Documentary on Netflix about the Spectrum scene in Spain

[bluespikey]

A fun documentary looking on Dinamic, Operasoft etc and the effects of the Spectrum on the spanish games scene in the 80s. Specifically the production of the game Capitan_Sevilla https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/8 ... an_Sevilla.

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81466186? ... Results%2C


"Maybe we made them a bit hard. They had a reputation for being difficult" as Abu Simbel Profanation plays in the background.

[PeteProdge]

Ooh, thankfully 'We Don't Like Captain Sausage' comes with English subtitles. (Which is handy because all my Spanish knowledge is at the level of having watched those Sesame Street animations explaining "abierto" and "cerrado".)

[firelord]

I didn't even noticed it... not even in netflix suggestions -and I have seen every documentary game/computer related in netflix!
I did a search and found it

I remember Captain Sevilla. I liked it very much. I remember I got it on a copy/pirated tape and I had the impression that it was an indie/individual production (I now understand that that impression was wrong). When I loaded It looked very good and it make me think how could an "indie" game be that good & fun. Of course it was very difficult

[zxbruno]

"This title isn't available in your country"

Great...

[zxbruno]

Someone posted the YouTube link earlier today in the Portuguese Spectrum FB group. Not sure if captions with auto-translate will work for those who need it.

[Daveysloan]

Absolutely loved this documentary, a real treat & the first thing I've actually watched on Netflix in about three months!

Loved hearing from all the team about their fond memories of making the game in their teens. Was good to find out a bit about the golden era of the Spanish games industry & seeing glimpses of footage from their retro shows. Great stuff.

Not sure why Alternative turned the character into a crap Captain America knock off from space & renamed him "Captain S" for the UK release though, the original Spanish artwork & story is SO much better!

[PeteProdge]

I watched this last night (with the English subtitles on) and for me, it's a look into a corner of retrogaming that's far away from the cliches of most gaming history documentaries (I don't need to be told about the E.T. cartridge landfill story ever again), and indeed, far out from the usual British-focused talking points of the ZX Spectrum commercial era.

It's like everything began from the 128K models - which is great, 'cos that chimes in with me becoming a Speccy user. Whereas we had a market dominated by Ocean, US Gold and Gremlin, the equivalents for 8-bit users in Spain were Dinamic, Opera and Topo Soft - and they address their reputation for rock-hard gameplay with a good argument.

As for Capitan Sevilla, the authors seem a little unsure of how it got released in the UK, assuming it was Gremlin who distributed it, but this site shows it was on a barely-known re-release-dedicated budget sub-label of Alternative Software. None of the big three UK Speccy mags acknowledged its existence, sadly. It's not really a good game, but the graphics are done really well. The documentary shows off the method they were made, which is a simple concept (probably known to most of you), and I recommend following it next time you're doing pixel art.

[Morkin]

I watched this last night and really enjoyed it. At least the coders acknowledge the games may have been a bit too hard

Being from the UK I didn't realise how much of a legendary status Alvaro held amongst his peers & fans.

the graphics are done really well. The documentary shows off the method they were made, which is a simple concept (probably known to most of you), and I recommend following it next time you're doing pixel art.

I'm still surprised when I hear about people sticking things to their TV and using a pencil/pen to trace on them.. I guess if it works, go for it..!

[Nitrowing]

I'm still surprised when I hear about people sticking things to their TV and using a pencil/pen to trace on them.. I guess if it works, go for it..!

Yeah, I've done that

[PeteProdge]

I'm still surprised when I hear about people sticking things to their TV and using a pencil/pen to trace on them.. I guess if it works, go for it..!

I wish I did that rather than waste £15 on the awful Datel Electronics light pen, which was so terrible that I ended up knocking together a minor BASIC art package that let you PLOT pixels one by one on the screen (turn them on or off) via QAOP-SPACE. I did my best artwork through that!