RZX files for the ZX81/ZX80

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TMD2003
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Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 5:39 pm

RZX files for the ZX81/ZX80

Post by TMD2003 »

After investigating how it was possible to produce a Spectrum .SCR format screenshot for the ZX80, I thought I'd do a further investigation.

The "M" page of the RZX archive lists RZXs for three ZX81 games - Mazogs, 3D Monster Maze and Manic Miner ZX81 - but these Russell Marks' 128K Spectrum ports. And by that I mean, the tapes will load on a completely normal 128K Spectrum, no questions asked - they are, for all intents and purposes, Spectrum games that look identical to their ZX81 originals. Russell was good enough to include the source code in the packages hosted on ZXDB, and by the looks of things it's a very involved task to include all the ZX81 emulation on the Spectrum tape.

Surely there has to be a better way to record action replays of your finest moments on the older machines... and there is.

Copied and pasted in part from the other thread, this is how it's done...

(1) Open the relevant .P or .O file in EightyOne.
(2) No need to load it, just click the floppy disc icon and save as a .TZX file.
(3) Open Fuse, set it to 128K Spectrum with the Interface 2 attached.
(4) Insert Paul Farrow's ZX80-on-128K or ZX81-on-128K emulation ROM into the Interface 2.
(5) Select the model (preferably 16K whether it's ZX81 or ZX80), and insert the .TZX file.
(6) LOAD, select the CASSETTE from the menu, and hit F8 to start the tape. And that was a genuinely new experience - a .TZX making ZX81 sounds!
(7) When the game has loaded, select "Recording -> Record..." from the File menu, name the RZX and start the recording.
(8) Select "Stop..." from the same menu when you're done.
(9) Make a copy of the RZX you've just recorded.
(10) Select "Finalise..." from the same menu, and select the RZX file you've just backed up.

Within the next few days, you'll see the first evidence. I've just sent Daren an RZX of Domin8tr1s, the ZX81 down-conversion of the original Spectrum Dominetris. Russell Marks has never had his hands on this one - it's all been done from the ZX81 file.

The RZX format has existed for 18 years, and I am somewhat surprised that this wasn't thought of before. Or, if it was, it was kept very quiet.
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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XavSnap
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Location: 'Zx81 France' Fb group.

Re: RZX files for the ZX81/ZX80

Post by XavSnap »

:shock:
No way on Zx81!

It's a TZX with a RAW wav sound designed to run on MFM waves…
'P' take less memory room, and this format is used in FLM and or protected SPECTRUM files (Speed load…).

It's a Spectrum format from "Speculator" (not a Freeware software) .
Xavier ...on the Facebook groupe : "Zx81 France"(fr)
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TMD2003
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 5:39 pm

Re: RZX files for the ZX81/ZX80

Post by TMD2003 »

XavSnap wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:35 am :shock:
No way on Zx81!
As they say on Wayne's World: "Way".

Behold the magnificence.

Now that's done, I can think of a few more ZX81 titles I might want to tackle, none of which have ever had Russell Marks weaving his incantation all over them.
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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