A 16K/48K/128K Spectrum game?

[PeteProdge]

We're used to the concept of a 48K/128K Spectrum game, like Renegade; Auf Wiedersehen Monty; Slightly Magic; Out Run, etc. Works on a 48K in a ~4 minute load, works on a 128K after a longer load and gives you AY music and possibly some extra 'bells and whistles'.

But has there ever been a game that can load across all three (canonical) memory capacities?

Obviously, the 16K version would be truly 'bare bones'. I can't think of anything at the moment. I suspect if such a thing exists, it's a homebrew thing.

[Pobulous]

Has there even been a game that was different on 16K and 48K? In the early 48K era that would make some sense.

I wouldn't imagine any commercial games would support 16K in the 128K era, although it would be an interesting game design and coding exercise.

[AndyC]

Honestly, I'd have thought the requirements for running in just 16K (tiny amount of RAM, can't use IM2 etc) would make such a thing extremely unlikely and little more than a proof of concept if it did exist.

I can't even remember games that would be expanded on a 48K machine, I think the prevalence of cheap RAM expansions back in the day made it easier to just require all users to have the full 48K. There wasn't as easy an upgrade to 128K, so the necessity to support a wider range of models was more obvious.

[PeteProdge]

Honestly, I'd have thought the requirements for running in just 16K (tiny amount of RAM, can't use IM2 etc) would make such a thing extremely unlikely and little more than a proof of concept if it did exist.

Ah, but a homebrew guy came up with a 16K version of Manic Miner (and that's for the ZX81, let alone the 16K Spectrum) which, while primitive, is pretty commendable given the severe technical limitations:

I can't even remember games that would be expanded on a 48K machine, I think the prevalence of cheap RAM expansions back in the day made it easier to just require all users to have the full 48K. There wasn't as easy an upgrade to 128K, so the necessity to support a wider range of models was more obvious.

Yeah, you're right there. The 16K and 48K is a sharply divided area, with the 48K selling way better than expected, so it's the 16K ending up as niche. And while the 128K did well, the 48K was still highly prolific close to the end of the commercial era (and as you note, no simple 48K->128K upgrade).

I'd like to see a 16K-basic/48K-enhanced Speccy game though, along with the main desire of this topic!

[StooB]

Has there even been a game that was different on 16K and 48K?

Hewson's Maze Chase and New Generation's 3D Tunnel have bigger 48k versions on the other side of the tape.

[PROSM]

Has there even been a game that was different on 16K and 48K?

E.T.X. will run on both 16/48K, and adds sampled speech for 48K owners.

[marenja]

Should 16K games run on ZX 48K as well as on ZX 16K or do any of them have known problems on ZX 48K? There are 3 options to select on S.C. main search page - `ZX Spectrum 16K', `ZX Spectrum 16K only' and 'ZX Spectrum 16/48'. But if 16K hardware has no tricks then all those options are the same?