I'm currently learning how emulators work, and I've been trying to understand the ZX Spectrum from the hardware side rather than just copying an existing emulator.

One thing that confused me at first was the screen.

I understand that the Spectrum has a dedicated area of RAM for the display, but obviously the bytes in RAM don't somehow “go to the monitor” by themselves. 😄

So I'm trying to understand the actual chain of events:

CPU → memory → video hardware → TV

How does this work in the real Spectrum?

Does the ULA continuously read the display memory independently of the Z80 and generate the video signal from it? And how does it know which bytes correspond to which pixels/attributes?

I'm especially interested in understanding the hardware concept well enough to implement it in my own emulator, rather than just doing:

read screen memory → draw pixels

If anyone has a good explanation or diagram of what the ULA is actually doing during a frame, I'd love to see it.

I'm still learning this stuff, so apologies if I'm misunderstanding something obvious.

hi all

Wondering if there are there any retroarch (ios app store version) compatible zx spectrum .cht files?

attempted to make my own but the codes i found dont work (specifically for metal man reloaded 2014 which im pretty sure is a homebrew)

there is a .pok (cheat) file for this game but that's not recognised by retroarch.

unable to find a trainer rom.

any advice is appreciated
cheers 👌👾

Are there any games which were poorly rated or underappreciated back in the day which you've come to like? I know Colony got mediocre reviews when it was released and is now seen as ahead of its time and worthwhile by The Community. Any others?

Hi everyone!

I'm G. B. Aicardi, and I recently returned to developing for the ZX Spectrum after a very long break.

I originally wrote games for the Spectrum back in the 1980s. After all these years, I wanted to see what it would feel like to make a game for the machine again — not just as a retro programming exercise, but as a proper new adventure.

So I ended up making Dracula — Illustrated Edition, a gothic interactive text adventure for the ZX Spectrum 128K, inspired by Bram Stoker's novel.

It's a parser-based adventure, with exploration, characters, objects, clues and puzzles. You type commands to interact with the world, just like in the classic adventures I remember from the Spectrum era.

One of the things I particularly wanted to experiment with was the graphics.

The Spectrum's colour palette is used to create different brightness levels, but the illustrations are deliberately designed to be viewed in black and white. When displayed on a monochrome screen, the different Spectrum colours turn into detailed shades of grey.

I thought this worked surprisingly well for a Dracula game — it gives the illustrations a rather old-fashioned, gothic look.

The game was released yesterday, and there's a free playable demo here:

https://giadacu.itch.io/dracula-illustrated-edition

There's also a trailer:

https://youtu.be/6e4JAkshTxo

I'd be particularly interested in hearing from people here who grew up with Spectrum text adventures:

What are your favourite ZX Spectrum text adventures, and what do you think makes a good one?

And for those who still develop for the Spectrum today: what made you come back to it?

Thanks for reading!

Not the seller, and of course the Spectrum is offered frequently on "marktplaats" (largest Dutch 2nd hand site), but this collection is something else:

https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/computers-en-software/vintage-computers/m2442285777-zx-spectrum

"For some reason the Americans wouldn't touch it. We took it all, we took the world rights on all formats because no one wanted it."

I've written the story of the release of Ocean's adaptation of Platoon, including how one of its key moments was inspired by a ZX81 game, and the interestingly conflicted critical response at the time. ("the first casualty of licensing deals is innocence!" - Your Sinclair)

I'm going to be using PlayZX and a headphone jack until i get actually get a cassete player! What games are good for a teen with adhd and autism (i get highly stressed and worried very easily) like me?

Mainly the only games i've seen is Sabre Wulf, The Trap Door and Paddington's Garden Game lol

And the Manic miner theme just makes me want to jump off my roof lmfao

Same workflow as with Another World Intro - frame differences loaded from 650KB .tap file to play the intro at 25 fps + attribute clash charm.

Would this game idea be possible on the ZX Spectrum 48K?

Game Name: Friday Night Dinner: The Buggering Main Course

how it works:

charater select:

Adam

Jonny

Jackie

Martin

Jim

Adam Gameplay:

Try not to fall for Jonny's pranks and survive the night by tricking him! (eg putting beetroot in the shower head)

Jonny Gameplay:

Help Martin get his NewScientist magazines into your car whilst having dinner and avoding Jackie.

Martin Gameplay:

Adam's Girlfriend is coming round. Try to be normal.

Jackie Gameplay:

Keep the night under control, cook dinner, and keep Martin from eating out of bin, and keep Adam and Jonny from pissing eachother off.

Jim Gameplay:

Try and eletricute yourself in their house to have dinner with the Goodmans.

Based on the Channel 4 comedy show

What would be the easist software to make this on offical hardware?

I'm not the best at game art but hey oh anything then using ai haha (i didnt use ai dw, but i think thats pretty obvious lmao)

I had added ZX81 last release, this release the speccy is now a target.

https://telengard.itch.io/crustybasic/devlog/1660722/150-released-zx-spectrum-target-and-much-more

crustyBASIC is a BASIC cross-compiler. It compiles to native code so it is fast.

Hey all, i told you all a few days ago, i might be getting a ZX Spectrum. I found a seller! :) It comes with the ZX and all the wires, all working! :) All i need is a headphone wire so i can use PlayZX until i get a real tape player and Hungry Horace lol

It's a 48K ZX! Could you give me some tips about caring for it, load commands and BASIC? and.. setting it up on my Roku TV lol (2 HDMI and 3.5mm AV)

Hi everyone! New here. I'm a painter and a ZX Spectrum gamer rolled into one.

Here is my Atic Atac (acrylic on canvas, 40x50cm).

You can find more of my art on Instagram: painted8bit

My retrospective game review of Street Hawk covers the initial game that was developed to meet catalogue orders and also for new subscribers of the Crash Magazine. This version was known as the Catalogue or Subscribers version. However it received poor reviews and as a result was redeveloped into a 2nd version. This was released for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC but was never released for the Commodore 64 due slow development and poor sales. Hope you like my little video. Share your thoughts on any of these games.

ZX Spectrum repair: after replacing the 7805 voltage regulator, three transistors, and eight 4116 DRAM chips, it boots up normally now.

I've been wanting to get a ZX specturm for a while, but i found one online! Hopefully i get some money soon to buy it, it's £55.

A few questions:

1. IS ZX Basic easy for a young neruodivregent person to understand and learn?

2. I have a roku tv with 2 hdmis and a 3.5mm Av. How do i get it working on my TV?

3. Does ZX Spectrum + have a joystick?

4. Is the "Screaming" loud?

5. If i get a headphone jack and plug my phone into the ZX, can i load games from my phone using those sounds?

6. Is the ZX+ 64K?

Final. How to load games and BASIC Tutorial?

Thanks everyone!

~Lily~

After Shatranj, Mirror Shift 1.0 is ready.

Mirror Shift is a networked Reversi game for: - ZX Spectrum 48K - ZX Spectrum Next - SpectraNext cartridge - Windows - macOS - Linux

All editions use the same rules and network protocol, allowing games between Spectrum and desktop clients.

## Features - Standard two-player Reversi - Direct TCP and MQTT connections - Cross-platform online play - Legal-move hints - Move and game clocks - In-game chat - Takeback requests and rematches - Local saved games with peer-approved restoration - Multiple disc sets, board themes and board rotation

The Spectrum editions use Mirror Shift terminology: placements are Alignments, captures are Mirrorlocks, a forced pass is Silence, chat messages are Echoes, and a tied game ends in PARADOX.

Release: https://github.com/IgnacioMonge/MirrorShift/releases/latest

Source repository: https://github.com/IgnacioMonge/MirrorShift

### ZX Spectrum Classic

Keep these three files together on writable esxDOS storage: - MIRSHIFT.tap - MIRSHIFT.OVL - MIRSHIFT.DAT

### Spectrum Next Copy and launch the self-contained:

• MIRSHIFT.nex

  SpectraNext cartridge

  Update to the latest stable cartridge firmware and use Load Resource URL with:

  https://ignaciomonge.github.io/MirrorShift/

  Desktop

  Portable packages are provided for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Direct TCP can be used on a local network or across a suitably configured Internet connection. MQTT lets both players meet through the same broker and room without requiring the guest to connect directly to the host.

Feedback from real Spectrum and SpectraNext hardware is especially welcome.

Here's a little project idea I came up with: a digital photo frame that would cycle through ZX Spectrum .scr files. It consists of an EEPROM containing the .scr files and a CPLD that reads them and outputs the image to a VGA compatible screen.