Found some old original tapes
Moderator: pavero
Found some old original tapes
I dug up some old original Speccy tapes. None of them are MIA, but the cassette inlays are either missing on SC or may need a full scan
The titles are:
Young Learners 1 - incomplete inlay on SC
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/9 ... Learners_1
Quazer - incomplete inlay on SC
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... rum/Quazer
Maths Test - No inlay on SC and release year unknown. It's 1983
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... Maths_Test
Question: Are these wanted and if Yes, what is the desired dpi that is needed for scanning these?
The titles are:
Young Learners 1 - incomplete inlay on SC
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/9 ... Learners_1
Quazer - incomplete inlay on SC
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... rum/Quazer
Maths Test - No inlay on SC and release year unknown. It's 1983
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... Maths_Test
Question: Are these wanted and if Yes, what is the desired dpi that is needed for scanning these?
Re: Found some old original tapes
Excellent. Thank you. I think 600dpi is the best resolution, but will let [mention]Mort[/mention] or [mention]pavero[/mention] answer. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Found some old original tapes
Here are the scans, scanned at 600 dpi. Please let me know if any of them need a re-scan. I'd be happy to do so.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/279votp9frevh ... s.zip?dl=0
There's another one for Road Toad which I didn't mention earlier. The full inlay is included.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... /Road_Toad
Some of my other originals do not have the full inlay scanned on SC. Let me know if you'd like any of these scanned:
Universal Hero: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... ersal_Hero
Invincible Island: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan. Also looks like a lo-res scan on SC)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/6 ... ble_Island
Terra Cresta: (The inside "Hints & Tips" text is not on SC as a scan. I should have read these before I played in the recent HSC round!)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... rra_Cresta
Supercode: (This comes with a user manual which I don't see on the SC page. I have the manual which can be scanned)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode
Bear Bovver: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... ear_Bovver
https://www.dropbox.com/s/279votp9frevh ... s.zip?dl=0
There's another one for Road Toad which I didn't mention earlier. The full inlay is included.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... /Road_Toad
Some of my other originals do not have the full inlay scanned on SC. Let me know if you'd like any of these scanned:
Universal Hero: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... ersal_Hero
Invincible Island: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan. Also looks like a lo-res scan on SC)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/6 ... ble_Island
Terra Cresta: (The inside "Hints & Tips" text is not on SC as a scan. I should have read these before I played in the recent HSC round!)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... rra_Cresta
Supercode: (This comes with a user manual which I don't see on the SC page. I have the manual which can be scanned)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode
Bear Bovver: (The inside text is not on SC as a scan)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... ear_Bovver
Re: Found some old original tapes
Hi Cmal,
Thanks for doing the scans, 600dpi is a great resolution and is overkill but should be good for any later reworking.
I have scanned the inside of Bear Bovver,Terra Cresta, Invincible Island and Universal Hero (not added as yet to the site)
Thanks for the other version of Road Toad , I have only got the DkTronics version scanned
I have scanned a tatty version of Young Learners so a better version is great
I have also a Scan of Maths test by MacMacSoftware 6-13 year olds (not yet added)
Great work , would you be also able to scan the cassettes themselves as I can see emulators having a virtual tape and tape player with the scans being used as the tape stickers
Thanks for doing the scans, 600dpi is a great resolution and is overkill but should be good for any later reworking.
I have scanned the inside of Bear Bovver,Terra Cresta, Invincible Island and Universal Hero (not added as yet to the site)
Thanks for the other version of Road Toad , I have only got the DkTronics version scanned
I have scanned a tatty version of Young Learners so a better version is great
I have also a Scan of Maths test by MacMacSoftware 6-13 year olds (not yet added)
Great work , would you be also able to scan the cassettes themselves as I can see emulators having a virtual tape and tape player with the scans being used as the tape stickers
Scanner extraordinaire, 1000`s of magazines and Software from the 8 and 16 bit era now up on internet archive in lovely 600dpi.
Donations are welcome of items to scan that are no longer needed
Donations are welcome of items to scan that are no longer needed
- pavero
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Re: Found some old original tapes
Hi Cmal,
Supercode scans (inlay+manual) are welcome!
We don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.
Here is the list with some missing inlays in HD resolution (at least 300 dpi or 600 dpi).
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/missing_inlays_list.txt
Supercode scans (inlay+manual) are welcome!
We don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.
Here is the list with some missing inlays in HD resolution (at least 300 dpi or 600 dpi).
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/missing_inlays_list.txt
Re: Found some old original tapes
Hi MortMort wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:27 pm Hi Cmal,
Thanks for doing the scans, 600dpi is a great resolution and is overkill but should be good for any later reworking.
I have scanned the inside of Bear Bovver,Terra Cresta, Invincible Island and Universal Hero (not added as yet to the site)
Thanks for the other version of Road Toad , I have only got the DkTronics version scanned
I have scanned a tatty version of Young Learners so a better version is great
I have also a Scan of Maths test by MacMacSoftware 6-13 year olds (not yet added)
Great work , would you be also able to scan the cassettes themselves as I can see emulators having a virtual tape and tape player with the scans being used as the tape stickers
My scanner is the type where paper gets fed in, so cassettes cannot be scaned that way. I do have an old Canon flatbed scanner but the driver doesn't work with Windows 10. I'll have another go at getting it to work.
If that doesn't work I may just buy myself a newer flatbed. I'm finding I need one here and there.
Re: Found some old original tapes
Hi Pavero,pavero wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:57 pm Hi Cmal,
Supercode scans (inlay+manual) are welcome!
We don't usually publish reverse side of inlays (inside text) in scanned form at SC. Only in TXT format.
Here is the list with some missing inlays in HD resolution (at least 300 dpi or 600 dpi).
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/missing_inlays_list.txt
Makes sense about the reverse sides. I noticed a lot of them are just text files.
So I'll scan the Supercode manual. It did not come with an inlay. It's just a big non-standard box with the cassette and manual inside. There is some info on the back which I can scan when I get a flatbed scanner.
Thanks for sending your missing inlays list. I happen to have just one title from there: Cronosoft's Izzy Wizzy.
Here's the scanned inlay at 600 dpi:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3t2gcmkqmwd8w ... y.jpg?dl=0
I'll keep an eye open for others.
- Einar Saukas
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Re: Found some old original tapes
I think it would be even better to store both!
Re: Found some old original tapes
I agree with Einar. If we're scanning an inlay, we may as well scan the inside too.
Re: Found some old original tapes
Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.
Re: Found some old original tapes
This is something which has always puzzled me. I love the original inlay insides and so many are missing...Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.
Re: Found some old original tapes
I agree, I have scanned all the reverse sides , extras, receipts , maps ,and even the front if its got a price sticker etc to get a full flavour of the original
All 4500 games I have scanned are done in this way , got to get them all
All 4500 games I have scanned are done in this way , got to get them all
Scanner extraordinaire, 1000`s of magazines and Software from the 8 and 16 bit era now up on internet archive in lovely 600dpi.
Donations are welcome of items to scan that are no longer needed
Donations are welcome of items to scan that are no longer needed
- Alessandro
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Re: Found some old original tapes
That might have been true 20 years ago when all we had were the info files from the Spectrum Game Database, but since then there has been an enormous effort from the community to provide faithful transcriptions of inlay cards and instructions in plain text format. I have been picking them for my personal archive for years, and even contributed in writing several myself - leaving even the spelling or printing errors untouched (!).Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.
There is only a handful of TXT info files left over from that era in the archive now.
Re: Found some old original tapes
I don't have any quantitative evidence, but anecdotally I come across them quite often, so they may not be quite as rare as you suggest.Alessandro wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:14 pmThat might have been true 20 years ago when all we had were the info files from the Spectrum Game Database, but since then there has been an enormous effort from the community to provide faithful transcriptions of inlay cards and instructions in plain text format. I have been picking them for my personal archive for years, and even contributed in writing several myself - leaving even the spelling or printing errors untouched (!).Rorthron wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:14 am Yes. The overall quality of the .txt instructions in the archive is poor from a preservation perspective. They often have very little to do with the original instructions. Rather than transcriptions, they are frequently complete rewrites omitting information the author wasn't interested in and adding new material like POKEs and personal opinions on the game. So it would be great if we could have full inlay scans in the archive.
There is only a handful of TXT info files left over from that era in the archive now.
Re: Found some old original tapes
For example, I was just looking at titles by Gargoyle Games. It looked at only two titles before I found an example of the sort of thing I meant: Tir na Nog contains commentary and cheats.
Re: Found some old original tapes
Hi Mort
How about I make a list of my originals and mark the ones that have inside text. I don't have too many, but I'll publish the list and you let me know which ones you don't have or need better scans of.
Thanks
- pavero
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Re: Found some old original tapes
About the reverse sides ...
It was a compromise due to size of these files, free space on hosting server isn't unlimited. So the same logic was used as on old WoS.
But I have sorted all scans of reverse sides for all publishers which I have processed up to this day. So it will be possible to add them very easilly in the future.
It was a compromise due to size of these files, free space on hosting server isn't unlimited. So the same logic was used as on old WoS.
But I have sorted all scans of reverse sides for all publishers which I have processed up to this day. So it will be possible to add them very easilly in the future.
Last edited by pavero on Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
- pavero
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Re: Found some old original tapes
Here is the list of Mort's inlays.
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/mort_inlays.txt
Re: Found some old original tapes
Cmal,
Drop us a line on what you have as there might differences etc.
All the best
Stephen
Drop us a line on what you have as there might differences etc.
All the best
Stephen
Scanner extraordinaire, 1000`s of magazines and Software from the 8 and 16 bit era now up on internet archive in lovely 600dpi.
Donations are welcome of items to scan that are no longer needed
Donations are welcome of items to scan that are no longer needed
Re: Found some old original tapes
Thanks for the list [mention]pavero[/mention] . I will look through it.
[mention]Mort[/mention] - I'll compile a list and publish it.
[mention]Mort[/mention] - I'll compile a list and publish it.
Re: Found some old original tapes
Hi [mention]Mort[/mention]
Here's my list in CSV format. I cross-referenced it with your list and marked the last column if it's not on your list.
Let me know what you need from my list. I'm in the process of scanning the Supercode manual. I still need to get my flatbed scanner to work but once that's up I can scan cassette tape images.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxqcmag2pruhs ... l.csv?dl=0
Thanks
Here's my list in CSV format. I cross-referenced it with your list and marked the last column if it's not on your list.
Let me know what you need from my list. I'm in the process of scanning the Supercode manual. I still need to get my flatbed scanner to work but once that's up I can scan cassette tape images.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxqcmag2pruhs ... l.csv?dl=0
Thanks
Re: Found some old original tapes
Today I got around to complete the scanning of the Supercode manual. Here it is:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/61eraa65tqz6i ... e.pdf?dl=0
[mention]R-Tape[/mention] or [mention]PeterJ[/mention] : Please add this to the Supercode page for preservation:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode
Here's a picture of the back of the box if it's needed. Sorry - my flatbed scanner does not work so I took a photo. When I get a new scanner I'll scan the box again.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6qwfg9xqlm48 ... k.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/61eraa65tqz6i ... e.pdf?dl=0
[mention]R-Tape[/mention] or [mention]PeterJ[/mention] : Please add this to the Supercode page for preservation:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode
Here's a picture of the back of the box if it's needed. Sorry - my flatbed scanner does not work so I took a photo. When I get a new scanner I'll scan the box again.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6qwfg9xqlm48 ... k.JPG?dl=0
- pavero
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Re: Found some old original tapes
And what about the front of the box?cmal wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 2:34 am Today I got around to complete the scanning of the Supercode manual. Here it is:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/61eraa65tqz6i ... e.pdf?dl=0
@R-Tape or @PeterJ : Please add this to the Supercode page for preservation:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Supercode
Here's a picture of the back of the box if it's needed. Sorry - my flatbed scanner does not work so I took a photo. When I get a new scanner I'll scan the box again.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k6qwfg9xqlm48 ... k.JPG?dl=0
https://ia600604.us.archive.org/view_ar ... ercode.jpg
Re: Found some old original tapes
I didn't take a picture of the front because it's already on the SC site. But let me know if you need me to and I'll send it.pavero wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:09 am
And what about the front of the box?
https://ia600604.us.archive.org/view_ar ... ercode.jpg