========================================== ******************************* * PART 5 - EMULATE LETTERS * ******************************* 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. ========================================== ========================================== 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) ========================================== 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. ========================================== ========================================== 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) ========================================== 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. ========================================== ========================================== "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) ========================================== 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. ========================================== ========================================== 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) ========================================== 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. ========================================== ========================================== 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) ========================================== ...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. ========================================== ========================================== 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! ========================================== ========================================== 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! ==========================================