Fred 22

Issue 22

Magazine

                          FREDitorial

Welcome  to  another "bonny" issue of FRED, and I won't even rub
it in that Stephen Hendry beat both the English and Welsh in the
snooker  finals!!!  It's  been  a  hectic month for me but there
doesn't  seem  to  be  much  life on the software side. The FRED
Publishing  titles are still coming along nicely - a little more
speed would help though! (hint to all FRED coders!).

For many of you, the E-Tracker demo will have inspired you.
That's certainly the response I've been getting anyway. As you
are aware, I've been getting a lot of good Sound Machine demos
ever since it's release and I think that E-Tracker will bring
out the best in people's musical abilities. So, I'll look
forward to getting lots of tracker demos for FRED.

Another program I am very excited about is the SAM Adventure
System from Colin Jordan. I know of a few brilliant adventures
that didn't get published, so if you have ordered a copy and
fancy earning some cash writing an adventure to specification,
get in touch !!
                              DMA?

A  few  of you will have heard the rumours about DMA in this and
other  magazines.  Until  recently,  I  put these down instantly
because of the cost and difficulty. Well, throughout my two week
Easter stay at SAMCo, I discovered that a member of the ESI team
are  working  on  it. Will it happen? I still doubt it but it is
something to look forward to anyway.

For those who are in the dark about DMA, here's MY understanding
of  it  :  Firstly, DMA stands for Direct Memory Access. Now for
the  techies out there : when an interface sends an interrupt to
the  processor  requesting  a memory read / write operation, the
processor has to "save" all internal registers, enable / disable
interrupts,  store  the data to be transferred etc before it can
access the memory for the operation the interface requires. With
DMA,  the  interfaces  send  their  interrupt request to the DMA
Controller (DMAC) which in turn tells the processor to stop what
its doing. The DMAC then "takes control" of the address and data
buses,  the  DMAC  then  performs  the  memory operation for the
interface and returns the buses to the processors.   Simple eh ?
                  Dedications's what it takes.

As most of you are probably already aware, I spent the first two
weeks  of  April  working at SAMCo (hence the reason FRED 21 was
actually  out  on  time  for once!). Now I'm going to tell you a
little story about Alan Miles. I know he wouldn't want me to say
this  but  it's  about time people got a little insight into his
lifestyle.  Unfortunately,  I'm not going to tell you about sex,
drugs,  drink  and women you might have hoped for so just listen
carefully :

The  second  week  I was there, I went in to SAMCo on the Sunday
(to  let  me  get  some gamesplaying done!), not to my surprise,
Alan  was  also in - and he stayed from late afternoon just into
the  early  hours. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all normal
working  days  but he worked his 9-5 as well as staying on to at
least  one  in  the morning each day! Not much free time eh? But
the  icing  on  the cake came on Thursday - just after 5pm a few
of  us  went  out  for the night and I came back (I had to get a
lift  from  Alan)  at  about  midnight.  Alan was still slogging
away.  Indeed,  we  stayed  until  5  am before leaving for home
                         Dedication...

(that's  12  hours  overtime  in one day) and Alan got up at 8am
for  another  day  as usual. Including the work he does at home,
that  must  add up to well over double the normal working hours.
So  before  you  have a little moan at Alan, think how you would
feel  if  you  had to put those sorts of hours week in, week out
just  to  keep  going.  OK,  that week may have been exceptional
but he didn't seem to think so.

Just  before  this  issue  went  out, I got some news that there
was  about  to  be  a  few  "changes" at SAMCo. With luck, these
shall  be  for  the  better  and I certainly hope thousands more
SAMs  are  sold.  Just  before  I  end  this article, I will rid
any  doubts  you  have  that  I  am  "sucking  up" to Mr Miles -
because  I  know  he  doesn't  have  time  to  even  think about
reading  FRED  and  I  would request that anyone else in Swansea
or indeed anywhere would not mention this article.



                     SCPDSA - not anymore!!

You  will  all  remember  that  I  made  it  quite clear several
months  ago  that  I  was  less  than  pleased  with the service
offered  by  the  SCPDSA  -  I  even  went to lengths of pulling
issues  18  onwards  out  of  the  catalogue in the hope that he
would "pull his socks up".

Sadly,   the   SCPDSA   has  now  decided  to  stop  it's  order
distribution   service  and  become  a  disc  magazine  -  named
SAMSATIONAL   SOFTWARE.   Hence   the   name  SCPDSA  no  longer
applies.  How  does  FRED  stand?  Well,  when  I  was  sent the
catalogue   (NOT   by  Brent  Stevens  I  might  add!)  I  found
that   he  had  decided  to  "forget"  to  include  FRED  discs!
Other   than   Enceladus  and  a  few  smaller  disc  magazines,
this   only   leaves   his   own  products!  Unfortunately,  the
quality  of  the  disc  is  not  incredibly high to say the very
least  which  leaves  it  dubious  as  to whether it is fair for
him  to  judge  the  quality  of  others. Naturally, I am biased
so I suggest you wait for other magazines to comment.

                          Lazer-Mania!

The  craze  that  seems  to  be  sweeping  the  nation  - indeed
England  and  Wales  as  well!  The  craze? The lazer game where
you   wander  about  in  the  dark  shooting  everyone  for  ten
minutes!   Having  sampled  the  "Laser  Dome"  in  Swansea  and
the "Zap Zone" in Dundee, I bring you my conclusions :

Swansea  :  22  people  in  a  largish  maze  which  features  3
levels  (using  ramps  not  stairs).  The  name  of  the game is
every  man  for  himself  ,  10  points  for  every time you hit
and   -5  for  every  time  you  get  hit!  You  have  unlimited
shots and prices are 3.50 for 20 minutes. Brilliant.

Dundee   :  18  people  in  a  smallish  maze  with  two  levels
(stairs).   You  get  4  lives,  every  20  shots  you  fire  or
every  time  you  get  hit,  you  lose  a  life.  Lose all 4 and
you   must  return  to  the  "energiser"  downstairs.  You  play
in   two   teams,   points   can   be  gained  by  shooting  the
opposition or if you get lucky - hitting their base!

                          Lazer-Mania

Price   is    3   for  15  minutes.  Still  good  but  has  much
much more limitations to the player than Swansea.

Now,   like   I  was,  if  you  havn't  been  to  one  of  these
before   you'll  be  thinking  that  it's  all  kids  stuff  and
you'll   look   daft   if  you  go.  Just  try  it  once  and  I
guarantee   you'll  go  again!!  People  of  every  age  go  and
although   it's   not   something   to   boast   about   -  it's
still good fun!


If  you've  been  to a "Lazer Zone" or "Zap Zone" or whatever in
your  area,  then we'd love to hear about it - what style is it,
was  it  over-hyped,  is  it worth travelling long distances to.
Anything  really!  One  thing  that does "excite" me is all this
Virtual  Reality  stuff. Having done a lot of research into it I
would  like to hear from anyone who has been to one - preferably
in  an  article  so everyone else gets to know about it as well.

                       All Format Shows

To your very delight, here's a list of all the All Format shows
planned for the rest of 1992 :

May -  16th at Esher, 17th at Bristol
June - 7th at Glasgow, 17th at Haydock
July - 19th at Birmingham

September - 5th at Birmingham, 12th at Esher, 19th at Donington

October - 3rd at Washington, 4th at Leeds, 10th at Glasgow, 11th
          at Edinburgh, 17th at Hammersmith, 18th at Bristol,
          24th at Haydock Park

November - 1st at Leeds, 7th at Esher, 8th at Southampton, 14th
          at Hammersmith, 15th at Bristol, 21st at Donington,
          22nd at  Washington, 28th at Haydock, 29th at Glasgow

December - 5th at Birmingham, 12th at Esher

                     All County Shows ctd

Yup, that's right, they've now split London into North and South
shows and added Edinburgh and Southampton - and are trying to
put one in Cardiff!!! Overdoing it slightly!

Here's where they are :

Glasgow : City Hall in Candleriggs- 10min walk from bus / train.
Edinburgh : Assembly rooms - off end of M8 apparently.
Birmingham : Motorcycle Museum (J6 / M42) either take bus 900
            from city centre or go to NEC and walk it (10 mins)
N London : Novotel, Hammersmith. Take the tube.
S London : Sandown RaceCourse, Esher (J9/10 - M25). Tube or bus.
Bristol : Brunel Centre, Templemeads (M32). Opposite train stn.
Leeds : University Sports Centre - end of M1.
Washington : Northumbria Centre - A194M.
Haydock : as in Haydock Park Racecourse J23/M6.
Donington : as in Donington Racecourse J24/M1.
Southampton : "via M3" location unknown!!

                         Public Discs!

Sam Buchanan, the user behind the "small but perfectly formed"
magazine, "PUBLIC" has released a few compilation discs. The
first is a demo disc which is the best demos ripped from other
mags - if you're a regular FRED reader you've got all the good
ones anyway.

The other one available is the "Picture Disc", at just a quid
for "almost 60" piccies you can't complain - or can you? Quality
unknown but mostly digitised.

He is also planning on doing a disc of the best Mouse compatible
programs - I'd like to see him try to use some of the ones from
FRED!

The latest issue of the mag costs £1.30

[redacted]


                     Supplement Software!

is the new name for the software which editor Dave Tonks is
turning out these days. First up we have no less than eleven of
his "Mega Demo" discs, the first of which was reviewed last
Summer. Each one is purely graphics ripped from the Amiga / ST
and animated on the SAM. Quality suffers badly in conversion but
there's still enough to get a giggle out of you. Hopefully, I'll
find someone to do a complete rundown on them for next month but
in the meantime I recommend you try one or two. Each costs £2
and a list of all titles can be obtained from :

[redacted]

Also ask for details about their first "3-day" software release
- games which are released 3 days apart!!! It's quantity that
counts with Dave, not quality!
                      COMPLETED ALREADY???

A mere six weeks after the launch of "Triltex- The Later Levels"
,  I  received a letter from a "local" reader saying that he was
stuck  level 17. I was totally amazed!! As I have said before, I
can  only get as far as level 4!!! Naturally, I helped out which
allowed himto progress to level 18 - and theres only 20!

Almost  exactly  two  months  after  the release Andy Jones (the
occasional  FRED writer) phoned to "boast" (sorry Andy!) that he
managed  to  reach  the  dizzy  heights of level 20, but could I
please,please,  please  tell  him  how  to  do  it! Naturally, I
refused  and  cackled wickedly (just like the Witch of the North
did  to Dorothy).The very next day, Chris White phoned from that
little software house that I cannot quite remember the name of -
something to do withdoing all in-house games for Domark, nothing
important  though.  Anyway enough putting down, he also made his
claim to getting through to level 20! Was I knockedy that he had
defeated  the  final  level.  Congratulations Andy! Both you and
other Triltex players will be pleased to know that the Triltex
level editor will appear on FRED Magazine sometime soon!
                             Misc

Maxis, the people who programmed Sim City, Sim Earth and Sim Ant
are now going to be doing Sim Body!!!

SAMCo have changed their phone line times to Monday, Wednesday
and Friday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Xtreme software want me to say that a 2 player "Crackdown" type
game is being done.....

Fancy yourself in the TV hit Knightmare? If so, and if you'll be
under 16 on August 1st, phone Broadsword on [redacted] for an
application form. And get 3 mates together as well.

Hilton Computer Services have plans to compile software lists
for the Speccy and SAM as well as organizing representives to
sell all available software at local All Format Shows.

If you want to sell KLAX or EFTPOTRM then write to Nicholas Bay,
[redacted]

                      More FRED discs????

I'm  afraid  so! Remember the Puzzled game from FRED 20 that you
all  loved?  Well,  you  may  remember  the  author was FORCE 48
software.  He  has put together four "FREDative" discs which are
discs in the FRED style but with all the programs by him. As you
saw from Puzzled, he can program, he can draw and he can compose
-  leaving  a  polished presentation to say the least! The discs
mainly  include games, demos and utilities. I will add that none
of  it  has  appeared  anywhere  before  (except for the game on
FRED20 of course).

So if you're looking for more value from your SAM, get your paws
on  these.  There  are four in total and you can get them for £2
each or get the lot for only £7!

It  is  recommended  that  you  have  MasterDOS  and  preferably
MasterBASIC  -  and  if  you  have  the  SAMbus and the external
Megabyte then these will suit your system perfectly!!!

Only available direct from FRED Publishing.
                           Misc. ctd

Issue  10 of Enceladus popped through my door the other day, and
although  I have had only a skim through it, I was not nearly as
pleased  with  it as I have been. And that's also the impression
I've had from what you've been saying. While I'm at it, I may as
well  say that both writers for Enceladus owned up to being Tory
supporters! It's a pity they aren't old enough to vote!!

Everybody's  seen  the  Burger  King advert where the "pop star"
asks for the bouncers to be in pink. When, in one of the Bowling
Alleys'  in  Dundee,  they really do wear pink! Yes, bright pink
jackets!!!

I  would  like  to  remind  you  again  to  send  orders to FRED
Publishing,  and  if  you  have  a  personal  letter for me then
address  it to Colin Macdonald. This means that someone else can
sort out FRED orders when I'm away (not unusual!).



              Le issue ou FRED nombre vingt-deux!

As all French speaking persons can tell, I can't speak French
but  I  fancied a change. Anyway, as I said in the scrolly, this
is  avery  musical and machine codical issue! Yup, lots of both!
So, lets get cracking shall we?

The  DVB have polished off another demo for FRED and here it is!
It's  called  Skully, and features the usual scrolly, animation,
music and sampled speech (the skull says "Hello, I am Skully", I
think!).

Remember  Enigma  Tape Magazine for the Speccy? Well, I stumbled
across  one  of their SAM demos and as I hadn't seen it before I
presumed not many of you would have either. It features numerous
nice  tunes ripped from the Speccy as well as a scrolly. I might
as  well  point out that it was written 2 years ago!!!  In order
to let me use this demo, Enigma held me at gun-point and made me
swear  I'd  give  them  a  plug  -  I told them to !@#$$ off and
plugged  my  fist into their face. However, I will tell you that
their  latest  development  is a puzzle type game for the Speccy
                            Contents

(although CPC and C64 versions are planned) which is, naturally,
SAM compatible. I havn't actually seen it but one of the graphic
artists  told  me  "it's  very  good".  Hmmm..totally  unbiased.
Seriously,  YS  seem to like it (a demo appeared on last months)
and  it goes for the mere price tag of £3.99. If you give them a
ring  on  [redacted],  they'll  tell  you what to do with your
money. There, plug over.

And  now,  a  Sam  Adventure  System  advert - called SAS if you
couldn't work it out!

From another Liverpudlian, The Lord Blackadder comes an accounts
package.  It's  dead easy to use (either TAB or Q quits!) AND if
you  are  lucky  enough  to  have  MasterDOS,  there's a special
version for you! The filename is "ACCNT MDOS". No probs!

That  strange  man  from  Perth (goes without saying really) has
conjured  up  another  spell-bindingly  astonishing machine code
lesson. Don't call for Superman, call for WIZ-MAN.
                           Contents

The  sound machine demos have been going down so well, I thought
I'd keep the section going. So today, we have Roger Hartley with
his  "Call  Me"  by  Blondie  (I think it's by Spagna) and Allan
Norton with "The Days Of Wine and Roses" by ...er...um.. someone
who is probably dead.

Another rip coming up! Those of you who still load up tapes will
have  seen  the  TOXIC  ELEPHANT  demo on the previous YS. Well,
Cookie   has  converted  it  to  SAM.  Wahay!!  Ahem,  naturally
permission has been obtained from both YS and the authors Steve
Anderson and Gareth Jayne. (I don't do anything dodgy!)

Another team comes to FRED! This time they're called "THOSE TWO"
and  they  have  produced  excellant  screens and sound samples.
Their  first  animated  demo  is  one  of  Robocop  and features
Robocop! Yes, well.

Lastly,  AXE  managed to complete ANOTHER brill Zeb Green demo!!
Animation and music in the "BAD" demo!!! Pump up the volume.
                           Contents

Just  to  round  up  : most demos have music, so if, like me you
normally  keep the sound turned off because of interference, now
is the time to turn it up because we've got some great music for
you  here!!  I  would  also like to apologize in advance for the
hassles  you will have - as some of the programs (4 to be exact)
are  in  machine code, they won't return to basic so you'll have
to  reset  your  machine after loading : Skully, Enigma, SAS and
Toxic Elephant. Sorry about that folks.

On  the  bits  'n'  bobs  side, we've got a Lemmings advert from
Peter  Gallagher  (if I can fit it on!), a magnifier from Cookie
and  a  thing or two from our good friend BANZAI - who's looking
for a new logo incidentally!

The  screens will be credited as they appear. Many thanks to all
contributors,  and  remember,  whatever you do : music, grapics,
games,  utilities,  demos,  articles etc FRED would like to have
them - but as it's non-profit making you'll only get fame OK?!

                    Lots of Juicy software!


  For your selection, you can pick up the wonderful Impatience
(given 90% in YS, 88% in ZAT, 150% in SU etc etc) and get
totally addicted for weeks on end for a mere £9.99.
  If you already have it then you MUST buy the Later Levels, for
only £4.99 you get an extra 24 levels as well as a few hidden
extras!!!

FREDatives cost £2 each or get all 4 for just £7.

All back issues cost a mere £1.50 each.

Subscriptions cost £8 for 6 issues or £15 for 12 issues if you
want to save some real money!

Mouse mats are now back in stock, so stop your mouse from
slipping and getting the ball filthy for just £3.

All prices include postage, packaging and all that malarky.
                            Credits

The usual grateful thanks go to :

The DVB                AXE               Banzai
Cookie                 Wiz-Man           EDS
Lord Blackadder        Jon Pillar        Total Eclipse
Those Two              Force 48          Roger Hartley
Peter Gallagher        Andy Jones        Allan Norton

And all the people I've forgotten that I told "no, I won't
forget to credit you again".

The next issue of FRED will hit your doormat sometime in the
first week of June, provided you send me £1.50 (or if you've
planned ahead and subscibed!). The address is :

[redacted]

Letters & Reviews

[redacted]

Dear Colin,

  As you and,  I  suspect,  many  FRED readers maybe getting the
latest  (and  I MEAN late) SCPDSA catalogue disk soon, you maybe
thinking that this disk will be up to the standard of their demo
disk given to you when joining.

Think again.

  This disk is  the biggest waste of money I have ever seen. The
catalogue part is very irritating to use, and when you do use it
you  will  find  it  either saying "Write to PD company for more
details"  (very useful that) or you will find that it only lists
about  half  the  disks  available  at  that  library (even more
useful).

  Then there was  the demo. All it was was about seven digitised
screens   from  the  Karate  Kid  movie  displayed  in  sequence
backwards and forwards. Instantly forgettable. Then there were
                         Nick Humphries

the  digitised  pictures  from  The Running Man. They would have
been  OK  if Brent hadn't recoloured them in. Now they just look
like yesterdays curry after being thrown up.

  Also, there was  the  news  that Brent has decided to stop the
order  service  due  to a lot  of people using it. Now he's only
selling  the Fastline and Masters Of Magic disks. So that leaves
one  question  -  what  is  the SCPDSA's purpose now that it has
relegated  itself to a diskzine? Not a wise move since the SCPDU
disk  is doing a better job covering the new PD disks. My advice
to  them  is  to improve the disk by getting a full, easy-to-use
catologue  on  the  disk  and THEN filling the space with demos,
instead  of  the other way around. Either that or go back to the
old  paper  format,  which  I  feel  is  more  appropriate for a
catalogue.

  So,the verdict on the new-look SCPDSA: large(and I mean LARGE)
room  for improvement. In a few issues time it will have got its
act  together,  so  I  advise any people thinking of joining the
                         Nick Humphries

SCPDSA to wait until then before filling out their cheques.

     Yours in a multitude of interesting ways,

                       Nick Humphries.

P.S. Can I just give a quick plug for CursorDisk One? On it is a
Pacman game (with five levels, great music and two opportunities
to  win  prizes worth over £20!), a sliding puzzle game, an easy
to  use  database  and a bonus fractals program. Only £2, that's
50p  a  program.  Can't  be bad considering that the Pacman game
could  have  easily sold for £2.50. Make cheques payable to Nick
Humphries and send it to the address at the start of the letter.


CM  :  THIS  LETTER  HAS  NOT  BEEN EDITED IN ANY WAY OTHER THAN
CORRECTING  SPELLING  MISTAKES. I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT I
COMPILED  THE  ORIGINAL  SCPDSA  DEMO  DISC  AND  THAT  FRED  IS
DEFINITELY NOT INCLUDED IN THIS LATEST DISC.
RH             More independent disc mag reviews!

   Yep, it's ol' Roger back to haunt you all again. Or sort of.
Actually, I'm not very happy at the moment as I've been told by
more than one person that I'm more than a little bit boring. So
I'll try and make all these reviews brief and snappy (sniff!)


Arcadia 4

   For some unexplained reason I stopped buying this after issue
2. It's not that there's anything wrong with it as such. Maybe
me "economising" caused it.
   I always did like this to be honest. It has always had good
editing, great graphics and is generally well put together. All
this and a reasonable £2 price tag. My only moan is that it is
generally a bit lacking. Whilst being competently put together,
and not being bad as such, it just seems a bit bare. Sadly, this
does still apply, although it must be said that it has improved.
   I actually think this mag should appeal to almost anybody. It
doesn't have incredibly childish writing (unlike some mags!),
                        Roger's Reviews

but is still humourous. If you're looking for another disc mag
to subscribe to, and are already a regular reader of all the
"big" mags like FRED, SAM Supplement et al, then this could be
for you. Why not try it?


Public 1

   Hey, a £1 disc mag! I think this is now the only one to be
able to claim that. I think you'll find two general sorts of
comments about this BEFORE trying it out; (1) "For one pound it
must be worth a go" and (2) "It's bound to be rubbish at that
price"
   Having seen it, I'm unsure. Obviously I wasn't expecting too
much at that price, but I'm not sure whether that is the right
attitude. Surely I should take a good, critical look?
   If I do that, then it's not good. I think the disc mag area
is too crowded, and to be honest we don't really need another.
To be fair, the editor Sam Buchanan seems to almost realise
                        Roger's Reviews

this, which most probably explains the price. Whilst I think the
guy sounds OK, the mag isn't. It certainly doesn't compare to
some of the other better disc mags, but I don't think I should
hold that against it. OK, so the writing isn't very good
(schoolboy-ish!)and the demos aren't exactly Lord Insanity, but
I can't help liking it.
   I really think you should give it a go, you might find you
like it (although if you're an older reader, I doubt it) and you
certainly haven't got much to lose. It's fair to say you'll get
what you pay for.


SAM Amateur Programming and Electronics 2

   Cor, what a title! Not generally the thing I'd go for, a bit
too straight faced. As I keep repeating, I love a good demo.
   However, I was surprised with this. It doesn't have much on
the demo front, but it is very professionally put together. It
does feature mainly text, but it's how the text is written that
                        Roger's Reviews

makes a difference.
   This mag is not your everyday disc mag, and I imagine it will
not appeal to most people. But then, it did appeal to me! I find
myself agreeing with Colin, that it makes a fascinating read. It
has an excellant feature on the Z80 (the SAM's processor) and
Zilog's other, later processors, which I found quite compulsive
reading.
   One common complaint which applies is the lack of a good text
reader (this also applies to Public, and maybe Arcadia). When
you are scanning through tens of pages for a little detail, you
don't want something that seems to take an age for printing
pages, and has limited options. Sorry!
   I'm unsure of price details for this one, and as I said, it
won't appeal to everybody. If you DO go for more technical types
of mag, then this may well be for you. If they can continue with
such well written features, then I would advise anyone finding
most current disc mags "empty" to try this one. "A refreshing
change"

                        Roger's Reviews

SCPDU 2

   I got the first issue of this, and wasn't too impressed I
hate to say. I found the text to be childish, and is a little
like my writing; tries unsuccessfully to be funny. It's a style
which I think is becoming far too common, even if I am an
offender myself.
   In fact, apart from containing notably more than Public,
there is hardly any difference between the two. They really are
alike, and I feel they shouldn't really be seperate mags. I do
get the impression that the two editors are in the same school,
and they really tend to plug each other.
   I haven't really got much to say for this. Whilst the front
end makes it look like the disc features a lot, it seems very
un-fulfilling. At the end of the day, I think I'd feel a little
ripped off.
   Oops, I forgot to mention that there is a freebie demo disc
with this one! Although I'm not sure whether it's worth
remembering. This is simply a BASIC (although quite effective)
                        Roger's Reviews

demo with the ol' Fuxoft music (aaargh!) and some sprites. But
when you actually take it apart, you see Brent Stevens (yes, the
SCPDSA) cheated!
   I'm sorry, I can't find anything worth recommending. Two
discs for two pounds may seem good value, but you'd be better of
leaving this alone. Still, no doubt some youngsters will find
room for it.

Public 2
  I've only just got this one, and it's actually a big
improvement! There is a little more in this, although
essentially the same style has been kept. Alright, it isn't that
big an improvement! I was just impressed by the "Tetris 2" game
on it, which I've never seen before. Apart from that and a good
music demo, it has nothing else to make it stand out from the
crowd. The samples don't impress either!
   As I've never seen the Tetris 2 game, I can advise anyone to
buy at least this issue. It's still only £1, and as I've already
said, it's hardly going to burn your pocket!
                        Roger's Reviews

Primus 1

   Oh dear! Whilst at first I thought this might be good (it is
on two discs at least), I'm not at all impressed. It's just like
Public, SCPDU, SAMdisc etc. It does have a lot of demo material,
but I've seen it all before, and it's driving me crazy!
Apologies to the editor, as he's not done all that bad a job in
that area. I know it's impossible to get a good disc mag on your
own, but I see this as another teenager attempting to cash in. I
could just say exactly the same things as about the other said
mags, but I won't bother. All I'll say is that at least one of
you will have to go! Am I the only person to think you'd be far
better off sending stuff to an established mag?
   I know I'm being unfair here, it's not really worse than all
the other similar mags, but it was last for review. I can't
really recommend it, but it gets exactly the same line of
comments as SCPDU. I feel sorry in a way that I got to this
last. It's just another mediocre disc mag.

                        Roger's Reviews

Final comments...

   Arcadia is the only one of these likely to make an impact,
with the possible exception of the very different SAM Amateur
Programming and Electronics. The other 3 are almost identical,
and only the low price of Public makes it recommendable. None of
them are real competitors to say, SAM Supplement or FRED, but
funnily enough, most are better than the early issues of said
mags! None of them are going to replace your current faves, but
of all these reviewed here, Arcadia really looks promising.


ALL OF THESE REVIEWS WERE WRITTEN TOTALLY INDEPENDANTLY BY ROGER
HARTLEY, AS USUAL, THE REVIEWS HAVE NOT BEEN EDITED. IF YOU FEEL
ONE OR MORE OF ROGER'S COMMENTS ARE UNFAIR - WRITE FRED A LETTER
OF  COMPLAINT!  HOWEVER,  IT  MUST  BE  SUPPLIED  ON  DISC AS AN
OUTWRITE   FILE   OR   SIMILAR  (TASWORD,  SAMSCRATCH,  SAMWORD,
SECRETARY). YOURS TRUELY, CM.
                                      Addesses over the page....
                           Addresses

[redacted]

Prices  as  stated,  or  send the usual SSAE to them for the low
down on their mag. And if you buy, review it for FRED!!        .