Speccy Page

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This page gives you an impression of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, the Speccy. Click on the pictures to hear the sound.

Famous Games

International Karate
Winter Games
Manic Miner
Boulder Dash

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Features

Sound

It did not have any sound chip. One bit on the only port it had switched the speaker (which was about 3cm in diameter) on and off.

Keep this in mind when listening to the sound samples on this page -- they are truly amazing! Multichannel sounds on a 1-bit device in software: Wow!

And by using amazing programming techniques totally unknown today, it sometimes did play music during games. (Though, rarely.)

Graphics

Graphical resolution was 256x192. 8 different colours for background and foreground, combinable with extra brightness and/or blinking. Every 8x8 pixel area could have different colours!

Disk

You had to have an additional interface to connect a disk drive (usually, it was used with a standard cassette recorder). None of my friends had that floppy drive + interface!

Programming

To enter the Basic command beep 1,1 you had to type:

[Caps-Shift]+[Symbol-Shift]
[Symbol-Shift]+Z
1
[Symbol-Shift]+N
1

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Loading a Game

Listen to the following sound files to hear how games sounded on the cassette recorder and how they were loaded into the Speccy.

Warning: Loud and nasty sounds!

Normal speed ROM loader
SpeedLock turbo loader

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International Karate

International Karate: Title International Karate: Game International Karate: Game
Full point red Begin Half point white

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Winter Games

Winter Games

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Manic Miner

Manic Miner: Title Manic Miner: Game

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Boulder Dash

Boulder Dash: Title Boulder Dash: Game

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January 14th, 2013
Comments? Suggestions? Corrections? You can drop me a line.
zpentrabvagiktu@theiling.de
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