Little bugs in the database 4

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Audionautas »

Audionautas wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:39 am 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!
Hi guys

The other day I made the suggestion above on the "advanced search" feature on SC that I think would be great to be added on ZXDB, but now I'm trying to do another kind of search that I think it could be useful to add to the ZXDB too. I'm trying to search by "film licence" or "arcade licence" in order to list all games based on films and arcade machines. The same would be great for "comic-book licence", "tv series licence" and so on. Perhaps it would be a great addition to the search engine. What do you think?
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

The David Shaw that is credited for Boxing is David A. Shaw of the Shaw Brothers, as mentioned on their website.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by druellan »

StooB wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 11:30 am Steve Blower

His role on ZZoom is presumably 'Inlay/Poster Art' as he did all the other Imagine covers. Mobygames agree.
Old Imagine software credits can be improved just looking at the instructions:

Zip-Zap (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... um/Zip-Zap)
GAME DESIGN & SOFTWARE by Ian Weatherburn
GRAPHIC DESIGN by Steve Blower.

Also, the Spanish instructions seems to be from a pirated version and marked as incomplete. Perhaps worth to remove them. https://archive.org/download/World_of_S ... plete).pdf

Arcadia (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... um/Arcadia)
Might be nice to credit David H. Lawson as D.H.L. as in the game, and to have those initials as an alternate nickname.

Ah Diddums (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... Ah_Diddums)
Spectres (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... m/Spectres)
Also signed as D.H.L.

Jumping Jack (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... mping_Jack)
PROGRAM CODING by Albert Ball
GRAPHIC DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION by Steve Blower
Stuart C. Ball - Graphics

Pedro (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... trum/Pedro)
GAME IDEA, AND MANY THANKS to Stephen Knight.
PROGRAM by Frank Johnson.
GRAPHICS by Ally Noble & Dawn Jones.
MUSIC by Fred Gray & Abdul Ibrahim.
ILLUSTRATIONS by Brial Wall.
PHOTOGRAPHY by Bernard Rose.
COFFEE MADE by Lynn Livingstone.

B.C. Bill (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... um/BC_Bill)
B.C.BILL (C) 1984 by Creative Technology Group Ltd. We know Abdul Ibrahim was part of Creative Technology, but I wonder who "Eric the Bear" was.

Cosmic Cruiser (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... ic_Cruiser)
Again, (C) Creative Technology Group Ltd

Dominoes (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... m/Dominoes)
** All programs written by D.G. Cross.

Something very odd about this game. D.H.L. is credited, but his name is not present on the game. But, if you inspect the code of the TAP version, you can find "1982 by IMAGINE SOFTWARÅCopyright: Program,Audio,VisuaìPresentóBY D.H.L?" This looks like a leftover on the tape image.

Anyway, confirmed label D.H.L. in the database is indeed David H. Lawson

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

BLAM has a Tipshop page not currently linked to: https://www.the-tipshop.co.uk/cgi-bin/info.pl?name=Blam
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Unidentified covertape program Hacks Amazing is from Sinclair User 127.

As an aside, I've extracted all the SU, YS and Crash pokes programs (Poke City, Pokemania, Practical Pokes etc.) as TZXs -- if there's any interest in creating separate ZXDB entries for each of them then I'm happy to upload them somewhere and help create the entries.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by redballoon »

Bill the Kid (Codemasters/Virgin Mastertronic)

Has this as an advertisement for it:

https://ia800604.us.archive.org/view_ar ... TheKid.jpg

Image

But that advert was for Billy the Kid released by Ocean on the Atari ST and Amiga...a completely different game.

See here for the full advert for the Ocean game.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Audionautas »

Hi

A couple of things to add to ZXDB.

* KING VALLEY (1994). https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... ing_Valley

This entry doesn't include creators, but according to the .txt included on the entry, we have the following credits:

Authors: Andrey Ugolnik (coding, graphics), Evgeny Yanushkevich (graphics), Oleg Romanovich (music), Nikolay Kozhevnikov (levels), Kamikaze (screens), Dik Aleksey & Alex Plusow (consultation).

So this entry might be enhanced.

* THE CHAMP (1991). https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /The_Champ

In the Original Publisher row it reads: "Linel (Liechtenstein)". I ever thought that this was a Swiss company because they did the Amiga ports for Exolon and Eliminator by Hewson, but I didn't know that this company also released three late games for the Spectrum.

At the end of the booklet of the System 4 Spanish release it reads "© LINEL SWITZERLAND PRODUCIDO POR MERIMPEX GA.", but on the other hand, in an advert for this game on Popular Computer Weekly it seems it was from Liechtenstein (https://archive.org/stream/popular-comp ... 8/mode/1up).

Your Sinclair claims it's a Swiss company on their unreliable T-Zers column (https://archive.org/stream/YourSinclair ... 8/mode/1up), but here on The Games Machine magazine they comment that it was a Swiss company "based in Arbon near Lake Constance" and it was made up of 25 people (coder, graphic artists, musicians...). (https://archive.org/stream/the-games-ma ... 4/mode/1up).

The only information I came across about this company it that it was both publisher and developer, their softography and that they don't exist anymore. https://www.mobygames.com/company/linel

What do you think? Liechtenstein or Switzerland?
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

The following games have padlock protection:

Fish!
The Guild of Thieves
Jinxter
The Pawn
Starglider (+3 version only)
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by R-Tape »

The 'Adventures in Italiano' tape magazines should be called the "Viking - Adventures in Italiano Nr 01"...

27103 Adventures in Italiano Nr 01
27107 Adventures in Italiano Nr 02
27111 Adventures in Italiano Nr 03
27112 Adventures in Italiano Nr 04
27113 Adventures in Italiano Nr 05
27117 Adventures in Italiano Nr 06
27118 Adventures in Italiano Nr 07
27119 Adventures in Italiano Nr 08
27120 Adventures in Italiano Nr 09
27121 Adventures in Italiano Nr 10
27184 Adventures in Italiano Nr 11

This is a recommendation from [mention]wallyweek[/mention] from his MIAs. I agree it is 'from Viking' as much as Outlet tape mag is 'from Outlet'.

There doesn't appear to be a series for these. I will create one; let me know if I should not.

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Your Computer August 1986 seems to have a different url format to the other issues so should be https://archive.org/details/yourcomputer198608 instead of https://archive.org/stream/your-compute ... ne-1986-08
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stefan »

Audionautas wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:44 pm * THE CHAMP (1991). https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /The_Champ

In the Original Publisher row it reads: "Linel (Liechtenstein)". I ever thought that this was a Swiss company because they did the Amiga ports for Exolon and Eliminator by Hewson, but I didn't know that this company also released three late games for the Spectrum.

At the end of the booklet of the System 4 Spanish release it reads "© LINEL SWITZERLAND PRODUCIDO POR MERIMPEX GA.", but on the other hand, in an advert for this game on Popular Computer Weekly it seems it was from Liechtenstein (https://archive.org/stream/popular-comp ... 8/mode/1up).

Your Sinclair claims it's a Swiss company on their unreliable T-Zers column (https://archive.org/stream/YourSinclair ... 8/mode/1up), but here on The Games Machine magazine they comment that it was a Swiss company "based in Arbon near Lake Constance" and it was made up of 25 people (coder, graphic artists, musicians...). (https://archive.org/stream/the-games-ma ... 4/mode/1up).

The only information I came across about this company it that it was both publisher and developer, their softography and that they don't exist anymore. https://www.mobygames.com/company/linel

What do you think? Liechtenstein or Switzerland?
On page 38 of New Computer Express issue 83 (June 1990) there's an ad asking for programmers, address of Linel:

Guetlistrasse, 9050 Appenzell, Switzerland - which is not that far from Liechtenstein.

The same ad is also on page 113 in ACE issue 35 (August 1990).
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Audionautas »

Stefan wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:17 pm
On page 38 of New Computer Express issue 83 (June 1990) there's an ad asking for programmers, address of Linel:

Guetlistrasse, 9050 Appenzell, Switzerland - which is not that far from Liechtenstein.

The same ad is also on page 113 in ACE issue 35 (August 1990).
Thank you [mention]Stefan[/mention] !!! According to all the information gathered there seems to be more evidences that Linel was a Swiss company than from Liechtenstein, but hey, Appenzell and Vaduz are only 50km away by road.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Frameworks X: The Mainframe Quest

A bit of background on this -- it was included on the b-side of the 1983 single Talk to Me by Mainframe. Some more info can be found here:

http://msknight.com/bbc/mainframe.html
https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15405

And a video of it in action here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eIzNE356-Q

The back of the record sleeve (in the first link) credits John Molloy and David Green for the Spectrum version. It's the same John Molloy that worked at Magnetic Scrolls so this can be linked to him:

https://twitter.com/computermuseum/stat ... 7560748032

Sadly, John died in 2018 so that can be added to his entry.

As an aside, I'm not sure that "Frameworks X: The Mainframe Quest" is the program's actual name -- maybe I'm wrong but from reading the text in the program, it sounds like "Frameworks X" is referring to the competition included in their album Tenants of the Lattice-Work; a little more info on that can be found here: http://www.swanfungus.com/2018/04/mainf ... -work.html

However the competition is referred to as "The Quest" here so who really knows? https://archive.org/details/Lode_Runner ... 7/mode/2up
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by StooB »

Dark Force

This seems to be an amalgamation of two different titles.

The tzx and the cover are for a compilation called Dark Force containing Midnight Resistance and Night Breed.

The advert and all the reviews are for a compilation called Dark Force containing Batman The Caped Crusader, Last Ninja 2, Dark Side and R-Type. No scans of the box are available.

The magazine references imply that the 4 title compilation was released for Christmas 1989 which is before Midnight Resistance and Night Breed were even released. This version doesn't appear to exist - there's no sign of it on eBay or in any of the Facebook groups.

It looks like they cancelled this release. Last Ninja 2 was already on 100% Dynamite which was released at the same time, and R-Type and Batman turned up in early 1990 on The Biz. It seems Ocean never released Dark Side, either on a compilation or on even on Hit Squad.

So, there should be two entries:

1. Dark Force, date 1989, never released, Batman/Ninja/Dark Side/R Type + all magazine references + the compilation advert

2. Dark Force, date 1990 (probably - that's the copyright year on the manual and cassettes), Midnight Resistance/Night Breed + no magazine references + all "additional file downloads" apart from the compilation advert
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Stu wrote: Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:12 am Frameworks X: The Mainframe Quest
I just noticed that this has versions for both the Spectrum and the ZX81 uploaded under the same entry -- should these be split into separate entries?
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Some Level 9 corrections:

Time and Magik
This features padlock protection. Some new in-game pictures may be needed as the current ones are from the original releases of the individual games -- I had a quick play through a few moves of each game in this compilation and no pictures were present in the tape versions, while the +3 version has different pictures.

Jewels of Darkness
Machine type should be 48k/128k as it includes enhanced 128k versions of the games. The comment "updated versions of:" could possibly do with being reworded or expanded as it's not currently a complete comment (see Time and Magik as an example of what might be better).

Silicon Dreams
As with JoD, the machine type should be 48k/128k and the comment seems incomplete. Also, padlock protection is present.

Ingrid's Back
Lancelot
These both feature padlock protection, although note that this is only in the 128k and +3 versions -- the 48k versions don't seem to have it as far as I can tell.

Knight Orc
Gnome Ranger
I'm not sure if the comment "The novella is required in order to play parts 2 and 3" refers to the padlock protection but if it does then it's incorrect -- it's definitely present in part 1.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by StooB »

The Graphic Adventure Creator

There are two releases of this, the original Incentive one and an almost identical Guild Publishing version. The Guild Publishing cover is GraphicAdventureCreatorThe.jpg which has the GP logo on it and has no barcode (because it was sold via the Home Computer Club). This is the same as the two releases of Lord of the Rings.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by StooB »

The Graphic Adventure Creator

The SPOT comment claims:
The Adventure Writers Handbook was supplied as a freebie extra when you purchased GAC through the Home Computer Club.
According to the April issues of C&VG, ZX Computing and Your Sinclair, the Adventure Writers Handbook was sold directly by Incentive for £1.25.

There doesn't appear to be any evidence of it also being supplied via the Home Computer Club - it definitely wasn't in my copy at the time.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Camelot Warriors

As per [mention]Juan F. Ramirez[/mention]'s post here, the first Dinamic release of Camelot Warriors came with the "SD1" dongle and was unplayable without it -- should this info be added to its entry? It also may be worth noting that the file CamelotWarriors.tzx.zip is the SD1-protected version.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

StooB wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:50 pm There doesn't appear to be any evidence of it also being supplied via the Home Computer Club - it definitely wasn't in my copy at the time.
Is it currently in the database? I have a digital copy of it.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

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8BitAG wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:01 pm
StooB wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:50 pm There doesn't appear to be any evidence of it also being supplied via the Home Computer Club - it definitely wasn't in my copy at the time.
Is it currently in the database? I have a digital copy of it.
Yes, there's a pdf in the downloads section of the GAC entry, but if it was sold separately it should really have its own entry.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

StooB wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:05 pm Yes, there's a pdf in the downloads section of the GAC entry, but if it was sold separately it should really have its own entry.
I wonder if their Adventure Designer Pad should also be listed in the database.

Edit: In addition to the adventure news articles you posted links to, the Adventure Writer's Handbook is specifically mentioned as being available separately in one of their adverts so, yes, definitely needs its own entry...

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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by moroz1999 »

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... el_id=8230
L.G. Baumann is from the Republic of South Africa, according to author's comment on zxart.
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by Stu »

Some amendments for Stefan Vogt's games:

The Curse of Rabenstein (+3 version)
The Curse of Rabenstein (ZX Spectrum Next version)

These should have each other added as an Other Version.

The ZX Spectrum Next entry is missing the remote link that the +3 version has: https://8bitgames.itch.io/rabenstein/de ... nstein-out

The game is authored with DAAD.

The game is also on the following formats (links where available):
C64
Plus/4: http://plus4world.powweb.com/software/T ... Rabenstein
CPC: https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?pag ... &num=17444
Amiga: http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=4424
Atari ST: https://www.atarilegend.com/games/games ... me_id=7540
DOS


Hibernated 1: This Place is Death

Remote link for this game: https://8bitgames.itch.io/hibernated1

The game is also on the following formats:
C64: http://www.gb64.com/game.php?id=27443
Plus/4: http://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Hibernated_1
CPC: https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?pag ... &num=15220
MSX
Amiga
Atari ST: https://www.atarilegend.com/games/games ... me_id=7348
DOS


Eight Feet Under

The game is also on the following formats:
C64
Plus/4: http://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Eight_Feet_Under
CPC
MSX
Amiga
Atari ST
DOS


Eight Feed Under is marked as "Distribution denied - still for sale", whereas the others have no availability given at all (but don't have downloads listed in ZXDB either). Since all the games are made available on a pay-what-you-want basis, should they all be "Distribution denied - still for sale"?
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Re: Little bugs in the database 4

Post by 8BitAG »

Note: The version listed on Spectrum Computing is the initial PAWed 2018 version of Hibernated 1, and not the later 2019 boxed/digital release that was made with DAAD. Information about the DAAD version has not yet been added to that entry even though it includes the physical box image.
Eight Feed Under is marked as "Distribution denied - still for sale", whereas the others have no availability given at all (but don't have downloads listed in ZXDB either). Since all the games are made available on a pay-what-you-want basis, should they all be "Distribution denied - still for sale"?
Eight Feet Under was originally an exclusive with physical editions of Hibernated 1; which is where the distribution denied comment came from. The bonus adventure has since been made more widely available.
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