¢SOFTWARE SCENE (PART 2)¢¢¢DEMO MAKER¢Supplier: DGS¢Price: 3.99 pounds¢¢Reviewed by Kevin Cooke¢¢ How many times have you wanted to write a demo like those you see so often? If you're like me, the answer is probably "dozens of times". So, it was with great interest that I bought DEMO MAKER - a program which claimed to allow the creation of demos.¢¢ The first thing I decided to do before trying out Demo Maker was to read the instruction manual. I discovered that there was already a demo on the disk as an example of what can be done, so the obvious thing was to take a look at it. This demo impressed enough to motivate me into having a go at creating my own.¢¢ The first thing you have to do is copy certain files from the master disk to a formatted disk. These files will vary according to whether you want your demo to run under Turbo BASIC or Atari BASIC.¢¢ Once this is done, you need to design a picture to use with your demo. A program called EDIT 7 is supplied on the master disk. It is basically a simple art program that allows you to create backround pictures, providing you are adept with a joystick. A Touch Tablet option would have been helpful.¢¢ EDIT 7 allows the use of four colours from the palette of 256. However, there is no on-screen display for the selected colours. The only way to change a colour is to type in a number between 0 and 255. Luckly, there is a small table in the instruction manual (which incidentally is very good) to provide you with a rough guide as to what colour each number will give you.¢¢ When your picture is completed, you simply save it to your blank disk. You can then create your text with the second program supplied. All you have to do is type in your text and when you have finished it is turned into the correct data. One slight problem here is that us speedy typists cannot type at full speed, otherwise the program tends to miss out letters. This is due to the data that is created after each keypress. Your scroll can include any capital letters, the numbers 0-9 and certain punctuation.¢¢ When you've created your text, it is saved to the disk in two files and you are ready to modify the standard demo program. This doesn't really require any programming knowledge, as the manual takes you through it step by step in plenty of detail. At the mininum, all that is required is to change three filenames to those you have used for your picture/scrolling message. You can however change certain small parts of the program (all of which are explained in the manual) to create larger letters, different coloured text, to slow down/speed up the scroll, etc. You can also load in one of two PD music files supplied to liven up your demo. These music files fit neatly into the program.¢¢ If you are not a competent programmer, DO NOT think that you can't do all of this. You can! It really is easy; especially with the aid of the manual.¢¢ The most exciting part of Demo Maker is when you save the BASIC program back to disk and try it out for the first time! The results can be impressive; even at your first attempt. In standard Atari BASIC, the demos can take a while to get started, but in Turbo BASIC they go fast.¢¢ So, the program does create some impressive results but are there any drawbacks? Well, yes, a few.¢¢ It would be helpful to be able to load in a picture drawn with another art program. Demo Maker requires the screens to be in Graphics 7 format so it isn't compatible with many art programs. A standard Koala picture just comes up as rubbish.¢¢ Edit 7 is OK for producing drawings but I still find it hard to draw with a joystick.¢¢ In the demos that you create you HAVE to have the scroll going along the bottom of the screen. It would be nice to decide where on the screen you wanted it.....otherwise your demos could start to look similar.¢¢ One final problem is with the music. If you write your demo to run in Turbo BASIC, the music goes far too fast and just sounds stupid. Also, when you add the music it occasionally stops the program from working. I kept getting an error when I tried to add the 'Popcorn' music file to my demo. Instead, I had to settle for the other file supplied. I can find no cause for this happening.¢¢ If you're not convinced about Demo Maker, have a look at the demo I've created (DEMO.BAS on this disk). The problems I mentioned above are really just minor grumbles about a very good program. If you are into demos and want to create your own, I can only recommend that you buy Demo Maker now!¢
