FAQ - SAM Coupe Frequently Asked Questions List
SAM Coupe Frequently Asked Questions List... Very provisional...
Thanks to Tim Paveley (for ideas and facts), Colin MacD (for error checking),
Dan Doore (for some Hardware facts), and Colin Piggot (for some blatent self-
advertising). Oh, and me (for typing the bloody thing in).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE NOTE:
Since this FAQ was started the author, Graham, lost net access and therefore
stopped work on the FAQ. It was last updated something like December 1995.
No-one is currently maintaining a copy as far as I am aware.
Not all is lost. All the information in this FAQ has been transferred to
somewhere in the "Sam Coupe Scrapbook" web pages:
http://www.mono.org/~unc/Coupe/
which should also be more complete and up-to-date.
Tim
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Section One - The (good ol') SAM Coupe...
1.1 What exactly is a SAM Coupe?
1.2 Isn't it just a super-spectrum?
1.3 How many people own SAM Coupes?
1.4 Why haven't I heard about the SAM Coupe?
1.5 What is your personal favourite nick-name of the SAM Coupe?
Section Two - The Software (or lack of)...
2.1 What games can I buy?
2.2 What utilities can I buy?
2.3 What educational software can I buy?
2.4 What magazines/diskzines are there?
2.5 How good is the PD scene?
2.6 Ooh, almost forgot, what about the hardware?
2.7 And what, pray tell, is under developement? (No Guarantees, folks!)
Section Three - The chequered history...
3.1 What was MGT?
3.2 What was SAMCO?
3.3 What is WEST COAST COMPUTERS?
Section Four - People are strange...
4.1 Who is...? (Alphabetical biographies)
Section Five - Company Addresses...
5.1 Where can I buy? (Alphabetical list)
Section Six - I want to meet the stars!
6.1 Purely out of interest, are there any shows?
****************************************************************************
With no more quibbling...
Section One - The (good ol') SAM Coupe...
1.1 What exactly is a SAM Coupe?
The SAM Coupe is a much loved, much sweared at computer, that is both an
ideal starter's computer, pretty good home-business computer and great
games playing computer.
It was launched in 1989 amongst much hype in the Sinclair computer mags
of the day, and was seem by most to be the ideal upgrade from the humble
Speccy (spectrum).
This unfortunatley got it branded as a super-spectrum (see 1.2) which
(although I love the spectrum dearly, and still have my +2a) is a nasty
and degrading thing to call it.
The SAM is a very powerful 8-bit (the most powerful in fact) that beats
such things as Commodes (sorry, Commodores) into the ground. It is blessed
with a good range of colours, a decent resoloution (256x192 pixels in modes
1,2 and 4. 512x192 pixels in mode 3) and a nice, if awkward sound chip.
The SAM represented some very clever technical thinking, one thing was the
fact that the original specs for the SAM had it with only 64 colours, but
thanks to clever thinking, the makers managed to cram twice as many on to
the ULA.
Another particularly notable aspect of the SAM is that the slim-line
slot-in disk drives are about the smallest you can buy (although they aren't
made any more) and the second fastest floppy drives in the world.
All in all, the SAM Coupe is a very good computer to buy. And I love it.
1.2 Isn't it just a super-spectrum?
No! No no no no no! How many times must this question be asked, or this myth
perpetuated??? The SAM Coupe is a stand-alone computer that only is related
to the Spectrum by it's excellent compatability with most 48K software
(though not 128K software), one of it's screen modes, and the fact it's CPU
is a faster version of the Z80 that resides inside Speccies.
The curse of the Super-Spectrum was really started because the SAM started
with approxiamtley zero software for it - as most computers do - but the
SAM had a back-log of Speccy stuff it could run, so people came to rely on
this stuff and massive lists of compatable software where printed in lot's
of magazines.
Unfortunatley, this name has stuck for quite a while, but with the spectrum
pretty much dead in it's original incarnation the SAM is making a name for
itself, and the name isn't Sinclair.
1.3 How many people own SAM Coupes?
Well, this one is hard to really calculate, but according to Dave Ledbury
there are roughly 12,000 world wide. Not exactly a sprawling user base, but
a very dedicated one. And that's what counts. (To a degree...)
1.4 Why haven't I heard about the SAM Coupe?
Because the only people who know about them are Spectrum owners, and this is
due to the fact that there was little or no advertising of them anywhere
outside of Spectrum magazines. At the time of release the Spectrum was just
teetering on the edge of it's sad down-hill slide, so the credibility of
8-bits in general was not too good.
1.5 What is your personal favourite nick-name of the SAM Coupe?
When SAMCO where still about they produced 5 issues of the SAM newsdisk.
On one issue it had a demo of the SAM adventure system, or SAS. The demo
game was based on infiltrating a certain company and finding out about the
SPAM Souffle computer. This is simply the most appropriate name the SAM
could be given. In fact, I often refer to my SAM as a SPAM Souffle.
Bit of a stupid section really...
****************************************************************************
Section Two - The Software (or lack of)...
Oh God! What have I let myself in for...
Each section will contain a list*, complete with where you can buy the
package, the approximate cost, a BRIEF description and a star rating out of
five in brackets (if it has a ? then I personally haven't used it but am
relying on the honesty of other sources).
* In no particular order yet, just as I remember them. Sorry!
MARKS : (*) - Truly awful, avoid like the plague.
(**) - Still pretty bad.
(***) - Average, nothing special.
(****) - Good, worth investing in.
(*****) - So hot that if you drop it, it'll cause nuclear meltdown!
These really only apply to games and some PD titles.
To find out what the abreviations stand for look at section 5.1.
Note: Game and PD marks reflect value for money, so if two games are pretty
much as good as each other but one is half the price, it'll get a
higher mark.
2.1 What games can I buy?
Lots, now. But it wasn't always that way. And as a humerous anecdote I'll
tell you that, upon completing Defenders Of The Earth, Enigma variations
phoned up MGT to give them the good news. The answerphone picked up and
played a message telling them that MGT had just gone into liquidation.
A very sad story really, but the future's looking bright...
ASTROBALL - Very addictive. ? quid (*****) REV
BATZ 'N' BALLS - Arkanoid type game. Very hard. ? quid (***) REV
BOING - Crap FX, but good gameplay. 10 quid (****) FRED
BOOTY - Conversion of the classic spectrum game. 5 quid (?) PSS
BOMBS AWAY - Oddly named arcade adventure. 6.5 quid (?) JS
BULGULATORS - Very large, but samey PACMAN clone. 10 quid (***) FRED
CASTLE - Very enjoyable budget game. Worth a look. 4 quid (****) JS
CRAFT - One game in the Dyadic 2 pack. 6 quid (***) PSS
DAYS OF SORCERY - Highly acclaimed adventure. ? quid (?) ?
DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH - Smooth but lacks depth. 6 quid (***) PSS
DYADIC - Two okay games for too much money. 10 quid (***) PSS
DYZONIUM - Difficult but addictive shoot 'em up. 9 quid (****) FRED
ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE ROBOT MONSTERS - Urk. 7.5 quid (***) PSS
EXODUS - Very hard, but good, SMASH TV clone. 6 quid (****) PSS
FIVE ON TREASURE ISLAND - Adventure game. 7.5 quid (?) PSS
FOOTBALL DIRECTOR 2 - Obvious isn't it? ? quid (****) ?
FOOTBALL LEAGUE MANAGER - Lovely looking management. 12 quid (?) FRED
HEXAGONIA - Clever but difficult puzzle game. ? quid (****) REV
IMPATIENCE - YS megagame 2 pack. 4 quid (*****) FRED
INVADERS - Space invades meet SCADs. 4 quid (***) JS
KLAX - Not as good as it should have been. 7 quid (***) PSS
LEGEND OF ESHAN - Lords of Midnight, basically. 15 quid (*****?) REV
LEMMINGS - Excellent conversion of the classic. 20 quid (*****) FRED
MANIC MINER - Good updating of the classic. 9 quid (****) REV
MARBLES DELUXE - A BASIC game that's a bit overpriced. 6 quid (***) PSS
MULTIPACK 1 - One good game, one crap game. 6 quid (***) PSS
OH NO! MORE LEMMINGS - Extra levels for Lemmings. 15 quid (?) FRED
PARALLAX - 9 level shoot 'em up. Mediocre YS review. ? quid (***) ?
PIPEMANIA - The classic action puzzler. 7.5 quid (****) PSS
PRINCE OF PERSIA - Brilliant conversion. ? quid (****) ?
QUIZBALL - Quiz with 500 or so questions. ? quid (****) ?
SNAKEMANIA - One of the Dyadic games. 6 quid (***) PSS
SOPHISTRY - Odd, and difficult speccy conversion. 10 quid (****) REV
SPHERA - Could have been sooo good. But it ain't. 7 quid (***) PSS
SPLAT - Simple, but playable game of reactions. 3 quid (?) PSS
THE WITCHING HOUR - GM arcade adventure. Popular 5 quid (?) FRED
T.N.T - Superbly good game in BOMB JACK vein. 10 quid (*****) REV
TRILTEX, THE LATER LEVELS - Impatience expansion pack. 4 quid (?) FRED
VEGETABLE VACATION - Complete drivel. Pity. ? quid (**) ?
VOID - Ummm... er...? ? quid (?) ?
WOP GAMMA - Boulderdash type game. 9 quid (****) REV
WATERWORKS - Excellent logic puzzle action game. 10 quid (*****) FRED
WATERWORKS 2 - Very difficult sequel. 10 quid (****) FRED
2.2 What utilities can I buy?
Almost as many as the games. There have been a massive amount of things
released.
My personal theory is that a lot of them are easier to write than games...
But not all of them though. Nope, there have been some pretty cunning packages
released...
DRIVER - Fast, clever, multi-tasking wimp package. Mmmm. 30 quid REV
E-TRACKER - Powerful, but user unfriendly music maker. ? quid ?
FILE MANAGER - A file manager. Gosh! ? quid ?
GAMES MASTER - Speedy way of making good games. 25 quid BETA
LOGICCAD - Create and test logic circuits. Hmm... Make a chip? 5 quid PSS
MASTER BASIC - Very good BASIC extension, kills all the bugs! ? quid BETA
MASTER DOS - Incredibly powerful DOS for the SAM. ? quid BETA
MIDI SEQUENCER V3 - A, umm, MIDI sequencer. 20 quid PSS
MUSIC MACHINE - Music package, simple but okay. And inexpensive. 10 quid PSS
OUTWRITE! - Very user friendly and polished word-processor. ? quid CHEZ
PERSONAL BANKING SYSTEM - A computer accounts keeper. ? quid ?
RECOVER-E - Disk repair/recover program. 10 quid PSS
SAM ADVENTURE SYSTEM - Create your own complex adventures. 25 quid PSS
SAM PAINT - Incredibly good art package. Buy it now! 20 quid FRED
SAM TAPE 4 - A pretty good Speccy emulator. 12 quid FRED
SCADS - Sam Coupe Arcade Developement System. Very good. ? quid ?
SC_DTP - Desk top publisher from Steve's "always good" Software. ? quid ?
THE SECRETARY - Word processor that has some nasty bugs in it. ? quid ?
2.3 What educational software can I buy?
Until recently, I'd have said none. But if you look under Leo Software
in section 5.1, you'll find they cater for just about everything.
Phoenix Software Systems, also have delved into the educational
software scene, they have about four packages.
2.4 What magazines/diskzines are there?
Fortunatley, the SAM is blessed with quite a number of well put together
magazines and diskzines. Here are just a few with descriptions, prices etc.
MAGAZINES...
FORMAT - Format covers both the Speccy and the SAM, I haven't personally read
that much of it, but I have been impressed by the articles I have read.
They cover such things as machine code tutorials, to converting multi-
loads to the SAM and other things. Currently on issue four billion.
And it's a snip at _.__ per issue, and they come out monthly.
Available from Format Publications, aka Bob Brenchley, organiser of the
excellent Gloucester Shows.
SAM PRIME - Run by David Ledbury, this is a very good read and well priced, in
theory it comes out six times a year, but it can be a *bit*
irregular. The magazine costs 1.50 an issue, or 3.00 with a disk,
normally of a very high quality. Several well known SAM names write
for the disk, such as Simon "Cookie" Cooke. It's well balanced
between techy stuff, and reviews, previews and interesting articles.
Always entertaining, quite often enlightening, pretty darn
refreshing. At time of writing (6th Dec 1994) it's currently on
issue 6.
Available from Phoenix Software Systems.
NB. Issues 1 to 4 where completely disk based, and issue 5 is a must
buy at 3.00 for the mag and disk.
ZAT (pronounced Z-80) - This is a speccy and SAM based magazine that has been
going for a helluva long time, and is still being
produced. Etc.
It only costs _.__ per issue and is available from
..... once a month.
ZODIAC - Not sure really, priced at 50p an issue though. As per usual, address
in section 5, see also section 2.5.
DISKZINES...
ENCELADUS - A diskzine of years past, ran for about 12 issues then dissapeared.
Full of very techy stuff and some nice utilities. You can get the
back issues from FRED publishing. Cost, 2.00 per issue.
FRED - FRED is a more or less monthly (depending on the Editor, currently Colin
Anderton). It comprises of one disk, packed to the hilt with E-Tunes
(chip music, really), a couple a MODS, humourous and serious text
articles, games, demos, utilities and, well, everything. It's a complete
bargain at only 2 quid an issue, but your can subscribe for just 20
smackers for 12 issues. Being a subscriber also entitles you to good
discounts on a lot of FRED and Revelation's software, so it's dead
sensible you see. Currently on issue 51.
SAM 2 SAM - At just 2.00 for two disks, this disk-mag is a bit of a good buy.
One disk comprises of BASIC games and SCADS games, the other of
VERY readable text articles. Definatley worth a look, currently
on issue 5 or 6. Available from Rob Clayton or John D Teare, address
in section 5.
SAM DISK - A disk run by graphics genius Steven Pick. Lot's of piccies and not
lot else I'm afraid to say, apart from lengthy text articles.
Not sure of the current issue, but about the mid-teens mark.
Cost _.__ per issue. Available from ATOMIK Software.
SAM NEWSDISK - Another old diskzine. This was the official disk-mag of SAMCO,
it ran for five issues, totally six disks. It contained demos
of games such as PLASMOID (now called DYZONIUM), MANIC MINER,
CRAFT and a lot of others. The extra disk comprised of a nice
looking but simple ray-traced animation of the SAM robot juggling
some ball-bearings. Quite nice but the intro took soooo long!
Cost _.__ per issue. Available from ???
SCPDU - Short lived disk-mag, not sure about the quality, but it looks nice.
Available from FRED at 2.00 per issue.
2.5 What about the PD scene?
The SAM has a very healthy PD scene, things are dribbling out onto the market
all the time, and fortunatley, most of the titles are very easy to track down
thanks to the fact that there are only about 2 PD libraries. The larger of the
two is run by Derek Morgan, and is called SAM PD (surprisingly) who does an
excellent job and will endever to get your PD out to you as soon as possible.
He has quite a wide range, and he also has branched out into software supply
with his other branch, called F9 Software. And to anybody who doesn't own a SAM
out there, F9 is the key you press to BOOT disks.
His address is in section 5, and you can write, including a SSAE for a quite
detailed catalogue of all his wares.
The other PD supplier is Michael Stocks, his range is smaller, and he does
stock some things that SAM PD stocks. Other than that I cannot help you as I've
never personally bought anything off of him. His company is called ZODIAC PD,
and he also runs the magazine ZODIAC, and the software company ZODAIC Software.
Address in section 5.
2.6 Ooh, almost forgot, what about the hardware?
Hmph! This is a software section. But, just this once...
This is a list of all the hardware available, past and present, (maybe even
future) and I can not vouch for it still being available...
DISK DRIVES - There are now two forms of disk drive available, though one is not
made any more and is in short supply. Firstly, the original slot
in drive...
This is a VERY fast 1 meg, 3.5 inch drive, it's got a nice orange
or green light on the front and slots into one of the two drive
holes on the front of your Coupe. It costs about 80 quid, but if
you ain't got a drive, you ain't got anything.
FRED might still have a few...
The other one is the same price, I think, but has to be installed
at WEST COAST computers. I'm not sure about the speed, but it's
probably pretty similar.
SC_Autoboot - Replacement ROM which basically does an "Instant F9" and a much
quicker resest, it has a few disadvantages though, it does not do
a full reset so some software will crash and it doesn't work in a
number of very early SAMs.
MOUSES (MICE?) - The SAM doesn't have a SAM specific mouse, so to speak, but you
can buy an interface which accepts all the standard 2 button
mice, and any Atari type trackerballs, etc. The interface plugs
into the mouse port on the back of the SAM.
PRINTERS - Once again, no specific printer, thank god, just an interface, which,
unsurprisingly plugs into the expansion port on the back of the
SAM. The typical printers which used to be sold by SAMCO were the
CITIZEN 120D+ (9 pin dot matrix, VERY noisy, I own one) and the LC200
STAR (9 pin, at a guess, and COLOUR too!).
DPU - Disk Protection Unit. This is a hardware fix for the bug in the SAM's
design that corrupts disks when the reset button is pressed, it involves
some soldering and track breaking so it's not for the nervous but well
worth 15 quid. Available from Steve's Software.
EXTRA MEMORY - The original SAM had only 256K, to get 512K you plugged in a chip
to the mother board. Any more memory than that and you'll need
the very expensive 1 meg packs. These bulky things plug into
the printer port and act as RAM drives. You'll need MASTERDOS to
access them. If you want any more than 1 meg extra, you'll need
a SAMBUS, I'm not sure where you can get these now but they allow
you to plug in 4 meg's extra, bringing the total memory to 4608K.
Not a bad figure...
SCART CABLE - Yes... 10 quid from WEST COAST.
MIDI CABLE SET - Yup... 7 quid from WEST COAST.
COMMS INTERFACE - Yeah... 35 quid from WEST COAST.
2.7 And what, pray tell, is under developement? (No guarantees, folks!)
Ummm... Well, there's quite a bit on the SAM scene that currently being
worked on, and I'd like to thank Dan (Banzai) Doore for this information
about it all...
Oh, and Colin Piggot for some specs on his Quazar surround sound system. Which,
he would like pointed out, is in no way related to the popular laser game
involving breathless 14 year prats running about in a large foam-coated
building. Gosh, I want to play it now...
MiDGET - Top video digitiser from Martin Rookyard and Simon Cooke. I've heard
quite a bit about this myself, and by all accounts, it's got more
clever features than a particularly ingenious ejyptian thingy.
Quazar Surround - Sound Card from Colin Piggot. It will have 2 modes, controlled
by a software-controlled switch.
Mode 1: Six 8-bit channels. (ooh)
Mode 2: Two 16 bit channels, and Two 8 bit channels. (aah)
Full surround when 4 speakers are connected, or just stereo
when 2 are connected.
And an expansion port for a Stereo Sampler Module.
Oh, and lot's of software support.
IDE HD Controller - Ummm... A hard-drive controller of some sort, I'd guess.
Banzai could offer me no more details than that it was being
developed by "some german bloke". So, if the "german bloke"
is reading, please mail me with more details.
Multi-ROM - Allows extra ROMS and expansion stuff, I am assured. Once again by
the ever-so-talented Rookyard/Cooke team.
Sam Hard Drive - Guess? And look! Quel surprise! It's by Rookyard and Cooke!
Next time I see either of those two, I'm going to put a spade
in their heads and removed three quarters of their brains,
this wobbly grey matter will then be shared between all us,
mortals? yes, mortals, so we can be clever boffins, too.
****************************************************************************
Section Three - The chequered history...
3.1 What was MGT?
MGT stood for Miles Gordon Technology. It was the company that designed built
and launched the SAM onto the public. It was run by Alan Miles (all round good
guy and model of lovelyness to us all) and Bruce Gordon (Ditto).
Unfortunatley it had to go into liquidation when it could not fulfill the
massive orders of it's first christmas. A very sad day for us all...
3.2 What was SAMCO?
But luckily, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it came back as SAMCO.
With pretty much all the same staff and we all cheered. Then it went bust again.
3.3 What is WEST COAST COMPUTERS?
West Coast Computers is the current holder of the SAM, so far it has remained
stable and has already launched a new SAM computer called the SAM Elite, this
is basically a SAM in a new case, with a new disk-drive, and the interface at
the back pointing out at an odd angle.
It sells a large range of stuff, but if you want to know what it sells, then
tough! Look at the Sales page of Tim's Coupe Web pages.
The address, as usual, is in section 5.
****************************************************************************
Section Four - Who is...?
An alphabetical list of most of the SAM personalities (?) with a tiny little
biography of what they've done, and what they are doing...
A
Colin Anderton :
The new Editor of FRED as from issue 51. I know him personally and he is very
very short. It's a good thing he'll never read this.
He has a love of SCADS, is useless at graphics, sounds and virtually everything
and therefore ideal in his current position (only joking).
B
Edwin Blink :
The person who knows all there is to know about sampling.
Bob Brenchley :
Larger than life organiser of the truly excellent Gloucester shows (see 6.1).
He runs Format Publications and is a bit like the God Father of the SAM world.
But in a nice Father Christmassy sort of way.
Marc Broster :
Talented coder who is far too clever for his own good. Did the lovely Dead Wild
Cat demo on FRED 50.
Graham Burtenshaw :
Incredibly talented Ex-Ed of Enceladus and writer of the ever so fabby SAM
Paint. People like him should be preserved. Formaldehyde anybody?
C
Wayne Coles :
Talented coder. Nuff said! Though he might be writing some games...
Andrew Collier :
Talented coder who's done quite a bit for FRED and has a compilation called
SYNCYTIUM. God, isn't there anybody crap out there?
Ian Collier :
Brother of above, writes a lot for the speccy and stuff. But just got a SAM,
awwww... So he'll probably be writing some nice stuff soon. :)
Simon Cooke (Cookie) :
Has coded a LOT of very nice demos, has released a compilation of them called
"The Entropy Experience" (available with SAM PRIME 5) and is working on
virtually everything under the sun. From games to books to digitisers to hard-
drives. You name it, he's got a part in it. (And don't be smutty)
D
Dan Doore (Banzai) :
Long time game writer for FRED. He has a wierd sense of humour and two PD disks
out at the moment. Oh yes, and a million more featuring MODS and pictures of
scantily clad ladies. Or is that from a dream I've been having???
Stefan Drissen (Solar Flare) :
Wrote a HELL of a lot, much of which has appeared on FRED. Such as his
excellent MOD player. Just wrote Sophistry, too.
E
F
G
Brian Gaff :
The bloke who supplies all (um?) your SAM computer needs. Gets connected with
the word membrane a lot.
David Gommeran (Lord Insanity) :
Very good demo coder who also wrote the excellent TETRIS (FRED 3) and a very
useful screen cruncher. His demos are always lovely looking, and great sounding.
Yet another another person who talent is blimmin' annoying.
Bruce Gordon (God) :
One of the creators of the SAM. Somebody give him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Graham Goring :
Me, I update and keep this FAQ and generally write lot's of awful games. I
would like to be good at graphics, but my hands won't listen to my brain and
consequentially I'm a bit poo at them. Sigh...
Arnt Gulbrandsen :
Another NET bloke. Please, more info.
H
Roger Hartley :
Another person who's musical talents exceed those of Beethoven! Well, anybody
who can use E-Tracker's got to be pretty clever.
Andrew Hodgekinson (Hipposoft) :
Wrote the FREDatives, wrote the *excellent* Rachel story (which is about to be
transmitted in full on FRED) and did lot's of other SAMMY stuff. Currently big
on Archimedes and Risc PC's. But Rachel may continue...
Doug Holmes (A Master of Magic) :
Fellow coder of the man below, not related though. Blimey!
Neil Holmes (The other Master of Magic) :
Did some nice demos and menus. Wrote the excellent EXODUS, did the graphics for
Waterworks 2. Then went off to the crappy old GameBoy.
Mathew Holt :
Wrote Manic Miner for the SAM, currently writes for the Megadrive. I think...
I
J
Colin Jordan :
Writer of the Sam Adventure System, and musician. Not sure what he's up to now.
K
Balor Knight :
Released several games under the title of Digital Reality. These were Dyzonium,
Astroball for the SAM, and Turbulence for the Speccy. Works on the Master System
at the moment, I think... What a dead end job.
L
Dave Ledbury :
Runs Phoenix Software Systems. Has his thumb in a lot of pies and also does a
lot of hardware stuff. He also wrote an unreleased part of the PI-MAN games.
M
Brian McConnell (Aesthetix - formerly Shadez) :
Dead funny Ex-Editor of FRED. The SAM population warmed to his side splitting
editorials and lovely talent at graphics which made FRED what it is today.
Colin MacDonald :
Person in charge of FRED publishing. Used to be the Editor of FRED until he got
Brian McConnel to take over from issue 28 onwards. Dedicated attender of all the
SAM shows he can, he's an all round good guy with an affinity for a well known
group of Hydro-Carbons. Genius behind getting the SAM licenses to such classics
as Lemmings, Oh no! More Lemmings and numerous other games.
Alan Miles (God's twin brother) :
One of the founders of the Great Machine. When God made him they broke the
mold.
Andy Monk (XSD) :
Talented music bod and coder. Buggered off to do some "serious" stuff I think.
N
Steve Nutting :
SC Software, in other words. He's made so many good programs you'd think he had
either eight hands or was in fact a family of talented coders all masquerading
as one man.
O
P
Robert Pain :
Prolific letter writer and composer of most-listenable-to music. If it weren't
for the rude misuse of the word I'd call him spunky.
Tim Paveley (Unc) :
The person who's Web page this is sitting on. Written quite a bit for FRED,
is still writing stuff and is a hard working person. That'll be a tenner, Tim.
Colin Piggot :
Yet another coder! Wrote the very useful MOD to E-tracker converter
for FRED 42 and is probably working on some other stuff. Aaargh!
Q
Quetzalcoatl :
Winged god that ate people. Not really a SAM programmer, but hey?
Who's writin' this goddam FAQ?
R
Matt Round (Malevolant) :
Yet another annoyingly talented person. Just joking, Matt. He has
done several million superb games for the SAM Coupe using Games
Master, and has just released the excellent T.N.T through
revelation. Oh, and he's brilliant at graphics too.
Oops! Actually on the phone to him last night, T.N.T isn't out yet 'coz of
problems. But should be finished by Christmas. What opportune timing!
S
Ian Slavin :
Famous for the Trip-O-Tron whirly colour things and his series of humourous
programs starring Zebedee Green, Morton and a host of other characters.
T
Steve Taylor (Was the Wizard, then became Wiz-man, now just plain old Steve) :
Author of all the machine code articles in FRED and writer of Impatience and
lot's of other things of note. And all round nice guy too, ever willing to lend
a hand to the budding coder.
Also author of the best-selling Driver, the best (and only) WIMP package on the
SAM Coupe.
Frode Tennebo :
Great bloke who used to contribute quite a bit to some diskzines. Hangs about
on the net and knows a lot about a lot. More info please? Frode?
Luke Trevorrow (Lord Blackadder) :
Talented blokey number four million and one. Member of Entropy, also. A group
from which it seems I am the only SAM owner excluded. Tsk! Elitism, eh?
Who'd have it. :)
Craig Turberfield :
Damn talented musician. His The Witching Hour piece is an instant classic!
So's the music on Waterworks 2.
U
V
Robert Van Der Veeke (RJV Graphics) :
Truly brilliant graphics artist. Did the graphics for Stefan Drissens MOD
players.
W
Chris White :
Author of Lemmings et al, and Prince Of Persia and blimmin' good coder. Don't
know what he's doing next though, maybe Pit-lane?
Lee Willis (Bubel) :
Coder and ace music bod! What more can I say? Well, plenty but I'm a lazy sod.
Dr Andy Wright (God's second cousin, twice removed) :
The person who wrote the thing that keeps your SAM ticking over. Yes, the
author of the ROM. There's something to put of your CV. Also wrote anything
released by his company, Beta Soft.
X
Y
Z
David Zambonini (Vodka) :
Another great demo coder who could be working on a game... Ummm... okay then,
IS working on a game.
****************************************************************************
5.1 Where can I buy?
This is a BEEEEG list of all the addresses I can find. I would like to thank
Robert Clayton and John D Teare, as this list is mainly nicked from their
*excellent* magazine, SAM 2 SAM.
****************************************************************************
6.1 Purely out of interest, are there any shows?
Yesso! Really and truly, the computer shows where SAM's have been in attendance
can be divided into two groups:
1) The All Formats Computer Fair - These shows where held at various places
around the country, SAM companies would trudge up to them, only to sell
about one piece of software. After a year or so the SAM community wised up
to the fact that they were making a loss. And they stopped going.
And great crowds of SAM owners cried and sobbed the passing of the shows,
for now there was no way the SAM would ever be known to Joe Public.
Boo hoo hoo... but... there was a visionary...
2) Bob Brenchley, a Father Christmassy sort of person, thought up the singularly
brilliant idea of shows, purely dedicated to the SAM and the Spectrum (for it
is he who owns FORMAT, the SAM and Speccy magazine). The people cheered!
The oppressed masses rose up! The evil Saddam was driven back out of the
oil-fields of Iran (though, I must admit, this could hardly be attributed to
the starting of the SAM and Speccy shows. No, a more likely explanation would
be that the American government is full of money grabbing mercenaries with
the morals of a dead hedgehog, ie, none).
Umm, oh yes, the shows. The SAM and Spectrum shows have now (after 3 shows)
become a bit of a november/april treat for the SAM community. They are held
in the quaint (re: small, and bloody hard to find) little town-ette of
Quedgely. In a rather nice village hall, which twice a year gets infested by
lots of talented people, who then bustle about trying to commandeer SAM's
so that they can try (inneffectually) to impress the pants off of other
SAM coders, who as a general rule, with a few exceptions, believe themselves
to be Gods, and not at all greasy. Whoops, there goes half my friends, but
my god, half of them behave as if they have a small, bright, star lodged
firmly up their arses. Well, two of them, then. The rest are okay I suppose.
Just a bit too talented for my liking. Okay! So I admit it, I CAN'T CODE!
I tried once but it just made the screen go all funny and then the computer
reset... I TELL YOU IT'S A BLOODY CONSPIRACY!
(FAQ source)