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Silicon Times Report Issue 0091
*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original Online ST Magazine"
-------------------------------
June 09, 1989 Vol III No.91
========================================================================
ST Report Online Magazine
-----------------------------
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida
32236 ~ 6672
R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
_________________________________________
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_________________________________________
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and
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Issue: #91 STReport¿ The Online Magazine of Choice!
-------------------
- The Editors' Podium - CPU REPORT
- CES Eyewitness Report! - CES * Analysis *
- EMPIRE & SHADOW! - Review - SILICON COMPILER?
- STOS COMPILER - A Review - TECH-SPECIALTIES - SPOTLIGHT
- DYNA-CADD 1.5 - ISD - HDX 3.0 & MEGAFILE 60
- Masterlink Intersect CO - ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL
========================================================================
AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ THE SOURCE ~ BIX
========================================================================
-> Notice <-
============
STReport is now written to work with the NEW QWIK VEIW V. 1.45....
taking advantage of the new "TABle of contents feature"! Quick ST 1.45.
The ST's fastest file viewer gets even better. Now supports Atari 8-bit
text files, and automatically generates a table of contents when reading
STReport Magazine. Runs in color and monochrome (25 and 50 row display),
and can be installed as an application from any desktop or shell.
"In keeping with the Tradition of Caring about our Readers"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> The Editor's Podium¿
C.E.S. (Summer) has come and gone and although we would have rather
seen the "revelations" from Atari been more along the line of computers,
we certainly realize that the revenue from the fancy new game machines
will most likely aid the research and development programs of the company
in general. The rather disturbing part of the whole affair is the
skywriting that says; Atari is still fighting to be the number one "game
machine" in the USA. This is really not such a bad premise, but surely,
it would be nicer if we all saw, "Atari becoming the most sought after
combination business and home computer".
Perhaps one day it will become easier to hear; "oh yeah, Atari makes
some pretty hot little game machines but you should only see the business
system we have at the office that they make". The day we hear that is the
day we will no longer cringe every time we see ads on the kiddie cartoon
shows for the "game machine" thingies. Sure, we all are getting tired of
hearing that the Atari is a toy computer and we all do our utmost to show
people that this is not the case and that the Atari ST computers are
indeed first class computers.
There is no doubt that the new game machines are going to be the toast
of the town and we are sure the stock value will climb and stay up. This
is the main benefit of the excitement generated by the release of a new
game system. As a side note, how sweet it was to see where all the Atari
reps were carrying the new "PORTFOLIO" hand held computers that were
alleged to be in a state of utter delay ...latest word is they (Portfolio)
will be in distribution within two weeks.
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> CPU REPORT¿
==========
Issue # 24
by Michael Arthur
Remember When....
In 1976, Xerox developed the Ethernet standard at its Xerox PARC
(Palo Alto Research Center) Labs, so be able to link together several of
its single-user minicomputers in one of the first LANs, or Local Area
Networks?
CPU INSIGHTS¿
=============
Paul Heckel, HyperRacks, and the Truth about Zoomracks III
----------------------------------------------------------
Much attention has recently been placed in the ST world towards
Zoomracks II and III. Once a universally praised product, Zoomracks has
recently become controversial, not because of any faults of its own, but
because Quickview Systems announced that it was making an update to
Zoomracks II, called Zoomracks III, in the Summer of 1988, and asked for
upgrade fees from its customers. However, like some other programs
recently, like DBase IV, Lotus 1-2-3, and PageStream, the release date
of Zoomracks III kept being pushed back many times, to the extent that
no one really knew when it was coming out.
When Zoomracks III began to gain vaporware status, many ST Users
began asking Quickview Systems to either come out with Zoomracks III, or
give a refund to the people who had paid the upgrade fee for the
Zoomracks update. However, there was no clear response from Quickview
Systems, and the refunds were not forthcoming....
Meanwhile, Quickview Systems had come out with an IBM version of
Zoomracks II, selling it through PC-SIG as Shareware. Paul Heckel had
also formed a second company, which was getting attention in the
Macintosh market for HyperRacks, a HyperCard add-on that it was
developing. Given that many other ST Developers had decided to port
their programs to the IBM and Macintosh, the ST owners who had
previously supported Zoomracks so avidly now began a Zoomracks-bashing
campaign. They assumed that Paul Heckel had abandoned the ST Market,
and used their money to do it....
However, it seems that no one ever made a concerted effort to ask
Mr. Heckel why Zoomracks III was delayed, or to even ask why a company
which before had been so conscientious in its support of the Atari ST,
now acted in such an irrational manner....
A Tale of the Woes of the ST Developer
When Zoomracks was introduced in 1986, it was truly an unique
product. Bringing many innovations to the database concept, including
that of zooming to "cards" located in a stack to obtain information in
a hypertext fashion, which were later used in Apple's HyperCard, it
looked to be the product to make the Atari ST a standard in the computer
industry. Many ST Users began to praise Paul Heckel for his work, and
Quickview Systems, Zoomracks' parent company, prospered from Zoomracks'
popularity.
However, Quickview Systems was a very small company, who didn't
have the resources to market Zoomracks as well as possible. Also, even
though Zoomracks became an instant success in the ST World, the size of
the US ST Userbase meant that Zoomracks' sales weren't as spectacular
as any Macintosh or IBM database program. Also, given the interest in
ST database programs at the time, Quickview Systems did not experience
the sales of a Data Pacific or Michtron.
Seeing Zoomracks' potential to sell Atari ST's, and observing
Quickview Systems' predicament in marketing it, Sig Hartmann decided to
contact Paul Heckel in the Spring of 1987, discussing the possibility of
Atari's handle the distribution and marketing of Zoomracks. Then, under
the direction of Sam Tramiel, Atari began a series of negotiations with
Quickview Systems, over this issue. Since, as a large corporation,
Atari could handle this a lot faster than Quickview Systems could hope
to, Paul Heckel chose to trust in Atari's promise to help market
Zoomracks, and redirected his company's efforts into Zoomracks II instead
of increasing distribution and marketing for Zoomracks I. This decision
would soon prove to be disastrous....
Six months later, Zoomracks II was introduced, to even more
fanfare in the ST world. However, Quickview Systems had still not
reached an agreement with Atari, and since Paul Heckel, being led to
believe that Atari would soon handle Zoomracks' marketing, had no reason
to start independent marketing of Zoomracks, Quickview Systems' sales
were not as great as they could have been.
In the Summer of 1988, Atari abruptly ended their negotiations
with Quickview Systems, telling Paul Heckel that they had no intention
of helping to distribute or market Zoomracks I or II. While Quickview
Systems had amassed crippling legal fees from the negotiations with
Atari, Paul Heckel chose to start work on Zoomracks III. Even though
Zoomracks II was a superlative program, it still lacked a measure of
functionality, and didn't use GEM as its user interface. At this time,
Quickview Systems announced it was developing Zoomracks III, and
expected it to be finished before Winter Comdex. At this news, ST Users
eagerly sent in their upgrade fees for the product.
However, Quickview Systems soon realized that the programmer
working on Zoomracks III had done a substandard job on it, and that
Zoomracks III still required major work to be completed. By this time,
sales of the Atari ST in the US had fallen drastically, and the combined
factors of Atari's Developer Support, the scarcity of Atari ST Dealers,
and the rapidly declining sales of Zoomracks began to further cripple
Quickview Systems, resulting in that it didn't have enough income to
fund Zoomracks III's development....
Then, in the Fall of 1988, Atari again approached Quickview
Systems, this time with an offer to give financial support, so as to
help develop a GEM version of Zoomracks III, having a user interface
similar to HyperCard. Since it was becoming apparent that Quickview
Systems couldn't complete such an endeavor itself, Paul Heckel decided
to enter into another round of legal negotiations with Atari, which
proved unsuccessful.
By Early 1989, ST sales of Zoomracks II had dropped to a minimal
level. Having no other source of income, Quickview Systems decided to
port Zoomracks II to the IBM PC, so as to generate enough revenue to
continue development of Zoomracks III. This port only took six weeks,
and soon afterwards, PC-SIG agreed to handle Zoomracks II's distribution
and marketing as a shareware product. At the present time, Zoomracks II
is receiving accolades in the IBM market, but its sales have just started
to help Quickview Systems.
Meanwhile, Paul Heckel also planned to make HyperRacks, a
HyperCard add-on for the Macintosh which would bring many capabilities
now missing in HyperCard, as well as Zoomracks compatibility, to the
burgeoning HyperCard market. However, since no investor would invest in
Quickview Systems, given its shaky financial situation, Paul Heckel had
to start a completely new company, also called HyperRacks, to encourage
investment in his new product. Paul Heckel has recently tried to get
Apple to recognize two patents that were established for Zoomracks'
innovations, which have great implications in giving Zoomracks
precedence in the database field over HyperCard. This, as well as the
fact that a Developer Edition of HyperRacks will soon be shipping to Mac
Software Companies, has helped to bring much interest in HyperRacks, and
to brighten both its, and Zoomracks' prospects....
To Be, or Not to Be....
However, while the reasons for Zoomracks III's delay, the IBM
version of Zoomracks II, and HyperRacks may be interesting, many ST
Users may only be concerned with whether Zoomracks III will be
introduced very shortly, or whether they will be refunded for the
upgrade fees. Paul Heckel has stated that Quickview Systems does not
have enough money at this time to either complete Zoomracks III OR to
give refunds to the ST Users who wanted Zoomracks III, and that if it
did have enough money to give out refunds, Quickview Systems would
rather put it towards the development of Zoomracks....
He also expressed the hopes that, depending on the success of the
IBM version of Zoomracks II, Quickview Systems could complete an
intermediate revision of Zoomracks II, which would both fix some of its
inadequacies, and add necessary features, for both the Atari ST and
IBM. This is so as to provide support to both the long-suffering Atari
ST Zoomracks owners and the new IBM Zoomracks users, and to set the
stage for developing an IBM version of Zoomracks III, which would truly
benefit from the use of the GEM interface. Since it takes little time
to port IBM GEM programs over to the ST, this would mean Zoomracks III
for the Atari ST as well. However, Zoomracks 2.5 is not likely to
appear until the Fall of 1989, and Zoomracks III will probably not be
completed until early 1990....
If you want more information on either Zoomracks II, HyperRacks,
or on the delay of Zoomracks III, Paul Heckel can be reached at
1-415-965-0327. The address is: Quickview Systems, 146 Main Street,
Los Altos, CA 94002.
But ponder, if you will, these questions:
1) Is the dilemma over Zoomracks III an isolated incident, or a rather
tragic, though correspondent analogy of the Atari ST market as a whole?
2) What exactly are "Workstation Capabilities", and how much does it
really cost?
CPU REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿
=======================
Cupertino, CA Chuck Berger has resigned as the Vice President of
------------- Apple's System Integration Unit, choosing to become the
Vice President of Product Marketing for Sun
Microsystems' Entry Systems Group, which is responsible
for Sun's new line of low-end Unix workstations.
This may seem like an isolated, inconsequential event,
but given that several top-level Apple executives,
including Charles Boesenberg, Apple USA's senior Vice
President of sales, have also left the company
recently, and some of those ex-Apple employees now work
for Sun....
Irvine, CA Rainbow Technologies, one of the major manufacturers of
---------- of "hardware keys" (or copy-protection dongles) in the
industry, is now supplying Ashton-Tate with its
Sentinel Pro dongle, which will be included in versions
of dBASE and Framework that are sold in foreign markets
which are particularly plagued by software piracy.
Chicago, IL Several monitor makers, including Zenith, NEC, Sharp,
----------- and Toshiba, have shown color LCD displays for portable
computers at trade shows (including Spring Comdex)
recently, ranging from 6 to 14-inch screens.
Based on active matrix technology, the Zenith and
Toshiba displays support VGA style graphics, and cost
from 1000 - 1500 dollars. But while these displays
may not appear in laptops until early 1990, some other
companies, including NEC and Sharp, have shown color
LCD displays which, while having a less powerful
display, could be in laptop PC's by Winter Comdex at
a price of 500 to 1000 dollars....
Berkeley, CA Bravo Technologies has recently introduced SPAM
------------ (Speed-up for Apple Mathematics), a new product which
doubles the speed of floating point math operations
performed on a Macintosh that doesn't have the 68881 or
68882 floating point math chips. Cost: $79.95....
Installed as a two-part INIT/CDEV utility, SPAM works
with all Macintoshes, including the Mac Plus and SE,
and (presumably) with Spectre 128 or AMax. In case
you may want to get more information on this product,
Bravo Technologies can be contacted at 1-415-841-8552.
Errata: In CPU Report Issues 21 to 22 it was mentioned that John Russell
======= Russell Innovations' new JS-4096 board for the ST could display
64 colors out of a 4096 color palette in Low Resolution. The
JS-4096 board can actually display only 16 colors out of a 4096
color palette in Low Resolution....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CES (I) STR EYEWITNESS REPORT¿ -> All the Main Highlights (Atari)
=============================
Here is an interesting announcement concerning the Summer CES (Consumer
Electronics Show) that is currently in progress in Chicago:
******** Summer CES Chicago June 3, 1989 ********
Atari introduced a new portable COLOR game system today. This unit is
about the size of of VCR tape, yet only weighs one pound, and includes a
built-in 3 1/2 inch color screen. One the left side of the unit is a
built in 8 direction joypad, and on the right side is a set of four
buttons for game control/firing.
An additional option is the ability to flip the image on the screen so
that the unit can be held with the joypad in either hand, allowing for
comfortable use by left handed people.
The following is a list of features:
-----------------------------------
* 16MHZ (not a typo) 65c02 microprocessor
* 16 simultaneous colors from a pallet of 4096
* Game cards as large as 2 megabytes (current cards at 128k bytes)
on the size of a credit card.
* ComLink: communications port allowing up to 8 machines to be
linked together for simultaneous play.
* Headphone jack for private listening
* Runs on 6 AA batteries (about 6-8 hours) or AC adapter
* 6 games announced for this new machine by Eypx
Suggested price: $149.00 Available by September?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CES (II) STR EYEWITNESS REPORT¿ -> Comprehensive Overview and Critique.
==============================
CES ...A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT
============================
Courtesy: CompuServe Information Services
=========================================
The following file contains excerpts from Ivory Tower's Summer
CES Report, 1989. Provided for the enjoyment of the Atari ST
community.
____________________________________________________________
Regular Ivory Tower readers will recall the Comdex report
issued a few months ago. They will also recall how sick and tired
this reporter got of seeing so called "new" IBM clones. Well
friends, this time it was Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo. I
thought I would throw up if I say another "licensed" product.
The Nintendo Village was 50,000 square feet of nothing but back-
slapping Nintendo fun. Lots of machines to play with, lots of
the same tired video games. Just how many karate-theme games will
people buy?! Anyway...the secret of Nintendo's large display is
that they, taking a page from the Atari Corp notebook, invited
all their various liscencees to camp out in the village..thus
putting them all together in one massive show of force. Ivory
Tower wishes them well, but the first kid we see with a pair of
Nintendo tennis shoes gets slapped.
Atari Corp was there, or at least their "entertainment
division" was. Showing their whole array of game machines (the
2600, 7800, and XEGS) scattered around what was essentially a
rebuilt version of their Comdex booth. There were a number of
pillars, each containing machines running new software. Some of
the game cartridges were so new that the lacked a case..just an
exposed pc board stuck into the slot. The least they could have
done is put them in a unlabeled case. I got to play Tower
Toppler on the 7800, Crossbow on a 2600 (with the XEGS light
gun), and a couple of other games that I quickly lost interest
in. Rampage, from Activision, did look pretty darn good. That's
one I can recommend to anyone tired of the cute-monster-that-
eats-dots games.
I didn't like the design of the Atari booth. It's black
with large white fuji and Atari logo (gone was the "computer" tag
line underneath the logo) was eyecatching..and their placement
was good...(right on the way to the Sega and Nintendo booths) but
it didn't do the company justice. By taking up much of the floor
space with pillars of machines they made it hard to take
everything in at once. I felt like a mouse in a maze as I
wandered around, in and out, trying to make sure I saw everything
that was being shown. Even at that I almost missed the outside
corner display of the Atari computers. (more on this later) A
large portion of the booth was taken up by Hartech's line of
"Atari" calculators. While I wouldn't mind having a little solar
unit with a fuji on it...I'm not so sure that blister packaged
calculators do much for the high tech image that Atari seems to
want. You don't see anyone else selling their name to such a
line do you?
Atari only had on 1040ST on display. Stuck way off in
corner, actually outside of the booth, was a lonely system
running some midi software with a couple of keyboards. It wasn't
even playing any music when I was there. In this same area were
two of the infamous MS-DOS clones. At Comdex they were known as
'PC-4' machines they now are referred to as "ABC" systems.
That's 'Atari Business Computer'...which led to me to ask an
Atari rep if the ST/Mega line *weren't* "business" computers. He
gave me a bemused look and said "good question". I know the
answer..as do ST/Mega owners..but it appears that Atari wants to
send contradictory messages. C'mon..."ST MEANS BUSINESS" is the
new motto...yet if you want the Atari Business Computer you had
better buy the MS-DOS clone. Does this make good sense to anyone
outside of Sunnyvale?
It's too bad that Atari chose to emphasize their game
systems. A few months ago Sam Tramiel, CEO at Atari, said that
his company was targeting the personal computer market. I, and
most others, took this to mean the home user. CES would have
been the perfect place for a show of force. Unfortunately none
of the exciting new products were there...not the Portfolio, not
the Stacy, not even a single Mega. (By the way, the Portfolio
must be about the enter the pipeline..many of the Atari employees
had one on-hand for their personal use.) Oh..I had better mention
the one new hardware piece they did have. The Atari Portable
Color Video Game.
This unit, which doesn't have an official name yet, features
a 3.5" color screen and a ROM card system of video games. Atari
didn't make a big deal about showing it...no press releases or
hoopla. I only knew about it because at one end of the Atari
booth there was a stage and a big cardboard clock indicating when
the next "show" would be. I hung around just to see what was
going to happen. Near the stage there were large pictures of the
color handheld game..but no indication of what it was. I went
and checked out the Sega 16-bit video game to kill time before
the next Atari "show".
The "show" itself was disappointing, but the new unit looked
great! While the pretty lady showing it didn't have much to
say...and didn't know the answers to very many questions..(not to
mention the audio feedback from the microphone..somebody should
teach her not to stand in front of the speakers like that) the
unit did attract some attention. Weighing less than a pound, and
coming with an AC adapter, it looks like it will really be
something. The spokes model wouldn't commit to a price while
onstage..but I later heard that it will be somewhere around
$149.00. Epyx has already completed nine games for it. Probably
the neatest feature is the "invert" key. Since the unit is
shaped somewhat like a butterfly (or a figure eight) by
"inverting" the screen (flipping it 180 degrees) left-handed
players can use the game just as easily as right handed ones. An
additional bonus is that righties can invert and try to re-master
the game when they've beaten it.
In other Atari related commentary: I was disturbed by the
small number of ST's to be found at other booths. Last year it
seemed that every software manufacturer had at least one, if not
several, showing the latest products. This year the ST was as
rare as the Apple IIgs and Macintosh lines. *Every* software
booth had at least one Amiga, and every booth had several IBM
clones. I never did see a Mega system..anywhere. You'd never
know the model existed. I did see a few Amiga A2000's. This
isn't as disturbing as it sounds, since most of the
manufacturers, if asked, were coming out with ST
conversions...they just weren't showing them as prominently as
the Amiga ones. As an ST owner I would like to see the ST be
more visible. I feel more could be sold if people were aware that
it existed. Most have never heard of ST/Mega line and that is
sad. But, on the flip side, if I owned an Amiga I'd be a bit
annoyed to see it showcased, consistently, as a games machine
(the dreaded curse of any serious computer). Being placed side by
side with the C64 didn't grant the Amy any respect, believe me.
Sorry Atari 8-bit owners, the XEGS machines were largely
invisible at booths other then Atari's.
___________
Innovations '89: Every year the CES folks pick out the most
innovative products and showcase them in a separate area. It's a
good way for the press and industry to get a quick peek at what
the hottest trends are.
(stuff deleted)
In the Software Showcase featured many titles of interest to
ST users. Here's the titles that won, _and_ were being shown on
Atari equipment:
Tower Toppler from Atari. 7800 game system
Dark Chambers from Atari. 7800 game system
Airball from Atari. 7800 game system
Double Dunk from Atari. 7800 game system
Crossbow from Atari. 7800 game system
Capt. Blood from Mindscape. Atari 520ST
Outrun from Mindscape. Atari 520ST
The Amiga had so many software titles to showcase that there
were two Amigas on display. Many of the titles are also
available on the ST so they're listed here:
Star Wars, Distant Armies: A Playing History of Chess, Trump
Castle, Battlehawks: 1942, Hostage, A-Talk III, Express Paint,
Stellar Conflict II, Microfiche Filer Plus, Quadralien, Heroes of
the Lance, and Titan.
One other product, X-Specs 3D from Haitex Resources, Inc,
was getting a lot of "oohs and ahhs" from the crowds. Too bad the
ST wasn't there with the StereoTek glasses. The Amiga molecular
modeling program, in 3D, was pretty lame compared to the ST's
Genesis package from Antic.
__________________
(stuff deleted)
Silliest CES product of the year has to go to "Serious
Listeners" from a company in Burlingame, California. This
product consists entirely of two lightweight leather flaps that
slip over the back of your ear. They reminded me of fake vulcan
ears found in novelty shops. The purpose of these silly things?
Well a "listening enchantment tool" of course! Yes, that's
right, its just like cupping your hand behind your ear to hear
something. The company expects to see college students wear
these in the class room in order to hear lectures, and for
audiophiles to buy 'em for their CD collection. Don't bet on it.
But if you've gotta have 'em they cost $25.00 a pair. I'm sure
the company will sell to you direct. Serious Listeners, PO Box
565, Burlingame, CA 94011
The "why didn't I think of that first" award goes to Safe
Care products for their "HOMEWORK FIRST" Nintendo (there's that
*$&%^ name again!) game lock. Yup, slip this little sucker in
the cartridge port..twirl the numbers on the combination
lock...and junior will play Mario Brothers only when you let him.
Nice idea, but they don't appear to have the Nintendo seal of
approval. Probably because the last thing Nintendo wants to do
is provide a means for controlling the addiction they thrive on.
The "IBM plays catch-up" award goes to Access Software of
Bountiful, Utah. They've pioneered a technology that lets MS-DOS
machines play digitized sounds w/out additional hardware. Two
games, World Class Leaderboard and Echelon, are coming out with
the patented "Real Sound" effects..and they sound (and play)
great. Access, however, gets a raspberry for leaving the Atari
ST out of their press release where they were comparing other
computers that can "do" digitized sound. C'mon Access...your
10th Frame program on the ST is full of such noises. You know
better. Anyway ...the system sounds great...and while digitized
sounds are old hat to ST and Amiga users...the MS-DOS crowd will
be wowed by "Real Sound". Come to think of it..just how did they
do all this w/out a sound chip!?
_____________
Ivory Tower doesn't normally concentrate on listing new
software products. However here's a few (no way is this list
meant to be inclusive) that caught my attention and should be
considered for purchase when they arrive:
Capcom (USA) is introducing several new ST products...
"Black Tiger", "Forgotten Worlds", "Ghouls and Ghosts", "Last
Duel", "LED Storm", "Side Arms", and "Strider".
Capstone Entertainment Software, a division of Intracorp
Inc, will be releasing "Superman: Man of Steel" shortly. This UK
developed ST program looks like a load of fun. Also, watch for
"Miami Vice". When I first heard of this I groaned at the
thought of a game based on such an inane show...but when I got to
try it out I changed my mind. You control both Crockett and
Tubbs in several types of scenarios. Everything from car chases
to climbing games to airplane chases. The best part is that this
game was developed entirely in the United States...be sure and
reward Capstone for their investment in the ST market. (They
will release several other programs as well...which will
supplement their other wares like "Trump Castle" and "Business
Card Maker".
END OF EXCERPT
___________
The previous text has been taken from Ivory Tower's CES report.
It is copyrighted 1989 by DNS Communications.
For more info contact:
GRMEYER on Genie.
72307,1502 on CompuServe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> MASTERLINK CONFERENCE STR Feature¿ -> Randy Mears Lets Us Know!
---------------------------------
=========================================================================
(C) 1989 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be
reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie
are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for
GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH
(RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,GEnie and
hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your information.
==========================================================================
<JEFF.W> Welcome to the InterSect RTC (that's Real Time Conference for
anyone who's easily bored by abbreviations). Thank you for being here with
us this evening. Before I introduce our guests, I'd like to make a few
announcements. In two weeks (June 21) our RTC guests will be CodeHead
Software's Charles F. Johnson and John Eidsvoog. Working together, Charles
and John have produced G+PLUS, MultiDesk, Top Down, and HotWire under the
CodeHead banner. Their public domain and shareware creations include the
popular ArcShell, Desk Manager, HeadStart, and much more. Up and coming
commercial products include CodeHead Utilities and FatBack.
Mark June 21 (10:00pm EDT) on your calendar and join us for the CodeHead
RTC.
In preparing for this, my first formal conference since becoming an ST RT
sysop, I came across an ironic piece of RTC trivia. Back during the summer
of '88, InterSect was featured in a formal RTC, just like this one. It just
so happens that the InterSect RTC last year was the first formal conference
hosted by my predecessor, Holly Stowe. Seeing how marvelous a job that Holly
has done with these RTC's, I'll take it as a good omen of things to come.
By the way, I'd like to thank Holly for the many helpful hints and
suggestions she's given me to help prepare me for these RTC responsibilities.
Thanks, Holly. And best of luck with your new assignment in the Gadgets By
Small Round Table!Now, here are the rules. During these formal type
conferences, you can only talk when I let you talk, so to get my attention
all you have to do is raise your hand. Do that by typing in /RAI and then
hitting your RETURN key.
I'll let all of your ask your questions in turn. This being my first
formal RTC as the ringleader I suppose I just might miss a raised hand, so if
you think I may have missed you please /RAIse your hand once again. Please
end your questions or comments with a "ga" (Go Ahead) to indicate you're done
"speaking". If you have to leave before the conference is over, your can
type /EXIt to return to the RT or /BYE to log off of GEnie, but please stay
if you can. I need your questions! :-)
Now, the introductions. I am very happy to have InterSect Software here to
tell us all about the eagerly-awaited terminal program, MasterLink.
InterSect Software, you may be aware, is responsible for InterLink,
Revolver, and Music Construction Set as well as a number of public domain
programs (like RamBaby). So, get your questions ready about MasterLink or
anything else that you've just been dying to ask InterSect about. Get your
hands /RAIsed now.
Without further delay, I'd like to introduce Randy Mears, president of
InterSect Software. Welcome, Randy, any opening remarks? I might add that
we have Rich Plom from Intersect with us as well.
<INTERSECT> Thanks Jeff, I guess most of the interest tonight will be
Masterlink. Masterlink is currently entering the BETA test stage and is
expected to be released as Upgrades to INTERLINK in mid July. We are also
currently working on a game called "War of the Warriors" and expect it out by
Christmas. INTERLINK will continue to be supported as well as REVOLVER. We
expect to release upgrades to both INTERLINK and REVOLVER this summer.At this
point we are open to questions.
<JEFF.W> Okay, we'll take questions. Just /RAI to get recognized. Holly?
<[Holly] HS> Hi guys! (May I praise Interlink for the use of the RTC?
*grin*) Well, you kind of answered mine in a way...You're releasing a
game... kind of different from what you folks are used to releasing... Is
this going to be a trend for Intersect or will you guys continue to carry on
the banner of utility type programs? What's down the way for Intersect?
<INTERSECT> We write computer software, all kinds... we like the variety.
Down the road, in the short term we will have a booth at the Detroit World of
Atari Show (maybe we'll see you there). Will you be selling Masterlink
advance there? We will be taking orders but will not be ready to sell it at
the show.
<R.LOWREY> I'm interested in the conditional capabilities of Masterlink.In
particular, what kinds of constructs do you have available? Like, if then
else, do while, etc... and can you wait on multiple strings?
<INTERSECT> Conditionals include if, wait, waitl (multiple strings), ask
(selector dialogue). Also supported is single dimensional arrays.
<JEFF.W> Single dimensional arrays?
<INTERSECT> All variables are self defining (including arrays) with up to 1
level of subscripting.
<R.LOWREY> Sounds good to me! Can you assign scripts to macro keys?
<INTERSECT> Yes, scripts can be executed by drop down, by a script, the
command line and macro keys.<R.LOWREY> Well, like, wow!
<JEFF.W> Thanks, R. ... Rich or Randy...Can you give us an outline of some
of Masterlinks features over Interlink (besides scripting)?Üj
<INTERSECT> OK, that is probably what everyone is looking for. Let me
start by saying that Masterlink operates primarily in the background. That
is,all dialing, file transfers, scripts and the mini-bbs run as background
tasks. Masterlink does not have the recorder feature but has a learn mode so
that you can build skeleton scripts similar to the way you make a recording
in INTERLINK. The main difference is that scripts can do conditionals and
you can modify them right in one of Masterlink's buffers (it has 3 buffers).
You may exit Masterlink and run other programs while these background tasks
are running. Even in the background, Masterlink directly accesses your disk
drives without interfering with the program that you are running. It allows
me to call Genie, on a daily basis, via a script that I execute while running
Laser C. You can change screen resolutions while the background is busy and
continue. I have Joust and Shiny Bubbles while Masterlink busily down
loaded files. When you exit Masterlink while
connected you will find your communication buffer intact when you re-run
Masterlink.
<[1st STOP] B.HANSFORD> When do you expect to release Masterlink to the
general distribution channels?
<INTERSECT> Masterlink will not reach the general distribution channels
until INTERLINK upgrades have been sent out and the Shelf packaging is
completed. Figure two to three weeks after it is shipped as upgrades.
<[1st STOP] B.HANSFORD> Thanks,...
<[Fred Beckman] FB> Ok. Mark. What kind of emulations will it handle?I am
looking for a GREAT VT100 that can talk to a DEC?
<JEFF.W> We have Randy and Rich with us.
<JEFF.W> :-)
<[Fred Beckman] FB> Sorry Rich! Do I have to keep InterLink and all the
emulations for it instead?
<INTERSECT> The VT100 will be upgraded and will work with both INTERLINK
and MASTERLINK. I currently have a new version that I am testing and it is
looking good. INTERLINK emulators work with MASTERLINK!
<[Fred Beckman] FB> Thats good. Now to run a different transfer program
from MasterLink can you run it and another program at the same time?
<INTERSECT> Fred, could you clarify that?
<[Fred Beckman] FB> To run say Zmodem from MasterLink and then quit
MasterLink to run something else in the foreground
<INTERSECT> Only Masterlink protocols multitask, you can go back to the
desktop while a Masterlink transfer is running and run another program from
there, yes.
<[Fred Beckman] FB> So to get Zmodem you have to let MasterLink stay in the
foreground.
<[Fred Beckman] FB> disconnected.
<JEFF.W> Oops, bye Fred!<INTERSECT> Whoops, we lost Fred.
<JEFF.W> Rick?
<[Rick] GRIBNIF> About the background file access. Is it GEMDOS file
access or direct access? Dare I ask which timer/interrupt is used?
<INTERSECT> Rick, I always use GEMDOS and I avoid timers like the plague.
GA<[Rick] GRIBNIF> Background GEMDOS access without timers? Ok. ga<JEFF.W>
Thanks, Rick.
<JEFF.W> P.ST.AMAND?
<P.ST.AMAND> Will the new VT100 Emulator support the advanced video and
true keypad emulation...
<INTERSECT> It is something that is in the queue, once Masterlink is out
those other things will start happening.
<JEFF.W> Thanks, P.
<R.LOWREY> Since you talked about a game, I have seen "Modem Wars" for the
PC and have (and play) "Populous" over modems. Any chance your new game
will use modems? This seems to be a hot area for the gaming world. GA
<INTERSECT> No plans for modem use. It is primarily an action packed
combat game. GA
<JEFF.W> Thanks, R. John?
<[John STanley] JLS> Thanks. I was wondering if Masterlink has an integral
editor, the characteristics of same, and what the script lang looks
like.Could we see a small sample? (2-5 lines) Also, can the script lang
control the editor?
<INTERSECT> The buffers are used to edit the script. The script is then
compiled and executed from disk. The script language will allow you to
directly access the contents of the buffer but does not allow you to control
the GEM windows.
<INTERSECT> I can send my GENIE script across the line if you would like to
see it. :-) GA
<[John STanley] JLS> What I meant was, can a script edit a file?<INTERSECT>
A script can load the file into the buffer, modify the data in the buffer
then write all or part of it out to disk.
<INTERSECT> Here comes the GENIE Script
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label start
<INTERSECT> gosub call
<INTERSECT> gosub main
<INTERSECT> send "bye" CR
<INTERSECT> wait "OFF AT" 10
<INTERSECT> hang
<INTERSECT> end
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label call
<INTERSECT> dial "GENIE 2" ret
<INTERSECT> if ret = 1 goback
<INTERSECT> set x = x + 1
<INTERSECT> if x != 10 goto call
<INTERSECT> set x = 0
<INTERSECT> ask ans "Dial failure, Try 10 more" "Quit Trying and exit"
""
<INTERSECT> if ans = 0 goto call
<INTERSECT> hang
<INTERSECT> end
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label main
<INTERSECT> wtcl
<INTERSECT> wtadd "LETTER" gosub mail
<INTERSECT> wtadd "elp?" gosub stdpro
<INTERSECT> wtadd "<RETURN>" gosub sndret
<INTERSECT> wtadd "OFF AT" goto endit
<INTERSECT> wtadd "20 ?" gosub msgsel
<INTERSECT> label rewait
<INTERSECT> waitl
<INTERSECT> goto rewait
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label endit
<INTERSECT> hang
<INTERSECT> end
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label mail
<INTERSECT> ask aska "Read mail now" "Don't read now" "" ""
<INTERSECT> if aska = 0 goon
<INTERSECT> say 10 "Don't forget to" "Read Your Mail" ""
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label goon
<INTERSECT> wait "elp?" 30
<INTERSECT> send "mail" CR
<INTERSECT> wait "elp?" 30
<INTERSECT> send "2" CR
<INTERSECT> wtdel "elp?"
<INTERSECT> wtadd "elp?" gosub ansmail
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label ansmail
<INTERSECT> wtdel "elp?"
<INTERSECT> wtadd "elp?" gosub stdpro
<INTERSECT> ask aska "Respond to mail" "Don't Respond" "" ""
<INTERSECT> if aska != 0 goto topit
<INTERSECT> send "6" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label topit
<INTERSECT> send "top" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label sndret
<INTERSECT> send CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label stdpro
<INTERSECT> ask ans "Go to ST Section" "Exit Script" "Log Off" "Manual
Entry"
<INTERSECT> if ans = 0 gosub gost
<INTERSECT> if ans = 1 gosub goex
<INTERSECT> if ans = 2 gosub gooff
<INTERSECT> if ans = 3 gosub goman
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label gost
<INTERSECT> send "ST" CR
<INTERSECT> wtdel "elp?"
<INTERSECT> wtadd "elp?" gosub inst
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label goex
<INTERSECT> end<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label gooff
<INTERSECT> send "bye" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label inst
<INTERSECT> ask ans "Read Messages" "Manual Entry" "Top Menu""LogOff"
<INTERSECT> if ans = 0 gosub gomess
<INTERSECT> if ans = 1 gosub goman
<INTERSECT> if ans = 2 gosub gotop
<INTERSECT> if ans = 3 gosub gooff
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label gotop
<INTERSECT> send "top" CR
<INTERSECT> wtdel "elp?"
<INTERSECT> wtadd "elp?" gosub stdpro
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label goman
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label gomess
<INTERSECT> send "1" CR
<INTERSECT> wait " ?"
<INTERSECT> send "set 20" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label msgsel
<INTERSECT> ask ans "Exit Messages" "New Counts" "New Messages" "Manual
Entry"
<INTERSECT> if ans = 0 gosub sndexit
<INTERSECT> if ans = 1 gosub sndcnt
<INTERSECT> if ans = 2 gosub sndnew
<INTERSECT> if ans = 3 gosub goman
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label sndexit
<INTERSECT> send "exi" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label sndcnt
<INTERSECT> send "2" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label sndnew
<INTERSECT> ask ans "View INTERLINK" "View REVOLVER" "View MASTERLINK"
"Manual Entry"
<INTERSECT> if ans = 0 gosub sndil
<INTERSECT> if ans = 1 gosub sndrev
<INTERSECT> if ans = 2 gosub sndmst
<INTERSECT> if ans = 3 gosub goman
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<INTERSECT> label sndil
<INTERSECT> send "rea 2 new" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT> label sndrev
<INTERSECT> send "rea 3 new" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT> label sndmst
<INTERSECT> send "rea 5 new" CR
<INTERSECT> goback
<INTERSECT>
<JEFF.W> All done? I think I'll wait for the movie. :-)
<INTERSECT> Well, that's my GENIE script so far. It is complete for what
it does but I always keep adding to it. Sorry that took so long, I forgot
how big it has gotten.
<JEFF.W> That looks very good and very powerful but also a little
intimidating for a non-programming end-user like myself will the Learn mode
help to build simpler scripts?
<INTERSECT> Yea, the learn mode should help building scripts, they don't
have to be that complicated, this one allows me to check Genie every day with
out having to touch the keyboard or exit Laser C.
<JEFF.W> Great. Thanks. Holly, you're up.
<[Holly] HS> Just a quickie... will YMOBAT be a direct selection now or
will we still have to load it in under ????? ? What about VT100 emulation?
<INTERSECT> Batch YMODEM is built in. VT100 is loadable and will stay
that
way because of its size and potential for enhancement.
<[Ralph] ST.REPORT> Allow me to thank you for continuing your support of
the ST Line. When can we expect to see the other protocols appear for
Masterlink.... and...for Jeff....For a moderator to have just about
everything occur on the first CO, A JOB WELL DONE!
<JEFF.W> *blush*
<INTERSECT> Ralph, we expect to get ZMODEM out shortly after Masterlink is
on the shelves. Also look for a new MULTIXY for INTERLINK that will include
ZMODEM at about the same time.
<[Ralph] ST.REPORT> outstanding.....thank you! ga
<JEFF.W> Thanks, Ralph.
<JEFF.W> I see in your newsletter a "NOISE FILTER" in the Style/Features
window. Does this actually compensate for line noise? By the way, I'm
afraid we don't have time for any more questions.
<INTERSECT> It doesn't correct anything but it does stop the display of
some spurious noise.
<JEFF.W> One more question.
<JEFF.W> Go ahead, P.
<P.ST.AMAND> can user write their own emulators/protocols if so what is
required?
<INTERSECT> There is currently a dev kit available for the development of
Emulators and Transfer Protocols. It is for MEGAMAX C and is available in
the download library here on Genie.
<JEFF.W> File #10414 (ILTXFEMU.ARC)
<INTERSECT> For Masterlink the Emulators can be written with the INTERLINK
dev kit but I will release a dev kit for MASTERLINK Transfer protocols in the
fall. The dev kit is free and I would be happy to help out anyone that
wishes to develop using it.
<JEFF.W> I'd like to thank Randy Mears and Rich Plom for taking the time to
talk to us about Masterlink. I know I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Thanks, guys!
<JEFF.W> Any last words, Randy or Rich?
<INTERSECT> Look for us at the Detroit show, Masterlink will be on display
there.
<INTERSECT> BYE All.
<INTERSECT> has left.
<JEFF.W> Ooohh! I know where I'll be when I'm not at the GEnie
booth!Before I open this up let me remind you once again that on June 21 we
will have CodeHeads Charles F. Johnson and John Eidsvoog here. Be back next
week for our regular informal Atari ST gabfest!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CORPORATE COMPASS STR FOCUS¿ -> Sailing the "Ship of Atari".....
============================
SMOOTH SAILING AHEAD?
=====================
by R.F. Mariano
It would appear that Atari is headed in the right direction, at least
that's what most folks are saying. The past 90 days have sort of left
many of us wondering just which direction it is that Atari is headed. It
becomes quite obvious when we find Atari's "Old Friend, Mr. Murphy"
jumping up to say hello once again. The $64,000 dollar question is...
WHAT ..IS THE COMMON DENOMINATOR (cause) OF THE DELAYS AT ATARI?
When the circumstance or situation is finally uncovered, Atari will
then embark on the road to true recovery. Everyone in the userbase wants
nothing more than to see Atari in a highly respected position in the
computing community, if for no other reason than the fact the
respectability reflects upon all of us and keeps the value of our
equipment at a comfortable level.
One picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say, actually, that
is a true fact. Why is it that we are not seeing the national push
advertising wise yet? Sure, there have been a few ads in newspapers in
localized areas but nothing to speak of at the national level. Most
folks we have asked never saw the ads that ran on the Cable Sales Network
or whatever it's called. (not exactly Prime Time).. Prime Time is exactly
where Atari should be placing the main thrust of it's US Ad Campaign,
"making it's name fully accepted as a source of fine quality computing
equipment in mainstream America". Placing ads in electronics mags and
computing mags is almost as foolish as preaching the faith to the
minister.
How nice to see that there are other folks out there who agree with
our recommendation that Atari setup a factory based mail order operation.
This would become an extremely valuable tool to be used in Atari's efforts
to properly service the home computer marketplace. The exchange program
Atari has in place is, with out a doubt, one of the best in the industry and
should be energetically brought to the attention of the buying public.
There is no finer program in place in the consumer computer market at this
time that has an equal value to the customer.
Actually, Atari has everything it needs to do a bang-up job in the
mail order area, a warehouse full of product, a desire to sell it's product
into a fast growing marketplace and a very receptive consumer base awaiting
such a move. Coupled with the "security blanket exchange program", Atari
would be offering a "caring" combination that is hard to beat! "Is anybody
listening?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> STOS Compiler STR Review¿ -> An in depth review of the latest goodies.
========================
STOS Compiler
=============
From Mandarin and Antic Software
-------------------------------
by William Y. Baugh
A great new addition to the fantastic BASIC game creator STOS is
(as the title says) the STOS Compiler. The compiler lets you
take your STOS source and compile it into either a .CMP form that
may only be executed from inside the STOS environment or as a
.PRG GEM program. Before the compiler, STOS owners had to run a
protect program and include half of the STOS library to make a
stand-alone disk to run one program! Now with the compiler, you
just compile and it's done. Very painless and very fast.
The compiler functions as an accessory within the STOS language.
The benefit of this is the "interaction"; in that you may
compile, run and test your program then edit it, go back and
compile, etc. In the manual, the author states that the compiled
programs will be "up to three times as fast" as the interpreted
programs. From messing around with the examples in the manual
and compiling other programs (such as Orbit), I've found that in
a way that statement is true. If the program does a lot of
computation in memory with little screen and graphic access, the
increase in speed is tremendous, but with programs which access
the screen and sprite banks, there is no noticeable speed
increase. This is NOT to say that the programs are slow by any
means. For anyone who doesn't own STOS; the interpreted programs
run extremely fast! This is incredible considering the number of
sprites, collisions and other factors being calculated and moved.
The compiler consists mainly of one screen, with six buttons
allowing you to choose whether you want the source and
destination to be disk or memory, have the program compile to
either BASIC or GEM, change the options, compile and quit.
That's about all there is to the program; it is extremely easy to
use. I suggest setting the source to disk if you are wanting to
"play" around with the compiler and compile existing programs.
This saves you from having to load them into memory then
accessing the compiler. Also depending upon the memory of your
ST will dictate whether or not you compile to disk or memory. It
is faster to memory, but if you own a hard drive, it is not too
bad to disk. As stated before, you have to options when you
compile; you may compile a program that can only be run from
within STOS or you may compile a GEM program. The benefit to
this is that the GEM compiled program will be around 40K larger
than the BASIC compiled program. Like any compiler though, both
programs will be MUCH larger than the source; but looking back at
the stand-alone disks...I think it's a fair trade. Under the
options button, you have two pages of selectable options ranging
from turning the function keys off to setting the compiler tests.
This list may be saved and will be loaded everytime the compiler
is executed (This saves time and headaches if you forgot to
switch something when you compiled).
The compiler is not very rigid on its syntax structure. Here are
a few of the guidelines that you must follow for the program to
compile correctly: Arrays must be dimensioned before they are
used, you must use constants rather than variables in ON...GOTO
and ON...GOSUB's and finally you may not use a FOR...NEXT loop
that reserves a memory bank. If you change the default color in
the options menu in the compiler and it differs from the one used
in the program, the program will not compile. Also included are
compiler extension commands that allow you (from inside your
program) set to what degree the compiler will test your source.
You may select from on, off or always. The on selection only
tests before jump instructions, off is just that, off. It will
speed up your program by 10% but will not allow you to break
during that portion of the program. Always tests before every
command. This makes for very nice and smooth sprite movement.
Now for some extra special news. Included with the compiler is
an upgrade to the current STOS package. It upgrades to version
2.04. In this new upgrade some changes have been made. There
are new music, window, sprite and run .BIN files. Also, there is
a new FLOAT.BIN which actually decreases the accuracy of the
floating point numbers from 16 significant figures to 7. (This
dropped the available numbers from -1.797692 E+308 to +1.797693
E+307 down to 1E-14 to 1E+15. In the manual it states that this
drop in numbers has increased the speed of the routine to
"approximately three times faster, with trigonometric functions
like SIN and COS being preformed at more that 30 times their
earlier speed!" Since most games don't use incredible numbers as
were originally in place, the speed increase is much appreciated.
As another extra bonus, a format accessory and a RAM disk
accessory are also included. The format accessory is fairly
basic (it doesn't twist), but is functional. The RAM disk
accessory allows you to set the size up to the available memory.
Both these accessories are very useful in the STOS environment.
(I wouldn't bother compiling and taking them out of STOS
though...)
Between the fantastic interpreter and the compiler, the STOS
language should become even more accepted in the ST userbase. I
hope to see more programs appear on the service that users have
written, but didn't want to bother with the stand-alone feature.
If you own STOS already, you'll definitely want this package. If
you don't own STOS and want to write games in a great
environment...then STOS is for you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Atari Stock ~ STReport¿ -> Baubles, Bangles, Brite Shiny GOLD....
======================
THE TICKERTAPE
==============
by Glenn Gorman
Atari Stock dropped 1/8 of a point on Tuesday, up 1
/4 on Wednesday.
Finishing up the week at 6 1/4 points. Up 1/8 of a point from last
Friday.
The American Stock Exchange was closed on Monday, May 29, 1989, for
Memorial Day.
Glenn Gorman
+---------------------+
| ATARI STOCK WATCH |
| Week 05-29 to 06-02 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Sales | | 148 | 1154 | 739 | 586 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Last | | 6 --- | 6 1/4 | 6 1/4 | 6 1/4 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Chg. | | -1/8 | +1/4 | ---- | ---- |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| From > THE CAVE ST BBS <> 609-882-9195 <> 300//9600 HST <> F-NET #351 |
+=======================================================================+
Editor's Note: ...With the release of "market shaking news" (CES)..smart
money on Wall street is quietly gathering Atari Stock....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> TECH-SPECIALTIES _ STR ON YOUR SIDE¿ -> Customers are VERY UNHAPPY!
===================================
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE
=====================
by R.F. Mariano
When does a magazine really shine? Could be a difficult question to
answer in the best of times. We feel the answer is quite simple, when a
user finds they have a real need of the assistance of that magazine. Such
a time has arisen and we at STReport will take up the cause and attempt to
mediate in a situation that warrants the attention of the entire userbase.
A reader recently sent to the offices of STR Publishing the entire
documentation flow of a situation we feel needs to be placed before the
entire userbase.
Terry A. Pike sent STReport the complete dossier on the sad situation
he has with TECH-SPECIALTIES in Texas. We have, in the past attempted to
call the people at Tech Specialties and found that they, (he), is quite
unresponsive in any manner that would require any type of "special
attention" be given to any customer. Especially if it involves a refund
or the delivery of merchandise. We at STReport can understand even a 2-4
month delay and possibly even up to six months as long as open lines of
communication are kept flowing so that the customer is never left feeling
like he is "out in the cold".
At this time, we present to you excerpts from Mr. Pike's letter (6
pages & 11 enclosures) and a list of various actions taken by him
independently of others who may be in the same situation. Which brings us
to our objective, we have been following the flow of messages on all the
services pertaining to this issue, and find that there are indeed many
more users in the same predicament. The time has come to ASK that all
users who have a problem with Tech-Specialties let us know so that we may
compile the information and provide the proper individuals with this data.
Thus allowing them the opportunity to examine the enormity of this problem.
For Example....
---------------
From Mr. Pike:
"I saw an advertisement in ST-Log and decided to call this company Tech-
Specialties to obtain more information. This was about two before
Christmas 1988. After talking I placed an order, by mail, for a hard
drive, CPU case with power supply, keyboard case and all associated
cables, mounting hardware and incidental items needed to complete this
kit."
"I received on the third of January an invoice showing the items ordered
and that they would be shipped in the third week of January. Also, I
contacted my bank and found that my check had cleared the bank on 12-29-88
and was paid by my bank on 01-03-89 ($957.00). Not hearing from them
(Tech-Specialties) by the fourth week, I decided to give them a call. The
person with whom I spoke was Kay (pronounced Kie) Vaumond, the owner of
Tech-Specialties. He explained that the hard drive I ordered would cost an
additional $100.00 because of some problem he was experiencing with his
distributor."
"After another week had passed, I called them again and spoke to Kay, who
told me the mechanisms were in but that the cases had to be primed and
painted. He said the order (mine) would ship the following week..."
Folks this was back in January, it is now June and.. As we stated
earlier had the folks at Tech-Specialties at least communicated with the
people who were on his "to be delivered" list, we are sure there would be
no problems at this time. However, when one calls there, as we have, and
is abruptly told ..."who cares, print anything you wish" and hangs up. We
are left with no choice but to follow up on this incident.
We have copies of the documents to show that complaints have been
filed with the Postal Inspector, Attorney General's Office N. Carolina,
Texas Attorney General's Office and the Houston Better Business Bureau.
What is needed now is a comprehensive list of other folks who either
ordered merchandise, paid for it and not received it within the normal time
frames or have received merchandise either damaged, or not complete, thus
being unusable.
Please forward any information, including Photocopies of any
documents, cancelled checks, receipts or correspondence relative to this
matter asap. In unified numbers, perhaps we can help effect a positive
response from Tech-Specialties.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿ -> "Saying it LIKE IT IS!"
======================
- Chicago, IL. **** ATARI'S SURPRISE AT CES ****
--------------
Atari was alive and well at the CES show in Chicago. And although
the Atari booth was excellent and had good participation one could not
help but notice the Gilman Louie letters had their negative effect. Seems
he said just what Atari's competition had "wanted to hear"! The only
bright spot was the revelation about Atari's NEW PORTABLE GAME MACHINE
..Runs at 16mhz and uses an LCD screen. The CPU IS A 650C2 ..IMPRESSIVE!
Atari has shown once again it is capable of efficiently nullifying it's
competition's efforts in the highly ambitious game machine market.. Now,
for the Home Computer Market....
- Jacksonville, FL. ***** STReport is now on BIX! *****
------------------
Jim Kershner, Sysop of the Jefferson Software Conference, Announced
this week that ...all issues of STReport from Issue #1 to the very latest
have been made available on BIX. Additionally, they have been crosslinked
to the Atari ST Conference, thus making STReport widely available on the
BIX system.
- Chicago, IL. ****** AT&T - NINTENDO LINK ******
--------------
Nintendo, the giant Japanese maker of such video games as Donkey Kong
and the Super Mario Brothers, has formed a partnership with American
Telephone & Telegraph Co. to develop a home shopping and information
service.
Peter Main, marketing vice president at Nintendo, said the
service would link the nearly 19 million Nintendo game systems now in
American households to two of the nation's other most-used home
appliances: the telephone and the television.
- San Diego, CA. **** SUN UNVEILS SILICON COMPILER!****
----------------
You should have a gander at some of the stuff available on Sun's new
workstations. How about a 'silicion compiler' that will take your chip
design and lay it out for you into masks suitable for sending to a
manufacturing facility? With the low-end Sun's giving better price &
performance than high-end '386 boxes, things should get interesting...
- San Diego, CA. ***** MICROPROSE F19 IN LIMELIGHT *****
----------------
F-19 Stealth Fighter by Microprose, a highly-acclaimed combat flight
simulator, was named the Best Simulation at the Software Publishers
Association (SPA) Awards Ceremony held in San Diego on May 23. F-19
became the first MicroProse title to earn an SPA award.
President and cofounder of MicroProse Bill Stealey said, "We are extremely
honored," adding, "it's an excellent reward for all the hard work,
dedication and craftsmanship that went into the game."
In a coincidence, the game began shipping on the same day that the Pentagon
officially acknowledged that the Stealth fighter existed, after years of
speculation that it was in fact developing a radar-elusive jet.
The game based on the plane received critical acclaim for its solid filled
3-D graphics and smooth animation. F-19 Stealth Fighter, which has sold
over 100,000 units, retails for $69.95.
- Sunnyvale, CA ***** HDX 3.0 -> First Class Stuff! *****
-------------
Atari Advanced Hard Disk Utilities - HDX 3.00
This version of HDX and AHDI offer the following NEW features:
- unlimited number of partitions.
- partition size up to 32760 LOGICAL sectors.
- cluster size of 2 LOGICAL sectors.
- LOGICAL sector sizes of 512 bytes, 1024 bytes, etc.
(i.e. 1, 2, etc. PHYSICAL 512 byte sectors).
- support for MEGAFILE 44 & 60.
- allows multiple Operating System usage
The above mentioned enhancements are compatible with all versions of TOS,
providing the new AHDI is installed. Once again, we are clearly shown by
performance that Atari is on the move and providing software capable of
keeping up with the advancing technology.
This new set of utilities is shipping with the new Megafile 60s....
- Ontario, Canada ***** ISD MARKETING WINS OKLAMCAK!! *****
-----------------
From a surprise announcement in the last 24 hours Julius Oklamcak,
staunch Atarian and mainstay of Atari Canada, has announce he has accepted
a position with ISD Marketing Inc. ISD, famous for Calamus, DynaCad and a
host of other first rate software products certainly has reason to
celebrate! Good Luck Julius!, Congratulations ISD!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> STReport InfoFile¿ -> GENIE'S SUPER SUMMER SPLASH!
=================
Update to the Summer Splash June Contest
The St Roundtable will be having a summer splash contest to kick the summer
off. A new contest EACH month will be introduced with great prizes. We
hope this makes your summer on GEnie much more enjoyable.
June brings us three very different contests. The first will be on your
writing skills. Be aware that this is on content and style. We need an
article on "How you get the most out of the GEnie ST Roundtable." The best
article will be selected and printed in GEnie Livewire and in the ST
Roundtable.
-Permission to reprint is granted by submitting an article.
-Only paying users are qualified. No others will be reviewed.
-Paying users are those that do not have *any* type of free flag
or free account on GEnie.
By eliminating the free accounts, we feel that this will make the cost of
such the same for all users that enter. This will give a more equal
chance for all those that submit. The LiveWire Staff will decide the
winners from the top 20 finalists. The three finalists will pick their
prizes from the list below. First place winner will choose first. Then
the second place winner will choose and finally the third. Submissions
are to be sent to DARLAH
Please mark ALL submissions clearly as a contest entry. Winners will be
notified the 1st week of July.
--------
The second contest will be on uploads to the library. As you know,
uploading on GEnie is free but you can reap some extra benefits by sharing
those quality files. First prize will go to the person that uploads the most
files in the categories below. There will be a second and third prize for
this division.
This is a list of the libraries that will be counted for this contest.
Utilities
Language/Programming
Graphic Animation
Games
DeskTop Publishing (Fonts Only - Working completed ones)
Hardware Projects
Be aware that only paying accounts can enter this contest. Duplications
will NOT be counted. Files that do not function will not be counted. Demos
will not be counted. The ST staff will judge this contest. Decisions are
final. The winners will be notified the 1st week of July. Please upload
your submissions to the ST libraries. Please mark these files with the
keyword CONTEST
Non-GEnie users can send their entries to the PO box stated in the 3rd
contest description. Please clearly mark what contest you are entering.
Your submissions WILL be posted on GEnie.
For the 3rd contest, there will be three winners. As the second contest
is, this contest will be on uploads to the same libraries mentioned in
contest two. The difference is this contest will be on original work. It
must be YOUR work. It must be CLEARLY marked in the description that it is
your work. This contest is open to non GEnie users as well.. We ask if
you have someone else upload your work, that you include a read me file
stating your name, address and telephone number where you can be reached.
Entries will be accepted via US Mail if you do not have access to GEnie.
The address to send it to is:
Darlah Pine
GEnie ST Roundtable
PO Box 811
Brookfield, Ct 06804
Submissions that are mailed will be posted on GEnie. Your name as author
will be stated clearly in the description. Winners will be notified the
1st week of July.
Prizes will be selected by the winners from the prizes stated in this text
file. First place winners will choose their selections first in the order
of the contests. Second place winners will choose next and third place
winners last. Prizes will be shipped by the companies offering these
prizes.
Our deepest thanks go to the fine companies involved for making this
contest a reality.
The prizes are for all three contests held in June:
5 hours of GEnie Online connect time
GFA 3.0 <--- From Antic
Cyberpaint <--- From Antic
HotWire <--- From CodeHead Software
MultiDesk <--- From CodeHead Software
G-Plus <--- From CodeHead Software
FleetStreet <--- From Michtron
Hi Soft Basic Pro <--- From Michtron
Calamus Font Editor <--- From ISD Marketing
Calamus <--- From ISD Marketing
Revolver <--- From Intersect
Interlink <--- From Intersect
Space Quest III <--- From Sierra Online
Mouse Master <--- From Practical Solutions
Tweety Board <--- From Practical Solutions
Thank you to all the companies involved. The support and information on
all the products offered in the contests can be found right here on
GEnie. They are the people that make this contest possible. The St Staff
wants to applaud these companies for the EXCELLENT online support they
offer to us all. We are proud to have them online on GEnie.
--
More prizes will be offered by our developers for the summer splash
contest on GEnie in the upcoming summer months.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Empire - Shadow STR Review¿ -> Modem Warfare at it's BEST!
==========================
Empire- Wargame of the Century
==============================
by Ron Brunk
Empire has always been one of my favorite strategy games for the ST
and, in light of the upcoming release of Empire 3.0 and Empire II, this may
be a good time to take another look at this classic for the benefit of
those who have never given it a try. The new versions are rumoured to
have modem capabilities, hopefully improving the jury rigged method that,
used with Shadow, is the only way to play Empire via modem at this time.
The premise of Empire is that you are the commander of an
interplanetary invasion force dropped blind onto a planet with orders to
take it over. Your opponent is either one or two computer and/or human
opponents. When the game starts, you control one city in the midst of a
blank world map, and must conquer all of the other cities with your armies.
The map of the the is slowly revealed as your empire expands to encompass
other cities, which then build units (armies or aircraft or ships) to
support your campaign.
A battle occurs when one unit attempts to occupy the square of an
opponent, and continues until one or the other is eliminated. Cities are
captured when it is occupied by an army, at which time the conqueror
chooses which type of unit the city is to produce. A player is victorious
when all opponents have resigned or, if you choose, been crushed.
The weapons of war at your disposal are various, and each has its own
strengths and weaknesses. They are:
Armies: Move one space at a time over land and are the only piece that
can capture a city. Can also attack other armies and fighters over land,
and any surface ships in adjoining squares. 5 rounds to produce.
Fighter: Moves 5 spaces/turn up to 20 spaces before it must land on a
city or aircraft carrier for refueling. Can attack anything (except
cities) anywhere. 10 rounds to produce.
Destroyer: As the only ship that can move 3 spaces/turn, it is ideal
for hunting down enemy transports, conducting long range reconnaissance,
and escorting transports. Can sustain 3 pts damage. 20 rounds to produce.
Submarine: Invisible to all others except cities, destroyers, cruisers,
and other submarines. Good for sinking transports and softening up large
targets. Can only sustain 2 pts damage, but can causes 3 pts/hit, enough
to sink a destroyer or transport with one hit. Also 20 rounds to produce.
Cruiser: Sustains 8 pts damage and causes 2 pts/hit. Can bombard
troops on shore. 35 rounds to produce.
Battleship: The juggernaut of the seas, sustains 12 pts damage and
causes 3 pts/hit. Can also bombard troops. A whopping 50 rounds to
produce.
Aircraft carrier: Carries up to 8 fighters on deck. Each point of
damage below the max of 8 reduces it's fighter capacity by one. 40 rounds
to produce.
Units are moved in many different ways:
1) Manually with the keyboard.
2) Directed to a point with the mouse, in which case the computer moves
it automatically each turn until it arrives and asks for further orders.
3) Put on "sentry" to maintain watch in one place, but will not ask for
further orders unless an enemy is sighted.
4) Set to patrol between two points.
5) Ordered to escort another ship and remain directly behind it.
6) Told to move at random in a particular direction.
Many of these methods are valuable in reducing play time, especially late
in the game when you have literally hundreds of unit to direct.
For strategic planning there is a world map that displays the entire
world. The tactical plot, from which order are given, shows the latest
information on troop placements on a 19x36 portion of the 58x98 world map.
It can also be modified to a production map which display only cities,
represented by the type of unit that it produces. Unexplored areas remain
black on all maps.
There are many features to the game that combine to make it more
realistic:
Initial production of units is 20% greater than normal to simulate the
time for factories to be "tooled" for that particular type of unit.
Subsequent units are produced at a normal rate until production is
changed.
Ships with more than 50% damage are restricted to one space/turn
movement until repaired in a friendly city.
All units in a city that is captured are destroyed.
Aircraft flybys reveal what an enemy city is producing so that you can
prioritize your targets and hopefully get that battleship before it comes
out of the yards.
If one of your units moves away from an enemy, that enemies image will
remain in the square it was seen in until another of your units confirms
that it has moved away.
There are many maps to choose from included on the game disk. There are
also many available on bbs's which were drawn by other players with the
powerful, but simple to use, mapmaker that is included.
Empire hints:
-------------
The following hints are based on key strategy points that I have
noticed, how I eventually decided to approach them. While they may not fit
your individual style, I am presenting them as illustrations of some of the
strategies involved.
1. In the beginning of the game expand as quickly as possible to
establish a production base by using a blitzkrieg strategy. Start out
producing lots of armies and use them to conquer more cities. Move quickly
towards the center of the map to establish as large a territory for
yourself as possible, then consolidate the territory you have marked. Do
not waste valuable troops as fortification until you know where the enemy
is coming from.
2. On your first turn, begin by producing one fighter and then
immediately switch to armies. Use this fighter to locate cities so that
your armies do not waste turns wandering around looking for cities.
3. As each city is conquered, start it out producing armies. As the
game progresses, convert cities behind the front lines to producing other
types of units. This accomplishes 2 purposes: 1) By producing armies at
the front line, you are not as dependant on transports, and 2) Larger
units, which take a long time to produce, are produced in safer territory,
sparing you the frustration of losing a city that is just a couple of
rounds from producing a battleship, wasting up to 60 rounds of production.
4. Don't delay a transport by waiting for a full load of six armies
before getting underway. Take what is there ready to go and get them into
the action. In fact, there is an advantage to taking less than a full boat
in case you are attacked and survive with some damage, you will not lose
as many troops.
/ - - - /
/ /
/ /
/ - - - /
5. Use fighters to patrol around important and frontline cities. Set
patrol pattern in an offset mode (see above) instead of a straight line in
order to cover a wider area around the city to be protected. Set the
patrol to go out 7 or 9 spaces instead of the maximum 10. This will leave
you some range to attack should an enemy slip through and attack your city
from the other direction.
6. Unless about to load a transport, scatter your armies around the
shorelines of your territories as sentries. In this position they can
warn of any attempts by enemy troops to land, and spot enemy ships to
avoid surprise attacks.
7. Use the strategic map to determine chokepoints and secure your
territory by closing them off via posted sentries (troops) and/or
ship/aircraft patrol patterns. A chokepoint is a narrow straight of water
or land that ships/armies must pass through to gain access to seas/land on
the other side. Whenever possible, escort transports unless in this
territory that is secure.
8. Cruisers and battleships can be stationed in a city and bombard
attacking armies, up to one per move remaining. Remember that if a ship is
damaged >50%, it is only allowed to move one space and therefore bombard
only one army. In addition, although one hit point is regenerated per
round but if a city is taken, the ship is lost.
Modem games with Shadow
-----------------------
When Shadow first came out, my first thought was that it would be a
great way to play Empire via modem. (Shadow is a background terminal
program that allows you to transfer files via modem without quitting your
current program, even to the extent of warmbooting.) Unfortunately, I was
just starting to get familiar with my ST after returning from a deployment,
and was unable to interest anyone in pursuing the idea. Months went by,
and I soon forgot about the idea (although I still played Empire). Not
long ago I found the patch program to update Shadow to 1.1 on DoubleClick
Software's board in Houston (713-944-0108). I was surprised to find that
DoubleClick had written the software, since I'd originally purchased it
through Antic. Once again I attempted to play Empire via modem and found
it to work beautifully with less than 1 minute required between the end of
one players turn to the beginning of the next players turn (using Y-Batch
at 2400 baud).
To do this, both players should:
1. Boot up with Shadow and the optional accessory installed.
2. Run the program Empire and pull down the Shadow accessory.
3. Set up both terminals to previously agreed upon settings (baud rate
and transfer protocol). I recommend Y-batch to eliminate the requirement
to enter the saved filename each time. Load phone numbers in the dialers
iaw program docs. To monitor progress of the file transfer, click on buffer
size (#K on the main screen), then on "counter location" and place the
counter on the screen wherever you want with a LC (left mouse click),
followed by a RC (right mouse click) to leave it there. The counter shows
bytes transferred/retries/file#.
4. Ensure one modem is set to answer. This can be done on Hayes
compatible modems by typing AT S0=2 while in the terminal mode. You
should receive an "OK". The modem will now answer on the second ring (or
whatever number you put in place of the 2). With both terminals in the
terminal mode, the calling player should LC to bring up the dialer, select
the other players number with the up and down arrows, and click on
"begin".
5. Once connected, it may be necessary to modify the terminal settings
by pushing F1 to go to half duplex and F2 to send CR/LF (carriage
return/linefeeds). It may also be necessary for the person who dialed to
call up the dialer with a LC and "abort" so that the status line appears at
the bottom. While connected in the terminal mode players can communicate
by typing messages.
6. One player will start the game with RC to go to the main Shadow
screen and RC again to clear it. Select "new game" from the Empire menu
and select at least two human opponents (the third computer opponent can
also be used) and the PBM (play by mail) option and confirm at the prompt.
Production and combat ratios can also be changed from the default 50% to
give one player an advantage. Both players names and the first players
password will be entered here at this time.
7. Upon completion of the first players turn, Empire will
automatically save the game and return to the Empire main screen (blank
green/grey). Pull down the Shadow accessory and select "terminal".
8. The first player will inform the second that he is a bourgeois
capitalist pig, and that he is are ready to transfer the game save file.
There may be a delay at this time until he notices the message, since there
is no bell to notify him, just the screen.
9. The second player will notify the first that he is a warmongering
imperialist dog, and state that he is ready to receive the file.
10. Both players will RC to return to the main screen and choose
"receive/send" as appropriate. The sending player will be prompted to
click on the filename to transfer. If using Y-batch, click on "exit" when
prompted for the second time. Answer "send" to the next prompt to begin
file transfer.
11. Upon completion of file transfer (bell will ring and counter will
disappear) player one (who sent the file) will return to the terminal to
await the opponent. The player who received the file will be prompted for
a file name (if in Y-batch it will already be in the item selector) and
confirm the overwrite, then load it and play his turn. Go to #7 above.
If you haven't played Empire in awhile, root around and find that
disk and give it another go. If you've never played it, and enjoy strategy
games, give this classic a shot. If you've been playing it for awhile,
get Shadow (if you don't already have it) and give the modem/pbm option a
try. Be warned, though, this is an extremely addicting game. And although
I've heard of it being done, I've never played a full game in one setting.
A typical game will go 250+ turns. Enjoy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ISD's DYNA-CADD 1.5 STReport InfoFile¿ -> Features and Benefits
=====================================
DynaCADD 1.5
A Partial List of Features
Fully interactive 2D & TRUE 3D capabilities.
All calculations accurate to 20 decimal places.
Math Co-Processor support.
Logical Icon based Interface.
Extremely User friendly using Pull down menus, mouse, keyboard, function
keys and user definable Macro Keys.
Command Line Interpreter allows one to four character abbreviations of
equivalent Icon Commands.
A built-in scientific calculator for all numeric input.
3D View Capabilities
====================
Multiple 3D views can be opened and modified at any time.
Geometric Coordinate Planes (GCP) can be changed instantly.
Translation of 3D Coordinate Planes.
Dynamic Rotation along GCP axis of any View.
Work can be done in any combination of views with all views updating
constantly.
Automatic generation of ANY orthographic view including user defined
auxiliary views.
Entities can be selectively hidden in any view allowing easy generation
of true orthographically sound views.
Other View Operations include Scaling, Changing GCP, Scrolling, Zooming
IN/OUT, Zoom to Entity Extents..
Dimensioning
=============
Auto Dimensioning features :
Mechanical and Architectural formats.
Full 2D and 3D dimensioning.
Absolute Control over Dimensioning Extents and Text.
Optional Modification of Dimension Text on the fly.
True Horizontal and Vertical Baseline and Chaining.
Circular Radius, Diameter and Center line.
Automatic linear and angular tolerancing in any of three different
styles.
Text orientation using any one of the three different systems
(uni-directional, angled or aligned).
Dimension Text Precision can be set from 0 to 9 decimal places.
Resident View Control
=====================
Sophisticated command nesting allows the following list of commands to be
accessed at any time:
Zoom IN/OUT. Zoom a Window.
Scroll or "Pan" the page. Center the page on a point.
Re-size Drawing Area Instantly. Drawing Command History.
Text/Fonts
==========
Professional COMPUGRAPHIC Fonts are included.
Fonts are loaded and stay resident.
Text can be changed from one font to another.
True character Kerning ,Proportional or Constant (mono) character
spacing.
Left, Right or Center Text justification.
Character Width, Height, Slant, Rotation, Pen Styles, Weights, Color
and Layer can be set.
Entity Types
============
Base Entity Types include:
POINTS, LINES, CIRCLES, ARCS, FILLETS, ELLIPSES, ELLIPTICAL ARCS, TEXT,
SOLID, BSPLINES and BEZIER CURVES.
Multiple Entities in:
BOXES, POLYGONS, POLYFIGURES ,SUBFIGURES, SECTIONING and HATCHING.
Entities can be either 2 or 3 Dimensional.
3D Entities can be converted to 2D.
Entity Insertion
================
Entity insertion is facilitated using 15 2D Dynamic Rubber Band Modes &
Function Keys.
Up to 256 Hatch Patterns can be easily defined using the Font Editor.
14 Predefined Hatch Patterns have been included.
Location and Entity Snap
========================
Location Modifiers include:
Absolute X, Y, Z Coordinates.
Incremental X, Y, Z Coordinates.
Relative Polar Radius and Angle.
Entity Snap of selected entities by :
END End point of a selected Entity.
ON Directly on a selected Entity.
ORG Center of a selected Entity.
INT Intersection of two selected Entities.
Entity Selection
================
Selecting Entities :
One Entity, All Entities.
Entities within or outside a window.
Entities within a Poly Window.
Last entity Inserted/Transformed.
Entities on a given layer.
Entities of a given Color/Pen Number.
Entities of a given Style or Weight.
Chaining several entities.
Filter any single or group of entities.
Entity and Drawing Information
==============================
DynaCADD gives you the ability to:
Measure distances (2D & 3D)
Measure Angles
Measure Perimeters
Measure Areas
Verify Location, Style, Slant, Rotation and Absolute Positioning.
List Database Extents and Drawing Parameters...
Entity Transformations
======================
Transformations between 2D or 3D positions:
Move, Copy, Delete, Mirror, Stretch, Scale, Rotate, Mask or Unmask Existing
Entities.
Trim/Divide Lines and Arcs.
Revolve/Sweep along a Vector.
Create Array of Entities.
Construct an Entity Offset.
Generate points on Entities.
Modify Entity Attributes.
3D Entity Transformation of any view into 2D Entities.
Plotter Support
===============
Both HPGL and DMPL compatible plotters are supported.
Plotter Drivers can be created for DynaCADD using MAKEPLOT.PRG
Plots can be generated at a constant 1:1 ratio or a drawing can be
automatically scaled to any degree
Plotting extents can be defined using Drawing page, Current Window or
Database extents.
Plotter and Printer output can be directed through the serial port, parallel
port or to a disk file.
Background plotting and printing allows output while DynaCADD is in session.
Printer Support
===============
Epson compatible printers ,both 9 and 24 pin.
Laser Printers - HP Laserwriter Plus
Postscript compatible and encapsulated Postscript.
All drivers allow;
Draft & Final drafts utilizing the printers highest graphics mode, Multi-
sheet prints and Scaled and constant ratio prints.
File Formats
============
DynaCADD reads and writes DXF Files thus, insuring high file compatibility
with all major CADD packages. DynaCADD also reads ASC files .
Line Weights/Styles
===================
3 line weights for use with all entities and are visually represented both
on the screen and on the output. Up to 64 user definable line styles can be
selected.
Grid and Axis
=============
GRID/AXIS Major and Minor Increments can be defined by the user.
AXIS represents a working sheet of graph paper. Grid is used to snap to
specified locations.
Pen/Color Selection
===================
The program will now display a dialog box providing a selection of as many
as 16 colors. The colors will be displayed on a hi-res color monitor.
Vector Font Editor
==================
A designer's tool to create and edit high-resolution vector fonts using a
graphic editor.
Editing aids include:
Bezier curves
B-splines
Unlimited number of vector cut-and-paste buffers
Rotate, stretch, mirroring horizontally or vertically,
move, copy, distort any character or vector
Movable baseline, ascent line, descent line
Automatic calculation of kerning tables
Optional manual placement of kerning positions
Definable zoom levels using movable zoom window
Automatically smooth vectors
Definable grid and snap
Up to 64,000 by 64,000 point resolution per character
Each font can contain from 1 to 255 characters
System requirements:
===================
Atari ST minimum 1 MByte of memory, 1 MByte disk drive and a Monochrome
Monitor.
Atari and Mega ST are trademarks of Atari Corp.
DynaCADD¾ is a registered trademark of Ditek International.
Other computer and software names are trade names and/or trade marks of
their respective manufacturers.
All specifications are subject to change without notice.
For more information please contact:
-----------------------------------
ISD Marketing, Inc.,
2651 John Street, Unit #3, Markham, Ontario, L3R 2W5,
Canada Tel: (416) 479-1880 Fax: (416) 479-1882
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> BBS Lists STReport InfoFile¿ -> Send in that information.
===========================
HELP!
----
I am compiling a list of Pc Pursuit accessible Atari ST BBSs, and
would greatly appreciate any listings you can add to it. I would like
the information to be in the following form, or at least to contain
the same information:
PCP NODE PH# BBS NAME BAUD SOFTWARE Note
-------- --- --------- ---- -------- ----
PAPHI 335-4805 STAR STATION 2400 MICH 3.0 !
CAOAK 526-6471 ST SYNCHRONICITY 2400 BB/ST !
Notes might include "$" for a pay BBS, or "Priv" for a private BBS or
one no longer accepting new callers. The note "!" in the above
examples indicates that you may leave me E-Mail at either of these
BBSs.
The SysOp of ST Synchronicity has set up a special user ID,
pre-validated, for calls on this subject. Logon as "BBSLIST" and enter
password "more" and you will have instant, but limited, access to the
BBS that will allow you to leave me E-Mail or upload a list to the
file area.
You may also leave me mail on CIS, My PPN: 72337,146
Or at the ST Report BBS, ph# 904-786-4176 (Not Pc Pursuit accessible.)
Please, I want only ATARI ST BBS's. Even though your favorite BBS may
have the best ST section in the world, we are only looking for ST BBS's
at this time. Perhaps in the future I will work on other BBS's.
The final list that is compiled will be published in ST Report and will
be available for uploading/downloading from many BBS's. I will keep
everyone advised as to the status of the project via updates in ST
Report.
One last point that I cannot stress enough. PLEASE LEAVE ONLY
LISTINGS THAT YOU HAVE PERSONALLY CHECKED, and KNOW are GOOD!!!!!!
Thanks in advance for your input!
Neil Bradley
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> A "QUOTABLE QUOTE"¿ -> Precious Jewels of Thought...
==================
"THE COURT JESTER AND MR. BOJANGLES HAVE BUT ONE ASPIRATION..
...TO FASCINATE THE COURT AND BE IMPULSIVELY FORGOTTEN!"
- M. Foobar Esq.
ATARI IS BACK!
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ST-REPORT Issue #91 "Your Independent News Source" June 09, 1989
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED copyright 1989
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Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those
of ST Report or CPU Report. Reprint permission is granted, unless noted
otherwise. All reprints must include ST Report or CPU Report and the
author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, ST
Report or CPU Report, it's editors and staff are not responsible for
any use or misuse of information contained in this publication.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
