Spectrum Computing

I dug up some old original Speccy tapes. None of them are MIA, but the cassette inlays are either missing on SC or may need a full scan
The titles are:

Young Learners 1 - incomplete inlay on SC
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/9 ... Learners_1

Quazer - incomplete inlay on SC
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... rum/Quazer

Maths Test - No inlay on SC and release year unknown. It's 1983
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... Maths_Test

Question: Are these wanted and if Yes, what is the desired dpi that is needed for scanning these?

Excellent. Thank you. I think 600dpi is the best resolution, but will let [mention]Mort[/mention] or [mention]pavero[/mention] answer. Thanks for sharing.

Here are the scans, scanned at 600 dpi. Please let me know if any of them need a re-scan. I'd be happy to do so.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/279votp9frevh ... s.zip?dl=0

There's another one for Road Toad which I didn't mention earlier. The full inlay is included.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... /Road_Toad



Some of my other originals do not have the full inlay scanned on SC. Let me know if you'd like any of these scanned:

Universal Hero: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... ersal_Hero

Invincible Island: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan. Also looks like a lo-res scan on SC)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/6 ... ble_Island

Terra Cresta: (The inside "Hints & Tips" text is not on SC as a scan. I should have read these before I played in the recent HSC round!)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... rra_Cresta

Supercode: (This comes with a user manual which I don't see on the SC page. I have the manual which can be scanned)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode

Bear Bovver: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... ear_Bovver

Hi Cmal,
Thanks for doing the scans, 600dpi is a great resolution and is overkill but should be good for any later reworking.

I have scanned the inside of Bear Bovver,Terra Cresta, Invincible Island and Universal Hero (not added as yet to the site)

Thanks for the other version of Road Toad , I have only got the DkTronics version scanned
I have scanned a tatty version of Young Learners so a better version is great
I have also a Scan of Maths test by MacMacSoftware 6-13 year olds (not yet added)

Great work , would you be also able to scan the cassettes themselves as I can see emulators having a virtual tape and tape player with the scans being used as the tape stickers

Hi Cmal,

Supercode scans (inlay+manual) are welcome!

We don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.

Here is the list with some missing inlays in HD resolution (at least 300 dpi or 600 dpi).
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/missing_inlays_list.txt

Mort wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:27 pm Hi Cmal,
Thanks for doing the scans, 600dpi is a great resolution and is overkill but should be good for any later reworking.

I have scanned the inside of Bear Bovver,Terra Cresta, Invincible Island and Universal Hero (not added as yet to the site)

Thanks for the other version of Road Toad , I have only got the DkTronics version scanned
I have scanned a tatty version of Young Learners so a better version is great
I have also a Scan of Maths test by MacMacSoftware 6-13 year olds (not yet added)

Great work , would you be also able to scan the cassettes themselves as I can see emulators having a virtual tape and tape player with the scans being used as the tape stickers

Hi Mort

My scanner is the type where paper gets fed in, so cassettes cannot be scaned that way. I do have an old Canon flatbed scanner but the driver doesn't work with Windows 10. I'll have another go at getting it to work.
If that doesn't work I may just buy myself a newer flatbed. I'm finding I need one here and there.

pavero wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:57 pm Hi Cmal,

Supercode scans (inlay+manual) are welcome!

We don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.

Here is the list with some missing inlays in HD resolution (at least 300 dpi or 600 dpi).
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/missing_inlays_list.txt

Hi Pavero,

Makes sense about the reverse sides. I noticed a lot of them are just text files.
So I'll scan the Supercode manual. It did not come with an inlay. It's just a big non-standard box with the cassette and manual inside. There is some info on the back which I can scan when I get a flatbed scanner.

Thanks for sending your missing inlays list. I happen to have just one title from there: Cronosoft's Izzy Wizzy.

Here's the scanned inlay at 600 dpi:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3t2gcmkqmwd8w ... y.jpg?dl=0

I'll keep an eye open for others.

pavero wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:57 pmWe don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.

I think it would be even better to store both!

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 2:54 am

pavero wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:57 pmWe don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.

I think it would be even better to store both!

I agree with Einar. If we're scanning an inlay, we may as well scan the inside too.

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 2:54 am

pavero wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:57 pmWe don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.

I think it would be even better to store both!

Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.

Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.

This is something which has always puzzled me. I love the original inlay insides and so many are missing...

Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am
Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective.

We also discovered typos that ended up on the database. To have the source is invaluable IMO.

I agree, I have scanned all the reverse sides , extras, receipts , maps ,and even the front if its got a price sticker etc to get a full flavour of the original

All 4500 games I have scanned are done in this way , got to get them all

Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.

That might have been true 20 years ago when all we had were the info files from the Spectrum Game Database, but since then there has been an enormous effort from the community to provide faithful transcriptions of inlay cards and instructions in plain text format. I have been picking them for my personal archive for years, and even contributed in writing several myself - leaving even the spelling or printing errors untouched (!).

There is only a handful of TXT info files left over from that era in the archive now.

Alessandro wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:14 pm

Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.

That might have been true 20 years ago when all we had were the info files from the Spectrum Game Database, but since then there has been an enormous effort from the community to provide faithful transcriptions of inlay cards and instructions in plain text format. I have been picking them for my personal archive for years, and even contributed in writing several myself - leaving even the spelling or printing errors untouched (!).

There is only a handful of TXT info files left over from that era in the archive now.

I don't have any quantitative evidence, but anecdotally I come across them quite often, so they may not be quite as rare as you suggest.

For example, I was just looking at titles by Gargoyle Games. It looked at only two titles before I found an example of the sort of thing I meant: Tir na Nog contains commentary and cheats.

Mort wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:56 am I agree, I have scanned all the reverse sides , extras, receipts , maps ,and even the front if its got a price sticker etc to get a full flavour of the original

All 4500 games I have scanned are done in this way , got to get them all

Hi Mort

How about I make a list of my originals and mark the ones that have inside text. I don't have too many, but I'll publish the list and you let me know which ones you don't have or need better scans of.

Thanks

About the reverse sides ...

It was a compromise due to size of these files, free space on hosting server isn't unlimited. So the same logic was used as on old WoS.

But I have sorted all scans of reverse sides for all publishers which I have processed up to this day. So it will be possible to add them very easilly in the future.

cmal wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:40 pm

Mort wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:56 am I agree, I have scanned all the reverse sides , extras, receipts , maps ,and even the front if its got a price sticker etc to get a full flavour of the original

All 4500 games I have scanned are done in this way , got to get them all

Hi Mort

How about I make a list of my originals and mark the ones that have inside text. I don't have too many, but I'll publish the list and you let me know which ones you don't have or need better scans of.

Thanks

Here is the list of Mort's inlays.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mort_inlays.txt

Cmal,

Drop us a line on what you have as there might differences etc.

All the best

Stephen

Thanks for the list [mention]pavero[/mention] . I will look through it.
[mention]Mort[/mention] - I'll compile a list and publish it.

Hi [mention]Mort[/mention]

Here's my list in CSV format. I cross-referenced it with your list and marked the last column if it's not on your list.

Let me know what you need from my list. I'm in the process of scanning the Supercode manual. I still need to get my flatbed scanner to work but once that's up I can scan cassette tape images.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxqcmag2pruhs ... l.csv?dl=0

Thanks

Today I got around to complete the scanning of the Supercode manual. Here it is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/61eraa65tqz6i ... e.pdf?dl=0

[mention]R-Tape[/mention] or [mention]PeterJ[/mention] : Please add this to the Supercode page for preservation:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode


Here's a picture of the back of the box if it's needed. Sorry - my flatbed scanner does not work so I took a photo. When I get a new scanner I'll scan the box again.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6qwfg9xqlm48 ... k.JPG?dl=0

cmal wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 2:34 am Today I got around to complete the scanning of the Supercode manual. Here it is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/61eraa65tqz6i ... e.pdf?dl=0

@R-Tape or @PeterJ : Please add this to the Supercode page for preservation:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode


Here's a picture of the back of the box if it's needed. Sorry - my flatbed scanner does not work so I took a photo. When I get a new scanner I'll scan the box again.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6qwfg9xqlm48 ... k.JPG?dl=0

And what about the front of the box?

https://ia600604.us.archive.org/view_ar ... ercode.jpg

pavero wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:09 am
And what about the front of the box?

https://ia600604.us.archive.org/view_ar ... ercode.jpg

I didn't take a picture of the front because it's already on the SC site. But let me know if you need me to and I'll send it.