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Archive Magazine 1996
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gerald
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6_10
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JBrown
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ReadMe
Wrap
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1992-11-14
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515 lines
%OP%VS4.13 (28-Apr-92), Gerald L Fitton, R4000 5966 9904 9938
%OP%DP2
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%OP%PDPipeLine
%OP%WC1026,2262,248,1748,0,0,0,0
%CO:A,12,72%
Dear Gerald,
It was wonderful to meet you 'in the flesh' at the Acorn User Show.
I am now the proud owner of two Pipedream 4 mugs %H4%and%H4% two Acorn mugs,
not to mention several more Pipedream bookmarks. I noted with interest
the new progam 'Wordz'. As I now have PipeDream, First Word Plus (used
once!) and Impression, I am wondering what it would have to offer me
that I cannot do with my present setup. There were some marvellous
special offers there, and we managed to get Impression, ARM 3 and
RISCáOSá3.1 all for just over ú300!. I was amazed to find that Watford
Electronics could have sold me (and indeed did sell a friend of mine)
an A4000 Multiscan system at catalogue prices for the same price as
Acorns special offer on an A4000 Colour System. Even Nadir Jessa
(Managing Director, WE) didn't think they were that cheap!. I have
since, I think, found the solution to my problem:
%H2%PipeLine
%H4%Loading PD3 files into PD4
By loading a PD4 file into !Edit, it can be seen that PD4 saves the
following to the beginning of each file:
%PC%OP%PC%VS{version number} ({Date}), {User name}, {Registration num.}
This is the cause of my loading problems, as no such message occurs
when PD3 saves. If anyone knows of an easy way of tacking this on to
lots of PD3 files, please let me know.
%H4%Sprites
After investigation, the easiest way to get the new PD4 sprites is to
rename {!Sprites22} to {!Sprites} (first rename {!Sprites}
{!Sprites12}). This is a bit of a cheat, but it works! - with one
exception - I can't seem to get the icon bar icon to change. Is it
coded into !RunImage, and if so how can I get it to change after it's
been loaded in? Can I, if I know it's name, replace it in the wimp pool
like you can {switcher} etc.?
At your suggestion I went and found NCS, and started a years
subscription to !Archive, and I am, having read the October issue,
regretting not having done so earlier. Below I have made a few
comments, suggestions etc. (Getting my name in print must be going to
my head!) I would be grateful if you could pass them on with your next
contribution.
%C%*-*-*
%C%from: Jonathan Brown DL6370J
%H2%Products Available
%H4%Special Access Pack
At the BBC Acorn User show, I spoke to someone who had a program which
increased the size of the pointer when it moved, which came, I think,
from this pack. It would, I am sure, be of use to everyone who uses an
A4 as it meant that it was very difficult to lose the pointer. If you
know how to get hold of this program, please let me know.
%H2%Hints and Tips
%H4%Alt-characters%H4%
On page 40 of my A4 welcome guide, there is a keyboard with all the
Alt/Shift-Alt combinations. In addition to those in Archive, the
following:
key
3
-
[
]
;
'
,
.
/
Those marked (accent) only show up when a character is pressed
afterwards. e.g. to give Θ press ALT [ then e.
ALT-space produces a non-breaking-space (character 160 - can be used in
filenames)
%H4%Second internal hard drive in an A410/1
Only having a 20Mb ST506 drive, I would like to fit another hard drive.
NCS sell 1.6Mb floppy disc drives which connect up to a joint SCSI/HD
podule. Would it be a good idea to buy the SCSI/HD podule and use a
SCSI hard disc, or is it better to buy an IDE hard disc (obviously the
new Acorn standard) and only the HD podule?
%H2%Comment Column
To Mr Swain (re. A4) I would like to say that the A4 is a wonderful
machine, and that it does indeed deserve to be successful. He would
like to see MS-DOS in ROM - I would like to know how much this would
add to the cost in royalties that would have to be paid to Microsoft. I
would also like to point out that MS-DOS is a Disc Operating System,
and as such is easily upgraded. It's provision in ROM would mean that
with the first upgrade to DOS, the ROM would need to be updated, a far
more expensive option than the present one of buying just the DOS.
There are also some, dare I say a lot, of Acorn users who do not use
their PC-Emulators - if they own one. DOS in ROM would be unnecessary
for these people, and in my opinion for everybody - afterall, if PC
users don't have DOS in ROM, why should we?
%H2%Artworks
I have no objections to dongles, as they provide a good way of
combatting software piracy. However, if I was to buy Artworks, I would
need a gap of at least 10" at the back of my A410/1, as I would have
the printer cable plugged into the Jostick Interface plugged into the
Impression dongle plugged into the Artworks dongle. It would be useful
if a cable could be found that would allow this assembly to 'hang' from
the back of the computer. If anybody knows where I could get a suitably
short and secure (i.e. with screw fixings) cable please let me know.
%H2%Help!!!!
%H4%DTP Editor
Up until now, I have used Acorn DTP for a fairly large amount of work.
I am in the process of changing to using Impression 2, which I bought
at the Acorn User show after being told by one of the Acorn men (in
nice suits, not those red and black affairs) that they operated a
policy whereby they released programs (e.g. Acorn DTP) in order to
encourage third-party products (i.e. Impression). At present I also use
PipeDream 4 for some work. I would be willing to have a go at doing
some work for Archive on Acorn DTP, and hopefully Impression in the
near future.
%H2%!Killer and VProtect
When I joined Pineapple's scheme, I was impressed by the speed with
which the software arrived. I have but two complaints:
I should point out that these are my only two complaints about the
program, and that it is well worth buying for the quality of
programming alone.
%H2%Public Domain
%H4%Ram Disc
Please find enclosed a copy of the Public Domain program !Memphis, a
dynamic ram disc, which adjusts its size as you load or delete.
%H2%Hardware Column
%H4%The A4
Why buy a Trackerball when it is extremely easy to use the combination
of the arrow keys, Q, W, E and FN. All it takes is a little practice
and you also have a better idea of where the pointer is - it's a lot
easier to 'lose' with a mouse.
%H2%Reviews
I would be happy to review any products for Archive. My mother is a
Junior School teacher, my father works in business (Civil Servant), and
my brother is unemployed so has plenty of time to play games, and I
dabble in all three fields with a hefty chunk of DTP work thrown in.
Herewith an example - please feel free to do with as you please.
%H4%Gods - Krisalis
This game could be taken as a prelude to Lemmings or Populous, as you
are trying to work your way up to being a God, as opposed to starting
off as one. The game arrives in a well presented box, complete with a
nice twelve page manual which is worth a read if you want to get beyond
the practice level. Upon cataloguing the disc you are presented with a
fairly self explanatory choice - the game, a !ReadMe file telling you
the Archimedes keys, and two jostick files, one for the RTFM interface,
and one for the Serial Port interface. On running the game, you are
initially advised to make a backup copy of Disc 2, then presented with
some very good quality graphics, and some music of exceptional standard
- I plugged in my headphones and sat back to read the ensuing text. The
usual plot followed - save the world etc... - and eventually I tired of
the music and pressed return. The game loaded in, prompting for the
second disc halfway, and then offered to start or use a password. Each
game has a set of random passwords which are remembered after you
obtain them - this saves on scraps of paper cluttering up my mouse mat!
I started the game and was impressed by the smooth graphics. Having
read the manual I managed to pick up a clue and a dagger before getting
killed. The next life allowed me to actually kill the monsters, which
appear with a growl - literally! I progressed through the level, slowly
at first, but once I had got used to the controls and the fact that you
can't walk through spikes sticking out of the ground - you have to blow
them up with the convenient lever first - the game became even more
enjoyable. The sound effects are wonderful - the warrior even groans
when he climbs ladders, and expires when he falls too far - any farther
and he expires for good. The game has an excellent combination of
arcade action and puzzle solving - essential for all those extra
points. It needs a certain amount of logic, but this in no way clouds
the overall enjoyability of the game. The fire power you can obtain is
pretty impressive, but never %H4%quite%H4% enough. The standard of programming
is as good as on any other game for the Archimedes, and the game has
all the qualities it needs - excellent sound graphics and the
playability - well let's just say my score keeps going up.
Watch out for flying pigs!
%C%*-*-*
My latest piece of DTP work was publishing a report for the local
Church of England School where my mother is a Governor. This was
recieved extremely well, and I am at present hiding from other local
headmasters! If you are interested, I could send you a copy, either in
Acorn DTP format, or on paper if you would prefer.
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
yours faithfully,
Jonathan Brown
%CO:B,12,60%
ALT
¡(soft hyphen)
┤(accent)
`(accent)
¿(accent)
^(accent)
~(accent)
░(accent)
╕(accent)
!Killer takes up 576K - which is sometimes too much
!Killer brings up what is supposed to be a copyright
notice, but which is really a note telling me what is on
the disc. I would not object to a note which takes up only
a small portion of the screen, like that which appears with
Impression or Poster, and then disappears, but the !Killer
window remains until closed. It is also the size of the
full screen - too big! (see file {KillerPic})
%CO:C,12,48%
shift ALT
ñ
╫
≈
┐
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(in different place on norm. keys)
%CO:E,12,24%18 Frederica Road,
Chingford
London
E4 7AL
081á529á0839
21st November 1992
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