Amstrad - CPC (Caprice32)¶

Background¶

Caprice32 is a software emulator of the Amstrad CPC 8bit home computer series running on Linux and Windows. The emulator faithfully imitates the CPC464, CPC664, CPC6128, CPC6128+ and GX4000 models. By recreating the operations of all hardware components at a low level, the emulator achieves a high degree of compatibility with original CPC software. These programs or games can be run unmodified at real-time or higher speeds, depending on the emulator host environment.

Author/License¶

The Caprice32 core has been authored by

Ulrich Doewich
David Colmenero (D_Skywalk)
Colin Pitrat

The Caprice32 core is licensed under

GPLv2

A summary of the licenses behind RetroArch and its cores can be found here.

Extensions¶

Content that can be loaded by the Caprice32 core have the following file extensions:

.dsk
.sna
.tap
.cdt
.voc
.m3u
.cpr
.zip

Databases¶

RetroArch database(s) that are associated with the Caprice32 core:

Amstrad - CPC (TOSEC)

Features¶

Frontend-level settings or features that the Caprice32 core respects.

Feature	Supported
Restart	✔
Screenshots	✔
Saves	✔
States	✔
Rewind	✔
Netplay	✔
Core Options	✔
RetroAchievements	✔
RetroArch Cheats	✕
Native Cheats	✕
Controls	✔
Remapping	✔
Multi-Mouse	✕
Rumble	✕
Sensors	✕
Camera	✕
Location	✕
Subsystem	✕
Softpatching	✕
Disk Control	✔
Username	✕
Language	✕
Crop Overscan	✕
LEDs	✕

Directories¶

The Caprice32 core's internal core name is 'cap32'.

The Caprice32 core saves/loads to/from these directories.

Loaded content's directory

'content-name'#.SNA (SNA)

Geometry and timing¶

The Caprice32 core's core provided FPS is 50
The Caprice32 core's core provided sample rate is 44100 Hz
The Caprice32 core's core provided aspect ratio is 4/3

Usage¶

The Caprice32 core has a virtual keyboard GUI that can be accessed through SELECT (configured by cap32_combokey) or F9.

The mouse cursor can be controlled by RetroPad D-Pad and use button A to press a Key.

Core options¶

The Caprice32 core has the following option(s) that can be tweaked from the core options menu.

Tip

Settings with (Restart) means that core has to be closed for the new setting to be applied on next launch.

Core option	Description	Default
Autorun	If enabled, the core will run the first bas/bin found in the DSK. `cap32_autorun = "enabled\|disabled"`	`enabled`
Combo Key	See Combo list below. `cap32_combokey = "select\|y\|b\|disabled"`	`select`
Internal resolution	Self-explanatory. `cap32_resolution = "384x272\|400x300"`	`384x272`
Model (Restart)	Choose which Amstrad CPC model to emulate. `cap32_model = "6128\|464\|6128+"`	`6128`
Ram size (Restart)	CPC physical RAM size in kB. `cap32_ram = "128\|64\|192\|576"`	`128`
Status Bar	Status bar configuration `cap32_statusbar = "onloading\|enabled\|disabled"`	`onloading`
Floppy Sound	Disk emulated sound configuration `cap32_floppy_sound = "enabled\|disabled"`	`enabled`
Monitor Type	Choose between a color display or a monochrome display. `cap32_scr_tube = "color\|green\|white"`	`color`
Monitor Intensity	Screen cathodic tube intensity. `cap32_scr_intensity = "5\|6\|7\|8\|9\|10\|11\|12\|13\|14\|15"`	`5`
CPC Language (Restart)	Choose between english, french or spanish keyboard layout. `cap32_lang_layout = "english\|french\|spanish"`	`english`
User 1 Joystick Configuration	Select Joy/Overlay configuration for player 1. `cap32_retrojoy0 = "joystick\|qaop\|incentive"`	`joystick`
User 2 Joystick Configuration	Select Joy/Overlay configuration for player 2. `cap32_retrojoy1 = "joystick\|qaop\|incentive\|joystick_port2"`	`joystick`

cap32_scr_tube = color

cap32_scr_tube = green

Attention

These 'scr_intensity' core option screenshots have been taken with the 'cap32_scr_tube' core option set to 'color'.

scr_intensity = 5

scr_intensity = 15

Controllers¶

The Caprice32 core supports the following device type(s) in the controls menu, bolded device types are the default for the specified user(s):

User 1 - 2 device types¶

None - Doesn't disable input. There's no reason to switch to this.
RetroPad - Joypad - Don't use this. Switch to Amstrad Joystick for joypad input.
Amstrad Joystick - Joypad - Use this for joypad input.
Amstrad Keyboard - Keyboard - Keyboard input are always active. Has keymapper support.

Other controllers¶

Mouse - The mouse cursor in the Virtual Keyboard GUI can be controlled with mouse inputs.

Controller tables using RetroPad device Type¶

JOY CONFIG DEFAULT (JOYSTICK)¶

User 1 Remap descriptors	RetroPad Inputs	Amstrad Joystick
B		FIRE1
Y
Start
Up		JOY UP
Down		JOY DOWN
Left		JOY LEFT
Right		JOY RIGHT
A		FIRE2
X
L		CTRL
R		INTRO
L2		F1
R2		F2
Select		COMBO (see bellow)
L3
R3

JOY CONFIG QAOP (GENERAL KEYB)¶

User 1 Remap descriptors	RetroPad Inputs	Amstrad Joystick
B		B
Y		Y
Start		K (to select Keyb in games)
Up		Q
Down		A
Left		O
Right		P
A		SPACE
X		N
L		CTRL
R		INTRO
L2		F1
R2		F2
Select		COMBO (see bellow)
L3
R3

JOY INCENTIVE (INCENTIVE GAMES)¶

User 1 Remap descriptors	RetroPad Inputs	Amstrad Joystick
B		SPACE
Y		W
Start		F
Up		CURSOR UP
Down		CURSOR DOWN
Left		CURSOR LEFT
Right		CURSOR RIGHT
A		A
X		C
L		P
R		L
L2		R
R2		U
Select		COMBO (see bellow)
L3
R3

COMBO LIST¶

If you press SELECT you could make a combo with other buttons:

Combo	RetroPad Inputs	Amstrad Writes
Select + B	+	CAT
Select + Y	+	\|CPM
Select + Start	+	SHOW V-KEYBOARD
Select + Up	+	[1], [Y]
Select + Down	+	[2], [N]
Select + Left	+	[4], [S]
Select + Right	+	[3], [J]
Select + A	+	RUN"DISK RUN"DISC
Select + X	+	\|TAPE RUN"

This combos are useful to load games and select options in game-menus.

Keyboard¶

This core allows direct keyboard access, you could use your keyboard as an original CPC. To achieve that you must activate the Game Focus, by default the hotkey is configured to the SCROLL_LOCK key.

English layout¶

Spanish layout¶

French layout¶

Keyboard Binds¶

RetroKeyboard Special Inputs	Amstrad
Keyboard Keypad 0	CPC_KEY_F0
Keyboard Keypad 1	CPC_KEY_F1
Keyboard Keypad 2	CPC_KEY_F2
Keyboard Keypad 3	CPC_KEY_F3
Keyboard Keypad 4	CPC_KEY_F4
Keyboard Keypad 5	CPC_KEY_F5
Keyboard Keypad 6	CPC_KEY_F6
Keyboard Keypad 7	CPC_KEY_F7
Keyboard Keypad 8	CPC_KEY_F8
Keyboard Keypad 9	CPC_KEY_F9
Keyboard Keypad Period .	CPC_KEY_FDOT
Keyboard Keypad Enter	CPC_KEY_SMALL_ENTER
Keyboard Delete	CPC_KEY_CLR
Keyboard Insert	CHANGE CURSOR/JOY EMULATION
Keyboard Home	PLAY TAPE
Keyboard End	STOP TAPE
Keyboard Page Up	TAPE REWIND
Keyboard Page Down	-
Keyboard F9	SHOW V-KEYBOARD
Keyboard F10	MAIN GUI
Keyboard Right Alt	CPC_KEY_COPY
Keyboard Left Alt	CPC_KEY_COPY
Keyboard Right Shift	CPC_KEY_FIRE2 (JOY EMULATION)
Keyboard Right Control	CPC_KEY_FIRE1 (JOY EMULATION)

Choose AMSTRAD KEYBOARD in Quick Menu > Controls to customize your retropad keys per game.

Mouse¶

RetroMouse Inputs	Virtual Keyboard GUI Inputs
Mouse Cursor	Mouse Cursor
Mouse 1	Mouse Left Button

M3U and Disk control¶

When you have a multi disk game, you can use a m3u file to specify each disk of the game and change them from the RetroArch Disk control interface.

A M3U file is a simple text file with one disk per line (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3U).

Example: Alive (F).m3u

Alive (F) - Disk 1A.dsk
Alive (F) - Disk 1B.dsk

Path can be absolute or relative to the location of the M3U file.

When a game ask for it, you can change the current disk in the RetroArch 'Disk Control' menu:

Eject the current disk with 'Disk Cycle Tray Status'
Select the right disk index
Insert the new disk with 'Disk Cycle Tray Status'

Specify a specific command to launch a game¶

If the autorun option of the core does a pretty good job to guess what command must be executed to launch a game on the CPC, there is some problems (cpm disk and strange catalogs for the most).

You can specify a command to be executed on the CPC when the emu launch.

All you have to do is to add a comment like this in the m3u file :

#COMMAND:<YOUR_COMMAND_HERE>

Even for one disk game, you can create a m3u file like this one :

Jack the Nipper II... In Coconut Capers.m3u

#COMMAND:|CPM
Jack the Nipper II... In Coconut Capers (E).dsk