Big Blue Disk 30/bbd30.zip/DESK.TXT

Text File | 1989-02-09 | 8KB | 127 lines

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|D║ ^0Diskussion |D║═══════════════ ^1On The Editor's Desk |D═══════════════║ ^0Diskussion |D║
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^Cby
^CBob Napp

   This month brings a little something for everybody.  If you've been looking
for a menu system that will help insulate you from that barren DOS prompt,
the extremely affordable ^1Menu Works^0 by PC Dynamics could fill the bill.  For
those of you who like playing adventure games and might like to try designing
your own, the ^1Adventure Game Toolkit^0 by Softworks gives you all you need.  The
programmers in our audience should find Borland International's upgrade of
^1Turbo Pascal 5.0^0 just what they have been looking for.

^CPC Dynamics Menu Works Really Works.

   From its easy installation to its ease of use, ^1Menu Works^0 from PC Dynamics
(31332 Via Colinas, Suite 102, Westlake Village, Ca. 91362) provides a total
menu management package for your PC.  Packed with many useful features, Menu
Works comes with a price tag of only $24.95.  Don't let the low cost fool you,
Menu Works is a very powerful software system that could cost a lot more.

   You'll know you've found something special the moment you begin to install
this software package.  The installation program is menu driven and fully
automated.  The most striking aspect of the entire procedure is the ability
of the program to analyze the contents of your hard drive and produce a set of
menus based on the software that it recognizes.  Through a provided option, the
installation program can build menus for all DOS executable files (EXE, COM,
and BAT), not just the ones it recognizes.  Once the menus are built, Menu
Works contains a full set of editing features that can be used to customize
them. If you don't like the structure of the menus that were produced, you can
use the editing commands to create your own.

   Menu Works contains full TSR support, time-adjustable Screen Saver, plain
English customizing tools for DOS prompts, complete password protection, mouse
support, and a time-release software activator.  The documenation that comes
with Menu Works is well written and provides information for everything from
structuring your own menus to use of all the special features.  To use Menu
Works you will need to have DOS 2.0 or later and at least 256K of memory.
Though Menu Works can be installed on computers with two floppy drives, it is
most effective when used on a system with a hard drive.

   Menu Works provides all the tools that anyone could ask for in a menu
management system.  Unfortunately, I have been able to do little more than
touch on many of the great features contained in this software package.  If
you are a system manager in need of a protective environment for your less
knowledgeable PC users or a computer user that wants to find a solid menuing
system for your home computer, Menu Works gives you all that and more.


^CBuild Your Own Text Adventure Games With The Adventure Game Toolkit.

   If you have enjoyed playing games like Murder in the Museum (from BBD #16)
or The Lost Crown of Queen Anne (from BBD #28) and would like to try designing
your own, I have located the product for you.  The ^1Adventure Game Toolkit^0 from
Softworks (43064 Via Moraga, Mission San Jose, California, 94539) provides  all
the tools you need to build your own text based adventure games.  Once you have
created the game, it can be shared and enjoyed by others.

   With two distinct levels of game designing capability, the Adventure Game
Toolkit has something for both the programmer and non-programmer alike.  To
design a Standard Level game, you just describe the locations, objects, and
results of actions for the game.  The Professional Level game utilizes a
special adventure game meta-language to create more advanced adventures.  In
both cases you will need to have either a word processor or text editor and a
vivid imagination.

   The Adventure Game Toolkit is an extremely powerful development package.  It
allows you to create games with up to 200 locations, 100 inanimate objects, and
100 animate objects.   A large vocabulary comes standard with the toolkit, but
you are free to increase this by defining more words for your game.  Included
with the Adventure Game Toolkit is a library of completed games that can be
played and used as a base of information in designing your own games. The
documentation that is provided with the software contains detailed information
on how to structure an adventure game and define its various elements. To play
games created with the Adventure Game Toolkit you will need a computer with at
least 384K of memory, DOS 2.1 or later, and a minimum of one floppy disk drive.

   The Adventure Game Toolkit is distributed using the "shareware" concept.
This allows you to evaluate the software with little to no expense.  If you
like it and continue to use it, you should register your copy with the authors
so that they may continue providing technical support and enhancements to the
software.  For a registration fee of $35.00 you will receive the most recent
version of the software and a printed copy of the manual.



^CTurbo Pascal Version 5.0 Adds Integrated Debugger!

   In a move much anticipated, Borland International (1800 Green Hills Road,
P.O. Box 660001, Scotts Valley, CA 95066-0001) has incorporated a source-
level debugger into its Integrated Development Environment with the recent
update of its ^1Turbo Pascal^0 programming language.  Because of its low-cost and
effective work environment, Turbo Pascal has long been a favorite of PC
programmers everywhere.  With the introduction of the debugger, the final
piece to the programming puzzle has been put into place.

   But wait, there is still more.  Those programmers that do not have an 80x87
math coprocessor in their system now have full software support for the
extended floating-point data types.  Through the compiler's built-in Smart
Linker, all procedures, functions, variables, and typed constants that are not
referenced in the program code are removed from the .EXE file.  If expanded
memory is detected, the editor buffer will automatically be stored there, thus
releasing an additional 64K for compiling and running of programs.

   Still the crowning achievement for this upgrade is the introduction of the
source-level debugger.  Seamlessly incorporated into the Integrated Development
Environment, Turbo Pascal's source-level debugger is both simple to use and
powerful enough to handle most jobs.  Watch your program as you trace through
the code, line by line.  If you need to know the value of one of your variables
just add it to the watch window.  With a quick choice of a menu option, you
can evaluate an expression, toggle breakpoints on and off, or change the
value of a variable.  In the limited space available to me I cannot begin to
describe how effortless all these debugging procedures are.  With a few
keystrokes, you can easily take control of a program and track down that error
that just won't go away.

   Turbo Pascal 5.0 costs $149.95 and can be obtained in either 5 1/4" or
3 1/2" floppy disk format.  Along with the software, the package includes both
a Users Guide and Reference Manual which fully describe all the features of the
Integrated Development Environment and Turbo's implementation of the Pascal
programming language.  To run the compiler you will need to have an IBM PC or
true compatible, 448K of memory, PC/MS-DOS 2.0 or later, and either two floppy
drives or a floppy drive and a hard drive.  Whether you've been a long time
user or you're just looking to expand your programming horizons, Turbo Pascal
version 5.0 is a product to consider.