For those who aren't already aware, Arcade Game Designer is an existing all-in-one tool for the Spectrum which allows the user to create fast, smooth arcade games in machine code. Featuring its own simple scripting language, it's a bit like GAC, PAW or The Quill, but for arcade games instead of adventures. It has already been used to produce half a dozen games for the Spectrum over the past couple of years, mostly of the flip-screen platformer variety.

I've started work on AGD 3, which will be 128K only although games produced with the tool will still work on 48K machines. AGD 3 will give the user the ability to have menu selection screens in his game, opening up the possibility of more complicated Dizzy/Magic Knight style games. It has a font editor and will even save out your creations with a BASIC loader program, so that they load and run automatically.

Development is ongoing, but there's an early demo version here:

https://rapidshare.com/files/2920030868/AGDTest.z80

I've made good progress, and this tool is close to being ready for a proper release. There's an updated version here:

https://rapidshare.com/files/1726422709/AGD3.z80

AGD now comes with code templates. Just select the sprite behaviour from a list and code will be automatically generated. You won't have to write a single line of code, unless you really want to.

While I'm here, I should point out that Paul Jenkinson has just released his latest game, and one which was produced using an earlier version of AGD. As ever, Paul has produced a cracking little game, and a good example of the sort of thing AGD can do. You can find it here:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0027506

Paul has also written a tutorial for AGD:

http://randomkak.blogspot.co.uk/p/agd-tutorial.html

Finally, I've set up a little forum specifically for AGD release news, bug reports and coding tips:

http://arcadegamedesigner.proboards.com/

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum, Arcade Game Designer 3 has now been released. If you're stuck on the waiting list for a Raspberry Pi and want to get started teaching your kids, nephews or nieces (or even yourself!) to write games, you might want to take a look at this utility. It does arcade games - platformers, shooters, puzzle games etc as well as arcade adventures in the Dizzy/Magic Knight style. It produces auto-loading stand-alone games and you don't need to know a single line of Sinclair BASIC or Z80 assembly language. In fact, you don't even have to learn AGD's script at first, you can select sprite behaviour from menus to begin with, and AGD will automatically generate the scripting code for you. You can always modify it later on as you become more confident.

Anyway, enough of the "hard sell", there's a version on RapidShare:

https://rapidshare.com/files/3160509485/AGD_3.0.zip

And I've just uploaded to World of Spectrum, so it will be available from there shortly.

I've also set up a forum to support AGD. There are a few tips on there, and links to several games which have already been produced using earlier versions of the utility:

http://arcadegamedesigner.proboards.com/