Castle of Terror for the ZX Spectrum

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impomatic
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Castle of Terror for the ZX Spectrum

#1 Post by impomatic » Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:25 pm

Does anyone own or know if Castle of Terror by Melbourne House was ever released for the ZX Spectrum? There's a .Z80 snapshot on World of Spectrum but it's a multiload text adventure and part 2 is missing.

None of the Melbourne collectors I know own or have ever seen a copy.

Juan
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Re: Castle of Terror for the ZX Spectrum

#2 Post by Juan » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:41 am

impomatic wrote:Does anyone own or know if Castle of Terror by Melbourne House was ever released for the ZX Spectrum? There's a .Z80 snapshot on World of Spectrum but it's a multiload text adventure and part 2 is missing.

None of the Melbourne collectors I know own or have ever seen a copy.
I encountered and reported that problem many years ago:

http://www.solutionarchive.com/phpBB3/v ... +of+terror

That the game was released for the Spectrum 48K there seems to be no doubt. World of Spectrum used to have scans of articles and tips about it published in Spectrum magazines of the time (they probably still have these scans, but now they are no longer available to the public without having a password to access their magazine collections.)

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impomatic
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Re: Castle of Terror for the ZX Spectrum

#3 Post by impomatic » Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:39 am

Juan wrote:I encountered and reported that problem many years ago:

http://www.solutionarchive.com/phpBB3/v ... +of+terror

That the game was released for the Spectrum 48K there seems to be no doubt. World of Spectrum used to have scans of articles and tips about it published in Spectrum magazines of the time (they probably still have these scans, but now they are no longer available to the public without having a password to access their magazine collections.)
There's a solution in Sinclair User but it appears to be for the C64 version which has some minor differences. The other references are to C&VG magazine which is multi-format. (I haven't got the password, I accessed the scans last year.)

The Spectrum version isn't listed in this 1985 Melbourne House ad http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/Comm ... _House.jpg

I'm wondering if it never got released and the .Z80 was recovered from the author or someone associated with Melbourne House.

NomadColossus
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Re: Castle of Terror for the ZX Spectrum

#4 Post by NomadColossus » Fri Dec 16, 2022 12:48 pm

No, it was never released for the ZX Spectrum... only the C64 (tape only)

https://c64adventuregames.blogspot.com/ ... amous.html

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Strident
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Re: Castle of Terror for the ZX Spectrum

#5 Post by Strident » Fri Dec 16, 2022 11:37 pm

This is a very old thread. ;) But even six years later there are still unresolved questions about that "part 1" of the ZX Spectrum version; which may just be a fan production. Like you, NomadColossus, I did try to track down further details... There is a font designer called Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini but I wasn't sure if that was the same guy.

From my post elsewhere (on the SC forums):
The two part text/graphics adventure Castle of Terror was a very notable, and infamous, release for the C64.

We have it in the database for the Spectrum. However only one part of the game is archived.

The question is... is this Spectrum port an official version by Melbourne House and was it ever released, or is it in fact a third-party fan conversion?

The Spectrum version is credited to Ramacoss Ltd, with Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini, Rama, Max, and Fanfani Massimo (likely just for a single routine) credited as working on the project.

There doesn't ever seem to have been any reviews of the Spectrum version in magazines at the time. There are some hints & tips, but the only Spectrum-specific magazine inclusion is the solution in Sinclair User which seems to be for the C64 version. (It was not unusual for some C64 tips to sneak into the column, especially when Pete Gerrard was running it).

Interestingly at least some chunks of the Spectrum version seems to have been written in BASIC, which you can observe by typing in the programmer backdoor command WCOSS.

A Spectrum version was never advertised; it's not mentioned with the C64 version in Melbourne House advertising from 1985. I have never seen a copy of the Spectrum version of this game for sale and I don't know of any collector who has it. Does anyone?

From the incomplete game and the lack of any reviews from back in the day, it almost looks like the Spectrum version was either an unreleased cancelled official port *or* a third-party created fan conversion.

I'd be very interested in any evidence for an official Melbourne House release (or any background details on the Spectrum version at all).

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