Ports and other external links

This is the place for general discussion and updates about the ZXDB Database. This forum is not specific to Spectrum Computing.

Moderator: druellan

Post Reply
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

At present ZXDB doesn't list releases for some platforms; for example, Klax was released for Amiga, Atari ST, Atari Lynx, MS-DOS, Game Gear and Megadrive, none of which are mentioned. It also had a BBC Micro release which is mentioned but isn't linked to.

Is there any interest in adding details for these platforms? If so I'd be happy to do some work on this. I'd need to know the best format to provide the info; I was thinking something like a spreadsheet/CSV file with ZXDB id in the first column and a column for each platform's URL.

Also are there any guidelines on which sites should be linked to? I was intending on using the following:

Amiga: http://www.lemonamiga.com/?game_id=645
ST: https://www.atarilegend.com/games/games ... ame_id=444
MS-DOS: http://www.abandonia.com/games/490
Game Gear: https://www.smspower.org/Games/KLAX-GG
Megadrive: http://www.guardiana.net/MDG-Database/M ... rive/Klax/
Lynx: https://atariage.com/software_page.php? ... belID=1897
BBC: http://www.bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=895

Another site that might be interesting to link to is The Cutting Room Floor, which has info on easter eggs etc. and has a ZX Spectrum games category which would make compiling links reasonably straightforward. Again, I'd be happy to do some work compiling links if it's of interest.
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6854
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by PeterJ »

Excellent idea [mention]Stu[/mention],

[mention]Einar Saukas[/mention] just normally needs a CSV file with the infoseek ID then the data in a consistent format. I'm sure he will take you up on your suggestion.

There are also games which were released for the Atari 8 bit machines like Feud.
User avatar
kolbeck
Manic Miner
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:04 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by kolbeck »

ZXDB already contains some references to other platforms, just have a look at the entry for Klax here: https://zxinfo.dk/details/0002707 in the other platforms section.

Looks like SC just doesn’t display that information, as well as zx info does not show every details from ZXDB.

If you have such a csv I would be happy to check it up against the database.


/T
https://api.zxinfo.dk/v3/ - ZXDB API for developers
zxinfo-file-browser - Cross platform app to manage your files
https://zxinfo.dk - another ZXDB frontend
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6854
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by PeterJ »

Hi [mention]kolbeck[/mention],

Looks like we have it for that title. Am I missing something?

Other platforms:
Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, Sega Master System

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=2707
User avatar
kolbeck
Manic Miner
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:04 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by kolbeck »

Hah. I just didn’t see the section :-)

But it should be easy to add/update with new platforms if we get the data

/T
https://api.zxinfo.dk/v3/ - ZXDB API for developers
zxinfo-file-browser - Cross platform app to manage your files
https://zxinfo.dk - another ZXDB frontend
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6854
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by PeterJ »

kolbeck wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 3:07 pm Hah. I just didn’t see the section :-)

But it should be easy to add/update with new platforms if we get the data

/T
No worries. Yes, that information would be a great addition.

Your site just gets better and better [mention]kolbeck[/mention]!
User avatar
kolbeck
Manic Miner
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:04 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by kolbeck »

Thanks- without you it wouldn’t have been possible

/T
https://api.zxinfo.dk/v3/ - ZXDB API for developers
zxinfo-file-browser - Cross platform app to manage your files
https://zxinfo.dk - another ZXDB frontend
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Einar Saukas »

Stu wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 2:54 pmIs there any interest in adding details for these platforms? If so I'd be happy to do some work on this. I'd need to know the best format to provide the info; I was thinking something like a spreadsheet/CSV file with ZXDB id in the first column and a column for each platform's URL.
This is awesome, thank you very much for your offer!!!

Here's a list of all information currently stored in ZXDB for other platforms:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

Besides ID and URL, we also need platform name, and an indication if the version of the game in this platform is official or not. Either spreadsheet or CSV is fine. Thanks!

Agreed!

The sites we currently use are:

Amstrad CPC: http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=1296
Atari 2600: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.h ... LabelID=23
Atari 8-bit: http://www.atarimania.com/detail_soft.p ... ON_ID=3013
Commodore 64: http://www.gb64.com/game.php?id=15991
Commodore 64: http://www.lemon64.com/?game_id=1520
Commodore Plus/4: http://plus4world.powweb.com/software/ACE
MSX: http://www.generation-msx.nl/msxdb/softwareinfo/2891
Sega Master System: http://www.smstributes.co.uk/getinfo.asp?gameid=69

Stu wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 2:54 pmAnother site that might be interesting to link to is The Cutting Room Floor, which has info on easter eggs etc. and has a ZX Spectrum games category which would make compiling links reasonably straightforward. Again, I'd be happy to do some work compiling links if it's of interest.
Sure! For these links we will only need ID and URL. We also need language but since it will be "English" for all Cutting Room links, you don't need to bother.

Thanks again!!!
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6854
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by PeterJ »

Hi [mention]Einar Saukas[/mention],

Is AtariAge linked up? I admit I only looked at one title, but Feud does not have a link to Atari Age:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... ctrum/Feud

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-40 ... _1946.html

I'm happy to check with any cross checking.

Peter

Edit. Spellbound seems to have the Atari link but it's not working. Will PM you.
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Einar Saukas »

PeterJ wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:03 pmIs AtariAge linked up? I admit I only looked at one title, but Feud does not have a link to Atari Age:
We currently have information about 6,767 ports, but we don't have URL for 1,484 of them. Also there are certainly more ports than we don't have.

If anyone can help complete the missing ports or URLs, please let us know!
PeterJ wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:03 pmEdit. Spellbound seems to have the Atari link but it's not working. Will PM you.
Good catch! The Atarimania URLs have changed but I should be able to fix them automatically. Please wait for the next ZXDB update.
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

BBC Micro ports: https://pastebin.com/vdck08Mc

I've left everything in from the original list, regardless of whether I was able to find the game on bbcmicro.co.uk or not.

A few notes:

Where a game had multiple releases, I've matched the exact release which I assume is the correct approach. For example, Countdown to Doom was originally released on the BBC by Acornsoft in 1983, and later re-released by Topologika in 1987 -- both releases are listed separately on bbcmicro.co.uk so I've linked to the Topologika release as they released it for the Spectrum.

The BBC version of Bubble Bobble was (supposedly) developed officially by Firebird but wasn't published at the time, only surfacing in 1998. I've listed it as being official but not sure if this is strictly correct.

Computer Scrabble is listed as having a BBC version. There are a few Scrabble games for the BBC, but none called "Computer Scrabble" and none released by Psion. Leisure Genius did do a Scrabble game for the BBC, but the Spectrum game they released was Scrabble Deluxe. So in this case I haven't linked them up.

Pettigrew Chronicles for the Spectrum is made of elements of two separate BBC games (viewtopic.php?p=40991#p40991) -- I haven't linked these up as I wasn't sure which to put in.

Compilations (eg Konami's Coin-Op Hits) are search links, as this is how bbcmicro.co.uk represents them.

System 15000 is listed twice in ZXDB: "System 15000" and "System 15000 - 2nd Edition". I suspect these entries can be merged but I'll post elsewhere about that; in the meantime I linked both entries to the sole BBC version.
User avatar
PeterJ
Site Admin
Posts: 6854
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Surrey, UK

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by PeterJ »

Thank you [mention]Stu[/mention]. This is just what [mention]Einar Saukas[/mention] will need.
User avatar
StooB
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1073
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:03 am
Contact:

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by StooB »

Stu wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:03 pm Computer Scrabble is listed as having a BBC version. There are a few Scrabble games for the BBC, but none called "Computer Scrabble" and none released by Psion. Leisure Genius did do a Scrabble game for the BBC, but the Spectrum game they released was Scrabble Deluxe. So in this case I haven't linked them up.
Leisure Genius released three versions of Scrabble. It's Computer Scrabble, which is a re-release of the Psion/Sinclair original, which corresponds with the BBC release shown here which is the same as the one just called Scrabble at bbcmicro.co.uk
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

StooB wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:55 pm
Stu wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:03 pm Computer Scrabble is listed as having a BBC version. There are a few Scrabble games for the BBC, but none called "Computer Scrabble" and none released by Psion. Leisure Genius did do a Scrabble game for the BBC, but the Spectrum game they released was Scrabble Deluxe. So in this case I haven't linked them up.
Leisure Genius released three versions of Scrabble. It's Computer Scrabble, which is a re-release of the Psion/Sinclair original, which corresponds with the BBC release shown here which is the same as the one just called Scrabble at bbcmicro.co.uk
Ah nice one, not sure how I managed to miss the Leisure Genius release!
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Einar Saukas »

Stu wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:03 pm BBC Micro ports: https://pastebin.com/vdck08Mc

I've left everything in from the original list, regardless of whether I was able to find the game on bbcmicro.co.uk or not.

A few notes:

Where a game had multiple releases, I've matched the exact release which I assume is the correct approach. For example, Countdown to Doom was originally released on the BBC by Acornsoft in 1983, and later re-released by Topologika in 1987 -- both releases are listed separately on bbcmicro.co.uk so I've linked to the Topologika release as they released it for the Spectrum.

The BBC version of Bubble Bobble was (supposedly) developed officially by Firebird but wasn't published at the time, only surfacing in 1998. I've listed it as being official but not sure if this is strictly correct.

Computer Scrabble is listed as having a BBC version. There are a few Scrabble games for the BBC, but none called "Computer Scrabble" and none released by Psion. Leisure Genius did do a Scrabble game for the BBC, but the Spectrum game they released was Scrabble Deluxe. So in this case I haven't linked them up.

Pettigrew Chronicles for the Spectrum is made of elements of two separate BBC games (viewtopic.php?p=40991#p40991) -- I haven't linked these up as I wasn't sure which to put in.

Compilations (eg Konami's Coin-Op Hits) are search links, as this is how bbcmicro.co.uk represents them.

System 15000 is listed twice in ZXDB: "System 15000" and "System 15000 - 2nd Edition". I suspect these entries can be merged but I'll post elsewhere about that; in the meantime I linked both entries to the sole BBC version.
I added all these links to ZXDB, they will appear in the next update. Thank you very much!!!
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

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

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Einar Saukas »

Stu wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 2:52 pm TCRF links:
https://pastebin.com/MwcXH7TD
Done, thank you very much!!!
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

https://pastebin.com/Pni54XK1

This contains Amiga, ST, DOS and Mega Drive port info taken from Lemon Amiga (dependent on them having a Spectrum link for the game). It also includes arcade links to arcade-museum.com because I thought I may as well collect them while I was at it, don't know if they're of any use but I guess they're easy enough to exclude if not needed.

I've marked a few Amiga ports as unofficial where I've been certain of it -- eg. Where Time Stood Still, which was ported from the ST version in 2014, and the Bignonia port of Zaxxon. A few games to note:

Uwol: I couldn't find a mention of an Amiga version on the Mojon Twins website so I've assumed it's unofficial but I'm not 100% sure.

Starquake: This started in 2014 as an unofficial ST port but was eventually published by Psytronik with Stephen Crow's blessing so I’ve gone with it being official.

Advanced Lawnmower Simulator: I've assumed it was unofficial even though it was published on the coverdisk of YS fanzine Amiga Power.

All ST, DOS and Mega Drive ports are marked as official, however I haven't done any checks on these.

I don't know how important the name column is but this uses the name as listed on Lemon Amiga rather than ZXDB. The sole exception is Aquanaut, an unofficial conversion of Shark which I've renamed accordingly.

Note that only games on Lemon Amiga are included, so games that bypassed the Amiga aren't in the list -- Ranarama is one example, which was released on the ST but not the Amiga, and therefore isn't included. Some Amiga freeware/shareware games (such as Zut Alors) aren't on the site either, so again these aren't included. This also goes for any ports not linked from Lemon Amiga -- so the MS-DOS port of Feud isn't in the list as Lemon Amiga doesn't link to it. I guess these kind of exceptions will have to be added to ZXDB as and when they're discovered.
User avatar
Einar Saukas
Bugaboo
Posts: 3070
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:48 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Einar Saukas »

Thank you very much!

I have added everything to ZXDB, it will be in the next update.

Stu wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 6:31 pmIt also includes arcade links to arcade-museum.com because I thought I may as well collect them while I was at it, don't know if they're of any use but I guess they're easy enough to exclude if not needed.
We already had almost all of these Arcade references, except they are listed separately under a section called "conversion/inspiration" (depending if the conversion was official or not). Your list of Arcade games was useful to identify the following mismatches:

* Afterburner for Spectrum: ZXDB says it's a licensed version of After Burner from Arcade, your list says it's a licensed version of After Burner II from Arcade. Which one is correct?

* Strider II for Spectrum: ZXDB says it's a licensed version of Strider from Arcade, your list says it's a licensed version of Strider 2 from Arcade. Which one is correct?

Stu wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 6:31 pmI don't know how important the name column is but this uses the name as listed on Lemon Amiga rather than ZXDB. The sole exception is Aquanaut, an unofficial conversion of Shark which I've renamed accordingly.
We didn't even have a name column for ports, but it's a good idea. It's useful to indicate ports available under different names on different platforms, such as Aquanaut. I added this information now.

Thanks again!
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

Einar Saukas wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:30 am * Afterburner for Spectrum: ZXDB says it's a licensed version of After Burner from Arcade, your list says it's a licensed version of After Burner II from Arcade. Which one is correct?
According to Hardcore Gaming 101, After Burner II (considered more of a revision of the original game than a sequel) introduced a throttle to control speed, rotating balls on the title screen, and intermissions where your plane lands on a runway. Since these are present in Activision's home versions it does look as though they're technically conversions of After Burner II.
* Strider II for Spectrum: ZXDB says it's a licensed version of Strider from Arcade, your list says it's a licensed version of Strider 2 from Arcade. Which one is correct?
This looks like a discrepancy in Lemon Amiga's information; as stated in Wikipedia, US Gold's home versions are unrelated to the Strider 2 coin-op.
Stu
Manic Miner
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed May 20, 2020 2:59 pm

Re: Ports and other external links

Post by Stu »

Another game that skipped the Amiga: Uridium has an Atari ST port. It has an MS-DOS port too but it isn't on Abandonia.
Post Reply