Fred 61

Issue 61

Magazine

CA               It's the sensational FRED 61

A very warm welcome once again to my humble editorial. Make
yourselves comfy, and I'll begin (I'm so polite).

Sorry about the delay for last months issue - although for the
first time, it wasn't my fault! Even when I don't have exams, a
job, anything else to do or any friends to go out with, I can
still find an excuse for a late issue without blaming my sheer
lazyness!

But enough of last month, you should be overjoyed when you got
up this morning, not expecting FRED for a good few days and
there it was - early. I'm actually saying this when all I've
done to it is this page, but I'm confident. Gulp.

Actually, I'm going on holiday tommorrow before the postman
arrives and I haven't got the main game!  Gulp.  I've worked out
things for about twelve people to do so that it gets to Colin
who can put the game on the disc.  It can't fail...

CA                  I'm going to burst soon

Along with all this earlyness, next months editorial will be...
wait for it... interesting! Yes, seriously! You won't even need
a dozen cups of raw coffee just to keep your eyes open. You see
next month, I'll have gone to that really big computer trade
show in London with Colin Macdonald and Bob Brenchley (probably)
which should result in a memorable journey there (Colin always
gets lost), I should have some digitised piccies from Alton
Towers and I'll have been to Butlin's with two friends! I'll
also be giving lots of details on the next computer show, along
with interviews, news, views, reviews and, erm, abuse (it NEARLY
rhymes). Tell your family, tell your town, tell the world -
COLIN ANDERTON IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING NEXT MONTH!!!

Still avoiding what I'm dying to tell you all, isn't it hot? I
refuse to complain about the heat because all too soon it'll be
freezing again, and I'll be praying for some sunshine. Still, I
feel sorry for those people who paid hundreds of pounds to go to
a hot country because they didn't expect Britain to be so
incredibly hot. Ha ha ha ha, fools!
CA                          Ya-hoo!

I can't delay any longer. Last week, I picked up my A-level
results. I must admit that until the night before I wasn't at
all worried. In fact, I had forgotten they were so close! Even
the day before, people would say, "What time are you going,
Colin?" and I would reply with "Just after 8pm", thinking they
were talking about the party that night!

But on the morning of the results, my body felt as if it was
being fazoomed by those heart recussitator things when each
surge of adrenaline smashed around my chest. However, I am
incredibly pleased to say that I got better than what I
expected, and enough to get to my first choice - Nottingham
University. Hurrah! I'm probably sounding quite big-headed, but
it isn't intended and I don't care anyway.

Anyway, I got an A in Pure & Applied Maths, an A in Stats and
Decision Maths, an A in Economics and a B in Physics. So now you
can see why I'm a bit hyper, and why we immediately went to the
pub, then the party! And you all thought I was thick!
CA               One last page before the news

Nonetheless, regardless of one's amiable 'A' level grades, I
stipulate that you (FRED's perusers) shall detect not a morsel
of alteration in one's idiosyncrasy. My dialogue, as you will
take note, had not, has not and will not metamorphose as a
consequence (legitimately). Guffaw, guffaw.

Blimey, I'm stopping there. I may have thought it'd be funny,
but it's taking far too much time looking up clever words in the
thesaurus to be worth it. Ah, well.

Something I would like to do is to get a list of everybody's
e-mail numbers and stick them in FRED. This way all us
'freshers' will be able to contact you, and there may be SAM
owners on-line who you'd never heard of. So, if you get an
e-mail number, please send it in (along with a contribution or
two - or is that pushing it?).



CA                            News

The big news is that a new SAM game will be released by FRED in
the next couple of days. The game is called "Grubbing For Gold",
a name you may recognise from the show reports. The game is a
Going For Gold spoof for one to four players. It's programmed by
Dave Handley (Programmer of Football League Manager), with
design by Matt Round, graphics by Steve Pick and music by Tomkin
(he did the music for TNT and Santa Goes Psycho 2). As you can
see, it's a great programming line-up for a game, and they
really have put their all into it.

You have to win your way through the various rounds by getting
the questions right in much the same way as you would on Going
For Gold. If you can win a programme, you must battle your way
through the quarter finals, semi finals and final to win your
dream holiday (!). The difficulty level rises through-out the
game and with four players it really is brilliant. Three friends
and I have spent the last two days playing it non stop! The
humour is first class, the graphics and music excellent and the
programming perfect. The game is priced at £9.99, with the
CA                            News

usual £9.00 price for FRED subbers.

Due to SAMPaint having almost every feature anyone can think of
in it, we've only had 2 suggestions for the SAMPaint update
disc, so this is on hold for the moment. However, Graham
Burtenshaw is working on a Spindizzy type game for FRED which he
hopes to have finished in time for a Christmas release.  We
should have more news on this in a few months.

The hard drive that was mentioned in the show reports has been
worked on and West Coast are hoping to have a finished hard
drive at the next Gloucester show (October 14th, don't forget).
If you're keen to get your hands on one, they will probably be
taking orders for them at the show itself, but NOT before so
don't even try.



                      Even more hot news over the page, folks...
CA                      The News at Ten

The next bit of news may come as a bit of a shock (unless you
read Format). A few months back, Format hinted that FRED might
be holding a show in Scotland. At the time, this was a
possibility, but seemed quite unlikely. However, a chance phone
call, and it was confirmed. The Scottish show should give people
who live too far away from Gloucester to be able to get there a
chance to visit a show, as well as educating all us English
who've never been to Scotland (me included).

The show will be held at 'The Royal Highland Centre' in
Ingleston, which is 5 miles from Edinburgh. The date is Sunday
the 12th November, just a month after the Gloucester show. We
would urge you to try to get to both - the Gloucester one should
be bigger, but the Scottish show will also cater for other
formats - mainly PC. Even though it is on a Sunday, Colin has
asked me to remind you that this is Scotland, and there will be
full bus services and ALL the shops will be open all day. Entry
should be £2.50 - more details next month.

CA                 The News At Five Past Ten

FRED is making another small pricing change which is aimed both
to aid the Publishing side, as well as make my work a little
more bearable. The change regards adverts. Previously, FRED has
not charged for adverts - but this has just resulted in an
over-flow of adverts, and people getting ratty when theirs
wasn't included.

FRED will now be charging for adverts - at £10 a month, or £25
for 3 months. The number of people that will see each advert is
estimated at 1000, meaning you're paying just 1p per person.
Places will be guaranteed - if this guarantee is not made, full
payment will be returned and the same number of adverts will be
given free. If you want an advert doing professionally, we can
get an artist to do an advert for you at no extra cost. Issues
can be booked in advance (eg. Christmas issue), and a receipt
will be sent with the guarantee described above.

IMPORTANT - As I will be dealing with this, can you please make
cheques payable to COLIN ANDERTON and send all adverts and
CA                            News

payment (payment must be made in advance) to the following
address:
            FRED Publishing,
               [redacted]          NOTE: Use this address ONLY
                                         for placing adverts.
                                         DO NOT send any
                                         contributions to it.

Remember, this is still the cheapest (per reader) advertising
you will find (to our knowledge). Many magazines and pieces of
software have sold well simply due to advertising in FRED.

And finally, Mrs Hubbard was jailed for three years yesterday
when insurance claims for stolen food turned out to be false.



CA                      Alton Towers!!!

A day before Alton Towers, and I can't get there. Considering I
was setting the whole thing up, not going would be a little
rude, even if no-one else turned up. I could maybe catch a bus,
but I HATE smelly buses. It all rested on my mum being able to
get a lift to work. Crossed fingers...

At 10:30pm the night before, my mum finally got a lift to work
and said I could have the car. Phew. All we needed now was good
weather. After having 62 days of pure sunshine before the
weekend, was it too much to ask for sun? "No, of course not," I
thought as I grabbed my T-shirt and shorts. It was 5:30am at
this time, so I couldn't see the sky, but I assumed a clear sky.

Sensibly, a black coffee was my morning drink before I departed
ready to pick up two SAMsters (is that a word?), James Curry and
Graham Goring and left one behind because the poor thing was
tired after a concert the night before (boo!). A few "Look at
this game I'm writing for FRED magazine"'s later, we were off.
Graham had his dictaphone with the idea of me typing it up in
CA                      Salt on Towers?

FRED when I got back. A good idea? Well, in theory yes, but upon
listening to it again, it's just one big argument between Allan
Clarkson and I about doughnuts and being scared. Never mind.

Upon reaching Alton Towers, we went to the first meeting point,
and waited. Just before ten o'clock, someone turned up! Hurrah!
Or should I say phew? Two young SAM owners, Peter and Steve
Alliston had made a four hour car journey with their parents
from somewhere at the bottom of England.  Unfortunately, by five
past ten, no-one else had turned up, so we legged it to the
Nemesis.

Alton Towers lived up to it's queue reputation and after moving
very little in twenty minutes, James and Graham gave in to their
stomachs and left the queue (the big girls). We spent another
hour queueing, as I attempted to entertain Pete and Steve (and
this big bloke stood behind us). The queue wasn't completely
boring though because half way round we saw that 'The Beast' had
got stuck with some people stranded at the top. Ho ho ho.
CA                La Trip De Le Towers D'Alton

Now, you may hear the odd report from Pete, Steve or anyone else
there about a certain magazine editor screaming on, erm, every
ride he went on, but I would like to point out that they were
manly screams of enjoyment and not what it may have seemed.

We eventually got off the Nemesis five minutes after the second
meeting had finished (oops) and had a jog back to where we
should have met everyone else. Half way back, we banged into a
crowd of SAM owners - namely Graham and James, Allan Clarkson,
Mark Sturdy, Mark Bennet and George Someone from Leeds and Steve
and Terry Ekins from Jupiter Software. Colin Macdonald hadn't
come because he's scared of rollercoasters.  Or was it because
he couldn't make money by going?  Or it could've been because it
was too far. It was one of them. There were still people missing
who said they wanted to come, but we assumed that this was
because they couldn't afford the incredibly high prices that
Alton Towers can get away with (controversial). Anyway, eleven
is a nice number, and it won me 5 doughnuts (don't ask).

CA                        Alton Towers

Remember all that sun I was talking about earlier? It wasn't,
strictly speaking, sunny. In fact it was cloudy and cold. It was
jeans and jumper weather, not t-shirt and shorts. Anyway, to
live up to my incredible stupidity, I suggested going on a water
ride. Brrrr.

The Rapids. This is the sort of ride that you either get soaked
on, or you come off without a spot of water on you. Guess which
category Colin 'Shorts and T-shirt' Anderton comes under...

Not to be defeated by the cold, we went straight to 'The Log
Flume'. After about ten minutes of queueing, we suddenly
realised that we'd lost Peter and Steve - the two FRED subbers
who came on the Nemesis with me. Oh dear. What do we do? Do we
go and look for them, or do we get on with our day while they
walk round looking for us?

We continued queueing and leapt into two logs. The log flume
consists of a quiet float around some forest, then up a steep
CA       Alton Towers - Where The Magic Never Ends (?)

hill thing and a fast drop into lots of water. I was sat in the
front and Steven Ekins took great delight in throwing water all
over me (he'll regret it someday). A few manly screams were
heard as we dropped down in pitch black, before the final drop.
Everyone smiled at the camera, except for Graham who had covered
himself with an Alton Towers map (the big girl). Hopefully,
these photos should appear in FRED sometime. Finally, there was
the massive SPLASH. Naturally everyone (except Graham) got
completely wet and cold.

The next ride was The Teacups. Sad, but true. However, there's
this thing in the middle which you can turn to make yourselves
spin. After trying to cram six people into one teacup, we gave
up and split into two. Steven Ekins attempted to use his video
recorder as everybody span round, frighteningly (and painfully)
quickly. We all staggered off with bruised legs and heads and
ran back to the arcades to dodge the rain.

We spent the next few hours on rollercoasters. Allan Clarkson
CA                      Good old Andrew

went on his first ever upside-down rollercoaster, despite his
attempts to get away (no-one gets past the old Anderton!). The
big lass kept his eyes shut, but it's a start.

We did lots more, but I really don't have time to talk about
everything. I'll be interested to see the photos, some of which
should be scanned in time for FRED 62. It's a shame that there
weren't more people, but we chose a stupid time of year. Anyway,
everybody who went is keen to do another trip somewhere, so if
you have any ideas, get in touch. Expect a few photos and a
number of amusing anecdotes in the next issue from some of the
people who were there.

The last amusing tale of the day happened when I got home. I was
just making some food when the phone rang. It was Andrew
Collier. Apparently, his coach had broken down and he'd got
there two hours late! Judging from what he said, it seems as
though we just missed him at least twice! Ho ho ho. Sorry for
laughing Andrew, but you must admit, it is quite funny.
CA    It's Them Fabulous Disc Contents That No-one Reads

No-one reads this, except me to spell check it. Maybe the people
who wrote the programs read it, just to see if I was nice about
them, but that's all. It's because it's boring, isn't it? You
only want to play/use/see the programs, you don't care what they
do, or who programmed them. Do you? Well, in this one there are
millions of intellectually witty comments, and you'll miss them
all. Ha. Now go away.

Woah! Stop complaining, because here we have it! FRED's first
ever (semi) commercial game on the disc. It's a cut down, yet
still quite large, remix of the classic game, Manic Miner. Lee
Willis has turned it into a watchable demo for those of you who
already have it and consider it a slot wasted. There's twelve
lovely levels of Manic mayhem. Guide Miner Willy (no giggling)
through each screen, collecting the keys then running to the
exit. There's a time limit, some lovely music and graphics
(actually, I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pretty convincing) and
above all that magical FREDness about it. The full, 60 level
game is on the price list, by the way (PLUG, PLUG).
CA            Hello CA, Enjoy Your Spell Checking

In slot J, we have the editor to the fabulous Jellytext thing
that has accidently replaced modules. Sorry modules has had to
move, but Matt, being the mature grown-up he is, said that if I
didn't put it in J, he'd stop doing it. Programmed by Matt "I'm
not going to do much on the SAM now" Round - good old Matt has
done nothing but program on his SAM for the last month or so
writing Jellytext and the editor and the pages (oh, and he did a
bit to Retros a few days ago). It all seems pretty straight
forward, but here's a bit of help anyway.

Load the editor. Press EDIT to perform a function. Press L to
load. Load from page 00 and load JELLYHELP. To change page,
press EDIT then right or left cursor. Please do contribute to
Jellytext. The more SAM related, the more interest it will draw,
but we do want everything and anything. If there is something
you want discussed, rather than ignored in the letters section,
send it in on a few Jellypages and Matt'll try to include it.
Please DO NOT write reviews of SAM programs in Jellytext though,
I'd like to keep them for the letters page.
CA           News (he he, that'll confuse everyone)

My God! What on Earth is this in slot E??? It's a little morph
thing from Dan Doore, and I hope you'll agree that although
there's not much to it, it is very impressive and quite funny.
Cheers Dan.

Now, what should I stick in slot F? A game, I think. Something
that people have been asking for is a card game. Well, Luke
Falla has written a wonderful looking gambling game. It's a
little like Impatience, but in my opinion, the gambling element
makes it a hundred times better. I'm hooked. There were a number
of bugs which I think I've sorted out (SAM BASIC again, not
Luke), so it shouldn't crash at all. If it does - blame me.

Metric conversions is in slot G. A bit of a shocker, this,
because who'd ever have imagined FRED having a program on that
intelligent people can make use of? Basically, there's dozens of
things it can do and will no doubt be handy when you scientists
can't do your homework, or when you need to buy a carpet, or
measure how quick your car goes, etc.. This program was sent in
ca                      Dis con ten ts.

by Edward Graham.  Thanks, Ed.

At last, we've got the exclusive Colin and Colin "interview".
Have a good read, but don't remember any embarrassing bits,
please. That's about all I can say. It's quite long, so make
sure you're ready for it.

Next we have ANOTHER thing that FRED hasn't seen for ages, an
adventure game. Before I continue, I'd better put out a warning
that there are a few swear words in it, so if you're likely to
get offended (or too young and innocent), then don't bother with
it. Anyway, it's by William McGugan and I don't have a clue how
big it is because I can't get past the third place. If it's only
got four places then I'm going to kill William. Otherwise,
thanks!

Another thing that FRED hasn't had for a bit is a Bits and Bobs
section with no less than FIVE programs.  Very quickly then,
there's Tron from William McGugan which is a well written
CA                       diSC cONtEnts

lightcycles game, Quick Format from Paul Walker which only
formats the bits of a disc that need formatting (very clever),
Tuna Sandwich which is a true masterpiece in programming from
Allan Clarkson, Ant Farm which is a more detailed and complex
wersion of the Ant thing that Matt wrote many months ago (from
William McGugan again) and finally (one last breath) Search Disk
from Paul Walker which searches your disc for a word.

Phe-e-e-y-e-w-e-y!  And thanks to them ALL.

And don't forget the bundle of amazing screens, e-tunes, module
(maybe) and adverts (probably) that make an issue of FRED
complete.

The menu is from Luke Falla, and I hope you'll agree, it looks
very nice.  Thanks Luke, and may your logo spin on forever...



CA                  Thankyouverymuchindeed

THE MAN IN CHARGE  : COLIN "EASY LIFE" MACDONALD
ME, ME, ME, ME, ME : COLIN "CLEVER" ANDERTON

But the people who really count are :

       Lee Willis         Matt Round           Luke Falla
     Edward Graham         Dan Doore         Allan Clarkson
    William McGugan      Craig Harris          Rob Clayton
      Paul Walker        Douglas Young         Mike Rotch
     Dean Nicholas      Andrew Chandler      Matthew Beaman

FRED 62 will be available on October 16th (ish) from :

  [redacted]

 mmmmm                                  Tel: [redacted]
m . . m
   J
  \_/                 The Guide To FRED Software follows >>>>>>>
CA         So What Are These Software Things Anyway?

It has recently occured to me that with all the new subbers
we've picked up over the last four years that some people may
not have a clue what Dyzonium, Parallax or Boing are.  So, I
have written this article, describing most of the things on the
FRED price list and with comments from people who have reviewed
the games in previous issues of FRED.  The game is briefly
explained by me, followed by a quote summing up the reviewer's
opinion, then the score they gave it and the issue the full
review is on.

IMPATIENCE : Two puzzle games on one disc.  Triltex, the main
             game, is a 'match-the-cards' in the time limit.
Matching a set of cards could reveal others underneath, allowing
you to progress further. The other game is a board game for two
players.

No reviews in FRED, but Your Sinclair gave it a MEGAGAME award.
Extra levels to impatience were later released, and
imaginatively called Triltex : The Later Levels
CA                      Software Guide

PARALLAX : A traditional sideways scrolling shoot-em-up with
           parallax scrolling, 12 levels and mega enemies.

Brian McConnell - "I have to say that this game could have been
great.  But, due to the unfortunate one-bullet-at-a-time factor,
it's not."  Overall: 5/10.  Issue 27.

Matt Davies - "The most overhyped piece of c**p since Sphera."
(NO MARK GIVEN)  Issue 28.   [See, we're being honest! - CA]

Diggory Gray - "Parallax is without doubt better than Sphera."
(NO MARK GIVEN)  Issue 30.

----------------------------------------------------------------

DYZONIUM : Dyzonium is a 12 directional (above viewed) scrolling
           shoot-em-up in which you have to destroy enemies and
collect the objects scattered around the level.

CA                       Software Guide

Brian McConnell - "The game is class, the music is good but does
get irritating, it's addictive as hell, and is instantly
playable."  Overall: 8/10.  Issue 26.

Matt Davies - "FRED Publishing's finest so far!"  Overall: 90%
Issue 28.

----------------------------------------------------------------

BULGULATORS : A very colourful and more 90's looking version of
              Pacman, with lots of little extras.

Brian McConnell - "You might be thinking that a maze game isn't
the sort of thing that can keep you playing for long, but
believe me, it does."  Overall: 7/10.  Issue 28.

----------------------------------------------------------------

BOING! : A Dizzy style game in which you must explore the large
CA                       Software Guide

land picking up objects and using them to solve the puzzles in
order to escape.

Brian McConnell - "If you like Dizzy-type games, I'm confident
that you will like this.  Bearing in mind the fact that I do not
like these games at all, I'm going to give it 5/10."  Issue: 28.

DT (David Tallerman?) - "Boing is... a darn good game... with a
bit of love and attention, Boing could have been the best game
ever."  Overall: 77%  Issue 32.

Peter Vinnicombe - "The game is quite big with 57 screens to
visit  too easy."  Overall: 7/10.  Issue 36.

----------------------------------------------------------------

WATERWORKS : A puzzle game once again in which you must use the
             pipes, doors, water and taps to find the exit from
the level and escape.  20 levels and a game that sold very well.
CA                       Software Guide

Brian McConnell - "This has something for everyone... the
sprites are large and surprisingly fast and smooth... the main
tune is easily a candidate for best SAM tune yet."  Overall:
7/10 for non-puzzle fans, 9/10 for puzzle fans.  Issue: 30

WaterWorks II was later released due to the success of
WaterWorks and contains extra levels, new graphics and dozens of
other new features.

----------------------------------------------------------------

WITCHING HOUR : This game won the big FRED game competition and
                was promptly released as a budget label.
Another Dizzy-esque game - explore the landscape littered with
objects, characters and various hazards, solving the puzzles as
you go.

David Tallerman - "Despite its irritating plot, daft character
names and the complete absence of any hardness level whatsoever,
CA                       Software Guide

The Witching Hour still manages to be strangely enjoyable."
Overall: 77%  Issue: 37.

Dean Nicholas - "This is a good game, and the price adds even
more authority to the fact that you should buy this game now!"
Overall: 79%  Issue: 37.

D. Lewis - "The Witching Hour isn't exactly as good as the likes
of Wop Gamma and arguably Boing but it's well worth a fiver."
Overall: 76%  Issue: 38.

----------------------------------------------------------------

LEMMINGS : The biggest release on the SAM.  Save the hordes of
           Lemmings from walking to their death by assigning
them tasks such as bridge building, digging or parachuting.  A
top selling license on most computers.

Rob Pain - "One of the best SAM games yet... this is so hot
CA                       Software Guide

don't miss it."  Overall: 96%  Issue: 43.

Andrew Collier - " that with some skill, the
SAM is capable of just about everything...  the
best game yet... Buy it now.":  Overall: 94%  Issue: 43.

Dan Doore - "SAM Lemmings is a fantastic conversion and is a
must in anyone's disc box."  Overall: 97%  Issue: 44.

Due to the success of Lemmings, Psygnosis allowed Oh No! More
Lemmings to be released which contains another 100 levels, even
better than the first set.

----------------------------------------------------------------

FOOTBALL LEAGUE MANAGER : A wonderfully presented football
                          management program featuring every
choice you could possibly imagine.  Kicks Football Director for
six!
CA                       Software Guide

Dean Nicholas - "I really like this game.  In fact, I'd probably
go as far as to say that it is my favourite game on the SAM."
Overall: 93%  Issue: 51.

----------------------------------------------------------------

LEGEND OF ESHAN : A massive role-playing game in which you
                  control a small party of heros in search of a
kidnapped friend (can't remember their names!).  On your way,
you build up your army by befriending elves, dwarves, even orcs!

Dean Nicholas - "A really great game, I hope we continue to see
more of these on the SAM!"  Overall: 94%  Issue: 45.

----------------------------------------------------------------

WOP GAMMA : A game of the Boulderdash style, but making full use
            of the SAM with new features, excellent graphics and
music, and colourful presentation.
CA                       Software Guide

Darren Hubbard - "The graphics and sound are fantastic and Wop
Gamma gets my seal of approval."  Overall: 8/10  Issue: 32.

D. Lewis - "I still reckon that Wop Gamma stands for WOPing
GAMe, which it is.":  Overall: 90%  Issue: 32.

----------------------------------------------------------------

MANIC MINER : SAM conversion of the Speccy classic, with better
              sound and graphics and 40 extra levels.

----------------------------------------------------------------

BATZ N BALLS : Quite challenging mouse or keyboard controlled
               Arkanoid style game.

----------------------------------------------------------------

TNT : A game based on Bombjack, but with extremely colourful
CA                       Software Guide

      graphics, lots of clever features, the odd puzzle, lots of
levels and two player option.

Colin Anderton - "The most playable game I've come across on the
SAM."  Overall: 93%  Issue: 57

Graham Goring - "You know you have to play it, because the
withdrawal symptoms of an afternoon without it will be
unbearable."  Overall: 90%  Issue: 57

----------------------------------------------------------------

SOPHISTRY : Perfect conversion of the Speccy classic.  Earn
            credits and collect keys while standing up to the
challenges that are presented by various boards.

Colin Anderton - "Although it is a limited game, it's very very
playable and addictive and at £9.95, it really is a bargain."
Overall: 80%  Issue: 54
CA                       Software Guide

----------------------------------------------------------------

SAMPAINT : THE art package for the SAM.  With almost every
           option you could imagine and full mouse support.
This is the art package that has made 16 and 32 bit owners
jealous, including a mention in a PC magazine (I think).

Rob Pain - "This really is a superb package... It boasts a large
number of options, it is easy to control and easy to use and
above all else it is user-friendly."  Overall: 95%  Issue: 43.

Charles M. - "It feels as if your SAM has turned into an
Archimedes upon booting of the package.  It really is that
smooth."  (NO MARK)  Issue: 52.

----------------------------------------------------------------

E-TRACKER : This is the music package that all musicians (and
            non musicians!) use to write their tunes now.
CA                       Software Guide

Andy M. - "If you like producing music or are into computer
generated music, or you're even a fan of the old Speccy stuff, I
strongly urge you to buy this."  Overall: 92%  Issue: 28

Peter Vinnicombe - "E-Tracker lets you perform any musical
miracle and as it states in the manual, 'The only limitation is
your musical ability'.  An excellent buy!!!":  Overall: 8/10.
Issue: 36.

A tune de-compiler was on issue 52 of FRED, allowing you to look
at other peoples tunes and instruments and on issue 57 there was
a Sound Machine to E-Tracker tune converter.

----------------------------------------------------------------

SPELLMASTER : A spellmaster with a massive 80,000 word
              dictionary.  It also includes a word processor of
its own, and also allows you to check Outwrite and Secretary
files.
CA                       Software Guide

Brian McConnell - "If you need a spellchecker, then it's
indispensable, but if you don't, well, it's useless.  I for one
would buy one."  (NO MARK)  Issue: 27.

----------------------------------------------------------------

BASIC AND MACHINE CODE GUIDES - The BASIC guide is from
                                Enceladus, the machine code
guide from issues of FRED and both are designed to teach you the
language right from scratch.

----------------------------------------------------------------

MASTERDOS - An excellent DOS with very useful features such as
            DIRectories, a ? statement which checks whether to
LOAD/ERASE/COPY each individual file and a quick BACKUP command.

----------------------------------------------------------------

CA                       Software Guide

MASTERBASIC - An extended version of SAM BASIC.

----------------------------------------------------------------

GAMESMASTER - The most widely used games creator.  Just look at
              past issues of FRED to see what it is capable of,
not to mention the incredible game, TnT.

----------------------------------------------------------------

OUTWRITE - The wordprocessor used by me!  Very versatile and
           according to Brian, the best on the SAM.

----------------------------------------------------------------

SECRETARY - Outwrite's rival word processor!

Brian McConnell - "It would have  more, but the loss of
speed really is a nuisance."  Overall: 7/10  Issue: 28.
CA                       Software Guide

----------------------------------------------------------------

DRIVER - The first and very welcomed desktop system on the SAM.
         Includes some programs such as a wordprocessor and a
puzzle game.

Dean Nicholas - "A great piece of software.  It shows the full
potential of the SAM."  Overall: 94%  Issue: 43.

----------------------------------------------------------------

CAMPION - What can I say?  It's a spreadsheet!

Mike Sutherland - "I've been shown how to use 3 of the best PC
spreadsheets in my time and provided I forget things like
graphics, integration and mouse control, I can honestly say that
Campion beats them hands down."  (NO MARK)  Issue: 36.

----------------------------------------------------------------
CA                       Software Guide

And if you're still not totally convinced (you ignoramus), then
you can have the chance to look at, and in most cases play,
demos of some software.  Below is the issue of FRED that the
demo was on.  Remember, it's only £2 a back issue.

                       Spellmaster - 24B
                         Dyzonium - 26
                        Bulgulators - 26
                  Football League Manager - 52
                            TnT - 54
                      WaterWorks - 32, 34
                         Wop Gamma - 30
                      Witching Hour - 37

Phew, huh?  After all that, I bet you could do with a cup of
coffee?  But not before you get that cheque book out!  Please
write a review of the games you buy - if they're old games, just
write a few comments - we want to know what you think.

Letters & Reviews

CA                      A quick note...

Having looked back through all the FRED letters sections for
reviews, it came to my attention that most of the time Colin and
Brian didn't get many letters and were always spending the first
page asking for letters.

This hasn't been the case for me for the last 7 months now.  The
number of letters hasn't got ridiculously high, but has not
dropped to a rate that is too small.

Therefore, I think that all the readers out there deserve to
give themselves a big pat on the back (if you can), and I would
like to thank you very much and ask you to keep writing and
reviewing.  Cheers.

By the way. I'm dropping my 'CA' from the reply pages, because I
always get it wrong and have to go back and change it!



                     Letter From E Graham

Dear sir

I have an early copy of Spellmaster which seems to have quie a
few bugs, the spellchecker says YOU is speltt rong. Are there
any updates or new versions available as it has not been used
because of this.

One last thing do you know of any flight sims specialy written
for SAM, F16 or something was promised years ago.

Yours faithfully

E Graham






                       Reply To E Graham

Spellmaster, eh?  A 80,000 word dictionary, and it doesn't have
the word 'YOU' in it.  Typical.  I haven't a clue why this word
doesn't appear to be in the dictionary, but all I could do was
to compile my own dictionary with the extra words I used, and
load it up each time I used Spellmaster.

Regarding the bugs, there was a bug fixer in bits and bobs on
issue 29 of FRED.  I'm not sure what it does, but maybe that
will solve some of the problems you're having.  Each back issue
is just £2, available from the usual address.

F16 was shelved after the demo was given away by Crash because
it was a bit slow and the programmer kept coming across dozens
of bugs, and gave up in the end.  There aren't plans for one at
the moment - it's a massive task and needs a lot of hard work.
Most of the programmers on the SAM are still in full time
education and can only work on smaller projects in their spare
time.

                   Letter From Douglas Young

Dear Fred Publishing,

         Would it be possible to place a monthly advert in the
mag?  A text advert would do, but I would prefer a graphic one.

How exactly do you use the archy sprite utility on Fred 50 and
how do you get the arch file on to a Sam disc, as the arch comes
up with a "broken directory file" message.

Are there any Arch, PC or Amiga emulators out there for the SAM,
as I have previously been unable to find them?

If you would allow me I would like to tell anyone out there that
is interested that Daft 1 is available for 1.50 and screens
disks volume 1,2 and 3 are available (also for 1.50). Anyone
interested can send a cheque to D YOUNG HOLMRIGG WESTER ESSENDY
BLAIRGOWRIE PERTHSHIRE SCOTLAND PH10 6RD

Daft 2 is available from 18-10-95, for the very reasonable price
                   Letter From Douglas Young

of 2.50, comes boxed and with 2 disks, expect excellent graphics
and a lot of text.

By the way, you're not actually a bad editor, so keep up the
x cellent work!

                       Yours sincerely,

                         Douglas Young


CA                    Reply to Doug Young

Adverts seem to be quite a topic of conversation.  I'm not going
to guarantee anything - especially not monthly adverts.  The
number of adverts I get has increased and I doubt that readers
want their issue of FRED filled with lots of adverts instead of
programs.  Due to this, and as an extra source of income, you
should note that FRED has had to start charging for adverts.
                      Reply to Doug Young

More details about this are in the news section.

I haven't actually used the Archy sprite thingy on issue 50,
mainly because I have a friend who has written a better (but
incredibly dodgy) version.  If you want to convert to the SAM on
Archy-Sprite, you have to cut your pictures down to 256x192.
The problem it seems that you are having is because the Arch
can't read SAM formatted discs.  Once Archy Sprite has converted
them, use KE_Disc (issue 36 of FRED) to put the code onto a PC
disc.  The Arch is then able to read that, and you have yourself
a SAM screen on the Arch.  If you still have problems, get in
touch.

As for emulators, the SAM can't (and is unlikely to ever be able
to) handle the speed that is required to run an emulator for the
Arch, PC or Amiga.  Apparently, there is a SAM emulator being
written for the Arch, but I haven't seen it yet.

By the way, why am I suddenly getting lots of compliments?
                    Letter From Rob Clayton

Dear FRED,

    We [SAM2SAM disc mag - CA] are going to be making some
changes to the magazine as from issue 10, the price is coming
down from £2.00 per issue to only £1.50 per issue and we are
dropping the Games Disk.  There will still be a game, although
this and all text will all be compressed.

I would appreciate it if you could let Fred readers know of the
changes, we are also offering all SAM owners the chance to
purchase issue 10 at £1.00.  Issue 10 is due to be released at
the backend of August.

Could you please state that cheques should be made payable to R.
Clayton and NOT Sam2Sam.

Maybe we could return the favour to yourselves at sometime.

The quality of Fred has become extremely high since Colin
                    Letter From Rob Clayton

Anderton took over, he seems to be able to get the correct
balance between reading material, games and demo's.  In fact,
he's making it harder for any other magazines to compete!

For the time being, thanks again and maybe you will enjoy the
copy of Sam2Sam.

Yours

Rob









                      Reply to Rob Clayton

Sorry this was a month late - I think I mentioned it in last
months news, but I was far too rushed to give it a proper plug.
Anyway, I hope you can forgive me for being just one month late?

Although Sam2Sam isn't exactly my cup of tea (see review!), I
would recommend that readers take a look at it - especially in
it's new format and at only £1.00 for issue 10.  If it wasn't as
rushed as issue 9 felt, it could be very good.  Hopefully, with
just one disc to put together, this will all be resolved.  Take
a look - you could love it.  Also, feel free to review it for
FRED!!!

The address to write to is:       SAM2SAM DISK MAGAZINE,
                                  [redacted]
  Remember to say that
    FRED sent ya'...

   Issue 10 - just £1

                     Reply to Bobby Clayton

Return the favour?  Hmm.  Colin and I discussed this and we
couldn't think of anything.  Maybe at the next show, you could
take us to the pub and we'll have a think about what you could
do (buy us) in return...  Hmm, was that too obvious?

Thanks for the compliments, by the way.  If you want, I'll write
a letter to Sam2Sam and say something equally as nice about you!

I look forward to meeting you at the next show - we can exchange
compliments there if you like!









                    Letter From Craig Harris

Dear Fred,
         Many days have passed since my last correspondence.
The bald jailer still has me locked up in a cell.  After several
attempts at escape, I resolved to try some old Fred discs for
help.  They weren't talking.  So I loaded them into my trusty
old Sam (strange how things associated with the coupe seem to be
named after boys names...).  After hours of searching and a few
laughs (side tracked by lots of games of Ore Warz) however the
chances of escape were still zero to infinity minus 1.

"You won't believe what they've got in store for you.".  The
guard's taunts still rang in my head.  My over active
imagination causing cold sweats and sllepless nights.  Images of
my toe nails being manipulated in a hundred and three different,
and excrutiatingly painful, ways was the main cause of this.

Then... After months of waiting.  It came.  The torture the
jailer had warned of.  A large brown envelope scraped slowly
under the door and sat ominously.  The dreaded words in black
                    Letter From Craig Harris

ink scrawled on the front.  All hope left my system as I read
the black ink scrawled on the head of the envelope.

        " SCOTTISH EXAMINATION BOARD " EXAM RESULTS !!!

Luckily salvation was at hand.  Out of the corner of my eye I
caught a glimpse of the letter Colin had sent to me.  Just what
I needed to cheer my many days left in the dismal surroundings..

                           FRED !!!

So to the point of total drivel, could you please inform me of
the current going rate for a FRED sub.

                     Thanks verily muchus.
                          Craig Harris

P.S. Could you also tell me how to get out of the damn cell in
     days of sorcery.
                     Reply to Craig Harris

Oh, Craig.  I feel your torture!  I feel the pain, the agony.
However, a Fred sub can only make it worse.  Yes, worse.  You
see, the thought of excrutiating pain is but a graze in
comparisson with the need for FRED a whole week before it is due
to arrive.  7 days of waiting, praying that the postie shall
deliver.  When he doesn't - hatred, annoyance and anger.  So
strong that any toe nail pulling device is stricken from your
mind.  Yet when it comes, your life is complete.  More than
complete - enriched to the fullest.  The decision is yours...

Erm, it's £20 by the way.

And I've never played Days of Sorcery.  Personally, I'd set a
trap for the guard, nick his uniform and keys and run.  However,
if any reader can tell us how you actually do it, please write.




                   Letter From Andy Chandler

Dear Colin A + Colin M

    Doesn't seem long since the last time but I'm still clearing
my disk boxes out and polishing up some code.  Thanks for
putting Gem-X on the disc (and in slot D), it meant a lot to me.
Cheers.  [We do our best to please! - CA]

    I have a question.  Do you get access to the Internet and
World Wide Web at your uni?  I'm not going to uni but
fortunately, we have a CyberCafe opening up here at Oxford where
they have 30 top-of-the-range computers fully linked to the
Internet which you can use while having a cup of coffee etc., so
I might send you all a message when it opens!

    I have another question.  Does anyone still require things
to be 256K compatible?  With some programs its getting harder to
make them fit into a 256K machine and I'd appreciate if you
could print a response in the magazine somewhere.  Please!

                   Letter From Andy Chandler

    I'd like to be serious for a moment and ask you how Mark at
Blue Alpha is progressing.  Is the Chemotherapy going OK?  There
hasn't been much news on him recently.

    I'd like to join together with all the other SAM users and
wish him a speedy recovery.

                         Thanks again.

                         Andy Chandler









                    Reply To Andy Chandler

I didn't know you liked being called Andy.  You should've said
earlier - it's less to type!  If anyone else has any short
nicknames, tell me in your next letter.  (Lazy, huh?)

Colin M is already on the net, as are a multitude of other SAM
users.  I will be around mid October, so I'll expect a regular
message.  As I've said somewhere in this issue, I want to get a
list of e-mail addresses, along with Tim's WWW site.  So, have
no fear, you shall soon be able to chat to all you fave SAM
buddies.

A few years ago, FRED said that they wouldn't guarantee that all
programs will work on 256K machines.  All the better things were
512K only and had to be shown.  So, in short, don't bother being
careful.  There can't be more than 3 256K owners that read FRED.

It appears that nobody has heard from Mark for a while.
However, we are hoping that no news is good news and join you in
wishing him all the best.
                   Letter From Matthew Beaman

Dear Colin,

  I bought SAM C at  the  last  Gloucester  show  and  the  only
program I have written succesfully so far is  this  menu  system
which was pretty simple to write. Why doesn't someone do a SAM C
for beginners series. Whilst I'm on the subject of SAM C when is
the new version supposed to be coming out?

  About four months ago there was alot of talk about the  MiDGET
so I bought The MiDGET Slideshow from  SAM  PD.  This  had  some
information on the disk which made it sound brilliant.  It  also
had screenshots converted to SAM from the MiDGET. But since then
I have heard nothing at all about it. Is the MiDGET going to  be
released or was it just a dream? If it is going to  released  at
all when will we hear more about it. If it did  come  out  at  a
reasonable price then I would almost definitely buy it.

                                        Matthew Beaman.

                    Reply to Matthew Beaman

Oh dear!  This is precisely the reason why Colin M and I decided
not to give the MiDGET a big preview 9 months ago.  Almost a
year ago, the MiDGET was announced, and everybody hinted at a
recent release.  Yes, the MiDGET sounds amazing, but as we said
before, it will be a long time before it comes out, if indeed it
ever does.  I certainly hope we'll see it, but there really
isn't any point going on about it because if it doesn't get
released, all it'll bring is more disappointment.  Sorry.

As for SAM C, we are constantly on the look-out for someone to
write a SAM C programming section for FRED, possibly to be done
in the same way as FRED's machine code column.  The problem is
that everyone is still learning.  If anyone out there thinks
they can write a C course, please ring Colin and tell him.
He'll either put you in touch with me, or vice versa.

The programmer of SAM C, Marian Krivos has been working on the
free upgrade, and that should be out sometime in the next few
months.
CA                     Review Of Sam2Sam

                   Sam2Sam : £2.00 : Issue 9

Sam2Sam comes on 2 discs - one being the games disc, the other
is the text disc.  Sam2Sam is edited by two people, Rob Clayton
and John Teare.  From what I can gather, John writes half the
editorial, any columns or games he can and Rob fills all the
rest and puts the disc together.

Anyway, as I'm reviewing, I'll start with the games disc (face
it, we all look at games first!).

Upon booting, it shows immediately that Sam2Sam need a graphics
artist.  Bit of a harsh start to a review, I know, but the first
screen you see is just filled with dozens of SAMPaint fonts all
over the place.  A mediocre Freddy Mercury e-tune plays in the
background as you make your choice of 5 options.

The main game is called Golden Heart and is a SCADs written,
Manic Miner clone.  The story line is told while a very nice
CA                          Sam2Sam

e-tune plays, and then we get into the game.  Unfortunately,
there's a massive bug immediately as you can't walk properly
until you jump first - the sprite has been placed in the floor!
The game is very similar to Manic Miner, but with the obvious
SCADs feel to it.  It is a nice little game to be fair, but with
a bit of polishing it could have been very good indeed.  It was
written by editor John Teare.  Editors programming, eh?  What is
this world coming to!

Next is Stefan's MOD demo, but you'll all have seen this on FRED
58 won't you???

Next on the list is a Doctor Who quiz.  Nice idea, but once
again it hasn't been polished.  Two examples of this are that
the questions are always in the same order so once you've
memorized the order, you've finished with it.  The other problem
is that it crashes on about question 10 anyway!  Oh dear.

The next item is by NoName who has done some very impressive
CA                          Sam2Sam

stuff in the past.  This contribution is a Speccy converted
graphics demo which would be very good but for something
unfortunately typical with Sam2Sam - the lack of checking
anything.  When it is run, the palette hasn't been reset and all
the pictures look rubbish.  Surely they should have spotted this
bug?

And then there were the adverts...

Oh well, let's move onto the text disc.  The presentation on
this is a bit poor.  The idea of a windows system to run it all
is good, but they do need someone to put some half decent
graphics in.  Also, there is lots of flicker on the graphical
headings that lead the text sections, which is incredibly
irritating.

But surely it's the content that counts.  We start with the
editorial.  I don't like to comment on other editors material,
but to be blunt, Rob's editorial isn't interesting reading
CA                          Sam2Sam

material at all, not for me anyway.  All he talks about for 8
or so pages is a night out he had and all the pubs he went to
and all the drink he drank (and he drank a lot).  I can
understand that it isn't easy to find things to talk about, but
he had the chance to chat about the SAM and Speccy show...

John Teares section makes interesting reading.  There's a lot of
opinions about the SAM, many of which I don't agree with, but
all of which make an interesting read.

Then we see something which, once again, brings out the
unpolished feel to the whole magazine.  It's something which
happens in every text section - at the end of the section,
there's either a whole load of question marks or part of the
previous article that you've just read.  It wouldn't have taken
much to fill an extra page with spaces so that the last page was
clear.  When the editorial finishes and there's half a page of
reviews slapped on the end, it makes the whole thing seem a bit
tacky.
CA                          Sam2Sam

The rest of the Sam2Sam text section is filled with some well
written reviews as well as news, various programming columns, a
guide to the history of FRED (!), letters and a few sections
that don't have anything in them!

The next main section is called 'Centurion'.  The main bit in
this secion is called 'sci-fi' and is very good, but
unfortunately the last due to the writer having to work.  I hope
they get someone as capable of writing as this guy, otherwise
they will be missing a very good section.  There is also a
sporting section, which is interesting if you're into sports, an
entertainment section which is a bit poor (who wants to read a
page of song lyrics).  The highlight however is called 'The
Death Of A Computer' which is another well written article by
John Teare with lots of opinions about computers in general.  I
may try to get this in FRED if John will let me - it really is
very good.

Moving on to the section called 'Waste Basket' now, and we find
CA                          Sam2Sam

a MOD player (on FRED 41) with a nice MOD, a section on building
your own EDDAC.  This isn't even the original one - it's the one
that I modified to fit it on FRED 51!  It's even still got my
apologies in the REM statements in the BASIC program!  And they
didn't even ask!  Swines!

SAM files is the final section which includes the continuing
parts of the A-Z of SAM hardware, software, companies, etc..
This is very helpful if you don't know what is out on the SAM
market.

Well, to sum up, there is some very good material (programs and
text) on Sam2Sam, but also some very bad material.  Almost
everything that seemed to go onto the games disc was bugged in
some way - something that will not keep people buying the disc.
The text sections are badly presented and have a nasty tacky
feel to them, even though some stuff is excellent.  Hopefully,
when Sam2Sam 10 comes out in it's new 1 disc format, Rob will
have time to check for all these sorts of things.
CA                          Sam2Sam

Now that I've given Sam2Sam a bad review, people are going to
say that I shouldn't be reviewing other disc mags.  That's a
fair comment, but I should point out that for most of my SAM
life, I've been a reader, and I still know what I like and what
I don't when it comes to any computer magazine.  If you think
that I'm just going to knock every SAM mag, then you're wrong.
I was supposed to review Samdisk 16, but this was reviewed in
detail last month but I can honestly say that I would have given
it a very good review.  I'll also admit to subscribing to
Crashed because it's pretty good.  I'm just not keen on Sam2Sam.

Marks for Sam2Sam  (address in Rob Claytons's letter)

Graphics     : 26% (If it weren't for SAMPaint, they'd be worse)
Content      : 50% (Some good stuff, too much has been in FRED)
Music        : 76% (Most tunes are very good)
Lastability  : 30% (I won't be reading most of it again)
Overall      : 42% (Far too many obvious bugs)