ZEsarUX X

Created by Cesar Hernandez
Sept 12, 2023
4 min read

Happy to announce that ZEsarUX is 10 years old! Let's celebrate it by downloading the new version, ZEsarUX X !

 

😃 🎉🎂🍩🧁

 

https://youtu.be/kpIEw9fi3ZY

 

 

This new ZEsarUX version, called "ZEsarUX X ", is a special edition for the 10th anniversary, so the first ZEsarUX version was born 10 years ago.

 

There are a lot of new features and bug fixes, but the most important are:

 

 

  • Improvements in Network Gaming: Allow to connect more than two hosts (up to 16) and the flash state is sync between al instances. Keep in mind that this ZEsarUX feature allows to play any emulated game at the same time with many friends, every one at his house and connected to Internet. It works for all emulated games, you don't have to modify the games

  • Amstra PCW improvements: Added PCW colour modes (4 or 16 colours) and added PCW Joysticks support: Kempston, Cascade, DKTronics, OPQASpace

  • Text Adventure improvements: Use artificial intelligence (OpenAI) to get realistic images for location description text. Also, added GAC support on Adventure Map and Debug Adventure

  • AY Player improvements: Added playlist management, allow shuffle mode, added silence mode so it skips to next track if detected silence

  • Better menu management: pressing ESC closes all menus, so you don't have to press ESC multiple times to close all submenus

  • Improved Accessibility: Added Sounds for GUI events

  • Added new compiled versions: Ubuntu and Fedora

  • Added another toy "ZXLife" to a new menu Procrastinate

 

Full changelog:

 

  • New things added:

 

Added new compiled versions: Ubuntu and Fedora

Added PCW colour modes

Added PCW Joysticks support: Kempston, Cascade, DKTronics, OPQASpace

Added screen previews of directories and compressed files on File Selector

Added flash support on screen previews on File Selector

Added rom file selection for any machine you select, rom file name is saved on configuration

Added another toy "ZXLife" to a new menu Procrastinate

Added Ascii Table window

Added Creator Info to ZSF snapshots

Added compilation system release to Compile info window

Added Docker support

Added another easter egg ;)

 

  • Improvements:

 

Improved ZENG:

  • Allow to connect more than two hosts (up to 16)

  • Hostnames/IPs accept changing port using ":port"

  • Allow to disable sending input events (keyboard, joystick)

  • Sync flash state between instances

  • Added ZENG support for Jupiter Ace

 

Improved AY Player:

  • Added playlist

  • Added shuffle mode

  • Added silence detection

  • Added show current AY Player song playing on console

 

Improved Text Adventure features:

  • Use artificial intelligence to get realistic images for location description text

  • Added configuration setting for char filter

  • Added configuration settings for Text Adventure Map: follow, show unvisited, show unconnected, show objects, show pictures, zoom level

  • Added export draw strings to external file (txt, asm, c or pas)

  • Preserve zoom level on Text Adventure Map when loading games

  • Added GAC support for Text Adventure Map

  • Added GAC support for Debug Adventure (cpu view 8) supporting:

  • Connections table

  • Dictionary

  • Objects

  • Verbs

  • Adverbs

  • Locations

  • Messages

 

Improved ZX Vision:

  • New menu behaviour:

  • ESC key always closes all menus

  • When closing a window that's created from a menu, all menus will be closed

  • Cursor left go back to the previous menu, cursor right activates the item (the same as Enter)

 

  • Added action to put windows in cascade

  • Allow to use your own charset file on ZX Vision

  • Allow to get charset from a game and use as your own charset file on ZX Vision

  • Allow to render only changed pixels (so it speeds up render)

  • Added support for utf-8 characters "ï" and "Á"

  • Process switcher can be set to immutable, so massive actions on menu Windows, like minimize all, cascade, etc, don't affect it

  • Allow to press ESC when selecting a line on a history items

  • Now the window frame changes colour when you move the mouse over the resize zone (bottom right)

  • Improve handling some F-actions/Icons/Redefined buttons: openwindow, linkto-, machineselection

 

Improved ZX Desktop

  • Allow to disable border and footer when switching to full screen

  • When switching to full screen and disable ZX Desktop, windows are restored after disabling full screen

  • Set machine icon now is dynamic and shows machine icon indicated by parameter + an arrow

  • Added ZX Desktop icons for TSConf, Baseconf

 

Improved ZRCP:

  • Allow multiple simultaneous clients

  • Important changes on ZRCP:

  • Before:

  • when a ZRCP connection is broken, cpu-step-mode will be disabled.

  • when a ZRCP connection is closed by "quit", "exit" or "logout" command, cpu-step-mode will be disabled

  • cpu-step-mode can't be disabled from the menu

 

  • Now:

  • when a ZRCP connection is broken, cpu-step-mode is not modified.

  • when a ZRCP connection is closed by "quit", "exit" or "logout" command, cpu-step-mode is not modified

  • cpu-step-mode can be disabled from the menu, pressing ESC

 

Improved ZX Spectrum Next emulation: updated machine id list

Improved Process Management: allow to copy any windows contents to internal clipboard

Improved Accessibility: Added Sounds for GUI events

Improved inserting Real Tape: process is faster and part runs on background

Improved Tape browser: allow browsing P and O files

Improve ZX80 Keyboard help to include Integral Functions

 

  • Fixes:

 

Fixed several memory leaks (thanks to tool valgrind) found on:

  • Drawing Text Aventure Map

  • Loading .Z80 snapshots

  • Using the Speccy online browser

  • Running the Hilow Audio Convert

  • Enabling ZRCP

  • Downloading ZEsarUX extras

  • Downloading ZX Spectrum Next MMC image

  • Syncing file image from File Utilities

  • Copying a folder from File Utilities

  • Showing First Aid Windows

 

Fixed Initialization of Visual memory tables

Fixed ZX Vision windows relocation

Fixed rendering display when CPU is on Top Speed mode

Fixed error when no permissions writing to mmc, ide, trd, dsk, ddh (hilow): disable persistent writes when it happens

Fixed permissions when installing ZEsarUX on Linux: zxuno.flash and tbblue.mmc are now writable by anyone

Fixed Text Adventure Graphics rendering invalid characters

Fixed esxdos handler when using fopen flags: FA_READ + FA_WRITE + FA_OPEN_CREAT

Fixed ZRCP bug when closing connection (socket descriptor was kept open)

Fixed reading ESC key on curses driver

Fixed support for .config files on .dsk

Fixed segfault when: autorewind enabled+insert rwa/smp/wav file as standard tape+end of tape+try to load

Fixed possible segfault when downloading and uncompressing zip files and canceling operation

Fixed compilation when disabling pthreads support

Fixed showing info on Visual Real Tape when inserting a ZX80 audio tape

Fixed segfault on fbdev driver when changing machine

Fixed charset on simulate ZX80/81 Display on Speccy

Fixed simulate real loading when mouse movement

Fixed glitch switching hardware sprites on View Sprites

 

  • Misc Changes:

 

Changed CPC Copy key assignation: now is the End key on your keyboard

 

  • As always, there are some other minor bugfixes and improvements

 

 

You can download the new version from:

 

https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux/releases/tag/ZEsarUX-X

 

Enjoy!

 

César

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