Delete request -> Compilation?
About [undef-251247]
As far as I can tell, this is compilation that includes games that are not available individually .
First of all the games as screenshots. As we can see different platforms have different games on it.
http://www.pixelatedarcade.com/games/adventure-quest-iv/screenshots
The question for me is how this compilation came to be. Did someone say:
a) "Hey lets program a few different games and bring it to the people under the [compilation name]. (Example would be Action 52 for the NES).
or
b) "Hey lets publish some more or less unknown games we found from different creators and put them together and publish them under the [compilation name].
I cannot proof it but I strongly assume its b). Here is why:
The publisher Keypunch software is known to make shareware/commercial game compilations. I don't think this is a unique attempt to program several games exclusively for being in the compilation. I think they gathered them and re-released them.
I entered all the games of that compilation for MS-DOS separately some time ago. The games are from different programmers. The games have different copyright years. The compilation is from 1988. But the games are from all over the 80s. So when the DOS games are not programmed "for" the compilation it hints that the Apple II games were likely not as well. However I must admit that the compilation for all platforms seems to have different games on it. So what applies to the DOS compilation needs not automatically apply to the Apple II compilation.
The Apple II version of Stoneville Manor seems to be an old interactivefiction game from 1981.
https://bluerenga.blog/2020/05/11/stoneville-manor-1981/
Other titles are too generic to find anything specific that I could say they are the same as on the compilation. Wagons West at least seems to be different from the Wagons West game by Scholastic.
Normally I would suggest making separate entries for the games. However that might turn out to be very difficult with the generic titles; and I can't find the Adventure Quest IV disk images to check it out on an emulator. Maybe when you continue updating the Apple II games you might stumble about more "same" games under different publisher or different name. The screenshots from the page above are very helpful.
Lets keep the Adventure Quest IV for the time being. But also keep the tag, because this entry must be revisited sometime in the future.
http://www.pixelatedarcade.com/games/adventure-quest-iv/screenshots
The question for me is how this compilation came to be. Did someone say:
a) "Hey lets program a few different games and bring it to the people under the [compilation name]. (Example would be Action 52 for the NES).
or
b) "Hey lets publish some more or less unknown games we found from different creators and put them together and publish them under the [compilation name].
I cannot proof it but I strongly assume its b). Here is why:
The publisher Keypunch software is known to make shareware/commercial game compilations. I don't think this is a unique attempt to program several games exclusively for being in the compilation. I think they gathered them and re-released them.
I entered all the games of that compilation for MS-DOS separately some time ago. The games are from different programmers. The games have different copyright years. The compilation is from 1988. But the games are from all over the 80s. So when the DOS games are not programmed "for" the compilation it hints that the Apple II games were likely not as well. However I must admit that the compilation for all platforms seems to have different games on it. So what applies to the DOS compilation needs not automatically apply to the Apple II compilation.
The Apple II version of Stoneville Manor seems to be an old interactivefiction game from 1981.
https://bluerenga.blog/2020/05/11/stoneville-manor-1981/
Other titles are too generic to find anything specific that I could say they are the same as on the compilation. Wagons West at least seems to be different from the Wagons West game by Scholastic.
Normally I would suggest making separate entries for the games. However that might turn out to be very difficult with the generic titles; and I can't find the Adventure Quest IV disk images to check it out on an emulator. Maybe when you continue updating the Apple II games you might stumble about more "same" games under different publisher or different name. The screenshots from the page above are very helpful.
Lets keep the Adventure Quest IV for the time being. But also keep the tag, because this entry must be revisited sometime in the future.
Keypunch Software published their own games, published games by various authors, and published games by other companies. They also republished freeware, shareware, public domain, and commercial games. There is some question as to the precise legality of some of their actions. How and why these were grouped and divided into single or compilation titles and why the same titles and/or compilations differ across different platform or even by publishing date, is known only the various management people of Keypunch (which was Paul Rinde, during Keypunch's most eclectic years). There are also lingering questions about payments due.
When dealing with Keypunch:
A game with a different title can be the same game.
Games with the same title can be different games.
The same game can appear in different compilations.
A republished game may or may not retain its original title.
Different compilations can have a different set of games per system.
The same compilation can have a different title on the same system.
The same compilation can have a different title on different systems.
A compilation can have different games but use the same title as a previous compilation. Some or all games.
For answers in your multiple choice format, both "a", "b", "c", "q", "doughnut", and "z" can be true for any given compilation by Keypunch Software.
I'm totally fine with dividing *all* Keypunch Software compilations into individual entries, adding Keypunch's names (ie: "Adventure Quest IV" or "Chess") as alternate titles. Some disadvantage to this would be having duplicates until each and every 'Keypunch' game was identified as being unique or republished.
Note, before the 1980s, there were a number of companies that operated like Keypunch Software. Another site says, "Keypunch was one of the earliest shareware distributors, and occasionally redistributed commercial software as well." This was written by someone unfamiliar with the history of software distribution. Ohio Scientific and Apple, for examples, had similar, behavior including questionably legal actions. Keypunch is kind of a relic.
When dealing with Keypunch:
A game with a different title can be the same game.
Games with the same title can be different games.
The same game can appear in different compilations.
A republished game may or may not retain its original title.
Different compilations can have a different set of games per system.
The same compilation can have a different title on the same system.
The same compilation can have a different title on different systems.
A compilation can have different games but use the same title as a previous compilation. Some or all games.
For answers in your multiple choice format, both "a", "b", "c", "q", "doughnut", and "z" can be true for any given compilation by Keypunch Software.
I'm totally fine with dividing *all* Keypunch Software compilations into individual entries, adding Keypunch's names (ie: "Adventure Quest IV" or "Chess") as alternate titles. Some disadvantage to this would be having duplicates until each and every 'Keypunch' game was identified as being unique or republished.
Note, before the 1980s, there were a number of companies that operated like Keypunch Software. Another site says, "Keypunch was one of the earliest shareware distributors, and occasionally redistributed commercial software as well." This was written by someone unfamiliar with the history of software distribution. Ohio Scientific and Apple, for examples, had similar, behavior including questionably legal actions. Keypunch is kind of a relic.
I'm totally fine with dividing *all* Keypunch Software compilations into individual entries, adding Keypunch's names (ie: "Adventure Quest IV" or "Chess") as alternate titles. Some disadvantage to this would be having duplicates until each and every 'Keypunch' game was identified as being unique or republished.
I am leaning towards dividing the compilations. I recognize the problem with duplicates you mention. The solution would be to start the compilations in an emulator and upload screenshots for as many games as possible. Screenshots are the easiest way to recognize possible duplicates. At least if you have games that can be searched by tags like "chess", "slotmachine", "breakoutlike" etc. How else would I know when another generic 1980s chess game appears that its not the same as one thats already in the DB under a different name/publisher? Alt names can be put in the title. In the description field the compilation(s) the game appeared in could be mentioned. Or the alt title could be something like "Adventure Quest IV: [gamename]". Without screenshots and checking out the compilations manually it will become very hard to avoid duplicates though.
And I am not saying it should be done now. Maybe I will do the splitting in the future. Maybe not. Currently I am not interested in putting much work into Apple II games, and the MS-DOS compilations are already divided (I remember that I started and manually checked every 1981-1989 MS-DOS Keypunch compilation that got dumped so far for duplicates). Its just good for me to know that if done properly I would be allowed to do so.
I finally made single entries for all the games in the compilation after I found the disk images of the Adventure Quest IV compilation. Turned out that Adventure Quest IV in itself is a compilation of two other compilations. Adventure Quest IV is retained as an alt title in the separate entries. Titles are totally confusing with other existing Apple II titles. Until screenshots are made of all of them I am not sure whether I generated duplicates or not. But since everything from the Adventure Quest IV pack has screenshots now its at least clear what exact games were in the Adventure Quest IV compilation. I am deleting the compilation entry now.