A collection of x86 binary tools for use with the Chloe 280SE.
These tools will work on Windows (i386 and AMD64 architecture) and Windows 11 (ARM). The should also run on WINE under Linux (i386 and AMD64). On macOS they will work in a Windows 11 (ARM) virtual machine. They may work under WINE although you may find it easier to use CrossOver. Some of these tools are also available on Linux and macOS. Where tools are not provided as part of this repository, they are available from the links in the following list.
We make no warranty for these third-party tools. Use is entirely at your own risk.
Retro Virtual Machine emulates the ZX Uno hardware that the Chloe firmware runs on. It is the preferred user environment for running Chloe 280SE apps in emulation.
ZEsarUX is the preferred development environment for writing apps for the Chloe 280SE.
Arkos Tracker II enables you to create six-channel tracker music for the Chloe 280SE. It can also import MIDI and Vortex Tracker II files.
Ay_Emul is a music player and converter that supports the AY-3-891x and YM2149F sound chips. It can convert SNDH files for the Atari ST to YM6 format which can be converted to play on the Chloe 280SE. Export is done by right-clicking the music in the play list.
Vortex Tracker II enables you to convert 6 channel music in PT3 format to its own native format which can then be imported into Arkos Tracker II. You can also use it to create and edit 6 channel music, but Arkos has a nicer interface.
Ym2Mym converts YM6 register dump files to the MYM format that can be played on the Chloe 280SE. It can also pitch shift the register values if the input file was designed for a chip with a different clock speed. Normally YM6 files are stored as LHA archives and must be decompressed before conversion. Most decompression tools can handle the LHA format.
Ym2Mym -r2 -t1.75 input.ym output.mym
This will convert the an input YM file designed for a 2MHz PSG to an MYM output file and shift the register values for the Chloe 280SE's 1.75MHz sound chip.
PASMO is a simple Z80 cross-assembler. It is used to build Chloe 280SE apps.
RASM is a fast Z80 cross-assembler with many features. It is used to build the Chloe 280SE firmware. It has online documentation.
Bits'N'Picas is a Java app that enables you to edit monospaced and proportional bitmap fonts.
The FZX Font Editor enables you to edit monospaced and proportional bitmap fonts.
These tools are useful when converting images to the Chloe 280SE's legacy hi-color image format (256 x 192 pixels, 8 x 1 attributes, 64 colors).
DaDither provides the best conversion of 24-bit images, with wide a choice of dither methods and batch conversion support. it has support for grayscale conversion (4 color). You can also force a fixed 17 color palette, which can be useful for video conversion. Downloads are available for i386 and AMD64 architectures.
FFmpeg enables you to convert video to individual frames at the correct size.
ffmpeg -i foo.avi -r 30 -s 256x192 -f image2 foo-%03d.jpeg
This will extract 30 video frames per second from the video and will output them in files named foo-001.jpeg, foo-002.jpeg, and so on. Images will be rescaled to fit the new 256×192 values.
Based on the earlier SCRplus, Image2ULAplus is an alternative to DaDither. It has limited dithering and no batch processing, but it can be useful in converting non-photo realistic images. It's included with ZX-Paintbrush in this repo.
ImageMagick is a bulk image processor. Most of the time, dithering with DaDither will give the best image results when converting from 24-bit images. But sometimes, pattern dither will give better results.
magick input.jpg -resize 256x192\! -ordered-dither o8x8,5,5,4 output.gif
This scales the image to 256×192 (ignoring the aspect ratio) and then performs an ordered (pattern) dither on the image using an 8×8 pattern (which works well with 8×1 attributes). It applies a uniform palette with 5 levels of red and green, and 4 levels of blue (128 uniform colors in Photoshop gives approximately 5 levels for each color). The results vary, but for the test image that I’ve used in all my tutorials, Image Magick actually does a better job than Photoshop. This is the optimal setting for use with Image2ULAplus. But for DaDither (with no dither selected) you could try o8x8,8,8,4 to use the full G3R3B2 palette.
ZX-Paintbrush enables you to create and edit hi-color images. It's great for touching up converted images, adding attribute color to monochrome images or creating original artwork.