If they all laugh when you sit down at the piano, sit down at your computer instead! Fearn and Music ( (800) 447-3434; in California (805) 925-6682) is importing an interesting line of SFX products developed by Commodore in the U.K. Whether you're a professional musician or an amateur with dreams of grandeur, check out these products if you're eager to make music byte by byte.
'SFX Sound Expander' ($110), based on a custom LSI chip, functions in lieu of the Commodore's onboard SID chip, replacing it with a programmable 9-voice FM synthesizer. The software package that comes with the Sound Expander is a menu-driven program that includes a large selection of voices, keyboard split, chorus, transposition, one-finger chords, rhythm and riff machines, and much more.
Musicians: The 'Sound Expander' is MIDI-compatible but it requires a special MIDI Interface ($54). The SFX Sound Editor ($45), designed for use with the Sound Expander, allows you to enter, edit and playback any piece of music that can be written in standard music notation. You can even print out your composition on most Commodore printers. And there's both a drum machine and a random sound generator that lets the computer generate sounds on its own.
The 'SFX Full-Sized Keyboard' ($88) is a 5-octave keyboard which when combined with the 'Sound Expander' creates a truly professional musical instrument. The keys are of full-size standard piano key dimensions and have a very professional feel.
The 'SFX Keyboard Overlay' ($15) fits on top of your Commodore, turning the computer's ASCII keyboard into a 2-octave musical keyboard. A big help if you don't have the 'Full-Sized Keyboard.'
The 'SFX Sound Sampler' ($89) lets you record any sound -- your singing or guitar playing or even your dog's bark -- using a microphone or a line input. The sound waves are converted into numbers and stored in the computer's memory. The data can then be converted back into sound, or you can use the computer to alter the sound. You can replay the sound -- forward or backward, higher or lower in pitch -- using the keyboard or the overlay keyboard.
Other abilities: Plot the wave form. Utilize an echo with a variable time delay. Record four different sounds and replay on the keyboard or in a sequence of your choice. Develop real drum sounds using the drum samples included in the program. The package contains the 'Sound Sampler' module, software, a microphone, an audio lead, and a User's Guide. (Again, MIDI compatible but requiring the special Interface.)
NOTE: There's a $2 shipping charge for each product ordered from Fearn & Music. (Not uncommon when placing a mail or phone order -- always ask!)
{SHIFT-@}cPlayin' Games
Virgin Games has released two programs that originally were (still are!) popular board games. 'A Question of Scruples' ($39.95 distributed by Electronic Arts: (800) 245-4525; in California (800) 562-1112) has a database of over 230 questionable situations. Examples: If you found an expensive pen in a public place, would you keep it? If you accidentally got lipstick on a designer dress, would you tell the shop owner? Would you expose your brother if he was spying for a foreign power? You can play 'A Question of Scruples' with up to nine other friends. Or play with companions chosen from a group of 64 computer characters, each of whom has its own personality and an animated face that can be seen on the screen. [Editor's Note: Watch next month for a review of 'Scruples' by Ervin Bobo.]
Also from Virgin Games: 'Computer Scrabble' ($32.95). Like the original board game, you build words using letters that have a numerical value. The C64/128 version has a playing vocabulary of 12,500 words and a built-in wordspeller that doublechecks every move. You can go one-on-one with the computer or compete with up to three friends. A clock facility lets you choose a maximum allowable time per turn, ranging from 30 seconds (wheee!) to 5 minutes (yawn). And there are four difficulty levels, making the program suitable for a broad range of age groups.
'Lancelot' ($29.95 IntelliCreations: (818) 886-5922) is a 3-part saga billed as an authentic representation of Malory's Le Mort D'Arthur. Featuring digitized graphics and over 60,000 words of text, the game takes you from the formation of the Order of the Knights of the Round Table to the quest for the Holy Grail. You'll guide Lancelot through his many exploits at Camelot, his trials by combat, even his romances with Guinevere and Elaine.
The British are coming! IntelliCreations has begun to distribute Personal Software Services (PSS) products in North America. PSS is a British company noted for its popular strategy war games. Three of their games are now available for C64/128 here in the U.S., each with a suggested price of $24.95:
#1 -- 'Firezone' is a one or two-player game set in the year 2160, when Earth has fragmented into four hostile power blocks. Battles between these blocks are fought in close support campaigns called 'firezones.' There are nine separate campaigns of varying difficulty and length -- and the game has a scenario generator that lets you invent new combat campaigns.
#2 -- 'The Annals of Rome' takes you from the consolidation of Rome as a state in 273 BC to the city's sacking in 410 AD, and perhaps several centuries beyond. Depending on your command the Empire will end long before it was supposed to ... or go on indefinitely. Features include a fully detailed map, phased movement, economic and political options, command of various military levels, and conflicts with both internal and invading groups.
#3 -- 'The Android Decision,' perhaps the most advanced strategy game available for a home computer, is an icon-operated battle simulator that pits you against your own hostile computer. It's easy to learn but difficult to master, and may well become addictive!
'Street Sports Soccer' ($19.95 Epyx) is soccer with the old neighborhood gang ... no rules, no uniforms, no Mr. Nice Guy. You can compete with a previously chosen team, have the computer randomly select a line-up, or choose your team player by player from a bunch of neighborhood rowdies, each with a soccer specialty. Then have the team execute slices, hooks, head shots and other intricate moves as you go for the goal on the pothole-laden city street.
Epyx has also released two sports simulations. 'The Sporting News Baseball' ($39.95), lets you choose your lineup from 1987's 26 major league teams or a roster of Hall of Famers. Create the ultimate dream team by trading or drafting replacements from over 100 baseball legends such as Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. Action on the field -- whether 'tis slides, steals, smash drives down the line, or pitchers' balks -- is influenced by the actual capabilities of the ballplayers and their statistics.
'Red Storm Rising' ($44.95 MicroProse: (301) 771-1151), a simulation based on Tom Clancy's best-selling novel of the same name, focuses on the tactical operations of an American nuclear attack submarine after an invasion of Western Europe by the Warsaw Pact nations. As submarine commander, your mission is to locate and destroy Soviet submarines and surface vessels as they leave their base near the Arctic Circle, before they can reach the Atlantic to disrupt the shipping of U.S. men and supplies to the battlefront. Lots of high-tech weaponry and listening equipment at your disposal. The ability to hear enemy ships -- and to avoid being heard by them -- is crucial. The equipment carried on your submarine reveals ambient noise levels in the surrounding ocean, the locations of relatively loud patches of water in which a submarine might hide, quiet zones in which a sub might stop and listen, and the depth and strength of thermal layers that provide conduits for the transmission of sound to and from the enemy.
