The Spectrum

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Published on 22 November 2024 by Andrew Owen (2 minutes)

Having previously worked with Retro Games Limited (RGL) on The A500 Mini and being very familiar with the ZX Spectrum, Chris Smith reached out to me again for help with The Spectrum retro computer.

When RGL created The C64 Mini, it was able to license the firmware, but not the Commodore name. Comcast, the owner of the ZX Spectrum intellectual property, has declined to issue further licenses. It permits use of the firmware in emulators, even commercial ones, but it could withdraw that permission at any point. This led the ZX Touch console to use the open source replacement firmware I developed called OpenSE.

While OpenSE is compatible with a lot of games, it has a user experience that RGL felt was too far away from what users would be expecting. So it contracted me to create a new variant of OpenSE called TokenSE which more closely mimics the original firmware’s behavior.

Besides the 48K and 128K models, the emulator also supports a “universal model” which is a development of the 128Ke specification that I devised. The purpose of the 128Ke was to run as much software as possible on one machine. The emulator goes beyond what was possible by modifying old hardware, and in theory it should run all software released for any official model other than the +3 (which would require disk support).

Chris and I previously worked together on the ULAplus™ replacement video chip for the ZX Spectrum that adds 64 colors on screen at once from a palette of 256 colors. For this project, I created individual palettes for each of the 48 bundled games. The Spectrum also uses the carousel description format I devised for The A500 Mini that was also used in The 400 Mini.

Discover The Spectrum, a beautifully designed masterpiece that belongs in an art gallery, adorned with its signature rainbow colours. This fun, quirky, and extroverted machine brings back the joy of accessible pick-up-and-play games, offering an experience that modern gaming has lost. With its timeless aesthetic and vibrant personality, The Spectrum isn’t just a replica of the iconic Eighties home computer; it’s a work of art that delivers a nostalgic, yet ever-relevant gaming adventure for everyone. Relive The Magic.