Massive CSpect Update

This version has been a long time in coming with the last public version being back at the end of March! There are some great updates in this build, from supporting overscrolling, to directly supporting z88dk map files. The full change list is show below.

There’s also the start of a debugger overhaul, with it now being resizable – though I will say if you’re on a 4k monitor, please use the new -dscale command line for now, or you’ll need a magnifying glass to see anything!

There’s also a new ZXOS.BAT file, which will – I hope, automatically download and install the ZXOS SD card for you, making it easier than ever to run the full machine.

I’ve also added .sh files for Linux, and they should be runnable out of the zip, though for some reason MacOS doesn’t like these, and you’d need to “chmod 777 xxxxxx” the files.

The biggest change is the new ULA Overlay support. And it does affect you if you’re a coder, so it’s worth calling out.  The ULA banks 10,11 and 14 are overlays on top of the normal RAM, so you need to be aware of how you access memory using layer 2 banking and z80 MMU. This is now fully supported, and will give you access to that extra 24k of RAM.

A BIG shout out to the Next team, and my Builder Patreons who helped test this over a prolonged period, and the rest of my Patreons for their support, and final testing. It’s been a huge help, and has aided in delivering a far more stable build to everyone else.

There will no doubt sill be issues, so please report these via my discord, or itch.io.

Beyond that – please enjoy!!

v3.0.15.2

• Updated new Poke/Peek command access to ULA bank 14 - due to another typo

v3.0.15.1b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed a typo in DeZog plugin that caused a hang.

v3.0.15.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed flicker on Sprite Plugin (by David Reihpas)
• Added new iCSpect peek/poke physical that allows for the ULA overlay access
  • byte[] PeekPhysicalULA(int _address, int _count); 
  • byte PeekPhysicalULA(int _address); 
  • void PokePhysicalULA(int _address, byte[] _value); 
  • void PokePhysicalULA(int _address, byte _value);  
• Updated DeZog plugin to use new ULA peek/poke (above) so loading works
• Fixed ULA/tilemap setting when address is $0000-$1FFF and bank is 10,11 or 14

v3.0.14.1b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed MacOS Crash

v3.0.14.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed 1bit tilemap rendering
• Added "-dscale" command line option, to double the size of the debugger text (in case you find bits hard to read, also remember "-thin")

v3.0.13.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed "Poke" into ULA Bank 10/11.
• iCSpect plugin interface changes. Set/Get NextRegisters can now specify the "index" of a multi entry register (windows etc)
• NextReg window moved to key "<Ctrl><Shift>R" due to windows 11 eating that previous key
• Fixed NextReg Window displaying the "window" registers - were often out of order
• Fixed ULA Border rendering
• Fixed Invalid window rendering for ULA/Tilemaps - maximises window size
• Fixed Poke into ULA banks when in some specific memory ranges

v3.0.12.1b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed Mac and Linux download and install of OS - removed lockout. However still isn't right. Takes hours to download...
• Fixed the debugger resizing when sound is enabled.
• Fixed "-mouse"
• Fixed NEX file loading - rewrote for Bank 5 and 7 (ULA overlays and Tilemap loading)

v3.0.12.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Added .sh files for Linux to run demos.
• EXEs and .sh files should now be marked as executable for Linux/Mac.
• New hdfmonkey folder added with exes for Windows, Mac and Linux included to help with SD card manipulation.
• New method of downloading and installing SD card image added.
• Missing ZXOS.BAT/ZXOS.sh files added - will run the OS, downloading the SD card if needed.
• Finally fixed console output for logging and DebugOut plugin

v3.0.11.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed an audio crash when playing sound and you load a large-ish file.
• Plugins for EXE trapping now uses the returned byte for TState addition (usually 0)
• Updated main loop mid line audio "tick" to help stop mistaken extra calls

v3.0.10.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• You can now read/write under the ULA BRAM memory using Layer 2 read/write modes
• Layer 2 can now use banks 10,11 and 14 without corrupting ULA memory banks
• CTRL+U now toggles showing UNDER the ULA memory in "physical" memory dump window (when using m bank:offset mode)
• Debugger Memory editing can now edit ULA or Physical memory
• ULA Screen updated to use new ULA memory
• Time Hires updated to use new ULA memory
• Timex Hi-Colour updated to use new ULA memory
• Lowres updated to use new ULA memory
• Tilemap updated to use new ULA memory

v3.0.9.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Updated Overscroll demo to be a full 1600x256 lemmings level
• Added new C (z88dk) overscroll road sample.
• Added a frame sync timer, use "-timer" to disable (windows only)

v3.0.8.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed a bug setting of the file position while trying to open a file.
• Re-enabled the console so the debugout works again.
• Updated readme for SD image file website.
• Added 320x256 X over scroll mode
• Added 640x256 X over scroll mode
• Added 256x192 Y over scroll mode
• CTRL+L in debugger now toggles labels
• OverScroll demo added. Runable BAT/NEX file, and source included.

v3.0.7.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Fixed a bug in loading z88dk files when a section PAGE_?? is defined twice.
• Debugger layout is now dynamic and will scale to the size of the window

v3.0.6.0b - Patreon Beta (password protected)

• Added a new "-thin" command line to make the whole debugger view use the thin font, allowing longer labels (mainly for z88dk)

v3.0.5.0b - Patreon Beta  (password protected)

• -zmap=[path] will now load z88dk map files directly
• Fixed lookup so that z88dk labels will display with correct case, but label search is case insensitive

v3.0.4.0b - Patreon Beta  (password protected)

• Updated esxDOS file position to return directly

v3.0.3.0b - private beta

• Running "ZXOS.BAT" will now Automatic download and installing of ZX Spectrum Next Distro SD card image to "zxnext.sd"