NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #18

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Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Path: sparky!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!wupost!gumby!destroyer!ubc-cs!unixg.ubc.ca!kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca!ee.ualberta.ca!jpenne From: jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca (Jerry Penner) Subject: GEnieLamp Aug 1992 (Vol 1 No. 5) (5 parts) Message-ID: <jpenne.713864871@ee.ualberta.ca> Summary: part 4 Sender: news@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca Nntp-Posting-Host: eigen.ee.ualberta.ca Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 07:47:51 GMT Lines: 902 GEnieLamp Vol 1/Num 5 August 1, 1992 Part 4 of 5 This article first appeared on GEnie and I was asked to post it on the Internet. My GE-Mail address is J.Penner1 and my internet address is jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca if you need to discuss something regarding this posting. I don't work for GEnie or anything to do with the Internet. ----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<-- cut here --8<----8<----8<----8<----8<---- [LIB]////////////////////////////// THE ONLINE LIBRARY / ///////////////////////////////// Running Your Own BBS! """"""""""""""""""""" >>> RUNNING YOUR OWN BBS! <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" BBS SHARE/FREEWARE MAKES IT EASY! Have you ever wished that you could """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" run your own mini telecommunications service? Wouldn't it be interesting to control passwords, monitor discussions, and maintain a file download library? Well Apple II users are lucky to have quite a large selection of BBS options available to them. And some of these BBS's are even freeware or shareware. A search under the keyword "BBS" in the Apple II Roundtable library turns up several dozen files relating to running your own BBS. Some of these files are actual BBS programs. Some of the BBS options for the Apple II include the public domain "Prime BBS," the shareware "AppleNET BBS," and the shareware "Office BBS" system. Most of these BBS's use ModemWorks, a special set of modem ampersand routines develop by the Morgan Davis Group. To help you learn what GEnie has to offer in terms of Apple II BBS's, a new AppleWorks file titled "BBS.Files.bxy" has been prepared. This file lists all the BBS files available for downloading from the A2 Roundtable library, along with file descriptions of some of the more interesting sounding files. WHY A BBS? "Why would someone want to set up and maintain his or her own """""""""" BBS?" you might ask. Many user groups find that a BBS facilitates user group communications. But the BBS you set up need not be computer related. You could set up a BBS for your local school or PTA; you could set up a BBS for a boy scout or girl scout troop; you could set up a crime prevention BBS; you could set up a BBS to offer editing or desktop publishing services; you could set up a BBS just to learn about what it takes to run a BBS. Learning about bulletin boards need not even require a modem. Dean Esmay, chief Apple II Roundtable system operator (sysop) recommends KidMail BBS, a bulletin board simulator. (File number 8723: KidMail.bxy). This program simulates an actual BBS allowing multiple 'users' to 'sign on,' get a password, and leave electronic mail for other users. With the price of second hand Apple IIe's dropping down to the $200 to $300 range, the cost of setting up a BBS has likewise fallen dramatically. You don't even need a hard drive with some Apple II BBS systems. (Although almost all of them recommend at least two 5.25 inch, or one 3.5 inch disk drive.) The following information about the popular public domain Prime bulletin board system (BBS) was collected from Category 10, Topic 6, in the Apple II Roundtable message area. Prime BBS A while ago one of you asked us to step back and explain what """"""""" the Prime BBS was and what it had going for it. I was so busy uploading files and getting some beginner downloaders going that I neglected to respond to that posted message. Hopefully, I can rectify that here in a question and answer format. By doing a few of these, I hope I can answer the most frequently asked questions. Here we go.... Q: What is Prime? Is it new? Why haven't I heard of it before? A: The Prime BBS system has been around the Apple II world for 7-8 years now. It began as Alfa III and was supported right here on GEnie by Bob Garth and Vince Cooper. The program was advertised in classifieds of major magazines but most of its customers (including me) got in contact with the authors by way of the Demo/Ad called Alfa/EZ. The most recent support for the program was in the Smoke Signal Software area on America Online. Prime is a great BBS and now that its in the Public Domain, is the potential new sysop's _best_ option possible. I've seen a lot of shareware and p.d. BBS's over the years and nothing compares to Prime. This software is PERFECT for smaller BBS systems of the 10-200 user variety...great for user group boards, local Apple II support groups etc. It can handle much larger user numbers, but I find it perfectly suited for smaller groups. Q: What do I need to run it? A: You need any 64K Apple ][. I've run it or helped run it on ][+'s, //e's, Franklin Ace's, and IIGS's. You need two or more disk drives. A hard drive is not necessary...but recommended. I've run this software on everything from 4 Disk II's up to 200+ megs of hard drive all chained together off a RamFast and a TransWarp GS. In addition, you need a Novation AppleCat, Hayes Micromodem, Datalink 2400, or a Super Serial Card with an auto-answer 300, 1200, or 2400 external modem. Others may work, but may take some playing around... A Prodos compatible clock is nice but not mandatory. Q: What are the limitations of Prime and why did it go public domain? A: The most recent owner of Prime (Danny Haynes) found that he and the others responsible for maintaining Prime simply did not have time to update the system. They concluded that Prime would have the best chance of growing in the hands of a new generation of Prime Sysops....so, they decided to offer it to potential Prime sysops for FREE! Prime is currently a full featured BBS. We'll talk about all those features a bit later, but we might as well get the limitations out in the open first because these are the things that we hope new Prime sysops will help to rectify. 1. Prime requires a Super Serial Card (SSC) (even in a GS). Bob Garth found that the Apple modem port didn't do things quite the same way as the SSC and never supported the port. Paul Parkhurst has this problem 'almost' fixed but we all need to call him and encourage him to finish that goodie. 2. Prime's transer (Xfer) system is GREAT. However, support for newer protocols is lacking. It does handle normal Xmodem, Xmodem CRC, Prodos Xmodem, Standard Xmodem, (with Binary II for Apple users). Ymodem and Zmodem would be nice if someone has the ability to take it on. Andy Nicholas posted once that he had written a Zmodem driver for Prime but we've not tracked that down yet. 3. While Prime sysops across the country once had a networking scheme set up, this never became an official part of Prime. Prime's strong point are its elegance and simplicity. I'm sure future sysops will be writing schemes to network but they don't currently exist. 4. I've never heard of Prime's compatibility with newer 9600 baud modems. New drivers or empirical set-ups may need to be developed for these. That's about it! Not really too limited is it? Frankly, I've never found any of these detrimental to my BBS. Q: What features does Prime offer? A: Prime is a full-featured BBS. I'll summarize only a few here.... 1. Hot key menus of either the autoformatting internal type or fancy ones made from external text files of your design. 2. Multiple Boards, Email, full line editors for all posts and mail. New message scans. Autosignature capability. Private posts can be set. Autodelete old messages at sysop controllable levels to minimize sysop interaction required. Many more options. 3. Feedback commands, sysop page and chat mode. 4. User can set configuration from normal to expert turning menus on and off. 5. User search and listing built in. 6. G(iant) file reader to allow readers to read any text files the sysop chooses to put online. 7. Complete transfer system capable of tracking up to 215,622 files and 10 line description of each in up to 99 libraries of 99 files each in each of 22 prefixes! New file scans can be set up in multiple combinations for your users convenience. 8. BASIC programs and Games can easily be modified to run with the Prime BBS system. Many examples have been uploaded here to GEnie. The modifications are pretty easy and lots of fun. These include user Voting Booths, BBS databases, Adventure games, etc. Q: What does the Sysop have to work with? A: A lot! There is a completely menu driven maintenance system. The sysop simply keys up a Control-C from the keyboard and can then menu his/her way to anything in Prime that needs attention. Among these are: 1. Board and Menu editors. 2. Prefixes (you can put any part of Prime on any prefix on your system). 3. User time restrictions can be set by time limits (if you have clock) or number of bytes transmitted if you don't. 4. You can create and toggle on or off Pre and Post new user messages and Pre and Post login in messages. 5. You can create Theme messages at the beginning of each board to keep things going in a reasonable thread. 6. Email and transfer have their own complete set of utilities... all accessible with the Control-C when you've entered their area. 7. Remote sysoping available on ALL features so you can take care of the system from a remote location or have a co-sysop care for the system while you're on vacation. Q: What about SECURITY? Can I closely control what users see what on my BBS? A: Yes, more than you will ever need. There are 9 user class codes for gross set ups. In addition, each user has a 19 byte index string that determines what he can do on your BBS. Each of these bytes can be set from A to Z. You can then tie EVERY MENU KEY to one of these bytes and levels and therefore control who can execute (or even SEE) these commands. In addition, the sysop can give users ability to post private messages, make entire boards restricted, record phone numbers that the system will not accept for a user, allow or disallow login of new users, offer a side door entry with proper password.... and allow or disallow the use of alias's for users. All these things are handled with ease by way of the comprehensive menu and user data editors. Q: Who is this Goose fellow? A: Nobody special.. I've been using and enjoying Prime (and its predecessors) for nearly 8 years. Its been so much fun that I've learned just enough about it to be dangerous. I hate to see such a strong BBS die just because nobody knows about it. I'll help anyone who tries to use it. No guarantees, but hopefully this is a GREAT way to start small inexpensive pockets of Apple II users. My old trusty II+ sits in the corner with a castoff 30 megabyte Seagate hanging there serving as our user group communication port. How about it? Can you use your old hardware to create your own private user group? Go for it! <Grin>.... (W.GOOSEY, CAT10, TOP6, MSG:121) These are the minimum necessary files to run the Prime BBS: [*][*][*] Number: 18837 Name: PRIME.DOCS.BXY Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920613 Approximate # of bytes: 142720 Number of Accesses: 102 Library: 39 Description: This file is the documentation for the Prime BBS system for the Apple ][. This is a very mature BBS that has been around for several years. The entire BBS comes in 7 packed files. This file is the entire documentation as published by Smoke Signal software when the BBS was commercial. The BBS has all the desirable features for the Apple ][ sysop. Boards, Games, Vote modules, Quote system, Other BBS databases, etc. Written in Basic (using included powerful amper set) so you can modify it or modify other Basic programs for use as external programs. Keywords: BBS,Public Domain,PD,Prime,Manual,Documentation,ProTree,Smoke Signal [*][*][*] Number: 18894 Name: SYSTEM.BXY Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920617 Approximate # of bytes: 75136 Number of Accesses: 46 Library: 39 Description: This archive contains all the needed system files for the Prime BBS package recently released to the Public Domain by Danny Haynes. Originally written by Bob Garth. Excellent BBS for any Apple ][. In addition to this file you will also need PrimeManual.shk, Install.shk, Xfer1.shk, Xfer2.shk, and the optional Source1.shk and Source2.shk. Great BBS. Best I've ever seen for simple, but powerful operation. Keywords: Prime, BBS, modem, SmokeSignal,PD, Public Domain [*][*][*] Number: 18896 Name: XFER1.BXY Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920617 Approximate # of bytes: 48128 Number of Accesses: 42 Library: 39 Description: This archive comprises the first of two Xfer system disks for the Prime BBS system. Other files needed for this BBS are PrimeManual.shk, System.shk, Install.shk, xfer2.shk and the optional Source1.shk and Source2.shk. Great Apple II BBS! Keywords: Prime, BBS, Modem, SmokeSignal,Public Domain [*][*][*] Number: 18897 Name: XFER2.BXY Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920617 Approximate # of bytes: 77696 Number of Accesses: 48 Library: 39 Description: This archive is the second part of the Prime BBS xfer system. This is a great Apple ][ BBS. Other files you need are the Primemanual.shk, Install.shk, System.shk, Xfer1.shk, and the optional Source1.shk and Source2.shk. Keywords: Prime, BBS, modem, SmokeSignal,Public Domain ////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Ugh, maybe this will be the "scare" that brings him / / to the 'Church of the HD Backups'!" / / ~ / / "Funny you should put it just that way. Last time / / we spoke, he said he would start making backups / / 'religiously.' <g>" / ////////////////////////// J.GNIEWKOWSK/R.GLOVER3 //// [EOA] [SHA]////////////////////////////// SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS / ///////////////////////////////// FTA Contest! """""""""""" >>> SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS FTA CONTESTS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ Conceived by Joe Kohn ~ ~ Sponsored by inCider/A+ Magazine ~ The French Free Tools Association, better known as The FTA, burst upon the IIGS scene at the 1989 San Francisco AppleFest when their freeware Nucleus demo stunned, dazzled, and astounded all who saw it during Jean Louis Gassee's mind-blowing presentation. The FTA, a small group of French programmers, graphic artists and musicians continued to awe the IIGS community, releasing one smash hit after another. Their demos, including ACS Demo, Modulae, California Demo, Xmas Demo, Animaga, and Delta Demo pushed the IIGS to the limit with their astounding 3 dimensional animations and rock n roll soundtracks. The freeware FTA games of Easy Dead, Flobynoid, Star Wizard, and Mini Prix have provided countless GS owners with innumerable hours of super hi res fun. Their shareware disk copy program, Photonix, must be the only copy program in existence that contains animation and music and efficiently copies entire 3.5" disks in just one pass, using only a single 3.5" disk drive. NoiseTracker, released in December of 1991, must surely be the most talked about IIGS music program of 1992. And then, as 1991 drew to a close, the FTA disbanded. According to FTA founder and president, Olivier Goguel, "We stopped programming for the IIGS for a lot of reasons, but we don't deny it and are still very proud of what we've done, or tried to do on it". The FTA may be gone, but they will surely never be forgotten. They have left a legacy for the rest of us who remain with the IIGS. They showed us what was possible, and they inspired and stimulated us by demonstrating just how much fun it can be to own a IIGS. In our hearts and minds, the FTA will live forever. In late Spring, 1992, a package arrived in SiliKohn Valley with a postmark of Dijon, France. The package contained a number of disks, and they were described by Olivier Goguel as "the latest gifts from the former FTA group to the IIGS community". Just as the FTA's software resulted in so much joy and fun and respect for the IIGS, we would like to use those gifts as a way to provide the IIGS community with a positive focus. We are pleased to announce the first ever "Shareware Solutions Contest". In an effort to double our pleasure and double our fun, we're actually going to institute 2 different contests; one for programmers, and one for non-programmers. One of the programs provided by Olivier Goguel is Bouncin'Ferno. It's a Marble Madness type game, with incredible graphics, sound effects and music. 3 levels, each with 25 different play fields, are already defined, and you can play the game with either a mouse or a joystick. On each level, you'll try to roll over small objects and pick them up before advancing on to the next level. Some objects are suspended high above the ground, and you'll need to jump up to get them, while other objects are hidden under 3 dimensional ramps. As it is, Bouncin'Ferno is a lot of fun, but, it's not quite complete; there's no scoring module. But, the complete Merlin 16+ Source Code is provided. The programming contest rules are very straightforward: use the Bouncin'Ferno source code to create a completed game. We don't care if you make it a desktop program, or use the toolbox. We don't even care if you translate it to run under Orca/M or APW. What we do care about is game play, artistry, creativity, fun, sounds, animation, documentation, user friendliness and compatibility with both ROM 01 and 03 machines. We don't even care if you use the source code to create a totally different game; just impress the judging panel of inCider/A+ editors. Make our eyes bug out of our heads, and make our toes tap. In short, we suggest that you let the FTA guide you in spirit, and that you create a program that the FTA would be proud of. Included with Bouncin'Ferno is a screen editor that will allow you to create your own levels. So, the second contest is focused upon new Bouncin'Ferno levels. Make them hard or make them easy, make them fun or make them frustrating. Just submit your favorite new Bouncin'Ferno levels, and you'll be eligible to win some valuable prizes. As it is now, Bouncin'Ferno is hard drive installable; if copied to hard drive, just double click on P8.LOADER to run the game. If run from floppy disk, just boot the disk. If you have any problems booting the disk, just run P8.LOADER from either ProDOS-8 or GS/OS. Documentation in both French and English is also provided. Bouncin'Ferno has been placed by the FTA into the public domain. Therefore, all contest submissions, being derivative works, will also be in the public domain. To enter the contests, just print out, complete and sign the contest entry form that's provided on disk as a standard text file, and send along with your disk to FTA Contest, c/o inCider/A+, 80 Elm St, Peterborough, NH 03458. All entries must be postmarked by 12/31/92. We will be making the Bouncin'Ferno disk available, along with the contest entry form, for downloading from the large online networks (America Online, CompuServe, and GEnie). No restrictions of any kind are placed on it, so please make sure your user group, and all your friends, know about it. After the contest winners are announced, the winning entries will also be uploaded to the online networks, and will spread from there. Bouncin'Ferno version 1.03 by F.T.A [*][*][*] (Translated haltingly from la belle langue by ToH) Board Editor 4 editing modes: 1 - Move mode : THIS MODE IS SELECTED BY THE SPACE BAR To move (square by square) use the 2,4,6,8 keys on the numeric keypad. Move vertically with the + and - keys (pixel by pixel). By simultaneously holding down the apple key, you can increase the movement speed of the cursor (by 4 squares and by 10 pixels) By simultaneously holding down the option key, you can move from room to room with the 2, 4, 6 and 8 keys. By simultaneously holding down the shift key, the cursor will follow the terrain, that is to say : - for horizontal movement, it corrects its altitude automatically to follow the slope. - minus key : it puts itself on the first plate down. - plus key : it puts itself on the first plate up. This allows rapid passage from one floor to another when there are superimposed levels. The effects of the apple and shift keys are cumulative (rapid movement and terrain following). Cursor Selection : - the 0 to 9 keys on the top row of the keyboard select the 10 special plates : 0 : deadly plaque 1 : left projector 2 : back projector 3 : right projector 4 : front projector 5 : icy plate 6 : invisible icy plate 7 : invisible plate 8 : spring 9 : can-bearing plate - the 0 key on the numeric keypad selects the normal horizontal plate - the 4 arrow keys select inclined plates, rising in the direction indicated by the arrow. To obtain the 3 possible inclinations, press repeatedly on the corresponding arrow. 2 - Trace mode THIS MODE IS SELECTED BY THE RETURN KEY The cursor remains identical to the one in movement mode if there is a plate identical to itself at the position it occupies. You can move it like before, but now it leaves a trail behind it. The terrain-following mode is replaced here by a continuously sloped movement if you trace with an inclined plate. DON'T FORGET TO QUIT THIS MODE WITH SPACE (RETURNING TO THE PREVIOUS) IF NEED BE. 3 - Erase mode THIS MODE IS SELECTED BY THE DELETE KEY. The cursor is then replaced by a two-tone horizontal plate (red and orange). This cursor erases all the plates it passes. 4 - Block mode. A block is a continuous collection of all the plates within a selected box. This mode allows selection of blocks, cutting them, moving them, pasting them, reshaping them... Selecting a block : - place the cursor on one of the 8 vertexes of the box. - type apple-B. - the display becomes monochrome (yellow) with the exception of the plates in the block (orange)and the shadow of the selected box on the floor (green rectangle). - move the cursor to the opposite vertex. - Press ESCAPE to cancel the selection. Otherwise : - apple-C copies the block into the clipboard. - apple-X also copies the block, but then erases it from the board. - apple-M selects the block in block editing mode. - apple-V recovers the last block copied and selects it in block editing mode. - apple-W recovers the last block copied and uses it as a brush (the block remains behind after each movement) NB : in brush mode, the shift key produces a continuous slope which is set up according to the shape of the cursor. This is displayed, but doesn't leave a trail. - delete erases the block from the board. Features of block editing mode : - the cursor movement keys move the selected block. - return accepts the editing and the block is replaced on the board at its actual position. - Escape cancels editing and the block disappears. - also, 8 keys allow reshaping the editing block : - option-L turns the block one-quarter turn on its vertical axis. - option-X reverses the block left-to-right. - option-Y reverses the block front-to-back. - option-Z reverses the block top-to-bottom. - option-arrow (right, left, up or down) changes the inclination of the block by one unit in the arrow direction. (Note: given the small numbers of inclined planes, this operation is sometimes neither perfect nor reversible.) 5 - The library : The library is for the storage of copies of blocks that you use often, or which you think you'll reuse. It allows you to recover copies at any time without having to return to the board where they were found. To copy a block into the library, use the usual copy commands: - apple-C - apple-M or apple-X plus hold down the option key. The command will execute normally, but in addition a copy of the selected block will be stored in the library. To recover a block from the library, use the normal command to recall a block (apple-V or apple-W), plus hold down the option key. Instead of recalling the last block copied, this will connect on the selector of the library. The library selector : - the + and - keys stream through the different components in the library. - for housekeeping, the delete key erases the displayed block from the library. - the return key selects the displayed block. It then becomes the last block copied and your initial command (apple-V or apple-W) executes normally. - the escape key quits the selector and cancels the command. Library capacity : - the library's capacity is sufficient to store approximately the equivalent of 25 rooms of a board. It's therefore possible that you may fill it in normal usage. Nevertheless, in this case a message will inform you that copying into the library is impossible. You'll then have to do some housekeeping with the selector's delete command. - the library selector position defaults to the last selection made. 6 - Miscellaneous commands - / and * (keypad) : Retreat and advance the first plane seen. - apple-Q : Quit the editor. - apple-H : See the high scores (press Del to reset, any other key to close the high score window) - apple-U : Undo. Restore the previous state : - change mode or - change the cursor or - block layout (return after apple-V) or - block copy (apple-C, apple-X or apple-M) or - ... (you're out of luck for other cases.) [not _quite_ what it said] B-) - escape : Cancel the operation in progress. - apple-? : Help from god. - apple-P : Play the board from the cursor position. [*][*][*] >>> BOUNCIN'FERNO CONTEST ENTRY BLANK <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (Source = GEnieLamp) Please read this contest entry blank, fill it out, sign it, and mail it in, along with a 3.5" disk containing your contest entry, to: FTA CONTEST inCider/A+ Magazine 80 Elm Street Peterborough, NH 03458 NAME_______________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________ CITY__________________________________________________ STATE_____________ ZIP___________________________________________________ COUNTRY________________________________ I saw it on GEnieLamp! PHONE__________________________________ Remember, all contest entries must be postmarked by December 31, 1992. The enclosed disk is submitted for the (circle one): PROGRAMMING CONTEST BOUNCIN'FERNO LEVEL CONTEST Briefly describe your submission: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ I understand that the FTA's Bouncin'Ferno program, and all the source code provided on the Bouncin'Ferno disk, is in the Public Domain. I further understand that my submission, being a derivative work, is also in the Public Domain. I understand that public domain software cannot be copyrighted, and that no restrictions can be placed on its distribution. I understand that the decision of the panel of judges is final. _________________________________ SIGNATURE ____________________ DATE [*][*][*] ADDITIONAL NOTES Greetings. I personally feel that there's been way too """""""""""""""" much "doom and gloom" in the Apple II world recently, and conceived of the Shareware Solutions Contests as a way to turn some of that doom and gloom around. I just feel that for the next few months, the IIgs community is going to have something to look forward to, namely, some mind boggling games based on the FTA's Source Code, and some great user submitted Bouncin'Ferno levels that we can all play. This is a time to celebrate the glories of the IIgs!! I just wanted to make a few small comments. In order to enter the inCider contests, we want everyone to fill out and sign the Contest Entry Blank. When I put together that entry blank, I was thinking about legal ramifications, especially knowing that contests are against the law in some states. I just want everyone that enters the contest to sign the form, agreeing that whatever work is submitted becomes the property of the Apple IIgs community. Obviously, you'll need to have a printer to print out the entry blank. Well, if you don't have a printer, then just create a facsimile of the entry blank, and send that in. Use ink. At the time I write this, we do not have all the prizes lined up. Paul Statt and I are working on that, and don't really expect that we'll know what prizes we have to offer until after KansasFest. We will have some good ones, that I have no doubt about. As is said in every Hollywood movie: "Trust Me". We'll have some great ones. Have fun playing Bouncin'Ferno, and have fun creating something that the FTA would be proud of. Questions, comments, problems? Contact me online at the following addresses: America Online: JOKO CompuServe: 76702,565 GEnie: J.KOHN Internet mail can be sent to either America Online or CompuServe. If you don't have a modem, you can always contact me by US Mail at: Joe Kohn 166 Alpine Street San Rafael, CA 94901 One last note Copy the disk and give it to everyone you know. The more """"""""""""" people that enter the contests, the better. Have fun, and just remember: Apple II Forever! Please feel free to re-format the entry blank before printing it out. I have a feeling that it'll be a little easier to read if some of the lines are double spaced. Either that, or write small <g>. The other comment has to do with the FTA themselves. In a recent letter from Olivier Goguel, founder of the FTA, he says "The idea of a contest to create levels for Bouncin'Ferno is great. We tried the same thing in France when we were programming it, but it didn't work as we thought. About programming FTA programs, this is a challenge because our source code is not commented (or only in French) and we're not using academic programming ways and tools. But, I hope someone will manage to create something great from our source code". The challenge is offered. Let the games begin! -Joe Kohn ////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Hey, I can't complain with that kind of service, eh?? It's / / called, "Next Day GEnie".. <Grin>.." / /////////////////////////////////////////////// T.EVANS21 //// [EOA] [HIS]////////////////////////////// APPLE II HISTORY / ///////////////////////////////// Apple II History, Part III """""""""""""""""""""""""" By Steven Weyhrich [S.WEYHRICH] >>> APPLE II HISTORY <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich (C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software (PART 3 -- THE APPLE II) [v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91] This third part of the Apple II History deals with the original AppleII and the design features that went into it. What is most amusing to me is this: The decisions Wozniak made when laying out his revision to the AppleI involved not only those that would make it a good computer, but also would let him use his computer to play "Breakout". The color, the graphics, the sound, and the paddle circuits had the primary intention of making that possible. What is also interesting is that the success of the Apple II was strongly related to the free reign given to Wozniak the hacker, rather than allowing several people decide on features the computer should have. Also found in this part of the History is a glossary to some of the common terms used in the microcomputer world; it makes the novice more able to appreciate things discussed later in the history. >>> THE APPLE II: HARDWARE AND FIRMWARE <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Moving our time machine on to 1977, we can now look at Steve Wozniak's next generation Apple. Even as the Apple I was completed and was slowly selling, Wozniak was already working on making enhancements that would make his computer faster and more functional. He wanted to make it display in color. He worked to combine the terminal and memory functions of the Apple I by moving the display into main memory, allowing instant screen changes. Many of his changes were not added with the end user specifically in mind. Wozniak stated: "A lot of features of the Apple II went in because I had designed Breakout for Atari. I had designed it in hardware. I wanted to write it in software now. So that was the reason that color was added in first--so that games could be programmed. I sat down one night and tried to put it into BASIC. Fortunately I had written the BASIC myself, so I just burned some new ROMs with line drawing commands, color changing commands, and various BASIC commands that would plot in color. I got this ball bouncing around, and I said, 'Well it needs sound,' and I had to add a speaker to the Apple II. It wasn't planned, it was just accidental... Obviously you need paddles, so I had to scratch my head and design a simple minimum-chip paddle circuit, and put on some paddles. So a lot of these features that really made the Apple II stand out in its day came from a game, and the fun features that were built in were only to do one pet project, which was to program a BASIC version of Breakout and show it off at the club."<1> Wozniak added other features that he felt were important for a computer that was useful, one that he would want to own. Since the 6502 processor could address a total of 64K of memory, he designed the computer with the ability to use either 4K RAM chips, or the newer (and more expensive) 16K RAM chips. The first Apple II's came standard with 4K of memory, and more could be added, to a maximum of 12K (if using the 4K chips) or 48K (if using the 16K chips). Specially wired strapping blocks attached to the motherboard told the Apple II how much memory was present and where it was. According to the 1981 edition of the APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, the Apple could have memory in the following sizes: 4K, 8K, 12K, 16K, 20K, 24K, 32K, 36K, or a full 48K. (These sizes were determined by the different ways that three RAM chips, either 4K or 16K, could be installed). The strapping blocks were even designed with the flexibility of allowing blank spots in memory if there were no RAM chips available to fill those spots. The first 4K of memory always had to have RAM present, since it was used by the 6502 processor, the ROM routines, and the text screen display. If, for example, you only had two other 4K RAM chips to install and you wanted to display hi-res graphics, you could strap one chip to the lower half of hi-res memory from $2000-$2FFF, and the other to the upper half of hi-res memory from $3000-$3FFF.<2> Since 16K RAM chips cost about $500 when Wozniak designed the Apple II, not many users could afford them. Whereas the Commodore PET and the Radio Shack TRS-80 could not easily be expanded beyond the 4K they came with, the Apple II from the beginning was designed with expansion in mind.<3> The row of eight expansion slots was another feature about the Apple II that was a strong selling point. Unlike the TRS-80 or PET, you could easily expand the Apple II by simply plugging a card into one of these slots. This degree of expandability made it more expensive to build, however. Steve Jobs didn't believe that anyone would ever need more than two slots, one for a printer and one possibly for a modem. Wozniak knew from his experience with computers at Hewlett-Packard that computer users would always find SOMETHING to fill those extra slots, and insisted that they keep the number at eight.<4> One problem Apple had to deal with was getting FCC approval for the computer. The RF (radio frequency) modulator that had been designed gave off too much interference, and it was probable that the FCC would not approve it. (The RF modulator allowed a user to attach the Apple to a standard television receiver, instead of requiring the purchase of an expensive computer monitor). Rather than have the release of the Apple II delayed for re-engineering of the RF modulator to get that FCC approval, Apple gave the specifications for the RF modulator to Marty Spergel. He ran a small company (called M&R Electronics) that specialized in obtaining hard-to-get parts that electronics and computer hackers wanted for their projects. Their agreement allowed M&R to make and sell the RF modulators, while Apple could concentrate on making and selling the Apple II. Dealers would sell an Apple II with a "Sup'r Mod" (costing about $30) if the buyer wanted to see the graphics on their color TV. Jobs assured Spergel that the item would sell well, maybe as many as fifty units a month. (Years later Spergel estimated that he had sold about four hundred thousand Sup'r Mods).<5> Other features that Wozniak (and Allen Baum, who helped him with the project) included in the Apple II ROMs included the terminal software to do screen text display, expanded Monitor functionality, and cassette input/output routines. They added the ability to split the screen into different sized windows. They also wrote a disassembler, which was one of the most important features of the Apple II from the beginning and a significant part of its open design. It allowed ANYONE to view the 6502 code that ANY program used, and matched the philosophy of the Homebrew Club of making all computer knowledge available to everybody. In the Apple I days, when Apple was supplying software "free or at minimal charge", Wozniak and Baum published an early version of their 6502 disassembler in a hacker's magazine. It was designed to be loaded in memory on the Apple I from $800 to $9D8 and the routine could be executed from the monitor. This early code was quit similar to the disassembler that was later included in the Apple II ROM.<6> Having an expanded Monitor program in ROM and color graphics were not the only features in the Apple II that attracted people to it. Having Wozniak's BASIC language in ROM, available immediately when the power was turned on, made it possible for non-hackers to write programs that used the Apple II's color graphics. An interesting bit of trivia about Wozniak's Integer BASIC was that he never had an assembly language source file for it. He wrote it in machine language, assembling it by hand on paper: "I wrote this BASIC processor, and I wrote a little ALGOL simulator and got it simulated. It looked like it would work, but I had forgotten to build the machine. I had no assembler, that was another thing. To use an assembler, they figured that somebody was going to buy this processor [the 6502] to use for a company, and their company can pay a few thousand dollars in time-sharing charges to use an assembler that was available in time-share. I didn't have any money like that, so a friend taught me that you just sort of look at each instruction, you write your instructions on the right side of the page, you write the addresses over on the left side, and you then look up the hex data for each instruction--you could assemble it yourself. So I would just sit there and assemble it myself. The [Integer] BASIC, which we shipped with the first Apple II's, was never assembled--ever. There was one handwritten copy, all handwritten, all hand-assembled. So we were in an era that we could not afford tools."<7> Even to this day there is not an official source code listing of Integer BASIC at Apple. And interestingly, the only error I am aware of in the Integer interpreter is one involving a single byte. If a line is entered that has too many parentheses, the "TOO LONG" error message is displayed instead of the "TOO MANY PARENS" message.<8> -- Jerry Penner jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca | "Wanna buy a duck" (Hi Joe :)