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Creative Computers CD-ROM, Volume 1 (Legendary Design Technologies, Inc.)(1994).iso
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1994-11-17
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PRISM 1.5
=========
Copyright (c)1992 Legendary Design Technologies Inc.
This release is freely distributable, but remains Copyrighted.
Written by Syd L. Bolton
Previous Versions: Colin Vernon (orig.) and Chris Timmerberg
Welcome to PRISM! THE ANSI animator for the Amiga. First of all,
the documentation for the main program is a file called "PRISM.DOC". This
is a new doc file, totally re-written for 1.5. This file contains all of
the changes to this version, as well as what to expect in the future.
CHANGES/ADDITIONS SINCE 1.4
===========================
People seemed to appreciate the changes I made in 1.4, and now I
have really added some features I think people will find useful. Let's
look at each in detail:
a) A new feature called "QuickPick", which brings up an ASCII table
and allows you to simply click on the character you want. It sure beats
searching through those character sets sometimes! It's also used in other
parts of the program.
b) The ability to draw ANIMATED boxes and lines, WITH THE MOUSE!
It's a snap. Just click on the appropriate tool gadget, move your mouse,
hold the left button down, drag out the box or line and let go. Prism
takes care of the rest. GREAT for BBS menus, title screens, etc.
c) Configuration editors for lines and boxes that allows you to
change the appearance totally. It also stores two sets of preferences (so
you can use a single line box, and then a double line box without anything
more than a couple of mouse clicks). This has resulted in a new
configuration file (PRISM.CFG) but if you are a previous user, your OLD
config file is still compatible!
d) Serious re-writes to certain parts of the program. For various
reasons, the source code is no longer included with the distribution
package.
e) This is the last "Freely Distributable" release. Future
versions of Prism will be either shareware or commerical (see the notes
below).
SHAREWARE AND PRISM
===================
I have spent a lot of time re-writing Prism. Since writing
software is my only business, I need support both from shareware programs
and from my company's commercial ventures. In the past, I have written
several useful utilities that have made their way to the Fish Disks
(thanks, Fred - you can never be told enough how much you are appreciated)
and this will continue. However, I am planning on REALLY upgrading PRISM
(see the features list below) and in fact, a lot of the code is already
written (but not quite ready for public release).
If you would like to receive the latest Prism, you have the
following options:
a) Send me $20 (Canadian or US funds) and you will be shipped
PRISM 2.0 the day it is ready (currently scheduled for March 1993 release,
and I'm pretty good with my deadlines).
b) Send me a letter (with no money) or an email message on my
support BBS indicating you wish to be informed when PRISM 2.0 is available.
I will let you know and you can decide if you wish to register it.
I am unsure at this point if I will release a crippled version of
2.0 when it is ready, or just rely on trust. Some of you I understand have
been burned by others selling shareware in that you have sent your money
and received no upgrades. I'd like to tell you that first of all,
Legendary Design Technologies is a registered company and we have a solid
reputation for service and reliability. We intend to keep it that way! We
also sell commercial software for the Amiga (ADDRESS IT!, INVOICE IT!, etc.)
and will also continue to develop Freely Distributable and Shareware
software. You will not get burned. We have been developing Amiga software
since 1987 (anybody have PUZZLE PRO from Fish 122?) and for other computers
since 1982.
Enough of that! What am I going to get with PRISM 2.0?
a) An optional VCR-style playback toolbox that will allow you to
directly control the playback of your animation, including freeze, fast
forward, reverse, single-step backwards and forwards, stop, and so on.
b) A built-in IFF-2-ANSI routine that will load any 640x200 (or
640x400) IFF picture and turn it into ANSI that is compatible with a BBS
(unlike some of those Amiga-only IFF-2-ANSI programs).
c) Options that will allow you to save the file you create as just
plain ASCII (no color or positional information) and also you will be able
to have a screen draw from top to bottom, bottom to top, left to right,
right to left, and so on. This is not available anywhere else!
d) Cut/copy/paste routines
e) Re-colorize text with the mouse
f) Special fonts/character sets made up of IBM-font compatible
graphics! Fonts will be available from 3 lines and up, and you'll be able
to make your own fonts via the IFF-2-ANSI technology already in the
program.
g) An AREXX port!!! You'll be able to control Prism from BBS door
programs, etc.!!!!
Thanks for your support, and we hope you enjoy using Prism.
Syd Bolton
President
Legendary Design Technologies Inc.
25 Frontenac Avenue
Brantford, Ontario
N3R 3B7
(519)-753-6120 voice
(519)-753-6120 ext. 5 fax
(519)-754-1205 Support BBS: Probe,24hrs,8,n,1
Sysop: A. Antoszewski