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Atari Explorer Online Issue 1994 08
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:: Volume 3 - Issue 8 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 10 May 1994 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: ::
:: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI ::
:: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER ::
:: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE ::
:: ::
:: Published and Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by Subspace Publishers ::
:: All Rights Reserved ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Publisher ........................... Michael Lindsay EXPLORER ::
:: Editor .................................. Travis Guy AEO.MAG ::
:: Assistant Editor GEnie................ Ron Robinson EXPLORER.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor CompuServe.......... Albert Dayes AEO.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor Delphi......... Andreas Barbiero AEO.2 ::
:: Assistant Editor Internet........ Timothy Wilson AEO.8 ::
:: Atari Asylum ... [Closed] ...... Gregg Anderson AEO.7 ::
:: Unabashed Atariophile ..... Michael R. Burkley AEO.4 ::
:: Atari Artist ................... Peter Donoso EXPLORER.2 ::
:: Jaguar Junkie ............... Tal Funke-Bilu EXPLORER.5 ::
:: User Group Coordinator ........ Ron Whittam EXPLORER.4 ::
:: ::
:: Contributors: ::
:: """"""""""""" ::
:: Randy Hoekstra Boris Molodyi ::
:: Thomas Schmidt David A. Wright ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: Telecommunicated to you via: ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: GEnie: AEO.MAG ::
:: CompuServe: 70007,3615 ::
:: Delphi: AEO_MAG ::
:: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 319 ::
:: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 ::
:: ::
:: Internet mailing address: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com ::
:: FTP recent AEO issues from: rahul.net: pub/wilsont/AEO ::
:: Search gopherspace under "aeo" for back issues ::
:: ::
:: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu ::
:: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) ::
:: ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Table of Contents
* From the Editors .............................................. Time out.
* Digital Briefs ..................................... Computer, and video
game industry news.
* Rare Gems ......................................... Quotes worth reading.
* Jaguar Tackboard ............................... New developers & titles.
* 64 Bits ........................... News from EET - Details of the Sigma
Designs Card - Developer News.
* "proTOS" Show Report ....................... Thomas Schmidt reports from
the Ulm Atari faire.
* That's Write 3 ................. Boris Molodyi gives us an in-depth look
at Compo's powerful new word processor.
* Andreas' Den ................... Andreas has a lot on his plate - EMail,
emulators, co-processors, videogames.
* ExtenDOS ........................... Running a CD-ROM from your Atari is
child's play with this new software
reviewed by Randy Hoekstra.
* "From a Saved Backup" ....................... This time up, planning and
running user group demos.
* Legends of Valour .................. Andreas RPGs into yet another world.
* Of Lasers and Men ....................... Tim Wilson says "wait" to this
Falcon only Wolf 3D clone.
* The Unabashed Atariophile ................. Michael Burkley lists new PD
and Shareware files for
_your_ Atari computer.
* GEnie News ........................... New files & happenings on Atari's
Official Online Resource.
* Developing News ....................... Texas Atari Festival
Connecticut Atarifest '94 News
Atari's Summer Lynx Games Deal
chro_MAGIC's MultiSync Gizmo
Fractal Frenzy CD
Towers 1.4
DMJ's View 2.5 Planned Additions
* Shutdown ............................ Around the world and up your block.
--==--==--==--==--
||| From the Editors ....... Atari Explorer Online: The Next Generation
||| Travis Guy
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.MAG Delphi: AEO_MAG Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Time for another look at events in the World Atari!
First up, there is no Bob Brodie Dateline: Atari RTC in this issue.
Bob is midway through his first vacation in a few years. He should be
back, well and rested, and raring to go next month!
So what's new? Tal spent a few days tracking down a few Jaguar
developers and quizzing them on their work. (Well, I helped too....)
News-hungry Jaguar owners have a few bones to chew on - some details
on the Sigma Designs Jaguar card; Atari's "adopting" Wavefront's
Gameware graphics and animation software as "tools of choice"; hints
of future Jaguars...
As an aside, I've been asked to pass along the news that after having
"lost" a few EMail orders for Tempest 2000 in already cluttered
EMailboxes, Atari Customer Service has instituted two new EMail
addresses for orders only. You can find them in the Lynx Summer Games
Sale offer in this issue. (Do you like Lynx? If so, you've got to
check it out - there's a tremendous sale going on!)
Which reminds me, just before Bob left on vacation, he used his
magical powers (Honest! He has them!) and created a group EMail
address for the entire AEO staff on GEnie. Mail sent to AEO$
<aeo$@genie.geis.com> will be read by all of us. So if you've ever
wanted to ask a question, offer a compliment or criticism, but didn't
know to whom you should address, fire your EMail there.
Atari computer users, you wanted more computer news in AEO, and for
the second straight issue, we deliver! Boris Molodyi has turned in an
in-depth review of That's Write 3, and an impressive package it is.
Andreas and Tim have other things on their minds, and have reviews of
Legends of Valour and Of Lasers and Men. Postponed from last issue is
Randy Hoekstra's review of ExtenDOS - CD-ROM driver software that
delivers Atari "plug-and-play" ease for a growing base of CD software.
Of course we have the usual columns and features. It wouldn't -be-
AEO without them, would it?
At the moment, it looks as if I may have some personal matters
interfering with the next issue of AEO. What? Something more
important than devotion to Atari machines!? Well, there may be. If I
have to postpone the next issue until the weekend of June 4th, I'll
drop a note in all of my usual distribution areas, but don't worry, if
any important news arises, there'll be AEO News! bulletins to keep you
informed.
In any event, rest up yourself and have a wonderful May! There's
going to be Fuji Fireworks a'plenty at Summer CES in June!
--==--==--==--==--
||| Digital Briefs - Industry News
||| By: Albert Dayes
/ | \ CIS: 70007,3615 GEnie: AEO.1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari News
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
ATARI and SIGMA DESIGNS PARTNER to DELIVER JAGUAR for the PC
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 3, 1994 - Atari Corporation (AMEX: ATC)
today announced that it has exclusively licensed Jaguar technology
to Sigma Designs (NASDAQ:SIGM) to deliver PC cards incorporating
the award-winning Jaguar 64-bit technology with Sigma's
Reel-Magic(TM) full-motion video capabilities. This deal will
expand Jaguar's market reach by allowing more than 10 million users
to play Jaguar software titles on their IBM-compatible personal
computers by year's end.
"Atari will once again jump ahead of the market by bringing the
world's most advanced game technology to a new group of consumers
in record time," said Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. "Knowing
there would be great demand for Jaguar on personal computers
- we designed the system to talk easily to the leading computer
architectures. This has allowed us to move quickly to partner with
Sigma Designs to make this happen before Christmas."
"We are pleased to join Atari in its mission to expand the industry
standards for video game play," said Julien Nguyen, vice president
of engineering and chief technical officer of Sigma Designs.
"Jaguar's 64-bit technology will be extremely attractive to the
MPC customer base of more than 10 million users. By combining
Sigma's Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) technology with Atari's
3D animation, we look forward to bringing the hottest video game
technology and software titles to the desktops of users worldwide."
Sigma Designs, headquartered in Fremont, Calif., is a leading
manufacturer of high-performance multimedia computer products and
document imaging display solutions. With the the release of its
ReelMagic MPEG controller in October 1993, Sigma Designs redefined
affordable video playback for the PC. ReelMagic allows users to
experience a new generation of realistic entertainment, education,
training, and business presentation software titles with full-screen,
full-motion video and CD-quality sound. All Sigma Designs products
are sold worldwide through a network of dealers, distributors and
system integrators.
Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home
entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured
in the United States. Jaguar, the most powerful multimedia system
available, was recently named the industry's "Best New Game System"
(Video Games Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer)
and "1993 Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan).
Jaguar also recently was given the European Computer Trade Show
Award for "Best Hardware of the Year."
Atari Corporation, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., manufactures and
markets 64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems, video
games and personal computers for the home, office and educational
marketplaces.
ATARI SELECTS WAVEFRONT'S GAMEWARE AS WORLDWIDE GAME DEVELOPMENT
SOFTWARE FOR JAGUAR SYSTEMS
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., - April 25, 1994 - Wavefront Technologies, Inc.
and Atari Corporation have announced a worldwide agreement making
Wavefront's GameWare the exclusive game graphics and animation
development software for the Atari Jaguar system. The GameWare family
is a comprehensive set of 2D and 3D tools that incorporate a wide
range of capabilities specifically geared towards game authoring and
development needs.
Under the terms of the agreement, Atari will itself use GameWare for
internal content creation and will advise third-party developers to
use GameWare as the image and geometry authoring tool for the new
64-bit Jaguar game system. Wavefront in turn will provide special
pricing to Atari Authorized Developers wishing to purchase GameWare
licenses.
"Jaguar's performance and the realism delivered by GameWare provide
our developers with a significant advantage in maximizing the
capabilities and potential of our 64-bit design," said Bill Rehbock,
vice president of Software Business Development for Atari. "Visual
realism is central to Jaguar's capabilities and it has the rendering
speed and throughput to drive realistic character animation at a price
point that is viable for the home market."
"Based on our extensive evaluation, Wavefront's state-of-the art game
authoring tools are the best software for our developers to really
demonstrate the Jaguar's capabilities. Wavefront's easy-to-use 3D
animation and modeling tools will help artists focus on creative,
show-and-tell story elements instead of the mechanics needed to
implement special effects."
"The Atari Jaguar represents the first of the next generation game
consoles that will revolutionize the industry with its real-time 3D
graphics capabilities," said Bruce Sinclair, electronic games
marketing manager for Wavefront. "Atari's selection of GameWare as its
exclusive authoring tool will showcase our product with the industry's
leading developers in creating some of the most visually stunning
games to date."
GameWare is Wavefront's graphics software package tailored to meet the
specific needs of entertainment content developers. GameWare runs on
Silicon Graphics workstations and provides the graphics tools needed
to create games containing realistic 3D objects and terrain, 3D
synthetic actors with realistic motion and stunning special effects.
GameWare can generate images and geometry suitable for any game
platform. An open architecture allows developers to integrate their
existing software tools with GameWare. Hyper Plug-ins available from
Wavefront allow enhanced functionality, including GameWare Composer
for 2D special effects and color reduction, and GameWare Dynamation
for creating special effects such as explosions, fire, smoke and
collisions.
Since its introduction at the Consumer Electronics Show in January
'94, GameWare has quickly been recognized as the graphics tool of
choice among leading-edge game developers. Atari joins the rapidly
growing list of gaming companies using Wavefront software including:
Acclaim, Accolade, Arc Development, Argonaut Software, CAPCOM, Core
Design, Electronic Arts The Learning Company, Midway Manufacturing,
NAMCO, Ocean Software, SEGA, SNK, Spectrum Holobyte, Taito, Tiertex,
US Gold, and Williams Entertainment.
Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home
entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured in
the United States. Jaguar was recently named the industry's industry's
"Best New Game System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New Hardware
System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game
Informer) and "1993 Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard
GameFan).
Wavefront Technologies, Inc., founded in 1984, develops, markets and
supports a complete line of workstation-based three-dimensional and
two-dimensional computer graphics imaging and animation software
products for professional users in the entertainment and industrial
markets. The Company's entertainment customers use the software to
create images and special effects for movies, television programming,
advertising and electronic games. The Company's industrial customers
use the software to create images for enhancing and marketing
products, visualization of design appearance and function,
presentation of complex project concepts and illustration of
engineering and scientific phenomena that would otherwise be difficult
to understand.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Computer Business
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// CBM Closes its Doors - Commodore International Ltd., the computer
""""""""""""""""""""""""" manufacturer that provided many with
their first computers, is going out of business. The computing
pioneer that sold many PET, Vic-20, C-64 and Amiga computers is
finally closing its doors.
Commodore said, "This is the initial phase of an orderly voluntary
liquidation of both companies." The company reported a loss of $8.2
million for the previous quarter
//// Multimedia Newscasts - Intel Corp. and Cable News Network
""""""""""""""""""""""""" announced they have entered into an
alliance to test live multimedia news services on business PCs.
Beginning in May at a variety of test sites, business PCs on local
area networks (LANs) will display the programming of CNN, the
comprehensive breaking news, business and information network, and
Headline News, with its concise, fast-paced, half-hour format.
To date, video applications have been too bandwidth-intensive for
deployment on LANs. Intel's multicast video technology allows a
single stream of video packets to be received by multiple stations via
existing network wiring, conserving LAN bandwidth. A channel of
specially compressed Indeo video can be delivered using less than five
percent of the bandwidth of today's LANs.
//// Pure Water - A microscopic mineral speck suspended in water is a
""""""""""""""" floating boulder to a submicron semiconductor chip.
So chip manufacturers looking to stay competitive by decreasing
product defects are taking a close look at their water.
"To produce defect-free semiconductors, there is a growing need to
maximize control over everything in the manufacturing process -
including the ultra-high-purity water used for wafer rinsing and
cleaning," said Michael Reardon, chief operating officer (COO) of
United States Filter Corp.
//// FRAM Memory - Hitachi and the US seminconductor company Ramtron
"""""""""""""""" International Corp. have established an agreement
to jointly develop high-density "FRAM(R)" memory, a semiconductor
product Hitachi says could be the "ultimate memory."
The long-term agreement calls for the development, production and
sale of high-density FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory)
products by Hitachi and Ramtron. The sale of these products could
grow to more than $600 million per year by 1998.
High-density FRAM products will be used to replace DRAM, SRAM and
FLASH memories. FRAM memories combine the high-speed of DRAM (Dynamic
Random Access Memory) and SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) with the
non-volatility of (ROM) Read Only Memory - features that at present
are not available in any single semiconductor memory device. The
resulting products from the joint development will be used in many
current applications as well as a range of new applications created by
the rapid shift to down-sized, portable electronic devices such as
multimedia systems, communication products and other rapidly growing
portable-application areas.
//// The Math Factor - In 1977, Scientific American magazine offered
"""""""""""""""""""" a $100 prize to anyone who could find the
factors of a 129-digit number. The prize was recently awarded to
students at MIT and Iowa State University and to an Oxford University
professor/Bellcore scientist.
The significance of the "crackers" project is to determine the safety
of encrypted data using approximately 120 digit keys. RSA is one company
that uses the same idea for its encryption technologies. Most of RSA's
keys are close to 200 digits. Currently RSA technology is used by many
different industries including telecommunications, defense and banking.
Over 600 people got together via Internet to work on a solution to the
129 digit problem. The solution was one factor with 65 digits and
the other with 64. With over 1500 computers working for a total of 8
months the problem was finally solved. All types of computers were
used in the effort including PCs and supercomputers.
"This is how a person would feel if they had 129 locks on the door
that were only breakable if the world's great locksmiths had to work
together for eight months," said James Bidzos, president of RSA Data
Security. "You'd probably feel pretty good about that."
//// Motorola's Celligrams? - Motorola's Cellular Infrastructure
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Group announced that it will develop an
open network protocol that will allow more rapid introduction of new
and enhanced messaging services for cellular phone users.
Fax notification and custom text messages are among the new,
industry-leading cellular services scheduled for availability in the
third quarter of 1994. In the future, Centigram will also be
providing E-mail notification, text-to-speech conversion and access to
information services.
//// Computer Science Takes NASA - Computer Sciences Corp. announced
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" it has been selected by NASA for a
$1 billion-plus contract to provide computer services at the Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Computer Sciences beat out
incumbent Boeing Co.'s computer services operation, and Harris Corp.
for the 8 year deal and will take over the contract immediately.
//// Kodak Focuses on Imaging - Eastman Kodak Company revealed a new
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" corporate strategy that will focus
the company's resources and management attention exclusively on its
imaging businesses, and wipe out its holdings in certain other areas.
"Imaging offers Kodak tremendous opportunities for long-term success
and growth. It is the business Kodak knows best, built on over a
century of brand strength, marketing know-how, and technological
leadership," said George M. C. Fisher, Kodak's Chairman, President,
and CEO. "To achieve maximum success, we have concluded that we must
commit our entire resource base to imaging opportunities and divest
non-core businesses."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Video Games / MMedia
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Game Over - Electronic Arts and Broderbund Software called off
"""""""""""""" their proposed merger. The main reason was
differences of opinion over the final price. In addition the stock
values have dropped which greatly affected the all stock transaction.
//// Nintendo Does DMA - Nintendo announced that the highly acclaimed
"""""""""""""""""""""" video game developer DMA Design Ltd. of
Dundee, Scotland, is the latest company developing games for
Nintendo's 64-bit Project Reality home video game system, now being
developed for Nintendo by Silicon Graphics Inc.
DMA, creator of the classic series of "LEMMINGS" video games, will
dedicate its company's resources to support the launch and early
development of Project Reality, what Nintendo claims to be the
world's most advanced home video game system. It will debut in the
fall of 1995 at a suggested retail price of less than $250.
//// A True Pitfall - Activision has announced that it has hired
""""""""""""""""""" Kroyer Films Inc. and Soundelux Media Labs to
participate in the production of "Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure," an
all new interactive game based on the hit video game series of the
1980's, "Pitfall Harry." The game is being developed for the Sega
Genesis and Super NES platforms and will eventually be introduced for
various CD-ROM based platforms including Sony's new PSX multimedia
system.
//// Dial "0" for Startup - Telecommunications giant Bell Atlantic
""""""""""""""""""""""""" and The Interpublic Group of Companies
Inc., joined forces with InterActive Partners to fund and build
start-up companies in the interactive television and multimedia arena.
Interactive Partners is headed by Robert M. Fell, a well-known
entertainment communications investor and entrepreneur, and David S.
Morse, a technology leader who founded and developed the core
technology for Amiga Computer as well as the technology for The 3DO
Company's Interactive Multiplayer.
Fell and Morse were both founding directors of Crystal Dynamics, a
prominent game software company which serves as the prototype for
future InterActive Partners companies.
This powerful coalition provides strategic relationships and direct
funding for the companies emerging in home shopping, electronic
games, education, children's entertainment, gaming, location-based
entertainment and other areas. Initial portfolio companies include
VideoStream, The New Children's Studio and Silicon Gaming.
//// Time Warner's Title Wave - Time Warner Interactive has set up a
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" multi-title deal with Tsunami Media
to publish and distribute a number of its PC CD-ROM entertainment
titles.
The deal includes taking over distribution of six previously released
titles and publishing Tsunami's latest science fiction adventure game,
Return to Ringworld, which will be available this summer.
"What makes Tsunami unusual," said Craig Moody, executive vice
president, Time Warner Interactive, "is that their products combine
intelligent user-sensitive simulations and leading-edge interactive
video which puts a brand-new spin on the traditional
exploration/adventure game genre."
//// Sega Lion to Us? - Sega and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. agreed to a
""""""""""""""""""""" precedent-setting deal to jointly create a
line-up of interactive media titles, television programs and motion
picture titles, as part of a multi-year, multi-title effort.
The non-exclusive deal calls for MGM and Sega to invest an undisclosed
sum in the effort. Beyond that investment, the deal calls for both
parties to collaborate in the development, production and marketing of
media products. Products resulting from the deal will bear both the
MGM and Sega names. Although product to be developed will be new and
original concepts, Sega and MGM also may choose to develop interactive
games based on forthcoming 1995 and 1996 movie releases from both MGM
Pictures and the United Artists Pictures units of MGM.
//// A Princely Game - The singer Prince, who recently changed his
"""""""""""""""""""" name to a unique symbol not found in normal
ASCII, has been involved in a new game bearing his name. Graphiz Zone
the producer of the game for Sigma Design's Reelmagic board for the PC
said the name of the game will be Prince Interactive. The game will
have music written specifically for the CD-ROM in addition other songs
and videos written in the past. The product should ship around Summer
1994.
//// Catwoman Never? - Warner Bros. and Acclaim announced the two
"""""""""""""""""""" companies have entered into a pact whereby
Batman Forever, the highly anticipated blockbuster Warner Bros. movie
starring Michael Keaton, will lead Acclaim's recently announced 1995
entry into the coin-op arcade market. In addition, Batman Forever will
headline several Acclaim interactive entertainment software titles for
leading home video game cartridge and CD-ROM systems, including those
produced by Sega and Nintendo.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Rare Gems
||| Compiled by: David A. Wright
/ | \ Internet:dave.wright@magic.org
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for April 17 to 23,
1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and
David Alan Wright. Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's
rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed
freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such
as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be
distributed without further authorization. This space intentionally
left filled. --:Dave
===
The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late,
is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer
because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you
in proportion to your fear of being hurt. --Thomas Merton
The universe is made up of stories, not atoms. --Muriel Rukeyser
People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy. --Bob Hope
A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to
us. To live is to be slowly born. --Antoine de Saint-Exupery
It is remarkable how often our complaints reflect our own
shortcomings. --Dick Overton
To Gary Hill, who I promised to remember in my will, I want to say,
"Hi, Gary." --Lewis Grizzard's will
Well, Red Cloud, it just so happens I -did- ask the chief!... A
bear claw necklace is a symbol of honor - a Grizzly Adams
fingernail necklace is not! --Indian, "The Far Side" cartoon by
Gary Larson
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for April 24 to 30,
1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and
David Alan Wright. Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's
rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed
freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such
as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be
distributed without further authorization. Smoke-free zone. Put it
out, or it'll put you out. --:Dave
===
If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kickboxing.
--Unknown
"Instinct" is just a fancy word that means, "We don't know why the
hell they do that." --Unknown
No one can do me any good by loving me; I have more love than I
need or could do any good with; but people do me good by making me
love them - which isn't easy. --John Ruskin
"Hee Hoo keeps his head while all about him are losing theirs..."
"Is getting paid to operate the guillotine." --"B.C." strip by
Johnny Hart
Call me insane one more time, and I'll eat your other eye. --Unknown
A key ring is a handy little gadget that allows you to lose all
your keys at once. --Unknown
I know that parenthood is an institution, but I'm not ready to be
institutionalized. --Dixie Cousins, "Brisco County" show
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for May 1 to 7, 1994.
"Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan
Wright. (Internet: DAVE.WRIGHT@MAGIC.ORG) Compilation copyright 1994
by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly
collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is
retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic,
and other publications, may not be distributed without further
authorization. Not sanitized for your moral protection. --:Dave
===
You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife?
--Benjamin Franklin
It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a
disease than what sort of a disease a patient has. --William Osler
Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.
--Ronald Reagan
There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the
streets? --Dick Cavett
If thee marries for money, thee surely will earn it. --Ezra Bowen
Grad school - It's not just a job, it's an indenture. --Unknown
If life is like a highway, then the soul is just a car, and objects
in the rear-view mirror may appear closer than they are. --Meatloaf
--==--==--==--==--
||| Jaguar Tackboard
||| Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar
/ | \ Compiled from online and official sources
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Independent Association of Jaguar Developers
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The IAJD (Independent Association of Jaguar Developers) is accepting
members on GEnie. The IAJD is a private group where confidential
discussions can be freely held. (Category 64 of the ST RoundTable is
the IAJD meeting place.) Consequently, membership in the IAJD is
limited to Jaguar developers who are registered with Atari Corp. To
apply for membership, send EMail to ENTRY$ on GEnie (or
<entry$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie). Regular EMail
correspondence with the IAJD should be sent to IAJD$ (again, or
<iajd$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Developer / Game List 1.10
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Editor: The following developers, licensees and game titles have
been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of May 9, 1994. Entries
in the "S"tatus column reflects any "e"rrors, "u"pdates, "n"ew titles,
or new "d"evelopers since the last AEO list. Titles in brackets (e.g.
[Cybermorph]) have been completed and are available in the US.
1-10 Titles
S Developer/Licensee Rating under development
" """""""""""""""""" """""" """""""""""""""""
21st Century Software - Pinball Fantasies
3D Games - Rainbow Warrior
- MORE
Accent Media Productions - Varuna's Forces CD-ROM
Accolade - Al Michaels Announces Hardball
- Brett Hull Hockey
- Charles Barkley Basketball
- Jack Nicholas Golf
Activision - Return to Zork CD-ROM
All Systems Go - Hosenose and Booger CD-ROM
- Jukebox (cart multiplexer)
e - B.I.O.S.fear CD-ROM
American Laser Games - Mad Dog McCree
Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off 3 (for Imagineer)
- World Cup
Anthill Industries
Argonaut Software - Creature Shock CD-ROM
(For Virgin)
Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000
- Chaos Agenda CD-ROM
- Club Drive
5 [Crescent Galaxy]
- MPEG 1 and 2 carts
- Star Raiders 2000
- Tiny Toons Adventures
- VR Helmet
MORE
Atari Games Corp. - Arcade Games Using Jaguar
Attention to Detail - Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2 CD-ROM
- Blue Lightning CD-ROM
7 [Cybermorph]
(For Atari)
Audio-Visual Magic
Bethesda Softworks
Beyond Games Inc. - Battlewheels
- Ultra Vortex
Black Scorpion Software
Bjorn Joos/Kris Van Lier
Borta & Associates
Brainstorm - [x86 Jaguar Development System]
Bullfrog Productions Ltd. - Syndicate
- Theme Park
(For Ocean)
Clearwater Software
Computer Music Consulting
Cybervision
CyberWare
Delta Music Systems Inc.
Dimension Technologies
Domark Group Ltd. - F1 Racer
DTMC - Lester the Unlikely
- Mountain Sports
- (Miniature Golf)
Eclipse - Iron Soldier
Elite
E-On
Eurosoft
EZ Score Software Inc.
GameTek Inc.
Genus Microprogramming Inc.
Gremlin Graphics Ltd. - Zool 2
- UNKNOWN TITLE (racing) - MORE?
H2O Design Corp.
Hand Made Software - Kasumi Ninja (For Atari)
u High Voltage Software - White Men Can't Jump (for Trimark)
Hisoft
ICD Inc. - Cat Box (AV & comm expansion box)
id Software - Doom: Evil Unleashed
- Wolfenstein 3D
Imagineer Company Ltd.
Imagitec Design Inc. 6 [Evolution Dino-Dudes]
6 [Raiden]
- Freelancer 2120 CD-ROM
- Busby in Clawed Encounters
of the Furried Kind (For Accolade)
n - Dino Dudes 2
Interplay - BattleChess CD-ROM - MORE?
Jaleco - Cisco Heat
- Bases Loaded
- MORE CD-ROM
Krisalis Software Ltd. - Soccer Kid
Limelight Media Inc.
LlamaSoft 10 [Tempest 2000] (For Atari)
- MORE MINTER!
Loricel S.A.
Manley & Associates Inc.
Maxis Software
Microids - Evidence
- Commando
Microprose - Gunship 2000
- MORE SIMULATIONS
Midnite Software Inc. - Car Wars
- Dungeon Depths
MORE
Millenium Interactive Ltd.
NMS Software Ltd.
Ocean Software Ltd. - (Movie title "The Shadow") CD-ROM
- Apes---
- (Comic title "LOBO") CD-ROM
Phalanx - Phong 2000
Photosurrealism - Galactic Gladiators
u Pixel Satori
(was Duncan Brown)
u PIXIS Interactive - Unnamed graphic adventure
Rage Software UK
ReadySoft Incorporated - Dragon's Lair CD-ROM
- Dragon's Lair II CD-ROM
- Space Ace CD-ROM
Rebellion Software Ltd. - Alien vs. Predator
- Checkered Flag II
- Legions of the Undead
(For Atari)
n - Hammerhead
Rest Energy
Sculptured Software Inc.
d Sigma Designs - "Jaguar on a PC" PC card
Silmarils - Robinson's Requiem CD-ROM
d Sinister Developments
Software Creations
Team Infinity
Team 17 Software Ltd.
Tecnation Digital World
Techtonics
Telegames - Brutal Sports Football
- Casino Royale
- European Soccer Challenge
- Ultimate Brain Games - MORE?
- Double Dragon 5 (For Tradewest)
- Super Off-Road (For Tradewest)
Teque London Ltd.
Thrustmaster
Tiertex Ltd. - Flashback (for U.S. Gold)
Titus
Tradewest - Troy Aikman Football
n - The Shadow Falls
Trimark Interactive -
U.S. Gold Ltd.
n UBI Soft International - RayMan
u - MORE (American Football)
V-Reel Productions - Arena Football
- Horrorscope
Virgin Interactive
Entertainment Ltd. - Dragon
- Demolition Man
Virtual Xperience - Indiana Jags
- Zozziorx - MORE?
Visual Concepts
Williams Brothers
WMS Industries
Zeppelin Games - Center Court Tennis
Pts Stars AEO Ratings
""" """"" """""""""""
10 ***** GAMING NIRVANA!!! - You have left reality behind... for good.
9 ****+ Unbelieveable GAME!! - Your family notices you're often absent.
8 **** Fantastic Game!! - You can't get enough playtime in on this.
7 ***+ Great Game! - Something to show off to friends or 3DOers.
6 *** Good game - You find yourself playing this from time to time.
5 **+ Ho-hum - If there's nothing else to do, you play this.
4 ** Waste of time - Better to play this than play in traffic.
3 *+ Sucks - Playing in traffic sounds like more fun.
2 * Sucks Badly - You'd rather face an IRS audit than play this.
1 + Forget it - ... but you can't; it's so badly done, it haunts you.
0 - Burn it - Disallow programmer from ever writing games again.
--==--==--==--==--
||| 64-bits (Jaguar news)
||| By: Tal Funke-Bilu
/ | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.5
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Jaguar Fans!
Well, it's been a busy two weeks for the Junkie, but I don't have as
much information as I would have liked. It seems I've ended up with a
little bit of news from a lot of developers, rather than a lot of news
from a few developers.
//// Future Jaguar Developments in EE Times
Electronic Engineering Times did a front page story in their May 2nd
issue on technical advances in the video game and computer game
arenas. Basically, there are moves to merge the two! Leaving the big
Atari/Sigma announcement until the next section, EE Times quotes
Atari officials as saying that internal design of the second
generation Jaguar (which could be software compatible!) will be
complete this Fall. The new chip will contain the equivilant of 1.25
million transistors, compared to the 750,000 count in the current
Jaguar chipset. A 10-fold increase in polygon performance is
anticipated.
Also spoken of was that Atari has joined other companies in designing
a cable-TV set-top box - based on Jaguar technology.
//// Sigma anounces JagPC - Jaguar on a PC card!
The big news on the video game front is the announcement from Atari
Corp. and Sigma Designs on the development on the rumored PC Jag
card. Yep, it's true, Sigma Designs announced that they plan to have
the card available to the public by the end of the year for "under
$500." At the moment, details are a bit sketchy, and rumors are
flying all over the Internet in every newsgroup from Atari to 3DO to
Sega to Nintendo. Not only is Atari leading the pack with the most
advanced video game system available, but now they are making it
available to an installed user base of over 10,000,000 users. As for
now, here are the facts as we know them:
[] The JagPC will enable PC users with a MPC2 compatible machine (and
the JagPC of course) to play JagCD games in a window on their PC.
[] PC users will not need to buy a special Jaguar CD-ROM drive as the
card will utilize the (double-speed) CD drive in the PC.
[] The card will NOT play Jaguar cartridges.
[] The JagPC will play the SAME Compact Discs that will play in
Atari's upcoming Jaguar CD-ROM drive. (i.e. you will be able to
pop a disc out of your Jaguar CD-ROM drive and run -the- -same-
-physical- -disc- on the JagPC.)
[] The JagPC will use an ISA bus slot.
(There is currently no name for the product. We are calling it
"JagPC" for lack of a better name!)
As far as we can tell, there are no current plans by Atari Corp. to
establish similar cards or devices for other computing platforms.
The JagPC itself is not only a "Jag-on-a-card." In addition to
allowing Jaguar CD compatibility, the card will also benefit the PC
user by acting as a ReelMagic MPEG card in its spare time. That's
right, it will be a ReelMagic/JagCard in one. Although it has not been
confirmed, it is likely that the ReelMagic's MPEG abilities will
utilized by the JagPC card, thus eliminating the need for a PC user to
have some type of MPEG Cartridge needed by owners of a "regular"
Jag+CD. With ReelMagic cards retailing for around $400, this is
definately exciting news indeed!
This also opens the door for PC software developers who previously
might not have considered porting their software over to the Jaguar.
The current ReelMagic card allows PC users to display MPEG compressed
video on a PC with over 32,000 colors in a resolution up to 1024x768
with no slow down at 30fps. It also allows for the playback of Video
CDs which are just starting to trickle into the market. Currently,
some of the more noteable ReelMagic developers are:
Activision, Sierra On-Line, ReadySoft, Aris Entertainment,
Trilobyte, Interplay, Access Software Inc., Virgin Games,
Compton's New Media, and Psychnosis.
//// Developer News
[] UBI Soft are not working on Jimmy Connor's Tennis, intstead they
are focusing their efforts on a futuristic adventure game entitled
RayMan. They are also trying to obtain licenses from either the NFL
or the NFL Player's Assoiciation for an upcoming American Football
title. Both are said to be "coming along quite nicely now" and they
plan to display them at the SCES.
[] Virgin's two main projects are a fighting game called Dragon,
alongside with Demolition Man, based on the hit movie of the same
name.
[] Pixis International told AEO that they were going to stay away from
"adult" titles with their first batch of Jag releases. They plan on
releasing an unnamed graphic adventure game for the whole family by
year's end or 1Qtr '95.
[] Imagineer reported that KickOff 3 "development is taking place on
schedule." EPROMs of this great soccer game have been reported in the
Atari HQ, but the latest reports show a reworking of the code to
correct a bug. Look for this one towards Fall.
[] Tradewest has their arms full with a batch of great titles.
Currently they are working on Double Dragon 5, The Shadow Falls (a
tournament fighting game with approx. 12 levels), and Troy Aikman
Football. All are progressing nicely and should be shown at the SCES.
[] Amid rumors of CD-Dev kits and what not, ReadySoft has confirmed
that they are well into development on Dragon's Lair CD for the Jag.
They are very pleased with the Jag's hardware.
[] Activision are looking at the Jaguar's sales performance to
determine whether they will be bringing their new Pitfall to the Jag.
A "far in the future" candidate for the Jag might be River Raid, but
that would depend on whether Activision decides to revive it.
(Personally, they told AEO that they feel the Jaguar would be a
success, and that it would be a great platform to do a new River Raid
on!)
[] DTMC has also confirmed that a Christmas release is likely for
Lester the Unlikely.
[] Jeff Minter has told AEO that his VLM is coming along great. "It's
got a bunch of just wicked effects!" He hopes to collaborate with
Atari in an effort to finalize the coding and include it in the JagCD
within the next month. Look for the "missing Minter files" to
resurface when Jeff makes it over to the states. AEO might also be
able to score on a RealTime Conference with Jeff on GEnie, but I'm not
making any promises.
[] Lots, lots, lots more developers are doing things with Jaguar that
will make heads SPIN! Announcements, as they always say, are coming
soon.
//// Sum... Summ... Summertime!
In a related note, AEO is currently pursuing efforts to obtain a badge
to the SCES. In the event that we are able to attend, we will be
putting together a comprehensive two hour VHS video of the entire 3
days. This will be a professional production that you wont want to
miss. (It will be packed with the works. Screenshots, gameplay,
interviews, what's up behind enemy lines (read 3DO), etc.) Also, look
for the Junkie to supply you with a special "ALL JAGUAR" issue of the
latest Atari (and related) news of the SCES within a week of its
completion. Keep in mind that this will only be possible if we can
gain access. AEO would like your feedback as to what you the reader
would like covered in the video and special issue. Please send all
questions, comments, etc. to Travis <aeo.mag@genie.geis.com> and to me
<explorer.5@genie.geis.com>.
That looks like it will do for this issue. I was planning on including
a bit more, but I just found out I have to take off to L.A. No Jag
for 3 days... uh oh.... BTW: 3,150,000 still the score to beat on T2K.
--==--==--==--==--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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-- --
-- 1. Set your communications software for half duplex (local echo) --
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-- 2. Dial toll free: 1-800-638-8369 (or in Canada, 1-800-387-8330). --
-- Upon connection, enter HHH. --
-- --
-- 3. At the U# prompt, enter XTX99436,GENIE then press <Return>. --
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-- 4. Have a major credit card ready. In the U.S., you may also use --
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
||| "proTOS" Report
||| By: Thomas Schmidt
/ | \ Internet: schmidts@minnie.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulm, Germany, April 22th - 24th
As it is known, the largest ATARI-Fair, the "ATARI Messe" in
Dusseldorf, Germany, has ceased to exist. Instead, several German
traders have organized three smaller fairs in all corners of the
country. The first one was the "proTOS" fair, in Ulm in the south.
The second one, "CSA Falcon Competence Party", will take place on April
29th and 30th in Gelsenkirchen in the west; the third, "FEZ-A-BIT",
in Berlin on the 7th and 8th of May. (Yes, they will all have taken
place by the time you read this, but not yet for me!)
In Ulm, most of the exhibitors were traders and from the overall
impression it seemed that their happy mood either derived from the
sunshine outside or the good sales performance. Although there were
many visitors on Sunday, it seemed that Saturday even saw a higher
number.
On the hardware side, only a few prototypes were shown. Overscan and
Compo showed applications on two Medusa T40 68040 TOS-computers, but
could only promise to show the Afterburner 040 for the Falcon at the
"FEZ-A-BIT". The price was said to be around DM 1500 (about $900).
The offered version of the Medusa T40 for DM 7999 (about $4700)
included 8MB FastRAM, ET4000 graphics, and a 270 MB harddisk, all in a
towercase.
MW Elektronik showed the PAK68/3 accellerator board for ST and Mega
ST, it was reported that the processor speed (a 68030) can be
increased to over 50 MHz!
They also had a prototype of a VGA-graphic card adapter for the PAK and
promised to finish the work on the FastRAM option soon.
Even if you want to dismiss your ATARI for a "compatible" computer,
You need not neccessarily throw away all your TOS programs! VHF
Computer GmbH showed its "Janus" ST-board for PCs. It has a 16 MHz
68000 and sits in an ISA-slot. There are two SIMM-slots on the board,
so you can have up to 32 MB of RAM. Although the raw performance of
the processor is not higher than you would expect, the graphic
routines are processed by the host PC and therefore seem to exceed
even TT030 values. The shown board ran my game "Slartris" without
problems in a remarkable speed but apparently, there was a last minute
bug in one of the driver routines which made the PC speaker go
"beeeeep" forever everytime a text function was called.... As for the
price and release date, the card without TOS and RAM goes for DM 898
(~$530) and is said will be delivered around the end of May.
Heyer & Neumann GbR showed a prototype of their "Multiboard". This
allows you to increase the on-board memory of a Mega-ST (ST solutions
are under development) with an additional 8 MB RAM (SIMM modules). It
includes a slot for an ET4000 PC graphic card (which needs "ET4000
NVDI" by Behne & Behne) and an IDE HD-interface, also TOS 2.06-slots.
The additional RAM (the prototype ran in an Mega ST with 3 MB RAM) is
installed at the same addresses FastRAM is, but without the increased
speed. Therefore TOS 2.06 is needed to recognize this memory.
The price was announced to be about DEM 300 ($180) for the board;
delivery should start in June for the Mega ST version, the ST-version
not before July.
On the software-side, I like to mention two CD-ROMs with PD and
ShareWare mainly of German origin. They were compiled by Bernd Lohrum
(EMail: bernd_lohrum@clubbox.light.de) and offer many hundreds of
megabytes of programs and data, both in packed (for BBSs) and unpacked
versions, the newer one dated the 13th of April.
About the author:
I'm a 22-year German student of computer science at the University of
Stuttgart. Now I'm in the fourth semester, that's just about six left
to go!-)
My first connection with computers was a VCS 2600 back in '82, and I
stayed with ATARI all the following years. First with an 800XL, and
since '87 I have an 260ST, now with 2.5 MB RAM and a PAK68/3
accellarator. I started with BASIC and assembler on the XL; BASIC,
Assembler and C on the ST. I just had the "pleasure" to learn
HP-9000-RISC-Assembler at the University.
The only program I've "sold" so far (unintentionally that is) is
"Slartris". It was published on a PD-disk for the German "ST Magazin",
which ceased to exist shortly thereafter (No connection, afaIk).
--==--==--==--==--
||| That's Write 3.1g Review
||| By: Boris Molodyi
/ | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.6 CIS: 70322,624
------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: by now, That's Write is up to version 3.1h that fixes a bug
when in some circumstances, if "Dialogs in Windows" option was
selected, the text cursor might become invisible.
First of all, I want to say what That's Write 3 is and what it is not.
That's Write 3 is an advanced word processor with many powerful
features. However, it is not a heavily graphic-oriented program. If
you are looking for a word processor that will let you create
leaflets, flyers and generally do small-scale DTP, That's Write 3 is
not the answer. However, for writing letters, creating invoices
(self-calculating, if you want them to), academic theses; for writing
The Great American Novel, or for general text manipulation, That's
Write 3 is probably the most capable program available in the US Atari
market.
That's Write 3 allows you to manipulate fonts, page elements and even
images easily, but it does not have the graphical power of a DTP
program. COMPO says (rightly, in my opinion) that if you want a
complex layout, you probably should invest in a full-blown DTP
program. That's Write 3 does not display multiple columns on screen
(even though it allows for them) and does not reformat paragraphs as
you type. Instead, it waits for you to stop typing (or issue a direct
command to reformat) before doing it. You can find it distracting in
the beginning, but other powerful features of That's Write 3 redeem
these shortcomings.
//// Installation
To begin with, the current version of That's Write 3 comes on 4 disks
(more if you also get the MultiFont package that gives you all 35
standard PostScript fonts). It has an easy to use, completely
GEM-based installation program. After being told where you want the
program to be installed and what kind of printer(s) you have, it
installs the program - together with appropriate font files (more on
TW's font handling later) and printer drivers. You can also choose to
install demo documents, accessory programs and TOS fixes. The
installation programs also can make backup copies of master disks for
you, and displays the READ.ME file when you load it.
To work with That's Write 3 you need at least 1 Meg of RAM, and a hard
drive is recommended. It is possible to work on a floppy-based system,
but I would not recommend it, either.
//// Interface
The first thing that meets the eye when you run That's Write 3
(provided that you have installed the noSystem interface driver) is
That's Write 3's interface. Having better graphics than ST High or
Medium certainly helps. (The more colors and pixels you have, the
better; That's Write 3 will work with Falcon or any graphic board that
has working VDI drivers.) The interface is very well thought out, and
features 3D-looking gadgets for windows and dialog boxes (which are
moveable and may be placed inside windows). Radio buttons, check
boxes, exit buttons, all have a distinctive 3D look and are
color-coded for easy reference. (The default exit button is green,
while the "Cancel" button is red, for example.) This user-adjustable
interface, which is provided through the AUTO folder program, may be
used in other programs. (Currently, the latest version of Musicom from
COMPO uses it.) Almost every dialog box also has a "Help" button that
brings up a short description of operations made in this dialog and
describes various options offered.
Apart from the fact that it is really very nice looking, TW's
interface is very easy to use. Clicking on the right mouse button when
inside the text window brings up a pop-up menu that lets you get help
on the keyboard shortcuts, conduct various operations on the current
text, go to a specific place in the text, or set a marker in the text.
You may have two additional windows active: "Status" and "Macro".
Status presents information about the current text, such as its saved
status, current font, name of the author, author's remarks, current
paragraph format and other things. Clicking on a field in this window
brings up a dialog or selector allowing you to change this
information. You can, of course, select what information is displayed
and how it is formatted.
The "Macro" window shows a list of all currently defined macros, their
keyboard equivalents, and their names. Clicking on the macro name
carries on operations defined in that macro, while right-clicking lets
you edit parameters, such as the shortcut (useful for expanding short
abbreviations into long sentences), description, etc. Display
parameters of the "Macro" window also may be set to your liking.
For those like to have a full range of keyboard shortcuts at their
disposal, That's Write 3 offers two possibilities: you can use Atari
standard keyboard equivalents (for the most part, the same as on Mac
and Windows systems; Ctrl-X for cut, for example), or you can use the
SysKey set of keyboard shortcuts that has a single key shortcuts for
more frequently used operations, while less-frequently used
operations use two key sequences. This approach allows for keyboard
equivalents to be assigned to every single menu operation in That's
Write 3. For example, quitting the program (something that you
probably do only once during the working session) is defined as
Ctrl-F,Q (Ctrl-F selects the "File" menu, while Q indicates the
"Quit" menu entry). This system works similarly to that found on PCs.
That's Write 3 allows you to control other aspects of the interface as
well. Besides being able to chose whether you want your dialogs placed
in windows and selecting the style of keyboard shortcuts you prefer,
you also can select whether the text cursor blinks or not, whether the
system file selector (or whichever alternative one you have installed)
or TW's own selector is used.
That's Write 3 supports up to 9 documents and open windows at once,
even if you do not have MultiTOS, Geneva or Mag!X installed, and it
has commands for arranging windows the way you want. TW also supports
MultiTOS' drag-n-drop protocol. Dragging a text file onto one of TW's
windows gives you the choice of either opening the new window for this
file, or of appending the file with the current text. Dragging an IMG
file to TW's window loads this image and displays it in the current
text.
Clicking on a window's "Closer" button presents a pop-up menu with
choices of closing the window (without removing the text from memory),
removing the text altogether, erasing everything in the window (if
the text have not been saved, you will be asked if you want to save
it), or quitting the program. As every other pop-up does, this one has
single-key keyboard equivalents.
Other interface extensions offered by That's Write 3 include
improvements in window manipulation. You can scroll and move
background windows, like in MultiTOS. In addition, That's Write 3 lets
you size the window from any corner, and select whether the window
should have horizontal or vertical scroll bars or none at all. When
you are sizing the window, the mouse pointer changes its shape,
pointing in the direction of the corner you're using to size the
window. Any dialog or alert box, even if they aren't placed inside
windows (which is useful if you are running a multitasking OS) may be
dragged around, either in its solid form, or as a transparent outline.
Almost all options and buttons in dialogs and alerts have keyboard
equivalents which are underlined for easy reference. The "UNDO" key is
always equivalent to pressing the "Cancel" button. Also, text editing
in dialog boxes is greatly improved over the standard handling. You
can use the mouse to place the cursor in any position of the edited
text. You can also use shift key, together with arrow keys, to quickly
move to the beginning or end of the text.
//// Font support
That's Write 3 is very strong in the area where most Atari word
processors, until recently, were rather weak; support for multiple,
scaleable fonts. That's Write 3 can use Speedo fonts, as well as
bitmapped GEM fonts, and a printer's built-in fonts. Speedo support
means that you have access to a large library of professional vector
fonts. Speedo fonts are hinted and kerned, and screen and printed
output is very good. Support for GEM bitmapped fonts means that all
those GDOS fonts that you might have collected in the past are not
obsolete. You can also use COMPO's C-Font utility to convert any
Calamus font into a bitmapped font. Finally, support for fonts
built-in into your printer means that even if you have a dot-matrix or
ink-jet printer you still can print your documents fast and yet be
able to use graphics and Speedo fonts.
Since That's Write 3 does not use the SpeedoGDOS itself, but rather
has its own Speedo font scaler built-in, you can enjoy TW's superior
font handling. It also means that you can mix printer's fonts,
bitmapped fonts, and Speedo fonts in the same document - even in the
same word. As a result, you can have the body text in your document
printed in your printer's resident font (or in a font you have
downloaded to your printer), which is very fast, while chapter
headings and alike are printed in a large, nice-looking Speedo font.
That's
Write 3's Font Parameters feature allows you to have real font
families. It means that when you select Italic from the style menu,
rather than getting a slanted version of the font you were working
with (as would be the case in SpeedoGDOS-based program like Atari
Works), you get the real Italic font. (The same goes for Bold, and
Bold Italic typefaces of the family.) Another benefit of this system
is that it allows for separate Bold or Bold Italic fonts to be defined
even for bitmapped GEM fonts. While Bold bitmapped fonts aren't very
popular, you are nevertheless able to define a font file that serves
as a Bold (and a Bold Italic) face of the bitmapped family. If you are
using C-Font or similar utility to convert vector fonts to bitmappaed
format, TW allows you to use Bold and Bold Italic versions of the
original font to create bitmapped fonts which will be used when you
select the appropriate style.
Also, That's Write 3 allows you to have many weights of the font in
the same family. While such weights as "Light", "Ultrabold" or "Black
Condensed" are not standard text styles and therefore can not be
chosen from a style menu, they are available within the same family.
Once you have selected the family (for example, Swiss), you can easily
select the desired weight.
That's Write 3 allows you to control the way Speedo fonts are cached,
whether they should be kept resident in memory for multiple printouts,
what encoding should be used with particular Speedo font (Speedo fonts
allow for more than 256 characters in the font, and encoding tables
let one choose which characters are used). For any type of font,
That's Write 3 lets the user control what the font is called in the
font selector, in what order styles of that font are displayed, and
what keyboard table is associated with the font or the font family.
With the help of keyboard tables you may assign any character to any
key. It is very useful when working with symbol fonts or fonts with
foreign characters.
That's Write 3 can load fonts at any time, as well as replace and
delete fonts. Also, with a click of one button, you can delete all
fonts that are not used in the current document.
//// Printer support
That's Write 3 comes with drivers for over 60 different printers.
(The STraight Fax package also has drivers for That's Write 3.) While
printer drivers used in the current version of TW are not extremely
intelligent and do not tell the program anything about the page sizes
supported by the printer (thus, creating a paragraph that is wider
than the printed page will result in the text on the right being
simply cut off), they allow for use of printer's own fonts as well as
for printing of graphics and Speedo and GEM fonts. Printing options of
TW allow for printing any number of copies, either in sequential order
or with every page being printed several times (since the page has to
be generated only once, it greatly speeds up output to laser
printers). Printout of only odd or even pages, and suppression of
graphics printing, are also options. TW even offers a unique feature
of printing pages from a user-selected list. (For example, you can
print pages 1, 3-6, 25, and 16.) Of course, you are able to select the
paper feeding method and port that your printer is connected to.
If your printer is not among ones offered in the standard package,
COMPO may create a driver for you. If you are more adventurous, COMPO
has a package that lets you design your own printer drivers.
If you require a PostScript output, COMPO has a completely PostScript
capable version of the program. It costs $100 more (with $50 for the
complete package of standard PostScript fonts and $50 for the program
itself). If you do not have a PostScript printer but still want the
PostScript compatibility, COMPO offers a deal on a package including
CompoScript, their PostScript interpreter, that allows you to print
documents without even having to quite That's Write 3.
//// Styles
That's Write 3 is a style-based word processor. That means that every
paragraph in the text has a style tag associated with it, and
changing the formatting of this paragraph changes formatting of _all_
paragraphs having the same style.
Creating paragraph styles is very easy. You call up a paragraph style
selector, enter an abbreviated name that isn't already present there,
and you are taken to the Paragraph Layout dialog. There you can select
ruler settings (margins, indents and tabs), the default font (if the
font you want isn't already loaded into TW, you can load it from
there), default text style (normal, bold, underlined, double
underlined, strike through, italic, sub or superscript),
justification, line and paragraph spacing, as well as some more
obscure options. You can declare any paragraph as the default, and it
will be automatically selected every time you hit "Return" (with one
exception).
You can make paragraphs always start on a new page, select a heading
level of a paragraph (used in the outliner), and declare it as a
remark paragraph (it will be displayed on screen, but not in the print
preview, and it will not be printed). Since your document most
probably will have several often used combinations of paragraph styles
(for example, section name is usually followed by a chapter name, and
it is followed by the body text), That's Write 3 allows you to chain
paragraph styles. Of course, you can always override this paragraph
sequencing manually.
The "Paragraph Layout" dialog also lets you delete style tags you do
not need anymore, and allows you to automatically delete all styles
that are not used in the current document.
Such aspects of paragraph layout as margins and tabs may also be
directly edited from the ruler (if displayed). If you have the left
margin and left indent of the paragraph in the same position, you pick
which to click-and-drag with the mouse by using the left mouse button
for one, and the right button for the other. When you drag either
margin markers or tabs, That's Write displays a thin vertical line
that lets you see exactly where you are, in relation to the text.
The "Page Layout" dialog allows you to define size and margins of the
paper you use, number of columns on page and distance between them, as
well as widow and orphan protection (how many first or last lines of a
paragraph may exist on the page by themselves). Also it allows the
user to define footnote separation and whether the line (length and
thickness, definable) should be printed before footnotes. You can give
your page layouts meaningful names, as with paragraph layouts. From
this dialog you also define headers and footers on the page. Any Page
Layout (or all unused ones) may be deleted at any time
That's Write 3 allows for as many page formats in a single document as
you want, and it even allows different pages to be of different sizes
and have different number of columns.
All these setting may be saved on disks in layout files. One of them
may be default and will be loaded automatically every time you load
the program.
//// The Works
You may enter text as you would in any other in any other word
processor. However, That's Write 3 offers many features that help you
in editing your text.
[] Blocks
That's Write 3 has a full range of block tools. You can select blocks
in a standard manner (windows will scroll when you drag the mouse to
the window edge) - by double-clicking, you can select the word or the
whole paragraph at once. You can also use commands to set the start
and end of a block, which is faster if you want to select a large
amount of text.
After a block is selected, it behaves in a manner close to that of
Calamus: unless you hide it, select a new font or style, or delete it,
it will not change, no matter what you type. If you are used to
Mac-like block handling, where once you have selected a block, typing
a single letter will replace the block, TW's way of block handling may
take some time getting used to. However, it may be easier to work
with.
Once the block is selected, you can go to its beginning or end, move
it, delete it, copy or save it. You also can cut and paste blocks, as
well as move them to Atari Clipboard. When you are cutting or pasting
block, TW offers you a choice of 4 internal clipboards. This method,
while requiring an extra action when selecting which clipboard to use,
allows you to have up to 5 blocks pastable at once.
[] Search and Replace
That's Write 3 has a full range of search and replacement tools,
including wildcards, searching either forward or backward, case
matching or ignoring, searching for complete words only, and an
ability to copy the currently selected block into "Search" or "Replace
with" fields (an option sorely missing from many Atari word
processors). When replacing, you have a usual choice of "Once",
"Query" and "All". "Search Again" is also available.
[] Outliner
That's Write 3 has a full-featured outliner with depth of up to 9
levels. It is not as nicely looking as Calligrapher, and, frankly, I
have never used it, but it seems to be as good as outliners I have
seen in other programs.
[] Spell checker
That's Write 3 features a spell checker, licensed from Houghton-
Mifflin Company. American and English dictionaries are supplied as
standard, and dictionaries for many other languages are available from
COMPO.
The spell checker seems to be good enough, but (as any other spell
checker I've ever seen) sometimes it can not find a right spelling for
the simplest word. Still, it has many specific legal and medical
terms, as well as many proper names.
When you are spell-checking your document and TW finds an unknown
word, it presents you with a dialog that gives you expected options of
looking for alternative spellings, skipping the word, or quitting from
the spell-check altogether. It also shows you the paragraph in which
the word is, in the original font and style - not in the system font
that other programs use. Thanks to that feature, you can easily see if
you're using a foreign language, or a mathematical symbol font. Using
the system font would not let you check for that.
If you are sure that the word is spelled correctly, but That's Write 3
still complains about it, you can add it either to the main dictionary
of the language, into the user dictionary (every document may have a
different user dictionary associated with it), or into the text
dictionary. Text dictionaries are saved with the document itself, and
are useful for words that you are using in a specific document, but
are not planning to use after you are done with it.
You can have That's Write 3 check your spelling as you type, and when
it detects a spelling error, it will ring a bell to alert you. If you
want, you can also have TW automatically correct errors as you type.
TW can automatically correct: capitalization errors (if you type
"chicago" it will be automatically corrected to "Chicago"); mistyped
characters ("offiver" will be corrected to "officer"); exchanged
characters ("hte" will be corrected to "the"); and accented characters
(for this you need to have a dictionary of a language that uses
accented characters, as French and German do). After doing so, TW will
sound a high-pitched beep. Of course, TW must be able to find a single
correction. If a mistyped word may be corrected in several ways or has
more than one error in it, TW will not be able to automatically
correct it.
At any time you may edit any of the active dictionaries: main, user,
or text. You can add, edit, or delete words in them. Also, you can
have TW generate a "Correction list" for you. It will contain all
words marked as misspelled. You can manually go through this list and
remove words that you know are correct.
[] Hyphenation
That's Write 3 may be told to automatically hyphenate text as you
type. It may also be told to ask you every time it finds a word that
might be hyphenated. You can select either using hyphenation rules or
the dictionary. Using the dictionary is somewhat slower and takes more
memory, but hyphenations are more accurate. You can select the amount
of white space in the text or switch the hyphenation off.
[] Footnotes, endnotes
That's Write 3 offers an automatic generation of Table of Contents and
Index. Just mark words or phrases you want to be present there, and
tell the program to do so; it will take care of the rest.
Unlike many other word processors, That's Write 3 can generate both
footnotes and endnotes in the same document. There may be as many of
both as you like. Footnotes are generated with a familiar superscript
number, and you can select whether you want numbering to be continous
or start from 1 on every page. Endnotes are generated with square
brackets around them. If you discover, after painfully entering a
thousand footnotes into your Nobel-prize paper (or dissertation),
that endnotes are required instead of footnotes, you can easily
convert between the two.
//// Nice Touches
That's Write 3 offers many nice touches that make text editing easier.
Pressing Ctrl-Z at any point will exchange the last two characters.
If you misplace characters often, this option will definitely speed up
the recovery, especially if you do not want to use the automatic
correction feature.
Another nice feature is TW's ability to insert up to 10 bookmarks in
the document. Unlike other programs, That's Write 3 saves these
bookmarks with the document, so you can define up to 10 places that
you want to always be able to go to. The dialog where you select a
bookmark to jump to shows the text around the bookmark, so you can
always see where you are going. In addition to the 10 bookmarks, the
last position of the text cursor is also saved with the document, and
when you load it at the later time, you are put exactly where you
left.
Equally nice is an ability to cancel any time-consuming operation
(printing, spell checking, a long macro, search and replace in a long
document etc.) by pressing both Shift keys.
That's Write 3 has an option of going to a specified page, line,
column, foot- or endnote. When moving to a line, page or foot/end-
note, you can specify either absolute number (go to endnote 3) or a
relative one (go 12 pages forward). Also, TW lets you go to the start
of the next or previous page (useful for checking that page breaks
are where they belong), the next or previous paragraph or the next
picture. If you are working on several documents at once, you can move
to a next or specific window with a single command.
The current date (in long or short form, formatted according to the
selected language) and time may be inserted into the document with a
single command.
That's Write 3 has many other nice touches as well, but describing
them all would make this review even longer (and aren't you tired of
me already?).
//// Macros
One of the most powerful features of That's Write 3 is its use of
macros. That's Write 3 allows you to define macros of any length,
containing any text, dialog box, or menu operations. Macros may be
linked together and may even be recursive. Since a recursive macro may
never stop, you have an option of interrupting a macro operation by
pressing both Shift keys simultaneously.
Macros are called by pressing the Esc key and then the key combo that
you have assigned the macro to, or by pressing the Function key. This
allows you to have very large number of macros active. Sets of macros
may be saved, and any one of them may be made the default. When a
macro file is loaded, you have a choice of overwriting macros already
in memory, or appending new macros to them. If a macro in the default
macro file is assigned to the Esc key, it will be executed
automatically every time That's Write 3 is loaded.
As soon as a macro is defined, its keyboard equivalent appears in the
Macro window, if you have it active. After the macro is defined, you
can assign it a meaningful name, a descriptive remark, and an
additional shortcut. Shortcuts work well as abbreviation expanders.
For example, when writing this review, I have "TW" defined as a
shortcut for "That's Write 3". Every time when I type "TW", I can hit
the UNDO key, which works as the abbreviation expander, and it will be
expanded into "That's Write 3". Possible uses include assigning
shortcuts to your name and address, and/or commands that you use
often. Since TW does not perform this expansion automatically, you
still can use the shortcut (which may be longer than two characters)
for other purposes, as evidenced by the use of TW as a synonym for
That's Write 3 in this review.
Other uses of macros include one-key activators for various styles,
block hiding, and operations for making a word UPPERCASE, lowercase,
or Capitalized. You can use macros for more difficult tasks as well,
since any sequence of operations that may be followed in That's Write
3 may be recorded in a macro. Macros may also include "beeps" and
pauses that may alert you that the macro has finished its execution,
or give you a chance to abort it before it does something you don't
want.
//// Instructions
Instructions are another very powerful tool that That's Write 3 gives
to you. Not many word processors, especially in TW's price range,
offer such a flexible tool.
That's Write 3's Instructions may be described as a programming
language whose statements are linked to tab stops of a paragraph
layout. Of course, this programming language isn't powerful enough to
write a new word processor, but it gives you very powerful tools for
the creation of self-modifying documents, self-calculating invoices,
etc.
That's Write 3 offers instructions that load the text (either as text
or as a number) positioned at the current tab stop or the paragraph
margin into a user-defined variables, manipulate this text, convert it
(conversion of Arabic numerals into Roman, string manipulations,
number operations and rounding, date and time conversions, etc.), and
put it back into the document. There are also instructions for asking
the user to provide some input and instructions for accessing document
information, such as the number of pages in the document or the
document filename, as well as conditional statements (if... then...
else) with the standard logical operations (and, not, or) and
comparisons thrown in.
Some of more obvious uses for Instructions are the creation of
mini-spreadsheets or invoices that calculate themselves. Such an
invoice might ask you, when you load it, to provide the address of the
person being billed, ask for a number of widgets shipped and the price
per widget, and generate the total due line. More complex invoices may
also ask about the payment terms and calculate the payment date based
on the current date.
Instructions may also be used for creating non-standard page
numbering, for example, using Roman numerals or letters of the
alphabet. Automatic chapter numbering system, with several levels
(Chapter 1.2.8 or something like that) may be created, and other
possible uses are limited only by your imagination. I have been told
that COMPO runs all their invoicing with this system.
As with any other aspect of That's Write 3, COMPO provides quite a few
demo files with examples of using Instructions.
//// Other Features
There are other features in That's Write 3 that make it one of the
most powerful word processors available for the Atari platform.
[] Mail Merge
One of them is a mail merge function. TW has a powerful mail merge
engine that allows you to have the standard letter combined and
printed with different information, taken from a data file. Fields of
a data file record do not have to be accessed in sequential order.
When the mail merge is performed, you may print all documents, based
on all records of a data file, or only selected ones.
One of the most obvious uses for the mail merge function is the
printing of the same letter to several people (hence the name "mail
merge"). That's Write 3 will load the data file, containing addresses
and names of those people, insert them into the form letter, and print
it out. Of course, you are not limited to address information, any
data may be merged with the document. If you use Instructions and
Macros in addition to the mail merge, it gives you very powerful data
processing capabilities, allowing you to manipulate information from
the data file, insert individual greetings and much more.
For example, you can have mail merge function print out invoices
(which, of course, may be self-calculating). If the payment date is
past, and no payment was received, you can have That's Write 3 add a
nasty remark to the letter.
[] Graphics
That's Write 3 allows the user to include graphics in their documents.
At the moment, TW is limited to monochrome IMG files, but future
version should support more formats, including vector graphics.
Graphics may be either inserted on a separate line, or overlaid with
text. While there are no functions for creating text runaround, you
may manually position the text around the picture. That's Write 3 also
has functions for moving graphics, scaling them for different
resolutions, resizing and cropping them. Display and/or printout of
any image may be suppressed for faster output. There are also limited
facilities for editing of images. You may move parts of the image
around and delete parts you do not need.
[] In- and outdenting
It is possible to create nicely indented paragraphs without changing
the paragraph layout. While pressing the TAB key moves the text on the
line to the next tab stop, the Insert key aligns the text on this and
all following lines with the next tab stop. This way you can create
paragraphs with hanging indents (outdents) using the same paragraph
style you use for the rest of your text. At the same time, pressing
Ctrl-TAB, will move the cursor to the next tab stop without inserting
anything.
[] System data
The "That's Write..." entry from the "Desk" menu gives you not only
information about That's Write 3, but also the number of pages, lines,
words, characters, and pictures in the current document, as well as
the amount of free memory. By the way, That's Write 3 is aware of two
kinds of RAM (System and Fast RAM) that may be present in your
machine, and uses both.
[] Page Control
To the left of the actual text, there is a narrow vertical bar where
page breaks and paragraph starts are shown. By clicking in there, you
may enter hard page breaks, or protect parts of text from a page break
occurring within this part.
//// Document Parameters
The Text Information dialog presents you with the information about
the filename and path of the current document, language and user
dictionary associated with it, and allows you to set many options for
the document.
A document may be protected with a password. Of course, if you save a
password-protected document and than forget the password, there is
little chance that you will ever be able to see this document
again....
Author's and editor's names and remarks may be entered in this dialog.
It makes easier to keep track of multiple projects, especially if
several people work on them.
Names of previous and following chapter may be entered here. Breaking
up a large document into smaller parts may allow users with little RAM
work with very large documents. After chapters are linked, you may
switch between them with a single command, and That's Write 3 will
automatically keep track of saving changes and numbering pages and
foot/end-notes.
Document creation and last change dates and times are shown in this
dialog. They may be changed there, but frankly, I don't see why one
would want to change those.
Page and footnote number offsets may be defined here, if you want to
start page and footnote numbering from something other than 1. If a
negative number is entered for the page number offset, pages that are
assigned numbers less than 1 will not have their numbers printed. This
is useful if you want to have cover page(s) without page numbers on
them.
There are other parameters that may be defined in the Text Information
dialog. You may set the document to be single- or double paged, you
may choose to flip margins on alternate pages, you may choose to have
images cached on disk, and you may choose to number footnotes
sequentially, or starting with 1 on every page.
In addition to that, you may have the document automatically execute
instructions when it is loaded (you are asked, however, if you want
this execution every time you load the document; if you are still
editing, you may not want to have instructions change it). Also, a
document may be defined as a template. Templates, when loaded,
"forget" their name, and thus you can have a predefined templates for
fax cover sheets, letterheads and alike. When you save such a
document, you are prompted for a new name, and the "Template" option
is deselected, so you can not overwrite the original template. If you
are still editing it, however, when loading you are given a choice not
to use it as a template. In that case, the "Template" option is left
selected, and instructions will not be executed, so you can finish
creating your template.
/// Configurations
Many aspects of That's Write 3 operation may be configured and these
configurations may be saved. You have choice of working in "Insert" or
"Overwrite" modes, having images displayed or not, and having That's
Write 3 reformat and paginate document while you look away.
Also, you can configure That's Write 3 to automatically save
configurations on exit, to ask confirmations for dangerous operations,
to have the text cursor blinking or not, to use the internal or system
file selector, to display all dialogs in windows, and to use (when
running in monochrome) routines writing directly to screen, which
gives faster display, but may be incompatible with some screen
accelerators or graphic boards. You also can select to have documents
automatically saved at preset intervals.
Other configurable aspects include the decimal separator (comma, as in
the US, or period, which is used in Europe). The selected character
will be used by decimal tabs, and by instructions, when generating
numbers. You may select whether you want Shift or Ctrl key for moving
word by word, and you can set parameters for the Status and Macro
windows. Also, you can define default paths for documents, That's
Write 3's files, and the current user dictionary.
In addition to defining and saving preferences, you can save
configurations, which also include window positions, open file and
cursor positions. If you work on a long document, you may want to save
a default configuration that will load this document and put you
exactly where you left it.
//// Goodies
That's Write 3 comes with quite a few additional programs and
accessories to help you use it.
That's Write 3 comes with 2 "fix" programs (LA.PRG and POOLFIX.PRG)
that fix certain bugs in TOS 1.0 and TOS 1.04.
Also present are several accessories (KeyShow, Macro Editor, That's
Snap and TRech) and programs. (That's Font 2 and C-Font.)
That's Write supports a special protocol, XACC, developed by COMPO for
easy communication between the main program and accessories. XACC
protocol allows for XACC accessories to be called from the keyboard,
and data exchange between the program and accessories is possible.
That's Write 3 uses the newer version of XACC protocol that works
under MultiTOS and allows for several programs to be called from the
keyboard or from the "Programs" option in the file menu. Accessories
supplied with the current release of TW still use the older version of
XACC, so they can not communicate with TW when running under MultiTOS,
however.
[] Accessories
Accessories provided with That's Write 3 are designed to simplify the
use of the program or to provide additional functionality. That's Snap
is a general-purpose screen snapshot accessory which works not only
with programs having a menu bar, but also can be called with a
keyboard from programs that do not give you an access to the Desk
menu, or to take a snapshot of a dialog. That's Snap is a pretty basic
program, supporting only IMG format, but nevertheless, it lets you
specify the part of the screen you want to capture, and seems to work
fine with 3rd party graphic cards.
KeyShow, as the name implies, shows you keys needed to produce various
characters. You can use either the keyboard or the mouse to select a
character. However, KeyShow has several shortcomings. It won't let you
select more than one character at a time, very large font sizes may
result in characters not fitting in their buttons, and (my biggest
complaint) if a character is not specified in the keyboard table for
that particular font, it will not be shown. That makes the accessory
quite useless if the character you are looking for happens to be
absent from the keyboard table. COMPO is incorporating KeyShow
directly into the future versions of the program, however, and they
promise to fix these shortcomings.
Macro Editor allows for making changes in existing macros. While I
find that if macro is sufficiently short it may be easier to simply
record a new one over it, if the macro is long and complex enough,
changing it in the editor may be easier. Macro Editor allows the user
to change, insert and delete lines in the macro. Menu operations may
also be entered or edited.
TRech (which means, in half-German, half-English, "That's Calculator")
is a "pocket" scientific calculator. It works in Decimal, Hexadecimal
and Octal systems, and support functions you'd expect from a pocket
calculator, but not much more. It does feature large buttons and a
display, however, and can be easily manipulated both by the mouse and
keyboard, unlike many other calculator accessories, which have buttons
so small it is hard to see them. The main advantage of using TRech
over other calculator accessories is that it supports a wide range of
methods of importing calculation results into your text. TRech allows
you to specify a short text that goes before and after the calculation
result, the decimal character, and the rounding.
Obviously, TRech works with XACC protocol, which is the best for use
with That's Write 3. If you are running under MultiTOS (where TRech's
version of XACC does not work) or want to import calculations in
program other than TW, you can configure TRech to use either the Atari
Clipboard, or the keyboard buffer. If you are calling TRech from
inside That's Write 3, the selected block will be transferred into
TRech automatically. Up to eight different export configurations may
be defined at the same time and chosen with a sliding selector. These
configurations may also be saved for future use.
[] Programs
Also included with That's Write are two programs. One of them is
C-Font. C-Font, which runs either as a program or as an accessory,
converts Calamus vector fonts (there are several supplied with the
program) into bitmapped formats for use with TW, GDOS, or Timeworks
Publisher and other programs that can use GDOS fonts, either
compressed or uncompressed.
The other program is That's Font 2. While COMPO themselves say that it
is not the best bitmapped font editor available (they recommend
Fontkit Plus), it is a powerful enough program. It works with several
formats of fonts (including TEX fonts and downloadable printer fonts),
has decent options for manipulating fonts (mirror, italics, shadow
etc.), and allows the editing of keyboard tables, which is the main
reason for its inclusion in the package. With That's Font you can
easily create a keyboard table for access to particular characters in
the font. Of course, you can use That's Font to edit fonts (especially
those created with C-Font), or create new ones from scratch.
Available separately from COMPO is a formula editor. From what I've
heard, it is a powerful program with a graphic interface that lets you
create complex mathematical formulae and place them in your documents.
//// Support
COMPO provides great support for their products. Of course, one must
bear in mind that the Atari market in the USA is rather small, and
COMPO is a small company. While there's not a toll-free 24 hour number
to call, there is unlimited, free support. In my experience, calling
COMPO, or sending them EMail always resulted in fast and good
assistance.
Future support (i.e. new versions) is well in hand. Compo tells me
that work is continuing on That's Write 4.
//// Verdict
Well, I hope that I have described enough of That's Write 3's features
for you. There are, of course, many more that I did not even touch,
but I hope that ones I've mentioned will give you an overall feel for
this powerful program.
That's Write 3 is not entirely free of shortcomings. I wish that the
printer support was somewhat more intelligent. "As-you-type"
formatting and on-screen columns would be great, too, as would be a
built-in table generator and support for more graphic formats (those
are addressed by COMPO in future versions). While nothing is
crash-proof, it is a very stable and compatible program with many
powerful functions. It is also quite fast in its operation and
supports enhancements in newer machines (FastRAM, Falcon resolutions)
and in system software (support for MultiTOS' drag-and-drop etc.).
That's Write 3 isn't a program geared for creating graphics-heavy
documents, as are Calligrapher and Papyrus on Atari, and MS Word or
Ami Pro on other platforms. However, as a writing tool, designed for
creation and editing of text-based documents, it shines.
If you have only a dot-matrix printer, and are looking for a word
processing program, I would recommend That's Write 3 wholeheartedly.
It will let you use your printer's built-in fonts for the body of your
text, saving a great deal of time and ear damage, and it still lets
you use graphics and Speedo vector fonts where you need them. If you
need a program that lets you create leaflets, flyers, and otherwise
generate documents with graphics, borders, boxes, etc., I'd suggest
looking at Calamus or Pagestream. However, if you need a tool for
creating, editing and printing text, such as books, invoices, novels,
academic theses, or letters to your aunt, I think That's Write 3 is
the best program available.
That's Write 3 is distributed in the US by
COMPO Software
104 Esplanade Avenue, Suite 121
Pacifica, CA 94044
Tel: 415-355-0862
Fax: 415-355-0869
GEnie: COMPO
List price: $199.99US
About the author:
I was born in Moscow, Russia (what used to be the USSR). I had two
Atari computers there (an 800XE, and later a 1040ST), and two cats.
I worked with numerous other machines (most notably, MSX thingies by
Yamaha, and Soviet-made PDP-11 and IBM/360 clones) while attending
Moscow Oil and Gas Institute with a major in Applied Mathematics.
Three years ago my family and I moved to the United States. Now we
live in a Chicago suburb, with only one cat :-( and a couple of
computers (including a TT030). Now I go to the Northern Illinois
University, where I major in Computer Science. We run a small
translation and publishing business, and I use my TT for DeskTop
Publishing, mostly in Russian.
I enjoy anime, obscure music (_really_ obscure: Henry Cow, Cassiber,
Van der Graaf Generator and Art Bears are among more well known bands
I like :-), and crashing computers.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Andreas' Den
||| By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2
----------------------------------------------------------------
//// Connections and corrections!
I am going to warn you that this is going to be a long one, for I may
be absent next month as the wonderful Navy is calling me away again
for some inscrutable flight operations in California.
I spend a great deal of time typing away in AtariWorks and on the
online services. While my main area of responsibility is Delphi, I
find myself spending more and more time in the Usenet areas and poking
my nose deeper into the Internet itself. I have used Telnet and FTP
commands to get my way so deep into other computers around the world
that if it were not for the book, "The Internet for Dummies" I would
never be able to extract myself!
This book is in the same series as the "DOS for Dummies" and other
"for Dummies" books. This one of course is for the Internet, and
covers the items in detail without being obtuse or confusing. The tone
of the book is slightly humorous and organizes things in a way that
you painlessly learn the arcane processes that it takes to surf
through cyberspace. I won't go into how cool the Internet is when you
know what you are doing, (take my word for it, it IS cool!) but if you
are intimidated by the information highway, then get this book and
read it, you will want to try it out immediately.
The Internet for Dummies
John Levine and Carol Baroudi
IDG Books
San Mateo CA, 94402
19.95 USA
17.99 UKP
26.95 Canadian
The Internet is also very important to an Atari user. Accessing Usenet
and the FTP sites around the world is just like having an enormous
user group that meets when you want it to, and has access to just
about all the shareware in the world. In this spectrum of computing,
where you are and what service you subscribe to has little meaning
outside of the services that it can provide to you. GEnie is great as
it gets all the really cool conferences (Heck, I even got a free copy
of Scott Sanders "The Atari Compendium" out of a conference! Thanks!)
and if you don't want to mess around the FTP sites, you get new
uploads of GEnie fairly quickly. Delphi is a full node on the Internet
as well as being reasonable gateway to the Internet. All this means is
that if you have Internet access anywhere on the world, you can Telnet
into Delphi and use its services, or if you can call Delphi directly
you can access the Internet through Delphi.
(I understand that Compuserve allows telnet access now, and may allow
Internet access from Compuserve in the near future.)
//// Not on MY turf...
My wife, who helped start Atari United!, has been collecting
information from Atari computer users for quite some time now, and has
found that the Internet has given her access to Atari users all over
the world. As a result, she has been able to contact users and groups
in Mexico, Costa Rica, and all over Europe. Recently she telneted into
the Cleveland Free-Net and held a conference at the request of the
guys there. She reached people who have probably never seen GEnie,
Delphi or CompuServe, and who were able to log onto a FREE service.
//// Rocking around the block...
A funny thing that my wife and I have both noticed about many users
who communicate through the Internet to us was that many users don't
quite understand what they are doing. So, here are a few tips to help
everybody communicate around the world with ease! If you are a GEnie
user, and want to let others know your internet address, it takes the
following format: <[username]@genie.geis.com>. Many individuals have
written to us and listed their address as simply @geis.com. That won't
do it folks! Are you itching to get involved with sharing information,
but aren't sure how to do it from GEnie? It is very easy - just send
GEnie EMail, and when the software ask you "To:" enter the Internet
EMail address to who you are sending to, and follow up the username
with an "@INET#".
You cannot send files through the Internet in the same way that you
would if they were on the same system. GEnie has an excellent
interface on page 200 for sending files to another user on GEnie, but
you cannot use this to send mail to someone not on GEnie. There is a
way to send everything from an article to a GIF file to a program
anywhere. It is called UUEncode.
There is a TOS program around called ESSCODE, that allows you to pick
a file, convert it (to a UUE file) and send it like a normal text
EMail message. Yep, the file is converted to a text file and then
sent. (Editor: I use UUEncoding constantly to send AEO out to the
Internet distribution points from GEnie and to receive files from
virtually everywhere. It works, and isn't hard to do.)
UUEncoding is not great for file compression, as the UUE files are
larger than the original files, but it works! If you download a lot of
UUE files, getting a modem with modem compression and error correction
will help. This is where all those 'V.xx' and MNP numbers come into
play.
If all this UUE stuff seems confusing, it isn't, as even I have
managed to figure out how to do this by myself, and if you need to
send me a program from someplace other than GEnie or Delphi, just
UUEncode it and send it out! I accept programs and articles from just
about anyone, and just as soon as I can I will look at it and get back
to you. After all critiquing someone else's hard work while I sip beer
is what I do best.
If you are on Delphi and want to communicate with _anyone_ on another
service, all you have to do is go into MAIL and send them some! For
instance, if you wanted to reach me on my GEnie account, all you would
have to type at the "To:" prompt is: IN%"AEO.2@GENIE.GEIS.COM". The
IN% indicates that you are sending mail to someone who has no account
on Delphi and the "" mean that this is the address the person is on at
the service indicated after the @ symbol. Simple. We are a world-wide
community, and if you are on an online service, like GEnie or Delphi,
you have the best of both worlds, local personal access and world-wide
contact!
//// From the Past...
Way back when, I was invited to take a look at forthcoming Falcon030
games, I noticed a new controller plugged into the analog ports.
Several years has past, and in the intervening time, the Falcon030 has
shipped, and those games are now becoming available! Dino Dudes and
Steel Talons are now available in Falcon030 only configurations, and
Road Riot 4WD is soon to follow. These games seem to have been taken
over by Atari UK (Atari Europe for all intents and purposes.) and are
becoming available in the US. Remember those controllers? They are the
Jaguar controllers! Yes, you CAN use the Jaguar controllers on the
Falcon030. In fact I remember playing an early version of Raiden with
one of these on a Falcon030. We can only hope that more Falcon030
specific software will be forthcoming from Atari sources to spur the
marketplace, and other analog controller systems will come for the
Falcon.
There has been a great deal of talk on the Usenet as to whether or not
Id Software's DOOM! could be converted to the Falcon, I for one think
that a version is possible - not as powerful as the Jaguar version,
but done well nonetheless. If Wolfenstein 3D can run on a '386DX-33 (I
know, I have used it!) there should be no problem converting that to
work on a Falcon030. Maybe with the relationship that Atari has with
the Id boys, we can see it happen, though Id has recently said that
there are NO plans to do DOOM on a Falcon.
//// ...into the Future of Atari
As you probably read in the last issue, Atari may not have the time or
the money right now to support a new TOS computer, but into the gap
leaps the third party! I won't rehash the last issue, but things ARE
looking up. The CaTTamaran, Barracuda040, Janus, and other products
are going to allow us to upgrade to proven technologies. As long as
software applications like Calamus SL, STalker, Cubase, SpeedoGDOS,
and AtariWorks can run on them, the installed professional software
base will be preserved. The CaTTamaran's acceleration is software
selectable, and the Wizztronics' 040 board does not replace the
Falcon030's processor, so these items should maintain compatibility
with any entertainment software that will run on them in their
original configurations.
As perusers of the Delphi Forum will know, I am pursuing information
on a "do it yourself" PAK board from Germany. This is an '020/'030
board for the Mega and ST computers, which can run up to a 50MHz '030
with a 12MHz bus. I recently got a message about a chap who installed
a 64MHz 030! This may not be as slick as the more professional boards,
but at a cost of ~100DM (~$60 US) for the board alone, and the
inexpensive cost of surplus '030 chips, a total '030 solution may be
available for under $200!! I am expecting more information from Yat
Siu of Lexicor, and I will be following up with a letter or two to the
originators of the PAK in Germany. And for a thought, even less
expensive are 68020 chips. Used in some Macs, and not exactly state of
the art, they do offer a bit more power than the 68000 series is
capable of. Wilko Bulte <wilko@idca.tds.philips.nl> posted this for
your information.
Note: this a benchmark... this might or might not have any
relevance to your actual application. Got this from a friend
who tried it for me.
Wilko
GEMBENCH 3.30 (C) Ofir Gal
Tests w/ and wo/ PAK3-020/16MHz
Reference: ST 1040, no blitter.
TOS version 1.04 2.06 2.06 2.06
MiNT no no no no
Blitter disabled disabled disabled disabled
Video Mode ST High ST High ST High ST High
FPU no yes yes yes
More?
PAK disabled enabled enabled enabled
Level 1 Cache n.a. enabled disabled enabled
Level 2 Cache n.a. disabled enabled enabled
GEM Dialog Box 286% 423% 411% 444%
VDI Text 876% 1514% 1775% 1985%
VDI Text Effects 743% 1280% 1424% 1766%
VDI Small Text 572% 1145% 1277% 1413%
VDI Graphics 362% 755% 869% 1046%
GEM Window 251% 378% 393% 442%
Integer Division 99% 576% 573% 581%
Float Math 100% 132% 2832% 2905%
RAM Access 99% 214% 393% 460%
ROM Access 99% 399% 399% 460%
Blitting 171% 411% 425% 536%
VDI Scroll 449% 586% 711% 771%
Justified Text 248% 455% 466% 545%
VDI Enquire 189% 207% 249% 268%
Average 324% 605% 871% 973%
Graphics 414% 715% 800% 921%
CPU 99% 330% 1049% 1101%
Ok, I'm back. As you can see the numbers are there. The math
co-processor does help out with the floating point operations, and the
average is about 3X faster than a good old standby 8MHz ST. You will
probably notice these results more if you are doing things like
graphics processing than word processing. Notice that GEM operations
are little more than 200% faster, and in order for the speedup to be
noticeable, more than a 500% increase is needed. I don't usually like
benchmarks, but when you spend money on speeding up your computer, you
gotta see something in return I guess. If memory serves, I remember
seeing 16MHz '020 chips going surplus for about $10 back in
California. This is a real lowball way to get performance out of your
computer.
It seems the Medusa from Germany is closer to arriving. If control
can be exercised to assure compatibility with standard TOS, then there
will be no problems with these advances. Like what was said in last
month's Atari Artist column, with a concerted effort, movement beyond
GEM is possible, allowing TOS to move forward and on to even different
CPU platforms. I don't see this as a death knell for the future of an
Atari designed computer, but as a way to widen the base of machines
that will be able to handle TOS. Will Atari come out with a new
computer? Well if there are '040 powered Falcons and other people
making totally new computers that will run TOS. the problem of
inactive Atari computer development is mitigated. Then again, they DO
have the Jaguar chipset, TOS 5 and MultiTOS, and if they wanted to,
they could define the next level of computing without stealing
anyone's thunder or being eclipsed by a competitor. In our case, the
more people defining platforms that can run TOS the better!
//// Two-Face
Last issue in AEO, mention was made to the Janus card for the average
PC compatable computer, and on the Internet, an Atari user from
Germany, Christoph Oberle sent me some mail.
From: IN%"oberle@informatik.uni-koblenz.de"
Hi, here is the adress of two distributors of the "Janus - the ATARI
in your PC":
I) VHF-Computer GmbH (actual developers)
Daimlerstr. 13
71101 Schoenaich Germany phone: (+49) 7031 75 01 90
II) edicta
Loewenstr. 68
70597 Stuttgart Germany phone: (+49) 711 76 33 81
fax : (+49) 711 76 53 82 4
Janus is actually NOT an emulator but an expansion card which
contains the main hardware of an ST (68000, 16 MHz and TOS 2.06, space
for 2 SIMMs (8 or 9 chip).
Here is an excerpt of the information in the magazine "ST-Computer",
issue 4/94:
"... Although there only is a 68000/16 on the board, Janus is fast,
because the CPU delegates a big part of its tasks (e.g. graphics
output and file operations) to the Intel processor. It only processes
system specific calculations. In many applications, the Janus board is
faster than a TT! Various resolutions are supported, depending on the
abilities of the graphics card. In the compatibility mode with ST
high resolution, almost all ATARI programs run without problems."
Technical data:
CPU: MC 68000
Speed: 16 MHz
Memory: 2 SIMMs (70ns), choice between 256KB, 1MB, 4MB, 8MB or
16MB each
Graphics card: Any standard VGA card
OS: Place for 2 ROMs TOS 2.06
Bus: ISA
Now, even at $300 would this card be a deal? If you are forced to use
a PC at work, then this is the product for you. Having TT030-like
access to programs like Calamus SL on a PC could be the salvation to
someone stuck with Windows or unable to sneak their Atari in to work.
It does have some benefits over the GEMulator in that it has actual
hardware implementation of the 68000. This means that it should run
faster on any PC, rather than fully relying on the Intel CPU to carry
out instructions meant for a Motorola processor. The Janus does use
the host computer's CPU to speed things up, but the actual speed of
the application will rely on the 68000. More needs to be said about
this machine as there are many questions that need to be answered. No
matter how good the statistics may look, if it doesn't run what you
need to, then it is useless. I have been in contact with Mr. Mihocka,
and I am sure that no matter how attractive the Janus could be, he
could make the GEMulator more attractive on a price point. As more
information comes along I will be sure to pass the info on to you!
//// Videogames without the VIDEO
Meanwhile, around the country, the Jaguar is making headway. Tempest
2000 (yes I know it seems we have talked about this game since
forever) is gaining kudos, and is far better than anything on the 3DO
or the 16bit systems. There is no CD-ROM unit yet for the Jaguar, and
that is giving Atari the edge. The edge here is in gameplay. Crash &
Burn might have looked pretty in the display case with the 3DO, but it
has little in the way of gameplay. CD-ROM's biggest claim to fame is
being able to provide full motion video (FMV) you know, live actors
and stuff like that. Having FMV in a game can be the worst thing that
can happen to a game. Unlike computer generated data, FMV is linear.
You watch it; it's always the same, and while it may be pretty, but we
are here to play a game, not watch a movie. Digitized video clips may
be fun to watch once or twice as intro or filler material, but after a
while you want to turn it off. IT IS BORING.
Computer generated material, like the images created for Alien Vs.
Predator, can be fully manipulated. With digitized bitmaps mapped onto
a 3D polygon, the computer can rotate it, twist it, blow it up, or do
just about anything with it that the programmer needs to. Remember all
those demos with wibbly-wobbly 3D images and shapes? They may have
been pre-programmed, but they still could be manipulated more than a
predefined animation. I like to compare these differences to a good
flight simulator. With games like F-16 Falcon and Cybermorph, you
could get OUTSIDE the plane, and rotate the world around yourself to
your hearts' content. Try that with a MPEG or Quicktime video clip.
Without a CD-ROM to distract software houses, they are going back to a
nearly lost art form, game design. There are dozens of games on the PC
which claim all sorts of fabulous video, but like CD-I, they end up
being a pretty demo with small bits of interactivity thrown in. Now,
what a CD-ROM can do for a game is allow it to be a huge storage area
for music and game data. Tempest 2000 has 30 minutes of CD quality
music, but on a CD-ROM with compression, that could be hours.
When the Jaguars' CD-ROM appears (along with the Sigma Design's
Jaguar-on-a-PC card), in addition to the potential of watching full
length movies, there will already be a vanguard of video games that
will fulfill a gamer's desire more than most current CD-ROM
offerings. Imagine a BattleTech game, with dozens of realistic planets
generated with weather, and all sorts of land and water conditions with
every 'mech, vehicle, aerospace fighter, and dropship in the inventory
realistically rendered. Huge digitized sound samples could be included
and a fantastic musical score all on one disc! That is how a CD-ROM is
effective, not as a mini-movie.
Ideally a BattleTech game cart should be available first, with the
programming hooks built in to allow a later CD-ROM to add on more
Battlemechs and combat scenarios. Imagine waging an entire war, battle
by battle! That won't be one game that you will finish quickly. (To
any developers out there... this is just my dream, and it just might
sell!)
Well, in the meantime, I guess I will save my pennies for one of those
Afterburner040 66MHz cards with the PCI card slot, or maybe I want a
Barracuda board with the 80486.... I am in the process of reviewing
Cannon Fodder for the ST, and it already looks good. Stay tuned.
--==--==--==--==--
||| ExtenDOS: CD-ROM Driver for your Atari
||| By: Randy Hoekstra
/ | \ GEnie: R.HOEKSTRA1
---------------------------------------------------------------
It's been a long time coming, but simple, affordable, and practical
access to CD ROM has finally arrived for the ST/TT/Falcon line. I am
refering to the ExtenDOS CD ROM driver by Roger Burrows of Anodyne
Software.
I first began my journey into the world of CD ROM when I saw an
announcement for the Gemini CD ROM for the TOS series of Atari
computers. It boasted of thousands of files specifically for the Atari
ST, TT030 and Falcon030, plus text and graphics files related to the
Lynx and Jaguar. With over 600 Megabytes of data it would be like
having easy access to a huge library of public domain and shareware
software. I decided I needed to get a CD ROM drive and get this disk.
Well CD ROM drives can be expensive and I didn't have a lot of cash
lying around. Fortunately, I had access to an AppleCD drive from work
which was just gathering dust sitting on my desk. But would an CD-ROM
drive made to work with one of those Mac type computers work with my
lowly MegaST or Falcon? I decided I just had to find out.
Being the cheapskate that I am, I first tried to make the CD-ROM work
with the MetaDOS drivers that I found in a PD archive. I connected a
male-to-male SCSI cable between my current hard drive and the AppleCD
drive. I set the SCSI ID of the AppleCD to the next available ID and
configured the MetaDOS control file accordingly. It seemed to load
okay on boot up, but no matter how I tried to configure it, I was not
able to access the CD ROM.
I then obtained the .XFS driver that is designed to work with MiNT
(Eric Smith's multi-tasking kernal), but quickly realized that I
didn't have the right software setup on my MegaST and I didn't have
the right cable to hook up the drive to my Falcon. I was beginning to
lose hope.
During my attempts to go the freeware route, I discovered a topic on
GEnie for discussing CD ROM on Ataris, and I naturally started posting
questions. It was there that I learned of a new CD-ROM driver called
ExtenDOS. Given the trouble I had been through already, I was hesitant
to spend the money to order ExtenDOS (yes I really am cheap), but
after seening one good report after another about it on GEnie, I
decided to give it a try.
Not more than a week later, I was sitting in front of my MegaST
installing ExtenDOS on my hard drive. It came with a simple and to the
point 20 page user manual. It contained step by step instructions for
configuring the driver for your system, with just enough technical
detail to satisfy the curious. By setting the CD-ROM drive ID to the
suggested default and installing the suggested drive icons, it was as
simple as copying the EXTENDOS.PRG file to the AUTO folder, creating
an EXTENDOS folder containing the CD.BOS and UNIDRIVE.DOS files, and
copying the default EXTENDOS.CNF file to the root directory of the
boot drive. With these files in place and the CD-ROM drive connected
and powered up, I had only to reboot to install the driver and open a
whole new world of CD-ROM access on my Atari ST.
It worked without a hitch and the Gemini CD is truly amazing. It's
hard to imagine having one drive icon accessing over 600 Megabytes of
programs, picture files, text files, and other data without
experiencing it for yourself, but let's just say it is enough to keep
a person busy for weeks just exploring. Of course I couldn't settle
with the default set up, so I had to refer to the details in the user
manual on how to edit the EXTENDOS.CNF file for the SCSI ID and drive
icon that I wanted. I made the modifications according to the
documentation and after rebooting, I was right back in business with
the configuration of my choice.
It's hard to give a detailed review of something like a CD-ROM driver.
If it's good, you simply install it and it works. ExtenDOS is good.
The only problem I have found so far is a small incompatibility with
Geneva, the multi-tasking environment from Gribnif. When ExtenDOS and
Geneva are used together, the system path somehow gets stuck on the
root drive and most programs when run from other drives will attempt
to locate their supporting files (resource or data) on the root drive
rather than on the drive where the program was run. Programs that do
not open additional files work fine. This bug also prevents the Geneva
file selector from seeing the files on the CD-ROM drive. Once Geneva
is disabled, non-root drive programs work fine and CD-ROM access
returns to normal. This has been reported to Roger Burrows and he has
already indicated that a fix is in the works. That's another good
thing about this software - it is supported very well by its author.
On the plus side, ExtenDOS is compatible with the entire ST line right
up through the TT and Falcon. It currently has limited MultiTOS
support according to the latest advertisments, but I have not been
able to test the extent of that support. Also unable to personally
verify are the reports of other users who say that ExtenDOS offers
faster access and transfer speeds than MetaDOS and the XFS driver (2
to 3 times faster!). The list of CD-ROM drives known to work with
ExtenDOS include:
Atari CDAR-504
Panasonic (Matsushita) CR-501
NEC 74/84, NEC 38, NEC 55, NEC 25, NEC 3Xp
Apple PowerCD & CD 300
Sony CDU-541 & CDU-561
Chinon CDX-535
Toshiba 3401 & 4101B
It is expected to work with any SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 compatible drive.
Although there are only a couple of CD-ROMs made specifically for
Atari, there are a great many for DOS machines which contain standard
file formats usable by Ataris. There are many with text files in ASCII
format that can be loaded into your text viewers or word processors,
with images for use with desktop publishers, and plenty with various
format picture files such as GIF, JPEG and TARGA that can be loaded
into graphics programs for Ataris. With the right CD-ROM drive and one
of the recent graphics software packages you can even view PhotoCD on
your Atari. So even though you won't find many CDs with an Atari label
on them, you will find many useful titles in just about any computer
store that sells CD-ROM for that other platform.
Me, I still have months worth of exploring to do just to check out all
the software on this Gemini CD. Eventually I plan to get a cable and
hook it up to the Falcon and be able to view some nice graphics from
one of those picture library CDs. (Yes, the latest version of ExtenDOS
is fully compatible with the Falcon). Who knows, if the right project
comes along I may even pick up a disk full of image files to use with
Calamus.
In short, ExtenDOS is easy to use and configure, works well, and is
supported by an author who is committed to maintaining it. ExtenDOS
is a wise investment for any Atari computer.
ExtenDOS
v 1.1
$29.95
Anodyne Software
6 Cobbler Court
Ottawa, Ontario K1V 0B8, Canada.
GEnie: R.BURROWS1
About the author: I have been using Atari computers since my first
Atari 400 in 1980 and currently have a MegaST 4 and Falcon which my
lovely wife and 2 adorable daughters allow to occupy an extra bedroom
known as "The Office". In The Office, I enjoy working on a few of my
programming projects such as The Grocery Lister and PGP Shell,
dabbling in a bit of desktop publishing with Calamus SL, and general
messing about with whatever Atari software I can get my hands on.
Unfortunately, I spend the majority of my time working for a large
telecommunications company, Northern Telecom, managing a software test
and verification support group. It's unfortunate only because it
prevents me from spending more time working with my Ataris, but at
least it pays the bills and allows me to continue feeding my Atari
software and hardware habit.
--==--==--==--==--
||| "From a saved backup...."
||| By: Ron Whittam
/ | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
//// It's show and tell time.
In this column I hope to foster communication and support for 8-bit
and ST computer owners... presenting a positive and directive
approach. This will help to strengthen the users group base and
encourage the executive element.
Earlier in this column I mentioned what I believe to be the three
necessary elements in a users group meeting. These three elements can
be called the mapping session, the demo session, and the random access
session. While the first and third provide needed communication
between members of the users group, the second provides information.
Doing a successful demo session is not as difficult as some think.
Since most Atari users groups do not have the benefit of a local
dealership, procuring dealer demos are not easily done. There are
other means. Membership participation is a common theme in this
column. And recruitment is not as hard as it seems.
I found it difficult to nag people into doing demos, "Please do
something..." until I found the key. Ask them to talk about something
they enjoy. Be specific.
Be sure they understand that you do not want
a "speech." You want them to show the group something about the
computer, something the other members might not know about. This
approach tends to focus on the need instead of on the performance.
A good approach is to make a list of topics that are of interest to
the members of the group. Then ask the members to pick one that they
can do. Write it down on the calendar. This will get the ball rolling.
The demonstration does not need to be formal nor elaborate. In fact,
simple and clear is much more beneficial. Leave the elaborate demos
for trade shows. Each member has something to contribute.
After one meeting, a few of us were hanging around chatting. One of
the members made a comment that he didn't like the way the desktop
made you bring a window to the forefront just to copy a file. Another
member told him just to hold the right button down while selecting the
file from a background window and drag it to the active window. He
thought it was simple. It's even in the users manual. But none of us
knew it. This made me realize that the reason people don't share what
they know about the Atari is that they think "everybody knows that."
Well, not everybody does.
You can get great demos from members of your own users group. Find
out what the members' favorite programs are. Then ask them to do a
brief talk on it. If you have a club computer, encourage them to run
the program on the computer after the brief talk.
Find out what your members do for a living and see if that would
provide a platform for a demo. One of our members is an electrician.
He brought in a parts book and talked to us about hooking up the
computer. He discussed power and electricity. (Something he obviously
enjoyed talking about.) And he provided good information for
purchasing a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). Another who programs on
various platforms discussed the various operating systems. He also
explained the difference between Intel-based chip design and Motorola
design. Another member was an electrical technician. He gave a talk on
opening up the Atari computer. He provided helpful hints for the
ambitious. Once we had a MIDI demo with two keyboards and a full sound
system. (He demonstrated Notator.) He got voice samples from members
of the group, and then used the computer to alter the voice so it
sounded higher or deeper. Very interesting.
I think the most common excuse I hear is, "No one would be interested
in what I do." Once I helped a member salvage bad files from a disk.
While at his house he showed me his business. He wrote government
required documents for truckers using his Atari 520ST with a
single-sided floppy, no hard drive, and a 9-pin dot matrix printer.
Not too impressive of a set up for most. However, the documents he
produced were very impressive. (It impressed me.) But I would have
never know this if I had not been in his house. He never thought
anyone would be interested in what he did. To him it was just work.
Another method of getting demos is to write software publishers and
developers. Identify yourself as a users group officer and ask for a
demo or two. I have received many disks this way. If you have access
to the INTERNET, GEnie, or one of the other paid services you can
contact most Atari developers via Electronic Mail (EMail). The ones I
have contacted this way have readily sent me the information and
diskettes I requested.
Atari has a users group correspondent, Bob Brodie. I have written him
many EMail messages and he has responded. I now have flyers and
brochures to hand out at our meetings to encourage the membership to
buy Falcon computers. You cna contact Bob at <BOB-BRODIE@genie.geis.com>.
Bob has also been a users group member for many years and has some
helpful hints for users group officers. Drop him a note.
And finally, the one source that gets a lot of attention: New computer
purchases. When one of our members bought an Atari TT we asked him to
bring it in. We announced the demo and we got a crowd of people. We
did the same with other newly purchased products. One of our members
put a GEMulator in a i486/DX and showed it off. We got it running
PC-Ditto and emulated an IBM-XT on a 486! We have had a demo of each
new Jaguar game (the latest, Tempest 2000) by our Jaguar owner.
Encourage your member to "show off" what they have.
A demo doesn't need to be an elaborate dramatic expression of artistry
in motion to be enjoyable. Ask your demonstrators to just do a brief
talk about what they have and then show it. Sort of like show and
tell in grade school. It works, don't knock it.
In the future we will cover Membership (methods of increasing it),
Networking with other users groups, etc., and I will share from my own
exploits as a users group president; the frustration and the elation.
Stay tuned.
------------
Ron Whittam is a Customer Support Specialist for a small software firm
in Boise, Idaho; and the President of the Atari Boise Users Group. He
can be contacted on GEnie (EXPLORER.4), on the Internet at
<r.whittam@genie.geis.com>, or on ROVER BBS (208-362-2243).
--==--==--==--==--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
-- --
-- To enroll as a Delphi subscriber, modem call 1-800-365-4636. Press --
-- [Return] until you see "Password:", then type IP26 [Return] --
-- --
-- Answer all of the questions, and you'll be cleared for Delphi --
-- access in a few days. If you have questions about Delphi services, --
-- give a voice call to Delphi Member Services at 1-800-544-4005. --
-- --
-- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
||| Legends of Valour - Review
||| By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2
----------------------------------------------------------------
US Gold/Synthetic Dimensions
Programmed by: Kevin Bulmer
Ian Downend
//// Slowly but surely
This review has been a long time coming. I have been meaning to get
this one in for a review for a couple years now, and only recently has
my list of "to do" games reached down to this one. I wish that I had
pushed other projects aside for this particular review. Originally
written back in 1992, Legends of Valour is the first 3D real-time
smooth scrolling RPG (role playing game) for the Atari computer, and
in presentation it is the most ambitious to date. The presentation is
much like the style used in games like Wolfenstien 3D and Doom,
popular on the PC and soon to be arriving on the Jaguar. In case you
are unfamiliar with these programs, the presentation is first person,
like in a flight simulator or as in Dungeon Master, but instead of
moving around in regular "blocks", jumping from one equidistant point
to another, you can look in any direction or scroll back and forth
smoothly, much like in real life.
//// Welcome to the Jungle, we've got fun and games
As a new arrival to the city of Mitteldorf on the volcanic island
called Wolfbrood, your immediate goals are:
A) Stay alive
B) Get rich
C) Learn the skills needed for points A and B
D) See A
Obstensibly, you are here to find the whereabouts of your cousin Sven,
but you know the real reason. Pig farming, it's not just a job, its an
adventure! Well, almost. You jumped at the chance to come to the big
city, and leave the stink behind. Of course any wealth and power you
can get along the way would be nice.
//// Insert disk A: and press return
The game can be played from floppies or it can be installed on a hard
drive, totalling over 2.2 MEGs, playing from floppies is a slow and
arduous task, especially with the added options turned on. Creating a
save game disk is mandatory if you are playing off of floppies or want
to save to floppy with the game on the harddrive. I had a problem
creating a save game disk while I was trying out the game from
floppies, and I had to format a disk labelling it LOVSAVE, and
creating a folder of the same name on it. The process itself is not
hard, but the information is contained on a single sheet of paper and
not in the main documentation. To confuse things more, additional
addendum is contained on a fold-out containing Amiga specific
information. This information should have been included in the main
manual, but evidently the non-PC computers were left out of this
decision.
Installing to a harddrive is a bit more straightforward and is
achieved by copying the install program onto the drive and into the
folder you want it to go. It takes about twenty minutes to install,
and the game then takes about two minutes to load, but that is to be
expected with this amount of data. The program files requires one meg
of memory, and even on a four meg computer, it seems that there is a
great deal of disk access, possibly indicating that it does not use
all available memory. I run it on my MegaSTe and it runs quite stably,
even with TSRs like Warp 9. A faster machine is really useful with
this game, the 3D effect and smooth scrolling takes up a great deal of
processor power, and it is a testament to the programming finesse that
it runs as well as it does. For all of you with accelerators, this is
one more reason for you to be happy with your investment.
//// Your window on the world
The screen is split up into ten sections, with a view window in the
center of the screen. There are three settings for the window, with
the largest being about 100x200 and the smallest one around 50x100
pixels. This allows for a the user to customize the screen to match
the performance of their computer. On an 8MHz ST, with the largest
screen, the updates are a bit too slow for me, but running at 16MHz
with the MSTe's blitter and cache, the largest screen is more than
acceptable. To the left and right of the view are a series of boxes
which indicate items that you have in your possession. There are the
three magical item displays, and with a click on any one of the 6
commodities you can see the amount of wealth you have in that item.
The commodities used in the game are gems, spices, pigments, ore,
hides, and tar. I guess gold is not all there is in life here. "That
will be two barrels of tar please, do you want fries with you order?"
There is a message screen under the view window where interaction with
other characters is displayed, and below that is your characters
stats, movement icons, action icons, compass, floor window, and active
item window. It sounds more complicated than it is, but then again,
what isn't?
//// Who the hell are you anyway?
You have a mission and a physical form, but these need to be defined,
just like in real life. Before you can get into the game and start
strolling around town, you must run the character generation program.
You can select your race and even the combination of your facial
attributes. You can look like a reincarnation of Rocky or one of the
seven dwarves, in either male or female flavor. Your statistics are
from one to one hundred, and are not changed by your character's sex.
Once everything is to your liking, you move on to your home village,
where you learn the name of your father, his trade, and can input your
alter-ego's name. A random amount of money is generated at the
beginning of the game, and oddly enough for a backwater town,
everything from a suit of clothes (Did you ever want to look like one
of the Three Musketeers? No? Well you're out of luck.) to a custom
suit of knight's armor. Randomly, swords, axes, and daggers are
available for purchase. Make your selections and get on with it!
//// Bright Lights, Big City
Here you are at the front gate, ready for adventure! Well you won't
have to look too hard for it here. There are guilds to join, and jobs
for the taking. I suggest you get into one of the guilds first, the
skills of magic and the arts of combat which they teach are the only
chance you have to make it beyond the daylight streets of Mitteldorf.
You are welcome to join one, for a small sum and a small task to
obtain the favor of your new mates. You can join the ranks of the
Mercenaries, the royal Men at Arms, the Thieves' Guild, the magical
Fellowship of Asegeir and the mischievous Brotherhood of Loki. Skills
are taught as you increase in rank within the guild, from lock picking
to fireballs and new ways to insert sharp implements into your
enemies.
Wandering around the city is an education in itself. You can talk to
people, ask them personal questions, and questions about the objects
you are searching for. If the questions get too personal, a fight may
ensue. This is the time when you are glad that you purchased that
metal suit and pig-sticker from your home town. The whole thing is
mouse based, from clicking on the "hail" icon to selecting the
question to ask the person. Depending on who the person is, the answer
or directions will be more or less accurate.
//// When you buy a sword, Look for the Union Label
You will be involved for quite some time with the pursuit of rank in
different guilds. I won't be spoiling anything by telling you that the
messages that Sven left you basically tell you that you need to be the
top man in a guild and in one of the religious orders. Some temples
and guilds won't have anything to do with you if you are a member of
other guilds. I have made my way into the Mercenary's guild, the Guild
of Thieves, (not easy to find, of course) and the Temple of Loki. The
others would not have much to do with me after I joined the Merc's
guild.
There are numerous object just lying around the streets, everything
from jugs of ale, to a ham, axes, and even jewelry. Don't hesitate to
pick these items up as they can be sold for cash or consumed as
needed. There are three magical items available for the finding. I
have found two of them, seven league boots, and and magical gauntlets.
I won't tell you where they are, but they weren't hard to find. Look
everywhere. Certain skills will allow you to complete missions and
jobs to climb the ranks of your chosen guild.
//// The final roundup
In conclusion, this game is more like the Bard's Tale than Dungeon
Master. The 3D views are superb, especially with a graphics
accelerator, and even with 16 colors in 320x200. There are enough
things to do, and not in any overall set order, to keep you busy.
Completing missions for rank and profit keeps the interest up, as you
don't get stuck in a dead end trying to figure out a single quest. If
you run out of time to complete a mission (they all have time limits),
you lose the money you paid the guild, but can try it again later.
The problems were few. The first problem I had with this game was that
you can get nose-up to a wall without a graceful way out of the
problem. I did find a way that you can back up smoothly without a
bunch of mouse maneuvers. Just like you can move forward with the left
mouse button held down, pressing BOTH mouse buttons at the same time
will move you in reverse. You can then back away from a wall and find
the door you were searching for!
Another small point is that while you have an automapper, each time
you reenter an area, you have to re-start the map. If you explore a
dungeon, the map should be retained. There should also be a way of
recalling the quest you have been called out on. Having read several
jobs, and paid to go on a guild mission, if you are interrupted
frequently, as I am, it is easy to forget small details. I am using a
$1000 computer, and should be able to keep track of these things. A
mission roster should be available to recall what needs to be gotten
where. You can sell items that are in your possesion to any store, but
there seems to be only a limited number of slots available for items
to be sold in the store. Frustrating when you have more than four
items you want to sell, but having the slots there means that you can
recover the items you sold, for a while anyway.
The documentation is easy to read, and should be read before the game
starts. I usually don't like to read docs, but these were not bad.
Overall I recommend this game for Dungeon Master and Bard's Tale fans
who might have missed it the first time around, and want more than
just another clone of the same old thing. It is also worth a look for
anyone with a Mega STe or other sped-up ST, as it is a game that will
show off the abilities of your machine. I have not tried it on a
Falcon030, and it does not work on a TT030.
Units 2/3 Holford Way
Holford
Birmingham
B6 4BR
UK
1 MEG
Hard drive Installable
Mouse
ST/MSTe compatible
Not TT compatible
$79.95 MSRP
$59.95 at STeve's Software
1-800-487-7753
1-916-661-3328
This software was generously lent to me by STeve, and this review would
not have been possible without him. If you are a dealer or a
developer and would like to see a review of one of your products
reviewed here please contact one of the AEO STaff at
<aeo$@genie.geis.com>.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Of Lasers and Men 1.0 - Mini-Review
||| By: Timothy Wilson
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.8 Internet: wilsont@rahul.net
----------------------------------------------------------------
The latest but-not-quite-final version of the Wolf-3D clone has been
released. Look for it on your local FTP site or service as: laser10.zip.
OLaM uses the Falcon's true color mode to good effect for that "dark
hallway" look. Objects nearby are bright and visible, while far away
objects are hard to see in the murky black.
Unlike Wolf3D floors are also texture mapped. The textures used are
detailed and varied, with stone, mandelbrot sets and hi-tech walls.
It's also not a one-man show. The player is on the brown team, trying
to wipe out the greater numbers of the blue team. Often, I'd walk into
a room to find browns and blues blasting each other. The screen shows
how many blues, and how many browns are left alive.
As far as I could tell, there was only one weapon - a laser - and combat
was pretty much sit there and blast a blue guy while taking a few hits
yourself. The player starts with 1000 shield points, which slowly
regenerate when not being hit. Of course, at 0 shield points, you die,
and the screen blurs red slowly while an orchestra audibly mourns your
death.
The blues can't aim straight and have trouble blasting you at long
range. At "face-to-face" range, the lasers seem to do more damage, and
the blues don't miss as often, so it's unwise to attack close up.
There is very little in the way of sound. The blues "aerrow!" when
they die, and doors sound like a Star Trek door "sssssshirp!".
It seems that if I restarted a game, the blues no longer screamed, in
fact, I think all of the sounds disapeared. Lasers don't make much
noise, and it was impossible to tell if I was getting shot unless I
noticed my shield meter dropping.
In the end, it turns out to be a graphics demo. There is nothing in
the game that would make me register, at least in its present form.
There is no *game*, it seems to be just a pretty maze to walk around
in. Wait for a few more versions.
Current Ratings:
***** Really spiffy
**** Hey... groovy
*** Yeah. Uh huh.
** Thhhpt!
* Alakabeth has better.
- This blows chunks... BADLY.
Sound: * Gee, I counted 4 samples total. all very infrequent.
Music: ** An 'Ok' title music piece, but thats it otherwise.
Graphics: *** Very small view window, and limited range of movement.
Gameplay: - Face it, there ain't any.
Controls: * The mouse control was poor, and not sensitive enough.
Overall: ** According to the author, the graphics aren't done yet
(other beings had a large square for a body) and it
still seems too early to tell just what the author
has planned for the graphics - although it is OLaM 1.0!
--==--==--==--==--
||| The Unabashed Atariophile
||| By: Michael R. Burkley
/ | \ Delphi: MRBURKLEY GEnie: AEO.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It's been a busy two weeks! I can't believe all of the files I've
downloaded. I've uncompressed them and it adds up to nearly forty
megabytes of files and programs. Yikes! Now I'm really running out of
room. "Running faster to stay in the same place" strikes a little too
close to home for me.
I've been trying to catch up on a backload of files. I've done some of
them, but the trouble is I've not finished writing the descriptions
yet. I expect next issue will be quite large, but not this time. I've
been too busy.
What have I been busy with? Our church is in the process of purchasing
1.5 acres of vacant land (and a garage) adjacent to our present
location. Unfortunately for us, land prices are quite high where we
are. We had to pay $79,000 for the package. Now we have to figure out
how to pay for it! I've been delving into some of the finance oriented
programs I have available to figure out interest and principle
payments at various interest rates, pay back times, and more. Calling
lawyers and real estate brokers, banks, and Presbytery offices have
taken up quite a bit of my time. Sitting in front of my STE has been a
great relaxation! Here's some of those finance programs I have used.
[] 1040BS is a humorous look at a hypothetical (that's the BS part)
IRS simplified tax form under the Clinton Administration. There's
quite a list of possible "joint filers" and addresses ("homeless
specify the location of your dumpster"). Here's the line on listing
your income: "Wages, salaries, tips pandering income, etc. (i.e.,
everything you made last year)." Lots of other satire. Requires
PageStream 2.x to view.
[] AMORT gives you a DETAILED look at the amount of money you are
spending for a loan. It will print out the principle paid, the
interest paid and the totals for each month of the life of your loan.
Interest payments really add up, don't they? Color or mono.
[] BANKING by Tracy Garrison is Banker's Delight, is really seven
financial programs all wrapped up in GEM clothing. It will tell you
practically everything you need to know about your loans (or
prospective loans). It will also tell you the day of the week any date
is (or was).
[] BANKING2 is the Banking Comparison Shopper by Rod Smith. _Consumer
Reports_ magazine has discovered that banking costs vary widely even
in the same city. This program will help you sort through the maze of
charges, surcharges, and creative fees that banks and savings and loan
companies charge you. You can save big bucks - enough to by an STe
(almost!). C.R. showed that the difference in cost was $301 per year
for an "average-balance customer" between the least expensive and the
most expensive savings institutions in New York City. Check out this
program as see how much you might save! Color or mono. Docs included.
Printer supported but not required. By Roderick W. Smith. SHAREWARE.
[] BIGBUX14 by Thom Rechak of Krystalware is a new version of a good
financial program. If you need to know how much money you will end up
oweing on a loan, or how much you can afford to borrow, this program
is for you. Just about every financial question you might have can be
answered by this program (except where to get the money!) SHAREWARE.
Color or mono. Docs included.
[] BUD is Budget User Development by Bryan SToll. This program was
designed to give a standard ATARI ST user the ability to create simple
monthly budgets. The author (from Mentality, Inc.) wanted to make a
budget program that would use the ST and not abuse it. He succeeded!
Color only. FREEWARE, but you can get your own custom version made the
way you want it for only $5.00.
[] BUDGET is Budget Maker, ver. 1.0 by Robert M. Balay. This program
will help you make a budget for yourself. Making budgets is not a
particularly exciting task, but it is almost necessary if you want to
be comfortable with your finances. Knowing where you choose to spend
your money can help you to put your money where you choose, and that
relieves A LOT of stress. Color or mono. Docs and a sample budget
included. SHAREWARE. 36K.
[] CHCKBOOK v.2.4 by Aric Friesen (dated 1992) is an easy to use
checkbook program that combines keyboard and mouse commands to allow
you to manipulate your finances quickly and powerfully. Sort (FAST!)
all of your transactions by date, edit them, print them out, check off
cleared transactions, etc. Color or mono. On-line docs.
[] CHECKBAL by William Blair This program was developed to allow the
user to enter all withdrawals, deposits, and checks written on a bank
account into a file. The entries are placed in the file ordered on the
date the transaction occurred. The program allows the entries to be
searched using a number of criteria, and also will assist in balancing
the account. Color or mono. Documentation included.
[] CHEKBOOK is Chekbook v.1.19 by Steve MacMillan (date March 15,
1991). This program can aid you in getting today's complicated
checking account under control. Problems arise in balancing your
account when items are entered out of sequence due to automated teller
withdrawals, interest payments, and service charges. CHEKBOOK can help
you to balance your checkbook - to the penny. Color only. Docs
included. STE compatible (at least).
[] GEMCALC is Gem-Calc v.1.92 by Gregor Englmayer (dated 1988).
GEM-CALC is a simple spreadsheet program with a partial GEM interface
(pull-down menus) and built-in graphic handling of data. Variable
column width, configurable decimal place, printouts, DEGAS support,
and much more are all included. Paper output supported. A maximum of
26 columns and up to 999 rows may be used. Extensive docs included.
Color or mono. TOS 1.0--1.62 (at least) with any RAM.
[] HOMEACCT is Home Accountant v.1.0 by Ron Grimes. It is a very clean
program (pun intended!) that will help you keep your home finances in
order. Expense and income catagories, the ability to print checks, and
much more. Color only.
[] MC205 is a working demo (or free update if you already own the
commercial program!) of MEGA-Check 2 v.2.05 by Chris Muller of Muller
Automation (dated Nov., 1993). This newest upgrade to this constantly
improving product adds a large number of features, both in increased
speed of execution of a number of functions and in increased
functionality in many other areas. This is a fully working demo (with
only a 30 transaction limit) will allow you to easily (well, fairly
easily!) track your finances, personal, investment, and business. I
could go on with another 30 lines of description (that's how I already
wrote it!), but I won't. Just know that this is one detailed program.
Color or mono. At least one meg of RAM and DS disk required.
[] MICROCHK or MicroCheck ST by Clayton Walnum (dated 1989), noted
programing author, author of the famous 8 bit Microcheck, and now the
manager of the ST Advantage area on Delphi. This program will do
everything that you need done with your checkbook at home (except
arrange to have more money deposited.) A classic program that has not
lost its edge. Docs included. Shareware.
[] MONEYMAK is "How to Make Money With Your Micro" by Steven Howlett
and Alan J. Beards. This program is basically a disk based newletter
that gives you many practical and encouraging ways to make money using
your ST. Have you ever seen those "Make a Million Dollars in Your
Spare Time Next Week" ads? This isn't one of those "programs." It
tells you right from the start that making money is hard work, and you
don't make a lot right from the start. It gives you hints on how to
use your ST in WordProcessing, Video work, advertising, and many more
ways. I found it very interesting to read. Color only.
[] OPUS22 is an excellent spreadsheet. This is all you probably need.
Opus requires a one-megabyte ST. In addition, GDOS or G+Plus, printer
drivers, and fonts are needed to use the charting facility. SHAREWARE
by Doug Harrison. Color or mono. If you send in your Shareware
contribution Doug will send you a version of the program that will
work with Lotus 123 WKS and WK1 files. Extensive Docs.
[] PAPACNT is The Paperless Accountant. The name says it all. This is
an accounting program that does not generate any hard copy whatsoever.
You view your graphs and reports right on the screen. This demo
version will allow up to 50 transactions on any file you create. A new
and separate report module has been developed for registered owners.
Paperless Accountant will do just about anything budget or account
wise for you. This is a truly amazing product. Color or mono. Docs
included. SHAREWARE.
[] SHEET30D is a demo of SHEET version 3.0. This is a 4-in-1
integrated package. It is a spreadsheet program, database manager,
charting program and BASIC interpreter. The charting program can
generate graphs onscreen. If you have GDOS installed, you can set the
output to meta-file or printer. The charting program can also generate
BASIC commands for drawing the graph. The demo version has Save and
Load WKS disabled. By Mr. Chor-ming Lung. Excellent documentation
enclosed. SHAREWARE.
Now on to some of the other programs I've downloaded (both recently
and further in the past)....
[] 4_7_111 is 4-7-11 v.1.04 by John Phillips of EasyPill Software
(dated 1992). This program is a multi-game pack of solitaire card
games. It contains "Four" the four card game also known as Russian
Patience; "Seven" the familiar seven card solitaire game, and "Eleven"
the twelve card game also known as "Casting our Elevens." Color or
mono. This is a very nice shareware game. On registering you get an
.ACC version and a card design editor. Docs included. Not compatible
with Geneva in any mode I found (you can play the "Seven" game but you
can't access the menu bar to change to another game or to quit). I
found an older version of this program (v.1.02) on TOAD Hall BBS.
[] 680X_WIN is the "68-XX conference Falcon-only demo by Percy of
Light. It displays some "cool" DSP effects, with rotation of complex
dot images. It also plays a MOD file as all of this goes on.
[] ADVNTURE is a Calamus Vector Graphic (.CVG) created using OutLine
Art 3. By Don Harris of Laser's Edge Graphics, this picture shows the
word "Adventure" in an "arching" style reminicent of the Indiana Jones
logo. You must have Calamus S or SL, Outline Art 3 or another package
which allows viewing of OL3 .CVGs to view this file.
[] ANSIST30 is ANSI-ST v.0.30 by Mark Matts (dated April 16, 1994).
Once installed in your auto folder this small program will give your
machine ANSI screen output whilst maintaining VT52 compatibility. Any
(non-windowing) programs which use TOS screen output will now be able
to emulate ANSI, and not just those whose programmers specifically
included such support! Even Vanterm can now support ANSI BBS's....!
v0.30 fixes problems with VT52 emulation and can now be switched on or
off on the fly using the included utility programs or from within your
own program! Docs included. ST--Falcon. Color or mono. Since ST medium
res only uses four colors this program uses Bold, underlined, and
other variations on the available colors to mimic the full 16 colors
ANSI has available (it does similiar, but more extensive fixing for ST
mono screens as well). Shareware.
[] ATARIPCS is another amazing .PCS file. It shows a 3-D Atari logo
and name carved out of colored marble and sitting on a checkered
floor. I warn you right now, for quite some time I will be raving
about PhotoChrome pictures. Seeing 19,200 colors on an STe color
screen is amazing. The pictures are so lifelike, better than I have
seen before on an ST. Get PCHROME4!!
[] AUTO_SET is Auto Set v.1.0 by Alexander Hajnal (dated early 1994).
This simple AUTO Folder utility will allow you to set the screen
resolution and desktop at your start-up/reset. It will also allow you
to set the time and date for your system. GFA BASIC 3.5E source code
(.LST) and docs included. ST low and medium res. only.
[] BJ300 is a printer driver for the BJ-300W1/W2 and Calamus SL as
modified by Brian Woolf by using the Calamus SL Printer Generator
program. He also uploaded a printer driver for the BJ-330W1/W2
printer, and as he says that these are interchangable (the one for the
BJ-330 having more paper sizes), I recommend them both to you (see
BJ330 for that driver). If you have one of these printers (or the BJ
200 or 230 (or so B.W. thinks) you should get these drivers. They look
like they will allow you to get a lot out of those printers. These
drivers are a part of DMC Publishing's User to User program and so
these files should not be available online except through GEnie. Of
course, as a registered user of Calamus SL you can get it directly
from DMC.
[] BOX_CAR is v.1.0 or Box Car, a STOS 3D game by Robert Quezada (the
author or STOS Fix - an older version of same is included in this
file). This game (dated June 1, 1993) is a color only game in which
the object is to battle your opponent and blow him/her away with the
anti-car missles you carry. Your opponent must be on another ST--TT
machine and linked up with you either thought a modem or a null-modem
cable. You can tap into ten different camera angles to get a good view
of where your opponent is hiding (there are 10 blocking pyramids on
the retangular field. Easy to use, whether the connection is via
null-modem cable or by modem (a nice modem dialer is included in the
program). Joystick controlled. The graphics are only so-so (the cars
do look like boxes!), but the play is fun. A single-player practice
mode is also available. Docs included. Shareware.
[] CALC2 is a shareware CPX module by Torsten Dix and Oliver Teuber
(dated 1992). This CPX provides you with a four modal calculator:
Decimal, Binary, Octal, and Hexadecimal. Docs are all in German.
Shareware. 0This CPX (requiring Atari's XCONTROL.ACC, currently at
v.1.31).
[] DBICONS2 is a collection of 56 Falcon color desktop icons. Dated
April 17, 1994 and created (or edited from the originals) by Dr. Bob
(W.Parks) using his ICDRAW program, these icon files can be of use to
any Falcon owner. Use ICDRAW to insert these into your Falcon .RSC
file. Most icons are gathered as groups, but there are a few
individual icons.
[] DBICONS3 is a collection of 41 Falcon color desktop icons. Dated
April, 1994 and created (or edited from the originals) by Dr. Bob
(W.Parks) using his ICDRAW program, these icon files can be of use to
any Falcon owner. They are of commonly used programs and files which
you would easily recognize. Use ICDRAW to insert them in your Falcon
(or TOS 4.xx) .RSC file.
[] DBICONS4 is a collection of 45 Falcon color desktop icons. Dated
April, 1994 and created (or edited from the originals) by Dr. Bob
(W.Parks) using his ICDRAW program, or imported from the Windows world
(as ICO icons), these icon files can be of use to any Falcon owner.
They are of commonly used programs and files which you would easily
recognize. Use ICDRAW12 to insert them in your Falcon (or TOS 4.xx)
.RSC file.
[] DISPLCFN is a collection a PD Calamus Display fonts. I recommend
them to you. Below you will find a description of the files contained
in this archive.
AGATE is Agate Normal, a formerly PostScript PD font converted to a
Calamus .CFN font using FontDesigner and FontVerter. This complete
font is pleasing to look at with strong regular characters composed
of flowing lines of variable widths. Upper and lower case, numbers,
and many special characters are included.
AGATEBOL is Agate Bold, a bold version of the AGATE font described
above.
AGATEIT is Agate Normal Italics, a formerly PostScript PD font
converted to a Calamus .CFN font using FontDesigner and FontVerter.
This complete italic font is pleasing to look at with strong
regular characters composed of flowing lines of variable widths.
Upper and lower case, numbers, and many special characters are
included.
BROD_ENG is the Calamus Font Broadway Engraved by Ric Kalford. This
font is a pleasing display font. The letters are bold and appear as
if they have been engraved on a hard surface. Vertical lines
through the type gives a 3D impression. Upper and lower case
letter, numbers, and numerous special characters are included.
COOPER_R is Cooper Black, a Calamus Font converted from PageStream
font by Geoff Gass using FontVerter. This very bold display font
uses think yet flowing lines to create a font which will definately
stand out from your page. Upper and lower case letters, numbers and
punctuation included.
COUNTER is the Counter-Point Calamus font created by Ike
Eisenschmidt. This display font is upper case only, with numbers
and some punctuation. Using wide disjointed strokes the author has
created a font which would catch your attention simply because it
looks so different. The letters are well-done and clear, it just
that you sometimes need to look twice to see which letter is
represented (as was the authors intention I am sure).
CRILLEE is a bold italic Calamus font composed mostly of straight
lines and sharp corners. Used for titling in "Star Trek: The Next
Generation." This complete font (with lots of special characters)
would be useful for display purposes. In looking at this font using
JC View by M.Matts I can see that several lines making up the fonts
cross over other lines. This would render this fonts unusable in
Outline Art 1 from DMC, but wouldn't affect their use in Calamus
1.09 or higher at all. A lot of fonts have this problem and you
never know it unless you use Outline Art.
HARRINGT is a fancy Calamus font with upper and lower case letters,
numbers and some punctuation. Flowing letters, lots of serifs and
curliques and more, all point to a font you would use in a fancy
invitation.
HERON is Heron-Roman, a Calamus font converted from a PD PostScript
original. This display font features complete upper and lower case
letters, numbers, and some punctuation. The letters look more runic
than Roman, but that might just be due to me not knowing what I'm
talking about! They are thin-lined and tend to "flow" downward
towards the bottom of the page.
HERON_B is the Heron-Roman Bold Calamus font. This is a bold
version of the Heron font described above.
HERON_BI is a bold italic version of the Calamus Font, Heron-Bold,
described above.
HERON_I is an italic version of the Calamus Font, Heron-Roman,
described above.
HVSTRIPE is the HvStripe-Ex-Bold Calamus Font. This font consists
of a plain sans-serif font horizontally striped with numerous white
lines. Upper and lower case letters, numbers, and some punctuation
are included.
MIAMINIT is a display Calamus font containing upper and lower case
letters, numbers, punctuation, and numerous special characters.
While the letters are clear, they are stylized (I've seen them used
in a variety of places including some Children's Keyboard learning
games!).
REVUE is a bold and massive Calamus Font. It's straight where the
lines are straight and very rounded where they are curved. How's
-that- for a description!
RHEINLND is a display Calamus font composed in the style of
illuminated manuscripts. The upper and lower case letters are easy
to read, but have lots of extraneous serifs attached to them.
Numbers and punctuation, too.
ROOSTH is a Calamus .CFN font. It is a heavy yet flowing font that
can be used in small point ranges, but is better used in Headlines
and standouts. This contains both caps and lower case letters,
with a smattering of special characters.
SLABFACE is a Calamus display font composed of many straight line
"slabs" pushed together in the shape of letters. Some have merged
into complete letters while others are still in the process (though
all can easily be seen as the letter they represent). Upper and
lower case, numbers, and a smattering of punctuation.
TOULOUSE is Toulouse Lautrec, an elegant Calamus display font. This
is really the same font as Heron above (Heron-Roman), but there are
enough differences that you can tell it came from a different
source. Use them both and decide which one you like best! This
font is used in titling the TV show "Murder She Wrote."
UPPREAST is the Upper East Side Calamus display font. This slim,
vertically oriented font comes with upper and lower case letters,
no punctuation (that's strange!) and several special characters.
[] OTHERCFN is a file containing three different Calamus fonts. Here
they are...
HALLBATS by Michael D. Hall is a very complete rendition of Zapf
dingbats. Keys, an airplane, notes, symbols, scissors, snowflakes
and more are all included. I have this font already from another
archive and know it is shareware. Unfortunately this archive
doesn't include the registration information for this font. Check
out HALFONTS for a complete set of several of M. Hall's Calamus
fonts (they are are nice). That file has the shareware docs in it.
OLYMPIA is an easy-to-read Typewriter-type non-proportional Calamus
font created by Sandy Cerovich. Containing upper and lower case
letters, numbers, and punctuation, this slight and flowing serif
text would be a pleasant font to use for many purposes.
PSTCRYPT is Post Crypt, a display Calamus font that is also a play
on words! This upper case font (lower case letters are included,
but they are just smaller versions of the upper case). Numbers and
punctuation marks are here, too. The letters are dripping all sorts
of slime off of them, and some of the special characters are
equally as interesting!
[] EALPHA is the Eliemouse Alpha Quest game by Albert Baggetta. It is
a simple, yet useful color program. Eliemouse (part mouse, part
elephant) appears at the top of the screen and says he wants to
introduce your child to the Alphabet. This is a game for young
children just starting to learn the alphabet. They might need some
help from mom or dad. Lots of color, sound effects, and music.
Shareware.
[] FADE_FIX by Mark Slagel (the author of the fantastic SilkMouse -
the best mouse accelerator and screen saver around, IMHO) is a Degas
.PI3 file which tells you how to fix a common problem with SM124 mono
monitors. Many SM124 monitors dim when only a few pixels are lit (for
instance, when a windowless (TOS/TTP) program is displaying white text
on black). This simple fix (only a dollar in parts and some soldering)
will fix this problem.
[] ICDRAW12 is the Icon Editor v.1.2 for the Falcon030 by W.D. Parks,
a.k.a., Dr. Bobware (dated April 25, 1994). With this program you will
be able to create some new and different color icons for your Falcon's
Desktop. Since no one else was making an icon editor (that Dr. Bob
knew of), he decided to do one himself. ICDRAW can read a TOS v.4 .RSC
file and edit any of the color icons therein. This version adds ICO
import and export capabilities and several other editing features. It
does not add to or delete from the icons in the .RSC, but only allows
you to change them. It also only deals with icons that are the normal
32x32 pixels (both mono and 4-plane [16-color] icons). Detailed docs
included. Requires 640x480 16-color resolution. (Runs on Falcon030s
and in TT030 Medium.) Shareware.
[] ICPAGE12 is Iconpager v.1.02 by W.D.Parks, aka Dr. Bobware (dated
April 26, 1994). This program, which runs in 16 color mode on a
Falcon, TT and ST/E will display onscreen a folder's worth of Falcon
(or TOS 4.xx) desktop icons (in Dr. Bobware's ICDDRAW's IBI & IB3
formats). It will display as many icons (in groups of three) as will
fit on the screen, paging from that point onward if necessary to
display the complete folder. It will also tell you all sorts of
information about the icon you select. In Falcon 640x480 mode this
will show up to 54 icon groups per screen page (arrayed as 6x9). Now
we ST/E'ers can see all those fantastic icons which come naturally on
the Falcon! You can also copy and delete your icons, too. This version
fixes screen re-draw problems, and changes some of the keyboard
controls. Docs included.
[] KTA is Kill Them All by ODC/Sector One (dated Nov. 28, 1992). This
French language virus killing program will check for a wide variety of
boot sector and link viruses on your ST--TT and will allow you to kill
them at will. It will also tell you if executable code on your boot
sector is an anti-virus (a small program designed to warn you of any
virus contaminating your system). This is shareware and only the
registered version will recognize link viruses. Enough of the program
is in "Computer English" so that you can get by, even if you
understand no French.
[] MEGAFLI is MegaFli v.1.0 by Christophe Boyanique (dated Sept. 5,
1993). This .TTP program will run on any TOS 1.0--Falcon machine, in
any screen resolution. It will allow you to split up huge files (or
even small files if you want to do something fairly useless!) so that
they might easily fit on floppy disks for transport to another system.
It will then allow you to re-assemble the sections into one useable
whole on the other system. One very nice thing about this program is
that it contains a PC version which will run on IBM compatibles. This
allows you to split and re-combine files from one system to another.
Great idea! Docs in French or English. Postcardware.
[] MINTCNF is a .CNF file for MultiTOS by Robert Quezada (of STOSFIX
fame). This file will set MultiTOS to give a higher priority to the
top window allowing the main application you are using to run faster,
thus making MultiTOS seem much faster than it otherwise would. You can
change this priority to any value with any ASCII text editor. I would
recomend this file to all MultiTOS users. Uploaded Feb. 22, 1994.
[] MONGEN51 is the Monster Generator v.5.1 by R. Bowen. This editor
will allow you (the GrandMaster) to make your own Fantasy Role-Playing
monsters with over 40 encounter variables. Since I don't play such
games I really don't know what this does! It doesn't mention any
specific game for which it is designed, so I assume that it will work
in a rather generic manner. The interface looks nice and seems easy to
use. ST--TT compatible (in ST res.). Shareware.
[] MS21_PRG and MS21FILS make up the complete version 2.1 of Magic
Spell by Thomas A. Savino, RPh (uploaded Nov. 27, 1993). The author
uploaded this program in two portions to save downloading time for
those of you who have downloaded previous versions (you only need the
MS21_PRG file). Everyone else will need both archives to get the
complete package. I liked the first version of this program enough
that I registered it. Along with the registration I made some
suggestions for some possible improvements in the program. This
version implements them all and more besides! Amazing!
This is an excellent program that was designed to encourage people to
improve their spelling skills. As u no I dont hav ne problem with mi
speling abillidy, but I still enjoy this program. After a brief
initialization the Wizard (the Spelling Wizard, that is) presents you
with a number of letters at the top of the screen (the most letters at
the Easy level, with fewer at the Medium level, and the fewest at the
Hard level, and now the program will auto-save your preferences). Your
task is to try to make up to ten words using those letters (mor then
once, if nesessare). The length of the words, and the frequency of the
letters involved (a "Z" scores more than an "A") determine your score.
You can now set the game length to be from one to 10 minutes If after
you have placed a word you find a better one you can go back and
change your selection (but watch out! There is a possible cost
involved if you run out of time!) After you are done you can access
the dictionary to see all of the words you could have picked (A LOT!).
You can also add to the 2600+ word dictionary included with this file,
either from within the program itself or with the included editor.
Brief appearances by the Wizard and many other "touches" to this
program that show that the author has done his homework in program
design and friendliness. Color (and the program now uses some color to
brighten things up, though I would wish it would use more) or mono.
Docs included. Recommended. Shareware (with an interesting incentive
to register). TOS 1.0--TT compatible (at least) in ST resolutions.
[] PFH is the Pro Football Handicapper by Mark Glowka. This program
will allow you to take football stats from any newspaper (the author
recommends USA Today), insert them into this program, and win in your
illegal football betting big time (he says a 70% or better winning %
against the spread). Color only. Docs included. Hmmm... let's see, I
was just talking to a lawyer connected to our church yesterday and he
told me of a client who was about to lose his home because he had
mortgaged it to pay for his sports betting. Somehow I don't think that
this program would really help. Do you honestly think so?
Here are some STalker BackTalk scripts which I've recently downloaded
from Delphi.
[] FKLOADR2 is v.2.0 of a STalker BackTalk script (.BTK) by Jon Emery
(dated Feb. 25, 1994) which will allow you to load a function key set
by simply pushing two buttons. With this script loaded, your favorite
function key sets will always be with in easy reach. Either set it up
to load a favorite set-up or to allow you to choose (via mouse) which
one you want. Docs included. This version adds error checking and
other options over v.1.0.
[] SCRIBE is Scribe v.2.0, a STalker BackTalk Script (.BTK) for use
with the STalker telecommunications PRG/ACC from Gribnif Software. By
Jon Emery (dated March 6, 1994) this script will record an online
session, conference, or anything else that is received by STalker. You
can send the Text you receive to your printer, a disk, or to STeno.
Version 2 has been improved with further error checking routines
added. Docs. Scribe is "SainTware" shareware so if you use it and like
it, be a SainT and send $5 to the author!
[] SETTER is v.2.0 of Jon Emery's STalker BackTalk script which will
allow you to set Clear/Home and Type-ahead Parameters. Some systems
will send STalker a clear/home signal after each incoming signal. This
is a pain because this will clear STalker's scrollback buffer leaving
you with no means to backtrack and re-read messages (unless you are
using STeno or EdHack as the main capture buffer - something I do all
the time). Setter will allow you to fix that problem, pronto (bravo!).
The second function of this script is to set the Typeahead Parameter.
With this set to ignore STalker will send text from STeno at full
speed. With it set to obey STalker will sent text from STeno following
the current ascii upload settings. This script is SainT shareware, so
be a SainT and send $5 the author (support Shareware!). Docs included.
[] TXTSNDR is v.1.0 of a STalker BackTalk script (.BTK) by Jon Emery
(dated Feb. 25, 1994) which will allow you to attach any text file
quickly and easily to any E-mail or online postings you send. This is
very handy for those header, signature, and return addresses which
your regularly send. Using this script will allow you to do it with
just a button push from TXTSNDR's alert box. SainTware (you're a saint
if you send something to him!). Docs included.
Back to our regular show...
[] SHOCKER2 by M. Hintzen and J. Verwohlt is an EXCELLENT game! I
recommend it to you. First of all it allows two players to play with
each other or against each other as they attempt to solve the puzzles
in 100 different levels (via MIDI or Modem). Of course, one player can
play by him/herself. The first ten levels are free, but after that you
need to register to get the clues you need to continue. Mouse
controlled, this ST--Falcon compatible game is easy to use and a lot
of fun. I warn you, it's one of those "I'll try it one more time" type
games. You roll your ball about the screen negotiating various mazes,
picking up a variety of objects, and avoiding all the bad-guys. If you
liked OXYD, then you will like this game. German or English (you
choose). Mono only. Online help and documentation included.
[] PI3->PI2 is a program by Alexander Hajnal (dated 1994) which will
allow you to convert high res. Degas picture files (.PI3) to medium
res files (.PI2). GEM based, this program intelligently converts the
pictures using a gray scale "fill" to deal with the different pixel
displays of the color and mono monitors. Docs included. Shareware.
ST-TT compatible (in ST res).
[] RECIPE45 is The Recipe Box v.4.5 by Anthony W. Watson (Dated April
8, 1994). This is a very useful program with a very attractive and
easy to use interface that allows you to enter, store, view, edit,
resize, and print out your up-to 2.5 million recipes (with lots of
options all around). Not only can you store recipies, but you can
organize your grocery purchases, plan your meals, check the calories
of a wide variety of foods, take advantage of the Atari Clipboard,
export your files to other recipe formats, and more! This program has
certainly improved since I first saw it (but then again, what else
could I expect from a dedicated programmer like A.W. of Mountain
Software!).
The Recipe Box will import Computer Chef, The Recipe Box (v.3.5), and
Meal-Master (any version) recipe files. GEM based. This will accept
GDOS fonts if GDOS is installed. You can customize your printer. Color
or mono. ST/STe/TT/ Falcon and even the Cyrel Graphics Card
compatible. Docs (online and written) and numerous recipes included.
You can run this program with a minimum of one meg free RAM and a DS
floppy disk, but more RAM and a hard drive is nice (it quits cleanly
from the hard drive!) SHAREWARE (limited only in that but 60 recipes
may be loaded). Upgrades to this program are frequent and valuable.
This upgrade adds several new features, improvements and a bug fix or
two. Check this excellent program out!
[] SANS_CFN is a collection of Sans Serif (without Serifs, those
little bits and pieces that hang off the edge of letters and draw your
eye along to the next letter, thus enhancing readibility in small
type). Here they are:
MICRON contains four complete fontfaces Garth E. Wood. They are the
Micron Demi font, the italics version of M.D., the Micron Bold
Extended font, and its italicized version. These font's are very
similar to Microgramma Bold Extended. It is often used for headlines
because it is clean and modern. If you're a fan of Star Trek
paraphernalia, much of the written material uses this font for
headlines. The author says these fonts are complete, and he means
*complete*! Can also be used in Outline Art. "Donation-ware"
SPOKANE is a Calamus display font by Joe Ceklosky. Nothing fancy
about this one, but it is complete in that it offers upper and lower
case letters and punctuation. I've seen this font before, in
advertising mostly.
[] SEGA2TOS is a text file from Home Alternatives of Canada (Bill
Devonshire) which tells of their new method of modifying a SEGA
Genesis or Smart16 hand controller so that you might use it on any
ST--Falcon in place of a joystick. It seems like a pretty good deal.
Dated April 30, 1994.
[] SYSIN160 is SYSINFO v.1.60 by David Troy of Toad Computers (dated
April, 1994). This freeware program will check out your modem for
compatibility with STraight FAX! available through Toad Computers. Now
even compatible with more modems than ever before (including the modem
I had!). Not content to just check for STraight FAX! compatibility,
this program will also inspect and report on your entire system
configuration - everything from your TOS version to your GDOS version
to your AUTO folder, some obscure TSR's and cookies (in the cookie
jar). The program will save the results of all these texts in an ASCII
text file, now also allowing you to add your own name, address,
STraight FAX! registration number, and more (in case you need to send
it into TOAD). ST/STE/TT/Falcon/Gemulator compatible (MultiTOS and
Geneva, too). Color or mono. TOAD Computers is a dealer which not only
sells fine equipment and software - they give it away as well. Their
online presence is much appreciated.
[] SIXTEEN by is an excellent and challenging version of the solitaire
game called the English Sixteen Puzzle. You are presented with a board
containging 17 spaces, and there are 16 markers (eight white and eight
black) on the board. The object of the game is to move the markers so
as to exchange their positions. Do it in less moves than anyone else
and you will end up in the Hall of Fame. This is one of those games
that you will try "just one more time" an an attempt to better your
score. The game has online helps, the ability to take back moves,
replay your game, and more. It's all in German, but you can figure it
out. Mono only. STE compatible (at least).
[] SOSHANG is SOS HangMan v.2.02 by John R. Duckworth, the well known
author and programmer (dated Aug 21, 1993). This is an .ACC version of
this well-known game will now run on any ST--Falcon. Bootup with this
.ACC (or use MultiDesk Deluxe, Geneva, DC Stuffer, or Chameleon to
load and unload at will, but you must keep the data file in your
bootup drive). Guess the letters of the word until you die or get the
word right! There are seven categories of puzzles (with over 400
puzzles included): Cinema, Personalities, Literature, Television,
Music, Toons, and Arcade. Thanks for a nice diversion John (and I like
your taste in music, too). Color or mono. Docs included.
[] SPORTS by Bob Frazier (dated Oct. 13, 1993) is a tile set for
Mahjong 3.0 by Calico Superior Software (created using CSS's Tile Set
Creator). It consists of 36 different pictures related to SPORTS. If
you have CSS's Mahjong then get this file!
[] T4EDITOR is the T4 Color Icon Editor v.1.1 by Sam McGee. This
program edits the color desktop icons used in TOS versions 4.xx and
greater. From the looks of the included directions there are quite
extensive editing functions available. It will only work on a
Falcon030 in 80 column 16 color VGA resolution. This program can have
two DESKICON files in memory, an imported mono icon .RSC file, and 33
color and mono .IB3 files (from Dr. Bobware's ICDDRAW program). Any
color or mono icon in either of the three loaded files can be edited
or copied to another color/mono icon. The imported mono .RSC icons can
only be copied to other color/mono icons. Shareware. I found this on
the CodeHead BBS.
[] VISUALIZE is an amusing .IMG drawing of Bill Clinton behind bars in
prison clothes. Underneath are the words "Visualize Impeachment."
Somehow I don't think that would be the best for our country!
That's all for now folks. Talk to you next issue!
Michael
All of these files can be found on one or more of the following
on-line services: GEnie (M.BURKLEY1), Delphi (MRBURKLEY), The CodeHead
BBS (213-461-2095), and at Toad Hall, now the official BBS of the
Boston Computer Society (617-567-8642) (Michael R. Burkley). Drop me a
line!
Michael lives in Niagara Falls, NY. He is a former Polyurethane
Research Chemist and is presently the pastor of the Niagara
Presbyterian Church.
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||| Atari ST RT News
||| By: John G. Hartman
/ | \ GEnie: J.G.H.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Atari RT Weekly News 5.1
= REALTIME CONFERENCE =
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This month's Dateline Atari! is cancelled due to Bob Brodie
being on vacation. Join us Friday, June 3rd for the next
edition of Dateline Atari!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
= IN THE BULLETIN BOARD =
------------------------------------------------------------------
New Atari Works Topic - CAT 14 TOP 23 - Bug Reports!
Please post your bug reports on Atari Works. All messages
will be compiled and sent to Atari Corporation.
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= ATARI RT LIBRARY =
= RTC TRANSCRIPTS =
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Desc: Processor Direct RTC 30 Mar 94
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= LAST MONTH'S DEMO RELEASES =
------------------------------------------------------
32730 STEAMDMO.ZIP X DJSAMUEL 940501 22912 17 10
Desc: Automated saturated steam tables
32705 LAZER_1.ZIP X STEVE-J 940427 1073280 30 10
Desc: Falcon030 demo from Germany - Part 1
32704 LAZER_2.ZIP X STEVE-J 940427 1223424 36 10
Desc: Falcon030 demo from Germany - Part 2
32599 DB3DEMO.LZH X ORA 940413 117504 157 10
Desc: Diamond Back 3 Demo
32534 BACKW252.ZIP X R.SHEPPARD5 940408 40576 86 10
Desc: BACKWARDS 2.52 Falcon to ST Emulator
32502 THOUGHT.TOS X GRMEYER 940405 90240 121 10
Desc: Thought! Idea/Flowchart program
32492 F030BLOW.ZIP X C.LABELLE 940404 52224 84 10
Desc: Blow Up, Falcon resolution enhancer
------------------------------------------------------
= LAST TWO WEEK'S TOP 10 DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS =
------------------------------------------------------
32667 SYSIN160.ZIP X TOAD 940421 44032 241 7
Desc: Toad Computers' SYSINFO Version 1.60
32683 4_7_111.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940424 34176 182 8
Desc: GEM mono and color solitaire
32681 WINCOL_E.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940423 14592 181 2
Desc: colors window gadgets, like wcolors
32654 LHA301.TOS X R.ANISKO 940419 284032 149 40
Desc: Lharc 3.01 - Shell now Geneva-compt
32657 VIPERS.ZIP X D.MCANDREW 940419 8704 133 16
Desc: Warp 9 v3.80 EOS Module
32629 DBICONS2.LZH X W.PARKS3 940417 29568 119 18
Desc: Icon collection for Falcon desktop.
32652 DBICONS3.LZH X W.PARKS3 940419 18176 97 18
Desc: Falcon desktop icons (#3: filetypes)
32631 ANSIST30.LZH X GRMEYER 940417 14208 97 7
Desc: ANSI-ST v0.30 ANSI screen driver
32697 FELTFONT.TOS X DMCPUBLISH 940426 31232 94 30
Desc: SL friendly Feltmarker font
32656 MB40_BIN.LZH X R.ANISKO 940419 147968 91 2
Desc: MasterBrowse 4.0
------------------------------------------------------
= LAST MONTH'S TOP 10 DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS =
------------------------------------------------------
32553 STZIP25.TOS X L.SMITH70 940410 138880 444 40
Desc: STZIP version 2.5
32496 DRIVE144.ZIP X P.GRIFFITH2 940404 2560 257 27
Desc: HD floppy in your ST
32505 LHA3.TOS X L.SMITH70 940405 269184 247 40
Desc: LHarc 3.00 with shell (self extract)
32667 SYSIN160.ZIP X TOAD 940421 44032 241 7
Desc: Toad Computers' SYSINFO Version 1.60
32579 PCHROME4.ZIP X OUTRIDER 940411 41088 232 28
Desc: PhotoChrome v4.00!!
32604 OCR12.ZIP X GRMEYER 940413 138880 216 6
Desc: a freeware OCR program!
32526 NEO3SECR.LZH X A.FASOLDT 940408 35968 210 15
Desc: Revised "Secrets of NeoDesk"
32683 4_7_111.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940424 34176 182 8
Desc: GEM mono and color solitaire
32614 VERICARD.ZIP X M.BRINKWORTH 940415 5376 182 21
Desc: Verify if a credit card is valid
32681 WINCOL_E.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940423 14592 181 2
Desc: colors window gadgets, like wcolors
------------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
||| Developing news!
||| Items of interest from TOS platform developers and supporters
/ | \ -------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Texas Atari Festival June 4-5, 1994
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
----> Texas Atari Festival Update <----
We are happy to annouce the recent confirmation of the following vendors
for the 1994 Texas Atari Festival:
DMJ Software - Damien Jones
Gribnif Software - Rick Flashman
Trace Technologies - Keith Gerdes
TOAD Computers - Dave and Jennifer Troy
More Than Games - Rick Detlefson
GEnie - Mike Allen
(pending vacation status :^)
We hope to have more confirmations soon.
If anyone is in need of a rental vehicle, arrangements have been made with
Enterprise Rent-A-Car for special rates.
For Compact cars (Ford Escort, Nissan Sentra, Ford Tempo, Chevy Cavalier,
Plymouth Sundance, Plymouth Acclaim, or Toyota Corolla)
$25.00 per day
$ 2.50 10% luxury tax
-----
$27.50
For Midsize cars (Chevy Lumina, Ford Taurus, Oldsmobile Supreme)
$35.00 per day
$ 3.50 10% luxury tax
-----
$38.50 per day
Contact Mike Krawitz at (210) 520-0819 for rental arrangements. Out of
state drivers and drivers under 21 require proof of insurance and a
credit card deposit.
I haven't had a chance to check out local hotels, but I would urge
anyone who is staying to check out the cheap rates available at St.
Mary's University. Send E-mail to R.HELSEL or C.CASSADAY for more
info.
//// Atari Vendor/Developer Information
The Texas Atari Festival '94 will be held in San Antonio on June 4th &
5th on the beautiful campus of St. Mary's University. Some of you will
remember us as the Fiesta Atari Computer Show last year. As well as a
change of name we have expanded from a one day show to a two day
affair. The ST Atari League of San Antonio, (SALSA), wants you to come
down to sunny San Antonio and show us your wares, meet a bunch of
really fantastic, fun people, and generally just have a great time!
//// What's in it for you?
First and formost is a chance to show off your product(s) to an eager
audience. San Antonio has not had an Atari dealer for over a year now
so everything purchased has been either through the mail or on trips
out of town. As far as I know, the nearest dealers are in Houston or
Dallas and that covers a lot of Atarians, not just the folks in San
Antonio.
Secondly we don't limit our show to Atari users only. If you have a
product(s) that can be used on several platforms then TAF '94 is ideal
for you. The show will focus on how to use a computer in general, and
what a computer can do for you. Last year we got a good response from
users of all platforms as well as folks who were a bit phobic about
computers in general. Our goal is to show people that computers are
more than just expensive paper weigths or machines that have to be
dusted every month! If attendees have questions about why we use Atari
computers then we'll be happy to tell them, but our main thrust is
towards computer users as a whole.
Thirdly we plan to anchor the show with three main areas of interest.
Those areas are MIDI, Desk Top Publishing, and gaming, both hand held
and console. The idea is a simple one. Use broad areas of interest to
encourage people to attend the show and when they get here show them
all the other neat stuff that is availible to them! I know that there
is a lot of interest in MIDI in our area. Currently we plans to have
several MIDI demos each day and that should bring in a lot of
interested folks. We also plan to have an area dedicated to DTP and
all of the things that go along with it. Finally we plan to set up a
gaming area featuring the Jaguar and the Lynx. With these three high
profile areas as anchors and an expanded schedule we hope to have so
much traffic we won't know what to do with ourselves!!
//// So what's the bottom line??
Plain and simple, it's sign up and come. The sooner we know that you
are coming the sooner we can get the word out. We were successful
using local TV, radio, and newspapers and online services last year
and we hope to add the national Atari magazines this year. As soon as
your application hits our mailbox every Atarian within shouting
distance will know about it. Questions? Look through the packet we
sent with this letter. If you just want to chat with me you can reach
me via snail mail, Ma Bell or on GEnie. Just remember, this isn't a
work related trip to a great vacation spot, this a great chance for a
vacation that will include a little bit of work and LOTS of fun!
Thanks for your consideration,
Scott Helsel, Event Coordinator
Texas Atari Festival '94
13938 Brantley
San Antonio, Texas 78233
210-655-4672
GEnie address - R.Helsel
InterNet address - R.Helsel@genie.geis.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Connecticut Atarifest '94 News August 27-28
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Due to the unforseen closing of the Windsor Court Hotel - site of last
year's CT AtariFest '93 - Show Organizers have chosen alternative
quarters. This year's CT AtariFest will be held at the Holiday Inn in
Bridgeport, CT - site of the original 1991 show! This will put the
show 1.5 hours outside of New York City, and should make it easier for
Big Apple Atarians to attend. Bridgeport is located on the
Connecticut coast, at exit 26 off of Interstate 95. It is served by
Amtrack Passenger Trains, Sikorsky Airport Terminal, The Port
Jefferson Ferry, and a multitude of highways.
CT AtariFest is in its fourth year and is one of the largest Atari
Computer Shows in the WORLD! Come on out and see the top vendors and
top software companies in person. Participate in head to head Lynx and
Jaguar competitions for loads of prizes. For further information, call
Brian or Angela at 203-332-1721 or send E-mail to 75300,2415 on CIS,
D.FINCH7 on GEnie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari's Summer Lynx Games Deal
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
NEW LYNX VALUES FROM ATARI!
Now there's NO excuse!
Atari Corporation has a new summer deal everyone should enjoy... New
low prices on almost every Lynx video game. By special arrangement
with the factory, a large but limited quantity of 60 outstanding game
titles have been set aside especially for this special offer.
Now and for a limited time, buy popular Lynx titles by Atari for as
little as 14.99 each (SRP). Enjoy the fast paced action of Pinball Jam
or an exciting whirl around the track with up to 6 ComLynx'd friends
with Checkered Flag. Look for chilling answers to ghastly problems
with Dracula The Undead for only $19.99 each (SRP). Beat incredible
odds against an army of adversaries with Ninja Gaiden III for only
$29.99 (SRP). In fact, NO specially reduced cartridge is priced any
higher than $29.99. Most cartridges are less than $15.
If you are tired of the same old thing that the other guys ram in
front of your face, then ask your dealer for the system that's
exploding with colorful excitement. Find out what head-to-head ComLynx
gaming is all about. Spend your allowance on the system that leaves
you change for lunch!
Can't find the Lynx or great Lynx titles in your area?
Call 1-800-221-3343 or 1-800-GO-ATARI toll free,
Monday thru Friday; 9am to 5pm Pacific time.
OR Write: Atari Lynx "Summer Steal Deal"
P.O. 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1657
OR fax your order to Atari at 1-408-745-2088
OR send a message from any online service through the
Internet to <70007.2363@compuserve.com> or to
<atari@genie.geis.com>.
Any way you do it... Get Connected... Get the Lynx!
NOW $29.99
==========
AWESOME GOLF* NINJA GAIDEN III
TOKI WARBIRDS*
NOW $19.99
==========
A.P.B. BATMAN RETURNS
BLUE LIGHTENING CALIFORNIA GAMES*
CRYSTAL MINES II DINOLYMPICS
DIRTY LARRY RENEGADE COP DRACULA THE UNDEAD
GORDO 106 HOCKEY*
JIMMY CONNORS TENNIS* LEMMINGS
MALIBU BEACH VOLLEYBALL* NFL FOOTBALL*
NINJA GAIDEN PITFIGHTER*
POWER FACTOR SCRAPYARD DOG
SHADOW OF THE BEAST STEEL TALONS
SWITCHBLADE II TURBO SUB*
VIKING CHILD PAPERBOY
NOW $14.99
==========
BASEBALL HEROES* BASKETBRAWL*
BILL & TED'S ADVENTURE* BLOCKOUT
CHECKERED FLAG* CHIPS'S CHALLENGE
ELECTROCOP GATES OF ZENDOCON
GAUNTLET 3RD ENCOUNTER* HARD DRIVIN'
HYDRA ISHIDO
KLAX KUNG FOOD
LYNX CASINO* MS. PAC-MAN
PACLAND PINBALL JAM
RAMPAGE* RAMPART*
ROADBLASTERS ROBO-SQUASH*
RYGAR S.T.U.N. RUNNER
SHANGHAI* SUPERSKWEEK*
TODD'S ADV/SLIME WORLD* TOURNAMENT CYBERBALL*
WORLD CLASS SOCCER* XENOPHOBE*
XYBOTS* ZARLOR MERCENARY*
* denotes multiplayer games. Atari Corporation reserves
the right to correct typing errors or to change
promotional pricing at any time without notice.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// chro_MAGIC's MultiSync Gizmo
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Atari Falcon030 offers more graphics modes than any previous Atari
computer. When you add the modes possible with video enhancers like
FalconsScreen*, SWABS*, ScreenBlaster*, & BlowUp030* the possibilities
are seemingly endless. Unfortunately, there is a problem in trying to
access all these wonderful graphics modes. Some require a VGA type
monitor to be connected to the Falcon030 while others require an
SC1224 (RGB) type monitor to be connected. Most "standard" VGA
monitors aren't capable of displaying some of the RGB modes and most
RGB monitors can't handle the VGA modes.
So, you say to yourself, I'll go and buy a multisync monitor (like the
NEC 3D*) that is capable of displaying all the video modes.
Unfortunately, the existing adapters for MultiSync monitors make the
Falcon030 think that a VGA only monitor is connected and therefore the
computer refuses to use all it's available modes. How can you get the
full use of your multisync monitor?
chro_MAGIC Software Innovations offers the MultiSync Gizmo as a
solution to your multisync monitor troubles. The MultiSync Gizmo is a
monitor adapter that has a switch to toggle between VGA and RGB modes.
Just plug in your multisync monitor and set the switch - that's all
there is too it. You can even switch between VGA and RGB "on the fly"
without having to reboot the computer.
The MultiSync Gizmo is backed by a full 1 year warranty & is available
NOW from your local dealer or direct from chro_MAGIC. Suggested retail
price is only $24.99 (US).
chro_MAGIC Software Innovations
516 North Jackson
Joplin, MO 64801
United States
Phone: +1-417-623-7393
Note: Requires an Atari Falcon030 and a multisync monitor with a 15
pin connector. May also be used as a VGA adapter when the switch is
set to VGA mode.
Also available from chro_MAGIC
RAM Gizmo for Falcon030 - $99.00 suggested retail
Pianistics 1.20 for ST/STe/TT/Falcon - $79.00 suggested retail
Guitaristics 1.92 for ST/STe/TT/Falcon - $69.00 suggested retail
* NEC 3D, FalconScreen, SWABS, ScreenBlaster, and BlowUp030 are
trademarks of their respective companies. chro_MAGIC Software
Innovations claims no ties with said companies or their products.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Fractal Frenzy
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Ultimate Fractals CD
The Fractal Frenzy CD rom contains the definitive collection of Lee
Skinner's fractal art work.
You'll find over 2,000 fractal images on the Fractal Frenzy disc. If
you viewed one image every 20 seconds, it would take you over 11 hours
just to browse through the disc. If you tried storing these images on
DS/DD floppy disks, it would take over 800 disks to store the images.
The disc contains examples of all the major fractal type: Mandelbrot,
Zexpe, Barnsley, fn(z), and more.
You get all the images on the disc in 640 by 480 by 256 color GIF
format, perfect for viewing on the St, STe, Mega, TT or Falcon
computers. For ST and STe users, a shareware version DMJ-GIF is
included on the CD to allow you view these fractal images in Spectrum
mode with their full colors.
The 640 by 480 images are all royalty free.
All fractals are also stores as high resolution images in 1024 by 768
by 256 colors for those with special graphics cards.
An index file contains comments on the images and the formula used to
create each image. Fractal lovers will be kept busy for weeks.
The Fractal Frenzy disc has a folder of shareware viewers for the
Atari line. It's All Relative will be including a collection of
additional shareware viewers on an extra floppy disk at no additional
charge.
Fractal Frenzy can be ordered from:
Randall Kopchak
It's All Relative Software
2233 Keeven Lane
Florissant MO 63031 USA
$29.99, postpaid worldwide. Payment in US funds please.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Towers by Modem
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
If you have a Hayes AT command compatible, 14.4k Error Correction modem
or better. Get ready to play Towers (ver.1.4) over the phone. This
feature does require a 2 meg machine (actually 1.1meg) to play either the
null-modem, MIDI, or modem games. Towers 1.4 even includes a simple
text routine so you can communicate with your partner without two lines!!
JV Enterprises
PO Box 97455
Las Vegas, NV 89193
(702) 734-9689
----------------------------
YOU CAN NOW REGISTER TOWERS FROM THESE PARTICIPATING DEALERS....
>From the US...
Suzy B's Software STeve's Software B&C Computer
3712 Military Rd 5 West Street 2730 Scott Blvd.
Niagara Falls, NY 14305 Woodland, CA 95695 Santa Clara, CA 95050
(716)298-1986 1-800-487-7753 (408)986-9960
>From the UK...
Goodman International
16 Conard Close, Meir Hay Estate
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 1SW
Tel: 0782 335650
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// DMJ's View 2.5 Planned Additions
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
I thought today I would post the planned revision list for the picture
viewer in View 2 1/2.
-----8<-----
- Will allow mouse selection of options from Help screen.
- Can call up a fileselector to load another file.
- Exits on keypress or mouseclick [even with a Spectrum image].
- Supports graphics cards.
- Dithers much faster in monochrome, whichever dither is used.
- The fast monochrome dither has been adjusted slightly to give better
results.
- If enough memory is available, the "mush" screen will not appear in
monochrome.
- Now displays these formats, in addition to the old ones:
TN4 Mutated Tiny picture (TN1 with color cycling)
IMG GEM Image
PNT Prism Paint
FTC Falcon True Color (from Photo Show)
IFF Amiga & Atari IFF
LBM PC IFF
BL[123] DEGAS Elite Blocks
RAW QRT Raw (24-bit)
PCX Z-Soft PCX
GIF CompuServe GIF
BMP Windows BMP
TGA Truevision Targa
- If the image is larger than the screen, the view can be scrolled
with arrow keys or the mouse.
- If the image is a 24-bit image being displayed with more than 256
colors, gamma correction can be applied.
... to the animation viewer...
- Can call up a fileselector to load another file.
- Allows you to exit with the right mouse button, and display the
help screen with the left button.
- Supports graphics cards.
- Allows you to exit before an animation has finished decompressing.
- Will allow mouse selection of options from Help screen.
- Now more memory-efficient and faster at animating.
- Now displays .FLM animations--and 256-color .FLI and .FLC
animations on TTs and Falcons; 64K-color .FLX animations are also
supported on Falcons.
- The animation viewer now allows the STe palette to be used to
display animations on STs.
... to the archive viewer...
- Can call up a fileselector to load another file.
- Will allow mouse selection of options from Help screen.
- Now handles ZIP and ZOO.
- Allows a fileselector to be used to select the destination for
extracted files.
- Can now print archive listings.
- Will optionally sort the filenames in the archive.
- Will allow all files to be marked/unmarked quickly with the mouse.
- Will optionally prompt for extraction, if files are marked, when
you exit.
Additions to the package....
VIEWFILE.ACC (accessory file viewer) -- New program
- Displays any file using View 2.5 modules whenever you can get to
the GEM menu bar.
- Can "slideshow" files, either all types or just specific families,
as long as the viewers support it. (Currently only the text and
archive viewers do not.)
- ST Zip's View function can also be redirected to View 2.5.
VIEWFIND.ACC (accessory file finder) -- New program
- Can locate any file by name or content; permits wildcards, Boolean
conditions, and phrase searching.
- Can refine or expand searches.
- Can search all files or just specific families.
- Can search for files on multiple drives.
- Will display file(s) using View 2.5 modules, if VIEWFILE.ACC is
installed.
- Can print search results.
- Can save search results to a file for later use.
- Runs as a program or accessory.
VIEWRAMD.ACC (accessory RAM disk) -- New program
- Can install a RAM disk at any time, as large as available memory.
- Can install a RAM disk in place of an existing drive.
- Can remove its RAM disk at any time.
- Uses the same RAM disk drivers as the AUTO folder RAM disk.
- Allows any disk to be write-protected, not just RAM disks.
VIEWBOOT.PRG (cookie installer / RAM disk / file copier)
- Now installs a cookie in the cookie jar.
- RAM disk can use TT RAM, if available.
- RAM disk can be reset-proof, if desired.
- Folders can be created on the RAM disk.
- Files can be copied into folders on the RAM disk.
- If a file already exists on the RAM disk, it will not be
overwritten, if desired.
- The RAM disk can be write-protected after files are copied onto it.
- ViewBoot can boot "silently"; that is, not list everything it's
doing while it's doing it.
- If you attempt to write to the RAM disk while it's
write-protected, it displays the familiar "Retry/Cancel" alert,
rather than failing right away. (This is sort of a bug fix.)
VIEW_SND.TOS (sound viewer)
- Can call up a fileselector to load another file.
- Exits on keypress or mouseclick, but not with mouse movement.
(This is sort of a bug fix.)
- Handles 16-bit and stereo samples properly, playing them to the
best ability of the machine. (This is sort of a bug fix.)
- Now restores the speed setting of Falcon sound. (This is sort of
a bug fix.)
- Now supports SoundBlaster .VOC files.
- Will resample sound "on the fly" to allow playback at _any_ speed
on STes, TTs, and Falcons.
VIEW_CFG.PRG (configuration / installation program)
- No longer requires a separate .D8A file, but always requires a
reboot to complete first-time installation.
- The interface was completely changed, to incorporate the large
number of new features and future expansion.
- Smart Install is now even smarter.
- Now runs in a window, and allows access to the menu bar.
- Is now multitasking (Geneva & MultiTOS) friendly.
- Reports the individual version numbers of the viewer modules.
- Allows new viewers to be added with little effort by the user;
definition files for many popular programs are included with View
2.5.
- Allows existing viewers (including the text viewer) to be easily
replaced.
- Makes backups of important configuration files before altering them.
Overall Changes
- Steps were taken to make the viewers' interfaces more consistent,
both with themselves and with each other. This should make the
programs even easier to use.
- Many changes were made internally, mostly to make View 2.5
callable from other applications; the files in the HOW_TO folder
are a direct result of this increased capability. [The HOW_TO
folder is on the View 2.5 disk.]
- All of the viewer programs have various command-line parameters,
mostly to override defaults. See PARAMTRS.TXT for more
information. (These are provided for the "expert" user using View
2.5 from a CLI or in their own programs.) [PARAMTRS.TXT is on the
View 2.5 disk.]
- With the addition of the accessories, "full" installation will use
some memory. However, the accessories are optional and do not
affect the main functions of the package.
- The viewer programs are, of course, larger to accomodate the new
features. If you are using View 2.5 on a RAM disk, your RAM disk
will need to be a little larger.
- Rather than use a cumbersome manual addendum, a completely new
manual was written to address all the new features.
- Spc-3375 is no longer included, as VIEWFILE.ACC provides a better
slideshow capability.
- New programs (VIEWFILE, VIEWFIND, and VIEWRAMD) were added to
extend the functionality of the system.
- TROUBLE.TXT and SCRUTNIZ.PRG were included to assist in
troubleshooting. [These are a troubleshooting guide and a system
interrogation utility.]
-----8<-----
Please note, these are the _planned_ changes. Some of these items may
not make it into this version (although I expect just about all will).
There are also some things I have _not_ posted here, because they most
likely will not appear in this version (but I will certainly try to
get them in).
You can see View 2 1/2 at the Texas Atari Festival in San Antonio,
June 4-5. We will have it for sale there. If you've already purchased
View II, bring your disk and manual along and we'll give you a good
deal on upgrading!
~dmj
--==--==--==--==--
|||
||| Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff
/ | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------
We welcome feedback from all of our readers; feedback both positive
and negative. Whatever you think of our efforts, we sincerely would
like to know. Our EMail addresses are sprinkled throughout each
issue - with the new Internet gateway into GEnie, you can reach us
through the Internet also. Append "@genie.geis.com" to any of our
GEnie addresses.
You can now send EMail to the entire AEO staff - use our new group
address: <aeo$@genie.geis.com>.
Until the next issue of AEO, I remain,
Your Editor
Travis Guy
Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com
--==--==--==--==--
(This issue printed on recycled photons)
--==--==--==--==--
DNFTEC
--==--==--==--==--
#1
Wide_left > 2*(Wide_right)
--==--==--==--==--
No Inflation Necessary
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a bi-weekly publication covering the
entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless
otherwise noted at the beginning of the article, to registered Atari
user groups and not for profit publications under the following terms
only: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and
author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted
upon approval of request. Send requests to <aeo.mag@genie.geis.com>.
Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All
material herein is believed accurate at the time of publishing.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS,
MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari
Portfolio, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all trademarks or registered
trademarks of Atari Corporation. All other trademarks and identifying
marks mentioned in this issue belong to their respective owners.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine
"Your Source for Atari News"
Copyright (c) 1993-1994, Subspace Publishers
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A E O :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Volume 3 - Issue 8 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 10 May 1994 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
