Little bugs in the database 4

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Audionautas
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Audionautas »

StooB wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:43 pm You can't say Dalek Attack was the definitely the last "new game" "intended for release in stores" without knowing Alternative's exact release schedule. It could be Playdays!
Yes, it probably wasn't the last game, a bold comment on my part, but the only way we have to know if one game was released sooner or later than the other is through magazine reviews. I know that magazines often previewed games that would not be released until months later. Maybe that's the case here, but we don't know. Until we have solid evidence, Playdays was reviewed in May 1993 and Dalek Attack in July 1993. I hope some day we'll know for certain.

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by MatGubbins »

PeterJ wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:10 pm Good spot [mention]StooB[/mention] . Codemasters did acquire them. So you need to use the strict search as mentioned previously.

I understand the issue about points in time [mention]StooB[/mention] , but we just don't have the resources, time, volunteers, or the complete information to ever go down that road. It is noted though.

Strict search was introduced as a partial answer to the issue.
StooB wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:00 pm
PeterJ wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:38 am Hi @MatGubbins,

@Einar Saukas will know the exact reason for this link to Wizball, but to get just titles published by Codemasters you need to enter Codemasters into the Publisher box, then choose strict results from the results strictness box.

There was a long discussion about something similar a few weeks ago which is why we released the results strictness.

I'm sure Einar will come up with the goods.

Good spot by the way @MatGubbins!
It's because ZXDB thinks Codemasters own Sensible Software.
Thanks for the answers. I shuffled my Wizball tape from the Ocean stack and onto the Codemasters stack. It looked wrong and put it back onto the Ocean tape stack.
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Re: Little bugs in the database

Post by 1024MAK »

akeley wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 6:19 pm A pedant writes: Our beloved micro is listed in ZXDB's "Machine Type" entries as "ZX-Spectrum". But shouldn't it actually be "ZX Spectrum"? Just wondering...
Yes, it should be “ZX Spectrum”.
See also here ;-)

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Audionautas »

Hi guys!

I'm doing some searching on ZXDB and I miss an interesting feature.

I'm doing an advanced search by "Language" in this case. My intention is to list all games in Serbian language, for example. Great!, I have a list of games in that particular language. But after reviewing that list I can't find any game from the most famous Serbian 8 bit programmer, Duško Dimitrijević, and that's is because he released all his games in the UK, so the language is English.

So, I miss the option of searching by "Nationality" (of the , not only by "Language". The same case goes for Homega Software, the Hungarian guys who coded Express Raider for U.S. Gold. They're Hungarian but you can't find it as a game made in Hungary because it's in English.

I think this feature of searching by "Nationality" would be very useful to have a real outlook of the software production made in a certain country, regardless the language in which was made.

Thank you!
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by StooB »

Reversi (Sinclair Research) for the Spectrum
and
Reversi also known as Othello (Sinclair Research) for the ZX81

should have the same name
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

Dungeon
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... um/Dungeon
and
The Dungeon
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... he_Dungeon

are the same game so the entries should be combined.

The entry with ID 25764 contains the most information about the game and the game in its purest type-in form.

The entry with ID 11932 is a nice version of the game with a custom font and blue background.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Bubble Bobble has the comment "V2 runs on the ZX Spectrum, V3 (see BBEv3r2.zip in additional material) is for Windows" and the file BBEv3r2.zip in the Main File Downloads section which both belong to Bubble Bobble Editor.

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by StooB »

The Bulge

features multi-machine medium as according to the cover it "runs on both Spectrum 48k and Commodore 64"
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

The page for Adventure by Nigel Brooks
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... /Adventure

...has magazine references that do not refer to that specific Spectrum port of the game, but to the original mainframe game (or other conversions of that game) and should be removed as many of these reference pre-date the release of the Nigel Brooks Spectrum conversion by several years...

Namely...
C&VG (Computer & Video Games)#30 - 1984/4114 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 1&page=114

Micro Adventurer#12 - 1984/1011 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature - First adventure
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 13&page=11

Micro Adventurer#14 - 1984/124 (PDF) (VIEW)Letters
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 115&page=4

Popular Computing Weeklyv.2 #13 - 1983/3/31 - "week#5"27 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 48&page=27

Popular Computing Weeklyv.2 #22 - 1983/6/2 - "week#1"41 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature - Tony Bridge's Adventure Corner
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 57&page=41

Popular Computing Weeklyv.2 #36 - 1983/9/8 - "week#2"37 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 71&page=37

Sinclair User#23 - 1984/2135 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature - Mind Games ...
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 3&page=135

Sinclair User#32 - 1984/11146 (PDF) (VIEW)Feature - Adventure feature
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 2&page=146

Which Micro? & Software Review1983/484Feature
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 05&page=84

*THIS* is the only reference from that magazine reference section that refers to the Nigel Brooks Adventure...
Popular Computing Weeklyv.5 #49 - 1986/12/4 - "week#1"24 (PDF) (VIEW)News/Note
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 37&page=24

NB: All the references in the *Magazine Reviews* section *are* correct.

Also... *see post below*
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Last edited by 8BitAG on Sun Jul 05, 2020 2:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

Connected to the above...

The Serf's Tale
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/6 ... Serfs_Tale

Tony Bridge's PCW column states that this would be released in time for Christmas 1986.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 37&page=24

The current date of release in the database is 1987. There is a copyright notice on the back of the inlay that mentions 1987 so 1987 should probably remain as the date of release. *no change necessary; although my gut feeling is that this was prepared in time for Christmas 1986

However...

The Serf's Tale needs a *derived from* connection to...
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... /Adventure

...as they are basically the same game.

You may even consider combining the entries. I would.

The reviews on the back of The Serf's Tale inlay are actually reviews of the original release of the game under the title Adventure.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 8&page=104
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 3&page=151
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

According to this review...
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 82&page=30

There was a second text & graphics version of the text adventure
The Adventures of Barsak the Dwarf
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... _the_Dwarf

...which was self-published by the authors in 1985
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.php?cat=999
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.php?cat=999

An appropriate re-release entry needs to be added to the game entry.

I'm unsure if you are able to tag the game both text-only and text-illustrated.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by druellan »

Hi! [mention]Audionautas[/mention] something interesting: The Clone by K. Burkhill - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... /The_Clone A type-in tape duplication tool published in 1984 on Your Computer: https://archive.org/stream/your-compute ... 2/mode/1up

Now, on the magazine you can read: K. Burkhill, Deeside, Clwyd. Clwyd is in Wales, so, could be Keith Burkhill himself?

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by druellan »

Slaine: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... rum/Slaine has some complete credits inside the game, including roles:

Image

So, the author list can be completed with:

Neil Dodwell: Design
Jason Austin -- Design, Code
Dave Dew -- Design, In-game graphics
Glenn Fabry -- Cover art
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Audionautas »

druellan wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:47 am
Hi! @Audionautas something interesting: The Clone by K. Burkhill - https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... /The_Clone A type-in tape duplication tool published in 1984 on Your Computer: https://archive.org/stream/your-compute ... 2/mode/1up

Now, on the magazine you can read: K. Burkhill, Deeside, Clwyd. Clwyd is in Wales, so, could be Keith Burkhill himself?
Oh! absolutely, I'm pretty sure is him. According to this coverage of Space Harrier (https://archive.org/details/ComputerAnd ... 3/mode/2up), he talks about Rhyl, also in Wales. For that reason I assumed on previous researching about him that he lived there at the time, but it's not too far away from Clwyd (15-20 kilometers), both in North Wales. Likewise, how many K.Burkhill lived in North Wales and were coders at the time?

Anyway, it's not odd to come across on magazines this kind of utility programs written by famous coders in years to come. By January 1984 (month/year of that Your Computer issue), Burkhill had only done Missile Defence for Anirog, so it was a newcomer yet. I would add this utility to his softography.

All the best!
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

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Audionautas wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:10 am Oh! absolutely, I'm pretty sure is him. According to this coverage of Space Harrier (https://archive.org/details/ComputerAnd ... 3/mode/2up), he talks about Rhyl, also in Wales. For that reason I assumed on previous researching about him that he lived there at the time, but it's not too far away from Clwyd (15-20 kilometers), both in North Wales. Likewise, how many K.Burkhill lived in North Wales and were coders at the time?
Clwyd isn't a place (if you've been using Google to work out distances then you've probably been using the river! :D)

Clwyd is an old county name. Rhyl was in Clwyd, when that county existed. There were quite a lot of North Wales coders but, yes, it's extremely likely it's the same guy.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

The date of release for Colossal Cave
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... ossal_Cave

should be 1984 (not 1985)

The November 1985 PCW column linked on that entry says it was produced 18 months ago, and the advertising linked on the entry is from May 1984.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

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8BitAG wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:22 am
Clwyd isn't a place (if you've been using Google to work out distances then you've probably been using the river! :D)

Clwyd is an old county name. Rhyl was in Clwyd, when that county existed. There were quite a lot of North Wales coders but, yes, it's extremely likely it's the same guy.
Oh! thanks for the clarification. Yes, I used Google to work out distances, in this case between Deeside and Rhyl, but I took miles instead of kilometers, so it's a little bit more far away than I said previously.

All the best!
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

Audionautas wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:33 am Oh! thanks for the clarification. Yes, I used Google to work out distances, in this case between Deeside and Rhyl, but I took miles instead of kilometers, so it's a little bit more far away than I said previously.
I live nearby. :)
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by R-Tape »

Author benkid77 is none other than [mention]Digital Prawn[/mention] (via personal correspondence).

So can these be linked: person "Digital Prawn" (id 3801) is the owner of nickname "benkid77" (id 19198).
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by StooB »

Marble Madness Deluxe Edition (1986)

The only review for this specific release is Your Sinclair's review in May 1987.

All the other magazine reviews and references should be moved to the original Marble Madness entry.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Turrican »

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ctrum/Vera

It is listed here for 48K Speccy but in the game's site it is for 128K as minimum.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Links to Atari games are slightly broken -- should be a straightfoward fix, they just need 'html' in the url replaced with 'php'. For example, for Rescue on Fractalus, the urls are as follows:

Code: Select all

Atari 5200: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=658
Atari 7800: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=2693
They need to be changed to the following:

Code: Select all

Atari 5200: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=658
Atari 7800: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=2693
The same applies to Atari 2600 links too, eg. Beamrider needs to be changed from:

Code: Select all

http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=23
To:

Code: Select all

http://www.atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=23
Atari 8-bit links also seem to be broken but it looks like these need to be individually fixed. The link for Rescue on Fractalus is currently:

Code: Select all

http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=8&VERSION_ID=5983
This would need to be changed to:

Code: Select all

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-rescue-on-fractalus_5983.html
EDIT: Actually after looking at the file that atarimania.com serves up for Atari 8-bit links and some experimentation, it looks like Atari 8-bit links could be replaced with

Code: Select all

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe_VERSION_ID.html
(where VERSION_ID is taken from the existing url) eg. for Rescue at Fractalus:

Code: Select all

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe_5983.html
However the problem does seem to be on their side -- it looks like they're serving up a PHP script that should redirect you to the correct page, but it gets downloaded instead. So if they fixed that then I guess Atari 8-bit links would work again. However I don't know how long it's been broken, whether they're aware of the issue, how quickly they'd get it fixed etc. so I guess it's up to you whether you'd rather wait for them to fix it, or update the ZXDB links so they work without waiting for their fix.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Repton is listed as having a C64 version but according to gamesthatwerent.com no C64 version was ever released.
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