30 сентября 1995

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*  PART 5  - EMULATE LETTERS  *
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 Thanks  for the massive amount of letters
I have received praising the mag. I'm glad
you  all  liked  it  so much and I hope it
will  continue  to  be  an  enjoyable  and
entertaining  read.  Here's  a  few of the
letters I received about Issue 1.

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 I downloaded it and read most of it. It's
surely  one  of  the best Spectrum-related
things I've seen in many, many years.
 I suggest everyone interested in Sinclair
Computers  to  download  this  little  gem
ASAP.  Besides,  the  section  on Spectrum
news   should  warm  any  Sinclair  user's
heart  -  there  *are* news after all, and
important ones too.
----------
Paolo Perrotta  (NANO744@COMUNE.BOLGNA.IT)

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 The Spectrum scene is still very busy and
Emulate will continue to be produced while
there  is still news to report - hopefully
a  long  time!  Many  people out there are
undertaking  their own projects associated
with  the Spectrum and this will always be
the place to read about them! ED.

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 Emulate  is excellent. I just thought I'd
say  that. Where on earth did you find the
time  to  write that lot? Do you have some
kind of OCR or did you type it all out? It
really  is brilliant, and a special thanks
for  the Spectrum Games Database mention -
you're  right,  I  do need as much help as
possible!
 A  great  piece  of  writing. What better
tribute to the Spectrum?
---------
Stephen Smith  (STEVO@JONLAN.DEMON.CO.UK)

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 Always   glad   to   help  out  a  Speccy
supporter!  The  magazine is all typed out
by hand (I'm afraid OCR is a bit out of my
price  range!)  This is one of the reasons
why  its  nice to have contributions sent.
Don't  forget  that you don't need to know
much  about  the  Spectrum,  but simply be
able   to   produce  an  entertaining  and
interesting Speccy article!
ED.

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 "Emulate"  is pretty good - IMHO. As pure
ASCII  it  can be viewed on each platform,
but   did  you  thinked  about  some  ANSI
graphic   in  it  ?  It  should  be  still
compatible   with   almost  all  platforms
(except    Speccy    itself    ;-))   only
disadvantage   I  can  see  are  potential
difficulties in printing.
---------
Wojtek Wasilewski
(WWASIL@HVSAGO1.NS-NL.ATT.COM)

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 ANSI   graphics  would  certainly  be  an
interesting concept. It would, as you say,
improve  the presentation of the magazine.
Unfortunately,  it is not everyone who has
access to an ANSI viewer (me included!)
 In the not-too-distant future, I will run
a  small  questionnaire for readers of the
mag  and see how people think the magazine
could be improved.
ED.

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 I've  just  found  the  first  edition of
emulate  magazine  and it's great! There -
just   thought  I'd  start  out  with  the
complements!   I've   been   looking   for
something  like  this  for a long time now
that  all  of  the real spectrum mags have
closed - may you live long and prosper.

 One  small  question I'd like to ask is :
Where  can I get the latest version? I got
the   September   issue   because  someone
uploaded  it  to ftp.nvg.unit.no, but that
wasn't  until the 1st of October! Where is
your initial upload site?

 The   list   of  pokes  has  proven  very
helpful, as I'm in the middle of compiling
a  list  of  all the multiface pokes I can
find.  Your  list  has given me a few more
that  I  didn't  have. I'll be sure to let
you  know when I've completed and released
the  document  so  that you can inform the
readership.

 In  the  meantime  -  if I write anything
Speccy-esque   I'll  throw  it  your  way.
Thanks  for  making an old-fashioned kinda
guy a bit happier!

(l.d.tonks@braO202.wins.icl.co.uk)

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 Glad you enjoyed the mag! The magazine is
available on the first day of the calendar
month.   (ie,   the  September  Issue  was
released on the 1st September) Subscribers
to  the magazine will receive it directly,
one day earlier (ah..the benefits of being
a subscriber!)
 Incidentally,  I  was  that "someone" who
uploaded it to NVG! The Nvg Unit site will
be the only upload site (as it is the most
reliable)  unless I get requests for other
placements.  If  you live in the UK, don't
forget  that  the  magazine  can  also  be
obtained  from  the  FRAZZLE  PROJECT  BBS
(Phone  number  is at the beginning of the
magazine)  If you liked the POKES, be sure
to  check  out  the POKES list included in
the SNAPS section!
 I  also  have  compiled a complete set of
Your  Sinclair  POKEMANIA  programs, which
you will soon be able to find on NVG UNIT.
See Playing Tips for more details!
ED.

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 I've just had a quick flick-thru your new
magazine,  and it's great! As I have never
owned  a  Spectrum  physically (although I
own  a  copy  of  Z80),  I  always had fun
playing  around  on  the emulator. Perhaps
the  best  thing about the machine is it's
huge  collection of games available on the
net,  beating  all  the other computers in
that  respect!  It's emulator is currently
the   best  of  any  micro.  Anyway,  your
articles are a great read, and the reviews
and  that give a great example of how life
in the Speccy era was...
 Anyway,  I  look  forward  to the October
issue!
Yours,
-----------
Francis Byrne  (F_BYRNE@UK.IBM.COM)

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 ...and  still  is  hopefully!  Those  who
owned  real Spectrums may look back fondly
now,  but,  in  all honesty, emulators are
much  more flexible than the real thing! I
was the owner of the infamous Spectrum +2A
and  can  remember  the  nightmares of the
Azimuth   Alignment   screwdriver,   while
desperately trying to get Robocop to load!
 The    massive   collections   of   games
available  now certainly make it easier to
find  just  the  game  you want. It is for
these  reasons  that  the Spectrum has had
this   revival.   And   may   the  revival
continue!!
ED.

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 If you did own a real Spectrum, You might
want to visit the excellent and very funny
Web   Site,   entitled  "Are  you  a  true
Spectrum  User?"  It certainly brought the
memories  flooding back!! Take a look at :
HTTP://
 And  so  ends  the first Letters Page. If
you  have any comments about the magazine,
or any suggestions, drop us a line here at
Emulate!

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THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE
 -  Described  in laymens terms by Stephen
Smith (stevo@jonlan.demon.co.uk)

 How  many  Spectrum  games are there? And
how  do  I  play  them all? Those are just
some  of  the  questions  that  I  hope to
answer  with  the Spectrum Games Database.
Some games are actually quite complicated,
belying    the    Spectrums   ill-deserved
reputation  with  the  outside  world as a
simple games machine. For example, who can
remember   all   the  keys  for  Lords  of
Midnight?  If  they  are not included with
the  snapshot you've just downloaded, then
you're basically buggered until someone on
the  newsgroup  tells you. So the Spectrum
Games  Database swoops into action to save
your evening's entertainment from becoming
a   key-finding  session.  What  fun  they
weren't!

 The   main  reason  I  am  creating  this
database  is  because  there  is no single
place  on the Internet, or anywhere, where
all this information is held in one place,
that is easily accessible. With each entry
for   each   game,   I  hope  to  include,
eventually,  *everything* there is to know
about the game (within reason, of course),
from  controls  and  instructions,  to the
complete  original inlay card text, to any
trivia on the game.

 The  one  main obstacle that is in my way
is  the  sheer  number  of games that have
been  written for the Spectrum. But I have
one  weapon on my side - time. There is no
time limit by which this database needs to
be  completed, so I, and everybody who has
been  kind  enough  to help me (even Steve
Kelly  of  the  Bitmap Bros!), will slowly
work  our  way through all the games until
they all have an entry. And then? We'll go
onto the educational stuff maybe. ;-)

 The   entries   can  be  downloaded  from
ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/docs
/games-database/

 and  also a master list of Spectrum games
at
http://www.catalog.com/sjr/www/ss
/gamedbs.htm

 They  are  organised  in  the same way as
most  snapshot  sites, with 26 directories
from  a-z,  etc... If you have any trouble
with  this though, you can always email me
and  ask  me  to post you an entry which I
would be glad to do.

 And  of  course,  I  need as much help as
possible!

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