Alchemist News - Issue 10 (1993)(Alchemist Research)[a].tap

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39
11 TECHNOTWADDLE.
10 23637+256*
10 TASWORD WORDPROCESSORS- CONT.
9 THE MAKING OF ALCHNEWS
9 BOOKLINK
8 FREE GIFTS
7 COMPILERS...THE LOW DOWN
6 page=page+
6 ALCHNEWS PRICES BREAKDOWN.
6 QUESTION TIME.
5 ALCHEMIST RESEARCH PRODUCTS.
5 ALCHEMIST PD UPDATES
4 ALCHEMIST RESEARCH PRICES POLICY
4 23638-0899":
4 TALKING ED's
3 page=page-
3 We accept tape, +D 3.5~ disk, +3 disk and Microdrive Carts. Opus Discovery & +3 DRIVE B: owners can read our +D disks if they have the converter system installed. (Available here)
3 Telephone: 0742 697644 after 6pm"'"Europe: +44 742 697644 - 7pm CET"''"
3 SHEFFIELD"'"South Yorkshire"'"S13 7LN"'"
3 Remember to include an SAE and media of your choice if you're not buying any compilations.
3 MIKTOR: PROGRAMMER EXTRAORDINARE
3 Andy Davis"'"Alchemist Research"'"62 Tithe Barn Lane"'"Woodhouse"'"
3 AlchNews 10. +D Version Release 1.0
3 A.L.C.H.N.E.W.S.
3 3:EXIT
3 2:DISK
3 23638-0826":
3 1:TAPE
3 ***** OUR ADDRESS. *****
3 * EXTRA OPTIONS *
3 * * * * * STAR LETTER. * * * * *
3 to read the pages
3 for Options
3 for Menu or
3 SAVE SYSTEM
3 REMSTORE
3 Letters to Alchemist Research
3 LOAD SYSTEM
3 1993 Alchemist Research Ltd.
3 Alchemist Research Response.
3 *SPELLUNKLER* ISSUE 5 REVIEW
3 Press:
3 SINCLAIR NEWS REVIEW
3 SINCLAIR CONTACTS.
3 TRADING POST
3 OPEN LETTER.
3 COMMENT
2 uFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
2 THE KNIGHTS
2 Sinclair News
2 Ramdisk Simulator
2 Music Writer
2 23638-1276":
2 "3";"Use Cursor Keys, and ENTER"
2 MENU Lns 10-19
2 Letters To Alchemist Research.
2 DARREN RANDLE APOLOGY SECTION.
2 THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING
2 CONTRIBUTING TO ALCHNEWS
2 BEWARE NEWSDESK READERS.
2 THE RASPUTIN TAKEOVER.
2 DICTIONARY ""A""
2 PRIZE DRAW
2 NEXT ISSUE
2 KIND WORDS
2 REVIEWS.
1 ~Sorry sir, we can't make a heapload of profit on that machine~
1 ~Sorry sir, not much call for that now~
1 ~NEWSDESK~
1 ~Ablex, Maxell, EMI~
1 will do the job, so long as STEPand START lines are less than 255. So, to increment from line 1 in ones, poke both addresses with 1.":
1 which roughly translates to
1 which I am waiting for with baited breath!":
1 which I also use. As you can seeit's 8 bits all the way for me!"''" Kind regards,
1 was an immediate success and therest of his works followed suit:"'''"
1 version)."'"
1 users who are waiting for these
1 up the plans for the Analytical
1 turn of the 19th. Century where we continue next issue.":
1 to code (even SAVE and LOAD).
1 the most innovative compiler forthe Speccy....COLT!
1 the actual compiler must also besaved with the compiled code.
1 sprites, windows and a host of
1 scrapped the idea of the
1 saved with the compiled file
1 reply from AGENT-X and BZYK (of PENTAGRAM) regarding some of themore technical aspects of SOUND
1 probably the finest British DemoGroup around. Now, thanks to Mark ~Miktor~ Harris, I now have+D versions of all of Triad's and
1 parts to a high enough degree ofprecision, the machine does not work well. Soon he will have
1 other effects. The compiler evenadds (and allows the user to
1 only compiler but this compiler can hanlde strings (with some
1 of my demos (available from
1 messing about). The increase in speed for the compiled file can be up to 200%! Also the compilermust be saved with the compiled file.":
1 issue but I'm still awaiting a
1 is totally incorrect. I did not inform Mr Carswell of this information, and to prove his errors, the following was wrong:"''"1) My shell was not stolen for Sinclair News, but the unpublished PD REVIEW program"''"2) The AlchNews shell is 90% BASIC. The Sinclair News shell was specially written by Dominic Morris":
1 is the first bookand sees the original ST crew come out of retirement to stop amarauding bunch of dieters from eating the Galaxy dry!"''"
1 is the best of the lot and sees the two crews goingthrough time for their own benefits. Piker (Ryker) happens to accidentally start the US Civil War.":
1 is a race tothe Fountain of Youth which StarFreak hopes can sell to raise some cash for their coffers.":
1 is a block line delete function, but has nothing to do with the disk at all.":
1 integers even multi-dimensioned arrays!
1 instructions.
1 inability to manufacture the
1 in this article:
1 immediately superseded by
1 has to be the best tape to disk to disk to tape copier ever seen on this machine, even handling PC disks!":
1 handle strings, integers, non-
1 handle NO strings (even INKEY$).So it is rather limited. Also
1 handle 99% of all the Spectrum's full price, non-PD adventure games. There isa large selection to choose fromall at discount prices. There isalso support for the Amiga and other machines too."''"
1 gives you a digital clock in ANY mode, and has it's own bolder font included!"''"
1 gives normal bytes free for your own programs and code. Thisis useful when setting up how many bytes you want for yourselfand how many to allocate to te disk. This has to be done manually, but I'll explain more later."''"
1 form that the compiler can read via the toolkit provided, you
1 for load,
1 finally get into the compiler
1 file."'"With Tasword 2, there are no endof line markers, and the text was simply saved out as a"'"continual stream of ASCII"'"characters, the ~unused~ parts being simply padded with spaces.So, a line of text created with Tasword 2 is composed of 64"'"bytes, regardless of the margin setting.":
1 excellent SOUND TRACKER this
1 done with this compiler see one
1 demos. These are
1 d: POKE a,d: NEXT a"'"50
1 create machine code files with
1 cool utility. However, it can
1 concept, the machine is never
1 concentrate his efforts into
1 compilers that will be covered
1 compiler. It limits the user to compiled programs of about 12K
1 compiler of them all...BLAST.
1 commands, with
1 care of the usual AlchNews address.":
1 can handle ALL the Speccy's
1 calculating machine driven by anexternal set of instructions or a program; although modern in
1 built in working form.
1 building a general purpose
1 block of code for a simple task.The speed increase is quite goodat about 60-80%.":
1 available.":
1 allows you to scan through a disk for a particular set of bytes or text."''"
1 added the colours and made sure the rest of the screen was ok. Then, I loaded up
1 add) extra code commands to the
1 `1 buys you a 3M +D disk with a menu & information program and ten utilities. Many of the programs on disk One are courtesy of Miles Kinloch and Mark Harris, whose addresses arepublished this issue, should youwish to contact them further.
1 ZX BIBLE). This was almost
1 ZENOBI SOFTWARE
1 Z80 made easy article.
1 Yours Sincerely, George Jones
1 You can get your copy by sendingan SSAE and tape / disk to the usual AlchNews address."''"
1 Yes, the address IS real!":
1 With this compiler you could
1 Why ~AlchNews~?"'"
1 Why is there no 128k music?"'"
1 Why is AlchNews quarterly?"''"
1 Why don't you charge?"'"
1 When Threfall and Hodgson moved to Hi Soft they began work on
1 Whats your office like?"'"
1 What readership do you have?"'"
1 What machines do you have?"'"
1 What about the future?"''"
1 What Now 3 38166
1 Well, thanks to a good response via me, Outlet and SAM Prime, wehave a letters section!
1 Well, it's short for ALCHemist research NEWS. It was going to be called Sinclair News, but a friend advised me of the legal implications with Amstrad, so I decided not to!"''"
1 Well, I don't envisage AlchNews going onto consoles (spit). I don't think the Amiga has any future beyond 1999 (hot tip!), so perhaps the PC. After all, AlchNews is there already! Needless to say, I shall be continuing with AlchNews and thePD library and all other Speccy projects right to the LAST reader. We have seen the arrivaland demise of many, and it is not something Alchemist Researchwill be doing!":
1 Well, A Spectrum +2 (grey), Spectrum +3, two Spectrum +, anda rubber keyed 48k. I also have a +D and 3.5~ drive, a 5.25~ drive, interface One and micro- drives, lots of tape decks (mostly Sony and Memorex tape deck seperates.) Then theres thetwo VTX modems, two Alphacom 32 printers, lightgun, home made ~keypad~, and joysticks! And howcould I forget my Muliface 128, and my new Amstrad CM14 monitor!
1 Well steve, split edge"'"connectors are quite common"'"really. You could always invest in a tube of superglue and run a drop or two along the split. Make sure you hold the loose"'"pieces together though, or you might make the problem worse. If the edge connector is really too damaged to repair like this,then replacement is your only hope. If you have a soldering iron and a de-soldering pump, then it's quite a simple task to replace. Failing this, you would be better off sending the unit for repair.":
1 Well Joanne, my severe lack of aprinter prevents me from doing afull products sheet, so I have to make do with the old Alphacomfor lists! I will buy a fullsizeprinter very soon!
1 Well I know I promised some
1 We've had more than our fair share! My guess is that they don't like me to show that it can be done very cheaply! I'm the ~Superdrug~ of the Spectrum!"''"
1 UNIT a microprocessor
1 Triad Developments
1 Train Spottin, Yesterday's DreamNSD 1,2,3,4 & 5 and TMF 1.
1 Trading Post
1 To replace the edge connector, first remove the old solder withthe de-soldering pump, and then simply fit the new part. You canget a new part from Maplin"'"(address later). When you've"'"fitted the new part, simply"'"solder it in place. A word of warning though, when you remove the old solder, don't use too much heat, you might damage the copper tracks on the circuit"'"board. When soldering the new part into place, use only the minimum of solder. Too much may cause a short circuit between the pins.":
1 To find out the attribute colourjust work out your paper and inkcolours and calcualte like so:
1 To be honest, if you don't know what you are doing, then send itaway for repair. Any mistakes you make could damage your"'"computer and the Multiface."'"The address of Maplin ElectronicSupplies is:"''"
1 Time Warped
1 Three reasons to this. AlchNews is a multi format magazine with many 48k readers. I don't want them to feel a minority, so I leave it out. Second, it takes up valuable space which readers prefer to be utilised for text. Finally, most 128k tunes last nomore than a couple of minutes. This is fine for the smaller 'zines where it only takes a fewminutes to read through it.":
1 This was a ~taster~ of what to expect from this new tapezineand to introduce my work. All 'zines usually cringe at their first issue, and I'm definetly no exception!"''"
1 This issue was a bit of a let down, due to me being very upset about the lack of input. From here, AlchNews became a quarterly production. I gave an update of what Alchemist Research did.":
1 This is another compiler that
1 Their extremely essential catalogue is available from all good newsagents price `2.95.
1 The white outline is your mat & the green is the computer & +D.
1 The speed increase is about 65% over it's BASIC equivalent.":
1 The purchase was made from my own personal accounts and no monies from Alchemist Research products will pay for it."'"
1 The preferred media accepted foryour programs is tape and +D disk. The +3 disk is not really suitable for posting, due to it's weight, and their price in case of any Post Office ~errors~"'"
1 The original ~rolling~ page numbers (ala Teletext) was abandoned, much to everyones delight! I also adopted the horrendous ~Super~print system! This didn't last for long. We also saw the first Spellunkler magazine, Alec Carswell's suddenvanish, leaving mney angry soulsasking me why! There was a very useful article on computer ~hoovering~, and my +2 died!":
1 The most popular is time. It seems to take a minimum of one month for him to get back to you. Do not accept ~busy~ as an excuse. I do a full time job andreturn on average about six or seven PD orders per day on the day I recieved them."''"Next up is reliability. I have ordered PD which has had an important code file missing. When I have complained, Prism assure me they sent it. (But did not re-send the program). This has not only happened to mebut a few others too.":
1 The main reason is time.":
1 The full manual is
1 The end result is a VERY large
1 The early issues were released to friends only, but it then gotmore and more readers!
1 The Rats The Survivor The Fog Lair Domain Fluke The Spear The Dark The Jonah Shrine Moon Magic Cottage Sepulchre Haunted Creed The Portent
1 The RASPUTIN Takeover.
1 The Making Of AlchNews
1 Thankyou for your letter. You are not alone in complaints for Prism. It seems quite a few haveordered this video titling pack and felt duped. One or two have even come to me for help in tracking down YS-MEGABASIC, and in the process, spotting some useful programs in Alchemist PD and ordering. The response is usually of gratitude for the sheer speed of the order, the quality of the programs and the reliable save of it."''"As for Prism, these are just a few of the complaints I have:
1 Ten years after developing the
1 Technotwaddle."
1 Taylor's Tattle."
1 Tasword Explained
1 Talking Ed's
1 TRIAD DEVELOPMENTS
1 TRAIN SPOTTIN 2: Revenge of the Platform Ticket
1 TRACKER. Maybe by next issue
1 TOTAL EXPENDITURE : `1"'''"MEDIA:
1 THE ZX BIBLE INTEGER COMPILER iseasily the poorest. But when youconsider that it was written in 1983 it would've been quite a
1 THE PORTENT
1 Steve Harris.
1 Spectrum Software Hire,"'"32 Dursley Road,"'"Trowbridge,"'"Wiltshire,"'"BA14 0NP."''"
1 Soundtracker
1 SoundTracker II by Skusoft
1 Soccer manager games! It's sad to see it end like this, but at least it's now easy to buy new machines very cheaply through the classified ads. As for your comments of buying every issue, you won't have to buy issue 10, as you have won it for being the~Star Letter~!
1 So, when you see of all these ~concerned~ Speccy Producers giving away products or selling them cheaply, remember who started the whole process off!"''"
1 So, there you are; a potted history of AlcheNews on the Spectrum. I could go on and talkabout the QL version, but thats another (long) story!
1 Simon Goodwin
1 SectSearch
1 Sam Prime, ZAT, Spectrum Softwre Hire, Outlet, Rasputin, Spellunkler, MG.PD, Sinclair News, Venture- Soft, the IEBA, BG Services, Chic Computer Club and Format.":
1 SPACEMAN BOB
1 SOUNDTRAKKER
1 RM9 5NX."'"
1 RDS Software
1 RDS (Research Disassembler)
1 RANDOMIZE USR 63600
1 RAND USR 63600
1 Question Time.
1 Profile Publications
1 Prize Draw"
1 Preperation is quite lengthy. But, AlchNews MAY become a bi-monthly soon!"''"
1 Phew, what a letter! Thanks very much for your kind commentsabout AlchNews, and the Speccy. I think everyone must agree withwhat you say. My local software ~zone~ (Why can't it be called ashop?) does have Spectrum games,about three
1 PROFILE PUBLICATIONS
1 PRINT 15*1024
1 POKE 63714,
1 POKE 23444, <start line>"'"POKE 23446, <step between line>"''"
1 PD LIST PROGRAM
1 PCG Typeliner
1 Our next stop in time is England26 December 1822 when Charles
1 Orders are dealt with and postedback in under ONE HOUR, just as long as there are no mistakes onyour part! (My name is A. DAVIS,not DAVIES!!!!)":
1 Only a small RUN-TIME module is
1 On 18 October 1871 Babbage died having finished a model of the
1 OUTLET"'"Chezron Software"'"34 Saltersgate Drive"'"Birstall"'"LEICESTER"'"LE4 3FF":
1 OUT OF MEMORY
1 OK. Last issue I left you in
1 Now, you can get larger sizes ofthese for desktops, which gives you a soft surface for writing letters on. Get one which is larger than
1 Now, the reason why Mr. Randle decided to close down is not tooclear. It could be the fact thathe could not compete with the already overcrowded ZX market. He, (like me) could also be sickto the back teeth of so-called concerned people who would rather use a dying machine to make a name for themselves (and a bit of cash). It could be thathis talents could be better utilised on a 16 bit machine.":
1 Now we come to the final (and inmy opinion the best) compiler:
1 Next we move onto ZIP (which waswritten in BASIC and compiled into code by itself).
1 Next we come to the STRANGEST
1 Next the pair released MCODER 3 for ERE which could hanlde ANY
1 Next issue we continue with ""B""":
1 Next Threfall & Hodgson moved toHi Soft...":
1 Newsdesk 1 27975
1 Newnes COMPUTER ENGINEERS POCKETBOOK
1 Mission Control!":
1 Miles Kinloch
1 Media : 70p Postage : 25p Consumables : 5p
1 Mary Phipps"'"12 Rose In The Bush"'"Mawgan"'"HELSTON"'"Cornwall TR12 6BB"''"
1 Mary Phipps
1 Maplin Electronics Plc,"'"P.O. Box 3,"'"Rayleigh,"'"Essex"'"SS6 8LR
1 Magazine Bytes Used ================================
1 MUSIC WRITER:
1 MCODER 2 (which could handle
1 MCODER 1,2 & 3
1 MCODER 1 (which was similar to
1 Lloyd Garland
1 Live Long an Profit
1 Let's start with the poorest of the list shall we?
1 LOGIC essential parts of
1 LEMMINGS, ELITE, KARNOV, CARRIER COMMAND, 3DCK, OCP ART STUDIO, TIME SCANNER, R-TYPE, SHADOW OF THE BEAST and LASER SQUAD.
1 Kind Words
1 Just arrived my way is a truly fantastic Disassembler called
1 John Wilson"'"Zenobi Software"'"26 Spotland Tops"'"Cutgate"'"Rochdale"'"Lancs. OL12 7NX
1 Joanne Budd.
1 It now seems that AlchNews is the only electro-mag on the Spectrum now. Theres
1 Into Tasword
1 In issue 1, I used the Andrew Pennel print system, it was NOT done by Delta 4 for the
1 In a letter by Mr Randle to me in late October, he stated he was moving to the Amiga. So, in my reply, I asked about the ZX products he had. He offered me the rights at a reasonable priceso I took the offer."'"
1 In 1982 Threffall and Hodgson
1 If you want to see what can be
1 If not then I'll start on the
1 INITIAL INCOME : `1"''"
1 I'm glad you likedAlchNews. You are not alone in both senses of your letter:
1 I'll have received a reply.
1 I thank you for your kind comments on the techhie bits. I like to be very diverse with AlchNews, but I realised how popular the techhie area in
1 I rate this 'zine at 80%, so"'"miss it at your peril."''"
1 I personally like this compiler.":
1 I personally do not like this
1 I gave the cheque to my father to put into his account as I owed him some money and the cheque covered it. Then, on the 9th of November, I got a letter from TSB Carlise saying there had been a problem with the cheque and it was enclosed with ~REFER TO DRAWER~ written on it,meaning it had bounced. This left me in an awkward position as it was the money I owed my father. I tried to call Alec thinking this had been a simple mistake, but his number was not to be found. I then called someone who may be able to help,":
1 I do not think that I shall be running TWO diskzines, but hope to add the
1 I can't print what the initials stand for! Not only do you get the standard scroller (you get threetotally different ones), but get3 channel sound to light, and the chance to change pattern andcolour of the 8*8 scroller!"'" What caught my eye though was the hilarious section all about Martyn Sherwood of Prism PD! Youwant me to tell you about it? Nahhh! Read it for yourself:
1 I ad an advert in the SAM ADV. CLUB magazine because I was selling a couple of things. I got no replies until a month later when I got a short letter from a Mr Alec Carswell with a chque enclosed. Feeling pleased that I sold thm, I quickly packed them off the next day. ":
1 How much work is required of the customer."''"
1 Hi Soft compiler (48K & 128K)
1 Hello and welcome to the update program of AlchNews 10. I'm afraid I managed to fill the last issue much easier than I thought and I had a few things to say which couldn't wait untilMarch, so here I am. This issue will be known as
1 HI SOFT'S BASIC COMPILER can
1 Germany in the year 1746.
1 Generation Gap
1 GHOST, TRANSIT & THINGI,
1 G. Rowland's 128k masterpiece which allows you to enter music exactly as it's written in sheet form.
1 G. Rowland"'"
1 Free Gifts
1 First, lets consider Tasword 2. This was the first ~real~"'"wordprocessor for the Spectrum. It came out years ago, when our humble little computer only had rubber keys!"'"Tasword 2 used a very simple"'"method of storage, saving out the textfile as a
1 First let's have a list of the
1 Final Comments";
1 Final Comments
1 Fear not. They WILL appear here!":
1 English instructions to the
1 Engine; it is a mechanical
1 Engine. However, due to an
1 END OF FILE
1 E8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888::99999:888888888888888888888888::99999:888888888888888888888888::99999:888888888888888888888888::::::::888888888888888888888888:::99999888888888888888888888888:::99999888888888888888888888888888::::8888888888888888888888888888::::8888888888888888888888888888::::8888888888888888888888888888::::8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
1 Don't forget to send an SAE"'"with your enquiry.":
1 Domonic Morris
1 Does this create ~enemies~?"''"
1 Difference Engine and will
1 Difference Engine Babbage draws
1 Decide on the size of disk you want (ie: 15k)"''"
1 Deadline is roughly one month before release date. If you get your work in early, you can guarantee a good place in the magazine.
1 David Ledbury"'"AlchNews SAM Offer"'"19 Lyme Avenue"'"MACCLESFIELD"'"Cheshire SK11 7RS"''"Telephone: 0625 617262
1 Dave Wilson: AVALON
1 Darren Randle"'"PROFILE PUBLICATIONS"'"166 Valley Drive"'"Gravesend"'"KENT"'"DA12 5SH"''"
1 Daniel Huby
1 DAGENHAM"'"
1 Craig Cassell
1 Cost and value for money."''"Lets look at work first. I personally noticed a signigicantincrease in orders when I began to sell ~ready made~ tapes. I thought this was due to people not wanting to mess about with a blank tape and an SAE. This links in well with the cost & value for money.":
1 Contributors can have a free PD program for each page they do. Area contrbutors get free accessto the PD Library.
1 Contributing to AlchNews
1 Computer";
1 Chic Computer Club"'"PO BOX 121"'"Gerrards Cross"'"Bucks SL9 9JP":
1 COMPRESSOR
1 CLEAR 50174
1 CLEAR 39999: RANDOMIZE USR 63600
1 CHRIS TAYLOR
1 CHIC COMPUTER CLUB
1 Buying AlchNews:"'"
1 But, don't just take my word forit. One person who can definetlyfill you in of his problems is our very own
1 But, AlchNews is somewhat biggerand the usual 128k tunes get rather nauseating after the fourth repeat!"''"
1 Bob Dickson"'"RDS Software"'"24 Chelsea Park"'"Easton"'"BRISTOL"'"BS5 8AG":
1 Beverley Hills Cop
1 Before I start to get questions over the Sinclair News affair, let me take the time out to explain the story:"''"
1 Barry Spencer
1 Babbage develops the Difference
1 BASIC command and compile it in
1 At only `1, this collection is excellent value for money.":
1 As many of you are aware, there have been some really good"'"wordprocessors written for the various models of Spectrums."'"Perhaps the best known of all these are the range written by Tasman Software."''"Over the next few pages, I'll betelling you all about the"'"various ways that Tasword saves its files, and bits of Tasword'shistory. ":
1 As ZX BIBLE this is an integer
1 Artist 2 (48k +D)
1 Another soapbox, this time about user groups touting for business. A big article on the I.E.B.A. user group, some usefultips on CORRECTLY connecting an external tape to the +2.":
1 And some of the programs which aare available were donated FREE OF CHARGE from me!":
1 Analytical Engine.
1 All remained quiet until the
1 All of which are no longer
1 Alec Carswell
1 Alchemist Research).":
1 Alchemist Research Products.
1 Alchemist PD Updates"
1 AlchNews for FREE:"'"
1 AlchNews Prices Breakdown.
1 AlchNews 9 53733
1 AlchNews 11 - available March 94
1 Albert Harper"'"61 May Street"'"LUTON"'"Beds. LU1 1QX":
1 Again I apologize to any Speccy
1 After saving your BASIC in a
1 ATTR = 8 * PAPER + INK
1 ASSEMBLER software which
1 ARITHMETIC one of the three
1 APPLICATION the specific task
1 ANY address in RAM)!
1 AN10C
1 AN10B
1 AN10A P
1 ALU see ARITHMETIC
1 ALGOL high level language best suited to
1 ALCHNEWS10
1 ALBERT HARPER
1 ADVENTURER'S SPECIAL
1 ADDRESS BUS parallel connection used to carry
1 ABSOLUTELY CLEAR
1 A bit better. Stephen Mullenstarted a reviews section and this contained some details on the newly opened Alchemist PD Library."''"
1 ================================
1 ;"Well, if you've read this far, then thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed this piece. Any comments or corrections to my text can be addressed to me ~The Demon Hacker~ at the usual AlchNews address."'"Thanks to Andy Davis (Da Boss!) for allowing me to use"'"AlchNews for my witterings."'"Oh yes, I suppose I'd better saythanks to Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull and Motorhead fo making"'"such good music to type to."'"Remember folks, if it loads,"'"hack it, and Up the Irons!"'"The Demon Hacker wuz yer! Oct 93":
1 48*38 Centimetres.
1 46410"'"40
1 40960, 6850
1 40960 30 FOR a=46403
1 25p 1st Class.
1 23638-4722":
1 215,130,28,247,200,215, 153,30"'"60 PRINT ~Any key to re-save~ 70 PAUSE 0"'"80 SAVE d1~+sysBeta~
1 2) The cheap method:
1 10 CLEAR 4e4"'"20 LOAD d1~+sysBeta~
1 1) The Posh Way:
1 .To think, the Spectrum was once one of the to selling home computers.
1 .I've not actually sen this system but I've heard that thereare two ST's. First is
1 ...but when I mentioned Alec's name, the person in question knew all about him and what was happening. After some research, it seems I'm not the only one having problems."'"
1 . To turn BRIGHT on,
1 . This version is by
1 . The DLS program,
1 . PFN leaflets are
1 . In issue 9, I made the mistake of compairng them to Sinclair News. Let me just pointout that Sin. News as just a tapezine, whereas Outlet is a ~software magazine~, where you not only get news and reviews, but a large selection of games &programs too, hence the larger price.":
1 . If you buy Music Writer fromme (it is
1 . I was evenmore surprised to see it was available from me! The reason being it is one of the many
1 . I loaded in the Romantypeface and wrote the title. I then saved it to disk, and loaded it into
1 . I hope to have a full review in issue 11, but until then, get more details on this, the finest and most detailed disassembler from:"''"
1 . I have passed on all the items I was going to use to them. The future of Avalon is none to certain. All involved have full time jobs of one sort or anotherso there may only be 3 or 4 issues per year, but if responseis good, they may change their minds!"'"As they have limited resources, I shall be handling duplication for them. Any input for the Avalon team should be marked
1 . He gives a full account in his demos
1 . (=15360)"''"
1 . The owner, Mr D. Randle, has decided to puthis efforts into
1 . The amount you want is totally upto you depending on how much disk space you need in relation to how long your basic will be, but
1 . Speking of help files, I have written a quick introduction to
1 , which will be serving the Amiga.For more details, please contact"''"
1 , the very useful program which puts M/C into a REM statement, and also
1 , the Muso's booklet is available at areasonable
1 , run by Garry Rowland. Garry has produced someabsolute classics in his time, like
1 , like the Amiga version, which was on the YS Covertape. There are a couple ofversions of it about. I have andsell the ORIGINAL....":
1 , inthe AlchNews style.":
1 , but not all my readers are Outlet subscribers, and seeing as how most ~Letters~saw AlchNews 9, I can count all of those too!"''"
1 , a PDprogram, loaded in the screen$ and then compressed it from the normal 7k down to 1.3k! The program extracts all patterns ofcode and compiles it into an automatic M/C program.":
1 , originally by Harold Faeltymeir,and used in
1 , both available from me. Garry's work always incorporated the most excellent fonts, icons and use of colour ever seen! His PD packs, which range from music jingles, to useful factual data systems, are listed in the MISC section of Alchemist PD.":
1 , another excellent program which can store machine code into a REM statement. I could have justput the original screen here, the result would be the same, but would have took 6k more RAM!"''"Line 9996 used the same process for the LETTERS header. Line 9997 contains the font and 48k editor code, and was stored in the same way."''"Regular contributors can have the aforementioned programs free":
1 +D Conversions"
1 *Spellunkler II* Back From Beyond
1 ** LOAD PART THREE. **"
1 * * LOAD PART TWO. * *
1 * * A L C H E M I S T P D * * *
1 * * * * A L C H N E W S. * * * *
1 * * * * * STAR LETTER! * * * * *
1 (working for PSS) developed
1 (which can be made to run from
1 (this includes variables space).
1 (see later for details.)":
1 (big? Where? Ed.)
1 (as with most other compilers)
1 (What do you mean, WAS? It was, is and always will be! Ed)
1 (How dare you mention that name in my mag! Ed)
1 (4 levels of password entry) andyou can begin compiling.
1 (3).. I also continued with my PAW section on how to make a better game, and the Magic Button Project. I did give some details on how to use the print system used in issue 1. All backissue readers please FORGET the Propac ad, as their shoddy service shut them down!"''"
1 "50"
1 "5",o;"With the release of the new +3, Tasman released what was"'"probably the ultimate version of Tasword. Thanks to the new disk drive of the +3, Tasword +3gave it's users a spell checker.Being a totally disk based"'"system, many users were a bit upset that they couldn't use"'"tape, and at that time, Amstrad disks were unreasonably priced. Still, the new version proved to be a worthy successor to the earlier versions of Tasword.":
1 "5",o;"With the release of the new +2, Tasman released Tasword +2."'"Basically the same as the older Tasword 128, this program"'"improved mostly on the older oneby making the keypress commands more logical. Apart from this though, the program remained"'"mostly the same. Later, with therelease of the +2a, Tasman"'"altered the Tasword +2 program slightly, allowing it to run on the +2a. Later, Tasman released a tape containing both the +2"'"and +2a versions.":
1 "5",o;"The popularity of the Microdrivegrew, so Tasman released Tasword3. This time, you had a smaller text buffer, but the problem of the wasted memory was solved. Tasword 3 used end of line"'"markers, and saved an awful lot of precious memory. Also, for the first time, people with the microdrive system had access to fast data storage/retrival. Gonewas the black text and white"'"paper, and gone too, was the oh so slow running speed.":
1 "5",o;"About the only thing that none of the Taswords can do, is to use graphics. This is a pity"'"really, as letters and such likecan look quite good with logos or bits of clip art. Still,"'"Tasword is only a wordprocessor,not a DTP. It's very true to saythough, that if it involves"'"manipulating text, then Tasword +3 can do it. Some other"'"wordprocessors come quite close to Tasword, but they certainly don't do any better.":
1 "4",o;"To expand a bit then, Tasword 2 simply saved out a continual"'"stream of ASCII with no end of line markers. The ~lines~ of"'"text were all 64 bytes long, so even if you only had a single"'"character on a line, 64 bytes ofdata was still saved, the other 63 bytes simply saved out as"'"spaces. Still, Tasword 2 had"'"many advantages, and for the"'"first time, many people started to look at the Speccy as more"'"than simply a games machine."'"Wordprocessing on the Spectrum had arrived.":
1 "4",o;"Tasword +3 used different end ofline markers. For the older"'"versions of Tasword, Tasman useda 0 (zero) to mark the line's"'"end. Tasword +3 uses 2 markers, a 13 and a 10. The effect of"'"this is to make the text file take an extra byte per line."'"Beware of this when using the program, as the character count in the program doesn't take thisinto account. None of the older versions did either, but if you are used to simply adding an"'"extra byte per line to the"'"count, then you are going to be way out on your calculations.":
1 "4",o;"Sinclair News 3 is a multi"'"loader, but don't let that put you off it. The tape was of verygood quality, and loaded first time. Of course, users of disk drives won't find anything to complain about at all."''"
1 "4",o;"Looking at my Spectrum Software Hire catalogue, I can see that Tasword 2, Tasword +2,"'"Tas-Spell and Tasword +3 is"'"still available for hire."'"If you are not a member of SSH, then drop a line to:"''"
1 "4",o;"Following the release of the newSuperSpeccy, the 128, Tasman"'"launched it's new Tasword 128. Now, the Spectrum had really"'"come of age, with lots of"'"memory and an ever increasing"'"software base. Tasword 128 gave you all the best features of theprevious Tasword programs, only now, you had a much larger text buffer. The program was fast,"'"reliabe, and BIG! Almost 64K of RAM was dedicated to the text buffer. Space enough for about 20 pages of closely spaced A4 paper. End of line markers were still used, saving memory.":
1 "0";"Dear Andy,"'"Thanks for the quick response tomy last order. The +D Adventure collection is really great."'"Do you have a price list of other such products?"'"Sincerely,
1 "0";"Dear Andy,"'" I must say how interesting I found the information in your publication (AlchNews). I'm surethat a lot of oldtimers (like myself!) feel that we are the only persons in the universe still plugging away with an obsolescent piece of electronic nostalga, it's nice to know we're not alone!"'" I was particularly interested in your 'techy' bits, as I like to customise my Specs."'"
1 "'''''"Hello, my name is Alexa Weston. I'm the new editor(ess) for Book-Link. If you would like to review your favourite book or have any news for the Alchnews readers please write to me care of the Alchnews address. My favourite books are super- natural ones, written by authorslike Richard Laymon and James Herbert.":
1 "''''"VERY full issue! Just room to say thankyou for reading. Next issue will be an
1 "''''"This section should have been inlast issue, but with the late introduction of another +3 machine, I had to forfeit."''"So, what is it? It's a prize draw! From my ever growing list of customers, I select three lucky winners who get free PD! Add this to my free issue for the Star Letter and you can see I'm only here to lose money!":
1 "''''"James Herbert's books can be found in any major leading book stores, and cost around five to seven pounds."''"PORTENT is `5.99 paperback ISBN 0-450-58885-8"''"Now, I'll hand it back to Andy who has found more of those infernal ~Star Wreck~ books!":
1 "''''"Another group which has closed down is
1 "'''"You see, there are one or two people who just write to see what they can get for free. Manytook advantage of my four free credits offer and never replied.Those that did re-order or said thankyou or took the time to write me a letter automatically get free and extra PD. Those whowere just in it for the free gifts miss out. Besides this, all FRIENDLY companies get free PD, and so do contributors. I don't like charging for PD but it goes to a worthy cause.":
1 "'''"You can also check on the bytes you'll have free for yourself bytyping
1 "'''"To claim your free PD, just sendthe usual media & SAE and your chosen titles, and expect the speedy response you've come to know.":
1 "'''"This issue's winners:"'''"
1 "'''"The cover gives a pretty tongue in cheek look at the release of ~Prehistoric Adventure~, quite an old adventure, by a adventurecompany."''"Reviews include the Zenobi Gold Collection which is very well detailed, and a preview of a game called
1 "'''"So I have no hesitation in promoting
1 "'''"POSTAGE:
1 "'''"No, I didn't think you'd do thatso QUIT BADMOUTHING. I work bloody hard nine hours per day as a Precision Engineer, and when I get home I spend my free time doing the PD orders and answering queries and doing AlchNews orders."'''"If this person in question knew anything of Alchemist Research, he's know my prices are a ~gate~which only dedicated Speccy users pass.":
1 "'''"Moving away from humour now. If you are a true computer freak and love the world of chips, wiring digrams and pinouts, then
1 "'''"James Herbert, in my eyes, is a brilliant author. So, for my first review, I'd like to tell you some details about his back-ground and my favourite book..."''"He was born in London's East Endand was educated locally and then he won a scholarship at theHighgate and Hornsey College of Art."'" Later on he had several jobs inadvertising where he progressive-ly moved up to become a head associate director.":
1 "'''"If I have to be really picky"'"and find a fault with the zine, then the only thing I really"'"comment on, is the general lack of content. Still, I'm certain that Darren will soon fill it out a bit, it's always"'"difficult to get support for a new 'zine."''"All in all then, I really liked this 'zine, and I'm sure that itwill only get better and better as time goes on.":
1 "'''"I hope you all liked your free gift last issue. This time, we have MUCH more! After this, you will find some Tasword utilties and some VERY good 128k music utilities. For all you 48k'ers who won't hear the magic of the AY, don't fret, the
1 "'''"I got my Spectrum way back in 1983, when I was 11, along with ~Cookie~ & ~Monsters in Hell~, but happy as a pig in muck. About two years ago, the trusty old Speccy got sidelined & I packed it away, but came to my senses when a local shop startedselling Y.S. Now it's running alongside a C64
1 "'''"Eventually he left advertising and became a full time horror writer. His first book,
1 "'''"Chris Taylor is a name you all know. Besides writing for Alch- News, he runs
1 "'''"COMSUMABLES:
1 "'''"Besides this, you will see plenty of offers of free PD in AlchNews and am giving away all programs written by Dominic Morris and Chris Taylor of TriadDevelopments because they have significantly helped out."'''"So, before you complain and backstab me again, let me assureyou that you are a minority of ONE and lets see you give your games and magazines away for free.":
1 "'''"As far as AlchNews goes, it alsowon in length for issue 8 too, astaggering 15k longer than it's other counterpart."''"Well, thats all very well, but how do I come by my price of `1?I try to offer fairness by giving away the magazine, which is possibly the only 'zine to doso but as I mentioned earlier, it can be a hassle for the customer, and so prove very off-putting, so I introduced thesales offer. The following pagegives details of all overheads.":
1 "'''"AlchNews reader
1 "''"Yes, it's true! About two weeks after the release of AN9, I got the entire collection! I've alsofound that they're only available from W.H. Smith."''"
1 "''"Whilst making a study of many Spectrum producers, I noticed two prime factors:"''"
1 "''"What else has this issue got in store? Well, I've noticed a lot of price grievences lately, so I'm going to give a detailed breakdown of our accounts, whichPROVE we're making no money fromyou at all. I've also discoveredsome places are selling +D utility disks at a whopping
1 "''"We have a growing number of non Public Domain programs. The monies from these sales usually go DIRECT to the author, and my ~cut~ is for media and postage costs only. Our Product List contains more details, but two premier programs are:"'"
1 "''"We get lots of questions here, and answer most of them to you personally, but for the benefit of new readers, here are some ofthe most popular recieved..."''"
1 "''"W.N. costs `1.50 and includes tape and postage."''"N.D also costs `1.50 and is inclusive of tape & postage."''"AlchNews costs `1 and includes tape/disk & postage OR is totally FREE if you include SAE and media.":
1 "''"To order, load up the PD list in48k mode, select the category ofprograms you wish details on, note down the ID code and it's title (in capital letters), and then follow the simple ordering instructions."'"
1 "''"To adjust the size of the disk, just make a simple calculation:"''"
1 "''"Time flies! They're now onto issue five, and this will most likely the last time you'll see it in this format. Why? Well, basically they, with great help from David Ledbury, will be re-packaging it into the normal A5 booklet but with the popular fanzine ~From Beyond~. For more details of this, and a new PD group, contact David or James, addresses in Trading Post."''"Anyway, on with my review of issue 5. `1.50 buys you 40 full pages of adventuring.":
1 "''"This is the Public Domain branchof Alchemist Research. Prices are the most competitive ever seen on a Spectrum, and tere aremany types of programs availble,from games to communications software to vital utilities for your machine, like disk progs."'"To see what the library has, youneed to see our
1 "''"This has a fast +D disk loader with no corruption, and comes with about 7 or 8 song files. Itseems that Y.S. only loaded in one of the files and saved it onthe covertape like that."''"Another system is
1 "''"This along with other incidents (which I shall leave to those concerned wether to air there complaints or not) give pd librarys a bad name. The pd lib-rarys are the speccys only survival prospect. So please PRISM and other pd librarys, if you really care about the speccy, provide a good service as if you don't you could damage the speccys survival."'''" SIGNED"''"
1 "''"There are only two error messages connected with RAMDOS:
1 "''"There are many efficent pd librarys, but
1 "''"The two crews form three groups,the pro-jumpers, the con-jumpersand the neutrals who haven't a thing to gain by helping either.Dacron (Data) saves the day and both crews and they end up at a Star Wreck convention and some hilarious events. (A genuine Cap'n Ricardo Night Light with abulb glowing in a plastic effigyof Ricarod's head!"''"
1 "''"The purpose for the program is for customers who purchase MusicWriter from me to get the best out of it without the manual. I am not producing the manual, butit is still available from Garryhimself at..."'"
1 "''"The pricing policy is the same for our PD orders. Compilations work out even greater value for money. A contribution from ALL PD which is sold will be going to the Sheffield Cats Shelter which provides a warm and safe home & food for ill & abandoned cats and kittens.":
1 "''"The following letter is a complaint that the individual has asked to be aired. He has passed on this letter to severalother companies. The contents donot neccessarily reflect those of Andy Davis and Alchemist Research and our staff."''"
1 "''"The first demo out under the Triad name is
1 "''"The finished code from Compress was then loaded into
1 "''"The average price for a product seems to be between `1 and `2. I compared AlchNews with two other Sinclair tapezines;
1 "''"Thats what you're reading! It's available quarterly, every MARCH, JUNE, SEPTEMBER and in DECEMBER. Now that we have a very large readership, it may become bi-monthly, but more details another time."''"Ordering AlchNews...":
1 "''"Some important news of issue 11:I was going to make it the standard two parter. Part A was going to be the usual stuff, andPart B was going to be an adventure special with news, reviews, lots of tips courtesy of *Spellunkler* and a preview of a new tape magazine called
1 "''"Some games which I have seen andplayed are
1 "''"So, if you want a true +D conversion, send an SAE for moredetails to:"''"
1 "''"So it saddens anybody to learn that PRISM is one of those not up to scratch. Take 1 case that comes to mind, PRISM sell a VIDEO TITLING PACK. For `3 and your own disk you get 13 progs. 'Ahh! what bargain!' I hear you say, alas this is not the case. It would be natural to assume that you get a lot of (if not 13) titlers in this pack. No, instead what you get is 4 titlers that don't work because they need Y.S.MEGABASIC, 1 'titling' prog that is little more than some PRINT statements strung to-gether which prints
1 "''"Sigh. It seems some people just can't accept competition. If youget people saying nasty things about me and my products, pleasepass them on. I shall respect your right to anonymonity and will even return postage. It seems a megolomaniac ~child~ is spreading malicious rumours. If you can PROVE that I'm making money, pleae send it as I wil pass that onto charity too, which is more than most do."''"And while the subject is arisen,why not lower YOUR prices, or give your products away!":
1 "''"Seeing as how this is a sort of celebration, I thought I'd take time out to show all the changeswe've adopted to make AlchNews as fresh and well presented as possible:"''"
1 "''"Out lines in the standard sinclair char set, 1 prog that does the same but slighty better, which might be ok if it didn'tcrash and you knew how to operate it, 4 progs which are designed to display instructions,which again might be ok if theywere correct and (in one case) related to the programs suppliedAnd finally of the 3 progs that were actually TITLERS and did actually WORK, only 2 are useful(containing different fonts) as the 3rd is exactly the same as the 2nd (although the prog main-tains it is a newer
1 "''"One of our special features thisissue is the
1 "''"Of course, it's easily to chargefor a well presented tape, but how much Spectrum material are you getting for your money? ThisINDEPENDENT chart shows how manybytes were used on each 'zine:"''"
1 "''"Now, you must cut it out into the shape as the Spectrum and +Dwhich is like an upside down ~T~to roughly the size shown above.":
1 "''"Now in fairness to PRISM, the owners/managers are not respons-able for the content of pd soft-ware nor are they able to alter them by law. However there is noexcuse for this incident of balat misleadment. It is not a pack of 13 progs they are sell-ing, more 3-4 programs which aresurounded by a couple of uselessprogs when maybe only 1 or 2 were necessary. There also seemsto be no form of quality control, which all organizations, especially pd lbrarys should practice.PRISM are not dishonestbut there service sorely lacks.
1 "''"Now for a little practical work.If, like me, you have a +D connected an like to move the computer forwards and backwards on your desktop, depending how you're working, the chances are that you've knocked the +D out of the I/O port and crashed the machine!"'" There are two cures, depending how much you are prepared to payout!"''"
1 "''"Note that this does not include any loading screen pictures or free gift / accompanied programs":
1 "''"New reader
1 "''"My favourite is
1 "''"Miles also has sucessfully adapted PCG's DTP pack to work in 128k mode on the 128k or grey+2. This gives a ramdisk option and includes a softwae fix for the ~sticky keys ~ problem whichaffects the +2 at times, usuallywhen the machine is code. There is also a cure for +D owners wholose files when they press BREAKto escape printing."''"
1 "''"Lots of new PD this month. Firstof all is the entire collection from Rasputin PD. I must thank Darren for his speedy service. The programs are quite good, andI do appreciate them, unlike certain other individuals who shall remain nameless who didn'teven send an SAE or the correct payment. So, he got the programsmuch cheaper than normal, but still had the cheek to say they were rubbish. Actually, his language was unprintable. It's people like this who are killingthe Spectrum.":
1 "''"Just send in your completed pages on tape or +D disk and I'll upload them into the new issue's shell, and return the completed magazine free of charge."''"
1 "''"Just a few quick notes. I've just seen a copy of the Prism PDmagazine, PD POWER, and I'd justlike to mention two things."''"1: The article on page 3 about Alec Carswell has NO support from me. Mr. Sherwood claims he has had no dealings with him, so his comments are very unjustified."''"2: Prism PD has had all of Chris Taylor's products revoked, so customers should NOT purchase them, but get them FREE from Alchemist Research.":
1 "''"Its good to know that in an areaof the computer world which is being totally dropped by the mainstream manufacturers there are still some people who are willing to stick with 'lil old Speccy. Everywhere you go, it's the same old routine...
1 "''"It seems I created a bit of confusion in issue 9 about what I sell, so to make it clearer, here is my second attempt!"''"
1 "''"It even has a section on populardisk systems and the Microdrive and Wafadrive is even mentioned!MS-DOS and all commands and languages & examples are given. It even has a troubleshooting chart for disks, tapes and monitors, giving repair details and how to adjust."''"At `12.95, it is rather costly, but if you are a novice or not, you will definetly find things in here useful and informative."''"ISBN 0 7506 0372 0 (pub. 1991)":
1 "''"Issue 9 contained a neat title, but exactly how did it get to that? It all started on
1 "''"In the meantime, if you would like a copy of Lemmings or Elite(128k) which loads and saves thecommanders to disk, then send anSAE, blank disk and some PROOF that you own the original game, either your original tape and /or your inlay card or whatever."''"The Elite Conversion saves the commander as a normal CODE file,so it can be easily altered in basic, or via my Editor program.Mark does point out that it is advisable to use an empty disk for storing commanders, just in case something goes wrong!":
1 "''"If you would like to contribute ANYTHING for AlchNews, be it onepage or a regular article, then our contributors pack is now available FREE to all. The pack contains a special file on how these pages are created. It alsocomes with
1 "''"If you have an old computer you don't want anymore, but would like to upgrade for a SAM, then contact David Ledbury. He is offering an amazing deal: Tradein your old computer and get a SAM Coupe for the discount priceof `150 and he'll even throw in a couple of software packages too! For more details, contact:"''"
1 "''"I've made some subtle changes inthe library. First, I've removed
1 "''"I've had quite a lot of orders for my +D utilities disks, so for prospective customers, heressome details on the disk:"''"
1 "''"I'd just like to apologise to regular readers and decicated friends of Alchemist Research who didn't know what that was about. A childish indicidual is jealous of my success and tries to achieve status by knocking down other's work. I have been advised to ignore his mail, and this is the only otherway to pass on my feelings."''"But, if you do have a genuine grievance, please let me know. I've been trading seven years and have not had one complaint!":
1 "''"I would like to make it
1 "''"I would just like to thank the folowing people for their contributions to AlchNews and Alchemist Research:"''"David Ledbury, Demon Hacker, Alexa Weston, James Waddington, Chris Taylor, Mark Harris, Dominic Morris, Darren Randle, Darren Blackburn, Lloyd Garland,Bob Dickson, Kevin Cooper, Outlet (Ron & Brian), Brian GaffAndy Moir, Miles Kinloch and allreaders and supporters. Thank you all."''"
1 "''"I would also like to make it clear that the comments made about Darren Randle stealing theAlchNews shell for
1 "''"I start this issue with an update on last time. It seems that
1 "''"I know that this was printed in Outlet 74, but I got this info back in September, and some A.N.customers are not Outlet readers":
1 "''"I couldn't let an issue pass without thanking the people who wrote with their comments."''"
1 "''"Hello and please give a belated birthday celebration to Alchemist Research, which was seven years old on the first of October 1993! I've just had to re-write this editorial, due to lots of new happenings in the ZXWorld. First, it is my sad duty to report the demise of
1 "''"Hello again to all our new readers we picked up from last issue and from other 'zines. I'm glad you've joined us! Lastissue was a landmark. As it was our 7th birthday, I decided to revamp the system, which everyone (except M. Harris!) liked. What was the insult then?Well, he missed the page numbersand ENTER to advance pages, and David 'Nelson' Ledbury wanted meto adopt 40 column text and use Tasword to enter the text. I must agree on both counts, but this method is tried and tested,and I ain't changing it again!":
1 "''"Final quick tip for 128k users: When using the RENUMBER command,would you like to renumber your listing to your own design of line numbers, rather than type in the program in the manual?"''"
1 "''"Dear Sir, (good start- Andy!)"'"Last week, my old and much used Multiface got broke. The problemseems to be the edge connector. The Multiface got dropped, and the connector has split across the top edge. Can you tell me where I can get a new part, and instructions for fitting it"'"please?"'"With Thanks,
1 "''"Dear George,
1 "''"Dear AlchNews,"'" After purchasing my first edition of A.N. (ish 9), I felt that I had to write and say how good AlchNews really is. It came as a shock to me when I read that Your Sinclair was closing down, but while reading through the ~Big Final Issue~
1 "''"Chris also went on to say that he (and many others) like the PDLibrary as it currently is. So, I shall keep it as it is, but introduce a few compilation tapes / disks."''"Now, I feel I must apologise to
1 "''"As usual there is no shortage oftips: pages and pages of them! Lots of previous reader's help pleas and questions have been answered. Theres a Soapbox section about the Jurassic Park bandwagon people are jumping on,and there are more details on the
1 "''"As I stated earlier, all the resources of Alchemist Research are at your disposal.":
1 "''"Another bumper pack of free gifts again this issue, and I shall continue to do this every time. This issue we have an excellent rendition of
1 "''"AlchNews 11 will comprise of just one part, and as a seperateload will be
1 "''"A good friend and AlchNews reader is Mark ~Miktor~ Harris. Ignoring his self-criticsim, he is possibly the best +D programmer I have ever come across! SOme of his more popularworks are
1 "''"3) The code in question was PD and NOT the Scepical code used by Delta 4 on the Boggit."''"4) Sinclair News issue 1 was a Tasword 2 file and used my Tasword viewer program, BUT I wrote this in 1990 for my own use and added it to APD when I started up. It was my own fault I didn't put my name on it. But Darren apologised when he found out and would have credited me if he'd known I was the author.":
1 "''"(8).. Also my one man quest to bring back into use all those thermal printers with the aid ofsome PD software and fax paper! I also promised a comprehensive adventure tips section for ish 9but due to the sudden arrival ofthe new shell, I completely forgot - sorry!"''"
1 "''"(2).. Anyway, I soon dropped 42 column as it proved very tediousto format correctly. I also stuck a 48k Interrupt digital clock in the corner. I started the first series on the ~magic Button~ project, and my PAW section. Also, an ~unknown~ called
1 "''" ISSUE 3."''"I was very impressed with this latest tapezine from Neon PD. The Enigma style of text veiwer is very simple to use, and showsa good deal of thought has gone into the production. Darren"'"Randle, the editor of the 'zine shows his writing talents well in this production. Members of SSH will know of Darren, for he wrote many game reviews for the newsletter, and I'm very pleasedto see that he has expanded intowriting his own 'zine.":
1 "'"Thanks Kevin. You didn't mentionyour job of trying to contact Alec by mail or the cheque's amount. But, you are not alone. Being in my public position, I cannot cast judgement, but at a personal level I have had many problems with Venturesoft in thepast. I am unable to comment in AlchNews, but if you read the new tapeine
1 ""computer"".":
1 with the attribute colour of your choice, then
1 will give roughly a 23k Ramdisk and 16k for your basic."''"Remember that the figures are approximate, due to the RAMDOS Opearting System requiring some memory. (1762 bytes)":
1 which is a large 64 column file of all our titles."'"We also do collections which include media and postage which saves you even more money.":
1 which crushes 7k screen files down to around 1k!"''"
1 which clearsthe entire disk.
1 which blows the socks offany other tapezines around!"''"But after lengthy discussions, Ihave managed to persuade them togive away issue One FREE with AlchNews 11!":
1 which caters for the Spectrum & SAM."''"
1 was, and it was never the same when the immortal
1 tune WILL work on the 48k, but the sample quality will be fuzzier. Finally, theres the excellent
1 to your total.":
1 to set, then check by pressing
1 to save etc. Merge and Delete are also fully supported, as is
1 titles I have yet to find room & time to release!":
1 there is a thorough review of Venturesoft.":
1 the +D Multiface style ROM!"''"Mark also does tape to disk transfers. No, I don't mean he just puts tape files onto disk, but TOTALLY REWRITES them so they load and save their files too!":
1 that there is no bad blood between Darren Randle and myself. I will admit there was some brief tension, but this was blown up out of allproportion thanks to the Post Office losing one of Darren's letters and one or two busybodyssticking their noses in where itwasn't needed. So, let me say that we are the best of friends,I bought the rights to his products so they would be be available, so if you have a problem, TOUGH! Get used to eating those sour grapes those concerned!":
1 talents into AlchNews. The previous issues and Rasputin programs will be available via Alch. Research.":
1 takes over the RESET button and before you get the usual 128k menu or 48k
1 started a section caled ~Mystic Dwellings~with some useful adventure contact addreses."''"
1 so Ican support 3~ disks now!";
1 sent by Christian Aymard in France.":
1 saves the entire disk and OS to tape, so you can save the entire environment."''"
1 said ~Many thanksfor sending me AlchNews. It is actually quite an enjoyable readMost interesting was that I'm not the only person having Multiface problems.~"''"~Thanks for AN9. And I must say how much of an impovement the new shell makes~ said
1 said that this wasthe best issue ever and AlchNewsshould never stop being made."''"
1 puts an extra command intothe +D RAM, and gives you the equivalent of the Multiface TOOLcommand which means you can enter standard Multiface pokes."''"
1 project which will no doubt make this magazine the finest adventure news & reviews authority on the Spectrum!"''"My verdict: Excellent value for money in a less than excellent adventurer's world.":
1 program.":
1 on the Amiga. But what of Rasputin? I have purchased this company and the Sinclair News rights; lock, stock and barrel!":
1 of course, but that really is a programs magazine. Besides our readers and PD customers, we have reader from :
1 occurs when you try to load or merge a non-existent file."'"If you are not happy with the colour set up, just
1 messageyou get a WIMP system to list all your present snapshotted games on disk."''"
1 lets you reprogram the +D's snapshot filename spec.":
1 left! The other mags tried to copy it, but failed miserably. Out of all the questions they answered, I bet 95% of people are not satisfied."''"I shall take note of your comments regarding repairs, but it does seem cheaper to buy new Spectrums, rather than fix them!
1 is the first program, alot faster than the original Outlet version.
1 is not as infalliable as we all seem! There is a small bug in the special format command. If you try and format a disk to a different capacity than the normit ignores which drive you specify and either formats the last drive used!"'"To cure the bug is the followingprogram, which I've put on all +D orders of AlchNews10."''"Thanks to
1 is not one off them. Complaints have arisen."''"The spectrums mantle as a games machine (along with the C64 and Amstrad) is being taken over by graphically better consoles. Software house's are slowing up and in some case's ceasing to release speccy software. The fu-ture does not look good.The laststop,and probably the 8-bit com-puters survival, is the pd library.However if those librarys are not up to scratch, then the speccys demise is a cert.
1 is for you. It's price is a whopping `12.95 from Maplin (pg 727) or W.H.Smith's. It's 255 pages long and contains all you'll ever need to know, like abbreviations, decimal-hex-ascii-octal charts, popular chip diagrams, uses and instruction sets and wiring popular disk drives, RS232 and SCART ports.":
1 is for the 128k machines and allows you to setupnew colours for 128k basic, rather than black on white, and can be stored in the DOS file soa simple RUN will give a custom editor setup."''"
1 is back to normal price (25p). The classic
1 is an excellent way to check the way yours or a friendsDOS is set up. This program provides an easy opposite to thePOKE@ command."''"
1 is a very well establshed computer user group with almost 3000 members worldwide. Besides this, they also have a special interest group called
1 is a long running, monthly tape and disk based magazine containing news, adverts and lots of homegrown software."''"
1 have been rather busy lately. Besides their large and well programmed range of utilities in the PD List, they are probably the finest British Demo Group. If you know otherwise, I urge you to send me a sample for review, otherwise, you'll remain the second best group!"''"Anyway, as I was saying, they dosome rather fine demos. Well, due to other commitments, the previous group,
1 has just aquired a Spectrum+ and hopes todo some serious word processing and would like practical advice on printers and interfaces. Anyone willing to pass on their suggestions or experiences writeto:"''"
1 gives a catalogue and gives a free spacetotal on the disk":
1 game Ipromised some time back!"'''"Thanks to C. Taylor, L. Garland,D. Ledbury, D. Randle, M. Gent, D. Morris, J. Waddington and allwho contributed. See you in March 1994.":
1 for the cure to this.":
1 for TEN! For moredetals, see the review later"'" Finally, I've now got a
1 for SIX!!! And then that was reduced from `9.95! I need not remind you that mine are only
1 for ANY Speccywhich gives you a 40k ramdisk, faster and easier to use than the one in the 128k machines!":
1 featuring tips, reviews,and some very good PD adventure games and my
1 disks at 70p. Tapes are
1 comes in two parts. Part one is the comprehensive instruction file which gives details on all the commands and how to use them. Part two is theDOS itself and is self running."''"New commands are defined to allow access to the disk. They are simple
1 both now available from me free of chargebut please remember your media &SAE"''"Final comment: Mr Sherwood- If your printer suddenly develops another ~fault~ preventing you getting in touch - please tele- phone me as I will send you a BRAND NEW one out of my own pocket. It's called
1 as it very dramatic and realistic."''"The basic outline is that a strange white light appears before earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and so forth. The onlypersons who can save the world are two special children, which don't know the fate of the planet is in their hands. On theother side of the world is some-one in a Cult, trying to destroythem both."'" It's a very enjoyable read and it makes you think if this is really that far from fiction.":
1 appears when you try to save a file larger than the available free memory on thedisk."'"
1 and placed the programs inwith
1 and isdesigned to fit between issues 10 and 11."''"There is no title page, just onelong section.
1 and uses
1 aims to get back any file you may have accidentally erased. You can also redefine the file type (from BASIC to saySPECIAL type)"''"
1 We only use quality, branded
1 This is very simple. Get a cardboard boxpreferably a dry, clean one where you can cut a piece out the same dimensions as above.
1 The landmark! To celebrate the 7th year of Alchemist Research (we are no amateurs!), I quickly decided to use a new shell. It may look like theres less than normal, but I dropped all the sub-menus I had. There is a lot more text than ever, and this shall continue to be! Thanks to Simon Goodwin, the first of many free gifts was theuseful ~ZX-FX~ sampler."''"
1 The first paper version. This basically told of the new media I suppored (+D & M.drive),and my trip around the Midlands to get them, meeting David Ledbury and the ZAT team in the process!":
1 Tape users - Send an SSAE and blank C15 for it for FREE!
1 Same format as ish 2, but the title was now encased in a bar. I also promised free games (Spaceman Bob- important news onthis coming up!)":
1 SUBTRACT this from 65535 (ie: 65535-15360=50175)"''"
1 Prices vary, depending on media but the price INCLUDES the type of media requested and all the postage costs:"'"
1 PD), then you get the Writer, all known song filesand the ~help file~.":
1 Move RAMTOP to suit:
1 LOAD PART TWO
1 LOAD PART THREE
1 Just send a stamped, self addressed envelope, and the media of your choice (tape, +D 3.5~ disk, +3 disk, Microdrive) to the usual address. You can order ANY issue you wish."''"
1 If you pop intoa computer / stationery shop, you will see mouse mats. Plasticcovered card with a thin layer of sponge on the bottom.":
1 I saw a page of user groups, fanzines etc. and picked out the AN article & decided to get more information,and I'm glad that I did. I shallbe buying AN every issue for allthe latest ifo, reviews, offers and all the other articles.":
1 DOOMSDAY:
1 Convert this to bytes-
1 Chilling 128k PAWed adventure in the 1984 / Clock- work Orange style."'"
1 Alec Carswell made a sudden return with a new tapezine and lots of new promises. My soapboxon PD libraries got me many new enemies! I say that they're justjealous that they can't offer a service anywhere near mine, and a free quality tapezine to boot!I also started the ball rolling for Special Interest Groups to be formed."''"
1 A BIRO!!!
1 5p is well below the actual cost of leaflets, envelopes and duplication. This gets donated to my local charityso I pay for all this.
1 * NON PUBLIC DOMAIN PROGRAMS *
1 which is believed to work with samples. The Axel-F tune is obviously a sample, so perhaps it came from that package? If anyone can shed any light on it,let us know and we'll mention itin our paper production
1 brand and are 60p each.
1 article. To accompany that are quite a few Tasword Utilities. This suite will allow you to reformat your text from 64 to 32columns. Others allow you to convert Tasword 3 files to Tas 2and even from PCG format, or basic DATA statements! For more details on this, see the Taswordarticle."''"Finally, theres the excellent
1 We have a very large reader-ship, possibly the largest tape / disk magazine readership on the Spectrum. I certainly can't think of anyone larger. OK, maybe
1 Tape `1 +D disk `1 (3M BRANDED) +3 disk `3.50 Microdrive `2.50
1 Philip Court
1 Most readers and customers are over 30 years old, I think the eldest is in his sixties!":
1 has a final box of Spectrum hardware and software for sale. Amongst them include many of thefamous and infamous devices seenon the Spectrum, including RGB monitor interfaces, speech synths and much more! Please send an SSAE and perhaps 20p to cover printing costs of his list"''"
1 Reviewed by Lloyd Garland.
1 +D users - LOAD d* ~TMF1~
1 split up, and Chris ~Gawain~ Taylor formed TRIAD.":
1 TASWORD WORDPROCESSORS
1 The next demo is called
1 Kevin Cooper, CARLISLE
1 ~WHAT NOW ?~
1 a concerned pd customer
1 24 Parsloes Avenue"'"
1 YET MORE COMMENT
1 UPGRADE TO A SAM
1 interrput clock has been re- vamped. It now comes with this font and a utility to allow the 48k machine to use CURSOR UP & DOWN while editing a line!"''"I've also written a demo - help file for
1 FINAL COMMENTS
1 Miles Kinloch"'" Flat 16"'" 6 Drummond Street"'" Edinburgh"'" EH8 9TU
1 Mark Harris."'" 1 Salters Lane"'" FAVERSHAM."'" Kent"'" ME13 8YD
1 MORE COMMENT
1 Apologies!
1 THANKYOU
1 translate mnemonics into machine
1 to which a program
1 scientific problems
1 memory.
1 mathematical and
1 language which can
1 is dedicated":
1 from the CPU to
1 computer's CPU
1 by the computer and recognised by the
1 binary addresses
1 be directly loaded
1 Sorry.
1 LOGIC UNTI