Description
Issue 11a
| Item | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Menu | Simon Cooke | |
| Magazine | Blue Alpha Joy-Mouse released | |
| Freviews | Sambus, GM-Calc, Flexipage, Klax | |
| Muzik madness | Michael Andrews | Selection of music |
| Scrollers unlimited | Ian Slavin, Dan Dooré, John Hancock, Joao Nuno Coelho | Collection of scrollers |
| Disc message | Simon Cooke | Put messages on discs |
| Drumz | Andy Monk | Synthesised drum sounds |
| MC pt 6 | Steve Taylor | Search: “MC 6” ROM routines; vectors |
| Mandlebrots | Michael Andrews | Selection of mandelbrots |
| Sound to light | Simon Cooke | Converts music to screen patterns |
| Sliding puzzle | Nick Humphries | Traditional sliding puzzle game |
| Last stand | Ian Slavin | 2 player shoot-em up (1 on 1) |
| Road signs | Ian Slavin | What they really mean… |
| Spinning thing | Dan Dooré | Blitz$ Graphical demo |
| Polyhedra | Dan Dooré | Graphical demo |
| Big Text | Andy Monk | Giant font |
| Digital Clock | Scott Neill | Giant digital clock display |
| Multi-font | Andy Monk | Screen character sets |
| Vertical Scroller | Dan Dooré | Smooth vertical scroller in Basic |
| MGT’s Demise | Article on MGT’s downfall. |
Issue 11b
| Item | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Menu | Jon Mills | |
| Sound-light 2 | Justin Whitton | Converts music to screen patterns |
| Trip-a-tron 3 | Ian Slavin | Colour-cycling effects |
| Flashy | Ian Slavin | Humorous demo |
| Sound gen. | Ian Slavin | Produces user-definable sounds |
| Disassembler | Returns object code to assembly | |
| It’s magic | Masters of Magic | Demo/advert |
| Purge: No Way Back 2 | Masters of Magic | Playable demo of game |
| Encounters pt 3 | Ian Slavin | Zeb green tries driving |
| Bubbles?? | Michael Andrews | Music/gfx from bubble bobble |
| Paradoxical | Ian Slavin | Optical illusions |
| The mad tank | Ian Slavin | Small animated tank |
| Rocket | Ian Slavin | Zeb Green in space! |
| Whirly Thing | Ian Slavin | Scroller Animated whirly thing |
Magazine
Hello Again! (you miserable lot)
Hurrah! I'm back! After spending two months of constant
studying (sorting orders, playing KLAX and going to London) I am
back to spending my time talking to you lot.
Could I lie and say "it's good to be back"? No, I'm an honest
sort of bloke so I won't but it's nice to be able to air my
views again : SEAL is brilliant, INSPIRAL CARPETS are great and
Chesney Hawkes is ...sorry - I had to edit out the extreme
language.
Whilst I have been studying I have been sent 40 discs of stuff
to put on various issues! I've put a fair amount of it on this
disc (ie I've still tons of stuff from AXE unused!) and
hopefully I've got some for next issue but I can never have too
much! Send games, demos, utilities, articles (not reviews though
- otherwise I end up getting 6 reviews of 1 game!) and anything
else which you feel will vaguely interest everyone else.
Some people are supplying a LOT of stuff and I'm extremely
grateful - saves me having to do it all , especially articles.
The Almighty speaks again
I would like to thank all of you who wished me a Happy
Birthday just after last issue : Adrian Parker, Simon Cooke,
Phil Glover (why is your name EVERYWHERE?),Andy Jones, J Marsh
and Daniel Doore.
For those of you who bought the Meg a while ago you will be
pleased to know about the 2 disc, Meg only Top Gun demo - just
send £1.50 to me.
If you've got the Sound Sampler (smart cooky) you'll need some
of the amazing demos for it so if you send just £3 I'll send you
four discs packed full of demos with top quality samples.
Throughout my career as editor I have wanted my magazine to
fulfil several tasks if you like. The first few was to reach 100
readers (I'm now at over 300), be mentioned in a Show Report
(thank you FORMAT), be asked to be part of TEAM SAM (I turned
them down at the March Show! I had a good reason though) and
have a big write-up (thank you Nick Roberts). Now I have only
three to go - none are as extravagent as those so they SHOULD be
fairly easy to get. Obviously I can't tell anyone what they are
but I'll keep you posted. CM
Response
I never had a great response from the FPC's I ran but I barely
mentioned that I needed menus and I get hundreds of them (and
you think I'm exaggerating). Thanks very much to all who sent
some in - I will try to include all of them somehow in the next
50 issues or so but I will still welcome any new ones. However
one of the best had to be Simon Cooke's that you've already seen
- I mean, great graphics with three level parallax scrolling
stars in the background! wow! Animated ones are generally better
but I love 'em all.
Anyone want an idea for a demo? How about "New Kids UNDER the
block"? Could be very interesting I reckon!
As I'm not a brilliant interviewer could I also have any
questions you'd like me to ask everyone I interview from now on.
Please remember I DO READ ALL of your letters but often I
cannot reply in length if at all so if you want to know
something that I could answer over the phone please feel free to
ring. I have also been having a lot of problems with the Post
Office so if your copy of FRED doesn't arrive after 10 days
after the release date get in touch so I can send a replacement.
NEWS
Boy oh boy! what an exciting couple of months it's been I can
tell you. Possibly the best release of all is a mouse!! Yes,
it's here at last! But it's from Blue Alpha! And hopefully, a
prototype will have arrived in time for review this issue... But
get your mits on it you'd better be in London on the 9th and you
might just get a few quid off as well...
However, due to this surprise, SAMCO say they will no longer
be bringing out their mouse.
GM software finished their brilliant GM_Calc in time for the
last Show and is a real treat for those who even considered it.
Bruce Everiss, organiser of the All Formats Shows and the SAM
coupe hotline has now combined the two to make an All Formats
Fair hotline. Lasting 3 minutes and changing every week this
gives you "all the latest news and information of forthcoming
fairs". The number is : 0898 299389 please remember calls cost
34p/45p a minute so make sure you've got the bill-payer's full
permission.
Infogrames have "expressed willingness" for some of their
products to appear on the coupe. Most of you will know them for
NEWS
SIM CITY or SIM EARTH but they have just released new versions
of Tetris for some reason - hopefully they'll realise that 99%
of coupe owners already have this (which was originally
published by FRED)
The game I went raving mad about last month but couldn't tell
you what it is happens to be none other than PRINCE OF PERSIA!
It should be out any day now priced at £14.99. It is programmed
by Chris White who helped on PIPEMANIA and the demo is meant to
be amazing - the graphics have been copied exactly from the
Amiga so me thinks we're in for a bit of a cracker.
F-16 Combat Fighter is also just about finished and should be
ready by the middle of July priced at £16.99. Both P.O.P. and
F-16 will be released on SAMCO's REVELATION label. For a demo of
F-16 see this month's CRASH cover tape!
SAMCO had also arranged for deal NAVY SEALS, RAINBOW ISLANDS
and PANG to get converted however OCEAN are now saying there is
a problem with the original copyright holders.
NEWS
Hilton Computer Services have just about finished their
Personal Banking system - more details next month.
Outlet/Chezron are working on a new word processor called
Outwrite but so far no details.
Kobrahsoft are stepping back into the coupe market with
SAMDICE. It is reported to be very good with an excellant
manual.
It is rumoured that a certain brilliant magazine have plans
for some brilliant releases soon but are short on certain
materials. The prices will be now, and the date should be soon.
I will find out as much as I can for next month......ahem!
DUE TO a) the VAT increase, b) the increasing number of
products I have to purchase and c) a little matter of a £400
debt I have to raise the price of FRED to continue. From now on
it will cost £1.50 per month. Until next month back issues still
cost £1 and subscriptions already taken will not be affected.
This new price includes sending FRED abroad - even New Zealand!!
Hopefully, once my bank manager is happy again I will be able to
run competitions etc with any extra money. Please don't forget!
Your help is needed!
Brent Stevens will soon be working on a 3D space travel sort
of game for inclusion in a later issue of FRED. Unfortunately he
needs names of planets desperately so send as many suggestions
in as you can to SCPDSA or to me.
As you all know, I am about to release some items of software
however I have decided to make a puzzle two pack - I already
have one puzzle type game but desperately need another. Please
get in touch - there could well be a lot of money involved.
I would like to thanks everyone sincerely for all the
compliments that come flooding in. However if you would like
them printed send them on disc and if not then I would much
rather you told other companies how good you think FRED is
whenever you order. Thanks.
For those of you who bought EFTPOTRM before the 16th May or
thereabouts it is very likely you have the early, bugged
version. ENIGMA have now got rid of a lot of the bugs and you
can get this new version simply by sending the disc and an SSAE
to them.
18TH MAY ALL FORMATS SHOW REPORT
Just to keep you well informed of just how my day went I will
begin at the beginning. At 7 o'clock on Friday night I left to
catch the bus to Dundee, it turned up only 30 minutes late
leaving me with very little time to get the bus at Dundee to
London. However I did get there and boarded the bus. Things
first started going wrong when the drivers got lost going into
Perth (incidently no-one got on or off!) and then got VERY lost
on the way out! They then spent half an hour going round
Grangemouth trying to find the bus station in Falkirk - it was
eventually a blind lady on the bus who gave them directions!
After passing Cumbernauld it was discovered someone had to be
dropped off there,so we went down the motorway for 5 minutes to
turn, go back.... Eventually we reached Glasgow only to be told
that I was on the wrong bus and that there wasn't another bus
all night. Naturally I "stayed put" and eventually got into
London at 7am on Saturday morning.
The Show didn't exactly get off to its usual booming start -
it was practically deserted. I sold about a dozen discs maximum
in the first two hours compared to my usual 100 odd. I sold very
Show Report pt2
little else all day so I had to carry over 200 discs all the way
back up here!
SAMCO announced a week or so ago that it is no longer
practical for them to go to All Formats shows so PBT,GM software
& Blue Alpha took their gear down for them. Very little was sold
in fact, not even enough to cover costs! This was the general
feeling all round - sales ranged from nothing to very little and
extremely few people made anything (I made a debt of £50) but
enough of the moaning.
SD Software had a stand next to mine and he could have some
fairly interesting software up his sleeve soon. FORMAT made an
appearance which gave me the opportunity to sincerely thank Bob
Brenchley for the numerous mentions in FORMAT. A new magazine
made an appearance- "Captain coupe" is already on issue 3 on
paper but now they have launched a disk magazine under the same
name, more from them elsewhere.
SAM Supplement had a stand as usual and were the only people I
know who didn't lose money! But less of the competition! Brian
Gaff of BGS turned up selling his software and gadgets (modems
Show Report pt3
and SAMplifiers) as well as 1 issue of Outlet (chortle chortle!)
Paul Thomas of PBT was there selling his printers and other
devices. Malcolm Phillips was there selling his b****y products
(a bit of revenge!!! !) especially the long-awaited GM_Calc
(reviewed elsewhere). Blue Alpha sold 1 voice box (yes, I bought
one at last!) and was busy boasting to the press about his "new
product" which (for him) is actually rather spiffing!
Which brings me onto ENIGMA, no news here except sales were
pathetic and they can't afford to bring out any more products
until they've covered their losses on the present ones, although
plans are afoot once sales pick up (highly classified)
All the usual large computer traders were there making it
exceptionally easy to pick up a bargain or six (which I hastily
did I will admit) making the awful journey and desperate sales
almost worthwhile.Amongst the regular show go-ers were the BACC,
the Z88 users club, QUANTA, Micronet, Just Amiga Monthly (boo!)
and many others.
The only faces missing on the coupe "village" were Steve
Nutting (who tells me the next one he'll be at will be the 22nd
Show Report pt4
at London) and Garner Designs (producers of S&SC and Games Xtra)
All in all the Show was a bit of a waste of time but hopefully
it was only due to the FA Cup Final and the next ones will be
their usual, busy selves. Even if they're not it's great to meet
all the names you read about (like me and me and one or two less
important people - Dave Tonks, Bob Brenchley etc etc)
The show practically wound up an hour early which was very
dissapointing as I had till 10 to wait for my bus! However being
the active youth that I am , I decided to go out into the depths
of London and go to the cinema or whatever. Whilst searching
Westminster for the smallest trace of a movie I happened to
stroll past a few banks, saw there was nothing of interest in
that direction and headed back another way. Much to my
delight(!) two people ran after me and revealed themselves to be
undercover Police! I was interogated and searched on the spot
(in the middle of the street) and they ran my name through the
PNC. Great fun eh! What had happened was in the last few weeks a
young guy had gone up to people withdrawing cash from a machine,
held them up with a knife and took the money. Just my luck that
Show Report pt5
I looked like him!
My groping companions then directed me to the cinemas upon
reaching I strayed (in search of a film which hadn't already
starte) and found myself alone in the back streets of Soho. Time
for a sharp exit to the bus station followed by a long wait.
Now you see just how much fun your editor has on his little
trips - aren't you jealous!
PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE attend as many Shows as you can -
otherwise it's simply not going to be worth anyone's time or
money going there (especially me).
Future Shows will be :
June 9th - Birmingham SUNDAY
phone : June 22nd - London SATURDAY
John Riding on September 7th - London SATURDAY
(0225) 868100 September 14th - Birmingham SATURDAY
for tickets November 3rd - London SUNDAY
priced £3 November 10th - Birmingham SUNDAY
mention FRED! December 14th - London SATURDAY
Helpful support or rude interruption?
Following the annoucement of Blue Alpha's mouse, I spoke to
Alan Miles on behalf on SAMCO. Ever since the original idea of
the coupe, Alan and Bruce have planned to produce a mouse, now
that their 3 buttoner is mere weeks away from completion, Blue
Alpha have jumped in and released a 2 buttoned opposer barely
giving anyone time to think ,let alone argue.
Alan has not actually seen the mouse up and running (so to
speak) but "when Bruce saw it,it looked OK but it was
unresponsive - it is a joystick rather than a mouse effectively.
There are advantages to the route that he's taken in that it
might be cheaper."
There is not enough room in the market for two mice (mouses?)
but SAMCO feel that BA's mouse is not up to the standard they
were heading for - "he might produce something that's OK but it
would be sluggish - there's no doubt"
How does he feel about BA jumping in when their mouse was
nearing the production line? "Serves us right for being slow"
was the initial reaction but he goes on to explain how in some
ways he does welcome it - "We're certainly not against the idea
Of Mice and Men (well,Blue Alpha and Samco anyway)
of other people producing hardware - it is something that he's
put together in a hurry. We welcome an interesting idea - we're
really not convinced it's the answer though."
He admits that it will save SAMCO's time and money on
production and goes on to congratulate Adrian Parker on his
plans. "What Adrian has done is a valuable contribution ... I
welcome it as long as we can work together on it but we'll have
to find that it's the right product and then we'll proceed."
SAMCO are still going ahead with their mouse and hope to have
it out in a few weeks. Apparently orders are already piling up
for it so it looks like there will be a great divide between the
two mouse makers......
Thanks go to Alan Miles for enlightening FRED readers and for
taking a somewhat light view towards their loss.
After Adrian Parker read this article he phoned me and reeled
off a number of items which are not to SAMCO's credit shall we
say -"let thou without blame cast the first stone...people in
glass houses should not throw stones...." I'm staying neutral!!!
CHEATS AND HIGH SCORES
Duncan Marsden says that on a 256 coupe, load up Quizball
remove the disc after a game to get a disc error and then you'll
continue playing with a cheat - I couldn't get it to work tho...
On the whole game of No Way Back (NOT in FRED) define your
keys as TITAN for extra lives etc
According to TURBO, high score charts are "childish" so they
have a games chart instead , hmmm.....
Completed EFTPOTRM with 55710 - on the Reptilions just walk
directly up the middle firing continuously.
Completed KLAX with 2297745 - finishing message is "Thank You
For Playing KLAX" Good eh?
199 lines on Tetris with a score of 6683
well, that's the best I could do - how good are you??
On the TWEETY demo press zero and use joystick keys to shoot
"skeets" press escape to reset score.
SC EXPRESSions of anger...
Hello out there! Simon here, and I've got a small bee buzzing
around in my bonnet. Anyone out there who reads NCE should know
what I'm going on about.
Observant readers of the letters column in NCE will notice
that on page 14 of issue 129, bottom right hand corner of the
page is a letter entitled "Play It Again...". This very
butchered form of my letter (originally it was 3 pages of
foolscap long - a bit too long, maybe, but I was a little bit
narked off with NCE's treatment of the Coupe) is shown below,
with Haydn Fitz-Williams' reply to it: Play It Again...
In answer to your challenge in issue 107, here are a list of
things which have been released on the SAM since 1 November:
1Mb upgrade, SAMbus with realtime clock, MasterDOS, Flexipage,
Personal Banking System, Pipemania, Sphera, Samtape III, SAM
Assembler 3 and Klax.
Here's three SAM PD libraries that have been releasing a
multitude of PD:
1) CMS, [redacted]
SC EXPRESSions of anger... (2)
2) Turbo, [redacted]
3) Fastline, [redacted]
Simon Cooke, Sale, Cheshire.
Thanks Simon for those facts and addresses. Unfortunately I had
to cut the rest of your letter. This wasn't because it contained
a critique of every reference to the SAM ever made in Express in
the last 83 issues. No, this was because it ran to something
like 1700 words and would take up nearly two of our pages. This
unprecendented length had two further effects. One, I didn't
even attempt to read it all, and two, I'm even more convinced
that SAM owners are developing a persecution complex.
Can we just go on the record one more time and say "Express
has never had any intention of putting the SAM down". If truth
be known the only reason Express never fully reviewed the
machine was because MGT refused to let us have one unless it
could supply the reviewer. That's the kind of bias you should be
addressing.
SC EXPRESSions of anger... (3)
Now I don't know about you, but I personally don't like that
reply, or what it implies. To me that stinks of what H F-W likes
to do best - put people down. Recently (and also in that issue)
he has even been putting down Rob Brenchly (he of FORMAT and
INDUG). Anyway, what does he expect - of course SAM owners are
getting a persecution complex - NCE is persecuting them! I'm
going to investigate his claim at the end of his reply soon, so
I'll keep you posted about it. If anyone is wondering about my
criticisms, they were along the lines of showing a picture of
the Coupe, along with a caption saying "The Coupe - a well
intentioned machine, but the DOS don't work" almost a year after
that problem has been solved. Also, things like their constant
misinforming of their readers - the ASIC chip not working and
the rebundling of the Coupe as a Super Spectrum, as well as
comparing the Coupe to the Hobbit. Now I'm not putting the
Hobbit down, but it's almost in a different universe to the
Coupe - the only similarities being that they can both run
Spectrum games. Does anyone not agree with my point?
Alan Miles himself is also a mite angry about the situation -
SC EXPRESSions of anger... (4)
yes, I've managed to investigate further. After a phone call or
two (I first 'phoned from a payphone, and ran out of money) to
him, I found that of course, he'd let them have a Coupe - there
was nothing in their claims that they wouldn't get one unless
MGT could use their own reviewer... H F-W's excuses strike
again! In fact, SAMCo have been talking to Your Sinclair and NCE
about trying to get a column on the Coupe in their mags. The
funny thing is though, that NCE was actually asking SAMCo if
they could suggest a reviewer - which is what they claimed was
the problem in the first place! Wierd...
Things are verily looking up on the SAM front in fact - as you
will have probably read elsewhere in the mag, Prince Of Persia
is being released on the Coupe, as well as some stuff from
Ocean, including Navy S.E.A.L.S., Pang and Rainbow Islands!
Amazing!!! Apparently, Chris White is doing the conversion - he
simply sent in a nice graphics demo of an icon roving about the
screen to SAMCo - a lot of incentive for budding programmers!
SC YOUR SINCLAIR, BUT NOT YOUR SAM!
Any Your Sinclair readers out there who have been scouring the
fine print at the start of the magazine with a magnifying glass
to find Robin Alway's SAM Surgeon column may now cease, as I now
know what has happened to it. It has ceased to be, it is no
more, it has shuffled of its mortal coil, it has been ditched
and all the SAM stuff will be now bunged into the Spec Tec
column. I know this because I, in my supreme wisdom (and
desperation for a paid job) applied for the position of column
writer, thinking that Robin Alway had left the mag for pastures
new - NCE to be precise. So I wrote to Andy Ide, the editor
(very nice man) and got a nice letter back saying the above, and
that everything's covered really. I also got a very nice badge
from him - silver on red - ta Andy! (I've got a YS badge and you
haven't, so Nerr!).
We're all behind you Simon - you're doing a good job by
helping SAMCO trying to get support.
SC ALIEN SPACE VIXENS INVADE FRED MAGAZINE SHOCK!
As you've probably guessed, that title has nothing whatsoever
to do with what this item is all about - yes, it was a vicious
and cruel gimmick-come-advertising ploy to stop you flicking
through the pages of this illustrious magazine without giving me
the blindest sniff of your presence. Enough of the peculiar
adjectives though, let us get down to business...
If you are wondering who I am (it's a philosophical point, and
a valid one at that, so no sniggering) then I'll tell you - I
can't say fairer than that, can I? If you've seen a certain
issue of FRED, within which was a DISK MESSAGE CREATOR, and you
broke into the program (naughty old you!) and listed it, then
you will already have met me and my less than sane listings -
personally I think the 'DEAD BASS-RELIEF PROCEDURE' sketch was a
masterpiece of comedy (my apologies to all Python fans for my
blatant sacrilege against this most sacred of the team's works).
Whether you've cracked into the program or not, I'll let you
know who I am. I just happen to be named Simon Cooke, and
hopefully my rantings will continue in FRED for some time to
come (eh Colin, what d'ya think, eh?!), at least if GCSE's allow
SC ALIEN SPACE VIXENS INVADE FRED MAGAZINE SHOCK (CTD)
me the privilege of doing so. Whether they do or not, I'm here
at the moments, and that's what counts (I hope). I hope this has
been entertaining so far (YESSSSSSSS!). If not, please don't let
Colin know, or else I won't be able to write again. Let me know
instead, and then I'll be able to rip the letters up, safe in
the knowledge that Colin has never, and never will, see them and
promptly ban me from airing my views again. Talking about Colin,
I know where he got the name of FRED from (Colin, send me £500
in used tenners, or I reveal the negatives to the police - ok
Col'?). And I'm not telling you.
To continue with the general mayhem and overall frivolity, I
now have the pleasure to announce a competition for FRED!!! All
answers on a postcard to FRED magazine - the winner who is
pulled out of my duvet cover will be graced with his name
appearing along with what I have written. The competition
question is:
HOW DO YOU SPELL "ENVIRONMENT"?
Note: this is not in any way supposed to incur that FRED readers
are as thick as two short ones. Honest. Bye Y'all!
Letters
At last, I've got the hang of useing this notepad ( I hope)
So what am I writing to you about ? Well I have received 3
issues of FRED (8,9,10) and I think I can now give an honest
opinion of FRED, It's great! yes I can say with my hand on Liza
Minnelli's bottom (or any part of her for that matter, but
that's besides the point) ahem,one cold shower later, it's the
best mag for the SAM. I've tried a few of the others but none
have the same mix of serious, silly and totaly ridiculous. I was
trying to think of some part of FRED I didn't like, but I can't.
The hard part is deciding which bit I like best!
Now for some thing that is bothering me, you say you have
plans for a new venture in the summer, and also subscriptions
can only run until issue 20; does this mean that FRED may cease
to be in the near future?
This would be a great shame,as from what you write
in FRED you have started this mag up from scratch without any
support from outside; then just as your readership is on the up
(hopefully) after being mentioned in CRASH and the SAMCO
newsletter, you seem to be on the verge of giving it all up.
Letters...2
Now I realise that you can't run FRED at a loss to
yourself but if all else fails then try putting the price up 50p
or a £1 Because from what I have seen there are only 2 mags for
the coupe woth buying (What, you mean there is another?) yup
'fraid so, the only other mag I will get on a regular basis is
OUTLET, so come on,out with it, will there be a FRED after issue
20?
That takes me nicely on to my next little moan, RED
DWARF! what has happened to it? One week it's on then the next
we have Frankie Howerd saying "titter ye not" now I like Mr
Howerd but I like RED DWARF a lot more, especialy the episode
where they picked up the G.E.L.F. and cat saw his perfect mate!
I was in hysterics! and poor old Kryten enacting the final
scenes from Cassablanca. Come on BBC2 re-run them soon.
Finally, (huge sighs of relief all round) Music
(eh) my pet subject (get down shep) no, not that type of pet,
honestly where do you get these ideas from? Heavy metal is OK, I
used to follow MOTORHEAD all the time in my younger days (oh no
not another "when I was a lad "story) but as I have got older
Letters...3
(I'm 29 now) my tastes have widened to include classical ,very
5ight jazz plus more 40s 50s and 60s stuff for instance I have
got ORFF, CARMINA BURANA spinning in the CD player as I write,
but I also listen to AC/DC, DR. HOOK. THE SEX PISTOLS, ABBA and
my all time favorite PANDORAS BOX, music at it's very best. Did
you know that headbanging can cause all sorts of head injuries?
You do now.
Right I'm off now (at last) so good luck with FRED
and any future ventures (and exams....very important for life,
and I won't even mention 'ologies)
Yours,
Michael Barker.
THIS LETTER MAY BE USED IN FRED EDITED AS YOU SEE
FIT OR RETURNED UNUSED, AND UNLOVED.
Thanks for the letter Mike, I can now (exclusively) reveal
that I do not now plan to stop FRED at issue 20. This does mean
that I will take subscriptions past issue 20 so get subbing -
it's £1.50 an issue from now on remember.....
AJ MASTERDOS USERS READ ON....
Right all you MASTERDOS users out there,you lucky people you!
This is an important notice (well I think so any way!).
Andy Wright claims that he has cured all the bugs that he can
find in earlier versions of MasterDos.To upgrade to the latest
version,2.0,send him your ORIGINAL copy of Masterdos with an
SAE,and he will send you free of charge version 2.0.
Andy Wright can be contacted at:-[redacted]
Andy would also like to hear from anyone who thinks they have
found new bugs in SAMBasic or MasterDos because he hopes to cure
them in future upgrades.Also write to him about those basic
commands you have always wanted,for Extended-Basic.
AJ DUST COVERS REVISITED
After Colin's review of dust covers for your Coupe,in issue 9
I decided it was time to get one for my Coupe.I got the one
available from Steve's Software and was very pleased with it.
I also noticed on an advert that Steve was selling dust covers
for printers as well.So I wrote to him,stating my printer
model,(if anyone's interested it's a Citizen 180E,but I wouldn't
mind exchanging it for a Colour Citizen Swift 9 from P.B.T
Electronics,dream on kid!).I had a reply back stating that it
would cost me £6 so I sent away my money eagerly and waited.
It's made out of the same white material with a blue edge,and
it matches really well with my other with my Coupe dust cover.
Both now stand proudly in the corner of my room!The dust cover
covers not only the printer but it also is big enough to cover
the printer's tractor unit as well!Well worth it's £6 to keep my
printer clean etc.As I said earlier write stating your printer
model and he will send you the price.The address can be found on
his advert.
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR SALE-Hundreds of Speccy games,including hits such as
Indy,Op Wolf,Op Thunderbolt,Chase H.Q.,Stormlord etc. etc.
Prices vary from 50p to £5.Send me an SAE and I will send you
a complete list of the games.Andy Jones,[redacted].
FOR SALE-Mind Games 1 and Pipemania both for the SAM Coupe and
on disc.Mind Games £7 and Pipemania £10 both at bargin prices.
My address is above,Andy J.
Still wanted - old(ish) Spectrum software - contact me at FRED
I'm also wanting any books based on learning Z80 m/c, assembly
language, PASCAL and MS-DOS. I'm not joking - I really do need
to learn all these!! PLEASE get in touch if you think I'd be
interested in anything you have eg. A PASCAL program for the
Speccy - I can't find one anywhere.
* Remember, this service is free - just send your 'fied ad in
on a disc and I'll lob it "in the next available issue"
AJ STEVE'S SOFTWARE
Steve's Software is working on version 2 of SC_FILER.This
version will be 99% written in machine code.It will included
many new features such as word wrap,justify etc.This new version
should be ready around June/July.
Later in the year Steve's Software is releasing a Monitor
program for SC_ASSEMBLER.With a new version of SC_ASSEMBLER
coming out early next year.
Also coming from Steve's Software later this year is an
interesting piece of hardware,SC_CARTRIDGE.SC_CARTRIDGE is a
modified 1Mb ram back offering battery backup.This will be
useful if when you are testing a program and it crashes,all you
need to do is boot your Dos backup,press a button and there is
that valuable file!
Also coming from Steve's Software was a 40 Mb hard drive that
would have fitted into the second drive compartment,but after
speaking to Steve on the phone,he has confirmed that this
project has been cancelled,due to cost etc. but he said that
someone else was thinking of doing a hard drive.I can't wait,
though I'll have to sell my second drive for the money.
DISC A SOUND TO LIGHT PROGRAM
SC
If you are epileptic, do not use this program as it is
potentially dangerous.
To use, put in a good music tape, connect up your tape deck as
if you were getting ready to load a SPECCY game, switch it to
MONITOR mode (if you have it), play the tape and then load the
prog. If you don't have a monitor mode, pull the tape lead
gently out of the tape deck (so you can hear it, and so that -
say if you started loading something on tape into the SAM, the
border would flash - to test this, DEVICE T, LOAD"" and have a
look - if it's in the deck far enough you should have an
aggrevated border).
The rest is sheer pottery in motion. If the bunny bit needs
explaining, pressing 0 changes the parameters for it. The colour
change width is how long it takes to change colour in the colour
cycle when setting up (or the width of the bars)
The hole radius is how big the hole in the middle is, and the
maximum disc width is actually the radius of the whole thing .
The direction is the direction in which the colours cycle.
DISC A SAM Disc Message Creator v1.0
SC
This program, written especially for FRED is a Disc Message
Creator i.e. if the disc is catalogued, it will also display a
message. The messages it creates are best viewed in MODE 3 with
DIR 1 or DIR 2, not DIR, DIR 1! or DIR2! This program also works
with MasterDOS.
To Use: The system is cursor orientated-use the cursor keys
(when the cursor appears, that is), move the blackband cursor
around. Left and right cursor change the block the cursor acts
on, whileup and down cursors change the position in that block.
RETURN activates an option. The top left block (lined with
numbers) is the MESSAGE BLOCK. This is where the messages are
edited and shown. Scrolling through the messages is made by
pushing the top and bottom of the block. If it will not scroll,
you are either at the last or first message creatable.
The second block is the FILE-TYPE BLOCK. This shows the
current file type for the message - note that it contains more
types than SAMDOS or MasterDOS will usually display. To choose a
file-type, move the cursor into the block and move it up or down
to the type you want. When you have the one you want, simply
DISC A SAM Disc Message Creator
SC
move the cursor out of the block again. NOTE: This only changes
the type of the last message the cursor was on.
The third block holds 4 options selectable using the cursor
with RETURN to select .
INSTALL DISC - This sets up another disc for 'message-ising'
(aka as at the start).
CLEAR MESSAGE - This clears the message store
BASIC CONVERT TYPE - This converts all of the message to a
single filetype. When selected, the cursor moves to the filetype
menu. Press RETURN to convert the message to that type.
STORE MESSAGE - This stores the message on the disc.
I would like to point out that anything previously saved on
the disc will remain there and can still be loaded if the disc
has been "message-ised". Also, it is only possible to return to
the main menu by pressing escape and F9. I would advise you to
list the whole program in mode 3.....
Hope that covers everything! Yours faithfully, SIMON COOKE
DISC A
This months SCREEN$ are by Simon Cooke with the last one
("Pluto") by Allan Norton - "my dog which I have just had to
have put down.This is the last photo taken of him at Christmas,
he was 15 years old and suffering from arthritis and in constant
pain. This is a sort of memorium to him...hope you can use it"
Music Mania - short tunes from Mike AJ
Scrollers by AXE etc
Drumz by Andrew Monk - select freehand and press the numbers
for different drumbeats or use record then playback!
M/C lesson 6 from our very own Steve "Wizard" Taylor
Blast your opponent out of the sky in the two player LAST
STAND from AXE.
FRED's own HIGHWAY ENCOUNTER - not advisable to memorize these
for a driving test!!!
Mandlebrots from Mike AJ
Sliding Puzzle from Nick Humphries aka The Cursor
Type LOAD"MGT" for a special report originally in CONTACT but
who kindly allowed me to use it. Thanks Contact and Andy Jones
for arranging it.
DISC B
The official Sound Sampler sound-light program - connect your
sound sampler, load up,plug in, blast the music and away you go!
Not only were you amazed by Trip-a-Tron and Trip-a-Tron 2 but
now you can be bewildered by Trip-a-Tron 3 from Ian Slavin.
A bit of humour in FLASHY from Ian Slavin aka AXE
Can't program music? Let the Sound Generator from Ian Slavin
make it easy for you - full instructions and help given.
To accompany the m/c series here we have a full Z80
disassembler sent in by Frode Tennebo (although I don't think he
programmed it)
No Way Back was so popular on FRED 8 that the MASTERS OF MAGIC
have done it again with PURGE : NWB 2!!! Just listen to that
groovey music on the title screen! and you havn't played the
game yet!!!
A superb interupt driven tune (press a key on the title
screen!) with neat animation is brought to you by MIKE AJ
Following the huge success of the ENCOUNTERs series I can
announce two more - ROCKET, the original one and CAR which I
love! Just load up and laugh.
DISC B
Confuse your brain! Astound your eyeballs! Figure out some
PARADOXICAL puzzles brought to you from the one and only AXE!
And lastly (yes, it's more from Ian Slavin!) are two smart
demos which don't do much really but who cares. The MAD TANK and
WHIRLY THING are their names and there'll be more of them next
month!
And that ends this months description of the AXE disc....oops
I did off course mean FRED 11B but what's the difference? Not
very much really!
I have had numerous requests asking for the ability to return
straight to the main menu after loading something. Because of
the wierd menus etc I can advise you that you will have to reset
your coupe after almost EVERYTHING. That way it'll be a nice
surprise when you don't have to..... good logic eh?
Keep those contributions rolling in folks - stocks are running
short after this issue!
On disc A, in BITS'n'BOBS I would advise you to boot your DOS
then load "SPINTHING" as loading it from the menu seems to
corrupt it somehow...any explanations?
PIRACY IS THEFT!!
by R Henchcliffe
This is a subject I feel very strongly about. The SAM Coupe
world is very small and can NOT afford PIRACY. The majority of
my friends own AMIGAs or STs most of them have very few original
games and conversations often go like this....
A- 'My brother's hacked ...XX... , and I can get a copy.'
B- 'Can you copy ...XX... for me then ?'
A- 'Only if you copy ...ZZ... and ...YY... for me!!'
B- 'O.K. !'
The next day the two people (or sometimes more!!) come back to
school armed with PIRATE copies of games. They might as well be
steeling them from the shop!!!
I hope that this never happens in the SAM Coupe area of
computing, I know that most people would not consider PIRACY,
but here is a warning for those who do...
R Henchcliffe PIRACY IS THEFT!!
PIRACY IS THEFT, THEIVES WILL BE PROSECUTED WITH A FINE OF UP TO
£2000. (or 6 months inside - CM)
The number of F.A.S.T. (Federation Against Software Theft.) is:-
[redacted]
A £1000 reward is given for information leading to a prosecution
and conviction.
The only reason I have not informed them about the activities at
my school is that I would feel as if I was selling my friends.
Now that I've got that off my chest, I might see what I can buy
with £1000, a few copied games maybe....
"Allo,Allo,Allo, whats goin' on 'ere then...you're nicked son."
"Byeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!"
Finishin' Up!
Andy Jones would like me to tell y'all that when you create a
diary program, take the "special" font from Flash! so that it
loads it up as soon as your diary loads. Then only when you type
in a password will the normal font be loaded and the text can be
read as usual! ingenious eh?
Throughout these distinguished pages the writer's initials may
appear in the top left. Here follows a key :
AJ - Andrew Jones LG - Leon Gierat
SC - Simon Cooke (cookie!) SH - Simon Hindle
AM - Andy Moore
I would like to sincerely and truely thank each and every
one of the above - but I havn't got time so Cheers Fella's! Your
articles are much appreciated and I hope I'll here more from all
of you because I think your articles are great.
All unmarked articles are (obviously!) written by me.
** After the credits page are numerous "special interest"
articles which are all brilliant but too long to go before the
credits page. The articles include 128K emulator, book reviews,
WWF articles , house report and a Jimi Hendrix feature. Ta **
CREDITS
Thanks incredibly much to :
Simon Cooke Ian Slavin Mike AJ
Andy Jones Simon Hindle Andy Moore
Andy Monk Dan Doore Neil Holmes
Stuart Leonardi Nick Humphries Leon Gierat
Adrian Parker Steve Taylor J. Whitton
Frode Tennebo R. Henchcliffe Allan Norton
Issue 12 will be out on the 7th July.
So send your £1.50 for it now. Cheques/POs to FRED. Send cash at
your own risk - no responsibility will be taken for lost cash.
Unfortunately, due to a "slight" change of address, please
don't bother phoning me at the usual number as I won't be there
until mid-August but continue to send mail to the usual address
- I will get it a couple of days later but please be patient!
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE
Hiya! Welcome to the first club scene with me, Andy M, in which
I'll be reviewing all the latest club music - which includes
house, rap, soul, hip hop, swing beat and techno. And so,
without further ado...
Albums/LP's/Compilations
------------------------
Thin Ice - Various artists
A bangin' (i.e. very good indeedy) compilation from the makers
of the "Deep Heat" series. Whereas lately the Deep Heats have
gone too commercial and 'poppy' for my liking, Thin Ice brings
back the hardcore club music - and how! Excellent value for
money (26 twelve inches - including quite a few exclusive
remixes) with a good variety of styles, this is THE club
compilation to buy! Look out for Thin Ice 2, which I
confidently predict will shortly follow...
Rage - Various
Another competent club compilation, with a similar variety of
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (continued)
of styles, although to be honest a few other tracks (Jazz Thing
in particular) shouldn't have been included, because they don't
fit in with the rest and won't get you dancin'. Still, most of
the tracks are absolutely bangin' and as a whole, Rage rates
very highly in my book.
Reggae ows me money - The Ragga twins
The creme de la creme of reggae/ragga music. Unfortunately,
the superlative 'Ragga Twins Devout' is not included in this
otherwise faultless album.
Megabass 3 - (mixed by) The Mixmasters
Featuring three very large mixes which include many of the
latest house/soul/rap records. As good as the mixes are, you'd
be better off investing in a compilation such as Rage for value
for money.
Bass, Breaks and Bleeps - Various
The only collection of bleep music that I recommend, because
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (continued again)
it's the only one I've heard. Although a couple of the tracks
included are a bit of a disappointment (Evolution is totally
crap and totally undanceable to), most are the ELITE of bleep
from artists such as The Scientist and LFO. Bangin' stuff
indeedy!!!
Blue Lines - Massive Attack
A fairly good collection of soul from Massive Attack,
including the classic (and my personal favourite) "Unfinished
Sympathy", and their latest hit single "Safe From Harm". Worth
buying if you like this sort of thing.
Ex:El - 808 State
A perfect album by the perfect band. (In my opinion).
The White Room - The KLF
A big disappointment. "3am Eternal" and "Make It Rain" are the
only two bangin' tunes on it. They have massacred their
masterpieces "What Time Is Love?" and "Last Train To
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (more writings from Moore)
Transcentral", and the rest of the album is not at all their
usual style. Hardly bangs.
Singles
-------
Last Train to Transcentral - The KLF
A masterpiece. They have redeemed themselves.
Fairy Dust/Music And Noise - Set Up System
My fave rave at the moment. Very hardcore Euro style house,
with a meaty drum beat and a hard style that's bound to get you
dancin'. The big bang!
Not Serious - MacKenzie
My equally favourite rave and just as big a bang. Very
powerful tune indeed, again hardcore European house, which again
will get you dancin'.
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (Yet More Moore)
Come With Me Tonight - Afterdark
Yet more German/Belgian/European stuff - a lot of good stuff
coming from over there at the moment. What can I say, except I
can't remember how it goes. I remember liking it very much,
though, whatever it was!
Come To The Madness - Venus 1999
A very well put together track indeed, with all the elements
of a house classic - powerful drum beat, bass line and an
addictive tune.
Mario Brother - Turntable Hype
A good bangin' dancin' tune with a suspect beginning, which
includes a few samples from the game of the title. However, it
is curiously likeable the way they've put it together.
Temptation - Corina
A different tune, which I like.
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (Soft, strong and very very...)
Better Than Sex (ooer) - Dee Gorgeous
I'm not sure that it is but it's still a bangin' tune.
Such A Good Feeling - Rythm Orchestra
It really is such a good feeling (ya don't say - Cookie) -
by that I mean it's a good hearted professionally done track.
Bound to become a classic!
To Be House - SSR
Another good spirited, cheery tune. Bangin'
Enter The Darkness - Holy Noise
Eerie, powerful tune, in the Euro style that's so in at the
moment.
I Say Yeah - Secchi
Not hardcore house music, but with an element of soul mixed in
for good measure. All together, bangin' more than Kim Basinger
in 9 1/2 Weeks.
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (Bangin' On...)
Anasthasia - T99
VVVVVVVVVery powererful expertly put together to
produce a tune so bangin' it's addictive. Although the Valentine
boy's remix doesn't really work because the vocals by 'Sly'
don't fit in.
Is this a Dream? - Love Decade
Classical tune with classical lyrics. Classicly bangin' stuff.
Summer's Magic - Mark Summers
It puts you in a good mood, it really does, with the theme
from the Magic Roundabout playing in the background. There's a
version of it on Rage and Thin Ice, so if you plan to buy them,
don't buy this, even though it is very good indeed.
Faith - Rozalla
A bit soul-ly, not hardcore house at all, good stuff, that's
about it, really...
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (Very large, hairy stuff)
I Wanna Sex You Up - Colour Me Badd
Liked it at first, but it just keeps on repeating, it's a bit
soppy for my liking, it's not very original, it won't get you
dancin' and (finally) it's just plain sad.
90 In Motion - Cubic 22
Absolutely bangin'. They have squeezed in a lot of variety in
one tune, and it's bound to go down in house history as one
party-on-down tune.
Escape - Gary Clail/On-U Sound System
Easily recognisable as a Gary Clail track, fairly good stuff,
although I prefer the flip side track. Recommended if you liked
Human Nature.
We Are Back - LFO
A total and utter banger, I even prefer this to their debut
single LFO. Very addictive and varied tune, which will get you
ON THAT DANCEFLOOR DOIN' YOUR THING! Er, maybe not.
AM ANDY M'S CLUB SCENE (The final nuke drops) (BANG!)
Euphoria - Analysis
More excellent bangin' European house, with a hard tune.
Powerful drumbeat, powerful stuff indeedy.
Protein - Sonic Experience
Another hard, bangin' track, in the same style as Euphoria.
Note! Like all precious things, many of my recommended singles
above are hard to obtain. If you live near Manchester, go to
Eastern Bloc, the house authority, cos they'll have everything
in.
Otherwise, you're f****d.
Look out for the following singles in weeks to come:
Wicked Funk, Hypnosis, Utopia, Psikology, Deep In My Heart,
Piano Please, The Party, Come On, Love Desire, Break, Art FX,
Gravity, Inner Light, The Manic Track and that's yer lot. Bye!
SH WWF Update (By Simon Hindle)
So then, the latest craze to sweep the nation reaches FRED
magazine! For those not in the know, this is wrestling -
outrageous playacting at its best. Don't get me wrong - I love
it... and I'm almost 17 (age, not IQ...). At first, I want to
introduce you to the wrestlers - these are easily defined as
either "Goodies" or "Baddies". This month, we'll look at all the
goodies...
---------------------------------------------------------------
HULK HOGAN aka "The Immortal" aka "Real American". Easily
recognised with his yellow trunks and red bandana, he
is the current World Champion and everybody's hero. I
don't really like him.
Finishing Move - Legdrop
----------------------------------------------------------------
BRITISH BULLDOG aka Davey Boy Smith. This is my favourite - a
lad from Wigan. One of the shortest wrestlers in the
WWF, he is also one of the most powerful. Accompanied
by his bulldog, Winston.
Finishing move - Running powerslam
SH WWF Update (Continued)
ULTIMATE WARRIOR - Former World Champion. Another Power House,
this fighter is brilliant, wearing warpaint as he
fights.
Finishing move - Gorilla Press
----------------------------------------------------------------
JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS - Mysterious fighter, accompanied by
his python, Lucifer. His old wrestling mascot,
Damian, was recently squished by Earthquake (see next
month).
Finishing move - DDT
----------------------------------------------------------------
"HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN - Another Real American, this one is mad -
always cross-eyed. Carries a piece of 2" by 4" wood
with him and shouts "Hoooooh" a lot.
Finishing move - Running Clothesline
----------------------------------------------------------------
"TEXAS TORNADO" KERRY VON ERICH - Recently joined the WWF after
years in other federations. Comes from a famous
wrestling family. Past intercontinental belt (like
SH WWF Update (Continued)
the World Championship belt, but not as prestigious)
holder. A gentleman's wrestler - he never cheats!
Finishing move - Tornado Discus Punch
----------------------------------------------------------------
"BIG BOSS MAN" RAY TRAYLOR - Former Prison Guard, always wears a
police uniform. Brutal fighter, currently having
trouble with the "Mountie" (see next month).
Finishing move - Boss Man Slam
----------------------------------------------------------------
"ROWDY" RODDY PIPER - Glasweigian Fighter (Colin's ears perk up)
recently making a comeback. Very unpredictable.
Finishing move - Various
----------------------------------------------------------------
TITO SANTANA - A veteran of the ring, he's been fighting for
years. Very Quick.
Finishing move - Flying forearm
----------------------------------------------------------------
GREG "THE HAMMER" VALENTINE - Until recently, was a "Baddie" -
now has broken from his manager and gained
SH WWF Update (Continued)
popularity.
Finishing move - Figure 4/Hammer elbow drop
----------------------------------------------------------------
"GOODIES" TAG TEAMS
THE ROCKERS - SHAWN MICHEALS, MARTY JANETTY
Heartthrob duo who are also two of the fastest wrestlers in
the WWF.
Finishing move - double fist off top turnbuckle.
----------------------------------------------------------------
THE BUSHWACKERS - LUKE MILLER, BUTCH MILLER
Wackiest duo going. From New Zealand. (says it all, really!)
Firm fan favourites with their wacky style and a habit for
licking people (yes, licking!).
Finishing move - Bushwacker battering ram.
----------------------------------------------------------------
LEGION OF DOOM - ANIMAL, HAWK
Recent entrants into the WWF, formerly known as the ROAD
SH WWF Update (Continued)
WARRIORS. Lethal fighters - they beat Power & Glory (next
month) at Wrestlemania VII in 59 seconds!!!
Finishing move - Doomesday device
----------------------------------------------------------------
HART FOUNDATION - BRET "HITMAN" HART, JIM "THE ANVIL" NEIDHART
Formerly baddies (under the management of Jimmy Hart), they
have recently lost the Tag Team Title to the Nasty Boys
(next month). A very powerful team.
Finishing move - Hart Attack Clothesline
----------------------------------------------------------------
That's all this issue - a glossary of moves will follow soon.
Meanwhile, any questions can be answered by sending an SSAE to:
Simon Hindle,
[redacted]
(And mark the envelope "FRED WWF" in the corner). See you soon!
CM
SC POSSIBLE SPECTRUM 128k EMULATOR ON ITS WAY
Now here's something that I didn't think I'd ever be writing - a
Spectrum 128k emulator could be coming out on the Coupe soon!
Current information to hand says that it does things the hard
way - it emulates a Z80 chip (even though the Coupe's got one in
the first place) so that it can handle all of the paging, add
all of the Coupe's new keys to the keyboard (making it easier -
just use the cursor keys, and they'll work properly as if you
were pressing the appropriate keys on a 128k machine), and it
could also support the 128k music! At present the degree of
compatibility is unknown (the emulator isn't even half finished
yet), although anything that lets you play all of Ocean's latest
128k only games... It should start up looking reasonably like a
128k machine's start up, but with Snapshot and Reset being done
via F8 and F9. Also, the Snapshotter will be completely
invisible to the software, so any tricks that would have
previously made making snapshots impossible can now be bypassed.
The thing I'm most pleased about is the way that all of my old
games will now have their music back - don't you miss those good
old tunes? Ha, yes, things are looking up!
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK!!!
Yep, It's that time of year again (or as I write it is - this
article is written just before the issue 11 deadline, so it
might not be by the time you read this) - Terry Pratchett's
releasing another two books (three this time, but two usually),
one hardback, one (two) paperback. Terry Pratchett happens to be
(for the uninformed) the creator of the discworld - a flat world
carried on the backs of four elephants, which walk in a circle
on the back of the astrocheleon (space turtle/tortoise) called
Great A'Tuin. This isn't the craziest thing about it, though. I
mean, which other fantasy world exists where the Gods go around
throwing bricks through atheists windows? Or where a small
dragon can make an excellent hand weapon? Strange things aside,
Terry P is a very, very, VERY witty writer, who makes his
characters very believable, making the most amazingly enjoyable
fantasy books ever created. Back to the plot, though. Recently
(i.e. 4 days ago) released are Moving Pictures in paperback,
Good Omens (written by he and comic [should that be 'graphic
novel'?] writer Neil Gaiman), also in paperback, and the real
biggie - REAPERMAN in hardback. Read on...
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK!!! (cont)
Title: Good Omens
Publisher: Corgi
Format: Paperback
Price: £3.99
Good Omens (or more accurately, 'Good Omens; The Nice And
Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter') is a story about the end
of the world, starting from the beginning (i.e. The Garden of
Eden) and finishing with a rip-roaring, fast paced ending. The
plot centres around two Angels - one good, called Aziraphael and
the other bad, called Crawley. Over time they've become pals and
find out about the end of the world, and the birth of the son of
Lucifer. Not wanting to suddenly be unemployed, they both team
up to try and stop this event from happening. Unfortunately only
at the last moment do they discover that the child they'd been
watching (brought up by Satan worshippers) is actually the wrong
one - there was a mix up at the hospital - and so they have
little time left to sort it all out. Brilliant reading, with
lots of good gags - such as the four horsemen of the
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK!!! (CONT)
apocalypse becoming true Hell's Angels by swapping their horses
for motorbikes, and Pestilence being replaced by Pollution. One
very funny scene sees the quartet getting completely legless and
forgetting what they've got to do. Rumours from Pratchett
himself (at the Waterstone's book launch last year) say that a
film of Good Omens is in the making - which should be pretty
excellent viewing. A sequel to the book is not planned, but as
Terry P himself said, Neil Gaiman and him had so many ideas left
floating around after writing it that they COULD do a sequel. If
they do, watch out for "668 - The Neighbour Of The Beast" coming
to a bookshop near you in a Spring or Autumn soon. (Also, did
you know the M25 is the shape of the black magic sign of Odegra?
Why else do so many people get so angry with it?)
Rating: Absolutely brilliant
Marks on 10: 666 (ok, infinity. Terry P's and Neil Gaiman's work
deserves at least that much - it's so GOOD!)
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK!!! (continued yet again!)
Title: REAPERMAN (Mort II)
Publisher: Corgi
Format: Hardback
Price: £13.99
Right, got to get in the right frame of mind for this one, so on
with the CAPS in true DEATH style. REAPERMAN'S STORYLINE WAS
SPAWNED FROM A LETTER ONE WOMAN SENT TERRY. IT STARTED OFF
SANELY - "DEATH IS MY MOST FAVOURITE CHARACTER OF ALL" (FAIR
ENOUGH, HE THOUGHT), AND THEN IT WENT A BIT PECULIAR - "HE COULD
BE MY WHITE KNIGHT ON A CHARGER ANY DAY!". SO, TERRY P HAD AN
IDEA - HOW ABOUT A BOOK WHERE DEATH FALLS IN LOVE. NO, THAT
DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT. WHAT'S THE CLOSEST THAT DEATH WOULD COME TO
FALLING IN LOVE? RIGHT, THEN, HOW ABOUT A BOOK WHERE DEATH DIES?
IT'S FOR THIS REASON (AND BECAUSE PRATCHETT WANTED TO USE THE
LINE "PUT DOWN THE SCYTHE AND TURN AROUND SLOWLY") THAT
REAPERMAN HAS BEEN WRITTEN. ALTHOUGH I HAVEN'T READ IT YET (IT'S
THE ONLY DISCWORLD BOOK I HAVEN'T READ), THANKS TO THE WATERSTO-
NES BOOK LAUNCH I KNOW MOST OF THE PLOT AS TERRY GAVE IT ALL
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK!!! (continued [encore encore!])
AWAY AT THE TIME. THE GENERAL IDEA IS THAT DEATH HAS BEEN PUT
INTO FORCED RETIREMENT, TO BE REPLACED BY A LOCAL FARMER WHO'S
PRETTY GOOD WITH A SCYTHE. YEP, HE'S BEEN GIVEN A COMPLIMENTARY
GOLDEN HOURGLASS AND BEEN TOLD HE COULD KEEP THE HORSE. DEATH
HAS BEEN SENT TO LIVE OUT HIS TWILIGHT YEARS AT A RETIREMENT
HOME, WHERE MANY PEOPLE IN HIS SITUATION HAVE SETTLED DOWN FOR
THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. THESE INCLUDE (AMONGST OTHERS) A FEW
PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BITTEN BY SOLICITORS (AND HAVE SINCE BECOME
VAMPIRES), AND A BANSHEE WITH A SPEECH IMPEDIMENT - WHEN THERE'S
A DEATH IN THE HOUSE, HE WRITES DOWN "OOEEEOOOEEEOOO" ON A PIECE
OF PAPER AND SLIPS IT UNDER A DOOR. DEATH HIMSELF SEEMS TO BE
SMITTEN AT ONE POINT, AS HE ENDS UP SEARCHING THE WHOLE
DISCWORLD FOR A PRESENT FOR A WOMAN HE KNOWS - HE'D HEARD THAT
DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND, SO HE'S LOOKING ALL OVER FOR
THE FRIENDLIEST DIAMOND ON THE DISC. IF YOU ARE WONDERING HOW I
RATE THIS BRILLIANT BOOK, IT'S THE SAME AS GOOD OMENS (AND AS
MOVING PICTURES) - INFINITY (OK, 10 ON 10). FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
BIG NEWS, NOW. A FILM OF MORT IS IN PRODUCTION!!! YES, TERRY'S
BEST LOVED BOOK IS GOING TO APPEAR ON SCREEN SOON... AND IT'S
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK (CONTINUED....)
NOT JUST A CARBON COPY OF THE BOOK FOR THE SCREENPLAY EITHER!
THE SCREENPLAY (WRITTEN BY TERRY HIMSELF) WORKS IN SOME OF THE
IDEAS HE WANTED TO PUT INTO THE BOOK, BUT COULDN'T QUITE PUT
INTO WORDS, AND SOME OF THE IDEAS HE HAD AFTER MORT WAS
PUBLISHED! CAN'T WAIT FOR IT, MYSELF!
Title: Moving Pictures
Publisher: Corgi
Format Paperback
Price: £3.99
Talking about films, here's Pratchett's latest paperback.
Released last year in hardback, Moving Pictures is the story of
the magic of Hollywood coming to the disc. Starting with the
discovery of Octo-Cellulose (the disc's version of Celluloid)
and how to make films with it (using the critical fusion
frequency of 25Hz - magic can never make anything exist for more
than a fraction of a second - it's really for manipulating
things more than creating them) - using cameras where the imps
SC PRATCHETT'S BACK!!! (MORE writing?!?!)
have to paint REALLY fast. The story goes on, with the magic of
Holy Wood drawing everyone to be a part of the movies. In true
(golden age) Hollywood style, everything is way over the top -
including the greatest love story ever told - "BLOWN AWAY",
(with a thousand elephants!). Eat banged grain in excitement as
you watch the films from such studios as Century of the Fruitbat
and Paramountain. Sit in awe as the creatures from the dungeon
dimensions come and try to take over the discworld!!! (actually,
that last bit's a major part of the plot!) Yes, it's a case of
spot the film references (how about the Blues Brothers) in one
of Pratchett's funniest books. Funnier than Sourcery and Mort,
even! (Sourcery had me laughing out loud in an exam room during
a revision period at the end of 4th year last year - much to the
annoyance of those revising around me)
Again, brilliant. Not very objective reviews are they?
LG ESSENTIAL HENDRIX
These albums are a must for all JIMI HENDRIX fans.They represent
his talents in various stages and styles, up until his death in
1970.
STUDIO ALBUMS
These are often more complex than live albums making the most of
multitrack recording studios.A good example of this is on the
"RAINBOW BRIDGE" soundtrack where Jimi records 16 guitar parts
and then overdubs them (Star Spangeled Banner).
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? : Jimi's first album with the 'Experience.
Good solid Hendrix.Every track is *****!
TRACKS:Foxy Lady;Manic Depression;Red
House;Can You See Me?;Love or Confusion;
I Don't Live Today.\ May This Be Love;
Fire;Third Stone From the Sun;Remember
Are You Experienced.
AXIS : BOLD AS LOVE : Jimi's second 'Experience album.Classics
on this album include "Spanish Castle
LG Magic"and"Little Wing"
TRACKS:EXP;Up From the Skies;Spanish
Castle Magic;Wait Untill tomorrow;Ain't
No Telling;Little Wing;If Six Were Nine.
\ You've Got Me Floating;Castles Made Of
Sand;She's So Fine;One Rainy Wish;Little
Miss Lover;Bold As Love.
ELECTRIC LADYLAND : Jimi's third and final studio album with
JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE.Elements of jazz,
Blues,Pop, in fact every type of music
possible!
TRACKS:And The Gods Made Love;Electric
Ladyland;Crosstown Traffic;Voodoo Chile.
\ Little Miss Strange;Long Hot Summer
Night;Come On;Gypsy Eyes;Burning Of The
Midnight Lamp.\ Rainy Day Dream Away;1983
(A Merman I Should Turn To Be);Moon Turn
The Tides...Gently,Gently Away.\ Still
Raining, Still Dreaming;House Burning
Down;All Along The Watch Tower;Voodoo
Chile (Slight Return).
THE CRY OF LOVE : The first posthumus album.Tracks were
LG performed with various musicions not long
before his death.Early versions on the
"TRACK RECORD"label has a fold out cover
with some great archive pictures inside.
TRACKS:Freedom;Drifting;Ezy Ryder;Night
Bird Flying;My Friend.\ Straight Ahead;
Astro Man;Angel;In From The Storm;Belly
Button Window.
RAINBOW BRIDGE : The soundtrack from the film of the same
( soundtrack of the name.Highlights include "Hey Baby" and
film) "Room Full Of Mirrors".
TRACKS:Earth Blues;Pali Gap;Room Full Of
Mirrors;Star Spangeld Banner.\ Look Over
Yonder;Hear My Train A'Comin;Hey Baby.
ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY J.HENDRIX EXCEPT "She's So Fine" and
"Little Miss Strange" BY NOEL REDDING, "Come On" BY EARL KING,
"All Across The Watch Tower"BY BOB DYLAN AND "Star
Spangeld Banner" TRAD.(arranged HENDRIX).
LG
LIVE RECORDINGS
JIMI at his best.At his concerts Jimi would tear down all the
barriers and rip into his wild stage act.With no limitations to
the lengths of his tracks he would often stretch songs such as
"Hear My Train A'Comin","Spanish Castle Magic"and"Sunshine Of
Your Love"out to 15 minutes and occasionally even 20.Not many of
Jimis live recordings are avalable officially but If you go into
second-hand record shops you may be able to pick up "bootlegs"
(un-official)recordings.Be warned though these can be expensive
and are often muffled.The first set of albums listed here are
official albums which are avalable in Our Price etc.
THE JIMI HRENDRIX : The experience at thier best.Buy Buy Buy!
EXPERIENCE LIVE AT TRACKS:Fire;Manic Depression;Sunshine Of
WINTERLAND Your Love;Spanish Castle Magic.\ Red
10-12.10.68 House;Killing Floor;Little Wing.\ Tax
Free;Foxy Lady.\ Hey Joe;Purple Haze;Wild
Thing.
"EXPERIENCE" : Unfortunatly the tracks have had the ends
ALBERT HALL faded of them so you don't get the full
18.2.69 tracks.BEST BITS: All of them!
LG TRACKS:Opening Jam(Sunshine Of Your Love)
;Little Ivey(Little Wing);Room Full Of
Mirrors;Fire.\ C Blues(Bleeding Heart);
Purple Haze;Wild Thing;Voodoo Chile.
L'OLYMPIA : Typical of the earlier concerts.Lot's of
PARIS the songs of "Are You Experienced?".Hard
9.10.67 to find.
TRACKS:Killing Floor;Catfish Blues;Foxy
Lady;Red House.\ Drivin' South; Fire ;
Little Wing; Purple Haze;Wild Thing;
Sunshine Of Your Love; Room Full Of
Mirrors.
JIMI PLAYS MONTERY : Similair to above.See Jimis stage act for
VIDEO yourself.Famous sacrifice of his guitar.
18.6.67 TRACKS:Can You See Me?;Sgt.Peppers Lonly
Hearts Club Band;Wild Thing;Monterey
(Eric Burdon);Killing Floor;Foxy Lady;
Like A Rolling Stone;Rock Me Baby;Hey Joe
;The Wind Cries Mary;Wild Thing;Purple
Haze.
ISLE OF WIGHT : The second from last of Jimi's concerts
VIDEO before he died.One of his most powerfull
30.8.70 concerts covering his entire collection
LG of concert songs including a brilliant
"Machine Gun".Alas this video has been
severly edited cutting off some of the
best bits.
TRACKS:God Save The Queen;Sgt.Pepper;
Spanish Castle Magic;All Along The
Watchtower;Voodoo Chile;Freedom;Machine
Gun;Dolly Dagger;Red House;In From The
Storm.
ALL SONGS BY JIMI HENDRIX EXCEPT "Killing Floor" BY HOWLING
WOLF, "Sunshine Of Your Love" BY THE CREAM, "Tax Free"BY HANSON
AND KARLSON,"Wild Thing" BY CHIP TAYLOR, "Hey Joe"BY WILLIAM
ROBERTS,"Like A Rolling Stone "BY BOB DYLAN" Rock Me Baby"BY
B.B.KING,"Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" BY LENNON &
McCARTNY ,"God Save The Queen"TRAD,"Catfish Blues"BY MUDDY
WATERS AND "Drivin South"BY
LG
BOOTLEGS
These are only rough guides as there are many different copys
of each concert.The reviews are based on my own copys only.If
the company who produce these bootlegs have a name it will be
supplied later in the price list.
SAN DIEGO : This is sheer brilliance.Drummers out
SPORTS ARENA there will love the begining of "I don't
24.5.69 Live Today".Slightly speeded up due to
duplicating process.
TRACKS:Fire;Hey Joe;Spanish Castle Magic;
I Don't Live Today;Foxy Lady;Purple Haze
Voodoo Chile.
ISLE OF WIGHT : The full recording of the concert.
TAPE ONLY Unfortunatly very muffled.
30.7.70 TRACKS:The Queen;Sgt Pepper;Spanish
Castle Magic;All Along The Watchtower;
Machine Gun;Lover Man;Freedom;Red House;
Dolly Dagger;Midnight Lightning;Foxy Lady
;Message To Love;Hey Baby;Ezy Rider;Hey
LG Joe;Purple Haze;Voodoo Chile;In From The
Storm.
STOCKHOLM : Very early recordings of Electric
5.9.67 Ladyland tracks.Also muffled.
TRACKS:Sgt Pepper;Hey Joe;I Don't Live
Today;The Wind Cries Mary;Foxy Lady;Fire;
Burning Of The Midnight Lamp;Purple Haze;
Sunshine Of Your Love:Voodoo Chile.
ALL SONGS BY J.HENDRIX EXCEPT "Sgt.Pepper"BY LENNON&McCARTNY,
"God Save The Queen"TRAD.,"All Along The Watchtower" BY BOB
DYLAN,"Hey Joe"BY WILLIAM ROBERTS AND "Sunshine Of Your Love" BY
THE CREAM.
RADIO SESSIONS
OVER the years the 'Experience recorded many radio sessions all
over the world.Only a few of these are officially avalable but
you can probably obtain bootleg copies of most.
THE JIMI HENDRIX : BRILLIANT STUFF!These recordings cover a
EXPERIENCE wide aspect of Jimis songs.The best
RADIO ONE SESSIONS among equals being the incredible
LG "Drivin South", an instrumental.If you
don't go and buy this now your either mad
or you already have it.
TRACKS:Stone Free;Day Tripper;Radio One
Theme;Killing Floor;Love Or Confusion.\
Catfish Blues;Wait Until Tomorrow;Drivin'
South;Hear My Train A'Comin.\ Hound Dog;
Fire;Hoochie Koochie Man;Purple Haze\
Spanish Castle Magic;Hey Joe;Foxy Lady;
Burning Of The Midnight Lamp.
THE JIMI HENDRIX : This is a very early recording with
EXPERIENCE Vol.II tracks from radio sessions all around the
limited ed.(30) world.As there are only 30 though it may
be hard to find.
TRACKS:Catfish Blues;Foxy Lady;Purple
Haze;Purple Haze;Purple Haze;Wild Thing;
Hear My Train A'Comin.\ Foxy Lady;The
Wind Cries Mary;Rock Me Baby;Red House;
Purple Haze.
LG
ALL SONGS BY J.HENDRIX EXCEPT "Day Tripper"BY LENNON&McCARTNY,
"Killing Floor"BY HOWLIN WOLF,"Catfish Blues"BY MUDDY WATERS,
"Drivin South" BY ,"Hound Dog" BY LEIBER&STOLLER,
"Hoochie Koochie Man"BY MUDDY WATERS, "Hey Joe" BY WILLIAM
ROBERTS AND "Rock Me Baby" BY B.B.KING.
PRICE LIST
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? * £4.99
AXIS:BOLD AS LOVE * £4.99
ELECTRIC LADYLAND * £8.99 - DOUBLE ALBUM
CRY OF LOVE * £4.99
RAINBOW BRIDGE @ £4.99 - FOLD OUT COVER
LIVE AT WINTERLAND * £12.99- DOUBLE ALBUM
"EXPERIENCE" + £4.99
L'OLYMPIA ? £6.99
JIMI PLAYS MONTERAY # £9.99
ISLE OF WIGHT $ £9.99 - JUST VIDEO
£24.99- BOX SET
SAN DIEGO _ £15.00- BOOTLEG
ISLE OF WIGHT _ £?????- BOOTLEG
STOCKHOLM _ £2.00 - BOOTLEG
RADIO ONE SESSIONS ! £5.99 - DOUBLE ALBUM
THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE VOL.I å £30.00- LIMITED
* © Polydor; @ © Reprise; + © Vogue; # © Virgin; $ © BMG; !
Castle Communications; å © Pyramid; ? © Unkown; _ No ©
THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENC WAS :1966-'69;VOCALS & GUITAR JIMI
HENDRIX, DRUMS MITCH MITCHEL, BASS NOEL REDDING. 1970;VOCALS &
GUITAR JIMI HENDRIX, DRUMS MITCH MITCHEL, BASS BILLY COX.
NOTE
The prices for bootlegs are only approximate.These Records
represent what I considered his best.Obviously there are
hundered's more albums and quite a few that I have not heard.
ARTICLE BY LEON GIERAT, HENCE THE "LG" IN MOST TOP LEFT
CORNERS. I'M SURPRISED YOU CAN AFFORD FRED AFTER BUYING ALL
THESE LEON!!!
Reviews
KLAX - Enigma , £14.99
Only four months late but it was worth the wait. In case you
havn't played KLAX before here's the basic idea : you have to
catch blocks sliding down at you and put them in one of five
piles. If any three or more blocks of the same colour are in any
line then that's a KLAX and they promptly disappear (giving you
points in the meantime). On different levels you will have
different tasks to perform eg get 25000 points, get 30 KLAXes,
catch 80 blocks etc etc.
It sounds fairly simple and it is - to start with. But once
the speed gets up and two blocks the same colour are ten minutes
apart it gets tough...very tough. Fortunately you can
temporarily throw a tile back up the chutes to make room for
another but often this leads to complete confusion and you are
only allowed to drop a few tiles before it's GAME OVER to you.
It would be almost impossible for someone to mess this game up
but ENIGMA have done it - sorry, only joking. The code etc has
been ported from the Speccy giving you a run for your money and
the backgrounds have been taken from the Amiga - which is why
they are superb. Sean Conran also took the music from the Amiga
KLAX - Enigma , £14.99
and in his own words - "don't blame me for the **** tune - I
only ported it from the Amiga". Although it's not THAT bad it is
fairly short and bleepy.
Apart from the scenery there isn't much to comment on about
the graphics except that they do their job.
This has to be the most addictive game yet on the coupe (bar
Tetris). It is very compelling and will continually have you
trying to get past the level you last failed on. If you are into
puzzle games at all then this is a most definite MUST and even
if you're not I'd seriously advise you to give it a whirl. There
is not much point buying it if you already have the Speccy
version but it's still damn good.
Graphics - 77% Value - 86% You know the address
Sound - 67% Lastability - 96% just mention FRED
Gameplay - 92% Overall - 83% that's all.
A bit of a corker really.
GM_Calc - GM_Software , £9.99
I for one have been desperately waiting for this ever since
they told me all about it some months ago. And I can tell you
now - Malcolm Phillips and Gary Thomas have not let me down.
Those of you who are familiar with spreadsheets will know they
are made up of a grid in which text, numbers and formulae can be
entered so a whole line of figures can be added up,compared to
another lot, deductions (commision etc) eh.. deducted and
percentages calculated. Clever eh? but if you just alter one
single figure in that lot it will calculate it all out again for
you!!! So it's a must for anyone who does a lot of calculating
or any small businesses (yes, I use it for FRED and it's going
to prove extremely useful in the future)
So what's the facts? There are 52 columns going from A to AZ
with 100 rows (1 to 100) giving a massive total of 5200 cells!!
Entries can be text (up to 45 characters), numeric or one of a
range of formulae - just B4+B5 will display the contents of cell
B4 added to the contents of cell B5, SUM(A1.B2) will add all the
contents in A1,A2,B1 & B2. All the mathematical functions
available in basic can also be used eg *, / , SIN, COS, TAN etc.
GM_Calc - GM_Software , £9.99
Any entry which has already been input can be edited in case
of mistakes. Cells can also be copied to any other part of the
database ie you can copy half the spreadsheet including formulas
to the other half either directly or relatively ie formulas are
adjusted according to their position! Cells can also be made
absolute eg even if it copied relatively it will remain the
same. Extensive use is made of the function keys and from these
you can do most of the above as well as create histogram graphs,
sort data, erase a block of cells, copy a block, etc etc.
Control is done from the cursor keys and to keep the speed up
the contents of cells are not shown as soon as you select it,
but pressing F5 will do just that. Also if you make a few minor
alterations, the spreadsheet is not re-calculated automatically
because it takes a few seconds so you just get it worked out
after you've finished editing!
Printing can be done in Pica or NLQ (don't ask me!) or you can
just print out a range of cells or just the formulae.
GM_Calc - GM_Software , £9.99
OK, well it's not quite Microsoft Works or whatever and being
in BASIC does mean it is a little slow in places but when you're
dealing with over 5000 cells don't expect too much. The BASIC
however does have it's advantages - it's unprotected so you can
alter it to exactly suit your needs and certain aspects of the
program are explained in the manual just for that reason. Anyone
found copying it though will be severely punished! (remember you
can be fined up to £2000 or put in jail for 6 months just for
"taking a copy" of one game!)
At £9.95 it's not a toy but it is good fun just messing about
with it. It's almost essential if you have any sort of accounts
you've got to keep track of - unless you're a mathematical
genius , like me. Speaks for itself really!
GM_Calc is an excellant utility, well programmed, nicely
presented and extremely useful.
GM_Software (FRED), [redacted]
Spelling Attack , Revelation - £10.99
Now, this is more my idea of an educational piece of software
- aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. However, before I started using it
the title lead me to believe this was intended to improve
spelling - not so it seems. Upon loading up you can flick
through a modest 91 selections of "sounds" like ea, ie etc. Once
your selection has been made 5 words are spelt out and then put
in a list. Five incomplete sentances follow and the user has to
select the appropriate word to fit the gap. Thus "Spelling
Attack" is an aid to learning vocabulary and word's meanings.
There really is not much else to add in explanation of the
program - obviously I cannot comment on the usefulness of it
(having a mental age of only 4 I'm not old enough to understand
many of the words) but it certainly seems as though a child
could fairly easily learn from it - a lot of user input is
required (mainly just selections using the cursors) to hold
interest and it is fairly well presented - the letters of words
are built up individually so they are larger and a lot clearer
than usual fonts. And although the entire thing is written in
BASIC it does not lack in speed or effectivness in any way.
Spelling Attack , Revelation - £10.99
Presentation is fairly good - past the loading screens there
are little graphics but I discovered a few neat effects - on a
selection between two words the chosen one (no, I'm not going
religious!) is scrolled up into position and the wrong one is
scrolled off screen. Simple but it shows that thought has gone
into the production of SA.
This is the second educational release on the coupe by David
Philpot and if he keeps up this standard, long may it continue.
If you feel a child is not learning what he should by way of
vocab then this will easily help a great deal. The date and name
of child is input so it can be displayed on the "certificate"
after completing a section, which can be printed out for the
record. (La de dee, la de da,la de dee, la de da ????? sorry!)
A useful aid for any educational means which develops in steps
from the basics right through to the more complicated words that
even I don't understand like insufficiently or ineffectiveness.
And a 6 year old is supposed to answer questions on those sorts
of words? I've got no chance then.
Send orders to SAM Computers Ltd and mention FRED!!!!!
SAMbus - SAMCO , £49.99
Not much to say here but it provides four extra extension
ports so if you happen to have more than one interface to shove
in the back then it is extremely useful albeit expensive.
It also features the real time clock which, when used with
MDos allows files to be date and time stamped (if you have
MasterDOS then type DIR DATE and you should see that some of the
files on this disc will be date stamped.) Naturally because it
has a built in battery (which recharges when the coupe is
switched on) it will still store the time/date when it is
disconnected or switch off!
If you have a couple of interfaces then it's a bit of a must
although it is very expensive for what it does - I havn't had
any problems with it except that when I bought mine there was no
cover for it but it should be available by now.
Available from SAMCO at : SAMCO (FRED)
[redacted]
Flexipage - Flexibase , £13.50
First of all I would like to say how much I will welcome David
Wornham's comments on my review that will undoubtably arrive in
time for next issue - he has written in defense of Fleipage in
response to every review of it for the coupe!
I guess this was the first educational program for the coupe
and has already shown it's usefulness on the Spectrum scene for
quite a while - being used in Police stations across the UK
apparently. Very impressive.
This is a massive set of programs which takes hours to go
through completely and even if you do, there are one or two
facilities which allow the creation of your own "games" etc.
The most useful aspect of Flexipage in my mind is the games -
or "interactive mode" this allows you to progress through a
story which will be based on the prevention or treatment of
crime by typing in numbers to progress to the next part of the
story. Several other things spring to mind here - the Oracle/
Ceefax service, the brilliant SCEPTICALs on Piranha games and
the role playing books by Jackson/Livingston etc. Now, I don't
know which of these came out originally or if Flexipage appeared
Flexipage - Flexibase , £13.50
first but I don't care - all I'm saying is they all use similar
methods of control.
The editing system for these "games" is very extensive and
easily allows you to make your own incorporating graphics (whihc
may be created using the graphics designer included) sound FX
and other handy details. This would be a very good idea because
I wasn't overly impressed with the ones included - the morals of
the stories were fine but although choices are frequently given,
wrong selections just prompt a "telling off message" and
continue as if the correct choice had been made so there is very
little choice in actual fact. The graphics also leave a lot to
be desired - actually, apart from the adverts for almost every
other magazine (except FRED) to encourage them to plug Flexipage
the whole thing is little better than a Spectrum. The latest
version might be improved by now though... When I got my copy I
received a 72 page manual which is aimed at Spectrum owners but
the occasional comment for the coupe might be found - just to
confuse matters the whole manual is set out not in pages but in
300 sections with up to 8 sections on one page!
Flexipage - Flexibase , £13.50
A Coupe specific manual has created recently unfortunatly I
don't have a copy but I imagine it would help clear up some of
the confusion. Present Flexipage owners can get it and more for
just £1.50.
This has very clearly been written with educating in mind and
it certainly covers a lot of ground which children should be
taught - overall it would prove very useful in learning as there
are plenty of other programs which I havn't mentioned to hold
attention and has plenty of room for creativity. Graphics let it
down a lot but it is well presented and laid out.
Very extensive.
Only £13.50 if you mention FRED (or SDC, TURBO, FORMAT,
OUTLET, ENCELADUS, CONTACT, EDITION....)
from : FLEXIBASE SOFTWARE , [redacted]
ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE ROBOT MONSTERS - ENIGMA , £14.99
AJ
What a mouth full imagine saying that 10 times,as quickley as
possible!Or as it's known by it's friends E.F.T.P.O.T.R.M even
more of a mouthful!
Well what's it like I can all here you say...well it's totally
c**p!Ha! Ha! fooled you all if you must know it's totally and
utterly brill and I mean Brill with a capital "B",but there are
some points that I'm not happy with.Now let's begin from the
beginning shall we.Now are we all sitting comfortably.Good I
shall begin.Once upon a time...
Sorry I just don't know what came over me.Right as I was
saying there are a few ifs and buts about E.F.T.P.O.T.R.M (in
future let's just call it R.M (makes life a lot easier)).
First when you load it up you have a good mode 4 screen,fair
enough but when you actually get in to the game intro its looks
like and probably is mode 1 screen$,which probably came from the
old Speccy which is a bit of a shame.Why they couldn't have
ported the screen$ over from the ST I do not know.Answers on a
postcard to Colin at the usual address!
The music is pretty good,and as usual it's by Sean Conran.
AJ EFTPOTRM - ENIGMA , £14.99
Once you get in to the actual game though,all the graphics are
mode 4,even the bits in between levels!
When I spoke to Colin he said that there were bugs in the
program,I have had the computer crash once and thats's all.Also
he said there was no end of game sequence,pity really,but there
you go.I have only got on to the fifth factory,at the time of
writing this (I only played the game about 5 times!).By the time
you read this I should have(doubt it though)finished the game
and seen for myself.The game is very,and I mean VERY addicitive,
so if you have got any sense (what are you reading FRED for
then?) don't buy it if you're short on time - you'll never stop
playing it - it's as addictive as Tetris.
The graphics are on par with DOE.Old Jake looks abit like Nick
Roberts,but there you go!
Right to sum it up then:-
PRESENTATION 81% GRAPHICS 82%
SOUND 85% PLAYABILITY 84%
ADDICTIVITY 91% OVERALL 84%
LG ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE ROBOT MONSTERS
This is the second game coded by Enigma for another companies
licence and could be the best game yet on the Coupe(I say
"could" because I haven't played PIPEMANIA yet). Firstly there
is an excellant loading screen utilizing mode 4 graphics.If you
read any of the multi format mags you will have noticed that the
intro scenes are very pretty, especially on the 16
bits.Unfortunately the intro screens are straight ported
Spectrum screens.Thankfully these are the only spectrum bits
used in the game.
When you start playing you will see for yourself how brilliant
the in game graphics are, they're clear , crisp and full of
brilliant little comic bits,e.g.if you fall over the edge of the
platform your man grabs hold of the top, waggles his legs and
then climbs back up.At the end of the level you get wacky
megabaddies,the only problem with these is you can use the same
method for all of them.
LG EFTPOTRM - ENIGMA , £14.99
At your disposal are two weapons only, Ray Gun and Bombs.When
you start of your gun is not fully charged,you can charge it up
by shooting red robots who leave behind crystals.This is the
weapon you'll use most.Secondly there are the bombs.These have
great graphics, like mini nuclear blasts!The only real use for
these is on the end of level mutha's.
GRAPHICS 93% THE BEST (IN MY OPINION) GAME ON
SOUND 82% THE SAM AT THE MOMENT-BUY IT NOW!
PLAYABILITY 95%
VALUE 99% OVERALL 94%
CM
I would tend to agree with most of these two reviews - it's
addictive and attractive but I found it far too easy. I'll
admit I didn't notice the title screens were mode 1 until
someone told me!! Nice, very nice - 82%
(by the way, that wasn't a minus sign........)
.
DRAGON TILES - FORMAT , £5.95
FORMAT called this a "taxing game" but I call it damn near
impossible. To start with it's not so much complicated but
confusing - you're faced with a pyramid of tiles (from above)
and there are either 2,4 or 6 of each tile - so you have to
match them up. The confusion comes when you try to understand
this bit - you can only select tiles that are the last tile in
their height at either side and only the above view is given so
your selection is fairly limited. Got that? you'd better have
because the instructions won't explain it - either you get
snowed under with the long explanations or utterly confused
(like me).
Once you've got the hang of the game it's hard going - there
are only a handful of tiles to match at the start but when you
get into the game you've got to spend ages scouring the board
for just one! Not only that but in order to complete it you must
also work out which way is the best - certain tiles can only be
matched if another tile is matched but they could be useless if
a different tile is matched.This is most definitely the hardest
puzzle game out - you work things out right up to the end and
DRAGON TILES - FORMAT , £5.95
you end up with just four tiles that cannot be matched because
of their positions and the next time things could never be worse
until a point when literally hundreds of matches open up and
you're in heaven (if a) your dead and b)you've been a good
little soul).
If you get stuck you can pull down a menu with various options
in it including one which will let the computer find a match -
very handy! although if there aren't any matches and you happen
to have a "season" tile lying about it will indicate that this
tile can be matched with itself!!!
Graphics are nothing special,in fact the whole game could (I'm
not going to say "quite easily") be written in BASIC but in fact
it's not. So there. This is not the sort of game I can admire
for sound and graphics but if you want to fill a few hours every
so often it's ideal.
Odd, but for £6 you'll spend many an hour at this one.
FORMAT PUBLICATIONS, [redacted]
Machine Code Tutorial #6
Greetings, one and all, to The Fred Guide To Machine Code Part 6
(yes, SIX!). Phew! What a month! I'm writing this after six
exams which totalled nineteen papers, so please excuse any
fatigue in my voice as we venture once again into the deep,
distant and dangerous land of machine code... (cue spooky music)
It is only a small article this time, by the way, courtesy of
the aforementioned exams, but I'll start with...
ROM routines part 2
=====================
In issue 10, I explained how to use some of the routines hidden
away inside your coupe's ROM by calling addresses within a jump
table. This is okay if you only want to use it as an extension
to your own programs. However, the reverse can also be true when
the ROM runs by itself and you wish to extend it using your
routines. This is done by altering values in the system
variables (page 0) to the start addresses of your routines.
Below is a list of some of these VECTORS, together with uses and
any special entry or exit requirements:
* please note - the addresses of the vectors are for RAM 0 in
the page after ROM 0. Also, you will only intercept the ROM if
the most significant byte of your new value is non-zero.
Another problem you might encounter in the future with add-ons
is incompatibility due to a use of a vector in one of your
proggies. To counter this you should add an initialisation
routine which will not only change the vector to your new
value, but will also store the existing value.
The Vectors:-
-------------
NMIV Non-maskable interrupt. This is the address called when
5AE0 the BREAK button is pressed, and normally points to an
error handler. The speccy emulators change this value to
use it as a snapshot button. On entry, AF and HL are
pushed onto the existing stack, SVARs are paged in and
the original LMPR status is held in NMILSP (5AD9). A
temporary stack is provided and the original SP value is
stored in NMISP (5AD7).
FRAMIV Called by the frame interrupt every 50th of a second,
just after the screen has been transferred to your TV,
and just at the start of the scan flyback. Oh, and all
the main registers can be used without any problems.
LINIV Hmmm. Must admit, I couldn't get this one to work, but
5AE4 I'll tell you what's supposed to happen. When the value
in the line interrupt port (249) matches the scan (ie. Y
coordinate) just about to occur, this address is
called. You can use all the main registers. If you
output any value greater than 191 to the port, the
interrupt is disabled.
MIPV After the MIDI input interrupt, this is called with A
5AE8 having been read from the MIDI IN port. All main
registers etc.
MOPV Called by MIDI output interrupt. (More on interrupts in
5AEA a future article)
RST28V This called by the floating point calculator with A=next
5A0F code to execute (I gave you some of the codes last month
and some are listed below). DE points to the end of the
FPC stack on entry, and on exit IX should remain
unchanged, with DE pointing to the end of the stack.
(You might have changed this if entries have been added
or discarded)
RST30V This vector can be used as a user RST for anything you
5AF2 want. Note, though, that, unlike other vectors, your
routine is jumped to - not called. This means that at
the RET in your vector routine, the program counter
jumps back to where your RST30 was.
CMDV Called with A=code of character about to be executed or
5AF4 syntax checked. You can use this to add new commands or
provide some other action(s) for existing tokens.
EVALUV Called with A=current character in expression to
5AF6 evaluate. You can use this to add new functions.
MTOKV Called if the ROM does not recognise a potential
5AFA spelled-out keyword. On entry, DE points to the word. On
exit, the zero flag should indicate whether or not the
keyword is valid (set=invalid). A=the token value. HL
points to the start of the word, DE points just past its
end.
KURV Called before the BASIC editor's cursor is printed. ROM1
5AFE is paged in. You could use this to supply a different
type of cursor (eg. flashing/transparent). If you want
to do this, you should junk the return address, before
returning.
OK? Now, here's an example of a use of a vector: Suppose you had
some code, or a BASIC program that wanted numbers rounded off to
the nearest integer, not just with the fractional part chopped
off, as happens with INT. Well, you could just add a half and
use INT, but the following code will change INT to do this
automatically. A couple of points - the code is located in the
"System Heap", an area of about 2.7k in page 0 which you can use
when you only know that RAM0 will be paged in, as in this case.
Also, to enable the new function call INIT (#4000).
ORG #4000
INIT LD HL,ROUND_OFF
LD (RST28V),HL
RET
;
ROUND_OFF CP #44 ; Is the command INT?
RET NZ ; If not, return
POP BC ; Junk the return address
LD (IXSTORE),IX ; IX must exit unchanged
CALL JSTKFETCH ; Get the number to round
LD HL,(FPSBOT)
LD (FPSBOT_STR),HL ; This bit just makes sure we
LD HL,(STKEND) ; use a different stack in case
LD (STKEND_STR),HL ; we corrupt it
LD HL,TEMP_FPCS
LD (FPSBOT),HL
LD (STKEND),HL
CALL JSTKSTORE ; Put the number onto our new
; stack
RST #28 ; Call the FPC
DB STKHALF
DB ADDN ; Add a half and chop fractions
DB TRUNC
DB EXIT
CALL JSTKFETCH ; Get the rounded value
LD HL,(FPSBOT_STR)
LD (FPSBOT),HL ; Restore the original stack
LD HL,(STKEND_STR)
LD (STKEND),HL
CALL JSTKSTORE ; Stack on our new value
EX DE,HL ; Set DE to end of stack
LD IX,(IXSTORE) ; Restore IX
RET
IXSTORE DW 0
FPSBOT_STR DW 0
STKEND_STR DW 0
TEMP_FPCS DW 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
;
RST28V EQU #5AF0
JSTKFETCH EQU #0124 ; ROM Jump table to routines
JSTKSTORE EQU #0127 ;
FPSBOT EQU #5BCC ; System variables
STKEND EQU #5C65 ;
;
STKHALF EQU #E0 ; FPCS command codes
ADDN EQU #01 ; (see last issue)
TRUNC EQU #30 ;
EXIT EQU #33 ;
Well, that's yer lot for this month, I'm afraid. Don't forget to
tune in next time for part 7, and remember to press for yer printout. Bye, y'all!
