Amstrad - PCW (ZEsarPCW)¶
Background¶
ZEsarPCW emulates the Amstrad PCW 8256 and 8512. It is a libretro port derived from ZEsarUX 13.0 by Cesar Hernandez Bano, maintained by retrodiv. The core and port are distributed under GPLv3; bundled components retain their own notices. See the source repository, license and component notices.
Content and firmware¶
Supported content extensions are .dsk and .m3u. No external BIOS is
required. A native C bootstrap and the embedded OpenPCW-OS helper provide
the startup environment. Supply your own compatible software disks.
The core does not support starting without content.
Load a .dsk through Load Content. For multiple disks, load a .m3u
playlist; paths may be relative to the playlist. For example:
Use Quick Menu → Disc Control in eject, select, insert order.
Controls¶
Enable Game Focus to type using the physical keyboard; Scroll Lock is RetroArch's default toggle. Disable it again to restore frontend hotkeys. The core offers automatic RetroPad mappings selected by disk fingerprint and an on-screen keyboard, toggled with Select by default. The toggle is configurable in the core options.
Port 1 Controls → Device Type → Custom Keyboard Bindings exposes RetroArch's keyboard selector for explicit button assignments. Save a game remap to retain them. The input guide documents physical PCW key equivalents and the optional default remap.
Core options¶
Quick Menu → Core Options exposes the PCW model, video mode/palette, phosphor colour, crop, audio rate, AY/beeper, drive sound, physical keyboard mapping and input behavior. Follow each option's restart requirements. See the project guide for details.
Features and saved data¶
| Feature | Support |
|---|---|
| Save states | Yes |
| Rewind | Yes |
| Core options | Yes |
| Disk control | Yes |
| Cheats | Yes, logical Z80 address/value POKEs |
| External BIOS | Not required |
| Hardware rendering | No, software video |
Save states include the mounted disk buffer and its guest writes. The core
does not rewrite the original host .dsk file. Restore a state using the
same PCW model that created it; states do not switch the running model.
Release 13.0.1 uses state format v1. Earlier development formats are rejected.
Save-state support does not establish deterministic netplay or runahead.
See the disk/state guide and cheat syntax for behavior and limitations.
Support¶
Report problems in the core issue tracker, including the core revision, RetroArch version, OS/CPU, PCW model, reproduction steps and a relevant log excerpt. See CONTRIBUTING.md.