Software to Download
This section contains various Cowl Systems software items written in BASIC during the late 1980s.
You must have an emulator installed to use these files.
If all of this is a mystery, please go here for the easy start guide.
The files are all in TZX format, and are what would be considered on World of Spectrum as 'perfect originals' and cannot be improved.
I either wrote these from scratch, or converted them from a TRS-80 Model I during the late 1980s. They are not what you would describe as the best games available, but they do work and have been tested fully.
Cowl Index
To download the ZIP file, click here.
ZIP file contains the game in TZX format and instructions as ordinary text. The TZX file includes the loading screen, which uses the only piece of machine code in the whole file. (It displays the loading screen instantly, rather than having it paint in slowly).
The game contains 4 different items, and must be run in 128K mode because it uses most of the original 48K RAM for the program, plus some of the additional RAM to store graphics. The sound generally uses the AY chip, which was not present on older Spectrums.
Making a snapshot of this game can cause things to break in nasty ways, so don't bother trying.
When using an emulator, the best hardware option to select is '128K +2 Grey Case' model.
1. Hangman 123
So named because it contains 123 different words. Press S at the main screen to start the game. After that, Enter starts each session, and letters are pressed to guess. Too many wrong answers and the man will hang in a variety of ways and colours!
The colours are also different for each word - selected at random.
To exit this game, you were originally intended to press TrueVideo on the +2. In the emulator, this is CapsShift-3. (TrueVideo was a separate key on the +2 at the top left of the keyboard, but not on earlier models).
2. Number Smash
Another well known item, which I originally saw on the TRS-80 and later converted. The instructions are included in the game and are fairly obvious. Space drops the ball. Points are scored by dropping the ball on a number, ball is burst by dropping on a spike. There is also a time limit to the game.
Much of the scoring depends on luck, as the numbers can combine together when generated. It is also impossible to drop the ball between the spikes, so don't bother trying.
As an interesting side effect, this program also helps the 'randomness' of the random number generator, which is also used to select words in the Hangman game. Playing this game should therefore give more random results in Hangman 123.
To exit, just select N after the game.
3. Treasure Chests
Another one converted from the TRS-80. This is rather cunning, in that the computer usually wins. If you make the first move correctly, you can win. One wrong move and it is impossible to win. The computer making a move first also results in a no-win for you! (On to a loser here for sure!)
So, there is a line of treasure chests, and you want the last one. You can remove 1,2 or 3 at a time by pressing 1,2 or 3. It IS possible to win - just think of the number 4 and the solution should be obvious.
The winner gets to make the first move on the next game, so once you lose, you lose forever. What a complete waste of time!
4. Mirrordraw
A drawing program. You can use keyboard or Sinclair joystick for this one. (Keys are explained in the game). You draw in the bottom left quadrant of the screen, and the other 3 quadrants are a mirror image. The version on the TRS-80 was similar, except it had no colour, no joysticks and the graphics were hideous.
To change the colour, press C and then type the NAME of the colour - e.g. RED, BLUE, CYAN, etc. The highly advanced text processing engine will select the right colour for you!
Other options just involve pressing the relevant letter, and the effect is applied to the entire screen.
SPACE exits to the menu.
Anything else?
Possibly. There are other things on various (mostly unlabelled) cassettes which will be converted one day. Some of these are complete, some are not. I haven't looked at these cassettes since 1992, so who knows what might turn up!
Legal info regarding these files is here.
Other Downloads
A vast selection of other Spectrum software can be found all over the Internet. Some can be legally distributed, some cannot, the majority is of unknown status.