The use of modern microcontrollers as add-on peripherals for 1980s home computers has delivered significant benefits and capabilities unimaginable in the days when those machines were new. A great example come from [Happy Little Diodes], who’s using a Pi Pico based peripheral for a Sinclair ZX Spectrum to provide something that looks far more modern, a hardware minimap for the iconic Spectrum game, Atic Atac.
The ZX expansion port provides all the bus signals from the Z80 microprocessor, and the peripheral uses a latch to capture Spectrum memory writes. Because the game’s operation is well known it can easily watch out for updates to the in-memory variable that contains the game room ID. It’s then a case of drawing the map with the player centered on the room the are in, for a much more 21st century game interface component.
Having been around when both the ZX and this game were new, we like this add-on, a lot. We can imagine it could relatively easily support other games, too.
Haven’t got a Spectrum? Never fear, you can make yourself one!
Bad news for those hoping to build a Spectrum: The Harlequin board is no longer available, at least not from the linked source:
19-12-2025
Dear ByteDelight customers. We are sad to share that ByteDelight’s founder Ben has passed away. His family is in the process of arranging his affairs. This means the webshop has been closed for ordering. Any outstanding orders will be taken care of in due time, we hope for your understanding and patience in this difficult situation.
If you want to share your condolences, funny stories, or anything else, please reach out to condolences@bytedelight.com.
For questions about ongoing orders, please use orders@bytedelight.com
We know Ben was extremely grateful for the community of ZX Spectrum enthusiasts, tinkerers and likeminded geeks.
Thank you for your patronage.
~Ben’s family