Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Discussions about Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 Hardware
zx4ever
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:58 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by zx4ever »

These days I tried some colorized games for the Chroma 81 interface from here http://www.fruitcake.plus.com/Sinclair/ ... urised.htm and I have some questions about it.
Most of these games come with color files (.col) and must be created with a utility such as Chroma Program Enhancement Creator.
My problem is that this utility will not work on my pc with windows 7 32bit, just gives a splash screen at launch with error message "Unhandled exception has occured ..." as in this picture.
Image

Does anyone know how to fix this or maybe someone can share a link with prepared colorized .p files, ready for use on the Chroma interface?
I would like to try all the colorized games like 3d Monster maze, Quack, Ant Attack, Flight simulator etc, but for now I have only a few already converted, which I found on youtube.
Thanks in advance. :)
zx4ever
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:58 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by zx4ever »

I solved the problem by reinstalling windows.
Now everything works well. :)
Fruitcake
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:53 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

zx4ever wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 3:43 pm I solved the problem by reinstalling windows.
Now everything works well. :)
Good news!! :)
zx4ever
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:58 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by zx4ever »

Yes, exactly. ;)
In fact, I have found now, the exact reason why this error occurs.
For some reason, this happens only if the global font size in windows 7 has increased from smaller 100% to eg. medium 125%, as I did because the default font size was always very small.
These settings are located in the Control Panel / Display and can be easily reproduced.
Could you possibly fix this issue?
Google says that a very small number of applications suffer from this problem, which can be very frustrating until we realize what is the real cause of it.
Fruitcake
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:53 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

Good find!

I've had a look and there isn't a quick fix to this with the current code base. The program will need some reworking to properly support auto-scaling to the selected font size. I'll add it to my list of things to be do. Unfortunately for now you'll now to keep the font size at 100%. :(
Fruitcake
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:53 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

A plastic case for the Chroma interface is now available. It is 3D printed and coloured black, with a red reset button to match the red logo of the ZX81's case. All sockets of the interface are exposed, with a hinged cover over the ROM cartridge socket.

ChromaInterfaceCase.png

The case is composed of two parts that are held together with screws. Fitting the case is therefore just a matter of screwing the top and bottom halves together (using a small cross head screwdriver).

An optional logic update is available that adds support for CHR$128 UDG graphic mode and also widens the tolerance for more extreme video displays generated by custom driver routines. All boards shipped in 2018 have the updated logic programmed into them by default. It is possible to update the board yourself if you have the necessary CPLD programming equipment, or else it can be returned to me for updating.

You can contact me via www.fruitcake.plus.com if you wish to obtain a case for your Chroma board and/or to return your board for updating with CHR$128 UDG mode support. If you are not sure whether your board has the latest logic then contact me and I can let you know.
Lardo Boffin
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Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Lardo Boffin »

Heres mine with my own custom sticker! Top stuff.

6A58FD13-13D5-455A-B129-9857ECC0E58E.jpeg
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
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kmurta
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Location: Belo Horizonte - BR
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by kmurta »

Hello everyone!

In the vacant hours I have been working on the colorization of some games and I want to share it with you. In the game Glooper the result was not perfect, but this is a good price to pay to not have the entire playfield in monochrome.

ZX Galaxians and Lode Runner have been featured before, but I made some changes and brought them back.

I hope you enjoy it!

P.S.: Paul Farrow, feel free to include all the files on the Chroma 81 website.
chromagamespac.png
chromagamespac.zip
(153.89 KiB) Downloaded 344 times
Edit (14/02/2018): At the suggestion of Paul Farrow, the pills of power in Glooper are now all yellow, which gives to the game a better look.
Last edited by kmurta on Fri Feb 15, 2019 1:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
1 x ZX81, 2 x TK85 , 1 TK82C, 1 TK95, 1 x Alphacom 32 printer, 1 x ZXpand
ZeXtender board, Joy81 - Programmable Joystick Controller, Turbo Sound 81
http://zx81.eu5.org
https://toddysoftware.itch.io/
Fruitcake
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:53 pm

Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by Fruitcake »

Hi Kelly

You have been busy!

The thumbnail screenshots look great, like they were designed with colour in mind!! :)

I look forward to trying them out on real hardware, and will definitely be linking to them from my website.

kmurta wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:37 pm In the game Glooper the result was not perfect, but this is a good price to pay to not have the entire playfield in monochrome.
I think Magenta tends to get used less often as a main colour and so your use of it for Glooper makes the game stand out from the others. In fact it looks like you've fairly evenly made use all the colours. It will be very interesting to see how the game appear when running at full size.

Paul
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kmurta
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Re: Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

Post by kmurta »

Fruitcake wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 11:22 pm
kmurta wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:37 pm In the game Glooper the result was not perfect, but this is a good price to pay to not have the entire playfield in monochrome.
I think Magenta tends to get used less often as a main colour and so your use of it for Glooper makes the game stand out from the others. In fact it looks like you've fairly evenly made use all the colours. It will be very interesting to see how the game appear when running at full size.
Here the problem is with the yellow dots, they are also used in the construction of the maze and the characters. But I thought it better to leave it than to use the same color for everything. The ideal would be to change the game and incorporate the colors using attribute mode, but at the moment I do not have the time available for this. Go to the to-do list.
1 x ZX81, 2 x TK85 , 1 TK82C, 1 TK95, 1 x Alphacom 32 printer, 1 x ZXpand
ZeXtender board, Joy81 - Programmable Joystick Controller, Turbo Sound 81
http://zx81.eu5.org
https://toddysoftware.itch.io/
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