home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
ftp.whtech.com
/
ftp.whtech.com.tar
/
ftp.whtech.com
/
articles
/
Sughrue
/
newage09.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
2006-10-19
|
8KB
|
218 lines
.IF DSK3.C3
.CE 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
^W-AGE/99 * NEW-AGE/
^99 *NEW-AGE/99* N
^EW-AGE/99 * NEW-AGE
^/99 *NEW-AGE/99*
^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^*by JACK SUGHRUE, Box
459, East Douglas, MA 01516*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^#9
COMPRODINE, Part One
Okay, I've been hearing about
JIFFY CARD and ARTIST PRINT SHOP and
JIFFY FLYER and GIANT ARTIST POSTERS
for some time now, but I just never
got around to demoing the materials
for NEW-AGE/99 reviews. Not because
I'm unfamiliar with the work of
COMPRODINE owner Rodger Merritt. On
the contrary, I own and use and
thoroughly enjoy PICTURE IT and PRINT
IT. They are two superb
graphics/text packages that most
TIers would not want to be without
once they got using them regularly
(particularly the handy and very
professional disk catalog printer
program).
Sister Pat Taylor of Dubuque,
Iowa, has been the leading fan of
COMPRODINE materials in the world the
past few years. When I was in for
repair last year following an
accident, Sr.^Pat and her contingent
of TIing nuns at the hospital where
she lives inundated me with unique
and colorful "get well" cards and
banners and signs. They also sent me
a nice gift of a package of
delightful greeting cards for all
occasions. Everything was made on the
TI with COMPRODINE software.
Now when Sr.^Pat finds something
useful, user friendly, and fun, it
gets used and used and used. Her use
of COMPRODINE goodies is the best
review there is. But I've been lax
inmyreviewer duties.
So it was with great pleasure
when Rodger Merritt called me from
his home in California to see if I'd
be interested in demoing some
COMPRODINE software at the Boston
Fayuh.
"YES! YES! YES!" I screamed
before he changed his mind.
I had never met Rodger, so he
didn't know what kind of TI maniac he
entrusted his masterpieces with.
Phil Townsend of the Kawartha group
in Canada knew I'd be at the Boston
shindig and recommended me. (It's
obvious that Phil, a fellow
elementary teacher, had never met me,
either.) Anyway, Rodger ran up a
two-hour phone bill explaining each
of the pieces of software.
I could hardly contain myself
waiting for the mail the next few
days.
Then... THE DAY! When I came
home from work, my wife informed me
thatthepackage had arrived from
COMPRODINE. She did require my
attendance at the dinner table under
penalties of Doom, Death, and
Destruction (though not necessarily
in that order). So I complied with
She Who Must Be Obeyed and waited
impatiently to open the treasures
until after cleanup.
I'm not sure my little
fifth-graders didn't suffer much the
next day because of that Merritt
fiend.
I took my package to my Computer
Room, opened it, and played with the
new toys - er, tools, I mean - until
almost 4 AM. As I have to get up at
5 to go to work, I didn't get much of
a beauty rest. (I was a
realbeautyat work next day, I can
tell you.), but did not learn a
lesson. I was at it again when I got
home; once again to the wee hours
(this time 2 AM). But what fun!
Fortunately, I already owned
PRINT IT and PICTURE IT and all of
the Great Lakes Software in the
package also distributed by
COMPRODINE: JOYPAINT 99, JOYPAINT
PAL, CLIP ART, EXTENDED BUSINESS
GRAPHS, BANNERS 99, and the superb
CERTIFICATE 99 with its companions).
Otherwise, I'd still be at it.
Because I'd like to spend next
month's "Part Two" article entirely
on the graphics' programs for which
COMPRODINE is justifiably famous
(ARTIST PRINT SHOP, JIFFY CARD and
FLYER [including color versions],
FORM SHOP, GIANT ARTIST POSTERS, and
all the various companions), I'm
going to use the rest of this article
to examine a couple of COMPRODINE's
other programs: LIVING TOMB and WAR
ZONE.
These are games by a decidedly
fiendish 14-year-old lad, Quinton
Tormanen. Because both have
permanent scoring systems built in
(which I ), I'd suggest making
backup copies and store the
originals. Actually, I'd suggest you
do that with all COMPRODINE
materials, as they are unprotected.
These fast auto-load assembly
games are so good, so professional,
that I have a hard time picturing
anyone so young devising them.
WAR ZONE ($10), a futuristic
arcade game, is almost as fascinating
for the instantaneous status and
scoring boxes along the right side of
the screen as the game itself. Not
quite. But they are well designed
and ingenious, if you have time to
view them. ("P" gives you pause when
you need it.) Mostly, your time will
be taken up trying to get your M15
through 6 levels (each a 2500-mile
flight over rough terrain - rough,
because you are being attacked in 5
different ways by 5 different enemy
vehicles) to the enemy bases which
must be destroyed. This is no easy
task. However, you will be rewarded
with an extra craft added to your
one-at-a-time fleet for every 1000
miles you survive (2 levels). There
are color and attack pattern changes
as you move over new terrain. The
enemy gets more vicious the better
(farther) you get.
Though you have unlimited
firepower (including bombs for the
land vehicles), your greatest asset
is maneuverability. It's one of
those frantic type games that raise
havoc with your blood pressure.
LIVING TOMBS ($15), a graphic
adventure, is quite different. It's
a "Tunnels of Doom" type of game with
lots of excellent differences. (If
you don't like TOD, just wait a
second. LIVING TOMB has some
interesting features, including an
ability to view all kinds of stats
and make all kinds of smart decisions
BEFORE you make a fool of yourself by
getting killed.) The multi-level
tomb you travel through is a series
of very complex 3-dimensional mazes.
This 3D aspect is neat. Unless you
make a map, you will get lost. I
even had to drop some items along the
way (like Hansel) to make sure I
could find my way back to the trap
doors to get to different levels. LT
is rich with menued features,
windows, and treasures, weapons, and
monsters galore. You start with
nothing but can gather up the right
equipment left by previous brave but
dead adventurers. And then only if
you slay some demonic monsters to get
them.
What are you doing in this tomb?
Well, an evil Alchemist from days of
yore was buried here. It is his
tomb. A gem of suspected power was
buried here, too. A curse was put
upon this land of Ryder, and, though
many have tried to enter the tomb and
remove the evil gem to stop the
curse, all have failed. Your
mission, succeed.
The windowing menus, alone, are
worth the price of this
user-friendly, addictive, satisfying
adventure. LIVING TOMBS: an
excellent investment in intellectual
and visceral fun. I hope Quinton
continues to program for the TI.
COMPRODINE (which, by the way,
stands for COMputer PROgrammers'
DIsktribution NEtwork) is at 1949
Evergreen Ave., Fullerton, CA 32635.
Ask for a catalog. Shipping and
handling is $1.50 for one item,
$3.00 for two or more.
[If you use NEW-AGE/99 please put
me on your exchange list.]
ÇçǼçïÉòƒ⌐╒╒╒╒╒╒╒╒╒╒Çïáááááááááááááááááááááá