Games That Weren't^®

Our next entry into the archive come thanks to Gareth Pitchford, who flagged up this currently missing homebrew text adventure game by Derek Doran.

The game was advertised in Commodore User magazine back in 1986, but although their game Prime Suspect is preserved, this particular title is currently at large.

We’re not sure at this stage what the story was behind the game, the only possible detail suggested by Gareth is that Gape could be the same game as Core, which we’ve also added to the archive.

It is believed that the game could have been constructed using either Quill or Graphic Adventure Creator and was sold from home by Derek.

Did you happen to purchase a copy and can you help us preserve the title?

A short entry for a new GTW that was flagged up by Fabrizio Bartolini. This time a horizontal scrolling shoot’em up for the Commodore 64 created by Jonathan Wheatman.

The game, according to an interview with Jonathan, was written when he was just 13/14 but was never released, when he then moved onto the Atari ST and wrote Battle Probe.

We don’t know much else about the game at this stage, but hope to learn more from Jonathan and even see if something of the game could be saved.

A short entry for a title that may or may not have had a C64 release under way. Pixie and Dixie was based on the Hanna Barbera cartoon and was to be a late 8-bit release it seems.

The game was mentioned in a short segment on Alternative Software within the pages of Amstrad Action. There was no confirmation of a CPC release, though it was certainly plausible.

It was never to surface on any of the 8-bits though, and would only see release on Atari ST and Amiga platforms.

So the question now remains as to whether anything was ever started or not? If you know more, then please do get in touch!

People from Sirius was to be an arcade adventure game released by U.S. Gold back in 1987, after Mauro Spagnolo submitted a title to John Holder of Leader Distribuzioni.

The game would eventually see release via Your Sinclair magazine as a promotional release, as well as a release in Spain under the Topo Soft label.

It was suggested in Commodore Gazette (1987) that a C64 and Amstrad conversion would be following the early release on ZX Spectrum and MSX, but it was never to be.

After the game was released on Your Sinclair, the C64/CPC editions disappeared without a trace. At this stage, we are not certain what happened exactly, or even if the conversions were ever started.

Is it possible that Topo Soft worked on a conversion? Perhaps Jesús Miguel Medina was the developer? (who would code Mad Mix Game a year later).

Thanks to a comment on Mauro’s Spectrum games from a friend of Mauro, it was confirmed that Mauro never did C64 or CPC conversions, as he had no 6502 skills or a way to transfer the game to CPC. Because the ZX Spectrum game was leaked, US Gold never published it and it was instead released by Topo Soft in Spain only. Apparently the Topo Soft release had bugs in it, which have been fixed and a new version is to be released soon.

Sadly it seems a C64 game may not have ever been started by anyone but if you know anything more – please do get in touch! With thanks to Fabrizio Bartoloni and also Andrea Pachetti for his article on on Mauro’s Spectrum games.

A short entry to cover a title that was being developed by Peter Ward, who was the coder behind the recovered Scooby Doo game, and also the as of yet unpreserved Typhoon Thompson.

This other unreleased game has no name at the moment, but was described by Peter as being a mix between Choplifter and Rescue Raiders on the Apple II. It was apparently quite playable, but never 100% complete.

Peter hopes to find the game at some point in the future, so that it can be preserved and hopefully added here along with Typhoon Thompson.

More soon we hope!

Our next entry is thanks to Gareth Pitchford, who spotted in issue 40 of Your Commodore magazine details of a History title that was being created in The Quill. It was mentioned in a small article on educational games.

The text was as follows:

The next offering comes courtesy of Duncan Bowen School, Ashford. This software uses the Quill adventure writer to create a novel approach to the teaching of History. History is usually a sure way to send pupils to sleep, as it is always full of dates, places and names and has as much life in it as a building brick.

The fact is that History is a living subject winch involves people of all walks of life. By involving the pupil in the subject, it becomes live and interesting, and software uses the adventure concept to achieve this goal.

The disk contains two packages covering different aspects of the same problem. The main portion relates to an investigation of the past. The pupil has to “travel” around seeking information which will help solve a Victorian murder.

To achieve this aim, you must examine a wide range of sources of information such as records, diaries, memorials in churches and listen to the gossip.

In the first part you have to compile the basic facts from archival material. You have access CO contempory material in the second part, and with this you attempt to form a case against the murderer. Two further parts provide further information and quiz your findings.

In the second package, the pupil has to explore a Kentish village and map it. The final aim is to compile as much information as possible about a family that lived there.

Overall, the main theme of the package is that there is a lot of material available which is used to explore the past and shows where it is found and how it can be used. The software is detailed and well thought out – the documentation is copious and extremely useful: providing teacher’s notes and help for the pupils.

The material is ideal for project work, both for groups of children and the individual. I believe that this software is free provided that a blank disk or tape is sent.

The School become no more in the early 1990s, but did anyone send off for the disk/tape and get a copy of it?

Thanks to Gareth’s investigational work, it seems that parts of the package were later redeveloped for the Atari ST as “The Search” and “History File”.

It is very much at large still and yet to be preserved, so it is unknown as of yet if it did see release. If you know anything more about it – then please do get in touch.