Ever wondered how the game consoles of old handled like? The homebrew scene is your ticket to finding out, and in this Nintendo DS homebrew update, we get a second chance to put the Sinclair ZX Spectrum through its paces. Say hello to Nintendo DS homebrew developer Patrik Rak and his own foray into the scene, ZXDS. Find out more in the full article.



Download: ZXDS 0.7.0 beta 1

CraigT has just released v0.2a for his much-celebrated ZX Spectrum homebrew emu for the DS called SpeccyDS. And as promised, this version packs in tons of fixes and additions to ensure that SpeccyDS will run much smoother on your handhelds.

We know most of you guys have been waiting for this release for quite some time now, so we won't keep you at bay any longer. Here's the full list of stuff that's changed in v0.2a...

• Upgraded to libfat, which includes the DLDI driver.
• Fixed .z80 loading routine. More .Z80 snapshots will now be accepted.
• Fixed flag behaviour in DAA instruction to fix problems in Head over Heels.
• Fixed HALT instruction (again!) to fix crash in Starquake.
• Implemented a few undocumented instructions.
• Optomised display routines.
• Hooked up X and Y buttons.
• Corrected Sinclair 1 and 2 joystick assignments.
  

And as usual, we highly suggest you check out the all-important readme for more necessary info you might want (or need) to know before you go tinkering with your handhelds. Got that? Good. Then go on and...

Download: [SpeccyDS v0.2a]

CraigT has some news about his Sinclair ZX Spectrum homebrew emulator for DS known as SpeccyDS. And it looks like the next update is going to be a big one. In the upcoming version SpeccyDS, the G6 driver has been merged into the FAT driver although it is completely untested.

CraigT also started redesigning the GUI code in a more OO-friendly manner and implemented a few undocumented Z80 op-codes (around the EDxx range). Whatever that means.

But the best future change of all will be the 128k emulation. "Don’t get too excited at the moment since Ii’ve only been reading up on what is required, but from what I can see it should be quite straight forward to modify the code to emulate a 128k Spectrum," says CraigT. Okay, so 128K support may not make it to the next update but knowing CraigT, it won't be long till he rolls out that version.

If you're one of the rare people who either still have or even remember the ZX Spectrum computer by Sinclair Research Ltd, then you might be able to relive your 80s days and hack it out on your handheld with SpeccyDS.

SpeccyDS is still in early development, but that doesn't mean that it's going slow in progress. In fact, since its previous release, CraigT has improved a lot of things in his homebrew ZX Spectrum emulator. Right now, there still a couple of games which aren't supported, but he's been able to make some compatible already (more on that below).

How does it work? Simple: the touchpad is used as the keyboard with the top screen as the "computer monitor".

Here's the change log:

• Fixed ARM7/ARM9 synchronisation to prevent sound corruption
• Altered ADD IX,SP and ADD IY,SP instructions to fix crash in Bubble Bobble
• Altered ROM protection to fix crashes in Megabucks and others
• Altered HALT instruction to fix crashes in Chaos, Critical Mass and others
• Corrected S flag behaviour in BIT instructions to fix Sabre Wulf
• Added button support to the file browser. Files can now be selected using the d-pad and A buttons
• Added auto scrolling to the file browser. Display can now be scrolled by holding down the buttons
• File names are now displayed in the correct case in the file browser
• Added .Z80 loading support
• Added .Z80 saving support
• Implemented REIN fat library to increase hardware compatibilityArkanoid
• Games which are now compatible which weren't in previous version:
  
• Asterix and the Magic Cauldron
• Bubble Bobble
• Chaos (Some graphical corruption remains)
• Critical Mass
• MegaBucks
• Sabre Wulf (Fixed rhino behaviour)
• Uridium
• Zynaps

Download: [SpeccyDS v0.2]

SpeccyDS, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum emulator for DS, has been updated by CraigT to version 0.1. Despite the improvements, SpeccyDS v0.1 is bugged by a few glitches and these are some of the known issues you may run into:

• Sound emulation is not 100% accurate and can be scratchy at times
• Several games do not work, or work incorrectly including Starquake, Chaos and Megabucks
• Several features are missing such as snapshot saving, keyboard assignment and display properties.
• Only .SNA files are currently supported
• There is no visual feedback to indicate the state of the Caps Lock and Symbol Shift keys

If those don't bother you, then go ahead and install SpeccyDS on your handheld.

Please read the readme file for the complete details about this emulator.

More info about SpeccyDS v0.1a after the jump.

Download: [SpeccyDS v0.1a]

Poor CraigT. He's been having some trouble in developing his emulator program, and it's probably time to offer another show of support.

CraigT is the creator/developer of an emulator for the Sinclair Spectrum ZX, which everyone's dubbed the SpeccyDS. While he's been adding elements into the emulator for a while now, he's come across one more hurdle to get over before releasing version 0.1: the sound.

Specifically, his problem is now getting the sound to loop properly without cracking. His idea was to use a "ring buffer," which is a continuous loop of non-existing music, timing the loop, and then properly streaming the sound you want into the buffer in time with the loop. Unfortunately, it's easier said than done.

The theory doesn’t sound too bad. It is, however, very dependent on timing. If the new sound data is mixed in too slowly, the play position of the buffer will catch up and eventually override the newly mixed data. If the new sound data is mixed in too quickly, the mix position will wrap around the buffer and override the data currently being played.

So far, his latest attempt isn't perfect, but it's the closest he's gotten. It may scratch a little, but he says it's almost ready to go into the test version of the emulator.

Expect to get a report on the Spectrum ZX once he's released version 0.1, and cheer CraigT on, alright?

Here's some juicy update on SpeccyDS, CraigT's Sinclair ZX Spectrum Emulator for DS.

According to CraigT, the problems in the CPU core has been what's keeping him busy the last few weeks. He reports that he has done 5-10 bug fixes, which have prevented the games from running earlier. And now, those games that were bugged by bugs are perfectly working like clockwork: Robocop, Chase HQ, Three Weeks in Paradise, Batman, Exolon, Bombjack and Dan Dare.

Still appearing to be problematic, though, are Chaos, Starquake, Sabre Wolf and Megabucks for various reasons - from having the wrong AI feel to crashing in game/menu. CraigT will be tinkering with this emulator a little bit more to perfection over the next few days.

Also getting the developer's attention now is the thought on emulating the sound. According to him, "I’ve already solved how to regularly store the sound data from the CPU, but I’ve only briefly looked at how to convert this into a format that the DS will process.  It looks like i’ve got some more reading ahead of me."

Well, here's hoping he gets those extra readings done, so he can finally finish this program. But kudos, still, for doing a pretty neat job so far.

CraigT has been working on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum emulator for the DS for quite some time now. In fact, some of the screenshots he posted on his blog seem to indicate that the latest build is almost complete. The developer just got back from a 2-week hiatus, but that doesn't mean he hasn't made some progress.

But before we get into the SpeccyDS updates, we thought we'd refresh your memory about the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. This is especially for the benefit of the younger generation of DS owners.

The Spectrum was a home computer released in the UK in 1982. It came with a measly 16kB or 48kB of RAM and it has CPU running at 3.50 MHz, very very slow by today's standards. Back then, the Spectrum is one hot machine with its color display. And would you believe that some of the current leading games developers began their careers using the ZX Spectrum? It does have a dedicated fan-base because many Spectrum games are very creative and still playable up to this day. That's why PSP and DS homebrewers have been trying (and succeeding) to emulate the Spectrum for the new generation of portable game machines.

Now that we've gotten some nostalgic info out of the way, let's turn our focus back to the SpeccyDS updates. First off, the file loading and touch screen GUI are pretty much complete. Only .SNA files are supported at this time, but it won't be long till the .Z80s are added. As such, CraigT was able to test a load of new games which we all are rarin' to play once the emulator is released. We reckon CraigT will have a much easier time completing the emulator as he now can write debug log file out of his supercard.