In August 2024, I decided to split the original BASIC listings into separate pages as trying to host it all on a single page was getting a bit too crowded.
This page contains utilities (tools, quizzes, cook books etc.) that were released for the ZX Spectrum and were mostly written in BASIC.
All ripping by my fair hands over the space of a few years using ZX Preview.
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)
General Utilities
And in the words of ‘Clive Sinclair’ from the TV series Micro Men, “Jet Set Fuckin’ Willy”!
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| 21 UDGs (Phil Hite, 2007) | Download | Y | N | N | N | N | N | A more recent utility for loading/designing/saving of UDGs. Has a nice check for 128K Spectrums from BASIC. |
| Alpha-Num (Rod G. Winfield,1983) | Download | Y | N | N | N | N | N | Enter your own data and perform various types of sort on it. |
| Auto Analyzer (Timex Computer Corporation (USA), 1983) | Download | N | N | N | Y | Y | N | Database about cars. Released in the USA for the Timex 2068. Printer support. |
| Averages (Spartans Sports Association, 1986) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Cricket Averages calculator. You have to insert you own data. Printer support. |
| Booklist for ZX Spectrum (16/48 Magazine #17, 1985) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N | Just a long list of available books for the ZX Spectrum (extract included in Excel sheet). Printer support. |
| Bruce Tulloh’s Marathon Training Program (Earlgate Computers, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N | Tool to help you prepare for a marathon. |
| Code Machine 2068 (Andrew Dansby, 1987) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Originally released on Timex 2068 (1985), but tweaked for Spectrum by same coder ini 1987. |
| Flat Race Ratings (Sport & Racing Software, 1984) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Simple database of 35 UK racetracks and how horses might fair on them. Printer support. |
| My Secret File (Mosiac Publishing, 1984) | Download | Y | N | N | N | Y | N | Linked to the book of the same name. All “secret” data is saved off via L$() & A$(). Options to add a password and a code number to prevent nosey buggers :) |
| Punters Pal (Boxoft, 1988) | Download | Y x 2 | N | Y | N | N | N | For those that dragged their ZX Spectrum into Ladbrokes back in the day :) |
| Stargazer Secrets (CRL, 1983) | Download | Y | N | N | N | N | Y | Astrology program. Printer support. |
Business & Finance Utilities
For all you wannabe Apprentice winners.
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| Cash Book Accounting (Gemini Marketing Ltd (UK),1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | Printer support. |
| Cash Calc (Wizard Supersoft, 1982) | Download | Yx1 | N | N | N | N | N | No printer or Microdrive support. |
| Cash Controller (Richard Shepherd Software) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Plain BASIC, but hidden as a LOAD “” CODE as always. Includes Microdrive compatibility (when saved) ‘a395lud’ is the magic word to escape back to BASIC. |
| Modeller X (CCS, 1982) | Download | Y | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Sales and Marketing Factor exploration tool? |
| Office Master (Gemini) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | A complete set of eight separate programs for running your own business back in the 1980s. |
| Personal Finance | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | 100% BASIC and a very simple Personal Finance tool. I can’t work out who released this or what year it came out. |
| Sales Journal (Ramtop Software, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Simple data entry system for your business sales. |
Education etc.
As per the excellent song, Hey Hey 16K, a lot of parents bought their kids a ZX Spectrum expecting it to help them with their homework … ahem.
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| Acids, Bases and Salts (J. J. Warren, 1982) | Download | Y | N | N | N | N | N | True or False type quiz on the subject matter. Includes printer support. |
| Advanced Mathematics (W H Smiths, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | My parents bought this for myself and my brother – I guess they fell for the “Hey Hey 16K” too :) |
| Algebra (Czech) | Download | Y | ? | ? | ? | ? | Y | Uses a few UDGs for the accents as the program is written in Czech. |
| Quadratic Solver (Mitchellsoft, 2010) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | If you ever needed to solve a quadratic equation and you’ve got your Spectrum with you :) All in 50 lines of code. |
| Turning Moment Calculator (Mitchellsoft, 2010) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | This program will calculate the turning moment of a pivot that experiences forces on each side. |
Note: Mitchellsoft used to host their tools at www.mitchellsoftware.110mb.com but that site no longer exists. I have guessed that their tools were all released around 2010 as only one of them was dated at Spectrum Computing’s website.
Calisto Software titles
Four titles by Kris and published by Calisto – not to be mixed up with the console warez group Kalisto :)
They all seem to be written using the same front-end with a few text changes and the loading screen is different (as expected) for each title.
All questions and answers are stored as DATA statements: 1 x question, 4 possible answers and the correct answer stored in one more line. Once I’ve extracted them all, they will appear on my other page once I’ve tarted them up into a nice PDF file.
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? |
| Biology ‘O’ Level (Calisto) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Chemistry ‘O’ Level (Calisto) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Mathematics ‘O’ Level (Calisto) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N |
| Physics ‘O’ Level (Calisto) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N |
Fashion Utilities
For those of you with a sewing machine or wannabe knitting champions. That is, so long as your Spectrum and a printer were next to you.
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| Classic Pattern Writer (Terry Mason, 1987) | Download | Yx1 | N | N | N | N | N | Loader sets up a single UDG. For creating your own knitting patterns. Printer support. |
| Fashion Tops and Batwing (Terry Mason, 1987) | Download | Yx1 | N | N | N | N | N | Loader sets up a single UDG. For creating your own knitting patterns for tops and batwings. Printer support. |
| Skirts Vol1 (Terry Mason, 1987) | Download | Yx1 | N | N | N | N | N | Loader sets up a single UDG. For creating your own knitting patterns for skirts. Printer support. |
| Tops II & Cardigans (Terry Mason, 1989) | Download | Yx1 | N | N | N | N | N | Loader sets up a single UDG. For creating your own knitting patterns for tops and cardigans. Printer support. |
| The Home Knitter (Meadowmarsh Software, 1984) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Generate knitting patterns. Printer support. |
Food & Drink
Because everyone had their ZX Spectrum in the kitchen, complete with a printer, so that they could print out what to cook that evening. Didn’t everyone do this in the 1980s?
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| The Computer Cookbook (Bug Byte, 1984) – Parts 1 & 2 | Download | N | N | Y | Y | Y | N | There is protection in the first BASIC chunk. Skip past it and load the next one after the SCREEN$. Parts 1 & 2 have been extracted. Z80 code @ 65120. There’s is code to allow a break in by entering IMH16641, but that routine is never called. |
| Cocktails (EN & PT) (Aderito Martins, 1986) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | I didn’t have to do the Portuguese to English translation (for once) as the original developer did it. No printer support. |
| Diet (DK’Tronics, 1983) | Download | N | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Dieting Tool 1 of 3 There is a chunk of Z80 loaded in first, but I think they are for printing out screen dumps (quicker than the BASIC command). |
| Diet Master (Delta 7, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Dieting Tool 2 of 3. Nothing much more to say than that! |
| Dietron (CustomData Ltd) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Dieting Tool 3 of 3 This one has two parts – the main dieting program and another that sets up the database. |
Quizzes or Quiz Making Tools
With my Odds & Sods page, I’ve extracted a lot of questions and answers from inside Quiz games. A few of them are written in BASIC so I’ve included them below, along with any utils to create a quiz.
| Utility Title/Year | Download | UDGs? | Font? | Z80? | MS? | EC? | EG? | Notes |
| Gumball Guess (Mitchellsoft, 2010?) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | Y | Guess the number “game”? 69 lines of code! |
| Intelligence Tests (ES & EN) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | I translated the Spanish into English and a separate English version is included. Note: Question 17 couldn’t be translated as English ‘the’ is a definite article and doesn’t have a gender (so select answer 4!). |
| New Testament Adventure Quiz (BIBLEchip, 19xx) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | Y | A quiz or ‘adventure’ about events in the New Testament. |
| Party Quiz (XXX) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | Y | 24 questions dressed as a “Party Simulator” in the style of Viz! Ergo … Adults only :) Microdrive support. |
| Personality Analysis (Martin Malley, 1983) | Download | N | N | N | N | Y | N | Answer questions to see what kind of personality you have. 100% BASIC. |
| Quiz Game (16K) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | Only for 16K machines, hence it’s limited to 5 questions in total. |
| Quiz of Europe (Tawny Software,19xx) | Download | N | N | Y | N | Y | N | Small Z80 routine stored at 64000 which is called a few times – and it is *hidden* at the end of the SCREEN$ that is loaded at 52000! In case it’s lost, it’s also POKEd in to 64000 to make sure. |
| The Ultimate Soccer Quiz (Marksman, 1985) | Download | N | N | N | N | N | N | A simple Question & Answer quiz about football. Contains no data built-in, so you have to enter it all but without the ability to save it off afterwards! |