Spectrum Computing

Next games have a 'scanned instructions' feature in the database. But what we see is the scanned inlay again. It seems it's been scanned the wrong side:

- Black Lamp
- Dark Sceptre

I'll post here if I find more

Booty shows this loading screen:



It seems from a re-release version. It isn't the beautiful original screen.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:32 am Next games have a 'scanned instructions' feature in the database. But what we see is the scanned inlay again. It seems it's been scanned the wrong side:

- Black Lamp
- Dark Sceptre

I'll post here if I find more

Does anyone have the originals of these games?

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:34 am Booty shows this loading screen:



It seems from a re-release version. It isn't the beautiful original screen.

Thanks [mention]Juan F. Ramirez[/mention], the original loading screen is shown in the additional downloads section. The one shown in your post is from the Outlet version. They probably need swapping around.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:32 am Next games have a 'scanned instructions' feature in the database. But what we see is the scanned inlay again. It seems it's been scanned the wrong side:

- Black Lamp
- Dark Sceptre

Add Druid II: Enlightenment to the list

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:32 am Next games have a 'scanned instructions' feature in the database. But what we see is the scanned inlay again. It seems it's been scanned the wrong side:

- Black Lamp
- Dark Sceptre

I'll post here if I find more

It was a bug in my script which generated spreadsheets for adding inlays.

These inlays in ZXDB have wrong filetype, they should have ID 4=Cassette inlay not 29 (Scanned instructions).

1067;CORE.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
2354;Hostages.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
551;BlackLamp.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
1168;Crosswize.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
1259;DarkSceptre.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
1530;DruidII-Enlightenment.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
2194;Gyron_Front.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
2194;Gyron_Back.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;

I already sent it to Einar (19/07/2018) but he probably overlooked my e-mail.

Thanks [mention]pavero[/mention]

Hopefully these will get into the next update.

Another supposedly wrong loading screen:

Howard the Duck by Activision:



It's from the Hello! Games re-release.

Moved topic to ZXDB discussion. Thanks for all the finds.

Well spotted Juan. It's nice to see the archive being used.

These have been logged ready for the next update. It's going to be a biggy!

EDIT: why the hell were you looking at Howard the Duck?!!

R-Tape wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:31 pm Well spotted Juan. It's nice to see the archive being used.

These have been logged ready for the next update. It's going to be a biggy!

EDIT: why the hell were you looking at Howard the Duck?!!

Probably trying to find if that Lea Thompson scene made it into the game.

Another issues I came across in several entries:

In many games, for example in Star Wars Droids or Booty, there are inlays from both archive.org (WoS) and SC's own inlays.

The SC inlays are generally in better condition than the archive.org's ones (better scanned: colour, resolution, inclu...) so why keep all those archive.org inlays if there are better inlays in here in SC? I find it 'redundant'.





Would it be too tedious to remove them from the database?

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:11 am Another issues I came across in several entries:

In many games, for example in Star Wars Droids or Booty, there are inlays from both archive.org (WoS) and SC's own inlays.

The SC inlays are generally in better condition than the archive.org's ones (better scanned: colour, resolution, inclu...) so why keep all those archive.org inlays if there are better inlays in here in SC? I find it 'redundant'.


Would it be too tedious to remove them from the database?

Exactly. There is also my opinion.

I tried to communicate with Einar several times about this topic, but I never got any answer.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't remove them from ZXDB, because these informations can be still useful for someone else. So I would add a new attribute e.g. Archive and all inlays with Archive=1 wouldn't display at SC.

I have the list of all inlays which should be hidden, becuase they were replaced by better version. So it would be very easy to realise it.

pavero wrote: ↑Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:03 pm

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:32 am Next games have a 'scanned instructions' feature in the database. But what we see is the scanned inlay again. It seems it's been scanned the wrong side:

- Black Lamp
- Dark Sceptre

I'll post here if I find more

It was a bug in my script which generated spreadsheets for adding inlays.

These inlays in ZXDB have wrong filetype, they should have ID 4=Cassette inlay not 29 (Scanned instructions).

1067;CORE.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;

I just realized there's a thing with this inlay...



The database says it was first released by AnF. Then, re-released by Argus Press among other companies.

Sorry for being a bit 'fusspot'... but in that inlay, in the back side, the Argus Press logo appears... maybe it must considered a 're-released cassette inlay' ?

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:35 am
I just realized there's a thing with this inlay...



The database says it was first released by AnF. Then, re-released by Argus Press among other companies.

Sorry for being a bit 'fusspot'... but in that inlay, in the back side, the Argus Press logo appears... maybe it must considered a 're-released cassette inlay' ?

I don't believe there is any re-released version by Argus Press. There is only one original release from AnF+Argus Press and re-release by Bug-Byte.

https://www.retrogames.co.uk/023608/Sin ... ore-by-AnF

pavero wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:39 pm
I don't believe there is any re-released version by Argus Press. There is only one original release from AnF+Argus Press and re-release by Bug-Byte.

https://www.retrogames.co.uk/023608/Sin ... ore-by-AnF

In that case, I think the 're-releases' field should be corrected, as it displays Argus Press, Bug-Byte and Mind Games.

The weird thing is that AnF, Argus Press and Mind Games seem to be the same company (or group of companies)...

According to Mobygames, there are only two releases for the Spectrum...

https://www.mobygames.com/game/core/release-info

Argus Press acquired several games publishers in the 80s, including Bug-Byte. I wasn't aware that A&F was one of them, but the Core inlay is strong evidence that it was. If so, I think we should delete Argus Press and just use the subsidiary labels.

The alternatives are just to use the parent label (in this case Argus Press) or use both parent and subsidiary labels (all three). Problems with both of these approaches is that a lot or even most of the time we don't know who the parent company is, and the parent company often changed over time. An additional problem of the former is that we lose a lot of information and the ability to distinguish between releases. An additional problem of the latter is that you end up with the confusing situation (as here) where you have a publisher without a release.

It might be worth trying to put together a separate table of publisher affiliations, though.

There is possible to define more than one Original Publisher in ZXDB.

Version from Mind Games is Spanish re-release, it will probalby exist a different cassette inlay for this version.

pavero wrote: ↑Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:03 pm

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:32 am Next games have a 'scanned instructions' feature in the database. But what we see is the scanned inlay again. It seems it's been scanned the wrong side:

- Black Lamp
- Dark Sceptre

I'll post here if I find more

It was a bug in my script which generated spreadsheets for adding inlays.

These inlays in ZXDB have wrong filetype, they should have ID 4=Cassette inlay not 29 (Scanned instructions).

1067;CORE.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
2354;Hostages.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
551;BlackLamp.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
1168;Crosswize.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
1259;DarkSceptre.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
1530;DruidII-Enlightenment.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
2194;Gyron_Front.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;
2194;Gyron_Back.jpg;29;Scanned instructions;

I already sent it to Einar (19/07/2018) but he probably overlooked my e-mail.

Fixed! It will be in the next update.

Sorry that I missed it before!

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:55 am Another supposedly wrong loading screen:

Howard the Duck by Activision:



It's from the Hello! Games re-release.

Fixed! This will be in the next update.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:34 am Booty shows this loading screen:



It seems from a re-release version. It isn't the beautiful original screen.

It's from a compilation, not a re-release.

Right now, there's no way to differentiate screens from compilations, in either ZXDB or WoS. I will need more time to consider the best solution to this issue...

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:22 pm It's from a compilation, not a re-release.

Right now, there's no way to differentiate screens from compilations, in either ZXDB or WoS. I will need more time to consider the best solution to this issue...

If it's not easy to prioritise them, couldn't the compilation screen be removed entirely? The only loading screen worth seeing in Booty is the one with the ship.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:11 amThe SC inlays are generally in better condition than the archive.org's ones (better scanned: colour, resolution, inclu...) so why keep all those archive.org inlays if there are better inlays in here in SC? I find it 'redundant'.

As you wrote, they are generally better. Not always better.

Someone would need to check them all, one by one, to see if there's any difference to justfy preserving both. Then compile a detailed list of all redundant files that should be removed.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:11 amWould it be too tedious to remove them from the database?

If someone provides me a list (or spreadsheet) of all redundant inlays, I can remove them easily.

pavero wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:28 pmExactly. There is also my opinion.

I tried to communicate with Einar several times about this topic, but I never got any answer.

Sorry, that's my fault! I thought I answered it already, but it seems I didn't

pavero wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:28 pmNevertheless, I wouldn't remove them from ZXDB, because these informations can be still useful for someone else. So I would add a new attribute e.g. Archive and all inlays with Archive=1 wouldn't display at SC.

Don't worry. Files originally imported from Martijn's WoS are NEVER deleted from ZXDB. Whenever one of these files is considered obsolete for any reason, the reference to this file is moved to a separate table called "extras", together with an explanation for the reason it was moved ("replaced by updated version", "redundant loading screen", "corrupted file", etc). This way, if anyone gets any backup from Martijn's WoS and doesn't see the file in ZXDB based sites, the person can look at "extras" to find out the reason this file is not available anymore.

pavero wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:28 pmI have the list of all inlays which should be hidden, becuase they were replaced by better version. So it would be very easy to realise it.

Please send me the list!