Archive News 2026

03/02/2026

There has been a big update to archived packages including;

  • The user manual for Acornsoft's ABC,
  • The package cover and inside details for Missing Signs from ESM,
  • Number Balance, the ESM version including documentation,
  • Alternate package design for Fernleaf's Games of Deduction,
  • The documentation for Sherston's Fleet Street Phantom,
  • The Master Compact software for Terra Australis from Jacaranda,
  • The box front and rear scans for Get Set from Griffin,
  • The sleeve art for Beebug Paintbox,
  • Documentation for Tile Mosaic from Cambridge Micro Software,
  • Missing documentation for Goldfields from Jacaranda,
  • The package wrapper for Fernleaf's Fletcher's Castle.
   
29/01/2026

Further additions include;

  • Sketch, a cassette-based art package from Goldstar,
  • Draw from Micropower, a turtle graphics program,
  • Illustrator graphics package from Nidd Valley.
   
23/01/2026

Further additions include;

  • Zap The Numbers from Edsoft in Australia, an arithmetic drill program,
  • Sequence from the Tasmania Education Department, a visual discrimination program,
  • Some applications for the Archimedes My World 2,
  • Archimedes Words and Pictures resource pack,
  • Archimedes Speak Easy.
   
18/01/2026

Some RISCOS educational titles added including;

  • Conform+ a concept keyboard overlay designer and driver for RISCOS Archimedes computers,
  • First Words and Pictures from Chalksoft. A BBC title converted for the A3000,
  • Keyboard Programs from SEMERC; a suit of BBC Micro title by Alan Nixon adapted to run under RISCOS.
   
16/01/2026

The continuing additions include;

  • Acornsoft's Creative Graphics,
  • EDG Graphics Package from Salamander.
   
14/01/2026

The continuing additions include;

  • Splash, from the Elizabeth Computer Centre, Hobart Tasmania, an early years counting game,
  • Star Chaser, from Paranti Products, an Australian publisher; this is a mathematical game. Kudos to billcarr2005 from StarDot for cracking the protection.
   
13/01/2026

The continuing additions include;

  • Twenty Crossword Puzzles from NCET, a twin cassette package of extra crosswords for the NCET title, Crossword Puzzler; these have been converted to a disc image for convenience of use,
  • Party Time from Argus Publications Software, maths programs for 3 - 5 year olds,
  • The documentation for A Saxon Settlement by Fernleaf; documentation produced by MEP for their Blue File suite of software,
  • The documentation for Stretch from 4Mation added to the Private Archive,
  • Reading Corner: Folk Tales from BBC Soft.
   
11/01/2026

The latest additions from a large donation of educational material include;

  • Mathematics with a Micro 1, from Heinemann,
  • Morse Reader, an Amateur program to decode Morse Code fed into the BBC Microcomputer Analogue Interface,
  • The Tombs of Arkenstone from Arnold Wheaton Software; the original disc was protected but the protection was hacked by StarDot members.

Huge thanks to StarDot members Lnew and Lurkio for the donation.

   
07/01/2026

Added the missing software for What's to Eat? by Shumwari Associates.

This was discovered on a badly damaged cassette but luckily a second copy was recorded onto side 2 of the cassette. By combining data loads from both sides of the tape and swapping cassette players to load the tricky blocks a complete archive of the title was obtained.

   
03/01/2026

Recent additions include;

  • Planet Watcher from Brilliant Software, definitely one for the astronomers out there,
  • The Night Sky from Bridge Software, the single title from cassette.

Thanks to vectoreyes of StarDot fame for loaning the items for archiving.

   
01/01/2026

Happy New Year to our reader!

The first addition for the New Year is Know Your Tables, a title for the Acorn Electron published by Collins Software.

It is rare that the Archive comments on software hosted but in this case an exception will be made. In 1983, when this title was released, Collins was a major publisher of books and other materials and very well respected. It was a byword for quality. The Know Your Tables package would have appeared to ooze that quality when seen on the stockist's shelf, wrapped in its large, colourful plastic box. Inside were a professionally manufactured booklet and cassette tape. Unfortunately the publisher's description of the package was riddled with serious errors and did not match the software at all.

   
 Number Balance
 ESM (Educational Software for Microcomputers)
 
 
ARCHIVE STATS
  4540 programs
 
  1921 packages
 
  419 publishers
 
 
GENRE STATS
 Administration 56
 Adventure 107
 Art 64
 Biology 170
 Business 84
 Chemistry 212
 Classics 3
 Computer Science 290
 Design and Technology 66
 Economics 19
 Electronics 18
 English 73
 French 65
 Gardening 2
 General Purpose 206
 Geography 137
 German 28
 History 50
 Literacy 580
 Mathematics 1381
 Modern Foreign Languages 11
 Music 54
 Navigation 1
 Office Skills 5
 Personal and Social Education 33
 Physical Education 8
 Physics 164
 Problem solving 141
 Religious Education 2
 Science 64
 Sociology 1
 Special Needs 300
 Training 4
 
 
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