STOS EXTENSIONS ROUND-UP By David Seaman Here it is, the definitive round-up of STOS extensions that all you STOSers have been waiting for! This was supposed to appear on issue two of my diskmag, but as 1) I have had no time whatsoever and 2) there's been a distinct lack of interest by most people anyway, I have abandoned any hope of releasing issue two. So here it is in ICTARI. Each extension is rated according to the range of commands, usefulness of commands, documentation and examples, scored out of ten. And, of course, there is an overall score, in percent. Wherever possible, I will include a rating for both the shareware and registered versions. So, here it is! First up, the COMPACT extension. It should be an extension that absolutely EVERY STOS user has, as it was included with the language itself. COMPACT, as the name suggests, compacts things. Well, screens to be exact. It comes with an accessory to do the hard work for you (find the best way of packing a screen), but even non tech-heads can use the I=PACK command and get reasonable results. Obviously, as there are basically only two commands, it doesn't get a tremendous score on the range of commands rating, but then everybody needs to pack screens frequently (don't they?), so that isn't a big problem. The extension does its job reasonably well, and the surprisingly long amount of time before an extension came out with PC? support means that it has to be the most widely used extension. It might seem a bit strange that I've actually reviewed this, as you don't actually have a choice of whether to get it or not, but I want this to be as comprehensive as possible, so there! RANGE: 2 USEFULNESS: 8 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 3 OVERALL: 60% Next up is the COMPILER extension. This turns your BASIC code into executable code, and it has to be said that, although that's all it does, whatever you use STOS for you must get this extension. You can still get it if you fish around a bit, and if you can get it, then you MUST get it! Not a lot to be said really, except that it does its job, does it well, and it's absolutely indispensable. RANGE: 1 USEFULNESS: 10 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 99% (I know that 99% is a ridiculous score, but then it's a ridiculously useful extension!). By the way, as this isn't really an extension in the normal sense, if I call another extension the best available, that excludes the COMPILER! Three-D. If that phrase sends shivers up and down your spine (you strange, sad and twisted individual you), then this may just be the extension you've been waiting for. Well, actually you haven't been waiting for it as it's rather old. (It was released to the cry of "ST PD will never be the same again", or something like that). Heralded as the next big thing since STOS itself, it managed admirably to fail on every count. I have to say that this isn't really a complete review, as my copy of the object editor didn't work! I saw the demo's though, and they looked fairly impressive. From what I have seen of the object editor though, it does look well designed and easy to use, so I'm afraid I'll have to work on that assumption. That said, it doesn't really matter too much, as 1) If you use STOS and are interested in three-D then you'll probably have STOS 3D anyway, 2) If you don't have STOS then you won't really be interested in this article, 3) The same as (2) applies if you do have STOS but are not interested in three-D and finally 4) There isn't really anything else like it for STOS anyway, so even if it was completely rubbish you wouldn't have a better option. Fortunately, though, it isn't rubbish. While not wonderful, it does provide a flexible, albeit slow, three-D environment. The lack of speed is undoubtedly the extensions downfall, but really a STOS extension offering full three-D support and speed is not a feasible prospect. Just look at the 3D Construction Kit. That can't get a decent turn of speed despite being entirely machine code (as far as I know), so what chance does STOS 3-D have? Ultimately, if you want to do three-D in STOS, then this is your only choice and, as long as speed isn't a major requirement, you should be quite happy with what this extension has to offer. RANGE: 5 USEFULNESS: 6 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 7 OVERALL: 68% Along with the 3-D extension you get a little thingybob called the SQUASHER extension. This, surprisingly, squashes files to a fraction of their original size. Well, that's what it's meant to do anyway. AVOID THIS LIKE THE PLAGUE. It doesn't work properly, it's not very good when it does, and... do you get the message?!! RANGE: 2 USEFULNESS: 1 DOCUMENTATION: 1 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 4% And so, with much aplomb, we come to the Shareware extensions, and start with the STE extension, which by the way was on last months disk. Unfortunately, although I sent off my registration money yonks ago, I still haven't heard anything yet. (Methinks I won't, somehow.) What I can say, though, is that this is an excellent extension. There are quite a few commands, although not as many as most extensions these days seem to have, for controlling the STe's enhanced hardware, such as DAC sound, hardware scrolling and the extended joystick ports, and colour palette. A great extension by ASA BURROWS. Unfortunately, there are no example files, but as most of the commands are fairly easy to get to grips with this isn't really a problem. RANGE: 7 USEFULNESS: 8 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 81% By the same author, the BLITTER extension gives you commands for, you guessed it, the BLITTER chip. The commands themselves seem very powerful, although sadly they are also very slow. (The BLITCOPY command is actually SLOWER than STOS's notoriously slow SCREENCOPY command). This mars what could otherwise have been a tremendous extension. Some example files would have been helpful, too. RANGE: 8 USEFULNESS: 3 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 43% The CONTROL extension, by Les Greenhalgh, a great extension indeed. Mainly written for the STe, it gives you sprite commands that are much faster than STOS's own commands (although not quite as nippy as the MISSING LINK), and are fully compatible with hardware scrolling screens from the STe extension. There are many other invaluable commands, and overall this is one of the best extensions available. There are example files for all of the commands, and the documentation is very good as well. RANGE: 9 USEFULNESS: 9 DOCUMENTATION: 8 EXAMPLES: 9 OVERALL: 92% REGISTERED VERSION. Not really a lot different, at least I didn't think so. Still, some improvements made, and it's well worth registering so that Les keeps supporting the ST. Also, upon registering I got my copy of the NINJA extension! RANGE: 9 USEFULNESS: 9 DOCUMENTATION: 8 EXAMPLES: 10 OVERALL: 95% The EXTRA extension is another that you really should get. The 52 commands are many and varied, ranging from the totally indispensable like the disk format and copy commands and the ones for controlling the printer port, to the slightly obscure ones such as those for reading the COOKIE_JAR. (Where the computer stores information such as the TOS number, sound chip info etc). It is also one of the few extensions with a really nice installation program. Again, the documentation and examples are superb. Oh, it's by Martin Cubitt, by the way. He's updating it soon, version three I think, so expect to see more good stuff shortly... RANGE: 9 USEFULNESS: 10 DOCUMENTATION: 9 EXAMPLES: 9 OVERALL: 94% One of the more, um, specialist extensions now. STARS, by Lee Upcroft, gives you some commands to create fast starfields in the background (or even the foreground if you want, I suppose) of your games. Limited appeal, certainly, but it has to be said that it does what it sets out to do extremely well. If you want starfields in your games, well, you can't really do better than this, and if you don't, then you'll probably wonder what the point is. A good extension overall, but with a rather limited appeal. RANGE: 2 USEFULNESS: 5 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 5 OVERALL: 59% The CYBER extension is an extension for playing back animations created with CyberPaint. And, um, that's it really. Again, if that's what you want then it's fine. 'Nuff said. RANGE: 1 USEFULNESS: 5 DOCUMENTATION: 3 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 55% One of the newer extensions, the GBP extension is, amazingly, by GBP software. Hmm. Anyway, what's it like? Pretty good, although most of the commands have been seen before elsewhere, although there are a couple of innovative features, such as the DAC oscilloscope readout when you're playing samples. There are also some good screen manipulation commands that are probably the best I've seen. A very good extension indeed, although not quite the best. No examples, which is a big let-down. I would have reviewed GPB 2, which hopefully has some example files with it, but after I'd sent off my cheque to register, I received an envelope with a nice letter telling me to please find enclosed the disk with GBP 2 on it. Unfortunately, that was it, there was no disk to find enclosed! Still, never mind. RANGE: 9 USEFULNESS: 9 DOCUMENTATION: 8 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 87% Hopefully by now some of you have seen the NINJA extension in action. I think that the version I've seen is quite an early version, so the replay quality may be even better than I've heard. The replay speeds go up to 21Kh, and it sounds really good, and even the slowdown isn't too drastic if the replay speed is kept down. Another excellent extension by Les Greenhalgh. RANGE: 4 USEFULNESS: 8 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 7 OVERALL: 77% Misty is one of the best known of the STOS extensions available, and for good reason. It contains more powerful and flexible versions of many of the STOS in-built commands, especially the screen commands. There is a disk available called "Misty Demos", which contains not only the extensions themselves but also some demos written using Misty, and quite impressive they are too. A very impressive demo that all game programmers are well advised to get. RANGE: 8 USEFULNESS: 9 DOCUMENTATION: 8 EXAMPLES: 8 OVERALL: 86% REGISTERED VERSION. When you register, you get an updated version, which also includes very extensive examples. Very highly recommended. RANGE: 8 USEFULNESS: 9 DOCUMENTATION: 9 EXAMPLES: 10 OVERALL: 91% The little brother of Misty (or should that be big brother?) is the famous MISSING LINK. This, besides updating even further some of the commands found in Misty, gives you some new and often incredibly powerful commands. The BOB command, which replaces the SPRITE command found in STOS, is so much faster as to defy comparison. A tremendous extension, and one that many STOS users swear by. (Although you shouldn't swear anyway). RANGE: 9 USEFULNESS: 10 DOCUMENTATION: 8 EXAMPLES: 8 OVERALL: 93% REGISTERED VERSION. When you register, you get an incredible FOUR disks of source code and other goodies, this has to be one of the best value for money extensions going. You also get an updated version of TML, with some new commands even. Just pips the CONTROL extension at the post for being the best extension available at the moment. RANGE: 10 USEFULNESS: 10 DOCUMENTATION: 9 EXAMPLES: 10 OVERALL: 96% The 512 extension, as the name perhaps suggests to the more perceptive among you, allows you to display SPECTRUM 512 pictures from within STOS. An that's it. As far as I know, you can register to get a version that allows you to use 512 pictures inside windows etc. Well, if that's what turns you on I suppose. RANGE: 1 USEFULNESS: 3 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 4 OVERALL: 35% Potentially one of the most interesting of all the extensions, MIDI allows you to connect two ST's via the MIDI ports (ouch!), allowing communication between the two computers and maybe two player games? It has been done, and there is a lot more potential to be exploited... RANGE: 2 USEFULNESS: 5 DOCUMENTATION: 5 EXAMPLES: 1 OVERALL: 58% Finally, the TRACKER extension. Programmed by Francios Lionet, one of the original STOS coders, this allows you to play .MOD files from within STOS. To be honest, it does its job pretty well really, although it's slow and you have to convert the file first. Still, sound quality isn't bad, as anyone who's heard the intro music to GRANDAD 2 can testify. Hopefully will be superseded by the NINJA extension very soon on the STe as the standard... RANGE: 4 USEFULNESS: 7 DOCUMENTATION: 6 EXAMPLES: 5 OVERALL: 69% Well, that's it. Or is it? Apart from there being more extensions coded all of the time, there are a few more that just missed being included. These included the GBP 2 extension (omitted from the envelope!), the GBP Blitter extension (which I haven't seen yet, but which looks potentially the most exciting extension for some time...), the EAGLE extension, which looks like it could be brilliant, the latest version of EXTRA, and the old Manderin favourites, Maestro and Maestro Plus. There may even be others that I don't know of yet. Here's some miscellaneous tips for using some of the STOS extensions:- If the NINJA or TRACKER extensions sound rubbish, it may be because you're running at 60Hz instead of 50. Just use the FREQUENCY command or EXTRA's SET SCREEN HERTZ command to get back to normal. The CONTROL extensions documentation says that the OVERSCAN commands don't work on the STe. It's lying. It worked on mine... To make the NINJA extension sound even better, use the STe or GPB extension's commands for setting the master, left, right, bass and treble values. The following STOS extensions can be obtained from the ST Club on disks :- Disk Disk Title Contents No PR 463 STOS Extensions. Missing Link, Blitter, MIDI, STE 2, Bitcopy, Border, Misty, OverSTOS, Raster, Sound-FX, Error base. PR 464 EXTRA EXTENSION. EXTRA Extension V 2.01. PR 466 STOS 3D EXTENSION. 3D Extension + example application.