Yesterday i got a new computer for my collection, the Amstrad CPC 464:

I did’nt have any tapes for it, nor did i have a floppy drive, link cable, etc. to transfer games from a PC. It suddenly struck me that there had to be a way to convert the games i found on the internet, back to an audio tape in some way.

First i fetched some games of the internet. Make sure you get the tape versions, which are suffixed with .cdt and .tzx. (Floppy images are suffixed with .dsk)

Using a tool called PlayTZX i converted a bunch of the games to .wav files. PlayTZX only takes .tzx files, so you have to rename your .cdt files before converting them. I tried a coulpe of times to record them on my BoomBlaster, but it would’nt really work, and the whole thing seemed a bit to analog for me.

I spiced the whole thing up a notch by stuffing the .wav files onto my iPod, and connecting it to a “Car cassette adapter”. Now everything worked just great! And i should’nt even worry about what game i was in the mood to play anymore

“what will it play next? could it be action, puzzle, adventure, who knows?”

Hints:

• Set the iPod to maximum volume, this gave me the least amount of errors.
• Turn the internal amstrad speaker up a bit, so you can hear what’s going on
• Remember to use .wav files, compressing the files to .mp3 or any other format will most likely not work (i tried AAC and MP3 (lame) with a couple of presets, but without luck)
• I strongly recommend you change the playlist before taking your iPod out for a run!
• For faster load times: You should be able to speed up the .wav by at least 2x, and still load the game

Links:

http://tacgr.emuunlim.com - Loads of amstrad games
(remember to download the tape versions)

http://www.worldofspectrum.org - PlayTZX and other spectrum related utils (which we don’t need)
(PlayTZX comes in both unix, osx, and windows flavours)

store.apple.com - Apples own cassette adapter