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| (((((((( | Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine | (( | ----------------------------------------- | (( | November 1, 1991 Issue #91-46 | (( | ----------------------------------------- | (((((((( | Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc. | | Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846 | (( | | (((((( | CONTENTS | (( | | | * The Editors Desk............................Ron Kovacs | ((( (( | * Z*Net Newswire........................................ | (((( (( | * Migraph In Conference............................GEnie | (( (( (( | * IAAD Update..............................Press Release | (( (((( | * Codehead Software Update.................Press Release | (( ((( | * Z*Net/Z*Magazine Archives.................January 1988 | | * Chicago ComputerFest By Atari............Press Release | ((((((( | * Inside The STE - Part 1...................A. Greenwood | (( | * AtariUser Mini-Reviews................................ | ((((( | * Zen-ST....................................October 1991 | (( | | ((((((( | ~ Publisher/Editor............................Ron Kovacs | | ~ Editor.......................................John Nagy | (((((((( | ~ New Zealand Bureau..........................Jon Clarke | (( | ~ Assistant Editor........................Bruce Hansford | (( | ~ PD Software Reviewer....................Ron Berinstein | (( | ~ Reporter................................Dr. Paul Keith | (( | ~ Reporter....................................Mike Brown ======================================================================= * EDITORS DESK by Ron Kovacs ======================================================================= ST CONNECTION I just finished reading the October 1991 edition of ST-Connection and just wanted to pass along some compliments to Stan Swanson for the obvious effort he has been doing. I have been getting complimentary issues since the start and have watched the growth and continued support for shareware authors month after month. Last month the issue caught my eye with new cover art and he did it again with another decent cover. There is plenty of information, shareware updates and reviews. I suggest that everyone get a copy today. For more information please contact Computer Publications at 303-423-6805. See you next week! ======================================================================= * Z*NET NEWSWIRE ======================================================================= APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCED PC Week announced the launch of its third demographic edition - The PC Week Application Development Edition. The first edition was published on Oct. 14, 1991 and is distributed to 62,208 subscribers. Subscribers who qualify to receive the PC Week Application Development Edition are all volume buyers who have purchasing responsibility for Relational Database Managers, Program Developers/Generator Tools, Compilers and Programming Languages. PC Week is the weekly newspaper of corporate computing, reaching 88,942 business units with a circulation base of over 205,000. PEN DIGITIZER MicroTouch recently introduced a pen computing digitizer that makes possible a new generation of pen computers that are lighter, thinner, more energy efficient and, for the first time, can work with both finger or stylus. The MicroTouch digitizer, called TouchPen, was announced as part of NEC's UltraLite SL/20P Series notebook computer introduction. The UltraLite SL/20P Series notebook computers are the first machines to incorporate the new technology. SCALABLE TYPEFACE ANNOUNCED Computer Peripherals announced JetType IIP, its new scalable font cartridge for the Hewlett Packard LaserJet IIP printers. This JetWare font cartridge provides 13 scalable TrueType typefaces in a single font cartridge for the HP LaserJet IIP, plus additional spreadsheet fonts. JetType IIP's 13 TrueType typefaces, at $249.00 retail, contains equivalents to the eight scalable typefaces found on the LaserJet IIIs, Times New Roman (CG Times) and Arial (Univers) in medium, bold, italic and bold italic. For more information, contact Computer Peripherals at 667 Rancho Conejo Blvd., Newbury Park, Calif. 91320; telephone: 805-499- 5751. COMPUSERVE ANNOUNCES PACESETTER CompuServe announced the PACESETTER program for new customers of CompuServe's public frame relay service, FRAME-Net. PACESETTER will allow new customers to economically begin using FRAME-Net, which was made available in early October. CompuServe will make the PACESETTER implementation pricing available to the first 20 customers to sign up for the service by Jan. 31, 1992. For more information about the PACESETTER program, contact CompuServe Network Services at 1-800-433- 0389. ======================================================================= * MIGRAPH IN CONFERENCE From GEnie ======================================================================= (C)1991 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your information. (Due to major technical difficulties, Migraph's responses this evening were chopped up by the lines. At one point, Kevin Mitchell was forced to type in all caps in order to get anything through to GEnie. Your editor has received permission to edit this transcript to better convey the intent of the answers.) <[Ron] R.GRANT11> Good Evening, Desktop Publishers, and welcome to the Monday Night DTP RTC! Tonight we are pleased to present the MIGRAPH Real Time Conference! We're here to talk about ***New Products*** for the Atari ST, with Kevin & Liz Mitchell and Brien Warder from Migraph, the TOUCH-UP and EASY-DRAW folks! Kevin, do you have any opening remarks you'd like to make? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> Hello Everyone! Thank you all for taking the time tonite to discuss with us, some of Migraph's new products for the ST. (Of course like Touch-Up, they run on the STe, MEGA and TT also.) There are several of us here from Migraph. Between us (Kevin, Liz & Brien), we should be able to answer your questions. Those of you who are registered Migraph owners already know some of the news, since we just had our last newsletter in Aug/Sep. For everyone else, here is a short summary: NEW Products: SHIPPING NOW 1) Merge-It & Scanning Tray (Also Scan & Save) This combination of software and precision molded tray and scanner head cradle enables owners of the Migraph Hand Scanner to easily have accurate full page scans! AVAILABLE DEC 91' 2) Migraph OCR - One of the first "Intelligent" OCR systems for personal computers. This product is being jointly developed between Migraph engineers and a leading OCR UNIX developer. Migraph will have the exclusive rights to the OCR engine for both the Atari and follow-up Amiga version of the product. We'll upload press releases later this week. Now however let's spend some time answering any questions you have regarding these new products, as well as other questions for Migraph. <[Ron] R.GRANT11> First up is D.HADLAND.... <D.HADLAND> I was wondering if I missed any thing on repair for the hand scanner and How Long will one last? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> Your scanner should last as long as your ST. The warranty in the box covers interface and scanner. <NEVIN-S> Kevin, it is nice to see you on line again! I'm excited to see a company like Migraph come out with an OCR product. <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> Thanks. We will have full press releases up later this week. <NEVIN-S> Can you tell us a bit about it?? Is it a low end type, like the ones which need to be "trained" to read different typefaces, or is it the type that can read text in different font sizes? Also, any idea of pricing? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> It is very HIGH-END (but not cost). It has a List price of $299. It uses the Omnifont Engine. <NEVIN-S> That price sounds great. May I follow up? Thanks. Kevin, although you have not left the ST marketplace by any means, it has been a while since you released a brand new product. Is there a reason you've "come back?" Do you see any hopeful signs or is it just that you have the rights, so what the hell? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> We never left the Atari market. All of our products are now on three platforms. All new products now appear on the ST first. An example is Merge-It and the Scanning tray last month for the ST. Now they are out for the Amiga, and PC next month. <NEVIN-S> Thanks, and I am looking forward to your press release. The Atari needs a first rate OCR program. That's it, and thanks. <MIKE-FULTON> Any news on an update to Easy-Tools? Or better yet, how about an new version of Easy-Draw with that stuff built-in? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> That's not currently planned. Easy-Draw is always in dev here in-house. <MIKE-FULTON> Here's an idea: how about documenting the desk accessory communications pipeline that Easy-Tools uses, so that enterprising programmer's can write their own add-on products? You know, ala the CAD 3D Developer's disk? I'd buy something like that in a second! <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> Sounds interesting. Please have any interested programmers contact us. <MIKE-FULTON> Will do. That's all for now, thanks. <D.SMITH200> I have tos 1.2... so no grayscale in TU 1.65. Question is, will I gain grayscale capability with tos 2.o ROMs I'll be getting with the SST board? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> Does anyone here own Merge-It? You get all of the grayscale conversion on TOS 1.2. You'll get all 16/31, and see 16. I mean see 8. <D.SMITH200> I just don't see any grayscale icon in 1.65 <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> The icon is bottom middle of scan mode. <[Ron] R.GRANT11> OK, Folks, due to technical problems, Kevin is going to shout at us. <grin> I won't be the one to tell you what terminal is in use somewhere...:-) OK, on to the next questioneer... <HAINES> Two part question. Will the OCR be a combination program or will you use touchup to scan and then OCR it. <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> 1MB OWNERS CAN LOAD TIFF AND IMG. 2MB CAN SCAN DIRECTLY. YOU CAN USE THE MIGRAPH HAND SCANNER, (OR G.I.) <HAINES> What will be the lower limit on DPI for the OCR, and Characters per Second. <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> SCANS SHOULD BE DONE AT 300DPI FOR 9PT TO 18PT. WILL RECOGNIZE MIXED TYPE STYLES AND HEIGHTS. 1MB OWNERS CAN USE THE TRAY TO MERGE THE FULL PAGE. <[Brian] B.SCHANTZ1> My first question's been answered, so here's no.2: Do you have anything in the works as far as hardware? i.e. flatbed or color scanners? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> WE ARE TRYING TO CONCENTRATE ON THIS ONE HUGE TASK {Editor's note: Kevin is referring to the OCR}. This will be one of the first "intelligent" OCR packages on a PC. PC meaning personal computer, not that other one. <[Roy] R.C.GOSEWEHR> Sometime ago in your newsletter, it was stated that Easy-Draw was being reworked for consistency across all platforms, Is this still the plan? If so, what changes will we be seeing? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> RIGHT NOW, THE ST WOULD BE ONLY ONE TO GET NEW EASY-DRAW. <[Roy] R.C.GOSEWEHR> What changes would be in the new version? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> TOUCH-UP INTERFACE, EASY-TOOLS, AND FSMGDOS SUPPORT, ETC. <[Roy] R.C.GOSEWEHR> When you say TU Interface, does that mean we will be able to run TU from within E.D.? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> YOU WILL HAVE EASY-DRAW POP-UP, AND EASY-DRAW ICON PADS. TOUCH-UP WILL STAY SEP. <[Roy] R.C.GOSEWEHR> I have been requested to ask the cost of the ED upgrade/when? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> SOMETIME IN 92, COST NOT KNOWN. <[CodeHead GT] C.F.JOHNSON> Hi Kevin. Nice to see you here! I wanted to ask if you plan to support the GEM 3 format in an upgrade to Easy Draw? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> WE WOULD BE LOOKING AT THE BEZIER. <[CodeHead GT] C.F.JOHNSON> So that means that you do plan to support GEM 3, I take it? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> WHETHER IT WOULD BE PART OR ALL IS STILL NOT DETERMINED. <MIKE-FULTON> Any thoughts on supporting other scanners? We have plenty of Migraph scanners around here, but we also have a few Epson flatbed scanners. It would be nice to be able to use them too (with Touch-Up as well, of course). They can connect either through the Parallel port or through the SCSI port of the TT030. <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> OUR REPLYS ARE SHORT DUE TO KEYBOARD PROBLEMS. SORRY. IF THERE WAS A DEMAND WE WOULD SUPPORT THEM. OCR IS DESIGNED TO BE OPEN FOR FUTURE ADDITIONS. <MIKE-FULTON> Also, if I'm not mistaken, the addition of Bezier Curves is the main diifference in GEM/3, as far anything regarding metafiles is concerned. I'd like to use the Epson with Touch-Up, especially. <S.NOAH> Hi, I arrived late, so I apologize if this has already been asked, but do you have any plans to support FSM-GDOS or third party video adapters ? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> FSM-GDOS: YES. VIDEO ADAPTERS IF THEY ARE NORMAL GEM. EASY-DRAW WORKS OK WITH FSM NOW. BACK TO THE OCR... <S.EAKINS> Kevin, this may seem stupid, but what is the most practical software for someone just getting into dtp to buy? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> I THINK I'D BETTER LET OTHERS SHARE THEIR VIEWS OUTSIDE THE RTC. WE USE SEVERAL, EASY-DRAW, CALAMUS, TOUCH-UP, WORDFLAIR.... <HAINES> Will the OCR correctly pass over graphics on a page, or will we have to blank them out before procressing the page? <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> GOOD QUESTION! WE CAN SCAN TEXT AND GRAPHICS, AND SAVE OUT BOTH. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BLOCK OUT GRAPHIC AREA. INSTEAD YOU SELECT MULTIPLE TEXT AREAS, WHICH COMBINE TOGETHER. ALL ST SCAN TRAYS HAVE BEEN SHIPPED. PLEASE CALL 1-800-223-3729 TOMORROW. <[Ron] R.GRANT11> OK, Thanks all of you for logging on tonight! We're sorry about the technical problems; sometimes these things can't be helped. <[Kevin] MIGRAPH-TECH> Our thanks to all who attended tonite. We look forward to talking with you again real soon. We know that you will be as pleased with our new ST products as we are in developing them for the Atari. As more detailed information is available, we will post it over in the Desktop Publishing CAT. Until next time. ======================================================================= * IAAD UPDATE Press Release ======================================================================= Nevin Shalit of Step Ahead Software, Inc., was elected President of the Independent Association of Atari Developers (IAAD), at a meeting of the IAAD during the WAACE Atarifest. Shalit replaces Nathan Potechin of ISD Marketing, who stepped down after serving as President for the first two years of the IAAD's existence. The IAAD is a group of registered Atari developers who work together in various marketing, instructional, and educational areas. Currently more than 50 developers make up the IAAD, which includes representatives from Canada and Europe as well as a full complement of US developers. "I look forward to building on Nathan's excellent work in the coming year, by increasing our membership, and having IAAD members work together on specific projects which will benefit developers, dealers, end users, and Atari itself," says Shalit. IAAD business is conducted mostly on GEnie, the national on-line service. Developers interested in joining the group should send e-mail to PERMIT$. ======================================================================= * CODEHEAD SOFTWARE UPDATE Press Release ======================================================================= For immediate release CodeHeadQuarters Friday, November 1, 1991 ------------------------ MegaPaint Professional is Available NOW from CodeHead Software -------------------------------------------------------------- Surprise! CodeHead Software has the graphics drawing program _you've_ been waiting for...and we have it NOW! MegaPaint Professional is a full -featured bit-map and vector graphics tool for Atari ST and TT computers. We're proud to include it in our new line of "CodeHead GT" Graphic Tools -- along with Avant Vector, Repro Studio, and Genus (which we'll tell you about later). To call MegaPaint Professional 4.0 "full-featured" is a vast understatement! Here's a partial list of its features (and this list barely scratches the surface): o Virtually any drawing function imaginable is available, making a complete listing impractical here. Besides the normal tools, there are such obscure features as rhomboid, equilateral polygons with 3 to 32 sides, circular or elliptical ringsectors, dropping perpendicular lines, or parallel lines...all available in either bit-map or vector graphics. o Text support is extensive, including bit-mapped and vector fonts, as well as support for the vast Signum font library. You can also easily create your own fonts or symbol tables from any graphics block. o Vector graphics can be projected into a bit-map picture and bit-map graphics can be faded into a vector picture giving you unique flexibility when working with any type of graphics. o Whether working with bit-map graphics, vector graphics, or text, the user interface and features are tuned to give you the power and ease of use you're accustomed to with CodeHead Software. o Coordinate systems and even screen aspect ratios can be adjusted. o FAST block and lasso functions. o Editable fill patterns and line styles. o Up to four planes of color separation may be manipulated, overlayed, viewed with varied intensities, and printed to a color printer. o There are 197 dropdown menu selections and 377 submenu dropdown selections! o Unique overlapping pop-up menus give you 120 selectable icons. o Choices in the pop-up menus may be assigned to any of the available functions in the dropdown menus. Icons in the pop-up menus can be selected from over 240 predesigned icons or redesigned to the users specification, even changed to text. o MegaPaint can be used with virtually all printers. Supplied printer drivers can be easily edited to adapt to any printer. o Pictures can be loaded in MegaPaint's .BLD format, standard .IMG format, MS-DOS .PCX format, Degas, straight 32K format, or STAD format (.PAC). Vector graphics can be exported in CVG format. o MegaPaint can call external modules, allowing infinite expandability for new functions. Import and export modules are already in the works (from CodeHead) for several other picture and vector formats. o Runs on any ST/TT with a monochrome monitor from 640x400 up to 8192 x 8192. o Virtual page size may be as large as 7680x7680. Pictures may be loaded into any area of the virtual page. o MegaPaint has network support. o MegaPaint is available for MS-DOS machines, supporting the same file format. o Scanner support currently includes interfaces for 3 different scanners. External module support allows the future interfacing of any other scanner. And best of all -- MegaPaint is unbelievably FAST!!! We've never seen a drawing program anywhere, on any platform, released or not, that even comes close to the speed of MegaPaint. That's why MegaPaint fits so well into the CodeHead line of products. If you've ever seen Tempus work with text, you'll remember your first reaction to its incredible text-scrolling speed, even without a screen accelerator. MegaPaint is the Tempus of graphics processors! It's so fast that the windows actually update the display AS YOU DRAG THE SLIDER! And you simply won't believe how quickly MegaPaint loads IMG pictures and rotates blocks or entire images. We'll be releasing a demo version of MegaPaint Professional soon so you can see for yourself just how amazing this program is. Meanwhile we're gearing up our shipping department because once you get a taste of MegaPaint, you'll want it immediately and won't want to wait. MegaPaint is available NOW, and retails for $175. For more information, contact your local dealer, or CodeHead Software, PO Box 74090, Los Angeles, CA 90004; voice (213) 386-5735, fax (213) 386-5789. ======================================================================= * Z*NET/Z*MAGAZINE ARCHIVES January 1988 ======================================================================= ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT 1988 REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. ATARI GETS TOUGH ON TV BY Gregg Pearlman, ASSISTANT EDITOR In the wake of a Christmas season in which Atari Corp.'s video game sales were more than twice those of the same period last year, Atari plans to keep the ball rolling by launching a major first-quarter national television advertising campaign featuring six new commercials, according to Michael Katz, president of Atari's electronics division. The commercials will be aired in the top 30 markets in children's and prime-time viewing hours and will include syndicated and cable programming. Katz said that first-quarter spending will be comparable to what Atari spent in the fourth quarter of 1987 when the company sold out of two of its three game systems, the new XE Game System and the older 7800. The new Atari 2600 commercial, like the previous one, uses rap music while heavily promoting the new games available for the 2600. The new XE commercials include a testimonial/endorsement commercial presented by the presidents of four computer game companies; a commercial comparing Atari's baseball game with Nintendo's; and three more promoting the range of new games for the XE. Atari also announced new playable, self-running point-of-sale display units for the 7800 and XE systems, available at no charge to retailers. ATARI PC: MYTH OR FICTION? January 6, 1988 -- "I'm sure that I will never see" "Atari's duplicate PC..." That song's been sung for months. There's been little evidence of the IBM clone Atari started showing a year ago. But according to a classified advertisement in the San Jose Mercury News, Atari is seeking a "Production Development/Sustaining Engineer for our growing line of PS2/PCAT/PCXT systems." So keep on your toes -- it may not be far away after all. ATARI NABS COUNTERFEITERS - December 17, 1987 Agents of the U.S. Customs and U.S. Marshals Services seized 2,000 counterfeits of Atari's 2600 video game system at Terminal Island in the Port of Los Angeles on December 17. The imitations were manufactured by Fund International Co., Ltd., of Taiwan, and distributed in the United States by P.S.D. Inc. of Canoga Park, California. VIRTUSONICS LICENSING AGREEMENT - December 16, 1987 Virtusonics Corp., creators of the Desktop Performance Studio, has entered a development and licensing agreement with 2nd Mate Systems, a marine navigation software systems company, to adapt and interface its Virtuoso software technology with 2nd Mate's computerized marine navigational systems. Boaters will now be able to plot their courses and positions on computerized charts using computers (such as an 8-bit Atari) and a monitor or television. ATARI WINS SHOOTOUT VS. NINTENDO - December 15, 1987 A U.S. District Court Judge denied the request of Nintendo of America to halt Atari Corp.'s television commercials that said that more games could be played on the Atari XE Game System than on the Nintendo, according to Reuters. Nintendo had contended that the ads were false and misleading, but Atari was "confident of the outcome," according to Michael Katz, Atari's president of entertainment electronics. "The commercial was hard- hitting but truthful, and we proved it," he said. The XE Game System runs all cartridge-based Atari games, and a disk drive can be added to run all disk-based Atari games. ======================================================================= * CHICAGO COMPUTERFEST BY ATARI - UPDATE ======================================================================= The following will bring you up to date with the many things that have been happening since our last press announcement. Our list of Chicago ComputerFest by Atari exhibitors has been growing rapidly. Plans for the banquet have been finalized. The MIDI exhibition has been expanded to include presentations, workshops, and major manufacturers. There will be a flea market for used equipment and software run by our local user groups. The Mini-GenCon gaming area and Hands-on instructional sessions are still planned for both days. In addition to this, there are many other things being planned for the two days not quite yet finalized. BANQUET: Gala Chicago ComputerFest by Atari Banquet 7:00 PM, November 23rd, 1991 Ramada Hotel O'Hare - Plaza Dining Room Capacity- approximately 300 Tentative Program: Bob Brodie and Greg Pratt of Atari Corp present the Midwest Atari Regional Council (MARC) Excellence Awards. Atari Lombard Lynx game programmer Steve Ryno will speak about future game systems from Atari. Dinner Choices: Roast Sirloin of Beef, Marchand de Vin Tender Slices of Midwestern Beef with a Rich Red Wine Sauce Roast Loin of Pork Calvados Roasted Pork Loin Topped with an Apple Cream Sauce Chicken Kiev A buttered breast of chicken stuffed with herb butter and cheese sauce. Grilled Halibut Steak, Sauce Choron A Center Cut Halibut Steak accompanied with a buttery herb sauce infused with tomato. Each of the above include Soup of the day, Gardner's basket salad, a seasonal selection of vegetable and potatoes, and Chicago style Cheesecake with your selection of Strawberry, Pineapple and Mandarin toppings. Coffee and Tea included - cash bar will be available with choice of Beer, Wine and Cocktails. All of this $25.00 per person (tax and gratuity included). Send your banquet ticket order NOW to: Chicago ComputerFest by Atari c/o LCACE P.O. Box 8788 Waukegan, IL 60079-8788. AIR FARES: Atari Corp. announces that they have negotiated special air fares to the Chicago ComputerFest. To get the special rate via American Airlines, you must book your flight through Atari's travel agent - UniGlobe Travel. They can be contacted at 408-248-8800 (voice- ask for Barb), or 408-248-8891 (fax). Average discounts are 40% off full fares, and 5% off promotional or discounted fares. EXHIBITORS (as of October 20th): Apple Annie Mars Merchandising ASTMUM MaxWell C.P.U. Atari Interface Magazine MegaType Brasoft Michtron Best Electronics Micro Creations Clear Thinking Migraph, Inc. Codehead Software Missionware CompuSeller West M-S Designs CSA Ltd. Motorola, Inc. D.A. Brumleve Newell Industries DataQue Products Oregon Research Associates Double Click Software Pallette Imaging Electonic Spinster Graphics Rimik Enterprises Gribnif Software Roland Corporation ICD, Inc. Soft-Logik Publishing ISD Marketing Step Ahead Software Goldleaf Publishing Sudden, Inc. Guitar Plus Toad Computers Guitar Center WizWorks! Innovative Concepts Wuztek/OPI PARTICIPATING USER GROUPS: Eastside Atari User Group (EAUG) Greater Chicago Atari Computer Enthusiasts (GCACE) Lake County Area Computer Enthusiasts (LCACE) MilAtari Ltd (MA) Milwaukee Area ST User Group (MAST) Rockford Atari Computer Club (RACC) Suburban Chicago Atarians (SCAT) The User Group (TUG) The Rest of Us (Macintosh) PAYMENTS: Credit Card Payment is available for banquet and general admission tickets! Call the show hotline at 708-566-0682 to order. Be sure to leave: Your Name as it appears on the credit card Address where to send tickets Your Credit Card Type (Visa or Master Card) Card Number and Expiration Date Your phone number (in case there are questions) What tickets and the number you are ordering. Your Choice of Entrees (banquet only). We will add a $1 service charge for each credit card order, all banquet orders must be received by November 8th; advance show tickets by November 15th. If paying by personal check or money order, please make checks payable to "Lake County Area Computer Enthusiasts". Each general admission ticket entitles the holder to a chance at the TT030/8 Color system donated by Atari Corp. Many other valuable prizes will be given away during the course of the show. You need not be present to win the TT030! Developers - there are a _few_ main floor booths available- please call the hotline as soon as possible if you wish to attend. If you are not able to personally join us, please consider sending product information flyers and/or product donataions for the door prize raffle. ======================================================================= * INSIDE THE STE - PART 1 Copyright (C)1991, A. Greenwood ======================================================================= Introducing The STE There is little doubt that Atari's STE is a significant improvement to the successful ST range, but many people are still unsure as to what this relatively new machine has to offer. As an introduction to a series of articles on programming the STE, this article explains just what Atari has added. Further articles will explain the tricks and techniques needed to program these extra features, with documented 68000 source code, for example programs and STE utilities. Overall, Atari made improvements in seven main areas on the STE: 1. A new version of TOS, version 1.6 or 1.62 2. The addition of the Blitter chip previously found on Mega STs 3. A new DMA sound chip with volume and tone control 4. An improved video shifter chip. 5. A Cookie Jar to allow programmers to identify the machine. 6. Two new ports supporting four extra joysticks plus paddles. 7. Use of SIMM cards for easier memory expansion. TOS 1.6 (and 1.62) ------------------ This version of TOS includes all the features of TOS 1.4, the latest version of TOS for the ST, but is slightly different internally to allow for the new hardware. The main difference from a user's point of view is the inclusion of a menu item to allow use of the blitter chip to be selected from the desktop, and the resulting improvements in speed when the blitter is on. Other enhancements, such as the new file selector and the MS-DOS compatible disc format, are the same as for TOS 1.4, and are explained in the STE addendum sheet supplied with the machine. TOS 1.62 is just TOS 1.6 with the bugs which were present in the original STEs corrected. On the programming side, this version of TOS can be treated exactly as TOS 1.4, with the same additions to the GEM libraries. The changes made to accomodate new hardware are transparent to the programmer, ie they do not affect the way the operating system appears compared to TOS 1.4. For most commercial programming languages, for instance Devpac 2 and Lattice C, updated libraries and macros for using the new GEM calls are included in versions released after the new TOS. Blitter Chip ------------ All STEs have Atari's Blitter chip as standard, where previously it was only found on the Mega STs. The Blitter chip is a direct memory access (DMA) device which uses the STs bus to transfer data directly from one part of memory to another - more quickly than is possible using the 68000 processor. It does this by using the DMA controller to take control of the 68000's bus, either in bursts interleaved with the CPU or until it has finished. In this way the Blitter chip can be used instead of the processor for fast movement of data. The Blitter chip can also manipulate the data in several ways as it is transferred. Since data transfer is bit oriented, the source data can be shifted to produce the destination data, previously one of the hardest parts of bit-mapped graphics programming. The Blitter also applies one of 16 different combinations of logical operations to the source data (including straight copy, of course), and can also combine the source data with 16 word length half-tone RAM registers for special effects. When copying data the Blitter chip can skip a specified number of bytes (only even numbers allowed, ie word boundary) after both source and destination words, which is useful when copying a single bit plane in low or medium resolution. The Blitter transfers data in lines, and can also skip a set number of words at the end of each line - again, this applies to both source and destination. The Blitter chip also allows the source and destination data to overlap, so if necessary a section of memory can be read, manipulated and written back to the same area of memory. When it is enabled, the Blitter is used by both GEM and some of the A- line routines, though not by the sprite routines. Use of the Blitter in this way can be selected either from the desktop by using the Blitter menu item or from within a program by using Xbios call 64, the blitmode call as found previously on the Mega ST. The Blitter can also be used directly, for example for custom graphics or sprite routines, which although complex at first can produce fast graphics with less code. DMA Sound --------- The new DMA sound chip on the STE is in addition to, and not instead of, the original Yamaha PSG chip. The new hardware uses a digital to analog converter (DAC) to play 8-bit sound samples at one of four different frequencies, from 6.25 to 50 kHz, in either stereo or mono. By comparison, CD players work at 47 kHz, but with 16-bit samples - this gives some idea of the quality of the sound produced. The sound chip is another DMA device, fetching samples directly from memory for output. This means that less processor time is needed for sample playing, which is quicker and of better quality than with the original sound chip. Playing a sample is achieved by loading the sound chip's address registers with the start and end address of the sample and then setting the enable register to either play the sample once or repeat it. The DMA sound chip is connected to Timer A, and this can be used in a similar way to the hblank interrupt to play a sample a specified number of times, and to link samples together to produce continous sound. The address registers on the sound chip are buffered, allowing the address of the next sample to be set while a sample is playing, thus allowing samples to be joined seamlessly. Comprehensive volume/tone control is also provided using the new microwire interface connected to a volume/tone chip. This allows master volume, left and right volume, and bass and treble to be set through software. The sound output is via stereo RCA jacks on the back of the machine, ideal for connecting to a hi-fi. So far, the sound chip has been the best used feature of the STE, with many samplers already compatible and more and more software appearing with DMA sound as an option. Hopefully this feature of the STE will also be used in conjunction with MIDI and computer music, where the ST is almost standard. Improved Video Shifter Chip --------------------------- The STE's video shifter chip is an enhancement of the old chip, providing access to a greater range of colors, vertical and horizontal hardware scrolling, and accepting an external sync. The color range has been increased from 512 to 4096 by using four bits instead of three to represent the red, green and blue components of each color. To maintain combatibility with old machines, the least significant bit of the new 4-bit color component is actually the most significant bit in the color nibble - if this were not so all 3-bit colour values from old STs would appear at half intensity as the maximum intensity was 7 and is now 15. This feature is useful for graphics applications, particularly scanning and video digitizing where a full 16 shade grey scale can be obtained (see 'User cover disc 56). Vertical scrolling is achieved by allowing the screen base to take any address, rather than being on a 512 byte boundary as before. This is done using an extra register for the low byte of the screen address, which does not affect the screen until the next vertical blank. This means the screen address can simply be changed to point to the next screen line, giving smooth vertical scrolling. Horizontal scrolling is achieved through two new registers. The first sets the length of a screen line past the edge of the screen, allowing a screen in memory to be larger than the actual displayed screen. This means screen data can be scrolled on from the sides of the screen. The second register indicates which bit of the first screen word should be used as the first pixel on screen. This allows the screen to be bit scrolled horizontally up to 16 pixels, at which point the base address can be changed to continue scrolling. Using vertical and horizontal scrolling together to produce four-way scrolling requires careful combination of both methods, due to the different way the registers are used. The horizontal scrolling registers take effect immediately, while the low byte of the screen address is not used until the next vertical blank. Using the hardware scrolling on the STE, smooth full color full screen scrolling is possible with very little code, and using only a small amount of processor time. However, this method usually requires more memory. The external sync input provided via the monitor port allows the STE's video shifter to synchronise with another device. This is particularly useful in video genlocking, as the screen display can be synchronised with video equipment, and has already been used on at least one such device. Without this feature the video shifter chip often has to be prised out and a circuit board added to allow the genlock to synchronise the computer with the video device. The Cookie Jar -------------- The cookie jar is a welcome addition to the STs system variables which provides a list of 'cookies', each of which gives some information about the features available on a particular machine. This information includes which CPU the computer has (68000 - 68040), whether a Blitter chip is present, whether the machine has DMA sound and which model the machine is. This allows applications to selectively use these features if they are present, and should help with integrating STE features into ST software. Presumably the cookie jar has already been used in software which is STE compatible. Another feature of the cookie jar is the provision for applications to add their own cookies. This means that other devices added to the ST can use the cookie jar to inform programs that they are present. Controller Ports ---------------- The STE provides two new ports on the side of the machine which can be used in a variety of ways. The intended uses are either four standard joysticks (two per port), two paddles or a light pen or light gun. These ports are connected directly to the the 68000's bus, instead of adding extra controller chips, and can be written as well as read. The provision of four 8-bit Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs) for the paddles, and the fact that the outputs are driven when the registers are written to will no doubt give rise to other uses for these ports. Since the two ports both use 15-pin sockets adaptors will be needed to connect most controllers. How well used these ports become depends largely on games designers and programmers (for joystick, paddle or light gun use) and applications programmers (for light pen use) but the possibilities include up to six player games, analog joysticks for flight simulators and light gun games. Another possibility is the use of enhanced joysticks, perhaps with more than one fire button. SIMMS ----- RAM on the STE is on up to four Single Inline Memory Modules (SIMMs), which can hold either 1/4 megabyte or 1 megabyte each. These are easy to remove and install, and are cheaper than other ST memory upgrades. This allows the computer to be upgraded to 1 megabyte using 1/4 megabyte SIMMs or 4 megabytes using all 1 megabyte SIMMs. Mixing the two sizes of SIMM is possible, but requires extra software to ensure the computer knows how much memory it has. SIMMs are easy to fit by simply removing the STE's lid and carefully clipping the SIMMs into place. It is often possible to get cheap 1/4 megabyte SIMMs, as anyone upgrading over 1 magabyte will have the old SIMMS left. This can make upgrading a 520 STE to one megabyte cheaper than buying a 1040, and may result in more software making use of extra memory, particularly with the memory overheads associated with sample playing and hardware scrolling. Programming the STE ------------------- The rest of this series of articles will concentrate on programming the STE, covering hardware scrolling, color, the Blitter chip, joystick ports, the cookie jar and GEM, and starting next month with DMA sound and volume/tone control. ======================================================================= * ATARIUSER MINI-REVIEWS ======================================================================= The following article is reprinted in Z*Net by permission of AtariUser magazine and Quill Publishing. It MAY NOT be further reprinted without specific permission of Quill. AtariUser is a monthly Atari magazine, available by subscription for $18 a year. For more information on AtariUser, call 800-333-3567. LDW POWER VERSION 2.0 (ST, STe, TT) A superlative spreadsheet application, LDW Power 2.00 is to the ATARI World what Lotus 123 is to the rest of the world. In fact, LDW Power version 2, released last spring, is now virtually 100% command and file compatible with Lotus 123 Release 2.2. LDW Power requires only 512K, can run from a floppy, and uses either color or monochrome. As with other productivity software, the more memory the better and a hard drive is almost a must. LDW Power can be run under a GEM environment with full point and click mouse operation, or in a command mode with all the same commands as Lotus 123. A spreadsheet is an electronic grid of rows and columns. Each cell, where a row and a column intersect, can be given a definition of a number, text, or a formula that relates to other cells. You can do "what if" statements where one part of the equation is changed and the rest of the equation is recalculated for you. With this power you could create something as complex as a tax return preparation program ("template") or a checkbook balancing program. LDW Power 2.0 allows the simultaneous use of up to four windows at one time with condensed display allowing up to twenty-eight rows in a window. Every cell can have a non-computational note. There are close to 300 commands with more than 80 mathematical functions with strings, too. Five different types of graphs can be generated from your data, XY, line, bar, stacked-bar and pie charts. There is automatic and manual scaling with optional grid, average and standard deviation lines. Sideways printing is also an option. Import/export of Lotus files, LDW specific and ASCII files are available. LDW Power has a Lotus 123 compatible Macro language with the number of macros limited only by memory. While the newest version of LDW Power did not update the printer drivers, an update is due out shortly after Atari's FSM GDOS becomes available. Until then at least, there are no laser printer drivers. To get around this you can print the file to disk and then load it into either your word processor or DTP program. A graph can be saved as a PI2 or PI3 format and then loaded into NeoChrome or your DTP program and then printed. LDW Power is a powerful program, and its greatest asset is its compatibility with the rest of the computing world. $179, from Logical Design Works, 130 Knowles Drive, Los Gatos, CA 95030, 408-378-0340. - John King Tarpinian SALES-PRO (ST, STe, TT) Hi-Tech Advisers offers SALES-PRO as a complete point-of-sale and inventory control system for the Atari ST, STe, and TT computers. Written in DBASE III, it runs via DBMAN which in turn allows it to run DBASE III program and data files on the Atari. Ten program modules allow you to customize Sales-Pro to meet your needs. Other accessory modules that allow bar code export, UPS COD label printing and more. You'll need 1 meg of memory to run Sales-Pro and a hard drive is STRONGLY recommended. Sales-Pro runs well with A&D's Universal Network, although slowly if using MIDI. Sales-Pro is very capable handling point-of-sale transactions such as invoicing, layaways, purchase orders, vouchers, returns and all cash register functions, including running a power cash drawer. Customer data can used to create an invoice or to print mailing labels. Inventory control uses standard inventory control methods, and an exploded inventory module will allow kits to be made from the current inventory. Reporting ability is good, with user-adjustable reports available from within most modules. Reports are available on inventory, sales, customer activity and more. Reports on Profit & Loss and Financial Statement information can be accessed through the General Ledger module. A General Ledger module is available for accounting. I found the General ledger module to be a little complex. Both accounts payable and accounts receivable can be automatically posted to the general ledger. Sales-Pro can also handle checking/savings account journals. I have used two MS-DOS based point-of-sale systems that cost five times as much, but they have no more features or power than Sales-Pro. (Sales-Pro is, however, also available for MS-DOS based machines with enhanced networking power.) Hi-Tech Advisers has just released Version 6 of Sales-Pro which fixes all know bugs and adds some new features. Version 6 retails from $99.00 to $599.00, depending on how many modules you need. Hi-Tech Advisers, P.O. Box 7524, Winter Haven, FL, 33883- 7524, 813-294-1885. - Richard Betson Midwinter 2: Flames of Freedom (ST, STe) Midwinter was a highly rated 3-d strategy simulation which pitted your group of freedom-minded rebels against mercenaries who wanted control of the snow covered isle of Midwinter. The sequel ss Midwinter 2: Flames of Freedom, set decades after the battle of Midwinter. Due to rising temperatures, your people of Midwinter have moved to a new island off the coast of Africa. A new empire has seized control of the other islands and is now threatening you. You must liberate those islands through acts of espionage, assassination, sabotage, rescuing opposition leaders and more. If you can complete your missions on any island, it will be liberated and join you. By taking out key islands and cutting supply routes from the Saharans, other island will be liberated in a chain reaction. Each island is a big 3-D environment which you will travel through using 22 different kinds of transportation. Trucks, jeeps, buses, biplanes, zeppelins, helicopters, speedboats, submarines, hovercrafts, flying subs, and rocket packs are just some of the ways you'll be getting around. You'll meet different people who can provide you with help, info, or may even be a traitor will turn you over to the secret police. Midwinter 2 is a quantum leap over the original. The graphics are smooth, and controlling all the different vehicles is a lot of fun. The most impressive 3-D effect has to be the way the bodies of water actually move. When you're in a boat or swimming you'll find yourself bobbing up and down and watching the waves rolling in on the shore. You'll hear crickets chirping and the waves crashing in. There are also some good sounding songs throughout the game. Unfortunately, Midwinter 2 will not run from a hard drive. Between copy protection schemes and lots of data to load, it takes a very long time to start a campaign. But if you like in-depth games that make you feel like you're there, Midwinter 2 is the game for you. By Rainbird, $59.95. - Clinton Smith STENO (ST, STe, TT) A text editor in a desk accessory? Yes, it's been done, but STeno offers a LOT. Cut and paste, search-and-replace, autowrapping, "live" and manual reformatting of text, printer control including pagination and page headers, and more. Screen font size is selectable, allowing screenfuls of super-tiny text, a 9-point size that allows 40 lines on the screen (my favorite in monochrome), normal, and large sizes that may be suitable for sight-impaired users. STeno has its own GEM-like drop menus WITHIN its window. Online help for the advanced functions is also available from the menu bar. The formatting functions to be particularly useful. As in WordWriter, Function 10 reformats a paragraph--but in STeno, it will follow the indentation of the SECOND line in the paragraph, making varying the margins virtually thought-free. And since STeno works in "pure ASCII", formatted ASCII documents (with hard returns on every line) will obey the reformat command just as though they were return-free. (If you understood what that meant, you probably need the function and are ordering STeno now. If not, read this again next year.) Gribnif Software (the NeoDesk folks) have picked up distribution and development of several previously available programs, including CardFile, STalker, and STeno. The last two were products of Strata Software, programmed by Eric Rosenquist of Canada. Gribnif has worked to update the programs, and has released STeno as a stand-alone desk accessory. It used to come bundled with STalker, a desk accessory terminal program. STeno can communicate with STalker to swap text blocks, etc., as well as to become a capture buffer and/or type ahead buffer. With the exception of a spell checker, STeno is nearly a complete word processor. You can even install several copies of STeno as additional desk accessories and operate on several documents at once. STeno will also work as a normal program rather than an accessory if you like. Buffer size is adjustable from 32K up to a full MEG! Use of STeno is easy, fast, and very rational. I use it every day. Get it. $29.95, Gribnif Software, P.O. Box 350, Hadley, MA 01035, phone 800 -284-4742. - John Nagy ======================================================================= * ZEN_ST OCTOBER 1991 ======================================================================= ********** ********* ** ** ********* ********** *** *** *** ** *** ** *** ** **** ** ** ** *** ******* ** ** ** ********* ** *** ** ** ** ** ******** ********* ** *** ** ** **** ** ** *** *** ** *** *** ** ********** ********* ** ** ********* ** A monthly guide to new and upcoming Atari ST games Edited by Zenobot A CyberSysTek Publication Our motto: "Pumpkin and drivin' don't mix." October 1991 Edition Top Twenty ST Games in the UK, September '91: --------------------------------------------- 1 (20) Midwinter II: Flames Of Freedom (Rainbird/Maelstrom). 2 (2) Lemmings (Psygnosis/DMA Design). 3 (5) Gods (Renegade/Bitmap Brothers). 4 (1) Hero Quest (Gremlin/221b). 5 (*) Rainbow Collection (Ocean). 6 (*) Robin Smith's Cricket (Challenge Software/Astros). 7 (33) Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (Imageworks/Probe). 8 (4) Armour Geddon (Psygnosis). 9 (*) F-15 Strike Eagle II (Microprose). 10 (34) Super Monaco Grand Prix (US Gold/Probe). 11 (12) Secret Of Monkey Island (US Gold/Lucasfilm). 12 (8) Life And Death (Mindscape). 13 (3) Pro Tennis Tour 2 (UBI Soft/Blue Byte). 14 (19) Super Cars II (Gremlin/Magnetic Fields). 15 (*) Virtual Reality Volume 1 (Elite). 16 (14) Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Imageworks/Bitmap Brothers). 17 (18) Simcity/Populous (Infogrames). 18 (13) Kick Off 2 (Anco). 19 (RE) Wonderland (Virgin/Magnetic Scrolls). 20 (29) Viz (Virgin Games). [ (*) = new item, (RE) = re-entry, (#) = last month's position.] Get Out And Vote! ----------------- If you want to see an ST version of Rules Of Engagement (Mindcraft/ Omnitrend), you better fire up your word processor or grab your telephone! Mindcraft's PR told me that if enough people write or call in, they would do an ST conversion. So, here's their address and phone number: Mindcraft, 2341 205th Street, Suite 102, Torrance, CA, 90501, (213) 320-5215. Mindcraft distributes all Omnitrend products, and is in turn distributed by Electronic Arts (who won't distribute ST software). ST Thrown Out Of The Arena! --------------------------- Spectrum Holobyte's new division, Arena Entertainment, will not carry any ST titles after all. Arena will be releasing US versions of various Mirrorsoft products, including Cadaver (Bitmap Brothers), Reach For The Skies (Rowan Software), and Red Phoenix (based on the Larry Bond novel). Cadaver already came and went, and a scenario disk was recently released by Renegade (the Bitmap Brothers' new hangout). Reach For The Skies also goes under the name of Battle Of Britain Jubilee and has not been released anywhere as of yet. With Flight Of The Intruder taking so long, Rowan's other projects were bound to be affected. No release date yet. As for Red Phoenix, it's way too early to tell. Looks like it's back to the import rack... The SSI Position: ----------------- SSI US will not be designing anything for the ST. They will simply distribute US Gold creations in the US, like the upcoming Shadow Sorcerer. Licensing Hit List: ------------------- Ocean snaps up yet another movie license. This time, it's the upcoming Hook. It's a sort of big budget remake of Peter Pan with Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook and Robin Williams is in there somewhere. The toy line is already at your friendly neighborhood Toys'R'Mine... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To sign up for GEnie service call (with modem) (800) 638-8369. Upon connection type HHH and hit <return>. Wait for the U#= prompt and type XJM11877,GEnie and hit <return>. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To sign up for CompuServe service call (with phone) (800) 848-8199. Ask for operator #198. You will be promptly sent a $15.00 free membership kit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*Net International Atari Online Magazine is a weekly publication covering the Atari and related computer community. Material published in this edition may be reprinted under the following terms only. All articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Reprint permission granted, unless otherwise noted, to registered Atari user groups and not for profit publications. Opinions present herein are those of the individual authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the staff. This publication is not affiliated with the Atari Corporation. Z*Net, Z*Net News Service, Z*Net International, Rovac, Z*Net Atari Online and Z*Net Publishing are copyright (c)1985-1991, Syndicate Publishing, Rovac Industries Incorporated, Post Office Box 59, Middlesex, New Jersey, 08846-0059, Voice: (908) 968-2024, BBS: (908) 968-8148. Registered FNET Node 593. We can be reached on GEnie at Z-NET, on CompuServe at 75300,1642, on Delphi at ZNET and on America Online at ZNET1991. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z*NET (International) Atari Online Magazine Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~