Hi, inspired by another thread, I have created small survey about gaming on Spectrum. I will let it open till Monday April 18th. I will share results in this thread.
https://forms.gle/H5w7JzxKymtKoiea9
In case you want to remain anonymous, just copy the link, open anonymous window and paste link into url box.
ZX Gaming Survey
ZX Gaming Survey
Proud owner of Didaktik M
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I just filled it in. I only chose that I play 'ZX Spectrum & Emulator'. I play PC, other 8bit stuff or IF online, but it's so rare that I didn't think it worthy of recording - maybe once or twice a year. I struggled to stop when choosing favourite post 1995 games...
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I've filled it out as well. Just because we didn't have a Friday quiz this week.. <hint, hint> 
My Speccy site: thirdharmoniser.com
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I filled it in too.
I must say I don't like the choice between: modern games and old games 'i used to play'
I hardly ever play for nostalgia. I play old games that I NEVER played before.
Chuckie egg and manic miner are games I play a lot now.
I NEVER played those in the 90s. They seemed so old fashioned at the time, I was playing rainbow island, rtype and new Zealand story and Dizzy.
I wouldn't have played these 'old fashioned' games. But I do like them now.
I must say I don't like the choice between: modern games and old games 'i used to play'
I hardly ever play for nostalgia. I play old games that I NEVER played before.
Chuckie egg and manic miner are games I play a lot now.
I NEVER played those in the 90s. They seemed so old fashioned at the time, I was playing rainbow island, rtype and new Zealand story and Dizzy.
I wouldn't have played these 'old fashioned' games. But I do like them now.
Last edited by Jbizzel on Fri Apr 08, 2022 2:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Filled it in, but the last three questions do assume that there's an interest in modern Speccy games.
I can honestly say I don't think I've played a Speccy game that was made after 1992, maybe even 1991.
I can honestly say I don't think I've played a Speccy game that was made after 1992, maybe even 1991.
ZX Spectrum Reviews REST API: http://zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Then you are basically missing some of the best, if not the best, games ever made for the Spectrum
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I completely cannot understand it.I can honestly say I don't think I've played a Speccy game that was made after 1992, maybe even 1991.
You watch films made after 1992.
You listen to music made after 1992.
Why don't you play Spectrum games made after 1992???
Are they different, "fake" or what?
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Andre Leao
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Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
You mean you've never yet played a Speccy game with multicolour graphics?
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Ha ha - I knew my reply would raise some eyebrows.
Okay, for what it's worth - I was heavily into emulation from the early-to-mid-90s up until about 1999/2000. I honestly think I just burnt myself out and, other than the odd occasion, I've barely booted a Speccy emulator (or any other emulator for that matter) - other than to check some things for ZXSR. I had a bit of a go on Manic Miner a couple of years ago to have a bash at the highest-score first level thing, but that's the last time I really played a Speccy game with any fervour.
I've never been interested in the new stuff - for me it's always been about the golden-age days of the 80's and I'm fully aware I'm missing out on some classics since. I mentioned it on the Next Delay thread that I'm hoping when I receive mine it will reignite some passion into playing the games again. But I have a feeling it will be a dust-collector within weeks.
Okay, for what it's worth - I was heavily into emulation from the early-to-mid-90s up until about 1999/2000. I honestly think I just burnt myself out and, other than the odd occasion, I've barely booted a Speccy emulator (or any other emulator for that matter) - other than to check some things for ZXSR. I had a bit of a go on Manic Miner a couple of years ago to have a bash at the highest-score first level thing, but that's the last time I really played a Speccy game with any fervour.
I've never been interested in the new stuff - for me it's always been about the golden-age days of the 80's and I'm fully aware I'm missing out on some classics since. I mentioned it on the Next Delay thread that I'm hoping when I receive mine it will reignite some passion into playing the games again. But I have a feeling it will be a dust-collector within weeks.
ZX Spectrum Reviews REST API: http://zxspectrumreviews.co.uk/
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Thanks all 25 people for submitting their answers.
And I would like to encourage other forum user to participate when they have time.
To address objections people raised - I completely agree the survey is not perfect but I hope it will answer at least some questions who spectrum users are, where they are going, what is their purpose in this world and will they survive year 2100 ?
But, I don't know much about surveying/interrogating people but I guess changing questions in the middle is probably bad thing.
And I would like to encourage other forum user to participate when they have time.
To address objections people raised - I completely agree the survey is not perfect but I hope it will answer at least some questions who spectrum users are, where they are going, what is their purpose in this world and will they survive year 2100 ?
But, I don't know much about surveying/interrogating people but I guess changing questions in the middle is probably bad thing.
And that is perhaps the right approach.Morkin wrote: I've filled it out as well. Just because we didn't have a Friday quiz this week..
Last edited by catmeows on Sat Apr 09, 2022 11:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
Proud owner of Didaktik M
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I think its OK. Its not as though it was a huge long drawn out thing 
I do like the fact (I thought wrongly initially) you're not forced to complete all the sections if you do not want to name specific games, I did not so put N/A as I could not narrow down 'modern Spectrum games' that well.
As you say it will give a general idea and I think it was well worth your time and the results that you'll get.
I do like the fact (I thought wrongly initially) you're not forced to complete all the sections if you do not want to name specific games, I did not so put N/A as I could not narrow down 'modern Spectrum games' that well.
As you say it will give a general idea and I think it was well worth your time and the results that you'll get.
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
And I send my answers too.
Actually I'm still a gamer, strongly interested in new releases and still able to get excited by a game. Okay, maybe not so often and
so so strongly as in my teenage years but still.
My taste is definitely retro oriented with a strong fetish towards Zx Spectrum I don't care how many polygons use modern 3D games and how realistic is grass and human hair in it. But I can always appreciate a good pixel art.
And it's also a time factor. Modern games became incredibly long with 100 or 150 hours often required to complete a big, major game. I just cannot afford it, I have a life And with retro stuff you can usually complete a game in 1-2 hours which is possible for me.
Actually I'm still a gamer, strongly interested in new releases and still able to get excited by a game. Okay, maybe not so often and
so so strongly as in my teenage years but still.
My taste is definitely retro oriented with a strong fetish towards Zx Spectrum
I don't care how many polygons use modern 3D games and how realistic is grass and human hair in it. But I can always appreciate a good pixel art.And it's also a time factor. Modern games became incredibly long with 100 or 150 hours often required to complete a big, major game. I just cannot afford it, I have a life
And with retro stuff you can usually complete a game in 1-2 hours which is possible for me.Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Human hair...
I play both old games and new, though one thing I'm not too keen on nowadays is the prevalence of modern (usually indie) games that try to rock a 'retro' look. Usually it's for a mediocre-to-average platform/side scroller type game, and they deliberately make the sprites all blocky and Commodore-like. Puts me right off.
My Speccy site: thirdharmoniser.com
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
You reminded me this memeUsually it's for a mediocre-to-average platform/side scroller type game, and they deliberately make the sprites all blocky and Commodore-like. Puts me right off.
Yes, indie games makers often choose low resolution pixel art officially to be retro but the truth is they cannot afford good artists
Actually my admiration for low resolutions has limits. Spectrum graphics are great, especially in later games but I can't enjoy things like Atari 2600, they are too radical for my taste.
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Hello everyone.
Let me present ZX Gaming Survey results.
There were 7 questions:
1) Do you play games (on any platform) ?
2) What gaming platform do you use ?
3) When playing on retro platform (old computers or old consoles), do you play
4) What type of games do you play on ZX?
5) Name last three modern ZX games you have played
6) Name your favorite games released after 1995
7) Who are your favorite modern authors/groups that are publishing games for ZX ?
Let's look on each of them.
1) Do you play games (on any platform) ?
There were 36 responses:
YES 94.4% (34)
NO 5.6% (2)
2) What gaming platform do you use ?
There were 36 responses:
ZX Spectrum (or emulator) - 100% (36)
Other 8 bit computers (or emulator) - 44.4% (16)
Old game consoles or arcade games (emulator) - 55.6% (20)
16 bit computers (Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC clone) - 25% (9)
Modern game consoles (Playstation, XBox, Switch) - 36.1% (13)
Modern PC - 63.9% (23)
Mobile phone - 30.6% (11)
Google Forms lack any tools to display correlations, so I went through results and created simple table. Bellow are all combinations present in answers. If a combination was present more than one time, I indicated that by number.
As you can see, 4 respodents play on everything that has buttons, while other 5 respodents play on ZX and PC only and other 5 play on ZX only.
3) When playing on retro platform (old computers or old consoles), do you play:
There were 36 reponses.
Only old games I played when I was young(er) - 11.1% (4)
Both old and new games, but I prefer old ones (>75%) - 30.6% (11)
Both new and old games, but I prefer new ones (>75%) - 13.9% (5)
Both new and old games - 44.4% (16)
4) What type of games do you play on ZX?
There were 34 responses:
Hardcore platformers and games requiring a lot of skill to navigate avatar - 55.9% (19)
Shooters (run&gun, fixed or scrolling shooters) - 70.6% (24)
Text adventures - 44.1% (15)
Casual platforming - 73.5% (25)
Casual arcade adventures (get the key, open door) - 67.6% (23)
Strategy or puzzle games - 70.6% (24)
Hardcore adventuring and RPG - 35.3% (12)
Experimental games and whatever do not fit in categories above - 55.9% (19)
As you can see, casual platforming, shooters, strategy/puzzle games and casual adventures are the most popular choices.
I was quite surprised that 44% respodents play text adventures.
Again, I created table to show actual combinations:
Most respodents play games of all genres.
5) Name last three modern ZX games you have played
There were 27 responses.
I was interested what modern ZX games people play. Do they play fresh games or do they cherrypick the games with top production quality ?
I have counted how many times a particular title appeared in answers and then sorted titles by their popularity.
Number in parenthesis indicates how many respodents mentioned the game.
Loxley, a fresh game, was mentioned most often, 5 times. But some other popular titles were released some years ago.
And yes, one person put JSW and MM as answer. That may be considered as quite oldschool interpretation of term "modern ZX games" but who am I to judge.
6) Name your favorite games released after 1995
There were 27 responses.
First of all, this question is flawed. I should indicate that I mean ZX games. One respodent explicitly stated that he assumes I ask about favorite ZX games. Other mentined his favorite modern platform games and zx games as well. There was also a laconic answer: "Crysis".
One respondent listed 42 games and I'm not sure if it is accident or I'm dealing with Douglas Addams fan.
Anyway, myself being guilty of 150+ hours wasted in Skyrim, I left answers as they are.
Also, few people answered that they are not going to answer because that would need some research. Fair answer, I think.
I have counted how many times a title appeared in aswers and sorted games by popularity.
7) Who are your favorite modern authors/groups that are publishing games for ZX ?
There were 23 responses.
One more time, answers are sorted by popularity:
Probably only surprise here is Einar Saukas on the list because, AFAIK, he did not released any game (but I may be wrong). But considering the fact his code is present probably in dozens of games, be it compression routine or multicolor engine, his presence is well deserved.
Another nice answer is "AGD community". Well deserved, too.
And that is all. Thank you all for participating and I hope you found the results of survey at least moderate entertaining and/or interesting.
Let me present ZX Gaming Survey results.
There were 7 questions:
1) Do you play games (on any platform) ?
2) What gaming platform do you use ?
3) When playing on retro platform (old computers or old consoles), do you play
4) What type of games do you play on ZX?
5) Name last three modern ZX games you have played
6) Name your favorite games released after 1995
7) Who are your favorite modern authors/groups that are publishing games for ZX ?
Let's look on each of them.
1) Do you play games (on any platform) ?
There were 36 responses:
YES 94.4% (34)
NO 5.6% (2)
2) What gaming platform do you use ?
There were 36 responses:
ZX Spectrum (or emulator) - 100% (36)
Other 8 bit computers (or emulator) - 44.4% (16)
Old game consoles or arcade games (emulator) - 55.6% (20)
16 bit computers (Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC clone) - 25% (9)
Modern game consoles (Playstation, XBox, Switch) - 36.1% (13)
Modern PC - 63.9% (23)
Mobile phone - 30.6% (11)
Google Forms lack any tools to display correlations, so I went through results and created simple table. Bellow are all combinations present in answers. If a combination was present more than one time, I indicated that by number.
Code: Select all
ZX x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Other 8 bit x x . . x x x . . . x x x . . . x . . x
Retro consoles x x . . . x x x x x x . . . x x x x . x
16 bit x . . . . . x x . x x . . . . x . . . x
Modern consoles x . . . x . . x x x x . . x . . . . x .
Moder PC x . x . . x . . x x x x . . x x x x . x
Mobile phone x . . . . x . . . x . x . x x x . x . .
4 5 5 2 3 2 2
3) When playing on retro platform (old computers or old consoles), do you play:
There were 36 reponses.
Only old games I played when I was young(er) - 11.1% (4)
Both old and new games, but I prefer old ones (>75%) - 30.6% (11)
Both new and old games, but I prefer new ones (>75%) - 13.9% (5)
Both new and old games - 44.4% (16)
4) What type of games do you play on ZX?
There were 34 responses:
Hardcore platformers and games requiring a lot of skill to navigate avatar - 55.9% (19)
Shooters (run&gun, fixed or scrolling shooters) - 70.6% (24)
Text adventures - 44.1% (15)
Casual platforming - 73.5% (25)
Casual arcade adventures (get the key, open door) - 67.6% (23)
Strategy or puzzle games - 70.6% (24)
Hardcore adventuring and RPG - 35.3% (12)
Experimental games and whatever do not fit in categories above - 55.9% (19)
As you can see, casual platforming, shooters, strategy/puzzle games and casual adventures are the most popular choices.
I was quite surprised that 44% respodents play text adventures.
Again, I created table to show actual combinations:
Code: Select all
Hardcore platf. x x x . . . x x . . x . x . . x . . x . x . x . .
Shooters x x x x x x x . x . . x . . x x . x x . x . . . .
Text adventure x . x . x . x . . . . . . x . . x x . . x . x . .
Casual platf. x . x x . x . x x . . x . x . x x x x . x . x x x
Casual arcade x . x . . x . x x . . . x x . x x x x . x x x . x
Strategy/Puzzle x . x x . x x x x . x x x x x . x x x . . . . x .
Hard adv and RPG . . x . . x x . . . . . . . x . x . . . . x . . .
Other x . x . . x x . . . x x . . . . x . . x x . . x .
2 7 2 2 3 2 2
Most respodents play games of all genres.
5) Name last three modern ZX games you have played
There were 27 responses.
I was interested what modern ZX games people play. Do they play fresh games or do they cherrypick the games with top production quality ?
I have counted how many times a particular title appeared in answers and then sorted titles by their popularity.
Number in parenthesis indicates how many respodents mentioned the game.
Code: Select all
Loxley (5)
Rubinho Cucaracha (3)
Federation: Underwater (3)
Northern lights (3)
Angels (3)
Alien: Neoplasma (2)
Valley of Rains (2)
Travel Through Time (2)
Nothing (2)
Old Tower (2)
Bomb Bomb Blast (2)
Bonnie and Clyde (2)
Road Trippin 2022 (2)
The Dark (2)
JSW
MM
Atic Atac
Carga de Profundidade
O Submarine U2
The Sword of Ianna
Tokimal
Bomb Munchies
El Stompo
Castlevania
Super Mario
Buzzsaw+
Gluf
The Haunting of Waterbelle End
Night Stalker
Alien girl
RX Asteroids
Rally-X
Blox
Invansion of the Zombie Monsters
Anteater
Saboteur - Deep Cover
Jetpac Neo
Chopper Rescue
Wonderful Dizzy
Parsec
ZX Guordel
Mighty Final Fight
Lift
Home for ZXMas
A Strange Affair
Yazzie
Escape from M.O.N.J.A.S
Delta's shadow
Fire&Ice
The Next War
And yes, one person put JSW and MM as answer. That may be considered as quite oldschool interpretation of term "modern ZX games" but who am I to judge.
6) Name your favorite games released after 1995
There were 27 responses.
First of all, this question is flawed. I should indicate that I mean ZX games. One respodent explicitly stated that he assumes I ask about favorite ZX games. Other mentined his favorite modern platform games and zx games as well. There was also a laconic answer: "Crysis".
One respondent listed 42 games and I'm not sure if it is accident or I'm dealing with Douglas Addams fan.
Anyway, myself being guilty of 150+ hours wasted in Skyrim, I left answers as they are.
Also, few people answered that they are not going to answer because that would need some research. Fair answer, I think.
I have counted how many times a title appeared in aswers and sorted games by popularity.
Code: Select all
The Sword of Ianna (3)
Old Tower (3)
Brunilda (2)
Gravibots (2)
Buzzsaw+ (2)
Castlevania (2)
Brunilda (2)
Alter Ego (2)
Patrick Paddle (2)
Alien: Neoplasma
Valley of Rains
Bomb Munchies
El Stompo
Skyrim
Fallout 4
Bloodborne
Nioh
GTA 5
Witcher 3
Cell 3326
Rally-X
RX Asteroids
Horace and the Robots
Fire&Ice
Survivisection
Metal Man
Wonderful Dizzy
Mighty Final Fight
Black Raven
Karlos
Invazion of Zombie Monsters
Vera
Zerkalo
Loxley
Dreamwalker
Mister Kungfu
Gulf
Northern lights
Bonnie and Clyde
Picross 3D
Baba is you
Hopmon
Hamsterball
Fire & Ice
Tardigrade
Marsmare Alienation
The Dark
Nothing
Delta Shadow
Catacombs of Bachalor
More Tea Vicar
Albatrossity
Baldy
Biscuits in Hell
Bouncing Bomb
Cronopios Y Famas
Deep Core Raider
Drexx
Double Bubble
Gomilandia
Gamex 2
Higgledy Piggledy
Janosik
Lunaris
Maze Death Rally X
Monomo
Monty Mole Temple Lost Souls
Octukitty
Ossuary
Pixel Quest
Pooper Scooper
Rough Justice
Robots Rumble
Sector
Sid Spanners
Sir Froggy
Slubberdegullion
Space Junk
Sword of Ianna
Telly Heroes
Uroboros
Zombi Terror
Zombie Calavera
Eugene Lord of the Bathroom
Invasion of the Zombie Monsters
Vampire Vengeance
Speccy Bros
Crysis
There were 23 responses.
One more time, answers are sorted by popularity:
Code: Select all
Zosya (9)
Retrosouls (7)
Retroworks (5)
Sanchez (5)
Stonechat Productions (4)
Bitnamic Software
Ionian Games
HiRise
Bubu
Einar Saukas
Uprising
Mojon Twins
AGD community
Jonathan Cauldwell
PROSM
WorldXXXISoft
Rafal Miazga
Alexander Grussu
Pat Morita team
Furillo productions
Another nice answer is "AGD community". Well deserved, too.
And that is all. Thank you all for participating and I hope you found the results of survey at least moderate entertaining and/or interesting.
Proud owner of Didaktik M
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Ta for this.
Some bits intriguing, some bits not surprising.
I'd be interested to know (from Q1) what the 5.6% that don't play any games do with the Speccy. Does that mean they're into utilities, hardware, or entirely the database/historical side of things (or something else)?
Aye me too. That's one that would be good to break down further. I can't remember how I answered this one. I do play text adventures, but there's a chasm between my text adventuring and 8bitAG's for example.I was quite surprised that 44% respodents play text adventures.
Q6. The 42 answers was probably me btw (and I probably should have added the Pixel Quests too)! The question may have caused some confusion for some regarding platform, but at least it gives a top 3 that I wouldn't argue with (though there are other top 3s I wouldn't argue with too).
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
Mine are purely ornamental. I think I turned one on last year to take a photo of it connected to a Sinclair pocket TV
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
...And I guess the ZX81s are still effective as doorstops?
My Speccy site: thirdharmoniser.com
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I was going to start a thread similar to this so I'll just post here:
I like RPGs and get the urge to make a bard's tale type game for the spectrum.
I assume it would get no reward whatsoever as I myself have not played any of the big RPGs for the spectrum released after 2005, which is shocking.e.g. wanderers chained in the dark,de Amores de brunhilda.
If I can't be bothered then I assume hardly anyone has played any rpg for the spectrum released after 2005?
I'm curious to know.
So there'd be no financial or other reward, and RPGs are difficult and time consuming to finish making.
Getting it working would be fun, but a finished product would need blood sweat and tears. I'm surprised that 3 big RPGs have been released for the spectrum since 2005.
I like RPGs and get the urge to make a bard's tale type game for the spectrum.
I assume it would get no reward whatsoever as I myself have not played any of the big RPGs for the spectrum released after 2005, which is shocking.e.g. wanderers chained in the dark,de Amores de brunhilda.
If I can't be bothered then I assume hardly anyone has played any rpg for the spectrum released after 2005?
I'm curious to know.
So there'd be no financial or other reward, and RPGs are difficult and time consuming to finish making.
Getting it working would be fun, but a finished product would need blood sweat and tears. I'm surprised that 3 big RPGs have been released for the spectrum since 2005.
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I do play recent RPG games for Spectrum if that matters
I played and completed:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... e_Brunilda
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... rt_of_Town
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ng_Quest_3
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... n_the_Dark
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ctrum/Vera
But I agree that it requires a lot of work and is a niche in a niche, it's not for everybody interested in Zx Spectrum.
My opinion is that you write all these homebrew games mostly for yourself, not for the others. You won't make any real money by them and someone saying "thanks" on a forum will never reward you enough for 300 working for 300 hours or so. So if it's going to be fun and won't collide with your real life obligations then do it, otherwise don't do it.
I played and completed:
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... e_Brunilda
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... rt_of_Town
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ng_Quest_3
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... n_the_Dark
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ctrum/Vera
But I agree that it requires a lot of work and is a niche in a niche, it's not for everybody interested in Zx Spectrum.
My opinion is that you write all these homebrew games mostly for yourself, not for the others. You won't make any real money by them and someone saying "thanks" on a forum will never reward you enough for 300 working for 300 hours or so. So if it's going to be fun and won't collide with your real life obligations then do it, otherwise don't do it.
Re: ZX Gaming Survey
I played Brunilda, it's a very good game, but it's more like an adventure, not properly a RPG. I completed too The Order of the Sleeping Dragon (https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... ing_Dragon) and is a good one.Wall_Axe wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 12:34 pm I assume it would get no reward whatsoever as I myself have not played any of the big RPGs for the spectrum released after 2005, which is shocking.e.g. wanderers chained in the dark,de Amores de brunhilda.
If I can't be bothered then I assume hardly anyone has played any rpg for the spectrum released after 2005?
For Viking Quest 3 and Vera, I feel they more as adventures.
