Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

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Campbell Rogers
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Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Campbell Rogers »

Hello all. I don't know if this is the best place to ask about this but I found nothing on World of Spectrum about it and frankly the community there has become so toxic that I don't want anything to do with it anymore, so I thought I'd ask you fine folk here instead. :) I wasn't sure of where to post this either so if it has to be moved to a more fitting location that's fine.

I've been having trouble with getting games to run on my Spectaculator emulator lately. Megapede, Eights and Hard Cheese are such games I have difficulty running as they read Bytes at the start rather than Program. A couple of others I tried to run last week also have the same problem but I can't remember what they were, but Hard Cheese I tried to run last night and couldn't load because of Bytes being read at the beginning rather than program and downloading the .tap file and the PRISM re-release made no difference and gave me the same problem. Is there a way I can get around this and fix this problem myself?
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ZXDunny
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by ZXDunny »

If a program's tape starts with a "Bytes: " header then to get it to run you need to LOAD "" CODE <enter>. That should sort it.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Funny you should mention it, as I just made a post about it on WoS. While my post was a bit more technical in nature, the long, short, and curly of it is you’ll just have to manually type LOAD ""CODE in the emulated environment, just like you would on a real Spectrum.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Campbell Rogers
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Campbell Rogers »

Thanks for the replies. It did not work on 48K BASIC but it works a beaut on 128K BASIC. :D And yes Ast, that was the coincidence. :lol:

But thanks again folks, appreciate it!
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Spud
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Spud »

Campbell Rogers wrote: Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:38 pm Thanks for the replies. It did not work on 48K BASIC but it works a beaut on 128K BASIC.
That’s presumably because you have to type CODE with a seven finger combination of caps shift and symbol shift in 48k BASIC or something.
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R-Tape
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by R-Tape »

Spud wrote: Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:14 am That’s presumably because you have to type CODE with a seven finger combination of caps shift and symbol shift in 48k BASIC or something.
For shame! 48 BASIC roolz.

To the OP, on a PC keyboard press:

j for LOAD
Ctrl + p twice for ""
Caps shift then Ctrl quickly, then i for CODE
Then Enter

Actually written down that sounds a right pain in the backside. I still prefer 48 BASIC.
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Spud
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Spud »

Oh I do too! Typing it out in full on a 128k feels really perverse.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Campbell Rogers wrote: Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:38 pm It did not work on 48K BASIC
You’re holding it wrong. ;) Works for all the games you mentioned.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
Campbell Rogers
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Campbell Rogers »

That worked a charm! Thanks guys, appreciate the assistance!
jonathan.needle
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by jonathan.needle »

If 'autoload' is on, tapes requiring LOAD "" CODE automatically load (16K/48K models only).

(I just checked it with Megapede.tzx to make sure it wasn't a feature I just made up!)

Regards,

Jon.
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Jonathan Needle
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Ralf
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by Ralf »

Hi Jonathan! Great that you discovered our new forum :)

If I may ask, do you still work on Spectaculator? I remember a few years ago you mentioned working on a new version with more advanced debugger and more new features.
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R-Tape
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Re: Problem with games not running on Spectaculator

Post by R-Tape »

I'd like to add a built in assembler request, I'd pay top dollar for one as user friendly as the SPIN assembler, but that supports the same conditional commands as e.g. Pasmo.

Jonathan will be sorry he surfaced :mrgreen:
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