Contents
Introduction
Installation
Running
The
Pull Down Menu
The
File Menu
Load
Save
Quick
Load
Quick
Save
Exit
The
Options Menu
Joystick
1 and 2
Sound
Capture
Screen
Screen
Mode
Reset
The
Help Menu
About
ZX Plus is a freeware Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K
and 128K emulator written by Mark Swinhoe and Justin Wood. To get
the latest version of ZX Plus visit http://come.to/zxplus. This document
is also maintained at the site as well as the current progress, screen
shots, and various related links. The purpose of this document is to describe
how to use ZX Plus. Both this document and ZX Plus is designed to be easy
to use so if you are having problems then please email us at zxplus@yahoo.co.uk
with the difficulties you are having. Similarly, if there is something
missing in the documentation or it contradicts the implementation of ZX
Plus in any way then please email us as well. The documentation of
the emulator is split into parts so specific topics can be found easily.
The majority of you that are already familiar with Windows and emulators
could skip this documentation and just try it out. The features are
very basic at the moment. Eventually technical information will be
included in this document for authors of other emulators when we eventually
create our own file format.
Download the emulator and extract it using PKZIP
or Win Zip into a directory. The core files required are zxplus.exe,
48.rom, and zx80.tab. Other files such as documentation.html (this
document), and a few pictures for this document are also present. The emulator
only requires the core files to run.
ZX Plus can be loaded in two ways. The first
is to run the executable (zxplus.exe). If you do this the emulator
starts to execute the Spectrum 48K rom as you would expect a normal Spectrum
to do when it is powered up. The second way is to first associate
the snapshot file (.Z80 and / or .SNA) with ZX Plus. The emulator will
then load a snapshot automatically when you double click on it from Windows
Explorer.
The pull down menu allows you to configure the
emulator. It is activated by pressing the Escape key or the fourth
button of the joystick. It can also be canceled in the same way.
The mouse has not been implemented. You can navigate around the menu
by pressing the highlighted character, such as the F key for File, or using
the cursor keys. To select an option press the return key, the highlighted
letter, or the first button of the joystick. For instance, the sequence
Escape, F, X, Button 1, would quit the emulator. Throughout the rest
of the document the joysticks have the following options mapped to the
keyboard: -
Joystick(s) | Keyboard |
Up | Up cursor key |
Down | Down cursor key |
Left | Left cursor key |
Right | Right cursor key |
Button 1 | Return key |
Button 2 | Page down key |
Button 3 | End key |
Button 4 | Escape key |
Button 5 | Page up key |
Button 6 | Home key |
This layout is designed for six button joypads
with sensible ordering (such as the Gravis Xterminator) but in later versions
of the emulator every button will be fully configurable. One problem with
joystick navigation on the menu is not properly configured joysticks which
can cause the menu to not move, such as always trying to go left.
For this reason Alt + F4 has been implemented for an "emergency exit" of
the emulator.
The file menu is used to load snapshots (.SNA)
and (.Z80), save snapshots (.SNA), and exit the emulator.
To load game when the emulator is running choose
the Load option in the File menu. A box will appear showing the current
directory you are in, a place to type in the game (referred to as the enter
file box) and box with a list of drives, directories, and files to select
(referred to as the list box). The format of the list box is drives
end in a colon, directories are enclosed in square brackets and filenames
are unmodified. Files with an extension of Z80 or SNA are only shown.
The list box is the default when loading a file. To change between
the list box and the enter file box press the Tab key. To navigate the
list box use the up and down cursor keys to move through the list and enter
to select. The Home key moves you to the start of the list and the
End key moves to the bottom of the list. The Page up and Page down
keys move a up and down a screen at a time respectively. If you do
not want to select a file to load then press the Escape key to exit the
menu. If you prefer you can type the relative path and filename of
the file to load in the enter file box and press enter to load the file.
If the file does not exist or is a unsupported file format an error box
will be shown and it will return to the menu. You can also move between
directories by typing in the enter box to save time. Once a file is loaded
you are returned to the menu.
This functions exactly the same as when you load
a game apart from if the file does not exist it is created if possible.
An error box is shown if it cannot be saved, such as an invalid filename
or saving to a CD-ROM. When this option is chosen the filename is
remembered by ZX Plus and if you choose reload it loads this file and not
the file selected from the load option. To create a new file you must type
the filename in the enter box.
ZX Plus keeps track of what you are loading and
/ or saving and reloads the last file you loaded or saved. If you
have not loaded a game then it reports an error. This is usually
used in conjunction with quick save so you can load and save quickly in
the middle of a game. Unlike Load and Save you are not returned to the
menu but the emulator instead.
This saves the last file that was loaded or saved
last.It is very similar to Quick Load.
This exits the emulator without warning.
this can also be done with Alt + F4.
This is where you can configure the emulator and
other miscellaneous options such as setting the type of joystick emulation.
Both of these options do the same for each joystick.
If you cannot select the option (it returns to the menu) ZX Plus cannot
find the joystick. If this is the case then check the "Game controllers"
configuration in the control panel. You can choose what type of joystick
emulation, either Kempston, Cursors, or Sinclair II, the joystick is emulating.
Allows you to choose either no sound, PC Speaker
(recommended), and Sound Blaster via the BLASTER environment variable.
This saves a 302K uncompressed bitmap image of
the current Spectrum screen to the specified location. The location
chosen is implemented in exactly the same way as the save option but only
files with an extension of BMP are shown.
Allows you to change the type of screen mode you have. There are four different modes available, Classic, Scanlines, Interpolation, and both Scanlines and Interpolation.
This is where you can choose by hand the machine
you wish to emulate.
This resets the emulator to the chosen machine
mode.
This contains all of the information about the
emulator. Currently there is only the bare details of the emulator
and no help but eventually we hope to add in a full help system including
game information.
This displays the name of the program, version
number, release date, and the names of the authors. This is the best
way to find out what version of ZX Plus you are running.
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