Scetlander Explained

Scetlander (later known as Lander Software) was a software publisher which released titles for various 8- and 16-bit home computer systems in the 1980s and 1990s.

Games

Italic Title:no
Gold Series
Developer:Scetlander
Publisher:Scetlander
Genre:Edutainment
Platforms:Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Windows, ZX Spectrum
First Release Date:1989

Gold Series is a collection of educational games for the ZX Spectrum designed to make learning English and maths fun and easy.[1] The games were then ported other various computers including Atari ST, Amiga, and Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. Each game focuses on a particular topic. The games can have their difficulty settings set to suit a player's skill, and cater for various age groups.[2]

The Amiga and Atari ST versions were programmed by Terence Anthony Mancey.[3] [4]

Mix and Match

This game was created in 1988 for MS-DOS, coded by David Jolliff. It was ported to the BBC Micro in 1990[5] and ported to ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga in 1991. The technical editor of the game was Cliff Johnson.[6] It is aimed to teach children under 5 years how match different objects together aided by the sea serpent Maggie. It also came with a Maggie badge in the pack along with a manual.[7] The game is divided into four game types including "Two of a Kind", "Odd one Out", "Forget-me-not" and "Clock + Calendar". Each of those types (except the Calendar) have six activities: pictures, shapes, same, large, small, and numbers.

The game was also translated into the Belgian language on the Belgian Ministry of Education's behalf.[8]

Count and Add

This game was designed for the ZX Spectrum in 1992[9] and was ported to the Atari ST the same year. The game is aimed to teach children how to count objects and add them together aided by Shades the dog. There are six activities:

Hooray for Henrietta

This game is aimed to teach children aged 5–12 mathematics, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It was created in 1989 by T.R. Tulloch for MS-DOS and ported to ZX Spectrum in 1990. The object of the game is to help the protagonist Henrietta save her trouble prone boyfriend Henry and recover his wedding clothes which have been stolen by the parrot John. In each maths activity, the player has a limited time to solve a number of problems before John can cover Henrietta in cold custard.

The game is the first to be produced as joint project with the Scottish Council for Education and Training.[10] It also came with a John the Parrot badge and a guide for configuring and running the game.[11]

In 1996 the game was remade for Windows, with 3D graphics and high quality sound and music.[12] [13]

Henrietta's Book of Spells

This game aims to teach children aged 7–14 language skills. It was created in 1989 by T. R. Tulloch for Archimedes A3000, Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. The game was ported to ZX Spectrum and Amiga in 1990 and ported to Atari ST in 1991. The object of the game is to help the protagonist Henrietta undo Morgana the Morbid's spell which turned her husband Henry into a frog. The difficulty of the game can be adjusted from five to nine letter words.[14] Each activity earns the player a letter. Activities include:

After all five letters have been collected, the player must do a final Word Jumble to break Morgana's spell. The game was written in the STOS language by David Jolliff[15] but was written in the AMOS language for the Amiga.[16] In 1996 the game was remade for Windows with 3D graphics and using five different languages, including English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.[12] [13]

Spellbound

This game, designed by William Cochrane with graphics by Donald Anderson, teaches children spelling. Unlike the other games it has the platform of an arcade game.[17] The object of the game is to guide a helicopter (in one level a submarine) driven by Hal through five levels while shooting Professor Grime's robots. In each level the player needs to collect all the letters that make up the goal word from the robots. After the winning a level the player must retype the goal word twice. The levels consist of Underground, Underwater, Downtown, North Pole and Space Base.[18]

Other

In addition to the Gold Series Scetlander developed a number of other games, mostly for the BBC Micro computer.[5]

Game Genre/Topic(s) Year Platform(s) Notes
A Pathway to BearingsMathematics, Navigation1990BBC Micro
A Walk Around the ZooNavigation1990BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000
Airline Reservation Package[19] Business Studies, Information Technology1988Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400[20]
Basic Mathematics[21] Mathematics1988ZX Spectrum
Bearings Suite ANavigation, Mathematics1988Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400Consists of "Left or Right", "Playpark" and "A Walk Around the Zoo".
Bearings Suite BNavigation, Mathematics1988Archimedes 400
Bearings Suite CNavigation, Mathematics1988Archimedes 400
Care HireInformation Technology, Business Studies, Environmental Studies1988Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400
Carrigan StreetSimulation1990BBC Micro
CatchBusiness/Fishing Simulation1988, 1990BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000, Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400
Cell GrowthBiology1988ZX Spectrum
Comal DemonsEnglish1988Archimedes 400
Compass PointsNavigation1990BBC Micro
Counting and AddingMathematics1990BBC Micro
CyclingRoad Safety1988ZX Spectrum
DatafileDatabase editing1988Archimedes 305
ForestEconomics, Ecology1990BBC Micro
Historical FarmingSimulation, History1990BBC Micro
HolidayLanguage, Environmental Studies1988ZX Spectrum, Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400
HousebuilderSimulation, Construction1988ZX Spectrum
Journey[22] Navigation1988BBC Micro
King of the JungleSafari1990BBC Micro
Know Your Compass PointsNavigation1990BBC Micro
Left or RightNavigation1990BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000
MapmasterNavigation, Cartography1990BBC Micro
MatrixDatabases, English1990BBC MicroA touch screen and an overlay keyboard could be applied.
MazemasterPuzzle1988Archimedes 400
New Community SuiteSimulation, Economics1990BBC Micro
The New Community[23] Environmental Studies1988ZX Spectrum
PathfinderNavigation1990BBC Micro
PlayparkNavigation1990BBC Micro, Archimedes A3000
Predictype[24] Word Processing1985Acorn RISC
Project SpaceEnglish1990BBC Micro, MS-DOSAn audio cassette was provided.
RadarNavigation, Flight Simulation1990BBC Micro
SnapshotEnvironmental Studies1988, 1990ZX Spectrum, BBC MicroAvailable for BBC Master 128 only.
Stock Control SimulationBusiness Studies1988Archimedes 305, Archimedes 400
WeatherWeather Forecasting1990BBC Micro, MS-DOSAdditional features in DOS version.

Re-release

In 1994 WizardWorks re-released updated remakes of the two Henrietta games on CD.[25]

In 1995 Lander Software released a "Lander Gold" CD compiling four games remade with 256 colour VGA graphics, mouse compatibility digitised sound and music. The CD included "Hooray for Henrietta", "Henrietta's Book of Spells", "Count and Add" and "Spellbound".[26]

External links

Notes and References

  1. May 1991 . Sinclair User - Issue 111 . . . 111 . 39.
  2. August 1994 . Amiga Computing - Issue 76 . . . 76 . 81.
  3. Web site: Archived copy . www.tmancey.ltd.uk . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170830235508/http://www.tmancey.ltd.uk/cv/tmancey_cv.doc . 30 August 2017 . dead.
  4. Web site: Yatedo, les Actualités & les News.
  5. 1990 . Rickitt Educational Media - Catalogue 1990 . Martin Rickitt . 4, 11, 16, 22, 23, 26–28, 30. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150908040658/http://wos.meulie.net/pub/sinclair/company-pics/RickittEducationalMedia/Catalogue1990.pdf . September 8, 2015.
  6. July 1991 . Amiga Shopper 003 . . . 3 . 8.
  7. May 1991 . Crash Issue 88 . . . 88 . 18.
  8. July 1991 . Amiga Computing 038 . . . 38 . 13.
  9. ZX Spectrum Catalog . 181. https://web.archive.org/web/20160407012000/https://computerarchive.org/files/comp/books/ZX%20spectrum/ZXSpectrumGamesScreenshotCatalog.pdf#181 . 2016-04-07.
  10. March 1991 . Amiga Computing Issue 34 . 34 . 22.
  11. October 1990 . Amiga Format 015 . . . 15 . 10.
  12. Web site: Cheers for Henry - magazine article - TES . Ian Wilson . May 24, 1996 . TES Global Ltd . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925183023/https://www.tes.com/article.aspx?storycode=107508 . September 25, 2015. 2015-09-25.
  13. News: Ron Lander is paying off Reprogrammed for success . April 19, 1997 . Herald Scotland.
  14. October 1990 . Amiga Computing Issue 29 . . . 29 . 9.
  15. September 1991 . Atari ST User - Issue 67 . . . 67 . 57–58.
  16. Web site: Henrietta's Book of Spells: Fun with Words for 7-14 Year Olds: Hall of Light - the database of Amiga games.
  17. March 1992 . Amiga Shopper 011 . . . 11 . 7.
  18. April 1992 . Amiga Computing Issue 47 . . Sarah Williams . . 47 . 28–29.
  19. 1988 . Acorn APP155 Hardware and Software . 28–29, 32, 36.
  20. January 1988 . Acorn APP119 Software Apps . 30–33, 55, 59.
  21. March 1988 . Crash Issue 50 . . Rosetta McLeod . . 50 . 72–73.
  22. Web site: Computer Game Museum Display Case - Journey.
  23. June 1988 . Crash Issue 53 . . Rosetta McLeod . . 53 . 43–44.
  24. 10.1002/9780470699065.app4 . Appendix 4: Computer Programmes Recommended in the Survey (19) . Dyslexia . 2002 . 244 . 9780470699065 . free.
  25. 1994 . Home/Office Software . 67 . 2.
  26. Web site: Education CD . Nick Thomson . September 1995 . September 25, 2015.