There are a large number of Spectrum-related utilites are available for Acorn/RISC OS, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh systems that you can use to convert emulator files between various formats, edit and create screen images, catalogue software collections, etc. This list represents a small selection of those available - please let us know if you are aware of a utility not listed here, and we'll try to include it in the next update.
- BAS2TAP v2.1
BAS2TAP allows you to convert plain text BASIC listings to .tap files for use with an emulator. Available for MS-DOS, Linux, Mac OSX and AmigaOS A copy of the source code is also available. - inRetroSpect v4.0
inRetroSpect is a database application, developed by Chris Bourne using Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, that can be used to maintain your inventory of emulator files, screen images, game reviews/magazine references, POKE values, and a myriad of supplementary information.
Supplied already populated with over 6500 entries, all of which are editable, this is a very comprehensive and powerful application. Existing data can be imported and converted from SGD (see below), and your preferred emulators can be configured to launch directly from within the application. - MakeTZX
v2.31
Created by RamSoft, MakeTZX allows you to produce .tzx files suitable for use with an emulator directly from original cassettes. Available for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows (the WinGUI extension is also available - v0.50), Linux and AmigaOS.
- Mac2Spec v1.00
Mac2Spec is an image editor and conversion tool for MacOS X that allows existing .jpg, .gif, .png images (plus others) to be converted to to .scr files and saved as .tap for use with an emulator. The image can be manipulated and special effects can be applied before export. Written by James Weatherley, Mac2Spec is available as a standalone application, or as a package with source code and samples included. - Spectrum Graphics Editor (SGE)
Developed by Rich Jordan, SGE allows you to view, edit, copy, export and animate Spectrum graphics found in snapshot files. Available for AmigaOS (provided by Chris Young), MS-DOS (link broken) and Microsoft Windows 95/98. Not updated since December 2001. - PDHFIC v3.0
Developed by Chris Young, PDHFIC is an image conversion program for AmigaOS users. Images can be converted to .scr, .tap, .header/.bytes, +3DOS or ZX82 files. Several examples are available, and a suite of associated tools has been developed. - PlayTZX
PlayTZX allows you to play .tzx files through your sound card so they can be loaded directly into a real ZX Spectrum. Available for UNIX (Tero Turtiainen, Fredrick Meunier, v0.12b), MAC OS X (Fredrick Meunier, v0.12b) and MS-DOS (Tomaz Kac, v0.57b). - Spectrum Games Database (SGD)
v2.05
Created by Martijn van der Heide (maintainer of the World of Spectrum), SGD is database application that can be used to catalogue all your emulator game files. Several database files are available to download and use with SGD. Screenshots can be included, and many popular emulators can be launched directly from within the application. Various file formats are compatible, including .trd, .tzx, .z80 and .scr images.
Development of SGD was completed in December 2001, with no planned updates being undertaken. However, SGD is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), with source code available for you to adapt if you feel you can improve on it (read license first) See the SGD download page for more information and system requirements. - SevenuP v0.94 Beta
Written by Jaime Tejedor G�mez, and is available for Microsoft Windows and Linux platforms. SevenuP is one of the most popular graphics editors available. Source code has been released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and can be downloaded from the SevenuP web page (English or Spanish language), or from the World of Spectrum. - Sprite Pack v2.00
Alvin Albrecht has developed a game engine for the Spectrum and Timex/Sinclair 2000 series of computers. The original ZX Spectrum, the Timex TS2068, TC2068, TC2048 and ZX Spectrum SE are directly supported, as is the UK-2068 variant. The Kempston, AMX and Timex Joystick mice are also supported. Several sample applications are available; please see the Sprite Pack web page for more details, and for additional documentation. - Taper v2.07
Developed by Martijn van der Heide, Taper allows you to convert emulator files between different tape (.tap, .tzx, .csw) and snapshot formats (.z80 and .sna - read only) Comprehensive instructions are provided in the program documentation, along with a more complete list of supported formats. Released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), with source code included in the distribution. - TZX2TAP
Created by Tomaz Kac, TZX2TAP is a tiny command-line utilitity that allows .tzx files to be converted to .tap format. Released as Freeware, with souce code available by request.
Tomaz has also produced TAP2TZX, VOC2TZX and PlayTZX, which offer similar functionality for manipulating different formats. - Z80
Tools
v1.1
Z80 Tools is a 'compilation' package of several useful MS-DOS tools, developed by Marian Veteanu. SCR2TAP and SCRUtil are included to help create and manipulate screen images. For developers, a copy of the DASM cross-assembler is included, with BIN2TAP and READCHR completing the collection. No English documentation is included in the distribution, but examples are provided and each tool supports various command line switches which are displayed on use.
Further information about each utility included is available from the Z80 Tools web page. - z88dk v1.50
z88dk is a C cross compiler supplied with an assembler/linker and a set of libraries implementing the C standard library for a number of different z80 based machines. The current version supports 25 different target platforms, including the Cambridge Z88, ZX Spectrum, ZX81, Jupiter Ace, Sam Coupe, Sprinter, etc. Originally developed by Dominic Morris, with ports to other other systems having been developed by Stefano Bodrato, Henk Poley and Dennis Gr�ning.
Various binary releases, and a source code package are available - see the z88dk web page for more details. A patch is available for users of v1.50 (all platforms) from the same location. - zmakebas v1.1
A small Public Domain utility written by Russell Marks that converts Sinclair BASIC programs saved as .txt documents into .tap files for use with an emulator. Source Code is included and can be compiled for use with Linux or MS-DOS.
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