The best Speccy game by Bob Smith: discussion

[PeteProdge]

This is a bit of a tricky one. Bob Smith is a real person, and his publisher 'brand' has been Bob Smith and it's also been 'Bob's Stuff'. Do I bring the two 'labels' together, or treat them separately?

All Present And Correct
Factory Daze
Farmer Jack - Treasure Trove
Gem Chaser
Gem Chaser 2
Herbert The Turbot
Horace In The Mystic Woods
Jilly's Farm Volume 1 - Sokobaarn!
LumASCII
W*H*B
X=Y=Z

All the above is listed in ZXDB as by 'Bob Smith', except for the titles I've placed in dark red, which are listed as 'Bob's Stuff'. I'll keep them lumped all together for next week's poll unless someone can give me a compelling reason not to.

There are 11 games here, Bob Smith seems to be have been doing homebrew games since 2008, and may well have given it up (or taken a break) in recent years, as the most recent was in 2017. Still, they are pretty decent, and I love Sokobaarn!

[bobs]

Apparently he’s a really great bloke!

Both Stranded & Stranded 2 are missing from the list though, along with Dominetris, and the first two Farmer Jack games. Also the frankly mind blowing Text-only Grand Prix. The first Speccy game was Stranded, which was actually finished in 1989 but didn’t find a publisher at the time, and so finally saw the light of day in the early 2000’s (4? 5? Not sure)

They’re all grouped together on his itch.io page (link below), so the vote should probably do that as well.

Last release was 2021 for the ZX81 game Shrooms, having written more ZX81 games than Spectrum at the moment. He’s still active (if slowing down through old age), and is currently working on trying to bringing two PC games to the Speccy.

[PeteProdge]

Apparently he’s a really great bloke!

Both Stranded & Stranded 2 are missing from the list though, along with Dominetris, and the first two Farmer Jack games. Also the frankly mind blowing Text-only Grand Prix. The first Speccy game was Stranded, which was actually finished in 1989 but didn’t find a publisher at the time, and so finally saw the light of day in the early 2000’s (4? 5? Not sure)

They’re all grouped together on his itch.io page (link below), so the vote should probably do that as well.

Last release was 2021 for the ZX81 game Shrooms, having written more ZX81 games than Spectrum at the moment. He’s still active (if slowing down), and is currently working on trying to bringing two PC games to the Speccy.

Ah, Stranded and Stranded 2.5 are certainly developed by Bob Smith, along with Dominetris and the first two Farmer Jack games, but these are published on the Cronosoft label (and that's a brand I intend to showcase in these polls at some point).

I did a search with games only and ZX Spectrum machines on the filters, so I didn't accidentally include the ZX81 stuff. Fair enough if he's concentrating on the ZX81, that's a really tough challenge, good to hear he's still going!

[bobs]

Nearly all the games mentioned were also published on cassette by Cronosoft though - all the Farmer Jack games, Factory Daze, W*H*B, X=Y=Z etc - so the distinction is somewhat ambiguous? None of the games were directly written for Cronosoft.

[PeteProdge]

Nearly all the games mentioned were also published on cassette by Cronosoft though - all the Farmer Jack games, Factory Daze, W*H*B, X=Y=Z etc - so the distinction is somewhat ambiguous?

True! This is something I've realised now I've looked at homebrew labels. What an incestuous (and I mean that metaphorically!) scene!

Are there enough non-Cronosoft-published games by him to make a poll?

If there aren't enough then I guess I should propose a discussion on the next homebrew label in my notes, which is RetroWorks and they seem to have a clearly-defined ZX Spectrum output of 17 games, which we'll of course examine and then vote for Sword Of Ianna.

[bobs]

There are only 3 spectrum games which to the best of my knowledge have not been available (at some point) on cassette from Cronosoft - HITMW…, TOGP, and APAC - so I don’t think that makes a poll under your current criteria, no. Splitting their work into three separate groups, instead of by an author, rather ruins that.

[R-Tape]

Are there enough non-Cronosoft-published games by him to make a poll?

btw @bobs is Bob Smith!

It feels a bit wrong to me to use publisher in the hard and fast sense for homebrew games. There are times it works and others it shortchanges the author, though I suppose you could say the same about the classic era games. Just my opinion, but I would do a best game by Bob Smith the man poll and a separate one for Cronosoft.

[Ivanzx]

This is going to be a tough one, because Bob has really good games, one of the best authors of the Homebrew era. We are missing your games, Bob! Come back soon! (We are really looking forward to Melkhiors 8) ).

As for the already available games from Bob, not only they are good, but they are also quite original/innovative in many ways.

[PeteProdge]

There are only 3 spectrum games which to the best of my knowledge have not been available (at some point) on cassette from Cronosoft - HITMW…, TOGP, and APAC - so I don’t think that makes a poll under your current criteria, no. Splitting their work into three separate groups, instead of by an author, rather ruins that.

Well, I don't know what TOGP is, but if we have All Present And Correct and Horace In The Mystic Woods, that's two games, which should be fine to start a poll. It is a bit 'apples vs oranges', but that's never stopped me before! Or am I missing something?

[Ivanzx]

I think Gem Chaser 1 and 2 never got a Cronosoft release either

[PeteProdge]

btw @bobs is Bob Smith!

Erk... well, that's embarrassing for me! I didn't realise until you mentioned it.

It feels a bit wrong to me to use publisher in the hard and fast sense for homebrew games. There are times it works and others it shortchanges the author, though I suppose you could say the same about the classic era games.

Yeah, I was about to come to that. The publisher polls are prone to the fact that a publisher brand can be a very mixed bag - so many wildly different contributors with really variable quality. If this was a book forum, then it's like saying the Bronte sisters work is comparable to that of Jeffrey Archer. Or, if music, Motorhead being compared to Sam And The Womp. It's madness (ooh, that's another one on the Stiff label) but I'm not prepared to stop now!

[bobs]

I think Gem Chaser 1 and 2 never got a Cronosoft release either

Really? I’ll try and get that to happen then.

[PeteProdge]

Okay, I've left it rather too late to start a poll today, but @bobs, can you clarify these are the ZX Spectrum games published FIRST by 'Bob Smith'/'Bob's Stuff'?

All Present And Correct
TOPG (I don't know what this stands for!)
Horace In The Mystic Woods

Also, if Cronosoft rereleased your games after you released them, they can still count in a poll, so let me know about any of those too. It's just that if Cronosoft (or any other label) was the first to publish them, then they don't count.

Finally, are Gem Chaser and Gem Chaser 2 first releases by 'Bob Smith'/'Bob's Stuff'?

[bobs]

All my games were published first by me in some form (email, websites, itch.io, etc).

Cronosoft is a way of getting physical cassettes out there. Indeed, the physical versions of the game are usually the last version, so they can be as bug-free as possible having been tested by download.

“Bob’s Stuff” purely came about as a better identity to gather them all under, especially when other people are involved (music, conversions etc)

TOPG should be TOGP - Text-Only Grand Prix.

[patters]

Count me in for eagerly awaiting Melchior's Mansion. No development tweets in a while, I do find those interesting too.

[bobs]

Count me in for eagerly awaiting Melchior's Mansion. No development tweets in a while, I do find those interesting too.

Yup, very sorry about that - blame a mix of development hell and real life. On a positive note though, I’ve currently got two Speccy games on the go!

[hitm4n]

Looks like "Bobs Stuff" is getting a folder of his own in my 1G1R Speccy set

[Ivanzx]

Really? I’ll try and get that to happen then.

That would be great, Bob
Maybe a password system for the cassette release would be also great, as I tried to beat the game and it was really hard!