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

Post by Ivanzx »

I love this thread and I think Alessandro did such a great job for the community by keeping it up ;)

Another case I found: Batty. In the +2A models it only would work in 48K mode. In the other 128K Spectrum models the game works fine but in the +2A/+3 it needs to be loaded in 48k mode.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Nomad »

Figure that a game getting a patch decades after is something to be celebrated - especially as it fixes some major issues. Makes you wonder what other titles in the archive could use similar love.
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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 »

Ivanzx wrote: Tue May 08, 2018 11:58 pm Another case I found: Batty. In the +2A models it only would work in 48K mode.
How about now? ;)

Batty (Hit-Pak) (+2A/+3 fix by Ast A. Moore)
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.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Nice job indeed, but I would like to ask everyone taking part in this thread to stick to complete incompatibilities whenever possible, i.e. those cases where there is no way whatsoever to make a software run on a given machine (the +2A/+3 namely), and ask for "partial" fixes in dedicated threads. Thanks!
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

New issues found.

Blizzard's Rift: Load the game in USR0 mode to make it work correctly.

Rommel's Revenge: The original Crystal release causes the system to reset at game start. The Zeppelin re-release named Tank Busters is fixed.

Xcel: Both original and Mastertronic releases cannot run, the system resets upon loading. I have fixed files for both versions available (must be loaded under 48 BASIC to work), but I cannot make them available due to Activision's denial of distribution.
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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 »

Grab the fixed version of Rommel’s Revenge from my little den of game fixes.
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.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

New incompatibility (and cure!) found: NATO Assault 128K.

Error C Nonsense in BASIC, 50:1 after the third data block.

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

Post by Alessandro »

Two small updates:

1) Blasteroids has been moved from section 3 to section 1 because the only compatible version of it is the MCM re-release.

2) The entry for Treasure Island Dizzy has been re-edited and now points to Ast A. Moore's bugfixed/corrected version hosted in the SC archive.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by blueowl0708 »

Hi [mention]Alessandro[/mention],

What's your stance on games that expect the keyboard to behave like an issue 2 48k Spectrum? I'm unsure what the difference is exactly but these games tend to not respond to key presses on a +2.

I am aware of at least 2 games that do this but there are surely more :)
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Hi [mention]blueowl0708[/mention],

if the issue is not specific to the +2A/+3, it is not going to be added to the list.

If the issue is related to the +2A/+3 and does not affect any other Spectrum model(*), it is added to the list, according to three cases:
1) there is a historical release of the game available, which works correctly;
2) there is no other issue-free historical version of the game available, but there is a "cure" newly made by a user;
3) none of the above, but the issue can be circumvented somehow, such as loading the game under 48 BASIC (as it should be the norm with everything released before 1987 and not 128K-specific), entering USR0 mode etc.

As far as I know the differences between issue 2/issue 3 and later keyboard management are not specific to the +2A/+3 since they surfaced within the first (i.e. not +) Spectrum production run, well before the Amstrad takeover. (I guess you are referring to this.)

I hope that clarifies it all :)

(*) Notable exception: Three Weeks In Paradise 128, which also does not work on the +2.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by blueowl0708 »

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

Post by Ivanzx »

Another suspicious case, Run for Gold, the Alternative Soft version. Owned 4 copies and none loaded, and in the emulator does not work either:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=4270
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Ivanzx wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:23 am Another suspicious case, Run for Gold, the Alternative Soft version. Owned 4 copies and none loaded, and in the emulator does not work either:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=4270
It's already on the list, together with a cure by Nuggetreggae.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Ivanzx »

Alessandro wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:27 pm
Ivanzx wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:23 am Another suspicious case, Run for Gold, the Alternative Soft version. Owned 4 copies and none loaded, and in the emulator does not work either:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=4270
It's already on the list, together with a cure by Nuggetreggae.
Oh man :cry: sorry, how can I be so dumb... I had not seen it all this time, and I kept buying it once after another time...

Thanks, Alessandro, now I know I can only play it in emulators!
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Alessandro »

Ivanzx wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 3:03 pm Thanks, Alessandro, now I know I can only play it in emulators!
De nada Ivan :)

On the other hand, did you know you can feed TAP and TZX tape images to a real Spectrum, by "playing" them on a PC through an utility like Tapir? I am sure we already exchanged posts about this. Especially after I found that a common cassette adapter for car stereo works wonders on the +2A. (These days you can find such devices in Chinese general stores for about € 2.00.)

This way you can "load" Nuggetreggae's fixed file and play with the real thing :D
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by Mike Davies »

Two recent games for me that don't seem to work on a +2A, but worked fine on a 128k:
  • Bedlam Original GO! release: Game loads, but noticeable graphics corruption on the menu, and crashes when starting a new game. I haven't tried the Sinclair User cover-tape version.
  • Guerilla War Original Imagine release: End of tape and the loader is still expecting more data. Even replaying the entire tape doesn't pick up a supposedly missing block. There's a block of data immediately after the loading screen that is skipped by both machines (+2A and 128k) -- in that the loading is red+black instead of blue+black of the other data blocks. I haven't tried the "Battle Stations" compilation version.
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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: Sun Nov 18, 2018 7:00 am Two recent games for me that don't seem to work on a +2A, but worked fine on a 128k:
  • Bedlam Original GO! release: Game loads, but noticeable graphics corruption on the menu, and crashes when starting a new game. I haven't tried the Sinclair User cover-tape version.
  • Guerilla War Original Imagine release: End of tape and the loader is still expecting more data. Even replaying the entire tape doesn't pick up a supposedly missing block. There's a block of data immediately after the loading screen that is skipped by both machines (+2A and 128k) -- in that the loading is red+black instead of blue+black of the other data blocks. I haven't tried the "Battle Stations" compilation version.
Unless I know for sure there are noticeable differences between releases, I don’t bother re-making fixes for them. That said, Bedlam’s re-release by IBSA works fine on the +2A, so an official fix already exists.

Not sure what you mean by the issue you describe with Guerrilla War. Works fine for me on both machines. I think I needed to reload the last block for the +2A (a tape loading error, clearly), but the loader is self-recovering, so it wasn’t an issue.

Edit: The first block after the loading screen is meant for the 48K version, so the 128K version skips it. Inelegant, I agree, but that’s how they decided to do it.
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 fix for Top Gun has been updated. I made a compatible version with music, in both TZX and TAP format - the former is based on the Erbe re-release, the latter on the file downloadable from the archive.
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by TomD »

I've tried the new version of Top Gun on my +3, after a few mins of play it crashes, not sure if it is just my machine or not. The Erbe one is fine though.

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

Post by Alessandro »

Hi Tom, do you mean the .TAP file? In this case, I played it on SpecEmu, +3 emulated (don't have the real +3 here at the moment) for about half an hour and nothing strange happened. Did you load the file off an interface or played it through another source (PC, multimedia reader etc.)?
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Re: Definitive list of games incompatible with +2A/+3 and of compatible versions (if any)

Post by pianomatt »

The SpecDrum software doesn't work with the 2a. In 128 mode it crashes on load, and in 48k mode no sound comes out of the SpecDrum device.
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