Chroma 81 - SCART and Colour interface for the ZX81

[zx4ever]

These days I tried some colorized games for the Chroma 81 interface from here http://www.fruitcake.plus.com/Sinclair/ ... urised.htm and I have some questions about it.
Most of these games come with color files (.col) and must be created with a utility such as Chroma Program Enhancement Creator.
My problem is that this utility will not work on my pc with windows 7 32bit, just gives a splash screen at launch with error message "Unhandled exception has occured ..." as in this picture.


Does anyone know how to fix this or maybe someone can share a link with prepared colorized .p files, ready for use on the Chroma interface?
I would like to try all the colorized games like 3d Monster maze, Quack, Ant Attack, Flight simulator etc, but for now I have only a few already converted, which I found on youtube.
Thanks in advance.

[zx4ever]

I solved the problem by reinstalling windows.
Now everything works well.

[Fruitcake]

I solved the problem by reinstalling windows.
Now everything works well.

Good news!!

[zx4ever]

Yes, exactly.
In fact, I have found now, the exact reason why this error occurs.
For some reason, this happens only if the global font size in windows 7 has increased from smaller 100% to eg. medium 125%, as I did because the default font size was always very small.
These settings are located in the Control Panel / Display and can be easily reproduced.
Could you possibly fix this issue?
Google says that a very small number of applications suffer from this problem, which can be very frustrating until we realize what is the real cause of it.

[Fruitcake]

Good find!

I've had a look and there isn't a quick fix to this with the current code base. The program will need some reworking to properly support auto-scaling to the selected font size. I'll add it to my list of things to be do. Unfortunately for now you'll now to keep the font size at 100%.

[Fruitcake]

A plastic case for the Chroma interface is now available. It is 3D printed and coloured black, with a red reset button to match the red logo of the ZX81's case. All sockets of the interface are exposed, with a hinged cover over the ROM cartridge socket.

The case is composed of two parts that are held together with screws. Fitting the case is therefore just a matter of screwing the top and bottom halves together (using a small cross head screwdriver).

An optional logic update is available that adds support for CHR$128 UDG graphic mode and also widens the tolerance for more extreme video displays generated by custom driver routines. All boards shipped in 2018 have the updated logic programmed into them by default. It is possible to update the board yourself if you have the necessary CPLD programming equipment, or else it can be returned to me for updating.

You can contact me via www.fruitcake.plus.com if you wish to obtain a case for your Chroma board and/or to return your board for updating with CHR$128 UDG mode support. If you are not sure whether your board has the latest logic then contact me and I can let you know.

[Lardo Boffin]

Heres mine with my own custom sticker! Top stuff.

[kmurta]

Hello everyone!

In the vacant hours I have been working on the colorization of some games and I want to share it with you. In the game Glooper the result was not perfect, but this is a good price to pay to not have the entire playfield in monochrome.

ZX Galaxians and Lode Runner have been featured before, but I made some changes and brought them back.

I hope you enjoy it!

P.S.: Paul Farrow, feel free to include all the files on the Chroma 81 website.

chromagamespac.zip

(153.89 KiB) Downloaded 506 times

Edit (14/02/2018): At the suggestion of Paul Farrow, the pills of power in Glooper are now all yellow, which gives to the game a better look.

[Fruitcake]

Hi Kelly

You have been busy!

The thumbnail screenshots look great, like they were designed with colour in mind!!

I look forward to trying them out on real hardware, and will definitely be linking to them from my website.

In the game Glooper the result was not perfect, but this is a good price to pay to not have the entire playfield in monochrome.

I think Magenta tends to get used less often as a main colour and so your use of it for Glooper makes the game stand out from the others. In fact it looks like you've fairly evenly made use all the colours. It will be very interesting to see how the game appear when running at full size.

Paul

[kmurta]

In the game Glooper the result was not perfect, but this is a good price to pay to not have the entire playfield in monochrome.

I think Magenta tends to get used less often as a main colour and so your use of it for Glooper makes the game stand out from the others. In fact it looks like you've fairly evenly made use all the colours. It will be very interesting to see how the game appear when running at full size.

Here the problem is with the yellow dots, they are also used in the construction of the maze and the characters. But I thought it better to leave it than to use the same color for everything. The ideal would be to change the game and incorporate the colors using attribute mode, but at the moment I do not have the time available for this. Go to the to-do list.