Amstrad emulators

[necronom]

Is there one that actually works?

I was playing Bomb Jack on the C64 and Spectrum earlier and thought I'd have another go at the Amstrad CPC one. I don't know how I managed it in the past, but I can't get any of them to work properly.

I've tried:

WinApe - Joystick didn't work, which seems a common problem
Caprice32 - No menu settings of any kind. Lines over screen, can't drag/drop files to it. Generally horrible to use, so gave up.
Arnold - Tiny screen, or horrible line covered full screen mode which I couldn't get out of. Probably other problems, but didn't have it on very long before deleting.

Anything else worth trying?

All I want is an emulator that displays the screen properly, allows me to open files and use the joystick, using a menu and config screens. I'm not asking for any more than the bare minimum.

It's probably too late to put some comments on the Bomb Jack "Lets all play" thread, but I thought I should have a working CPC emulator anyway.

[Eric]

WinApe - Joystick didn't work, which seems a common problem
Caprice32 - No menu settings of any kind. Lines over screen, can't drag/drop files to it. Generally horrible to use, so gave up.

WinApe:-
Setting Menu, Input Tab, Enable Joystick tickbox.

Caprice:-
Tools Menu, Options, Video Tab - Rendering Style drop down Select "Line Doubling"

[necronom]

WinApe:-
Setting Menu, Input Tab, Enable Joystick tickbox.

That was on, which is the problem that other people also have. The setting doesn't seem to do anything even though Windows (and every other piece of software I've ever tried) sees the joystick.

I'd tried switching it off, then back on but nothing changed.

Caprice:-
Tools Menu, Options, Video Tab - Rendering Style drop down Select "Line Doubling"

As mentioned, I can't see any menus at all, so I couldn't do a thing with it. I'd like nothing more than to have a Tools menu

I still have this one installed, so if this is as good as it gets, I'll try to get these hidden menus to appear. I was hoping for something better, since the Amstrad was the third most popular computer.

[Antiriad2097]

You could always revert to JoyToKey to handle the joystick input as keypresses. It does have the added advantage of being able to assign more than one button for games that spread controls between stick and keyboard on the original system.

[Eric]

That was on, which is the problem that other people also have. The setting doesn't seem to do anything even though Windows (and every other piece of software I've ever tried) sees the joystick.

Try in Windows / Control Panel / Game Controllers. Check that the joystick shows in the install list and is working ok. Now click the "Advanced..." button, this should give the following option of "Preferred Device:" for use with older programs. Reload WinApe.
What joystick/joypad do you have? I use an old Microsoft Sidewinder joypad with only a d-pad & 6 six buttons, its possible analogue sticks are not used by WinApe.

As Antiriad 2097 suggests JoyTokey may be your best option. WinApe does have the option to use the numpad as an amstrad joystick so you can at least play joystick only games:- Turn off the NumLock key then use the numpads 2,4,6,8,5,(.) keys

As mentioned, I can't see any menus at all, so I couldn't do a thing with it.

Caprice:- F8 for options menu. ` key (under Esc key usually) to toggle Full Screen / Window mode.

[necronom]

Thanks for the help.

I tried every F key in Caprice, but F8 didn't do anything. F10 quits, and F1 goes fullscreen (which looks hideous).

I might have to put WinApe back on. I enabled my Stelladapter (which I have my Zipstick plugged into), in the advanced section, so that might fix the problem. If not, JoyToKey.

[necronom]

Now click the "Advanced..." button, this should give the following option of "Preferred Device:" for use with older programs.

That did it! Thanks.

I've put my seemingly obvious, but apparently controversial comparison on the Bomb Jack Best Version thread.