Spectrum Computing

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 11:34 pm I've always thought this game was a conversion of an arcade game, it looks very arcade-ish, and curiously I came across next game by chance some days ago: Challenger for the Famicom (the japanese NES, if I'm not wrong).

I made some research and it was released in Japan in 1985 (Stop the Express was published in 1983) and both were coded by Hudson Soft, from Japan.

So the first version was made for the Spectrum. In the japanese console version the character goes from left to right (the opposite in Stop the Express). The rest are similar.

Checking other Hudson Soft games I see all are games that must have been converted to arcades (Eric and the Floaters is just great!)

The first version was not made for the Spectrum I think.

According to Wikipedia the game was programmed for the Sharp X1 first. Which makes sense because Hudson Soft is a Japanese developer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_the_Express wrote: Stop the Express (also known as Bousou Tokkyuu SOS (暴走特急SOS, "Runaway Express SOS")in Japan) is a video game created by Hudson Soft in 1983 . It was made for Sharp X1 first, and later ported to the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and the MSX.

It was remade for Nintendo Family Computer as Challenger(チャレンジャー) in 1985.

Yep, it makes sense now as it was strange a japanese developer making a game for the Spectrum originally.

DenisGrachev wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:05 pm You'll be surprised but there are WAS arcades with Speccy games in USSR even in my little city. As far i remember there was a Harrier Attack and Crazy Cars 2 cabinets i played at 1990-1991. There was another speccy cabinets all around USSR with different games we discussed it some time ago at zx.pk.ru

Sokurah wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:33 pm I know a few of these - they're all in MAME.

• Brodjaga
  This is 'Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear (Melbourne House 1987)'.

• Czernyj Korabl
  This is Black Beard (Topo Soft 1988).

• Povar, Sobrat' Buran and Agroprom.
  These are Cookie, Jetpac and Pssst (Ultimate 1983).

I think there's a few more, but these are the ones I can remember.

I had no idea - these are fascinating!

They're the only games that seem to show up here:
http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mame. ... ade_only=0

Interesting that screenshots for Inspector Gadget and the Cookie multi-game seem to show an overlaid timer in the bottom-left corner, bit in-game and on the 'Game Over' screen. Did these work like the SEGA multi-play cabinets and just give you a limited playing time?

I'm guessing that "1 MOHETA - 1:00" on the instructions screen of that Cookie game means '1 Rouble for 1 Minute'..?

I can't see the same timer on the Black Beard screen, but it says the same on its title screen.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 11:34 pm Checking other Hudson Soft games I see all are games that must have been converted to arcades (Eric and the Floaters is just great!)

Eric and the floaters was a sort of proto-Bomberman (not sure what I mean by that!) wasn't it? Renamed apparently for the UK due to the IRA activity of the 80's..? Dunno, maybe I dreamt it.

Joefish wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 4:20 pm
I had no idea - these are fascinating!

They're the only games that seem to show up here:
http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mame. ... ade_only=0

Interesting that screenshots for Inspector Gadget and the Cookie multi-game seem to show an overlaid timer in the bottom-left corner, bit in-game and on the 'Game Over' screen. Did these work like the SEGA multi-play cabinets and just give you a limited playing time?

I'm guessing that "1 MOHETA - 1:00" on the instructions screen of that Cookie game means '1 Rouble for 1 Minute'..?

I can't see the same timer on the Black Beard screen, but it says the same on its title screen.

"Монета" means "coin" in Russian, I'd say the price would be a 10 kopek coin, as it seems to be the standard coin for Soviet arcade games. I mean, there's a museum for arcade games of the USSR in Moscow, and you buy a little packet of 10 kopek coins that you use to play the games, so it sound like it's the most realistic scenario to me. 1 rouble in the USSR was quite a big deal, you could buy a whole meal (a basic one, but still a whole meal) for that sort of money.

Sokurah wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:33 pm

DenisGrachev wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:05 pm You'll be surprised but there are WAS arcades with Speccy games in USSR even in my little city. As far i remember there was a Harrier Attack and Crazy Cars 2 cabinets i played at 1990-1991. There was another speccy cabinets all around USSR with different games we discussed it some time ago at zx.pk.ru

I know a few of these - they're all in MAME.

• Brodjaga
  This is 'Inspector Gadget and the Circus of Fear (Melbourne House 1987)'.

• Czernyj Korabl
  This is Black Beard (Topo Soft 1988).

• Povar, Sobrat' Buran and Agroprom.
  These are Cookie, Jetpac and Pssst (Ultimate 1983).

I think there's a few more, but these are the ones I can remember.

Back in 2012 I mentioned these in the Spectrumpedia (pages 397-398). Here is the translation:

FOTON-IK02. A definitely inusual clone, since the base architecture of the Spectrum, in this case, drives a coin-op board, programmable through the insertion of custom made ROMs, up to six. Made at the beginning of the '90s by the "Foton" cooperative in Penza (Russia), which already manufactured motherboards for coin-op machines.
Games were translated into Russian, adding a screen with instructions and play time restrictions, because after inserting a coin the game could last from a maximum of six minutes (default) to a minimum of one, set by a dedicated dip switch. A switching circuitry between ROM banks including some specifically programmed I/O ports made it possible to select between the currently available titles. These were: Brodjaga (Inspector Gadget And The Circus Of Fear); Čërnyj Korabl’ (Black Beard); Povar (Cookie)/Sobrat’ Buran (Jetpac)/Agronom (Pssst) (multi-game configuration). All of them are emulated by MAME starting from version 0.140.

Did the games control the timing or was it driven by the master control board?
I'm curious how technically they inserted the timer into the Speccy display.

Probably the second because the timer resets as soon as the user inserts a coin in the machine. At least that's what happens with the games emulated through MAME.

PeteProdge wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:38 pm How did that all work then? Has my hypothetical situation actually happened!? This is astonishing!

There was at leas 2 variants from different manafactures. One of them still not found. It was in my city (Harrier Attack, and Wec Le Mans(not crazy cars ).

Another one called FOTON ik2 or 3 was even dumped. It was based on one of the cheapest and super simple russian speccy clon Leningrad. It has custom ROM and some motherboard modifications. Original games was translated and patched. There was a special tittle screens with small history and rules and time limited with 2mins for 1 coin.

Here is some links on Russian:
http://micklab.ru/ZX%20Spectrum/Fotonik03.htm
https://zx-pk.ru/threads/9362-pk8000-ig ... age30.html
https://speccy.info/%D0%A4%D0%BE%D1%82% ... 98%D0%9A02








Cheers!

Deathchase with a sit on motorbike like the hang on arcade cabinet!

DenisGrachev wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:24 am

I now imagine a variant of Burger Time where you have to be aware of customers' food allergies and gluten intolerance.
It's called 'No-Bap'!

(Yes, I know, I copied the screenshot title, and I at least read some Greek, I know how it's supposed to be pronounced! )

Surely the obvious Speccy game that needs to be in an arcade is Penetrator.
SO IT CAN HAVE TWO ******* BUTTONS!

Aside, has anyone hacked it so it simply fires and drops bombs (where it can) when you hit FIRE?

Joefish wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:18 pm Aside, has anyone hacked it so it simply fires and drops bombs (where it can) when you hit FIRE?

This thread has the code fix and a snapshot to download in the first post. I have the thing somewhere but I can't find it!

EDITED - my link worked.

DenisGrachev wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:24 am

Great post Denis,

The names make sense apart from JetPac. I guess it means 'Assemble the Snowstorm', and "snowstorm" is the name of the rocket?

R-Tape wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 1:11 pm

Joefish wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:18 pm Aside, has anyone hacked it so it simply fires and drops bombs (where it can) when you hit FIRE?

This thread has the code fix, but the download link is dead. I have the thing somewhere but I can't find it!

If you mean the .tzx, I found a copy of it here.

R-Tape wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 1:15 pm

DenisGrachev wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:24 am

Great post Denis,

The names make sense apart from JetPac. I guess it means 'Assemble the Snowstorm', and "snowstorm" is the name of the rocket?

Yep!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)

Looks like a wholly original spaceplane design there!

I think Chequered Flag would have been shocking in the early years of arcade, around 1980.

Not sure if this is cheating, but maybe Target Renegade? Great two-player action, good music.

Maybe a little too easy to swallow many coins though.

RWAC wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:11 am Deathchase with a sit on motorbike like the hang on arcade cabinet!

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!