Fred 16

Issue 16

Magazine

                          Freditorial

  Greetings one and all from bonny Scotland (Och Aye The noo!)
  A free FRED to the first person who can tell me what it
means!!  Coming  up  to  Xmas  you'd expect loadsa new SAM games
wouldn't  you.  Unfortunately, the only one I think MIGHT be out
in  time  for  Xmas is Prince Of Persia! Although I did say last
month  that  it  had  been  released it seems there was a slight
miscalculation at Revelation (mmmm..that makes a change).
  Sadly, it doesn't look like there is going to be another FRED
release  out  in  time  for  Christmas. I have got several games
"lined-up"  so  to  speak  (now  including  TWO major licenses -
previously I was planning to convert an Amiga hit but just a few
days  ago  I  got  in  a  demo which is just as big and twice as
viable!).  PLEASE  PLEASE let me know what games you are wanting
to  see. Don't ask for SIM CITY, Populous or Lemmings but please
let  me  know  -  and get your mates to write in as well even if
they're  not  FRED readers because I will try to get the license
for  the  most popular requests. The reason I won't be releasing
my  next  game  for a few months is SAMCo's mailshot - if you've
read  it  you'll  understand.  But just remember - Your Sinclair
                          Freditorial

gave  Prince  Of  Persia 90% and now they've reviewed Impatience
and gave it 90% as well. So much for being "entertaining"!!!
  You should find a leaflet in with this disc so please take the
time  to  read  it.  I  will  stress that this is not an amateur
production  -  in  fact,  Colin  Jordan recently phoned me up to
enquire  how I'd done the inlays and from now on Revelation will
be using the same method! FRED - one step ahead.
  And now another FREDsoft request - I need people  who can work
to a deadline at almost any software trade.  Especially  graphic
artists although musicians and programmers (Z80 only)  as  well.
Please send samples of your work to FRED if you're needing a bit
of cash and think you can live up to the FRED standard.
  There have been a few people responding to the plea for
reviewers so it's nice to know that some people do actually read
the magazine.
  Now a little offer. I just so happen to have a dozen or so
specially  made  SAM  badges featuring our little friend sitting
playing  the  computer. To get one of these all you've got to do
is send me a SSAE.
                          Freditorial

  SAMCo have again decided not to go to the All Format Shows.
However, this does not mean that everything will not be on sale.
I  personally  hope  to  be selling a few of SAMCo's software at
Glasgow and there will normally be some member of TEAM SAM there
to sell the coupe itself.

  As  you all know by now, about 5 weeks ago Newsfield went bust
and  Nick Roberts went to SAMCo to work. However, Europress (the
people  who  do  Games-X)  have  bought  out  Newsfield  and are
continueing Crash at the old Ludlow office - although Europress
is  based in Macclesfield,Cheshire!. So Mr Roberts has gone back
to  Crash  but  now as the deputy editor. I don't know what will
happen  to  Crash  subscriptions  (especially mine!) or anything
like that so we'll have to wait and see.

  Revalation have just gotten in a platform game called Count
Dracula  which  they hope to release within weeks at the reduced
price of £4.99. No details yet but I'll see it when I go down to
Swansea this weekend and I'll tell all next issue.
                          Freditorial

  Also in with the Impatience leaflet you should find an All
Format  leaflet which entitles you to £1 off the entrance price.
If  you  need any more of these then just send me an SSAE saying
how many you want.
  I hope you'll all go to as many shows as you can - I will be
going  to  the forthcoming Birmingham, Glasgow and London fairs.
I'm  not  sure  about  the  Leeds  one  because it's on the same
weekend as the London show!!!
  I must apologize for this month's issue - I've been away on
holiday,  SAMCO  have  been  wanting  me  to  do stuff for them,
business  is picking up and school is just getting in the way so
I  have zero spare time at present. This will soon change though
I can assure you....
  Sadly that's about it for this month's editorial - there
hasn't been any new software or hardware announced. I think the
only  exciting  event  this month was me going on holiday for 11
days at the start of the month - only to get back to a HUGE pile
of mail behind the door!
                                                              CM
                         Interview Time

The following two interviews are donated by Andy Monk who was
going  to start up a disc zine and did several interviews but it
didn't work out so FRED have the interviews instead :

 We (Gary and I) thought that an interview from someone famous
 would go down a smartie! So we went the full length and 'phoned
 up none other than MR.RENEGADE, MR.ROBOCOP, and MR.BATMAN, but
 he was all in one! Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a hot
 round of applause for ...MIKE LAMB!!!

 Q: OK. LET'S START OFF WITH, YOUR FIRST GAME EVER?
 A: THAT WAS A GAME CALLED 'POOL' I THINK, BACK IN '83.

 Q: BEING A BIT PERSONAL, WHAT DID YOU GET OUT OF IT?
 A: WELL, I DID'NT DO TO BADLY. I GOT AROUND £10,000 FOR IT, BUT
    THEN, SOFTWARE WAS PRETTY SCARCE, AND SO YOU'D EXPECT A LOT
    FROM A SINGLE PRODUCT.


                           Interview

 Q: THAT NOT BEING THE CASE TODAY?
 A: THAT'S RIGHT!
 Q: I HEARD THAT YOU DONE 'STEVE DAVIS SNOOKER'?
 A: I DID.

 Q: I'VE ONLY SEEN 'POOL', YET GARY DESCRIBES 'STEVE DAVIS' AS
    THE SAME AS 'POOL'. THEY SEEM VERY SIMILAR.
 A: WELL, THEY ARE, REALLY.

 Q: OK. WHAT GAME ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FOR PROGRAMMING.
 A: ERM. THAT HAS TO BE 'TARGET RENEGADE', I SUPPOSE.

 Q: I THOUGHT SOMETHING LIKE ROBOCOP, OR BATMAN WOULD'VE BEEN
    YOUR FAVE,AS ROBOCOP STAYED IN THE TOP SLOT FOR OVER 2 YEARS
 A: WELL, I SUPPOSE IT COULD'VE BEEN.

 Q: SO (BEING PERSONAL AGAIN?), WHAT DID YOU GET FOR ROBOCOP?
 A: WELL, ACTUALLY I JUST GOT PAID WAGES, AND A BONUS FOR THE
    FINISHED GAME.
                           Interview

 Q: HMM, NOW LET'S MOVE ONTO SOMETHING ELSE. I KNOW, THE WONDER
    8-BIT, THE SAM COUPE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT SO FAR?
 A: WELL, PERSONALLY I THINK IT CAME OUT TOO LATE FOR PEOPLE.
   THE SPECIFICATIONS WERE OUT A WHILE BEFORE THE ACTUAL MACHINE

 Q: YES. SO DO YOU THINK THAT IF THE MACHINE CAME OUT THE SAME
    TIME AS THE SPECIFICATION'S, MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE BUYING AND
    SUPPORTING IT?
 A: YES, I THINK SO, BUT IT'S STILL A NICE MACHINE. BUT,STILL IT
    COULD HAVE GOOD CHANCE BECAUSE AMSTRAD HAVE TAKEN THEIR PLUS
    THREE SPECCY'S OUT OF PRODUCTION,AND NOW THERE'S RUMOUR'S OF
    THE PLUS TWO GOING AS WELL. SO THERE IS HOPE.

 Q: WHAT'S YOUR BEST 16-BIT GAME?
 A: I HAVE'NT ACTUALLY WRITTEN ANY 16-BIT GAMES, BUT I DID THE
    SCROLLY BITS ON 'BATMAN THE MOVIE' ON THE 16-BITS (NOT THE
    BATWING STAGES!)
 Q: WHAT'S THE BEST GAME YOU'VE PLAYED.
 A: THAT HAS TO BE 'SIM CITY', IT'S BRILLIANT!
                           Interview

 Q: SOMETHING I FORGOT. YOU KNOW THE MAIN CHARACTER SPRITE IN
    RENEGADE 3 IS DIFFERENT FROM THE PREVIOUS RENEGADE GAMES.HOW
    DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
 A: WELL, I WOULD'VE PREFERED THE ORIGINAL SPRITE MYSELF.

 Q: SO WOULD I,ACTUALLY.SO HOW COME YOU DIDN'T PROGRAM RENEGADE3
 A: I SUPPOSE I COULD'VE DONE. BUT I FELT THAT I HAD TAKEN THE

 Q: WELL,PERSONALLY I PREFER TARGET RENEGADE THAN RENEGADE 3 ANY
    WAY. I SUPPOSE EVERYONE WOULD'VE LIKED IT IF YOU HAD DONE
    RENEGADE 3?
 A: PROBABLY.

 AFTER THAT, I LET GARY HAVE A NATTER...

   Unfortunately Gary talked about something not to do with the
   Sam, and so I, er, took the phone back and had a bit more of
   a chat about something else that's nothing to do with the
   coupe either!!                                              .
                         My Interview!!

We were sitting around the other  day  desperately  thinking  of
someone  to  interview,  when  I  came  up  with  the  idea   of
interviewing the interviewer! Yes,  it's  true,  we  have  Colin
Macdonald, FREDitor extraordinare!

Gary: When was the idea of FRED conceived?
Colin: When I first got my  Coupe.  I  invented  FRED  just  for
something to do.

Gary: When did you start programming and on what computer?
Colin: I got a Spectrum 48K in the summer of  '83,  and  started
programming 'seriously' a year later.

Gary: What advice would you give  newcomers  to  the  'Disk-Mag'
scene?
Colin: I'd advise them to persevere and never  rely  on  anyone.
Be prepared to be unsuccessful - FRED  was  unsuccessful  for  a
few months before people took any interest in it.

                           Interview

Gary: How much of your time is spent on FRED?
Colin: I spend about 15 hours a week on FRED - about 1-2 hours a
day.
Gary: In what ways do you  think  FRED  has  improved  over  the
issues?
Colin: I don't think it has. It's grown because a lot more stuff
has been sent in, but I don't really think it has improved.

Gary: Why did you name the mag FRED ?!?!
Colin: Oh know, not that one. I was dreading  that  !!  Erm,  no
idea why I named it that! I suppose there was nothing around  at
the time, I suppose FRED goes along with SAM!

Gary: How long can you see FRED lasting?
Colin:  Erm,  well  up  until  last  Christmas,   I   was   just
concentrating on one issue  at  a  time,  but  when  it  started
selling I decided to head for issue  20  and  either   continue,
or stop it there. But now I'm more involved, I see FRED going on
for a good few years, probably up to the year 2000 !!
                           Interview

Gary: If FRED really 'took off' (Even  though   it   has!-Andy),
would you consider extra staff? (ME, ME, TAKE ME! - Andy)
Colin: Well, theres several asking, but I've already got lots of
contributors, but if I took on one asking, it'd be unfair to the
rest of them (Damn! -Andy)

Gary: What was the hardest interview you ever had to do?
Colin: Um, well I WAS going to interview Mel Croucher when I saw
at the PC Show, we got talking but I discovered his language was
erm, foul to say the least! That was'nt really an interview,  so
the  hardest  interview  was  Daniel          who   evaded   the
questions but still managed to give a excellent answers.

Gary: What do you have on top of your monitor right now ?!?!
Colin: Absolutely nothing! Actually I have got  a  can  of  coke
next to the keyboard, but  when  I'm  working  on  a  project  I
usually stick Information on it.


                           Interview

Gary: What did you anticipate at SAMCO?
Colin: Well, I thought it'd be a lot smaller, just the one  room
organization. It is in  fact  4000sq  ft  spread  out  onto  two
floors. The whole thing is fairly well  organized  with  4  PC's
running the show. There's also dozens of boxes beside  me  which
they won't tell me the contents of! I  know  SAMCO  better  than
most  people.  The  downstairs  is  despatch  and  repairs,  and
upstairs is a massive room for product building.

Gary: How did you get to work at SAMCO?
Colin: A couple of months ago Alan Miles phoned me asking to put
an advert in FRED asking for a technical jobbie. That was before
my exams. After my exams I asked Alan if anyone had applied, and
he said no, so I dived in for the place. I'm due to leave in the
middle of August.




                           Interview

Gary: What are your favourite musical masterpieces on the Coupe?
Colin:  Er,  ingame  I  have  to  say  Prince  of  Persia,   for
PD...Tetris is probably the best I've heard!

Gary: When did you buy your SAM and why?
Colin: I got my coupe in  Christmas  '88  after  saving  for  18
months. I got the coupe because I was bored with the Speccy, not
so much bored but I fancied a change to something more  powerful
with a disk drive. I got it a couple of  days  before  MGT  went
bust. I'm constantly Impressed with the SAM  and  it  was  worth
the £260 I paid for it.



OK, so maybe I'll stick to interviewing! Thanks to Andy and Gary
for  letting me print these. If I ever get round to it I'll type
up  a  couple  of  interviews  I've  still  got on tape - but no
promises!
                                                               .
             ANDY M. AND GREG G.'S CLUB SCENE (#1)

After  a  brief  spell of listening to many, many tunes for your
reading  pleasure,  and namely because they couldn't be bothered
writing  anything  last  issue,  Andy  M  and Greg G are back to
assault  your  ears  and  eyes  with another wheelbarrow full of
reviews. So pin back yer lug'oles and listen up! (Cookie)

Right, I'm back again, by popular demand to once again right the
wrongs  of  a certain Mr.Moore. Obviously I would have been here
last  month, but apparently there was no such page which gave me
plentiful  time to astutely observe the finer techno tunes. Over
to you M. (GG)

Greetings fans. Andy M back 'ere you'll be glad to know. Sorry I
didn't appear in FRED last issue (I hope the suicide rate wasn't
TOO  high  in my absence), but I was on holiday. So, on with the
reviews without further ado. (AM)



              ANDY M. AND GREG G'S CLUB SCENE (#2)

  GOD OF ABRAHAM - N.M.O.

Although  its  been out a while, it still provides hardcore rave
entertainment.  If you haven't heard it before, then you must! A
firm  favourite  with  the  DJ's in the North, and full of bass,
which of course makes it essential listening. (GG)

This  is an ultra heavy hardcore tune, with a wailing synth line
and  a fast beat. This killer track is a must for all ravers who
consider themselves "on the scene". (AM)

That  was  an  original little summarisation of NMO Andy. Pretty
similar  to  the  one  some bloke in this magazine on my lap has
said!(GG)

Likewise, squire. (AM)



              ANDY M AND GREG G'S CLUB SCENE (#3)

  DANCE NO MORE - Illustrious

This  is  probably  one  of  my  favourite  tunes  of the month,
although  it  isn't  hardcore  -  which  is my preference - it's
simple,  but  has  lots of quirky little samples to spice it up,
and if you're interested in a little trivia, it has been made by
the  bald guy in Manchester's very own Eastern Bloc record shop.
It's  really a summer track, but nice to listen to all the same.
(GG)
Aye  - he's called Kenny, the guy who did this (I knew that.GG).
It's  a pleasant enough little number, and is quite addictive in
its  own  way.  However,  it just lacks that little something to
make  it  an  essential  tune, and is too slow to fill the dance
floors. (AM)

I'll just say that Andrew Moore is WRONG. (GG)

I'd  just  like to say that I'm decidely CORRECT in my judgement
(AM).
              ANDY M AND GREG G'S CLUB SCENE (#4)

  CRASH COURSE - Jimmy Crash

This  is  THE  BEST EVER TUNE EVER MADE!!! You've got everything
from  your  little tuneful singing to your extremely fast beats,
to  just  about everything that a top tune needs. I don't give a
damn  how old it is, because it's timeless. Buy it several times
over, and pump up the V to its maximum and go MAD! (GG)

I  have to agree with the stupid snecker just this once. This is
definitely  an essential tune. 'Nuff said. (AM)

"Snecker"? (GG)

  INSOMNIACC - DJPC

This  is  just  too  good  to be true! This one in my opinion is
at  least  going  to take the Underground scene by storm! By the
time you've read this, it will be huge, and will go down in club
history  as one of the mega anthems of the moment. Guaranteed to
              ANDY M AND GREG G'S CLUB SCENE (#5)

be put on all the compilation albums in the future. (GG)

THIS IS A FRIGGIN' MASSIVE, GIANT, HUMUNGOUS, OVER-SIZED, LARGER
THAN  LIFE,  BANGIN',  KICKIN',  DEF,  ADDICTIVE,  MIND NUMBING,
MENTAL,  MAD,  RAVIN',  SPEAKER-BUSTIN',  FLOOR FILLIN', TOTALLY
PARANOIA  MAKIN', EAR-BUSTIN', NEEDLE BLOWING, OUT OF THIS WORLD
TUNE!  (I  take  it you like it then, Andy? GG). Err, woo, well,
what  can  I  say? (It's good perhaps? GG) It nukes "Fairy Dust"
off my number one spot. (You got a bit worked up there Andy! GG)
If you haven't heard it yet, DO! It's very varied, and has three
main tunes within it. First are scratchy samples, reminiscent of
a  DJ's  mixing,  put  together  as  a workable tune. The second
"tune-within-a-tune" is a wailing, screeching sound, as heard in
"Mentasm",  "Fairy  Dust", "Dominator" etc. The last part of the
tune  is   a weird vocal theme, similar to that in "Anasthasia".
Altogether,  Insomniacc is  the  greatest  piece of music in the
history of mankind. (AM)


              ANDY M AND GREG G'S CLUB SCENE (#6)

  CUBIK CUBED - The Science

This is the definitive remix of "Cubik", that timeless classical
piece  of  techno  from  808 State. This largely unheard of tune
revamps  and  brings Cubik kicking and screaming into the latest
rave  scene. The Science have done all manner of weird things to
the  tune  we all know and love. You would not believe! Its been
speeded  up  to  an astonishingly over-the-top pace, put through
the  echo  machine,  warped  around, bassed up, and overall it's
pretty darned good. (AM)

This piece of mythology sounds good, but when someone other than
Andy  "the Asylum" Moore hears it (I'm the ONLY one in the know.
AM),  I  might  be  able  to  review  it. See ya now, fellas and
fellaresses! (GG)

See  ya  and look out of XL THE SECOND CHAPTER, featuring "Fairy
Dust" and all the other top tunes over the previous months. (AM)
Eskimos and Egypt (reviewed last time) are gonna be big (GG).
                    It's another rush job!!

  SAM BASE from Phantom Software is a versatile database package
which is dead easy to use and pretty useful at the same time.
  From THE PRESIDENT comes a Kim Wilde sample which proves that
people other than Edwin Blink can sample stuff!!
  Simon Cooke is also busy sampling and has taken the classic
quote from the Monty Python series. If you've seen it you'll
laugh - if you havn't you'll wonder why everyone else is
laughing.
  Steve Taylor conquers more m/c hassles in M/C Lesson 10.
  From Robert Smith comes one half of an amusing Gremlin demo.
If I've got room the other part will be on next month.
  Both BANZAI and AXE have contributed some SAM MOUSE software
to this issue - AXE asks if anyone can do anything with his RACE
demo????
  BANZAI is back! Him and Marc Ricard have done great versions
of the classic game which originally appeared in Format.
  The Mystery program is a surprise ie I havn't decided what it
is yet! Sorry!

                 Cheerio Chaps (and Chapesses)

FRED 17 out first week in December so send in all your Christmas
type programs especially a menu!!

Cheques payable to FRED
                    [redacted]

Subscriptions : £15 for 12 months or £8 for 6 months

Thanks very much to all the contributors that I havn't got time
to thank and I'm sorry for this issue being a few days late.

Reviews

JH          PRIMARY MATHS PACK 1  Revelation  £9.99

  This is a  basic  course in Maths covering 3-4 years progress,
from  reception  class age (5 upwards). It contains exercises in
counting,   addition  and  subtraction  including  carrying  and
borrowing  (remember  those?!).  In  it are a series of programs
accessed  from  a  main  menu,  running  from  the simplest sums
through  to  those  dealing  with  thousands, hundreds, tens and
units.

  In his program notes,author David Philpot goes to great length
to  stress  the  importance  of  practical maths paper work as a
mainstay  of the learning process, with the computer as a useful
aid  within  that process. Those of us who are keen on computers
might  be  accused  of the assumption that they are necessary in
schools  without  really  thinking about why they are there, and
I'm  sure  there  are  many  lying  idle for this reason. We did
without  them for centuries after all! This author has obviously
thought this through, and his aim is to reinforce the basics and
help  to  get  rid of any lack of confidence with numbers, and I
think his program succeeds.
JH                      Primary Maths 1

  The initial reaction is that the graphics are pretty basic,but
frankly we've been spoilt by computer games. These aren't games,
and  they do the job extremely well. The use of sound and simple
repetition  of figures and words, together with the animation of
counters  in the simpler sums, is the right way to draw children
in and give them confidence.

  There are ticks aplenty when the correct answer is given,along
with  smiling  faces  on  the  counters,  but  wrong answers are
explained  visually rather than just given a cross (although the
counters have frowning faces!)

  Further on, the child has to recognise the word for a relevant
number  by  hitting  the space bar at the right time, and in the
higher  levels borrows and carries are shown visually as the sum
is worked out. The author encourages the user to get children to
work things out on paper sometimes before doing it on screen, as
the computer does this for you.

JH                      Primary Maths 1

  The children I  tried this out on (my own) really enjoyed it -
th  fact  that  it is "work" doesn't put them off in the context
of  the Sam, which they see as a fun thing to play with, and the
blurring  of the divide between school and play is a good thing,
though this might be different in a school environment!

  Obviously part of  a  planned  series then, with more programs
promised, and just the sort of thing that's needed if the Sam is
to find a niche in schools.

John Hawkins







                                                               .
JH              THE KEY PRESS  Revelation £15.00

 The Key Press is a suite of 5 programs to introduce the concept
of  word processing to children from the age of about 5 upwards.
That  is to say, it's 5 different word processors, starting with
a  basic  screen  with  frame  cursor within which typed letters
appear  or  are erased, through to a full 80 column effort which
it is claimed "may be quite sufficient for home computer users"
  The program was written by David Philpot, who as a teacher  is
obviously  familiar  with  the  way children learn, and has been
carefully  put  together,  with attention to details such as not
having  a  hefty manual - all the instructioms are on screen and
pretty  foolproof, a must in the classroom! If there's one thing
I  hate  about  word processors it's the vast documentation, and
kids would run a mile!
  The graphic display  is  pretty  clear although I've not got a
monitor  and  found  mode  5 difficult to read in places. Mode 1
(for  the  youngest)  is  very  nicely  done  -  the letters are
actually  drawn  as  a key is pressed, and erased by placing the
cursor over them - great for kids who are learning to write.

JH                       The Key Press

  As you progress  through  the levels, things evolve, the erase
becoming  a standard left of cursor style, and paper/ink  coloor
choice  coming  into  play  from  Level  2  (the kids loved this
bit!).In  later  levels  you  can  set up columns, underline and
italicise  etc.,  each  from an on screen menu. Printing is also
fully  supported,  with  a  couple  of  key  presses dumping the
current  screen,  and  there  is a load/save option from Level 4
onwards.
  So, everything's  been  covered,  but  there  are  some  major
niggles.  For  instance, no full word processor can do without a
character  insert - even (especially!) children are going to get
annoyed  with  this  omission when they get more proficient, and
find  you have to retype a whole line to insert a letter. Not on
really.   The  author  seems to cover such omissions by claiming
that  certain  things  are  left out to stimulate thought on the
child's part - a sort of what if? or why doesn't? situation, but
I'm  left wondering if this isn't just covering up cracks in the
program! Perhaps it's my suspicious mind.

JH                        The Key Press

  Saving text can  also  be a pain - you have to use a specially
prepared  disk,  minus DOS, to store it, and each mode will only
read  its  own  files.  My l0 year old, who knows the SAM pretty
well, got in a muddle with this, but hopefully the teacher could
sort  out  this  type  of  problem. Incidentally my copy crashed
after  setting up one of these disks - hope its an early version
Samco...
  On the whole then,a good implementation of a vital educational
tool,  but  lacking  the  fine  tuning to make it indispensable.
Nevertheless a worthy addition to the Samschool series.

John Hawkins

  Thank you very much John Hawkins. He was one of the few to
respond  to my reviewers plea. Anyway he's done a great job with
reviewing.  I  will  mention  that  this version is NOT an early
version so you might encounter a few bugs (you wouldn't find any
bugs in Impatience! - sorry).                                  .

                            Letters

Dear Fred,
  I took up  a  previous suggestion of writing to Zeppelin Games
about  Sam  software  and  in  an  interchange of letters Gareth
Briggs  gave  me  some interesting but not unexpected info about
games  sales, namely that Sam software has less than 0.2% of the
market,  and  so  is  not  really  financially  viable - "a lost
cause"  in  his  words.  I also wrote to Virgin, Ocean, US Gold,
Codemasters,  Empire  and Hitec without replies except for Hitec
who  felt  that  Sam would go down the pan with the Speccy. With
Enigma's  profile  getting  lower  by  the  month  I'm wondering
whether  anyone's  seen any hopeful signs, or will Revelation be
left  to  do  it  all?  Are  Sam  users  to remain in a software
ghetto? It seems that if people are going to buy a real computer
they  spend more than £200 and if not they go for a console at a
cheaper price. Fools!
  For anyone who  can't  complete CASTLE on the anniversary disk
(wimps!)  try entering your name as "johnnyhero" or "castlehero"
(all lower case) for some interesting results. There are others.
     Best wishes,  John Hawkins
                             Reply

  Many thanks to John and numerous others who followed my advice
and  wrote  to Mr Briggs at Zeppelin games. Although his letters
still do not indicate any change of mind (ie he's still advising
people  to  buy an Amiga!), he must be beginning to release that
there is a market worth entering - considering Zeppelin had HUGE
plans for the coupe only 2 years ago.
  If anyne else is feeling like a good moan then I suggest you
do it to Mr Gareth Briggs at Zeppelin. The address is :
     Zeppelin Games
      9D Ash Way
       Houghton-le-Spring
        Durham
         DH4 6JW

And  in  response  to your question : no, Revelation will not be
left  to release all the games because FREDs here and there will
hopefully  be  numerous  FRED  release  (on  time!)  in the near
future.
                                                               .
                            Letters

Dear Colin,
           Impatience is nothing short of excellant.
  The only criticism I have of Triltex is that the backdrops
bugged  me  a  little,  but  as there is an option to get rid of
these  this  wasn't  a  problem. I would also like to say that I
thought  the  music  was  great - I spent half of one night just
listening to the music while I finished some work for college.
  I was however, ever so slightly disappointed with The Viking
Game. I thought that the music and scrolling title ran too slow,
considering  there  was a faster scroller in the last edition of
FRED  that  also flickered a lot less. The actual game was up to
the  standard  that  I  had  expected.  I  suppose after playing
Triltex  I was expecting something a bit more. With the excepted
of the above two comments, The Viking Game was also great.
  One final comment: Out of the two games, Triltex has to be the
best,  and if you keep producing games of this standard, I would
for one buy them.
  All the best with FRED and any new software you produce.
                          Andy Green
                             Reply

  Thanks to Andy Green for letting FRED readers know what he
thought  of  Impatience.  As  many of you will have guessed, the
music  on  Impatience is not the music on the Triltex demo which
has  appeared.  The  new  music  was  composed  and  written  by
Frantisek Fuka who did the Fuxoft music on the SCPDSA demo disc,
the  Shanghai  game and music and the music for Prince Of Persia
and Hexagonia.
  Yes, Viking is not as good as Triltex but it was put on just
to give better value for money although it is still a good game.
  I do plan to release more games as soon as somebody else buys
Impatience  (well,  near  enough  -  courtesy  of SAMCo's recent
mailshot).  I  put  a lot of money into Impatience which means I
cannot release anything else until I make the money back. Once I
do  though, you will be seeing some fabulous releases (including
a top license from the Amiga!).
  If you have a SAM dealer near you, please, please visit him
and  ask  to see Impatience and you'll see it's much better than
the SAMCo mailshot implied. Thank you.
                                                               .
DD/BP               OF MICE AND TRILTEX...

  I've now taken  up smoking and swigging large amouts of valium
at  the hands of Triltex. (Go out and buy it people,  or  be  in
ignorance for the rest of your pathetic  lives  since  it  makes
Tetris  look like a Fisher Price  activity  playset..). The  SAM
Mouse  troubles me, It is so good, but there are  a  few  things
that get on me headband (?):

  1.ANY computer person (such as my good self) can tell you that
when it comes to the buttons on the mouse  the  priciple  button
(the  one you use most) is ON THE LEFT and NOT the  right.  This
confuses me no end since  I  use  Archimedes  and  PC's  (Mainly
running  Windows 3) my  wee  fingers  are  used  to  the  NORMAL
configuration. This means that when I get home to me ol'  Coupe,
I  have to swap my fingers around (very painful I can tell  you)
and I don't like it.

  2. FLASH! is  crap  (especially  the  mouse  version), someone
PLEASE  write  a new art package (with scaling, file compression
and brutal animation).
DD/BP               Of Mouses and scrollers

  3.  The  SAM   mouse   is   miles   (an   hour?)  better  than
the  Joy  Mouse since it moves like greased lightning and the BA
mouse crawls (Sorry BA, I like your small rodent, but it's not i
in the same league as the SAMCO mouse...)

  A small bitty in response to Howard Price's little note at the
end  of  his scrolly about how my scrollers  weren't  so  smooth
after  all.  Viz. P145 of the  User  Guide  describes  the  GRAB
command (which I use in my, slow, smooth scrollers  ).  It  says
that the X and Y Coordinates of what you are GRABing are rounded
to an even number. This presents a problem since if you  want  a
true  smooth  scroller then you have to  shift  the  columns  of
pixels  (of  the letter) one at a time. GRAB in Basic  does  not
allow you to do this,since it rounds the value up to the nearest
even  number  which  after one is, suprisingly, two. This is why
my  'Smooth  Scrollers'  aren't so smooth, since two columns are
being shifted in one cycle (the jerky effect this causes, as you
may  have discovered, can be reduced by SCROLLing the area twice
in  one  cycle by half the intended length each time (say what?)
DD/BP            Well Stab me, Scrolly Secrets

eg if you wanted to SCROLL the area two pixels along, you  would
SCROLL  it twice but by one pixel each time. Adding a PAUSE also
can reduce the jerky bits.And that is why the 'Smooth Scrollers'
are  not  so  smooth,  and  if anyone can sort this out IN BASIC
NOT M/C (I know all you m/c programmers can do it with  all  you
appendages amputated (a la Black Knight) using your tounges  but
since  I  know  bugger  all  about  m/c,  and  I can't afford an
assembler, it's of no use to me.), let me know through FRED.

Thank  you Dan Doore - some wonderful comments and with any luck
we'll here from Howard Price (hint hint). If you agree, disagree
or  just  want  to say something (which must be PRINTABLE!) then
just  send  your  letter  as  a  WP  file  (preferably Outwrite,
Tasword, PCG DTP or Samscratch - although almost any will do)

It  seems you aren't the only one wanting a decent art package -
I know of THREE programming teams who are working on one!! But I
won't say any more....
                                                               .
                SPLAT-INCENTIVE/REVELATION-£9.99         Andy J.

  This is  a  conversion  of,I'm  told,a  classic  Speccy  game.
'I'm  told'  because  it  was  years  before I got my first ever
computer,it  can't have been that bad as Crash (RIP) rated it in
at  82%,in their  first ever  issuse (now  that's what  I call a
collector item!).
  This new version  contains  the  original  7 levels and 21 new
ones,it  has  full  mode 4 graphics,and again 'I'm told',stero 6
channel   music.This   time   because  this  is  only  an  early
pre-release version,so contains no music.
  The version that I have only contains the original 7 levels,no
music,but  does contain limited FX including a sampled 'Yipeee',
has  infinate  lives  for  playtesting,has fairly good scrolling
which will be improved,a cheat for skipping  levels,a percentage
indicator that doesn't work and finally an object that when I go
into  it,I'm  returned to basic,but what the hell,this shouldn't
worry  you as this is only a pre-release version,and all of this
will be 'fixed' for the final version. .
  Even with all  of  these bits missing it is still quite a good
game,and the final version should be quite good.
                             Splat                       Andy J.

  I'm sorry but I don't know the plot or the game's objective as
all I was told,was the idea of the game was just to survive.
  As the percentage  indicator  did not work the only way that I
knew  I had finished the level was the sampled 'Yipeee',which is
quite  good,thought  it sound rather high pitched so had the guy
just been kicked somewhere to give the desired effect!
  The  game  is  very  playable,even  in  this  early  stage  of
development,so the final version should be very playable indeed,
thought  if you only like shoot'em ups I don't know if this will
be your kind of game.
  I wish I could say more about this game,perhaps Colin can,but
as there is not any sound etc. I can not give a full review etc.
with marks for sound etc. so I can only give an overall mark.
  I think overall  I  would give it about 75%,this is very vague
I'm  afraid  as  the score on the final version could be anywere
from 70-90%,but if things are at this level on the final version
it should be somewhere around the 75-80% mark.
  Splat should be available from SAMCO sometime soon on their
Golden-Oldies label.                                           .
                            The End

OK listen up, FOR SALE
Coupe: Mind Games 1 £6. Speccy: (* means
has compatibility problems but works fine on any speccy):

Action Reflex* Cauldron 1+2   Quattro Sports  Future Bike Sim.
3D Snooker     Space Harrier* Slap Fight      Bobby Bearing
Hydrofool      Rastan*        Jack The Nipper Buggy Boy*
Survival       Mad Martha     Chuckie Egg     Chuckie Egg 2
WEC Le Mans
ALL THESE TITLES COST A MERE £2., THREE FOR £5, WHOLE LOT £25

Phone the 'Banzai Hotline' 3-11PM [redacted]  or write to:
[redacted]

Sorry  -  this  section  has  been  a bit of a mess but I'm sure
you'll have enjoyed reading other peoples opinions for a change.
Thanks to John Hawkins, Andy Jones, Andy Green, Dan Doore.
                                                         .

Machine Code Tutorial #10

Ya know, many people (gals, mainly) aproach me in Perth High
Street and ask me "Just how'd ya get the hand to move so
smoothly in Triltex, Steve?". Well I won't tell them, but the
reader(s?) of Fred? Why not.

Oh, and I know this might seem a bit easy for the more advanced
coders amongst you, but this IS a column to introduce more peeps
into our elite world, so bear with me.

Incidentally, and before I go any further, I hear that Col's
running a compo to win a liftime subscription to the best coupe
disk mag around. Well, if anyone fancies knowing the answers,
just send your name and address on the back of a tenner and send
it to the usual address. On that subject, if anyone DOES fancy
writing to me (for whatever perverse reason you can find) please
do. Being the shy and retiring type, my correspondance in the
coupe world doesn't extend much beyond CM and and this mate of
mine up the road. I would go to the odd show, but they always
tend to be the same weekend as St Johnstone away games, and my
measly royalties (are you listening Colin!) don't stretch much
further than my travel club payment. Still, I can be reached at
29a Murray Crescent, Perth PH2 OHN and on (0738) 32535 in the
evening (if you're feeling rich!) if you wish to communicate
anything to do with this article, my games, or the coupe world
in general! There may even be one or two freebies for those who
send an SAE and a disk!

Oh dear, that's a page wasted already on my mutterings. Back to
the point. What was it? Oh yes, smooth sprite movement. Well,
there are two ways we can use.


The first is the faster, and the one used in both Triltex and
the Viking Game. Basically, we do a HALT before scanning the
keyboard and joystick. If there's a movement, wipe the sprite
from the screen, and print it at its new location. When we have
a patterned background to mask the sprite onto, whatever we
over-write is copied to a buffer, and this is dumped back to
the sreen to erase the sprite. This method has three main
advantages:

a) The code is nice and simple.
b) The routine is fast because it only updates part of the
   screen.
c) Because we use HALTs, the whole thing is syncronised and the
   sprite moves at a steady speed.


Now, if you recall the last few articles about interupts, you'll
remember that HALT just waits for the next maskable interupt, of
which there are five types - it doesn't distinguish between
them. Now, you can either disable the line interupt (output 255
to port 249) and hope only the frame interupt will need
servicing, or you can disperse with th use of one HALT
instruction, and set up routines to HALT for specific interupts.

If we run the sprite routine off the frame interupt, we can
update the sprite during the frame fly-back. ie, between two
updates of the actual TV screen. This avoids flicker. However,
if we've got a long interupt, taking a long time (eg. playing
music, scanning mouse, etc), the new screen could be updating
before we're ready to dump our sprite, and flicker now results.
This was the case in Triltex, with Frantisek Fuka's music taking
a fair amount of time to play every frame. So, I ran everything
off a line interupt instead.

Firstly, we set up a line interupt just below the game playing
area, and put the music etc inside it. The routine sets a flag,
line_int_on, and returns. If we are at a part of the game moving
the sprite, and to slow it down, we put a HALT in, but to make
sure we are waiting for the line interupt, we change this to

                CALL halt_line_int
                .
                .
                .




We then have a routine,

halt_line_int   push af
hli_loop        ld   a,(line_int_on)
                and  a
                jr   z,hli_loop
                xor  a
                ld   (line_int_on),a
                pop  af
                ret

And hey presto!

Now, this method of sprite movement has its drawbacks. We can
only update one or two sprites during the frame flyback, and it
doesn't allow for background changes. eg, scrolling.
To overcome this, we use a different method, where we have two
screens - the one in vmpr, and a dummy. One by one, the graphics
are dumped to the dummy screen. When it's ready the screens are
switched and the dummy becomes visible. To avoid flicker and
sheer, we must switch the screens after the games playing area
has been updated on the TV, either through the frame or a line
interupt. This does allow for scrolling and more sprite
movement, but uses more memory, and more importantly, more time.

I'm kinda depressed at the moment, by the way. I'm walking
(hobbling) about on crutches following an accident during a
hockey match last Thursday (we lost 3-0 too). Scotland have been
robbed of a place in the World Cup final, and my beloved Saints
somehow lost to Aberdeen at home in the Premier League. So I
hope you'll forgive me if I go and do a Gazza. (Cry, that is. I
don't tend to get involved in fights in night clubs!)



And in next month's exciting (and hopefully longer) edition...

A complete redefinable key scanning routine, since none of the
SAM games I own (except Triltex) allow you to redefine keys. Let
it be known!








[END]