Games by Richard Shepherd Software
Most of the Richard Shepherd Software titles (i.e. the LOAD “” CODE variety) which protected you from sniffing around the BASIC using the old MERGE “” method. However, ZX Preview shows you all the source code for these “exciting” games – which were the opposite and were very slow and painful to play.
There is also a utility that Richard Shepherd developed called Cash Controller and it can be found on the Utilities page. It was “protected” with his usual LOAD “” CODE method *but* as soon as you used it’s internal function to install it to a ZX Microdrive, he used SAVE “” and the BASIC could be found.
What’s in each download
Each download will contain the tape image/snapshot of the title plus a number of text files depending on how many parts there were for the title.
Sometimes the .TXT files included were the equivalent of MERGE “” to get at the code, others were a lot harder. For every one, I’ve used ZX Preview to get at the BASIC.
Not all of the titles on this, and the other pages, will use all the possibilities listed in the legend below. The easier ones to port to another language/system will be the ones that used the least of the ZX Spectrum’s functionality.
The majority of the TXT files with the source code will have one command per line – aka ‘Structured mode’ as ZX Preview calls it. This, to my mind, makes it easier to understand and read through if you’ve never seen a ZX BASIC code listing before. There might be some still using a normal list, but I’ll replace those as and when I find them.
Table Legend:
UDGs = Code uses UDGs within the Print statements. UDGs are either POKEd via BASIC, or loaded from tape.
Font = Uses a new font to replace the standard Sinclair font. BASIC will poke 23606 & 23607 with the new address.
Z80 = Uses Z80 machine code, either in separate files or in REM statements within the BASIC code.
MS = Uses Memory Savings (see this page) to save precious bytes for the target machine(s).
EC = Uses Embedded Colours (as well as, or instead of BORDER, PAPER & INK commands)
EG = Uses Extended Graphics (The little square shapes available in Extended Mode)
| Game Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| Devils of the Deep | Download | Y x1 | N | N | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others) |
| Everest Ascent | Download | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others) |
| Invincible Island (by Pete Cooke, not Richard Shepherd) | Download | Y | N | Y – stored at top end of 48K | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others) (What does the Z80 code do?) |
| Shaken not Stirred (re-released as Super Spy but without any references to James Bond films) | Download | Y x8 | N | N | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others) |
| Jackpot & Submarine | Download | Y | N | Submarine only | N | Y | Y | A few long forgotten “arcade” games from the same company. No idea if RS coded these or others did. |
| Ship Of The Line (16K & 48K, plus other releases) | Download | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others). Spectrum Computing listed numerous releases of this game, and all have been included. All versions have an option to save from the menu (as a CODE file, as per usual) but you can exit to BASIC by typing in “ljh590x” when prompted. |
| Super Spy (re-release without any references to James Bond characters) | Download | Y x8 | N | N | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others) |
| Transylvanian Tower | Download | Y x8 | N | N | N | Y | Y | System variables used (TIMER and others) |
Note: Ski Star and Urban Upstart use pure Z80 code (or at least, a lot more than Richard Shepherd’s developed games) and were coded by Pete Cooke.