Dizzy , 3 weeks in paradise type of games

[firelord]

I believe Dizzy & 3 Weeks in Paradise are the same type of games.
How can I search for these type of games in the DB? Their type (Arcade Game: Adventure) is very generic and contains many other type games.
Is it easy to add a sub-type or something like that ?
(I think this is a DB issue not a webisite -but the admins can decide)

[R-Tape]

Could be tricky. Arcade: Adventure covers pretty much anything that isn't obviously action, platform, shmup, text adventure, beat em up, racer, management or utility. It's often a game with a bit of action and also puzzles to solve. There's been chat about sub-genres before, or more than one genre per game, but that'd involve a load of work and there's already so much to do.

Along what lines are you thinking? Sprites, 2D platform only (no top-down or isometric), inventory, collectibles to solve puzzles?

Even if it didn't get used by the DB, it'd be useful to have a list. The first step would be someone* listing the games in question by going through the 713 Arcade: Adventure game in the DB.

(*not me! but I would like to see such a list)

[Ralf]

I believe Dizzy & 3 Weeks in Paradise are the same type of games.
How can I search for these type of games in the DB?

And how do you define "this type of games"?
Believe me, when you come to definitions, then it's always harder than you thought.

"Walk around the screens, pick up and use the objects"? In such case Knight Lore also matches the definition. And I guess you
didn't mean it.

So does it have to be a platformer?
Is shooting and other fighting with enemies allowed?

[R-Tape]

And how do you define "this type of games"?
Believe me, when you come to definitions, then it's always harder than you thought.

Perhaps we need a 'Dizzy Scale', along the same lines as the highly successful Cybernoid Scale?

[firelord]

I know the problems with DB design...
This kind of problems can be solved with tags (code words) but since this is much more complex sometimes we added a text field that we just entered there the code words .
Then we just did a search for eg 'dizzy-like ' or 'cybernoid-like' only in this field

[firelord]

Even if it didn't get used by the DB, it'd be useful to have a list. The first step would be someone* listing the games in question by going through the 713 Arcade: Adventure game in the DB.

(*not me! but I would like to see such a list)

The initial lust coule be made but common users. A form could be added that pointed to another server with just the ability to add tags ( or add text keywords to a single field). This wouldn't need to be searchable - just for keyword entries

REposting -- sorry mobile autocorrection messes text.. (maybe admins coulde delete my previous post)

The initial data entry could just be made by common users. A form could be added that pointed to another server with just the ability to add tags ( or add text keywords to a single field). This wouldn't need to be searchable - just for keyword entries

[Ralf]

Perhaps we need a 'Dizzy Scale', along the same lines as the highly successful Cybernoid Scale?

Actually it seems quite fun to me. I may try to do something like that soon. I love Dizzy style games nad can remember many similar games
so could find some examples easily.

[spider]

I tried a similar thing for the "Wally Week" type of games too, where it was:

> A flip screen
> With left / right / jump / enter controls only
> Only two objects you collect by walking over them

Aside from the W.Week games (partially exclude Three Weeks as iirc you have to press a key to collect an object and Automania as that's different) the only other game that matched was "Happiest days of your life"

As mentioned though a few too many variables really aside from "Arcade Adventure" but that is a very wide term!

EDIT... I also tried to do something for a certain type of menu/control option that is shared between a few games but that would be a manual search given what I was looking for. I still need to finish that.

[firelord]

I was thinking something like :
-Side-view
-Collect items to solve puzzles
-Contains Platforms
-Left-right jump + get/drop item keys

I don't care to be strict. Looks & plays like dizzy /3 weeks will do. We don't want to invent a name for a new category...

[Joefish]

The Egghead series of games are worth a look. These lean more towards platforming over purely getting the right object to the right place, but then that's the whole issue again of how far the definition is stretched. Not that that helps you with your search parameters...

[firelord]

The Egghead series of games are worth a look. These lean more towards platforming over purely getting the right object to the right place, but then that's the whole issue again of how far the definition is stretched. Not that that helps you with your search parameters...

I saw egghead. It doesn't "feel" like dizzy. It's a platform and from first look it's closer to Manic Miner than Dizzy...

[Ralf]

Egghead is 3/5 in Dizzy scale (not existing yet)

[michellekg]

Well, I did - I explored all 25 pages of the Arcade Game: Adventure genre! And then I strained my memory a little more. Thank goodness it was an interesting activity, so I learned about a lot of games new to me.

Below is a list of games that could be characterized as "Dizzy-like". I'm not sure about some of them, it needs to be discussed. I ask everyone to run through the list and add what I forgot. Or suggest some games to drop from it, arguing your opinion, of course.

The categories for this list I had were simple:

1. Side view
2. To finish the game you have to collect and use different items (not just all kinds of keys)
3. No shooting, hitting and other action (mini-games like in Pyjamarama do not count)
4. Jump button is desirable, but not necessary.

Perhaps these criteria should be made stricter or, conversely, weakened.

And here's the list itself:

Dizzy series (official):

Dizzy
Treasure Island Dizzy
Fantasy World Dizzy
Dizzy 3 and a Half
Magicland Dizzy
Spellbound Dizzy
Dizzy, Prince of the Yolkfolk
Crystal Kingdom Dizzy
Wonderful Dizzy

Dizzy fan games (mostly Russian, one Romanian):

Dizzy Extended Version 2021
Crystal Kingdom Dizzy 2017
Dizzy X: Journey to Russia
Dizzy Y: Return to Russia
Dizzy XII: Underground
Home Island Dizzy
Dizzy 'A'
Dizzy 'B': Treasure Island
Dizzy: Return to the Magicland
New Dizzy
Last Will Dizzy
Dizzy 8: Little Joke
Dizzy & ZX
Drunk Dizzy
Dizzy: Main Day
Dizzy and the Mystical Letter
Log Cabin Dizzy
Ghastly Getaway Dizzy
Dizzy and the Mushrooms Pie
Dizzy - Magic Island (from Romania)

Wally Week series:

Pyjamarama
Everyone's a Wally
Herbert's Dummy Run
Three Weeks in Paradise

Seymour series:

Seymour - Take One!
Seymour Goes to Hollywood
Wild West Seymour

Other UK games:

Sceptre of Bagdad
Slightly Magic
Blinky's Scary School
The Race Against Time
Biff
The Happiest Days of Your Life
Metropolis (basically Pyjamarama clone)
Streaker
Blip Blop
A Cracking Day Out - Starring EggHead
Venturama
Murray Mouse Super Cop

Magic Knight series (with complicated menu system):

Finders Keepers
Spellbound
Knight Tyme
Stormbringer

Don Priestly games (no jump, sometimes main character can go deeper into the screen):

Gregory Loses His Clock
The Trap Door
Through the Trap Door

Close to criteria but I'm not sure (but still close):

King's Keep (scrolling)
Mega Bucks
Lop Ears
William Wobbler (scrolling)
Thunderbirds
Doctor What!
Terramex (main character can fly someteimes)
Spike in Transylvania (no jump, main character can go deeper into the screen)

Russian games:

48 Irons
Operation Red Refrigerator
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh 2 (demo)
Wizard of Land Oz
Kolobok (demo, 1995)
Flight to Kharkhan
Fizzy
Kryssy
Kryssy 2
Kryssy 3
Mbunekam: Withdrawal Syndrome
Sliders
Zunny
Zunny II

Russian games (no jump):

Techno Alice (scrolling)
Adventures of Chipolin
Adventures of Buratino (scrolling)
Little Mouse Mick
Lion - The Revenge

Ukraine games:

Crime Santa Clause
Crime Santa Clause: Deja Vu
Crime Santa Clause 2 (demo)
Kapitoshka
Smagly
Smagly 2

Rest of Eastern Europe:

Towdie
Strumf
Piggy (no jump)
Notorik
Pedro na ostrove pirátov
Pedro v krajine pyramid
Pedro v strašidelnom zámku
Skyscraper of Doom
Popas Si Savantul X (I'm not sure about this although it has items and even jump)
Yoyo's Great Adventure
Útok bílé myšky
Dizzy Lord

Rest of the World:

Noche Agitada
Nelo & Quqo and the Last Butifarreisson
Tommy (Pyjamarama clone again)

[firelord]

Thanks.
I'll check I'll add them to my SGD

[Einar Saukas]

This kind of problems can be solved with tags (code words)

ZXDB already supports tags.

At the SpectrumComputing homepage, scroll down to "Advanced Search", select "Arcade Game: Adventure" under option "Genre", select "Side-view 2D Graphics" under option "Feature", then click button "Search ZXDB".

However you won't get many results, because we still need volunteers to help assign proper tags to all games.

[Lethargeek]

3. No shooting, hitting and other action (mini-games like in Pyjamarama do not count)

Wally Week series:

Pyjamarama
Everyone's a Wally
Herbert's Dummy Run
Three Weeks in Paradise

but there is shooting in Paradise well, not many targets to hit, but still not a minigame

[firelord]

[

ZXDB already supports tags.

At the SpectrumComputing homepage, scroll down to "Advanced Search", select "Arcade Game: Adventure" under option "Genre", select "Side-view 2D Graphics" under option "Feature", then click button "Search ZXDB".

However you won't get many results, because we still need volunteers to help assign proper tags to all games.

As I proposed here and in maze games thread, I think at first the data should be gathered in a secondary system/database . Maybe per username in a way that everyone could propose.
Then the admins can insert the data user-by-user.

Eg you can say "fielord" marks all game as "pacman-like" and should be ignored, Einar Saukas dies a good job and we should import his entries.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Should That's the Spirit be included? (If not, it's very close)

[michellekg]

but there is shooting in Paradise well, not many targets to hit, but still not a minigame

It's not a core gameplay element. Perhaps the criteria should be further refined.

[michellekg]

Should That's the Spirit be included? (If not, it's very close)

I think it should be included.

[pavero]

Some more titles should be added:

[27253] Streets of Doom (sequel to Skyscraper of Doom, @Ralf we are still waiting for the last part of the trilogy )
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ts_of_Doom

[37428] Ovocnici (newly discovered adventure game from Slovakia)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... cn%C3%ADci

[2643] Jonny Quest
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... onny_Quest

[2616] Jmeno ruze [CENSORED]
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... %AF%C5%BEe

[30031] Cronopios y Famas
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... os_y_Famas

[32199] Robot 1 in... The Planet of Death
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... t_of_Death

And maybe?

[862] Ceasefire
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Ceasefire

[864] Ceasefire 2 - Night Run
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... _Night_Run

[24052] Heritage
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... m/Heritage

[15662] Il Noma della Rosa (maybe not side view, but pseudo 3D a little bit?)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... della_Rosa

[3487] Octopussy
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... /Octopussy

[13102] Twilight
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... ie%C5%88ov

(The final list should also contant entry_id, not the title name only)

[michellekg]

Some more titles should be added:

[27253] Streets of Doom (sequel to Skyscraper of Doom, @Ralf we are still waiting for the last part of the trilogy )
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ts_of_Doom

That will do. Protagonist has a gun on loading screen, but I didn't find any shooting in actual gameplay.

[37428] Ovocnici (newly discovered adventure game from Slovakia)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... cn%C3%ADci

Yep.

[2643] Jonny Quest
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... onny_Quest

No, main character can punch people.

[2616] Jmeno ruze [CENSORED]
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... %AF%C5%BEe

The game is controlled via the menu, not "left-right-etc" keys. It's more like actual graphic quest (kinda unique for ZX Spectrum actually). But it's not Dizzy like (I think we need this paragraph in criteria).

[30031] Cronopios y Famas
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... os_y_Famas

Not sure about this, but I included Spike in Transylvania (under "not sure about these", LOL), so if it's okay, then Cronopios y Famas should be okay too.

[32199] Robot 1 in... The Planet of Death
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... t_of_Death

Absolutely.

[862] Ceasefire
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... /Ceasefire

[864] Ceasefire 2 - Night Run
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... _Night_Run

No, shooting and punching in both games.

[24052] Heritage
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... m/Heritage

I didn't include this game because the protagonist doesn't walk, but flies a jetpack. But is that reason enough to exclude it from the list?

[15662] Il Noma della Rosa (maybe not side view, but pseudo 3D a little bit?)
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... della_Rosa

No, because this is again a graphic quest that is controlled by the mouse.

[13102] Twilight
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... ie%C5%88ov

No, it's more of a graphic quest again, not Dizzy.

[3487] Octopussy
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... /Octopussy

"Quest" again.

[^m00h^]

Please add
Flunky: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... rum/Flunky
Garfield: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... Hairy_Deal
Snoopy: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/4 ... rum/Snoopy
Fort Boyard: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... ort_Boyard
Arthur: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... rum/Arthur
Ordinary Story: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... nary_Story
Universal Hero: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/5 ... ersal_Hero