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17
New video modes, shipping date and more
Posted by Henrique Olifiers (Creator)
It has been barely a month since our last big tech update unveiling the new
turbo modes and the Pentagon compatibility, and the team is already announcing
a batch of new features that should make jaws drop. Chieftain amongst them are
the new OP Codes (more on this below), but let's start by introducing the
ULAnext.
A new ULA
The ULA (Uncommitted Logic Array) is the graphics chip in the original Speccy.
There are some variants around such as the popular Timex ULA that can support
64 colours and a higher resolution mode, but nothing quite like the ULAnext.
In a nutshell, the ULAnext allows developers to access new video modes with 512
colours, sprites, scrolling etc. in the same way they used the original ULA.
The ULAnext unlocks graphics that can rival 16 bits computers without taxing
the Next's Z80 CPU, and opens up the possibility of reworking the old game's
visuals via new palettes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJMkcPlE_Ao
With the addition of the ULAnext, the Spectrum Next's new games will look and
play unlike any other 8 bits title, and allow the easy upgrade of existing
games with new palettes capable of breathing new life into old favourites with
minimum effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUR7CRTtDDY
Board shipping date
August is gone and the boards haven't yet left the production line. There's no
easy way to communicate this to the backers, so here it goes: we're facing a
delay between six and ten weeks to ship the Just the Board tier.
While we're not the first crowdfunded campaign to delay a tier, it's hugely
disappointing to the team, who worked hard and had all lined up to deliver on
time. The sole responsibility of the delay lies with me (Henrique), who missed
two crucial points: one, that the RAM sockets unlocked as a stretch goal no
longer existed in the market for almost a decade and a half; and that ordering
certain components for a 3,500 run has a much longer lead-time for delivery
than for the three small test board batches we produced in the past, all of
which took under a month from order to delivery. Not so with this large batch,
unfortunately.
We owe the backers apologies for this delay, and will do everything in our
power to cut it to the shortest possible time. The good news is that the RAM
sockets are shipping shortly, after being resurrected thanks to the lovely
efforts of its original manufacturer. All other components -- despite their
lead times -- are ordered and the production line primed to start as soon as
they arrive in the UK.
The delay of the boards does not impact the January delivery date for the
complete Next, whose case and keyboard continues to develop on schedule.
All that's left for us to do is to promise you, the backers, that when your
boards arrive they'll be packing all the punch we can possibly use the extra
time to add.
New OP Codes
Now we'll get a bit technical, please bear with us. An OP Code is a CPU
instruction. The Z80, like other CPUs, has many of these, each for a specific
function. For instance, functions for addition or subtraction are OP Codes.
Working with the community and developers, Victor and Fabio have been creating
brand new OP Codes for the Spectrum Next Z80 CPU, some of which perform old
functions much more efficiently (faster and/or easier), others introducing
brand new functions altogether.
The team has already implemented 38 new OP Codes, and another 80 are under
consideration. They vary from simple and handy 16 bits multiplication done in
just 4 CPU cycles, to very advanced ones for bitmap resizing, allowing for
instance the effects that make realtime 3D textured games like Wolfenstein
possible.
We'll soon add the full documentation for the OP Codes on the website, allowing
the developers to start trying them out into their new games and applications.
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