:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 2 - Issue 22 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 18 December 1993 :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI :: :: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER :: :: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE :: :: :: :: Published and Copyright ½ 1993 by Subspace Publishers :: :: """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :: :: 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 ................... Gregg Anderson AEO.7 :: :: Unabashed Atariophile ..... Michael R. Burkley AEO.4 :: :: Atari Artist ................... Peter Donoso EXPLORER.2 :: :: :: :: Contributor: :: :: """""""""""" :: :: Keith Gerdes :: :: :: :: 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: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com :: :: :: :: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu :: :: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Table of Contents * From the Editors .................................. The end of this line. * Jaguar Tackboard .................. The comprehensive Jaguar development list - Jag Developers post - Jag television ad broken down. * Andreas' Den .................................... Snooping on buses, and 3DO's fall from grace. * Atari Asylum .......................... You can't keep a good man in his straitjacket - Gregg escapes for one more visit in the Asylum. * Ancient Art of War in the Skies ..... Andreas takes to the skies to face the Red Baron - and Sun Tzu? * The Second Annual AEO Readers' Survey ....... Your chance to tell us how you want AEO to shape up. * LoadAladdin ................... Proving there's nothing an Atari utility programmer can't do, you can now use Aladdin on Falcon030s and extended TT030 serial ports. * Cereal What? ......................... Ron and Keith explain the ins and outs of Atari serial interfacing. * The Unabashed Atariophile ................... PD and Shareware files for _your_ Atari computer. * The Lynx Cheat File: Part 2 ........ [Ms. Pac Man] to [Zarlor Mercenary] Amaze your friends and astound all enemies with your knowledge of Atari Lynx cheats and tips. * GEnie News ........................... New files & happenings on Atari's Official Online Resource. * Developing News .......................... Heatseeker: SLM-to-Falcon Bogus Arabesque Release Mastering Calligrapher 3 It's All Relative CD-ROM News TLC Christmas Special Chroma 24 for Falcon030 CyReL SUNRISE Price Reduction DMC Yearend Specials * 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- (I'll confine the lookback to two paragraphs.) 1993 marked a sea-change at Atari Corp. First, the introduction of the Falcon030 computer signalled the end of the ST line of computers, the Falcon is truly a hot little multimedia machine that more and more people around the world are finding out. The third party products that are starting to show up more and more often are clearly showing the power behind the price. For those of you who are looking to purchase a new computer, the Falcon is well worth your consideration. But 1993 will be long remembered as the year the pendulum bounced back - the reintroduction of Atari into the videogame business. (The same business it would do well to remember that Atari invented.) The Atari Jaguar has many developers fascinated, many other videogame manufacturers busy changing their plans, and many customers satisfied. That Atari got the Jaguar out on time, and in such a professional manner, bodes well for the Friends of the Fuji. Welcome to this, the last issue of AEO for this year. Your window on events in the World Atari has a touch of frost on it this time, I'm afraid. Over the past week, what my doctor tells me is good old fashioned arthritis, has slowed my already snail-like typing almost to a halt. Add this to the ulcer that popped up two months ago, the patch of gray that won't quit my beard, and the... thinning away in my northernmost forest region tells me one thing: I'm glad I can still act like a kid! I'll forego the usual, "Here's what's in the issue" banter... with the exception of my drawing your attention to the fairly extensive Jaguar Development List on the Jaguar Tackboard. You'll spot a couple of new developers there, and my contacts inside Atari point at a few more on the verge of coming aboard. No doubt, the Jag's here to stay. Recently, there's been a public outcry in the United States over violence and adult themes present in videogames. (With an emphasis on videogames used by minors.) While I had planned to spend a lot of your time here giving you my opinion on "what should be done," the pressures of the holiday season (and the terrible feeling I get when I realize that I don't want to break deadline yet again!) have compelled me to postpone my ramblings until the next issue. Be afraid, I have a lot to say. Atari will be at CES this coming January 5-9th. If you can make it there, do so. There could be some earthshaking news to come from there... but that's for another time, and our next issue. Take care everybody. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and Have A Nice Day, all from the staff of Atari Explorer Online. I want to see each and every one of you back here safe and sound, hale and hearty, in three weeks. Bring a friend or two. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Jaguar Tackboard ||| The final word for 1993 / | \ Collected from: Jaguar developers and Atari officials ---------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Developer / Game List =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Editor: The following developers and game titles have been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of December 17, 1993. While no dates are tied to any of the games, they are hoped to be out by the end of 1994. Developer Titles under development """"""""" """""""""""""""""""""""" 21st Century Software 3D Games Accolade - Charles Barkley Basketball, Al Michaels Announces Hardball, Busby, Jack Nicholas Golf, Brett Hull Hockey Activision - Beyond Zork CD-ROM All Systems Go - Boogers and Snotnose Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off, World Cup Argonaut Software (Jez San) - UNKNOWN CD-ROM Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000, Crescent Galaxy, Club Drive, MPEG 1 and 2 carts, Tiny Toons Adventures, VR Helmet Atari Games Corp. Attention to Detail - (For Atari Corp.) Cybermorph, Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2, Blue Lightning Beyond Games Inc. - Battlewheels Brainstorm Dimension Technologies Eurosoft Gremlin Graphics Ltd. - Zool 2 - MORE Hand Made Software - (For Atari Corp.) Kasumi Ninja High Voltage Software id Software - Doom: Evil Unleashed Imagitec Design Inc. - Evolution Dino-Dudes, Raiden Interplay - UNKNOWN CD-ROM Krisalis Software Ltd. - Soccer Kid LlamaSoft (Jeff Minter) - (For Atari Corp.) Tempest 2000 Loricel S.A. Maxis Software Microids Microprose - 3D Gunship 2000 - MORE SIMULATIONS Midnight Software Inc. Millenium Interactive Ltd. Ocean Software Ltd. Park Place Productions - UNKNOWN TITLE (American Football) Phalanx Software Rebellion Software Ltd. - (For Atari Corp.) Alien vs. Predator, Checkered Flag, Dungeon Retour 2048 - UNKNOWN (3 titles) Silmarils - Robinson's Requiem Telegames - Ultimate Brain Games, European Soccer Challenge, Brutal Football Tiertex Ltd. Titus Tradewest Trimark Interactive U.S. Gold Ltd. - Flashback UBI Soft International - Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis - MORE Virgin Interactive Entertainment Ltd. - UNKNOWN ("Movie title") =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Official Postings =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Bill Rehbock from Atari asks and answers two common questions: ù Q: How do I get specs on developing for the Jaguar? A: People interested in Jaguar software development should send a fax to 1-408-745-2088. Include: Company name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and brief company/personal background relating to software development. Due to the high volume of inquires, we do prioritize the mailing of information kits according to background (SNES/Genesis/Computer) titles that you or your company may have been involved with, etc. Companies wishing to become licencees may sign-on and order preliminary development documentation and support for $299 USD, which can go toward the complete development system fee of $7500 USD. ù Q: Can the Jaguar be networked to another computer? A: Yes, it can, but there naturally would have to be application- specific software running on both the PC and Jaguar. The Jaguar is equipped with (among other interfaces) a one megabyte per second serial interface (suitable for connection to cable, telephone, etc.) as well as a 9600 baud serial port that (with an appropriate low-cost interface) conforms to RS-232 standards. The 9600 baud port as shipped on Jaguar is set up for ComLynx multi console networking, just like the Atari Lynx. Bill's been peppered with other questions, like one about how much RAM comes with the CD-ROM add-on: ù There is no developer that won't always ask for more memory or more performance (on any system) :-) The system has 2 megabytes of RAM in it so that the CD-ROM drive didn't have to have huge buffer space in it. Jaguar was designed with loads of flexibility, though, so if a developer wants to have extra ram in a cartridge, they _could_ do it if they wanted to. The cartridge port is accessible even while using the CD-ROM drive. One other point that I wanted to make was the fact that although there is no built-in operating system, we do supply to developers various sets of libraries to do the things that need to get done. Such as: a multi-channel polyphonic FM/Wavetable synth; JPEG decompression; video set up; drawing primitives; 3D rendering with gourad shading/texture mapping and camera manipulation; and others. Many of these come with complete source code so that they can be optimized for the specific use that the programmer is using in his/her game. It's much more flexible and obviously a performance-oriented way of doing things. Next, Bill drops some performance data on AvP and DOOM: ù Jez San has only seen a very early version of Alien versus Predator which was a very slow (for Jaguar) 12 to 18 frames per second. It now runs (when you are playing the game as an Alien :-) at a full 30 frames per second. I promise that no one will be dissappointed with DOOM or AvP on Jaguar. The first time I saw DOOM, I said, "I've got to have it on Jaguar," and I proceeded to track down Jay Wilbur and the guys at id. I flew down to their office the day before I had to leave for our New York roll-out party to meet with id. I THEN got to see a real version and I was really blown away :-) It is an absolutely awsome game and I look forward to seeing it released during 1994. //// Don Thomas has taken a lot of time to respond to questions. First, here is an overall impression of Jaguar: ù I think the first few games (Raiden, Dino Dudes, Cybermorph and Crescent Galaxy) are pretty hot... they'd certainly be shining stars on any lesser system assuming they could handle them. In my position at the office, I already witnessed fragments of what are on some of the forthcoming products. I hear the hallway chatter of engineers. I see unfinished graphics on souped-up power computers. I feel the thunder from 3-dimensional music compositions. I can tell you, that as hot as the first games are... YOU WILL laugh at them in even a year or less. Keep in mind that the Jaguar has integrated secrets which lie deeper than an impressive game macine. With expansion capabilities that include ComLynx and telephone, peripheral components such as the CD and VR appliances, connectability to full motion video and a variety of AV standards, the roar of the feline is none less than a preemptive purr. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, you ain't seen nothing yet! Next, when asked about the Jaguar showing up in mass market outlets: ù Mass merchants... will often delay taking on cutting edge entertainment products for several reasons. One is that they demand siginicant quantities while the dedicated electronics chains are better equipped to deal with preorders. The dedicated electronics places are better at providing informed personnel to sell new items. It is common for explosive new electroinics items to prove themselves in specialty stores before the mass merchants take them on. In short... keep an eye out. You will definitely see expanded distribution as time wears on. And here's what Don had to say about the bad batch of RF switchboxes: ù Atari has always planned to pack a reasonably nice RF box in the Jaguar systems. As we saw ourselves pressed against deadlines to meet Christmas '93 orders, we found that we could not take delivery on the originally planned ones in time, so we accepted a lesser quality, manual switch which we were told by the factory would work fine. For the record, there is nothing really terribly wrong with manual switch. Any real problems people experience is largely based on the specific AV setups people have. With today's technology, people have many more things connected to their TV's than they did 10 to 25 years ago, so there's a much greater chance for interference. As soon as we heard that some people were having unusually high interference on the manual switch, Atari pressed to speed up the availability of the better automatic switch. Still not having access to the first one planned, Atari ordered a temporary supply to tide us over from Radio Shack (Archer brand). I look at it like this... Atari packed some of the original Jaguars with factory tires. Most people know that RF connections are not as good as S-Video or composite connections and there is no perfection in an RF connection, still the Archer box is successful at screening out the majority of any interference that the other box seemed to let through. If anyone received the manual switch box and cares to send it to us, we'll swap it out. We'll need a serial number and other information. In regard to the other cables, I expect them real soon after January 1. Don tells how Atari processed the direct Jaguar orders: ù I kept a growing list of prepaid orders whereby I was eventually told I could accept no more "guaranteed" by Christmas delivery dates. Unfortunatley the list grew too fast and we had to cut off the number we were selling direct with guarantees that deliveries would be by Christmas. At that point, the calls still kept coming in and we were unclear for a week or so whether just because we couldn't "guarantee" delivery by Christmas whether that meant we absolutely couldn't deliver by Christmas. As a result, I instructed my staff to tell everyone that we would do what we could. That cut off time to my staff was very clear. We processed credit cards before that date so we knew there'd be no credit hassles as soon as the product arrived. All those customers were told that their orders had to be prepaid for that reason. After that, we stopped processing credit cards for the specific reason that we were unsure that we could deliver as hoped. My staff was instructed to only say we would try and do our best since everyone wanted delivery by Christmas if possible. I am really sorry if there were any misunderstandings with your requests. If your credit card was not charged but there were hopes to ship in time, it is because we were in the "we hope we can" mode and before the "we know we can't mode". At this time we are sold out before year's end and if you weren't charged it is because I am unable to ship. We have a ton of what we call "pending orders". We are waiting word daily to see when we will get more units so we can call those customers, confirm the orders and follow-up accordingly. You might also wish to contact some of the chain stores and see if there's something they can do for you. We had several cancellations throughout all of this (they were immediately filled with the next in line) because consumers found stores to ship them a unit before we could. If you find one, just tell us you did so when we call to confirm your order. Don gives a disappointing answer when asked about direct orders from overseas: ù I am not allowed to take orders from patrons outside of U.S. or Canada. There are several reasons for this, most boiling down to our COMPLETE inability to properly service any problems. There are other Atari subs that are responsible for sales in other countries. Having said that, some people make arrangements to have a friend in the U.S. do the purchasing and forward the item when received. Keep in mind that there may be physical differences. I know there are differences in the carts for PAL countries for instance. Atari U.S. does not have those delivered to Sunnyvale. Someone posted a negative message about the legal notices on Jaguar boxes prohibiting rental usage of purchased Jaguars. Don gave his opinion: ù I cannot speak officially on behalf of Atari simply because I am not physcially a part of the decision making or implementation of the rental aspects of the Jaguar. So my comments are unofficial and they are subject to correction by more informed people... As I understand it, special license and arrangements will be required by those interested in purchasing the Jaguar and related products for rental. Atari has already designed special rental hard shell cases (I'm hoping I can get them for resale---they're real cool!). I do not know if there are any physical differences in units intended for resale, but I am definitely under the impression that we have every intention of catering to the rental market. To protect our rights, we are labeling the packages against rentals so we can address those needs independently on equitable terms. When you look at some of the peripheral things we do to protect our interests and make an extra buck, remember back to when people were asking how we planned to put out a 64-bit system for less than $250. Atari has always been pretty good keeping prices as low as possible, but we also want to make money. To do that, we will certainly want to sell and license our merchandise; not give it away. //// Mike Fulton, had this to say about the internal working of the Jaguar: ù The Jaguar has 64-bit registers in the TOM chip, the data is worked on internally 64 bits at a time, and the system has a 64-bit data bus. It is true that there are some registers which are 32 bits, but the system as a whole is a 64-bit machine. To go back to the car engine metaphor for a moment, if you had a car with four engines, and one was a 4-cylinder, one was 6 cylinders, one was 8 cylinders, and one was a 12-cylinder, which would you refer to when you were talking about the car's horsepower? (To be perfectly honest, I don't think the car metaphor works real well, but I think you get my meaning.) //// John Mathieson - one of the designers of the Jaguar - speaks with authority on Jaguar hardware: ù From my limited understanding of the 3D0 hardware, I believe that Jaguar out-performs it by a factor of two, broadly speaking. Of course, both systems have their strengths and weaknesses, but I believe Jaguar is much better suited to 3D animation compared to 3D0. Also, we (Atari) publish the full hardware specification (to signed-up developers), whereas 3DO force you through an OS. Games programmers tend to want direct access to the hardware and full control of the system. Jaguar can produce an interlaced display with 720 pixels across readily. In fact, the maximum resolution horizontally is around 1350 pixels, although you have to do some tricks to have more than 720 pixels horizontally. ù As one of the Jaguar designers, I thought you might like to know why there is a 68K in Jaguar. (I did the GPU & DSP, and the blitter). In one of our cost reduction drives, we seriously considered no CPU, however I vigorously opposed this as the GPU and DSP are unfamiliar to programmers, were never meant for overall system control, and are only really fast out of their relatively small internal RAM blocks. The principle is that you get your RISC processor to do all the intensive but fairly simple low level parts of a 3D game, and you get a CISC processor to handle the high level, complex, but fairly un-intensive parts - e.g. game-play, view point control, collision detection, etc. Those complex addressing modes are great for rattling round structures. Its also important to have a manager in a multi-processor system, and the 68K performs this task well. Because the GPU and the DSP both out-perform the 68K so significantly, I joked that the 68K was "only there to read the joysticks". This joke seems to have spread a little far, so lets kill it now. ù The answer to Jaguar's bus width is that it is 64 bits where it needs to be. The two highest data rate paths, which are those between the RAM and the object processor (display generator), and that between the blitter and RAM, are truly 64 bits. The blitter can generate Gouraud shaded pixels as fast as the DRAM can run in page mode (13 MHz for us), so it can do 52 Mpixels per second in Gouraud shaded 16 bit pixel mode. The display generator can load pixels into its internal buffers as fast as the RAM can supply it. The RISC processors manipulate 32 bit data as this is all the precision they need. They have 32 bit ALUs and 32 bit address generators. They can perform 64 bit transfers on the main bus if they need to, but not many data are this big. The graphics processor uses the blitter as a co-processor when it really needs to blast pixels. The instruction size is 16 bits as this allows a reasonable number of instructions plus two register/data fields in each instruction. The name of the game is bus saturation, if you can keep a 64 bit bus fully utilised, then your processing elements are as fast as they need to be. Well written Jaguar code can get close to this - you ain't seen nothing yet. By the way, the first time I saw Alien Versus Predator I did not believe Jaguar could do that. I look forward to many similar surprises. //// Jez San, the author of the ST classic Starglider, and currently with Argonaut Software , is one of the newest Jaguar developers. Here's what he's had to say about Atari's latest cat. ù All this is leading to the question: Is the Jaguar a 64 bit machine? It is. No question about it. It has several parts that are 64 bits big and it has a 64 bit memory architecture, so it is a 64 bit system. Its also a pretty nifty system... I think its a very copmetitive system, and the power of the hardware is not even touched by the present batch of the first games. I feel that Atari are justified in calling their machine a 64 bit machine regardless of how many bits their cpu contains, since it is the overall system which is talked about, and not simply the cpus. Case in point, the TurboGrafx 16 is known as a 16 bit system, even though it has an 8 bit processor. Thats because the rest of the system is 16 bits and the aura that the meachine projects, by virtue of its superior graphics to 8 bit systems deemed that it should be called a 16 bit system. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Jaguar advertisements =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There's been almost a half-dozen Atari Jaguar television advertisements shown over the last six weeks in the test markets here in America. Doug Engel , or "Thunderbird" as we know him on GEnie, transcribed one of the latest Jaguar and the following Lynx ads: Fade in Announcer: "Here's Benjamin Hall on the Jaguar system to play Cybermorph." (Kid holding cart plugs into close-up of console) Announcer: "Let's see how those beastly graphics and intricate moves that ONLY come from 64 bits of mega-power feel!" (Various screenshots inter-cut with wildly tilting camera clips of Benjamin Hall ducking and weaving in his chair as he plays) Note: screenshots are moving at breakneck speeds and show the system off better than the previous commercials. Announcer: "Ben?" Benjamin: "Urrrllllphhh!" (Head and shoulders frontal shot of Ben looking ill, as he projectile vomits _into_ the camera lens! Yellow and brownish bile and food chunks run down the lens.) Announcer: "Cybermorph only on Jaguar by Atari" (Screen shows Cybermorph into screen complete with "Designed By ATD", and "(C) 1993 Atari") Announcer: "Get bit by Jaguar!" (White Jaguar Logo appears, with the clawmarks of the "R" scratching down with a shredding sound effect and a Jaguar roar as blood floods down from the top of the logo turning it red. A small white Atari fuji and logo appear on the bottom of the screen with a yellow "64-Bit" under that with the yellow eyes appearing on top of the logo.) Fade out: And the Lynx commercial. Fade in: (Boxing ring bell sounds as two fighters appear in a close up of the Lynx screen with the words "Lynx" and the Atari logo clearly visible. One fighter knocks the other one down with a kick, and turns to face out of the screen. Lynx screen shows close-up of his face) Fighter: (Yelling) "I like Lynx, the screen is bigger." (Lynx switches to baseball game viewed from behind the pitcher's mound where the pitcher has a Fuji logo instead of a number on his uniform. Crowd is cheering in background. Pitcher pauses before winding up, turns to face the camera, and smiles. Pitcher: "I like Lynx, more can play at the same time." (Screen changes to show Count Dracula's head on the right side, and three scantily clad women [complete with gratuitous cleavage] on the left side. Howling in background, as Dracula peers around suspiciously with his beady eyes.) Dracula: "Lynx has 16 bytes, I mean BITS." (Light glints off Dracula's fang as the entire screen switches to a close-up of a GameBoy [without any logos on it] Onscreen a horribly low-rez smiling face appears in dark creamed spinach color on a light creamed spinach color background. The face is standing on a single horizontal line and has arms and legs. It moves its hands in a waving motion, but othewise is static except for mouth movement and blinking eyes. A cartoon-like "boing" sound is repeating in the background.) (Nintendo and GameBoy copyright appears in white on screen bottom) Smiley Face (in nerd voice): "I like... Game Boy." Announcer: "3 out of 4 characters prefer Lynx. Buy Lynx now, get NFL game free!" (NFL Football box spins out of Lynx and stops in full view) (Fine print appears at bottom of screen telling how NFL tradmark is licensed and how the offer expires on SuperBowl Sunday 1/30/94, and you pay $3.50 p&h, etc.) Fade out! --==--==--==--==-- ||| Andreas' Den ||| By: Andreas Barbiero / | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- I have had some questions about some of the features present in newer generation computers of late, especially something called "Bus snooping." So I asked on the net and in usual Atari style, the answers poured in! From: Mr. P M Donovan ABARBIERO@delphi.com writes: ... >What IS bus snooping? :-) A bus snooper is simply a device that watches the system bus. If a write is made to main memory, (i.e. the system bus, and not the local bus which the cache is on has been used) the snooper checks to see if the local cache has a copy. If it does, then the valid bit in the cache is reset. This method is used in the 80386 - the 82385 snoop bus controller Charles --- From: Brian Grier Perpk The 68040 takes it one step farther and updates it's internal cache with the data the dma device is sending to memory. Brian -- And one more message from Cameron Blackwood, You wrote: | So, in other words it is similar in operation to a write back | cache, but more broadbased, encompassing the entire data bus? Yeah, write back caches are no use for improving write performance, so more complex caches store writes until the bus is idle to write results back. Naturally if you have more than one thing accessing the bus, then you have to have bus snooping to make sure if a cached value is accessed then the latest value from the cache is returned rather than the old one in memory. cheers, cam Cameron Blackwood Digital Technology, Monash University of Oz. c.blackwood@rdt.monash.edu.au -- Thanks to these guys for the answers, it looks like bus snooping is the adult version of those external caches you see on MSDOS machines, and should really enhance the total system performance. As far as future Atari machines are concerned, we all have been waiting for the follow-on to the Falcon030. I am sure that it hasn't been forgotten about, and considering the power of the Jaguar graphic chip-set, and the rapid advancement in chip technology, an '040 based computer may not be the best decision for a computer, at least not for one without a Jaguar chip-set. The Power PC, like I have written about before, has the ability to run 68040 code in hardware emulation, and even without seeing any benchmarks, it could be assumed that native '040 code could be run faster than on a real '040. Being in an area where the Jaguar has been advertised and on sale, I can say the demand has been enormous. (there is a Jaguar ad on TV as I am writing this... now there is a Lynx ad on.) I am fully expecting that as the numbers of Jaguars for sale increase and the advertising spreads, the Jaguar will sell big. Already the glossy graphics of Crash and Burn have been seen through and lack of gameplay is really evident. From people I have talked to from the 3D0 camp, their programming has been really rushed and the software is suffering for it. Let's hope that future titles will not suffer from this. 3D0 is not really the competition, at $700 it is a different market. Sega and Nintendo need to be attacked, and market share needs to be taken from them as 3D0 has little command over the market. To further prove that point, a report in the New York Times says that 3DO officials concede that instead of the 300,000 units they had planned to move by Christmas, only 50,000 REAL Multiplayers were built by Matsushita, and only 20,000 were delivered to dealers! (And not all of them were sold.) Falcon030 hardware is coming along and being imported from Germany and the UK. Accelerator boards, graphics enhancements, SLM printer interfaces, and even boards allowing you to use SIMMs are available, and cheaper than such items were for the ST line. So, if anything was holding you back from getting a Falcon030, those happy hackers around the world have probably fixed it. Now if I can only get ahold of a Falcon030 I can preview this stuff for you..... Since this will probably be my last article before the holidays, I want to wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, and thank Travis Guy for daring to edit what I write. Hopefully after I make this move to Washington state my ramblings will be more coherent! (For those of you who don't know, I am writing this from the Navy Lodge hotel room, with all my personal possessions in a truck somewhere.) --==--==--==--==-- ||| Atari Asylum ||| Head Inmate: Gregg Anderson / | \ GEnie: AEO.7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome back, oh warped ones. As you can see the Asylum's a tad smaller this time (please, hold your applause). I've been spending most of the time running tests for a future issue and playing "catch up" after being Atari-less for so long. Also, with Christmas and New Year's coming up there've been more than a few distractions of late. So, bear with me while we get a new duty schedule posted for the staff here at the Asylum and rearrange the work schedules. Besides, these government imposed budget cuts are really hurting us all. Meanwhile, let's go wandering down the dusty halls and visit a few padded cells; =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Babbling Again? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= OK, in the last Atari Asylum I did a little ranting and raving about the DOS system I had to use while waiting for my Mega4 to be either repaired or replaced. In that issue I also made a few rather disparaging remarks about a DOS program called "PROCOMM." I've since received Email criticizing my criticism and waxing poetic over the program "PROCOMM PLUS." Well, I read the post with interest and have a few comments. First is that I stand behind my comments on the version of ProComm I was using. When compared to ANY of the various commercial or PD ST/TT/Falcon terminal programs I've seen or used over the last five years that thing was NOT a joy to use. OK, so maybe I wasn't 100% correct when I criticized the lack of a screen buffer/editor. There IS a basic text editor available that you can call from within the program, however it's NOT a true screen buffer and is not capable of storing or directly editing from the screen the way almost all Atari Terminal programs do. In fact the only way I could copy/save GEnie text as it scrolled by was to dump it to a printer, slowing everything down. And while built-in transfer protocols are limited, it seems there's a built-in software "hook" so you can install other protocols if you know how (which I obviously don't). And, finally, everything is keyboard driven, period (which is fine for some folks but not for me, I'm spoiled )! So yes, while there were a few oversights in the original paragraph I stand by my overall criticism of the program. HOWEVER!!!!! I must, in all honesty, confess that ProComm 2.4.2 (the version I used) is rather old as DOS programs go. In fact, according to a local DOS dealer, it's old enough to have been released into the Public Domain. Therefore I did the residents of the Asylum a disservice by not pointing that fact out and wish to correct that oversight now. Yes, ProComm is an OLD program and should not be compared directly to a new program running on an ST. Wait a minute, my original Flash 1.52 has a copyright date of 1986. Interestingly enough ProComm 2.4.2 also has a 1986 copyright. Hmm, maybe a few comparisons can be made after all. Aw, the heck with it, it's not worth it and, to be honest, I still should have been more specific in the first place. By the way, the ProComm Plus the Email note praised is available in a Windows compatible version at most DOS dealers.... for the low suggested retail price of $179.95 (or in the Hendersonville area just $149.95). Even granting that the Plus version is a FAR more powerful and capable program, which it is by the way, $180 for a terminal program seems a touch high. Hmm, $180 for a graphics terminal program similar to my $49.95 Flash II (which sells locally for $ 39.96)? Thanks, but I think I'll keep my Atari. IMPORTANT NOTE: This is for ALL the visitors to the Atari Asylum. Please... if you find a mistake, feel I've made an error, or committed an oversight in ANY issue of the Asylum LET ME KNOW ASAP! Contrary to popular opinion I'm only human (popular opinion has me rated somewhat lower) and I will make mistakes and such from time to time. Heck, half the fun of reading an article is to spot the goofs . So feel free to leave me Email (AEO.7) or to the editor (AEO.MAG) with any problem, error, or misstatement you may have found. I ask only one thing. Please don't automatically assume that I'm deliberately doing it to sponsor misinformation or to spread lies. I've made a lot of mistakes over the past 42 years but telling deliberate lies or spreading misinformation for personal gain are NOT a part of them and I find such suggestions highly offensive. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Welcome to the 20th Century //// & Farewell to an old Friend =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, I finally had to take the plunge. I bought AtariWorks this week and, after screwing my courage together (and verifying I had a current backup), I installed SpeedoGDOS and AtariWorks (AW) on my MegaSTe. First let me congratulate Mike Fulton on the installation program. Speedo and AW's installation is about as idiot proof as you can get. Put disk in drive A, click on 'Install', follow simple directions, swap floppies as directed, and POOF.... you're done. It's that simple! Reboot, make sure your fonts are active, double check your printer choice, and that's it. You can now run most GDOS compatible programs and AtariWorks with few problems. Most GDOS programs, but not all I fear. TimeWork's DeskTop Publisher is NOT Speedo-friendly and it doesn't look like it is going to become that way any time soon. However, EasyDraw 3.0 works quite well (though a tad slower in drawing fonts and saving files) and prints beautifully on my SLM-804. Be warned that you'll have to go into ALL your EasyDraw files that have ANY text in them to resize and/or change the fonts used. SpeedoFonts may or may not be an exact match to the GDOS fonts used in the original file and that can royally mess up the formatting. MyDraw seems to work, though I still can't get it to print anything (my fault I'm sure). TouchUp works just fine and seems fairly transparent to Speedo. What about my favorite (and your's too I'm sure ) word processor, WordUp 3.0? Well, we've got some good news and some bad news on that front. The good news is that yes, WordUp 3.0 is Speedo compatible. By that I mean it will run with and take advantage of SpeedoGDOS fonts. The bad news is that it does so only reluctantly and has a few problems with the process. All this means that, after years of loyal service, I'm going to be forced to abandon WordUp before too long. Though an outstanding word processor in its day (with its combination of power and simplicity I feel it was one of the best word processors ever written for the ST), WordUp has been an orphan too long. With no updates or support since the release of version 3.0 back in 89/90 WordUp has suffered major compatibility problems with Atari's newer computers and utilities. One example is the problem WordUp has with SpeedoGDOS. Speedo (and NVDI for that matter) causes a serious delay whenever WordUp tries to access its Font Selection Menu, making you wait almost up to a full minute for the program to locate in RAM the list of available fonts and display them for selection. If WordUp was still being actively supported, I wouldn't worry about these problems. However, with the lack of constant rejuvenation by Neocept (now long dead and buried, the sad fate of many small Atari third party developers) or Atari (who has since acquired the rights to WordUp), I'm afraid it's finally reached its limit and must be retired. Thank you Neocept, while you were with us you did an outstanding job and gave great support. You've been missed by your fans and I'll miss WordUp. Still, time marches on and so must I. Anyone know of a good utility to convert WordUp files over to AtariWorks or even ASCII? Other than loading each file by hand and saving it as ASCII that is? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// A little Touchy-Feely? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= So how does AtariWorks feel? First let me say that while I consider myself fairly handy around a word processor I'm a total klutz when it comes to databases or spreadsheets. Because of that I'm going to limit my comments to what I know (which shouldn't take too long). Second; there have already been a LOT of reviews and comments written on AtariWorks so I'm not going to try and reinvent the wheel here. Finally, all comments are on Speedo/AW installed on a Monochrome MegaSTe with a hard drive and SLM-804 printer. For the most part, Atari Works is similar in feel to WordUp (and, I suspect, to most of the better WYSIWYG systems). The keyboard commands are quite different though and that's going to take me some getting used to. And yes, for all you power freaks out there, it's not quite as powerful as Calligrapher, That's Write 3, or the other, "state of the art" word processors. But then it's not supposed to be. AtariWorks is an INTRO-LEVEL system that combines ease of use, a reasonable level of power, and a LOT of flexibility with its integrated Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and Database. As such, AtariWorks succedes beautifully and I expect it to become my primary word processor. In fact this issue of the Asylum is being written with it. By the way, if you've gotten AtariWorks then you NEED Papa's Graftic Guide. This is an outstanding booklet that gives you an easy-to-understand guide to the uses and features of AtariWork's word processor, a LOT easier to follow than the book that comes with AW. Give your Atari dealer a jingle and see if he's (OK, or she's) got it in stock. From what I can see, AtariWorks feels slightly faster in many functions (such as blocking, text movement, & some formatting) than WordUp was. It also has an outstanding spellchecker/thesaurus that may also be a bit faster than WordUp's (by the way, WordUp users will feel right at home with AW's spellchecker and thesaurus). I noticed that on my monochrome MegaSTe the text display is "shakier" than WordUp's when you're typing. Each time a character is printed to the screen the display is adjusted and you can almost watch the line redraw and/or adjust itself in a wave from left to right as you type, especially as you get closer to the right margin. All in all it's more than a touch distracting but is also something that can be lived with for now. Printing, on the other hand, is OUTSTANDING! It's at least as fast as WordUp and, on my SLM, the quality of the printed page is clearly higher with cleaner, more solid appearing fonts. All in all I have absolutely NO complaints about Speedo's print quality. Kudos to Atari, Pradip, and BitStream on an excellent product. So is it perfect? Shoot, anyone that's read the Asylum before knows the answer to that one. OF COURSE NOT! Nothing is perfect in this world so yes, AtariWorks could stand a few changes. The first suggestion is to duplicate WordUp's Graphics abilities. WordUp could import a wide range of graphics formats (IMG, GEM, Degas, and NEO) and allow you to resize, crop, and otherwise modify the displayed file. AW badly needs the ability to import AND DISPLAY graphics formats other than .GEM (I don't count .IMG files as you can't see them on the screen though they do print nicely). Hopefully we'll also see .TIFF, .GIF, PCX, and other IBM color formats available before long. Also badly needed is a more flexible file format import and export feature. ASCII and RTF are a good beginning but WordWriter/First Word Plus, Word Perfect (Atari, DOS, & Windows), and others are needed as well. Another suggestion is to PLEASE "hide" the cursor when you're typing to the screen. WordUp 3.0 and WordWriterST do this and it really helps cut down on the distraction factor. I can't speak for everyone but it drives me buggy (I know, a short trip) having the cursor blink and flicker every time I hit a key. Finally, kill the program's tendency to redraw the text line when you're typing. This is even more distracting than the blinking cursor. I've got to rerun a LOT of tests now to duplicate with Speedo the tests I've run with NVDI/Warp 9 and GDOS or G-Plus. Just off the top though I'd have to say that while much faster than Atari's original GDOS I'm afraid Speedo is noticeably slower than NVDI's built-in GDOS or CodeHead's G-Plus replacement. Which makes having Warp 9 or NVDI even more important to most Atari owners. Watch these pages for actual test results later on. Another pleasant surprise was the availability of FONTS! Yes, you really can find Speedo fonts if you go looking for them. I found a FANTASTIC Bargain at Egghead Software about six months ago (yes, long before I ever bought Speedo). They had the Bitstream WordPerfect SIX (DOS) Font Pack. with 50 SpeedoGDOS fonts for only $24.95. That works out to under 50 cents each (OK, so just under)! Each font is as sharp and clean as the original Speedo fonts that Atari supplies and other fonts can be ordered from Compo or directly from BitStream (1-800-522-FONT). Right now I've got a touch over 4 Megs of Speedo fonts in my folder, now I'm looking for a good Wedding/Old English Speedo font. I'll keep you posted. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Good News for SLM-804/605 Owners =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As you can see from the following GEnie post there have been some positive developments in the Atari Laser field, though not from Atari itself. The first is a new TT Compatible version of the always popular LaserBrain Epson Emulator. The next is even more exciting, it's GREAT news for Falcon owners.... read on . Category 14, Topic 11 Message 145 Tue Dec 14, 1993 ATARI.BENLUX [W. Kilwinger] at 17:01 EST John, There is a German Laserbrain 1.42 that perfectly runs on a TT, however it is in the German Language. Nathan had somebody that could translate the German manual into English but since they used a translation program the translation is not very well done. I promised to finish that but it was too much work to handle. So I never finished it. I can email you what I have. Ken, Starter toner on a SLM804 (we call it initial toner) allows 1500 copies instead of 3000 copies for a regular toner. You are right that's half the time as regular toner. (1500 copies by 5% black which is text on a letter size paper) ALL, Well, I have good news for you. A few weeks ago I noticed a heavy discussion in this topic regarding SLM connection to the Falcon030. At that time I was not allowed to speak about the product I like to announce at this moment: A German Developer made such an interface that allows the connection of the SLM laser printers to the Falcon030 and it is available for sales NOW. It is an small interface connected to the DSP port replacing the SLMC804 interface (driving directly that fat cable of the SLM Laser Printer). Several developers tried to make an ACSI interface but that would cost to much, this interface is smarter and cheaper. I have tested it myself and it has a lot of advantages compared to the normal solution with the SLMC interface since it doesn't freeze the system and you don't have to leave your laser printer on and it doesn't matter when your printer is switched off when you boot your computer. Attached a message from the German Mausnet, slightly translated from German to English. >Gruppe: Atari.Info >ID : A50183@B >Wg. : Heatseeker >Von : Laurenz Pruessner @ B (So, 05.12.93 14:27) > >--------------------------- >Produktname: Heatseeker. >--------------------------- > >Akt. Version: 1.0. > >Product: Interface between Falcon030 and SLM 804 or SLM 605 > >Price: 199.-- DM incl. FontGDOS. > 249.-- DM incl. SpeedoGDOS 4.2. > >Distributor: R.O.M., Berlin (makers of the Papyrus Editor) > Raschdorffstra e 99 > 13409 Berlin > Germany > Tel. & FAX: +49 (0)30 - 4924127 > >Lieferumfang: -Heatseeker Interface Hardware. > -GDOS-Driver software. > -New DIABLO emulator. > -Driver for 1st Word Plus. > -Installation-, Setup- and Testsoftware. > -FontGDOS oder SpeedoGDOS > -Documentation. > >Autor: Laurenz Pr ner. > >EMail: spoil@cs.tu-berlin.de. (Laurenz is the developer, NOT the spokesman of ROM Software) > >Laurenz > Regards, Wilfred Head Keeper's comment: By the way, at current exchange rates these things work out to around $140-160 each. Though a touch steep, we "may" see a better offer if they decide to unbundle Speedo/Font GDOS for the American market. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Falcon Compatibility Notes =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, it's not confirmed yet but I'm hearing rumors that Microprose's Ancient Art of War In The Skies is TT [Editor: Confirmed!] and FALCON compatible! I'm also hearing that the new Elite II game is also TT and Falcon compatible. All Right! Now we're starting to see major software houses take compatibility seriously. And now, from the pages of GEnie, some good news: Category 9, Topic 19 Message 11 Wed Dec 15, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:46 EST Hey! Been playing Elite 2 for twenty-seven hours. Just got my map dry-mounted, and it hangs majestically on my wall next to my Falcon. I've got an Imperial Trader (at last!) with a 20MW beam laser. I am wanted for piracy and murder in Imperial Space! HA! Also, I noticed that if you install Elite 2 on the HD, you should create a folder for your save game files. I too saw that COMMANDE.RS file, and it confused me, so I created a folder, and have had zero problems. Questions: The game runs incredibly fast and fluidly on the Falcon. I cannot figure out, however, what the 512 or 4096 color options do, besides cause a slight flicker in 4096 mode. I must also admit that I could not stand Elite (the original) even though it was so vast. I was so jaded by the beautiful control scheme used in Star Glider 2 that I just could not tolerate the original Elite control method. Now that Elite 2 has the Star Glider 2 interface... I fear I might be consumed by this game for years. But, since I never played Elite, what is this concept of "missions?" I was slightly confused by the preponderance of space on the "data disk." Who gives these missions in the game? Tips: Get Rich On Robots, Banard's Star to Sol. I made a tremendous amount of cash buying robots on Banard's Star and selling them on the Bulletin Board(s) on the three orbital cities around Earth. If no one wanted them on one, I'd fly around until I found the right ad on the bulletin board. I traded animal meat back to Banard's Star for minimal cash. This route was totally safe. You can ditch your weapons, atmopsheric shielding, and everything but your auto pilot to free up cargo space. I was never attacked once. BTW, I also made a VAST amount of cash in the slace trade in the Imperial Systems (that's "slave"). Safe route was Facece to Vaquess, just "east" of the Imperial Capitol (Achenar). I love this game... it is truly something other than else! James ------------ Category 30, Topic 5 Message 49 Wed Dec 15, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 20:23 EST Well, folks, Elite 2: Frontier is absolutely astounding on the Falcon. Don't ask me any questions, just buy it. James ----------- Well, I don't know about you but it sure sounds to me like Elite II is Falcon compatible, and a killer game to boot! I'm not that big on games as a rule (at my age the reflexes are no longer arcade compatible) but Elite II is starting to sound VERY interesting. I'll try and keep you posted on developments. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// And to all, a good night =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, it's late into the evening of December 16th right now. As AEO is published bi-weekly that means I'm not going to have a chance to talk to you again until after Christmas. In today's world of Political Correctness, "Happy Holidays," and "Best Wishes of the Season," I'm going to do something very politically incorrect and enjoy it, and mean it, very much. From my home to your's, from my heart to your's. My prayer for you all this year is that you and those you love can be together to share and enjoy your most Joyous, Special, and Holy Christmas ever, To my friends who hold this season special for a different reason; Shalom, and Peace be with you this Hanukkah, To all my friends, both known and unknown: May the Peace, Love, and Joy that is the eternal gift of God be with you this Christmas Season, now and always. Gregg Anderson, Head Inmate and First Keeper of: The Atari Asylum --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- To enroll as a Delphi subscriber, modem call 1-800-365-4636. Press -- -- [Return] once or twice, and type IP26 [Return] at Password: -- -- -- -- 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 --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| Ancient Art of War in the Skies: ||| By: Andreas "Snoopy" Barbiero / | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Sun Tzu - alive and well in World War I Microprose has been making software for quite some time and their recently wavering attitude towards the Atari platform had given me concern, but then a game like Ancient Art of War in the Skies (AAW) comes along. This game is very progressive in many ways. It is not an outrageous tour-de-force of graphic amazement, nor is it the Spectrum Holobyte version of WW I aerial combat, but this game manages to encapsulate the essence of WW I combat from the air. It is hard-drive installable and not only works on the entire ST line, it also works on the TT030! Unfortunately, I was not able to test this game on the Falcon. Being a US naval aviator, I am familiar with the sophistication of modern air warfare. The sheer level of simplicity in the early days of aviation is a wild leap backwards from the world of A-6 bombers and F-14 Tomcat fighters. AAW does not try to be a full flight simulator, nor does it try to be a complete strategical representation of WW I, but it does allow you to match wits with the great minds (and some not so great ones) of the early 20th century - as well as place your finger on the trigger in attacking enemy planes and bombing ground emplacements. The action is seen from an outside view for air to air combat and from a bomber's sight in the ground attack scenes. Learning to dogfight has a definite learning curve, but it is a curve and not a wall, allowing for a beginning player to actually play and not get so frustrated that he gives it up. Bombing is seen from the high tech vantage point of a WW I bomber... a cut out in the floor of the plane. Tactics for winning fights depend on how the player selects the "rules" of the game. From the combat screens, you can change the rules of flying, the thickness of aircraft armor, and the rate of climb and top speed for fighters. Other rules that can affect the outcome of a battle are set before the player starts a campaign, and the leader's own personalities. Knowing the capabilities of the machines of war is the first step to winning the war. Typically, German triplanes had a lower top speed but a faster rate of climb due to the extra lift provided by three wings, versus the two wings of a biplane, but irregardless of the true nature of the aircraft you are flying, you can change the characteristics of the aircraft for both sides. With the options properly set, you can have realistic flight conditions for a Sopwith Camel (the most popular and effective British fighter) and a Fokker Dr. 1 (the legendary triplane flown by the Red Baron). Even with the limited flight simulator, variations can make for some challenging air to air combat by turning the favor on the enemy's side, or allowing for other period aircraft to be simulated. Before trying to win a battle with the scenarios present, some time in the training areas should be in order. Not only can you just practice mixing it up with enemy fighters, but you can train in the fine art of bombing ground targets. Again, the bombing window is a limited view, but a realistic one considering the time period. Through your own hole in the floor, you can drop small bombs in free fall onto enemy positions such as gun emplacements, machine gun nests, listening posts, and barbed wire. The rudimentary bombing technique is based on analyzing a map, and then picking an axis to attack along. The bombers of that period were slow to maneuver and the bombs were highly inaccurate, and trying to eyeball the impact position of the bombs you lob, while maneuvering the plane is a complicated bit of aviation. You have the option of picking the entry point into the bombing area before beginning your run to avoid anti-air emplacements and setting you up to fly over most enemy positions without having to maneuver the plane too much. The aerial recon photo has certain positions circled, and if you hit all these without getting shot down by the ever vigilant anti-air guns, your mission will end in victory. These skills will be invaluable when the time comes to attack the front, (there is a computer simulated ground battle simultaneous to your own battles) weakening it for your own troops to carry the fight. The main focus of the game is using your newly developed Sopwith Camel, Fokker Triplane fighter, Handley Page, and Gotha bomber skills to help you win the ~50 campaigns included. You can also try to emulate other fighters and bombers, but other aircraft are not spoken about in the manual, so experimentation with aircraft speed, rate of climb, and armor is left purely to your imagination. The campaigns are either based on actual battles of the Great War, or hypothetical conflicts. Imagine fighting out ancient Roman battles using fighters and bombers instead of centurions and phalanxes! The included scenarios are fun and challenging - they range from the simplistic to the complicated, and with the aforementioned options, even the most intimidating can be made simple. I have personally played all the scenarios that reenact the major battles of WW I, and even with a wargaming background and a great deal of practice with this game, they are not easy to finish successfully... at least not without changing the rules of the battle. Understanding these targets and the terrain you will fight over is the next important step to victory. Battle rules cover the speed at which aircraft and ground installations are repaired, range of the aircraft, height of the mountains, and speed at which new aircraft are built. Enemy commanders play a critical role in the game, and a reason why this game refers back to the Art of War. Sun Tzu, a great Chinese warrior, wrote the first book on strategy and tactics 2500 years ago. This book was called the Art of War, and has defined the way man has fought in nearly every war since. The key to the game is using Sun Tzu's philosophy to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the enemies that you will battle and the very battlefield itself. Some of the greatest Aces and Generals of the period are included as opponents as well as Sun Tzu himself, and the not so famous Helmut von Spike. Capitalizing on the weaknesses of these men will give you most of what you need for a quick victory. In some scenarios it is more important to know how your enemy will act and react to your tactics than it is to fly planes! Graphically, the game is satisfactory. I was hoping that with TT compatibility there would be a TT-low resolution with 256 colors, this was not to be. It still took me more than a quick glance to tell for real that the screen was ST-low, because the colors and artwork are done very well, and in most scenes the variety of colors belies the limited palette that the computer is using. On the TT030, ST-low can display 256 colors, allowing for the same screen size as ST-low, but the exact same display that the PC version uses could be displayed on the TT030. There are a few digitized scenes, mainly used as recolored backdrops, but they add an interesting look to the screen. Whenever you pass the marker (mouse) over a emplacement on the map, or a new pilot arrives for duty, a tiny digitized picture shows up in the message bar on top of the screen. From the tactical map board you can control your units, and react to enemy movements. Allocating fighters to shoot down bombers or repel enemy fighters, and sending bombers out on deep strike missions or in support of the line of battle for the boys on the ground is carried out easily and quickly through a set of dialog boxes. The whole game is run from a menu system based in a fashion like much like a pilot's logbook. When a menu selection is picked, a page slides out of a notebook displaying the new information. A hand moves up and down the list with a pencil, and when a selection is made, a pencil mark is made next to it. You can control the altitude, speed and flight formation of your aircraft. As many as 6 planes (3 bombers, 3 fighters) can be grouped together and sent out on your missions. While aircraft are in flight, you can change all of these things around to meet any situations that arise. Many times, the front (that double line of ground troops actually fighting the ground war) will change so rapidly that a bombing mission in support of the ground effort will end up needing to be redirected towards where the fighting is. Your pointer will scroll around the map with a joystick or mouse, and when it points to land under Allied control, it will change to a Rondelle (the round red-white-blue symbol that you have seen on UK/US/French aircraft) and when over German held land, it turns into a Maltese cross. This makes for easy reference as to whose land you are over. When you select an airborne unit, or place the marker over a ground unit, either the flight path, or in the upper right of the screen, the program will display the type of unit you are pointing at. The only problem occurs when you have several aircraft units close together, the pointer keeps moving between them automatically, making it frustrating sometimes to select an individual aircraft group from a crowd of them. This is especially annoying when you are trying to select a single flight when the cursor is madly jumping between flights, and you are clicking on every other flight but the one you want! It would also be really nice to know which planes are fighting before you take a battle "hands-on." I am better at shooting down fighters with my bombers than I am in dogfighting, so letting the computer play out the dogfight usually has better results for me than piloting the fighters myself. If I knew that my fighters were attacking other fighters, I would leave them be, but if bombers were defending against an attack I would really much rather get into the combat myself. One trick that worked when fighting bombers was to position my fighter underneath the bomber, in his blind zone, and with a series of controlled stalls, point my plane straight up into the bomber's belly and fire away. Several attacks like this are highly successful, as long as I don't drift behind the bomber into the aft gunner's sights. Getting your shots into the engine seems to do much more damage, but hitting that tiny spot is another matter. The forward gunner doesn't seem to do as much damage, but he is just as deadly if you stray into his field of fire. When playing the scenarios, find your strong points and fill in for the computer with them. The computer will give you fair odds against your opponents, but if you find yourself good at dogfighting or bombing, taking over from the computer will increase the odds in your favor. No matter what, make sure you read about the people opposing you, or else you may see yourself in for a long hard battle where a few quick attacks could end it sooner. The game comes with a hard drive installation program and runs without many problems. I have found the game to lock up on my TT030 only occasionally, but this is on a "dirty" system, and launched from TT-med. When I boot the computer with the Control key depressed, bypassing the autofolder, the game ran without a hitch. I even got the game to run from under Teradesk, which was running under Geneva! No, it didn't multitask, but it did run well enough to finish out a scenario. The only other bug I noted was that when I went to see the scores my pilot ran up in practice dogfighting and bombing, the scorecard would scroll out of the notebook and back again so fast that I could not read the scores. Irritating, but it does not affect the actual gameplay. Copy protection is the old manual lookup system, and in this game it is not intrusive at all. When asked to find a word, it is always in the first paragraph on a page, and the first letter of the word you are asked for is already displayed. This really avoids much of the chance for error that this type of protection sometimes incurs. The information you need to play this game is clearly presented in the manual, as well as a great deal of interesting material relating to the First World War, giving the reader a real feeling of the glory and horror of this, the first real modern war. The game is purposefully simplistic with the actual combat. The authors do not expect you to learn the flight characteristics of every plane used in the war, or to run a ground war simulation, but rather to have you experience what it is to use aircraft to defeat the classical military minds of the period. Knowing your enemy and yourself, with the variables of the battlefield, is ultimately more effectual than a quick trigger finger. Ancient Art of War in the Skies Microprose (UK) 0666 504326 Unit 1, Hampton Road Industrial Estate Tetbury, Glos GL8 8LD UK ST/STe/TT030 compatible Manual-lookup copy protection $49.95 SRP (Thanks to STeve's Software for the lending of this game to review! 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We have grown over the passed two years and with your |...| |.*.| Help continue to Grow... We THANK our Customers very much... |.*.| |...| Without their help and support, we would not be here today!!! |...| |.*.|===================================================================|.*.| --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Second Annual AEO Readers' Survey ||| By: AEO Magazine / | \ GEnie: AEO.MAG Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, it's the close of another volume of AEO, and the time for you to tell us, the editors of AEO, what you want us to focus on. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. When you're finished, EMail the survey to us at one of the addresses shown at the end of the survey. Please do not respond to the survey in any Bulletin Board / public area, as other users wouldn't want to spend online dollars reading 99% of the same text over and over again. The rules are simple: Every response must come from an _active_ user name/user number. Don't vote more than once, and feel free to take as much space on the essay portion of the survey as you need! -- -- -- Clip here and mail -- -- -- I. Please mark where you generally receive your copy of AEO from: A. GEnie B. CIS C. Delphi D. Internet subscriber E. Internet (other) F. AtariNet G. FNet H. Other (please specify) ______________ II. Please mark the type(s) of file compression your system supports: A. ARC B. LZH (LHARC) C. ZIP D. Other (please specify) ______________ III. In each of the topics listed below, indicate on a scale of 1 to 5, your interest. 5 equals "I am facinated by this. I would read every issue of AEO to find articles on this." 4 equals "This interests me. I would read a few articles on this." 3 equals "I have no real interest in this subject, but I don't dislike it. I may or may not read any articles on this." 2 equals "This bores me. I would only read an article on this if I had nothing else to do." 1 equals "Total boredom and annoyance. I would avoid this and any magazine that carried articles on it." Topic Your Rating (1-5) """"" """" """""" """"" News from Atari (Press Releases, Interviews) ------------------ News from TOS Developers (Press Releases, Interviews) --------- News from Atari User Shows ------------------------------------ News from Atari-attended Trade Shows -------------------------- Computer Industry (non-Atari) News ---------------------------- Online News (Recaps of the three major Online Nets) ----------- Online Conference Reprints ------------------------------------ Jaguar Material (reviews, news) ------------------------------- Lynx Material (reviews, news) --------------------------------- Portfolio Material (reviews, news) ---------------------------- Editorial ----------------------------------------------------- Atari Computer Product Reviews -------------------------------- "Build-it-Yourself" Hardware Articles ------------------------- IV. AEO has on occasion bundled graphic files along with the magazine. Please indicate the high-end "cut off" limit of graphic files versus magazine size that you feel is appropriate: A. Unlimited graphic file size. B. 100% of the text file size. C. 75% of the text file size. D. 50% of the text file size. E. 33% of the text file size. F. 25% of the text file size. G. 10% of the text file size. H. I don't want any graphic files bundled with the text. V. This is the essay portion of the survey. Please answer the following questions. A. What did you like _most_ about AEO in 1993? Be as chatty as you like: B. What did you like _least_ about AEO in 1993? Again, be as chatty as you like: C. Please complete the following sentence. "In the next year, I would like to see AEO cover...." -- -- -- Clip here and mail -- -- -- Thanks for your input into Atari Explorer Online. Please EMail your responses to AEO.MAG on GEnie or to < aeo.mag@genie.geis.com > via the Internet This survey will be valid for three weeks (until January 7, 1994). At that time, the results will be tabulated and posted in the next issue of AEO. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Load Aladdin - V1.0 - An ST Aladdin Enhancement Utility ||| By: Ron Robinson / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.1 --------------------------------------------------------------- Load Aladdin is a Shareware utility developed by Keith Gerdes of Trace Technologies that allows Aladdin to run on the Atari Falcon 030 as well as the alternate serial ports on the Atari TT and Atari MegaSTe. Load Aladdin was released with the permission of GEnie, Tim Purves and Griffin Hi Tech Software. Aladdin is not usable on the Falcon030 due to the program's direct access to a serial port which no longer exists in the new bird. With LoadAlad, not only can you use Aladdin on a Falcon030, but you can also take advantage of the extra serial ports on the MegaSTe and TT030. Plus, Aladdin no longer hooks into the serial receive vector - allowing the serial port to be used by other programs or accessories when not in use. Load Aladdin (LoadAlad) changes the serial/modem/RS232 routines in ST Aladdin from direct hardware access to device independent TOS BIOS calls. //// How it Works? LoadAlad loads Aladdin into memory, searches for specific serial related routines, patches that code and then runs this enhanced memory-resident Aladdin version. According to TraceTech, the program: ù At NO time makes changes to the Aladdin file on disk. ù NO permanent changes are made, to any Aladdin file. ù Only the version of Aladdin in memory is modified. ù MSTe device #8 & TT device #9 have a dual serial port assignment- LAN and Serial2. If you use one of these devices, LoadAlad will automatically switch to Serial2 for that device #. ù RS232 configuration (Rsconf) and hangup (drop DTR) work on any device. ù Checking the Data Carrier Detect (DCD/CD) line remains a direct hardware access. ù With LoadAlad, you can use a serial buffer expander such as AUXINIT or RSxxMDxx to possibly correct or enhance I/O transfers. //// Serial Patch/Fix AUTO Programs Before using Load Aladdin on a Falcon, you _MUST_ run FPATCH2 from your Autofolder. FPatch2 fixes some bugs in the operating system and enables the serial device used by Aladdin (device 7 on the Falcon) to be available. If you use GEnie at baud rates above 2400, you may need a serial port fix program. For the ST, MSTe or TT you may need to run an AUTO serial port fix program such as SerialFix2, TurboCTS, etc. For a high speed, SCC-based connection rate (Falcon, MSTe or TT), you may need to use a serial fix program such as FastSerial or HSMODEM. (see "Cereal What???" following this review for more info) //// Installation Now that we've patched the operating system, installing the software is a simple matter of copying LOADALAD.PRG to the directory where the main Aladdin program is located. You then just run LOADALAD.PRG instead of ALAD.PRG. The first time you run the program, you will get a configuration screen asking you what kind of flow control you wish to use, your modem baud rate, which serial port you use, and the name of your Aladdin program. Then save your configuration and you're ready to roll! Just Load Aladdin and enjoy using Aladdin on your Falcon or TT/MSTe alternate serial ports. The documentation included with Load Aladdin wisely suggests you verify the operation of LoadAlad _BEFORE_ doing your normal GEnie routine. Once you have the serial port configured right, then give LoadAlad test before starting a Pass 1 and walking away. Do a simple "Log-on" and watch to make sure everything works. Use Aladdin to "send" an email message to yourself and "retrieve" it. Try uploading and downloading a file. //// MTOS & Aladdin: With Load Aladdin, you should be able to use Aladdin under MultiTOS. Trace Tech suggests the following: 1) You may need the DSFIX (1.01) archive uploaded by Scott Sanders. This includes a TSR that monitors a "sound" call made by Aladdin and other programs. Every sound that Aladdin makes, I think, uses this XBIOS call. 2) FastSerial may have to run _after_ MTOS in the AUTO folder. Many AUTO TSRs must follow MTOS because it "unhooks" them when they run before. //// Does it Work? You betchya Load Aladdin works! It is great being to fly GEnie with the Falcon on autopilot. It also is very handy to be able to now use the alternate serial ports on the MSTe and TT with Aladdin. I personally always enjoy seeing someone do the "impossible" as Keith as accomplished with Load Aladdin. Some Falcon beta testers ran into intermittent lockups, mainly when exiting a "reply" window. The reply is safely saved, but you have to reboot the system in the event of a lockup. Please note this problem does _NOT_ occur on TOS versions below TOS 4. If you re-enter Aladdin after a lockup, you will notice the lack of pending operations. The ALADDIN.CFG file, which keeps track of status info, was not updated due to the reboot. Don't worry, everything is still pending for transmission to GEnie. Trace Tech is searching for the cause of the lockup. Aladdin will lockup on the Falcon even when being executed directly from the desktop (without Load Aladdin) - the problem is within Aladdin or TOS 4. //// Shareware The Load Aladdin evaluation archive is only available by sending an EMail request to Keith Gerdes on GEnie or through the Internet (see EMail addresses below). The file will be sent to your EMail address via GEnie FMail or across the Internet uuencoded. Load Aladdin is supported on GEnie in the ST Aladdin RT (M1000), CAT 2 TOPIC 6. Please do not post file archive requests in the message area, use GEnie Mail for all archive requests. Load Aladdin is Sharware with a $15 fee. You are allowed to evaluate the program for a 14 day trial period. If you find the program a useful addition to your system, you are expected to register before the 14 day limit. Registering is a simple matter of contacting Trace Tech before the 14 day evaluation period expires and then sending in the shareware fee of US $15. Your registration investment will be returned in the form of documentation, technical support and product enhancements. The $15 shareware payment can be made by check (issued by a U.S. bank), U.S. funds money order (drawn on a U.S. bank), or postal money order. (no GEnie "Gift of Time" or credit cards accepted) Send to: Trace Technologies [LoadAlad] PO Box 711403 Houston, TX 77271-1403 GEnie: K.GERDES Internet: k.gerdes@genie.geis.com Phone: (713)771-8332 [weekdays 1PM-5PM Central Time] Other TraceTech Products ======================== Commercial: * Data Diet v2(++) a realtime data compression system * Data Rescue - the complete realtime data recovery solution * Squish II (++) an executable file compression system ++ An upgrade from v1 is available. Contact TraceTech. * Next major project release - Missouri. * Also look for Falcon specific utilities, available early '94. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Cereal What? ||| By: Keith Gerdes & Ron Robinson / | \ GEnie: K.GERDES ------------------------------------------------------ The physical hardware and software process behind communicating across RS 232 ports and its infinite variety of implementations can be more than a more complex than an IRS tax law. You can use anything from 3 to 25 wires in a connection. There's baud rates, data bits, start bits, stop bits, parity, connect protocol, error correction and flow control. Achieving robust serial communications is a challenging task for any computer system. The built-in Atari BIOS routines have a few problems that can be resolved by using "patch" programs. _All_ versions of Falcon TOS4 can benefit from a serial "patch/fix" program or two in the AUTO folder. Let's take a look at some of the reasons we need these patches. //// Serial Patches: All versions of TOS4 do not set up the serial devices correctly. Starting with TOS2, a new method to communicate with serial I/O ports (a.k.a., devices) was devised. A map is set up in memory to indirectly assign a Device from 6 on up, to Device 1. Device 1 is the default serial device in all Atari computers. You may also see Device 1 called "AUX:", the GEMDOS name. A new BIOS call, Bconmap, is used to map a serial Device (6 & up) into the Device 1 spot. Bconmap also keeps track of how many devices are available in the range "6 and above." Since the ST only had one serial port (Device 1, MFP), Device 6 is the default port on the TT and MSTe because it is the MFP port. The other extra modem ports on the TT & MSTe are SCC-based. As we can see in the following table, with the Falcon, you only have one serial port - Device 7, SCC channel B. //// Device Table Dev# Hardware (Name) -------------------------------------------------------- +++ [ST/STe/STacy/STBook] 1 ST MFP (Serial/Modem) +++ [MSTe] 1 Currently mapped serial device 6 ST MFP (Modem 1) [initially mapped in device #1] 7 SCC Channel B (Modem 2) 8 SCC Channel A (Serial 2/LAN) +++ [TT] 1 Currently mapped serial device 6 ST MFP (Modem 1) [initially mapped in device #1] 7 SCC Channel B (Modem 2) 8 TT MFP (Serial 1) 9 SCC Channel A (Serial 2/LAN) +++ [Falcon030] 1 Currently mapped serial device 7 SCC Channel B (Modem) [initially mapped in device #1] 8 SCC Channel A (LAN) //// TOS4 Serial Problems There were 2 items that needed to be addressed on the Falcon. 1) Total # of devices, default=1 -and- 2) Device 6 is the MFP port, which does not exist as an external port. FPATCH2 (Atari's Falcon patch 2) changes the total # of devices to 3. [a] Device 6 = MFP [b] Device 7 = SCC channel B (Modem) [c] Device 8 = SCC channel A (LAN) With the total set to 1, you could only address Device 6. Pretty useless since it doesn't go to the outside world. BMAPFIX2 (BconmapFix2, independent patch by Don Maple), like FPATCH2, changes the total # to 3. It also copies the Bconmap values for Device 7 to Device 6. Therefore, anytime an "old" program addresses device 6, you are still able to talk to the Modem, redirected through Device 7. If a program such as a screen saver is expecting to talk to the MFP when accessing Device 6, then there could be a problem when using BMAPFIX2. BMAPFIX2 should be used in addition to FPATCH2 only if problems are encountered with any "terminal" program. //// Flow Control The TOS serial routines have not really been "certified" as being reliable when flow control is needed. We all know about flow control problems on pre-TOS4. Has anything changed in TOS4? Experience has shown the need to use FastSerial when flow control is required, mainly with a high speed connection, either CPU-to-modem or modem-to-modem. FastSerial can be loosely compared to SerialFix2, TurboCTS, etc. FastSerial hooks into the BIOS serial routines, giving _custom-written_ routines for the MFP and/or SCC ports. Is FastSerial required when using LoadAlad? A 2400 baud, XON/XOFF connection may work perfectly without FastSerial where higher speed or hardware handshake setups may need FastSerial. Having to use FastSerial is not a question related to the Falcon or TOS4 version, but of the _serial connection type_. What are some examples of "flow control" related problems? a) Text uploads _look_ "odd" ie. scrambled or dropped characters You'll find the text is uploaded _okay_, but what you see _echoed_ back is the problem. b) Disconnection c) Port freeze up //// And the Patch Is? Getting the serial port to work right on the Falcon can be a chore, but well worth the effort when the right software patches are added to your system. Using the Falcon with some modems (depending on baud rate, connect protocol, flow control, etc.), you may be able to just use FPATCH2. A recommended "overboard" approach for all systems would be on the Falcon, to use 2 AUTO programs: FPatch2 and FastSerial. For everything else, take your choice: SerialFix2, TurboCTS, etc. //// Glossary: Serial Port - hardware in a computer designed to facilitate "serial" communications where information is sent one bit at a time. Often used with modems to transmit information over a phone line. MFP - Multi Function Peripheral, an integrated circuit used in Atari computers that included a serial port. SCC - Serial Communications Controller, a high speed integrated circuit used in the MSte, TT and Falcon for serial communications. Flow Control - ways to control the flow of serial information between two computers, sometimes referred to as "hand shaking". Allows one computer to tell the other computer "...you're talking too fast." Can be hardware or software based (or both). BIOS - Basic Input/Output System, software in the computer's Read Only Memory (ROM) that provides low level software control of the computer's hardware resources. --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Unabashed Atariophile ||| By: Michael R. Burkley / | \ Delphi: MRBURKLEY GEnie: AEO.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- A few weeks ago I was listening in on a special conference on GEnie. The special guest was Vince Valenti of JV Enterprises who produces PAC, _P_rograms from _A_tari _C_onsumers. I wasn't there by chance either. I was there because I knew that Vince was going to be talking about new software his company was bringing to the Atari marketplace (a notable thing in and of itself) AND that he was going be be giving away several copies of some of his software. I'd seen the demos of PAC's software (some written by Vince and others), and I liked them. I was going to win that contest! The conference went on, as conferences usually do, waiting for the typed questions and then waiting for the typed answers. Some people might think that that would be boring, but it usually isn't because the subjects are interesting. You can read all about what happened at this conference in an AEO of two or three issues back. Finally, the moment of decision arrived. I poised my hands over the keyboard...and waited...waited some more...and then the question came (I don't remember what it was now, but I remembered the answer then!) and I typed away...and I typed the correct answer!!!! But was I the first to do so...no...yes...YES! I won! (THAT doesn't happen very often!). What did I win? I won the PAC 1040 software package, three excellent programs that will run on any ST--Falcon computer with a least one meg of RAM. That was great! But that wasn't all. A few days later I received in the mail a box from Vince that had both the PAC 1040 and his PAC 520 (three more games for 512K RAM and up) game packs! Wow! I sat down to my computer pronto! The games were great! But you needn't take my word for that, you can check out the games yourself! There are very useful demos available for all six programs. I thought I would begin this issue's "Unabashed Atariophile" with a review of them. Even the demos would make excellent Christmas presents! ù HOOKMATH is the Hooked on Math demo by Vince Valenti of PAC (Programs from Atari Consumers). Hooked on Math presents the user with an easily mastered interface with a pleasing 3D look. The math student (suggested ages 6-12) gets to choose between three levels of difficulty in practicing addition, subtraction, or multiplication skills (the demo allows only the easiest level of addition practice). You are presented with a math problem (written vertically). A list of four possible answers are written on boards on the right of the screen. Using the mouse, you drag the correct (hopefully!) answer over to the problem. If correct a sampled voice congratulates you (presenting one of several different congratulations each time). If you are incorrect the program also tells you and goes on to the next problem. At the end of the practice session (normally 25 problems, but in the demo only five problems) the program lists your score. ST-Falcon compatible. Requires at least 512K of RAM and a color monitor. The complete program is even better than the demo. I know, I have it! ù MAGNOBAL is the Magno-Ball demo by Vince Valenti of PAC (Programs from Atari Consumers). The game begins with you playing Mango-Ball in the International Space Tournament Arena. This one or two person game (played against a human or computer opponent) places you on a rectangular playing area. The object of the game is to maneuver a small magnetic ball and guide it to your opponent's goal which disappears and reappears from one place to another. Sounds simple? Well, it isn't! "You" are sitting in a floating pad which has no friction against the floor. You start moving in one direction and that's the direction you keep moving in, unless you turn around and do something about it. Once you have the ball the opposing player has the nasty habit of ramming you and trying to take it away (and in my case, generally succeeding!). Even if you touch the walls of the arena the ball floats away. Yikes! Think of Ballblazer from an overhead perspective. This demo version lasts 75 seconds and is restricted to the one player easy mode. The full game is great! So far I've kept it at the easy level, and it's even more fun in the two player mode. ST--Falcon compatible. Only 512K of RAM required. Color only. Suggested for ages 9 and up. Joystick controlled. ù OUTOFWRD is a demo of Out Of This Word by Vince Valenti of PAC (Programs from Atari Consumers). This is an excellent typing tutor/fun game. Playing this game places you in a ship with which you must defend yourself. Defend yourself from what? From those maniacal monster letters (and punctuation marks) which are advancing towards your ship. The full game has three different levels of challenge (the demo is restricted to the first level and first screen). As you type a letter a miles-thick column of energy so raw, so stark, so incomprehensibly violent rages out and utterly destroys those letters (wups, I've been reading too much of E.E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" series!). Actually, something like that does happen! If you don't get the letter typed in time there are shields which can protect you some, but don't count on them for long! I thought this was an excellent tutoring program, and with all the extra options the full program is even better. It's important for kids (and grown-ups, too) to know how to type today. This program can make it a little bit easier. ST--Falcon compatible. Only 512K of RAM required. Color only. Suggested for ages 12 and up (though my nine year-old likes it). ù COPNROB2 is the Cops and Robbers Too (i.e., "Cops, and Robbers, as well") demo by Kevin L. Scott (first uploaded Feb., 1993) and distributed by PAC (Programs from Atari Consumers). This is a two player game (there aren't enough of those out there--and this is a good one!). In this game you and your opponent are both trying to get the upper hand. As the robber you must find and rob five banks in the city. As the cop, you must patrol your city looking for the robber. The police officer has his/her radio and radar to help locate the robber, but robbers have resources as well (like a souped up car that is faster than the police vehicle)! The city is divided up into 32 city blocks consisting of 8 across and 4 down. A complete city is provided for you to play with. With the commercial game you can modify or create your own cities with a built-in editor. This game is a lot of fun, and only limited in ways that won't greatly hinder your enjoyment of it (rather, the full version enhances the fun!). Color only. Joysticks required. Ordering info and docs included. ST-Falcon compatible with one meg of RAM required. I liked this demo, and the full game is a lot of fun. My son and I enjoy playing it together. ù ESCAPE_D is a working demo of Escape by Jag Jaeger of PAC (Programs from Atari Consumers). Escape is a "crazy" text adventure and graphics game. You must escape from your parents' home (Why? You just were released from a mental institution and your parents are keeping you at home to help in your "cure."). Find clues located all over the property and try to escape. Digitized graphics and sounds. TOS 1.0--TT compatible, one meg of RAM (at least), a DS drive and a color monitor required. ù MEDEVL_D is the demo of Medieval Chess by Vince Valenti and Jag Jaeger of PAC (Programs from Atari Consumers). This is a chess program with a twist. You are required to master the strategy of chess _and_ the arcade action of battles. Play chess, but when you attack another piece you move to another screen and fight a battle with it. The outcome then depends on your skill and the power of the piece you battle with and against. The demo just shows you what is available. It doesn't allow you to fight. Color only. ST--Falcon compatible. One meg of RAM (or more) required. The full game is very interesting (I have it). The rules are mostly the same as standard chess, but there are appropriate changes based on the situation. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.... I'm trying to clean up my Hard Drive, so a lot of the below programs are ones I downloaded months ago and never got around to describing. Some of the programs are OLD (c. 1988) so if you want to find them you will have to keep looking! ù 123JUMBL is 123 Jumble by David Becker. This nicely done mono program will help little children learn the order and design of the numbers from 1 to 25. You are presented with a set of numbers in their correct order. After you tell the computer to mix them all up then you get to put them all back in the right order. You can count the numbers with an cheery musical scale that plays and counts upwards with the numbers. You can choose the number of numbers presented so as to not overwhelm your number learner. Docs included. STe compatible. ù 1WP2RTF is a handy utility by J. Scheerder (dated April 1, 1992) for all of you AtariWorks owners out there. This .TTP program will convert First Word Plus (FWP) files to the Microsoft RTF (Rich Text Format). After you do that you can easily import them into AtariWorks! You can also convert FWP to (La)TeX format. It includes the C source code and docs (which also tell you how to create your own "filters" you can use to convert FWP files to other formats. ù ANSWERS is a series of real life answers accumulated by several teachers over a period of years. It's a great list! 48 answers like "Algebra was the wife of Euclid." (Who says we lack quality science and math education?) There are also some riotous First Aid hints here! From the ST Club of El Paso. ù ASPHALT is a 320 x 240 TIFF picture which shows three different results of using the "Asphalt" texture/surface in the RayTracing modeling and shading program "InShape." An opaque cylinder and a rectangular solid stand behind a transparent sphere. All are in front of a beautiful evening sky. I used GEM View to view this picture, but any .TIF viewer will do. ù AV_CABLE is a detailed two-color GIF 87a picture that shows how S-Video and composite cables are connected to the Atari Jaguar. (Proper grounds are shown.) 1000 x 1800 pixels in size. This file may be viewed using GEMView and ViewST/TT (but it will not work with The Speed of Light GIF Viewer or with PhotoChrome3). ù BART12K is a 12KHz signed mono sound sample of Bart Simpson saying, "Get with it man!" ù BLRMID7 is a set of 46 original midi files created by Bud Rasmussen, v. 7 (dated December 1, 1993). Created on a 386/40 (!) using Music Printer Plus, a Sound Blaster Pro card, and a Casio CT-700 keyboard/ synthesizer, these files are briefly described in an accompanying text file. One file added from the previous version. Well done. 113K uncompressed. I found this on the CodeHead BBS (a lot of other files are there, too). ù CHROMEDR is the Chrome Falcon Demo (coded by Opium with soundtrack by Furycane). This Falcon demo uses 3D Gouraud shading, 25 frames/sec 3D mapping, and other graphic effects. It does not use the DSP chip nor a math co-processor. The soundtrack (created in Protracker, by Griff) is 50 khz 7 bits. 494K uncompressed. The next few files are some beautiful .PCX pictures for use with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. Read on... ù CLIPS is a series of twelve .PCX pictures for use with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. The Jaguar's spots, a glass goblet, the TT Logo, a variety of tiled and riveted surfaces, and more. I used GEM View to view these pictures, but any .PCX viewer will do. 377K uncompressed. ù CYBERCUB is a .PCX picture for use with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. This picture shows the Cybercube CUBE (a 2D picture of a 3D representation of a 4D concept!) and Cybercube Logo with lots of interesting colors and shades. I would love to be able to put pictures like this one and others on my desktop! Oh well... someday! I used GEMView to view this picture (Ralf, I need to register GEMView. I keep on using it and using it. Drop me some Email to remind me if I don't send you a check by two weeks!). ù EREWAN2 is a .PCX picture for use as a background picture with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. This picture shows a beautiful and peaceful scene with a wide-flowing stream and a small waterfall in the background. Surrounded by trees and other vegetation and with the sun brightly shining, this is a scene that makes you want to step into it. I used GEMView to view this picture, but any .PCX viewer will do. ù FLAME is a .PCX picture for use as a background picture with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. This picture shows the Space Shuttle taking off as seen from right below the engines! Aptly named! I used GEMView to view this picture, but any .PCX viewer will do. 400K uncompressed. ù FLOWERPC is a beautiful .PCX picture of a banquet of colorful flowers: Lilies, Irises, and others I don't recognize. I viewed this with GEMView, but any viewer that supports the .PCX format will do. Uploaded by Cybercube as a background picture for their CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. I wish I had the CyReL graphics card or a Falcon so I could see these in their full glory! ù NFE_G45 is a .PCX picture for use with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. This picture shows a close-up view of... something. The download description says that it appears to be underwater plantlife. I thought that at first, too, but then I changed my mind. I think it is a close-up of one twig of an evergreen tree with one small Fall-colored leaf caught in its needles. I used GEMView to view this picture, but any .PCX viewer will do. What do you think? ù SUNRISE is a .PCX picture for use as a background picture with the CyReL Ambiance Desktop Image Manager. This picture is an artistic impression of a rising sun. The word "Sunrise" stands out in the foreground. I used GEMView to view this picture, but any .PCX viewer will do. And now back to my alphabetical listing of files... ù CODE_MAC by H. Wolfe is two Codekeys macros for use with Spelling Sentry. The first lets you call up the Spelling Sentry window (it must be the third .ACC listed). The second macro lets you call up the correct spelling dialog (only on a 640 x 480 TT size screen). You must have CodeKeys from CodeHead Technologies to use this file. ù COLCON is a series of enhanced color icons for you to use with your Falcon030 (lucky you!). Sorry I can't tell you any more about them. ù COP_CODE is a list of the various "Ten Code" used on police radios from 10-0 to 10-99. If you listen to police scanners, make sure to 10-29 the bytes of this file and 10-91 this without delay. Don't 10-22 this file or you won't know what I'm talking about! ù CQREFV12 is the Calligrapher Quick Reference Accessory v.1.2 by Bill Aycock (dated sometime in 1992) Bill has written lots of useful programs (the kind you say, "I'm glad he thought of that!" - What Is It?, Calendar, to name two). This .ACC will allow you to quickly and easily find most of the Keyboard Commands, Search/Replace codes, and Special Key combos in Calligrapher. Not quite "Throw away your manual," but this helps! ù DBF_5_0 is DBF_info v.5.0 by Albert Dayes (dated August 25, 1993). The program DBF_INFO.TOS is designed to provide the user with as much useful information about any given dBASE data file as possible (The dBASE data file can be from any of the following programs: dBASE III, dBASE IV, FoxBase, FoxPro, or Clipper.). It will also display and save all the dBASE III field structures in a dBASE III data file. The main reason for writing (and using) this program is to view the structure of HyperLink database files which are dBASE III compatible. It also contains two utilities that provide dBASE data file creation, load ASCII data in, unload dBASE data to ASCII (in 15 different date styles for date fields), and finally the removal of all records in any given database. ST--Falcon compatible in all resolutions. Docs included. ù DEDCAVRN is a screen for the game Lunar Lander (see LUNARMDL below). It is entitled "Deadly Caverns". Although some of the landing sites may look impossible, they can be done (the author says that he has landed on all of them). Old file. ù LUNARMDL is Lunar Lander by John Williams. This game presents you with the challenge of landing your Lunar Lander on the Moon (in one piece!). It's a challenge! The game has an option of adding your own screens (to make it even harder. An example of this is found in the file "DEDCAVRN" above. Color only. Old file. ù LUNAR1 is Lunar Lander ST by Moenpower Software. The computer landing system has gone out inside the lander and you must land it by manual control. This is a simulation of landing practice for the LM module. The object of the game is to land the craft on the white landing pad which appears at a random location on the bottom of the screen. Every time you land successfully you will be awarded a score between 100-1000 points; you will also be awarded a certain amount of additional fuel for the next try. Joystick or keyboard controlled. Docs included. Color only. SHAREWARE. Old file. ù DOC2ASC2 is Doc to ASCII v.1.2 by Gary Wren (dated 1993). This program will take any word processing file and strip out any special text formatting characters and write the resulting ASCII file to disk. The original file is not changed in any way. The nice thing about this program is that it will process at one time as many files as you place in the program's directory. ST--STE compatible (at least, but I would suspect more since it is compatible with Geneva, Gribnif's multitasking AES replacement utility). ù DT_LIGHT is the demo of DigiTape v.1.04 for the Falcon030 by "Your CGS ComputerBild Team" (dated Nov. 23, 1992). DigiTape seems to be an extremely competent digital sound manipulation program. DigiTape actually provides three different operating modes: 1. a Multi-track digital tape recorder; 2. an Online sound processing using effect modules; and 3. a Frequency analyzer. It supports the Falcon's built-in sound system with stereo 16 bit A/D andD/A convertors and realtime effects generated by the specially integrated Motorola DSP56k as reverb, flanger, vibrato (others projected ...). You can record two tracks simultaneously with up to 50 kHz sampling frequency, copy them into 6 replay-tracks, replay these six tracks (and an additional two recording- tracks), and along with this you can use up to three real-time generated effects as you replay your sounds. Finally you can enjoy and listen to all of your beautiful creations! You must have a hard disk to use this program (or confine yourself to one second sounds, I guess!). With this version you can even program your DSP chip with sound effects of your own making! The programs and information you need to do this is included. One very nice thing about this program is that while you can only record and playback songs on the Falcon, you can get a "feel" for the program by running it on any other ST/STE/TT. Simulated data play over the V/U meters, and all! This demo is limited in that you can only create tapes with the maximum length of 20 seconds. You are also limited in the length of time you can use the program. You can play any length tapes. Color or mono (though in ST resolutions you can only get the full screen in mono). Docs and ordering information included. ù EMACS is MicroEMACS v.3.10 by Daniel M. Lawrence (dated March 19, 1989). This has many advantages and improvements over the previous version (v.3.9 of June 29, 1987 - I don't know why the author did the version numbers that way, but he did, and mentioned them in the docs). MicroEMACS is a powerful tool for creating and changing documents, programs, and other text files. It was originally created for a DEC system, but has been ported over the the ST (obviously!). It is both relatively easy for the novice to use, but also very powerful in the hands of an expert. You can install Macro functions calling up your most used functions with a keypress. The program also is designed to allow you to do a variety of tasks such as file encryption, automatic backup file generation, en-tabbing and de-tabbing lines, executing operating system commands and more. MicroEMACS can be extensively customized for the needs of the individual user. MicroEMACS allows several files to be edited at the same time. The screen can be split into different windows, and text may be moved freely from one window to the next. Depending on the type of file being edited, MicroEMACS can change how it behaves to make editing simple. Editing standard text files, program files and wordprocessing documents are all possible at the same time. Run as a GEM application. Keyboard and/or mouse controlled. Color or mono. Docs and tutorial included. TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible (at least). ù ESSENTEX is the Essential LaTeX by Jon Warbrick (dated 1989). This document is an attempt to give you all the essential information that you will need in order to use the \LaTeX{} Document Preparation System. Only very basic features are covered, and a vast amount of detail has been omitted (but the file is still quite large!) If you've been interested in those TeX formatted documents you often find, then this will tell you quite a bit about them. TeX, DVI, and PostScript formatted copies of this file are included. ù GENTLTEX is "A Gentle Introduction to TeX" by Michael Doob (dated Jan 4, 1990). This manual begins like this: "First the bad news: TeX is a large and complicated program that goes to extraordinary lengths to produce attractive typeset material. This very complication can cause unexpected things to happen at times. Now the good news: straightforward text is very easy to typeset using TeX. So it's possible to start with easier text and work up to more complicated situations. The purpose of this manual is to start from the very beginning and to move towards these more complicated situations. No previous knowledge of TeX is assumed." That sounds good to me! TeX, DVI, and PostScript formatted copies of this file are included. Speaking of TeX, there is a version of TeX available on a commercial online service.... ù CSTEX40 is CS - TeX v.4.0 (dated May 1992) for the Atari ST by Christoph Strunk (the author of M-Disk v.6.94--that wonderful RAM Disk .ACC which I use all the time). He normally will not allow it to be distributed via a commercial system (he doesn't want anyone to have to pay money to get it) but because he feels that Delphi is so inexpensive ($1 per hour including phone fees) he is letting it be distributed through Delphi. It's a BIG file--nearly 5 meg of .ZOO files! Anyway, on with the description... TeX is a GEM based professional book printing system. It was designed to give you maximum output quality for whatever printer you are using. Mathematical formulae and complicated tables can easily be integrated into the text. This version includes many bug fixes, support for new printer models (most printers you might encounter - lasers, HP Deskjet, Canon BJ-130, 9, 24, and 48-pin, print to .IMG file, etc.) an extension of the graphics features to CSG level 2, and a substantial speed increase in some of the graphics functions. It requires at least 1 meg of free RAM (which means you must have more than 1 meg of RAM on board your machine) and a hard disk (to install the complete package will use about 13 megabytes of space). EVERYTHING you need to use this system (including zillions of fonts) is included. The program and docs are mostly in German, but English installation procedures are included. ù FROGGIES is the European Froggies Over The Fence demo by Legacy, ST Connexion, and Overlanders, et.al.. This is a huge demo - it comes as three compressed files totaling over 3 meg! The description says that this demo has excellent sound and graphics, even 4096 colors on a regular ST! It is also supposed to run on any ST or STE with at least one Meg of RAM. Unfortunately it doesn't, at least on my STE (TOS 1.62, 4 meg, with a T-25 accelerator board set at 8 MHz). The docs also say that you need to set your screen frequency to 50Hz (use any change Hz program or the one that is connected to this download on Delphi. An interesting point about that screen frequency converter is that it is by Barry McDuling who lives in Nambia!). In any case, the opening screen (which is as far as I can get before the demo bombs) is very nice. You must have a program which will uncompress .MSA files created this demo. Color only. The three LZH files uncompress to 831K .MSA files which need the Magic Shadow Archiver or compatible program to write the files to destination disks. No docs. It has been successfully tested on TOS 1.0--1.04 machines. If you can get this to run on an STE with TOS 1.62 please let me know! ù HARDWARE is version 6.0 of the Atari ST/STe/MSTe/TT/F030 Hardware Register Listing by Dan Hollis (dated Sept. 1, 1993). Dan has kept working hard on this very detailed listing of hardware registers for the above computers. He even tells you what he doesn't include! This version has been reformatted to make it more readable and has had various bugs and typos fixed. This is a "must have" for programmers. I've been told that much of this is not even in the Developer's Kit published by Atari. 107K uncompressed. ù IDEAL340 is Ideal_List v3.40 by Christoph Bartholme. This is a very comprehensive text file utility featuring up to 9 column printing (using this program can save you up to 80% on your paper consumption!), all sorts of text features, source code formatting, viewing, print preview, background printing, support for DJ, SLM605 (and many other printers, both serial and parallel), clipboard support, downloadable fonts and much more! This program will allow you to do just about everything in printing your ASCII, WordPlus, or RTF (Rich Text Format) files! Includes lots of support files and info. This program takes all the hard work out of printing files! ST/STE/TT compatible. Color or mono. .PRG and .ACC versions included. Mouse and/or keyboard controlled. This file comes with both the English and German versions with documentation in both languages. 1.21 meg uncompressed (it comes via three .ZIP files so floppy disk users can still use it easily). Use STZIP23 or DCXTR22B (DC Xtract v.2.2b) to uncompress. Works with Geneva in the single-tasking mode. SHAREWARE. ù ILLBEBAK is a 12KHz signed mono sound sample of Arnold S. saying, "I'll be back!" ù JAG_LOGO by Tom McComb is a series of three images of the Jaguar Logo. They are in .IMG, .EPS, and .CVG formats. The Logo looks as if it's been swiped out by the Jaguar's claws. ù KIDMENU2 is KidMenu v,1.02 by Brian K. Biggs (dated Sept 10, 1988). This program will alllow you to set-up a listing of Dorothy Brumleve's KidProgs and run them with a keypress. This makes it even easier of young children to run the programs. Docs included. Color only. TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible (at least). ù LHA_232 is LHarc v.2.32 by Christian Grunenberg (dated Nov. 30, 1993). This compression/uncompression utility is LZH compatible (lh-0 to lh-5) and is compatible with Quester's LZH201L (I'm astounded by its speed! For example one file which took 16 seconds to uncompress with LZH201L took only 7 seconds with this utility!!). It's even faster than ST-ZIP v.2.3 files with a comparible compression ration. This version uses the same commands as previous versions (and LZH201L) but with additional switches and the more extensive UNIX wildcards. This version fixes a few minor bugs AND now includes extensive English docs (THE EXPLORER'S GUIDE TO LHarc by Alan Kennedy). I've only used it to uncompress files (so that's all I can vouch for) but it works fine with ArcShell v. 3.1 by Charles F. Johnson (ARCSHL31). Freeeware, but if you use it send the author something to encourage him in his work. ù LMP364 is the December 1993 issue of GEnieLamp ST!. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this issue and recommend it to you. It is full of hints on getting the most of our programs (PD and otherwise) that you can profitably use, it contains a riotous "Ode to the English Language," and much more. I recommend it to you. Don't worry about it becoming dated in the future. Much of this will be useful no matter the time. ù MISTY is "The Misty Extension" v.1.7 for STOS by Billy Allan and Colin Watt (dated June 24, 1992). This SHAREWARE extension of STOS will allow you to speed up your games and demos dramatically and provide you with many improved and de-bugged commands. Registering it will bring you lots of useful STOS routines as well. Designed for use with color systems only (I didn't realize that STOS would support mono, but the author's speak as if it will). Docs included. I have STOS (and GFA BASIC 3.5) but I haven't yet found the time to do anything with them at all. "Real Soon Now" Sure! ù OTHERWUZ is Other Wuzzlers, by D.A. Brumleve (program) and picture/word file by Juergen Reichenwallner. Like WUZZLER, this file contains a real "puzzler" of a program. This file contains the Wuzzler program and a new data file which contains nearly 50 picture/word puzzles for the game. A bit of "Hangman" as you try to guess a word before you run out of tries, but with Wuzzlers you get help! A picture puzzle is uncovered bit by bit with each incorrect guess you make. This is a fun game. LOTS and LOTS of puzzles included... and you can make your own with the included drawing/puzzle editor. The words are appropriate for 2nd grade through adult. This file must run from a double-sided drive (The original WUZZLERS only needs a single-sided drive. The WUZZLERS file also contains the GFA BASIC source code). Color only. ù OZONE by Nick Harper is an excellent game in which you play this cute little guy with big sneakers. Guide your alter-ego throughout the stone mansion, gathering all the objects you find (well, you don't gather the monsters - you avoid them) and advance through the various levels. Sometimes you need to turn a switch at the start of a level to effect something you need at the end of the level to exit. It's back to the beginning if you forget! Dispite what the online description says, the game does have sound (read the docs). Colorful, and easily controlled via joystick. Play from within a folder named OZONE in the root directory of Drive A. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least). I like this game, and so do my kids. Shareware. I suspect that this will work with 1/2 meg of RAM, but I haven't checked it out. ù RUBIKSEQ is a 16 color .SEQ animation by John Brenner of a Rubiks Cube being solved. I can easily solve a Rubiks Cube, how about you? I'll let you know my secret: Just peel off the little colored stickers on the face of small cube and then paste the same colors on each face of the cube. Simple! This animation doesn't do it the simple way though. Created from a 3d2 file from Lexicor Software and rendered in SPC format using Phoenix and then converted to Degas format and finally loaded into Cyber Paint II for some final touch-ups, this animation shows a cube sitting in space and being rotated into the correct positions. Use ANIMATE4 to view. Requires at least one meg of RAM to view. ù SMASH is Smash-Hit by Peter Zetterberg. This is a one person tennis game written in STOS BASIC. Joystick controlled, this game has three levels of skill (hint: stay at the first skill level and you will win (maybe) - the other levels are a lot harder!). The view is from above the court. This is definitely the best tennis game I have seen. You must control your service and position yourself for returns (the timing of the stroke is important, too). You can put spin on the ball and vary the power of your return. The sound consists of the ball being hit and bouncing, and the voice of the official calling his decisions. Very well done. Shareware. Color only. Compatible with my STE. Exits cleanly from my hard drive and is compatible with Geneva. Recommended. ù STRIP1 is STrip 0.95 by Lars Kupferschl„ger (dated 1993). This is the first terminal program for the Atari ST that supports the new Remote Imaging Protocol (RIP) found on many IBM Bulletin Boards. RIP has been developed by TeleGraphics, a USA Company and is a 7-bit ASCII transfer protocol for color graphics, mouse control and more. This has been designed to work on mono systems only and will not work with any graphic cards. How can a mono system adequately display the RIP colors? Well, it's difficult, but because of the resolution required by RIP (at least 640 * 350 pixels) it must be run in ST mono. It works though! If you call IBM boards then this program is for you! Docs included. Shareware. I found this on TOAD Hall BBS. ù STSPEECH is version 2.0 of ST Speech, a neat synthesized voice creator for the ST (TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible, at least). Just type in a sentence and it will speak it back to you. It has both an English text mode (where it speaks your typed words) and a phoneme mode (entered by pressing the "." key) which I can't figure out. I've seen this program in several places, but I've never seen any docs for it. Can anyone help me out? He's B..A..C..K, and boy, are we lucky! Tom Hayslett has returned from an extended trip to Europe (Germany and England), all expenses paid by the US Air Force. Because he's back, and because he's kept busy programming, we have another batch of new and updated utilities for the ST--TT (and perhaps the Falcon as well?). Right now there is a Christmas Special going on in regard to his SHAREWARE programs. For only $10 US you can get all of the below programs. Normally the cost is $20 so this is a real honey of a deal! Check them out! ù TLC_ATTR is the TLC Attributer v.3.0 by Tom Hayslett (the docs include information about Christmas 1993 but there is no other date). This .PRG or .ACC displays all your files (including "system" and "hidden" files) and allows you to change any file's attributes. Read/ Write Protected, System, Hidden Attributes can be set as well as toggling the TOS 1.4 fastload bit on/off, changing the archive bit for backups, "touching" the date/time stamp of a file or renaming a file. A true "delete" will even kill "protected" files (This allows you to delete those pesky files TOS won't delete at times.). Disk info will give you an immediate free disk space byte count, and you can make additions/changes of disk volume names, even on hard drives. Keyboard or mouse controlled. The docs give all sorts of ways to use this very useful program. Color or mono. ST--TT and Geneva compatible. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_BOOK is TLC Address Book v.4.03 by Tom Hayslett (dated May 21, 1993). It is really two databases in one! One is a standard address book that has _fast_ loading, sorting (on up to three fields at once), searching, merging, and saving of data (as many entries as your system's memory can hold). The other (fully integrated with the first) keeps track of birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates and events. It allows you to easily support any printer (the default is an Epson compatible printer and a config. file for an Okidata Laser is included as well, but you can easily make your own drivers). You can also print your data to disk for mail merging and the like. It also supports several page sizes, printing of phone and address books, mailing labels, date books, and date labels. You can now merge multiple address books. GEM interface with "Hot Keys" for most functions. This archive also includes a very useful utility: TLC_View v.1.0 (dated May 26, 1993. TLC_View is a program or accessory (just rename it) which will allow you to load and view you TLC Book address databases into a GEM window without leaving the GEM program you are using (very handy when you are working with your word processor). All ST/TT res. except ST and TT low. ST/STe/TT and Geneva compatible (sort of... It runs once from Geneva, exits cleanly, and then remains resident but can't be called up again). Docs and online help. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_EURO is the European version of version 4.03 of the TLC Address Book (see TLC_BOOK above for a full description). This version accomodates the changes in address lines and label sizes for European countries. Everything else is the same. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_FIXR is the Text String Fixer v.3.01 by Tom Hayslett (dated June 15, 1992. This program (which runs as an .ACC as well) allows simple changing of ASCII or HEX strings in programs (you have to know what text string you want changed). You can change up to 20 different programs at once. Mouse or "Hot Key" controlled. Great for shareware program authors, enabling them to customize their programs for registered users. SHAREWARE. Color or mono. ST--TT and Geneva compatible. ù TLC_FORM is the TLC Formatter, v.3.02 by Tom Hayslett (dated Aug. 12, 1992). It is a .PRG or .ACC that formats your disks in the standard 9 or 10 sector (or 18 and 20 with a high density drive) or a VERY faST 9 (or 18) sector (disks read and write faSTer than Twisted disks and almost Twice as fast as the standard format!). This program supports "switching" between 2 drives (if you have 2 floppies) which makes formatting go so much faster. It will format 80, 81, or 82 tracks and ALL formats are readable (and speed up the reading, too) on MS DOS 5.x and DR DOS 6.x compatible (except the 20 sector format). It now supports High Density drives. Allows inclusion of disk volume names, and formatting can be aborted at any time and errors are properly reported. Formatting proceeds from track 80 to track 1 so that if you change your mind about formating a disk in process you stand a good chance of getting much of your data back (Yippie!). Now you can turn disk verify on or off and shut off the alert boxes if you're really brave (or something else!). Docs (and some very helpful online dialogs) included. ST--TT compatible. Color or mono. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_ICON is the TLC ICON MAKER v.1.0 by Tom Hayslett. This program simply and easily allows you to take a Degas .PI2 or .PI3 picture and cut out a (large) section to use as an icon (creating a "mask" for it as well). Then just enter the name of a resource file to save your icon as and the program creates a simple resource file consisting of a dialog box holding your new icon. The program also creates the needed definition file (.DFN) for the RCS2 program to recognize the resource. Docs included. Color or mono. ST--TT and Geneva compatible. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_MEGA is the TLC÷Mega STe Throttle v.1.0 by Tom Hayslett (dated July 25, 1992). This is a simple speed selector (.PRG or .ACC) for MEGA STe systems (only). Also included are three other utilities that allow you to fine-tune your speed and cache configuration at boot-up. This also shows your TOS and GEMDOS on your Mega STe. You can run this on an ST or a TT, but all you will get is your TOS and GEMDOS info (so don't bother!). Color or mono. Docs included. Geneva compatible. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_NAMR is the TLC NAMER v.3.01 by Tom Hayslett of TLC Software and Damien M. Jones of DMJ Software (now that's a powerful team!). This .PRG or .ACC (or .TTP and .TOS, too!) allows you to rename any file to include symbols like the copyright symbol or any other ST character (name those file anything you want! Include upper and lower case letters, + ` ~ | # & % whatever!). This runs in any ST--TT res. except ST & TT low. Docs included. ST--TT and Geneva compatible. It works well with CodeHead Technologies MultiDesk, too. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_PLAY is The TLC Sound Machine v.3.00 by Tom Hayslett (dated June 15, 1992). This program allows you to load and manipulate all digitized sound file formats including ST Replay (Raw data or Sound), Soundoff!, Digisound, Master Sound, Pro Sound Designer and more. You can also save your files in Digi-Sound format, SoundOff! (ST Replay) or as a raw data file. The author says you can load just about _anything_, you can even load and play _program files_ (though he does admit that they might sound a little weird! I wonder what _Calamus_ sounds like?) The program allows you to reverse, stretch, squeeze, amplify, soften the data and resave the file in several compatible formats. This version adds desktop "hot keys." ST--TT compatible, but not Geneva compatible. This runs in all ST & TT res. except ST & TT low. Docs included. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_RSRC is the TLC Resource v.3.01 by Tom Hayslett (dated July 31, 1992). The TLC Resource utility will only be of interest to GFA programmers. The program asks you to select a resource file (*.RSC) to convert and then asks you to select an ASCII file to save it to (*.LST). It then converts the resource into a GFA file that can be merged into your GFA v.3.5 program. This allows the resource file to be embedded within the source code. No more .RSC files hanging around (or getting lost which is far more of a problem!) Instructions are printed with the .LST file this program creates which will instruct you on which calls need to be modified and how to use the generated code. This version fixes a bug which prevented the creation of multiple resource files and includes a sample GFA program file (.GFA) and .LST as examples for all you programmers out there who are learning to use resources with GFA. SHAREWARE. ù TLC_SHOW is TLC Shower v.3.00 by Tom Hayslett. It is a "quick and dirty" Spectrum (.SPC and .SPU) picture viewer. It allows you to choose and show one picture at a time. This version now automatically detects the proper sync rate (50 or 60 Hz, The World or North America), and if you are using a Mega STE it will automatically toggle the speed down to 8 MHz as you view the picture and toggle it back up when you quit (VERY nice!). I was hoping that this would also toggle my T-25 back to 8MHz, but it doesn't. Color only. Geneva compatible (it runs, but when you terminate the program it exits the system, too). This includes a very nice sample Spectrum picture. SHAREWARE by Tom Hayslett. No more Tender Lovin' Care for you! Back to the show! ù WARUM by Lazer of the Independent, is a Falcon Demo (for RGB only) that took first place at the 1993 680xx Convention in Hamburg. Sorry, I don't know any more about this. 660K uncompressed. ù WINRC135 is WinRec v.1.35 by Andreas Binner and Harald Sch”nfeld (dated October 22, 1993). WinRec is a direct to disk recording program for the Falcon computer. This version has made many improvements over previous versions (v.1.3 was the last I'd seen before this version). This program will allow you to record and play back your sounds in the background! Using the DSP chip in many ways, WinRec allows you to install all sorts of sound affects into your samples. It now uses Atari's D2D effects directly to expand your options. One minor way you can use this program is to amuse yourself (or rather your friends!) by doing Karaoke with a mike!. Supports real-time sample packing which can be unpacked during play. The pack rate is 50% and the loss of sound quality is VERY small. From what I can see in the docs this is an excellent program (now I wish I had a Falcon to test it!). Compabible with virtual RAM programs such as OUTSIDE and VRAM. This archive also includes 525, (available separately online, too. See description just below). Requires a Falcon. SHAREWARE. ù 525 is Five to Five, v.0.9 by Harald Sch”nfeld and Bernd Spellenberg (dated April 1, 1993). This is a useful utility (!) that converts digitized sound samples to and from the following formats: - DVSM (Falcon); - AVR (ATARI); - SND, AU (Sun, Mac, NeXT); - WAV (PC); and - raw data. Compatible with any 680x0 Atari. MultiTOS compatible. Docs included. German and English program versions are included. ù Y2PSR500 is the Memory Bulk Dump File Manager v.2.0 by Bob Weidner (dated 1992). This is a program which will save the Page Memory from a Yamaha PSR-500 keyboard along with a text description of the keyboard setup and the songs in the song memory. This version allows transfers of songs or other blocks of memory from one Page Memory to another. STE compatible (at least). Mouse controlled. Color or mono. Docs within the program. That's all for today! I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May you all may remember with joy whose Birthday Christmas really is. The New Year is coming, too, and in the next issue I hope to bring you the most memorable programs (at least to me - if I don't remember them they won't get listed!) of 1993. I suspect that it will be a LONG article! One final note: Harry Steele, the long-time and long suffering SysOp of the Boston Computer Society's BBS will be retiring from his position (though not from his online presence) as the BBS SysOp and closing down his board as of December 31st. Harry's mantle will pass on to the SysOp of TOAD Hall, Dana Jacobson, another long-time supporter of things Atari. Thanks Harry, for all the help you have given me over the years! Take care, 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), Toad Hall (617-567-8642), and The Boston Computer Society's Atari BBS (617-396-4607) (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. --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- GEnie Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- 1. Set your communications software for half duplex (local echo) -- -- at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud. -- -- -- -- 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 . -- -- -- -- 4. Have a major credit card ready. In the U.S., you may also use -- -- your checking account number. -- -- -- -- For more information in the United States or Canada, call 1-800- -- -- 638-9636 or write: GEnie, c/o GE Information Services, P.O. Box -- -- 6403, Rockville, MD 20850-1785. -- -- -- -- --==--==-- Atari's Official On-line Resource! --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Lynx Cheat File - Part 2: [Ms. Pac-Man] to [Zarlor Mercenary] ||| Maintained by: Peter Hvezda / | \ Internet: phvezda@wilma.pnfi.forestry.ca --------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ________________ / \______________________________/ ___ ___ \ / o | || | \ / _____________________________ |___||___| \ / [] | __ ___ _____ _ __ __ | [] \ | || | | | \ \/ /|\ \ | |\ \/ / | || | | | | | | _ || | | | \ / / | \ \ | | \ \/ | || | | | | | | _| |_ || | | | / / | \ \| | <\_> | || | | | | | | |_ _| || [] | |__|_ | | | |\ | /\ \ | [] || | | | | | | |_| || | |____| |_| |__| \__|/_/\_\ | || | | | | | | || | | || | | | | | | || | T I P S & T R I C K S | || | | | | | \ [] |_____________________________| [] ___ ___ / \ ATARI | || | / \ _____________________________ |___||___| / \_________________/ \________________/ The LYNX Cheats file was originally created and maintained by Damian Gick He unfortunately lost his net access and couldn't continue his support. The honour of maintaining the LYNX Cheats file was then passed on to Kevin (Tazzzzz) Dangoor, who provided exemplary service to the LYNX community by not only maintaining the Cheats file but also compiling all of Robert Jung's game reviews into one handy file. As an added service he made these files available through a highly efficient mail server. Kevin sold his Lynx and has passed on the torch of maintaining both the Reviews and Cheat files to yours truly. I have some big shoes to fill, and I will do my best to carry on the tradition set forth by my predecessors. The LYNX cheat file is now more comprehensive than ever before. I have added several more tips and tricks as well as changing the format slightly. I hope that you will find the changes refreshing and I look forward to any comments or suggestions that you may have about them. Incidentally, the LYNX Cheat file is also available in RTF format (which includes bitmapped maps). If you would like to submit any tips or tricks that you have come across or discovered, please e-mail them to the address listed below. The FAQ, the Lynx Game Reviews, and the Lynx Cheat files now reside at the anonymous ftp site: ftp.mantis.co.uk in /pub/uploads. Special thanks should be extended to Mathew for maintaining the ftp site and mail server. -- Peter Hvezda (Internet e-mail: phvezda@wilma.pnfi.forestry.ca) [MSP]===================================================================== MS. PAC-MAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. To get a lightning bolt, PAUSE the game and press OPT1, A, OPT1, and UNPAUSE 2. To get 5 extra guys, PAUSE, OPT1, B, B, A, A, OPT1, UNPAUSE (Thanks to Steve Ryno of Atari for this one) Both of these should be used while the game is in progress. The lightning bolt can be used as many times as you like, but you can only use the Extra man trick once. 3. To skip levels PAUSE (during the game) and pressing OPT 1, B, B, B, OPT 1, and UNPAUSE. Now press OPT 1 to activate anytime during the game. 4. To get a lightning bolt at any time PAUSE, hold down OPT 1 hit A, B, A Then release OPT 1 and hit OPT 1 the 2nd time. The Lighting Bolt will appear. Hit B to activate. [PAC]===================================================================== PAC-LAND -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get ten extra men: First get a high score. Put 330NE as the high score name. As long as that's the highest score, you'll get ten extra lives when you play. [QIX]===================================================================== QIX -------------------------------------------------------------------------- QIX Codes Codes found by: Patrick and John Hardie Flushing, NY Text File by: John Hardie 03/18/92 After level 255 you go back to level 0. There is no known code for level 1. 2- GFGHEF 3- GFGGEN 4- HAHEHF 5- HAHFNJ 6- HAHGOI 7- HFHCPI 8- HFHNGF 9- HFHMIJ 10- IAIKCJ 11- IAILLE 12- IAIMAN 13- IFIIJE 14- IFILHJ 15- IFIKBJ 16- IFJFBF 17- IFJEHI 18- IFJHCM 19- IFJGIE 20- IFJBAI 21- IFJABE 22- IFJDHJ 23- IFJCBJ 24- IFJNBE 25- IFJMHI 26- IFJPCI 27- IFJOBH 28- IFJJHJ 29- BFAIFP 30- IFJLDF 31- IFJKHC 32- IFKFBJ 33- IFKEBF 34- IFKHHI 35- IFKGCM 36- IFKBOD 37- IFKAAI 38- IFKDCE 39- IFKCLG 40- IFKNBJ 41- IFKMKI 42- IFKPIC 43- IFKOBJ 44- IFKJKL 45- DFBIDC 46- IFKLBJ 47- IFKKPF 48- IFLFLF 49- IFLEBJ 50- IFLHPE 51- IFLGLF 52- IFLBBJ 53- IFLAPH 54- IFLDLF 55- IFLCBJ 56- IFLNPG 57- IFLMLF 58- IFLPBJ 59- IFLOPB 60- IFLJLF 61- BFCIIJ 62- IFLLPA 63- IFLKLF 64- IFMFCM 65- IFMEIK 66- IFMHAI 67- IFMGKJ 68- IFMBIC 69- IFMACM 70- IFMDAF 71- IFMCJJ 72- IFMNJA 73- IFMMJK 74- IFMPKJ 75- IFMOJA 76- IFMJJK 77- DFHIMF 78- IFMLHO 79- IFMKEL 80- IFNFKJ 81- IFNEIC 82- IFNHJF 83- IFNGIM 84- IFNBCM 85- IFNAIK 86- IFNDAI 87- IFNCKJ 88- IFNNIC 89- IFNMCM 90- IFNPHF 91- IFNOJB 92- IFNJJP 93- BFEIDF 94- IFNLFN 95- IFNKJP 96- IFOFCA 97- IFOEJJ 98- IFOHHF 99- IFOGPK 100- IFOBAM 101- IFOAIG 102- IFODHF 103- IFOCIG 104- IFONMJ 105- IFOMDI 106- IFOPID 107- IFOOAM 108- IFOJJF 109- DFFIMF 110- IFOLJD 111- IFOKCM 112- IFPFIK 113- IFPEAI 114- IFPHKJ 115- IFPGIC 116- IFPBEL 117- IFPAKL 118- IFPDIC 119- IFPCJF 120- IFPNIA 121- IFPMBJ 122- IFPPKL 123- IFPOIC 124- IFPJAF 125- BFGIHA 126- IFPLCH 127- IFPKII 128- IFAFKF 129- IFAEOB 130- IFAHJJ 131- IFAGAF 132- IFABNL 133- IFAAAM 134- IFADKF 135- IFACHF 136- IFANJI 137- IFAMCM 138- IFAPIK 139- IFAOAI 140- IFAJKJ 141- DFLIDC 142- IFALGL 143- IFAKKL 144- IFBFIC 145- IFBECI 146- IFBHKL 147- IFBGIC 148- IFBBEM 149- IFBAID 150- IFBDFF 151- IFBCIC 152- IFBNCM 153- IFBMIA 154- IFBPAI 155- IFBOKL 156- IFBJIC 157- BFIIJF 158- IFBLMB 159- IFBKCH 160- IFCFII 161- IFCEKF 162- IFCHOB 163- IFCGJJ 164- IFCBAF 165- IFCALI 166- IFCDAM 167- IFCCMF 168- IFCNHF 169- IFCMJJ 170- IFCPCH 171- IFCOIJ 172- IFCJKF 173- DFJIFB 174- IFCLJJ 175- IFCKCM 176- IFDFIK 177- IFDEAI 178- IFDHKJ 179- IFDGIC 180- IFDBCL 181- IFDAKL 182- IFDDIC 183- IFDCHL 184- IFDNPF 185- IFDMLF 186- IFDPDI 187- IFDOPF 188- IFDJLF 189- BFKINM 190- IFDLJF 191- IFDKFF 192- IFEFKH 193- IFEEBL 194- IFEHPF 195- IFEGLF 196- IFEBAF 197- IFEAJI 198- IFEDAM 199- IFECAF 200- IFENHF 201- IFEMJM 202- IFEPCH 203- IFEOIJ 204- IFEJKF 205- BFNIHB 206- IFELJJ 207- IFEKCM 208- IFFFIK 209- IFFEAI 210- IFFHKJ 211- IFFGIC 212- IFFBCL 213- IFFAKL 214- IFFDIC 215- IFFCFL 216- IFFNPF 217- IFFMLF 218- IFFPJF 219- IFFOIC 220- IFFJCM 221- FFIIFK 222- IFFLBI 223- IFFKPF 224- IFGFLF 225- IFGEAF 226- IFGHIF 227- IFGGCL 228- IFGBKI 229- IFGAIC 230- IFGDCM 231- IFGCLH 232- IFGNAI 233- IFGMCO 234- IFGPLG 235- IFGOAI 236- IFGJBC 237- BFPICG 238- IFGLCH 239- IFGKIA 240- IFHFGJ 241- IFHEKL 242- IFHHIC 243- IFHGHF 244- IFHBIC 245- IFHACM 246- IFHDIB 247- IFHCAI 248- IFHNDA 249- IFHMLG 250- IFHPAF 251- IFHOIA 252- IFHJCM 253- BFOIBK 254- IFHLAI 255- IFHKDA O- BFBFLM [RAM]===================================================================== RAMPAGE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a trick that will let you select ANY level in Rampage. When the character selection screen appears, pause and unpause the game. Now when the game continues on to the headlines screen(you must, of course, select a character.) hold down option 1 and move the joypad. Now you can select ANY LEVEL! Showing the digitized picture of the programmer (it is very nicely done and even has some "animation"): Activate the level select trick (Pause and unpause when choosing your monster). At the newspaper, hold down Option 1 and select Day 6. Press Pause twice. Hold down Option 1 and select Day 15. Press Pause twice. Hold down Option 1, Option 2, and the 'B' button simultaneously. The game will end, but there will be a "smiling programmer" instead of the winning monster. ===== Levels and City Names ===== 1. BOISE 32. MINNEAPOLIS 2. PORTLAND 33. MILWAUKEE 3. SEATTLE 34. CHICAGO 4. SACRAMENTO 35. DETROIT 5. OAKLAND 36. CELVELAND 6. SAN FRANCISCO 37. DAYTON 7. LOS ANGELES 38. CINCINNATI 8. SAN BERNADINO 39. INDIANAPOLIS 9. SAN DIEGO 40. LOUSVILLE 10. LAS VEGAS 41. MEMPHIS 11. SALT LAKE CITY 42. NASHVILLE 12. PHOENIX 43. JACKSON 13. TUSCON 44. BIRMINGHAM 14. EL PASO 45. ATLANTA 15. ALBUQUERQUE 46. TAMPA 16. DENVER 47. MIAMI 17. CHEYENNE 48. CHARLESTON 18. BUTTE 49. CHARLOTTE 19. BISMARCK 50. RICHMOND 20. SIOUX FALLS 51. BALTIMORE 21. OMAHA 52. WASHINGTO D.C. 22. LINCOLN 53. PHILADELPHIA 23. KANSAS CITY 54. PITTSBURGH 24. WICHITA 55. BUFFALO 25. OKLAHOMA CITY 56. SYRACUSE 26. DALLAS 57. BOSTON 27. HOUSTON 58. PROVIDENCE 28. NEW ORLEANS 59. NEWARK 29. LITTLE ROCK 60. NEW YORK CITY 30. ST LOUIS 61. SUNNYVALE 31. DES MOINES ===== Headlines (XXXX... ON NTH DAY) ===== GIANT MONSTER GOES ON RAMPAGE (level 1) ALL-OUT BATTLE... CITY-STOMPING... DEADLY DISASTER... FEROCIOUS RAMPAGE... INTENSE FIGHTING... MASS DEVASTATION... MONSTROUS MELEE... NATIONWIDE MAYHEM... PERILOUS POUNDING.... TRAGIC ONSLAUGHT... ===== Captions ===== AQUATIC STARLET WADES INTO DEEP TROUBLE... AVOID LIGHTNING IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO CONDUCT YOURSELF CABBIES CRY "NO FARE!!" CITY HOWLING MAD, SAUSAGE SCAM EXPOSED DAIRY EXPLODES - UDDER CHAOS EVERYWHERE... DRINK THE FINAL POTION TO INDUCE YOUR BACKWARD MOTION EAT FOOD ITEMS TO INCREASE HEALTH... EVER-GROWING CONCERN OVER MEGA-VITAMIN... EX-MUTANT IS ARRESTED FOR STREAKING GET A BANG OUT OF LIFE -- PICK UP DYNAMITE GIANT APE THROWS MONKEY WRENCH INTO CITY WORKS GIANT WEREEOLF GOES SHOPPING...SACKS 5TH AVENUE... GUILTY LAB TECHNICIAN DISCOVERS CURE GYM SOCK THIEF THWARTED...SUSPECT BEING HELD (AT ARM'S LENGTH...) HAVE A FRIEND FOR DINNER...BURP HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THE "MONKEY-IN-THE-MIDDLE"???...OUCH!... HINT: FOOD BEHIND OPEN WINDOWS... HINT: WANT TO EAT WELL? PUNCH SLOWER... HOVERING HELICOPTERS HERALD HUMONGOUS HURT... IS THERE NO END TO THIS RAMPAGE? JOB OPENINGS IN NATIONAL GUARD KEEP THE SPRY LAB TECHNICIAN IN SUNNYVALE...OR ELSE!! LAB SCREW-UP WEARS OFFF...FILM AT 11... LAB TECHNICIAN SIGHTED IN SUNNYVALE... MEGA VITAMINS -- JUST SAY NO...! PLAY "TROLLEY HANDBALL" WITH YOUR FRIENDS POTIONS GIVE SPECIAL POWERS... PROPERTY VALUES AT ALL-TIME LOW... RADIOACTIVE LAKE CHANGES WOMAN'S SCALE REAL ESTATE PRICES PLUMMET...BUYERS BEWARE REAL LIFE JEKYLL AND HYDE STORY!! SHORTAGE OF PRIME OFFICE SPACE...MARKET COLLAPSES SOMETHING'S BREWING ON THE ROOF AT THE ARGLEBARF CHEMICAL COMPANY SPOUSE OF MUTANT FILES LEGAL ACTION TANK BUT NO TANKS... THERE ARE NO (BUY A LYNX) SUBLIMINAL (OR TWO) IN THIS GAME (BUY A LYNX) VIDEO PIRACY IN CITY HALL? MAYOR IN REEL TROUBLE...! YOU CAN LEAD YOU BUDDIES TO WATER, BUT YOU CAN'T MAKE THEM SWIM WARNING!: ELECTRICITY IS SHOCKING... WITNESS SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON FLUORESCENT BULB SCAM... [RAP]===================================================================== RAMPART -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Pretty sketchy--sorry. Would someone like to send me the complete cheat?] Clear two veteran levels and ??? and push the joypad left as if you were trying to select a different battlefield. The highlight will disappear and then you press A or B you will play on one of the two player levels. Playing tip! During the cannon stage, if you click five times on a place where the cannon can't be built, you'll go on ahead to the firing stage. One strategy is to place the cannon over a boat you plan to target and click five times, so that when you start the firing stage the crosshairs will already be over he boat. [ROA]===================================================================== ROAD BLASTERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to skip levels in RoadBlasters. Start game normally and choose the Rookie starting area. Accelerate car, while holding down the "B" button to about 25 - 50 mph and steer the car so that it is riding on the left shoulder of the road. Keep holding down the "B" button. Eventually, you will hit a tree which is growing on the side of the road. When you do this you will see a digitized picture of one of the programers and a short message. You will also see in the upper right hand corner a number. This is the level you are on. Use the OPTION 1 button to move the number forward, and OPTION 2 to move the number backward. (Note: gently tap the OPTION keys. This function really zooms thru the levels.) Once you get to the level you want to play, press the "A" button. You're now back in the game. you will now continue to finish level 1, then the next level will be the level above the one you chose, i.e. if you picked level 48, after you finish level one, you'll be on level 49. (from Star*Lynx) [RYG]===================================================================== RYGAR -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Floating shield trick: Throw the shield in front of you, then restart the game with Option 1 and Pause. When you restart the game, your shield will be floating in front of you. As soon as you fire, your shield returns to normal. (programming glitch?) [SCR]===================================================================== SCRAPYARD DOG -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Free shield: When you start the game, wait until your man appears and press PAUSE Now press right on the joypad and press the "B" button at the same time. You should see a message at the bottom othe screen that says "SHIELD AWARDED." Note: This works only once at the beginning of each level. Found by: Sky (John Hardie From Flushing, NY) Feb. 1992. Playing tip: Here is a method I used to obtain lots of shields and lives in Scrapyard Dog. If a shop you are about to enter has a red $5 money bag on the same screen, take the money before entering the shop. Then exit the shop. The $5 money bag will appear again. Take the money and enter the shop again. Repeat this over and over to build up your money supply. Don't worry about losing a life or two by running out of time for the level because just ahead in another shop, you will buy yourself more lives ($35) and max out your shields ($10) to nine. This method can be used on another level towards the end of the game to get lots of lives. WARP to FOREST: To perform the warp, you must be on JUNKYARD Level 2. Move right through the level to the stack of tires. Jump onto tires and press down. The can room will appear. The following table show where the arrow starts and where the prize ends up: Start Finish 1 5 2 1 3 4 4 2 5 3 You are now small in size. This allows you to knock on the WARP door and warp. As you move to the right, press up in front of the tree to get an extra life. Keep moving to the right and avoid being hit by bullets, dogs, mice, and bird dropings. Jump up where the hub caps are hanging on a line to get invincibility. Also pressing down while on top of the third brown can (the one to the left of the mouse caught between cans) will give you a shield. When you get to the toilet just before the office, jump up on the toilet. Face left and hold down. A red warp door will appear to the right of the office. Move over to the door and hold up to open door and warp. WARP to DESERT: To perform the warp, you must be on CITY Level 1. Move to the right until you get to the black cat up in the window above the mail box. Throw a can to get rid of the cat. Jump up to window where cat was and press up. You will now be small. Move back to the left to door by mail box. Jump up steps to get level with door. Hold up while in front of door to get red warp door to appear above the door. Now quickly jump onto mail box, jump to the left edge of the screen while holding the jump button (to achieve a higher jump). This will put you at the red warp door. Press/hold up in front of door to warp. WARP to ICE: You must be in the FOREST level 1. At the start of the level, move to the right to the log when the rabbit comes out. When you jump on the log over the hole where the rabbit came out, press down on the joypad. You are know small. If you go to the right, you will encounter a tree with two snakes. Enter the door to enter the shop. Exit the shop and the snakes are gone. Now jump on the stump to the right of the shop. Face left and hold down till the WARP door appears on the branch. Jump up to the door and press up. You will now warp to the ICE area. These are the only warps that I found in the game. There may be more. Hope this helps you out! EJ (Ed Saloka) [SHA]===================================================================== SHADOW OF THE BEAST -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep in mind when you read this that Beast is an arcade game, thus just knowing how to do this may not be enough. Quick reflexes may be necessary. Also, my strategy is not perfect in places... if you know how to improve my technique (ie, you don't get hit as much) let me know (tazzzzz@eecs.umich.edu). Outside. Start by running to the left. Watch for the bats that will fly down (I've only made it through here unscathed a couple times, normally I just run back to the right a little bit and duck when I hear the bats shriek). There are two different sets of bats, and each set of bats will attack in two different smaller groups. As soon as you get past the second set of bats, there are three metal traps in the ground. All you need to do is jump and land between the sets of "jaws". Enter the tree (there is nothing of value further to the left). In the tree, part one. The small head at the bottom of the staircase will shoot at you when you get a certain distance from it (something you're bound to discover on your own!). Climb down the ladder and head to the left. The game progresses pretty linearly here. You've got a few platforms to jump and a few monsters to dispose of, but there's really only one way to go. When you get past the green guys with the swords (watch out for those spikes overhead!), climb up the ladder and head to the right (passing the next ladder which is heading up) until you come to the ladder that goes down. A bit more jumping on platforms and you'll come to a blue total health restoring potion. Things progress a bit more and you will encounter these golden flying things. When you are at this point, you will climb down a ladder and find a silvery (but with red center) circular device stuffed in a corner to the right (somewhat near a big skeleton lodged in the wall). This is a teleporter that will take you back a ways. Don't use it yet. Instead, head to the left, ignoring the ladder heading down. Next, you will come to the weird eagle thing that is holding a blue crystal globe. Time his fire-breathing activities and get up close to him when he's not scorching the air in your vicinity. Ducking will avoid the fire. Then, when he's not breathing fire, punch the globe (it will flash each time you hit it). I counted eleven hits for it to be finished. You will then have the blue globe in your inventory (you'll get to use it soon enough). Head back to the right the way you came, and then take the ladder down. You will climb down a jog in the ladders, and then head left instead of down. To the left, you will find an area with a key. I've found it easiest to jump off of the moving platform into that section and then getting onto the up-down moving platform without the resident blue guy seeing me. (Basically don't walk to the left at all after jumping off of that moving platform. Just hop straight onto the up-down platform). Now, head back to the right. If you need health, climb down that ladder that I told you not to climb down before and head to the left. All the way left is a blue complete health restoration potion. I have a hint for this whole section. I found it much quicker to avoid catching all the ropes and jumping on all the platforms by simply falling off the ledges. The health potions were conveniently spaced so that I could easily survive these falls (watch out for spikes though!) and leave this area with full health. Climb back up the ladders and hop in the teleporter. After teleporting, hit option 1 and select the blue globe. The blue globe gives you a nifty missile weapon. Head left and climb up the ladder. When you move to the right, a wall will rise sealing you from escape! There is a lone spike "bush" in the middle of this little battlefield. Stand with the Beast's right foot just about touching the left edge of the bush. When the monster rises up, duck. You should be below his shots. Note that before he rises up, he will fire one shot. Try to jump over them, but they don't do too much damage so don't worry too much. I comfortably get four shots in before I have to duck. It takes fifteen shots total (don't waste these shots, I've found them useful later). Hit option 1 and select "exit" in order to go back to regular punches. Off to the right, you enter the second half of the tree and a new save point! In the tree, part two. As you run to the right, you will run past a machine with a lever, gears and a chain coming out of the top. Ignore that for the moment, and jump over the spikes. After you climb down the ladder, there will be some snakes coming out of the floor and spitting at you. Just run up to them and punch them after they spit. After the second and third snakes a bird thing will fly down and you will need to duck. Don't take the downward ladder after the snakes. Instead, pick up the gear and head back to the machine. Once there, hit option 1 and select the gear. Assuming you're standing close to the machine, the gear will go in place. Punch the lever and a platform will lower. Climb onto the platform and punch the lever again to go up. Go to the right and get the torch hanging from a support pole. Head left, beat up some green guys and flip the switch on the wall. Climb up the ladder you past when you went to flip the switch, and head left past the bouncing eyeballs (!?). When the dragon stops breathing fire, run, pick up the key and stand next to him and wait out his next attack. After that, run back to the right and past the eyeballs. If you need health, head to the right and pick up the blue potion. Otherwise, head back down the ladder and the "elevator". Go past the snakes again, and then head downward. Head right and punch the lever. Then turn back and cross the platform that had been extended across what used to be a gap. Punch the lever you find off to the left and then go back to the right and downard (gadzooks! They've got you running back and forth!). Run left after getting to the bottom of the ladder and use the moving platforms to take you further left. You will find a blue "glove" suspended in midair. If it's surrounded by electricity, you forgot to flip the switch in the hallway underneath those bouncing eyeballs. As you head back right past the ladder, a couple of those red batlike things will fly down. Try to hit them, because now is a good time to conserve health. You've got a ways to go before a refill. Continue on downward and avoid the obstacles (I have really got much to comment on here. Just practice your timing around the spikes and try not to get hit.) When you get to the ghosts, if you head right instead of down the ladder to the left you can avoid having to deal with these rocket engines that are mysteriously igniting. However, only avoid those engines if you have the health to take a fall into spikes (and you must also be confident of your ability to get rid of the dragon). Hit option 1 and select the yellow glove. You can't kill the dragon without it. If you watch the timing, you will notice that the spike will drop to the floor and the dragon will stop breathing fire. That is when you need to jump across. You can comfortably punch the dragon five times before you need to jump back across when the spike is down. It takes a total of thirty hits to blast this guy. Use the yellow key you picked up to leave the tree area through the well. Topside once again. All right! So we're out of that hellhole of a tree. Well, there's still a bunch of ickyness to deal with up top. First, stand in front of the cannon. After the nifty little green dude lights the fuse (wait for it to be burning), punch the cannon. The little guy gets blast and leaves a handy gun behind. Now, head back to the right eliminating the baddies that you encounter. The columns that look like piles of rock contain potentially useful items (there is only one evil column in the game, and that comes near the end). The first two you come across have health bonuses. The last one contains a large ball. Push the ball along with you as you avoid the spikes and use it to plug up a hole from which some green and red balls are popping. When you get to the funky pterodactyl statue, don't be alarmed. This is actually a pretty easy monster. He does a bit of damage if he hits you, so don't let him. Punch the statue five times to let the monster out, and then punch him three times to take back the freedom you just gave him. I personally hate the spider forest that comes next, but at least there is health afterwards. To get past each spider, wait until the spike on the right has just come down, and walk over until you are directly to the left of the spider. Punch the spider, wait until just before it hits the ground, and jump into the air. Let the spider go under you, and move slightly to the right to land where the spider had been, between the spikes. Wait until the spike on the right has just come down, and walk to the right. The second time you repeat this process there will be a spider running along the ground which you must jump over. The eyeballs aren't too bad once you see the holes that you can rest in. Duck as the green guy flies overhead, and then punch him as he comes back around but lower. When the flying dragon drops the winged bomb, punch the bomb before it explodes and it will eradicate the annoying swarm of insects. I think you can handle the rest of the obstacles until you get to the castle. In the castle. Go left, past the ladder, and get rid of the green, hoppy guys. Flip the switch. Go back and climb the ladder. You can only punch wooden barrels; the silver balls and indestructible. There are two wooden barrels followed by a metal ball, and this repeats itself indefinitely. Hit the first wooden barrel, and use the ladder up to the next level as a means to dodge the second barrel and the metal ball. When you get to the floor where the barrels are dropping down, run to the left and flip the switch. Climb the ladder to the top floor, and punch the chests to the right for health, except be forewarned that the very last chest contains a green guy who shoots arrows, and the second to last chest can be stood on to avoid the arrows. Kill the green guy by punching the chest before getting the last bit of health. Run to the right, avoid axes and flying dragons. Pick up the wrench. Climb down the first ladder you come to. As you run to the right, watch for green dudes in the floor which throw knives at you. To avoid getting hit by the axes that come down, stand right underneath whence they come, and they'll fly over you from each side. After defeating the three big green mouths, run and jump across the gap. You need to jump at the last second to make it. Punch the little head in the wall three times, and jump onto the chandelier as it lowers. Wait for the spider to go up to run underneath it. More axes. Some spiders need to be punched once or twice before they'll go up. After climbing down the ladders, you'll be back near the entrance. Go right. You might want to consider using some of your remaining shots from the blue ball to kill the red bouncy blobs and the bats after them. The gates here will only be open if you've flipped both switches prior to getting here. Climb down the ladder; don't go all the way to the left. Some health is on the right then. Go left, wait for the metal ball to pass, go left, climb the ladder, climb into the pit, and duck. Wait for the ball, go left, and climb down the ladder. Pick up the spare bullets, and climb down the next ladder. Run to the right until you see the gargoyles; then run back to the left, and punch the button on the wall. There's another green guy in the floor after the axes. Use the wrench to get past the electric field. Climb up the ladder, go to the left, and flip the switch. Arm yourself with the gun, climb down the other ladder, and go to the right. Get in close, and just shoot. And keep shooting. You shouldn't need to refill the gun. Use the blue key to unlock the door. You are now outside. Outside the castle. Go right. Punch the tombstones for health. In the second set of tombstones, the second tombstone contains a ghost instead of health. Kill everything. To kill the final guy, watch his shot pattern. Get in close and jump and kick the face in the middle of his body. Congratulations, you won. [SHN]===================================================================== SHANGHAI -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To View Ending Sequence. At the high score table, pause, hold down option 1, option 2, B, and press up and right at the same time on the joypad. [TOD]===================================================================== SLIME WORLD -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The codes found in this text file were compiled by Mr. Kale Swindell of La Canada, CA. He indicates that these codes will place your character (TODD) at one of the restart stations located in the game. The further along the code is in the list, the further into the level your character will be restarted. Adventure 1: EASY 24CAA1 E8CA6C EC8AA9 118AEA 6FCBE9 919073 E70926 A809E3 6B4B6C 66CBE0 25CBA7 114928 12C9AA 550894 D7C956 19CB93 198AD2 9D0AD9 45C9C5 5DC9DD 070946 CA090D CCC94F 30C988 4F8B09 0B8BCD 098BC3 078BC1 C28A87 870AC3 8A0ACE 8F0BC8 Adventure 2: EXPLORATION 269AF3 ED9ABE ECDA78 ED9BBF E4DB71 259BF7 EA193D EF58F9 D199B9 E79EB4 EDDE7D EE9EBF D29EBB E79FB5 2F9CF2 6CDCE3 AC5CB2 139CFE 159DF9 D01A24 559925 5A9E23 43DFE9 1E1969 1DDCA0 1899E0 1CD8AF 0399EB 865591 465F57 4EDFDD 75DFD8 245947 085F11 4C5C52 070997 4FDFDD 089ADD 70DCDF 75DCD8 F1181B B51FDA 711B9B 8EDA1A F1DA45 745947 749807 F659C1 B85D87 BD1DC0 B79B40 3DDC80 B79B40 7E5D4D 205F09 7F9E0C 60DEC9 20D988 205F09 Adventure 3: ACTION 9157B6 AB9277 2F1176 919073 198AD2 5DC9DD 15563D 569039 98D638 1796FC 111671 5417B2 1DD7BB 1993FB D052FC 1492F9 D91225 5CD1E4 5CD6E5 011766 DC93A6 1E1262 43536C 42506C 47972D 0D97EB 77D1DF B816D8 7A575B B610D8 72139C 0C1654 8916E9 4D9115 F150D3 CA9095 0892D5 8F9350 B69358 391245 FF9086 BC12C0 BD11C4 3C5604 215601 211746 67970D EAD74B 6B910B 62920F A610C8 Adventure 4: SUSPENSE DD0114 DDC154 9D8154 5DC0D4 5C8114 5C4157 1C4117 DC0117 DCC157 DF8197 9C01D7 9C4197 5D8014 9CC117 5C0097 5CC0D7 DCC0D7 C641D9 C941D8 494158 C9C659 464159 474059 46C0D9 464058 884284 0B82C4 0DC286 8C4280 8E4282 B0824C 34004E C7071C 1A472B 1A076B 1DC7AB 5DC7EB 5D872B 5D476A 5C07AA 9702EB 10C3A2 110362 114322 918362 2E81E6 9146A1 9106E1 EEC666 114621 110661 11C6A6 2E0666 2E4626 2E86E7 2EC6A7 2B413A 2B81FB 2BC1BB 28413B 2881F8 28C1B8 294138 2981F9 29C1B9 24413F 2387F1 200771 E00731 A007F1 6006B1 210671 E10631 A106F1 6101B1 3E0272 FEC171 BEC131 7EC0F1 3EC0B1 FFC071 BF00F1 7F03B1 3C0371 FC0331 BC03F1 7C02B1 3D0271 7C4371 3A0276 FA42F6 BA42B6 FAC276 BA8176 BD42B1 BD02F1 BDC231 A48278 Adventure 5: LOGIC D9E275 9C26F4 9B62B7 02A2FF 9F63B0 C02032 C4E17F C2A1B2 032770 DF67F4 022470 05E7B3 47667F 4621BE 8522F9 06E3B8 8921F8 C966F9 8C65BB CDE665 71E1E1 4C21A4 0EE3A0 CAA3A5 8D62A1 8F22E3 7527A3 336720 CEE565 F52520 39652C 3CA4EB B7E42D B2A662 BA64A8 F162ED 77E3E9 796168 BBA66B 3BE0AA FF61D6 60A417 236516 E02711 A12601 652692 E8E55F A6E61E 6A2798 AD25D8 27A1DF A7A358 7CE2D1 Adventure 6: ARCADE 012D7C 016E39 016938 00EAA5 002A64 INVINCIBILITY: At the title screen with the Slime World logo that falls with a crash, do the following: 1) Press and hold Option 2 2) Press and hold Option 1 while holding Option 2 down 3) Move the joypad to the upper right, while holding down both Options After that, release your fingers, and if desired, turn the music back on. There is no indicator of your success, until you start playing. Things behave very strangely in multiplayer mode tho, so be warned! Hidden Passageways: When you reach the first exit of what appears to be the end of the Adventure 6: Arcade, shoot your gun into the upper right hand corner of the wall. A part of the wall will disappear revealing the secret passage way. If you can't continue on, then try shooting at the wall some more. When ever you find an exit in this level don't be fooled, it isn't the end of the game. There is always (except for the last exit #6) another hidden passage to the right of it! When you are in this secret area of the game you find a message (only readable from the map screen) alluding to the zip popping contest. Zit Popping Contest A 'Zit Popping' game can be played by going to the summary screens and then going to the screen where Todd is pictured green. Press Option 1 and you'll see a zit. Blow it up by hitting the buttons as fast as you can. This also works in multi-player mode where it becomes a competition against your opponent. Playing tips: You can jump out of sticky slime by jumping and pressing shoot at the same time. (I believe Wade discovered this, and it made starting out in combat a lot different) You can climb up slippery walls by timing jumps perfectly so that you jump at the instant you touch the wall. Pressing the button as fast as you can works to a lesser extent.(I don't remember but I'll give this one to Wade as well) If you make two megabombs explode in different rooms at the same time you can create a constantly lit mega-bomb room which will stay lit until some poor fool walks into it. (You can also do this using a jet pack but it becomes somewhat more difficult. I think the easiest place to do this is probably in J-room in level five combat. I think we all discovered this one together.) Somewhere near the end of level 5 logic, there is a wall that you can walk into, and all the lights from the room around you will go out. It's not that great of a trick but I remember having fun with it. It's possible to jump into almost any vertical wall and hide by moving as close to the wall as possible without grabbing on to it, and then jumping towards the wall pressing jump and shoot at the same time. It takes a lot of practice but the rewards are great. It is deliciously fun to hide in a wall where no one can see you, and then open fire on the first poor soul to walk in front of you. The place where it comes in handy is at the bottom left of the combat maze (right next to J-room) Sometimes you get stuck in that room when someone before you took both jet packs. Usually you would have to pop, but if you jump through the wall on the right, you can set up for a good position for a sneak attack. BE VERY CAREFUL though, if you don't jump and press towards the wall at the exact same time, it is possible to become forever imbedded in the wall. In combat with five lives left this can really suck. Just remember jump, shoot, and towards the wall all at the same time. (I think Ryan discovered this) After you get the above technique down, try going to the lower right corner of combat (that big curved dead end next to the big room) if you jump into the wall on the right, you can jump right through and end up in level 5 logic. We suspected that all the mazes might somehow be connected but never took the time to find out. -Randall on behalf of the gang Ryan Marc Terrence Wade Jon Carl [STU]===================================================================== S.T.U.N. RUNNER -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start out at level 11 (Labyrinth) and complete it. On level 12 (Coathanger) go right and catch the boost and continue going right. You will fly up and then continue and cross the finish line. You will be warped to level 18! [SUP]===================================================================== SUPER SKWEEK -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choose Normal Game from the options. At the map screen position Skweek (or Skruch) over the "O" in the word GARGOUIL LAND and scale until you can't fly any lower. You will see a snorkeling furball. It may take some positioning, but maneuver yourself over the furball and then press OPT 1 so you can go to the forbidden islands. If you want two extra men, scale onto the small island directly to the right of the WELCOME ISLAND in the upper right corner of the dark blue spot. You will see a Skweek next to a palm tree. Hover over it and push OPT 1 for two extra lives. To gain 3000 extra coins, scale over to the large body of water in the PAGALAGOS ISLAND. You will see a Skweek. Hover over it, push OPT 1 and the cash is yours. (from July 1992 EGM) [TOK]===================================================================== TOKI -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freak out mode: Press and hold down OPT1 and UP before the title screen appears get into "freak out" mode. Or once at the "Continue?" screen, after the first "beep" of the countdown, and while the timer still shows a 9, press UP and OPTION 1 at the same time, and hold them. You'll see the GAME OVER screen, but keep holding them. The TOKI demo will appear... keep holding UP and on OPTION 1. After the names of the designers fall down, the demo should go psychedelic!! The demo will cycle through colours, a catchy tune will begin, and the pad will allow you to sample digitized TOKI sounds... furthermore, pressing DOWN and LEFT repeatedly will cause the samples to descend in pitch. Conversely, pressing UP and RIGHT repeatedly will cause the samples to ascend in pitch. Note: Once the new demo begins, release UP & OPTION 1. Then use pad to sample sounds. Pressing A or B starts the game normally (from Star*Lynx BBS and Jason). The digitized designers: For those of you trying to get the digitized picture of the TOKI designers to appear in TOKI but are having trouble, I've found that holding the pad UP and holding OPTION 1 simultaneously JUST as the screen fades to black to show the "Continue" screen usually produces the white dot after the timer expires (of course hold UP and OPTION 1 through the whole duration of the continue screen). [Ed. This is incomplete. I know that something else has to be done first in order for this trick to work. Can someone email me what it is?]. [TOU]===================================================================== TOURNAMENT CYBERBALL -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Tournament Cyberball there is an apparent bug in the game that can be a real cheat. This works well against another human player. I haven't tried it against the computer. I'm guessing the computer is "too smart" to fall for this cheat. Anyways, if you're fairly far up the field, you can run your quarterback all the way to the opposite end of the field, before throwing your pass. "Unrealistic" passes can be completed from the opposite end of the field. Watch out though, some computerized cyberbots will follow you all the way. The advantage of this cheat is simple: It takes out a few of the computerized defenders, and it throws the defense player off by not allowing the defense player to see where your receivers are going. In other words, all you see on both player's lynx's is a pretty much blank screen with nothing but a quarterback and a few rushers....With enough practice, one can have little trouble blindly throwing passes like this. Lastly, don't try this cheat on the "Real" arcade version of this game. It doesn't work. Actually it's quite amusing what happens. When you think the quarterback is going to throw a 70 + yard pass, he/she/it ends up throwing a pass that lands like 1 yard right in front of the QB. Try it if you're ahead sometime on the arcade version. Is kinda amusing....;-) [VIK]===================================================================== VIKING CHILD -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following codes indicates what levels are accessible from each password. Village, Castle: --NONE-- Forest, Mountain: OMEGAMAN Land Bridge, Lake: PATRICIA Labyrinth, Mud Flats, Volcano: REDDWARF Desert, Pyramid, Island: DEWSBURY Codes from Wizz Kidd (Mike Reed from Tempe, Az) [WAR]===================================================================== WARBIRDS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tip for new players. When playing alone, pause the game and you can still look around with the B' button. This may help new pilots so they can pause the action, look around and plan their route. To kill the Red Baron: First select unlimited damage, 200 rounds of ammo, no collisions, unlimited men if you're not good at landing, and a dueling start. Once you're in the air, fire your machine guns at the Baron. After he flies by, waste your ammunition on purpose. Next, land. While your men are trying to fix your plane, the Baron will crash trying to shoot you on the ground. Single player grave sight. For single-player Grave Sight, as soon as you die (when the roses and skulls border appears) quickly pause the game. 'A' button will change the viewpoint from plane to plane (And to the point where you died). Look around with the joypad. [XEN]===================================================================== XENOPHOBE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hints: First the basics. I love the yellow electro gun, so all my strategy revolves around this gun. The puffer gun does more damage. I usually crawl along the ground and fire alot. I stand to kill festers and ceiling vines. Jump to move quickly. Festers (the fellows who appear on the sides of the screen) Take these guys out by being just over half a screen away from them. Fire like crazy. You better make sure you are at least half a screen away because these really hurt! You can advance on them once they retreat and expose their hand, makes killing them easier if you do. When they throw stuff, you better be facing them and firing... Getting hit by this stuff stuns you, likely costing your life on later levels. You can kill them with the puffer gun by laying low near the edge of the screen, and standing up and firing as soon as they start to retreat. You can always ignore these guys buy crawling along the floor... but it's good to take them out as soon as you can. They produce other aliens, and create another hazard. You can often kill festers on the adjacent screen by firing very close to the edge. I used this to my advantage alot on level 22, which is almost nothing but festers. Ceiling vines: As I mentioned earlier, make sure you don't move into them while firing. Stop, then aim up and fire. Rollerbies (the armadillo like things that curl into a ball) Getting hit by these balled up creatures can stun you for some time, like the festers can, which means losing your life in later levels. Fire alot at them to make them roll the other way of course. Don't fire too much if there is a closed door in the way, as they'll bounce back at you at high speed. They unravel once they stop moving. I often fire once or twice at them to make them stop. They then unravel and I kill them. Or, I throw a grenade, and fire just enough to make them be near the grenade. These guys are what really threatens your life at the beginning of later levels... Don't underestimate what a mob of these can do to your game. :) One stuns you, then every alien and their brother beat up on you while you can't do anything. Then you lose your gun, and losing your gun on later levels usually means the end of your life, if not your whole game! (you usually get a laser with your new guy, which often is inadaquate). Point blank shots often don't work on these guys for some reason, very important to remember. Laser firing security drones: Of course you can make these stop firing at you by getting the disk and putting it in the security machine. But did you know that you can kill them? You have to fire alot, unless you have a puffer gun. Stand and fire diagonally up, fire like crazy, and don't change directions! They'll move right into your fire. The laser gun does so little damage, it is questionable if you should do this with that gun. I kill these drones on every floor I encounter them until I find the disk. Little crawling aliens: crawl and fire alot, jump if you they stick to you. On later levels, it often isn't wise to jump immediately... you might jump into a festers xray beam, and get stunned, lose your gun, your life, your game... Snotterpillars (big hopping spitting aliens): While heading towards a new screen, if you hear that you are hitting something just before you enter the new screen, stop and keep firing until the sound stops. Then fire a lot as you enter the new screen. Firing at them usually stops the nasty spittle they throw. You should have no problems taking out mobs of these fellows by firing alot. Stop moving as soon you are hitting one, you want to hit them as far away as you can. I am pretty brave with these guys, I'll take on a big mob of them at once. Just fire very very fast. If too many get close, or are about to, move directly away and hit jump twice (or more) in a row. This one tactic is the main reason why I survive so long! Not only does it make you run away quickly, it also has the effect of dodging their spittle. Practice turning around and hopping away repeatly when there aren't aliens around. Make sure you are moving away before jumping, otherwise you'll jump up instead of away, and then you're really If you have the puffer gun, have no fear-- if you fire fast enough, you can kill a solid wall of these guys with it. machine that spits out bombs: Each bomb does 200 damage I think, so be careful. Jump away or over bombs that get thrown near you. hit option two to fix the machine, then hit option one until you have a full load of grenades. self destructing: often a good idea, unless you are about to finish the level. You won't get 200 bonus health, but on later levels you'll probably lose more than that. I usually self destruct 2 or maybe 3 levels. Fire levels: I am continually switching from the fire extinguisher to the electro gun on this level. Put out the fire, run and grab your gun and clear the rooms until you hit the next fire, etc. You can push along both guns, but it's risky. Fires count as part of the alien remaining count... so don't leave the fires for last! Otherwise you'll get stuck with a fire extinguisher on your next level. If I'm cautious, I often gain more health than I lose on these levels. level 21: This level is utter hell. Makes every other level look silly. Be paranoid with every room you enter. I can't stress enough how hard this level is. Fire as fast as you can. Good luck keeping your gun... that's the main thing actually on the later levels, keeping your gun. The beginning of 21 and other later levels is hellish, this is one place where I wouldn't feel guilty using alot of grenades. Those hordes of rollerbies are a real problem at the beginning of levels. level 22: This level is as easy as 21 is hard. Almost nothing but festers. This level might not be so easy if you don't have an electro-gun. I always have one here. level 23, final level: Use my technique for killing snotterpillars, especially hopping away repeatedly when mobs get close. Grenades here can take a wall of snotterpillers, what a rush. :) Keep up a wall of fire to stop their spittle. Be wary of hidden ceiling vines on the edges of the screen. Fire as fast as you can when you see the mother alien, crawl behind her while firing when you've cleared the other aliens in the room. Fire at her head once you're behind her. (diagonally up from ground) It's important to learn to survive with a laser gun until you can get something better. Be very convervative, do most of your killing from the adjacent screen. Hit things as far away as possible. Run from snotterpillars when they get inside your max range (yup, hop twice again..) use grenades if you have to. God I hate losing your gun on the later levels. Free free to mail me any questions and comments. Is the arcade game exactly the same? Michael Kaye horny@ucscl.ucsc.edu Twin Peaks ADDICT Map: Guide to abbreviations BM - Bomb Machine E - Elevator F - Fire FP - Fireball Pit FS - Fire in space station IS - Infestation Screen GD - Green ooze Dripping from ceiling O - Outdoors FO - Floor opening MSU - Moving stars Unit PR - Pestering Robot RN - Research Notes SC - Security Central (needs ID card) SD - Self Destruct unit SXU - Sealed Xeno Unit (needs Key) Notation in header (NN Xenos) - Number of Xenos to kill on this level (F) - Space station is on fire (PR) - Space station has a Pestering Robot that shoots |========================= Space Station 1 =========(63 Xenos)========| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | | | MSU | RN | | | |========================= Space Station 2 =========(56 Xenos)========| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | | | O | | O | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | IS | BM | | | | |========================= Space Station 3 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | GD | GD | E | SD | | IS | | O | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | FB | | | | | |========================= Space Station 4 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | IS | | E | FO | | | FO | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | FO | | | FO | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | IS | E | | SD | | | | |===========(PR)========== Space Station 5 =========(127 Xenos)=======| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | O | | E | IS | O | SC | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | SXU | | E | IS | | GD | GD | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | IS | | FP | | | |===========(F)-========== Space Station 6 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | F | E | IS,F | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | F | | E | IS,F | SD,F | F | | | |========================= Space Station 7 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | IS | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | BM | | | | |========================= Space Station 8 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | | FO | | | | FO | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | | FO | | | | FO | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | | FO | | | | FO | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | SD | | | IS | | IS | | | |========================= Space Station 9 =========(55 Xenos)========| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | IS | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | BM | | | | |========================= Space Station 10 =========(99 Xenos)========| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | GD | GD | E | SD | | IS | | O | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | FP | | | | | |========================= Space Station 11 ========(122 Xenos)========| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | IS | | E | FO | | | FO | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | FO | | | FO | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | IS | E | | SD | | | | |===========(PR)========== Space Station 12 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | O | | E | IS | | SC | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | SXU | | E | IS | GD | GD | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | | | FB | | | |===========(F)=========== Space Station 13 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | F | E | | F | | F | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | F | | E | F,IS | F,SD | F | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | | | | | | | |========================= Space Station 14 =========(100 Xenos)=======| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | IS | | O | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | BM | | | | |========================= Space Station 15 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | FO | | FO | | | | FO | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | FO | | FO | | | | FO | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | FO | | FO | | | | FO | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | FO | IS | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | SD | | | IS | | IS | IS | | |========================= Space Station 16 =========(57 Xenos)========| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | IS | | | | O | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | BM | | | | |========================= Space Station 17 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | GD | GD | E | SD | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | | | | | | | | | |========================= Space Station 18 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | IS | E | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | E | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | E | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | E | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | | | | | SD | | | | |========================= Space Station 19 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | O | | E | | | SC | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | IS | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | E | IS | | | | | |===========(F)=========== Space Station 20 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | IS | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | BM | | | | |========================= Space Station 21 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | E | IS | | O | | O | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | E | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | | | | | | | | | |========================= Space Station 22 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | | | | | | | | | |========================= Space Station 23 ===========================| Level| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | -----+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 1 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 2 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 3 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 4 | | | | | | | | | +========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+ 5 | | | | | | | | | |=======================================================================| [ZAR]===================================================================== ZARLOR MERCENARY -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ZARLOR MERCENARY / The Game of Life ACCESSING LIFE: The game of LIFE is accessed through the character selection screen of Zarlor Mercenary. Turn on your Lynx with the Zarlor Mercenary game card inserted. Press the fire button twice to get to the character selection screen. At this point you must hold down OPTION 1 while moving the joypad as follows: Up, Down, Left, Right, Up. At this point your screen should say LIFE and there will be a LIFEform known as a 'glider' moving across the screen diagonally. It will go off the edge of the screen and return on the bottom, eventually running into the cells forming the word LIFE and causing the chain reaction that destroys the title screen. Before the title screen is destroyed you may try the following controls: 1. Moving the joypad or pressing either OPTION button or PAUSE will stop the current evolution of LIFE. 2. Pressing OPTION 1 to continue the evolution puts LIFE into a mode where cells that reach the edge of the screen wrap around to the other side. 3. Pressing OPTION 2 to continue the evolution puts LIFE into a mode where cells that reach the edge of the screen behave as though they have reached a solid wall. This may be useful if 'gliders' that are launched are disrupting your LIFEforms. 4. Pressing either BUTTON A or BUTTON B puts LIFE into DRAWING MODE. DRAWING MODE: Access DRAWING MODE by pressing BUTTON A or BUTTON B while LIFE is evolving or after the current LIFEform has reached a stable state. You can tell you are in DRAWING MODE because the joypad will be in control of your cursor, a set of green crosshairs. While in DRAWING MODE, your controls behave as follows: 1. Moving the joypad with BUTTON A depressed will allow you to draw. 2. Moving the joypad with BUTTON B depressed will allow you to erase. 3. Pressing OPTION 1 or OPTION 2 will allow your LIFEform to evolve, as described in 2 and 3 in the above ACCESSING LIFE section. 4. Note that the screen cannot be flipped, but attempting to RESTART the game will cause the screen to be cleared, and you will remain in the DRAWING MODE. 5. Pressing PAUSE and BUTTON A will put you in COPY MODE. 6. Pressing PAUSE and BUTTON B will put you in PASTE/ERASE MODE. 7. Pressing OPTION 2 and PAUSE will copy your current screen to a temporary buffer (see below). COPY MODE: Access COPY MODE by holding down PAUSE and pressing BUTTON A while in DRAWING MODE. You can tell you are in COPY MODE because the green crosshairs will be onscreen with the word COPY in green below and slightly to the right of the crosshairs. While in COPY MODE, your controls behave as follows: 1. Pressing either OPTION 1 or 2 will return you to drawing mode. 2. Holding down PAUSE and pressing either OPTION 1 or OPTION 2 will evolve your LIFEform frame-by-frame. Note that the OPTION button used determines whether screen wrap is on or off. 3. Pressing BUTTON A sets one corner coordinate of a box that you can draw. Pressing BUTTON A again sets the other corner coordinate of the box. Anything within the box is now in your COPY BUFFER. You are now in PASTE/ERASE MODE. 4. Holding down PAUSE and pressing BUTTON A takes you to the LIFEform library, a screen full of goodies for you to put into your COPY BUFFER. After selecting a LIFEform or group of LIFEforms, you will be in PASTE/ERASE MODE. 5. In the LIFEform library, pressing PAUSE and BUTTON A again takes you to your temporary buffer (see above). You can cut items from this buffer to the main screen. 6. Holding down PAUSE and pressing BUTTON B takes you directly to PASTE/ERASE MODE, using whatever was last put in your COPY BUFFER. If you haven't yet selected anything, you may get garbage. PASTE/ERASE MODE: Access PASTE/ERASE MODE either by holding PAUSE and pressing BUTTON B while in DRAWING MODE, or by going to COPY MODE and selecting LIFEforms from your screen or the library screen. You can tell you are in PASTE/ERASE MODE because your joypad now controls whatever you have in your COPY BUFFER. While in PASTE/ERASE MODE, your controls behave as follows: 1. Pressing either OPTION 1 or OPTION 2 will return you to DRAWING MODE. 2. Pressing BUTTON A will allow you to paste your COPY BUFFER. 3. Pressing BUTTON B will allow you to erase using your COPY BUFFER. 4. Holding PAUSE and pressing BUTTON B will flip your COPY BUFFER any one of eight possible ways. 5. Note that the screen cannot be flipped, but attempting to RESTART the game will cause the screen to be cleared, and you will remain in the PASTE/ERASE MODE. 6. Pressing PAUSE and BUTTON A will put you in COPY MODE. --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- CompuServe Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- To sign up for CompuServe service, call (voice call) (800) 848-8199. -- -- Ask for operator #198. You will be sent a $15.00 value CIS membership -- -- kit for free. -- -- -- -- --==--==-- CompuServe Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| Atari ST RT News ||| By: John G. Hartman / | \ GEnie: J.G.H. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Atari RT Weekly News 12.2 = ATARI RT LIBRARY = = RTC TRANSCRIPTS = ------------------------------------------------------ 31017 BRODIE16.ARC X ST.LOU 931207 22784 430 13 Desc: Jaguars Selling Out! 30974 PRGRTC03.ARC X MIKE-ALLEN 931204 7680 48 13 Desc: Programming RTC 2Dec93 30924 INSHAPE.ARC X ST.LOU 931130 13824 80 13 Desc: InShape RTC Transcript - READ IT! 30840 SDS_RTC.ARC X MIKE-ALLEN 931125 11136 67 13 Desc: SDS RTC Transcript 24Nov93 ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST TWO WEEK'S PRESS RELEASES = ------------------------------------------------------ 31065 MSTRCALG.LZH X R.DOLSON 931212 10880 25 14 Desc: Press release from Spar systems 31063 VIEW_PCD.TXT X GREG 931212 1408 148 14 Desc: NEWS ON CD ROM FOR FALCON OWNERS 31044 SUNRISE.ARC X CYBERCUBE 931210 5888 136 14 Desc: Cyrel Sunrise Card Price Slashed! 31043 TOADRPRT.TXT X TOAD-SERV. 931210 9344 192 14 Desc: Report on Toad Holiday Fest '93! 31026 PRORACLE.ZIP X P.LEFEBVRE 931208 1920 34 14 Desc: Oracle 1.3 now available! 31020 LA_PR.ZIP X K.GERDES 931207 1536 168 14 Desc: Press Release for Load Aladdin 31012 KCACMEET.TXT X L.PECKHAM 931206 3584 13 14 Desc: KC Atari Club now meets 2nd Sats! 30997 CYBR12PR.TXT X J.TRAUTSCHOL 931205 6912 35 14 Desc: Cyberdrome version 1.2 now available 30944 I_USRUSR.ZIP X CYBERCUBE 931202 3712 19 14 Desc: InShape User to User Progam Outline! 30935 AW_BKUPD.TXT X M.HEBERT1 931201 1152 53 14 Desc: Papa's Grafik Guide Revisions 30911 RELEAS93.ASC X DABRUMLEVE 931129 2432 105 14 Desc: Press Release from the IAAD 30909 TCGIFMAP.ZIP X TOAD-SERV. 931129 34816 16 14 Desc: MAP to TOAD COMPUTERS! GIF FORMAT! 30908 TOADJAG.TXT X TOAD-SERV. 931129 4608 53 14 Desc: JAGUAR will be PRESENT at TOADFEST! 30881 ATARINET.RTC X OUTRIDER 931127 384 20 14 Desc: Atari TalkAbout - Monday in BBS RT! ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST TWO WEEK'S DEMO RELEASES = ------------------------------------------------------ 31045 M_VIEW15.LZH X A.WATSON6 931210 40704 59 10 Desc: Mountain View Text Viewer (1.5) 30996 AGENDAPT.LZH X F.VUOTTO 931205 41600 30 10 Desc: AGENDA Printer Functions (Mono Rez) 30962 RECIPE42.LZH X A.WATSON6 931203 89216 57 10 Desc: The Recipe Box Demo (4.2) 30905 BLITZDMO.ZIP X E.MONACO 931129 27008 78 10 Desc: New GEM defragmenter/optimizer demo! 30894 BLITZCI.ZIP X E.MONACO 931128 7680 155 10 Desc: AWSOME! 10K Defragmenter/Optimizer! 30886 SHOOT.ZIP X R.HARRINGTO1 931127 43264 37 10 Desc: TT med. rez demo of game 30869 ZOATRULE.DOC X F.LIEW 931127 4992 51 10 Desc: INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ZOAT DEMO ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST TWO WEEK'S TOP 10 DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS/FILES = ------------------------------------------------------ 31031 PATCH02.LZH X A.PAGE3 931208 81280 237 7 Desc: Storm patch from 1.01 to 1.02 30921 NEWEOS01.LZH X CODEHEAD 931130 16512 196 16 Desc: New versions of 3 EOS modules 30932 CP151_16.LZH X CODEHEAD 931201 17152 183 16 Desc: Update Warp 9 CP from v1.51 to 1.6 30941 PLASMA.ZIP X D.MCANDREW 931202 9472 165 16 Desc: Warp 9 v3.80 EOS Module 30894 BLITZCI.ZIP X E.MONACO 931128 7680 155 10 Desc: AWSOME! 10K Defragmenter/Optimizer! 30910 TOADEOS.ZIP X TOAD-SERV. 931129 5120 139 16 Desc: It's Raining TOADS! EOS Module! 30985 AW_ROTAT.LZH X M.HEBERT1 931205 10496 138 6 Desc: AtariWorks Text Rotation 30950 GV301INS.ZIP X CYBERCUBE 931203 53248 131 23 Desc: GEM-View 3.xx Install Program & Docs 30967 GVW_V301.PAX X CYBERCUBE 931204 323712 129 23 Desc: Dieter Fiebelkorn's GEM-View Release 30956 GVW_MDL1.PAX X CYBERCUBE 931203 67968 118 23 Desc: GEM-View 3.xx Modules Archive ------------------------------------------------------ --==--==--==--==-- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Heatseeker - A SLM-to-Falcon030 Interface =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Produkt's name: Heatseeker. -------------------------------- Current Version: 1.0. Specification: Interface between Falcon030 and SLM 804 or SLM 605. Status: Commercial. Supplier: R.O.M., Berlin Raschdorffstrasse 99 13409 Berlin Germany Tel. & FAX: +49 30 4924127 Includes: -"Heatseeker" interface-hardware. -GDOS-driver-software. -DIABLO printer-emulation. -Drivers for 1st Word Plus and similars. -Installation-, setup- and testsoftware. -FontGDOS or SpeedoGDOS (Speedo causes extra costs) including raster, or (in the Speedo-package) vectorfonts, the usual device-drivers (such as MEMORY.SYS, META.SYS), installation-accessories and CPXes. -Documentation. Features: The hardware was designed to be very error-tolerant. The problems you might have had using the old "SLMC" controller when switching off the laser with the computer turned on or booting with an offline laser do not longer exist. You can now turn the laser on and off whenever you want. The hardware is very small and handy and does not consume as much space as the SLMC-controller. Its current size is 50mm*77mm*13mm. The Heatseeker is easily installed and can as well be easily removed with a single grip. The software provides a maximum of compatibility, since it is licensed original-Atari-software that was modified to control the Heatseeker-hardware. This allows to run even those programs that are relatively close to the hardware, such as Julians Diablo-CPX that configures the driver or displays the current printer status. Programs printing plain ASCII-text work as well as those printing bitmap-rasters through the functions provided by the Diablo-emulator. Even Gnu-Ghostscript, Gnu's postscript emulator, runs without any problems. The memory consumption is very low (at about 100 k). Compatibility to GDOS-applications such as Xact, Prolist or such is provided through a GDOS-driver that can handle scalable SpeedoGDOS-vectorfonts as well as graphics. Author: Laurenz Pruessner. EMail: spoil@cs.tu-berlin.de. Disclaimer: I'm not R.O.M.'s press secretary and the meanings expressed are my own and not necessarily those of R.O.M., Berlin. I cannot guarantee the correctness of any of the statements made above. For official information, please contact R.O.M. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Gribnif Software News Release =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Recently the British magazine ST Format published in their magazine a cover disk that included a copy of our English language version of the Arabesque Professional software. That issue of the magazine also included an offer to acquire Arabesque manuals and copies of Convector Professional from HiSoft in the United Kingdom. We at Gribnif Software were not aware of this event until after the release of the magazine. We NEVER authorized this distribution of our software. We have contacted all the involved parties and wish to make the following facts clear: o The English language version of Arabesque included in that cover disk was NOT authorized by us and therefore constitutes a violation of our copyrights. o HiSoft does NOT have any distribution rights to either Arabesque or Convector. o HiSoft will NOT be distributing any manuals for Arabesque or any copies of Convector. If you sent an order to HiSoft, it will be returned. They do not even carry the products. If you have a copy of this software, as acquired through ST Format, you have an unauthorized copy of the program. Therefore we ask you to please destroy it. We, Gribnif Software, are the sole publisher of the English version of Arabesque and Convector. In the United Kingdom we are exclusively represented by Compo Software. Both Arabesque and Convector remain as important and successful titles in our line of software for the Atari. They are available, in their complete commercial form (including manuals, packaging, and with technical support) from leading dealers and distributors in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. For more information, please contact: In the U.S. and Canada: In the United Kingdom: Gribnif Software, COMPO Software P.O. Box 779, 7 Vinegar Hill, Northampton, MA 01061 Alconbury Weston, Tel: (413) 247-5620 Huntingdon, Fax: (413) 257-4622 Cambs PE17 5JA Tel: 0 480 891819 Fax: 0 480 890787 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Spar Systems announces Mastering Calligrapher 3.0 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mastering Calligrapher 3.0 is a Hypertext Personal Training Guide for both novice and advanced users alike. Novice users will find the simple step-by-step approach an easy way to lessen the learning curve, while advanced users will benefit from the referencing feature. Each command is explained in detail with all the necessary information given on how to use it correctly. Tips and tricks are offered as well throughout the guide to give you ideas on how to exploit each command to its fullest. The step-by-step tutorials is just like having a private tutor, but without the expensive cost of a tutor. The package includes example files on disk, user manual, the Hypertext Personal Training Guide and a PaperDirect catalog. A few of the topics covered are quick print, header, initial cap, virtual clipboard buffers, page numbering, text alignment, graphics and much more. Features: Over five printer drivers included. Send online summary to printer for hardcopy reference. Runs together with Calligrapher. Resolution independent. Supports the ST, TT and Falcon resolution modes, and third party graphic cards. Comes on a double sided disk. Requires only 145K of memory. Mastering Calligrapher 3.0 is fast paced and to the point. Tells you everything you need to know to start creating documents, while mastering the program. Prepare to become a Calligrapher power user! Suggested Retail Price $49.95 See your Atari dealer or order from us. Include $ 2.00 for shipping and handling, and mail to: Spar Systems 381 Autumn Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208 For additional information ring us at (718)-235-3169 Other New Products Will Be Available Soon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// It's All Relative CD-ROM News =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. A hot off the press copy of Walnut Creek's new Atari CD. Walnut Creek is one of the largest distibutor of PC and Mac CD roms. This is their first Atari disc. They have an outstanding reputation in the PC market. 2. A Photo CD desktop viewer application for the Falcon. Just click on any Photo CD image and have it pop on the screen in Falcon true-color! 3. A MultiTOS ready XFS driver that will read both Photo CD and standard CD roms. Just plug your drive into the Falcon 030 and welcome to computing in the 90's. Drives supported include the Toshiba 3401, NEC-38, NEC-55, NEC-74 and NEC-84. All the above for $39.95, postpaid, from It's All Relative Software. Send a check for $39.95 to Randall Kopchak, 2233 Keeven Lane, Florissant, MO 63031. Orders will be shipped as soon as the CD is ready. Planned ship date is on or about December 27. No checks will be cashed till discs are shipped! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// TLC Christmas Special =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As a Christmas special, the entire collection of TLC programs can be yours (registered versions of course), for the miniscule fee of $10! What a bargain, a disk full of programs and documentation. If you're interested in the GFA source code to all the TLC programs, that can be yours for a $20 contribution. This will come on 2 DS/DD disks unless you request a single DS/HD disk. As a minimum, the TLC Utilities disk includes: o - TLC Book - A combination address book and date keeper. Version 4.x now prints phone books as well as address books, mailing labels, date books, and date labels. It allows as many entries as your systems memory will hold and has full hot key access. Also new is the ability to merge multiple address books and you can even print addresses, dates, or labels to disk! Supports any printer and works in ST & TT resolutions except low. o - TLC View - An accessory or program that loads your TLC Book address databases into a GEM window without leaving the GEM program you're using. o - TLC Attributor - Allows renaming volume labels, files, changing files attributes (read only, hidden, system, etc). Runs as a program or accessory in all but low resolution. Allows setting the fast load bit as well as updating the date/time stamp on files. It also allows deletion of those pesky files TOS won't delete at times. o - TLC Formatter - Accessory/program to format 3.5" disks in 80-82 tracks, 9 or 10 sectors per track. FaST option reads and writes faster than 'twisted' or 'skewed' formats and is 100% compatible with all ST programs. All formats are MS DOS 5.x and DR DOS 6.x compatible, in fact, FaST formatted disks read and write twice as fast on the messy dos systems! Formats backwards and allows aborting to cover mistakes. Supports multiple automatic drive switching and detects presence of a HD 3.5" disk (yes, it does FaST tricks to them also!) o - TLC Fixer - Allows changing ASCII or HEX strings in programs or data files. Runs as an accessory or program in all resolutions except low. Will do multiple searches, ask before changing, keep backups etc. Uses hot keys or GEM. o - TLC Icon Maker - Creates icons in .RSC files from DEGAS medium or high resolution (.PI2, .PI3) pictures, for use with DRIs RCS2 or Kumas K- Resource. o - The TLC Sound Machine - Allows playing and manipulating digitized sounds created with DigiSound, SoundOff, MasterSound, ST Replay and more. You can modify the sounds and save them to disk in several formats. o - TLC Show - A quick and dirty Spectrum picture viewer for those times you don't want to load a slide show program and set a series of buttons to display a picture or two. o - TLC RSRC - Creates GFA Basic 3.x compatible ASCII LST files from resources created with DRIs RCS2 or Kumas K-Resource so you can merge it into your program and include your resource file in your program. Prints full instructions in the LST file. Now this includes a sample program and source code showing proper implementation. o - TLC Mega - A short accessory or program that allows you to change the CPU speed of the Mega STe. Also displays TOS and GEMDOS version numbers. Includes small auto folder programs for speed switches while booting up. All these programs for one low $10 price (or $20 with source code to all the above). Please make checks payable to: Tom Hayslett 210 Fairmont Drive Hampton, VA 23666 804-766-3691 Registered users of previous versions have 2 options to upgrade: 1 - Return your original TLC disk and $1.00 to cover packing/postage 2 - Send $2 and I'll send you the new disk with all programs on it =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Chroma 24 for the Atari Falcon 030 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= An Art Package, Animation and Morphing Studio Chroma 24 is a revolutionary new art/animation/morphing package currently under development for the Atari Falcon 030. Written by Douglas Little of Black Scorpion Software and PhotoChrome fame, it encompasses the best features of the popular packages of this type on the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga and IBM PC. A number of features are unique to Chroma 24 and countless others are implemented in a completely different manner to that used in other packages. The emphasis is on ease of use, combined with powerful features, making Chroma 24 the natural choice for professional and hobbyist alike. The package runs in 256 colour and true colour modes. It has the ability to import all common picture formats (and animation types) and saves in the most useful ones for the mode selected. Chroma 24 is still in development at the moment, albeit in an advanced stage. We expect it to be released towards the end of 1993 and the retail price to be under 100. In addition to all the 'standard' features of an art/animation package, Chroma 24 includes the following:- Very fast since it is written in 100% 68030 assembler and it doesn't use GEM. Instead, it uses its own custom written interface which has been designed with user friendliness in mind and is similar in operation to GEM. = You can select any resolution from within the package itself. You can even change resolution in the middle of a session (although your work must be saved first). = Any picture (or animation) may be loaded into any resolution and will be quickly and professionally scaled to fit when loaded into lower resolutions. = Different canvas sizes may be specified for your work. This allows you to work on pictures which are larger than the actual screen size, with the monitor acting as a window to this virtual screen. Canvas sizes supported are those used on the Atari ST, TT and Falcon, Commodore Amiga, IBM PC, Next, Sun and Hewlett Packard Worksations. = Chroma 24 runs in 256 colour or true colour modes with similar options available for both, although specific tools will be balanced in favour of the currently selected resolution. = Chroma 24 features everything from standard drawing and animation tools to 3D texture mapping and controlled distortion and morphing. Distortions on broadcast quality images must be seen to be believed. = The morphing technique used is commonly referred to as field warping. It allows the user full control over the morphing process, unlike the more commony implemented mesh warping. Our implementation of it uses the DSP56001 (written in DSP56001 assembler) for increased speed and accuracy. A typical 320x200 24-bit true colour frame will take anything from a few seconds to a few minutes to render, depending on complexity. The degree of speed and accuracy offered is unrivalled on any micro computer and is only possible on the Falcon 030. = Our flexible virtual zoom window is transparent to the user since all tools and functions operate regardless of zoom level and canvas size, with many keyboard macros being available during mouse dragging operations. = Chroma 24 is very memory efficient. By use of its own internal fast compression and decompression techniques, it is possible to load substantially larger animations into memory than would normally be appropriate for that fitted to your machine. This is completely transparent to the user and has no effect on the speed at which the package runs. Further information will be issued nearer to release date. Chroma 24 will be available around Christmas 1993 from: Floppyshop PO Box 273 Aberdeen. AB9 8SJ Scotland, U.K. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Reduced Prices on CyReL SUNRISE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 The High-Resolution True-Color Graphics Card for the ATARI TT030 and MEGA STE. Cybercube is pleased to announce a reduced pricing structure for our highly acclaimed CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Cards for the Atari TT030 and Mega STE. Effective immediately, the CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 will retail for US $995.00 or Cdn $1,295.00 (SRP). Here is a list of some of the special features of our graphics cards: -------------------------------------------------------------------- *Programmable Color Video Timing Generator for all resolutions from 320x200 to 3400 horizontal and 2048 vertical. Supports Overscan resolutions. *All SUNRISE cards are equipped with 2MB Video RAM. *Fast Dual-Port Video RAMs increase throughput and effectively minimize bus bandwith losses caused by conventional display update cycles. *Integrated GRAPHICS ACCELLERATOR for faster drawing operations. *No need to exchange or replace crystals and clocks. More than 70 frequencies ranging form 5 to 128 MHz are software-selectable. *A specially designed VIDEO-GUARD circuit protects all components against accidential damage or destruction. *Automatic configuration. Every card is equipped with non-volatile memory which can completely restore the last used configuration. This unique and batteryless solution features up to 1,000,000 programming cycles. *Every SUNRISE card can be expanded to function as a complete Desktop-Video station. The CyReL VidiMix Desktop Video Modules use the verstatile expansion port and the alpha channel of the SUNRISE boards thus allowing the generation of realtime Video effects. *SUNRISE cards achieve a high level of integration and reliability employing the latest processing and manufacturing technologies. Every production step is being followed by a number of inspections and quality control procedures. *Supports device sharing in multi-tasking environments. *Up to four CyReL 16-1280 cards can be installed in a single ATARI VME bus system. The CyReL SERENADE, SUNRISE and SKYLINE cards can be used in mixed combinations and support multi-level superimposed images. *Comfortable and user-friendly installation and operation. No need to change settings or switches once the card is installed. *Easy installation is being made possible by a number of versatile interactive installation programs and guides. *All SUNRISE boards work with single frequency monitors, VGA monitors or multi-sync monitors with 12", 14", 16", 17", 19", 20", 21" and 24 inch screens. *All colors can be selected from a palette of 16,777,216 shades. *Supports monochrome, four color, 16 color, 256 color/VGA and 24-bit true color modes without hardware changes, expansion or options. *High ergonomic refresh rates of up to 260 Hz (depends on monitor type used) increase the quality of the display and avoid eye-strain. *A very flexible access method supports changes in the hardware without the need to adapt or patch existing M16-1280 software and programs. *PAL and NTSC compatible signals can be generated. *Outputs video signals in either standard formats or professional formats for industrial or TV studio applications. Video output is CCIR and EIA343-A compatible. *Programmable true color GAMMA CORRECTION. *Interlace or non-interlace modes with internal or external synchronization for GENLOCK modes. *Hardware smooth-scrolling & panning allow virtual screen size management. *Flash-CLS for ultra fast frame buffer updates. *Optional High-speed LAN port. 10 Megabit/second or 20 Megabit/second transmission speeds can be selected by software. The optional LAN ports allow an efficient and easy way to connect several M16-1280 graphic stations. LAN structures and hierarchies are programmable. *Drivers for serial AT mice and Summagraphics Graphic digitizers included. Enables comfortable operation even in higher resolutions. Both drivers can be dynamically adjusted and feature a build-in screen saver. Left-handers can flip the buttons/keys if desired. *Product and customer support via GEnie or InterNet. We provide fast, honest and reliable on-line customer support for all our products. *Included Software: Every CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 now comes with over 4 MB of software: 1 CyReL RUN-ME-FIRST Interactive GEM Installation Program 1 CyReL CM16_VIP Initialization & Diagnostic Program Driver 1 CyReL VDI Driver for 256 Color Mode Driver 1 CyReL VDI Driver for True Color Mode Driver 1 CyReL SERMOUSE Serial Mouse Driver Driver 1 CyReL M16 Palette Master Accessory Utility 1 CyReL M16 VDI Configuration Accessory Utility 1 CyReL Serial Mouse Manager Accessory Utility 1 CyReL XCHANGE Video Mode Changer Utility 1 CyReL CONFDISP Video Parameter Editor Utility 1 CyReL VIEW_GIF Utility 1 CyReL SHOW_PCX Utility 1 CyReL VIEW_JPG Utility 1 CyReL CCALAMUS Calamus SL Starter Utility 1 CyReL CO_LINE3 Outline 3 Starter Utility 1 CyReL INIT_E2P EEPROM Initialization Program Program 1 CyReL BLOCK_PAINT Program 1 CyReL M16 User's Reference Manual Manual 1 CyReL Catalog Disk Catalog 30+ OnLine Help and documentation files Text 45+ predefined color palettes Data 80+ predefined video modes and resolutions Data 500 Monitor specifications Data Included SHAREWARE demo programs: 1 Dieter Fiebelkorn's GEM-View >=3.01 Demo 1 InShape Modeler&Shader Demo Disk Demo Optional Programs/Modules: 1 CyReL GraphLAN Driver 1 CyReL M16-1280 LAN Kit Kit 1 CyReL Ambiance Desktop/Image Manager Utility 1 CyReL GrandFLIx Animation Player Utility 1 CyReL VidiMix16 Driver Driver 1 CyReL VideoFlair Program 1 CyReL VidiMix16 Desktop Video Module Module 1 CyReL MPT-16 Module Module 1 CyReL MonoFlex VDI Driver HARDWARE PRICES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Order Code Description Quantity Canada U.S./Foreign -------------------------------------------------------------------- CRL16002 CyReL SUNRISE 1- Cdn $1,295.00 US $995.00 M16-1280 TO PLACE YOUR ORDER OR FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: -------------------------------------------------------------------- DMC Publishing Inc. 2800 John Street, Suite 10 Markham, ON, L3R 0E2, Canada Tel. (905) 479 1880 Fax (905) 479 1882 or Cybercube Research Limited 126 Grenadier Crescent Thornhill, ON, L4J 7V7, Canada Tel. (905) 882 0294 Fax (905) 886 3261 Dealer enquiries welcome -------------------------------------------------------------------- SOFTWARE PRICES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Order Description Media/ Canada U.S. or Code Format International -------------------------------------------------------------------- AFGV24 Dieter Fiebelkorn's one 3.5" 2DD Cdn $35.65 US $29.00 GEM-View 3.01 or later Disk ACSM12 CyReL Serial Mouse Manager & Driver one 3.5" 2DD Cdn $15.00 US $13.00 Release 1.02c or later Disk ACPM37 CyReL Palette Master one 3.5" 2DD Cdn $20.00 US $17.00 Release 4.0f or later Disk AITI10 InShape INTRO 1.0, two 3.5" 2DD Cdn$229.00 US$189.00 Modeler&Shader (SEE InShape PRESS RELEASE FOR MORE DETAILS!) SHIPPING & HANDLING CHARGES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Quantity In the U.S. or Canada International of Disks Ordered US $ or Cdn $ US $ -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 $1.00 $2.50 2-5 $2.50 $5.00 5-10 $5.50 $10.00 10-over* $10.00 $20.00 *= Contact Cybercube for more information. Payments: All orders must be prepaid. Cheque/Money Order in Canadian or U.S. funds only. Please add S&H charges to all orders. For Canadian orders add appropriate taxes. Full versions of CyReL Serial Mouse Manager and the CyReL Palette Master as well as a 14-days free trial-period version of GEM-View are being supplied free of charge with all CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 orders. FOR ORDERS OR INFORMATION CONTACT -------------------------------------------------------------------- Cybercube Research Limited 126 Grenadier Crescent Thornhill, ON, L4J 7V7, Canada Tel. (905) 882 0294 Fax (905) 886 3261 -------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT ADDRESSES -------------------------------------------------------------------- Cybercube Research Limited 126 Grenadier Crescent Thornhill, ON, L4J 7V7, Canada Tel. (905) 882 0294 Fax (905) 886 3261 BBS (905) 882 5895 GEnie: CYBERCUBE CRS-Online: cybercube.research UseNet/ InterNet: cybercube.research@canrem.com or cybercube@genie.geis.com DMC Publishing Inc. 2800 John Street, Suite 10 Markham, ON, L3R 0E2, Canada Tel. (905) 479 1880 Fax (905) 479 1882 GEnie: POTECHIN, ISD InterNet: potechin@genie.geis.com Compuserve: 76004,2246 -------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// DMC Yearend Specials =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= DMC Publishing, Inc. From the President's Desk As we approach the end of 1993, we can look back on this year and see a long list of accomplishments. The most important was the release of a major upgrade to Calamus SL a few months back, with many new features as well as new and exciting modules. For those of you that had been holding off purchasing any particular module, or the latest upgrade, wait no longer. The time to upgrade is now. For every order over US $100.00 or $130.00 CDN received in-house by January 31, 1994, I will enclose your choice of 5 professional typefaces at no charge! I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a great holiday season and a very happy New Year on behalf of all of us here at DMC. Our office will be closed from Friday, December 24 through until Monday, January 3, 1994. Sincerely, Nathan Potechin, DMC Publishing, Inc. //// Calamus SL The latest version of Calamus SL is November 1993. This version is a maintenance update of the August 1993 version in which the overall performance of Calamus SL was dramatically improved. A number of significant features were activated as well as some new features and modules which were included: 1. An upgraded Text Module now includes both an Anchor Frame function and a Leader Tab function that allows the use of any character as your assigned Leader Tab character. The module also includes an improved spellchecker and separate hyphenation dictionaries, improved vertical text alignment, improved M-space handling, the ability to insert and search comments, manual kerning, inserting text style and text ruler information. 2. The new ROTATE.CXM module gives us the ability to rotate Raster Graphics in any degree with or without anti-aliasing. This means that if you rotate a graphic that has straight lines, anti-aliasing will smoothen the settings and remove stepping. 3. The new COL_CONV.CXM Colour List Converter module generates a colour list from graphics that have been imported from Outline Art and other sources. It can also generate a list from free colours designed within the existing document. 4. The new COMPRESS.CXM is a compression module designed to save you storage space by compressing bitmap images when saving your document. Note: Documents saved with compressed bitmap images will automatically uncompress those images when the document is reloaded into Calamus SL. 5. The new CYMKSWAP.CXM module swaps colour planes. 6. The new LIN.CXM Linearity module allows you to set colour values optimized for your particular printer. This module will be of special interest to those of you with an HP550C. 7. The RASTGEN.CXM Raster Generator module has been upgraded. 8. New drivers enclosed with this upgrade for Calamus SL include: GEMIMG export, CVG export, a RAW import driver for bit planes, an improved TIFF driver, an improved TARGA driver, an RPS driver for Repro Studio and an improved GEM Metafile driver. 9. Set Layout/Working Area does automatic generation of both registration marks and crop marks, colour plane names, double-page overlap, user definable settings and master page printing. 10. The new document menu provides quick access to any document listed in the drop-down menu list. The cost for the November 1993 version of Calamus SL, including all of the above and these new modules: ROTATE.CXM, COL_CONV.CXM, COMPRESS.CXM, LIN.CXM, CYMKSWAP.CXM, the upgraded TEXT.CXM, the upgraded RAS_GEN.CXM, the upgraded PAGE.CXM with Set Layout/Working Area, the new Select Document and the new import/export drivers, on 3 disks with additional documentation, is US $75.00 or $95.00 CDN. The August 1993 to November 1993 upgrade is FREE (plus shipping and handling). //// Line Art Module The Line Art module is an advanced vector editing tool that combines features found in both the Vector Graphic module and Outline Art 3.0, and then some. The Line Art module is the definitive tool for creating and editing vector graphics within Calamus SL. Line Art features the creation of graphic primitives, blends, text objects, paths and transformation nets which allow the distortion of objects using these nets. Vector objects can be created by using either the included vector editor or one of the Calamus primitives. This module also includes 3 new primitives: lines, circular segments and outlines. The vector objects can also be defined using a variety of writing modes which include outline on/off, fill on/off, and EOR for intersecting paths. You can also define corners as either bevelled or sharp. Objects can also be defined as colour blends, allowing the transformation and rotation of these objects by using the functions in the blends command area. The types of blends include horizontal, vertical, rectangular corner origin blend, circular and transformational blend with starting and ending angles as well as starting and ending colours (as well as a definable transition colour). Text can be made to follow paths inside or outside and to include/exclude the kerning values in the font or allow manual adjustment of the character spacing. You may also justify text left, right or centre and change the text direction. The text may then be converted to a path object for further manipulation. Your cost for this exciting module is US $150.00 or $195.00 CDN. Those of you who have Outline Art 3.0 or the Vector Graphic module may purchase Line Art for US $50.00 or $65.00 CDN. Don't delay! //// Bridge Module DMC is very pleased to announce Bridge - the long-awaited upgrade of Dataformer. Bridge is a single module with 4 command groups. The first command group contains all the functions for converting frames or page to a number of raster and vector graphic formats. These include (raster graphic) Degas, PIC, NEO, PAC, IMG, ESM, BLK, PCX, IFF, TIF, TGA, CRG and GIF (87a) and (vector graphic) CVG 1.0 or 1.1, GEM, DXF, PLT, EPS, PS, and Illustrator EPS. The second command group in Bridge is a much improved set of PostScript functions which include the ability to compress graphics, text, show pages, do multipage, print to serial/parallel/file, etc. TIFF header file options are also available. The third command group converts raster graphics among different numbers of planes and colour depths. This command group comprises a very powerful set of functions which even allow the conversion of RGB graphics to 4-colour CMYK. You will be impressed with this command group. The fourth command group converts frames to vector graphics, useful for creating special effects using Outline Art, the Vector Graphic or Line Art modules. Special skews and masking effects can be created when frames have been vectorized using this command group. Bridge costs you US $150.00 or $195.00 CDN. Dataformer owners may upgrade to Bridge for US $50.00 or $65.00 CDN. //// Toolbox/Clipboard Modules The Toolbox Module is a frame-handling utility that allows you to do a number of useful things with any frame type: quickly position frames and move them from master to layout pages; line-up multiple frames or change their order; hide a frame; expand a selected frame to full view and more. The Toolbox Module is a layout utility that all Calamus users will appreciate. The extended Clipboard Module (not shown) adds load and save features to the regular cut, paste and copy functions. The Toolbox and Clipboard bundle costs US $80.00 or $100.00 CDN. //// Mask Module The Mask Module is a powerful graphics tool that allows you to create advanced effects in your publishing work, allowing the process of cropping selected areas of a graphic to create a special mask effect. Create and edit masked images quickly and effectively, without leaving Calamus SL. Your cost for the Mask Module is US $150.00 or $195.00 CDN. //// Colour Separation Module Our Colour Separation Module allows you to define separation filters, including the definition of UCR (undercolour removal). This module allows the use of CMYK, CMY and IHS systems, as well as the ability to support new systems such as FOCOLTONE. This module is essential for colour printing. Your cost is US $50.00 or $65.00 CDN. //// Speed-Line Autotracer Module The Speed-Line Module provides monochrome autotracing, converting illustrations to vector graphics. It automatically creates vectors, using B‚zier curves, lines and areas. The user interface offers several optimizing functions that enable you to define line, angle and pixel correction together with conversion options for B‚zier curves and line art. Speed-Line quickly converts any raster graphic to a vector graphic which can then be modified by any of the Calamus drawings tools such as the Vector Graphic or Line Art modules as well as Outline Art. Your cost is US $50.00 or $65.00 CDN. //// Kodak Photo CD Import Driver The Photo CD process starts with your own camera. Bring any roll of 35mm film to an authorized photoprocessor and ask for a Photo CD disk. Virtually all the visual information in each original photograph is stored and compressed on CD. Each picture is stored in one file at 5 different resolutions (128x192, 256x384, 512x768, 1024x1536 and 2048x3072) so you can choose the resolution that best fits your needs and import the image directly into your Calamus SL document. Your cost is US $20.00 or $25.00 CDN. If you require any additional information on the Windows NT version of Calamus or any of our Atari line of products, please don't hesitate to contact us directly at: DMC Publishing, Inc., 2800 John Street, Unit 10, Markham,Ontario, Canada L3R 0E2 Tel: (905) 479-1880 Fax: (905) 479-1882 Compuserve: 76004,2246 GEnie: POTECHIN Internet: POTECHIN@GENIE.GEIS.COM ================= Order Form ============================================= NAME________________________________________________S/N___________________ ADDRESS___________________________________________________________________ CITY___________________________ STATE/PROV________________________________ COUNTRY______________________________________POSTAL CODE__________________ TEL. # WORK____________________________HOME_______________________________ VISA or M/C #________/________/________/________EXP. DATE_________________ SIGNATURE_________________________________________________________________ Upgrades US CDN -------- -- --- Calamus 1.09x to Calamus 1.09N 30.00 $40.00 $__________ Calamus 1.09N to Calamus SL (Nov./93) 275.00 350.00 $__________ Calamus SL (pre-Aug.) to SL (Nov./93) 75.00 95.00 $__________ Calamus SL (Aug./93) to SL (Nov./93) FREE FREE Calamus Serial Number_______________________ Outline Art 1.0 to Outline Art 3.0 70.00 90.00 $__________ Outline Art Serial Number___________________ INVISION Elite to IE Colour 2.0 20.00 25.00 $__________ INVISION Elite Serial Number Vector Graphic Module or Outline Art 3.0 to Line Art Module 50.00 65.00 $__________ VG or OL3 Serial Number _____________________ Dataformer Module to Bridge Module 50.00 65.00 $__________ Calamus SL Modules ------------------ Bridge Module NEW 150.00 195.00 $__________ Line Art Module NEW 150.00 195.00 $__________ Gridplay Module NEW 15.00 20.00 $__________ Vector Graphic Module 100.00 130.00 $__________ Speed-Line Autotrace Module 50.00 65.00 $__________ Colour Separation Module 50.00 65.00 $__________ Brush Module 30.00 35.00 $__________ Mount Module 50.00 65.00 $__________ Mask Module 150.00 195.00 $__________ Toolbox/Clipboard Modules 80.00 100.00 $__________ Calamus System Products ----------------------- Calamus for Windows NT (to Jan. 31) 300.00 400.00 $__________ Allcurve Program NEW 20.00 25.00 $__________ Simple Pleasures NEW 20.00 25.00 $__________ Calamus Font Editor 50.00 65.00 $__________ EPS2CVG Version 1 50.00 65.00 $__________ EPS2CVG Version 2 100.00 130.00 $__________ MT-Scan Scanner Software (TT only) 80.00 100.00 $__________ Kodak Photo-CD Driver for Calamus SL 20.00 25.00 $__________ Vector Graphic Clip Art Library 30.00 35.00 $__________ Focoltone Colour Swatch Book 79.00 99.00 $__________ Focoltone Set of 16 Colour Charts 169.00 209.00 $__________ Focoltone Colour Specifier Chip Book 200.00 250.00 $__________ Robot T-Shirt: Large only 12.00 15.00 $__________ USER to USER TIPS Volume 1 20.00 25.00 $__________ USER to USER TIPS Volume 2 20.00 25.00 $__________ USER to USER TIPS Volume 3 NEW 20.00 25.00 $__________ Outline Art 3.0 150.00 195.00 $__________ INVISION Elite 150.00 195.00 $__________ Calamus Fonts ------------- (A) 5 Free Typefaces for orders over US 100.00 or 130.00 CDN Example: CGTM4RE, TRIU7BC, etc. (B) Font Orders (See previous Price List and Font Poster or call for information.) Note: When ordering fonts please indicate clearly the Font Foundry, Typeface Family name and number of typefaces, along with the price. (e.g. CG Times 4 faces) Power Products -------------- Cyrel Sunrise M16-1280 NEW PRICE 995.00 1,295.00 $__________ Fast Technology Turbo 030 1,495.00 1,895.00 $__________ Options: Upgrade to 8 megabytes add 299.00 375.00 $__________ Upgrade to 16 megabytes add 699.00 875.00 $__________ 68882 FPU add 199.00 249.00 $__________ 68000 Processor add 25.00 30.00 $__________ Installation add 100.00 125.00 $__________ Shipping and Insurance ---------------------- US and Canadian orders add $10, all other countries add $20. $__________ Canadian residents please add 7% GST $__________ Ontario residents please add 8% PST. $__________ TOTAL $__________ ---------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| ||| Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm pleased to be able to offer the many readers of AEO who can only access us via the Internet a chance to obtain AEO through a subscription service. If you have an Internet connection, drop Greg Lindahl a request at . 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. 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 (11-1) --==--==--==--==-- Asphincterboysayslate. Sha! Right! --==--==--==--==-- 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 . 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 Only Independent Atari Online" Copyright ½ 1993, Subspace Publishers * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A E O ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 2 - Issue 22 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 18 December 1993 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::