SINCLAIR 01: The Trail Begins is a biographical adventure game for the ZX Spectrum developed by Fran Kapilla (Sequentia Soft), about the late English entrepreneur and inventor behind the ZX Spectrum and many other products from Sinclair Radionics and Sinclair Research. It is a tribute to both Clive Sinclair and the creator's father. The game depicts the early years of Clive as he is about to start his career in electronics, with three different endings depending on the choices made. Initially released in 2021, it received an engine update for the ZX Spectrum 128K in 2024, featuring better graphics, additional content and AY music.
Version 1.3 of the game has a debug code that skips straight to the good ending. I chose not to submit that run and instead made it a
user movie.
There are many requirements in order to progress through the game:
- You have to examine the bike lock and ask your mother where the lock's key is before you can go upstairs and get it. I do this and then go upstairs first so that I don't lose time for the next step.
- You need to talk to your parents and refuse their demands for you to go to university in order to get your father's pen (it'll be useful when you have access to the delivery truck). This leads to you leaving the house by yourself, which saves time.
- You have to stop by Ann's place and read the magazine before you can enter the electronics store you work at, otherwise it will be closed.
- You need to properly disassemble the oscillator so that you can talk to Ann about it, and then she'll give you the idea to create a video game on it.
- After creating the video game, you have to tell the truth to the client, or else your boss scolds you for what you've done and you return home, losing a lot of time.
There are optional sections you don't need to do in this game:
- Making choices that lead to bad endings (going to university, partnering with your boss) is a waste of time.
- You don't need to deliver electronics to any street.
- Once you get the job offer, you don't need to talk to your parents right away once you have the pen. You can just go upstairs to write your CV.
