STH 143 Disc compilation Excel list - Thoughts??

[leenew]

Hi,
I have typed the STH 143 disk collection into Microsoft Excel.

STH 143 Disc Collection.zip

(140.5 KiB) Downloaded 290 times

**Rename it from .zip to .XLS please**

This may or may not be useful to some of you.
I think it will be easier to search for games.
Anyhoo...
I have not included the disc revisions eg AC1_r1a is just disk AC1.

What I am wanting is for some of you to have a quick peek at the list for spelling errors, and that game names are complete. (sometimes they were abbreviated to fit the menu screen).

Next, as you can see I have only just started with the GENRE tab.
How should I approach this?? vague, eg ADVENTURE, PLATFORMER etc, or more specific, SPACE SHOOTER GALLERY, SPACE SHOOTER SCROLLING whatever??
And....
Anyone fancy helping??

Lee.

[1024MAK]

Wow! You've been busy!

I'll help to download it

I've had a quick glance through at it looks good so far.

Mark

[1024MAK]

Next, as you can see I have only just started with the GENRE tab.
How should I approach this?? vague, eg ADVENTURE, PLATFORMER etc, or more specific, SPACE SHOOTER GALLERY, SPACE SHOOTER SCROLLING whatever??

Peoples views could well be split on this.

Thinking about this, if it were my project, I think I would split the genre into two, a general / vague group, followed by a more detailed, more specific group.

Mark

[Pernod]

If you want to quickly add the STH cassettes you can save alot of typing by downloading and parsing the XML software lists that I submitted to MESS.

Download software list for BBC Model A and BBC Model B

[leenew]

Aaaaaw! Cheers Pernod!

I have parsed the list into excel and got rid of the columns I don't need.
I am just having a little ponder on how to incorporate it...

Also, I am still wondering about the genre tab.... This seems like it is going to be the most time consuming column, Mainly with me not being able to decide on the wording for any particular game.
I was also thinking of adding your (Pernod's) games list and Michael Brown's, and the 58 disc games list that comes with Datacentre.
The reasoning is for game comparison,
eg, who has the most complete version of cylon attack, or the version that loads best, or has complete loading screens or whatever else??
Once again, help in what ever form (genre allocating, spell checking, or anything else), is always appreciated.
I will see how it looks once I have had another free day at it.. whenever a free day turns up

One more thing!
I have come across some games that just don't work, so these need noting too to check whether the game is broken, or whether it is just me

Lee.

[Pernod]

Assigning genres could get quite complex. What do you aim to achieve by doing this? I would try to keep genres as simple as possible such as Maze, Platform, Simulation, Adventure, Shooter, Sports, etc.

Which games have you found that don't work? Maybe list them in another thread, it could be the emulation that doesn't support them. I know that all my discs worked perfectly on my original Beeb (not aware of any bad dumps).

[mjforbes]

A good idea, but one thing you may wish to consider would be to add fields for system compatibility (A, B, M128, Electron etc.), emulator compatibility and perhaps loading instructions (shift-break, *run etc.)

I've got a bit of time to myself until the new year, so if you want a hand, give me a shout.

And for god's sake - lose that "Comic" font at the top!!!

M.

[leenew]

Hi
The reasoning was to help find games quicker. To also see which tapes are not in the disk archive and being able to sort by type or publisher etc may be useful.
Any help is welcome so let me get the list together and work outout a strategy to give willing parties certain disks to add genres to.
Ta.

[leenew]

Added Pernod's Tape info and tidied up a bit.
To recap, I think this is of use to help find which disk the games are located on more quickly.
Also, to sort by genre should be useful. In fact, any 'sort' should be useful.
Also, It highlights gaps in the disk archive, where a tape image is available.

BBC Disc And Tapes.zip

(361 KiB) Downloaded 252 times

(Don't forget to change the file extension to .xls)

There will be probably plenty of typos and inaccuracies at this first stage (point 'em out )

I want to go through the disks 1 by 1 from 4D1, 4D2, 4D3, 4D4, 4D5, A1, A2, A3, A4, AB1, AB2, AC1 etc, etc...... and try to get genre info filled in, and to note anything that does not load properly, or seem to work properly.
If I complete up to the end of letter A, does anyone fancy tackling 'B' or 'C' ?? so we don't end up doing things twice, or missing stuff??

Thanks.
Lee.

[leenew]

After a full day off, slaving over a hot beeb, I am half way through the letter..... ...A
I have had a few problems with the STH disks though.
I am running a standard beeb with Acorn DFS, and an internal Datacentre with no CF cards attached.

disk 4D2 - program 'U.I.M.' asks for SWR socket and does not load
disk A2 - program 'the valley' crashes soon after loading.
disk A3 - program 'asteroids deluxe' does not load
disk A3 - program 'Joust' clearly states "PIRATE COPY" across the screen!
disk AB1 - program 'the orb' crashes before loading
disk AC1 - program 'jcb digger' does not load
disk AC1 - program 'Bandit' small graphical glitch on the 'mask' that travels across the top of the screen. (cursor showing??)
disk AC4 - program 'elite (tube / master) OBVIOUSLY does not load
disk AG1 - program - 'eagle empire' has video problems
disk AG1 - program '3D space raider' loads as 'SPACE ACE'
disk AG1 - program 'guardian' loads as 'DEFENDER'
disk AG3 - program 'who dares wins 2' does not load
disk AL1 - programs FRUIT WORM, and LUNAR INVASION, crash
disk AL2 - program breakout loads as 'spheroids'
disk AU1 - Wizzy's Mansion - Is the Wizzy sprite correct???
disk AU2 -program 'breakthrough' crashes after loading
disk AU2 - program 'omega orb' has graphics glitches

These are the 'problems' I have found on the 'A' disks.

Now onto 'B'.......


If anyone can confirm / deny these or offer any suggestions why it may be happening, that would be great.

Lee.

[pau1ie]

I was thinking I might help, I have a master 128 with an MMC (It came with a STH collection, bit sure if it is the same one you are testing). I would get more failures on the master than you would on the model B. I could maybe try running the games on an emulator. I was already kind of thinking we should list compatibility with different models. I could try using emulators, but again they sometimes have minor bugs that affect one obscure game.

I am not going to spend loads of time on it, because I am trying to get b-em to run at an acceptable speed on the raspberry pi, but it would be a nice unwinding task.

Cheers

PaulH

[leenew]

Hi Paul.
Any help is welcome but I can tell you it's more time consuming than I thought!
It is the 143 disc games collection from the STH site I am concentrating on at the minute.
If you just want to load as many games as you wish on the master, post the results, and I will integrate them into the list. Obviously .xls format is best for me. (You have to rename it to a .zip extension to upload it).
Cheers.
Lee.

[leenew]

Hi,
Here are the problems with the 'B' Disks.
** some may have noticed some titles have disappeared from the 'A' section. These titles load and run if the *DTRAP function is enabled on DATACENTRE, so they have been removed

disk B1 program Bismarck - will not get past 'Name for new game' prompt.
disk BR2 program dominoes, crashes 'NO ROOM'

I have to say, we have far less B problems than A problems

On to C.......

[pau1ie]

OK I am starting on d then. As I say I will be slower than you.

Thanks

PaulH

[leenew]

C Problems:
Only 1
Disk C1 program Rubik Cube crashes after loading.
CHEAT disks not tested (Yet)

Paul1e is on to D
so I shall start E
...

[pau1ie]

I had a lot of problems. I suspect many are due to compatability problems on the master. The problems are:


D1-R1
DK Tronics
3d Tanx Loads OK, but not sure if it is playing correctly (Looks wromg)
Proteanse *Broken – just a flashing cursor.
Slicker Puxzzle *Broken – Corrupt Basic error message
Sub Killer *Broken – Corrupt Basic error message
Double Phantom Combat Needs 2 computers?

DACC
Bobby Charlton Soccer Football sim Demo game works – Actually playing gives error.

Doctorsoft
3d Convoy *Broken After a long time it says please wait, then never finishes. (Waited 10 minutes)
747 Flight Sim Hangs after starting to draw cockpit.
Gorf *Broken – Corrupt Basic error message
Gorph *Broken – Corrupt Basic error message
Jumpjet *Broken – Corrupt Basic error message
Wolfpack 3 *Broken – Corrupt Basic error message

D2-r1
Durrell
Mineshaft Platform gamer Loads OK, but not sure if it is playing correctly (Character falls through the floor)

Dynabyte
3d Tank Zone *Broken – Instructions page does not respond to input and main program does not load from the title screen.
Corporate Climber * Space to start the game does not work (Hangs)
Horse Racer * Hangs.
Lemmings Syndrome *Hangs.

DB1-r1
Database
Micro Olympics * Hangs after choosing event.

DO2_r1
Domark
Trivial Pursuit Board game *Hangs on home screen
Blockbusters TV tie in game Loads OK and plays, but I can't seem to enter the answer before the time is up.

I will try F next then...

[Michael Brown]

Hi,

Blockbusters from Domark may not work properly (if using an emulator) as one of the players control key for answering is not recognised unless you either modify your key setup or change the key in the actual game.
I changed the key in the game so it works on both a real beeb and both b-em and BeebEm.

Also the Alternative titles Fruit Worm and Lunar Invasion are Electron titles only (even though the cassette said Electron/BBC). Fruit Worm was however, released as a BBC B game by The Micro User.

3-D Space Raiders from Alligata says "Space Ace" on the original tape version and Alligata may have simply changed its name on their packaging and loader file.

Some of the loading/hanging faults may be due to which DFS chip you have installed or the type of downloading routines used by hackers to make the games work.

I have posted many disks here myself and there are only around 10 games not working properly under emulation on BeebEm and even less on B-em as I have re-done most of them myself to work properly as there are a few faulty games in the STH collection.

Feel free to have a look through my disks and compare the games. If any that I have posted are faulty then please let me know although I have tested them all on both emulators and a real BBC and the only faults left should be graphics on BeebEm with Rig Attack and Pharaoh's Curse and text/graphical games like Alien from Outer Space and Winter Wonderland and loading faults with extra levels of Repton Infinity, Clogger and E-type although these will all work properly on b-em with Acorn 1770 DFS selected.

Hope this helps you.
regards,
Mick.

[leenew]

Cheers Mick,
This was one of the reasons I wanted to do the list.
Eventually, it will have the STH 143 disk collection, your collection, Pernod's and the 58 Disk collection that comes with Datacentre (source unknown).
That way, you could click "sort by title", and instantly have the whereabouts of different copies of, let's say, Repton Infinity, and be able to check one against the other.
The thing that is slowing me down is the "genre" allocating. Every time a game is on screen, I have to stare at it, and wonder how to categorize it. I may put this part of the list on a lower priority than simply typing all the lists in.....
At the moment, the STH disk list, and Pernod's donation of the Cassette list are in, and I shall do your list next.
Do you have a list so I can put it in my list? or point me to where the 90 or so disks are located??
Ta very much.
Lee.

[Michael Brown]

my disks are scattered into 10 disk sections in the Submitted section below. There is also a re-mastered section where I have recently added bits of info (such as instrcutions and loading screens) from some of my recovered floppies.

I did submit a excel sheet for the first 50 disks some time back and when I get a moment, I will try and submit the entire worksheet which also includes which games were faulty or didn't like emulation and what I did to correct them.

Mick.

[CMcDougall]

disk AC1 - program 'jcb digger' does not load

That is defo the disc image, as the 2files are not there, as the loader that should be on the disc gives a ?&blabla=bla, then loads main bit. So it does not work, but the single image does, and mine from BITD.
Must get it working, as its the Best game Ever

Also, when using the original MMC card and beeb.mmb file from Martin, they all work on a BBC B, as the other one ripped off on eBay does *CARD, so the discs that do a *DISC will fail

and for boring Master128, well its crap as it does not play Nightshade

[leenew]

Excellent. Just what the list is meant to highlight!
Once the major lists are typed in, I could have quickly checked all sources of JCB, and picked a good 'un. Then I could have played that ground breaking game....

[Pernod]

Excellent. Just what the list is meant to highlight!
Once the major lists are typed in, I could have quickly checked all sources of JCB, and picked a good 'un. Then I could have played that ground breaking game....

JCB Digger on my Acornsoft Vol.1 disc works fine in BeebEm.

[Michael Brown]

Don't forget some hacked copies of JCB Digger do not feature the little tune as the Digger appears at the start.

Here is my complete excel list of every game I have collected and what has been done to correct any faults.

Hope this helps with your work.
Mick.

Software lists.zip

(214.78 KiB) Downloaded 218 times

[pau1ie]

Hi Lee

I attach my spreadsheet for D in zipped csv format, (It should open in any spreadsheet) it contains some genres for games I was able to play, though you will probably want to alter them to what you are using.

I suspect the problem with blockbusters is that I didn't know the correct key to answer - I assumed I just had to start typing. I was testing on a real BBC master, 128 but with a Turbo MMC. I don't have a disc drive, so some games don't work because of the incompatibilities with DFS.

I am supporting your effort because as discussed in other threads I think we need a website that lists available games. I was thinking like board game geek does for board games. I don't know the best way to do that, maybe drupal with views, but maybe if I put it off long enough someone else will do it! Clearly this data will be needed to populate the database whoever creates the site.

After this I think the next most important thing is instructions. As for blockbusters it is sometimes difficult to know how to play the game. Then scans of the packaging and instructions (if any), and links to reviews, youtube videos, blogs, cheats etc. I have no idea how to achieve most of this in a scalable way!

[leenew]

Cheers for the support!
I will incorporate this lot tomorrow hopefully and I will upload the updated list.
Once again, any help checking for mistakes and typos is always welcome.

[Pernod]

Here is my complete excel list of every game I have collected and what has been done to correct any faults.

Hi Mick,
In your lists on the Tapes Req tab I see you require Pengo by H.Soft. I have the original cassette if you want it, and others listed here. PM me if interested.

[leenew]

Added Michael Brown's 100 Disks

BBC Disc And Tapes.zip

(612 KiB) Downloaded 246 times

Also I have placed all 100 disks together for ease of downloading
See thread http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewto ... f=1&t=5862

[leenew]

D Problems.
Hi Pau1ie.
Blimey! there are more problems on the Master than I realized!!
here are the problems on the BBC B (standard setup with DFS0.90 and internal Datacentre)

Disc D1 Program: 747 (doctorsoft) reboots after loading
Disc D1 Program: Double phantom combat is for 2 linked computers??
Disc DB1 Program: Adventure Anthology "Johnny" crashes after loading
Disc DB1 Program Panzer Assault loads as Panzer Attack
Disc DO1 Program: Empire strikes Back has Graphics corruption

Pau1ie, I am not sure whether it is worth you continuing with the Master. It will probably be too demoralizing!!
Let me know what you think.
Still could do with any helpers with a BBC B setup.
Need the following fields recording:

What disc/program you are testing
Year: where displayed
Working / or problem description
Genre (see my descriptions for a guide)


I shall start E

[leenew]

E complete.
No problems found
I shall start F when I get a bit of time......

[leenew]

F Complete.

Disk F1 program Powerboat race, crashes soon after loading. "BAD MODE"

Disk FB1 program The Sentinel asks for ENTRY CODE. Ok if you start on screen 00. is this correct? does it give you the codes on completion of the screen or is the game protection still intact?

cheers.

Onto G when I get a minute.....