Little bugs in the database 3

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

Moderators: druellan, pavero

User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

Sinbad (1983) by Atlantis Software

In this Atlantis competition in Crash November 1984, it says Atlantis Software didn't exist until January 1984 and that Sinbad is one of four games released since "last month". So the release year for this is 1984, and also presumably for the Z Cobra re-release too.
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

The Tomb of Syrinx, by Black Night Software. Re-release by The Power House.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5319

The available inlay is the re-release edition but in the DB It says 'cassette inlay #1' what it's not correct.

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 1:29 pm The Tomb of Syrinx, by Black Night Software. Re-release by The Power House.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5319

The available inlay is the re-release edition but in the DB It says 'cassette inlay #1' what it's not correct.
That is correct: Inlay #1 is for re-release #1. The missing inlay for the original release would show as just "Cassette inlay"

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Juan F. Ramirez
Bugaboo
Posts: 5102
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:55 am
Location: Málaga, Spain

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

StooB wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:47 pm
Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 1:29 pm The Tomb of Syrinx, by Black Night Software. Re-release by The Power House.

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5319

The available inlay is the re-release edition but in the DB It says 'cassette inlay #1' what it's not correct.
That is correct: Inlay #1 is for re-release #1. The missing inlay for the original release would show as just "Cassette inlay"
Ok then.

As it's the only available inlay, it seems confusing.

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Einar Saukas »

Rorthron wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:53 pm A cover art credit for Steinar Lund also seems to have been deleted.
What do you mean?

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Rorthron
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1644
Joined: Sun Nov 12, 2017 10:35 pm

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Rorthron »

Einar Saukas wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 12:48 am
Rorthron wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:53 pm A cover art credit for Steinar Lund also seems to have been deleted.
What do you mean?
It was established a long time ago that Steinar Lund did the cover art for Thunderbirds:

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=86&p=17825&hilit=t ... rds#p17825

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=86&p=17970&hilit=t ... rds#p17970

Yet no cover art credit is showing:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5255

I have since worked out that the cover art credit was incorrectly applied to the wrong game:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5253

So delete the Steinar Lund credit from 5253 and add it to 5255.

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6858
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by PeterJ »

Good spot [mention]Rorthron[/mention],

Could people please include the infoseek number or a link to the specific title when reporting bugs. This will help reduce issues like this with two games with the same title. Cheers.
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

Poltergeist "by Firebird Software"

Still listed as being from Firebird.

It was not published by Firebird Software. Firebird listed all their available titles on their inlays and it is not listed on any of them. There are no reviews for it, which would make it the only Firebird title to have never been reviewed. The Bird Sanctuary, which is currently closed, has no record of it and there is no inlay either.

This was not published by Firebird.
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by 8BitAG »

StooB wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:03 am Poltergeist "by Firebird Software"

This was not published by Firebird.
Or maybe, this was not published by the British Telecom Firebird, but by another software company called Firebird that needs its own separate entry.

It's equally possible that it's just a homemade game that was branded as being published by Firebird because they were fans of the Firebird software label.

Dan Brochner Nielsen and Peter Lumbye did several GACed text adventures... I'll do a little more research into them. Perhaps they submitted Poltergeist to Firebird but had it rejected?

One of their entries in the ZXDB, The Castle, is actually an incomplete game. From comments on CASA, that file is part two of an adventure. https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry.php?id=6064 They've been incorrectly tagged onto the Bug Byte game, The Castle, on ZX Art... although not on ZXDB/Spectrum Computing.

Would definitely agree with the removal of the Firebird tag, replacing it with a note above the reference on the loading screen. Publisher would be best changed to Dan Brochner Nielsen as with the other games credited to him.
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 3

Post by StooB »

Karnov

Still listed as having a re-release from Activision in the same year. Electric Dreams is one of Activision's labels, there is only one release.

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by 8BitAG »

StooB wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:40 am Karnov

Still listed as having a re-release from Activision in the same year. Electric Dreams is one of Activision's labels, there is only one release.
Your original log of this issue isn't marked as being reviewed. There is a large backlog of these sorts of corrections.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1425&p=20438&hilit=karnov#p20438
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 3

Post by StooB »

Spitfire 40 + Strike Force Harrier

Still listed as an Alternative release, it should be Again Again as shown on the cover.

and

"Again Again" is still listed as a Grandslam label when it's an Alternative one.
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

8BitAG wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:47 am
StooB wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:40 am Karnov

Still listed as having a re-release from Activision in the same year. Electric Dreams is one of Activision's labels, there is only one release.
Your original log of this issue isn't marked as being reviewed. There is a large backlog of these sorts of corrections.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1425&p=20438&hilit=karnov#p20438
I know. That's why I'm posting it again!

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

Astronomy by MacMillan


There is no Astronomy by MacMillan. This bug has been caused by this review which is of Astronomy by SciSoft and Space Scan by MacMillan.

✓ Reviewed
User avatar
8BitAG
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1487
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:25 pm
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by 8BitAG »

StooB wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:56 am I know. That's why I'm posting it again!
I'm not sure us double posting all our corrections will help reduce the backlog of entries that has built up while other areas, such as adding cover art credits, has been concentrated on.
8-bit Text Adventure Gamer - games - research.
User avatar
Ast A. Moore
Rick Dangerous
Posts: 2640
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:16 pm

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Ast A. Moore »

A Yankee in Iraq

A minor thing, really, but could we add “Interface 2 (left)” to the control options field? Right now it only lists “Interface 2 (right),” whereas the game supports both.

✓ Reviewed
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
User avatar
WhatHoSnorkers
Manic Miner
Posts: 252
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:22 pm

King Arthur by East Midlands Software

Post by WhatHoSnorkers »

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry.php?id=9879

It's listed down as "Medieval Legends" but the classified ads say it's a witty Union Simulator with various levels of industrial action, so I'd hazard a guess that it's something to do with Arthur Scargill instead.
✓ Reviewed
I have a little YouTube channel of nonsense
https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesOGradyWhatHoSnorkers
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: King Arthur by East Midlands Software

Post by R-Tape »

WhatHoSnorkers wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 6:46 am https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry.php?id=9879

It's listed down as "Medieval Legends" but the classified ads say it's a witty Union Simulator with various levels of industrial action, so I'd hazard a guess that it's something to do with Arthur Scargill instead.
Post moved to bugfixes. I'd agree with the above. It's always possible that he is depicted in a medieval setting, but there is no evidence of that.

Einar/Dru, in case you don't know, Arthur Scargill is a well-known trade unionist, instrumental in the 1980's miner's strikes.
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

World Cup Soccer (1986)
Screenplay (1987)

Both were published in 1985 at the same time as the other title in the series Magic.
All three are shown here: Home Computing Weekly 1/10/1985.

They're all book/software packs so should really be Bookware, but don't fit the current definition: "Bookware means the game was based on a novel(la), which is included in the distribution."
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

Gunfright (1986)

was released in 1985. Released "this week" according to Popular Computing Weekly 26th December 1985. Retro Gamer also have a date of 1985, and it's also got a release date on 1985 in Rare Replay: (youtube video).
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Einar Saukas »

StooB wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:32 pm They're all book/software packs so should really be Bookware, but don't fit the current definition: "Bookware means the game was based on a novel(la), which is included in the distribution."
This definition is similar. So I'm not sure if this definition must be changed... Any suggestions?


EDIT: Perhaps this:

"Bookware means the program was based on a book, which is included in the distribution."


EDIT: On second thought, this new definition suggests that an attached tape containing type-ins from a book would be a bookware. It's certainly not...
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by R-Tape »

As per 8BitAG's chats with the author Jack Gibbons, can the following corrections be appled pleez:

Personal Banking System (ID 8542)
Was never released for the Spectrum 16K. The system should be Spectrum 48K.

And therefore could the comment be changed to:
Hilton to become the first UK home computer software company to distribute a program as Freeware.

Later versions, with the Bank Reconciliation module built in, were sold by Hilton Computer Services Ltd (£9.95) and re-released by Micromega.
And could it be given the AKA: Sistema Bancario Personal

Personal Bank Account Management System (ID 31752)
Was *not* written by Jack P. Gibbons, so can we please remove his name from that entry.

And could the ZX81 version (ID 31751)
Be given the AKA Gestion de Compte Bancaire
✓ Reviewed
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by StooB »

Einar Saukas wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:50 pm
StooB wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 12:32 pm They're all book/software packs so should really be Bookware, but don't fit the current definition: "Bookware means the game was based on a novel(la), which is included in the distribution."
This definition is similar. So I'm not sure if this definition must be changed... Any suggestions?


EDIT: Perhaps this:

"Bookware means the program was based on a book, which is included in the distribution."


EDIT: On second thought, this new definition suggests that an attached tape containing type-ins from a book would be a bookware. It's certainly not...
Any definition would need to cover:
Spectrum Bookware which is the book The ZX Spectrum and How to Get the Most from It and a completely unrelated game
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole from Mosaic Bookware which didn't come with the book the game was based on but with a diary
The Saga of Eric the Viking, again from Mosaic Bookware, but doesn't actually come with the book, just excerpts from it

So, if it doesn't have to be a novel, or complete book, or even have the software based on the book, I don't think you can be anymore specific than:
"Bookware means software that was published with a book or novella."
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6858
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by PeterJ »

Please now start using 'Little bugs in the database 4' for new bug reports.

Thanks
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Little bugs in the database 3

Post by Einar Saukas »

StooB wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2020 3:33 pm Any definition would need to cover:
Spectrum Bookware which is the book The ZX Spectrum and How to Get the Most from It and a completely unrelated game
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole from Mosaic Bookware which didn't come with the book the game was based on but with a diary
The Saga of Eric the Viking, again from Mosaic Bookware, but doesn't actually come with the book, just excerpts from it

So, if it doesn't have to be a novel, or complete book, or even have the software based on the book, I don't think you can be anymore specific than:
"Bookware means software that was published with a book or novella."
What about this:

"Bookware means the program was based on a story from a book, which is included in the distribution."

This away, it doesn't have to be a novella, not even a fictional story. It can be a book describing events from the World Cup soccer, and a quiz game about it. Or a fictional diary as a way to tell a story, and a game based on the same story.

However I don't agree that Spectrum Bookware is a bookware! Just tying together a book and a game completely unrelated to each other (the game is actually based on a story from a different book) doesn't magically turn them into a bookware.
Post Reply