spectrum20.org

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Whenever I try to log in or have a search through entries, the message "Incomplete response received from application" appears. I try to enter it either on any game entry on Spectrum Computing or the site itself.

I know that there's some problems with this site, but I'd be a pity that all those reviews written by many people through all these years were finally lost forever.

Is there any way to integrate it on SC or so? Just a suggestion.

[PeterJ]

Hi @Juan F. Ramirez,

We did discuss this ages ago, but it's written in a totally different system sadly. If the reviews could be extracted as raw text we would love to store them.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

That's a pity.

No idea of web coding, but I thought the problem would be solved similar to this...

[Vampyre]

Seems to be a problem whenever you log in. Not logged in I was able to search titles. After logged in - same error as Juan no matter what I do.

[Einar Saukas]

Spectrum20.org was implemented in Ruby on Rails, with information stored in a SQL database. Phil is not actively maintaining it anymore, mainly due to lack of time. He would probably agree to hand it over to someone else that could take good care of it.

There are a few options on how to revive it:

• Sometime could simply take over maintaining the current site as is. It basically means site administration (monitoring resources, applying upgrades, etc) and periodically updating the list of game IDs from ZXDB (I could assist on this latter task, but I'm too busy for anything else)

• Sometime could take over, keep the database but reimplement everything else, for instance in PHP. It's a fairly simple system so there's not much work involved. Ideally this new implementation could automatically update the list of game IDs once per day or week, directly from ZXInfo API.

If there's anyone interested...

[PeterJ]

The mention of Ruby by @Einar Saukas helped me find the previous thread. I will merge them.

viewtopic.php?p=38876&hilit=Ruby#p38876

[clebin]

If there's anyone interested...

I'd be interested in taking a look. I'm a full-stack web dev and primarily work with PHP on the server side so I'd take the information from the SQL database and build a more modern site around it. Not sure about hosting though as I don't want to commit to looking after that side. I could look at integrating the reviews and other aspects with the ratings in SC as it's written in PHP too? That feels like a longer term solution.

I've thought about this many times as I've had the same issues with the site as @Juan F. Ramirez.

[Einar Saukas]

I just got the latest Spectrum20 database, that contains 774 users and 9900 reviews. Hopefully nothing has been lost! Many thanks to @gasman for helping me to reestablish access to the server.

I have been trying to contact Philip Kendall for over a week now, with no luck. If anyone gets in touch with him, please let me know! Although last time I spoke with him, he would gladly allow me to find someone else to take over Spectrum20, because he didn't have time anymore. Therefore it's time we go ahead with the plan to revive Spectrum20. I'm quite sure that's what he still wants.

In the meantime, @PeterJ kindly agreed to host Spectrum20 at SpectrumComputing. This will require reimplementing it in PHP, but that's not too much of a problem, since @clebin kindly offered to reimplement Spectrum20 in PHP. Thank you both!!!


( @clebin you got a PM! )

[Morkin]

You guys are legends.

It'd be awesome even if it was possible to just preserve what's already been written. Those reviews go back a looooong way, and there are some absolutely hilarious ones...

[Einar Saukas]

It'd be awesome even if it was possible to just preserve what's already been written. Those reviews go back a looooong way, and there are some absolutely hilarious ones...

Don't worry, all existing reviews are safe now. If needed, I could simply add all current reviews into ZXDB right now.

However that's not the best option, because ZXDB is an open database. Therefore it cannot store usernames with passwords. Without them, it wouldn't be possible to accept new reviews. In order to keep Spectrum20 alive, it's much better to implement a new version separate from ZXDB, as proposed here.

It's the same reason that user voting system at SpectrumComputing was implemented separatelly from ZXDB. Unlike the old votes from old WoS (presented in compact view mode as "Martijn's WoS score") that are stored in ZXDB but cannot be updated anymore.

[Einar Saukas]

in the meantime...

There are 3 reviews at Spectrum20 with invalid IDs, i.e IDs that were removed from Martijn's WoS a long time ago (before ZXDB even existed). Can anyone please help identify them?

One of these reviews was written in 2009 by Digital Prawn:

Again I find myself reviewing a game that if given a chance by the more patient player is actually quite good, but has a major flaw relegating it back to an average overall score.

Beyond that, this a reasonably competent Pacman clone from Croatia. (Press 'I' to start the game). The game uses CURSOR key layout. Of course I'd recommend using a "keystick" emulation mode in most emulators. The game is written mostly in BASIC but does use some machine code routines. It is apparent that the system variable CHARS is POKEd on the main menu screen, so don't break out of the program at that point. (It is restored during the main game loop however).

The major problem with this game is the stilted, discrete movement of Pacman and the ghost sprites, such that it looks like you are watching a 1-frame per second CCTV footage of the game being played. All sprites move in jumps of 16 pixels at a time - this is too much. How unfortunate it is that this wasn't improved. An upgrade of this game to pixel-based movements would've made it great, although no doubt would cause it to suffer from some colour clash. It seems to me though that casual players could be put off by the "stop-frame" sprite motion.

Anyway, once you get beyond this major issue, everything else about the game is correct. The size of the maze is about right, not too big. The sprites are colourful and of the right size. The eyes on the ghosts move around with them, although to me they look like they are asleep.

The mazes have the usual bonus items such as fruit etc.. which pleasingly stack up along the bottom left of the screen as you progress from one level to the next. The ghost AI is suitable, and it's quite amusing to see the ghosts cowering in the bottom corners of the maze when a power pill is eaten. They really do look like they are trying to avoid the Pacman.

The first couple of levels start off trivially easy, but don't be fooled as later levels are more difficult due to speeding up of the ghosts, making them much more lethal later on. The difficulty curve seems pretty much spot on. I'm guessing there's an optimal route around the maze for the later levels. Sound effects are good and exactly as expected for a Pacman clone.

So, this one is a challenge for die-hard Pacman fans only. The discrete movement of the ghosts reminds me very much of the 1980's handheld LCD game "Mini Munchman". It could have been so much better though with a more advanced sprite routine.

[Stefan]

Come on Einar, use zxdb… There is one Pac-Man inspired game from Croatia https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... um/SpecMan

[Einar Saukas]

Come on Einar, use zxdb… There is one Pac-Man inspired game from Croatia https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... um/SpecMan

I did... it doesn't match the review.

The review mentions pressing I to start, using CURSOR, all sprites moving by 16 pixels at 1FPS.

That game requires pressing S to start, using QAOP, all sprites move smoothly.

If there was an easy answer, I wouldn't have asked!

[Morkin]

Had a bit of a trawl through 'arcade: maze' games at lunchtime (I assumed if it was inspired by Pacman it would've been found by now), but no joy. Nothing comes vaguely close enough to the description.

Possibly a MIA, an entry with no screen$, or a game for another computer

[R-Tape]

My money's on the Serbo Croatian version (crack presumably) of Gnasher aka Gricko.

I to start, and you can BREAK into the main loop unlike the EN version.

(For the record, Specman is a bloody good Pacman game. Nice find that.)

[Pobulous]

That would make a lot of sense and explains why the ID was removed.

[Stefan]

And to complete the circle - this old WoS post from 2010 - contains both IDs:

21. Gricko is Croatian version (re-release?) of Gnasher (by R&R Software).

So is 21809 the id you were looking for?

[Joefish]

I had Gnasher from Mastertronic, but had forgotten about the hoofing great 16-pixel jumps! It was part of the inspiration for the look of my Gnash-Man Party!, using 16-wide sprites and wide mazes better suited to the Speccy screen. Though I stopped short of making it out to be a sequel as I thought the original sprites were a bit crap!

Was it originally released in BASIC, then later in compiled form? That would explain quite a lot of its oddities, including the apparent tampering with its appearance over its lifetime.

[Pobulous]

Big change is that the Mastertronic versions fix random Kempston inputs, enable redefining keys, and block the BREAK key.
For some reason there is an uglier graphics Mastertronic version.
It looks like it's part BASIC part machine code on all the versions as they play the same.

[Einar Saukas]

So is 21809 the id you were looking for?

Yes it is!

Thanks everybody!!!

[Einar Saukas]

OK, next challenge is a review about ID=17225 written in 2009 by Sard:

Now this is what I call an update.
We all know the standard Elite game, and this Russian (Eng Lang though) remix is just that. All the features of the original release are here, but what has been added takes this to another level.

Some examples.

Cargo ships now can carry defensive fighters. Ships and escape pods can now hyperspace away. Ships now dock at and leave space stations. Pirates and Police fight each other. Ships will scoop up cargo cannisters. Etc etc..There's many more gameplay tweaks features and extras. Now these things may not sound like much, but most of these things don't appear in ANY other Elite variant (although I do wonder if the writer had a look at ARC Elite at some point) and add massively to the feeling of flying in a "living" universe, which is what Elite is all about.

Throw in on top of that, a few new ships, some new weapons and equipment, lots of new missions, and a dozen other surprises for the average Elite fan, and it's a surefire 5.

[Stefan]

OK, next challenge is a review about ID=17225 written in 2009 by Sard:

Search for 0017225 in WoS forums. https://worldofspectrum.org/forums/discussion/25020/

Which seems to cover the English instructions for the Russian Elite 3.

[Einar Saukas]

Thank you!!!!!

Finally the last challenge is a review about ID=4105 written in 2011 by dandyboy:

One of those microgames with which I learned to play as a child. Sweet memories once again.

Avoiding octopusies inside a capsule in search of gold and silver blocks may not be everybody´s idea of diversion but it was for me back in the year 1984.

In a child´s imagination this little submarine adventure became equivalent to the quest for the Atlantida.

I kinda miss this sort of microgames.

Long life primitive software !!

[Stefan]

Thank you!!!!!

Finally the last challenge is a review about ID=4105 written in 2011 by dandyboy:

Do you, or anyone else, still have a copy of rainbow-wos.zip? archive.org does not have it and I think that the first commits to zxdb were after extensive cleaning?

[Stefan]

So after extensive sleuthing, trying to get the wayback machine to show me the relevant parts of spectrum20.org, and failing I had a look at the initial commit of zxdb, which contains:

Code: Select all

	(109058, 4100, 0, '/zxdb/sinclair/pokes/r/Rescate Atlantida (1989)(Dinamic Software).pok', NULL, NULL, 74, NULL, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, '?', NULL, NULL),
	(109059, 4106, 0, '/zxdb/sinclair/pokes/r/Rescate en el Golfo (1990)(Opera Soft).pok', NULL, NULL, 74, NULL, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, '?', NULL, NULL),

Since the initial set of data was alphabetically sorted, 4105 must have started with Rescate.

A final search on Rescate for games up to 1984 resulted in Rescate del Tesoro. The screenshot fits the review, with octopuses a sub and gold bars. The compilation entry however seems messed up and is pointing to Balloon Hopper - which looks like the same game but with different graphics.