NUNO “OFFLINE” CARDOSO
In this new chronicle we will introduce you to several members of the Grow uP Gaming organization. We’ll start with an old member of the staff, Nuno, better known as OFFLINE, a player who always knows how to welcome new members into the community and has always been very dedicated and passionate to the group.
«Well, my videogame addiction began early, when I was about 9 years old. It was then when I got a Spectrum 128k! Since then, the nights have never been the same, and my the excuse before bedtime was “just one more map…”. The problem of playing just one more map was if I lost… The years have passed until I met a world famous gamer named Sov_Hawk. The game he played at that time was the famous UT (Unreal Tournament). Sov_Hawk taught me how to play that game and later I was able to join a clan called Onliners(ON) and, since I’m the type of person that enjoys being the opposite, I set my nickname as OFFLINE; and that’s how I got this weird nickname, ahah… Towards the end of the year 2002, Sov_hawk asked if I wanted to join a renowned national clan, the Underworld Preachers (uP), not for the main team but to start evolving as a player, so I accepted the invitation immediately.
Today, we’re in 2016, all the experiences shared, everyone I met, and the help and support I got, the spirit of companionship that exists within this community, makes me feel like I’ve grown and evolved alot as a person, I found my second family and, if I had to go back in time, I would do everything exactly the same. It feels good to feel that Grow uP Gaming was pioneer in nearly all the innovations that other organizations have implemented and still have present today, and it makes me feel proud to see that they have followed our ideas and our steps to grow. This is important for us because we know we are contributing to the growth of eSports in Portugal.
My expectations for the future are for me to continue in Grow uP Gaming as the FCA (Fun Community Administrator) because it was the community that originated the evolution and growth of this family, the link that many members have in this community is a factor that is very important when it comes to discussing ideas and themes for us to keep growing. Next year, we’re turning 15, a memorable age, and I’ll be here again to help in everything that is needed in the celebration of the 15 years event. It doesn’t need to be the biggest party in the world, all it takes is for everyone present to feel at home while enjoying this memorable date.
Who is it for ??? Who is it for ??? Grow uP Gaming for everyone!
Nuno “OFFLINE” Cardoso»
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was one of the most influential European 8-bit microcomputers during the 1980s. It was released in England in 1982 by Sinclair Research. In Portugal its distribution began to be made by Triudus and soon after by Landry (who were the first to provide manuals in Portuguese). In Brazil, Microdigital produced the TK-90X, a clone of the English model, and the TK 95, a model whose main difference was to be equipped with a semiprofessional keyboard (with design clearly inspired by the Commodore Plus / 4).
Based on a 3.50 MHz Zilog Z80-A processor with 16 KB of ROM, Spectrum was available in two versions, one with 16 Kbytes of RAM and one with 48 Kbytes. It was possible to internally expand the Spectrum 16 Kb to 48 Kb by adding 8 memory chips and a few control chips.
The hardware designer was Richard Altwasser of Sinclair Research and Software (in ROM) was written by Steve Vickers by contract for Nine Tiles Ltd, the authors of Sinclair BASIC. Spectrum’s final appearance was the industrial designer Rick Dickinson of Sinclair Research.
In 1986, Sinclair launched the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128K which was initially intended to be only introduced in Spain (it was developed by INVESTRONICA, a Spanish company). This model has the ZX Spectrum Plus keyboard, 128K of RAM paged in 16K blocks, new expansion connections (in addition to the connection of the TV, cassette recorder and power supply.This ZX Spectrum still has RGB monitor output, Connection for MIDI synthesizers, serial port and connection for an additional numeric keypad), sound chip (AY-3-8912) and a new Basic editor called 128 BASIC (in this editor you had to type the keywords letter by letter, for example, For the keyword PRINT you had to type even PRINT and not the ‘p’ key as before).
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Unreal Tournament, or UT (also known as UT99, UT GOTY, UT1 or UT Classic), is a popular first person shooter game made by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. Well known for the frenzied speed of its gameplay and its focus on multiplayer, it was launched to compete with the Quake III Arena game, made by id Software. Although the Quake III Arena featured better graphics and simple gameplay, the UT had superior artificial intelligence, more engaging audio, much more realistic physics effects, and a second alternative shot for weapons, as well as being much more varied in multiplayer mode .
Just like its predecessor Unreal, there is a huge ease in modifying the game, such as mutators, with which you can modify the gameplay, leaving the environment without gravity or modifying the arena to allow the use of only one type of weapon, for example. The player can also create their own type of modification. Unreal Tournament has many teams, clans and fan communities that keep the game alive up to this day.
Sources: Our beloved Wikipedia!
See you next week!
Sara “SilverBallerina” Maria