:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 3 - Issue 9 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 6 June 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 :: :: :: :: Contributor :: :: """"""""""" :: :: David A. Wright :: :: :: :: Telecommunicated to you via: :: :: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" :: :: GEnie: AEO.MAG :: :: CompuServe: 70007,3615 :: :: Delphi: AEO_MAG :: :: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 319 :: :: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 :: :: :: :: Internet mailing address: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com :: :: FTP recent AEO issues from: rahul.net:pub/wilsont/AEO :: :: Search gopherspace under "aeo" for back issues :: :: :: :: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu :: :: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Table of Contents * From the Editors ........................ From One Generation to Another. * Rare Gems ......................................... Quotes Worth Quoting. * The Final Dateline: Atari! ................. Bob says "Goodbye" to Atari faithful on GEnie. * Jaguar Tackboard ..................... Development list - T-Bird's Quote. * 64 Bits ................ "AEO at SCES 94" video order form - All Systems Go's Jaguar hard & software - Rumorville. * Andreas' Den ..................... Andreas drops by Atari and looks into the future of Atari computing. * Atari Artist ................... Pete and Fadi sing a LOGICAL song, look into the latest from Wizztronics, and go European on us. * "From a Saved Backup" ..................... Networking, to increase your group's connections. * The Unabashed Atariophile ................... PD and Shareware files for _your_ Atari computer. * Developing News .............................. MIST AtariFest VI CAIN Atari Fun Fest 94 Musicom 2 Announced Photo Show Pro CLUT Atari Compendium Revision Studio Convert From COMPO * 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The talking heads on televison today are correct; we owe our world today to those men of yesterday. To those men, fifty years ago today, who parachuted out of planes, who flew the planes, who sailed the English Channel, who scaled the cliffs, who stormed the beaches, who died, who lived - all to liberate a fallen Europe - we owe a debt to maintain all they gave us. Many of us are a generation removed from those men, and some of us are removed two. For some who did not live through the Second World War (the Russian's Great Patriotic War), the events shown on our televisions over the past few days may seem trite, old and foreign. Boring. But they're not. They are the rememberances of what we were. The echos of what we are. Take a few moments to reflect on what was, and what might have been... if fifty years ago today those young men who dropped out of airplanes into the French night, those men who saw the dawn of a Normandy beach, those men who all offered their lives for their world and for ours, had failed. We'll see you back here in two weeks. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Rare Gems ||| Compiled by: David A. Wright / | \ Internet: dave.wright@magic.org ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for May 8 to 14, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. (Internet: DAVE.WRIGHT@MAGIC.ORG) Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law. Some assembly required. --:Dave === Truth never tranquilizes. The defining property of truth is its ability to disturb. --Solomon Short God gave us memories that we might have roses in December. --James M. Barrie Better over the hill than under it. --Unknown Cream rises to the top. But then, so does scum. --Unknown I live in a world of my own, but you're welcome to visit. --Unknown An unemployed court jester is nobody's fool. --Unknown If you're big enough to push people around, are you big enough not to? --Fox Kids public service spot The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for May 15 to 21, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. (Internet: DAVE.WRIGHT@MAGIC.ORG) Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law. Do not write below this line. --:Dave === I wanted a perfect ending... Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity. --Gilda Radner Take it easy, but take it. --Studs Terkel Nothing is better than music... It has done more for us than we have the right to hope for. --Nadia Boulanger An antique is something that's been useless so long, it's still in pretty good condition. --Franklin P. Jones The place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one, particularly if he plays golf. --Bertrand Russell A great many open minds should be closed for repairs. --Toledo Blade Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you. --Gustav Holst The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for May 22 to 28, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. (Internet: DAVE.WRIGHT@MAGIC.ORG) Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law. We are not responsible for stolen items. --:Dave === Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it. --G. K. Chesterton When I look into a girl's eyes, I can tell just what she thinks of me. It's pretty depressing. --Bob Hope There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. --I Corinthians 15:41 We cannot command Nature except by obeying her. --Francis Bacon My evening visitors, if they cannot see the clock, should find the time in my face. --Ralph Waldo Emerson The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people. --German proverb The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. --Robertson Davies --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Final Dateline: Atari! ||| With Bob Brodie / | \ File Courtesy of GEnie ------------------------------------------------------------------ ========================================================================= (C) 1994 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.Type XTX99437,GENIE and press [RETURN]. The system will prompt you for your information. ========================================================================== Dateline: Atari! with Bob Brodie Friday, June 3, 1994 Host - Lou Rocha "... all good things must come to an end..." <[HoST] ST.LOU> This evening we gather for the final installment of Dateline: Atari with Bob Brodie, Director of Communications for Atari Corp. On this occasion we acknowledge Bob's service to all Atari computer users and wish him the best in his new endeavors. Bob Brodie was a prominent member of the H.A.C.K.S. (Hooked on Atari Computer Knowledge Enthusiasts) user group in the southern California area during the mid-1980's. That group included other prominent Atarians such as RT Sysop Darlah J. Potechin and Glendale organizer John King Tarpinian. From such humble beginnings Bob assisted in many local events, including the Glendale shows. Bob was a mainstay at COMDEX and many Atari festivals during the heyday of the late 1980's and early 1990's. User Groups across the land had the opportunity to welcome Bob to their monthly meetings. He was initially hired by Atari Corp. as the User Group Coordinator, eventually assuming greater responsibilities and the role of Director of Communications in which he has spent the last few years coordinating information among Atari, the press, the dealers and the userbase. These past two years Bob took the challenge of meeting the userbase on GEnie each month. Given Atari's track record and history, this has not been an enviable task. Nevertheless Bob courageously forged on and refused to miss a session despite personal illness or lack of rest. On several occasions Bob logged on from his hotel room after a full day on the floor of a trade show or hoofing the beat to retailers. Bob has been tremendously faithful to the users here on GEnie and has done everything in his power to support the Atari community. He has been prominent on local and international BBS networks. In addition to being very knowledgable about Atari computers, Bob has rarely declined an invitation to support users to the best of his ability, freely giving of his time on and off the job. Dateline: Atari was conceived during one of Bob's regular visits to the STRT Monday Night DTP Conference. The excitement generated by those conferences will be very hard to replace. In addition to the timely information that Bob provided about Atari's plans, he gave the users the opportunity to express their views. These encounters were always handled in a courteous and professional manner for which he deserves our appreciation and admiration. On a personal level, I have enjoyed working with Bob at these monthly meetings and will miss his camaraderie. I sincerely offer my best wishes to Bob and his family on this occasion. Thanks for all the great times. Over to you, Bob.... Thank you for joining me once again, for the final time at Dateline: Atari. For five years now, it has been my privilege to serve Atari Corporation, and Atari owners as an employee of Atari Corporation. With the conclusion of business today, that time came to a close. For me, this is a very bittersweet time. I have accepted an exciting position as Director of Technical Support with GS Corp, a developer of NeXT Step applications. This new position will allow me to spend much more time with family, as well as provide me with a larger salary. On the other hand, it is the conclusion of a job that in many ways was a dream come true for me. I had the great pleasure of turning my hobby into my vocation, something few people are ever permitted to do!! As an Atarian, I am honored that I have been permitted inside the company. I have tried always to bring an end users perspective to the company, and make sure that we always remembered that in our plans. During the course of being here, I have made friends with people from all around the globe!! And of course, within Atari I have a group of people that have labored with me side by side on our products. I am grateful for the people that have made my time as wonderful as it has been at Atari. There are too many to mention in detail here tonight, so I apologize if I have overlooked anyone. But I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge Darlah Potechin, head sysop of the Atari RTs on GEnie, Dorothy Brumleve, President of the IAAD, Travis Guy of Atari Explorer Online Magazine, Nathan Potechin of DMC Publishing, the entire staff of the ST Roundtables on GEnie both past and present, Lou Rocha, the best conference moderator on the planet!!!, Rick Flashman and Dan Wilga of Gribnif Software, The CodeHeads, Ron Kovacs of Z*Net, John Nagy of AtariUser, John King Tarpinian of the Southern California Atari Faire, Bill Scull and Terry May of AtariNet, Neil Harris (formerly of GEnie), Augie Ligouri of Atari Corporation (the man who hired me at Atari!!), Sam Tramiel, Leonard Tramiel, Greg Pratt (formerly of Atari), James Grunke, Don Thomas, and many, many other people. Thank you all for making my time here at Atari such a memorable one!! During my tenure at Atari, things have changed dramatically in the world around us. When I arrived here, Video Games for the home were almost an after thought. We were hard at work on the STE computers, and working on the Atari Lynx, the worlds first portable color gaming system. Now, almost five years later, we're emphasizing the Jaguar, the first 64 bit home game machine, and our computer systems are taking a back seat to that business. During my time here, we have witnessed the rise and fall of many companies in the computer business. Indeed, one of the original designers of the ST, Shiraz Shevji, went out and started up a pen based computer company. The company was successful in the media, but within six months of being featured on the cover on BYTE Magazine, the doors were closed, and the company was out of business. We've seen many PC companies come and go, some have fallen and managed to rise again. Once worthy competitors like Commodore have closed their doors, falling prey to the ever increasing competition in the PC hardware market. In order to survive, Atari has focused their efforts on the Jaguar home system. And that strategy has been effective for Atari. The Jaguar has been well received by the media, and consumer acceptance has been wonderful. But, this is enough of talk about myself and my time here at Atari. I could go on, and on, and on about my time here. There are wonderful memories, fun stories, and a few tears that have been shed over the last five years. Thank you for sharing those times with me. With that, I'm sure that some of you might be interested in Atari related things other than me leaving, so let's open up the floor to our guests tonight, Lou. One last time, let's talk Atari! <[HoST] ST.LOU> Thanks, Bob. Our first /raise comes from Nathan Potechin. <[Nathan @ DMC] POTECHIN> Between Lou and Bob's posts, I hope you all read fast! ;-) Thanks Lou. Knowing Bob as I do, I cannot help but visualize a large, ferocious, Grizzly type creature, hulking possesively over a cracked and tattered, bruised and battered Atari ST. Picture Bob roaring into the wind, defying the assembled masses, paw swiping, hair a flying. I've had the pleasure of listening to Bob speak at shows across North America. I've even spent some time with him at a show in Germany. When I say that Bob has been a credit to the worldwide Atari community, it is no less than the simple truth. He has been a positive force in the Atari community for all the years that I've known him and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him for being himself. Thank you, Bob. Sincerely Nathan Potechin - DMC Publishing Nathan, thank you. Among the most wonderful things that have happened to me in my tenure here has been making wonderful friends. I have enjoyed our relationship, and frankly...I'm not ready for it to end!!! I fully expect to go through about a two to three month time frame of getting settled in the new job... and then be back on here as "one of the guys". Thanks for all of the time that you have spent with me, both in person, and on the phone. You're a true professional, and a credit to our industry. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, our next speaker is fellow RTC Sysop, Brian Harvey.... <[NSACUG PREZ] BRIAN.H> Thanks Lou! First I would like to say I am deeply sorry to see you leaving ATARI Corp. Second, THREE users in my club have already commented that this is the last nail in Atari's coffin since you are leaving and no one, I repeat no one, is taking your job. Can you give us some reassurance that they will hire someone new? Brian, at this point no plans have been made to hire a replacement for me. I have offered my suggestions about who internally could do the things that I do. I have hope that most of those suggestions will be followed. That would mean that my responsiblities would be split up among several other people. However, during a gathering last night, one of our staff members did indicate some interest in taking over EVERYTHING... and he would be really good at it. So I'm hopeful that will work out. But we'll have to wait and see. I have no control over this one. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Thanks, Brian. On to Dark Chyld. <[DarkChyld] R.HALL49> Tos 5.0? <[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, can you answer this question? :-) Regarding TOS 5.0, that would be the next upgrade to TOS, however it has never existed. <[Zombie] R.ANISKO> Just wanted to say "Good Luck!" Bob on your future endeavors, have fun and enjoy them... And to keep the Atari questions rolling, 2 quick questions: 1. Do you have any information on whether AES 4.1 (which is rumored to solve the "sluggishness" of MultiTOS) will be released any time soon? 2. Do have you had any exposure to the "MiNT-Net" project that is going on in the land of internet? AES 4.1 is in MultiTOS beta version 1.08, which has been shipped to developers. At this point, I don't have a release date for that product. And no...I haven't even heard of MiNT-Net... wish you would have asked that while Eric was here saying goodbye! :) <[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, your old buddy, John King Tarpinian would like the microphone.... <[ByeByeBob] JOHN.KING.T> T H A N K Y O U for E V E R Y T H I N G ! ! ! ! ! (That pretty much says it for me.) <[HoST] ST.LOU> Not going to let Bob have a breather, eh? :-) John, thank you! The Glendale Shows have been a wonderful memory and I have appreciated your friendship both online, and in person. I know that we will continue to be friends for the rest of our lives. <[HoST] ST.LOU> We have Dark Chyld again. <[DarkChyld] R.HALL49> I'm confused...How can there be AES 4.1 and NO new upgrade for TOS? Please explain to a humble Falcon owner if I should consign my machine to the deep, dark, tunnel of total abandonment? Also thought that the Sigma-Jaguar partnership is a "PowerMOVE!..Now how about Jaguar-Falcon??? The AES 4.1 that currently exists is in a BETA version of TOS. That's how all software is implemented initally. As to whether you should consign the machine... well that depends more on you than anything that I can tell you. My new system at my job is a powerhouse 66Mhz 486-DX2 with 32 megs of RAM, and a 525 Meg HD running Next Step. My TT030 blows the doors off of it. I personally have NO intention of abandonning my Atari gear. Calamus SL is, in my opinion, better than Quark or Pagemaker. I do a lot of letter writing, and Atari Works is great for that, and Speedo output is gorgeous. And for telecommunications, well... I like Stalker. So I have no plans to abandon my Atari gear. And I will be writing an article for AtariUser Magazine entitled "Why You Should Use an Atari Computer". <[HoST] ST.LOU> Sam Rapp is our next guest, Bob <[:-(] SAM-RAPP> Well, Bob, I guess you realize that you are going to be missed as GEnie's Atari mouthpiece. I can't imagine that anyone could take your place, or that anyone else could stand up to so much pressure. (Especially me bugging you about Jag T-Shirts!) Since this will be my last chance I thought I would go for broke..... You think you could smuggle an ABAQ or Jag Development system out of there tonight? I'll email you my mailing address! ;-) Sam, I haven't ever seen an ABAQ to the best of my knowlege. That product was done at Atari UK... might be one here. I'll ask. :0 No chance for the Jaguar Dev system...they'd notice that. But I do have a special piece of Atari history that I rescued from a junk pile at the old warehouse.... an Atari 1450XLD. And it's mine. :) <[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, our favorite RT Sysop would like to add her comments.... Bob, what can I say... I will miss you but you have no excuse not to check in. I know you types that work at home. You have tons of time. Your kids will think you don't have a real job and even the pjs can stay on. What a life.... <[HoST] ST.LOU> I am envious....... Darlah, I've been walking around the building telling everyone that just because I'm leaving Atari, they haven't seen the last of me yet. :) I'm looking forward to working at home. Maybe I'll get a special pair of work PJs. :) :) <[HoST] ST.LOU> OK.... let's move on to Charles Smeton of NewSTar Technology, home of STraight FAX. Bob, congrats on the new job. Can you tell us a bit about GS Corp, its products, what exactly Next Step is, what machine it runs on etc.? Sure Charles. GS is presently selling technical illustration and graphic arts products into corporate marketplaces. As well as other related products, like scanner drivers and printer drivers. NeXT Step is an object oriented operating system that originated on NeXT Computers. NeXT Step has been ported by NeXT to various other platforms, and NeXT has discontinued their hardware. Currently, NeXT Step runs on a 486, and they are working on a port to Sun, HP Workstations, RISC machines, and others. Thanks Bob, is GS Corp related in any way to Goldleaf S/W? The principal owners are the same, but Goldleaf Publishing Corporation sold all of the rights to their Atari products. GS Corp doesn't own any Atari products. All of their products are NeXT Step. In fact, I'm not even sure that Goldleaf Publishing is still in business. It might have folded. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Thanks, Charles. Next is Sir Fransis.... <[Sir Fransis] K.DRAKE> Bob, there's a lot of wierd and wonderful rumors spinning through the nets to the effect that Atari's got some kind of big surprise in store for CES. Since this is your last chance to drop some juicy tidbits, (be as vague as you like) I was wondering if you could tantalize us! May your sails ever be filled.... Sir Fransis <[HoST] ST.LOU> Do I sense a tidbit coming up? :-) Hi Kenneth.... well I'm really not at liberty to say too much about CES. I can tell you that we have about 35 stations planned for the show, and each one will have a different title on display. We're also creating some dazzling CD ROM demos. I can also tell you that there are about 10 titles that are pretty close (30-60 days) to being ready. As in, they are on EPROMS for preview to mags now. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Ken Helms is next, Bob <[Ken] K.HELMS> Bob, I just wanted to echo "Good Luck and Best Wishes" from all of us in the MidWest. We appreciate the trips you've made to Chicago, Detroit, and Indy (and even Gurnee). Just curious as to what you will be doing for GS (job title?)? Hi Ken... hey I've LOVED my trips to the midwest. Great people, wonderful times. I'll miss the MIST gang!! I will be Director of Technical Support for GS Corp. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Now we have the OTHER John K! <[JOHN] J.KANTARJIAN> Sorry to see you go :( and I hate to ask but when will the next game for the Jaguar be ready? The next title for the Jaguar will probably be Wolfenstein 3D, and Brutal Sports Football is close behind it. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Thanks. Tony Wetmore is next. <[Tony] WETMORE> Hiya again, Bob. First off, congrats etc. on the new job. Hopefully it won't require you to pack up and move the family or anything. Next, do you have any feel for how far off Checkered Flag is these days? [:-) Hi Tony...nope. It's just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge so we won't have to move. I'm sure that we'll be showing Checkered Flag at CES. The last time I saw it, it was much further along. I would expect to see it in the early fall. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Now we have the BirdDog! <[BirdDog] C.BOURGOIN1> Are the Jaguars in Toys R Us Yet? If not, when can we expect to see them in Toys R Us? They are in Toys R Us, but not nationally. I don't have a date as to when that will happen. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Texas Time.... here's Pat Forister! <[Pat] P.FORISTER> Bob, good luck in your new job. Can you tell us anything about new software titles for the Jag? Will there be a Jag Mortal Combat??? Any other news you care to share on the Jag? Will Atari continue these RTCs? Hi Pat...thanks for your warm wishes. I truly appreciate them. There are an amazing number of new titles in development for the Jaguar. Atari has over 160 licensees and subcontractors at this point in time. Everyone asks about Mortal Kombat until they see Kasumi Ninja. I think that will be a game that will make everyone forget about MK. But, to be more factual, Williams license with Akklaim runs thru the end of this year. So unless Akklaim wants to do MK on the Jag, it won't happen until '95. Re the RTCs... not at this point in time. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Richard Brown is our next guest, Bob. I wish you good fortune. How are the new Jag games coming, should we start to see a steady flow of games starting this summer? What besides AvP will be system selling games? What's your favorite Jag game in development? As I just indicated to Pat, there is a terrific number of games in the works. I'm very excited by them. Kasumi Ninja could be a system seller, or Wolfenstein. My favorite game in development? Hmmmmmm.... Club Drive. It's a really unique title. <[HoST] ST.LOU> I would love to see Club Drive myself. Next we have STEVE-J. <[EeEckyThump!] STEVE-J> No punches this time, I promise! What is your opinion/impression of Atari's (i.e. the Tramiels') dedication to computers? Obviously, Atari doesn't have the resources now to pursue the computer side of things, but do you see the Tramiels jumping back into computers as soon as the opportunity presents itself? Hi Steve. I don't see the Tramiels "jumping back into computers" until the profitablity returns to computer hardware, or we have a unique machine that everyone must have. I spoke with Jack about this very subject back in January, before CES. He envisions doing a Jag based computer at some point down the line, but as always (and like all businesses), it must have profit potential. Look at all of the computer companies that have fallen on hard times! Unless a company can be profitable, they will die. Apple recently shipped more computers in a quarter than they ever have in their history but the profits didn't match the shipments. My personal belief is that ALL hardware companies are in for a rough time. The competition is cut throat. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Our next stop is the home of AtariUSER magazine and publisher John Nagy.... <[John Nagy] ATARIUSER> The Z_Net/AtariUser/Bob Brodie connection goes back more than six years, before Bob even imagined being the new Sig Hartmann. He's been much more than a co-worker and colleague, he's been a friend. We weathered many a storm together, survived STR-WARS, and made the world a little safer for Atari owners. I'm pleased to have had Bob offer to do a series of articles for future AtariUser issues (!), which will trickle out in the coming months if all goes better than it has in the last months. (We had another 3.5 quake just 48 hours ago.) Thanks for everything, Bob, and we all love ya. As has been said, your moving on marks the end of an era for us all. Awwwwww, geez John. We have been through an awful lot together. I will never forget the first time you and Ron called me about writing for you. The first of many conference calls. It's been a wonderful time... <[HoST] ST.LOU> On to Chris Krowchuk.... <[Chris @ Comp] C.KROWCHUK1> Gee Bob, I am sure that if you wanted to work at home 2 or 3 days a week all you had to do was give us all your home phone number, we would have called you at home on Sat. Sun. and Holidays. Seriously tho', Best of Luck. GS is lucky to have someone as committed as you. I left mail for you in regards to our earlier conversations and I have one question tonite. Who is going to replace you? Chris, I can hear the complaints from you guys if my daughter answered the phone! :) Which of course assumes that you would get through the phone line with three teenagers in the house! And there have been times that I thought I should have been committed. :) So far, a specific replacement has not been named. They're parcelling out various parts of my duties to a number of people. There is a possiblity that someone will take over the whole thing, but it's not certain. <[Chris @ Comp] C.KROWCHUK1> Will Atari be showing computers at CES? No, we will be showing entertainment products at CES, no computers. <[HoST] ST.LOU> On to James Vogh. <[James] J.VOGH> Bob, best of luck in the new job. Can you describe Star Raiders 2000? (this question seems terribly familiar for some reason :-) If you can't answer that, can you describe the current status of AvP? Hi James. I haven't seen Star Raiders yet. It's still in the "code" part of the project. I would expect something along the lines of what we did with Tempest 2000...take a very popular game, and update it to reflect the capabilities of the Jaguar. Re AvP, we've flown in two programmers from Rebellion to help finish it off here in Sunnyvale, and have also pulled some of our other staff off other projects to assist in finalizing AvP. It should be done by the end of the month. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Our next guest is Dorothy Brumleve, President of the Independent Association of Atari Developers. Madame President....... <[Baaad Dot!] DABRUMLEVE> Bob, I want to thank you for the friendship, assistance and support which has made business a pleasure! Best of luck in your new endeavor! Are you taking that much-needed vacation or jumping right in? Hi Dorothy, I took that much needed three week vacation already. That's why I missed the last Dateline. Whatta guy...take three weeks of vacation, comes back to work and quits!!! I'm going to the new job right away. We have two trade shows to do in the next three weeks. They will all be in San Francisco though, so I can stay home! Thank you for your friendship, your wisdom, and your guidance over the years. I will never forget you showing that very special button at WAACE. <[HoST] ST.LOU> OK, next we have Pat Hulse, without a button :-) <[pat] P.HULSE2> VERY sorry to see you go Bob! The boys in Portland wish you well! What will become of 319? Many of us depend on it for direct connects to the FNET. ...and good luck! Hi Pat. Well that's kinda up in the air. I'm typing on node 319 at the moment. I have asked Atari to run the BBS for 90 days to see how it goes. I have a very capable remote sysop in Bill Scull who keeps it running in top notch shape. If they decide to take the BBS down, then I will put it up. But my pockets are not as deep as Atari's. :-( So that might be a problem for the FNET. I already left a message in the sysops conference warning them of that. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Ken Helms has another question, Bob... <[Ken] K.HELMS> (Pat asked my question so ...) How about the CD ROM drive for the Jag? I love using one with my MSTe. And pricing? If 3DO drops further, will the Jag come down? Hi Ken... the CD ROM development systems are now shipping, and we will be showing it at CES. The price is approx $199. I don't think you will see the 3D0 drop any lower. They have many custom chips on board, and it's simply a more expensive machine to make. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Matthew J joins us next. <[Matthew J] M.SZEWCZYK1> Bob, any idea what will be packed with the CD, when Kasumi Ninja ships and when can we look for the next Jag cart on the shelves? Hi Matthew. We're building in to the Jag CD a cool light show product that works with regular audio CDs, and we're talking about including a CD of Tempest music with it. But that's not firmed up. Kasumi is still in development and we all know that software development is a less than exact science when it comes to timing. The next Jag cart will probably be Wolfenstein 3D. <[HoST] ST.LOU> On to Hassen then Davey <[Hassen] H.HAMMOUD> Hi Bob. Kick some butt in your new job! Now that Atari has over 160 licensees and subcontractors, will Atari try to persuade them into making games and programs for the Lynx and Falcon? Best wishes and good luck. BTW, how about sending a Lynx and Falcon developer's kit to registered Jag developers. It couldn't hurt. :) Hi Hassen. Some of the titles are under discussion for the Lynx to be sure. Re the Falcon, I don't think so. Although I did hear that Atari UK has lined up some European distribution for a couple of new Falcon games... Dino Dudes, Steel Talons, and... darn. I forget what the third one is. Sorry. <[Davey] D.HAUPERT> Hi Bob! Sorry to see ya go. Anyway, while we still have ya, a lot of people have been wondering what the deal was with the AvP intro screen. It looked great from the DHGF pics but is it an animation, stills, does it have voices, music, etc.??? Also, when should it be done with testing? It's a still, Davey. The sound stuff is still being finalized. And it's not in testing yet. Atari has flown two of Rebellion's programmers here to Sunnyvale to get the project done so it can go to test... and we're pulling staff of other projects to help them. We hope that get's it done. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Sir Fransis returns... And why do I keep saying we? I quit!! :) <[HoST] ST.LOU> Is it midnight Bob? Somewhere, Lou. Somewhere! <[Sir Fransis] K.DRAKE> Has anyone there jumped on the idea of getting the IAJD to put out demos on CD's on, say, a quarterly basis? Kinda like an extended support thing! :) Sounds like a neat idea, but one for the IAJD to take up with Bill Rehbock at Atari. Maybe THEY will do it. :) <[EeEckyThump!] STEVE-J> Can you mention any notable (i.e. recognizable) Jaguar developers that have just signed on (and haven't been announced yet)? By the way, my Falcon030 IS an entertaining product! Also, to follow-up my earlier question, is Atari computer development COMPLETELY dead, or just scaled down to the occasional TOS/MultiTOS 'update'? Re the developers, no. Sorry. I agree that the Falcon is an entertaining product...very cool indeed!!! Re the computer stuff, it's not completely dead, but it's certainly not the priority it once was. For instance, the whole reason that topic on Works bugs got started was because Leonard Tramiel wants to fix the problems. He promised me that if we (meaning me, you, and the rest of the ST RT members) help find the bug, he'll see it gets fixed. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Pat Forister is back...... <[Pat] P.FORISTER> Pacific Software is saying that the CD ROM Drive will not be out until December. Any truth in that? What is the E.T.A. of the CD Drive - how about VR Helmet? Thanks Bob... I don't know why Pacific is saying that... I was told the end of summer. Re the VR helmet, no eta. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Now Rene House from CA Thanks Bob for all the great memories. There's a rumor on the BB's that Atari has either already or is willing to license Falcon technology for further development. What do you know? The Falcon is not licensed to anyone. It is an Atari product, and we are the sole producers of it. I am not aware of any other license arrangements at this time, but Atari is looking into the possiblity of developing a music workstation. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Thanks, Bob. Remember Steve Elek? He's back! How could I forget Steve? He can't have my 1450XLD! <[Steve@IMAGE] S.ELEK> Hi, Bob! 1. What's AW version up to! 2. Will you be in South Bend for the opening of the national football hall of fame next year? Hi Steve, the current version of Atari Works that is shipping is 1.207 Re coming to South Bend...Hey, I'd love to be there. But with this new position, I'll have to see what their schedule is. <[Steve@IMAGE] S.ELEK> Bob, what is the future of Atari Users Groups support by Atari Co.? Steve, at this point the user group program has been shelved. There really isn't much activity by the groups at all. I can't remember the last time a group called and asked for a visit. Has Atari considered using Jag tec to make a non-linear video editing system like Avid or EMC? I don't believe so. Atari usually looks for their products to appeal to mass markets. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Well Bob.... here's the last one.. Travis Guy of Atari Explorer Online magazine. <[*] Travis [*] AEO.MAG> Bob, there's a lot of people out there that are going to miss your presence. Over the years, you have come to symbolize Atari... to humanize Atari... for the average user. I know that I will miss having you to pick on. All those phone calls to you - "C'mon, Bob. What's really going on?"... but even more than that, I'll miss these monthly get togethers that we all share here on GEnie. All Good Things must come to an end, and tonight ends a Really Good Thing. I hope I speak for everyone in wishing you and your family peace, prosperity and happiness. We'll miss you; don't be a stranger. Now onto the business at hand; I am honored to be the one to pose the - final- Dateline: Atari question.... Bob, you've been there for some five years now. So before you walk out that door and turn the lights off one last time, could you share with everyone some of the highlights... and lowlights of what you've seen, and maybe even pass on a regret or two? <[HoST] ST.LOU> Nicely done. Hi Travis... wow, that's a doozie! We could be typin' a long time on that one. The highlights include the user group shows... Glendale would be the most consistently good show, I thought that ACE 92 in Toronto was one of the best shows that I've ever done. Of course, I wish that our computer products had enjoyed more success. It's been a real education to be here during the birth of products like the Portfolio, the Lynx, the Falcon.... On regrets... we in the Atari Community seem to have a bit of a propensity to attract users that enjoy to debate. Or is flame a better term? :) I wish that the online wars hadn't been so nasty as they were. Probably my biggest disappointment was seeing a promising publication turn into a gossip rag. And then the same gossip rag turn into a hate rag. And the hate rag turn into a front for mail order advertising and the mail order advertising turn into, what is in my opinion, mail fraud. And all of that cost me what I thought was a friend. The Atari Community had a resource turn on it, take it, use it, and then abandon it after it was stopped... (he) should be ashamed of himself. <[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, this has been a most enjoyable experience for me to act as your host. Your timely visits were always an exciting part of the monthly routine here in the ST RT and you know that these transcripts were distributed to more than 10,000 BBS's around the world :-) You have enjoyed the respect of your peers which is all that a person can desire in their lifetime. I congratulate you and envy you. Visit us when you are set up. I know you will remember us all as your friends. Keep in touch. Lou, thank you for all of your support and help on each of these Dateline: Atari sessions. I know that it has been very late each time that you have hosted these... and I appreciate the sacrifices that you have made to ensure that they have been successful. These past two weeks have gone by far too quickly to suit me. I have so many friends that I wish I would have had the time to call and chat with personally about my departure. And the email that has come in to me from all over the globe has been wonderful. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for taking the time to send along their good wishes. I will still be online here on GEnie, courtesy of Darlah Potechin. My email address will remain the same. And although I will no longer be in the employ of Atari Corp, I welcome the opportunity wherever possible to continue to serve Atarians. This brings to a close a wonderful chapter of my life. In a few mintues, I'll walk out the door of Atari, and start a new one. Thank you, one and all, for all the times that we've shared together. The next job is going to be exciting, but I don't see how it can match this. So for the last time, good night, from Sunnyvale! Thanks for everything. And I'll be seeing you online here on GEnie! Goodnight! <[HoST] ST.LOU> Take care, Bob. Goodnight. /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ /|\ Real Time Conferences in the Atari ST RoundTable are held every Monday (Desktop Publishing and Graphics) and Wednesday (Open House) night at 10:00 p.m. and a HelpDesk is available every Sunday at 9:00 p.m. On the first and third Thursday there is a Programmer's RTC at 9:00 p.m. If you miss a conference, transcripts are made for all formal RTC's (where there is a special guest) and the programming RTC. You will find these transcripts in Library 13 - Atari Archives. Please send your questions, suggestions and comments to RTC$ via GEmail. Thank you. --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- 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 --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| 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). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Internet Jaguar Mailing List =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Anyone with Internet EMail access can join the discussions on the Jaguar mailing list. To "subscribe" to the list, send an EMail to the following address: Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the EMail, include this line: subscribe jaguar-l FirstName LastName (Where "FirstName" is your first name and "LastName" is your last name.) To send mail to be read on the Jaguar list, address your letter to: . It will go to the list server and be sent to the over 200 readers of the list. IMPORTANT: If your mail server charges you by the character or by the letter, please be aware that the Jaguar list can generate dozens, and up to a hundred EMails in a day. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Developer / Game List 1.12 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Editor: The following developers, licensees and game titles have been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of June 3, 1994. Entries in the "S"tatus column reflects any "e"rrors, "u"pdates, "n"ew titles, new "d"evelopers, "?"uestionable listings, or titles that are in "P"roduction since the last AEO list. Titles in brackets (e.g. [Cybermorph]) have been completed and are available in the US. Expected dates are dates that have been provided by the developer. Expected Date or Titles S Developer/Licensee Rating under development " """""""""""""""""" """""" """"""""""""""""" 21st Century Software 9/94 Pinball Dreams 3D Games - Rainbow Warrior - MORE Accent Media Productions - Varuna's Forces CD-ROM Accolade - Al Michaels Announces Hardball - Brett Hull Hockey e - Charles Barkley's Shut Up and Jam e - Jack Nicholas Power Challenge Golf Activision - Return to Zork CD-ROM All Systems Go Q1/95 Hosenose and Booger CD-ROM e Q1/95 Video Jukebox (cart multiplexer) - BIOS Fear CD-ROM - (IR controller station) American Laser Games - Mad Dog McCree Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off 3 (for Imagineer) - World Cup Anthill Industries Argonaut Software - Creature Shock CD-ROM (For Virgin) Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000 - Chaos Agenda CD-ROM - Club Drive *5* [Crescent Galaxy] - MPEG 1 and 2 carts - Star Raiders 2000 - Tiny Toons Adventures - VR Helmet MORE Atari Games Corp. - Arcade Games Using Jaguar Attention to Detail - Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2 CD-ROM - Blue Lightning CD-ROM *7* [Cybermorph] (For Atari) Audio-Visual Magic Bethesda Softworks Beyond Games Inc. 12/94 Battlewheels Q3/94 Ultra Vortex Black Scorpion Software Bjorn Joos/Kris Van Lier Borta & Associates Brainstorm - [x86 Jaguar Development System] Bullfrog Productions Ltd. Q3/94 Syndicate (For Ocean) Q3/94 Theme Park (For Ocean) Clearwater Software Computer Music Consulting Cybervision CyberWare Delta Music Systems Inc. Dimension Technologies Domark Group Ltd. - F1 Racer DTMC - Lester the Unlikely - Mountain Sports - (Miniature Golf) Eclipse - Iron Soldier (helicopters) Elite E-On Eurosoft EZ Score Software Inc. GameTek Inc. Genus Microprogramming Inc. Gremlin Graphics Ltd. 10/94 Zool 2 - UNKNOWN TITLE (racing) - MORE? H2O Design Corp. Hand Made Software - Kasumi Ninja (For Atari) High Voltage Software 10/94 White Men Can't Jump (for Trimark) Hisoft ICD Inc. - Cat Box (AV & comm expansion box) id Software - Doom: Evil Unleashed - Wolfenstein 3D d iThink - (3D simulation) Imagineer Company Ltd. Imagitec Design Inc. *6* [Evolution Dino-Dudes] *6* [Raiden] - Freelancer 2120 CD-ROM e - Bubsy in Clawed Encounters of the Furried Kind (For Accolade) - Dino Dudes 2 Interplay - BattleChess CD-ROM - MORE? Jaleco - Cisco Heat - Bases Loaded - MORE CD-ROM Krisalis Software Ltd. 6/94 Soccer Kid Limelight Media Inc. LlamaSoft *10* [Tempest 2000] (For Atari) - MORE MINTER! Loricel S.A. Manley & Associates Inc. Maxis Software Microids 1995 Evidence 12/94 Commando Microprose - Gunship 2000 - MORE SIMULATIONS MidNite Entertainment 10/94 Air Cars 10/94 Dungeon Depths Q1/95 Assault P Millenium/Teque 7/94 Brutal Sports Football (For Telegames) NMS Software Ltd. Ocean Software Ltd. 12/94 Apeshi- (working title) 1995 Lobo CD-ROM -unnamed- - -unnamed- Phalanx - (Title not available) Photosurrealism - Galactic Gladiators Pixel Satori PIXIS Interactive - Neurodancer CD-ROM Rage Software UK ReadySoft Incorporated - Dragon's Lair CD-ROM - Dragon's Lair II CD-ROM - Space Ace CD-ROM Rebellion Software Ltd. Su/94 Alien vs. Predator (For Atari) Su/94 Checkered Flag II (For Atari) - Legions of the Undead (For Atari) - Hammerhead Rest Energy Sculptured Software Inc. Sigma Designs Q4/94 "Jaguar on a PC" PC card Silmarils 9/94 Robinson's Requiem CD-ROM Sinister Developments Software Creations Team Infinity Team 17 Software Ltd. Tecnation Digital World Techtonics Telegames - Casino Royale - European Soccer Challenge 9/94 Ultimate Brain Games - Super Off-Road Teque London Ltd. Thrustmaster Tiertex Ltd. - Flashback (for U.S. Gold) Titus Tradewest 10/94 Troy Aikman NFL Football Q4/94 Double Dragon 5: The Shadow Falls Trimark Interactive U.S. Gold Ltd. UBI Soft International - RayMan - MORE (American Football) V-Reel Productions - Arena Football - Horrorscope Virgin Interactive Entertainment Ltd. - Dragon - Demolition Man Virtual Xperience - Indiana Jags (platform) - Zzyorxx II (vertical shooter) - Burn Out (m/c racing) Visual Concepts Williams Brothers WMS Industries Zeppelin Games - Center Court Tennis Pts Stars AEO Ratings """ """"" """"""""""" 10 ***** GAMING NIRVANA!!! - You have left reality behind... for good. 9 ****+ Unbelieveable GAME!! - Your family notices you're often absent. 8 **** Fantastic Game!! - You can't get enough playtime in on this. 7 ***+ Great Game! - Something to show off to friends or 3DOers. 6 *** Good game - You find yourself playing this from time to time. 5 **+ Ho-hum - If there's nothing else to do, you play this. 4 ** Waste of time - Better to play this than play in traffic. 3 *+ Sucks - Playing in traffic sounds like more fun. 2 * Sucks Badly - You'd rather face an IRS audit than play this. 1 + Forget it - ... but you can't; it's so badly done, it haunts you. 0 - Burn it - Disallow programmer from ever writing games again. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Developer's Quote =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This issue's quote comes from Doug Engel , GEnie's lovable Thunderbird. Doug shares his views on the 3DO vs. Jaguar Holy Polygon Wars: [] I haven't run any benchmarks one our latest polygon engine, but it should end up taking about 30-35% more time (assuming the same lighting model is used to shade the textures, and depth queue them). Not that I'd prefer a 100% texture mapped CyberMorph... after some of the stuff I've seen recently, it's painfully obvious that Cybermorph suffers from extremely poor use of the Gouraud shading abilities of the Jaguar. Cybermorph also suffers from very bad color choices as well. I'd really like to see a Cybermorph which tastefully combines Gouraud, Textures, and Flat shading where appropriate. Gouraud done right is gorgeous! Look at what it does for the T2K playfields! Combine gouraud with textured stuff, and you'll get killer effects. An interesting side note... Jez San recently spewed out some facts about how hard it is to translate points in 3D and that the 3D math was the limiting factor in the speed of his polygon engines, therefore "Pixels-Per-Second" didn't matter much. I have heard from several 3DO developers statements to the effect that the 3DO's cel engines spend most of their time idle, waiting for the ARM60 to pass them some translated points to render (this is further exacerbated by the fact that the ARM60 is stopped in it's tracks when a cel engine is working on a polygon). So, from a 3DO programming point of view, Jez is 100% correct. From a Jaguar programming point of view, Jez is wayyyyyy wrong. The Jaguar's math capabilities kick @$$ !!! Our 3D engine can stream off translated points faster than any Intel based PC clone currently out. Even with the Jaguar's 64- Bit blitter working it's butt off, (in 64-bit mode, running in parallel on the system bus, at full speed) we had to put in code to prevent it from getting backed up with polygon data from the GPU! The reason for this huge advantage is that the Jaguar's parallel architecture allows the GPU to be "doing the math" while the Blitter is rendering polys. Even if the PC had a Jag blitter, it wouldn't be as fast, 'cause the Jags math is indeed faster. The PC is further slowed by the fact that it has to move the pixels with the CPU, just as the 3DO's ARM-60 is 'offline' during a polygon render. Cybermorph was written using a very early polygon engine, which (I estimate) is about 1/3 the speed of the latest stuff (which can be improved upon if you're going to make it less 'generic'). Battlemorph should rock! --==--==--==--==-- ||| 64 Bits - Jaguar News ||| By: Tal Funke-Bilu / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I'm back from a damn good Nightmare Doom session, and one long day of BBQing Daemon Heads (read "ribs and chicken") to talk about that sexy beast of a machine, the Jaguar. Talk about exotic apparel! Atari has one heck of a deal going on right now. You can own your very own genuine Jaguar Tee or Jaguar Cap for only $13.95. I just received mine in the mail, and I must say Atari did an EXCELLENT (please say in cool T2K voice) job. You've got the Jaguar logo on the front, with a set of eyes and a large Jaguar logo on the back. Way cool, especially for a night on the town. The hat is also very nice. Apart from displaying the Jaguar logo (and Atari+Fuji) prominently across the front of the hat, it also keeps your head warm and your hair out of your eyes! A great bargain for slick black cotton canvas headgear. If you are interested in either, just send $13.95 + $4.95 shipping and handling (check, money order, Visa, or Mastercard) to: Atari Corporation P.O. Box 61657 Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1657 (They also have Jaguar polo shirts for $19.95, if you're Yuppy enough.) Be sure and tell them what you want and where to send it. CA residents please add 8.25% sales tax. Prices are good (in U.S. currency) for North American destinations only. If you live outside of North America, and want one of the above, please EMail me at and we'll see if we can work something out. But don't go out and spend all your money yet! Why? Let me allow Travis to butt in here: <<< AEO Summer CES 1994 Videotape Offer! >>> In two weeks, Tal Funke-Bilu will be travelling to Chicago to experience the excitement of the 1994 Summer Consumer Electronics Show. That's right, AEO's resident Jaguar Junkie will be in Chicago to report to all AEO readers the happenings of the biggest electronics show of the summer! Here's Tal back, to fill you in: Thanks Travis, for such a warm and spontanious introduction. What does my getting to go to Summer CES 1994 mean to you? Well I wish it meant that you could all come with me to play Kasumi Ninja, AvP, DOOM, etc., but it just can't be done. I feel kind of guilty having all that fun by myself (even Travis, our esteemed editor, will have to sit at home and wait), so I'm going to have to give you the next best thing. First off, I will be responsible for uploading to Travis the AEO SCES 1994 SPECIAL EDITION. That's right, an entire issue of AEO dedicated to the SCES. This issue will include everything I can find, not just Atari news. You'll get reports from behind enemy lines, including everything that 3DO, Nintendo, Sony, etc. are up to, for better or worse. But what else? I figured that you, the loyal Atari community, would want more than just a special SCES issue... so, I'm going to bring along a camcorder, a ton of battery packs, and I'm going to bring along a ton of tapes. The final product? A NTSC-standard VHS videotape (We'll be using the highest quality VHS tapes we can find) containing approximately 2 hours of Jag-packed excitement. We're calling it the "AEO at SCES 94" video. I'm talking long (direct video, where possible!) clips of the latest Jag games (over 20 titles are predicted to be there), interviews with developers and Atari employees, cameos by industry giants, and MUCH MUCH MORE. If he feels up to it, Jeff Minter might even make a guest appearance from Sunnyvale, or quite possibly, from the sunny shores of Cambria, CA. Not only that, but I've just gotten word that the first 100 AEO videotape orders will receive a free Jaguar Bumper Sticker! And, even later word tells me that by special arrangement with Atari Corp., we should be able to include Atari Jaguar commercials! (Why am I excited that we'll have commercials? Only because many of you haven't seen them yet, and they're cool.) AEO is flexible! Feel free to EMail me as to what you would prefer to see covered outside of the Atari news (i.e. would you prefer to see more 3DO coverage as opposed to Sony PSX info or vice versa, etc...) and I will be sure and incorporate your suggestions into the final video. On GEnie, EMail me at EXPLORER.5. For Internet users, I can be reached at . Order Now! Get the lowest rates! You'll see Atari in Chicago. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// The "AEO At SCES 94" Nitty Gritty =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Amount So here's the scoop. The cost of the video will be $12.50 if you order before the SCES begins on June 23, and $17.50 if you order afterwards. Shipping and handling will be $2.90 (Priority Mail) if you live in the U.S.; $4.00 for Canadian and Mexican orders; $7.00 for European orders; and $9.00 for orders to Australia. California residents will need to add 7.25% sales tax. All prices quoted are in U.S. dollars. We cannot be responsible for lost or misdirected mail. The first 100 videotape orders received will get a free Jaguar bumper sticker in addition to the tape. This offer expires July 31, 1994. After that date, orders for the "AEO at SCES 94" videotape will be filled at a higher rate. //// Payment Methods & Where to Order Only personal checks drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. currency; cashiers checks drawn from U.S. or large international banks in U.S. currency; or money orders payable in U.S. currency (Preferred!), will be accepted. Make all instruments of payment payable to Tal Funke-Bilu, and send them to: AEO SCES Video Offer c/o Tal Funke-Bilu 597 Huntington Cambria, CA 93428 //// Turnaround and Shipment We anticipate as quick a turnaround time in producing and mailing the videotapes as possible. Orders paid via personal checks will incur a slight delay as the check must clear your bank first. If you provide a valid Internet mailable address, we will be able to confirm receipt of your order, and shipment of your tape. The postal authorities promise prompt delivery (U.S. orders will be sent via Priority Mail), but all we can guarantee is that the tapes will be put in the mail promptly. All foreign orders must go through Customs. Here is an un-snazzy order form to help you on your way: ----------------------------- > clip > ---------------------------- Name: ________________________ Phone:___________________ Mailing ________________________ Internet address address: ________________________ ________________________ (For Confirmation) #9# # # # # # # # # # # # # City:_________________ # # Mail this order form to: State/Province:_________________ # AEO SCES Video Offer # c/o Tal Funke-Bilu Postal Code:_________________ # 597 Huntington # Cambria, CA 93428 Country:_________________ # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Please send me ____ copy(es) of the AEO SCES 94 video at $12.50 each if postmarked before June 23, and $17.50 each if postmarked on or after June 23.... $ ___.__ US Shipping & Handling: $2.90 per video Canadian & Mexican Shipping & Handling: $4.00 per video European Shipping & Handling: $7.00 per video Australian Shipping & Handling: $9.00 per video.... $ __.__ California residents add 7.25% sales tax.... $ __.__ Total.... $ ___.__ Make all instruments payable to: Tal Funke-Bilu Important Notice: AEO wants to provide our loyal readers with the best possible coverage of Atari Jaguar events at Summer CES 1994. Every effort will be made to attend, record and distribute the video as offered. However, you should know that no instrument of payment you send will be deposited or cashed before the production begins. In case of accident, illness, or an Act of God or of Fate, all orders will be returned. ----------------------------- > clip > ---------------------------- OK, enough advertisements... let's get to some real news. I've been itching to sit down at my keyboard and type in all of the Very Good Things I have dug up over the past week since the release of the AEO Jaguar Special Edition #2. [] Let's start off with some news I'm sure every Jaguar owner will be sure to enjoy. It looks like the 6th Jaguar game to hit the shelves will be brought to you from the kind folks at Telegames. That's right, Brutal Sports Football has entered production. Get ready to use weapons, hurdle fire balls, and do just about anything to get by your opponent and score. Production usually takes anywhere from 4-8 weeks depending on the methods used, so it is safe to expect this title anytime in July. [] I had the opportunity to talk with some VERY nice people at ASG (All Systems Go) last week, and am sure you will enjoy the results. Many of you have seen their adds for their VJ (Video Jukebox) in various mags and have been quick to point out that they mention the Jaguar as one of the versions being made. This was quickly confirmed, but with a slight hitch. It seems they expect the Jaguar VJ to be completed by Christmas. That is fine, although they plan on distributing it to distributors only, most likely for use in Jag-kiosks for store displays. What about the end user? ASG mentioned that when the time comes, the die-hard end user could most likely order their own personal VJ from ASG directly. The MSRP will most likely be $49.95. [] ASG's hardware doesn't stop there. Following the VJ, ASG plans to release the Jaguar control station. ASG described this working wonder as "The couch potato's dream." A small infared receiver will attatch to your Jaguar's joypad ports allowing remote communication with the "station" itself, situated a certain distance away (most likely 15' to 20', but don't quote me on that ). If you haven't already figured it out, your JagJoypads will plug into the station allowing an extended playing range, but the fun doesn't stop there. The station will enable you to activate various game playing features such as rapid fire, slo-mo, etc., without having to buy another special joypad! Sound too good to be true? There's more...the station will come with a universal remote control that will support the VJ, control station, and a wide range of TVs and VCRs! Look for this in early '95. [] Moving on to software, ASG keyed AEO in on their upcoming Jag game, Hosenose and Booger. Keep in mind that ASG is primarily interested in doing polygonally rendered games in real time. When asked why they chose to do Hosenose and Booger in the first place, they said "It was too funny to pass up." They described it as an action platform adventure. You will do battle with all sorts of human fluids, substances, products, viruses, etc, all inside Hosenose's infested body. While it may sound rather humorous, H&B is being taken very seriously by ASG. H&B was in design for over a year before any code was even written. They are committed to making H&G the Jaguar's Sonic or Mario. They emphasised superb gameplay and unreal comical graphics as two key features in H&B not to mention the downright gross creatures you come across throughout the game. H&B is definately planned to be out before Christmas, in fact, ASG reported that they were hoping for a late fall release. I can't wait! [] Just when I thought it was safe to say goodbye, they bombarded with me with more information, this time regarding BiosFear. Here is where their polygonal rendering comes into play. ASG developed their own polygonal rendering software on the PC and are currently porting it to the Jaguar. This custom software helps the user create virtual polygon worlds. When asked about the terms used, ASG used a simple comparison to explain the complexity of BiosFear. To sum it up, Cybermorph, StarFox, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter... all crap compared to BiosFear. They kept pretty quiet about the main details of the game, but made sure that they would keep AEO updated as time progressed. I won't let ASG hog my entire section, so let's move on.... //// Rumourville Interesting Rumour--Sega has yet to ship out 32X development systems. Good Thing--No new reports of AvP delays. Not So Good Thing--AvP hasn't made it to production, though. Good Thing--Clear Club Drive screenshots in the latest Die Hard GameFan. Good Possibility--Imagineer reported that Kick Off 3 shouldn't be expected until Christmas. After talking with them, I got the impression that they wanted the Jag version to take advantage of the system's capabilities, rather than just being a clone of the other versions. Good Thing--Checkered Flag II (The name "Redline Racing" has been red- penned) has hills and banked turns. Good Rumour Gone Bad--It's been said that Time-Warner Interactive (Tengen) may be signed on and working on STUN Runner and Steel Talons. A phone call to California shot that down. Good Rumours Under Wraps--A multi-multi-platform beat'em up will rise its head on Jaguar though. Another Jaguar developer has picked up the gauntlet of challenge. More cryptocity in the next AEO. Good Thing--My new Tempest 2000 high score is 3,796,325 - reaching level 72 in Beastly Mode from level 1. Great Thing--The Knicks are in the NBA finals. Funny Thing--Jaguar game boxes are the same size as the original 2600 game boxes. I know I promised you an interview with Juli Wade, but after she had answered all of our questions, she quit her job at Atari, making the interview "cold". I can assure you, though, that you will have one with an Atari employee next issue.... And with that note I leave you with these final words sent in by alert reader Lewis Johnson from the Nov. '92 EGM: "...Yours truly has finally zeroed in on the developer of the super secret Atari Jaguar project! As the Q-Mann pegged previously, the system is being designed in Europe by a company contracted by the Tramiel Trio. The 64-Bit (Yeah, right) miracle machine supposedly uses RISC-based technology to produce shaded polygon images like those found in Virtural Racing (deja vu)! The hardware house responsible for Atari's last gasp is called Flare. Look for a debut around the Summer '93 CES where Atari hopes to have 20 titles ready to go! 20 Games with no development staff? No way Hans, no way..." --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- 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! --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| Andreas' Den ||| By: Andreas Barbiero / | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- //// Views and news from the heart of Atari. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Atari in Sunnyvale and instead of the chance to get a sneak preview of all things Atari, I was confronted with the bad news that Bob Brodie has resigned. Looking back on it, I saw that it is bad news more for us than for Bob. During my face to face time with Bob I realized that he has gone through a great deal of soul searching to reach this decision, and being a father myself, I realize that the ability to spend time with my family is more important than just about anything else. Bob's decision to go was not driven by any impending doom at Atari, but from what is best for his family. I can respect that. For everything you have done, thank you Mr. Brodie. Another thing that I wanted to see for myself was the climate at Atari for the production of computers. Many people laugh at the concept of Atari making it big in computers again, but then do they really need to? If they can keep the users happy with new technology (or at least Atari technology), who cares? A million or so new units sold worldwide can keep the new software coming and generate sufficient revenue. Does Atari realize this? I think they do. Can they offer the jaded computer community anything? Yes, they still have a few cards to play that could give greater value to an Atari built system than the mass-produced clone machines. Not only does Atari have the Jaguar chipset to use, but there is rumor of an enhanced chipset that runs about 2X the speed of the current, while still maintaining compatability. A small two piece case with this type of hardware could entice even the hardest heart back to Atari. A real 32bit bus, 40MHz '030, PCI card slot, and 4 MB of RAM would be really nice. Heck, with a 55 MIPS or better graphics system, who needs a 100MHz PPC601? Well, maybe someone does, and with the killer PPC604 chip arriving soon prices of the 601 series are due to drop. Waiting to make a powerhouse computer may not be a bad idea; having a few JagCD games, a cheaper PowerPC chip, and a solvent Atari may make the difference between victory and defeat. Microsoft is releasing its OS in multifarious forms, further confusing the marketplace, there are TWO Pentiums, three PowerPC chips and at least 3 new Pentium clones on the way. In a world of CD-ROM sized operating systems and 30 megabyte word processors, the simplicity of TOS 5 will be all the more welcome. Right now the major emphasis for Atari is getting the Jaguar CD-ROM system out the door. Products on time and on the money is what is important to maintain the impetus for the Jaguar, and all hands are standing to on this project. I am confident that work on TOS 5, SpeedoGDOS as well as AtariWorks will be continued as soon as time and business sense allows. Before we start screaming for a more powerful computer, (YES! They would love to make your dream Atari come through!) there are other things to consider. Think about the possibilites of IBM making a PowerPC chip with an 80X86 core to remove any software emulator bottleneck and the porting of a TOS-compatable OS to the PowerPC allowing TOS programs to run natively. Drooling, aren't you? Rumor has it that an established Atari developer is doing just this. Still, for the meantime we have inexpensive ways to get a 48MHz TT030 and a 32MHz Falcon030. The CaTTamaran from Cybercube is shipping. This tiny add-on is plug and playable for TT030 motherboards with a revision "G" or later, and only requires about two soldering connections on older boards. The increase in clock speeds from 32MHz to 48MHz will provide a 150% to 200% increase in application speeds for only about $99. Take a look at the cost of Intel OverDrive chips and you will see what a bargain this is. I have been promised a review unit from Cybercube, and as soon as I get it, some serious testing will occur. There has been a confusing number of Falcon030 add-on boards promising everthing from 32MHz clock speeds to 68040 chips. The simplest, and cheapest one so far is from System Solutions in the UK. Called the Power Up 2, this tiny module relies on the fact that most 16MHz '030 chips can be driven to 32MHz without a problem. Installation is not for the technically dis-inclined, but is not difficult if you have the basic skills. There are eight wires to solder to various points on the motherboard and one resistor to remove. Without adding RAM to the system separate from video contention (video will demand RAM clock cycles from the CPU when they are needed, slowing down the computer's ability to access RAM and consequently run programs), or adding cache RAM, there is no real way to speed up the Falcon beyond what the standard RAM will allow. Compared to any other Falcon accelerator, this is the best for the money. For the ST owners out there, the first accelerators were the accelerators that ran the 68000 at 16MHz. This wasn't enough for some people, so then came 20MHz, and 25MHz versions. Not to be outdone by the likes of Jim Allen, System Solutions in the UK are marketing 28MHz and ultimately a 36MHz 68000 with 64K of external cache. These are not readily available in the USA, but may be available from some dealers. Ultimately I would like to see the PAK/3 boards make it to the USA. These German cards are quite cheap and allow for inexpensive 68020 and '030 chips to be run at high speeds. Rumor has it that there will be a Fast-RAM version as well as one which will allow MegaBUS video cards to be added to any ST/STe. I have heard of people who run 64MHz '030s in a otherwise stock STfm! There are other ways to speed up your computer, and as informationg comes in, I will be sure to pass it on to you! Next month I will discuss a few more ways to speed up your Atari computer with a full article on as many as I can learn about. Looking back on the past, I see a glimpse of the future. Commodore spent big bucks a few years ago advertising on TV, and everyone said that Atari should have done the same. Well, unfortunately Commodore is no more; but Atari is still here. Jaguar commercials are on cable TV, and an extensive print campaign has the market targeted perfectly. Glance through any videogame magazine and there is an amazing Atari presence with a great deal of cover-time for the Jaguar and the Lynx. 3DO is also spending money on ads - big money. I doubt that their return on the ad dollar is as good as Atari's, and after reading about financial dealings with 3DO, for a while there, I would have ventured to say their fate may be right behind Commodore. There are a bunch of new games in progress for the Jaguar, and these are real games, not video demos with a bit of gameplay to fill up the empty spots. Atari Explorer has made headway with getting review ROMs, even working our way into getting EEPROMs that are not 100% complete. This will allow us to give an advanced look at new games and give you an idea of what is to come. The software doldrums should be over this month and the Summer CES should premier at least twenty new games for the Jaguar, and that will definitely spur sales. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Atari Artist ||| By: Peter Donoso & Fadi Hayek / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [ ATARI ARTIST ] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Well, so far this first half of '94 has turned out to be a seismic movement of events! First, the demise of Commodore Electronics Ltd. and Commodore's U.S. operation, followed by Commodore International having also gone to voluntary liquidation. Though talk is rampant concerning their divestiture of Commodore's still valuable and feasibly marketable computer line to a third party so as to reduce their outstanding debt, apparently Commodore Business Machines Ltd.(UK) (a separate entity?) is purporting to "continue trade as usual." Most recently, having been faced with family concerns that required that all-too elusive commodity of the corporate world - the luxury of one's own time - long-time Atari associate and Director of Communications Bob Brodie made a tough decision and came to the reluctant conclusion that he had to leave Atari so as to be able to spend more time with his family. As far as concerns Commodore, though neither of us personally own Amigas, both Fadi and I nevertheless have watched with admiration, respect and even the occasional expression of awe as we've seen some really amazing things done with Commodore's "videoputer." No one can argue that the impact of such third party applications as the Video Toaster made video production an affordable and viable offering for small independent producers everywhere. Certainly, the entire west coast/LA community would have sunk into the ocean long ago without their Amigas. Amiga owners have had the good fortune of two Mac emulator products to choose from, both of which run System 7 in full color. On the Amiga 4000, they're both able to maintain a pretty impressive rate of processing speed in comparison to their real-life counterparts. The graphics used in the original Babylon 5 two-hour premier episode were largely Amiga-generated, and Nutek just recently decided to go ahead and release their Video Toaster Flyer product, which now offers a non-linear editing environment on an Amiga 4000 for seamless video mixing and editing. Ironically it was Jack Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corp. who co-founded Commodore and put them on the map with the PET, Vic-20, and the legendary Commodore 64. Atari's restructuring and radical down-sizing, though certainly a shock to the Atari community at the time, has in the long-run been certain to have saved them from falling to a similar fate. Though some Atari users called them "arch-enemy", especially in Europe, the truth is that the demise of any major platform affects all computer users everywhere. Both Fadi and I personally work each and every day with what we consider to be the three major personal computer platforms out there: Atari, Mac and Windows/DOS. We find each has their strengths, though we obviously both have a special place in our hearts for Ataris and all the things that they can do... and do incredibly well! We both have had numerous run-ins with those who view their chosen platform, be it any and every which one out there, akin to a having been swept up in a somewhat religious fervor. Viewed in this context, the "my computer rules and yours sucks!" vernacular seems perfectly understandable. But we like to think of computer users in a much larger and integrated sense as a world community; certainly the opening of the Internet to the greater number of regional networks and bulletin boards has shown that any user with a CPU capable of generating ASCII text can communicate without regard to processor, speed, programming language or interface. Indeed, the time is soon approaching when users will be able to successfully run multiple platforms using a single CPU, thereby inviting outsiders to join any number of "digital congregations" without fear of either crash or binary reprisal..As for now, we're all viewing our world from a common monitor. On the departure of Bob Brodie, we are sad to see him go and wish him all the best at his new position, where he'll be doing what he always has gotten a thrill out of: working with computers and being online. Unfortunately as of now we understand that Atari has no plans to bring someone aboard to try and fill Bob's shoes... a decision we hope they will reconsider. As Atari's representative both on-line and off, Bob provided Atari Corp. with a link to the greater Atari community, one which proved to be of value to all concerned. --==-- And now, the news.... This issue, we've got the latest news on E-Magic's LOGIC & LOGIC AUDIO FALCON, an update on Wizztronic's products due for a July official release, as well as some new and exciting products from third-party European developers. And away we go.... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ MUSIC NEWS ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// E-Magic To Release LOGIC AUDIO FALCON =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Having successfully evolved the popular Notator/Creator MIDI sequencer and sequencer/scoring packages (formerly developed by C-Lab) into the totally revamped and much improved Notator Logic (often referred to simply as LOGIC), on both the Atari and Mac platforms, E-Magic proceeded to develop a digital audio version for the Mac. Those long-time Atari Notator users have been frothing at the keys for E-Magic to port their successful digital audio version of LOGIC over to the Falcon. Now, at long last... the wait is over! LOGIC AUDIO FALCON has indeed arrived, and boasts an impressive list of features which take full advantage of the Falcon030's DSP capabilities. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Makin' Tracks =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= With a full-blown 14MB of RAM aboard the Falcon030 and an external hard drive with a minimum of 8 millisecond access time, LOGIC AUDIO FALCON can handle up to 8 tracks of digital audio. Using the Falcon's internal 80 meg hard drive (alternate internal drives up to a half gig are also available from third parties) with the same 14MB of RAM will yield 2 to 6 tracks, depending on the size and number of audio regions. The number of possible audio tracks can vary because short audio regions are cached in RAM, bypassing the need for any SCSI DMA direct access to a hard drive. With the standard Falcon 4MB of RAM, LOGIC AUDIO FALCON is capable of yielding up to two tracks when using the Falcon's internal hard drive - while the number of tracks increases to between 2 and 6 tracks of digital audio when using an external fast-access hard drive, again depending on the number of audio regions. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Main Features =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= [] You can play back 6 tracks and then mix down to 2 tracks along with MIDI in real time, as you listen. The program offers an "ultra-fast Mix-Down mode" to allow merging of more than 8 virtual audio tracks into one stereo or mono file for unlimited digital bouncing of multiple audio tracks. [] DSP support includes Panning and Volume, as well as Time Compression and Expansion, and Pitch Shifting, all of which can be applied to an audio track in one pass. [] On-board DAT backup is included for any DAT player utilizing a AES/EBU or SP-DIF interface. [] Support for TOS hard drive partitions, allowing access to any hard disk, including the Falcon030's internal hard disk. Digital audio files are written in a contiguous format to assure error-free reliability. [] Large monitor support, including the use of virtual screens as applied by the "Screen Blaster" and "BlowUp" video enhancement hardware. [] Support for using Steinberg's Soundpool digital I/O interface, which will enable the use of any standard DAT or Apogee converters to obtain optimal quality sound. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Still To Be Implemented =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Unfortunately, as of this current debut version, LOGIC AUDIO FALCON does not offer a host of the Mac version's more amazing digital audio tricks of digital legerdemain. Some of LOGIC AUDIO MAC's most unique and intriguing features - capabilities not found on ANY other digital audio platform that I know of - include: [] AUDIO TO SCORE STREAMER - Accurately transcribes velocity, note duration and pitch from a monophonic digital audio file into a MIDI sequence in realtime. Sequence can be printed out as an actual score. [] AUDIO TO MIDI GROOVE TEMPLATE - Quantize a digital audio file using a MIDI quantize template. [] GROOVE MACHINE - Digitally "re-groove" an audio file. You can, for example, convert your favorite Barry Manilow soundtrack into a slammin' House version! (Is this a wise thing to do??? Who's to say? That's just the LOGIC of it all.) Back when Digidesign developed Sound Tools for both Atari and Mac, users would look to the latest version of one release to see what would eventually be incorporated into their platform's next update. For quite a while the Atari version had a number of features that the Mac version kept on promising to implement. Could this be a return to those days of bated anticipation and rivalry? It will remain to be seen. E-Magic has no set plans to implement these features in the next update, but that could very well change as their popularity grows on the Atari platform. Just as an aside, sadly (and I might add rather foolishly, in my opinion), Digidesign decided to stop developing their product for the Atari platform; a great loss, considering how really smoothly it runs on my Atari Mega ST. I know. I've made my money back, and then some, using Digidesign's Atari Soundtools. Hopefully the large previously- established Atari Notator user base will warrant continued support by E-Magic for the Atari platform. Cost of the upgrade for registered owners of NOTATOR LOGIC to LOGIC AUDIO FALCON is only $149.00. The complete program retails for $549.00. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Notator Logic - Version 2.0 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= E-Magic also announced a new version of NOTATOR LOGIC on both Atari and Mac platforms. LOGIC 2.0 will be shipping around the 3rd week of June; they're just waiting for manuals to arrive from the printer. New features have been added to a number of areas of the program: SCORE SECTION [] Freely-definable and transposable guitar tabulature - also handles 5-string bass. [] Transposable chords and symbols [] Multiple Bar Rests allows you to print only what you need from any section. [] Local formatting of sections, with a compliment of new tools to facilitate easy layouts. [] Grace and independent graphic notes. SEQUENCER SECTION [] A brand new look with full color support and sizable menus. [] A group of new environment objects to add: fader variation knobs, switches and vector-based objects. [] MIDI Remote Control for key command functions via MIDI definitions. [] DNA Grooves Q-Strength,Velocity and Length, and unlimited number of grooves. [] Freely-definable Sys-Ex faders & knobs. [] Enhanced MMC (MIDI Machine Control) support, including Alesis' BRC. Version 2.0 is available FREE to all registered users. For further information, contact E-Magic at (916) 477-1052 voice - 738-1668 fax. --==-- Steinberg's next update of CUBASE AUDIO FALCON is said to be in its final stages of beta-testing. Reports are that it is now rock-solid, recording up to 16 tracks of digital audio. Release is scheduled between the end of July and the middle of August. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ HARDWARE NEWS ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Wizztronics Announces Deka2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Wizztronics has bought all rights to the original Deka PC keyboard interface, which allows the use of a PC keyboard with your Atari. They've completely redesigned the inner workings of the unit, and fixed the previous bugs - the major one being a tendency for the keyboard to intermittently spit out erroneous characters. Deka2 (Detachable Extended Keyboard Adaptor) will still be housed in the same 3"x 4" by 1" high unit, with a standard PC keyboard 5-pin DIN input alongside a standard Atari RJ-45 keyboard interface plug, both located on the same end. On the other end are two standard 9-pin joystick ports for your mouse and joystick. The unit is totally plug-n-play, and will allow any and all Atari ST/TT/Falcon models to use a PC XT/AT keyboard. The Deka2 is proudly made in the USA. List price will be $99. Orders are being taken now. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- //// Falcon Cases Finally Ready =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Orders are now also being accepted for the July release of Wizztronics' Falcon Rack Case. Specifications have remained the same, with the exception of possibly adding a stereo 1/4" input jack on the front panel for plugging in a guitar or keyboard or CD player. A PC board assembly containing the Deka 2 will be onboard as standard in the Falcon Rack Case. Prices have been somewhat simplified. The Falcon Rack Case, which includes a 200 watt internal replacement power supply & the Deka2 keyboard interface will sell for $395. Additional Options: Internal hard drive mounting kit $ 20 SCSI cable kit with IDC 50 and dual Centronics connectors $ 35 Input/Output patch cable kit for converting stereo mini-plug from original Falcon housing to Falcon Case $ 20 Those users who want stripped-down alternate configurations without power supply and keyboard interface will still be able to opt for them, and should call Wizztronics for details. 1040 and MegaST users may have to wait a little while longer, as the additional cost in adapting these models to a rack case housing will have to be assessed. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Barracuda 040 Waiting For Atari Corp. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= After successfully troubleshooting some annoying and often frustrating technical obstacles the Barracuda 040 accelerator is nearing completion to be ready for production. At present the only remaining obstacle concerns working out some last minute details with Atari Corp. in regards to licensing TOS. According to Atari Corp., their legal department should have the necessary paperwork done by June 10th. It's been a long, hard road, and Atari users have been more wound up than a four year old on Christmas Eve in expressing their "can't wait, can't wait, just can't wait" excitement, with more calls coming in to the Wizztronics' office from all over Europe every day. Perchance the recent major Atari shows held in Birmingham, Manchester and Norfolk, England and in Glasgow, Scotland may have something to do with the sudden surge in interest. Brad Koda from Best Electronics was there touring the show with his assortment of parts, peripherals and everything Atari. Steve Cohen gave Brad an actual finished board to display at the shows, and got a lot of eager responses. If Atari keeps to their estimated timetable, Wizztronics will finally be ready to roll for as soon as a possible end of July release, and will begin to take actual deposits for orders by the end of June. Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly on Atari's end. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Medusa 040 64MHz =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A recent peek into the Medusa TT 040 (running at a blistering 64MHz clock speed) has revealed an architecture which touts both a number of smartly-designed improvements over the original TT alongside some very interesting hardware options. Capable of running at up to 15 times the speed of the original TT, the Medusa's 68040 board is snugly nestled beneath some rather formidable looking heatsink fins. 4 special EPROMs contain the somewhat modified licensed version of the TOS 3.06 operating system. (Editor: At this time, AEO is not aware of final Atari Corp. approval of this license.) The rear of the housing will accommodate 72-pin SIMMs for an optional total of 128 megs of additional RAM. Taking a cue from the PC and Mac world, the major new innovation is the addition and implementation of a number of both 16 and 32bit slots. These forward additions afford this "Super TT" the ability to take a very open, modular approach to hardware add-ons. Possibilities include multiple VME as well as other standard busses, such as the industry standard PCI format, for incorporating video, graphic and DSP cards for digital audio. Rumor also has it that the existence of numerous, older MegaST bus-specific cards still in circulation are being considered as warranting the additional ability to incorporate these cards into the Medusa as well. This would mean that older hardware, such as Digidesign's Atari Sound Tools card, as well as a number of Mega ST specific graphics and video cards could be successfully installed in the Medusa to take advantage of greater processor speeds. No firm word on this yet. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// ICD Releases The Link 2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ICD has announced an update of their popular external DMA-to-SCSI host adaptor. The Link 2 features the addition of an LED indicator to signal the user as to whether the connected SCSI device offers enough power to disable its parity - a handy addition which can save a user the hassle of trying to figure out whether they're needlessly disabling the parity option. Additional and updated drivers are also included, although owners of the original Link can download these off of the ICD BBS or obtain them directly from ICD. There is no offer for upgrading from The Link to the newer version. --==-- In addition, ICD has also released an update, Version 6.51, to their Pro Utilities. New features include the ability to load Auto programs and desk accessories from any boot partition. Enhanced CD-ROM support is facilitated by a new MINT driver. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// European/German Hardware =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Atari's popularity and strength is clearly evidenced by the numerous new and updated products soon to be available on both the German and European markets. While Atari users back here in the US would often greet these announcements in the past with a mixture of envy and, "So what, I can't buy it here anyway!" response, European developers are starting to eye the entire North American market with increasing interest. Popular European/German companies such as Steinberg (Cubase) DMC (Calamus SL, DynaCADD) and Digital Arts (DAs Vector Pro, DAs Picture) have made modest inroads into both US and Canadian Atari markets. It would seem that these companies are starting to view North America more and more as a promising foreign market, offering additional revenues at a minimum of expenditure. Though a number of problems inherent in overseas distribution pricing have yet to be resolved to the satisfaction of North American distributors, this has not seemed to dissuade dealers from distributing European products. Companies like Russ Jones Marketing, Pacific Software Supply, Gribnif, Compo Software Corp., Oregon Research and Cybercube, to name a few, have entered into cooperative distribution arrangements that acknowledge a foreign distributor's need to operate on a economically feasible profit margin while saving the developer the expense of opening their own North American division. Few distributors rely solely on European products as a major source of their income. For some companies, imports serve to augment primary income generated from in-house products. Others wisely obtain distribution rights to products produced by domestic software or hardware companies. Such diversity hopefully helps to offset import duties, fees and the fluctuating value of the dollar against changing foreign currency markets. The bottom line is that the declining Atari US developer base is creating a gap in the market which seems to be looking more attractive to European developers. Fortunately, North American Atari users stand to benefit, with continued product for both their new and existing Atari machines. We'll briefly mention some new products which could very well end up in the roster of some American distributors' product line. New software will be mentioned in their respective categories. And now, on with our Euro bulletins.... [] A multi-function hard drive controller for all STs, TOPLINK features a SCSI controller which supports CD-ROM drives a well as most SCSI drives. Support is also included for removable media drives such as Syquest and a number of Optical-magneto drives. [] ComText announced their Atari to Novell network cards and adapters for hooking up your MegaST/STe or TT. Also shown were their SKUNK 030 accelerators for the Falcon. They'll be offering either a 32MHz or a 36 MHz version with a socket for a math co-processor. Prices and availability to be announced at a later date. [] Tower kits for converting practically any Atari into a unified case are becoming more wide-spread, with prices varying according to quality and options. Prices range from around $300 US for either a Mega ST/STe, TT or Falcon version to around $335 for a ST/STe case, all complete with keyboard converter kits. General SCSI kits run an additional $200. No definite US distributors yet, but kits could easily be adapted to accommodate US power requirements. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ VIDEO NEWS ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Chroma Studio 24 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In its final stages of beta-testing, the Black Scorpion Software developer group is poised to release Chroma Studio 24, their powerful image editing and manipulation program. Capable of importing and saving to all the major picture and animation formats, the program features some very fast routines for virtual redraws, and also supports a virtual screen for working on larger-than screen-size files. Screen Blaster and BlowUp will also be supported. All ST/TT/Falcon resolutions are supported. One of the really wild features is the ability to switch between resolutions without exiting the program, though you are required to first save the work-in- progress. ChromaStudio 24 takes full advantage of the Falcon's versatile DSP graphic features, offering an amazing variety of tools and effects for both drawing and animation, including 3-dimensional texture mapping, morphing and distorting. All tools and functions are available, regardless of the level of magnification. Clever routines allow for amazingly fast rendering and super-efficient memory management. Scheduled for an early fall release, look for it here in the States, along with such hardware-compatible add-ons as Titan Designs' Graffiti Genlock and Expose digitizer, in the final quarter of '94. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// DAs Movie =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Digital Arts will soon be releasing their latest visual software package, appropriately entitled DAs Movie for the Falcon 030. With the ability to mix, blend and merge both live and still video images, with titling and hundreds of "Video Toaster"-like effects, DAs Movie looks like the first in a wave of sophisticated video editing packages for the Atari platform. Although quite capable of performing some impressive feats on its own, working in seamless conjunction with DAs Vector Pro's professional vector-based paint and animation program and DAs Picture's impressive digital photo processing and manipulation program - both of which have just recently been released - DAs Movie will be able to offer the combined power of a total image processing and complete video production studio at an affordable price. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Matrix Screen EyeRendering =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Team Company recently announced their Matrix Screen EyeRendering video software suite for the Falcon. This program boasts a complete set of painting, morphing and texture tools for creating full-fledged video animations and artwork video overlays. Hardware add-ons will integrate with the software's built in interfaces to provide full PAL/NTSC and SMPTE support, along with genlocking. The program's modular approach will facilitate the release of additional software modules in the future to add even more features and capabilities, as well as importing and exporting from a number of animation and video formats. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - - -=-=-=- [ GRAPHICS NEWS ] -=-=-=- - - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Arabesque 2 Nears Release =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The original developer of Arabesque is in the final stages of completing their follow-up to one of the most impressive mono paint packages ever available for the ST. Distributed here in the US by Gribnif Software, the original Arabesque Professional combines the ease of use with an impressive array of tools and effects in both bit-mapped and vector modes. Arabesque 2 promises to take that same approach to a full-color version with a totally redesigned and much improved (if that's possible) interface that will produce the kind of results comparable to anything produced by such competing products as Corel Draw for the PC or Aldus Freehand and Adobe Illustrator for both the Mac and PC platforms. This will include complex color gradations, sophisticated bezier curve manipulation, texture mapping and distortions, as well as a host of mind-blowing effects. Most features will be available on all STs, though a number of more processor-driven capabilities will only be possible on the Falcon. Look for a future update right here.... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// EZ-Art Professional =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Specifically oriented towards ST/STe and TT models, EZ-Art Professional is an easy to use paint program which will deliver sophisticated results without having to fork over your entire wallet. The program is the result of over three years of analysis of the best features from all the ST and Amiga paint packages. The program offers a host of tools, over 20 different block effects - such as shatter, skew and soften - and comes with its own supply of fills and fonts. 16-color fills are possible, and the STe's full color palette is supported. You can even edit an STe-palette picture on an ST/STfm. Pseudo raytracing effects for creating different light sources and three dimensional extrusions can also be applied to objects created with the program's 21 different supplied shape. 18 drawing tools and modes give unprecedented control over your picture, and the list of supported import picture formats include Spectrum 512, Tiny, NeoChrome, Degas, IMG and Crack Art, as well as Amiga's IFF and a number of other popular cross-platform formats. The interface features a graphic icon tool palette, somewhat similar to CrackArt, and there's also a convenient built-in on-line help feature, which can be accessed for any tool or icon selected. Well, that's it for this edition. Next issue we'll have more of the latest in all your favorite subjects. Until next time, 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. We both live and work in New York City. //// Peter Donoso 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. My setup includes: [] An original 1040ST, used mostly for playing games. [] A Mega ST / 8 megs RAM / Digidesign DSP-driven Sound Tools card, TOS 2.06 / TALON Omni-switch for Princeton Ultra 16 multi-sync monitor / Cartmaster multi-cartridge port expander / Spectre GCR Mac emulator / ICD Link. [] A Falcon 030 / 14 megs RAM / 65 meg internal hard drive/ Barracuda 1 Gigabyte external hard drive / 88 meg Syquest removable cart drive / NEC 4FG 15" multi-sync monitor / Cubase Audio Falcon. //// Fadi Hayek 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. He is their resident Atari expert, and helps run the NY chapter of Club Cubase. Fadi does a good deal of MIDI consultant work, and handles such prestigious clients as Manhattan Center Studio, a thriving multi-media business which boasts one of the largest orchestral studio for film scoring on the entire east coast. Founder and, along with myself, co-owner of Amethyst Studios, a modest recording/post-production studio in Brooklyn, Fadi's years of music and computer training have served him as an excellent foundation for his many talents. A graduate of the Audio Engineering school, he's worked in a number of well-known east coast studios. Engineer, artist and video enthusiast, he is also an accomplished composer and drummer, guitarist, bassist and percussionist. Fadi's setup includes: [] A Falcon 030 / 14 megs RAM / 65 meg internal hard drive/ Barracuda 1 Gigabyte external hard drive / NEC 4FG 15" multi-sync monitor/ Blow-up Hardware Video Enhancer / Cubase Audio Falcon. --==-- If you have any questions or suggestions concerning anything related to the contents or subjects mentioned here in ATARI ARTIST, you can leave E-Mail for either Fadi or myself on GEnie at EXPLORER.2, and we'll get back to you just as soon as we can. --==--==--==--==-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- 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 --==--==-- -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| "From a saved backup...." ||| By: Ron Whittam / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- //// Get it together In this column I hope to foster communication and support for 8-bit and ST computer owners... presenting a positive and directive approach. This will help to strengthen the users group base and encourage the executive element. A year ago, I accessed the online service of GEnie for the first time. I had spent many years of using the Atari computer without any concept that support and help was just a phone call away. In the last year I have often wondered how I made it as an Atari computer owner with out contact beyond my local area. Online services, like GEnie, can bring Atari computer owners into contact with others. I was truly amazed at the huge amount of Atari computer owners that used the computer like I did. I was awestruck at the number of people who used it as their primary business computer. But more importantly, I was gratified for the support and assistance I received and passed on the the members of my local users group: Announcements of new products, upgrades, fixes, and work-a-rounds. People helping people use the one computer they all enjoyed. In professional circles there is a concept called networking. This networking has nothing to do with computers, cables, Ethernet, token ring, hardware ports, peer to peer, or client/server. This networking has to do with making and maintaining contacts with people who are in your occupational sphere. While you may not directly benefit from such a contact, they might know someone, who might know someone, who can put you in contact with someone, who will help you. These networked contacts do favors for each other hoping to someday call in the favor to get a particular resource (normally not available without "inside" contacts). In the occupational circle of computer technicians and hobbyists, this has a different name (with different motives). This concept would more correctly referred to as "community" when applied to this realm. The motive is not profit; but rather support, cooperation, and assistance. This community shares freely what it has to benefit others (novice and experienced alike). This is also true of the Atari community. //// "The Atari Community" This is a phrase I have encountered recently. Some have objected to the term. They seem to think it implies something less then professional. To me it is something more. Both the words "community" and "communicate" come from the same root. Its a social word of unity. Without communication there would be no community, and this is particularly true of the computer world. Although you may own an Atari computer you may not be part of the Atari community. Being part of this community requires communication... interaction. While Atari owners have no dealer or retail outlet in many cities to congregate at, the Atari community exists nonetheless. The Atari community exists here in three locations. The first and most visible location is the local users group meeting place. Once a month Atari computer owners (8-Bit, ST, TT, Falcon, and GEMulator) meet for interaction, sharing tidbits of information, getting help, watching demonstrations of new products, and the social experience of being with friends who share a common interest. The other two locations reside in "cyberspace" on the electrons of telephone circuitry and distant computer systems. Many users groups have a Bulletin Board System (BBS) program running on a computer for the support of the Atari community. Features include technically advanced EMail systems, message areas, database areas, and real-time conference areas that provide an environment for the growth of the Atari community on a local level and the Atari community world-wide. Local Atari owners can communicate information and files (often free of charge). Atari owners can download the Atari Explorer Online magazines, and its companion AEO Programmer's Journal (as well as other online periodicals. This active communication will provide a sense of community. The last location in "cyberspace" is the paid information services and the INTERNET. GEnie, General Electric's Information Service Network, probably hosts one of the largest of the Atari communities. [Note: The author is a subscriber to GEnie and has no experience on the other quality services like CompuServe, Delphi, or American On-Line]. A large group of Atari Computer owners have chosen GEnie as their information resource. Programmers, writers, mathematicians, computer hobbyists, and others gather here to share helpful information on DTP, utilities, and writing; or to just "talk." The INTERNET is an emerging media. It is touted by the press and government alike. Some systems are becoming overburdened with the multitude of users jumping on the band wagon to see what the INTERNET is all about. The INTERNET is a great media to contact others with similar interest and to get the latest news and reviews on your favorite topics. For the Atari there are Usenet newsgroups: comp.binaries.atari.st - Atari ST "binary only" postings comp.sys.atari.8bit - Atari 8-bit computer information comp.sys.atari.advocacy - Atari computers debate and discussions comp.sys.atari.st - Atari ST computer information comp.sys.atari.st.tech - Atari ST computer technical discussions The INTERNET also has file archives for the Atari ST using the INTERNET "Anonymous FTP". The Anonymous FTP allows you to log in to another system on the INTERNET and copy files to your local system. The atari archives contain files for all Atari computers including the 8-bit, ST, TT, Falcon, Lynx, and Jaguar. These files contain programs, source code, sound bites, pictures, documentation, and magazines: ADDRESS: wuarchive.wustl.edu PATH: /systems/atari/* ADDRESS: atari.archive.umich.edu PATH: /atari/* Joining the Atari community, whether on the local level or on a world- wide scale, is worthwhile. Whether you use the computer for games or a full scale business, the sense of community is redeeming. Take the time to make contact with other Atari computer owners. You will learn that the Atari community is a very active group. In the future we will cover Membership (methods of increasing it), Networking with other users groups, etc.; and I will share from my own exploits as a users group president; the frustration and the elation. Stay tuned. ------------ Ron Whittam is a Customer Support Specialist for a small software firm in Boise, Idaho; and the President of the Atari Boise Users Group. He can be contacted on GEnie (EXPLORER.4), on the Internet at , or on ROVER BBS (208-362-2243). --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Unabashed Atariophile ||| By: Michael R. Burkley / | \ Delphi: MRBURKLEY GEnie: AEO.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- I've been BUSY this week, 17+ megabytes of compressed files totally 148 files busy. I'm trying to catch up with all the files I've downloaded, but I've only been partially successful. I'll have another big pile of file descriptions for next issue, too. Well, since I'm late in getting this to Travis, and since it will already be a huge article, I'll not run on with my usual fascinating chatter. Until later! Here are just some of the files I've downloaded recently: [] 3D_SKI is a STOS game written by Andrei Ellman (dated March/June 1989). The basic premise of this game is that an absent-minded glory hungry robot is racing down a crazy ski slope (along with two computer controlled opponents). The problem you are faced with is that this robot oftentimes forgets to look at the slope, expecially at the start! What that means is that you can't see how to use your joystick to guide the robot. Until you get the hang of the course, you crash a lot. After awhile the robot forgets the crowds and remembers to "look" where it's going and then the going gets a lot easier for you! Joystick controlled. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least). Docs included. [] ACP12 is "Another Crude Player" v.1.2 by Energy of The Chaos Engine (dated sometime after March 12, 1994). This Falcon only .MOD file player doesn't seem too crude according to the directions! It has lots of features and uses the DSP chip and so doesn't cause much of a system slowdown at all. Designed for use with MultiTOS (I've been told it works with Geneva and Mag!X, too), this player will allow you to play MOD files in the background when any of those three programs are active. It will also play without them installed, but only as a foreground application. Docs and a MOD file included. [] AEO_JAG2 is the May 27, 1994 Jaguar Edition #2 of Atari Explorer Online. ~*~ Bob Brodie Resigns! ~*~ Jaguar Tackboard - Developers & Titles ~*~ 64 Bits - Specs on Double Dragon 5 and Troy Aikman NFL Football ~*~ AEO at Summer CES Video! ~*~ CatNips from Atari Customer Service ~*~ Free Jag Bumper Sticker Offer! ~*~ I've heard of these guys before. They put out an excellent magazine! [] AFK_FALC is Art For Kids, Falcon030 version by Tony Barker of Moving Pixels of Australia. This is an EXCELLENT painting program for the younger set that makes use of the advanced graphics and digital sound capabilities of the Falcon (TT and STE versions are available separately). Art For Kids combines lots of whacky paint effects with crazy sounds (I REALLY like the sound effects of drawing, erasing, and all sorts of things!) and animation to create just the right atmosphere for children to create their own masterpieces. Included in this demo is a whole range of crazy brushes to create and experiment with, there's also hidden pictures that magically appear, special stamps ready to use and a whacky blender to mix up your art in hundreds of ways. There's even fun ways to clear your picture and start again. You can run this from a hard drive or floppy drive (hard drive is faster, obviously!). I really like the demo (a few features here and there are disabled and I recommend it to you. VGA monitor only. [] AFK_STE is Art For Kids, STE version by Tony Barker of Moving Pixels of Australia. This is an EXCELLENT painting program for the younger set that makes use of the advanced graphics and digital sound capabilities of the STE (TT and Falcon versions are available separately). See above for a more complete description. Color only. [] AFK_TT is Art For Kids, TT version, by Tony Barker of Moving Pixels of Australia. This is an EXCELLENT painting program for the younger set that makes use of the advanced graphics and digital sound capabilities of the TT (Falcon and STE versions are available separately). See above for a more complete description. VGA monitor only. [] ALIENATE is Alienation by Andrei Ellman (docs dated Jan. 9, 1994). I really liked this game. It was an "I'll try it one more time" game for me. This is a remake of the 8-bit game Mr. Robot. To run it requires a joystick, mouse, color monitor, and at least one meg of RAM. You control a robot which collects "pills" lying about on the multi-leveled ground. Simple, right? Well, it would be more simple if it wasn't for the up-to-nine aliens chasing you about the game. Watch out for the treadmills, bombs, escalators, energisers, ladders, teleports, poles, and more. Sometimes they're good, and othertimes they can get you into trouble! A level designer is also included (along with 15 levels already). STOS, and now works on all TOS up to 2.06 (maybe higher?). Docs included. [] ART_MODS is a press release (dated March 31, 1994) by Cybercube Research detailing the availability of the new Artis 3/Prism Paint II Module-Packs designed by Dieter Fiebelkorn, author of several popular Atari utilities (GEMView, for one). These Module Packs contain several add-on modules that allow Artis 3 or Prism Paint II to load or save (depending on the module) a multitude of today's most widely used graphics image formats (all that I recognize!). If you have either of these programs then check out this file! [] ATARIFAQ is a text file of Frequently Asked Questions about Atari ST--Falcon computers. Dated April 2, 1994, this file is full of interesting information that is up-to-date and useful. Here are some of the topics covered: How do I deal with Archived files (.ZOO, .ARC, .LZH)?; Some info on Magic Shadow Archiver; What Command Line Interpreters are available?; What does TOS ERROR #s mean?; What GNU software is available for the ST?; Where can I find Ham Radio software for the ST?; Is MINIX available on the Atari ST?; Is there a version of XWindows for the ST?; Why won't demo x run on my machine?; Where can I get Public Domain/Shareware software?, and much more! Fascinating! [] AUD_CD is a text file describing the release of Audio CD Master v.3.0 through It's All Relative Software. 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. [] AVERY is a text file describing the offering by Graphic Effects, the author(s) of the book, "The Atari Font Resource Guide," of their Avery Plus(sm) collection. Avery Plus is a collection of templates for Avery/Dennison's line of Specialty Labels. These templates are compatable with Pagestream and all versions of Calamus..including Calamus NT! Using these templates is an easy and efficient way to produce professional looking labels with graphics from virtually any printer and includes preset layouts for Avery laser products. [] AWFAXFRM is the AtariWorks Fax Order Form Template by Gordon Meyer (dated April 17, 1994. You can use the enclosed spreadsheet and word processor templates to help automate the process of faxing orders to suppliers and retailers. Just enter your data in the spreadsheet and AtariWorks will automatically do all the calculations. Then port it over to the word processor. Then call up STraight FAX! and send it out using its Speedo driver. Save ten cents per FAX over the cost of mailing it USPS! [] AWTLDEMO is a demo of DataBasements Shareware windowed text library by Erin Monaco. This demo presents you with a windowed Pop Up menu with several selections available. Click on one and get a message concerning your choice. The author states, "This is be NO means an easy way to implement Pop Up Menus :). But the reason I did this demo was to show you JUST how versitile these libraries can be!" Since I know Erin to be a competent programmer I'll take his word for it! C source and docs included. [] AW_CN_93 is a series of four AtariWorks databases providing information about that excellent magazine, Current Notes. They are: 1) a complete index of all the articles, reviews, tutorials, press releases, letters, etc in CN during 1993; 2) a database of Atari vendors with addresses, phone numbers, email, and products; 3) a database of Atari retail stores; and 4) a short database of CN columnists mailing addresses. Docs included. Atari Works required to view these. [] A_D_WEED is The Aladdin .DAT file Weeder by myeck waters (dated May 13, 1994). This is a utility that allows you to search through the .DAT files created by Aladdin, the GEnie front-end/offline-reader/ file-downloader/bottle-washer etc., and manually eliminate unwanted files. This will save you lots of time (in the end) and lots of disk space (you can eliminate all the want ads and other files you never want to see again). You need an ST and a color or mono monitor (at least some Graphics cards as well) to use this program. Mouse or keyboard controlled. Docs included. Once you are done picking and choosing, you can save the file. The .DAT Weeder will not save a file that has all or no entries deleted. Geneva compatible. Gift Of Time-Ware. Oh, you have to have ST Aladdin (v.1.62 or higher? recommended) and GEnie access to make any reasonable use of this file, but that's no hardship as GEnie is a pretty neat service to be on! [] BATBOT is a Falcon Videomaster animation of a flying Bat Robot attacking a woman astronaut. Digitized by Barry Summer from the movie Arcade. The Falcon player program is included. Uncompresses to a bit more than one meg. Requires at least four meg of RAM in your Falcon. [] BATFAXVE is BatFAXVe v.1.00 from BATSoftware (dated 1994). This is an .ACC by which will allow you to display STraightFAX(tm) FAX files on an STE medium res system using the STE horizontal and vertical video scrolling hardware. You scroll throught the document using your mouse without having to use the "View" feature of STraightFAX(tm) (it works great!). Docs included. If you have STraightFAX(tm) I recommend this to you. [] BATINV is version 2 of BatSoft's Bat Invaders, a Space Invaders clone (dated 1994). Controlled either with the keyboard or joystick, this color only program is simple and fun to play. The reason this version came about is that there was a bug in level 8 that caused a crash. That's been fixed. TT compatible only when using 24BIT.PRG. The name of this file is the same as the one with the level 8 bug, so unless you see that it is the fixed version in the upload description you won't know what version you have - until you play it and get to level eight! [] BATTLE is New Core's Battletris, a very nice implementation of Tetris for all Atari computers (well, not the 8-bit line I suspect!). TOS 1.0 through Falcon, though if you only have an old ST you will miss out on the pleasing digitized stereo music. Joystick or keyboard controlled, this game is easy to play and pleasing to your ears and eyes. One very nice feature is that you can play it against another player using a null modem hookup with another computer. A preview option is included so you can see which block is coming next, and plan accordingly. Docs included. Greetingware (send them a postcard). Exits cleanly from my hard drive, and is Geneva compatible. Color only. 321K uncompressed. [] BATTLEHM is the song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as arranged by B. Bencivenga. He used Band in the Box, and Cubase Lite to sequence this MIDI file on a Roland SC-155 sound Canvas.... This is GM/GS compatable. [] BBALL94 is a program by Scott Burrington which allows you to display the play schedule of the Major League Baseball teams for the 1994 playing season. You can run it to see what teams play on a specific date (the default is "todays" date), where they play, and what major station is carrying the game (and when). The data is mostly accurate through the middle of the season, but after that the TV station data is not available (it depends on what teams are doing well). The "C" source code is included. [] BBSX9405 is the complete listing of registered BBS Express! ST BBS's as of May, 1994. [] BERZERK by David Munsie (the author of the Majic Arcade Graphics Engine), is a clone of the old Arcade and 8-bit game Berzerk (dated May 4, 1994). This program presents you with a screen filled with walls and alien robots, both of which are dangerous. Don't run into the walls, and don't get in the way of those bullets the robots keep shooting your way. This game remains true to the original in both graphics and voices. I like the "Stay and fight like a robot" and "Intruder Alert!" robotic voice! Joystick controlled. Docs included. Shareware (support shareware authors!). ST--Falcon compatible. Color only. [] BLRMID19 is a set of 74 original MIDI files created by Bud Rasmussen, v. 19 (dated April 9, 1994). Created on a 386/40 (!) using Music Printer Plus, a Sound Blaster Pro card, and a Casio CT-700 keyboard/ synthesizer, these files are briefly described in an accompanying text file. Tested for Atari compatiblity with CodeHead's Midi Spy. Well done. I found this on the CodeHead BBS (check out the change in phone number, below). There are 1,000's of other files there as well. [] BOOTXS is the demo of BootXS v.2.00 by Christer Gustavsson (dated April 9, 1994). This program comes in two parts, the first of which is a completely GEM based utility which will allow you to select which .ACC's, .CPX's, and AUTO programs should be loaded at boot up and to save any number of them as bootsetups which can then be selected during booting using the second, AUTO-Folder based portion of this program. This will work on any ST--Falcon, and with MultiTOS and Geneva. The only limit this demo has is that you can save only three bootsetups to it. That certainly gives you an idea of whether or not this would be useful to you. Support Shareware authors! Docs included. Color or mono. [] BTPACK05 is a utility by Jan Leveren which will enable you to use Bermuda's Pack, Import and Scan with the mailer Binkley Term 3.01a and upwards in a (the author hopes!) an easy way. Docs included. See PACKCNV2 for a similar utility. [] CAIN0594 is the May 17, 1994 issue of CAIN, the Central Atari Information Network of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG. This newsletter covers the Atari 7800/XE/XL/800/400,FALCON030/ST/TT/ST(e), PORTFOLIO,LYNX,JAGUAR. Wow! This is an interesting read. There really is too much here to tell you what is here (and I don't have the TIME!). I recommend it! One note is that I couldn't uncompress it with DC Xtract v.2.2b, but it worked fine with ArcShell (shareware by C.F.Johnson) and Roger Burrows LHA_210. [] CASSETTE by T. Dunbar is a remake of an old PageStream document (now in PageStream 2.x format). For use with Avery Audio Tape Laser Labels #5198, this document allows you to print out a whole sheet of cassette labels at once (the original document was only one label). [] CDBROW13 is CDBrowse v.1.3 by Keith Lord (dated March 20, 1994). CDBrowse is a program that will read CDs that use the ISO9660 (including the ISO9660 Rock Ridge Extensions) or High Sierra file formats. It can display the CD's volume descriptor information (such information as the CDs author, publisher, creation date, copyright info, etc) as well as the CDs directory structure. It can also display text files stored on the CD. This version now allows automated searches through your CD, makes copying much easier, and includes the ability to display hex files. It is NOT a CD-ROM driver, and doesn't integrate your CD into the Atari file system!! It does allow you to poke around your CDs and see what's there. CDBROWSE.PRG requires a CD-ROM drive, of course. It does not use any SCSI-2 commands, so it should work with most CD-ROM drives. Toshiba and Sony drives work without a problem. The program also requires an ICD host adaptor (it probably won't work with ICD's early STHA adaptor). CDBROWSE does NOT require MultiTOS or any other form of CD-ROM driver software. Docs included. Shareware. [] CEA00150 is the first edition of the CyReL Electro ADs. This is not your plain ol' ASCII ad. No sir! It is a 150 dpi .IMG file (a large one uncompressing to 143K) which will introduce you to the news and developments about their growing family of innovative computer products. I use Calamus to view the ad (so I can zoom in on parts I wish to view), but PageStream would work just fine, too, or any .IMG viewer with scaling capabilities. Docs included. [] CEA03150 is the fourth issue of the CyReL Electro ADs (dated May 20, 1994). This issue tells you about the CyReL CaTTamaran TT030 Accelerators that will boost the performance of your TT up to 48 MHz (150%)! Oh I wish I had a TT! (And a Falcon, and....) [] CID_1_04 is the CallerID .ACC v.1.04 demo by Paul Lyon (dated March 29, 1994). If you have Caller Identification enabled through your phone company this .ACC will provide you with the number of the phone used to call you (and a person's name if you supply it in your database), the ability to hang-up on "Blocked" calls if you wish (great idea!), a way to keep track of the number, time, date of calls received, and much more - and all in the background, too!. Designed to work with the Supra FAX modem with Caller ID, it might work with other modems with Caller ID capability (are there others?). Docs included. This looks like a pretty neat utility! [] CLEMORTE is a small program which will allow you to place accent marks over the letter you wish. The title of the program comes from typewriters. Clemorte is a key that allows you to type something but which does not move the typing head or the carriage (the key is "dead," hence the "morte" from the Latin word for dead). The result is that an accent is typed, and the letter to be accentuated is typed on top. (ie, ^a would give you a circonflex a (ƒ).) CLEMORTE.PRG does the same thing. When you type one of the accents on your keyboard, it waits for the next typed character and accentuates it if possible. If is not possible, it types both characters side to side. No docs (you just read them) and the program is not TT compatible. [] CN_APR94 is a real treat! It is the April, 1994 issue of that excellent magazine "Current Notes" (CN). CN supports the ST--Falcon, 8-bit, Jaguar, and Lynx line of Atari products. This issue is designed to allow you to "test the waters" of CN before you subscribe. I recommend a subscription to you. It's an excellent magazine. You miss out on all the advertisements, graphs, and illustrations in this ASCII version (and believe it or not I like to look at the ads!), but you get the full content of each article. What a deal! I HIGHLY recommend that each of you purchase a subscription to Current Notes. It is only $24 for six issues. [] CPXMAKER is the MAKE CPX program v.1.02 by Noud van Kruysbergen (date May 18, 1992). This program will allow you to easily add to your potential CPX files all the information that Atari's XCONTROL.ACC expects to find at the beginning of any CPX file. The doc file tells you all that you need to add, and the program takes all the information you provide it and sticks them all together. From the docs, this seems to be the program to have if you intend to create CPX modules for the ST--Falcon. Color or mono. ST--Falcon compatible (supposedly). Postcardware. [] DAPIC is a .TIF file created using DA's Picture. It shows the words, "DA's Picture" in front of several layers of flowing patterns. Since this was made completely in DA's Picture, and in only 30 minutes, you can use this to see how capable that drawing program actually is. I used GEMView to view this. [] DARKLORD is DarkLord v.3.10 by Dr. Steve Pedler. This is a programmable, extensible screen saver for the Atari series of computers (dated Feb. 26, 1994). This highly configurable screensaver is ST--Falcon, MultiTOS and Geneva, and any res. compatible (it can use SpeedoGDOS if installed, too). I really enjoyed playing around with this .ACC/.PRG screensaver! Right now I usually use the screensaver integral with Silkmouse (get that mouse accelerator and more!), but that's just plain and simple, with not much much fancy at all. I also use the Extend-O-Save feature of Warp 9 for a wide range of vivid and fun screen animations as screen savers. "Before Dawn" is excellent, too. Unlike those screensavers, DarkLord uses the VDI for screen output, and external screensaver modules can be written in C, as well as in assembly. This should make the production of external modules much easier and provide a much wider range of different effects. Almost all the features of the VDI are available. Docs, source code, and a DarkLord Construction Kit program are included. Seven screensaver modules are included. My favorite is the one that allows me to put the message bouncing around the screen, "I love Susan Burkley" (or other appropriate messages!). EXTENSIVE docs. I recommend this program highly. [] DAWN125 is Before Dawn v.1.25 by Arne Rudolph (dated Aug. 26, 1993). Recently uploaded on GEnie, this is not a new version but one repackaged to include 22 "movie" files for use with this screensaver (see below). This name of this .ACC screensaver just might have some distant relation to a well-known screensaver in the Mac (and now Windows) world, but who can really tell! This version offers three modules, each of which may be customized using a wide choice of IMG files (flying Toasters, and LOTS more included. I especially like the "searchlight mode) and, if your computer has DMA sound, .MOD files. The program and the docs are in English (or in German - the resource file and docs are in both languages). This version includes an Animation Editor so you can even more easily change your screen-saver display. I like the fact that this .ACC can interface with the .MOD player Paula (when Paula is run as an .ACC outside of MultiDesk). Color or mono. ST/STE/TT/Falcon compatible. SHAREWARE. As I indicated, archive contains over 730K of "Movie" files for use with this screensaver (written by people other than the author of Before Dawn). You can find these same files (and many more) in two files available as a separate download under the names MOREMOVI and MOVIEPAC. Dawn v.1.25 is also available by itself (under the same name but much smaller - only about 150K. As this file has recently been uploaded it 471K and uncompresses to 1.04 megabytes! [] DB3DEMO is the long-awaited demo of Oragon Research's new hard disk backup and restore program Diamond Back 3 (dated April, 1994). A completely new icon and drop down list driven, full GEM windowed, user interface provides unparalleled ease of use. This excellent program now allows you to use removable media drives, do multitasking background backups with any version of TOS (Wow!), and provides full support for ANY SCSI tape drive!. Color or mono. TOS 1.0--Falcon. Docs included. This demo does everything the full program will do except copy the backup data to the tape, floppy or hard disk (oh well, it IS a demo after all!). [] DBICONS7 is the seventh in a series of icons for the Falcon desktop (.IB3 via ICDRAW now at v.1.4). These 24 icons have been converted from Windows ICO files. Some are slightly reworked to make the 2nd color icon and the mono, while others are more heavily edited. By Dr. Bob (W.Parks). [] DEMENTIA is an excellent Falcon030 interlaced 16-bit True Color demo with overscan from the French coding group, Avena. That means that you can only see it by using a TV/ST RGB monitor (you VGA and Super VGA guys are out of luck!). I've been told that this is demo well worth seeing, with nice graphics and sound, detailed texture mapping and shading, and an all-around good look (even the ending credits are well done!). As the uploader on GEnie said (it's on Delphi, too) "You've GOTTA see the rotating tunnel!!!" Probably requires 4 meg of RAM to run, but since it uncompresses to just(!) 609K it might run on a 1 meg Falcon, too. Reboot to quit. [] DINODUDE is a text file by Dave Vantrease (aka Shadow) which will provide you with the complete codes for all 88 levels of the Jaguar game, "Evolution: Dino Dudes." The upload description said that you can't read this from the desktop due to lack of line feed characters, but I could read it fine from my bare desktop! [] DISH2 is a 24-bit 640x400 Targa (.TGA) created by J. Dewell and rendered by the Persistence Of Vision raytracer. It shows a radio telescope pointed to the sky. The base is green, the dish is red, and the reciever is blue. It took his MegaSTe about 3 hours and 10 minutes to render this picture, even when using a 68882 FPU! This 37K compressed file uncompresses to 770K! [] DJNR_TYM is a series of three drivers which will allow users of Quidnunc's Stalk the Market v.2.01 (only) to download stock quotes from Dow Jones News/Retrieval's //HQ data base when accessed through Tymnet. The three drivers allow you to download either the 12 most recent quotes, all available quotes (about a year's worth), or monthly quotes. This update was required due to a recent change in DJN/R's dialog which rendered the old drivers non-functional. Docs included. [] DODECAHE by K Fanning is a Cyber Control .CTL and .3D2 files of a dodecahedron (a 12 sided figure). I think you need Cyber Studio or CAD 3D to view. [] DT_2025 is the Digital Tracker v.2.25 demo by Emmanuel Jaccard (dated April 4, 1994). Upgraded again, this program is a SoundTracker/ NoiseTracker/Fasttracker, FLT8, x9CHN, FA0x, and CD81 compatible MOD editor/ player for the Falcon030. It will play and edit four, six, or eight voice MODs (and play 16 bits). It even has a Falcon specific Soundtracker playing 24 voices at 16 bits/50KHz! An .ACC player is included which will allow you to play MODs in the background (now with an improved GEM interface and optimized K7 mode). It contains tools to manipulate blocks, tracks, and patterns of notes, and will search and replace notes as well. Multiple buffers and multiple zooms are supported. Include sampled sounds at 8, 16 Bits and 12.5 to 50 Khz. The docs are almost all in French and since I don't have a Falcon.... SHAREWARE. [] D_CALC11 is Delay Calculator v.1.1E by Carl Lofgren (dated April 8, 1994). This .PRG/.ACC helps you with various calculations in different music situations. You could probably do these yourself (if you were listening to your math teacher at school!) but when you make music, you likely will want to make music and not do calculations. The program is divided into three parts: The Delay Calculator (takes the BPM and calculates the tempo in miliseconds); the Hertz Calculator (takes the BPM and converts it to Hertz (cycles per second), and the Beats per Minute (BPM) Calculator (input a beat by pressing the space bar in time, and and this will tell you its BPM). Docs included. Color or mono. TOS 1.0--Falcon compatible. Shareware. [] EDOSPERF is a text file detailing the performance of Roger Burrows ExtenDOS v1.1 as compared with regular TOS or with MultiTOS and ExtenDOS or MultiTOS and the Atari XFX Driver. ExtenDOS looks pretty good! I'm looking forward to getting a CD-ROM drive. There is a lot of stuff out there available now, and more coming out specifically for the Atari all of the time! [] EDOS_002 is a patch for Roger Burrows excellent CD ROM driver program, ExtenDOS v.1.1. It will update it to v.1.11. This patch fixes a bug in ExtenDOS v1.1, modules UNIDRIVE.DOS and UNI_BDDS.DOS. The problem causes an erroneous error message 'device not responding' during initialisation if the 'B=' and/or 'P=' parameters are omitted. This results in the drivers not being installed. Docs included. You must have the original ExtenDOS v.1.1 disk (or the v.1.0 disk updated using ECOS_001). [] EDOS_V11 is a text file detailing the features of Roger Burrows' ExtenDOS v.1.1. Now available, ExtenDOS is a low-cost extension to the standard Atari operating system that provides support for reading CD-ROMs in ISO9660 format (the industry-standard). ExtenDOS now supports the Falcon030 in addition to the ST, STe, Mega, and TT030. ExtenDOS has also been tested on the NEC 74 drive (the external version of the NEC 84), and works without problems. The list of drives that ExtenDOS is known to work with is: Atari CDAR-504 Panasonic (Matsushita) CR-501 NEC 74/84 Sony CDU-541 Toshiba 3401 It is also expected to work with any SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 compatible drive. If you are thinking about getting a CD-ROM drive for your computer, then this text file is for you (of course you could just go out and buy ExtenDOS, and not miss out at all!). [] EIFFELTW is a JPEG format picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Tower is seen from below with the French Flag in the foreground. The blue sky and white clouds in the background and the trees at the Tower's base pleasingly sets off the picture. Other pictures of this type are available on a CD ROM disk advertised at the bottom of this picture. I viewed this using GEMView v.3.03. [] ENGPAD24 is Pad v.2.4 by Heiko Gemmel (dated Oct. 13, 1991). This mono only (rather res. greater than 6402400) drawing program is now in English with English docs. This shareware program is full of features that aren't found in many other drawing programs. It has an easy to use (non-GEM) icon interface, which I like. I can't do more than begin to describe the features. You can create your drawings using the wide array of solids, fills, lines, pencils, bezier curves, picture merges and rotations, and more. There is a PILE of sample pictures included. Save them in Degas (.PI3), Screen (.PIC), DIN A 4 (.PIC), Monostar (.OBJ), STAD (.PAC), Image (.IMG), Bitmap Block (.RSC), and Stad Sequence (.PAC). Load pictures in a wide variety of formats, too (including Printing Press graphics and .IFF). Store up to 100 images and switch between them at will (with 4 meg RAM, less with less RAM). Animate your drawings with 1-100 frames. Include text in your drawings using the included Signum fonts. Print out your pictures using 9-pin, 24-pin, and HP laser printers (DeskJet, too). ST--TT compatible (at least). Your shareware registration gets you a complete manual and either a free upgrade to Pad III or a discounted one (the docs and the program seem to say different things). A mono emulator is included with the package. Recommended. 762K Uncompressed. [] ENVIRON is a text file from the Evangelical Environmental Network. The first portion of this file is "An Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation," and the second is a paper on land degradation from human activity. In 1967 Lynn White, Jr., (The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis) blamed those following the Judeo-Christian tradition for many of Earth's environmental problems. While Christians have had a hand in causing many of the environmental problems of today, so have many others. What many people do not know is that there is a clear biblical mandate to care for the created world and the people in it. This paper makes that clear. I recommend it. I found this on the GEnie SPACERT file # 4338. [] EPSXCVG is EC Verter v.1.0 (dated Aug. 6, 1993). This program is listed as the "ultimate" EPS/AI convertor for all Atari ST machines by Haokon Eines of Eines Computing (dated 1993). This Shareware program will convert all Adobe Illustrator 88 format EPS or AI files, both IBM and Mac to Calamus Vector Graphic (.CVG) files. The reverse conversion also works (.CVG to EPS). The docs say the program is compatible with all "ST's" but it mentions that it works with TOS 2.00 and up. Color or mono. There are A LOT of EPS/AI files out there. Get crackin'! Geneva compatible. [] ERIK2 is a Phoenix 2 rendering of Erik, that short and fat Viking with a too big horned hat that slips right over his eyes down to his very red nose. This time you can see Erik laid over a -very- nice POV raytraced background of marble columns, a green large cat, and an even stranger cat/serpent. This is a 640 x 480 x 256 color GIF file (which took about 40 minutes to render on Barry's Falcon with FPU and Phoenix 2). [] EVER_E33 is Everest v.3.3E, a "simple and genial" GEM ASCII Text Editor by Oliver Schmidt (dated April 30, 1994). The author keeps on updating this already excellent program! This version includes several new features and enhancements over previous versions. Everest is compatible with all ST--Falcon computers and most if not all graphic cards and resolutions (except ST low). I found this program very easy to use and very fast as well. Using a standard GEM interface, this editor will allow you to edit large files (>300K) blazingly fast with no problems, uses either the mouse or keyboard shortcuts for every function, and even uses mono spaced GDOS fonts if available! Text scrolling is smooth and easy on the eyes with no "jumps". There are several other nice features as well: Everest employs dynamic memory allocation to leave the maximum possible memory for other applications (great for MultiTOS or Geneva!); it takes advantage of the GEM Clipboard (a feature I use all the time in STeno!), uses GDOS if available, has the ability to create and use an extensive abbreviation dictionary (wonderful), and allows for up to ten files to be loaded at one time (even more wonderful!). Keyboard and/or mouse controlled (even the dialog boxes can be accessed from the keyboard!). Everest can also accept a command line so you can call it from a shell if you wish. Shareware. Check this one out! [] F030BLOW is a demo of Blow UP, a user-friendly resolution enhancer for the Falcon030. This is an alternative to the more familiar (at least to me) Screenblaster. BlowUP030 allows you to configure the video-parameters of your system with great freedom. You can set the vertical and horizontal screen-position, the interlace-mode and pixel-clock and more to get the best out of your monitor. The best is amazingly good! BlowUP now includes a "Screen-Saver" mode which speeds up the Falcon's video display up to 70% (depending on the Color-mode and resolution). This demo includes SUPER_78, a program which will set your screen frequency to 78Hz and allow you to do higher resolutions without that very annoying flicker. Ordering information for the complete BlowUP system is included. [] FALCICON is two icons(.IB3) for use with the Falcon and ICDRAW14. The first is for Aladdin, the GEnie online navagator, and the second is for MIDI programs. [] FANSI100 is FANSI v.1.00 by This program is the first and so far only 16 color, 80 Column ANSI Editor for the Atari line of personal computers! Features Custom 3D Interface, Boxes, Lines, Frames, Cutting/Pasting and more! This Shareware program from Tail of the Comet Productions has some feature disabled in this unregistered version, but you can still save your files! Docs included. Color only. ST--Falcon compatible. Now for the bad part. I can't get the installation program to work! It keeps telling me that the drive I am attempting to write the files to does not exist. The trouble is, it does exist! No matter how I try, floppy, RAM disk, or Hard drive, I can't get it to work. I tried the version 1.01 update (FNC_101 available online), but that supplies a file to replace one in the already installed v.1.00. I haven't gotten that far. Oh well, I know that some have. My STE, TOS 1.62, 4 meg, T-25, color system won't! [] FBC_101 is the patch program to upgrade FANSI v.1.00 to v.1.01. A couple of rather serious bugs have been fixed. Docs included. If you can get FANSI101 to work then you need this file. [] FBTEAMS is a set of .IBI Falcon icons for use with Dr. Bobware's ICDRAW program (now at v.1.2). This set (originally imported from MS/Windows ICO's) consists of 28 football helmets with team logos (a small and a larger set for a total of 56). Use ICDRAW to place on your Falcon Desktop. [] FLYBY is an excellent ST Low res. .FLM animation of a space-going battleship approaching your position, turning on a (large) dime, and going off into the distance (the animation ends before it goes too far). The 3D and colorful model is very well done with lots of detail. Gun turrents bristle over the ship. A huge radar antenna stands on top. Launching pods for small fighters are ready at the side. 1.25 meg uncompressed so you will need a hard drive and at least 2 meg of RAM (player program included). I did have a problem with uncompressing this file. No matter what I used I kept on getting a "This file is damaged message." Even though I got that message once I uncompressed the file it worked fine. Go figure! [] FPLIB2 is the Floating Point Co-Processor Interface for the Atari ST line of Computers. These routines where tested with a Atari Mega STE and a 68882 FPCP. These C language routinies should work with any Atari ST with a 68000 processor and 68881 or 68882 Co-Processor. This code was written to be used with the Megamax 'C' Complier. But should be usable with any complier that uses the IEEE (754) Double Precision Real Numbers. Single, Extend, and BCD real numbers are not supported. This code will not work with the more recent processors (68020, 68030,...) since the interface is not under software only control. Freeware. By Robert W. Stiles (dated 1992). [] FRONTSAV is a series of 11 saved games for the Gametek/Konami space battle and trading game Frontier Elite II as released for the Atari ST--Falcon. These games, as played by L.W.Benjamin, are taken chronologically and represent the rise of a character from "nothing" to the point where "he" owns one of the largest ships available in Federation Space. Now you too can see what it is like to be one of the giants in Frontier Elite II - and without the trouble to taking all the time to get there! Docs included. [] F_GAMES is a text file by Heiko Hartmann (dated April 30, 1994) describing 616 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. This is an excellent resource (This continues a series of text files named FAL_GAM1 - FAL_GAM4, and F030COMP). [] GEMAMIGO is GEMamigo v.1.0 by Warwick Allison (now there's a famous Atari programming name!). This game is a computerized version of "GO" (in one Chinese language "Go" means "War.") with a lot of options. You can play human to human, human to computer (with an intelligent computer opponent), or computer to computer. It has the standard GO board set up. It runs in any resolution, including high color and True Color on the Falcon (and you can easily configure screen colors), is TOS 1.0-Falcon (TT compatible in ST res only), MultiTOS and Geneva compatible and can run from a hard drive or floppy. It should also work with just 512K of RAM. There aren't really any docs, but if you are at all familiar with the game then you don't need them. If you aren't, just try to surround your opponent with your counters (and avoid having that done to you!). You'll catch on! G++ and GEM +++ sources are included. Here are some other GO games available in the P.D.... GO is an excellent computer adaptation of this ancient Chinese game of War. If you have ever played GO this one is for you. Excellent and very detailed documentation by Brian Dunn included. GOBANG by Uri-Soft is a two player game (either a person or the computer can be your opponent). You play by placing a stone of your color on the board/grid. The player who first makes a row of 5 stones of his color wins. A row can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Hence, while playing you have to make long rows yourself, but, at the same moment, block rows of your opponent. 6 levels of computer skill. Mono only. This game gives you a good challenge. HAVE FUN! On-line docs. GO_BOARD v.4.0 by Richard Farrell of Sente Software is a full-featured (and I mean that!) GO game. Save and load your games and opening moves, set handicaps, play by modem, switch sides, take back moves, set time limits and more. Comes with 7 saved games to analyze. Color or mono. Docs included in program. SHAREWARE. GRIDWARS is an excellent computer adaptation of this ancient Chinese game of War. If you have ever played go this one is for you. Excellent and very detailed documentation by Brian Dunn included. If you every enjoyed a game of chess you will probably like GRIDWARS. This version is different than GO.PRG found elsewhere. [] GEMRAM16 is GEMRAM v.1.6 by (\/) Martin Osieka (dated Oct. 15, 1993). This program installs GEM into RAM. This takes up some of your precious RAM (I have 4 meg and I wish I had more!), but it gives a lot back to you in turn. GEMRAM is necessary if you use patch programs like WINX, ARROWFIX or SHBUF. GEMRAM supports TOS 1.0-4.04 in US and German versions (probably others, too). You can use GEMRAM to set the environmental variable in GEM. GEMRAM is compatible with MiNT. Docs included. [] GEMTARGA is GEMTarga v.0.05 (dated April 11, 1993). This GEM based viewer for 24-Bit and 16-Bit Targa Format pictures by Christoph Wissing will work on any ST--Falcon (with the Falcon it uses the DSP chip) computer and with Graphic cards as well (or so the author hopes!). I say that this should work thus because of this phrase in the docs, "allen Rechnern der Atari 680x0-Serie, jeder TOS-Version und jeder Graphik-Karte (hoffe ich...)" but I haven't gotten it to work on my STE with Geneva, but then again, I can't really read the German docs! It works as either a GEM Takes Parameters program (.GTP), an .ACC, or a "drag-and-drop" program on those versions of TOS (or NeoDesk) which support that option. This file is found on Delphi. Can anyone help me with a better description? [] GENEVSEC is the Secrets of Geneva, Part 1 by Al Fasoldt (dated Jan. 24, 1994). This is an excellent file for all of you Geneva multitasking/AES replacement utility from Gribnif (I think it is absolutely fantastic, and use it all the time). This file is full of Tips, tricks, and things that should be obvious but may not be! Al is a competent writer who knows how to write a useful software manual (he wrote the Geneva manual itself!). This article is by no means intended to be a replacement for the Geneva manual. It refers to the manual quite often and depends on it in many ways. So... it's no good for you pirates out there (support Shareware AND Commercial developers!). [] GE_DJNR is a series of three drivers which will allow users of Quidnunc's Stalk the Market v.2.01 (only) to download stock quotes from Dow Jones News/Retrieval's //HQ data base when accessed through GEnie. The three drivers allow you to download either the 12 most recent quotes, all available quotes (about a year's worth), or monthly quotes. This update was required due to a recent change in DJN/R's dialog which rendered the old drivers non-functional. Docs included. [] GMNI_ENG contains two files by Eric Chapman (dated March 18, 1994) to update Gemini 2 (GEMINI2 online), the desktop replacement program from an older English version to a more complete English translation. You will need the complete Gemini 2 package to make use of this file. Docs included. [] GOODGOD! is a text file entitled "THE BIBLE OF GOD THE GOOD, as revealed to the prophet/poet JULIAN LATHAM in the year zero minus five." I have a little bit of a bias here (or perhaps more than a little bit), I must admit, but I think this is a bunch of pseudo Christian/Eastern pantheist thought that seeks to elevate humanity to godhood and delegate God to the status of a wimp. Ideas are presented in brief poetic lines that often set up traditional Christian ideas about God in "strawmen" type fashion and then proceed to knock them down (not in what would appear to be an attack, just a kind statement of "what is"). I found it interesting to read just to see how much the Church has failed in communicating orthodox theology as something interesting and relevant to life and thought today. It's time for me and other Christians to get to work! I would recommend C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" as a thought-stimulating and interesting tonic to the sophistry found in this document. I told you I was biased! I found this on the CodeHead BBS. [] GOOFFY12 is Gooffy, v.1.2 by Patrice Bensoussan (dated April 20, 1994). This Shareware program will allow you to print out your ASCII text files like the GEM desktop, but without tying up your computer, even when printing very long files. If run as a program it will allow you to do background printing when used with MultiTOS or Geneva. When run as an .ACC it will allow background printing under ALL TOS! One nice feature (when using MultiTOS) is that Gooffy, unlike MultiTOS' LPR.APP will not freeze all of your applications if the printer is not ready. It won't freeze up when you're NOT using MultiTOS, either. Docs included. SHAREWARE. [] GRAMR152 is Grammarian v.1.5.2 by Dan Panke (dated Feb. 6, 1994). Dan is the owner of ST Plug, the sole commercial distributor of Budgie UK Software in North America. Grammarian is an easy-to-use (I don't see how it could be any easier - it's downright simple!) program designed to look at text files and check for word usage, spelling problems, and some grammatical rules. Now Grammarian includes comment lines that teach you some about the errors made. I really like how the author allows your checked documents to be shown on screen or saved (with the comments) to a disk file. Grammarian may not be right in everything it finds but it does present some good reminders. This version updates the Grammer compiler to deal with some specific problems in your edited Grammer.TXT files (which is the means by which you add your own preferred grammer checks). It also adds even more entries into your Grammer.INF file. Docs included. ST--Falcon compatible (I think). Color or mono. PostCardware (send him a postcard telling that you use this program - only six people have done so thus far!). That isn't that hard, is it? Send in those cards! [] GVIEW303 is GEMView v.3.03 by Dieter Fiebelkorn (dated sometime in March of 1994). If you have a picture file, this program will likely show it (about 35 _basic_ formats with support for variations within formats)! Previous descriptions of this program have run over a page, but this time I'm just saying, "Get This!" if you work with images of any type. GEMView now comes in a modular format allowing you to customize GEMView to view the pictures you normally encounter (saving memory and loading time). It's now faster and will allow you to load and display pictures in a variety of graphic formats (including JPEG pictures!) in any desired resolution and virtual size (BigScreen) on the ATARI ST/TT/Falcon series of computers. Most Graphic cards work, too. GEM-View is either an .ACC or .PRG (just rename it). If your machine can't handle the colors in the picture (ST Low doesn't have 256 colors to display a GIF file!) GEMView will massage the picture until it fits. You can also adjust contrast, brightness, colors shown, cut and paste, and more, all to make the picture look even better. Do you want to convert a picture from one type to another? GEM-View will do that, too. I'd better quit! I've registered this Shareware program (just today!), and I recommend that you do, too. A Zillion other features and utilities are included (WinX 2.10, GEMRAM v.1.5, VIDFIX, GEMView, and more). Color or mono. [] HECTOR is Hector vs. The Mutant Vampire Tomatoes from Hell, by Pete J. Whitby (dated 1993). This game, which can be run from floppy, RAM disk, or Hard drive, has a simple objective - to keep Hector alive as you guide him around the levels destroying all the tomatoes that are hopping/crawling around. You control all of Hector's movements by the joystick. Move up or down, climb ladders, jump, move side to side, dig holes and fill them up again. Make sure to pick up the weapons that lie about. You'll need them. Those tomatoes are intelligent vegetables who come after you when you least expect it. This is a fun game with sound and fast animation. Color only. Docs included. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least). Runs fine on even a 520ST. Not Falcon compatible. [] HORSMAN is a Ken Kelly painting of an ax-wielding, pointed-helmeted knight on his battle horse. The picture is displayed sideways. Digitized using VideoMaster on a Falcon. The picture is not wonderfully clear in 16 color low res., but it's OK. I viewed this using GEM View. [] HPDJ550C is an English translation by Greg Correll of the latest (as of March 28, 1994, at least) HP DeskJet 550C driver for use with Calamus SL (and if I remember correctly, all SL drivers will work with Calamus 1.09N - you just need to change the extension name). All boxes and alerts have been translated. That makes it a lot easier to understand the options that you have available! [] ICDRAW14 is the Icon Editor v.1.4 for the Falcon030 (and TT with MultiTOS or Geneva to get the 16 color icons) by W.D.Parks, aka, Dr. Bobware (dated April 25, 1994). This version comes with a fantastic set of improvements. Now not only can you create and edit new and interesting color icons for your Falcon's Desktop, but you can also add to the number of icons available for you to access (RSCXPAND v.1.01 dated May 7, 1994). Using this utility you can now access up to 199 icons!. It also includes his ICONPAGE program (v.1.02 dated April 26, 1994) which will allow you to view your icons on any ST or Falcon in a least a 16 color display. A separate display program is included to show the ICO files available from Windows systems (which can be imported into ICDRAW with no trouble). ICDRAW can read a TOS v.4 .RSC file and edit any of the color icons therein. This program will allow you to create and edit icons that are the normal 32x32 pixels (both mono and 4-plane [16-color] icons). Some of the tools you can use are line/frame/box/circle/disk, insert/delete row/column, dark-light, and more. Over 100 icons are included to give you a start in your work. Detailed docs included (including a truely amazing "standard disclaimer" which is a riot!). Shareware. [] ICONEDV1 is the Icon editor, Falcon version 1.00 by B Dines of Carbonsoft UK (dated sometime in May, 1994?). This program will allow you to edit your Falcon's Deskicon.RSC file and modify the colored icons it contains. You can't add any new ones to your .RSC file, but you can completely change the ones that are there. Also included in this program is a floppy formatter which will allow you to format high density disks to around 1.6Mb. It will also now do fast formatting and put a virus guard on the disk. Lots of keyboard shortcuts and helps. Brief docs included. Shareware (register for the full version - scheduled to be completed June, 1994). [] ILLUM is a beautiful 24-bit 640x400 Targa (.TGA) created by J. Dewell using the Persistence Of Vision raytracer. It shows a glowing pyramid of eleven mirrored and colored balls resting on an infinite multi- colored and reflecting plain. A blue sky flecked with clouds stands in the background. It took a MegaSTE with a 68882 FPU 28 hours and 7 minutes to render! 770K uncompressed. [] INSHPICS is a group of five JPEG pictures created by Oliver Weingarten using the InShape Intro v.1.0 raytracing program on a Falcon030 with FPU. I viewed them all using GEMView 3.03. They are as follows: TOWERS is a 736x512x16.7 million colored scene of a set of futureistic towers set at various distances from the viewer and with the view dampened by a thick fog. This took seven hours to render! PHOTOS is a 640x576x16.7M colored picture of two 35mm film cases, one upright and the other laying on its side with lid off. Blue sky and clouds. This one took eight hours to render! STREET is a 640x400x16.7M picture of two streetlights bending and curving towards each other and looking at each other in a romantic way! It took 9 hours! TABLE is a 668x512x16.7M scene of a table with a picture frame sitting on it, a cup and saucer, a candle stick with a lighted candle, a pencil holder with the word "Inshape" printed on it and a rainbow swirl of color about its base, an open book and a fountain pen. 12 hours! MARBLE is a 320x200x16.7M colored scene which shows objects which are using paths and splines; three light sources were added, high reflection- and high mirror parameters. This one took 15 hours to render! [] ISBN is an .ACC and a .PRG by Mark Brinkworth in which he does it again (dated May 31, 1994)! He wrote VERICARD which tells you whether or not a credit card number is valid. Now with ISBN2 you can tell is the ISBN #'s in the front of every book is valid or not. I've tried it with several books and they all come back as valid numbers (when would you ever find an INvalid number?). Anyway, it's interesting to find out that there is an interrelationship between the numbers in an ISBN#. Color or mono. Geneva compatible. Docs included. [] LALOPE37 is LaserLope v.3.7, the HP LaserJet 4 envelope printer by Barry Poston (dated May 22, 1994). This program allows you quick and easy access to the scores of internal fonts of that printer. You can also set the size of those fonts, within basic limits. This new version has several bug fixes and a new screen to allow evaluation of your envelope's attributes prior to printing. Three common envelope sizes are supported. You can even save your favorite configuration (actually up to four set-up may be saved!). LaserLope will run on ST--Falcon computers in ST high and medium resolutions. It will work with HP LaserJet III, LaserJet IIIP, and LaserJet 4 printers. It looks like this will do just about anything you want! I guess that I'm going to have to download v.3.6 again though, because I erased it before I checked in this file. Docs are NOT included in this version, though they are in previous versions. ST--Falcon compatible. [] LAMBGOD is the "Lamb of God" praise song from the Maranatha Praise singers as arranged by B. Bencivenga. He used Band in the Box, and Cubase Lite to sequence this MIDI file on a Roland SC-155 sound Canvas...This is GM/GS compatable. This is a good advertisement for their records! [] LAZER is the Autowaschen Verboten v.0.9 demo for the Falcon030. This 2.36 meg compressed file uncompresses to nearly 6 meg of hard drive space. This is no ordinary demo! Requiring at least 4 meg of RAM and a TV or ST RGB compatible monitor, this demo runs in 640 x 400 interlaced True Color mono. Lasting about ten minutes, this demo is full of texture-mapping and polygon shading, stereo sound, and lots of other graphic effects. I'd love to see it, but I don't have my Falcon yet (it's flying around somewhere "out there"!). (Found on Delphi as "FALCON03 MEGA DEMO" and on GEnie as "LASER1" and "LASER2") [] LCKYLT42 is Lucky LOTTO Numbers v.4.2 by Barney Poston (dated April 14, 1994). This program will allow you to analyze lottery data for just about any state or regional lottery (ranges of 1 to 9 winning numbers out of a possibility of 15 to 60 numbers), and then print out numbers for you to "play." A complete history of the Texas Lottery winning numbers (current as of the program date) is included. BUT, the included TX database is flawed. You will need to download TX_LOTTO to get the corrected list (this was the second fix to this database the author uploaded, and now it's correct!). I'm amazed that there is a market for a program such as this. Analyzing random numbers to predict a future random number is a waste of time. I would welcome anyone to show me differently. If a lottery isn't random, it's fixed, and you certainly won't know about it! As the author's say, "Don't forget the quote from Forbes magazine 'Your chances of winning the lottery are the same whether you play or not!'" Color or Mono (but mono is not so hot, according to the author. He recommends v.3.2 [LCKYLT32] for mono users). This program uses M.J.Matts excellent GUI-4-GFA to produce a beautiful and usable interface. Detailed docs included. ST--Falcon compatible. Shareware (If you win piles of money send him half!). [] LEDPAN25 is LED Panel v.2.5 by Christoph Zwerschke (dated early 1994). The basic idea of "LED Panel" is to make any access to BIOS drives (floppy, harddisk, RAM disk etc.) visible and that distinctively between drives and kind of access (reading or writing). As extra options this handy little program can show the state of the CapsLock key as well as the actual date and time (with a variety of options). All informations are shown in the upper right corner of the screen (normally you can only see the blank right end of the menu title line there). ST--Falcon compatible, except that the LED Panel will not work with most sorts of graphic cards and "true color". That's because LED Panel is a "TSR" program and therefore cannot use VDI graphics but writes directly to the screen instead. The LED configuration is in German, but the author has provided English docs with detailed explanations of the German terms (so it doesn't matter!). Freeware. [] LINECRAS is Line Crash by Andrei Ellman of Wacko Software (date April 17, 1994). This color only game can be played by up to EIGHT Players at once(!) using a parallel port joystick interface and two 2 joystick adaptors for the STE (the 8 player option is only for the STE and docs are included on how to do this). If you remember the movie TRON, and the light cycle game they played there where the players left glowing trail, which, if run into by the other players (or themselves) caused them to be destroyed, then you will know the plot of this game. You try to leave lines which other players will be forced to cross, thus eliminating them from the game. If you are the last one alive, then you win, otherwise you die (well, really only in the game. At least that's all that's happened to me so far!). Numerous ways to configure this game are included. If you have less than four people playing there will be computer players included. Now fixed to run on all machines up to TOS 2.06 (at least, maybe Falcon since it was fixed with STOSFIX3?). [] LOGO is a 640 x 480 x 256 color GIF of the STart magazine and CAD 3D logos by Barry Summer. Created using Phoenix 2.0 these logos were created by hapharzardly applying a few different textures to the logos. The results are interesting if not overly exciting. [] MAINSHIP by Barry Summer is a 640 x 480 GIF of a mainship. What's that? It's a space vessel rendered with Phoenix 2 and with a SCAPE (see the description of SCAPE later in this review) generated space background (the background of a large moon overlooking a mountain strewn landscape is very nicely done, too). [] MARSPELB from Marcel Software is the spelling dictionary for the Marcel Word Processor which has been modified for British spelling. Directions for installation are included. Marcel, a formerly "store-bought" commercial product is now shareware. I recommend this full-featured word processor to you. It's excellent and inexpensive! [] MB44_BIN is MasterBrowse v.4.4 by Michel Forget of Electric Storm Software (dated May 4, 1994). This is an EXCELLENT text file viewer for any ST--Falcon. I highly recommend it. Completely replacing the desktop's SHOW routine, MasterBrowse (MB) 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!). MasterBrowse can be configured to call an alternate viewer for special types of files, such as pictures or sound files. It is _Fast_ and smooth, 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. Another nice feature is that MB supports Peter Seitz' View Protocol, which allows other programs to instruct MB to display a file instead of using their own default viewers. A REALLY nice feature new in this version is that MB will emulate the TOS 1.4 Item Selector for all of you TOS 1.0 and 1.2 users out there. Keyboard or mouse controlled. It has an easy-to-use installation program. Shareware ($15). SUPPORT SHAREWARE AUTHORS! (If you register this program you get a $5 credit towards... well, read the docs and find out!). Color or mono. This will work on floppy or hard drive systems. [] MDBB1194 is the Medical Information Network BBS listing (dated March 3, 1994). It is a list of medical, fire/EMS, science, recovery, Parents, AIDS and disABILITY related bulletin board systems. Toll free government BBS's and hundreds of other phone numbers. I'd like to call some of them myself! I found this on Toad Hall. [] MINIDRAF is MiniDraft v1.10 by J.H.Taylor (dated Oct. 1992). MiniDraft is a basic drafting package written in assembler for the ST/STE (at least, but the upload description said that it will work with all Atari 32-bit computers; i.e., the TT and Falcon). It is designed for use with a mono monitor, but it will run (barely) in color as well (and with "enhanced screens" too). This program comes with extensive docs and online helps. Create, edit, save, load, and print out your drawings (print out huge posters of them through pasting strips of printer dumps). I've been told that this is a very powerful program, and it looks like it! Lots of drawing and sample files included. Geneva compatible. [] MOUNTALE is a Talespin adventure created by a group of 3rd - 5th grade students from the Leal Elementary School. Run this adventure (using TELLTALE) and find yourself inside a magic mountain battling giant spiders, monsterous dragons, and much more. If you make your way through all the barriers you will get out alive. If not... well.... The kids wrote the story line, created the art using KidPainter (by D.A. Brumleve) and the whole package was combined together using TaleSpin. Color only. TOS 1.0--1.62 compatible (at least). [] MPEGPLAY is the Falcon only version of the MPEG Video Software Decoder (v.2.0; Jan. 27, 1993) from the Berkeley Plateau Research Group. Re-written by Gary Arakaki to run on an Atari Falcon 030 in 16 bit color mode. This version currently plays at about 1 frame/second for 160x100 MPEGs. It automatically switches screen resolution from 320x200, 384x240 overscan up to 640x400 interlaced. Only 320x200 mode is possible on a VGA monitor, but it is not tested. After it is finished playing the mpeg it will give you some stats and the number of frames/second. Docs included. [] MPYDSP56 by Robert W. Stiles is the freeware DSP 56001 microprocessor source code for a 48bit (2^24.2^-24) real number multiplier. Some modification are required if you wish to make this a program sub-routine. It's currently written to run as a program. Created with Hisoft DSP Assembler Version 1.0 on April 17, 1994. [] M_AWORKS is a text file and .IMG screen shot describing the program Mastering AtariWorks from Spar Systems (dated April 9, 1994). The creator of .ACC Hypertext Personal Training Guides for Calamus and PageStream, Spar Systems has now released a similar program for AtariWorks (including support for all three modules, Word Processing, Database, and Spreadsheet). This .ACC will provide help for both the novice and advanced users. Get your own private tutor here! Ordering information is included. [] NEO2PC1 by W. Troy of BATSoftware is a simple program which will convert NEOChrome files to DEGAS PC1 file format (dated 1994). You simply enter full .NEO file name and full output .PC1 file name (you have to remember both names as the program doesn't use the Item Selector) and in a few seconds you have your converted picture. [] NEOCOM is Neocom v.2.42b Multi by Michael Lundgren and Ulf Ronald Andersson (dated Dec. 18, 1993). This is a GEM based terminal program for the ST--Falcon. The author says that it is for those of you with some experience in telecommunications, but there are detailed docs, and it doesn't seem all that hard to me! Shareware. Here are some of its features (according to the docs): * Excellent ANSI emulation. * Mouse-handled Macro functions. * Online Help * Keyboard and/or mouse controlled * Advanced Window handling. * Variety of screen fonts available * 7 or 8 bit ASCII/VT52/ANSI Emulation. * X, Y, and Z dowloads supported (includes Alan Hamilton's XYZ201) * A NEW BBS-menu interface (BMI) Click on a character on-screen and it will be sent to the modem. * Capture buffer * Logfile for all calls. * External Protocol handling. * Runs external programs. * ASCII Uploads. * Separate Macros for every BBS. * Separate INIT/PREFIX/BAUDRATE/NAME/PASSWORD etc for every BBS-entry. * Echo (Normal or BBS) * Cost Counter. * Multi-language. * and much, much more. 724K uncompressed. [] NERTZ_D is the Nertz Demo by MajicSoft, Inc. Nertz is a solitaire type game which you can play by yourself or with up to nine total players using MIDI and Modem linkups (both at the same time, too!). I like multi-player games and MajicSoft seems to have gone all out on this one! Nertz runs on all ST--Falcons from Floppy or Hard drive. It's Geneva compatible, color only, with piles of features (including an eye pleasing interface that is easily accessable. Mouse and/or joystick controlled. This is not only a thinking solitaire game, but a race to win against your opponents, so you better be prepared to move! Kids (of all ages) can access a slower level (whew! Thanks!). Online docs, but I didn't find them very helpful. So I called up the company and asked! Your Nertz pile is a set of cards (face up) near the bottom left. Below that is your other 26 cards face down. You attempt to play your Nertz cards to the slots at the right (in normal solitaire order) for one point each. Above is a series of slots where you play any of your cards (from the two piles or from the slots to the right) in a low to high order. Your opponents can also play their cards on yours there! It's a free for all! You get two points for those cards. After hearing this Nertz is a lot more fun! Nertz is scheduled to be available June, 1994 (and it will be inexpensive, too!). This demo is limited in that you can only play one short game (only about 30 seconds) before it dumps you back to the desktop (cleanly, of course!). [] NO_LIMT8 is No Limit v.1.08 by Andreas Kroeber, Harald Bender, and Patrice Petong (dated March 10, 1994). This Shareware Pinball game will work with any ST--Falcon in any resolution (except with big screen monitors). Use the SHIFT keys to control the paddles, SPACE for nudge - not too much!, and ALT to pull the plunger. While the controls were easy to use I found it impossible to get the ball to the upper left of the screen - it just wouldn't go no matter how I timed the use of the paddles. Maybe you can do better! I do wish that the playing field would have been bigger somehow - there just wasn't enough for the ball to do. Overall though, this is a nice pinball game with good graphics and digitized sounds. I wish there was more than one pinball game included, but the one that is is OK (more are coming!). Geneva compatible. [] OCR125E is OCR v.1.25 by Alexander Clauss (Dated May, 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 straight ASCII text. This program has a lot of features, and now that the documentation (and program) has been translated into English I can figure out a lot more of them! Create font dictionaries for each of the fonts you regularly experience and save them for future use. That way you don't need to "train" the software each time. ST--Falcon compatible, color or mono, and requiring at least 500K free RAM, 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). Of course, you will need a scanner to create the images to convert in the first place (or know someone who has one!). I recommend this file to you. Of course, it's not as good as MyGraph's OCR software, but it's free (voluntary contributions are most welcome!). [] OIL_PUMP by Kevin Fanning (dated May 1, 1994)is a series of .3D2 files used in creating a Lufkin Pump Jack (the kind you see in the small oilfields of PA and other oil producing states). He has also included a .PC1 background picture and a .ctl file for use with Cyber Control and CAD 3D-2.02. [] OUTSDEMO is the Outside v.3.2 Demo by Maxon Computer GmbH of Germany (I don't know when this version is dated, but I downloaded it in May of 1994). This is a virtual memory manager for the TT, Falcon, and PAK/3 equiped STs (the PAK/3 is a 68030 board, so perhaps this will work with other 68030 boards as well). It will add two megabytes of virtual memory to those machines (the full program can add 512 megabytes!). MultiTOS and Mag!X compatible (I assume Geneva as well, but I don't see it mentioned in the docs). The documentation is all in German. This program will help the TT (and Falcon) to be more compatible with some programs that presently crash on them, will speed up your TT's ROM access by 30% (by copying it into RAM, but only a 7% speedup on the Falcon), and much more. The full version will add more (hey, it's a demo!). A previous version of this demo (OUTSIDE, v.3.0) has been translated into English and was distributed through Lexicor. Perhaps this new version is distributed by them as well. [] PACKCNV2 is Packconv version 2 by Erno Meffert and Theo Runia. This archive contains two utilities to make the Bermuda mail utilities compatible with Binkley ST. The Bermuda utilities mentioned are the new version of Import and Pack and the new program Scan. They are quite a bit better and faster then the old The Box mail utilities. Docs included. See BTPACK05 for a similar utility. [] PFXPAK31 is PFX-PAK v.3.1beta by Thomas Quester (dated Feb. 26, 1994). This program (or ACC) will allow you to compress your program and .ACC files to about 1/2 of their original size and still run them as before. This can result in a tremendous saving in disk space, and even in loading time when used with a floppy drive (the smaller file loads in so much more quickly that it more than makes up for any loss caused by the uncompressing of the files in memory). Also included in this archive is the most recent version of his AFX (Automatic File eXtractor v.2.2) which will allow you to compress and uncompress all of your data files transparently to your applications. Now that will allow you to save BUNDLES of space on your drives! All your data files (wordprocessing, Desktop Publishing, spreadsheets, etc.) all compressed, and still usable! This shareware program is all in German, but I didn't have much problem in using it. It has some problems with Geneva, the multi-tasking AES replacement from Gribnif (what a Wonderful utility that is!). Programs compress and run fine when running under Geneva, but .ACC bomb out when compressed and then run (at least STeno crashed when run as an .ACC in Geneva - and I love STeno!). Some other difficulties (INFO causes the program to crash) are also evident under Geneva. Nevertheless, this is an excellent program! [] PHX2DEMO is the demo version of Phoenix Object Renderer v.2.0 distributed by Lexicor Software (released April, 1994). This is the 68000 version which will run on any Atari ST/TT/Falcon and Graphics Board, however there is also a 68030 with FPU support (see PHX2DFPU). I've seen some fantastic pictures rendered through Phoenix 2. It's amazing the list of features this program has _added_ to the already impressive Phoenix 1. Phoenix now runs completely under MultiTOS, allowing you to render your images in the background while you do something else with your computer (wonderful!!). Phoenix 2 allows you to view and save images as 512 color Spectrum SPC files, 2 to 256 color GIF files, or true color (24bit) Targa files at any resolution. This demo is limited in that the animation features of the program have been disabled, and any rendered images will be created with numerous blank horizontal bands through the image. One EXCELLENT thing about this demo is the included Tutorial. Phoenix is a complicated program, and without this tutorial I would suspect that it would be useless to most people, but with it...great! A minimum of 1 meg of RAM and a DS drive is required (a hard drive is much better!). Docs and descriptions included. Geneva compatible. 750K uncompressed. [] PHX2DFPU is the demo version of Phoenix Object Renderer v.2.0 distributed by Lexicor Software (released April, 1994). This is the 68030/68882 FPU _required_ version which will run on such equipped TT or Falcon with or without a Graphics Board. There is a version (PHX2DEMO) which will run on any ST--Falcon but without the tremendous speedup provided by the FPU. See PHX2DEMO above for a more complete description of this program. 653K uncompressed. [] PONG2001 is a text file and InShape rendering files by Michael Robinson showing how he created the Atari Explorer Online April Fool's joke picture "BattlePong 2001." Using these files, and InShape, you can view this picture (check out the April 1, 1994 AEO issue) and see just how it was done. Interesting. [] RDD320 is The Revenge Document Displayer v.3.20 by Stuart Coates (dated March 26, 1994). The Revenge Document Displayer provides you with a text viewing utility that is both powerful and easy to use. I recommend it to you. It will allow you to load, display and print out any ASCII document (either by simply double-clicking on the program, running it as a TTP program, installing it as an application, using it as an alternate text viewer in NeoDesk 3, or, with TOS 2.0x or higher , just dropping the text file on the program icon). When you load a document (up to 200 at once!) any control characters will be automatically stipped out so that it is more readable. (This in itself makes this program worth getting...but there's more!). RDD allows reading of ASCII text compressed with Pack Ice 2.4 (not included in the archive), which can save you a PILE of space on your drives. Scroll up and down the page using the arrow keys, create tabs, move up and down a page at a time, go to the beginning or end of your document, automatic pagination (with selectable page breaks), search for specific text, set bookmarks (up to 100), mark blocks for printing (and print!), dump hex files, execute external program with a single keystroke (have up to 20 configured for automatic running), set the scan rate between 50 and 60 Hertz, view Degas pictures, and much more. Mouse and/or keyboard controlled. Docs and online help included. I like the interface of this version much better than previous versions. It seems much easier to control. ST--Falcon compatible (in non-ST res, too!). There is an excellent installation program that make installing RRD simple and easy to do. A 68030 version is included which is even faster for those of you with 68030 CPUs. Unfortunately, this program is not compatible with DC Right Click, a utility I often use to simulate a double left click with a quick right mouse button click. Oh well, I guess we can't have everything! [] REZ_FOOL is Rez Fooler v.1.2 (and Rez Fooler Controller v.1.0) by WtP of NewSection One (dated May 15, 1993). Rez Fooler is an AUTO Folder/ Desktop program that (hopefully) will fool your Falcon and make it think you've got another kind of monitor connected than the one actually connected. This is mostly because some demos won't run on a standard TV, although it should (from the programmers point of view, there is no difference between a standard TV and a RGB monitor). Another way of using this program might be if you've got a multisync monitor, that can do RGB & VGA monitor modes, then you can probably use this program to quickly access all the different resolutions by the set video (this means that you can change monitor type and then set video to use all video modes almost instantly). A simple-to-use configuration program and Docs are included. I saw this program quite some time ago now, but it was recently uploaded again, and I wrote a more complete description, so here it is... again! [] RUGCROSS is the hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross" as arranged by B. Bencivenga. He used Band in the Box, and Cubase Lite to sequence this MIDI file on a Roland SC-155 sound Canvas...This is GM/GS compatable. [] SDI is a Talespin adventure created by a group of 2nd - 5th grade children at Leal Elementary School. Load this up (using TELLTALE in the KIDS category) and you will find yourself stranded on a desert island. Choose to be any of 10 different characters, each with differing abilities and weaknesses. After choosing your persona you battle your through a series of adventures on the island and finally (hopefully!) reach the rescue ship. The story line was created by the children, the graphics were drawn using Kidpainter (from D.A. Brumleve), and the whole was combined together using Talespin. TOS 1.0--1.62 (at least). Color only. [] SILKBT2E is SilkBoot v.2e by Mark Slagell (uploaded on May 30, 1994). Mark is the author of the justly famous SilkMouse (v.3.2 is the newest version of that must-have utility) as well as numerous other programs. This program is a revision of SilkBoot 2 done especially for STe and MSTe users. It installs an executable boot sector on a floppy disk that can speed up your boot up dramatically by bypassing the normal boot delay and memory test. It also automatically allows STE users to install an extra 0.5 meg of RAM into their 2 meg STEs (something the operating system doesn't normally allow). The method it uses to allow this extra RAM has been 100% reliable on several STE systems (something that SIMMFIX and perhaps STE2_5 which attempt to do the same thing are not). Docs included. Color or mono. [] SKULLFC by T.HAWKINS is a GIF of a Ken Kelly painting. The upload description goes, "From the pages of Robert E. Howard comes Skull Face. A man chained to his doom by the demons." Actually, I wouldn't give much chance for those demons in the end. That guy doesn't look defeated yet to me, bound, yes, but defeated, no! This GIF was created using VideoMaster on a Falcon. [] STABLE by Matt Chandler is a text file detailing how he turned a Wico Trackball into... STablemouse! This fix uses inexpensive parts to create a stationary mouse that (the author says) is smooth and very easy to use. The directions make the conversion seem easy as pie. It's certainly cheaper that other trackballs available for the ST line. [] STAN_1 is the first editon of STeve's AtariNotes. This is a combo electronic newsletter/CATALOG that I enjoyed reading through. I expect that you will have the same reaction. STeve is STeve Kipker, the owner of STeve's Atari Sales, and an active online presence on both GEnie (S.KIPKER) and Delphi (ATARISALES). This newsletter is full of interesting material about the Atari world and about the BBS sponsored by STeve's store, the SOARing STar BBS. [] STARWING is STARWING v.2.02e by Lothar Meier (dated Dec 17, 1992). This mono-only space combat/trading simulation games will work on any 1 meg or better ST/STE TOS 1.0--2.06 (at least) machine. This looks like a very interesting and challenging game. The only problem is that it is in German, docs and program alike. I'd like to see it in English, but until then I can't do much with it. Well written in that it allows access to .ACC while playing the game and exits cleanly. Anyone up to translating this? Uncompresses to 595K (compressed about 195K)! [] STE_2_5 is a program by I. Hussain of Jazzbox Inc which will allow STE owners to install 2.5 meg of memory on their systems. Normally, the STE Memory Management Unit chips will only allow 0.5, 2.0, or 4 meg of RAM (as opposed to ST's which also allow 2.5 meg upgrades). With this utility, which must be run from the AUTO folder EVERYTIME your STE is booted, you can use those extra 256K SIMMS you have left from your original STE and use them with your 2 meg of SIMMs chips. Docs and C source included. [] STEAMDM2 is Steam v.1.1 by Douglas Samuel (dated 1994). Steam is a computer based saturated steam table which performs the same function as both temperature and pressure oriented saturated steam tables. STEAM automates and reduces the effort involved with using steam tables, particularly as it pertains to interpolation. Just plug in the numbers and out pops your answer! Steam only runs in ST high resolution (640 x 400). A full working copy with manual costs $20. Make sure you get Steam v.1.1 if you are looking for it, as Steam 1.0 had some problems. [] STOS1 is the STOS BITS v1.0 disk magazine the The Happening Boiz. Formerly a Budgie UK release (available from ST Plug), this STOS programming magazine (and lots else) is now available freely to all. Finished in Dec. 1990, this magazine is cramed packed with demos, PD program reviews, music, graphics, STOS programming hints and piles of STOS program listings for you to use. It is compressed using ST ZIP and Magic Shadow (use the Magic Shadow Archiver to uncompress - I recommend MSA_2_32). Requires a DS disk. [] STOSSHOW by Andrei Ellman is v.1.04 of his STOS (compatible through TOS 1.62 at least) slideshow for low-res Degas or NeoChrome pictures. Now only does it display the pictures (stored on disk or in memory for faster access), it will also display them with all sorts of special effects. Rolls, slides, fades, color changes, etc. all go into making this a nice slide shower. Docs and sample pictures included. Color only. [] STZIP26 is STZip v.2.6 by Vincent Pomey (dated April 27, 1994). This version fixes a number of bugs that crept into v.2.5, so get this file! This is one fantastic compression utility, and he keeps on making it better! 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 and Geneva 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. Here's my bug report: I find that even with 2 meg+ of free RAM some large archives with multiple files fail to uncompress. I get an "insufficient memory" message. The trouble is that this is not consistent from file to file! Some huge files uncompress file while some others don't (it seems more to do with the number of files in the archive than in their size alone). If I reboot to get almost 4 meg of RAM free I never have this problem. When that happens I generally use DC Xtract v.2.2b (DCXTR22B) to uncompress the file or I uncompress it bit by bit (which is a pain). Nevertheless, I think this is a "must have" program. PostCardWare (Come on! Brag a bit and send him a postcard showing the sights of where you live!) [] TIMESAVR is another new idea from Cybercube. I really do like to register shareware, but I never seem to get around to it (I used to have a "Round Tuit" but I lost it!). This file is a "Time$avers" .IMG picture which you just need to print out, fill out, and send it in to register any Shareware programs Cybercube represents. I've finally done it! I printed it out, wrote out the check and mailed off my registration for GEMView! Finally! Maybe you need to check out this file, too! [] TOOLLOPE is the LaserLope Tools by Barney Poston (the author of Lucky Lotto). These tools are a collection of files used for working on the LaserLope program itself. (LaserLope is the LaserJet 4 envelope printing utility) A utility to determine the most effective line spacing for the various font sizes; a program which will printout a nice wall chart containing a sample of every typeface available in the LaserJet 4 which may be used in conjunction with LaserLope; a sample database in ASCII format created using Data Manager ST for you to use with LaserLope, and a program will draw outlines of the various standard envelope sizes as well as other non-standard outlines on 8-1/2 in. x 11 in. paper (You can then print sample address formats on the pre-printed paper to determine how your envelopes will look, prior to actually printing on an envelope.) are all included (along with their respective docs). [] TOS4TRAP is TOS4 Trap v.1.0 by Keith Gerdes of Trace Technologies (released April 4, 1994). Trace Technologies produces Data Diet v.2 (++), a realtime file compression system; Data Rescue, a complete realtime data recovery solution; Squish II (++), an executable file compression system which save you a tremendous amount of storage space by compressing your programs and accessories and yet still allowing them to be run, and Load Aladdin, a shareware program which allows you to use GEnie's ST Aladdin on your Falcon030. Keith has produced another excellent utility here. TOS4 Trap is a Falcon-only AUTO folder utility which monitors certain GEMDOS calls to make passed parameters "TOS4 GEMDOS compatible". Using this program will enable Falcon owners to more efficiently use STalker, NeoDesk 3, MaxiFile, DeskManager, and probably other programs as well. Docs included. Shareware. [] TOS_CREW is a True Color texture mapping on a spinning globe representing the earth. Coded on the Fried Bits 2 Party in Bremen by Mr Ni! (the Great) of the TOS-crew. Start the demo in 320x200 in true color mode. Directions for controlling the demo are included. Falcon only. [] TOTH is a 640 x 480 x 256 colored .GIF picture created with Phoenix 2.0 by B. Devonshire of a skull wearing sunglasses and a top hat. The background and foreground is of glowing, flaming colors. As the upload descriptions says, "Martha was suspicious of the old Top Hat from the start, but John purchased it from the travelling salesman anyway. After the pyrotechnics explosion during the Victoria day celebration, it was confirmed!!" [] TOWERMAP by F.D.Percival is a series of 15 Degas .PI2 maps of all 15 levels of the dungeon game, Towers. The maps included lists of objects (both hidden and visible). You must register your copy of the game to make full use of this file. The maps are well done. 492K uncompressed. [] TOWERSMP is a set of five Degas high rez compressed pictures of the first five level of Towers, the new Dungeon (or Tower!) game from JV Enterprises. This also includes a file with the 12 spells he has found to work with Towers. Now he says that he needs to get the manual so he can keep on playing! 107K uncompressed. [] TWRPTCH4 is an archive which will allow you to patch any version of Towers, the 3D One or Two player Dungeon Game from JV Enterprises to version 1.4. Simply copy the files from this archive to your Towers disk. People have asked, and JV Enterprises has listened... and worked! You wanted to play Towers over the modem, and now you can! If you have a Hayes AT command compatible, 14.4k Error Correction modem or better. Get ready to play Towers (ver.1.4) over the phone. This feature does require a 2 meg machine (actually 1.1meg) to play either the null-modem, MIDI, or modem games. Towers 1.4 even includes a simple text routine so you can communicate with your partner without two lines!! It also improves the game saving by allowing you to use numbers in game descriptions. You can register Towers through JV Enterprises or through: Suzy B's Software; STeve's Software, and B&C Computers. In the UK you can register it through Goodman International. Wow! 183K uncompressed. [] TRONSEQ is a Videomaster animation for the Falcon by Barry Summer. It is a TRON-like race of nice computer animation. Use the included Falcon TTP player program to view... just slide the tronseq.con file to the TTP icon. This one was done with a PIP (Picture in Picture) type view. [] UPABOVE is a GIF by B. Devonshire created with Phoenix 2. It shows a shuttle astronaut in his MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) standing behind a desk composed of "Earth-from-space" colors embedded in a transparent plastic. The desk is resting on the Earth far below. A golden arch passes over the whole. A long-stemmed glass and a wine bottle sit unopened on the table. The caption reads "Houston, we have a problem,..." [] VERICARD is Vericard by Mark Brinkworth of Australia. This .ACC is fascinating to me. I never realized before I saw this that credit card numbers have a certain logic behind them. Just any number won't do. Credit card numbers have a certain pattern to them, and this .ACC will check any number you put in to see if it is a valid number. I tried it on all the credit cards I could get ahold of and they all were confirmed as valid (boy, was I glad!). I then changed all of the numbers by a digit in various locations and this .ACC told me that they weren't right. Amazing! Docs included. Color or mono. Geneva compatible. [] VIPER is a 640 x 480 x 256 colored GIF picture by Barry Summer of a Viper Spacefighter (from Battlestar Galactica?) created with Phoenix 2. A starfield covers the background. I thought this was well-done, especially including the "teeth" at the front of the viper! [] VIPERS by Daniel W. McAndrew is a Warp 9 Extend-O-Save module (his sixth). Load this file into your Warp 9 v.3.80+ (or change the extender to .PRG for a demo) and watch the Vipers attacking the Cylon base star (shades of Battlestar Galactica!). [] WAVEFIX is a text file (dated March 29, 1994) which lists both the incorrect code in the GENEDIT Korg Wavestation/AD SEND segment configuration and the correct code. Previous to this fix, only the wave "A" parameters were properly sent. Docs are included. [] WINEANIM by C. Probert is an FLM animation of a wine glass filling and emptying with red wine. Created in RRTRACER on a 1040ST, this animation uses 48 frames. That would only take awhile to do right? Right! Only about three hours of rendering time...per frame! Yikes! Use Prism Paint or the Lexicor FLMPLAYR to show this animation. [] WINX22 is WinX v.2.2 (dated Oct. 17, 1993). See WINX23G for a more detailed description. Even though this version is older I have kept it here because of the English docs it includes as well as the CPZ configurer. Those are included in this program and not in v.2.3G. I recommend them both, though you really only need WINX23G (the English docs from here are included there as well. [] WINX23G is WinX v.2.3g Beta by (\/) Martin Osieka (dated April 5, 1994). WinX is basically a replacement (i.e.: big upgrade) for that part of the GEM Desktop that controls your window displays (and more) for all TOS 1.0-4.04. First, in order to use WinX you must load GEM into RAM using any of several utilities available (actually, if you have TOS 1.04 or lower you can access some of WinX's features without doing this). I recommend GEMRAM v.1.6 (see it's review above). This only loads GEM into memory which is much more efficient than loading all of TOS into RAM as some programs do (such as ROMSPEED). There are no English docs with this version, so I have included the docs from WinX v.2.2 (dated Oct. 17, 1993). They don't cover everything, but they are better than nothing! Here are just a few things WinX will do for you (believe me, this is not nearly all!): Windows will move with the mouse, rather than an outline. Windows will resize with the mouse, rather than an outline. The scroll bar updates as you scroll through the window's contents. You can jump to the top or bottom by right clicking on the arrows. You can jump to a specific place on the scroll bar by right clicking there. You can shrink a window to just its top by right clicking on the top. Fixes the lost memory bug in Falcons. (Every time you open a window, memory is used. Unfortunately, when the window is closed, you don't get the memory back, but now with WinX you do!) This program is fully configurable, and I recommend that you play around with it. I have! [] WOLF3D06 is a preliminary test version of Wolf 3D v0.60 (dated April 26, 1994) by Apollo of the New Power Generation (what a name!). Keyboard controlled, this VGA/TV/RGB compatible game doesn't do much as of yet (from what I can tell from the docs), but it does show promise. It looks like the author is passing this out just to try his 3D engine on a variety of machines (he includes a "Help" program which will yield useful information for him if the program crashes your system). Not MultiTOS compatible. (note: the game's name on Delphi is WOLD3D06...I think the "D" crept in there by accident replacing the "F" in the archive name, but perhaps the name switch was intentional). 256K uncompressed. [] XAKRESET is the Reset-Box v.1.00 by Konstantinos Xonis of XAK-Design. This simple program will allow you to cause your ST/STE (higher?) to execute a WarmStart (just as if you pressed the reset button) or a ColdStart (like shutting of your computer with the powerswitch). This in itself it not that great (after all, most of us can just reach around to the back of the computer and do it ourselves!), but another feature of this program IS neat. It allows you to select a memory size to be simulated after bootup. If you have a 4 meg machine and you wish to test if a program will work on a 520ST machine, just click on the 520ST button and when your desktop appears you will have 0.5 meg of RAM! Other memory configurations can be selected as well. It's too bad that it doesn't work the other way - I'd like to take a 0.5 meg ST and convince it that it is a 4 meg ST! Docs included. Geneva compatible. [] XSPFIGHT is a 640 x 480 GIF file created using Phoenix 1.0 of a group of three Viper spacefighters fighting three Cylon craft. I hate to say it but the Vipers are getting wiped. Two are damaged and about destroyed which the third fights on. Whew! That's enough for now. I still have lots of files to go, but it's time to stop (have your eyes gotten tired yet!). Take care, and may God bless! 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 (818-980-0237, a new number - it's moved!), 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. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Developing news! ||| Items of interest from TOS platform developers and supporters / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// MIST AtariFest VI July 23, 1994 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Here's the detail on MIST AtariFest VI. Please relay it, print and post it wherever you can: MIST AtariFest VI: Saturday, July 23, 1994, at Indianapolis, Indiana Best Western Waterfront Plaza Hotel on U.S. 136 off Interstate 465 (Speedway Exit) Mid-Indiana ST Atari Users Group announces its 6th annual MIST AtariFest will be Saturday, July 23, at the same northwest Indianapolis hotel as last year. Commodore Amiga users also are invited to take part in swaps, sales and trades at MIST AtariFest VI -- one of the first "computer fests" since the Commodore company announced plans for liquidation. MIST AtariFest VI begins at 10am Indiana and Illinois Time (11am for Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky visitors), and continues until 3pm (4pm EDT). MIST is comprised of three central Indiana Atari groups: * ASCII (Atari ST Computers in Indianapolis) * BL.A.ST (Bloomington Atari ST) * PAUG (Purdue Atari User Group) All Atari computer users -- 8-bit as well as 16/32 ST and 32/32 TT -- are welcome to attend and/or put out equipment, software, etc., for sale, trade or swap. Commodore Amiga users also are invited (C=64 users won't be turned away). Table space that has been reserved AND PAID by July 8 is only $50 for commercial vendors/developers; $15 for user groups plus ticket fees for each person. Add $10 a table if paid after July 8. Solo tables: $10, space permitting. Mail reservations and checks to: MIST AtariFest c/o Charlie Sears 551 Mooreland Dr, New Whiteland, IN 46184 Location is the Best Western Waterfront Plaza Hotel on Ind. 136, just minutes north of the Indianapolis International Airport (complimentary transportation from the airport). If driving, exit at "Speedway" from Interstate 465, the "ring" road around Indianapolis. Special AtariFest rates for rooms are $53 single, $59 double. Special facilities are available for the handicapped, for non-smokers, and for guests with small children. For room reservations, call Best Western national number 800-528-1234 or 317/299-8400 x393. Mention the MIST AtariFest VI to get special rates (or "ASCII Atari Computer Show" if "MIST 'Fest" doesn't the ring the reservations desk's bell). For more details: FidoNet 1:231/310.0, AtariNet 51:203/8, or SBE Net Internet: shuffman@ideanet.doe.state.in.us Crossroads BBS: 317/878-4069 (Southside Indianapolis) 317/780-5473 (West & Northeast Indy) BL.A.ST BBS: 812/988-1069 (Bloomington/Nashville Area) Voice: ASCII Secretary Charlie Sears 317/535-4829 BL.A.ST Secretary Stu Huffman 812/988-7558 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// CAIN Atari Fun Fest 94 August 7, 1994 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Central Atari Information Network Presents C.A.I.N. Atari Fun Fest 94 August 7, 1994 / 10:00AM to 5:00PM Knights of Columbus Hall 7637 Chardon Road Kirtland, OH 44094 *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* * THE FIRST CLEVELAND-AREA ATARI SHOW IN YEARS!!! * *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* Free Admission! What to See and Do! The New Jaguar Game System! The LYNX handheld game unit Bring your LYNX and games to COMLYNX with other players! The Falcon Multimedia computer Gemulator (IBM emulator running Atari ST Software) 8-bit computers and products 16/32-bit computers and products Portfolio palmtop computer Meet the editors of C.A.I.N. Classic game systems 2600/5200/7800 and games Catalogs and brochures for Atari line of products Atari products for sale / Plus Much More! Table pricing per 8 foot table $10.00 per table no electricity $15.00 per table with one outlet For more show or lodging info contact Fred Horvat P.O. Box 493 Chesterland, OH 44026-0493 216-729-0761 Internet ID : ap748@cleveland.freenet.edu =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Musicom 2 Announced =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Musicom 2 is the complete solution for digital recording. Now special effects previously only possible in a professional music studio can now be achieved with the Falcon. Feed your Falcon with 8 or 16 bit mono or stereo sampled at between 8.2 and 50 kHz; Musicom will eat all that directly from a microphone or audio device plugged into the Falcon. Take a Michael Jackson song from CD and sing in his place. With Karaoke you can mask out the lead vocal from most recordings. Move your living room into the Alps; using Digital Delay will make you sound like you're talking from the top of the Matterhorn. And that's just the start - with special effects like flange and harmonize at your disposal the possibilities for creativity are limitless. The harmonizer lets you take one voice and manipulate it to sound like harmony - just imagine three of you singing at the same time! And with a 10 channel equalizer only a mouse click away your voice can go from Soprano to Bass. Everything may be recorded directly to your hard disk, and from there you can assembly your masterpiece. Use the Cutter to display your recording, and edit it. You can zoom in on portions of the sample, mark blocks, cut and paste blocks, set markers (and give them meaningful names), and apply any number of special effects. You can combine recordings and sort them by name. Insert pauses and set the tempo, snapping blocks to the tempo to create songs. Play the whole recording or any portion of it, or loop it for repeated playback. You can even use oversampling to change the recording type, from 16 bit stereo at 50 KHz to 8 bit mono at 8KHz, or anywhere in between. Finally, you can save the assembled recording as a single recording or as a play list. It's all very easy with the Cutter display and tool set. When you've assembled recordings into a song, you can select Jingles mode to load a group of songs, and play them back in any order, or consecutively, automatically. Musicom 2 supports the Digital Box, which provides your Falcon computer with digital audio inputs and outputs (Optical and Coaxial S/PDIF), as well as clocks for sampling CDs and DATs directly (44.1KHz and 48KHz). You can now have a completely digital recording studio at a fraction of the cost of other systems! -- New in Musicom 2 -- - Multi-windowed GEM interface, with tape deck-style controls - Real time Peak Level meter with input adjustment - Real time Spectrum Analyzer - Intelligent hard disk analysis - shows available recording time - Jingles List - load groups of samples for individual or group playback - Looping for continuous playback of any number of samples - Waveform display, with position and status indicators during playback - Variable zoom of waveform display Cutter module for editing samples - Pattern mode for combining samples - Block marking in samples, with loading and saving of blocks - Effects can be applied to samples and blocks during or after recording - Up to 64 markers (with names) can be placed in a sample, during or after recording - Markers can be snapped to blocks, and blocks snapped to markers - Tempo controls for maintaining tempo when combining samples - Pauses can be inserted into patterns - Oversampling allows samples to be converted between 8 and 16 bit, mono and stereo, and different sampling frequencies - Digital input and output through the Digital Box - External clocks in the Digital Box (44.1KHz and 48KHz) Musicom 2 is available now for $99.95. Upgrades from original Musicom cost $40.00. The Digital Box is available for $349.95. For more information, contact COMPO Software! COMPO Software 104 Esplanade Avenue Suite 121 Pacifica California 94044 Tel: 415-355-0862 Fax: 415-355-0869 GEnie: COMPO =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Photo Show Pro CLUT =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Some 1224 monitors, when used with the Falcon, lack brightness. We have just installed a CLUT (Color Lookup Table) for Photo Show Pro that can, among other things, improve the color range of images on the 1224 monitor. The 1224 CLUT brightens the lower range of color intensity on a sliding scale as not to clip the upper ranges of intensity. If you use a 1224 monitor with Photo Show Pro, we can update you to the version of Photo Show Pro with gamma correction for $5.00 to cover cost of disk and mailing. It's like getting a new monitor. In particular, if you suffer from a dark monitor, your images will be improved to near the quality obtained from a VGA monitor. Write: Randall Kopchak 2233 Keeven Lane Florissant MO 63031 GEnie: GREG =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Atari Compendium Revision =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Software Development Systems (aka SDS Publishing) is proud to announce the release of the first revision to the highly successful programmer's reference guide, "The Atari Compendium" by Scott Sanders. The new revision adds 60 pages of new material bringing its total size to a whopping 920 pages of facts, tables, and diagrams useful for any level of Atari computer programmer. The new revision has also been redesigned to be slightly thinner and was bound with a lay-flat binding for easy use. In addition, the cover is now coated to prevent fingerprints and aging. NEW MATERIAL INCLUDED IN THIS REVISION: ======================================= Building MiNT Device Drivers and File Systems The XBRA Protocol Programming the IKBD Keyboard Controller An Expanded Style Guide More Memory Locations Documented Programming the Internal FM Sound Generator TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction to Atari Programming Chapter 2: GEMDOS/MiNT Chapter 3: BIOS Chapter 4: XBIOS Chapter 5: Hardware Chapter 6: AES Chapter 7: VDI Chapter 8: Line-A Chapter 9: The Desktop Chapter 10: XCONTROL Chapter 11: GEM User Interface Guidelines Appendix A: Functions by Opcode Appendix B: Memory Map Appendix C: Native File Formats Appendix D: Error Codes Appendix E: Atari ASCII Table Appendix F: IKBD Scan Codes Appendix G: Speedo Fonts Appendix H: The Drag & Drop Protocol Appendix I: The Programmable Sound Generator Bibliography Index Each chapter contains an Overview listing the practical uses of available system functions as well as a Function Reference which lists the features and bugs for each OS function. Programming examples are given in 'C' and Assembly depending on which is more appropriate and examples are given to allow 'C' programmers to use Assembly bindings and vice-versa. Most importantly, this revision of the Compendium contains a named constant for almost every practical function parameter and return value. Use of constants is consistent with those documented by Atari and major compiler manufacturers. A TOS.H/TOSDEFS.H set of include files for major compilers is available from SDS to complement the book. "The Atari Compendium" was edited by several members of Atari's TOS development group and is now recognized by Atari as Official Developer's Documentation. SPECIFICATIONS ============== Binding: 9" x 7" Lay-Flat Binding Cover: UV Coated/Four-Color Pages: 920 ISBN: 0-9638331-1-1 Library of Congress CIP: 94-66014 SRP (U.S.): $49.95 PURCHASING INFO =============== "The Atari Compendium" is available for purchase worldwide at all fine Atari Dealers and direct as follows: USA/Canada/Mexico/South America ------------------------------- Software Development Systems 996 Redondo Ave. #404 Long Beach, CA 90804 USA Voice: 310/430-0364 Fax: 310/987-2205 GEnie: S.SANDERS2 Delphi: SDSSOFT Compuserve: 71461, 3645 Internet: S.SANDERS2@genie.geis.com Pricing: $49.95 US + S & H (Check or money order only please.) We will gladly refer you to a local dealer for credit card orders. Shipping and Handling is $4.00 US, $6.00 Canada/Mexico, and $12.00 outside of these countries. Existing owners wising to upgrade to the first revision should send the old front cover and $39.95 US + $4.00 S & H. TOS Header File/Examples Disk is available with book purchase for $10.00 + $2.00 S & H (All countries). Europe ------ Hisoft The Old School, Greenfield Bedford MK45 5DE UK Voice: +44 (0) 525-718181 Fax: +44 (0) 525-713716 GEnie: HISOFT Pricing: Contact for pricing and availability. Australia --------- Paragon Computers 17/5 Short St. Perth 6000 W. AUSTRALIA Pricing: Contact for pricing and availability. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Studio Convert From COMPO =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Studio Convert is the ultimate image conversion tool for Atari computers. Studio Convert uses a 24-bit color palette on all Atari computers, regardless of video display. It will always adapt to whatever display is used. Supported Image Formats Studio Convert loads the following formats: SEF: Studio Effects Format (.SEF). 24-bit format used by Studio Photo. TIFF: Tagged Image File Format (.TIF). 24-bit format developed by Aldus and Microsoft; standard true color format. GIF: Graphics Interchange Format (.GIF). 256-color format developed by Compuserve for the exchange of image files on public networks. Targa: Texas Instrument Graphics Architecture (.TGA). True color format designed for interfacing between Texas Instrument components. PCX: PC-Paintbrush (.PCX) 256-color format. IFF: Interchange File Format (.IFF). 256-color format. Standard image file format on Amiga computers. DEGAS: Image file format of DEGAS (PC1, PC2, PC3). 16 colors. NEO: Image file format of NEOCHROME (.NEO). 16 colors. JPEG: Joint Photographic Expert Group (.JPG). A CCITT/IS standard which uses an algorithm for compression and decompression of color or gray scale images. True color (16 million colors). PCD: Photo CD. Image file format from Kodak (.PCD). 16 millions colors. XGA: eXtended Graphic Array (.XGA). Capable of 65536 colors (same as the Falcon030's True Color mode). ART: Image file format of ART DIRECTOR (.ART). 16 colors. DOODLE: Image file format of Doodle (.DOO). 640 x 400 pixels in monochrome. IMG: GEM Image file format (.IMG). Monochrome. STAD: Image file format of STAD (.PAC). Monochrome. DALI: Image file format of DALI (.SD0, SD1, SD2). Maximum 16 colors. OTHERS: Allow you to load a large number of image file formats if you know their dimensions and header. RAW: Image file format in 16 million colors (.RAW). MTV: Image file format in 16 million colors (.MTV). DIS: Image file format of DKB or POV in 16 million colors. CRANACH: Image file format of CRANACH (.ESM) 16 millions colors. SPECTRUM: Image file format of SPECTRUM (.SPU). 512 colors. SUN RASTER FILE: Image file format of SUN. Studio Convert can save images in the following formats: SEF, TIFF, GIF, Targa, PCX, IFF, DEGAS, NEOCHROME, JPEG, and IMG. //// Image effects Studio Convert displays all images, adapting to the display mode. It can invert and mirror images. It can also dither and print images. Studio Convert has twelve dithering patterns, with three possible dot sizes, for a total of 36 dithering options. Dithering is displayed on screen. //// Printing You can adjust image brightness for optimum print quality, and freely resize images before printing (from 1% to 999%). Images can be automatically aligned on the page, and tiled for printing posters of umlimited size. Printing from Studio Convert requires SpeedoGDOS (available separately from COMPO Software). Studio Convert is compatible with all Atari computers. It includes the famous Brainstorm DSP-JPEG routines for very quickly decompressing JPEG images on Falcon030 computers. Studio Convert is available now for $39.95. For more information, please contact COMPO Software. COMPO Software 104 Esplanade Avenue Suite 121 Pacifica California 94044 Tel: 415-355-0862 Fax: 415-355-0869 GEnie: COMPO --==--==--==--==-- ||| ||| Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------ We welcome feedback from all of our readers; feedback both positive and negative. Whatever you think of our efforts, we sincerely would like to know. Our EMail addresses are sprinkled throughout each issue - with the new Internet gateway into GEnie, you can reach us through the Internet also. Append "@genie.geis.com" to any of our GEnie addresses. You can now send EMail to the entire AEO staff at once - use our new group address: . 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 9 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 6 June 1994 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::