Folker - 45worlds - All Comments

Folker - 45worlds - All Comments

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Folker 13th Sep 2022		Live Music Nils Lofgren @ University Of Lancaster	Which just goes to prove you should never believe what you read in the papers. The gig was definitely at Lancaster on Saturday May 15th. I kept a diary back in those days, which describes the gig in some detail. It notes that Unicorn were very good, though I now have absolutely no recollection of them. Lofgren came on about 9:45. I didn't think much of him at first, but warmed to him as the gig progressed. To doubly confirm the date, I can tell you that I watched Scotland beat England 2-1 earlier the same day. My diary notes that England were "bloody awful, absolute crap, terrible ..." (no change there, then.) A quick Google of that debacle confirms the date as 15/May/76. The date is further confirmed in the excellent book "When Rock Went To College - Legends Live At Lancaster University 1969-1985", by Barry Lucas & Paul Tomlinson. Barry booked all the gigs at Lancaster during those years and a quite amazing array of talent it was.
Folker 1st Jun 2022		Vinyl Album Dominic Behan And Ewan MacColl - Streets Of Song	Out of curiosity, why is this listed separately from this 12T41 ? The other listing has three different covers, all different to the above. I know each listing has a "See Also" link to the other, but that seems a bit of a cop out. Either the four variants should all be on the same listing or each variant should have its own separate listing. My personal vote would be for the former, since the latter is too much like the dickogs "hunt the variant" game, which wastes so much time. No doubt others have their own views. (after extensive discussion this has now been merged with the other variations, mod.)
Folker 20th May 2022		Vinyl Album Jimmy Shand And His Band - A Jimmy Shand Selection	Alternative label scans added. Does anyone have any idea which is earlier, the (more common) faux tartan label or the plain red variant? (your labels given pride of place now. mod.)
Folker 9th Dec 2021		12" Single The Boomtown Rats - Lookin' After No. 1	There appear to be two slightly different sleeves for this release. The little fella at the bottom right isn't present on some printings, replaced by a wider "Mulligan". I don't know which one is earlier.
Folker 2nd Oct 2021		Vinyl Album The Jim Cooper Band - Stray Sods Finding Their Way	Does anybody have a rough idea regarding the date of this one? From the style of sleeve and labels, I'd guess 70s.
Folker 26th Jul 2021		Video Game Ride To Hell Retribution - Deep Silver	Described by Wikipedia as "... critically panned upon release and is considered one of the worst video games ever made".
Folker 9th Jul 2021		Video Game The Saga Of Erik The Viking - Level 9 / Mosaic Publishing	I've added a contemporary article about the game, from Computer & Video Games. Not sure of the exact date, but presumably from 1984.Nice picture of the late great Terry Jones.
Folker 9th Jul 2021		Video Game Countdown To Doom - Acornsoft	I've added a contemporary review by Keith Campbell, from Computer & Video Games. I don't know the exact publication date, as the page had been torn from the original magazine, but I'm guessing late 1982 or early 1983.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Planetoid - Acornsoft	I've added a rare Acornsoft product leaflet which shows this game under its original "Defender" guise. As such, it must date to no later than 1982. The other games listed are Snapper, Monsters and Philosopher's Quest, Acornsoft's earliest games.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Starfire - Beebugsoft	Amongst the same papers, I've found an early Beebugsoft "Software Library" product leaflet, which lists this game and several others, including Magic Eel.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Pimania - Automata	I've just found an amusing letter, received from Automata, apologising for a bug in the BBC version. I've added a scan, but in case anyone has trouble reading it, here's a transcript of the first paragraph: "The original version of our celebrated computer games was translated by a third a third party, and recently released. This third party has been personally introduced to the office shredder, and is now fulfilling an engagement as several tins of pet food, because of a bug in the translation." Looks like the quality control was no better for their letters than for their software ("a third a third"). Basic business tip #1 : Try not to cock up again, when rectifying a cock-up.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Firienwood - MP	Added instruction leaflet.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Magic Eel - Beebugsoft	Added original instructions. While this type of game became ubiquitous, the novelty value at the time was significant. Back in 1982, BBC games were extremely hard to find and most had to be bought by mail order. By subsequent standards, this was crude and simple, but it wasted many happy hours in my early Beeb days.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Swarmers Revenge - Beebugsoft	Original instruction leaflet added.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Omega - Beebugsoft	Original instruction leaflet added.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Starfire - Beebugsoft	Just rediscovered a load of BBC game related papers, which have been in storage for about 30 years. Original instruction leaflet for this game uploaded.
Folker 8th Jul 2021		Video Game Quake III Arena - id Software	Thanks alexlincs. More still to come, when time permits. Just a shame that more people don't seem to be contributing to this particular "world".
Folker 21st Jun 2021		Video Game Heretic - GT Interactive Software	Yes, I've been using the BBC Archive to cross reference several of the games I've been listing, just to check my facts. I like that you can play the games on there, using their on-line emulator. That's been an occasional distraction, when I was supposed to be "researching"! I already have the likes of BeebEm, which is great, but an online "instant play" option is really handy. As for my BBC software collection, well it's been sat in the loft for nearly 30 years. I've listed everything that I have that you haven't already put up, so the well is dry. I'm moving on to my PC and console stuff now. Not quite the same nostalgia value, but some like Heretic and Doom are well worth revisiting.
Folker 21st Jun 2021		Video Game Heretic - GT Interactive Software	Actually the Games Nostalgia download page says that "the archive includes the required emulator (DOSBox) and it's already configured". Like I said before. The same emulator will run Hexen, Doom, Quake and all that great late-period DOS stuff.
Folker 21st Jun 2021		Video Game Heretic - GT Interactive Software	No need to buy an old PC. Plays well in DOSBox. Tried it briefly while I was preparing the scans. Works fine on Windows 10 64-bit or anything else that runs DOSBox. I'll add a screen grab from W10.
Folker 20th Jun 2021		Video Game Elite - Acornsoft	Review This was a really big deal, when it was released. Acornsoft pretty much threw the kitchen sink at it, marketing and packaging wise. The computer press duly took the bait and raved about it. The game won all kinds of awards. It was the first (and probably only) major-player video game which actually started life on the Beeb, rather than getting an after-thought port from some other platform. It was a remarkable programming achievement and demonstrated what could really be achieved on the Beeb, despite its oft-criticised lack of memory. So why do I dislike Elite so much ? Maybe it's because I expect to be able to actually get started with a game I've paid an arm and a leg for. The game appeared to demand that you learn how to slot a flying parcel through a rotating letterbox with millimetre accuracy, before you were allowed to discover what you shelled out all that cash for. My vivid recollections of Elite are not of the vast universe it opened up or the complexities of trading which it simulated, but of endlessly crashing into that bloody docking bay. (This rather reminds me of when my wife spent about 40 quid on a copy of Return To Castle Wolfenstein as a present and I couldn't get past the first 4 or 5 locations.) I suppose alarm bells should have been ringing when I opened the Elite manual. Software which comes with a 64-page (!!) manual isn't a game, it's a job of work. Even the novella was only 48 pages long! Any supposed game which needs a "quick reference guide" and a wall chart, because the manual is so fat, has clearly lost the plot. After a long day at work (ironically, writing computer software), I wanted much more instant gratification from my games. Unfortunately the trend to ever more "immersive" gameplay seems to have been one that the games industry has followed ever since. Now, where's my copy of Space Invaders ... 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 19th Jun 2021		Video Game Frak! - Aardvark Software	Enjoyed semi-legendary status among Beeb users, not least due to it playing the Captain Pugwash theme (a.k.a. Trumpet Hornpipe) when crude attempts were made to "pirate" the game. In fact, the program to play the Pugwash music was itself ripped and circulating in BBC-owning circles, at the time.
Folker 19th Jun 2021		Video Game Twin Kingdom Valley - Bug-Byte	Review This game received a lot of column inches and had plenty of marketing effort behind it. No doubt that it was a significant achievement to squeeze in all those pictures, to supplement the basic game. However, it all seemed like so much hype. Essentially, a text adventure, with some nice pictures to punctuate your progress. I don't remember playing this very much at all. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 19th Jun 2021		Video Game Crypt Capers - Software Projects	In the modern age of cheap colour printers/scanners, the software "protection" card seems amusingly ineffective. Back in 1984, maybe it made a bit more sense. Ironically, not particularly difficult to rip anyway. No idea what the "Export Only" stamps are about. Bought this in the UK.
Folker 19th Jun 2021		Video Game Space Pilot - Superior Software	Bizarre choice of cover artwork for a game called "Space Pilot". Stranger still that the first level did indeed feature bi-planes.
Folker 18th Jun 2021		Video Game Banjax - Robico	The gold on navy blue inlay and hint card look very classy in the flesh, but they are an absolute <expletive> to scan.
Folker 18th Jun 2021		Video Game Maniac Mower - Kansas City Systems	The exotically named Kansas City Systems, based in ... er ... Chesterfield. Not their best effort, in fact fairly naff.
Folker 18th Jun 2021		Video Game Pengo - H. Soft	This one seems to have a bit of an identity crisis going on. The program itself, the tape label and parts of the inlay describe it as "Pengo", but that was a name owned by Sega. Hence the fairly feeble attempt to rename it by calling it "Penguin" on the inlay's front and spine. Just to muddy the waters further, the copy illustrated has a Watford Electronics logo and is described as an "advance Christmas copy". I've no recollection of how I acquired this, but it was a fairly decent Pengo clone.
Folker 16th Jun 2021		Video Game Goal! - Tynesoft	Truly awful cover artwork (Marty Feldman's brother in goal). The game itself wasn't a lot better either.
Folker 16th Jun 2021		Video Game Eagle's Wing - Software Invasion	I think this just came as a disc (see scan). No retail packaging, that I'm aware of.

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