wtf is this?

[arnoldemu]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Iznogoud-game-Amstrad-CPC-Plus-464-6128-/170538378671?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item27b4e125af

EDIT:
Seems to be another Polish special from this game

http://cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=1187

[Devilmarkus]

Is no good

[AMSDOS]

I wonder what happens if you have a GX4000 Console?? It doesn't seem to include that for that particular game. Or it could just be a really ingenious way of making what maybe another copy of Burnin Rubber look like a Rare game - no screenshots of that game suggests to be it maybe a hoax!    But then there could be a number of reasons why there's no screenshots I suppose! 

[Bryce]

Iznogoud really existed (the cartoon character, not the game), it was a french cartoon and it really was meant to be a play on the words "Is no good". No idea whether a CPC game ever existed though. Maybe some of our french members remember it?

Bryce.

Edit: It really did exist for the CPC: http://www.iznogoudworld.com/Games/games.html
         (you can even download the game there)

[MacDeath]

Yeah, it's a famous French-Belge comics, originaly created by renée Gosciny, also co-creator of Asterix, scenarist for LuckyLuke and actually the most influancial man in Franco-Belge comics during the 2nd half of the 20th century...

Iznogoud (pun intented) is vizir in bagdad and wants to become the Caliph in place of the Caliph...
a bit like Jafar in prince of persia, but lousiest...


It's actually a very fun comic but I don't know if the game is good, yet graphics seems good.


French developpers did a lot of Franco-Belge comics because of the appeal with children or teenagers


Also because you have a lot of graphic material available...

http://cpc-power.com/index.php?page=jeux&lenom=Bande%20Dessinee
exemples :
-Tintin (on the moon)...even on GX4000..
-Asterix : perhaps older games were scrappy, but some more recent (chez Rahazad...) were having great graphics...
-Lucky luke did have some sort of port...
-Bobo the prisonner.
-North and south : not a faithfull port but graphics were clearly taken from the comic... les tuniques Bleus...
-Bob Morane.
-Les Passagers du vents.
and many more...

http://www.iznogoudworld.com/Games/games.html

Similar to the Atari version in sound and           graphics, but limited since it features a game layout about half the size           of the Atari and PC versions with less characters as well, making for           a more simplified version of the game. However, the graphics and sound           are nice. I assume the game size was cut down due to limitations of the           Amstrad CPC.

OMG they cut is like a Rick Dangerous...
I suppose the "limitation" they talk about is the 464 configuration...?
I see few points to limit that much, but hey, Atari ST and TO8 got a lot more memory too and 3"1/2 disks in 720K ?
While Amstrad got only 64K... and sometimes 128k...

It is to notice that Iznogoud got a thomson TO8 version...
This means the graphics are the same as on a CPC...but benefit from a 4096 palette Mode0... as a result a proper PLUS conversion//patch would actually use the same inks/palette settings as the TO8 vesion if done well.

TO8 computer had 256K RAM and could support mouse... features I would have loved my CPC got from the start... but hey, 1mhz CPU and no soundchip is so lame...
If only the Amstrad PLUS were to the level of the TO8... would got 6256+ and Mouse... for the same price ? could have worked better (if only this model and no Tape-Console stuff...)


Many French game who got such TO8 version and were actually in Mode0 equivalent could get such patch...
But also we can see there was a PC CGA version, so a Mode1 version is also possible...

So yeah, another Polish bootleg...
I just hope the guy will see a point in editing more heavily those games in order to get them to the PLUS standard... and try to actually produce new cartridge (now we know we can buy some ACID and even emulate it... instead of cannibalizing existing carts...)
Oh, and get those working on GX4000 too!

[arnoldemu]

Well I am fairly sure this version will be direct from the cpc version, not a true cart. It says it doesn't work on 464+ without extra ram, so clearly seems to be a dsk2cart conversion

My original post was because I thought it was a joke, especially with no screenshots.

Then I found it was actually a real cpc game and now I find it's from a French comic.

So now I say, "it's another polish bootleg".

[MacDeath]

Iznogoud seems to share the same engine as Bob Morane : chevalerie and bob Morane : Jungle...
need to be verified, but from the picture, the release date and the fact all those are Inforgrame games...

http://cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=437
http://cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=438


Also :

However,           on an Amstrad PC 1512 computer with its expanded graphics capability,           the game was able to play in 16 colors at 640x200.

Amstrad reigns superior !!!

[jbaudrand]

I had this game on my 464, it was selled in a big red box with "l'anniversaire d'Iznogoud" comics inside.  in the game you have to find a gift for the caliph (not sure about the translation). I never understood how to finish it until I found the walkthrough in Amstrad 100% magazine, and I was disappointed, I mean, the puzzle was totally illogical (I remember you have the exchange an objet twice, go near a plant or a table and the final object was here. and the endgame was finish by a flashing border (like the famous flashing loading border you have on tape game).

I remember just three things about this game:
the graphics, very well done.
the map: on the left side, you have a drawing of the calpih's palace that show where you was by highlight the window
the title music from Charles Callet, always entertaining.

[remax]

I think this man is the same man they complain a lot about on Spanish Scene. He sells cartdridge port (dsk2cart as you say) for a lot of games, even the recent software which wasn't meant to be sold.
Besides, he kill a lot of officials cartridge by making his fake one.

[Gryzor]

I think this man is the same man they complain a lot about on Spanish Scene. He sells cartdridge port (dsk2cart as you say) for a lot of games, even the recent software which wasn't meant to be sold.
Besides, he kill a lot of officials cartridge by making his fake one.

That's what I was thinking - gutting perfectly good cartridges to make fake ones... Maybe we should report him to eBay?

[TFM]

Well, don't know the laws exactly. But ... if we want to get him at the balls, the wait until he releases a game from the scene on cartridge, this would be software piracy, because he makes money with it.  Wasn't there somebody who said that he already did sell spanish scene games on cart???

[Xyphoe]

Yes this is the same guy who did cart versions with GX4000 boxes for games like Saboteur(!), Executioner's Frogger conversion, Hermol's Street Fighter II conversion, and maybe one or two others.

I haven't seen him put up an auction for a Plus cart in a long time, and I have him on my Ebay watch list out of curiosity.

He seems to choose strange games to put on cart though!!!!

[redbox]

Putting non-Plus games onto cartridge makes me cry - it's such a waste.

Mind you, there's not many Plus games you could actually copy to cartridge.   

[Xyphoe]

Putting non-Plus games onto cartridge makes me cry - it's such a waste.

Mind you, there's not many Plus games you could actually copy to cartridge.   

I have "Fluff" on cartridge 

[TFM]

Yes this is the same guy who did cart versions with GX4000 boxes for games like Saboteur(!), Executioner's Frogger conversion, Hermol's Street Fighter II conversion, and maybe one or two others.

I haven't seen him put up an auction for a Plus cart in a long time, and I have him on my Ebay watch list out of curiosity.

He seems to choose strange games to put on cart though!!!!

The producers really should sue this guy, he steals their work to make money - and he screws up carts! Two reaons to kick him!

[Xyphoe]

The producers really should sue this guy, he steals their work to make money - and he screws up carts! Two reaons to kick him!

Yea  its a bit dodgy ... I'm in two minds because I LOVE to see new carts popping on Ebay and always think about adding to my collection. It reminds me years ago just as I entered my teenage years buying dodgy bootlegs of Iron Maiden live concerts from the market in my town ... I didn't think twice about it being illegal or 'hurting the band' - I just wanted to have a collection of the shows I had been to or stuff from tours they never officially released. Here though, when it comes to home brew releases its often one or a few people working very hard to do this and not millionaire musicians(!), so that is not so good.

I wonder, say if Orion Prime popped up on Ebay on cart (well ... it's not possible and it wouldn't work right ... but lets say so for arguments sakes) ... would I snap it up or leave it out of principle? I'm not sure I'm ashamed to say! 


Then there's the fact it's destroying original carts and removing them from circulation 

[TFM]

If it only would make sense to have it on cart, ok! But this game is obvious not a Plus game! And that's the shame! If it would be at least a Plus game, ok, but that's not the case.

If somebody would do that to my productions, I probably wouldn't sue that person (because I'm to goodhearted, you can say stupid...), but it would REALLY REALLY REALLY disappoint me.

[arnoldemu]

If it only would make sense to have it on cart, ok! But this game is obvious not a Plus game! And that's the shame! If it would be at least a Plus game, ok, but that's not the case.

If somebody would do that to my productions, I probably wouldn't sue that person (because I'm to goodhearted, you can say stupid...), but it would REALLY REALLY REALLY disappoint me.

I think that if they had taken the time to upgrade the game using plus colours and possibly plus sprites and then make a cart of it, then it would be better, but just putting a cpc game on a cart is not great, especially considering it doesn't even work on gx4000 or cpc464+ without ram.

Really it would be best to see new carts with new games I think.

[andycadley]

If someone were taking existing shovelware carts, like Barbarian 2, and using them to put actual plus enhanced games like Rick Dangerous+ or Fluff on, I honestly wouldn't mind. I'd probably bid on them and generally consider them something of a service to the community. Just shovelling more old CPC titles onto carts (and potentially proper plus carts like Burnin' Rubber or Robocop 2) seems like a horribly wasted opportunity however.

[TFM]

Indeed!

[MacDeath]

Considering we know how to produce actual 512K cartridges from an existing cartridge.

I mean, it's all explained on CPCwiki...


So, My guess is : are there any cartridge compatible versions of such games ? (Rick128+, Fluff...)

Perhaps not.
I mean getting a game working on Cartridge...ROM may mean to crack it a bit deeper than just getting infinite lives or time for said game...

Quite some game did get a PLUS patch, mostly cosmetic : new palette and intro/cracktro...or removal of the keyboard bug...

The next move would be to get compilations of good games/patched games which would work on ROM...
As proper new cartridges are to come obviously...

Finding EPROMS and a guy able to burn them may not be that hard...
And to put a socket on an existing cannibalized cartridge... we all have something to sacrifice... (I have 2 extra GX4000Burnin rubber for this purpose...)

I wouldn't mind a Barbarian compilation.
Barbarian 1 &2 (Disk version, more stuff..?)

But yeah, proper new productions would be better.

[TFM]

Sorry mate, it would took me less than 5 min to get a game running from cart. Instead of floppy disc sectors you use RAM sectors in the cart. Change a bunch of code lines, that's it. No big deal and no new gfx

[steve]

Quite some game did get a PLUS patch, mostly cosmetic : new palette and intro/cracktro...or removal of the keyboard bug...

I do not know of this bug, I want to write software for these machines and would like to know if there is a list of all the bugs in the 6 models so maybe I have some chance to write stuff that should work on all models.

[arnoldemu]

I do not know of this bug, I want to write software for these machines and would like to know if there is a list of all the bugs in the 6 models so maybe I have some chance to write stuff that should work on all models.

There isn't a comprehensive list of all bugs. However, you can look at www.grimware.org and also quasar online. (you need to understand French for the last one).
Both of these document most of the bugs.

About the keyboard bug: If you fix it for CPC+, it will also work on all other CPCs.

[Johnny Olsen]

(you need to understand French for the last one).

There is an easy solution too that.
Use firefox as your browser then install "Translator fixed" add on.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9923/
Now you have the oportunity to translate a whole page to your native language.