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First impressions from a newbee...



Well, I'm a newcomer here, trying to catch up, after downloading the DEMO
version at SimTel (Executor/DOS 1.20) last week, I downloaded earlier this
evening the 1.99b DEMO from ftp.cs.unm.edu.  

Here's my first observation of Executor/DOS DEMO, both 1.20 and 1.99b:
 - I manage to get the game "1000 miles" running under 1.99b DEMO by doing
   these steps:
      -Start EXECUTOR in B&W mode, as stated in the "readme" file:
            -> executor -macbpp 1 -realbpp 1
      
      -then try running the game.  The first try will fail, *HOWEVER*, if
       you try one more time, the game will run OK, and apparently, you
       can restart the game as many time as you want, and it will always
       work.   Hope this tip will help to pinpoint the bug.

 - Speaking of "1000 miles", on version 1.99b, the cards are litterally spat
   on the board, and overall the improvement of your new synthetic CPU is
   greatly felt.

 - In one of the readme files, it is mentionned that "Courseware" may have
   a better chance of running under Executor than big-ticket applications.
   I'm trying to get my university interested, and they'll probably buy if
   they see some of these "Coursewares" running OK on one of your demo.
   I'm trying to get running MAS (MacIntosh Assembler System, a tutorial on 
   the Motorola 68000 and which [thankfully!] hides the MacIntosh
   system calls to the student).  I made some informal tests on MAS.
   On Executor 1.20, surprisingly it does run very smoothly, with the 
   exception that invoking HFS_Transfer and then exiting from there crash the
   emulator.  On 1.99b, The cursor becomes a blotch of random colors, and
   overall highly unstable (the computer will freeze within a minute or so).

   I feel a bit embarassed in this case, as I'm not a registered user, and
   on the other hand, I'm sure that you want to know how your product does
   run in the field.  However, I may test other programs for you and let you
   know  how they behave on Executor.

 - However, I can contribute by uploading the DEMO version on DELPHI, a major
   online service, and some BBSes in my area.  Given the experimental 1.99x
   versions going on, and the likehood that 1.20 DEMO is [or about to be]
   obsolete, I wonder what guidelines can be given to those who want to
   upload the DEMO version to these online services.  Should we wait?  if
   not, WHICH version to upload (1.20 DEMO, or the experimental 1.99b DEMO?)
   or both?  etc...

 Even with its few glitches, Executor/DOS sure sounds impressive, and the
 sample programs like 1000 miles, Globe, etc... run impressively on 1.99b,
 running very fast and for some of them, in bright colors.

-Jacques Pannetier    zazou@delphi.com