Big Blue Disk 20/bbd20.zip/DESK.TXT

Text File | 1988-03-28 | 11KB | 177 lines

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|D║ |5On the Editor's Desk |D║════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
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^C^1On the Editor's Desk
^Cby
^CDaniel Tobias

   In this column, I give news and reviews of products and developments that
have reached my desk.

   ^1Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards^0, from Sierra On-Line,
Inc. (PO Box 485, Coarsegold, CA 93614), is definitely not kid stuff.  Its cover
warns that "parental guidance is suggested."  The plotline is that you're a
lovable nerd, single, male, and 40, and you're trying to pick up the girl of
your dreams.  You wander through the singles scene of the city of Lost Wages,
showing up at a bar, a casino, a disco, and an all-night wedding chapel, among
other places.  Much of the content is somewhat risque, but it falls short of
being "X-rated" by virtue of a "CENSORED" block popping up on the screen at the
more <ahem> intimate moments.

   While the subject matter of this program has something to offend nearly
everyone (fundamentalists are likely to classify the whole thing as pervasively
immoral, while feminists will likely object to the reference card's instructions
that "Women are... fickle.  Do not take 'no' for an answer.  Be persistent.
With a little sweat and a lot of luck you could wind up being a happy guy." and
other sexist elements throughout the game), the game is excellent from a
technical standpoint.  It is done in 3-D animated graphics, which work on CGA,
EGA, VGA, and Hercules cards.  You move around realistically through the
scenery, as do other characters with which you can interact.  And, unlike some
other graphic adventures, no skimping was done with the text parser, which can
accept full-sentence commands.  (The intelligent input routine accepts both
full-line commands and single-keystroke movement instructions, so you can use
the arrows to move around as well.)  There are all sorts of clever sound effects
as well.  The whole thing seems well planned out, and lots of cute touches are
included.  For instance, walk into the dark alley to the left of the opening
scene (outside the bar).  You'll be killed (so do it before you've gotten
anywhere within the game), but there are some very interesting scenes involved
both before and after your death.

   So, this game isn't for everyone, but if you're not repulsed by this sort of
thing, check it out; it represents a big advance in the science of adventure
gaming, leading towards the day when you will be able to become a character in a
professional-looking interactive motion picture, presumably chosen from a whole
variety ranging from "G" to "X".


   ^1Turbo Pascal^0 version 4.0 is out now, from Borland International (4585
Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA 95066).  I haven't yet made extensive use
of it, but I've tried it out and written a few programs (such as GREP in this
issue) in it.  It has many new features and enhancements from the earlier Turbo
Pascal 3.0.  For instance, many things that formerly required DOS interrupt
calls or other intricate technicalities are now built-in functions.  However,
some of this increased functionality was achieved at the expense of
compatibility with the older Turbo versions, as Borland decided to give more
concern to compatibility with ANSI Pascal standards rather than with their
earlier versions.  Not all programs from Turbo 3.0 will run under 4.0; some run
afoul of the new tighter type checking, as well as a few minor changes in
syntax.  However, a program is included that reads in a Turbo 3.0 program and
"marks it up" with suggested changes to make it compatible with the new version.
This program is intelligent enough to note some 3.0 usages which still work, but
can be done more efficiently by new structures in Turbo 4.0.

   One other drawback in converting is the elimination of chain (.CHN) files.
These are used extensively on BIG BLUE DISK to eliminate the need to store the
Turbo Pascal runtime modules in lots of different places on the disk.  In place,
Turbo 4.0 uses an intelligent compiler so that only the portions of the runtime
that are needed for a particular program are included, so that disk space is
minimized for a single standalone program.  However, when many programs are
included on one disk (as with a diskmagazine), there is still much waste, so
it's too bad no provision for externalizing runtime modules was made.

   Otherwise, it's a very good product.  The editor is much improved, and
supports the 43-line display of EGA cards to put more information on the screen
at once (helpful to some, but I find that small type hard to read; no problem,
since you can configure it to use only the standard 25 lines).  Other new
features include the ability to define separate units that can be linked
together, similar to the capability that Microsoft languages have always
provided.  You can also link with .OBJ files written in assembly or other
languages.

   All in all, it's a very good package, highly professional.  But some long-
time Turbo users might miss the old, simple Turbo Pascal which had fewer bells
and whistles, but was quick and easy to get into.  The new version can be a bit
intimidating until you get used to it, though once you do you probably won't
want to go back to the earlier version.


^CGuest Review by Joel Ellis Rea

   "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!" (MBTT) by The Software Toolworks (One
Toolworks Plaza, 13557 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423) bills itself as
"The Finest Typing Tutor In The World."  That may indeed be true, but after
reviewing it, if it is the finest, the others must need a lot of work!

   Don't get me wrong.  MBTT is a finely crafted program.  It installs easily,
works smoothly, and obviously has lots of attention paid to the user interface.

   To explain just where it fell short, I must first explain how I went about
reviewing it.  Since I am a resonably competent typist, but wished to experience
MBTT as a raw beginner would, I decided to take advantage of the "Dvorak" mode,
which teaches the Dvorak Simplified keyboard layout.  Since MS-DOS 3.x includes
a Dvorak keyboard layout driver, I figured that if Dvorak is everything it's
cracked up to be, then I should be able to increase my general productivity by
learning and using it.

   Suffice it to say that I am writing this review using the old-fashioned, slow
Sholes QWERTY layout, not the Dvorak layout.

   MBTT may well be a wonderful program for learning QWERTY.  I figure most of
the effort went into that.  But there are some severe flaws in its lesson
structure for Dvorak.  Several times it would present me with keyboard drills
that included letter keys I had not been taught yet!  For instance, I was asked
to type "A question?  No, a solution." before I had been taught where the "Q"
key was and what finger I should press it with.

   Another flaw is that if you ask "Mavis" to "Suggest something else", rather
than just picking another activity based on your current skill level, MBTT
simply skips the current activity and suggests the next one in its internal
list.  For example, after the "question" drill above, MBTT "suggested" playing
the race-car game, where the speed of your race car is controlled by the speed
and accuracy of your typing.  I wanted to practice a bit more first, so I
selected "No, suggest something else."  MBTT then suggested introducing new
keys!  When I said "No" to that, it said "Now you know all the letter keys!
Let's learn the number keys!" or some such!  Fortunately, there is a menu item
which allows you to go back to the first suggestion in such a list.

   A stumbling-block on learning the Dvorak layout for someone who already knows
QWERTY is the fact that the "A" and "M" keys are in the same places on both.
The human mind can easily keep two completely different layouts separate, but if
you learn both, you can be typing right along fine on one or the other until you
hit "A" or "M."  Since those are in common positions in both layouts, the brain
gets confused, and you may suddenly find yourself typing as if on the other
layout!  Absolutely no mention was made anywhere in MBTT's documentation or
lessons of this fact.

   MBTT made a big deal at one point about which SHIFT key to use when (use the
left SHIFT for characters you press with your right hand, and vice-versa), but
then failed to detect when I was using the wrong SHIFT key in the drills, even
though it is almost trivially easy for a program to distinguish between the
SHIFT keys.

   MBTT also proceeded to advance me to more and more keys, even though it
should have been quite obvious that I had not fully learned the ones already
presented.  My speed goal was set to the default of 35 WPM, and though my
adjusted WPM was single-digit, it blithely kept on teaching me new keys rather
than reinforcing the ones I was having trouble with.  It would gladly display
charts showing my speed and accuracy by letter key, or show me a layout with my
"Proficient Keys" highlighted, so it "knew" that I was having problems, yet it
kept stuffing more and more new keys down my throat!  Help!

   As I said, it may well be that MBTT's lesson structure was far better thought
out for the QWERTY lessons, but I figure many people want to learn Dvorak, since
many computers now have the capability to easily utilize the Dvorak layout.  A
program which effectively teaches Dvorak is badly needed.  Unfortunately, MBTT
is not it.

   MBTT also loses points for its key disk copy-protection scheme, but regains
some for the fact that they offer a non-protected version to registered owners.
But they don't recover as many as they might, since they charge $10 for this
service--easily as much profit as they make on the entire package when sold
through the retail channel!  Thus, if you want to install it on your hard disk
without a key disk, they basically get their money from you twice.  (Note that I
do not count off points for any protection scheme that in no way inconveniences
the honest user, such as a key-disk system which will install and uninstall
itself on a limited number of hard disks.)

   In summary, MBTT is a program that runs well, is easy to install and use, has
flashy graphics, nice music, good animation and a fun game, not to mention a
free Resume Writer program, and a highly entertaining and informative manual.
It just, at least for me, failed to do its job of teaching me how to type on a
new keyboard layout, which is the express purpose of the program.  I feel that
at least as much attention should have been spent on the Dvorak lesson structure
and on the artificially-intelligent suggested lesson presentation as on the
graphics, sound, music and games.  If this is done, MBTT will indeed be "The
Finest Typing Tutor In The World."