Spectrum Computing

Morkin wrote: ↑Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:18 pm Ah, sorry, I didn't read your post properly, you did say the debugger

Absolutely no worries Like you say, just trying it out more will help me figure stuff out. Same goes for loading disassembly into SpecEmu... will report back with or without any breakthroughs

(2) CTRL+F seems to work OK for me (on Windows)? There's a forward/backward option, so you have to be aware of where your cursor is in the listing (e.g. at the start or end). Thanks [mention]Morkin[/mention] - appreciate your help. I still may be missing something obvious :oops: but CTRL+F only wor...

So this is starting to be fun! Small fry of course but I've dabbled with breakpoints at various points in gameplay, changed the number of lives (obviously :D) and even modified the game over stats. The reverse engineered aticatac.asm is a revelation, and I'm like a kid in a sweetshop! I'm trying out...

https://i.imgur.com/oKyEvUg.png I started with source from link you are provided. At least hexadecimal numbers must be started with $. All define byte "db" change to "defb". All define word "dw" change to "defw". All define string "ds" change to &qu...

I'm not familiar with EmuZWin so can't offer any help there unfortunately but if you're simply wanting to assemble the source then download the pasmo assembler (I use version 0.6.0 but 0.5.4 will probably work fine too) and use the following command line to build :- pasmo --tzxbas aticatac.asm atic...

Coincidentally I took my first steps this weekend and I'm already flat on my face!

I've tried to cut and paste mrcook's atictac.asm into the assembler but on compiling EmuZWin stops responding?

Any pointers on what to try next are gratefully received.

Looks like I'm a bit late to the party, but I can share my experience with the Jetpac disassembly . 1. Choose a game you like. This is super important. It'll be harder to maintain your motivation on a game that doesn't interest you that much. However, some games are encrypted which can make it diff...

Bedazzle wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:41 pm If you need some little help later, just ask, and if I know, I'll try to help.

Appreciate it! Gotta say that although I've only been around 5 minutes, I'm impressed with the supportive vibe on the forum

There is no silver bullet, better if you know all the available tools, and can choose what suits better in particular case. Of course, there are situations, where no tool exist, and you create your own... Good advice, and taken on board. Time to get my hands dirty, to get learning, and actually hav...

Skoolkit - free and can produce compilable asm source. Good point. Ghidra - free and feature rich tool with possibility to use custom scripting (Java or Python). Great, but I found not how to configure it to some of my needs. IDA pro - commercial, feature rich, custom scripts. The best. For emulato...

Yup. It’s better to start with games that draw directly to the screen. Makes perfect sense. Thanks again [mention]Ast A. Moore[/mention] Maybe I'm just putting off starting, but I returned to the question of why I'm so keen to reverse engineer? Others may have different answers but for me I want to...

I'd suggest picking a game you have a particular interest in, rather than a 'simpler option' for practice. I didn't realise how long a supposedly simple game would actually take (even if it's only 16k). I tried a practice disassembly and lost motivation after spending days/weeks battling with the i...

What I've done with my disassembly projects is to make batch files (or bash scripts if you're on linux I guess) to automate the process of generating a "build" as it were from my skoolkit .ctl file. Essentially just to hide all the command line options away so I can simply type skool.bat[...

Trans Am might be a tad on the difficult side for beginners, because it has “off-screen” elements. Then again, it all depends on how thorough you want to be. Start by reverse engineering simple things, such as the menu and the controls. Build on that. Good advice even if part of me doesn't really w...

This is mighty impressive! And inspiring...

SKOOLKIT Skoolkit 8.2 Reverse engineering ZX Spectrum (Z80) games ASSEMBLERS/EMULATORS Zx Spin FUSE DISASSEMBLERS Ghidra Z80 First Steps in Z80 Assembly Language Darryl Sloan The definitive "teach yourself machine code" text? How to Write ZX Spectrum Games v1.1 by Jonathan Cauldwell Thank...

One of the better debugger I’ve seen is the one in SpecEmu. A very capable emulator, too. Tapir is great for examining the contents of TZX files, if you’re up to cracking unusual copy-protection schemes. On a more general note, tools are only as good as the person using them, so I strongly recommen...

Being 'non-technical', it took a while to get the basics of Skoolkit, but it's definitely worth it. You don't know how much that encourages me to get stuck in! Thanks Morkin When I last dabbled I've used Spin too, which is great, though it did seem to crash a lot. Could be my code of course. Are th...

I'm eager to dive into some reverse engineering but at the same time I'm kinda feeling like Bugaboo before his descent! It's dark and confusing down there and it could easily end badly :o So I'd be immensely grateful of any tips for the best tools for the job. Disassemblers (Skoolkit looks awesome i...

Hi everyone, Hooked from the 1980s the humble Spectrum still casts it's spell Revisiting the old classics retains it's magic plus I'm a stop/start Z80 dabbler. Back in the day, I'd record disassembly in the back of a school exercise book and reaching a game's main menu was a success! :D With a bit o...