Next Forge

What it is

NextForge is a development environment for the ZX Spectrum Next. The goal is to build a comfortable 80-column editor, assembler, project workflow and eventually a monitor/debugger that run directly on the Next. The project is still in development, but it is already usable as an experimental editor for assembler source files.

What it is for

• writing and editing Z80/Z80N assembler directly on the ZX Spectrum Next,
• working in an 80-column layout instead of the classic 32-column screen,
• testing the workflow for a future native assembler and debugger,
• carrying the spirit of Prometheus forward on a cleaner Next-oriented foundation.

Current features

• fullscreen 80-column editor using the ZX Spectrum Next tilemap mode,
• cursor movement, text entry, deletion, Enter, Tab and line/page scrolling,
• basic syntax coloring for assembler source files,
• loading and saving .ASM files through NextZXOS/esxDOS services,
• File, Edit, Assemble, Debug and Help menus with keyboard and mouse control,
• open-file list and switching between loaded file slots,
• block operations: mark, copy, cut, paste and select all,
• search across open files,
• go to definition for the symbol under the cursor,
• label completion from the current prefix,
• basic mouse support including menu hover/click and editor wheel scrolling,
• build output as an experimental NEXTFORGE.NEX program.

Controls

Key / combination	Action
Cursor keys / Kempston cursor	Move the editor cursor.
Page Up / Page Down	Scroll one page up or down.
Enter	Insert a new line, confirm a dialog or open the selected file in the browser.
Tab	Insert assembler-friendly indentation.
Backspace	Delete the character to the left of the cursor.
Delete / Graph	Delete the character under the cursor.
Break / Esc	Cancel a dialog or leave the current action.
Ext Mode + 0	Open the top menu.
Ext Mode + O	Load / open a file.
Ext Mode + S	Save the current file.
Ext Mode + E	Save As / save under a new name.
Ext Mode + W	Close the current file.
Ext Mode + C	Copy the selected block.
Ext Mode + X	Cut the selected block.
Ext Mode + V	Paste from the block clipboard.
Files key / Ext Mode + 1	Open the loaded-files dialog.
Symbol Shift + F	Find text.
Symbol Shift + Enter	Go to the definition of the symbol under the cursor.
Caps Shift + Enter	Complete a label from the current prefix.
Mouse	Hover and click in menus/dialogs, use the wheel to scroll the editor.

Planned work

• finish the 80-column editor and add more editing comfort,
• add a two-pass assembler,
• support labels, expressions, org, equ, defb, defw, defs, comments and strings,
• add include, incbin, local labels and simple macros,
• extend the instruction tables for Z80N and ZX Spectrum Next opcodes,
• add Next-specific pseudo commands for MMU and banked memory layout,
• export binary output and .NEX files,
• add project settings: output name, entry point, stack and required banks,
• port the Prometheus monitor/debugger workflow to the new 80-column backend,
• add disassembly, memory views, registers, breakpoints and Next instruction support.

Project status

NextForge is a work in progress. The current build is mainly an editor foundation and a testbed for the next stages of development. Some menu items are placeholders for future functionality.

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