Little bugs in the database

This is the place to request ZXDB corrections (add missing data or fix incorrect information)

Moderators: druellan, pavero

User avatar
Alessandro
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1908
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:10 am
Location: Messina, Italy
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by Alessandro »

War Game is clearly inspired by Missile Command.
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

The date of 1987 listed for...
The Islands of Sinbad
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=10835

is an error/typing error

The correct year should be 1997, as indicated on the loading screen.

(Jack published his own games as River Software in 1987... It wasn't until much later on that he released games through Zenobi, which this one was.)
✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by StooB »

Lots of ACE magazine corrections:

Covertapes 3-8 and 11-15 don't exist (no covertape with those issues):
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25342
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25343
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25344
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25345
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25346
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25347
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25350
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25351
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25352
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25353
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=25354

Covertape 2 (25341) - Bubble Bobble (722) is a playable demo version, not the full version.
Covertape 16 (25355) - has a demo version of Dragon Ninja (1488) on it.
Covertape 17 (25356) - Aliens is the US Version (163) not the UK Version (161).

"A.C.E. (3) (UK)" (170) is not the publisher of the covertapes, and is not the owner of "ACE Mail Order" either.
"A.C.E. (3) (UK)" (170) is also not a label from "Advanced Computer Entertainment" (428).

"Advanced Computer Entertainment" (428) is the owner of "ACE Mail Order" (17907) and the original publisher of the covertapes that exist (25340, 25441, 25448, 25449, 25355, 25356)
User avatar
Alessandro
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1908
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 11:10 am
Location: Messina, Italy
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by Alessandro »

These two entries refer to the same title and therefore should be merged into one:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=27540

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=26902

The only noticeable difference seems to be the text, which is almost completely written in capital letters in the former.

I also noticed that La città fantasma is still there (see my previous post).
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by R-Tape »

Cheers Ale, the first two will be in the next update.

To be honest I hoped you'd forgotten about the La Citta! I saw it as a harmless translation; the kind of thing we shouldn't go out of our way to preserve, but we shouldn't go out of our way to remove either.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

Games created with the Professional Adventure Writing System...

Witchcraft https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=15791
Witchcraft Edicion Oro https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20902
Wiz Lair https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20994

Games created with the Quill...

De Vises Sten https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=7165
✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

Additional games created with the Professional Adventure Writing System...

Silversword: La Espada de Plata https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=16883

Resaca https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20978

El Prisma de Cristal https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20960
✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

(I'm gradually working through text adventures with no creation system listed against them, looking for PAWed and Quilled titles as part of a project for CASA... So I'm also listing the details here for ZXDB)

Games created with the Professional Adventure Writing System...

Manhattan 2005 (Demo) https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20975
La Maquina del Tiempo https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20970
Merlin -La Aventura- https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=24834
Mock https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=21003
Mouse Man https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=9978

Games created with the Quill...

Magical Mystery Tour https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=10580
✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

Additional games written with the Professional Adventure Writing System...

Juanito 3 https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=21015
King Quest V https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20966
Lider https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=20973
Lobos https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=21012
Look for the Piramid's Treasure https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=16881
✓ Reviewed
PJ sent code to ES 28-06-2020
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

The text adventure...

Alicia en el Pais de las Maravillas https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5942

is listed as an adventure game: text only rather than Adventure Game: Text/Illustrated


Wamwort https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=7172

is listed as being produced with the PAWs...

...Looking at the game, it was not produced using the PAWs.
✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by R-Tape »

8BitAG wrote: Sat Dec 01, 2018 4:02 pm Wamwort https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=7172

is listed as being produced with the PAWs...

...Looking at the game, it was not produced using the PAWs.
Aye—it doesn't look very PAWed does it. Are you going purely by appearance, or clues in the code?
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

R-Tape wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:03 am Aye—it doesn't look very PAWed does it. Are you going purely by appearance, or clues in the code?
A mixture of several things... the system doesn't behave like PAWs (it doesn't even feel like PAWs when you type... far too sluggish), it's doing a few things that PAW can't really do easily outside of using EXTERNS. Also Unpaws says it's not a PAWed database.

Going back to it, just to check, I've also just noticed that you can BREAK into the program and list the BASIC code... So, yeah, not PAWS. :)
Image
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by R-Tape »

Jane Jelly 3 listed incorrectly as part of the Cattivik series.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=28162
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5101
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

The game Dominó:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=17797

was a BASIC game published in Microhobby issue 35, page 8:

https://archive.org/details/microhobby- ... df/page/n7

The author isn't in the game entry, but in the magazine issue it can be read that the author was Amador Tenreiro.
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by StooB »

Frank Bruno's Boxing (1848)

- there are two Encore re-releases but only the Bruno-Tyson edition is listed, although both inlays are present. Release year for both of them is 1988.

The Evil Crown (1680) and The Force (1840)

- publisher should be Mind Games (9928) rather than Argus (1243) according to their inlays

Orion Quest (24852) and Star Force Seven (10248)

- publisher should be Mind Games (9928) according to this article:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 641&page=5
and this advert:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 35&page=89

Superman - The Game (5069)

- original publisher is Telecomsoft (14343), not Firebird (4722) according to the original inlay (not available here, but uploaded by zzapmort to archive.org: https://archive.org/download/spectrumin ... nlay01.jpg)

Yankee (5814)
- this game has two scenarios, one on each side of the tape, but this does not make it a "compilation" any more that Batman - The Caped Crusader, Barbarian, or hundreds of text adventures that come in multiple parts.
Genre should be changed to "Strategy Game: War" and the scenarios Gettysburg (26596) and Chickamauga (26597) deleted.

The Duct (1533)
- original publication should be "As part of a compilation"
- confirmed in this review:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 19&page=36

Xeno (5787)
- there is no re-release from a publisher called Kidsplay (8070) - that's the name of a compilation it's on.

The label Again Again (440) is owned by Alternative (782), not Grandslam (5523)

Guide to Greater London (9226)
- this is on the B-side of Robin of Sherlock (6900) so the publisher should be Silversoft (13286).
- the link in the comments to 6900 from 9226 is broken:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 20Software
should be
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6900)

Robin of Sherlock (6900)
- there is no re-release from CRL (2122). The tzx labelled as CRL shows the publisher as Delta 4/Silversoft according to tzxlist.
- CRL's involvement with running Silversoft is noted here:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 686&page=7
- this PCW review gives CRL's address for Silversoft:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 85&page=21

Devil's Crown (1381)
- original publisher is Probe Software Ltd (UK) (11646), with the Mastertronic (9371) version being a re-release.
- advert:
https://ia600604.us.archive.org/zipview ... Ltd-ad.jpg
- confirmed in this review for Mantronix:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 28&page=36
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by R-Tape »

Cheers [mention]StooB[/mention]

Can I just say that there's a bit of upheaval with the update system this month, and things are especially busy otherwise. Just letting everyone know the next update might not include everything, but if anything is missed it will happen when we're sorted :)
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

I'm not sure why Kobyashi Naru is listed as being written with PAW in the database...

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6545

Unlike its sequel, it wasn't created using PAW. It was produce with Les & Clive's own system.
✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by StooB »

Game Over + Game Over 2 (15451)

- this is the UK release of Phantis (3676) and is already listed on that page

St Bride's School (UK) (13696)

- should be St Bride's School (Ireland) and is not owned by CRL Group (2122)

The Snow Queen (6991)

- originally released by St Bride's School (13696) with the Mosaic Publishing (10034) re-release in 1986
source 1: advert for St Bride's version: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 87&page=81
source 2: re-release confirmed by Mike Gerrard in YS June 86: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 27&page=65

Journey's End (2644), Sinbad and the Golden Ship (6976)

- were released by Mastertronic Ltd (9371) not Mastervision (9373) (source: covers)

Blade Software (1746)

- not from, or owned by Mythos Games (10087)
(source: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010 ... iew?page=2 )

Laser Squad (2813)

- original publication is by Target Games (14284) in 1988
- Blade Software (1746) re-released the game in 1989 (first Blade Software ads appear in Oct 1989, earlier ones are all Target Games)

Energy Warrior + Molecule Man (11299), Rockford (4214)

- are not published by Mastertronic Added Dimension (9370), but by its replacement "MAD X"
(source: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 71&page=23)
- Rockman should be listed as a compilation because it has 2 games like Energy Warrior + Molecule Man, and renamed "Rockford + Rockman"

Tank Trax + Bullseye (11300), Gnasher + Spectipede (11301)

- original release year should be 1985 (source: inlays)

Motorbike Madness (3292)

- published by Mastertronic Added Dimension (9370) not Mastertronic Ltd (9371) (source: cover)

Into The Abyss (11808), Minister for Alien Affairs (11907), Time of the End (7101)

- published (or planned to be published) by Mandarin Adventures, not Mandarin Software (UK) (8972) which doesn't exist until 1988
(source: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 93&page=10

Super Glooper also FROGS (31822)

- should be a compilation with contents Super Glooper (29682) and Frogs (31626)
- the author of Super Glooper is Steve Kelly (UK) (13892) (source: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 740&page=9)
- inlay scans available at http://www.zx81stuff.org.uk/zx81/tape/SuperGlooper
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 8BitAG »

StooB wrote: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:30 pm The Snow Queen (6991)
- originally released by St Bride's School (13696) with the Mosaic Publishing (10034) re-release in 1986
source 1: advert for St Bride's version: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 87&page=81
source 2: re-release confirmed by Mike Gerrard in YS June 86: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 27&page=65
Well, while we're at it... the date for the GI Games re-release is wrong too (see the document in the Dogboy thread)...

Should be 1991 for the GI Games re-release.

And 1992 for the Zenobi re-release.

And potentially 1992 also for the Northern Underground re-release.

Those dates also need to be altered to the same on the entries for...

Bugsy https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6050
The Dogboy https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6191
Jack the Ripper https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6497
The Secret of St. Bride's https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6951
Silverwolf https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=6974
The Very Big Cave Adventure https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=7161
The White Feather Cloak https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=7180

ie. GI Games (1991)
Zenobi (1992)

and possibly...
The Northern Underground (1992)
...although I do want to quickly check which GI Games titles were included in that arrangement.
(edit: Just found a review in From Beyond of one of the St. Bride's games distributed by The Northern Underground... So I'm pretty confident the St. Bride's games were included in the 24 GI Games titles that they republished)

(see the Dogboy thread for the supporting documentation which references sources for all these dates)

✓ Reviewed
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5101
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Cybertanks, by Star Dreams.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=1201

A strange case, as not many info about this game. No inlay and no instructions. No author. Just the publisher and it was sold at 5,50 GBP and some short references on magazines.

According to the entry info, It was also included in the WOW compilation so I look it up and found in the compilations info:

CYBERTANKS Count: STAR DREAMS
PROGRAMMING - PAUL JEFFRIES


So Paul Jeffries should be included in the database as the author of this game.

If anyone could have the original inlay would be great! Not a bad game.
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Vampyre
Manic Miner
Posts: 833
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:51 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by Vampyre »

This is not necessarily a bug in the database and could well have been researched in the past and found to be incorrect.

Sophistry (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=4648) is currently allocated to Authors TFMG and TEBS which is what is displayed on the loading screen.

However, there's a Games Machine review (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mag.php ... 95&page=49) that specifically mentions Roderick McSarquar as the author, which is very specific.

I've managed to do some Google-digging and found another sort-of confirmation. Some OCRing of ZZAP on archive.org has the following in https://archive.org/stream/Zzap044Dec88 ... 8_djvu.txt

"CRL's writer of Sophistry, Roderick Mcsarquar translates as 'I've seduced another Scotsman'." Whatever the hell that means...!
✓ Reviewed
ZX Spectrum Reviews REST API: http://zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/
Post Reply