Fred 46

Issue 46

Magazine

BM                         Editorial

They did it! On Saturday 21st May, 1994, Dundee Utd won the
Scottish Cup for the first time in their history! Hurrah! You
can be sure THAT was a good Saturday night out...

This issue is a little bit late (again!) because of, yup, exams.
They're all over now though, and that's me safely through to 2nd
year - with a niggling worry over the fact that I can't really
say I've learned an awful lot! How to fill in time between
lectures, and how to seriously underestimate my income; that's
pretty much it! It's been a fun year though, all in all, and now
there's a whole four months until the next one begins - joy!

It's been a fairly eventful month for me; I made my first ever
court appearance as a witness. One of my friends was disputing a
traffic violation. 'Twas most nervewracking. He won his case
though, so a few hours in the local made up for all the nerves.
It's really not a nice experience being a witness, getting
interrogated etc., so don't do anything illegal - it's not worth
it!!
BM                         Editorial

We've just had our hottest day of the year yesterday - 25.3'C,
apparently. Just up the road a bit they had 28'C! Believe me,
this does not happen in Scotland very often! Same temperature as
Athens for the day, in fact. Hot! I've defied the odds this
year, and am getting a pretty decent tan. As you may know, I
usually go all out on the first sunny day and end up a nice
shade of lobster. I've learned my lesson though, and I think I
got away with it. Naturally the old "U.F.Orb" CD has been played
mercilessly - BUY THIS ALBUM! Summer just isn't the same without
it, as my neighbours can probably testify.

Summer brings with it not only the good things in life though;
it also brings on parents' nagging abilities about jobs. I've
kept them fairly quiet by sending off a few applications, but
with a bit of luck they won't want me.

Well, enjoy your summer, don't work too hard, and most of all
keep sending us yer programs!
                                                         - BRIAN
BM                          FRED #50

We're now on FRED #46. This means that there's just three more
issues until FRED gets to the half-century, which is pretty
darned impressive for a magazine which started off with about 3
readers!

Anyway, instead of celebrating FRED's 4th birthday (#48), we're
going to get all worked up about the big five-zero. This means
we want LOADS of goodies for that issue, which should be out in
mid-October. You remember how good FRED #36 was? Well we want to
beat that! So all you demo coders, games makers, and utility
writers get cracking, plus all the musicians, graphic artists
and article writers out there. Help us to make FRED #50
something really special! (Please?)






BM                            News

Tired of Outwrite's strictly 64-column layout? Bored with being
restricted to just the one font? You need SC_WORD pro, Steve's
Software's newest release. Billed as "a professional word
processor that takes a leap forward in printer quality output,"
from what I've read it prints a page as a series of dots (14
million of 'em!) rather than using LPRINTs. This means you get a
printout which is much more flexible than your usual one.

The program comes with its own built-in fonts, available in 11
sizes, with proportionally spaced letters and words. Steve
Nutting claims you can get the same quality as from some of the
frighteningly expensive PC/Amiga programs.

To use this program, which sets aside 128K for the document
(Outwrite allows only 45K), you need 512K, a 24-pin or inkjet
printer and MasterDOS. 1Mb and a mouse are recommended but not
essential. I'd imagine this works best with a Canon BJ, as
that's what Steve has, but you'd need to speak to him first. I
have to say, this program does sound very impressive.
BM                            News

£29.99 might seem expensive, but I've seen print samples and
they are impressive.

For more information, or indeed to place your order, write to:

                        [redacted]


Just in case you missed it last time, Blue Alpha have moved to
                        [redacted]

BM                            News

Back with word processors (must be the time of year), Revelation
have announced an upgraded version of The Secretary. It has
various new features, and things like keyboard response have
been made faster. You can get this from Revelation for £14.95,
£12.95 for FRED subbers. If you have the original version, just
send the disc, securely packaged, and a suitable SAE, to

                       Secretary Updates,
                    C/O Format Publications,
                        [redacted]

If you're buying it from scratch, though, order direct from:
                      Revelation Software,
                          [redacted]

BM                            News

More Revelation news now: the SAM Coupe Arcade Development
System, SCADS, is one of their products. They've taken it over
from Glenco Software, you see. It seems the package is to be
relaunched sometime in the near future, so if you're thinking of
buying it my advice is to wait a couple of months to see what
Revelation are offering. In the meantime, just buy Lemmings as
an example of what makes a really good game, and try to get
inspiration from that to produce the next FRED blockbusting
title!

Prince of Persia. Remember it? It was brilliant game, wasn't it?
Oooh, that animation! If you don't know what I'm on about, now's
your chance to join the ranks of the enlightened because
Revelation (again! Aarrghh!) have relaunched it at the new price
of £9.95 (£1 off that to FRED subbers). This really was a superb
conversion, and comes highly recommended.



BM                       New Magazines

It would appear that new PD libraries and magazines are
springing up all over the place, so here's a quick mention for
two mags which have come to my attention.

ZODIAC magazine is coming up to issue 5. A paer based thing,
this also has a PD branch. Produced with SC_WORD pro (that was
quick!) and a Canon BJ, this should at the very least impress
you with its looks! Colin's got a few issues lying around, but
I've only got their mention-requesting letter, so I can't
comment. And he's not in right now, and the magazine is going to
be late, and I can't wait any longer, and AAARRGGHH!! The
pressure!!! Sorry. This only costs 50p, so write to:

                        Zodiac Magazine,
                          [redacted]

BM                       New Magazines

SAM 2 SAM is a SAM disc magazine, and every two months it
arrives with two discs. Anybody care to make an educated guess
as to where they got their name...?

One disc is a games disc, the other is the text disc. I've only
really read through issue 3, as the first issues seemed very
rough around the edges and I couldn't be bothered, basically.
Not a good attitude, but what the hell. There's a moral in there
somewhere, people - presentation helps!

Issue 3 though is much better. They have a WIMP text reading
system which is a bit irritating with keyboard, but is
nonetheless very easy to use. It's nice and fast, too. There is
absolutely LOADS of text, most of which is actually relevant to
the SAM. Reviews are of both old and new pieces of software,
from the Enigma titles and Dyzonium right up to Lemmings and
Legend of Eshan. Issue 3 also has details of a mountain
educational software for primary school kids, none of which I'd
even heard of!
BM                       New Magazines

There are a lot of text sections, in the Enceladus rather than
FRED style (ie with a sub-menu for all the text), and it's just
as well given that there are well over a hundred individual
pages!

The games disc, I can't help feeling, is almost extraneous
material. I can see people playing the games for five minutes,
and reading the magazine for an hour. I would suggest dropping
the games disc, SAM2SAM editors, and selling the magazine for £1
or £1.50 or something. As it is, 2 discs for £2 is excellent
VFM, and I strongly recommend this magazine. My one gripe is
that they both appear to have appalling music taste - Rick
Astley?! Contact, and make cheques (£2) out to:

                          Rob Clayton,
                           [redacted]

AJ                   ADVENTURE HELP COLUMN
                               by
                           Alex Jones

Welcome once again to the adventure help section. I have
received no letters asking for help so far but I have had one
letter from David Haire answering one of the questions I asked
last issue.

In "Peneless" I asked how to open the iron door and the answer
is that you must oil the hinges. Seems obvious now! Thanks again
David. Hopefully I will have some requests for help and some
more hints for the next issue.

Now for "Sesame Street" which appeared in issue 40. This was a
very basic adventure type of game which I am sure will have
caused you little trouble in solving. Just in case there is
anyone who is stuck though, here is the full solution.

Go east four times, north three times, take the hot chocolate
single and the butterfly net.
AJ                   Adventure Help Column

Go south three times, west three times then south and use the
hot chocolate single.

Go east and drop the match, use the butterfly net and take the
firefly.

Go west, north, east three times, north, east and take the
flamethrower. Go west, south, west and take duster, west and us
flamethrower.

Go north and use duster then west and take K9.

Go east, south and take remains, east twice, north four times
and use firefly. Now go west and use K9 then take mess.

Go east, south four times and use remains and mess then take
dime.

Go west three times, south twice and use dime, take number.
AJ                   Adventure Help Column

Go north twice, west and use number then west to complete the
game.

Now for the next part of "Days of Sorcery" a much more inventive
and taxing game.

 From where we left off :-

You have just unearthed a trapdoor so go down and light the lamp
then go west twice, south, east and southwest to the dead end.
Take the staff. Go northeast, west, north, east, southeast,
south, east, northeast twice, west, northeast and northwest to
another trapdoor. Go up and extinguish the lamp to save fuel,
then go south into the library and take the book. Now go north
and down, relight the lamp and retrace your footsteps back to
the first trapdoor. Extinguish the lamp and go up.

Go north twice and west three times to the crossroads. Go south
and give the book to the old man.
AJ                   Adventure Help Column

He will give you an arrow in return.

Go north, west twice, south twice, and west to the clifftop.
Lever the boulder with the staff to find a bowstring. Take it,
strip the branch and tie the bowstring to the branch to make a
longbow.

To be continued.....

OK, now for an old Spectrum adventure "Rebel Planet" anybody out
there with a solution or even enough hints to get started?
Please send them, and any help pleas, to the following address:-

                         [redacted]

            That's it for this issue - bye for now.
BM                       Disc Contents

MINE is by Tim Paveley. It's similar to BOMB in FRED 38 or so,
but allows you to specify the size of play area, number of lives
and number of mines. And it's brill, and we love it. Use either
the mouse or the joystick keys 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0. Or, of course,
a joystick...

SAMPAINT FONTS is a collection of fonts for your favourite art
package, sent in by Andrew Collier.

DIGISYNTH, sent in by Stefan Drissen, is sort of for those of
you who missed the MOD player in #41 and have hence been unable
to hear any of the top MODS we've been giving away ever since. I
was sure I'd used this before, but after a quick look through
old FREDs I couldn't find it, so I'll risk putting it on here!
It's a converted Spectrum sampled bit of music, and it actually
sounds very similar to the MODs played on Stefan's MOD player.

LEMMINGS 2 by Nicholas Bay is NOT a playable demo of a new FRED
game; it's just a bit of fun, okay? It is not being programmed!
BM                       Disc Contents

NET is here, yet again, and this time we've got a list of
computer terms and what they really mean, as well as a
comprehensive list of rules and laws of life, such as Murphy's
Law, etc. I'd advise you to read it in several sittings, as
there is a lot of it to get through!

E-TUNES contains music by Lee Willis - that's right, a new face
to the E-Tunes section! I think. I didn't recognise the name,
anyway. Those of you hoping that I've replaced last month's
scroller are in for bitter disappointment, by the way.

MODULES - more Amiga or PC modules for ya. Remember though: you
will need the MOD player on #41. I've heard that a lot of people
put them onto PC discs via KE_Disc (#36) and then actually play
them on their PC or Amiga for that extra clarity. I tried it
myself, and it's well smart.

REVERSAL has been sent in by JH Bailey. It's a puzzle game but
stop! Don't run away! No! Come back!
BM                       Disc Contents

Ha - gotcha. I thought you'd be on this page. The thing about
Reversal is that you have to choose your colours at the
beginning, from the range 0-9. Pick whatever you like, it makes
no difference. Once you've got past that ever-so-tricky part,
you've got to get the board to all the same colour. And it's not
easy. I did it in 68 moves, and since then I've not even come
close to that low! One rather irritating thing is the controls -
it uses the old Spectrum arrangement of 5=left, 6=down, 7=up,
8=right. It takes a bit of getting used to, believe me. I can't
use the joystick keys properly now!

FONT_PROCS is by Graham Tattersall, and allows you to store
oodles of fonts in memory and then change them inthe blink of an
eye with a command; alter 1, for example gives you font #1 to
play with. Cool, huh? There is a demo program for you to flick
through, which loads up when you select it from the main menu.



BM                       Disc Contents

In BITS N BOBS this month we have HIDE N SEEK and REACT by Andy
Hook. The first is mouse only, so I don't have much of a clue
what it is. Those of you with mice are sure to like it though.
REACT is a program to test your reaction times to visual and
aural stimuli. The sad thing is, I spent about half an hour
fiddling about with this. It's addictive! Honest!

SAMtoBMP and BMPtoSAM allow you to convert SAM screens to
Windows .BMP screens and vice versa. You will need a PC disc
reader though, such as KE_Disc (#36, as I said earlier). Thanks
to Paul Crompton.

Finally for this issue, ROLLER by Bob Pain (where are all our
letters Bob? We miss you!) shows you a slightly different way to
put scrollies into your BASIC programs. Very innovative, fast
and smoother than Allan in a Gloucester nightclub (don't worry
about it if it makes no sense).


BM                         QWERTYUIOP

Well. That's it for yet another month. We might be announcing
the identity of our new editor next issue, so if you wrote in
for that don't miss FRED #47! Apart from that we'll have the
same old stuff; you know, smart games, tunes, demos and things.
The usual collection of stunning software that you've come to
expect. Unless of course Matt Round doesn't write anything for
us. Ho ho.

It's summer, and the temptation is obviously to wander around in
shorts getting a tan, but remember - the sun is bad for you.
Writing SAM programs isn't. Simple choice, really.

Bye for another month, and I'll see you in FRED #47!

PS You may be pleased to hear that I am finally mobile! I passed
my test! And I only mounted the kerb twice, kept going at the
emergency stop signal, changed lane for no reason whatsoever and
forgot what way the clutch goes to move. Lucky? No, no. Skill.
Ability. Verve. Flair. That's what it was.
BM                          Credits

Editor: Brian "Only a few issues to go now" McConnell
Thanks to:

Colin Anderton                Tim Paveley
Colin Anderton (happy now?)   JH Bailey
Alex Wakeley                  Nicholas Bay
Stefan Drissen                Graham Tattersall
Lee Willis                    Andrew Collier
Andy Hook                     Robert Pain
Paul Crompton


Write to/cheques payable to:

[redacted]

                                    Safety tip:
                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~
                  Remember, alcohol and concrete don't mix well

Letters & Reviews

                         Letter from...

                          F9 SOFTWARE
                              and
               SAM PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE LIBRARY
                          [redacted]



The PD seen has never looked better, with more and more SAM PD
software becoming available to SAM users. Thankyou to every one
who has sent us software. Please keep up the good work and keep
sending us your programs.

We have received some software from Paul Crompton, Nigel French,
Dan Doore and Paul Skinner; read on...
                     Letter from F9 / SPDSL

The UTILITY COLLECTION. £1.50
-----------------------------

Paul Cromption has sent us a disk full of utilities. The disk
contains just about everything that you need in a utility and
more.

Data Manager is a very useful database. Dir-Util is a very nice
disk manipulation program with pull down menus. There is also a
handy Diary program for remembering the dates that you usually
forget, and a full sector editor which looks and works as well
as some of the full price programs.

A stand alone auto-unerase program is also on the disk. This
program will restore any erased program without asking you for
the file type.

Text-to-note allows you to change PC DOS text to text which can
be loaded into Tasword; note-to-text does the opposite.
                     Letter from F9 / SPDSL

Fred to text will convert Fred text files to text. Fred to Tas
allows you to convert the file produced by Fred to text so that
it can be read by tasword.

SAM to bmp converts sam screens to Windows' BMP files. BMP to
SAM does the same as above but in the opposite direction.

                          KAT-1. £1.50
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first Disk by Nigel French is KAT-1. This disk contains an
Editorial information program, Block Buster, Overload and
Noughts & Crosses games. Ski-Demo and SamArt Demos. A slideshow
of screens is also included on this disk.


                         SAMART. £1.50
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The second Disk by Nigel French is  an  excellent  Art  Program,
which is very user friendly.
                     Letter from F9 / SPDSL

SamArt uses two screens as work screen and an option screen. The
disk also contains a screen slideshow, with screens from The
Amiga, ST and Sam. These are ideal for loading into SAMART, or
viewing as a slide show.

The SAMART program needs Masterdos and the Samco mouse to work.

                    'E' Tracks. Price £1.50
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been asked for before, and now here it is: Paul Skinner
from New Zealand has assembled a disk of ninety six 'E' Tracker
tunes. The disk contains the FRED 'E' Tracker player by S
Drissen and screen by our very own Aesthetix. Now you can have
hours of listening pleasure.

This disk needs Master Dos to work, because of the number of
files. Thanks to FRED Publishing for making the disk possible.

BM                    Reply to F9 / SPDSL

I don't know quite how long we can go on gratuitously plugging
the PD library, but for now - what the heck. I see quite a few
of the things come from old FRED's, but provided you have the
original author's permission that's not a problem as far as
we're concerned.

One thing I should warn you against is taking stuff WITHOUT the
author's permission. I refer here to the E-Tracker player. Colin
tells me that you are allowed to use the tunes and player as
long as FRED gets a mention, but I don't know if you've
contacted those responsible for the tunes themselves. I do know
that my permission was NOT sought for the use of the screen
though. I don't think it's unreasonable of me to be annoyed
about my work being used here there and everywhere without being
asked. I would give you permission if you asked, but the
assumption that I won't mind is a bit irritating. OK, rant mode
off. It's not that big a deal, I know, but it's nice to be
asked. You do have my permission, by the way. Please ask next
time though!!!!!                                         - BRIAN
                    Letter from Roy Gardner

This is a belated letter concerning a point which cropped up in
FRED 43 - would you believe I've only just looked at it...? Most
unusual. If you feel it is worth putting in a future issue, here
goes.

SAMPaint: that wonderful program which really begins to show
what SAM can do. It is worth every minute you spent on it,
Graham. If you have a SAM, and you fancy yourself at artwork,
get SAMPaint and a mouse and move into a new world. It's
sensational!

But apparently there are a few users who find loading
difficulties. Well, so did I at first. But I remembered another
program which wouldn't load with MasterDOS and how I overcame
the problem, and it worked again with SAMPaint. I use MasterDOS
AND MasterBASIC, and it has become a habit. SAMPaint doesn't
like this. If you are using the combined MDOS and MBASIC then
dig out your original MDOS disc and use that. It worked for me!
Happy SAMPainting!
                   Letter from Colin Anderton

Dear FRED,

Hello, it's Colin Anderton - you know, the one you described as
ODD. How dare you. I'm not odd, far from it. Compared to Peter
and Graham (my little chums!?!), I'm completely normal. Mind
you, thats not difficult really. ALSO, you missed my name off
the credits one issue. In fact it was the same issue in which
you were apologizing to someone else for missing their name off.
Tut. Anyway, I'm willing to let you off if you put my name on
the credits TWICE this time.     [Hmmm. We'll see! - ED]

Right. To make sure that this letter does get on FRED, and isn't
just shoved on the end like last time, here is some important
news...

If you had the time to reach my letter last time, you will know
that I have written, with NO HELP WHATSOEVER FROM PETER
MOORE!!!, a SAM to Archimedes screen converter. It converts
screens from SAM to Arch and vice versa.
                   Letter from Colin Anderton

If YOU own an Archimedes, or go to school, work or university
and have access to one there, this program is just the thing you
need. With two discs, a (very) light-hearted manual and tons of
plugging for FRED (They let us modify KE_Disc and put it on the
discs) it is available from me for only £2.50! Oh, I am a
generous soul. I'll probably put a few rubbishy programs or
music onto the SAM disc as well. Peter's now got E-tracker and
has written some delightful tunes. Much better than those on
FRED, but a bit short at the moment. Anyway, if you want it or
just want more information, send an SAE (and the £2.50 if you're
buying it) to:
                         Colin Anderton
                            [redacted]

        D O N ' T   D E L A Y ;   P O S T   T O D A Y !
BM                  Reply to Colin Anderton

Odd? I called you odd? Whatever was I thinking of. What a sound,
rational and normal being you obviously are. Please forgive me.

Sorry I edited out all your stuff about your stats teacher being
Elvis, by the way. I don't know if it's what our readers really
want to hear about though! The more I think about it now, I may
be wrong.

Well. Here's a letter from one of Colin's little "chums".....

                                                         - BRIAN








                    Letter from Noel Bennett

Dear FRED,

My name is Noel and I am a good friend of Colin Anderton and
Peter Moore. I don't own a SAM and I do own a Nintendo, so that
makes me really sad. Oh well.

I feel it is my duty to inform you of a terrible misjustice; a
fraud of utter proportions. You may feel that Colin Anderton is
quite an intelligent bloke who has a talent for program writing.
CRAP! Peter Moore does all the work and Colin nicks it and
writes to you to take all the credit! (Lies, all horrible,
upsetting lies....Colin) Well, thats my good deed for the year!

You may remember a letter from a rather strange boy called
Graham, who refered to the abuse Peter gave his dog, Topsy.
'Sick', I hear you say! Yes it is sick, but alas it is true. I
know because of the pictures I saw that Graham had taken during
the episode, which he intended to send to a small Swedish
magazine! (Which he gets by mail order monthly.)
                    Letter from Noel Bennett

Apparently, Peter only agreed to it because he needed the money
to help pay for an adventure holiday to Wales. Peter gets lots
of stick at school and doesn't get half the credit he deserves.
I'm on Peter's side because he's a great bloke (Yeah, right. Of
course he is...not...Colin) and he helps me with my maths.

Anyway, seeing as this is a computer magazine, I've got a
question.

Why is a mouse called a mouse?

Is it furry?  No
Does it squeak?  No
Has it got a tail? No
Has it got legs? No
Does it like cheese?  No
Is a mouse trap some sort of computer virus?  Maybe?

I rest my case.  There's no reason for it to be called a  mouse.
                    Letter from Noel Bennett

Anyway, to help you out, here are some more realistic
alternatives....

* Plastic thingy.
* Plastic thingy with buttons.
* Plastic thingy with buttons and a ball in the bottom which
  falls out if you take the bottom off.
* Plastic thingy which breaks if you throw it at a wall.
* Malcolm.

Well, got to go because I've just got a detention for writing
childish letters in Physics.

                        Bye,

                     NOEL BENNETT



BM                   Reply to Noel Bennett

!? - BRIAN


















                   "Letter" from Peter Moore

Dear Briany-Wyan.

Why oh why oh why oh why won't you reply to my letter. First you
ignore my question and now you're leaving FRED. Is it me? Please
give me your address and I'll come up and we can be together
forever.
         I love you!!!!!!!
         PETER MOORE                                **** ****
                                                   ***********
  X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X    **       **
   X X     X X     X X     X X     X X     X X    ** BRIAN M **
    X       X       X       X       X       X     **    n    **
   X X     X X     X X     X X     X X     X X     * PETER M *
  X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X   X    **       **
                                                    *********
    +-----------------------------------+             *****
    !PLEEEEEEASE PUT THIS LETTER IN FRED!\             ***
    +-----------------------------------+ !             *
     \___________________________________\!
BM                    Reply to Peter Moore

Right. This is getting ridiculous. Come on, somebody send in a
serious letter so I don't have to keep using these insane
letters!!!!

In reply to your letter, Peter, I'm sorry but my SAM's jealous
enough of my Amiga; I don't want to antagonise it further, so
you'll just have to make do with your dog. Yuck.
                                                         - BRIAN











                 Letter from Martin Fitzpatrick

Dear Everybody

I've just returned to Liverpool after a hard week at school -
I'll say one thing about Barnoldswick (the place where my mum
lives and I spend weeks) it's quiet - too quiet in fact.

The more alert among you will have noticed thhat I have calmed
down a bit since our last meeting. Quite why, I'm not sure and
to be honest I'm not really that bothered. I haven't a clue why
I'm writing this letter - I've convinced myself there is a point
to typing away like this.

I could say how beautiful the moon looks but some b*****d
decided it would be a nice idea to stick a house nextdoor - Some
people. So inconsiderate.

The deputy head, Mr Cockroft, at our school has become a source
of entertainment - Every dinnertime he gets himself an orange
and puts it on his table, but no-one has ever seen him eat it.
                 Letter from Martin Fitzpatrick

People seem to think he talks to it as well.

My brother, who all in all is a git, has decided to start going
the gym, archery, rugby - sad isn't he. I can just about force
myself to do one cross country race (and that isn't voluntary).
P.E teachers. don't you just love em?

Ummm, there must be something SAM related to talk about - Oh
well. Maybe not.

I've been picked to be a member of the schools Equal Op's group
but unfortunately they need a name for it.  Current fave's are-

The Pupil Victimisation Group
The Judean Peoples Front
The Peoples Front Of Judea
Sack John Major Group
Mr Cockrofts Orange Party

                 Letter from Martin Fitzpatrick

See - we do have imaginations after all!

Oh! I remember why I'm writing this - is there anyone out there
with any decent game ideas? Bit stuck for them, y'see.

I can't guarantee the game to be made but I'll give it my best
shot.  Provide as much info as possible please (Address at the
bottom of the letter).

The only problem is tha I haven't a clue how to code, but I do
hae SCADS which is often good enough. If there is anyone who
could give some info on coding then please do.

[redacted]

BM                Reply to Martin Fitzpatrick

There's no doubt. It's one of those months! I don't know though.
I think these chatty letters are possibly more entertaining than
the really techy, debatey ones. What about the rest of you? Are
we risking offending the great serious masses with this sort of
thing?

And we'll have less of the slagging people for going to the gym,
thank you very much Martin. That's dangerous territory you're
treading on there...

Finally, I do hope you don't call your group the People's Front
of Judea. They're all splitters! Gah!
                                                         - BRIAN






                   Letter from Alec Carswell

Dear Brian/Colin,

First of all, I'd like to congratulate you both on an excellent
disczine. Getting past issue 40 just goes to show how stable the
magazine and readership is, otherwise you would never have
packed it in long ago (God forbid!). It is well worth the money
and reeks of quality.

Are any of the E-Tracker tunes PD?

In #39, you said that if 750 copies of Lemmings are sold within
6 months of release, then Psygnosis will talk about releasing
other titles. I personally would love to see Lemmings 2 (The
Tribes) and the Shadow of the Beast series, plus Dungeon Master
and many other Psygnosis games, so I'll be purchasing Lemmings
from you ASAP. If more Psygnosis games are to be released then
we'll need a few more Chris Whites - surely even he can't
program a new Psygnosis game every couple of months?! If only we
had more like him...
BM                   Reply to Alec Carswell

We're always pleased and relieved to hear that people still
enjoy the magazine. Cheers!

Very few E-Tunes are actually PD, but I don't think people mind
their tunes being used provided it's for a FRED game or demo.
You should always ask the author's permission first though, if
you want to use a tune (or a screen, of course!).

Lemmings. We haven't yet sold enough to start negotiating for
other titles, so please, if you're thinking of buying this
fantastic game, do so quickly and help the SAM software scene
really get established once and for all.

It would be most excellent to have a whole horde of eager Chris
White's to get writing things but sadly there is only one.
Remember that ANYBODY can have a go a writing a game for us,
though; it's not only ol' Whitey who gets a shot!        - BRIAN


DN                    Review of TRUE FAITH
                        by Dean Nicholas


Price £5        Contact:Elyzium Software,50 Chadswell Heights,
                        Lichfield Staffordshire WS13 6BH
cheques to Mr.D Haire

This is an adventure written using Sam Adventure System, and one
of the first I've seen using it. It tells a rather strange story
of you unwillingly and unknowingly being dragged into this far
land, in somebody elses shoes. You are Marrakhesh, a person who
has unspeakably amazing powers.

However, you have been fighting a monster known as Bai El, and
you have been left weak and powerless. To regain your powers and
protect your world from the Bai El, you must pass a test known
as The Enlightenment. This game is about the first part, so
presumably there will be more parts.


DN                    Review of TRUE FAITH

The first test is the Test of Faith. You must journey to the
land of Bragnon, and recover the 3 items of faith: Book of
Truth, Cross of Virtue and the Chalice of Healing.

So, there's the background, but what is the game like? First, I
must say the accompanying booklet is very good indeed. It
includes a very long description of what has happened
previously, and a beginners guide to adventures. After reading
this, I loaded up the game and started playing...

At first, everything was going fine. I was progressing quite
nicely, finding loads of new places. Then, after a while, I came
to this problem. A wolf was blocking my path, not letting me
pass. After about a half hour of combatting this problem, I gave
up. I couldn't get past this stupid wolf. The clue for that
screen said to frighten the wolf. Ah, I thought; with fire! I
could burn those twigs I found, and light them with the camp
fire.

DN                    Review of TRUE FAITH

Then came up the even bigger problem. The parser. Not at all
good.

The game accepts very few commands, and at times you get very
frustrated with the whole thing. I don't know whether this is by
fault or non-commitment of the author, or because of certain
limitations of using SAS.

If the authors are to plan another game, Enlightenment II, then
I would suggest improving the parser and making the game easier.

                     DIFFICULTY: 90%
                    ORIGINALITY: 80%
                          STORY: 90%
                   PRESENTATION: 87%
                         PARSER: 36%
                        OVERALL: 70%

Quite a good game, but too difficult with a bad parser.