been active for quite a while (ever since M$ decided to kill peoples hotmail accounts if they don't read their daily dose of spam). I have set up a new email account for any inquiries, but please read the note below before you send any mail.

30th March 2002 - Site no longer active.

Well, if you've been to the site before, you will know that there haven't been any major updates in a long, long time. I just haven't had the time to update it. Further, there are so many other great BBC websites now, that the need to update just isn't as big as it was two years ago. So, I've decided that there will be no further updates to the site. However everything that's here now, will stay here.

10th June 2001 - Added new link for BeebEm.

Added a new link for BeebEm at http://www.rickynet.net/beebem

8th January 2001 - Granny's Garden removed.

Granny's garden has been removed from the archive on request from 4Mation Software.

7th September 2000 - Server change.

It's been a long time. I've moved servers for the pages, please update your bookmarks/favorites, etc. to reflect on this (if you want to :-). There probably won't be many updates to this page for quite a while, as my real life is just using too much time. For that I apologize :-(. I'll update the page when I'm back in business.

29th May 2000 - Front page clean up.

The front page was starting to look really messy, so I decided to remove most of the Superior software mayhem. I sent the folks at Superior and David Bradforth a letter regarding Superior games. The reply was negative, and they asked me not to publish it. You can view the letter Here.

16th May 2000 - Two new additions to the archive.

I've added Labyrinth to the Acornsoft games section. I've also added a section for Alligata software, and their game Blagger in the Other Classic Games section.

12th May 2000 - Superior antics, and other items

There's been lots going on regarding the Superior software games. Read the main page for further details.

19th March 2000 - New Superior Games, New Ultimate Section, plus more

Several new games have been added to the Superior Software page, including: Ravenskull, Spellbinder, and Barbarian. Due to demand, I've also added a new section for Ultimate - Play the game, including the Sabre-Wulf, and Knightlore games. Also added Grannys Garden, Zalaga, and Gisurnes Castle to the Classic Games section.

8th February 2000 - Better late than not at all :-)

Happy new year everyone. My apologies for not updating this page since November 1999. The site has been much more reliable now since being moved to a new server. Now all I need to do is update it more often :-)

I have a copy of AcornSofts Sliding Block Puzzles converted from tape format, but unfortunately it doesn't work. Problems seem to include: duplicate file names, and odd load addresses. Does anyone want to try and help out? I'll gladly send you a copy of all the tape files, or the .WAV files. If you can help, drop me a line.

I have a copy of Division One converted which I hope to have up and running on the site very soon. I need to attach a loader program, as the current Division One code is to large.

I'm also working on plans to produce a Top 5 or Top 10 BBC games of the 20th Century. Yes I know it's cheesy, and it will be controversial, but I figure it may be fun.

There are also some extra games which will be added to the archive soon. Nearly all are games which people have suggested should be in the archive.

29th November 1999 - Apologies for the outages + couple of new games.

My apologies for the outage over the last few days. The server which has these web pages on it crashed abruptly, and was not restarted until this afternoon.

However, on the plus side, I do have a tape copy of AcornSoft Sliding Block Puzzles which is waiting to be converted. I will try and do this over the next few days. I also have a copy of a game called Division One - a football simulation. I'll try and get that converted over soon as well.

15th October 1999 - Additions to the archive.

I have been reviewing the archive, and decided to add some new entries. Many of you said that Imogen should have been in the archive, and I agree with you, so it's been added. I was also playing Tempest the other day, and decided that as it was one of the first licensed conversions , it too should have a place in the archive. For pure technical merit, I have added Sim City. Although it retains the playability of the PC version, the sheer technical skill involved in the coversion (remember: 32k) earnt it a spot in the archive. Finally, I added Starship Command from Acornsoft. I felt that I had overlooked this fine game when I originally reviewed the Acornsoft games, and that it also deserved a place in the collection.

18th September 1999 - Citadel Map added.

A couple of people have been enquiring about a map for Citadel, so I have added one to the Superior Software section. I'm looking for other maps to add to the pages as well.

25th August 1999 - Finally! An Update.

My apologies for the lack of updates recently. A hectic work schedule, and a long needed holiday have kept me busy. I've added new conversions for Empire by Shards Software, and Dodgy Dealer by OIC. Although, they weren't big hits originally, I wanted to get them converted to the emulators. I've also got images of the cassettes and cassette covers for both of the games.

I have an english copy of Atlantis which I have converted over, but unfortunately, it doesn't play. Can anybody help me with the software protection on it? If so, maybe you can email me so we can get it working and posted up.

I will be adding some more titles to the Superior and Micro Power sections over the next couple of weeks. Also, a few people have suggested some other games that should be in the 'Best of the rest' section. I'm going to be adding a couple of these at some point soon as well.

Finally, thanks to darrenw@pipeline.com.au for providing me with a release date for Superior Software's Exile - it was December 1988. Thanks Darren!

27th July 1999 - Minor Updates and corrections.

Stuart McConnachie provided details on how to get the correct Acorn 1770 DFS ROM, which will work for pcBBC. I have replaced the old defunkt ROM with the new one.

Revisions to the Superior Software page, including grammar correction, and reference changes to the 1986 Elite release.

21st July 1999 - Correction to Way of the exploding fist.

I've been told that Way of the Exploding Fist was in fact originally coded on an enhanced BBC (Model B+ maybe?), and was then ported to other platforms such as the C64. I've updated the page to reflect this new information. The coders apparently preferred the BBC as a development platform over the C64. Another chalk mark for the BBC!

21st July 1999 - New Conversions in the works

I have original copies of Dodgy Dealer by OIC, and Empire by Shards software which I am working on converting. Empire converted first time, and I am working on getting the cover and instructions scanned in. Dodgy Dealer is giving me trouble with a bad block error during the main file. I'll play around with it, and hopefully get it sorted. Once they're done, I'll post them up here.

5th July 1999 - Site Launch

Creation of this site and official launch date. Many games, including new conversions of SpaceMaze and MunchyMan. Classic Superior Software, Acornsoft Games and others uploaded.