Fred 59
Disk Magazine
Submitted by Dan Dooré on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 14:37.
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Release Year
1995
Copyrights
Copyrights Granted
Copyright Provenance
Description
Issue 59
Item | Author | Description |
---|---|---|
Menu | Terry Ekins Steven Ekins | |
Editorial | Spectrum Discs, Interrupts, Basic Bugs | |
Letters | Fred Improvements, Scrabble, Sam C | |
Gem-X | Andrew Chandler | Puzzle-Ish Game By Andrew Chandler |
Space Demo | David Laundon | M/C Space Demo With St:Tng Sample |
Sprite Utility | Marc Broster | M/C Routines For Building Sprite Data |
Sports Game | Search: “James Curry” | Two Player, Future Footy Game |
'The' Interview | Colin Anderton | Matt Round Reveals All (Fnar!) |
E-Tunes | Roger Hartley Jack Bailey | Music Written On E-Tracker |
Modules | Martin Fitzpatrick | Converted Amiga Modules |
Immortal Combat | Ben Yates | Simple 2-Player Beat-Em-Up |
Rachel 13&14 | Andrew Hodgkinson | Continuing Tales... |
Miall Help | Andrew Chandler | Help For Miall |
Upward Scroll | Martin Fitzpatrick | How To Write An Upward Scrolly |
Universe | Darren Martin | Simulate Planetary Behaviour! |
Magazine
CA Editorial My exams are over, I've nothing to do and summer is here. What a life. Anyway, enough about me. How are you all? It feels like years since I last did any work on FRED. You must have been bored stupid having to wait a whole 5 weeks for issue 59. Four weeks is a hard enough struggle as it is. Well, you'll be pleased to know that I'm literally bubbling with energy and I'm ready to jibber on for hours. Make yourself comfy. Being my usual egotistical (Christ, I've used a word with 5 syllables) self, I'll begin with what has happened to me in the last 5 weeks. After I run out of things to say, I'll probably make up a few lies, rant on about something that has nothing to do with anything and then go on to the news. Think you can handle all that? Of course you can. By the way, incase anyone REALLY thick reads FRED, try pressing the right cursor - you'll find there's more than 1 page! CA I Love Myself (but not as much as others do) Why have I stopped using capital letter in my titles? It's because it takes up too much effort typing it all in in capital letters. Anyway, June has been a rather hectic month for me. After doing very little revision during exam leave, I had a last minute Rimmer-like realisation that there was no way I could cram enough revision into the few remaining days to get me through to the next weekend. Consequently, I accidently let my physics notes blow out the window so couldn't revise it (I don't need physics to get to university, by the way). I then had just the right amount of days and hours before exams to do adequate revision. The exams went alright - a couple of nasty ones chucked in, but that was expected. I think I've done enough to get to either Nottingham or Warwick, but I'm not going to mention it until I get my results, just in case I haven't - I couldn't stand hundreds of people writing in just so they can laugh at me. CA Following my exams... On the morning of June 26th, I had my last exam. On the night, I begun night-shift at Advanced (ahem) Marketing Systems (AMS) packing strawberries, just to earn some proper money (I do hope Colin Macdonald isn't feeling guilty). It's not that bad there, the night goes really quickly and a lot of people who go are university students who I knew from the year before. And the supervisor gives me lots of really easy jobs. On Thursday and Friday (29th and 30th) I had the nights off because lots of us A-level students who did maths were having a balti and the 30th was my birthday and celebrations were called for. After the maths balti (and the pub), we went down by the river and waited for my birthday. An hour later I was 18, and to celebrate I hugged everyone and then leapt in the river. It was a perfectly rational decision and had nothing to do with certain mind affecting liquids. I had to walk 6 miles home in my wet shorts and T-shirt as well - good job it was warm. The next night, I had a planned celebration, with a barbeque at CA Sweet Eighteen... my house. For no reason whatsoever, we had a game of rugby in the garden half way through the night, and all ended up bleeding everywhere (I've got a few spikey bushes in my garden - and the ground is rock solid). I smashed my jaw into someones head and the next day I could hardly eat, which was a bummer because I'd got so much food for my birthday. It still hurts and I've got a massive scratch going from my mouth to my ear from where I ran into a bush AND my knee is cut to shreds. Ah, what fun. So that's the story up until now, the 2nd of July. It's 1:50 in the morning. You see, after I decided to take Thursday and Friday off, I then found out that there won't be any work until Monday. Still, it's a good job really because I've done no work to FRED and I've only got a few days left. It just means that I'm still working night-shift, just doing FRED rather than packing red fruit. And now the lie. I also found six thousand pound on the way home and spent it all on some magic beans. They didn't grow. CA Happy Birthday to You (Nearly) A last reminder to all FRED readers that the next issue, issue 60, will be FREDs 5th birthday. I know the actual birthday was two months ago, but I'm a mathematician, and I'll only accept that 5 times 12 is 60, not 57 or 58 (or 11). Anyway, can I ask all those programmers out there to make a really special effort to write something for issue 60. We need some really special contributions that people will remember, as well as the usual splattering of your wonderful games and utilities. The deadline for contributions is July 31st (which is a little later than usual, but we're giving you a bit longer to make your program that little bit better). And as a big thankyou, every item that we would normally give a £5 voucher will receive a £10 voucher instead. What more can we say, except GET A MOVE ON!!! Remember also that the 'Incredibly Rubbish Game Competition' will be decided for issue 60. We've got a couple of hilariously bad games already, and we need more. Those people who were worried that it'll make the issue tacky, don't despair - it will only be replacing either Bits n Bobs or MODs, not slot D. CA News Want to meet the SAM programmers and other SAM owners? Don't have the time to do that at the shows? Feel like a bit of fun? Well, FRED and Crashed are organising a SAM owners day out at Alton Towers. Alton Towers, for those who don't know, is a large amusement/attractions park with loads of roller coasters, some excellent water rides, a big Kiddies Kingdom (I'll be going there!), a Ghost House, Pirate Ship and the slightly calmer Tea Cup ride and Swan Ride, as well as dozens and dozens of other rides and acres of beautiful gardens. It's a day out for all the family, not to mention lots of mad computer owners. The date will be August 27th, which is a Sunday. National Express coaches do some very cheap journeys to Alton Towers on a Sunday and there are parking spaces for thousands of cars. Although it is strictly for SAM owners, please bring your family and friends. I am trying to arrange some discount tickets, but don't count on it - you know what people can be like. CA Where Wonders Never Cease? The day will obviously be spent having a great deal of fun, although I'm sure the computer will be talked about a lot in those long queues. We will try to stick together (no matter how difficult it will be) and already a number of SAM personalities have said they'll be coming. There will be two meeting times and places that will be arranged, but I'll give full details in the next issue. However, the date (August 27th 1995) is fixed, so book your time off work (if you work on a Sunday) and arrange some transport. Remember, it's easiest to drive there (Alton Towers is between Derby and Stoke-on-Trent) but National Express coaches provide a number of services from everywhere so give them a ring to book a place. If anyone has any intelligent suggestions, or has thought of something that Alan Clarkson (from Crashed) or I may have missed, please leave a message with Colin Macdonald and I'll get in touch. Full details next month. Get planning! CA News Graham Burtenshaw (SAMPaint author) will soon begin work on a SAMPaint upgrade disc which will include dozens of new features that will work alongside your current SAMPaint disc. Unfortunately, Graham has made SAMPaint so perfect that he needs some more ideas! This is also the reason that this disc has taken so long to come out. If there is anything that you would like to see implemented as an add-on, give Colin a ring at the usual number. Thanks to everyone who has ordered SAM C so far - it has now become one of the biggest selling FRED titles. That isn't to say that the other people shouldn't buy it. We're also on the look out for any games or utilities that anyone has written in C or ported from another computer. Apart from two wonderful menus, we haven't seen much yet. There are a few games being worked on, but we want more. And all you mums and dads out there - remember it's the summer and you'll have your kids under your feet for 8 weeks. So why not buy them SAM C? Make them learn a new programming language, that'll get them out of your way! CA News Retros, the Thrust type game by Matt Round, has been delayed due to difficulty getting some of the levels right - it really is going to be that accurate! Couple this with his other commitments (see "the" interview), and you can understand why it has been delayed. However, if all goes well, the game should be ready for release in about a month. Colin tells me that not many people are content with the mystery of ordering a Spectrum games disc and seeing what is on it when they get it. Miserable lot. DISC 1 - THOSE PESKY KIDS Jack The Nipper 1 Bobby Bearing Bumpy Jack The Nipper 2 Bak 2 Skool Cosmos Skool Daze Olli & Lisa Megabucks Little Puff In Dragon Land Clumsy Colin Paperboy Gregory Loses His Clock Space Harrier CA News DISC 2 - SAVING THE WORLD... AGAIN Rygar Starquake Universal Hero Driller Guardian 2 Starglider Nuclear Countdown Hysteria Silkworm Rex Switchblade Darkstar DISC 3 - JUST DOING MY JOB Soul of a Robot Mailstrom Ikari Warriors Sweevos World Deactivators Peter Pack Rat Strike Force Cobra Turbo Esprit Spooked 3D Grand Prix Rolling Thunder City Slicker Hydrofool North Star DISC 4 - SUPERHEROS (MAINLY CALLED DAN) Batman 3d Soldier One Strontium Dog Rogue Trooper Head Over Heels Bombjack Bomber Bob Transformers Dan Dare 1,2 & 3 Bombjack 2 Dynamite Dan 1 & 2 CA News So there you go. Now stop being so selfish and buy all four discs. And finally, that useless boy Macdonald made a huuuuuuuuuge mistake in his section last month when he reviewed the SAMdac. The address to send cash to (or Eurocheques for 70 Guilders) is not Stefan's address, but is in fact: [redacted] Some people, eh? Tell you what, I'll give Colin one more chance to get his act together. Go on Colin... CM He's Back! Yes, my exams are finally over! I don't have to worry about getting up early in the mornings to study, or stay at University until late at night! Those were my degree exams, so providing I've passed them, I now have a normal degree in Computing!! The results don't come out in time for this issue, but I'll keep you informed! Of course, the most important aspect of this is that I can now return to answering the FRED phone! I know this was a bit of an inconvenience for some of you, and thanks for putting up with it, but normal service can now resume! I have until October to enjoy my free time - sunbathing, working on FRED, studying for next year (cough) and I might even find the time to catch up on a bit of socialising! [COUGH, COUGH, SPLUTTER, COUGH, SPLUTTER, CHOKE!!!!!!! - CA] CM Been away.... again You wouldn't have thought that I could have done much seeing as my exams finished only the other week would you? However, late in June, Adrian Parker got married to his fiancee of three years, Catherine. I've known Adrian for about four and a half years - firstly because when he ran Blue Alpha Electronics I was always pestering for exclusives, news and review copies - although the news was always forthcoming, the nearest I got to a review copy was two pounds off a sound sampler! Later, I had the pleasure of working with Adrian at SAMCo during which time I learnt a lot from him about hardware, and just possibly he learnt a bit about software from me! We also spent many an hour brainstorming hundreds of ideas for new SAM / Computing devices - the only one to appear was the ill-fated Kaleidoscope. And then when I wasn't beating him at Othello, we actually managed to get quite a bit of work done! CM The happy couple As "exclusively" reported in FRED three years ago (FRED23?) Adrian proposed to Catherine at a Karaoke night in a Swansea pub - in front of all the SAMCo team, as well as several hundred drunken revellers! Since then, Adrian and Catherine have been very happy together, and they finally tied the knot just a few weeks ago. Not being one to miss out on free drink, I travelled the 500-odd miles for the occasion. And yes, I did wear my kilt. In Wales. And I had to walk along a high street on a Saturday morning with it on. But I wasn't embarressed, no really, I wasn't! Bearing in mind that I've known Adrian for less than five years, when we were sitting down for the meal in the afternoon, one of Adrian's old school friends leaned across the table and said "God Colin, you've changed a lot in seven years" , slightly dumbstruck I told him that I would barely have been a teenager seven years ago - let alone one travelling to Wales! We eventually worked out that the sole occasion I had met this CM guy was at a raft race less than two years ago! And I thought I was the one going mad?! Wearing a kilt at such an occasion attracts quite a lot of attention - mainly by the way of "Are you a true Scotsman?" and "So, you're from Scotland then?". Neither of which warranted an answer. However, there was one guy that I started speaking to after a kilt-related remark (well, he refused to let me go until he'd bought me a drink - who was I to refuse?). He was telling me that the next time I was in Wales I should look him up and he'd show me some of the sights - which was an attractive offer anyway, but after X drinks, it seemed positively brilliant. Anyway, there was a huge rush for me to get the train the next morning - it was the last train that I could get that would get me back in time for one of my exams! So I woke up the next morning, and immediately panicked - assumming I'd slept in and would need to rush for the train. But after I'd woken up properly it turned out I had three hours until my train. CM Excellent, I thought. I'd have a nice long lie in, get a proper breakfast, have a wander along Swansea beach and get back to the train station in ample time. Ten minutes later there's a knock on the door - it's none other than Geoff who'd been offering to show me the sights of Wales. "Seeing as you've come all the way from Scotland, I couldn't let you get a taxi to the train station" he says (looking remarkably less hungover than I was). "That's great Geoff", I replied, "but my train isn't for another three hours". "Oh". This puzzled him as much as his arrival had puzzled me. "No problem though, I'll show you a bit of Wales now!". So off we went, on a high-speed tour of the sights of South Wales - beaches, piers, cliffs, magnificent views of Swansea and vast stretches of beautiful countryside - and then, before we knew, my train was in 15 minutes. "No problem Colin" - as we travelled across Wales in half the time it was supposed to take, until we arive back in the centre of Swansea with five minutes to go. CM Just as I was thinking that the five minutes would give us ample time to get parked and get on the train, Geoff pipes up "I'll just show you one more thing" as we tear up the hill Swansea has expanded up. We reach half way up (three minutes to go) where you can see over the whole of Swansea as well as a magnificent view of the surrounding bays and towns. With two minutes to go, we head station-ward, once we arrive at the station (with about 30 seconds left) there's nowhere to park, but being in a massive landrover, it gets bumped up a kerb and left sitting with all four wheels on the pavement! Just in time for me to thank Geoff for the excellant, but slightly worrying, morning and jump on the train SECONDS before it left! My lack of breakfast soon caught up with me (well, it was an eleven hour train journey!) and I found myself spending a fortune to BR's profit. So when we pulled into Edinburgh and the inspector announced a twenty minute delay, I jumped off the train, down the high street, found a Burger King, and ran back to catch the train for Dundee! CM I got back in about midnight on the Sunday night, and with a degree exam the next day, most people would have spent the vast majority of the time studying. Not me. I spent 12 hours sleeping before getting an hour's revision in and going in to the exam. Still, I'm quietly confident that I'll pass. At least, I'm confident that I'll be quiet if I don't pass. Anyway, that was the tale of Adrian and Catherine's happy day, so I hope you'll all wish them every happiness, and that I'll get invited to any anniversary do's they have - as long as they don't put them the day before my first degree exam! As mentioned in last month's newsletter, although there is still a waiting list for Disc Drives, SAMBuses and Mice, we do have other hardware in stock - 1 Megs, 256Ks, Printer Interfaces, Power Supplies and Keyboards. If you're interested in any of these, give me a ring to check I've still got them. CA Lemmings Codes - The Final Chapter... Sorry about that really cruel thing I did last month. Has anyone had any luck in completing ON!ML? If not, then here are the last three codes for Havoc. I'm not going to print the completion screen password ever, so you'll have to at least complete the last level by yourselves. Level Name Code 18 Lemmings in a situation OBAIGJML 19 Looks a Big Nippy Out There RHQXIJJC 20 LOoK BeFoRe YoU LeAp! QHZWIJPI And there you have it. You can now play every level to the superb Oh No! More Lemmings. Value for money or what? On the next page is an article on solving problems with E-tracker, Mousedriver and BASIC. I don't know who did it, but it is VERY useful, especially the last bit about SAM BASIC. ?? Tiresome Interruptions Some of you have found difficulty in installing and running the interrupt driven player from the E-tracker disc with the new mousedriver (though the same applies to the old mousedriver). There are two solutions, depending if you have MasterBASIC loaded or not: SAMDOS: Run the interrupt poker routine Enter this poke: DPOKE &5BC8,16384+130 Load Mousedriver It moves the end of the system heap, protecting the player so its not overwritten. The player HAS to go in first otherwise it crashes. I've tried relocating the player, but it doesn't like it anywhere else. MASTERBASIC: Run the interrupt poker routine Enter LET j=RESERVED(130) ?? E-Tracker Cracker! Load Mousedriver This does the same as above, but in a neater way. Another point is that the interrupt E-tracker player corrupts large BASIC files if you have the tune running while trying to SAVE or LOAD. You must turn the tune off to make sure you don't corrupt your file. But the moral is KEEP BACKUPS! I found to my horror that my backup was quite a few versions behind. One trick with E-tracker is if you wish to pause the interrupt tune to say, play another, then resume it do this: Once the tune is playing enter: DPOKE 23408,73 to stop it. DPOKE 23408,16436 to restart it. (The above poke is to a vector which is called 50 times a second. It normally calls address 73 in the ROM but in the technical manual it just says reserved. Anyone know what it ?? BASIC Solutions does?) When you load the new mousedriver, place a short pause, say PAUSE 5 after loading it, or it may default to keys automatically even if the mouse is connected, if you have POKEs after the LOAD. Lastly, has anyone else had problems with SAM Basic [Has anyone NOT had problems! - CA] with the version 3.0 ROM fitted. SAM occasionally starts to behave strange. For example, the line: PRINT AT 1,5;a$ would give me the error 'NONSENSE IN BASIC' when run, but when entered from the keyboard it worked OK. The solution, if you have this problem, is to make sure there is only ONE command per line. DO NOT separate commands with a colon. If this still persists, enter some rem statements at the start of the program to push the BASIC away from a page boundary. CA Disc Contents This months selection should keep you all contented (puke), because once again we've got a wide selection of things so you must like something (as well as my editorial, of course). The slot D tenner goes to Andrew Chandler this month with a really nice looking puzzle/strategy game called 'Gem-X'. The idea of the game is to match the colour of the tiles on the left side of the screen with those on the right. This is done by selcting a gem. This will then increase it's colour up the scale by two and the surrounding ones will go up by one colour. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, the first few levels are, but they soon get harder. Thankfully, there is a password option, as well as proper instructions AND a level designer! Mouse or cursors can be used, and it is presented beautifully. Thanks Andrew. In slot E is something that FRED has been missing for a long time - a demo with sampled speech. The demo is in two parts. The first part is a Star Trek style starfield which you can CA Disc Contents drive around using the controls given to you at the start. By pressing space, you will hear Captain Picard saying a rather famous speech in the Star Trek community. Everything is written in machine code and it looks and sounds terrific. David Laundon is the brains behind it all, so a big thanks goes to him. Slot F brings us a utility from Marc 'same Birthday and age as Colin Anderton, and lives in his birthplace - spooky' Broster. After having to ignore this utility for months because I couldn't understand it and I just didn't have the time, I finally got round to ringing him, and now I think I've got it sorted. It's a useful utility for machine code programmers because there are two ways in which you can play with sprites - as a whole or individually. Doingt it individually is much quicker, and this is a program which creates the mask and details and code necessary for this procedure. Unfortunately, it'7s completely useless for us non machine coders, but is apparently very clever, and extremely useful for machine coders all around the country. So, thanks on behalf of them, Marc. CA Disc Contents James Curry appears to be doing his best to get a game on every issue of FRED for a year with a nice little two player sports game. The aim of the game is to smash the little ball thing into the other players goal, a sort of futuristic footy game I suppose. Anyway, invite a friend over (or grab your sister) and bet hundreds of pounds on every game. The menu (please note how I remembered this time, and I haven't just tagged a two line 'Cheers' on the end!) has been written by those busy brothers down at Jupiter Software. You may have noticed that it has been written in SAM C and looks lovely. If you want the source code for it, see their letter in the letters section. I may talk them into doing a C article for next month actually. E-tunes are once again from Mr Hartley and Mr Bailey. They're very good, too. And there are eight. In slot K we have a beat-em-up. Possibly the first on the SAM, CA Disc Contents but who knows. It's written in BASIC, but is really well presented and quite fun to play (despite the occasional key collision). If you play on your SAM all on your own, just pretend the other person is Colin Macdonald. I did that and I've never had so much fun on a beat-em-up (I played it for 45 hours until I collapsed). Ben Yates is the genius behind this. Rachel makes its penultimate appearance on FRED as the story hots up to an unbeatable climax. I really must read one of them some time. I've got millions of adverts from everyone since I said they were free. So, God knows which will get on. Bits n Bobs next. Well, firstly there's a help thing for MIALL, the artificial intelligence program on issue 56. It explains how it works and what you can do. Andrew Chandler, another of those hard workers (I love you all) is responsible for this. CA Disc Contents Martin Fitzpatrick has written a simple upward scroller program, after being influenced by the Debut demo. Have a look and you too will be able to write BASIC upwards scrollies. And finally, there's universe by Darren Martin - an update to the one years ago by Andrew Collier. Thanks Darren. And I'll dig out some screens and some mods. Well, don't misbehave while I'm gone. I'll be back to check up on you in four weeks in issue 60. Please write something for it, even if it's only an entry to the 'Incredibly Rubbish Game Competition'. And I want lots of letters of congratulations and general nonsense (as well as a couple of normal ones). See you then. I'll leave you now in the capable hands of FRED's very own film critic, Darren Martin. CA Thank you Manager : COLIN 'Made his editor PAY for SAM C' MACDONALD Dogsbody : COLIN 'Specialist strawberry packer!' ANDERTON And thank you to the very hard workers, namely: ANDREW CHANDLER & JACK BAILEY A. HODGEKINSON & MATT ROUND STEVE EKINS & ROGER HARTLEY JAMES HORSFALL & JAMES CURRY TERRY EKINS & STEVEN PICK DIGGORY GRAY & DEREK MORGAN MARC BROSTER & BEN YATES DAVID LAUNDON & MARTIN FITZPATRICK FRED is available from:- [redacted] Next Month: The best in software Regular PD section BIG Anonimity section Double Colin's interview CA PD Section... As of next month, I hope to have a regular PD slot after the thanks. If you have a PD library and would like us to review your stuff, get in touch with Colin and he'll pass your phone number on to me. We'll provide the discs and postage, you just provide the software. Similarly, if anyone reading this has just bought some PD software and would like to review it, please do. Rather than a full review, I'm just after an explanation of what it is and a few lines saying what you think of it ("I like it because...", "it's a dreadful waste of money...","It's good but...",etc.). I should then be able to fit them into a nice little section. In the mean-time, SAM PD have made a catalogue disc, which has a couple of demos on as well as the complete listing of software. It will cost you a pound, but is well worth it. Their address is in the adverts section. DM Film Reviews Reviewed this month are Don Juan de Marco,Demon Knight,Kiss of Death,Bad Boys and Tank Girl.... -Don Juan de Marco (15) Starring: Johnny Depp,Faye Dunaway and Marlon Brando We start in modern day America where a pyschiatrist(Brando) is called to help talk down a suicidal Johnny Depp,claiming to be the legendary Don Juan de Marco,the worlds greatest lover.Not to be swayed by this claim,Brando talks Depp down and admits him to a mental institute.Although near retirement,Brando persuades his boss to allow him to take on Depp's case.He is given ten days to cure Depp of this dellusion,when he must either be admitted or set free. The film then sets into a nice gentle pattern of talks between Brando and Depp(complete with outfit,tan and beard).Don Juan goes on to explain the history of his mother and father in his isolated village in Mexico,the duelling and disgraced death of his father led him to wear his black eye mask,his departure from Mexico into the hands of a sultans harem,etc. Through these talks with Don Juan,Brando begins to realise that if Depp believes he is Don Juan in his exoticly romantic worlds, then so be it.And with an insight into Don Juan's heart,Brando's own romantic spark becomes rekindled.This contagious effect of Don Juan isnt just limited to Brando,soon the women and some of the most unlikely males become wrapped up. The film is paced gently,not in-yer-face stuff.The photography of Don Juan's past exploits is shot with an wonderful exotic feel.Bryan Adams soundtrack is little heard,thank god,and you come out feeling good.Definately a movie to go and see with your partner(thats as politically correct as I get)and not too taxing on the brain. A romance of lovely,gentle...nice proportions. -Tales from the Crypt:Demon Knight (18) Starring:Billy Zane,William Sadler,Jada Pinkett and Brenda Bakke The American horror TV series finally reaches the movies with a gory,frightening and often hilarious tale.After the introduction from the Crypt Keeper(a demonic wise-cracking fiend,for those who havent seen him on Sky One),we are plunged into the action (or hack-tion,as the Crypt Keeper would have it). It begins with a car chase in which Zane is chasing Sadler on a dark country road.After a close escape Sadler befriends a tramp and ends up at a boarding house/whore house.Accommanying the police,Zane arrives to retrive an ancient relic stolen by Sadler It soon turns out that Zane is the one to be feared after summoning up hideous demons to get Sadler. What forms is a battle between good and evil in their extremist of cases(Jesus Christ and a devilish minion,no less).The demons only need one more of seven keys to unleash darkness upon the world.It is this last key that Sadler holds,one that has been passed down from the time of Christ. Using the power of the key Sadler must defend the residents and prevent the key from falling into the Collecters hands(Zane). This turns out to be no easy task as the body count rises and demonic pocessions begin to reduce the cast.Perhaps the deadlist threat is Zanes charisma,which adds imensely to the enjoyment of the film. This is a very typical horror movie at its best.The tongue in cheek humour easliy outweighs the unoriginal plot and the low budget they seem to have to have contended with.Billy Zanes' performance is funny,but always with a fearsome edge(a little like his character in Dead Calm).Dont forget this is an eighteen certificate and the gore and sudden frights certainly live up to it.Although,if your anything like me,the gore is one of the funny elements.Especially when (if your going to watch this then skip ahead) Zane turns to punch a sheriff in the face and his fist burts straight through and becomes stuck on his arm! This is must if you are missing this kind of horror,or are sick to death of movies like Don Juan above. (There was also a trailer for Die Hard with a Vengence.Wow! That is gonna be one hell of a movie) -Kiss of Death (18) Starring: Nicholas Cage,David Caruso and Samuel L. Jackson This is a film that suprised me because I didnt think Hollywood produced pictures this dire anymore.We have a wonderful cast, although Cage seems way out of place as the nasty bad guy.David Caruso,the carrot-top from NYPD Blue,manages reasonably well on the silver screen.He plays our hero:an out of luck,lifes-a-bitch family man.While helping out a desperate friend to transport cars,there is a police raid in which we meet the Man himself, Samuel L. Jackson.After a tragic shooting incident,Caruso finds himself in jail.Soon tragedy after tragedy strikes his family and he decides to help the police break up the gangs and car stealing racket. Aided by Jackson he goes undercover into a gang whose main heavy is Cage.What follows is a series of cover-ups,loyalties and violence. Looking at the plot of this movie makes it sound intresting,but quite frankly its crap with a capital S! From the very beginning I got a feeling in my bowels that I'd wasted £5.It reminded me of the sort of film that ITV show at 2 am when you crawl in from the pub.Its full of cliches and cringe-worthy lines.Everyone seems to be trying too hard at their part,and they all play it tough when theres not always the need.Mixed in with all this is the main driving force of the plot,Caruso's child.Sentimental, yes;bearable,no. The only saviour of this film is Samuel L. Jackson,who is excellent in whatever he does.His good-guy but scorned cop is a nice role,and Jackson can pull off any old lines with ease. Take my advice:keep away from this film like you would with someone who has Ebola Zaire. (Anyone who has seen this movie,maybe you could shed a little light on the mystery of why the title "Kiss of Death"? Its got me foxed.) (Another super trailer fo Batman Returns.What a summer of movies its going to be!) -Bad Boys (18) Starring: Will"Fresh Prince"Smith,Martin Lawrence,Lisa Boyle Detectives Burnett and Lowrey are our stars,played by Lawrence and Smith who must retrieve a million dollar haul of herione.The drugs were snatched from under the polices noses by the crooks, and now the police department faces closure if the embarrasment cannot be prevented.Following the crooks is a trail of murder, and the cops only hope is a witness to one of the shootings.The problem being that she will only talk to the temporarily absent Lowrey.Desperate for the witness Burnett,Lowreys partner, pretends to be the cool,rich womanising Lowrey.It soon happens that Burnett must keep up this charade throughout the case! This is a good movie with plenty of laughs,the situation swapping of Burnett into Lowreys home and lifestyle,and vice versa,with Lowrey moving in to look after Burnetts wife and kids is hilarious.The source of the films main humour is the bickering between Burnett and Lowrey and it puts you in mind of Lethal Weapons Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.The "brother" thing is resemblant of White Men Cant Jump with some smashin' one liners. Being an action movie,its got the guns,car chases,explosions and violence,that no film maker would be without.But an action movie is a tried and tested formula and theres not much new that can be done.Therefore there are some beautiful cliches that Kiss of Death would be proud of. If you can shrug off that feeling of deja vu then this film is very good,with some very funny moments that will give you abdominal pains. -Tank Girl (15) Starring: Lori Petty,Ice T,Malcolm McDowell,Iggy Pop This is the first main comic book to movie film of the year, following closely behind are Judge Dredd and Batman.Although this is probably the worst it deserves alot more respect for its British creators,Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin.(no relative) It is set in the year 2033,where a comet has devastated the enviroment and made water the rarest and most sought after resource.Water and Power are the company who ruthlessly own most of the water.Malcolm McDowell is the man in charge.He owns 95% of the desert and he wants that other 5%.Unluckly for him it happens to be where our heroine lives,Rebecca Buck(Petty).Shes a cigarette smoking,beer drinking,gun shooting,bad dressed,foul mouthed,sexy anti-heroine. When Water and Power come to take the land she is captured and most of her loved ones are killed.She is tortured by McDowell and put to work in the mines.Here she meets the techical super brain xxxxx (Im sorry but I cant remember her name).Together they escape with a plane and a tank and stumble upon the genetically altered half man,half kangaroo rebels.Now they have an attack force with which to strike revenge upon Water and Power. This film is a riot,very off beat and different from anything thats come before.The live action is intermixed with anmimated shots of the manga comic.The soundtrack is fairly good with L7 and Bjork supplying some of the sounds for the faster parts.If you happen to be in a good cinema then you'll motice some good surround sound effects.Some parts are very funny and the half man,half kangaroos are excellent.But all the limelight must go to Lori Petty for here portrayal of Tank Girl,although toned down from the comic,she is very convincing,playing her wild and a little mad. Sadly,though,the film is lacking in areas and tends to drag on in places.Even for a manga origin it is a little odd in places and you may find yourself smirking AT it,not laughing WITH it. Your enjoyment of the film will me improved if you go in not quite serious with yourself(I find a couple of pints help).
Letters & Reviews
Letter From James Horsfall Dear Sirs, [ooh - CA] I am writing to ask if you or anyone else to your knowledge may be considering a SAM version of Scrabble? I have the Spectrum Psion version [me too - CA] but the 48K capacity for vocabulary is extremely limited and not very up to date. Scrabble is increasingly popular, I think, and Chambers, whose dictionary is used in tournaments, now publish a full list of allowable words - OSW (Official Scrabble Words). You already have SpellMaster at your disposal. I enclose an anagram solver for 7-letter words, and have one for 8 letter words which I would willingly give you if you were to start a new vocabulary and be prepared to write/convert the game. I would gladly supply more. James Horsfall CA Reply to James Horsfall Did anyone get the hint about a scrabble game there? If anyone is writing one, and would like an anagram solver, get in touch. If anyone is considering writing a scrabble game, but thinks that BASIC would not be sufficient and machine code is unlearnable, just remember that a certain new widely used language recently released by FRED would be the ideal language to use - it's fast at everything (especially maths), it's easy to program and a bargain at just £19.99. And it's called SAM C incase no-one caught on. CA Letter From Diggory Gray & FRED Improvements This is a bit confusing now. I'll include Diggory's ideas, and then interrupt him to stick in any other ideas that people had, then comment on them. My bits are in square brackets, Diggory has said the rest. Letter From Diggory Gray Hello Colin & Colin, I'm writing to tell you my change of address, and while I'm writing, I've remembered that you wanted some comments on the contents of FRED, etc. The items on FRED are great! [Generally agreed with, although lots of people are getting a bit sick of standard shoot-em-ups, a point which programmers may want to bear in mind. The other little moan was that the number of text articles has increased. Come on, FRED is primarily a magazine! We will try to keep them more SAM related, but it makes an alternative read. Rachel finishes soon, anyway. - CA] Letter From Diggory Gray & FRED Improvements I think the A-N menu is alright, but I think some different types of menus might be a good idea. [I get the feeling that I'd be strung up if I changed the A-N style! The problem programmers have is that they can't think of new ideas for menus or games or demos or anything. They seem to have the ability but no ideas. Therefore, if anyone has any ideas for a game, menu or demo, send it in and I'll pass it on to a very grateful programmer. You'll no doubt get a big mention when he (or she?) gets it written. - CA] The editorial is O.K., but couldn't you include an E-tune/MOD player into the text reader? This would make this part of the disc more... er... "asounding". [Having music playing with the editorial was surprisingly popular. A new reader was being called for as well. There are currently two text viewers being written, but they do seem to be taking a while, I know. Writing a good viewer takes a long time, but they are being worked on. One I know will be a Letter From Diggory Gray & FRED Improvements hyper-text viewer, but this could take a while (unless the writer has a sudden burst of inspiration). The other is going to include dozens of extra features over the current one and boasts excellent compression. This should come first, I only hope it comes soon. If by some ironic disaster (but a wonderful disaster to have to cope with) I get them both at the same time, or within a couple of months of each other, I'll either alternate, or use one for the editorial and the other for letters and other text articles. Having music playing with the text sections would be great, but I can't afford to lose the E-tunes section completely. It's important to have lots of regular slots so that there is no need to ask for another program each month. This can only result in lower programming standards as I moan at people to finish their stuff quickly. The idea, however, has been suggested to both programmers and it is really up to them to decide. - CA] The big money issue - I think the tokens for buying FRED stuff Letter From Diggory Gray & FRED Improvements when you send in programs is a good idea, as when you sent me £10 for 'Rain', I just went to the show and bought 5 back issues of FRED with it. Also, I'm not too bothered about getting vast amounts of money to program things & send them in to FRED. [Programmers in general seemed to be concerned about the loss of contribution payment, but everyone who has so far written is happy with the £5 and £10 vouchers that are sent out as payment. I think most people program for the pleasure of it. - CA] [The other issue that a number of people mentioned was that they wanted a new Bits and Bobs front end. So do I! Come on some-body, get writing one. I could use the menus that people send that I can't use because I get so many of them. What do you think? - CA] That's about it. FRED is great [Unanimous decision! - CA] Diggory Gray Letter From Martin Fitzpatrick Dear Lots Of People, Yes, after a little spell away from the keyboard, I'm back by popular demand (Of my dog, who realised this was the only time I wouldn't kick him (aaaaawww, that was a bit cruel)). Howards Way is now back on TV, it was bad enough when it was first around and even then people laughed at the clothes they wore and the bad acting. Well whats happened since the last little bit of writing was here? Quazar, now thats a good word, in the proper dosage and under prescription of course (KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN). At last it's finally arrived... 60 blooooody quid, I beggar your pardon I must be going a tiny bit deaf. I suppose it's not actually that bad, PC cards are a lot more Letter From Martin Fitzpatrick (but then so are the computers). I forked out £49.99 for a SamBus just so the printer lead would reach - but I'm just daft. What I think is needed for the Quazar to take off is Software. It's okay saying more softwares on the way - but are people ever going to believe that? If demo's on FRED started using Quazar sound FX then people will probably buy one, though thats not a certainty. Sound on the PC needed a SoundCard, the only other option was the Beepy speaker. But the Sam can still produce good sound as it is. Well there you go (Uncle Bulgaria). Also on the way are Hard Drives... I think it will need a cool name to be worth buying. Something like 'Little Buggar' or 'Disk Masher' or something that will get people of all ages down to the shops to buy one. Letter From Martin Fitzpatrick Now what is there to talk about... Well usually when I get to this stage I tell a joke. Right a little story to explain how this one came about.... In our school we have a teacher called Mr Stones (who looks like every member of ABBA rolled into one). Anyway he wants us to join the 'Drama Club' - He doesn't seem to realise that me and my mates have no acting skills, but he says we do, and thats only because of our 'Hitler' plays last year, which I'm sure he didn't undersand (if he had we would have probably got expelled) So, Mr Stones came up to us in the corridor one break and said... "So I take it you boys have joined the drama club then?" "No" "Why Not?" "We dont want to" "Why Not?" Letter From Martin Fitzpatrick "Okay, we'll think about it, just leave us alone" So then he started to walk off, and walk back. He came up to me and said... "You've got a sense of humour haven't you?" "Depends" "Here's a joke" "Hooray" "How do you make a Penguin jump higher?" "I dont know, How do you make a Penguin jump higher?" "Give him rubber legs" "Ha Ha hahahaha" "Haa haaaha aa (Hysterics)" Letter From Martin Fitzpatrick He then walked away, while me and my mates looked confused. Well there you go. I'm off now (well theres a funny smell anyway (ha ha ha)). Now I'm off to find my rubber legs. Oh and Colin Anderpants, hows the Queen, her dog told me you and her were good friends and went out every night. CA Reply to Martin Fitz-cat-sick WHAT DID YOU CALL ME???? COLIN ANDERPANTS??? YOU DIE, BOY. Sixty quid does seem a bit steep when you're only improving the sound quality of the SAM. However, the increase is incredible and eventually software will be written for Quazar. The only problem is that programmers won't buy it until programs are CA Reply to Martin Fitzpatrick written for it, which they won't write because they don't have it, so they won't write it, and, aaarrrrggghhhh - a looping double thingumy. Having said that though, Colin Piggot is doing a good job of talking people into sticking Quazar support in games, and plenty should follow. I guess you'll have to wait and see... Those hard drive names were very catchy, I must admit. What if it was called 'The Swazzer', though? I'd buy two if it was called that. The Queen's fine, thanks. She sends her love. You'll never guess what she bought me for my Birthday. Hong Kong. Straight up, seriously, guv. Come round and visit one day. Letter From Derek Morgan Dear Colin and Colin Many thanks for issue 57, an excellent issue. I'm not one for doing reviews, but I would like to mention the SAMdac that you reported on last month. The SAMdac, being the ready made version of the EDDAC that was in FRED 41 as a build it yourself sound board. I was really impressed by the quality of the sound from the SAMdac. This little sound interface plugs into a printer interface and puts the sound back into the computer, so the sound comes out of your TV or monitor. You can connect the SAMdac to external Speakers if you have them. MODs played through the SAMdac are simply incredible. I found them to be equal to the PC and Amiga Mods, which they are. Letter From Derek Morgan As the Mods are played though the SAMdac with the screen on. I hope that we will soon see programs and games with SAMdac sounds on them. Just incase some of your readers skip though what's new on the Sam Public Domain scene, I would like to inform them that Revelation software have made the SAM COUPE ARCADE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM (SCADS) Public Domain. Derek Morgan CA Reply To Derek Morgan Cheers, Derek. You had to get your little plug in at the end didn't you? I bet that was the whole reason you wrote. The comments on SAMdac were just there so I'd stick the letter in. And now I've drawn even more attention to your plug. Darn. Letter From Marc Broster hi, i thought it might be cool to type all this text in lower case, but this just makes it real hard to read (snigger). [Lots of info on the Sprite Util was here, but I've stuck that with the program in slot F, just for your convenience - CA] to be honest, i've really lost interest in coding, i really enjoy finding soloutions to problems and writing algorthims to implement them (what i will probaly be doing for the rest of my life) but i don't enjoy searching through source code to spot stupid mistakes. actually, i don't think, well i know, that i am any good at coding, i am the kind of person that makes loads of mistakes (i actually got sacked from a job in marks and spencer for this!) and that's not what you need when you want to write code quickly. if you've got several months to write a routine however, no problem. Letter From Marc Broster following on from that, i was pleased to read that fred is publising a c complier (who's responsible for coding it?) which i am really looking forward to using. as colin said, c is more of a step up from assembly then a full high level language, but is definitely a great improvement, as it allows you to concentrate on programming rather than coding. i'am also pleased to see that it's being realsed for £20. however, i don't think it will result in demos or games that really push sam to the limits, as you lose a lot of control over the processor, neither do i think it will have the same effect as gamesmaster, which resulted in lots of resonable games, as it isn't all that easy to use. i could be wrong. [We'll PROVE that you're wrong. Give us time. - CA] marc broster CA Reply To Marc Broster You're right, lower case is annoying and hard to read. Don't do it in future. Sorry to hear that you're sick of coding. Some of the stuff you've done is really great. Have a little rest, I'm sure you'll one day suddenly be hit with the enthusiasm to write something amazing. We're pleased you're looking forward to using SAM C, but why are you so negative about it's capabilities? The whole point is that it will constantly be expanded and there will be a massive flurry of PC programs and new SAM programs coming over the next few years. They have the potential of being very good - better and faster than gamesmaster has produced. I guess you'll have to believe us until people begin writing things. Letter From Jupiter Software Dear Mr Colin, After your hint for a review copy of AMALTHEA (the game that sold out at the last show!) and all the nice things you said about MEGABLAST (rated at 80%+ by other magazines!) how could we refuse. The menu was written in SAM C, If anyone wants a copy of the source code (also available in ascii for non C owners), send us a blank FORMATTED disk and an SAE and we will send it to you as well as a load of free games & demos. Our address is in the scrolly, but for slow writers, here it is again. JUPITER SOFTWARE [redacted] Also is there any demand for an advanced SCADs manual? Now that Letter From Jupiter Software SCADs is PD, we may finish our manual. If more than a couple of people would like one, write in and let us know. Thats all from me, now its Mr Colins turn I think! PS Hello to everyone We met at the sam shows. CA Reply to Jupiter Software I wish I knew whether I was speaking to Terry or Steve. There's two brothers in Jupiter Software you see and they insist on making you guess which one is writing. You're not going to make me feel guilty about giving Megablast a low mark, not matter how hard you try. OK, I'M SORRY. SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY. It's not my fault it's a load of rubbish. No, only joking. Seriously though, CA Reply to Jupiter Software remember my reviews are simply my opinions. That's why I'd like more people to review things. Besides, I liked Booty. Personally, I think SCADs is an amazing program. The language is relatively easy to learn and the editor is the best I've ever seen for a Games creating package. The manual it has with it is absolutely brilliant in my opinion. Before I read it, I knew very little about games creating, and it filled me in completely. Rather than a more advanced manual, I want to see a SCADs compiler. I know it's a large project, but it really is a necessity. SCADs runs far too slow, but a compiler would shoot it way above Gamesmaster (which with-out the speed, it falls behind). Someone please write a compiler. In the mean-time, I'm always after any handy articles on programming either SCADs or Gamesmaster or SAM C. By the way, great menu Jupiter. CA Review of Safari Sam METROPOLIS SOFTWARE : £5.50 : MARTIN FITZPATRICK Sam (unfortunately not the robot - I don't think) is going on holiday. Whilst taking a number of short-cuts to the airport, he ends up three hours late. Luckily (ahem), the plane hasn't left yet due to engine trouble. Sam boards the (very dodgey) plane and after a couple of attempts, it is skyborne. Living up to its reputation, the plane conks out and begins to fall out of the sky. By a lucky coincidence (which is necessary else it wouldn't be much of a game!) Sam survives the fall with only a bang on the head. A gun materialises in front of him as Sam finds himself in the jungle. He picks up the gun and begins his journey home. Safari Sam is a platformer (hooray). It's a relatively small game with only three levels and has been written in SCADs by Martin Fitzpatrick. Sam must collect the key on each level then reach the exit, killing nasty hunters that get in the way and CA Safari Sam doing his best not to kill the little animals. The controls are the usual for a simple platformer - left, right, jump and fire. To review the game properly, let's go back to the start. Safari Sam comes on one disc. Upon booting there's a simple, but very very nice introduction. The menu is excellent with plenty of options including difficulty, toggle FX, change keys (which can also be done in the game), story and instrcutions. The menu is simple to use, with a reasonable e-tracker tune (by Rik Moore) playing, the instructions are clear enough, the story is long but humorous enough to stop you getting bored and the grammar is nearly perfect. After you've decided on what options to select, you can start the game. A different little picture greets you at the start and finish of each level, all adding to the professional feel of the program. Then the game starts. The sprites are average sized (about 8 by CA Safari Sam 12 I think), the graphics are nothing amazing, but adequate and easily recognisable (and all done by Martin). The enemies are very nice in that they fire back a lot (as they would if it were realistic) and don't just walk around like lemons waiting to be shot. Your life is in terms of energy, so one shot won't kill you. The idea is to jump about, shoot all the men in your way (without wasting all your ammo) and reach the end of the level. It is a really simple game, and there isn't much to it apart from that. You die when your energy runs out or when you fall off the bottom of the screen (very annoying). It's definitely not a game which will stun you with it's new ideas, but it does have a strange addictive quality to it. You have only one life, so if you die on level 3, you go back to the start of level 1. When you complete the game, you start again on a higher difficulty. It is nice to have another platformer released, even if it is a CA Safari Sam SCADs game. It's also nice to see that F9 software are releasing plenty of decent budget games, although I hope they don't release too many that aren't up to the required standard. Overall, it is pretty obvious that Safari Sam is a pretty standard average game. Martin has done a very good job of turning what could have beena pile of rubbish into something that is nice to look at and enjoyable to play. I doubt its lastng qualities after you have completed it, and I also doubt it'll take long before you do get through the game (remember, it only has 3 levels). However, if you like the odd platformer or are looking for a little budget game, have a look at it. Playability : 61% Lastability : 43% Graphics : 55% Sound : 50% Overall : 57% CA Review Of Amalthea JUPITER SOFTWARE : £9.99 : STEVEN & TERRY EKINS Flying through the solar system is a busy job. So busy in fact, that it's just so easy to over-look that tiny detail of maintenance. Hence, if a leaking fuel valve occurs, don't be surprised. Just follow the procedure and make an emergency landing and re-fuel. This problem faces you, the elegant hero of the game. The nearest fuel station is several billion miles away (a few hours journey in a space ship). You have no choice but to make your way to the automated mining station called... AMALTHEA Amalthea is stocked with the resources you need, although ships has been banned from using the station and no reason was given. Well, boarding the station reveals just why. Hundreds of blood thirsty aliens, that walk in very straight lines backwards and CA Amalthea forwards, await you. You have no option other than to bring along your gun and risk your life to save the ship. The object of the game is to complete the seven zones of alien mayhem while collecting the power crystals necessary to allow take off. As well as the power crystals, scattered around are keys, ammo, first aid and credits (which are required to buy extra weapons and ammo). Aliens scout the area - these can be killed by repeated shooting, although ammo is limited, so it may be a better idea to avoid them where possible. Collect the power crystals (although don't shoot them or they'll blow up) and locate the exit to go onto the next level. The game is programmed by Terry and Steven Ekins, aka Jupiter Software. It comes on 3 discs (cripes) and has a manual. The manual is unfortunately a couple of photocopied sheets folded into a booklet, but it's a nice touch and does make it feel slightly more professional. Amalthea boasts the fact that it is the first commercial game to support Quazar Surround Sound. The CA Amalthea introduction is simply a couple of screens, followed by a machine coded menu with music by Roger Hartley. The game has two different types of zones - overhead and side on. You begin in an overhead zone, so that's where I'll start. The controls are simple enough. It's just an 8 directional, move in the direction you press thing and you shoot straight forward. The graphics are wierd because some are really excellent (an alien with a swinging tail is great), but some are far too plain and some are too small (namely the objects). Aliens follow simple paths in the first level but these get more devious as you progress. There is a time limit, and you can only find this out by using a computer, which is a bit annoying. At the computers, you can buy better weapons, ammo, first aid and look at your time. They've got the time limits perfect, but I would definitely have preferred an on screen display of it. If you have ever used SCADs, you should be able to tell that the game has been written using it by playing the first level. I'm CA Amalthea not sure how you can tell - they've done a good job of hiding the fact, and the game is really smooth, but there's just something that says 'SCADs'. The second type of zone is my favourite. It's side on, but you still have to do the same thing - collect the pods, shoot the aliens. The difference is that now it's more of a platformer. The grpahics are pretty big, which is good, and are by Steven Pick so you know they're really good. I'd have preferred a flying creature to the grey spaceship thing that comes for you, but that's just me being picky. Apart from that, the gameplay on this level is really excellent. On all the zones, the levels have been planned out beautifully, so that there's a large enough map which takes a few goes to get used to. The difficulty rating is absolutely perfect and a lot of time and effort seems to have gone into working out maps, times and all these sorts of little things. When you die you go back to the start of the zone and try again CA Amalthea until you run out of lives or patience. I had someone watching me when I played this, and they thought it looked really boring. The overhead views could do with more action (or larger graphics) but the game plays really well. Apparently, it's like Alien Breed on the Amiga, but I've never played it, so don't take my word for it. The Quazar Surround Sound? Well, I don't have Quazar, so I can't comment on it fully, but a few people heard it at the show and said it was very clear and didn't interrupt the game-play. The major gripe unfortunately is the price. Charging £10 for a SCADs game sounds too much, and in my opinion is. After all, it's just a simple game that's been written on SCADs and made big and smooth. However, it is the best SCADs game on the SAM and all the small details, like the map and difficulty curve, are just right. I read a review where someone called it a shoot-em-up, but I can't help feeling that it's too tactical to be called a plain shoot-em-up. If you're feeling rich, then buy CA Amalthea it. It's a good game, just slightly over-priced. Playability : 79% Lastability : 69% ***************** Graphics : 84% * * Sound (Without Quazar) : 59% * AWARD : * (With Quazar) : 90% * BRONZE FREDAL * * * Overall : 77% ***************** CA Review of Joystick Power ZEDDSOFT : £3.00 : WAYNE COLES Joystick Power is one of Zeddsoft's first games, written by new machine code talent, Wayne Coles. Music is by Lee Willis and graphics are by Nicholas Bay. CA Joystick Power So, it's got a nice looking menu allowing you to change the time limit, or play either the waggling game or the button pressing game. Sounds a bit dull doesn't it? Well, it is, that's why. The first "game" is where you are confronted with a large joystick sprite, and you have to waggle the stick left and right (or you can use keys 6 and 7). As you waggle your joystick, the rather obscene looking sprite waggles left and right accordingly. It doesn't miss anything because it runs very quickly. However, when ten seconds is up, that's it. If you get the highest score (5 points for a waggle) you get to put your name on the temporary high score table. The other "game" is pretty similar. It has a big picture of a joystick fire button, and you have to press fire (or 0) repeatedly as quickly as possible for ten seconds. Again, a high score puts you on the high score table. And that's it. Apparently, it's supposed to be lots of fun if CA Joystick Power you invite your mates round to play all night to get the best score. You'd have to have pretty sad mates, though. Fair enough, the music is good, the menu is nice and it's fast. But the game is a waste of time. It's a great shame because Wayne Coles has loads of programming talent (his sprite program looks great and it'll be reviewed next month). Wayne, write something good like one of the games you showed me you were starting at the show. All Joystick Power can do is knacker your joystick in. One magazine gave it 68% - above average for a game. Why???? Playability : 12% Lastability : 10% Graphics : 46% Sound : 60% Overall : 16% CA Addresses SAFARI SAM : F9 Software [redacted] JOYSTICK POWER : Zedd Soft, [redacted] AMALTHEA : Phoenix Orders [redacted]
Rachel (ctd.)
Deep in space, a Thing drifted. It was bigger than a Peribeetle, but then most things are. It was bigger than a house, as a mountain is bigger than an atom. It was bigger than an asteroid, as a star is bigger than a planet. It was bigger than Peri Beta, as something bigger than Peri Beta is bigger than Peri Beta. And it was bigger than Peri Alpha, which is what seemed to cause the trouble. Because at this size, the Thing looked like a planet. It hadn't to start with. Originally it looked like some sort of cute ovoid puffball. That is, if any living creature that staggeringly large can be called a puffball. But years of circling round planets, watching what was going on, spinning through the galaxies, leaping from place to place, an intergalactic tourist to crown them all, had left it battered and mottled. When it finally decided to settle down around Peri Alpha, its slight but significant gravitational pull had attracted many objects towards it, and their impacts on its thousand foot thick skin had left it cratered and streaked with dust and dirt like the object of its orbit, Peri Alpha. After a few thousand years, it drifted peacefully and decided to take a quick forty millennia. When it woke up, it decided that it needed a bath, since the several hundred miles of space dust that had collected on it in this time was starting to get just a little bit heavy. What it didn't know was, some of the later layers of dust had been pulled from the surface of Peri Alpha by the now greater gravitational attraction of the Thing, which had also wrenched Peri Beta out of its normal orbit and sent it spinning chaotically between and around the two larger masses causing tidal and atmospheric havoc on Alpha. (It is a well recognised fact that no matter, within limits, what the disaster, on a well established planet more than one species will survive and many new ones will spring up, having adapted to the new conditions on that planet, within a few thousand years. No-one had ever wondered why only Peribeetles survived on Alpha; because no-one had ever ventured into the Strange, New Universe in which it existed to see what was happening thanks to the Thing.) Finally, the inevitable happened. Seeing a large sea in which it thought it could wash at least some of the grime off, the Thing moved down towards Alpha. Beta crashed into the side of it and broke into two pieces; one span wildly into space, whilst the other ploughed deep into Alpha, throwing gases and rock out onto the Thing, which was wondering what had just hit it. Alpha shattered into four pieces. Three, and what was left of Peri Beta, scattered outwards, to eventually fragment further and fall into orbit around the system's sun to create an asteroid belt; the fourth, moving slowly, fell into natural orbit around the Thing, a cold, lifeless lump of rock. Centuries passed, and the Thing watched what had formed on its surface with interest. The gases separated from the liquids, which separated from the rock. Sometimes the Thing would shake, to settle things out, helping the process... Soon, no-one would know that the Thing wasn't Peri Alpha, and the fragment of Alpha wasn't Peri Beta. What of the Peribeetles? Able to survive the assault of toxicity which only a few of the other species of Alpha had survived, they viewed the destruction of Alpha as "Bripp," or, "a typical example of what can happen if you exist in a Strange, New Universe, where nothing is as it seems, where anything can happen, where Physics doesn't apply;" rather than the ordinary Universe, where just "Physics doesn't apply." They got blown onto the Thing, where only a handful survived the creation of seas and rain, hills and valleys; but there they stayed, surviving against all odds. The Thing viewed them as pets. So when, out of the blue, (or black as might be the case; or pink, green, or a variety of styles and colours to suit your personal taste - Creators are very obliging when it comes to Strange, New Universes - ,) a ship arrives, and the Thing's pets run merrily into it, only to be squashed by a sheep, the Thing was a little upset. ---- The Cowseeker pointed itself towards Peri Beta (or what was, to all intents and purposes, Peri Beta,) filled with hopeful crew looking for cows. Thirty three were yet to be found, but they didn't care.. They all shared Harold's point of view, for a change; that to find them shouldn't take long, since there's only infinity to search. As long as the Bovine Detect-O-Matic was giving them clues, infinity can be quite a small place. Inside, Harold was plugged into the navigation console, and the Bovine Detect-O-Matic. Diggy wandered over. "What're you doing?" he asked. "Thinking." "About what?" "Peribeetles." Diggy paused to glance at Freeda who was still trying to scrape them off her fleece. He turned back to Harold, about to ask why, when he noticed a dent in his corner. "What's that dent?" Harold became pensive. "You should know! You dropped me!" "Ah.." "Now shut up! I'm thinking!" "Um, er, sorry, er..." replied Diggy, and went somewhere else. "What a pointless dialogue," commented the Spacerat. "Merdyl, have you mpmffmfpfpfmf?" asked Diggy. "Pardon?" answered Merdyl. Diggy removed the portable camping stove from his mouth, and wondered why he suddenly couldn't see Merdyl. "Look up," called Merdyl, from the ceiling. "Why are you a gibbon?" asked Diggy, becoming a small green fern. "I think it's because we aren't on the planet any more," answered the Dark, Shadowy Figure. "All those weird effects we noticed before are starting again." To prove a point, he metamorphosised into a matching set of curtains and duvet cover. "Oh great," answered Harold, "that means the navigation console is going to turn into..." The navigation console adopted the shape of a fruit salad. "This is too weird for me," said Freeda, who was changing colour according to a range of attractive shades of white for the ideal lakeside home. "And it's getting cramped in here." "That's only because Arbi's just come onto the Bridge," answered the Dark, Shadowy Figure. "That shouldn't fill up the Bridge though," commented Rachel. "Not normally, no, but she's changed shape to an estate of well established four bedroomed family houses in a delightful rural setting," came the reply. "Right..." muttered Rachel, slightly confused. "Hey! We're nearly there!" said Arbi, looking at the viewscreen, which, as before, had stayed as a viewscreen. "Thank goodness," said Diggy who was tired of being a fern. Two minutes later, they landed. ---- The Spacerat blinked, its eyelids moving though two seconds. "Wonder when they'll realise they're not on Beta?" it thought. ---- And all the while, deep in space, forgotten but not gone, the Thing watched them with a malevolent eye and thoughts of revenge... ---- -+* To Be Continued! *+- +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Hipposoft Presents: | | | | An Epic Tale of For Fredatives | | an Accident, A "Rachel" /Fred Magasine | | Man And His Cows Hipposoft 1992 | | | | Or, "The Forgotten Enemy" | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ LAST TIME... Peri Beta is a fragment of Peri Alpha, and Peri Alpha is a large, annoyed Thing which wants revenge over the death of its pets, the Peribeetles. Harold plugged into various electrical devices to have a quiet think, and the Cowseeker was headed for what everyone thought was Peri Beta. Had they had any idea that Alpha was in fact one large Thing, they wouldn't have stuck around... But they didn't, and the Thing watched as the Strange New Universe took effect, and the Cowseeker flew on... Rachel lay languidly on the hillside. The sun beamed down, birds sang, crickets cricketed, and flies flew past. The clear smell of heather drifted lazily on the breeze, and the fields below shimmered with the movement of countless multicoloured flowers swaying this way and that. "You wouldn't know this was just a fragment, would you?" commented Arbi, who was standing nearby. "No. Never have guessed," replied Rachel. "That's if Harold is right." "Makes you wonder what we were on when we thought we'd landed on Alpha..." "Suppose so." Rachel yawned and stood up to eat some grass. "Any ideas?" Rachel shot the earth-brown cow an annoyed glance, wishing that Arbi would learn to relax now and then. "Probably Beta or something. After all, the relative difference in size between Alpha and Beta, or Beta and a fragment, is probably the same," she replied. From nearby came a plop as a fish jumped from a stream to catch a fly that had been hovering overhead. The fly moved to one side, and there was a splash as the fish belly-flopped back into the water having missed. "Possible..." But Arbi didn't sound convinced. "Well what else could it be?" said Rachel, rattily. "Just relax and enjoy the grass!" Arbi sighed and sat down. "OK. I don't know anyway. But who built all this?" They gazed around the huge underground Countryside Complex that the Cowseeker had found upon approach to landing. "Must have been the people of Alpha when they found out their planet was in danger." "Even if all of them worked together though, this place is still huge! And the details are perfect! I mean, - ..." Arbi paused as a loud buzzing noise started. The fish-avoiding fly suddenly zipped past, hotly pursued by a dragonfly, two small birds and a paragliding lemming. "... - almost perfect. And a little weird. And. Ahem. Mmm." ---- "How strange," thought the Spacerat. ---- There was a loud splash as the fish and a group of close friends had a second unsuccessful attempt to eat the fly. This was followed by a quiet squeak as the lemming crashed into a small bush, and a loud bang from inside the Cowseeker. ---- "Hello," said a small, black, brown and white cute fluffy creature that had arrived from a nearby field. "I'm Acti-cat." "Acti-what?" asked Arbi. "Look," said the small, black, brown and white cute fluffy creature, and ran around the hill a few times before calling "Bye" and disappearing into a field. ---- "Looked more like the burnt side of an oven glove to me," thought the Spacerat. ---- Diggy removed the smoking Bovine Detect-O-Matic from the central computer and picked the monitor up off the floor, plugging it back in to see what the computer had to say. Merdyl waited for him to read it out. "It says, ~Ouch!~." "What else?" "~Suspected Planetary History: Large creature swung Alpha into Beta. Beta destroyed. Currently accepted Beta is in fact a fragment of Alpha...~" "But we knew that!" "~...and currently accepted Alpha is in fact a large Thing. Warning: Thing hostile following Peribeetle destruction.~" "What does it mean, ~hostile~..?" asked Merdyl nervously. "Er - Hang on, there's more. ~N.B. Peribeetles originated in sector Delta Omega of Peri Alpha. This and surrounding sectors contained experimental research project into underground ecosystems. Suspected that currently accepted Beta includes this project.~" "So that's where this all came from!" "That's a bit boring though," said Freeda, who had just arrived. "This part's much better: ~Thing approaching Alpha project with hostile intent~." "Er," said Diggy, again. Rachel and Arbi suddenly appeared from nowhere. "How did you do that?" asked the Dark, Shadowy Figure, who'd just done the same. "Er," said Diggy. "~Hostile intent~?" asked Merdyl. Diggy gibbered. ---- It knew what it had to do, and it was going to do it. As it moved towards the fragment of Alpha, the atmosphere, oceans and mountains that had taken so many years to accumulate were thrown off. The Thing shook itself clear of everything, and moved in for the kill... ---- "Uuuuhhhh..." said Diggy, having found a word other than "Er" and having stopped gibbering. The others looked at him. "UUUUHhhhhhh..." said Diggy again. The others looked at the Viewscreen his shaking finger was pointing to. "UUUHHHHAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!" shouted Diggy. The viewscreen no longer showed a picture of Alpha from a remote camera they'd released before leaving, but a rapidly approaching, impossibly huge, angry and reasonably dirty puffball. ---- The Spacerat tried not to laugh, unsuccessfully. "Ho ho ho," it said. ---- Merdyl, though still wondering how the various members of the crew which had been outside suddenly weren't, decided it might be a good idea to leave as soon as possible, and started the launch sequence, bypassing the "have a nice day" flag since they were in a hurry. "Don't worry, it'll never get here," said Harold, who had been silent for some time and knew things they didn't. "You're forgetting..." ---- The gravitational pull of the approaching Thing threw the fragment out or orbit. Inside the project area, the sun flickered on and off as power started to fail. The generators and caverns, which had survived the first time, weren't going to survive a second... ---- "...that those weird effects we'd noticed only stopped..." ---- A deafening alarm began to ring as a huge crack spread across the ground and underneath the Cowseeker, which fell sideways into it. Blocks of stone began to break away from the sky and crash to the ground. One just missed the closing main hatch of the Cowseeker, where a small furry creature could just be seen darting inside... ---- "...in an atmosphere. If that Thing hasn't got one now..." ---- This time a block struck the side of the Cowseeker full on, swinging it around and sending it smashing into the rapidly disintegrating hillside. The gravity pads glowed a fierce red as the ship struggled to gain altitude and get out off the project area... ---- "...then any second now..." "Ta ta ta da, daa daaa! Acti-cat!" said Acti-cat, running onto the Bridge. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to call you Ovenglove from now on," said Rachel, who, not knowing the Spacerat thought the same, had decided Acti-cat looked like a burnt oven glove. ---- The huge project generators exploded in a blinding flash of light, throwing the Cowseeker through the crumbling sky of the project like a cannon firing a cannon ball. As the ship span uncontrolled into space, the fragment split apart; at that very moment, just before it struck, the Thing changed into a mayfly, and flew straight into the midst of a group of hungry fish which were wondering where their stream had gone. They got their fly THAT time. -+*To Be Continued!*+-