Strategy / Management Games
This page contains all the-non CCS released strategy games that I could find.
The CCS ones can be found on this page.
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? | CS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| £SD (CRL, 1984) | Download | Y | N | Y | N | N | Y | Multiple-types of betting game with an odd name. Was it supposed to be LSD but the publisher called it this instead? Small set of Z80 routines stored in top area of memory. |
| Arbatax (DE & EN) (Publisher and year of release unknown) | Download | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | I’ve attempted a translation using DeepL (listing included) but it needs some testing done first to make sure all the replacement text fits properly on screen. |
| Battle of Britain (Microgame Simulations. 1983) | Download | Y x2 | N | Y | N | N | N | Uses the SCREEN$ as the map, so convert to another picture format for use on other machines. Tiny bit of Z80 code (24 bytes!) stored at 58580. It’s POKEd in using DATA statements :) |
| Boardroom (Wessexsoft, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | Y | 100% BASIC. |
| Conquering Everest (ASP Software, 1983) | Download | Y x2 | N | N | N | Y | N | Save & Load position via arrays E() & R(). |
| Convoy (Budgie, 1985) | Download | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | Warship Strategy game. A few UDGs and some Z80 code. |
| Deep Space Trading (Mitchell Software, 198?) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Decent length variable names (for a change!). |
| Election (Mastertronic, 1984) | Download | Y | N | N | N | N | N | 100% BASIC. Maybe update it to cover newer elections and change the party names? |
| Great Britain Ltd (Hessel Sofware, 1982) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | Y | 100% BASIC. Contains all four separate releases of the game so you can compare any changes made. |
| Inheritance (Hessel Sofware, 1982) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | Y | 100% BASIC. Contains all three separate releases of the game so you can compare any changes made. |
| Inkosi (Chalksoft, 1984) | Download | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | 100% BASIC. |
| It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (K-Tel, 1983) | Download | Y | N | N | N | Y | Y | UDGs are stored separately on tape. |
| Software House (Cult Games, 1988) | Download | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | New font(s) used. Extra Z80 loaded (at 63279) and called in loader, before main program. This will need disassembling. |
| Star Trek 3000 (DK Tronics, 1983) | Download | Y | Y | Y | Z80 used for sound effects – possibly created using their tool Sound FX? | |||
| The Biz (Virgin Games, 1984) | Download | N | N | N | Y | Y | Y | The classic band management game created by Chris Sievey (aka Frank Sidebottom). 100% BASIC but with lots of memory saving tips used. |
| The Great Western (Newsoft Products, 1982) | Download | Y | N | N | N | Y | N | Loader sets up the UDGs first, then loads main program in. (Both listings included) |
| Thermo Nuclear War (Zircon, 1985) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | 100% BASIC. |
| Wheeler Dealer (Ramtop Software, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | Y | 100% BASIC. |
| ZX Awari (Understanding Ltd, 1984) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | 100% BASIC. |
| ZX Cluedo (Robbie Coull, 1984) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | 100% BASIC. |
| ZX Trek (Impact, 1983) | Download | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | N | A 2 byte piece of Z80 is poked into USR “a”, called and then replaced with proper UDG graphic bytes. Very odd. Decent length variable names so you can follow the code easier. |