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The ZX Spectrum Next - Kickstarter Now Live! : Now Funded!

Robo_1

By Robo_1
in Retro & Arcade Gaming

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AceGrace

AceGrace

Posted
Posted

A bit off topic but I've just found out I need to solder the real time clock onto the board, at least the battery holder, chip holder and crystal.

 

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron kit that isn't too expensive?

 

I would prefer a kit that has a a holder and extra tips etc...

 

 

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luth714

luth714

Posted
Posted

I got to fire mine up last night - as I don’t have a monitor (just my 2009 iMac which it sounds like you slightly might be able to connect it to with the right lead) I’ve gone with hdmi into the TV which has worked with no issues.

 

Found it slightly overwhelming to start with going through the manual and trying to grasp certain things - there was a fig 6 which confused me and I still can’t find. Nor could I get the ERROR ON line to work when trying that, unless I completely misunderstood.

 

I’m feeling a complete n00b with all of this as maybe I was expecting a bit more of a user friendly front end with it all...and feel a bit stupid asking on the Facebook page :)

 

i have no idea how to put more games on here (must have a hard drive folder of Spectrum games on my Mac but not sure if they’re tap/ tzx/ sna flies and hear contradictory lines about compatibility) but not sure if it’s a case of taking out the sd card to put them on, or putting another sd card in a usb card transfer thing in the back? But then sounds like command lines to copy over?

 

i backer the all singing and dancing accelerated model but my memory is only showing as around 768k - could something have gone amiss?

 

Also looked to see how to hook up the WiFi (as wasn’t there a plan to link to wos database of games...or was that the Vega?) But all I can see in the manual is a bunch of command lines which maybe are easy but to me seem intimidating (and once it is connected I don’t understand how you’d go online)

 

Maybe the manual will come to it, but apart from snapshots of 48k and 128k games using the multiface thing on the side I don’t know how to save type ins from nextbasic to the sd card, nor where it saves them to - got a bunch of type in stuff I’d like to work through separately from the manual but save them as a go along or have to switch the machine off.

 

I don’t understand where I get the other cores from (for some reason I thought they were preloaded) so all I can see are the Spectrum variants...nor where games are added to them (but then have also seen only about 1 core will work over hdmi ??? Can that be right?)

 

i had wondered closer to delivery if perhaps it wasn’t going to be the thing I was expecting - aimed more at a programming crowd than a simpleton like me who is just used to drag and drop emulation - and much that I do want to try and use the Next Basic and see if I can FINALLY crack understanding it 35 years later :) (Currently feeling - my head can’t cope with it :) )

 

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Camel

Camel

Posted
Posted

Just put your games into your SD card. No command lines required. Use the browser to select and load them.

 

sna and tap files will work off the bat. tzx require use of the pi. I don't have a pi so can't advise there.

 

Using other cores requires a bit of effort. In short:

 

place the core's bit file into the root directory

rename it core001.bit

power off the Next, then power it on holding down C

follow on-screen instructions

With your Next back on, go into Next BASIC and type reg 16,255 and hit enter

 

Most cores are VGA only. Done require BIOS files and such. Arcade cores require you to rotate your monitor. You'll have to read the notes with each one.

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Swainy

Swainy

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, luth714 said:

I got to fire mine up last night - as I don’t have a monitor (just my 2009 iMac which it sounds like you slightly might be able to connect it to with the right lead) I’ve gone with hdmi into the TV which has worked with no issues.

 

Found it slightly overwhelming to start with going through the manual and trying to grasp certain things - there was a fig 6 which confused me and I still can’t find. Nor could I get the ERROR ON line to work when trying that, unless I completely misunderstood.

 

I’m feeling a complete n00b with all of this as maybe I was expecting a bit more of a user friendly front end with it all...and feel a bit stupid asking on the Facebook page :)

 

i have no idea how to put more games on here (must have a hard drive folder of Spectrum games on my Mac but not sure if they’re tap/ tzx/ sna flies and hear contradictory lines about compatibility) but not sure if it’s a case of taking out the sd card to put them on, or putting another sd card in a usb card transfer thing in the back? But then sounds like command lines to copy over?

 

i backer the all singing and dancing accelerated model but my memory is only showing as around 768k - could something have gone amiss?

 

Also looked to see how to hook up the WiFi (as wasn’t there a plan to link to wos database of games...or was that the Vega?) But all I can see in the manual is a bunch of command lines which maybe are easy but to me seem intimidating (and once it is connected I don’t understand how you’d go online)

 

Maybe the manual will come to it, but apart from snapshots of 48k and 128k games using the multiface thing on the side I don’t know how to save type ins from nextbasic to the sd card, nor where it saves them to - got a bunch of type in stuff I’d like to work through separately from the manual but save them as a go along or have to switch the machine off.

 

I don’t understand where I get the other cores from (for some reason I thought they were preloaded) so all I can see are the Spectrum variants...nor where games are added to them (but then have also seen only about 1 core will work over hdmi ??? Can that be right?)

 

i had wondered closer to delivery if perhaps it wasn’t going to be the thing I was expecting - aimed more at a programming crowd than a simpleton like me who is just used to drag and drop emulation - and much that I do want to try and use the Next Basic and see if I can FINALLY crack understanding it 35 years later :) (Currently feeling - my head can’t cope with it :) )

 


All the Spectrum Cores are included, you press the space bar at start up to select them but if you are using an SD card to load games there isn’t really any point changing to another Spectrum core as the default one gives you the option to load in 48k mode, 128K ect.

 

As for the memory only showing as 768k, that’s because the operating system uses the rest up. You can add more memory, you can buy it at https://store.activeconsult.co.uk

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Vimster

Vimster

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Camel said:

Just put your games into your SD card. No command lines required. Use the browser to select and load them.

 

sna and tap files will work off the bat. tzx require use of the pi. I don't have a pi so can't advise there.

 

Loading TZX files gives you a different page of options but it's essentially the same.

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luth714

luth714

Posted
Posted

Thanks all - was just concerned about the pi as the manual showed a menu with something like 1486k and 728k without...

 

Do I presume I’m running the latest version of nextos or do I need to take out the sd card and download something to it? Using a Mac so always have concerns with stuff when using that?

 

Yeah found the Spectrum cores bit and get that - just seen people playing a Beeb and being Mac based never seen a Been emulator so was curious for that...

 

And so basically to add the games just pull the sd card out and transfer over as with other emulators?

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Swainy

Swainy

Posted
Posted

Yeah, so put the SD card in your Mac and just drop spectrum files into the classic games folder (or create a new folder and name it what ever you want).

 

As for saving basic, type: SAVE “program name.bas”

 

If you want the basic program to run as soon as its loaded, it would be something like this: SAVE “programname.bas” LINE 1 (or whatever the first line number is.

 

Hope that makes sense. Oh and that will save the program in whatever folder you were last in. So create a folder that you want to save your programs in.

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luth714

luth714

Posted
Posted

Great, thanks Swainy!

 

On the learning BASIC front - I've obviously got the Spectrum Next manual, a couple of games listings books (one of which starts off with working through keyboard inputs, joystick inputs, moving something, collision detection etc, one that Spectrum Coders Club from recent years I think) and a load of INPUTs in the loft :) but also heard the original Usbourne book would be a good one...

 

Any particular recommendations for an aging dolt like me to grasp?

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Swainy

Swainy

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, luth714 said:

Great, thanks Swainy!

 

On the learning BASIC front - I've obviously got the Spectrum Next manual, a couple of games listings books (one of which starts off with working through keyboard inputs, joystick inputs, moving something, collision detection etc, one that Spectrum Coders Club from recent years I think) and a load of INPUTs in the loft :) but also heard the original Usbourne book would be a good one...

 

Any particular recommendations for an aging dolt like me to grasp?


Well I’m no expert but what I do is look at other people’s code and simply mess about with it to see what it’s doing. Change code to see what a difference it makes. Feel free to look at the code in Advanced Lawn Mower Simulator, you will see that it uses a .wav sample for the game over speech, .bmp files for the loading screen, in game graphics ect. 
 

There’s some great videos out there, they will all help. I just wish that I had more free time to learn more myself.
 

 

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luth714

luth714

Posted
Posted

GAH, my work PC laptop isn't recognising the Spectrum Next sd card - inserted into micro sd slot, said it wasn't recognized and wanted to do something to it...tried it in a SD card holder, laptop beeping to say it knows something has been inserted but not showing the card...(told you I'm useless with all of this :) )

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Lorfarius

Lorfarius

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, luth714 said:

GAH, my work PC laptop isn't recognising the Spectrum Next sd card - inserted into micro sd slot, said it wasn't recognized and wanted to do something to it...tried it in a SD card holder, laptop beeping to say it knows something has been inserted but not showing the card...(told you I'm useless with all of this :) )

 

Was the card formatted as Fat32?

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luth714

luth714

Posted
Posted

Ah, found a different old SD card USB dongle and it's showing on the Mac...so hopefully get the games in there.

 

Will have to sift through and find the 128k games from amongst it all :)

 

Looking forward to playing that fixed Werewolves Of London and finally finishing it :)

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Lorfarius

Lorfarius

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, luth714 said:

Well, it's the sd card that has the operating system on it so I'd presume it was PC based? Dunno :)

 

You need to format the card for a PC and the Next to read. Just right click the drive on your computer and click Format. Under File System select Fat32, tick Quick Format then Okay. When it's done copy the files onto it and off you go. Will need to do that in future if you want to use different cards.

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