Software Reviews¢----------------¢¢Finally it returns AND it has some new¢stuff to review, so here goes...¢*¢News-Disk issue 8 from Dean Garraghty¢¢reviewed by John E. (TEBSF)¢¢For those of you that don't know 'News-¢Disk' is an 'on-line disk newsletter'¢edited by Dean Garraghty and apparently¢distributed all over the world.¢It is similar to TGR but with more¢empathis on documentation as programs¢seem to only be included to fill the¢disk! There are ten different articles¢in the latest issue and they are...¢¢INTRO¢¢An editorial written by Dean Garraghty¢(it is quite long!), in it he speaks¢of the forthcoming AMS6 amongst other¢things. Dean seems to have the same¢problem as me - CONTRIBUTIONS, or lack¢of them as it may be. I was also glad¢to see I am not the only one to make¢a few typos, sorry Dean!¢¢ERR164¢¢An article on what to do if your disk¢ploughs up an error- 164.¢¢FOREIGN¢¢One of the best articles on the disk,¢this one is about someones experiences¢with German and Dutch Atari 8-bit¢supporters. I loved it!¢¢FUTURE¢¢This article (written by the same¢person who wrote the last one) is, in¢my opinion, the best on the disk. It¢asks the ultimate question - 'What¢will there be when the Atari 8-bit is¢finally dead?'. It is extremely well¢written and I enjoyed it immensely.¢MODEMS¢¢Something to do with modems. I didn't¢read it as I haven't got one.¢¢PROJECT1¢¢An article containing full details of¢how to build a light sensor. What's one¢of them??¢¢QUESTION¢¢Dean hopes this will become a regular¢article, with someone writing in with¢a question or query and someone else¢writing in trying to answer it. Nice¢idea and I hope it works. It's a pity¢the questions are so vague and they're¢impossible to have a go at answering¢because you don't have all the facts.¢For example someone asks why his¢AUTORUN.SYS file doesn't work, when he¢boots the disk it goes straight to the¢DOS menu. He fails to mention what his¢AUTORUN.SYS file does, is it an¢AUTORUN.SYS that runs a BASIC program?¢Or some sort of 100% machine code menu?¢What DOS does he use? Is he booting¢with or without BASIC? And so on, if¢the person who asked the question had¢included these points then I'm sure¢someone would have been able to tell¢him where he is going wrong.¢¢EBURN¢¢A review of CSS's (American company)¢Super E-burner (an EPROM burner).¢¢AUTORUN¢¢A strange article all about DOS menus¢and how great they are.¢*¢ADVERTS¢¢Take a guess!¢¢There is also a game on the disk¢written in ACTION called 'Trial by¢Fire'. I can't see you playing this¢game twice, it is pretty bad.¢Also included is a 1020 screen dump¢program but I haven't tried it as I¢don't own a 1020 plotter!¢¢Overall I enjoyed the latest issue of¢the News-Disk, especially the two¢articles written exclusively for this¢issue and I can recommend you to buy¢it! The cost of a subscription is #4¢for 4 issues and at that price you¢really can't go wrong. Look in TGR 05¢for Dean Garraghty's address.¢*¢ TITLE : SPEED FOX¢ PUBLISHER : TIGER DEVELOPMENTS¢ PLAYERS : 1¢ PRICE : 2.99 (Disk only)¢¢reviewed by Richard Gore¢¢During the past year a new company¢called Tiger Developments has quietly¢been building a range of NEW 8-bit¢software. The software ranges from¢programming utilities to some pretty impressive arcade games.¢ One of their latest games is Speed Fox¢programmed independently by an¢enthusiast. The story line is based¢around a futuristic parallel universe.¢In this case I feel the story line¢although well written is not of much¢use, as the details you need for¢playing the game are given fully half¢way through the instructions. All you¢have to do is guide your ship over the¢on-screen 'cells' whilst avoiding the¢incoming enemy fire. Easier said than¢done!¢ Upon booting you are greeted with a¢top quality intro screen containing 3D¢effect text and the usual credits and¢copyright notice in scrolling form. You¢have access to the pretty impressive¢high score table as well as being able¢to select a starting level. After¢pressing Start to begin the screen¢changes to a rather drab display of¢'cells', small, oval shapes. You must¢fly over each one of these to finish¢the level. All the time there are some¢nasties patrolling the edges of the¢screens shooting at you. There are the¢usual 'power ups' available that make¢you invincible for a short while etc¢etc. There are touches of real class¢here as effects used to put these¢'power-ups' into action are really¢good. However the most impressive¢feature is the speed at which your ship¢moves, this makes the game very¢challenging. There is a large variety¢of enemies, some of which shoot¢Atari/Fuji symbols at you!¢ With a little more effort in the¢graphics department of the actual¢gameplay this could have been a very¢good game, as it stands it is not bad¢and worth a try especially if bought in¢conjuction with BOING 2 for the bargain¢price of 4.99 on disk only. I wonder is¢there a demand for tape versions,¢either standard or Rambit Turbo load?¢*¢ TITLE : BOING 2¢ PUBLISHER : TIGER DEVELOPMENTS¢ PLAYERS : 1¢ PRICE : 2.99 (Disk only)¢¢reviewed by Richard Gore¢¢Another very welcome new release from¢Tiger Developments for our vastly under¢supported machines. This one is a¢horizontally scrolling puzzle type¢arcade game similar to Gremlin¢Graphics' TrailBlazer (yes G.G. did¢release some games for the XL/XE's).¢ Berty Ball has angered the Ball Queen¢and has been sent into exile in a¢highly polluted world. The main effects¢of the pollution have been to make the¢sea acidic (actually even clean sea¢[and rain water] are acidic due to the¢dissolved traces of carbon dioxide,¢this is the reason for all those lime¢stone caverns in Derbyshire!). Well¢this sea is very acidic (pH<1?) and¢Berty must avoid it at all costs.¢ The world is made up of coloured¢squares and along with Berty, is viewed¢from above. Berty bounces along (some¢good graphics effects are used here)¢moving horizontally (the scrolling is¢smooth), he can be moved from side to¢side and propelled forward (or¢backwards slightly) by an appropriate¢push on the joystick [in port 1]. This¢is very useful as you also have to¢dodge or shoot (press Fire, note: you¢only have a limited supply of ammo) the¢on-coming nasties. Some of the squares¢Berty might land on have special¢features such as extra ammo, Boost and¢faster bullets. I'll leave you to find¢these out for yourselves (the cowards¢way of saying I'm not sure what they¢are myself!). However once you realise¢what you are looking for these bonus¢squares become much more obvious¢ Level A is fairly easy but the game¢rapidly becomes much more challenging¢and varied with the onset of level B.¢ Overall the graphics are colourful¢and bright with a couple of really good¢special effects, notably the bouncing¢ball and the sea. The sound is nothing¢special but the game has a certain¢addictive quality especially as you¢progress to the higher more difficult¢levels. At 2.99 it is a good buy,¢coupled with Speed FOX for 4.99 it is¢an absolute bargain. It can be bought¢direct from Tiger Developments and is¢again available on disk only, go on¢give them your support.¢
