Description
Issue 5
| Item | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Menu | Brian McConnell | |
| Magazine | MC lesson, news of SamCo, SamBus and One Meg announced, Sam Software Club | |
| Freviews | Edition 2, Five on a Treasure Island, Football Director 2, SC_Assembler | |
| Screenshots | Mind Games 2, Five on a Treasure Island | |
| Show report | Colin MacDonald | All Formats Show review |
| Datapost | Colin MacDonald | Catalogue your incoming/outgoing mail |
| Compatibles | The Shadow | Sam-compatible spectrum titles |
| Piccies | Brian McConnell | |
| Adverts | ||
| Processor | Painfully rudimentary text editor | |
| Mind 1 cheat | Colin MacDonald | Cheats for Mind Games 1 |
| Mirror | Paul Kelly | Screen effect |
| Zenith Demos | Zenith Graphics | World in his eyes and Coyote |
| Parallax | Brian McConnell | 1st sam parallax scroller? |
| Grafix interview | Interview with Jonathan Cauldwell |
Magazine
DA CONTENTS 1
-----------
1 - DON'T BE THICK,THIS IS PAGE ONE!!
2 - THE FREDITORIAL (GROAN!)
3 - DYING TO HELP? (ANSWER 'YES',BY THE WAY!)
4 - SAMCO , WHAT HAVE THEY GOT UP THEIR SLEEVES?
5 - M/C MADE EASY (NOTE: THIS WAS DONE BY IAN!SHOCK!HORROR!)
6 - M/C MADE EASY PART TWO
7 - M/C MADE EASY PART THREE (FINISHED? AT LAST!)
8 - ENIGMA , WHAT HAVE THEY GOT UP THEIR SLEEVES? (DEJA-VU!)
9 - NEO GEO (AN ACTUAL ARTICLE BY SHADES,MY GOD!)
10 - BACK ISSUES (IF YOU'RE REALLY DESPERATE)
11 - CHEATS (ONLY IF YOU'RE RUBBISH AT DEFENDERS)
12 - FRED PROGRAMMING COMPETITION
13 - FRED PROGRAMMING COMPETITION (REVISITED)
14 - THE STORY SO FAR (YET ANOTHER BORING ARTICLE!)
15 - HINTS 'N' TIPS ,POSSIBLY THE ONLY USEFUL ARTICLE YET!
16 - WOW...EVEN MORE? YUP,THAT'S RIGHT
17 - WOW...YET EVEN MORE STUFF (EM,WOW!)
18 - NEXT MONTH,FRED6 (THE 'LOOK-A-HEAD')
19 - AU REVOIR (OH GOD,HE'S GOING FRENCH NOW!)
THE FREDITORIAL 2
HI AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FRED.THIS TIME I HAVE
FINALLY GOTTEN AROUND TO PUTTING THE MAGAZINE INTO CODE
FILES.ALTHOUGH THIS DOES MEAN THAT ALL YOU NOSEY FOLK CAN'T GO
PROBING AROUND IN THE LISTING AS MUCH ( COS THERE IS ONLY A
FRACTION OF THE NUMBER OF LINES ) BUT THE IDEA OF IT IS THAT IT
MEANS THAT WHENEVER ANYONE SENDS IN A LETTER,ARTICLE ETC (USING
TASWORD 2,SDC'S WP OR CONTACT'S WP) I CAN PUT IT STRAIGHT INTO
THE MAGAZINE.
SO HOW DOES IT WORK? SIMPLE,I TYPE THE ARTICLE IN ON TASWORD 2
(OR ANY OF THE OTHERS) AND SAVE IT AS A CODE FILE. THEN ,
DEPENDING ON WHERE THE ARTICLE IS TO GO,I EITHER USE MEM$ IN THE
MAIN PROGRAM TO PRINT OUT ALL THE ASCII CODES OF THE CHARACTERS,
OR,AGAIN USING MEM$,CONVERT THE WHOLE TEXT INTO VARIABLES AND
PRINT IT OUT USING SAY F$ IN THE PROGRAM.
THERE WERE 'ONE OR TWO' PROBLEMS WITH LAST MONTHS ISSUE.THE
MAIN ONE BEING THAT SEVERAL OF THE DISCS HAD DEVELOPED SECTOR
ERRORS AND WOULDN'T LOAD WHILE THOSE OF YOU WITH THE OLD ROM,I
ALSO DISCOVERED OTHER PROBLEMS,LIKE YOU HAD TO USE SHIFT ON THE
MENU ETC.ANYWAY I HOPE THIS ISSUE IS MORE SUCCESSFUL! BYE!
DIEING TO HELP? READ ON... 3
NOW,I KNOW YOU'RE ALL DESPERATE TO WRITE AN ARTICLE,REVIEW
ETC FOR THE NEXT ISSUE OF FRED SO NOW I'VE MADE IT EVEN EASIER
FOR YOU.SIMPLY USE ONE OF THE WORD PROCESSORS LISTED LATER IN
THIS PAGE TO TYPE YOUR LETTER,REMEMBERING EACH PAGE ONLY HAS 19
LINES AND SEND IT TO US AT FRED AND WE'LL PUT IT SOMEWHERE IN
THE NEXT AVAILABLE ISSUE.REMEMBER,FRED WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR
THE READERS,BY THE READERS SO I RECKON IF YOU LIKE FRED,YOU'D
BETTER GET THE OLD TYPING FINGERS ON....
YOU CAN USE TASWORD 2 BY TASMAN SOFT IF YOU WANT...
OR THE WP FROM SDC,'SAMSCRATCH' IS AVAILABLE,FROM SDC,57 ST
[redacted] , FOR £1.50 YOU'LL GET
THEIR SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF SDC WHICH CONTAINS AMONGST OTHER
FABULOUS GOODIES,SAMSCRATCH.
YOU COULD USE 'TEXT EDIT' FROM CONTACT [redacted]
WHICH IS ON THEIR 'PD DISC 4'
COSTING JUST £1.40. AND MENTION FRED (PLEASE ???)
OR IF YOU'RE REALLY MEAN AND CAN MAKE DO WITH ANY OLD CRAP
THEN JUST USE THE 'PROCESSOR' PROGRAM ON THIS ISSUE!!!
SAM COMPUTERS LIMITED 4
SAMCO ARE CURRENTLY WORKING HARD AT THEIR CARD CAGE (BUT
NO-ONE HAS ACTUALLY EXPLAINED WHAT A 'CARD CAGE' IS YET!) , THE
ONE MEGABYTE UPGRADE (WHERE'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COUPE
AND THE AMIGA NOW?) , AND OF COURSE THE LONG AWAITED MOUSE.
BOTH THE CARD CAGE AND THE MEG SHOULD BE AVAILABLE AT THE END
OF NOVEMBER BUT DON'T BE TOO HOPEFUL AS SAMCO HAVE A LOT ELSE TO
DO.ANYWAY I DON'T HAVE ANY DETAILS ON THE CARD CAGE AT THE
MOMENT (MAINLY BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT IT DOES!) BUT
SAMCO THINK THAT THE MEG WILL BE PRICED AT UNDER £80 WHICH IS
VERY REASONABLE (I KNOW WHAT I'M WANTING FOR MY XMAS) AND
ALREADY STEVE NUTTING IS PLANNING ON MAKING HIS SC_FILER
(AVAILABLE JANUARY) SO THAT 256,512 AND MEG USERS CAN HAVE THEIR
OWN VERSIONS ( EACH ONE STORING ALMOST TWICE THAT OF THE LAST!).
THE MOUSE WAS NOT READY FOR THE SHOW BUT IS PLANNED FOR MARCH
AT THE LATEST,HOPEFULLY EARLIER AND AT PRESENT THEY THINK IT
WILL BE AROUND £35 BUT AS THAT IS VERY CHEAP I'D IMAGINE IT'LL
GO UP IN PRICE BY THE RELEASE DATE.NO NEWS ON IT,EXCEPT THAT IT
WILL STILL HAVE THE THREE BUTTONS AND THE NEW MOUSE WILL BE
ALMOST NOTHING LIKE WHAT MGT HAD PLANNED IT TO BE LIKE.
ENIGMA'S SOFTWARE CLUB 8
AS I SAID LAST MONTH,THE SECOND SAM SOFTWARE CLUB MAILSHOT
CAME OUT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.UNFORTUNATLY THERE ISN'T ANY
GREAT NEWS BUT I'LL JUST MENTION WHAT IT DOES CONTAIN SO THAT
THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T YET JOINED CAN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE
MISSING OUT ON ( ESPECIALLY THE 10% OFF ALL SOFTWARE!!!).THE
FIRST PAGE WAS SPENT TRYING TO EXPLAIN ABOUT SAMCO AND WHY THE
PRICE HAS DROPPED AND WHY NOT BUYING A DRIVE FOR THE COUPE WOULD
BE DAFT.
PERHAPS THE MOST USEFUL PART OF THE LETTER WAS THE DETAILED
INFO ON ALL THE HARDWARE OUT/COMING OUT ON THE COUPE. EG THE
LONG AWAITED MOUSE(NO DATES YET),THE SAM MONITOR ('ONLY' £175!),
THE JOYSTICK SPLITTER SO YOU CAN PLUG TWO JOYSTICKS INTO YOUR
COUPE AT ONCE (£7),AND A SMALL SECTION ABOUT THE SAM VOICE BOX
FROM BLUE ALPHA ELECTRONICS (£42) AVAILABLE BY NOW.
BY NOW PIPEMANIA AND MIND GAMES 2 ARE ALSO OUT(SEE FREVIEWS)
AND TRIVIAL PURSUIT SHOULD BE OUT BY XMAS!!!KICK OFF 2 IS NOW
OFFICIALLY UNDER WAY BUT NO DATES AS YET.
ENIGMA ARE SELLING/GOING TO SELL 17 COUPE SPECIFIC GAMES SO
INCLUDING THE OTHER FEW (CT2,CD2 ETC) THAT TOTALS ABOUT 20!!!
NEO GEO 9
THE NEO GEO IS A BRAND NEW CONSOLE RELEASED BY SNK. WHAT'S SO
ODD IS THAT IT IS JUST AS GOOD AS AN ACTUAL ARCADE MACHINE.
WHILE HARDLY ANYBODY WILL ACTUALLY OWN THE HOME CONSOLE
VERSION DUE TO EXORBETANT PRICING - THE CONSOLE ITSELF COSTS
£400 AND THE GAMES THEMSELVES AN AMAZING £120-£200! - THE ARCADE
MACHINE'S COSTS ARE FAR MORE ORTHODOX AT 30p PER GAME. THE
CABINET ITSELF IS FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE AS CABINETS GO; IT IS ABOUT
6/6.5' TALL AND HAS TWO SPEAKERS, SO PRESUMABLY THE SOFTWARE HAS
INCORPORATED STEREO SOUND.
EACH CABINET HAS A CHOICE OF FOUR GAMES - BASEBALL, GOLF,
'NAM 1975 AND MAGICIAN LORD. THE FIRST TWO ARE FAIRLY OBVIOUS
BUT THE OTHERS WILL PROBABLY NEED SOME EXPLANATION. BASICALLY,
'NAM 1975 IS A 'CABAL' CLONE (BUT NOT AS GOOD) AND MAGICIAN LORD
IS WELL-IMPLEMENTED HACK'N'SLASH TYPE OF THING, VAGUELY
REMINISCENT OF 'SHINOBI'. THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOST WIDELY
APPEALING OF THE FOUR BUT THE GOLF GAME IS ALSO VERY GOOD, MAYBE
THE BEST OF ITS GENRE. GRAPHICS ARE AVERAGE FOR AN ARCADE GAME,
BUT FOR A HOME MACHINE THEY'RE AMAZING. I CAN ADVISE SPENDING A
QUID OR TWO ON THIS, IF YOU CAN FIND ONE...
BACK ISSUES 10
IF YOU HAVE JUST RECENTLY JOINED US THEN I'D ADVISE YOU TO GET
A COUPLE OF THE BACK ISSUES (ESPECIALLY FRED3 AND FRED4) AS THEY
HAVE A LOT OF GREAT STUFF AS I'M SURE LONG-SUFFERING READERS
WILL AGREE.IF YOU ARE REALLY INSANE,FRED1 AND FRED2 ARE STILL
AVAILABLE (AND ALWAYS WILL BE!) BUT AS I HAD JUST STARTED OUT
AND I HAD A HELLUVA JOB GETTING PEOPLE TO BELEIVE IN FRED
THEY'RE NOT ESPECIALLY GOOD.
ALL BACK ISSUES ARE PRICED AT ONE POUND EACH.PLEASE NOTE :
FOR BACK ISSUES,PLEASE SEND £1 AND NOT A DISC & SSAE AS THIS
WOULD CONFUSE ME EVEN MORE , OK?
FRED 1 : REVIEWED SAMTAPE,HEAVY METAL,PIPEMANIA,DIZZY3.'HAKIT'
GAME,PROTECTION LOADER,PALETTE AND A TEST FOR SPECCY OWNERS.
FRED 2 : REVIEWED SC_ASSEMBLER,DEFENDERS.'COUPE CALCULATOR'
PROGRAM,MEM$,DEFENDERS SHOTS AND STEVE NUTTING INTERVIEW.
FRED 3 : FACTORY DEMO,TETRIS,GREAT PICCIES,ZENITH
INTERVIEW,FRACTAL SLIDESHOW AND SOME OF MY PICCIES!
FRED 4 :REVIEWED CD2,MIND GAMES,MULTI PACK,GAMES EXTRA,TURBO
PD,FASTLINE PD.SILLY DEMO 1,'DOK' UTILITY,FRACTAL,MORE PICCIES,
SILLY DEMO 1,HUNCHY GAME.ZENITH DEMO,SHOTS OF MIND GAMES....
CHEAT - STUCK-ON-A-GAME? 11
WELL , I REALLY HAVE TO START THIS OFF WITH THE ALMOST
WORLD-WIDE KNOWN CHEAT FOR DEFENDERS (OK,STOP YAWNING NOW).ALL
YOU DO FOR INFINITE ENERGY IS TYPE '....ORB' IN THE HIGH SCORE
TABLE SO NOW YOU CAN COMPLETE IT (BUT I MANAGED TO COMPLETE IT
OVER THREE MONTHS AGO!HA!)
REVIEWED NEXT ISSUE WILL BE 'THE FAMOUS FIVE' BUT FOR THOSE
WHO HAVE ALREADY BOUGHT IT AND CAN GET NOWHERE HERE'S A FEW
STARTERS FOR YOU :
GIVE THE ICES (FROM THE SHOP) TO GEORGE TO BECOME FRIENDS
USE THE MATCHES (UNDER QUENTINS BED) TO LIGHT THE CANDLE,TO
FIND THE TORCH THAT'S IN THE CUPBOARD.THEN GET THE BATTERY'S
FROM THE CLOCK IN QUENTINS ROOM AND PUT THEM IN THE TORCH.
THE ROPE IS IN THE TOOLSHED AT THE BACK OF THE GARDEN.
TO GET DOWN THE HOLE AT THE TIP OF KIRRIN ISLAND,EXAMINE THE
BUSHES,TIE THE ROPE TO THE STUMP,DROP THE ROPE AND GO DOWN.
REMEMBER THAT THE SANDWICHES ARE WRAPPED IN PAPER TO LIGHT A
FIRE AND THAT ONLY GEORGE CAN ROW THE BOAT TO THE ISLAND.
WELL,THAT'S AS FAR AS I GOT (30% IS MY BEST) SO I'D LOVE TO
HEAR FROM YOU IF YOU CAN DO ANY BETTER.
PROGRAMMING COMPO 12
AS I HAVE ALREADY HAD NUMEROUS REQUESTS FOR SOME FORM OF
PROGRAMMING COLUMN I THOUGHT THE BEST WAY WOULD BE BY USING A
PROGRAMMING COMPETITION.THE WAY IT WOULD WORK IS THIS:EACH MONTH
I WOULD SET ALL THE ENTRANTS A REASONABLE TASK WHICH CAN BE
ACHIEVED IN BASIC EG A SMALL ROUTINE,DEMO ETC. ALONG WITH MY
COMMENTS ON HOW YOU DID IN THE LAST ONE AS WELL AS THE WAY I
THINK IT WOULD BE BEST DONE(BY 'BEST' I CAN MEAN
SHORTEST,SIMPLEST OR MOST USER-FRIENDLY ETC) ALONG WITH AN
EXPLANATION.THE ENTRANTS SHOULD SEND THEIR ENTRY ON DISC (FOR
THE NEW ROM (V1.2)) WITH £1.THIS POUND WILL BE SPLIT BETWEEN THE
POSTAGE & PACKAGING (APPROX 25P) AND THE PRIZE MONEY (WOOO!)
(APPROX 75P).YES,IT'S ANOTHER 'FREE' OFFER ON MY BEHALF JUST FOR
YOU LOT SO I HOPE MOST OF YOU WILL PARTICIPATE.THE WINNING ENTRY
EACH MONTH (PERHAPS WITH RUNNERS-UP,DEPENDING ON THE MEMORY
AVAILABLE) WILL BE PUT ON THE NEXT ISSUE OF FRED.IF YOU ARE
TOTALLY A BEGINNER THEN PLEASE INFORM ME AND ALSO WORK OUT HOW
THE FRED PROGRAMS WORK.BUT BEFORE THIS,I MUST POINT OUT THAT YOU
WILL NOT GET ANYWHERE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ YOUR MANUALS AS YOU
WILL OBVIOUSLY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE COUPE'S BRILLIANT BASIC.
PROGRAMMING COMPO ,CONTINUED 13
IT'S ALL BEEN FAIRLY STRAIGHTFORWARD SO FAR (BUT IF YOU HAVE
ANY QUERIES THEN PHONE/WRITE IMMEDIATELY) SO I'LL SET OFF WITH
THE FIRST EVER 'FPC' (THAT'S FRED PROGRAMMING COMPO BY THE WAY).
THE FIRST TASK IS A GRAPHICAL ONE,TAKING THE FRED LOGO FROM ANY
OF THE MENU/LOADING SCREENS MOVE EACH LETTER INDIVIDUALLY AROUND
TO SWAP PLACES WITH ANOTHER (NOTE:DO NOT JUST FLICK SWAP THEM,
MOVE EACH LETTER ABOVE OR BELOW THE REST,ALONG THEN BACK INTO A
DIFFERENT POSITION) SO THAT THEY EVENTUALLY SPELL DERF.EACH
COLOUR SHOULD THEN FLASH DIFFERENT (RANDOM) COLOURS AND FINISH
OFF BY PRINTING THE LOGO ALL OVER THE SCREEN AS IN FRED3 OR
EDITION2.SPECIAL KEYWORDS NEEDED:GRAB,PUT,ROLL/SCROLL,PALETTE.IF
YOU NEED A MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION OF EACH THEN SEND DISC &SAE
FOR ONE PLUS DEMOS OF EACH! DEADLINE : 1ST DECEMBER (FRED6 GOES
OUT ON THE 2ND SO SEND IT AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE).I HOPE YOU
ENJOY DOING THIS ONE AND AFTER I SEE THE RESULTS I'LL DECIDE
JUST HOW IT WOULD BE BEST TO CONTINUE.
REMEMBER : SEND PROGRAM (FULLY TESTED TO NEW ROM) ON DISC
PLUS £1(CASH/PO/CHEQUE) TO ME ; COLIN MACDONALD(FPC),
[redacted] AND YOU COULD WIN!!!!!!
FRED-THE STORY SO FAR... 14
OVER THE LAST 6 MONTHS I HAVE BEEN DOING FRED I HAVE BEEN
GIVEN 'ONE OR TWO' MENTIONS IN VARIOUS PLACES.I THOUGHT I'D GIVE
YOU A LIST OF THEM SO FAR ...
SINCLAIR USER NEW COMPUTER EXPRESS
FASTLINE EDITION 2
SDC-SAM SUPPLEMENT CRASH
YOUR SINCLAIR LITERAL
KOBRAHSOFT'S CATALOGUE CONTACT
PLUS THE ADVERT IN YOUR SINCLAIR.ALL THESE SHOULD GIVE
ANYONE A MASSIVE RESPONSE BUT DID THEY? INDEED NOT.THE MOST I
EVER GOT WAS HALF A DOZEN REPLYS FROM EACH AND EVEN THAT WAS
SCARCE! FRED WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO BE FOR THE READERS,BY
THE READERS BUT ONLY A HANDFUL HAVE CHIPPED IN AND I AM LEFT
WITH THE LUMP OF WORK TO DO.COME ON,I'VE EVEN MADE IT EASIER FOR
YOU THIS MONTH SO IF YOU LIKE FRED,HELP IT!!! THAT'S ALL I CAN
SAY BECAUSE IF WE DON'T GET MORE FEEDBACK SOON,FRED JUST MIGHT
BECOME EXTINCT AFTER ISSUE SIX!!AND WE DON'T WANT THAT,DO WE?
ABOUT THE CRASH MENTION...NICK ROBERTS SAID WE'D BE GETTING A
300 WORD MENTION PLUS SCREENSHOTS IN NEXT ISSUE (OUT ON 15TH)!!
HINTS 'N' TIPS 15
TO START WITH,I HAVE SOME TIPS VERY KINDLY SENT IN BY STEVE
NUTTING OF STEVES SOFTWARE (SEE FREVIEWS).THANKS TO HIM AND HERE
GOES:
YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT THERE IS A WAY OF
SPEEDING UP COPYING DISCS ON SAMDOS2,FIRST YOU WILL NEED TO FIND
OUT ON THE DISC YOU NEED TO COPY THE LAST TRACK THE PROGRAMS
USE, THEN POKE 493764,TRACK+1,201:FORMAT "D1:" TO "D2:"
THE DISC WILL NOW FORMAT TRACK 0 TO THE LAST TRACK YOU POKED IN
AND COPY THE TRACKS,FOR EXAMPLE TO COPY SC_ASSEMBLER 256 IT TOOK
33 SECS AND 48 SECS FOR 512.ALSO IF YOU POKE FROM 498530 TO
498538 WITH 0 YOU CANCEL OUT THE "ARE YOU SURE Y/N?"
I DETECT A BIT OF SNEAKY ADVERTISING IN THERE BUT ANYWAY IT IS
ONLY PRACTICAL TO USE THOSE POKES IF YOU HAVE TWO DRIVES.
NOW FOR A BIT OF SPACE SAVING ADVICE (DIR1 THIS DISC).SAMDOS2
HAS 2K AT THE END OF IT THAT ARE BLANK SO IF YOU TYPE
ERASE "SAMDOS2":SAVE"SAMDOS2"CODE 229385,8078 IT WILL WORK JUST
AS WELL BUT STILL SAVING YOU THE EMPTY TWO KILOBYTES!! I MUST
ADMIT TO ORIGINALLY READING THIS IN SDC'S SAM SUPPLEMENT 2 (DAMN
GOOD BUT NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS FRED (OBVIOUSLY!!)).THANKS
WOW...MORE GREAT STUFF? 16
YES,ANOTHER DISC FULL OF GOODIES.THE FIRST UP IS THE
SCREENSHOTS BUT AS I WAS GOING TO COLLECT THEM AT THE SHOW AND
THIS IS BEING WRITTEN BEFOREHAND,YOU'LL HAVE TO LOAD THEM AND
FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE.I SAID LAST MONTH THAT I WOULD INCLUDE A
USEFUL UTILITY OF MY OWN,SO I HAVE..DATAPOST.I CAN ONLY EMSURE
THIS WORKS WITH THE NEW ROM (IN FACT I KNOW IT DOESN'T WORK WITH
THE OLD ROM!) AND FULL (VERY FULL!) INSTRUCTIONS ARE AVAILABLE
ON LOADING.
PICCIES-YES IT'S MORE PICCIES FROM SHADES WHO IS BUSY DOING
STUFF FOR BOTH ZENITH AND INTEGRATED LOGIC!
ADVERTS IS A SECTION I WAS A BIT DUBIOUS ABOUT PUTTING IN SO I
LEFT IT ENTIRELY TO SHADES AS HE SEEMED TO THINK IT WAS A GREAT
IDEA.TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK?
ANOTHER OF MY OWN CREATIONS - A COMPLETE CHEAT FOR MIND GAMES
1 WHICH GIVES FULL INSTRUCTIONS ON LOADING SO HAVE YOUR MASTER
DISC AT THE READY TO COMPLETE ANY OF THE GAMES FROM ANYWHERE...
PAUL KELLY IS BECOMING A BIT OF A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO FRED,
HAVING DONE THE LOGO ON FRED3 AS WELL AS THE SPECTAC DEMO LAST
MONTH AND THIS TIME IT'S A FASCINATING MIRROR PROGRAM.THANKS.
WOW...EVEN MORE GREAT STUFF? 17
ALSO BECOMING A BIT OF A REGULAR IS THE STUFF FROM ZENITH BUT
I'M CERTAIN NONE OF YOU MIND.THIS MONTH THERE IS A GREAT YET
SIMPLE GRAPHICAL DEMO NAMED 'WORLD IN HIS EYES'.AHHHH!
AFTER BEING KINDLY SHOWN HOW TO GET THE BARS ON THE MENU
ROLLING,SHADES SUSSED OUT THE ROLL COMMAND AND DID HIS VERSION
OF PARALLAX SCROLLING.WHICH ACTUALLY IS QUITE GOOD CONSIDERING
ALL IT IS IS 6 ROLL STATEMENTS IN A LOOP!
AT LAST..THE LONG AWAITED 'GRAFIX WIZARD' INTERVIEW HAS
SURFACED.THE ONLY EXCUSE HE COULD THINK OF WAS 'SORRY FOR THE
DELAY,I'VE BEEN ON HOLIDAY'.PATHETIC REALLY,WHO WOULD BELIEVE
THAT ,EH? EM..I'VE JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING SO FORGET THAT!!!!
NATURALLY SHADES HAS CHIPPED IN WITH MORE AMAZING PICCIES.
ALSO,BEING WRITTEN THE DAY BEFORE GOING OUT,IS THE SHOW REPORT
-YES,I'M GOING TO BORE YOU ALL WITH WHAT I DID AT THE RECENT ALL
FORMATS SHOW IN LONDON!!
ALSO A LATE ADDITION,A 'WORD PROCESSOR' FOR WRITING ARTICLES
FOR FRED.SO START USING IT NOW!!!
FROM 'THE SHADOW' IS 'SPECTRUM COMPATIBLES' WHICH I'M GRATEFUL
FOR SO I HOPE IT'LL GET SOME SUPPORT (BUT REMEMBER ME!!!!!)
NEXT MONTH - FRED6 18
I HAVE A SAD ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE - I CANNOT CONTINUE TO DO
THE MAGAZINE DUE TO THE POOR RESPONSE AND THE SHEER VOLUME OF
WORK NEEDED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS DUE TO IMPORTANT EXAMS.HOWEVER, I
HOPE IAN AND BRIAN WILL CONTINUE IT WHILE I CAN'T BUT I CAN
GUARANTEE AN ISSUE 6.I WILL BE PUTTING IN THE ODD THING OR TWO
OCCASIONALLY (SO REALLY I'M JUST SWOPPING PLACES WITH IAN!!!-
SORRY IAN!).ANYWAY HERE'S WHAT I HAVE ALREADY LINED UP FOR ISSUE
6 : A REVIEW OF PIPEMANIA IF IT'S NOT IN THIS ISSUE,A REVIEW OF
SPHERA PLUS THE 512K SC_ASSEMBLER.IT WILL INCLUDE A GREAT
'AGENDA' PROGRAM WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO STORE 100'S (WELL,100!) OF
NAMES,ADDRESSES,PHONE NOS AND EVEN ADDITIONAL NOTES,FROM JOAO
NUNO OF PORTUGAL.I WILL HOPEFULLY HAVE DONE A TWO-DRIVE SECTOR
COPIER (WITHOUT FORMAT!) AND A DISC HEADER READER/ FILE
UN-ERASER!! SHADES HAS ALREADY DONE SEVERAL FANTASTIC DEMOS FOR
IT AND,IF YOU WANT,I COULD PROBALLY DO THE SAME SORT OF CHEAT
FOR MIND GAMES 2 AS I DID THIS MONTH WITH MIND GAMES 1.PLUS I'M
SURE THAT IAN AND BRIAN ARE CAPABLE (WELL,ALMOST CAPABLE!) OF
INCLUDING ALL THE NORMAL FEATURES AND MAYBE EVEN INTRODUCE A NEW
ONE LIKE -"WHY COLIN IS SOOO BRILLIANT" NO?OH WELL,MAYBE FRED7?
AU REVOIR 19
YES,IT'S THE END AGAIN BUT THIS TIME IT'LL BE FOR A COUPLE OF
MONTHS SO IT'LL BE UP TO YOU TO KEEP FRED GOING.ALTHOUGH I AM
GIVING FRED UP FOR A MONTH OR TWO,I'VE DECIDED THAT IT WOULD BE
SIMPLER IF EVERYTHING STILL CAME TO ME AND I WILL PASS IT ON TO
THE OTHER TWO PROBALLY THE NEXT DAY.ANYWAY I CERTAINLY HOPE
FRED CAN KEEP ON GOING WITHOUT ME FOR A WHILE.
THANKS TO :
SAMCO ENIGMA STEVE NUTTING
ZENITH KOBRAHSOFT CRASH
SDC CONTACT FASTLINE
'THE SHADOW' GRAFIX WIZARDS PAUL KELLY
MAKY (IAN) SHADES (BRIAN) YOU!!!!
AND OF COURSE,ALL THOSE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE I MET AT THE SHOW!
COLIN MACDONALD,
[redacted]
Machine Code
MACHINE CODE MADE EASY(!) -1 5
WRITTEN BY IAN
EDITED BY COLIN(!!)
THIS ARTICLE IS ON THE MUCH MALIGNED SUBJECT OF MACHINE CODE.
CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF YOU NEITHER NEED TO BE SUPRA
INTELLIGENT OR A "WHIZZ KID" TO USE IT.
TO START OFF WITH I'D BETTER GIVE YOU AN OUTLINE OF WHAT M/C
DOES AND WHY YOU MAY WANT TO USE IT.
MACHINE CODE INSTRUCTIONS ARE A LITTLE LIKE THE INSTRUCTIONS IN
BASIC IN THAT THEY EACH HAVE A SPECIFIC FUNCTION. THE MAIN
DIFFERENCE IS THAT THESE INSTRUCTIONS ACT DIRECTLY ON THE Z80B
PROCESSOR CHIP AND ALL OF ITS PERIPHERALS , WHETHER THEY ARE
OTHER CHIPS (EG THE SA1099 SOUND CHIP) OR THE EXTERNAL DEVICES.
THEY ALSO LOOK DIFFERENT.VERY DIFFERENT.THIS IS WHERE A LOT OF
POTENTIAL USERS ARE PUT OFF,AS WITHOUT PRACTICE THE COMMANDS ARE
HARD TO UNDERSTAND. A TYPICAL M/C LISTING LOOKS LIKE THIS:
ORG 30000 ASSEMBLER COMM. PUT ROUTINE AT 30000
LD A ,41 LOAD ACCUMULATOR WITH 41
LD B,40 LOAD B REGISTER WITH 40
MACHINE CODE MADE EASY(!) -2 6
JR PART2 JUMP TO ROUTINE "PART 2"
NOP
NOP
NOP NO OPERATION
NOP
NOP
NOP
LD C,14 LOAD C REGISTER WITH 14
ADD C ADD CONTENTS OF C REGISTER TO THE ACCUMULATOR
JR START
RET RETURN (NORMALLY TO BASIC)
AS YOU CAN PROBABLY SEE THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE ABBREVIATED TO HELL
BUT AFTER A LITTLE PRACTICE THEY SHOULD COME EASILY .ITS LIKE
WORKING WITH ABBREVIATIONS SUCH AS MBE OBE PTO PLO LTD AND CCCP.
THE ACTUAL MEANINGS ARE UNIMPORTANT AT THE PRECISE MOMENT BUT
YOU MAY BE WONDERING HOW TO GET THEM IN TO YOUR OWN COMPUTER.
THERE ARE TWO MAIN METHODS OF INPUT .THE FIRST IS TO USE BASIC
OR IN OTHER WORDS POKE,POKE,POKE,POKE,POKE AND EMM POKE! OR YOU
MACHINE CODE MADE EASY(!) -3 7
COULD USE AN ASSEMBLER .(WE RECOMEND STEVE NUTTING'S"SO COOL IT
WALKS ON WATER AND STILL HAS TIME TO FEED THE MASSES ON TWO
LOAFS AND A PAIR O KIPPERS" SC_ASSEMBLER OR LERM'S"SO WONDERFUL
IT PULLS BIGGER CROUDS THAN PINK FLOYD" SAM COUPE ASSEMBLER)BOTH
OF THESE PROGRAMMES ARE VERITABLE PAN GALAGTIC GARGLE BLASTERS
AMONGST UTILITYS AND SHOULD BE OWNED BY ALL COUPE OWNERS. ANYWAY
ENOUGH OF THE PLUGS .ASSEMBLERS WILL ALLOW YOU TO WRITE YOUR
SELECT TIPPLES OF DIGITAL DELECTABILITY (MC) STRAIGHT TO MEMORY!
NEXT MONTH : (THAT'S FRED6 TO YOU!)
A TALE OF 21 REGISTERS
THE INARDS OF THE Z80B PARTIALLY EXPLAINED
USING M/C FROM BASIC
AND
TWIDDLING YER BITS 1!
All Formats Show Report
THE ALL FORMATS SHOW REPORT 1
AFTER SPENDING 12 HOURS ON THE BUS JUST TO GET DOWN TO LONDON
WE HAD TO WANDER ABOUT FOR AN HOUR OR TWO BEFORE WE WERE ALLOWED
INTO THE SHOW.AT FIRST SIGHT, THE HALL WAS PRATICALLY EMPTY WITH
JUST THE WOODEN STALLS ALL AROUND. AFTER TALKING TO BRUCE GORDON
AND ALAN MILES FOR THE FIRST HALF HOUR THE SHOW BEGAN TO PICK UP
AND SOON I WAS MINGLING WITH ALL THE TOP NAMES :
DOCTOR ANDY WRIGHT , HE IS PRESENTLY DEVELOPING A NEW DOS FOR
THE COUPE WHICH GAVE HIERARCHICAL FILES (SUB FILES ETC) AND
OVERALL IMPROVED THE QUALITY ( IT WILL ALSO HAVE THE MOVE
COMMAND IMPLEMENTED!)
DAVE TONKS , DAVE WAS SAYING HOW SUCCESFUL HIS SAM SUPPLEMENT
WAS (JUST TO MAKE ME JEALOUS I SUPPOSE!) AND THAT THE THIRD
ISSUE WAS ALMOST FINISHED!!!
I CHATTED TO THE DIRECTORS OF ENIGMA FOR A WHILE ,AND AS
THEY HAD A SPHERA DEMO ON SHOW (VERY FAST BY THE WAY!) THEY SAID
THAT ALTHOUGH IT IS ALREADY RUNNING AT 25 FRAMES A SECOND , THEY
ARE HOPING TO MAKE IT RUN AT 50 FRAMES A SECOND!!!THEY ALSO HAD
THE NEWLY RELEASED PIPEMANIA ON SHOW (PROGRAMMED BY THE +3 USER
GROUP , GARNER DESIGNS WHO ALSO HAD A STAND AT THE SHOW (THEY
ALL FORMATS SHOW REPORT 2
WILL ALSO BE DOING THE TENGEN/DOMARK CONVERSIONS!!!)).THE
GRAPHICS ON PIPEMANIA WERE DEFINETLY BETTER THAN THE ST SHOTS
I'VE SEEN AND ALTHOUGH I ONLY MANAGED TO HAVE A FEW SHOTS AT IT,
IT IS VERY,VERY PLAYABLE AND EVEN IF YOU HAD THE SPECTRUM
VERSION , THIS IS SO GOOD IT'S ALMOST LIKE A NEW GAME!! TRIVIAL
PURSUITS IS STILL ONLINE FOR CHRISTMAS BUT I DIDN'T GET ANY
EXTRA DETAILS FROM THEM.
NEW COMPUTER EXPRESS ALSO HAD A STAND (AS THEY ARE RENOWNED
FOR ALL THEIR FICTIONAL STORIES AND PATHETIC REVIEWS ABOUT THE
COUPE THEY ENSURED THEIR STAND WAS WELL AWAY FROM THE COUPE
VILLAGE!).THEY DIDN'T REALLY HAVE MUCH TO SAY TO ME EXCEPT THAT
THEY WERE 'QUITE SORRY' ABOUT DROPPING THE COUPE COLUMN AND 'IF
THEY ENOUGH REQUESTS THEY WOULD BRING IT BACK' !!!
SD SOFTWARE WERE ALSO THERE AND HAD TWO PIECES OF SOFTWARE FOR
SALE - SAMIBU AND SPECMAKER (I HOPE TO REVIEW SAMIBU NEXT
MONTH)
FORMAT WERE ALSO THERE BUT AS I DON'T REALLY THINK MUCH OF
THEIR MAG (AND BECAUSE THEY'RE MORE SUCCESFUL THAN ME!) I DIDN'T
TALK TO THEM MUCH AT ALL.
ALL FORMATS SHOW REPORT 3
BLUE ALPHA ELECTRONICS WERE ALSO THERE (CONSTANTLY TRYING TO
PERSUADE ME TO BUY THEIR VOICE SYNTHESISER!)AND WERE TELLING ME
ABOUT THEIR FUTURE PLANS - AN AUDIO DIGITISER AROUND JANUARY AND
PERHAPS IN THE MIDDLE OF NEXT YEAR THEY MIGHT DO A VIDEO
DIGITISER!!!!
ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE WERE ALSO THERE BUT I NEVER SAID MORE THAN
HELLO TO HIM SO I CAN'T COMMENT ON HIS PLANS.
IAN MANAGED TO PICK UP A MONO MONITOR FOR £7.50 AND A SECOND
DISC DRIVE FOR £35!!!!(ALTHOUGH IT WAS FROM A BBC!)(IT WORKS!!)
HE ALSO MANAGED TO GET HIS NEW ROM CHIP (AT LAST!!) AND ALSO A
TECHNICAL MANUAL.
BEFORE I WENT DOWN I GOT OVER 400 LEAFLETS PHOTOCOPIED TO TRY
AND BOOST THE READERSHIP.SO I SPENT A FAIR WHILE OF THE DAY
GOING UP TO EVERYONE LOOKING AT A COUPE AND PUSHING FRED UPON
THEM ,TO ENSURE EVERYONE WAS SICK TO THE BACK TEETH OF IT!!SORRY
TO THOSE I PESTERED!!
