ftp.whtech.com/ftp.whtech.com.tar/ftp.whtech.com/articles/archives/reviews.exe/11MIC96.TXT

Text File | 2006-10-19 | 17KB | 315 lines

Microreviews for November 1996 Micropendium
by Charles Good
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SPEED READING by Bruce Harrison

This excellent assembly language software is not only good for
improving your reading speed, it is also useful for proofreading
articles you have written on your TI and it can be used as a text
file reader.  It will display on screen text files of unlimited size.

When you boot the program either as XB DSK1.LOAD or from EA5 you
see a title screen and then asked for the path of a DV80 file.  This
prompt will support long path names needed by hard drive users. Next
you are asked for the reading speed, between 115 and 1028 words per
minute.  Next you are asked for the window size.  The answer, a
number between 3 and 20, determines the number of text lines displayed
simultaneously on the monitor.  You are given the option of a 20
30 or 40 column display.  The lettering in all these displays is
the same size no matter what text width you specify, corresponding
to what you normally see in the TI's 40 column text mode.  Finally
you asked for a "bookmark".  This is the record number of the DV80
file where you wish viewing to begin and is useful if you viewed
part of the text file in an earlier Speed Reading session  and wish
to continue where you left off.  You can ignore the bookmark prompt
by just pressing <enter>.  After answering all these prompts you
press <enter> to begin speed reading.

The software then reads in a big chunk of text from the designated
text file and begins displaying it on screen.  You see the number
of screen lines designated in your "window" entry  as wide as your
"column" size entry. The text has word wrap.  After a short interval,
giving you time to read the entire initial text window, the text
starts scrolling up the screen with new material appearing at the
bottom of your defined window and old text disappearing out the top.
The speed of scrolling is determined by your "words per minute"
setting.  You can change this speed on the fly, while viewing
scrolling text, by pressing the F(aster) or S(lower) key.  It is
really fun to watch the effect of such an on the fly speed change.
Your current words per minute speed is indicated at the bottom of
the screen.  You can pause the scrolling at any time with the space
bar.  During a pause is a good time to change text scrolling speed.
Press <space> again to resume scrolling.

You can exit in the middle of a file by pressing "Q".  The program
then displays your "bookmark", a number one greater than the last
record of the file that you read.  When you start Speed Reader again
you can input this bookmark number and start reading your text file
exactly where you left off.

If you can't remember the instructions or program features just load
the on disk "TESTFILE" into the program and use it to practice your
speed reading.  TESTFILE is actually the program doc file.  Bruce
provides an external program to print these docs if you want a hard
copy.

Speed Reading is one of the only 99/4A programs that can display
very large DV80 files.  It sucks a big chunk of the file into memory,
displays the file, sucks more into memory, etc. indefinately.  Speed
Reader's text buffer is larger than that of any 40 column version
of TI writer.  Bruce Harrison says he developed Speed Reader in part
so he could display on screen the large (over 200 sector) Sherlock
Holmes book files I have made available to the TI community.

Bruce has decided to get rich quick with this software.  Unlike a
lot of his offerings, it is commercial rather than public domain.
I can't send it to you.  To get your copy on a SSSD disk you need
to send $5 directly to Bruce.  This includes the cost of shipping
and media.
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P-GRAM RELOADER v1.0 by Tony Kneer

This will reload the entire contents of your P-Gram+ card all in
one smooth continuous operation.  All four gram banks and the DSR
are loaded in this process.  If you normally keep the same software
in your P-Gram then you will like P-Gram Reloader.  You can experiment
with your P-Gram, temporarily loading in some different software.
Later you can restore your original P-Gram software suite easily
with P-Gram Reloader.  This is particularly useful if you want to
experiment with a module that uses module RAM at >6000.  Doing this
will erase the version of extended basic that almost everyone keeps
in bank one of their P-Gram+.  You can then quickly use P-Gram
Reloader to restore your P-Gram's normal extended basic.  P-Gram
Reloader is also useful if you think your P-Gram's memory has been
corrupted.

P-Gram Reloader will work from floppy, ramdisk, or HFDC controlled
hard drive.  You have to put all your P-Gram files on the same floppy,
ramdisk, or hard drive directory  Working from floppy probably
requires a DSDD formatted disk to hold all the P-Gram files.  This
means you need a double density (not an official TI) disk controller.
If you have a TI controller you can keep all your P-Gram files on
a ramdisk.

Setting up your P-Gram files for use by Reloader is a bit tricky,
but you will only have to do this once.  You copy the P-Gram DSR
and all your gram files to the working disk or directory.  You then
rename most of the gram files, following the instructions in
Reloader's documentation.  Finally you have to use a sector editor
to change the header of one of the gram files.

P-Gram Reloader runs from EA3 or TI BASIC.  TI BASIC use requires
a CorComp or Myarc floppy disk controller.  Just run the software
and your P-Gram will be reloaded, overwriting everything already
in the P-Gram's memory.

This is software that every P-Gram+ owner should have.  It is not
meant for the regular, non plus, P-Grams that only have one bank
of gram memory and it is not for Gram Krackers, Gramulators, or other
gram devices.  P-Gram Reloader is public domain.  Send me $1 and
I will mail it to you on a SSSD disk.
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ASSEMBLY POKER by Marcel's software

Marcel Barbeau is Bruce Harrison's son.  Sales of this game augment
Marcel's allowance.  The software was actually written by Bruce
Harrison.  It boots from extended basic or EA5.

This is one of the best poker games I have seen on the TI.  There
is some skill and mystery involved in this game for one player against
the computer.  You don't know what your computer opponent's hand
looks like until the hand of poker is over, and if you fold you never
find out.

The rules of 5 card draw poker game play are literally "according
to Hoyle".  This is a one player game.  You play against the computer,
whose cards you don't see until the end of the hand.  Your cards
are displayed at the bottom of the screen in sorted order with a
printed statement telling you about your hand ("Ace high", or "pair
of 10's").

You and the computer each start the game with a $200 pool of money.
Each hand starts with you and the computer putting a $4 ante into
the pot.  You each get the opportunity to bet and "see" each other's
bets.  At this stage the computer player may bluff on a garbage hand,
since this hand can be improved later by drawing replacement cards.

When replacement cards are offered, if the computer player takes
fewer than three cards this means that it has a good hand.  If it
takes no replacements this means it has at least a straight.  The
number of replacement cards taken by the computer player is really
the only clue the human player has concerning the contents of the
computer's hand.  After replacement cards an additional round of
betting occurs.  This time the computer player will not bet highly
on a bad hand and may fold.

The human and computer player start a session with $200 each.  The
game ends when either player has less than the $4 ante for a new
hand.  However you can end the game early by having the human player
answer "N" to the "Another hand?" prompt.  Thus, Assembly Poker makes
an excellent short TI game.  If you have a few minutes to kill just
slip the SSSD disk into DSK1.  The software boots quickly and you
can then play a few quick hands of poker.

The game is fun with realistic play action, and the graphics are
well done.  There is no music or speech, but good poker players like
it quiet so they can concentrate on their game.  Assembly Poker is
commercial.  To get it send $5 to Marcel Barbeau.  This includes
the cost of shipping and handling.
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AMS VIDEO TITLER by Bruce Harrison

I have previously reviewed Video Titler, software designed to create
neat video tape title sequences by artfully changing between in memory
full screen graphics.  The original let you simultaneously load two
full screen graphics into memory.  This version lets you load in
up to 41 screens, storing them in the AMS card's memory.

You can load TI Artist "_P" pictures with or without their "_C" color
file and/or you can load color pictures created with Harrison's
Drawing Program.  You load these one at a time, specifying the path
and file name for each when prompted.  Without an AMS card you can
fit only two of these graphics into memory,  which can make using
Titler quite cumbersom.  With the common 256K AMS card you can load
20 graphics.  The 128K AMS card will let you load 9 graphics and
if you have upgraded to a 512K AMS card you can load up a whopping
41 frames.  Once this is done you just press a key to zip from one
graphic to the next in sequence.  At any time you can pause the VCR
and load more pictures, replacing your choice of those already in
memory or filling as yet unused memory.  Such changing pictures in
memory in the middle of a recording session should not be necessary
with the AMS version of Titler.  It is almost always required if
you use the non AMS version limited to only two in memory graphics.

There are a zillion different neat ways of wiping the screen from
one graphic to the next; slow or fast, top to bottom or bottom to
top, corner to corner, edges to center or center to edges, etc.
Each of these methods for paging through the graphics in memory is
controlled by a single keypress.

If you don't want to make video tape titles you can just use AMS
TITLER to page through libraries of TI Artist pictures.  This would
result in a really neat business or user group video presentation.

The software has an xb loader but is really an EA5 program that
resides in low memory.  It uses high memory to store graphics.  The
AMS card can be set up to bank 4K blocks of high memory.  Each graphic
uses three of these 4K memory banks.  Video Titler displays in bit
map mode, dumping the contents of the desired graphic into VDP ram.

AMS card owners have been asking for more useful AMS capable software.
Here it is!  Bruce Harrison tells me that anybody with enough money
to buy an AMS card should be willing to pay a little for AMS capable
software.  AMS VIDEO TITLER is not public domain.  You can buy your
copy from Bruce on a DSSD disk for $10.  This includes shipping,
handling, 7 samples of on disk graphics to load up, and over the
phone product support.
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CASINO (KLONDIKE) SOLITAIRE by Ken Gilliland and Notung Software

This can be played from extended basic all by itself right off the
disk, or it can be added as a module to Notung's TI Casino suite.
The game, labled Klondike Solitaire when played as part of TI Casino,
differs little from your basic one deck one player generic solitaire.
 Klondike Solitaire is almost identical to the solitaire that comes
bundled with Windows 3.1 played on an IBM compatible,  except that
in Klondike Solitaire there if some wagering.  My wife sometimes
spends hours playing the Windows version of solitaire on her IBM.
It is one of the ways she relaxes after a hard day at work and dealing
with the spouse and kids.  Solitaire is a very enjoyable, slow, easy
way to kill some time.  There is some skill  involved and a single
game doesn't take very long.  You can play just one quick game or
spend several hours trying to build up your winnings.

You start off by buying a deck of cards.  There are cheap, medium,
and expensive decks.  The more you pay for your deck the greater
are your potential winnings.  If you are playing the stand alone
game, without the TI Casino interface, you are given your choice
of either $500, $1000, or $5000 at the beginning of the game.  When
the game ends because you run out of money or because you get tired
of playing then you go back to extended basic command mode and all
your money disappears.  If you are using the TI Casino interface
you can save your winnings in an account for use in a later game,
or you can literally write yourself a check for any surplus funds
you have accumulated.

The computer starts each game by shuffling the deck and dealing some
cards out into card stacks.  The remaining undelt cards make up the
"deck" from which you may draw one card at a time as needed.  The
top card in each card stack is exposed.  You can arrange cards in
these stacks in decreasing numerical order using alternating colors.
The object of the game is to build four suit stacks in numerical
order starting with ace (on the bottom of each suit stack) and ending
with king.  These suit stacks are in separate piles, different piles
than the  card stacks.  You may move any exposed card from the card
stacks or the most recently exposed card from the deck to any of
the four suit stacks if that card is the next in the numerical order
suit pile.  You are allowed to go through the "deck" a maximum of
three times per game.  The game ends when you have completed all
four suit stacks or when you can't add any more cards to the suit
stacks.  Your winnings are computed based on the number of cards
in your suit stacks, $x per card.  The money awarded per card depends
on how much you paid for your deck at the beginning of the game.
You win some money in almost all of the games you play.  The trick
is to win back more than you initially paid for the deck.  When a
game ends you can keep your money and exit Solitaire or shuffle the
deck again and play another game.

As in all the TI Casino games a mouse is required.  You move the
cursor over a card you want to move and press the fire button.  Use
the joystick handle to drag the card where you want it and press
the fire button to drop the card.  The computer won't let you cheat.
You can't drop a card on a pile where it isn't supposed to go.  You
also use the joystick to uncover cards in the "deck" by placing the
cursor on the deck and pressing the fire button to display the next
card.  Joystick use in Klondike Solitaire is almost identical to
mouse use in Windows 3.1 solitaire.

If Solitaire is your favorate game than it is best played directly
from the disk without incorperating it into TI Casino.  The game
boots much faster when played outside of the TI Casino environment.

Configuring Klondike Solitaire into TI Casino, a separate product
also by Ken Gilliland, is a bit tricky.  You have to follow closely
the instructions in the Solitaire documentation.  If you already
have the original TI Casino and the extra cost extra features TI
Casino Supplement, then adding Klondike Solitaire will almost
completely fill a DSSD disk.  In fact, you have to remove all the
joke files except one in order to fit everything onto a DSSD disk.
TI Casino plus the Supplement plus Klondike Solitaire is not hard
drive friendly.  It is difficult to configure all the files for long
path names.

When you add Klondike Solitaire to TI Casino you completely
reconfigure the upstairs of the casino, adding rooms for additional
casino games.  These additional, as yet unreleased, casino games
include five card studd, wheel of fortune (different from roulette),
horse racing, single deck black jack, and paigow poker.  When you
click on any of these game rooms you are told that the game isn't
installed and are returned to the upstairs casino lobby.  I look
foreward to these additional games and will probably buy them all,
because the TI Casino suite is my personal favorite 99/4A and Geneve
entertainment software.  I suspect that adding any more games to
the existing TI Casino suite will require either a DSDD compatible
disk controller card, a large ramdisk, or a convenient software method
of running the entire package from two drives.

Klondike Solitaire is commercial and sells for $7 plus postage.
It is available from Notung Software, Ramcharged Computers, and other
TI dealers.  These dealers also sell other parts of the TI Casino
seriess.
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ACCESS:

Harrison Software, and Marcel's Software (Speed Reading, Assembly
Poker, AMS Video Titler): 5705 40th Place, Hyattsville MD 20781.
Phone [phone]

Notung Software (Klondike Solitaire and other games in the TI Casino
suite): 7647 McGroarty St., Tujunga CA 91042

Charles Good (source for Pgram Loader): P.O. Box 647, Venedocia OH
45894. Phone [phone].  Preferred email [e-mail] (Other
previously published email addresses are still valid until the end
of 1996).