Fred 39

Issue 39

Magazine

BM                         Editorial

Well,  I made it. Despite grave doubts about my ability to spend
any  time on the SAM (or the Amiga for that matter) now that I'm
at  uni, FRED 39 is out and it's not even all that late. Is that
dedication?  Or  is  that  simply  the mercenary part of me that
wants  the monthly tuppence off Colin for slaving away for hours
on  end? Or am I simply off my rocker? Who can tell. Dr Gottlieb
at  the  asylum seems to have formed a solid enough opinion, but
between just you and me, he's not really human at all - he's the
first  of  the  martian prototypes come to take over the planet!
Shhh!  though,  because we don't want to start a national panic;
it can be our little secret. Yesssss.

As  I  was  saying,  university's  begun  now,  and  it has been
difficult,  so  if  you  find I've forgotten to include anything
under  a  menu  item  it's only a symptom of nervous exhaustion.
Nothing  too serious. If anybody else is actually AT Dundee Uni,
please  get  in  touch,  and we can go for a jar or something. I
take  it no-one else is actually in my Computer Science or Maths
classes?
BM                            News

Hilton  Computer  Services,  who  brought  you  Personal Banking
System,  have  just  announced  the  release  of Personal Filing
System.  So  now  you  can  have PBS and PFS. Presumably if they
released  a spreadsheet package it would be called PSS but don't
quote me on that.

Apparently:  "The PFS is designed to be simple to operate but an
effective  tool at your disposal for most applications involving
the storage and retrieval of information.

"You  could  just  use  it  to archive your ever-expanding music
collection or perhaps just to store names and addresses for your
club  or  society.  The  accent is on providing an uncomplicated
tool which you can use to organise your affairs very easily."

See  over  for  a  list  of  some  of  the features this package
incorporates...


BM                            News

Features:

* flexible and simple to use with WYSIWYG screen/printer options
  (WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get, fact fans)
* page through records in summary form or zoom to detail format
* label printing and mail merge facilities provided
* extensive flexible enquiries - display or print
* built-in field validation, totalling and table lookup
* re-define your database structure, inc add new fields, at any
  time
* files of more than 1 Meg available using 2 drives or one drive
  and 1 Meg RAM expansion, giving massive storage of records
  (with MasterDOS) - can also run with one drive
* automatially  detects  number  of drives and 1 meg RAM; auto-
  configures - no need to edit program statements
* uses RAM files with indexes (with MasterDOS)
* supplied with sample file structures
* on line help plus 50 page manual
* after sale maintenance FREE
BM                            News

Sounds  smart  huh?  If you're ithing to get your paws on a copy
then send a cheque for £19.95 to

Hilton Computer Services Ltd
[redacted]

State  which  version you want - SAMDOS or MasterDOS. You need a
minimum of 512k, which seems to be becoming the norm these days.
Tsk. The march of technology eh?


I believe Colin wants to get a little bit of news in this month.
So here he is, the Gladiator of Love himself - Colin!!



CM                         At last!

Lemmings!  We're now confident enough of the imminent release of
this  stunning  game that we can now announce the price: £19.99.
FRED  subscribers can buy it for £18, BUT! if they buy it before
the  end  of  November, £17 is the asking price. These prices do
not apply in conjunction with any other offer.

So,  why  should  you  get  Lemmings?  Well,  it's  one  of  the
best-selling  computer  games  of all time; over 2 years of work
have  gone  into the programming of this version; Psygnosis have
only  externally  licensed  Lemmings for two computers: Nintendo
and SAM!

Lemmings features all the levels from the Amiga/ST versions, and
with  graphics  converted  straight  from the Amiga, you know it
looks great!

It  works  with  joystick or keys, but if you're lucky enough to
have  a  SAM Mouse, you can use that! Sadly, Lemmings only works
with 512K. 256K upgrades available though... (hint hint)
CM                       The 'L' word

Incidentally,  if  you  don't  have  a  mouse, instead of buying
Lemmings  (RRP  £20)  and the Mouse (RRP £45) seperately, send a
cheque  to FRED for £55 and you can get them both - save £10!

As I write this, the game itself is fully working. We still have
to  incorporate  some  of  the  front  end, the introduction and
music.  The biggest problem of all, however lies with Psygnosis.
Considering  Lemmings is their biggest ever product, they're not
going  to  let  it  go  out  without  it  being nothing short of
excellent.  As  we're  all  aware, Psygnosis do have pretty high
standards,  but  provided they're happy we're hoping to ship the
first copies by the end of November.

So  once  again,  YES,  we ARE finally taking orders for it. Now
will everyone please stop phoning!! (and start writing cheques!)

Psygnosis  want  FRED  to sell 1,500 copies of this. Provided we
get at least half that within 6 months they've said they'll talk
about  other licences, so if you're going to get it, get it NOW!
CM                     And there's more!

FRED  has  only  just acquired the rights to "SAM Paint". Graham
Burtenshaw   (Enceladus   fame)   has  spent  almost  two  years
developing  this  and  now  it's  finished.  Because this is not
licensed  by  Psygnosis,  the  first  copies  will  ship  during
November!  The  price  is  £24.99  although  the  price for FRED
subscribers is a paltry £22. See what you get if you sub?

Naturally  SAM  Paint  works  with keys but again, if you have a
mouse,  you're  exceptionally  lucky!  As  with Lemmings, we can
offer the SAM Mouse and SAM Paint for a reduced price - £60.

What  features  can  you  expect  to  find  in  SAM  Paint then?
Unfortunately, this is only getting put in FRED at the very last
minute and we don't have time to give you a complete run-down of
everything;  we  haven't even had time to create new screenshots
of it, so this month we've used screens that were created over a
year ago! And it's been improved since then as well!

Like so many other titles now, SAM Paint is 512K only.
CM                 SOME of it's features ...

Gradient fills (horizontal, vertical, angled, radial...)
Contour fills, random washes, cyclic and repeated gradient fills
Screen squeeze, compression, airbrush, stipple
Automatic anti-aliasing
Comprehensive fill / brushes / patterns editors
Can be zoomed by x2 up to x32
Block options: rescale, rotate, distort, skew, clip, mask
               grabbing, 2x magnification, perspective, bending
Palette and ink cycling
Smear brushes, brush mirrors , stencils
Windows can be defocused, mixed, smeared and blended
FOUR workscreens!
Colour swapping, full RGB analysis
Curve-fitting
Adjustable plasma / marble effects
Scalable fonts
Perspective
Tracing

CM            and more of SAM Paint's features...

Bending
Designed for MODE 4 but supports modes 1,2 and 3
Define up to 96K of animation and use it in your own programs!
Animbrushes - change as you use them!
Printing: offers  a  number of sizes, quality, printer modes,
          solid, shaded, pattern, stippled and COLOUR DUMPS!
MasterDOS/ 1Meg users can access RAMdiscs!

These  are some of the special features you would only expect to
see on Amigas! SAM Paint can also perform all the basics:

rectangles,  squares,  circles,  rotatable  ellipses, triangles,
parallelograms,  polygons.  X,Y  grid.  Palette  grabbing.  Full
screen  editing  always  available!  Undo. Shadowing. Outlining.
Both  mouse  or  keys  offer  WIMP environment with single pixel
movement. Fast fills. Colour locking. Curves....

We  do  have  a  fact  sheet  available giving more details than
listed above, which you can get free with an SSAE or an order.
BM                   Witching Hour Solution

Thanks  must  go to Mat Phillips for sending in this solution to
The Witching Hour.

Start:  get  broom,  get red potion, R, R, drop red potion, drop
broom,  L,  through  path,  R, get ladder, L, L, get chalice, R,
through  path, R, R, R, give chalice, L, L, get broom, R, R, up,
use  ladder,  get  bible,  down,  R, use broom, R, R, R, R (over
roof),  get  book, examine book, drop book, L, L, get key, L, L,
L,  L, L, use key, get red potion, drop bible, through door, get
meat,  use  red  potion,  get rope, through door, drop rope, get
bible,  L,  through path, R, drop bible, L, L, give meat, L, get
green  potion, R (use ledge but jump as you approach fire, there
is  a  hidden  hole), through path, R, get rope, R, R, up, climb
ladder,  use  rope,  down ladder, down, R, R, R, R, R, use green
potion,  get  horn, L, L, L, L, L, down, get spade, up, L, L, L,
through  path, give spade, through path, R, R, R, down, R, R, R,
give  money,  R, R, R, use horn, get blue potion, L, L, L, L, L,
L,  up, L, L, L, through path, drop horn, R, get bible, use blue
potion, use bible, FINISH!!
CM                         Astroball

OK, we know it's not the latest of games, but Astroball didn't
sell nearly enough as it deserved to when SAMCo pushed it out,
so we thought we'd show you what it's like again because it just
is, well, different.

Revelation  have  been  selling  this  for  £9.95, but as a FRED
subscriber,  you  can  buy  it  before  the  end of 1993 for the
ridiculous price of £4.95

This  offer only applies when you buy it direct from Revelation,
so here's their address :

[redacted]

The  object  of  the  demo is to collect the coins (use Joystick
keys  for  control)  and reach the platform at the top.
BM                        Email Capers

I'm doing Maths and Computing at uni, and as you'd expect we get
to  use  computers. Yes, really - we do. Strange but true! We're
also  given  unlimited  access  24 hours-a-day to the electronic
mail facilities. They positively encourage us to do so, in fact.
This means:

a)- I can spend the next four years reading tasteless joke files
    in BBSs around the world
b)- you the general public can send me Email messages should the
    urge take you

For the latter you may be interested in my address, which is:
[redacted]     or
[redacted]     depending on whether or not you live
                            in the  UK.  Just  try both, because
I'm  not  actually  sure which is right for each situation. I'll
try  to  reply  to  any and all messages. If you want your email
address  printed  in  FRED,  send  it to us and we'll include it
sometime.
BM                  Chrimble Contributions

We're   now   in   November,  which  means  that  the  Christmas
preparations and adverts on telly have only been going for about
two months.

We  like  Christmas here at FRED, and we want you to enjoy it as
well. We also know that in order to help you enjoy the season to
its  full  potential  you need a smart issue of FRED to tide you
over  while  degenerates  try to talk you into getting drunk and
other unsavoury antics. Tsk.

To  cut a pretty waffly story short, we need more contributions.
We're beginning to run out, you see, and we can't just pick them
from  thin air (unless Colin throws discs at me, in which rather
contrived situation it is possible. Sort of).

Please please send us something in. Unless we get more stuff, we
may  well  have to consider going bimonthly, which we want about
as much as you do (ie not at all).

BM                       Disc Contents

MQM  is  a  music  demo  converted  by  Simon  Cooke - yes, he's
returned  to  the hallowed tracks and sectors of FRED! Once this
has  loaded,  bash  RETURN and SPACE a couple of times to get it
onto the second part which comes with full instructions.

Waterworld  is  the sequel to last month's Saucer Strike, and is
again  by  David  Lewis.  Keys  are 67890 for the usual actions.
Bascially  you've  just got to shoot the big fuzzy things before
they  reach  your  base, and you've got to surface for air every
now and again or you die. Simple eh?

Astroball is a playable demo of the admittedly rather aging game
from  Revelation.  The  reason  we've included it is because the
boys at Revelation have annouced a special offer to FRED readers
- you can get hold of this for only £5 now!!! Hurrah!!!

Wordsearch   by   John   Eyre  is  a  sort  of  wordsearch  grid
construction kit. You'll see what I mean when you load it up.

BM                       Disc Contents

MWC  is a selection of choice quotes from the fantastic "Married
With  Children" (ITV, various times/days). A little on the wrong
side of family-orientated, but mostly harmless.

E-Tunes  is  missing  more  to  add  a  bit  of  variety  to the
proceedings than for any other reason (Steve Taylor's MC article
was  missing  because he too is at uni - how's things down there
Steve?),  but we've got a few toons from Jon Binnie to keep your
musical appetite more than satisfied.

Shredder is by Colin Piggot, and basically it stops erased files
from  being  unerased  and  used/read by unscrupulous types  who
want  to  discover  your innermost secrets, or something. It can
completely erase entire discs, or individual files.

Panic  Attack is another game, this time by Paul Smith. And it's
very colourful and playble and well, we like it.


BM                       Disc Contents

Lastly  for  this issue, we have managed to get our mitts on the
latest   version  of  OUTDEX  which'll  probably  be  your  best
available  guide  to  what's on which issue of the magazine. The
viewer  thing  isn't  quite  as  versatile as the one for FREDEX
(mind  you,  I  would  think  that wouldn't I - I'm not being Mr
Objective here) but it's usable. Be prepared to wait, that's all
I'm saying.

Ooops!  I  said  "Lastly" in the paragraph above, but it appears
that I've neglected to mention the excellent mouse proggy Vegas.
Yes  patient  rodent-owners, somebody out there's still thinking
of  you.  This  is a game pretty much in the patience vein (spot
the  link  2  lines up!) and is an example to us all in terms of
presentation,  lecture  lecture. Thanks muchly to Matt Round for
well, just being such a swell fella, really.




BM                     Show of the Year

This  issue may be out too late to provide ample warning, but if
you can, do go down (or up, I suppose) to the Gloucester show on
Saturday the 13th November.

Phone  us  here  at FRED, or phone Bob Brenchley, but do make an
effort - you won't regret it. You will of course be able to meet
my  good self at last, and spend the rest of your life wondering
how  any  one  person  can  be  so  utterly perfect (that is, of
course,  assuming  that  you  meet  Claudia Schiffer immediately
afterwards - woah! etc.).

No,  do  go. You know it makes sense. You'll probably be able to
get some software bargains, and there may well be some exculsive
Lemmings demos to be seen...





BM                          Credits

Editor: Brian "Totally knackered" McConnell
Thanks to:

Simon Cooke           Jon Binnie         Mat Phillips
David Lewis           Colin Piggot       Bunj Wobl
Revelation            Paul Smith         Frank Kirby
John Eyre             Matt Round         Andrew Hodgkinson

Blinkin' 'eck. That's not a lotta people. Hmm.

The  FRED  address,  and  phone  number,  as  usual.  Ho hum. So
predictable.

FRED Publishing    [redacted]
[redacted]
                                    >>> music and comics >>>



BM                       Music Section

This  month: Buffalo Tom and One Dove. I would have done the new
Nirvana one, but I can't be bothered. Sorry!

                Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day

Even  after  last  year's  tremendous  "Let Me Come Over" album,
mentioning  Buffalo  Tom is still likely to get you nothing more
than  a  puzzled  "Who?"  from most people, and sadly this looks
like being another album which many people are going to miss out
on.

Buffalo  Tom  have,  somewhat  unfairly, been lumped in with the
rest of the current "grunge" (look, it had to come in somewhere)
bands,  and  were  once  tipped  to be "the next Nirvana." Yeah,
right.  This  group is to Nirvana what Throwing Muses are to L7,
with a much calmer attitude than Cobain and his mates.

This  album  has some excellent tunes on it and you can actually
make out the lyrics, which makes a pleasant change.
BM              Buffalo Tom - Big Red Letter Day

High  points of the album are "Late At Night", "I'm Allowed" and
"Latest  Monkey" although the whole CD is of a consistently good
standard.  Buy Let Me Come Over before this album, but make sure
that you get this one not long afterwards. 8/10

                 One Dove - Morning Dove White

The  debut  album from this Glaswegian band has been due out for
months,  and thankfully it's now here. One Dove have been dubbed
"The  Orb with songs" and that's about as accurate a description
as  you're likely to find anywhere. The overall style is similar
to St Etienne but with a slightly less poppy feel to it.

This  has  a  very  unusual  sound;  the combination of styles -
indie, pop and techno/ambient - works wonderfully though, and is
a joy to listen to. If you want a sample before splashing out on
the album, the new single, "Breakdown" has just been released so
you could try listening out for that on the radio.

BM               One Dove - Morning Dove White

If  you're  the  sort  who  instantly  dismisses  anything which
doesn't  sit  comfortably  in  the  Indie/Metal  section  of the
charts,  give  this  one  a  swerve,  but  if you're looking for
something  a  little bit different you could do a lot worse than
this. 8/10




That's  all  from  myself  this  month.  Hope  you  enjoyed  the
magazine.  Before  I  go  though,  an  apology  to  Mr Bunj Wobl
Esquire,  whose  article  on  comics went astray last ish. Sorry
Bunj! Here it is though, in all its glory.






                      BUNJ WOBLS COMIC SPOT

                            CONTENTS:
1)Profile on Marvel and D.C.         3)COMPUTER GENERATED COMICS
2)Bunj Wobls Top 10 comics.          4)Comic Reviews

Right  then, last time  we established that  comics ARE NOT JUST
FOR KIDS, and looked at comics  in general. This month I'm  sure
you will get all excited to hear that I will tell you  all about
the different publishers of comics.  You'll get Marvel and  D.C.
now and part two next month will have Image, Valiant and indies.

MARVEL  are  currently  the  largest  publisher  of  comics  and
regularly hold a 30 to 40 percent share of comic book sales each
month.

Marvel also publish the largest number of comics each month than
any  other  publisher,  the  oldest  being  over  30  years  old
(including the  Fantastic  Four,  The Incredible  Hulk  and  the
Amazing Spiderman).

Their best selling comics  are the "mutant" comics which are the
X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, Wolverine etc. (In the Marvel Universe
mutants  are  a species  of  the human  race  born with  special
powers)

The  Marvel Universe is  undoubtably the  biggest universe, with
countless numbers of characters, some with  "super powers", some
without. Most  of the characters are situated  on Earth, in real
places. Those characters  not from  this Earth  are either  from
other  known planets or,  more commonly  from fictional planets,
such as "Zenn-La", birthplace of the Silver Surfer.
________________________________________________________________

DETECTIVE COMICS (D.C.) have for a long time now been the second
largest publisher  of comics, behind Marvel,  however, they have
lately fallen to third place, holding around 15 to 20 percent of
comic book sales each month.

D.C.  are older than Marvel, with  characters such as Batman and
Superman undoubtably being the most famous.

At the  moment their  biggest selling  comics are  Superman  and
Batman titles.  This is because of the  storylines they have put
into  these  books,  generating  interest:   First  they  killed
Superman, of  course they had to bring  him back- Surprise! He's
alive again.  Now,  more recently, they as good as killed Batman
by  having a large bloke named Bane  to brake his back. Now D.C.
have a new  character, Azrael taking  on the  role of Batman  as
Bruce Wayne remains crippled.

Doing things like this really does generate  interest in titles.
Back issues that have anything to  do with these Batman/Superman
titles have shot up in price. For example, the  first appearance
of  Bane in a  comic called Vengeance  of Bane has  shot up from
vertually nothing to a value of around $25!

The D.C. universe isn't quite like the  Marvel universe. Instead
of  having real  places they have  "Gotham City"  for Batman and
"Metropolis" for Superman etc.
________________________________________________________________

Next month:Image, Valiant and inependant publishers.
****************************************************************
                     THE BUNJ WOBL TOP TEN.

This  month: Bunjs  top ten comics.  This is  completely opinion
based,  but then  my opinion  is right!  THESE ARE THE  TEN BEST
COMIC TITLES:

1) THE INCREDIBLE HULK (Marvel)     Always the best!
2) THE MAXX            (Image)      's wicked-more mature
3) PITT                (Image)      The best artistic comic
4) SPAWN               (Image)      Everyone elses favourite art
5) THE SILVER SURFER   (Marvel)     Good, established character
6) DEATHMATE           (Img/Val)    Interesting crossovers
7) WILDC.A.T.S         (Image)      Both the regular and mini
8) ALIENS              (Dark Horse) All Aliens titles
9) SECERET WEAPONS     (Valiant)    Best Valiant I have read yet
10)X-MEN               (Marvel)     Both X-Men titles
****************************************************************



                   COMPUTER GENERATED COMICS.

Comics may not interest  you, but this should interest  everyone
out there.

CRASH (no  relation  to  the  Speccy mag)  is  a  graphic  novel
published by Epic Comics featuring Marvels character, Iron Man.

A "Graphic  novel"  has  nothing whatsoever  to  do  with  being
produced on a computer. It  means that it is a book, rather than
a magazine, which most comics are. A graphic novel is longer and
of higher quality than the average comic.

Crash  is the  first  computer generated  graphic  novel and  is
completely  made up on  a computer with  every panel made  up of
computer graphics rather than the normal pencil and ink.

This is a good book with a good  story and the graphics are very
good. I advise this to anyone out there, even if  you don't show
a general  interest in  comics,  it is  interesting to  see  the
computer graphics and read how it was done after the main story.
This isn't a new book,  it was published in 1988, but  should be
still available. If you can't find it in a comic shop, or  don't
know  of  any  comic   shops  near  you,  its  ISBN   number  is
0-87135-291-5. It is  priced $12.95  (that's about  £8, but  you
should be able  to find it much cheaper- I  payed £3 for mine!).
Remember-this may  seem a  hefty price,  but it  isn't a  normal
comic, it's a book (with lots of pictures!).
****************************************************************

                       BUNJ WOBLS REVIEWS.

Oooo, what a selection I  have for you this month. The first lot
was bought on  28/8/93 and they  are new comics  at the time  of
writing  this, but  by the  time  you read  this, they're  all a
little dated  (as were the  reviews in last months  comic spot).

Right then, here's the comics I bought on the 28th August:


Super Patriot no.1   IMAGE   app£1.40
A  golden age super  hero has been 'reborn',made  into a kind of
cyborg by the  American government to  carry out solo  missions.
The  only problem is, he has a few glitches. I think it's a good
story (although  others would  disagree) and  looks set  to  get
better. The  art is interesting, but good. An overall good book,
which I didn't expect.      7/10

Incredible Hulk no.410   MARVEL   app 85p
Being the best comic around, I was a bit disappointed  with this
issue. The Hulk attempts  to break an old  friend out of a  high
security prison. the artwork by Gary frank is, as usual, superb.
Peter David, who I  regard to be the best writer around isn't up
to scratch, and could have done much better.      5.5/10

The Second Life of Doctor Mirage no.1   VALIANT   app£1.70
Valiant books are  renound for having very good, interesting and
sophistocated  story lines.  This is  no exeption.  Although you
don7t see much of  the "hero" himself until the last  few pages,
it is a very good read  and the art isn't bad either. One of the
best Valiant books I have read so far.      7.5/10

Metamorpho no.1   D.C.   app 85p
In the many years  I have been collecting  comics, I have  never
bought  a D.C. comic,  until now. Metamorpho,  "The Element Man"
has the  ability to change into  any element or compound  and in
this mini series he goes in search of a cure for himself and his
son.  The story is actually quite good,  the art is O.K, nothing
special, but I loved the art on the cover.      7/10

Savage dragon no.2   IMAGE   app£2.10
Oh dear!  I had  such high  hopes for  Savage Dragon  after  the
excellent  first issue,  but  unfortunately this  one is  rather
crap. It features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (how the hell
they fit into the  Image universe I don't know) and  they're the
only  really good thing  about it.  The book has  three stories:
Savage Dragon-dissappointing,  Star-total crap and Vanguard-O.K.
Bigger than usual, but over priced. Give this one a miss.   2/10

Silver Surfer no.84   MARVEL   app 85p
The  Surfer dies,  meets his  parents then  comes back  to life.
Rather boring story, the  usual artist hasn't  come back so  the
art is still totally crap. SS  is usually a good book, but  this
is one hell of an exception (due mostly to the art).      3/10
Warriors of Plasm no.1   DEFIANT   app£2.10
A very impressive  premiere comic from Defiant. Excellent story,
good art, very  original concept and  down right weirdness  make
this issue extremely good and looks set to succeed.The story- On
a  strange, purely biological planet, "Lorca" brings 1000 people
from Earth, but only five survive - The Warriors of Plasm.  8/10

Deathmate Blue   VALIANT and IMAGE   app£3.50
After DM yellow, I wasn't expecting much, but this is actually a
very good  book. I  won't repeat the  details of  Deathmate that
were in Fred 37.    The price tag is a bit hefty.  Not for first
time comic buyers, but it is a spectacular comic.      7/10

The Maxx no.4   IMAGE   app£1.40
The Maxx  is wicked.  It's strange, but  it's wicked.  Sam Kieth
(Creator/Writer/Artist)  does  all  of  those  things  superbly.
Although you don't  see as much of the Maxx  himself as in other
issues, the  story is still entertaining, mature  and witty. One
of the best books around.      7/10

X-O Manowar no.0   VALIANT   app£3
The  prequel to the  popular X-O series gives  the origin of the
man himself. The 5th Century-Aric, a Goth is kidnapped by aliens
while fighting Romans. He escapes, descovers the X-O armour  and
returns  to  20th Century  Earth  (?).    Excellent  art  by Joe
Quesada and interesting story.  The best thing about this  comic
though, is  the cover.  Aswell as  being embossed  with lots  of
shiny, metallic colours, the  drawing of X-O himself is superb -
Perhaps the  best cover I have EVER seen.    Although this comic
has a hefty price tag, it' worth it, just for the cover!    7/10

Union no.1   IMAGE   app£1.70
A  bloke from a  parallel universe  comes to our  Earth, only to
descover that other  blokes much like  himself have been  there,
pretending to be citizens and these people aren't very nice.....
This book really  tells two stories - Union  coming to earth and
Union  encountering  Stormwatch.      Well  thought  out  script
accompanied by  very good art by Mark  Texeira (I have a feeling
he's going to become VERY big). Good book, boring in parts. 7/10

Seceret Weapons no.3   VALIANT   app£1.60
YAWN!      3.5/10
Stormwatch no.0   IMAGE   app£1.70

I didn't like Stormwatch no.1, but  this is better. It tells the
origin  of the supergroup,  with a completely  different team to
the one currently  featuring in  the regular title.  The art  is
good, especially in the  first part. The cover is excellent. The
story is interesting, however, Stormwatch  doesn't really appeal
to me as much as other team titles, such as the superb WildCATS.
Stormwatch no.0 comes bagged with a trading card (Ooo!)   6.5/10

That's it from me, so until next month, Hah-Fwibble.

Bunj Wobl.   (no,"erm Bunj" isn't my name erm, Brian!)

(oops! time again. Sorry once more, Bunjy boy - Brian)

Letters & Reviews

                    Letter from David Lewis

Dear FRED,

I've just looked through FRED 39 and discovered you've published
my  SAUCER STRIKE game on the main menu. Cheers guys! Why didn't
you publish Water World or Jetpac instead, they're miles better.
On  the  off  chance  that  you haven't got them you should find
enclosed  a disk with them both on as well as a sadistic version
of   Lemmings.  Incidently  do  you  still  pay  for  main  menu
contributions...?

I  also  read  your reply to my letter about Stefan Drissen. Ok,
point  taken  about  sending  money, but I still don't think its
worth Days Of Sorcery. Having said that, Stefan's Speccy sampled
tune, GAMEOVER, was good (it played in time thank goodness). The
gamesmaster game, BOMB, on this issue was brilliant also.

Right  next  point,  Craig  Turberfield  won  the compo for best
E-Tune,  hmmm. Well I reckon that E-Tune in FRED 37, GAS by John
Hutchings was the best E-Tune so far.
                    Letter from David Lewis

Before I sign off, a sort of techy query.....

Are  there  any programs available for SAM that will allow me to
read  MS  DOS  files  (Word  Perfect Text Files to be exact) and
convert them into Sam Text/ASCII code files?

There  was  a  program  by Stefan Drissen on an earlier issue of
FRED  which  is  supposed  to  do  this but it doesn't work. The
KE_Disk  sector  editor  will  read  PC/MS-DOS disks but all the
files are mixed together and cannot be sorted out.

Thanks again for using my Saucer Strike,

D.LEWIS





BM                   Reply to David Lewis

If  you had a look through the contents of this issue you'll see
that   we  have indeed decided to use Water World. I used Saucer
Strike  last  issue  simply  because I liked it and I also Water
World  and  it just happened that we used SS last ish and not WW
(you do like your alliterative titles, David, don't you).

As  expected,  we've  had plenty much letters (sic - see "Mr Don
and Mr George") saying "I think thingy's tune was the best", but
the  decision  has been made, and Craig won. So no more moans on
that score, thank you very much. Nobody was overly upset at John
Vincent's  Witching  Hour  taking 1st prize, which is not at all
surprising when you see the game.

You  might like to try PC_Suite (reviewed #35) which if I recall
correctly  can  convert  between file formats. As it costs about
£25 or £30, however, you may prefer just to buy Lemmings instead
and be a good £5 better off.

                                                         - BRIAN
                   Letter from Mark Franklin

Dear Colin/Brian,

In  issue 80 of YS it said that you were releasing the following
during the year:

a)- A MODE 4 shoot-'em-up;
b)- A Role-Playing Game called the Tower;
c)- A word processor called Wordmaster
d)- A Kick Off-ish footy game;

but as far as I know none of these have been released; where are
they?

Another  question: are the any Speccy emulators for the SAM that
DON'T use a working Spectrum?

I  though  the FREDEX on #36 was very useful and now I know what
back issues to get. Finally, you're doing a good job for the SAM
community, and keep it up.
BM                  Reply to Mark Franklin

Here's what happened:

a)- Come  on.  Parallax may not have been R-Type but it did get
     released. Many people even enjoyed it.
b)- The Tower has been binned, but there is a Legend of Eshan
    in progress. Nearing completion in fact.
c)- This emerged as Spellmaster, which is essentially a spelling
    checker with a pretty decent word pro chucked in for good
    measure.
d)- This one has been binned with virtually no chance of a
return.

All  the  good  Speccy  emulators require a copy of the Spectrum
ROM,  which  you might be able to get from your Spectrum. LERM's
SAMTAPE uses this, and this is what I used before I got bored of
all my Speccy stuff.
                                                         - BRIAN


                      Letter from G Robson

Dear Brian,

I noticed in a letter from Mat Phillips in FRED issue 38 that he
had sent you a solution to "The Witching Hour".

I wondered if it would be possible to obtain a copy of it?


BM                     Reply to G Robson

Having  problems  with  your  wizarding  antics  eh? Well, I can
sympathise.  I'm  forever  getting  sick of these kinds of games
because  I  can't  get  past 1% of the problems and then reading
reviews saying, "This game is good but it's far too easy."

So  yes,  it  most  certainly is possible to get hold of a copy;
we've included it in the main magazine this very issue.

                                                         - BRIAN
                    Letter from Gary Davies

Dear FRED,

First  things  first:  enclosed  is  a cheque for a subscription
starting  from  issue  37  if  that's  possible. FRED is a great
magazine  and  now  that YS has disappeared it's the only way of
staying in touch with the SAM scene.

Has  anyone  out  there got a program that can convert E-Tracker
files  to  MasterBASIC  Blitz  sound  strings,  and  vice versa?
Talking  of  E-Trackerm  how  about  some "rock" tunes, that's a
polite  way  of asking for some punk stuff. I'd do it myself but
I've  got  the musical talent of a housebrick - maybe that's the
reason  I  listen  to  groups like The Exploited, GBH, Discharge
etc. Well I would, but my hi-fi's given up the ghost. First both
belts for the cassette decks snapped and now the turntable won't
rotate at the right speed

I've  only  recently  started using the SAM again (it was sick);
most of my money goes on records (vinyl - not much punk on CD!),
                    Letter from Gary Davies

role-playing  games,  figures, etc, and books of course (fantasy
and  those  new Dr Who adventures). Incidentally I for one would
be  interested  in a book reviews section and how about covering
WCW as well as WWF?

If  anybody's  got either Klax or Pipemania fo the SAM and wants
to sell it, get in touch.


BM                    Reply to Gary Davies

If  anybody  can  help Gary with the music program or with Klax/
Pipemania, write to him at:

35 Stringhey Road,
[redacted]

                   Letter from Roy Cochrane

Dear FRED,

My  name  is  Roy Cochrane and I'm a member of staff at Roundhay
Day  Centre.  I  have  been asked to ask you if there is any way
that  you  could  either  ask  the  people who subscribe to your
magazine, or if you yourself could possibly tell me where or how
I  may  be  able  to  get hold of a Speccy tape called "Draughts
Genius". It has, so I've been told, a picture of Einstein on the
front.

I run a sort of Speccy club here for the members. We do not have
very many tapes, a few shoot-'em-ups but not many of the members
can  handle  them,  so  they are not very popular. We have a few
role-play games but they last too long for some of the members.

Chess  is  the game of the moment. Although we have four members
who  play  quite well, they just play on the board. I don't know
if  you  have  a backgammon game for the computer, anything like
that would be very much appreciated.
                   Letter from Roy Cochrane

I  myself  have tramped around the shops in Leeds, Wakefield and
Weatherby, and I have asked a friend in Sheffield if he can find
anything  for  me,  but all we ever get if it is more than a few
months old is that no-one stocks it.

So if you can help in any way at all I will be most grateful. In
fact, any old tapes will find a good home.


BM                   Reply to Roy Cochrane

Sorry  Roy,  I can't help, but if any readers know of this game,
write to Roy at:

Roundhay Road Day Centre,
[redacted]

BW                      TRIDENT ADVENTURE 1

                       Review by Bunj Wobl

I  was  overcome with joy to find a package had come for me this
morning,  containing  something  from FRED for me to review. The
game is a budget adventure game called "Trident Adventure".

Right  then,  I  suppose  you want to know what it's about. O.K.
You're  this  lad  wandering  around on a cold, windy night. You
find  a  cottage  and you start finding things that are a little
out  of  the ordinary. Well, of course, you've got to figure out
what's going on. Saying any more than that would really give the
story  away,  and  of  course,  you've  got to find that out for
yourself by buying the game!

I  haven't  had that much experience with adventure games (I had
one on my Spectrum, but my character kept getting his foot stuck
in  a bucket!), but I think that I am quite capable of giving an
accurate review...

BW                      TRIDENT ADVENTURE 2

                       Review by Bunj Wobl

The  first  impression  I  had  when  loading  the  game up was,
unfortunately, a bad one. The menu screen is just a black screen
with a plain menu and no graphics. It's a shame - the programmer
is  capable  of  drawing  good screens, as there is also a short
slide   show   of  P.D.  screens  on  the  disk.  I  think  that
presentation  is  important;  could  there  not  be a full mode4
graphical screen for a menu?

Anyway,  that  aside,  I loaded the "Tutor" option which clearly
layed  out  exactly  how  to  play  the  game and went through a
demonstration game, showing the kind of things that can be done.
This is very good. All too often a game will come with very poor
instructions  and  you won't have a clue what to do in the game,
or  you'll miss things out in the game that would make life much
easier.  This  tutor is the perfect way to put across what to do
in the game.

BW                      TRIDENT ADVENTURE 3

                       Review by Bunj Wobl

Getting  straight  to  the  point,  although  the author's story
writing is very good, the game is far too short. It's quite easy
to  complete  the  game by just examining everything you see and
trying  to  use  it any sensible way you can. It is hard to give
examples, because that would give the story away.

The  format of the game is good, and could be put to use to make
an  absolutely  superb  game, but as I've said this game is much
too short and there aren't enough things to do.

I  would  definitely  look  out  for future games from "Innocent
Productions".  If  the game is longer, maybe better presented it
could be excellent, but unfortunately Trident Adventure isn't.

Verdict:  4/10 -  mainly bacause it  is too short,  but it could
                  also  be better  presented and  made a  little
                  harder, making the gameplay much better.
BW                      TRIDENT ADVENTURE 4

                       Review by Bunj Wobl

Verdict (cont'd): Although  the game is  only £4, it would  have
                  been  reviewed  much  more  favourably  if the
                  price was half that.

The Trident Adventure disk contains the game itself and  a slide
show of PD screens.

Copies of  Trident Adventure can be obtained by sending a cheque
for £4.00 inc  p+p (Non  U.K. residents add  £1.00 for  postage)
made payable to Wayne Coles to:

 Innocent Productions
 [redacted]

Bundy

Episode 412 & 413: It's A Bundyful Life
---------------------------------------

Al:"Christmas isn't a time for regret. That's what anniversaries
are for."



Peg: "Come open your present, Al."
Al:  "Where is it?"
Peg: "It's me!"
Al: "Peg, why'd you get me the same old thing I didn't play with
last year?"


Guardian  Angel:  "You're going to have to give me a few moments
on this - I thought I came down here to save a human soul"

Guardian Angel: "Don't worry Bundy, I checked this guy's future.
According  to  this  by  the time he's 50 his stomach will be so
ulcer ridden that ... Oh that's you"
Al:  " Bud, quick what's more important: Money or Love"
Bud: " Money, Dad.  I can always rent love"


Al:  "Well  this was great! What do we do now? Go to the night I
should  have  been  conceived  and  watch  my  father invent the
condom?"


Guardian  Angel:  " Well, I failed Bundy. I was supposed to come
down  here to give you a reason to live. I can't think of one. I
am depressed"


Peg: " Yes I saved myself for marriage"
Al: " Oh come on! The Football team retired her (Peg) jersey"


Guardian  Angel: " No Bundy, much like a neutered dog, you don't
get it"

Al:  " Peg, you recognize me?"
Peg: " Of  course I do, Al. Why do you think I didn't help you
up?"

Peg:  "  I  knew it would pay to breast feed you (Bud) until you
were nine"















Episode 420: Al tries to break the Alley's record
-------------------------------------------------



Al:  " Bud, did you get your mom in the picutre?"
Bud: " Yea, dad."
Al:  " Rewind"




Kelly: " I am an aquarium!"
Bud:   " And an empty one."






Episode 506: The Bundy Bounce
-----------------------------


Al: " This's been the best two weeks of my life. The uncertainty
is  gone.  Accepting  your utter uselessness has freed me. Since
I've  been taking care of myself, the foods better, conversation
is better and without sex, my hair is coming back!!"
Peg:  "  It's not coming back honey, it's just growing up out of
your nose...!"



Bud:  "  I  heard you that girls like to watch your weight. Care
for a Bud Light?"








Kelly: "I'm getting an idea! How about this:
        The neeeew .... what's the name of the stupid car?"
Bud:   "Kelly, why don't you just write it on your hand like you
        do your name?"
Kelly: "Wait! Topeka! I have found it!!"
Bud:   "I ... I don't think you mean Topeka, Kel."
Kelly: "Oh yeah, that's right, I meant...Urethra!!"











Episode 521: Kids! Wadaya gonna do?
-----------------------------------

Al:    "You mean that was you Bundifying that girl over
there?"



Bud:  " Buck, you and I are a lot alike."
Buck: " No, I've had sex and at least I have the decency
        to die at 13."



Bud:  " Was it everything I told you it would be?"
Girl: " No, but it was everything the other girls told
        me it would be."




Al: "I spent three hours with you already. I watched you
buy  lingerie  I  wouldn't  let  you wear even if you weren't my
wife."


Marcie:  "Why  do you leave your front door open? A maniac can
          come in and kill you!"
Al:      "Like I get what I want."


Marcie: " I guess you were mistaken when you came over to borrow
something and we told you to take what you wanted... which leads
us to our flatware."
Al:     " I didn't steal your bra."







Episode 607: Al gets glasses
----------------------------

Al:  "  People  who sell shoes to fat women in skirts should not
have 20/20 vision."



Al:  "  Does  it  occur to anyone that I read 'Bridge Ends Here'
just fine and just floored it?"



Bud: " Who is on the cover?"
Al:  " Raymond Burr."
Bud: " That's Delta Burke."
Al:  "  Raymond  Burr, Delta Burke, tell me I'm the first one to
make that mistake."




Al:    "There he is, Raymond Burr."
Kelly: "That's Delta Burke."
Al:    "Raymond Burr, Delta Burke, city of Seattle, it's all the
        same."



Al: " I'm going out and take in some of the beauty that our fair
city has to offer...I'll be at the nudie bar."



Al:  " What the hell is this?"
Bud: " That's mom."
Al:  " I didn't ask for all this!"



Al:  "  I  may not see too well; I may kill a few people and run
into a river or two but it's better than looking stupid."
Episode 618: Madame Zelda
-------------------------

Al: " Oh, mighty one who created the heavens and the
earth..."   "and you who created my wife and kids,
why does thou curse me with a TV yet no TV guide?"


Al:  "  I have a woman so lame that she thinks that when I groan
in  bed  that it has something to do with her. Bud wouldn't know
the  house  was  on fire if it wasn't on 'Nick At Nite,' and the
only reason that Kelly has a head is to keep the rain out of her
neck."


Al:        " I'm thinking of expansion."
Jefferson: " What kind of expansion?"
Al:        " The kind where I keep my woman in ermine and
             pearls... and I won't forget you, Peg."


Peg: " I have a gift. I've been touched."
Al:  " Not by me."


Peg:  "  Al,  you're  meddling with powers which, like a woman's
body, you know nothing about."



Al:   " Did you give the money to Madame Zelda?"
Buck:  "  I used it for bail. Nobody told me it was impolite for
humans, when they met a woman, to go up and niff their butt."









Episode 713: Bud sleeps with cousin's Fiancee
---------------------------------------------

Peg: " It just hangs there lifelessly"
Al:  " It's mine, Peg"
Peg: " I'll straighten it out"
Al:  " It's too long"
Peg: " Women like it long"
Al:  " I'm the one that's gotta lug it along"




Kelly: " What did you do?"
Bud:   " A gentleman never tells. I had sex and I was good."
Kelly: " Oh my God"
Bud:   " That's what she said. Twice"
Kelly: " What, once when you undressed and once when you put
         your bunny slippers on?"
Bud:   " Save it for someone not getting any, like mom. Talk all
         you want, nothing can bring me down"
Kelly: " You just had sex with your cousin Jimmy's fiancee."
Bud: " That did it."


Peg: " Say you love me."
Al:  " I love beer and bowling. I don't want to cheapen the
       word."


Peg: " This is a historical first. We're in the bedroom and I'm
waiting for you to finish."


Marcie: " How are these kids gonna know right from wrong. They
need a man in their lives."
Jefferson: " What are you gonna do? Move in with them."


Al: " I'd look good in makeup. I'd be a killer looking babe in a
masculine  sort  of  way.  I could highlight my eyes. they're my
best  quality.  Baby  blue.  Just like Sinatra, Newman, the sea.
Then  there's  my  second  best quality. I'm known for my killer
butt."
Peg: " Yeah, it has more hair on it than your head."
Al:  " It doesn't wake up looking at you in the morning."