ZX Spectrum

[Upstream illustration: zx_spectrum]

The ZX Spectrum was an 8 bit series of home computers released by Sinclair Research in 1982.

Emulators: lr-fuse, FBZX, Fuse

ROMS

Accepted File Extensions: sna .szx .z80 .tap .tzx .gz .udi .mgt .img .trd .scl .dsk

Place your ZX Spectrum ROMs in

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/zxspectrum

Video Overview:

[Upstream illustration: ZX Spectrum Video]

Controls

lr-fuse

lr-fuse utilises Retroarch configurations

Add custom retroarch controls to the retroarch.cfg file in

/opt/retropie/configs/zxspectrum/retroarch.cfg

For more information on custom RetroArch controls see: RetroArch Configuration

By default,

• Buttons A, X and Y are mapped to the joystick's fire button, and button B is mapped to the UP directional button.
• Buttons L1 and R1 are mapped to RETURN and SPACE, respectively.
• The SELECT button brings up the embedded, on-screen keyboard.

If you are using more than one joystick, then it is worth reading the official documentation at lr-fuse Github page.

The default joystick emulated by lr-fuse is the Cursor joystick. If you wish to set Kempston as your default, then add the following line to the file /opt/retropie/configs/all/zxspectrum/retroarch.cfg:

input_libretro_device_p1 = "513"

Running a 48K Machine

Some ZX Spectrum games require a 16K machine (e.g. Deathchase) or will run only on a 48K machine, for example, titles from Ultimate Play The Game such as Atic Atac and Jetpac.

By default, lr-fuse emulates the 128K machine but it is possible to emulate a given ROM in a 48K machine via loading the ROM, changing the Core Option per-ROM for Model (needs Content file) to 48k (see Setting Core Options per-ROM), then exiting and re-loading the ROM.

Joypad to Keyboard Mapping

Thanks to forum member @pjft's contribution to lr-fuse, it is possible to play ZX Spectrum games without a need for a keyboard. This is useful for games that don't support joysticks such as Chuckie Egg and for games that require keyboard input in addition to a joystick (e.g. Head Over Heels).

1. Launch a game you wish to map a joypad to a keyboard.
2. Launch the RGUI by pressing hotkey+X and navigate to Quick menu -> Options. In the menu, assign a key to joypad buttons Joypad Left mapping, Joypad Right mapping etc. as required. Below is an example for Chuckie Egg.

[Upstream illustration: RetroArch Options menu for Chuckie Egg]

1. Exit the RGUI and test in-game if necessary.
2. To save, return to Quick menu -> Options in the RGUI and select Game-options file. This will save the mappings to a game specific options file.