Difference between revisions of "Emulators"

From SpecNext official Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(adding warning about newer NextZXOS image required for latest CSpect)
(31 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{EmulatorListTop}}
 
{{EmulatorListTop}}
 +
 +
===== WARNING: =====
 +
 +
The current Next emulators are work-in-progress, missing several features of real HW Next, and emulating other features in less than cycle-accurate way (which become a "norm" for classic ZX Spectrum after two decades of emulators development). The differences in results between real Next and CSpect or ZEsarUX are to be expected - as a developer test your SW also with real HW to find any problems early. It may also help to read the known-bugs pages to have some rough idea what works and how accurately. There're also multiple test-suites and free games and demos which you can try to go through and compare the emulator output with real machine, to get familiar with the differences and adjust your workflow and expectations.
 +
<br><br>
 +
 +
Also make sure to explore the command line options and configuration of each emulator, as there are multiple ways how to run them with different fidelity of emulation. When in doubt, you are welcome to join the official ZX Spectrum Next discord chat and ask for help at #emulator-help channel.
 +
<br><br>
 +
 +
Currently the most UI and performance friendly emulator seems to be #CSpect, the most features/accurate emulation of core3.1.5 (but far from perfect) has ZESERUse (fork of ZEsarUX).
  
 
{{Emulator|name=CSpect
 
{{Emulator|name=CSpect
 
  |author=Mike Dailly
 
  |author=Mike Dailly
  |downloadurl=http://dailly.blogspot.co.uk/
+
  |downloadurl=http://www.cspect.org/
  |description=Emulates many features of the Next and includes an assembler
+
|knownbugspage=CSpect:known bugs
 +
  |description=Emulates many features of the Next and includes a fully featured debugger, complete with 24bit breakpoints and an assembler (pre-made SD card images  [http://www.zxspectrumnext.online/cspect/index.html here]) <br>'''ATTENTION''': since V2.16.0 you need card image with NextZXOS 2.07 (core 3.1.10), otherwise you will see only purple stripes with NextZXOS2.06 (core 3.1.5)
 +
|os=Windows<br>(mac/linux mostlyworks through mono)
 
  |sourceavail=N
 
  |sourceavail=N
 +
|supportsprites=Y
 
  |supportlores=Y
 
  |supportlores=Y
 
  |supportlayer2=Y
 
  |supportlayer2=Y
 +
|supportopcodes=Y
 +
|supporttripleay=Y
 +
|supportsid=N
 +
|supportwifi=Y
 +
|supportspecdrum=Y
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
{{Emulator|name=ZEsarUX
 
{{Emulator|name=ZEsarUX
 
  |author=César Hernández Bañó
 
  |author=César Hernández Bañó
  |downloadurl=https://sourceforge.net/projects/zesarux/
+
  |downloadurl=https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux/releases
  |description=A full feature emulator including a debugger - frequently updated to support Next updates
+
|sourceurl=https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux
 +
|knownbugspage=ZEsarUX:known bugs
 +
  |description=A full feature emulator including a debugger - sometimes updated to support Next (TBBlue)
 +
|os=Any
 
  |sourceavail=Y
 
  |sourceavail=Y
  |supportlores=N
+
|supportsprites=Y
 +
  |supportlores=Y
 
  |supportlayer2=Y
 
  |supportlayer2=Y
 +
|supportopcodes=Y
 +
|supporttripleay=Y
 +
|supportsid=N
 +
|supportspecdrum=Y
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{Emulator|name=NX
+
{{Emulator|name=ZESERUse
  |author=Matt Davies
+
  |author=César Hernández Bañó + Peter Helcmanovsky
  |downloadurl=https://github.com/next-dev/nx
+
  |sourceurl=https://github.com/ped7g/zesarux/tree/tbblue_small_fixes2
  |description=An in-development emulator
+
|knownbugspage=ZESERUse:known bugs
 +
  |description=Currently most complete core3.1.5 emulation based on ZEsarUX 8.2 version (for windows executable check official Next discord or build it yourself - make sure you are building the "tbblue_small_fixes2" branch).
 +
|os=Any
 
  |sourceavail=Y
 
  |sourceavail=Y
 +
|supportsprites=Y
 +
|supportlores=Y
 +
|supportlayer2=Y
 +
|supportopcodes=Y
 +
|supporttripleay=Y
 +
|supportsid=N
 +
|supportspecdrum=Y
 +
}}
 +
 +
{{Emulator|name=Zeus
 +
|author=Design Design
 +
|downloadurl=http://www.desdes.com/products/oldfiles/zeus.htm
 +
|description=A PC cross-assembler which includes a Z80 emulator, which can emulate the ZX Spectrum 48K/128K hardware.
 +
|os=Windows
 +
|sourceavail=N
 +
|supportsprites=~
 +
|supportlores=N
 +
|supportlayer2=N
 +
|supportopcodes=Y
 +
|supporttripleay=N
 +
|supportsid=N
 +
|supportspecdrum=N
 +
|supportsmmu=Y
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
{{EmulatorListBottom}}
 
{{EmulatorListBottom}}

Revision as of 09:07, 14 May 2022

WARNING:

The current Next emulators are work-in-progress, missing several features of real HW Next, and emulating other features in less than cycle-accurate way (which become a "norm" for classic ZX Spectrum after two decades of emulators development). The differences in results between real Next and CSpect or ZEsarUX are to be expected - as a developer test your SW also with real HW to find any problems early. It may also help to read the known-bugs pages to have some rough idea what works and how accurately. There're also multiple test-suites and free games and demos which you can try to go through and compare the emulator output with real machine, to get familiar with the differences and adjust your workflow and expectations.

Also make sure to explore the command line options and configuration of each emulator, as there are multiple ways how to run them with different fidelity of emulation. When in doubt, you are welcome to join the official ZX Spectrum Next discord chat and ask for help at #emulator-help channel.

Currently the most UI and performance friendly emulator seems to be #CSpect, the most features/accurate emulation of core3.1.5 (but far from perfect) has ZESERUse (fork of ZEsarUX).



Name Runs on Source Capabilities
CSpect - Mike Dailly
Emulates many features of the Next and includes a fully featured debugger, complete with 24bit breakpoints and an assembler (pre-made SD card images here)
ATTENTION: since V2.16.0 you need card image with NextZXOS 2.07 (core 3.1.10), otherwise you will see only purple stripes with NextZXOS2.06 (core 3.1.5)
download   known-bugs   
Windows
(mac/linux mostlyworks through mono)
N Sprites
Lores Layer
Layer 2
3xAY audio
Next Opcodes
Specdrum/Covox DAC
Wifi Module
ZEsarUX - César Hernández Bañó
A full feature emulator including a debugger - sometimes updated to support Next (TBBlue)
download   source   known-bugs   
Any Y Sprites
Lores Layer
Layer 2
3xAY audio
Next Opcodes
Specdrum/Covox DAC
ZESERUse - César Hernández Bañó + Peter Helcmanovsky
Currently most complete core3.1.5 emulation based on ZEsarUX 8.2 version (for windows executable check official Next discord or build it yourself - make sure you are building the "tbblue_small_fixes2" branch).
source   known-bugs   
Any Y Sprites
Lores Layer
Layer 2
3xAY audio
Next Opcodes
Specdrum/Covox DAC
Zeus - Design Design
A PC cross-assembler which includes a Z80 emulator, which can emulate the ZX Spectrum 48K/128K hardware.
download   
Windows N Sprites (partial)
Next Opcodes