¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ Editor's Message¢ by Alan Sharkis¢¢ I put this issue together in a hurry.¢ You will see the evidence of that¢ here and there throughout the¢ newsletter. Life has been a little¢ rough around here lately, but should¢ smooth out soon. In addition, we had¢ only two weeks from the February¢ meeting to the March meeting, at¢ which the newsletter will be mailed¢ out. As I write this, I am missing¢ one file -- the minutes of the¢ February meeting! If it doesn't¢ appear and another article is¢ substituted, it is because I didn't¢ get it in time. However, as you will¢ see in Jack's message, we spent time¢ at the last meeting teaching Barbara¢ Keller how to upload the minutes to¢ my PC. So, if the minutes do appear,¢ you will know that they were¢ transmitted to me via modem instead¢ of snail-mail. We're moving into the¢ modern age, folks! Hold on to your¢ hats.¢¢ The program that runs from the¢ spacebar on Side 1 this issue is a¢ Simon clone called BLINKY. It's more¢ difficult than Simon, however,¢ because you use the number keys at¢ the top of your keyboard instead of¢ hitting large buttons that are in¢ close proximity to the lights. AND,¢ Blinky has seven lights to watch and¢ listen to, not just four! As you¢ will note, the BASIC file is only two¢ sectors long. I could call that an¢ April Fool joke, but it isn't.¢ Blinky is a classic example of a¢ machine-language program that uses a¢ BASIC loader. If you run it from the¢ spacebar, you will notice that the¢ colors are incorrect, making the¢ game's objects hard to see. When you¢ get to the game screen, press¢ <RESET>. That will restore the black¢ background, but the game will remain¢ in memory, ready to play. If you¢ copy the program to another disk, the¢ colors should be normal without the¢ need to press <RESET>. But if you do¢ that, be sure to copy both¢ BLINKEY.TXT and BLINKEY.OBJ. This¢ program came from the July-August¢ 1996 issue of the TWAUG Newsletter. ¢ Also on Side 1 is the very popular¢ adventure game, DUNE. I've put it¢ here in Discomm form (DUNE.DCM)¢ because it was important to maintain¢ the special DOS with which it came.¢ I've also put the DISCOMM program¢ (DISCOMM.COM) on Side 1 so that you¢ can easily convert DUNE.DCM to a¢ complete disk. You'll need a blank¢ disk for the process, of course. ¢ Unlike the library disk, the DUNE¢ disk will be single-density. After¢ the Discomm process is complete, you¢ will find three text files on the¢ disk; DUNE.DOC, DUNE.VCB and¢ DUNE.CHT. Print all three out, and¢ read DUNE.DOC and DUNE.VCB before¢ playing the game. It would even be a¢ good idea to have them present while¢ you play. If your frustration¢ tolerance is low, you might want to¢ sneak a peek at DUNE.CHT, too. DUNE¢ comes to us via Pool Disk Too, from a¢ club called BRE -- thier disk number¢ 098. Please note that there are¢ three informative articles on Side 1,¢ in addition to the usual ones¢ (minutes, messages.) One, by JOE¢ HICSWA (choice B on the menu,)¢ provides hints and undocumented¢ commands for XLENT Word Processor.¢ The second (choice I on the menu,) by¢ yours truly, acknowledges a potential¢ problem you might have had with the¢ last newsletter disk and suggests¢ how this will be remedied starting¢ with this issue. The third (choice J¢ on the menu,) also by me, is some¢ late-breaking news that Atarians,¢ particularly those who spent hours¢ calling BBSs as I did, will find very¢ exciting. Also please note that¢ there are several changes and¢ additions in the e-mail list. All¢ changes and additions in the e-mail¢ list are marked with asterisks.¢¢ On Side 2, the program that runs from¢ the spacebar is QT.BAS, from ANTIC¢ Magazine of January, 1985. I had an¢ interesting time typing in that¢ program when it first came out. That¢ process helped push me toward a disk¢ subscription! But now, here's the¢ April Fool joke. I'm not giving any¢ instructions for this game. You have¢ to figure out (or remember) what the¢ little bird is supposed to do with¢ the blocks of ice, and you have a¢ time limit to beat! Also on Side 2¢ look for TRIVIA.BAS, a fast-paced¢ trivia quiz with six categories to¢ choose from, TRIAD.COM, a classic¢ shoot-'em-up, and RAILKING.COM, a¢ very involved but interesting,¢ one-to-four player, railroad-building¢ simulation game, maybe the¢ predecessor of the popular Railroad¢ Tycoon series for the ST and PC. The¢ file, RAILROAD.DOC is also on this¢ side, and I suggest that you copy it¢ and RAILKING.COM to another disk with¢ DOS files on it. You can use the DOS¢ <C>opy command to copy RAILKING.DOC¢ to your printer and read about the¢ game before you play it. Since this¢ is a game that must be saved (I doubt¢ that it can be finished in one night)¢ you would do well to have it on its¢ own disk, along with DOS files and¢ the text file.¢¢ I hope you enjoy this issue.¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢
