Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Discussions about Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 Hardware
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gammaray
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by gammaray »

mrtinb wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:30 pm
gammaray wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:53 pm Is Chroma compatible with the UDG characters using the UDG board by Andy, is it?
If I remember correctly Chroma implements UDG by itself.
Sorry, I thought this needed a on of the Fruitcake ROM cards. RTFM...
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sirmorris
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by sirmorris »

gammaray wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:53 pmI believe it was said not to work with ZXpand...
Don't believe everything you read.
Fruitcake
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

RobertK wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:06 pm It's no big issue, but do you know why in the EightyOne emulator the PC's cursor keys worked with the previous version, but not with this one? Here both keys move the base to the left. It's no big problem as this seems to affect only the emulator.
The patch checked for the standard game keys (SHIFT and Z) but if neither were pressed then it checked for the 5 and 8 cursor keys. When using EightyOne, the arrow keys on the PC keyboard map to SHIFT+5 and SHIFT+8. Therefore pressing either of these will cause SHIFT to be pressed. Because the game code checks for SHIFT first, it interprets both arrow keys as a request to move to the left!

A possible solution is to change how EightyOne handles the arrow keys, changing the interpretation from "5,6,7,8 (Shifted)" to "5,6,7,8" under Options > Keyboard.

However, a more robust solution is to simply reverse the order in which the game checks for the keys, i.e. if it does not detect keys 5 or 8 being pressed then it goes on to check for the SHIFT and Z keys. The attached version uses this approach.

spaceraiders(cursor_then_standard_keys).zip
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RobertK
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by RobertK »

Fruitcake wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2018 2:22 pm However, a more robust solution is to simply reverse the order in which the game checks for the keys, i.e. if it does not detect keys 5 or 8 being pressed then it goes on to check for the SHIFT and Z keys. The attached version uses this approach.
This version is perfect, thanks!

Attached is the .col file that I have declared to be the final version. Furthermore I have attached a standalone .txz file so that non-Chroma-owners can try the patched and colourized game in the EightyOne emulator, you just need to activate Chroma colour (menu "Options" - "Hardware" - change "Colour" to Chroma).

[EDIT 2018-02-14: attachments removed, see next posting]
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RobertK
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by RobertK »

I have made two more modifications to my Space Raiders .col file: the screen border is now black and the base line grey. This should now really be the final version. [Edit: NOT. The final version is included in the Colourisation Tutorial pack which can be found here. Outdated attachments removed from this post.]
SpaceRaiders_colourised.jpg
SpaceRaiders_colourised.jpg (70.95 KiB) Viewed 7963 times
Last edited by RobertK on Thu May 24, 2018 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Fruitcake
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

Following on from my colour enhanced version of Rocket Man for the Chroma interface, I've now coloured Forty Niner:

Forty Niner Title.gif
Forty Niner Title.gif (2.72 KiB) Viewed 7682 times
Forty Niner.gif
Forty Niner.gif (4.51 KiB) Viewed 7682 times

The colour enhanced game can be downloaded from here.

For those without a Chroma interface, the game can be played using a compatible emulator. Emulators are available for a variety of platforms and are listed here.
Fruitcake
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

Revival Studios has released an upgrade of their excellent new game Mage: The Enchanted Crystals that features Chroma colour support!

Mage_Menu.gif
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Mage_Game.gif
Mage_Game.gif (3.55 KiB) Viewed 7630 times
Fruitcake
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

Revival Studios have upgraded their ZX81 game Rush to support Chroma colour and Chroma's joystick socket.

The colour scheme very effectively evokes a twilight setting, as the screenshot below shows:

Rush_Menu.gif
Rush_Menu.gif (2.3 KiB) Viewed 7444 times
Rush_Game.gif
Rush_Game.gif (2.75 KiB) Viewed 7444 times

All other games in their ZX81 range are due to receive a Chroma upgrade over the coming weeks!
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kmurta
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by kmurta »

Rod Bell posted on youtube a video of the colored Missile Command ( https://youtu.be/3pINdUvusHU ) and only then I did realize that the colors of the atomic mushroom are wrong. So here are the corrected colorization file. Paul, can you update your site with this file?

Thanks

MissileCommandColour.zip
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1 x ZX81, 2 x TK85 , 1 TK82C, 1 TK95, 1 x Alphacom 32 printer, 1 x ZXpand
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Fruitcake
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

kmurta wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:46 pm Paul, can you update your site with this file?
Done, website updated. Thanks for fixing the file.
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