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Chase HQ 2 appears again

Started by XeNoMoRPH, 19:55, 17 January 25

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XeNoMoRPH


QuoteA third copy of Chase HQ 2 appears to have just been just found!. The cartridge is unfortunately still missing but this was found in an ongoing attic clearance. So fingers crossed 🤞🏻
source FB / amstradiens ( Lee Cook )








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andycadley

Let's hope the cartridge turns up and can be preserved, even if it's probably a terrible conversion.

Egg Master

Very sad the cartridge was not into its box. May be somewhere with the GX4000.

arnoldemu


Great pics of the box and manual :)

I hope the cart is found :)
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

lmimmfn

Quote from: andycadley on 20:09, 17 January 25Let's hope the cartridge turns up and can be preserved, even if it's probably a terrible conversion.
Is probably just the speccy version with colour and that version is terrible and according to ChinnyVision one of the coders for the Speccy version worked on Speccy Outrun and the coding team went on to code Cisco Heat lol - 
He mentions that around 16:20 onwards in the video.
6128 for the win!!!

Shaun M. Neary

Chase HQ on the GX always amuses me.

I appreciate that it's pretty rare and I'm sure diehard collectors will have bragging rights forever more (and more power to them for it).

But everyone else is in for a severe disappointment should this ever surface. All things indicate that the conversion is utter muck. So I'll never understand why people are so intrigued by it.

Even in the arcade, the game wasn't that great and paled in comparison to it's predecessor in my honest opinion.
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

roudoudou

Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 22:44, 18 January 25Chase HQ on the GX always amuses me.

I appreciate that it's pretty rare and I'm sure diehard collectors will have bragging rights forever more (and more power to them for it).

But everyone else is in for a severe disappointment should this ever surface. All things indicate that the conversion is utter muck. So I'll never understand why people are so intrigued by it.

Even in the arcade, the game wasn't that great and paled in comparison to it's predecessor in my honest opinion.
it's curiosity and culture, no one is expecting a proper game



Shaun M. Neary

Quote from: roudoudou on 22:47, 18 January 25
Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 22:44, 18 January 25Chase HQ on the GX always amuses me.

I appreciate that it's pretty rare and I'm sure diehard collectors will have bragging rights forever more (and more power to them for it).

But everyone else is in for a severe disappointment should this ever surface. All things indicate that the conversion is utter muck. So I'll never understand why people are so intrigued by it.

Even in the arcade, the game wasn't that great and paled in comparison to it's predecessor in my honest opinion.
it's curiosity and culture, no one is expecting a proper game



And I appreciate that... but that's a hell of a long wait for what's going to be a pile of... erm dou dou? ;)
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

andycadley

Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 22:56, 18 January 25
Quote from: roudoudou on 22:47, 18 January 25
Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 22:44, 18 January 25Chase HQ on the GX always amuses me.

I appreciate that it's pretty rare and I'm sure diehard collectors will have bragging rights forever more (and more power to them for it).

But everyone else is in for a severe disappointment should this ever surface. All things indicate that the conversion is utter muck. So I'll never understand why people are so intrigued by it.

Even in the arcade, the game wasn't that great and paled in comparison to it's predecessor in my honest opinion.
it's curiosity and culture, no one is expecting a proper game



And I appreciate that... but that's a hell of a long wait for what's going to be a pile of... erm dou dou? ;)

Most of the official carts were, frankly, rubbish. It'd be nice to have them all preserved as historical documentation, more than really as something you'd play. I mean I'm not like going to fire up No Exit either.

Egg Master

Looking at the box corner, it was to be shown into a shop, no?
If it is that, the cartridge was probably removed in first place.

arnoldemu

Quote from: Egg Master on 11:54, 19 January 25Looking at the box corner, it was to be shown into a shop, no?
If it is that, the cartridge was probably removed in first place.
I was thinking the corner pieces look a bit like a hook but I think it would be silly to hang the box from those corners because it could hide the game name.

I think it is for two things:
1. to protect the sides when in a box
2. tabs to be easy to grab to remove it from a box when it is side on with other games.






My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

Egg Master

You are certainly right. Thank you.

RetroUnlim

Has everyone on that CREDITS page of the manual been contacted?  :)

Shaun M. Neary

Credits are identical...
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/906/ZX-Spectrum/Chase_HQ_II_Special_Criminal_Investigation

If ICE were responsible, I'd imagine it would have identical graphics and attempted scrolling to Turbo Outrun, which wasn't as bad as Outrun... but wasn't great either.
Currently playing on: 2xCPC464, 1xCPC6128, 1x464Plus, 1x6128Plus, 2xGX4000. M4 board, ZMem 1MB and still forever playing Bruce Lee.
No cheats, snapshots or emulation. I play my games as they're intended to be played. What about you?

chinnyhill10

Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 10:11, 20 January 25Credits are identical...
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/906/ZX-Spectrum/Chase_HQ_II_Special_Criminal_Investigation

If ICE were responsible, I'd imagine it would have identical graphics and attempted scrolling to Turbo Outrun, which wasn't as bad as Outrun... but wasn't great either.

From what we've seen of it before via footage, and knowing the Spectrum version, it's going to be awful. 

Having the box and manual is interesting. I'd always assumed the cart that turned up before was a pre-production sample. But here we have a case and manual. Wonder if it was done as a proof? 

The cartridge manufacturing was carnage. Amstrad insisting on manufacturing in the Far East meaning huge lead times. I remember being in Dixons Guildford in early December 1990, there being a huge display of games available and the salesman keeping coming back from the stockroom to say they didn't have the game I wanted, me choosing another one and the same thing happening.

Amstrad learned nothing from the 464 and Sugar insisting software had to be plentiful. All the games should have been ready for launch and widely available with no shovelware.
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

chinnyhill10

Quote from: lmimmfn on 16:19, 18 January 25
Quote from: andycadley on 20:09, 17 January 25Let's hope the cartridge turns up and can be preserved, even if it's probably a terrible conversion.
Is probably just the speccy version with colour and that version is terrible and according to ChinnyVision one of the coders for the Speccy version worked on Speccy Outrun and the coding team went on to code Cisco Heat lol -
He mentions that around 16:20 onwards in the video.
Not sure if that play through I saw is online anymore but it was just a slower 16 colour version of the Speccy game and didn't look to have any Plus enhancements.

I assume Ocean didn't bother converting it to the standard CPC as it stank.
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

dthrone

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 19:59, 20 January 25
Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 10:11, 20 January 25Credits are identical...
https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/906/ZX-Spectrum/Chase_HQ_II_Special_Criminal_Investigation

If ICE were responsible, I'd imagine it would have identical graphics and attempted scrolling to Turbo Outrun, which wasn't as bad as Outrun... but wasn't great either.

The cartridge manufacturing was carnage. Amstrad insisting on manufacturing in the Far East meaning huge lead times. I remember being in Dixons Guildford in early December 1990, there being a huge display of games available and the salesman keeping coming back from the stockroom to say they didn't have the game I wanted, me choosing another one and the same thing happening.

Amstrad learned nothing from the 464 and Sugar insisting software had to be plentiful. All the games should have been ready for launch and widely available with no shovelware.

It's well established now that the cart manufacture was actually done by Trojan in Wales and the catalogue of Amstrad cock-ups is even more facepalm than was thought possible :( 
SOH Digital Entertainments

lmimmfn

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 20:04, 20 January 25
Quote from: lmimmfn on 16:19, 18 January 25
Quote from: andycadley on 20:09, 17 January 25Let's hope the cartridge turns up and can be preserved, even if it's probably a terrible conversion.
Is probably just the speccy version with colour and that version is terrible and according to ChinnyVision one of the coders for the Speccy version worked on Speccy Outrun and the coding team went on to code Cisco Heat lol -
He mentions that around 16:20 onwards in the video.
Not sure if that play through I saw is online anymore but it was just a slower 16 colour version of the Speccy game and didn't look to have any Plus enhancements.

I assume Ocean didn't bother converting it to the standard CPC as it stank.

I'm only speculating but I'm guessing they couldn't get it working on a CPC 464 via tape as CPC gfx consume more memory than the Speccy that the opted to go with cart, then realised the market wasn't there for carts.

The fact thst there are a few( very few ) cards in the wild leads me to think those carts are from a preproduction run.

It's all speculating on my side of course.
6128 for the win!!!

chinnyhill10

Quote from: dthrone on 01:02, 21 January 25It's well established now that the cart manufacture was actually done by Trojan in Wales and the catalogue of Amstrad cock-ups is even more facepalm than was thought possible :( 

It's strange because one of the problems cited (and I can't remember by who) was the long lead times on cartridges.

Perhaps Trojan were burning the ROM's and assembling them but Amstrad were having the boards and cart plastics made in Korea and then shipping them over? It would make more sense to have Orion handle the PCB work and injection moulding and then Trojan to do the 'finishing'. Burn the ROM, put it on a board, snap it into the case and slap a label on.

Unless Trojan had PCB and injection moulding facilities (or had access to them). But 'finishing' in the UK would fit with the way Amstrad worked with some of their other products at their Shoeburyness facility. Products like VCR's shipped over part finished.
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

chinnyhill10

Quote from: lmimmfn on 04:06, 21 January 25I'm only speculating but I'm guessing they couldn't get it working on a CPC 464 via tape as CPC gfx consume more memory than the Speccy that the opted to go with cart, then realised the market wasn't there for carts.

The fact thst there are a few( very few ) cards in the wild leads me to think those carts are from a preproduction run.

It's all speculating on my side of course.

Yes, I think all the stuff from Wave was basically carts that were samples or tests that Amstrad sold in bulk. Wave and that other place in Telford used to take alot of stuff Amstrad sold off cheap to clear space.

In fact IIRC Alan Sugar's sons first job at Amstrad was selling off unwanted stock and returns.
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

dthrone

Quote from: chinnyhill10 on 23:49, 21 January 25
Quote from: dthrone on 01:02, 21 January 25It's well established now that the cart manufacture was actually done by Trojan in Wales and the catalogue of Amstrad cock-ups is even more facepalm than was thought possible :( 

It's strange because one of the problems cited (and I can't remember by who) was the long lead times on cartridges.

Perhaps Trojan were burning the ROM's and assembling them but Amstrad were having the boards and cart plastics made in Korea and then shipping them over? It would make more sense to have Orion handle the PCB work and injection moulding and then Trojan to do the 'finishing'. Burn the ROM, put it on a board, snap it into the case and slap a label on.

Unless Trojan had PCB and injection moulding facilities (or had access to them). But 'finishing' in the UK would fit with the way Amstrad worked with some of their other products at their Shoeburyness facility. Products like VCR's shipped over part finished.

The injection moulding would almost certainly be outsourced I'd guess but I think Trojan were quite capable of making up the boards themselves as they were fundamentally an electronics company.  I'm not sure Amstrad would need someone like them just to essentially do assembly.  Dunno though  :D
SOH Digital Entertainments

chinnyhill10

Quote from: dthrone on 09:45, 22 January 25The injection moulding would almost certainly be outsourced I'd guess but I think Trojan were quite capable of making up the boards themselves as they were fundamentally an electronics company.  I'm not sure Amstrad would need someone like them just to essentially do assembly.  Dunno though  :D

I assume the ACID chip had to be produced and supplied by Amstrad at the very least.

There's something in the entire chain that isn't right. A bottleneck. Either Amstrad didn't want to pay out for cartridges to be made that they then couldn't sell, or some kind of delay or supply issue.

Was it money, a supply chain issue or a lack of understanding.
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

Xyphoe

In brief - Amstrad demanded that publishers place a minimum order up front of 20,000 copies of each game, which went through them.  :doh:

Trojan a relatively small firm really, struggled to produce that number quickly on demand too. Remember you've also got those special cases to produce too, and manuals, and have them all shipped and delivered.

The extra double whammy being the poor sales of the GX4000 after Xmas led to publishers starting to pull out not willing to place such high orders - case in point it's believed Empire cancelled Gazza II because of that. Also it's written in New Computer Express Ocean had completed games like "Pang" & "Plotting" and threatened to cancel them, until Amstrad relented on the minimum order number - which is why they're relatively rare to find (because released in smaller numbers).


Additionally - it's always been a complete mystery about SCI Chase HQ II. There's always been naysayers about it's existence but I've been banging my head against my desk for years saying "it is real" because at the least Martyn Carrol of Retro Gamer went and visited one of the owners of said cart (+ box & instructions) many years ago and verified it. Before that I was in touch with the other owner long before and he'd been sending me pics (although he's been silent on me for years now).

Anyway, one can only speculate and purely guess... that Ocean sent it over to Trojan who started manufacturing and then suddenly had a change of heart perhaps? And halted it mid production? And only a few copies got completed? That seems to be the only reasonable explanation. What was left got sold to WAVE, CPC Now, junked in a skip sadly by Trojan and apparently some got sold to a computer game shop up in Newcastle as we've just discovered. Bizarre.




andycadley

I think it's pretty clear it exists:

https://youtu.be/r7fmHpbl85k?si=PTYG0-OApjsdsUae

The trouble is getting someone who actually owns a copy of the cartridge and is prepared to dump it in touch with someone who has the capability to safely do so.

My guess is that they were pre-production copies produced ready for sign off or for magazines or something, but the release was scrapped before it went ahead. The few copies now floating around presumably came from places like Trading Post that were just flogging off whatever had been dumped on them.

Egg Master

Sadly, people owning **RARE** games are afraid to lose something, while there is no risk at all to dump a ROM.

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