Spectaculator 4.0 released!

What’s new in version 4.0

  • ZX Interface 1 emulation and up to eight Microdrives. Custom Interface 1 ROMs can be used, including Ian Collier’s 16KB version.
  • Emulation of Spectrum +2A in addition to 16k/48k/128/+2 Spectrums.
  • Recording and playback of action replay (RZX) files.
  • Added many custom loading schemes to the flashloader. Load times of most programs are now reduced to almost zero. Supported loaders include Alkatraz, Bleepload, Hewson, Haxpoc-Lock, Mikrogen, Movieload, Powerload, Novaload,
    Paul Owens, Players, Richlock, Speedlock (versions 1 to 7), Uniload and most generic turbo loaders.
  • Completely revised auto play / auto stop system for the cassette recorder. Should now never start or stop in error. If you do find a tape file where it does this, please e-mail it to me.
  • Brand new memory contention system and cycle-accurate display renderer to run all those troublesome demos that previously only Realspec could run. This includes Hercules, Shock Megademo, MDA, Overscan, No More Intelligence 3, Echology, There and Digi Synth.
  • Fast emulation mode – up to 20x normal speed. Useful for replaying action replay (RZX) files quickly.
  • AMX and Kempston mouse emulation.
  • Supports the new zx-state (.szx) snapshot format for true state saving, even down to which audio cassette file is in the cassette recorder.
  • Added Multiface 3 support when emulating +2A/+3 Spectrums. The software lockout bit is now also emulated for the Multiface 128 and Multiface 3.
  • ZX Printer emulation. Output can be saved to disk, copied to the clipboard or sent to a real printer.
  • Play games released on Sinclair Interface II ROM cartridges.
  • Load and save Spectrum screenshots (.scr) files.
  • Choose Kempston, Cursor, Fuller, or Sinclair Interface II joysticks and use your PC game pads to play (up to two players simultaneously). Any supported joystick can be emulated through the PC keyboard’s arrow, tab or Right Alt keys.
  • Assign the extra buttons on modern joysticks to key presses on the Spectrum keyboard (in previous versions, the button assignment was fixed).
  • Switchable issue 2 / issue 3 keyboard emulation.
  • Emulates the physical layout of the 48k keyboard on the PC keyboard to enable games like Jumping Jack to be played properly. The \| key on the UK keyboard also responds as CAPS SHIFT.
  • Implemented the ability to use external ROM files. You can now use national language versions of the ROMs such as Spanish and French, or ROMs from projects such as SE Basic and the Spectrum +3e.
  • Import raw Z80 machine code (produced via TASM’s -b option).
  • Load programs and data from external audio sources such as Minidisc or a real cassette recorder.
  • Changed the contended memory model for the 128k/+2 since 3.0 Beta 1. Pages 1,3,5,7 are now contended rather than 4,5,6,7 as previously stated in the CSS FAQ. This fixes (or rather breaks) the Losing Victoria demo so that it behaves just like on a real Spectrum. However, the speech on Treasure Island Dizzy now plays properly. Info via Woody from Steve Snake. Thanks 🙂
  • Recognises XZX’s extensions to the Z80 snapshot format. Issue 2 keyboard and Kempston bits are now also read and written correctly.
  • Black and white TV mode for all those who couldn’t afford a colour TV for their Spectrums.
  • Option has been added to save Z80 snapshots uncompressed.
  • Most of the warning message boxes now have a Show this next time checkbox for those people who don’t like being prompted all the time.
  • Extensions to the z80 file format to support 16k/+2/+2A snapshots and Fuller Box emulation.
  • Implemented alternative menu rendering under Windows XP which is more in line with Windows XP look and feel.

Bug fixes

  • Some code was accidently removed from 2.5 which results in the sound going out of sync on some soundcard / motherboard combinations. This has now been put back in.
  • Beta 1 of 3.0 would crash when encountering “Stop if 48k mode” blocks in the cassette recorder when in 128k mode.
  • Some users reported that analogue joysticks were too sensitive. Should be better now.
  • Handling of TAP files has changed slightly so that some demos don’t start running too fast for a second or two after loading.
  • 128k .pok files weren’t being handled correctly in 3.0 beta 1.
  • Cassette recorder listview was multiselect when it should always have been single select.
  • Spectrum 128/+2 keyboard emulation now behaves like a real Spectrum 128/+2.
  • Fix to the OUT (n),A instruction which stopped Digi Synth and a few other demos from working correctly.
  • Flashloading of corrupt normal blocks now correctly reports R Tape loading error.
  • A few other minor bugs stomped…