Plum Duff (ZXS)

Plum Duff

Platform: ZX Spectrum Year: 1987 Developer: Jason Brooke

Plum Duff is a flip-screen platformer and Jason Brooke's first game, with graphics by his brother Lyndon Brooke. Originally written in four months from June 9, 1985 for the ZX Spectrum 48K, its title scrolltext reveals that he sold an update to Bug-Byte in November 1987 at the earliest.

Santa delivered 32 presents to the wrong houses, and you get to fly over the street, repeatedly enter chimneys, either to take one wrong present at a time or touch the correct stocking, and leave through the fireplace or left, all while avoiding antennas, flying ornaments, strolling kids, and mother-in-law-eating plants. The 32 houses and wishes are always in the same order, only the misdeliveries are shuffled every game.

As commonly criticized, the controls are hard to figure out, jumps remain sluggish, and walk speed changes strangely. When Jason Brooke saw a YouTuber reach the ending (which cutely involves a ZX Printer), he admitted he could fill only four or five stockings himself.

Screenshots

The title screen. The main menu. Street of 32 looping houses. Hide and geek. Authentic children's writing! Initials using in-game controls.

Music

After the game loads, the message "Press any key to play PLUM DUFF" scrolls into the picture, a Christmas medley plays, a list of greetings and jokes scrolls through, rinse and repeat until you are good to obey. A young man then shouts at about 13040 Hz and tinny 1-bit, but genuinely festively, "Merry Christmas everybody!"

The sound driver is completely different from Brooke's later work.

1. On the AY-3-891x, music plays on channels A and C, and sound effects queue up on channel B. This driver adds seven instruments, each with its own envelope and vibrato.
2. On the loudspeaker, audio only plays as far as to not interrupt the actual game. In-game music only plays while the game is paused, and sound effects heavily click.

The sound effects are divided into three groups of five (highest priority first):

Street	Menu	House
You crash against antenna, ornament or your shot Ornament leaves screen Your shot hits ornament You hit roof Ornament bounces off roof	You enter letter in hall of fame or name in certificate You choose menu item You enter key You change letter in certificate You change letter in hall of fame or move cursor in certificate	You pick up present or touch correct stocking You land on floor You meet kid or man-eating plant You scoff mince pie or extra wine You fall deep

Recording

To record every song, Audacity 2.1.3 was started with Recording Volume 0.40 (not recommended since Fuse's recording facilities have been found) and the game paused in Fuse 1.6.0 with:

1. Select Machine Spectrum 128K and Select soundbox Spectrum 128.
2. Select Machine Spectrum 48K.

#	Title	Songs	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
102	Menu	We Wish You a Merry Christmas	Traditional	Unknown	0:09		Download
103	Sound Off	We Wish You a Merry Christmas	Traditional	Unknown	0:03		Download
104	Street	Santa Claus is Comin' to Town Unknown Unknown	J. Fred Coots Unknown Unknown	Unknown	3:10		Download
105	House	The Christmas Song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Silent Night	Mel Torme, Robert Wells Hugh Martin Franz Xaver Gruber	Unknown	2:27		Download
106	Hall of Fame Entry	I Believe in Father Christmas	Greg Lake	Unknown	0:35		Download

#	Title	Songs	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
201	Title	Cradle Song (Away in a Manger) Unknown O Come, All Ye Faithful Ding Dong Merrily on High Forest Green Winchester Old Unto Us is Born a Son Torches	William J. Kirkpatrick Unknown John Francis Wade Traditional Ralph Vaughan Williams Nahum Tate Unknown John Joubert	Unknown	4:19		Download
202	Menu	We Wish You a Merry Christmas	Traditional	Unknown	0:09		Download
203	Sound Off	We Wish You a Merry Christmas	Traditional	Unknown	0:03		Download
204	Street	Santa Claus is Comin' to Town Unknown Unknown	J. Fred Coots Unknown Unknown	Unknown	3:13		Download
205	House	The Christmas Song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Silent Night	Mel Torme, Robert Wells Hugh Martin Franz Xaver Gruber	Unknown	2:30		Download
206	Hall of Fame Entry	I Believe in Father Christmas	Greg Lake	Unknown	0:36		Download

Credits

• Ripper: Professor Chaos
• Recorder: Professor Chaos
• Game Credits:
  • Not Credited Composer: William J. Kirkpatrick
  • Not Credited Composer: Unknown
  • Not Credited Composer: John Francis Wade
  • Not Credited Composer: Traditional
  • Not Credited Composer: Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • Not Credited Composer: Nahum Tate
  • Not Credited Composer: John Joubert
  • Not Credited Composer: J. Fred Coots
  • Not Credited Composer: Mel Torme
  • Not Credited Composer: Robert Wells
  • Not Credited Composer: Hugh Martin
  • Not Credited Composer: Franz Xaver Gruber
  • Not Credited Composer: Greg Lake
  • Not Credited Arranger: Unknown
  • Not Credited Foley Artist: Unknown
  • Not Credited Vocalist: Unknown
  • Not Credited Programmer: Unknown

(Sources: Human recognition and Wikipedia. Game lacks audio credits. While Jason Brooke most likely did all audio himself, it should be confirmed with him, especially the speech.)

Source verification is needed.

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

Audio Devices

Started up, this game uses the computer's built-in loudspeaker. In the menu, you can switch to the AY-3-891x in the Fuller Box, 3-Channel Sound Unit, ZXM Sound Box, ADD-ON, or ZX Spectrum 128K.

(Sources: Main menu, Select soundbox.)

Releases

UK Title: Plum Duff Platform: Spectrum Released: 1987-1?-?? Publisher: Bug-Byte

Links

• spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3774/ZX-Spectrum/Plum_Duff - Spectrum Computing.