Cheet Sheets 1995 February/CHEET38.ZIP/INSTALL.DAT/1-RESULT.TXT

Text File | 1995-02-07 | 14KB | 312 lines

~1994 Questionnaire Results

Compiled by Simon Burrows


~`Introduction:
~`------------

`After launching  a reader's  questionnaire in  September '94,  we
`were expecting  a good response from readers hoping to give their
`opinions about Cheet Sheets  to the people that matter.  However,
`having now  reached the closing date for completed questionnaires
`(31st December  '94)   we have  only received 24 copies.  Despite
`this, we hope to still use your opinions and ideas to improve the
`magazine during this year.

`For those  that are  interested, below  is  information  on  your
`answers to the eight questions, and comments from myself (SB) and
`the author  about what you have said.  We offered three prizes of
`some great  shareware to  people who  returned our questionnaire,
`and the  winner's names  are also included in this document.

`Please take   time  to   fill in  a second  Cheet Sheets Reader's
`Questionnaire we have made for the start of '95. This has an even
`broader variety  of questions,  and is  even easier to answer. To
`ensure we  get a  satisfactory response,  we have had to ask that
`all orders  for any  Cheet Sheets  products contain  a  completed
`questionnaire.    As a  reward we have a whole bin full of prizes
`here are  the Cheet  Sheets 'office'.   These  prizes will all be
`shared out  between four  lucky readers  who will draw out of the
`hat after the closing date of the 31st of July '95.  These prizes
`include new  and golden  oldy PC games, serious titles, PhotoCDs,
`general PC  Hint Books,  shareware and  official guides to Eye of
`the Beholder  1 + 2.   For  more  information,  PLEASE  read  the
'Questionnaire Info' section of this issue of Cheets.

Onto the results....


~Our Winners

`Before I start on the questions, here's a list of the three lucky
`winners, each of which who receive three disks packed full of the
`greatest shareware released over '94 :-

~`WELL DONE TO:-   W. Bowen, Cambridge
~`                 M. Boston, Birmingham
~`                 N. Brodt-Savage, Gwynedd


~Question One

`Question one  asked which  games you would like to see covered or
`covered more  in future  issues of Cheet Sheets.  Below is a full
`list of  the games you mentioned in the your questionnaires.  Any
`numbers after  the games  below show  the number of times help on
`that game  was requested, and any with a question mark after them
`are games  which I'm  not sure  about the spelling of.  This list
`will also be included in the 'Help Me' section of this and future
`issue of Cheet Sheets, so if anybody can help in any of the games
`below, PLEASE support Cheet Sheets by sending in contributions as
`soon as you can.

`11th Hour (The)            Magic Carpet (DISK)
`Championship Manager '94   Mad TV
`Day of the Tentacle        Magic Carpet (CD-ROM)
`Dragon Lore                Master of Magic (?)
`Discworld                  Magic Candle III
`Dungeon Hack               One Must Fall
`Dark Forces                Quarantine
`Doom II                    Rise of the Robots
`FIFA Soccer                Settlers
`Fields of Glory            SSN ZI Seawolf (?)
`Frontier: Elite II         Simcity 2000 (2)
`Harpoon II                 Stunt Island
`Iron Fist                  Transport Tycoon (2)
`Legend of Kyrandia III     TFX
`Lands of Lore              The Lost Likings
`Mortal Kombat II


~Question Two

`Question two  asked whether  there are any new sections you would
`like to  see added to Cheet Sheets soon.  We had many interesting
`responses to  this question, many of which see to be good, viable
`possibilities in  future issues of Cheet Sheets.  Below is a list
`of just  some of  the main requests we got.  The number preceding
`each entry  in the  list shows  which paragraph number you should
`read below for comments on that idea.

`1. A 6-monthly section for help on older games
`2. A list of addresses of people wanting PC-penpals
`2. A help-desk for technical-related gaming problems (eg, memory)
`2. A letters column
`3. Some general DOS and Windows tips directed at gamers
`4. A section just for maps
`5. A multi-issue guide on how to make edit cheats
`5. Some technical tips on edit cheats  (eg, explanation of Hex)
`5. Tips on the use of DEBUGgers
`6. A trainers section
`7. Some reviews of classic, long-lasting games
`7. Reviews of some of the best BBSs around
`7. Reviews of films, books, TV etc.  (!?)
`8. A printable index of the magazine sorted by issue number

`1) This  seems a  good idea  since putting  help for old games in
`every issue  clogs the  magazine up.   Of course, older games are
`covered already  in the  overflow issues  of Cheet  Sheets  which
`contain help  on old  games, and  games already widely covered in
`the magazine. If you have any help on older games, please send it
`in now.

`2) We  will certainly  include such  sections if  we  get  enough
`response from  readers.   If you  would like  a  letter  or  your
`address to  be published,  or if  you have  a  technical  problem
`directly to  do with gaming  (as this is a GAMING-ONLY magazine),
`send  them  in  as  soon  as  possible.  (The  closing  date  for
`contributions to the magazine is the 30th of each month.)

`3) I  have already started a section which covers useful DOS tips
`directed at  gamers.   There were  also some  general DOS tips in
`Issue 36.   If  you have  found anything useful in DOS or Windows
`that will  help with  gaming problems,  please send them in and I
`assure you they will be published.

`4) It  is difficult  to include  such a  section for two reasons.
`The main  one is  that the graphic files that maps are in take up
`too much  disk-space, which  makes the  magazine too  big and too
`expensive to down-load.  The second reason is that there are just
`not enough  maps contributed  each month  to suffice having their
`own section.   Any  maps that  are sent  in are put onto the next
`trainer  disk  sold  by  the  editor  at  £1.50  each.    Further
`information on  these disks  can be  found in  each issue  of the
`magazine.

`5) This  sort of  information on  how to make edit cheats, how to
`use edit cheats, and more general explanations about DEBUGing and
`editing, seems  to be quite popular.  If anybody would be willing
`to write articles on the subject, then we would be very grateful.

`6) Trainers  are available  on the editor's trainer disks sold at
`£1.50 each.   For  an index  of the trainers presently available,
`see the information files included in each issue of Cheet Sheets.

`7) We  are very  grateful for reviews of any games or other game-
`related material  all the  time.   If you would like to send in a
`review of  your best  (or even worst) game, or would perhaps like
`to review a BBS or a PC-related TV program, them please send them
`in now.   There  are regular reviews of games every month, and we
`have had reviews of books and TV programs recently too.

8) We'll think about it!....


~Question Three

`Question three asked whether there are any improvements you would
`like to see in the Cheet Sheets interface soon.

`Around about  half of  the questionnaires returned said that they
`don't see  the need  for any improvements.  The others all gave a
`variety of requests.  Here's a list of the main ones :-

`A few readers asked about a variety of things which have now been
`incorporated into the new-style interface  (issues 35 & upwards).

`There were  also many  people who said thay would like to be able
`to use  the cursor  keys when  scrolling through  documents.  The
`programmer has taken this into consideration when compiling Issue
`37, and that feature has now been added.

`Many people  also said  they would  like to  be able  to drag the
`position-indicator on  the  scroll-bar  for  increased  document-
`viewing speed.  The programmer is looking into the possibility of
`this now.

`Another request  that was  aired more  than once  was with people
`saying they'd  like to  be able  to resize  the window to make it
`easier to  read.   This is  difficult, because the interface uses
`the standard  font-size used  in DOS,  so even if the window size
`was increased, the text-size wouldn't be.

`A couple  of people asked for the Windows version of the magazine
`to be  brought back,  but people  wanting this  seem to be in the
`minority, and  at the  moment it doesn't seem worthwhile spending
`the time upgrading it, or the disk-space including it.

`Other smaller  requests were  to be  able to  change colours  for
`better colour  contrast, better  music, and the ability to change
`the font etc.  All of these ideas will be passed onto the
`programmer ASAP to see whether they are viable.


~Question Four

`Question four  asked which  sections    (eg,  solutions,  cheats,
`reviews) you would like to see more/less games covered in.

`This question  gave a  very mixed  response, with  answers really
`depending on  personal preference.   In general, the most popular
`response was  'More Solutions'.   A lot of people also said 'More
`Edit Cheets', but there were also some who wanted less of these.

`There were  some requests  for more  reviews, one wanting reviews
`for newer  games  especially,  and  another  wanting  comparative
`reviews, and there was also one who wanted less reviews.

`If you  have anything  to contribute  to the  magazine, go on and
`send it  in.   Judging by your comments, people certainly want to
`see more reviews and more solutions, so please get writing if you
`have a  suitable game to review or solve. If it wasn't for people
`sending in  their own  little bits  of help  etc., we wouldn't be
`here today.


~Question Five

`Question five  asked where you got the majority of your issues of
`Cheet Sheets.

`Out of the 24 responses, 20 replied that they'd got them directly
`from the  editor.   The other  four were split between getting it
`from  the  editor's  BBS,  from  a  friend,  from  a  high-street
`magazine, and from a different BBS.

`Remember that  you can  freely distribute Cheet Sheets as long as
`it is  in its  entirety, and  not edited.   Please  distribute it
`among your  friends and  enemies, and  even  upload  it  to  your
`favourite BBS to help increase our readership over '95


~Question Six

`Question six  asked you  who  is  your  favourite  Cheet  Sheet's
`writer.

`Thumbs go  up to  me  (Simon Burrows)  and Lu Richardson who both
`take the  top spot  with 9  votes each.   'Nasty  Nigel' comes in
`second with  4 votes,  and Peter  Doherty and  John Johnson-Appoo
`both come in with 1.  Three gave no preference.

`Thanks a  lot to  every body  who has contributed to Cheet Sheets
`over the years - without you, Cheet Sheets would be No Cheets!!


~Question Seven

`Question seven  asked if  you have any general dislikes about the
`magazine.

`A vast majority of people said no, it's fine.

`One person  said that  they liked it better when it was in a text
`format because this was easy to take extracts of the magazine and
`use them  elsewhere.   This is  all very  well, but 99% of people
`prefer it  as it  is, so  we obviously  must go  along  with  the
`majority.

`Another person  said they  didn't like  the music.    This  is  a
`problem, of  course, because  we can't suit everyone's taste, and
`we can't  use brilliant  music, anyway, because they usually come
`in the  larger files.   If  you want  some better  music, you can
`always copy a .MOD file of your own over the top of one you don't
`like   (making sure  it keeps  the name of the old one), and then
`you can listen to that instead.  (Or just turn it off !!, Ed).

`The rest  of our  responses to  that question made comments about
`size.   Three people said that it would be good to be able to run
`from a  floppy disk, and one said that it would be good if it was
`bigger, so that the pre-installation files filled a 1.4Mb floppy.
`The latter  of these  two used  to be  the case,  but we  are now
`trying to  cut down on size by having less music and graphics, so
`the whole  thing will  fit on  a 720k  disk.   This make  it much
`cheaper for  people to download, and also cheaper to produce.  In
`terms of  being able to run from floppy, then I'm afraid we can't
`do this because the magazine uses 2.5Mb.  If anyone out there has
`a 2.88Mb  Floppy drive  like me, then you could install it onto a
`floppy disk  then, but it is really too slow once run from floppy
`anyway.


~Question Eight

`Finally, question  eight asked whether you have contributed to an
`issue of  Cheet Sheets  before, and  if not,  whether  you  would
`consider doing so in the future.

`Two people  said they  they'd haven't,  and they  never will.  13
`said that  they haven't,  but they  will if  they find  something
`appropriate to  write about,  and the  remaining nine people said
`they had already contributed.

`Thanks to  those who  have already contributed - it's good to see
`so many  people taking  an interest.   As we said in Issue 36, we
`aim to  have 50%  of our  readers contributing  something at some
`stage.  As for those that said they will, remember that anything,
`no matter  small, as  long as it hasn't been covered in the past,
`will be   published  in the magazine.  Also, if you do contribute
`origional material  to the  editor on  disk, your  disk  will  be
`returned with  the next  issue of  the magazine  free, when it is
`released.

`Thanks again  to everyone  who has  contributed to past issues of
`Cheet Sheets, and, keep cheatin'!!....



~Simon Burrows

PS.  Don't forget to return our new questionnaire now!