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1992-06-28
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99 lines
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^2 E A S Y A M O S
^2 First Impressions of the Easier AMOS by Len Boyns.
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^6 My first efforts at making computer games were made with SEUCK the
^6Shoot-em up construction kit, I then bought AMOS the Creator but due
^6to my lack of programming knowledge, I found the manual rather
^6daunting. Due to lack of guidance I like many others did not know
^6where to start and seemed to be slowly learning from my mistakes.
^6Then along came Easy AMOS at last a chance to get a firm foundation
^6to work from and who knows maybe I will at last complete all those
^6fabulous programs still in my head.
^1 Easy AMOS comes on two discs with a nice fat 424 page ring bound
^1user guide, the guide is very well presented and its 20 chapters will
^1make a very useful reference work. I do not see why Easy AMOS could
^1not have been supplied on 3 discs ready to run as unfortunately
^1before the program can be used you have to go through a rather
^1tedious routine which copies the contents of the two discs to three
^1of your own blank discs. It is also necessary to write enable the
^1master disc, a procedure which it is always best to avoid, so that
^1your name can be added to the editor display. To be fair you can
^1also format a disc for future programs and it is wise to do so, as
^1the tutorials involve a lot of typing that you may wish to save to
^1disc. Also included are some printed labels for your newly copied
^1discs. I would recommend that you make further spare copies from
^1these discs.
^6 The editor includes a HELP facility, you can place your cursor on a
^6command word or even a partially completed word, then press the help
^6key and up will come a description of the command. The Tutorial disc
^6also includes a typing tutor which gives you letters or sentences to
^6type and adjusts its speed to yours, so type evenly with no bursts of
^6machine gun fire or it will be racing you at 70 words a minute.
^1 The section in chapter 4 on arrays was interesting with hints on
^1setting up a simple data base this was also covered in chapter 16 on
^1data. The Examples disc does include a very neat easy to use
^1Database. Chapter 6 on text even tells you how to reshape your
^1cursor. The Tutorial disc has a good Font Creator but I tried to be
^1too clever and my half meg chip ram was not enough. As I am a Deluxe
^1Paint enthusiast Chapter 8 graphics was my favourite. At last I have
^1found out how all those Hex colour values work. Chapter 9 bobs, lets
^1you use a very simple bob editor, it does not have all the functions
^1of Sprite X but it is easy to get used to. I very much like the
^1animation test screen which has two 8 frame strips of movie film
^1(only one strip in NTSC mode) in which to place your bobs. I found
^1this easier to understand than the Sprite X animation function.
^6 Chapter 10 understanding screens has a simple program which
^6displays the other 7 screens (apart from the default screen)
^6available to Easy AMOS and Chapter 11 shows ways of using them.
^6Chapter 12 sound, is another gem it includes a sound sample bank
^6maker that I hope will be included in AMOS Professional when it comes
^6out. The most difficult chapter to get interested in was Chapter 13
^6maths, a very important subject, but you can always read it later as
^6most chapters are independent of each other. Chapter 14 gets down to
^6constructing a game and includes Block-Buster a superb version of
^6brickout by Ronnie Simpson who has included plenty of Rems in his
^6program to explain its functions. Francois Lionet, they say Easy
^6AMOS is his son, has included a tricycle ball game and put a lot of
^6work in to show you how a game is developed. There are 8 separate
^6programs each fully remned and well worth studying particularly his
^6joystick control which moves the bobs 5 times in each 90 degrees.
^6Incidentally the completed game is on the Example disc as Tricycle
^6Ball and not TB_Step8.AMOS as shown in the manual.
^1 Easy AMOS also includes a SID like disc editor which can be loaded
^1from the program editor screen, this has facilities for copying or
^1formatting discs and moving or making files all within AMOS. Chapter
^118 example on error proc HELP did not work as the Resume Next
^1instruction does not seem to be available in Easy AMOS. A very handy
^1addition is the Tutor, both the graphics and written program are
^1available on screen at the same time to help you better understand
^1how programs work or even to test and debug your own. This is
^1another must for AMOS Professional.
^6 I thought Lprint had raised its ugly head again, this time it came
^6up in Chapter 16. You may remember this was never included in AMOS
^6the Creator but was in the manual, I believe it was in the original
^6STOS version. I tried the example and got I/O Error just to be sure
^6I also tried the Block Print facility and also got I/O Error, I then
^6tried booting up from my workbench 1.3 first and all was ok. The
^6Block Print facility works fine from AMOS the Creator without the
^6workbench disc.
^1 Easy AMOS has helped to explain quite a few mysteries and
^1complicated programs can be written using it. Easy AMOS does not
^1support AMAL but you can still animate without it. I feel it is a
^1program well worth getting and wish it had come out before AMOS the
^1Creator.
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