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Atari Explorer Online Issue 1992 08
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ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE MAGAZINE
July 18, 1992 Volume 1, Number 8 Issue #92-08
Published and Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation
1972-1992 (20 Years Of Service)
~ Editor In-Chief......................................Ron Kovacs
~ Contributing Editor...................................Ed Krimen
~ Contributing Writer...................................Bob Smith
~ Contributing Writer..............................Ron Berinstein
~ Contributing Writer.................................Stan Lowell
~ AtariUser Magazine Editor.............................John Nagy
~ Atari Corporation....................................Bob Brodie
~ Atari Explorer Hard Copy Editor.................John Jainschigg
| | | TABLE OF CONTENTS | | |
||| The Editors Desk.........................Ron Kovacs
Commentary
||| Z*Net Newswire.....................................
Atari News Update
||| Perusing GEnie............................Ed Krimen
GEnie messages!
||| GEnie Atari RT News...................John Hartmann
What's happening on GEnie!
||| Desktop Publishing Conference Highlights......GEnie
ISD Announcements and CO!
||| 2600 Where Are You?......................Tim Duarte
Atari game machines discussed...
||| Growing Up With Atari - Part 2............Bob Smith
Part 2 of 3
||| Atari ST MIDI Software Listing...........CompuServe
Sequencer and Notator Software list
||| The Wackey World of ST Gaming...........Eric Bitton
Reprint from AtariUser Magazine....
||| The 12-Volt 8-Bit.......................Jeff Golden
Wire your 8-Bit to your car!
||| CT Atarifest Update...................Press Release
More happenings at Connecticut show next month!
||| Cleveland Free-Net....................Press Release
New updates and for free!
||| AtariWatch Calendar................................
Show schedule listing and update!
| | | THE EDITORS DESK
| | | By Ron Kovacs
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
I have moved release times for future issues to Saturday from the
previous Friday evening times. This will allow us to continue weekly
without interruption.
Mike Groh is currently attending the Blue Ridge Atarifest for Atari and
next week we will have a report on the event. Also, elsewhere in this
edition we have update the AtariWatch Calendar of shows.
You can contact Bob Brodie and myself via your local BBS, providing it
is FNET capable. Bob can be reached at Nodes 706 and 319, and I can be
reached at node 593. Online areas are listed at the bottom of this
edition.
Stay tuned for details on the hard copy edition of Atari Explorer next
week!
| | | Z*NET NEWSWIRE
| | | Latest Atari News and Industry Update
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
ATARI VIDEO GAME CONTEST
Chicago area residents will had the opportunity to play and win one of
at least 45 Atari Lynx Color Portable Video Game Systems during the 1992
Taste of Chicago. Atari Entertainment, based in Lombard, had 125 Lynxs,
in Grant Park June 27-July 5. Taste of Chicago was a nine-day
celebration of food, fun and entertainment, featuring more than 70
restaurants, world-class performers and the best and newest Lynx video
games. "We have four great new games, some of them never before seen in
public," Larry Siegel, president of Atari Entertainment, said.
"Contests ran all day and at the end of each day, we awarded Lynxs to
the top scorers." In addition, Atari provided Lynx stickers for game
players to wear during the event. Every day, lucky sticker wearers were
spotted at random by FOX 32 Television and will be awarded Lynxs on "The
Koz Zone" with Rich Koz. Players also had the chance to preview the
four blockbuster games; Batman Returns, NFL Football, Hydra, and Pinball
Jam. In addition to these games, Hydra, a super-fast hydroplane battle
game, and Pinball Jam gave players exciting action under the Lynx tent.
In the Lynx tent 128 game players competed at one time. Throughout the
course of the nine-day event, Atari gave away more than 45 Lynxs between
the daily high score winners and random winners. Atari, Atari Lynx, and
Pinball Jam are trademarks of Atari Corporation. Batman and all related
characters are trademarks and copyrights of DC Comics. All rights
reserved. NFL Football is a trademark of NFL Properties. All rights
reserved.
GFA-BASIC PROGRAMMING TOOLKIT
Taylor Ridge Books has announced the release of The GFA-BASIC Toolkit,
Volume 1, which contains a wealth of programming routines for GFA-BASIC
programmers. Written by John Hutchinson of Fair Dinkum Technologies,
The GFA BASIC Toolkit provides novice to intermediate programmers with
over 50 useful routines they can plug directly into their programs.
Whether the programmer needs to unravel the mysteries of file handling
or just wants to add digitized sounds to his program, the Toolkit offers
a treasure chest of routines for making programs more professional.
Included in this volume are routines to load and save picture files,
flip screens, clip graphic elements from a screen, display graphics with
various video effects, play both regular sounds and digitized sound,
control a blitter chip, and much more. Even advanced programmers are
likely to find some helpful gems tucked away within its pages. Priced
at $34.95 plus $3 P&H ($4 outside the U.S.), The GFA-BASIC Toolkit comes
with a complete manual and a disk that includes an extensive sample
program, as well as all the routines in the book. The GFA-BASIC Toolkit
may be ordered with check or money order from Taylor Ridge Books, P.O.
Box 78, Manchester, CT 06045-0078. Books may also be purchased with
Visa or MasterCard, by calling (203) 643-9673, or via email on Delphi,
CompuServe, or GEnie, at the e-mail addresses ANALOG4, 70303,3633, and
C.WALNUM1, respectively.
SCI-FI CHANNEL LAUNCHING SEPTEMBER 24,1992
Every science fiction fan's dream is a reality on the SCI-FI CHANNEL, a
new national cable network featuring science fiction, fantasy, and
horror programming twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Here's
some of what you'll see on the SCI-FI CHANNEL: Buck Rogers, Dark
Shadows, Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, The Prisoner, Flash
Gordon, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, Stingray, The Invaders,
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bionic Woman, Steven Spielberg's
Amazing Stories, One Step Beyond, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, My Secret
Identity, Incredible Hulk, Suspense Theater, Darkroom, Gemini Man,
Invisible Man, Misfits of Science, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
Otherworld, Probe, Voyagers, Night Stalker, Defenders of the Earth,
Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterions, Alien Nation (Series and Movie),
Star Trek - The Animated Series, Star Trek Movies, Robinson Crusoe on
Mars, Man Without a Body, The Colossus of New York, The Space Children,
The Skull, Star Wars, Conquest of Space, Alien, The Abyss, War of the
Worlds. Original, never-before-seen science fiction movies and series
and much, much more! The television of tomorrow is here today. LAUNCH
DATE: SEPTEMBER 24,1992 WITH STAR WARS. For more information write:
The SCI-FI CHANNEL, Marketing Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, NY 10020, 212-408-9100.
| | | PERUSING GENIE
| | | By Ed Krimen
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
(Editors Note: Some messages may have been edited for content, correct
spelling, and grammar.)
FOTOMAN, SAY CHEESE!
--------------------
-=> In the "ISD Product Support" category (16)
-=> from the "Calamus S/SL" topic (20)
Message 72 Sun Jul 05, 1992
S.SANDERS2 [SDS] at 19:37 EDT
Software Development Systems will be distributing an ST version of the
Fotoman with software. TT-specific (256 gray) software is almost
complete and may be shown at BRACE. We will do a standard ST interface
(dithered) soon there after. Our software will save TIFF, EPS, and
dithered IMG. Stay tuned for more details and look for a press release
soon.
-Scott @ SDS Member IAAD
----------
Message 86 Wed Jul 08, 1992
S.SANDERS2 [SDS] at 01:19 EDT
To All:
SDS will announce pricing and feature information on the Fotoman RSN.
We are just working out some distribution details... I will also start
a topic somewhere around here soon. The only reason I mention it here
is that Calamus is a premier way to utilize the generated output from
the camera. We will also be showing it at BRACE.
By the way, our version of the camera may not necessarily be called the
Fotoman, though it is the device you know as the Fotoman.
-Scott @ SDS Member IAAD
=======================================
PHOTO CD FOR THE ST
-------------------
-=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
-=> from the "Atari CD-ROM" topic (28)
Message 62 Mon Jul 13, 1992
GREG at 01:50 EDT
Check out Category 7, Topic 9, for some information on the new Kodak
Photo CD Access System. "It's All Relative" now has a license for
distribution and use of Photo CD software. We will be offering a
conversion service for Photo CD to ST readable format starting on or
about August 1. No need to own a CD player to view the files.
Pictures can be viewed on your computer monitor screen or on your
television if you have a STfm or STe computer.
When Atari settles on the CD driver systems, we will offer a direct
viewer.
----------
Message 63 Mon Jul 13, 1992
GREG at 01:58 EDT
To everyone who has been complaining about the lack of CD rom for the
Atari, count your blessings. They just saved you about $500 for soon to
be obsolete equipment. The new Photo CD system requires a mode 2, XA,
multi-session drive for full use. That makes about 75% of all drives on
the market outdated.
Good thing they waited for their driver system. With support of cooked
and raw data and multi-session drivers, the Atari community will be a
step ahead of the PC community in hardware.
Be careful if you buy a drive in the next couple of weeks. A shopping
trip over the weekend gave me more mis-information than information.
Most dealers don't have any idea of what works with what.
----------
Message 65 Mon Jul 13, 1992
D.MCNAMEE [Dan @ Atari] at 19:50 EDT
Chris, It was announced that Atari will not release a CD-ROM drive, but
we are still working on MetaDOS, and we will get it out. The main
hold back was that our programmer was in a motorcycle accident and was
not able to come into work for a while, and even if he was able to come
in, the painkillers would have prevented him from working very
effectively. He finally recovered enough to come in to work in a few
weeks, and then the same thing happened. Another motorcycle accident,
and he was laid up again for several more weeks. He is now back at
work and is fine, and is working hard on MetaDOS once again. Hopefully
we will be able to release it soon.
John, There are some disks available from H.S. Designs as well as D&C
computers in San Francisco, as well as a PD disk from one of the
magazines (ST Informer?). I think there might be a couple more in
Germany and Australia.
Jonathan, The reason we can't do that is that that version of MetaDOS
is set for that specific drive mechanism and won't work on the majority
of other drives. That is what we are doing with MetaDOS now. Updating
the software so that it can handle other drive mechanisms.
Dan
=======================================
MARKETING MADNESS
-----------------
-=> In the "Flaming - Debating - Discussions - Rumors" category (18)
-=> from the "Atari 'Falcon' Project" topic (20)
Message 165 Tue Jul 07, 1992
S.WINICK at 05:31 EDT
Major marketing decisions by any company aren't made through public
discussion. They're made by carefully analyzing all the facts, by the
company officials whose job security will be directly tied to the
decisions they make. Relative to any future product release, you can be
sure that Atari is currently analyzing their options and conferring with
individuals who will be directly involved in the production,
distribution, promotion and sale of those products.
Past marketing decisions and criticisms aside, I think we can all agree
that Atari makes an excellent hardware platform. I'm sure they are well
aware of their past miscalculations, just as any company would be, and
will be taking those facts into consideration as well.
Sometimes it seems like it is awfully easy to get sidetracked and dump
blame for everything on Atari. Granted, they're not perfect; but then
again, I can't think of any company that is. But we really need to keep
in mind their size and capabilities -- and the fact that somehow, from
among all the computer companies that have come and gone since the late
'70s, Atari has somehow managed to survive. Obviously, they're not
doing everything wrong.
The end user should not have to take every problem and question directly
to Atari for answer or resolution. That should be the function of their
Atari dealer and service center network. I realize that many of you may
not have the benefit of a quality local dealership, but there are
several dealers who are active here on GEnie who are providing a high
calibre of support for their non-local customers via this medium. It's
up to you to take advantage of the resources available to you.
I can't help but wonder at the logic of some consumers when I
continually see posts from Atarians who just purchased a new piece of
equipment and are having problems getting it up to speed and turn to
GEnie, and frequently the dealers active here online looking for help.
Perhaps if they chose to support those very same quality dealers by
purchasing from them in the first place they wouldn't be having so much
trouble getting their systems properly configured. I find it amazing
how even the simplest of questions sometimes get blown so totally out of
proportion because they didn't receive the necessary support from their
selling dealer.
The consumer really is the ultimate controller of the market place. If
you choose to take your business to the lowest price fly-by-night mail-
order operation instead of a quality dealer, you have no one to blame
but yourselves when you find yourself without any quality local or
regional support. This is a tight economy, and I can't imagine any
dealership not doing his/her best to remain competitive price wise. But
you must realize that operating a store front dealership and providing
quality selection, service and support costs more than merely running a
phone bank and shipping out boxes.
Fortunately, we have several quality Atari dealerships active in the
mail-order market who can properly provide quality service and support
to non-local customers. It's up to the consumer to choose where to
shop, and who to support...... and who will survive.
Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC)
----------
Message 166 Tue Jul 07, 1992
DARLAH [RT~SYSOP] at 08:37 EDT
Sheldon: I agree with what you say but reality is not everyone has a
local dealer and sometimes when they do, they don't lend the support
that your customers get. You have done an excellent job in advertising
the support you give through various ways. I wish all dealers were like
you.
=======================================
ST BOOK INSIGHT
---------------
-=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
-=> from the "ST Book" topic (7)
Message 17 Wed Jul 15, 1992
BOB-BRODIE [Atari Corp.] at 17:49 EDT
Mike, The initial ST Books that Atari manufactured were with one meg of
ram, and a forty meg hard disk. While that is a very usable unit to a
lot of people, we felt that the US market would prefer a 4 meg of ram,
40 meg hard disk. So, Atari US didn't order any of those units.
At present, we re-evaluating the decision NOT to include a backlit
screen. If we decide to make them with a backlit screen, it will mean
sweeping changes in the layout and functions of the ST Book.
Thanks for your interest! I've used an ST Book from time to time, and
even with only one meg, I've found it to be an enjoyable unit to use.
I'd be a whole lot happier with more ram, though. :)
regards,
Bob Brodie
=======================================
STs IN BUSINESS
---------------
(Home Office/Small Business Roundtable)
-=> In the "Office Technology, Equipment, and Supplies" category (5)
-=> from the "Using the Atari ST/TT in business" topic (52)
Message 24 Sun Jul 05, 1992
L.ELLIS4 [Lee Ellis] at 20:22 EDT
At our company, we use Mega 4 STs and 8 meg TTs for DTP. We also use
Atari scanners and lasers. People rush out to throw their MS-DOS clones
in the waste basket after they see what we can do with our St and TT
machines.
----------
Message 25 Tue Jul 07, 1992
S.REED1 at 20:03 EDT
Amen. We also use a Mega 4 ST for DTP for our business. I've tried
just about everything on the MS-DOS machines and I wouldn't trade my ST
for even the best DOS-based publishing software. Nothing comes close.
The only thing I can't use the ST for is business data processing. The
machine is quite capable - but the software just isn't there. Our sales
processing is handled on a 386 @ 25Mhz running dBase IV and Foxpro.
What software do you use on your ST? We run PageStream and Touchup with
the Migraph hand scanner. I am looking for a decent auto-tracer. Any
suggestions?
-Steve.
----------
Message 26 Tue Jul 07, 1992
B.WILLIS3 at 21:09 EDT
Steve, Head over to the Atari ST RoundTable library and check out the
demo of Codehead's Avant Vector. It's a *big* file, but it's worth it.
The demo won't allow you to output anything to file or printer, but you
can try out it's auto- tracing and editing functions on any bitmap
images you have handy. I was *very* impressed with the speed.
=======================================
| | | GENIE ATARI RT NEWS
| | | By John Hartmann
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
= MENU NEWS =
NEW FEATURE!!! Darlah's Treat - The Free File Of The Month!
The ST Roundtable is happy to announce a new service to ST Roundtable
members. Introducing "Darlah's Treat," a file that can be downloaded
directly from the main ST Roundtable menu here on Page 475. For free!
Simply select menu item 9 on Page 475 to download the free file of the
month.
Our inaugural free file is ARC_LZH2.TOS. This is a self-extracting
archived file that includes ARC.TTP (v6.02), LHARC.TTP (v2.01L), and
ArcShell (v3.1). This self-extracting archive program _WILL_ work on
all known versions of TOS so those who had trouble with the previous
bundle will have no trouble with this one.
We hope you enjoy this new feature of the ST Roundtable. The file will
be changing each month, so if you have any suggestions for files to be
featured in future months, please use the FEEDBACK TO THE SYSOPS option
on Page 475 to let us know.
[The download of the Darlah's Treat file is free of GEnie's $6.00/hour
connect fee during non-prime time hours only.]
= STAFF NEWS =
Atari ST Roundtable is pleased to welcome new additions to the RT staff.
Brian Harvey [B.HARVEY7] Realtime Conference assistant, Jim Kudron
[J.KUDRON] performing Bulletin Board maintenance and Lou Rocha
[L.ROCHA1] hosting the Monday night Desktop Publishing Realtime
Conference.
= REALTIME CONFERENCE =
= Atari ST Help Desk =
Atari ST Roundtable is proud to announce the opening of a Sunday Help
Desk to answer your questions on GEnie, Atari ST Roundtable and the line
of Atari computers. Stop in and ask questions or just visit the Atari
RT staff and users. The Help Desk starts on Sunday at 7:00pm EST page
475;2.
= Scheduled Wednesday RTC Guests =
Have an idea for an Realtime Conference? Wish to promote a product, show
or service? Atari Roundtable Realtime Conference provides an excellent
platform for announcements and discussions. Contact Jeff Williams
[JEFF.W] or Darlah Potechin [DARLAH] for requirements and information on
holding formal RTCs. Jeff also captures and edits the formal
conferences and uploads them into the Atari RT's Library.
Monday Realtime Conference
Monday Night Desktop Publishing Round Table Conferences will feature a
number of special guests during the next few months. Drop in and get
the latest info on program features and updates.
July 20th
Harlan Hugh discusses the release of his new graphics program - INVISION
Elite. *DOOR PRIZE* A copy of INVISION Elite will be given to one of
our lucky participants. Get your demo file now.
July 27th
WizWorks' Chet Walters and Dr. Bob will discuss Coalesce, Scan Lite and
their other fine products.
All conferences begin at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Monday DTP conferences - Hosted by Lou Rocha [L.ROCHA1] and Nathan
Potechin [ISD]
Contact: JEFF.W, L.ROCHA1, ISD, DARLAH
| | | DESKTOP PUBLISHING/GRAPHICS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
| | | (C) 1992 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
Guest Speaker : Mario Georgiou of ISD Marketing
Host : Lou Rocha [RTC~Sysop]
<[Lou] L.ROCHA1> Our guest this evening is Mario Georgiou. Mario is a
graphic artist by trade who is a member of the staff of ISD Marketing -
distributors of Calamus SL, Calamus 1.09N, Calamus Font Editor, Outline
Art and a number of other professional applications. He has been
invited this evening to answer your questions about Calamus SL and to
discuss the soon-to-be-released first update for SL.
<[Mario] ISD> As this is my first RTC, I think I will work free-form
(oh-oh). BTW being an artist and thinking in a divergent manner, if I
happen to stray, smack me in the head, Lou! I first started with
computers, DTP, graphics when I was in school. I began working on
Apples, early PC's and VAX's. My exposure to DTP began on a Mac with
Pagemaker. Unfortunately this biased me as I felt that I could do
better with my trusty stencils, Letraset and a good old pen.
My first introduction to Calamus was about 3 years ago at a TAF show in
Toronto. At the time I was working with Pagemaker and Ventura. Seeing
Calamus was a real surprise and an eye opener in that it was running on
an Atari (a game machine?).
This lead to my involvement with ISD as a user. It was a year later
that I joined ISD. The rest is history.
<[Steve] S.GOLD6> Hi Mario, Now that Calamus SL is out what is the
status of Type Art and Outline Art?
<[Mario] ISD> You mean you don't have it yet? ;-) Look for something in
the near future. There is nothing in the mail out yet on Type Art but
Outline Art 2 will be available around the third quarter.
<[Lou] L.ROCHA1> While we wait for our next question, here is the first
text upload from the coming mail out.
July 9, 1992
Toronto, Ontario, Canada from Nathan Potechin
| The Latest ISD Customer Mail out with a Twist!|
THE FUTURE
Since 1986, ISD Marketing, Inc. has played a vital role in the Atari
community. It has been my pride and pleasure to be President of ISD
since January 1987.
In order to place a stronger emphasis on what has become the main
activity of ISD - the Calamus SL product line - we have restructured to
better address the needs of our many Calamus customers.
Our strong and continuing commitment to the entire Atari community has
resulted in the formation of DMC Publishing, Inc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It gives me great pleasure to announce the formation of DMC Publishing"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As president, it will be my mandate to continue to establish the Calamus
alternative in the desktop publishing arena throughout North America.
We will continue our role as publisher, providing the very best product
support of which we are capable. We will also act as an OEM Reseller
and Value Added Reseller (VAR) both for ourselves and to assist others
to do the same.
If you had the opportunity to walk into our offices today, you'd be
faced with everything from a 1040 ST to a Mega ST4 (running on a 68030
at 40 MHz) to a fully-loaded TT, with 36 meg RAM, (using the GE Soft RAM
expansion board), the Cybercube 24 bit-color card, a 760 meg Micropolis
SCSI hard drive, a 17" hi-res MAG Monitor, both an HP Deskjet500C and
Spectrastar thermal transfer color printer for color proofing, an SLM605
for black and white proofing, an Ultre Setter Imagesetter (from 400 to
3000 dpi on typesetter film or paper) and an Eskofot Film Developer.
<[Ringo] LEXICOR2> What will be new in Outline Art 2?; will we see a
module for scanners in the future.
<[Mario] ISD> A scanner module is a definite possibility. Outline Art 2
will have a lot of the capabilities of SL in regards to color, etc. OA2
will also have the capability to export EPS directly. It will also
import rasters for tracing.
<[Ringo] LEXICOR2> Will it work in color?
<[Mario] ISD> Yes it works with color.
<[Rob] R.QUANCE> Will there be a module that can convert True Type and
Adobe Type-1 Fonts to Calamus vector fonts in the near future?
<[Mario] ISD> I am not aware of any such module although the possibility
exists.
<R.QUANCE> It would be nice to get access to the thousands of fonts
available!
<[Mario] ISD> Very shortly we will have thousands of fonts from URW,
Linotype, Bertholdt, ITC and Letraset. This is just the beginning of a
whole range of new products for the Calamus family.
<[Dave] D.SMITH200> Is Dataformer imminent?
<[Mario] ISD> Yes, look for it shortly in one of the upcoming text
uploads.
<[Dave] D.SMITH200> I work in a bureau, and they're not about to
dismantle the RIP to let me run Calamus!
<[Mario] ISD> You don't need to dismantle RIP. You need to attach a
switch box!
<[Dave] D.SMITH200> They've already agreed to an ST workstation... Are
there more plans to integrate postscript features so we can get more
service bureau support?
<[Mario] ISD> Dave, Dataformer will address the PS questions and support
output to files for handling file via PS. It will not import PS.
<[Dave] D.SMITH200> Would like to run both Calamus and ...er... the
other, but ready access to postscript is really needed.
<[Jim] J.KUDRON> Mario, I'm looking for a font named Eras Ultra. Where
would I start?
<[Mario] ISD> Jim, Eras Ultra will be one of the fonts that will be
featured in the upcoming releases. In the meantime, anything you
require, let me know and I will help.
<[Lou] L.ROCHA1> Here is some information on the new Focoltone Color
System which is featured in the mail out.
FOCOLTONE
We are also proud to announce that we are the North American
representative for Focoltone Ltd., a U.K. firm which has developed and
released a complete Color Matching System that has already become famous
for the precision of its end result.
Focoltone modules are available on both the Mac and IBM and are, in
fact, supplied with such products as Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator and
Ventura Publishing.
We are proud to announce that the Focoltone color tables are now
available as a module for Calamus SL at no additional charge!
The Focoltone Color System provides the first and most advanced process
color tint system for the design and print industry since 1929. It's a
quick and simple system that brings together the specifier, repro-house
and printer into a partnership that ensures the pre-press proof and
finished printed work will match.
The Focoltone Color System includes a 763 color Swatch Book, a set of 16
Color Charts with process color specifications, a Color Specifier Chip
Book with 5 swatches of each color perforated for error free
communication, or a set of 16 Color Charts on newsprint. A compete kit
is available.
If you want more information on the complete Focoltone Color System,
please ask. Complete product literature is available.
<WORDFLAIR> Hi Mario. We just want to wish DMC NA the best of success.
<[Daniel] VORTEXT> In regards to Glendale. What will it take to get you
to schedule an Intermediate class as well as those you have planned?
<[Mario] ISD> I don't think an intermediate class is required as I will
schedule question and answer sessions at the end of each class. Did you
have a specific question?
<[Daniel] VORTEXT> Is there going to be support for EPS graphics in any
of the upcoming releases?
<[Mario] ISD> EPS... will be handled in export form via Dataformer. In
the near future there will be a product for EPS import/conversion, etc.
What form it takes is still a gray area to me but as soon as we know, we
will let YOU know ;-)
<[Mario] ISD> OK... I would appreciate some feedback on what folks want
covered in the tutorials and sessions at Glendale. That would help me a
great deal in preparing a syllabus. Thanks Daniel.
<[Rob] R.QUANCE> Will DMC Publishing be posting a product listing? I
would like a few laminated wall charts of the macros and key bindings as
well as the dialogs.
<[Mario] ISD> Be careful what you wish for.... you might get it. A
question?
<[Lou] L.ROCHA1> There is a text block coming with some special deals.
Hang on and we'll send it up now.
If you have not already done so, place your upgrade order to Calamus SL
today; and order any additional modules that you may require. If you
already own Calamus SL, thank you. The three new modules now available
are only the beginning. Hundreds of modules remain in development at
this time.
Note: All prices are subject to change without notice.
PRICES US CDN
Upgrade to Calamus SL from 1.09N 200.00 229.00
Upgrade to Calamus SL from 1.09x 230.00 260.00
Update to Calamus SL 07/92 from SL 02/92 0.00 0.00
USER to USER TIPS on 4 diskettes 20.00 24.00
Vector Graphic Module 100.00 120.00
Speed Line Autotrace Module 50.00 60.00
Color Separation Module 50.00 60.00
Brush Module 30.00 35.00
Mount Module 50.00 60.00
Dataformer Raster & Vector Module 100.00 120.00
The Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing 30.00 35.00
Outline Art PROMOTION 100.00 120.00
The Calamus Font Editor PROMOTION 50.00 60.00
Focoltone Color Swatch Book 79.00 95.00
Focoltone Set of 16 Color Charts 169.00 200.00
Focoltone Color Specifier Chip Book 200.00 240.00
Fast Technology's 40 mhz TURBO 030 1495.00 1695.00
-----------------------------------------------------------
Vector Graphic Clip Art Library CLEARANCE 30.00 35.00
MasterPlan CLEARANCE 20.00 24.00
VIP Professional CLEARANCE 30.00 35.00
STAccounts CLEARANCE 20.00 24.00
ACCounts 2.0 CLEARANCE 50.00 60.00
-----------------------------------------------------------
Note: There will be a charge of $10.00 for shipping and insurance on all
shipments.
-----------------------------------------------------------
DMC Publishing,
2800 John St., Suite 10
Markham, Ontario. L3R 0E2
TEL 416-479-1880 FAX 416-479-1822
Calamus SL
We are really pleased with the response to Calamus SL so far. In fact,
the number of people that took advantage of the original upgrade offer
far exceeded our initial expectations. Thank you!
As anticipated, the new modular design, has become the center of a
powerful and ever-expanding universe of DTP tools.
Many of the features previously inactive are now up and running as they
should. As of July 1992, we have an update for Calamus SL. Note: while
there will be NO CHARGE for the update from SL to SL, there is a fee of
$10.00 applied to cover shipping and insurance. As a Calamus SL owner,
you will be able to purchase modules to suit your specific needs.
Development continues on many additional modules, 3 more of which are
now available: Dataformer, Brush, and Mount.
WYNIWYG - "What You Need Is What You Get"
DMC brings "WYNIWYG" to desktop publishing. The modular concept means
that you purchase exactly what you need today, with the knowledge that
additional modules are available when you require them. Your choice is
now easier and more economical, since you will be purchasing specialized
modules, rather than entire packages.
We believe that you will enjoy working with Calamus SL, not only because
of its new power, but because of its similarity to Calamus 1.09N. The
skills you have already developed are applicable in SL and your
productivity will increase.
The basic Calamus SL upgrade package contains:
* A 600 page manual.
* three program disks
and twelve standard modules:
* Clipboard Module
* Page Module
* Frame Module
* Text Module
* Text Style Module
* Line Module
* Raster Area Module
* Document Converter
* System Parameters Module
* PKSWrite Module
* Raster Generator Module
* Focoltone Module
Calamus SL contains dozens of new features and powerful enhancements
from Calamus 1.09 as follows:
* Above all else, the ability to accept modules, internal or third party
* The ability to process and preprocess large passages of text with
speed and precision.
* Extended raster control with freely definable raster angles and
widths. Intensity and contrast can now be corrected, while an
integral histogram allows you to optimize an image for your output
device.
* The PKS-Write Module provides standard word-processing functions plus
the ability to edit layout information.
* The addition of Cache and Virtual Memory speeds up and extends memory-
dependent functions.
* Create hundreds of macros, each assigned to a definable key binding
which can be saved and automatically installed in each work session.
* Open up to seven documents at a time. Cut & paste to our new
scrolling clipboard.
* Create and assign master pages (style sheets).
* Create and save text style lists.
* Expand, compress and skew text.
* Rotate and mirror frames.
* Control frame placement and size to (7) seven decimal places.
* Print parts of pages (tiling).
* Define more than 16 million colors and save in color lists.
* Set units of measurement for pages, fonts and lines.
* Choose from three frame display modes: Transparent, Opaque and
Inverted.
* Align frames to other frames.
* Define vertical alignment settings.
* Currently, more than a dozen modules and scores of drivers are
available for use with Calamus SL. We will publicize the availability
of new modules, drivers and upgrades through our normal Customer
Support channels, as well as through periodic mailings to our
registered users.
* The upgrade charge to our Registered 1.09N customers remains at US
$200.00 or $229.00 CDN. This includes the new manual, program and
modules as indicated above.
MORE MODULES
We now have six additional modules available for separate purchase as
part of our decision to offer you "WYNIWYG": Speed Line (Autotracer)
Module, Color Separation Module, Vector Graphic Editor Module,
Dataformer Raster and Vector Modules, Brush Module and the Mount Module.
SPEED LINE AUTOTRACER
Speed Line brings monochrome Autotracing to Calamus, converting
illustrations to vector graphics. It automatically creates vectors,
angle and pixel correction together with conversion options for Bezier
curves and line art. The Speed Line Autotracer converts a raster
graphic to a vector graphic within seconds. This can then be modified
by any of the existing Calamus drawings tools, particularly those
contained in the Vector Graphic module or Outline Art. Your cost is US
$50.00 or $60.00 CDN.
COLOR SEPARATION
Our color separation module allows you to define separation filters,
including the definition of under color removal UCR and adornment (spot
color). This module allows the use of CYMK, CMY and IHS models, as well
as the capability to support new models such as FOCOLTONE, now
available. You will require this module to generate 4 color
separations. Your cost is US $50.00, $60.00 CDN.
VECTOR GRAPHIC MODULE
Our Vector Graphic Module allows the creation and editing of monochrome
or color vector graphics, editing of polylines for irregular text flow
and much much more. I have enclosed a few snap shots of the many
features. This is the perfect internal tool for editing autotraced
graphics. You can join sub-paths, distort and freely rotate all
elements or even apply different colors to every vector graphic part.
Your cost for this module is US $100.00 or $120.00 CDN.
DATAFORMER
The long-awaited DATAFORMER module comes in two parts - DATAFORMER
RASTER and DATAFORMER VECTOR. As the name implies, each part works on
the respective type of frames. The essential use of Dataformer is to
convert Calamus graphic frames or pages to other file formats for
export.
DATAFORMER RASTER will export to Degas (PI?), Doodle (PIC), NeoChrome
(NEO), STAD (PAC), GEM Image (IMG), Enhanced Simplex (ESM), Block (BLK),
PC Paintbrush (PCX), IFFILBM (IFF), TIFF (TIF), Targa (TGA), Calamus
(CRG), and GIF87a (GIF).
DATAFORMER VECTOR will export to Calamus (CVG), GEM Metafile (GEM),
Autocad (DXF), HPGL Plotfile (PLT), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and
PostScript (PS).
DATAFORMER has an array of options that are specific to each export file
type. In all formats the output can be frame or full page size. The
graphic can be exported according to the original size or according to
user defined size including A5, A4, A3, B5.
In some file formats, there are choices of saving with Color, Grayscale
or Monochrome; in others you can specify ALL or STANDARD (VDI) colors
and FILLED or OUTLINED fill patterns.
There are also options to save 1-, 4- and 8- bit grayscale or 8- and 24-
bit color.
For PostScript files, the options include FILLED or EMPTY fills and you
may choose to save an image with the file. For EPS you may choose to
attach a TIFF with the converted file. Your cost is US $100.00 or $120.
CDN.
MOUNT
MOUNT is a newcomer to the array of Calamus SL modules. MOUNT allows
the user to print more than one page on each sheet of printed paper.
Paper sizes must be two or four times the size of the working page
format. For example, if you are working on half size pages (5.5 x 8.5)
you could use MOUNT to print two pages on each piece of letter size
paper. You can also print multiple copies.
The MOUNT module is "smart". It can collate and mount your pages
automatically. For example, a 12 page booklet (half size pages) can be
printed in camera ready order: 1/12, 2/11, 3/10, 4/9, 5/8, 6/7, thus
eliminating the need to paste up your work. You can also choose to
print consecutive pages or multiple pages on the printed page. The
cost is US $50.00 or $60.00 CDN.
BRUSH
The BRUSH Module is a raster graphics editor that looks and works like
any of the basic external modules. It has two command groups - the
first allows you to select from a palette of 20 brush sizes and shapes,
including one that is variable. The second command group accesses the
same color table that is available in the other modules. This means you
can now color your raster graphics!
To use BRUSH, you must have a raster graphics frame selected. The frame
must contain data from one of the Calamus import formats - IMG, STAD,
NEO, PI?, PC?, RAW, CRG, CRD. Your cost is US $30.00 or $35.00 CDN.
<[Lou] L.ROCHA1> Thank you once again for attending tonight Mario. In
closing, here is a little memo for all of you about upcoming events in
the Monday Night DTP/Graphics Round Table Conference.
Next week we will have the newest developer on the Atari platform -
Harlan Hugh, author of that terrific new graphics program - INVISION
Elite. Harlan will highlight the features of his program along with a
special introductory offer. And if that is not enough, Harlan will also
give away a free copy of INVISION Elite to one of our lucky
participants.
On July 27 my guests will be the WizWorks Wunderkids - Chet Walters and
Dr. Bob Parks. Chet and the Doc will highlight Coalesce, Scan Lite and
other products and tell us what's new in the WizWorks factory.
On August 10, Peter Zalesak will join us online to discuss Publisher 2,
now distributed by ABC Solutions. For many Atarians, Publisher ST is
still the tool of choice for DTP. Drop in and hear about the features
of Publisher 2.
<[GLENDALE] ATARIUSER> Will DataFormer have any output limitations on PS?
Meaning will you be able to go to a Lino Bureau and get 2400 output?
<[Mario] ISD> Dataformer will allow you to specify the resolution of the
output file when dealing with bitmap graphics. When dealing with
vectors, need I say more...
<[Dave] D.SMITH200> I thought bitmaps were pretty much decided by their
INPUT resolution???
<[Mario] ISD> Dave, bitmaps are pretty much defined by the input
resolution, however, when you export or Dataform a bit map, you can
specify the resolution of the output file in the Dataformer module, e.g.
75 dpi to 2400 dpi or higher.
<[Daniel] VORTEXT> Is there anyway to import an EPS graphic into SL? I
now have some I'd really like to use.
<[Mario] ISD> Daniel, not yet.
<[Ed] E.KRIMEN> The SL upgrade must be distributed by mail? It can't
(or you won't :^) do it via GEnie?
<[Mario] ISD> Ed, sorry, only by conventional post.
<[Ed] E.KRIMEN> Lou, what's the procedure? Do we return our disks?
<[Lou] L.ROCHA1> Sorry Ed... we don't have that answer yet.
<[Daniel] VORTEXT> Will the "Advanced" seminar deal only with color?
<[Mario] ISD> Daniel, the Advanced seminar will deal with color, high
res output, rasterizing principles and how to apply them and the use of
text styles.
<[Daniel] VORTEXT> Thanks on the seminar info. I plan on attending.
Mario Georgiou will be teaching a Beginner and Advanced class on Calamus
SL at the Glendale Show. Leave email to [ATARIUSER] or [ISD] for
registration information.
| | | 2600 WHERE ARE YOU?
| | | by Tim Duarte
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
The following article is reprinted in Atari Explorer Online by
permission of AtariUser magazine. It MAY NOT be further reprinted
without specific permission of AtariUser. AtariUser is a monthly Atari
magazine, available by subscription by calling (818) 332-0372.
How were you first introduced to Atari? Most Atari users will answer
this question the same way, tracing their roots to the early days of
video games. You may have played one of those early Atari Pong machines
on your television set. You may remember a few game variations, but the
systems were very limited. The game ROMs were built-in, making it a
dedicated video game system.
The 2600 - The King of Video
The Atari Video Computer System (VCS), later known as the Atari 2600 as
well as the Sears VCS, turned many people on to video games, too. The
2600 was a dream come true for many wanna-be owners who shied away from
the dedicated Pong systems. Since the game ROMs were now stored in
cartridges, it opened up a whole new world of video games that offered
color and variety.
As many of us upgraded and became excited about the potential of
computers, the 2600 and other cartridge-based game systems seemed to
become forgotten and obsolete. Game software for Atari computers (then
the 8-bit 400 and 800) began to flourish on cassette tape and floppy
disk, as well as ROM cartridges. Some owners decided to sell their
system, others stored it away in a cellar or an attic, and despite it
all, some remained loyal. Underneath the success of home computers, the
cartridge-based game market has remained alive.
Atari released a number of systems to the gaming public. The most
popular, perhaps in all video game history, is the 2600 game system.
Millions of these systems have been sold since its introduction in 1977.
It also has an impressive library of games that some fans have
calculated to number near 500. To keep the 2600 from obsolescence,
Atari planned an expansion kit called The Graduate. It was a keyboard
add-on unit that transformed the 2600 into a home computer. The product
was never released.
In 1982, Atari released the 5200 game system, which was based on the
same internal components as the Atari 400. The system looked great on
paper, but it didn't catch on with the general public. It didn't have a
large selection of games to choose from, and the joysticks were odd and
very easy to break. Still, the 5200, which offered graphics that
compared to arcade versions, was well-received among many game players
who chose not to upgrade to the home computers.
The 7800 - the Super Machine that Almost Was
The later Atari 7800 game system tried to make up for the mistakes that
the 5200 made. Without a need for adapters, the 7800 runs its own
cartridges and is compatible with the hundreds of cartridges that were
made for the 2600 and the dozens for the 5200. The joysticks were an
improvement on the standard Atari joystick, and the games created for
the 7800 were even of a higher quality than the games for the 8-bit
computers. This system has a lot of potential, but it never seemed to
catch on like the 2600 did.
Atari then released the XE Game System. The XEGS is essentially a 65XE
8-bit computer in disguise. It came packaged with a light gun and tried
to contend with the 8-bit Nintendo and Sega Master System. The XEGS
came in third place out of the three and could not attract a large
number of consumers who were impressed with the more detailed graphics
(but inferior processing power) of Nintendo systems.
We could consider the ST computers as part of the game evolution, but
for our purposes here, we're really dealing with the machines that Atari
intended to be "game machines," not computers. And for home consoles,
Atari fell off of the crest of the game wave.
Of course, the next step was the remarkable LYNX, and Atari has rumored
first a PANTHER and now a JAGUAR advanced game console, to be released
sometime next year. Details are absolutely unavailable, and it's
thought that even Atari hasn't decided what features will be in the
final system.
But the "classic" Atari gaming community has survived through all of
this. For a number of reasons, price and performance among them, many
users are regaining interest in the older Atari systems. In these days
of 16-bit Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, the Atari systems remain in
the shadows, but won't go away. Longevity speaks for itself, and the
2600 has been around for 15 years!
And Yet It Lives...
Only months ago, Atari released some hot new games for the 7800 -- Alien
Brigade, Basketbrawl, Motor Psycho, Midnight Mutants, Planet Smashers,
and Ninja Golf, to name a few. Four titles -- Ikari Warriors,
Motorodeo, Sentinel, and Xenophobe -- were also released for the 2600
system. And there's a huge variety of game cartridges available for all
four Atari systems.
The 2600 is popular in other countries, including England, Belgium,
Australia, Japan, and Algeria. I recently acquired Klax for the Atari
2600 from a friend in Belgium. Oddly enough, even while releasing new
titles, Atari decided not to release Klax in the U.S.
Unfortunately, as of Christmas 1991, Atari decided to discontinue the
XEGS, 2600, and 7800 systems. Much inventory was sold to Consolidated
Stores/Big Lots Stores, who have been selling brand new games at bargain
prices -- $1 to $3 each. How can you go wrong at this price? Atari
still has some games in stock, but not at such discounted prices.
So, you've just bought a 2600, or you dug your 5200 out of the attic, or
were given a 7800 system. You're itching to blast some Space Invaders
out of the sky, or play a few rounds of Pac-Man. Where do you start?
Most toy stores and video games stores have phased out their supply of
"older" products, so if you find a nearby store that has a selection of
Atari games, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, here are some mail
order companies that sell 2600, 7800, 5200, and XEGS game cartridges and
accessories through the mail:
Atari Entertainment
500 Waters Edge, Suite 310
Lombard, IL 60148 (708) 629-1386
Best Electronics
2021 The Alameda, Suite 290
San Jose, CA 95126-1127 (408) 243-6950
Computer/Electronics Source
41-30 70th St.
Woodside, NY 11377-3952 (718) 426-9614
Telegames USA
Box 901 Lancaster, TX 75146
(214) 227-7694 (214) 218-5800 (24-hour order/info line)
Starbase Atari Computers
2369 Austin Highway
San Antonio, TX 78218 (512) 590-7122
Pleasant Valley Video
8141 Pleasant Valley Road
Camden, OH 45311 (513) 787-3682
Video 61
22735 Congo St. N.E.
Stacy, MN 55079 (612) 462-2500
These companies are a good starting point, but you don't have to rely on
mail order companies to find games for your Atari systems. Atari games
are also popular items at yard sales, flea markets, rummage sales,
computer swap meets, thrift shops, pawn shops, and more. Try scanning
the "for sale" classified ads of your local newspaper and online
bulletin board systems. I've been trading games all over the United
States and I'm building quite a large collection of games.
Even though the 2600, 7800, 5200, and XEGS are no longer being
manufactured, it doesn't mean the users who play these game systems will
go away and vanish.
Some folks regard the Atari game system as an ideal system for beginners
and youngsters, while others are attracted to the economical and
affordable prices of the systems and game cartridges when compared to
Nintendo. Atari systems are fun, simple to use, innocent, and fast. No
waiting for a disk to load into memory--just pop in a cartridge and
play.
Classic Game Support Groups
Personally, I'm a big fan and supporter of the 2600. Two years ago, I
began research and wrote letters to other fans, and I discovered I was
not alone. There's many video gamers out there who support the Atari
machines and show a lot of excitement about them. There is definitely a
need for the formation of clubs or user groups for these machines.
In that vein, I started my own newsletter specifically to support the
Atari VCS line. "The 2600 Connection" newsletters average 8 to 16 pages,
but they contain lots of interesting and useful information that you
won't find in the professional magazines. Each contain game reviews,
game solutions and tips, letters and questions, classified ads, and
more. I've produced 11 bi-monthly issues of The 2600 Connection so far.
A six-issue subscription is $6, and samples are available for $1 each.
Write to me at:
Tim Duarte
P.O. Box 3993
Westport, MA 02790
If you send a check, make it to me by name, as my publication has no
bank account. Like most of the amateur press, I support the community
on a break-even basis at best. But it's great fun!
[Look for Tim's roundup of "Amateur Press" publications that support all
of the Atari lines of computers in an upcoming issue of AtariUser - Ed.]
| | | GROWING UP WITH ATARI - PART II
| | | By Bob Smith
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
When I was last with you, I had mentioned that several events occurred
almost simultaneously. These two important happenings in my computer
life were the acquisition of a 520 ST computer and all of it's related
parts and becoming a member of the Mid-Florida Atari Computer Club.
Here I was just starting to feel very comfortable in my 8 Bit world,
using my computers in business, learning to program, etc. and along
comes a good friend, misguided, but non-the-less a good friend and tells
me he is going into the world of another computer and would I like this
poor 520ST. Well, being the gracious person that I am and not wanting
to hurt his feelings, I said OK. Not long after that, he arrives at my
home with several boxes and various cables, power supplies, disks and
other things.
I took a look at this and suddenly had a great deal apprehension and
fear. Why fear? Well, having just gotten comfortable and on a first
name basis with my 8 Bit equipment, what was I going to do with this
monster and where was I going to put it.... I didn't verbalize my fears
to my friend, not wanting to insult him in anyway, so I just put the
boxes in my den in one corner and went on with my happy computer life
and promptly forgot about the ST and all of the related boxes, cables,
disks, and other parts.
About this time I had joined The Mid-Florida Atari Computer Club and met
many experts in the ST field. One of these people by the name of
Tipton, who subsequently became a very good friend, came to my home one
day and noticed the ST monitor sitting very for lonely sitting on my
desk. It was only there for lack of any other place to put it and he
asked me about it. I explained the circumstances on how I came have it
and all of it's related parts. He looked at me with a gleam in his eye
and said "let's fire it up". I replied, "no thanks, I really don't want
to unpack everything". I really knew that if I did start to play with
it, I might not want to stop, having previously experienced that with my
trusty 8 Bit equipment.
But Dave, being of the persuasive type that he is, talked me into just a
'quick' bootup and then I could shut it down and put it away. As you
have probably guessed, from that inauspicious beginning, it has grown on
me to the point that the 520 ST now sits side by side with my 8 Bit and
is used for many tasks, not the least of which is my fetish for modeming
and Bulletin Boards. I still have a very long way to go, but there are
a lot of excellent programs available for the ST and it is still
supported rather well. Atari Corporation sure does know how to make an
excellent platform. Oh yes, I never did get even with Dave for getting
me hooked on the ST, but I guess I am really greatful.
As I had briefly mentioned before, I got involved with the Mid-Florida
Atari Computer Club (M.F.A.C.C.) very innocently. I was invited to
attend a meeting by a member named Carolyn Hoglin. Some of you may know
the name from the articles that she has published in the late Antic
Magazine and other newsletter publications. I attended this meeting and
found many kindred spirits of the Atari world. I was rather quiet at
first as I didn't want to open my mouth and show how dumb or naive I
really was about computers, but these people put me at ease and included
me in the meeting without making me feel like an outsider.
I joined immediately and got somewhat involved in that first year, but
little did I know that I would become totally immersed in the Club and
some of the people who have since become good friends. Finding people
with a very common interest can be difficult, if not impossible, but
here I was among a whole nest of them and I was as happy a computer with
a brand new 100 megabyte hard drive.
As a direct result of being in the Club, I was and still am a part of
the Newsletter staff. I have learned a great deal on how a newsletter
is put together and the tremendous effort and hard work that goes into
it. I was elected president for three straight terms and as you read
this, I have just finished that third year. The club has been the
catalyst for meeting some of the finest people that I have met in many
years, such as Bob Brodie of the Atari Corporation. That's an entire
story in of itself and I'll cover that in the final installment of this
trilogy next week. Stay tuned..............
| | | ATARI ST MIDI SOFTWARE LIST
| | | From the MIDI Forum On CompuServe
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
PROGRAM COMPANY PRICE FILENAME LIB
------------------------ ------------------- ----- ---------- ---
Sequencers:
Creator C-Lab $445 CLABS1.ARC 4
CLABS2.ARC 4
Cubase Steinberg/Jones $579
EZ Track Plus EZTPDE.ARC 4
Final Cut FCUT.ARC 4
KCS Dr. T's $275
KCS Level II Dr. T's $375
Master Tracks Jr. Passport MTJDEM.ARC 4
Master Tracks Pro Passport $395 MTPDEM.ARC 4
MIDI Recording Studio Dr. T's $49
MidiTrack Hybrid Arts MTST5D.ARC 4
Notator C-Lab $729 CLABS1.ARC 4
CLABS2.ARC 4
Omega Dr. T's $495
Realtime Dr. T's $199 RTSTDE.ARC 4
SmpteTrack II Hybrid Arts $499
Studio/Atari Standard MIDIsoft $100
Studio/Atari Advanced MIDIsoft $160 STUDIO.ARC 4
TIGER Dr. T's $149 TIGERD.ARC 4
TIGER Cub Dr. T's $99 TIGERC.ARC 4
Trax Passport $100
Notation Software:
Copyist Apprentice Dr. T's $99
Copyist Pro Dr. T's $275
Copyist DTP Dr. T's $399
Encore Passport $595
EZ-Score Plus Hybrid Arts $150 EZSDMO.ARC 4
Masterscore Steinberg/Jones $350
Notator C-Lab $649
| | | THE WACKEY WORLD OF ST GAMING
| | | By Eric Bitton
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
The following article is reprinted in Atari Explorer Online by
permission of AtariUser magazine. It MAY NOT be further reprinted
without specific permission of AtariUser. AtariUser is a monthly Atari
magazine, available by subscription by calling (818) 332-0372.
Sometimes, the topsy-turvy world of ST games seems like one giant
roller coaster ride. Companies start supporting the ST, drop it, pick it
up again, go out of business, change names, change distributors, change
policies, etc, and so on, ad nausea. Then, there is the confusion as
to which companies actually do support the ST. Certain companies have
offices in both the US and UK but don't actually release Atari versions
in the US or offer any support.
Such is the case with Microprose and Accolade. If you call their US
offices, they will tell you to contact their UK offices instead. The
one exception is Virgin Software. Even though they have stopped
distributing ST versions in the US, you can still call the US office for
support. They stopped releasing ST games in the US because of "low
sales," as did UBI Soft last year. Sales were low because the US
versions would appear four or five months after the UK versions had
already come and gone, and the big distributors almost always buy direct
from Europe anyway.
I thank AtariUser for giving me room for this sweeping effort to give
you a clearer picture of the global ST game scene. It'll either inform
or confuse you even more. While it's not a pretty sight overall, the
support and number of titles available and coming for the Atari line
will probably surprise and may even please you. And with Atari's own
decision to become a major game source with 40 or more ST games
commissioned already, things will probably get curious and curious.
So fasten your seat belts!
The American Companies
The Avalon Hill Game Company is not exactly known as a cornucopia of
computer games, but they do release the odd title once in a while.
Their latest one is a conversion of their classic "Third Reich" WWII
board wargame called, strangely enough, "Third Reich". The graphics and
sounds are rather spartan since this program is aimed mostly at players
of the original board game. It works in medium resolution only and will
not run on a TT.
Florida-based Digitek releases mostly inferior German games originally
published by Magic Bytes. Current titles are: Big Business (which has a
similar look and feel to Prime Time and comes with another game
called
Wall Street), and the ho-hum Tie Break Tennis. Upcoming titles are
Dinowars and Hill Street Blues (from Krysalis UK) which is a strategic
game based on the classic TV show.
Electronic Zoo is based in England but they had an office in Baltimore,
MD, until recently. The products released were a mix of Electronic
Zoo's own products and assorted European titles from Rainbow Arts
(Germany) and Loriciel (France). Choice pieces include Tennis Cup (with
split-screen mode for 2 players), Treasure Trap (a big isometric maze
action-adventure), The Legend Of Faerghail (fantasy RPG), and Khalaan
(Arabian strategic trade/wargame).
Epyx hasn't released anything for computers in a long time. They
used to be pretty prolific in the old days, mostly because everything
they released came from Europe after a name change. Nebulus became
Tower Toppler, Barbarian became Death Sword, Barbarian II became Axe Of
Rage, etc... You'll find Epyx games in the bargain bin, and deeply
discounted. They do Lynx development for Atari now.
FTL Games has been awfully quiet of late--actually, for several years!
They're getting ready to release the PC version of Dungeon Master (a few
years late), and are working on "something else." No details or release
date. Better not hold our collective breath.
InnerPrise: this company released a domestic version of Rainbow Arts
classic platform blaster Turrican. They had planned to release an ST
version of their Sword Of Sodan hack'n'slash but gave it up. They are
now planning to release an ST version of their Amiga and Genesis
shoot'em'up "Battle Squadron", but they're busy working on MS/DOS and
Mac projects first.
Lucasfilm: The Secret Of Monkey Island II has been cancelled and they
have nothing planned for the ST. The Secret Of Monkey Island is the
last program released, and a mission disk for Their Finest Hour can be
ordered direct.
Newcomer MegaSoft Entertainment has released its first product,
Disciples Of Steel, a fantasy role-playing game that seems to be doing
well. It's available in both a 1 meg and a 512K version, and can be
installed on a hard drive.
Texas-based Merit Software has recently started releasing Impressions
(UK) war games. Their current line-up includes Fighting For Rome
(originally called Cohort), The Final Conflict (a WWIII wargame) and
Merchant Colony (American colonies management in the 18th century). In
the works: Traders (from Linel in Switzerland) a 4-players space trading
game.
Microprose doesn't release or support ST games in the US. Their last
official US release was M-1 Tank Platoon. See Microprose UK for current
products.
Microdaft: when last seen, this company specialized in 8-bit games only.
Now, they have moved into 16-bit with Rotor (originally released by
Arcana UK), a mission-driven Gravitar/Oids style game.
If you're looking for Omnitrend products like Breach, Paladin, and
Breach 2, look to Mindcraft, their current distributer. Unfortunately,
Mindcraft is one of Electronic Arts' Affiliated Labels, and since EA US
has dropped the ST (again and again), Mindcraft has no way to distribute
any new ST titles. The chances of ever seeing Rules Of Engagement for
the ST are pretty slim.
It seems only yesterday that bold new British company Psygnosis burst
onto the computer game scene (er, actually it was in 1985) and declared
their undying support to the new 16-bit generation of computers: the
Amiga, ST, and IBM PC. Well, they're still around and they now have an
office in Massachusetts. More importantly, they have released some fine
products lately, especially that wonderful little brain-twister
Lemmings, and its companion piece Oh No! More Lemmings (available as a
data disk or a stand-alone game). Other choice pieces include Armour-
Geddon (though it's incredibly hard) and The Killing Game Show (known as
Fatal Rewind on the Sega Genesis). They have tons of new stuff lined up
for the rest of 1992: Agony, Air Support, Amnios, Aquaventura
(September), Carthage (any day now), Lemmings II (Fall), Ork (July), Red
Zone (July), and Shadow Of The Beast III (September). Psygnosis UK also
has its own budget label, called Sizzlers.
Better known for their conversions of the Don Bluth animated laser disk
games like Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, Readysoft (Canada) now
distributes Empire UK games as well. The latest Readysoft titles are
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, and Space Ace II: Borf's revenge. Guy Spy,
an Indiana Jones style cinematic action-adventure, should be out some
time soon. As for Empire games, currently available are Team Yankee, a
3-D tank wargame based around the novel of the same name and its sequel
Pacific Islands, Sleeping Gods Lie (fantasy RPG), and Volfied, the Taito
coin-op sequel to Qix. Future releases include Campaign (October),
Cyberspace (December), Eye Of The Storm (November), and International
Sports Challenge (July).
Sierra is forging ahead with PC, Amiga, and Mac products. You can read
all about their "pioneering spirit" and "bold new innovations" in their
own little magazine "InterAction", one of the most incredible piece of
marketing/propaganda I have ever seen this side of Prodigy. President
Ken Williams keeps dropping hints here and there that the Amiga is a
has-been, and that the only true "safe machines" are an IBM PC (486 I
bet!) and a Mac II. It's not like Sierra products are models of
programming efficiency, because they're not, not by a mile. I think
they need the extra computing power just to keep from tripping over
themselves! Aces Of The Pacific is slow on a 386/33Mhz machine!
Anyway, here are the last Atari titles Sierra released: Hoyle's Book Of
Games Volume 2: Solitaire, Leisure Suit Larry 3, Conquest Of Camelot,
Colonel's Bequest, and Codeman Iceman. All except Leisure Suit Larry
require one meg, and they're hard-drivable.
Spectrum Holobyte says that they will not be supporting the ST anymore.
Aside from the classic Falcon and its mission disks, they also released
Flight Of The Intruder, which was designed by Rowan Software, just like
Falcon. Microprose UK will be distributing Spectrum products in Europe,
so we might still see ST versions through the well-traveled back door.
As of January 1992, Strategic Simulations Inc has removed the ST from
its catalog, and they have no plans to release anything for it. US Gold
UK might convert a couple of titles in the future though.
After releasing Flight Simulator II way back in the mists of time gone
by, Sublogic still puts out the occasional ST scenery disk while working
on projects for other machines. The most recent scenery disks are the
Great Britain Scenery Collection and Scenery Disk 12: New England. They
have promised to release the California Collection in October.
TEAM Software: this company's main product is A Day At The Races. They
have an ST Civil War wargame in the works called 3 Days At Gettysburg.
Virgin: this British company has been around a long time, but their US
office has recently dropped the ST. However, gamers can still call the
US office for technical support (unlike, say, Accolade or Microprose)
and the British division will still be releasing ST versions. The last
few games released are Spirit Of Excalibur and its sequel Vengeance Of
Excalibur, Wonderland (designed by Magnetic Scrolls), and two games
originally released by Core Design (UK): Corporation (Cyber Cop on the
Genesis) and Thunderhawk. For future products, see the Virgin UK entry
later in this article.
And now, the European companies!
Accolade UK: a few things pop up once a in a while. Like Stratego, the
conversion of the classic board game, and the brand new Elvira II: The
Jaws Of Cerberus (1 meg required and hard-drivable).
Activision UK: they have dropped the ST completely. Their last batch of
products consists of the pointless Beastbusters (SNK coin-op
conversion), Deuteros (sequel to Millenium 2.2), Hunter (weird), and
R*Type II (bang-bang).
Anco UK: their bread and butter product is Kick-Off 2, an extremely
popular soccer game in the UK, and a suite of data disks for it. They
recently tried their hands at basketball but the resulting game, Tip
Off, was pretty dismal. Upcoming releases include more Kick-Off 2 data
disks (English League and Giants Of Europe), Kick Off 3, and Player
Manager 2 (soccer managing).
Atari UK is dabbling into computer games again. They are currently
working on two Atari coin-op conversions: Road Riot 4WD (wacky armed
buggy racing) and Steel Talons (really neat 3D polygons helicopter
shoot'em'up/simulation). However, these games may be specifically coded
for "full" operation on STe's and TT's only.
Audiogenic UK: nothing terribly exciting from this company. Current
releases are Exile, World Class Rugby: Five Nations Edition, and
Wreckers. Upcoming releases are Graham Gooch's World Class Cricket,
SuperLeague Manager, and World Class Soccer.
Beau-Jolly UK: compilations are the only thing these people put out.
Big Box (Teenage Queen, Captain Blood, Safari Guns, Bubble +, Tintin On
The Moon, Purple Saturn Day, Jumping Jack'Son, Hostages, Krypton Egg,
and Bobo), Mindgames (Waterloo, Austerlitz, and Conflict Europe), and
Board Genius.
Celebrity UK: this brand new company is planning to release Ian Botham's
Cricket, something definitely not targeted at the US gamer!
Codemasters UK: budget games, budget games, that's all you'll get from
these guys. Many of them star an egg with legs called Dizzy, to wit:
Bubble Dizzy, the Dizzy Collection, Dizzy's Excellent Adventures, Magic
Land Dizzy, Bubble Dizzy, Panic Dizzy, and Spellbound Dizzy. Now, I'm
dizzy!! They also have other types of games too: First Division Manager
(soccer), Hover Sprint (hovercar racing), Sky High Stuntman (mix of
everything), and Yolanda, a re-issue of an older Millenium game. One of
their future release is Steg, a cutesy platform game starring a slug.
Yes, a slug. Incidentally, many of these games are available on the
Nintendo Entertainment System and are marketed by Camerica.
Core Design UK: this outfit used to design games for other companies,
but they decided to go it alone about a year ago. Current line-up:
Heimdall (vikings), Thunderhawk (helicopter simulation), and Wolfchild
(Strider-like platform game). In the works: Adventurers Compilation
(Corporation, Hunter, and Supremacy), Corporation II, and Jaguar XJ220
Sports Racing.
Daze Marketing UK is the new home for Silmarils, known for games that
seem to take forever to load. Out now: Fantasy Pak (Crystals Of
Arborea, Colorado, and Boston Bomb Club), and Storm Master. Upcoming:
Ishar: Legend Of The Fortress.
Digital Integration UK isn't exactly the most prolific of companies.
Some of their past achievements include Tomahawk, an Apache gunship
simulator for the 8-bits (sold by Datasoft), and F-16 Combat Pilot,
distributed by Electronic Arts US. In the works: Tornado, a simulation
of the Tornado fighter-bomber. Dream Factory is their label for non-
simulation products. In the works: Gobliiins (from Tomahawk France),
Supaplex (Boulderdash remake), and The Drift (futuristic RPG). They
also have a budget label, Action 16.
Dinamic (Spain): action games with controversial names are the order of
the day here. One peculiar thing about their games is that they're
usually in two parts, and the access code for part 2 looks like
somebody's birthday. Past releases include After The War (beat'em'up),
Satan (hack'n'slash), Army Moves, Navy Moves, and Narcopolice
(infiltrate a drug lord's island complex). Coming soon: Arctic Moves
(snow combat), and Mega Fenix, an updated version of that ancient
Centuri coin-op classic "Phoenix".
Take the "Do" of Dominic, the "Mark" of Mark, put them together, and you
get "Domark", another long-standing UK company. Home of Tengen, the
software division of Atari Games (the coin-op people), Domark products
are now distributed in the US by Accolade, except for ST versions of
course. Their in-house design team is called The Kremlin and they have
their own budget label, Respray. They're also known for their James
Bond games. Current line-up: Grand Stand (contains Gazza's Super
Soccer, Pro Tennis Tour, World Class Leaderboard, & Continental Circus),
The James Bond Collection (Licence To Kill, Live And Let Die, and The
Spy Who Loved Me), Mig 29M Super Fulcrum, Shadowlands, and Super Space
Invaders. In the works: Columbus, Euro Football Champ, and Harrier
Assault. Current Tengen titles: Pitfighter, Race Drivin', and
Thunderjaws (terrible).
Electronic Arts UK: even this company is mumbling something about
dropping the ST. We just don't get any respect. It's also the new home
of Millenium. Current line-up: Populous II (available in both 1 meg and
512K versions), Powermonger: World War I Edition (data disk), Simcity/
Populous (a twin-pack), Strike Fleet (from Lucasfilm), and Zone Warrior.
In the words: Birds Of Prey (by Argonaut Software, delayed over and
over), Castles (from Interplay), Evolution, Flood 2. Current Millenium
titles: Kid Gloves II (cutesy platform), and Steel Empire (strategic
game with mechs). In the works: Chinto's Revenge, Global Effect,
Haunted House, Strike Command (sequel to Thunderstrike), and Tentacle.
Budget label is called Star Performers and feature EA's own titles.
Electronic Zoo UK: a mixed bag of their own products and games from
Tomahawk (France), neither of which are particularly outstanding. Out
now: Cougar Force (Tomahawk), Daylight Robbery (cutesy puzzler),
Galactic Empire (Tomahawk), Geisha (R-rated graphic adventure from
Tomahawk), Germ Crazy (bizarre strategy game), and Under Pressure
(boring shoot'em'up). In the works: Abandoned Places (fantasy RPG),
Brigade Commander (wargame), Cardiaxx, The Enemy Within, Fireforce, The
Magic Garden, Son Of Zeus, and Tracksuit Manager II (soccer).
Elite UK: two very nice compilations are currently available, Virtual
Reality Volume 1 (Carrier Command, Midwinter, Starglider II,
International Soccer Challenge, and Stunt Car Racer) and Volume 2 (Weird
Dreams, The Sentry, Virus, Resolution 101 and Thunderstrike). In the
works: Caveman Ninja (Data East coin-op), European Championship 1992
(conversion of Tecmo's World Cup 90 coin-op), Last Battle, and Suzuka
GP/Winning Run 2 (they have yet to decide which name they're going to
use).
Energize UK: pretty lame budget stuff: Ancient Games, Cap'N'Carnage,
Cybercop (this one really stinks!), and Soccer Match.
Entertainment International UK: this is the parent company of Empire and
Arcade Masters. Readysoft (Canada) distributes most of Empire's line-
up. Here's what they don't distribute: Deathbringer, MegaTraveller 1:
The Zhodani Conspiracy, and Space 1889 (both from Paragon). In the
works: Award Winners (Dragon's Lair, Kick Off 2, Populous, and Pipe
Mania (aka Lucasfilm's Pipedream), MegaTraveller 2: Quest For The
Ancients, and Soccer Stars (Emlyn Hughes International Soccer,
Microprose Soccer, Gazza II, and Kick Off 2). Arcade Masters titles in
the works: Cool Croc Twins, and Magic Boy.
Flair UK: current titles: Elvira The Arcade Game, and Winter Supersports
'92.
Gonzo Games UK: Brides Of Dracula, where you can play Dracula or Van
Helsing. Features a two player mode with split-screen.
Grandslam UK: this company has the rather annoying tendency to appear
and disappear at will. Current title: England Championship Special
(soccer). In the works: Beavers (a furry animal platform game), Die
Hard 2, Liverpool FC (more soccer), and Nick Faldo's Golf.
Gremlin UK: the selection here is pretty varied. Racing and platform
games, shoot'em'ups, and graphic adventures. Current stuff: 4 Wheel
Drive (which compiles 4 recent racing titles: Lotus Turbo Esprit
Challenge, Team Suzuki (motorcycle), Combo Racer (sidecar), and Toyota
Celica GT4 Rallye), Harlequin (platform), Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
(racing), Space Crusade (wargame), Suspicious Cargo (graphic adventure),
Utopia (SimCity in space), Utopia: The New Worlds (data disk), and
Videokid (platform shoot'em'up). In the works: Daemonsgate 1 (fantasy
RPG), Flag, Jelly Bean (puzzler), Little Divil, Pegasus, Plan 9 From
Outer Space (the worst movie ever made), and Zool (platform). Gremlin
has 2 budget labels: GBH, and GBH Gold (slightly more expensive).
Hawk UK: this new company hasn't made much of an impression yet. Their
first title, International Athletics, brings back the bad old days of
joystick-waggling sports games! Avoid it. In the works: The
Executioner, a Gravitar/Oids type of spaceship shoot'em'up.
Hex UK: another new company, another disaster. Their first one, Top
Banana, is simply hideous. The graphics are terrible, and the gameplay
is non-existent.
Hi-Tec Software UK: more budget stuff and Hanna-Barbera licenses. Black
Hornet (shoot'em'up), Interchange (a puzzler, I like this one), Jetsons,
Defenders Of The Earth, Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo, and Wacky Races. In
the works: Johnny Quest, and Quick Draw McGraw.
Impressions UK: old fashioned SSI style war games, but slightly
improved. US versions available from Merit Software. Current titles:
Africa Korps, The Charge Of The Light Brigade, Discovery: In The Steps
Of Columbus, Feudal Lords, Fighter Command, Fort Apache, Great
Napoleonic Battles, and Samurai: The Way Of The Warrior. In the works:
Air Bucks, Warriors Of Releyne. They also have another label called
"IF..." (which stands for Interactive Fantasyfiction). Out now: Crime
City. Coming soon: The Hand Of St James.
Infogrames (France): another company making occasional noises about
dropping the ST. Advantage Tennis, Alcatraz (sequel to Hostages),
Killerball (looks and plays just like Rollerball), and a re-issue of
Tetris. In the works: Bandit Kings Of Ancient China (from Koei), Call
Of Cthulhu (RPG), Seven Colors, and Viking.
Kaiko, the German company with the Japanese name. Only has one game out
right now, Gem'X, that looks like Sega's Columns but isn't.
Krisalis UK: a bit of a mixed bag. Current stuff: Champions (contains
Jahangir Khan's Squash, Manchester United, and World Championship Boxing
Manager), Face-Off Hockey, Hill Street Blues (picked up by Digitek US),
and Manchester United Europe (soccer). In the works: Ed Head Private
eye, John Barnes Soccer, and Roofworld.
Loriciel (France): purveyors of pretty bizarre games. Out now: Baby Jo
(cartoony platform fun-stration), Golden Eagle: The Return (looks good,
but is boring), Guardians (weird puzzler), Paragliding (dumb concept),
Psyborg (3-D racing in a tunnel in space), Steve McQueen Westphaser
(poor old Steve is nowhere to be seen, except on the box art!), and
Thunder Burner (Space Harrier with a walker machine. Dumb). Coming
soon: your guess is as good as mine.
Magic Bytes (Germany): mediocre games, some of which have been grabbed
by Digitek US. Out now: Air Supply, a pointless remake of Goldrunner.
In the works: Dinowars, Industrial Rebound, and Second World.
Microprose UK: home of fine simulators, the best Formula 1 racing game
of all time, and possibly of the new Spectrum Holobyte products.
Strategy games are released under the Rainbird label. In case you're
wondering what happened to the Firebird, Rainbird, and Silverbird
labels, they were all purchased by Microprose. Out now: Knights Of The
Sky (WWI), Microprose Formula 1 Grand Prix (GREAT!), Microprose Golf,
Railroad Tycoon, Silent Service II (WWII submarine), and Special Forces
(Airborne Ranger sequel). In the works: Advanced Tactical Air Command
(ATAC) (November), Air Duel, B-17 Flying Fortress (Vektorgrafix), Covert
Action (be a spy), and Gunship 2000. Rainbird titles: Midwinter II:
Flames Of Freedom, and UMS II: Nations At War. In the works: Starlord
and UMS II Planet Editor. Possible Spectrum Holobyte titles: Crisis In
The Kremlin and SuperTetris.
Editors Note: Next week we conclude this series and include address
and contact information more most of the companies discussed in this
article.
| | | THE 12-VOLT 8-BIT
| | | By Jeff Golden
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
Who says, "You can't take it with you". With the aid of the following
modifications, it is possible to power your 800XL or 130XE from the car
battery without affecting its 120VAC operation.
You can take along your favorite computer games for those long road
trips, and if you are into writing travelogues, you can take along your
TextPro disk and take notes along the way.
Now that your car has some programmable "computer smarts", how about
getting carried away with a monitor-based instrument panel and a voice
that nags at you when you forget to check the oil. Add in those
instruments that you have always wanted, like a low oil sensor or a
miles-per-gallon meter. This isn't as silly as it might sound. A 600XL
with some cartridge software and a few extra sensors could do all that.
Let me hasten to add a disclaimer at this point. If you manage to zap
your computer, burn up the car, run off the road, or achieve some other
undesirable result after following these instructions, we cannot assume
any responsibility. You are strictly on your own.
The modifications have been tested and work on my equipment, but because
of the wide variety of 8-bit devices and user skills, there is no way
that we can assure you that the changes will work on your equipment.
Let me caution you that any connections to the car's electrical system
should be properly fused and to check all voltages and polarities with
a VOM before you connect any equipment. Furthermore, you should check
the equipment for signs of overheating, particularly during the first
hour of use, and never leave the equipment unattended while it is
plugged into the electrical system.
Do not operate or connect the equipment after it has been subjected to
rain or condensation.
Powering up the computer: The 800XL and the 130XE are powered with 5.18
volts of DC that is fed into the computer by means of a 7-pin male DIN
plug. There are two ways of providing this 5VDC from your car battery.
The easy way is to obtain and modify one of the early XL power supplies,
(the black and white XL supply that can be taken apart). The other, and
more expensive way, is to make your own 12VDC power supply which is
actually easier done than said. (The old cliche reversal is
intentional).
If you have one of the old style XL power supplies, you can modify it in
the same manner that is described below for the 1050 disk drive,
otherwise we will need to replace the AC power supply brick with a
similar sized brick that reduces the 12-15 volts of car power to 5
volts. This is easily accomplished by wiring a simple voltage regulator
circuit and mounting that circuit in a ventilated plastic box. (See the
wiring diagram).
Radio Shack has the perfect power supply box for this purpose, and it is
highly recommended. (270-287). This box will insulate the heat sink
both thermally and electrically. (The heat sink is charged at +5 volts).
The other parts are also available from Radio Shack with the exception
of a heavy duty heat sink.
The regulator will generate about 10-15 watts of heat that must be
carried away from the regulator chip to prevent it from destroying
itself. You may be able to buy a heavy duty heat sink at an electronics
store, or you may want to fabricate one from heavy aluminum scrap. I
used an aluminum bar 18" X 1" X 1/8". The bar was folded accordion
style to fit into the case. The regulator chip was fastened to the
center of the bar with heat sink grease in between and no insulators.
My regulator chip was mounted vertically with the pins projecting
upward. The regulator mounting screw was also used to mount an L-shaped
bracket which in turn was used to support a small circuit board above
the heat sink. A coaxial jack was fastened to the case for the 12VDC
input. A 2-conductor 18ga lamp cord and a DIN plug were run out the
other end of the case for the 5V output.
Be sure to check your DC-converter brick for proper voltage and polarity
before connecting it to the computer. The output should be between 5.15
and 5.25 volts at the DIN plug.
Powering up the 1050: This one is easy. All that we have to do is
mount a 12VDC input jack on the 1050 case and then let the regulators
inside the 1050 take care of the rest. See diagram. No circuit
cutting or switching is necessary and the 1050 will still run under AC
as well as DC. Wire the DC jack to the plus and minus poles of the AC
rectifier as shown. The DC jack can be double-checked by connecting the
1050 to AC power in the normal way and then checking the empty terminals
of the DC jack for approximately 11 volts of DC with the expected
polarity.
Warning!! Plugging AC into the DC jack could damage the electrolytic
capacitors and other components. I recommend covering up the DC jack
with a piece of tape whenever the drive is not being used in the car.
Atari uses a negative signal ground which corresponds nicely with the
majority of cars which also use a negative ground. To minimize possible
shorts to the car body, I connected the negative DC line to all of the
outer (exposed) rings of the coaxial DC plugs and connected the positive
DC line to the center tips.
Plug the TV monitor and the computer into the cigar lighter using a Y
adaptor. (AC/DC TVs usually come with a lighter cord). Using the
lighter socket enables the driver to easily disconnect the system when
parking the car, and it also enables the easy removal of everything
when the vacation is over. Cigar lighter plugs can be bought with
built-in fuse holders. The computer/disk drive combo needs a 5-amp
fuse. It only draws about 2 amps, but there is too much of a voltage
drop across a fuse that is smaller than 5 amps.
Operational notes: Disk boot errors may occur when the car's engine is
not running. Starting the car generates a higher voltage that should
take care of the problem. Also any dirt in the cigar lighter can cause
similar problems. Run the engine when you want to use the computer.
Otherwise the combined current of the TV and computer may be enough to
run the battery down in the middle of your Donkey Kong game.
One Final WARNING! It is illegal to operate a TV in the front seat of a
vehicle. Put the whole thing in the back where it is impossible for the
driver to see and/or assist in its operation. Even folks with the best
of intentions will find it impossible to resist the need to twiddle the
knobs when the kids are having difficulties. It could be your last
twiddle.
Here are the detailed directions for modifying a 1050 disk drive. This
also applies to modifying the "old" style 800XL supply.
1. Open the case and locate the four rectifier diodes. These are small
black cylinders, 1/2" long by 3/16" diameter, mounted on the circuit
board right next to each other.
BACK OF 1050
-----------------------------------
A.C. !
------- ! -------
*--! diode !---*---! diode !--*
!
! ------- ------- !
! !
! ------- ------- !
*--! diode !---*---! diode !--*
! ---- -- ! ------- !
! ! !
! A.C. !
! !
(-) minus DC plus DC (+)
2. Using care, use your voltmeter to determine the plus and minus
poles of your rectifier diodes. These are labeled (-) and (+) in
the above diagram, but could be different on your machine.
3. Wire a coaxial power jack to the plus and minus poles of the
rectifier. The jack leads can be easily soldered to the appropriate
diode leads. Do NOT attempt to run the wires under the board.
There isn't enough room and the sharp pins will pierce the
insulation.
Connect the minus lead to the outer ring of the jack and the plus
lead to the center tip.
4. Mount the jack. I enlarged the hole in the 1050 case where the
drive select switches are and mounted the input jack there. Tape
the jack wires to the tall capacitor to prevent them from draping
across the 1050 heat sink.
5. Reassemble the case and check out your work by plugging in the A.C.
transformer. You should see a DC voltage of the correct polarity on
the empty 12VDC jack.
If you have one of the old style XL power supplies, you can modify it in
the same fashion as the above 1050 modification. The regulators in the
XL supply will properly reduce the 12VDC to the 5VDC needed by the
computer and the change can be made for the price of a jack and a piece
of wire. I mounted my 12VDC input jack between the leads coming out of
the old power supply.
If you have to build your own supply then use the following wiring
diagram:
--------
! !
+12VDC ! LM317T ! +5.18VDC
*---*----! !----*------*----*
! IN! !OUT ! ! (+)
! ! ! ! ! DIN
! -------- Z !
! ! ADJ Z 220 !
! ! Z OHM !
! ! ! !
! ! ! !
! *---------* === 1.0
! ! ! uf
! ! !
! Z !
=== 0.1uf Z 680 !
! Z OHM !
! ! !
! ! !
*---*------------------*------*----*
-battery (-)
DIN
Just in case the above diagram does not survive the file transmission
and is out of alignment, the negative ground line is common across
both the input and output voltages.
The +12VDC input connects to the IN pin of the LM317. The 0.1uf
capacitor connects between the IN pin and ground. The 1.0uf capacitor
connects between the OUT pin and ground. The 220 Ohm resistor connects
between the ADJust pin and the OUT pin. The 680 Ohm resistor connects
between the ADJust pin and ground. The +5.18VDC output is present on
the OUT pin.
As you can see, the circuit is a very simple one. About the only place
you can go wrong is in identifying the IN, OUT, and ADJ pins of the
LM317. Refer to the back of the package for the pin locations. They
are numbered in an odd fashion.
The wiring for the DIN jack is shown on a label on the Atari Power
Supply. Compare the voltages with a voltmeter between the Atari supply
and your new supply. It is easy to get confused about which end of the
connector you are looking at. It is also easy to short out and destroy
a power supply, so be careful with your test leads around the metal
collar of the DIN plug.
I used 2-conductor 18ga lamp cord for both the input and output lines
on my supply. Using an input jack on the computer power supply allowed
me to bring the power from the cigar lighter out to three identical
5.0mm O.D. coaxial plugs, one for the TV, one for the 1050, and one for
the new 800XL supply.
Now, a few words on choosing a portable AC/DC TV to use as a monitor.
Don't expect much from a TV while on the road. About the time someone
gets interested in a program, you usually drive out of the station's
range, and they don't have many stations out there in the boonies. Try
to get a TV with an all-channel scan feature. This will enable you to
find all of the available stations when you are far from home.
A TV weather report now and then could save you a lot of trouble on the
road. One way of beating the lack of stations is to buy a set with a
built in video tape player.
As to size: A 9" set with a tape player looks pretty small in the store,
but it is a real monster inside of your car. Hopefully you have a motor
home, or at least a van, otherwise you may want to get a 5" set.
Well that should just about do it. By now you should be out there in
the car playing Donkey Kong. Just remember, "Don't leave home without
your joystick"!
Parts List:
2 274-1567 DC Power Plugs
2 274-1565 DC Power Jacks
1 274-335 Fused Lighter Plug
1 270-1535 Lighter Plug Y-Adapter
12 feet of 18ga 2-cond. lamp cord
The above parts are all that you need if you can modify the old style
XL supply. If not, you need the following additional parts:
1 276-1778 LM317T voltage regulator
1 272-1432 0.1uf capacitor
1 272-1434 1.0uf capacitor
1 271-1313 220 Ohm resistor
1 271-021 680 Ohm resistor
1 276-159 Dual printed circuit bd.
1 276-1372 Heat Sink Grease
1 NA at RS Heavy duty heat sink
(See text above)
1 270-287 Power Supply Case
1 274-029 7-pin DIN Plug
You will need some small nuts and bolts to fasten the parts together.
The screws that come with the DC Jacks are a little too short to be used
in this application.
Enjoy.
| | | CT FEST UPDATE!
| | | Show News Update
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A CHAMPION?
The Time : August 15 and 16, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Place: Sheraton Hotel at Bradley International Airport, Windsor
Locks, CT (Just north of Hartford on I-91)
The Event: The Northeast's Biggest Lynx Tournament This Summer!
Connecticut AtariFest '92 is excited to announce its First Annual Lynx
Tournament. The Tournament features the latest ComLynx-able games, your
favorite classics and yet-to-be released titles. Games will be played
among all contestants with Lynxes connected via ComLynx.
Loads of prizes will be given away during both days of the Tournament.
Novices shouldn't feel intimidated; prizes will be awarded for both
skillful play and dumb luck.
Atari will also set up individual Lynxes enabling players to play test
new games in a noncompetitive setting.
Lynxes, games and accessories will be available for purchase. Area
retailers are invited to sponsor a "Champion" who will receive a free
one-day pass to the show. Participating retailers will share in the
resulting publicity. Lynx players are invited to get their local dealer
to name them store "Champion" for the show. Dealers should contact
organizers below about their designated entry.
In addition to Lynx contests, Connecticut AtariFest '92 will feature
exhibits of the latest in computer hardware and software by Atari and
third-party developers, state of the industry reports, seminars designed
to help you get the most out of your gear and imaginative applications
created by folks just like you. Admission to the show is $5.00 for one
day; $8.00 for both days.
Lynxes and games will be supplied by Atari. Contestants are asked not
to bring their own equipment. It will not be allowed on the exhibit
floor.
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Area Students to Get Crash Course in Publishing at Connecticut AtariFest
On-the-scene visitors to Connecticut AtariFest '92 in Hartford will have
one advantage over their stay-at-home counterparts this August 15 & 16.
They'll be treated to rapid reports of Atari news as part of an
educational experiment involving students, teachers and experts in the
field of desktop publishing (DTP).
Connecticut AtariFest '92 is inviting area junior and senior high school
students to participate in the educational project as a means of
demonstrating how ideas can be converted into words, images and
effective printed communication. ACT Atari Group, the show organizer,
says it plans to publish newsletter editions both days of the show. The
student-produced flyers will contain bulletins about show exhibitors,
late-breaking news about the Atari scene as detailed by seminar
speakers, reminders of upcoming events at the show and tips for bargain-
hunters and do-it-yourselfers.
The selected pupils will serve as "roving reporters," gathering story
ideas at exhibitors' booths, interviewing vendor representatives and
visitors about show events and industry news. Some will enter their
notes into Atari's Portfolio palmtop computer; others will use pads and
pencils. The student reporters will then upload notes or compose
stories on several of the commercial word processors being demonstrated
at the show. From there text will be merged with graphics, photos and
illustrations via desktop publishing products, such as scanners, drawing
programs and touch-up software. Finally, a finished, color newsletter
will printed for the "classroom audience," while a black & white version
is distributed to show goers in the exhibit hall.
Representatives from several Atari magazines will also be covering the
show and it is expected some of these trade journalists will offer the
pupils their unique perspectives about news coverage in the computer
business.
Although not all of the exhibitors are expected to participate in the
learning experiment, some DTP-related exhibitors planning to attend the
Hartford show include ABC Solutions, Atari Corporation, Codehead
Software, Goldleaf Publishing, Gribnif, Maxwell CPU, Megatype Software
and Soft-Logik Publishing. Atari media expected at the show include
Atari Interface Magazine, ST Informer, ST Report, Take It With You
newsletter and other individual correspondents for Atari publications and
on-line services.
Connecticut AtariFest '92 is seeking student applicants for "enrollment"
in its "Summer Semester" program. We welcome junior and senior high
school students to submit a brief letter explaining why they want to
participate in the publishing project. Children should describe any
experience they have with computers, writing, art, school newspaper or
other form of communication, sending it along with a note from a parent
or guardian, to one of the addresses below. Do not enclose any
materials that need to be returned. Students need not be present both
days of the show in order to enroll. Apply to:
Brian Gockley, Chairman Doug Finch, Vice Chairman
Connecticut AtariFest '92 Connecticut AtariFest '92
GEnie: B.GOCKLEY GEnie: D.FINCH7
CompuServe: 75300,2514 CompuServe: 76337,1067
18 Elmwood Avenue 46 Park Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06605 Old Greenwich, CT 06870
(203) 332-1721 (203) 637-1034
| | | CLEVELAND FREE-NET
| | | Restructured and Improved - Press Release
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
Announcing....The Restructured....The Improved....Atari SIG on The
Cleveland Free-Net
Featuring:
* Up-to-date news on all Atari products and services
* Atari 8-Bit & 16/32-Bit Computer Support Areas
* Lynx Support Area
* Portfolio Support Area
* Voting Facilities
* Library & Research Center
* Programming/Developing Forums
* Quick posting of the latest online magazines
* No access charges!!
What we are:
------------
We are the largest computer Special Interest Group (SIG) located on the
Cleveland Free-Net Community Computer System. The Cleveland Free-Net is
a large, constantly growing, multi-user computer system with a
connection to Internet. It is sponsored financially by Case Western
Reserve University. The Cleveland Free-Net is a member of the National
Public Tele-computing Network (NPTN) or a network of a community computer
systems located in different parts of the nation. In a sense, these
Free-Net computer systems are the public libraries of the future. There
is no cost to anyone for use of these systems.
The goal of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG is to provide all Atari
users with an excellent place to exchange information. If your college
or business has access to Internet, you most likely have access to the
Atari SIG. The SIG is presently being accessed from Atari users located
throughout the world due to our Internet nodes. If you do not have
access to Internet, you can dial direct by the phone number listed
below.
We are proud to announce the opening of the newly restructured Cleveland
Free-Net Atari SIG on July 20th. We are confident that his new Atari
SIG will become a great part of the Atari Community.
Our internet mail address is: xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu
And our snail-mail address is:
The Atari SIG
PO Box 364
Mentor, OH 44061
So, how do I gain access?
-------------------------
1. Direct dialing: Set your modem to 8-n-1, and dial (216)368-3888.
Case Western University currently has 50 modems dedicate to the
Cleveland Free-Net.
2. Telenet: For those of you with Telenet abilities the primary node is
freenet-in-b.cwru.edu (129.22.8.75). Two other nodes are available
if the first node is 'full': freenet-in-a.cwru.edu, (129.22.8.82),
and freenet-in-c.cwru.edu (129.22.8.76).
Getting an account and costs...
-------------------------------
Anyone using Free-Net for the first time may use the 'guest' account.
You will not have posting privileges, nor any file space, but you will
be able to experience what the Free-Net has to offer. Requesting an
account is very simple and full instructions for this are available on
line. There are absolutely no charges associated with requesting an
account or using any of the Free-Net's services!
Stay up-to-date on latest Atari developments
--------------------------------------------
The Atari news section will feature all the latest developments on the
Atari scene. New machines, new software, and show announcements will
keep even the most isolated Atari users current on industry happenings.
Strong 8-bit computer support
-----------------------------
The 8-Bit Computers Support Area is an important part of the Atari SIG.
This area includes a computer description file, FAQ list, 8-bit news,
bulletin board, programming forum, product summaries, product reviews,
tips & tricks board, file area, all Z*Magazine issues, recent Info-
Atari8 Digests, and an 8-bit user directory.
While many sources of 8-bit news and information are saying "goodbye" to
the 8-bit computer, we are saying "hello!" We do not believe the Atari
8-bit era is over quite yet! We have expanded the 8-bit support area by
adding more information and a programming forum. If you are upset by
lack of support, create your own support. If you are upset because
there is little software being released for your computer, write your
own software.
A cornicopea of Atari 16/32-bit computer information
----------------------------------------------------
The 16/32-Bit Computers Support Area has something for everyone. This
area was designed specifically to meet the needs of the ST, TT, and
hopefully new Falcon computer users. There is a published articles
board, a computer description file, FAQ list, 16/32-bit news, bulletin
board, MIDI forum, programming/developing forum, tips & tricks board,
file area, online magazines, user directory, and much more.
If you are a programmer, the new programming/developing forum is a great
place to discuss, share information, and have fun with other
programmers. If you are a novice at programming, this forum is headed
up by a professional programmer who will help you get started in no
time. The MIDI Forum is for all you musicians that use your Atari
professionally (though beginners are welcome too!). The file area gives
you access to the vast amount of software available from the Atari
Archives at the University of Michigan. Special instructions are
included in the file area for using BART when uploading or downloading
files.
Support for Portfolio users
---------------------------
The Portfolio has always been well supported by users. The Portfolio
Support area has been enhanced to help continue this support. The area
includes a description file, Portfolio news, bulletin board, programming
forum, product summaries, product reviews, tips & tricks board, file
area, Portable Addiction magazines, and a user directory.
The programming forum has been added because users like you are the main
source of programs for the Portfolio. The file area has also been added
thanks to BART and the University of Michigan. They give Portfolio
users access to a large number of files stored at the Atari Archives.
Coming to a Lynx terminal near you!
-----------------------------------
The new Lynx Support Area has nearly doubled in size! There is a
description file, published articles board, FAQ list, Best & Worst of
1991 file, Lynx news, bulletin board, Atari Explorer game card summaries
board, game card reviews, vote on game cards area, tips & tricks board,
record high scores reported board, APE Newsletters, Portable Addiction
magazine, and a Lynx player directory.
The Lynx Support Area is special because it contains information that
very few places have. The Lynx Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List
has an answer to just about every question there is concerning the Lynx.
Darius Vaskelis put the FAQ List together with help from Robert Jung.
Since the Cleveland Free-Net has received permission from Atari Explorer
to reprint the game card summaries published in each issue of the
magazine, we have quite a library of summaries to help you determine
which game is for you. The Lynx Support Area has a large number of Lynx
game card reviews including ALL of Robert Jung's famous reviews.
Clinton Smith has given the Atari SIG permission to reprint his Atari
Portable Entertainment (APE) Newsletters in ASCII form. If you are
missing an issue that contains valuable information that you cannot find
anywhere else, you can find the back issue in this support area.
The Lynx has always been the best hand held out there and the Atari SIG
wishes to provide the support it deserves!
Voting Facilities
-----------------
The users of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG are now able to post
issues and have fellow users vote on them! The voting facilities will
allow users to ask questions without requiring users to leave his or her
name when answering them. The current results of the polls are
available to anyone just by hitting a key. The voting facilities bring
new excitement and endless possibilities to the Atari SIG.
The Newsroom
------------
The Atari SIG has established an area for putting together a monthly
online newsletter. If you are interested in becoming a contributor or
staff member of this newsletter, this place was made for you! It is
also the best way to get news, reviews, and information to others
throughout the world.
J.J. Lehett
Cleveland Free-Net
Atari SIG
| | | ATARIWATCH CALENDAR
| | | July Update
| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------
July 25 - Mid-Indiana ST's MIST Atarifest IV in Indianapolis. An annual
strong midwest "small scale" show, last year's event brought over 500
individuals from surrounding states. Admission is $3. Contact Dan Ward
on GEnie (D.WARD10), by phone at 317-254-0031, or by US Mail at 1752
Alimingo Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46260.
August 15th-16th - The Connecticut AtariFest '92 at the Sheraton Hotel
at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut. A joint
effort by FACE, STARR, and D-BUG, the sponsorship organization is called
ACT. Contact Brian Gockley, chairman, 18 Elmwood Avenue, Bridgeport, CT
06605, phone 203-332-1721.
August 21st-23rd - Germany's massive all-Atari computer event, the
Dusseldorf Atari Show. New products and trans-oceanic deals mark this
show as the Christmas of the Atari world.
August 20th-30th - The year's biggest (15,000 last year) gaming and
role-play convention is GENCON, held annually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at
the MECCA Convention Center. Atari will again be represented by
MilAtari, Ltd., a local user group that operates an all-Atari game area
at the show.
September 12th-13th - 1992's Southern California Atari Faire, also known
as the GLENDALE SHOW. John King Tarpinian is president of The Hooked on
ATARI Computer Knowledge Society (HACKS) and coordinator of the show.
The Glendale Show has had the largest annual attendance of any
continuing show series and is expected to keep that record this year.
For more information about the Glendale Show, contact John King
Tarpinian at 818-246-7286.
September 18th-20th - San Diego ACE is participating in a multi-platform
Computer Fair, and has reserved a room for Atari vendors. The San Diego
Computer Society in conjunction with a regional computer magazine
(ComputerEdge) have obtained the San Diego Community Concourse for 3
full days of Show. Up to 10,000 attendees are expected for the show
that has a $50K budget. Exhibitors get the booths for free, but there
are only 140 booths. Contact SDACE via D.SMITHRN on GEnie for
information. More details here soon!
September 22nd-25th - The Fall Seybold Show will be another top industry
trade show specializing in high-end publishing. Atari made a major
showing at Seybold last year and got extensive press attention. The
show will be held in San Francisco, California and is not open to the
general public. For more information, contact Atari Corporation.
September 23 - The Atari presentation at the Boston Computer Society
meeting, postponed from April, is now scheduled to occur on September 23
at 7:30 PM in the New England Life Hall in the Copley Square Building,
225 Clarendon Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Atari is to present a new
computer line to the club on the same site where the original ST was
unveiled and where IBM and NeXT have made their product announcements.
For more information, contact the Boston Computer Society at 617-252-
0600.
October 10th-11th - The Washington Area Atari Computer Enthusiasts are
currently planning the 1992 W.A.A.C.E Atarifest, which has traditionally
been the largest East coast Atari show. The '92 event will be held on
Columbus Day weekend, October 10th and 11th, once again at the Sheraton
Reston hotel in Reston, Virginia. The show will feature shopping
bargains, demonstrations, tutorials, seminars, and social events. The
1990 and 1991 editions of the show attracted approximately 2000
visitors. Charles Hoffmann is now Acting President of WAACE Inc., and
can be contacted via GEnie at address S.HOFFMANN, by phone at 703-569-
6734, or by US Mail at 5908 Bayshire Road, Springfield, VA 22152-1146.
November 16th-20th - Fall COMDEX, the biggest computer trade show in the
USA. Atari will again have a major presence at the Las Vegas, Nevada
show.
December 12th-13th - The Northern California Atari Expo has been
rescheduled from July, and will be held at the San Jose Exhibit Hall,
145 W. San Carlos, San Jose, CA. This will be the second major joint
show and the first in two years from ABACUS, SLCC, and Sacremento ST
Users clubs. Contact the Northern California Atari Expo c/o SLCC, P.O.
Box 1506, San Leandro, Ca 94577, or call 510-352-8118. GEnie Address:
M.WARNER8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To sign up for GEnie service call (with modem) (800) 638-8369. Upon
connection type HHH and hit <return>. Wait for the U#= prompt and type
XTX99436,GEnie and hit <return>.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To sign up for CompuServe service call (with phone) (800) 848-8199. Ask
for operator #198. You will be promptly sent a $15.00 free membership
kit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A special limited time offer is available for subscribers to AtariUser
Magazine. The regular $19.95 subscription price is now just $15.00 for
a full year or $25.00 a year for first class mailing. For more
information contact AtariUser at (818) 332-0372. Credit card or billing
is available.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editorial material, including article submissions, press releases, and
products for evaluation, should be sent to the Z*Net News Service
Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, New Jersey, 08846.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can subscribe to the bi-monthly hard copy Atari Explorer Magazine
for $14.95 for 6 issues, $39.95 for 18 issues. Canadian subscribers
should add $5.00 per 6 issues,foreign subscribers should add $10.00 per
6 issues. Checks must be drawn in US funds on a US bank. Send orders
to Atari Explorer, Post Office Box 6488, Duluth, MN 55806. VISA and
MasterCard orders, call (218) 723-9202.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a weekly publication covering the
Atari computer community. Material published in this edition may be
reprinted in non-commercial publications unless otherwise noted at the
top of the article. Opinions presented herein are those of the
individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
Atari Explorer Online Magazine is Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer
Corporation. Z*Net and the Z*Net Newswire are copyright(c)1992, Z*Net
News Service/Ron Kovacs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atari Explorer Online Magazine
"The Official Atari Online Journal"
Copyright (c)1992, Atari Computer Corporation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
