Short: Windows BMP -> Spectrum TAP/Screen$ Author: l.d.tonks@bra0202.wins.icl.co.uk (Blood) Uploader: unsatisfactory bigfoot com (Chris Young) Type: gfx/conv Version: 1.0 Requires: Spectrum emulator capable of reading .tap files (eg ZXAM) Architecture: m68k-amigaos and a program capable of saving BMPs BMP2SPEC is a program capable of CREATING Spectrum screen files. Now this is something I've being wanting to do for ages - draw a picture (or simply scan one in) and save it in a format readable by a Spectrum (emulator). Unfortunately, as I have just compiled the original C source code without changing it, this isn't very Amiga-specific. Please bear in mind the following points; 1. The source file MUST be a Windows BMP, and has to be in two colours and a specific size. Using just any old BMP will NOT work! You must have a program capable of saving/converting BMPs. PPaint is perfectly capable of saving these, and most graphics convertors have an option to save in this format. 2. The output file is in Z80 .TAP format. The only Amiga Spectrum emulator I know of that can load these is ZXAM 2.0b (and even that can't do it directly). There is a program called "Butcher" available which can convert .tap files into individual .header and .bytes, usable by most (if not all) Amiga Speccy emulators. 3. After pulling my hair out wondering why the program worked one minute and then decided to crash the next for no apparent reason, I discovered it needs quite a large stack. Give it a stack of at least 50000 by typing; STACK 50000 in the shell before running this program. It *WILL* crash otherwise - you have been warned. 4. This is a CLI program, so don't expect a pretty GUI or file requestor. You *MUST* read the included BMP2SPEC.TXT - you will not be able to use the program without reading it! As I said, I have simply compiled the source "as is". The only modification I've made to the original code is adding an Amiga-style version string. This archive is more-or-less the same as the original PC one, the only differences being; a) the executable is an Amiga one, rather than the PC version b) the example spectrum screens have been removed in favour of an example BMP and corresponding TAP file. I think this is a better idea, as it allows you to test the program immediately. c) the original source code is included, as well as my minimally altered version. If you want to see any new features, then please contact Blood (but bear in mind that they will end up in a PC version initially, and you will be relying on someone converting/recompiling it for the Amiga) If you want to see a completely new (but similar) program for the Amiga, featuring file requesters, datatypes loading, dynamic re-scaling, colour and the possibility to save in .tap, .header/.bytes and raw .scr formats then please contact me - preferably with mountains of information on how to load Datatype pictures. You never know, I might create "DT2SCR" or something if enough people are interested. Contact: Chris Young Visit Your Sinclair: A Celebration at; http://homepages.enterprise.net/cavan/ysac/ Or Unsatisfactory Software at; http://www.bigfoot.com/~unsatisfactory/software.html