This article is not meant to be a definitive guide to TR-DOS, nor is it written with any extensive research or programming experience. It's designed as a basic, practical guide to TR-DOS from a gamers' perspective.

(I'm not entirely sure if I've got any of this correct - which isn't inspiring I know, so if there's anything I should be aware of - or something I've got totally wrong, please let me know. There's a feedback button at the top of this page).

I discovered the TR-DOS system a while ago but because I didn't know what to do with it (what commands loaded games etc) I decided to leave it. ZXFormat issue 6 (Christmas 2003) presented a feature on TR-DOS, which inspired me to have another look. I would recommend anyone new to TR-DOS to read ZXF's article!

It appears that TR-DOS originated back in the mid-late 1980s, as an Operating System for the Beta Disk Interface. It's also the OS for the Pentagon and Scorpion Spectrum clones (and possibly others). It's not used instead of the Sinclair "OS"; it's used alongside it.

As FUSE emulates both machines, I'm able to play TR-DOS games (which come in .trd disk image format). And then review them for TRB. All the TR-DOS games will appear in the Misc games section though crap TR-DOS games will also be linked to their relevant Awards section.

There is a large archive of TR-DOS games on the WoS site. It's worth remembering that as the Pentagon and Scorpion computers were released in Russia, the game messaging language may very well be in Russian instead of (or as well as) English.

Additionally, it would appear that the Scorpion range of computers is still being produced and supported whereas as we all know the Western Spectrum commercial scene generally ended in 1993.

Loading a TR-DOS game

Note: These instructions are a guide and are from my own general experience. They should work. If in doubt, please do not contact me as I'm not a TR-DOS expert! Loading a TR-DOS game is slightly more involved than a regular Spectrum game. The graphics dotted around this page should be viewed in conjunction with this guide.

• First, ensure you're emulating a TR-DOS-compatible computer (ie a Pentagon or a Scorpion) and have got the .trd image ready for the emulated machine to play (these actions will vary depending on which emulator you're using).
• Next, select TR-DOS mode from the menu as you would on any 128K Spectrum
• At the A> prompt, type in LIST. (As TR-DOS uses Spectrum 48K keyword entry, you'll need to press the K key) A listing of the disk images' contents will appear.
• Generally, you're looking for a file called "boot    <B>". This is the file you want to load to start the game. The <B> parameter indicates a bootable file. in the example on the right, there are three bootable files
• At the A> prompt, type LOAD "boot" (The LOAD keyword is entered by typing the letter J on your keyboard - as if you didn't know that)

The game will now proceed to load! Enjoy!

TR-DOS LINKS

Here are a couple of websites that I found useful. If you can understand Russian, there are plenty more available ...

More Spectrum clone information is available at Planet Sinclair.
Russian ZX Spectrum page is a site dedicated to TR-DOS games. Both sites are in English

Well I hope this Primer has proven to be at least vaguelly useful. I will be reviewing more TR-DOS games for TRB and should I find out any more about TR-DOS, this will be the page I will add the information to.