Aminet 15/Aminet 15 - Nov 1996.iso/Aminet/mus/play/TitchyplayV1_7.lha/TitchyPlay_V1.7/Mushroom_PD.Doc

Text File | 1995-12-30 | 16KB | 333 lines

                     About Mushroom PD
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Mushroom PD was set in in February of 1995 by myself,
when I found it rather difficult to get hold of any public
domain for AMOS without having to pay ridiculous prices,
either for each disk, or for yearly subscriptions. Many of
the library's which stocked AMOS PD were also involved with
non-AMOS PD, and so were not too bright on the AMOS programs
they had in stock.

    Although made public in February, I had been collecting
for quite a while beforehand, by getting programs from
coverdisks, and from the PD bins in the local games store. I
also began to collect address' of people who had wrote and
had published AMOS programs, to try and get them to give me
a hand with it all. This proved successful in some cases,
however, most of the people I wrote to didn't write back,
which cheesed me off a little.

    After getting in touch with several people involved with
AMOS, I opened the library to the public, and began
collecting all the AMOS stuff I could lay my hands on. I was
getting games and utilities from the people who were writing
them, as well as music and graphics banks, not to mention
the programs I was writing myself.

    The library is split up into 3 main sections. The
biggest being the section devoted to Mushroom disks. These
are disks which are sent to me, and are full of AMOS
programs and utilities, either compiled or in source code
form, and come "As-Is", meaning you only get what is on the
disk. These disks are PD, so they can be spread by any PD
library. Various different kinds of programs have been sent
to me on disk, including games, utilities, and music demo's,
which are the most popular to buy. The modules and graphics
are stored in both .Abk music format, and Spack picture
banks, along with the standard Tracker and IFF files. All
the files from the music disks can be loaded into your own
programs, providing the programmer with an excellent source
for new tunes to include in their games.

    Another large section of the library contains source
code. Everybody needs source code to help with certain
problems they are stuck with, and to help this out, I have
split the library up into several different source code
sections, with new ones being added all the time. Source
code programs tend to be of a huge different variety. Mostly
being small procedures and routines, to help overcome any
tricky problems that the programmer had encountered whilst
writing one of their games. We have had source code sent in
from lot's of different people. We even had Paul Burkey send
in a source-code version of his top hit game Sneech, to show
everyone how it was done, as he had lot's of requests to do
a source code version in the past. Each section of the
source code is categorized in the latest issue of Extreme
AMOS, so all information regarding the programs can be found
there.

    The prices of my disks are not ridiculous, either. Some
of the librarys I got information from wanted as much as
£3.00 for one disk full of source, per title. A complete
waste of money, as you would have to have paid £6 for 2
disks. My prices start up as 60p per disk, and the more
titles you order, the less they cost. After all, it is PD,
and the programmer should be the one making the money, and
not the PD library.

    Here are the library prices :

                   1 -5 disks - 60p each
                  6 - 10 disks - 55p each
                   10 + disks - 50p each

    These prices include all postage, packing, and disks. If
you live overseas, please include an extra 25p per disk, to
cover the extra postage. If you are sending your own disks,
knock 25p off each disk, and make sure that the disks are
formatted and error-free, otherwise they will not be copied
on. All cheques are to be made payable to "Andrew Kellett",
and no cash over 10 pounds to be sent through the post.

    If you are a programmer yourself, you can exchange your
program disks for others in the library. All you have to do
is send a working copy of your game or utility, making sure
that it is PD, and in return, I will send you back the
mushroom disk of your choice. All Mushroom disk lists are
available in the latest issue of Extreme AMOS, or from me
directly at the address below. The same goes also if you
have a disk full of source code, or compiled programs. You
can use an archiver to store the stuff you want to send on
a less number of disks. Archivers such as LZX, LHA, DMS are
welcome, but if you use any other cruncher, I would be
gratefull if you sent a copy so I can unpack your files.

  Mushroom disk Parameters
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    All public Domain libraries have certain parameters in
which your programs must follow in order for them to be
included. In here, there are only a few. The program on the
disk, or the data files on it, must be in AMOS format,
programmed in AMOS, or be an add-on of some kind to do with
AMOS. Graphics disks are not accepted at the moment, unless
they are in Spack format. Music demos can have the modules
in any format they wish, so long as the player which is
used is written in AMOS. All utilities must also be written
in AMOS. Utilities programmed in another language, to
perform actions for AMOS are NOT allowed under any
circumstances.

    When sending programs, you must include a quick note to
say wether the program is compatible on an A500, and how
much memory it needs at a minimum to run, along with
anything else I should need to know ie. A1200 only. If the
program is compatible on an old A500, then the disks in
which you send it must be in OFS mode for the computer to
understand them. FFS disks are welcome to programs only
compatible on Workbench 2 and upwards.

    All disks sent will be replied to within around 3
weeks, so long as I am not snowed under with Extreme AMOS.
Catalogue disks are also available, by either sending a
disk and an SAE, or a 60pin an envelope, and on the cat
disk will be a list of the current library programs, along
with information on Mushroom PD and Extreme AMOS, with
lists of extensions available etc.

    Every disk sent into the library will be included,
unless I feel it should not. If it doesn't, then you will
be notified as to why. You can also withdraw any of your
disks from the library at any time, as well as update any
earlier versions which already exist. Remember, it doesn't
cost you a bean to send in any disks to be included.

    The address to send all of your stuff to, wether it be
disks, letters, or queries, is :

                 Andrew "Mushroom" Kellett
                        Mushroom PD
                   32 Castleton Crescent
                         Gamesley
                          Glossop
                        Derbyshire
                         SK13 9TH
                          ENGLAND

             E-Mail: [e-mail]

    The E-Mail address is not my own, but has been very
kindly lent to me by Paul Burkey, so any mails may take a
couple of days to reply to. Source code and programs etc.
are welcome to be sent through.

    For more information on Extreme AMOS, a disk-based AMOS
magazine which I run, then see the appropriate article for
more information, which contains info on all the things
which appear in it, as well as how to get hold of copies,
and get involved with the magazine and other AMOS contacts.


                      About Extreme AMOS
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Extreme AMOS is a disk-based magazine, written by me,
Andrew "Mushroom" Kellett. Each issue comes spread out on 2
disks, with issues sometimes being released on 3 disks, when
lot's of articles or programs have been submitted. Each issue
costs 2 pounds, no matter how many disks it is packed onto, and
is released bi-monthly.

    At the moment, the fourth edition is currently being
constructed, with the previous 3 all being released as
shareware. Issues 1 and 2 were released when I was working with
a co-editor named Carl Drinkwater, who was later sacked from
the EA team for lack of correspondence towards the magazine,
both in contributions, and suggestions. Issue 3 was released in
April 1996, and showed more response than the previous 2 issues
put together. It was completely written, designed and
programmed by myself, with compaction help from Paul Burkey,
and contains a full GUI interface system, with graphics amongst
the articles, as well as full-colour texts, unlike the first 2
issues. Within a day of it getting released onto the internet,
I was getting E-Mails from different countries, including
Belgium and Hungary. Issue 4 already contains a new reader
system, which allows the articles access to over 10 different
IFF fonts, so articles and adverts can have interesting and
attractive headers, instead of using the same boring old text
style. Isue 4 should be ready to buy around the end of June
1996, priced at 2 pounds.

    Extreme AMOS Issue 3 was the biggest release of EA to date.
Altogether, it contained over 300K of text files to read (all
sizes when unpacked), and more than 200K of squidged pictures
to look at. It was also the first issue to combine graphics and
text together, to provide game reviews with IFF screenshots for
example. Previous issues never had coloured text, which could
be controlled via control codes, unlike issue 3.

    The issues are packed full of AMOS and non-AMOS programming
routines and source code for you to use and read straight away.
There is even a Hard Disk version of disk 1, so you can unpack
all the articles without having to wait for them to load slowly
via floppy, and then wait for them to unpack again. Extreme
AMOS now also has a fantasy football league, run by a chap
named Mark Prestwich. In all 3 previous issues, the FF system
has been messed around with, and so I have found someone to
hopefully do the job properly. His address will be mentioned
alongside mine towards the end of the document.

  Getting involved with EA
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Extreme AMOS is always looking for people to contribute
articles and source code. If your Articles/Source is used, then
the issue that it appears in is sent to you free of charge.
Articles may not appear in the next issue they are sent for,
but maybe an issue afterwards. Articles can be typed out
directly, with the text colours inserted in brackets where you
want them to go, or if you are familiar with the character
control codes I use, then you can place them in. Alternatively,
I can colour any text for you. Issue 3 contains several
converter programs, as well as a text reader program to view
your own articles in.

    Any source code sent in to the magazine, will automatically
be placed into the library as shareware. Any source code used
on the coverdisks will also be treated as Shareware. Your name
will also be mentioned in the credits of the magazine.

    I am also looking for Games and utilities to place on the
coverdisks. Demo versions of games are also welcome, including
demos of any powerfull AMOS utilities. Send them to me at the
address below, where they will all be evaluated equally.
Remember to include all documentation, libraries, and other
bits needed by the program, as I won't use it if even I can't
get it to work.

    EA has a large advertising section, mainly for advertising
programmers games and utilities. There is also a message
service available for use. In order to use these services, you
must have either sent me some articles, or included a first
class stamp for every 2 IFF adverts you want to include, or for
10 standard ASCII adverts. Each user is limited to 2 IFF
adverts, and 10 text adverts, with each text advert using no
more than 100 lines. IFF adverts must use no more than 64
colours. If you send in some AMOS articles, you need not send
any extra postage stamps. The messages service is open to
anybody, just place a 5p piece in the envelope if you are not a
registered reader of EA, or have not sent any articles. Again,
if you have sent me some articles, then it won't cost you. Text
messages only please, unless you have special permission
directly from me to use IFF or some other form. If you wish for
your advert to be tampered with by me, to experiment with the
IFF text advert system (creates IFF fonts using the same amount
of bytes as a text ad, using the internal IFF fonts) then
please give me permission to do so in your letter.

    If you are an AMOS programmer, and wish to get in touch
with other programmers out there, then send me in some examples
of your work, either compiled or in source code, and I will
place your name and address in the pen-pals section. Please
state wether the programs you send are shareaware, otherwise I
will consider them as PD and place them into Mushroom PD.

    For the latest information on all of the EA articles, then
why not grab a copy for yourself. I reccomend the third issue,
which took almost 2 months to complete, and contains everything
you need to know about getting involved with the magazine. See
below section for prices of PD. Standard PD disks from Mushroom
PD cost 60p each.

    Each of the shareware issues is available from Mushroom PD,
priced at £1.20, or £1.95 if you live overseas. If you are
going to supply your own disks, make sure that they are
formatted and checked for errors, otherwise the program won't
copy onto them properly. Each issue will cost 80p if you supply
disks, or £1.55 if you live overseas. The reason I charge
extras for overseas packages, is it costs over a pound more to
send them, as the postage rates are ridiculous nowadays. All
cheques should be made payable to Andrew Kellett, and mailed to
me at this address. This is also the address that all programs,
source code, and other Extreme AMOS and Mushroom PD related
material. Crisp fivers for no reason wouldn't go a miss either!

                   Andrew "Mushroom" Kellett
                          Mushroom PD
                     32 Castleton Crescent
                           Gamesley
                            Glossop
                          Derbyshire
                           SK13 9TH
                            ENGLAND

    All questions and queries relating to the fantasy football
scheme should not really be sent to me, but should be sent
directly to Mark. I think the price is around £2 a month, but
for more info, write to Mark :

                        Mark Prestwich
                        23 Ashdene Rise
                           Moorside
                            Oldham
                          Lancashire
                            OL1 4NU
                            ENGLAND

    All letters sent to me will be replied to as soon as
possible. If you send anything to any of the adress' mentioned
here or in Extreme AMOS, and you don't get a reply too quickly,
then it is not my fault, which a few people don't seem to
understand very well. I would just like to thank the following
people for helping make EA and Mushroom PD just what it is
today :

Paul Burkey, Asa Margetts, Paul Gumsley, Gaz Hoyles (ZZG-PD),
Ron Davis, Eric Powers, Carl Drinkwater, Mark Prestwich (FF)

Many tonnes of thanx go to Paul Burkey for the use of his
E-Mail address, which has really helped me get in touch with
people around the world. Many thanx again to Paul, as he wrote
the excellent Graphics compaction routines used in EA.

Thanx also to Gary Hoyles, for designing many of the EA
official logos, and for printing the very neatly-decorated
letters which I receive off him.

Although I did not want to, I have to mention a quick thanks to
Carl, as without him, EA would probably not have been born. Get
in touch with me Carl if you want to contribute any articles
etc., but don't think you will be getting the job of co-ed back
too soon!

[Andrew "Mushroom" Kellett]

EOF