The Messenger

Sinclair User

Now now, don't cry Specy chums, you haven't been left out because if any of you decide that the Sam Coupe is the machine you've been waiting for, at an affordable price, but can't bear dumping all your Spectrum software, there's a simple solution. Readily available from Samco now is a neat little gizmo that will enable you to save your Spectrum games onto SAM disks and convert them to be playable on the Coupe. Extensively researched by Samco, the Messenger converted all 48K games tested, although games solely for use on 128K machines will not work. Still most games are both 48K and 128K so there's little problem. The SAM Messenger: £39.99 Available from SAMCO on [redacted]

Your Sinclair

Adam Waring

SUPER SAM REPORTS ON THE MESSENGER When MGT (now SAM Computers) designed the SAM, they had Spectrum compatibility very much in mind. Though the Coupe is much more advanced than the Speccy, it has an a emulation mode that mimics the Speccy's set-up. The Spectrum ROM, supplied on tape or disk with the Coupe, means that you should be able to run everything you can run on the Spectrum on the SAM. That's the theory, anyway. Unfortunately it doesn't quite work out that way in practice. The big problem seems to be actually getting the software into the machine in the first place. Games in particular are a problem. Their protection and fast loaders don't help, and only a fraction of games can be successfully loaded in this way. SAM Computers hope The Messenger will overcome all these problems. It allows the Speccy and SAM to communicate, transferring information between the two machines. It's capable of interrupting the Spectrum at any time, and doing various tricks with the machine's memory. Its best trick is to extract the entire contents of memory and upload it into the SAM. So a game running on the Speccy can be 'grabbed' and saved onto disk and subsequently loaded from the SAM's built-in drive. The Messenger package is a combination of hardware and software, and looks like this... - The main Messenger interface. This plugs into the Spectrum's expansion port, and lead connects to the SAM's Midi Out socket. A button on the back of the interface 'freezes' the Speccy's operations, where it awaits commands from the SAM. - An interface plugs into the back of the SAM. This small, uncased unit fits into the Coupe's expansion port. This is can be used to get into the games once they have been transferred and are up and running on the SAM. - A disk contains the Messenger software. It 'takes over' the running of the Spectrum, and allows data to be transferred to and fro between the computers. To use the Messenger you'll need a SAM Coupe, a Speccy and a telly. (Two TVs are better, as you don't need to constantly swap the ariel leads over.) Plug the Messenger in, boot up the software, and you're ready to go! The Spectrum can be 'possessed' at any time - just tap the button - but it's probably more useful to have a game in the memory to transfer. Options are available to send and receive screens, and save and load them too. You can also perform all these operations with complete programs. In which case the transfer of information is performed on the whole of the Spectrum's memory. Other options are to run the program, and transfer the Spectrum ROM to ensure total compatibility. Transferring a game from the Speccy takes about half a minute. Once stored safely on disk, you won't need the Speccy or Messenger to load it again. However, the second interface that fits into the back of the SAM can be used to freeze the game at any time. This means you can use re-save the game subsequently - useful for when you eventually make it past the end-of-level guardian for the first time! The device has an extraordinarily high success rate. SAM Computers do not guarantee that it will work with every program, but say they have yet to find a program that fails to transfer. It does only work with 48K programs, though - it's unable to work with the Spectrum Plus' paged memory. Virtually all programs work on the standard 48K anyway. The Messenger is essential for any SAM owners who still have their Spectrums and a large selection of software they haven't been able to transfer. In addition, it provides a handy 'cheating' utility, which can be used long after the games have all been transferred. The Messenger makes the SAM Coupe the natural upgrade for the Speccy owner wanting to move on. They'll still be able to use all their old Spectrum software - with the benefit of high-speed disk loading. In addition, games can modified to make use of some of the additional colours available, you can even add your own POKEs for infinite lives and so on. The Messenger costs £39.99 and is available from Samco, [redacted].

Small and perfectly formed, and pretty useful too when plugged into the proper computer.

Crash

Nick Roberts

THE SAM PAGE Here's Nick Roberts with all the latest software and hardware to appear on the SAM Coupe. Probably the best 8-bit computer in the world (unbiased as always, aren't you Nick? -Ed). GET THE MESSAGE Have you been desperately trying to convert all your old Spectrum games onto the SAM so you can load them quickly and get playing? The problem most people have come up against is compatibility: some games crash on loading and some just won't load at all! Well SAM Co have the answer, their now toy named The Messenger. This is an interface that plugs into the expansion socket of any Spectrum (except the +3) and has a lead that goes into the MIDI OUT socket on the SAM and a switch to attach to the Euroconnector. Having loaded the Messenger software on the SAM and a game on the Spectrum, you simply press the Messenger button and tap 'receive' and the game ports over from the Spectrum to the SAM in a matter of seconds! You can then save the whole game onto SAM disk and add POKEs, alter the memory, etc. It's all very similar to the way that a Multiface works on the Spectrum. Once you've ported over your software collection, you won't need the Spectrum anymore (unless you want to continue buying games to convert); to use a game, simply load it off SAM disk and play away! Multi-load games are a little more complicated, though. The instructions that come with the Messenger say to port level one from the Spectrum to the SAM then use the transmit facility to send the game back to the Spectrum again to load up the second level. This all seems a bit of a waste of time to me. Why not just play the game on the Spectrum in the first place? Software piracy is a very touchy subject when you're talking about the Messenger. SAM Co stress that it should only be used to back up your software collection onto disk for quick, easy loading but there's always going to be the odd one or two that will use it illegally. Of course, what most SAM owners with Spectrums will do is put all their games onto disk then sell their Spectrum and all the games. The Messenger is a useful thing to have for backing up your games but SAM owners aren't likely to go out and buy brand new software to convert. Once they've used the utility to put their software collection onto disk the Messenger will just sit in a cupboard. The Messenger costs £29.99 and is available direct from SAM Co. ARRGGH! THE ATTACH OF THE DISK MAGAZINES Well, not quite. Actually I've had two new disk magazines arrive this month and they've both been pretty spiffy, too. The first has aningenious name. It's called Review and is a bi-monthly disk for £3. Ron Stirling of Glasgow is the creator and claims each issue of Review will be done in a different style, the first being Teletext. Three quid is a lot of money for a disk magazine when you think that most of the others are only £1, but Review is packed to the brim with great stuff. The Teletext menu system takes a while to get used to but is fast when you have, each section being given a different number from 1 to 99, and demos, programs, text and screenshots accessed from a separate page. The first issue of Review has some useful utilities for grabbing sprites, creating fonts and giving incredibly small text for listings as well as games and demos written by Ron himself. One annoying thing was the inclusion of PD demos that have been seen absolutely everywhere, like the Chocolate Factory one from Zenith Graphics. It was funny the first time but the 20th.., arrgh! Hidden on the disk (very crafty) is a demo of a new art utility Ron's working on. It looks set to blow Flash! away (what couldn't?) and appears similar to the Amiga's Deluxe Paint series. Review is great value and excellently programmed and presented. Get your copy from Review, Ron Stirling, [redacted]. RTJ Soft are responsible for the second disk magazine. This one's strange because it's to have a different name each month!? The one I was sent (on a psychedelic orange disk!) was named The Wibbly Bits. RTJ are Chris Jeeves, Lee Tabby and Nathan Reynolds. The disk isn't as full as Review but has some interesting items on offer. There are reviews of all the hardware to come to the SAM, a really bad sample demo and some great cartoons to have a giggle at. There are also previews of two games the lads are working on called Strike Force and Wolves Bane, which is set to be six disks long with hundreds of locations and character interaction! I wouldn't really go out of my way to get a copy of The Wibbly Bits but they promise the next disks will be better. For more information, contact Nathan at: RTJ Soft, [redacted]. If you have anything to say or send in on the Coupe, you can contact me at: Newsfield, MISCK'S SAM PAGE, CRASH, [redacted]. And that's you lot - more SAM happenings next month. Byeeee!