Search found 403 matches

by SkoolKid
Tue Feb 20, 2024 10:22 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: Questions about "scheme types"
Replies: 3
Views: 155

Re: Questions about "scheme types"

martingzzz wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2024 11:03 am Around 60% (7369 out of 12329) of the "undetermined" downloads are tap files, meaning they have standard loaders.
Not necessarily. Some games in TAP files have custom loaders that happen to use the standard ROM timings. Removal Deluxe is a good example.
by SkoolKid
Tue Feb 13, 2024 12:46 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: New Database Model ZXDB
Replies: 517
Views: 106232

Re: New Database Model ZXDB

Another ZXDB version is available! This version fails to build the database from ZXDB_sqlite.sql. It gives the following error: Parse error near line 565472: near "CHARACTER": syntax error TABLE IF NOT EXISTS prefixes ( text varchar(10) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE u error here ---^ Parse e...
by SkoolKid
Fri Feb 09, 2024 5:37 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: New Database Model ZXDB
Replies: 517
Views: 106232

Re: New Database Model ZXDB

Let me know if that works for you! Thanks! I've converted that for SQLite thus, which seems to work (though I need to do some further checking): create table libraries ( title varchar(300), library_title varchar(300) ); insert into libraries select title, '' from entries group by title; insert into...
by SkoolKid
Fri Feb 09, 2024 1:43 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: New Database Model ZXDB
Replies: 517
Views: 106232

Re: New Database Model ZXDB

IMPORTANT: Columns "entries.library_title" and "aliases.library_title" are now removed in this release... Ouch! I've been bitten by that change. What's the quickest way to get "library_title" back (for software only, if that makes it easier) in a lookup table? I'm usin...
by SkoolKid
Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:07 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: A library of tap2sna.py recipes
Replies: 87
Views: 3207

Re: A library of tap2sna.py recipes

Fairlight 1 and 2 (128k versions) load and run on emulators but not on real hardware. 8BitSC , presumably you opened an issue on GitHub? I'm afraid I have no idea how the DIVMMC Enjoy Pro loads Z80 snapshots, so I can't even guess what's going wrong. Perhaps someone who has knowledge of that hardwa...
by SkoolKid
Sat Feb 03, 2024 1:12 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: SkoolKit 9.1
Replies: 0
Views: 170

SkoolKit 9.1

SkoolKit 9.1 has been released . TL;DR version for the initiated: Improved support for 128K disassemblies, plus simulated memory and I/O contention. For the uninitiated: SkoolKit is a suite of tools that can be used to create a disassembly of a Spectrum game (or any other piece of software), in HTM...
by SkoolKid
Tue Jan 30, 2024 3:24 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ROTW units shipping soon
Replies: 10
Views: 795

Re: ROTW units shipping soon

And it's here.

Image
by SkoolKid
Tue Jan 30, 2024 1:54 pm
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Olympia - wrong tape
Replies: 1
Views: 131

Olympia - wrong tape

The tape for Olympia (Olympia.tap in Olympia.tap.zip) is actually a copy of the tape for Pathway (Pathway.tap in Pathway.tap.zip). (I think these tapes are both new in ZXDB 1.0.182, but I might be mistaken.)
by SkoolKid
Mon Jan 29, 2024 5:16 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: zqloader
Replies: 4
Views: 288

Re: zqloader

What I meant to say: instead of "just" feeding it a TAP and hoping it can figure out how to load and start everything... I haven't used this tool, but from the documentation it looks as if you can feed it Z80 snapshots as well. Presumably its success rate is much better with snapshots tha...
by SkoolKid
Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:46 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ROTW units shipping soon
Replies: 10
Views: 795

Re: ROTW units shipping soon

dfzx wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:39 pm You would have always expected that, though, would you not?
"Feared" would be a better word. The amount feels like a kick in the face, too.
by SkoolKid
Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:50 am
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ROTW units shipping soon
Replies: 10
Views: 795

Re: ROTW units shipping soon

And now I have an import duty/customs clearance bill of over $100 to pay before I can receive the package. :(
by SkoolKid
Thu Jan 25, 2024 9:43 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ROTW units shipping soon
Replies: 10
Views: 795

Re: ROTW units shipping soon

SkoolKid wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2024 7:26 pm So I hear they're shipping now. I haven't got a tracking number yet, though. <drums fingers>
The drumming did it! I now have a tracking number.
by SkoolKid
Thu Jan 25, 2024 7:26 pm
Forum: ZX Spectrum Next
Topic: ROTW units shipping soon
Replies: 10
Views: 795

Re: ROTW units shipping soon

So I hear they're shipping now. I haven't got a tracking number yet, though. <drums fingers>
by SkoolKid
Wed Jan 24, 2024 9:39 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: The --sim-load challenge
Replies: 10
Views: 617

Re: The --sim-load challenge

Apologies in advance to anyone who might have wanted to use --sim-load to produce a pristine snapshot of Gold Mine : It definitely won't work for the foreseeable future. Good news for anyone who might have wanted to use tap2sna.py to produce a pristine snapshot of Gold Mine from the original TZX: i...
by SkoolKid
Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:53 pm
Forum: ZXDB Fixes
Topic: Double entry found
Replies: 4
Views: 401

Re: Double entry found

Not entirely relevant, but still interesting:
These two BASIC programs are definitely different.
by SkoolKid
Fri Jan 19, 2024 8:22 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Contention pattern for HALT
Replies: 25
Views: 1402

Re: Contention pattern for HALT

From what you're saying, this looks like a bug in Fuse to me. Or I'm misunderstanding. Fuse exhibits the same behaviour when the HALT is at 0x7FFF, i.e. PC+1 is 0x8000, in uncontended memory: 14335, 14345 ( pc:4 for the HALT, as expected), 14353 (implying pc:4 ), 14361 ( pc:4 again), 14369, 14377.....
by SkoolKid
Fri Jan 19, 2024 7:35 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Contention pattern for HALT
Replies: 25
Views: 1402

Re: Contention pattern for HALT

Only the first fetch of the HALT itself. Then it executes NOPs internally, with PC already being PC+1. (So it's not like it keeps executing itself similar to LDIR, which is what people originally believed.) Are the contents of PC+1 continually fetched (with contention pattern pc:4 there too) while ...
by SkoolKid
Fri Jan 19, 2024 12:19 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Contention pattern for HALT
Replies: 25
Views: 1402

Re: Contention pattern for HALT

it is basically NOP, but without advancing the PC. so it's the usual... I'll take that as a yes. Fuse seems to go with pc:4 , so I will too. On an unrelated note, I didn't realise until now just how much an instruction can be delayed when it's located in and/or accesses contended memory. Take CPIR ...
by SkoolKid
Tue Jan 16, 2024 5:17 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Games Exposed
Replies: 148
Views: 7088

Re: Games Exposed

After i posted, I looked up your HTMLWriter extension docs, and it looks like that's probably the way to go. An HtmlWriter extension would be one way to go, but ...there is no established public API for mangling labels before they're rendered, so whatever modified writer you come up with may not wo...
by SkoolKid
Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:31 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Games Exposed
Replies: 148
Views: 7088

Re: Games Exposed

lexi wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:20 pm I'm running into a couple of issues with how to best handle labels for subroutines...
I'm not really sure what you're asking here, so I won't attempt an answer, but I have to ask: Are you assigning labels to instructions that aren't jumped to or called from anywhere else in the code? If so, why?
by SkoolKid
Tue Jan 16, 2024 12:36 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Contention pattern for HALT
Replies: 25
Views: 1402

Contention pattern for HALT

I've recently been looking into how memory contention affects Z80 instructions, using the Contended memory page of the Sinclair Wiki as my main source. However, one instruction that's missing from that page is HALT. Based on what I've already learnt, I'm guessing that HALT's contention pattern is si...
by SkoolKid
Tue Jan 16, 2024 12:04 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: How to detect MCoder II games?
Replies: 29
Views: 1828

Re: How to detect MCoder II games?

marenja wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 1:02 am What tool do you use to search HEX ?
I use SkoolKit's snapinfo.py. The -f option searches for byte sequences, and the -t option searches for text.
by SkoolKid
Mon Jan 15, 2024 12:24 pm
Forum: Sinclair Miscellaneous
Topic: The World's Greatest Computer Games with Chris Tarrant (UK 1984)
Replies: 11
Views: 661

Re: The World's Greatest Computer Games with Chris Tarrant (UK 1984)

Carrier Command and Starglider 2 could take a while in 128K mode, but nowhere near 25 minutes. I remember loading Project: Stealth Fighter which I think was still a multiload and watching the news while it loaded. I think Football Director II is the longest-loading game I've come across. It's the o...
by SkoolKid
Mon Jan 15, 2024 12:12 pm
Forum: ZXDB Discussion
Topic: How to detect MCoder II games?
Replies: 29
Views: 1828

Re: How to detect MCoder II games?

For what it's worth, here are the 121 game snapshots from the list of 188 I originally posted (containing the text string 'THRELFALL and HODGSON') that also contain the byte string 2b36003e212a1bebcd74f12e0e3a19eb: Ali-Bebe Alien Attack Another Brick on the Wall 2 Anteater Fruit Machine Astroblaster...
by SkoolKid
Fri Jan 12, 2024 6:29 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The 'skool' game core
Replies: 16
Views: 966

Re: The 'skool' game core

I was just saying they could fill in some unused stuff after the game was nearly finished if they wanted/could be arsed ;) There was definitely some of that going on. For example, try following the jump-aroundy path of these two routines: Print a character's title and name, and walk him onto the sc...