Fred 26

Issue 26

Magazine

CM                        FREDitorial

Welcome to Issue 26 of what is now  the  best-selling  SAM  disc
magazine! No doubt  you'll  all  be  wondering  what  all  these
fabulous changes are. Well, if everything has gone according  to
plan this disc will not have a  label  on  it  -  it  should  be
on-body printed!

Secondly, my new editor can be announced. For this issue he will
just be helping me out so that he gets the hang of things but as
of next month, he'll compile and  edit  the  magazine  properly.
Don't worry - I'll still be making lots of contributions  to  it
and oversee everything that he does!

Happily or sadly, I now have to announce a price  increase.  The
price of a single issue of FRED is now £2. The extra £0.50  will
pay for the duplication of discs, the  new  editor  as  well  as
letting me make small payments to  contributors  of  items  that
become an item on the main menu. ie screens,  articles,  reviews
or anything that appears in Bits 'n' Bobs cannot be paid for.

CM                        FREDitorial

There was also a takeover about to  take  place.  Unfortunately,
the editor of the other magazine changed his mind  at  the  last
minute and took other actions - I'll leave him to explain it all
to you.

OK, so out of the estimated 7 changes I hoped to implement, only
3 have happened. I was going to switch the FRED address to a  PO
Box number so that if I went  on  holiday,  someone  else  could
despatch orders, I decided  against  it  because  of  the  extra
complications (as well as cost) and if I ever closed the PO Box,
any mail sent to it would never reach me. I was also toying with
the idea of a name change to give FRED a more professional image
- I did some research and no-one wanted the name changed! I  was
also hoping  to  have  the  FRED  phoneline  installed  by  now.
Unfortunately, due to money problems (not having enough of  it!)
this was not possible. I'll try to scrape it together  for  next
month!


CM                           Shows

Well, on 3rd October I went  to  the  All  Format  Fair  at  the
Northumbria Centre in Washington (nr Newcastle). For a change, I
had to get up at 5.30 am (instead of  leaving  at  7.30  pm  the
night before!) to arrive at the show just after 10am.

Was it a brilliant show? Well, I managed to count the number  of
SAM users that turned up. 2. Yup, two SAM  users  in  the  whole
show. A £70 stand, £64 train fare, £20 taxi fares and £25 eating
expenses as well as getting up at 5.30 am and not  getting  back
until 10pm for two SAM users!!! Needless to say, I lost a bit of
money. I would like to say a big hello to the two  users  I  did
see there though!!!

I will attend ALL Birmingham and Scottish shows from now on. But
if you want to know if I'll be going to any of the other venues,
give me a ring a day or two beforehand to  check.  I  should  be
going to the Haydock show on 24th October - so  be  there!!!
NB Haydock Racecourse - near St Helens, Bury, Bolton, Wigan  etc
somewhere in between Liverpool and Manchester!
CM                       New Releases

Well, progress on Dyzonium has been steaming ahead  and  is  now
released. You will all remember the demo from Newsdisk 5 when it
was called Plasmoid. Now, we've spent a further 3 months work on
it - including making it easier, adding four more levels to make
10 in total as well as having the graphics  totally  redesigned.
You can see a brief sampler on this issue. It is  now  available
costing just £9.99

ETracker - hmmm.. a few problems  here,  the  artist  doing  the
inlay picture has let us down and we  discovered  a  bug.  Shock
horror! Anyway, Mat of ESI  has  been  beavering  away  and  has
polished it off - in the  meantime  adding  many  new  features!
ETracker costs £29.99. If it has not been released when  we  get
your order, we will not cash the cheque until your  copy  is  in
the post!

WaterWorks - Everything's going great here. You'll find  a  demo
on this issue which you'll enjoy playing. It costs £9.99 -  same
story, your cheque won't be cashed until your copy is posted.
CM                       New Releases

Remember that Pacman game everyone in the press has been waiting
to see? Well, it's now called "The  Bulgulators".  Strange  name
but when ESI write a game as good as this - who gives a  monkeys
about what it's called? Again, you'll see the demo on this  ish.
Basically  it's  your  souped-up  Pacman  -  but  with   several
poptabulous tunes (yes, created with ETracker) and many features
that have never appeared on this sort of game before -  such  as
locked doors which you need to collect the key to  get  through,
walls that you can pass through to  access  hidden  parts  -  of
course some of them are one-way walls!!!  Bulgulators  is  £9.99
Cheques held until release as before.

FRED  Publishing  have  now  taken  over  "Boing"  from   Noesis
Software. It was reviewed in this month's YS although there will
be some changes before the FRED version is released. We hope  to
have it ready for the end of October. Again, it's £9.99  but  we
aren't taking orders until nearer it's release - phone to check.


CM                       Money talks..

OK, you'll all be wondering how much you  can  get  for  getting
your proggies on FRED. Well, it isn't a great deal of money  I'm
afraid to say. Judging on how well it's been done etc etc,  I'll
pay £10 to £25. This is not intended as buying  the  rights  for
the program off you but merely a small token of my gratitute. It
also lets me occasionally  buy  bigger  programs  to  put  on  -
naturally for which I will have to pay more! When you send in  a
program, either myself or the "ed" will decide whether it should
go on a disc, and if so, whether it will be a main menu item  or
a BITS item.

Remember, the price of a FRED is now £2. I'm doing away with the
6 month sub because hardly anyone used it so the price for a  12
month subscription is £20 - a saving of £4 , that's 16% off!!!!

Don't worry if you've already got a sub - it will still go up to
the issue it was supposed to. Isn't that kind of me? Actually it
would be illegal if I did it any other way so  it's  not  really
that generous!!!
CM                       Money talks..

You'll be pleased to know that we've now added the SAM Adventure
System & Sheriff Gunn to the price list. Both by Axxent.

And now for a few special offers to FRED readers. These special
offers apply only to FRED subscribers until 7th November '92.
                          -----------
ETracker for £26.
Dyzonium for £9     )
Bulgulators for £9  ) all three for £25.
WaterWorks for £9   )

Alternatively, order OVER  £40  of  FRED  software  (Impatience,
TTLL, Parallax, Spell Master,  ETracker,  Dyzonium,  Bulgulators
and WaterWorks) and get 10% off!  This  does  not  include  FRED
magazine, subscriptions,  Rachel  or  FREDatives.  The  above  3
titles for £25 does NOT count either.  ie  all  above  4  titles
would normally cost £59.96, individually  with  the  FRED  price
they'd cost you £53. But with the "over £40" offer, they'd  only
set you back £47.70 - total saving of over 20% !!!!
CM                    Obscure Scribblings

A few people have been saying that a lot of the "small, friendly
spirit" has gone out of FRED because it is  now  a  much  larger
company. Well yes, it's true. And it is something  that  I  have
been aware of all along. Back in the start of FRED  I  had  very
little to do - except give my utmost  to  everyone,  I  remember
that for people writing asking for information I would write out
a whole A4 sheet of text explaining FRED (if  anyone  still  has
one then give me a ring!). Although I still make as little money
now out of FRED as I did then, I now have much, much more to do.

Back then, I was a schoolboy who got bored during his  holidays.
Now, I'm still the same little boy but I'm trying  to  get  this
machine on it's feet - as well as trying to pave the way for  my
future. Incidentally, I'm at College full time doing a degree in
Systems Analysis and Business Computing. I'm enjoying my  course
but I see so many other people  that  are  going  to  get  their
degree, get a job then moan about how restricted their jobs  are
and how things should be made.

CM                    Obscure Scribblings

I hate being told what to do when I KNOW it's incorrect or  it's
going to have adverse side effects. I want to be  able  to  have
the freedom to do what I think or know is right, or just  to  do
whatever I feel like at the time. In that sense, I want FRED  to
grow into a company I could make a living  out  of.  That  would
make me very happy. I also want this computer to succeed, I KNOW
that it deserves to. I KNOW that the people who  have  put  more
than their life and soul into this computer deserve to  succeed.
And I KNOW that people who work hard should be rewarded.

I want FRED to be bigger, however not just for me - I want  FRED
to be what other people want it to be. I want it to help people,
I want to do what I want to do but I always want to be told what
I SHOULD do. If you, the FRED customer, think I should or should
not do something - then tell me. I won't always agree -  in  the
past I've rarely agreed, but I will make sure to accommodate you
as much as possible - if at all possible.

                                                   Thanks.
BM                        New Editor!!

I  know  that Colin's been keeping you all in suspense about who
his  new  editor  is,  so  you might be pleased to hear that the
waiting  is over! He tells me that a fair amount of you actually
guessed  that  it  was me who'd be taking over, but for those of
you who didn't guess, my name is Brian McConnell.

I  did  used  to be on the FRED staff, back when it was a mere 6
months  old,  but  then  left  (sinful,  I  know),  to do "other
things".  I went to Enceladus for a fair bit - a year and a half
actually.  God. I didn't think it was that long! Anyway, tempted
by  the  promise  of  great  quantities of power (not to mention
cash,  if Colin can be "persuaded" to pay me), I've now returned
to FRED.

So,  what  does  this  mean  now  that  I'm editing the magazine
instead  of  Colin? Well, the short answer is "not a lot". There
won't be any huge changes made to the magazine that Colin wasn't
planning  himself.  All  I'll  be  doing really is writing a few
pages such as the News and what's going on in the world.
BM                        New Editor!!

My   main   task  is  going  to  be  sorting  through  all  your
contributions  and  finding  the demos/programs and things which
will  be  gracing  the  contents of the disc. So hopefully there
won't  be  any drastic changes to the mag you all know and love.

Part  of  my  introduction to editing FRED was looking through a
stack  of  disks to find programs for issue 26 (yes, that's this
one),  and  something which I've noticed is that virtually every
disc  has  clearly had a Hell of a lot of effort put into it, so
even  those of you whose programs didn't quite make it onto FRED
are to be applauded for that.

Well,  now  you  all  know who I am, I may as well begin (on the
next page).


COME ON BRIAN - I DON'T "PAY" YOU TO  LEAVE  BLANK  SPACES  LIKE
THIS ALL OVER THE MAG!   CM

BM                  General Bits and Pieces

Chezron  have released version 2 of their popular word processor
Outwrite.  FRED  will  be selling this at a price of £19.99, but
while  Chezron themselves offer an upgrade system (send them the
old  version  + £3, and get the new one) FRED won't be. So don't
send in hundreds of old Outwrites to us!

SAM  Technology  has,  in  the interests of the SAM, voluntarily
decided to close.  This does not mean that they ran out of money
or anything like that, it's just that Bruce didn't see the point
in keeping on all the staff and the factory when all  he  really
wanted to do was design  chips.  If  you  need  a  repair,  then
contact FRED to find out what to do about it.

Following  on from that, now that SAM Tech has closed, FRED will
be  adding Boing and SAM Print to its ever-growing collection of
titles.  You  can  order  SAM  Print now, but wait till Boing is
released  (in  early  November,  if  all goes as planned) before
placing any orders for that.

BM               More General Bits and Pieces

When  SAMCo  folded  a couple of months back, all the Revelation
software was sort of "messed up".  Now, a new company has kindly
stepped  in  and taken over from where they left off. Revelation
Soft,  as  it's  now  known, will be publishing all of the older
titles  such  as  Hexagonia and Batz 'n' Balls, and they tell us
that  they've  also  got  a  whole  lot  of  new software in the
pipeline.  No real details, but there'll be a fair smattering of
serious software as well as games, apparently.

One  of  the  first  things the new Revelation will do is launch
Secretary, the word processor which everybody has been desperate
to get hold of. This'll cost £14.99, but Revelation are going to
give substantial discounts to all subscribers of FRED or Format!
This  means  that  you  must  hold  a subscription to one of the
magazines  -  it  doesn't  mean  you  can  order  one  issue and
automatically be eligible. So what better incentive to get a sub
for  this  wonderful  mag  if  you  don't  already have one! The
discount  offer  applies  to  all  titles,  by the way, not just
Secretary.
BM              Yet More General Bits And Pieces

Unfortunately  Parallax  had  a  slight  bug  in it. Nothing too
major,  but in order to fix it there's a program in the Bits And
Bobs  section.  This program appeared last month as well, but we
didn't  really  explain  about it. Anyway, just load the program
and follow onscreen instructions and it should all work fine!

We were working on a deal with Future, where FRED  converted  YS
covertapes to SAM Disc to save everybody the hassle, but due  to
the fact that "further research" showed it to be highly illegal,
the idea was scrapped. Sorry about that.

Here seems as good a place as any to publicise a couple of extra
disks  you  can buy from FRED. The FREDatives are a set of disks
each  containing  a variety of demos, utilities, and even games!
The  disks  are £2 each, or £7 for all four. None of the stuff's
been  on  FRED  before,  incidentally,  so  you  will be getting
completely new material for your money.  Apart from one thing: a
game called Puzzled which we had a few months back. That appears
again (but it's the only thing. Honest!).
BM                Bits and Pieces (Yes, again)

The  other  thing which needs publicised is our hilarious story,
Rachel.   A  preview  appeared  a couple of issues ago (on 24A I
think),  and  we  thought we should maybe make it clear that you
can  buy  the  rest  of  it. We have had a fair amount of people
asking  what  happened  to  it, so maybe we didn't make it clear
that  it's a seperate thing. You can buy your own Rachel (sounds
a bit rude, doesn't it?) for only £3, and a fine buy it is too.

The SAM Adventure Club has just announced  that  it's  going  to
have to exercise some price rises toward the end of the year, so
if you're thinking of sending a  cheque  off  to  them,  try  to
contact them first to find out about the prices.


ARE YOU WANTING THE SACK 4 DAYS AFTER YOU GOT THE JOB?

GET IT SORTED OR IT'S BACK TO THAT OTHER MAG FOR YOU!   CM


BM                      Spellmaster News

We've heard that Spellmaster is one of the few titles that won't
work  on SC_Autoboot, the replacement ROM chip by Steve Nutting.
The  chip  is compatible with virtually everything else, but not
Spellmaster, as it turns out.  An updated version of Spellmaster
which IS compatible is being considered, but isn't definite yet.

In  Spellmaster  there's  a  special  feature  which somehow got
missed  out from the manual!! When you are checking words in the
file,  and  you  choose  to  correct  a  word which isn't found,
pressing  CNTRL  and  B  together brings up the main dictionary,
from  which you can choose a word to replace the "mistake" with.
The  dictionary  is brought up with cursor beside the word which
most closely matches the word which needs corrected.

Finally,  we  thought  we'd  better  point  out that Spellmaster
doesn't  check  words  less than four letters. This is simply so
that  postcodes and abbreviations and things aren't checked, and
is  not  a  bug.  You should be able to spell three letter words
anyway!
BM                       Go To a Show!

As  I  write this Colin and I are just back  from an All-Formats
thing  in  Glasgow.   In  case  anyone cares, I picked up a very
natty  dust  cover  for  my  Amiga, and a couple of cheap games.
Hello to the bloke who took out a subscription (you know who you
are!).

The  point  of  this article is just to try and get some more of
you  to  go  to  these shows! They really are a great way to get
cheap  materials,  for example blank disks for 25p each! You can
usually   haggle  with  stall-holders  as  well,  which  can  be
"interesting". Colin got 25% off some  hardware  just  by  being
persistent, so imagine what a  few  well  placed  threats  might
achieve! (that was just a joke). There are console and  Amiga/ST
games at ridiculous prices as  well,  so  if  you  have  another
computer as well as a SAM it'll  certainly  be  well  worth your
while.

(Oi! The haggling does NOT include the FRED stand! Unless you're
buying quite a few bits and pieces!     CM)
BM                       Go To a Show!

As an added incentive, FRED will giving 10% discounts to anybody
who goes to either the Glasgow show on the 29th November, or the
Haydock  one  on  the  24th  of  October (we know it's in just a
couple  of days, but we can't really help that. Even though FRED
is  hugely  powerful  it  doesn't decide Show dates. Yet.). This
applies  to ALL software, including the magazine, so you can get
back  issues  and  things  for just £1.80! (I'll just remind you
here that FRED now costs £2. Not that you'd forget, of course).

Apart from these reasons though, going to these shows is a great
day out - who does anything worthwhile on a Sunday anyway? - and
you  can  meet  other  SAM  owners, in case you haven't  already
met all the SAM users in your area.

The  only minus thing about shows is that sad fat five year olds
tend  to  come over and say "SAM Coupe? Ha!" Menacing looks soon
solve that little  problem though...


CM                         Disc Bumf

At last, I've got a word in edgeways! Mind you,  you've  got  to
hand it to someone that can shut me up  for  a  dozen  pages  or
so... anyway, I've opted to tell  you  what  you  get  to  amuse
yourselves with this month.....

Jeremy Wood has been playing with the top notch GamesMaster from
Andy Wright and came up with "Frog Squad" - a totally  excellant
version of the age-old Frogger games. Control is by cursors, and
as  usual,  your  objective  is  simply  to  guide   everybody's
favourite frog into his home  across  the  road  and  river!  If
you're interested, the BASIC file for it is simply  to  get  the
scroller on the menu done - the  rest  of  the  whole  game  was
compiled into solid machine code. (a standard GM feature)

Just to let you see what could well be the best game  this  side
of the next FRED release, here's a mega-compact  "rolling"  demo
of Dyzonium. We've missed out tons and tons of effects including
the different 3D vectored routines, but you should get  a  basic
idea of the game.
                 Disc Bumf - Colin Drivels on.

As promised last month, the revolutionary machine  code  article
on adding commands to BASIC is in on this disc. It  only  missed
last month by a day it turned out! Not only did Steve  do  this,
but he's come up with more level  solutions  to  Triltex  -  The
Later Levels  AND  (cue  drum  roll...)  the  LEVEL  EDITOR  for
Triltex!!!! Now you can create your own levels!  Wow!!!   You'll
find Steve's own  instructions  for  useage  in  the  reviews  /
letters section.

From our trusty coder, the OMCC alias Mark Davies comes  a  demo
of a game he'd like to do. Called Draconis, it's  a  shoot-em-up
NOT a conversion of the old Zeppelin game.  He's  still  in  the
early stages but I think all Mark's programs show us  all  quite
well how he's progressing with machine  code  -  he  could  even
become a FRED programmer one day!

Once more, Roger Hartley has done a few more tunes using
ETracker. I should point out that his version is over 6 months
old and he didn't have a manual - and they're still half decent!
CM                         Disc Bumf

This issue has been put together with what  could  be  the  best
thing on it, not being on it - if you see what I mean! What  I'm
talking about is the demo of Bulgulators - I've been promised by
ESI that it'll be here in time for FRED26 but it  hasn't  turned
up yet - with any luck it will! There may still be  one  or  two
small problems with this demo but  I  hope  you'll  see  what  a
brilliant game it is!

This month, we've decided to put the first part of  "Rachel"  on
again for two reasons : a) we didn't have anything else and b) I
don't think many people realised how funny it really was so  I'm
going to ask you to read it  through.  Because  it's  the  first
part, there has to be a lot of introduction but the rest of  the
12 parts will have you in stitches on every page!

Bits 'n' Bobs this month comes from people such as Frank  Kirby,
Fin, Marc Rickard and possibly  one  or  two  others  that  I've
forgotten - never mind you still get your names on Bits  so  you
will be recognized wherever in the SAM world you go!
BM                      Nearly Finished

Colin's  just  told  me to ask for any menus that you might have
done. So, has anybody got any menus lying around that they don't
really need? If so we'll be glad to take 'em off your hands.

We're  also  always  on  the  lookout  for talented programmers,
musicians and graphic artists, so if you think you fall into one
of those categories, get in touch and you could be writing games
for  one of the most prolific publishers around (yup, that means
FRED!).

While  we're on the subject of making requests, if anybody wants
to  sell  us a copy of Klax, EFTPOTRM, or a Kaleidoscope or a +D
interface for  a Spectrum 48K, you know where to find us (or you
should by now).

We  also  want  a  lot  of  stuff for the Christmas issue, so if
you've  been too modest to send in your stuff, now's the time to
send it in! And remember, we're now paying for items used on the
main menu.
BM          Honestly, There's Not Long To Go Now...

If  anybody's  still labouring along with an old ROM chip, we've
found  a  couple of the newer ones lying around. If you bought a
SAM  before  May 1990, and haven't bought a new ROM chip, you'll
need  this  "new"  (even  though it's a good couple of years old
now) one. If you want one, they're only £12, or £10 if you order
it before the end of October (1992).

That's  it  for now I think. Before I go though, I'll just stick
in  a  quick  plug for Games Master. You really wouldn't believe
how easy it is to use!! If a programming failure like me can get
nice  big sprites leaping around the screen then it MUST be easy
to  use!  The  first  games  created using this program are just
beginning to come through and they really are surprisingly good.
Remember that if a game is good enough, we'll put it on FRED and
if it's  really amazing, FRED'll even publish it as a full price
thing (which means loadsa cash*, in plain English).

*That means OUR idea of loadsa cash. Not necessarily yours...

BM                         Finished!

That  brings  me to the end of my SAM bit in the magazine. I say
"SAM  bit"  because I thought I might chuck in a couple of Music
Reviews  (in  an  attempt  to  convince  Colin  that I really AM
working hard!). They're at the end of the magazine anyway, so if
the  thought  of album reviews makes your stomach revolt you may
as well not read 'em.

I  did  think about announcing that the SAM has been revealed to
be  a  top  secret Communist experiment in marketing techniques,
but decided not to (it's a lie, you see).

       //
      //              (A picture of a tick to take up some
     //           <--  room  on  what would otherwise have
 \\ //                 been  a  particularly bland page...)
  \X/


            OK, I'LL LET YOU OFF FOR THIS.....     CM
                            Credits

Thanks this month must go out to:

Frank Kirby             AXE                 Neil -H-
Banzai                  Hipposoft           Stuart -L-
Fin                     Balor -K-           Mat of ESI
Mark Rickard            Martin -B-          Ziutek of ESI
Wizard                  Darren -C-          Rob -H-
Lightmare

Hopefully, we'll get this duplication lark sorted  out  in  time
for FRED27 to be hitting your doormats in  the  second  week  of
November. It costs £2 or £20 for a 12 month subscription.....

FRED Publishing
 [redacted]             Phone me on [redacted]
                        at any respectable hour. If I'm
                        not in - leave your name and call
                        back later.
                                             REVIEWS OVER >>>>>>
BM                         Albums #1

Music reviews are always a good way of filling up space, so "Why
not?"  I  thought to myself. This month, a couple of new ones, a
re-issue,  and  a  fairly  rare,  but old one which I found in a
record  store in Glasgow on my last visit (yet another reason to
go to the show if you live far from a decent Our Price/HMV).

First  up  is  the  new one from the Lemonheads - called "It's a
Shame  About  Ray".   This  costs less than usual (on CD anyway)
because  even with a dozen songs on it it doesn't even last half
an  hour.   But  that's  okay, because it's quality not quantity
that  counts  in  this  game  (that's why an eight hour New Kids
album would still be a load of s**t).  (Watch it! CM)

For anybody who's never heard of the Lemonheads (and it wouldn't
surprise  me;  they're not exactly in the charts a lot), they're
an  "indie" band (even though that tends to mean anything with a
guitar  in  it  these  days)  from America. This is their fourth
album,  and is much more "mellow" than anything else they've yet
done.
BM      Albums #2 - Lemonheads / It's a Shame About Ray

The title  track has just been released as a single. It probably
won't  get  near  the c**p-dominated charts, but it's class, and
one of the best on the album.

Claimed  by  some  members  of  the music press to be their best
album  yet, ...Ray is a great buy.  I'd have to give it at least
8 out of 10.

                           *********

                 Lemonheads / Hate Your Friends

This is the reissue I was on about. I know having two Lemonheads
albums  in  one  issue is a bit one-sided, but they deserve some
recognition!  This album originally contained 13 tracks, but the
new  version  has  20.  With most groups, this'd last hours, but
this  being the Lemonheads it comes in at just 36 minutes! Again
though,  the quality is outstanding. Without exception the songs
have  powerful  and  catchy  tunes,  the  sort you find yourself
BM         Albums #3 - Lemonheads / Hate Your Friends

humming  constantly  and  wishing  you could get the tune out of
your  head! This is a very pacy album, and where ...Ray would be
a  great  way  to  relax after a tiring day at work, this is the
sort  of thing you should listen to before going to a concert or
something.  Inspiring  stuff! Highlight of the album is probably
Second Chance, which is class. There's a good one called "F****d
Up"  which  deserves a mention though, merely because I like the
name  of it...  I hate to imagine how a "Radio One Edit" of THAT
would  sound (probably so full of bleeps people would think it's
a  techno  song!!).  Don't buy it if you tend to wet yourself at
the  use  of   the  F  word  (as some people apparently do), but
otherwise seek out this album!! I think I'll give it a healthy 8
out of 10, just like ...Ray.

                            ********

Before  I  go on, I may as well add that I'm not going to review
any  c**p  albums because I don't buy c**p ones. That'll explain
why you never see an album get less than seven or so.
BM                         Albums #4

Time  for  another "newie" I think. This is by another decidedly
not-famous band by the name of the Flaming Lips. Bet you'd never
heard  of  them!  Well, they're another American group, and like
the  Lemonheads  will probably be hiding in the Indie section of
your  local (large) record store; the chances of you finding one
of  these  in  your  local John Menzies Record Dept are slightly
less  than  non-existent. The album has  the title "Hit To Death
in  the Future Head", which rolls off the tongue about as nicely
as a dose of arsenic (I like a good simile, I do).

This  has  10  tracks  on it, and lasts 40 minutes (I don't know
about  anybody  else,  but I like to know if  my £13 is going to
get  me  a  value-for-money  length of CD or not. That's why I'm
mentioning  times).   The  band  are what you might call "garage
pop"  and  if  that means nothing then I can only describe it as
music  with  "some  electric guitars, a raw energetic sound, but
with  stacks  of tune". So now you know more or less what Garage
Pop is (unless I've got it wrong, which is pretty likely).

BM             Albums #5 - Flaming Lips / Hit...

There is an 11th track on the CD, but it doesn't really count as
all  it  is  is a bloke playing the same note repetitively for a
whole  half  hour!!  It's  a  bit  scary  that somebody could do
something  that weird  really. I mean, the question "Why?"  does
kind of spring to mind. But on with the review...

Out of the 10 tracks on this (10 serious ones, that is), I'd say
that  7 are very good, and 3 are good. So I think it's only fair
to give this one 7 out of 10.

                           ********

                    Dinosaur Jr - Dinosaur

A  quick  test  of the power of your memories now - remember the
term  Garage  Pop?  Well, it applies perfectly to this extremely
rare  album.  Dinosaur Jr are an amazing band, but I have to say
this is probable their weakest album so far.

BM            Albums #6 - Dinosaur Jr / Dinosaur

To  be  fair, it was their first, and it's by no means bad, it's
just  that  it  doesn't  seem  to  have  the noticeable sense of
direction  that  the  others  have.  It's  a lot softer than the
others, and there are certainly good tunes in it, but I'd advise
that  you  buy another of their albums before this one if you're
wanting to hear the band at their best (Green Mind is the one to
get, and most record stores should have it).

There  are  11 tracks on this, with a running time of 40 minutes
(oddly  enough,  all  the  Dinosaur  Jr  albums  are  approx. 40
minutes.  Spooky  eh?).  No bizarre "bonus" ones on this either.
I'm  going  to give this 7 out of 10 as well.  It's a lot better
than  I think I've made it out to be in this review. I think I'm
slipping  into  over-critical  mode  here  so I think I'd better
stop.

That's  your  lot  as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for listening
and I'll see you all next month!

Letters & Reviews

CM                 Letters / Reviews Section

Hiya folks. This is the section that seems to have been slightly
lacking as I've been saying before but I hope that you all  know
by now that if you buy a new game - write a review and  send  it
in or if you have an opinion on  ANYTHING,  write  in. For  your
reference, here's a quick contents list :

2 : Darren Sparrow - SAMCo and SAMs past and future.

  5 : Colin Anderton - SAMCo.

    7 : Daniel Cannon - improvements to SAM.

      11 : Darren Hubbard - FRED.

         13 : Daniel Doore - Leeds AFCF

            16 : Dyzonium Review

               19 : Triltex Editor Instructions
                            Letters

 Dear Col',
        Seeing as you wanted some letters sent to you, I thought
"yeah, I'll give it a try!" So here is a letter for you. "B".
Alright I'm sorry - bad joke there!

But seriously now, comments on the demise of Samco. To tell you
the truth I was thoroughly p****d off! With a computer as good
as the Coupe is you would think it a chance in a million of the
manufacturer going into liquidation, but no, with the present
climate as it is these things happen to the most unlikely of
businesses. Alan Miles, our congrats and sincere thanks go out
to you for producing such an excellent machine. And everybody
will agree with that statement. We hope that, in time, you get
back on your feet and amaze us once again. I for one wish you
all the best and thankyou.
 And I would like to thank everybody who is still supporting
the coupe through all this. It's simply amazing the amount of
people who are prepared to take on the responsibilities of
pushing the coupe ahead, whilst others would have given up and
                            Letters

got rid of their machine as soon as possible. To those people I
say congratulations on your support and enthusiasm. Hearty slap
on the back to you all!
 I would also like to know how the Samco staff are doing Colin.

Anyway that's my thoughts on Samco over, but I do have some
comments on something else. We're talking that rag S.U. Now I
read a letter in it from a fellow coupe user who asked the
question, "Why no Sam coverage" And the smart alec response
was,"If a major software house writes games for it then we'll
review it!" And he had the cheek to call us "slightly cliquish"
users! Cliquish meaning coterie or to put it into layman terms
an exclusive society! Well all I can say to that is buy Your
Sinclair, with its two pages of Sam reviews and news, and a much
better read.

From:- Darren Sparrow [redacted]

                             Reply

 Thanks for your vote of confidence Daz - I'm sure Alan will
appreciate it as well. You sound as though you'll be a long term
SAM owner,  and as long as we all stick together, there's no
reason why SAM shouldn't become a thriving success in the hands
of West Coast.

You asked about the ex-SAMCo staff : Well, Alan is still trying
to sort out the whole mess. Adrian is being kept occupied by his
fiancee but reckons he'll get a job at the University. Charles
(the repair person) is going back to College to do an
Electronics degree. Bruce was running SAM Tech. Mark (the other
techy person) is working for Bruce. Paul (the cofee maker) is
also working for Bruce. Greg (the storeman) is the Office
Manager for a plastics firm. Louise (Spanish speaking one) is at
College in London. Isobelle (the French one) has gone back to
the South of France and Brian Nutt (the Executive Manager) is
where he belongs - in the dole queue)

Bye bye SU !!!!!!
                             Letter

Dear FREDitor,
     Congratulations on your 2nd  birthday.   Congratulation  on
Spellmaster  (which  I'm  using  now)  and  congratulations   on
obtaining the rights for SAM software and hardware.

     The main reason for me writing was because in FRED 25 there
were no letters on the basis of Alan  Miles.  I  am  writing  to
praise him for all he has  done,  and  I  hope  he  can  find  a
successful future with the SAM  yet.  The  reason  I  wrote  was
because last June, Peter Moore and I started work  on  a  French
newspaper which would be entered in a  schools  competition.  We
thought it a good idea to do an article on  the  SAM.  Alan  was
kind enough to give us his time and tell us the history  of  the
SAM. I tell you now,  Alan  went  from  high  in  the  press  to
homeless while  he  was  trying  to  get  the  SAM  going.  What
surprised me, was that he told Peter and  I  about  the  Arabian
deal and how they wanted  him  to  convert  the  SAM  for  other
languages. Alan was extremely excited about this and I  find  it
hard to imagine what a let down it must have been when he had to
                             Letter

declare SAMCo as being in liquidation. The day he told me  about
the deal, I felt a part of what was going on, as should all  SAM
owners, and I think Alan Miles deserved more. Anyway, good  luck
for the future Alan.

                        Yours sincerely,

                         COLIN ANDERTON

Thanks for the vote of confidence Colin.

In case you are wondering, all the ex-SAMCo staff who own a SAM
receive a copy of FRED each month because they are all
incredibly nice people.

You seem to have got your wires crossed Colin, FRED only picked
up the rights to 4 pieces of software. All Revelation software
and the hardware has been taken up by someone else....

                             Letter

This  is basically  an appeal  to  West  Coast  Computers.  I've
written  direct to  them as  well, but  this is to make make the
appeal more public. See if you agree with what I'm saying:

I'd like to see a new SAM made. One which is compatible with the
current  one, and  all its  add ons,  but one which has some new
features.

If  you've seen  any Amiga/PC/console  games you'll have noticed
that  most games  have scrolling  and sound.  There  are  a  few
without scrolling (Ugh/Pushover/Pang are some of the latest) but
the  design of  the game  has extremely good to get around this.
All  games have  sound, but  in varying degrees of quality. With
SAM it's just 'above' Spectrum 128K/Amstrad CPC type music - not
too good really.

People  blame SAM's graphics and sound chip because of this. The
fact is that they're not to blame. The resolution and colours of
the  graphics are quite adequate (but obviously it would be nice
                             Letter

to  have these improved as well), and if you've heard any decent
PD  sample demo  you'll know that SAM is on a par with the likes
of an Amiga.

The  problem is how they are used. The other computers that I've
mentioned  (apart from  Speccy and Amstrad of course) have extra
hardware  on board  to access  the memory  directly (DMA).  This
hardware  can copy bytes around the memory and send bytes to the
sound  chip far  more quickly  that the  processor ever can. Put
simply  the hardware  can play samples, print sprites, or scroll
the  screen whilst the processor gets on with other work - so it
isn't  bogged down  with doing  this stuff  itself. Result: Fast
scrolling  games with  lots of  sprites  on  screen  and  decent
sampled music.

But   even  utility   programs  can  benefit  -  wordprocessors,
databases, and so on could use it to copy information around the
memory  faster. Art  packages would  work faster (especially the
'cut  & paste'  option in  Flash). And  at last  there will be a
                             Letter

proper  sample sequencer program (like Sound Machine or ETracker
but with samples, not waveforms).

Now  I know that people who own SAMs know that their computer is
good  for programming,  experimenting with,  and so on, and they
were  probably part-way  attracted to  SAM because  of that. But
most  of the people buying home computers choose their computers
because  of  the  quality  (and  also  quantity)  of  the  games
available. To make SAM mass-market (or as mass-market as it will
ever get to be now) we need better games - and lots of them.

Basically  SAM needs  a blitter  chip, and  a DMA sample player.
Preferably  in an  interface box  which can be easily plugged in
the  back so  that older SAM owners can upgrade. There are a few
other  things I'd  like to  see, but these are the main two. I'm
sure  with the  amount of talent around in the SAM world that it
can  be done  - it  just needs  someone with  the ability to get
things co-ordinated (and the cash of course).

                             Letter

Unfortunately  I know  next to  nothing about building hardware,
but I can tell anybody who does know what I'd like (and I'm sure
other  programmers can  tell the  designer(s) what  they'd  like
too).

But  obviously if  nobody wants this kit then it won't be built.
That's why I've written to as many fanzines/user groups as I can
find  to see  how people  react. If  enough people want this kit
(and  let's face  it - you'd be mad not to want it) then it will
probably be built. Please write in to say how you feel about the
subject - and put forward any ideas which you may have yourself.

Daniel  Cannon, programmer

CM : Sounds great Dan - who's putting up the £2,000,000 to put
it into production? Sorry for sounding so pessimistic but
without money, everything has to be taken one step at a time -
which also takes much longer. Any donations to help West Coast
on their way would be put to good use - contact Format for info.
                             Letter
DEAR COLIN
   First  off, what happened  to the  "specialist" articles that
FRED used to have before FRED 17? I enjoyed reading them and I'm
sure that many others did to.
   Sinclair User  has a pitful quality  to it. It carries  sweet
Frederick  Arbuckle SAM news and has  only a crappy 52 pages for
the high price that it charges. It has said in the  letters page
that  if  anything decent  comes out  for  the SAM  then they'll
review it. As if every issue of FRED isn't decent!!  At least YS
has a decent amount of SAM pages in it...
   Sorry to most FRED readers but I am against the price rise to
two  quid. One  of the  reasons that  I buy  FRED is  that it is
cheap. Then again I suppose FRED is worth a good two pounds.
   I'd like to see a wrestling game for the SAM. (hint). Perhaps
you  might also like to  see a few of  these games on SAM format
too... Barbarian,  Target  Renegade,  Op Wolf,  a  good  Missile
Command  clone, 180, Super Seymour, and  a good Asteroids clone.
Hope thats some help (probably not through.)

                    DARREN "VOLUME" HUBBARD
                             Reply

Thanks Darren.

The specialist articles? Well, until now, no-one has been paid
for any contributions to FRED and so it's only when people can
be bothered to write an article that it can get included! So if
you know a lot about last weeks Grand Prix, todays episode of
Neighbours or next month's chart hits, get writing !!

You will be pleased to know, that our new assistant editor does
plan to write some "specialist" articles - wait and see...

Whoops - a bit late about the price rise! Hope it doesn't upset
your budget too much!

As you can see from our line up, the list of games getting
released is not short - there's more games out and coming out on
SAM than there is on the SNES !!! Big licences tend to be out of
the question though.

DD    AFCF Report - Leeds Uni. Sports Hall 4th October 1992
-----------------------------------------------------------
I suppose I should do this in a sort of 'Tales from the Crypt'
style that it is usually done in, so here goes nothing... All
is dark, Dan reaches for the alarm bitterly regretting the 8
pints and two bottles of Asda Lambrusco he consumed last night
at a student party somewhere in Leeds, but slightly suprised to
find himself at home. Having 'acquired' a free ticket to go to
this AFCF, and considering it is just down the road, I thought
I'd pop along to see what it is all about.  Boy, was I
dissapointed.  Since I have never been to an AFCF, I went with a
open if not slightly throbbing mind and I was expecting the
'Legendary All Formats Fair', supposed grand meeting place for
those of us who want to mingle with the people that matter. Not
so. Granted, there were people who knew there stuff (most were
Joe Public) but most of the 20 or so stalls were either
box-shifters, book clubs or second-hand spares dealers.  I hear
a lot about the AFCFs, I have been moaned at for not going to
some of the London ones and I always read the show reports so I
was expecting at least a few Sam people to be around. I found
one. Poor old Nev Young with munchkin and friend on the Format
DD                         Leeds AFCF

stall with a well travelled and grimey Coupe running 'Dragon
Tiles' (There you go Nev, told you I'd slip a plug in!) which
is darn good fun and kept us amused for three hours, we are
talking quality game here. Anyway, after asaulting Nev's ears
for too long I had a trapse around the other stalls... bought
20 discs... and went back to DT again.  Not much to say really,
all in all I was none too chuffed with it and I felt cheated for
paying the 50p bus fare to come to it. Talking to some of the
older die-hard AFCF followers It apparantly used to be much
better until they made them more regional and frequent.  A word
of advice, if Nev offers to show you any Polish software
(should be hardware really) and you are in mixed company,
decline politely....but go back later.

PS Someone please convert NMI3 to you-know-where, what say SC &
how's the mousey thing going?  Just if you're interested, I can
now be reached quickly at my term time address of: [redacted]  
But this is only for this academic year OK?
                             Reply

Thanks for the report Dan. You're not being very fair -
considering you got an interesting day out, a chat with Nev and
20 cheap discs out of it! All for 50p!!! Not bad!

Yes, back in the "good old days" about 2 years ago, when the
AFCF was just at London, each fair was huge. But gradually, they
have been getting steadily worse and worse which is why I can no
longer afford to go to every one that is organised like I used
to.

These days it seems to be all happening at Birmingham rather
than London, so if you can, make your way to the National
Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, Birmingham to meet myself,
Format, SAM Supplement and a host of other people.
Unfortunately, even Brummy shows aren't stunning but they're
worth going to even if you've been to an AFCF before. (as long
as you buy something off me! Even if you don't, please introduce
yourself as I like to meet the FRED readers).

BM                        Dyzonium #1

Before I begin this review, I'd better say that I'm not going to
rate the graphics because I in fact did them and would obviously
give them far too high a mark. You can see what they're like for
yourselves  anyway  if  the the playable demo is on this disk as
was planned. You don't need to worry about me giving the overall
game  too  high  a  mark  either,  as  I'm  not on a royalty and
therefore  couldn't  give  a toss whether hundreds of copies are
sold. Right, now that that's in the open, I'll begin.

Dyzonium is a game that can't really be put into a category. The
closest  I  can  come  to is this: 12 way scrolling shoot-em-up,
with  a bit of collecting things chucked in for good measure. If
the  demo is on the disk (and it should be) a quick look at that
will clarify that slightly lacking explanation!

The  plot,  if  I  remember  correctly  was  something  to  with
collecting  the energy-packed crystals of Dyzonium from galaxies
populated  by rather unhospitable aliens and things (and I mean
"things"!  I drew them all, and I still don't know what some are
BM                        Dyzonium #2

meant to be!).

I may as well come straight out and say it - I think this is the
best game out for the SAM. It's as simple as that. No other game
yet  has  the  instant appeal or the long-lasting qualities (not
even  Mind  Games,  ha  ha  ha). The game is, at first, horribly
difficult,  but  once  you get used to the control system (which
takes  a  couple  of minutes, but it's not too bad) and start to
get  an  idea  of  what  you need to do, it starts becoming much
easier.  Not that you'll be completing this game in a hurry! The
difficulty  level  is  just right, so that when you die you know
what you did wrong and not to do it again.

The  programming  of  the  game is top notch, with clever vector
graphics  at  the  start  (the  name  of the game hurling itself
around  the  screen).  The collisions detection is as precise as
can  be,  and there is a definite feeling of accomplishment once
you  complete  a  level  (there  are 10, by the way, and I still
can't get past the second one!).
BM                        Dyzonium #3

To  finish  off, I'm going to recommend that if you only buy one
game this year, then make it Dyzonium. It's great!

I'm not giving this fancy ratings and things, because I've grown
fed   up   of   them.   Who  cares  about  so-many  percent  for
addictiveness,  and xx percent for sound? The game is class, the
music  is  good but does get irritating, it's addictive as hell,
and  is  instantly  playable.  I'll give it an overall mark of 8
out of 10.

(If  you  should  want  a  distinctly  biased  opinion about the
graphics, I think they're incredible. But then I would, wouldn't
I).


CM : BRIAN WILL BE REVIEWING  MANY  GAMES  IN  THE  FUTURE.  HIS
REVIEWS ARE INDEPENDANT AND WILL NOT BE EDITED SO AS  TO  CHANGE
THE OVERALL IMPRESSION OF  THE  REVIEW.  HE  WILL  BE  REVIEWING
PARALLAX, SPELL MASTER AND A FEW OTHER GAMES NEXT MONTH.
ST                       Triltex Editor

Yesssss! It's finally here! THE TRILTEX LEVEL EDITOR! The actual
proggie the Later Levels were created with! And now it's all
yours!

Enough sensationalist nonsense - the instructions:

Use mouse (SAMCo) or the following keys -

Q    UP
A    DOWN
O    LEFT
P    RIGHT
N    LEFT MOUSE BUTTON
M    RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON

(When selecting a tile or layer number etc, click on the digit
you wish to change (left = decrement digit, right = increment
digit). This lets you jump quickly between largish numbers.)

ST                       Triltex Editor

Each level is built out of layers (maximum of 16), each of which
is 8x16 tiles in size. There are 48 tiles (numbered 1-48) plus a
blank space (number 0). You should all know what the tiles do,
but note that QUIT is split into two tiles and is affected like
any other by bombs etc. (If you don't include any quit tiles,
the player can't quit, as Later Level owners will have found out
to their cost - if they've reached level 19, that is!)

You can edit either one layer, for clarity, or the whole level.
This is indicated at the top of the screen in a grey bar which
you click to display the menu. Also at the top is the current
tile, the current layer (numbered from 0) and the number of
layers.

To position a tile, select it (a short cut for choosing tile 0
is to click the top of the tile symbol) and click in the
appropriate place. Holding down one button will let you see what
it would be like (to check if you had it in the right place, for
instance) and releasing will restore that position.
ST                       Triltex Editor

To confirm that you want to position the tile, press the second
button as well. A short delay is caused by the tiles being
reprinted each time.

The menu options:

* PLAY LEVEL     - Click on QUIT tile or press F9 to exit.

* EDIT LEVEL

* EDIT LAYER

* CLEAR LEVEL    - Both buttons to confirm

* CLEAR LAYER    - Both buttons to confirm

* CHANGE SIZE    - Change number of layers. Press left/ right
button for decrement/ increment, then the other button to
confirm.
ST                       Triltex Editor

* LOAD LEVEL

* SAVE LEVEL     - Levels are stored as code files with the name
"Level" plus the number you specify.

* EXIT TO BASIC  (well, what do you think?)


Coming next month - the compilation routine to transfer your
levels into a Triltex data file, complete with your own
passcodes etc!


CM : OK ALL YOU TRILTEX PLAYERS - GET CREATING YOUR  OWN  LEVELS
AND SEND THEM IN! WHAT WE MIGHT DO IS COMPILE A DISC OF ALL YOUR
LEVELS AND SELL IT FOR A POUND OR SO -  NATURALLY,  ANYONE  THAT
GOT THEIR LEVEL ONTO THE DISC WOULD GET A FREE COPY.....

                       < END OF SECTION >