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*  PART 5  - THE SPECTRUM DATABASE  *
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Reveiwed by Stephen Smith

Okay, I know what you're thinking - why am
I  writing  this?  (I hope you're thinking
that anyway, otherwise you don't know much
about  the  Spectrum games Database). It's
like  Julian  Gollop  reveiwing  Rebelstar
Raiders,    or    Pete   Cooke   reviewing
Micronought   One.   Yes,  I  created  the
database and have even written quite a few
entries  for  it  as well. However, I will
try to remain as impartial as possible.

The  original  idea  of the Spectrum Games
Database  (or  SGD  as I will now refer to
it, since I am not being paid by the word.
In  fact I don't think I'm getting paid at
all...)  was  to  be  a  complete  tome of
knowledge  regarding  Spectrum  games. And
this  is  still the goal, although I might
extend   it   to  include  every  Spectrum
program rather than just games.

I  used to hate it when I would download a
Spectrum  game from an ftp site, load into
my  emulator,  and  then not know what the
Hell  to  do.  Unfortunately,  due  to the
sheer number of Spectrum games, I do still
have  this  problem when I download a game
that  doesn't  have  an  entry,  but  that
number  of  games  is  decreasing  all the
time.

So   how  do  I  get  an  entry?  This  is
simplicity  itself.  All you have to do is
go   to  the  SGD  web  site,  located  at
www.hermetica.com/technologia/sinclair
/stevo/gamedbs/gamedbs.html.   From  there
you  are  greeted  with  an excellent logo
(drawn by Paulo "Nusco" Perotta) long page
of  text, much like this, of me explaining
what  it's  all  about.  If  you are lucky
enough  to  own  a  web  browser  that can
handle  frames,  down  the  left hand side
will   be  the  letters  of  the  alphabet
starting  with  "Nos"  (obviously). If you
don't,   then  you  will  need  to  scroll
further  down  the  page  for  this  list.
Anyway,  should  you  click  on any of the
letters,  you  will  be taken to a list of
Spectrum   games   that  start  with  this
letter.  I  do not know if these lists are
complete  (chances are "no"), but they are
getting  there.  Some  of  them  are  even
links,  and  this  is  how  you  access an
entry.

Each entry is a text file with the name of
the  game  at  the  top, and is divided up
into sections, for example "publisher" and
"controls"  etc...  Each  entry  is slowly
building up into everything that you could
ever know about the game, from how to play
it to where to find it to what the reviews
in the magazines were.

The  SGD  is  looking  for as much help as
possible.  One  of  the great things about
the  Spectrum  was that there were so many
games.  This does mean that each one needs
instructions,   and  so  I  am  constantly
asking  people  to  write  entries for the
database.  At  the  moment the entries are
coming  in faster than ever, and in fact I
am  having  trouble  keeping up. But don't
let this stop you.

There  was  a  bit of a problem previously
with some of the links not going anywhere,
but  that  has now been sorted. Admittedly
this can be annoying, but we are doing our
best. However, problems aside, its turning
into  a great success, and it could be the
next Internet Movie Database. Indeed, what
of  the  future? Maybe a front end similar
to  the IMdB, to help you even find a game
that you didn't know you you wanted?

COMMENTS:
"Well,  sume  of  dem links dint work, but
fer  those  that  did, it wus gweat. I was
'aving  trouble  workin oot what was going
orn  in  Manic  Miner,  but this sortid me
out. But what's the key fer shoot?"

"It's a great idea, and that Stephen Smith
should be given a meddle. In fact, I think
every    person    who    subscribes    to
comp.sys.sinclair   should   send   him  a
tenner."

"What's a Spectrum?  Hello?"

"I'm a Commodore User." [smack] "Urgh."

Playability: 10%  - Well, it's not really
                    a game.
Graphics:    100% - What graphics there
                    are (1 logo) is
                    excellent.
Sound:       0%   - Er, there is none.
Lastability: 100% - This one will run and
                    run. It's improving
                    all the time.
Overall:     100% - Hey, I tried to be
                    impartial!

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