Fred 14

Issue 14

Magazine

                           Editorial

  Hello again! And  greetings to you all from bonny Scotland (at
last!).  Yes, this might just mean that I'll get an issue out on
time at last but we'll just have to wait and see.

  Elsewhere you  can read  just  how well I was treated at SAMCo
throughout  my  10  week  stay there but before that I guess I'd
better tell you what I know.

  Revelation have finally come to an agreement with Software
Projects and have acquired permission to sell the coupe version.
As  I speak it is virtually complete (as I understand it) but it
looks  likely  to be nearer Xmas until it's release date. It has
over 60 levels (to date) with 20 of them taken from the original
on  the trusty Speccy. Programmer Matthew Holt (of ZAT fame) has
now  been  working  on  it  for some months but SP only recently
agreed  to  the licence. This and Splat will form the start of a
"Golden  Oldies"  range  from  Revelation  -  each will probably
retail at £9.99.

                           Editorial

  For those of you with a mouse you'll be pleased to know that
F16  (when and if it's finally released!) will probably be mouse
compatible,  Tim  Humphries is beavering away at his deluxe MIDI
sequencer  which  is  mouse  compatible,  a WIMP system is being
developed and the first release from FRED Publications is almost
ready  to  roll  - being the generous sort I've arranged for a 2
level  playable demo of one of the games on IMPATIENCE - Triltex
to  go  on this disc! The programming and graphics are virtually
complete,  I'm  getting  decent  music  put in, and am currently
waiting  for  the  artwork  for  the  inlay  to be drawn up then
printed  -  all  in all, I'm hoping for a mid-September release.
The Price is a measely £9.99 from any good coupe software dealer
(any  SAM  shops  in  Britain,  SAMCo, Blue Alpha, Enigma and of
course myself - see special offer later)
  The entertaining and informative quarterly magazine, CCEG
(Complete Computer Entertainment Guide) will, as of this Autumn,
be  including  either one or two "SAM only" pages according to a
recent press release.

           Great Big Cock-ups of 1991 no.1 - the CES

Hah!  You've  probably  already heard but I'll bore you anyway -
the  European  Computer Entertainment Show has been cancelled to
the public. The organisers who will not make any comment at this
point,  have  made  it  a trade-only show. So if you've booked a
ticket  to  go  to  this  Show  (5-8 September) simply go to the
All-Formats  Show  on  the same Saturday instead and sue the CES
organisers for a ticket and full travel refund - that's one good
way to get your train fare paid!!!!

                    SAMCo goes Half Meg mad!

Hah! This  HAS to be it! The definitive step to rival the Amiga!
Apart from  the  software,  the main physical difference was the
fact that the coupe only had 256K as standard - not any more!
  As of now,  all new coupe's sold are 512K standard - and still
for  the £199.99 !!! Oh, and don't try to be awkward saying that
"I  paid  £250" for my 256K machine 'cos so do I but it's called
"   making-the-machine-sell-better-so-that-more-games-will-be-
produced". I just made that up! Good eh!
                     FRED special offers!

Remember  all  back  issues are available for only £1.50 each or
you  can take advantage of this special offer and save money all
over the place!

6  issues of FRED = £8  includes back issues / subscription
12 issues of FRED = £15 ie any issues of FRED!!!!!

Two great mouse games on one pack!
Impatience = £9.99
                             PRICE     RRP        SAVE
Impatience and 6  FREDs =     £17     £18.99      £1.99
Impatience and 12 FREDs =     £24     £27.99      £3.99

Cheques/POs payable to FRED. No responsability taken for cash.

Please send orders to : FRED,
                         [redacted]
                      Last Impressions...

 Come the 14th August I had to make my way home from "Wonderful"
Wales  back  to "Bonny" Scotland and courtesy of several persons
at SAMCo it was certainly a.....memorable day.

  All throughout my last week, general hints were being  dropped
that  the  guys  at SAMCo had a tradition of saying "Goodbye" to
employees  in a funny, Welshy sort of way ie "Hey Mark, remember
what  we  did  to  the  last person that left SAMCo ha ha ha..oh
Colin   -  didn't  see  you  there  honest  - looking forward to
Thursday  afternoon  Colin??  ha  ha  ha". Now when that sort of
thing goes on for several days solid,one naturally begins to get
a bit worried...nervous even - I mean , wouldn't you?
  Now, it just so happened that on that particular Thursday at
about Luchtime I discovered myself all alone upstairs in SAMCo -
nothing  unusual  really,  until five people come rushing up one
set  of stairs and another five up the other. And it so happened
there  were  only two exits from upstairs SAMCo... After finally
being  captured due to a "lucky" rugby tackle from Chris White I
didn't fancy my chances of a quiet lunch.
                      Last Impressions...

  What more could I ask for? I was sitting in the middle of the
car  park  in  a  lovely  comfy chair getting a beautiful suntan
while  everyone  in  the  surrounding offices were working hard.
There  was  only  a  couple  of  snags.  1)  I  was  bound hand,
elbow,shoulder,  foot,  ankle,  knee  and  waist to the chair 2)
Someone  had  conveniently  taped up my mouth 3) Everyone in the
surrounding offices had found something better to do than work -
look  at  the guy tied firmly to a chair square in the middle of
the car park! At least my face was nice and warm!

  Just to fill in a bit of background at this point - everyday
a lunch  van  comes round all the offices in the Enterprise Park
and  it  arrives  at  SAMCo at 1.30. Out of the half dozen or so
factories in Lakeside there are quite a few hungry employees tha
need to get some grub. So there I was, in the car park all alone
until  the  lunch van came at which point dozens of people would
rush  over  to get lunch - it was rather coincidental that I was
sitting (well, it's better than saying "had been placed"!!) just
in front of where the van arrived......
                      Last Impressions...

  After all these people had offered me pairs of scissors for
£20,  placed  Aero's  on  my lap telling me "don't eat it all at
once now!", people asking the SAMCo guys what I'd done wrong and
after  hearing  "he's  Scottish!" simply replied "Oh! That's all
right  then.!"  etc  etc  I  was finally rescued. Mind you, it's
amazing  how  much  attention  you  get  from the female factory
workers after something like that.... But that's another story.

I  would now like to thank everyone at SAMCo (in general) and in
Swansea  (not so general) for the best 10 weeks of my life - the
fact  that  it  was  ten weeks without parents is another matter
entirely - of course!

I  wish  SAMCo  and  all those involved with it the very best of
luck  for  the next twelve months (not that you'll need it after
the great job you've done over the previous 12)



                          Free Plugs!

This time it's to a new disc 'zine called "Grunt!" for god knows
what  reason  and  is run by Matthew Craven - another 1 man band
'zine!
  He's just produced the first issue - details below.
  Unfortunately, Grunt! suffers in the light of disc magazines
today  including many other ones but all things considered it is
reasonable.  As  it's Matthew's first issue all the programs are
his  own  so  it  would  be  unfair to expect Outlet 2 but to be
honest  it's  a  lot  better than either issue 1 or 2 of FRED so
there  could  be  a future in it. Issue 1 features a FRED comic,
half  a  dozen  or  so  of  Matthew's  tunes,  a new (and fairly
lengthy) Trip-a-tron as well as a couple of reviews, hints, tips
and cheats etc
  It's not fantastic but it's got a better future than FRED!
  It costs £1.50 from Matthew Craven , [redacted]
Cheques/POs payable to Matthew Craven and if you must send cash,
sellotape   the   coins   to   a  large  piece  of  card  as  no
responsability can be taken for lost cash.
SC              TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (15)

So, for the first time  in aeons (or possibly since Colin  tried
to go  to the  cinema in  Soho, and nearly  got arrested),  FRED
goes to the  movies. And for  possibly the  first time in  movie
history, all of the hype surrounding a film has been justified.

This  is the most expensive movie of all time (rumours have been
flying around,  the most  reliable of  which says  $130 million,
but  other figures like  $100 million and even  $60 million have
been floating around as  well. I'm sticking to the $130 million,
though).  The special  effects alone  cost over $17.5  million -
and a hell  of a  lot  of that was  in computer  generated  s/fx
-  so  realistic, you'll  be amazed!  Those of  you who  saw The
Abyss will  have seen  an example  of these  amazing graphics in
action  - the water  snake was completely  computerised. But for
T2,  these graphics have had to be  totally revamped, as a large
amount   of other  tricks have  had  to  be done  by   the T1000
series terminator  (made of a liquid metal "intelligent" alloy).
Seeing is believing, as they say.

SC              TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (15)

But  enough of the  jaw-dropping effects  - if you  want to know
more about them,  there's always the film  to go and see,  or of
course the  book which has  been released called  (aptly enough)
"The  making of Terminator  2" (£6.95 -  from WH  Smiths and all
other good bookshops). So onto the plot.

The film is  set in 1994, ten  years after the first  attempt to
remove human resistance leader John Conner  from history. Again,
two people have been  sent back through time  -  one being  from
the  resistance to  protect  the ten  year old  Conner,  and the
other having been sent to kill him. As you've probably  guessed,
this time  two virtually  indestructable Terminators  have  been
sent back -  and it's their battlings which make  up a good part
of the film.

People  make a  welcome  reappearance including  old  Arnie, the
psychiatrist from the  first film (watch his tendency  to show a
little too  much of a video tape show  through in his usual way)
and  Linda Hamilton (Sarah Conner  - she's now  so mean, that if
SC              TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (15)

you  even looked at her with  a slight frown, she'd probably try
to  blow you  away!). Michael  Biehn (from  Aliens, Terminator1,
and  The Abyss) was  due to make  a cameo appearance  in a dream
scene,  but   for some  reason, it  was cut  out of  the British
version  of  the film  (I  think  it  was  in the  American  one
though). Robert Patrick (my sister swooned at  the sight of him)
plays the T1000 Terminator  (Arnie of course plays the T800).

Not only is the  action very (um) active,  but there's a lot  of
comedy  in  there  too (and  I  really  filled up  near  the end
(bwah!), namely because it gets  very emotional there, and  very
moving!!!). If you have  read all of  the articles on the  film,
then just  for you there's  a nice little  plot twist,  which no
one has mentioned, so  in the words of Arnie's disguise in Total
Recall "GET READY FOR A SURPRISE!!!".

Overall, this is  a brilliant  film. Not  overly violent  either
(Arnie has  to look out  for his  "caring" image  you know)  but
lots of fun, and very, very good.  Go and see this film.
SC                 A small (!) plea for help!

  Now I don't know about you lot, but things that  involve  lots
of complex maths in machine code  confuse  me.  Things  like  3D
graphics, a subject that many people tend  to  stray  from  when
asked, saying "Are you sure you don't want to know how  to  move
sprites really fast?" with a certain amount  of  nervousness  in
their voices. Yep, it's a toughie alright, but I'd like to  know
more...

  Keith Goodyer  (I  hope  that's  spelled  right,  Keith!)  has
written F-16 for SAMCo, and he seems to be able to do  the  job,
but if anyone else knows how to do the business, please,  please
please don't hesitate to put finger to keyboard and type out  an
article or five. It doesn't matter how long it is,  as  long  as
you let the rest of us in on the secret! Of course, a demo to go
along  with  it  would  be  brilliant,  but  we   can't   expect
everything. So, if you would like to write  a  column  on  stuff
like that, get writing - I'm sure it would be much appreciated!
  Just think, with a little help we might get Starglider  II  on
the Coupe!
                          FRED Letters
                                               Phil Glover
                                                [redacted]
Dear Colin,
           I've been corresponding with fellow SAM coupe user
Dave  Whitmore lately, as we're both keen adventurers, and we're
looking   into  the  possibility  of  setting  up  a  SAM  coupe
adventurers club, and a disc magazine for members.
  The club would probably have free membership and the disc will
be  cheap,  only  having to cover costs. The club would exist to
stimulate  interest  in playing adventures on the SAM coupe. The
emphasis  would be on Spectrum games for obvious reasons, but if
more  coupe  adventures  were written, they would have priority.
Contents  of  the  disc  would  include news, reviews, hints and
tips,  possibly  some  programming  help  and a sizeable letters
section.If anyone is trying to write an adventure for the coupe,
we  would  like to offer any help we could, such as putting them
                          FRED Letters

in  touch  with  other  people  who  may  be  able  to help with
programming advice, by offering to playtest the adventure and so
forth.  Being  a club, we'd like to encourage members to discuss
all  aspects  of  adventuring in the magazine, so they can enjoy
adventuring to the full.
  We intend that the disc magazine should compliment, rather
than  compete  with,  other  publications.  At the moment we are
trying  to find out if anyone else would like to join us on this
project,  as  the  more  help, ideas and support we can get, the
beter.   Dave   has  already  written  a  decent  disc  magazine
frame-work,  and  copying  and  distribution  shouldn't  be  too
difficult as we both have printers, MasterDOS and so on.
  If any FRED readers would like to contact me, I'll reply to
all  letters,  enclosing up to date information. Even if we only
have  a small membership, we should be able to enjoy adventuring
in  greater  depth,  and  help each other with various problems.
We'll  wait  and  see  if anyone else would like to be in at the
start  of  the  club, then we can put our heads together and get
the club and disc running.
                          FRED Reply

  The adventure club  sounds  an excellant idea as up to now the
only  decent  alternative was ZAT's adventure column and being a
printed  publication  they  are  always limited in the amount of
space they can spend on each aspect of computing.

  I might be a good idea to put on Spectrum adventures as I know
that  there  are a good few Speccy adventures that although were
brilliant, never took off and hence the author would probably be
more  than  happy  to settle for a minimal fee or simply a small
royalty  rate  for  each  of the discs with their program on it.
This would most probably give rise to a price increase from your
initial  expected  price  but  would  most  certainly  be a good
feature.

  I'm always pleased to see someone else "take the plunge" as it
were  so  you  can count on full co-operation from FRED! I would
appreciate  any  further  details you decide on eg release date,
would  you  attend  shows  etc. One more thing - want your first
member right now? Best of luck Phil and Dave.
                          FRED Letters
Mike Haine [redacted].
      Hi Colin! Many thanks for putting my letter  in  issue  13
and, especially, for making your own response to it. Let us hope
we can get some further response from some of your many readers!
Just a few brief comments on yours. Firstly I was not  directing
my comments on REVIEWS at yourself, but to all reviewers.  I  am
sorry to suggest you get your review copies for  nowt.  I  would
have thought the suppliers would have the sense to make  use  of
the publicity byt sending out  copies  for  reviewers.  I  still
stick to my words that  reviews  should  be  more  critical  and
especially should make  some   suggestions   for   improvements.
I'll try and find time to send you an example of what I mean.
       On MGT:- Yes, I know the history. I had hoped that having
spent some time in Swansea, you  would  be  able  to  answer  my
queries; do they have a technical back up  service?  If  so  how
does one access it? Are they updating the tech manual?  You  say
you cleared the backlog. With respect You didn't  deal  with  my
letter to them of March 3rd. (Dump attached).I have received  no
response whatever!
                          FRED Letters

       You say your position with them has been filled  as  will
be announced on the HOTLINE. I don't use the  latter  as  it  is
mainly concerned with games (in which I have no interest) and is
too expensive. They issue fairly frequent News sheets, but these
make no mention of technical matters. I  understand  that  their
main concern is with sales, but surely a good technical back  up
can only promote sales. In any case I am sure the sort  of  back
up I (and, I feel  sure,  many  others)  are  wanting  could  be
handled largely by volunteers or  the  mags?  We  expected  that
FORMAT would fill this bill but, alas, they do  little  to  fill
the bill. (Considering they started off largely  as  a  mag  for
disc users, it is incredible that they are still not on disc?).
       Finally, with MDOS Fred can be moved to  RAMDISCS,  which
helps a lot!
            With very best wishes....Mike.




                          FRED Reply

Dear Mike,
          Thanks for writing in again - people don't seem to
bother writing letters (OK, wp files!) for me to include.
  SAMCo's technical backup service : All phone or letter
enquiries received since the beginning of June were dealt with -
as  will  all  future  enquiries,  so you can get help by either
phoning  or  writing to SAMCo. Obviously it will take a few days
longer, but if you write you at least get a hard copy of all the
info so I recommend writing.
  Until I went to Swansea, SAMCo were worked off their feet
trying   to   do   all  the  various  tasks  it  needs  to  and,
unfortunately, as a result there simply was not time to reply to
some  letters.  I did clear a huge backlog that dated back a few
months  but  I  did not see your letter, however a copy has been
passed  on  and  you  should  receive a reply shortly. Just as a
passing  thought  -  everyone expects handouts of technical info
from  SAMCo,  but did you write to Sinclair / Amstrad asking for
similar?  Would  you  write  to  Commodore  /  Atari / Acorn for
information  expecting a reply? No, I didn't think so. SAMCo are
                           FRED Reply

trying  very  hard  to  please everyone and although they've let
down some people in the past they are getting there.
  There have been a couple of Technical Manual updates
throughout  MGT  etc  but  to my knowledge one is not planned BY
SAMCo  for  the  near future - but I suggest you keep a watchful
eye on other people.
  I must agree with you on the hotline - I never phone it
because a) I don't agree with 0898 numbers and b) FRED never has
and  quite  possibly never will have a mention on it. What I had
expected  to  be  announced  on it was details on who was taking
over  my  job  and how everything was under control. As far as I
know this didn't happen but things are under control anyway!
  You're quite right about the mags supplying tech info. SAM
supplement  is  the  best  qualified  to  do  so with Dave, Andy
Wright,   Simon  Goodwin  and  a  host  of  other  techy  people
contributing.  I  will  always  try  to help anyone who needs it
though.
    Anyway Mike, it's great to have an exchanging of views at
last in FRED - thanks. I just hope someone else takes the hint
                   Cockups no.2 - last issue

No,  I  don't mean that issue 13 was one big cockup (near enough
though!).  For  once  there  didn't seem to be many undiscovered
bugs,  although a few days after It went out I got a letter from
The President who had something to say about his QL convertor...
 "About the QL>SAM  convertor  - it needs updating again! "Ohhh,
God.  When  will this jerk make up his mind!" I hear you scream.
But now I promise that this version is really working! -'onest!"

  The new file is on this disc called "QLSAM" so simply copy it
over the version on Issue 13.

Just  as a passing thought : Richard Robinson has come up with a
poke  for  some  versions  of EFTPOTRM. Before you load anything
simply type the following :
   BOOT 1
   LOAD "AUTO*" LINE 999
   45 POKE 38903 , 0
   RUN
  This gives infinite credits for both players!!!!
                       The Disc contents

  The Gremlins screens  this  month  come from E. Dybacz and the
others are from Ron Deeks.
  There is an Impatience demo on the disc but check out the
"review" for details.
  Jonathan Marsh has come up with SIM ISLAND. What you do is
simply  select the piece you want, the vertical height you would
like  it  at  and  then  the  position  on  you  island - and it
magically  appears!  Hours  of  fun  for everyone! There are two
files  on this disc (CITY1 and CITY2) for you to have a sniff at
if you're interested.
  Lord Insanity / David Gommeren brings you the Screen Cruncher
which  is now used to compress the screen$. Just follow the menu
options  or if you want to use it in your own programs then full
instructions are in REM statements at the end of the program.
  Simon Cooke has almost finished his 128K emulator! And
exclusive  to  FRED readers, he's put on a copy! OK, so I lied a
bit but you'll discover that for yourself......
  Steven Taylor brings you another peek at m/c for the people
that want to learn it - makes sense really!
                       The Disc Details

Again from the chocolate biscuit - sorry, Cookie ( I know you've
been  dying  for  me  to say something along those lines! ) is a
couple of "Fancy Fonts" for your own use. The program includes a
full demonstration and instructions.
  Andy Green aka Phantom Software has modified the SAM Point
which appeared a few issues back to work with the SAMCo mouse.
  Again from Andy is a neat routine which allows you to print
small but neat and readable text on the screen. Full instruction
are included.
  The Bits 'n' Bobs this month come from all over the place :
    a m/c routine from me! (?)
    a reporter utility from Cookie
    a text spacer from Phantom Software
    a "Rainbow Trip" from Ian Slavin / AXE
    a 256K version of the great FRED dance utility originally by
    William McGugan - mod. by Cookie
    for Garfield fans, here's an animated demo from Mike AJ
    a handy Spectrum ROM mod for those of you who hate using the
    Spectrum's keywords  - from Mark Walker.
MR                   MasterTEQ information

  This  is  a   fairly   large   program - unfortunately without
instructions - so here's a brief summary:
  When you want to load a 48K snapshot,you load this program and
select  the first option. This gives a screen allowing the file-
number to be entered.
  Pressing EDIT allows  you to swap between ths Spectrum 48K ROM
and  the  EMUL  rom  (a  file containing the dummy ROM set up by
SAMCO's  emulator.)The  second  option  simply  returns you to a
Spectrum game.
  By selecting the third option, you can enter 'Multiface Pokes'
(which are installed into a code file.) A scrolling list appears
-  simply select the relevant game and choose the pokes required
from the list. Select the game's name to continue. You can enter
a  required  game  by  pressing  RETURN  then entering the name.
Pressing EDIT allows you to directly enter pokes.
  Select option 4 for the 48K hacker program which allows you to
zip through the 48K memory altering whatever is necessary.
  Option 5 selects  a  menu  of  disk-options - pretty straight-
forward.
                     MasterTEQ information

  Select option 6 to save.
  To quit the program (and reset the computer) select option 7.
  This is a modified version  of  TEQ (3.1) - so that Messenger
users  can  use  it.  It  requires  a copy of the Spectrum ROM -
called "zxrom.spx" - Messenger users should press key "G" on
the Messenger menu.

Program and instructions by Marc Rickard.


  Remember people - I'm running out of proggies again because
everyone's  out  relaxing  on the beach eating ice creams. So as
soon  as  it starts raining / hailing / snowing or whatever, nip
onto your coupe and start programming/writing.
  BASIC  programs  are  just  as  welcome  as ever so don't feel
you'll get left out all you Basic programmers. In fact how about
a  m/c  free issue - say issue 17 ???? I would still have to use
m/c for compression/decompression routines though but other than
that it's all yours......
                       Auf Wiedersehen!

And  don't  bother  writing  in if I've spelt it wrongly because
it's about the only German word I know!
  Anyway, as everyone's  already  been credited along with their
programs  I  won't  bother  listing  your  names - I'll just say
"Thanks" to you all. Maybe.
  I'm off on holiday the middle two weeks in October so get your
orders in sharp - or face delay!
  Issue 15(oooh isn't this exciting?) will be out the first week
in  October  and  will  cost the usual price of just one and one
half quid ie £1.50.

Send orders/subscriptions/programs to :
  FRED
   [redacted]                 Send complaints to :
                               Michael Gorbachov,
                                c/o The Russian Salt mines....


Keep reading for some other "specialist" articles...............
SH                         WWF UPDATE

  So then, instalment three! As opposed to listing  the  various
wrestlers, I'll just let you know the news  from  the  wrestling
world and tell you what you need to know. So then, let's go!
  I don't know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but around  this
time of night I like to tell you about Summerslam '91.  This  is
an extravaganza of wrestling with about thirteen events with the
superstars fighting each other. (Normally they fight people that
aren't well known -  affectionately  reffered  to  as  'toast').
Usually at least one of the title belts (there are 3 in all)  is
up for contest and at Summerslam '91, two are up for grabs.  I'm
not sure of all the fights, as they've not all  been  announced,
but here is the line-up so far.
1: BRET 'THE HITMAN' HART V MR PERFECT
This is for the Intercontinental Belt. What I want  to  know  is
why this bloke with the big groin guard gets to fight the  other
bloke with the big groin guard before Davey Boy does.
 Affectionately dubbed as 'The Battle of  the   Packets',   this
should be a good fight, just as long as Perfect  gets  his  face
kicked in.
SH                         WWF UPDATE

2: THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN TED DiBIASE V VIRGIL
Ted DiBiase is a loaded millionaire (honest..) and  a  'Baddie'.
Virgil is his former bodyguard who  rebelled  against  him.  Now
DiBiase wants to fight him and is staking his belt (Which he had
made for him when he couldn't buy the World belt) on this match.
Reputedly worth a million dollars, if (i.e.  when)  Virgil  wins
it, he will be a millionaire.(Honest..)

3: NATURAL DISASTERS V THE BUSHWACKERS (With Andre the giant in
                                        their corner)
Get this - the Bushwackers are the new WWF Tag Team champs! I
didn't  believe  that  the  title  would  change  hands   before
Summerslam, but still, c'est la vie. Watch out for Andre in  the
Bushwackers' corner - he had a bit of grief with Earthquake  and
will get his own back in this match. Oh, by the  way,  Luke  and
Butch might not be the WWF TT champs - My source (Cookie)  isn't
quite sure. Wanna know what I  think'll  happen  in  the  match?
While they're in mid-fight, Jake the Snake Roberts'l  come  down
and kick of on Earthquake for squishing Damian the snake (ha ha)

Reviews

                          STOP PRESS

AS A LAST MINUTE ITEM - THE M/C ARTICLE FROM STEVE TAYLOR DIDN'T
ARRIVE  IN  TIME FOR INCLUSION (IE I'M WRITING THIS ARTICLE JUST
BEFORE I'LL SEND OUT THIS ISH!) PRESUMABLY DUE TO HIM BEING BUSY
ON  "OTHER"  PROJECTS  -  WHICH I'M SURE YOU DON'T MIND. Back to
lower  case  now!  Instead  of  that,  I've stuck on a couple of
piccies from M. Nickells and any others I can get my paws on...
  Commodore have plans for a C65, which, according to various
sources  is  based  on  the  C64 but has enhancements and a 3.5"
drive!!  The standard A500 Amiga now has 1 MegaByte of memory as
standard.
  Rumours in the press say Amstrad are killing off the Spectrum
series completely,although Spectrums have not produced any for 6
months now, they deny the claims.
  There is a hot rumour flying about the FRED office that I will
be  writing  the  next  Pulic Domain Section in Sinclair and SAM
Computing! It's worth buying just to hear more from me!!!!!
  Very few companies will be attending the Glasgow Show. The
only  three  confirmed  appearances  will be FRED, SAMCo and the
ever popular FORMAT.
                          STOP PRESS

  As yet, the finished versions of F16 and Keypress have still
not  appeared  on  my  doormat  (any  volunteers  for  reviewing
Keypress  - The Mulit-Level Educational Word Processor?). Prince
Of Persia still hasn't seen the light of SAM although programmer
Chris  White  who  was  in SAMCo for over 2 months has now moved
out but still cannot be contacted for details....
  Tilt - a game by Codemasters on the Spectrum which was one of
the  few Speccy reviews I did (FRED 2) is all set to be released
on the Amiga sometime in late October.
  Nintendo opened up a hotline some months ago to help
frustrated  games players with their favourite game. The hotline
(which  is  NOT  an  0898 number) has proved extremely succesful
and now requires 8 full time staff!
  The Leeds show was apparently quite good although the entry
fee  has  now  gone  up to £4 which angered many show go-ers. At
least  those  who enjoyed can look forward to another Leeds show
sometime in the near future.
  Urgent news : I've run out of news! Never mind, there's still
quite a collection here!                                      CM
                         SC_FILER V2.0

  The "Old-Timers" amongst you will remember that I reviewed
SC_Filer  when  it  first came out - in issue 9. So I won't bore
you  all  with  a  complete  re-review  but instead just a brief
mention and what it does better...
  The manual has been updated to deal with the new features by
about  4  pages  which  makes  it very competent as manuals go -
especially  as  it's  been  professionally written, type-set and
printed.
  The first obscurity which struck me was that SC_Filer
automatically  assumes  a  V3.0  ROM,  512K and a 24 pin printer
attached.  Alterations  have  to  be  made for other systems but
surely  it  would be more straightforward to have 256K and 9 pin
printer automatically?
  Whilst using the database, the difference is speed is
noticeable  - naturally as this is now 99% m/c, so it should be.
This  especially  helps  whilst  sorting records - normally this
would  appear to be a very labourious task but SC_Filer seems to
tackle it quite nicely.

                         SC_FILER V2.0

  Alterations : If you wish to search the database for a string
or  whatever,  you  do not have to indicate which field is to be
searched as it searches them all! Brilliant!
  Steve has added in another superb feature - a sort merge
function.  This  lets  you merge two files together which are of
similar format and it sorts the final database as well! It might
sound  extremely  handy  -  it is! But the only snag is that you
need a Meg, 512K and MasterDOS to be booted! Not many people can
afford that just for one database feature.
  The conversion from LERM and GM files is a bit more complex so
Steve offers a free conversion service for this new version.
  Also, Matthew Holt (Manic Miner guy) has updated Humphrey (now
called  Hump-three  !!) so that it reads the disc super-fast and
also has a mega-fast Shell sort routine!

SC_Filer costs just £12.50 (Cheques / POs to Steve Nutting)

 Steve's Software, [redacted]

                   MEGA DEMO - DATON , £3.99

  From the editor of SAM Supplement comes yet another bargain
priced  disc.  Dave  Tonks (DA-TON    groan!) has obviously been
burning  out  the  cables porting stuff from the Amiga and ST up
(note the careful choice of words!) to our coupe.
  Sadly, the disc is 512K only (but seeing as there is a
tremendous amount of stuff set to be 512K only it might be worth
getting  your mits on one now - perhaps even with SAMCo's 10% if
you've  ordered  the Birthday Pack!) but for your couple of quid
you get three demos.
  Firstly, there is the Frog demo from the Amiga. I very cute
and  detailed little demo of a frog swinging back and forth on a
swing.  Ahhhh! This is usually the demo the Supplement put on to
attract people away from the FRED stand...
  The highlight of the disc (for me) was the Stealth bomber.
This  is a magnificent view of a Stealth Bomber (in true 3D full
colour vectored graphics) performing a breathtaking flypast. Not
only  is  the  plane there, but you get all the usual freebies -
sky  (solid  blue), grass (solid green) and as a special bonus :
trees (OK, they're real enough!)
                   MEGA DEMO - DATON , £3.99

  The last demo on the disc is the "Newton's balls" demo. As you
all  know it's the series of hanging steel balls and when a ball
at  one  side  is set in motion it swings then collides with the
rest  of  the  pack  which sets the opposite ball in motion so I
won't even hint at any corny jokes.
  This is the only digitized demo on the disc but the only
niggle  I  have  is  that  Dave  recently entered it in Outlet's
competition  and  won  himself  a  tenner so it appeared on last
months Outlet!
  Being demos, there isn't much use to them after the initial
excitment  but they're all quite impressive (especially when you
show  your  Amiga  owning friend this and the Megablast music on
FRED12  !!!).  Compared to the average PD disc this is certainly
better in quality but for £4 it'd have to be. NB It is not PD!
  If you like good demos and don't mind paying a few quid for
them,  then  I'd  recommend  this  as one of the best demo discs
around albeit one of the more expensive.
  Send your cheques/POs to Brian Mumford, [redacted].
                   BUDGET - Dansoft , £6.99

  Quoted as being a program to really help you sort out your
bank  balance,  Budget did not impress me right from the start -
Dull  Mode  3  screens,  continous  prompting  for  verification
"Correct Y/N?" which isn't a bad thing but when it happens after
almost  every  single  question you are asked you quickly end up
wearing out the paint on your "Y" key.
  What does it do? You select which month and year you'd like
your year long budget to start with, input the total incomes and
outgoings  for  each  of these months then at the end, you get a
nie  little result table drawn up which shows you how far in the
red you are.
  Of course, it doesn't end there - you can if you like, create
a  hypothetical  budget. This is basically a practice budget. ie
yu  can  copy  all the data from your real budget into this hypo
budget  and  mess about with how much you spend and see how much
you'll have left at the end of the year. I suppose someone might
have  a use for it but I'd imagine most people would want to try
to keep their outgoings to a minimum which renders this function
a little bit useless really.
                   BUDGET - Dansoft , £6.99

As I said before "Of course it doesn't end there". Well actually
it  does  seem to. All else I could do was change around some of
my account details or start again.
  As you may have noticed I didn't consider this program to be
much  use - there isn't even any DOS on the disc!! The manual is
a   small   blue  4 page affair and the label on the disc simply
lists  the  disc directory! Even the auto file which does little
more than load the program proper!!!
  I can be completely honest and advise you to spend this money
on a SAM Supplement subscription (once you've subscribed to FRED
for  a  dozen  or  so  years) because there are lots more USEFUL
programs on that which you will not get by buying Budget.
  If you want a really good banking (watch the spelling...)
program  then  wait  for  Hilton's Personal Banking System which
although  will  be  a bit more pricey will most certainly be, by
far a much more worthy program.
  In fact to save you the temptation of wasting your money I'm
not even going to tell you where to get this program!!!!

                   Impatience - FRED , £9.99

  Now, some of you may think that it would be a little unfair fo
me   to   review  my own program. So I won't. However I tell you
that Impatience will be reviewed in the next issues of Enceladus
and SAM Supplement and will be given at least a mention in the
"News" section in FORMAT.
  As well as the demo appearing on FRED, it will also be in the
SAMCo  birthday  pack and variations of it might pop up in other
places as well......

  About the demo : mouse is automatically selected if you have
one present otherwise use joystick or keys Q,A,O,P and Space.
Click on the Keyboard to redefine the keys.

  Since the demo was written, Triltex ( one of the two games on
Impatience  )  has  been  vastly updated. The music is presently
being  written  by either Frantisek Fuka or Sean Conran (because
the  present  music is a tad monotonous). The main graphics have
yet  to  be  touched  up  ie  in  the  latest version there is a
spinning FRED logo whenever you load up the game.
                   Impatience - FRED , £9.99

Other  things have still to be changed - at present there are 20
levels  (although  2  specially designed levels are in the demo)
but this will probably be expanded to 26.
  The complete game will be ready about the last week in
September  (once  the  artwork is completed and I get the inlays
printed).

  This game WILL NOT appear in FRED - I am simply trying to
start up something else....

Impatience  is  available  direct  from FRED or you can order it
through  Blue  Alpha  or SAMCo. Or if you feel really energetic,
pop  down  to  your local SAM dealer and buy it from him for the
all round price of £9.99.

Orders sent direct to FRED : Chqeques payable to FRED-.
Your  copy  will  be  sent out the very same day it is released.
Check  out the finished product in shops around the country from
October 1st.....                                               .

Machine Code Print Routine

                       M/C PRINT ROUTINE

Welcome to Colin's very first m/c proggie - and it shows! I just
thought  that  I'd  show  you  what  can  be  done with a lot of
attention to what Steve Taylor says and a little bit of thought!

The  source file is on this disc to help you understand just why
it  is  so  awful  because  one thing I've noticed is that there
isn't  enough  source  files about to learn from. So from now on
I'll  try and include a source file for any m/c program which is
on FRED.

This  routine  is  simply  reading  the keyboard port, outputing
values  to  the  border  port  and  using  RSTs to print text at
different positions on the screen - with the result of a scrolly
which would be twice as good from BASIC but never mind -I tried!

Press "D" for a demo or any key to return to FRED.

PS: The source file is called "m/c source".
                                                             .