Help Wanted

This emulator is relatively new on the scene and on many aspects does things its own way. Although it's getting friendlier with each release and its documentation getting larger (and hopefully clearerJ), there are still many features that aren't well documented and shortcomings that need be addressed.
I haven't actively supported zx32 in the past, and it will be virtually impossible to do so for a very long time in the future. I have tried to ensure that you can obtain the distribution packages at absolutely no charge, but I have other things to do and I'm hard to contact. For these reasons, I'm welcoming your help in supporting and developing the emulator. Here are the main points of interest to me, in no particular order:

• If you've spotted inaccuracies in Spectrum hardware emulation, then send me a report. Please be as specific as you can - at least specify the URL (i.e., ftp://here.or.there/.../somefile.zip) of the file in question, so that I can download and test it myself.
  Bear in mind that if you simply notify me that "Ghosts'n Goblins doesn't work", then chances are that it will continue to do so in the future. If, on the other hand, you send me a report like this one:
  

  "Testing the 1.02.0716 [patch] on my 5100 (Win95), I saw something very strange. I was running Fighter Pilot (from your examples) when I noticed that the numeric output from Fighter Pilot (not the emulator!) was corrupted. Between 300 and 359 degrees, e.g., on the compass, the output showed 200-259 degrees. Fighter Pilot worked, I was able to land the plane OK, it was only numeric values on the display (compass, altitude, speed etc) that was corrupted in certain value ranges. The very same Fighter Pilot was quite OK with e.g. 1.02.0708."
  

  as Bengt Ekberg did, then the DAA bug will be fixed(?) in the next releaseJ.
• If you discover any other bug in the emulator, then please report to me the steps required to reproduce it. You should also detail any information about your system that you have available - at least specify zx32, DirectX and Windows versions.
• If you are uploading ZX Spectrum software then
• You may use ZXS snapshots or RIFF tape and disk images (ZXT and ZXD), if required. Please fill in all the details in file Properties, and check the Technical Tips topic in the help file for additional information.
  Be aware that only zx32 supports these file formats for now and the situation is very unlikely to change in the future.
• Do upload disk images. I don't believe that the contents of the disks/plus3/ NVG directory and the disks/dsk/ WoS one reflect the amount of software released on +3 disks. Furthermore, I can't test how trustworthy my uPD765A emulation really is now and I fail to see any reason to improve it, if no one actually uses this feature.
  I can't tell you exactly how to make disk images of your existing floppies but you can try posting to comp.sys.amstrad.8bit. They do it all the timeJ.
• For TAP tape images of programs that require a specific hardware model, append a short loader at the beginning, that behaves accordingly to the hardware model emulated.
• For disk images, use a 360K or 720K disk format instead of multiple files (if required), and make sure that the 'DISK' (or '*') file needed to auto-load the disk, is present.
• Finally, ensure that the main file (be it CPD, DSK, SLT, SNA, TAP, TZX, Z80, ZXD, ZXS or ZXT) is the first file in any ZIP archive that you may create, and this file is deflated or stored. This warranties that zx32 will be able to open it directly from inside the archive.
• This site is just my second attempt at a home on the Web for zx32 and most likely my final one. Please contact me if you'd like to help me improve it or even better, maintain it yourself in the future.
• If you are artistically inclined, I'd welcome icon redesigns, especially for the (uncharacteristicJ) 16 by 16 pixel ones.
• If you are fairly technically minded, have a good grasp of the Windows 95|NT environment and would like to help other people with problems they may encounter installing or using the emulator, then drop me a note and I'll list your e-mail address in the next release and in these pages.
• I have included a non-technical section in the help file of release 1.03. This is meant to refer to the history of the emulated machines and explain in a friendly and concise manner technicalities like joystick interfaces, model differences, snapshots, tapes and floppy disks. I believe that I'm not in the ideal position to write that section, and I would appreciate your help in improving or completely re-writing my rudimentary effort.
  Some people may doubt it, but I can assure you that you'll receive full credit for any of your work that I may use. If you're interested, e-mail or write to me.
• I'm still looking for answers to questions regarding exactness of hardware emulation in zx32. I'd be grateful if anyone with an intimate knowledge of ZX Spectrum hardware could provide me the following information:
• When and how much exactly, the ULA holds the processor for each model.
• +3DOS ROM patches that will speed up disk accesses.
• Pointers to decent documentation for the uPD765A floppy disk controller.
• An explanation of the Issue 2 and Issue 3+ model differences, if they exist at all. Refer to the Technical Notes topic in the help file, for details.
• If you are a programmer and you would like to contribute to zx32 by developing a 'satellite' utility feel free to contact me and I'll help you in any way I can.

In any case, if you like zx32, at least let me know. E-mail is fine and thanks to all the people who've sent me any. I'd much prefer a postcard, if it's not too much to askJ, though.