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     ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MICROPENDIUM
     P.O. Box 1343  Round Rock TX 78680
     Phone [phone]
     Internet [e-mail]

     MICROREVIEWS FOR APRIL 1994 MICROPENDIUM
     by Charles Good
     -----------------
     GAME WRITERS TOOLKIT by Mark Wills of Abbots Software

          Last month I described software that may cause some of you to
     dust off a long unused bit of TI hardware, the cassette cable.  This
     month I am reviewing software that uses another little used piece of
     TI hardware, the Mini Memory cartridge.   Many of us have one of these
     cartridges gathering dust since it was purchased in 1983 or 1984.
     You may be suprised to learn that your Mini Memory's battery may still
     work.  I have two Mini Memory cartridges, both with working 1983
     batteries.

          Game Writers Toolkit is assembly software that you load into the
     Mini Memory, either from disk using the Load and Run option or from
     cassette tape using Easy Bug's Load option.  Once loaded you can put
     your master disk or cassette tape away because the software stays in
     the Mini Memory's battery backed memory.  The software provides
     numerous functions that can be CALL LINKed into any TI BASIC program.
     That's right, I said "TI BASIC".  The Toolkit adds many of the
     important screen display capabilities of TI Extended Basic to the TI
     BASIC environment and allows you to do some things that are not
     normally possible in either of these BASIC versions.

          Because many of these enhanced TI BASIC capabilities relate to
     sprites, the product is called a "Game Writers" Toolkit because
     sprites are most often found in games.  However many of the Toolkit's
     features will find uses in non-game TI BASIC software.  You can play
     with 32 sprites at a time.  Extended Basic only allows 28 sprites to
     be simultaneously displayed at one time.  Anything that can be done
     with sprites in XB can also be done in TI BASIC with the Toolkit.

          The demo programs that come with the Toolkit are really
     incredible!  Over the last decade I have seen many graphic display
     demo programs designed to run on our computers, so I have a pretty
     good idea of what the old 99/4A is supposed to be capable of
     graphically.  I was astounded by the Toolkit graphic demos. I have
     rarely before seen on our computer screen objects change color and
     shape so rapidly.  I had no idea this sort of blinding graphic speed
     was possible from a BASIC environment on the 99/4A.  And the code for
     all of this is in easily understandable single line TI BASIC
     statements.

          In addition to sprites, here are some of the other things you can
     do with the Toolkit using the appropriate CALL LINKs.  You can
     define a portion of the screen as a window and then scroll everything
     in the wondow up/down/left/right very rapidly independent of the rest
     of the screen.   You can increment the color set number by one in all
     the 16 color sets sumultaneously, defining how many times you want to
     increment the color set and how long a delay between color set
     changes, using any number between 1 and 65535!   This produces
     absolutely blinding kaleidoscope effects.  Color sets can be made to
     change so rapidly that either the scan rate or the phospors on the
     inside of my Commodore 1702 monitor's screen can't always keep up,
     resulting in whiteish flikering screen objects that never stay one
     color long enough to actually show that color.

          You can capture part of the screen (or the whole screen) and
     store it in the Mini Memory.  Later you can retrieve this image and
     display it anywhere on the screen, not just where it was originally
     positioned.  You can display the retrieved image normally or distort
     the image in various ways.  A true lower case character set is
     available as is a larger than normal set of digits and upper case
     letters.   XB's POS statement is emulated.  So is DISPLAY AT, but the
     Toolkit's version of this is better because you can display a string
     of up to 255 characters.  You can draw any rectangular shape
     positioned anywhere on the screen outlined by any ASCII character.
     You can play chimes and you can exit to the title screen from a
     running program. (BYE normally only works from command mode.)

          I hope this product isn't too late on the market to be
     significant.  A lot of effort obviously went into developing the
     Toolkit and the author deserves some recognition in the form of
     purchases.  Unfortunately, most routine user programming these days is
     in XB and many 99/4A owners who acquired their systems after 1983 do
     no have a Mini Memory.  The Game Writers Toolkit is commercial
     software distributed by Mike Goddard Computer Support, "Sarnia",
     Cemetary Road, Rhos, Wrexham, Clwyd LL14-2BY, United Kingdom.   It
     costs $10 (cash, or international money order) which includes airmail
     delivery.
          --------------------------
          BRUKINGOLF by Brukin Software

          I have seen several public domain extended basic "aim and shoot"
     golf games for the TI.  With these games you see a generic golf course
     on the screen along with the location of your golf ball.  You then
     point golf club in the desired direction, hit the ball, and hope for
     the best.  Brukingolf is much more than just "aim and shoot".  Many
     options are available and you play golf holes mapped from actual golf
     courses.  One to four players can play. You need a SSSD disk system, a
     joystick, and extended basic.

          At the beginning of each player's turn you see a map of the
     course along with the location of the player's ball.  Using the
     joystick you aim your shot for a particular point on the course by
     moving a cursor to that point.  If your aim point is off the screen,
     the screen scrolls up/down and left/right to accommodate you.  Nine
     holes the course map are in memory at one time for viewing and aiming.
     You play the front nine and then load the back nine for additional
     play.  Screen graphics are sort of blocky, but everything is
     proportioned properly on the maps and it is easy to figure out what
     all the screen objects mean.  When aiming you have to realize that the
     ball may not land at your aim point.  First of all you are likely to
     hook or slice on long shots.  Also the wind, whose direction and
     approximate strength are shown, will affect where the ball lands.  You
     also have to take into consideration trees.  Balls may go over or
     (rarely) through trees (depending on tree size, club used, and
     distance from tree), or hit a tree and come to rest under the tree.
     Water hazards, roughs, and sand traps also exist, each with specal
     characteristics that may limit your next shot in some way.  These all
     have to be considered whem aiming shots.

          Once a shot is aimed you select a club.  There are 16 choices of
     woods, irons, and wedges.   Your choice is mainly determined by how
     far and high you want to hit the ball.  At various times you have the
     option to take a "chip" shot instead of a regular shot.  With long
     puts you have the option of aiming directly for the hole and risking
     greatly overshooting the hole, or aiming to be just near the hole for
     an easy second putt.  If you want to pretend to be a super talented
     golfer you can optionally give yourself enhanced capabilities in any
     or all of these areas; power, putting, chipping, and accuracy.  These
     enhanced capabilities can also be used to balance play between
     individuals of different skill levels.

          My only complaint about game play is that you have to keep
     turning the Alpha Lock on and off.  You need it off to aim the ball
     with the joystick, but you need it on to properly select a golf club
     since club designations use upper case letters.

          Brukingolf is shareware.  The regular registration fee is $5.  If
     you send Brukin $10 they will send you by return mail the latest
     version of the game and notify you of future updates.  Multiple
     copyright dates on Brukingolf and on Widget (described below) suggest
     that these games have in fact been upgraded several times in the past.
     Send your registration to Brukin Software, 7919 Mitchell Farm Lane,
     Cincinnati OH 45242.  If you just want to try the game before
     registering, I will send you both Brukingolf and Wiget on one SSSD
     disk if you send me $1.  This pays for the disk, postage, mailer, and
     my Florida vacation fund.  A sample 18 hole course is included on the
     Brukingolf disk.  If you are a registered owner you can purchase
     directly from Brukin maps of additional golf courses that can be
     loaded into Brukingolf.  These include Augusta, Merion, Oakmont, and
     "The Toughest 18 Holes in Golf".  You get all four of these for $8.
          ------------------------
          WIDGET by Brukin software

          This is an all text free market business simulation game written
     in TI Basic.  It resembles a somewhat similar public domain game for
     the TI called Hamurabi.  In Widget from 2 to 6 players act as
     corporate executives, competing against each other in an open market
     simulation purchasing the same raw materials and trying to sell the
     same products.

          The computer starts the game by giving each player the same
     amount of starting capital and listing quantities of raw materials
     available for sale.  Each player in each game cycle first writes on a
     paper secret bid prices for raw materials.  These are then
     simultaneously revealed and entered into the computer.  The computer
     adjusts the price of the available raw materials based on the bids,
     and sales are made only to those who bid above the computer's
     calculated minimum price.  Each player them assembles the materials
     into products and secretly writes down an offer to sell these products
     at a specified price and quantity.  These offers are simultaneously
     revealed by all players and entered into the computer.  The computer
     then decides on a maximim price it will pay and all offers at or under
     this price are accepted.  The game lasts for 5 years (60 cycles) and
     the object is to accumulate the most money.

          A number of adjustments to game speed and parameters are
     possible.  These are spelled out in detail in the on disk game
     documentation.  You can specify the amount of time (in minutes)
     allowed for each player to decide bids for raw materials and products.
     The minimum amount of product and and raw material that results in
     stable prices can also be altered prior to the game.

          If you enjoy the world of business and markets then you may like
     this game.  It is shareware, and the requested registration fee is $5.
     If you are interested in trying before buying I will send it to you
     for $1 along with Brukingolf, as detailed above.
          -----------------------
          I look forward to recieving your software for reviewing in this
     column.  I especially look forward to meeting many of you personally
     Friday evening May 13 and all day May 14 at the all TI/Geneve Lima MUG
     conference.   My address is P.O. Box 647, Venedocia OH 45894.  You may
     send internet e-mail to me at [e-mail] and you
     can phone me most evenings at 419-667-3131.