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Disk 21 News
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______________ISSUE 21_______________
There is a dearth of news to report this month, but after
talking to Alan Miles I must admit I feel a lot more confident
about the future of SAM and indeed SAMCo.
Read on:
Over the past couple of months, I and several others,
have felt that something was bubbling up down in SAM land and
still stinging a bit from the collapse of M.G.T. we secretly
wondered whether we were in for another shock wave to rumble
through the computer world. If I rang SAMCo and the phone was
not answered in half a dozen rings, I began to think,'oh no, not
again!'. Well things seem to have changed, there has been yet
another shake-up at SAMCo, and it seems to have improved things.
SAMCo is now Alan Miles and Adrian Parker in a two man band,
Charles Gill helps out when needed, money has been found and
differences settled, disc drives have now arrived and
everything seems rosey.
Alan Miles says that repairs are now moving and so are the back
orders, and he is very hopeful for the future. Another little
snippet of info is that another party may take on the publicity
and advertising, thus leaving SAMCo to get on with getting
hardware and good software developed and dispatched on time.
GAMESTAR. Apparently several people have written to SAMCo about
the latest package i.e. a 256K Sam without a drive, some have
been in favour, some have not (I wonder who they were ??) Having
listened to his side of the story I must admit that it could be
a mildly good idea assuming you can persuade the owners of these
machines to buy a drive as soon as they can. Despite my own and
several member's fears that this could spell the end of SAM, it
is selling, people are buying it.
Work on the video digitiser continues but as yet there is no
firm date for release.
The final version of The Secretary is to be released at the
London All Formats Fair 16th May.
SAMCo have in their hands a finished version of ESI's Etracker
that was demonstrated in the Newsdisk (Issue 4) but as yet there
is no documentation and so no firm release date .
Games suite, a compilation of classic games like cribbage,
pontoon and othello to name a few, is due for release in around
four weeks time for £9.99.
Astroball by Balor Knight has received a brilliant review in the
rag mags and given 90% this was for the Spectrum version, but as
we all know it's out on SAM disk and is even better on SAM.
Music Makers there is something here for you too, work is being
done on the Midi Sequencer to enable it to read PC and Atari
files and to enable you to transfer music from the Midi port to
Sound machine. If this makes sense then I have got it right, if
not, then don't blame me, I don't now a crutchet from a mini!
By the time you read this, I will have been to Florida and back,
cuddled Mickey Mouse and hopefully watched the launch of the
space shuttle, but my letterbox will still be in use, so if you
have any news please contact me.
So it's goodnight from me and I. - Steve Monk.
.
******************* REVIEW SECTION ********************
First things first, many thanks to all those people who have
helped me get this section 'on the road'. I hope that I will
continue Dave Tonk's high standards.
If you would like to be a reviewer, send me a note with your
name and address and interests.
D. HALL. 77, NEWTON ROAD, STOWMARKET, SUFFOLK. IP14 5AE
If you prefer to phone, then call me on 0449 675828.
Now, on with the show.........
SAM ADVENTURE CLUB (ISSUE THREE)
Ron Fox, Suffolk
We start with an eight item menu using cursor key driven arrows
(like the Sam Newsdisk menu but not so cramped). Much of the
disk is taken up by text files- over fifty A4 pages worth- which
can only be printed out by section. This was my only quibble.
The facility to print single pages would have been appreciated.
However, it did have the option of jumping quickly to selected
pages.
The HINTS section gave the customary reverse written tips,
while the REVIEWS were produced in a very balanced way, coupled
with the fact that sample screens gave you the chance to make up
your own mind. Later sections covered PRODOS and the
forthcoming SAM ADVENTURE SYSTEM which are both producing a lot
of interest among Adventurers.
The disk has a free game which needs SC_Speclone to load. This
asked you to help a Balrog in distress, being unable to get into
his locked 'outback'. (Nothing to do with Neighbours- this was
interesting!) So far my Balrog is still locked out but I've had
great fun trying to solve it.
Space doesn't permit more than a mention of other sections-
LETTERS, ADVERTS, GAMES PUBLISHERS' and MAGAZINE details, but
the TECHTORIAL section deserves more comment. This includes
practical programming tips for those writing their own games,
and even if this is not your scene , there is much of general
application. The tips on memory saving when storing quantities
of data were of special interest.
Lastly we come to the BITS section which included a program to
enable you to save printer paper by printing in two column mode.
(I wish I'd seen this before I printed out the 50+ A4 pages!)
This disk appears to cover just about every conceivable aspect
of Adventure gaming so, if this is your area of interest, at £1
per issue (at least until the end of the year) this is excellent
value for money. SAM ADVENTURE CLUB details are obtainable
from:-
Phil Glover. 43 Ferndale Rd. Hall Green. Birmingham. B28 9AU
---------------------------
BATZ AND BALLS Reviewed by Dave Ison
For those who never saw the original spectrum game on the
Horizons tape this is a very simple game in principle.
However, like a lot of simple things it is very entertaining,
and the Sam version has improved it a lot.
It works like this. The bat's at the bottom of the screen and
can only be moved from side to side. The balls are supplied, and
there's a wall of bricks about three quarters of the way up the
screen. The object of the game is to remove the bricks by
knocking the balls against them. The balls bounce off the sides
and top of the screen. If the balls reach the bottom of the
screen (you miss them with the bat) then you lose them. The game
ends when you've knocked out all the bricks, or you lose all the
balls.
The Sam version is a far cry from the Spectrum version. The
graphics use Sam's abilities well, it's very fast-moving, and
there's good sound too. There's a choice of user control device;
mouse, joystick or keyboard. Having tried all three devices I
can say that the mouse is by far the best. The game is so fast
moving, and there's so much to do, that I couldn't cope at all
with the keys, but maybe I could learn to cope with the
joystick.
In addition to knocking the bricks out there are now further
challenges. Some bricks need more than one knock to remove them,
and there are a vast range of sprites which need your attention
as well as the bouncing ball. There are good sprites and bad
ones. Some bad ones deflect the ball, some seem to make the bat
disappear. The good guys, add more balls, make the ball stick to
the bat so you can aim it better, extend the bat length and
more!
There are many levels of play, in which the position of the
bricks vary, making the anticipation of the bounce more
difficult. There's musical accompaniment too, fast and frenetic
when playing, making you get on with it, and sad and depressing
when you see your score. I must admit to not being the keenest
game player in the world, but for me this is an excellent game,
tailor-made for the mouse, and I'm determined to get beyond
level three!
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ASTROBALL Reviewed by Colin Rout
I am not really a games player but I have played a few, so when
asked to do this review I said I was willing to give it a go.
I was quite impressed with the opening screens and the music was
quite good, but I thought that it got a little monotonous if it
was allowed to continue too long. The title screen is replaced
after thirty seconds by the High Score table which contains
different messages each time the game is loaded. The High Score
table is then replaced by the Joystick or Keyboard options and
you are given a choice of three sets of keys, which seems a good
idea as you are unable to change the keys.
I have played it using a joystick and the keyboard to see the
difference, and I prefered the joystick because it is easier,
but it is not too difficult using the keyboard. I think using
the cursor keys is the more difficult option because the cursor
keys are so close together.
To start the game - press fire on the joystick or space on the
keyboard and you are presented with a map of the platforms on
the first level. There are various other symbols shown and they
become clearer as the game progresses. Press fire again to
continue.
The game does not have any instructions but the idea of the
game soon becomes clear. The AstroBall is a bouncing ball that
you have to bounce from platform to platform collecting coins.
Most of the platforms are fixed but to make it more interesting
some of them "flash". You can also collect icons for your
advancement or protection which appear in the form of symbols
changing continuously from "^" to "S" to "+" to "O" (Transparent
Ball). These have the following properties : - "^" = Takes you
rapidly higher up the level, "S" = Slows the ball down making it
easier to control, "+" = Gives you extra time, "O" = Gives you a
temporary shield to protect you from "deathstars" etc.
Scattered among the platforms are green "deathstars" which can
cause loss of a life unless you have a shield (see above). If
you fall when bouncing between platforms you can also lose a
life falling to the bottom of the level. The top of the screen
shows from left to right : - your Score, how many coins you
have left to collect in the current level, Lives and Time left.
You have three lives initially but you can gain extra lives
shown as "L" and extra points shown as "P" in various places on
different levels. Before you start the next you are given a map
of the new level so if you have difficulty with it a good tip is
to draw a map on paper.
A nice touch that I liked, is that after completing each level
there is a message saying "Well done", "That was easy, now for
something harder", or "You have completed ten levels, Only
twenty more to go!". Another bonus is that after completing a
level and you then lose your lives, you have the choice of
starting from the level you finished at or starting again from
the beginning.
I liked this game and I think that it is one of those that you
say to yourself "I know I can do it next time". I think it is
addictive and fun but also frustrating and sometimes infu-
riating. I struggled to get through level 1 but I finally made
it to level 2 but thats as far as I have got so far. My thirteen
year old son of course had no trouble getting up to level 10 but
he has so far been beaten by level 17.
I think it is very much like the Spectrum game "ZUB" and my son
thinks it is like "Microdot" for the Commodore.
Overall I think this is a very good game and I would recommend
it. The graphics are excellent and the sound very good. The only
fault that I can find is that the colours used for the High
Score table make it difficult to read.
RECOMMENDED - BUY IT TODAY !
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PASCAL ON PRODOS
Ron Fox, Suffolk
For some time now I had been wanting to "upgrade" my knowledge
of programming and a recent long spell of sickness coupled with
the acquisition of PRODOS and FDOS disks made this possible.
I knew nothing about Pascal other than that it is a language
which called for a more disciplined approach to programming than
BASIC. This seemed a good idea to me as one of my joys, when my
copy of Sam Supplement arrives, is examining listings to see how
programmers achieve their effects. A well structured program can
be a delight, but all too often we find a rat's nest of GOTOs
and GOSUBs with no REM statements to guide through the maze.
Anyway- leaving my hobby horse- I felt that I could benefit from
the discipline that is associated with Pascal.
Because of the very different approach, a lot of help is
needed and there is plenty of this on JRTPAS30- the Pascal
compiler supplied on FDOS disk 006. After UNARChiving the files-
not as difficult as it sounds- we find a wealth of documentation
(over 180 pages worth!). With PRODOS you can display this on the
screen but I would recommend a print-out if you can.
For those like me, with only BASIC experience, I should
explain that the program must first be written on a word
processor capable of producing an ASCII file. An excellent
program- ZDE16 (similar to WordStar)- comes on the PRODOS
sampler disk. This does make it very difficult to use the "trial
and error" techniques I've used in the past in BASIC and so a
pre-planned approach is forced on you.
When you have finished writing your program, you must
"compile" it. This is done for you by loading it into the
JRTPAS30 program which will point out your errors and omissions
with helpful comments such as "a semi colon is expected". If
there are too many errors it will stop and back you go to the
word processor to amend the faults and try again. Eventually the
program is compiled and saved as a file with an .INT suffix. All
that remains is to type in EXEC programname and "BINGO." your
program is up and running!
Although there is excellent documentation on the disk, I found
the following books very useful:-
"Pascal from BASIC" (Peter Brown- Addison-Wesley Microbooks)
-which was written for people with only BASIC experience.
"Elementary Pascal" (Ledgard & Singer- Fontana/Collins)
-an amusing introduction using some Sherlock Holmes cases to
demonstrate how problems are aproached using Pascal techniques.
If you haven't yet bought PRODOS, I can recommend it for this
experience alone. My only complaint is that it looks as if I
shall have to seek early retirement to exploit all the
possibilities it opens up!
----------------------------------------------------------------
VEGETABLE VACATION - FISSION SOFTWARE - £9.99
Review by Michael Nicholas
Introduction
From just looking at the name of this game, you can probably
guess it has some bizarre storyline behind it. I will try to
explain it to you:
Apparently whilst asleep you were swept away by a vortex and it
transported you into a parallel dreamscape. This scape is
inhabited by a recently deceased and slightly deranged travel
agent called Marvin. He transforms you into a flying tomato and
traps you in a bizarre space port. To escape from the space port
you must collect as many fuel receptors as you find. They look
just like jugs and are scattered all around the space port. You
must also collect 10 holiday items which are also littered
around the port, but some of them are guarded by creatures of
Marvin's imagination and so this makes the game even more
difficult. The holiday items that you must collect are as
follows:
Drink Boots
Hat Shorts
Inflatable beach ring Suitcase
Beach towel Inflatable head rest
A - Z Bucket and Spade
To get onto the next level you must also collect access keys as
well, I have not yet reached level 2.
When I first saw this game I thought it looked really hard and
was put off from buying it. But now that I can see a storyline
to the game it makes it more interesting to play. The game is
generally difficult to get the hang of, you have to get used to
the idea of not being able to stop unless you hit a wall. Though
there is a panic button which makes you stop, but this can only
be used once and is usually only used in certain death
circumstances.
There are lots of screens to explore and lots of little sprites
which you come across now and again. These are quite smoothly
animated considering that you are animated as well. You ( the
flying tomato) have little wings and they flap up and down all
the time, you can also see part of your shield when you face the
front. One of the sprites I like on level 1 is a sprite that
looks like a frog ( It could be a jumping green bean?) and it
jumps from one side of the screen to the other.
There is a music accompanyment whilst playing the game, it's
allright, but I think some people will find it annoying.
Thankfully, there is an option of having the music on or off.
Conclusion
This game is very challenging and requires a lot of thought and
precision to be put into every movement. There is not another
game like this on the Sam and it uses an original idea and
concept.
Playability 92 CODE: Daren Yeoman
Lastability 85 GRAPHICS: Andrei Nadin
Sound 90 SOUND/FX: Mike Dyke
Graphics 82
Addictiveness 75
Overall 85%
Price: £9.99 Available from:
Sam Computers. Lakeside. Phoenix Way. Swansea Enterprise Park.
Swansea. SA7 9EH
.
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