Fred 13

Issue 13

Magazine

                        The FREDitorial

Welcome  again  from  Sunny Swansea (that's in the few days when
it's  not raining!) in Wonderful Wales. No? You're right, I'm an
awful liar. An exciting month really - Prince of Persia gets 90%
in  Your  Sinclair, Sinclair User will print a wonderful article
entitled "The Best Of SAM Software" written by me, Digital Magic
have  agreed  for  their "Escape From Colditz" (similar to Great
Escape  by  Ocean  on  the  Speccy) to be converted to the coupe
along  with up to 7 other titles (possibly). YS recently printed
that  SAMCO  almost  had  a deal with Psygnosis about Lemmings -
what  happened  was  : Alan Miles interviewed Chris White on the
hotline and Chris said that he might like to do Lemmings next...
YS  also  said  that we were in talks with Codemasters, we were,
things  were  looking  good  for  five  of  their  titles  to be
converted  (including  2 Dizzy games) and then they turned round
and  said  that they weren't going to make enough money from it!
They  didn't  even have to do anything, SAMCO were just going to
pay them a small fee for every copy sold!!! Maxis, the owners of
the  copyright  to  Sim City, are "not interested" in converting
Sim  City to the coupe, but Infogrames (the publishers) are very
                        The FREDitorial

helpful  and  want North & South and Light Corridor converted as
soon as possible.
There  have been more problems with F16 Combat Pilot - it should
be out by next issue though. Thanks to the insight of a talented
editor, ie me, F16 will also be mouse compatible.
The Keypress was released today (the 5th), but I need volunteers
(preferably  someone  who  is  involved  with children a lot) to
review  educational  software  as  I  don't  think I can do them
justice. So, Keypress MIGHT be reviewed next month.
Prince  Of  Persia  is STILL not finished, the programmer (whose
name  gets in FRED too often so I won't mention it!) is having a
few  last minute bugs and is just putting the Movie sequences in
so  a  release  in  a  week  or  two  is  hopeful (but still not
realistic - sorry Chris!)
  Two FRED readers have written some software which Revelation
is  currently  considering  buying. John Hawkins has written The
Castle  -  a  graphic adventure around a castle including combat
routines  and  Andy  Monk  has  written SoundTrack, a utility to
allow you to compose better music.
                        The FREDitorial

  Zeppelin games are currently pretty busy - spending their time
replying to SAM programs sent into them saying that the coupe is
a  waste of time and money and they recommend that people should
not  waste  their talents on the coupe but buy a 16 bit computer
instead  : "If you wish to send us a something else at some time
in  the  future,  though  not  on  the SAM, we would be happy to
consider it".
I  think  what  this  company needs is a flood of letters coming
through  their  door  saying that "I am a SAM user and want some
software".
 If you can splash out 17p to support the SAM then address the
letters   to   Gareth   Briggs,  [redacted]. 
Or you could just ignore
this and continue to moan about the lack of SAM software...
 Outlet magazine are offering a first prize of £100 for the best
Sound/Graphics  demo sent to them in 1991. Every entry published
in  Outlet  will  get  at  least £10.  Sounds like a ploy to get
loadsa programs sent in, but £100 can come in useful you know..

                           HOT NEWS
There  are  FOUR  All  Format Shows in September (see below) and
SAMCO  are  going  to ALL of them (even the one in Glasgow!). If
you  are  in  Scotland  or North England then please support the
Glasgow Show. I would also like to add that any companies who do
not  go  to  this  Show  will be heavily slagged off in the next
issue - If I can go down to London/Birmingham to every show this
year  (on my own - oooooohh!) then any companies who support the
coupe faithfully will go to this show.
SEPTEMBER Dates:
   :Sunday 1st, University of Leeds Exhibition and
    Sports centre , Calverley Street , Leeds Central , LEEDS
   :Saturday 7th , Royal Horticultural Hall ,
    Greycoats Street , Westminster , LONDON ,
   :Saturday 14th , National Motorcycle Museum ,
    Solihull , BIRMINGHAM
   :Sunday 22nd , City Hall , Candleriggs , GLASGOW
Other dates - Bristol (6 Oct), London (2 Nov), B'ham (10 Nov),
London (14 Dec)
SAMCO  will  probably also be going to the Computer Shopper Show
in London on 7th December!
                        MOUSE SOFTWARE

For  those of you who have bought a mouse (either one!) you will
be  looking  for  better  software than the game I wrote for the
SAMCO   mouse   pack,  and  so,  I  have signed up two brilliant
puzzle  type  programs. The main title is a fiendishly difficult
one  player  game  featuring  over 20 levels (it took me a solid
week  to  do  the  first 7!) and the other is a two player board
game    sort  of  puzzle.  Both  work  with  Keyboard,  Joystick
or  Joy-Mouse  or  if you're really lucky and have a SAMCO mouse
then  it is ideally suited. These titles will be released in the
following  few  weeks  under a FRED label (any suggestions for a
name?)  and  already  I  have  been  approached by two companies
wanting  to  sell the pack (yes, SAMCO and Blue Alpha). You will
probably read about it in the reviews or in the SAMCO newsletter
before  I get FRED14 sent out, but if they don't convince you, I
should have a playable demo and maybe some screenshots!!!
  This software will also be on sale at all SAM dealers who
stock   software,  available  direct  from  other companies, and
I  might decide to distribute it myself. The cost will be around
£10.99 but please don't send any cheques until it's release.   .
  These following tips are for anybody using the Sc-Assembler

  (I feel sorry for you poor Buggers I use the Comet Assembler
Which is still under Development but is still faster and
better to use and SC or LERMS by a long shot )
   If you have a source file in say bank 3 and you want to put
it into bank 1 then you can do the folowing :-

    1) Save the source file
    2) Go to basic
    3) Load the file with the letter "C" into address 98304
    4) Dpoke 98304+file length,65535

   Upon rentering the assembler you will find that the file is
now in bank 1.This will work with any bank to any bank and it
will even work with Sc-256k files to Sc-512k files and Sc-512k
files to Sc-256k files.

   The following addresses are for the texted banks for 256k and
512k versions of sc-assembler

                       SC-Assembler tips

     Bank 1=98304   dec , &18000 hex
     Bank 2=131072  dec , &20000 hex
     Bank 3=163840  dec , &28000 hex
  512k assemblers only
     Bank 4=196608  dec , &30000 hex
     Bank 5=229376  dec , &38000 hex
     Bank 6=262144  dec , &40000 hex
     Bank 7=294912  dec , &48000 hex
     Bank 8=327680  dec , &50000 hex
     Bank 9=360448  dec , &58000 hex

  Thanks to Colin Jordan for the start of this Discovery.Hope
all you Fred readers can understand and use this method,and any
more useful things I find will appear in Fred.
  Look out for Comet Assembler which is to be released by
Revelation sometime in August its the best Assembler for the SAM
Coupe (Even Steve Nutting ordered a copy).

                    Chris White (programmer of Prince Of Persia)
                       First Impressions

Actually,  I'm  writing  this  just  two weeks before I'm due to
leave Wales but I'll try and recall back to the day I arrived.
  cue hazy smoke and distant eerie music.....

I actually came straight to SAMCO from the Birmigham Show at the
beginning  of  June. I was kindly escorted here by Adrian Parker
(BEFORE   I  reviewed  his  mouse!) and Paul Thomas, the journey
into  Wales  was  em...  different  - never have I been in a van
which  is  pushed  past  the P in the MPH on the speedo, getting
snipets of some Welsh folksong, being taught what I was told was
Welsh (I later found out what it really was!) and numerous other
exciting (well...) events. Different is certainly a good word.
  After being shown round Blue Alpha, Adrian drove me past SAMCO
(Lakeside  address) and the old MGT building (Century Park). The
two  buildings  are  virtually  a  stone's  throw apart but vary
slightly in size - SAMCO is a two story unit in a large building
(along  with other companies like Alfex, Yamaha etc) and Century
Park  is  like  a  football pitch - it is HUGE. Taking up 16,000
square  feet it was built especially for MGT who expanded, moved
                       First Impressions

in,  went  bust,  and  moved  out on June 11. The building still
stands  empty  -  with  MGT posters still pinned up. SAMCO is an
entirely  different  matter - employing only 11 people (now that
I'm  here)  the  factory is small (at 4,000 sq.ft.) but is ample
for  the  size  of  the company at present. The Upstairs is open
plan  and  this  is  were most customer related things are taken
care  of  -  I answer tech. queries, write routines and help out
generally, Alan Miles persuades foreign people to sell the coupe
(when  I  arrived  he  was in Poland and Czecheslovakia, both of
which  went  quite well incidently), Bruce Gordon deals with the
very technical queries, the accounts and of course new hardware,
Colin Jordan (tries to!) persuades software houses to sell or at
least  let  us  convert  software  for the coupe. There are also
another  3  people  "up  top" (as it were!) who you may not have
heard  about  -  Brian  Nutt (the Operations Manager) deals with
orders  to  be sent out, orders coming in and the general smooth
running  of the company, his wife, Christine Nutt is the one who
enters all your orders into the PC's used only for that purpose.
Mark  Hall  was  one of the original employees of MGT and is now
                       First Impressions

employed  by SAMCO to deal with the dealers ie make sure they're
getting  what  they're  supposed  to  get, make sure they're all
happy etc etc.
Downstairs  is the store, shop, despatch and repairs section (as
well  as  the  kettle!).  The shop is actually just a small room
sectioned  off  from  the  rest  of  the  factory  which  has  a
demonstration  coupe  as  well  as most of the software/hardware
currently available. Robert "George Michael" Smith is the person
who works there and will be more than pleased to show anyone any
coupe products should they wish to pop in(?!).
 Just to be fair I guess I'd better mention Paul, Jamie and
Craig   who   do   various   jobs  including  testing, repairing
amongst other things.
 When I first got into SAMCO then next day I was surprised - I
had expected a small room crammed full of people with everything
all  over  the place, as I said on the hotline (never again!), I
was pleased - everything is co-ordinated and although things get
a  bit panicky when something like Prince is a month late, it is
generally  well  run. About a week after I arrived, Colin struck
                       First Impressions

up a deal with Ian Andrew at Incentive, and he is now working on
a coupe version of the classic game Splat. There will be all the
original  levels  plus  an  extra  14  to keep you going and the
graphics will be in Mode 4 with a 3D type effect.
  As I have now become the Official SAM Coupe Sales Co-ordinator
(or  something  long  and  fancy  like that!) I will be "popping
down" to Swansea (if that's possible from Scotland) every couple
of  months  to  see  how things are going so I'll write about my
experiences  and  anything else I can remember, as certain SAMCO
employees  seem  to  doubt my memory..... (long story) (actually
it's not as it happens but it's pretty boring (!?))
  OK, I've got to go now because a) I've run out of room and b)
It's  1.30  in the morning and there's three of us still working
here  at SAMCO , quick story - at half twelve in the morning the
phone  rang  so I picked it up with the usual "Good Morning, SAM
Computers".  I  guess  the  caller  didn't  expect  anyone to be
working at SAMCO at that time and hung up immediately!!! Just as
long as it wasn't a FRED reader!!!

                            Splat?!?

As I've just mentioned, Colin Jordan is doing a coupe version of
the  old  (or, as Colin puts it "classic") game Splat. Which was
published  by  Incentive  way  back  in  1984 (I think!). I have
managed  to  smuggle  a  coupe  of  screenshots  out  of Colin's
possesion and have included one on this disc in case you want to
look  at  it.  You  will find it somewhere in the adverts (well,
there's  got  to  be  some  incentive  (no pun intended) to look
through them hasn't there?
  Colin has been working on it for several weeks now and
predicts  to  have  it  finished in time for FRED14 (he actually
said  the end of August, but we know the real reason don't we!).
It will be released on Revelation's "classics" label (name to be
decided) priced at about £9.99.
  Apart from what you can see by the screenshot, Splat will have
all  the  features  of  the original and a lot more ie 21 levels
instead  of  the original 7! Full Mode 4 graphics are being used
and  Mr Edwin Blink is reported to be doing the sampled "Yipeee"
at the end of each level!!!
  More piccies next month hopefully........
SC               SONICALLY SPEAKING... (Part 2)

  Ahem. I suppose you lot have already  heard  the  Gauntlet  II
sample demo, which should be lying somewhere on this disc. And I
suppose you want to know more about sound samples and such like.
Ok then. Let's get  onto  how  the  hardware  works  (we  really
covered most of this last month, but I  want  to  go  into  more
detail).
  When you play a sample through the internal  sound  chip,  you
are using your own custom envelope (it will help if you've got a
copy of the technical manual as well,  at  this  point).  What's
happening is that you  are  directly  altering  the  speaker  by
altering the overall volume  of  the  envelope.  If  that's  too
garbled, you just alter the volume of channel 2 (or channel  5).
This allows you to have 4 channel (stereo) sampled  sound  -  if
you can write the code fast enough to utilise it, that is.
  Viz.
    Each sound  channel  has  a  volume  register,  allowing  15
    different volume levels for each speaker of a  stereo  pair.
    If you look at the diagram for the sound chip  (page  A3  in
    the Technical Manual),  alongside  the  frequency  generator
SC    Sonically Speaking (Squeeze an Amiga out of a Coupe?)

    boxes for channels 2 and 5 are horizontal lines going  to  a
    mixer box, which then go on to an Amplitude Controller  box.
    Only on channels 2 and 5 does the info  from  the  amplitude
    box go on to  the  Envelope  Controller.  As  the  amplitude
    control for each channel is split  into  two  stereo  pairs,
    this gives two sound  channels  for  stereo  sound.  Because
    channels 2 and 5  supply  amplitude  info  to  two  separate
    envelope controllers, this gives 2 channels, with  2  stereo
    pairs each, making  (gasp!)  4  stereo  halves  and  thus  4
    channel stereo sound.

  Now, that out of the way, I'll tell you a story  about  memory
contention.

  When you do  any  processing  on  the  Coupe  (or  most  other
computers), the screen is being updated constantly at 50  frames
a second. To do this, the Coupe has to supply information to its
ASIC (which processes the info), so that everything is  kept  up
to date. The problem with this, though, is that while the screen
SC       Sonically Speaking (Of memory and bottlenecks)

is being updated, the processor has to be held up  so  that  the
screen memory can be looked at.  Now  in  normal  circumstances,
this doesn't make any difference -  you  don't  notice  anything
slowing down or speeding up erraticaly while you're  programming
do you?  (I  don't  mean  the  effects  of  bad  programming  of
course...) But while samples are being played, any  speeding  up
or slowing down -  however  slight  -  drastically  affects  the
quality of the sound. For an example  of  this,  break  into  my
Gauntlet II demo and remove the OUT 254,128 command. Now  listen
to the sample. Urggh - if I am right, you should be hearing  all
sorts of distortion. A major problem.
  The way that this was solved in the earlier  Sample  demos  (I
rewrote my Xenon 2 one shortly [about 10 minutes] after  I  sent
off the original) was by turning off the screen display so  that
- as no screen was being updated - the memory  contention  would
be  removed.  All  fine  and  dandy  I  suppose,  but  not  very
interesting to the listener - he/she  (got  to  be  anti-sexist)
would be bored stiff looking at a blank screen for a minute  (if
you, like me [tie wiggle] can crush enough sample into 256k  for
SC      Sonically Speaking... (A tale of LINE interrupts)

that much listening time). So how  did  I  rectify  the  problem
then? After much thought, I came across the idea of  using  MIDI
or LINE interrupts so that the  sample  playing  will  occur  at
orderly times. (Now, for all  you  cynics  out  there  who  will
insist that I have actually just taken Edwin Blink's  idea  from
his first sample demo, you're wrong. I actually was  working  on
that idea way (about 3 weeks) before I ever got my hands on  his
brand new scrolly-with-a-sample demo). If you've lost your place
after that long bracketed section, go back (I'll wait for  you).
  As I couldn't quite get my sample player to run fast enough to
run on every single screen line (I did write a peculiar  version
much later which did it for every  second  line,  but  I  didn't
allow for any sound to be played in the border  area  or  during
the frame flyback), I tried using a delay loop to  soak  up  the
spare time. This worked, and  as  you  can  see  if  you  select
Psychedelic on the NEW-and-IMPROVED Xenon II demo,  there  is  a
space of about 2 lines between each colour change.  Edwin  Blink
actually has written  a  sample  player  which  runs  on  single
line-interrupts. I'd die to see his coding. Perhaps more soon...
MH                 MIKEY H'S ROLEPLAYING FILE!

What is roleplaying?

  Roleplaying is like a 3D board game - where you yourselves are
the counters, and the board your imagination.

  Some elements are still the same, though. You still need paper
and pencil, dice and players - but the main thing you need is an
imagination. Many roleplaying games give you the chance to be  a
of a different race - elf, halfling, troll (as dense as they may
be), and yes, even human (there are many other races as well).
  Games like Marvel Superheroes (MSH) give you the chance to  be
the part of your favourite hero - i.e. Spiderman, Wolverine  and
(not forgetting the girls) Rogue, Aura and many more.

Example of play:
----------------
  Imagine the scene... Picture a waiting room. There's  a  desk,
ten chairs and a large video screen on the front  wall.  On  the
right-hand wall there is a door and four large windows. There is
MH                 MIKEY H'S ROLEPLAYING FILE!

also four windows in the left wall. There is a large clock  that
says it's three o'clock. A glance out of the windows shows  that
it's three at night (darkness).
  Try to keep this mental  picture  in  your  head.  It  doesn't
matter if you  forget  details,  as  the  memory  improves  with
practice. (If the text above sounds like it's come out of a text
adventure - that's because they're sort of on the same  lines  -
Cookie).
  Imagine the setting... At the front of the  room  is  a  large
figure. In one hand there seems to be the shape of a  knife,  in
the other (to coin a phrase) there's  an  Uzi  9mm,  with  laser
sights. The figure points the sights at one of the  many  people
in the room (his  hand  is  now  seen,  and  is  clad  in  dirty
bandages). Obviously, some crime is taking place.
  The next step is to find out  how  you  fit  in.  Imagine  the
character... Depending on the game, the character can be from  a
hamster to a god. Many games have rules for character  creating.
Also,  when  creating  characters,  the  person  discovers   how
intelligent  his/her   character   is,   and   all   the   other
MH                 MIKEY H'S ROLEPLAYING FILE

attributes. These are not relative to the  character  playing  -
e.g. Einstein could have an I.Q. of about 500, but his character
in a game may only have an I.Q. of  3.  The  finished  character
tells the player nearly everything about him/herself-  how  that
character would react in situations, his/her physical  strength,
any special powers he/she has (although when I say that it tells
the player how a character would  react,  this  means  that  the
character might have a  certain  phobia,  or  relationship  with
another character).
  Imagine action... Imagine you are a spy, but have  scotophobia
(fear of the dark). This would limit your actions. e.g.
  The figure walks over to  the  window,  and  opens  it.  Here,
  either you face your phobia, or you let the figure  accomplish
  his mission. To overcome your phobia, the Games  Master  might
  say "You have to make an IQ roll  to  realise  that  the  dark
  can't harm you." (In certain games, this may  involve  rolling
  under or over your IQ attribute). If you  succeed  your  roll,
  your character then has a choice of many actions, but you  the
  player must make the final decision. Until next issue.
          Unlucky for some - but issue 13 looks good!

  Sadly, there are no freviews this month. Why because Budget is
the  only  new  piece of software that I would have reviewed (or
rather,  slagged off!) so instead I've stuck in a letters column
for a change.
  The Garfield screens (there's still more to come) are supplied
by E. Dybacz.
  From "The President" comes a QL>SAM program convertor!
Instructions  appear  upon  loading.  PS  It helps if you have a
Sinclair Quantum Leap for this one!
  From Cookie this month comes a Guantlet 2 sample demo seeing
as  the  last  two  went  down so well ( I never will understand
humans!)
  Monsieur Steve Taylor brings another lesson in the subject of
machine language (It's GOT to be better than French!)
  From Banzai Productions (Dan Doore) comes a coupe version of
the  great  classic - Simon, where you are tested on your memory
skills - Not a brilliant game but a nice conversion.
  More adverts to keep you up to date with the latest goings on
in the coupe world.
                 Le contents de la disc (ahem)

  Bits 'n' Bobs features a range of useful routines and programs
from  William  McGugan,  Simon Cooke, Chris White, Dan Doore
and myself! ( just! )
  Who would like to see another Encounters demo? Well, here's
the latest offering from Ian Slavin but hopefully not the last.
PS This demo will only work on V3.0 ROM ((PRINT PEEK 15)/10)
  From the Masters Of Magic comes another demo, this time a demo
of  the  16-bit game Gods. To exit from this just press ESC then
F9 to boot up menu - if it had been done any other way, the demo
would have been considerably slower.
  Remember the foreign disassembler? Well, on this disc is a
file  called  "dis.merge"  which  is  the  English  (or  rather,
Scottish!) version of the text!
  M S  Walker brings you a tape header reader for those who want
to see the equivalent of a DIR1 on a tape for any obscure reason
  Marc Rickard has done a database type program with details of
SAM people in it to show you how it's done - instructions upon
loading.

                            Credits

Once  more  I bring myself to this humble position and am forced
to  thank  the many kind souls who helped/hindered/p****d me off
with this issue.

Steve Taylor       Dan Doore       Simon Cooke
E. Dybacz          The President   Chris White (aaaarrrgghhh!)
Stuart Leonardi    Neil Holmes     Marc Rickard
Colin Jordan       William McGugan Ian Slavin


FRED14  will  possibly  come  out the first week in September so
send  your  £1.50's  in  or  see  me  at  one  of the four Shows
(hopefully,I personally will be going to all 4)

FRED  is  a...em...ur...FRED  production  (!?)  and is copyright
of...FRED  (?!?)  but out of kindness of my heart I am releasing
this  disc onto the PD scene - but anyone who breaks the PD laws
will get their butt seriously kicked! (or at least sued!)

AM+GG    ANDY.M. VS GREG.G. (BANGIN' TUNE CONNOISSEURS)

  Hello menial SAM Coupe observers, I have  been  asked  to  aid
this so-called authority of "Club Music", making a one off guest
appearance, I am here to put straight  his  withering  point  of
view (that's Greg G speaking- Cookie)
  What a load of bollocks. He wouldn't know a bangin' tune if it
hit him right between the eyes. On with the reviews...(ANDY M)

Singles:
  CHARLIE - The Prodigy
   As I play this tune, I see heads exploding  on  the  horizon.
   This is the tune of the  month,  definitely,  and  I  predict
   unfortunately national chart success. (GG)
   I'll have to agree with the creep on this one -  The  Prodigy
   is THE techno group to look out for  (Check  out  their  WHAT
   EVIL LURKS E.P.). They've got samples  from  the  old  Saftey
   Ads - I like the way you get a  little  gheeball  boy  saying
   "Charlie says always  tell  your  mummy  before  you  go  off
   somewhere", before the tune goes manic. Absolute genius. (AM)

AM+GG              ANDY.M. VS GREG.G. (part 2)

  ECSTASY - Control
   Seeing as I know someone from Control,  it  is  only  fitting
   that I compliment them to hell. Control have  rapidly  become
   a  widespread success in  the  clubs.  This  track  isn't  my
   favourite of their produce, and I have  known  them  to  make
   some absolutely astounding, first rate house.  All  those  of
   you out there waiting to head into your local Woolworths  are
   going to be greatly disappointed, as Control are not  selling
   out to Radio 1 etc. (GG)
   This single marks a  change  from  Control's  usual  hardcore
   house style, and they've got some unknown vocalist  to  sing-
   along to a tamed down tune. Nothing special, I  hope  Control
   don't go the way of  The  KLF,and  GG's  right.  Oh,  by  the
   way, I know that guy from control as well. (AM)
   Bollocks. (GG)
   (Yarrggh! Split them up! Time out! Call an  ambulance!  These
   guys are at each others throats!-Cookie)


AM+GG             ANDY.M VS GREG.G (Bangin' on)

  SPACE FACE - Sub Sub
   Right, this is a bit of an old  tune  (been  out  for  a  few
   months), but seeing as you guys won't know the difference,  I
   thought I'd review it all the same because I like it.
   My review is - I like it. And I'll buy it. (GG)
   "I LIKE IT!" is that all? This is one classic bangin' tune  -
   it's original, with a good tune - it's not just a  drum  beat
   with a load of samples. One of my all time best. (AM)

  THIS IS A DREAM - Love Decade
   Oh my God! Another soul/dance load of garbage. As I listen to
   my colleague writhing around in  anger  at  my  view,  I  sit
   complacent in the knowledge that my views are far more valid.
   This tune is not worth the vinyl it was pressed on.  Turn  it
   off. (GG)
   ALRIGHT.  Firstly, if you'd stop complimenting  yourself  for
   just one minute you will note that this is not  soul  at  all
   - it's House/Dance (IT MOST DEFINITELY  IS  SOUL!  GG).  Just
   because its' not hardcore techno, as usual, GG  dismisses  it
AM+GG ANDY.M vs GREG.G (More from the Housin' authorities)

   without giving it a chance (GG nods - Cookie), because you've
   got such a narrow spectrum of musical taste. I however, am  a
   connoisseur of all club music, and this  is  a  fast,  pacey,
   altogether bloody brilliant tune. (AM)

  DON'T YOU DO IT - Eskimos And Egypt
   I must say that I like this tune a lot. I don't know, but  it
   has a certain quality about it which makes it different  from
   the huge amounts of ANASTHASIA  -  T99  ripoffs,  despite  it
   being a hardcore techno tune. Unlike most of the  others,  it
   has an original tune, largely original samples and you  can't
   trace it to any other tune. Its also got a heavy  bass  line,
   which is essential. (GG). Now over to you Mr. Moore. Do  your
   worst!
   I agree totally with Mr.G (Of course - GG), and  this  is  my
   essential  selection  for  the  month.  Full  marks  in   all
   departments - brilliant rap, fitting  vocals,  fast  powerful
   tuneful tune, and a meaty bassline. Stunning. (AM)

AM+GG           CLUBSTER VS GREGSKIDEENO (WHAT?)

  WEEP FREEDOM - Antiko
   This has been knocking around for a while, but  nevertheless,
   it remains a large tune. Not quite as good as it  could  have
   been, because it gets  lost  towards  the  end,  sending  the
   listener into a dreamy world, which is advantageous if you're
   already hi. Not  top  of  my  personal  list  of  tunes,  but
   definitely in the top 20. (GG)
   VERY powerful tune. Would be my favourite of the  month,  but
   it's getting on a bit now. (AM)

  LOSE YOURSELF - Rising
   "Sadly" the Rising have not yet acquired a  record  deal.  (I
   wonder why). Perhaps it has something to do with the  abysmal
   nature of the record? This record is  just  plain  trash.  In
   summary, it's bland, it's too dreamy, and just reminds me  of
   The Beloved gone boring. Despite what Andy M will say, seeing
   as he's  been  knocked  on  the  head  a  few  times,  it  is
   understandable that  his  views  will  be  slightly  crooked.
   Are you sure you can manage reviewing it Andrew? (GG)
AM+GG ANDY MOORE VS GREG GORTON (The throttling continues...)

   There is no need to resort to making up cock-and-bull stories
   in  your  defence,  rather  than  making   any   constructive
   criticisms on the track. This is a beautifully composed  tune
   (Beautifully? See what I mean? GG)  with  some  of  the  best
   vocals I've heard since Secchi. I'm sure that this  brilliant
   group will find a record deal (sometime in the far  future  -
   i.e. never - GG) (Yes, it's far ahead of its time, I agree  -
   AM) (Hmph - GG). Club music at its best. (AM)

  TWISTED TAMBORINE (Remix) - Doolally D
   After the slightly sad intro I was pleased to  hear  Doolally
   D. bucked up his ideas and beefed up the record  immediately.
   I like the way it pleasantly trundles alongside a nice  bass-
   line, with careful thought to the samples  used,  albeit  old
   ones. I don't expect the next record to be any good,  because
   I think D.D. is straining to make a good record here. (GG)
   D.D. does strain, I agree, and completely  fails.  Too  slow,
   far too slow, not a tune as such, and overall  only  has  the
   bassline to commend it. Very poor. (AM)
AM+GG        ANDY M vs GREG G (The battle continues)

  NARROW MIND - Genocide 2
   This track instantly reminds me  of  MAKE  IT  RAIN  by  KLF,
   because of the vocals. But unlike KLF, this track is far more
   upbeat, and carries the tune to the end. Well worth a listen,
   and I particularly like the blend of  mellow  with  hardcore.
   (GG)
   The tune is too weak, the track too  repetitive,  the  vocals
   too bland, and the tempo too slow for my tastes. However,  as
   a whole it holds these elements together pretty well  and  is
   strangely likeable. Mediocre. (AM)

  Although you cretins won't be able to begin to comprehend  the
unrivaled genius behind such a  great  review,  I   nevertheless
send this out to all you boffins in  the  hope  that  perhaps  a
miniscule amount of my knowledge is taken  in  and  appreciated.
thankyou to Andrew Moore for this slot as I travel endlessly  in
search of the ultimate techno tune. I  hand  you  back  to  "The
Clubster". (GG)
  Bye fans. Till next time we meet, look out  for  "THE  WHISTLE
AM+GG                  ANDY M Signing Off.

SONG" by Frankie Knuckles. It's gonna be MASSIVE.

  Also look  out  for  "PIONEERS  OF  THE  HYPNOTIC  GROOVE",  a
compilation  album  featuring  the  very  first  techno  tracks.
  Breaks, Bass and Bleeps 2 is another one to look out for.

  Lastly, REACTIVATE is still THE album to buy (can't  wait  for
volume 2).

  See ya. (AM)

  Right. I'm going to have to  apologise  for  Greg  G  and  his
nasty comments about us Coupe users.  Its  not  his  fault  that
he's a philistine. So sorry. He'll be back next  month,  though,
so brace your ears (eyes?) for  a  load  more  of  his  sardonic
wit! (Cookie)

Letters

                          FRED Letters

Instead  of a reviews section this month, I thought I'd put in a
few  fairly  critical  letters for a change (!?). If you send in
more letters I will try to print them but don't just go on about
how good the last issue was because that makes for pretty boring
reading  (and a big head on my behalf) however if you think that
FRED is utter tripe then please do write in and air your views.

PAGE

2               David Wornham
5               Mike Haine
10              My Reply to Mike Haine
13              Dan Doore
14              My Moans

If  you  get the urge to write in and moan then please send your
scribblings on a disc so I don't have to type them out again.


Dear Colin,
     Following your opening comment welcoming a  reply  to  your
Flexipage review I cannot disappoint you  or  your  readers,  so
here goes.
     Firstly, my sympathy goes to anyone attempting a review  of
Flexipage because there are so many features. What emerges  from
your write up is that, quite naturally for an editor, you had  a
limited amount of time. In mentioning the "one or two facilities
which allow the creation of your own games etc." then discussing
the included exercises, your readers may have missed  the  point
that Flexipage is primarily a text and graphics AUTHORING SYSTEM
with the demos. being included as SIMPLE examples of what can be
done. In fact "Crime Quiz" and "Advert." can  be  purchased  for
only £2 and be copied and given away as PUBLIC DOMAIN.
     Although the demos. were originally produced on a Spectrum,
and only use one set of UDGs, Crime Quiz new includes 3 Sam Mode
4 SCREEN$ (1  more  than  your  review  copy).  The  Crime  Quiz
subjects are not all for children, as advice is included for car
and house owners! Whilst 4 of the 8 subjects within  Crime  Quiz
certainly do use your described approach of a "telling  off"  (I
prefer "advice") message, the  other  4  are  examples  of  true
                         David Wornham

"adventures" with a wider choice of decision. "Police Patrol II"
and "Olaf the Viking", sold separately for £4 each, are examples
of longer adventures.
     Maybe the demo. graphics let it down, but the graphics  can
be as good as the user wishes. A UDG Designer is  included  with
the additional unique(?)  ability  to  "snatch"  UDGs  from  any
SCREEN$ and "Standard" pages can use up to 15 UDG sets per  disk
(including BLOCKS  OFF)  loading  them  in  at  will  during  an
exercise and Mode 4 SCREEN$ can be used on their own or have the
lower half over laid with a "standard" page.  The  3  modes  are
Automatic, Free  Format  and  Interactive,  the  last  having  a
scoring and automatic, named, results print-out facility.
     The full Sam colour range can now be used  with  Flexipage.
"Flexipal" Palette Colour Block Designer  is  included  FREE  to
select any block of 16 colours from Sam's 127,  save  up  to  15
blocks on one disk and then load them into the exercise whenever
required. As Flexipal will work with any  other  program  it  is
available separately for £3.
     Does it REALLY confuse matters when instruction  paragraphs
                         David Wornham

are numbered instead of pages, or is it just DIFFERENT? With the
contents and index this approach is designed to give the user  a
QUICKER way of finding the required subject.
     Time  continues  to  be  spent  on  developing  Flexipage's
abilities which have left the  demos.  well   behind,  so  I  am
acting on your comments and uprating the demos. to give a fairer
example of what can be done. Regular FREE  updates  continue  to
besent sent to those returning the original (first copied) disk,
SAE plus additional 1st class stamp to cover the leaflet cost.

                       Yours Sincerely,
                                       Dave Wornham

Thanks  for  your  comments  Dave,  I  did  not  enjoy reviewing
Flexibase  because  it was so extensive but I felt I reviewed it
to the best of my ability and time.
  PS : You wouldn't ever think of consistently plugging your
products in a letter to FRED would you?!

                           Mike Haine

MIKE HAINE,[redacted]
DEAR Fred,
     Just a few comments. Some may sound a bit critical, but are
meant to be more helpful. First of all;  sorry  you  had  a  bad
experience of Swansea. I have spent many a happy holiday at  the
extreme end of the GOWER. Only about 15 miles beyond Swansea  it
has some of the best coast in Britain. I hate to think what it
might be like  today, but suspect it might still be pretty good.
but suspect it might still be pretty good). My first  visit  was
       Still what I really meant to ask  you  Fred,  after  your
stay with SAMCO  is how one  can get some  tech info from  them?
I have tried writing and never get a  reply,  I  have  the  Tech
manual, but it is pretty sparse. Has it it been  brought  up  to
date? What happend to the Technical help scheme they started  in
their old guise? I am sure there must be many others  who  would
like answers to these questions. I find I am slowly  unravelling
some of the mysteries of the ROM. There must be  others  in  the
same position, could you not have a section where we could  tell
the world of our new "FINDS"? and perhaps ask question to  solve
                           Mike Haine

our problems. Here is one for starters:- We  often  have  a  m/c
prog which produces some  text  printed  on  the  screen,  eg  a
disassembler: Now it is easy to open#2;"P" to get the same thing
printed on a printer. However,I often find I want to change  the
Format or to store what was on screen. For  example  I  like  to
PRINT a disassembly listing on paper in 2,3 or even  4  columns.
If we assume the lines of the listing are  numbered  1  and  on,
and if we want to print 3 columns of say  60  lines  per  sheet,
then we need to print  lines  1,61  and  121  across  the  first
printed line;and so on: This means we need  to  have  180  lines
accessable. Now I achieve this by using screen$ to read the data
on the screen and put it into a string. This is ok but   reading
off 180 lines or 6 screens is a slow job.
       Now the problem could be solved if the  text  bytes  were
loaded into a string or into a region of memory at the same time
it was printed on the screen. This is easy to  do  in  ones  own
m/c routines. But requires a lot of delving to  modify  someones
else prog. However,I feel sure the object could be  achieved  by
using a modified channel (possibly using the RST30 call which
                           Mike Haine

allows one to divert to a bit of m/c.)  I  have  played  around
with this but so far with no success.?????????
       Now let me turn to another matter. I still find it  quite
infuriating when FRED is loaded and one goes to one of your nice
little demos or progs, to find one is locked in and can only get
back to the menu by resetting  and  reloading.  Then the  reload
takes an age of grinding of the disc.Yes I know the menu page ii
a masterpiece, but one doesn't really want  it  all  again  each
time one wants a new item. In any case it is quite  possible  to
store the page in RAM and call it back without a reload.
       Then again it should be easy enough to put a line in  all
the other items to alllow the menu to reload without a reset.  I
am sure that most readers would agree that  these  things  would
greatly enhance your MAG.
       Now, I'd like to refer to the question of REVIEWS. I find
it a waste of  time  to  read  most  of  them  as  they  are  so
uncritical as to make one feel that they have been written  only
by authors who have received a free review  copy  and  hope  for
more (Sorry if that hurts, but I hope it will stir up  a  rather
                           Mike Haine

more critical aproach to Reviewing). In particular I have been a
great supporter of Tasword 2 and have modified  it  considerably
to suit my purposes. I don't think it is  appreciated  just  how
much one can do with a word processer. I have to agree that Tas2
has its limitations and some of  these  have  been  overcome  in
OUTWRITE. However, was it necessary to  change  the  key  usage?
Surely the obvious thing would have been to make it look as much
like Tas2 in Text mode as possible so that we didn't have a  new
learning cycle? I would also argue that my modified menu  system
for Tas 2 is much to be preferred. This  was  published  in  SAM
Supplement. And there are now some further  mods  available.  If
you have the SAM version of the prog send me a disc and SAE  for
details (include your set up details and interests please).
       Are  there  no  bods  out   there   with   interests   in
electronics? A bit  of  cooperation  in  that  field  could  pay
dividends. For example is anyone interested in using SAM to  run
a stage lighting system? That is amongst  the 1001 and one other
things one could do with it.
        More on TASWORD 2! I load all the text items such as the
                           Mike Haine

editorial & letters etc. straight into  Tas2:  Never  mind  that
they are saved from an address way up in the  RAM  memory  (from
85836). My Tas 2 Loads by LOAD a$ code (a + dpeek (val"62216")),
((val"22"+dpeek(val"62221))*64-a) The first code address is that
at the end of any text already  present  (ie  the  new  text  is
merged to the end of any there). The  second  number  after  the
comma is the space still available. In the latter  case  if  the
text being loaded is shorter than that space  then  OK!  If  not
then an error is  returned  and  no  load  occurs.  The  maximum
available space in the  tas2  text  file  is  320  lines  (20480
bytes). An example where the text in FRED is too long is REV1 in
issue 12, which is 25600 long. I get over this by loading it  at
its original address and then  resaving  it  in  2  parts.  SAVE
"rev1a"code   85836,20480:SAVE   "rev1b"code    85836    +20480,
25600-20480). The 2 parts can then be dealt with  separately....
BUT WHAT IS THE POINT?...well,the text is easier to read in  Tas
2. It can be moved up the screen in full  page  or  single  line
scrolls. The full editing facilities of TAS2 can be used to  add
notes, to delete unwanted lines etc etc.  Finally  the  modified
                           Mike Haine

text can be printed out in 2 64 char columns using  my  mod  for
this. I find I only  want  to  keep  printed  copies  of  a  few
selected bits, and it is useful to add notes as one reads.  Such
as "REVIEW OF SO AND SO...QUITE  UNCRITICAL  AS  USUAL!!!..WRITE
ABOUT IT!!!"

Firstly  I  would like to thank Mike for putting his thoughts of
FRED down onto paper. I hope I can reply suitably.
  On behalf of SAMCO I apologize for your not receiving any
letter  - this is why they asked me to come down for the Summer,
Alan  and  Colin  realised  that  they  could  not cope with the
majority  of  day  by  day  enquiries as well as getting on with
their  other  jobs  (selling  the  coupe  and arranging for more
software   to  be  released  respectively). As part of my job, I
reply  to  most of the queries which arrive and in the first few
weeks  here I also cleared a HUGE backlog of enquiries. Although
I  will be going back to "bonny" Scotland soon, a replaceent has
been  found for me - you'll hear about him on the hotline soon -
so  you need not worry about that any more.
                      Reply to Mike Haine

  You  must  realise  that  SAMCO  and  MGT  are  two  different
companies  -  MGT was huge (with over 50 employees) and SAMCO is
relatively  small  (with 11 employees). MGT was a very succesful
company  (for a time) and hence had a lot of plans but SAMCO are
running  on  a very tight budget, and although would love to see
ideas  like  the one you mentioned take off, they (we??) have to
get  our  priorities  right - and the top of the list is selling
the coupe.
  Back to FRED- the reason certain programs cannot return to the
menu  is  that they have to set up the memory in a specific way,
or  they  - for various reasons - HAVE to be protected, like the
NWB  games.  Adding  to  this,  recently  FRED has had some very
impressive  menus  done but they have all required the memory to
be  set up exactly as if the computer had just been switched on.
Rather than me spending days on end (not being a m/c programmer)
finding  this  way  around  it,  you  simply  have to reset your
machine which I do not feel is unreasonable.
  You think that I review products favourably because I get sent
them  free!?  Up  to  this point, I have not received one single
                      Reply to Mike Haine

item of software from SAMCO or ENIGMA - I have had to BUY IT ALL
MYSELF  - PAYING THE FULL PRICE AND COMING OUT OF MY OWN POCKET.
If  you  add that up, added to the cost of the hardware I bought
specifically  for  review/duplication purposes ( 1 ext. Megabyte
(£80),  1  SAMBUS  (£50),  1 Sound Sampler (£40), 1 256K upgrade
(£40),  1  Blue Alpha Mouse (£30)) Now, unless I'm mistaken that
adds  up  to quite a few quid when you add 10 Enigma and 3 SAMCO
software  titles.  OK, I would have bought a couple of the games
anyway and possibly the 256K upgrade if I didn't run FRED.
  If people can find the time to jot down a few notes about
their  findings  and  send  them  to  me,  I will most certainly
include  them in FRED - if of course, people don't have anything
better  to  do. I have always, and will always, almost certainly
print anything that is useful or interesting that is sent to me.
  I now use Outwrite! to write FRED because it means I can fit
the  whole  text into one file which saves me continually saving
and loading to check and insert text.
  If anyone out there can help Mike with his problems then
perhaps you could send a copy to me for future inclusion?      .
                           Dan Doore

Dear Colin,
           I resent being called a Your Sinclair reader! I spend
many  an  hour  pondering  over  my  copies  of  Format, PCW and
Computer Shopper but never one of those Speccy rag-mags.
  I am quite  worried, probably for no reason at all, but seeing
Cookie's  menus  and  samples  in  m/c I am worried that us less
talented programmers who work in BASIC will be pushed out in the
cold due to the higher standard of programs in m/c.  This  could
just be my paranoia complex surficing again...
  As a footnote, how did you get the old Speccy trick of line 0
to  work   on  the coupe? I would love to know how to do this so
hows about printing it?
        Yours, Daniel Doore

SORRY  ABOUT  YOU  BEING  CALLED  A  YS READER. I THINK FROM THE
NUMBER  OF YOUR PROGRAMS THAT APPEAR IN THIS ISSUE, I CAN ANSWER
YOUR SECOND QUERY WITHOUT SAYING MUCH.
  OK DANIEL, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THE LINE 0 POKE IS (WHICH WAS
DISCOVER BY COOKIE) 'COS YOU ASKED, BUT I WON'T PRINT IT YET!
                           My Moans

Dear FRED Readers,

It's  not  often  that  an  editor  puts his own letter into his
magazine but I felt like a little moan so here goes.

When you write to me DO NOT say "the FRED team are doing a great
job"  because there is no "team" as such. The older readers will
remember a few people did become part of the "FRED team" about 9
months  ago  but  I  was  continually let down by them (although
Brian  did  begin  to write the Mad Bitty for every issue) and I
found I was doing just as much work as ever, so, I have not made
another  "FRED  team"  as such. Those of you who get about a bit
will  see that Brian is now writing for Enceladus - the thing is
he  receives  a substantial payment for every copy of Encel sold
which I cannot possibly do. I would like to thank the people who
have  heavily  supported  me  and  are closer to the "team" than
anything ie Steve Taylor, Ian Slavin and now Simon Cooke.

OK, my moan's over. I'll let you read something interseting now.

Machine Code Tutorial #8

Sorry, no column this month. No, absolutely not. I don't have
the time.

Oh, okay then. What shall we discuss then? Howsabout a little
bit on interrupts? I tell you what, I'll do something about
interrupts in general with a mouse driver this month, and in
issue 14 I'll go into detail about interrupt driven music, with
some info about controlling the sound chip. Is that all right?
Good.

Dan dan dah...





                           INTERRUPTS
                           ==========

Essentially, there are two ways of getting information from
peripherals. You can either get your software to go round and
round scanning all the ports waiting for something to happen
(this is called POLLING), or you can get the peripherals to tell
you when they need servicing. This second method involves
interrupts which will stop the processor doing its stuff, and
will jump to a routine which will take care of it, and will then
return to the CPU's previous action.

Now, with the Z80 CPU, like the SAM's, things are simplified a
bit. Fancy computers will have many different interrupts with a
priority system allowing one interrupt to, erm, interrupt
another, if you get my meaning. However, with a Z80 there is
only one maskable interrupt line, and no maskable interrupt can
over-ride another. Maskable interrupts? Let me explain...

Right, there are two types of interrupt: maskable which can be
ignored (masked) and non-maskable which can't. I'll deal with
the NMI first, 'cos it's simpler.

Okay, The coupe has one and one only non-maskable interrupt
which is connected to the break button. If you press this button
the CPU will stop what it's doing and will address #0066. With
the ROM paged in this corresponds to the routine to escape from
a BASIC program, the DOS or anything. If you can remember back
to the issue about vectors, there is one which you can change to
provide your own action for BREAK, or to disable it
(effectively, anyway). That vector is NMIV=#5AE0, by ra way.

Fine, got everything so far? Good. Now for the maskable jobbies.
Well, there are three different modes on the Z80, but with the
design of the coupe, we might as well just stick to MODE1 (not
to be confused with screen modes). Okay, well, there are five
different interrupts which go to the CPU acting under mode 1.
These force it to address #0038. The only way to tell which of
the interrupts requested the interrupt a read of the STATUS
register is nescesary (port 249). The lower 5 bits of this byte
act as follows:-

       bit 0 - When low (0) this means that the value in the
               LINE interrupt register (port 249 - write)
               matches the scan line of the TV about to occur.
               You could use this to change palette or screen
               mode part of te way down the screen.

       bit 1 - When low, this indicates the COMMS interrupt is
               requesting. In my version of the ATM it states
               that this is a mouse interrupt. It isn't - the
               mouse is scanned by the FRAME interrupt.

       bit 2 - When low, this means that the MIDI channel has a
               data byte to be read.

       bit 3 - When low, this means that the TV scan has just
               been completed. This is regulated at 50/second -
               useful for timing.

       bit 4 - When low, indicates that the MIDI out register
               has just completed its data transfer.


There are three instructions to control maskable interupts:

       DI - Disable Interrupts (switches em off)
       EI - Enable Interrupts (switches em on)
       HALT - Waits for an interrupt to occur.

Now, I cannae be bothered to write a complete interrupt handler
for you, so I'll give you some snippets. Firstly, if you stick
your program in 0-#7FFF (in place of the ROM), you can leave
interrupts on, and by putting EI: RET at #0066 you can
effectively disable the NMI. (By the way, interrupts are off
during an service routine, so you must end with EI followed by
RET).

Remember, you must stack all the registers you're going to use,
before your routine, and recover them before returning. Leave
the states of LMPR and HMPR the same as on entry.

Yer basic routine would be somink like:

MASKABLE_INT    PUSH AF
                IN  A,(249)
                BIT 3,A
                CALL Z,FRAME_INT
                .
                .     Other interupts
                .
                POP AF
                EI
                RET


FRAME_INT       PUSH AF
                CALL MOUSE_SCAN
                .
                .     Maybe add a counter, or switch palettes
                .     to flash them, or play some music (more
                .     on this next month).
                POP AF
                RET

MOUSE_SCAN      PUSH BC
                PUSH DE
                PUSH HL
                LD  BC,#FFFE
                IN  A,(C)
                LD  HL,MOUSE_SPACE ; Temporary storage area
                LD  DE,#070F
                IN  A,(C)
                AND E
                CP  E
                JR  NZ,MOUSE_END
MS1             LD  (HL),A
                INC HL
                IN  A,(C)
                DEC D
                JR  NZ,MS1
                LD  (HL),A
                LD  HL,MOUSE_TABLE
                LD  A,(HL)
                CPL            ; CPL inverts all the bits of A
                AND 7          ; Isolate bits 0-2
                LD  (BUTTON_STATUS),A
                INC HL
                INC HL
                LD  A,(HL)
                INC HL
                AND E
                RLCA
                RLCA
                RLCA
                RLCA
                LD  D,A
                LD  A,(HL)
                AND E
                OR  D
*****           NEG    ; Add this if you want to number  *****
                       ; your y axis from 0 at the top.
                       ; Neg makes the accumulator negative
                       ; ie. 1 becomes -1 (#FF)
                LD  D,A
                LD  A,(Y_COORD)
                ADD A,D
                CP  192   ; This is yer maximum y coordinate
                JR  C,MS2
                XOR A
                BIT 7,D
                JR  NZ,MS2
                LD  A,191 ; Maximum y-1
MS2             LD  (Y_COORD),A
                INC HL
                INC HL
                LD  A,(HL)
                INC HL
                AND E
                RLCA
                RLCA
                RLCA
                RLCA
                LD  D,A
                LD  A,(HL)
                AND E
                OR  D
                LD  E,A
                RLA
                SBC A,A
                LD  D,A
                LD  HL,(X_COORD)  ; 16 bit value
                ADD HL,DE
                LD  A,(FATPIX) ; This is zero, if we are using
                LD  B,3        ; MODE 3 with high-res pixels.
                AND A          ; Otherwise, make it non-zero.
                JR  Z,MS3      ; (ie. if in another mode or if
                DEC B          ; fatpix is 1)
MS3             LD  A,H
                INC A
                JR  Z,MS4
                CP  B
                JR  C,MS5
                LD  H,B
                DEC H
                DEC H
                LD  L,255
                JR  MS5
MS4             LD  HL,0
MS5             LD  (X_COORD),HL
MOUSE_END       POP HL
                POP DE
                POP BC
                RET
X_COORD         DW  0
Y_COORD         DB  0
BUTTON          DB  0   ; BITS 0 & 2 correspond to buttons on
                        ; mouse
FATPIX          DB  0   ; see above.
MOUSE_SPACE     DS  8

I hope this will help you all produce some great software for
the superb new mouse (worth waiting for!)

Well, au revoir everyone. See you all next time. All together
now..

Weeeee'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when......