About the Issue (Out Side #03)

ABOUT...

Hello to everyone who hasn't left the SPECCY yet! Since you are reading this text (as well as all the other articles) and listening to the tunes, it means you have obtained this program called the supplement to the network newspaper Micro:

« OUT SIDE #3 »

Two issues of this paper (not Micro :) have already been released. The first one wasn't quite ready for public release due to a buggy text reader: those who used the cursor instead of keys noticed that moving the arrow to the bottom two rows caused screen garbage to appear (the glitchy Text Maker 0.17 was used). However, that was fixed in the second issue, plus music from FIVETEEN was added, and my own tune played on the title screen ;).

In this issue, the following music tracks are featured:

• Jan Michael Jerry — "Oxygen N_?" (don't remember the Oxygen number :), rmx by MIHEICH;
• Two tracks from the megademo SATISFACTION;
• An unknown author's "TECHNO-RAVE";
• In the intro: an unknown track and author, arranged "a-la MIHEICH".

If anyone has some spare music in Sound Tracker or Pro Tracker format lying around, send it in, and I'll include it in the zine!

What's new in this issue is an attempt to insert sprites directly into the text. If it works, great :) if not, too bad :((. If you feel like drawing and submitting sprites (illustrations for the articles), send them as a standard screen$ file (6912 bytes, 27 sectors), outlined with a border and numbered, along with the text indicating where to place them.

Today I'll also be twisting and torturing text layout as much as I can, so don't be alarmed if complete gibberish appears in some places — just give me a call or drop a letter reporting any detected bugs. My phone number is at the end of this text.

Now, for those who don't know how to navigate and which buttons to mash, squash, press, or click :)

Arrow control options:

1. KEMPSTON (not tested);
2. INTERFACE 2;
3. SINCLAIR 1;
4. Q, A, O, P, Space;
5. CURSOR (Caps Shift + 5, 6, 7, 8);
6. KEMPSTON MOUSE (upon loading, it prompts: KEMPSTON MOUSE Y/N, meaning whether you have a mouse or not, so press Y or N :).

Those who use the cursor can scroll through the text by pointing at the on-screen buttons. Button layout (from left to right):

• EXIT (exit back to the shell);
• SAVE SCREEN $ (dump screen to disk);
• SAVE TEXT (dump text: before saving, the text is stripped of control codes, so the exported file loses its colors);
• PAGE UP (scroll one page up);
• PAGE DOWN (scroll one page down);
• UP (scroll one line up);
• DOWN (scroll one line down).

That covers the buttons.

If you move the cursor to the music indicator (the upper-left corner of your CRT tube :) and press fire, the music will mute (not forever). Key "M" does the same thing. Pressing it again will resume tormenting you with its sounds ;).

• Key "I" toggles text coloring on/off;
• Key "H" brings up credits/thanks from the viewer's authors;
• Key "E", as well as BREAK (Caps Shift + Space), exits the text viewer to the main shell.

If you move the cursor to the bottom or top edge of the screen and press Fire, the text will scroll up or down line by line. Moving the arrow to any edge at the very top or bottom will scroll page by page.

That's pretty much everything regarding the controls.

Table of contents for this issue:

• ABOUT... — speaks for itself;
• ПриКОЛИКИ (Jokes) — a new section replacing the Internet humor column; it will feature jokes, rhymes, and miscellaneous funny stuff, including reader submissions. This issue includes two stories from Mikhail (not me :) and an open letter from him as well;
• ART_NEWS — continues the story of Peta Wilson and Roy Dupuis from the TV series La Femme Nikita, plus celebrity birth announcements and gossip.

I won't describe the play — read it for yourselves ;).

That's all for now. Enjoy the read, relax, breed mice, rats, etc., and code programs!!!!

You can submit texts, music, graphics, etc., simply by calling our phone in Zaporozhye:

65-05-67, from 19:00 to 21:00.

1999-03-23
MIKHAIL