48 IRONS:
THE FIRST STORY
(C) Yamkovoy Alexey
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The arrival of people in the magical land, a land of air castles, fairy creatures, and ancient sorcery turned into a terrible catastrophe for its wondrous inhabitants. Some of them were exterminated by the foolish tribe, some left, having lost their former power, never to show themselves to humans again. Soon, memory of them remained only in legends and tales...
But the people did not stop at what they had achieved - they continued to break the old world with enviable persistence, a world that had no replacement and could not have one. Their efforts were not in vain; as a result, wicked, cunning creatures began to emerge, creatures that one would not see even in a nightmare. Slowly but surely, the situation became increasingly unbearable, and one of the creatures, undoubtedly belonging to the more conscious part of the population of the magical world, decided to put an end to this lawlessness and restore the former glory of the homeland. "First, it is necessary to gather a strong team," the creature decided (let's call it the Chief, for its true name is too well known among the inhabitants of this land) and began to look for suitable candidates. As a result, two old, tested comrades were chosen: a military expert and expert on other matters - Lemonka, and an indispensable conversationalist, especially with humans, a talkative creature by the nickname of Boltun.
Later, after making inquiries, it turned out that both proposed partners had fallen into some sad story, and they themselves would still need to be saved...
And so one early morning, the Chief set off on his journey. He knew that special whistles were used for quickly summoning both Lemonka and Boltun, but he had no idea where to get them. Remembering that once, in better times, Granata lived in the western castle, the Chief decided to pay her a visit. But to his surprise, he saw the long and tightly closed gates and a cow from the time of the First World War grazing nearby.
Expressing himself in less than flattering terms about the figures who had closed the gates, the Chief looked at the cow, and an unclear thought began to form in his mind. However, the Chief turned around and headed east - to Boltun. He was hopping leisurely across the soft grass when suddenly, not having covered even half the distance, he stumbled upon a gloomy skeleton that had crawled out from the dark dungeons, in the hands of which he saw the tool necessary to fulfill that very unclear thought that had appeared at the gates. Politely addressing this vile creature with a courteous request, the Chief received a rude refusal. But he was not used to such treatment, and therefore, showing remarkable wit and good knowledge of Eastern martial arts, he immediately turned the skeleton into a pile of bones, after which he slyly inquired:
- So, hopper, have you jumped too far?!
The grinning skull attempted to take on a fierce expression and spoke in a ghostly voice:
- I will get to you yet!
Meanwhile, the Chief picked up the coveted item, namely, a scythe, and hopped on. After struggling to get over a ravine, he hesitated on the shore of a rather large body of water. Clear thinking had always been a distinguishing feature of the Chief, and now, deciding to postpone his visit to Boltun, he began to implement that very unclear thought, which over time had taken on clear contours: to use the cow to penetrate the castle. This would require certain costs, most likely - food supplies. Jumping down into the ravine and looking around, the Chief saw right in front of him a hay meadow that was going to waste without an owner, and not wanting to miss such an opportunity, he took the scythe in his hands...
Having gathered the freshest hay into a bundle, he hopped over to the cow. First of all, the Chief set a condition: storming the closed gates until victory, and in return - a good treat. The cow didn’t quite understand what was going on, but hearing the word TREAT - agreed. The entire plan was executed precisely - soon there was no trace left of the gates. The Chief entered the castle and immediately headed upstairs. On the second floor was Granata. She showed no signs of life. Approaching closer, the Chief determined the cause - Granata had no fuse. Deep in thought, the Chief remembered that on his way to Boltun he had seen a bomb hanging in a cloud, quite suitable for use. After a laborious journey there and back, and nearly losing his bag along the way, the Chief installed the necessary parts and brought Granata back to her senses. Now one friend was saved, but a means of communication with him still needed to be found. Meanwhile, the Chief continued his journey westward.
After a short journey, he stumbled upon a rather imposing obstacle in the form of a giant spider. Since this annoying nuisance needed to be dealt with, the Chief set off in search of a suitable means. During this very search, he found himself in a small cave under the bank of the ravine, where he accidentally discovered a forgotten can of dichlorvos. Assessing the means as quite acceptable, the Chief returned to the spider and used the dichlorvos for its intended purpose. The spider got scared and fled, forgetting its web. Suddenly, the Chief found a very suitable application for it: the springy web turned out to be an excellent trampoline; the Chief jumped on it and, soaring above the surrounding lands, landed on a cliff that had previously seemed inaccessible. Here, among the lush high mountain meadows, he was met with another mystery, resembling an ordinary egg in appearance, but an egg of extremely impressive size. Tirelessly bouncing in the thick grass, the Chief crashed into the smooth white surface of this wonder. Recovering from the impact, he examined the find and was immensely surprised to find not a single scratch on the smooth shell. "Miracles indeed! - the Chief decided, - something heavy is definitely needed here."
And further to the west, at the bottom of the deepest gorge, was the workshop of a tailor-hermit, an ancient old man who had settled among the mountains and rarely came to the surface. The tailor, living all alone in a whole cave, was desperately bored and from time to time talked to himself, but in such a cunning way that the meaning of these conversations remained a complete mystery to random visitors. In one of these monologues, the Chief intruded, having left the impenetrable egg behind and continuing on his way. Stepping into the cave, he saw a sweaty figure standing in thought, holding a smoking pipe in his hand. "A whistle! - it struck the Chief, - I can make a whistle from the pipe!" Driven by this thought, feverishly sifting through possible conversation options in his mind, he stepped forward.
Talking with the tailor about various things and thereby lulling his attention, the Chief smoothly redirected the conversation to the topic that interested him, asked the most important question and... received a polite but unequivocal refusal. "This is what it means - no Boltun; only he knows how to speak beautifully," he thought. Despite the first setback, the Chief did not despair and decided to explore the remaining dungeons. Peeking into the storeroom of the troublesome tailor, he maliciously grinned and without hesitation pocketed the adjustable wrench found there.
With a sigh of relief, having emerged to the surface, our hero was almost ready to continue on, when suddenly it became clear that there was actually nowhere to go... Hanging his head, the Chief trudged home. On the way, he stumbled upon the entrance to a certain cave and tried to penetrate it. However, having spent quite a bit of strength and time, the Chief realized one simple thing: this was not an entrance, this was an exit from the cave. A brief explosion of enthusiasm made him search the surrounding lands for an entrance, but this did not yield positive results. Finally falling into despair, he set off back. All plans were crumbling...
Making his way through familiar lands, the Chief mentally reviewed everything he had seen on his way. The landscapes changed unnoticed, and soon a familiar panorama spread around - he was home. Staring at the ground, the Chief continued to walk and walk, when suddenly, while passing through the bottom of the former ravine, he noticed something dull glimmering beneath his feet among the grass. Hurrying to this spot, he looked closely and with a joyful cry snatched a golden key from the grass.
The Chief's joy knew no bounds. Shoving the key into his bag, he began to rummage stone by stone, bush by bush, and did not notice how he had wandered quite far from familiar places. He came to his senses on the shore of an underground body of water of unknown origin, but now such a pitiful obstacle could not stop him. In fact, the Chief was not fond of water, but now was not the time for personal preferences, and, pinching his nose with his ears, he fearlessly jumped into the water...
He was too overconfident, this Chief, and he would be feeding fish now if it weren't for the stream of air coming from a burst pipe, which carried the Chief to the surface. Leaving wet footprints behind him, without even shaking off, he rushed on, and not in vain: ahead awaited him a large closed chest. With a pounding heart, the Chief opened the chest and looked inside, - at once the surroundings echoed with a triumphant cry, - in the chest lay the much sought-after "whistle" for Granata. Unable to contain himself, the Chief brought the whistle to his mouth and blew loudly. Now Granata was with him, only Boltun remained. Having thoroughly explored the gloomy dungeon, the friends discovered a worn-out football bladder and decided to take it with them.
...
Night fell unnoticed on the magical land, and everything plunged into darkness. The morning that followed found two strange travelers on the road, moving toward the rising sun. The two friends were overcoming the final stretch of the journey to Boltun's abode. Just like the first time, the stop occurred on the shore of a lake, hindering further movement. Here the Chief asked Lemonka to wait on the shore, while he, hoping for luck this time as well, stepped into the water. And he was lucky again: a pipe ran along the bottom, but the tap on it was tightly closed and not a single bubble of air rose to the surface. Not at all flustered, the Chief reached into his bag and, taking out the adjustable wrench, began to arrange his way upward. In the process, he did not overlook the car pump lying on the bottom and, grabbing it under his arm, with one last effort, he leaped upward.
On the other shore, Granata, watching the surface of the water, breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the Chief alive and unharmed. Meanwhile, the Chief, having shaken himself off and caught his breath, waved to Granata and went on. On the other shore, he was met with a rather unpleasant sight: some man in strange clothing had grabbed Boltun by the head and was banging him against the ground. The Chief crept closer and expressed to this individual everything he thought of him. The individual reacted somewhat strangely: it turned out he was no villain, - just the championship was around the corner, and the ball, as luck would have it, had burst. The Chief pondered for a second, slapped himself on the forehead, and exclaimed:
- There’s nothing, you see, simpler!
With these words, he shook the bladder and pump out of his bag and quickly pumped one with the other.
- Catch the ball, man! - shouted the Chief to the football player.
- Thank you very much. And to you, strange creature (this he said to Boltun), I must apologize.
- And yet your games are strange, people, - said the Chief, turning to leave.
- Yes! - Boltun chimed in. - There’s a wonderful joke about this...
- Oh, hell! - howled the Chief, remembering that without the whistle he had no power over Boltun.
Somewhere urgently needed to look for the whistle. "For some reason that tailor with his pipe just won't leave my mind! I’ll have to pay him a visit!" - thought the Chief, and since that was the only option, he set off to the tailor. On the other shore of the lake, Granata joined him, and they traveled the rest of the route together. On the way, they stumbled upon a log that the Chief had easily jumped over when passing here before, but now he landed right in the middle of the log and heard a dull sound, like a hit on an empty barrel. And then a brilliant idea struck the Chief: "There’s something here! - he shouted - Granata, blow it up!"
Disciplined Granata did not make him ask twice, and before the Chief appeared a pit into unknown depths. Determined to make them known at all costs, the Chief jumped down. After a brief fall, he felt solid ground under his feet and looked around. On the stony ground, not far from the Chief lay a small but heavy hammer lost by the builders. Grabbing it and tapping the entire floor in search of another secret passage, he remembered that he should be tapping not on stones, but on something else. Stumbling upon an elongated stone, the Chief exclaimed:
- Of course! The egg! How could I forget!
Jumping through the memorable exit from the cave, he returned to the wonderful egg and shouted:
- Hey! Let’s smash it! - and brought the hammer down on the shell.
The hammer proved to be more effective than the Chief's head - the shell shattered into tiny fragments. Among the debris, he unearthed a new sewing needle (Kashchey had camouflaged it well) and smirked - now he had something to bring to the tailor. The tailor fully justified the Chief's hopes: in response to his selfless gift, as a man undoubtedly noble, he responded with no less broad gesture and gave the Chief his Cossack pipe. It turned out to be a piece of cake for the Chief to improve the design, and soon before him stood the second whistle for communication with Boltun. And at the same time, behind the Chief, a voice rang out:
- Oh, guys, I have a bunch of interesting stories for you!
"Yes, apparently I did something wrong with the whistle," - thought the Chief. Boltun was relentless, striving to fully live up to his nickname. The Chief, howling as if in pain, jumped up and rushed upward in huge leaps, - further west toward unknown danger...
But that is quite another story...
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Contents of the publication: ZX Format #02
- IS-DOS
Announcement of a school-ready hardware-software complex by Iskra Soft and Peters, featuring a networked computer class setup on ZX Spectrum with IS-DOS.
- IS-DOS - Владимир Елисеев
Explanation of command line monitor and text editor restart in IS-DOS using mon.com utility as an example.
- IS-DOS
Introduction to IS-DOS system utilities, covering functions like help, user menu, file viewing, editing, and file operations.
- IS-DOS
Detailed description of the eliminat.com program for freeing memory from resident tasks and drivers, featuring interactive mode and command-line keys. Specific channel numbers allocated for task and driver types. Includes usage options and color customization.
- IS-DOS Window System - Владимир Елисеев
Exploration of IS-DOS window system restarts for printing text in windows and absolute screen coordinates. Examples of restart implementations such as lwt, adrwt, lenwt, prstr, str, and lnstr. Continuation to cover auxiliary restarts in next issue.
- Assembler
Introduction to assembly language basics, focusing on flags, arithmetic operations, and register manipulation. Discusses addition, subtraction, and complex operations like multiplication and division through examples. Highlights specific assembly commands and their functions for ZX Spectrum.
- Hardware
Discussion of hardware modifications for Scorpion ZS-256-Turbo, including the implementation of a Turbo/Normal switch. Pros and cons of software-based switching methods. Advice on soldering and circuit adjustments.
- Hardware
Discussion of a new music add-on for ZX Spectrum by X-TRADE and HACKER STINGER, called 'ZX GENERAL SOUND', offering high-quality audio and minimal processor usage.
- Hardware
Discussion on hardware innovations and marketing strategies, focusing on mouse and keyboard interfaces for ZX Spectrum. Critique of competitor's misleading advertising and analysis of serial versus passive mouse technology. Author questions necessity and cost of advanced features.
- Hardware
Discussion of hardware acceleration methods for ZX Spectrum, focusing on turbo-modes and their effects on performance and compatibility.
- Toys
Fantasy tale about magical creatures battling human intrusion. Main character recruits allies for a quest to restore the land's former glory. Challenges include finding tools, overcoming obstacles, and reviving companions.
- Toys
Review of 'Carrier Command' game, focusing on its strategic and simulation aspects. Includes detailed gameplay mechanics, controls, and objectives. Highlights strategies for success and unique features like managing resources and autonomous systems.
- Interview
Interview with Sergey Zonov and Andrey Larchenko discussing their experience with microprocessors and ZX Spectrum development, including the creation of the Scorpion ZS 256 computer.
- Information
Contact information and staff list of ZX-Format No. 2 (1995) including editor, coders, and designers.
- Information
Editor's address to readers of ZX Format, discussing the positive feedback, past errors, and the quest for a cartoonist, with future plans for the magazine.
- Information
Discussion on the new interpretation of the 'PULLDOWN' window menu system for ZX Spectrum, focusing on interface updates and user interaction enhancements.
- Information
Discussion about companies illegally distributing ZX Format, emphasizing the benefits of purchasing official copies.
- Competition
The article discusses the lack of participation in ZX Format's competition, detailing the rules and prizes, and encourages readers to engage with new ideas.
- Let's Relax
A humorous account of a software vendor's challenges dealing with clueless customers, illustrating the nerve-wracking nature of his job.
- Mailbox
Overview of hardware components and prices for ZX Spectrum enthusiasts with ordering details.
- Mailbox
Reader letters section in ZX Format #02 discusses reader feedback, addresses issues with ZX Format features, and offers future improvements.
- Premiere
Guide to Digital Studio v1.12, a music editor for ZX Spectrum, including features, menu navigation, and the use of Digital Studio Compiler.
- For Programmers
Exploration of tools that extend the standard Basic 48, including Renumber for Basic 128, Trace & Speed, Blast Toolkit, and ZXeditor, highlighting their functionalities and utilities.
- Various
History of Amiga computer models and their evolution from A1000 to A4000/60T with specifications and unique features. Explanation of technical terms and differences between chip and fast memory. Mention of new developments like AGA chipset and models for different needs.
- Miscellaneous
The article presents upcoming ZX Spectrum software releases and reviews game innovations like 'Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' and 'UFO 2: Devils of the Abyss'. It highlights features, creators, and technical requirements. It also includes announcements from SOFTLAND and Cracked Masters Group.
- Systems
Discussion of creating music with Instrument 3.01, focusing on digitized sound. Analysis of program's capabilities and conversion from ASC Sound Master. Instructions for composition and conversion.
- What's New
Review of new ZX Spectrum games entering the St. Petersburg market in late 1995. Detailed game descriptions, memory requirements, controls, and music/graphics evaluations. Highlights include Night Hunter, Extreme, Grell & Falla, and more.
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