Description
Issue 7
| Item | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Menu | Brian McConnell | |
| Magazine | All Formats Show, ZAT, Hi-scores! | |
| Freviews | Sphera | |
| Designer | Adam Perry | Sprite designer |
| Freddy demo | Malcolm Phillips | Stars that nice Mr Kreuger… |
| Convertor | Paul Kelly | Converts flash code to SCREEN$ files |
| MC pt 2 | Steve Taylor | Machine Code Made Easy - Part 2 Understand bin, hex; bit manipulation |
| The Mad Bitty | Brian McConnell | Pointless drivel |
| Filer | Scott Preston | Store names and addresses |
| Beep! Beep! | Allan Norton, Marc Broster, Neil Holmes, Stuart Leonardi | Selection of tunes, ‘Eagle Tune’ is a version of an Amiga SoundTracker module ‘2aa.mod’. |
| Compatibles | The Shadow | Sam-compatible spectrum titles |
| FPC 2 | Results of earlier competition | |
| Interview | Interview with GM Software |
Magazine
FRED ISSUE 7 MENU 1
1 : THE MENU 11 : HINTS 'N' TIPS CTD
2 : THE FREDITORIAL 12 : AAAAAAARGH!
3 : THE FORMATS FAIRS 13 : CRAP JOKE CORNER
4 : TOO MUCH HASSLE... 14 : CLASSIFIEDS
5 : THE NEXT FAIR 15 : A LETTER!
6 : WHO'S ZAT THEN... 16 : PROGRESS REPORT!!
7 : THE NEW IDEA... 17 : NEWS
8 : OOOOOOOPPPPSSS! 18 : DISC CONTENTS
9 : HI-FLYERS 19 : DISC CONTENTS CTD
10: HINTS 'N' TIPS 20 : CREDITS
USE O AND P FOR LEFT AND RIGHT A PAGE )OR USE THE
USE Q AND A FOR UP OR DOWN FIVE PAGES )ARROW KEYS
USE SPACE OR FULL STOP TO SELECT PAGE
USE C IF YOU WANT TO ALTER THE COLOURS
Please note:the adverts will now appear at a random page when
you load FRED up each time.Just don't ask why,OK?
THE FREDITORIAL 2
THE MORE OBSERVANT OF YOU WILL HAVE NOTICED THAT DESPITE MY
'DISAPPEARANCE' LAST MONTH I STILL HAD TO DO OVER HALF THE MAG!
NOW , BRIAN HAS DECIDED HIS EXAMS ARE IMPORTANT AFTER ALL AND
REFUSES TO DO ANY WORK (EXCEPT FOR THE MAD BIT AND THE ARTWORK)
AND IAN OPTED OUT WITH THE EXCUSE THAT HE'S GOT TOO MUCH ON!!
AS I'VE BEEN ABANDONED (BOO HOO!) WHEN I'VE NEEDED HELP THE
MOST , THE MAGAZINE MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY LACKING IN THE NEXT FEW
ISSUES BUT IF IT IS..BLAME YOURSELF!YES,IF EVERY READER DID ONE
PAGE I'D HAVE THE NEXT SIX ISSUES PACKED FULL! SO COME ON,WRITE
TO ME ABOUT ANYTHING THAT TICKLES YOUR FANCY!
A LOT HAS BEEN HAPPENING ON THE COUPE SCENE LATELY WHAT WITH
THE MEG UPGRADE,CARD CAGE (OR SAMBUS AS IT'S NOW CALLED),THE
FANTASTIC MASTERDOS AND ALL THE GREAT GAMES RELEASED
RECENTLY.QUITE AN EVENTFUL MONTH , AND FOR SAMCO'S SAKE AS WELL
AS EVERY OTHER COUPE OWNER'S I HOPE THAT THE COUPE SOLD WELL AT
CHRISTMAS.ONCE AGAIN , I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU ALL
SOON AND NOW I'LL LEAVE YOU TO ENJOY THE MAG ( OR WHATEVER ELSE
YOU MAY CARE TO DO WITH IT!). CM
ALL FORMATS FAIR 3
YES,I SHOULD HAVE A STAND AT THE SHOW ON FEBRUARY THE 2ND SO
MAKE SURE I GET A CHANCE TO MEET YOU.IF I DON'T HAVE A STAND
THEN I'LL STILL BE THERE SO JUST ASK ANY OF TEAM SAM TO POINT ME
OUT!
A FEW OF YOU MAY HAVE SEEN A PHOTO OF THE LAST FAIR IN ISSUE
110 OF NEW COMPUTER EXPRESS.ALLOW ME TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH IT
(!)...THE GUY ON THE LEFT IS NONE OTHER THAN DR ANDY WRIGHT AND
JUST BEHIND HIS FOREHEAD IN A MEGADETH T-SHIRT IS OUR VERY OWN
IAN!! BEHIND THE STALLS : BOTTOM RIGHT IS MARK GREENSHIELDS FROM
ENIGMA,NEXT SLIGHTLY UP IS BRIAN MUMFORD (IN THE SAM COUPE
JUMPER!) OF SDC'S SAM SUPPLEMENT,NEXT I THINK IS FORMAT'S BOB
BRENCHLY AND AROUND THE CORNER (BEHIND BRIAN MUMFORD) IS THE
BACK OF THE GENIUS BRUCE GORDON!! IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY JUST
ABOVE MARK GREENSHIELD'S HEAD,AT THE VERY RIGHT OF THE PICTURE
YOU CAN (OR AT LEAST I DID!) JUST MAKE OUT DAVE LEDBURY OF
THE SAM/SPECTRUM MAGAZINE , ZAT.
SOMEHOW , NCE MANAGED TO MISS ME OUT OF THE PHOTO BUT I'M SURE
THEY'LL MAKE UP FOR IT WITH ONE NEXT TIME!!!
TOO MUCH HASSLE... 4
HMMM YES, I'M AFRAID I'M GOING TO HAVE TO STOP MAKING FRED
AVAILABLE BY SENDING A DISC AND SSAE.SORRY! BUT I DO ALL THE
COPYING OF FREDS ON A SUNDAY AND WHEN SOMEONE SENDS A DISC AND
SSAE ON MONDAY I'VE GOT TO COPY IT USING MY ONE DRIVE WHICH
TAKES QUITE A WHILE UNFORTUNATLY.THE OTHER REASON IS THAT I'M
STILL (YES,STILL!) MAKING A LOSS BY RUNNING THIS MAGAZINE AND SO
I WILL HAVE TO START RECUPERATING SOME OF THOSE LOSSES SOON
OTHERWISE THAT WILL BECOME ANOTHER REASON FOR STOPPING.
I'M SORRY FOR DOING THIS AND I GUESS SOME OF YOU WILL THINK
THAT FRED WILL NO LONGER BE 'NON-PROFIT MAKING' AS IT IS NOT
FREE IN THE SAME SENSE AS BEFORE.BUT IT REALLY HAS TO BE DONE SO
YOU CAN NOW ONLY GET FRED BY SENDING £1 TO ME.
THERE IS NOW A LITTLE BIT OF RESPONSE TO MY NUMEROUS PLEA'S IN
PAST ISSUES BUT FROM NOW ON I WON'T BE ABLE TO DO MUCH MORE THAN
JUST COMPILE ALL THAT I'M SENT SO IT'S NOW IN YOUR HANDS
ENTIRELY.DON'T LET YOURSELF DOWN......
THE NEXT FAIR 5
THAT'S ANOTHER FAIR GONE PAST AND I COULDN'T ATTEND BUT I WILL
BE AT THE NEXT ONE! YES,I SHOULD HAVE A SMALL STAND SET UP
BORROWED FROM SOME KIND SOUL SO PLEASE COME FOR A CHAT IF YOU
ARE IN THE AREA.I WILL BE SELLING ALL COPIES OF FRED AND I WILL
BE TAKING MY COUPE DOWN TO SHOW FRED OFF TO ANY PASSER-BY'S.
WHO ELSE WILL BE THERE? WELL,SAMCO AND ENIGMA ARE DEFINETLY
ATTENDING AS ARE THE SCPDSA.STEVE NUTTING MIGHT BE THERE
,POSSIBLY SHARING A STAND WITH BLUE ALPHA ELECTRONICS.
FRED ISSUE 7 WILL BE OUT THE DAY AFTER THE SHOW BUT I WILL BE
SELLING PREVIEW COPIES AT THE SHOW.THE ONLY DIFFERENCE WILL BE
THAT THE PREVIEW COPIES WILL NOT HAVE A SHOW REPORT.BUT IF YOU
BUY IT AT THE SHOW YOU WON'T BE WANTING A REPORT ANYWAY!!!
I'VE DECIDED TO PUT ISSUES ONE AND TWO ONTO ONE DISC NOW AS THEY
ARE A 'BIT LACKING' BUT STILL WORTH A LOOK IF ONLY TO SEE WHAT
IT'S POSSIBLE TO START FROM.THESE ISSUES ARE NATURALLY ONLY A £1
FOR THE DISC.
WHAT'S ZAT THEN? 6
I MET A NICE MAN (A VERY NICE MAN:A VERY,VERY NICE MAN......)
AT THE NOVEMBER SHOW WHO TURNED OUT TO NONE OTHER THAN DAVE
LEDBURY,EDITOR OF 'ZAT' FANZINE!(PREVIOUSLY CALLED 'ADVANCED ZAT
PROGRAMMING' AND BEFORE THAT (OR SHOULD I SAY BEFORE ZAT?!?)
'ZAT PROGRAMMING'!)
DAVE RECENTLY SENT ME A COPY OF THEIR FIFTH ISSUE WHICH IS A
VERY PROFESSIONAL (ALTHOUGH ON PAPER!) 32 PAGE MAGAZINE.BETWEEN
AT LEAST SIX OF THEM (FIVE MORE THAN ME!) THEY HAVE INCLUDED
NEAT DRAWINGS ALL OVER THE PLACE AND A DOUBLE PAGE COMIC
STRIP.UNFORTUNATLY ,ZAT CATERS FOR THE SPECTRUM AS WELL AS THE
COUPE BUT THERE IS STILL A LOT OF COUPE COVERAGE TO BE FOUND.
THE PRICE FOR SUBSCRIPTION TO ZAT IS £5.50 FOR SEVEN
BI-MONTHLY ISSUES OR JUST SEND 80P AND A STAMP FOR A SINGLE
ISSUE.
APART FROM THE WHOLE THING SEEMINGLY REVOLVING AROUND THE
TURTLES,ZAT IS PRETTY GOOD (AND IS ALSO A MEMBER OF TEAM SAM!!)
SO IF YOU WANT TO GET A COPY SEND YOUR CASH TO :ZAT , PO BOX 488
, TWEEDALE , MADELEY , TELFORD , SHROPSHIRE , TF7 4SU
THE NEW IDEA!!!!!!! 7
UNFORTUNATLY THE IDEA THAT I HAD IN MIND FROM LAST MONTH WOULD
TAKE UP FAR TOO MUCH TIME SO I WILL HAVE TO DELAY IT FOR SIX
MONTHS OR SO.BUT I AM WILLING TO START UP A FRED PD LIBRARY! THE
THING ABOUT THE FRED PD THAT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALL THE
OTHERS IS THAT NOT ONLY WILL IT BE NON-PROFIT MAKING (SOMETHING
ONLY ME AND SDC ARE,IN THE ENTIRE COUPE WORLD!!) BUT I WILL FILL
THE DISCS RIGHT UP TO THE BRIM WITH STUFF ; NOT JUST PUT ON HALF
A DOZEN PROGRAMS AND PUT THE REST ON ANOTHER DISC! SO YOU WILL
SEE PD DISCS FROM ME WITH AS NEAR TO 780K FULL AS POSSIBLE!!
ONLY ONE DISC IS AVAILBALE SO FAR AND I'LL WARN YOU THAT THE
STUFF MAY BE FOUND IN OTHER PD'S BUT I'VE JUST TAKEN THE BEST OF
THE LOT SO I'M SURE YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.DISC TWO WHICH
SHOULD BE OUT SOON WILL HAVE THE SPHERA DEMO ON IT (YES,ENIGMA
HAVE MADE IT 100% PUBLIC DOMAIN!!)
EACH DISC WILL JUST THE USUAL,PATHETICALLY LOW ,PRICE OF ONE
POUND OR IF YOU HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO FRED THEN YOU CAN JUST
PHONE INSTEAD AND I'LL JUST DEDUCT ONE ISSUE FROM YOUR SUB AND
SEND IT/THEM IMMEDIATELY TO YOU!(UNLESS THERE'S A PROBLEM!!!)
OOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPSSSS 8
Yes , I made one or two cock-ups last month and so here I must
humbly apologize and hopefully rectify those errors.
The escape key detection routine which I said was in the
ENIGMA newsletter originally came from Colin Jordan (yes , he's
the one who did FAMOUS FIVE!).I got a letter from him and he was
a little bit miffed so here is another claim to fame for you!
I also said that two gentlemen were working on a game and some
music in the NEXT MONTH section , trust me to go and get one of
their names wrong : It should have been Neil Holmes and Stuart
Leonardi instead of Steven.Sorry Steven....I mean Stuart!!!!
The game they are working on is still going strong and as they
have too much to do it is delayed a little bit but with a bit of
luck we'll see it soon.
I also made a couple of mistakes about the date of this issue
, I think I said it was out on the 2nd and later on the 5th .If
you have not just joined FRED you will of course have realised
that it was the 6th - ie. The first Sunday in the month.
Remember if you notice any little blunders (or even big ones!)
in the future , please tell me as soon as you can.
HI-FLYERS 9
GOT ANY AMAZING SCORES? SEND THEM IN AND SHOW YOUR SKILLS!
HERE ARE SOME TO START YOU OFF - BEAT 'EM IF YOU CAN!!
ERM , ZENITH (COLIN) - 12780 WITH 7 LIVES LEFT!
FAMOUS FIVE , ENIGMA (COLIN) - 46% (AND I QUIT!)
DEFENDERS , ENIGMA (COLIN) - 112840 (FINISHED WITHOUT CHEAT!)
TETRIS , FRED3 (COLIN) - 5291 WITH 154 LINES
" " " (BRIAN) - ???? WITH 163 LINES
" " " (IAN) - ???? WITH 49 LINES (HA!-CM)
A CERTAIN FRED CONTRIBUTOR NAMED NEIL HOLMES COMPLETED SPHERA
IN JUST FOUR DAYS WITH A FANTASTIC SCORE OF 2,692,000!!!
APPARENTLY , THE FINISHING MESSAGE IS "WOW! MEGA DUDE OR WHAT.
YOU WELL AND TRUELY KICKED THEIR BUTTS!" WELL DONE NEIL AND FOR
SOME HINTS ON SPHERA SEE THE RELEVANT PAGE!
HINTS 'N' TIPS 10
NOW SOME TIPS FOR THOSE OF YOU STUCK ON ENIGMA'S FAMOUS FIVE
ADVENTURE SENT IN BY PHIL GLOVER.IF ANY OF YOU ARE REALLY STUCK
THEN YOU MAY SEND PHIL DETAILS OF YOUR PROBLEM WITH A SSAE AT :
43 FERNDALE RD.,HALL GREEN,BIRMINGHAM,WEST MIDLANDS,B28 9AU
MAKE FRIENDS WITH GEORGE AFTER VISITING THE HOUSE.YOU'LL NEED
TO GO TO THE GROCER'S SHOP,BECOME JULIAN,BUY ICES AND GIVE ICES
TO GEORGE.YOU MAY NEED TO RE-DIRECT GEORGE TO THE SHOP IF SHE
WANDERS OFF AGAIN!
YOU'LL NEED THE SPADE FROM THE VEGETABLE GARDEN AND FOOD FROM
THE PANTRY,WHICH MAY PROVE TRICKY AS JOANNA WON'T LET YOU INTO
THE KITCHEN.PLACE ONE PERSON IN DINING ROOM AND ANOTHER IN
LIVING ROOM BY THE RADIO.IF YOU TURN ON THE RADIO,JOANNA COMES
IN TO TURN IT OFF AGAIN.QUICKLY BECOME THE PERSON IN THE DINING
ROOM AND NIP INTO THE EMPTY KITCHEN.YOU CAN DO THIS THREE OR
FOUR TIMES, IF NECESSARY.
TIPS CONTINUED OVER THE PAGE...........
HINTS 'N' TIPS CTD. 11
YOU'LL NEED TO GET THE OVEN GLOVES OFF JOANNA.'BECOME GEORGE'
AND'TALK TO JOANNA GIVE ME GLOVES'WHEN SHE SWITCHES THE RADIO
OFF.
FOR THE ISLAND, YOU'LL NEED FOOD & DRINK,THE SPADE,ROPE,TORCH
& BATTERY,MATCHES AND THE THE GLOVE.GEORGE CAN ASK ALF ABOUT
TIMMY, AND TIMMY SHOULD APPEAR. ONLY GEORGE CAN SAFELY ROW TO
THE ISLAND.NO DIRECTIONS EXIST AT SEA, ALL YOU CAN DO IS 'ROW
BOAT' SEVEN TIMES TO OR FROM THE ISLAND.
A BIG THANK YOU TO PHIL FOR THESE TIPS,IF YOU STILL CAN'T GET
VERY FAR THEN HOPEFULLY NEXT MONTH THERE WILL BE MORE.
MEANWHILE IF YOU HAVE ANY TIPS , SEND THEM IN..
INCIDENTLY, IF YOU HAVE MULTI PACK ONE FROM ENIGMA .THEN IF YOU
WANT TO BE (ALMOST!) INVINCIBLE ON SAM STIKES OUT THEN GO AS FAR
LEFT FROM THE FIRST SCREEN AS POSSIBLE THEN JUMP AND PRESS 'F9'
AT THE SAME TIME.SAM SHOULD THEN TURN UPSIDE DOWN AND HAVE A
PERMANENT SHIELD!!
AAAAAARRRGH - THE HELP PAGE 12
Could any of your readers out there help me with a small problem
I am haing with my coupe. I am using the Format S.P.I. printer
interface and an Amstrad DMP 2000 printer. The problem is that I
do not know the Dip Switch setting for the printer. After
expermenting with these switches I finally got the printer to
work. Text ok,though when printing with Flash or using the dump
command I get a line printed at the bottom of every pass the
Printer made (example included). But after switching the
computer off when I switched it back on the printer would not
work at all although it had the same Dip Switch settings as
before! If any one could help me with this problem I would be
most grateful...from Jason Highfield
Can anybody tell me how to use a modem on the coupe?.I've got
the old VTX5000 and a PRISM 1000,does anybody know somebody who
could help out? I really miss access to Prestel now we've sold
the Spectrum!
UNFORTUNATLY WE COULDN'T ANSWER THESE BUT IF YOU CAN PLEASE GET
IN TOUCH , AS FOR THE MODEM TRY THE STOP PRESS PAGE!!!!
THE RATHER CRAP JOKE PAGE 13
Why did the chicken cross the road ?
Why not !!!
What is Yellow and stupid ?
Thick custard !!!
Why did Colin throw his clock out of the window ?
Because he's thick !!! GEE-THANKS!-CM
what did one leg say to the other?
Don't talk to him in the middle, He's.. CENSORED-CM!!!
What do you call a Fly with no wings ?
A Walk !!!
What do you call a spider with no legs ?
A Currant !!!
Bye for now, hope to see you all again quite soon.*S.Preston*
CLASSIFIEDS/LINEAGE ETC 14
@ Hi to all you cool dudes that read FRED (there must be some).
If you are looking for a Pen Pal (and you prbably are) to swap
programming ideas and dirty jokes with etc.... then send your
name and address to me : Scott Preston, [redacted]
@ If you've got a double disc drive and would like to do your
bit to help in the production of FRED then PLEASE get in touch
with me,CM at the FRED HQ address or phone.PS : This is a very
desperate plea.....
@ Got anything to say? Selling a game? Want a pen-pal? Starting
up a new 'zine? If you can answer Yes to any of these or if you
just want your name in print then send your message on disc in
BASIC,CODE or STRING form and it'll go in the next available
issue - this service is completely free!
@ FOR SALE:Spectrum software at very competitive prices. For
list of these bargains, send SSAE to: PAUL SWEENEY,
MULLINAHINCH, ROSLEA, CO.FERMANAGH, BT92 7QH
ANOTHER LETTER! 15
Dear sir,
Enclosed is my entry to the second Fred Programming
Compo. These compo's are an excellant idea as they teach you,
or at least motivate you to learn Sam Basic. Keep up the good
work!!!
LETTER CONTINUED ON AAAAAAARGH PAGE.
Yours,
Jason Highfield.
P.s.
Sorry about the lack of explation on my FPC entry but due to
Christmas I have not had time to do this. The program is staight
forward and fairly self explantory.
.Keep up the good work.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER SATISFIED CUSTOMER.HAVE YOU GOT
ANYTHING TO SAY? WHAT ABOUT A 'NCE STYLE' DEBATE ON HACKING? OR
ANYTHING ELSE THAT TICKLES YOUR FANCY AT ALL.JUST MAKE IT
REASONABLY INTERESTING AND RELEVENT .WELL,THE FIRST ONE AT
LEAST! BUT PLEASE SEND THEM IN!!!!
PROGRESS REPORT!!!!! 16
WHETHER YOU LIKE OR NOT I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER PROGRESS
REPORT,MAINLY BECAUSE THINGS HAVE STARTED TO PICK UP RECENTLY.
UNFORTUNATLY I HAVE ONLY KEPT A DETAILED RECORD OF ALL ISSUES 5
AND 6 SOLD BY ME.THE NUMBERS HAVE NOW HIT.....112!! YES , THE
MEMBERSHIP NOW STANDS AT ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE , AND TO THINK
JUST FOUR MONTHS AGO THEY WERE ABOUT HALF THAT ; ONCE YOU'D
SUBTRACTED A HUNDRED! HOPEFULLY THESE NUMBERS ARE LARGE ENOUGH
SO PEOPLE WILL NOW NOTICE FRED AND START TO GIVE ME NEWS RATHER
THAN ME CONTINUALLY PLAYING THE PART OF THE PESTERING
JOURNALIST.DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE SAM MEMBERSHIP OF OTHER
MAGAZINES -I'D LOVE TO KNOW WHERE I STAND!
APPARENTLY I'VE ALSO HAD A MENTION IN COMPUTER SHOPPER AND I
WAS MENTIONED IN ISSUE FIVE OF ZAT AND MIGHT BE IN SAM
SUPPLEMENT THREE FROM SDC! IF ANY OF YOU BOUGHT THE WINTER ISSUE
OF THE COMPLETE COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE YOU WILL HAVE
NOTICED THAT THEY ALSO NICKED SOME OF FRED'S PICCIES - WITHOUT
EVEN A MENTION.HUH! THE CHEEK OF IT!! MIND YOU AS CCEG IS RUN BY
NEWSFIELD WHO EMPLOY NICK 'FRED'S SAVIOUR' ROBERTS I GUESS I
COULD LET THEM OFF THE HOOK.MAYBE! NO ,REALLY I DON'T MIND,NICK.
WHAT'S THIS MONTH'S NEWS THEN? 17
EM..TO BE HONEST THERE IS HARDLY ANY SO I CAN'T TELL YOU MUCH
(UNLESS OF COURSE I MAKE IT UP , BUT SOMEONE LIKE ME WOULDN'T DO
SOMETHING LIKE THAT - OR WOULD I? "AMSTRAD HAVE BOUGHT THE COUPE
AND HAVE SINCE SOLD 3,000,000 MACHINES.OCEAN SAY "IT'S JUST TOO
SMALL A MARKET FOR US OH-SO-PROUD BIGGIES"." NO,NO,NO I JUST
MADE THAT TERRIBLE NEWS UP - I MEAN WHAT COULD BE WORSE THAN
AMSTRAD BUYING THE COUPE? MIND YOU I'D BETTER SHUT MY BIG MOUTH
IN CASE THEY DO!!!. "YES , I'M SORRY MR SUGAR , YES , IT WAS
INTENDED AS A JOKE....."
KICK OFF 2 SHOULD BE APPEARING SOON AND "THE SHADOW" HAS JUST
CREPT UP TO ME AND SAID HE MIGHT REVIEW IT AND XYBOTS IN FRED8
IF THEY'RE OUT BY THEN.KLAX HAS BEEN DELAYED SLIGHTLY BUT IF YOU
ORDERED IT YOU SHOULD BE GETTING IT ANY DAY NOW (AND IF ANYONE
COULD REVIEW IT I'D BE MOST GRATEFUL...) AND IF YOU HAVN'T
ORDERED IT THEN (YOU PROBALLY WON'T BE GETTING IT ANY DAY NOW)
ORDER IT!!!
IF ANYONE GETS THE MEGABYTE UPGRADE OR THE SAMBUS (ALIAS THE
CARD CAGE) THEN LET ME KNOW WHAT THEY'RE LIKE ETC ETC.
I'LL LEAVE YOU TO LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH'S NEWS!
WOTZ ON THE DISC THEN? 18
Firstly I can proudly present a sprite designer from Adam
Perry.This is very well documented and gives full instructions
available from the main menu.I'm sure you'll find this a very
useful utility to have.
The screens this month come from a variety of sources and are
all digitised from the TV.
As mentioned last month here is a Freddy demo from Malcolm
Phillips.All you have to do is just load and watch Freddy roll
his eyes at you.This was originally programmed completely
different but I had to alter it to suit FRED and 256K machines.
He mentioned it last month and here it is , the screen
converter.This program changes your FLASH files into SCREEN$
files so you don't have to worry about Palettes etc. This was
donated by the regular contributor Paul Kelly.
I didn't actually get any response from it last month but here
is the second in the series of machine code made easy articles
from the wizard himself - Steve Taylor. (who,incidently just
lives 30 minutes up the road from me and I havn't even met him
yet! But we've exchanged some 'fairly lengthy' phone calls!)
WOTZ ON THE DISC THEN? CTD. 19
Brian somehow managed to get his contribution to this issue
together in the form of another 'MAD BITTY' .This is another
item I would like to know if it's popular or not.
In case you didn't like the AGENDA last month here's another
name & address program.This time it's from Scott Preston and is
called FILER (V 1.4!).Simply enter a record and save it if you
want then do it all over again! Simple,but unfortunatly each
person takes up a separate file but it's very good for just a
dozen or so people (I should have used it for reader lists in
the early days!!)
Now for some musical refreshment.Choose from classical by
Allan Norton or an 'Eagle Tune' from Marc Broster or for a huge
assortment from Neil Holmes and Stuart Leonardi.Thanks to all
you guys - you've all done a great job.
Again I've got a compatibles section brought to you by Paul
Sweeney and myself.
Have you won the second FPC?? Find out here!!!
Finally I managed to interview GM_SOFTWARE (producers of
GM_BASE).Enjoy yourselves!!!!
THE CREDITS 20
I PERSONALLY WOULD LIKE TO THANK :
NEIL HOLMES AND STUART LEONARDI FOR THE MUSIC.
BRIAN MCCONNELL FOR THE "MAD BITTY PART 2".
ALLAN NORTON FOR THE CHOPIN MUSIC.
ADAM PERRY FOR THE SPRITE DESIGNER.
PAUL KELLY FOR THE CONVERTOR PROGRAM.
MALCOLM PHILLIPS FOR THE PICCIES AND FREDDY DEMO.
MARC BROSTER FOR THE EAGLE MUSIC.
STEVEN TAYLOR FOR M/C MADE EASY PT2.
PAUL SWEENEY FOR COMPATIBLES.
SCOTT PRESTON FOR THE FILER.
SCOTT NEIL FOR THE SPHERA REVIEW.
GM_SOFTWARE FOR THE INTERVIEW
COLIN MACDONALD, FRED8 OUT 3RD FEBRUARY
[redacted] FOR THE USUAL QUID.
[redacted] :8.30 - 10.30 OR WEEKENDS
Programming Competition
FRED PROGRAMMING COMPETITION TWO 1
THAT'S ANOTHER GOOD IDEA DOWN THE PLUG! I THOUGHT THE PRIZE
MONEY WOULD MOTIVATE PEOPLE TO ENTER THIS COMPO BUT SADLY I WAS
WRONG : I ONLY HAD 2 ENTRIES TO FPC1 AND ONLY 1 TO FPC2!!!
SO , AS YOU'VE PROVED YOU'RE NOT ALL GREEDY I'LL TRY IT AGAIN
BUT THIS TIME I'LL MAKE IT FREE TO ENTER. OBVIOUSLY THIS MEANS
NO PRIZE FOR FIRST PLACE EXCEPT FOR YOUR NAME SPLATTERED ALL
OVER THIS COLUMN!
WHAT YOU DO IS CREATE A PROGRAM WHICH MEETS (OR THE BEST YOU
CAN DO) THE SPECIFICATION ASKED FOR AND SEND IT IN TO ME ON A
DISC (REMEMBER A POUND FOR THE ISSUE AS WELL) AND I'LL PICK THE
BEST AND WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WAS WRONG WITH YOUR PROGRAM
AND HOW IT CAN BE IMPROVED.(I'M SURE JASON AND PAUL WILL AGREE I
CAN FIND A FAIR NUMBER OF FAULTS!) I THEN SEND THIS,YOUR DISC
AND THE ISSUE (WHICH YOU PAID FOR) TO YOU FOR YOU TO DO WHATEVER
YOU DO WITH THINGS LIKE THESE.
SO COME ON YOU GUYS , HOW ABOUT MAKING AN EFFORT - THERE'S NO
FORTUNE AT THE END OF IT BUT THE FAME IS CERTAINLY WITHIN YOUR
GRASP!!
MARK THE ENVELOPE FPC AND SEND IT TO THE FRED ADDRESS.
THE PROGGY DESCRIPTION 2
THIS MONTH YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE A PROGRAM WHICH TAKES 100
NUMBERS (1 TO 100) AND RANDOMIZES THEM IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.
THEN ONCE THESE NUMBERS HAVE BEEN DISPLAYED IN A SUITABLE MANNER
TO PROVE IT WORKED IT MUST RE-ORDER THEM AGAIN IE PUT THEM BACK
INTO NUMERICAL ORDER! NO CHEATING , REMEMBER , THE FREDITOR
KNOWS ALL SO DO IT BY THE BOOK OR ELSE!
THERE ARE NUMEROUS WAYS THIS ONE CAN BE DONE (THREE SPRING TO
MIND BUT I'M SURE THERE ARE MORE) SO YOU SHOULDN'T FIND THE IDEA
TOO HARD , JUST THE PROGRAMMING BIT! IF YOU'RE COMPLETELY STUCK
AND YOU HAD A SPECTRUM THEN THINK BACK TO THE "HORIZONS" TAPE -
THERE WAS A NEAT PROGRAM ON THAT WHICH DID THE TOUGHEST HALF OF
THE JOB!
I'LL LEAVE YOU NOW TO EXPERIMENT WITH JASON HIGHFIELD'S ENTRY
- IT'S PRETTY DAMN GOOD IF YOU ASK ME!
PRESS ANY KEY TO SEE THE WINNERS ( JASON HIGHFIELD ) ENTRY.
Machine Code Tutorial #2
Hello again eveyone! 'Tis I, the Wizard, here to enlighten all
you beginners as to the joys of machine code. This is part 2 in
the series, and I will be referring back to part 1, so if you
don't have FRED6 (why not?) go and order a copy immediately!
Right, let us proceed....
A - THE MATHS LESSON
----------------------
If you hope to get anywhere in m/c a basic knowledge of
binary and, to a lesser extent, hexadecimal, is neccesary.
BINARY is base 2 - a series of 1's and 0's which can
represent any number you care to think of. This is how numbers
are stored inside your coupé, so this is important.
Each binary digit (or BIT) stands for a power of 2:1,2,4,8...
and so 8 bits can hold a number between 0 and 255.
This is how they are arranged:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -> BIT number
-------------------------------
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 -> POWERS OF 2
-------------------------------
1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 -> BITS
This is equal to 139 in decimal.
HEXIDECIMAL is less important, but is a very useful way of
keeping binary numbers small and neat.
Because it is base 16, its values run like this:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A
and so on...
The digits 0-9 are easy enough to understand, but because there
is no digit for 10, hex uses the letter A. B=11, C=12 and so on.
OK?
B - BIT MANIPULATIONS (OOER!)
-------------------------------
The whole point of learning binary, is that many m/c comands use
it. These can be split into 3 groups - arithmetic, shifting and
single bit control. (I just made these names up. Good, eh?)
Right, what's first. I know, SINGLE BIT CONTROL:
This is easy. Remember that each of the 8 bits in a number is
located by a number from 0 (the units) to 7 (the 128's).
These comands follow simple patterns:
SET b,r : This sets bit b (0-7) of register r ( A,B,C etc )
ie. makes it equal 1.
RES b,r : As above, except that it resets the bit. ie, makes
it 0.
BIT b,r : This takes whatever the value of the bit is and
copies it into the zero flag.
That was simple enough, wasn't it?
SHIFTING COMMANDS
-------------------
Oh, dear. There are so many commands I could cover here that I
could fill FRED by myself, so I'll just stick to the simple ones
RL r: This rotates the bits in register r, so the bit 7
becomes equal to bit 6, bit 6 becomes equal to bit 5
and so on. The only complication is that the carry
flag becomes equal to bit 7 and bit 0 becomes
whatever was in carry.
RR r: As above except that all the bits move right instead
of left, and as a result, bit 0 goes to carry and
carry goes to bit 7
RLC r: This is like RL except that bit 7 goes to bit 0 as
well as carry.
RRC r: Like RR except that bit 0 goes to both bit 7 and
carry
Phew! Hope you got all that.
ARITHMETICAL BINARY COMMANDS
------------------------------
Now these are REALLY complicated, but nevertheless, extremely
valueable. They are all based on the logic functions OR,AND,XOR
that we discover in physics, and all follow rules we can lay
down in TRUTH TABLES. They all work on the principle of taking
a bit of one number (or register) and comparing it will the
corresponding bit of another, and producing a resulting bit
which is stored. This is then repeated for all the other bits in
the numbers to finally produce another 8-bit number.
OR. Here, the two numbers are merged together, so that if either
one bit is 1 OR the other bit is 1, then the resulting bit is 1
AND. Here the resulting bit is only 1 if both one bit AND the
other bit are 1.
XOR. Here, the result is 1 if the two bits were different,
otherwise the result is zero.
These functions can all be shown in TRUTH TABLES:
OR : BIT A : BIT B : RESULT : The format of this command
-- :-------:-------:--------: is
: 0 : 0 : 0 : OR xx
: 0 : 1 : 1 : where A is ORed with xx
: 1 : 0 : 1 : which can be a number or
: 1 : 1 : 1 : a register. The result is
-------------------------- stored in A.
AND : BIT A : BIT B : RESULT : The format of AND & XOR
--- :-------:-------:--------: is exactly like OR.
: 0 : 0 : 0 : ie.
: 0 : 1 : 0 : AND xx
: 1 : 0 : 0 : XOR xx
: 1 : 1 : 1 : Again, A is ANDed/XORed
-------------------------- with xx, with the
result stored in A.
XOR : BIT A : BIT B : RESULT :
--- :-------:-------:--------:
: 0 : 0 : 0 :
: 0 : 1 : 1 :
: 1 : 0 : 1 :
: 1 : 1 : 0 :
--------------------------
C - HINTS & TIPS
------------------
To double the Accumulator, do: RL A
To half it do : RR A
To clear A howsabout : XOR A
Last time we saw how to do a loop using DJNZ.
IF you want to loop round more than 256 times, here's a 16-bit
loop routine:
DEC BC ; Number of times to loop in BC
LD A,B ; OR together B & C
OR C ; If they are both 0, the result
JR NZ,LOOP ; is 0, and the zero flag is set.
; If not, loop back.
That's about it for this issue.
If you have a query about machine code, a useful routine or
even just a problem, feel free to write to me ( not Colin )
at:
Steve Taylor
[redacted]
And I'll try to answer you on screen.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Stop Press
STOP PRESS
I wasn't sure about this one but I'm going to run it anyway- a
little birdy told me that there MAY be a modem on the way for
the coupe.Unfortunatly I can't remember who told me so I can't
promise anything at all!
Blue Alpha should be starting work on the video digitiser
pretty soon (if they havn't already started).This one is a mono
one but sometime in the future they hope to produce a colour one
that simply mixes reds,greens and blues in an attempt to copy
colour.Obviously we can't expect TV quality screens but I'm
certainly looking forward to it - we could have a colour FRED
soap - featuring me!!!!! No? OK , maybe not.
I've just seen a demo of Neil Holmes and Stuart Leonardi's
game.It is very professional looking and plays very well.The
only other thing I can say is that it's called NWB - "No Way
Back"! It's mean,it's lean.....and it's going to be in FRED!
Like the new labels? If you want these labels for your back
issues just include 5p for each one you want and I'll include
them in your next order.Thanks to Steven for doing the labels.
Don't they make FRED look really professional?? Well,I think so.
Next Month
NEXT MONTH - FRED8
Unfortunatly there has not been as much "stuff" coming in for
future issues so I don't really know what will be in it but I
can make an educated guess if you want...
Up for reviews should be SAMDISC from LERM,MASTERDOS from
SAMCO/Dr Andy Wright,GM_BASE from GM_SOFTWARE and perhaps a
couple of the newer releases from ENIGMA (like KLAX?)
Neil Holmes and Stuart (sorry for getting your name wrong last
month!) Leonardo are still beavering away on that superb game so
you should see it next month (but don't cry if you don't -
they're vert busy men you know!)
I might be able to persuade Brian to do another MAD BITTY -
What do YOU think of it ? tell me please!!!!
The piccies next month will all be from readers so if you have
drawn anything half decent then just post it to me and I will
put it in for you.
During January I will be doing my exams so if you don't write
anything for FRED then you will get nothing!!!I'm afraid it's as
simple as that.
FRED 8 - out 3rd February at only £1.Order it now!!!!!!!!
NEXT MONTH - FRED8 2
Just the other day I received a disc full of stuff from Ian
Slavin who had one of his programs printed in CRASH ish 79.This
disc is packed full of great demos and programs so it should
last for a couple of issues of FRED anyway.For FRED8 I have
decided to put on some MIDI programs (woooooo!-The first ever
MIDI program if I'm not mistaken!) one of which is a tutor type
of program.If you did type in the short listing which was in
CRASH you will have found it to be brilliant especially for the
size of it.Ian has done another ten of these great twirly demos
(or as he calls them "trip-a-trons" which I am delighted to be
able to put on the next issue of FRED.
Dan Brice (some of you may already know him!) has just sent a
notepad program.It's a simple word processor but is ingeniously
programmed!
Steve Taylor has already done part three of m/c made easy -
and that's before I've seen part two!!!
I have got together all the stuff I have for FRED8 in the last
three days!!But , I am short on articles so as I've said many a
time before "get yer typing fingers on and do duty to FRED"!
