Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

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PeterJ
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Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

I've been looking at the wonderful 'Type Fantastic' this afternoon and am noticing quite a few titles that ZXDB does not include (Because WoS never included them).

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27p ... pehome.htm

For example:

Bug Fever - Sinclair Programs - Feb 84
Apple Nosh - Sinclair Programs - Feb 84
Caveman Gus - Sinclair Programs - Jan 85

If anyone wants to help out, I guess the first stage would be to identify which titles ZXDB is missing.

Any volunteers?

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+3code

Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by +3code »

PeterJ wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 6:06 pm
For example:

Bug Fever - Sinclair Programs - Feb 84
Caveman Gus - Sinclair Programs - Jan 85
Too:
Earth vs The Flying Saucers (may 82, C&V)
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by djnzx48 »

UFO Attack - Sinclair Programs, February 1985.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by druellan »

PeterJ wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 6:06 pm Image
This one has a Spanish version named La Charca (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=16229). Hobby Press had an arrangement with some UK publishers to republish the games (BTW, lovely game this one)
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

druellan wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 9:53 pm This one has a Spanish version named La Charca (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=16229). Hobby Press had an arrangement with some UK publishers to republish the games (BTW, lovely game this one)
Very good spot. I'm always amazed after all the years that this new information is coming to light. Thank you.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

**Post Updated**

Don't get too excited, but I was looking at the programs which had not been typed in from SInclair Programs and I came across "Along The WIre' from the July 1984 issue, Page 14. Its based on the fairground game, apart from the hoop is square!


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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vyeFkI ... sp=sharing

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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

If anyone else wants to do any missing type-ins, the list of magazines and type-ins is here:

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27p ... pehome.htm

Jim Grimwood is very ill at the moment, so the site has not been updated for a while. I understand a similar effort is being worked on over at WoS.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

Peter: you are right, in that on WOS, it's been... me and Crisis, I think. Just the two of us, we can complete the Type Fantastic if we try...

This is one huge reason for me registering here - to avoid duplication of each other's efforts, we should coordinate what we're doing. And I reckon the best approach is to work through one magazine issue at a time. I've already done a few from the early days, which I've packaged here:

Sinclair Programs - issue 9, July 1983
My submissions: http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... ch2020.zip
Complete magazine: http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

ZX Computing, issue 6, April/May 1983
My submissions: http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... ch2020.zip
Complete magazine (inc. full versions of all multi-issue programs): http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

ZX Computing, issue 7, June/July 1983
My submissions: http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... ch2020.zip
Complete magazine (inc. full versions of all multi-issue programs): http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Any more that I finish I will post here as well. My personal project for now, seeing as I've spent two weeks writing my own programs for CSSCGC, is to complete the Sinclair User type-ins. Yes, you heard me. This is an achievable goal, as all the ZX80 and ZX81 listings have been done, and a mere 61 listings remain for the Spectrum. I realise that seeing as many of these are in later issues I may run into trouble with machine code listings, and that's not my forte, but I'll do my damndest. To start with, I'm combing through the magazines in chronological order, indexing what's been done and what hasn't, just to make sure there's nothing missing from Jim's index on the TTFn site.
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by djnzx48 »

Is anyone doing the final issue of Sinclair Programs (September 1985)? Or is that one available?
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

I know Crisis has been tackling some bits and pieces in the later issues of Sinclair Programs, so I've been leaving that alone for now. I've just looked on the site, and it looks like the ZX81 listings from that issue are complete at least.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

djnzx48 wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 11:36 am Is anyone doing the final issue of Sinclair Programs (September 1985)? Or is that one available?
Not that I'm aware of [mention]djnzx48[/mention]
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

Gaaaarghx! Now I need help myself. One of the programs I'm typing in - Refuelling from Sinclair User, November 1983 - uses some machine code. Unfortunately, this is the bit of the listing that has suffered the most with poor print quality from the original magazine and the high JPEG compression from when it was scanned and stored.

https://archive.org/details/sinclair-us ... 3/mode/2up

The problem is in lines 1220 and 1230, usually where it's damn near impossible to tell the difference between a 3 and an 8. I've looked up what 33 and 38 mean, and it's "LD HL,NN" and "LD H,NN" respectively. Brilliant. They're not even all that different.

Any experienced machine coder would shove those numbers into a disassembler, see in an instant that it's either correct or outrageously wrong, and correct it accordingly. I could get the disassembler running, no problem - I've got one from a later issue of SU in the Type Fantastic file, just in case I need it, but the listing of menmonics it spits back at me may as well be in Chinese for all I understand. All I know is, because a couple of REM statements told me so, each DATA line contains the bytes to make a sound effect.
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by djnzx48 »

I think those DATA statements are supposed to be:

1220 DATA 6,1,197,33,15,0,17,20,
0,229,205,181,3,225,17,16,0,167,
237,90,125,254,255,32,237,193,16
,230,201: REM first sound
1230 DATA 0,6,1,197,33,0,3,17,1,
0,229,205,181,3,225,17,16,0,167,
237,82,32,240,193,16,233,201:
REM second sound

which correspond to:

Code: Select all

	ld b, 1
outer:
	push bc
	ld hl, 15
inner:
	ld de, 20
	push hl
	call 949
	pop hl
	ld de, 16
	and a
	adc hl, de
	ld a, l
	cp 255
	jr nz, inner
	pop bc
	djnz outer
	ret
for the first routine, and

Code: Select all

	nop
	ld b, 1
outer:
	push bc
	ld hl, 768
inner:
	ld de, 1
	push hl
	call 949
	pop hl
	ld de, 16
	and a
	sbc hl, de
	jr nz, inner
	pop bc
	djnz outer
	ret
for the second.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by djnzx48 »

I finished the remaining programs for the September 1985 issue, but I noticed that the listings had a lot of superfluous whitespace around certain keywords (such as AT and INKEY$). Should I be copying these to match the listings as they appear in the magazine? Was this just an artefact of the printer they were using?
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

Anything other than single spacing should only be important between double quotes when outputting to the screen.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

djnzx48 wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:50 am I think those DATA statements are supposed to be:
1220 DATA 6,1,197,33,15,0,17,20,
0,229,205,181,3,225,17,16,0,167,
237,90,125,254,255,32,237,193,16
,230,201: REM first sound
1230 DATA 0,6,1,197,33,0,3,17,1,
0,229,205,181,3,225,17,16,0,167,
237,82,32,240,193,16,233,201:
REM second sound
Well mown! You've earned yourself a corned beef sandwich, and a credit in the text file. Now I can get on with the rest of the program. Incidentally, I recognise these two sound effects from Defender (Sinclair Programs, July 1983) so they must have been fairly common routines at the time. If I'd known, I could have consulted the listing of Defender, although that is a massive wall of DATA statements with machine code routines, UDGs and a redefined character set all rolled into one.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

Hey! Great news! The Dacia Sandero... I mean... the Sinclair User archives for 1982 and 1983 are now complete!

That's what I've been doing recently, and here's where you can find them:

Sinclair User, issue 9, September 1982
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Cats (from Spectrumtalk Primer) - 16K Spectrum - text, original ZX81 .p file and Spectrum .tap
- Nimo (from Learning To Program The Spectrum Way) - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User Annual 1983
I have added no listings to this, but have compiled the complete archive as the "missing" programs were reprints from Sinclair Programs and were not indexed on the Sinclair User page.
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 18, September 1983
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Character Set - 48K Spectrum - text and .tap
- Mortgage - 48K Spectrum - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 19, October 1983
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Attack - 16K Spectrum (erroneously given as 16K ZX81 in the text) - text and .tap
- Word Puzzle - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 20, November 1983
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Dam Buster - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
- Refuelling - 16K Spectrum - text and .tzx (with original Issue 2 and altered Issue 3 keyboard versions)
- Character Enlarger - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
- Snake - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 21, December 1983
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Dominoes - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
- Kaleidoscope Titles - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
- Program Protector - 16K Spectrum (but utterly non-functional) - text (with explanation of non-functional status) and .tap (which will load but not run!)
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User Annual 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Robot Hunt - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

All together now: "We bought it to help with your homework, and the household accounts..." the latter of which is actually contained in this update (see the November issue) which means Sinclair User's listings are complete to the end of 1984.

Sinclair User, issue 22, January 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- The Machine Code Way to More Interesting Sounds - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 24, March 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Football Tables (from "On Probation" feature) - 16K Spectrum - text and .tap - note this is NOT INDEXED
Complete archive of all indexed programs, and the above:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 25, April 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Artificial Intelligence, Part 1 - text and 2×.tap (one for the damaged original and one for the fixed version)
Complete archive of all indexed programs (inc. Artificial Intelligence part 2):
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 28, July 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Artificial Intelligence, Part 2 - text and .tap
- Counting Cats - text and .tap (it's not a "strikethrough" but has its problems)
- Conversion - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs (inc. Artificial Intelligence part 1):
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 29, August 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Character - text and .tap
- Spirals - text and .tap
- Line Graph - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs (inc. Animation parts 1 and 2 from WOS):
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 30, September 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- QL Monitor - text and .mdv - note this is NOT INDEXED
Complete archive of all indexed programs:
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 32, November 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Password - text and .tap
- Home Accounts - text and .tap
Complete archive of all indexed programs (inc. Animation parts 1 and 2 from WOS):
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User, issue 33, December 1984
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... il2020.zip
I have added:
- Nim (QL) - text and .mdv
- The Sweet Game - text and .tap
- ZX Condenser (Characters/Multipitch) - text and 2×.tap (one each for 16K and 48K versions)
Complete archive of all indexed programs (inc. Animation parts 1 and 2 from WOS):
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Sinclair User Annual 1985
I have added no program listings to this, but have compiled the complete archive - i.e. the new listings from Program Printout which were in the existing SU8500.zip archive, plus Artificial Intelligence that was hosted on WOS, plus the Starter Pack listings which were reprints from issues throughout 1984.
- But I *have* added the accompanying .txt file from Artificial Intelligence, as WOS hosted it without its instructions.
http://www.rickdangerous.co.uk/zx/ttfn/ ... mplete.zip

Hey, hey, 16K, what does that get you today? You need more than that for the accompanying text files for ZX Condenser, which is 17,342 bytes... yes, plain text saved in .txt form, not Open/LibreOffice's .odt, or the Microsoft alternative, or anything else out there...
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

Great work [mention]TMD2003[/mention]

Thank you.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by djnzx48 »

I forgot to upload these earlier, but here are the missing programs from the Sinclair Programs September 1985 issue. I did make a minor adjustment to one of the programs - the explosion subroutine was missing from 'Seaside Bomb', so I added instead a single RETURN statement on line 350. Also, I didn't write out the entire explanation for the program.

sp8509-april2020.zip
sp8509-complete.zip
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by TMD2003 »

Top banana, me old mucker. I'm nearly finished wading through Sinclair User in 1985, though I'm having a couple of days off to write my own program for a change. More links when I get over the finish line...
Spectribution: Dr. Jim's Sinclair computing pages.
Features my own programs, modified type-ins, RZXs, character sets & UDGs, and QL type-ins... so far!
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by PeterJ »

[mention]Einar Saukas[/mention] and [mention]R-Tape[/mention]. Before I start are either of you already collating these for ZXDB? Trying to avoid duplication of effort
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by R-Tape »

PeterJ wrote: Sat Apr 18, 2020 4:02 pm @Einar Saukas and @R-Tape. Before I start are either of you already collating these for ZXDB? Trying to avoid duplication of effort
I wasn't going to collate them (loads of new software to add), so if you're willing that'd be great. Can't speak for Einar of course.
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by kolbeck »

I will go through the files and take care of zx81 / zx80 entries.

/T
https://api.zxinfo.dk/v3/ - ZXDB API for developers
zxinfo-file-browser - Cross platform app to manage your files
https://zxinfo.dk - another ZXDB frontend
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Re: Help Needed - The Type Fantastic

Post by djnzx48 »

Since 'Snails' has now been typed up (Sinclair Programs, July 1985), I think it would make a good candidate for the Hall of Mystery. It's pretty clearly plagiarising Track Trap (Virgin Books, 1983).
Last edited by djnzx48 on Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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