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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 3 - Issue 8 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 10 May 1994 :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI :: :: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER :: :: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE :: :: :: :: Published and Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by Subspace Publishers :: :: All Rights Reserved :: :: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :: :: Publisher ........................... Michael Lindsay EXPLORER :: :: Editor .................................. Travis Guy AEO.MAG :: :: Assistant Editor GEnie................ Ron Robinson EXPLORER.1 :: :: Assistant Editor CompuServe.......... Albert Dayes AEO.1 :: :: Assistant Editor Delphi......... Andreas Barbiero AEO.2 :: :: Assistant Editor Internet........ Timothy Wilson AEO.8 :: :: Atari Asylum ... [Closed] ...... Gregg Anderson AEO.7 :: :: Unabashed Atariophile ..... Michael R. Burkley AEO.4 :: :: Atari Artist ................... Peter Donoso EXPLORER.2 :: :: Jaguar Junkie ............... Tal Funke-Bilu EXPLORER.5 :: :: User Group Coordinator ........ Ron Whittam EXPLORER.4 :: :: :: :: Contributors: :: :: """"""""""""" :: :: Randy Hoekstra Boris Molodyi :: :: Thomas Schmidt David A. Wright :: :: :: :: :: :: Telecommunicated to you via: :: :: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" :: :: GEnie: AEO.MAG :: :: CompuServe: 70007,3615 :: :: Delphi: AEO_MAG :: :: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 319 :: :: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 :: :: :: :: Internet mailing address: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com :: :: FTP recent AEO issues from: rahul.net: pub/wilsont/AEO :: :: Search gopherspace under "aeo" for back issues :: :: :: :: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu :: :: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) :: :: :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Table of Contents * From the Editors .............................................. Time out. * Digital Briefs ..................................... Computer, and video game industry news. * Rare Gems ......................................... Quotes worth reading. * Jaguar Tackboard ............................... New developers & titles. * 64 Bits ........................... News from EET - Details of the Sigma Designs Card - Developer News. * "proTOS" Show Report ....................... Thomas Schmidt reports from the Ulm Atari faire. * That's Write 3 ................. Boris Molodyi gives us an in-depth look at Compo's powerful new word processor. * Andreas' Den ................... Andreas has a lot on his plate - EMail, emulators, co-processors, videogames. * ExtenDOS ........................... Running a CD-ROM from your Atari is child's play with this new software reviewed by Randy Hoekstra. * "From a Saved Backup" ....................... This time up, planning and running user group demos. * Legends of Valour .................. Andreas RPGs into yet another world. * Of Lasers and Men ....................... Tim Wilson says "wait" to this Falcon only Wolf 3D clone. * The Unabashed Atariophile ................. Michael Burkley lists new PD and Shareware files for _your_ Atari computer. * GEnie News ........................... New files & happenings on Atari's Official Online Resource. * Developing News ....................... Texas Atari Festival Connecticut Atarifest '94 News Atari's Summer Lynx Games Deal chro_MAGIC's MultiSync Gizmo Fractal Frenzy CD Towers 1.4 DMJ's View 2.5 Planned Additions * Shutdown ............................ Around the world and up your block. --==--==--==--==-- ||| From the Editors ....... Atari Explorer Online: The Next Generation ||| Travis Guy / | \ GEnie: AEO.MAG Delphi: AEO_MAG Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- Time for another look at events in the World Atari! First up, there is no Bob Brodie Dateline: Atari RTC in this issue. Bob is midway through his first vacation in a few years. He should be back, well and rested, and raring to go next month! So what's new? Tal spent a few days tracking down a few Jaguar developers and quizzing them on their work. (Well, I helped too....) News-hungry Jaguar owners have a few bones to chew on - some details on the Sigma Designs Jaguar card; Atari's "adopting" Wavefront's Gameware graphics and animation software as "tools of choice"; hints of future Jaguars... As an aside, I've been asked to pass along the news that after having "lost" a few EMail orders for Tempest 2000 in already cluttered EMailboxes, Atari Customer Service has instituted two new EMail addresses for orders only. You can find them in the Lynx Summer Games Sale offer in this issue. (Do you like Lynx? If so, you've got to check it out - there's a tremendous sale going on!) Which reminds me, just before Bob left on vacation, he used his magical powers (Honest! He has them!) and created a group EMail address for the entire AEO staff on GEnie. Mail sent to AEO$ <aeo$@genie.geis.com> will be read by all of us. So if you've ever wanted to ask a question, offer a compliment or criticism, but didn't know to whom you should address, fire your EMail there. Atari computer users, you wanted more computer news in AEO, and for the second straight issue, we deliver! Boris Molodyi has turned in an in-depth review of That's Write 3, and an impressive package it is. Andreas and Tim have other things on their minds, and have reviews of Legends of Valour and Of Lasers and Men. Postponed from last issue is Randy Hoekstra's review of ExtenDOS - CD-ROM driver software that delivers Atari "plug-and-play" ease for a growing base of CD software. Of course we have the usual columns and features. It wouldn't -be- AEO without them, would it? At the moment, it looks as if I may have some personal matters interfering with the next issue of AEO. What? Something more important than devotion to Atari machines!? Well, there may be. If I have to postpone the next issue until the weekend of June 4th, I'll drop a note in all of my usual distribution areas, but don't worry, if any important news arises, there'll be AEO News! bulletins to keep you informed. In any event, rest up yourself and have a wonderful May! There's going to be Fuji Fireworks a'plenty at Summer CES in June! --==--==--==--==-- ||| Digital Briefs - Industry News ||| By: Albert Dayes / | \ CIS: 70007,3615 GEnie: AEO.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Atari News =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ATARI and SIGMA DESIGNS PARTNER to DELIVER JAGUAR for the PC SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 3, 1994 - Atari Corporation (AMEX: ATC) today announced that it has exclusively licensed Jaguar technology to Sigma Designs (NASDAQ:SIGM) to deliver PC cards incorporating the award-winning Jaguar 64-bit technology with Sigma's Reel-Magic(TM) full-motion video capabilities. This deal will expand Jaguar's market reach by allowing more than 10 million users to play Jaguar software titles on their IBM-compatible personal computers by year's end. "Atari will once again jump ahead of the market by bringing the world's most advanced game technology to a new group of consumers in record time," said Sam Tramiel, president of Atari. "Knowing there would be great demand for Jaguar on personal computers - we designed the system to talk easily to the leading computer architectures. This has allowed us to move quickly to partner with Sigma Designs to make this happen before Christmas." "We are pleased to join Atari in its mission to expand the industry standards for video game play," said Julien Nguyen, vice president of engineering and chief technical officer of Sigma Designs. "Jaguar's 64-bit technology will be extremely attractive to the MPC customer base of more than 10 million users. By combining Sigma's Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) technology with Atari's 3D animation, we look forward to bringing the hottest video game technology and software titles to the desktops of users worldwide." Sigma Designs, headquartered in Fremont, Calif., is a leading manufacturer of high-performance multimedia computer products and document imaging display solutions. With the the release of its ReelMagic MPEG controller in October 1993, Sigma Designs redefined affordable video playback for the PC. ReelMagic allows users to experience a new generation of realistic entertainment, education, training, and business presentation software titles with full-screen, full-motion video and CD-quality sound. All Sigma Designs products are sold worldwide through a network of dealers, distributors and system integrators. Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured in the United States. Jaguar, the most powerful multimedia system available, was recently named the industry's "Best New Game System" (Video Games Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993 Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan). Jaguar also recently was given the European Computer Trade Show Award for "Best Hardware of the Year." Atari Corporation, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., manufactures and markets 64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems, video games and personal computers for the home, office and educational marketplaces. ATARI SELECTS WAVEFRONT'S GAMEWARE AS WORLDWIDE GAME DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE FOR JAGUAR SYSTEMS SANTA BARBARA, Calif., - April 25, 1994 - Wavefront Technologies, Inc. and Atari Corporation have announced a worldwide agreement making Wavefront's GameWare the exclusive game graphics and animation development software for the Atari Jaguar system. The GameWare family is a comprehensive set of 2D and 3D tools that incorporate a wide range of capabilities specifically geared towards game authoring and development needs. Under the terms of the agreement, Atari will itself use GameWare for internal content creation and will advise third-party developers to use GameWare as the image and geometry authoring tool for the new 64-bit Jaguar game system. Wavefront in turn will provide special pricing to Atari Authorized Developers wishing to purchase GameWare licenses. "Jaguar's performance and the realism delivered by GameWare provide our developers with a significant advantage in maximizing the capabilities and potential of our 64-bit design," said Bill Rehbock, vice president of Software Business Development for Atari. "Visual realism is central to Jaguar's capabilities and it has the rendering speed and throughput to drive realistic character animation at a price point that is viable for the home market." "Based on our extensive evaluation, Wavefront's state-of-the art game authoring tools are the best software for our developers to really demonstrate the Jaguar's capabilities. Wavefront's easy-to-use 3D animation and modeling tools will help artists focus on creative, show-and-tell story elements instead of the mechanics needed to implement special effects." "The Atari Jaguar represents the first of the next generation game consoles that will revolutionize the industry with its real-time 3D graphics capabilities," said Bruce Sinclair, electronic games marketing manager for Wavefront. "Atari's selection of GameWare as its exclusive authoring tool will showcase our product with the industry's leading developers in creating some of the most visually stunning games to date." GameWare is Wavefront's graphics software package tailored to meet the specific needs of entertainment content developers. GameWare runs on Silicon Graphics workstations and provides the graphics tools needed to create games containing realistic 3D objects and terrain, 3D synthetic actors with realistic motion and stunning special effects. GameWare can generate images and geometry suitable for any game platform. An open architecture allows developers to integrate their existing software tools with GameWare. Hyper Plug-ins available from Wavefront allow enhanced functionality, including GameWare Composer for 2D special effects and color reduction, and GameWare Dynamation for creating special effects such as explosions, fire, smoke and collisions. Since its introduction at the Consumer Electronics Show in January '94, GameWare has quickly been recognized as the graphics tool of choice among leading-edge game developers. Atari joins the rapidly growing list of gaming companies using Wavefront software including: Acclaim, Accolade, Arc Development, Argonaut Software, CAPCOM, Core Design, Electronic Arts The Learning Company, Midway Manufacturing, NAMCO, Ocean Software, SEGA, SNK, Spectrum Holobyte, Taito, Tiertex, US Gold, and Williams Entertainment. Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia home entertainment system and is the only video game system manufactured in the United States. Jaguar was recently named the industry's industry's "Best New Game System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (VideoGames Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993 Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan). Wavefront Technologies, Inc., founded in 1984, develops, markets and supports a complete line of workstation-based three-dimensional and two-dimensional computer graphics imaging and animation software products for professional users in the entertainment and industrial markets. The Company's entertainment customers use the software to create images and special effects for movies, television programming, advertising and electronic games. The Company's industrial customers use the software to create images for enhancing and marketing products, visualization of design appearance and function, presentation of complex project concepts and illustration of engineering and scientific phenomena that would otherwise be difficult to understand. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Computer Business =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// CBM Closes its Doors - Commodore International Ltd., the computer """"""""""""""""""""""""" manufacturer that provided many with their first computers, is going out of business. The computing pioneer that sold many PET, Vic-20, C-64 and Amiga computers is finally closing its doors. Commodore said, "This is the initial phase of an orderly voluntary liquidation of both companies." The company reported a loss of $8.2 million for the previous quarter //// Multimedia Newscasts - Intel Corp. and Cable News Network """"""""""""""""""""""""" announced they have entered into an alliance to test live multimedia news services on business PCs. Beginning in May at a variety of test sites, business PCs on local area networks (LANs) will display the programming of CNN, the comprehensive breaking news, business and information network, and Headline News, with its concise, fast-paced, half-hour format. To date, video applications have been too bandwidth-intensive for deployment on LANs. Intel's multicast video technology allows a single stream of video packets to be received by multiple stations via existing network wiring, conserving LAN bandwidth. A channel of specially compressed Indeo video can be delivered using less than five percent of the bandwidth of today's LANs. //// Pure Water - A microscopic mineral speck suspended in water is a """"""""""""""" floating boulder to a submicron semiconductor chip. So chip manufacturers looking to stay competitive by decreasing product defects are taking a close look at their water. "To produce defect-free semiconductors, there is a growing need to maximize control over everything in the manufacturing process - including the ultra-high-purity water used for wafer rinsing and cleaning," said Michael Reardon, chief operating officer (COO) of United States Filter Corp. //// FRAM Memory - Hitachi and the US seminconductor company Ramtron """""""""""""""" International Corp. have established an agreement to jointly develop high-density "FRAM(R)" memory, a semiconductor product Hitachi says could be the "ultimate memory." The long-term agreement calls for the development, production and sale of high-density FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) products by Hitachi and Ramtron. The sale of these products could grow to more than $600 million per year by 1998. High-density FRAM products will be used to replace DRAM, SRAM and FLASH memories. FRAM memories combine the high-speed of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) with the non-volatility of (ROM) Read Only Memory - features that at present are not available in any single semiconductor memory device. The resulting products from the joint development will be used in many current applications as well as a range of new applications created by the rapid shift to down-sized, portable electronic devices such as multimedia systems, communication products and other rapidly growing portable-application areas. //// The Math Factor - In 1977, Scientific American magazine offered """""""""""""""""""" a $100 prize to anyone who could find the factors of a 129-digit number. The prize was recently awarded to students at MIT and Iowa State University and to an Oxford University professor/Bellcore scientist. The significance of the "crackers" project is to determine the safety of encrypted data using approximately 120 digit keys. RSA is one company that uses the same idea for its encryption technologies. Most of RSA's keys are close to 200 digits. Currently RSA technology is used by many different industries including telecommunications, defense and banking. Over 600 people got together via Internet to work on a solution to the 129 digit problem. The solution was one factor with 65 digits and the other with 64. With over 1500 computers working for a total of 8 months the problem was finally solved. All types of computers were used in the effort including PCs and supercomputers. "This is how a person would feel if they had 129 locks on the door that were only breakable if the world's great locksmiths had to work together for eight months," said James Bidzos, president of RSA Data Security. "You'd probably feel pretty good about that." //// Motorola's Celligrams? - Motorola's Cellular Infrastructure """"""""""""""""""""""""""" Group announced that it will develop an open network protocol that will allow more rapid introduction of new and enhanced messaging services for cellular phone users. Fax notification and custom text messages are among the new, industry-leading cellular services scheduled for availability in the third quarter of 1994. In the future, Centigram will also be providing E-mail notification, text-to-speech conversion and access to information services. //// Computer Science Takes NASA - Computer Sciences Corp. announced """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" it has been selected by NASA for a $1 billion-plus contract to provide computer services at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Computer Sciences beat out incumbent Boeing Co.'s computer services operation, and Harris Corp. for the 8 year deal and will take over the contract immediately. //// Kodak Focuses on Imaging - Eastman Kodak Company revealed a new """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" corporate strategy that will focus the company's resources and management attention exclusively on its imaging businesses, and wipe out its holdings in certain other areas. "Imaging offers Kodak tremendous opportunities for long-term success and growth. It is the business Kodak knows best, built on over a century of brand strength, marketing know-how, and technological leadership," said George M. C. Fisher, Kodak's Chairman, President, and CEO. "To achieve maximum success, we have concluded that we must commit our entire resource base to imaging opportunities and divest non-core businesses." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Video Games / MMedia =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Game Over - Electronic Arts and Broderbund Software called off """""""""""""" their proposed merger. The main reason was differences of opinion over the final price. In addition the stock values have dropped which greatly affected the all stock transaction. //// Nintendo Does DMA - Nintendo announced that the highly acclaimed """""""""""""""""""""" video game developer DMA Design Ltd. of Dundee, Scotland, is the latest company developing games for Nintendo's 64-bit Project Reality home video game system, now being developed for Nintendo by Silicon Graphics Inc. DMA, creator of the classic series of "LEMMINGS" video games, will dedicate its company's resources to support the launch and early development of Project Reality, what Nintendo claims to be the world's most advanced home video game system. It will debut in the fall of 1995 at a suggested retail price of less than $250. //// A True Pitfall - Activision has announced that it has hired """"""""""""""""""" Kroyer Films Inc. and Soundelux Media Labs to participate in the production of "Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure," an all new interactive game based on the hit video game series of the 1980's, "Pitfall Harry." The game is being developed for the Sega Genesis and Super NES platforms and will eventually be introduced for various CD-ROM based platforms including Sony's new PSX multimedia system. //// Dial "0" for Startup - Telecommunications giant Bell Atlantic """"""""""""""""""""""""" and The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc., joined forces with InterActive Partners to fund and build start-up companies in the interactive television and multimedia arena. Interactive Partners is headed by Robert M. Fell, a well-known entertainment communications investor and entrepreneur, and David S. Morse, a technology leader who founded and developed the core technology for Amiga Computer as well as the technology for The 3DO Company's Interactive Multiplayer. Fell and Morse were both founding directors of Crystal Dynamics, a prominent game software company which serves as the prototype for future InterActive Partners companies. This powerful coalition provides strategic relationships and direct funding for the companies emerging in home shopping, electronic games, education, children's entertainment, gaming, location-based entertainment and other areas. Initial portfolio companies include VideoStream, The New Children's Studio and Silicon Gaming. //// Time Warner's Title Wave - Time Warner Interactive has set up a """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" multi-title deal with Tsunami Media to publish and distribute a number of its PC CD-ROM entertainment titles. The deal includes taking over distribution of six previously released titles and publishing Tsunami's latest science fiction adventure game, Return to Ringworld, which will be available this summer. "What makes Tsunami unusual," said Craig Moody, executive vice president, Time Warner Interactive, "is that their products combine intelligent user-sensitive simulations and leading-edge interactive video which puts a brand-new spin on the traditional exploration/adventure game genre." //// Sega Lion to Us? - Sega and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. agreed to a """"""""""""""""""""" precedent-setting deal to jointly create a line-up of interactive media titles, television programs and motion picture titles, as part of a multi-year, multi-title effort. The non-exclusive deal calls for MGM and Sega to invest an undisclosed sum in the effort. Beyond that investment, the deal calls for both parties to collaborate in the development, production and marketing of media products. Products resulting from the deal will bear both the MGM and Sega names. Although product to be developed will be new and original concepts, Sega and MGM also may choose to develop interactive games based on forthcoming 1995 and 1996 movie releases from both MGM Pictures and the United Artists Pictures units of MGM. //// A Princely Game - The singer Prince, who recently changed his """""""""""""""""""" name to a unique symbol not found in normal ASCII, has been involved in a new game bearing his name. Graphiz Zone the producer of the game for Sigma Design's Reelmagic board for the PC said the name of the game will be Prince Interactive. The game will have music written specifically for the CD-ROM in addition other songs and videos written in the past. The product should ship around Summer 1994. //// Catwoman Never? - Warner Bros. and Acclaim announced the two """""""""""""""""""" companies have entered into a pact whereby Batman Forever, the highly anticipated blockbuster Warner Bros. movie starring Michael Keaton, will lead Acclaim's recently announced 1995 entry into the coin-op arcade market. In addition, Batman Forever will headline several Acclaim interactive entertainment software titles for leading home video game cartridge and CD-ROM systems, including those produced by Sega and Nintendo. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Rare Gems ||| Compiled by: David A. Wright / | \ Internet:dave.wright@magic.org ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for April 17 to 23, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. This space intentionally left filled. --:Dave === The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt. --Thomas Merton The universe is made up of stories, not atoms. --Muriel Rukeyser People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy. --Bob Hope A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born. --Antoine de Saint-Exupery It is remarkable how often our complaints reflect our own shortcomings. --Dick Overton To Gary Hill, who I promised to remember in my will, I want to say, "Hi, Gary." --Lewis Grizzard's will Well, Red Cloud, it just so happens I -did- ask the chief!... A bear claw necklace is a symbol of honor - a Grizzly Adams fingernail necklace is not! --Indian, "The Far Side" cartoon by Gary Larson The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for April 24 to 30, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. Smoke-free zone. Put it out, or it'll put you out. --:Dave === If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kickboxing. --Unknown "Instinct" is just a fancy word that means, "We don't know why the hell they do that." --Unknown No one can do me any good by loving me; I have more love than I need or could do any good with; but people do me good by making me love them - which isn't easy. --John Ruskin "Hee Hoo keeps his head while all about him are losing theirs..." "Is getting paid to operate the guillotine." --"B.C." strip by Johnny Hart Call me insane one more time, and I'll eat your other eye. --Unknown A key ring is a handy little gadget that allows you to lose all your keys at once. --Unknown I know that parenthood is an institution, but I'm not ready to be institutionalized. --Dixie Cousins, "Brisco County" show The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for May 1 to 7, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and David Alan Wright. (Internet: DAVE.WRIGHT@MAGIC.ORG) Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without further authorization. Not sanitized for your moral protection. --:Dave === You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife? --Benjamin Franklin It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has. --William Osler Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born. --Ronald Reagan There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets? --Dick Cavett If thee marries for money, thee surely will earn it. --Ezra Bowen Grad school - It's not just a job, it's an indenture. --Unknown If life is like a highway, then the soul is just a car, and objects in the rear-view mirror may appear closer than they are. --Meatloaf --==--==--==--==-- ||| Jaguar Tackboard ||| Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar / | \ Compiled from online and official sources ----------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Independent Association of Jaguar Developers =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The IAJD (Independent Association of Jaguar Developers) is accepting members on GEnie. The IAJD is a private group where confidential discussions can be freely held. (Category 64 of the ST RoundTable is the IAJD meeting place.) Consequently, membership in the IAJD is limited to Jaguar developers who are registered with Atari Corp. To apply for membership, send EMail to ENTRY$ on GEnie (or <entry$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie). Regular EMail correspondence with the IAJD should be sent to IAJD$ (again, or <iajd$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Developer / Game List 1.10 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Editor: The following developers, licensees and game titles have been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of May 9, 1994. Entries in the "S"tatus column reflects any "e"rrors, "u"pdates, "n"ew titles, or new "d"evelopers since the last AEO list. Titles in brackets (e.g. [Cybermorph]) have been completed and are available in the US. 1-10 Titles S Developer/Licensee Rating under development " """""""""""""""""" """""" """"""""""""""""" 21st Century Software - Pinball Fantasies 3D Games - Rainbow Warrior - MORE Accent Media Productions - Varuna's Forces CD-ROM Accolade - Al Michaels Announces Hardball - Brett Hull Hockey - Charles Barkley Basketball - Jack Nicholas Golf Activision - Return to Zork CD-ROM All Systems Go - Hosenose and Booger CD-ROM - Jukebox (cart multiplexer) e - B.I.O.S.fear CD-ROM American Laser Games - Mad Dog McCree Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off 3 (for Imagineer) - World Cup Anthill Industries Argonaut Software - Creature Shock CD-ROM (For Virgin) Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000 - Chaos Agenda CD-ROM - Club Drive 5 [Crescent Galaxy] - MPEG 1 and 2 carts - Star Raiders 2000 - Tiny Toons Adventures - VR Helmet MORE Atari Games Corp. - Arcade Games Using Jaguar Attention to Detail - Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2 CD-ROM - Blue Lightning CD-ROM 7 [Cybermorph] (For Atari) Audio-Visual Magic Bethesda Softworks Beyond Games Inc. - Battlewheels - Ultra Vortex Black Scorpion Software Bjorn Joos/Kris Van Lier Borta & Associates Brainstorm - [x86 Jaguar Development System] Bullfrog Productions Ltd. - Syndicate - Theme Park (For Ocean) Clearwater Software Computer Music Consulting Cybervision CyberWare Delta Music Systems Inc. Dimension Technologies Domark Group Ltd. - F1 Racer DTMC - Lester the Unlikely - Mountain Sports - (Miniature Golf) Eclipse - Iron Soldier Elite E-On Eurosoft EZ Score Software Inc. GameTek Inc. Genus Microprogramming Inc. Gremlin Graphics Ltd. - Zool 2 - UNKNOWN TITLE (racing) - MORE? H2O Design Corp. Hand Made Software - Kasumi Ninja (For Atari) u High Voltage Software - White Men Can't Jump (for Trimark) Hisoft ICD Inc. - Cat Box (AV & comm expansion box) id Software - Doom: Evil Unleashed - Wolfenstein 3D Imagineer Company Ltd. Imagitec Design Inc. 6 [Evolution Dino-Dudes] 6 [Raiden] - Freelancer 2120 CD-ROM - Busby in Clawed Encounters of the Furried Kind (For Accolade) n - Dino Dudes 2 Interplay - BattleChess CD-ROM - MORE? Jaleco - Cisco Heat - Bases Loaded - MORE CD-ROM Krisalis Software Ltd. - Soccer Kid Limelight Media Inc. LlamaSoft 10 [Tempest 2000] (For Atari) - MORE MINTER! Loricel S.A. Manley & Associates Inc. Maxis Software Microids - Evidence - Commando Microprose - Gunship 2000 - MORE SIMULATIONS Midnite Software Inc. - Car Wars - Dungeon Depths MORE Millenium Interactive Ltd. NMS Software Ltd. Ocean Software Ltd. - (Movie title "The Shadow") CD-ROM - Apes--- - (Comic title "LOBO") CD-ROM Phalanx - Phong 2000 Photosurrealism - Galactic Gladiators u Pixel Satori (was Duncan Brown) u PIXIS Interactive - Unnamed graphic adventure Rage Software UK ReadySoft Incorporated - Dragon's Lair CD-ROM - Dragon's Lair II CD-ROM - Space Ace CD-ROM Rebellion Software Ltd. - Alien vs. Predator - Checkered Flag II - Legions of the Undead (For Atari) n - Hammerhead Rest Energy Sculptured Software Inc. d Sigma Designs - "Jaguar on a PC" PC card Silmarils - Robinson's Requiem CD-ROM d Sinister Developments Software Creations Team Infinity Team 17 Software Ltd. Tecnation Digital World Techtonics Telegames - Brutal Sports Football - Casino Royale - European Soccer Challenge - Ultimate Brain Games - MORE? - Double Dragon 5 (For Tradewest) - Super Off-Road (For Tradewest) Teque London Ltd. Thrustmaster Tiertex Ltd. - Flashback (for U.S. Gold) Titus Tradewest - Troy Aikman Football n - The Shadow Falls Trimark Interactive - U.S. Gold Ltd. n UBI Soft International - RayMan u - MORE (American Football) V-Reel Productions - Arena Football - Horrorscope Virgin Interactive Entertainment Ltd. - Dragon - Demolition Man Virtual Xperience - Indiana Jags - Zozziorx - MORE? Visual Concepts Williams Brothers WMS Industries Zeppelin Games - Center Court Tennis Pts Stars AEO Ratings """ """"" """"""""""" 10 ***** GAMING NIRVANA!!! - You have left reality behind... for good. 9 ****+ Unbelieveable GAME!! - Your family notices you're often absent. 8 **** Fantastic Game!! - You can't get enough playtime in on this. 7 ***+ Great Game! - Something to show off to friends or 3DOers. 6 *** Good game - You find yourself playing this from time to time. 5 **+ Ho-hum - If there's nothing else to do, you play this. 4 ** Waste of time - Better to play this than play in traffic. 3 *+ Sucks - Playing in traffic sounds like more fun. 2 * Sucks Badly - You'd rather face an IRS audit than play this. 1 + Forget it - ... but you can't; it's so badly done, it haunts you. 0 - Burn it - Disallow programmer from ever writing games again. --==--==--==--==-- ||| 64-bits (Jaguar news) ||| By: Tal Funke-Bilu / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.5 --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Jaguar Fans! Well, it's been a busy two weeks for the Junkie, but I don't have as much information as I would have liked. It seems I've ended up with a little bit of news from a lot of developers, rather than a lot of news from a few developers. //// Future Jaguar Developments in EE Times Electronic Engineering Times did a front page story in their May 2nd issue on technical advances in the video game and computer game arenas. Basically, there are moves to merge the two! Leaving the big Atari/Sigma announcement until the next section, EE Times quotes Atari officials as saying that internal design of the second generation Jaguar (which could be software compatible!) will be complete this Fall. The new chip will contain the equivilant of 1.25 million transistors, compared to the 750,000 count in the current Jaguar chipset. A 10-fold increase in polygon performance is anticipated. Also spoken of was that Atari has joined other companies in designing a cable-TV set-top box - based on Jaguar technology. //// Sigma anounces JagPC - Jaguar on a PC card! The big news on the video game front is the announcement from Atari Corp. and Sigma Designs on the development on the rumored PC Jag card. Yep, it's true, Sigma Designs announced that they plan to have the card available to the public by the end of the year for "under $500." At the moment, details are a bit sketchy, and rumors are flying all over the Internet in every newsgroup from Atari to 3DO to Sega to Nintendo. Not only is Atari leading the pack with the most advanced video game system available, but now they are making it available to an installed user base of over 10,000,000 users. As for now, here are the facts as we know them: [] The JagPC will enable PC users with a MPC2 compatible machine (and the JagPC of course) to play JagCD games in a window on their PC. [] PC users will not need to buy a special Jaguar CD-ROM drive as the card will utilize the (double-speed) CD drive in the PC. [] The card will NOT play Jaguar cartridges. [] The JagPC will play the SAME Compact Discs that will play in Atari's upcoming Jaguar CD-ROM drive. (i.e. you will be able to pop a disc out of your Jaguar CD-ROM drive and run -the- -same- -physical- -disc- on the JagPC.) [] The JagPC will use an ISA bus slot. (There is currently no name for the product. We are calling it "JagPC" for lack of a better name!) As far as we can tell, there are no current plans by Atari Corp. to establish similar cards or devices for other computing platforms. The JagPC itself is not only a "Jag-on-a-card." In addition to allowing Jaguar CD compatibility, the card will also benefit the PC user by acting as a ReelMagic MPEG card in its spare time. That's right, it will be a ReelMagic/JagCard in one. Although it has not been confirmed, it is likely that the ReelMagic's MPEG abilities will utilized by the JagPC card, thus eliminating the need for a PC user to have some type of MPEG Cartridge needed by owners of a "regular" Jag+CD. With ReelMagic cards retailing for around $400, this is definately exciting news indeed! This also opens the door for PC software developers who previously might not have considered porting their software over to the Jaguar. The current ReelMagic card allows PC users to display MPEG compressed video on a PC with over 32,000 colors in a resolution up to 1024x768 with no slow down at 30fps. It also allows for the playback of Video CDs which are just starting to trickle into the market. Currently, some of the more noteable ReelMagic developers are: Activision, Sierra On-Line, ReadySoft, Aris Entertainment, Trilobyte, Interplay, Access Software Inc., Virgin Games, Compton's New Media, and Psychnosis. //// Developer News [] UBI Soft are not working on Jimmy Connor's Tennis, intstead they are focusing their efforts on a futuristic adventure game entitled RayMan. They are also trying to obtain licenses from either the NFL or the NFL Player's Assoiciation for an upcoming American Football title. Both are said to be "coming along quite nicely now" and they plan to display them at the SCES. [] Virgin's two main projects are a fighting game called Dragon, alongside with Demolition Man, based on the hit movie of the same name. [] Pixis International told AEO that they were going to stay away from "adult" titles with their first batch of Jag releases. They plan on releasing an unnamed graphic adventure game for the whole family by year's end or 1Qtr '95. [] Imagineer reported that KickOff 3 "development is taking place on schedule." EPROMs of this great soccer game have been reported in the Atari HQ, but the latest reports show a reworking of the code to correct a bug. Look for this one towards Fall. [] Tradewest has their arms full with a batch of great titles. Currently they are working on Double Dragon 5, The Shadow Falls (a tournament fighting game with approx. 12 levels), and Troy Aikman Football. All are progressing nicely and should be shown at the SCES. [] Amid rumors of CD-Dev kits and what not, ReadySoft has confirmed that they are well into development on Dragon's Lair CD for the Jag. They are very pleased with the Jag's hardware. [] Activision are looking at the Jaguar's sales performance to determine whether they will be bringing their new Pitfall to the Jag. A "far in the future" candidate for the Jag might be River Raid, but that would depend on whether Activision decides to revive it. (Personally, they told AEO that they feel the Jaguar would be a success, and that it would be a great platform to do a new River Raid on!) [] DTMC has also confirmed that a Christmas release is likely for Lester the Unlikely. [] Jeff Minter has told AEO that his VLM is coming along great. "It's got a bunch of just wicked effects!" He hopes to collaborate with Atari in an effort to finalize the coding and include it in the JagCD within the next month. Look for the "missing Minter files" to resurface when Jeff makes it over to the states. AEO might also be able to score on a RealTime Conference with Jeff on GEnie, but I'm not making any promises. [] Lots, lots, lots more developers are doing things with Jaguar that will make heads SPIN! Announcements, as they always say, are coming soon. //// Sum... Summ... Summertime! In a related note, AEO is currently pursuing efforts to obtain a badge to the SCES. In the event that we are able to attend, we will be putting together a comprehensive two hour VHS video of the entire 3 days. This will be a professional production that you wont want to miss. (It will be packed with the works. Screenshots, gameplay, interviews, what's up behind enemy lines (read 3DO), etc.) Also, look for the Junkie to supply you with a special "ALL JAGUAR" issue of the latest Atari (and related) news of the SCES within a week of its completion. Keep in mind that this will only be possible if we can gain access. AEO would like your feedback as to what you the reader would like covered in the video and special issue. Please send all questions, comments, etc. to Travis <aeo.mag@genie.geis.com> and to me <explorer.5@genie.geis.com>. That looks like it will do for this issue. I was planning on including a bit more, but I just found out I have to take off to L.A. No Jag for 3 days... uh oh.... BTW: 3,150,000 still the score to beat on T2K. --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- GEnie Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- 1. Set your communications software for half duplex (local echo) -- -- at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud. -- -- -- -- 2. Dial toll free: 1-800-638-8369 (or in Canada, 1-800-387-8330). -- -- Upon connection, enter HHH. -- -- -- -- 3. At the U# prompt, enter XTX99436,GENIE then press <Return>. -- -- -- -- 4. Have a major credit card ready. In the U.S., you may also use -- -- your checking account number. -- -- -- -- For more information in the United States or Canada, call 1-800- -- -- 638-9636 or write: GEnie, c/o GE Information Services, P.O. Box -- -- 6403, Rockville, MD 20850-1785. -- -- -- -- --==--==-- Atari's Official Online Resource! --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| "proTOS" Report ||| By: Thomas Schmidt / | \ Internet: schmidts@minnie.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ulm, Germany, April 22th - 24th As it is known, the largest ATARI-Fair, the "ATARI Messe" in Dusseldorf, Germany, has ceased to exist. Instead, several German traders have organized three smaller fairs in all corners of the country. The first one was the "proTOS" fair, in Ulm in the south. The second one, "CSA Falcon Competence Party", will take place on April 29th and 30th in Gelsenkirchen in the west; the third, "FEZ-A-BIT", in Berlin on the 7th and 8th of May. (Yes, they will all have taken place by the time you read this, but not yet for me!) In Ulm, most of the exhibitors were traders and from the overall impression it seemed that their happy mood either derived from the sunshine outside or the good sales performance. Although there were many visitors on Sunday, it seemed that Saturday even saw a higher number. On the hardware side, only a few prototypes were shown. Overscan and Compo showed applications on two Medusa T40 68040 TOS-computers, but could only promise to show the Afterburner 040 for the Falcon at the "FEZ-A-BIT". The price was said to be around DM 1500 (about $900). The offered version of the Medusa T40 for DM 7999 (about $4700) included 8MB FastRAM, ET4000 graphics, and a 270 MB harddisk, all in a towercase. MW Elektronik showed the PAK68/3 accellerator board for ST and Mega ST, it was reported that the processor speed (a 68030) can be increased to over 50 MHz! They also had a prototype of a VGA-graphic card adapter for the PAK and promised to finish the work on the FastRAM option soon. Even if you want to dismiss your ATARI for a "compatible" computer, You need not neccessarily throw away all your TOS programs! VHF Computer GmbH showed its "Janus" ST-board for PCs. It has a 16 MHz 68000 and sits in an ISA-slot. There are two SIMM-slots on the board, so you can have up to 32 MB of RAM. Although the raw performance of the processor is not higher than you would expect, the graphic routines are processed by the host PC and therefore seem to exceed even TT030 values. The shown board ran my game "Slartris" without problems in a remarkable speed but apparently, there was a last minute bug in one of the driver routines which made the PC speaker go "beeeeep" forever everytime a text function was called.... As for the price and release date, the card without TOS and RAM goes for DM 898 (~$530) and is said will be delivered around the end of May. Heyer & Neumann GbR showed a prototype of their "Multiboard". This allows you to increase the on-board memory of a Mega-ST (ST solutions are under development) with an additional 8 MB RAM (SIMM modules). It includes a slot for an ET4000 PC graphic card (which needs "ET4000 NVDI" by Behne & Behne) and an IDE HD-interface, also TOS 2.06-slots. The additional RAM (the prototype ran in an Mega ST with 3 MB RAM) is installed at the same addresses FastRAM is, but without the increased speed. Therefore TOS 2.06 is needed to recognize this memory. The price was announced to be about DEM 300 ($180) for the board; delivery should start in June for the Mega ST version, the ST-version not before July. On the software-side, I like to mention two CD-ROMs with PD and ShareWare mainly of German origin. They were compiled by Bernd Lohrum (EMail: bernd_lohrum@clubbox.light.de) and offer many hundreds of megabytes of programs and data, both in packed (for BBSs) and unpacked versions, the newer one dated the 13th of April. About the author: I'm a 22-year German student of computer science at the University of Stuttgart. Now I'm in the fourth semester, that's just about six left to go!-) My first connection with computers was a VCS 2600 back in '82, and I stayed with ATARI all the following years. First with an 800XL, and since '87 I have an 260ST, now with 2.5 MB RAM and a PAK68/3 accellarator. I started with BASIC and assembler on the XL; BASIC, Assembler and C on the ST. I just had the "pleasure" to learn HP-9000-RISC-Assembler at the University. The only program I've "sold" so far (unintentionally that is) is "Slartris". It was published on a PD-disk for the German "ST Magazin", which ceased to exist shortly thereafter (No connection, afaIk). --==--==--==--==-- ||| That's Write 3.1g Review ||| By: Boris Molodyi / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.6 CIS: 70322,624 ------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: by now, That's Write is up to version 3.1h that fixes a bug when in some circumstances, if "Dialogs in Windows" option was selected, the text cursor might become invisible. First of all, I want to say what That's Write 3 is and what it is not. That's Write 3 is an advanced word processor with many powerful features. However, it is not a heavily graphic-oriented program. If you are looking for a word processor that will let you create leaflets, flyers and generally do small-scale DTP, That's Write 3 is not the answer. However, for writing letters, creating invoices (self-calculating, if you want them to), academic theses; for writing The Great American Novel, or for general text manipulation, That's Write 3 is probably the most capable program available in the US Atari market. That's Write 3 allows you to manipulate fonts, page elements and even images easily, but it does not have the graphical power of a DTP program. COMPO says (rightly, in my opinion) that if you want a complex layout, you probably should invest in a full-blown DTP program. That's Write 3 does not display multiple columns on screen (even though it allows for them) and does not reformat paragraphs as you type. Instead, it waits for you to stop typing (or issue a direct command to reformat) before doing it. You can find it distracting in the beginning, but other powerful features of That's Write 3 redeem these shortcomings. //// Installation To begin with, the current version of That's Write 3 comes on 4 disks (more if you also get the MultiFont package that gives you all 35 standard PostScript fonts). It has an easy to use, completely GEM-based installation program. After being told where you want the program to be installed and what kind of printer(s) you have, it installs the program - together with appropriate font files (more on TW's font handling later) and printer drivers. You can also choose to install demo documents, accessory programs and TOS fixes. The installation programs also can make backup copies of master disks for you, and displays the READ.ME file when you load it. To work with That's Write 3 you need at least 1 Meg of RAM, and a hard drive is recommended. It is possible to work on a floppy-based system, but I would not recommend it, either. //// Interface The first thing that meets the eye when you run That's Write 3 (provided that you have installed the noSystem interface driver) is That's Write 3's interface. Having better graphics than ST High or Medium certainly helps. (The more colors and pixels you have, the better; That's Write 3 will work with Falcon or any graphic board that has working VDI drivers.) The interface is very well thought out, and features 3D-looking gadgets for windows and dialog boxes (which are moveable and may be placed inside windows). Radio buttons, check boxes, exit buttons, all have a distinctive 3D look and are color-coded for easy reference. (The default exit button is green, while the "Cancel" button is red, for example.) This user-adjustable interface, which is provided through the AUTO folder program, may be used in other programs. (Currently, the latest version of Musicom from COMPO uses it.) Almost every dialog box also has a "Help" button that brings up a short description of operations made in this dialog and describes various options offered. Apart from the fact that it is really very nice looking, TW's interface is very easy to use. Clicking on the right mouse button when inside the text window brings up a pop-up menu that lets you get help on the keyboard shortcuts, conduct various operations on the current text, go to a specific place in the text, or set a marker in the text. You may have two additional windows active: "Status" and "Macro". Status presents information about the current text, such as its saved status, current font, name of the author, author's remarks, current paragraph format and other things. Clicking on a field in this window brings up a dialog or selector allowing you to change this information. You can, of course, select what information is displayed and how it is formatted. The "Macro" window shows a list of all currently defined macros, their keyboard equivalents, and their names. Clicking on the macro name carries on operations defined in that macro, while right-clicking lets you edit parameters, such as the shortcut (useful for expanding short abbreviations into long sentences), description, etc. Display parameters of the "Macro" window also may be set to your liking. For those like to have a full range of keyboard shortcuts at their disposal, That's Write 3 offers two possibilities: you can use Atari standard keyboard equivalents (for the most part, the same as on Mac and Windows systems; Ctrl-X for cut, for example), or you can use the SysKey set of keyboard shortcuts that has a single key shortcuts for more frequently used operations, while less-frequently used operations use two key sequences. This approach allows for keyboard equivalents to be assigned to every single menu operation in That's Write 3. For example, quitting the program (something that you probably do only once during the working session) is defined as Ctrl-F,Q (Ctrl-F selects the "File" menu, while Q indicates the "Quit" menu entry). This system works similarly to that found on PCs. That's Write 3 allows you to control other aspects of the interface as well. Besides being able to chose whether you want your dialogs placed in windows and selecting the style of keyboard shortcuts you prefer, you also can select whether the text cursor blinks or not, whether the system file selector (or whichever alternative one you have installed) or TW's own selector is used. That's Write 3 supports up to 9 documents and open windows at once, even if you do not have MultiTOS, Geneva or Mag!X installed, and it has commands for arranging windows the way you want. TW also supports MultiTOS' drag-n-drop protocol. Dragging a text file onto one of TW's windows gives you the choice of either opening the new window for this file, or of appending the file with the current text. Dragging an IMG file to TW's window loads this image and displays it in the current text. Clicking on a window's "Closer" button presents a pop-up menu with choices of closing the window (without removing the text from memory), removing the text altogether, erasing everything in the window (if the text have not been saved, you will be asked if you want to save it), or quitting the program. As every other pop-up does, this one has single-key keyboard equivalents. Other interface extensions offered by That's Write 3 include improvements in window manipulation. You can scroll and move background windows, like in MultiTOS. In addition, That's Write 3 lets you size the window from any corner, and select whether the window should have horizontal or vertical scroll bars or none at all. When you are sizing the window, the mouse pointer changes its shape, pointing in the direction of the corner you're using to size the window. Any dialog or alert box, even if they aren't placed inside windows (which is useful if you are running a multitasking OS) may be dragged around, either in its solid form, or as a transparent outline. Almost all options and buttons in dialogs and alerts have keyboard equivalents which are underlined for easy reference. The "UNDO" key is always equivalent to pressing the "Cancel" button. Also, text editing in dialog boxes is greatly improved over the standard handling. You can use the mouse to place the cursor in any position of the edited text. You can also use shift key, together with arrow keys, to quickly move to the beginning or end of the text. //// Font support That's Write 3 is very strong in the area where most Atari word processors, until recently, were rather weak; support for multiple, scaleable fonts. That's Write 3 can use Speedo fonts, as well as bitmapped GEM fonts, and a printer's built-in fonts. Speedo support means that you have access to a large library of professional vector fonts. Speedo fonts are hinted and kerned, and screen and printed output is very good. Support for GEM bitmapped fonts means that all those GDOS fonts that you might have collected in the past are not obsolete. You can also use COMPO's C-Font utility to convert any Calamus font into a bitmapped font. Finally, support for fonts built-in into your printer means that even if you have a dot-matrix or ink-jet printer you still can print your documents fast and yet be able to use graphics and Speedo fonts. Since That's Write 3 does not use the SpeedoGDOS itself, but rather has its own Speedo font scaler built-in, you can enjoy TW's superior font handling. It also means that you can mix printer's fonts, bitmapped fonts, and Speedo fonts in the same document - even in the same word. As a result, you can have the body text in your document printed in your printer's resident font (or in a font you have downloaded to your printer), which is very fast, while chapter headings and alike are printed in a large, nice-looking Speedo font. That's Write 3's Font Parameters feature allows you to have real font families. It means that when you select Italic from the style menu, rather than getting a slanted version of the font you were working with (as would be the case in SpeedoGDOS-based program like Atari Works), you get the real Italic font. (The same goes for Bold, and Bold Italic typefaces of the family.) Another benefit of this system is that it allows for separate Bold or Bold Italic fonts to be defined even for bitmapped GEM fonts. While Bold bitmapped fonts aren't very popular, you are nevertheless able to define a font file that serves as a Bold (and a Bold Italic) face of the bitmapped family. If you are using C-Font or similar utility to convert vector fonts to bitmappaed format, TW allows you to use Bold and Bold Italic versions of the original font to create bitmapped fonts which will be used when you select the appropriate style. Also, That's Write 3 allows you to have many weights of the font in the same family. While such weights as "Light", "Ultrabold" or "Black Condensed" are not standard text styles and therefore can not be chosen from a style menu, they are available within the same family. Once you have selected the family (for example, Swiss), you can easily select the desired weight. That's Write 3 allows you to control the way Speedo fonts are cached, whether they should be kept resident in memory for multiple printouts, what encoding should be used with particular Speedo font (Speedo fonts allow for more than 256 characters in the font, and encoding tables let one choose which characters are used). For any type of font, That's Write 3 lets the user control what the font is called in the font selector, in what order styles of that font are displayed, and what keyboard table is associated with the font or the font family. With the help of keyboard tables you may assign any character to any key. It is very useful when working with symbol fonts or fonts with foreign characters. That's Write 3 can load fonts at any time, as well as replace and delete fonts. Also, with a click of one button, you can delete all fonts that are not used in the current document. //// Printer support That's Write 3 comes with drivers for over 60 different printers. (The STraight Fax package also has drivers for That's Write 3.) While printer drivers used in the current version of TW are not extremely intelligent and do not tell the program anything about the page sizes supported by the printer (thus, creating a paragraph that is wider than the printed page will result in the text on the right being simply cut off), they allow for use of printer's own fonts as well as for printing of graphics and Speedo and GEM fonts. Printing options of TW allow for printing any number of copies, either in sequential order or with every page being printed several times (since the page has to be generated only once, it greatly speeds up output to laser printers). Printout of only odd or even pages, and suppression of graphics printing, are also options. TW even offers a unique feature of printing pages from a user-selected list. (For example, you can print pages 1, 3-6, 25, and 16.) Of course, you are able to select the paper feeding method and port that your printer is connected to. If your printer is not among ones offered in the standard package, COMPO may create a driver for you. If you are more adventurous, COMPO has a package that lets you design your own printer drivers. If you require a PostScript output, COMPO has a completely PostScript capable version of the program. It costs $100 more (with $50 for the complete package of standard PostScript fonts and $50 for the program itself). If you do not have a PostScript printer but still want the PostScript compatibility, COMPO offers a deal on a package including CompoScript, their PostScript interpreter, that allows you to print documents without even having to quite That's Write 3. //// Styles That's Write 3 is a style-based word processor. That means that every paragraph in the text has a style tag associated with it, and changing the formatting of this paragraph changes formatting of _all_ paragraphs having the same style. Creating paragraph styles is very easy. You call up a paragraph style selector, enter an abbreviated name that isn't already present there, and you are taken to the Paragraph Layout dialog. There you can select ruler settings (margins, indents and tabs), the default font (if the font you want isn't already loaded into TW, you can load it from there), default text style (normal, bold, underlined, double underlined, strike through, italic, sub or superscript), justification, line and paragraph spacing, as well as some more obscure options. You can declare any paragraph as the default, and it will be automatically selected every time you hit "Return" (with one exception). You can make paragraphs always start on a new page, select a heading level of a paragraph (used in the outliner), and declare it as a remark paragraph (it will be displayed on screen, but not in the print preview, and it will not be printed). Since your document most probably will have several often used combinations of paragraph styles (for example, section name is usually followed by a chapter name, and it is followed by the body text), That's Write 3 allows you to chain paragraph styles. Of course, you can always override this paragraph sequencing manually. The "Paragraph Layout" dialog also lets you delete style tags you do not need anymore, and allows you to automatically delete all styles that are not used in the current document. Such aspects of paragraph layout as margins and tabs may also be directly edited from the ruler (if displayed). If you have the left margin and left indent of the paragraph in the same position, you pick which to click-and-drag with the mouse by using the left mouse button for one, and the right button for the other. When you drag either margin markers or tabs, That's Write displays a thin vertical line that lets you see exactly where you are, in relation to the text. The "Page Layout" dialog allows you to define size and margins of the paper you use, number of columns on page and distance between them, as well as widow and orphan protection (how many first or last lines of a paragraph may exist on the page by themselves). Also it allows the user to define footnote separation and whether the line (length and thickness, definable) should be printed before footnotes. You can give your page layouts meaningful names, as with paragraph layouts. From this dialog you also define headers and footers on the page. Any Page Layout (or all unused ones) may be deleted at any time That's Write 3 allows for as many page formats in a single document as you want, and it even allows different pages to be of different sizes and have different number of columns. All these setting may be saved on disks in layout files. One of them may be default and will be loaded automatically every time you load the program. //// The Works You may enter text as you would in any other in any other word processor. However, That's Write 3 offers many features that help you in editing your text. [] Blocks That's Write 3 has a full range of block tools. You can select blocks in a standard manner (windows will scroll when you drag the mouse to the window edge) - by double-clicking, you can select the word or the whole paragraph at once. You can also use commands to set the start and end of a block, which is faster if you want to select a large amount of text. After a block is selected, it behaves in a manner close to that of Calamus: unless you hide it, select a new font or style, or delete it, it will not change, no matter what you type. If you are used to Mac-like block handling, where once you have selected a block, typing a single letter will replace the block, TW's way of block handling may take some time getting used to. However, it may be easier to work with. Once the block is selected, you can go to its beginning or end, move it, delete it, copy or save it. You also can cut and paste blocks, as well as move them to Atari Clipboard. When you are cutting or pasting block, TW offers you a choice of 4 internal clipboards. This method, while requiring an extra action when selecting which clipboard to use, allows you to have up to 5 blocks pastable at once. [] Search and Replace That's Write 3 has a full range of search and replacement tools, including wildcards, searching either forward or backward, case matching or ignoring, searching for complete words only, and an ability to copy the currently selected block into "Search" or "Replace with" fields (an option sorely missing from many Atari word processors). When replacing, you have a usual choice of "Once", "Query" and "All". "Search Again" is also available. [] Outliner That's Write 3 has a full-featured outliner with depth of up to 9 levels. It is not as nicely looking as Calligrapher, and, frankly, I have never used it, but it seems to be as good as outliners I have seen in other programs. [] Spell checker That's Write 3 features a spell checker, licensed from Houghton- Mifflin Company. American and English dictionaries are supplied as standard, and dictionaries for many other languages are available from COMPO. The spell checker seems to be good enough, but (as any other spell checker I've ever seen) sometimes it can not find a right spelling for the simplest word. Still, it has many specific legal and medical terms, as well as many proper names. When you are spell-checking your document and TW finds an unknown word, it presents you with a dialog that gives you expected options of looking for alternative spellings, skipping the word, or quitting from the spell-check altogether. It also shows you the paragraph in which the word is, in the original font and style - not in the system font that other programs use. Thanks to that feature, you can easily see if you're using a foreign language, or a mathematical symbol font. Using the system font would not let you check for that. If you are sure that the word is spelled correctly, but That's Write 3 still complains about it, you can add it either to the main dictionary of the language, into the user dictionary (every document may have a different user dictionary associated with it), or into the text dictionary. Text dictionaries are saved with the document itself, and are useful for words that you are using in a specific document, but are not planning to use after you are done with it. You can have That's Write 3 check your spelling as you type, and when it detects a spelling error, it will ring a bell to alert you. If you want, you can also have TW automatically correct errors as you type. TW can automatically correct: capitalization errors (if you type "chicago" it will be automatically corrected to "Chicago"); mistyped characters ("offiver" will be corrected to "officer"); exchanged characters ("hte" will be corrected to "the"); and accented characters (for this you need to have a dictionary of a language that uses accented characters, as French and German do). After doing so, TW will sound a high-pitched beep. Of course, TW must be able to find a single correction. If a mistyped word may be corrected in several ways or has more than one error in it, TW will not be able to automatically correct it. At any time you may edit any of the active dictionaries: main, user, or text. You can add, edit, or delete words in them. Also, you can have TW generate a "Correction list" for you. It will contain all words marked as misspelled. You can manually go through this list and remove words that you know are correct. [] Hyphenation That's Write 3 may be told to automatically hyphenate text as you type. It may also be told to ask you every time it finds a word that might be hyphenated. You can select either using hyphenation rules or the dictionary. Using the dictionary is somewhat slower and takes more memory, but hyphenations are more accurate. You can select the amount of white space in the text or switch the hyphenation off. [] Footnotes, endnotes That's Write 3 offers an automatic generation of Table of Contents and Index. Just mark words or phrases you want to be present there, and tell the program to do so; it will take care of the rest. Unlike many other word processors, That's Write 3 can generate both footnotes and endnotes in the same document. There may be as many of both as you like. Footnotes are generated with a familiar superscript number, and you can select whether you want numbering to be continous or start from 1 on every page. Endnotes are generated with square brackets around them. If you discover, after painfully entering a thousand footnotes into your Nobel-prize paper (or dissertation), that endnotes are required instead of footnotes, you can easily convert between the two. //// Nice Touches That's Write 3 offers many nice touches that make text editing easier. Pressing Ctrl-Z at any point will exchange the last two characters. If you misplace characters often, this option will definitely speed up the recovery, especially if you do not want to use the automatic correction feature. Another nice feature is TW's ability to insert up to 10 bookmarks in the document. Unlike other programs, That's Write 3 saves these bookmarks with the document, so you can define up to 10 places that you want to always be able to go to. The dialog where you select a bookmark to jump to shows the text around the bookmark, so you can always see where you are going. In addition to the 10 bookmarks, the last position of the text cursor is also saved with the document, and when you load it at the later time, you are put exactly where you left. Equally nice is an ability to cancel any time-consuming operation (printing, spell checking, a long macro, search and replace in a long document etc.) by pressing both Shift keys. That's Write 3 has an option of going to a specified page, line, column, foot- or endnote. When moving to a line, page or foot/end- note, you can specify either absolute number (go to endnote 3) or a relative one (go 12 pages forward). Also, TW lets you go to the start of the next or previous page (useful for checking that page breaks are where they belong), the next or previous paragraph or the next picture. If you are working on several documents at once, you can move to a next or specific window with a single command. The current date (in long or short form, formatted according to the selected language) and time may be inserted into the document with a single command. That's Write 3 has many other nice touches as well, but describing them all would make this review even longer (and aren't you tired of me already?). //// Macros One of the most powerful features of That's Write 3 is its use of macros. That's Write 3 allows you to define macros of any length, containing any text, dialog box, or menu operations. Macros may be linked together and may even be recursive. Since a recursive macro may never stop, you have an option of interrupting a macro operation by pressing both Shift keys simultaneously. Macros are called by pressing the Esc key and then the key combo that you have assigned the macro to, or by pressing the Function key. This allows you to have very large number of macros active. Sets of macros may be saved, and any one of them may be made the default. When a macro file is loaded, you have a choice of overwriting macros already in memory, or appending new macros to them. If a macro in the default macro file is assigned to the Esc key, it will be executed automatically every time That's Write 3 is loaded. As soon as a macro is defined, its keyboard equivalent appears in the Macro window, if you have it active. After the macro is defined, you can assign it a meaningful name, a descriptive remark, and an additional shortcut. Shortcuts work well as abbreviation expanders. For example, when writing this review, I have "TW" defined as a shortcut for "That's Write 3". Every time when I type "TW", I can hit the UNDO key, which works as the abbreviation expander, and it will be expanded into "That's Write 3". Possible uses include assigning shortcuts to your name and address, and/or commands that you use often. Since TW does not perform this expansion automatically, you still can use the shortcut (which may be longer than two characters) for other purposes, as evidenced by the use of TW as a synonym for That's Write 3 in this review. Other uses of macros include one-key activators for various styles, block hiding, and operations for making a word UPPERCASE, lowercase, or Capitalized. You can use macros for more difficult tasks as well, since any sequence of operations that may be followed in That's Write 3 may be recorded in a macro. Macros may also include "beeps" and pauses that may alert you that the macro has finished its execution, or give you a chance to abort it before it does something you don't want. //// Instructions Instructions are another very powerful tool that That's Write 3 gives to you. Not many word processors, especially in TW's price range, offer such a flexible tool. That's Write 3's Instructions may be described as a programming language whose statements are linked to tab stops of a paragraph layout. Of course, this programming language isn't powerful enough to write a new word processor, but it gives you very powerful tools for the creation of self-modifying documents, self-calculating invoices, etc. That's Write 3 offers instructions that load the text (either as text or as a number) positioned at the current tab stop or the paragraph margin into a user-defined variables, manipulate this text, convert it (conversion of Arabic numerals into Roman, string manipulations, number operations and rounding, date and time conversions, etc.), and put it back into the document. There are also instructions for asking the user to provide some input and instructions for accessing document information, such as the number of pages in the document or the document filename, as well as conditional statements (if... then... else) with the standard logical operations (and, not, or) and comparisons thrown in. Some of more obvious uses for Instructions are the creation of mini-spreadsheets or invoices that calculate themselves. Such an invoice might ask you, when you load it, to provide the address of the person being billed, ask for a number of widgets shipped and the price per widget, and generate the total due line. More complex invoices may also ask about the payment terms and calculate the payment date based on the current date. Instructions may also be used for creating non-standard page numbering, for example, using Roman numerals or letters of the alphabet. Automatic chapter numbering system, with several levels (Chapter 1.2.8 or something like that) may be created, and other possible uses are limited only by your imagination. I have been told that COMPO runs all their invoicing with this system. As with any other aspect of That's Write 3, COMPO provides quite a few demo files with examples of using Instructions. //// Other Features There are other features in That's Write 3 that make it one of the most powerful word processors available for the Atari platform. [] Mail Merge One of them is a mail merge function. TW has a powerful mail merge engine that allows you to have the standard letter combined and printed with different information, taken from a data file. Fields of a data file record do not have to be accessed in sequential order. When the mail merge is performed, you may print all documents, based on all records of a data file, or only selected ones. One of the most obvious uses for the mail merge function is the printing of the same letter to several people (hence the name "mail merge"). That's Write 3 will load the data file, containing addresses and names of those people, insert them into the form letter, and print it out. Of course, you are not limited to address information, any data may be merged with the document. If you use Instructions and Macros in addition to the mail merge, it gives you very powerful data processing capabilities, allowing you to manipulate information from the data file, insert individual greetings and much more. For example, you can have mail merge function print out invoices (which, of course, may be self-calculating). If the payment date is past, and no payment was received, you can have That's Write 3 add a nasty remark to the letter. [] Graphics That's Write 3 allows the user to include graphics in their documents. At the moment, TW is limited to monochrome IMG files, but future version should support more formats, including vector graphics. Graphics may be either inserted on a separate line, or overlaid with text. While there are no functions for creating text runaround, you may manually position the text around the picture. That's Write 3 also has functions for moving graphics, scaling them for different resolutions, resizing and cropping them. Display and/or printout of any image may be suppressed for faster output. There are also limited facilities for editing of images. You may move parts of the image around and delete parts you do not need. [] In- and outdenting It is possible to create nicely indented paragraphs without changing the paragraph layout. While pressing the TAB key moves the text on the line to the next tab stop, the Insert key aligns the text on this and all following lines with the next tab stop. This way you can create paragraphs with hanging indents (outdents) using the same paragraph style you use for the rest of your text. At the same time, pressing Ctrl-TAB, will move the cursor to the next tab stop without inserting anything. [] System data The "That's Write..." entry from the "Desk" menu gives you not only information about That's Write 3, but also the number of pages, lines, words, characters, and pictures in the current document, as well as the amount of free memory. By the way, That's Write 3 is aware of two kinds of RAM (System and Fast RAM) that may be present in your machine, and uses both. [] Page Control To the left of the actual text, there is a narrow vertical bar where page breaks and paragraph starts are shown. By clicking in there, you may enter hard page breaks, or protect parts of text from a page break occurring within this part. //// Document Parameters The Text Information dialog presents you with the information about the filename and path of the current document, language and user dictionary associated with it, and allows you to set many options for the document. A document may be protected with a password. Of course, if you save a password-protected document and than forget the password, there is little chance that you will ever be able to see this document again.... Author's and editor's names and remarks may be entered in this dialog. It makes easier to keep track of multiple projects, especially if several people work on them. Names of previous and following chapter may be entered here. Breaking up a large document into smaller parts may allow users with little RAM work with very large documents. After chapters are linked, you may switch between them with a single command, and That's Write 3 will automatically keep track of saving changes and numbering pages and foot/end-notes. Document creation and last change dates and times are shown in this dialog. They may be changed there, but frankly, I don't see why one would want to change those. Page and footnote number offsets may be defined here, if you want to start page and footnote numbering from something other than 1. If a negative number is entered for the page number offset, pages that are assigned numbers less than 1 will not have their numbers printed. This is useful if you want to have cover page(s) without page numbers on them. There are other parameters that may be defined in the Text Information dialog. You may set the document to be single- or double paged, you may choose to flip margins on alternate pages, you may choose to have images cached on disk, and you may choose to number footnotes sequentially, or starting with 1 on every page. In addition to that, you may have the document automatically execute instructions when it is loaded (you are asked, however, if you want this execution every time you load the document; if you are still editing, you may not want to have instructions change it). Also, a document may be defined as a template. Templates, when loaded, "forget" their name, and thus you can have a predefined templates for fax cover sheets, letterheads and alike. When you save such a document, you are prompted for a new name, and the "Template" option is deselected, so you can not overwrite the original template. If you are still editing it, however, when loading you are given a choice not to use it as a template. In that case, the "Template" option is left selected, and instructions will not be executed, so you can finish creating your template. /// Configurations Many aspects of That's Write 3 operation may be configured and these configurations may be saved. You have choice of working in "Insert" or "Overwrite" modes, having images displayed or not, and having That's Write 3 reformat and paginate document while you look away. Also, you can configure That's Write 3 to automatically save configurations on exit, to ask confirmations for dangerous operations, to have the text cursor blinking or not, to use the internal or system file selector, to display all dialogs in windows, and to use (when running in monochrome) routines writing directly to screen, which gives faster display, but may be incompatible with some screen accelerators or graphic boards. You also can select to have documents automatically saved at preset intervals. Other configurable aspects include the decimal separator (comma, as in the US, or period, which is used in Europe). The selected character will be used by decimal tabs, and by instructions, when generating numbers. You may select whether you want Shift or Ctrl key for moving word by word, and you can set parameters for the Status and Macro windows. Also, you can define default paths for documents, That's Write 3's files, and the current user dictionary. In addition to defining and saving preferences, you can save configurations, which also include window positions, open file and cursor positions. If you work on a long document, you may want to save a default configuration that will load this document and put you exactly where you left it. //// Goodies That's Write 3 comes with quite a few additional programs and accessories to help you use it. That's Write 3 comes with 2 "fix" programs (LA.PRG and POOLFIX.PRG) that fix certain bugs in TOS 1.0 and TOS 1.04. Also present are several accessories (KeyShow, Macro Editor, That's Snap and TRech) and programs. (That's Font 2 and C-Font.) That's Write supports a special protocol, XACC, developed by COMPO for easy communication between the main program and accessories. XACC protocol allows for XACC accessories to be called from the keyboard, and data exchange between the program and accessories is possible. That's Write 3 uses the newer version of XACC protocol that works under MultiTOS and allows for several programs to be called from the keyboard or from the "Programs" option in the file menu. Accessories supplied with the current release of TW still use the older version of XACC, so they can not communicate with TW when running under MultiTOS, however. [] Accessories Accessories provided with That's Write 3 are designed to simplify the use of the program or to provide additional functionality. That's Snap is a general-purpose screen snapshot accessory which works not only with programs having a menu bar, but also can be called with a keyboard from programs that do not give you an access to the Desk menu, or to take a snapshot of a dialog. That's Snap is a pretty basic program, supporting only IMG format, but nevertheless, it lets you specify the part of the screen you want to capture, and seems to work fine with 3rd party graphic cards. KeyShow, as the name implies, shows you keys needed to produce various characters. You can use either the keyboard or the mouse to select a character. However, KeyShow has several shortcomings. It won't let you select more than one character at a time, very large font sizes may result in characters not fitting in their buttons, and (my biggest complaint) if a character is not specified in the keyboard table for that particular font, it will not be shown. That makes the accessory quite useless if the character you are looking for happens to be absent from the keyboard table. COMPO is incorporating KeyShow directly into the future versions of the program, however, and they promise to fix these shortcomings. Macro Editor allows for making changes in existing macros. While I find that if macro is sufficiently short it may be easier to simply record a new one over it, if the macro is long and complex enough, changing it in the editor may be easier. Macro Editor allows the user to change, insert and delete lines in the macro. Menu operations may also be entered or edited. TRech (which means, in half-German, half-English, "That's Calculator") is a "pocket" scientific calculator. It works in Decimal, Hexadecimal and Octal systems, and support functions you'd expect from a pocket calculator, but not much more. It does feature large buttons and a display, however, and can be easily manipulated both by the mouse and keyboard, unlike many other calculator accessories, which have buttons so small it is hard to see them. The main advantage of using TRech over other calculator accessories is that it supports a wide range of methods of importing calculation results into your text. TRech allows you to specify a short text that goes before and after the calculation result, the decimal character, and the rounding. Obviously, TRech works with XACC protocol, which is the best for use with That's Write 3. If you are running under MultiTOS (where TRech's version of XACC does not work) or want to import calculations in program other than TW, you can configure TRech to use either the Atari Clipboard, or the keyboard buffer. If you are calling TRech from inside That's Write 3, the selected block will be transferred into TRech automatically. Up to eight different export configurations may be defined at the same time and chosen with a sliding selector. These configurations may also be saved for future use. [] Programs Also included with That's Write are two programs. One of them is C-Font. C-Font, which runs either as a program or as an accessory, converts Calamus vector fonts (there are several supplied with the program) into bitmapped formats for use with TW, GDOS, or Timeworks Publisher and other programs that can use GDOS fonts, either compressed or uncompressed. The other program is That's Font 2. While COMPO themselves say that it is not the best bitmapped font editor available (they recommend Fontkit Plus), it is a powerful enough program. It works with several formats of fonts (including TEX fonts and downloadable printer fonts), has decent options for manipulating fonts (mirror, italics, shadow etc.), and allows the editing of keyboard tables, which is the main reason for its inclusion in the package. With That's Font you can easily create a keyboard table for access to particular characters in the font. Of course, you can use That's Font to edit fonts (especially those created with C-Font), or create new ones from scratch. Available separately from COMPO is a formula editor. From what I've heard, it is a powerful program with a graphic interface that lets you create complex mathematical formulae and place them in your documents. //// Support COMPO provides great support for their products. Of course, one must bear in mind that the Atari market in the USA is rather small, and COMPO is a small company. While there's not a toll-free 24 hour number to call, there is unlimited, free support. In my experience, calling COMPO, or sending them EMail always resulted in fast and good assistance. Future support (i.e. new versions) is well in hand. Compo tells me that work is continuing on That's Write 4. //// Verdict Well, I hope that I have described enough of That's Write 3's features for you. There are, of course, many more that I did not even touch, but I hope that ones I've mentioned will give you an overall feel for this powerful program. That's Write 3 is not entirely free of shortcomings. I wish that the printer support was somewhat more intelligent. "As-you-type" formatting and on-screen columns would be great, too, as would be a built-in table generator and support for more graphic formats (those are addressed by COMPO in future versions). While nothing is crash-proof, it is a very stable and compatible program with many powerful functions. It is also quite fast in its operation and supports enhancements in newer machines (FastRAM, Falcon resolutions) and in system software (support for MultiTOS' drag-and-drop etc.). That's Write 3 isn't a program geared for creating graphics-heavy documents, as are Calligrapher and Papyrus on Atari, and MS Word or Ami Pro on other platforms. However, as a writing tool, designed for creation and editing of text-based documents, it shines. If you have only a dot-matrix printer, and are looking for a word processing program, I would recommend That's Write 3 wholeheartedly. It will let you use your printer's built-in fonts for the body of your text, saving a great deal of time and ear damage, and it still lets you use graphics and Speedo vector fonts where you need them. If you need a program that lets you create leaflets, flyers, and otherwise generate documents with graphics, borders, boxes, etc., I'd suggest looking at Calamus or Pagestream. However, if you need a tool for creating, editing and printing text, such as books, invoices, novels, academic theses, or letters to your aunt, I think That's Write 3 is the best program available. That's Write 3 is distributed in the US by COMPO Software 104 Esplanade Avenue, Suite 121 Pacifica, CA 94044 Tel: 415-355-0862 Fax: 415-355-0869 GEnie: COMPO List price: $199.99US About the author: I was born in Moscow, Russia (what used to be the USSR). I had two Atari computers there (an 800XE, and later a 1040ST), and two cats. I worked with numerous other machines (most notably, MSX thingies by Yamaha, and Soviet-made PDP-11 and IBM/360 clones) while attending Moscow Oil and Gas Institute with a major in Applied Mathematics. Three years ago my family and I moved to the United States. Now we live in a Chicago suburb, with only one cat :-( and a couple of computers (including a TT030). Now I go to the Northern Illinois University, where I major in Computer Science. We run a small translation and publishing business, and I use my TT for DeskTop Publishing, mostly in Russian. I enjoy anime, obscure music (_really_ obscure: Henry Cow, Cassiber, Van der Graaf Generator and Art Bears are among more well known bands I like :-), and crashing computers. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Andreas' Den ||| By: Andreas Barbiero / | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- //// Connections and corrections! I am going to warn you that this is going to be a long one, for I may be absent next month as the wonderful Navy is calling me away again for some inscrutable flight operations in California. I spend a great deal of time typing away in AtariWorks and on the online services. While my main area of responsibility is Delphi, I find myself spending more and more time in the Usenet areas and poking my nose deeper into the Internet itself. I have used Telnet and FTP commands to get my way so deep into other computers around the world that if it were not for the book, "The Internet for Dummies" I would never be able to extract myself! This book is in the same series as the "DOS for Dummies" and other "for Dummies" books. This one of course is for the Internet, and covers the items in detail without being obtuse or confusing. The tone of the book is slightly humorous and organizes things in a way that you painlessly learn the arcane processes that it takes to surf through cyberspace. I won't go into how cool the Internet is when you know what you are doing, (take my word for it, it IS cool!) but if you are intimidated by the information highway, then get this book and read it, you will want to try it out immediately. The Internet for Dummies John Levine and Carol Baroudi IDG Books San Mateo CA, 94402 19.95 USA 17.99 UKP 26.95 Canadian The Internet is also very important to an Atari user. Accessing Usenet and the FTP sites around the world is just like having an enormous user group that meets when you want it to, and has access to just about all the shareware in the world. In this spectrum of computing, where you are and what service you subscribe to has little meaning outside of the services that it can provide to you. GEnie is great as it gets all the really cool conferences (Heck, I even got a free copy of Scott Sanders "The Atari Compendium" out of a conference! Thanks!) and if you don't want to mess around the FTP sites, you get new uploads of GEnie fairly quickly. Delphi is a full node on the Internet as well as being reasonable gateway to the Internet. All this means is that if you have Internet access anywhere on the world, you can Telnet into Delphi and use its services, or if you can call Delphi directly you can access the Internet through Delphi. (I understand that Compuserve allows telnet access now, and may allow Internet access from Compuserve in the near future.) //// Not on MY turf... My wife, who helped start Atari United!, has been collecting information from Atari computer users for quite some time now, and has found that the Internet has given her access to Atari users all over the world. As a result, she has been able to contact users and groups in Mexico, Costa Rica, and all over Europe. Recently she telneted into the Cleveland Free-Net and held a conference at the request of the guys there. She reached people who have probably never seen GEnie, Delphi or CompuServe, and who were able to log onto a FREE service. //// Rocking around the block... A funny thing that my wife and I have both noticed about many users who communicate through the Internet to us was that many users don't quite understand what they are doing. So, here are a few tips to help everybody communicate around the world with ease! If you are a GEnie user, and want to let others know your internet address, it takes the following format: <[username]@genie.geis.com>. Many individuals have written to us and listed their address as simply @geis.com. That won't do it folks! Are you itching to get involved with sharing information, but aren't sure how to do it from GEnie? It is very easy - just send GEnie EMail, and when the software ask you "To:" enter the Internet EMail address to who you are sending to, and follow up the username with an "@INET#". You cannot send files through the Internet in the same way that you would if they were on the same system. GEnie has an excellent interface on page 200 for sending files to another user on GEnie, but you cannot use this to send mail to someone not on GEnie. There is a way to send everything from an article to a GIF file to a program anywhere. It is called UUEncode. There is a TOS program around called ESSCODE, that allows you to pick a file, convert it (to a UUE file) and send it like a normal text EMail message. Yep, the file is converted to a text file and then sent. (Editor: I use UUEncoding constantly to send AEO out to the Internet distribution points from GEnie and to receive files from virtually everywhere. It works, and isn't hard to do.) UUEncoding is not great for file compression, as the UUE files are larger than the original files, but it works! If you download a lot of UUE files, getting a modem with modem compression and error correction will help. This is where all those 'V.xx' and MNP numbers come into play. If all this UUE stuff seems confusing, it isn't, as even I have managed to figure out how to do this by myself, and if you need to send me a program from someplace other than GEnie or Delphi, just UUEncode it and send it out! I accept programs and articles from just about anyone, and just as soon as I can I will look at it and get back to you. After all critiquing someone else's hard work while I sip beer is what I do best. If you are on Delphi and want to communicate with _anyone_ on another service, all you have to do is go into MAIL and send them some! For instance, if you wanted to reach me on my GEnie account, all you would have to type at the "To:" prompt is: IN%"AEO.2@GENIE.GEIS.COM". The IN% indicates that you are sending mail to someone who has no account on Delphi and the "" mean that this is the address the person is on at the service indicated after the @ symbol. Simple. We are a world-wide community, and if you are on an online service, like GEnie or Delphi, you have the best of both worlds, local personal access and world-wide contact! //// From the Past... Way back when, I was invited to take a look at forthcoming Falcon030 games, I noticed a new controller plugged into the analog ports. Several years has past, and in the intervening time, the Falcon030 has shipped, and those games are now becoming available! Dino Dudes and Steel Talons are now available in Falcon030 only configurations, and Road Riot 4WD is soon to follow. These games seem to have been taken over by Atari UK (Atari Europe for all intents and purposes.) and are becoming available in the US. Remember those controllers? They are the Jaguar controllers! Yes, you CAN use the Jaguar controllers on the Falcon030. In fact I remember playing an early version of Raiden with one of these on a Falcon030. We can only hope that more Falcon030 specific software will be forthcoming from Atari sources to spur the marketplace, and other analog controller systems will come for the Falcon. There has been a great deal of talk on the Usenet as to whether or not Id Software's DOOM! could be converted to the Falcon, I for one think that a version is possible - not as powerful as the Jaguar version, but done well nonetheless. If Wolfenstein 3D can run on a '386DX-33 (I know, I have used it!) there should be no problem converting that to work on a Falcon030. Maybe with the relationship that Atari has with the Id boys, we can see it happen, though Id has recently said that there are NO plans to do DOOM on a Falcon. //// ...into the Future of Atari As you probably read in the last issue, Atari may not have the time or the money right now to support a new TOS computer, but into the gap leaps the third party! I won't rehash the last issue, but things ARE looking up. The CaTTamaran, Barracuda040, Janus, and other products are going to allow us to upgrade to proven technologies. As long as software applications like Calamus SL, STalker, Cubase, SpeedoGDOS, and AtariWorks can run on them, the installed professional software base will be preserved. The CaTTamaran's acceleration is software selectable, and the Wizztronics' 040 board does not replace the Falcon030's processor, so these items should maintain compatibility with any entertainment software that will run on them in their original configurations. As perusers of the Delphi Forum will know, I am pursuing information on a "do it yourself" PAK board from Germany. This is an '020/'030 board for the Mega and ST computers, which can run up to a 50MHz '030 with a 12MHz bus. I recently got a message about a chap who installed a 64MHz 030! This may not be as slick as the more professional boards, but at a cost of ~100DM (~$60 US) for the board alone, and the inexpensive cost of surplus '030 chips, a total '030 solution may be available for under $200!! I am expecting more information from Yat Siu of Lexicor, and I will be following up with a letter or two to the originators of the PAK in Germany. And for a thought, even less expensive are 68020 chips. Used in some Macs, and not exactly state of the art, they do offer a bit more power than the 68000 series is capable of. Wilko Bulte <wilko@idca.tds.philips.nl> posted this for your information. Note: this a benchmark... this might or might not have any relevance to your actual application. Got this from a friend who tried it for me. Wilko GEMBENCH 3.30 (C) Ofir Gal Tests w/ and wo/ PAK3-020/16MHz Reference: ST 1040, no blitter. TOS version 1.04 2.06 2.06 2.06 MiNT no no no no Blitter disabled disabled disabled disabled Video Mode ST High ST High ST High ST High FPU no yes yes yes More? PAK disabled enabled enabled enabled Level 1 Cache n.a. enabled disabled enabled Level 2 Cache n.a. disabled enabled enabled GEM Dialog Box 286% 423% 411% 444% VDI Text 876% 1514% 1775% 1985% VDI Text Effects 743% 1280% 1424% 1766% VDI Small Text 572% 1145% 1277% 1413% VDI Graphics 362% 755% 869% 1046% GEM Window 251% 378% 393% 442% Integer Division 99% 576% 573% 581% Float Math 100% 132% 2832% 2905% RAM Access 99% 214% 393% 460% ROM Access 99% 399% 399% 460% Blitting 171% 411% 425% 536% VDI Scroll 449% 586% 711% 771% Justified Text 248% 455% 466% 545% VDI Enquire 189% 207% 249% 268% Average 324% 605% 871% 973% Graphics 414% 715% 800% 921% CPU 99% 330% 1049% 1101% Ok, I'm back. As you can see the numbers are there. The math co-processor does help out with the floating point operations, and the average is about 3X faster than a good old standby 8MHz ST. You will probably notice these results more if you are doing things like graphics processing than word processing. Notice that GEM operations are little more than 200% faster, and in order for the speedup to be noticeable, more than a 500% increase is needed. I don't usually like benchmarks, but when you spend money on speeding up your computer, you gotta see something in return I guess. If memory serves, I remember seeing 16MHz '020 chips going surplus for about $10 back in California. This is a real lowball way to get performance out of your computer. It seems the Medusa from Germany is closer to arriving. If control can be exercised to assure compatibility with standard TOS, then there will be no problems with these advances. Like what was said in last month's Atari Artist column, with a concerted effort, movement beyond GEM is possible, allowing TOS to move forward and on to even different CPU platforms. I don't see this as a death knell for the future of an Atari designed computer, but as a way to widen the base of machines that will be able to handle TOS. Will Atari come out with a new computer? Well if there are '040 powered Falcons and other people making totally new computers that will run TOS. the problem of inactive Atari computer development is mitigated. Then again, they DO have the Jaguar chipset, TOS 5 and MultiTOS, and if they wanted to, they could define the next level of computing without stealing anyone's thunder or being eclipsed by a competitor. In our case, the more people defining platforms that can run TOS the better! //// Two-Face Last issue in AEO, mention was made to the Janus card for the average PC compatable computer, and on the Internet, an Atari user from Germany, Christoph Oberle sent me some mail. From: IN%"oberle@informatik.uni-koblenz.de" Hi, here is the adress of two distributors of the "Janus - the ATARI in your PC": I) VHF-Computer GmbH (actual developers) Daimlerstr. 13 71101 Schoenaich Germany phone: (+49) 7031 75 01 90 II) edicta Loewenstr. 68 70597 Stuttgart Germany phone: (+49) 711 76 33 81 fax : (+49) 711 76 53 82 4 Janus is actually NOT an emulator but an expansion card which contains the main hardware of an ST (68000, 16 MHz and TOS 2.06, space for 2 SIMMs (8 or 9 chip). Here is an excerpt of the information in the magazine "ST-Computer", issue 4/94: "... Although there only is a 68000/16 on the board, Janus is fast, because the CPU delegates a big part of its tasks (e.g. graphics output and file operations) to the Intel processor. It only processes system specific calculations. In many applications, the Janus board is faster than a TT! Various resolutions are supported, depending on the abilities of the graphics card. In the compatibility mode with ST high resolution, almost all ATARI programs run without problems." Technical data: CPU: MC 68000 Speed: 16 MHz Memory: 2 SIMMs (70ns), choice between 256KB, 1MB, 4MB, 8MB or 16MB each Graphics card: Any standard VGA card OS: Place for 2 ROMs TOS 2.06 Bus: ISA Now, even at $300 would this card be a deal? If you are forced to use a PC at work, then this is the product for you. Having TT030-like access to programs like Calamus SL on a PC could be the salvation to someone stuck with Windows or unable to sneak their Atari in to work. It does have some benefits over the GEMulator in that it has actual hardware implementation of the 68000. This means that it should run faster on any PC, rather than fully relying on the Intel CPU to carry out instructions meant for a Motorola processor. The Janus does use the host computer's CPU to speed things up, but the actual speed of the application will rely on the 68000. More needs to be said about this machine as there are many questions that need to be answered. No matter how good the statistics may look, if it doesn't run what you need to, then it is useless. I have been in contact with Mr. Mihocka, and I am sure that no matter how attractive the Janus could be, he could make the GEMulator more attractive on a price point. As more information comes along I will be sure to pass the info on to you! //// Videogames without the VIDEO Meanwhile, around the country, the Jaguar is making headway. Tempest 2000 (yes I know it seems we have talked about this game since forever) is gaining kudos, and is far better than anything on the 3DO or the 16bit systems. There is no CD-ROM unit yet for the Jaguar, and that is giving Atari the edge. The edge here is in gameplay. Crash & Burn might have looked pretty in the display case with the 3DO, but it has little in the way of gameplay. CD-ROM's biggest claim to fame is being able to provide full motion video (FMV) you know, live actors and stuff like that. Having FMV in a game can be the worst thing that can happen to a game. Unlike computer generated data, FMV is linear. You watch it; it's always the same, and while it may be pretty, but we are here to play a game, not watch a movie. Digitized video clips may be fun to watch once or twice as intro or filler material, but after a while you want to turn it off. IT IS BORING. Computer generated material, like the images created for Alien Vs. Predator, can be fully manipulated. With digitized bitmaps mapped onto a 3D polygon, the computer can rotate it, twist it, blow it up, or do just about anything with it that the programmer needs to. Remember all those demos with wibbly-wobbly 3D images and shapes? They may have been pre-programmed, but they still could be manipulated more than a predefined animation. I like to compare these differences to a good flight simulator. With games like F-16 Falcon and Cybermorph, you could get OUTSIDE the plane, and rotate the world around yourself to your hearts' content. Try that with a MPEG or Quicktime video clip. Without a CD-ROM to distract software houses, they are going back to a nearly lost art form, game design. There are dozens of games on the PC which claim all sorts of fabulous video, but like CD-I, they end up being a pretty demo with small bits of interactivity thrown in. Now, what a CD-ROM can do for a game is allow it to be a huge storage area for music and game data. Tempest 2000 has 30 minutes of CD quality music, but on a CD-ROM with compression, that could be hours. When the Jaguars' CD-ROM appears (along with the Sigma Design's Jaguar-on-a-PC card), in addition to the potential of watching full length movies, there will already be a vanguard of video games that will fulfill a gamer's desire more than most current CD-ROM offerings. Imagine a BattleTech game, with dozens of realistic planets generated with weather, and all sorts of land and water conditions with every 'mech, vehicle, aerospace fighter, and dropship in the inventory realistically rendered. Huge digitized sound samples could be included and a fantastic musical score all on one disc! That is how a CD-ROM is effective, not as a mini-movie. Ideally a BattleTech game cart should be available first, with the programming hooks built in to allow a later CD-ROM to add on more Battlemechs and combat scenarios. Imagine waging an entire war, battle by battle! That won't be one game that you will finish quickly. (To any developers out there... this is just my dream, and it just might sell!) Well, in the meantime, I guess I will save my pennies for one of those Afterburner040 66MHz cards with the PCI card slot, or maybe I want a Barracuda board with the 80486.... I am in the process of reviewing Cannon Fodder for the ST, and it already looks good. Stay tuned. --==--==--==--==-- ||| ExtenDOS: CD-ROM Driver for your Atari ||| By: Randy Hoekstra / | \ GEnie: R.HOEKSTRA1 --------------------------------------------------------------- It's been a long time coming, but simple, affordable, and practical access to CD ROM has finally arrived for the ST/TT/Falcon line. I am refering to the ExtenDOS CD ROM driver by Roger Burrows of Anodyne Software. I first began my journey into the world of CD ROM when I saw an announcement for the Gemini CD ROM for the TOS series of Atari computers. It boasted of thousands of files specifically for the Atari ST, TT030 and Falcon030, plus text and graphics files related to the Lynx and Jaguar. With over 600 Megabytes of data it would be like having easy access to a huge library of public domain and shareware software. I decided I needed to get a CD ROM drive and get this disk. Well CD ROM drives can be expensive and I didn't have a lot of cash lying around. Fortunately, I had access to an AppleCD drive from work which was just gathering dust sitting on my desk. But would an CD-ROM drive made to work with one of those Mac type computers work with my lowly MegaST or Falcon? I decided I just had to find out. Being the cheapskate that I am, I first tried to make the CD-ROM work with the MetaDOS drivers that I found in a PD archive. I connected a male-to-male SCSI cable between my current hard drive and the AppleCD drive. I set the SCSI ID of the AppleCD to the next available ID and configured the MetaDOS control file accordingly. It seemed to load okay on boot up, but no matter how I tried to configure it, I was not able to access the CD ROM. I then obtained the .XFS driver that is designed to work with MiNT (Eric Smith's multi-tasking kernal), but quickly realized that I didn't have the right software setup on my MegaST and I didn't have the right cable to hook up the drive to my Falcon. I was beginning to lose hope. During my attempts to go the freeware route, I discovered a topic on GEnie for discussing CD ROM on Ataris, and I naturally started posting questions. It was there that I learned of a new CD-ROM driver called ExtenDOS. Given the trouble I had been through already, I was hesitant to spend the money to order ExtenDOS (yes I really am cheap), but after seening one good report after another about it on GEnie, I decided to give it a try. Not more than a week later, I was sitting in front of my MegaST installing ExtenDOS on my hard drive. It came with a simple and to the point 20 page user manual. It contained step by step instructions for configuring the driver for your system, with just enough technical detail to satisfy the curious. By setting the CD-ROM drive ID to the suggested default and installing the suggested drive icons, it was as simple as copying the EXTENDOS.PRG file to the AUTO folder, creating an EXTENDOS folder containing the CD.BOS and UNIDRIVE.DOS files, and copying the default EXTENDOS.CNF file to the root directory of the boot drive. With these files in place and the CD-ROM drive connected and powered up, I had only to reboot to install the driver and open a whole new world of CD-ROM access on my Atari ST. It worked without a hitch and the Gemini CD is truly amazing. It's hard to imagine having one drive icon accessing over 600 Megabytes of programs, picture files, text files, and other data without experiencing it for yourself, but let's just say it is enough to keep a person busy for weeks just exploring. Of course I couldn't settle with the default set up, so I had to refer to the details in the user manual on how to edit the EXTENDOS.CNF file for the SCSI ID and drive icon that I wanted. I made the modifications according to the documentation and after rebooting, I was right back in business with the configuration of my choice. It's hard to give a detailed review of something like a CD-ROM driver. If it's good, you simply install it and it works. ExtenDOS is good. The only problem I have found so far is a small incompatibility with Geneva, the multi-tasking environment from Gribnif. When ExtenDOS and Geneva are used together, the system path somehow gets stuck on the root drive and most programs when run from other drives will attempt to locate their supporting files (resource or data) on the root drive rather than on the drive where the program was run. Programs that do not open additional files work fine. This bug also prevents the Geneva file selector from seeing the files on the CD-ROM drive. Once Geneva is disabled, non-root drive programs work fine and CD-ROM access returns to normal. This has been reported to Roger Burrows and he has already indicated that a fix is in the works. That's another good thing about this software - it is supported very well by its author. On the plus side, ExtenDOS is compatible with the entire ST line right up through the TT and Falcon. It currently has limited MultiTOS support according to the latest advertisments, but I have not been able to test the extent of that support. Also unable to personally verify are the reports of other users who say that ExtenDOS offers faster access and transfer speeds than MetaDOS and the XFS driver (2 to 3 times faster!). The list of CD-ROM drives known to work with ExtenDOS include: Atari CDAR-504 Panasonic (Matsushita) CR-501 NEC 74/84, NEC 38, NEC 55, NEC 25, NEC 3Xp Apple PowerCD & CD 300 Sony CDU-541 & CDU-561 Chinon CDX-535 Toshiba 3401 & 4101B It is expected to work with any SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 compatible drive. Although there are only a couple of CD-ROMs made specifically for Atari, there are a great many for DOS machines which contain standard file formats usable by Ataris. There are many with text files in ASCII format that can be loaded into your text viewers or word processors, with images for use with desktop publishers, and plenty with various format picture files such as GIF, JPEG and TARGA that can be loaded into graphics programs for Ataris. With the right CD-ROM drive and one of the recent graphics software packages you can even view PhotoCD on your Atari. So even though you won't find many CDs with an Atari label on them, you will find many useful titles in just about any computer store that sells CD-ROM for that other platform. Me, I still have months worth of exploring to do just to check out all the software on this Gemini CD. Eventually I plan to get a cable and hook it up to the Falcon and be able to view some nice graphics from one of those picture library CDs. (Yes, the latest version of ExtenDOS is fully compatible with the Falcon). Who knows, if the right project comes along I may even pick up a disk full of image files to use with Calamus. In short, ExtenDOS is easy to use and configure, works well, and is supported by an author who is committed to maintaining it. ExtenDOS is a wise investment for any Atari computer. ExtenDOS v 1.1 $29.95 Anodyne Software 6 Cobbler Court Ottawa, Ontario K1V 0B8, Canada. GEnie: R.BURROWS1 About the author: I have been using Atari computers since my first Atari 400 in 1980 and currently have a MegaST 4 and Falcon which my lovely wife and 2 adorable daughters allow to occupy an extra bedroom known as "The Office". In The Office, I enjoy working on a few of my programming projects such as The Grocery Lister and PGP Shell, dabbling in a bit of desktop publishing with Calamus SL, and general messing about with whatever Atari software I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, I spend the majority of my time working for a large telecommunications company, Northern Telecom, managing a software test and verification support group. It's unfortunate only because it prevents me from spending more time working with my Ataris, but at least it pays the bills and allows me to continue feeding my Atari software and hardware habit. --==--==--==--==-- ||| "From a saved backup...." ||| By: Ron Whittam / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- //// It's show and tell time. In this column I hope to foster communication and support for 8-bit and ST computer owners... presenting a positive and directive approach. This will help to strengthen the users group base and encourage the executive element. Earlier in this column I mentioned what I believe to be the three necessary elements in a users group meeting. These three elements can be called the mapping session, the demo session, and the random access session. While the first and third provide needed communication between members of the users group, the second provides information. Doing a successful demo session is not as difficult as some think. Since most Atari users groups do not have the benefit of a local dealership, procuring dealer demos are not easily done. There are other means. Membership participation is a common theme in this column. And recruitment is not as hard as it seems. I found it difficult to nag people into doing demos, "Please do something..." until I found the key. Ask them to talk about something they enjoy. Be specific. Be sure they understand that you do not want a "speech." You want them to show the group something about the computer, something the other members might not know about. This approach tends to focus on the need instead of on the performance. A good approach is to make a list of topics that are of interest to the members of the group. Then ask the members to pick one that they can do. Write it down on the calendar. This will get the ball rolling. The demonstration does not need to be formal nor elaborate. In fact, simple and clear is much more beneficial. Leave the elaborate demos for trade shows. Each member has something to contribute. After one meeting, a few of us were hanging around chatting. One of the members made a comment that he didn't like the way the desktop made you bring a window to the forefront just to copy a file. Another member told him just to hold the right button down while selecting the file from a background window and drag it to the active window. He thought it was simple. It's even in the users manual. But none of us knew it. This made me realize that the reason people don't share what they know about the Atari is that they think "everybody knows that." Well, not everybody does. You can get great demos from members of your own users group. Find out what the members' favorite programs are. Then ask them to do a brief talk on it. If you have a club computer, encourage them to run the program on the computer after the brief talk. Find out what your members do for a living and see if that would provide a platform for a demo. One of our members is an electrician. He brought in a parts book and talked to us about hooking up the computer. He discussed power and electricity. (Something he obviously enjoyed talking about.) And he provided good information for purchasing a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). Another who programs on various platforms discussed the various operating systems. He also explained the difference between Intel-based chip design and Motorola design. Another member was an electrical technician. He gave a talk on opening up the Atari computer. He provided helpful hints for the ambitious. Once we had a MIDI demo with two keyboards and a full sound system. (He demonstrated Notator.) He got voice samples from members of the group, and then used the computer to alter the voice so it sounded higher or deeper. Very interesting. I think the most common excuse I hear is, "No one would be interested in what I do." Once I helped a member salvage bad files from a disk. While at his house he showed me his business. He wrote government required documents for truckers using his Atari 520ST with a single-sided floppy, no hard drive, and a 9-pin dot matrix printer. Not too impressive of a set up for most. However, the documents he produced were very impressive. (It impressed me.) But I would have never know this if I had not been in his house. He never thought anyone would be interested in what he did. To him it was just work. Another method of getting demos is to write software publishers and developers. Identify yourself as a users group officer and ask for a demo or two. I have received many disks this way. If you have access to the INTERNET, GEnie, or one of the other paid services you can contact most Atari developers via Electronic Mail (EMail). The ones I have contacted this way have readily sent me the information and diskettes I requested. Atari has a users group correspondent, Bob Brodie. I have written him many EMail messages and he has responded. I now have flyers and brochures to hand out at our meetings to encourage the membership to buy Falcon computers. You cna contact Bob at <BOB-BRODIE@genie.geis.com>. Bob has also been a users group member for many years and has some helpful hints for users group officers. Drop him a note. And finally, the one source that gets a lot of attention: New computer purchases. When one of our members bought an Atari TT we asked him to bring it in. We announced the demo and we got a crowd of people. We did the same with other newly purchased products. One of our members put a GEMulator in a i486/DX and showed it off. We got it running PC-Ditto and emulated an IBM-XT on a 486! We have had a demo of each new Jaguar game (the latest, Tempest 2000) by our Jaguar owner. Encourage your member to "show off" what they have. A demo doesn't need to be an elaborate dramatic expression of artistry in motion to be enjoyable. Ask your demonstrators to just do a brief talk about what they have and then show it. Sort of like show and tell in grade school. It works, don't knock it. In the future we will cover Membership (methods of increasing it), Networking with other users groups, etc., and I will share from my own exploits as a users group president; the frustration and the elation. Stay tuned. ------------ Ron Whittam is a Customer Support Specialist for a small software firm in Boise, Idaho; and the President of the Atari Boise Users Group. He can be contacted on GEnie (EXPLORER.4), on the Internet at <r.whittam@genie.geis.com>, or on ROVER BBS (208-362-2243). --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- To enroll as a Delphi subscriber, modem call 1-800-365-4636. Press -- -- [Return] until you see "Password:", then type IP26 [Return] -- -- -- -- Answer all of the questions, and you'll be cleared for Delphi -- -- access in a few days. If you have questions about Delphi services, -- -- give a voice call to Delphi Member Services at 1-800-544-4005. -- -- -- -- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| Legends of Valour - Review ||| By: Andreas Barbiero / | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- US Gold/Synthetic Dimensions Programmed by: Kevin Bulmer Ian Downend //// Slowly but surely This review has been a long time coming. I have been meaning to get this one in for a review for a couple years now, and only recently has my list of "to do" games reached down to this one. I wish that I had pushed other projects aside for this particular review. Originally written back in 1992, Legends of Valour is the first 3D real-time smooth scrolling RPG (role playing game) for the Atari computer, and in presentation it is the most ambitious to date. The presentation is much like the style used in games like Wolfenstien 3D and Doom, popular on the PC and soon to be arriving on the Jaguar. In case you are unfamiliar with these programs, the presentation is first person, like in a flight simulator or as in Dungeon Master, but instead of moving around in regular "blocks", jumping from one equidistant point to another, you can look in any direction or scroll back and forth smoothly, much like in real life. //// Welcome to the Jungle, we've got fun and games As a new arrival to the city of Mitteldorf on the volcanic island called Wolfbrood, your immediate goals are: A) Stay alive B) Get rich C) Learn the skills needed for points A and B D) See A Obstensibly, you are here to find the whereabouts of your cousin Sven, but you know the real reason. Pig farming, it's not just a job, its an adventure! Well, almost. You jumped at the chance to come to the big city, and leave the stink behind. Of course any wealth and power you can get along the way would be nice. //// Insert disk A: and press return The game can be played from floppies or it can be installed on a hard drive, totalling over 2.2 MEGs, playing from floppies is a slow and arduous task, especially with the added options turned on. Creating a save game disk is mandatory if you are playing off of floppies or want to save to floppy with the game on the harddrive. I had a problem creating a save game disk while I was trying out the game from floppies, and I had to format a disk labelling it LOVSAVE, and creating a folder of the same name on it. The process itself is not hard, but the information is contained on a single sheet of paper and not in the main documentation. To confuse things more, additional addendum is contained on a fold-out containing Amiga specific information. This information should have been included in the main manual, but evidently the non-PC computers were left out of this decision. Installing to a harddrive is a bit more straightforward and is achieved by copying the install program onto the drive and into the folder you want it to go. It takes about twenty minutes to install, and the game then takes about two minutes to load, but that is to be expected with this amount of data. The program files requires one meg of memory, and even on a four meg computer, it seems that there is a great deal of disk access, possibly indicating that it does not use all available memory. I run it on my MegaSTe and it runs quite stably, even with TSRs like Warp 9. A faster machine is really useful with this game, the 3D effect and smooth scrolling takes up a great deal of processor power, and it is a testament to the programming finesse that it runs as well as it does. For all of you with accelerators, this is one more reason for you to be happy with your investment. //// Your window on the world The screen is split up into ten sections, with a view window in the center of the screen. There are three settings for the window, with the largest being about 100x200 and the smallest one around 50x100 pixels. This allows for a the user to customize the screen to match the performance of their computer. On an 8MHz ST, with the largest screen, the updates are a bit too slow for me, but running at 16MHz with the MSTe's blitter and cache, the largest screen is more than acceptable. To the left and right of the view are a series of boxes which indicate items that you have in your possession. There are the three magical item displays, and with a click on any one of the 6 commodities you can see the amount of wealth you have in that item. The commodities used in the game are gems, spices, pigments, ore, hides, and tar. I guess gold is not all there is in life here. "That will be two barrels of tar please, do you want fries with you order?" There is a message screen under the view window where interaction with other characters is displayed, and below that is your characters stats, movement icons, action icons, compass, floor window, and active item window. It sounds more complicated than it is, but then again, what isn't? //// Who the hell are you anyway? You have a mission and a physical form, but these need to be defined, just like in real life. Before you can get into the game and start strolling around town, you must run the character generation program. You can select your race and even the combination of your facial attributes. You can look like a reincarnation of Rocky or one of the seven dwarves, in either male or female flavor. Your statistics are from one to one hundred, and are not changed by your character's sex. Once everything is to your liking, you move on to your home village, where you learn the name of your father, his trade, and can input your alter-ego's name. A random amount of money is generated at the beginning of the game, and oddly enough for a backwater town, everything from a suit of clothes (Did you ever want to look like one of the Three Musketeers? No? Well you're out of luck.) to a custom suit of knight's armor. Randomly, swords, axes, and daggers are available for purchase. Make your selections and get on with it! //// Bright Lights, Big City Here you are at the front gate, ready for adventure! Well you won't have to look too hard for it here. There are guilds to join, and jobs for the taking. I suggest you get into one of the guilds first, the skills of magic and the arts of combat which they teach are the only chance you have to make it beyond the daylight streets of Mitteldorf. You are welcome to join one, for a small sum and a small task to obtain the favor of your new mates. You can join the ranks of the Mercenaries, the royal Men at Arms, the Thieves' Guild, the magical Fellowship of Asegeir and the mischievous Brotherhood of Loki. Skills are taught as you increase in rank within the guild, from lock picking to fireballs and new ways to insert sharp implements into your enemies. Wandering around the city is an education in itself. You can talk to people, ask them personal questions, and questions about the objects you are searching for. If the questions get too personal, a fight may ensue. This is the time when you are glad that you purchased that metal suit and pig-sticker from your home town. The whole thing is mouse based, from clicking on the "hail" icon to selecting the question to ask the person. Depending on who the person is, the answer or directions will be more or less accurate. //// When you buy a sword, Look for the Union Label You will be involved for quite some time with the pursuit of rank in different guilds. I won't be spoiling anything by telling you that the messages that Sven left you basically tell you that you need to be the top man in a guild and in one of the religious orders. Some temples and guilds won't have anything to do with you if you are a member of other guilds. I have made my way into the Mercenary's guild, the Guild of Thieves, (not easy to find, of course) and the Temple of Loki. The others would not have much to do with me after I joined the Merc's guild. There are numerous object just lying around the streets, everything from jugs of ale, to a ham, axes, and even jewelry. Don't hesitate to pick these items up as they can be sold for cash or consumed as needed. There are three magical items available for the finding. I have found two of them, seven league boots, and and magical gauntlets. I won't tell you where they are, but they weren't hard to find. Look everywhere. Certain skills will allow you to complete missions and jobs to climb the ranks of your chosen guild. //// The final roundup In conclusion, this game is more like the Bard's Tale than Dungeon Master. The 3D views are superb, especially with a graphics accelerator, and even with 16 colors in 320x200. There are enough things to do, and not in any overall set order, to keep you busy. Completing missions for rank and profit keeps the interest up, as you don't get stuck in a dead end trying to figure out a single quest. If you run out of time to complete a mission (they all have time limits), you lose the money you paid the guild, but can try it again later. The problems were few. The first problem I had with this game was that you can get nose-up to a wall without a graceful way out of the problem. I did find a way that you can back up smoothly without a bunch of mouse maneuvers. Just like you can move forward with the left mouse button held down, pressing BOTH mouse buttons at the same time will move you in reverse. You can then back away from a wall and find the door you were searching for! Another small point is that while you have an automapper, each time you reenter an area, you have to re-start the map. If you explore a dungeon, the map should be retained. There should also be a way of recalling the quest you have been called out on. Having read several jobs, and paid to go on a guild mission, if you are interrupted frequently, as I am, it is easy to forget small details. I am using a $1000 computer, and should be able to keep track of these things. A mission roster should be available to recall what needs to be gotten where. You can sell items that are in your possesion to any store, but there seems to be only a limited number of slots available for items to be sold in the store. Frustrating when you have more than four items you want to sell, but having the slots there means that you can recover the items you sold, for a while anyway. The documentation is easy to read, and should be read before the game starts. I usually don't like to read docs, but these were not bad. Overall I recommend this game for Dungeon Master and Bard's Tale fans who might have missed it the first time around, and want more than just another clone of the same old thing. It is also worth a look for anyone with a Mega STe or other sped-up ST, as it is a game that will show off the abilities of your machine. I have not tried it on a Falcon030, and it does not work on a TT030. Units 2/3 Holford Way Holford Birmingham B6 4BR UK 1 MEG Hard drive Installable Mouse ST/MSTe compatible Not TT compatible $79.95 MSRP $59.95 at STeve's Software 1-800-487-7753 1-916-661-3328 This software was generously lent to me by STeve, and this review would not have been possible without him. If you are a dealer or a developer and would like to see a review of one of your products reviewed here please contact one of the AEO STaff at <aeo$@genie.geis.com>. --==--==--==--==-- ||| Of Lasers and Men 1.0 - Mini-Review ||| By: Timothy Wilson / | \ GEnie: AEO.8 Internet: wilsont@rahul.net ---------------------------------------------------------------- The latest but-not-quite-final version of the Wolf-3D clone has been released. Look for it on your local FTP site or service as: laser10.zip. OLaM uses the Falcon's true color mode to good effect for that "dark hallway" look. Objects nearby are bright and visible, while far away objects are hard to see in the murky black. Unlike Wolf3D floors are also texture mapped. The textures used are detailed and varied, with stone, mandelbrot sets and hi-tech walls. It's also not a one-man show. The player is on the brown team, trying to wipe out the greater numbers of the blue team. Often, I'd walk into a room to find browns and blues blasting each other. The screen shows how many blues, and how many browns are left alive. As far as I could tell, there was only one weapon - a laser - and combat was pretty much sit there and blast a blue guy while taking a few hits yourself. The player starts with 1000 shield points, which slowly regenerate when not being hit. Of course, at 0 shield points, you die, and the screen blurs red slowly while an orchestra audibly mourns your death. The blues can't aim straight and have trouble blasting you at long range. At "face-to-face" range, the lasers seem to do more damage, and the blues don't miss as often, so it's unwise to attack close up. There is very little in the way of sound. The blues "aerrow!" when they die, and doors sound like a Star Trek door "sssssshirp!". It seems that if I restarted a game, the blues no longer screamed, in fact, I think all of the sounds disapeared. Lasers don't make much noise, and it was impossible to tell if I was getting shot unless I noticed my shield meter dropping. In the end, it turns out to be a graphics demo. There is nothing in the game that would make me register, at least in its present form. There is no *game*, it seems to be just a pretty maze to walk around in. Wait for a few more versions. Current Ratings: ***** Really spiffy **** Hey... groovy *** Yeah. Uh huh. ** Thhhpt! * Alakabeth has better. - This blows chunks... BADLY. Sound: * Gee, I counted 4 samples total. all very infrequent. Music: ** An 'Ok' title music piece, but thats it otherwise. Graphics: *** Very small view window, and limited range of movement. Gameplay: - Face it, there ain't any. Controls: * The mouse control was poor, and not sensitive enough. Overall: ** According to the author, the graphics aren't done yet (other beings had a large square for a body) and it still seems too early to tell just what the author has planned for the graphics - although it is OLaM 1.0! --==--==--==--==-- ||| The Unabashed Atariophile ||| By: Michael R. Burkley / | \ Delphi: MRBURKLEY GEnie: AEO.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------- It's been a busy two weeks! I can't believe all of the files I've downloaded. I've uncompressed them and it adds up to nearly forty megabytes of files and programs. Yikes! Now I'm really running out of room. "Running faster to stay in the same place" strikes a little too close to home for me. I've been trying to catch up on a backload of files. I've done some of them, but the trouble is I've not finished writing the descriptions yet. I expect next issue will be quite large, but not this time. I've been too busy. What have I been busy with? Our church is in the process of purchasing 1.5 acres of vacant land (and a garage) adjacent to our present location. Unfortunately for us, land prices are quite high where we are. We had to pay $79,000 for the package. Now we have to figure out how to pay for it! I've been delving into some of the finance oriented programs I have available to figure out interest and principle payments at various interest rates, pay back times, and more. Calling lawyers and real estate brokers, banks, and Presbytery offices have taken up quite a bit of my time. Sitting in front of my STE has been a great relaxation! Here's some of those finance programs I have used. [] 1040BS is a humorous look at a hypothetical (that's the BS part) IRS simplified tax form under the Clinton Administration. There's quite a list of possible "joint filers" and addresses ("homeless specify the location of your dumpster"). Here's the line on listing your income: "Wages, salaries, tips pandering income, etc. (i.e., everything you made last year)." Lots of other satire. Requires PageStream 2.x to view. [] AMORT gives you a DETAILED look at the amount of money you are spending for a loan. It will print out the principle paid, the interest paid and the totals for each month of the life of your loan. Interest payments really add up, don't they? Color or mono. [] BANKING by Tracy Garrison is Banker's Delight, is really seven financial programs all wrapped up in GEM clothing. It will tell you practically everything you need to know about your loans (or prospective loans). It will also tell you the day of the week any date is (or was). [] BANKING2 is the Banking Comparison Shopper by Rod Smith. _Consumer Reports_ magazine has discovered that banking costs vary widely even in the same city. This program will help you sort through the maze of charges, surcharges, and creative fees that banks and savings and loan companies charge you. You can save big bucks - enough to by an STe (almost!). C.R. showed that the difference in cost was $301 per year for an "average-balance customer" between the least expensive and the most expensive savings institutions in New York City. Check out this program as see how much you might save! Color or mono. Docs included. Printer supported but not required. By Roderick W. Smith. SHAREWARE. [] BIGBUX14 by Thom Rechak of Krystalware is a new version of a good financial program. If you need to know how much money you will end up oweing on a loan, or how much you can afford to borrow, this program is for you. Just about every financial question you might have can be answered by this program (except where to get the money!) SHAREWARE. Color or mono. Docs included. [] BUD is Budget User Development by Bryan SToll. This program was designed to give a standard ATARI ST user the ability to create simple monthly budgets. The author (from Mentality, Inc.) wanted to make a budget program that would use the ST and not abuse it. He succeeded! Color only. FREEWARE, but you can get your own custom version made the way you want it for only $5.00. [] BUDGET is Budget Maker, ver. 1.0 by Robert M. Balay. This program will help you make a budget for yourself. Making budgets is not a particularly exciting task, but it is almost necessary if you want to be comfortable with your finances. Knowing where you choose to spend your money can help you to put your money where you choose, and that relieves A LOT of stress. Color or mono. Docs and a sample budget included. SHAREWARE. 36K. [] CHCKBOOK v.2.4 by Aric Friesen (dated 1992) is an easy to use checkbook program that combines keyboard and mouse commands to allow you to manipulate your finances quickly and powerfully. Sort (FAST!) all of your transactions by date, edit them, print them out, check off cleared transactions, etc. Color or mono. On-line docs. [] CHECKBAL by William Blair This program was developed to allow the user to enter all withdrawals, deposits, and checks written on a bank account into a file. The entries are placed in the file ordered on the date the transaction occurred. The program allows the entries to be searched using a number of criteria, and also will assist in balancing the account. Color or mono. Documentation included. [] CHEKBOOK is Chekbook v.1.19 by Steve MacMillan (date March 15, 1991). This program can aid you in getting today's complicated checking account under control. Problems arise in balancing your account when items are entered out of sequence due to automated teller withdrawals, interest payments, and service charges. CHEKBOOK can help you to balance your checkbook - to the penny. Color only. Docs included. STE compatible (at least). [] GEMCALC is Gem-Calc v.1.92 by Gregor Englmayer (dated 1988). GEM-CALC is a simple spreadsheet program with a partial GEM interface (pull-down menus) and built-in graphic handling of data. Variable column width, configurable decimal place, printouts, DEGAS support, and much more are all included. Paper output supported. A maximum of 26 columns and up to 999 rows may be used. Extensive docs included. Color or mono. TOS 1.0--1.62 (at least) with any RAM. [] HOMEACCT is Home Accountant v.1.0 by Ron Grimes. It is a very clean program (pun intended!) that will help you keep your home finances in order. Expense and income catagories, the ability to print checks, and much more. Color only. [] MC205 is a working demo (or free update if you already own the commercial program!) of MEGA-Check 2 v.2.05 by Chris Muller of Muller Automation (dated Nov., 1993). This newest upgrade to this constantly improving product adds a large number of features, both in increased speed of execution of a number of functions and in increased functionality in many other areas. This is a fully working demo (with only a 30 transaction limit) will allow you to easily (well, fairly easily!) track your finances, personal, investment, and business. I could go on with another 30 lines of description (that's how I already wrote it!), but I won't. Just know that this is one detailed program. Color or mono. At least one meg of RAM and DS disk required. [] MICROCHK or MicroCheck ST by Clayton Walnum (dated 1989), noted programing author, author of the famous 8 bit Microcheck, and now the manager of the ST Advantage area on Delphi. This program will do everything that you need done with your checkbook at home (except arrange to have more money deposited.) A classic program that has not lost its edge. Docs included. Shareware. [] MONEYMAK is "How to Make Money With Your Micro" by Steven Howlett and Alan J. Beards. This program is basically a disk based newletter that gives you many practical and encouraging ways to make money using your ST. Have you ever seen those "Make a Million Dollars in Your Spare Time Next Week" ads? This isn't one of those "programs." It tells you right from the start that making money is hard work, and you don't make a lot right from the start. It gives you hints on how to use your ST in WordProcessing, Video work, advertising, and many more ways. I found it very interesting to read. Color only. [] OPUS22 is an excellent spreadsheet. This is all you probably need. Opus requires a one-megabyte ST. In addition, GDOS or G+Plus, printer drivers, and fonts are needed to use the charting facility. SHAREWARE by Doug Harrison. Color or mono. If you send in your Shareware contribution Doug will send you a version of the program that will work with Lotus 123 WKS and WK1 files. Extensive Docs. [] PAPACNT is The Paperless Accountant. The name says it all. This is an accounting program that does not generate any hard copy whatsoever. You view your graphs and reports right on the screen. This demo version will allow up to 50 transactions on any file you create. A new and separate report module has been developed for registered owners. Paperless Accountant will do just about anything budget or account wise for you. This is a truly amazing product. Color or mono. Docs included. SHAREWARE. [] SHEET30D is a demo of SHEET version 3.0. This is a 4-in-1 integrated package. It is a spreadsheet program, database manager, charting program and BASIC interpreter. The charting program can generate graphs onscreen. If you have GDOS installed, you can set the output to meta-file or printer. The charting program can also generate BASIC commands for drawing the graph. The demo version has Save and Load WKS disabled. By Mr. Chor-ming Lung. Excellent documentation enclosed. SHAREWARE. Now on to some of the other programs I've downloaded (both recently and further in the past).... [] 4_7_111 is 4-7-11 v.1.04 by John Phillips of EasyPill Software (dated 1992). This program is a multi-game pack of solitaire card games. It contains "Four" the four card game also known as Russian Patience; "Seven" the familiar seven card solitaire game, and "Eleven" the twelve card game also known as "Casting our Elevens." Color or mono. This is a very nice shareware game. On registering you get an .ACC version and a card design editor. Docs included. Not compatible with Geneva in any mode I found (you can play the "Seven" game but you can't access the menu bar to change to another game or to quit). I found an older version of this program (v.1.02) on TOAD Hall BBS. [] 680X_WIN is the "68-XX conference Falcon-only demo by Percy of Light. It displays some "cool" DSP effects, with rotation of complex dot images. It also plays a MOD file as all of this goes on. [] ADVNTURE is a Calamus Vector Graphic (.CVG) created using OutLine Art 3. By Don Harris of Laser's Edge Graphics, this picture shows the word "Adventure" in an "arching" style reminicent of the Indiana Jones logo. You must have Calamus S or SL, Outline Art 3 or another package which allows viewing of OL3 .CVGs to view this file. [] ANSIST30 is ANSI-ST v.0.30 by Mark Matts (dated April 16, 1994). Once installed in your auto folder this small program will give your machine ANSI screen output whilst maintaining VT52 compatibility. Any (non-windowing) programs which use TOS screen output will now be able to emulate ANSI, and not just those whose programmers specifically included such support! Even Vanterm can now support ANSI BBS's....! v0.30 fixes problems with VT52 emulation and can now be switched on or off on the fly using the included utility programs or from within your own program! Docs included. ST--Falcon. Color or mono. Since ST medium res only uses four colors this program uses Bold, underlined, and other variations on the available colors to mimic the full 16 colors ANSI has available (it does similiar, but more extensive fixing for ST mono screens as well). Shareware. [] ATARIPCS is another amazing .PCS file. It shows a 3-D Atari logo and name carved out of colored marble and sitting on a checkered floor. I warn you right now, for quite some time I will be raving about PhotoChrome pictures. Seeing 19,200 colors on an STe color screen is amazing. The pictures are so lifelike, better than I have seen before on an ST. Get PCHROME4!! [] AUTO_SET is Auto Set v.1.0 by Alexander Hajnal (dated early 1994). This simple AUTO Folder utility will allow you to set the screen resolution and desktop at your start-up/reset. It will also allow you to set the time and date for your system. GFA BASIC 3.5E source code (.LST) and docs included. ST low and medium res. only. [] BJ300 is a printer driver for the BJ-300W1/W2 and Calamus SL as modified by Brian Woolf by using the Calamus SL Printer Generator program. He also uploaded a printer driver for the BJ-330W1/W2 printer, and as he says that these are interchangable (the one for the BJ-330 having more paper sizes), I recommend them both to you (see BJ330 for that driver). If you have one of these printers (or the BJ 200 or 230 (or so B.W. thinks) you should get these drivers. They look like they will allow you to get a lot out of those printers. These drivers are a part of DMC Publishing's User to User program and so these files should not be available online except through GEnie. Of course, as a registered user of Calamus SL you can get it directly from DMC. [] BOX_CAR is v.1.0 or Box Car, a STOS 3D game by Robert Quezada (the author or STOS Fix - an older version of same is included in this file). This game (dated June 1, 1993) is a color only game in which the object is to battle your opponent and blow him/her away with the anti-car missles you carry. Your opponent must be on another ST--TT machine and linked up with you either thought a modem or a null-modem cable. You can tap into ten different camera angles to get a good view of where your opponent is hiding (there are 10 blocking pyramids on the retangular field. Easy to use, whether the connection is via null-modem cable or by modem (a nice modem dialer is included in the program). Joystick controlled. The graphics are only so-so (the cars do look like boxes!), but the play is fun. A single-player practice mode is also available. Docs included. Shareware. [] CALC2 is a shareware CPX module by Torsten Dix and Oliver Teuber (dated 1992). This CPX provides you with a four modal calculator: Decimal, Binary, Octal, and Hexadecimal. Docs are all in German. Shareware. 0This CPX (requiring Atari's XCONTROL.ACC, currently at v.1.31). [] DBICONS2 is a collection of 56 Falcon color desktop icons. Dated April 17, 1994 and created (or edited from the originals) by Dr. Bob (W.Parks) using his ICDRAW program, these icon files can be of use to any Falcon owner. Use ICDRAW to insert these into your Falcon .RSC file. Most icons are gathered as groups, but there are a few individual icons. [] DBICONS3 is a collection of 41 Falcon color desktop icons. Dated April, 1994 and created (or edited from the originals) by Dr. Bob (W.Parks) using his ICDRAW program, these icon files can be of use to any Falcon owner. They are of commonly used programs and files which you would easily recognize. Use ICDRAW to insert them in your Falcon (or TOS 4.xx) .RSC file. [] DBICONS4 is a collection of 45 Falcon color desktop icons. Dated April, 1994 and created (or edited from the originals) by Dr. Bob (W.Parks) using his ICDRAW program, or imported from the Windows world (as ICO icons), these icon files can be of use to any Falcon owner. They are of commonly used programs and files which you would easily recognize. Use ICDRAW12 to insert them in your Falcon (or TOS 4.xx) .RSC file. [] DISPLCFN is a collection a PD Calamus Display fonts. I recommend them to you. Below you will find a description of the files contained in this archive. AGATE is Agate Normal, a formerly PostScript PD font converted to a Calamus .CFN font using FontDesigner and FontVerter. This complete font is pleasing to look at with strong regular characters composed of flowing lines of variable widths. Upper and lower case, numbers, and many special characters are included. AGATEBOL is Agate Bold, a bold version of the AGATE font described above. AGATEIT is Agate Normal Italics, a formerly PostScript PD font converted to a Calamus .CFN font using FontDesigner and FontVerter. This complete italic font is pleasing to look at with strong regular characters composed of flowing lines of variable widths. Upper and lower case, numbers, and many special characters are included. BROD_ENG is the Calamus Font Broadway Engraved by Ric Kalford. This font is a pleasing display font. The letters are bold and appear as if they have been engraved on a hard surface. Vertical lines through the type gives a 3D impression. Upper and lower case letter, numbers, and numerous special characters are included. COOPER_R is Cooper Black, a Calamus Font converted from PageStream font by Geoff Gass using FontVerter. This very bold display font uses think yet flowing lines to create a font which will definately stand out from your page. Upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation included. COUNTER is the Counter-Point Calamus font created by Ike Eisenschmidt. This display font is upper case only, with numbers and some punctuation. Using wide disjointed strokes the author has created a font which would catch your attention simply because it looks so different. The letters are well-done and clear, it just that you sometimes need to look twice to see which letter is represented (as was the authors intention I am sure). CRILLEE is a bold italic Calamus font composed mostly of straight lines and sharp corners. Used for titling in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." This complete font (with lots of special characters) would be useful for display purposes. In looking at this font using JC View by M.Matts I can see that several lines making up the fonts cross over other lines. This would render this fonts unusable in Outline Art 1 from DMC, but wouldn't affect their use in Calamus 1.09 or higher at all. A lot of fonts have this problem and you never know it unless you use Outline Art. HARRINGT is a fancy Calamus font with upper and lower case letters, numbers and some punctuation. Flowing letters, lots of serifs and curliques and more, all point to a font you would use in a fancy invitation. HERON is Heron-Roman, a Calamus font converted from a PD PostScript original. This display font features complete upper and lower case letters, numbers, and some punctuation. The letters look more runic than Roman, but that might just be due to me not knowing what I'm talking about! They are thin-lined and tend to "flow" downward towards the bottom of the page. HERON_B is the Heron-Roman Bold Calamus font. This is a bold version of the Heron font described above. HERON_BI is a bold italic version of the Calamus Font, Heron-Bold, described above. HERON_I is an italic version of the Calamus Font, Heron-Roman, described above. HVSTRIPE is the HvStripe-Ex-Bold Calamus Font. This font consists of a plain sans-serif font horizontally striped with numerous white lines. Upper and lower case letters, numbers, and some punctuation are included. MIAMINIT is a display Calamus font containing upper and lower case letters, numbers, punctuation, and numerous special characters. While the letters are clear, they are stylized (I've seen them used in a variety of places including some Children's Keyboard learning games!). REVUE is a bold and massive Calamus Font. It's straight where the lines are straight and very rounded where they are curved. How's -that- for a description! RHEINLND is a display Calamus font composed in the style of illuminated manuscripts. The upper and lower case letters are easy to read, but have lots of extraneous serifs attached to them. Numbers and punctuation, too. ROOSTH is a Calamus .CFN font. It is a heavy yet flowing font that can be used in small point ranges, but is better used in Headlines and standouts. This contains both caps and lower case letters, with a smattering of special characters. SLABFACE is a Calamus display font composed of many straight line "slabs" pushed together in the shape of letters. Some have merged into complete letters while others are still in the process (though all can easily be seen as the letter they represent). Upper and lower case, numbers, and a smattering of punctuation. TOULOUSE is Toulouse Lautrec, an elegant Calamus display font. This is really the same font as Heron above (Heron-Roman), but there are enough differences that you can tell it came from a different source. Use them both and decide which one you like best! This font is used in titling the TV show "Murder She Wrote." UPPREAST is the Upper East Side Calamus display font. This slim, vertically oriented font comes with upper and lower case letters, no punctuation (that's strange!) and several special characters. [] OTHERCFN is a file containing three different Calamus fonts. Here they are... HALLBATS by Michael D. Hall is a very complete rendition of Zapf dingbats. Keys, an airplane, notes, symbols, scissors, snowflakes and more are all included. I have this font already from another archive and know it is shareware. Unfortunately this archive doesn't include the registration information for this font. Check out HALFONTS for a complete set of several of M. Hall's Calamus fonts (they are are nice). That file has the shareware docs in it. OLYMPIA is an easy-to-read Typewriter-type non-proportional Calamus font created by Sandy Cerovich. Containing upper and lower case letters, numbers, and punctuation, this slight and flowing serif text would be a pleasant font to use for many purposes. PSTCRYPT is Post Crypt, a display Calamus font that is also a play on words! This upper case font (lower case letters are included, but they are just smaller versions of the upper case). Numbers and punctuation marks are here, too. The letters are dripping all sorts of slime off of them, and some of the special characters are equally as interesting! [] EALPHA is the Eliemouse Alpha Quest game by Albert Baggetta. It is a simple, yet useful color program. Eliemouse (part mouse, part elephant) appears at the top of the screen and says he wants to introduce your child to the Alphabet. This is a game for young children just starting to learn the alphabet. They might need some help from mom or dad. Lots of color, sound effects, and music. Shareware. [] FADE_FIX by Mark Slagel (the author of the fantastic SilkMouse - the best mouse accelerator and screen saver around, IMHO) is a Degas .PI3 file which tells you how to fix a common problem with SM124 mono monitors. Many SM124 monitors dim when only a few pixels are lit (for instance, when a windowless (TOS/TTP) program is displaying white text on black). This simple fix (only a dollar in parts and some soldering) will fix this problem. [] ICDRAW12 is the Icon Editor v.1.2 for the Falcon030 by W.D. Parks, a.k.a., Dr. Bobware (dated April 25, 1994). With this program you will be able to create some new and different color icons for your Falcon's Desktop. Since no one else was making an icon editor (that Dr. Bob knew of), he decided to do one himself. ICDRAW can read a TOS v.4 .RSC file and edit any of the color icons therein. This version adds ICO import and export capabilities and several other editing features. It does not add to or delete from the icons in the .RSC, but only allows you to change them. It also only deals with icons that are the normal 32x32 pixels (both mono and 4-plane [16-color] icons). Detailed docs included. Requires 640x480 16-color resolution. (Runs on Falcon030s and in TT030 Medium.) Shareware. [] ICPAGE12 is Iconpager v.1.02 by W.D.Parks, aka Dr. Bobware (dated April 26, 1994). This program, which runs in 16 color mode on a Falcon, TT and ST/E will display onscreen a folder's worth of Falcon (or TOS 4.xx) desktop icons (in Dr. Bobware's ICDDRAW's IBI & IB3 formats). It will display as many icons (in groups of three) as will fit on the screen, paging from that point onward if necessary to display the complete folder. It will also tell you all sorts of information about the icon you select. In Falcon 640x480 mode this will show up to 54 icon groups per screen page (arrayed as 6x9). Now we ST/E'ers can see all those fantastic icons which come naturally on the Falcon! You can also copy and delete your icons, too. This version fixes screen re-draw problems, and changes some of the keyboard controls. Docs included. [] KTA is Kill Them All by ODC/Sector One (dated Nov. 28, 1992). This French language virus killing program will check for a wide variety of boot sector and link viruses on your ST--TT and will allow you to kill them at will. It will also tell you if executable code on your boot sector is an anti-virus (a small program designed to warn you of any virus contaminating your system). This is shareware and only the registered version will recognize link viruses. Enough of the program is in "Computer English" so that you can get by, even if you understand no French. [] MEGAFLI is MegaFli v.1.0 by Christophe Boyanique (dated Sept. 5, 1993). This .TTP program will run on any TOS 1.0--Falcon machine, in any screen resolution. It will allow you to split up huge files (or even small files if you want to do something fairly useless!) so that they might easily fit on floppy disks for transport to another system. It will then allow you to re-assemble the sections into one useable whole on the other system. One very nice thing about this program is that it contains a PC version which will run on IBM compatibles. This allows you to split and re-combine files from one system to another. Great idea! Docs in French or English. Postcardware. [] MINTCNF is a .CNF file for MultiTOS by Robert Quezada (of STOSFIX fame). This file will set MultiTOS to give a higher priority to the top window allowing the main application you are using to run faster, thus making MultiTOS seem much faster than it otherwise would. You can change this priority to any value with any ASCII text editor. I would recomend this file to all MultiTOS users. Uploaded Feb. 22, 1994. [] MONGEN51 is the Monster Generator v.5.1 by R. Bowen. This editor will allow you (the GrandMaster) to make your own Fantasy Role-Playing monsters with over 40 encounter variables. Since I don't play such games I really don't know what this does! It doesn't mention any specific game for which it is designed, so I assume that it will work in a rather generic manner. The interface looks nice and seems easy to use. ST--TT compatible (in ST res.). Shareware. [] MS21_PRG and MS21FILS make up the complete version 2.1 of Magic Spell by Thomas A. Savino, RPh (uploaded Nov. 27, 1993). The author uploaded this program in two portions to save downloading time for those of you who have downloaded previous versions (you only need the MS21_PRG file). Everyone else will need both archives to get the complete package. I liked the first version of this program enough that I registered it. Along with the registration I made some suggestions for some possible improvements in the program. This version implements them all and more besides! Amazing! This is an excellent program that was designed to encourage people to improve their spelling skills. As u no I dont hav ne problem with mi speling abillidy, but I still enjoy this program. After a brief initialization the Wizard (the Spelling Wizard, that is) presents you with a number of letters at the top of the screen (the most letters at the Easy level, with fewer at the Medium level, and the fewest at the Hard level, and now the program will auto-save your preferences). Your task is to try to make up to ten words using those letters (mor then once, if nesessare). The length of the words, and the frequency of the letters involved (a "Z" scores more than an "A") determine your score. You can now set the game length to be from one to 10 minutes If after you have placed a word you find a better one you can go back and change your selection (but watch out! There is a possible cost involved if you run out of time!) After you are done you can access the dictionary to see all of the words you could have picked (A LOT!). You can also add to the 2600+ word dictionary included with this file, either from within the program itself or with the included editor. Brief appearances by the Wizard and many other "touches" to this program that show that the author has done his homework in program design and friendliness. Color (and the program now uses some color to brighten things up, though I would wish it would use more) or mono. Docs included. Recommended. Shareware (with an interesting incentive to register). TOS 1.0--TT compatible (at least) in ST resolutions. [] PFH is the Pro Football Handicapper by Mark Glowka. This program will allow you to take football stats from any newspaper (the author recommends USA Today), insert them into this program, and win in your illegal football betting big time (he says a 70% or better winning % against the spread). Color only. Docs included. Hmmm... let's see, I was just talking to a lawyer connected to our church yesterday and he told me of a client who was about to lose his home because he had mortgaged it to pay for his sports betting. Somehow I don't think that this program would really help. Do you honestly think so? Here are some STalker BackTalk scripts which I've recently downloaded from Delphi. [] FKLOADR2 is v.2.0 of a STalker BackTalk script (.BTK) by Jon Emery (dated Feb. 25, 1994) which will allow you to load a function key set by simply pushing two buttons. With this script loaded, your favorite function key sets will always be with in easy reach. Either set it up to load a favorite set-up or to allow you to choose (via mouse) which one you want. Docs included. This version adds error checking and other options over v.1.0. [] SCRIBE is Scribe v.2.0, a STalker BackTalk Script (.BTK) for use with the STalker telecommunications PRG/ACC from Gribnif Software. By Jon Emery (dated March 6, 1994) this script will record an online session, conference, or anything else that is received by STalker. You can send the Text you receive to your printer, a disk, or to STeno. Version 2 has been improved with further error checking routines added. Docs. Scribe is "SainTware" shareware so if you use it and like it, be a SainT and send $5 to the author! [] SETTER is v.2.0 of Jon Emery's STalker BackTalk script which will allow you to set Clear/Home and Type-ahead Parameters. Some systems will send STalker a clear/home signal after each incoming signal. This is a pain because this will clear STalker's scrollback buffer leaving you with no means to backtrack and re-read messages (unless you are using STeno or EdHack as the main capture buffer - something I do all the time). Setter will allow you to fix that problem, pronto (bravo!). The second function of this script is to set the Typeahead Parameter. With this set to ignore STalker will send text from STeno at full speed. With it set to obey STalker will sent text from STeno following the current ascii upload settings. This script is SainT shareware, so be a SainT and send $5 the author (support Shareware!). Docs included. [] TXTSNDR is v.1.0 of a STalker BackTalk script (.BTK) by Jon Emery (dated Feb. 25, 1994) which will allow you to attach any text file quickly and easily to any E-mail or online postings you send. This is very handy for those header, signature, and return addresses which your regularly send. Using this script will allow you to do it with just a button push from TXTSNDR's alert box. SainTware (you're a saint if you send something to him!). Docs included. Back to our regular show... [] SHOCKER2 by M. Hintzen and J. Verwohlt is an EXCELLENT game! I recommend it to you. First of all it allows two players to play with each other or against each other as they attempt to solve the puzzles in 100 different levels (via MIDI or Modem). Of course, one player can play by him/herself. The first ten levels are free, but after that you need to register to get the clues you need to continue. Mouse controlled, this ST--Falcon compatible game is easy to use and a lot of fun. I warn you, it's one of those "I'll try it one more time" type games. You roll your ball about the screen negotiating various mazes, picking up a variety of objects, and avoiding all the bad-guys. If you liked OXYD, then you will like this game. German or English (you choose). Mono only. Online help and documentation included. [] PI3->PI2 is a program by Alexander Hajnal (dated 1994) which will allow you to convert high res. Degas picture files (.PI3) to medium res files (.PI2). GEM based, this program intelligently converts the pictures using a gray scale "fill" to deal with the different pixel displays of the color and mono monitors. Docs included. Shareware. ST-TT compatible (in ST res). [] RECIPE45 is The Recipe Box v.4.5 by Anthony W. Watson (Dated April 8, 1994). This is a very useful program with a very attractive and easy to use interface that allows you to enter, store, view, edit, resize, and print out your up-to 2.5 million recipes (with lots of options all around). Not only can you store recipies, but you can organize your grocery purchases, plan your meals, check the calories of a wide variety of foods, take advantage of the Atari Clipboard, export your files to other recipe formats, and more! This program has certainly improved since I first saw it (but then again, what else could I expect from a dedicated programmer like A.W. of Mountain Software!). The Recipe Box will import Computer Chef, The Recipe Box (v.3.5), and Meal-Master (any version) recipe files. GEM based. This will accept GDOS fonts if GDOS is installed. You can customize your printer. Color or mono. ST/STe/TT/ Falcon and even the Cyrel Graphics Card compatible. Docs (online and written) and numerous recipes included. You can run this program with a minimum of one meg free RAM and a DS floppy disk, but more RAM and a hard drive is nice (it quits cleanly from the hard drive!) SHAREWARE (limited only in that but 60 recipes may be loaded). Upgrades to this program are frequent and valuable. This upgrade adds several new features, improvements and a bug fix or two. Check this excellent program out! [] SANS_CFN is a collection of Sans Serif (without Serifs, those little bits and pieces that hang off the edge of letters and draw your eye along to the next letter, thus enhancing readibility in small type). Here they are: MICRON contains four complete fontfaces Garth E. Wood. They are the Micron Demi font, the italics version of M.D., the Micron Bold Extended font, and its italicized version. These font's are very similar to Microgramma Bold Extended. It is often used for headlines because it is clean and modern. If you're a fan of Star Trek paraphernalia, much of the written material uses this font for headlines. The author says these fonts are complete, and he means *complete*! Can also be used in Outline Art. "Donation-ware" SPOKANE is a Calamus display font by Joe Ceklosky. Nothing fancy about this one, but it is complete in that it offers upper and lower case letters and punctuation. I've seen this font before, in advertising mostly. [] SEGA2TOS is a text file from Home Alternatives of Canada (Bill Devonshire) which tells of their new method of modifying a SEGA Genesis or Smart16 hand controller so that you might use it on any ST--Falcon in place of a joystick. It seems like a pretty good deal. Dated April 30, 1994. [] SYSIN160 is SYSINFO v.1.60 by David Troy of Toad Computers (dated April, 1994). This freeware program will check out your modem for compatibility with STraight FAX! available through Toad Computers. Now even compatible with more modems than ever before (including the modem I had!). Not content to just check for STraight FAX! compatibility, this program will also inspect and report on your entire system configuration - everything from your TOS version to your GDOS version to your AUTO folder, some obscure TSR's and cookies (in the cookie jar). The program will save the results of all these texts in an ASCII text file, now also allowing you to add your own name, address, STraight FAX! registration number, and more (in case you need to send it into TOAD). ST/STE/TT/Falcon/Gemulator compatible (MultiTOS and Geneva, too). Color or mono. TOAD Computers is a dealer which not only sells fine equipment and software - they give it away as well. Their online presence is much appreciated. [] SIXTEEN by is an excellent and challenging version of the solitaire game called the English Sixteen Puzzle. You are presented with a board containging 17 spaces, and there are 16 markers (eight white and eight black) on the board. The object of the game is to move the markers so as to exchange their positions. Do it in less moves than anyone else and you will end up in the Hall of Fame. This is one of those games that you will try "just one more time" an an attempt to better your score. The game has online helps, the ability to take back moves, replay your game, and more. It's all in German, but you can figure it out. Mono only. STE compatible (at least). [] SOSHANG is SOS HangMan v.2.02 by John R. Duckworth, the well known author and programmer (dated Aug 21, 1993). This is an .ACC version of this well-known game will now run on any ST--Falcon. Bootup with this .ACC (or use MultiDesk Deluxe, Geneva, DC Stuffer, or Chameleon to load and unload at will, but you must keep the data file in your bootup drive). Guess the letters of the word until you die or get the word right! There are seven categories of puzzles (with over 400 puzzles included): Cinema, Personalities, Literature, Television, Music, Toons, and Arcade. Thanks for a nice diversion John (and I like your taste in music, too). Color or mono. Docs included. [] SPORTS by Bob Frazier (dated Oct. 13, 1993) is a tile set for Mahjong 3.0 by Calico Superior Software (created using CSS's Tile Set Creator). It consists of 36 different pictures related to SPORTS. If you have CSS's Mahjong then get this file! [] T4EDITOR is the T4 Color Icon Editor v.1.1 by Sam McGee. This program edits the color desktop icons used in TOS versions 4.xx and greater. From the looks of the included directions there are quite extensive editing functions available. It will only work on a Falcon030 in 80 column 16 color VGA resolution. This program can have two DESKICON files in memory, an imported mono icon .RSC file, and 33 color and mono .IB3 files (from Dr. Bobware's ICDDRAW program). Any color or mono icon in either of the three loaded files can be edited or copied to another color/mono icon. The imported mono .RSC icons can only be copied to other color/mono icons. Shareware. I found this on the CodeHead BBS. [] VISUALIZE is an amusing .IMG drawing of Bill Clinton behind bars in prison clothes. Underneath are the words "Visualize Impeachment." Somehow I don't think that would be the best for our country! That's all for now folks. Talk to you next issue! Michael All of these files can be found on one or more of the following on-line services: GEnie (M.BURKLEY1), Delphi (MRBURKLEY), The CodeHead BBS (213-461-2095), and at Toad Hall, now the official BBS of the Boston Computer Society (617-567-8642) (Michael R. Burkley). Drop me a line! Michael lives in Niagara Falls, NY. He is a former Polyurethane Research Chemist and is presently the pastor of the Niagara Presbyterian Church. --==--==--==--==-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --==--==-- CompuServe Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- -- -- -- To sign up for CompuServe service, call (voice call) (800) 848-8199. -- -- Ask for operator #198. You will be sent a $15.00 value CIS membership -- -- kit for free. -- -- -- -- --==--==-- CompuServe Sign-Up Information --==--==-- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --==--==--==--==-- ||| Atari ST RT News ||| By: John G. Hartman / | \ GEnie: J.G.H. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Atari RT Weekly News 5.1 = REALTIME CONFERENCE = ------------------------------------------------------------------- This month's Dateline Atari! is cancelled due to Bob Brodie being on vacation. Join us Friday, June 3rd for the next edition of Dateline Atari! ------------------------------------------------------------------- = IN THE BULLETIN BOARD = ------------------------------------------------------------------ New Atari Works Topic - CAT 14 TOP 23 - Bug Reports! Please post your bug reports on Atari Works. All messages will be compiled and sent to Atari Corporation. ------------------------------------------------------------------ = ATARI RT LIBRARY = = RTC TRANSCRIPTS = ------------------------------------------------------ 32682 MAJICRTC.ARC X BRIAN.H 940423 13056 55 13 Desc: MAJICSOFT RTC 20 APRIL 94 Transcript 32635 GRIB_RTC.ARC X BRIAN.H 940418 13824 247 13 Desc: GRIBNIF 13 Apr 94 RTC 32445 BRODIE20.ARC X ST.LOU 940402 24832 363 13 Desc: Lots of Q & A on Atari Topics 32433 PROCESS2.ARC X BRIAN.H 940401 14464 103 13 Desc: Processor Direct RTC 30 Mar 94 ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST MONTH'S PRESS RELEASES = ----------------------------------------------------- 32739 FRACTAL.TXT X GREG 940501 1664 27 14 Desc: Fractal Frenzy CD rom disc 32722 SEGA2TOS.LZH X B.DEVONSHIRE 940430 1664 123 14 Desc: Use Sega Controller on TOS computer! 32700 CAL3SALE.TXT X MUSE 940427 1024 142 14 Desc: Calligrapher Gold - NEW LOW PRICE! 32693 TOADRDIO.TXT X TOAD 940425 3712 269 14 Desc: Atari & Toad On Nationwide RADIO!! 32668 TWRITE3.TXT X COMPO 940421 9344 136 14 Desc: That's Write 3 - Information 32644 AUDIO_CD.TXT X GREG 940419 3200 130 14 Desc: Announcing Audio CD Master 3.0 32598 DB3PR.TXT X ORA 940413 1664 264 14 Desc: Diamond Back 3 Press Release! 32580 M_AWORKS.ZIP X R.DOLSON 940411 8320 80 14 Desc: Press release from Spar Systems 32535 NEW_MAG.ASC X P-DIRECT 940408 5504 85 14 Desc: ASCII : Processor Direct is here! 32527 DMCPROMO.TXT X POTECHIN 940408 3456 250 14 Desc: DMC Announces Thank You Promotion 32521 NEW_MAG.ZIP X P-DIRECT 940407 23424 153 14 Desc: Processor Direct is here, get this! 32515 NECCDR25.TXT X K.KORDES1 940406 3200 282 14 Desc: $99 CD-ROM Deal!! 32489 CT_SWAP3.TXT X D.FINCH7 940404 1792 14 14 Desc: Revised Ticket Prices - CT Swap Meet 32466 MOVING.TXT X K.KORDES1 940403 5248 138 14 Desc: Systems For Tomorrow Moving Sale 32451 CT_SWAP2.TXT X D.FINCH7 940402 2688 13 14 Desc: Directions to Connecticut Swap Meet 32423 INSHAPE2.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 4480 52 14 Desc: New InShape Pricing in Effect! 32422 GVW_NMT2.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 1920 119 14 Desc: New GEM-View 3.xx Modules available! 32420 GVW303PR.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 4864 202 14 Desc: GEM-View 3.03 Press Release! 32419 ART_MODS.LZH X CYBERCUBE 940331 3328 43 14 Desc: New Modules for Artis3/Prism PaintII ----------------------------------------------------- = LAST MONTH'S DEMO RELEASES = ------------------------------------------------------ 32730 STEAMDMO.ZIP X DJSAMUEL 940501 22912 17 10 Desc: Automated saturated steam tables 32705 LAZER_1.ZIP X STEVE-J 940427 1073280 30 10 Desc: Falcon030 demo from Germany - Part 1 32704 LAZER_2.ZIP X STEVE-J 940427 1223424 36 10 Desc: Falcon030 demo from Germany - Part 2 32599 DB3DEMO.LZH X ORA 940413 117504 157 10 Desc: Diamond Back 3 Demo 32534 BACKW252.ZIP X R.SHEPPARD5 940408 40576 86 10 Desc: BACKWARDS 2.52 Falcon to ST Emulator 32502 THOUGHT.TOS X GRMEYER 940405 90240 121 10 Desc: Thought! Idea/Flowchart program 32492 F030BLOW.ZIP X C.LABELLE 940404 52224 84 10 Desc: Blow Up, Falcon resolution enhancer ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST TWO WEEK'S TOP 10 DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS = ------------------------------------------------------ 32667 SYSIN160.ZIP X TOAD 940421 44032 241 7 Desc: Toad Computers' SYSINFO Version 1.60 32683 4_7_111.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940424 34176 182 8 Desc: GEM mono and color solitaire 32681 WINCOL_E.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940423 14592 181 2 Desc: colors window gadgets, like wcolors 32654 LHA301.TOS X R.ANISKO 940419 284032 149 40 Desc: Lharc 3.01 - Shell now Geneva-compt 32657 VIPERS.ZIP X D.MCANDREW 940419 8704 133 16 Desc: Warp 9 v3.80 EOS Module 32629 DBICONS2.LZH X W.PARKS3 940417 29568 119 18 Desc: Icon collection for Falcon desktop. 32652 DBICONS3.LZH X W.PARKS3 940419 18176 97 18 Desc: Falcon desktop icons (#3: filetypes) 32631 ANSIST30.LZH X GRMEYER 940417 14208 97 7 Desc: ANSI-ST v0.30 ANSI screen driver 32697 FELTFONT.TOS X DMCPUBLISH 940426 31232 94 30 Desc: SL friendly Feltmarker font 32656 MB40_BIN.LZH X R.ANISKO 940419 147968 91 2 Desc: MasterBrowse 4.0 ------------------------------------------------------ = LAST MONTH'S TOP 10 DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS = ------------------------------------------------------ 32553 STZIP25.TOS X L.SMITH70 940410 138880 444 40 Desc: STZIP version 2.5 32496 DRIVE144.ZIP X P.GRIFFITH2 940404 2560 257 27 Desc: HD floppy in your ST 32505 LHA3.TOS X L.SMITH70 940405 269184 247 40 Desc: LHarc 3.00 with shell (self extract) 32667 SYSIN160.ZIP X TOAD 940421 44032 241 7 Desc: Toad Computers' SYSINFO Version 1.60 32579 PCHROME4.ZIP X OUTRIDER 940411 41088 232 28 Desc: PhotoChrome v4.00!! 32604 OCR12.ZIP X GRMEYER 940413 138880 216 6 Desc: a freeware OCR program! 32526 NEO3SECR.LZH X A.FASOLDT 940408 35968 210 15 Desc: Revised "Secrets of NeoDesk" 32683 4_7_111.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940424 34176 182 8 Desc: GEM mono and color solitaire 32614 VERICARD.ZIP X M.BRINKWORTH 940415 5376 182 21 Desc: Verify if a credit card is valid 32681 WINCOL_E.ZIP X S.FOSKETT 940423 14592 181 2 Desc: colors window gadgets, like wcolors ------------------------------------------------------ --==--==--==--==-- ||| Developing news! ||| Items of interest from TOS platform developers and supporters / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Texas Atari Festival June 4-5, 1994 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ----> Texas Atari Festival Update <---- We are happy to annouce the recent confirmation of the following vendors for the 1994 Texas Atari Festival: DMJ Software - Damien Jones Gribnif Software - Rick Flashman Trace Technologies - Keith Gerdes TOAD Computers - Dave and Jennifer Troy More Than Games - Rick Detlefson GEnie - Mike Allen (pending vacation status :^) We hope to have more confirmations soon. If anyone is in need of a rental vehicle, arrangements have been made with Enterprise Rent-A-Car for special rates. For Compact cars (Ford Escort, Nissan Sentra, Ford Tempo, Chevy Cavalier, Plymouth Sundance, Plymouth Acclaim, or Toyota Corolla) $25.00 per day $ 2.50 10% luxury tax ----- $27.50 For Midsize cars (Chevy Lumina, Ford Taurus, Oldsmobile Supreme) $35.00 per day $ 3.50 10% luxury tax ----- $38.50 per day Contact Mike Krawitz at (210) 520-0819 for rental arrangements. Out of state drivers and drivers under 21 require proof of insurance and a credit card deposit. I haven't had a chance to check out local hotels, but I would urge anyone who is staying to check out the cheap rates available at St. Mary's University. Send E-mail to R.HELSEL or C.CASSADAY for more info. //// Atari Vendor/Developer Information The Texas Atari Festival '94 will be held in San Antonio on June 4th & 5th on the beautiful campus of St. Mary's University. Some of you will remember us as the Fiesta Atari Computer Show last year. As well as a change of name we have expanded from a one day show to a two day affair. The ST Atari League of San Antonio, (SALSA), wants you to come down to sunny San Antonio and show us your wares, meet a bunch of really fantastic, fun people, and generally just have a great time! //// What's in it for you? First and formost is a chance to show off your product(s) to an eager audience. San Antonio has not had an Atari dealer for over a year now so everything purchased has been either through the mail or on trips out of town. As far as I know, the nearest dealers are in Houston or Dallas and that covers a lot of Atarians, not just the folks in San Antonio. Secondly we don't limit our show to Atari users only. If you have a product(s) that can be used on several platforms then TAF '94 is ideal for you. The show will focus on how to use a computer in general, and what a computer can do for you. Last year we got a good response from users of all platforms as well as folks who were a bit phobic about computers in general. Our goal is to show people that computers are more than just expensive paper weigths or machines that have to be dusted every month! If attendees have questions about why we use Atari computers then we'll be happy to tell them, but our main thrust is towards computer users as a whole. Thirdly we plan to anchor the show with three main areas of interest. Those areas are MIDI, Desk Top Publishing, and gaming, both hand held and console. The idea is a simple one. Use broad areas of interest to encourage people to attend the show and when they get here show them all the other neat stuff that is availible to them! I know that there is a lot of interest in MIDI in our area. Currently we plans to have several MIDI demos each day and that should bring in a lot of interested folks. We also plan to have an area dedicated to DTP and all of the things that go along with it. Finally we plan to set up a gaming area featuring the Jaguar and the Lynx. With these three high profile areas as anchors and an expanded schedule we hope to have so much traffic we won't know what to do with ourselves!! //// So what's the bottom line?? Plain and simple, it's sign up and come. The sooner we know that you are coming the sooner we can get the word out. We were successful using local TV, radio, and newspapers and online services last year and we hope to add the national Atari magazines this year. As soon as your application hits our mailbox every Atarian within shouting distance will know about it. Questions? Look through the packet we sent with this letter. If you just want to chat with me you can reach me via snail mail, Ma Bell or on GEnie. Just remember, this isn't a work related trip to a great vacation spot, this a great chance for a vacation that will include a little bit of work and LOTS of fun! Thanks for your consideration, Scott Helsel, Event Coordinator Texas Atari Festival '94 13938 Brantley San Antonio, Texas 78233 210-655-4672 GEnie address - R.Helsel InterNet address - R.Helsel@genie.geis.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Connecticut Atarifest '94 News August 27-28 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Due to the unforseen closing of the Windsor Court Hotel - site of last year's CT AtariFest '93 - Show Organizers have chosen alternative quarters. This year's CT AtariFest will be held at the Holiday Inn in Bridgeport, CT - site of the original 1991 show! This will put the show 1.5 hours outside of New York City, and should make it easier for Big Apple Atarians to attend. Bridgeport is located on the Connecticut coast, at exit 26 off of Interstate 95. It is served by Amtrack Passenger Trains, Sikorsky Airport Terminal, The Port Jefferson Ferry, and a multitude of highways. CT AtariFest is in its fourth year and is one of the largest Atari Computer Shows in the WORLD! Come on out and see the top vendors and top software companies in person. Participate in head to head Lynx and Jaguar competitions for loads of prizes. For further information, call Brian or Angela at 203-332-1721 or send E-mail to 75300,2415 on CIS, D.FINCH7 on GEnie. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Atari's Summer Lynx Games Deal =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= NEW LYNX VALUES FROM ATARI! Now there's NO excuse! Atari Corporation has a new summer deal everyone should enjoy... New low prices on almost every Lynx video game. By special arrangement with the factory, a large but limited quantity of 60 outstanding game titles have been set aside especially for this special offer. Now and for a limited time, buy popular Lynx titles by Atari for as little as 14.99 each (SRP). Enjoy the fast paced action of Pinball Jam or an exciting whirl around the track with up to 6 ComLynx'd friends with Checkered Flag. Look for chilling answers to ghastly problems with Dracula The Undead for only $19.99 each (SRP). Beat incredible odds against an army of adversaries with Ninja Gaiden III for only $29.99 (SRP). In fact, NO specially reduced cartridge is priced any higher than $29.99. Most cartridges are less than $15. If you are tired of the same old thing that the other guys ram in front of your face, then ask your dealer for the system that's exploding with colorful excitement. Find out what head-to-head ComLynx gaming is all about. Spend your allowance on the system that leaves you change for lunch! Can't find the Lynx or great Lynx titles in your area? Call 1-800-221-3343 or 1-800-GO-ATARI toll free, Monday thru Friday; 9am to 5pm Pacific time. OR Write: Atari Lynx "Summer Steal Deal" P.O. 61657 Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1657 OR fax your order to Atari at 1-408-745-2088 OR send a message from any online service through the Internet to <70007.2363@compuserve.com> or to <atari@genie.geis.com>. Any way you do it... Get Connected... Get the Lynx! NOW $29.99 ========== AWESOME GOLF* NINJA GAIDEN III TOKI WARBIRDS* NOW $19.99 ========== A.P.B. BATMAN RETURNS BLUE LIGHTENING CALIFORNIA GAMES* CRYSTAL MINES II DINOLYMPICS DIRTY LARRY RENEGADE COP DRACULA THE UNDEAD GORDO 106 HOCKEY* JIMMY CONNORS TENNIS* LEMMINGS MALIBU BEACH VOLLEYBALL* NFL FOOTBALL* NINJA GAIDEN PITFIGHTER* POWER FACTOR SCRAPYARD DOG SHADOW OF THE BEAST STEEL TALONS SWITCHBLADE II TURBO SUB* VIKING CHILD PAPERBOY NOW $14.99 ========== BASEBALL HEROES* BASKETBRAWL* BILL & TED'S ADVENTURE* BLOCKOUT CHECKERED FLAG* CHIPS'S CHALLENGE ELECTROCOP GATES OF ZENDOCON GAUNTLET 3RD ENCOUNTER* HARD DRIVIN' HYDRA ISHIDO KLAX KUNG FOOD LYNX CASINO* MS. PAC-MAN PACLAND PINBALL JAM RAMPAGE* RAMPART* ROADBLASTERS ROBO-SQUASH* RYGAR S.T.U.N. RUNNER SHANGHAI* SUPERSKWEEK* TODD'S ADV/SLIME WORLD* TOURNAMENT CYBERBALL* WORLD CLASS SOCCER* XENOPHOBE* XYBOTS* ZARLOR MERCENARY* * denotes multiplayer games. Atari Corporation reserves the right to correct typing errors or to change promotional pricing at any time without notice. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// chro_MAGIC's MultiSync Gizmo =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Atari Falcon030 offers more graphics modes than any previous Atari computer. When you add the modes possible with video enhancers like FalconsScreen*, SWABS*, ScreenBlaster*, & BlowUp030* the possibilities are seemingly endless. Unfortunately, there is a problem in trying to access all these wonderful graphics modes. Some require a VGA type monitor to be connected to the Falcon030 while others require an SC1224 (RGB) type monitor to be connected. Most "standard" VGA monitors aren't capable of displaying some of the RGB modes and most RGB monitors can't handle the VGA modes. So, you say to yourself, I'll go and buy a multisync monitor (like the NEC 3D*) that is capable of displaying all the video modes. Unfortunately, the existing adapters for MultiSync monitors make the Falcon030 think that a VGA only monitor is connected and therefore the computer refuses to use all it's available modes. How can you get the full use of your multisync monitor? chro_MAGIC Software Innovations offers the MultiSync Gizmo as a solution to your multisync monitor troubles. The MultiSync Gizmo is a monitor adapter that has a switch to toggle between VGA and RGB modes. Just plug in your multisync monitor and set the switch - that's all there is too it. You can even switch between VGA and RGB "on the fly" without having to reboot the computer. The MultiSync Gizmo is backed by a full 1 year warranty & is available NOW from your local dealer or direct from chro_MAGIC. Suggested retail price is only $24.99 (US). chro_MAGIC Software Innovations 516 North Jackson Joplin, MO 64801 United States Phone: +1-417-623-7393 Note: Requires an Atari Falcon030 and a multisync monitor with a 15 pin connector. May also be used as a VGA adapter when the switch is set to VGA mode. Also available from chro_MAGIC RAM Gizmo for Falcon030 - $99.00 suggested retail Pianistics 1.20 for ST/STe/TT/Falcon - $79.00 suggested retail Guitaristics 1.92 for ST/STe/TT/Falcon - $69.00 suggested retail * NEC 3D, FalconScreen, SWABS, ScreenBlaster, and BlowUp030 are trademarks of their respective companies. chro_MAGIC Software Innovations claims no ties with said companies or their products. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Fractal Frenzy =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Ultimate Fractals CD The Fractal Frenzy CD rom contains the definitive collection of Lee Skinner's fractal art work. You'll find over 2,000 fractal images on the Fractal Frenzy disc. If you viewed one image every 20 seconds, it would take you over 11 hours just to browse through the disc. If you tried storing these images on DS/DD floppy disks, it would take over 800 disks to store the images. The disc contains examples of all the major fractal type: Mandelbrot, Zexpe, Barnsley, fn(z), and more. You get all the images on the disc in 640 by 480 by 256 color GIF format, perfect for viewing on the St, STe, Mega, TT or Falcon computers. For ST and STe users, a shareware version DMJ-GIF is included on the CD to allow you view these fractal images in Spectrum mode with their full colors. The 640 by 480 images are all royalty free. All fractals are also stores as high resolution images in 1024 by 768 by 256 colors for those with special graphics cards. An index file contains comments on the images and the formula used to create each image. Fractal lovers will be kept busy for weeks. The Fractal Frenzy disc has a folder of shareware viewers for the Atari line. It's All Relative will be including a collection of additional shareware viewers on an extra floppy disk at no additional charge. Fractal Frenzy can be ordered from: Randall Kopchak It's All Relative Software 2233 Keeven Lane Florissant MO 63031 USA $29.99, postpaid worldwide. Payment in US funds please. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Towers by Modem =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you have a Hayes AT command compatible, 14.4k Error Correction modem or better. Get ready to play Towers (ver.1.4) over the phone. This feature does require a 2 meg machine (actually 1.1meg) to play either the null-modem, MIDI, or modem games. Towers 1.4 even includes a simple text routine so you can communicate with your partner without two lines!! JV Enterprises PO Box 97455 Las Vegas, NV 89193 (702) 734-9689 ---------------------------- YOU CAN NOW REGISTER TOWERS FROM THESE PARTICIPATING DEALERS.... >From the US... Suzy B's Software STeve's Software B&C Computer 3712 Military Rd 5 West Street 2730 Scott Blvd. Niagara Falls, NY 14305 Woodland, CA 95695 Santa Clara, CA 95050 (716)298-1986 1-800-487-7753 (408)986-9960 >From the UK... Goodman International 16 Conard Close, Meir Hay Estate Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 1SW Tel: 0782 335650 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// DMJ's View 2.5 Planned Additions =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I thought today I would post the planned revision list for the picture viewer in View 2 1/2. -----8<----- - Will allow mouse selection of options from Help screen. - Can call up a fileselector to load another file. - Exits on keypress or mouseclick [even with a Spectrum image]. - Supports graphics cards. - Dithers much faster in monochrome, whichever dither is used. - The fast monochrome dither has been adjusted slightly to give better results. - If enough memory is available, the "mush" screen will not appear in monochrome. - Now displays these formats, in addition to the old ones: TN4 Mutated Tiny picture (TN1 with color cycling) IMG GEM Image PNT Prism Paint FTC Falcon True Color (from Photo Show) IFF Amiga & Atari IFF LBM PC IFF BL[123] DEGAS Elite Blocks RAW QRT Raw (24-bit) PCX Z-Soft PCX GIF CompuServe GIF BMP Windows BMP TGA Truevision Targa - If the image is larger than the screen, the view can be scrolled with arrow keys or the mouse. - If the image is a 24-bit image being displayed with more than 256 colors, gamma correction can be applied. ... to the animation viewer... - Can call up a fileselector to load another file. - Allows you to exit with the right mouse button, and display the help screen with the left button. - Supports graphics cards. - Allows you to exit before an animation has finished decompressing. - Will allow mouse selection of options from Help screen. - Now more memory-efficient and faster at animating. - Now displays .FLM animations--and 256-color .FLI and .FLC animations on TTs and Falcons; 64K-color .FLX animations are also supported on Falcons. - The animation viewer now allows the STe palette to be used to display animations on STs. ... to the archive viewer... - Can call up a fileselector to load another file. - Will allow mouse selection of options from Help screen. - Now handles ZIP and ZOO. - Allows a fileselector to be used to select the destination for extracted files. - Can now print archive listings. - Will optionally sort the filenames in the archive. - Will allow all files to be marked/unmarked quickly with the mouse. - Will optionally prompt for extraction, if files are marked, when you exit. Additions to the package.... VIEWFILE.ACC (accessory file viewer) -- New program - Displays any file using View 2.5 modules whenever you can get to the GEM menu bar. - Can "slideshow" files, either all types or just specific families, as long as the viewers support it. (Currently only the text and archive viewers do not.) - ST Zip's View function can also be redirected to View 2.5. VIEWFIND.ACC (accessory file finder) -- New program - Can locate any file by name or content; permits wildcards, Boolean conditions, and phrase searching. - Can refine or expand searches. - Can search all files or just specific families. - Can search for files on multiple drives. - Will display file(s) using View 2.5 modules, if VIEWFILE.ACC is installed. - Can print search results. - Can save search results to a file for later use. - Runs as a program or accessory. VIEWRAMD.ACC (accessory RAM disk) -- New program - Can install a RAM disk at any time, as large as available memory. - Can install a RAM disk in place of an existing drive. - Can remove its RAM disk at any time. - Uses the same RAM disk drivers as the AUTO folder RAM disk. - Allows any disk to be write-protected, not just RAM disks. VIEWBOOT.PRG (cookie installer / RAM disk / file copier) - Now installs a cookie in the cookie jar. - RAM disk can use TT RAM, if available. - RAM disk can be reset-proof, if desired. - Folders can be created on the RAM disk. - Files can be copied into folders on the RAM disk. - If a file already exists on the RAM disk, it will not be overwritten, if desired. - The RAM disk can be write-protected after files are copied onto it. - ViewBoot can boot "silently"; that is, not list everything it's doing while it's doing it. - If you attempt to write to the RAM disk while it's write-protected, it displays the familiar "Retry/Cancel" alert, rather than failing right away. (This is sort of a bug fix.) VIEW_SND.TOS (sound viewer) - Can call up a fileselector to load another file. - Exits on keypress or mouseclick, but not with mouse movement. (This is sort of a bug fix.) - Handles 16-bit and stereo samples properly, playing them to the best ability of the machine. (This is sort of a bug fix.) - Now restores the speed setting of Falcon sound. (This is sort of a bug fix.) - Now supports SoundBlaster .VOC files. - Will resample sound "on the fly" to allow playback at _any_ speed on STes, TTs, and Falcons. VIEW_CFG.PRG (configuration / installation program) - No longer requires a separate .D8A file, but always requires a reboot to complete first-time installation. - The interface was completely changed, to incorporate the large number of new features and future expansion. - Smart Install is now even smarter. - Now runs in a window, and allows access to the menu bar. - Is now multitasking (Geneva & MultiTOS) friendly. - Reports the individual version numbers of the viewer modules. - Allows new viewers to be added with little effort by the user; definition files for many popular programs are included with View 2.5. - Allows existing viewers (including the text viewer) to be easily replaced. - Makes backups of important configuration files before altering them. Overall Changes - Steps were taken to make the viewers' interfaces more consistent, both with themselves and with each other. This should make the programs even easier to use. - Many changes were made internally, mostly to make View 2.5 callable from other applications; the files in the HOW_TO folder are a direct result of this increased capability. [The HOW_TO folder is on the View 2.5 disk.] - All of the viewer programs have various command-line parameters, mostly to override defaults. See PARAMTRS.TXT for more information. (These are provided for the "expert" user using View 2.5 from a CLI or in their own programs.) [PARAMTRS.TXT is on the View 2.5 disk.] - With the addition of the accessories, "full" installation will use some memory. However, the accessories are optional and do not affect the main functions of the package. - The viewer programs are, of course, larger to accomodate the new features. If you are using View 2.5 on a RAM disk, your RAM disk will need to be a little larger. - Rather than use a cumbersome manual addendum, a completely new manual was written to address all the new features. - Spc-3375 is no longer included, as VIEWFILE.ACC provides a better slideshow capability. - New programs (VIEWFILE, VIEWFIND, and VIEWRAMD) were added to extend the functionality of the system. - TROUBLE.TXT and SCRUTNIZ.PRG were included to assist in troubleshooting. [These are a troubleshooting guide and a system interrogation utility.] -----8<----- Please note, these are the _planned_ changes. Some of these items may not make it into this version (although I expect just about all will). There are also some things I have _not_ posted here, because they most likely will not appear in this version (but I will certainly try to get them in). You can see View 2 1/2 at the Texas Atari Festival in San Antonio, June 4-5. We will have it for sale there. If you've already purchased View II, bring your disk and manual along and we'll give you a good deal on upgrading! ~dmj --==--==--==--==-- ||| ||| Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff / | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------ We welcome feedback from all of our readers; feedback both positive and negative. Whatever you think of our efforts, we sincerely would like to know. Our EMail addresses are sprinkled throughout each issue - with the new Internet gateway into GEnie, you can reach us through the Internet also. Append "@genie.geis.com" to any of our GEnie addresses. You can now send EMail to the entire AEO staff - use our new group address: <aeo$@genie.geis.com>. Until the next issue of AEO, I remain, Your Editor Travis Guy Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com --==--==--==--==-- (This issue printed on recycled photons) --==--==--==--==-- DNFTEC --==--==--==--==-- #1 Wide_left > 2*(Wide_right) --==--==--==--==-- No Inflation Necessary --==--==--==--==-- Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a bi-weekly publication covering the entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the beginning of the article, to registered Atari user groups and not for profit publications under the following terms only: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of request. Send requests to <aeo.mag@genie.geis.com>. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All material herein is believed accurate at the time of publishing. --==--==--==--==-- Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS, MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari Portfolio, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. All other trademarks and identifying marks mentioned in this issue belong to their respective owners. --==--==--==--==-- Atari Explorer Online Magazine "Your Source for Atari News" Copyright (c) 1993-1994, Subspace Publishers * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A E O ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 3 - Issue 8 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 10 May 1994 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::