RetroVirtualMachine v2.1.4, an Amstrad CPC emulator
-RetroVirtualMachine v2.1.4 by jcgamestoy was released the 19th January 2023. It's an Amstrad CPC emulator for MacOS, Windows and Linux.
RetroVirtualMachine v2.1.4 by jcgamestoy was released the 19th January 2023. It's an Amstrad CPC emulator for MacOS, Windows and Linux.
Longshot has released version 1.3 of the Amstrad CPC CRTC Compendium (beware, the english version isn't definitive, only the french one is actually) which is a documentation about the CRTC 6845 (and some others circuits). Note that the CRTC is a generic component used in several computers including the IBM PC.
It is possible to check if an emulator is good with the SHAKER tests by Longshot. SHAKER is a program designed to run on CPC machines produced by AMSTRAD in the 80s-90s. The objective of this program is to carry out extensive tests on the video circuits of this machine. These video circuits are the GATE ARRAY and the CRTC 6845. AMSTRAD produced several series of GATE ARRAY and used CRTC models produced by different manufacturers (HITACHI, MOTOROLA, UMC, AMSTRAD). This has been causing compatibility problems on operations that exceed the functional specifications of these circuits. The identified CRTCs are numbered from 0 to 4.
These last years several expansions allows you to use mass storage (USB or sd...) on Amstrad CPC, each needing a ROM to use it correctly.
And if you use two of these expansions, you will need to load two ROMs, so less RAM for your Amstrad CPC.
So Offset did write UniDOS and drivers to be able to use another expansion, needing only one ROM with features being the same whatever the expansion. Unidos can manage actually :
Offset also wrote UniDOS Cartridge Creator (v1.4) which is an utility to create Amstrad Plus cartridges equipped with a patched firmware which allows to add UniDOS and its DOS nodes. You can furthermore configure up to 30 additional tool ROMs (such as Utopia, Maxam, Protext..) in the cartridges (compatible with ParaDOS and Burnin' Rubber) without requiring a real ROM board. The tool also let you automatically download the latest UniDOS ROMs from the official web site.
Unidos v1.50 is a major release with a lot of visible and invisible modifications. All DOS nodes were also updated. For the end user, the most notable update is the full time and date support as well as new RSX. For the developers, new BIOS and node API came up.
Also, since the release of the ACE Amstrad CPC emulator in v1.25, several plugins were upgraded : DK'Tronics speech synthesizer, Techni-Musique and SSA-1 speech, Willy, Nova, Amdrum, Mirage Image, MultiPlay and the PlayCity, Albireo.
CPCEC GTK by NoRecess is an Amstrad CPC(+) emulator under linux, a fork of CPCEC by CNGSoft. Its features are turned especially for people who develop Amstrad CPC software under linux.
Longshot has released version 1.3 of the Amstrad CPC CRTC Compendium (beware, the english version isn't definitive, only the french one is actually) which is a documentation about the CRTC 6845 (and some others circuits). Note that the CRTC is a generic component used in several computers including the IBM PC.
As seen on CPCRulez, the AMSpiriT emulator by Dmanu78 is respecting by a great margin the SHAKER tests by Longshot than other emulators. SHAKER is a program designed to run on CPC machines produced by AMSTRAD in the 80s-90s. The objective of this program is to carry out extensive tests on the video circuits of this machine. These video circuits are the GATE ARRAY and the CRTC 6845. AMSTRAD produced several series of GATE ARRAY and used CRTC models produced by different manufacturers (HITACHI, MOTOROLA, UMC, AMSTRAD). This has been causing compatibility problems on operations that exceed the functional specifications of these circuits. The identified CRTCs are numbered from 0 to 4.
So AMSpiriT is better especially if you like to see Amstrad CPC demos, and can't be bad either for games. I don't have the time to test extensively all Amstrad CPC games, but for sure I will take time during the Benediction Coding Party #2 to use it.
A new version of Amspirit, an Amstrad CPC emulator by Dmanu78 is available on the System.CFG forum for windows. There is a 32 and 64bit version. Reading all the thread is a good idea if you didnt read it already as it's a complete genesis of this emulator.
The thread on CPCWiki is here.
After having released a new version of his Amstrad Notepad NC100, NC150 and NC200 emulator, Russell Marks has just released a new version of his version of CP/M for these same machines : ZCN 1.4, the new features are :
A new version of the Caprice32 emulator maintained by Colin Pitrat is available.
Version 4.6.0 was released the 2th October 2022.
ACE v1.25 by Offset is available. It is available in french, english, germand and spanish (thanks to the translators). New features since v1.24 are :
A SDK exists if you want to program your own plugin for the ACE emulator.
The original Amstrad notepad NC100 emulator was written by Russell Marks. He just released a new version : v1.3 whose main features are :
You can of course use the native ROM of a notepad or use ZCN also by Russell Marks at v1.3 (with a fix if you use the format command). It should also be possible to use CP/Mish by David Given thanks to the NC200 floppy drive emulation.
Longshot has released version 1.2 of the Amstrad CPC CRTC Compendium (July 2022) which is a documentation about the CRTC 6845 (and some others circuits). Note that the CRTC is a generic component used in several computers including the IBM PC.
This version has 226 pages, whereas v1.1 has only 173.
A new version of Amspirit, an Amstrad CPC emulator by Dmanu78 is available on the System.CFG forum for windows. There is a 32 and 64bit version. Reading all the thread is a good idea if you didnt read it already as it's a complete genesis of this emulator.
The thread on CPCWiki is here.
Rainer has released CPCemu v2.5. It's available for MacOS, Android, iOS, Linux (x86_64 and ARM, included Raspberry Pi) and Windows.
This new version is available on the author's web site or on the Google Play store for the Android version.
This new version features :
The last version of the Amstrad CPC emulator CPCEC by César Nicolas Gonzalez, was released the 15th June 2022.
I saw this new windows emulator on theSystem.CFG months ago but I forgot to write about it... Dmanu78 did document all the genesis of his emulator, a very interesting reading in french that I invite you to read.
The thread on CPCWiki is here.
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