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Amiga User 7

Amiga User 7

Another new retro computing magazine was delivered through my door this week. This time it was the turn of Amiga User 7, making it’s second appearance of the year and crammed full of interesting Amiga content.

As I’ve said before, this is definitely a magazine devoted to the Amiga enthusiast rather than gamers. There’s a strong focus on hardware and software applications along with guides and tutorials to follow. More of a reference source than a typical magazine and well worth picking up if you are a ‘tinkerer’ like myself.

In this issue there’s a look at configuring next-gen Amiga OS’s MorphOS and AROS. A review of GoADF! 2019 plus articles delving into aspects of Dopus 5, ImageFX and even ShapeShifter!

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Here’s a peek at the contents page so you can see what else is covered in this issue.

 

Amiga User 7 Index

Amiga User 7 Contents

 

If you fancy getting hold of your own copy take a look at the Bitronic.pl website. Amiga User is produced in Poland but the English is excellent. Delivery to the UK only takes a week or so. If you’d rather get a digital version they offer that option too.

If you’d like to take a look at some of my previous previews of the magazine then please click here.

Freeze 64 Issue 31 Fanzine is out now

Freeze 64 Issue 31

It’s amazing how time appears to move faster the older you get. I remember waiting for the next issue of Zzap! 64 to appear in my local newsagent as a teenager and it felt like an eternity! Yet here I am sitting down with Freeze 64 Issue 31 but it only feels like a week ago I was reading issue 30!

 

Freeze 64 Issue 31

Freeze 64 Issue 31 comes with a cool Zybex sticker and a gift subscription order form to give to your significant other.

 

This issue does away with the usual collectors card in favour of a sticker instead. I love stickers so this is a good thing in my book. I’d be more than happy for this to continue in the future. Even though I’ve got an existing subscription to the mag I’ll still put that gift subscription leaflet to good use too. 😉

 

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So what’s in this months issue then?  Well the featured game and interview is Zybex and its’ programmers Kevin Franklin and Adam Gilmore. There’s also some cool level skipping cheats and pokes for a whole host of C64 games. A suitably icky sounding game, MaggotMania features in the Mouldy Cupboard section. Regular sections Zzapback!, Secret Squirrel and My C64 Heaven are all present and correct too. It’s probably no longer a surprise that Badlands is the featured game in the ‘The Diary of…’ series…

 

Freeze 64 Issue 31

Here’s a peek at the contents page of this issue.

 

If you fancy your own copy then head over to the Freeze64 website and show your support by purchasing this issue.

Here’s a link to my previews of several earlier editions of Freeze64 if you’d like to check out what you’ve been missing!

Retrokomp Issue 2 (1) Out Now!

Issue two of the multi-format retro magazine has finally been released and I received my copy a few days ago. Just to confuse things slightly this magazine is actually named Retrokomp Issue 1. That’s because the first issue was in fact numbered ‘0’. This is a slightly odd numbering convention that can be found on their other magazines such as Amiga User too.

 

Retrokomp Issue 1

Retrokomp Issue 1 Cover

 

This issue is packed with even more Commodore content that the previous one and arrives with a hefty count of 76 thick glossy pages.

 

A welcome bias towards Commodore in this issues contents

 

As I mentioned in my look at the very first issue, this is definitely a magazine aimed at the more serious user. There’s a big emphasis on productivity and creative software rather than gaming. This is no bad thing though as there are plenty of magazines offering gaming news and reviews now. That’s not to say the Retrokomp doesn’t dabble with games though. This issue has the first part of really interesting series of articles delving into MicroProse F-19 Stealth Fighter, possibly their finest flight simulation ever in my opinion.

 

F-19 Stealth Fightrer

F-19 Stealth Fighter on the C64

 

Rocket Smash EX Review

Rocket Smash EX Review

 

Of course there’s no shortage of interesting articles to expand your retro computing knowledge either. I particularly enjoyed the LHArchie GUI guide that shows how to install a GUI for the previously shell only LHA archive utility.

 

LHArchie GUI

LHArchie GUI

 

Other stand-out articles for me were the Ray-tracing and Brilliance articles for the Amiga.

 

Amiga Ray-tracing

Amiga Ray-tracing

 

Brilliance

Everyone remembers Deluxe Paint on the Amiga but who remembers Brilliance?

 

A quick run-down of the Commodore-centric articles in Retrokomp Issue 1:

  • F-19 Stealth Fighter
  • Data compression methods on the PET
  • Truths and myths about the Commodore 64
  • Rocket Smash EX Review
  • Black Box cartridge: Assembler support
  • My personal games set for Plus/4
  • Raytracing on the Amia 500 with 1MB RAM
  • Amiga Vision
  • (True) Brilliance: 24-bit on Amiga chipset
  • Get to know AmigaOS: programs and processes
  • PowerPC software tips
  • LHArchie GUI

 

 

Plus/4 Gaming

Plus/4 Gaming

 

If you’ve never come across Retrokomp magazine before you might like to read through my preview of the first issue here.

Alternatively if you’d like to purchase a copy of Retrokomp Issue 1 for yourself then visit the publishers website here and show your support.

Freeze 64 Issue 30 Fanzine is out now

Freeze 64 Issue 30

Anyone who subscribes to Freeze 64 will know exactly what this envelope contains without even opening it… Of course it can only be the very latest Freeze 64 Issue 30!

 

Freeze 64 Issue 30 Envelope

Freeze 64 Issue 30 Envelope

 

Not only is this issue 30 but the fanzine has now been going for three whole years! To celebrate there’s a little retrospective article looking back at some of the stand-out moments from the previous 30 issues.

 

Freeze 64 Issue 29Freeze 64 Issue 30

Freeze 64 Issue 30 pictured with limited edition collectors trading card.

 

This issue’s featured game and interview is Comic Bakery and its’ programmer, Colin Gresty. There’s also some much needed cheats for the recent ‘Mancave’ game as well as ‘Doctster’s Digger’ and ‘Run Demon Run’. Naturally the regular features like the Mouldy Cupboard, Zzapback! and Secret Squirrel can be found inside too.

Badlands is still the featured game in part 5 of the ‘The Diary of…’ series. ‘Bruce Lee: Return of Fury’ is also under the spotlight for this issues ‘The Making of…’ article.

 

Freeze 64 Issue 29 Contents

Here’s a peek at the contents page of this issue.

 

If you fancy your own copy then head over to the Freeze64 website and show your support by purchasing this issue.

Here’s a link to my previews of several earlier editions of Freeze64 if you’d like to check out what you’ve been missing!

A look at K&A Plus #13 Magazine

K&A Plus #13

It’s been six months since the last edition of K&A Plus plopped through my letterbox. Consequently my excitement level was high when I received K&A Plus #13 last week. Doubly so as this is the first edition of the magazine to come with a coverdisk!

Here’s a look at the magazine cover and that snazzy coverdisk in more detail.

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The CoverCD

Coming in a ‘proper’ slim jewel case with glossy cover and inlay the quality of the CoverCD is superb. The CD itself is a standard printable CDR but it’s been laid out well and is also printed in colour. The CD is loaded with software, utilities, wallpapers, icons, games and more. There’s also PDF versions of every edition of K&A+ on there. This is a really great feature since issues #1 – #6 only exist digitally.  Other content includes several full PD games such as the rather splendid Barbarian+ and Trap Runner. Demos of brand new games such as Bridge Strike and Reshoot R are also ready and raring to go too. I’d definitely recommend getting the CoverCD – it’s only an extra €5 and totally worth it.

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Inside the magazine there’s tons of content for all Commodore machines from the VIC20 right through to MorphOS and emulators. One of my favourite game series, The Settlers, gets a terrific multi-page article devoted to the game. There’s also reviews of many new games such as Mancave, Farming Simulator, Bridge Strike, Trap Runner and loads more. On the more productive side there’s a review of a new PDF viewer for the Amiga and tutorials for WinUAE and the C64 Strike WiFi modem. Incidentally, RNOPDF, the PDF viewer reviewed in the magazine is also included on the CoverCD!

Magazine Preview

Here’s a little preview of some of the stuff in K&A Plus #13:

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If you’ve never come across this magazine before you might want to take a look at some of my previews of previous issues here.

If you want to find out more about K&A Plus #13 or order yourself a copy, head on over to the Komoda & Amiga Plus website. The magazine is produced in Poland but the English translation is great. Shipping to the UK only takes a few days.

 

Amiga Future #140 – September/October edition out now.

Amiga Future #140

The latest issue of Amiga Future (Amiga Future #140) arrived a couple of days ago. It’s great to see it maintaining a hefty weight and plenty of content. Sadly the price has risen slightly from €6.50 to €7.00 but this is a very small increase and the first one they’ve made in many years. As I’m a subscriber I’ve not actually had to pay the increase but obviously my renewal will reflect the new price. However it’s still excellent value for money and this certainly won’t deter me from purchasing it in the future.

Inside Amiga Future #140 there’s several game reviews including SkillGrid, Labyrinth and the excellent text adventure Hibernated. There’s also a very interesting in-depth article about X-Copy. I think pretty much every Amiga owner used this software back in the day whether they care to admit it or not! Richard Lowenstein of Reshoot R fame is the focus of this issues big interview.

I was a little disappointed that there was no CD32 section this time around, hopefully it will make a return in the next issue.

This issues coverdisk is a nice return to form containing no less than 3 full games. Amongst them is a great little RPG called ‘Crystal Dragon’ that I’m looking forward to playing properly in the near future.  The other two games are Dead Metal and Craggy and Croco.

 

Crystal Dragon

Crystal Dragon RPG (screenshot from Amiga Forever emulation)

 

Below is a little peak at some of the stuff inside Amiga Future #140. If you’d like to purchase a copy then do please take a look here and support what is now the last remaining commercially printed Amiga magazine!

 

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Never come across Amiga Future magazine before? Perhaps you’d care to take a look at some of my other Amiga Future magazine previews here.

 

 

Freeze 64 Issue 29 Fanzine is out now

Freeze 64 Issue 29

Just received my subscriber edition of Freeze 64 in the post, now up to issue 29!

 

Freeze 64 Issue 29Freeze 64 Issue 29

Freeze 64 Issue 29 – with Subscriber exclusive cover.

 

This issue’s featured game and interview is Doc Cosmos and its’ programmer, Simon Jameson. There’s also a nice little review of Run Demon Run, a new game published by Psytronik Software. Of course there’s the welcome return of several regular features like Zzapback! and Secret Squirrel too.

Badlands is once again the featured game in the ‘The Diary of…’ series. Doc Cosmos is also under the spotlight for this issues ‘The Making of…’ article.

 

Cover Comparisons

 

As you can see from the animated GIF above, this issue is a little different. Vinny has introduced a new feature whereby subscribers to the fanzine get different cover artwork from non-subscribers. Whether this is going to be a regular feature or not going forward remains to be seen. Those of you who absolutely must collect everything might like to avail yourselves of an additional copy of the mag so you have both covers!

 

Freeze 64 Issue 29

Here’s a peek at the contents page of this issue.

 

If you fancy your own copy head over to the Freeze64 website and show your support by purchasing this issue.

Here’s a link to previews of several earlier editions of Freeze64 if you’d like to check out what you’ve been missing!

Amiga Future #139 – July/August edition out now.

Amiga Future #139

Another feature packed issue of Amiga Future (Amiga Future #139) arrived a couple of days ago. Weighing in at 50 pages there’s certainly plenty of content to read.

Inside Amiga Future #139 there’s several game reviews including Bridge Strike and Reshoot R. There’s also a very interesting review of a hardware project that allows hooking up an Iomega Zip drive to the parallel port of your Amiga. I know back in the day I used a Zip drive with my Amiga 4000 but that was with a SCSI interface…

This time around the CD32 section focuses on the final Beer games compilation CD whilst the magazines big interview is with Volker Wertich, the designer behind The Settlers game.

Sadly I have to say this issues coverdisk content was a little disappointing. There’s a full game on there called ‘Jonathan’ which appears to be some sort of adventure game. To say it’s a bit weird (and not in a good way) would be a massive understatement though!

Below is a little peak at some of the stuff inside Amiga Future #139. If you’d like to purchase a copy then do please take a look here and support what is now the last remaining commercially printed Amiga magazine!

Never come across Amiga Future magazine before? Perhaps you’d care to take a look at some of my other Amiga Future magazine previews here.

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Freeze 64 Issue 28 has just landed on my doormat

Freeze 64 Issue 28

Just received my subscriber edition of Freeze 64 in the post, now up to issue 28!

This issue’s featured game and interview is Mikie and its’ programmer, Tony Pomfret. There’s a third instalment of ‘The Talkies’ focusing on C64 games that feature speech alongside many of the regulars like Zzapback! and Secret Squirrel.

Badlands is once again the featured game in the ‘The Diary of…’ series whilst ‘Escape from the Waste Disposal Unit’ is under the spotlight for this issues ‘The Making of…’

 

Freeze 64 Issue 28

Here’s a peek at the contents page of Freeze 64 Issue 28.

 

If you fancy your own copy head over to the Freeze64 website and show your support by purchasing this issue.

Here’s a link to previews of several earlier editions of Freeze64 if you’d like to check out what you’ve been missing!

Amiga Magazines (on DVD in PDF format)

Amiga Magazines

.Stumbled across these magazine collection DVD’s whilst I was browsing through eBay a few days ago. The design of the discs really caught my eye and instantly whisked me back to the 90’s heyday of being spoilt for choice with the Amiga magazines available in WH Smiths. Needless to say I ordered a whole bunch of them as they were doing a buy 4 for the price of 3 deal!

 

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What are they exactly?

Basically these are compilations of every single edition of a particular Amiga magazine in PDF format. The scans are of a really high quality,up to 100mb per issue or more and look terrific on screen. I’ve transferred several issues onto my Surface so I can read them in a more portable format at home, and stuck a few on my phone too to read when I’m out and about. Don’t get me wrong here, I love all the current magazines that are out there, but there’s something special about reading the original mags. Maybe it’s just nostalgia, or maybe it’s the enthusiasm of the writers shining through. After all, when they produced those articles the Amiga was at the cutting edge of home computing at the time.

 

First Edition Covers!

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Wait, what?

Now I bet some of you are reading this and thinking, what an idiot, he could have downloaded those Amiga magazines off the Internet for free! Well if I could be bothered I’m sure I could have. However I’d rather spend my time doing something else than wasting it downloading several gigabytes worth of PDF’s. Not just that, the presentation of these discs is first rate, that’s what caught my eye in the first place. The scans are of a really high quality and they came supplied with nice plastic storage wallets. Best thing of all is that I’ve now got them all stored safely away for ever and ever!

The seller’s name is ‘eBay‘ should you wish to avail yourself of their wares.

Freeze 64 Issue 27 – Out now!

Freeze 64 Issue 27

Just received my latest subscriber edition of Freeze 64 in the post, now up to issue 27! (Which reminds me – it’s time to order a new binder as each one only holds 13 issues!)

This issue’s featured game and interview is Nodes of Yesod and its’ programmer, Keith Robinson. The tongue-in-cheek look at toilets continues, as do regulars like The Mouldy Cupboard, Zzapback! and Secret Squirrel. Rollerboard is this issues ‘The making of’ whilst ‘The Diary of a Game’ continues the focus on Badlands from the previous issue.

 

Freeze 64 Issue 27

Freeze 64 Issue 27 pictured alongside Nodes of Yesod, this months featured game.

 

If you fancy your own copy head over to the Freeze64 website and show your support by purchasing this issue.

Fusion Magazine #5 just arrived

Fusion Magazine #5

Received the latest edition of Fusion Magazine, issue #5, at the weekend. Have to say I’m liking the contents of this edition very much as there’s plenty of retro stuff inside. Stuff like the ‘Top 5 Amiga Games’ article, a look at Space Invaders, Ghostbusters 2, OutRun on Switch and more. A personal favourite of mine is the Retro Man Cave feature looking at old Flight Sims. Simulation games are personal favourite of mine – a genre which used to be massive in the but sadly neglected now.

Here’s a little peak at some of the stuff in this new issue:

 

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If you’ve not come across Fusion magazine before then you might like to take a look at my overviews of the previous 4 issues here: Issue #1Issue #2Issue #3 & Issue #4.

I think I’ve sometimes been a little overly critical of the magazine in the past purely because it doesn’t always feature Commodore related content. However I think on retrospect this is a little unfair. The magazine caters for so many different systems and eras it’s unrealistic to expect coverage of favourites in every issue.

Anyhooo, if you want to purchase a copy of issue #5 of Fusion Magazine, head over to their website here. The mag is only £3.99 plus postage, a very reasonable amount for such a well produced magazine.