Software Reviews¢----------------¢¢Not so much 'software reviews' this¢time but more 'newsletter reviews'.¢*¢TWAUG Newsletter and Disk #1¢----------------------------¢¢ The first issue of this newsletter and¢disk from the Tyne and Wear Atari 8-bit¢User Group consists of a 24 page A5¢booklet full of reviews, instructions,¢etc. and a double sided, single density¢disk full of goodies. You also get a¢leaflet informing you of the disks¢available in the TWAUG PD library.¢ The disk contains a number of BASIC¢programs including a few games from the¢old ANTIC, a 130XE extra memory tester,¢some 1020 plotter demos (to go with the¢article in the newsletter), Tomo's¢Wavy Demo which appeared in TGR 07 and¢an atrocious digi-demo from someone who¢wishes to remain anonymous (sorry guys,¢the next one will be better!).¢ The bonus on the B-Side of the disk is¢a updated program originally published¢in ANTIC. The program is 'Talking Math¢Wizard' and is a program to test your¢Mathematics knowledge to the full (at¢some of the higher levels anyway). The¢uniqie feature of this program is that¢the answers are actually spoken. It's¢not always easy to tell what is being¢said but it adds a nice dimension to¢the program.¢ When you open the orange-covered¢newsletter the first thing you'll see¢are a few advertisements from Atari¢supporters like Excel, Boot!, FUTURA¢and BaPAUG. It was a nice touch of¢TWAUG's to give over this advertisement¢space free of charge because it'll help¢Atari users see just where they can get¢support for their machine.¢ Inside the newsletter you'll find a¢letters section (no letters as yet),¢a nice nostalgic corner (a bit like the¢Your Page in TGR), an extensive guide¢to Daisy Dot III and the things it can¢(and can't) do, instructions for the¢games on the disk, a buy/sale/contact¢section, an article on mastering the¢1020 plotter, an extremely short (much¢too short I thought) article on¢communications and the first in a¢series on machine code reprinted from¢an old Monitor magazine for the benefit¢of all.¢ The first issue of the TWAUG¢newsletter costs an extremely low¢#1.50. All future issues will cost¢#1.95 and it's #11.00 for a year's¢subscription (6 issues). This offers¢great value for money and I can't¢recommend it highly enough. It is¢plain to see that this scheme hasn't¢been thrown together in the hope of¢making a fast buck. It has been made¢by people who love their Atari FOR¢people who love their Atari. I've also¢been told that the next issue will be¢even better than the first with more¢pages and more contributors! Even more¢reason to subscribe right away!¢ Send any money to: PO Box 8, Wallsend,¢Newcastle-on-Tyne, NE28 6DQ.¢*¢FUTURA¢------¢¢ I briefly mentioned FUTURA in last¢month's editorial, but here is a more¢detailed look at what's on the disks¢brought out by the North of Scotland¢Atari User Group. All disks are double¢sided, single density.¢*¢issue 1¢-------¢¢On the A-Side of this issue you will¢find the games Let's Hop and Total¢Recall. The A-Side is mostly¢dominated by text files though and¢it's there that you see FUTURA at its¢best. The docs files in this issue¢cover a wide range of interests from¢Stuarts review of AMS5 to an interview¢with the author of DIAMOND GOS.¢ On the B-Side of the disk are the¢programs To Kill A Commodore, Bomb¢Jack (Gunpowder Charlie to all the old¢Atari User readers), Speedscript (an¢adequate word processor). How to Meet¢Cows (I thought it was funny!),¢Cyrtabor (a foreign game that is¢impossible to control) and the¢apparently liberated Table Football¢(since when was it PD?).¢¢ All in all, an excellent first issue.¢I look forward to seeing more... wait!¢What's this?¢*¢issue 2¢-------¢¢Issue 2 carries on in the same¢tradition of the previous FUTURA with¢all the text files on side A and the¢games, etc on side B.¢ On the A-Side of this issue is the¢horse racing game Triple Crown, it's¢quite good. The docs files (other than¢the usual) are a report on the Canadian¢Atari Expo 1992, A look forward to the¢next AMS, Inside Atari BASIC part 1,¢Some more about Diamond GOS (guess¢who didn't read it?) and an INFO FILE¢for you to find Atari 8-bit support.¢ On the B-Side are the programs Think +¢Work, Atari Drum Machine, Laser Demo,¢Quadromania XL, Sound Monitor¢Professional and Jump! These are all¢excellent programs, but Think + Work is¢my favourite.¢ Another nice issue, FUTURA seems to be¢going from strength to strength. I'll¢(hopefully) do a review of issues¢following 2 in a forthcoming TGR but¢at the moment I am a bit pressed for¢space.¢¢John E. (TEBSF)¢¢NB: I'd like to point out that I wrote¢these reviews BEFORE I received the¢letter (see the editorial) from¢Stuart Murray.¢
