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tapDancer converts archives of vintage games and other software into audio waveforms that your classic 1980’s-era computer(s) can understand and plays them back, allowing you to once again use these programs on your cherished system(s) using your mobile Android device, and a tape-interface cable or CD-to-cassette adaptor (depending on the computer.)
Currently, tapDancer supports Commodore (TAP / T64 / PRG formats), Sinclair ZX Spectrum (TZX / TAP), Amstrad CPC (CDT), Acorn Electron / BBC (UEF), MSX (CAS) and Atari (CAS).
tapDancer sports a fully-featured playback interface to assist you in reliving those beloved memories of the past. Other features include the ability to auto-pause on tape silences for ease of loading programs, and TurboTape compression of Commodore T64 / PRG / P00 to let you reminisce sooner!
Simply copy your archived software files (of programs you own!) to the SDCard storage of your Android device, then run tapDancer. Press the ‘Eject’ button, and then navigate to your files. (If your device has multiple SDCard directories, you can switch between them in the Settings menu — see the documentation for more details.) Select your desired archive and tapDancer will then render the audio. tapDancer even supports extracting files from inside .ZIP and .T64 on-the-fly!
After the audio renders (anywhere up to two minutes, or longer on slower devices), press the ‘Play’ button after commanding your classic computer to LOAD. Adjust your volume to around 10 (for starters). With luck, in a few moments your computer will recognise the file, press SPACE on your Commodore 64 (for example) as soon as it says ‘FOUND *GAME*’. (This step will vary depending on your computer system. See documentation for further details.) If it doesn’t, try adjusting the volume up or down, press ‘Stop’ in tapDancer to reset the audio playback, reset your computer, and try again.
Placing your device into ‘Airplane’ mode is a good idea, as mobile ‘chatter’ can disrupt the playback. Also, be wary of magnetism — keep your datasette / mobile device away from any CRT monitors!
For more detailed usage information and a user forum, tap the Help (?!) icon on the main tapDancer interface screen, or visit the tapDancer website at http://tapDancer.info or by tapping the WWW icon on the main tapDancer interface screen.
*** Highlights ***
* TAP / T64 / PRG / P00 / TZX / CDT / UEF / CAS support (Commodore 64 / 128 / VIC20 / etc., Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX-compatibles, Acorn Electron / BBC Micro, Atari 400/800/XL/XE)
* Configurable TurboTape compression of T64 / PRG / P00 (Commodore)!
* Intuitive user-interface.
* Auto-pausing functionality (for ease of loading.)
* Ability to extract files from .ZIP and .T64 on-the-fly.
