New in This Version

* Emulating 16k, 48k, 128k, +2, +2A, and +3 Spectrums, Timex TC2048 and TS2068. Incomplete Pentagon emulation (no disks yet).
* Loading and saving 48k and 128k .SNA files.
* Loading and saving .Z80 files versions 1..3, with or without compression.
* Loading .TAP and .TZX tape images.
* Loading and saving .SCR screenshots.
* Emulating Cursor/Protek/AGF, Kempston, Fuller, and Interface II joysticks.
* Emulating Kempston mouse. AMX mouse support isn´t finished yet.
* Emulating AY8910 PSG, both in 128k-compatible mode and Fuller mode.
* Emulating ZX Printer, Timex TS2040 printer, and Alphacom32 with ASCII art written to a file.
* Emulating some Centronix ports, output written to the same file as ZX Printer output.
* Emulating Multiface, Multiface 128, and Multiface +3, depending on the Spectrum model selected.
* Incomplete emulation for DISCiPLE, +D, Betadisk (aka TR-DOS), Sinclair Interface I (no disks, serial ports, or microdrives yet).
* Beeper sounds can now be automatically converted to melodic tones and saved to a MIDI file, together with PSG soundtrack.
* Moved both Windows and MSDOS versions to a new framework.
* Added framebuffer-based runtime menu which should work on all platforms.
* Added new framebuffer-based Z80 debugger which should work on all platforms.



The Latest Version of Speccy is 1.0
This is the first official Speccy release. It emulates 16kB, 48kB, and 128kB versions of Sinclair ZX Spectrum, as well as Spectrum +2, +2A, and +3. There is also support for Timex Sinclair models, but it is not yet complete. At this stage, only Windows and MSDOS binaries are available. I will make other binaries available when the porting is complete.

This version supports all types of ZX Spectrum joysticks and the Kempston mouse. The AMX mouse support is not yet complete. Both ZX printer and the Timex (aka Alphacom 32) printer are supported and will print to a file using ASCII "graphics". AY8910 PSG chip is obviously supported, in both 128k and Fuller modes. None of the disk, wafer, or microdrive devices work yet although they do appear on the menu.

Speccy will load files in .Z80, .SNA, .TAP, and .TZX formats. It will also load screenshots in the .SCR format. You may save files in .Z80 and .SNA formats. Please notice that [F5] starts / stops tape while [F4] invokes a platform-independent configuration menu. Some options on this menu are not available from Windows menus. Use [ALT]+[ENTER] to switch between windowed and full screen modes. [ALT]+[PGUP] increases audio volume while [ALT]+[PGDOWN] decreases it. Finally, pressing [PGUP] will fast forward the emulation to skip over lengthy operations like tape loaders.

Speccy has an interesting feature of automatically converting ZX beeper sounds into MIDI score and storing the soundtrack to a log for later playback. Choose "Audio | Convert Wave To Melody" and then "Audio | Log Melodic Sound" menu options to enable this feature.

[Picture] What is Speccy?
Although I had done some ZX-related work in the past and even maintained comp.sys.sinclair FAQ at some point, for many years I abstained from writing a Sinclair ZX Spectrum emulator. It was mostly due to the fact that there are so many other Spectrum emulators around, so writing another one seemed redundant. On the other hand, the lack of a Speccy emulator felt like a gaping hole on my resume . So, here it is, yet another Spectrum emulator, trivially named Speccy. Currently, Speccy is not a commercial project but rather a test bed to try out different things before introducing them into my other emulators. Thus, feel free to use it as you wish (as long as it is not commercial). If you find a bug, have an idea on the further Speccy development, or would like to port Speccy to a new platform, please, let me know.

Licensing Speccy
Speccy is written in portable C language and will work on any sufficiently fast computing platform, be it a computer, a videogame console, a PDA, a cell phone, a DVD or MP3 player, or even a digital camera. If your company considers using ZX Spectrum emulation in its products, you can license the Speccy source code from me. I am also available for consulting work in the software emulation, embedded programming, and other fields. See my resume and contact me if interested.