*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original Online ST Magazine" _______________________________ October 27, 1989 Vol III No.111 ======================================================================= ST Report Online Magazine¿ __________________________ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** Our support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > Issue: #111 STReport¿ The Online Magazine of Choice! -------------------- - The Editors' Podium - CPU REPORT - COMDEX/Fall 1989 - La Revolution - ICD, A Success Story - GCR, On the March! - HOTZ BOX Overview - ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL ---====**** PC DITTO II SHIPS TO PRESS! ****====--- ----====*** ATARI TO "WOW" 'EM AT COMDEX! ***====---- ---===**** ELECTRONIC ARTS SHIPS VIRUS IN STAR COMMAND! ****===--- ======================================================================= AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ======================================================================= > The Editor's Podium¿ Well..... Comdex is right around the corner! And as we, you and I, are 'anxiously awaiting' the "grand revelations" from that first rate, ultra dynamic, home computer source, Atari Corp... We find, according to informed sources, we will see the "NEW PRODUCTS" in all their glory. Along with the new faces Atari is appointing to the new.. "TEAM ATARI". Many times in the past we have taken Atari to task for one mystifying move or another, again.. those days are gone forever... We believe that "actions speak louder than words". As a result, we will instead, allow Atari's "actions" to speak louder than our words... We feel this is a fair and unbiased method to employ in trying to help "TEAM ATARI" achieve its goals and of course, allow Atari to show us the long awaited "Year of Atari". Meanwhile, we fervently hope that the NEW PRODUCTS, (can't say more now about those), to be displayed at Comdex along with the NEW procedures and USERBASE/PRODUCT SUPPORT will drop 'em all to their knees (grin) in sheer amazement and satisfaction. Atari will "LEAD THE WAY" in 1990. More than likely, we should stop and take a long hard look at what is actually happening in the home computer industry. It is changing, perhaps maturing is a more appropriate word. And when it is in this state of affairs, it can become quite difficult to understand, both by us and Atari. This may be where; a) the difficulties arose and b) became compounded by a severe lack of adequate communications. Those shortfalls are in the process of being overcome at this time and will soon be a thing of the past. The best part is the future actually appears better than it has in many months past. Thanks again for your support, Ralph....... "ATARI IS COMING BACK!" *********************************************************************** NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE The Online Magazine of Choice! NEW USERS SIGN UP TODAY! Call any of the St Report Official BBS numbers (Listed at the top of ST REPORT) or Leave E-mail to St Report - R.Mariano Be sure to include your full mailing address so your Compuserve kit can be immediately mailed to you! NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE *********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT¿ ========== Issue # 38 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... David H. Ahl, in 1974, founded what was to become Creative Computing magazine, with John J. Anderson, Dave Small, Ted Nelson, and others writing for it until it folded in 1985, and when John Anderson went on to write for Computer Shopper, help rebuild Atari Explorer Magazine, and, in 1988, for MacUser Magazine? And remember last week, when after visiting Macromind Inc. in San Francisco, John J. Anderson and another MacUser editor were killed by part of a collapsing building, during the recent earthquake? There will always be a fond place in the archives of STReport for these fine gentlemen of the press. CPU Systems Roundup XIII¿ ========================= Hisoft C Interpreter: BASIC Necessities with the Luxury of C ------------------------------------------------------------- Part I In traditional C programming, the normal cycle is to buy a C Compiler package, which may or may not come with a separate editor. However, these editors are usually mediocre, resulting in a ceaseless search for a quick, yet powerful text editor. After finding this, a program or two is written, and sent to the compiler in order to run it. However, the necessary header, include, and other files must be linked to the file, in order to produce a program. There are procedural errors. After doing all this, one finds that the program doesn't run properly. After searching for what seems like an eternity through the program, one finds that there is a misspelled command. After going through the process of compiling the program AGAIN, one finds that the program activates certain odd-looking bombs across the screen. After going out and getting a debugger, and working with it a while, one finds that a bad pointer, or some other error, caused the program to fail. One then searches through the program, eventually finding the error, and then.... As a solution to these problems, Michtron is now selling a program called the Hisoft C Interpreter. Developed by Loriciels, a French ST Software company, Hisoft C 2.0 provides many virtues of BASIC programming to the C Language. Instead of having to link/compile a program to run it, Hisoft C lets you just run it in the same manner BASIC Interpreters allow you to run BASIC programs without compiling them. Hisoft C can also trap Syntax and Semantic errors found in C programs, as well as Cherry Bombs caused by more disastrous programming flaws. When this happens, it displays a Dialog Box with a description of the error, and an error number so you can get a more detailed explanation in the Hisoft C Manual. It then positions the cursor at the line the error occurred, so you can fix it easily. But while Hisoft C has many benefits of BASIC, it still provides the full power of the C Language. Hisoft C has a library of 460 functions, supporting the standard Kerningham & Ritchie (K&R) implementation of C, the standard Unix C Library, and GEM's AES/VDI libraries. Hisoft C also supports some of the functions shown in the draft ANSI C Standard. Since the ANSI C Standard will soon be completed, full ANSI C Support will be found in a future update of Hisoft C. Also, Hisoft C has very useful debugging facilities, including Trace Mode (allowing you to single-step through a program, seeing what a routine actually does when it is executed in a program), variable following (which, when used with Trace Mode, lets you display the values of variables in your program at any time), and pointer tests. One of the obstacles in programming is that if you assign a bad value to a pointer, that it can crash your system. Hisoft C can test the values of pointers while it runs a program, and display an error message if an bad pointer value is assigned. This could make Hisoft C invaluable for many C programmers, who would otherwise not recognize this fact. Hisoft C also supports Variable Dumps (which gives you information about all variables in a program), Memory Dumps (letting you examine a segment of system memory), and Stack Displays, which allows you to look at the segment of memory used by the interpreter. Also, an ASCII Code Table is available, and while many of these tools may not be immediately usable by novice C programmers, intermediate or expert level coders may find them invaluable. Hisoft C's environment is based on Modules, or separated areas where you can load, edit, and work on a file. Hisoft C supports up to 8 Modules, which are organized through a Module List. This dialog box allows you to switch between modules easily, and to transfer a marked block of text from one module to another. Also, these Modules can be Linked at Runtime, so as to support C's style of modular programming while seamlessly replacing the old Link & Compile "thing". Hisoft C also allows you to use assembly language routines or executable files with your program, by organizing them into a file called a Project, which is a collection of files which make up a program. You can pass parameters to Projects, and their respective segments, and obtain values from them. Hisoft C also supports command tails, so you can test .TTP programs (like ARC.TTP and WXYTR.TTP) by passing parameters to them. Hisoft C also comes with several nifty features, such as automatic print spooling when printing a file, an RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) calculator (although a scientific calculator would also be nice), and a Help facility which is accessed via a dialog box, which you simply type in the name of what you want info about.... However, while Hisoft C 2.0's capabilities are very good, perhaps the BEST feature of this program is its Text Editor. Hisoft C's GEM-based Text Editor is, in 2 words, blazingly fast. It makes WordWriter ST and Microsoft Write look like they are playing dead, and rivals Tempus II in brute speed. In fact, judging from its speed on a 1040 ST with TOS 1.0, Hisoft C's Text Editor would FLY with TOS 1.4, and would be fast enough for even the impulsive power user's needs with SofTrek's Turbo ST, not to mention its speed with FAST Technology's Turbo 16 Accelerator. You can move/copy/delete/hide any defined block of text, or save it to disk, as well as using its Goto Block Start feature. However, the lack of a Goto Block Finish feature is an inconvenience. Also, another irritating faux pas is Hisoft C's naming of the Hide Block feature, which actually clears the marks that define the current marked block of text, so you can define another block of text. Renaming the Hide Block feature to "Clear Block" or "De-select Block" will probably be in the next update.... Hisoft C's Text Editor, while it is made to edit Hisoft C files, can also be used to edit normal text. This makes its extensive Search and Replace facilities eminently usable. Hisoft C supports the standard Find/Replace String operations found in most word processors, but has a special option called Magic Mode. With Magic Mode, you can use special characters (such as wildcards or question marks) to provide a powerful tool for searching for many diverse combinations of text. Also, Hisoft C can search for a string in a file that is on a disk, giving you a dialog box telling what line (if any) the string is found. Interestingly, if Loriciels or Michtron were to take Hisoft C's search/replace routines and place them in a Desk Accessory (adding extra functionality in the process, of course) the resulting product would be the moral equivalent of Microlytics' Gofer (a Mac/IBM file/string search program) or Unix's GREP facility for the Atari ST.... Disk Utilities, Super Manuals, and Praise Unending -------------------------------------------------- One of Hisoft C's more interesting abilities is the Disk Utility, which is a separate TSR (or Terminate-Stay-Resident) program that is loaded and accessed through Hisoft C 2.0. After clicking on the Menu Selection, a new menu pops up, with a Format option, and a File Selector choice. The Format option allows you to format single/double-sided disks with 80 or 81 tracks, and 9 - 10 sectors. The Disk Utility File Selector, reminiscient of NeXTstep's File Browser in design, though more like the Universal Item Selector II (a replacement file selector for the ST) in implementation, allows you to Copy, Move, Delete, and Rename multiple amounts of files, as well as Creating Folders. With TOS 1.4 out, Renaming and Moving Folders will hopefully be added.... Hisoft C 2.0 comes with a 330 page spiral-bound manual, which includes both sections on Using Hisoft C itself, and a 260 page Introduction to C. This manual is an excellent guide to Hisoft C, describing its functions and abilities in a concise and simple (not to mention nicely typeset) manner. It is a superb translation of Loriciels' original French manual, and is a superlative example of what ST software manuals SHOULD be like.... While Hisoft C can fit in 512K of RAM, at least 1 Meg of RAM is required to get any substantial programming done. It runs on all ST's, and can run with either Color or Monochrome. Hisoft C 2.0 is suited for many levels of C programming: One, as a comfortable tool for learning the C Language, which shields beginners from some of the harshness of C so they can explore the world of C without some trepidation. Now, not even Hisoft C can completely shield beginners from the Realities of C, but it can stave off most of the obstacles which send many programmers running back to BASIC or Pascal. It can also serve as a more efficient software development environment for expert programmers, as it provides many of the comforts of a C Compiler package without many of the difficulties. ST C Programmers could write their software programs in Hisoft C, and then port/compile it with any C Compiler. Hisoft C 2.0 has MUCH potential, as it fixes many of the dire needs in C Programming, and as it forfills the capabilities expected of such a revolutionary concept.... In Part I of this review, Hisoft C's features and capabilities have been described, in order to take a closer look at Michtron's innovaive new software development tool. Part II will be an in-depth look at the C Tutorial found in the Hisoft C Manual, which will not only judge its quality and usefulness in learning C, but will give a fuller evaluation of the versatility and ease-of-use of Hisoft C's environment.... But ponder, if you will, these questions: 1) Given that Atari said there were 250,000 ST's in the US in 1987, and that an independent research firm estimated that there were 400,000 ST's in the US in 1988, how many ST's are there REALLY in the US in 1989? 2) Are TV/Print advertising campaigns really directed towards selling products themselves, or are they meant to heighten knowledge about the given product? 3) Given its effect on the success of companies like WordPerfect, is "word of mouth" advertising a major factor in selling products? CPU REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿ ======================= Cupertino, CA Apple earned $1.384 billion dollars in revenue for the ------------- last fiscal quarter of 1989, resulting in total sales of $5.3 billion dollars in the 1989 fiscal year. This is over 1 billion dollars more than Apple earned last year. Interestingly, Apple points to the drop in the cost of DRAM in 1989 as a major factor, as well as the great sales of the Macintosh SE/30 and Mac IIcx.... Cape Canaveral, FL A computer "worm" recently infected part of NASA's ------------------ Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN), which connects the Department of Energy's High Energy Physics Labs, and part of the entire DECnet/Internet network. It was only designed to damage DECnet Systems running the VAX/VMS operating system, and NASA says that the 40 nodes that were affected were infected because of poor password security, which made it easier for the worm to get into the systems by figuring out people's passwords. This new worm was created by a group calling itself WANK, who protested the launch of the Galileo Jupiter Probe, which is nuclear-powered.... Ironically, the agency who detected this harmful worm, CERT, was created by DARPA after Robert Morris's worm accidentally crippled the Arpanet system of networks. After the ARPANet incident, the Security Manager for SPAN said that while an attack on the VMS Network was possible, that it wouldn't happen for a long time.... Redwood City, CA NeXT Inc. is selling a version of the NeXT computer ---------------- that, instead of having the 256 Meg Magneto-Optical Drive, features a 40 Meg Accelerator Hard Drive. This Hard Drive, with a 19 ms seek time, can perform virtual memory operations (swapping segments of RAM to and from a hard drive) twice as fast as the NeXT's 256 Meg Optical Drive. NeXT Inc. is also giving this hard drive to current NeXT computer Owners for FREE.... This version of the NeXT is for use as an intelligent terminal on a Network of NeXT's. Cost: $8000.00 in the US. Also, NeXT Inc. is selling 4 Meg RAM Modules for the NeXT system for $1300.00. Argonne, IL A Japanese Research Team working on MITI's Fifth ----------- Generation Project, aimed at developing a new Artificial Intelligence System, has shown a prototype of a new parallel processing architecture designed for it. Currently running with 16 processors, MITI hopes to develop a 1,024 processor version by 1992. This architecture is specifically designed for Prolog, the AI Language used in the Fifth Generation Project. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, or MITI, the government agency responsible for Japan's industrial revolution, started the Fifth Generation Project in 1982, with the objective of developing new parallel processing and artificial intelligence technologies for this system by 1992. This effort was funded by MITI as a large R&D project, in order to stimulate Japanese technology and design. While this, like similar efforts in the past, won't reap benefits for Japan for 10 - 15 years, it seems that by the time it occurs, if the US hasn't developed superior technologies in the computer industry.... ______________________________________________________________ > RED STORM RISING II STR Review¿ Ongoing in-depth review of RSR ============================== RED STORM RISING pt II ====================== by Ron Brunk Red Storm Rising is the best naval wargame I've yet seen for a computer. The degree of reality and ease of play (not necessarily win) is outstanding. Although the book that the game is based on deals with all phases of a possible WWIII, RSR deals solely with the naval aspects of the war. The author of the book, Tom Clancy, is an expert in military technology and is listed as a consultant on the game along with his research assistant for the book, Larry Bond. Documentation is complete, from a full explanation of background factors of ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) to player controls. A 100 page soft bound book covers the strategy of the US Navy (keep the Russians behind the G-I-UK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) gap) and that of the Soviet Navy (interrupt convoys resupplying NATO forces in Europe with troops, supplies, etc). It also thoroughly covers the environmental factors that affect the sensors (and therefore tactics) of submarine warfare, a concept that dominates gameplay and will be discussed later. As you boot up (from floppy or harddrive) the program checks for the original disk in drive A; this is the only time it is checked, avoiding the annoying habit that some games have of periodically halting the game while it checks for the keydisk. You are then given the option of using a mouse or joystick, which is used to select options in the game and to aim torpedoes. You then have the option to load and continue an old game, or start a new one, in which case you are prompted to identify a silhouette from the manual. You will then choose the time frame for the game which determines the state of technology for both sides: 1984 US- Harpoon and Mk48 torpedo USSR- limited technology 1988 US- Mk48 ADCAP (advanced capability) Tomahawk (longer range, larger warhead) USSR- New Sierra and Kilo submarines Begins implementing stolen technology as a result of the Toshiba scandal and Walker spy ring 1992 US- Sea Lance (torpedo on a missile) Stinger SAM (Surface to Air Missile against helos) USSR- Nuclear aircraft carriers Older vessels being upgraded with new technology 1996 US- New Seawolf submarines Mk48 silent launch torpedo (Seawolf only) USSR- Larger fleet All vessels upgraded Once the time period is set, you can either choose the class of ship you wish to captain or allow MilPersComm assign you to one. The next choice is the level of realism, either Introductory (very easy), Normal, Serious (fully realistic), and Ultimate (suicidal- one hit you're dead, indecisive sonar operators force you to ID all contacts). You then select a scenario: Training Action - one on one with another sub or a destroyer (his weapons do no damage) Battle Simulations- 8 to choose from (or random) which are similar to those you will be assigned to in the campaign i.e. against a submarine wolfpack, and ASW group, carrier task force, etc. Campaign- The real game starts and you are assigned missions similar to the battle simulations until the war is over. The first two of these options are the best way to become familiarized with the controls, most of which control is via keyboard (course/speed/ depth/rudder etc.) with the mouse used to place the weapon PAP (Pre- planned Activation Point). The screen is divided into 5 subscreens; the Primary display takes up 3/4 of the screen, with the Secondary and Navigation display on the bottom and top left respectively, the sensors functioning and acoustic volume are squeezed between the two, and verbal reports are displayed below the primary display. The secondary screen has five different displays for information on: Contacts- range, bearing, course, speed, ID, etc. Weapons- loaded tubes and reserve ammo available Torpedoes- status of active torpedoes- time to run, wire status, etc. Threats- range and bearing to enemy torpedoes Damage- status of sonars, tubes, and propellers The navigation display always shows your own course, speed, depth, ordered rudder and planes, whether you are cavitating (noisy propeller), and whether you are above or below the "layer". The acoustic volume display shows how much noise you are making, and the sensors functioning display shows which sensors are being used to track the current target selected on the secondary display. The verbal reports are typed in to give you input from crewmembers i.e. contacts lost, gained, enemy torpedoes approaching, etc. The primary screen is the tactical display used to track enemy vessels. Contacts are color coded to show information reliability (bright red for positive information, cooling to dark red, then blue, then grey for old/projected positions). A grey "track" shows all past movements of each contact or torpedo. Unfortunately this track is cleared each time you zoom in or out on the tactical screen. Even sonobuoys from helos are represented in white. The screen can be overlayed to show dirty water and ice floes in deep water or depth in hundreds of feet in shallow water. The primary screen can also display: a defense screen to avoid enemy torpedoes; the water profile (discussed later); a relative comparison of sonar capability of an identified target (whether he can sense you yet); enemy ship database (weapons, sensors, etc.); an acoustic signature library for identifying contacts when playing at the ultimate level; a weapons control screen (see below). All the primary screens are available at the stroke of a function key. Once you are positioned to launch you prepare a weapon to be fired by selecting the weapon (torpedo, stinger, harpoon, or tomahawk) and placing the crosshairs on the PAP (the point on the screen where you wish it to begin actively seeking a target) and pressing the fire button. The weapon will go straight to that point and then continue in a straight line until it acquires a target and homes in for the kill. An advantage of torpedoes is that as long as the wire (for guidance) is intact you can control up to four torpedoes and reposition the PAPs. This is used if; the target moves or is destroyed, you wish to change targets, or you plan for the torpedo to approach from a different direction so that it does not reveal your position. You can also set the torpedo to seek shallow or deep, and to search in a circle to the right or left if it loses it's target. You can also manually guide a torpedo (left or right) once it is active as long as the wire is intact. There is a weapons control screen that will zoom in on a torpedo for close-in work, but since it jumps around each time you shift to a different torpedo, it is only useful with one or two active torpedoes. Self-defense is every bit as important as attack in this game. An audible ping accompanied by a verbal report will warn of approaching torpedo. Pressing F3 immediately zooms in to a close-up around your ship and any torpedoes pursuing you. Your various defenses are a noisemaker (left behind your ship), a decoy (launched forward at 20 kts) or leaving a knuckle in the water behind you by making a sharp turn at high speed (guaranteed to sever any wires). As long as any of these are between you and the enemy torpedo it will (probably) be decoyed and go into a circular search pattern until it finds you again or it dies. The most impressive part of RSR is how closely it approaches reality using all of the above information. Contrary to Hollywood, submarines do not sneak up on ships with periscopes out of the water, visually "lead" their targets, and fire torpedoes in the direction that they're looking. In RST (and real life) sonar is used exclusively to find and track targets, but not with the "PING" that is shown in movies. Instead, passive sonar "listens" for contacts. Although this only yields the bearing to targets, the use of TMA (target motion analysis) over an extended period of time will generate a contact's position, course, and speed. Analysis of the frequencies of the sounds emanating from a target will reveal exactly what type/class of ship/submarine it is. Although water is an excellent conductor of sound and (most) ships are very noisy, sensing has to occur over distances of miles to be of any tactical value, which leads us to the affect of environmental factors on gameplay. Sound does strange things underwater, and all of these factors are taken into account in the game and explained in detail in the book. A thermal layer of warm water exists above the deeper, colder water, and the separation creates a boundary that reflects sound (how much depends on the sharpness of the separation). This boundary layer also causes a "ducting" affect as sound bounces between the surface and the boundary, resulting in extended sensor range. This means that vessels on opposite sides of the barrier are partially screened from each other. This results in the ability of the submarine to track and identify noisy surface ships up to 20 miles away. Another oddity of water is how sound is bent down as temperature drops, and is bent up as pressure increases. As the sound from a target goes deeper, it gets bent down as the temperature drops, then when the temperature has become constant it is bent back up by the pressure increase until it reaches the surface again. If conditions are right, the sound may reflect off the surface the process is repeated. The concentric circles that mark where the sound reaches the surface are known as convergence zones. This results in contacts that seem to pop up at long distances and then disappear as you travel through the convergence zone. Another factor taken into account in determining the distance sound travels is dirty water (poor transmission) that can hide a contact (or you). Passive sonar consists of a hull mounted sonar and towed arrays (a series of hydrophones towed behind the submarine/ship which usually lies below the layer) which are most accurate at slow speed. Active sonar can be used if your passive systems are destroyed or if you are maneuvering so violently that you cannot sense your opponents (due to water rushing over your sonar, facing the wrong way, etc.). Unfortunately these maneuvers will broadcast your position to enemy ships dur to your racing engines and noisy turn. Active sonar is not recommended for stalking because the vessel you are stalking can hear you, and others outside your active sensing range will hear and zero in on you. As a last resort you can rise above 55 feet depth to track surface targets with the passive or active radar on your mast. The same arguments apply here as active radar will announce your presence further than your sensing range. Your very last resort would be to use the periscope for a visual look, but chances are you would be sunk by the time you lost all other senses. Once you have mastered the battle commands, you are ready to play a full campaign. A series of animations will show you the background of the game; an isolated terrorist action in the middle east cripples soviet oil supplies causing them to panic and stage an aggressive act blamed on NATO giving them and excuse to begin WWIII before they are left helpless by energy enemy shortages. Similar animations are interspersed throughout the campaign which, while nice the first time or two, get old after awhile, especially during battle. Fortunately the battle animations can be turned off. While the sound in these animations is very disappointing (plink-plunk) it doesn't detract from the game; it just doesn't enhance it. The campaign starts off with a message informing you of your first mission and then the import options to adjust your weapons loadout and repair damage (unnecessary at this point). When you get underway you are shown a map of the north sea complete with SOSUS lines (underwater listening devices on the ocean floor) and satellites and P3 Orion (surveillance) aircraft passing overhead revealing groups of enemy ships. These contacts are displayed as diamonds (with a dot in the middle for surface ships) color coded (same as above) to show reliability of information. It is best to pause at this time to load your tubes so that you don't start battle with empty tubes. You can then move around the map to accomplish your mission by placing the cursor where you want to go and pressing the mouse button (left for slow, right for fast, none to stay where you are). The speed you are going when you intercept your target is the speed you will start the battle at, so it is advantageous to place yourself accordingly i.e. in front or to the side and stopped or slow. Courses and speeds and relative positions are retained when going from the strategic map to the tactical display, so if you overtake him on the strategic map, you'll start off behind him in the battle. Try not to approach enemy subs at full speed as they will probably already know you are there as the battle starts, putting you at a severe disadvantage. Once the battle is complete you will be able to see a replay showing all ships and weapons fired as well as the tracks each took. You will then be congratulated (if you won), or told it was the wrong target, or wake up in the hospital (if you lost). You will also be shown an animation reporting the results of your battle. For example, if you failed to destroy a wolfpack of enemy attack subs it will show a carrier being sunk, and a newswoman reporting the story of NATO losing control of the area. A bar of blue and red showing relative strengths will be updated showing the current status of the war. Resupply and repairs can be attempted between missions, but often time is a factor and you sometimes must leave major time-consuming repairs until a mission takes you close to home. The only time I've been ordered to go home was with a Permit class sub. It is extremely frustrating to be sent after a guided missile sub being escorted by super quiet diesel subs with no torpedoes onboard and maximum damage to your ship and then run out of time to complete your mission while you are limping home for repairs/weapons. Eventually the war ends one way or the other. If you win, final promotion depends on your efficiency rating (based on the outcomes and difficulties of your missions) and awards, possible even as a celebrated war hero. If you lose, you are sent to a Russian gulag with a final rank of Tov(arich). The only problem I've noticed with the program is that it seems to be unable to save more than one game at a time despite the option to load from a selection of saves. The only time I'd see this as a problem, though, is if more than one person wanted to play off the same harddrive. Overall, this is the best tactical naval wargame I've ever seen, and the only game that has kept me interested for more than 3 week continuously except for Empire, Dungeonmaster, Red Lightning and possibly the new cybertank game Omega (but that's another review). __________________________________________________________________ > HOTZ BOX STR FOCUS¿ Ask... and ye shall recieve! =================== A DIFFERENT LOOK AT THE HOTZ BOX ================================ ctsy GEnie RT Editor Note: We kept the entire subject matter intact to show that Mr. Eidsvoog was answering a request for information relating to the status and availability of the Hotz Box. Category 14, Topic 16 Message 63 Thu Oct 26, 1989 J.EIDSVOOG1 at 13:45 PDT WARNING: This message is 100 lines long! Well, I tried to tell myself not to comment in this topic but I just noticed that the topic summary states, "Feel Free to jump in and get involved!" and I'm afraid that I find myself doing just that. First, I will attempt an unbiased description of the Hotz box based on attending two live presentations (with Mr. Hotz at the helm) and discussions with a musician who has tried it and the programmer who wrote the driver software. The box is just that, a metal box about 36"x18"x3". On the top surface are rows of rectangular areas with membrane switches under them (like the DX7 program change buttons) approximately 1"x2". The layout of the buttons may have changed since I saw it close up last January but at that time there were basically two long rows running the length of the box. Another smaller group or two of buttons are arranged above the main rows. There is no resemblance to a piano keyboard (no interspersed black keys). The box is a MIDI controller only; it produces no audio sound, only MIDI events. The idea is that the buttons are assigned (through the software) to a predetermined matrix of MIDI notes such that the player can bang away at the buttons and not hit any "wrong" notes. The button assignments can be changed (I think through a MIDI program change command) so that as the harmonic structure of the music changes, the player's inability to hit a "wrong" note remains intact. Presumably, the smaller groups of buttons might be assigned to notes that are more "blue" or less "right" than the main buttons. The assignment of the notes would be programmed by someone with a "musical mind" rather than the inept player who can only hammer away at the box. Oops, I've stopped being objective...it's time to enter editorial mode. The rest of this message is MY PERSONAL OPINION. I think this thing is a joke, a piece of junk! Whatever money Atari has spent so far on this project should be written off and the project should be scrapped. If Atari thinks that the Hotz box is a worthwhile venture, then they have been conned, if not, then they intend to con the public. Although I've not heard an official suggested price, the price I did hear mentioned was $10,000 !!! This is absurd. That price would put this device in the category of extremely high-end professional gear which it is definitely NOT. I've been a professional musician for over 20 years, have a master's degree from New England Conservatory, and have done touring with name acts and extensive studio work in TV, film, and commercials. I say this not to brag but to give some credence to the statement that I cannot think of any musician I've ever met who would be both musically unsophisticated enough to want to use a Hotz box AND able to pay $10,000 for one. If production does proceed on this project, it would be overpriced at anything more that $199.95 (at which price they could still make a tidy profit, assuming they haven't paid Jimmy Hotz _too_ much for his "concept"). The whole idea of the Hotz box is to offer a way for a non-musical person to "play" music, similar to the home chord organ concept. Someone's got their wires crossed if they think that a real musician will seriously consider this device. It's like asking an artist to paint-by-numbers. Besides all this, how could this concept even work? Mr. Hotz says that before long all CDs will be encoded with "Hotz" code. Dream on. This would mean that for every song released (record companies might not be as easily sold on this idea as Atari was), someone would sit down and figure out these "templates" of notes, one for each different chord change. These would have to be dumped into the Hotz box (presumably with a SYS EX dump at the beginning of the song) and then a program change would be imbedded in the music at every chord change, switching between the note assignments. Any volunteers? The demo I heard was produced by a sequencer playing a bunch of MIDI gear. This works quite well, but of course still requires that someone with musical knowledge predetermine what notes are allowed at any one time. The program changes were recorded in the sequence so that the Hotz box was always "in tune" with the music being played. This allowed Jimmy Hotz, Mick Fleetwood, and two volunteers from the audience to all bang on the Hotz box at the same time, producing a barrage of sound and notes that was being passed off as amazing (actually I was quite amazed, but not in the same sense). Even if we were to put taste aside and enjoy listening to this sterile musical environment, we are quickly reminded of the fact that the Hotz box cannot correct a player's rhythm. I _want_ "wrong" notes (passing tones, substitute changes, grace notes, extended harmonics, etc.) in my music. I don't want to play within the confines of what someone else has determined are the "acceptable notes", it's too fascist. It boggles the mind to think that someone who _does_ want these capabilities/restrictions would be willing to pay $10,000 for them! I'm sorry to be long-winded and if any of my factual, non-opinionated statements are in error, I welcome correction. Once again all opinions stated are my own personal ones and do not necessarily represent the opinions of CodeHead Software. John Eidsvoog P.S. While this message was not intended to plug our software, I'd like to mention that this entire concept can be accomplished with CodeHead's MIDIMAX software (list price - $49.95), an ST, and a MIDI keyboard, although it would be a waste of most of MIDIMAX's power to limit its use to this one "HOT(Z)" function. This capability was not deliberately included, but rather exists within MIDIMAX's flexible ability to manipulate MIDI in real time. ____________________________________________________________ > COMDEX/Fall 89 STR Spotlight¿ THE SHOW OF SHOWS! ============================ COMDEX!! ======== by R.F. Mariano The microcomputer industry will close out the eighties with a bang in a few short weeks, when COMDEX/Fall 1989 saturates Las Vegas. During the week of Nov. 13-17, more than seventeen hundred exhibitors will display their products to an estimated 110,00 plus attendees visiting ten exhibit sites: Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall Bally's Casino Resort Cashman Field Center Caesar's Palace Caesar's Sports Pavilion Las Vegas Hilton Riviera Hotel Sahara Hotel Tropicana Hotel It is worth noting that of those 1700 companies, less than 1/3 have booths or rooms in the large halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Despite the attention focused upon the many companies in the LVCC with booths the size of Rhode Island or even slightly bigger, COMDEX can be said to have become a predominantly "beyond the Convention Center" trade show. It is expected that the numbers of both exhibitors and attendees will prove to be COMDEX records, actually continuing a trend in the show's growth that has, aside from 2 years, been steadily growing throughout the 1980s. In our opinion, After 10 years of explosive growth the computer industry has seemingly matured. In fact, the major shakeouts are all but finished for this and the coming decade. Now, NEW strategies and marketing principles must come into play to continue the strong upward growth patterns we have become accustomed to. Fortunately for all, even as mature as the computer business may become, there still burns the embers of strong excitement over new and innovative products in both the software and hardware fields. A new product, be it solid and ingenious, will strike up a wave of excitement usually seen only in new industry. For those who will be attending COMDEX/Fall 1989, be sure to check out the first implementations of EISA, (EXTENDED INDUSTRY STANDARD ARCHITECTURE), and the 'hot' juice of the new Intel 80486 chip. And of course, you must be prepared for Unix to present itself in all its glory with software and server introductions. Who is a Unix? COMDEX/Fall '89 promises to be the "SHOW OF SHOWS" bidding adieu to the eighties while ushering in the nineties! ___________________________________________________________ > CHAOS STRIKES BACK! STReport InfoFile¿ News of the Dungeon Master Sequel ===================================== PANTS DOWN & NAKED! =================== ctsy CIS by Paul Close I just got back from the local S.D.A.C.E meeting where our featured guest was Russ Boelhauf (marketing whiz) from FTL. He had many interesting things to say about Chaos Strikes Back (the official title of the long-awaited "sequel" to Dungeon Master.) This is a stand-alone game. Despite what the box says, it does not require Dungeon Master at all. This decision was reached after the artwork went out for the box. o There are around 13 NEW MONSTERS! The playtesters were unanimous: more monsters!!! So they had to move away from the "expansion set" approach they had been following, and move to a stand-alone game. o No news on spells. No one asked, and he didn't volunteer. Sorry! o Shipping between November 6 and November 15!!! (Yes, that's this year :-) Suggested retail $39.95. Just like DM. o Chaos is not a sequential games as was DM. You can apparently wander around and solve the various "predicaments" piece by piece. So, you can concentrate on one part of the dungeon and then go back later and work on another part. Some of the goodies in Chaos Strikes Back are: o A character editor. Now you can draw or edit your characters just the way you like! Included are artistic renditions of the way your favorite characters would look after years of adventuring. (Russ' favorite addition was a pair of sunglasses to protect from that fireball glare :-) You can save your artwork, and trade with your friends! o You can use old characters off of a Dungeon Master save disk, or build a new party out of characters they provide. You should have made it through at least half of Dungeon Master for your characters to survive more than 30 seconds :-) They will enter the world naked! (No firestaff or armor :-) o A hint "oracle". You insert your saved disk, and get context- sensitive help. That way there are no "spoilers". For completeness, I will mention the animated "cartoon" sequence you can optionally view. o Some really mean situations. Russ normally gets blown away in about sixty seconds! You enter the dungeon "naked and with your pants down" as Russ says :-) (How can you have pants if you're naked? :-) He says the monsters are *mean*! When you open the door, you'd better be ready! Some neat points, ideas, etc.: o The copy protection on Dungeon Master has been patented! They are "thinking" about having some means of individually registering a copy and at the same time, removing the copy protection. The idea is that if they see pirated copies, they will know where it came from. o Other ideas for other games from FTL include a sci-fi adventure, a Stephen King style horror, and a haunted house, all first person- style adventures a la DM. Don't hold your breath! These are just "ideas"! o He felt that he experienced less piracy on the ST than any other machine. Gillman Louie take note! o 2/3 of the total sales of DM were in Europe, which he considers to be a much more "boom and bust" market. Most of the european sales were in a very short period of time immediately after announcement. Note: Russ gave us permission to post whatever he said on CIS, GEnie, etc. Thanks to FTL for giving us the info we've been waiting for! Thanks to our club newsletter editor for the coup! Paul Close paul@cacilj.CTS.COMY...!{uunet, ucsd, crash}!cacilj!paul _______________________________________________________________ > LA REVOLUTION! STR FOCUS¿ A view from a different balcony... ========================= IS THERE ANYTHING REVOLUTIONARY IN 'THE REVOLUTION'? or WHAT IF SOMEONE THREW A WAR AND NO-ONE CAME? by L.E. Pulley Imagine my amazement when I learned recently that there was a war going on and I was part of it. Had someone declared a war and I hadn't heard a thing about it? Who are we at war with? Had some atheistic, communist-pinko country decided to invade my God-fearing, apple-pie loving US of A? No, wait a minute. They wanted me to join 'The Revolution'. You don't revolt against foreign invaders, you revolt against your own country. Hmmm, it is time to investigate this 'Revolution' and war further. Ah, there it is!! The introduction to 'The Revolution' in ST Report. Now I see, since I'm an Atari computer owner I'm at war (hmmm, my bill of sale didn't say anything about a war...it said I was buying a computer and peripherals...must be in the fine print I didn't read). When was this war declared? Hmmm...it doesn't tell me that. Who am I at war with? Hmmm...it's a little vague on that one. I can't figure out whether I'm at war with Atari or "the universe of IBM, Amiga and Macintosh proponents" (IR) or the whole world. Well, let's dig a little further (if I'm going to be in a revolution, I want to know all about it). It does look as if I have some allies in this 'Revolution'. "The allies are the manufacturers, publishers and users of Atari computers." (IR) Since Atari Corp. is the manufacturer of my computer, they must be one of my main allies....right? No, it doesn't look that way. According to 'The Revolution' "Atari cannot get a fix on what needs to be done for the US (market)" and "we have to do it ourselves....Atari Corp and third party developers are simply profit machines". (IR) Wow!! That means the manufacturers aren't my allies... unless they can make a profit on 'The Revolution'. So that just leaves 'me' (i.e. the users) and the publishers (I'm beginning to feel a little deserted on this battle-field). Let's read a little further....mumble, mumble, read, read...Ah! Jack Tramiel declared the war. Then why isn't Atari in the forefront of 'The Revolution'?? Mumble, read, read....Ah, here's something confusing. "Portfolio...as a result (of it's success), an increasing PC consumer base will be supporting the Atari name which will drown out our cries for support with our XL, XE, ST and Mega machines." (IR) Wait a minute! Didn't he tell us that "if you are an Atari computer user, you are part of the war"? (IR) Now it seems that there are differences between the Atari computer users. The ones that buy Portfolios aren't our allies either (how will I be able to tell a 'good' Atari computer owner from the enemy?). But aren't they also helping to eliminate "the ridicule from the universe of...." (IR)? So far, I haven't been able to figure out when we went to war, who really declared the war, who we are at war with, and who are our allies in this war. Well, at least I will be able to find out what we're fighting for. Maybe we're fighting to change Atari's advertising and sales practices? Nope! 'The Revolutions' leader admitted on GEnie (ST sig, Cat 18, Topic 4, Message 65) that "I don't care if Atari folds". So obviously we're not fighting to stop a "shrinking userbase" (IR) (besides that, the Atari computer owner user base won't be shrinking if the Portfolio is as popular as 'The Revolutions' leader thinks that it will be). There it is!! In the last paragraph of the introduction. We're fighting for.... 1) You will see Atari users band together as a nation for the very first time. (IR) Great!! But not all 'Atari users' are equal in this 'Revolution'. And what do we accomplish by banding together? 2) You will witness significant news coverage and experience the growth of new companies emerging to support your systems. (IR) We might get some news coverage (when the news is slow, the Flat Earthers get news coverage) but what new companies will be emerging to support our systems because of 'The Revolution'? If Atari folds or doesn't increase it's support and marketing of it's computer line, no one is going to support a dead system. 3) You will also discover it increasingly easier to find friends and colleagues using the Atari computer. (IR) I'm going to 'war' to find new friends? I can write some letters to the ST magazines or on-line services if I want more Atari computer friends. But 'The Revolutions' leader did say on GEnie (Cat. 18, Topic 4, messg #52) that "The philosophy of The REVOLUTION is to take that time (i.e. talking about what we already know about), money and energy and expand the exposure of the computers (i.e. Atari computer...but not the Portfolio) outside of our 'Little' universe." So that's the main purpose of this war. (But isn't that Atari's job?) And while that is a very commendable idea, what good is it going to do _me_ (i.e. Atari computer users)? If Atari won't market their computers properly, if Atari won't support their computers properly, all of the exposure in the world isn't going to help the Atari computer owners one iota. I don't know, but I think this is one war where I'm going to have to be a conscientious objector. I don't mind fighting a battle, but I would like to have a chance of winning. In my opinion, 'The Revolution' is going after the symptoms of the disease instead of the cause (i.e. Atari). It's offering it's 'warriors' a placebo (i.e. "Best of all, you will have fun." (IR)) instead of a possible cure. I have better ways to spend my $6. Oh, did I forget to tell you about the $6 that it costs to join 'The Revolution'? (Hmmm....10,000 Revolution members times $6 each....that's a lot of money. And 100,000 Revolution members times $6 each....that's a _whole_ lot of money.) NOTE: (IR) refers to the Introduction to the Revolution that was published in last weeks ST Report _______________________________________________________________ > ICD - A SUCCESS STORY STR Spotlight¿ Super Sport Speed & High Quality =================================== HARD DRIVE PERFORMANCE ====================== by R.F. Mariano As the sun sends it's glorious rays bursting above the horizon, heralding it's arrival or, as it gloriously sets in the west bidding us a fond farewell, there is someone booting a computer and using the new ICD Hard Disk Utilities. Looks like the sun will never set on the pride of ICD. It becomes almost automatic with most of us and we don't actually pay that much attention to what is happening when we boot up. We decided to stop, reboot and actually watch what was going on. We found that going from the 3.41 software to the new 4.2.0 (sheesh 4.2 sounds and looks better), was like... Slipping behind the wheel of a sleek, snazzy new sports car, as its fired up. After hitting the power switch on the mega, there were two quick blinks on each of the four hard disks in the system then, in an instant, the booter setup appeared and the boot continued, blip, blip, and the desktop was in front of me.. ready to go.... The new ICD booter (4.2) is the epitome of software technology for hard disk efficiency at this time. In fact, for those who do not have an accelerator, this is as good as it gets when coupled with Soft Trek's Turbo ST. Of course, running the same system WITH Fast Technology's T-16 borders on supersonic speeds. ICD has, in the past year, led the way in software development for hard disk management. In fact, nothing even comes close. ICD software has the handle on easy user interfacing, this means that the software may be practically used straight 'out of the box' and the docs used only as a reference. The formatting software is, by far, the best once again it is easy to understand and implement. Many times the message strings on the various nets try to compare other hardisk software to ICD's. The bottom line is simple ICD is light years ahead of all other ST hard disk software and by their current performance, exhibit a desire to remain on the cutting edge of new hardware and software technology. In brief, here are a few things you SHOULD know about this software: This current release includes full support for Omti 3520/3527(a) SCSI controllers and drives connected to them, most embedded SCSI drives, and support for Adaptec 4000(a)/4070 SCSI controllers (only high level defect mapping is supported with Adaptecs). SASI controllers are no longer supported. Use our older version software for use with SASI or else purchase a new Omti controller. It will be much faster than SASI. Many new features were incorporated into this release of our software. The version 4.x.x booter includes read/write caching, DOS buffers, and an additional folder fix memory pool, all of which are adjustable with the new HDUTIL! Write verify and status messages have also become optional. If you have trouble booting with our new ICDBOOT.PRG, press the key during the initial boot process. This will disable the cache, buffers, verify, etc. and install a minimal configuration booter. You can then use HDUTIL to configure the booter to work with your setup. The read/write cache is now an integral part of our booter and much faster than any other available cache program! The variable DOS buffers will also speed up your floppy access times. The Hard drive handler (ICDBOOT.PRG) optionally verifies after write. You will notice about a 20% decrease in speed with verify enabled. If a write failure does occur, a little '' will appear in the lower right hand corner of your screen, if you do not get an Alert box, then it was able to recover and everything is secure. This usually indicates a hardware failure (bad cable, connection, etc.). Most people are NOT aware that NO OTHER HANDLER does write verify! This really is not too startling since hard drives are so reliable, BUT, that data is going through an 18" cable (Supra and Atari drives) at a very fast rate (from 300 to over 1000 K bytes per second) with no checksums whatsoever. Why do you think they don't use longer cables? It certainly would be more convenient! We ship 36" cables with our ST drives, but that extra length is acceptable due to the ICD ST Host Adapter's design... it is highly resistent to cable noise. With the write verify in the software, this practically guarantees an error-free system (assuming, of course, computer, drive, controller, etc. are in good operating order). ICD, Inc. 1220 Rock Street Rockford, IL 61101 Voice: 815-968-2228 BBS: 815-968-2229 FAX: 815-968-6888 The ICD BBS always has the latest versions of the ICD ST Host Adapter software, as well as various handy utilities, etc., all yours for the downloading. Our BBS goes to 9600 baud (US Robotics), and is usually up 24 hours a day. Support and updated files are also available on GEnie (ICDINC) and CompuServe (76004,1600). ______________________________________________________________ > GCR On The March! STReport OnLine¿ Gadgets by Small has a BIG winner! ================================= GCR - Walkin' Tall! =================== ctsy CIS #: 12096 S14/Gadgets By Small 22-Oct-89 04:19:13 Sb: #GCR- AN ACID TEST! Fm: Kris Cruz 76060,1702 To: Dave and Sandy Small 76004,2136 I have had my GCR since the 19th now and feel qualified to give you a report. First, let me give you some background on myself. I attend /work for Eastern Washington University. I work as a computer consultant. We have three computer labs-VAX,IBM and MAC. I work in the MAC lab (where else?). It consists of one Mac Plus as a server,using a 40 Meg HD and 530 Meg CD ROM. There are 10 more Mac Plus's on the Appleshare network as well as two imagewriters and a laserwriter plus. They are available for student use. The GCR comes in a molded plastic case, whose colors and dimensions have been revealed elsewhere in this section. It does beat the paper bag. The manual is an 8.5 X 11' affair shrinkwrapped together. It contains a potpourri of items from the original Spectre manual (namely the interludes) as well as GCR specific items. I did enjoy the interludes and tales of Small, but some more new ones would have been nice. I also would not have complained if they did include a vinyl binder for the manual, of course with the Gadgets Logo emblazoned on it. Perhaps Dave can make some up and sell them, I know I would buy one. The information, is as always, complete and this time it even included Appendices and an index- really professional. As soon as I got the manual, I sat down to read it, not your typical Christmas morning reaction, I know. But I figured that if I had wrecked it, the waiting to get another would have driven me to my death. Anyway, I plugged in the ROMS and brought it up. I already had my hard drive set up for Spectre in HFS, so there was no need for me to change anything. It booted up just fine, but then the 1.9f software also worked fine. I put in a GCR encoded Mac disk I just happened to have, and it work! I should not be surprised, after all, Dave has always delivered what he promised (sometimes after he promises, but Murphy is after all his grandfather). I had been waiting frantically for the GCR, so I could use my $600 Pagemaker 3.0 without having to transmit everything via null modem cables. I am sure I made an impression on both Dave and Sandy with my letter I wrote them threatening/begging for my GCR. I have used Dave Small products since he was into the 8 bit LE stuff and even remember when he wrote for Creative Computing. I bought Magic Sac when it came out, then Spectre and now GCR. Needless to say, I would expect and only accept quality work from David Small when it comes to my money. I had previously tried a friends Happy cartridge. Needless to say I was far from Happy. I needed a RELIABLE way to read GCR encoded mac disks on my ST. Why? Well, I actually USE the Spectre for real tasks. I depend on it. I program in Turbo PASCAL and DTP in Pagemaker. It is nice to show the thing off to MAC owners (my cousin for instance), but I am somewhat practical in my approach. I wanted to do REAL mac stuff. That meant reading the disks. Thus, I got my GCR and tried a few disks. This is all well and fine, but does it meet my criteria for my use? Well, I had to know BEFORE I trusted it with my valuable data. So I brought up the GCR and formatted ten disks from the MAC desktop. This works exactly as it does on the MAC. I then transferred some files on to each disk to see if they would read correctly at work. I tried each of the ten disks on each of the ten user stations on the MAC network. Each has an external drive, which was also used. So, there were 200 disk insertions/ejections done to see if the MACs were reading the GCR formatted disks. Not a single one of them had trouble reading the disks. Consider also that these computers are used for at least 8 hours each day and that the GCR format must be pretty tolerant (ie, it writes em like a *REAL* MAC!). Stage two involved the MAC to ST Acid Test. I decided to fill the ten disks up with as much of the 530 MEG CD ROM Educorp Collection as I could get. When I got home, I tried each disk to see if any would give me trouble. Every disk worked just fine. Since that test, I have been using the GCR daily. I have yet to get a problem reading/writing a MAC disk. Please note that if GCR had not worked with at least a 95% success rate, I would have sent it back. I would like to take the time now, to tell everyone who was wondering if the GCR does work and work RELIABLY. You can bet your data on it. What else do you need to know? Dave Small has set a standard of doing the impossible (he has an agreement, he does the impossible, GOD does the miracles!) and this time he has outdone himself. GCR was worth the wait, although I did go crazy while waiting. It definitely is worth the bucks. Consider not only are you getting a MAc emulator, but a way to transfer MAC data to IBM, IBM to Mac. If you don't think that is a value, call up an APPLE dealer sometime, tell him you have a MAC plus and want to read IBM disks on it. Then tell me GCR costs too much. There are other cheap imitators out there none of them read MAC disks in a reliable manner. Get, support, get service, ..get smart and get a GCR! Thanks Dave! ---==***==--- #: 12112 S14/Gadgets By Small 22-Oct-89 21:59:00 Sb: #12080-Spectre GCR has arrived! Fm: Peter Szymonik 72637,2272 To: Dave and Sandy Small 76004,2136 Thanks go to you Dave and Sandy! Sometimes, people whine about delays so much that they miss the big picture and never realize what they are getting! A recent event at my dealer was lots of fun. Many of the people there heard about Mac emulation or had seen Magic Sac, but apparently few had tried Spectre. A few people milled around as I pulled out the GCR box and rigged it up my dealer's machine. When I asked for a Mac disk, heads turned and a crowd gathered. My dealer didn't have any Mac disks, but gladly opened a telecom program called InTalk and handed me the disks. The place was so quiet you'd think I was about to perform major surgery! I popped the disk in, ran GCR, and there it was - a happy Mac face! Everyone was floored! For the next half hour I was bombarded with questions about availability and cost. You don't know how many times I heard: "$300? and $150 for ROM chips? That's it?" I think I sold about 20 GCR's right there! Its almost enough to make me want to become an Atari dealer :-]! Pete ________________________________________________________________ > QUICK ST 1.6 STReport InfoFile¿ ============================== Press release for immediate distribution to all Atari ST Users in the United States and Canada. Friday, October 27, 1989 Quick ST 1.6 -- Shareware by Darek Mihocka and Ignac A. Kolenko TOS 1.4 is now available. TOS 1.4 is great for speeding up file operations on hard disks, but compared to earlier versions of TOS it does very little to speed up screen operations. Regardless of which TOS you have, the program Quick ST 1.6 is for you. Quick ST 1.6 increases the speed at which the ST performs screen operations, such as printing text to the screen, scrolling the screen, drawing windows and dialog boxes, and reducing the overhead of other graphics operations, such as desktop redraws. Printing of text strings to the screen is sped up by 1510% in medium resolution and 1240% in monochrome. Character by character printing is three times faster. Screen scrolling is at blitter chip speeds. This all means that your .TOS and .TTP programs will run faster. Line drawing is twice as fast, which makes zoom boxes and windows draw much faster. Graphical text is printed much faster, which means that your desktop windows will update faster and your GEM programs will operate faster. The result is that your Atari ST appears to run faster and smoother than before. You spend less time waiting for the screen to scroll or redraw. Quick ST 1.6 does not physically make your ST any faster. It simply makes TOS more efficient at manipulating the screen display. In some cases, it will make your ST perform better than an equivalent ST equipped with hardware enhancements like a blitter chip, 16 MHz board, or even TOS 1.4. And all this is done in software, so installation is as simple as copying a file. Quick ST 1.6 runs from the AUTO folder and so does not use the already overcrowded desk accessory menu, or require interaction with the user. It is completely transparent to most applications. It uses under 20K of RAM, and automatically installs either the color or monochrome version and throws away initialization code to save memory. Quick ST 1.6 runs on any Atari ST or Mega ST using a standard SC1224 color or SM124 monochrome monitor. A blitter chip is optional, as is an accelerator board. All official releases of TOS are supported. The following screen resolutions are supported: - 320x200 low resolution - 640x200 medium resolution - 640x400 monochrome Here are some benchmark results using the Quick Index 1.6 program, running on a TOS 1.4 1040ST, in monochrome, with no blitter chip: BIOS text 325% BIOS string 1240% BIOS scroll 134% GEM draw 193% These numbers are greater than those obtained for an ST not using Quick ST 1.6, but equipped with TOS 1.4, blitter chip and 16MHz board. When used with Quick ST 1.6, such a system is amazingly fast. In another benchmark, the entire Quick ST source code (9000 lines of 68000 assembly language) was loaded into ST Writer 3.4 and scrolled from top to bottom. Without Quick ST, this takes 90 seconds. With Quick ST, this takes 49 seconds, almost 100% faster. And ST Writer can keep up with your typing now when used with Quick ST. Using the ZOOMTEST program supplied with Codehead's G+PLUS program, 50 repetitions take only 10 seconds in monochrome and 15 seconds in medium resolution, twice as fast as normal! But don't take our word for it. Try Quick ST 1.6 for yourself... Quick ST is shareware, and is NOT public domain. It is available for a $15 shareware registration, far less than the cost of a hardware upgrade, or even the TOS 1.4 upgrade. Because we believe strongly in the shareware concept, which allows users to freely distribute and copy software so that it may be tried out on the user's own system, we have made available a demo version of Quick ST 1.6. It can be found in the Atari ST libraries of Compuserve, GEnie, Delphi, BIX, and is currently also available on Usenet in comp.sys.atari.st. If after trying the Quick ST 1.6 demo, you feel that it is of no benefit to you, simply delete the files and forget about it. If you do appreciate the benefits of using Quick ST 1.6, simply send in your shareware registration fee (made payable to Darek Mihocka) and an updated disk contaning the full version of Quick ST 1.6 will me mailed to you. Quick ST 1.6 is not copy protected and installs on any standard boot disk. Because we believe in and support user groups, we are offering Quick ST to all full time members of Atari ST user groups for only $12. We ask that at least 5 people from the same user group register, and you must provide proof of membership (i.e. photocopy of membership card, official member list, etc). There is no time limit on this, so please take the time to demo Quick ST at your user group so that every member can try it. If you are already a registered user of the Quick Utilities or Quick ST (version 1.5 or earlier), simply mail your disk back along with $3, and the updated Quick ST 1.6 disk will me mailed to you. Do not bother to download the demo. Our mailing address for shareware registrations, questions, comments, demos and updates is: PO Box 2624, Station B Kitchener, Ontario N2H 6N2 CANADA Phone (in Canada): (519)-747-9452. If you prefer to contact us by email, we can be reached at the following: Compuserve: 73657,2714 BIX, Delphi, GEnie: DAREKM UNIX: uunet!electro!ignac If you are unable to obtain the Quick ST 1.6 demo by modem, simply mail us a blank disk and $3 (or no disk and $5) and we'll send you the demo disk. This shareware offer is valid until the next Quick ST update. ______________________________________________________________ > CODEHEAD!! STR Spotlight¿ Top notch goodies from Codehead! ======================== SOME LIKE IT HOT! Announcing HotWire 1.4....plus MaxiFile! -----=====**=====----- "When the START editorial staff first saw HotWire, our collective reaction was 'Wow!" "If you don't have a hard drive, HotWire is still useful. Have all your programs in a .HOT file, and when the menu comes up, just put the necessary floppy disk in the drive and then press the Hot Key. ..." "Overall, I find HotWire amazingly convenient. ... The 'one keypress' environment is very, very satisfying." -- START magazine October 1989 issue -----=======***=======----- Well, now we've made HotWire even BETTER! And look what's happened to MultiFile!!! CodeHead Software would like to announce the impending release of a major upgrade for HotWire (our innovative desktop/shell program)! At the same time, we are releasing a new product, MaxiFile...a _greatly_ enhanced version of MultiFile from the CodeHead Utilities disk. MaxiFile and HotWire will be bundled together and sold as HotWire Plus. Both products will continue to be sold separately as well. The new HotWire 1.4 includes a direct interface to MaxiFile, letting you enjoy MaxiFile's flexible file manipulation abilities without having to exit HotWire. MaxiFile can be run as either a desk accessory _or_ an ordinary GEM program, letting you configure your system for your own memory needs. HotWire Plus with MaxiFile can be used as a COMPLETE replacement for the GEM desktop. Both programs work in all resolutions. And MaxiFile includes many advanced file-handling features previously only seen on those "other" computers. Both HotWire and MaxiFile are written in 100% assembly language, so you know they're as compact and fast as possible. (And by the way, both programs will also still continue to be sold separately as well.) Here's what HotWire 1.4 and MaxiFile can do for you: HOTWIRE 1.4 by Charles F. Johnson and John Eidsvoog ----------------------------------------------------- o HotWire lets you set up an infinite series of program menus and instantly run any program, no matter where it's located on your system! You can run any program either from the HotWire Menu or FROM THE GEM DESKTOP simply by pressing a hot key... that YOU assign to each program! o Summon up the HotWire Menu any time you're at the GEM desktop...simply by clicking the right mouse button (or by typing a special "Hot Key".) o HotWire runs as either an ordinary ST program, or as a "resident" program that's always at your beck and call! o HotWire can AUTORUN GEM applications, on all versions of TOS in ROM. (In fact, HotWire's autorun feature works better than TOS 1.4's...) o Program menus (.HOT files) can be entered into the HotWire Menu, and given descriptive titles. You can load a completely new menu just by clicking its title, or typing its hot key! o Up to 54 programs can be entered into each HotWire Menu. You can use "headings" to customize the look of each menu to your own taste. o Programs can be given 20-char titles which describe their purposes,or include their full names. For example, you can name PUBLISH.APP by its real name..."TimeWorks Desktop Publisher". o Documents can be linked with their respective applications, and entered into the HotWire Menu. So you can click on "Great American Novel" and instantly run Word Perfect, which will automatically load your Great American Novel. With one click, you're ready to start working! o HotWire 1.4 now has an advanced "Ledger" function, which keeps track of all programs you run, showing the Start, End, and Elapsed time of each program. It also keeps track of the total time elapsed since you began working. If you started an application by passing it a document (as mentioned above) the name of the document you worked on is also shown in the ledger. In addition, each program in the HotWire Menu can be either included in or excluded from the Ledger record, as you choose. This feature is INVALUABLE for people who do work for hire on their STs. Now you can keep accurate records of all your computer usage with no effort whatsoever. Just click the button labelled "Ledger"! o HotWire also now includes a resident corner clock, which shows you the time of day in the upper right corner of the screen...even when you run other programs! You can even set each program in the HotWire Menu to turn off the corner clock when it runs, in case the clock interferes with any program's display. o HotWire works correctly with all the programs that give other shells fits! Programs like CAD-3D 2.02, Cyber Control, Easy Draw/OUTPRINT, Antic's Base Two, SuperBase, and many others which don't work 100% (if at all) with other shells, work EXACTLY as they do from the desktop when you run them through HotWire! o HotWire has many powerful and advanced features designed to aid software developers in the process of compiling and/or assembling. If you're not a programmer, we won't smother you in layers of complexity; but if you are, you'll find that HotWire has all the power you need in a developer's shell. Up to 12 environment parameters may be passed to any program in the HotWire Menu, and the command line handling is way beyond that offered by any comparable shell. We've been using HotWire as a shell to develop _itself_ (using the Mad Mac assembler from Atari) ever since version 1.0. o For added security, HotWire 1.4 now has an exclusive "password" feature, which lets you assign a separate 8-character password to each program in the menu. Every time you run a program which has a password, HotWire will ask you to type the password before it lets the program continue. (Your input is NOT echoed to the screen as you enter the password, of course.) You must also type the existing password before HotWire will let you change it. o HotWire is unbelievably easy to set up and use! An intuitive GEM interface lets you enter new programs in the menu, move existing entries around, and edit their parameters with simple point-and-click operations. o HotWire 1.4 is compatible with all current versions of TOS in ROM, including the recently-released "Rainbow TOS" (TOS 1.4). o You want desk accessories? HotWire lets you access CodeHead's MultiDesk accessory loader/unloader, giving you access to more DAs than you could ever possibly use. o HotWire 1.4 allows you direct access to MaxiFile (when MaxiFile is installed as a desk accessory), either by clicking on the MaxiFile icon or by typing function key F10! o ...and there are MANY more features not mentioned here, designed to make your computing life as easy as possible. HotWire is ADDICTIVE; but has been certified by the Surgeon General to have no ill effects whatsoever. :) Be prepared to become happily dependent on it! MAXIFILE 2.0 by Charles F. Johnson ------------------------------------ o MaxiFile is a multi-featured file-handling utility, similar to the "DOS Shells" available on other computers, but GEM-based. o MaxiFile runs as either a desk accessory or an ordinary GEM program. If memory is tight, just run MaxiFile as a program. If you run MaxiFile as a desk accessory, you can use it in any ST application which employs the GEM menu bar. You'll never have to quit a program just to copy a disk or rename a file again! o MaxiFile lets you move/copy/delete/rename/touch any combination of files and/or folders. You can see up to 80 items at once in the MaxiFile "control panel" display. o All parameters of MaxiFile's configuration can be saved, so that everything comes up set the way you want it, every time. o An intelligent disk copying routine lets you copy any type of floppy disk (except copy-protected ones) automatically! You can even use a blank unformatted disk for the destination if you like; MaxiFile will automatically format it to match the source disk. o MaxiFile can be switched between an 80-name display, showing just the filenames in a directory, and a 48-column display which shows the file sizes, times or dates. o MaxiFile works in all three resolutions, and also works with "big-screen" monitors. o Format disks single or double sided, with 9 or 10 sectors per track, 80 or 82 tracks per disk. If you have TOS 1.2 or greater, you can use the "Sector Skewing" option (also known as "Twister Format".) o Enter COMMENTS for any file or folder, similar to the Macintosh Finder's "Show Info" function. MaxiFile allows up to three lines of information about each file or folder. Every time you 'Show Info' on a file/folder, MaxiFile displays the comment and lets you change it if you wish. You can tell MaxiFile where to save the comments. (Comments are not physically attached to the files.) o Select MULTIPLE TEMPLATES to show files with several different extensions at the same time. For example, you can show all files with .ARC, .LZH, and .TXT extensions. You can also choose whether to INCLUDE or EXCLUDE files that match the extension templates. There are 16 editable extensions, which can be saved with all the rest of the configured data. o Up to 20 paths can be instantly selected with a single keypress, for either the source or destination. (Of course, the paths are editable, and saved with the configuration.) o Create new folders. o Show or print files. o Change a file's attributes; MaxiFile lets you lock, unlock, hide, and unhide files. o If you have TOS 1.4, you can enable (or disable) the "fastload" feature for any executable program. o Rename folders in all versions of TOS! o "Disk Info" shows all pertinent statistics about a disk; the number of files and folders it contains, the number of tracks and sectors per track, and even the location of the first directory sector. (Don't ask. ) You can also edit and change volume names (disk names) in all versions of TOS. o Print directory information in two ways: showing only the files, or with a full listing including the size, time, and date of every file in the directory. o Almost all functions of MaxiFile can be operated with either the mouse or the keyboard. "Power users" can get their file maintenance chores done faster than ever, while novices can take things at their own speed. o Set the double-click rate you wish to use while in MaxiFile. o Sort by Name, Size, Extension, or Date, or display files in their true, unsorted form. (In other words, exactly as they appear in a disk's directory.) o Up to 10 levels of warnings (for things like deleting files, formatting disks, overwriting files, printing directories, etc.) can be turned on and off, letting you use MaxiFile exactly how you want! If you like to live dangerously you can even turn off ALL warnings, and let the chips fall where they may. (Some of our customers are real daredevils.) o Instantly select or deselect ALL files/folders in a directory. o Instantly select/deselect all files/folders with the same extension, or with the same pre-extension name. o Optimized mouse routines for smooth, FAST operation. o When MaxiFile is called directly from HotWire, you can double-click FILES AND DOCUMENTS to launch them, just as if you were in a window on the GEM desktop. Anything you run in this way will be recorded in the HotWire ledger, just as if you had run it from HotWire. o If installed as a desk accessory, MaxiFile can also be called directly from Charles F. Johnson's shareware "Little Green Selector," a complete replacement for the GEM file selector (with MANY extended features) that is included with MaxiFile. This lets you use any or all of MaxiFile's advanced file-handling functions in any program that uses the GEM item selector! (The Little Green Selector is also available on the major info services, and probably at a BBS near you.) o Believe it or not, there are many more features in MaxiFile as well! MaxiFile will take care of all your file-handling needs. UPGRADE POLICY ============== Since MaxiFile started life as MultiFile, part of the CodeHead Utilities disk, we decided to allow current Utilities owners an upgrade "path" to purchase MaxiFile for a considerable discount over MaxiFile's retail price. Current owners of CodeHead Utilities (release 1 or 2) may update to the latest version (release 3) of CodeHead Utilities for $5 (plus the original master disk) as per our usual update policy. We'll have more info soon; many of the programs on the Utilities disk have also been significantly improved. Current owners of CodeHead Utilities may also purchase MaxiFile for a special price of $15, direct from CodeHead Software only. (The retail price of MaxiFile is set at $24.95.) Current owners of HotWire version 1.0 through 1.3 may upgrade to the latest version (1.4) for $5 plus the original master disk, as per our usual update policy. Registered HotWire owners may also purchase both HotWire 1.4 and MaxiFile for a combined price of $15, which includes the HotWire update. The suggested retail price for the HotWire Plus package (which contains MaxiFile) is $49.95. Look for this package at your local Atari ST dealer, or (to be first on your block) order it directly from CodeHead Software at: CodeHead Software P.O. Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 Tel (213) 386-5735 Over the phone, we accept Visa,Mastercard and COD orders. If you order by mail, please include $2shipping/handling (Canada $3, Europe $5). California residents please add 6.5% sales tax. Release date for Hotwire 1.4 and MaxiFile2.0 is set for the second week in November. Charles F. Johnson, CodeHead Software Editor Note: Congraulations are in order to Charles he is in Hawaii getting MARRIED! Lotsa Luck and Love to the NEW Johnson family. ________________________________________________________________ > ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿ Sayin' it like it is... ====================== - Sunnyvale, CA. ****** SIG HARTMANN RETIREMENT A GALA EVENT ****** -------------- Amid all the festivities stood a rather nifty card that showed the admiration the folks at Atari have for Sig.... A card that is unique and absolutely original. !ZORRO HARTMANN....! Without a doubt, the people at Atari will miss Sig.. As will the userbase in general. We hope he, at least, stays on with Atari in an advisory capacity. Or, as Atari's Goodwill Ambassador. ....After all, he is regarded as "Mr. Atari" by most all the users.... ps; Mel did a great job on the card. - New York City, N.Y. **** PC DITTO II SHIPS TO PRESS! **** ------------------- Nevin has his... and according to reports that are trickling in, it has been seen in the New England area and the midwest... (eek, sounds like UFO reports!) Nevin reports that he is having all sorts of fits over the "Mickey Mouse" daughter board sitting on top of the 68000 in his Mega. At last report, he was trying desperately to get it set in his 1040 which has an unobstructed 68000. Since Nevin is NOT a hardware Guru, we are energetically cheering for him!! - Chicago, IL. **** SEARS CATALOG PRESENTS LYNX FOR SALE! **** After verifying with the Sears Catalog people, customers can call and order the Lynx from Sears. The phone number is 1 - 800 - 366 - 3000 and the item # is 49-TD-75425 for $159.00. Sears selling the Lynx should be a great deal for Atari and their customers as Sears fully services what they sell and will not allow companies who's products they sell avoid servicing them. Additionally, Sears has their 'Satisfaction Guaranteed Or Your Money Back' policy. Sears does not have Lynx at this time, but Atari has promised to deliver by 11/18 at the latest. hmmmmm... - San Francisco, CA. ***** WELL KNOWN MAG EDITOR MAY JOIN ATARI ***** ------------------ In what could only be termed a bizarre turn of events, a well known hard copy magazine editor has been approached by Atari Corp. to be an "assistant" to an assistant. We have purposely kept the person's name confidential, but we can tell you this; Atari propositioned this gentleman just prior to the killer quake. As part of his duties, this gent would assume a very 'major' presence in the online community. - New York City, NY *** COMPUTER SHOPPER -> PORTFOLIO TO SAVE ATARI! *** ----------------- Anyone see the review of the Portfolio in the Nov. Computer Shopper? Did you also see the front cover blurb? It says "Portfolio - Can an MS- DOS handheld save Atari Corp.?" I didn't realize the future of Atari depended upon the Portfolio. Editor Note. Amazing simply amazing. Comdex will change many things.... who is serving the crow? - San Matteo, CA. ***** ELECTRONIC ARTS SHIPS VIRUS! ***** --------------- STAR COMMAND for the Atari ST has a software virus present in the code. We have recalled this product . . . Please contact Electronic Arts at 1-800-448-8822 for assistance in returning this product for version 1.1. If you have a virus "stamper" you may prefer to run the disks through it . . . If you have any questions please call Electronic Arts at the number above or SSI at 408-737-6800 and ask for Customer Support. Carole A. Johnson Manager, Customer Support Hey Trip... you still gettin' even? - Washington, DC ***** TOS 1.6 & THE COOKIE JAR ARE REAL! ***** -------------- TOS 1.6 is the version of the Operating System for the STE. It contains support for the STE SHIFTER, PCM 8-bit Stereo Sound, Fine Scrolling in the SHIFTER, The new Cookie Jar (a place to store "cookies" for TSRs), and a few minor changes.. John EDITOR NOTE: Let's remove the mystery over this TOS 1.6 and the fabled cookie jar written by A. Pratt... it and the docs for both the TOS 1.6 version and the cookie jar are in widespread circulation throughout Europe. That means we will have it in the States in a matter of days. If it is not here already. $5a0 .... - Chicago, IL. ***** NEW UPDATED DIABLO DYING IN A DESK! ***** ------------ From better than reliable sources we hear that the new rebuilt Diablo Emulator has been done for months. But it appears to have fallen in a crack at Atari.... all we know about the crack is to say; "Ask the Chef." - Tualatin, OR. ***** CMI HAS NEW ANSWERING SERVICE! ****** ------------- The best answering service in the world is in effect at the published number for CMI in the November Issue of STart; 503-691-2552, I guess this was the customer service line..... Try it, you'll like it. Guess nobody can now take advantage of the "TWO FER ONE SALE"! _______________________________________________________________ > Hard Drive Info STReport InfoFile¿ Affordable Mass Storage ================================= NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! ============================ ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) (all cables and connectors installed) SEAGATE HARD DISK MECHANISMS ONLY! ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * 32mb #SG32238 549.00 42mb #SG44710 619.00 51mb #SGN4951 639.00 65mb #SG60101 689.00 80mb #SGN296 729.00 100mb #SG84011D 969.00 130mb #SG1244D 1099.00 145mb #SG3A4210 989.00 170mb #SGT41776 1389.00 260mb #SG1244Q 2169.00 320mb #SGN7788Q 3295.00 Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) * Removable Media Devices Available (44mb) Syquest 555 * * SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICES * *** Available for ST - Amiga - IBM *** LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED 12 month FULL Guarantee (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) Quantity & Usergroup Discounts Available! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! Personal Checks are accepted. ORDER YOURS TODAY! 904-783-3319 9am - 8pm EDT _______________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote"¿ ================= One brilliant Executive whispers to the other... "Hey, this new glue for my TOUPEE is SUPER! ..Want a sniff?" ...Blatherblop's Fables "ATARI IS BACK!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-REPORT¿ Issue #111 "Your Independent News Source" October 27, 1989 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ½ copyright 1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, ST Report¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint permission is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must include ST Report or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, STReport or CPU Report, it's editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein. --------------------------------------------------------------------------