Farmer Sam’s Dog Day is the platform game I developed for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next computer. However, even if you do not own a ZX Spectrum Next, you can play it on your PC running Windows (if you are a Macintosh, Linux or advanced Windows user, you can find the instructions here), through the use of an emulator.
An emulator is a program that enables your Personal Computer to behave like a ZX Spectrum Next.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to download the excellent #CSpect emulator by Mike Dailly and use it to play Farmer Sam’s Dog Day in a few simple steps:
- Download and install the emulator prerequisites
- Download the #Cspect emulator
- Download Farmer Sam’s Dog Day
- Have fun!
1. Download and install the emulator prerequisites
In order for #CSpect emulator to run, you will need the latest .NET Framework from Microsoft. If you have Windows 10, it is likely that the .NET Framework is already installed in your system. However, if you encounter problems in running #CSpect, you can download and install the latest .NET Framework from Microsoft web site (version 4.8 at the moment of writing this guide).
In order for #CSpect emulator to run properly, you will also need to install the OpenAL Audio Library. Download the Windows Installer (version 1.1 at the moment of writing this guide). The downloaded file is a .zip archive. Open or extract it and double click the contained “oalinst.exe” file; the OpenAL installer window will pop up:
Click “OK” to complete the installation.
2. Download and extract the #CSpect emulator
Download #CSpect emulator for Windows from the #CSpect website and save it to a folder of choice in your computer (e.g.: “C:\specnext”). Newer versions are on top of the page; you can scroll down for older ones.
I have successfully used #CSpect V2.12.5 with Windows 10, so if you’re not sure about which version to download, you can try this. On the other hand, you are always encouraged to try the most recent version, which is likely to contain improvements and bugfixes.
The downloaded file is a .zip archive; extract it to a folder of choice in your computer (e.g.: “C:\specnext\CSpect2_12_5”).
At the end of the extraction process, you should be able to see all #CSpect files in the selected folder.
3. Download and extract Farmer Sam’s Dog Day
Download Farmer Sam’s Dog Day game from itch.io.
You can either purchase the complete game or just freely download the demo version.
The downloaded file is a .zip archive. Inspect its content it by double clicking it: you should see at least 3 files, called:
- dogday.nex
- dogday.txt
- Farmer Sam’s Dog Day – Emulator Start.bat
Depending on your computer’s settings, you might not see “.nex”, “.txt” or “.bat” trailing extensions in file names.
Select these files and drag them to the emulator folder you copied to your PC in step 1 (for example, “C:\specnext\CSpect2_12_5”, located in your “C:” drive).
4. Start the game within the #CSpect emulator
Open the emulator folder (for example, “C:\specnext\CSpect2_12_5”) you dragged into your computer in step 1 and locate “Farmer Sam’s Dog Day – Emulator Start.bat” file you copied in step 2 (you might or might not see the trailing “.bat” extension in the file name, depending on your computer’s settings).
Double click “Farmer Sam’s Dog Day – Emulator Start.bat” file to launch the emulator and start the game.
5. Play!
Hit any alphanumeric key (except for O, which will show options screen, H, which will show high scores and J, which will attempt to start game using joystick) on your keyboard to start the game.
You can control Farmer Sam using the following keys:
- Q: climb the ladder
- A: descend the ladder
- O: go left
- P: go right
- M: jump
For detailed instructions, please refer to “dogday.txt” file, mentioned in step 2.
6. Troubleshooting
If the emulator refuses to start, it is likely that there is some problem with sound. Try installing OpenAL again, as described in step 1.
If this does not solve, you might try disabling sound. To do so, right click on the “Farmer Sam’s Dog Day – Emulator Start.bat” file and select “Edit” on the context menu. A file editor should appear; locate the fourth line:
%CSPECT_DIR%CSpect.exe -tv -s14 -w%CSPECT_WINDOW_SIZE% -zxnext -mmc=.\ .\dogday.nexand modify it by adding “-sound” after “%CSPECT_DIR%CSpect.exe”, as shown here:
%CSPECT_DIR%CSpect.exe -sound -tv -s14 -w%CSPECT_WINDOW_SIZE% -zxnext -mmc=.\ .\dogday.nexFinally, you can save and close the file and try again.