:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 3 - Issue 7 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 23 April 1994 :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI :: :: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER :: :: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE :: :: :: :: Published and Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by Subspace Publishers :: :: All Rights Reserved :: :: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :: :: Publisher ........................... Michael Lindsay EXPLORER :: :: Editor .................................. Travis Guy AEO.MAG :: :: Assistant Editor GEnie................ Ron Robinson EXPLORER.1 :: :: Assistant Editor CompuServe.......... Albert Dayes AEO.1 :: :: Assistant Editor Delphi......... Andreas Barbiero AEO.2 :: :: Assistant Editor Internet........ Timothy Wilson AEO.8 :: :: Atari Asylum ... [Closed] ...... Gregg Anderson AEO.7 :: :: Unabashed Atariophile ..... Michael R. Burkley AEO.4 :: :: Atari Artist ................... Peter Donoso EXPLORER.2 :: :: Jaguar Junkie ............... Tal Funke-Bilu EXPLORER.5 :: :: User Group Coordinator ........ Ron Whittam EXPLORER.4 :: :: :: :: Contributors: :: :: """"""""""""" :: :: Loic Duval, Michael Robinson :: :: David A. Wright :: :: :: :: :: :: Telecommunicated to you via: :: :: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" :: :: GEnie: AEO.MAG :: :: CompuServe: 70007,3615 :: :: Delphi: AEO_MAG :: :: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 319 :: :: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 :: :: :: :: Internet mailing address: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com :: :: FTP AEO Volume 3 issues from: rahul.net:pub/wilsont/AEO :: :: Search gopherspace under "aeo" for back issues :: :: :: :: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu :: :: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Table of Contents * From the Editors ......................................... Cut. Print it. * Digital Briefs ................................ Computer, high tech, and video game industry news. * Rare Gems ......................................... Quotes worth reading. * Jaguar Tackboard ...................... New developers & titles / Quotes. * Preview of Jaguar Games/Bay Area Devcon ..... Resident Jaguar programmer Tim Wilson went to the Bay Area Jaguar Devcon and got to play with some beta titles. * Jaguar NewsPhrases .................. Tal scoops up some of the freshest Jaguar news; alas no Minter! * ECTS - Traque du Jaguar a Londres .......... Stalking a Jaguar in London was easy for Loic last week. See what was shown. * CeBIT '94 ....................... Atari wasn't there, but TOS items were. * Atari Artist ..................... A call for TOS standardization - more Wizztronics wizardry - MIDI news. * InShape ................................. 3D modelling and rendering for high-powered Atari's only! * The Creation of BattlePong 2001 ........... Not joking, Michael Robinson tells how he used InShape and an Editor's weird idea to pull a prank. * Andreas' Den ...................... A slew of new ST games on their way? That and TT acceleration are on Andreas' mind lately. * "From a Saved Backup" ............... The club newsletter. Communication at the heart of a users group. * News From Usenet ............... Odds and ends from that largest of nets. * The Unabashed Atariophile ................... PD and Shareware files for _your_ Atari computer. * GEnie News ........................... New files & happenings on Atari's Official Online Resource. * Developing News ......................... Texas Atari Festival Fez.A.Bit, Berlin ICD Link 2 Processor Direct Prints! DMC's Customer Offer Calamus User Magazine Audio CD Master 3.0 Diamond Back 3 Shipping Space & Astronomy Compact Disc Mastering AtariWorks Radio Computer Magazine ROMWARE's Software Hunt * 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. There's so much going on in the World Atari of late that I had to stop the building of this issue at the quarter-megabyte mark and leave some stuff for next time. (The lesser of an editor's two nightmares: "Not enough to fill an issue" vs. "Too much, what can I cut?".) I've listened to the comments and EMails asking if AEO was ignoring Atari computer owners for the new Jaguar crowd, and this issue should be the start of the response: No. We're increasing our Atari computer coverage with a report from CeBIT, a review of InShape, Atari Artist returns with more news from Wizztronics and Steinberg, Usenet news, over 33K of TOS press releases, and our regular columns from Andreas, Michael Burkley and Ron Whittam, now an AEO regular - welcome him aboard everyone. Many more reviews and articles are in the works. (A few were even cut from this issue!) I don't think anybody will be disappointed. The Jaguar side isn't going neglected either. A report from the ECTS, Tim Wilson with hands-on beta copies of new Jaguar games, Tal's Jaguar NewsPhrases, and the latest and greatest AEO Jaguar Development List. Plans are being made to attend the Summer CES in Chicago to provide the best in Atari coverage. I hope to have further details of Subspace Publishers' plans in the next issue of AEO. I've even been able to add a touch of class to this motley collection. "Rare Gems" are a weekly collection of quotes chosen by an online personality I've admired for years, David Wright. Mr. Wright has consented to the inclusion of his "Rare Gems" in AEO, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. "What next," you ask. "Grunge Jaguar fiction?" "Tune in next issue and see," I reply. "Change is a part of life." Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the late President Richard M. Nixon, the 26 UN volunteer peacekeepers who were accidently killed in Iraq, and most of all, to all of the victims of the violence in Bosnia. It's Earth Day. Be kind to your planet and to your neighbors. It's not that hard, folks. See you back here in two weeks. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Digital Briefs - Industry News ||| By: Albert Dayes / | \ CIS: 70007,3615 GEnie: AEO.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Atari News =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Atari Stock to Warner Communications - Atari Corp. recently """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" reported that agreement for the sale of common stock to Time Warner Inc., as reported on March 24, 1994, has been completed. Atari Corp. has sold Time Warner Inc. 1.5 million shares of its common stock at a price of $8.50 per share for a total of $12.8 million. The transaction increases Time Warner Inc.'s interest in Atari Corp. to approximately 27%. Time-Warner has since transferred the sotck to Warner Communications, the former parent of Atari Inc. //// Atari Ships Tempest 2000 for Jaguar - Atari Corp. announced it """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" is shipping Tempest 2000 for Jaguar, its award-winning 64-bit game system. Tempest 2000 was recently awarded "CES Game of Show" (Electronic Games Magazine), "Game of the Month/March" (DieHard GameFan) and "Game of the Month/March" and "Editor's Choice Gold Award" (Electronic Gaming Monthly). The original Tempest is one of the most popular video games in arcade history. With Tempest 2000, players get four games on one game cartridge: the original Tempest, Tempest Plus, Tempest 2000 and Tempest Duel. "Tempest 2000 is the hottest selling title on Jaguar today," said Peter Roithmayr, senior buyer at Electronics Boutique. "We sold over 60 percent of our Tempest 2000 stock within four days; most sold in the first two days of shelf life. Tempest 2000 is in very high demand because the popularity of the Jaguar has far exceeded the gaming industry's expectations." "Tempest, by itself, is worth the price of the Jag - Tempest 2000 for Jaguar is further proof that the next level of gaming has arrived," said Dave Halverson, DieHard GameFan. Tempest 2000 players venture through 100 unchartered galaxies filled with "Demon Heads," a very aggressive and deadly enemy and "Warp Bonus Tokens," which count toward bonus levels and a free instant "SuperZapper," a player's defense which can destroy everything on the screen. "We are pleased to offer Jaguar players Tempest 2000, which has already captured the attention and praise of the industry's leading game publications, " said Sam Tramiel, president of Atari Corp. "Tempest 2000 has hit the ground running - Jaguar's 64-bit technology has allowed us to make one of the industry's most exciting, challenging games even more outstanding." Tempest 2000 features two-player cooperative play and more than 30 minutes of pure CD-quality techno-rave soundtrack. In addition: -- Powerful 3D polygons provide realistic parallax star fields -- Particle displays deliver realistic explosions -- Melt-O-Vision graphics provide stunning graphic effects -- Cycle shading gives players accurate depth perception Atari Tempest 2000 is immediately available through all Atari-authorized retailers for $59.99.Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured in the United States. Jaguar was recently named the industry's "Best New Game System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993 Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan). Atari Corp., based in Sunnyvale, manufactures and markets 64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems, video games and personal computers for the home, office and educational marketplaces. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. //// Yerger Lawsuit Decision - Earlier this week, a decision in the """""""""""""""""""""""""""" California case brought against Atari Corp. by Bill Yerger was reached in Atari's favor. While AEO hasn't seen a transcript from the trial at this time, it is worth noting that some rather "interesting" testimony was reported to have been given. No announcements have been made as to whether any appeals are planned. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Technology News =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Optical Power - An Optically Powered Data Link (OPDL) system """""""""""""""""" providing total immunity to electromagnetic and radio frequency interference (EMI and RFI) has been developed by Photonic Power Systems, Inc. Fiber optic power uses light in an optical fiber to transmit power instead of electricity in a copper conductor. As such, the technology avoids the drawbacks of conventional power transmission, including susceptibility to electromagnetic and radiofrequency interference, ground loops and the devastating effects of lightning. It has important applications in electric power transmission grids, mining and munitions, corrosive atmospheres, and many other critical installations. //// Squeeze an Atom? - AT&T Bell Laboratories researchers have """"""""""""""""""""" invented a fundamentally new type of semiconductor laser - called a quantum cascade (QC) laser - that operates like an electronic waterfall. It is the world's first laser that can be tailored to emit light at a specific wavelength set at nearly any point over a very wide range from the mid-to far-infrared spectrum. This can be done by simply varying the layer thicknesses of the laser, using the same combination of materials. The QC laser's emission wavelength is entirely determined by quantum confinement effects: the fact that its layers are so thin - typically a few nanometers, or about 100 billionths of an inch - that electrons are squeezed and change their quantum mechanical properties. One can tailor the laser's wavelength continuously over an enormous range by changing layer thicknesses. //// Green Disks and Ham? - GreenDisks are high-quality recycled """"""""""""""""""""""""" diskettes, extracted from outdated packages that software companies had not yet sold before a new version was shipped. GreenDisk works with concerned software companies, collecting these obsolete versions of their products. They break down the packaging and recycle the paper and plastic components. The diskettes are "degaussed" - a magnetic process which completely erases all information. Next, the diskettes are preformatted, prelabelled and packaged. Within its first year, GreenDisk Inc has recycled over 5 million pounds of software. The company first began operations one year ago on Earth Day. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Computer Business =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// IBM Stac'ed - IBM recently licensed data compression technology """""""""""""""" for all IBM software including DOS and OS/2. This comes quickly after Stac won a legal victory over Microsoft involving the same technology. Stacker data compression technology, now in its fourth generation, is the first product of its kind to break the 2:1 compression barrier. Beyond increasing storage capacity, Stacker 4.0 provides new safety features for enhanced reliability and a comprehensive tool set for managing Stacker drives. //// Flash: Memory Near $3 Billion - Dataquest recently announced """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the results of its flash memory market forecast, which indicated that the flash memory market is expected to increase from $634 million in 1993 to $2.975 billion by 1997. According to the forecast, North America will have approximately 50 percent of the worldwide market. Flash, a nonvolatile memory, retains information even when power is disrupted. Flash memory is increasingly used in a variety of equipment such as small personal computers, personal digital assistants, laser printers, and facsimile machines. The demand for flash memory will come mainly from the replacement of EPROMs, silicon disk drives, and solid state recorders. //// "Mrs. Bell, Godzilla on Video Line 4" - AT&T has signed licensing """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" agreements under which four major Japanese consumer electronics companies will be able to introduce and promote new products compatible with AT&T's proprietary VideoPhone technology. AT&T said the agreements are evidence that its Global VideoPhone Standard (GVS), is becoming the de facto standard for video telephony in the consumer electronics industry. //// Peaches Picked - Automatic Data Processing announced Tuesday that """"""""""""""""""" it was buying Preachtree Software for an undislosed sum. Peachtree is a maker of accounting software on the IBM PC platform. ADP is a large computer consulting firm with revenue in excess of $2 billion dollars. //// Superman Online - DC Comics Online will soon make its debut on """""""""""""""""""" AOL (American OnLine). It will provide services such as, information on new comics, previews, interviews, graphic files, and background information on making comics in general. In addition users of the online service will be able to talk directly to the authors and writers of many of the comics. //// Hard Drive Makers Write Protection - Seagate and Toshiba signed a """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" broad, worldwide patent cross-licensing agreement which permits each partner to use a number of magnetic mass storage technologies covered by the other's patents. The agreement demonstrates the desire of both companies to compete on commercial values, unimpeded by the risk of patent litigation. "The disc drive industry today has become mired in costly, unproductive patent litigation and the trend toward hostile patent claims continues," said Alan F. Shugart, president and chief executive officer of Seagate Technology. "We are pleased Toshiba shares our belief that cross-licensing benefits everyone in the industry - fostering a more competitive market environment where innovation flourishes and end-users realize the best product options available." Seagate also holds similar agreements with industry leaders including Quantum Corp., NEC, and Hitachi. Patent cross-licensing agreements allow companies to compete on commercial values, unimpeded by mutually blocking patent portfolios. //// Cyrix Dumps TI for IBM - IBM and Cyrix announced a five-year """""""""""""""""""""""""""" agreement for advanced x86-compatible microprocessors. This comes quickly after lawsuits were filed between TI (Texas Instruments) and Cyrix on royalty payments and patent protection. Under the agreement, IBM's Microelectronics Division will become a primary manufacturer of Cyrix-designed 486-compatible microprocessors. In addition, Cyrix has selected IBM's industry-leading half-micron CMOS process technology for use in its M1, an advanced Pentium-class microprocessor, and successive high-performance designs. Both companies have made investments to ensure availability of Cyrix-designed product manufactured at IBM facilities. In addition to supplying these microprocessors to Cyrix, IBM has the right to manufacture an equivalent amount for use internally or to sell on an OEM basis. //// Phoenix Patent Rises - Phoenix Technologies was recently granted """"""""""""""""""""""""" a patent for its PostScript language clone color technology. The patent deals mainly with its half-tone screening techniques used in its software. It increases color gradation without losing resolution or using more memory when generating an image. //// Size not Important - Quantum won a victory over Rodime (another """"""""""""""""""""""" hard drive maker) when a partial summary judgment ruled that size of a hard drive does not matter. This was due to Rodime's claim that it could patent the size of 3.5 inch drive. Quantum was the only company so far to fight Rodime's patent claims even when IBM, Conner and other hard drive manufactures had alreaady paid Rodime. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Smart Weapons =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// No Tail - The "X-31" program is designed by NASA to determine """""""""""" unique performance increasing characteristics for the next generation aircraft. The X-31 program is an international experimental project of the two countries United States and Germany. The aircraft recently tested at Edwards Air Force base should be one of the first tailless aircraft to break the sound barrier. Three vanes extend beyond the back of the plane which use exhaust to control the aircraft. The aircraft has also demonstrated its ability to fly at high angles of attack (which would cause normal jet aircraft to stall) and make abrupt 180-degree turns. One important advantage military of the craft its increased stealth characteristics. In addition for non military use it provides such benefits as reduced weight, smaller amount of drag and less fuel consumption. //// Take a Long Bow - The Army's AH-64 (Apache) helicoper was """""""""""""""""""" recently enhanced during a special upgrade project called Longbow. Transmission and sharing of digital targeting data - vital to the Army's success on the next-generation digitized battlefield - was successfully demonstrated recently by an airborne Longbow Apache prototype for the first time. The first of what will develop into a library of Longbow messages was transmitted from the Longbow Apache to a mobile ground station using an Improved Data Modem (IDM), an integral part of the aircraft's avionics suite. The IDM will enable crews to instantly communicate digital targeting data with other air and ground IDM-equipped or IDM-compatible forces. The IDM will enable pilots to communicate digital targeting data and other information needed to accomplish near real-time fire zone coordination, fire control and target handoff. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Video Game Industry News =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Fujiless Arcades? - Time-Warner's game and multimedia units plan """""""""""""""""""""" to integrate their operations soon. The units are Time Warner Interactive Group, Atari Games Corp. and Tengen Inc. They will operate under the common name, Time Warner Interactive. The new structure will allow the organization to develop and publish interactive consumer entertainment products that span across all platforms including coin-op video games, home video games, CD-ROM entertainment titles (for game-based machines as well as computer platforms) and interactive TV applications. //// Nintendo Postponing Reality? - Rumors are that Japanese video """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" game manufacturer Nintendo has purchased a design for a new home console video game unit from a Japanese industrial company. It has been said that this new unit is -not- part of Nintendo's planned 64-bit "Project Reality", and may debut in early 1995 for less than $200. //// A Claim to Sega? - Acclaim will become the first US entertainment """"""""""""""""""""" software maker to use Sega's Titan technology to create games across Sega's high-end hardware systems including coin-op; Genesis Super 32X; and the yet-to-be-introduced platform, code-named Saturn. The first release published under the agreement will be based on a soon-to-be-released major motion picture. //// Trade WMS - WMS Industries announced that it has entered into an """""""""""""" agreement to acquire privately-held Tradewest Inc. and certain related companies. The acquisition provides WMS with an established home video game development group, worldwide distribution network and industry licenses. Tradewest is a licensee and publisher for Nintendo, Sega, Atari and 3DO platforms and produces games for IBM compatible and Macintosh personal computer applications. //// Toshiba licenses 3DO - Toshiba has signed a hardware license """"""""""""""""""""""""" agreement to manufacture, market, and distribute 3DO products. Toshiba also plans to develop a portable version of the 3DO system that can also be installed in cars. //// Mega Fight on the Big Screen - Capcom (best known for its Street """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Fighter games) has made several deals involving Mega Man. Bandai will bring Capcom's famous software superhero to the action toy market, while Sony Music Entertainment will market and distribute episodes from the much-anticipated Mega Man TV series on home video. In other path-blazing, video game-based projects will bring Capcom's Street Fighter II to the motion picture industry in December. The live action film's expected bugdet will be around $34 million dollars. //// Orion on CD-I - Philips announced that it has signed an """""""""""""""""" agreement with Orion Home Video to distribute films from the Orion Home Video library for the Compact Disc Interactive system, using the Digital Video (MPEG-1) technology for full screen full motion video on Compact Disc. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Rare Gems ||| Compiled by: David A. Wright / | \ GEnie: DAVE.WRIGHT ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for April 3 to 9, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. We don't take American Express. --:Dave === None can love freedom heartily, but good men - the rest love not freedom, but license. --John Milton Man no sooner discovers a new intelligence, than he tries to involve it in his own stupidity. --Jacques-Yves Cousteau Let them laugh. The present is theirs, but the future I'm really working towards is mine. --Nikolai Tesla Who lies for you will lie against you. --Bosnian proverb If you won't be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for? --Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav Is not this the true romantic feeling - not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you. --Thomas Wolfe After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box. --Italian proverb The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for April 10 to 16, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. May cause perkiness. --:Dave === Everyone has a photographic memory, but some don't have film. --Unknown Know yourself. If you need help, call the FBI. --Tony Hendra & Michael O'Donoghue Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring and because it has fresh peaches in it. --Thomas Walker Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved. --D. H. Lawrence Life is a handful of short stories, pretending to be a novel. --Unknown Stop complaining. You knew what you were getting into when your father left you the business. --Queen to king, cartoon by Harris For every vision, there is an equal and opposite revision. --Unknown --==--==--==--==-- ||| Jaguar Tackboard ||| Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar / | \ Compiled from online and official sources ----------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Independent Association of Jaguar Developers =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The IAJD (Independent Association of Jaguar Developers) has started accepting members on GEnie. The IAJD is a private group where confidential discussions can be freely held. (Category 64 of the ST RoundTable is the IAJD meeting place.) Consequently, membership in the IAJD is limited to Jaguar developers who are registered with Atari Corp. To apply for membership, send EMail to ENTRY$ on GEnie (or if you're not on GEnie). Regular EMail correspondence with the IAJD should be sent to IAJD$ (again, or if you're not on GEnie). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Developer / Game List 1.8 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Editor: The following developers, licensees and game titles have been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of April 19, 1994. Entries in the "S"tatus column reflects any "e"rrors, "u"pdates, "n"ew titles, or new "d"evelopers since the last AEO list. Titles in brackets (e.g. [Cybermorph]) have been completed and are available in the US. 1-10 Titles S Developer/Licensee Rating under development " """""""""""""""""" """""" """"""""""""""""" 21st Century Software - Pinball Fantasies n 3D Games - Rainbow Warrior n - MORE n Accent Media Productions - Varuna's Forces CD-ROM Accolade - Al Michaels Announces Hardball - Brett Hull Hockey - Charles Barkley Basketball - Jack Nicholas Golf Activision - Return to Zork CD-ROM All Systems Go - Hosenose and Booger CD-ROM - Jukebox (cart multiplexer) n - Bios-fear CD-ROM e American Laser Games - Mad Dog McCree Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off 3 - World Cup Anthill Industries Argonaut Software - Creature Shock CD-ROM (For Virgin) Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000 - Chaos Agenda CD-ROM - Club Drive 5 [Crescent Galaxy] - MPEG 1 and 2 carts - Star Raiders 2000 - Tiny Toons Adventures - VR Helmet MORE u Atari Games Corp. - Arcade Games using Jaguar Attention to Detail - Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2 CD-ROM - Blue Lightning CD-ROM 7 [Cybermorph] (For Atari) Audio-Visual Magic Bethesda Softworks Beyond Games Inc. - Battlewheels - Ultra Vortex Black Scorpion Software Bjorn Joos/Kris Van Lier Borta & Associates Brainstorm - [x86 Jaguar Development System] Bullfrog Productions Ltd. - Syndicate - Theme Park (For Ocean) Clearwater Software Computer Music Consulting Cybervision CyberWare Delta Music Systems Inc. Dimension Technologies n Domark Group Ltd. - F1 Racer n DTMC - Lester the Unlikely n - Mountain Sports n - (Miniature Golf) Duncan Brown d Eclipse - Iron Soldier Elite E-On Eurosoft EZ Score Software Inc. GameTek Inc. Genus Microprogramming Inc. Gremlin Graphics Ltd. - Zool 2 - UNKNOWN TITLE (racing) - MORE? H2O Design Corp. Hand Made Software - Kasumi Ninja (For Atari) High Voltage Software Hisoft ICD Inc. - Cat Box (AV & comm expansion box) id Software - Doom: Evil Unleashed - Wolfenstein 3D Imagineer Company Ltd. Imagitec Design Inc. 6 [Evolution Dino-Dudes] 6 [Raiden] - Freelancer 2120 CD-ROM u - Busby in Clawed Encounters of the Furried Kind (For Accolade) Interplay - BattleChess CD-ROM - MORE? n Jaleco - Cisco Heat n - Bases Loaded n - MORE CD-ROM Krisalis Software Ltd. - Soccer Kid Limelight Media Inc. LlamaSoft 10 [Tempest 2000] (For Atari) - MORE MINTER! Loricel S.A. Manley & Associates Inc. Maxis Software Microids - Evidence - Commando Microprose - Gunship 2000 - MORE SIMULATIONS Midnite Software Inc. - Car Wars - Dungeon Depths n MORE Millenium Interactive Ltd. NMS Software Ltd. Ocean Software Ltd. - (Movie title "The Shadow") CD-ROM - Apes--- n - (Comic title "LOBO") CD-ROM Phalanx - Phong 2000 Photosurrealism - Galactic Gladiators PIXIS Interactive d Rage Software UK ReadySoft Incorporated - Dragon's Lair CD-ROM - Dragon's Lair II CD-ROM - Space Ace CD-ROM Rebellion Software Ltd. - Alien vs. Predator - Checkered Flag II (Redline Racing) - Legions of the Undead (For Atari) Rest Energy Sculptured Software Inc. u Silmarils - Robinson's Requiem CD-ROM Software Creations Team Infinity Team 17 Software Ltd. Tecnation Digital World Techtonics Telegames - Brutal Sports Football - Casino Royale - European Soccer Challenge - Ultimate Brain Games - MORE? u - Double Dragon 5 (For Tradewest) n - Super Off-Road (For Tradewest) Teque London Ltd. Thrustmaster u Tiertex Ltd. - Flashback (for U.S. Gold) Titus Tradewest - Troy Aikman Football n Trimark Interactive - White Men Can't Jump - MORE? U.S. Gold Ltd. UBI Soft International - Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis - MORE V-Reel Productions - Arena Football - Horrorscope Virgin Interactive n Entertainment Ltd. - Dragon n - Demolition Man Virtual Xperience - Indiana Jags - Zozziorx - MORE? Visual Concepts Williams Brothers WMS Industries d Zeppelin Games - Center Court Tennis Pts Stars AEO Ratings """ """"" """"""""""" 10 ***** GAMING NIRVANA!!! - You have left reality behind... for good. 9 ****+ Unbelieveable GAME!! - Your family notices you're often absent. 8 **** Fantastic Game!! - You can't get enough playtime in on this. 7 ***+ Great Game! - Something to show off to friends or 3DOers. 6 *** Good game - You find yourself playing this from time to time. 5 **+ Ho-hum - If there's nothing else to do, you play this. 4 ** Waste of time - Better to play this than play in traffic. 3 *+ Sucks - Playing in traffic sounds like more fun. 2 * Sucks Badly - You'd rather face an IRS audit than play this. 1 + Forget it - ... but you can't; it's so badly done, it haunts you. 0 - Burn it - Disallow programmer from ever writing games again. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Jaguar Quotes =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Jeff Minter entered into a discussion about the internals of Tempest 2000: [] ... JERRY is doing all the audio. TOM gets to draw all the calculated starfields by himself; he gets in league with the blitter to do polygon drawing, transforming and rendering game objects, and pixelshatter (where things break into a zillion pixels like the '2000' bonus). Melt-O-Vision is almost entirely a Blitter operation. The 68K runs all the game logic and orchestrates the other co-pros and builds the (very simple) Object List. The OLP isn't really doing much at all, it's sitting there twiddling its electronic thumbs and just displaying the main screen and an overlaid sprite for the score and ships info. Frame rate is variable, depending on how much drawing is to be done. Logically, the game engine never slows down, as it's slaved to a regular interrupt. The draw engine is decoupled from this, so when the going gets tough it drops frames where necessary, which results in a degradation in the frame rate but does not affect gameplay speed. It *is* possible to clog it up if you let a lot of stuff build up on the web, but the dynamics of normal gameplay mean that this happens sufficiently rarely to be a problem in gameplay. The alternative would have been to maintain a constant framerate by limiting the number of objects onscreen, or having them 'disappear' (arcade Defender used to do that!) when the load is high, but I don't like that as it spoils the consistancy of the game environment. Don't assume that the rendering of polygons in T2K is necessarily as fast as it can be done - T2K represents my first attempt at a polygon-based game, and the first cut of my polyrenderer is unlikely to be optimal. Everyone optimises over time, and as we get into the Jag we'll learn cheats, techniques and shortcuts to do more stuff faster and smoother than ever... //// In a discussion about portibility ("C" vs. assembler), Doug Engel had this to say: [] The Jaguar is too "unique" to write "portable" games for. If you try to write "portable" code, you've locked yourself into a mindset that limits most of what the Jaguar is good for. ... You _have_ to know how the Jaguar operates to write _anything_ on it, no matter when you write in. Much of the hardware features in the Jaguar are directly accessable in "C"... the problem is that the hardware will just be accessed more slowly than it would in assembly, or RISC assembly. //// id Software's constantly being asked about their Jaguar work. Here's their latest statement: [] We're doing Doom and Wolfenstein 3D for the Atari Jaguar. They're both coming right along. Wolf 3D is sporting several new features, including source artwork at twice the resolution (4x the data), a high, fluid refresh rate, 22 kHz sound effects, and MIDI device emulation. Doom pushes the hardware a lot harder and already looks trey cool. The anti-aliasing effects of composite screens coupled with the very hip 16-bit CRY pixel mode makes images look even more realistic than the DOS version. Both should be done this summer. Duncan Brown , self-confessed "Jaguar Programmer in a Garage", sums up how he views the Jaguar's power: [] -- It's kind of an awe-inspiring amount of powerful hardware at your disposal. What kind of graphics system theory are you used to? Sprites? Frame buffer? Character mapped? Graphics coprocessor? State machine to process display lists? Yeah, this can do all of that... simultaneously... and probably some other things that people haven't even thought of yet. -- There's so much power in so many different places, it's kind of hard to know where to start. To try to write a program from scratch (even after studying example code supplied by Atari) suffers from a steep "learning wall". You have to get at least passingly familiar with a lot of different pieces just to make that first tiny program fly. But once you've gotten familiar with all that, gotten the framework in place to make all the parts sing together, it gets a lot easier. -- I'm still getting my feet wet here. In fact, it's a bit depressing to play Tempest 2000. It's like I'm still painting a background on a canvas and then someone takes me to see the Sistene (sp?) Chapel... But from everything I can tell, this is a graphics hacker's ultimate playground here. There are no rules, there are almost no restrictions. Once you decide which direction you want to head in, it's pedal-to-the-metal time. -- The development hardware and software is pretty decent, but it does take some effort to get used to. The faint of heart need not apply. Atari's example programs *never* assemble and load without a hitch. But hey, what better way to learn the tools than by figuring out what the problem is? I wasted a lot of time creating a good work environment for myself on the TT030 because I had never even *heard* of the computer before, much less used one! I was convinced the development tools would work better on a 680x0 platform, but I advise anyone else to weigh that notion carefully against the ramp-up time for a new platform. If you're already familiar with Atari computers, then it's a no-brainer. The TT030 *is* a nice platform. ... But so far I am extremely impressed and extremely happy! --==--==--==--==-- ||| Jaguar Games Preview & Bay Area Devcon Report ||| By: Tim Wilson / | \ GEnie: AEO.8 Internet: wilsont@rahul.net ------------------------------------------------------------------ Through my various sources and by attending the Bay Area Jaguar Developer Conference, I've been able to see some of the following games: Doom Wolfenstein 3D Club Drive Alien Vs Predator Checkered Flag II (Redline Racing) Kasumi Ninja A Very Important Note: everything I saw was in an early stage, and at least a month old at the time I saw it. (Which makes them at least two months old to you.) I also have no way of knowing how far along each one was, or how far back the demo was. Oh well, just read this. :) //// Alien Vs Predator You want texturemapping? You got tons of it in this game. Walls, floors, ceilings, doors, are all covered with 16-bit textures. All nicely done. You could of course choose to be an Alien, a Marine or the Predator, I tried each out, but only the Marine had a lone working weapon. (Pulse rifle) Each character had a unique HUD that you can slowly fade in and out, making it opaque or transparent, depending on the situation. A map could also be displayed over the screen - the map would scroll around smoothly as you moved. The map was an overlay, not a separate screen, so it's possible to see the map and look through your "eyes" at the same time. The Marine had a shotgun, a pulse rifle, and a grenade launcher visible. I've seen a knife before, but that's being cut out I hear. It may be possible to pick up and drop weapons, it's not confirmed yet. The Marine had a motion tracker on the HUD, but it wasn't active then. (It's since been activated.) The Predator had the cloaking net, claws, plasma gun, killer frisbee, net gun, and a spear. The Predator also has Ultraviolet and Infrared vision. I couldn't find a dark area to try it out in, the map was huge. The Predator had a sound analyzer, but it too was inactive. The Alien only has a tail, second mouth, and claws as weapons. However, the Alien can move EXTREMELY fast. As the Marine I could engage the Predator or Alien if I happened to cross their path. The Predator would immediately cloak, then suddenly appear in front of me, quickly shooting, poking and stabbing with all of his weapons. Not that it mattered, I was invincible. He wasn't... a blast from the pulse rifle sent green blood spraying, A few more shots and he fell to the ground in a slowly expanding pool of glowing green blood. When I shot the Alien, it kinda made a little explosion on his chest, and then a bigger explosion when it died... it looked thrown in. Of course, this was an early release. I also accessed a computer terminal, but all that was there was mug shots of the programmers and some bitmaps of armor and stuff. I did find some Alien eggs, which open as you near them. No facehuggers popped out, but I did encounter a facehugger scampering around. It jumped at me and disappeared. I guess that subroutine wasn't quite done yet either. Some ambient noises where present, hissing steam noises, and ominous alarms. Watch the last 20 minutes of "Aliens", and you'll hear the same noises. //// Doom Doom was running in 16 bit color as well, and I only got to see episode one, mission one. There were beasties to kill, and they died just like in the PC version. The added colors (supposedly from the original 24-bit artwork) sure helped, and the dark areas and color gradients were -excellent-. id has said they'll acheive a faster frames per second in the end. What more can I say... it was Doom! //// Wolf 3D It's the same ol' PC Wolfenstein you know and love. Dogs, Nazis, blood, big weapons, and many fps. Someone said that delays had to be added because it was so fast. The textures were enhanced to double their original resolution. //// Club Drive Yeah, I saw it, but it's been redone since. The frame rate was great, and the toy car scenario was kinda neato. Lots of ramps and things to let you get on top of tables, etc.... I'm not gonna say much else in light that it's been worked over. //// Checkered Flag II (Redline Racing) Looked a lot like Virtua Racing or Hard Drivin'. Buildings and distant objects fade into view and get more detailed as they get closer in a realistic manner. There were four views to choose from, and the internal view had "arms" that moved the steering wheel. The tracks were flat, but I hear they may be changing that. The frame rate was pretty good. //// Kasumi Ninja I hope you like blood.... Blood splatters all over, and according to the product manager, can be turned on or off easily (no secret codes), and then saved to the cart, so you won't have to constantly enter a "blood code." Blood slowly "dried" up, but it may very well -stay- on the ground for the whole round if the manager gets his way. The finishing moves code be done at any time in the version I played. They were uh... unique. They may or may not be final versions of them... but here they are: [] Flip your opponent over backwards and then back flip onto his head, squishing it nicely. [] Pick up your opponent and then proceed to rip him/her in half, drop said opponent... er... oppenents? at your feet. Errr, there was one more, but I can't remember it. -grin- The characters also had the usual assortment of special powers: Fireballs, floating roundhouse kicks, and teleportation. (That's for one character...) BTW, those backgrounds you see in the pictures will be animated. For example, those dog/dragon thingies will have firey eyes and smokey nostrils, and various other details. I've heard of some CD games too, but I can't tell you much about them. ("Gee! THAT'S helpful!", you say grumbling.) Well, I've been sworn to secrecy, but I can say the CD will have -lots- of support. Use your imagination on this one. :) I've also heard of more never before heard of ComLynx games... but I can't say what. I know I'm gonna get hate mail, but just know this for now - Atari has bunches of titles and tricks up their collective sleeves. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Jaguar Developer Conference Report =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I attended the Jaguar Developer conference and was *very* pleased that I went. Normen went over the documentation and fielded questions. If he didn't know the answer, he found it out. Each chunk of the Jag was covered, the Object Processor, GPU, DSP, and blitter. I learned just how amazingly flexible the OP was, and learned some amazing tricks, visual and efficiency wise. I learned how much time various operations took in relation to the other parts of the Jag, which is a big help in regards to interupts, which were also covered in detail. Also covered was a bit of Jaguar history, the CD unit, some previews of upcoming games, and miscellaneous Atari plans. I personally think it'd be a good idea for any Jaguar programmer to attend the conference when it gets close to you. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Jaguar News Phrases ||| By Tal Funke-Bilu / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------- O.K. Jaguar fans, here's the scoop. I had this great follow-up to my Jeff Minter interview. He was gonna talk long and hard about the making of T2K and give a full report from the ECTS (European Computer Trade Show). The only problem was that all of GEnie's EMail was backlogged for a day due to maintenance. Then Atari decided it wanted Jeff to spend a lot of time working on the VLM for the JagCD. What to do? Work on Jag CD stuff, or write for AEO?... Enough with the excuses. There's been a lot of talk about Tempest codes and a rotary controller. First off, let's get the codes straightened out. There are two of them, one allows you to pass the current level by obtaining an "outta here" while the other enables the current warp when you pass the level you are on. I've seen a ton of garbled posts on how you actually enable these, and most of them will work, but here's the bare bones: To enable either cheats, start a game of Tempest 2000 with the "a" button while holding down 1,4, and 7. Then, when you are playing, hit "6" to enable the warp, and "option" to catch an "outta here." Now for the good stuff. People seemed to have discovered that by another combination of button pushes, one can enable a "controller type" option on the options screen which can be set at "rotary" or "joypad." Again, I've seen various claims to "push this!" or "no, you do this!", and again, here is the bare bones (you need two controllers). To enable a "controller type" option on the options screen, go to the options screen, and push "pause" simulataneously on both controllers. That's it. I am only revealing this because others have already discovered it, and I am sick of reading "where can you get a paddle?" posts. The main reason behind the secrecy surrounding the rotary option is mainly becuase Atari did not want people hounding them with "When can I get one?" calls and other related correspondence. Here's the facts: [] Developers have the info. If they want to make a paddle control, it is up to them. [] Installing hooks into a game to accept rotary controls is minor. The Yak said it took him two days to do the extra code. It would be better to leave a hook in a game that would most likely be played with a paddle, than leave it out. For that reason, I suspect all games that have even the most remote possibilty of being played with a paddle, will have some sort of hook installed. [] Right now, Atari can not afford to spend resources on a paddle. If enough games are released that could use one, and people still talk about it, I suspect that late summer-early fall might see the release of such a controller. Keep in mind that the rotary option was not to be talked about by Atari employees/developers (in public). That's all the Tempest action for this week. (Anyone go double beastly or beat 3,112,083 yet? Without the cheats of course!) //// Other Jaguar tidbits: (sorry this is so brief, look for an expanded section next issue) [] Atari wants AvP to be a mega-hit, so the programmers (Rebellion) are cramming in all the whistles and bells that will fit! This is definitely going to be a major candidate for game of the year. Rumored to have been in beta-testing by now, word is AvP's hit some legal snags and has went back to the developers, so it could wind up on the shelves from early June to early August. [] Don't even think about DOOM until the end of summer. ID wants to get the job done right, and with the Alien running around at 30fps, ID is going to have their job cut out for them. [] In the meantime, Wolf-3D is being updated for the Jag. The addition of a flamethrower and rocket launcher are just a few of the enhancements, not to mention double the sprite size! Don't worry, all the Nazi decorations are intact, not to mention resampled sound along with improved music. [] A sizable number of new developers signed up at the ECTS a week or two ago. Look for a confirmed list in an upcoming issue. [] Jaguar television ads are all over cable. Even a new Tempest 2000 ad. [] Some people have reported hearing radio commercials for Tradewest's Troy Aikman Football, "Out this fall" for Jaguar. [] Ocean's Flashback should be one of the first 3rd party games available (along with Wolf-3D). [] Jeff Minter's Virtual Light Machine, supposedly named ColorSpace 2000, will most likely be built into the CD-ROM unit. [] Here's the specs on the JagCD: Double speed. 350Kb/s transfer rate. 160x120 @ 50 fps. 320x160 @ 24 fps. (3DO can do 160x120 @ 24 fps) [] A VR Helmet code-named the CyberMaxx is reportedly being made for several platforms, including the Jaguar. Rumored price range: $400-$500. Look for a nice developer report in an upcoming AEO, along with the missing Jeff Minter files. I'll leave you with this parting caption I dug up from EGM #16 in 1990: "Quartermann has scored big this month with the first solid news on what could become the most exciting new system of the decade! No, I'm not talking about the big "N's" SFX, I'm pointing my joystick at none other than Atari Corporation! The creators of the console, who remained content with their position as the low priced man on the totem pole, have decided to launch a superior system to sit next to their cutting edge Lynx portable! The new system, code-named Panther, reportedly uses an advanced 16-Bit processor and comes with a totally explosive package of abilities that include scaling, multi-field scrolling and more! While little else is known about the Panther at this stage, several of Quartermann's sources were told that the machine will absolutely, positively blow the Super Famicom away with its scaling functions (a strong feature on the company's Lynx)! Atari will neither confirm nor deny the rumors at this point, saying only that they've heard similar rumblings. While it does seem to be a reality, Atari appears to be keeping their doors as well as their mouths closed until games are finally ready to play. Save up your money kiddies, it looks like the 16-bit wars are going to be much hotter than anyone had planned..." --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- To enroll as a Delphi subscriber, modem call 1-800-365-4636. Press -- -- [Return] until you see "Password:", then type IP26 [Return] -- -- -- -- Answer all of the questions, and you'll be cleared for Delphi -- -- access in a few days. If you have questions about Delphi services, -- -- give a voice call to Delphi Member Services at 1-800-544-4005. -- -- -- -- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| ECTS - Traque du Jaguar a Londres (Stalking the Jaguar in London) ||| By Loic Duval / | \ CIS: 100015,3044 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The ECTS, one of the most important video games shows in Europe, took place in London this year from the 10th to 12th of April. The ECTS is a trade show that only professionals can access, so it is not a show for big announcements, and not a show with huge booths and large, colorful demonstrations. It is more the kind of show where booths are comfortable suites with sofas, and people simply talk to one another, etc. Atari Europe (which means Atari UK) had a suite on the lower ground level, which was just in front of the "Time Warner Interactive" suite. Sam Tramiel and Bill Rehbock made the trip to London with some other US personel like Normen Kowalevski, who responsible for Jaguar developer support. The booth contained five Jaguar displays and a big TV with all the Jaguar ads running in loop. In the back, a secret room was reserved for developers' presentations. There were no other Jaguars displayed at the show except at three booths from UK dealers. You would have to know that the Jaguar has not been officially introduced into Europe yet. The current date of introduction should be around September 1994. However many developers have confirmed that they were currently working hard on Jaguar games and some of them had early versions displayed in the Atari booth. //// One more award Before I describe the games I saw, I have to announce that the Jaguar won another award at the ECTS: "Best Hardware 1994". (The only hardware award given.) The ECTS awards are the only independent consumer awards for this industry. A panel of over 70 of the world's leading computer and video games magazines voted on the award. The other contenders for the "Best Hardware 1994" award included 3DO, CD32 and Reel Magic. //// New games Atari displayed prototypes (in various stages of development) of soon to arrive Jaguar games, but no announcements or demonstrations of any new hardware or Jaguar extensions were made. (However there were some new products which were demonstrated to developers during a developer conference on the 13th of April.) The game that attracted the most interest and about all the journalists present (at least the ones I spoke too) was Kasumi Ninja. It is the Jaguar's hottest title for the moment, even if the game is still far from completion. Only two characters (Ninja and Goth) were implemented in the version I saw, but it was still highly playable. It may look like Mortal Kombat because of the digitized fighters, however it is yet much more fun, more playable, and more... bloody! The characters are very well digitized (in true color) with smooth and detailed animations. They look even bigger than on MK (Mortal Kombat) or SF2 (Street Fighter 2). One very interesting detail is that the characters have a real shadow which follows the movement exactly and not the kind of simple dark circle you have on SF2 or MK. The background graphics are also digitized with tons of colors and multiple levels of parallax. It is not yet animated but it will be in the final release. The ground is done with texture mapped polygons also. I wasn't sure because you don't see any polygons (the ground looks so good), but the 3D perspective animation (when you move both fighters on the left or on the right) was so smooth that I can't believe they have enough space in the cartridge to store all the bitmap positions. It must be texture mapped 3D polygons! (Editor: It is.) Each character has its own moves and "fatality" moves. I was impressed by the number of moves currently implemented and how they succeeedd to install it on the Joypad. You don't have to use the numeric keypad at all. All moves are done using the joypad and the three fire buttons. Many combinations are possible, because to get at some, you have to find the right joypad position and press several buttons simultaneously. It may look strange but believe me Kasumi Ninja is highly playable and once you have discovered a move, it is very easy to reproduce it. As I said previously, the game is bloody. Very bloody indeed. When you hit your opponent some blood springs down to the floor and remains there. The "force" level is represented by a knife (one for each fighter) at the top of the screen. Each time a fighter is hit, more blood appears on his blade, dripping on the floor. So at the end of a fight, the least I can say is that you have a lot of blood on the screen. If you add a fatality move, the result.... The fatality moves can be executed at any times (if you are well positioned). No, I will not describe the 3 fatalities currently implemented. I prefer to let you discover them once the game will be available. Just say that the face of the visitors looking at those moves for the first time was the funniest thing at the show (something like the face of your father or mother when he/she discovers the "barf" Jaguar ads on the TV for the first time). With all of the action and gore (it even sports a 3D texture mapped maze!), Kasumi Ninja is so terrific and impressive that it overshadowed all the other Jaguar games on the show - even Alien Vs Predator! AvP is now very near completion. When you look at it for the first time, the 3D animation looks smooth but slower than Doom on a 486/66 PC. That is not because the Jaguar is slower, but because the soldier walks slower than the one in Doom. Just play the Alien and you will discover how fast the Jaguar can be when texture mapping. You just "fly" down the corridors of the space station at 30 fps. The concept, of the game (AvP) is very similar to Doom but AvP is much more an adventure game than a shoot'em up. Graphics are beautiful (with highly detailed textures) and the very realistic sounds add a lot of depth to the game. Wolfenstein 3D was also displayed. It runs at an incredible speed (60 fps for sure), too fast to be honest. The version displayed is in a very early stage and only uses the PC graphics (in 256 color mode) with no texture mapping on the floor or ceiling (just like the PC version). I know that the graphics are currently being redrawn for the Jaguar. Also displayed for the first time was Flashback from US Gold (programmed by Tiertex). The game looks exactly like the PC and the Genesis version. So we will hope that Tiertex will change the graphics to true colour before release. For the moment Flashback Jaguar looks like an immediate 68000 port from the Genesis. The game is good with an incredibly smooth animation, but Jaguar players want more than a simple port from a 16-bit platform. Tempest 2000 (T2K) was the only game at the show that is currently available. The successful game has attracted many visitors (and don't forget that it was T2K's first official presentation in Europe). I also very briefly saw some other games like Checkered Flag II, which is still very far from completion. The good news is that the version I have seen is much faster than the one displayed at the CES in January. The speed is now similar to Virtua Racing, and Rebellion's programmers are still optimizing their routines so the final version will be even faster. The most interesting feature is that you can change the view to be in the cockpit, just behind the F1 or behind and over the F1 (with a fully user selectable angle). Club Drive is a flat 3D polygon style racing game. The animation is smooth and fast but the graphics looked poor (no texture, no gouraud, just flat polygons). The game is very fun and you can play with two players (the screen is split in 2) simultaneously for even more excitement. //// News From Third Parties: [] Domark F1 Racer from Domark will be a dangerous competitor for Checkered Flag 2. The game is in early development stage but the 3D graphics are good and the animation is very fast. It looks similar to Microprose's Grand Prix or Papyrus' Indy Car on the PC. [] Ocean Ocean is currently working on two Jaguar projects: one cartridge and one CD ROM. The first game, code-named Apeshit, has some of the nicest graphics seen on Jaguar (which means some of the nicest graphics ever seen on any console). It is a True Colour platform game with multiple parallax scrolling and a cooperative "two players" mode. The CD-ROM project is based on the violent comic character LOBO. Ocean said this game is a very new concept and doesn't want to talk about it for the moment. The only thing we know, is that all the graphics and animations have been rendered on Silicon Graphics Unix workstations. [] Anco Kick Off 3 is a soccer game from Anco. Versions 1 & 2 (available on the ST) were the most playable soccer games ever made. Kick Off 3 is of course better and offers many new features. The game is now side-on view (watching from the stands) with much, much larger and better animated players. It is scheduled to be released in June/July time frame, Kick Off 3 on Jaguar sounds very exciting. [] Zeppelin Games A new company, Zeppelin Games, which was not on my list of Jaguar Licensees has announced "Center Court Tennis" to be available late 1994. //// The Developer Conference On the 13th of April, Atari organized a Jaguar developer conference attended by around 100 European developers. They showed a Jaguar CD-ROM prototype running an FMV demonstration of Spielberg's movie "Jaws". The CD-ROM is expected to be available in August at a retail price of $199. The FMV (full motion video) demo shown was done using Cinepak technology from SuperMac. Cinepak is also used by Apple (in Quicktime), Sega (in the Mega CD), 3DO (most of the CD animations you have on 3DO games are coded with Cinepak). Cinepak is similar to MPEG as it uses a "lossy" compression scheme (which means visual information not seen by human eyes is not encoded) to get a very high compression rate which allows you to store more than one hour of VIDEO + AUDIO on a single compact disc. The Jaguar Cinepak implementation is done completely in software (no extra hardware is needed to decode the frames) and is, in term of quality, one of the best implementations of Cinepak so far. Some programmers who used to work with Cinepak compression on the Mac or 3DO, said they never thought Cinepak images could be as good as what they have seen on the Jaguar. The quality is outstanding (no pixelisation effect; no visible loss most of the time; excellent synchronization between the sound and the video image; and it runs in 320x240 pixels at 30 frames per second. The best point of the Jaguar's implementation is that the decoder only uses about half the power of the machine, so programmers have enough bus bandwith and processor power to move objects on the screen and add game play over the video playback. During this conference, Jeff Minter demonstrated a "currently under development" version of VLM (Virtual Light Machine), an impressive light synthesizer which reacts to music and the user's input, and it will be a pack-in with the CD-ROM unit. It is totally crazy and absolutely indescribable. It is a kind of Colourspace/ Trip-A-Tron (Jeff Minter's light synthesizer on Atari STs) using the 64-bit and Tempest 2000 technologies. Many games are currently under development for the Jaguar CD-ROM. The most advanced projects seems to be "Return To Zork" from Activision, "Space Ace" from ReadySoft, "Robinson's Requiem" from Silmarils, and "Freelancer 2120" from Imagitec. Several new developers signed up as Jaguar developers during the ECTS show as well. In final, this ECTS confirmed that most of the Jaguar titles are late. Due to a production delay, don't expect new games before beginning of June. However the new titles look very, very hot and most of them will probably be displayed in final stages during the Summer CES (Consumer Electronics Show). So stay tuned.... --==--==--==--==-- ||| CeBIT 1994 ||| By: Loic Duval / | \ CIS: 100015,3044 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The CeBIT is the biggest computer show in Europe. Just imagine 24 huge packed halls (you need to walk more than hour to reach Hall 24 from Hall 1). More than 5000 exhibitors (from nearly 50 countries) and around 700,000 visitors came to the 1994 CeBIT show. This 1994 edition was the "processor wars" edition: Power PC (Motorola/IBM/Apple), Pentium (Intel), Alpha (DEC), Mips (Silicon Graphics) were all present at the show; and the winner was the Pentium. Oh yes, Power PCs were present (thanks to IBM more than Apple) but they didn't meet the expected interest compared to the Pentium. The big winner was Intel - Pentiums were everywhere! Intel had some very impressive demonstrations of the 100 MHz DX4 and the new 90 and 100 MHz Pentiums. Intel also announced a 150 MHz Pentium and the new 300 MIPS "P6". For the first time since 1986, Atari was not present at the CeBIT. They preferred to attend the ECTS (April 10th to 12th) - the biggest European video game show in London. And it was a big surprise for visitors to find in place of the Atari booth... COMMODORE! However even though Atari was not present, some big German developers attended the show with their own booths. Compo and Overscan had the biggest (with many new products), but Steinberg, Maxon, Heim Verlag and Rhotron had their own booths also. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// News from COMPO =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Medusa Unleashed Compo is the exclusive distributor of the Medusa T40 in Europe. The Medusa T40 is a very high performance TOS workstation. It is based on the Motorola 68040 running at 64 MHz and offers 26 MIPS/4.5 MFLOPS performance. The main bus is 32 bits wide with transfer rates up to 128 MB/sec. The Medusa T40 includes 8 MB of RAM which can be expanded to 128 MB on the mother board and to 4 GigaBytes using an extension board. The ET-4000 graphic board provides 16 bit True Colour graphic modes and up to 1024x768 in 256 colours. This board also supports all ST, TT and Falcon resolutions. If you open a Medusa you will discover many slots. One of them is filled with the ST I/O board which provides a DMA interface, 2 serial ports, 1 Centronics parallel interface, 2 MIDI ports, an IDE hard disk interface and several AT-bus expansion slots (used by the ET4000 board). Optionally, a SCSI board is available, a Bus Board (which offers a Mega ST extension bus slot), a VME extension bus (TT compatible) and a ROM port. Performance is outstanding with indications of at least 5 times the speed of the TT (68030/32MHz). We performed some tests with Calamus SL. We displayed 7 times the same colour document on the Medusa while the TT/030 was trying to display it for the first time. We also printed four pages on the Medusa while the TT was still trying to print the first page. The T40 costs DM 7999 with a 300 MB hard drive and one 1.44 MB floppy drive. Look for Medusa to be released in the second quarter 1994. //// Musicom 2 Musicom 2 will be released this May. This direct-to-disc stereo recording system includes some impressive DSP effects, a full set of functions for editing samples and assembling samples (to create jingles). Musicom 2 has a wonderful spectral analyser too. The user interface uses multiple windows to allow you to have access to all the functions on the screen. Musicom 2 costs DM 200 and supports the "Digital Box" from Compo. This box allows you to input Digital Signal from your CD player into your Falcon030 and also to output in digital format to a DAT recorder (48Khz). With the "Digital Box", Musicom 2 and your Falcon030 can work together at either 44.1 Khz or 48 Khz. The "Digital Box" (at DM 599) supports the S/P-DIF protocol too. //// Trackom Trackom is the first 16-bit sound tracker for the Falcon030 and it supports up to 10 tracks (played simultaneously). Samples have to be recorded with an external software like Musicom 2 or the shareware program WinRec. The user interface is MultiTOS compatible and is very easy to handle. You play the music with the computer's keyboard for example. The sound quality is very impressive and Trackom can work fully in the digital domain if you have the "Digital Box". Trackom should be out in the second quarter. //// CD-ROM <--> ROM A double speed (300K/s) CD-ROM drive (which is very inexpensive) connects directly to the ROM port (cartidge slot) of all STs, STEs, TTs and Falcons - even the Medusa's cartridge slot is supported. The CD-ROM drive includes an Atari Metados driver, a Multitos driver, and a CD Audio player program. Second quarter 94. //// ScreenBlaster II ScreenBlaster II is the second generation of video extender for your Falcon030. It includes software which allows you to push your monitor (and Falcon) beyond its "normal" limits. The Video Mode Generator will let you program non-standard video modes. You can have up to 512x480 pixels on a VGA monitor in True Colour. In 256 colours, you can have over 944x720 pixels (on most SVGA) and over 1280x960 in 16 colours! //// FalcoGen FalcoGen is a professional genlock which is very high quality at an affordable price (DM 799). It can work in normal mode (priority goes to computer image which comes over the video image), in luma-key mode (priority goes to video image so the computer image appears behind it), and can even use the Overlay-Bit mode of the Falcon030. It supports a wide variety of video signals/formats including for Input AND Output including: PAL, NTSC, Y/C(SVHS), RGB, SMPTE Timecode. //// Overlay Overlay is a presentation and video titling software package. Version 2 offers many more effects, an anti-flicker mode, and can even call external programs from within your animation. Two new modules are available: [] Hypermedia allows the creation of "interactive" animations. [] An FLI module allows you to play FLI/FLC animations within your Overlay presentation. //// AfterBurner040 Overscan has also announced for late May release, an incredible accelerator board for the Falcon030. AfterBurner040 connects into the internal slots of the Falcon030 and turns it into a very powerful Falcon040 machine. This board is based on a 68LC040 CPU running at 66 MHz (internal, 33MHz external) and supports up to 64 MB of Fast-RAM (using SIMMs). It also includes an optional PCI bus for additional graphic boards. //// Screen Eye Plus Matrix and COMPO presented Screen Eye Plus, a real time video digitizer. Now you can watch TV on a corner of your screen! Dedicated to the Falcon030, Screen Eye works in True Colour or 256 colours. You can display from 192x144 pixels at 25 frames/s up to 768x576 pixels at around 2 frames per second. It is also inexpensively priced at DM600. For more information about these and other Compo products in the United States, contact: COMPO Software, 104 Esplanade Avenue, Suite 121, Pacifica, CA 94044. Tel: 415-355-0862 Fax: 415-355-0869 GEnie: COMPO =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Other Products =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Steinberg Plays 16 The big revolution!! Steinberg has announced CUBASE AUDIO 16 (for Falcon) which supports up to 16 direct-to-disk audio tracks played simultaneously! This new version also includes new editing tools and a 10 band graphic equalizer. Another new product called AudioSpector, is a professional tool for acoustic analysis which runs on the Falcon030. Also available for the Falcon030, Avalon 3.0 - sample editor (which uses the 56K DSP for impressive effects) and all the Synthworks series have been rewritten to run on the Falcon. //// Maxon Emulates ST on PC Janus, from Maxon, is an ST emulator for the PC. It differs from Gemulator because it is an hardware emulator which includes a 68000 running at 16 MHz with its own memory (up to 16 MB). Janus runs in two different modes: in "Local Mode" where everything is done by the 68000 (just like an ST) and with speed similar to a MegaSTE. In "Dual Mode", Janus uses all the power of your PC to help the 68000. In this mode, Maxon claims you get a TOS machine running up to 12 times the speed of an ST. Price of Janus, DM 800. As you can see the Atari market is not dead in Europe with many new products coming out for the Falcon030 and the STs. In fact, since Atari has closed French and German offices, developers have found a new dynamism. They are organizing three big Atari shows in Germany (in April and May) and many new products (even Falcon games) are promised to appear in the next months from France and Germany. Let's hope these new products (Chroma, Afterburner, etc) may help Atari to find good reasons to come back into the computer business. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Atari Artist ||| By: Peter Donoso & Fadi Hayek / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [ ATARI ARTIST ] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Hello, and welcome once again to ATARI ARTIST. Although this issue may seem somewhat on the thin side, we feel the content more than makes up for the size. It also is a fairly good indicator that the next issue will have a good deal more news for us to talk about! First off, we have an short editorial piece which centers on a subject that we feel is both relevant and timely to the future of the entire Atari community. Take a moment to look at our Editorial section directly below and give us some feedback on what your feelings are. After that is the latest update on Wizztronics' 040 Barracuda accelerator board for the Falcon030. Steve Cohen has been bombarded with calls from all over the US... and the rest of the world as well! Find out about the latest developments in this leading Atari hardware developer first - we've got it! So, without further ado... entrance, Stage left! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ E D I T O R I A L ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The continuing influx of new product from a number of both recently- established, as well as long-devoted, European software developers seems to continue to be a crucial factor in keeping both the domestic and Canadian Atari market alive and kicking. Meanwhile, back here in Vespucci-land, we (that is, us) Amerigoes continue to steadfastly cling to our Atari systems, even as we dabble in the workplace with varying intensity on a number of other computer platforms. Word has it that the Medusa 0x0 TT clones will be arriving on our shores sometime in the next few months. Atari's first step towards licensing TOS to third-party computer manufacturers is certainly a wise idea whose time has come (and hopefully not already departed). It seems to me, however, that in order to engender continued development and support for the release of new models and the software that can take full advantage of the latest processing power, a crucial element continues to remain conspicuous by its very absence. What I'm talking about here is the very real and present need for developing a standard for future Atari software and hardware. When Microsoft first developed DOS they made the conscious decision to leave the layout and workings of a DOS-based program up to the individual developer. As long as it followed the rules, they basically had a "no looks or functions barred" attitude. Since DOS was the first PC operating system on the scene, Microsoft felt it essential to capitalize on this and assure a continuing hold on the market by purposely encouraging the largest number of developers, at the expense of the individual user. This was a move they would soon realize was a serious mistake. When Apple introduced the Macintosh line, the one thing Microsoft would come to envy more than anything else was its uniformity. Users could buy just about any program and be assured that the look, function and key commands for each program would be consistent and work the same way. This added in a big way to Apple's overall "user-friendly" pitch - "a computer for the rest of us." The rest is Apple history. People became enamored of a system that didn't require a large body of knowledge to set-up, configure and run a computer system. Microsoft managed to see the writing on the wall in time to do an about-face in developing and subsequent released versions of their Windows shell operating system software. It's no small coincidence that a premium was placed on assuring similar looks and functions among each and every Windows-based program running under the Windows environment. They all share a similar look and set of basic functions. With what we feel is the imminent release of TOS upon a third-party world, now is the time to establish an operating environment which is capable of running older TOS & GEM based programs while establishing a standard for all future development of Atari software and hardware. Although this may prove a daunting task at first, it's not impossible. When Dave Small's GADGETS BY SMALL announced development of a MAC emulator for Atari computers, he got quite a bit of "totally impossible - it just can't be done!" from a number of quarters. Of course, that's all Dave had to hear - and the rest is Small-story! Well, it's not impossible. Atari has had its hands full developing the Jaguar to stay alive. They have a truly exiting engine under the Jaguar's hood, one which offers some very exciting potential for both a game machine and some form of home computer system as well, and they should pursue it wholeheartedly as the next step in a natural sequence of technological development would logically dictate. Although Atari continues to make assurances that they have no intention of abandoning their TOS-based platform, it seems to me that the wisest thing on their part at this time is to do exactly what they seem to be doing - license out TOS to third parties who will be able to establish markets for the manufacturer of both older as well as next-generation models based on their TOS operating system. TOS is certainly capable of very, very sophisticated applications - its potential has most likely been merely touched upon. If continuing with GEM will severely limit the implementation of new chipset instructions and processing power, then maybe it's time to look at adopting a new graphic environment to run under TOS. With careful planning and a consortium of minds similar in creative ability to the team that developed the original 1040ST, TOS's potential is far from finished. The other problem which draws some striking parallels with the world of DOS is the software itself. The wealth of programs that run on the ST / TT / Falcon line of computers are quite impressive, but they all have one distinct feature in common - they all look and function differently. Some employ their own operating system, totally ignoring GEM and in some cases run their own shell environment on top of TOS. Others adhere to the GEM standard but use a variety of different key commands and locations for menu functions. Although Atari wisely decided to place its operating system totally in ROM, thereby sparing users from having to configure start-ups by adding to or changing a seemingly daunting amount of code in autoexec and config.sys- like files, they also saw the need for attracting as many developers as they could in the beginning. As a result they played it loose when dealing with the diversity of interpretations that inevitably came up among different code writers. Since you could write programs using a variety of computer languages, each langauge had its own set of limits pitted against its respective advantages. Although Atari certainly succeeded in attracting developers, the time has now come to follow in Microsoft's footsteps and establish a badly needed set of standards. Perhaps the IAAD (Independent Association of Atari Developers) can work in conjunction with the company or companies who are granted licensing for manufacturing and developing the next generation of Atari ST/TT/Falcon/???-based computers. In a computer world that is slowly shrinking while also increasingly becoming cross-platform friendly, the success of any one operating system depends to good degree upon a particular key ingredient. To insure a continued user-base, one which will keep established users loyal while expanding to attract an ever-widening number of new users, an operating system must be uniform in its visual as well as practical usage in handling a variety of applications. The inevitable replies may include any number of "It's impossible.", "It's too late." and "It's not practical." responses, but after having been in the Atari community for a number of years, I would consider that a positive dare - one which someone out there will pick up and say, "Oh, yeah?.. watch this!" It's always been human nature - and it's often been the Atari banner cry. Until that cry is heard, let's all make a concerted effort to raise this issue and talk about it as much as possible. What do you think? Let's do it! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ WIZZTRONICS ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Barracuda 040 Accelerator Board =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= After a number of frustrating delays and revisions, Wizztronics' Barracuda 040 accelerator board is finally nearing completion. The past two months have also brought about a redevelopment of the board's original 8 logic PALS, which have now been reduced to one FPGA field programmable gate array. This greatly reduces the possibility of crashes and failures due to mis-connections and the integration of a number of chips, as well as reducing overall current draw and increasing system reliability. The previously announced standard configuration, driven by a 68EC040 microprocessor running at 68EC040 operating at 16MHz (no FPU) 68040 running at 33MHz, both with an 8K internal cache will be ready for shipping by the end of May - a two month delay from the previously announced deadline. If you've ever dealt with Steve Cohen, you know that his word is his absolute bond, so you can imagine how much it hurt, not to be able to deliver in March as originally promised. Preliminary benchmark testing, using Quick ST's benchmarking program (a widely-respected standard in the Atari industry) yielded some impressive results. 68040 33MHz showed an overall system performance increase of 500% without the additional RAM card. Some benchmarks, such as the integer aspect, reached a whopping 876%! The Barracuda will fit in the existing Falcon casing with small shield modification and one wire to solder. Use of the optional 128meg RAM expansion card, or any other optional card (see below) will require the relocation of the Falcon to a external case. Prices are still as follows: Barracuda 040 16MHz accelerator board with 68EC040 - $650 Upgrade to 68EC040 33MHz - add $150 Upgrade to 68040 33MHz - add $300 RAM Expansion Card w/memory management controller $300 Switch Kit - add $ 5 The Video Funnel video frame-grabber unit will be released one month after the Barracuda board - the end of June. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Falcon Rack =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Wizztonics' Falcon Rack has been ready to ship, but is being held up until the Barracuda 040 accelerator board has been officially released. Latest specs confirm inclusion of a stereo 1/4" jack at both the front and rear panels of the unit, as well as the option for either a front or rear-mounted cartridge port. A second SCSI port will also be available for allowing installation of an additional external hard drive within the case. Connecting the drive directly into the Falcon's SCSI port, a SCSI cable will lead from the SCSI out port of this external drive to the back of the case for interfacing with additional SCSI-based units. Rack dimensions remain 19" wide by 15" deep by 5 1/4" high. Prices also remain as previously announced: Level 1 - #WT-ARK941 bare case $250 Level 2 - #WT-ARK942 includes keyboard interface $335 Level 3 - #WT-ARK943 includes internal power supply $320 Level 4 - #WT-ARK944 includes internal power supply & keyboard interface $395 Additional Options: 200 watt UL power supply (recommended for Barracuda $175 33 MHz accelerator board and RAM Expansion board) $ 70 Internal hard drive mounting kit $ 20 SCSI cable kit with IDC 50 and dual centronics connectors $ 35 PC keyboard interface for use with XT or AT keyboards $125 Input/Output patch cable kit for use from original Falcon housing to Falcon Case $ 20 Near-Future* Options: 1040/Mega ST rear plate $ 55 Mounting adaptor plate for Mega ST $ 20 * 3rd quarter '94 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// PC Emulation Board =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you're a bit confused as to whether this is on-again/off-again... it's definitely on again! Last time in Atari Artist we mentioned that Wizztronics decided to give a green light on developing of an optional PC emulation board for the 040 Barracuda accelerator. Originally conceived as a 386SX, it wasn't certain that the choice of the older processor would entice customers to buy in sufficient quantity to warrant its manufacturing, so the project was shelved. After a lot of sweat, and more than a few all-nighters, a number of seemingly unsurpassable obstacles were finally overcome. Last month's Atari Artist column included an announcement that Wizztronics had decided progress on their 040 accelerator warranted continued development of a 486-based PC emulator. Soon after the phones at Wizztronics' headquarters started ringing off the hook! Due to the amazingly heavy number of telephone calls regarding this PC emulator, using a faster 486-based processor chip for the PC board has now become a viable option. If you caught that phrasing, you'll notice I didn't say "emulator" board. That's because Wizztronics has decided that in order to insure 100% compatibility with PC-based applications (games are another story - that's up in the air right now, but we'll keep you informed) they decided instead to go with a FULL 486SX PROCESSOR running at 25 MHZ on a separate plug-in board! In effect, this card will be like installing a PC onto your Falcon, via the Barracuda's motherboard. There is one catch, however. The added height will require that your Falcon be relocated into an external case. Fortunately, Wizztronic's Falcon case will be perfect for the occasion! Price for the PC-on-a-card is around $500, and should be ready in time for Santa to put in your stocking. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Dedicated Support =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Wizztronics has asked me to assure their loyal customers that the company is continuing their uncompromising commitment to future development and full support for any and all of their Atari-related products. Deadlines serve the useful purpose of spurring development to its completion, but a deadline is nothing without the delivered promise of a fully-functioning, 100% solid product. That same commitment to providing total customer satisfaction is a central driving force behind the Wizztronics' business philosophy. Wizztronics offers its sincere apologies for the delays, and looks forward with as much eager anticipation towards their final release as the many users who have either already called to make inquiries concerning this new line of products. You can reach Steve Cohen on GEnie at S.COHEN 27, or call him at (516) 473-2507. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ MUSIC NEWS ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// 16 Audio Track Version Of Cubase Audio Falcon! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Steinberg Jones has made some exciting announcements for its next set of updates. First and foremost, the next version of Cubase Audio Falcon will offer a whopping, rock solid 16 TRACKS OF DIGITAL AUDIO!!! Although never really discussed in-depth, the Motorola 56000 DSP chip used in Atari's Falcon 030 is actually capable of eight STEREO tracks of digital audio. That translates to a total of 16 monaural tracks! This is eight more tracks than Digidesign's hardware-dependent (2 cards plus external mixing unit) Session8 for the Mac & Windows and 10 more tracks then Deck's (employs the DSP in a Mac) six tracks! Other added features include: [] 128 tracks of MIDI [] Auto analog compression. [] Support for the Studio module within Cubase Audio. [] New sample rates for sounds with conversion capability. Sample rates include 48kHz, 44.1, 33.9, 24.6, 20.8, 16.5. [] 10-band graphic EQ, which includes a new mixer map. [] Cross fading and reversing of digital audio. [] Linking of stereo sampling for editing as one entity. The only limitation while in 16-track mode is that EQ & reverb features are negated, due to DSP restraints, and will not be avaialble. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Avalon Version 3.0 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A major update to Avalon, Steinberg's awesome, full-featured sample editing program is also due to be released around the second quarter. This new version will include some exciting new features: [] Audition samples directly through the Falcon's Audio output. [] Support for importing Cubase Audio Falcon digital audio files (AIFF). [] Load samples directly from your sampler's SCSI port into Avalon. [] Support for Macintosh interchangeable file format. [] Multi-harmony processing. [] Direct control of Akai S1000 & Roland S770, S760 samplers. [] Ability to apply Falcon's DSP digital effects to samples. This new version means Steinberg will discontinue production of the AVALON SCSI adaptor and AD/DA card. For those stalwart Mega ST users, Steinberg still has a few of these peripherals left. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// New Cubase Hardware =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Steinberg also will be releasing their SA-8 four stereo channel output external unit, featuring RCA outputs. This will allow for the use of external effects processors for eight digital tracks, as well as isolating and exporting your digital tracks to an external mixing board for final mixdown. The SA-8 has a built-in DSP port for interfacing directly with the Falcon. Also included is a dedicated thru port for chaining Steinberg's FDI (Falcon Digital Interface). The FDI features SPDIF in/outs as well as optical in/outs for connecting with the AD/DAs on your DAT machine. The advantage of using FDI's input/outputs is that they offer a much cleaner signal path, as opposed to the Falcon's somewhat noisy built-in stereo input/outputs. Using both hardware units, you can utilize the Falcon's stereo outputs as an additional two external effects sends to route to your favorite effects box. You can return them through the Falcon inputs or to your DAT player or through the FDI box. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Studio Sessions On The Phone =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In what has to be the wildest application of communications technology to music, Steinberg will also release their MIDI-to-ISDN converter unit. Using a modem which supports ISDN ver. #24 transmission, you will be able to do studio session work right from your own home - or wherever you are - right over the phone. Simply hook up your MIDI keyboard or controller, along with your modem, into the appropriate ports in Steinberg's unit. The other end of the phone line needs a similar setup. Once a connection has been confirmed, either location can both send and recieve MIDI information directly over the phone lines! =-=-=-=-= //// Coda =-=-=-=-= Well, that's it for this edition. Until our next issue, this is Pete Donoso & Fadi Hayek reminding you that... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - [ "Today is the Tomorrow you dreamed about Yesterday." ] - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- == == -- C R E D I T S -- == == --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- ATARI ARTIST endeavors to bring you the latest news on what's happening in areas that involve the ARTS: Music & MIDI, video, and a host of graphic categories covering drawing, painting, animation, graphics, raytracing & texture mapping as well as related graphic-editing & rendering programs, all of which are either new arrivals or soon to be released both here and in Europe. We keep a somewhat loose publishing schedule, which roughly translates to around once a month. ATARI ARTIST's staff consists of myself, Peter Donoso, and my partner, Fadi Hayek. An Atari owner since 1985, I've written numerous software reviews for a number of publications, including ST Log, ST Informer, and Atari Explorer magazine, the latter of which I also had the pleasure of serving as Managing Editor under the stewardship of Editor/Publisher John Jainschigg. Apart from writing, I also freelance as a DTP layout and graphic artist, and find my Atari computers an absolutely essential tool in my passionate pursuits of both musical performance and composition. I use a number of both acoustic and MIDI-related instruments, including keyboards, guitar, flute, sax, percussion, vibes, as well as MIDI guitar, wind-controller, MIDI vibes and percussion controllers. I've been a New York city resident for more than thirty-five years. An equally long-time Atari owner, Fadi Hayek is a MIDI/computer specialist for the SAM ASHE chain of music stores in the northeast United States. Recording engineer, artist and video enthusiast, he is also an accomplished composer and drummer, guitarist, bassist and percussionist. For those of you who may be interested, my personal Atari setup includes: [] An original 1040ST, used for playing games. [] A Mega ST / 8 megs RAM / Digidesign DSP-driven Sound Tools card, TOS 2.06 / TALON Omniswitch for Princeton Ultra 16 multisync monitor/ Cartmaster multi-cartridge port expander / Spectre GCR Mac emulator / ICD Link. [] A Falcon 030 / 14 megs RAM / 65 meg internal hard drive / integrated Barracuda 1 Gigabyte external hard drive & 88 meg Syquest removable Cart drive / NEC 4FG 15" multi-sync monitor. If you have any questions or sugestions concerning anything related to the contents or subjects mentioned here in ATARI ARTIST, you can leave EMail for either Fadi or myself on GEnie at EXPLORER.2 (Internet: ), and we'll get back to you just as soon as we can. --==--==--==--==-- ||| InShape Review ||| By: Michael Robinson / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.1 -------------------------------------------------------------- A Professional 3D Modeler/Shader for the Atari TT and Falcon Computers //// Introduction Inshape is a 3D Modeler and Shader package marketed in North America by Cybercube Research Inc. This product is useful for visualizing three dimensional objects in various environments. It is also capable producing a series of renderings that can then be played back as an animation. Included in the package is a converter program for producing output in TIFF file format. According to Cybercube Research Limited, "InShape integrates a sophisticated 3D scene, object, path and template editor with a truly amazing 24 bit raytracing/rendering engine. InShape lends itself for many different and exciting applications incuding: product design, architecture, sophisticated game developments, visualisation of intricate biological, chemical or physical phenomena, professional video animations and DTP work." //// What's Needed? InShape is an application that requires a powerful computer, and the computers it will run on reflect that. The product is only designed to run on Falcon030 or TT030 with an FPU in a minimum resolution of 640x480x16. For all of you ST users out there wondering why InShape doesn't support your ST, it would probably take a couple of DAYS to render a high quality on an 8 MHz ST and really requires the speed and power these 2 computers offer. //// 3D Modeler - User Interface The Modeler gives you an excellent custom interface appearance with a MultiTOS 3D like look. When I first ran it, my initial impression was "cool!", and it stayed that way the whole time I used the program. The Modeler is fairly easy to use, aside from not being able to use the mouse to place points and simple boxes etc. Everything is in convenient places and is very logical. The user interface looks crisp and clean. All of the key equivalents are convenient and are in logical positions. Although Warp 9 is not available due to a conflict, screen redraws are very fast. InShape is one of the few Atari programs that actually use both mouse buttons. InShape utilizes a neat item called a "Shader". A shader is a slider bar within a box that you click in. Depending on your mouse's position when the left button is clicked, the values will change according to where the mouse is. If you use your right mouse button, the value will change by 1, which is really handy when editing an object's color. //// The Modeler When you run InShape Modeler, you are presented with a dialog box with the options of "New", "Open", and "Continue" with the Scene editor beneath it. The Continue button is handy, allowing you to pick up from where you left off from last time. You will notice a tool box to the far left side. These have the neato 3D look like everything else. Menus have a nice little border around the edges that gives it that extra neat factor, unlike normal GEM's black-in-everything approach. If you explore the menus some, you'll realize much of what's up there is mostly different views. In addition to the views, there is the file menu, shader menu, and the INSHAPE menu. One drawback of this custom interface is the INSHAPE (or "Desk") menu. Underneath it is an info selection. That's it. You can't use desk accessories while using InShape. When you take a gander at the Shader menu, inside you'll see an animation preview. This is one of the handiest things that InShape's creators could have though of. This allows you to see what happens in your animations before you create them, and is presented in another crisp looking dialog in the middle of the screen. The animation preview is then drawn in yellow wire frame (slowly the first time through), and can be replayed through as many times as you like. This menu is also where you tell the program when to generate a single frame or a whole animation when you are ready. When you've finished having enough fun exploring the joys of the menu bar, you'll need to take notice of the tool box off to the left. All of the buttons on the upper half are squares with icons that really fit their function. Example, to get to the Camera, you click on the icon that looks like a camera. To define the texture of the floor, click on the icon that has a 3x3 grid of boxes, which looks like the Scene editor's "floor" when looked at straight down. This is where a majority of the most useful functions are located. The Modeler makes use of a custom file selector, allowing you to do many things such as rename or delete files, definitely better than TOS's file selector. One problem I found was when you try to make a folder, it ends up replacing the name you made for the folder with a bunch of gibberish. In addition it would be nice to have the option of being able to use a different file selector (such as UIS III or LGS). Using the camera is difficult, especially when it comes to getting it to point where you want it. After a while, you get used to it and can generally place it where you want it. You are also given certain keys you can press on the keypad along with the control, left shift, and alternate keys to change the values which is very helpful in trying to figure out what you are doing. //// Object Manipulation InShape uses a position relative scheme for placing objects. This "Hierarcy system" allows you to group objects in some sort of logical organisation. Puting "Object A" at coordinates (in x,y,z format) 15,100,45 will put the object at 15,100,45. Anything under "Object A" will have coordinates that are an relative to "Object A"'s coordinates. If we add "Object B" under "Object A" instead of under "Main" (the default), "Object B" will be at coordinates 15,100,45. The portion of the dialog which tells you where the object is located at will report "Object B" as being at coordinates 0,0,0. Modifying that 0,0,0 to 10,25,-5 will result in the actual coordinates being 25,125,40. The object Hierarchy system can be accessed by clicking with either mouse button inside your "view". When you do this, you are presented with a window that contains the hierarchy. As a default, you get a "main" where everything goes under. Clicking on an entry with the left mouse button, you can add, delete, and do a few other things with an object. If you'd like to edit an item, just click on it with the right mouse button. Within the dialog, you can select which object you want the entry to represent. You can reposition the object to whatever xyz coordinate, rotate it by whatever xyz axis, and choose its scale (1 being same as it is in the object editor, .5 being 1/2, 2 being twice). You can have a light source dedicated to it, and you can also reposition that as you like and choose its radius if you want to (0 being invisible). You can choose the brightness of the object (infinite, flood, bulb, or candle), and you can define it as a spotlight too. If you make your light a spotlight, you can choose the direction that it points, the angle of light it puts out, and how softly it fades out. A distance below everything in the tool box, you will see a button called "Object". This will send you into the Object editor, where you actually make your 3D objects. After clicking on this, the menu bar changes to reveal many more menus. Among them is the Create menu. The Create menu contains all of the basic types of objects you can create, from a simple box to a 100+ segment sphere. When selected, each one prompts an appropriate dialog box asking for appropriate information, such as the x,y,z position of your object. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use the mouse to actually place an object where you want it. This is the biggest drawback I found with InShape. It's very difficult to actually know for a fact where something will need to go beforehand if you're designing a complex object from scratch. After you've filled out the appropriate data, you are given another dialog box where give the surface features, such as the color, what kind of texture it will have, luminosity, transparency, reflectiveness, etc., etc. Included with InShape are TONS of premade surfaces, such as marble, sand, chocolate (!), mirror, glass, leather, and dozens more, not to mention what you can modify and make on your own (Transparent chocolate anyone?). Not only can you load/save them off the disk, you can store them inside a slider menu for later use within that object you are creating. Amongst the other menus, there is (of course) the "View" menu. In here are your standard Top, Bottom, Right, Left, views. But the two I liked the most were the "Parallel" and "Central" views. I really can't tell the difference between them, but if you press the control key, you can rotate the xyz axis to any position you want, and the object will be draw in that position. There is a file menu which allows you to load individual objects and save them. The usual assortment of things you would expect to find under a "file" menu. The tool box has very clear icons that really do explain what they do. The cutest one I saw was the "delete points". The icon to delete all selected points has a set of points being eaten by (among others) PacMan. The buttons are clear enough to figure out what they really mean without having to look at the manual (too much :). >From the Object editor, you have access to the Template editor and the Path editor. You can also return to the Scene editor. In the Template editor, you create a one layer slice of a pattern. You can have the program create some point arrangements for you, such as an ellipse. You can actually use the mouse to arrange you points here. No hit and miss guessing. To aid you, InShape gives you the option of having a grid displayed, along with snap if you want it. The points you can create can either be smooth or sharp. The icons in the tool box will be a mix between old an new. Some familiar icons such as the delete selected points are there, along with new ones like the ellipse function (which looks like a compass). After you've finished creating your "template", and you've connected all the points together (don't forget that!), you can turn this into a 3D object for the object editor to deal with. If your finished item is too complex for the simple Spin and Extrude functions, you can go on to the Path editor. When you've finished creating your path, choose the "path" option from the menu bar and an object following your template runs along the path, and is drawn in the object editor. The Path editor's only use is to create a path for the Template editor to use. You are allowed to use your mouse to manipulate points here also, and you can once again tell it if you want a grid or snap too. The interface here is pretty simplistic. Point where you want your next point to be and you're done with it. You can turn line segments into Bezier curves in addition to just straight lines. When you do this, you will see 2 "x"es which you reposition to change the curve. When you are finished here, you can go back to the template editor, and make an object that follows your path. //// Shader The Shader is a separate program itself and is launched by the 3D modeler when you want to create an actual frame. An annoying quirk between the Modeler and the Shader is you have to press a mouse button when going between them. The next thing you see is a bunch of numbers counting down to zero labeled "pass one". Then you get a set of 3 numbers labeled "pass 2" that seem to move somewhat erratically. When they disappear (and your selected screen size is small enough to be displayed) you are treated to a dithered display of your picture in progress. This file is created and saved to a file called "IS_00001.IIM". You have to re-name it when you are finished. If you get interrupted or find something wrong while the Shader is working, pressing [Control]+ [LShift]+[Alternate]+[RShift] will stop the current render. It would have been nice if you could start where you stopped, but that isn't supported. Other than that, you just get to look at the screen.... The actual time it takes to create a picture depends on a number of things, including the number of light sources, textures, clouds, etc., etc. Rendering a picture at 320x200 with several light sources, a couple thousand points, many different textures (including transparency and reflection options), image mapping, and a few other things at 5 iterations with photo shading can take several hours (literally). On the other hand, a small object (say 100x100) with a couple hundred points and 1 or 2 light sources at 1 iteration and test shading can take less than 1 or 2 minutes. When the shader is finally finished creating your picture, it re-runs the Modeler and you go on as if you just started the program. //// Converter Thankfully, you are given a program within the InShape package to convert files to and from the shader's IIM format. The Converter has the same neato 3D look as the Modeler. It gives you information about the file you have loaded (if any) and can also show them to you if you want. You can load in IIM files, TIFF files, and Degas files. The IIM and TIFF files loaded in fine, but the monochrome Degas pics I loaded into it were shown twice (i.e. "picture picture"). That was the only apparent problem with the converter. You can save files in IIM and TIFF. The converter gives you a few options too, such as turning a picture into 256 gray scale (or True Color if the file is in 256 gray scale) and you can reduce its size in half. The custom file selector is used here and contains the same folder creation bug as the 3D Modeler (you make a folder and it creates a folder with a garbage name). I kind of wished that it would convert and load more file formats, but you take what you get. If you don't like or don't want to use the converter program that the authors of InShape included, they've also (thankfully) created a couple of modules for the great shareware graphics conversion package, GEMView v3.xx, which easily loads, converts and saves the IIM files used by the Shader into many different formats. (Editor: InShape was used by Michael to create the base "BattlePong 2001" image seen in AEO_0306; GEMView was used to convert the True Color image into the GIF file.) //// Documentation and Support The manual for InShape is very well done and professional. It is contained in a 2 ring binder and contains 156 pages. Most *EVERYTHING* is explained in the manual. The program disks for the InShape package can be found in the front cover inside 2 plastic sleeves. Included inside the manual are 4 terrific tutorials, or "exercises", that really get you used to and comfortable with many functions the Shader offers, such as the Template and Path editors and how they work, the Scene editor, and how to image map an object. There are 3 different appendices, which include keyboard shortcuts and a look at what different patterns look like. Also in the very back is an index that seems to cover everything. CyberCube Research Limited provides great personal support of the product for the U.S. and Canada. Electronic network support is also provided via GEnie, CRS-Online and InterNet/UseNet. //// Conclusions The InShape package does what it was intended to do: Create beautifully rendered computer generated images and it does this very well. Aside from some minor bugs (*VERY* minor), the 3D Modeler is simply a joy to use and would have been almost perfect if you would have been able to reposition, move, create, or whatever with the mouse. The Object Editor is reportedly getting an overhaul with version 2.0, as well as many other additions, improvements, enhancements, and bug fixes (which includes being able to use the mouse in the object editor). Look for announcements of updates to InShape in future issues of AEO. Roars (good) ===== "Neato" 3D Interface "Continue" button Tons of premade surfaces Example tutorials in manual Automatically saves preferences when quitting 24-bit color files created Very configurable Excellent manual Makes animations Image mapping Snores (bad) ====== No ACCs Difficult to edit (No mouse point editing) Can't choose the save names of files you render The need to click a mouse when exiting and before render Warp 9 conflict SpeedoGDOS conflict Can't create folder correctly No animation player (Editor: CyberCube tells me that all of the "snores" listed here are being remidied in the next versions of InShape.) InShape INTRO 1.0 ================= Hardware Requirements: Atari Falcon030 with 4MB of RAM, color monitor (min. 640x480), harddisk and FPU (68881 or 68882). SRP: US $189 Can $229 InShape 1.02 ============= Hardware Requirements: Atari TT030 with 4MB of RAM, VGA (PCT1426 or equivalent) monitor, harddisk, FPU (68881 or 68882). SRP: US $319.00 Cdn $379.00 Upgrade Prices: Registered Customers: INTRO 1.0 -> 1.02 US $120.00 ===================== Cdn $140.00 INTRO 1.0 -> 2.00 US $240.00 Cdn $290.00 Unregistered Customers: INTRO 1.0 -> 1.02 US $130.00 ======================= Cdn $150.00 INTRO 1.0 -> 2.00 US $250.00 Cdn $300.00 - Multiple Licenses Available - US/Canada - Contact =================== Cybercube Research Limited 126 Grenadier Crescent Thornhill L4J 7V7 Ontario Canada Tel.: (905) 882 0294 Fax : (905) 886 3261 BBS : (905) 882 5895 GEnie: CYBERCUBE CRS-Online: Cybercube.Research InterNet/UseNet: cybercube.research@camrem.com or cybercube@genie.geis.com Germany contact =============== InShape Softwareentwicklung GmbH P.O. Box 1302 24952 Harrislee Germany Tel.: 0461 / 788 21 Fax : 0461 / 788 26 United Kingdom contact ====================== CGS Computerbild 231 Northborough Road Norbury,London SW16 4TU England Tel.: 081-679 7307 Fax : 081-764 7898 --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Creation of "BattlePong 2001" ||| By: Michael Robinson / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ In mid-March, I was asked if I could come up with an April Fools gag picture called BattlePong 2001 for AEO. The following text describes how I made the picture using InShape. What I first created was the paddle. The main bulk of the paddle was just a simple box. I tried putting a few bolts in, but they're really too small, and I barely notice them when I'm looking close up. I figured, "heck with it", and left them in anyway. Next to be created was the ball. It too is a simple object; just a small sphere. The walls were very similar to the paddles. Just a single box. Using the hierarchy, I positioned multiple "walls" so that it looked like a squarish single wall. The holes in the walls were a bit harder to make. The holes themselves are just a one plane circle colored black. It has the "no-shadow" option on so you don't see any shadow effects, and is placed a bit away from the wall itself so it doesn't disapear into the wall. They were meant to give the illusion of a hole, but it kind of failed because you didn't see the side of the blown out hole. I tried making the scores of the players a few differant ways. The first thing I did was use Degas to simply type some numbers on the screen and write player 1 or player 2 beneath it. I first tried mapping it onto a cylinder, but when it rendered I couldn't get both sides lighted correctly so I finally tried using a single plane. Getting it rotated so that it looked flat on the screen was also hard, but after a bit of piddling with the numbers, I managed it so it looked right. The "balls remaining" were very easy to make. They're just multiple copies of a single sphere that were spaced out and positioned so that they looked like they were right next to the scores. The blasters were also simple. They're just cylinders with one end hollow, colored blue. All of the powerups in the middle of the screen are simply objects created using Degas, blown up, and image-mapped onto differant planes. They are all colored red and are slighly transparent. The bullets you see are simply light sources that are differant colors. That's why you see shades of blue and yellow around them. The title (or logo or whatever) is another simple Degas picture. The cool effect (at least I think it is) was discovered purly by accident by turning on the bump map. After seeing that for the first time I yelled "Dude!" and wondered how I did it.... Then I made it a bit reflective and it ended up shining in red, blue and yellowish colors which also really added to the "effect". The starfield that I made didn't show up in the 320x200 res that the picture was rendered in. This is understandable because the screen shots that were taken were in 640x400. I think that if you rendered it in a resolution higher than this you would see stars. There are actually 4 differant pictures to the starfield. Each one is supposed to have the stars as different colors, hopefully making it look a bit neater. The laser shot (the red squiggly thing) was made using the template and path editors. It is actually just a circle following 2 bezier curves, but I think it looks very nice. I had to mess with some values, including the length and how big the center radius would be, but I eventually found something that looked right. It's also supposed to "glow" a little bit too. On top of the right paddle is 1/2 of a red "blob" in the shape of the sphere. This is supposed to be the laser thing-a-magig. It's just a red light source put in as an afterthought. Right below the scores of the 2 players, you should see a red bar. This is supposed to be power indicatior. It too is a simple object, consisting of only 1 plane and transparent red. Positioning them was a bit tricky. You'll notice that I didn't quite get it in the correct position on the right side of the picture. Positioning all of this was very easy using the Hierarchy system in the InShape modeler. Light sources are placed above the middle of the screen, above the scores, right in front of the paddles, the red thing on top of the right paddle, and as all of the shots. Assembling the paddles was a snap, as was the background. As I said earlier, I just positioned the walls in one place, made a copy, rotated it, and positoned it also. The bullets were subsets of the blasters and positioned relative to them. After finishing with all that, the computer was sent to work and several hours later, volia! Instant April Fools gag. BattlePong. Editor: I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Michael, I handed him a very non-specific task, "Can you use InShape to do a 3-D Pong 2001 game thing?" He took the initiative and turned the idea into BattlePong 2001. What's not so funny is that at least one Jaguar developer is interested in actually using InShape to create objects and various other items for -real- Jaguar games. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Andreas' Den ||| By: Andreas Barbiero / | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- //// So you never thought you'd see new ST games again? Welcome to 1994, a watershed year for the Atari community at large. I have found that despite the hype about the new DX4, PowerPC and other computers out there, my TT030 and programs like Calamus, AtariWorks, STalker, and GEMView still fill the bill for my applications work. I broke down and bought a Jaguar (yeah, they REALLY twisted my arm), expecting that to fulfill my gameplaying hunger. I don't just like playing games, I love the feel of a well written simulation or the escapism of an exciting role playing game. These are not just games to me, but challenges. My "real" job is playing Electronic Warfare Operator aboard a Navy P3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. This is basically the world most expensive video game, complete with real nuclear submarines, F-14 Tomcats, satellite datalinks and counter-narcotics missions outside Singapore. Games are not merely test of reflexes or fire-button exercises, but of the mind. Reaction to an on screen threat, like with Cybermorph, is an extension of this. Your reactions have a deadly twist to them, and your actions have repercussions. Naturally they are less severe than in real life, but a well written game will teach that, rather than some sense of invincibility while destroying your peripheral vision. //// To the Deserts of Arakkis! Jaguar, Jaguar, Jaguar... that's all I hear about. It is as if all the Atari computer owners out there have turned into console owners in about ten minutes. Don't get me wrong, I love my Jaguar! Don't mistake me either that just because I love Cybermorph and Tempest 2000, they are not the games that I live for. I still play Elite II just as much as I can find the time to - even though the Jaguar is much prettier at playing games than this 'ol TT030. The ST market is not as dead as it may seem. The last big round of PC clone games has made it past their software "life-span" and the publishers are looking for more ways to make money off them. With the recent Christmas sales of the STe, and the continuing sales of TT030s and Falcon030s around the world, the Atari market is still active, not as large as it might be, but some "official" (nope! I can't release my sources!) placed the current Atari machines estimated active worldwide at about 3 million in 1993. There has probably been some attrition here, but programs like Microprose's F1 and Elite II sold close to half a million copies. Falcon030s sales are up over the 50,000 mark and while it is not much, it evidently may be enough.... Perusing magazines and placing calls to dealers around the world has uncovered games as being "in development" for the Atari which you would most likely recognize from other platforms. Captive II, the sequel to one of my favorites, Captive, is rumored to be around soon. This first person "Dungeon Master in Space" game was as nearly perfect as possible with enough innovative features to make it interesting to play while maintaining enough classic features to be familiar. The idea was original, you were trapped in a cyrogenic prison and were suddenly awoken alone with only a remote terminal at your disposal. You had to remotely control a group of four robots to destroy 11 power stations which held you in your prison. Not only do you have to keep your robots "alive" you have to wend your way around some devious traps and figure out how to destroy the power station, and remember how to escape in time! There are thousands of stars to choose from and you don't know where anything is... loads of fun! For you flight sim fans, here are five titles that should get your blood pumping: F14 Tomcat, F-117A Stealth Fighter, Tornado, Falcon 3.0, and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. I am assuming (praying) that this is the European version of F14 Tomcat: Defender of the Fleet. This is a game that, if I did not know better, could convince me to be a Tomcat driver. (Reality check, F-14 pilots spend 10% of their time yanking and banking, with the other 90% stuck with paperwork and pretending to live the Top Gun fantasy.) F-117A, Falcon 3.0, and Secret Weapons all have been around for a few years on other platforms, but it seems they have a chance of making it to the Atari. Falcon 3.0 is an enormous upgrade over the older version we know and love on the Atari. Hopefully it will use the FPU on the MSTe, TT030, and the DSP on the Falcon030. The biggest change here is with the topography. Unlike the old versions, mountains do not just appear out of the ground, but from hills, and for the first time, you can fly down river beds to targets using realistic nap-of-the-earth terrain following, just like a real Falcon driver would. Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe allows you to try out the world's first jets in actual combat. If the Germans had put more money into jet and rocket technology in World War II, most likely the war would have had a different outcome, and with this LucasArts game you can see if they would have! I have also seen references to the Dune series of games, which of course are based on the Frank Herbert books. I have played both on the PC, and Dune II is a great strategy game involving the tactful production and employment of military units which you build with the profits from spice mining. Complete with Worms and ornithopters, even if you have never read the books, these are worth a look. Hopefully all these games will have 256 color modes for the Falcon030/TT030, stereo sound, and will be installable on a hard drive. For those of you looking for mainstream software, the BitMap Brothers have a game called Soldiers of Fortune on the Genesis (which won some best game award) which is known as the Chaos Engine on the Atari. This game has fabulous hand drawn art that really hides the fact that there is only about 32 colors onscreen! The must use some kind of software hack to do this, but Amberstar did the same. I will soon be receiving some new games, so expect some real and NEW software reviews soon. //// Speed! I just received notice that the long-awaited for TT030 accelerator, the CaTTamaran from Cybercube, is in production. I will be receiving one for review, and if the original specs were right, $99 for an upgrade to a ~48MHz '030 is money well spent. The only things left to improve the TT030 would be about 128K of cache-RAM, and an upgrade to 32Mhz on the bus. Never satisfied, am I? The CaTTamaran will give performance superior to the faster '030 Macs, and with Dave Small's Spectre GCR 3.1 now working on the TT, and now speed independent, Mac emulation takes on a whole new world. Spectre 3.2 IS coming, and a lot sooner than 3.1 took to arrive. With 3.2 comes System 7.1 emulation. A 48MHz TT030, with 12 MEGs of RAM and the ability to run System 7 software is something not to sneeze at. I can't wait to check it out and run some speed tests on it, I expect that we will be able to run Mac software at least as fast as the best '030 Mac out there. Considering that the PowerMac will run regular Mac software at speeds from the Mac LC III can only emulate the 68LC040. In emulation mode, the top of the line PowerMac, at its fastest runs about 3X the speed of the 16MHz '030 Mac III, I expect the CaTTamaran TT030 to keep up quite nicely. There you have it. Until they start porting Mac programs to run in native mode on the PPC601, and come out with a 100MHz PowerMac for under $2000, the TT030 is still the best route for an Atari owner. Now, when Mr. Small gets Spectre running on the Falcon with one of those 040 boards.... A short note, if you have a Falcon and are waiting for voice mail, you should wait no longer, check your favorite on-line service for VOX-mail by Michael Fung, it is excellent, and definitely worth the D/L time. There is a new OCR program out, as freeware, and I am sure The Unabashed Atariophile will have a recap on it soon. Mag!x, a new multitasking OS (180K in size!) should be in English now, and may be available in the USA soon. Something to look forward to! --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- 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 --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| "From a saved backup...." ||| By: Ron Whittam / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- //// Getting the Word Out In this column I hope to foster communication and support for 8-bit and ST computer owners... presenting a positive and direct approach. This will help to strengthen the users group base and encourage the executive element. Another factor that infused my users group was what the newsletter editor did during the year after that fateful vote.... Last issue I shared about this vote. The Atari Boise Users Group was nearly dead. The membership came together for what might have been its last meeting. The six members voted to continue the group at the narrow margin of four to two. Part of the "yes" vote was to get more involved and develop a participating membership. One of our members, Tom Derrick, accepted the job of Newsletter editor, and began to create the Home Computer News (HCN) on his recently acquired Atari ST and PageStream. Tom's story is an interesting one. He is an electrician by trade. He uses his Atari computers (notice the plural) for both his business and his home. He is definitely sold on the ease of use of the Atari platform, and I would consider him a loyal diehard Atari owner. He is not a writer nor a publisher by trade nor education, but was willing to give the Atari Boise Users Group EDITOR position a try. He did it because he believed it was worthwhile. In the past year he has learned to use PageStream. Each newsletter demonstrates his developing ability. It's this newsletter that I want to focus on in this issue. Since early in the ABUG's history there has been a newsletter. It was an 8-bit monthly for many years, until Atari introduced the ST, then it began its conversion to a predominately ST informational guide. It was a cute newsletter developed by and for the Atari diehard - mostly it was a compilation of Z*Net and STReport on-line magazines. (We included tidbits from AEO when it started.) In the year that the ABUG president was also the ST Librarian and Newsletter editor, the newsletter evolved. The focus of the users group was to support and help Atari computer owners, not just the diehards. Because of its visibility (at least in the group's member's homes), the newsletter was a good place to start that focus. First, the name changed. The "Home Computer News" replaced "Atari BUG Newsletter" and we adopted the tag line, "The official monthly newsletter of the Atari Boise Users Group." I wanted a quality on the cover that would be acceptable at home or on my desk at work... and even at the local bookseller's freebie table. The format had previously changed, to a large 8 1/2 x 11 sheet with two to four pages from the original Atari BUG, a small 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 easy to carry pamphlet. The newsletter was redesigned to that original format. However, the laser quality beat the dot matrix of the old 8-bit newsletter by a landslide. We had a cover. We needed content. Content that would grab someone's attention. Something that would meet the needs of an Atari Computer owner. Talking about this agenda and asking members to write was my primary method to getting the change done. Then Tom took over the newsletter and things really got done. Tom picked up where I left off. He kept the name "Home Computer News" and created an acronym, HCN. It's funny how labels like acronyms create an air of quality or importance. The personal computer is a very simple term that people can relate to. The acronym "PC" is now part of our vernacular. To millions of people, "PC" means COMPUTER. (Check this out, ask some non-computer people what "PC" means. The answers will probably surprise you). With the HCN, PageStream, and a host of ideas, Tom set out on his crusade to spread the news about Atari. It has always been my contention that there are literally hundreds of unused Atari computers just sitting in closets or attics. Kids ask their parents, "What is an Atari?" The response probably is like, "It's just a game machine that looks like a computer. Software Etc. is not selling the games for it anymore so we do not use it." These people are unaware that their investment is not a loss. We need to tell them, and provide a place for them to learn how to use it. Tom picked up this battle cry and took it further then I had done. The first thing Tom did, after he figured out PageStream, was to get permission to put the HCN on the counters of local bookstores and computer businesses. How did he do it? Simple: He offered to put an advertisement for their store in the HCN at no charge. Free advertising for an unused 6 x 9 spot on the counter. "No problem." The HCN began showing up on counters all over town. Some did not want an advertisement, but would display the HCN anyway. It was not long before I started getting phone calls. Solitary Atari computer owners were calling me. They did not know that there was an Atari users group in Boise. They wanted to know more. I got calls from people wanting to sell. I got calls from people wanting to buy. We started a classified section in the HCN. The magazine began to grow. Tom offered advertising space to any member free of charge. Any buyer or seller got a free spot. People who wanted an Atari could buy one. As a result the ABUG membership grew. Tom asked for writers. Not the way I did. I just asked if someone would write "anything." Tom asked for specifics. He pegged one of the MIDI musicians (who was also a music teacher) to do a MIDI column. The guy turned him down. He did not think anyone would be interested. This reaction did not dismay Tom. He brought it up at the next meeting. He asked people if they thought information on MIDI would be of any help. As a result the MIDI musician learned that people needed good quality information on MIDI. So he started to write. Tom also needed an expert to write on 8-bit computers. He helped to identify the need. One of our members was a baker. He used his 8-bit Atari to run his business. He needed information. There was a need. The 8-bit guru now writes articles for HCN. I have read mail from many editors in the Atari community. The biggest complaint is not quantity of information. The on-line magazines offer much of that. The complaint is that their local members are not willing to contribute. Often the newsletter is a combination of the editor's writing and the on-line magazines. The newsletter is typically a one-man effort. He feels that nobody really cares. The quality of the material drops. When people do not seem to care, the editor gets more frustrated but is too much a die hard Atari owner to want to quit. I learned one thing from what Tom did. The participation of the membership was vital to the growth of the group. The growth is a result of the users group truly meeting the needs of the membership, and reaching beyond the group to the Atari community. The Atari Users Group is NOT a spectator sport. This axiom applies: To get anything out of your users group, you must put something into it. Participation is important if a group is to succeed. Here are some tips on developing a participating group: 1. Identify the assets of the group. Know who your members are. Learn what your members do and how they use their computers. If you have an electrician, have him share tips on properly connecting the Atari to the wall socket and why surge protectors are needed. 2. If you have a door prize or if you raffle off Atari software, make it a requirement (before the fact) that the winner must write a brief review for the newsletter. 3. Ask the members what they would like to know about. Make it a topic of discussion. Point fingers at the ones who can help with the needs brought up. If a member is thinking about getting into MIDI, maybe the MIDI guru could write a brief article about setting up the cables for a MIDI system. 4. Make the newsletter a point of support. Ask a knowledgable member to be the HELP DESK for a month or a quarter. Publish his phone number in the newsletter under a title of HELP DESK. Offer assistance for new Atari users. 5. Put advertising in your newsletters. Some will pay for a spot. The local copy center might do it in lieu of payment for copying the newsletter. 6. Get visibility for the newsletter. Ask to put it in bookstores and computer stores. Offer to trade ad space for shelf space. 7. Encourage members to write about the programs they use. Show them it will help others to decide if they want the same program. Some members have fierce loyalty to a program. Ask them to put their reasons into an article. 8. Mail the newsletter to the users group members one week before the meeting date. It's a good reminder to attend. Sending the newsletter too early loses its "reminder quality." If it arrives a day before the meeting, it is too late for planning. I think seven days is a magic number in this case. 9. And in the words of Winston Churchill, "Never, never, never, never, never give up." In the future we will cover Membership (methods of increasing it), Demos (where and how), etc.; and I will share from my own exploits as a users group president; the frustration and the elation. Stay tuned. ------------ Ron Whittam is a Customer Support Specialist for a small software firm in Boise, Idaho; and the President of the Atari Boise Users Group. He can be contacted on GEnie (EXPLORER.4), on the Internet at , or on ROVER BBS (208-362-2243). --==--==--==--==-- ||| News from Usenet ||| By: Tim Wilson / | \ GEnie: AEO.8 Internet: wilsont@rahul.net ---------------------------------------------------------------- Whew, I finally have some free time to work on this article, I have had lots of stuff going. Let's hop right into the news then... //// Macintosh <--> TOS disks Someone asked about Macs reading ST disks, and vice versa. The general consensus was that the newer macs can read the standard PC format disks, created with TOS 1.62 or higher. Kei Ito (ito@mzdmza.zdv.uni-mainz.de) said he had problems with tranfers, but only after the ST had written to the disk, the Mac wouldn't read it. Personally, I transfer files to and from a Mac 165c quite easily using TOS 4.04 HD formatted disks. The Mac or the Falcon doesn't care who did the formatting. The Mac has to write some funky files to the disk though. //// FPU Q & A David Forrai asked: Q: ...does code written to utilize a FPU in a ST/STE utilize the FPU in a TT/Falcon?) Waldi (walra%moacs11@nl.net) responded: A: No, the SFP004 registers at adresses 0xFFFA40-0xFFFA60 are not available in TT/Falcon. It might be possible to emulate those -- not very usefull though. A2: The reverse (running code /w line-F FPU opcodes on ST/STE /w FPU) is of course possible using a line-F FPU emulator. Joseph Hogan asked: I have a MSTE TOS 2.05, and I am wondering if a math coprocessor would really do me any good. What kind of programs use it. I have heard of DynaCadd, but that's it. Waldi again responded with: A: Pure C and Lattice C come with auto-detecting math libraries. Programs linked with these libraries will use the FPU if it is available, and will still run on an ST without coprocessor. Joseph then asked: Also, which coprocessor would I want. I saw a discussion on it a little while ago, but I missed this info. A: MC68882 Q: Next, how much harder is it to make a program coprocessor aware, A: No effort is needed when you link the right mlib to your code. Q: and in what type of programs does it make a difference. A: Any program that uses floating point maths :-). Q: Also, if the program is coprocessor aware, what happens if it is not there? A: The auto-detecting libraries, mentioned above, will use different math routines. //// Calamus with 3rd party goodies... the scoop. Stefan Damerau (Stefan_Damerau@sl.maus.de) answers... Q: Does Calamus 1.09n work with NVDI as well? With NVDI 2.5 (o.k. it's the only NVDI running on Falcon) it works fine. Even with Winx 2.2! (Makes finding parts of a page in highest zooming easier) BTW: You should try to get the Calamus SL upgrade. In Germany it costs DM 298.- (about 176 US$, don't know the value of CA$) Q: Does Calamus take advantage of the increased screen size when using BlowUp030 monochrome modes? Graeme Rutt (sabbath@cix.compulink.co.uk) answers: Yes. //// Side Notes Side notes is just for quick questions that I thought were interesting that went unanswered, or for just news tidbits that don't warrant their own section. jchappel@charon.engga.uwo.ca (Jerry L. Chappell) asks for help on connecting the old Atari Touch Tablet to a PC or ST. Ledpanel 2.4 supports color, different shapes of lights, and date, time and caps lock. Ledpanel shows disk I/O as well. PB diskmag is now Falcon compatible from #22 and on. atari.archive now has some beta versions of MiNT-Net, extensions for sockets, SLIP, and PPP for MiNT 1.10. Remember that MiNT binaries after 0.96 can't be distributed. Look in the /atari/Mint/Network directory. --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Unabashed Atariophile ||| By: Michael R. Burkley / | \ Delphi: MRBURKLEY GEnie: AEO.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- I'm here today to ask all of you programmers out there to make some more work for me! It's not that I don't have enough work to do already with the 100's of files I've downloaded in the past month. I haven't gotten to all of them yet! But I do have some specific requests for some files I've not yet seen. In fact, I don't think that they've even been written yet. Let's see who can bring them out first! First of all a few programs that I have enjoyed in the past, but which don't work on anything but TOS 1.0. Can any of you update them? [] GAUNTLET by Dave Flory is his adaptation to English of DGDB, the arcade action game. Excellent! This program works on TOS 1.0 but not on TOS 1.2, so I am fairly certain that this game for one or two players will not work with any higher TOS. Color. [] GILGALAD by Markus Dheus is a graphically oriented game in which your country is threatened by a dark king. You are the only one who can save your people from total slavery. Travel through plain, forest, town, temple and swamp, defeating enemies, bribing wizards, and killing monsters. Mono and TOS 1.0 only. [] LUNRLNDR is a wonderful game! Lo-rez color only. TOS 1.0 only (sorry!). If you have TOS 1.0 and a joystick get this (a color monitor helps as well!). You try to land your Lunar Module on the Moon at a variety of landing sites. Three levels of difficulty. This is a very challenging game. I really like this. I actually keep my TOS 1.0 machine handy almost entirely so I can occasionally still play this game (and RIPCORD below). [] RIPCORD is a fun game. An airplane drops you out and you fall until you open your parachute (you keep falling if you don't open it - splat!). The object is to land on target. A simple, but quite challenging game. I like it. Color and TOS 1.0 only. [] TUZZLE is a mono & TOS 1.0 only game by Armin Danbmann in which you try to move the "floating water" to the exit points by moving and/or turning the game pieces. It's too bad this only works with TOS 1.0 because it is very interesting. Get this if you can use it. The next bit of programs I hope some of you come up with are two I've never seen on an Atari. I'll write the description as if there were real files...just insert your name! [] BANNRWOW is a truly amazing banner program by ...... (dated ??/??/94). Containing three different fonts in two different sizes you can use this program to print a wide variety of banners. In the larger size fonts the letters take up most of the page and so are suitable for banners viewed from some distance. The smaller sized fonts fit are used to create two lined banners. What you lose in ability to read from a distance you gain in information placed on the banner. One thing I especially like about this program is it's ability to "drape" the message. Cloth Banners always bow downward and the message follows the curve. This program simulates this sag by calculating the center of the banner message and placing that center at the bottom of a curve with the rest of the message following that curve. It also allows you to create letters with a 3-D effect through the simple offset copying of each letter. Finally (!) each letter of the banner may be composed of any individual character or phrase to get your banner message across in an even more vivid way. The author says that this program is still under development and that future versions will include the ability to load and print .IMG files on the banners! Full documentation and 9 pin and 24 pin printer drivers included. Color or mono. ST--Falcon compatible. [] PNTMATCH is Paint Match, a Falcon only True color game by ..... (dated ??/??/94). This game reminds me of the time I worked as a research chemist. Across the hall was the "color matching" man. People would mix up batches of colored paint and ask him to identify the colors that made it up. He would look at the paint and say, "Hmmm, that looks like 10 parts vivid green, 1 part red, 2 parts white, and a touch of black." Whatever he said was exactly right or close to it! I asked him how he did it and he said, "Experience." I'd like to have the opportunity to develop experience like that and this program will do it! Actually, you are asked to match the color onscreen by mixing an array of "paints" available to you. Your score is based on the number of tries it takes you to make the match. Online help is available to give you some hints along the way. Docs included. Now wouldn't those two programs be nice additions to the software available to us all? I know I'd pay a shareware fee for a banner program like that, and I'd love to play around with the Paint Match program (I don't have a Falcon yet, so it wouldn't do much good to register!). How about it? Anyone want to do some programming? Now it's time to get on with the show! [] 2COLUMNS is the Two Column Printer release 6 (dated Jan. 1994) by Jonathan Corey. TWO COLUMN PRINTER prints text files (ASCII in Atari, IBM, Unix, and Apple styles) in a two column "magazine style" format. This saves paper and makes long listings much easier to refer to. To save even more paper, it has an option that simplifies two sided printing, even on continuous form paper. Great for the environment and full of features, this version is far advanced in ease of use and program features over previous versions. Now with a GEM interface which allows better multitasking operation and greater flexibility in use. Epson, Panasonic and HP DeskJet, and HP LaserJet II drivers included. Supports just about anything your printer can deliver. Detailed docs included. Color or mono (and extended res, too). ST/STe/TT/Falcon compatible. [] AIM_3_1 is the Atari Image Manager v.3.1 (dated July, 1992). Coming out of the Centre for Image Processing of Delft University, this program will allow you to manipulate picture files, doing much the same things that NASA does to improve the picture quality of pictures received from space probes. This version now allows you to work directly with a large number of picture formats (AIM Gray and Color, Degas, NeoChrome, GEM .IMG, Amiga .IFF, .TIF (5.0), GIF 89, FITS (.FIT), and PC Paintbrush (.PCX)). Color (Color doesn't work on my STE, but it does on a Falcon - or so I've been told) or monochrome. A variety of printer (HP, Epson, etc.) types are supported. Extensive on-line helps are a must for the multitude of functions available in this program. Frankly though, I'm at a loss as to how to use this! ST--Falcon compatible. [] ALIEN is the Alien VideoMaster animation for the Falcon by Barry Summer. Barry has made two other "Gumby-like" stop-action animations (CAR and DRAC - see below). This animation takes place on top of Barry's Falcon! This is a robotic alien walking along and he gets into his land cruiser, turns the vehicle around, and speeds off. The player program is also included...just drag the alien.con file to the player.ttp icon, and the animation will play repeatedly. Press ESC to stop. [] AR_TIMES is the Alternate Reatlity Times by Mike Allen. This is a well-written piece of fantasy that begins with the FTC abandoning its charges of monopolistic practice against Atari (Atari suceeded simply because they offered a better product, a better price, better support for customers and developers, better everything). Interviews with rich and famous developers, satisfied owners, amazed onlookers, just about anything you wish. I enjoyed this article...with a sigh for what "might have been." Oh well... I recommend it to you. [] AVIDSOFT is a "press release" dated March 25, 1994 (it should have been dated April 1, 1994) which tells of a proported formation of a new software publishing firm by Atari and Time Warner. Some of the titles "in development" are rich! "Harding Falls" where competition takes on a certain rough and tumble character (this game comes with $5 coupon for "The Club") is the one I like the best! "Bobby Bobbit and Friends" makes me cring just a little bit too much! A fun read! From Artisan Software (really). [] BALLBOX2 is a 24-bit 640 x 400 Targa (.TGA) image created using the Persistence Of Vision raytracer (POV), using the included BALLBOX1.POV. It took J.Dewell's MegaSTE with 68882 math co-processor 46 hours to generate this picture! It shows a beautiful reflective green glass ball inside a cube composed of metal edges and empty faces. A light from the front right is shining through the ball and comes to a focus on the floor to the behind left of the box. The view is from the above front. I viewed this using PhotoChrome 4. [] BALLOONS is Balloons! v.1.2 by H.W.A.M. de Beer (dated 1992). This mono only program will place three rotating and floating balloons (white, gray, and black) bouncing about your screen. They float about, not bothering your programs at all, but just providing a bit of pleasant distraction. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least). [] BAT103 is BatSoftware's 80 column VT100 emulator v.1.03 (dated 1994). It is written in MC68000 assembly language and is very fast. It now features XMODEM and display codes. A real-time clock and timer are available onscreen. You can easily select screen colors or use the pre-set screen colors (hint: use the arrow keys to make selections). Only 80 column mode is supported, thus no double width or length characters are supported. The F1 key toggles XON/OFF. The emulator supports serial port rates of up to 19,200 baud, and can almost keep up at 9600 baud making it the fastest one available (or so I've been told). It has been suggested that you set your comm size to 8-1-N for XMODEM transfers and then reset it to 7-1-E for other work. An expanded version is available through BatSoftware. Medium res. only. I found this on the Toad Hall BBS. [] BBSX9404 is an ASCII text listing of the current (as of April, 1994) BBS Express! ST BBS's available for you to call. Included in this file is information about the connect speeds available, times when the board is up, connections with other systems, and of course, the phone numbers! This is an excellent service that C&R Systems provides to all Atari users. Thanks! [] BIGCHESS is a 24-bit 640x400 Targa (.TGA) generated by the Persistence Of Vision raytracer, using the included CHESS.POV. Using a MegaSTe this Raytrace took about 26 hours to complete, even when using a 68882. It shows a black and white marble chess board with a newly set up set of light and dark wood chess pieces. The view is from the back right of White's side. Enjoy! Uncompresses to 770K! I used PhotoChrome 4 to view. [] BIGPOPS is a 24-bit 640x400 Targa (.TGA) generated by the Persistence Of Vision raytracer, using the included LPOPS1.POV. Rendered on a MegaSTe, this file took about 24 hours, using a 68882 to complete. Wow! It shows an infinite checkerboard plane with some wood-like pillars in the foreground. On top of those pillars are clear glass objects, some appearing to be solid lead crystal glass and one appearing to be a transparent glass bubble. It looks like a set of glass candy pops! I viewed this using PhotoChrome 4. Enjoy! 770K uncompressed! [] BJ_10EW2 is a BJ-10e printer driver created by Brian Wolf for Calamus SL using the Calamus Printer Driver Generator. The top, left, and right margins are all 1/4" and the bottom margin is 1/2". Since the BJ-10e can only print out slightly more than these margins, anything within them should print out. There is also a line feed added to the print codes (Prinit), to make the top come out much more accurate. All of you people off of GEnie are out of luck for getting this file (online, that is). It is a part of the User to User Program, and can only be obtained online through GEnie. I wish it wasn't that way, but.... Of course, if you are a registered Calamus SL user you can send a disk to DMC, the Calamus People, then will send a whole set of User to User files to you. [] BUMPSTIS is a Degas .PI1 color picture of a STIS picture created (by A. Petrie?) using Phillip O'Neal's program STIS (for the Stereoscopic Image System). I think I am one of those people who can't see these images, but I keep on trying! Why is it that no one ever tells what they are? It would encourage me to think that there really is a picture hidden in that maze of colors and random patterns! (Hint: there are two two dots at the top of the picture. If you can shift your focus so as to merge those two dots into a third dot in the center -you- should see a 3D image made up of the abstract pattern.) STIS pictures are beginning to show up everywhere - in Sunday newspapers, books, art stores, and more. I recommend STIS itself to you as a program to create these images all by yourself! Phillip O'Neil is in the final stages of finishing STIS 2. I have a copy, but no docs yet. It's a lot different from STIS 1, so I recommend you get them both when you can. [] CAR is the Auto VideoMaster animation for the Falcon by Barry Summer. Barry has made two other "Gumby-like" stop-action animations (ALIEN and DRAC). This animation takes place on top of Barry's Falcon! A car is coming out of the service station, and drives off to its favorite video store. The player program is also included... just drag the file car.con to the player.ttp icon and the animation will start playing. Press ESC to stop. [] CGP220 is a series of three color screen dump utilities for the CGP220 printer by Rich Weaver. Each of the programs is aimed to optimize a different type of screen dump use. SHAREWARE. Docs included. [] CLOWNTGA is a True Color .TGA Targa picture created by T. Hebel using the 3D modeling and rendering program, InShape. It shows a cut-out clown standing in the midst of several mirrors and resting its hand on a cloud-covered ball. I viewed this using PhotoChrome 4, which I highly recommend to you all. [] D2M is the D2M ("Dessine Moi un Mouton") v.1.0 demo. This is a Falcon only paint/image manipulation program full of useful and creative features. Fully GEM-based, D2M works with MultiTOS (MiNT) & SpeedoGDOS. Under MultiTOS, you can take advantage of the windows' iconification and "Drag & Drop" protocol, and is compatible with SpeedoGDOS. Limited in that the demo doesn't save or print, and contains only a limited number of drivers (I guess they call 16 "limited"!) this program can definately show you a lot of what it can do. It will import a slew of picture formats (Prism Paint, MacPaint, TIFF, NeoChrome, Degas, XGA, JPEG, and more). Individual import/export modules can easily be created by the knowledgeable programmer (in assembly language or in C). You can save individual images or animations, use the effects modules to do all sorts of interesting things. There are only limited English docs with this program and the program itself is in French. [] DESKMG33 is Desk Manager 3.3 by Charles F. Johnson and Little Green Footballs Software. This program has been around some time, but has recently been uploaded again. Desk Manager is a program that goes in the AUTO folder of your boot disk. It will automatically select the correct DESKTOP.INF file for your desired resolution, and allow you to choose which AUTO programs and desk accessories will load. In addition, if one of your AUTO programs is named GDOS*.PRG (the asterisk means "any characters"), Desk Manager will also let you choose the ASSIGN.SYS file which will be used with GDOS. And one of the nicest things about it - even though Desk Manager runs from the AUTO folder it still lets you use the mouse to select files! Color or mono. Docs included. SHAREWARE. [] DISKINFO is Disk Information v.4.33 by H.W.A.M. de Beer (dated June 4, 1992). If you want to know anything about your Floppy disks (in either drives A or B), then this program is for you. FATS, formats, sectors, free space, vol. name, and about thirty other things are all found here! Color or mono. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least and probably more). [] DRAC is a VideoMaster Stop-Action (Gumby-like) animation for the Falcon by Barry Summer. You need to get a Falcon to view this animation (or have a friend with a Falcon which is what I did!). In this animation you will find Frankenstein's Monster and Count Dracula fighting each other right on top of the Falcon's case! I don't remember who shows up first (one of the disadvantages of using a friend's Falcon!). Even Gumby shows up! Player program included (just drag the DEMO.CON file to the PLAYER.TTP icon and you're off! Press ESC to quit). Hard drive and 4 meg required. [] DYNAMITE is a music and graphics demo for the STE or TT by Unit Seventeen. This program will play several soundtracks in 8 polyphonic channels in 25KHz sound. The graphics aren't great (though I like the osciliscope that shows the various channel sounds as they play), but the sound is excellent. Check out the keyboard to see what some of the keys can do (nothing spectacular, but I thought I'd let you know to hunt). Dated 1992. [] EARTH is a mono-only program by H.W.A.M. de Beer which places a rotating globe of the Earth (accurate, too) in place of the Fuji symbol at the top left of your screen. TOS 1.0--3.06 compatible (at least). [] FAH by Don Dakin (dated Feb. 4, 1994) is an excellent animation created using the POV ray-tracer. It contains 61 Spectrum frames and uncompresses to over 3.1 meg of data (so you need a hard drive)! It shows a series of objects rotating around a tumbling torus (a plain donut, OK?). The nearest to the donut is a red-striped pencil. Circling around these two are five other objects: a transparent clear glass cone; a reflective glass disk, a metalic glass reflective sphere, a jade sphere, and woodgrained chess pawn. The lighting is from several multi-color and moving spotlights. All of this takes place over a multi-patterned checkerboard. This animation includes a player and is designed to continuously "loop." Docs explaining the animation and it's construction are included. To view this you need a 4 meg machine with slightly over 3 meg of RAM free. Just boot up with a clean system and you're in free! Of course, you need a machine which can display Spectrum pictures (any unaccelerated ST--STE). [] FAL_APP2 is a text file compiled by Heiko Hartmann (dated March 30, 1994) which details 331 applications for the Atari ST series of computers and how they run (or not) on the Falcon, what video resolutions are supported, and whether or not they run under MultiTOS. Some Falcon specific programs are listed as well (they all run on a Falcon!). [] FAL_GAM4 is a text file by Heiko Hartmann (dated March 27, 1994) describing 504 ST series games (and some Falcon specific games as well) and how they run on a Falcon (or not!). All the settings you need to get these games to run are included (CPU speed, cache, Backward ST Emulator compatible, etc.), and whether or not they will run on a Hard Drive. [] FCOMP200 is Filecompare v.2.00 by Guido Klemans (dated 1992). This is a very useful program which will allow you to compare any two files with either ASCII or HEX display. The two files are displayed side by side with their differences in black and their similarities in gray. This easily allows you to compare one file with another. Color or mono. Online help. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least). [] FPAINT is a Falcon only paint program. Unfortunately for me it doesn't include any written docs, so I can't tell you anymore about it. The program is in English and requires at least 3.8 meg free to run. The uploader said the program was a bit weird! [] GBNCH340 is GEM Bench v.3.40 by Ofir Gal (dated January 14, 1994). This program was designed to provide you with a reality-based benchmarking tool. Using a simple, GEM based interface this utility tests the speed (and much more) of features you usually use and so gives you a realistic view of your TOS 1.0--Falcon computer. It will test the graphic screen drawing speed, the CPU speed (math and memory access tests), and more. You can also use this program to tell you your computer type, TOS version, MultiTOS (MiNT) version, Blitter status, AES and GEMDOS versions, NVDI (a screen accelerator like Warp 9), FPU and other information about the system. You can even force the system (if you have a TT!) to run in ST RAM or Fast RAM. It will also let you compare your system against other STock Atari machines. Now even GEMulator aware and still fully MultiTOS (and Geneva) compatible. Color or mono. Docs included. This version has some improvements to make it an even more accurate reflection of your computer's status. SHAREWARE and recommended. [] ICDRAW1 is the Icon Editor for the Falcon030 v.1.0 by W.D.Parks/Dr. Bobware (dated April 8, 1994). With this program you will be able to create some new and different color icons for your Falcon's Desktop. Since no one else was making an icon editor (that Dr. Bob knew of), he decided to do one himself. ICDRAW can read a TOS v.4 .RSC file and edit any of the color icons therein. It does not add to or delete from the icons in the .RSC, but only allows you to change them. It also only deals with icons that are the normal 32x32 pixels (both mono and 4-plane [16-color] icons). Detailed docs included. Shareware. [] JPEGD is the same JPEG decoder/Viewer from Atari that I reviewed just a few weeks ago. The only difference is that this file doesn't include the JPEG pictures so it is MUCH smaller. It runs only on Falcon computers, since it uses the DSP. It's small, and fast.... Just put it in your AUTO folder (before or after MINT.PRG), or just double-click on it. This archive also includes an .ACC by Brainstorm which is a sample application using the DSP decoder. This .ACC will allow you to decode several JPEG pictures at the same time whether under TOS or Multi-TOS. It will even let you continue to use your favorite application while the picture(s) is decoded! I found this on Delphi (I don't remember where the other file came from - GEnie?). [] JUMP_PIC is the Bouncing Picture Demo for the Falcon030 by Thierry Benoussan. It has a 65536 color TrueColor picture of a snowman that the program makes bounce on the screen. The animation is really smooth, and it plays a .MOD at 16bit/50kHz at the same time. Cool and pretty small for a Falcon demo. [] LASERS10 is the new Falcon Shareware game "Of Lasers and Men" v.1.0 by Arnaud Linz, et. al (dated Feb. 18, 1994). This 100% machine code, DSP using, True Color, sound effects game is a "Wolfenstein 3D" type game which takes place in a spacial maze where two teams of players (you + Falcon against the Falcon) try to eradicate each other. Blast away at each other with your portable lasers, watch out for your enemies, talk to your teammates (and enemies), guard against your color-blind associates (you're brown and the enemy is blue, but those guys shoot everyone!), and more. Keyboard, joystick, and mouse controlled (you use them all at once!). You can play this game through level two of 15 without registering. After registration you will be able to play all 15 levels. Docs included. [] LHA301 is LHarc v.3.01 by Christian Grunenberg (dated April 17, 1994). Termed "The Faster Than Light" compression/uncompression utility this LZH compatible (lh-0 to lh-5) is compatible with Quester's LZH201L (and A LOT faster, too) and uses the same commands as Quester's, but with additional switches and the more extensive UNIX wildcards (in both English and German versions). It now includes his v.3.01 shell program that allows you to easily access most if not all of LHarc's features. (It's a very nice shell, and NOW it's Geneva compatible!). This version fixes a few minor bugs, adds even more speed, and includes general English docs (THE EXPLORER'S GUIDE TO LHarc by Alan Kennedy) as well as the German docs. Color or mono. ST--Falcon compatible. Shareware. This is definately a recommended program. [] LINEBLNK is the Line-Art mono-only screensaver by H.W.A.M. de Beer. This .ACC screensaver is excellent! It allows you to put a pleasing moving line display onscreen and configure the display in several ways. You can control the idle time before it starts (from 1-99 minutes) and the speed with which the display is drawn (from slow to _fast_ in 25 steps with a corresponding increase in CPU usage). You can also immediately shift into the screensaver mode at the click of a button or shut it on or off at will with the same. [] MB40_BIN is MasterBrowse v.4.0 by Michel Forget (dated April 13, 1994). This is an EXCELLENT text file viewer for any ST--Falcon. I highly recommend it. This version adds several new features and fixes a few bugs. Completely replacing the desktop's SHOW routine, MasterBrowse will allow you to load multiple files into itself (restricted only by available memory), search, mark blocks of text, cut and past, take advantage of the Atari Clipboard, print out your selected text(s) in a multiplicity of ways, and piles more features (in part the docs are so extensive simply because there are so many features! If you want a text file viewer to do something, this probably already has that feature!). This version drops support for viewing compressed files (to make the program smaller and less memory intensive, and apparently people didn't care for it). It is Fast, and can take full advantage of GDOS/SpeedoGDOS, the features of MultiTOS, MultiGEM, Mag!X, and Geneva, as well as the alternative desktops such as NeoDesk, TeraDesk, and Gemini. Keyboard or mouse controlled. Recommended. Shareware. SUPPORT SHAREWARE AUTHORS! Color or mono. This will work on floppy or hard drive systems, but in order to install it on a floppy system you will need to use an extended format disk. [] NH311GEM is NetHack v.3.1.1, the Graphical GEM version of this astoundingly detailed dungeon and dragons type game for Atari Computers by Warwick Allison. This port of NetHack 3.1.1 gives you full-color graphics, plus a completely GEM user interface. This game gives you 16x16 pixel, 16 color graphic icons for EVERY OBJECT IN THE GAME - that's about 850 different icons. But that power comes with a price - it only really works with 16 colors and at least 640 by 480 pixels. That leaves most of us out (for now!). You need a TT, a Falcon, or a color board. You can run it in ST-medium to see the basic interface (but lose the detailed graphics), or in ST low to see the excellent color graphics (but lose the playability since the controls don't fit on-screen anymore). This version also requires a hard drive and at least 2 Meg of RAM: the program itself is 1.15 meg, and the graphics consume 350K. It is similar in style to ROGUE, but NetHack is much richer in character. The game includes multiple dungeons that branch off the main dungeon at different locations, monsters (who can read scrolls and cast spells, wield weapons and fight!) and highly varied magic. The motivation in NetHack is to descend through the dungeon to find the Amulet of Yendor, then return to the surface. It's not so straightforward as all that though. You have to complete all sorts of tasks in the various dungeons before you can undertake your main goal. As you travel you will meet various creatures (most of them nasty), find objects (some having magical properties), and experience many hazards in the dungeon itself. Docs included plus lots of help files. Mouse and/or keyboard controlled. If you want this file, but don't have the equipment to run it check out NETHAK31. [] OCR12 is OCR v.1.2 by Alexander Clauss (Dated March, 1994). This Freeware program will allow you to load in a scanned image of a text and train the software to recognize the letters and transform them into staight ASCII text. There are lots of features I am only beginning to recognize. Load already recognized fonts for future use, and save fonts you've just trained the software to recognize. ST--Falcon compatible, this program seems to work as advertised. It certainly works well on the supplied text image file (which looked like a regular hand scan, i.e., pretty cruddy). The program itself is in English, but the docs are in German. Look for the docs to be translated into English soon. It's that good of a program! I recommend this file to you. Of course, it's not as good as MyGraph's OCR software, but it's free! Do you remember how I told you about the great PAC games I've been playing with lately? Well, now they've all been released as shareware! Inexpensive shareware at that, with the registration fee only being $5 a game. What a deal! Read all about it below. [] COPNROB2 is the complete Cops and Robbers Too (i.e., "Cops, and Robbers, as well") by Kevin L. Scott 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. A built-in editor is included which allows you to modify or create your own cities. Color only. Two joysticks required. Docs included. ST--Falcon compatible (but TT and Falcon owners may find the game playing too fast - use one of the programs designed to slow down games such as NEWSPED2 or SLOWDOWN (see below). At least one meg of RAM required. I had this game when it was commercially distributed, but now it's inexpensive shareware (only $5!). My son and I enjoy playing it together, and I recommend it to you. [] NEWSPED2 is NewSpeed II (dated Sept. 25, 1994) by Bruce Noonan, the author of ST Writer, the freeware Word Processor and its commercial successor, MultiWriter (and numerous other programs as well). NewSpeed II is a Terminate-Stay Resident (TSR) program which can be either run from an AUTO folder or from the desktop. It will allow you to slow down your computer's speed so that you can run your games at a pace comfortable for you. This is especially good for those games that run too fast on an accelerated machine. ST--Falcon compatible (but not MultiTOS compatible). Assembly source code included. Assembled with Mad Mac. Docs included. [] SLOWDOWN by Larry Copenhaver is a TSR (terminate and stay resident) program. After being run it may be toggled on and off with the ALT/HELP keystroke. When on it will slow all actions of your ST (except mouse) down to a fraction of the normal speed. This slow action is very handy for beating some of the fast action games. [] ESCAPE is the complete version 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--Falcon compatible (the Falcon's fileselector gets messed up, but this doesn't affect the game). At least one meg of RAM, a DS drive and a color monitor are required. Docs included. Since this has been released I've heard lots of good things about it. This formerly commercially distributed program is now inexpensive Shareware (only $5!). [] HOOKMATH is the complete Hooked on Math program 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. 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 and "hook" 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 25 question practice session the program lists your score. ST--Falcon compatible. Requires at least 512K of RAM and a color monitor. This formerly commercially distributed program is now inexpensive Shareware (only $5!). [] MAGNOBAL is the complete version of Magno-Ball 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 moving goal. 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! So far I've kept it at the easy level, and it's even more fun in the two player mode. ST--Falcon compatible (the faster your computer the smoother it gets - it's wonderful on my STE with a T-25 accelerator!). Only 512K of RAM required. Color only. Suggested for ages 9 and up. Joystick controlled. This formerly commercially distributed program is now inexpensive Shareware (only $5!). [] MEDIEVAL is the the complete version 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 against the computer or human opponent, 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 formerly commercially distributed program is now inexpensive shareware (only $5). Color only. ST--Falcon compatible. One meg of RAM (or more), a DS drive, and one (or two for two players) joystick required. The rules are mostly the same as standard chess, but there are appropriate changes based on the situation. [] OUTOFTHS is the full version 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. This game has three different levels of challenge. 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 (whoops, I've been reading too much of E.E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" series! I recommend you check out the Lensman series - it's fun! Unfortunately you can only find copies of the books in used bookstores or in your library - and no - I won't sell you mine!). If you don't get the falling letter typed in time there are shields which can protect you to a limited extent, but don't count on them for long! I thought this was an excellent tutoring program, and I recommend it to you. 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). This formerly commercially distributed program is now inexpensive Shareware (only $5!). And now back to our regular programming! [] PCHROME4 is "Atari ST/E PhotoChrome" v.4.00 by Douglas Little (dated Dec. 20, 1993). PhotoChrome is an amazing "must have" program (with a number of associated utilties and a slideshow) that emulates a high capability graphics card for your ST/STe. Its basic specification is the ability to load most IFF formats, 24-Bit True colour screens (16 million colors), GIF files and VidiChrome digitised "RGB" color separations (4096 colors) before converting to one of six powerful screen modes (Standard Spectrum 512, Spectrum 4096, and four other specialized and more capable display modes one having the ability to display 19200 colors out of a 32768 on an STe. This program will load .RAW (Both DKB-RAW and standard QRT format), GIF, (and now) any true TARGA file (Y-inverted, or compressed and even larger than 320*200 Targa files - now you can really view those excellent .TGA files of Jaguar games!), including 16/24/32-bit, Spectrum, IFF, and VidiChrome RGB pictures. The GIF, and .RAW files this displays are unequaled. Normally this program won't display on machines running at higher speeds than 8 MHz, but now the author has included a feature which allows MegaSTE owners to run at their 16MHz speed for image processing and then automatically switches to 8 MHz mode for the display (now I wish he could do that for my T-25)! Wow! This program even works on a TT or Falcon (though you can only use it to convert one format (say PhotoChrome to GIF for example) though you won't be able to view the pictures with those machines. I am amazed and recommend this highly. Docs and updated slide show (PCSVIEW2) included. SHAREWARE. Support Shareware authors! At least one Meg of RAM and a color monitor needed. [] PGS_CFG is a program that Jeff Poling sent me information about via Internet mail back in February. It's a program found at the Internet address atari.archive.umich in atari/Applications/Dtp. He terms this file a godsend to anybody who has to frequently reconfigure their drivers in PageStream. If that sounds like heaven to you find someone with Internet access to get it for you. I could do it if I signed up for Internet access via Delphi, but I'm swamped with the files I already download - I don't need to find anymore! Thanks Jeff! Speaking of E-mail...For the past couple of weeks I have been hearing on and off about a program and the concept behind it which are causing all sorts of problems in our society. Of rather, the US government seems to be thinking that these encryption tools might do this and so steps must be taken to limit, and indeed thwart, their effectiveness. Read all about it below! [] EPRIVACY is a text file by Jeff Rose (editor of ComputeLink, San Diego Union-Tribune, Mar. 1, 1994) entitled "Right to E-Mail Privacy Would Seem Self-Evident." This interesting article details the lack of privacy we now have in E-Mail, and the Clinton Administration's attempts to promote a standard data encryption technique (the Clipper Chip) which on the surface seems to enhance our privacy but in actuality has the very real potential to reduce our privacy even more as the years go by. Hummph! This and other articles in the same vein I've read this week are beginning to ring alarm bells in the back of my head. The benefits of restricting encryption techniques (fighting crime and terrorism) seem outweighed by the potential destruction of our freedom of speech and association. Originally uploaded to GEnie with the UT's permission. [] JACKBOOT is "Jackboots on the Infobahn," is a very interesting and disturbing article by John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Freedom Foundation which appeared in the April, 1994 issue of "Wired" magazine. It discusses developments in the Clinton White House concerning the "Clipper Chip" and other, more secure methods of data incryption. In case you don't know, the Clipper is touted as an anti-crime and terrorism encryption chip that the National Security Agency and FBI hope will someday be in every phone and computer in America. It scrambles your communications, making them unintelligible to all but their intended recipients. All, that is, but the government, which would hold the "key" to your chip (and which could use it with an easily obtained warrant). Perhaps the most disturbing quote in the whole article is one from the Clinton White House which asserts that no US citizen "as a matter of right, is entitled to an unbreakable commercial encryption product." If that attitude prevails then the reference to Nazi terror in the title might frighteningly prove true. May it never be! [] PGPWORLD is another fascinating text file about the unfolding story about public key encryption technology and actual and potential governmental limitations on its use by you and me. Phil Zimmermann the author of Pretty Good Privacy, or PGP, which is a powerful public key encryption tool available for the ST--Falcon, is recorded as speaking to a House subcommittee about the importance of the availability of this software technology in a democratic society and a modern technological world. Right now such encryption software CANNOT be exported out of the US. DUMB and Double DUMB. Does the government actually think that this isn't available to ANYONE who wants it? [] PGPSHL06 is PGP Shell v.0.6 (uploaded April 10, 1994) by Randy Hoekstra (the author of The Grocery Lister, and other fine programs). PGP Shell is a simple Atari GEM interface for Philip Zimmermann's Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) public-key encryption software. PGP is available for many different computer platforms with a command line interface requiring the memorization of command codes and syntax (some people like such things, but I'll go for a shell any day!). Randy has made such a shell which has already gone through several revisions making it better each time. The most used commands have been implemented and the rest are being worked on. Very easy to use and with lots of features (like the ability to display ASCII text in a GEM window), this program allows you to create your public and private keys, encode and decode files, and engage in key management. Color or mono. Docs included. Requires PGP (see PGP23A) to work. ST--Falcon and Geneva compatible. [] PGP23A is "Pretty Good Privacy version release 2.3a" by Phil Zimmermann (dated July 2, 1993). PGP, short for Pretty Good Privacy, is a public key encryption package; with it, you can secure messages and data files you transmit against unauthorized reading and digitally sign them so that people receiving them can be sure they come from you. The keying is very secure and efficient. Excellent docs which explore both the theory and practice of public encryption. I would recommend this file just for them. English, French, and Spanish help files are included (all docs are in English). 716K uncompressed. What do you think of THAT? [] PROCESS2 is the edited transcript of the Processor Direct RoundTable Discussion on GEnie (dated March 30, 1994) with Sean Dougherty (Publisher), Robert Fernandez (Editor), and Timothy Miller (Technical Editor). Their new magazine, Processor Direct, was discussed, what it is like now and plans for the future. At this RoundTable I won a copy of the first issue of this magazine, and let me tell you, I'm impressed. It's excellent! This discussion was, too. [] RAINBOW1 is the Rainbow v.1.0 demo (dated March 18, 1994). This Falcon specific true color color art package by Rasmus S derberg and Mandus S derberg is fast, 100% assembly language, and full featured. It will allow you to load and manipulate (but not save in the demo) *.TIF, *.TGA, *.TPI, *.NEO, *.PI? and *.PC? images. This art package iss aimed at all graphic artists who need a quick and effective art package to produce true color (full 16-bit 65536 color) pictures for games, demos, utilities or private use. One very nice thing about this program is that you don't have to change color mode or resolution from the desktop, since RAINBOW automatically changes that (and returns to the old desktop settings when you quit). The package even contains a built-in photo studio! Brief docs and ordering information included. [] RGON1_2 is v.1.2 of a pretty program that doesn't do anything other than look pretty! By Greg George, this program is now faster and smoother in its covering of your screen with colorful animated polygons. It's not a screensaver because to see it you need to run it from the desktop. The programmer allows for you to customize the display by pressing a few keys (new commands added in this version). Color only (obviously, since mono isn't all that colorful!). Docs included. ST--STE compatible (at least), BUT... when run from my STE it still locks up the machine on exiting (something it did in the original version and still not a good idea!). [] SKATER is a set of .3D2 object files of a skater and a skating rink. Also included in this file is the Cyber Control file which will create a .DLT animation for the skater skating around the ice rink. By K. Fannings, the author of numerous animations. [] SPLITR2 is Splitter v2.0 by S. Coates & M.J.Matts (dated March 29, 1994). This GEM program will allow you to split up large files into files that can easily be transferred by floppy disks and then recombine them into the original format (I guess the latter part IS important - after all I can split up a file very easy with a pair of scissors, but it's the putting back together again that I have problems with!). You can specify the size of the pieces, or let the program do that for you. The program contains error checking to make sure you get the pieces back together again. Color or mono. This version contains the ANSI 'C' source which can be compiled (without change!) on MSDOS 6.20, OS/2 2.1, IBM RS/6000 and more, allowing files split on those platforms to be brought to the Atari and Atari files to them! SHAREWARE. Complete docs. [] 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. [] STZIP25 is STZip v.2.5 by Vincent Pomey (dated April 2, 1994). This is one fantastic compression utility, and he keeps on making it better! This version is faster than previous versions (especially in that it removes that _annoying_ 5 second delay at start-up), has some bug fixes, adds some features, and more. I recommend it to you. ST ZIP is cross plaform compatible with PKZIP 2.04 (from the MS DOS world), and the Unix Info-Zip programs Zip 1.9/Unzip 5.0. Using an excellent GEM interface (with keyboard hotkeys), it compresses as well or better (!) than the newest LZH utilities. This version is MultiTOS compatible, allows up to 65536 files in a zip (given adequate memory), allows you to extract files to a corresponding folder automatically, now supports Unix's Info-Zip, and much more. This file includes a program that creates self-extracting archives, and a small, stripped down version (a real memory saver) that is accessed only through a command line interface. I highly recommend this program for any of you who deal with ZIP files. Docs included. Color or mono. ST--Falcon compatible. Some people have told me that they have problems with this version, especially when configuring it to create a folder for the extracted files. I've tried to re-create this problem and could not (on my 4 meg STE TOS 1.62 with T-25 accelerator board). I'm not sure if this is a real problem caused by different machines, or what. It works just fine for me! My problem with this program is an ongoing one, but unfortunately (fortunately?) one that doesn't always happen! Large archives with multiple files can sometimes only be uncompressed bit by bit. If I try to uncompress the whole file everything churns away for some time and then I get "insufficient memory" messages and the uncompression grinds to a halt. The trouble is that this is not consistent from file to file! Some huge files uncompress file while some others don't. I have four meg of RAM, too! You figure! When that happens I generally use DC Xtract v.2.2b (shareware) to uncompress the file or I uncompress it bit by bit (which is a pain). PostCardWare (Come on! Brag a bit and send him a postcard showing the sights of where you live!) [] SWAR2000 is Space Wars 2000 v.1.00 by Johnnie Chan, et. al. (dated March 6, 1994). This graphics and sound oriented shoot-em-up for two through four players places you in a ship (bigger and better the more money you win to equip it with) in which your aim is to destroy all the other players by flying around the screen, blasting away at them, and avoiding them and the asteroids floating by. The game is split up into a number of rounds (selectable) and the one who is alive at the end and has the most toys, wins. This game requires at least 512K of RAM, a color monitor and two joysticks, but an STE with 1 meg+ of RAM and four joysticks (with a parallel port joystick adaptor) really sings! Runs from floppy (uncompresses to about 300K so even a single-sided drive will work). I found this game easy to configure and control. The ability to play with another person (or more) makes this an excellent game in my book (I wish there were more mult-player games). Lots of excellent docs. At least TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible. [] SYSIN837 is SysInfo v.8.37 by H.W.A.M. de Beer (dated March 26, 1993). This is a program that will tell you EVERYTHING about your TOS 1.0--Falcon machine (well, I guess it won't tell you what color your case is, but that's about it!). I can't begin to tell you all the system parameters this utility measures (it displays on 17 screens, which should tell you something!). Just think of anything you might ask a question about your system, and this can tell you. Color or mono. Online help available. [] THOUGHT is the Thought! Demo v.1.0 written by Peter Armitage and produced by Titan Designs (dated Oct. 29, 1993). This program is supposed to work in any resolution (according to what I can puzzle out from the one paragraph of directions), but it only works in mono for me. I'm really hazy as to what this program is designed to do. It presents you with an on-screen flowchart/outline which you can modify, copy, delete to your hearts content. There are lots of options to play with, but since there are no docs, I'm really in the dark. It allows you to call programs by clicking on some of the flowchart headings. It seems that you can use this package to write your software manuals in a more intelligent and organized way (if that's it then Hurrah for this programmer - anything to help THAT problem ). This demo is fully working except for the ability to save your work. It uses SpeedoGDOS to print and display text. It also allows you to configure your printout (thickness of rectangular outline boarders, print fonts, screen fonts and display size, etc.). Sample files are included. Mono only. [] TIME_VBL is a small program (dated Sept. 14, 1991) which will display a 24 hour clock (with hours, minutes, and seconds) in the upper right hand corner of your screen. The initial display says that the program is installed in "low memory ($0140)." Mono only. [] TRIYAHOO is Triple Yahoo v.1.0 by Stuart Denman (dated March 20, 1994). Triple Yahoo is an excellent game! The docs say it is "a highly addictive multi-player GEM Triple Yahtzee game for Atari ST/STE/TT and Falcon Computers." I would tend to agree! It supports digitized DMA Sound (over 130K of sound files included), 3D buttons, SPEEDO/GDOS fonts, and colored icons if available. Works in ALL resolutions and all color modes including graphics cards. It also runs under MultiTOS and Geneva. There are a _multitude_ of features available in this game. The documentation is superb (I wish more authors would do even half as well). Recommended! Shareware. [] TRNSDEMO is the complete formerly shareware now freeware version of the Transcendence BBS v.2.4.01 by Wayne Watson (dated Feb. 19, 1994). If you are ever thinking of setting up a BBS (a tremendous amount of work - BBS SysOps are the saints of the computer world in my opinion!) this program would be well worth your investigation. It works on any ST--TT with at least one meg of RAM (2.5 meg of RAM and TOS 1.4 or better is better, of course). The program and support files require at least 20 meg of Hard Drive space as well. Note, this archive's name implies that this file is a demo. It is NOT. It's the full-blown version released by the author. Thanks! (Send him money anyway!). [] TTERM122 is Teddy-TERM v2.12 by M.J.Matts (dated sometime early 1994) Teddy-TERM is a complete communications terminal for the Atari ST, STE, TT & Falcon030. Supporting full 16 colour ANSI & VT52 emulation (in minimum 16 colour 640x200 screen modes) with intelligent ANSI emulation in 4 or 2 colour modes, Teddy-TERM is a breeze to use (and pretty, too!). Teddy-TERM v1.x originally started life as a simple shell program to allow you to use external protocols such as XYZ.TTP and Jekyll easily from within Vanterm, but since then it has grown and developed into a fully functional (no crippled at all) Shareware communications terminal program. It is simple enough that first-time modem users can navigate their way through it, and yet adaptable enough for the power-user as well. Mouse and/or keyboard controlled (both for all functions). Contains a nice capture buffer, features auto-logon features (with a feature that allows T-Term to learn your own logon information and use it in the future - VERY Nice!), runs external programs, access installed .ACC, use fonts other than the system font, the internal online alarm and connect alarm sounds can now be replaced with a sample if you have a machine with DMA sound capabilities, and much more. Requires XYZ202 (by Alan Hamilton, and included in this file) and Jekyll for transfers using those protocals. One meg or more of Free RAM required. Extensive docs included. Geneva compatible. Color or mono (extended res. cards, too). [] WHATIS67 by Bill Aycock (dated April 5, 1994) is a simple program that will identify over 160 different types of files. It is mouse-driven and easy to use; everything is done from a single dialog box. Whatis runs in any resolution on any ST or TT, and uses under 18K of your system's RAM. Why use Whatis? It tells you to what program those strange extendered files belong to. Also if you download file called SIMPSON.ARC (for example) but find out it won't uncompress with ARC. Whip out Whatis and take a look, and you might just find out that the file is really an LHarc archive - the uploader used the wrong extender! Just rename the file and you're all set. This version will work as either a standalone program or as a desk accessory (just rename the program file to .PRG or .ACC as you wish). [] ZNET9402 is the March 5, 1994 issue of Z*Net. Z*NET is back! Actually for some time now, but I'm still glad to see it. Hi Ron! ~ Telecommunications News ~Z*Net Newswire ~ Cleveland Free-Net ~ ~ Monochrome Monitor Fix ~ DPA News For January ~Trans BBS Goes Freeware~ ~ Lynx FAQ ~ Connect Magazine Offer ~ Hard Drive Tech Support ~ ~ Lexicor Update ~ Music Of The Byte ~ Jaguar Games ~ More! ~ ~ Zipped with an IMG file included of the Z*Net Logo! (well done!)~ That's all for now folks! Take care, and drop me a line sometime! Michael All of these files can be found on one or more of the following on-line services: GEnie (M.BURKLEY1), Delphi (MRBURKLEY), The CodeHead BBS (213-461-2095), and at Toad Hall, now the official BBS of the Boston Computer Society (617-567-8642) (Michael R. Burkley). Drop me a line! Michael lives in Niagara Falls, NY. He is a former Polyurethane Research Chemist and is presently the pastor of the Niagara Presbyterian Church. --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- 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 Online Resource! --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| Atari ST RT News ||| By: John G. Hartman / | \ GEnie: J.G.H. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Atari RT Weekly News 4.3 = FROM THE BANNER = ------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming 27 April!! Current Notes RTC!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------- = ATARI RT LIBRARY = = RTC TRANSCRIPTS = ------------------------------------------------------ 32635 GRIB_RTC.ARC X BRIAN.H 940418 13824 140 13 Desc: GRIBNIF 13 Apr 94 RTC 32445 BRODIE20.ARC X ST.LOU 940402 24832 356 13 Desc: Lots of Q & A on Atari Topics 32433 PROCESS2.ARC X BRIAN.H 940401 14464 98 13 Desc: Processor Direct RTC 30 Mar 94 32363 WAL_RTC.ZIP X BRIAN.H 940326 9856 90 13 Desc: Walnut Creek GEMini RTC 23 Mar 94 ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST THREE WEEK'S PRESS RELEASES = ------------------------------------------------------ 32644 AUDIO_CD.TXT X GREG 940419 3200 71 14 Desc: Announcing Audio CD Master 3.0 32598 DB3PR.TXT X ORA 940413 1664 232 14 Desc: Diamond Back 3 Press Release! 32580 M_AWORKS.ZIP X R.DOLSON 940411 8320 75 14 Desc: Press release from Spar Systems 32535 NEW_MAG.ASC X P-DIRECT 940408 5504 78 14 Desc: ASCII : Processor Direct is here! 32527 DMCPROMO.TXT X POTECHIN 940408 3456 239 14 Desc: DMC Announces Thank You Promotion 32521 NEW_MAG.ZIP X P-DIRECT 940407 23424 141 14 Desc: Processor Direct is here, get this! 32515 NECCDR25.TXT X K.KORDES1 940406 3200 270 14 Desc: $99 CD-ROM Deal!! 32489 CT_SWAP3.TXT X D.FINCH7 940404 1792 13 14 Desc: Revised Ticket Prices - CT Swap Meet 32466 MOVING.TXT X K.KORDES1 940403 5248 132 14 Desc: Systems For Tomorrow Moving Sale 32451 CT_SWAP2.TXT X D.FINCH7 940402 2688 13 14 Desc: Directions to Connecticut Swap Meet 32423 INSHAPE2.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 4480 48 14 Desc: New InShape Pricing in Effect! 32422 GVW_NMT2.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 1920 110 14 Desc: New GEM-View 3.xx Modules available! 32420 GVW303PR.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 4864 186 14 Desc: GEM-View 3.03 Press Release! 32419 ART_MODS.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 3328 42 14 Desc: New Modules for Artis3/Prism PaintII 32399 JV_PRESS.TXT X V.VALENTI 940329 1152 181 14 Desc: Press release about programs for ST 32386 AMNESTY.TXT X POTECHIN 940328 9856 253 14 Desc: DMC Calamus Upgrade/Amnesty Offer! ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST THREE WEEK'S DEMO RELEASES = ------------------------------------------------------ 32599 DB3DEMO.LZH X ORA 940413 117504 138 10 Desc: Diamond Back 3 Demo 32534 BACKW252.ZIP X R.SHEPPARD5 940408 40576 76 10 Desc: BACKWARDS 2.52 Falcon to ST Emulator 32502 THOUGHT.TOS X GRMEYER 940405 90240 110 10 Desc: Thought! Idea/Flowchart program 32492 F030BLOW.ZIP X C.LABELLE 940404 52224 72 10 Desc: Blow Up, Falcon resolution enhancer 32369 MAGEDEMO.LZH X D.MUNSIE 940327 182784 45 10 Desc: Demo of the GFA BASIC game tool-kit. 32356 CVTRAN30.ZIP X H.WOLFE1 940325 94208 112 10 Desc: Multilingual translation program ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST THREE WEEK'S TOP 10 DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS/FILES = ------------------------------------------------------ 32553 STZIP25.TOS X L.SMITH70 940410 138880 374 40 Desc: STZIP version 2.5 32496 DRIVE144.ZIP X P.GRIFFITH2 940404 2560 240 27 Desc: HD floppy in your ST 32505 LHA3.TOS X L.SMITH70 940405 269184 235 40 Desc: LHarc 3.00 with shell (self extract) 32526 NEO3SECR.LZH X A.FASOLDT 940408 35968 195 15 Desc: Revised "Secrets of NeoDesk" 32579 PCHROME4.ZIP X OUTRIDER 940411 41088 184 28 Desc: PhotoChrome v4.00!! 32345 SUPRVIEW.LZH X GRMEYER 940325 97152 184 2 Desc: SuperView SHOW replacement 32604 OCR12.ZIP X GRMEYER 940413 138880 172 6 Desc: a freeware OCR program! 32438 AIM_3_1.ZIP X P.HARRIS3 940401 239360 168 28 Desc: AIM 3.1 32349 MINDRAFT.ZIP X GRMEYER 940325 102400 157 28 Desc: MiniDraft CAD program 32614 VERICARD.ZIP X M.BRINKWORTH 940415 5376 154 21 Desc: Verify if a credit card is valid 32517 ANSIST.LZH X GRMEYER 940407 8192 153 7 Desc: ANSI-ST "universal" ANSI driver ------------------------------------------------------ --==--==--==--==-- ||| Developing news! ||| Items of interest from TOS platform developers and supporters / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Texas Atari Festival June 4-5, 1994 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ----> Texas Atari Festival Update <---- We are happy to annouce the recent confirmation of the following vendors for the 1994 Texas Atari Festival: DMJ Software - Damien Jones Gribnif Software - Rick Flashman Trace Technologies - Keith Gerdes TOAD Computers - Dave and Jennifer Troy More Than Games - Rick Detlefson GEnie - Mike Allen (pending vacation status :^) We hope to have more confirmations soon. If anyone is in need of a rental vehicle, arrangements have been made with Enterprise Rent-A-Car for special rates. For Compact cars (Ford Escort, Nissan Sentra, Ford Tempo, Chevy Cavalier, Plymouth Sundance, Plymouth Acclaim, or Toyota Corolla) $25.00 per day $ 2.50 10% luxury tax ----- $27.50 For Midsize cars (Chevy Lumina, Ford Taurus, Oldsmobile Supreme) $35.00 per day $ 3.50 10% luxury tax ----- $38.50 per day Contact Mike Krawitz at (210) 520-0819 for rental arrangements. Out of state drivers and drivers under 21 require proof of insurance and a credit card deposit. I haven't had a chance to check out local hotels, but I would urge anyone who is staying to check out the cheap rates available at St. Mary's University. Send E-mail to R.HELSEL or C.CASSADAY for more info. //// Atari Vendor/Developer Information The Texas Atari Festival '94 will be held in San Antonio on June 4th & 5th on the beautiful campus of St. Mary's University. Some of you will remember us as the Fiesta Atari Computer Show last year. As well as a change of name we have expanded from a one day show to a two day affair. The ST Atari League of San Antonio, (SALSA), wants you to come down to sunny San Antonio and show us your wares, meet a bunch of really fantastic, fun people, and generally just have a great time! //// What's in it for you? First and formost is a chance to show off your product(s) to an eager audience. San Antonio has not had an Atari dealer for over a year now so everything purchased has been either through the mail or on trips out of town. As far as I know, the nearest dealers are in Houston or Dallas and that covers a lot of Atarians, not just the folks in San Antonio. Secondly we don't limit our show to Atari users only. If you have a product(s) that can be used on several platforms then TAF '94 is ideal for you. The show will focus on how to use a computer in general, and what a computer can do for you. Last year we got a good response from users of all platforms as well as folks who were a bit phobic about computers in general. Our goal is to show people that computers are more than just expensive paper weigths or machines that have to be dusted every month! If attendees have questions about why we use Atari computers then we'll be happy to tell them, but our main thrust is towards computer users as a whole. Thirdly we plan to anchor the show with three main areas of interest. Those areas are MIDI, Desk Top Publishing, and gaming, both hand held and console. The idea is a simple one. Use broad areas of interest to encourage people to attend the show and when they get here show them all the other neat stuff that is availible to them! I know that there is a lot of interest in MIDI in our area. Currently we plans to have several MIDI demos each day and that should bring in a lot of interested folks. We also plan to have an area dedicated to DTP and all of the things that go along with it. Finally we plan to set up a gaming area featuring the Jaguar and the Lynx. With these three high profile areas as anchors and an expanded schedule we hope to have so much traffic we won't know what to do with ourselves!! //// So what's the bottom line?? Plain and simple, it's sign up and come. The sooner we know that you are coming the sooner we can get the word out. We were successful using local TV, radio, and newspapers and online services last year and we hope to add the national Atari magazines this year. As soon as your application hits our mailbox every Atarian within shouting distance will know about it. Questions? Look through the packet we sent with this letter. If you just want to chat with me you can reach me via snail mail, Ma Bell or on GEnie. Just remember, this isn't a work related trip to a great vacation spot, this a great chance for a vacation that will include a little bit of work and LOTS of fun! Thanks for your consideration, Scott Helsel, Event Coordinator Texas Atari Festival '94 13938 Brantley San Antonio, Texas 78233 210-655-4672 GEnie address - R.Helsel InterNet address - R.Helsel@genie.geis.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Fez.A.Bit Berlin, Germany May 7-8, 1994 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Video-Beamer Presentation Berlin, 7./8. May '94 (last modified 17.04.1994) in alphabetic order ... [ Translation by Thomas Schmidt, no warranty for mistranslation! Produkt = product Vertrieb = distributor Thema = theme ] Software/Programming Hardware ======================= ======== Produkt : CADANS Produkt : Afterburner 040 Present.: Ulli Ramps Autor : Overscan Vertrieb: R.O.M. Software Vertrieb: Overscan/Compo Thema : CAD-program with Thema : 68040-Accelerator- many functions board for ATARI FALCON 030 Produkt : DSP-Programming Autor : u.a. Axel Steffens Produkt : ATARI JAGUAR Thema : DSP-Programming on Vertrieb: ATARI Corp. the FALCON 030 Thema : 64bit Game-system (a) Beginner-Lecture with diverse games (b) Workshop for Advanced (CYBERMORPH, CRESCENT programmers GALAXY, RAIDEN, DINO DUDES, TEMPEST 2000 Produkt : LAZy-Shell-III and if possible Autor : Oliver Michalak ALIEN vs. PREDATOR, Vertrieb: Maxon Computer GmbH CHECKERED FLAG 2 ... Thema : flexible Packer-Shell with many functions with clean _!!!_ in all cases will and intuitiv User-Interface we show ALIEN vs. PREDATOR, TEMPEST 2000, KASUMI NINJA, CHECKE- Produkt : Linux/FALCON(TT) RED FLAG 2 in moving Autor : Bjoern Brauel pictures of CES'94 in Thema : Adaptation of 68000er Las Vegas, the corres- Linux for the FALCON(TT) ponding Video has all- ready arrived Produkt : ObjectGEM =^) ... Autor : Thomas Much Vertrieb: Softdesign Computer Produkt : Genlock Software Autor : Overscan Thema : objectoriented Library Vertrieb: Overscan/Compo for Pure Pascal for easily Thema : Genlock-Hardware for writing of GEM-conform Video-Titeling, e.g. programs connected with Overlay Produkt : Overlay/Hypermedia Produkt : Medusa T40 Autor : Overscan Autor : Ferdi Aschwaden Vertrieb: Overscan/Compo Vertrieb: Overscan/Compo Thema : Multimedia-Tool for Thema : 68040-based Video-Titeling and TOS-System animations with the interactive Presentation- Produkt : Screenblaster II Modul Hypermedia Autor : Overscan Vertrieb: Overscan/Compo Produkt : Papyrus Thema : Hard- and Software- Autor : Christian Nieber resolutionenhancement Vertrieb: R.O.M. Software for the Thema : Wordprocessing ATARI FALCON 030 Produkt : PEGASUS Present.: Ulli Ramps Vertrieb: R.O.M. Software Thema : comfortable Addressprocessing Produkt : Stone Age Autor : Michael Nolte Vertrieb: Michael Nolte Computer- systeme Thema : Game for all ATARI-Computer Produkt : TurnUs Autor : Oliver Michalak Thema : comfortable and flexible File-modifier without fixed templates, with fulltext- and similarity-search Produkt : UpToCase Autor : Michael Nolte Vertrieb: Michael Nolte Computer- systeme Thema : Software for graphic generation of Nassi-Shneider- mann diagrams with Drag- and Drop-procedure and generation of the program-sources analog to the generated structogram. Produkt : WinRec/WinCut Autor : Andreas Binner Vertrieb: Andreas Binner/think Thema : Harddiskrecording and -cutting with DSP-effects, S/PDIF-support and much more ... [...] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// ICD Link 2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Link 2(TM) - The next generation in SCSI host adapters for Atari ST computers. Rockford, Illinois, April 2, 1994 -- ICD, Incorporated, a leading designer and manufacturer of hardware enhancements for Atari computers today announced The Link 2, the next generation in SCSI host adapters for all Atari ST computers. For the past seven years ICD has enjoyed an enviable reputation as the world leader of interfaces connecting Atari ST computers to SCSI devices. Just two years ago, ICD set a new standard in excellence with The Link. Not willing to rest on its laurels, ICD is always looking for ways to push the envelope and redefine state-of-the-art. This path has historically given ICD customers the best hard drive performance, with uncompromising compatibility and speed at competitive prices. Today, The Link 2 from ICD allows Atari owners even more flexibility in their choice of hard drives. The Link 2 is an external SCSI host adapter which is designed to plug into a standard 50 pin centronics style SCSI connector. A detachable DMA cable is included to plug into the hard disk (ACSI) port of the Atari ST computer. Housed in an attractively-designed molded case measuring just 2.5 inches by 3 inches and less than .75 inches thick (63x76x19 mm), The Link 2 will fit into any SCSI environment. Although The Link 2 looks and functions much like its reliable cousin The Link, there are two distinguishing features that make it a real stand out. First, a unique indicating light confirms that The Link 2 is receiving sufficient power from the termination line of the target SCSI device. Second, support for parity has been added so it is no longer necessary to disable parity on the drive. The Link 2 is now truly "plug and go" and since most drives require no modifications, The Link 2 won't affect the drive manufacturer's warranty. Up to eight SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 devices are supported by The Link 2. These devices could include any combination of fixed hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, Floptical drives, Magneto Optical drives, Bernoulli drives, and Syquest drives as well as others. ICD software is nearly universal in supporting virtually every drive made. The plug and go architecture allows Atari ST, STE, Stacy, and STBOOK computers to use external SCSI drives originally designed for the Apple Macintosh, IBM PC, Commodore Amiga, NeXT, Atari TT and Falcon computers. The Link 2, along with ICD's highly acclaimed software, also gives multi- platform computer owners unprecedented flexibility. For example if a Syquest cartridge is first formatted under MS-DOS with FDISK, the user can directly read and write files from Atari computers under TOS using the ICD driver. These files can also be shared with IBM PCs running MS-DOS, and with Amiga computers using the integral CrossDOS utility. Thomas Harker, president of ICD explained, "At ICD we Look, Listen, and Respond to the market place. Two years ago The Link broke new ground in Atari ST connectivity. It instantly became a best seller and took command of the market. Now we have responded to customer feedback by creating The Link 2 which improves compatibility and makes installation even easier." The Link 2 is available now. ICD will support current owners of The Link with an upgrade to The Link 2 for $40. This upgrade offer is available directly from ICD and includes the latest software. The Link 2 comes with a full one year warranty. For more information, contact Thomas Harker at ICD in the United States by phone (815) 968-2228 extension 222 or fax (815) 968-6888. The Link and The Link 2 are trademarks of ICD, Incorporated. Other trademarks are those of their respective holders. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Processor Direct Prints! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= We're here! Two Worlds Publishing is proud to present to the Atari community our first issue, containing articles by a variety of authors on a wide array of topics from telecommunications to programming, and much more. __ /_/ Just what is Processor Direct? `-`------------------------------- Processor Direct is a magazine for nearly all Atari computer users, containing information valuable to users of the original 520ST up to users of the Falcon030. Processor Direct is also helpful to the new user or even the seasoned expert -- odds are most everyone will find the information they've been looking for. We currently print in a large format (page size is 11.5 inches wide by 13.5 inches tall) with full color covers and black and white internal pages. Each issue's cover is printed on 80 pound gloss paper, with the internal pages on quality 80 pound matte paper. __ /_/ What is in Processor Direct? `-`----------------------------- We offer a variety of columns on topics including Graphics, Music, and Programming, along with reviews of hardware and software of both commercial and shareware nature. We've also got the latest news items on topics like new software and hardware in the Newswire and Recent Developments sections. In the first issue we also have a survey which asks a variety of questions so we can get to know our readers better. The survey itself is 8.5x11 inches so it can be easily photocopied and mailed to us. __ /_/ What won't I find in Processor Direct? `-`--------------------------------------- You won't find long boring articles on topics that no one cares about, and you also won't get page upon page of unbroken dull text on cheap newsprint paper. You're going to be stuck with interesting articles printed on quality paper...we're terribly sorry! __ /_/ Why not just read messages on-line? `-`------------------------------------ Reading messages from USENET newsgroups and from the national on-line services is incredibly time consuming, often costly, and some times the accuracy of the information in the form of news can be doubtful. These networks are excellent to find the answers to your questions and to talk to knowledgeable people, but if you've ever read any of the USENET newsgroups, you know that contradictions and rumor run rampant. We obtain our news directly from the source, with no one to interpret or twist it. Not to mention, with each information packed issue (at only $3.50) you get easy to understand information that would normally take hours to read and compile from one day, forget a whole month. __ /_/ When and where can I get my copy? `-`---------------------------------- Processor Direct is available now for direct order for $3.50 ($4.00 in Canada) each from TWP, and also through a variety of Atari dealers. You can also subscribe to Processor Direct for just $25.00 (US$33 in Canada) for 12 issues. __ /_/ Dealers: Want to carry Processor Direct? `-`----------------------------------------- If you are a dealer and would like to obtain copies for newsstand sales, just contact us and request information. __ /_/ How can I advertise in Processor Direct? `-`----------------------------------------- We have advertising in a wide variety of sizes, with the option of creating your own custom sizes. Effective for both shareware and commercial developers (as well as dealers and many others) Processor Direct may be one of the best ways to tell the community about your product! For more information, contact us and request our Media Package, which contains the guidelines as well as hints and tips on making your ad look best. __ /_/ Want to be published? `-`---------------------- Are you an aspiring writer? Always wanted to be published? Here is your chance! Whether you are a seasoned veteran writer with years of experience or just enjoy it as a hobby, we're always looking for new articles on fresh topics and interesting viewpoints. If you'd like to know more, contact us and request our Submission Guidelines Booklet. __ /_/ On-line and ready to serve you! `-`-------------------------------- If you are a member of an on-line service we are incredibly easy to contact. We have accounts on GEnie and Delphi, as well as two Internet addresses. If you have a few questions, or just want to say hello, drop us a message! Have a question about an article? We'll forward your mail directly to the writer. Also "Letters to the Editor" can be mailed electronically. __ /_/ For more info: `-`--------------- If you've got questions or want more information, just contact us via one of the addresses below. US Mail: Two Worlds Publishing 3837 Northdale Blvd. #225 Tampa, FL 33624 E-Mail: GEnie: P-DIRECT (P-DIRECT2 for article submissions) Delphi: pdirect Internet: p-direct@genie.geis.com pdirect@delphi.com The Media Package and Submissions Guidelines Booklet are provided free of charge, and will be mailed when completed. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// DMC's Customer Offer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As many of you are aware, last week DMC issued both a blanket competitive upgrade offer and an amnesty offer. The response to date has been encouraging but it seems that we overlooked a factor, brought to our attention by some of our customers. Specifically, we have been taken to task for rewarding possible pirates and non-Calamus customers and not rewarding our long-time loyal Calamus customer base. Such was not our intention. In fact, I confess that it hadn't even occured to us at the time. We were concentrating on writing a general invitation and appeal to people that were not customers of DMC. A few letters in email as well as a telephone call or two has reminded us that without our existing customers we wouldn't be here. Believe me, we here at DMC are well aware of that fact. Our customers have always come first. We failed to make the intuitive leap that would have helped us understand the possible perception of some long-time customers. And their point was a valid one. So now we need to make amends in a manner that will continue to benefit us all. In our December 93 customer mailout we made an offer that expired in January. It was really well received by our customers. Generally speaking, whenever we have a promotion, our customers seem to be pleased with us. With that in mind, we figured the best we could do was come up with a promotion that would be our way of saying thank you to all of you that have stuck with us over the years. Hard to believe sitting here typing now but I first showed Calamus 1.26, in November 1986, Las Vegas Comdex. That was over 7 years ago! Many of you have been with us since that time. The software has improved substantially as has the hardware from the days of those first Mega ST's. Looking back, speaking personally, I loved every minute of it and we couldn't have done it without you. For all our Calamus SL customers, registered prior to April 1, 1994, we are making this special offer to you for a limited time only. ~~~ From now until May 31, 1994, DMC will match you dollar for dollar!~~~ Purchase any DMC software program, module or font and we will match your purchase with an equal value credit immediately applied against the purchase of any other DMC software program, module or font. For example, purchase the Line Art Module for US $150.00 and receive US $150.00 worth of additional software, such as the Bridge Module, absolutely free! Place your order now! We'll ship immediately. To order, we need your name, address, telephone number and your email address if you have one please, the relevant amount of payment plus $10.00 for shipping and insurance in North America. Payment made be made by Visa, Mastercard or Money Order in Canadian or US dollars by telephone, fax or email. This offer, extended to all our registered Calamus SL owners in North America, will expire May 31, 1994 and will not be repeated. On behalf of DMC, thank you. Sincerely Nathan Potechin - President DMC Publishing 2800 John Street, Unit #10 Markham, Ontario Canada L3R 0E2 GEnie:DMCPUBLISH Tel: (905) 479-1880 Delphi:DMCPUBLISH Fax: (905) 479-1882 Compuserve: 76004,2246 Internet:DMCPUBLISH@GENIE.GEIS.COM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Calamus User Magazine =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Calamus User is an independent Magazine which published on a quarterly basis (every 3 months) and is only available on a mail order basis at the following rates: Issue one and two only: 2.00 (UK) : 4.00 (Overseas) Single issue: 3.00 (UK) Four issues 8.00 (UK) " " 4.00 (Overseas) " " 12.00 (Overseas) Please state which issue you require or which issue you wish your subscription to start from: issue 1, issue 2, issue 3. Any Cheque or Postal Order must be made out in POUNDS STERLING to Calamus User. OUR POSTAL ADDRESS: Calamus User, PO BOX 148, Deal, Kent, UK, CT14 7QN. TELEPHONE: (UK) 0304-369364 Internet E-MAIL: caluser@cix.compulink.co.uk regards sTTeve Llewellyn 8-) Editor, Calamus User Magazine. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Audio CD Master 3.0 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Audio CD Master allows you to use all audio CD's with your computer's CD-ROM drive. Just place your standard audio CD in your CD-ROM drive and click on Play from the handy desktop accessory. Custom controls let you play selected tracks in the order you want to hear them, play a range of tracks from a CD, or play the entire CD. Audio CD Master works with all monitors, color, monochrome, and broadcast TV. Works with VGA on the Falcon along with color, monochrome or broadcast TV. Audio CD Master works with the entire Atari computer line. Use Audio CD Master with the ST, STe, and Mega series using the ICD AdSCSI Plus or Link. You can direct connect a SCSI-2 CD-ROM drive to the Falcon and TT for use with Audio CD Master. All SCSI-2 CD-ROM drives are supported. A special control file is included for use with NEC drives that use a slightly modified form of CD audio sound playback. The Audio CD Master accessory displays both time and track information for the disc being played. For MultiTOS users who who prefer to use the application as a program rather than an accessory, you can do so. Audio CD Master works with or without ExtenDOS, MetaDOS, or MultiTOS XFS CD-ROM drivers. Work on your letters, use a modem, or do some graphics design while CD audio plays in the background. Use your CD-ROM drive to its fullest potential. Add CD sound to your system. Bring your system into the world of computing in the 90's. You can use Audio CD Master with the phones out on your CD player for personal listening or connect your CD-ROM drive to your home stereo system or powered mini-speakers. //// FALCON FUN Want to add surround sound to your home stereo? Want to sing along with Billie Joel but find him singing an octave too high for you. Bring him down to match your range. Match the high note in Johnny Mathis' version of Oh Holy Night. Find out what Bob Dylan would sound like if he was a Cyborg. Add flanging and other special effects. Add room effects ranging from club to Wembley. See your CD audio on a graphic spectrum. Audio CD Master allows you to control and pipe your CD audio sound into the Falcon for DSP effects using the Audio Fun Machine that comes with your Falcon 030. Using Audio CD Master and the Audio Fun Machine all the above are possible. On the Falcon, CD audio sound can be used with the internal speaker, monitor speaker, or piped out to your stereo system after applying Falcon DSP effects. Digital sound and audio CD can be mixed to add background music to your presentation's narrations or slide shows. Great for us with Photo Show Pro presentations using Kodak Photo CD. //// HOW DO I GET Audio CD Master Ask for Audio CD Master at any of the better Atari dealers. They should have it available shortly. //// I CAN'T WAIT Audio CD Master is available for $29.99 US, postpaid, worldwide, from It's All Relative Software 2233 Keeven Lane Florissant, MO 63031 USA. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Diamond Back 3 Shipping =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Oregon Research is proud to announce a major upgrade to its premier hard disk backup and restore program. Diamond Back 3 began shipping today. Among the enhancements to Diamond Back are: [] A completely redesigned icon and drop down list driven full windowed user interface. [] New Visual Directory tree interface for backup and restore path selection. Easy point and click selection of paths and files. [] Multiple volume removable media (e.g. Syquest, floptical) support. [] Support for ANY SCSI tape drive attached to ACSI, TT SCSI, or Falcon SCSI-2 ports. [] Custom Backup configurations saved with "Human Readable" descriptions that you can remember rather than cryptic 8 character file names [] Backup Logfiles remember EVERYTHING for you. All your backup options and where the files came from. To restore just load a log file and go! [] Multi-Tasking background backups with any version of TOS. Use any event driven ACC while you backup! [] Many more enhancements Diamond Back 3 retails for $69.95 and is available now. Upgrades from previous versions of Diamond Back are $29 + $4 S&H from now until July 31, 1994 and $34 + $4 S&H thereafter. If you have not sent in your registration card then you will need to send you original disk (or a xerox copy of your original disk) with your upgrade order. For more information contact us below or download the Diamond Back 3 demo file #32599 in the GEnie demo library #10. Oregon Research 16200 S.W. Pacific Hwy., Suite 162 Tigard, OR 97224 Phone: (503) 620-4919 FAX: (503) 624-2940 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Space & Astronomy Compact Disc =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Space and Astronomy CD is a collection of images and text files related to space exploration and astronomy. Educators, students and space enthusiasts will love this disc. The disc is made for the TOS, PC, and Mac platforms. The 1,000 image files on the Space and Astronomy disc will dazzle your eye. There are images of the Earth, planets, the stars, astronauts, and space craft. Most of these images are from NASA. You will see the soloar system from the vantage point of deep space probes. You will see portraits of the space shuttle crews and the hardware that makes the missions possible. The 5,000 text files included will fill your mind with detailed accounts of space missions and comprehensive data on space exploration. These files include information on asteroids, NASA news bulletins, NASA press releases since 1962 and Usenet sci.space archives. The Space and Astronomy CD disc includes Atari graphic viewers including a shareware version of DMJ-GIF along with viewers for the Mac and PC. A special disk with additional shareware and freeware GIF viewers is included with a special offer from It's All Relative Software. Get the Space and Astronomy disc along with the bonus floppy for $35.00, postpaid. Send your order to: Randall Kopchak It's All Relative 2233 Keeven Lane Florissant, MO 63031. Voice (314) 831-9482 GEnie or Delphi: GREG CIS 70357,2312 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Mastering AtariWorks =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mastering AtariWorks is a Hypertext Personal Training Guide for the novice, intermediate and advanced user. The novice user will find the simple step-by-step approach and tutorial files an easy way to lessen the learning curve, while the intermediate and advanced user will benefit from the referencing feature. Each AtariWorks command is explained in detail with all the necessary information given on how to use it. Tips and tricks are offered as well throughout the guide to give you ideas on how to exploit each command. The 52 page booklet has over 60 screen-shots of AtariWorks in action explaining documented and undocumented functions. 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 and the Hypertext Personal Training Guide software. A few of the topics discussed are line spacing, GEM Metafile, initial caps, macros, formats, graphics, page numbering, text alignment, SpeedoGDOS information, newsletters, business cards, brochures, database records, multi-columns, rotated text, spreadsheet & chart tutorials, block handling, database overview, Control commands and much more. [] Supports the Word Processor, Database and Spreadsheet modules. [] Quick Start support for the novice user. [] Send online summary to printer, file or clipboard. [] Retrace help summaries. [] Use together with AtariWorks. [] Resolution independent. Supports ST, TT and Falcon resolution modes, and third party video cards. [] Software comes on a double sided disk. [] Requires only 99K of memory. AtariWorks is the first integrated (Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Database) SpeedoGDOS software package ever to be offered for the Atari, and Mastering AtariWorks tells you everything you need to know to start creating documents, while learning the software. Mastering AtariWorks is fast paced and to the point. Prepare to become an AtariWorks power user! Now shipping. Available from your local Atari dealer throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. To order from us, send: (United Sates) $44.95 + $ 3.00 shipping in check or Money Order. (Canada) $44.95 + $ 3.00 shipping in Postal Money Order made out in US currency. (Europe) $44.95 + $ 5.00 shipping in Bank Draft made out in US currency. Spar Systems 381 Autumn Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208 USA Phone: 718-235-3169 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Radio Computer Magazine =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Radio Computer Magazine (a one hour syndicated computer variety show) wants to start coverage of Falcon software and news. Atari has shipped us a 14 meg unit (the hard drive will be here soon). We are looking for music, ways to use the Falcon, interesting stories, etc. Also, we need a list of software companies making products for the Falcon. We already know Steinberg/Jones music. Please spread the word that John Stewart at Radio Computer Magazine is covering Atari on his show. I would love to hear from programmers and companies in the USA, Canada, Europe, etc. RCM talks a lot about PCs, but we really like to surprise people with other ways to go... so it is an ideal area to talk about Atari. Those wishing to know what stations the show runs on should contact the Sun Radio Network. Also I will post it as soon as I can. We are on about 25 stations. And please credit Atari with having the good sense to loan me this unit. PS: newsletters, software, etc. should be sent to Radio Computer Magazine PO BOX 216 Spring Grove, MN 55974. We will look at commercial programs, shareware, etc. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// ROMWARE: Looking for a Few Good Programs =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The CD-ROM publisher ROMWARE is compiling a new shareware and public domain CD-ROM for ATARI. Now we are looking for authors in the CompuServe Atari Forums who would like to see their products on our upcoming CD-ROM. The deadline for authors to contribute their files to this CD-ROM is May 1, 1994 (my birthday BTW). Authors, please tell me the name of your program, actual version number and where to get it via CompuServe. And do not forget to give us your permission, if necessary. Every program is going to be tested by me. If it stands the test, it will be added to the CD-ROM. What we demand is: [] Normal applications must run with any TOS based computer [] Applications should be resolution independent [] Special applications like MOD players should at least abort with an error alert if they do not run on a particular machine [] All rights of the software must be with the contributing author. What we do is: [] We state clearly what the shareware concept is: Try Before Buy [] We do include always the newest versions [] We include versions in different languages, if available [] Our CD-ROM is going to be the cheapest on the market If you want to know more about ROMWARE, our products or the ATARI CD-ROM do not hesitate to contact me via email and ask. Regards, Hayo Schmidt ROMWARE Verlags-und Produktionsgesellschaft mbH Mendelssohnstr. 15d D-22761 Hamburg GERMANY Phone (D)+40-899 58-601 FAX (D)+40-899 58-112 CIS 100101,407 --==--==--==--==-- ||| ||| Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------ We welcome feedback from all of our readers; feedback both positive and negative. Whatever you think of our efforts, we sincerely would like to know. Our EMail addresses are sprinkled throughout each issue - with the new Internet gateway into GEnie, you can reach us through the Internet also. Append "@genie.geis.com" to any of our GEnie addresses. Until the next issue of AEO, I remain, Your Editor Travis Guy Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com --==--==--==--==-- (This issue printed on recycled photons) --==--==--==--==-- DNFTEC --==--==--==--==-- #1 Wide_left > 2*(Wide_right) --==--==--==--==-- No Inflation Necessary --==--==--==--==-- Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a bi-weekly publication covering the entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the beginning of the article, to registered Atari user groups and not for profit publications under the following terms only: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of request. Send requests to . Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All material herein is believed accurate at the time of publishing. --==--==--==--==-- Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS, MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari Portfolio, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. All other trademarks and identifying marks mentioned in this issue belong to their respective owners. --==--==--==--==-- Atari Explorer Online Magazine "Your Source for Atari News" Copyright (c) 1993-1994, Subspace Publishers * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A E O ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 3 - Issue 7 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 23 April 1994 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::