Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

General software. From trouble with the Banyan Tree to OCP Art Studio, post any general software chat here. Could include game challenges...
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by pianomatt »

Alessandro wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:35 am
Thanks for the info. However:
- The SpecDrum software is not a game. This is a list for games only;
- There are incompatibilities between the +3/+2A and some older peripherals due to a slightly different design of the multi-purpose edge connector - some of the signals are not placed where they were on the previous models. This might be the case.
No worries. It might be a hardware thing, in which case I'll have to work something out. If it is a software thing, is there a similar list for non-games?
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Actually there isn't any, since (almost) no one these days uses real Spectrums other than for playing games, or watching the odd demo. Development of newer software is carried out on PCs so there is really no need to do things the old way.
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Mike Davies
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Mike Davies »

I'm having a problem getting Gremlin's M.A.S.K to load on a +2A Spectrum. Today I've tried the Byte-Back version which looks to use the same loader as the original Gremlin release. It's the green & black stripey loader, where the loading screen loads line by line from the bottom upwards.

The Byte-Back version crashes/resets on encountering the loading-screen block -- the first of the green & black stripey segments. I vaguely recall the original Gremlin one failing at the same point. The Gremlin one did work on either a toast-rack or Spectrum+.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Ast A. Moore »

It’s likely the malformed TZX file. There are a few floating around that prose problems loading on real hardware. Incidentally, M.A.S.K. is one of them.

We get into a long discussion and make a few experiments here (I’m “Nicholas Naime” there). Check it out; it’s quite informative.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Mike Davies »

Ast A. Moore wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 10:17 pm It’s likely the malformed TZX file. There are a few floating around that prose problems loading on real hardware. Incidentally, M.A.S.K. is one of them.
This is loading the original cassette. I know for sure the original Gremlin cassette fails on the +2A, and worked okay with a Sony TCM 939 cassette recorder on a Spectrum +.

I'm seeing the same issue with the Byte-Back release version on a +2A this weekend. I'll try it on a Spectrum + next time I have it out and see if it works on there.

Thanks for the link to the fuse-emulator thread, it confirms a few observations when loading from cassette too: The rare occasions when the +2A actually loads the first few vertical lines of the loading screen before crashing.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Mike Davies wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2019 9:52 am This is loading the original cassette. I know for sure the original Gremlin cassette fails on the +2A, and worked okay with a Sony TCM 939 cassette recorder on a Spectrum +.
Right, so the problem lies with the loading scheme itself and the peculiarities of the +2A/+3 hardware. I don’t think there’s an easy way to make it load on these machines aside from reworking the loader completely. That’s a tall order for a multi-load 128K game. :?
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and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Will test the TZX file on the +2A as soon as possible. Meanwhile, to whom it may concern, here is the Gremlin 2.5 loading scheme source code:

http://www.alessandrogrussu.it/loading/ ... mlin2.html
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Newsflash: TheMartian kindly provided two .TAP corrected files for Cobra and Terra Cresta, which will also work with the DivIDE/DivMMC (tested with ESXDOS 0.8.7). Both have been added to the list and can be downloaded from there!
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by toot_toot »

Thanks Allesandro for making these files, as an owner of a +2B with DivMMC Future, it can be so frustrating trying to load a game and BANNNG. Nothing. Just a black screen!

I've made a number of TAP files from re-release TZX games, I'm more than happy to send them over to you if it helps!
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by spykoni »

How about Prince of Persia?
All the .trd and .tap files I have tested, using DivMMC, crash just after the menu screen.

Match Day 2 suffers also from incompatibility issues on a +3.

Are there any working files for any of these games?
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Ast A. Moore »

spykoni wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:15 pm Match Day 2 suffers also from incompatibility issues on a +3.
Use the 1990 Hit Squad release. It works fine on the +3/+2A. Alternatively, use the original +3 disk released by Ocean in 1987.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

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and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

spykoni wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:15 pm How about Prince of Persia?
All the .trd and .tap files I have tested, using DivMMC, crash just after the menu screen.
Use this one. I modified it some years ago, it because the one already available had some blocks in the wrong order. This is complete, working, and can be finished.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by toot_toot »

Mike Davies wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2019 9:52 am [quote="Ast A. Moore" post_id=23351 time=<a href="tel:1561238230">1561238230</a> user_id=99]
It’s likely the malformed TZX file. There are a few floating around that prose problems loading on real hardware. Incidentally, M.A.S.K. is one of them.
This is loading the original cassette. I know for sure the original Gremlin cassette fails on the +2A, and worked okay with a Sony TCM 939 cassette recorder on a Spectrum +.

I'm seeing the same issue with the Byte-Back release version on a +2A this weekend. I'll try it on a Spectrum + next time I have it out and see if it works on there.

Thanks for the link to the fuse-emulator thread, it confirms a few observations when loading from cassette too: The rare occasions when the +2A actually loads the first few vertical lines of the loading screen before crashing.
[/quote]

Does the version on 10 Great Games II have the same problem? Might be worth testing as by the time it was released the +2A was out and I don’t remember it having published compatibility problems at the time. I’d check my copy but it’s packed away as I’m shortly moving house!
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by spykoni »

Alessandro wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:42 am
spykoni wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:15 pm How about Prince of Persia?
All the .trd and .tap files I have tested, using DivMMC, crash just after the menu screen.
Use this one. I modified it some years ago, it because the one already available had some blocks in the wrong order. This is complete, working, and can be finished.
Nice! Thanks a lot. Why not include it in the list?
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

[mention]spykoni[/mention] You are welcome :)

Thanks for the suggestion, there are already some titles in the list which require entering USR0 mode on the +2A/+3 before loading the game (not necessary on my tape file because I added Usr0x01 before the game proper, besides rearranging the blocks in the correct order) so I think Prince Of Persia can be added too.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Pobulous »

I've been busy updating my DIVMMC SD card with TAP files with long filenames, now there is support, and I was using the links on Alessandro's site to make sure I had +2a compatible versions. In some cases I am having to convert from tzx to snapshot format.

The fixed Amaurote tzx file on Alessandro's site does not work for me in ZXSpin or Inkspector 2 - has anyone managed to get it working?
From the TOSEC archive on archive.org, there's 2 TAP files that work - a 48K one, and a trained 128K version - the others all crash in different ways.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Mike Davies »

Sly Spy Secret Agent (Hit Squad release) crashes on completion of loading the 128k side using a +2A's Tape Loader option. 48k version on the other side works fine.

I tried the 128k version again by going into 128k basic, entering USR 0. 128k side loads fine, and I'm at the menu along with 128k music. Chose options and the game loads in the first level.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Inky »

Pobulous wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:53 pm I've been busy updating my DIVMMC SD card with TAP files with long filenames, now there is support, and I was using the links on Alessandro's site to make sure I had +2a compatible versions. In some cases I am having to convert from tzx to snapshot format.

The fixed Amaurote tzx file on Alessandro's site does not work for me in ZXSpin or Inkspector 2 - has anyone managed to get it working?
From the TOSEC archive on archive.org, there's 2 TAP files that work - a 48K one, and a trained 128K version - the others all crash in different ways.
The reason it doesn't work in Inkspector is that the "stop tape if 48k" block has a length of 4, when it should be 0, meaning it then jumps 4 bytes into the next block, throwing the TZX loading out of sync. The next version of Inkspector ignores any length in this particular block and always assumes 0, which allows Amaurote to load. I guess other emulators have been around the block long enough to be wise to this :)
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by patters »

Pobulous wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:53 pm I've been busy updating my DIVMMC SD card with TAP files with long filenames, now there is support.
Wait, there's LFN support finally? How do you get that?
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by bob_fossil »

patters wrote: Sun Jun 14, 2020 2:02 pm
Pobulous wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:53 pm I've been busy updating my DIVMMC SD card with TAP files with long filenames, now there is support.
Wait, there's LFN support finally? How do you get that?
Kind of. :)

<shameless self-promotion>
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2553
</shameless self-promotion>
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Shocktrooper »

Hello,

I cannot get the original cassette of Androids (Sunshine) to work on my grey +2.

The title screen appears but no key is responding.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Shocktrooper »

Hello,

I cannot get Dinky Digger to work on my Spectrum +2 grey, thanks.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Shocktrooper wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:05 pm Hello,

I cannot get Dinky Digger to work on my Spectrum +2 grey, thanks.

I cannot get the original cassette of Androids (Sunshine) to work on my grey +2.

The title screen appears but no key is responding.
First, this tread deals with titles incompatible with the +2A/+3, not the original (gray) +2. Secondly, both games work fine for me (in an emulator).
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

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and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

The English translation of Komando II presented the same issues of the original.

I made a fix for it and included it in the ZIP file for the Slovak original version.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by amazin »

Alessandro, Ast, a friend found out another incompatible game: Kidnap, by Sparklers/Creative Sparks. He tested using his original tapes, I tested using the tap/tzx files on Spectrum Computing (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry.php?id=0002693).

It loads fine, you choose your joystick type, there is another screen reminding you of the controls, and then on the next screen, written KIDNAP, the computer freezes.

Reproducible on Retro Virtual Machine. It runs fine on a Grey +2.

Hectic is a similar/derived game that apparently was released only in Spain, and it freezes at the same point.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... rum/Hectic

Thanks!
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