Spectrum Computing

AS part of the investigation on this thread, I'm also finding other inconsistencies and odd things on the database, and I want to address them without spamming the original thread, so:

Deathball (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=1302)
I have a problem with the instructions attached to that title (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/pub/sin ... thball.txt). The file extension is TXT, but the document is not on plain text; seems to be a document format from some application.

Dawnssley - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=1270
Is marked as Multi-Turn Type: Turn based but it is in fact Multi-Turn Type: Simultaneous and Multiplayer Modes: Cooperative

Danger Maze - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=30445
Has no screenshots, there is no TZX/TAP/SNAP available, BUT there is a RZX? http://www.rzxarchive.co.uk/d.php#dangermaze

Endlos-Schlange - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=29285
Has no ingame screens. I've captured one on BMP format (seems that there is no SCR format for ZX81?)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/szmq3nesunbey ... e.rar?dl=0

Games inspired by...
Let's explain this with an example: Dungeon Treasures - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=17221 is a Boulder Dash clone. Should this be stated somehow, the same way arcade clones are tied up to the original machine?

New category: "Arcade Game: Puzzle".
I'm starting to find games that can fall into that category, fore example:
Boulder Dash and clones
Double Bubble - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=30294
Escape - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=15979
Escape II - Some Years Later - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=26575

While those games can be categorized as "Game: Puzzle" I have the feeling they are different from something like Puzznic for example.

druellan wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 1:16 am Endlos-Schlange - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=29285
Has no ingame screens. I've captured one on BMP format (seems that there is no SCR format for ZX81?)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/szmq3nesunbey ... e.rar?dl=0

There is still a massive work to be done regarding zx81 screenshots, but is being worked on

/T

druellan wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 1:49 am New category: "Arcade Game: Puzzle".

I think this should be considered, Action + Puzzle is an increasingly popular genre. The confusion is well illustrated by the fact that Alter Ego and Dreamwalker have been allocated Action and Puzzle respectively when they have the same gameplay.

We shouldn't rush into making new genres though, maybe multiple genres would be a better solution.

Having said this I'm not sure we have time to give this proper consideration right now, it may have to wait a while so that other things can be prioritised.

R-Tape wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:10 amWe shouldn't rush into making new genres though, maybe multiple genres would be a better solution.

Yes, in fact, I hate complex category systems, and I feel there are too many categories already, but "Arcade: Puzzle" is really tempting.
What I'm doing right now, is considering that as a real category, to see how many "Maze" games can be categorized as "Arcade: Puzzle". So far:

Double Bubble - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=30294
Escape - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=15979
Escape II - Some Years Later - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=26575

Boulder Dash Clones
Diamond Man - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=27221
Diamond Mine - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=17188
Dizzy Dash - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=26518
Double Dash - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=1454
Dungeon Treasures - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=17221
Earth Shaker - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=1563

I'm doing the same with other proposals like "Adventure: Maze" or "Adventure: Platform" to see how useful that ones could be (so far, not much).

R-Tape wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:10 ammaybe multiple genres would be a better solution. Having said this I'm not sure we have time to give this proper consideration right now, it may have to wait a while so that other things can be prioritised.

Totally agree. The ideal should be to have a proper tagging system, in a way a game can be tagged as ex: "adventure" + "graphic" + "maze"; but this can be a huge change, and worth of a proper discussion.

kolbeck wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:00 amThere is still a massive work to be done regarding zx81 screenshots, but is being worked on

I'm going to try and produce screenshots if I find other games lacking one.

druellan wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 1:17 pm

kolbeck wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:00 amThere is still a massive work to be done regarding zx81 screenshots, but is being worked on

I'm going to try and produce screenshots if I find other games lacking one.

Please use the EightyOne emulator to produce BMP screenshosts, namining should follow the SC standard as described here: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.php?cat=51
In case of ZX81 - it's mostly running screens

If you make screenshots, please email them to me - thanks

/T

kolbeck wrote: ↑Thu Jun 14, 2018 3:54 pm Please use the EightyOne emulator to produce BMP screenshosts, namining should follow the SC standard

Thanks! I'm already using EightyOne (glad to hear is considered a good ZX81 emulator) and the file above should follow SC standards. Let me know I you need that one mailed to you, and I'm going to do that if I find more.

Klimax - Hewson Consultants Ltd (UK) 1990 - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=2713

Seems odd that there is no TZX for this game, and the TAP file lacks the original loader (there is a static 00:00:00 counter on the loading screen). I wonder why there is no perfect image?

Laberinto III - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=15845

Is marked as MIA, there is no TAP/TZX for download, but still has a screencapture?
Edit: recovered!

Labyrinth 2 by Sergey R.V. (Russia)
I'm puzzled about this game. It has two versions and three entries on the ZXDB as follows:

1.
First you have this one: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=34316 categorized as Game: Puzzle



The TRD is 640 KB in size (I suppose is a full disk image, including blanks).
The file is labeled: LABYR2.1 and the game looks like this:




2.
The other entry is https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=21074 categorized as Arcade Game: Maze
It has two TRD.

First on, version 2.0


The file is labeled: Lab V2.0 and looks like the [1.] entry:



The other one:


The file is labeled: Lab V2.1 and seems to be the game that matches the screenshots:




3. https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=34308 categorized as Arcade Game: Maze
It's pretty similar to [1.]. But no TRD's, and no screencaptures.

---- ---- ---- ----

So, I think:
- [1.] should be categorized as Arcade Game: Maze.
- [2.] Seems to be a bundle of the two versions, and also has an extra developer credited, so, I think might be OK.
- [3.] Looks like a duplicate.

druellan wrote: ↑Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:34 pm So, I think:
- [1.] should be categorized as Arcade Game: Maze.
- [2.] Seems to be a bundle of the two versions, and also has an extra developer credited, so, I think might be OK.
- [3.] Looks like a duplicate.

Cheers Dru,

Case 3 is definitely a duplicate, as are all 3 below. I raised them in error from some uMIA announced by Ralf, they were meant to be deleted at the last update but strained bones truncated the list

34307, Kolobok
34308, Labyrinth2
34309, Autodrome

- [1.] should be categorized as Arcade Game: Maze.

Ta, noted for the big shakeup of the Maze Genres.