Our answer - two letters, both from Samara.

 Another one has appeared on the globe
a trickle - a trickle of your letters to us at the editor-
ction. We hope that very soon this ru-
whose will turn first into a calm one, and then
then into a stormy, full-flowing river.           
 At the moment, we have received two
letters, both from Samara.                    
           Here is the first of them:             
                                          
                                          
------------------------------------------
 Dear editors! Recently they gave me
look at your magazine. At first I even
and didn’t want to take it, remembering some
Samara programs and their quality. Od-
However, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw
first the design of the disc, and then the
magazine.                                   
    Pleasantly surprised, I was a little disappointed
was fascinated by the design of texts. I wanted
I would like the descriptions to also include
efficient sprites.  I think it would be nice
the magazine is beneficial.                        
    There is also a desire to increase the number
quality of headings and theirinformational. Yes,
for example, it would be nice if you tell-
those about ASSEMBLER  and   about convenient programs
frames on it. It would be great if
Can you tell me which program works better?
work in assembler. Me as a beginner
programmer, it is interesting to know this.       
    I heard that an exhibition was held not so long ago
ENLIGHT,tell us about it, if it's not difficult.
 In   one  from last numbers
Spectrofon'a was demo version  game
"PRINCE...", I heard that the game exists
already in full version, I would like to see
it in your magazine app. Also, would-
It would be nice to see "UFO-2". Yes, by the way, oh
space, if you can describe it a littleless, otherwise you feel a bit uneasy:
and "Stars of Keladan", and "OBERON", and "Rebel
Star"                                   
 Great, I was surprised to learn that you use
use the memoryof Scorpion to the fullest,
thanks for that.                           
   In general, your magazine looks very
decently.  If you compare it with the same
SPECTROFON,  then in the design you are very
similar, but in quality you will surpass them -
li, and it's nice. So you can safely go
It’s safe to say that the first issue of the magazine has arrived.
 I hope to see the following soon
current issues of theSAMARAmagazine"OBERON".
                                          
                 Best regards,             
                        PEACE USER.      
                                03.10.96  
------------------------------------------
                                          
OBERON:  Let us repeat once again that we are very
It’s nice that they started visiting our editorial office.
walk letters from readers. And we can't
leave unanswered what was said in the letter
questions and wishes.                      
 Firstly, about the quality of some sa-
Mar programs.  All of us (we - "STARS OF
KELADAN", "SPEED COMPANY",and some
other Samara groups and single authors)
were once small and inexperienced, but
by fateful coincidence it was
at that time there was a"SINCLAIR'boom", and pro-
frames could be bought literally for every
corner house. But now that we have experience
volume and qualifications are all "O.K." (modestly?),
distribute our programs in Samara
practically  there is no one, so what about new sa-
Mar programs are known only to the authors themselves,
their friends, and... all ofRussia !!! Yes, yes, in
Moscow know about many Samara programs
moves, the existence of which you had no idea -
you want  (for example,   group programs
"SPEED COMPANY" even published in non-
which electronic journals, which turn out to be
is now called in Russia sea). We ourselves
were shocked by this.                      
 Now about our magazine. About
absence of sprites and graphics in the text
the reader noticed correctly, and by the way, so did we
they themselves knew about it. But as we have already said,
li, the first issue was the “first pancake”, although
We're glad to know that it's "not lumpy." But then
we didn't have the tools for docking
text and graphics into a single whole and editing
formation of this “whole”, now we
wrote.  In the second issue, as everything is already on-
You have correctly noticed that there is no shortage of graphics.
And in the third, we hope, there will be more graphics
more.                                   
 Regarding the creation of additional rubles
rick. Several have already appeared in this issue
new and, we hope, permanentCategory: "Software"
GURMIM", "ANNOUNCEMENT", "ADVERTISING", ... Oh, about
assembler, we will take into account your wishes, and in
We will try one of the nearest numbers
conduct a comparative analysis of all (or by
at least almost all) currently existing
assembler editors. And in this room, in
section  "REVIEW" you can read about
competitionENLIGHT'96.                      
 Here we come again to the issue of programs.
We are glad to inform you that throughout the country there are already
for how many months they have been "bustling around" with all their might and complete
version "PRINCE",and "UFO-2" (and already de-
corrected ten times, and it seems now
fully operational), which are
only a third of the disk is torn, and many others
new programs. We also have them (to
for example, the long-awaited STS 4.3),but... In-
first, these are original Russian programs
and one must be careful with their distribution
her. And  secondly,   ... their  no one
distribute in Samara.  For example, we
We were surprised to learn that the programs described
those we mentioned in the first issue are practically non-
It is possible to get it in Samara !!! And this carried
despite the fact that they are already “quite ancient”
and that half the country  has already forgotten about their su-
existence.                              
 The thing is that we just can’t
agree on prompt and mutually beneficial
nom cooperation with known to us
software distributors, so it turns out
"thing in itself" - new, good programs
a lot, but we don’t know how to distribute them
I eat. If only you knew what obstacles
stood in our way when spreading
first number.  But let's not talk about sad things,
now we have become a little smarter and more experienced and
We hope everything will be fine with number two
"O.K."                                    
 Well, as for space. Herehere we are
should upset our reader - space in
our magazine will not be the last
place.  Gentlemen!!! Don't forget that we are with
you live innuclear space age, when
man has already walked on the moon, and literally
It will take a couple of years to walk on Mars, in a century,
when there are already several man-made devices
left the limits of  the solar system and
set off to wander among the stars. So
don't be afraid of space, be afraid of a cramped cage
Mother Earth.                            
Why "OBERON", we have already explained, but
why "STARS OF KELADAN" ? Well, first of all,
we love science fiction, hence the names of the books
our initial "one man groups"
- "Stars Soft" (it's just about stars), and
"Keladan Soft"(and this is a slightly redesigned
the name of one planet from the novelFren-
ka Herbert"DUNE"),then we linked and
because no one wanted to "be under someone else's
signboard",called themselves "STARS OF KELADAN"
- "STARS OF KELADAN".                      
 We are very pleased to know that we are still
achieved their goal - they created a magazine that
which in terms of quality and objectivity of information
tions left behind even "SPECTROFON", although
and is still lagging behind him in design. But,
now, so to speak, "rarekol-
"legia" of our magazine numbers more than two
person, but five, plus a few more co-
veterinarians, critics, correspondents, auto-
ditch of articles, etc., and all programmers!
Now our magazine has a "native"
music and your own pictures.            
                                          
          Well, and the second letter.            
                                          
------------------------------------------
 Dear editors! Let me say hello-
thank you and thank you
novice userSPECCY for the fact that
You took on this difficult task - edition
computer magazine.                    
I think many will agree with me, not
only those who  yesterday bought  SPECTRUM with
diskover, but also cool CODERs, Samara
I've needed my own magazine for a long time (or
newspaper) - and so the local Sinclairists finally
finally saw your work - FIRST but-
measures "OBERON".                            
Most  printed magazines have
similar  design,  not   exception and
computer-based, therefore especially original
you shouldn’t expect anything in the screensaver,
We can only hope for content. Want-
I would, of course, like it to be interesting
everyone, regardless of preparation. Although,
whether the professionals got down to business, so,
it probably will.                        
 Now about the wishes. Probably not for me
one can't wait see continuation
cool toys  V. Mednonogova "UFO. Enemy
unknown" - "UFO2. Devils of the Abyss." Uva-
my affection for you would not have diminished if
somehow, at your leisure, this thing, along with
with its detaileddescription would fall into
magazine.  Also, it would be quite nice to
view the full protocol if possible
to the famous Novosibirsk version of the 3rd
ELITE,  although, perhaps, someone got tired of
endless, time consuming,
aimless   flights along the 8th, for example, ha-
laktika with all sorts of refugees.      
 Well, enough of the nonsense. (Joke).   Toys -
this is undoubtedly a necessary thing, but
in my opinion, information about
way of creating them. I mean it's new
hearthspectrum of culture ("OBERON" then
is) could sometimes (at least in every
start) inform USER'countrymen about
all sorts of different (preferably useful) non-
long (or almost recently) published literature
rature   about the wonderful ZX-SPECTRUMe, and
the main thing is about WHERE it can be found...( then
available to purchase ) in S A M A R E, because
like no other electronic publication
nii (out-of-town, of course) nothing
you will find it.                                  
 That's probably all you wanted
report.  And the magazine turned out cool, especially
especially for the first release. Keep it up
"STARS OF KELADAN", behind you SAMARA.       
                                          
               grateful (or ungracious-  
               gift - unknown yet)  
               fan ZX-SPECTRUM.     
                                          
P.S.I apologize for the style of presentation.   
------------------------------------------
OBERON: Unfortunately, this letter also contains
he thought "when will new ones appear in Samara
what games?" Well, so, we answer - in Ca-
mare the newest games and systems are
always (for at least six people),
but there is nowhere to distribute them!!! Or rather,
they spread, but with a great delay -
niya, when the whole country has long forgotten about
them.  And normal, working UFO-2we have
there is, but... As for including it in
number, so it takes up half the disk, and you know
The cheat will not fit on our disk. This is what we're talking about
"pirated" version, and "author's" - so
generally on two disks. And in general, we don't
we are going to include in the program log,
having the status of new products, so as not to violate
interests of the authors. But so as not to offend at all
to reap the author of the letter and the readers, in this
number OBERON'and we place the state file
from UFO-2 (V2.40,2.45 - see REVIEW). In this
file (UFO.INFI)many parameters have been changed
games, which makes it easy to complete
until the end. The author of this shipment is
Alex Naumov from the city Dnepropetrovsk.
Special thanks to t.MAXSOFT'y for her TV
portation fromUkrainetoSamara.              
 In addition, for a number of reasons beyond our control
circumstances, our first number is not
paid off, and therefore about the acquisition of a license
copyright rights to some copyrighted software
It’s too early to say yet - there’s simply no de-
neg, but in the future we will certainly do this
meme.  And in order to publish "pi-
rat's versions to us for ethical reasons
you need firm confidence that "hack-
Kera" did more for this program
than the “author” himself (paradoxically
sounds).                                  
As people who saw and playedUFO-2,we
We hasten to please everyone that it is “sewn into”
the author's description, and about some of her sex-
retah you can read in our section
"REVIEW".We hope to talk about NovosibirskELITE
3  is not worth it here, it’s better to read the ruble
riku "SCROLL", yes, take a look at our "SCROLL-
TULKU."                                   
 But enough of the nonsense. (Also, by the way, a joke -
ka). About how to make a game. Probably already
everyone has set their teeth on edge with books"How to write
game" from the publishing house "Peter",in which
mostly lengthy phrases are uttered about
some algorithms and procedures, but not
how many chapters are devoted to the "short courseAc-
sampler". We would really not like to repeat
to understand their main omission - a person who cannot -
someone who “programs at all” will not be able to
write a good game.  Therefore, in the section
"LIKBEZ" we want to first teach our
readers "programming in general" and
teach them to think that programs cannot be written
write hastily, without thinking it through (after all, we
professionals). And then show what
creating a game is different from creating a system
dark or application program. Ain general,
Thanks for the "signal".                      
 And a little more about literature. Unfortunately,
at the current stage of development of the world
society, after the victory of world democracy
and humanism, in one word on the current
stages of evolution of our branchMetagalaxy
find some recent printed information
information about SPECTRUM has become impossible (not counting
this magazine "ZX-Review"). And then... (that is
buy) you can buy the latter in the store "Make it
myself", which is in the area of ​​the Bus Station Aurora.
In addition, on "ZX-Review"  it is possible (and even
the easiest way) is to subscribe, or take it from
friends, or (if you're lucky) buy books
nom market.                                
 We also have an idea to conduct a short
review of materials "ZX-Review" in our magazine
le.  How do you like this “retrospective”?  Yes
which is perhaps the only accessible mass-
the main means of transporting information about
ZX-SPECTRUMare various electronic
magazines, the most famous (and perhaps
standing) except ours (very modestly, not
is it true :-) ?) are  "SPECTROFON"
(Moscow) and "ZX-FORMAT" (St. Petersburg).     
                                          
 Well, now a small wish “un-
to the famous" author of this letter: a fan
It's always better to be grateful, for the stomach
you know, it's more useful.  So let's be
together to defend our reliable, garniy tsam-
puter "ZX-SPECTRUM",since we should retreat
there is nowhere left - behind usSAMARA.              
                                          
══════════════ ════════════════════════════
 * * *