Hi there!
Version 1.2 of ESPectrum, the ESP32 SoC based ZX Spectrum 48K, 128K and Pentagon 128K emulator, was released last saturday may 25 in a presentation at Arcade Vintage Video Game Museum located in Ibi (Alicante, Spain).
You can find detailed info about its features at the Github project page: https://github.com/EremusOne/ESPectrum and download latest binaries at the release page: https://github.com/EremusOne/ESPectrum/ ... s/tag/v1.2
These are version 1.2 release notes:
New Features:
- TZX file format support: ESPectrum now can load TZX files with complete and top-notch support for every kind of block described in revision 1.20 ( https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/tapir/tzxform120.html ) of the format. (Thanks to @jcgamestoy (Retro Virtual Machine) and @jsanchezv (ZX Baremulator) for his help in development).
- Accurate snow effect emulation (as described at viewtopic.php?t=8240 by Weiv and MartianGirl).
- New "fake" scanlines option for VGA video modes.
- New video options available:
- Video/Render type: For selecting between "Standard" mode and "Snow effect" mode (requires more computing power and is only needed to mimic exactly the behavior of a real Speccy that shows that effect, so 99.99% of the time, you're good with Standard mode).
- Video/Scanlines: For enabling or disabling new "fake" scanlines.
- New volume on-screen bar indicator.
- Enabled multimedia volume up and down keys support (thanks @rtorralba).
Changes:
- Performance Improvements: ESPectrum is up to 20% faster on average in some scenarios thanks to a completely rewritten video render code and new CPU cycle optimizations.
- Fixed a bug in the Z80 core that caused a failure in the loader for Digital Integration games (ATF, Bobsleigh, TT-Racer).
- Updated Paul Farrow's ZX81+ IF2 ROM ( http://www.fruitcake.plus.com/Sinclair/ ... w_ZX81.htm ) to version 3.13, which includes the following enhancements:
- Added support for a few more pseudo high-resolution display drivers, e.g., Brian Lewis' "Pacman" and "Invaders".
- Added support for two advanced low-resolution display techniques, utilized by several of Dr. beep's lo-res games, e.g., "LoadRunner".
- Added support for ZX81 programs written in C using the z88dk development kit.
- Added Spectrum+ special keys emulation to PS/2 keyboard:
- TAB key -> Extended mode
- CAPS LOCK -> Spectrum Caps Lock
- GRAVE ACCENT -> Edit
- SEMICOLON -> Spectrum semicolon
- BACKSLASH -> Spectrum double quote
- ESC -> Break
- Added new "TAB as fire 1" option to joystick PS/2 keyboard emulation: This option assigns the TAB key the same function as RIGHT ALT: joystick fire 1. It also makes the GRAVE ACCENT key act as joystick fire 2 if Kempston emulation is selected. If this option is enabled, the TAB and GRAVE ACCENT keys will not behave as described in the previously described change.
- Added new reset shortcuts to PS/2 keyboard:
- LEFT ALT + BACKSPACE -> Soft reset (resets Spectrum with autoload of the last loaded snapshot if present).
- CTRL + LEFT ALT + BACKSPACE -> Reset Spectrum.
- CTRL + LEFT ALT + SUPR -> Reset ESP32.
- Firmware update: From this version on, the firmware update file name for SD firmware update procedure needs to be "firmware.upg".
- Updated About screen to thank new Patreons and contributors.
Finally, we'd like to remind you that the ESPectrum emulator is an open-source software project under the GPL-3.0 license, 'funded' thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. If you consider helping us and receiving some benefits in return, you can do so at: https://www.patreon.com/ESPectrum.
Enjoy it!