DESKTOP PUBUSHING lay 1988
$2.95 US.
$3.95 Canada
Magazine tor Commodore and Commodore Amiqa Users
WORKSHOP
t
Software Reviews
64 & 128 BeyondhZork amiga Arkanoid, TV*Show ...and more C* Commodore
Type-in Programs
i
for the 64,
\
43467 20122
1
i
i
,
J. nl
128 and Amiga
0
. i " I*
lhe new Commodore1 Amiga* 500 is
everything you never expected from a
home computer. That's because we designed
it to excite you.To dazzle your senses with 4096 colors and stereo sound. To unleash
your creativity. To allow things you never dreamed possible in a home computer.
Because until now, they really weren't. Like built-in speech synthesis, so you'll always have someone to talk to. Pro-quality 3-D animation that lets even beginners put their ideas in motion. Colorful educational programs that make lessons fun and mem
orable. A complete home office with powerful spreadsheet and database programs—even word processing with WordPerfect* And unlike any other home computer, the Commodore Amiga 500 can multi-task, so you can run several programs at the same time. Hook it to your VCR with an optional RF modulator, and the Commodore Amiga 500 becomes a home video production center. Paint graphics over video images. Create moving 3-D titles. Produce your own animated feature. And for pure fun, enter the incredibl world of stereo Amiga video games, With graphics so good, major video game makers use them in their coin arcade machines.
. talks.
It animates.
It educates. It's a home office. It's a video studio. It's arcade games in s It's the new Commodore Amiga 500 home computer.
AND NOW YOU CAN SEE IT ALL, FREE.
We captured the excitement, beauty, and power of the Commodore Amiga 500 on a special VHS video cassette called The Amiga 500 Video Test Flight. If you're ready for the ride of your life, call 1-800-87-AMIGA or contact your Commodore Amiga dealer to find out how you can get your free video demonstration.
1-800-87-AMIGA
COMMODORE
5OO
ssible. Commodore Is a registered trademark of Commodore Electronics. Lid. Amiga is i registered trademark, and the Amiga !ogo;
registered trademark of the WordPerfect Corporation. Marble Madness game screen courtesiy of Electronic Arts. MaxiPlan business graphic courtesy of Oxsl. Inc. Motorcycle animation Kieen courtesy of Aegis Development.
Hardworking software for your Amiga BeckerText—More
DataRetrieve —
than just a word
Powerful database for your Amiga that's fast. Huge data capacity and
processor. WYSIWYG formatting. Merge
graphics into your documents, automatic
set up with onscreen
table of contents and
templates. Password
is easy-to-use. Quick
indexing. Calculations of numeric data. Multicolumn printing. Built-in spelling checker checks as you type. $150.00
security. Sophisticated
indexes and searches. Output to most printers. Data management could
not be easier. $79.95 Call or write to inquire about our complete line of books and software
TEXTPRO—Full-function
ASSEMPRO—Program your
wordprocessor that's easy-to-
Amiga in assembly language
use. Loaded with a number of
with ease. Extensive editor,
If your Amiga dealer doesn't carry Abacus products, then have him order them for you. Or you can order direct using the following order
extras. On-screen formatting,
Centering, justification, footers,
multiple windows, search, replace more. Fast two-pass
QTv
headers, auto-hyphenation.
macro assembler with auto
Merge graphics into your document, and more. $79.95
library. S99.95
p —— — — — —• — — — — — — — — — —
blank or by calling-^616) 698-0330
linking. Includes entire (unctions
Products
Price
TexlPro
$79.95
AssemPro
Total
Qtv.
Products
Prim
Total
BeckerTexl S150.00 DalaRelrieve 79.95
99.95
In USA add $4.00 for S& H. Foreign add $12.00 per item Michigan residents include 4% sales lax
Total amount enclosed (US funds)
Abacus
Payment: (
) MC
(
) VISA
(
) Am. Express
(
) Check
Card No
(
) Money Order Exp.
Name
Dept. MA2 • 5370 52nd Street SE • Grand Rapids. Ml 49508
Address
-
City
Phone 616/698-0330 • Telex 709-101 * Telefax 616/698-0325 Call or wrile for your free catalog. 30-day money back guaranlee on software. Dealer inquiries welcome—over 2400 dealers nationwide.
State
Zip
Phone No
Commodore Craftsmanship Super C—Now you can
Cadpak—The profes sional design tool. Enter detailed drawings with the keyboard, a lightpen or 1531 mouse. Flexible
program in C on your
computer. Produces machine code that's faster than BASIC. Includes full screen
object editor to create
libraries of furniture,
editor, compiler, linker
electronics, etc. Zoom in to do detailed work. Outputs in exact scale
and math libraries are
and handbook. Graphics
included. A complete C development package.
to most printers. C64
$39.95
C128
C64
$59.95
$59.95
C128
S59.95
Call or write to inquire about our complete line of books and software BASIC COMPILER—Now anyone can make their BASIC
GEOS"V Tricks and Tips—A
programs run fester! Easily
new book with something for everyone. Over 50 tricks and
convert your programs into ma
tips to use everyday. geoWnte
chine language or speed code.
format file converter; edit or
If your program walks or crawls,
give it the speed to RUN! C64 $39.95 C128 S59.95
create GEOS fonts; Write in machine language or explore the internals of GEOS. $16.95
Abacus HI
Dept. MC2 • 5370 52nd Street SE • Grand Rapids, Ml 49508 Phone 616/698-0330 • Telex 709-101 • Telefax 616/698-0325 Call or write for your free catalog. 30-day money back guarantee on
software. Dealer inquiries welcome—over 2400 dealers nationwide.
If your Commodore dealer doesn't carry Abacus products, then have him order them for you. Or you can order direct using the following order blank or call—(616) 698-0330 Qtv. Products Price Total Qtv.
ll
Products
Pjice
Ifilal
Super C 64 $59.95 Cadpak 64 $39.95 Super C 128 59.95 Cadpak 123 59.95 GEOSTi T 16.95 BASIC 64 39.95 Ml residents add 4% sales tax BASIC !2S 59.95 In USA add $4.00 tor S 5 H. Foreign add $12.00 per item
Total amount enclosed (US lunds)
Payment: ( ) MC
(
) VISA
(
) Am. Express
(
) Check
Card 1*3. Name
,
.
Address
City.. Phone No.
.State.
) Money Older
THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL SO AWE-INSPIRING IT SURPASSES EVEN THE ORIGINAL! .
:.
..
I;
it wasn't easy to outdo the original, legendary Question" fantasy role-playing game.
But we did. And you're look
ing at it. QUESTRON Ms all-new.
state-of-the-art graphics is
nothing short of stunning. The wilderness, towns, characters
and monsters of our magical
A Death Wraith attacks in one o\ the many dungeon
world are beautifully rendered. The animated 3-D dungeon displays will amaze you. Add to all this a spell binding storyline, and you have a fantasy game that will ignite your imagination.
Look for it at your local
computer/software or game store today
QUESTRON II. It's the closest you can come to real fantasy. Commodore 64/128 ($39 95)
k chamber in '
Apple II Series, IBM /Compatible IS44.95I Atari ST, Amiga ($49.95)
ly Redstone Cast.
STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS, INC. lso play THE ETERNAL DAGGER" - Sequel to SSI's awardwinning Wizard's Crown": Hordes of monsters from the Demon World have entered Middle World through a magic portal. To defeat the invading force, your party of eight must embark on quests to innumerable puzzles. Locate the Demon Portal and find the one enchanted weapon that can seal it — the Eternal Dagger. Commodore 64/128, Apple II Series, Atari 8-Bit. $39.95
II there are noconvcnieni stores near
you. VISA and MC holders can ordci
direct by calling (4151 964-1353. Or send your check to- SSI. 1046
N Kengsturll Ave. Mountain View.
CA 94043 California residents, add applicable sales tax. Please specify
computer (orni.ii and add 53.00'for
shipping and handling
Š I9HT by Strategic Simula! ions. Inc All fights nrsiTYcd
Commodore A
M
G
A
Z
n
e
m
MAY 1988, '/olume 9. Number 5
FEATURES PENCHANT FOR PUZZLES
70
Whether you're lost in a labyrinth or butting up against a brick wall, this guide to all types of puzzles will clue you in on how to approach and solve puzzles found in adventure games.
TAKING THE BYTE OUT OF ROBOTICS
by Russ Ceccola
DESKTOP PUBLISHING FOR THE 64 AND 128
COVER STORY
74
Don't think you have to spend a fortune to get into desktop publishing. If you've got a Commodore 64 or 128 and a printer, you could be the next Lou Grant. We'll show you how.
66
Read about two entrepreneurs who are educating the public about robotics and advanced eiectronic technology. They've developed a unique set of accessories for the Commodore 64 called the Robotics Workshop that's being given a workout in homes and schools. by John Jermaine
COVER PHOTO: Charles Bartholomew Model and Software: Robotic Workshopby Multibotics, Inc.
by Gary V. Fields L/crMKimcnu
LETTERS
4
NEWS
8
TECHNICAL TIPS 52
BASIC Linker by Parviz Naser
TIPS & TRICKS 16
Amiga Tips & Tricks Compiled by Tim Jones
18
Beyond Zork by Russ Ceccola
22
Druid by Gary V. Fields
24 26 28 30 34
Fall Gelb, Seventh Fleet, Stalingrad Campaign byJeffSeiken GeeBee Air Rally by Scott A. May Super Sequencer 128 by Bod Guerra
64 Emulator by Gary V. Fields Moebius by Jeffery S. Hall
Alien Fires, 2199 A.D. by Russ Ceccola Leisure Suit Larry by Russ Ceccola
IV SHOW by Steve King
36 38 40 42 44 46
AMIGA HARDWARE REVIEWS Byte Box by Tim Jones
48
AMIGA BOOK REVIEWS Amiga Programmer's Handbook by Dan Schein
56
Inside Q-Link by Robert W. Baker
ADVENTURE ROAD A Legend Comes to the Commodore byShayAddams
58
60 64
Election by Elizabeth Deal
Binary Mind Reader by Royal C. Jones
COMPUTER TUTOR 78
Air Miles by Leo W. Brenneman
GAME PROGRAMS 81 86
Historic Mazes by Gerhard F. Schilling
Bulls and Bears by Kirk Ward
AMIGA SOFTWARE REVIEWS Arkanoid by John J. Kottier
53
JIFFIES
64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Top Fuel Eliminator i)yGa/y ^ Fields
Building a Digital Camera, Part 3 byJohnlovine
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Hints for Fun and Utility Compiled by Louis F. Sander
Interfacing Commodore's User Port, Part 6
50
128 USERS ONLY 91 95
128 Mode: CrossWord Creator by Mark Jordan Simple Windowing by Bruce Jaeger
AMIGA UPDATE TheC Programming Environment by Roberts. Wyesham
98 102
HOW TO ENTER PROGRAMS
124
MAGAZINE ENTRY PROGRAMS
126
ADVERTISERS'INDEX
128
Amiga Public Domain by Graham Kinsey
COMMODORE MAGAZINE
3
LETTERS
In all fairness. I must say that I did en joy most of the C64 articles ... and I'm sure that you will present more. But
Commodore M
A
G
A
I
N
they're not worth the frustration of weed
ing through the games-and-crap. Regards, Dale Davis Marysville, WA To the Editor:
Congratulations! I sent my subscription form in just the other day after I picked up the January issue of Commodore Maga zine. I really think the new look adds a lot to the whole magazine. Because you men tioned all the things I was going to com mend you about in your Letter from the Editor. I'm at a loss for words. The idea about expanding the reviews section to cover both the 64/128 and the Amiga is wonderful. (I'm getting my Amiga on Wednesday.) I could go on and on, but I think a "congratulations" and a sincere "thank-you" sums up my feelings rather well. Keep up the great job. Sincerely, Kevin Takacs West Chester, PA To the Editor: Well... that's it boys and girls ... the honeymoon's over. I'm letting my sub scription run out for good this time. I can understand a persons desire to up grade to a C128 ... at least it will run C64 files... but AMIGA is a different thing. You're asking us to forget what we've fi nally learned on our C64, to learn AMIGA mush, and live in some fantasy world where the scenery is just mahvahlous. I could share space with a few C128 ar ticles. I could even tolerate an occasional reference to AMIGA, but now it's AMIGA this, AMIGA that. I suppose that one could say that my statement in this letter is: If it can't be done on a C64, then it's probably not worth doing. I will not likely ever have enough "free cash" to even think of buying an AMIGA system, but with the money I save by not subscribing to Commodore Magazine, I can at least buy a few more beers (a far greater value). Oh, alright, wiseguys, I am over 40 and I do hate changes. Who needs a reset but
ton? .. .and I absolutely relish typing ",8" etc.
So, you want to knock this chip off my shoulder?? Then how about publishing "C64 Magazine," and try not to copy the old gazette. 4
MAY 1988
Editor's Response: Our mission—to cover all aspects of Commodore home comput ing, regardless of make, model or memory capacity—has never been an easy one. From 1979 when The Pet Users Club Newsletter (forefather of the publication you now hold in your hands) commenced publication, coverage of "new" machines vs. "old" machines has always been a most delicate matter. Our charter subscribers were probably not thrilled to see the VIC20 getting so much attention at the ex pense of their PEU. and VIC-20 owners were outraged when the Commodore 64 started creeping onto our pages.
We are certainly not asking Commo dore 64 owners to "start over." However, we do feel that there are things worth do
ing that only the Amiga can do. We also feel that the growing population of-Amiga owners deserves coverage of their Com modore computer on our pages. That's why we're not called The Pet Users Club Newsletter any more.
Publisher Julie Bauer
Assistant to the Publisher Amanda K. Wappes Managing Editor
Jim Gracely Assistant Editor
Susan R. West
Assistant Technical Editor Mike Rivers Art Director
Gwenn Knapp Assistant Art Director Wilson Harp Production Manager Jo-Ellen Temple Circulation Kenneth F. Battista
Advertising Coordinator Rebecca Cotton
Advertising Representatives
SOUTHEAST, SOUTHWEST AND WEST COAST From the Editor Program Correction: We have received several letters concerning two problems with "Mathers of the Universe," a type-in math program for the Commodore 64 which ran in our April issue. Corrections are as follows: 1. Line 75 should read:
75 PRINT'[RVOFF,GRAY2,CMDR *,RVS] [GRAY3I |RVOFF,GRAY2, CMDR *.GRAY3,KVS,SPACE4,KVOFF, GRAY2,CMDR *,GRAY3 .RVS. SPACE4. RVOFF.GRAY2 ,CMDR*]";'BBCU 2. Line 1845 should read:
1845DATA,,255,,,255.,,255,H255tBXOO
Warren Langer, Spencer 0. Smith Warren Langer Associates 9320 NW 2nd Street Coral Springs, FL 33071 Advertising Inquiries Only 305/753-4124
MIDWEST, NORTHEAST AND CANADA Pamela Stockham 700 River Road Fair Haven, NJ 07704 201/741-5784
Commodore Magazine, Volume 9, Number 5. May 1988. Commodore Magazine is published monthly by Commo dore Magazine Inc., 1200 Wilson Drive. West Chester, PA 19380. U.S.A. U.S. subscriber rate is $35.40 per year; Canadian subscriber rate is $15.40 per year; Overseas sub scriber rate is 565.00 per year. Questions concerning sub scription should be directed to Commodore Magazine Sub scription Department, Bon 651. Holmes, Pennsylvania
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
19043. Phone (800) 315-8112- In Pennsylvania (800) 662-2444. Copyright ■£ 1988 by Commodore Magazine Inc.
Correction: Our March Table of Contents refeired to the syndicated show Secrets & Mysteries as a Lorimar production. In fact, Secrets & Mysteries is produced by Triumph Communications.
trademarks of Commodore Electronics Ltd. Super PET and
All rights reserved.
CBM, PET, VIC 20, and Commodore 64 are registered Commodore 128 are trademarks of Commodore Electronics Ltd. Amiga* is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga.
ABC Membership applied for.
E
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Contents are as follows: Sidel
Side 2
Diskovcry
Gallerie dArt
Customizing LOADSTAR
Nature Quest
Glory Quest
Weather Conversions
Pyramid Power Struggle
Visi Calculator
Cybermine
Creeping Chromosomes
Laser show
Sign Language Tutor
Editor in Chief
List Things Last
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C= COMMODORE 138
1571 DISK DRIVE 1084 MONITOR
COMMODORE
f
$229.00
154111 DISK DRIVE
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$269.00
1802C MONITOR
$189.00
$454.00 $729.00 $669.00
64Cw/154lll Drive
$333.00
64C w/FSD-2 Drive 1802C with either package
$304.00 $184.00
C128W/1571 Drive C128 w/1571 & 1084 Monitor. C128w/1571 & Thomson 4120.
COMMODORE. \
128K Memory
Built In 1571 Disk Drive Detatchable Keyboard 128D w. 1084 Monitor
$719.00
128D w/Thomson 4120
$649.00
TUSSEY'S SPECIAL PACKAGES COMMODORE 128
PATT T?T?V Educational Software too! *T/\I Ji jFj IV I ACCESS
Echelon Leader Board Leader Beard Toum. Disk
ACCOLADE
$29.95 $24.95 $16.95
Apollo 18
$19.95
Cornice
$19.95
4th & Inches
$22.95
Hard Ball
$22.95
Kilted Until Dead....~
Buy any two Electronic Arts Tides* Between April 1.1968 and June 30.
19BB and get a third title
* "Classic' Titles Do Ni I Quality
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Lasi Nlnja
$24.95
Thunder Chopper
$24.95
Up Periscope
S19.95
ACTIVISION Air Hally Aliens
$CALL $22.95
Championship Baseball
$27.95 $27.95 $24.95
Top Fuel Eliminator
$19.95
Beyond Zork
$34.95
Hitchhiker's Guide
ELECTRONIC ARTS' Bard's Tale
„
$27.95
Bard's Tale II
$29-95
Chessmaster2OO0...
with all Librarys
$39.95
Maniac Mansion
$27.95
Music Sludio Shanghai
$27.95 $24.95
AVALON HILL NBA
$24.95
BRODERBUND Lode Runner Msebius SuperDike Challenge Ultima V -
$24.95 $27.95 $CALL $39.95
CINEMAWARE
Defender ol the Crown King o! Chicago SDt
$22.95 $24 95 $CALL
Tho Three Stooges
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COSMI
Del Con 5
$17.95
DATA EAST Commando
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Kid Niki
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Speed Buggy
$19.95
Karate Champ
$24.95
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Bismark Dark Lord
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Force 7
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Hunt For Red October Tobnjk Tomahawk
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Video Title Shop
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F-15 Strike Eagle Gunship Kennedy Approach
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524.95
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Stealth Fighter
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Solo Flight
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Indoor Sports
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Infilt ratof II Paperboy Period Score:SAT prep Superstar Hockey UchiMata Uridium
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SIMON & SHUSTER Star Trek: Kobayashi Alt
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Star Trek: Promeshian Adv. ...$24.95
Star Trek: Rebel Universe Typing Tutor IV
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Inmgue PT109 SokoBan...
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Fon! Master 128
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Paperclip II
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Paperclip III Superscript 12B
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Term Paper Writer
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Wordwrtter 128 w/spell..$34.95
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DATA BASES Consultant
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Data Manager 128
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Perlect Filer
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Superbase 128
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SUBLOGIC Flight Simulator II
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Steatth Mission
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Estes pwr supply (or C-64 $54.95 Naverone 3 Slot expander ....$27.95
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Bank Street Wriler
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Font Master II
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Pocket Writer Dictionary
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Electronics Arts Outrageous Pages
Springboard
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PRODUCTIVITY I^HM Deluxe Music Const Se! ...$79.95 Deluxe Paint II 599-95 Deluxe Pnnt II $59.95 ..$99.95 Deluxe Video 1.2
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LX-800 $189.00 FX-86E $339.00 FX-286E ....$459.00
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CMS
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ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Pkg. Price for al) Modules:
C128 version,
RGB/COMPOSITE COLOR MONITORS FOR THE 128
$124.95
C64 version
COMMODORE 1084
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M01 400 Resolution * Cpural na ModflS
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MAGNAVOX 8762 M01 240 Resolution
2 yr warranty
3 MoOas 2 yr warranty
I
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.7....S249.00
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n Berkeley Softworks NEW!!... GEO PUBLISH (64/128) GEOS 128
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C= COMMODORE
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NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS
Commodore Introduces Colt
^Eommodore Business Machines' latest addition to their line of PCcompatible products is the Commodore Colt, an IBM-PC/XT-
compatible computer marketed for home businesses and those who bring work home. The Colt comes with 640K RAM, two clock speeds (9.7 MHz and 7.16 MHz), two internal 5.25-inch disk drives, batterybacked real time clock/calendar and parallel, serial and mouse ports. A built-in color graphics card supports CGA, MDA, Hercules and Plantronics graphic modes. The Colt is expandable through three full-length, IBM-PC/XT-compatible slots. Suggested retail price for the Colt is S899.95. For more information contact: Commodore Business Machines, Inc., 1200 Wilson Dr., West Chester, PA 19380. Or call; (215) 436-4200.
New Software at CES to introduce new
»»= -355=
Studio, a gra
. In addition to tattag off and depart ftom
on arcade adventure game mr and landing at Bay contact
enem
1820 Gateway Dr Hi Tec
which the player
534.95. In
rampage. The
suggested retail p^
has a sugg
tivision also announced headcnt Ac
Hacker Hi ***** ■"—■"—
Save the Earth, andlnfocoms
the Galaxy nave been-"
also teamedup StirT
Solid Gold "flippy"-
0( $14.95 each. For details
$29.95. For Needles Dr., San Jose,
8
MAY 1988
■
flve ^ M tMr So reduced pnoes
Ld Gold line. Activision has
mrt Tennis on a single ■duced retail price
960-0410.
Or all: (408) 286-7074.
P-—^ceXSen^--r nlavmg game for the Amiga (64 vers:^ -. Land of Legends packs tote Jww
monsters and magic ^ ^ m^ fQV
MAKE A
IN MINDSCAPE'S INSTANT WIN GAME.
Grand Prize -Full Size Atari 720° Arcade Game First Prizes (5) —Mindscape Software Library valued at $500 Second Prizes (100) —Mindscape Powerptayers Club Joystick Third Prizes (1000) —Mindscape Powerpiayers Club T-Shirt
Scratch off the squan to
reveal your prko instantly! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY,
Membership in the Mindscape Powerpiayers Club including: Membership Certificate • Advanced notice of new Game Tips • Discounts on Powerplayer Merchandise
Look for the Game Cards in these specially marked Arcade Megahits Scratch off the square to reveal your prize-instantly!
M
I
N
D
S
C
A
E
MtNDSCAPE
INC
No Putfttx fcecetsaty For OiKHi rues ana Game Cart *irtt en i pin 3' • 5" Ctrl Mtuscue Pajtra n Pwrtfpv^" x& nail il «nin i setr-wcitssea. SUmpM »i0emtt)M :o H«IiCJp< Powe^Uycrs QlC insusl Wai Gjnw. PC Bon 11K7 IL 6OC65 Linn mk itques «r tnvtlope ReaOems ol Itw stales of Wisrtngion WO rtrmoni neU nw indutK reium postase <*X whtrt p'ohiatea by Im instant wm Gjme ends Jmuafy 31. 1989 w *nen it gam uidl uc 6sn3j:M B 1988 Mindscape. Inc. Mindscape is a irademarti; ot MindscaDt, Inc. GaunCel'" *■ 1964 Alan Games Cofp All ngtits reMrvec. Paacmaf><* ■-. 1984 Alan Ginws Corp All nghls reservM. Rend Butiner™ i 1985 Warner Bros and Atari Games Corp. All rights reserved Indiana Jones and tht Temple of Dooti™ \ 1985 Lucastilm Ud and Alan Games Corp All nghis reserved Indiana Jones and We Temple of Doom a a trademark ol LiKisfilm Ltd., used under license 72O"1" J' 1J86 Alan Games Corp AI rights reserved
NEWS • NEWS ■ NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS The Hunt for Red October UataSoft has released The Hunt for Red October, based on Tom Clancy's best-selling novel. You are a Soviet submarine captain who
wants to defect to the U.S. with his state-of-the-art vessel and 113member crew. You plan to rendezvous with the U.S. Navy on the eastern seaboard and fake a radiation leak to account for evacuating
your crew. But you must maneuver past Soviet and NATO forces to complete your top secret mission. The Hunt for Red October is
available for the Commodore 64 at S39.95 and for the Amiga at S49.95. For further information contact: DataSoft, 19808 Nordhoff
Place, Chatsworth, CA913U. Or call: (818) 886-5922.
IntelliCreations
Magic Madness •agic Madness is Artworx Software's
Bull Run to Chancellorsville
I ntelliCreations, Inc. has released three
latest release for the Commodore 64. In Neverland four kindly magicians ruled until
lectronic Arts' Strategic Studies Group
new games for Commodore computers.
the wicked sorcerer killed them and hid their
has released Bull Run to Chancellorsville
the nrst in a series of programs for the
BattleDroidz is a strategy action game In
powerful magic scrolls. Your mission is to
which the player controls one of three droidz
overcome the sorcerer's henchmen and
Commodore 64 called "Decisive Battles of the
in combat with aliens on another planet.
recover the scrolls. Magic Madness for the
American Civil War." The program presents
BattleDroidz for the Commodore 64 retails
64 retails for $19.95, and an Amiga version is
simulations of battles comprising the first
for $24.95, and the Amiga version sells for S34.95. The Rubicon Alliance was formed
in the works. For further information
half of the Civil War. The new series utilizes
contact: Artworx Software, 1844 Penfield Hd.,
SSGs ''Warpaint" graphics editor and
to avoid interplanetary war, but the pact has
Penfield, NJ 14526. Phone: (800) 828-6573.
"Warplan" war game construction kit. Bull
Run to Chancellorsville retails for $39.95.
been broken by a hostile planet. The player is
assigned eight missions to restore harmony. The Rubicon Alliance is available for the Commodore 64 at a suggested retail price of $19.95. As Global Commander the player
Pro TUtor Accounting
must coordinate the earth's satellite network and monitor the actions of the 16 nuclear
Phone:(415)571-7171.
Photosynthesis
nations to prevent the earth's destruction.
Hi scape Sequence Inc. has released
The Commodore 64 version retails for S29.95, the Amiga version for S39.95. For
Photosynthesis, an image processing
details contact: IntelliCreations, Inc., 19808 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or
program for the Amiga family of computers. Photosynthesis contains over forty basic
call: (818) 886-5922.
image processing operations. The program
EA "Software for Life"
E lectronic Arts has introduced a new
software exchange program to ease users' transition in upgrading their 8-bit systems to 16-bit systems. Owners of Electronic Arts' Commodore 64 titles can purchase the identical Amiga titles for half price by sending in the original program's manual cover. The "Software for Life" program applies to all Electronic Arts' and affiliated labels' titles. For information on upgrading,
call (800) 245-4525, in California call (800) 562-1112. Outside the U.S. call (415) 5717171 ext. 555. 10
For further details contact: Electronic Arts, 1820 Gateway Dr., San Mateo, CA 94404.
MAY 1988
requires 1MB of RAM, and 2.5MB is
recommended for professional use. For more information contact: Escape Sequence Inc., rofessional Software, Inc. has introduced a unique package for the Commodore 128 to teach basic accounting principles. Pro Tutor
Accounting is designed for use by accounting students, new employees or selflearners. The company has plans to release
similar products in the fields of History, Geography, Math and Spelling for different
age groups. Pro Tutor Accounting is available in a home and business version for a suggested retail price of S99 and in an educational version complete with teacher utilities for S249. For more details contact:
Professional Software, Inc., 51 Fremont St., Needham, MA 02194. (800)343-4074.
P.O. Box 1101. Troy, NY 12180. Phone: (518) 274-1547.
Cartwright Joins Accolade
Veteran game designer Steve E. Cartwright has been named senior designer for Accolade, Inc. Cartwright previously held the same title at Activision, Inc., where he was responsible for creating best-sellers like Hacker I and II, GeeBee Air Rally and Continued on page 12
The funniest computer game since
Hitch-hiker's Guide to the
Galaxy™
Enter the world of Jinxter, a challenging and hilarious graphic/text adventure from the folRs who did The Pawn and Guild of Thieves. This time we decided to try something a bit different. A bit bizarre. Something to make people laugh while they tear their hair out. Sounds crazy, right? Good.
Bring a sense of humor to the
task and we can promise'you:
* stunning graphics.
'9L
* mind-bending puzzles and brain-tapping tests.
* a perplexing, hilarious-race against time and chance.
* the state of the art in adventure
game technology.
* overall game quality you rarely see anymore.
C>
jinxter. You'll get widdled on. And love it.
Available now on Amiga, CUILD •* THIEVES
Atari ST, IBM, C64.
Coming soon on MAC, Apple II* •Text only.
^Hitch-hiker*! Guide is i regiwerwl
trademark of Jnfoiom.
I Rainbirdaod RainbirdLo(;"lrc.'e8'lu:re^I'*''e'Tlir^ of British Triraommuniclliunt PLC
Auri ST*" Ann Corporation
Mac* >"J Appli- llf Apple Computer! Inc.
lBMr- Inttrnttiorul Butinm MldlilM OnporJ<i(.n
Telecom Soft, P.O. Box 2227, Menlo Park, California 94026.
Atnjjji" indCMc Commodore Buiiticii Machine !tu
NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS Continued from page 10
Aliens. Cartwright will be responsible for coordinating all aspects of the creation and
development of new games for Accolade.
Computing Experimental
Amiga 500 Command Center
J? ischer America will introduce a new
computing construction kit—Computing Experimental for the Commodore 64 and Amiga. The kit comes with a comprehensive guide which introduces the user to programming machines and robots. Computing Experimental facilitates exploration of motors and switches, switching with light, measuring and
'' • t I I
adjusting temperatures and methods of artificial intelligence. The kit, which retails for $379, includes interface, software and power supply. For details contact: Fischer
America, Inc., 1904 Oostburg Ct., Modesto, CA 95356. Or call: (209) 575-3445.
Weekly Reader Lab-Packs 'ptimum Resources, Inc. has released LabPacks for its entire line of Commodore 64-
X he Amiga 500 Command Center is now available from Ketek, Inc. to house your Amiga 500 drives. The Command Center can accommodate two 3.5-inch external drives or one 3.5-inch drive and a 20 or 30MB hard drive. The unit features a built-in cooling fan, surge suppression, noise filter and five-outlet power strip. The
Amiga S00 Command Center retails for $179.95. For more information contact: Ketek. Inc., P.O. Box 203, Oakdale, IA 52319. Or call: (800) 626-4582.
compatible Weekly Reader Software. The Lab-Packs, designed for in-school use,
provide multiple disks with one set of documentation. Curriculum covered includes
math, reading, language arts, science and utilities such as drawing, printing and music for children in pre-school through junior
Compiler Companion Jjattice has introduced ten utilities to increase Amiga
programmers' productivity. Compiler Companion provides a
high. Lab-Packs are available at a retail
complete programming environment no matter what language is
price of $75. For further information contact:
being used. The program combines the CXREF, LMK and Text
Optimum Resources, Inc., Station Place,
Management Utilities that Lattice previously offered separately to
Norfolk, CT 06058. Or call: (203) 542-5553.
take up less memory and execute faster. Compiler Companion has a suggested retail price of $100. For more information contact:
Pro Video Plus
J DK Images has introduced Pro Video
Lattice, Inc., 2500 S. Highland Ave.T Lombard, IL 60148. Or call: (312)916-1600.
Plus, a character generator for the Amiga. The program runs in hi-res graphics mode
and includes four fonts in four sizes as well
as italics and multi-color effects. Pro Video Plus lets you import IFF graphics and
digitized images as backgrounds. Real-time page transitions include rolls, slides, wipes, compress/expand, or custom transitions.
JDK recommends that you have a minimum of 2MB Fast BAM. Suggested retail price is
$299.95. For more information contact: PVS Publishing, 3800 Botticelli, Suite 40, Lake Oswego, OR 97035. Phone: (503) 636-8677. 12
MAY 1988
3.5" Disk Transport L otem Technologies has introduced a Disk Transport system to accommodate up to 250 3.5-inch diskettes. Removeable partitions in the case allow you to carry your 3.5-inch external drive (and up to
130 diskettes) or letter-sized documents (and 65 diskettes). The versatile Disk Transport is available for $39.95 (plus $3.50 shipping/handling) from: Totem Technologies, P.O. Box 374, Pinson,
AL 35126. Phone: (205) 856-2437.
PURE
S
T
A
T
BASEBALL
TM
From Software Simulations comes an in credibly sophisticated, realistic, and complete statistical baseball simulation for zero, one or
two players. (lame play, manager's functions, graphics, and a complete statistical library
establish Pure-Stat Baseball'"1 as the ultimate sports simulation program.
Suggested retail price
$3995 Optional Team and Create Your Own Team Disks Available. Available for C-64/128, Apple, Game Play
IBM-PC
Statistics
Pure-Stat Baseball's underlying statistical framework simulates the realities
Pure-Stat Baseball1" can mainiain a complete statistical record of each team
of baseball like never before. Within this framework the program considers
player's performance. You can print all of your players' year-to-date perfor
each player's batting statistics against both LEFT- and RIGHT-handed pitchers, where available, and pitchers stats vs. both LEFT- and RIGHT-handed bat
mance statistics at anytime throughout the season. All player stats and game
ters. Every player's fielding and base-running abilities are also considered (an important factor when attempting to steal a base, etc.)
for a hardcopy printout. The PRINT TEAM STATS function can be used at the end of the season to determine your Most Valuable Player, or to review
Select the team you'd like to manage, then pick the team you want to play
Box Scores can be displayed on the screen or sent to an external printer
your club's performance.
against. Every team from the 1985 season is accurately represented, along
Pure-Stat Baseballâ&#x201E;˘ also includes a unique Auto-Play option that lets the
with eight classic teams from the past. Determine your starting lineup, designate a starting pitcher, and make player substitutions when necessary.
computer play a complete game in less than three minutes. A whole series
You call the plays, offense and defense. In a one-player game, your com
statistics can be compiled over several days with all game stats printed out
puter opponent displays un-canny intelligence in reacting to your managing
for your records
decisions. Manager's Functions
Built-in manager's functions provide extra versatility. The Trading function gives you the opportunity to create the "what if" team(s) you've always dreamed about. With this function you can have Dwight Gooden playing with Mickey Mantel and Babe Ruth. Or. if you like, you can form your own draft leagues from existing teams and play against your friends for your own pennant and World Series.
The Stat-Keeper function compiles all of the players' statistics for you and calculates Batting Averages and pitchers' ERAs. You can track your own teams'
performances and print the season statistics for your club or league. Stadium Disk
An optional Stadium Disk is also available that lets you play in any of the twenty-six Major League stadiums.
of games can be played unattended, and an entire season of player and team
Discover for yourself just how enjoyable a haseball simulation game can be.
Pure-Stat Baseballâ&#x201E;˘ the first real baseball game on a computer. See your local dealer, or call:
Software Simulations 959 Main Street, Stratford, CT 06497 203/377-4339
Or take your licks on a rough city street. To score a goal, you'll Street Sports'" games. need to pass, slice, hook, INTRODUCING head (not to mention a STREET SPORTSâ&#x201E;˘ SOCCER. SPRECT SPORTS SOCCER Time to dust off every dirty timely trip or two), just to trick you know. Shove. Pass. Dribble. stay one step ahead of your opponents. Street Sports Soccer. Band-Aids and TVip. Break all the rules for kicks. Pick a team from a rakish roster of knee pads not included. nine neighborhood kids who are anyBASEBALL HAS BEEN thing but neighborly.They'll do anything VERY, VERY GOOD TO US. towin. Forget fairness.This ain't croquet, it's back. Street Sports1" Baseball. Our Play on a grassy, but slippery park, major league hit from last year. The third in our exciting series of rough, tough and gritty
There're makeshift diamonds. Bases made from spare tires. Trash cans to avoid. Bushes. Rocks. And chainlinked fences. Those 16 cagey kids are also back. Each with his own unique style of pitchin hitting and fielding. You pick the STREET SPORTS BASKETBALL place. The players. The teams. The positions. The strategy. And then, you'll
PC"
gvni
""-1
j
CE Fill OFASP be right in the middle of it all. With a split-screen view from above and up close. StreetSports Baseball. It's STREETSPDR'IK BASEBAU the best seat in the house. Your house. SO HAS BASKETBALL. It's back, too. The same dingy alleys.
Scruffy playgrounds. Dark parking lots. You'll pick three-on-a-side from the neighborhood's ten toughest players.
Hot shooters. Slow dribblers. They're all here. The one with the great hook. The one who shoves underneath. The one who tugs at jerseys. Pass to the big man inside. Hit the guard coming across. Screen the
lanky forward Bounce the ball off the
STREET SPORTS SERIES Commodore 64/128. Apple II & compatibles. IBM & compatibles. Amiga
WEPYX
chainlink fence. But watch out for the oil slick. In Street Sports'" Basketball anything can happen. And often does. Street Sports Soccer. StreetSports Basketball And Street Sports Baseball Tcike a walk on the wild side.
Compiled by Louis F. Sander
This month we feature short programs you can run on your 64 and/or 128. There are games, utilities and sound effects, plus several programs to do interesting things with the screen display. As you may have noticed, we're very attracted to short pro grams. In fact, we're announcing a contest to find the best such programs for Commodore machines. Tb enter, send your best creations to the address below. Here are the rules: • Screen listings must fit on a single 40-column screen which also includes the READY prompt. Shorter listings are accept able, but longer ones are not. • Entries must be postmarked before July 1, 1988, and enve lopes must be plainly labeled ''Programming Contest." • Entries must include a program copy saved to disk, a print ed listing, and a maximum of one page of instructions or expla nations. Multiple entries may be recorded on one disk. (Sorry, but due to processing considerations we can't acknowledge your entry or return your disk). • Names of the program and author must appear in the first line. • Unless space considerations disallow it. DATA statements should have three digits per entry and eight entries per line, with line numbers less than 100. • Programs will be judged on usefulness, beauty, craftsman ship, originality and general ingenuity. Documentation counts. Decisions of the judges are final. • First prize is $100. Second prize is $50. The top ten entries will be published in this column late in 1988. Send your contest entries and your other Tips & TVicks to:
Louis F. Sander Post Office Box 101011 Pittsburgh, PA 15237
frl Potholes: In this very small but exciting program, you're an unfortunate driver who's stumbled onto a highway awaiting ma jor repairs. Being the wild and crazy guy that you are. you floor your white sports car and attempt to avoid the potholes. If you hit one or go off the road, the excitement is temporarily over. Good Luck and Happy Motoring! Brett Kapilik Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada 100
PRINT"[CLEAR,WHITE , SPACE21 64
POTHOLES
PORT
16
MAY 1988
2":POKE
-
USE
JOYSTICK
53281,15
IN
110
V=53248:POKE V+21,1:POKE :FOR
J=0
TO
41:READ
2040,13
K:POKE
832+J,K
:NEXT
120
PRINT"[CLEAR]":TI$="00000 0" :IF
PEEK(V+31)=1
THEN
120
130
:FOR J=l TO 6:PRINT SPC(40):NEXT X=155:Y=59:POKE V,X:POKE V+1,Y
140
POKE
V+21,1:FOR
:PRINT"[GREEN]
150 160
CMDR
C,SPACE14,CMDR
CMDR
+11]"
IF IF
PEEK(56320)=123 PEEK(56320)=119
X=(X+15)AND
170
2=1
TO
[CMDR
5
+11,YELLOW, V,GREEN,
THEN THEN
X=X-15
255
POKE
VfX:NEXT:IF
THEN
POKE
PEEK(V+31)<>0
V+21,244:GOTO
190
180
P=INT(RND(0)*13)+13 :PRINT"[UP]"TAB(P)"[BLACK,SHFT Q]"
190
PRINT"[DOWN,SPACE6,BLACK]
:GOTO
140
POTHOLES
-
BY
:PRINT"[DOWN] 200
IF
210
220
TI$>HSSTHEN
BRENT
YOUR
";TI$
HS$=TI?
"[SPACE3]HI TO
KAPILIK"
SCORE= SCORE=
";HSS
:FOR
J=l
3000:NEXT:GOTO
DATA
0,0,0,1,254,0,3,3,0,3,3,0,3,
120
255,0,1,254,0,1,2,0,1,2,0,1,2,0,1, 254,0
230
DATA
3,255,0,3,255,0,3,51,0,1,254,
0
128 Evasion: Here's a nice game for the 128, with lots of action in very few program lines. Use a joystick plugged into port 2 to move your ship from side to side. You die when you collide with one of the meteors, but only for a few seconds. If you're not yet a computer expert, you can use simple pro
grams like this one to improve your programming skills as well as your piloting ability. A simple challenge would be to try add ing statements to improve the cobra on the screen. You have several to work with—border, background, titles, your ship and the invaders. Another challenge would be to add sound effects when a collision takes place, and/or to make the program keep track of the high score for the game. Jose M. Miranda Jayuya, Puerto Rico Continued on page 108
Micron's Amiga Series: Highest quality memory boards from
America's Memory Supplier NOW SHIPPING
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|^|W-^-"^^^S!nouogy. inc America
's Memory Supper Supper - (208)386-3600
2805 E. Columbia â&#x20AC;˘
Compiled by Tim Jones
Y7ach month we offer a series of tidbits, teasers and short pro-
M2i gramming examples. Ifyou have an item you would like to submit, send it to: Commodore Amiga Tips 651 Outrigger Dr. Deltona, FL 32738
If we use your h int. tip or short program example, we will pay you between $10 and $50.
First, a credit and correction: Back in November we published a tip concerning the DATE function. At that time, the author was unknown to us. I have just received a letter from the author, Ali Ozer from Stanford, CA, who tells us we somehow left out the quotes from the command. The version published was: run date <CON:452/12/180/21/DD-iMMM-YY HH:MM > NIL: ? Howev er, it should have been: run date < "C ON:452/12/180/21/DDMMM-YY HH:MM" > NIL: ? The space in the window title would cause the HH:MM portion to be excluded without the quotes. Thanks for the great tip and update. Ali.
works with many traps. Hope this helps those of you stuck in the world of the Barbarian. Mike Czynkun Denver, CO Hayes-Compatible Modem Tip: Many of the terminal packages on the market rely on the built-in timer of your smart modem to control the time that it will wait before it decides that there was no answer on the receiving end. If your PBX system or long dis tance service causes delays in the time it takes you to connect, you can extend the time the modem will wait by tacking com mas onto the end of your number. For example, if you were call ing a number that required 40 seconds for an average connec tion, you could change the time the modem allows by adding two commas like this: ATDT 1234567,, This adds ten seconds to the delay time that the modem allowed for a connection. (Each com ma represents a five second delay on most modems.) Also, if you have to dial a 9 and then wait for a second dial tone, you can do this by using an ampersand (&l. The call above would then look like this: ATDT 9&1234567,, Steven Jones
Savannah, GA Softwood File II Bug Found: (on some disks, it may be
MiAmiga File II): If you select PAGE SETUP from the PRINT menu while the form is in view, you may specify the print envi ronment options for labels to be printed. At the bottom of this re quester are two gadgets to exit the requester. One is labelled "OK" and the other is labelled "CANCEL." Therein lies the bug: neither gadget senses a click over its whole surface. Only the right-most eight pixels of the OK gadget and the white space be tween the left edge and the "C" of CANCEL are active. hen Renoux
Colorado Springs, CO Barbarian Frustration Ender! Okay, Barbarians, are you tired of working up to a level only to be creamed by some unexpected creature? Well, there is a way to get past every creature you come up against. Simply click on the PICK UP gadget just be fore the creature or creatures are upon you, and you will disable the collision trapping so they will pass right through you. I have found that this works for every monster, even the dragon. It also 18
MAY 1988
An Amiga, its 68000 and the GURU: For many of you who may own early Amiga 1000s, there may be a chance that the 68000 in your machine isn't operating at 100%. A small group of Amiga owners in Florida noticed an undue number of undeci pherable GURU errors showing up on older machines < most of which were pre-June 1986 machines). One of the machines got to the point of not being able to function when any peripherals were attached to it (printers, external drives, memory, etc.). This one was sent out for repair, and it was determined that the 68000 was bad. When the unit was returned, the problems had all disappeared. When the 68000s in the other machines were replaced with 68010s, once again the GURU errors ceased. It seems that the older Motorola 68000-8 chips were the only ones with problems. If you are seeing unexplainable GURU errors and have an older 1000, it might be worth your time to have the 68000 replaced. Kent Gunn Deltona, FL Continued on page 80
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SCIENTISTS Time passes. Things get old. Let's face it, even Willie Mays retired. So there's no way your Com modore can compete with a newer machine, right? Wrong. The fact is mat there's actually more power in your Commodore 64 or 128 than when you bought it. All you needisGEOSorGEOS128 to find it. GEOS is the revolu tionary operating system that works your hardware up to seven times harder than its ever worked before. Loading. Processing. Accessing information. All at the mere touch geopl-bush
of a mouse or joystick.
Time Warps Discovered With GEOS, every thing speeds up. Including you. Because the system is incredibly fast and ridicu lously easy to learn: GEOS shows you options, you point at what you want and click your mouse. End of lesson. Now, once you know that, you know how every other GEOS application works, too. Like geoWrite, which lets you punch up paragraphs with five different fonts. Or geoPaint, which dresses up diagrams with an arsenal of artistic appliances. Both are built
right into the GEOS disk. And when you put them together with geoWrite Workshop's LaserWriter compatibility, every new GEOS document comes out looking like an old master.
GEOS
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GEOPUBLISH 1.1L "11 ■ publishing i 1 ■ i.-:.hl, ih.it It-is you design formats, column .U'Hi- .ir.'i page
layouts Accepts any geoWrite texl and comerte non-GEOS
wx\. Wraps lext anxind nr.ipluis automatically.
Headline fonts up to 192 pt. Complete graphics toolbox.
GEOCALC The GEOS-compatibte. num
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WORKSHOP
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ftl A pniuraiiinier's
chfckinK spelling- U;ts >i>u add
easy yel
edit, ■«"! automatically Beajdi
ilwrniiin someone cist's. With
features like Kiaphus l)i;il
inserl tiy simply catting and
pasimn directly (mm geoEtaini.
Ci itnes wiih geoAssembler,
Clip). Kt-oMer^e and Laser-
imiduliir assembly mid testing
WrUi-r printing Capability,
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your own programs or supi-r-
'lext Grabber ((or oonVKiJns
text from piDKfam^ like Paptr
GEOSPELL I ■ 1 t ' i Ki-<il)iL-t iiinary im
KtoLink and KtiilleliiiKKOi lur
wirds. Bwftdi didHinarii-s.
and replace. Customize and create fonts up to -in pt vrith
Avoid Old Age Forever!
of GEOS applications for
affect your Commodore's
You can finally get organized with geoFile, the database that searches, finds
But how does all this
future? Well, it means you don't ever have to worry about it becoming obsolete, because there are all kinds
GEOS128
GRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT iTFRATJNt J SYSTEM
THE NS-'v.
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Of course, that's
almost every purpose.
merely a sampling of what
and lists almost anything that you want to search, find and list. You can manipu-
of our engineers are hard at work, developing even more GEOS applications for
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the GEOS environment has to offer. Because even as you read this, legions
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All of which means you get a whole lot more out of
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GEOFILE 128
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rtrat
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to "wliat if l^n version features full mo
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LaserWriter printing capability. fealllltS full 80 i-niumn scu-en.
<■ geometri
64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Reviewed by Russ Ceccola
Beyond Zork
been turned into reptiles wondering 'Now what are we going to do? " It's not for the enchanters to worry about any more, for you are the one who must undertake the quest for the Coconut of Quendor. Moriarty told me "The Coco nut is an old joke around here. It's men tioned in SpeUbreaker on one of the cards and in Wishbringer in the poem." Tb help you in your quest are an assortment of
Computer: Commodore 128 Publisher: Iiifocom, Inc. 125 CambridgePark Drive Cambridge, JIA 02140 Medium: Disk
Price:
$44.95
Bold moves can meet with either suc cess or failure in the entertainment industry. As one of the first feature films
to use color, The Wizard ofOz became a classic. However, recent attempts at box office success by using stars of the past proved disastrous in King Kong Lives and Jaws: The Revenge. The computer and software industry is also susceptible to such laws of chance. Last October Infocom held their breath in anticipation of audience reaction as they released their most innovative work of interactive fiction ever. Beyond Zork, which combines interactive fiction, an en hanced user interface and a role-playing element that assigns seven attributes to each character you create for the game. What the Cambridge-based company didn't realize is that they would be releas ing the most addictive, playable and chal lenging adventure of the year, the success of which will last into 1988 and beyond. BeyondZork-s uniqueness lies in its in terface between the computer and its user. The game takes full advantage of the pro cessing power, keyboard layout and peri pherals ofevery computer for which it has been translated. In the Commodore 128 version, you can use the keypad for move ment and the function keys as substitutes for commands, and you'll marvel at the in telligent use of windows and graphics ca pabilities. Game implementor Brian Moriarty re marked, "The reason for the interface is to use the full power of the machine as well as to make Beyond Zork easier to play. One of the two best-looking versions of the game is the Commodore 128 version. It has good color, graphics use and full sup port from the machine." At the stall of the game, an introduc tion is given which details a conversation between the Guild of Enchanters, in the form of lizards, newts and salamanders, and Y'Gaell, a woman wise in the ways of the Zorkian universe. She describes how someone must be sent out on a quest in search of the fabled Coconut of Quendor, 22
MAY 1988
11 'MoreZorAsl'isall we ever hear from our fansit's the most suggested theme for a game."
features implemented by various keys on the Commodore 128, as well as a set of new commands. Also, an on-screen map using boxes as locations shows the places closest to you and the direction you must move to get to them, by using lines to con nect the boxes. The on-screen map proved to be the most useful feature for me in playing Be
yond Zork. I didn't have to spend time to draw out a map and instead wrote down only important pieces of information, such as what a magic item did or how much it was worth. Although Moriarty was happy that I found the map so useful, he told me his original intention: "The map wouldn't be used as a substitute for, but instead as a guide to, mapping the game. It shows the exact spacial relationship of locations in the game. The map seems to be the most-liked feature of the new interface, and Fm glad that people have found it
which contains all of the wisdom of the Age of Magick and is guarded by the Implementors deep underground. The Coco nut must be recaptured so that the knowl edge it contains will last beyond the Age of Magick, beyond the Age of Science and beyond Zork. That someone is you. What you don't realize is that you must use all of the knowledge that you accumu late in Beyond Zork to achieve your goal. Although playing previous games in the easy to use. I designed it to make the job Zorkian universe, which include the three of the die-hard adventuring mapmaker easier." Zorks, the three Enchanters, and Wishbringer, is not at all necessaiy, you will In addition to the on-screen map, Be more thoroughly enjoy all of the innuenyond Zork contains a lot of features never dos, characters, objects and places in Be before collected in one entity. The Commo dore 128 version allows the use of the yond Zork if you have. When asked why he decided to do Beyond Zork, Moriarty numbers one through nine on the keypad replied "We thought it was time. We as the directions of the compass, with the number five used to go up or down. The hadn't done a Zork in five years (it's been that long since Zork III) and hadn't visited eight function keys can be defined to ex the Zorkian universe since SpeUbreaker. ecute a command or group of commands when pressed. I found that because there 'More Zorks^ is all we ever hear from our fansâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it's the most suggested theme for a are not really eight function keys, but four game." dual-purpose keys, it is best to define the most-used commands for the odd-num Beyond Zork takes place in the South bered keys which don't require the use of lands of the Kingdom of Quendor. This re the SHIFT key. gion of the Zorkian Universe is a place "mentioned many times, but never actu An assortment of new commands lets ally visited in any of the Zorks or En the player vary the conditions under chanters,'' reported Moriarty. The game which Beyond Zork can be played. COL takes place at the same time that the OR allows you to change the colors of the character in SpeUbreaker is going off in screen and characters. DEFINE accesses search of the white cubes and toward the \ the function key defining screen. MODE end of the Age of Magick. Magic is losing j allows players to toggle the enhanced win its power and there are a lot of, as Mor dow-using screen and the normal, alliarty put it. "scared enchanters who have , text formats in which to play the game.
64 and 128 Software Reviews/Beyond Zork" MONITOR toggles the option to display the character's endurance in battle. NO TIFY toggles the option to display when character attributes change. SETTINGS
accesses the screen that displays more game options, such as producing a tran script of the game on your printer or re ceiving shorter descriptions of locations.
STATUS displays all of the character attributes. ZOOM switches between two views of the on-screen map: a more de tailed version with a smaller number of "rooms" and a version that depicts more locations in the same screen area—in ef fect, zooming out from the first view. PRI ORITY lets you choose whether you al ways want the inventory or attributes of your character to appear on the screen. NAME is one of the neatest commands in that it allows you to give a new name to objects and characters. This command is one of my favorite parts of Beyond Zork and allowed me to kill off many an enemy by renaming the monsters (i.e., "Tipper Gore" the hellhound.) Another major element of Beyond Zork that makes it so successful is use of attri butes/qualities for your character, in an attempt, as Moriarty stated, to "attract the role-playing people to interactive fic tion. Instead of having just*one score, you have seven, and you have to balance these different attributes, much like in a roleplaying game." These attributes are: En durance, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Compassion, Luck and Armor Class. By performing various actions in Be yond Zork, these attributes rise and fall. You must, in the course of playing the game make these attributes as high as possible in order to face the greater chal lenges of the game. Typical of Moriarty's humor, which permeates the game from the cover of the box to the finale, is the re duction of your Intelligence by a point if you use any "four-letter words," Yet another unique aspect of Beyond Zork (how many can there be?) is the use of randomly-generated geography and ob jects throughout the game. Each game is different because of this randomness, con tributing to Beyond Zork's high replay fac tor. Different areas of the game are gener ated right before entering them and var ious items are given different names, so another part of playing Beyond Zork in volves finding out what these objects do and navigating this changing terrain. Don't restart a game from the beginning, because then all of the maps you've drawn and uses of objects you've found will be useless.
Moriarty commented, "Randomness was an interesting experiment. It split the old-timers who liked static adventures and the newcomers who like the degree of mystei-y in what comes next in the game. If I would do it again, I would make the game more random. Before you enter cer tain areas, they don't even exist- The monsters are smart, once the geography is generated, they run around in it." Beyond Zork offers a lot to the adven turer. Because of the size of the game, you can wander for hours, getting acquainted with the Southlands. Moriarty offered, "You can play Beyond Zork as a role-play ing game, a magic-oriented game, a hack'n-slash game or an exploring game or simply try to reach the end of the game. There are also whole planes of reality in Beyond Zork." Included in each Beyond Zork package
is a handsomely-illustrated book entitled
The U)re and Legends of'Quendor as well as a meticulously-drawn map of the Southland of'Quendor. The book is neces sary to finish the game, because of all the information it contains about various characters and objects, such as spenseweed, Pheebor, the ur-grue, the monkey grinder and the dust bunny. Commenting on the new characters in Be yond Zork, Moriarty said, "The two favor ites of players are the monkey grinder and the cruel puppet. A personal favorite of mine is the cruel puppet." Because of the vast number of places, objects, monsters and characters, I won't spoil them by describing them to you. I'll let you find them out for yourself. There are simply too many to touch upon in a re view of this size, but suffice it to say that you won't be disappointed by Beyond Zork, an adventure in the classic meaning of the word. If you think that Beyond Zork may be too challenging or too simple, let some words from "Professor'' Moriarty put you at ease: "I was frantic that I wasn't putting in enough puzzles until one day it dawned on me that I had put in far too many. However, there is a good mix of puzzles—hard ones like the arch puzzle
and easy ones like the amulet puzzle."
Beyond Zork may just have set a prece dent in the software industry for adven tures of all kinds, text and otherwise, be cause of its dependence on a strong story with captivating elements that uses both the creativity of the player and the com puter it is played on to come to life. If you call yourself an adventure game fan, Be yond Zork is a must. After having played five different Beyond Zork games and an
nually replaying the Zork series like most others reread certain books, I can honestly say that it is destined to become a classic. Moriarty spent exactly one year and three days in readying Beyond Zork for a discri minating world. His careful work is evi dent throughout the game and must be experienced to be believed.
Hints These are some hints on how to play Beyond Zork—a guide written in hindsight after playing Beyond Zork for 40-50 hours. If you follow these tips, your stay in the Southlands of Quendor will be more enjoyable and less tedious: • Kill the eldritch vapor in the Moors first. He steals items, and if you haven't killed him you'll become quickly an noyed every time you go through the Moors. • Write down what each item is worth to the old women in the shops. Separate them into magic items, weapons and clothes/miscellaneous for easier game play and instant reference. • The higher your intelligence, the easier it is to determine the name that acti vates a particular scroll or potion. Keep this in mind in creating a character. • There are a lot of unusual and different creatures that you'll meet in Beyond Zork. Some include: giant spider, slug, guttersnipe, giant bloodworm, crocodile, hellhound, rat-ant and most of the crea tures in the book. Some are friendly, some are out for blood. Two or more are usually guarding a certain location to gether. Some example groups are: el dritch vapor/guttersnipe, rat-ant'discipline crab/skeleton, cruel puppet/hell hound, bloodworm/crocodile, and giant spider/slug/dust bunny/dorn. Each crea ture has its own peculiarities. Figuring them out is half the fun. • While in battle, ifyour endurance is very low and you have an escape route, run and wait somewhere safe until your endurance is back to normal. Only then should you tiy to attack the creature again. Otherwise, save the game and keep on restoring and fighting until you kill the monster. • In every game you play, the scrolls, po tions, stave/stick/staff-type objects and other magic items have different pur poses. Take them to the old woman in the Magick Shoppe as soon as you can to find their purposes. • You need greater dexterity to get someContinued on page 105
COMMODORE MK3AZINE
23
by Gary V. Fields
64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Druid
The game's graphics are well defined and the musical scale which played before ac tion begins adds to the atmo sphere. Once play is begun the only sounds you'll hear are those produced by your Druid moving and the sound effects caused by his contact with evil forces or the effect of his spells. It's always easier to show a game than describe it with words. If you can imagine a game which is half PacMan and half Zork, you have a good idea of what Druid is
Computer: Commodore 64
Publisher:
Medium: Price:
Firebird, Inc. Distributed by: Activision, Inc. 2350 Bayshore Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 Disk $24.95
Ifyou are ready to test your reflexes and mental toughness against still another evil force bent on destroying the good in this world, welcome to Druid. The story line is familiar: Evil powers have taken over the land. You and you alone must de feat the dark side and make the world a safe place for babies to sleep again. As a Druid, you can summon magical forces to advise you, the question is which magic is stronger—yours or that controlled by the evil Acamantor? The screen is divided into two windows, the larger one displays the playing field, and the other shows your character's con ditions. The playing field shows an over head view of your character (a robed, white bearded, monk-like fellow), his sur roundings (trees, dungeons, doors, bridges, water) and the approaching evil forces (ghosts, beetles, skeletons, devils, slime). The conditional window shows which spells are available, which keys and special tricks you have, and the life span of your character. AH of this is done with icons. I enjoyed the humorous life gauge which is depicted as a piece of rope. In Druid when you "near the end of your rope" there is no question as to what the phrase means. Although Druid has the attributes of an adventure game (you must find and use items scattered among the dungeon's lev els), it is played at arcade speed. You move your Druid around the playing field as you would an arcade character, and when the fire command is given, the magical spell is cast in the direction the character is facing. Tb finish your quest, you'll have to mas ter five different spells: water, fire, elec tricity, invisibility and chaos. You'll also have to collect and properly use dozens of keys, plus employ the assistance of a Go lem—a robot-like creature which will
fight your battles for you. On the evil side, you have to battle your way through eight levels of bad guys which get progressively tougher. On level one you'll face ghosts 24
MAY 1988
like. Your character must tra
verse mazes created by trees, hedges and dungeon walls
while being endlessly chased or trapped by the evil forces of Acamantor. But during your
which can easily be defeated with water bolts. But at the end of your journey you'll face skeletons, slime and devils which re quire strong, less-easily attainable magic. Although Druid can be controlled by ei ther the keyboard or joystick, I found the former suicidal. My brain just doesn't as sociate upward movement with the "1" key, used to go up on the screen. But be cause the keyboard must be used to select magical spells, joystick control has its flaws too. Thus I started playing the game with a joystick and used my little finger to press the key to cycle through spells. Re cently I bought one of Suncom's computermounted joysticks which frees one hand to control the game and the other to choose spells.
Hints • This is a tough game. Tb win you must be quick with your joystick; you'll have little time to plan your strategy while battling the never-ending horde of evil opponents. But each time you approach a chest, the game stops until you choose an item to take. Use these delays to cateh your breath and think—as soon as you select an item you will once again face Acamantor's attackers. You can also pause the game by pressing the RUN/STOP key, but I've found the split second it takes me to move my hand to that key is often more time than it
travel, you must collect and use the objects and spells you find just as you would in the Zork adven tures. But unlike a text adventure, Druid doesn't require any typing at all, unless you decide to control your character with the keyboard instead of the joystick. Druid breaks no new ground in either the arcade or adventure field of software. While I don't think Druid is the ultimate arcade/adventure, it is entertaining and challenging. It has special effects and unique twists which make it a game worth playing. The game is neither too easy nor overly difficult to play and mas ter. It creates a sensible frustration level which makes you vow to yourself, 'Til get it next time." That's how a good arcade/ad venture game should make you feel and Druid succeeds. takes a ghoul to attack my character. • Because you'll need special keys to un lock the doors of the dungeons, be sure to take every key in the chests you find (and don't leave any chest unopened). The only time to pass a key is to choose Golem—a protective creature who will accompany you on your travels. • As soon as you banish one creature oth ers materialize. So to minimize the number you must face, hold your fire until the creatures are close. Not only will your fire be more accurate, but you can also move further before having to face another. ra
r
IFTHIS IS THE FUTURE,T YOU'RE HISTORY. Hold it. What's this? Human-seeking suicide robots? An evil mastermind
There are H office towers to
search, each with its own theme and level of difficulty
Olcourse, Elvins floor plum
are almost as complicated as his global plans.
bent on world annihilation? No wonder they call this mission impossible. Why, it's got even more strategy and action than the original top-selling Impossible Mission:" The trick here is to collect the
secret code numbers that will ulti mately allow you to access Elvin's stronghold. And waste him before he wastes the world. There are over 50 rooms to search for codes. Careful. The floors and catwalks in this place end a little abruptly. And of course, they're guarded by those pesky bots. But you've got an MIA9366B pocket
1
computer to help you crack the secu rity code. A working tape player to play music clues. And a map to show which towers you have or have not searched. Go then. Elvin is preparing to launch his missile attack in less than ten hours.You must stop him. Or the world will be terminally late for dinner tonight.
IMPOSSIBLE MISSION II Commodore 64. IBM& compatibles.
Atari ST, Apple II & compatibles, Amiga
WEPYX
64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
by Gary V. Fields
Top Fuel Eliminator Computer: Commodore 64 Publisher: Gamestar/Aetivision, Inc. 2350 Bayshore Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 Medium: Disk Price: $29.95
r'op Fuel Eliminator accurately simu lates a full season of drag strip rac ing. It recreates every important ingredi ent of rail racing—leaving out only the smell of burnt rubber. Thus, it is a game true race fans should love. It puts them in the cockpit of a nitro-methane powered su per rail with the "Christmas tree" lights counting down. But if you approach this game looking for arcade kicks you'll be disappointed—while the action is fast, fine tuning your racer is far more impor tant than wrist action on the track. Drag racing is the fastest, most special ized, four-wheel competitive sport in the world. But the actual race lasts only a few seconds, and the variables which deter mine who will capture the checkered flag are usually decided before the racers roll to the starting line. Those facts hold true with this simulation. While it is impor tant to be able to control your car, know when to pop the clutch and the exact splitsecond to shift gears, knowing your car's capabilities and how to squeeze the most out of the 2500 horse power engine you
are riding is paramount. Most races are lost or won in the pits, preparing the car. Tb compete you must understand and be able to perfectly mix the variables (clutch adjustment, tire pressure, fuel mix, etc.! to get the maxi mal performance out of your engine and the perfect downward force to increase your traction for the specific track and the day's atmospheric conditions. In the real racing world, determining and mastering all these variables requires years of expe rience. And the only way to acquire that experience is to get on the track and race. The same is true with Top Fuel Elimina tor—to win you'll have to try different se tups and race, race, race. The game is divided into two modes— "Practice" and "The Racing Season." The options possible in both modes are the same, but in the Practice mode you race against a clock under the same conditions 26
MAY 1988
While the action is fast, fine tuning your racer is far more
important than wrist action on the track. as another driver. During the Racing Sea son you compete head to head and heat to heat against the sport's best drivers, through an entire nine-event season. The program lets you squeeze a full year of racing into less than half an hour. Before you roll up to the starting line, you must fine tune your racer. This means, just as in real racing, you must know the track's temperature, humidity, elevation and traction condition. After di gesting that information you must set the car to get the maximum performance. Dif ferent track conditions will determine how you adjust your ignition timing, fuel mix, clutch, tire pressure and supercharger speed. While making these adjustments is easy—you just select an icon and alter the settings with a joystick—getting the right settings for each track's condition requires experimentation and good judgement. If you know nothing about the requirements for drag racing competition before you boot up Top Fuel Eliminator, you must learn quickly or eat a lot of dust trying. After the car is ready, you select the "Christmas tree" icon to bring up the rac ing screen. This realistic display gives you a three-dimensional view from the cockpit of the racer as well as a second overhead view of both your car and your opponent's. I liked this split view because it allows you to view the race as a driver or spectator. On the left of the cockpit are the starting lights (counting down from yellow to green), and on the right is a tachometer gauge. In the pits you prove your me chanical skills, here you must prove your driving skills. In drag racing if you blink—you lose. The same is true here, because a race gen erally lasts less than eight seconds. Un less your reactions are split-second per-
feet, the race is lost as soon as it begins. Tb win with Top Fuel Eliminator you must pop the clutch just as the green lights ap pear and shift gears just before your en gine blows—just like the real-life racing the game simulates. Failing to be perfect in any category results in your either be ing left at the starting line, blowing an en gine or worse yet—crashing in a ball of or ange flames. After each heat your performance and
the car's are evaluated. During a season of racing, you compete against a dozen or so different drivers on nine different tracks beginning at the Winter Nationals and ending at the World Event. You don't have to win every race to win a season, but you must qualify on all and win more than a few. Anyone who has followed the circuit will feel very comfortable with this racing format. Just as drag racing is not a sport for ev eryone, Top Fuel Eliminator is not a game for everyone. But if you find drag racing thrilling, if you enjoy juggling and testing variables to find the right mix and live for competition, you'll like this race simula tor—it has all three. The game's graphics and sound effects accurately simulate the surroundings of a real race—when the en gines roar, so does your monitor's speaker. The game's controls are easy to master and make the 12-page manual "optional reading only." Two pages of the document do give advice on how to win and should be read by anyone new to the sport or hav ing trouble qualifying on the track.
There are two options missing from the game which would have made it better: (1) there is no provision for competing direct ly against another person, and (2) you can't save your position during play, so you cannot return and finish later. I was surprised the game allows only computer vs. human competition. The computer's "pro drivers" are not unbeatable, but they are tough. Since drag racing always in volves one-on-one competition, I think the inclusion of a human vs. human option would have added both realism and fun to the game. Maybe that option will be add ed to a future update. As it stands, Top Fuel Eliminator is a unique program, not a remake of some other game. It is perfect for the racing au dience for which it was designed. Those who like drag racing will be thrilled; those who prefer other sports should look else where for entertainment. Q
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64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Dy Jeff Seiken
Fall Gelb, Seventh Fleet, and Stalingrad Campaign Computer: Commodore 64 Publisher: Simulations Canada
Medium: Price:
P.O. Box 452 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Canada R1V 2X6 Disk S60.00 each
It's impossible to review any of the war games published by Simulations Can ada (SCl without commenting immediate ly on their most distinctive characteristic: none of SC's games have any graphics. In stead, they feature text-only displays and are played in conjunction with maps and counters.
Disappointing as this may be to gamers who love watching tiny tank and soldier icons scoot across the screen, SC's reliance on paper mapsheets and cardboard counters in lieu of graphics has much to recommend it. For one, a complete picture of the current game situation can be gained in a glance without the need to re sort to any sort of scrolling function. An other significant advantage is that the pa per maps are far easier to read than their computer-generated counterparts. The duplicate sets of components in cluded in every SC game also eliminate some of the awkwardness of trying to play a game against a live opponent. When one player is busy entering his orders into the computer, the other need not stare aim lessly into space, but can use the time to review the disposition of the counters on his copy of the map and plan his next move.
Other than the necessity of tracking the progress of the units across the map your self, the mechanics of the SC's games dif fer very little from any other computer war game on the market. A series of menus prompts you through the orders phase, after which the computer still as sumes the twin roles of rules enforcer and bookkeeper, as well as that of an opponent if solitairy play is desired. The process of physically moving the cardboard counters actually carries some psychological satis28
MAY 1988
faction, as it makes you feel more like a participant in the game and less like a mere observer. The conjunction of computer and board game elements is a trademark of SC's products. However, gamers who have the opportunity to examine several of the company's titles will notice something more at workâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;call it a unifying philos ophy. The thread that binds all of SC's games together is their emphasis on com
mand and control. The rule book in every SC game is care ful to establish the viewpoints of the play ers (i.e., who the players represent) and this, in turn, defines their responsibilities. A natural outgrowth of this attention to viewpoint is the attempt each game makes to portray a commander's imper fect control over his own forces on the bat tlefield. How these ideas are represented in game terms will be described in detail in the capsule reviews that follow. In gen eral, the focus on command and control makes for a refreshing and realistic change from other games where troops perform iike marionettes, carrying out their orders with parade-ground precision.
Fall Gelb
Tb date. Simulations Canada has pub
lished more than a half-dozen titles for the
Commodore 64. Fall Gelb, the company's first release, simulates Germany's whirl wind conquest of France in May and June of 1940. ("Fall Gelb" was the German code name for invasion.) Given the relative ease of the German victory, turning the subject into a game offering a challenging situation for both players would seem dif ficult. Fall Gelb resolves this problem by including a series of four options that either strengthen the French or weaken the Germans, in addition to the historical scenario. The playing pieces in Fall Gelb repre sent corps-sized units and army head quarters. As the overall commanding offi cer of either the German or Allied army, you have the option of issuing orders di rectly to individual coips or indirectly
through the parent headquarters of the corps. When exercising direct control, you are responsible for specifying the exact line of advance or retreat for the given corps, as well as the type of attack or di rection of defense. Otherwise, you need only assign an objective to each army headquarters and it will then direct the corps under its authority to the best of its (i.e., the computer's) ability. This second option is a nice labor-saving device, as it
64 and 128 Software Reviews/Fall Geib, Seventh Fleet, and Stalingrad Campaign' Nonetheless, if you do not mind recreat allows you to concentrate on the most im ing history as it might have been, you will portant sectors of the front, while leaving find Fall Gelb an intelligent and insight battles of secondary interest to the direc ful study of this WWII campaign. tion of your subordinate commanders. One of the cornerstones of the game sys tem is the limit it places on the intelli Seventh Fleet gence available to you about the status or Seventh Fleet explores modern naval even location of enemy units. Even after warfare in one of the distant corners of the contact is made, you might only gain in globe—the western half of the Pacific formation about the identity of an enemy Ocean. The game casts you in the role of corps and still learn nothing about its either the Soviet or American theater combat strength. Historically, the Allied commander, and the units of command defeat was as much a failure of intelli are an assortment of frigates, cruisers, de gence as one of arms, as Allied planners stroyers, battleships and aircraft carriers. completely miscalculated the direction of Turns in Seventh Fleet are broken down the main German assault. Fall Gelb accu into four segments. Most decision making rately reflects the importance of battle occurs during the command segment. It is field intelligence; success in the game here that you form or reorganize task hinges on your ability to gauge your oppo forces and assign each a mission and a nent's intentions from the sketchy details destination. available. The player's pei-spective as theater com The game's emphasis on perspective mander figures prominently in the game. and command-control shines through in Essentially, the different missions avail the way your ability to direct your troops able are more like general guidelines is fluctuates with the situation in the field. sued to your task force commanders. How As friendly corps become disorganized well each performs his allotted mission de and their lines of communication with pends on his reliability in initiative rat higher command disrupted, your control ings. A commander with a low reliability over these units is diminished. Orders rating might modify or disregard a direct might not be received, and in severe cir command, while someone with a high ini cumstances units might simply cease re tiative rating would most likely react ef porting their positions and "disappear7' fectively to some unforeseen development. from the map. In this way, Seventh Fleet brilliantly incor As SC's pioneering effort, Fall Gelb's porates an authentic sense of player view mechanics can be somewhat cumber point into the game, and with the same some—a flaw not present in the com stroke accounts for the importance of the pany's subsequent games. In later de human element in warfare. signs, for instance, units are always iden Seventh Fleet also mirrors the difficul tified by a one or two digit number printed ties of controlling a fleet scattered over prominently on the counter. Fall Gelb, thousands of miles of ocean. Each task however, relies on longer codes, such as force has an EMCON rating, which is a "G26AK." The use of these unnecessarily measure of its electronic quietness. The complicated codes increases the time rating decreases every time you commu nicate with a task force, thereby increas needed to type in orders and also adds to the possibility of making a mistake along ing its chances of detection by the enemy. the way. Some of the other procedures in The game thus presents players with the the games also seem very slow. For exam very real dilemma of balancing the need ple, the segment of the turn when the to maintain radio silence against the de computer generates combat reports lasts sire to monitor the activities of your ships. upwards of five minutes and consists Several intriguing wrinkles supple mostly of seemingly endless updates on ment the basic game system, adding an air activity, information which is at best of extra dimension of decision making to marginal interest. Seventh Fleet. The most ingenious is the fluctuating conflict level. The game actu Fall Gelb's biggest drawback, however, relates back to the one-sided nature of the ally commences with the two protagonists campaign it seeks to simulate. In order to at peace and from there the degree of hos tilities can escalate upwards through con balance the game, players will have to re sort to one or more of the "what if' game ventional warfare all the way to global nuclear warfare. At the beginning of ev options and, to my mind, a certain ery turn, you can recommend an increase amount of pleasure is lost in the knowl edge that what you are playing represents or decrease in the conflict level, subject to the approval of your superiors in Wash only a hypothetical version of past events.
ington or Moscow. Choosing when to breach the peace and. later, when (if ever) to resort to nuclear weapons will be two of your most critical determinations in the game. Of course, the possibility always ex ists that a task force commander with a low reliability rating might decide on his own to start a shooting war! The Achilles' heel that very nearly hamstrings what is otherwise an excellent game is the deadly slow pace of play. Ironi cally, the process of entering orders is quick and easy, as at most you can have seven task forces operating in the game at once. Nonetheless, a full turn will average twenty minutes in length, with the great majority of this time spent waiting for the computer to respond during different seg ments. When you consider that ten turns might easily go by before war breaks out and a decision might not be reached for another fifteen or twenty turns after that, you will realize that Seventh Fleet can be a very long, drawn-out affair. That the average playing of Seventh Fleet still manages to deliver plenty of ex citement and drama is a testament to a fine game system that vividly captures the realities of modern naval warfare. Ap preciating the game's many merits merely requires patience.
Stalingrad Campaign Stalingrad Campaign focuses on one of the pivotal episodes of World War II—the 1942 German offensive that ended in di saster at Stalingrad. The game resembles Fall Gelb in a superficial way: counters represent combat units and their head quarters. Otherwise, Stalingrad Cam paign features a much more streamlined game system—players will find that the orders phase progresses rapidly and the response time is also good. Stalingrad Campatgrifa most significant innovation is in the role assigned to the headquarters units. As the Soviet or Ger man Chief of the General Staff, you issue commands to individual combat units, but these orders must be processed by a unit's headquarters. The volume of orders that any particular headquarters can handle varies according to the quality of its staff. If you try to do too much at once, you run the risk of overloading the headquarters' staff, in which case the effectiveness of the troops under its command are reduced, and you will be prohibited from issuing any further attack orders to those units. Through this mechanism, the fighting ca pabilities of the different armies in the games are portrayed in a sophisticated Continued on page 113
COMMODORE WGAZINE
29
64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
by Scott A. May
GeeBee Air Rally Computer: Commodore 64 Publisher: Activision, Inc.
2350 Bayshore Parkway Medium: Price:
Mountain View, CA 94043 Disk $29.95
Pull back the throttle and strap your self in—its white-knuckle time in the unfriendly skies of GeeBee Air Rally. This incredibly fast-paced arcade game invites you to climb aboard the GeeBee, a mere wisp of a plane with a heart of pure fire. The GeeBee was the most revered— and feared—racing plane of the barn storming 1930s. Undoubtedly the fastest plane of its era, the GeeBee garnered sev eral air racing championships, including the famous Thompson TVophy. It also lost the lives of many experienced pilots. Activision has revived the GeeBee in a game that blends the hard-edged excite ment of road racing with the graceful beauty of flight simulation. The result is a masterful tribute to the days of high-in tensity video games. Grab a good joystick and prepare for excruciating hand cramps when you take control of this one. You'll love every second of it. The GeeBee strips pilot controls down to a minimum: yoke, throttle, altimeter, speedometer and compass. These gauges are mere window dressing, however. Dur ing an actual race, the last thing you want to do is take a meter reading. The action is so fast and furious, turning your eyes away even for a second can be disastrous. Despite its lofty appearance. GeeBee Air Rally really has its roots firmly planted in classic road racing games, notably Epyx's famous Pitstap II. The flat asphalt track is replaced by an airborne course defined by pylons. Each course snakes its way across a barren landscape. Rounding hairpin turns at full throttle produces the familiar pull of centrifugal force. Unlike conventional road racing, how ever, players fly through each course rac ing the clock, not other pilots. There are other planes in the race, but these com puter-controlled pilots are not interested in winning. Their only goal is to get in your way, and they do so with uncanny precision. Air traffic is initially light and can be out-maneuvered easily. At higher 30
MAY 1988
Rather than tagging behind or moving around other planes, players must learn to fly under and over approaching aircraft. levels, the sky becomes congested with slow-moving planes severely limiting your movement.
How you avoid the competition is what
makes GeeBee Air Rally a truly unique
racing game. Rather than tagging behind or moving around other planes, players must learn to fly under and over ap proaching aircraft This action brings genuine 3D excitement to a familiar rac ing scenario. Your worst enemy is something you have no control over: time. Players are given two tries to complete each course within a prescribed amount of time. A sec ond failure ends the game. Excess time is added to the next race, giving added in centive to beat the clock. Unfortunately, the clock moves four times faster when you wander outside the pylon boundaries. At higher levels, even one such mistake may cost you the race. Points are scored for covering ground during the race. Bonus points are awarded for finishing the race with time to spare. The fourth race on each level features ei ther a balloon-popping contest or a slalom event for an even greater score. A Top-15 vanity board is provided at the end of each game for recording high scores to disk. This list may be cleared at any time by pressing the F3 key. GeeBee Air Rally is a tough-as-nails
game that definitely gets the adrenaline pumping. Tb ease the agony of defeat, de signer Steve i Hacker) Cartwright has in
cluded some well-placed humor in the face of disaster. Colliding with another plane, for example, sends your video pilot tum bling to earth with some unexpected re sults. In one race he may land face-down in a pigsty. Another race might find him dangling from a tree limb. If you view these scenes too often, however, keep this in mind: you are probably losing the race. Despite these humorous highlights, the game features graphics that are mediocre at best. This is surprising considering the graphic detail Cartwright exhibited in Aliens: the Computer Game and Hacker II. The foreground—a rear view of your GeeBee—is nicely drawn, but the background graphics are very blocky in appearance. The ground-level graphics are equally un inspired, consisting of endless rows of rap
idly-moving horizontal stripes. The strobe-like effect accurately depicts a feel ing of 3D movement, but it's an old visual trick. The 64 is capable of much more than this.
It should be noted, however, that the graphics in this game move at lightning speeds and are virtually flicker-five. This in itself is quite an accomplishment. The purpose of GeeBee Air Rally is not for sightseeing. Arcade thrills demand
tough play action, and this game delivers. Joystick control is incredibly tight and re sponsive. Staying within the pylons is a difficult task, especially as the course nar rows and the curves sharpen. The stan dard rule of high-speed road racing also applies here: focus your eyes on the hori zon and anticipate approaching turns. This technique also cures oversteering. a common problem for rookie pilots. If you fly beyond the pylons, quickly reduce throttle and bank sharply to get back on course.
As air traffic increases, flying above and below oncoming planes is unavoidable. A rhythm of climbing and diving will get you past the first difficult levels, but as the number of planes grows, their flight patterns become erratic. It is often possi ble to squeeze between two planes as you round a curve. This is accomplished by precise timing of your bank. GeeBee Air Rally is a delightfully addic tive arcade challenge with long-lasting play value. Speed demons—prepare to meet your match. Q Editor's Note: Activision has also released an Amiga version of this program.
Get ready for four of the most challenging, rugged, rump-bumping cross
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64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Super Sequencer 128 Computer: Commodore 128 (MIDI Interface Required) Publisher; Sonus 21430 Strathern St., Suite H Canoga Park, CA 91304 Medium: Disk Price: $275.95
One of the hottest new peripherals available is the MIDI interface, a cartridge that attaches via cables to any MIDI-equipped music synthesizer. With such an interface you can send musical in formation back and forth between your computer and synthesizer. This informa tion generally describes the quality of the sound being produced by the synthesizer, or the pitch and duration of the individual notes being played. Of course, like any peripheral, a MIDI interface is only as useful as the software you use to run it. Super Sequencer 128 is a powerful MIDI sequencing program for the 128 that works like a multi-track tape recorder. That is, it lets you record one track of music and then go back and, while listening to the original track, add additional music onto another track. Up to eight separate tracks can be lay ered in this manner, and the resulting musical composition is a sequence. If you want to record additional musical data once all eight tracks have been used, any two tracks can be combined or "bounced" onto one, thus emptying a track for future use. Each of your final recorded tracks can be sent out over a different MIDI channel to control separate MIDI instruments and an additional signal can be sent simulta neously to drive an external drum ma chine in synchronized rhythm with the se quencer. Finally, entire songs can be com posed by stringing together as many as 16 different sequences. Super Sequencer works in the 128 mode and takes advantage of the 128!s larger memory. Thus, the program lets you re cord almost twice as much musical data as similar programs for the 64. Although the program operates only in the 40-column mode, the main screen is a functional workplace that gives you everything you need to maintain control of your music at a glance. For example, always visible at the top of the editing screen is the amount 34
MAY 1988
by Bob Guerra
Super Sequencer allows you
to manipulate the recorded
performance data in several different ways. of recording memory remaining. Also shown are a listing of the sequences cur rently in memory and the tracks that have been recorded for each. Both the se quence being edited and the particular track being worked on are highlighted. Other indicators show the tempo and me ter of the current sequence, as well as the status of several recording options. When recording or editing a sequence, a digital counter shows the current mea sure, beat and pulse (each quarter note can be divided into 24,48 or 96 pulses). Cursor keys are used like tape transport controls to advance or roll back the counter, or you can jump immediately to the beginning or end of a sequence using the CLR/HOME key. An audible click track serves as a metronome to help you keep the correct beat as you play. This click track begins as soon as you turn on Record, but you don't actually begin re cording until you play your first note. This way you don't have to leave a big silent hole at the beginning of your sequence while you take a measure or two to get in sync with the counter. Similarly, when re cording additional tracks, a count down feature lets you hear several beats to sense the rhythm before you actually be gin recording. Although the comparisons to a conven tional tape recorder are inevitable, Super Sequencer is, in many ways, more power ful than a tape recorder because it allows you to take the performance data (not the sound) you've recorded, and manipulate it in several different ways. You can, for ex ample, take a sequence that has already been recorded and adjust the tempo with out affecting the music's pitch. Converse ly, you can transpose your entire sequence into a new key without affecting tempo. If the timing of a performance you've record ed is less than perfect, you can "auto-cor
rect" the timing of the notes you've played to the nearest quarter, eighth, sixteenth or thirty-second note as well as to the triplets of any of these note durations. Also, se
quences or individual tracks can be shift ed forward or backward in time for cre
ative effect, or to compensate for the slight delay sometimes caused by sending some MIDI data through one instrument and into a second or even third. Another way to improve on the original performance you've recorded is by rerecording or "punching in" over just that portion of a track where a problem is lo cated. Tb do this you simply use your transport controls and counter to select a punch in point, a punch out point, and if you don't want to start playback at the be ginning of the sequence, an optional cue point. By playing along with your original track during the time between the punch in and punch out points, your new perfor mance data will replace the old. If a sec tion of music you are trying to record is particularly difficult, you can always slow the tempo during recording, and then set it back to the proper speed during play back. The transport controls can even be used to manually advance the counter to record in "step mode" rather than real time. Super Sequencer 128 can be used with MIDI interfaces made by Passport, Ya maha and Syntech, and virtually any MIDI-controlled instrument. When used with synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX7 or Roland D-50 that are both velocity and touch sensitive, Super Sequencer will even record velocity and aftertouch data as well as modulation and pitch bend in formation. Because recording a MIDI per formance in this much detail can quickly eat up a lot of memory, Super Sequencer lets you automatically filter out excessive aftertouch information or even strip tracks of any of these qualities individual ly, while retaining both timing and pitch. The Super Sequencer owner's manual is similar to the program's on-screen dis playâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;well-organized and functional though not particularly slick. It guides you logically through the use of the pro gram's main features and includes a num ber of appendices mapping out Super Se quencer's several menus and listing other "hidden" commands as well. Finally, for those of you who might already own a Sonus sequencer for the 64 such as the one packaged with the Personal Musician interface or the more advanced Glasstracks and are thinking of upgrading to Super Sequencer, you'll be happy to learn that sequences created with these earlier packages can be used with Super Se quencer,
g
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^MIGA SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Reviewed by John J. Kottler
Arkanoid Computer: Amiga Publisher: Discovery Software International 163 Conduit St. Annapolis, MD 21401 Price: $49.95
You fold your arms across your chest and gaze out the window, marveling at the vastness of deep space. A sigh over whelms you and the co-captain asks in a timid voice, "Do you think we'll ever find another home?" You shrug your shoulders and continue to stare into icy space. It has been so long since you enjoyed life on earth, too long. The alien attack upon your home planet was a brutal one, it claimed the lives of all but yourself, the co-captain, and 4.5 million other lives in suspended animation aboard the galactic cruiser, the Arkanoid. Dotted across the universe are the stars, too numerous to count. You hope one of these stars will prove to be a sun of a solar system not too unlike that of the Milky Way. Suddenly a bolt of green light flashes above and the entire cruiser rocks, forcing you to the floor. The entire cabin becomes black except for the pulsating red alarm lights and the neon glow of computer ter minals. You steal a glance out the window and catch a glimpse of an alien drone ship darting away. Over at one terminal, the co-captain examines the screen and quick ly turns to you, her eyes full of fear. The entire upper deck of the Arkanoid is de stroyed and the fission reactor has over loaded, flooding the cruiser with radi ation. You grab the co-captain's arm and lead her through the halls past the pre cious cargo of human lives and board the escape capsule. As the capsule begins its trek for help, it is mysteriously transport ed somewhere by someone. Arkanoid is a fast action arcade game that is especially designed to push you and your Amiga's capabilities to the limit. If you've enjoyed Breakout on past sys tems, you'll definitely love Arkanoid. This game reminds people of the popular Breakout games from the past, for the con cept is the sameâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to bounce a little ball constantly against rows of bricks until they are all destroyed. However, Arkanoid has taken this concept and elaborated greatly on it. 36
MAY 1988
Once you've played one round, you'll want to continue until you've seen all of the screens!
The game has thirty-two levels of play plus an additional "final episode" screen. The graphics are beautiful and the anima tion is fluid, considering all that happens on the screen at one time. There are multi-color bricks, each worth a different point value and arranged on the screen differently. Classic Breakout games were often made of rows of such bricks, but Ar kanoid has a different brick pattern for each screenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from rows, to umbrellas, to an alien from "Space Invaders." However, what makes this game more entertaining is not the mere presence of multi-levels, but the many options available on each screen. First of all. there are the many dif ferent colored bricks, but there are special silver and gold bricks as well. The silver bricks require multiple hits before they break, and of course the harder screens re quire more hits per silver brick than the easier screens! The gold bricks are inde structible; you can bounce the ball as many times as you like against these bricks and they'll never break. Tb top things off, some bricks will drop capsules when you break them. There are seven different types of capsules that will drop down towards your Vaus ithe pad dle). If you manage to catch the capsules, your Vaus will acquire special characteris tics helpful in playing the game. One cap sule is labeled "S" for "slow;" if you catch this one, the ball will slow down temporar ily, which is extremely helpful in higher levels when the ball increases speed as
you play until you can barely watch it bounce off the walls any more. Another helpful capsule is the "expand" capsule which will stretch your Vaus to twice its original length. There are also capsules which will allow you to "catch" the energy ball and release it instead of merely bouncing it, "break" out of the screen you are currently playing on and into the next, and receive an extra paddle. However, two of my personal favorites are the "disruption" and 'laser" capsules. When the "disruption" capsule is caught, the energy ball that you bounce around splits into three balls! It is hectic juggling three balls on the screen, but it does come in handy on some screens where there are bricks in hard-to-reach places. But every one's favorite has to be the "laser" capsule. Once this capsule is caught, your Vaus transforms into a laser tank and by click ing the mouse button, you can fire lasers to break the bricks, This is especially nice when there are screens with large numbers of silver bricks, however those gold bricks are impervious to everything, lasers included! If all this weren't enough for you to watch out for, there is the constant inva sion of "konerds," "pyradoks," "trispheres," and "opopos." These meanies are obstacles which can easily be destroyed and pose no threat other than getting in the way. However, they can seriously de flect your energy ball away from the Continued on page 48
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REVIEWS
by Gary V. Fields
The 64 Emulator Computer Amiga Publisher: ReadySoft, Inc. P.O. Box 1222 Lewiston, NY 14092 Price: $39.95 ($59.95 with serial interface)
rhe 64 Emulator is a software bridge which attempts to span the barrier preventing Amiga users from using Com modore 64 software. The advantage of such a link is obvious. Until now, a 64 owner wanting to move up to the Amiga had to either abandon his 64 software li brary or maintain two separate systems. No 64 owner wants to turn his back on the faithful 64 and the thousands of great pro grams for it. But without a 64 mode emu lator for the Amiga and an interface to transfer 5.25-inch format files to the Ami ga's 3.5-inch format, that is exactly what each owner of both systems has had to do. The 64 Emulator promises the owner of both computers a way to enjoy the best of both the eight bit and 16/32 bit world. The program, stored on a 3.5-inch disk, is auto booting. Once loaded, you will see ReadySoft's title screen followed quickly by the famous light blue on dark blue Commodore 64 screen display complete with the READY cursor flashing and the notice that you have 38911 BASIC bytes free. The only obvious difference between this display and the real thing is the lack of borders on the right and left of the screen.
The Emulator's optional serial interface cable allows you to connect a 1541 (or compatible) disk drive to the parallel port on the Amiga. Tb access that drive you simply direct DOS commands to device #8, as with the 64. But because the pro gram also recognizes the Amiga's internal drive (DFO:) as device #10, you can use that drive just as easily. If you connect the optional interface cable, you can move files and programs stored on a 1541 disk to a native Amiga disk. The program will work with files packed on the 3.5-inch drives as either 1541 compatible or Amiga compatible. The advantage of sav ing files in the Amiga format is obvious since the tiny 3.5-inch disk can hold 880K of data verses only 170K for the 1541. At first glance, the program appears to 38
MAY 1988
The 64 Emulator was
developed with the 64 productivity user in mindnot the arcade player. perform exactly like a Commodore 64. If you issue a BASIC command, it is execute ed. If you type in a BASIC program, you can save it to disk just as ifyou were work ing on a real 64. Loading files is just as simple. When you want to execute the program you simply type RUN. True to the 64's architecture, you can load mem ory-specific programs (ML) by adding ",1" to the load command. Because the Amiga's keyboard is differ ent than the 64's, some keys had to be reassigned. The ESC key replaces the 64's RUN/STOP key, and F10 is the equiv alent of CLR/HOME. Function keys 1-8 work just like their 64 counterparts. I was pleased to find the Amiga's numeric key board was alive as well (a feature 128 owners working in 64 mode will envy). Now we get to the nitty gritty—how well does the program emulate the 64's operating system? Unfortunately, the an swer to that question must be qualified. Any program that must translate code will operate slower than one running in native code. That's why BASIC code al ways runs much slower than machine lan guage code—it has to be translated before it can be performed. The same is true with The 64 Emulator, plus the translation has to go one step further, not only from one language to another, but from machine (64) to machine (Amiga).
As a result, all the programs I ran on The 64 Emulator took from two to ten times longer. For example, a simple BA
SIC counting loop which took two seconds on the native 64, required ten seconds to execute using the Emulator. The most noticeable delays occurred when the Emulator tried to duplicate the SID (sound interface device) chip from BASIC.
On the brighter side, the sound effects generated with ML code showed only a slight delay (although they were far infe rior to the 64's native SID). The same was true of program execution—commercial software (using ML code) always executed much faster than those written in BASIC. But again this must be qualified. An ex ample is GEOS which will run with The 64 Emulator (providing the serial inter face cable and a 1541-compatible disk drive are used). While the pointer action of GEOS didn't seem to lose much speed, flipping pages on the desktop was embar rassingly slow. It took the program an agonizing 11 seconds to flip one page. But once a tool was selected speed improved. While using geoPaint in the free-hand drawing mode, I found sketching on the screen quick and pleasurable, but when more powerful options dike box or oval) were selected, the action slowed again. The main disk comes with a transfer program which allows you to transfer files stored on 5.25-inch disks to the Amiga's native 3.5-inch format. Commodore 64 us ers will be delighted to see a directory on their 3.5-inch disk report 3366 blocks free instead of the 664 blocks the 64's native 1541 drive allots. There is also a configu ration option which lets you reassign modes of operation and devices. With this option you can rename the internal drive
Amiga Software Reviews/The 64 Emulator (DFO:) as device #8, remove borders or even switch the display from color to monochrome. Monochrome display will increase the speed of most programs slightly. Whether The 64 Emulator will be use
ful to you is not easily answered. It will not load and execute all the software for the 64, and many of the games that it will load perform so sluggishly that they are all but useless. I could never test all 64 software, but of the commercial programs I tried about half worked. After trying a short list I can report: PacMan works at an acceptable speed, WordPro 64 Plus works like a gem, PitStop loads but crash es, GEOS loads but is slow, and Uridium goes into a never-ending loop. Co-developer David Foster says they are working on increasing the program's speed. He said they developed the pro gram with the 64 productivity user in mindâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not the arcade player. They see The 64 Emulator as a valuable utility for transferring text and data files between the two systems. Having volumes upon volumes of text files in the 64 and 128 for mat, the ability to transfer them to the Amiga is excuse enough for me to pur chase The 64 Emulator. Those who are
hoping to move more demanding files may not be as pleased with the Emulator's performance. One feature I liked was the program's friendly reset sequence. If you are using a commercial program which does not allow you to exit to BASIC, you can usually es cape without having to reload The 64 Emulator, by pressing the CTRL, Left ALT, and HELP keys simultaneously. As you would expect, the programmers of the Emulator had to make some com promises which everyone may not appre ciate. If a 5.25-inch disk drive is used, any device normally connected to the parallel port (used by most of us for a printer) must be disconnected. A logical solution to this dilemma is to transfer all important files or programs to a 3.5-inch disk using the Transfer program (which comes with The 64 Emulator) first. Some programs which will load still won't work properly, because the Emula tor has trouble displaying multi-colored sprites. For instance, I was able to load and run Broderbund's Raid on Bungling Bay without a hitch, but when the game began, the carrier was displayed properly, but the attack helicopter sprites were in visible.
Every owner of more than one computer longs for some link which would allow the two to share software and peripherals. But as the old saw goes, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." There are exceptions
to thisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the 128 is a good example. It pro vides a sound bridge between the 64, the 128 and CP/M. Unfortunately, those hop ing to find an equally sound bridge be tween their 64 and Amiga will be disap pointed with The 64 Emulator. The bridge built between the two systems by the cur rent version of the Emulator is shaky. As is true with most emulators, The 64 Emu lator is slow (compared to the native 64's speed) and not 100% compatible with all 64 software. Nonetheless, the program will be a wel come addition to many software libraries. If the programs you need are compatible, use few sound effects and are either tight BASIC code or all machine language, the program may be just what you need. The real problem now is not knowing which of your programs will work at an acceptable speed. Each Emulator user will have to approach each software package with a question mark. We hope future revisions of the program will offer improvements which will erase those marks. 3
COMMODORE MAGAZINE
39
REVIEWS
Reviewed by Jeffery Scott Hall
Moebius Combat
Computer: Amiga Publisher: Origin Systems Inc. Distributor: Broderbund Software 17 Paul Drive San Rafael, CA 94903 Price: $59.95
Tired of playing the same old "hackem, slash-em, spell-casting, bash-em"
top is the playfield, and the bottom dis plays the menu options and your disciple's
adventure games? Then strap on your
status.
bandana and prepare to be totally ab sorbed in Moebius, a brand new game from Origin Systems. Your objective in Moebius is to explore the ruins of Khantun and recover the "Ob of Celestial Harmony." The Orb was constructed by Moebius himself from mol ten lava in the fire realm. He forged a crystal to contain each of the four ele ments (earth, water, fire and air). The ele ments were kept in balance with one an other, hence the name "Orb of Celestial Harmony." Without the Orb, Moebius (the Windwalker) must stay in his plane and cannot pursue Kaimen who stole it. While this Orb lies in one of the four ruins (earth, water, fire and air), Khantun is plagued by droughts, rain and even earthquakes. Those who opposed Kaimen are now dead, and those who remain live in fear. You, as young disciple, must make a stand and try to recover the Orb before it is too late. If you succeed you will have freed Khantun from certain doom and will be given eternal life!
The lower-right corner of the screen dis plays how much food and water you have left. You begin with a full supply, which you will use up along the way. If your sup ply is empty, you will eventually die, so look for more food and water throughout your journey. On the lower-left comer of
Training Before you can embark on your journey, you must pass three levels of training: Hand-to-Hand Combat, Sword Fighting, and Divination. In Hand-to-Hand Com bat, you will be able to perform an array of karate moves. Sword Fighting requires you to perform various Samurai-type moves using your sword. In the third level of training, Divination, you must prove your mental skills by containing the spirit inside the cage. If you do not succeed in any one of the training levels, you may start over until you complete it.
The Journey After completing all three levels of training, it is time to set out on your jour ney. The screen is split horizontallyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the 40
MAY 1988
the screen you will find your disciple's cur rent status. This will show his current lev el, experience points and also his mind and body points. If body points reach zero, your character is dead. Icons representing different actions are available on screen. Ten icons will always be there, and four more are available if you have any special weapons (i.e., ham mer, shurikens, sword, fireball). The op tions allow your disciple to view maps, lis ten for movement, communicate with peasants, toggle between sword/hand-tohand combat, and use magic or one of your special weapons. Your journey begins on one of the four realms. As you travel you will find many useful objects ranging from maps to tiger
teeth. These will automatically be put in your pouch for later use. In addition to searching for the Orb, you must also try to liberate the good monks who are impris oned by Kaimen. Once you have returned a good monk, he will bless your sword to give it a certain power, give you a curious artifact, and teach you a prayer. Each time you do this, Moebius will call death to himself, giving you an extra life. In or der for you to rescue the good monks and advance to the next realm, you must con quer the evil monk in each of the two Shrines which has been taken over. During your journey, Moebius will make mental contact with you to tell how you are doing and how well you have pro gressed. If he finds that you have gained many experience points, he will give you an order or new name for your disciple, which will make him stronger and help in your quest.
During your journey, you will meet up with some evil foes. Don't turn tail and run when you encounter a foe, for you are a lean, mean, fighting human being. The combat screen offers five attack meth ods: Hand-to-Hand, Sword Fighting, Shurikens (throwing stars laced with poi son), Utter Prayer, and Divination. Hand-to-Hand lets you fight your oppo nent with karate-type moves. This is fas ter than Sword Fighting and proves to be a challenge for any foe. Sword Fighting is similar to the method Samurai warriors used long ago. Your training in this field is very good, and while this is not as fast as karate, it is much more powerful. Shurikens are only useful before you en counter a foe to help you avoid combat. If your opponent is more powerful than you, throw a shuriken in his direction and he'll drop like a fly! Divination lets you discover the true nature of the artifacts you received each time you saved a good monk. Once you have contained the spirit, you may per form a number of magical tricks with the different artifacts. The artifacts are Ven triloquism (makes foes think you are else where), Paralysis (makes everyone nearby freeze), Teleport (takes you and everyone in contact with you elsewhere), Spirit (al lows you to pass through solid objects), and Were Spell (will transform you to a native beast). Last but not least is the final combat option Utter Prayer, which was taught to
you by a good monk. With these prayers you can speak with the dead, remove all enemies from your presence, walk on wa ter, cure sickness, and see in the dark. Be fore you may utter a prayer you must fast, causing your body points to drop.
Summary Moebius is a superior quality adventure game with captivating graphics, sound,
and music. The manual is very compre hensive, explaining mouse and keyboard controls and other things you will need to know before you start your journey. The game would not be complete without the oriental bandanna and poster Origin Sys tems included to help put you in the mood for playing the game. Moebius combines karate, sword fighting, adventure, and a touch of magic to come up with a very in novative game. Q
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SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Reviewed by Russ Ceccola
Alien Fires, 2199 A.D. Computer: Amiga Publisher; Jagware Inc. 2-288 Montreal Rrl. Ottawa, Canada K1L 6B9 Price: $39.95 Most role-playing games take place in the fantasy realm. From hideous monsters and deep dark dungeons to mag nificent castles and beautiful princesses, it's all been covered. Also, not too many role-playing games have been either translated to or written for the Amiga. Alien Fires, 2199 A D. is a revolutionary role-playing game that takes full advan tage of the power of the Amiga and ex plores a less-traveled genreâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;science fic tion. The degree of complexity is high, but so is the addictiveness of this 3D graphic adventure. Alien Fires, 2199 AD. is introduced in the game manual as the first in a series of games from Jagware to take place in the future. Jagware claims dedication to com bining all the essential elements of com puter gaming in the series, from using the full potential of the computer to making the game as fun as possible, ifAlien Fires, 2199 AD. is representative of future in stallments in the series, then Jagware better release the next game quickly to keep the fans of the first in the series (my self included) happy. Your goal in 2199 AD. is simple to ex plain, but difficult to achieve. You are a temporary TimeLord, one of a race of be ings responsible for protecting the tempo ral balance of the universe from chaos and destruction. Your status as a TimeLord is contingent upon the completion of your assignment from the TimeLord Elders, the leaders of all TimeLords. Their assem blage, known as the Elder's Council, is constantly reviewing your performance to see if you should be allowed to continue your mission and remain a TimeLord. Your mission in 2199 AD. revolves around a brilliant scientist named Sam uel Kurtz. Kurtz has created a device that threatens to twist the fabric of time. You must find Kurtz on a planet at the end of the known universe called Galaxy's End and destroy the time-transportation de vice in his possession, proving yourself to
the TimeLord Elders as a worthy candi42
MAY 1988
Aiong with the use of speech and graphics, 2199 AD. makes incredible sounds come from your Amiga's speaker. date for the TimeLord profession. 2199 AXJ.'s goal is difficult. Not only is it hard to even find Kurtz and the objects you need to render his device useless, but you must also contend with other hostile alien creatures and solve some puzzles before you have a stab at Kurtz. Alien Fires will keep you occupied for many hours with the involved plot through which you must propel your TimeLord character. To start the whole thing off, you must create the TimeLord who will be your representative in the world of 2199 AD. You will use this char acter throughout the Alien Fires series, so by the end of 2199 AD. your TimeLord will be talented enough for a new adven ture. Creating your TimeLord is a simple process that consists of assigning a pool of 99 points to seven different skills that al ready have a minimum of 20 points. The skills are: fighting, marksmanship, diplo macy, dexterity, understanding, tracking and quickness. Their effect on your pro gress in the game is very importantâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;dif ferent from other role-playing games in that combinations of skills govern some situations in 2199 AD. as opposed to just a single attribute controlling an encoun ter or puzzle. In addition to the skill selection, you give the TimeLord a name. Almost imme diately, you're off and exploring. The only stats that your TimeLord has in 2199 AD. are the skill values, name, level, EPs (Experience Points), Combat Readiness and Item List. Combat Readiness is some thing different for role-playing games. An outline of your character appears on the screen with colors shaded to indicate where armor is protecting the body. If there is no shading in a part of the body
outline, then that part is vulnerable to en emy attack during combat. Underneath the outline is a number indicating the amount of damage your TimeLord can take in battle (Hit Points or HPs> and a rotating color band that shows perfor mance by the speed of rotation. The faster the band rotates, the better your TimeLord is performing. The Combat Readiness outline/picture, along with the other stats, pops up when you select the Alien Fires logo in an icon command window in the upper-right cor ner of the screen with the mouse's left, but ton. 2199 AD. can be played exclusively with either the keyboard or the mouse, but I would strongly recommend that you play the game entirely with the mouse. 2199 AD. is one of the few games that I've played on the Amiga that makes the mouse really feel like an extension of your body. Play progresses smoothly and effort lessly because of the mouse as well as the use of icons for TimeLord control. There are eleven icons in the small win dow in the upper-right corner. Four of the icons are arrows for the directions of the compass. One contains an up and down arrow for climbing. Another is the Alien Fires logo that accesses the TimeLord stats screen. The last five are used for ex amining an object or character, saying something to a character, giving an object to another character, using your hands for manipulating items and sleeping (saving the game). Also, clicking the right mouse button brings up your inventory up on the screen in a window. At any one time, only three items may be ready for immediate use. Playing2199 AD. consists simply of clicking on an icon or using the arrow Continued on page 117
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WHEN YOU BUY A COMMODORE COMPUTER, YOU AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE OUR LATEST COMMODORE OR COMMODORE-AMIGA BUYERS9 GUIDE. The Buyers' Guides continue to be your best resource for finding out about the hottest Commodore and Amiga Hardware, Peripherals and Software. With 3 Commodore and 3 Amiga computers, more and more are becoming available all the time. If you already own a Commodore and would like to get your copy of the latest Commodore or Amiga guide, pick one up at your Commodore Dealer's store.
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The Commodore and Commodore Amiga Buyers' Guides are published under the auspices of Commodore Magazine.
SOFTWARE REVIEWS"
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards Computer: Amiga Publisher: Sierra On-Line P.O. Box 485
Price:
Coarsegold. CA 93614 Š9.95
Where can adult humor, pretty girls, safe sex, gambling, drinking, danc ing, seducing, quick weddings and cheap wine all be experienced in one night? Only in Lost Wages, of course. And where, exactly, is Lost Wages? It's contained on every disk that comes with Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. A new 3D animated adventure from Sier ra On-Line, Leisure Suit Larry may just have the longest name of any game iNord and Bert,.. is a close runner-up), and it's the most serious attempt to date at a game targeted for adults. Leisure Suit Larry puts you in the role of Larry Laffer, a loser of a guy with a very important goal. Larry is 40 years old and single and is desperately searching for beautiful girls. He decides that the best place to go to try to break out of his rut is Lost Wages. You take over from there. You must guide Larry through colorful situations in Lost Wages and ultimately help him overcome his nerdy ways and meet and seduce the girl of his dreams. Leisure Suit Larry isn't a very tough game, However, there is a lot to do in or der to succeed and all of it is fun, yet chal lenging. Only after playing Leisure Suit Larry and overcoming your obstacles will you realize that the game allows you to romp good-naturedly through Lost Wages without too many headaches. Achieving the goal involves a lot more than you may imagine. After playing Leisure Suit Larry, you will come to know Lost Wages much better. A warning is printed on the outside of the game box that indicates that adult subject matter is contained in the game. Also, at the start of the game, five ques tions are asked that reasonably, yet hu44
MAY 1988
Reviewed by Russ Ceccola
Lin
Larry is 40 years old
and single and is desperately searchin for beautiful girls.
morously, test the maturity level of the player. With these two attempts, those for whom the game is really not targeted should be screened. However, the "adult situations" con tained in Leisure Suit Larry are harmless ly dealt with in high humor. Potentially graphic seduction scenes are covered by CENSORED signs, and there is no off-col or language in the game. This innocent brand of adult humor is what makes Lei sure Suit Larry so distinctively funny and eminently popular. Anyway, from my ex periences with today's children, most of the material contained in Leisure Suit Larry is common knowledge by the end of grade school. So, don't feel that you have to hide the game from your children. Lei sure Suit Larry is just like a typical TV sitcom downloaded to a disk. The two most endearing elements of Leisure Suit Larry are the cute graphics and the sarcastically funny situations and jokes contained throughout the game. Graphics artist Mark Crowe and program mer Al Lowe, Sierra On-Line's resident wackos, did their jobs quite well in pre senting Leisure Suit Larry to an adultpopulated computer market. The graphics are clean and use the Amiga's power to create the effect of cartoonish images, movements and characters.
Leisure Suit Larry is really a text and graphics game in that you move Larry
around on the screen, the bulk of which is a picture of your present location, yet you must talk to people and manipulate ob jects by using the text lines at the bottom of the screen. Function keys perform var ious duties, such as saving and restoring games, turning the sound off or on and changing the speed of Larry's movements. Joystick, mouse and keyboard can all move Larry, and five menus await pulling down at the top of the screen (via mouse!. A smile will never leave your face fun less you die or forget a prophylactic) while playing Leisure Suit Larry, The humor even invades the menus. One of the four funny menu entries is a calculator which, when activated, indicates that the extent of your mathematical abilities is 2 + 2 = 4. Check out the people in the Lost Wages Casino, too. Little old ladies jump up and down as they hit the jackpot on the slot machines. Essential to your success in Leisure Suit Larry is your knowledge of all that Lost Wages has to offer to a lonely bachelor looking for a good time. The town of Lost Wages is small, yet there is a lot to do in the place that never sleeps. Accessible by taxi cab are the Lost Wages Casino, Lost Wages Disco, Lefty's Bar, Quiki Wed
Chapel and Quiki Mart convenience store. Knowing what to find in each of these places will bring you that much closer to Continued on page 90
Presenting.The Future Of Business. The Commodore Amiga 2000
A
Desktop Presentation System. The Next Step Forward.
Commodore' presents a major breakthrough in the art of present ing ideas. Introducing Desktop Presentation with the Commodore Amiga' 2000. It's the personal busi ness computer that's also a complete desktop publishing center, video production studio, and live presen tation workstationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;giving you access to professional-quality results at a fraction of the cost of outside suppliers. Desktop Publishing Color. It's the next generation in desktop publishing. And with the Commodore Amiga 2000, you can
Here's a show-stopping juggling act. Since the Commodore Amiga is the worlds nrst multitasking personal
business computer, you can actually run severalprograms slm ultaneoush:
Enjoy true freedom ofthe press with Gold Disks'" Professionall Page'" ' dk desktop publishing blh software. Even make color separations with resolution
as high as 2400 dotspertneh.
create your own catalogs, brochures,
and magazines in up to 4096 colors. There's a big advantage in black and white, too. Since the Commodore Amiga 2000 can display 16 levels of
Strictly Business For your everyday business needs, there's WordPerfect' word pro cessing. Advanced database and spreadsheet programs. Complete networking. And the Commodore Amiga is the world's first multi tasking personal business computer, so you can actually run several programs at the same time. So take a step into the future of business computing. Call 1-800-87-AMIGA to locate your near est Commodore Amiga 2000 dealer.
grey it gives
a far better
Network TVproducers use the Commodore Amiga locreate
dazzling graphics and special effects. It can boost the
Give em a show they II never forget Hooka 'ommodore Amiga2000to /w, rroid Palette'" and make 15mm slides in up to -10Q6 colors.
preview of your laser-printed docu ments than the Macintosh1" SE ever could. Desktop Video Video is part of the new language of modern business. But you won't need epic budgets to produce your own corporate, sales, and promotional videos. With the Commodore Amiga 2000 you can create professional-quality 3-D animation. Titles. Wipes. Fades You can even paint over video images, one frame at a time. Optional non Con
ore ruidwjrc and ioftwjie required (a irk of Apple Compurri. Inc. WcidPttfc
ratings ofyour next business video, too.
Live Presentation
The Commodore Amiga 2000 shines in front of a live audience, too. Create 35mm slides, story-
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modore !sjitj[iji(!(dtrj(iemjik of Commodore Ettilfonlis. Ltd Am irk of the Wo id IVI lei I Cor pout ion Gold Duk and Pioftsslonil fjge a
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ARE REVIEWS
Reviewed by Steve King
TV*SHOW Computer: Amiga
Publisher:
Zuma Group, Inc.
Distributor: Brown-Wagh Publishing, Inc.
Price:
16795 Lark Are., Suite 210 Los Gatos, CA 95030 $99.95
Video is, perhaps, the most powerful communication medium available to day. With the advent of computers, people who were neither artists nor graphic de signers can produce stunning graphic vid eo presentations. The Amiga family of computers brought this ability within reach of those who couldn't afford to spend ten thousand dollars for a quality graphic computer.
There are basically two parts to a video presentation: creating the artwork and then displaying it in an effective manner. TV*SHOW, developed by the Zuma Group, is a comprehensive, easy-to-use program which displays artwork created by other programs. These can be digitized pictures, graphs from spreadsheet pro grams, or art from paint programs. This is made possible by the use of the IFF for mat adopted by almost all Amiga develop ers. Simply speaking, this is a standard method of saving a computer-generated picture or image to a disk which easily en ables programs to load and use graphics
generated by other programs. TV'SHOW will accept graphics generated in all Amiga video modes including HAM and Extra-Half-Brite, but it will not display objects on screen in these two resolutions. TV*SHOW is actually comprised of two separate programs—the Editor and the Player. The Editor puts your presentation together, and the Player takes the script generated by the Editor and displays the show, While several public domain and shareware programs accomplish the same purpose, those programs are cumbersome and limited in scope. TV*SHOW shines in two areas—user interface and special transition effects. As I mentioned before, the Editor writes a script which contains what the Zuma Group calls "events." An event can be the displaying of a picture (or screen), the movement of an object across the screen, a voice narration, color cycling, or loop or key commands. A simple example of a screen event is the loading of an image from a disk, fading it in, displaying it for 46
MAY 1988
TV*SHOWshines in two areas—user
interface and special transition effects.
eight seconds, and fading it out. A series
of events makes up your show which is all documented in the script file. Writing the script has been made ex traordinarily easy and quite enjoyable. Once you have typed in the name of the image to use, the rest is accomplished by simply pointing and clicking the mouse pointer at various icons and gadgets. You can chose numerous ways for each Screen event to appear. For example, it can fade in, roll up or down with the option of push ing the existing picture off the screen (rather than covering it up), or appear in one of over 25 other ways. You can even control the speed at which it appears. Most of these transitional options, howev er, are not described in the manual nor are they obvious from the icons on the screen. Experimentation is the key word here! You then specify how long you want the screen to remain displayed before the next event occurs. You can even direct the pro gram to wait for a keystroke or mouse click before proceeding. An Object event deals with images which generally are smaller than full screen pictures such as DeluxePaint II brushes. An object can not only be dis played, but can also be moved across the screen to a specified location in a number of user-defined ways and directions. It can then either remain on the screen (until the next screen appears or until you direct
it to disappear) or it can be moved off the screen. You can use this type of event to create simple animation effects. For ex ample, you can load a screen containing a sales chart then load an object such as the words "SALES UP in 1988!" created by a graphics program. Now you can make the words slide down over the graph and come to rest in the middle. After several sec onds, the words can be faded out. Another nice feature for both objects and screens is the abilit>r to turn on color cycling (but only if it was utilized in the program used to create the artwork), At any time during the editing process, you can see your show. The Editor pro vides the option to view a single event, a range of events or all events. Once viewed, the program automatically returns you to the Editor. You can also easily rearrange the order of your show, delete events or add events to an already completed script. The Loop feature allows you to repeat the show or specified parts of it continuously. In the present version, only one loop se quence is permitted. The Speech event is another interesting feature of TV*SHOW. Using the Amiga's built-in synthesized speech capability, you can specify a text file on a disk (created by an ordinary editor or word processor) and at a specified point in the show, the com puter will speak the words in that file. Continued on page 113
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can order either the 1660 300-baud modem for S49.95 or the 16701200baud modem for S89.95 directly through Commodore Magazine. Take advantage of this offer, and extend your Commodore 64 and 128 computing power. Connect a telephone to your modem and open up the world of telecommunications with services such as Q-Link.
Fill out this card and mail it today to add the world of telecommunications to your computer. Send check or money order only.
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/WLLG^HARDWARE REVIEWS
Reviewed by Tim Jones
Software Revitr Continued from page 36
bricks you have just aimed for or away from you!
Byte Box Computer: Amiga 500 .Manufacturer: Byte by Byte Aritorefcum Plaza II 9442 Capitol of Texas Hwy. N Suite 150 Austin, TX 78759 Price: Pi-ices Vary - OK .$299.95
With all of these options, it is easy to get confused. One thing you must remember
*> 8m?ir
The additional RAM will Byte by Byte is one of the companies that has been involved in Amiga de velopment since its introduction in 1985. Through various hardware and software ventures, notably the PAL expansion unit and Sculpt 3-D, Byte by Byte has estab lished themselves as an innovator in both fields. At COMDEX last fall, they intro duced a new device for the Amiga 500 called the Byte Box, The Byte Box is a memory expansion unit that allows for expansion from 512K to 2MB. It plugs into the Amiga 500's ex pansion port and, among other things, gives you a great place to put your exter nal 3.5-inch disk drive. The unit is de signed with the smallest possible footprint but still maintains enough room inside for the installation of the 64 chips required for expansion to 2MB. The Byte Box is self-powered and uses a power-on detec tion circuit to recognize when the Amiga is on or off, switching itself appropriately. The Byte Box used for this review had 512K of RAM. This is a great way to pur chase the unit, since the suggested list on the unit with 512K is $399.95. As you need more expansion you can simply pur chase additional chips to increase the ca pacity to either 1 or 2MB. If you prefer, you can purchase the Byte Box totally bare or with the full 2MB installed. If you've purchased a bare unit or one with less than 2MB of RAM installed, in stalling additional RAM is a simple task, provided a little care is taken. As with most computer components, RAM chips are sensitive to static charges, so it is best to handle them in a relatively static-free environment. Also, you must be careful not to bend any pins when inserting the chips into the sockets. No matter what Byte Box configuration you purchase, the additional RAM will make you wonder how you got along with out it before. Programs that used to be limited by a 512K machine now run ex ceptionally well. Two good examples are Deluxe Musk Construction Set, from Elec48
MAY 1988
make you wonder how you
got along without Byte Box tronic Arts, and Byte by Byte's own Sculpt 3-D. By increasing the amount of memory available for data manipulation, not only can you work with larger scores or images, but the processing overhead is also sul> stantially reduced. Once you have updated the unit to the memory level that you want following the chip diagrams supplied, you can test the unit using the very comprehensive set of diagnostics Byte by Byte has included. By running the tests supplied, you will be told, via a graphic representation of the component board layout, if you have made a mistake or have a bad RAM chip. If ev erything checks out, you simply reset a test jumper and you're in business. The Byte Box was designed to match the environment of the Amiga 500. The profile is low so that it doesn't interfere with your left hand, and the power-on in dicator is aligned with the drive active light of the 1010 external drive. The only disappointment about the unit was the lack of a pass-through for the ex pansion bus. When asked about this deci sion, Scott Peterson of Byte by Byte ex plained that a pass-through would have increased both the component count and costâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;adding to the final size and price of the unit. Also, since most other peripher als being developed for the 500 offer a pass-through, there is little chance of a 500 owner having to choose between the Byte Box and another expansion device. I have tested the Byte Box with the PHD-500 Hard Drive from Phoenix Elec tronics and Micron's Amiga 500 expan sion chassis and found no problems with either device. All in all. the Byte Box is a very good value, and the ability to vary the amount of memory on board by simply plugging in chips makes it the most adaptable product of its type currently available. Q
is that the capsule you catch is the one that transforms your Vaus. So if you have lasers and a "slow" capsule falls, you bet ter forget about catching it unless you're done with the lasers, because once you catch a second capsule, the first is can celed. Therefore, you better get your prior ities straight! Depending on the screen, you may want 'lasers" or "destruction" more than the other options. And of course that extra '"paddle" capsule is al ways useful! Also remember that once you catch the "destruction" capsule, no other capsules will fall while you are juggling more than one ball. If you think you may want another capsule instead, purposely miss two of the three balls. The game itself is extremely well writ ten and incredibly addictive. Once you've played one round, you'll want to continue until you've seen all of the screens. The action is intense and the graphics are su perb. Knowing that this game was in the arcade and that Discovery Software has exclusive rights with Taito (the original Arkanoid developers), I was anxious to see how close the Amiga version was to the arcade. To my surprise, the Amiga version was exactly like the arcadeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;down to the last shine on the silver bricks! The only differences are that the scores are written on the right on the Amiga instead of across the top of the screen, and the
The graphics are exactly the same and even the sound must have been digitized from the arcade machine! Amiga version has Discovery Software's
familiar rainbow trademark scrolling in the bottom right-hand corner. Besides that, the game was an exact duplicate of the arcade. The graphics are exactly the same and even the sound must have been digitized from the arcade machine! Some people even feel that the Amiga version is better and that the mouse has better con trol than paddles. I had to resist reaching in my pocket for more coins when my Amiga printed "INSERT COIN" on the screen! If you are looking for a good oldfashioned arcade game that doesn't get boring no matter how many times you play it. look for Arkanoid. g
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BOOK REVIEWS
Reviewed by Dan Schein
Amiga Programmer's Handbook, Volumes I & II Author: Publisher:
Price:
Eugene P. Moitimore SYBEX, Inc. 2021 Challenger Drive #100
Alameda, CA 64501 $24.95 each
The Amiga Programmer's Handbook, Volumes I and II by Eugene P. Mortimore will be a welcome addition to any Amiga programmer's library. Volume I provides a detailed discussion and expla nation of the Amiga's graphics-related functions and structures in the Amiga ROM kernal. Volume II presents the built-in Amiga functions (devices!, along with two chapters covering general infor mation applicable to all the functions.
Volume I
Volume I is organized in a dictionarylike format that makes finding a function easy and makes the book a real time sav er. This volume is in its second edition; the first edition contains information on VI.1
of the operating system. The second edi tion included the 40 commands that are new under the VI.2 operating system.
This book is useful fixtm the time you open the coverâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the inside covers are ac tually an index to the over 300 macros and functions covered within their pages.
Each chapter in the book is dedicated to a different Amiga library, except the sec tion on Graphics which is broken into three chapters. The chapters go into great details on the syntax, usage and results of each function available in that library. Each function also describes the purpose of the function and a discussion on the function. I don't have to tell you how nice this is if you have not used a function be fore (or you have to do some de-bugging work). In addition to all this useful infor mation, each chapter begins with an in troduction that discusses the library for that chapter. Also included are diagrams and other information that make under standing each library and its duties a lot easier than any other book I have seen. If all of this were not enough, two really 50
MAY 1988
great appendices can be found in the back of the book. Appendix A is a glossary of the terms used in the book. This really helps by explaining all the terms you may have heard and or read but never under stood. They are explained in a very easy to understand language. Appendix B covers four video display modes not covered in Chapter 2. They include dual-playfield mode, double-playfield mode, hold-andmodiry mode, and Extra-Half-Brite mode. These additional modes are covered through discussions and C language ex amples. The libraries covered in Volume I are Exec, Graphics, Layers, Intuition and Icon. An optional disk is available with four C language programs showing some of the many functions covered in this volume. For the new Amiga programmer this book and disk combo is a giant step in the right direction.
Volume II
This book was written after the V1.2 op erating system was released, so it's in its first edition. The first two chapters intro duce the general programming of I/O (Input'Output). These two chapters are
filled with functions and techniques that will be used by all the Amiga functions. Each function is covered individually in its own chapter. Every chapter begins with a discussion of the function including its requirements and traits. Also explained in detail are structures, the use of the function, standard and devicespecific commands along with a set of dia grams to illustrate the function. An ap pendix gives C language examples of the Exec-Support library functions. Functions covered are: Audio. Narrator, Parallel, Serial, Input, Console, Key board, Gameport, Printer, Clipboard, Tim er and Trackdisk. I find myself reaching for these books more and more. It seems the more I use them, the more I like them. It's like that best friend you had in school, who is al ways there to help, comfort, offer advice and guidance. These two books are very highly recommended for all Amiga pro grammers, since they will quickly become a valuable form of reference and aid. If you are serious about programming (or learning to program) the Amiga these books are a must. No good Amiga pro grammer will be without them. a
MAY 88 COMMODORE
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M¥&
TECHNICAL TIPS
by Parviz Naser
BASIC Linker
for the Commodore 64
Use this program to link two or more programs by simply loading them after one another. If you wish to use all or portions of sev eral programs to make a new one, this short program might save you lots of typ ing. Just follow the instructions, which will be displayed during the course of your link session. Loading your second pro gram following your first one will not place the second program at the begin ning of BASIC RAM. Instead it will be placed after the first one, so that when you issue a LIST command, both programs will be listed as a single program. A RUN command, likewise, will execute the linked program from its first line. The program makes use of two short machine language routines which would be placed in the cassette buffer of your computer. The one at Dec 828 would cause the BASIC pointer pointing to the begin ning of BASIC RAM to point to a new ad dress, which is just above the end-ofBASIC address of the program currently residing in memory. The machine lan guage routine which starts at Dec 856 would cause this pointer to point to its de fault address. Both routines should be called in direct mode. Type the program and SAVE it on disk or tope. Then RUN it. If the DATA state ments were not typed correctly, a message
will be displayed and the program ends. Otherwise, the program will NEW itself, leaving you with a free BASIC RAM, two short machine language routines in the cassette buffer, a few lines of instruction on the screen.
Now follow the instructions. Simply load your first program and issue a SYS 828 command in direct mode. This com mand causes the BASIC pointer (which normally points to the beginning of BASIC to point to a new address>, which, as mentioned, is just above the end-ofBASIC address of your first program. If you issue a LIST command at this stage, you won't be able to get a listing of your first program. BASIC'S starting address is moved up. The program is in memory, but BASIC does not think so! Now load your second program. It will be placed in memory just after the address where the first program ended. If you list the program now, you will get only a list ing of your second program. Tb put the start-of-BASIC pointer back at its initial state, you should issue the second SYS command (SYS 856), again in direct mode. List now and see both programs linked together. A few notes are worth mentioning:
• If you are going to edit your linked pro gram, you might as well renumber the in dividual program lines before linking, so that the first line number of your second program is somewhat higher than the last line number of your first. Otherwise, you might run into unexpected results while
Before typing ihi- program, read "How to Enter Programs" and 'Him to Use the Magazine
Entry Program." The BASIC programs in this magazine are available on dish from Loadstar, P.O. Box 30008, Shreveport,U7U30-0007, I-800-831-2694.
TO
12
FOR
364'DHYC
14 16
READ A:POKE I,A:B=B+A'EJTF NEXT:IF B=4301 THEN 20'EIMH
18
PRINT"[DOWN]
ERROR
IN
DATA"
:ENDrCBKK
20
PRINT"[CLEAR,DOWN,SPACE3]
LINK 22
TWO
MORE)
PROGRAMS"■BALG
PRINT"[DOWN,SPACL4,RVS,SPACE3] DO
THE
"'BACH 52
(OR
MAY 1988
PROGRAM 28
FOLLOWING[SPACE3,RVOFF]
the first. As long as you have not edited it, the program will behave normally. You can show the listing to your friends and make them wonder. Run it and make them wonder even more. The reason be hind this is the fact that BASIC does not pay as much attention to line numbers while listing or executing as it does during editing. • The machine language routines are to tally relocatable. Therefore, you can place them on any safe location in memory. If you don't want to use the cassette buffer, feel free. Just change the range of the FOR-TO-NEXT loop (line 12), the two SYS prompts (lines 26 and 30), and key definitions (lines 34 and 36). For example, to place the routines at Dec 50000, line 12 should be changed to FOR I - 50000 TO 50036, lines 26 and 30 should prompt SYS 50000 and SYS 50028, respectively. • % link more than two programs, link the first two as explained. Then move up the state-of-BASIC address with the first SYS command and load the next pro gram. Repeat the last steps as often as needed; finally, issue the second SYS com mand. Happy linking! Q
PRINT"[DOWN]1-LOAD WITH
SYS
32
38
NEW'BALH
40
DATA
WITH
SYS
THE
FIRST
828"tBAAM
PRINT"[DOWN]2-LOAD PROGRAM
BASIC Linker 1=828
24
editing your program. • You can link, list, and run two programs in such a way that the line numbers of the second program are lower than those of
THE
SECOND
856"'BAFQ
CHR?(27}+"T"'DEZE 165,45,133,43,165,46,133,44,
198'BGPG 42
DATA
44
7'BFYI DATA 169,254,197,43,240,1,96,198,
43,198,43,169,255,197,43,240,
46
44'BFBK DATA 96,169,1,133,43,169'BTKK
48
DATA
8,133,44,96'BLWK
Technical Tips
by John lovine
Interfacing Commodore's User Port, Part 6
Building a Digital Camera, Part 3
This month will complete the sub-se
ries on the digital camera. As stated in the last installment, we will increase the resolution by six. The photo illustra tions accompanying this installment show what the camera can do at this point in its development: imaging the covers of maga zines, currency and high-contrast por traits of people. A gray scale is of course possible, and would increase the resolution further. I may come back to work on this aspect of the project in the future, if there is suffi cient interest. Again this change will in volve only programming, the hardware will remain the same. I have already said that you could ex plore machine vision systems and charac ter recognition programs. From the photos accompanying this article that should be obvious. Let's push a little further now, stretch our minds and explore the possi bility of interfacing to the brain. We could consider that the ultimate interfacing challenge. Our reason to accept such a challenge? To provide an artificial vision system for the visually handicapped.
Artificial Vision
The question of providing sight for the blind is not a question of possibility. Over the past few decades experiments provid ing electrical stimulation of the vision center of the human brain have caused to tally blind people to see glowing phosphenes. The work that remains to be done to complete a vision prosthesis is a refine ment in technique and technology. Tb understand where we are at the pres ent time, let's first define a phosphene, the unit of light that has been generated. A phosphene to sighted individuals can be described as the after image left from a flash bulb. Perhaps you can remember the after image left from the camera flash when a friend took your picture. That phosphene would resemble a glob of light that took a little while to disappear. The
phosphenes generated by electrical stimu lation are much smaller, more pixel like. It is interesting to note that this electrical stimulation is immediately recognized as visual information from blind research patients.
A Little History
In 1955 J.D. Shaw was issued a patent (no. 2,721,316) for a detailed system to provide electrical stimulation to the vision centers to inform the blind person of am bient light levels. In 1968 G. Brindley and W. Lewin de veloped the first neural prosthesis to stim ulate the occipital lobe. In 1977 another prosthesis, the Dobelle, was developed using a matrix of 64 com puter-controlled electrodes. The computer produced patterns recognizable by the blind patient. Information obtained from this experiment showed that there isn't a one-to-one correlation between electrode placement and phosphenes generated. It would appear that the next step would
be a matrix decode of the vision center. (Something similar to the matrix decode I needed to perform for the D-Cam chip.) Since these pioneering experiments, more information on visual processes has been acquired. Form, color and spatial in formation are processed by the brain along three distinct pathways. Different areas in the visual centers of the brain ap pear to predominately process one area of the aforementioned visual information. Since the information I have regarding the experiments of 1977 is sketchy, it may be that the 64 electrodes were not im planted in the most favorable area of the vision center. This leads us to believe that considerable improvement could be ob tained with this single advancement.
D-Cam The type of digital camera we built could provide the front end processing unit for continued experiments. But real hope lies in the possibility that it may also be used as the back end. If we could use the memory cells on the silicon wafer as the electrodes, our resolution would in crease dramatically. The assumption is based on the following: If you remember, our memory cells are loaded with a binary Is which is equal to + 5V. This five volts placed against the brain may provide sufficient electrical stimulation to produce phosphenes. If this is true, then at one end we could read the information off of one chip and then paint the image into the implanted chip with bi nary Is. Our chip isn't the state of the art, of course. Superior chips are to be had at a much higher cost; with these chips, however, we could get an increase in resolution equal to or exceeding broadcast television. Our chip is using 8,152 pixel elements in bank one, but even this as compared to 64 pixels in the last main stream experiment of 1977, would be a major improvement. The currents used in the experiments, COMMODORE MAGAZINE
53
Technical Tips/Interfacing Commodore's User Port, Part 6 however, did exceed the capacity of the
] cells are much smaller, it is possible that
pint-sized memory cells of the chip. But the current required may have been the result of the size of electrodes used and'or electrode placement. Since the memory Before typing this program, rcjd
How to Enter Progrjm>" and "How to Use ihc M.^/im-
46
P.O. Box 50008,Sbrcvcport, U 7U30-0007. 1-H0OH.M-2694.
8
" 'CBAL
FOR
TO
L=4864
5423:READ
A:POKE
12
PRINT"[DOWN3]PROGRAM
IN
52
TO
MAIN
LOAD"HI-RES
1=1
TO
18
DATA
500:NEXT
54
56
DATA
22
022,023,024,025,028,029,026, 027'BJUJ DATA 030,031,032,033,036,037,034,
DATA 043,046,047,048,049,052,053, 0 50,051,0 54,055,056,057,060, 061 'BJYN DATA 058,059,062,063,065,064,000, 001,069,068,004,005,067,066, 002'BJVP
30
DATA
083fBJIK
029'BJWM
34 DATA 091,090,026,027,095,094,030, 031,097,096,032,033,101,100, 036'BJOO 36 DATA 037,099,098,034,035,103,102, 038,039,105,104,040,041,109, 108'BJTQ 38 DATA 044,045,107,106,042,043,111, 110,046,04 7,113,112,048,049, 117'BJES
40
42
DATA 125,124,060,061,123,122,058, 059,127,126,062,000,255,000,
44
DATA 000,255,000,255,000,255,000, 255,000,255,000,255,000,255,
255'BJHN
000'BJYP 54
MAY 1988
009,141,000,220,232,224,128,
208'BJWN
62
DATA 202,076,081,020,076,021,021, 162,190,160,190,136,208,253,
64
DATA
202'BJHP 208,248,234,160,000,162,000,
169,011,141,000,220,189,000, 019'BJUR
66
DATA
141,001,221,169,009,141,000,
220,185,064,019,141,001,221, 206 'BJQT
68
DATA 000,220,173,013,221,201,016, 208,119,076,006,021,200,192, 128'BJRV
70
DATA
72
208,227,160,000,232,224,064,
24 0,191,234,076,096,020,142, 048'BJSO DATA 021,134,255,140,049,021,132, 253,006,253,234,169,24 8,037, 253'BJAQ
74
DATA 141,051,021,165,255,041,007, 013,051,021,168,169,000,133,
76
DATA 169,248,037,255,010,038,252, 010,038,252,010,038,252,133, 251'BJUU
78
DATA 165,255,074,074,074,024,101, 254,105,032,101,252,133,252,
80
DATA
82
DATA 145,251,096,165,253,041,007, 170,2 32,169,000,056,106,202, 208 'BJUR
84
DATA
252'BJBS
DATA 116,052,053,115,114,050,051, 119,118,054,055,121,120,056, 057'BJHL
DATA
208,225,162,000,200,192,064,
010,011,079,078,014,015,081,
DATA 082,018,019,087,086,022,023, 089,088,024,025,093,092,028,
019,141,001,221,169,000,141,
169'BJNU 60
080,016,017,085,084,020,021,
32
DATA
000,220,1-69,008,141,000,220,
DATA 003,071,070,006,007,073,072, 008,009,077,076, 012,t)13,075, 374'BJOR
141,001,221,169,009,141,000,
064'BJRS 58
015,016,017,020,021,018,019,
035,038,039,040,041,04 4,045, 042'BJWL
DATA
220,169,001,141,000,220,189,
000,001,004,005,002,003,006,
20
28
141,002,220,160,000,162,000,
019'BJUQ
I'EHJE
BAS.CON",8'BCAH
014'BJAQ
26
DATA
169,011,141,000,220,185,000,
007,008,009,012,013,010,011,
24
000,173,002,220,141,047,021,
011'BJPO
LOAD
RETURNING
DATA
169,255,141,003,221,120,169,
PROGRAM.."'BAUO FOR
255,000,255,000,255,000,255,
255'BJLM
IF BO54770 THEN PRINT"ERROR DATA STATEMENTS":END'GHII
14
DATA
000,255,000,255,000,255,000,
L,A
:B=B+A:NEXT'IUFP
16
000,255,000,255,000,255,000,
000'BJYT 50
10
SUCESSFUL
DATA
255,000,255,000,255,000,255,
PRINT"[CLEAR]":PRINT"LOADING PROGRAM
255,000,255,000,255,000,255,
255'BJLR 48
128 Hi-Res Camera
DATA
000,2 55,000,255,000,255,000,
tinin Program." The BASIC program* in (hi-, magazine are available on disk from Loadstar,
6
by a nested loop. The first timing number
less current may be used for stimulation. . is nested into the second. This ends our mental exercise, now type The 128 listings are presented this month. in the program. The menu is smaller and We will run the 64 versions in our next self explanatory'. The timing is controlled issue. O
096'BJTW
165,253,041,007,170,232,169, 000,056,106,202,208,252,017, 251'BJMP
252,073,255,049,251,145,251,
Technical Tips/Interfacing Commodore's User Port, Part 6— 096,032,147,020,032,227,020, 174'BJYT
86
DATA 048,021,172,049,021,076,131, 020,032,147,020,032,209,020,
"...excellent, efficient program that can help you save both money and downtime."
88
90
DATA 048,021,172,049,021,076,131, 020,173,047,021,141,002,220,
Dec.. 19B7
DkiVE AiiGiViVic/V7 1541 ,'1571 Drive Alignment reports Ihe alignment condition of Ihe disk drive as you per form ad|usimenis. On screen help is available while the program is running. Includes
088'BJEX
features fc speed adjustment and stop adjustment. Complete instruction manual on
DATA
program when nothing else will load1 Works on the C61. SX6d. C128 in either 64 or 128
165,212,201,017,240,003,076,
038,021,096,120,169,011,141, DATA
aligning bold 1 541 and 1571 dr.ves.Even includes instructions on howtoloadalignmenl mode. 1541. 1571 jn either 1541 or 1571 mode1 Autoooots lo all modes. Second drive fully supported. Program disk, calibration disk and instruction manual only 34.95!
002'BJXQ 92
Comoule''s Gazette.
1541/1571
174'BJAV
220,076,017,020,255'BTQL
EMD
Super 81 Utilities is a complete utilities package for the 1581 disk drive and CI28 computer. Among the many Super 81
Utilities
features are: • Copy whole disks from
128 Hi-Res Control 10 20 30 35
PRINT"[CLEAR]"'BATX PRINT:PRINT"[DOWN4JMAIN MENU"'CBYC PRINT:PRINT'CBHA PRINT"[SPACE2J1) LOAD HI-RES CAMERA1" BAWK
36
CHANGE
TIMING
OF
CAMERA"'BARM
37 38 39
PRINT"[SPACE2]3) START CAMERA"'BAJK PRINT"[SPACE2J4) QUIT"'BAIJ FOR T=l TO 175:NEXT'EGFL
40
POKE
212,88:POKE
41
INPUT"ENTER IF
43
X
<1
OR
208,0'CMRD
CHOICE X>4
ENTER
NUM.
:GOTO
41'HHXP
ON
(1-4)";X'BCPG
THEN
BETWEEN
PRINT"PLEASE 1
&
REM
1452
&
150
REM
DIGITAL CAMERA CONTROL
160
FOR
TO
5640:POKE
A full featured disk utilities system for the 1581 for only 539.95!
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52382,1
Corrtjbeater
52383,12'DYPL
L=55296
TO
56319:POKE
3,1:SYS
(PEEK(2604)AND
L,0:NEXT
Torch of Truth and hid it somewhere within the many sanctuaries and dungeons of Paslona. Wilh the people thus blinded, Vaultheart began to lake the land. The time has come to take it bick1
2604,
The land of Pastorta is a large island with many smaller islands surrounding. You will explore many ot them on your quest for the lost
240)+12'GBJM
185
GRAPHIC
190
POKE
2604,G'BGNF
3,1:SYS
200
GOTO
10'BCIV
250
LOAD"HI-RES
300 301 302
PRINT" [CLEAR] '"BATX PRINT:PR'INT'CBHY PRINT"TIMING PROGRAM"
303
D=PEEK(DEC("1452")) :F=PEEK(DEC("1454"))'GLBI PRINT"OUTER TIMING LOOP IS CURRENTLY SET AT ";F :PRINT'CDWN PRINT"INNER LOOP TIMING IS
CAM
Years ago. Talis Vaultheart. a powerful and evil wizard, stole Ihe
5120'HADK
180 G=PEEK(2604):POKE
306
unscratch tiles, lock or unlock files, create aulo-bool and much more' Super 81 Utilises uses an option window to display all choices available at any given time.
Excilmg space exploration game for lheC64 Search for lite lorms among Ihe 200 billion
53281,&:POKE
rGRAPHIC
304
1581 drive • Perform many CP/M and MS-DOS utility functions
water holes, brick walls, olher bikers, etc. as you vie for the gold cup.
INEXT'FOWH :POKE
• Supplied on both 3Vj" and 5VV diskettes so that it will load on either the 1571 or
1454'BJDW
HI-RES'BBEH
POKE
• 1581 Disk Editor. Drive Monitor. RAM Writer
SUPER BIKE
100
155
•Cooy 1581 files to 1571 disks
Action-packed, fun-filled motor cycle arcade game for the C64. Race
250,300,152,350'CQEH
L=5632
par
•Backup 1581 disks or files with 1 or 2 1581s
4"
GOTO
FOR
1581
1571 floppy disk except that the data is held in e»pansion RAM and not on disk. Under
X
152
format lo
• Perform numerous DOS functions such as rename a disk, rename a file, scratch or
PRINT"[SPACE2]2)
42
1541 or 1571
titions ■ Copy 1541 or 1571 files to 1581 disks
5120'CIOL
torch. Although you start as a common citizen, you are far from com
mon. You possess the last of the mysterious luck stones' Study magic, increase your fight ing strength and speak with the townspeople All this will help you on your quest. Torchbearer is a challenging, graphic adventure game for Ihe C64 S29.95.
C-l28",8'BCAF
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Backup loose valuable Hies on your Hard Dish Itie easy way • High Speed whole hard drive backup with mulli-lormat feature 1 Auto configures lo multi-hard drive systems or multi-partilions
:PRINT'CBUE
CURRENTLY SET AT ";D :PRINT'CDBP 307 INPUT"ENTER NEW INNER TIMING";D rPRINT'CDUL 308 INPUT"ENTER NEW OUTER TIMING";F :PRINT'CDLN 309 POKE DEC("1452"),D:POKE DEC("1454"),F'EJWM 310 GOTO 10'BCIX 3 50 END'BACC END
• Supports up to 8.5 meg of memory 1 Uses a unique double buffered file copy rouhne lor lightning fast copies 1 Full intuition mieriace for maximum ease of use
1 Backs up files 1) by creation date 21 with 'Point and click' selection (name, directory, drivel 3> using 'wild-card' search patterns
'Fully supports Multi-tasking, does not Designed lo operate in Ihe 'background'
1 Compatible
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Hard
drive
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monopolize CPU to
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AmigaDOS
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protocol
1 512K Amiga required
1 Hard Drive NOT REQUIRED. Ultra DOS Utilities Module 1 works equally well with dual floppy drives'
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COMMODORE MA3AZINE
55
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
by Robert W. Baker
Inside Q-Link
ture attractions for the coming months, so you can plan ahead to participate. Other areas of the Q-Link system hold various contests and special events as well. There's always something going on
Explore the inner workings of the Q-Link telecommunication service with network pro Bob Baker. In addition to the downloadable soft ware previews and the expanding soft ware publishers support area in the Soft ware Showcase, Q-Link is now holding quarterly Online Trade Shows. Most of the software publishers participating in the online support areas of the Software Showcase have been supporting the trade shows in a big way. If you've ever been fortunate enough to attend one of the big industry shows like COMDEX or CES, then you are well aware of the amount of information that is typically available at an event like this. Less fortunate souls may have caught a glimpse of this type of affair at one of the more frequent local computer shows or fairs. Many of the software publishers at tend these events to show off their wares to the general public. In any event, the Online Trade Shows will give you the chance to learn all about the latest software from industry leaders, ask questions directly to the developers themselves, and possibly even win some free software, all without leaving your home. Plus, if you see something talked about that really interests you, and you can't wait for your local dealer to get it in stock, you can order many of the new products through Q-Link during the event.
There will be plenty of advance notice before an Online Trade Show takes place. A special area is typically available in the Software Showcase before the actual day of the show. This area usually contains in formation about the show itself, the com panies participating and the featured products. You'll also find a special mes sage board where you can post comments and questions on anything involving the show either before, during or after it takes place. The Trade Show Headquarters also pro vides detailed information on each of the featured products along with ordering in formation for those products available through Q-Link. The background infor mation for each of the participating com panies will also contain a brief list of their other products that might be available be56
MAY 1988
somewhere on the system, and you'll usu ally find something that interests you if you take a few minutes to look around. For instance, did you know there are spe cial events in the Rabbit Jack Casino al most every night? With summer just around the corner, be sure to check out the Q-Link Sports Cen ter if you have any interest in baseball.
There's a fantasy baseball league online during the major league season. Partici sides the featured products. All this pre liminary information is the just the begin ning, don't forget that you'll get a chance to talk directly with the companies and get more inside or detailed information if you need it. The Trade Show usually begins early on a weekend morning, so everyone has a
chance to participate. The opening cere mony is held in the People Connection Auditorium, where the participating pub lishers' representatives are all introduced. From there, the representatives will break up into different People Connection rooms that you can think of as their "booths." You can wander from booth to booth to find out what's new and what's being con sidered, and you can ask questions about their software products. As an added at traction, many publishers will be giving away door prizes of free software to lucky subscribers who happen to be in their booth when the drawings are held.
At the end of the show, everyone is in vited back to the Auditorium for the clos ing ceremony. Here you'll find out where you can go for more information on prod ucts discussed, plus the winner ofthe grand prize will be selected. In past shows, one lucky subscriber won a collection of software that included a top-selling title from each of the participating companies! After the show, the Trade Show Head quarters will remain online for some time so you can still access all the show infor mation if needed.
Besides the Online Trade Shows, there's almost always some sort of special event or contest being sponsored in the Software Showcase area. Be sure to drop by from time to time and check things out. You'll generally find announcements that list fu
pants can draft players, establish their own dream teams, and compete against the National League standings. Last year
there were prizes offered for the best team standings at the All-Star break with win ners actually going to the real All-Star Game. In my own area of CIN, we've rear
ranged the program download library in the New Product Information section of CIN. New individual libraries were cre ated for Amiga and PC-10/MS-DOS-related material so that information could be separated from the 64/128 files in the li brary. However, you'll still find generic text files mixed in with the 64/128 demo files of the New Product Info library for now.
This new subdivision of the Product In formation libraries helps make things easier to find, as the number of Amiga-re lated files was starting to grow consider ably. I should mention, however, that some of the Amiga demos I've received are just too big to provide online. In response to many requests, I can now provide copies of these larger demos by mail with full permission of Q-Link and the companies involved. For more information and a list of available demo disks, check the text message in the New Product Information library menu. About the same time these changes were being implemented, a new SIG area was created in the Commodore Communi ty specifically for PC-10/MS-DOS users. A download library for MS-DOS-related ma terial was also being created in the public domain libraries as well. The only draw back to using the new MS-DOS-related li braries is that you have to download the files to your 64/128 first and then transfer
Telecommunications/ Inside Q-Link the files to your PC-compatible system. Actually, you have similar problems when downloading MS-DOS or Amiga-re lated files from Q-Link. In both cases the files must first be downloaded to your 647128 and stored on one of the various Commodore format disks, The data must then be transferred to the MS-DOS or Amiga system before it can be of use. Some of the text files in these areas may be used on your 64/128, but be sure to check the file description to see how the file was created. There are several methods of transfer ring files between systems, and the one you choose depends on the amount of data and the available hardware and software resources you have on hand. The transfer can be performed via software translation, special hardware interfacing, or using a simple communications link between sys tems. (See "Connecting Modems Directly" in the March 1988 issue of Commodore Magazine.) You should always be able to perform a transfer via a serial RS232 link between systems with corresponding modems or interfaces, and with appropriate commu
nications software at both ends. This can be done via a direct connection between
systems using a null modem cable, over the phone line using modems, or even uti lizing a local BBS system to upload and then download the same file. In the case of the Amiga, you can use the Central Coast Disk-2-Disk utility if you have a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive. This allows you to di rectly read 1541 or 1571 format disks from your 64/128 system. It even includes code conversion options for transferring data created on the 64 or 128 as an added benefit. The new Access-64 product from Pro gressive Peripherals and Software actual
ly allows you to connect your 1541,1571 or 1581 disk drive to an Amiga and direct ly read the files onto the Amiga. This pro vides the most direct and fastest method of transferring data to the Amiga from your 64/128. One last method of transferring data to the Amiga is by using the new FAST! File Transfer created by the Amiga Alliance users on Q-Link. This file transfer system utilizes the parallel ports on both systems to transfer data at speeds of up to about 5.3K per second. Complete details are available in the Amiga library area, in cluding the required software and com plete documentation. However, you'll need to make or buy a special cable to connect
the systems to perform FAST! transfers. For transferring data to MS-DOS sys tems, the only other option for now is the Big Blue Reader utility from S.O.G.W.A.P. This utility lets 128 users with a 1571 drive transfer files onto MS-DOS dis kettes. Otherwise, you'll have to resort to the serial transfer until someone designs a FAST! type file transfer for the 64/128 to MS-DOS transfer. Actually, this shouldn't be very hard with everything already de fined for the 64/128-to-Amiga interface. If you know of another way to transfer files, let me know so I can pass the information on to other users. For the time being, Amiga and MSDOS users will have to be content with us ing a 64/128 to access Q-Link. A number of people have been looking at improving this situation, but nothing appeared to be happening earlier this year. On the other hand, there is at least some level of sup port for these systems now, and it is grow ing as more users take advantage of these areas.
Guess that's about it for this month. As always, I can be reached almost daily via E-Mail if you have any comments, ques tions or suggestions concerning this col umn or New Product Information section on Q-Link. g
flickerFixer eliminates your Amiga 2000s interlace flicker and visible scan lines. The result: superior quality color or monochrome graphics
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flickerFixer fits into the Amiga video slot, is fully compatible with all user software, and does not modify the standard Amiga video signals. The board also upgrades the Amiga 2000 with a flicker free 4096 color palette, has an overscan mode that features a screen size of 704x470 pixels and drives most of the popular PC EGA and VGA monitors, including the NEC Multisync and Mitsubishi XC1429C.
fFixer Advanced Graphics Adapter For The AMIGA ■ 2000
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COMMODORE MA3AZINE
57
ADVENTURE ROAD
A Legend Comes to the Commodore News and opinion from a leading explorer of those fantasy realms called adventure games. Since the dawn of computer entertain ment, only one fantasy role-playing game has influenced the "look and feel" of maze and monster adventures as much as the Ultima series—and now Wizardry has finally been converted for the 64 and 128. Inspired by the non-computer game sys tem called Dungeons and Dragons, Robert Woodhead and Andrew Greenberg started writing Wizardry back in the late '70s, and it was released in 1981 by Sir-Tech. Practically overnight, the first scenario— Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord— spawned a cult of Wizardry players that grew into an international community of maze-maniacs. Eventually Wizardry be came one of the all-time best-selling Ap ple programs of any type. It's a ten-level maze in which you strive to stay the evil wizard Werdna and recov er an amulet stolen from Trebnor, the Mad Overlord (spell the names backwards for a clue to their origin). Your party con sists of six warriors and wizards who, in addition to the standard traits and skills, are deemed good, evil or neutral. A char acter's moral alignment affects game-play. Evil weapons and magic items can't be wielded by a good Fighter or Mage, for ex ample—and good and evil characters can't travel in the same party, though neutral ones may join either. Another subtle aspect of character de velopment is the ability to change a char acter's class upon attaining enough expe rience points, which opens up new attri butes to the character. A Fighter may eventually become a Samurai who slowly learns Mage spells, for example. When planning your party in Wizardry, you've got to look to the future as well as around the next bend in the maze. You might get by with a crew that's all Good or Evil, but some players like to develop a variety of characters and bring in specific ones at the appropriate time. Character creation and development are dealt with in the Castle, which con 58
MAY 1988
sists of several text menus. All input is conducted from the keyboard, and the pro gram uses a type-ahead buffer. While waiting for the next screen to load you can punch in a series of orders: hit "E" for Edge of Tbwn, "T" for Training and "C" for Create Character. In these phases and in combat, information is displayed in overlapping windows. The combat report fills a horizontal window in mid-screen, where your character names are incorpo rated into battle reports. Most of the disk access occurs inside the Castle, and the game runs pretty much in RAM once you enter the maze. The maze is depicted with fairly simple first-person pictures of halls and walls that look like the vector graphics you've seen in the Star Wars arcade game—none of the full-color "panels" used to illustrate games such as Bard's Tale, which, like many role-playing games that followed, was influenced heavily by the Wizardry game system (check out the menus in Garth's shop, then look at the ones in Boltac's store, for example). Monsters show up in the center-screen, illustrated with detailed pictures that were redrawn spe cifically for the Commodore machines. In addition to learning which spells to use on which monsters, you'll also have to learn to identify them. Creatures and artifacts are often disguised, so what looks like five Men in Armor may turn out to be level 10
Fighters or just a pack of weasel Ores. A high degree of involvement with your characters has always been a hallmark of Wizardry, for character development is an important and well-designed part of the game. So is the 50-spell magic system, whose spell names are related to make them easier to learn (the reference card helps, too). Instead of having a number of spell points that's reduced each time you cast a spell, this system gives you nine of each spell; it makes it easier to keep track of the number you have left. Mapping is also integral to success, for the mazes are littered with teleports, spinners, traps and other surprises. Characters who survive this quest can go on to others in Knight ofDiamonds, Legacy ofLlylgamyn, and Heart of the Maelstrom. These don't include a charac ter generator, so you need a party created in Proving Grounds in order to play them. Then there's the sequel to Proving Grounds—Return of Werdna—in which you play the role of that evil wizard, at the head of a party of monsters and under at tack by adventurers. All these are being converted for the 64 and 128, but no plans exist for Amiga versions. Wizardry supports the 128 and 64 bet ter than most applications software. It loads more of the program into the 128's extra RAM to minimize disk access. RAM expanders for the 64 and 128 are
Adventure Road also supported, and the game reportedly flies on a RAM disk. Don't feel left out if you don't have one, for Woodhead devised a special DOS that permits the program to run faster than under standard DOS. In the event it doesn't work with a third-par ty drive, you can just switch to regular DOS. You also get to use the 128's cursor keys and numeric keypad, and the func tion keys have been assigned. The most useful feature added to the Commodore version allows you to save a game while inside the maze. Though Wizardry is sev en years old, it still outclasses some of the more recent role-playing games with sharper graphics. For any hard-core maze-mapper, this game is a must.
From Frobnia to Lytton: Spies, Cops and Robbers
Marc Blank, one of the original ZorkMasters who left Infocom a few years ago, is back with an unusual spy thriller called Border Zone. This three-part story takes place in the Eastern Bloc nations of Frob nia and Litzenburg. In the first tale, you're an American businessman travel ing by train. An American spy asks you to help stop a diplomat from being assassi nated. Then there's a change of character, for in the next story you play the part of that spy, wounded and trying to get vital information to a colleague. And in the fi nale you become the spy who is attempt ing to assassinate the diplomat. Each story is an independent game that may be played in any order, but you'll have more fun if you play them in se quence. Puzzles are mainly object-orient ed, with a few characters to talk to along the way. InvisiClues are incorporated into the program, so help is only a keystroke away. To keep you on your toes, a built-in clock ticks away the seconds as the story's events unfold in a dramatic flurry. This makes it hard to map, since something seems to interrupt every time you put pencil to paper, but the real-time action contributes enormously to creating the at mosphere of a spy story. Border Zone's available for the 64/128, but not the Amiga. (Infocom's Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels will also be released for the Amiga—and it will also feature sound effects.) My favorite new Amiga adventure is Si erra On-Line's Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel. It's a disk drive detective game in which you must work your way up from uniformed cop to plainclothes offi cer. Another novelty is that you have to deal with an assortment of crimes while
working on the main case. Written by for mer California Highway Patrolman Jim Walls, Police Quest is also unusually real istic. (Due to the subject matter, Sierra calls it an adult-oriented game.) The plot revolves around your efforts to nail a major cocaine dealer in the ficti tious town of Lytton, which is currently suffering from a serious crime wave. Graphics and animation are treated with the same high degree of craftsmanship as the King's Quest series and Sierra's other animated adventures. But the puzzles dif fer in style. Rather than devoting your time to finding and figuring out what to do with various objects, you will face what I call "situational problems." The goal in these is to follow the procedures a real cop would under the circumstances: Always read a suspect his rights when you arrest him, for example. Fail to follow procedure, and the game ends. There's also an in volved story line, with several characters who have their own personal problems. Instead of walking from one location to the next, you drive a squad car. After you leave the station, the usual graphic dis play is replaced by an aerial view of the town. You steer a tiny car through traffic (be sure to stop for red lights), chase down speeders and write tickets, and race to the scenes of assorted crimes when the radio dispatcher alerts you. Events occur in a linear fashion (as in Border Zone), so the game has more of the feel of a genuine sto ry than just a collection of puzzles. It's not too hard, since the manual outlines most of the procedures you have to observe, but I liked it so much I spent a week solving it.
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Clues of the Month Wizardry: Strong characters are vital, so reroll until you get ones with at least 18 bonus points to spend. Tb open Chests, put a Thief with Agility 18 in the party's fourth slot. Stay near the entrance of the first maze, battling monsters in the two rooms there until your party reaches level three or higher; then try mapping the rest of the maze. Even if you don't want a Bishop in your party, create one and keep him in the Training Grounds, then bring him into a returning party to identify items without paying a fee. And be sure to back up your characters after each impor tant discovery or advance in level! Police Quest. There are only a couple of tight spots here, but the trickiest one (for me, anyway) was getting rid of Marie in the hotel room. All you have to do is use the phone to call someone. Dial informa tion if you don't have the number. g
dissatisfied with our disks, return them within 15 days of receipt for a refund (less shipping and handling costs and a 15 per cent restocking fee).
HOW TO ORDER:
Use our toll free
number to order and charge it to your VISA or Mastercard, or send a check or money order. If ordering be mail, be sure to tell us which computer you have.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: We have a brochure which contains the disk directories of all the disks. Write us or circle
our reader service number at the back of this magazine. Sincerely,
Lynne Adams
ADAMS SOFTWARE, INC. 120-C N.THOMPSON SPRINGDALE, AR 72764 ® Commodoie 64 & 128 are I fade marks of Commodore Electronics Lid.
PHONE ORDERS: MON-FRI, 9-5 CENTRAL
1-800-634-0989
Arkansas Residents: 750-2463 COMMODORE MAGAZINE
59
JIFFIES"
Election A simple program for monitoring your school or club elections. Election is a serious and fairly popular American game, so when it is time to vote at school or in your club, this pro gram might be helpful. It permits conducting an election using the computer as a voting machine. The program should run in any Commodore machine: PET, V1C-20,64, Plus/4,16, or 128. Just as in real voting machines, the winner is not announced. The voting machine simply calculates the total number of votes the candidate received. Election supervisors can do the rest. Also, just as in a real situation, the computer is not a voting po liceman: people will have to keep track of their registration lists, enabling the voting process, etc. (details below). The program is fairly flexible. It permits voting for up to 20 different offices. Each office may have up to nine candidates run ning, and you can specify how many to vote for in the particular race ("vote for one," "vote for three"). The example data at the end of the listing has lots of candi dates with elegant names, such as VP1. PRES1. BCS and so on. Why? So you can debug the program in a jiffy and then substi tute real names. The P people run for the President, the V peo ple run for the Vice-President, and so on. In school, there ought to be an election for blackboard cleaners, in our situation you may vote for three. Typing programs from magazines is no joy, mistakes do creep in. So do not enter new candidates' names until you run this pro gram several times to make sure that all combinations work. Most importantly, coiTect names must fall in coiTect categories. You'll know you've messed up if PRES2 suddenly falls in a table of TREASURERS. Due to the way BASIC parses DATA lines, you have to be careful. If you wish to enter "Jim Gracely, Editor" as your favorite presidential candidate, do so in quotes. Otherwise, BASIC will strip J and G, and "Editor" will become still another candidate, messing things up rather badly.
Instructions
The following graphic characters are used: in line 180 precede lfVOTER" with the clear-screen character. Line 230 needs a clear-screen character in quotes just before R$(I). In line 370 place one cursor-down just before "ENTER". In line 390 type one cursor-down just after RETURN. RUN the program. When all is well, substitute real names in
the DATA lines. Vote by answering the questions on the screen. This requires only pressing the number keys and pressing the RETURN key after a choice.
Before typing (his program, read "How to Emcr Programs" and "How to Use the Magazine
P.O. Box 30008, Shrevepon, LA 7I1J0-0007, ]-h(ni-h.m-2(>94.
Election
110 REM SAVE"0:ELECTIONS",8'BGKB REM
TRAP
700
:REM
+4,C16,B128,
C128'BCTE
135 140
REM MAIN PROGRAM'BOHH NP=20:M=9:REM MAX POSITIONS, CANDIDATES/OFFICE'DNNL
60
MAY 1988
The STOP key is disabled by lines 130 and 700-705. Until you're sure that you have typed the program correctly, put a REM in line 130. otherwise the program will be difficult to stop. Tb begin voting, the voting supervisor must enter a three-let ter code. A school teacher I know insists that this is vital, other wise some silly kids will try to vote more than once. The threeletter code is currently EGD (line 610), but must be changed to another three-letter sequence to keep it unknown. Should you wish to remove this feature, set Q$ in line 610 tou" (null). If you do so, any key (just one tap) will enable voting. The program clears the screen after each voter has gone down the list. Tabulations can begin between the voters, when the at tendant presses the dollar sign <$). You can change that, of courseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it's in line 640 (ASCII value 36). The program does not permit you to vote frivolously, nor to vote for a person more than once in the situation where you may vote for, say, three different candidates. Pressing an asterisk instead of a candidate number indicates "not voting for this bunch." A voter can change his or her mind any number of times, but hesitation is allowed only until the RETURN key is pressed. So you can type: 12 4 2 3, changing your mind between numbers. But once you press RETURN, there is no changing. The last val ue gets registered, the screen clears immediately, and you can begin voting for the next office. In this last example candidate number three receives the vote. One final note: Should there be a mishap in the voting pro cess, the results need not be lost. If you do not modify the pro gram, CLR, RUN, or do anything to wipe out the variables, you can get partial results of the day by typing "GOTO 210". You can then jot down the results, RUN the program again, and add the partial results later. I suspect that getting partial results
during the election day may not be a bad idea. I will leave the logistics of how best to handle tragic circumstances to you. Above all, beat on this program, test it, play with it until you're sure it's doing exactly what you want done.
Entry Program.' The BASIC program! in this magazine are available on disk from l.oadsiar.
130
(/
150
DIM
g
R$(NP),MX(NP),TC(NP),N$(NP,M),
T2 (NP,M) 'BNYJ
160 170 180
190 200 210
GOSUB 540:REM READ IN DATA'COMF NV=1'BDJD PRINT"[CLEAR]VOTER #"NV:EF=0 :GOSUB 610:IF EF GOTO 210'FQBM V=-1:GOSUB 230IREM VOTING'ENXJ NV=NV+1:GOTO 180'DJXA V=0:GOSUB 230::REM PRINT RESULTS'DUKE
220 END'BACX
Continued on page 62
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PRICE
$35 $60 $60 $60 $60 $45 $40 $25
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Stationfall Invlslclues
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$28
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45 ,35
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UST
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Test Drive
$18
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40
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Adventure Constr. Set Amnesia Arctlcfox Bard's Tale I or II
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35
ELEC. ARTS
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Halls of Montezuma Russia Run 5 Magazine #8
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Reach for the Stars
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Beyond Zork-128k Border Zone Lurking Horror Nord & Bert
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Battlefront Battles In Normandy Battles of the Civil War
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New Titles are underlined
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Jiffies/Election 550
Continued from page 60
225
REM
VOTING
SCREEN
OR
RESULTS'BYCK
226 230
REM YOU
IF YOU CAN MAKE
FOR
1=1
TO
HAVE THIS
'PRINT USING' NICER'BPDQ
IF V THEN
260
V
THEN
M=0'BCVH
58G
READ
PRINT1BACE
285
NEXT
290
IF
THEN
EF
600
300
IF
NOT
310
NEXT
315
REM
605
ANY
330
YOU
T2 (I,
610
GOSUB
KEY;
IF
GET
EMPTY
IS:IF
:REM
NOW
USE
HAVE
THIS
KEYBOARD FOR
350
RETURN'BAQC
355
REM
360
V$="":P=0'CFBF
370
PRINT"[DOWN]ENTER RETURN
380
YOU 390
POINT
OR
PUSH
PRINT"FOR CAN
NO
HERE'BTBQ
IF
LEGAL
A
YOUR
PUSHING
:REM
FITS
420
PRINT"YOUR
VOTE:
430
V$=VS+CHRS(P+48)'EJFF
440
GET
450
AV=ASC(IS):IF
IS:IF
";'BBCD
IS=""GOTO
IF
AV=13
470
AV=AV-48:IF
:GOTC
THEN
THEN
GOSUB
1000
OR
AV>TC(I)GOTO
440'HUDO 480
490
NEXT
I$"
495
REM
500
OK=-1:REM
";:P=AV:GOTO
440'DLRK
K:RETURN'CCXI ONE
CHECK
VOTE
LEGAL
ONLY,
NUMBER'BGWV
CAN'T
VOTE
IF
520
FOR
525
V$=""THEN
IF
L=l
535
NEXT REM
THEN BUILD
62
NP=0'BDCE
MAY 1988
OK=0:PRINT"?1 TABLES
FROM
-
YOU
ENABLE
FOR
CAN
W$;:REM
BY
REMOVING
'REM''BSHR
IF ZS=QS THEN RETURN'EEAN FOR K = l TO LEN(Q$):IF WSOMIDS(Q$,
NEXT
K:GOTO
690'LWKR
IF
690
PRINT:PRINT"[UP,SPACE4,UP]"
J'BBDM
ZS=QS
THEN
RETURN'EEAL
610:REM
BAD
CODE,ERASE,
695
REM
YOUR REM :REM
STOP
OWN IF
DISABLE
THING
ER=30
STOP
THEN
KEY
...
YOU
CAN
DO
HERE'BQDB RESUME
DISABLE
+4,C16,B128,
C128'BBVO i
701
REM
PRINT"ERROR"
:REM 709
REM
ER,
LINE"EL:END
+4,C16,B12li,C128'BRLQ
REM
FILL
IN
STRUCTURE
OF
DATA
YOU
CAN
IN'BFJT WHO,VOTE
FOR
HOW
LIST
OF
NAMESfSTAR,
THE
MANY,
STAR
AT
720
DATA
PRESIDENTS ' BLQG
END'BXKQ
730
DATA
PRES1,PRES2,PRES3,"
PRES4t
740
DATA
VICE
750
DATA
VP1,VP2,VP3,VP4,*'BRPK
PRESIDENT/l'BPFJ
760
DATA
SECRETARY,1'BLUK
770
DATA
SEC1,SEC2,SEC3,*'BQMM
780
DATA
TREASURER,l'BLGM
790
DATA
TREAS1,TREAS2,TREAS3,TREAS4/
800
DATA
BLACKBOARD
810
DATA
BC1,BC2,BC3,BC4,BC5,BC6r
CLEANER,3'BTKH
820
DATA
830
REM-
*'BAIJ ";
L:RETURN'CCYD
LINES'BCKP 54G
RETURN'ECKC
LEN(VS)'EGAE
P=ASC(MID$(V$,L,
l))-48 530
TO
VOTING
THIS'GOXS
TREAS5,*'BLDU
TWICE
CHECK'DXKH
510
REM
EF=1:RETURN
ALL
MD",*'BUSL
490'FMPJ
AV<1
SQUITS
NEXT
440'EITG
AV=42
VOTING
680
710
RETURN'GLRJ 460
WS="S"THEN
ERR$(ER)"
MX(I):REM GET VOTE'EPUE THEN PRINT"#"K;'EIYD
ENABLE
CODE'DHTM
675
700
RETURN[DOWN]"
CHECK,
DAY'BGRO
3-LETTER
:GOTO
AND
IN
TILL
ZS=ZS+WS'CGKJ
MIND"'BAVP
PRINT"BEFORE
LOOP
RETRY'EAOT
*"'BAKN
CHANGE
ENABLE
Z$="":Q$="EGD":REM
K,1)THEN
VOTE'BWEN
NUMBER
ALWAYS
670
40COLUMNS'CXFT 410
IN
IF
660
TO
FOR K=l TO IF MX{I)>1
400
MORE
640
655
340
KEY
VOTE
VOTING
TESTING
VOTE.[SPACE2]
MESSAGE
FOR
FOR J=l TO LEN(QS)'EGSF GET W$:IF WS=""GOTO 630'EIWH
650
'GET
CONTINUE'FHTM ADD
LOOP
*'CYO.H
CHANGE
QUE'FANJ
IS=""GOTO WAIT
READ
630
320'EEGA
YOU
550:REM
:REM
PRINT:PRINT"PRESS ANY KEY";'CCEE GET I$:IF I$>""GOTO 330 :REM
340
360
RETURN'GHAK
CAN
58l):REM
REM
BY
GOSUB
THEN
GOTO
END
I:RETURN'CCVY
KEY' 320
V
TC(NP)=M
SUBGROUP
M=M+1:N$(NP,M)=V$:T2(NP,M)=0
FINAL
620
THEN
V$="*"THEN
60O:REM
:GOTO
J'BBDJ
V
:IF
VS:IF
MX(NP)'EVHM
SUBGROUP'GABY
J)"VOTES";'EJWJ 280
RETURN
IN'GTRM
NP=NP+1:R$(NP)=VS:READ
590
PRINT"VOTE
PRINT'BACB
NOT
READ
IN'HGXT
FOR J=l TO TC(I):PRINT RIGHTS(" [SPACE2]"+STRS(J) ,2) " "NS (I, J) ; IF
V$="*"THEN
DATA
570
NP:PRINT"[CLEAR]
fHXSL 270
ALL
560
FOR"MX(I)'DGVF 250
VS:IF
:REM
:GOTO
"R$(I)'EKBE 240
READ
DATA
ISOP
*'BBWE B
DWK 1000
GOSUB
500:IF
P)=T2(I,P)+1 :RETURN'HYAD
OK
THEN
PRINT".
T2(I
."P END
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Quantities on
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Id."
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JIFFIES
by Royal C. Jones
Binary Mind Reader and lie Detector
srj
for the Commodore 64 The binary number system seems to be a major stumbling block for program mers who wish to try assembly language programming. There is really nothing dif ficult about binary numbers. The trouble, I think, is that they lack the familiarity of our decimal system. With this premise in mind I set out to write a tutorial program for my twin nephews, who are always pleading incompetence when I look for help with my machine language projects. My idea was to write a BASIC program that would satisfy their passion for games while craftily instilling the principles of the binary number system. The result was the modestly titled "Binary Mind Reader and Lie Detector." In lines 10-80 the screen is cleared and the user is asked to think of a positive in teger. If it turns out that the user's num ber is something else, the program simply points out the error and suggests another try (lines 490 and 500). The program now asks a series of ques tions in the form 'Ts your number less than ?" With each answer it shows the progress of its reasoning by making a deduction about the number. The deductions become more and more specific until finally the number itself is found. The program asks 2N-1 questions about a number that is N bits long and will accept numbers up to 29 bits long, for
a decimal maximum of about a thousand million (one billion, American style). Of course, with numbers of that length the whole process becomes a little tedious, so it is best to remain in the lower ranges. The input of answers is speeded up by the use of a live keyboard subroutine in lines 630-670. Lines 90-220 find the range in which the number falls by determining its length in bits. The final value of the vari able I determines that the number is less than 2 to the Ith. The variable is then de cremented by one (line 250) to point to the first bit of the number. In lines 250-380 the number is pinpointed by means of a binary search, and in lines 390-440 the re sult is announced. If it is correct, the pro gram rather smugly signs off. If not, we proceed to the Lie Detector. The Lie Detector essentially repeats the
Before typing ihis program, read "How tn Enter Programs" and "How to Use the Magazine Entry Program." The BASIC program) in this magazine arc available on disk from Loadstar, P.O. Bos 30008, Shrewport, LA 71130-0007, 1-800-831-3694.
REM
BINARY
20
REM
AND
30
REM
BY
40
PRINT"[CLEAR]"'BATB
50 60
PRINT"THINK OF A PRINT"A POSITIVE PLEASE"'BAIJ
80
REM
FIRST
90
N$ = "
1":REM
100
FOR
1=1
TO
MAY 1988
READER'BQVC
DETECTOR'BOYC
ROYAL
BITS'EPQB 64
MIND
LIE
C.
HOW
JONES'BOKD
NUMBERâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;"'BACG INTEGER,
BIG
THE
IS
IT?'BQDJ
BINARY NUMBER'CSXL
29:REM
LOTS
note of it. The Lie Detector should zero in
on that exception. Ifthe program makes it through the Lie Detector and hits line 600, something is drastically wrong. Either someone has copied the program incorrectly, or my nephews will be hopping with glee at hav ing crashed my elegant tutorial. g
110
N$=N$+"0":PRINT'DFRY
120
PRINT"IS
YOUR
NUMBER
LESS
THAN"'BAQE
Binary Lie Detector 10
binary search of lines 250-380, this time using the variable T (for test number) to construct the final result. At each stage in the search the variable T is compared with N, the number originally deduced, and with W, the number claimed by the user. If at any point N and W do not agree with respect to T, the lie is discovered. The pro gram does not bother with cases of more than one lie since one is enough to ruin your credibility. To test the efficiency of the Lie Detector, try telling just one lie in the course of the questioning and make a
OF
130
PRINT NS"
140
2"l"DECIMAL?"' CCWC
150
GOSUB
620'BDLB
160
IF
170
PRINT"THEN
180 190
200
AS="Y"
BINARY'"BCUA
GOTO
240'DFBE
AT LEAST"I+1"BITS LONG" CCAL D$=D$+"[SHFT ZJ ":REM PLACE MARKERS'DRXK NEXT I'BBCE
PRINT"LETlS AWAY!"'BAVD
IT
IS
NOT GET CARRIED
Jiffies/Binary Mind Reader 210
PRINT"THINK OF NUMBER—"'BAKE
220
GOTO
ATTENTION
ANOTHER
ALL COMMODORE 64/64C, COMMODORE 128/128D AND AMIGA OWNERS
80'BCPX 80'
REM
NOW
FOR
THE
NUMBER
ITSELF'BVSG BVSG 250
N$=
260
IF
1 FKAII
N=l
GOTO
380:REM
A complete self-tutoring BASIC programming course is available that starts with turning your computer on, to
NO
QUESTION'EQOI 2 7 U
ry"\n
i —T
1
rnrs
280
FOR J=I-1 TO 0 STEP-1:PRINT'HGFI PRINT"YOUR NUMBER LOOKS LIKE"'BAIK
290
N$;LEFT$(D$,I + 2-LEN(N$)) ;
'FPGL
300
PRINT"
310
PRINT"IS
BINARY"'BAGY YOUR
NUMBER
LESS
THAN"'BACF
320
PRINT N+2*J"DECIMAL?"'DDPD
330 340
GOSUB 620'BDLB IF AS="Y" THEN :GOTO
N$=NS+"0"
360'GKLH
350
NS=N$+"1":N=N+2"J'FJFH
360
NEXT
J'BBDD _ BBDD
380
REM
EUREKA]'BHIH EUREKA!'BHIH
190
PRINT:PRINT"THE THINKING
40G 410
OF
NUMBER
YOU
ARE
IS"'CBHQ IS'"CBHQ
PRINT N$" BINARY"'BCUA BINARY"'BC PRINT N"DECIMALM1BBUB N"DECIMAL"'BBUB
420
PRINT:PRINT"AM
430
GOSUB
440
IF
I
RIGHT?"'CBWE
620'BDLC
A$="Y"THEN
PRINT"AS
ALWAYS"
:END'FDFI 460 470
REM THE LIE DETECTOR'BON I PRINT:INPUT"WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER"; W'CDPM .urn
480
IF
W=N
THEN
PRINT"AHA!
JUST
AS
I
IF
500
IF
510 520
T=2' T=2"l:REM
530
FOR
540
IF N>=T+2*J
WOINT(W)
THEN
GOSUB
IF
W<T
GOSUB
C
1100:END'FHRD
THE TEST NUMBER'DRAG
GOTO
J=I
:GOTO
550 560
THEN
TO
STEP-1'FEFG
THEN
T=T+2*J
570'KMBM
IF W<T+2*J PRINT"AHA!
GOTO 590'FHCI BUT YOU SAID IT WAS
570
IF
580
PRINT"AHA!
W>=T
NOT
cost.
Fill in the coupon or send a facsimile.
JrEND'FFMS
LESS
GOTO
LESS
BUT
YOU
SAID
THAN":PRINT
IT
NEXT
600
PRINT"OH-OH!
620 630
REM INPUT SUBROUTINE'BPVH PRINT"(Y/N) ..."; 'BBPF
640
GET
650 660
PRINT"[RVS]"AS"[RVOFF]" :REM HILIGHT ANSWER'CQSL IF A$="Y" OR AS="N" THEN
670
GOTO
ADDRESS^
J'BBDI
A$:IF
BAD
PROGRAM":END'CBCF
A$=""GOTO
1000
PRINT"BUT
I
:PRINT"TRY 1100
PRINT"BUT
ODD
ASKED
PROV./STATE:
640'EIFI
I desire the BASIC programming course |_J I desire the FOLLOW-UP course on file handling The computer that the course Is needed for:
Q COMMODORE 64/64C |_
RESPONSE'CPXM
FOR
AN
INTEGER"
AGAIN":RETURN'DCSE I
ASKED
NUMBER":PRINT"TRY :RETURN'DCYH
FOR
A
CITY:
POSTAL/ZIP CODE:
RETURN'GEUL 630:REM
com
NAME:
WAS
T:END' DDBT
590
FOLLOW-UP COURSE
Also available! a 200 page course exclusively on sequential and relative files using a unique approach for those with very limited file programming experience set up your own personal and business records! - disk drive a must - same author - same guarantee - same
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COMMODORE MAGAZINE
65
TAKING DVTE OUT THE
BYTE
by John Jermaine
Although robotic and electronic technology is all around us—in everything from toll booths to washing machines—most people take this technology for granted. Two men have set out to change this with a fascinating electro mechanical construction kit called The Robotic Workshop.
66
MAY 1988
ROBOTICS ou hear a lot about "robotics" and "electronic technology" these days be cause they're progressively re-shaping the world around us. Factory machinery, for example, can now perform jobs (in min utes) that once took several people all day to complete. Satellites beam transmis sions around the world, photograph a sec tion of the planet in minutes, and even have the ability to change their own or bits. Isn't it incredible that these complex devices are actually controlled by comput ers and keyboards hundreds of miles be neath them? On the home front, the con sumer is surrounded by remote control televisions, microwave ovens, burglar alarm systems, etc. Yes, high technology is all around us, but the public in general is electronic and robotic illiterate. Tb illustrate my point, try to answer the following questions: • How does a burglar alarm operate? • Do you know the difference between a motor and a generator? • What is feedback? Don't feel bad if you can't answer these questions, because the average computer user can't answer them either. Bruce Carver and Steve Witzel are en gineers with a common goal: They want to deliver the basic principles of advanced technology to 64 owners everywhere. The Robotic Workshop is their first education al col laberation, and this feature is an in troduction to a great adventure—using your imagination. John Jermaine: Can you give me some background information about your selves?
Bruce Carver: During the course of my 39 years, I've had a very busy schedule. I earned a degree in engineering, founded Access Software, and worked on a series of games including: Raid Over Moscow, Beach Head, Leaderboard, and Tenth Frame. Aside from the game projects land taking care of company business) I've al ways wanted to create a special line of products that would help people learn about many devices we commonly take for granted. Steve Witzel had a similar idea, so we put our heads together and cofounded Multibotics, Inc. Steve Witzel: I'm Steve Witzel, the 41year old president of Multibotics. Inc. My background is very similar to that of Bruce Carver. Both of us have engineer ing degrees and large families (I have nine children myself). We've also worked with practically every microcomputer on the market at one time or another. While Bruce takes care of the educational ele ment in Multibotics products, I'm the tinkerer who dreams up many of the projects and puts them together in a package. Jermaine: What led to the formation of Multibotics, Inc.? Carver: Back in August 1982,1 had fin ished my education and was working for a local engineering firm. My boss knew I had taken a Fortran course in college, so he reasoned I was the perfect person to be operating the company's new 16-bit com puter. This meant I would have to learn
assembly language very quickly. No one else at work knew anything about com-
^^^
puters, so I thought I had stumbled into a
bad situation. As luck would have it, I de cided to purchase a microcomputer to study assembly language at home. Steve Witzel owned the computer store I visited, and he sold me my first Commodore 64. After talking with him for a while, I dis covered that we had similar views on many issues. This simple transaction had brought us together, with Steve contribut ing to Access projects long before Multibotics officially existed. He also gave me the benefit of his business knowledge as I was forming Access Software. Witzel: Yes, Bruce and I have been friends for a long time. Over the years, we had discussed the possibility of generating a home tutorial for people who have a fear of computers. This product would demon strate the relationship between computers and external devices, while giving the user a crash course in fundamental elec tronics. The package would also have to be economical, easy to understand, and en tertaining enough to hold the interest of both children and adults. If we did our homework correctly, the product would en tice you to complete every project in the manual and encourage you to conduct some experiments of your own. That's when the fun really begins if you enjoy tinkering like I do. We founded Multibotics, Inc. in June of 1985 to take these ba sic ideas and turn them into something tangible. The first Robotic Workshop kits were assembled and shipped on April 25, 1986. Jermaine: What exactly is the Robotic Workshop? Witzel: Actually, two different versions of the Workshop are currently on the mar ket. The MB230 package was specifically designed for home use. It contains three basic components: (1) 32 Capsela parts (including two motors, one worm gear, a transmission, an axle, wheels, etc.), (2) a
special B100 computer interface unit, and (3) a manual written in common language. We developed the MB230T kit for
NASA engineers recently purchased several of our
units. We'd like to know what they're doing with them. teachers involved in technology educa
tion. Several years ago, approximately 20% of high school/middle school students were taking courses in wood working, metal shop, or some other form of Indus trial Arts. Today 100% of the students are learning the basic principles of technol ogy. The mechanical pieces of both Work shops are identical, but the MB230T pack age contains a teachers manual (with overhead transparency masters), student manuals, a computer interface cable that is more rigid than before, and a shipping container was re-designed for use in a classroom environment. Jermaine: Why did you decide to use CapselaK components in Multibotics products? Witzel: In order to create a line of support ive building pieces, it would have cost us millions of dollars. While all of that work was being done, the release of the Work shop would have been postponed indefi nitely (leaving the market wide open for someone else with a similar product). We avoided this possible disaster by looking through the toy stores of Utah for an es tablished set of flexible components that were readily available throughout the country. Bruce and I examined many
bility our projects demanded. Capsela was our final choice for several reasons. First of all Play-Jour, the maker of Capsela products, manufactures the most adaptable building components we could find. To illustrate this point, let's talk about the gear capsules. They come in multiple gear ratios that allow us to run a motor very fast, or to gear it down to almost any desired speed. The gear is also encased in a plastic bubble to protect it from being damaged. I haven't found a comparable piece on the market that could equal the performance and design advantages of this capsule. Play-Jour has also developed a large base of Capsela parts, with new pieces being released at regular intervals. This factor was very im portant because it guaranteed a steady flow of new material for the user. I should also point out that Play-Jour has been extremely helpful by supplying us information about existing Capsela components, parts coming to the market, and pieces that are presently on the draw ing board. Some time ago, we needed a turn coupler to make the front wheels of our vehicles move more realistically. Bruce and I designed the piece and con tacted Play-Jour to see what they thought of the idea. Tb our surprise, They showed us their version of a similar product which hadn't been released yet. This little tip saved us thousands of dollars in the long run.
Jermaine: What was your original think ing as you created the Robotic Workshop? Carver: The Robotic Workshop concept was largely my idea. I really enjoy taking complex engineering principles and sim plifying that information for the people
"build-it-yourself' pieces, but each of these systems lacked the degree of flexi
Loading cable on Robotic Automatic Cable ("utter.
Steve Witzel (left) and Bruce Carver showing off
Final test and inspection of B100 Interface using another B100. 68
MAY 1988
new packaging for Robotic Workshop school version.
around me. By doing this, I find myself in volved in some stimulating conversations, where individuals voice their opinions on issues they've probably never discussed before. Everyone's a winner when this takes place. My robotic experience includes engi neering work with the designing of auto mated systems, instrumentation, and con trols for local oil refineries. So I've seen how useful computers can be when they're communicating with devices in the real world. People tend to forget that a com puter can perform millions of calculations in mere seconds (making it an ideal moni toring device). Even microcomputers have the ability to perform complex tasks in a home environment, requiring only a limited number of additional pieces. The Robotic Workshop proves this statement. It contains a working D.C. voltmeter and oscilloscope, but the unit can be expanded to create more advanced equipment. Witzel: From the beginning, we wanted the first Multibotic product to be a very versatile base unit (something we could is sue expansion modules for at a future date). This unit would give the consumer a valuable package of useful equipment, at a price he could afford. Expansion mod ules would also be priced to sell. It's a shame that most microcomputer "add ons" tend to cost the consumer an arm and a leg. As this concept slowly began to take shape, Bruce and I had to develop a spe cial group of projects that were geared to the interests of the average user. We wanted our followers to construct a series of working models, that exhibited the characteristics of different modes of trans portation. Two of our automobiles, for ex
ample, have unique steering capabilities. Another vehicle demonstrates the princi ples of high torque four wheel drive, while the Multibotic copter displays how a stabi-
Many school systems have
purchased the Multibotic Workshop, but a larger number of teachers are
paying for the units out of their own pockets.
lizer blade interacts with the main blade of the craft to produce a smooth lifting force. Other projects examine light, color, feedback, electronic speech, etc. A final thought came to mind. What could we do for the consumer who wanted to use his Robotic Workshop as a practical piece of equipment? There were some ex tra components on the circuit board, so we decided to use them. We played around with a number of different speech technol ogies and finally came up with a delta modulation scheme which produced high quality results inexpensively. Bruce and I also created precision instruments like Continued on page 118
Tightrope Walker Contest Bruce Carver and Steve Witzel encour age their customers to play with the Robo
tic Workshop, so they're issuing a special challenge. Diagram 1 is a new project they call the "Tightrope Walker." You won't find it anywhere else. Assemble the pro ject and write your own program to make it do something. The person who does the best job of programming the software to operate the Tightrope Walker will receive
his or her choice of any four Access Soft ware programs. These are the rules for the contest:
1. The Tightrope Walker must be assem bled following the design on the opposite page. You may add other components to the basic design, but the original pieces must all be present. You are also limited to using the remaining parts present in the Workshop kit. 2. All entries must be postmarked no later than August 31,1988, and be present at Multibotics within the following week. We
will not be held responsible for lost entries.
3. A diagram of your creation must also be sent in your package, if you've added any thing to the original design of the project. You must also submit your Tightrope Walker program on a diskette. Please put your software on both sides of the diskette if possible. All entries become the proper ty of Multibotics, Inc. 4. Bruce Carver and Steve Witzel are the judges in this contest. Their decision is final. 5. Send your entries to Multibotics, Inc., #A 2561, S. 1560 West, Woods Cross, Utah 84087. So take this article into your computer room and get to work. If you want to do well in the contest, use your imagination to make the Tightrope Walker perform as many "Tricks" as possible. Bruce and Steve also welcome your comments about the Workshop, and hope you'll give them a call at (801) 298-9077.
COUPLER
WORM GEAR TRANSMISSION
Diagram 1
COMMODORE M/iGAZINE
69
In the world of adventure games, familiarity does not breed contempt. The more puzzles and games that you solve and complete, the more adept you will become, increasing your analytical skills both in adventures and in real fife.
ou re standing at
what appears to be the end of the hallway that you've been walking through for a long time. A few minutes ago, you were at tacked by an ore with an appe tite for destruction. After a fierce battle, you braved some scars to leave a pile of dead ore flesh in the middle of the floor. Now, the walls have quickly sloped downwards ending at a door about two inches high. You can't go back down the cor ridor because a wizard put a magical wall in your way. Your only possessions are a lantern, a sword and some money.
What will you do? This situation is typical of many that you will encounter while playing adventure games. Whether the problem is a quickly-shrinking wall, an attacking monster or a locked door, one thing that all of these have in common is the word "puzzle." Puzzles are the es sence of adventure games; you must solve them to further your stay in the world con tained on the disk. How well you perform in an adventure game is directly related to your puzzle-solving abilities. Some
The above situation falls into one of these five categor ies, as we will soon see. After exploring your surroundings more carefully, you find a pouch on the ore that contains some more money and a wand. Thinking that the wand may end your predicament, you point it at the door only to see the door become even smaller. . Although disastrous, this re veals a possibility. carting from a viously saved game, you instead point the wand at yourself. After greatly reducing your height with the magic wand, you easily slip through the door to journey norther in the ad venture. This is a magic-based adventure games have very puzzle. Solving it required in simple puzzles, whereas others telligent, rather than hapha contain a few cliff hangers that zard, use of a magic item. will have the most avid adven Besides magic-based puzzles, turer stumped for weeks. Puz there are four other types of zles reflect the atmosphere, puzzles associated with com characters and objects of the puter adventures: logic puzzles, specific game, but they can be mazes, object-oriented puzzles broken down into five main and verbal/dialogical puzzles. types. Use this article as a guide for solving puzzles in adventure games, from the mundane to the super-hard. All puzzles will fall into one of these .tegories. Recognizing
the type of puzzle
by Russ Ceccola
you are up against should spawn some brain action relat ing it to those you've seen in the past.
Mazes You will often be moving from location to location in an adventure game, happily map ping, when you find that no matter which direction you move, you don't return to a I miliar location. Instead, you wander aimlessly, looking for a way out of these seemingly endless rooms that are all alike. Unfortunately, what you've just walked into is a maze. Some games will tell you that you are entering a maze. Others will leave that fact for you to determine. Regardless of the source of revelation, mazes are difficult to map and even more difficult to escape. There are basically two kind of mazes: those you must ma and those for which there is some way of getting aro mapping the myriad of i There are many methods for getting through the
way to traverse a maze is to go one direction and tiy to backtrack your steps to the room you've just left.. An example would be moving noiihwest from the entrance in the maze and finding out through trial and "â&#x20AC;˘ that moving will return you to the entrance. If you then choose a direction from the se cond room and try to retrace your steps to the en trance, you will have a . path of twice the length ,-. with which to ex periment. This method works
first type of maze. The sneaky way is to go out and buy a hint book available for many adventure games and copy the map from the book onto the map that you have drawn. In some cases, I've found this meth od to be the only way out. Most mazes are simple enough to map, requiring a little ingenuity
-
on your part
One way to map a maze is simply to move in random di rections from one room to the next, noting the directions you've taken, until you come to some familiar place. At least you'll have one way of going through the maze. This meth od is time-consuming and bare ly effective at best. Another
I
The best way to map a maze is a variation of the latter method above. You have to find some way to distinguish one room from the next. You can do this in most adventures by dropping an item of your in ventory in that room. From now on, when you enter the room, you will see whatever ob ject you've dropped. Now this room can be distinguished from the others while mapping. Start out wi a lot of items. Each item that you drop is another room that you will be able to completely join to others. After dropping an item in a location, refer to that location on a scrap paper by the name of the item. For each room in the maze, write the name of the item (which now also gives the location some uniqueness) on the left side of the paper, forming a column. Also write the possible directions that you can move in the game (some only allow N,
drawing the maze on your map. An example of the above type of maze can be found in Adventure. Popularly referred to as the "vending machine maze," you will eventually find a useful vending machine somewhere in the maze. You must map the maze; there is no shortcut. Using the above ma trix method, you'll be able to
S,EandW,whe: others accept SW.NE.SE, UP and DOWN) across the top of the page, making an item/ direction matrix. As you move in a direction, place draw a map, although a lot of the name of the room you lines will be crossing each oth enter (name of the item in that er in your picture. This prob room) in the place in the ma lem tends to happen a lot in trix at the intersection of the drawing the maze after you've direction you've moved and the mapped it. Where you place room you came from. If the new the rooms on the paper deter location has no item in it. drop mines how easy it is to connect one and add the new room to them with lines. Experiment the column on the left side of ing with orientations will re sult in economical solutions, the matrix. In no time at all, you will have a matrix consist but the best bet is to just use your matrix until you can find ing of all possible directions from all of the locations in the a professionally drawn version of the map. At this point, copy maze and where they lead. ing a map from a hint book or Remember one more thing: don't stop mapping once you've solution book is not considered found the exit or a special room. cheating. After mapping the Continue to map until there are maze in Adventure, you can be no more directions; otherwise, gin to solve the puzzle sur rounding the vending you may miss more special machine. rooms. Ultimately, the matrix will act as a guide to physically The second type of maze has 72
MAY 1988
some way of getting around the whole mapping tedium. These mazes require some object or special item that allows quick travel in the winding passages. Some aids that have appeared in games are maps that appear on the screen, lists of directions to get through the maze, items that move or point you through
second line. By thinking, you should realize that the paper is some kind of map (remember "X marks the spot"). Examin ing the symbols carefully, you see that they are arrows point ing in one of four directions.
Taking this to the edge of the quicksand and moving in the directions of the arrows on the paper takes you to a special lo cation beyond the quicksand maze where you find a chest. Using the map is a lot easier than falling in the quicksand each time you try to move until you find the right direction. An example that uses ele ments of both types of mazes occurs in The Coveted Mirror. In the castle, you can move around on the second level, but find that most rooms are the same except
for a special room that you must find and three openings into which you fall. The only way to map this maze is to drop items in the rooms that look __ the same and move
the maze and signs within the maze pointing you in the prop er direction. If you think that such an item exists in a game with a maze, don't try to map the maze; rather, use your in telligence to activate the item or interpret its instructions. More often than not, you should be able to use this maze-revealing object by solv ing another puzzle or by sim ply examining the effects of the object. An example of this type of maze takes place in Mind Shadow. You are on a desert is land and find a piece of paper at the bottom of a cliff with a big X on it and a number of strange symbols in two lines, with the X at the end of the
until you drop into the opening. Try this again and again until you have a map with an entrance into each opening from all directions. Only then will mapping the rest of the maze take no more than a few minutes, The bulk was ex hausted by the presence of the openings in the floor.
Mazes have plagued man from the Egyptian pyramids to the advent of the personal com puter in homes across the world. (See "Historic Mazes," page 82.) By using the above hints, you should begin to feel some confidence in mapping and escaping mazes in adven ture games. Not all adventure games have mazes, but for
those that do you now have some ammunition with which to fight the nasty tricks that game designers include in their adventures.
ern adventure consists of a se ries of screens in which charac ters enter the screen and talk to you. You have five choices of responses at the bottom of the
Verbal/Dialogical Puzzles
Puzzles reflect the
This category is currently a small one, but as more adven tures are developed verbal dialogical puzzles are becoming more prevalent. Basically, a verbal or dialogical puzzle is one that is based on what you say to another character in a game and how that character responds. The exchange con tinues until you decide to stop talking after gathering enough information, the game ends or the other character stops re sponding. Most verbal/dialogicaljjuzzles take place in games where the responses are writ ten to the screen, as in text ad ventures and response-based games, but with the recent pop ularity of the Amiga and its speech options, designers have made games in which the char acters speak to you in a natu ral voice. The use of speech makes deciphering this type of puzzle easier. The most important thing to remember in solving verbal' dialogical puzzles is to type in a question or choose a sentence that will elicit the most useful response from the character who needs to be addressed in solving the puzzle. You don't want to anger the character. Rather, you should say things that the character wants to hear. Following this method will reap the most benefit. whether it involves passing a gryphon by answering a riddle in The Crimson Crown or gathering information by talk ing to suspects and witnesses in Perry Mason or Deadline. Often, you are limited in possi bility by a parser or the avail able responses in a game. In this case, choose your words or a response to best solve the puzzle. Law of the West is a perfect example of the use of verbal/ dialogical puzzles. This west
atmosphere, characters and objects of the specific game, but they can be broken down into five main types. screen. Choosing the right one raises your score. At one point, a lady walks onto the screen and says, ''Well, hello there, big boy." Two of the possible re sponses are: "Uh, hello, Miss Rose," and "Get off the street, you painted jezebel." Making the second choice causes Miss Rose to answer "Who are you to be talkin', liver lips?" indi cating that you should try a softer approach. By making the first choice instead, you in spire '1 like the strong, silent type," from Miss Rose. Your ro mance score increases through better use of reasoning. This type of mindset is what you must acquire to solve verbal'dialogical puzzles. Just keep in mind that you are try ing to gain information from the character and that the character should be treated as a real person and you'll do fine. Often, posing the correct ques tion is more important than furnishing the correct response to the other character's com
Alien Fires, 2199 A3, con tains a good example of choos ing the correct question to pose to a character. At the start of the game, you have no weap ons, no armor and no other useful items. Obtaining an in ventory produces a big noth ing. You can talk to characters you meet in the game by typ ing in a question or something you want to say. Knowing that you need a weapon to get past
a certain character and the door behind him, you ask one character about weapons. In particular, you ask Dr. Fever for a weapon, and he tells you that Mangle Tangle has some. You have solved the puzzle of finding a weapon by verbal dialogical means.
Puzzles involving speech, re sponses and questions come in many different forms, but the almost exclusively common characteristic is the presence of another character in the ad venture other than yourself. Examination of the character is very important in solving these puzzles. Look at the char acter (if represented graphical ly on screen), read his/her/its description carefully, note any peculiarities or special charac teristics of the character and experiment with questions and responses. That's about all you need to know to solve verbal/ dialogical puzzles, easily one of the more interesting types of puzzles in adventure games, because they cause you to bring your own mind and thinking power directly into the reality and happenings of the adventure.
Magic Puzzles
Puzzles involving the use of magic are some of the most popular in adventure games and are predominantly used in
the realms of fantasy and sci ence fiction. Unless obvious hints are given by the adven ture, solving magic puzzles takes a lot of practice and re quires a good memory. Not only do you have to know what to do with a magic item or how to use a magic spell, but you also have to remember what magic you have at your dispos al. It's a good idea to write down everything you find out about the use of magic in an adventure. It makes replaying the game later a lot easier, and it narrows down the possibili ties for the real use of the magical spell or item. Illusions and magic have fascinated man from the alche mists in the Middle Ages to Houdini to the great magicians of today. What exactly is it that attracts people to magic? A fair description would be that the power that is seemingly exhib ited by the magic trick or illu sion touches a special area in all of us that wants to do the impossible. Therefore magic is cathartic; by watching magi cians, we see our fantasies come to life. It's the same case on a computer, except that we are actually performing the magic, albeit artificially. What better place is there to perform stunning feats than on a com puter? Many game designers Continued on page 106
ments. Questioning is more ap
parent in mystery games be cause of their nature and be cause this might be the only way to solve the mystery, aside from evidence. Again, you are limited by the parser in the game, but you can rest assured that there must be some proper question because, if there wer en't, there would be no puzzle to solve and no adventure to play. COMMODORE MftSAZINE
73
THE
POWER OF DESKTOP PUBL15H1N&
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
for the 64 and 128 by Gary V. Fields
If you need to publish on a shoestring budget, you are in luck—professional desktop publishing programs for both the Commodore 64 and 128 are now on the shelves.
The
first amendment to the Constitution guar
antees freedom of the press—desktop publish ing provides a way for each of us to exercise that freedom. The new desktop publishing programs for the Commodore 64 and 128 systems make publish
ing professional documents both easy and affordable. A desktop publishing program lets the user cre ate, proofread, edit, design and lay out entire docu
ments (a single page or an entire book) with differ ent type sizes and fonts, complete with graphics or photographic artwork, using the computer's monitor for display. The finished document can be saved to
disk and/or printed for hard copy. The word "desk top" is used because all the activities required to cre ate and publish are done on a single desktop—yours. Like the engineer for the "little engine that could," programmers for the 64 and 128 systems never seem to know when they've reached their
limits. Just when we all thought those two little ironhorse computers had topped their last hill, they
proved us wrong once more. Now serious, affordable desktop publishing comes to the eight-bit world.
Two years ago a good friend came to see me to get my advice on desktop publishing. He op erated a small calendar company where all the type and graphics were still set and printed manually. He wanted a better, faster, cheaper way to create his calendars and Figured I could offer some unbiased suggestions. We made the rounds of all the computer dealers and looked at programs for the high-end machines. After he'd seen "all that money could buy," I showed him GEOS on the 64. He was impressed until I told him the retail price. He was suspicious based on reasoning like this: "At a price only a fraction of what the big guys were charging, how could a 'little' 64 and a program costing under $100 deliver the quality of a Macintosh
and a program like MacPaint?' I explained
that the major difference between the two was speed. Because the 64 has less free memory, it must access the disk drive more often (to ex change blocks of memory), and because it uses a slower CPU than that used by the new 16-bit computers, it couldn't run as fast. But, I ex plained, given a little more time and the right printer, the results he could get out of either would be comparable. That's exactly the situation which exists to day. Providing you have more time than mon ey, either the 64 or 128 booted with one of the new desktop publishing programs and connect ed to the right printer (more about printers lat er) is all you need to go into the publishing business. The differences between a desktop publish ing program and a simple word processor are options and layout. A desktop publishing pro gram provides the ability to include graphics and special text fonts, plus options to view and edit the entire document on screen before dumping it to a printer or saving it to disk. In the publishing industry this is called "pagina tion." The computer lets you design the docu ment's layout on the monitor's screen instead of using manual methods. This technology be came available for newspapers and magazines only a few years ago. It is amazing how quickly desktop publishing has come to market for the eight-bit systems. It is also a revealing indica
tor ofjust how quickly new technology is trick ling down to the home user.
Who Needs Desktop Publishing? This is the one question you need to answer before running out to buy a publishing pro gram. Desktop publishing programs are ideal for creating and printing professional-looking newsletters, brochures, reports, forms, calen dars, certificates, advertisements, novelettes,
poems, announcements, stationery, letter heads, greeting cards, business cards or any thing else which requires putting ink on paper. If you will be paying someone else to create any of those this year, read on. 76
MAY 1988
Before the introduction of personal comput ers and desktop publishing programs, prepar ing documents for publication required lots of time, paper and expensive machinery. Desktop publishing programs eliminate much of the ex pense and almost all of the waste, and they minimize the time involved by electronically duplicating and simplifying those chores. Before the advent of desktop publishing, edi tors planned publications on a dummy (blank) page. The page was divided into columns (most newspapers are divided into six or eight col umns and magazines are usually divided into two, three or four columns). In the old days, text was created on a typewriter, edited with a pencil and sent to the composing department where the text was typeset and formatted into the correct column width. Graphics were han dled similarly, but black and white photo graphs were sized and then screened (the im age was converted to tiny printable dots). When all this was done, the paper proofs of the text, graphics and photographs were cut to size, and a layer of paste or wax was placed on the back so each would stick to a master layout page. There, the text, headlines, captions, logos, graphics and photographs were grouped within and across these columns in a style which was intended to be visually pleasing and informative. When everything was in place and all the errors (they always creep in) were corrected, the entire page of text and graphics was photographed so a master plate could be made for use on the printing press.
The Power of Desktop Publishing Desktop publishing frees you to do almost the whole design and layout process on your computer's screen. Text and graphics are cre ated, cut and pasted all electronically. Photo graphs and non-computer artwork can be digi tized and included just as easily. While all desktop programs have provisions for creating and editing text directly, they also allow you to use the word processing program you are already comfortable with (providing it will save files in true ASCII format i. Develop ers of desktop publishing programs realized most users would prefer to use a word processor they are familiar with and made provisions for the user to import files from the most popular ones. You can use the word processor of your choice and import the files you create into your publishing program, hassle free. The same is true of any library of artwork you may have developed over the years using different graphic programs (Doodle!, Print Shop, etc.) or purchased separately (Newsroom Clip Art, Print Shop Graphics Library, etc.). Most of the popular ones can be imported di rectly or (using a translating utility) converted for use by the publishing program. Because of the thousands of commercial and public do-
main graphics already in circulation, the 64 and 128 desktop publisher has an almost inex haustible source of artwork. If you'd rather cre ate your own graphics or want to edit an exist ing graphic, each package now on the market includes a graphic toolbox which lets you do just that using patterns, boxes, ovals, lines and brushes. The beauty and power of a desktop publish ing program is not that it allows you to in stantly mix graphics and text on the same page, but that you can overlap the two, or give one dominance over the other so they become a united, powerful, graphic statement rather than just two images on a page. Text can be formatted, justified, moved, cut, flowed be tween columns or pages or even changed in size or font type with a few key (or mouse) strokesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;changes which were both time con suming and expensive to make in the predesktop era of publishing. Page layouts can be changed or completely redone time after time, with no production cost and little time lapse. You are free to change and experiment until just the right visual and informative balance is established. When you control all the variables there is no reason to go to press until you are completely satisfied with your document. After the page layout is complete, you sim ply save it to disk for future use or dump it to a printer. Once your printer has reproduced the images on your screen, you are ready to either duplicate the document yourself or submit it to a commercial printer. Depending on how many
copies you need and the final quality you re quire, you may be able to finish your publica tion using an office copy machine. If volume is large, you may need the services of a profes sional print shop. In many cases a commercial print shop can reproduce your documents more cheaply than a copy machine, and the results will always be better.
Getting Started
Providing you already have a computer, monitor, disk drive and printer, all you need to begin publishing is a program. The very first 64 program which offered desktop publishing capabilities was Springboard's The Newsroom. It allows the user to mix text and graphics on a single page divided into two columns of equal width. It has been a friendly publishing part ner for clubs, user groups and schools who have used the 64 for years. Its greatest appeal was the hundreds of quality graphics its clip art disks included and its ability to transmit files between systems using telephone connections. However, when compared with the new genera tion of publishing programs. The Newsroom has become a friendly but very limited tool. The new professional desktop publishing programs, including those for the 64 and 128, use a "What you see is what you get"
(WYSIWYG) screen display. Your text type style will be displayed on the screen. The same is true of graphics, headlines, bylines, logos, captions, gutters, columns, subheads, lead and agate linesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they are all there ready for you to adjust, move, cut or duplicate. The better pro grams have kerning capability which adjusts the spacing between words and letters so they are proportionally aligned and more profes sional in appearance. Because everything on the screen is electronically displayed, you can adjust or move both text and graphics by sim ply pointing to them, lifting them off the screen page and repositioning or editing them. These features make correcting mistakes or re vising layouts as simple and fast as snapping your fingers.
Commodore 64 Software
The newest entries into the desktop publish ing arena for the 64 are geoPublish, Out rageous Pages, and Timeworks Desktop Publisher. [Editor's Note: Personal Newsletter from Softsync arrived in our office too late to be included here. Look for a complete review in an upcoming issue.]
GeoPublish is the eargerly-anticipated offer ing from Berkeley Softworks. It will work with any input device for which your system has drivers, but I've found the 1531 mouse far and away the easiest and fastest. The program electronically duplicates every task previously performed by hand. Before you begin your lay out, you format a master page which contains designs and text which appear on every page of your document. The program lets you create and number up to 16 different pages. If you need to exceed that count (the program allows you to publish entire books if you wish), you'll have to do a little manual adjusting to keep the page count consecutive. Once your master page has been created, you can import text or graphics from other productivity programs both GEOS and non-GEOS compatible (using a graphic and text grabber utility). Your documents can be spread across a page divided into one to four columns using icon-ac tivated options and pull-down windows. Any one familiar with GEOS will have no trouble mastering this powerful tool. If you already own GEOS, adding geoPub lish to your software library is a logical step. It is a powerful and easy-to-use product. I've been delighted with its options and the results it produces. The program's single weakness is cost. While the program itself retails for only $69.95 (a reasonable price considering the pow er the program packs), you must have a copy of GEOS to be able to use it. And to bring the pro gram up to its full speed, you'll also want a copy oWeskpack 1 (it has the graphics grabber you need to import non-GEOS graphics) and Continued on page 114
COMMODORE MA3AZINE
77
by Leo W. Brenneman
COMPUTER TUTOR
Air Miles
each new city. (The existing list is in al phabetical order, but does not need to be. This was done to make it easier to find a
for the Commodore 64 Air Miles calculates the straight line -distance between cities of the world. When you LOAD and RUN the program. you will be presented with the following menu:
|1] View List of Cities [2] Find Distance Between Cities [3] Exit Program
If you choose Option 1, you can scroll through a list of 69 cities by pressing RE TURN or return to the menu at any time by pressing the space bar. Option 2 asks you to type in the names of any two cities on the list, and the pro gram will then display the distance in statute miles between them. (If you want to know nautical miles, multiply the re sult by .8684. > Typing a name not on the list, or spelling it differently from the way it appears on the list, will bring up the message: "Not on Listâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Check Menu Item 1." The message will remain on the screen for several seconds then return to the menu, so you can check the list of cities for a correct name or spelling. The location of any spot on earth can be identified by its latitude and longitude. Latitude is indicated on maps by dividing the northern and southern hemispheres into ninety degrees each, with zero being the equator and 90 being either of the poles. The lines of latitude are called par allels. The earth is also divided into eastern and western hemispheres, each hemi sphere is divided by meridians i lines of longitude) running north and south from pole to pole. The zero meridian runs through Greenwich, England, and subse quent meridians are numbered in each di Before typing this program, read
rection, east and west, to 180 degrees on the opposite side of the globe. The Interna tional Date Line runs, with a few devi ations, along the 180th meridian. Latitude and longitude are usually stat ed in degrees and minutes. Knowing the coordinates of latitude, longitude and di rection for any two locations permits the calculation of the distance between them. You can customize the list of cities, ei ther by adding to it or substituting differ ent names and coordinates for the exist ing ones. If you wish to substitute one or more names, list the program and place the cursor over the first letter of the city name you wish to replace in the list of cities, which stalls at line number 760. Type the new name and coordinates right over the old information, then RETURN. When you are finished be sure to save your new version. Adding names to the list is only slightly more complicated. The program lines in the list of cities are numbered by 10, so there is plenty of room for new entires be tween each existing entry. Just type a new line number and the data statement for
How In Emcr Programs" and "How [o l!w the Magazine
Air Miles 140
CLR:POKE :POKE
150
646,0:PRINT
PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT
53281,2
160
ONE
170
MOMENT
PLEASE..READING
SPACE2]":GOSUB
180 190
78
CITY
MAY 1988
VIEW
740'CECH
II
"'BAKH
U,SHFT
C34,
240
B]
LIST
OF
[SHFT
DISTANCE
BJ
[1]
B,SPACE34,
"'BAPF
PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT FIND
B]
CITIES[SPACE10,
SHFT B] "'BAOI PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT B]
B,SPACE12]
'"BAPD
PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT
SHFT
CHRS(147)'CFBF
PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT
SHFT
220
230
DATA"'BAAL PRINT"[DOWN,SPACE2,SHFT C36,
NOTE: Some atlases only give degrees and omit the minutes. If you are using this kind of data, just enter zero for min utes. The resulting calculations will be somewhat less accurate. a
210
C36,SPACE2]
PRINT"[DOWN2,SPACE21
serve.
PRINT" [SPACE2,SHFT
CHR$(147)'GDFI
"'BASD
your new entries? One source is a world atlas, most of which have an index listing the latitude and longitude of many cities and geographical landmarks. Another source is navigational charts. It is also fairly easy to estimate the coordinates from geographical I not road) maps. I called this program ''Air Miles" and not "Airline Miles," because the coordinates given in atlases are for cities, not neces sarily for airports. .Some airports are locat ed ten or more miles from the cities they
AIR MILES[SPACE13,SHFT B] '"BADE PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT B,SPACE34, SHFT
53280,0:POKE
Louis." Where do you find the coordinates for
200
Entry Program." The BASIC progr-im^ in thb magazine art available on disk from Loadstar.
P.O. Box 30008, Sfirtvepott,U71130-0G<r, 1-800-831-2694
particular city.) After you have typed in the information for all your additional names, multiply the number of new names by seven (the number of data items in each entry) and add this result to the number 483 in the DIM statement in line 740, and in the FOR-NEXT loop in line 750. You can add as many names as you like, but each name you add will slightly increase the time required to execute the program. If you add the name of a city that can be confused with another city of the same name, such as "Kansas City,1' you can en ter it in the list as "Kansas City MO" or "Kansas City KS." Also, if you do not like the way the name of any city is spelled on the existing list, you can change it. For ex ample, a listed name is "St. Louis," which you can change to "St Louis" or "Saint
B]
BETWEEN
[2] CITIES
"'BAXL
250
PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT
B,SPACE34,
260
SHFT B] "'BAPH PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT
B]
[31
Computer Tutor/Air Miles
270
EXIT PR0GRAM[SPACE17,SHFT B] '"BAXL PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT B,SPACE34, SHFT
280
290
B]
"'BAPJ
PRINT"(SPACE2,SHFT SELECT 1 "'BAXL
-
B,SPACE10]
3 |SPACE12,SHFT
300
PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT SHFT K] "'BAB I GOSUB 600'BDJX
310
GET
320
MS=VAL(MSS):IF
MS$:IF
J,SHFT
MSS=""THEN MS<1
BJ
C34,
310'EKSC
OR
MS>3
THEN
310'HRCH MS
NEXT:RETURN'CBXI FOR J-l TO QN STEP
690
IF
C2$=CS(J)THEN
:GOSUB
7'EFIL
DS=CS(J+1)
2200:RETURN'HWAR
700 NEXT:V$="":RETURN'DEAD 710 FOR J=l TO QN STEP 7'EFIF 720 IF C2$=CS(J)THEN D$=C$(J+4) :GOSUB 2300:RETURN'HWEL 730 NEXT:RETURN'CBXF 740 DIM CS(483)'BHUG 750 FOR J=l TO 483:READ AS:CS(J)=A$ :NEXT:QN-J-l:RETURN'JXIQ
330
ON
GOTO
340
GOTO
350
PRINT"[CLEAR]":END'CBFD
360
R=3963.34:GOSUB
370
INPUT"[DOWN,SPACE2] NAME OF 1ST CITY";CIS:GOSUB
760
1450,360,350'CONE
600'CMCG
620
480:Y1=RA:D1=V'FVTQ
380
IF
V$=""THEN
390
GOSUB 650:GOSUB :GOSUB 600'FURN
480:Xl=RA:D2=V
INPUT"[DOWN,SPACE2]
410
NAME OF 2ND CITY";C2$:GOSUB :GOSUB 480:Y2=RA:D3=V'FVJK IF VS=""THEN 1610'DGMC
420
GOSUB
710:GOSUB
680
480:X2=RA
:D4=V'EQYG
THEN THEN
ALBUQUERQUE,35,0,N,106,9,
770 780 790 800
DATA DATA DATA DATA
AMSTERDAM,53,23,N,4,54,E'BYMO ANTWERP,51,13,N,4,25,E'BWNO ATHENS,37,58,N,23,46,E'BWJP ATLANTA,33,50,N,84,24,W'BXJH
810 DATA BALTIMORE,39,18,N,76,37, W'BAWJ
1610'DGMI
400
DATA
W'BBCN
310'BDDC
:GOSUB
670 680
Y2=-Y2'GITG X2=-X2'GITH
820 830 840 850
DATA DATA DATA DATA
BELFAST,54,35,N,5,56,W'BWLJ BELGRADE,44,50,N,20,37,E'BYLK BERLIN,52,32,N,13,24,E'BWLL BOSTON,42,20,N,71,0,W'BVAM
| 860 DATA BUENOS AIRES,34,30,S,58,20, W'BCOP
870 880 890
DATA BUFFALO,42,55,N,78,50,W'BXKO DATA CAIRO,30,1,N,31,14,E'BUHO DATA CAPE TOWN,33,56,S,18,28, E'BYOR
430 440
IF D1OD3 IF D2OD4
450 460
A=SIN(Y1):B=SIN{Y2)'ELKI C=COS(Yl) :D=COS (Y2)
900 DATA CARACAS,10,30,N,66,50,W'BXDI 910 DATA CHICAGO,41,45,N,87,40,W'BXPJ
:E=COS(X2-X1)'HTKN
920
470
GOTO
4 80
DD=M/60+D:RA=DD/57-29577 95'FVGO
490
RETURN'BAQH
500'BDEG
500
F=(A*B)+(C*D*E)'FKAE
510
FF=-ATN{F/SQR(-F*F+1))+([PIJ/2) :D=R*FF:D%=D'OWBO PRINT:PRINT"[UP4,SPACE5] THE DISTANCE BETWEEN[SPACE11]"
520
:PRINT'DCPN
530 54 0 550 560
PRINT"[SPACE5]"CIS " AND "C2$" [SPACE11]":PRINT"[SPACE13]"'CHHJ PRINT"[SPACE5JIS ";D%; " MILES.":PRINT'CFPJ PRINT"[SPACE2,SHFT C36,SPACE2] "'BASH PRINT"[DOWN,SPACE7] PRESS
SPACE
CGOSUB
BAR
FOR
MENU"
DATA CINCINNATI,39,10,N,84,26, W'BBBL
930 940
DATA COLUMBUS,38,57,N,83,1,W'BXNM DATA CLEVELAND,41,28,N,81,43, W'BARN 950 DATA DALLAS,32,47,N,96,48,W'BWON 960 DATA DENVER,39,43,N,105,1,WBWQO 970 DATA DETROIT,42,20,N,83,3,W'BWBP 980 DATA DUBLIN,53,20,N,6,15,W'BVIQ 990 DATA ERIE,42,10,N,80,7,W'BTLQ 1000 DATA FAIRBANKS,64,59,N,147,40, W'BBCY 1010 DATA GENEVA,46,12,N,6,9,E'BUQY 1020 DATA GREENSBORO,36,7,N,79,46, W'BAJB
1030 1040
DATA HARTFORD,41,47,N,72,41, W'BYOC DATA HONG KONG,22,11,N,114,14,
DATA
E'BAHD
600'CEAO
570 580
GET ANSrIF AN$=""THEN 570'EKRK IF ASC(AN$)=32 THEN PRINT"[CLEAR]"
1050
:GOTO
590
GOTO
1060 1070
600
GET KB$:IF
610 620 630
RETURN'BAQB FOR J=l TO QN STEP 7'EFIF IF C1S=C$(J)THEN DS=CS(J+1)
1080 1090
DATA HOUSTON,29,50,N,95,20,W'BXAF DATA INDJANAPOLIS,39,42,N,86,10, W'BDAH DATA ISTANBUL,41,0,N,29,0,E'BWAG DATA JERUSALEM,31,47,N,35,10,
:GOSUB
1100
DATA JOHANNESBURG,26,10,S,28,8,
1110
DATA KALAMAZOO,42,20,N,85,35, W'BAHB DATA KATMANDU,27,45,N,85,12,
190'GLGN
570'BDLJ
KB$O""THEN
600'FKEF
2B00:RETURN'HWWL
640 NEXT:V$="":RETURN'DEAG 650
FOR
J-l
660
IF C1S=CS(J)THEN :GOSUB
TO
QN
STEP
7'EFII
E'BASI E'BCUB
DS=C$(J+4)
2100:RETURN'HWBO
HONOLULU,21,19,N,157,52,
W'BASE
1120
COMMODORE MA3AZINE
79
Computer Tutor/Air Miles E'BYVC
1130 1140
DATA LAS VEGAS,36,10,N,115,5, W'BYCD DATA LISBON,39,0,N,9,12,WBUVD
1150
DATA
LONDON,51,30,N,0,5,W'BUOE
DATA
LOS
1160
ANGELES,34,0,N,118 ,10 ,
W'BBYG 1170
DATA
MEXICO
CITY,19,20,N,99 ,10 ,
W'BBEH 1180 1190
DATA
MIAMI,25,52,N,80,15,WBVGH
DATA
MINNEAPOLIS,44,58,N,93,20,
W'BCSK 1200
DATA
MONTREAL,45,30,N,73,34,
W'BYVB 1210 1220
DATA
MOSCOW,55,45,N,37,35,E'BWEB
DATA
NEW
ORLEANS,30,0,N,90 , 5 ,
1510
IF
PN$=CHRS(13)THEN
1540'ELKD
1520
IF
PNS=CHR5(32)THEN
X=QN
1530
IF
1540
NEXT'BAEC
1550
PRINT TAB(7)"[SHFT SHFT @]"'CCNW
1560
PRINT"[DOWN,SPACE8] PRESS
SPACE
1570
GOSUB
600'BDJG
1580
GET
1590
IF
:GOTO
PNSOCHR? (32)THEN
DATA
NEW
1240
DATA
OKLAHOMA CITY,35,25,N,97,30 ,
YORK,40,45,N,74,0,WBWXD
1250
W'BDLG DATA OMAHA,41,15,N,96,0,W'BUAF
1260
DATA
PARIS,48,50,N,2,20,E'BUCG
1270
DATA
PHILADELPHIA,40,0,N,75,10,
W'BCUI 1280
DATA
1290
W'BBYJ DATA PHOENIX,33,30,N,112,10,
1300
W'BYJK DATA PROVIDENCE,41,41,N,71,15, W'BBHC
DATA
QUEBEC,46,52fNr71,13,W'BWEC
1320
DATA
RENO,39,30,N,119,0,W'BUDC
1330
DATA
RICHMOND,37,3,N,77,27,W'BXWE
1340
DATA
RIO
1350
W'BCPH DATA ROME,41,54,N,12,30,E'BUDF
1360
DATA
1370
30,W'BEPJ DATA SEATTLE,47,41,N,122,15,
1380
W'BYNJ DATA ST.
SAN
DE
JANEIRO,23,0,S,43,12 ,
FRANCISCO,37,35,N , 122 ,
LOU IS,38,40,N,90,20,
W'BYRK
1390
DATA
SPOKANE,47,45,N,117,25,
W'BYVL
1400 1410
DATA DATA
TAMPA,27,57,N,82,30,W'BVSC TOKYO,35,45,N,139,45,E'BWND
1420
DATA
TORONTO,43,39,N,79,20,W'BXKF
1430
DATA
TUCSON,32,14,N,110,59,W'BXNF
1440
DATA
WASHINGTON,38,52,N,77,0,
W'BALH
1450
PRINT"[CLEAR,DOWN,SPACE7]PRESS [RVS]RETURN[SPACE3,RVOFF]
1460
PRINT"[SPACE7]PRESS (RVS] SPACE BAR[RVOFF] FOR MENU"'BAFL PRINTlPRINT TAB(7)"[SHFT 0, CMDR Y24,SHFT P]'"DDEE
TO
1465 1470
SCROLL"'BAQL
POKE
650,255:FOR
X=l
TO
QN
STEP
7'FNTK
1480
TAB(7)"[CMDR
Hi
"TAB(13)C$(X)TAB(32)"[CMDR
N]
"'ENIL 1490
FOR
T=l
1500
GET
PN$:IF
80
MAY 1988
TO
50:NEXT'EFYJ PNS=""THEN
1500'ELJD
L,CMDR
FOR
PNS=""THEN
1580'ELRL
POKE
650,0
180'GQNO
GOTO
1610
PRINT"[DOWN2,SPACE2] NOT
P24,
MENU"'BAOM
1600
1580'BELA ON
LIST.
CHECK
MENU
ITEM
1." 'BALI 1620
FOR
T=l
TO
1500:NEXT
PRINT"[CLEAR]":GOTO 2000
190'GMLH
MS=CS(J+2):V$=C$(J+3):D=VAL(D$) M=VAL(MS):V=ASC(V$):J=QN RETURN'MPKL
2100
M$=CS(J+5):V$=CS(J+6):D=VAL(D$) M=VAL(MS):V=ASC(VS):J=QN
PITTSBURGH,40,25,N,79,55,
1310
PN$:IF
BAR
1500'JSLK
PNS=CHRS(32)THEN
:GOTO
W'BYTD 1230
180'GOOH
PN5OCHRS (13)0R
RETURN'MPQM 2200
M$=C$(J+2):V$=CS(J + 3):D=VAL(DS) M=VAL{M$):V=ASC(V$):J=QN
RETURN'MPKN
1300
M$=C$(J+5):V$=C5(J+6):D=VAL(DS) M=VAL{M$):V=ASC(VS):J=QN RETURN'MPQO
END
Tips & Tricks/Amiga Continued from page 18
Garrison Play Tips: Okay folks. Garrison la Gauntlet look-alikel is out. (See review in March issue of Commodore Magazine.) For those of you who are arcade freaks, here are some tips to keep you alive just a bit longer: • Always bring in all five characters! The initial power and stamina of each character is the same no matter how many characters you bring in, so give yourself as much manpower as possible. • Don't try to take every treasure chest and bag. There is no reward for score in the game, so grabbing these things improves only your ego, • Monsters that are only partially visible or just off the screen are still affected by the magic of a scroll. Use this to your advan tage. In fact, the adjacent DEATHs on level four can be taken out with one scroll. • Just because you are playing alone doesn't mean that you can't take advantage of the two-player mode. Have one charac ter do all of the work and then, just before he hits the exit, pop in a new character and remove the old one. The new character can clean up on all the items in the area. This technique is very helpful to those of you who are trying to build up one character. • Shooting the monsters is usually preferable to hand-tohand combat. Don't worry about time; the rate at which a char acter's health deteriorates is much less damaging than a mon ster's hand-to-hand damage.
Graham Kinsey Sharon, MA
H
GAME PROGRAMS
by Gerhard Schilling
Historic Mazes
From a terrace above it, one can get occa sional glimpses of ensnared and perplexed visitors, wandering in the nwe. Three dif ferent solutions lead to the center and sev
for the Commodore 64
Mystery and romance have surround ed the subject of mazes and laby rinths since ancient time?. From prehis toric rock carvings to the few garden
eral dead ends exist.
Knossos, Crete
mazes surviving today, mankind has al ways been intrigued by them. For the mathematician, mazes are dealt with by
network theory, a branch of topology. But for you and me, solving a maze, finding your way to the center and out again, can
be a delightful pastime. There arc two main types of mazes. If the path from the outside to the center has
no false turns, the maze is unicursal. If there are dead ends or a number of routes to the center, then it is multicursal and very easy to get lost. Mathematical rules for getting out of a maze can be as complicated as the maze itself. But there is one simple rule: place either the left hand or the right band on any wall and slide it along while you wan der. You will eventually reach your goal. But as you would expect, mathematical mazes can be designed where following this rule strands you forever. So watch out.
Incidentally, the terms "maze" and "lab yrinth" are interchangeable in modem English usage.
The Program
The program is written in BASIC, but runs very fast. After typing it in. save it
on disk or tape. Then simply RUN and en joy it. All instructions appear on the screen. A menu will give you a choice of five differ ent mazes to solve. You control your move ments with the cursor keys. Except for the Labyrinth of Knossos, your objective is to reach the center of each maze and to touch
the heart located there. Then try to find
your way out again. Sights and sounds will tell you if you hit a wall during your movements.
Time elapsed is in minutes and seconds,
and the number of wall hits are displayed continuously on the screen. You can quit
at any time and look at the current results of your efforts in these terms. These re sults will be preserved while you attempt another maze.
None of the five mazes are difficult, if you have a bird's-eye view and can see the whole layout. Keep in mind that if you
were actually wandering inside a real maze, finding your way might not lx> so easy. Such a much more realistic situation is simulated as a special option for the Labyrinth of Knossos. More on this below.
Hampton Court, England
This famous maze was constructed in
1690 and is the oldest surviving bodge maze in England. It has a neat and sym metrical pattern, and its paths extend for half a mile. It is multicursal to sustain in terest, tint easy to solve. A copy of this
garden maze was recreated near Williamsburg, Virginia and can be visited there.
Mathematical Maze
This is an example of an artificial paper design, where the hand rule, mentioned above, does not apply. The inner part is isolated fmm the other walls and different pathways can he followed successfully to the center. But it may not lie easy to find the one which is shortest in terms of time elapsed.
Tuileries, France
This garden labyrinth, constructed of cypress or cherry trees, existed in the Tliileries Gardens of Paris in the seventeenth century. Its symmetrical design is almost but not quite unicursal. It may take a while to Hnd the shortest pathway without retracing your steps.
Hatfield House, England
This hedge maze is located at the man sion of the present Marquis ofSalisbury at Hertfordshire. It measures 108 by 174 feet and has two entrances, one at each end.
Thifl mythical labyrinth may have been constructed at Knossos, the palace of King Minos on the island of Crete, around 2000 B.C. Legend has it that it was designed by the renowned engineer Daedalus. He and his son Icarus were themselves impris oned in the labyrinth, but escaped on wings made with wax. Icarus flew too high and the sun melted his wings. Exit Icarus. Greek legend also tells us that the laby rinth housed the Minotaur, a cruel being half hull, half man. Every nine years, Athens had to pay a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens to the Court of Minos. One by one, these were thrust peri odically into the labyrinth. After futile wanderings, they were eventually slain by the Minotaur. Exit youths and maidens. Enter Theseus, son of the King of Ath ens, and Ariadne, fair-haired daughter of King Minos. With Ariadne providing a Sword and a ball of thread. Theseus man ages to slay the Minotaur, escape from the labyrinth and flee with fair Ariadne. Exit
the Minotaur For subsequent dilly-dallying on the Is land of Delos, and the tragic homecoming to Athens, remember Girek mythology. If you want a happy ending you might pre fer the Strauss opera "Ariadne and Naxos." The maze in the program is unicursal. You should have no difficulty getting out and reaching Ariadne who is waiting for you at the exit. Except there is the Mino taur, and. if you accept the optional chal lenge of realism, it will be pitch-dark! At the beginning, the Minotaur has only a small chance of finding and killing you. If you seek to encounter him on pur pose, the initial odds of who slays whom
are even. But each time you hit a wall, your chance of getting out of the maze
alive decreases rapidly. In the realistic version with complete darkness, you may be in real tmuhle. After all. Athenian youths were sacrificed for many years un til Theseus, the most famous Athenian
hem arrived and escaped from the Laby rinth of Knossos. Good hick.
COMMODORE MAGAZINE
81
Game Programs Historic Mazes' Before i<pinn ihis pn^rjm. read 'Hovi lo l.nur Prognnt' ami Ehtfy Pnigram
How i<> l se Ihe ^hjy/im-
The BASIC programs in ihi- migninc in: avarljhk- un Jukfrnra LmdMar,
IM> Box50008,ShRfeporiILA''ll30-O0D~ I-8OQ-83I -<>'')
Historic Mazes 2
MA3="HISTORIC
MAZES"'BDRF
4
GOSUB
6
POKE
8
10
MOVE"SSS S$ SS"Q TO QUIT"'CMCR PRINT HO$ BR$ WS W% TAB(26) TS'CPYB
442:GOTO
296'CHNE
SPC(3)"USE
CURSORS
GOSUB
102:POKE
14
:POKE PRINT
V+30,0'FPOF HO$BK$TAB(10)W%WI$TAB(31)
V+31,0
16
:"FN TS (X) 'GOUO GET K$:IF K$ = ""
18
IF
K$="Q"
20
IF
PEEK(197)<>2
THEN
K$ = U$
24
IF
26
IF
THEN
POKE
K$ = R$
THEN
L%=>256
THEN
IF
L%>145
AND
AND
214,22:PRINT:PRINT
90
GET
92
IF
GOTO
XS:IF
AND
U%<172
GOTO
AND
U%<156
44
GOTO
46
IF
GOSUB
102:MK=1:KI=0:POKE
:POKE
V+21,1'HXPU
HO$
L%<132
AND
AND
294'BDOK
THEN
L%>138
52
GOTO
54
IF
AND
THEN
AND
U%>158
AND
U%>166
112
:GOSUB
U%>150
114
U%>142
U%>86
THEN
56
POKE
58
:GOTO 14'FOPN IF K$ = U$ THEN
U%=U%+4'FJEO
60
IF
K$=DS
THEN
U%=U%-4'FJNH
62
IF
K$=LS
THEN
L%=L%+4
L%=>256
THEN
PEEK(V+16)OR
K$=R$
PEEK(V+16)AND
POKE
M+6,9
M+4,16'KDVL
500:NEXT:POKE
M+24,0
254:L%=255'PGXW
68
:RETURN'GRJP IF MK=1 THEN
54'DFWN
70
IF
POKE
72
:POKE 211,28:PRINT SS$ SSS :RR=0'IDEO Z%=1+W%+RND(1)*15:IF Z%<15
74
L=63+8*INT(RND(1)*16)'GLYN
76
R=8*INT(RND(1)*13):U=107+R
V+l,U%:W%=W%+1
80'IRLN
M+24,79 T=l
TO
POKE M+4,128:POKE M+24,0 :POKE V+32,13:IF K=5 THEN
70
POKE
RETURN'BAQA Z+J+LIM0, AA:RETURN'FKTH J=H1
AND
108
FOR
TO
H2:POKE
Z+J+LI*40,AA
J:RETURN'JSDN
LI=L1
-.NEXT
TO
L2:POKE
Z+J+LI*40,AA
LIrRETURN1 JUFH
122
READ
C:IF
124
READ
A5:A=VAL(A$)'DIWE
126
IF
A$="H"
THEN
128
IF
A$=HV"
THEN
A=101'EGLJ
130
IF
AS="L"
THEN
A=76'EFUB
132
IF
A$=1lS"
THEN
A=32'EFTD
134
POKE Z+C+LI*40,A:GOTO 122'FMQH FOR 1=3 TO I1:POKE ZZ+Zl+I,160 :POKE ZZ+880+I,160:NEXT1KBAQ FOR I=Z2 TO 840 STEP 40
C=0
THEN
RETURN'FEHC
A=111'EGYH
-•POKE ZZ + 3 + I,160:POKE :NEXT:RETURN'MEEU
ZZ+I1+I,160
142
FOR 1=3 TO II: POKE ZZ+Z1+I,160 :POKE V+2048+Z1+I,11'KBUL POKE ZZ+880+I,160:POKE V+2928+I,ll
144
FOR
:NEXT'HVUK I=Z2
TO
840
STEP
40
:POKE ZZ+3+I,160:POKE ll'KCJP
214,10:PRINT 146 THEN
M+0,240
M+1,33:POKE M + 5,8 M+22,104'KGSP
:NEXT
140
V+16,
POKE
THEN
TO
M+23,1:POKE
POKE
138
V+16,
66
V,L%:POKE
M + T,0:N-EXT M+5,9:POKE
M+4,17:POKE
V+32,9:POKE
POKE
FOR
136
L%=L%-4
THEN
24:POKE
M+1,110:POKE
POKE
118
1:L%-4'PEOU
THEN
L%=<0
RR=1
GOSUB
V+30,0
POKE
TO
M+24,15'IRFF
T=l
116
120
58'INWM
V+31,0:POKE
THE
V+32,0'LCGK
68'BCVD 1=1
KILLED
CONTINUE!"SS$'BJIA
:POKE M+4,129:FOR INEXT1KAAH
272'JVRL
PEEMV+31) AND
MAY 1988
110
272'JXTQ
Lfc<158
POKE FOR
WIS"YOU -
V+21,0
280'BDJV T=0
:POKE :POKE
54'BCQI
U%<96
:IF
108
272'JXQM
L%<164
102
:RETURN'HNEH
272'JXBR
THEN
U%<152
GOTO
:IF
106
54'BCQE
L%>154
AND
AND
90'EHGJ 90 ' EHG. GOSUB
GOTO
54'BCQA
L%>126
AND
LK148
THEN THEN
96
104
272'JXJN
THEN
WI$
RESULTS"S$'DQFX RESULTS
90'HMQN
:POKE
AND
AND/OR
X$ = ""
YOU"
V+21,2'ELGO V+21,2ELGO
94
54'BCQF
L%>142
AND
L%<156
MENU
ASC(X$)<>13
:POKE
V+1,U%'DKYD
THEN
GOT
108'EPAT
V+21,0:POKE
34,38,42,46,50'CPCF
U%<168
108:GOSUB
POKE
1:L%=4'PEUW
GOTO
96'IYTQ
MINOTAUR
POKE
98
V+16,
54'GKRK
198,0
38
V+16,
POKE
THEN
86
FOR
L%=<0
THEN
CL$"THE
:KI=1:GOSUB
GOTO
L%=L%+4
IF
ZZ%<10
100
V,L%:POKE
64
102
254:L%=255'PGRU
IF
84
L%=L%-4
K
50
ZZ%=W%+RND(0)*10:POKE
MINOTAUR
IF
IF
82
U%=U%+4'FJMH
POKE
48
PEEK(197)<>7
V+3,U'EJWP
PEEK(V+30) O255
THEN
ON
42
IF
THEN
30
40
16'EHEH
PEEK(V+16)AND
IF
80
KS = LS
32
38
V+2,L:POKE
KS=DS
:IF
36
POKE
U%-U%-4'FJFF
PEEK(V+16)OR
34
L=87'PHIB
78
:GOTO
294'DFRI AND
U=195
THEN
RT$"FOR
TM(X)"
THEN
THEN
W%>30
THEN
:IF 28
THEN
16'JOYG
IF
22
82
TO
12
SS$SS$HO$TAB(31)FN
^%>19
:IF
:IF
214,22:PRINT'CHTG WI$
:IF
V+2051+I,
148
POKE ZZ+I1+I,160:POKE V+2048+I1+I, 11:NEXT:RETURN'JXLP 11=32:I2=29:Z1=240:Z2=240
150
FOR
:GOSUB
136'FAWP
LI=6
TO
17:FOR
J=l
TO
7'GJEF
Game Programs/Historic Mazes 152
POKE
Z+J+LI*40/101:POKE
232
154
AA=111:H1=1:H2=22:FOR :GOSUB
LI=5
TO
Hl=Hl+l:H2=H2-l:Nfc;XT'FMVL
158
H1=6:H2=18:FOR
160
H1=H1-1:H2=H2+1:NEXT'FMVG
162
AA=32:H1=9:H2=11:FOR
LI =
13
TO
236 238
TO
LI=14
TO
164
FOR POKE
15
17:GOSUB
122:NEXT'FKIK
168
11=34:I2=30:Z1=120:Z2=160
170
AA=lll:Hl=l:H2=23:F0R
172
Hl=2:H2=23:FOR
174
AA=101:Ll=2:L2=17:J=l:GOSUB
V+2185+11*40,1:RETURN'FMRM
136'FAOR
:GOSUB
118:NEXT
:GOSUB
TO
J=2
TO
120
23:GOSUB
182
FOR
B=l
120
184
FOR
LI=2
186
POKE
188
U=26:I2=26:Z1=120:Z2=160
17:GOSUB
122:NEXT'FKEM
194
Hl=Hl+l:H2=H2-l:NEXT'FMVN
196
Hl=8:H2=9:FOR
198
Hl=Hl-l:H2=H2+l:NEXT'FMVR
200
J=1:FOR
202 204 206 208 210
POKE Z+J+LI*40,76:J=J+1:NEXT'HOCF J=9:FOR LI=9 TO 2 STEP-1'GICF POKE Z+J+LI*40,32:J=J+1:NEXT'HOTJ FOR B=l TO 480:READ BS:NEXT'FJAI FOR LI-4 TO 17:GOSUB 122:NEXT'FKGC
212
POKE
214
11 = 34: I2 = 30:Zl = 120:Z2 = 160
218
TO
17
LI=1
TO
8
118:NEXT'IAJO 118'HXDP LI=10
TO
TO
11
AA=101:Hl=0:H2=17:FOR
STEP-1'GKIC
AA-111:LI=1:FOR
LI=2
TO
J=l
TO
23
116:NEXTrHTHN
LI=2:FOR
J=4
TO
22:GOSUB
116
LI=3:FOR
J=8
TO
21:GOSUB
116
:NEXT'GNNG 224
LI=4:FOR
226
LI=12:FOR
228
LI=13:FOR
J=10
TO
17
AA=111:H1=0:H2=16:FOR
LI=2
TO
8
118'HXDK LI=10
TO
17
118'GSIM
256
H1=H1-1:H2=H2+1:NEXT'FMVM
258
AA=101:J=9:FOR
LI=3
TO
10
116:NEXT'HTMR
AA=32:LI=2:FOR
J=9
TO
17:GOSUB
"WAIT
5"
TAB(30)
116
17
HO$
U5
SS$
SSS'COFK 264
J=0:FOR
266
POKE
LI=17
268
FOR
B=l
:IF
B$<>"0"
TO
10
STEP-1'GKGM
Z+J+LI*40,76:J=J+1:NEXT'HOCP TO
766:READ
THEN
B$:NEXT
PRINT"DATA
ERROR"
:STOPrLNCW 270
FOR LI=3 TO 10:GOSUB :RETURN'GLXI
272
GOSUB
102:POKE
274
HO$"SUCCESS"SS5:POKE
278
K=5
THEN
122:NEXT
V+32,10:S(K)=1'EQNK
88'FRBQ
L%=L%+4:U%=U%-4:IF
K=l
OR
THEN
L%=L%+8:U%=U%+12'NDPY
POKE
V,L%:POKE
:POKE
K=4
V+1,U%
V+31,0'FQTR
280
GOSUB
102:POKE
282
SPC(3)
284
WAY OUT'"CFIO GET X5:IF X$=""
286
IF
214,22:PRINT'DLJH
RT$"AND
ASC(X$)<>13
:GOTO
198,0
FIND
THEN THEN
YOUR
284'EIJM GOSUB
102
284'HNOR
PRINT HO$;:FOR X=l :NEXT:PRINT'HPRT
290
IF
292
GOTO
KO5
THEN
POKE
294
W(K)=W%:MM(K)=FN
296
RESTORE:POKE
TO
38:PRINT
SS;
V+32,13'GILK
6'BBPH
:MS(K)=FN
TM(X)
TS(X):W%=0'GHFU V+32,14
-.POKE
V + 33,6'FNKQ
298
CLS
300
D$
POKE POKE
BL$
SPC(12)
SPC(4)"MENU"
MA$'CMAQ D$'CGOA
V+21,0:IF PEEK(V+16)<>0 THEN V+16,PEEK(V+16)AND 254'NYOM
20:GOSUB
116
302
J=7
TO
18:GOSUB
116
304
PRINT"1"S$
M$(l)",
306
PRINT"2"SS
J=7
TO
18:GOSUB
116
308
PRINT"3"S$
310
J=6
TO
19:GOSUB
116
312
PRINT"4"SS PRINT"5"SS
MS(2)'BHEF M$(3)", FRANCE"'BHIJ MS (4) ", ENGLAND"'BHKC M$(5)"f CRETE'"BHCE
314
:NEXT'GORM :NEXT'GOSF
LI=3
118:NEXT'IAJS
TO
:NEXT'GOQK
LI=14:FOR
122:NEXT'FKEJ
H1=7:H2=9:FOR
INEXT'GOEI
230
10
V+2186+9*40/l:RETURN'FLCL
Hl=Hl+l:H2=H2-l:NEXT'FMVI
:NEXT'GNJE
222
TO
B$:NEXT'FJEG
17:GOSUB
254
288
LI'ICAO
574:READ
TO
252
276
136'FAOJ 118:NEXT
TO
LI=8
LI'ICCL
248
:IF
17
118'GSJR
AA=101:H1=1:H2=24:FOR
:GOSUB
220
LI=2
V+2182+10*40,1:RETURN'FMNE
:GOSUB
116
POKE
136'FAUT
AA=111:H1=1:H2=16:FOR
216
18:GOSUB
246
B$:NEXT'FJYJ
192
:GOSUB
TO
LI=2
262
146:READ
LI=17
J=14
:NEXT'HSXK
AA=101:H1=1:H2=17:FOR
:GOSUB
116
B=l
116
190
:GOSUB
23:GOSUB
FOR
260
13:GOSUB
V+2184+12*40,1:RETURN'FMRO
:GOSUB
TO
118:NEXT
:GOS UB
J'GPBK
:GOSUB
J=4
AA=32:H1=11:H2=14:FOR
:GOSUB
118'FWUS TO
LI=5:FOR
:GOSUB
LI=5:FOR
TO
116
LI=17:FOR
:GOSUB
LI'HWBN
180
TO
22:GOSUB
FOR
17
AA=111:LI=9:H1=3:H2=16
J=10
TO
242
250
TO
178
:GOSUB
3=6
244
4
J'HTGQ
:NEXT
240
120'HEIQ
Ll=5:L2=13:FOR
:NEXT
LI=1
LI'IBDM
LI=14
118:NEXT
:J=24:GOSUB
116
LI=16:FOR
:GOSUB
166
:GOSUB
20:GOSUB
:NEXT'GOQN
118:NEXT'IAPN
LI=6
TO
:NEXT'GOOL
17
118'GTDQ
:GOSUB
J=5
:NEXT'GOOJ
156
176
234
9
118'HXFN
:GOSUB
LI=15:FOR :NEXT'GOKH
Z+J+16+LI*40/101:NEXT:NEXT'LAQO
D$
WIS"6
ENGLAND"'BHEF
RESULTS"'BFJG COMMODORE MW3AZINE
83
Game Programs/Historic Mazes 316
D$
318
SPC(10)"SELECT
320
GET
:GOSUB 322
BL$"7
A
400
NUMBER"
102'DHHN
KK$:IF
THEN
K=0
102:GOTO
OR
320'EKYD
K>7
THEN
SPC(3)"KNOSSOS-CRETE
[FRAGMENT]"'CCXG 402
KKS=""
K=VAL(KK$):IF
GOSUB
fc:ND"'BFDG
GOSUB
248:L=191:U=139:L%=119
:U%=155'FAMI 404
320'JSRK
GOSUB
414:GOSUB
:POKE
V+21,255'GVAK
428:POKE
324
IF
K=5
THEN
372'DFAG
406
POKE
326
IF
K=6
THEN
352'DFEH
408
328
IF
K=7
THEN
PRINT WIS CHR${115) S$"ARIADNE"'CKAL
410
POKE
412
414
POKE
CL$"END"
:END'FGTM 330
POKE
332
ON
V+33,5:POKE
:PRINT K
V+32,13
COS'FQWG
GOSUB
:GOSUB
414'DUKH
S(K)=0:TI5="000000":GOTO
336
338
L%=167:U%=219:GOSUB
6'DLGJ
416
MS(1)'CIPI 148
418
344 346
L%=203:U%=147 :GOSUB
348
350
L%=255:U%=155
SPC(13)
420 422
356
FOR
358
IF
WIS
J=l
TO
S(J)=1
CHRS(115) 360
IF
WI5
MM(J)
428
POKE
2041,14:POKE
SPC(15)
BLS
BA5
W?
430
POKE
432
POKE
MS(J)
434
BA$
W(J);
438
372
374
BAS
KI=0
THEN
US"MINOTAUR
TAB(5)
366'FINJ
GOT
YOU"D$
BLS
DS
RT$"FOR MENU"
102'DOBQ
KKS:IF
KK$=""
THEN
368'EKLP
296'BDQF CLS:KI=0:MK=0
SPC(10) DS"YOU
TWO
CHOICES
376
378
EYE VIEW"D$'BKHS PRINT BA$"R"BL$ SS"REALISTIC-MAZE
WIS"E"BLS
S$"EASY-BIRD'S
DARK"D$'BKWV
SPC(5)"SELECT"S$
WI$"E"S$
BL$"OR"SS
BA$"R":GOSUB
382
GET
YS=""
384
IF Y$OHE" 382'HHQP
386
POKE
388
IF
Y$="E"
THEN
GRS'EFCQ
390
IF
YS="R"
THEN
BA$'EFSJ
392
CLS
TAB(32)
YS:IF
AND
THEN
102'DVWO
382'EIKL
YS<>"R"
THEN
WIS:IF
V+33,0'ELJP
Y$="R"
I=S%+15
TO
S%+62:POKE
1,0
POKE DEF
444
DEF FN TS(X)=INT(TI/60)-60*FN TM(X)'ISIP
U$"WAIT
10"'GOCQ
396
IF
Y$="E"
THEN
GOSUB
136'EFFP
398
IF
YS="R"
THEN
GOSUB
140'EFNR
V+2,L:POKE FN
V+3,U:RETURN'FKQH
TM(X)=INT(T1/3600)'FNEK
446 448
V-53248:M=54272:S=832:S%=896
450
DS=CHRS(17) :U$=CHR$ (14 5)
:Z=1150:ZZ=1024'GMPW
:L$=CHR$(157):RS=CHR$(29) :SS=CHRS(32)'KLJR
452
CL$=CHR$(147):BLS=CHR$(154) :WI$=CHRS(5):BRS=CHRS(149)'IIQR
454
BA$=CHR$(144):GRS=CHRS(151) :HOS=CHR$(19)'GANQ
456 458
MS (1)="HAMPTON COURT"'BFQO MS (2)="MATHEMATICAL MAZE"'BFIR
460
M$(3)="TUILERIES"'BFBI
462
MS (4)="HATFIELD
464
468
MS (5)="KNOSSOS":WS = "WALL HITS :" 'CISQ COS=BRS+CLS:TS=WIS+"TIME:"'EPNR RTS="PRESS"+S$+CHR$(18)
470
FOR
THEN
11=26:I2=26:Zl=120:Z2=160'EVXR
MAY 1988
S%+13,31
5%+14,0'GVTP
442
466
V+32,0:POKE
394
84
S%+12,0:POKE
440
MS(5)'FUTN
HAVE
:"D$'BEUP
380
S%+10,31
S%+11,0'GUBM
:NEXT'HOYQ
:GOSUB
IS
FOR
S%+7,31
S%+8,fei'GSOK S%+9,0:POKE
POKE
S%+2,0'GAAQ
S%+5,0'GSFI S%+5,0'GSF
:POKE
TAB(20)
TAB(33)
POKE
S%,0
S%+4,31
S%+6,0:POKE
:POKE
436
V+39,1'ELPI
S%+3,0:POKE
:POKE
WI$
BLS;'FHBQ THEN
,.
V+l,U%:RETURN'ELYK
S%+1,31:POKE
:POKE
TAB{29)
DS'BJTO
GOTO
S+62:POKE
214
M$(J);'ENHN
370
TO
GOSUB
5:PRINT
PRINTrNEXT:IF
GET
I=S+12
V,L%:POKE
THEN
364
368
S+10,15
V+21,1:POKE
SEC"D$'FWUP
362
POKE
S+11,0'GRRH 0 'GRRH
POKE
lHICP
366
S + 9,0
POKE S+7,15 'GPFO
POKE
TS
S+1,15
S+4,15
426
CL$
S,0:POKE
'GPWM
424
TAB(20)"MIN
MS(J)<>0
POKE
S+8,l
:POKE
TAB(21)
S+6,0
POKE
CISL
V+32,13:PRINT
S+5,1
MS(4)
WI$"RESULTS"DS'ESVM 354
POKE
FOR
334'DLBI
:NEXT'HMXJ
:RETURN'EQEH POKE
S+3,0
:POKE
188
:RETURN'CQIM
352
POKE
211,28'D' DOLD
MINOTAUR
S+2,0'GWOL
:POKE
PRINT SPC(ll) M$(2)'CIOD L%=55:U%=147:GOSUB 168:RETURN'EPNI PRINT SPC(10) MS(3)'CIOH
340
ARROW]
2040,13:POKE
:POKE
:RETURN'EQNN 342
BR$"[BACK
:POKE
334
211,16'DNNI
214,10:PRINT:POKE 14,10:PRINT:POKE
:RR=1:GOTO GOTO
336,340,344,348
SPC(13)
214,4:PRINT:POKE
V+40,2
HOUSE"'BFDL
+"<RETURN>"+CHRS(146)+SS1IQCY 1=1
TO
5:SS$=SSS+S$:NEXT
:RETURN'HOUM 472
DATA
7,S,8,V,12,V,15,S,16,V,22,S,
0'BERN
474
DATA 8,V,9,V,14,S,15,V,16,L,21,S, 0'BENP
Game Programs/Historic Mazes 476
DATA
9, L,11,S,12, V,15, L,17,S,20,S,
0'BFPR
L,22,S,0'BMVM
\
1
i
480
5, S,6,V,12,L ,16,S ,17,V,18,V, 0 'BENT DATA 2, L,3,S,16,V ,21,H ,0'BTBK
482
DATA
L,2,S,11,8 3,16, V,22,H,0,2,
J
478
DATA
1,
DATA
488
.. ■ i
2, L,8,L,12,L ,22,H ,0,1,L,12,S,
>
DATA
I j
DATA DATA DATA DATA
506
1,S,2,H,19,H,22,L,23,H,24,S,
12,V,13,V,14,S,17,L,21,H,
0'BBTQ
2, V,7,V,16,S ,17,L ,21,S,22,V,
50
2, V,3,V,8,V, 15,S, 16,L,20,S, 5, S,7,S,14,S ,17,S ,19,H,20,H,
1,
DATA
6,L,9,S,12,V,13,V,14,L,21,V,
552
0'BEXK DATA 5,L,13,V,14,L,0,2,L,9,S,13,V,
554
DATA
14,V,15,S,0'BPRO
2,H,3,S,4,L,5,L,14,V,15,L,22,
L,0,1,L,2,H,3,L,0'BVTS
S,11,H,12, S,14, H,19,L,20,S,
556
DATA
8,S,16,H,17,S,0,7,S,8,V,10,V,
15,H,16,S,3'BPAS
DATA
3, H , 6 , H , 7 , H , 8 , H , 9 ,L,10,S,14, H,15, L, 16,H,17,L, 18,Sf 20,S,2 3,H,
560
DATA 8 , V , 10 , L , 14 , II, 1 5 , S , 0 , 9 , L , 1 3 , H,14,S,0'BLBU DATA 8,S,12,H,13,S,0,7,S,8,V,1U,V,
3'BLJQ
562
DATA
DATA
2, H,5,L,7,L, 10,H, 11,S,13,L,
558
14,S, 18 ,L,19,S,20 ,L,21 ,S,0'BDXM 504
DATA
DATA
21,H, 22 ,H,0'BPWH 502
2,L,3,H,0,1,L,2,H,3,S,12,83,
48
23,S, 0' BJEW
500
DATA
13,H,14,H,20,H,2 3,S,01BXQT
6, S,17,S,21, L,22, S,23,V,
21,V, 22 ,L,23,S,0' BSVW 498
4,3,10^,11^,13^,14^,15,3,
46
0 'BEGR 496
DATA
0'BELN DATA 2,S,8,L,9,H,10,L,11,H,12,S,
0 'BAHO 494
3,H,4,H,8,L,9,H,10,H,11,S,14,
23,H,0'BJDM
0'BFYN 492
DATA
0'BFDJ
DATA 5, V,6,L,7,S, 8,V,12,V,13,V,17, V,18, V, 19,L,20,H, 0'BWBW DATA 3, L,5,L,7,V, 8,V,12,V,13,L,19, DATA
9,L,10,H,11,H,19,S,20,S,
H,15,H,16,S,17,S,0'BWBU
3, S,6,V,7,L, 12,S, 16,V,17,V,
L,21, H, 0'BMMW
490
DATA
0'BAFN
18,V, 0' BUR
486
8,S,10,H,11,H,12,S,13,H,14,S,
15,L,21,S,H'BPKO
H,16, V, 22,S,0'BQT Q
484
DATA
DATA
5, L,9,S,10,L ,12,V ,13,L,17,S,
ll,H,12,S,fci'BPJN
7,H,8,V,10,L,11,S,0,10,S,
0'BBIM
END
22,L, 23 ,S,0'BOJN
510
4, S,6,S,8,S, 9,L,1 0,H,11,S,12, L,13, H, 14,H,15,H, 16,S, 22,H,0'BHIT DATA 2, S,4,L,5,H, 8,L,9 ,S,11,S,13,
512
S,15, s. 18,L,19,H, 0'BVOK DATA 3, L,4,S,6,H, 7,L,8 ,S,10,211,
513
DATA
508
DATA
COMPUTER
11,H1 BGOI 12 ,L,13,L,14 ,L,16 ,L,17,H,18,
H,19, H1 BJXK
514
DATA
2tf ,S,0,3,S,5 , L, 6, H,7,H,8,H,
10, S' BGIL 515
DATA
12 ,S,14,S,15 ,L, 16 ,S,18,H,19,
H,20, H, 0'BLCN 516
DATA
2, V,3,L,5,V, 8,S,10,L,12,L,14,
V,15, V, 17,V,18,V, 21,S, 22,V,23,V, 0'BMTT 518
520
DATA
2, L, 6,H,7,S , 8,V,13,S,14,V,15,
L,16
s, 17,V,18,V, 19,L, 20,S,21,V,
22,V
BPPW
DATA
20,S ,21,L,23,V,
0'BMPO
1 ,L,13,L,18 ,L,0, 3,S,9,V,0,9, L,0, 0, 3,S,9,V,0' SSAM
522
DATA
524
DATA
9 ,L,11,L,12 ,H,15 ,L,16,H,
0'BATK 526
from any standard video source videolape, camera, disk lor display on your Commodore bA or 128 Capture time n> less than six seconds ComputerEyes has everything you need
23,V,B,7,L, L0,L, L2,S,13,V,14,
L,17 ,V ,18,V,19,L
Capture Video Images: only $129. 95 Now you can easily and inexpensively acquire images
DATA 2 ,L,3,H,5,L , 6, H, 10,L,11,H,12, rH ,14,L,15,H ,16,H ,17,S,0'BHPT
H,13
3 ,S,6,S,8,211,10 ,H,11,H,12,S, 14,H ,15,H,16,S,0 •BUUS
528
DATA
530
DATA
532
9,L, 0, DATA 16,S,17,L,23,S,0 ,5,S,15,S,16,
HfS,15,S,0 ,4,S, 0,8,S,9,V,0, 0,8,S,9,V, 0,9,L ,0>BBMN
Interface hardware, complete easy-to-use sollware support on disk, owner s manual, and optional enhancement
software And it s compatible with virtually all popular graphics programs Think of the pus-nbiiilicb1 ComputerEyes is backed by a one year warranty and the success of over 10.000 systems sold Sdtistdotion
guaranteed or return it within ten ddys 'Of tull refund
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S&h £4 for ComputeiEyes 19 Carneta Sysiem Mass tebiJe MJ6-- sales tax
COMMODORE M/^AZINE
85
GAME PROGRAMS'
Bulls and Bears for the Commodore 64
Bulls and Bears is a one- or two-player stock market simulation for the Commodore 64. You start with S10,000, and at the beginning of each quarter for the next ten years you can choose from a variety of investments in an attempt to maximize the return on your portfolio. Two screens appear during each turn. The first displays the current value of your portfolio including the value of the stocks you own, your cash balance, any dividends you received that turn, your margin balance, and any interest the broker charges. The second screen shows the stocks that can be traded, the dividend each stock pays, their current prices, the amount the price has changed that quar ter, and the number of shares you own. This screen also displays the current val ue of four market indexes, the amount of cash you have, total commissions you have paid that turn, and your market bal ance.
All trading is done while the second screen is displayed. Tb buy a stock press B, to sell press S, and to end your turn press E. When buying or selling a stock you will be asked to input the three-letter symbol for the stock (just pressing RETURN will cancel the transaction) and the number of shares you wish to trade. When buying a stock you will be asked if you want to buy on margin, and after selling a stock you will be asked if you want to pay margin. Before making your investment deci sions, study the four market indexes. These indexes are interrelated and affect the performance of individual invest ments. An increase in the energy index will cause a rise in the inflation index.
Rising inflation will stimulate economic growth and cause interest rates to rise, but high inflation will have a negative im pact on the economy. Low interest rates will aid economic growth, and high rates will put downward pressure on inflation. There are ten major stocks traded dur
ing the game: BNK: a banking stock that performs best when interest rates are lower. RIT: a real estate investment trust 86
MAY 1988
GORDON KIBBEE
stock that does best in periods of low inter est rates but is more volatile than BNK. UTL: a utility stock that is aided by lower interest rates and low energy prices. CON: a consumer products company whose shares rise during periods of eco nomic growth. DEF: the stock of a defense contractor that has an unpredictable performance. MFC!: a manufacturing stock that does well as the economic index increases. GMC: an auto company stock that per forms best in a growing economy but can be very volatile. TWA: an airline stock which is helped by low energy prices. EXO: an oil company stock that does well during periods of increasing energyprices. MIN: an extremely volatile mining stock that fluctuates with the inflation rate.
In addition there are two income invest ments:
BND: a corporate bond whose price changes inversely to interest rates. MKT: a money market fund whose share price does not change but whose dividend fluctuates with interest rates. Investments pay their dividends to share holders at the end of each year except MKT which pays one-fourth of its divi dend each quarter. If the price of a stock drops to zero the company is bankrupt and you will lose any shares you own. The company will restructure and its stock will begin trad ing again the next quarter. If the price of a stock climbs to $200 the stock will split. The number of shares you own will be
doubled, and the share price will be halved. In the first quarter of the first eight years a new issue will be offered. These stocks pay no dividends and are extremely volatile. If the price of one of these stocks drops to zero then the company is bank rupt, and the stock is removed from the game.
When you buy a stock you can borrow
money from your broker either by allow ing your cash balance to go below zero
(but usually not lower than -$1000) or by buying on margin. When you buy on mar gin you pay only half the cost of the stock, and the broker lends you the other half. When you sell a stock you will be given a chance to pay part or all of your margin balance. The broker charges two percent interest per quarter on margin balances and negative cash balances. In addition, the broker charges a commission often
dollars plus ten cents per share on each transaction.
If your margin balance exceeds half the value of your portfolio, you will be faced with a margin call. You will have to pay offa certain amount of your margin bal ance before you will be allowed to trade. When the value of your portfolio drops be
low zero then you are bankrupt and the
game ends.
Remember to watch the indexes. What goes up will most likely come down and vice versa. Be careful when buying stocks on margin. A sharp decline in the value of a margined stock could force you into
bankruptcy. Only the bravest (or most
foolhardy) investor should buy the new is sues on margin.
g
Game Programs/Bulls and Bears" Before typinn ilii-i program, read 'How to Enter Programs" and "Him to I sc Ihe Magazine Entry Program." The BASIC programs in iliis magazine are available »n disk from Loadstar. P.0 Box 30008. Stampon. LA 71130-000'', 1-800-831-2694.
Bulls and Bears 0
5
PRINT"[CLEAR]":X=RND(-TI) :POKE 53280,13:POKE 53281,l'GXNH
PRINT"IDOWN6]"SPC{12)"[RVS,GREEN] BULLS
AND
DIM
NS (20) ,D(20) ,P(20) ,C(20) ,
Pl(20) ,P2(20) ,SP(12) ,B(20) ,I$(9) ,
S(20)'BNQJ 15
C=7:GOSUB
980:INPUT"[BLACK]
NUMBER
PLAYERS
OF
NP>2
20
IF
25
PRINT:C=9:GOSUB
:GOTO
IF
OR
NP<1
1
(1/2)";NP'DKUM
THEN
35
IF
40
PRINT:GOSUB
980:INPUT"[BLACK]
THEN
PRINT"[UP3]"
THEN
IF
980:INPUT"PLAYER
LEN(P2S)<>3
GOTO
THEN
2
PRINT"[UP3]"
40'HJXM
50
YR = 1:I3 = 6:M(1)=10000:M(2) =10000
55
FOR
PL=1'FGLL X=l
TO
12:READ
NS(X),D(X)
P(X)=100:NEXT'GYIO 60
P(ll)=120:FOR NEXT:FOR READ
65
X=l
TO
TO
20
X=13
8:READ
I$(X)
NS (X) ,P (X) :NEXT'LMCQ
PRINT" [CLEAR] ":S1 = 0:S2 = 0 FOR
X=l
TO
20 : S1 = S1 + Pl (X)*P(X)
S2=S2+P2(X)*P(X):NEXT'NRDB
70
N1 = 1 NT(Ml*.02) :N2=INT(M2*.02) 'GTEL
75
IF
M(1)<0
THEN
N1=N1-INT(M(1)*.02)
THEN
N2 = N2-I NT(M(2)*.02)
'HSEQ M(2)<0
80
IF
85
M(1)=M(1)-Nl+D1:M(2)=M(2)-N2+D2
'HSIM :T1=S1+M(1)-M1:T2=M(2)+S2-M2'MWLC
90
PRINT"[BLUE,SPACE2]YEAR :"YR"[SPACE3]QUARTER:"Q :GOSUB
95
100
1025'CIJM
PRINT [SHFT
TAB(18)P1$:PRINT *3]"'EKOQ
TAB(18)"
PRINT"STOCKS"SPC(15-LEN(STRS(SI) ) ) " [GREEN] "Sl'FLOC
105
IF
M(1)<0
THEN
"M(l):GOTO
PRINT"[BLACK]
115'JYEM
PRINT"[BLACK]CASH"SPC(17-LEN(STRS (M(l))))"[GREEN]"M(l)'FPUE
115
PRINT"[BLACK]DIVIDENDS"SPC(12-LEN PRINT11 [BLACK]MARGINS"SPC(14-LEN
(STR$(M1)))"(RED]"Ml'FLWF 125
PRINT"[BLACK]INTEREST"SPC(13-LEN
(STR$(Nl))}"[RED]"Nl'FLRK 130
SPC(15)"[BLACK,SHFT
175'DGEG
M(2)<0
THEN
SPC(33-LEN(STR$(M(2))))"[RED]"M(2) :GOTO
160'JYGK
155
SPC(33-LEN(STRS(M(2)))}"
160
[GREEN]"M(2)'FPUL
165
SPC(33-LEN(STR$(D2)))"
SPC(33-LEN(STR$(M2)))"[RED]
"M2:PRINT
SPC(33-LEN(STRS(N2)))
N2'KXBR
170
SPC(27)"[BLACK,SHFT
* 6] "
SPC(33-LEN (STRS (T2) ) )
T2'HPHO
175
PRINT:PRINT:PRINT"[SPACE2,RVS] SPACE
TO
:POKE
198,0'EIGQ
CONTINUE [RVOFF] "
180
GET
A$=""THEN
180'EIIH
185
IF
A$OCHR$(32)THEN
A$:IF
180'FJRN
190
IF
BR(1)=1
OR
BR(2)=1
THEN
1105'FQFK
195
IF
200
PRINT"[CLEAR]":GOSUB
YR=10
205
IF
210 215 220
IF EN<-5 THEN Y=Y+1'GGAC EN=EN+Y:C1=Y:GOSUB 1090'EOLI IF Il>9 THEN Y=Y-1'FGNC
225 230
IF IK-5 THEN Y = Y + 1'GGAI I1=I1+C1+Y:C2=C1+Y:GOSUB
235
IF
240
I2=I2+C2+Y:C3=C2+Y:GOSUB
EN>9
AND
Q=4
THEN
Y=-2
THEN
1105'FKGO 1090'CFOX
Y=Y-1'FGNF
THEN
1090'GSWH
Y=0'FEJI 1090
: I3 = I3 + Y:C4=Y'JDPM
245
IF
I2<-6
250
IF
I1-13>2
255
:C4=C4+1'IQOJ IF Il-l3<-2 THEN
THEN
I 2=I 2+1:C3=C3+1'IOSN
THEN
13=13+1
13=13-1
:C4=C4-1'JQIP 260 265
IF IF
I3<2 I3<5
270
IF
I3>12
275
D(12)=I3-2'CIUL
280
IF
D(12)<4
THEN
D(12)=4'EMNI
285
IF
D(12)>9
THEN
D(12)=9!EMVN
290
GOSUB
THEN THEN
13 = 2:C4 = 0'FKIH 11=11 + 1:C2=C2 + 1'HOYO
THEN
11 = 11-1:C2=C2-1'HPUK
1100:C(1) = (C3-C4J*Y
295
IF
P(ll)>160
300
IF
P(ll)<70
305
GOSUB
*6]"
:PRINT"TOTAL"SPC(16-LEN(STR$(Tl)})
THEN THEN
C(11)=0'EOJP C(11)=C(11)
+5'FSDD :GOSUB
(STRS(Dl)))"[GREEN]"Dl'FLSJ 120
THEN
:C(11)=-(10*C4)'HDEP
CASH"SPC(17-LEN(STR$(M(1))))"[RED] 110
NP-1
[GREEN]"S2IFLBJ
50'DFYH
INITIALS";P2$'DJAI 45
IF
PRINT"[UP2]"
25'HJAG
NP=1
150
INITIALS";P1$'EMQN
LEN(Pl$)<>3
:GOT0
145
PRINT"[HOME,DOWN3]"SPC(30)"[BLACK] "P2S:PRINT SPC(30)"[SHFT *3]"'EKSG PRINT SPC(33-LEN(STR$(S2)))"
[GREEN]"D2'FLVG
15'HJCF
PLAYER
30
IF
14 0
BEARS[RVOFF]"
CPRINT"[DOWN3]"'DEJL 10
Tl'HPJM 135
310
GOSUB
1100:C(4)=(C2+C3)*Y 1100:C (5) = (C2+C3)*Y-2'JJSO 1100:C(9)=C1*Y*2:GOSUB
1100
:C{7)=(C3-C4-C1)*Y'JHVK 315
GOSUB
1100:C(6)=C3*Y:GOSUB
1100
:C(3)=-(C1+C4)*Y*2'JFWP 320
GOSUB :GOSUB
325
GOSUB
1100:C(10)=(C2+C4)*Y*2 1100:C(2)=-(C2+C4)*Y*2'LLTN 1100:C{8)=-Cl*Y:C(9)=C(9)+C1
:C(10)=C(10)+(5*C2) :GOSUB
1100'KTBT COMMODORE MA3AZINE
87
Game Programs/Bulls and Bears 330
IF
I2>5
THEN
:NEXT'IHBN
C(4)=C(4)+Y
:C(7)=C(7)+Y:C(6)=C{6)+Y1JHXM 335
IF
I2<0
THEN
C(4)=C(4)-Y
:C(7)=C(7)-(Y*2):C(6)=C(6)-(Y*2) 'LNLU 340
GOSUB
345
IF
505
PRINT"[SHFT
510
IF
PL=2
THEN
515
IF
QO1
OR
520
GOSUB
I3>10
THEN
:
C (1)=C{1)-(2*Y}
:C(2)=C(2)-(3*Y):C(3)=C(3)-Y'LONV 350
IF
I3<5
THEN
C(1)=C(1)+(2*Y)
355
FOR
360
IF
365
C(X)=C(X)+(2*Y):NEXT'ENTN
370
FOR
375
IF
:C(2)=C(2)+(3*Y):C{3)=C(3)+Y'LNSR X=l
TO
10:Y= INT (RND(1)*1S)
Y>6
THEN
X=l
TO
B(X)=1
Y=Y-1B'FGAH ll'DESG
THEN
P(X)=100
FOR
530
IF
B(X)<>1
535
IF
NW-0
380
P(X)=P(X)+C(X)'CMHJ
385
IF
P(X)=<0
390
IF
P(X)>199
THEN
NEXT'BAEL
400
FOR
X=l
:GOTO 405
TO
P (X)=INT ( P (X)/2)
1G:IF
SP{X)=0
THEN
NEXT
410'IPCG
Pi(X)=P1(X)*2:P2(X)=P2(X)*2
FOR
415
IF
X=13
THEN
IF
425
NEXT'BAEF
B(X)=1
NEXT
430
FOR
X=13
THEN
555
IF
NW=O
560
1090
P(X)>0
THEN
NEXT:GOTO
450'FJIK
440
IF
B(X)=2
THEN
NEXT:GOTO
450'FJWG
445
Pl(X)=t;:P2(X)=G):P(X)=U:B(X)=l
450
Q=Q+1:IF
455 460 463
IF NP=1 OR PL=1 THEN 470'FJYN PL$=P2S:M=M(2):MT=M2:TL=M-MT'FXGN FOR X = l TO 20:S (X)=P2 (X)
465
GOTO
:NEXT'FBSQ y»1:YR=YR+1'IOKM
:TL=TL+S (X)*P{X):NEXT'IDIT
PLS=P1S:M=M(1):MT=M1:TL=M-MT'FXDO
473
FOR
475
GOSUB
20:S(X)=P1(X)
:TL=TL+S(X)*P(X):NEXT*IDHU TL<0
THEN
PRINT"(CLEAR] ":PRINT"[HOME,BLUE]
YEAR:"YR" PLAYER: 485
"PL$'CHUQ
[SPACE3]SHRS
DIV
[SHFT
'[SPACE3JSHRS" ' BAAW 490
PRINT"[SHFT
[SHFT
*3]
[SHFT SHFT 495
FOR
*3J
[SHFT
-,SHFT
PRC
CHG
-JSTK
PRC
[SHFT
TO
583 585
[SHFT
X=l
THEN TO
585'DGPN
3000:NEXT'EHWJ
IF
BR(PL)=1
THEN
PR I NT"[SPACE2,
:PRINT"[UP]"SPC(23)"[BLACK,SHFT -] ":GOTO 605'HPFV IF MC>0 THEN PRINT:GOTO 605'FHDR PRINT" [BLACK,RVS]B(RVOFF]UY [SPACE4,RVS]S[RVOFF]ELL[SPACE4,
RVS)E[RVOFF]XIT[SPACE3,SHFT
-]
605
PRINT"[SHFT
*13,
610 615
CMDR X]"'BAMD PRINT"[HOME]":PRINT:PRINT'DCGD FOR X=13 TO 12+IP:Y=LEN(STR$(S{X))
"'BATI
*15,CMDR
R,SHFT
):Z=9-LEN(STRS{P(X)))'LDNT
620 625
63U
IF B(X)=2 THEN NEXT:GOTO PRINT SPC(24)"[PURPLE]
630'FJWG
"P(X)SPC(2-Y)S(X)
:NEXT'FUGP L=10:GOSUB
635
985:PRINT SPC(23)" [BLACK,CMDR Q,SHFT *15]'"ELTU PRINT SPC(26)" (ORANGE,RVS]
640
*4]
SPC(24)"
ENERGY[SPACE4]"EN
:PRINT SPC(24)" "12'LLTN
655
ECONOMY[SPACE3]
PRINT SPC{24)" INTEREST[SPACE2] "I 3 :PR1NT SPC{24)" INFLATION "Il'ELRT PRINT
SPC(23)"[BLACK,CMDR
660
12:Y=LEN(STRS(S(X)))
PRINT"[GREEN]CASH="M TS
PRINT"[UP3]"SPC(15)"[BLACK,SHFT
11 : PRINT :PRINT
665
SPC(15) " [SHFT SPC(15) " [SHFT
PRINT" [SHFT
* 15,CMDR
-]" -]'"GLPQ
E,SHFT
11 'BAPP
"D{X)SPC(4-Yl)P(X)SPC(3~Z)C(X)SPC
670
IF
(6-Y)S (X) " [BLACK,SHFT
675
FOR
-] "
E,
* 15 j "'CDTT
:PRINT"COMM="CM:PRINT"MARG="MT'DH
*3,SPAC£3,
PRINT"IBLUEJ"NS(X)"
MAY 1988
NW=0
SHFT
:Z=LEN(STRS(C(X)))'MKGD
88
SPLIT"
NW=0:L=15:GOSUB 985'DLUP FOR X=l TO 6:PRINT SPC(5)" [SPACE31]":NEXT'GHJQ L=15:GOSUB 985'CHIM PRINT"[UP]"SPC(23)"[BLACK,CMDR W]
:Y1=LEN(STR$(P(X)))
500
2-F0R-1
575 580
650
*4]"'BAME X=l
DECLARES
IF
645
*3J
* 3,SPACE 3,SHFT
*3|
565'FKSJ
1030:NW=1'FLJO
FOR
QUARTER:"Q"I SPACE4]
PRINT"[BLACK]STK
NEXT:GOTO
GOSUB
INDEXES[RVOFF]"'CDUN
BR(PL)=1'FPSQ 480
THEN
SPC(6)"[GKEEN]
"NS (X) "
470
1035:IF
11'DESK THEN
570
475'BDPK
TO
TO
565
595 600
IF
X=l
X=l
BANKRUPTCY":NEXT'DIPM
SP(X)=O
X
B(X)=2'EKGE
THEN
545'GJXH
1030:NW=1'FLDM
RED,RVS]BANKRUPT[RVOFF]"
TO(12+IP):GOSUB
Q=5
NEXT:GOTO
GOSUB
SPC(6)"[RED]"NS(X)"
IF
:P(X)=P(X)+Y'HYBK
435
12+IP'EGGK THEN
THEN
550
430'FKAJ
420
TO
FOR
590
TO112+1P)'LJMD
B(X)=0
:GOTO
ISSUE
"'CDNP
:SP(X)=1:NEXT'GGPO 410
525'GIWK
:SP{X)=0:NEXT'EPAQ
:SP(X)=1'HAMQ 395
"NS(X)"
P (X)=0:B(X)=1'GQMR
THEN
X=l
545
:B(X)=0'FSUQ
THEN
SPC(6)"[BLUEJNEW
DECLARES
■HNKO
YR>8
"IS (IP) 'GXEN
525
540
X]"'BAXW
585'DGID
103(*:NW-1:IP-IP+1
1100'BEDC
*23,CMDR
BR(PL)=0 X=l
TO
THEN
680'DKAL
2000:NEXT
*23]
-]
Game Programs/Bulls and Bears :GOTO 680
IF
685
L=15:GOSUB
MC=0
MARGIN 690
875
1050'FMCR THEN
705'DGNL
985:PRINT"
[RED,RVS]
CALL:[RVOFFj"MC'DKIV
PRINT" [UP] "SPC(23) " [BLACK,SHFT GOSUB
825:MC=MC-X: IF
-]
MO0
THEN
PRINT" [UP2] "SPC(14) " [SPACE7]" :GOTO
700
[BLACK,RVS]B[RVOFF]UY
[SPACE4,RVS]S[RVOFF]ELL[SPACE4,
RVS] E [RVOFF] X IT [SPACE 3] '"BAIK 705
POKE
710
GET A$:IF
198,0'BFXH
715
IF
A$="B"THEN
:GOTO 720
IF
A$=""TH£N GOSUB
A$="S"THEN
725
IF
730
GOTO
735
GOSUB
710'EIHG
GOSUB
735 825
745
IF
A$="Y"THEN
750
IF
ASO"N"THEN
755
GOSUB
990:IF
740'EIKJ
MR=1:GOTO
MR=0
765
IF
M-Z/2<-1000
Y>12
IF
Y=0
905
L=Y+1:GOSUB
THEN THEN
985:PRINT
SPC(17)"
PRINT"[UP]"SPC(22-Z)S(Y)
915
:RETURN'EJOJ L=Y-11:FOR X=13 :IF B(X)=2 THEN
920
NEXT:GOSUB
TO Y L=L-1'KSJT
985:PRINT SPC(32)"
PRINT"[UP]"SPC(3 8-LEN(STRS(S(Y)))) PRINT
TAB(19)"[RED]
X=l
INPUT"'CDGM
935
FOR
TO
940
L=17:GOSUB
985'CHKJ
945
FOR
3:PRINT
X=l
TO
2000:NEXT'EHVO TAB(16)"
950
L=17:GOSUB
955
PRINT NOT
985:RETURN'DIEL
TAB(19)"[RED]
ENOUGH
MONEY":GOTO
960
PRINT TAB(19)"[RED] NOT ENOUGH SHARES"'CDHP
965
FOR
X=l
TO
965'DHWU
20t)0:NEXT
:PRINT"[UP2]"SPC(21)"[SPACE16]
GOSUB
955
"'GLHX
MT=MT+INT(Z/2):M-M-INT(Z/2)
975
L=18:GOSUB
:GOTO
980
POKE
211,C:RETURN'CGWN 211,C
985
POKE
214,L:PRINT:RETURN'DHOT 214,L
990
A$="X":Y=0:GOSUB 940:C=22 A$="X":Y=0 :GOSUB 980: INPUT" [BLACK]STOCK";
IF
1020:GOTO
765'JTKV
785'JTES
M-Z<-1000
:GOSUB
THEN
1020:GOTO X=0
GOSUB
955
775'ISTV
780
M=M-2:IF
785
S (Y)=S(Y)+X'CJXR
790
2-INT(X*.l)+1:M=M-Z
THEN
795'FJFO
TAB(19)"[SPACE18]"'CDPO
IF
950'BDRQ TAB(7)"[SPACE8]"SPC(4)"
IF
LEN'(AS)<>3
GOSUB PRINT
805
[SPACE20]"'DEFN
1010
NEXT'BAET
810
1015
IF
815
[SPACE20] " 'DEFJ GOSUB 950:PRINT"[GREEN]CASH="M
1000
:GOTO
[SPACE20]"'DEFI
100 5
TAB(7)"[SPACE8]"SPC(4)"
1020
:PRINT"COMM="CM:PRINT"MARG="MT'EL
825
GOSUB
990: IF
830
IF
:GOTO
GOSUB
845'EJVN
960:GOSUB
MT=0
THEN
IF
845
SPC(22)"[BLACK]PAY
GOSUB
:POKE
198,0'DJKS
850
GET
855
IF
AS="Y"THEN
870'DFPP
860
IF
A$="N"THEN
GOSUB
865
GOTO
870
C=22:GOSUB
AS=""THEN
790'FRJR
940:RETURN'FHQK
1040
20:IF
A$=N$(X)THEN
Y=0
THEN
GOSUB
930
:COTO
990'FJAD
GOSUB
980:X=0:INPUT"[BLACK]
PRINT"[BLACK]
[SHFT
*38]"
SPC(13)"[ORANGE]
NEWS*":RETURN'DEAC
TL=M-MT:FOR
X=l
IF
TO
20
MT>INT(TL/2)THEN
1045
MC=0:RETURN'CEHE
1050
CM=0:TR=0'CHBB
1055
IF
QO4
:GOTO 1060
850'BDMO
X'DKLO
TO
MC=MT-INT(TL/2)rRETURN'KRCH
940
:RETURN'FGMM
93£i
:TL=TL+P(X)*S(X):NEXT'JYAN
MARGIN?"
850'EIML
X=l
*MARKET 1035
840
AS:IF
1030
1020
830'GRAM
M=M+2:S(Y)=S(Y)-X:GOSUB
GOSUB
:RETURN'CBIF
950:RETURN'DIPH
AS="XllrIHEN
X>S(Y)THEN
FOR
THEN
990'HMHY
SHARES";X:Z=X*P(Y):RETURN'GRRF 1025
TR
890:GOSUB
940
Y=X'HOTF
TAB(7)"[SPACE8]"SPC(4)"
GOSUB
GOSUB
A$="X"THEN
:RETURN'FGWV
795 800
820
985:RETURN'DIFS
AS'GVNW 995
:CM=CM+Z+10(JTUU
835
915'DGLT RETURN'ECAF
910
775'DGKK
THEN
X=MT'EGJO
970
:GOSUB
775
IF
900
AS="X"THEN
IF
770
THEN
895
755'FJLP
740'EFDJ
RETURN'FGCP
760
THEN
[SPACE22] '^NEXT'GIVU
198,0'FRHU
A$=""THEN
X>MT
INCORRECT
950:MR=0:PRINT SPC(21)" [BLACK]BUY ON MARGIN?"
:POKE
M=M-X:MT=MT-X:GOTO 795'FNGV Z = LEN(STR5(S(Y)))'DJYP
93G
705'BDLF
GET AS:IF
IF
885 890
S (Y) :RETURN'GQAR
1050'DGJL
740
955
880
925
705'FJOI
AS="E"THEN
GOSUB
[PURPLE,SPACE6]"'EIHK
705'FJXM
:GOTO
THEN
870'HNAV
[BLUE,SPACE5]"'FLDO
685'JUDB
PRINT"IUP2]
M-X<-1000
:GOTO
"'CDFM 695
IF
FOR
THEN
D= I NT (D (12 )/4 ) *S (1 2 )
1065'JVYN
X=l
TO
11:D=D+D(X)*S(X):NEXT
:D = D+ (D(12)-3*INT(D(12)/4))*S(12)
980:INPUT"AMOUNT";
'OPEQ 1065
IF
PL=1
THEN
1075lDHAH COMMODORE MAGAZINE
89
Game Programs/Bulls and Bears 1070
D2=D:D=0:PL=1:M(2)=M:M2=MT :FOR
X=l
:GOTO 1075
TO
20:P2(X)=S(X):NEXT
65'LPVQ
1145
PRINTlPRINT"(GREEN]
1150
IS THE WINNER"'CEQJ PRINT:PRINT"[BLACK] [RVS]
GAME
Dl=D:D=0:PL=2:M{l)=M:Ml=MT :FOR
X=l
TO
20:P1(X)=S(X)
:NEXT'KMWU 1080
IF
NP-1
THEN
PL=1:GOTO
1085
GOTO
1090
Y=INT(RND(1)*5):IF
65'FJUG
460'BDJH Y>2
THEN
RETURN'BAgH
Y=INT(RND(1)*3)+1:RETURN'GJHY
1105
PRINT:GOSUB
1025'CFOB
1108
IF
1155 1160
GET
1165 1170
IF ASO"N"THEN 1155'EGWJ PRINT"[CLEAR]":END'CBFC
1175
PRINT" [RED]
BR(1)=1
1110
AND
YOU
:GOTO
1150'HORO
IF
ARE
BR(1)=1
THEN
PRINT1
BANKRUPT"
AND
BR(2)=1
IF
1120
IF
BR(1)=1
:GOTO :GOTO
1150
1125
IF
NP=1
1130
IF
Tl>T2
1135
IF
:GOTO
:GOTO 1140
THEN
GOSUB
2000
THEN
GOSUB
2100
FPGC
THEN THEN
1150'DHVE PLS=P1S
THEN
:GOTO
WINNER*[RVOFF]"
llStf'DGHF
Continued from page 44
your goal. The Lost Wages Casino also consists of an adjoining hotel with eight principal floors and Cabaret that features such per formers as a stand-up comedian and danc ing girls. Lefty's Bar consists of a place to drink, back room, bathroom and secret room only accessible with a password. Look carefully throughout the bar to find this password (hint hint). The Lost Wages Disco allows you to show your stuff on the lighted dance floor and the Chapel has killed the career of many a bachelor, with "Over One Billion Served." Finally, the Quiki Mart offers such things as cheap wine, dirty magazines and prophylactics (what adult game could be without them?). You get from place to place in Lost Wages by taxi cab. The cab driver is friendly and will take you where you need to go all night, as long as you pay him promptly. Paying him involves money and getting money means that you have to gamble in the Casino. There is a sneaky way around continuous gambling that you should know—it keeps Leisure Suit Larry from becoming an agonizingly end less round of blackjack or slots. I found it very easy to win at blackjack, so try this MAY 1988
IS
IS
BANKRUPT
BANKRUPT"
1140'CLBQ
0,MFG,1'BKEK DATA GMC,3,TWA,0,EXO,4,MIN,0,BND,
1190
DATA
BNK,2,FIN,6,UTL,5,CON,2,DEF,
8,MKT,4'BKLP WILDCAT
GENETIC
DRILLING,
RESEARCH,GOLD
NUGGET
MINE'BVGQ 1195
DATA URBAN
TEXAS 1200
DATA
DOOMS 1205
DATA
DIODE
ELECTRONICS,
DEVELOPMENT,
EXPLORATION'BAQX ENERGY
DAY
ASSOCIATES,
MINING'BGME
WIL,2,GEN,5,GOL,2,DIO,4,URB,
PRINT" [RED]
"PIS"
IS
[SPACE5,GREEN]"P2S" LSPACEb^KfcENJ "PZi?"
1145'FPWI
Amiga Software Reviews/Leisure Suit Larry
90
"P15"
0'FEYE
1185
2000
PL5=P2$
PRINT:PRINT"[HVS,BLACK] *NO
1155'EJJI
CLR:GOTO
4,TEX,2,ENA,5,DOM,2'BWTL
1145'FPVD
T2>T1
AS=""THEN
DATA
1150'FPEG
BR(2)=1
A5:IF
AS = "Y."THEN
1180
THEN
1175'FQLB 1115
IF
:GOTO
[RED]
AGAIN?"
198,0'DHFJ
[SPACE5]"P2S"
1100
NP=1
OVER(RVOFF]--PLAY
:POKE
Y=Y-5'JNBL 1095
"PL?"[GKEEN]
2100
WINNER":RETURN'CHXE PRINT"(RED] "P2S" IS I [SPACE4,GREEN]"PIS"
WINNER":RETURN'CHQF
method for blackjack: Save the game. Then bet the maximum amount. If you win, re-save the game; if you don't win, re store the last saved game. In no time at all, you'll break the bank (possess S250i and will have enough money to spend on taxi rides and things from the Quiki Mart. Another interesting part of Leisure Suit Larry is the use of close ups of the girls you are trying to seduce. When you talk to a girl, her upper body is shown on the screen in detail approaching that of digi tized photographs—at the very least, clean and precise. The movements of these prospective lovers are realistic and their comments typical of anyone dealing with a nerd like Larry, The parser is not the best that I've ever seen, yet it is adequate for what you need in this game. However, as most adventur ers do, I tend to try exotic commands and object uses when I get frustrated. Alas, Leisure Suit Larry didn't recognize most of what I tried. These discouraging attempts are indications from Leisure Suit Larry that you should try to think in simple terms. I can't emphasize this approach enough, and it's the only real hint that I can give on how to play the game. Any puzzles in Leisure Suit Larry are fairly simple and require the use of common ob
BANKRUPT IS Lb
THE THE
BANKRUPT IS
THE END
jects you find in the game and your com mon sense. The toughest thing you may encounter is obtaining the bottle of pills. The characters that you will meet in the game are colorful and cute, typical of the night life that you are experiencing. You encounter a flasher, a group of sleazy peo ple in Lefty's, a hooker and pimp, beauti ful security guard, policeman I if you break the law), wino, drunk, bouncer and a cute little dog that walks up to you, wag ging its tail, and relieves himself on your leg. All of the people have their own idio syncrasies; finding out about them is half the fun. Don't forget about the girl of your dreams, either! Two final elements of Leisure Suit Larry that round out an excellent design are the informative and attractive manual and package and the ability to access Work bench while playing a game. The manual tells you all you need to know and even in cludes a tutorial. Also, you can pull the entire game down as a window and use the Amiga Workbench that is "hiding" be hind it. Leisure Suit Larry even tops ev erything off with good usage of the Ami ga's sound chip. So, if you need to get away from the humdrum for a while, take Larry out for a trip to Lost Wages and let your hormones loose! Q|
128 USERS ONLY
The 128 Mode CrossWord Creator
by Mark Jordan
ACROSS ]
The best way to grab some Bcrecn
6 The ilup tii.it runs sprites
Explore the Commodore 128 in its powerful native mode. Some of the articles in this column may be technical, some not so technical—but we guarantee that
they will spark your creativity.
1
2
•
8 How to gel DATA 9 The R in RGB 11
A Booolean operator
12 What tin-TR In 'IRON stands for
14 The type of graph CIRCLE is
=
11
14
(Kind at
16 A Southwest aouctabbn)
18
18 The Amiga knocked .1 lot of
■ 15
■
For the past 13 years I have had stu dents in my English classes (in my other life I'm an English teacher) create crossword puzzles based on Greek and Latin roots. This exercise in creating the puzzles is an even better learning experi ence than doing them (which ain't bad). But year in and year out the same old problems crop up. Students makes mis takes then have to erase (keep in mind many of them do their puzzles in pen ... in spite of the teacher's warnings), they number wrong (more erasing), they inad vertently connect two words into one gi gantic tongue-twister (such as "orthohalio"), and they often pi"oclaim halfway through, 'This puzzle won't work," and de cide to stall all over. The main reason for frustration is what I call the Paper Principle. Doing anything on paper will eventually get frustrating. Heh-heh. You're a step ahead of me. Use the computer, right? Right! This pro* gram—CrossWord Creator—will help them. It'll also help you to design and edit your own crossword puzzles. First, what it doesn't do: CrossWord Creator will not create crossword puzzles from word lists. It takes a whole gob of memory and processing time to do even a poor job of that. (I have yet to see a really good one.) Now, what it will do: CrossWord CreatOJ will work as a teammate with your brain. You come up with the ideas, type them into the computer, then edit to your heart's content. Don't like this word? Space over it. Want to change that word? Type over it. Got it the way you want it? Then ESCape the editing mode and let the computer number your puzzle, prompt you for clues, allow you to print both a blank puzzle and a key (and as many copies of each as you wish) with a nice big correctly-numbered grid and the clues neatly formatted beneath it.
23 Chr*(78)chrf(78)
■26
24 Gateway to disk drive, screen, etc
27 Buy cold Cuts here 28 Called Mxia
28
hack East"
_
■
■
Just one in a "list of constants
53 Statement to read puddle
pi
32
34
■35
16
21
24
27
-■
(abbr )
34 Yoko
■
30
29
30 Where i" wall for a train 51
J
20
■
23
22
10
19
22 Irish (abbe)
7 _
9
u
this oil
21 Has a range of 0-15 (abbr.)
■6
fa
4
3
33
35 SpUt-scrcen mode interrupts
this
DOWN 1 This statement has six modes 2 The 128's relationship to the
3 Where to li^lit the candle (/.<iik-)
4 Clipped form of "commercial"
5
Message programmers hate to gel
d The chip thai boodles 80 columns
7 bask, abbreviation for
20 Ml) can't do this, bul ;i Swiss
( ONCAT
can
10 Popular software company's logo 13 The 128 lias lOofthese defined 15 A trig function (also human
25 to - megahertz, the 12H has pleat]
26 The villain of spaghi-iri code 28 Greek root meaning "air 29
I nfbminate abbreviation for
Purdue
Row)
17 The mm is the lastcsi one
31
19 The last command (theoretically)
32 Male title
I don't like to rave about my own cre ations, but this program is one you really should type in. If you're a mom or dad you caji use it to conveniently make vocabu lary-stretching puzzles for Junior. If you're Junior you can do a fantastic extra credit project for the teacher with the terms list at the end oi'the chapter. If you're a fellow looking for a way to make a little extra cash on the side, you might just discover the crossword puzzle freelance market wide open.
Type it in using the Magazine Entry Program to save on typos. It's not that long and has no machine language to mess you up and crash things if you don't get it just right OK, Let's read the instructions. Your first sign of life after miming CrossWord Creator will be a prompt: How many columns? You can choose as few as two or as many as thirteen. Next you'll be asked: How many rows? Minimum here is two, maximum is ten. After that you'll see a blank grid to your
specifications onscreen with a cursor in
7.0 alternate to FOR
the upper-left box. If you type any letter, it will go in that spot. The cursor, contrary to
what you might expect, won't move. II'you
type another letter, it will erase the first and place the second in the same location. Here's how you get the cursor to move out of that spot. Option 1: press any of the cursor keys. Option 2: press the plus (+) key. Option 3: press the minus (-) key. What happens when you press a cursor
key should be self-explanatory. The cursor will move. If you press cursor-up, it will go to the bottom of your column because there is no higher box to go up to. Press left and it'll go to the right-most box on your grid for the same reason. What about Option 2. pressing the plus key? If you press it nothing will happenyet. But type a letter again: it will end up in box 1; your cursor will jump to box 2.
This allows you to type your words across just as you would with a word processor. Option 3, the minus key, allows you to type your words down the grid. Press it and each time thereafter when you type a letter, the cursor will move down the colCOMMODORE MA3AZINE
91
128 Users Only/The 128 Mode umn. It's quite handy. There's a fourth cursor option: press the British pound key (£). It will put the cur sor back in non-automatic mode. Naturally, all the alphabetic keys work in the edit mode. The other keys that function are as follows: • The space bar will clean out an un wanted character. • The RETURN key will print a blank. • The ESCape key will exit the editing mode.
After you've done just that—finished designing your puzzle—you wiil have to wait a few moments while your 128 sorts your words into Across and Down lists. It will also be calculating where the num bers should go on your grid. That done, you'll be moved into the "Write clues" phase. The way this mode works is that you'll be presented the words in the puzzle (any two-character or greater unit going across or down! one at a time and prompted for clues. Only one restriction applies when writing clues: the computer won't allow clues longer than 36 characters. (For ideas on due-writing, see 'Tips on Puzzle De sign" which follows.) When the last clue has been entered, it's time to print out your puzzle. Please be sure to read the section called "Printer Notes." That done, you're ready to watch it print. You will be very impressed at the professional results. Numbers in the up per-left cornel's of each box, clues ar ranged in two neat columns beneath—it's a kick to see your first puzzle roll off the assembly line. And an assembly line it is. You can print as many copies as you want. And you won't want to forget to print a key of your puzzle, just in case you want to re-en
ter the puzzle at a later date. All these op tions are easy to follow with the on-screen prompts.
Have I got your interest piqued yet? I hope so. If not, read the sidebar accompa nying this article. It may get you going. Crossword puzzle-making is a very enjoy able pastime.
Printer Notes I purposely used generic printing as much as possible so it will work right with everybody's printer. The only two printer-
Tips on Puzzle Design The most important thing to remember if you want to do logical puzzles is to place a blank immediately following each word you enter. This means for both across and down words. If you don't, you may very well connect words together that you just don't want together. The best place to start creating your puzzle is in the upper-left of the grid, right where the program starts you. Do an across word and a down word originating from block 1. Since there are absolutely no restrictions at this point, you'll have no problem choosing words. Next, place your blank after the across word, and complete the top row (if there are any spaces left*. From this point it is best to work in a northwesterly to southeasterly direction. Don't be tempted to fill in all those big open areas however you feel like it. If you do. you will impose future restrictions that will be extremely inhibiting. A trick to avoiding problems is to try not to run too many words adjacent to each other. For example, if you have "alien" running across the first row and immediately beneath it you place "preacher," you'll have problems. Instead, put a blank in the box just beneath the "1" in alien. This will break up the pattern. Of course, the best puzzles have the few est blanks. So don't go hog-wild on the blanks. Another good trick is to try to arrange words so that adjacent letters that line up
alternate vowel/consonant. You can al most always get this pattern to make something. Don't be afraid to use a dictionary to help you out of tough spots. I recommend it because it makes you smarter just to read the words. Also, use abbreviations cunningly. For "fun" puzzles, allow your self the liberty to make up a few abbrevia tions to help you out of a tough spot. For example, on a puzzle I recently made, I had a "VO" standing as a unit- Instead of re-doing it, I simply gave the following clue: "Very Old (abbr.)." Which brings us to the last topic: clue creating. The basic rule here is, anything goes. You could just give definitions of words, but that can get a little dry and technical. Instead, mix in some synonyms, a few "fill-in-the-blanks," some relatedtopic memory-triggers, and any other tricky idea that comes to mind. Here are several ways to give a clue for "alien." "A non-native," "Name of scary movie,"" Sedition Act," and "Rhymes with 'Daily in.'" Oh, keep in mind the purpose and audi ence of your puzzle. If it is for Junior who is only eight years old, don't get your clues out of the Oxford English Dictionary. On the other hand, if the puzzle is intended for a magazine of sophisticated intellectu als like those who read Commodore Maga zine, the "rhymes with" clues should be kept to a minimum.
specific codes are for underlining and line spacing. You will need to tailor three var iables to suit your printer. They are found in lines 85 and 90. Ifyour printer calls for a code different than—chr$(27) chr$(45) chr$(49l—for underlining, then change the UNS in line 85. Likewise, change the UF$ variable to shut underlining off on your printer. You'll need to read your printer manual a little more carefully to get the line spac ing right. My printer, a Star NX-10C. re quires the following to allow lines to print without any space between them: chr$i27)
letter quality mode or bold or emphasize mode, do it before you run the program (unless you have a printer with nifty pan el buttons to do all that). I'll leave that up to you to work out. If you just can't understand printer codes at all, you have two options: just de lete lines So and 90 and don't wony about
92
MAY 1988
Answer
10
PRINT SHFT
IS V H
H 0
d
1*1 I Vi
■o n
N 0
1 V u
1 0 d .i G I d o d ■ 1 1 3 0 Ia I3 1 0 1 N 3 d 0 N N 1
1
0 A Ja_ H 3
■ 0
in line 90 to suit. Ifyou'd like to put your printer in near
Entry Program " The BASIC progrinit m Mm magazine are auil-thk- on Ji*k from Loadstar.
CrossWord Creator
friend over to mull it out. Nah. do it your self. It'll be educational. S
chr$tol) chr$(21 >. It takes chr$(27> chr$(51) chr$(36) to set spacing back to normal. If yours if different lit almost cer tainly will be), then change PCS and PD$
Before typing iliin prognm. read "Hot to Enier Programs' ami "How to Use the Magazine P.O.BOS30008.Shrcvcport. LA ~tl30000"\ l KiiiiKil 26W
a perfect-looking puzzle or get a hacker
0
N 3
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olv (J
O 1
u
H
d
1
■
a M V
I a V 3 t) 3 d v H S 0
J Id
1
s
S s
CHRS(14)"[CLEAR,SPACE2, C]ROSS[SHFT
REATOR
--
BY
ORDAN":SLEEP
W]ORD
[SHFT 2'DHFN
[SHFT
M]ARK
C]
[SHFT
J]
128 Users Only/The 128 Mode 15
DIM
:;=[]!#$%&'() [CMDR @] "+CHR5(34)+CHR${20)+CHRS(13)'JXPP
X$(10) ,BL(13,10) ,ACS(99) ,
DNS(99),CL$(1,99)'BRJK 20
COLOR
25
GRAPHIC
0,1:COLOR
4,1:COLOR
2,1,21:WINDOW
1,6'DLRC
0,21,39,
120
CHAR
125
PRINT"[RVS,BLUE,SPACES,SHFT
24'CSEI 30
SE
CL$="10":INPUT"(SHFT OW
MANY
COLUMNS
:CL=VAL(CLS):IF [SHFT
TJOO
:GOTO 35
=
10)";CL$
THEN
MANY":SLEEP
MANY
ROWS
TYPING,
PRINT" 135
1
[SHFT
TJOO
:GOTO
35'KCPC
RO>10
=
140
10)";ROS
THEN
MANY":SLEEP
PRINT"
1
PRINT"[CLEAR)";'BBDB
45
S = 4:IF
50
UX=(13-CL)/2*24+S:UY=(10-RO)/2*16+4
R0/2O INT ( RO/2 ) THEN
S = 0'JNRO
:LX=UX+CL*24:LY=UY+RO*16'QSAW
55
X=l:Y=1:DX=INT{(UX+8)/8)
60
:DY=INT( (UY + 4)/8) 'KCJT E$=CHR$(27):OS=E$+"O"
:LS=CHR$(13)'GSDK FOR T=l TO 40:SP$=SPS+"[SPACE2]" :UU$=UU$+"[CMDR @2J":NEXT'ITQS BMS="[CMDR M,CMDR @4,SHFT @ , CMDR @4,SHFT @,CMDR @4,SHFT @, CMDR
@4,SHFT
@,CMDR
@4,SHFT
@ ,
CMDR
@4,SHFT
@,CMDR
@4,SHFT
@,
CMDR
@4,SHFT
@,CMDR
§4,SHFT
@ ,
CMDR
@4,SHFT
(?,CMDR
@4,SHFT
@ ,
CMDR
M,SPACE4,CMDR
N,SPACE4,CMDR
SPACE4,CMDR CMDR
N,SPACE4,CMDR
PRINT"[RVS,CYAN] SHUT
+
DOWN
OFF
FOR
ACROSS
TYPING
"'BATJ
[POUND]
AUTOMATIC
CURSOR
PRINT"[RVS,L. SHFT
E,SHFT
SHFT
N]
TO
N,SPACE4,CMDR
CREATE
KEY
AS:A=INSTR(CHS,A$)
A=0
THEN
95 100
FOR T=l TO CL-1:DRAW 1,UX+T*24/ UY TO UX+T*24,UY+RO*16:NEXT'NEVL
105
FOR
T=l
TO
RO-1:DRAW
UY+T*16
TO
UX+CL*24,UY+T*16
IF
A$=E$THEN
EXIT'EEIE
165
IF
A>27
BEGIN'EEMJ
170
CHAR
THEN
1,CX+DX,CY+DY,LE$,RV
ON
A-27
GOSUB
320,310,330,300,340,
X=(CX/3)+1:Y=(CY/2)+l'GPGK
185
IF
190
LES=MID?(XS(Y),X,1)
195
CHAR
200
IF
BL(X,Y)=1
THEN
205
BEND:GOTO
210
IF
LE$=11"THEN
RV=1:OV=0'FPDP
LES="
'" GVBM
1,CX+DX,CY+DY,LE$,OV
:OV=1'ewkr A$=L$THEN
N,
215
N,
1,UX,
225'DHGY
235'CFPD
BLANK(X,Y)=1
:GOSUB
THEN
CC=0
350:BL (X,Y)=0'GCXH
RV=0:LES=AS:X$(Y)=LEFT$(XS(Y)+SP$,
X-l)+A$+MID$(XS(Y) ,X + 1) 'KPLS 220
CHAR
1,CX+DX,CY+DY,LE$,OV
:OV=1'EWKG 225 230
IF
DI=1
IF
THEN
POKE
208,1
842,17'FPAJ
DI=2
:POKE
THEN
POKE
208,1
842,29'FPEF
235
LOOP'BAKE
245
COLOR
0,5:PRINT"[CLEAR,BLACK,
SPACE14.SHFT CJALCULATING [SPACE11]"'CENP
250
GOSUB
380:REM
255 260
GOSUB
265
GRAPHIC
630:REM
FOR
CLUES'CPVL
PUZZLE'CPBH
2,,21:PRINT"[CLEAR,SHFT
RESS * TO TO PRINT '"CGOX
110 CH$="ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY2
...
FIGURE
ACROSS/DOWN'CVDH GOSUB 520:REM ASK
:NEXT'NEWQ
PRINT [SHFT
267
115 INS=LEFTS(CH$,26)+"[SHFT A,SHFT B,
PRINT,"[SHFT FIRST."'BBRP
270
GET KEY AS:IF AS="K"THEN KE=1
272
•-GOSUB 630:KE=tJ:GOTO 265'JUWN IF AS="*"THEN GOSUB 630
C,SHFT G,SHFT K,SHFT O,SHFT S,SHFT W,SHFT
D,SHFT E,SHFT H,SHFT I,SHFT LrSHFT M,SHFT P,SHFT Q,SHFT T,SHFT U,SHFT X,SHFT Y,SHFT
1234567890+-[POUND],./<>?
F, J, N, R, V, Z]
275
:GOTO
P]
ANOTHER, [SHFT K] K,SHFT E,SHFT Y]
[UP,DOWN,LEFT,RIGHT] "+CHRS(13)+"+-[POUND]"+E$'FJNL SHFT SHFT SHFT SHFT SHFT SHFT
E,
155'HSLN
160
:IF
FOR T=l TO 10:NS(T)=MS:NEXT'FNLJ UN$=E$+CHR$(45)+CHR$(49) :UF$=E$+CHR$(45)+CHR$(48)'KCSV :PD$=E$+CHRS(51)+CHR$(J6)'KCBR BOX 1,UX,UY,LX,LY'BNBO
[SHFT
EXIT[SPACE2]
:IF
:POKE
PC$=E$+CHR$(51)+CHRS{21)
R,
R,
BLANKS,
TO
DO'BAJA
180
N,SPACE4f
90
C]
U,SHFT
GET
N,SPACE4,
N,SPACE4,CMDR
N,SPACE4,CMDR
BLUE,SPACE2,SHFT
T,SHFT
365,370,375'DJCP
CMDR N,SPACE4,CMDR N]" :MS=LEFTS(MS,CL*5+1)'FOMF
80 85
FOR
155
N,SPACE4,
N,SPACE4,CMDR
SPACE4,CMDR
U]
BOX
150
175
:BM$=LEFT$(BMS,CL*5+1)'FRQD
MS="[CMDR
SELECT
:RV=0'EWPK
CMDR @4,SHFT @,CMDR @4,SHFT @j" 75
-
SHFT S,SHFT "'BAYO
40
70
TO
MOVEMENT"'BAOP
H)
(DEFAULT
KEYS
PRINT"[RVS,GRAY3]
TO
:RO=VAL(ROS):IF
65
130
30'KCJX
RO$="10":INPUT"[SHFT
OW
CURSOR
",1:OV=1:RV=0'DSID
[SPACES)"ES"M"'BCHN
H]
(DEFAULT CL>13
1,DX,DY,"
AjDJUST
PAPER
265'FJYJ
PRINT"[CLEAR,SHFT D] 0 ANOTHER PUZZLE?[SPACE2,SHFT [SHFT N] '"BABQ
280 GET KEY'A$:IF A$="Y"THEN
Y]/
RUN•GFBJ
COMMODORE MAGAZINE
93
128 Users Only/The 128 Mode 285
IF
A$O"N"THEN
:PRINT"[GRAY3,SHFT
280'EFCM
290
GRAPHIC
0,1:END'CELH
300 305
CX=CX+3:IF CX=>CL*3 RETURN'BAQC
THEN
CX=0'IOAG
310
CY=CY+2:IF
THEN
CY=0'IOUH
315
RETURN'BAQD
320
CY=CY-2:IF
CY=>R0*2 CY<0
THEN
CY=RO*2-2'IPQI
325
RETURN'BAQE
330
CX=CX-3:IF
CX<0
YPE
A
525
FOR
T=l
530
IF AC$(T)<>""THEN :GOSUB 550'HWUL IF DN$(T)<>""THEN :GOSUB 550'HWYQ
535
340
BL(X,Y)=1:CC=1'CMPF XS (Y)=LEFTS(XS(Y)+SP$, "+MIDS(X$(Y),X+1)'IDBR
(T)
NEXT:RETURN'CBXE
PRINT"[RIGHT,HOME,DOWN] "LEFTS(LEFT$(SP$,(40-LEN(X$))/2) +"[RVS,L. BLUE]"+X$+"[RVOFF]"+SP$,
555
WINDOW 2,24,37,24:PRINT"[CMDR LEFT]";'CNJO
560
B$="":GOSUB
580:PRINT"[CLEAR]
WINDOW
360
RETURN'BAQD
570
RETURN'BAQG
365
DI=2:RETURN'CEGK
370
DI=1:RETURN'CEFG
580 585
375
DI=0:RETURN'CEEL
DO'BAJH GET KEY :IF A=0
380
FOR
590
IF A=88 THEN GOSUB :GOTO 605'FKYN
385
FOR
390
IF
X<CL
X=l
395
IF
X=l
400
IF
TO
ROW'DFNI
TO
CL:Z$=X$(Y)'EMBP
THEN THEN
BEGIN'EEAJ GOSUB
450
410'FJJP
MID$(Z$,X-1,1)="
"THEN
GOSUB
4 50'GMCE BEND'BBXE
410
IF
Y<RO
415
IF
Y=l
420
IF
:GOTO
425
THEN THEN
BEGIN'EETC GOSUB
480
THEN
620
EXIT'EDFQ
605
610
LOOP'BAKB
615
CL$(AD,T)=BS:RETURN'CMHJ IF
A$O$"[CMDR
BSO""THEN
@,LEFT]";'BFNH
B$ = LEFT$(B$,
625
RETURN'BAQH
630
GRAPHIC 0:PRINT"[CLEAR,SHFT I] F SPACING/UNDERLINING DON'T WORK
K=0'BCTC
440
RETURN'BAQC
RIGHT'"CCHQ
635
BEND'BBXG NEXTrNEXT'CBLH
640
PRINT"ON
YOUR
PRINTER,
CHANGE LINES 85-90."'BAER PRINT"[RVS,SHFT T]URN ON PRINTER. [SPACE2,SHFT P]RESS [SHFT R] ETURN TO BEGIN."'BAHR
645
GET
650
OPEN
NB=NB+1:K=1:N$=MIDS(STR${NB),2)
655
TB$=LEFTS(SP$,(80-(CL*5))/2)'FTXR
:N$(Y)=LEFT$(N$(Y),
660
PRINT#4,PC$'BFYH
(X-l)*5+l)+N$+MID$(NS(Y),
665
PRINT#4,TBS"
670
FOR T=l TO ROW:M1$=M$:M25=N$(T) :M3$=BM$:M4$=M$'HILT
680
FOR
IF
MIDS(Z$,X,1)="
1)="
"THEN
"OR
RETURN
MIDS(ZS,X+1,
JRBM
(X-l)*5+2+LEN(N$)}'TJNI
460
B$=B5+A$'CGPC
"THEN
480'GPRH
430
455
IF
600
430'FJPI
435
450
A=89
A$:A=INSTR(IN?,A$) THEN 585'HSFU
LEN(B$)-1)'IOVK
MID$(XS(Y-l),X,1)="
GOSUB
0,21,39,24'BLBN
595
620
405
@,
"'DHBI 565
:GOTO
P=INSTR(Z$,"
",X+2)
:IF
P=CL+1'IQPN
P=0
THEN
KEY
AS:IF
A$OL$THEN
645'GKQP
4,4'BDAG
1=1
TO
"LEFTS(UU5,CL*5)'DOJQ
CL:TS=MIDS(X$(TJ,I,
1)'FSCP
465
ACS(NB)=MID$(ZS,X,P-X)'DQOO
470
RETURN'BAQF
685
480
IF MID$(Z$,X,1)=" "OR MID$(XS(Y+1),X,1)=" "THEN
690
M1$=LEFT$(MIS,1*5-4)+K$+MIDS(MIS,
695
M2S=LEFT$(M2$,1*5-4)+K$+MID$(M2$,
700
M3S = LEFT$(M3$,I * 5-4)+K$+MID$(M3S,
70 5
M4S = LEFT$(M4$,I * 5-4)+K5 + MIDS(M4$f
710 715
BEND:GOTO 720'CFOE M4S=LEFT$(M4$,1*5-2)+TS+MIDS(M4$,
720
NEXT'BAED
730
IF
485
IF
K=0
THEN
:N$(Y)=LEFTS(N$ (Y) , (X-l)*5 + 2 + LEN(N$) ) 'VI EM
1*5+2)'JXEQ
490
FOR
495
IF
50 0
DNS(NB)=DN$(NB)+MIDS(X$(T),X,
:GOTO
RO'DELK
"THEN
T=RO
505'GSLU
1)'DAQG
505
NEXT'BAEE
510
RETURN'BAQA
520
COLOR
MAY 1988
0,1:WINDOW
BEGIN
+5)"'FGWV
1*5+2)'JXBL
(X-1)*5+1)+N$+MIDS(NS(Y),
TO
"THEN
1*5+2)'JXXY
:N$=MIDS(STR${NB),2)
T=Y
T$="
1*5+2)'JXUT
NB=NB+1
MID$(XS(T),X,1)="
IF
:KS="[CMDR
RETURN'JUNQ
94
= AC$ (T) :AD=
XX=(CX*8)+UX+2:YY=(CY*8)+UY+2'IVIN BOX CC,XX,YY,XX+20,YY+12,,1'DVYO
Y=l
WORD"'DSRO
NB'DEKI
39)'KATR
RETURN'BAQF
3 50 355
TO
T]
EACH
540
THEN
335
X-l)+"
FOR
550
CX=CL*3-3'IPWJ
345
CLUE
1*5)'IWQR
KE=1
:ELSE
0,21,39,24,1
THEN
M5S=M4$
M5S=M1S'GQUL
735 PRINT#4/TB$M2S'BIJL
Continued <m page 128
128 USERS ONLY
by Bruce Jaeger
Simple Windowing
for the Commodore 128
The Commodore 128s powerful WINDOW commands enable us to easily print new information over the text on an exist ing screen. However, we may want to restore the original screen after the user has read the information in the text window. It's not always feasible to just reprint everything either—a lot of user-supplied information, input prompts, etc. may be mixed in requiring a lot of fancy programming just to remember how to reprint the screen! A far simpler way is to ''memorize" the original screen before printing over it with the new window information, and then re store the original screen byte-for-byte when done reading the window. While this can be done directly in BASIC, it would be far too slow for most uses, so I've written a machine language subroutine that will save and restore text or graphic screens. Type in and DSAVE the demonstration program. When run, the demonstration will start by filling the 80-column screen with some nonsense text. Then, after you press a key. the ML routine will be called to "'memorize" the contents of the 80-col umn screen (including the color attributes of each character). After the screen is memorized, a sample window will be opened in the center of the text. When you've read it, press another key and watch the ML routine replace the original almost faster than you can follow it! <If you don't have your system set up for 80 columns yet, you can skip this part of the demonstration by inserting the follow ing line in the demo program: 235 GOTO 380. This will skip the 80-column demonstration and go directly to the 40-column and graphics part of the program.) Now a message prompts you to set your monitor to 40-column (graphics) mode for the next demonstration. The 40-column screen fills with the same nonsense text, and again you're asked to press a key. The ML routine is now called again (in a slightly different way described later), and the 40-column text screen is "memorized" before a window of new information is printed. Press a key to restore the original. The third and fourth parts of the demonstration operate simiBcforc taping ttii* program, read ' Han to Enter Programs" and
Him io i se the M^zini-
Entr\ Program." The BASIC program1' in this magazine art available on disk from Loadstar. P.O. Box 30008, Shreveport. LA 71130-0007, 1-800-831.2694
Simple Windowing 180
RS=CHR$(28) :
:
Y$=CHRS(158)
RVS=CHR$(18)
200
FOR
210
GOSUB
2080
220
GS;
:
REM
230
COLOR
0,1
:
COLOR
250
REM
260
IF
: :
:
RO$=CHR$(146)
GS=CHRS(30)'GXCN
X
=
1
TO
21
:
ESS
-
COLOR
:
REM
RGR(X)=0
IN
ML'CNBB
GREEN'CJUB 4,1
DEMONSTRATION'BWQH
THEN +
3'IKVP
CHRS(7)
If you want to use the memorize/restore ML routine in your own programs, read on. Once the ML program is properly poked into memory, you can call its several functions as follows: SYS 3072,0 : rem saves everything on the 80-column screen
SYS 3072.1: rem restores everything on the 80-column screen SYS 3072,2 : rem saves everything on the 40-column screen SYS 3072,3 : rem restores everything on the 40-column screen SYS 3072,4 : rem saves the graphic screen and colors SYS 3073,5 : rem restores the graphic screen and colors (No differentiation need be made between high-resolution and multi-color graphics—the ML routine automatically saves both color memories.) No BASIC memory is "stolen" from you to use as a storage place. When you're in 80-column mode, I reasoned that you're
unlikely to also be using the high-resolution bitmap area in Bank 0 from 8192 to 16191, so the 80-column screen is stored there. (Note that your 80-column program should somewhere execute a GRAPHIC 1 command before you try to memorize an 80-column screen, so that BASIC will move the programs begin ning out of the high-resolution area of memory.) On the other hand, when you're in 40-column or one of the high-resolution modes, there's 16K of 80-column video memory7 absolutely going to waste! So that's where I decided to stash the "memori2ed" 40-column and graphics screens. Accessing this 16K memory is a bit slower and trickier than regular RAM, but using any other chunk of RAM as a storage place would make it necessary to include memory-reserving POKEs in all of our pro grams, something I wished to avoid. The machine language routine itself is located in the RS232 buffers stalling at $0C00 (3072). so as written you can't use this with your own terminal programs. The machine language source code is included, so you can relocate and modify the pro gram if you like. Q 270
GRAPHIC
280
DEF
290
GRAPHIC
5,1
300
BANK
:
"SWITCH
:
FN
REM
1,1
GRAPHIC
0,1'CHRG
:
CW=80
SYS
65378
80-COLUMNS'DTUL
15
REM
:
R(X)=INT(RND(1)*X)+1'HLKL
ENSURES
80-COLUMN
CHARS'DGNH
310
GOSUB
1400
REM
FILL
SCREEN
320
GOSUB
1900
REM
WAIT
FOR
80-COLUMN
WITH
WORDS'CYEF A
KEY'CQBE
6,1'DLRD
80-COLUMN
SLEEP
POKE
For Programmers
ESS+SP$
NEXT'GPID
80-COLUMNS!"
:
:
but the speed is still acceptable.
:
SPS=CHR$(32)'GWXL
190
laxly, only this time the high-resolution (demo #3) or multi-color (demo #4) graphic screens arc memorized, again with all colors! Because of the larger amount of bytes to "memorize" for the graphics screens, this is the slowest part of the demonstration—
TO
330
SYS 3072,0 SCREEN'CBYH
REM
SAVE
340
GOSUB
REM
350
SYS 3072,1 REM RESTORE (-COLUMN SCREEN'CMSN
360
GOSUB
380
REM
390
GRAPHIC
1570
INFO'COKH
2000
:
REM
40-COLUMN
5,1
:
"WINDOW" ORIGINAL
PAUSE'CKYG
DEMONSTRATION'BWML
PRINT"SWITCH
TO
40
COMMODORE M/GAZINE
95
128 Users Only/Simple Windowing MESSAGE'CULK
COLUMNS!"'CEGN 400
GRAPHIC
410
GOSUB
:
REM
0,1
:
CW=40
40-COLUMNS'DTHE 1400
REM
FILL
SCREEN
REM
WAIT
FOR
WITH
WORDS.'CYEG 420
GOSUB
1900
A
KEY'CQBF 430
SYS
3072,2
440
GOSUB
450
SYS
REM
SAVE
REM
40-COLUMN
SCREEN'CBWI 1570
"WINDOW"
INFO'COKI 3072,3
ORIGINAL 460
GOSUB
480
REM
490
COLOR
REM
RESTORE
40-COLUMN
2000
:
GRAPHIC
REM
SCREEN'CMQO
PAUSE'CKYH
SCREEN
DEMONSTRATION
tl'BDKO :
1,8
COLOR
:
COLOR
0,1
4,1'DLTL
l'BCYA
500
WIDTH
510
GRAPHIC
520
GRAPHICS'CUNG BOX 1,0,0,319,100'BNEE
530
BOX
1,0,103,319,168'BPSF
540 550
BOX FOR
1,100,130,219,142'BRAH X = 110 TO 219 STEP 7'EIKI
560
DRAW
570
NEXT'BAEG
580
FOR X = 1 TO 50'DEVJ CHAR 1,10,13,"STARSHIP
590
1,1
1,
:
REM
X-10,142
HIGH-RES
TO
X,130'DOLK
1,
1,30,15,"SHIELDS",l'BKFF
4,15,"WARP",1'BJBD
620
COLOR
630
CHAR
1,
640
CHAR
l,32,16,"29%"tBISG
650
COLOR
1,2'BDRG
660
FOR
X
-
670
H
=
FN
R(300)
680
V
=
FN
R(80)
690
DRAW
700
COLOR
1,14'BESC
710
GOSUB
1900
730
REM
DRAW
740
SYS
3072,4
1,2'BDRD
:
10'DITL
REM
WAIT
FOR
KEY'CPLH
INFORMATION'BVSK
REM
SAVE
GRAPHIC
SCREEN'CYCM COLOR
760
COLOR
1,15'BETI
770
FOR
=
780
CHAR
790 8fc!0
NEXT'BAEK COLOR 1,7
810
BOX
820
RESTORE
330
COLOR
X
1,2 2
:
CHAR
TO
1,10,2,ESS,1•CQPK
"
990
DATA
"[SPACE2]PRESS
1020
REM
"
"'BBNL
"[SPACE3]TO GRAPHIC
ANY
KEY"'BAHQ
CONTINUE"'BAVW
SCREEN
DEMONSTRATION
#2'BDLD 1030
COLOR
1E40
GRAPHIC
0,2
:
COLOR
4,13'CIOY
:
MULTICOLOR
3,1
REM
GRAPHICS'CWUE 1050
FOR
1060
Cl
X
=
=
FN FN
1070
C2
=
1080
IF
Cl=2
1090
COLOR
1100
C
=
1
TO
R(16)'CHNC OR
C2=2
1,C1
FN
15'DEWA
R(16)'CHMB
:
THEN
COLOR
R(2)
:
1060'FKOG
2,C2'CJVF
REM
COLOR
H
=
FN
R(160)
:
REM
X
1120
V
=
FN
R(200)
:
REM
Y
COORDINATE'DTKC 1130
W
-
FN
R(20)+10
REM
WIDTH
REM
HEIGHT
U
=
FN
R(30)+20
1150
CIRCLE
1160
NEXT'BAEA
1170
REM
A
FEW
RANDOM
1180
FOR
X
=
TO
Cl
=
1
FN
FN
R(16)
LINES'BPMF
R(10)+5'FIGG
:
IF
Cl=2
THEN
1200
COLOR
1210
DRAW
1,C1'BEIV 1,
FN
R(160),
FN
R(200)
FN
R(200)'GDAF
122R
NEXT'BAEW
1230
COLOR
1240
SYS
:
REM
TO
1,1
WAIT
:
3072,4
FN
R(160),
GOSUB
FOR :
1900
KEY'DTLE
REM
SAVE
GRAPHIC'CSQE 1250
REM
1260
RESTORE
930
1270
FOR
=
1
TO
9'DDCE
1280
READ
AS
:
AS
=
X
WINDOW
:
MESSAGE'BSXF
COLOR
1,1'CHOD
LEFT$(AS+ESS,
1290
17)'EPFI CHAR 1, 3,X,AS,1 'BKAG GET
1,84,19,244,106'BPAG
1320
SYS 1072,5 : HEM ORIGINAL GRAPHIC
RESTORE SCREEN'CKCI
1330
GOSUB 190.0 : REM KEYPRESS'CUCF
WAIT
1340
COLOR
1350
GRAPHIC
1360
SYS
93U'BDOF
:
CHAR
1,14,2,
REPORT",1'CNLN
1,15'BETH
FOR
=
860
CHAR
870
NEXT'BAEJ
890
GET
KEY
A$
:
REM
WAIT'DHCO
SYS
3072,5
:
REM
RESTORE
X
2
TO
10:
READ
A$'EHGK
1,12,X+2,A$,1'CMML
GRAPHIC GOSUB
:
REM
NEXT
KEY
AS'CCEX
0,1
:
5,1
65378
:
CHARACTERS ORIGINAL
1370
END'BACD
1400
REM
DEMO
WRITE
COLOR :
REM ARE
1410
IF
CW=80
0,1'CHVE
ENSURE
80-COLUMN
RESTORED'CRAO
WORDS
THEN
FOR
4,1'CHMD
GRAPHIC
TO
SCREEN'BWAE
SCREEN'CKCN
1900
OF
C,H,V,W,U'BJFC
NEXT'BAEV
1,2
OF
CIRCLE1EWCF
1300
COLOR
MAY 1988
"128."'BAEL
DATA
,
OF"'BAYK
1310
WIDTH
850
96
DATA
980
THE
"
TEST
2'CGBF
:
840
910
970
13'DEVK
1,10,X,ESS,1'BMCM
"STATUS
900
COMMODORE"'BASN
10'DJXK
NEXT'CGYL
750
WINDOWING"'BAON
"ON
DATA
A
GRAPHIC-'" BAPL
1190'FPYJ
50'DEVI
WINDOW :
"SCREEN
DATA
1190
5,16,"7'"BHEF
+
DATA
960
1000
IS
CIRCLE'EXJG
CHAR
:
950
1140
CHAR
1,H,V
"SIMPLE
COORDINATE'DTAB
600
+
"THIS
DATA
1110
610
TO
DATA
940
SOURCE'DRKA
GOOFYPRIZE",1'BKAQ
1
930
FAST
FILL
128 Users Only/Simple Windowing :
ELSE
SLOW'GHJE
1420
RESTORE
1530'BEJA
1430
FOR
TO
1440
C=0'BCLC
:
X=l
10
:
READ
WS(X)
NEXT'FLWF
1880
DATA
1900
REM
"EODIMBASK
1910
T=13
1920
1930
CHAR
WAIT
FOR
IF
:
A
KEY' BLMF
CW=80
THEN
CHR$(5);:
1940
SOUND
W=INT(RND(1)*10)+1'FJBI
UNTIL
1950
GET
1470
W$=WS(W)'BHEG
1960
CHAR
1480
SS$=G$+SPS
O23'DDNF
1970
PRINT CHRS(30);:
1980
RETURN' BAQK
:
IF
POS(0)=0
THEN
SSS=G$'HSXN POS(0)+LEN(W$)+1
:
1500 1510
SSS;W$;
<CW
ELSE
THEN
LOOP'BAKX REM DATA
WORD
DATA'BIDD
COMMODORE,
SCREEN, DATA
WINDOW,
TESTING,
SWAP'BLAM
128,
YES,
NO,
BLAH,
REM
1580
RESTORE
1590
B$=
1600
RESTORE
1610
Hl=
1620
IF
STUFF'BKEK
2030
CHAR NEXT
MAX
WINDOW
1650
WINDOW
1660
FOR
1670
READ
:
=
2040 2050
GET
2060
RETURN'
2080
REM
2090 2100
Hl=18:H2=60
211!)
PRINT IF
1700
:
:
E=0'DKAG
:
2160
DATA
:
:
B$;
PRINT'HMKM :
IF
THEN
THEN
READ
2170
SLOW
:
RETURN'DDRB
0D ,AD,3E,0D,C9 ,00,D0,03,4C,
1740
IF
1750
1
TO
:
BS;
NEXT'GLFI
TAB(5)
1760'DIEH
CHR5(145);R$;RV$;
KEY";CHRS(19);
:GOTO
1780'FBOR
TAB(9)
ANY
CHR$(145);R$;RV$;
KEY
TO CONTINUE";
CHR$(19)'EUAT PRINT CHRS(19);'CFKJ GET KEY AS'CCEJ 0,0,CW-1,24'CLPM
PRINT CHR$(30); RETURN'BAQC
:
REM
FOR
SAMPLE
D0 ,03,4C,45,GC ,C9,03,D0,03,
DATA
2190
DATA 51 ,0C,C9,04,D0 ,03,4C,5D,OC, C9'BEAK
2200
DATA
4CBEBJ
05 ,D0,03,4C,78 ,0C,60,20,D7,
0CBEOC
THEN
ANY
0C ,C9,01,D0,03 ,4C,3F,0C,C9,
2180
B$'CGBC
MAX+1
DATA
02'BESI
AS
1670'BELC
CW=80
=
AS
ID'BESG
A$="EOD"
SP$;AS;'FOUO
=
J
39'BEMH
PRINT'BACD
1840
3072 TO 3390'DJMA : POKE J, DEC(AS)'DJKB
8D ,3E,0D,A9,00 ,8D,00,FF,20,
MAX+1
TAB(MAX)
WINDOW
IN
DATA
1730
1790 1800 1810 1830
PRINT"POKING
NEXT
FOR
1780
:
2150
TO
GOTO
1770
RETURN' KQFF RESTORE 2080
AND
THEN
2140
,5,H2+2,24'CMCI
1
"PRESS
PEEK (3072)=DEC(" 8D")
IF
HI
1710
1760
POKED
READ
BSSP$AS;'BIBJ
"PRESS
ALREADY
FOR
1720
:
FOR
2130
CW=80
X
LANGUAGE
ML..."1 CFWB
1720'EJUL 1690
TEST
MACHINE
BUFFER1 BOHN
2120
AS
1680
POKE
RS -232
H1-1,4,H2+1,V1+1,1'EQGJ =
NEXT
FOR
BAQA
ARK :
REM
KEY
AS'CCEA
KEY
PEEK(3C373)=DEC("3E" )
1830'BEMA
H2-H1
X
CHR$(5);'CEHX
1, T, 24,"PRESS ANY DEMO",1'BJLH SOUND 1 ,33000,4'BJPA
:Vl=10'GSAJ 1640
T-26'FKBA
2020
8:H2=29:V1=14'DNMF
1630
DEMO'BRMY
THEN
IN'BVSJ
RS+RVS+SPS+ROS+YS'FPLO
THEN
NEXT
:
INTO
"WINDOW"
GREEN'DLLN
FOR
PROMPT IF
REM
CW=80
REM T=6
1830'BEMH
CW=80
1, T,24," [SPACE13] "'BHNL
2010
BLAH'BUMI 1570
AS'CCEI
KEY
2000
RETURN'BAQY
1540 1550
:
C=C+1'MWWT
1530
KEY",
1 ,4000,4'BIPI
DO
1460
IF
ANY
1, T,24,"PRESS
l'BJJL
1450
1490
T=32'FLTI WHITE'DKGI
REM
TEXT
REM
GREEN'DLLF
WINDOW'BTJK
DATA " THIS IS JUST SOME", "SAMPLE INFORMATION"'BBUP 1850 DATA "TO DEMONSTRATE HOW", "EASY IT WILL BE TO"'BBXQ 1860 DATA "ADD A SIMPLE FORM", "OF 'WINDOWING' TO"'BBAQ 1870 DATA "YOUR COMMODORE 128" "PROGRAMS.""BBWQ
2210
DATA
4C ,AB,0C,20,D7 ,0C,4C,93,0C,
7 a' RFr.n UL'VJL' *m tt
2220 2230
DATA
E5 ,0C,20,93,0C ,20,F3,0C,4C,
DATA
0C ,20,E5,0C,20 ,AB,0C,20,F3,
93'BEJE
0CBESF 2240
DATA 4C ,AB,0C,20,01 ,0D,20,93,0C, 20'BEKG
2250
DATA
0F ,0D,78,A5,01 ,29,FE,85,01,
20 ' BEAH
2260
DATA 93 ,0C,A5,01,09 ,01,85,01,58, 60'BEWI
2270
DATA
20 ,01,0D,20,AB ,0C,20,0F,0D,
2280
DATA
A5 ,01,29,FE,85 ,01,20,AB,0C,
78'BENJ
A5'BETK
2290
DATA
01 ,09,01,85,01 ,58,60,A0,00,
Bl'BEFL 2300
DATA r^ f
Do
2310
FB ,AA,A9,1F,8D ,00,D6,2C,00,
1 n t^ \t r\
BEYD
DATA
10 ,FB,8E,01,D6 ,20,C2,0C,F0,
Continued on page 128
COMMODORE MA3AZINE
97
UPDATE
by Graham Kinsey
Amiga Public Domain Update This month I have reviewed programs
finm Fish disks 119 through 128, plus many other programs from PeopleLink and local BBSs. A couple of the highlights this month are Play, the first public do main music player to appear for the Amiga, plus the latest version of the Virus Checker program from Commodore. This month I have also taken a second look at some programs that have been up dated since I reviewed them, including the terminal programs Handshake. AMIC PD TERM and Access! For each program, the author is given along with the Fish or AMICUS series number (if applicable). Virtually all of the programs mentioned in this column are available for download in the libraries in PeopleLink's AmigaZone. When a public domain program has been classified as shareware, this is also mentioned, with the suggested amount. Bankn: by Hal Carter (Fish 120; Shareware: $20) This is a complex checkbook program. In addition to keeping records of checks, Bankn allows you to define expense cate gories, prepare budgets that can set spending limits in each expense category, and split transactions over several checks. The program has an option which requires you to maintain a strict sequence on check numbers. Bankn can not only give you a report on your checking account, but can also allow you to define how the report will be set up. You can also reprogram certain variables concerning your account for the new year. One problem with Bankn's window is that it has no depth gadgets, making it difficult if not impossible to access any other windows on the same screen, including any CLJ windows. EgyptianRun: by Chris Hames (Fish 120; Shareware: $10) A so-so game in which you must steer through a minefield of pyramids to get within guided missile range of the control
pyramid. 98
MAY 1988
Iconlmage: by Denis Green
Iconlmage gives you the ability to easi ly swap an icon image with another icon image without affecting any related defi
nition data attached to the icon.
DataPlot: by J. Dale Holt (Fish 121; Shareware $10) This is an AmigaBASIC plotting pro gram that will work on any Epson MX80/FX-80 or compatible printer. Several data files, online help and an accompany ing least-squares program are also provided. Plot: by George TVepal (Fish 121; Shareware: $20) This is a complex compiled Amiga BASIC program that plots any one of 35 different equations in 3D using color graphics. There are many options to the way the equations can be plotted. You can choose either a wire frame or a solid graph. Square or triangular cells can be used. When in wire frame mode, you can choose from simple, Xored or colored op tions. There are also many special effects available, including Haze, Backdrop and Shadow and Color cycling. Plotted graphs can then be saved for quick display, al though you will have to pay the share ware fee in order to have this feature
available to you.
Stairs: by Gary Cuba (Fish 121) An AmigaBASIC program that creates a musical "stairs" illusion by increasing frequencies while modifying the volume according to a sine wave. WBColors: by Stefan Lindahl If you have a hard disk and like to run programs that expect their own palette (via the system-configuration file that is on the original disk), WBColors can quickly modify the Workbench colors upon bootup. Note that this program doesn't save anything to disk, so you'll have to remember to run it (or put in a special batch file that will also run the main application program) to get the color change. Asteroids: by Rico Mariani (Fish 122) This Asteroids clone has some excellent sound effects! Unfortunately, the graphic images are rather crude. However, all the graphic images are stored separately as an IFF file, meaning that you can easily edit them to almost any design you like. The sound files are also external to the program, so you can change those too if you like. IFF2Pcs: by Ali Ozer (Fish 122) A jigsaw puzzle for your Amiga. IFF2Pcs will break up any 16-color IFF
Amiga Update/Amiga Public Domain file into many pieces and then allow you to piece them back together again. You can choose from three sizes of pieces. The pieces are only squares for now, although the author hopes to change that soon. Car: by Allen Hastings (Fish 123) Car is a very nice VideoScape 3D ani mation of a sports car running over a trav eling unicycle. This animation requires 1MB of memory in order to run. Tarot: by L. Pfost (Fish 124) This is sort of a training program for us ing the legendary tarot cards. This AmigaBASIC program contains nice graphic renditions of each tarot card, plus the meanings of each card (including reversal meanings). Colour by John Russell (Fish 126) Yet another program to change the col or palette for a particular program. Colour has other features, including the ability to grab the current palette from any screen and save it to disk. It also has the option of manipulating the present colors via slider gadgets or RGB values. Colour will act on other screens besides the active one by specifying the screen's title when calling up Colour from the CLI. Iconify: by Leo Schwab (Fish 126) Iconify can be considered a routine that allows programmers to extend the Work bench environment to any program run ning in a window. The iconifyO routine adds one or more gadgets to the bottom of any window. When you click on one of these gadgets, the window will shrink to the size of an average icon, and an iconlike image will be present in the window. Not only can you drag the iconified win dow anywhere you want by grabbing the icon-like image, but if you double click on the icon-like image, the window will transform to original size, and the pro gram will still be running, just as if you had double clicked on a real icon to start up a program. An accompanying demo program helps to show programmers some of Iconify's possibilities. Note that when the Iconified window is in shrunken form, the program is still running, as the demo program can clearly show you.
OnlyAmiga: by Iqbal Singh Hans (Fish 126) Here is another nice VideoScape 3D animation. OnlyAmiga shows two invert ed pyramids juggling three Boing balls while spinning on their tops.
DropCloth version 2.2: by Eric Lavitsky (Fish 128; Shareware: $10) Version 2.2 of DropCloth is an update to the original version of DropCloth (re viewed in the October 1987 installment of this column). This version allows you to place any two bit-plane IFF image as a Workbench background instead ofjust a dot pattern. MrBackup: by Mark Rinrret (Fish 128) MrBackup is a hard drive backup util ity that has the unique feature of speech synthesis. If you would rather wander from your Amiga to do other things while you are backing up your hard drive, or if you are running a program with a sepa rate screen that obstructs the view of the backup program's windows, you might find MrBackup convenient. MrBackup can backup directories or groups of direc tories in addition to the whole drive. MrBackup has the option to compress all files while backing them up. You also have the option to specify a (Unix-style) wildcard for files that should not be backed up (including directories). Paint: by Greg Lee (Fish 128) The only remarkable thing about this primitive 32-color paint program is that it is written in the Web language (source is included).
wKeys: by Davide Cervone (Fish 128) This program lets you use the keyboard to swap screens and windows to the front or back. The default mapping is to use combinations of the right AMIGA key, the right SHIFT key and the cursor keys to replace eight common flipping functions normally done via the mouse. You can, however, design your own mapping for the functions that are provided by wKeys, us ing virtually any combination of Amiga keys and qualifier keys. AFacction: by Andry Rachmat This is a public domain replacement for the Facction user interface program that is a part of the commercial floppy caching program Face II by ASDG (reviewed in the April issue of Commodore Magazine). AFacction has all of the power and flexi bility of Facction, but does not have a win dow and is only accessed via the CLI. It has a couple of new options that Facction doesn't, including an easy way to obtain a complete report about the cache.
ASetPrefs: by Arshiz Zarrabi Do you dislike having to use the Prefer ences program to change certain settings
on your Amiga? Although you will still have to use Preferences to create settings, you won't necessarily have to use Prefer ences to change settings. ASetPrefs allows you to load a previously saved Preferences setting without having to load the Prefer ences program. It can do this since each time Preferences settings are saved they are filed under "System-Configuration" inside the devs directory. So all you do is copy the current settings to somewhere else and then rename them. ASetPrefs can then load in those settings and change your environment to reflect these new settings. ASetPrefs is small (884 bytes) and written in assembly language, so it is perfect to add into your startupsequence.
ClockDJ: by David Jenkins Here is yet another title-bar clock pro gram. One of the nice things about ClockDJ is that you can choose the fore ground and background colors for the clock (from the four Workbench/CLI col ors, of course). You can also change both the task priority of the program as well as the refresh rate of the clock display. All of the various settings can be saved to disk and later automatically accessed when the program first loads. Handshake version 1.50a: by Eric Haberfellner (Shareware: $25) This is the latest version of Handshake, a terminal program specializing in VT52/VT-100/VT-102 emulation, originally reviewed in the October 1987 installment of this column. Handshake has come a long way since that first review. It is now widely regarded by Amiga users as the best Amiga terminal program, public do main or commercial, in terms of VT100 emulation. Handshake has improved in many ways. It now supports Xmodem-CRC, Ymodem, Ymodem-batch and Kermit protocols. Auto-dialing is now available. Phone numbers can be saved (with the necessary parameter settings) as Work bench icons, and then you can click in the icons and have Handshake automatically load and dial the phone number. Hand shake now fully supports 132 columns on the screen. You can choose whether the cursor blinks or not. And there are five function keys that can be user defined. In cluded with the program is a review in
which Handshake (version 1.21, which is now way out of date) is compared to four other programs including Dave Wecker's VT100, and the commercial programs A-Talk and Diga! COMMODORE MA3AZINE
99
Amiga Update/Amiga Public Domain FAUGAnim: by Leo Schwab An impressive animation that com memorates the second anniversary of First Amiga Users Group and apparently takes advantage of Extra-Half-Brite mode. This animation requires 1MB of memory in order to run. Hastings: by Allen Hastings This is an aptly-named VideoScape 3-D animation that combines the effects of
Allen's well known El Gato and VideoScape (the one shown in the Amiga 500 commercials last fall i animations. Play: by Mark Riley (Shareware: $10) Finally, somebody has come out with a public domain music player! Mark Riley, author of the commercial music program Sonix (from Aegis Development), has re leased Play, which is a shareware player for Sonix songs. Play supports script files that enable you to play a series of songs. The script support for Play includes speci fying how many times to play a song, loop ing and volume control. Now those who don't own Sonix can actually listen to Sonix scores (assuming, of course, that the score doesn't require any of the instru ment files on the original Sonix disks, since they are copyrighted and are obvi ously not in the public domain). These in clude the very popular Songs created in part with the commercial program AudioMaster ialso from Aegis Development), YTV, YesSonix. Thriller and others.
The Final List: by Chet Solace I wouldn't usually consider reviewing a text file, but this is no ordinary text file. The Final List is a BBS listing to end all BBS listings. The Final list (as of version
12.0) currently lists over 600 BBSs in the United States, Canada and across the world! But this list is actually much more than a text file. For AMIC PD TERM users this list can be instantly used as a phone direc tory (granted, a very big one). Just load up the list from AMIC PD TERM's phone di rectory requestor and start dialing! Need less to say, keeping a list of this incredible size is a huge undertaking, and Chet Sol ace should receive a round of applause. For those ofyou who use AMIC PD TERM and PC-Pursuit, The Final List is a musthave. AMIC PD TERM version .5SE: by David Salas This is an updated version of a full100
MAY 1988
featured telecommunications program last reviewed (in version .42) in the No
vember 1987 installment of this column. Before I talk about the many changes in AMIC PD TERM, I must address the current status of the program. As of January 1,1988, AMIC PD TERM is no longer a shareware program. The regis tered version of AMIC PD TERM has been replaced by a commercial version called AMICTerm (which will receive a full-length review in a special article com ing soon!). So until AMIC Development (the makers of AMIC PD TERM and now AMICTerm) indicates otherwise, I consid er AMIC PD TERM not shareware any more, but rather just a freely distributable program like most Amiga PD programs (Although it is certainly not in the public domain in the strict sense of the word, as AMIC Development still reserves all rights to the program). As for what has happened to AMIC PD TERM since version .42, the addition of the Ymodem protocol tops the list. AMIC PD TERM also supports Ymodem-batch, but only in the send mode. AMIC PD TERM now has its own title-bar clock that keeps track of both the current time and the amount of time spent online. A configuration window is another big addition. This allows you to view the cur rent values for four different parameter
settings, change one or more of them, and then save the group of settings to the AMIC.Config file. There is also a new In stant Access window. For those who call AMIC Development's AMIC-2000 BBS, the Instant Access window allows you to instantly perform almost any function that you might do on the bulletin board by just clicking on the appropriate gadget. AMIC PD TERM also supports script files, although some of the script functions are disabled (so that you have to buy the commercial version). AMIC PD TERM now allows you to unarc ARC archives without having to touch the CLJ. You can easily get rid of the Sidebar if it gets it your wayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just double-click on the main window to push the Sidebar to the back (or if it's in the back, pop it to the front). There is also a review buffer through which you can view text files or even bina ry files being transferred. You can also tell AMIC PD TERM whether to disable the upper half of the currently-used character set (which will reduce line noise garbage from messing up text displays), or allow it to be displayed (for displaying graphics characters of the IBM character set). Other improvements range from many
bug fixes to loads of nice-looking (and cor rectly operating) gadgets, and, even more important, increased speed in the pro gram. In the October 1987 installment of this column I said that AMIC PD TERM was the new king of the hill in general-
purpose PD terminal programs. Not only does AMIC PD TERM retain this title, but now it also clearly challenges the bet ter commercial terminal programs, and embarrasses the worst Access! version .27: by Keith Young (Shareware: S20) This is version .27 of Access!, a 16-color terminal program which I first reviewed in the January 1988 installment of this column. Access! was designed as a strik ingly colorful terminal program and is still that. If you ever thought that a termi nal program for the Amiga should be just as colorful as the Amiga can be, then Ac cess! is your cup of tea. Access! is loaded with multi-colored windows, gadgets, re questers and other displays. Access! even allows you to pick foreground and back ground colors for text display. You can even choose the "shadow" color, which is used to create shadows behind gadgets. Besides all the nice color goodies, Ac cess! now has many more useful features than it used to. For example, Access! is unique in that it has two separate FastMenu bars (which, just like AMIC PD TERM's Sidebar, allow you to select com mands by clicking on gadgets) that reside on the top and bottom edges of the screen. You can choose whether you want each Fast Menu on the top or the bottom of the screen. If you choose to have both Fast Menus on the same side, they each have a gadget which allows you to flip them so that you can access the one that is cur rently behind the other, A big improvement to Access! is support of the same phone directory format that AMIC PD TERM uses, meaning that among other things you can now easily use The Final List with Access! Another nice addition to Access! is a text file read er, which allows you to easily read any text file (that is already saved as a disk file) without having to load up another program.
Also for those of you who are short on memory, you can define via Access!'s Config file to load as an eight-color program or a 16-color program (as of version .27 you can change the number of colors on the fly while Access! is running). Access! also sports a configuration window (similar in function to AMIC PD TERM's configura tion window, although it is much simpler
Amiga Update/Amiga Public Domain to use since there aren't as many settings to worry about). Although Access! can't match AMIC PD TERM in terms of power and features, it still is a good terminal program with a few special twists. So if you are looking for a nice terminal pro gram and color is an important consider ation, then don't write off Access! until you try it. Crown of Ardania: by Gary Yates (Shareware: $15) This board game written in compiled AmigaBASIC is a cross between Risk and Defender of the Crown with medieval fan tasy elements thrown in. Like in Risk, you play the part of a ruler of a certain terri tory in Ardania, and your ultimate goal is to wrestle control from all your opponents of the 16 territories in Ardania and rule the entire land. You collect taxes from each territory you control, which gives you the power to hire personnel for your army. You build your army of soldiers and knights to defeat opposing forces and oc cupy as many territories as possible. Unlike both Risk and Defender of the Crown, you also have a third type of per sonnelâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;wizards. The wizards you hire don't fight directly, but rather bestow on you, the ruler, magic powers with which to cast spells to support your army and your self. You can create magic weapons for your army, cause an opponent's army to
run away in fear, turn an opposing ruler's gold into dust or summon armies of skel etal warriors to fight for you. In Ardania there are different types of terrain, which affect how many warriors can be recruited from the area and how much gold you can extract from the peasants in the form of taxes. One chaotic factor in Ardania is The Great Dragon, which can be sum moned for help during the game, but who will help a ruler in unpredictable ways. Many of the features of the game are dis abled in the shareware version, forcing you to send in the shareware fee in order to truly enjoy the game. Filelnjecton by Justin McCormick If you have been less than pleased about the file requestor that is a part of an often-used program, then don't use it! Filelnjector is a stand-alone file requestor program that can work with most any pro gram. Upon loading, Filelnjector will sleep in the background until you call upon it via a hotkey. After you have se lected a file via Filelnjector, the next time you click the mouse button the name of
the file you selected will be automatically inserted. Filelnjector can be user-defined to add text strings before and after the filename I for example, if you want to load a word processor while specifying a text file that the program should load in). You can also choose whether Filelnjector should add the path of the selected file to the text string that is injected into the host program. The hotkey that activates Filelnjector can also be user-defined. LS: by Justin McCormick LS is a powerful replacement for the AmigaDOS DIR command based on the Unix (Berkeley 4.3) 'IS" Command. For starters. LS uses four columns to list files compared to DIR's two. LS also highlights directories by displaying them in red. LS also duplicates the features found in the AmigaDOS LIST command. Naturally LS supports Unix-style wildcarding in addi tion to AmigaDOS' pattern matching. LS can also sort listings by date or file size (and in either direction). Mach version 1.5: by Brian Moats This is version 1.5 of Mach. a multi purpose utility program. I reviewed ver sion 1.2 of Mach in last month's column. The big addition to Mach is a title-bar clock. Not only can you program the clock to produce a beep regularly (the interval between beeps in user-definable), but you can also use an online meter to keep track of how much money you have already spent on an online service so far. Unlike all the other portions of Mach. the clock portion of Mach is available as a special version of Mach called MachClk. So if you are satisfied with your current clock pro gram, you can just use Mach, which doesn't have the title-bar clock code inside.
Split: by Richard Lee Stockton If you have been looking for a conve nient way to break up large files in order to upload them to a local BBS or online service, Split offers a fresh approach. Split will actually break up a file into a bunch of smaller disk files for easy ARCing and up/downloading. You can specify what size each piece should be (from as small as 10K up to 1MB). Split can break up a file into a maximum of 35 parts. TaskX: by Steve Tibbett Like many other programs, TaskX will allow you to view the current tasks that are running as well as the current task
priority of each task. What makes TaskX unique is that you can use it to alter in real time the priority of a running task! The program can be made to shrink down to a tiny bar for easy storage until you need it. VirusCheck version 1.9: by Bill Koester VirusCheck is a very impoitant pro gram that will check for the presence of a potentially damaging virus on a disk. This is an update to the version of Virus Check reviewed in the March 1988 in stallment of this column. The new feature in this version is that it can now examine the boot block on any standard disk and tell you if it is standard or not. If not, it will notify you if the boot block is infected with either of the two currently known (by Commodore I viruses in existence. YaBoing II: by Ali Ozer YaBoing II holds so little resemblance to its predecessor YaBoing that is should
be considered a separate program. YaBoing II does have a game concept like YaBoing, but that's where the similarity ends. The object in YaBoing II is to catch numbers and numerical operators that fly across your screen and perform math ematical operations with the caught char acters that can give you as high a score as possible. The calculator used in this game is oriented to programming, including the use of a stack to hold numbers and opera tors already caught.
I have almost caught up with the back log of public domain programs worth re view consideration. I have a few programs I didn't get to this month, plus a new batch of AMCUS disks that I'm expect ing, and other programs are bound to show up in next month's column. As always, I can be reached on the Amiga Zone on PeopleLink iID: G KINSEY), or on the IDCMP BBS (617) 7698444, 8p.m.-8a.m. If you have written a public domain/shareware/freely distribu table program, or have obtained one that you think is worth mentioning to all Amiga owners, then please attempt to contact me via the above or through Com modore Magazine. See you next month. Fish disks: For a catalog, send a SASE and four loose stamps or $1 to: Fred Fish, 1346 W. lOthPlace, Tempe, AZ 85281. AMICUS Disks: $7per disk, or send $1 for a catalog to: PiM Publications, P.O. Box 869, Fall River, MA 02722. PeopleLink: (800) 524-0100 COMMODORE M/CAZINE
101
/WUGA^UPDATE
The C Programming Environment
From AtoB with Lattice C
Getting started with a compiled language like C isn't the easiest thing in the world. But the benefits of C are worth the effort, especially when the computer is as exciting as the Amiga. If you want to get started using your Lattice compiler, and you've never used a compiler before, I'll show you how to get organized for maximal programming productivity and minimal hassle. Think of your programming environment as having three parts: 1) the information environment. 2) the physical environ ment, and 3) the operational environment. The first consists of books and other references. The second consists of the physical resources aside from the books. The third consists of files and where you keep them. I'll show you how to set up these environ ments and use them to greatest advantage. I've also included a quick pass through what C programmers call "The Loop." If you want to get the most out of your Lattice compiler, you'll
ART BAXTER
need: • a printer
• an external disk drive or a hard disk drive • 512KofRAM
The Information Environment To speed your programming along you'll need these books: • AmigaDOS Manual—indispensable for looking up DOS and Ed commands. • a C tutorial—it should be loaded with examples, and the in dex must help you find discussions of fine points in seconds. • a C reference manual—I like the C Wizard's Programming Manual by W. David Schwaderer (Wiley Press, 1985), be cause I am not a C wizard; also consider C: A Reference Manual, by Samuel P. Harbison and Guy L. Sleele, Jr. (Prentice-Hall, 19871 • a Lattice manual—to look up errors, function arguments and returns, command-line switches, and more.
It's also a good idea to make a quick-reference card for Ed, the pure-ASCII, full-screen text editor that comes with the Amiga. For my quick-reference card, I made a one-page Ed command summary chart, which I taped to a piece of corrugated cardboard covered in clear packing tape to get a laminated effect.
The Physical Environment
The physical environment includes: the books mentioned above; a three-ring binder, for source listings and header file list ings; and a disk holder, to keep tight control of your disks. The one I use, called "The Library," from Innovative Technologies' Communications, is a square carousel that holds eighty disks, twenty on a side which can be stacked three high. All of these items should be within aim's reach. The last item that must be within arm's reach is a separate table to hold your coffee cup. A computer that is dead from drowning makes the worst program ming environment. I use a TV tray. Make sure that every formatted disk has a label showing its name and describing its contents. Align the label's text so that it is right-side-up when you pop the disk in a drive. Write the 102
MAY 1988
name of the disk along the bottom edge of the label, so it is the last thing you see l>efore the disk seats. This makes it very easy to check that you're inserting the right disk. It's important to la bel your disks with exact volume names, so you can be sure the disk is correct when a requester pops up with a disk request.
The Operational Environment Your operational environment consists of the directories and files that, you use to create or update a program. They should be organized to take full advantage of the system's power. The previous two environments were easy to explain. Describ ing the operational environment is more involved, because there is much that needs changing. You'll he printing files, deleting files, modifying files, and more. When you are through with this section, you'll be ready to compile a program That won't be as hard as you think. It requires only a few sim ple commands. I'll step you through those commands by compil ing a simple C program after I've described the creation of a highly effective operational environment. My sample compiler is Lattice's version 3.10, which comes on two disks. Use DISKCOPY to copy both disks, and put the originals away. Write-protect the copy of disk #2. From now on, when I mention either of the compiler disks, I am referring to your copy. Compiler disk # 1 will be your work disk, but there are only
25.6K bytes free on it. That's not enough disk space to hold more than a few source files, their object files, and the load module. My smallest load modules are about 10K—for very small, sim ple utility programs. You make space by deleting some unneces sary files. Make sure that your printer is turned on and ready. Boot up your Amiga, using compiler disk #1 instead of Workbench. Then put compiler disk #2 in dfl:. At the DOS prompt, type:
COPY readme TO PKT Read.me is a text file of last-minute compiler changes, manual errata and advice. It is worth saving, but not on disk. Keep it in your binder. When the printer is done, delete "read.me." Also de lete the files "on Lattice C," and "on Lattice C.info," which are
Amiga Update/The C Programming Environment just used to display the contents of "read.me." Next, type PREFERENCES at the DOS prompt in order to get into Preferences. Make sure that you have all the settings the way you like them and click on "save." When you have the DOS prompt back, delete Preferences and Preferences.info. Don't worry about losing your Preference settings; those are stored in another file called "system-configuration." If you ever want to change your preferences, just copy Preferences from a Workbench disk and invoke it as above. You can also delete all of the printer-drivers that you don't use from the :devs'printers directory. These deletions will leave you with over 100K of space, which is plenty for beginners. The Lattice-supplied Startup-Sequence has too much junk in it, and it's much too slow. So let's change it! At the DOS prompt,
type "RUN Edis/Startup-Sequence". All of those "echo"s that
you see in the file are very time consuming, because DOS has to load "echo" each time it is encountered. As a courtesy to Lattice, I leave the copyright notice. I have edited my Startup-Sequence so that it looks like this: echo "Lattice AmigaDOS C Compiler Version 3.10" echo "Copyright 1986, Lattice, Inc." echo " " makedir rarnx path add ram:c copy c:copy to ram;c
copy c:cd to ram:c copy c:dir to ram:c copy c:type to ram:c
the "source" directory. Save this file. Next make sure you're in the root directory, then type "MAKEDIR source". This will cre ate the work directory that Startup-Sequence mentions. Now, reboot.
Editing and Compiling The mechanics of programming are: 11 use Ed to create a source fileâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;actually, all that's required is a pure-ASCII text edi tor, but you have Ed; 2) compile it to produce an object file (an object file, or object module, is mostly binary, but it usually con tains a few ASCII strings; ".o" is the usual extension for object files); 3) use blink to link your object file with others and with the libraries; and 4) run the linked load file. If it doesn't work, you'll re-edit, re-compile, etc. Programmers call this "The Loop."
Actually, it should be called "The Loop for the Lucky," because
you don't normally get as far as linking at first; syntax errors make sure of that. So, there is a shorter loop: the edit, compile, edit, compile... loop. The way to make this loop very fast is nev er to quit Ed during a session. You can run Ed in its own CLI with the command "RUN Ed mysource." By saving the source file with the command "ESC sa RETURN", you can save the file without quitting Ed. Next, shrink Ed's window, click in the other CLI window and compile. When the compiler's done, use 'TYPE errfile" to examine the first few errors. Click in Ed's window, use "ESC m <line number> RETURN" to move to the problem lines, and make your corrections. That done, continue The Loop by entering "ESC sa RETURN'. Let's write something!
copy cdelete to ram:c
A Sample Session
copy c:execute to ramx
Make sure that you're in the "source" directory, and type "RUN Ed hello.c." Then type in this program:
copy c:assign to ram:c
assign QUAD: RAM: assign LC: C: assign INCLUDE: "copy of C_DISK#2:" assign LIB: "copy of C_DISK#2:lib" delete ram:c/assign stack 10000 setdate cd source cd This is the Startup-Sequence that I use. "MAKEDIR ramx" makes a C directory in the RAM disk. DOS' usual (default) search for a command starts in the current directory. If it can't find what it's looking for there, it looks in the C directory of the boot disk (named "sys:"). But we're putting our favorite com mands in the C directory of the RAM disk to speed things up, so we want DOS to look there before looking in sys:c. The next line takes care of this. It tells DOS to check ram:c before going to sys:c. You can check this by typing PATH at the DOS prompt. The next few lines copy our favorite commands to RAM:c. If you have RAM to spare, copy every command in sys:c to ramx. It sure saves time later. We also copy "assign" to ram:c to speed up the next four lines and then delete it when we're through with it. The assigns make the assignments required by the com piler driver, lc, the compiler's preprocessor, and the linker, blink. Workbench comes with a stack size of 4000 bytes, too small for the compiler, so I increase it to 10000. If the compiler crashes the system, double the stack size. I put SETDATE near the end, so that when the Amiga prompts me for the date and time, Fll know that startup is almost over. The last two lines change the current directory to your work ing directory, "source," and then tell you that you are, indeed, in
#include "stdio.h" void mainO
{
printf!"Hello, world!\n");
When you're finished, type "ESC sa RETURN", shrink Ed's window to the upper half of the screen, and then click in the oth er CLI window to activate it. Hit RETURN until the prompt ap pears. We will ignore the superabundance of compiler com mand-line options and simply type: lc > errfile hello
The first word in this line, "lc," starts the compiler. The whole line compiles your hello.c file and sends all of your error mes sages to a file named "errfile" (which AmigaDOS creates in the current directory). When all disk activity has stopped for good, type 'TYPE errfile". Stop the scrolling with the space bar, re sume it with the backspace key. Tb go to a line with an error, click in the Ed window, and type "ESC m <line number> RE
TURN". Remember that an error may actually occur on a line before the line that gets the blame, but never after that line. Don't be alarmed if you get a zillion errors. Most of them are bo gus errors issued by the compiler when it gets confused by a few genuine errors. Correct the first error, and the second, if it's real ly there, then save all (remember: ESC sa RETURN), click in the other CLI window, and recompile. You'll know that you've made it when errfile has the line: Total files: 1, Compiled OK: 1. For large source files with lots of errors or even a small file COMMODORE MK3AZINE
103
Amiga Update/The C Programming Environment with just a few errors but with a tricky flow of control, it's often convenient to have a printout of the file, with every line num bered. This is called a numbered source listing. Tb create such a listing, use the 'TYPE" command like this: TYPE FROM <souroefile> TO PRT: OPT N.
You still have two hurdles to jump after hello.c compiles, namely, linking and running. Hello.o, the output of the compil er, has two symbolic names in it, the internal names of the func tion "main,"' and the function "printf." (Those names, "â&#x20AC;&#x201D;main" and "â&#x20AC;&#x201D;printf' are the ASCII strings mentioned above i. The linker, blink, reads through the object file that you give it, try ing to replace symbolic name.s in the object file with subroutine calls to the code that implements the functions. This is called "resolving names." For example, the command to link hello.o is: BLINK FROM LIB:c.o ^ hello.o TO hello LIB LIB:lc.lib + LIB:amiga.lib NODEBUG (Do not press RETURN until the end of this line.) The object file c.o is the startup code for every program, hence, must always be linked and furthermore, must always appeal' first in the link command. Because the name after "TO" in the link command is "hello," the name of the load file is "hello." The word "LIB" is short for "LIBRARY." It tells blink where else to look if it still has names to resolve after scanning hello.o. BLINK looks in special files called "libraries." which Lattice supplies with the compiler. "LIB:" comes from the Startup-Sequence and tells blink where to find the libraries. Check Startup-Sequence now to see where the libraries are. "NODEBUG" suppresses the gen eration of special debugging information. We're not yet sophisti cated enough to use that information. If you haven't entered the link command above, do so now. When the linkers through, type hello at the DOS prompt. If the Amiga responds with: hello, world!
Congratulations! You're a C programmer! If not, remember that the assigns in Startup-Sequence are required, the spelling in the link command must be exact, even down to the presence or ab sence of spaces, hello.o must be in the current directory (still the "source"!, and c.o must be in the directory "C_DISK#2:lib." When you're developing programs, you could type that blink command over and over, a thing to be avoided at all costs. The best way to avoid it is to automate as much as possible by using scripts and '"with" files. You can use "with" files to store parts of the blink command line that normally don't change between in vocations of blink. Here's how to make a "with" file: if you haven't quit Ed, do so now and then re-run it with a new file name, "plain.t". "Plain.t" will be the name of your new "with" file. In Ed, enter the two lines:
LIB LIB:lc.lib + LIB:amigaJib NODEBUG and then save the file and quit Ed, by hitting ESC X. The two lines in plain.t are just the tail end of the blink command line (hence the ".t" to signify "tail"). Now, delete "hello,'' and try to re-link hello.o by typing:
BLINK FROM LIB:c.o + hello.o TO hello WITH plain.t
When the DOS prompt comes back, type: hello. You should get the same result as before. If you didn't, remember that spelling in the "with" file and on the command line is crucial, and don't put spaces around the plus signs or it won't work! Also, plain.t should be kept in the "source" directory. That's still too much typing. It's much more convenient to use 104
MAY 1988
this script, which supplies blink command lines for linking from one to four object files: .key filel/a,G,f3,f4,with/a/k
;the files "filel" and the with file are required on the command ;line, and the with file must follow the word "with" IF "<f2>" EQ ""
blink FROM UB:c.o + <filel>.oTO <filel> WITH <with> ELSE IF "<f3>" EQ""
blink FROM LIB:c.o + <filel>.o + <f2>.oTO <filel> WITH <with> ELSE IF"<f4>"EQ"" blink FROM LB:c.o + <filel>.o + <f2>.o + <f3>.oTO <filel>
WITH <with> ELSE blink FROM LIB:c.o + <filel>.o+<f2>.o + <f3>.o + <f4>.o TO <filel> WITH <with> ENDIF ENDIF ENDIF
A script is a special file called a "command file," which con tains AmigaDOS commands. When you tell the Amiga to ex ecute a script, AmigaDOS reads the script and executes the commands in it just as though you had typed them at the con sole. A script may also contain parameters, which are variables and allow the script to be used with many different files. In the script above, "file 1," "f2," "f3," and "f4" are parameters. Use Ed to create this file (it's just another text file, no big deal), which you must call "link." When you've saved it, copy it to the "s" subdirectory, and delete it from "source." Delete "hel lo," again, and then link "hello.o" with the command line EXECUTE link hello WITH plain.t and test the results. If your program uses floating point numbers, then you will have to include the Lattice math library, lcm.lib, in the link pro cess (see p. 8 in the Lattice V.3.10 manual). I'll let you figure out a good name for this with file and what you should put into it.
Conclusion There are three environments that you live in when you pro gram: the information environment, the physical environment, and the operational environment. A defect in any of them will reduce your joy in programming. However, when they are com plete as described, that joy will be enhanced. The result is that these environments will ease your real programming work, which is editing, compiling, linking and running. I've shown you how to make these environments pleasant and how to get the better of The Loop. C is a lovely language. Now you're in a bet ter position to appreciate that loveliness. 3
The author would like to thank Amanda Krasinski, Esq., and Dan Baker for their very helpful criticisms ofdrafts of this article.
64 and 128 Software Reviews/Beyond Zork Continued from page 23
thing in the wine cellar. The answer lies in The Lore and Legends ofQuendor and in close examination of every room. The descriptions of room locations in Be yond Zork are sometimes of things nec essary to your quest, but don't list them as objects. Read carefully! The Lore and Legends of Quendor con tains hints about creatures and other things in Beyond Zork; without this knowledge you can't finish the game. Take careful note of what the old women in the shops say about the items that you bring to them for examination. The three shops you need to visit are: the Magick Shoppe in Gurth City, the Bou tique in Mizniaport and the Weapon Shop in Accardi-by-the-Sea. Some magic items that you need may have to be bought from the Magick Shoppe. Most items that are useful in the earlier part of the game are found during your travels. Most magic items like staffs, sticks and rods give you only three tries to use them. You can only call upon the magic from scrolls and potions once. Not all creatures require a sword, dagger, club or other weapon to defeat them. Some other items may be per
ceived as "weapons" to them." The lighthouse is a good combination of combat and use of your brain power.
There is a monster on every level to give you a real challenge. Some magic items aren't necessary to finish the game. They're put in as red herrings—only good for getting you more zorkmids, The Scroll of Mischief and the Scroll of Fireworks are such items. Save the game and try them for fun. Using rod/stafCstave-type items reduces your strength. Make sure that you have enough strength before using them.
Author Brian Moriarty has used several
names of Infocom staff members in var ious places in Beyond Zork. Chances are that if you see a strange name, it might be that of an Infocom staffer.
When you sell something back to an old woman after using it, shell only give you half of what you paid for it. No hag gling is possible. Also, she'll charge you double for any item that you wish to
buy back. Note carefully what effect the giant on ion has. Perhaps one of your nemises could be affected in the same way. ■ Without a doubt, you should be using
the F7 function key (ATTACK MON STER) very often. It saves a lot of typ
ing. Also, programming one of the keys to type ASK WOMAN ABOUT saves your fingers. • When monsters are defeated, they don't return. After the battle, you won't need any special items that you've used to de feat them. • Read the labels on all scrolls and po tions before you use them. They may contain special insctructions. • To enter the gondola from either the dock or a tower platform, type GET IN GONDOLA. Tb get onto the platform, type JUMP ONTO PLATFORM.
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Warning: Consulted these hints only if you're really stuck. They will get you a lit tle further in the game but are useless if you don't have any of the items Fve men tioned, haven't seen the monsters or haven't encountered the situations. That means that you haven't explored enough on your own yet! • Kill the slug by putting salt on it. Logi cal, huh? • Defeat the dorn by cutting the giant on
ion and attacking the monster while it is defenseless. • Read the runes on the amulet through the wine bottle and use the amulet to get out of the wine cellar. • Kiss the unicorn's horn to increase luck. This is another example of why you should read The Lore and Legends of Quendor carefully. • Use levitation to release the unicorn, get the saddle and save the baby hungus. • Use the rug to defeat the dust bunnies.
• Use the sea chest to defeat the monkey grinder. • Look at the discipline crab's throne careMy. • Tb move the onion, imagine that it was a giant beach ball. How would you move such a thing? • The sea chest is a gateway to the Plane of Translnfinite Splendor. But do you really want to go there? • Tb help the pterodactyl, you need the hurdy-gurdy from the monkey grinder, spenseweed and the magic saddle. • Hide the footprints of the minx to save him from the hunters and increase your compassion. Use the minx to get some thing else you need. • Tb get the jewel from the idol, anger the mother hungus by attacking her baby and have her follow you into the idol's maw. Try to get the jewel, teleport your self out of the maw with some magic and use eversion on the mother hungus. Q
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Penchant for Puzzles Continued from page 73
Often, posing the correct question is
out the name of a magical item or ability or the essence of the item.
Next, you must know what the magic does. There are two ways of assembling this infor mation: use the magic on something and note the reac tion, or gain this information response to the other when first examining the abili ty or magic item (sometimes character's the purpose is revealed in the item or ability's name). If you comments. just tried an unknown magic spell on a tree and it instantly died, then you might guess have adopted this attitude, re that the spell kills living sulting in the inclusion of things. Some magic requires many magic puzzles in adven gathering some ingredients or ture games. using it under special condi Magic takes many forms in tions. This information should adventures, including wands, potions, spells, scrolls, powders, be investigated as well when discovering the purpose of clothing, weapons, armor, jew magic. elry, creatures and enchanted Experimentation with the objects. The use of these magi cal things is just as varied, but magic is important in deter mining its overall use. If you must be touched upon for you only tried a potion on people, to grasp magic and use it to how would you know that it solve puzzles in adventure transformed plants into people games. There are a few rules or animals into plants? You that you should follow to suc couldn't. Only by multiple ex cessfully use magic: find out what the object is or what it is periments with the magic will you find out what situations called, discover the use of the are best for its overall object, experiment with the effectiveness. magic, save the magic for puz Using the potion in The zles that seem to demand just Blade ofBbckpoole takes into such prestidigitation, don't account all the hints Eve men overuse the magic, and exam tioned so far. In the game, ine the effect of the magic on there is a river that must be yourself. Discovering what a magical traveled, and there is a boat object is or that you have the that is too heavy to move and ability to use some form of far from the river. You find a magic in an adventure is the potion that allows the reduc first step in solving a puzzle us tion of the boat. By experi ing that magic. Usually, you menting with it, you have are made aware that you have found out this fact. If you use a certain ability through an in the potion on the boat, it struction manual or by the shrinks, so you can then carry game itself as you acquire that it to the river. When you drop ability. These are automatic the boat in the river, it returns and require no extra effort on to normal size. You have used your part. However, in the case the potion as it was meant to of magic items, you have three be used by careful planning and investigation of its options: take the item to some one who may be able to evalu properties. Magic often works in five or ate it, examine the item care fully for arty writing that may six different situations, but it describe it or use some other can only be used once. At this magic to divine its purpose. point, you have to make a Using one of these three meth choice of when to use the magic ods, you should be able to find and when to use conventional
more important than furnish ing the correct
106
MAY 1988
means to solve a puzzle. You should save the magic for a puzzle that seems suited to the specifications of the magical ef fect. Most designers will create a puzzle in which only one type of magic will solve it efficiently. In the process of saving the magical items for the most use ful situation, you have to spend most of the time finding the puzzles so that you may use the magic. All of this patience will pay off when you gather a new treasure, increase your points or win the game. So save that magical ability for a more appropriate time! Some magical items and abilities can be used more than one time. This does not mean that they have unlimited use, however. Using the magic too
Mazes have plagued
man from the
Egyptian pyramids to the advent of the personal computer. often is worse than not using it at all. Unless you discover that there is no limit on the use of a magical item or ability, do not employ that magic at every turn in the adventure. There is a correct place for everything in a game. Just because a wand kills all enemies in sight does not mean that you should use it in all battles. Save it for exceptionally tough creatures and use physical weapons else where. Finally, it would be a good idea to examine the effect of the magic on yourself. A lot of adventures require that you use magic on yourself to solve a certain puzzle. Practically all adventure games allow you to save positions. Do this and try out all the magic, directing it at yourself. Note the effects and remember them in case you encounter a puzzle later that may be looking for just such a solution. A very good magician is impervious to most
types of magic directed toward him. Because there are few such characters in an adven ture, realize that even you, with the possibility of becom ing a great hero by the end of the game, are subject to the same laws of magic as other in animate objects and living things. Taking all of these rules and tying them together results in a guide to use to tackle magic puzzles. The only thing that you must do if magic is allowed in a game is examine the puz zle and see if magic lends itself well to the solution. If you think it does, fire away. If the magic doesn't work, then you are looking in the wrong place for the answer. If some incredi ble event takes place or your score increases dramatically lor maybe just a little bit), then you have probably solved the puzzle correctly, and it really was one that required the use of magic. Enchanter offers a puzzle that has baffled many adven turers, yet is simple to solve if you use your mind first before your fingers and the keyboard. There is a temple in the game from which you must retrieve something. However, the min ute you enter the temple, you are jailed and then sacrificed. In the game, you have found a scroll, that contains an Ozmoo spell, the purpose of which is to survive an unnatural death. By casting the spell on your self, you survive the sacrifice and can obtain the object. Puzzles requiring magic for solution are usually those that have something happening that is opposite to and against the nature of the world in which the game takes place. Despite the fact that most of what is in an adventure game that might use magic is imagi nary, those situations that go against the natural law must be corrected by unnatural means. Magic can thus be brought into play. Look for such puzzles, and you'll devel op a skill for picking the right form of magic to use.
Penchant for Puzzles
Logic Puzzles
Logic puzzles can be one of two types: those puzzles that take common knowledge and transform it into some type of puzzle and those puzzles that are almost like a game, but re quire you to use your mind.
They are usually easy to solve, once you know the correct way to tackle them, but take the most intelligent adventurers down for the count. Logic puz zles come in all sizes, but diffi culty is not based on size. One
thing is for sure—they spice up any adventure and invite cre ativity into the game. The first type of logic puzzle kikes such common knowledge as the alphabet, colors of tin1
rainbow, everyday objects and mathematical symbols and cre ates a puzzle out of them. As soon as you recognize the com mon sense knowledge that is contained in the puzzle, solving it becomes trivial. The key here1 is to think how you would logically manipulate such in
formation to solve the puzzle. Sometimes, the knowledge is already coded into a puzzle and you have to decipher it. The ex amples that follow mirror these
Puzzles requiring magic usually have something happening that is against the nature of the world in which the game takes place. types of common knowledge logic puzzles respectively. In HollywoodHijinx you find a business card with the name Roy (_!. Biv and computer
punch cards in full color. In the basement you later find a com puter-type console with a card slot. By placing the cards into the slot in the order of the col ors of the rainbow (also the name on the card) and looking
at the lights on the computer afterwards, you find a phone number to call to get another treasure.
In Beyond Zork, there is an inscription on a ledge that reads "My tines be long, my tines be short, my tines end ere my first report. What am I?" If" you type SAY LIGHTNING, a bolt comes out of the sky and Opens a hole in the ledge that goes into the lighthouse.
The Brat puzzle above takes your knowledge of what colors make up the rainbow and transforms them into a puzzle that you must solve. The riddle in the second puzzle already has the common tiling encoded into a puzzle and you must de cide what that thing is. In both cases, you are tested on your ability to recognize everyday objects in the solution to a puz zle. The key to solving this type of puzzle is not to think in complex terms, but to treat the barrier as a simple, logical rearrangement of something commonplace. The second type of logic puz zle is more fun and offers a greater challenge to the adven turer. Typical logic puzzles of this type include physical puz zles that involve moving things around, wordplay or word games, anagrams, num ber puzzles and an assortment of other puzzles for which there is usually only one logical solu tion. The key to solving this type of puzzle is to work it out with pencil and paper—don't just think about it. Something physical tends to drive the so lution into your consciousness a lot quicker. Often, such logic puzzles will distract you from the game for a Jew minutesenough at least to take a short break—while deceptively still working on the game by solv ing one of its puzzles. King's Quest I includes a neat logic puzzle that revolves around the coding of a name.
You have to guess the name of
a gnome to get past him and continue the game, but you
have hardly any clues to help you. Turning to logic as a final
arbiter, you guess that his name is Ifnkovhgroghpnn. How do you get such a name? It's simple. Spell Rumplestiltskin using two alphabets as the code, with the second alphabet
The key to solving
this type of puzzle is to work it out with pencil and paper— don't just think about it. lined up in reverse order next to the normal-ordered alpha bet. Makes you feel stupid, doesn't it? Logic puzzles can offer a chuckle to the patient adven turer or can be downright an noying to the person who tries his hardest to solve the puzzle. That riddle Irani Beyond Zork took me a while to solve, even though the answer was quite simple. The solution to a logic puzzle depends on the puzzle. If it bears any resemblance at all to a word game or other game
that object. A key will open a locked door, but maybe you haven't encountered a locked door. Also, most objects that are used normally in a puzzle are hidden somewhere else and require solution of another puzzle or extensive exploration to obtain them. Rarely do you find a key, money, weapons, ar mor, etc.—all things that will be performing as usual in the adventure—out in the open. They are usually in a hole in the ground, under a bed. be hind a picture frame, in a river or hanging from a tree. Search ing for these objects is the real work in utilizing them later on. In Transylvania, you are constantly plagued by a werewolf, You know that you can kill the creature by shoot ing it with a silver bullet, but need to find one. You find the bullet in a coffin and a pistol in the Victorian house. The pistol is obvious, but the bulletneeded to make the pistol use ful—is hidden in the coffin. Thus, the objects are used to kill the werewolf according to
their inherent purposes.
or puzzle that can be duplicat
Other puzzles require you to use an object in a role for which
ed on paper or would appeal' in any of the numerous puzzle magazines, then the chances are good that it is a logic puz zle. Stay calm and use your brain power and you'll do fine.
it was never intended, but still functions anyway. These puz zles require the most ingenuity and form the bulk of object-ori ented puzzles. From lighting a candle by reflecting the sun
Object-Oriented Puzzles
object by tying balloons to it, items can innovatively be giv en new puiposes. The real meat in an adventure game puzzle lies in answering the question, "1 wonder what you can do with that?" The answer to this lies in your imagination land the hint book for the game, if there is one!. Never underestimate a designer's thought process. If you de
Most puzzles in adventure games are of this type. They ei ther require you to use an ob ject or combination of objects as they would normally be used to solve a puzzle or use some ob ject in a unique way. 'Hie key to solving object-oriented puz zles is realizing the places that an object can be used and all the possible uses of an object. You know that a dagger can be used to fight, but it can also be
used to cut an onion or reflect
the sun. Realizing the poten tial of items is what "separates the men from the boys'' in ad venture games.
Using objects in the normal way requires finding a place for
from a mirror to lifting a heavy
signed adventure games all day and had to think up nu merous puzzles, you'd probably come up with some real tough ones too.
Guild of Thieves has a puzzle which seems simple in retro spect, but was challenging and crafty while playing the game. COMMODORE MA3AZINE
107
Penchant for Puzzles You have to catch a fish in a moat, but can't find a reel or rod. Improvisation is a necessi ty here. You have to bring to gether the pool cue, maggot thread and needle, all of which you should have found in your explorations. Put the maggot on the needle and tie the thread to the cue and you're ready to go fishing. In Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, you have to reach a bottle of pills on a win dow ledge from a fire escape. With no aid, you fall when you reach for the bottle. But if you read a magazine you've found, you should get the idea to tie yourself to the railing of the fire escape with a rope and then reach for the pills. These are just two of countless exam ples of object-oriented puzzles that require clever use of an object. Regardless of the way that you approach a puzzle, the one thing that should be con stant is the movement of your
brain cells and the contempla tion of every possibility. Ob
jects were placed in the game by the designer to either be red herrings or important inclu sions. By thinking carefully about the game and its ulti mate goal, you'll be able to de cide how to use the many items available in any adventure game in solving object-oriented puzzles.
Two other things must be mentioned regarding the defi nitions of puzzles as we know them in adventure games. You might have wondered why I didn't mention role-playing games and the many types of puzzles that can't be solved un less certain requirements are met. In these games, actions that are restricted because of the level of a character or the value of his attributes will be allowed as these attributes are raised or new levels gained. These aren't really puzzles, be-
is not a puzzle. It is a test of
You know that a
your skill in examining objects,
geography, locations, rooms, vehicles and landscape. A puz zle only exists if you have to do something special to obtain that hidden object, such as opening a safe by dialing the correct combination or using magic to break through a wall surrounding that item. Any thing above and beyond nor mal means constitutes a puzzle of one of the other types; nor mal exploration is a skill you have to develop in playing ad
dagger can be used to fight, but it can also be used to cut an onion or reflect the sun. cause it's beyond your control to attack that difficulty direct ly. You can only hope that in creasing your experience will offer access to new things. At tribute-based problems are not puzzles. Puzzles require use of objects, logic or your brain to bypass barriers in a game. If you have a problem in a roleplaying game, I suggest that you look into the possibility that your character may be too weak or inexperienced in the realm of the adventure to solve that problem. Also, finding a hidden object
venture games.
Regardless of how you com plete an adventure, you will undoubtedly encounter some things that will stump you and prevent you from moving fur ther in the game. Don't give up, and never think that your difficulties will be over after solving one problem. Behind every good puzzle is another one waiting to ambush your confidence! a
Tips & Tricks/64 and 128 Continued from page 16
100
PRINT"[CLEAR]128
EVASION
-
JOSE
MIRANDA
110
FOR
J=3601
TO
3646:POKE
J,0:NEXT
120
FOR
J=3602
TO
3627:READ
K:POKE
J,K
:NEXT
will even appear on most printer listings. I've found this effect very helpful in designing and editing my BASIC programs. The program is written in BASIC, and pokes machine code into memory. It is fully relocatable and may work for other Com modore computers in addition to the 64. Since it works by plac ing a RVS code in the first position after the REM itself, it's a good idea to put an extra space there before doing the highlight ing. Otherwise, you may lose the first character of your remark.
130
SPRITE 1,1,2:CHAR 1,1,23 :MOVSPR 1,170,100:COLLISION
140
J=JOY{2):K=INT(RND(8)*239)+1
150
:PRINT IF J=7
TAB(K)"[SHFT Q]":S=S+5 THEN MOVSPR 1,270#3
:SOUND
1,7500,1
10
PRINT"[CLEAR]64
THEN MOVSPR
20
SA=53000:REM
160
IF
J=3
:SOUND
2,180
1,090#3
1,5000,1
GOTO
1B0
MOVSPR 1,0#0:PRINT"[HOME] GAME OVER â&#x20AC;&#x201D; YOUR SCORE IS:";S FOR
140
J=l
TO
3000INEXT
:PRINT"[CLEAR]":RUN 200
DATA
210
252 DATA
220
004
DATA
130
004,048,128,004,120,128,004,
128,007,207,128,004,252,128, 120,128,004,048,128,004,000,
128
230
DATA
002,001
6-1 REMVERT: This little utility can highlight REM state ments by putting their text in reverse field. Once a program has
been "highlighted;1 the effect is permanent; the reversed REMs 108
MAY 1988
Address Unknown REMVERT
-
MARK
RELOCATABLE
REA"
START
ADDR
30
170
19fa
Mark Rea
FOR
J = SA
TO
SA+62:READ
K:POKE
J,K
"ERROR
IN
:CS=CS+K:NEXT
40
IF CSO9980 DATA
THEN
STATEMENTS":END
50
PRINT"[DOWNJTO PUT A REMS IN RVS FIELD,"
60
PRINT"JUST
LOAD
THE
PROGRAM'S PROGRAM
AND
SYS";SA;"[LEFT]." 70
PRINT"[DOWN]IT1S
INSERT 80
AN
BEST
TO
FIRST
EXTRA"
PRINT"SPACE
AFTER
EACH
REM
KEYWORD.[DOWN]" 90
DATA
165,043,133,251,165,044,133,
252
91
DATA 201
160,003,200,177,251,240,031,
Tips & Tricks/64 and 128 92 93
DATA
143,240,002,208,245,200,177,
251
DATA 240,020,201,032,208,012,200, 177
94
DATA 251,201,032,240,249,201,018, 240
95 DATA
001,136,169,018,145,251,160,
001
96
DATA
177,251,170,136,177,251,133,
251
97 DATA
134,252,224,000,208,202,096
THE
FEATURE,":PRINT"SYS
RE-ENABLES
51
DATA
828
IT.[DOWN2]"
120,169,073,141,020,003,169,
003 52
DATA
141,021,003,088,096,165,197,
201 53
DATA
004,240,050,201,005,240,035,
201 54
DATA
006,208,050,205,153,003,240,
045 55
DATA
238,134,002,173,134,002,160,
000
128 Function Key Conversions: Hexadecimal and CHR$ con versions are stumbling blocks to many who would like to learn assembly and machine language programming, not to mention those who aspire to be BASIC experts. BASIC 7.0 has four functions (HEX$. DEC, CHR$, and ASC) that make these convereions easier, but the sratax of these func tions can introduce stumbling blocks of their own. Even if you know where the parentheses, quotes and dollar signs are sup posed to go, your fingers may be slow or uncooperative in put ting them there. But if you inn the accompanying program, your conversions will be as close as your function keys. The program redefines keys to print the complete syntax for four different conversion functions. When the function key is pressed, the necessary char acters are printed on the screen, with the cursor blinking in the position of the first character of the argument. Type the argument, hit RETURN, and bingo, you've made your conversion.
Simon Tracy CharbttesviUe, VA 10
REM
20
Q$=CHR5(34)
128
F-KEY
CONVERSIONS
-
TRACY
30
KEY 1,"? [LEFT6]"
40
KEY
3,"?
HEXS ( [SPACE5] ) [LEFT6] "
50
KEY
5,"?
ASC("+Q$+"
60
KEY
7,"?
CHRS([SPACE3])[LEFT4]"
DEC("+Q$+"[SPACE4]"+Q5+")
"+QS+") [LEFT3]"
| 56 DATA 153,000,216,153,000,217,153, 000
57
DATA
218,153,000,219,200,240,022,
076
58
DATA
100,003,205,152,003,240,014,
238
59
DATA
033,208,076,137,003,205,151,
003
60
DATA
240,003,238,032,208,165,197,
141 61
DATA
151,003,141,152,003,141,153,
003 62
DATA
076,049,234,000,000,000,000,
000
61 Color SYS: Here's another easy way to set the border, back ground and character colors on your 64. While the previous pro gram is great for choosing colors from the keyboard, this one is best ibr setting predetermined colors from within a program. Once the accompanying routine has been executed, SYS 828,BO,BK,CH will set your border, background and character colors, respectively. BO, BK and CH are the numbers from 0-15 that specify colors on the 64. Dailah Hodge Address Unknown 10
PRINT"[CLEAR]64
COLOR
SYS
-
DAILAH
HODGE
20
FOR
J=828
TO
854:READ
K:POKE
J,K
:CS=CS+K:NEXT
♦>! Function Key Colors: There's no more need to enter dozens of tedious Pokes to come up with suitable color combinations—this program makes it easy as PI, F2, F3! Once the program has been run, those three keys change the border, background and character colors, respectively. This fea ture is particularly useful when you're testing color combina tions for use in your own programs. I use it as a routine in larger
programs, allowing the user to select his or her own colors.
Shukri Berisha
TO
PRINT"ERROR
IN
SET
828,BO,BK,
BORDER,"
PRINT"BACKGROUND
AND
CHARACTER
COLORS.[DOWN2]" 51 DATA 032,155,183,138,072,032,155, 52
183 DATA
138,072,032,155,183,138,141,
DATA
002,104,141,033,208,104,141,
F-KEY
COLORS
-
54
922:READ
K:POKE
J,K
Direct -Machine I^anguage SAVEs: It can be quite time-con suming to load those BASIC programs that contain machine language programs in DATA statements. After a little initial setup, it's faster and easier to load the machine language
PRINT"[CLEAR]64
FOR
J = 828
TO
CSO10460
DATA
DATA
208,096,000
BERISHA
:CS=CS+K:NEXT
IF
PRINT"[DOWN]SYS
CH 50
THEN
STATEMENTS!":STOP
032
SHUKRI
30
40
53
Canada
20
IF CSO3012 DATA
134
Miasissauga, Ontario
10
3D
THEN
PRINT"ERROR
IN
STATEMENTS!":STOP
40
SYS F3
828:PRINT"[DOWN]PRESS Fl, & F5 TO CHANGE COLORS."
50
PRINT"[DOWN]STOP/RESTORE
DISABLES
directly.
As an example of how this is done, consider the 64 Magazine Entry Program, found in the back of this magazine. When it is COMMODORE MAGAZINE
109
Tips & Tricks/64 and 128 run, this BASIC program creates a machine language program located in memory locations 4915249900. The machine lan guage program does all the work, and the large, slow-to-execute BASIC loader is needed only to get the machine language into the computer. But once the machine language is in memory, it's a simple matter to save it directly. The resulting file will load and execute much faster than the original BASIC. Tb save the machine language on the 64, we must convert its starting and ending addresses into low byte-high byte format. Then we POKE those addresses into the memory locations that the SAVE command uses in determining what locations to save. Finally, we execute the SAVE command to save the machine language to disk. The accompanying program can be used to automate the pro cess. Save it before you use it, since it self-destructs when it runs.
Tb use the 64 ML Saver program, get your machine language into memory, taking note of its starting and ending addresses. Then load and run 64 ML Saver, assigning a unique filename to the machine language you want to save. When the program is finished, you'll be asked to execute three statements to save your machine language. The statements will be printed on the screen, with the cursor flashing on the first one. Just press RETURN three times, and the SAVE will be ac complished. Since this process corrupts some of BASIC'S internal work ings, you will have to reset your computer as soon as it's fin ished. If you don't have a reset button, you'll have to turn the computer off to reset it. From now on, you can reload the machine language by ex ecuting LOAD"filename",&,l. Once it has been loaded, execute a direct-mode NEW command to prepare the 64 for BASIC. If the NEW disturbs you, you can load the ML from within a BASIC program by using the following line at the start of the BASIC: 10 IF A = 0 THEN A = 1: LOAD "filename",8,l The IF... THEN is required because of Commodore BASIC'S un usual handling of program-mode LOADs. You 128 owners can use BASIC 7.0's BSAVE and BLOAD statements to directly SAVE and LOAD machine language. When you read the System Guide's explanations, remember that "binary file" means the same as "machine language file." Roland Tobiasz Nowy Sacz, Poland 100
PRINT"[CLEAR]64
ML
SAVER
-
TIPS
&
TRICKS" lit)
INPUT" [DOWN] FIRST
ADDRESS
TO
SAVE";FA 120
IF
130
Hl=INT(FA/256):Ll=FA-256*Hl
140
FA<0
OR
FA>65535
INPUT"[DOWN]
LAST
THEN
ADDRESS
110 TO
SAVE";LA 150
LA=LA+1:Q$=CHR?(34)
160
IF
170
H2=INT(LA/256):L2=LA-256*H2
18 0
INPUT"[DOWN]FILENAME";F$:L=LEN(F$)
LA<FA
L<1
OR
OR
LA>65535
THEN
190
IF
L>16
THEN
180
200
PRINT"[DOWN]TO
SAVE
YOUR
EXECUTE
THEN
210
110
THESE
RESET
PRINT"POKE
MAY 1988
YOUR
140
ML,
COMMANDS,
COMPUTER: [DOWN 2]"
4 3 , " ; LI; " : POKE
44,";H1
220
PRINT"[DOWN2]POKE :POKE
230 240
45,";L2;"
46,";H2
PRINT"[DOWN2]SAVE";QS;F$;QS;",8,1" PRINT"[UP11]"
Fanfare: This routine produces a sound effect that adds pizazz to title screens, game programs and special screen announcements of all kinds. If you use it as a subroutine, you'll have access to it whenever you like. As always, be sure that the variable names in the subroutine are different from important ones used in the body of the program. Like most 64 sound routines, this one also works on the 128. Joseph R. Charnetski Dallas, PA 20
S=54272
30
FOR
40
POKE
50
FOR
60
POKE
J=S
TO
S+23:POKE
S+5,9:POKE J=l
TO
20:READ
S+1,K:POKE
J,0:NEXT
S+24,15 K,L
S+4,33
70
FOR
M=l
TO
L*50:NEXT:POKE
80
FOR
N=l
TO
5:NEXT:NEXT
90
RESTORE
91
DATA
S+4,32
033,005,044,004,044,002,044,
002
92
DATA
044,004,033,005,056,004,056,
002
93
DATA
056,002,056,004,044,005,067,
004
94
DATA
067,002,067,002,067,004,044,
005
95
DATA
089,004,089,002,089,002,089,
014
Bell Tone: Tb get a very nice bell sound on your 64, just execute the accompanying one-liner. The program has an interesting history. When writing my own software on the 64, I've frequently needed a simple bell sound to signify an error or to tell the user that the computer has finished a job. But being an inexperi enced sound programmer, my attempts to create a pleasing bell were rather unsuccessful.
The 128, on the other hand, has a built-in bell tone that is easily called from the keyboard or by a program. I examined the ROM routine that produces this nice sound, then translated it into this single line of BASIC. You can use the program as is, or make it into a subroutine. It works identically on the 64 and the 128. Ray Roberts Gainesville, FL 100 110
REM BELL TONE - RAY ROBERTS POKE 54296,21:POKE 54277,9 :POKE 54278,0:POKE 54273,48 :POKE 54276,32:POKE 54276,33
Screen Scrambler: Here's a machine language routine that de crements the screen code values of any displayed characters un til the 40-column screen is cleared. It works anywhere in 64 or 128 memory that there are 50 free bytes. Tb relocate it, just change the variable AD to the new address. Lines 100-130 are not part of the routine itself, but are includ ed to demonstrate some interesting applications.
Chris Batchelor Big Spring,TX
Tips & Tricks/64 and 128
3
DATA
169,004,133,251,160,000,132,250
4
DATA
132,252,177,250,201,032,240,015
LIST stopper: When working on a program, I often want its screen listing to stop at a particular point. Many times, for ex ample, programs have large numbers of DATA statements at the end, and I'm working on the part of the program just before the DATA statements. I have no need to list the DATA state ments, but I'm keenly interested in the code that appears before
5
DATA
162,001,134,252,201,000,208,002
them.
6
DATA
169,033,170,202,138,145,250,230
7
DATA
250,208,231,230,251,165,251,201
8
DATA
008,208,223,165,252,201,000,208
9
DATA
207,096
0
REM
SCREEN
1
REM
RELOCATABLE
2
AD=4864:FOR :POKE
99
SCRAMBLER
J=0
BATCHELOR
FOR
64
TO
49:READ
&
128 K
AD+J,K:NEXT
every respect. REM
DEMONSTRATIONS
110
FOR
J=l
TO
FOR
J=l
TO
OF
THE
1000:PRINT"(L.
"; :NEXT:SYS
EFFECT
RED,RVS]
AD
60:PRINT"[L.
BLUE,RVS]
012345678987654321";:NEXT:SYS
130
I borrow a trick from the program protector's handbook, and use a REM (COMMODORE L) to stop the listing where I want it. When the computer encounters such a line, the listing termi
nates immediately, even though the program runs normally in
:
100
120
-
ML
FOR
J=l
TO
AD
24:PRINT"[YELLOW,RVS]
GHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZYXWVUTSRQPONM
LKJIHG":NEXT:SYS
AD
Using BEGIN/BEND: Most BASIC 7.0 documentation states that BEGIN'BEND pairs are only useful when a single IF,' THEN/ELSE structure extends over several program lines. What is often overlooked is that they are also valuable when
multiple IFYTHEN/ELSE statements are nested, even if only a single line is involved. The accompanying demo program illustrates the principle, line 20 prints out the wrong material for certain values of A and B, while line 30 gives the correct result for any A and B. Tb prove it, you can vary the values in line 10. Nicholas GD. Old Baltimore, Maryland 5 REM BEGIN/BEND DEMO (BASIC 7.0) 10 A=0:B=1 15 PRINT"LINE 20 GIVES "; 20 IF A=l THEN IF B=l THEN PRINT "A=l, B=1":ELSE PRINT "A=1,B<>1" 25 PRINT"LINE 30 GIVES "; 313 IF A=l THLN BEGIN:IF B=l THEN PRINT "A=1,B=1":ELSE PRINT "A=l, BO1" :BEND
Use a cartridge expander: I frequently use the Simon's BASIC cartridge with my 64, but I often program in the original BASIC that comes with the computer. When I became worried about the effects of constant insertion and removal of the cartridge, I bought a cartridge expander with three slots, a selector switch and a reset button. Now all the wear and tear is on the sockets in the cartridge expander. Frantz Parisot Port-au-Prince, Haiti Printer ruler: I've found a special ruler that's invaluable for use with a printer. It's 14 inches long, with four scales marked in inches, lines of text, 10-pitch characters and 12-pitch characters. I use it for layout work, for counting characters in listings, etc., and it's saved me lots of time and aggravation. Made by the C-Thru Ruler Company, the model WP-101 is available for about $3 at many office supply stores. Louis F. Sander Pittsburgh, PA
John Ettinger Warren, Ohio
SX-61 keyboard repairs: If some of your SX-64 keys stop work
ing, gently pry the top off the keyboard. Undo the screws to ex
pose the keyboard connector, and look for one or two wires that seem to have slipped out of place. When you return them to their normal positions, you may have corrected the problem. David Bradley Address Unknown Keep two ribbons: Since printer ribbons quickly lose their likenew blackness, I always keep two of them on hand. One stays in
the printer, and I keep it going until it's dry. The other, a likenew one, stays in my drawer until I need it for a high-quality printing job. I use it for that job only, then return it to the drawer until it's needed again. When the "everyday" ribbon finally
wears out, I replace it with the moderately-worn ribbon from my drawer, and replace that ribbon with a brand-new one. Luke A. Babey Port Washington, NY
Program typing tip: Since I can never remember the keys used for some of the graphic symbols used in the type-in programs, I cut out the graphic symbol key found in the back of this maga zine, and use it as my place marker while typing. It serves as a ready reference for symbols, and it can also be used as a book mark! Todd Moore Address Unknown
Program corrections; From time to time, every magazine prints corrections or improvements to programs it has previously pub lished. Often they are in the form of letters to the editor. When ever I see one of these, I find the original article and make a note of the correction right on the original pages, even if I haven't typed the program myself. Why? Because one day I might decide to type that program, and I don't want to miss the correction or improvement. I make these corrections religiously, even if the original pro gram didn't interest me. I never know if it will interest someone who borrows my magazine, and I do know that my own interests change greatly over time. In fact, when I dig out a back issue to transcribe one of these notes, I often find that the program it re fers to is very much of interest, although it wasn't before. After all, the best programs inspire the most letters to the magazine. Gregory Mead Kent, OH m COMMODORE MA3AZINE
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Each month Commodore Magazine brings you FREE programs, pre-tested and ready to use. You'll get the latest games plus practical programs
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Software Reviews/Stalingrad Campaign "Amiga Software Reviews/TV Show Continued from page 29
Continued from page 46
manner that reflects far more than num bers of men and tanks. Stalingrad Campaign also incorporates a strong sense of viewpoint by making players answerable to their own higherups—namely Hitler or Stalin. Historical ly, Hitler and, to a lesser degree, Stalin in tervened constantly in their generals' planning. In the game, these two figures will not only issue directives to their re spective Chiefs of Staff (i.e., the players) about objectives to be pursued, but will also countermand orders which they feel run contrary to the prescribed goals. Your supreme commander's opinion about the quality of your performance has a direct bearing on victory points; thus, when making a decision, you must consider the dictates of the situation in the field, as well as how well your orders will sit with Moscow or Berlin. Much less successfully treated is the subject of limited intelligence. The game seems to err in the direction of being over ly stingy with the amount of information it makes available to players. Combat re ports are very sketchy: other than provid ing the level of casualties your units have suffered, they give no indication as to how the battle is progressing. As a result, you are forced to devise your strategies while operating in a near complete intelligence vacuum. The overall effect strikes me as more artificial than realistic. I also have some doubts about the logic of the restriction placed on the Germans in two of the game's four scenarios. In the Case Blau scenario which recreates the German summer offensive to capture Sta lingrad, and again in the campaign sce nario which encompasses the entire cam paign from June 1942 through February 1943, the computer prohibits any German unit from entering the eastern half of Sta lingrad. What makes this constraint both mystifying and frustrating is that 1) the rulebook offers no explanation as to the reason behind it, and 2) more seriously, se curing Stalingrad is vital to German vic tory in these scenarios, according to the player notes in the rules. The German player can still win either scenario with out gaining complete control of the city; a German victory is simply harder to attain. Stalingrad Campaign's strong points are the intrinsic appeal of its subject, its fast-playing game system, and its clever representation of viewpoint. While these strengths do not totally atone for its flaws, they do make the weaknesses easier to bear. g
The last event is a Key event. During playback of your show, the program is con tinuously looking to see whether any of the ten function keys have been pressed. You can therefore insert an instruction to move to a specified part of your show if a particular function key is pressed. For ex ample, your script can contain four events, each displaying a graph of sales for a different year. You can then instruct the program to display one of the four graphs depending on which function key the viewer presses. Finally, TV*SHOW supplies a timesaving utility program called Scriptmover. It will find all of the graphic and text files you specified in your script and copy them (along with the Player Pro gram and script file) on a separate disk for easy playback. As with all graphic inten sive programs, expanded memory is nec essary; Zuma Group recommends at least 1MB. The program is not copy protected and can easily be installed on a hard disk drive. The 112-page manual is quite com prehensive but lacks any pictures or screen simulations. As partial compensa tion, the program disk contains an im pressive video tutorial, created with TV*SHOW, of course. I have found TV*SHOW quite easy and quick to use. There are, however, some features missing from TV*SHOW which are contained in similar programs. First, TV*SHOW cannot generate its own text. Any writing you wish to display must be generated by other graphics programs and displayed either as a screen or an ob ject. Second, TV*SHOW does not support the playback of digitized sounds. Finally, its limited ability to interact with the viewer (function keys only) diminishes its use in the educational and point of sale environments where detection of the loca tion of the mouse pointer on the screen is vital. According to Zuma Group, however, these features were puiposely omitted from the program to efficiently enable TV*SHOW to achieve its objective in the areas of presentation applications and vid eo titling. As a final note, the Zuma Group has advised me that the Player program (contained on the disk) is freely distribu table as long as you are not selling the disk containing the Player program. Considering its price and ease of use, TV*SHOW is a cost-effective tool for professionals and hobbyists alike—one which goes a long way towards developing the full potential of the Amiga. g
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113
64 and 128 Desktop Publishing Continued from page 17
geoWrite Workshop which contains geoWrite 2.0, the preferred word processor of GEOS users (you'll also need it to import non-GEOS text files created by other word processors). Unless you already own these programs, the combined price of all three brings the cost of desktop publishing with geoPublish close to $200. Granted, you get lots of power for that price, but if you pur chase geoPublish thinking you have ev erything you need in one package, you will be disappointed. Outrageous Pages is Electronic Aits' of fering. It is a stand-alone package which uses six sides of three disks to store the main program, plus some special tem plates (certificates, calendars, letterheads, newsletters, etc. I, fonts and artwork. The program can be activated using either the keyboard, joystick or mouse input (or a combination). It comes complete with 50 fonts and 80 pieces of ait (it is compatible with art created for both Newsroom and Print Shop). Text can be justified right, center or left or centered inside a column. You can cause the text to flow around or within a graphic item. The Text Processor lets you input text directly or import files created by other word processors using the ASCn (SEQ) format. A powerful zoom editor lets you adjust both graphics or text (pixel by pixel if you wish) and a flexible graphic editor lets you create or change artwork to your personal needs. If you can't find the exact font you need among the 50 included, the Typeface option lets you change an existing font to suit your needs or create an entirely new font from scratch. The program's friendly print options support most of the popular printers on the market and let you print entire docu ments or selected areas from a page.
^
S
S
All in all, I found the program amaz ingly easy to use, and {like geoPublish) the results compare favorably with those on the bigger systems. The preview op tions and simple pull-down window selec114
MAY 1988
tions are simple to use (once you under stand what each means), and mistakes
80-column display. The first program to come to the 128
are easy to escape by using the program's "Oops" option. At this writing, Timeworks' Desktop Publisher has yet to be released, but be cause I did get to see a pre-release version at the last Consumer Electronics Show, I'll mention it here. The program will include a full-featured word processor and graphic toolbox. Like the other publishing pro grams, text can be sized and pasted over
market which included some desktop pub lishing features was Xetec's Fontmaster 128. (See the April 1988 issue of Commo dore Magazine for a complete review.) As its name implies, this powerful word pro cessor lets the user create documents with a multitude of fonts as well as foreign al phabets (including Greek, Russian, Kore an and Hebrew). The program also in cludes a font creator with which you can design your own unique typefaces (provid ing you have the patience). While you can't lay out your entire document on screen, you can format and style your text and publish it with different column widths. The program even lets you include and print graphics with the text. And be cause this "word processor" includes a good spell checking utility, you should be able to create documents void of those em barrassing misspelled words which every retired English teacher seems to love to wave in front of an editor's face.
<*" and over using different type styles until the text looks the way you want it. The program comes with a healthy selection of fonts and type sizes ranging from nine to 36 points and is able to import text files created with any word processor using true ASCII. From what I've seen, this one too will be a program capable of compet ing with the big boys. Like Outrageous Pages it doesn't require the user to own any other programs. The program was originally slated to appear on the market last Christmas. When it didn't materialize, I gave Timeworks a call to find out why. Here's the good and bad newsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;competition. It seems that the power ofgeoPublish caught the programmers in Deerfield a little off guard. And rather than come to the market with a product which didn't surpass the competition, Timeworks' Vice President, Victor Schiller sent all his pro grammers back into seclusion to remap the program's code until he is satisfied that Desktop Publisher is as good as an eight-bit desktop publishing program can
be. I hope by the time you read this we will all know how successful their efforts were.
Commodore 128 Software
Although there are no stand-alone pub lishing programs like those for the 64 marketed specifically for the 128, there are two which allow users to publish using a mixture of new and traditional tech niques. Both take advantage of the 128's
Once you've printed your text and graphics with this program, you can paste them on your page layout in the tradition al manner. This is far from automated desktop publishing, but if you need to
an()
fittte
publish in a foreign language, this may be your best bet. The 128 program which comes closest to qualifying as a desktop publishing pro gram (plus it supports the 80-column dis play) is GEOS 128. Although it is not a dedicated desktop publishing program, it includes all the features required to create and lay out one-page documents. Larger documents are just as simple to create, but they will require more user input to keep page numbers consecutive and layout styles uniform. Many users will find this program per fect for their needs. The display screen up dates itself faster than any publishing program which works in 64 mode alone. Because it takes full advantage of expand ed memory (up to 512K) and the fast 1571 and even faster 1581 disk drives, the pro-
64 and 128 Desktop Publishing gram is able to perform adequate smoothscrolling action. But the program's biggest
advantage is its ability to show pages us ing an 80-column display. If you are sure you'll only need desktop publishing power occasionally, this might be your best buy. When used with Berkeley's latest word processor, geoWrite 128, this budget-priced package will have your expensive-comput er user friends crying into their check books.
Which program is most suitable for your needs is a personal decision. If you are already a GEOS owner, then continu ing with the Berkeley line would be sensi ble. But all the programs have both com parable and unique features, and each is backed by a company with a proven sup port and track record. If you will be doing a lot of publishing, stay with one of the three 64 programs, but if you only need to set type or occasionally need to publish, you may like either of the 128 programs. Their main advantages are the 80-column screen display, more on-board memory and the ability to use the faster 1571 disk drive.
Accessories
As always, there are accessories which you may want to add to your publishing setup. My first add-on was a 1351 mouse. When it comes to productivity software, I've never been a great lover of the mouse or joystick as an input device—I prefer to keep my fingers firmly on the keyboard. But for moving and editing text/graphics within a desktop publishing program, nothing beats the mouse. As an alterna tive, I suggest SunCom's keyboardmounted joystick called IconTYoller. Be cause it mounts on the computer, you'll never have to remove both hands from the keyboard to move a block of text or change a graphic. The only time you'll be aware of the limitations of using desktop publishing programs on either the 64 or 128 is when you try to move from one screen display to another. Because the memory of both com puters is limited (when compared with systems with megabytes of free memory), the program must save the current dis play to disk and then recall for create) the area you want to move to. You can add some speed into both the 64 or 128 by add ing a RAM expansion unit. The 1764 (256K) and 1750 (512K) RAM expansion
units add internal memory which can be accessed by the new publishing programs. If you want to put photographs or more traditional artwork (paintings, charcoal
Lt shop to iwy0 sketches, etc.) on the pages you create, you'll need some way of capturing them in a form the computer can handle. The logi cal solution is an image digitizer like Digital Vision's Computereyes. Using a video camera, this product can scan and capture (digitize) almost anything and store it in a form which can be incorporat ed on a page. This is routinely done through a second graphic utility program like Doodle!, Flexidraw or Print Shop. You just digitize the image and save it in a format compatible with the graphic pro gram you normally use. Then using that graphic program's editing tools you can size or change the image to suit your needs and save it again. Finally, you can import the graphic into your publishing program. In some cases you may need another program to trans late the images created with one graphic program into a format compatible with the publishing program you are using (for more information, see the January 1988 review of CDA's Graphics Transformer). Don't be put off by that quick and perhaps intimidating explanation. As is the case with most computer chores, after you've done it once, repeating the task is simple, regardless of how formidable it may have seemed when you read the instructions. The more traditional way of adding im ages (not created by a computer) to a page for publication is to create the page and leave an empty block where the artwork/ photograph is to go. Then paste the sized, original artwork directly on the page be fore publishing. In many cases, to achieve professional results, photographs will need to be screened first. This means the photograph is rephotographed through a special screen which converts the image into tiny dots (look closely at any photo graph in this magazine for an example), which can be easily and accurately repro duced by a printing press. Most commer cial printing shops and even some news papers will screen and size your artwork for a small charge (perhaps one or two dol
lars per image). If you aren't happy with the font selec tion which comes with your desktop pub lishing program, shop around. Both Berkeley Softworks and CDA (Complete Data Automation I offer font disks at a reasonable price. When selecting a font, the two important features to look for are clarity and readability. Ornamental type faces may be eye catching, but if they are hard to read, your audience will reject your publication. The best typeface is one which is easy to read, yet conveys the es sence of the documents-serious, humor ous, religious, academic or whatever. The most exciting element of good desk top publishing is the professional results anyone can accomplish. When done right, your audience won't be able to distinguish your publications from those printed on mill ion-dollar printing presses. In fact, most newspapers use a graphic creator (computer generator) similar to those in cluded in desktop publishing programs and a laser printer to create many of the graphics you see every day. To produce a commercial-quality publi cation you have to control quality throughout the creation and publishing process. It's okay to use less than perfect paper or a printer ribbon when you are learning and testing your equipment. Ex perimenting with conflicting text fonts or unbalanced layout is fine while you are learning. But as soon as you are ready to produce a document you will distribute or market, don't settle for less than perfec tion. You shouldn't allow anything less than your best into your publication. Make sure your planning, layout, graph ics, grammar, paper, ink and reproduction are as good as you can make them. When you are tired, feel unappreciated or rushed, it's easy to settle for "good enough," but remember—once your work is printed you can't change it, and every eye will be judging you as well as your publication. We all make mistakes, the key to success is to make sure those mis takes are corrected before your audience sees them.
About Printers
The remaining obstacle in the way of many who want to publish professionalquality work is the printer. As good as ma
trix printers are, they can't create the sol
id images of a commercial typesetting ma chine. To squeeze true typesetting quality out of any publishing program (regardless of the system) you need a printer that can duplicate the graphics and text—perfect ly. Tb achieve those professional results COMMODORE MAGAZINE
115
64 and 128 Desktop Publishing usually requires a laser printer. Unfortu nately, laser printers are expensive and beyond the reach of most individuals. While you may be able to get a good ma trix printer for as little as $200, the least expensive laser will set you back nearly ten times that amount. But prices are dropping. An alternative solution to buying this expensive equipment is to hire a commer cial print shop to output the pages for you. This means you create the pages on disk, then take the disk to a commercial printer who (for a small feel prints your pages on a laser printer. Users of GEOS who sub scribe to Q-Link have another option. They can upload their finished pages to the GEOS Forum on Q-Link. where they will be printed on a laser printer and re turned to them via overnight mail.
Improving Hard Copy
Rather than sell the family car to fi nance a laser printer, there are some things you can try which will improve the quality of your matrix printer's output. Most printers support some sort of NLQ (near letter quality) mode. If yours has such a mode, you'll want to use it when you are ready to print your finished docu ment. When this mode is selected, the printer will print each line of graphictext twice—once normally, and then the print er will rearrange the print head's pin as signment and print the line again to fill in the gaps left between the dots on the first pass. The resulting images come close to letter perfect. Because the NLQ mode on any printer requires each line to be print ed at least twice, publishing time will in crease too. Because I'm always in a hurry. I edit and design from a fast draft mode and use the NLQ mode only when I'm sure all changes and corrections have been made. Another easy way to improve the final printing is to put a new ribbon in the printer—the darker the printout the bet ter. Always use a good grade of smooth, solid white paper for the master draft. Any imperfections or texture in the paper will be duplicated when you publish it. Commercial publications make their mas ter drafts on enameled paper. It is perfect
ly smooth and snow white, and its hard
surface prevents the ink from spreading. If you are serious about publishing, find a source for enameled paper. Once you have your master draft ready, you'll need to duplicate it. That means a trip to the copy machine or a commercial print shop. Regardless of which way you 116
MAY 1988
go, you can improve the appearance of your final document by reducing the size. Even a 10% reduction in size will make the graphics and text appeal' tighter and more professional—just make sure the text size is still readable.
Success
Publishing with a desktop program re duces the time, cost and delays involved using older publishing methods, but it can not magically turn anyone into a publish ing baron. Tb successfully create a profes sional-quality document requires plan ning and skill. Just because you can mix text, fonts and graphics on a page doesn't mean the results will be pleasing. A suc cessful document requires well-written, interesting, grammatically correct text printed with eye-pleasing but easy to read type styles, mixed with well-balanced, in formative graphics. Too often, people ap proach desktop publishing with the idea that the more graphics they cram on a page and the more type styles they mix, the more appealing the final document will be. More often than not the result of such a haphazard approach is a confusing, crude, sophomoric publication. Before you position the first pixe! on a page, you should spend some time plan ning how the final display will look. Be-
Products mentioned in this article include: geoPublish $69.95
GEOS $59.95 GEOS 128 $69.95 DeskPack 1 $34.95
geoWrite Workshop $49.95 geoWrite Workshop I2S $69.95 Publisher: Berkeley Softworks 2150 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704 (415) 644-0883
Outrageous Pages $49.95 Publisher: Batteries Included Electronic Aits 1820 Gateway Dr. San Mateo, CA 94404 (415)571-7171
cause changes are so simple to manage using a computer, you can sketch several rough layouts and compare them on the computer's screen without having to waste any resources. The screen display will show eveiy dot and eveiy line the printer will create when publishing time comes. Because nothing is final until you decide it is, you can resize, reshape, reformat, move, delete, redraw or reword every de tail in your document on the screen (using magnified or overall views) until you are satisfied with the content and the layout. Good layout is an art form. The "grey boxes" created by blocks of text should vi sually balance the bold images of graphics or photographs on your page. Any editor will tell you that a publication's type style is selected for its readability as well as the visual statement it makes. There are hun dreds of fonts to chose from, and each was designed to convey a particular image. The font you use should match the topic. Using a bold typeface to attract attention is fine, but if your document is designed to convey the seriousness of a business ven ture a more formal, understated font se lection would be appropriate. Don't de spair—all the current desktop publishing programs make selecting just the right font easy. In the old days ofpublishing you were never sure how the final document
Newsroom $49.95 Publisher: Springboard Software 7808 Creekridge Circle Minneapolis, MN 55435 (612) 944-3915 Fontmaster 128 S69.95 Publisher: Xetec. Inc. 2804 Arnold Rd. Salina, KS 67401 (913) 827-0685 Computereyes S129.95 Manufacturer: Digital Vision 66 Eastern Ave. Dedham, MA 02026 (617) 444-9040
The Graphics Transformer $34.95 Publisher: CDA.Inc. 561 N. Main St. Yreka, CA 96097
(916)842-3431 Desktop Publisher $49.95 Publisher: Timeworks, Inc. 444 Lake Cook Rd. Deerfield, IL 60015 (312) 948-9200
IconTroller $19.95 Manufacturer: Suncom 260 Holbrook Dr. Wheeling, IL 60090 (312)459-8000
64 and 128 Desktop Publishing would appear until the type had been set and a proof of the page produced (a slow and costly method i. But reformatting and testing different fonts is simple with a computer. If you set a block of text with one font and decide it just doesn't convey the right feeling, is the wrong size, or isn't as readable as you would like, changing it is as simple as loading another font into the document and having all the text automatically changed. You can do this as often as you like until the document has just the right feel and appearance. Like any new task, the more you use a desktop publishing program, the easier it becomes, and the better the results will
be. Examples of good page layout are all around us. If you are unhappy with your first results or simply want to improve, I recommend you attempt to duplicate doc
uments you admire using the desktop publishing program you buy. First, try to duplicate the cover of your favorite maga zine or newspaper—then try to improve on the layout. One of my favorite refer ences for inspiration is the Art Director's Annual First Time Winners. It contains the very best page displays for editorial, advertising and television use each year. Every page of the book is filled with exam ples of successful page layout. In the past the book has been published by WatsonGuptill and should be available at any well-stocked public library. It is ironic that the one medium which was supposed to kill the paper and pub lishing industry—computers—is the en gine which is driving those industries to day. When computers first became affor dable and fashionable, many in the indus try predicted that all correspondence would be done via modems and that filing cabinets would be replaced with floppy disk cases. Instead the computer has in creased the use of paper. The consumer has once again established the market by personal demand. No matter how fond we become of staring at phosphorous tubes and on-screen graphics, nothing replaces the convenience of being able to take the same information stored on paper with us wherever we go. The insurmountable allure of the new
eight-bit desktop publishing programs is that they are affordable. Yet, even at these bargain prices, they offer quality and power to spare, plus they're surpris ingly easy to understand and use. This may be remembered as the year the per sonal computer delivered the ability to ex ercise the right to freedom of the press on everyone's doorstep. a
Amiga Software Reviews/Alien Fires, 2199 A.D. Continued from pg. 42
keys or single keys that represent the icons. How much simpler could it get? If you think this simple game system isn't enough to capture your attention, then you must see and hear the world at Galaxy's End. You can't help being im pressed after playing 2199 A D. for a few minutes. The game is played on what ap pears to be a space ship of some sort. You move through chambers and doors that
are in the form of a maze from a first per son perspective in the maze, not unlike Bard's Tale. The difference is that the graphics roll by smoothly with the Ami ga's power behind them so that you don't
take incremental steps from one block of the maze to another, but rather scroll for ward until you've moved a few feet or hit a wall. Along the way through a room, which you see most of from your entrance into it, you might meet a character I hos tile or friendly I or find an object that you can use later.
The rooms are small and complex in de sign in that you see one or more doors, but they are not the only exits from the room. Sometimes when you pass through a door, if you turn around, you only see a wall where you entered the room. These one way doors'walis can be entered fix)m both directions. The key to exploring the space ship and finding Kurtz is discovering all the exits from a room, thus giving a more detailed picture of your surroundings. As a general rule, if there is a wall that may
be passed through in a room, the color of that wall is a shade darker than the char acteristic color of the room. When first starting2199 AD., there are
three things that you must do: obtain a weapon of some kind, meet some charac ters and discover their purpose and learn how to map out the space ship. Mapping is a disputable subject with 2199 AD. II'the iT»ms were depicted differently instead of just having bare walls, ceilings and floors, mapping would not be necessary. But be cause this is not true and because there is only a small selection of colors used for the walls, mapping is a must. It will keep you sane and reveal blank spaces where there may be a room. Dealing with characters is another im portant part o£2199 AD. There are two types of encounters that you will have:
friendly and hostile. Some aliens will at tack you when you walk in the room: oth ers will wait until you anger them. In any case, the figures that pop up on the screen are the most beautiful and detailed I have seen in a while. You will encounter many.
many different faces in 2199 AD.; some of those you'll meet on the first level are: Tristar the mechanic, a very stout miner, Mangle Tangle, Speedy Gonzales and Dr. Fever the robot. The first thing you should do is use the Examine icon to look at the character in more detail. This action will reveal a little
bit about the alien. This info may hint at the character's purpose. Then you should use the Say icon to try to elicit responses from the alien, The character responds us ing the Amiga voice and will either ex plain that it doesn't understand what you said or say something useful. You have to be very careful about what
you say and do around the characters in 2199 AD. Character interaction is very important in the continued success of your quest. In fact (here comes a hint), you don't know that you can get a weapon at the beginning of the game unless you talk to Dr. Fever. He tells you that Mangle Tangle has weapons, and Mangle Tangle sends you in search of something in trade for a knife. Talking to these two charac ters offers hope of defense. If you're not careful with your actions, you'll wind up in combat—a relatively simplistic version of a fight. Both you and your enemy's out lines appear on the screen with hit point count and different areas of the outlines lit up to reveal a hit. Your choices are fight, panic and dodge, and the battle ends quickly, Until you have a weapon, avoid all fights. Along with the use of speech and graph ics, 2199 AD. makes incredible sounds come from your Amiga's speaker. Digi tized sound effects and music are used constantly throughout the game: with background music changing every couple of minutes to avoid boredom. Windows are also essential to the Alien Fires system. This brings us back to Jagware's initial claim that they would use the great poten tial of the Amiga in the game—it is evi dent that the designers have practiced what they preached. The only complaint I have with 2199 AD. is the method of saving games. Choosing the sleep icon saves the game, but you have to reboot the system to con tinue play. Even though the TimeLord El ders give you a few chances at continuing play after death, Jagware should redesign the save game utility. Aside from this, Alien Fires, 2199 AD. may just be the nicest looking, best sounding and easiest playing role-playing game currently available for the Amiga. I can't wait for the sequel! 3 COMMODORE MAGAZINE
117
Taking the Byte Out of Robotics Continued from page 69
the Multivoltmeter (which also reads re sistance), and the Multiscope that oper ates like a regular oscilloscope. Jermaine: Can you give me some infor mation about the software that comes with the Workshop? Carver: Kevin Homer ithe creator of the Mach 5 and 128 cartridges) wrote the ma jority of the code for the Robotic Workshop software package. The Robotic Operating System (or ROS for short) contains 25 ad ditional commands but occupies only 4K of memory. Even though ROS resembles the standard 64 operating system, it can be altered to take readings at a much fas ter rate of speed. The workshop's MAS TER command expands the capabilities even further. If a guy wants to do some highly sophisticated timing, for example, he can shut down everything else and use just the timer at a precise level of oper ation. With MASTER, I can set up an in frared sensor to start a motor or turn on
an alarm after 10,333,021 people have passed a given point. After the final per son walks by, the condition is met, and the external device activates within one milli second. MASTER also allows me to record the speed of moving objects in this test sit uation, while providing a limited form of multitasking. The computer actually does several things simultaneously, even though the user won't be aware of the i'act. If you think MASTER has a lot of inter esting possibilities, there are seven other advanced commands on the disk. At one time, we had considei-ed develop ing software packages in other languages like Forth, C. Logo, etc. We were looking at these particular languages because Forth is commonly used by industrial ro botic programmers, C is pretty popular, and Logo has a large loyal following in school systems across the country. Unfor tunately, there hasn't been enough cus tomer interest to warrant the expense of writing that material.
Witzel: We made the decision to write the program as 6502 machine code (which would interact with and add to BASIC language) because most home computer owners know enough about BASIC to use our software. Tb illustrate my point, I'd like to show you how easy it is to manipulate a motor with the Commodore 64. To turn a motor on, type in "MOTR", give it a number (you can run three motors at any given time with the workshop), add a comma,
and assign a speed to the motor. A fin ished sample formula reads: MOTR1.30. 118
MAY 1988
This command can also be issued by re placing the numbers with variables. That would read: MOTRXJ. In fact, many tasks can be performed two or three differ ent ways with existing commands, and most BASIC programs can be easily
adapted to work with our software. Jermaine: What expansion modules are currently in the works? Witzel: There are many devices we've se riously looked at as possible add-ons for the Robotic Workshop. Several of these
If you like to do serious
tinkering, the Workshop is good for hours of stimulating educational fun. items are centered around the oscilloscope function of the package. One possible kit will contain a special temperature probe. This instrument allows the user to plot a large number of temperature readings over a five to six hour period.
Our people are also working on an ad vanced speech module kit. Even though we don't have editing capabilities yet, the unit will eventually record digitized sounds and play them back through the SID chip of your home computer (without the aid of the module). The most promising item on the draw ing board is our liquid crystal module. Liquid crystal is a common display tech nology used in LCD watches, portable televisions, certain types of 3D glasses, etc. If everything goes according to plan, this package will appear on the market
before the end of 19S9. and it will probably have projects explaining the principles of
the items mentioned above. Carrer: In recent months, Steve and 1 have seriously studied the science of radio control. This principle looked interesting at first, but a series of problems material ized when we tried to put it into kit form. I recently discovered that infrared technol ogy could perform the same type of tasks we wanted to accomplish with radio con trol. I'm sure this new information will in spire us to put together another module package in the near future. Jermaine: We've talked about your Robo tic Workshop ideas, but what is the public doing with the package? Witzel: Before I discuss what other people are doing with our product, I want to tell you about several things we're doing with
the workshop in-house. Since the kit con tains an accurate voltage meter. Bruce
and I decided to make it work for us in the Multibotic assembly area. We're now test ing interfaces (coming off the assembly line) with a Commodore 64 computer, sev eral relays, and one of our own B100 inter faces. The newly assembled interfaces go through a series of tests, under specific conditions, where we know a certain volt age exists at key points in the design. Since we're dealing with a programmable voltmeter (that's also programmable in BASIC), it was easy to write software that tells the computer to test the voltage level at a given location and move on to other points by manipulating the relays connected to it. Everything is done automatically. This testing procedure worked out so well that we've secretly incorporated that same technology' into the designs of the Mach 5 and 128 cartridges. Whenever you insert one of these cartridges into your computer and power up, it pauses momen tarily to test its own circuitry. In recent months, Bruce and I connect ed the B100 interface unit to a special ma chine that had once been an automatic pa
per cutter. We used this machinery to measure and cut a six foot piece of wire and two pieces of plastic tubing (or the Lipstik (our voice-activated control head set used in Echelon I. The infrared sensors count links on a chain. When they reach the desired length, the cutter is activated. This little operation saved us a lot of trou ble and does the work of seven employees. Getting back to your original question, it's hard to remember specific letters (Irani Robotic Workshop users) because we re ceive hundreds of responses every week. NASA engineers recently purchased sev eral of our units. We'd like to know what they're doing with them. Many HAM ra dio operators have written about utilizing the Robotic Workshop to control the posi tioning of their antennas. A company in
California is also using our B100 interface to create and control lighting effects in movies. They use the unit to set up a se quence of events, with each incident hav ing a pre-detennined duration period. An other owner of the Robotic Workshop is experimenting with a unique idea in his own home. He wants to monitor and regu late the moisture of his lawn with our product. This clever individual is develop ing a system of moisture probes which will eventually activate sprinklers (in differ ent areas of his lawn) whenever they are needed.
Carver I recently read a letter from a con sumer using the workshop to measure camera shutter speeds. He wants us to
Taking the Byte Out of Robotics help him create a command, similar to SDUR, that would allow him to measure the time that the infrared beam is not in terrupted. We're currently working on solving his problem. Another person owns and operates a ca ble computer channel, with downloading capabilities, a news service, etc. He's look ing at the possibility of interfacing our ad vanced speech system within his system. If everything works out, this company will offer their Commodore 64 customers the first talking computer news service I've heard of to date.
As I stated earlier, I'm also very inter ested in the educational aspect of our product. Many school systems have re cently purchased the Multibotic work shop, but a larger number of teachers are paying for the units out of their own pock ets. Several school districts have even ex pressed an interest in developing lesson plans around our products.
One final note of interest: The Boston
Museum of Science has plans to incorpo rate a Robotic Workshop into one of their traveling exhibitions. The list goes on... Jermaine: In the previous answer, you mentioned the Lipstik headset. Can you give me some information about that un usual piece of equipment? Witzel: Echelon, for those of you not fa miliar with the program, is a 3D space flight simulator. During July of 1987, the Echelon project was approximately 50% completed. About that time, Bruce Carver came to me with an interesting problem: they needed an extra fire button for the program. The keyboard was out of the question, because they didn't want the player to take his eyes off the screen. I looked over the situation and came up with several possible solutions. Tape switches could easily be attached to a joy stick and foot pedals were practical, but their price tags prohibited us from using them. Some of the foot switches we looked at initially seemed to solve our problem. Unfortunately, these devices tend to work better on certain types of carpeting. While we were experimenting with in frared technology < where you'd wave your hand over something to trigger a re-
sponsel, I came up with the idea of build ing a unit that was activated by sound. We quickly constructed some voice operat ed prototypes and tried them out on Beachhead and Beachhead II. Everyone at Access enjoyed the Lipstik so much that we soon decided to develop Lipstik Plus, a voice activated headset which could be used with other programs. By the way,
James Slade and Bruce Carver contribut ed a lot to the Lipstik design. Jermaine: From the beginning of this in terview, we've brought up the wrord "robo tics" in the conversation. Do you expect to market a robot construction set in the near future? Witzel: That's an interesting question. We will eventually release some robotic-look ing modules (like a robotic arm) for the workshop, but we're presently perfecting more fundamental robotic applications. The majority of our mail demands it. When you're talking about robotics, an other issue enters the picture. A decent ro bot construction kit could cost you a thou sand dollars or more. We believe the aver age consumer would rather spend his hard-earned money on testing equipment, an advanced sound reproduction module, or even a robotic arm if the price is right. I wish we could market an advanced robot construction package sometime in the fu ture, but it would be too expensive for most of our followers. Jermaine: Wrapping things up, do you have some final comments about the Robotic Workshop in general?
Carver I've always thought of myself as several different people occupying the same body. The challenge of being a game designer/programmer is enjoyable and I like being the president of Access Soft ware, but somehow my career has always lacked something. Multibotics has ful filled that need by allowing me to help children and adults understand technol ogy we all take for granted. The workshop has also given me the opportunity to work with well-known educators and creative individuals from every corner of the coun try. As far as I'm concerned, the Robotic Workshop is just the first step in a great adventure. The rest is up to you. Witzel: Even though I'm just a grey haired old man I he says with a laugh], I can still contribute something useful to the field of education. My prime goal at Multibotics is to get people to take a seri ous look at our product. It has a lot of po tential, it's not just a toy, and the package is a base unit for the more advanced mod ules currently under development. If you like to do serious tinkering Hike Bruce and I do) the workshop is good for hours of stimulating educational fun. I don't nor mally take a cheap shot at Bruce, but the Robotic Workshop is merely a "Beach head" in the fascinating world of electronics.
Multibotics at Kent State
Now that you've read about the Robotic
Workshop and how it came into being, let's find out what a well-known educator thinks of the product. Dr. Terry J. Squier is the Coordinator of the School of Tech nology at Kent State University. Dr. Squier: The Robotic Workshop, MB230, provides a new and exciting ad venture into the world of robotics, comput ers, electricity, engineering and science. There is no better way to learn about and understand how computers are used to ex pand human capabilities than to actually set up and perform your own computercontrolled activities. The experiments found in the Robotic Workshop become real life as you design your own cruise control for a car or program a robot to per form basic functions. The product has been field tested in ele mentary, secondary and post-secondary settings with remarkable results. While the Workshop can be used to demonstrate basic scientific and technological applica tions of computer-controlled devices to the elementary student, the intermediate and advanced learners will find the unit to be an exciting and challenging medium to apply and test their knowledge of comput ers, machine controls and feedback, sci ence, engineering and applications of hardware. The elementary students com pleted the beginning units with little as sistance or pre-instruction. The secondary students were properly challenged to ap ply their problem-solving and creative abilities with enthusiasm as they devel oped technological and computer literacy. In conclusion, the Robotic Workshop can provide an exciting activity to inter face a computer with motors, gears, in frared sensors, sound, light, and robotics. Most students will be able to perform the fifty-plus activities with very little help. It is time to turn our philosophical dis cussions into action. We must accomplish this by developing a technology laborato ry where students can experiment with the technological innovations of our mod ern world. As far as Fm concerned, the Workshop takes care of that need. Jermaine: As I finish this assignment, I'd like to add my own observations about the Robotic Workshop. Fve used the Work shop for several months, and Fm really having a lot of fun with it. Bruce and Steve are right. Once you get your feet wet, the product is very addictive. The pro jects are well worded, interesting, and give the user valuable information about every subject that is covered. I recommend the Robotic Workshop to anyone with a yen to learn and the desire to do something con structive with their home computer. a COMMODORE MA3AZINE
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HOW TO ENTER PROGRAMS The programs which appeal- in this magazine have been run, tested and checked for bugs and errors. After a pro gram is tested, it is printed on a letter quality printer with some formatting changes. This listing is then photo graphed directly and printed in the maga zine. Using this method ensures the most error-free program listings possible. Whenever you see a word inside brack ets, such as [DOWN], the word represents a keystroke or series of keystrokes on the keyboard. The word ID0WN1 would be entered by pressing the cursor-down key. If multiple keystrokes are required, the number will directly follow the word. For example. |D0WN4| would mean to press the cursor-down key four times. If there are multiple words within one set of brackets, enter the keystrokes directly after one another. For example, [ DOWN, RIGHT2] would mean to press the cursordown key once and then the cursor-right key twice. Note: Do not enter the commas. In addition to these graphic symbols, the keyboard graphics are all represented by a word and a letter. The word is either SHFT or CMD and represents the SHIFT key or the Commodore key. The letter is one of the letters on the keyboard. The combination |SHFT E] would be entered by holding down the SHIFT key and pressing the E. A number following the letter tells you how many times to type the letter. For example, [SHFT A4,CMD B3] would mean to hold the SHIFT key and press the A four times, then hold down the Commodore key and press the B three times. The following chart tells you the keys to press for any word or words inside of
brackets. Refer to this chart whenever you aren't sure what keys to press. The little graphic next to the keystrokes shows you what you will see on the screen.
SYNTAX ERROR This is by far the most common error encountered while entering a program. Usually (sorry folks) this means that you have typed something incorrectly on the line the syntax error refers to. If you get the message "?Syntax Error Break In Line 270". type LIST 270 and press RETURN. This will list line 270 to the screen. Look for any non-obvious mis takes like a zero in place of an 0 or viceversa. Check for semicolons and colons re versed and extra or missing parenthesis. All of these things will cause a syntax
n -[CLEAR1"=SHIFTEDCLR/HOME n "IUP|"= CURSOR UP
Q "|HIGHTr = CURSOR RIGHT B-'ILEPTT-CURSOR LEFT N rl|RVSr = CONTROL9
Pj "[RVOFFI"*CONTROL 0 M "iBLACK|"=CONTROLl [1 "iWHITEr = CONTROL 2 H "!RED]"= CONTROL 3
fl "[CYAN|"= CONTROL 4
APRIL 1988
OUT OF DATA ERROR
ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR
OTHER PROBLEMS
This is another common error message. This can also be caused by a typing error, but it is a little harder to find. Once again, list the line number that the error mes sage refers to. There is probably a poke statement on this line. If there is, then the error is referring to what is trying to be poked. A number must be in the range of
â&#x20AC;˘IF2|"-F2
!BLUE]"=CONTROL7
B |YELLOW]" = CONTBOL8 I "[ORANGE]" = COMMODORE 1
P "(BROWN!"-COMMODORE 2
R-IL RED!" = COMMODORE 3 H -iGRAYir = COMMODORE 4
0-[GRAY2]- = COMMODORE5 E"[L GREEN]"^COMMODORES fj "!L BLUE|"=COMMODORE7 |3 !GRAY3|" = COMMODOBE8
[| (F5|"=F5
U"[F7i"-F7
1 "IFar'-FB
^ "[POUND]" = ENGUSH POUND
^ "ISHFT']1 =PI SYMBOL I?] |jj "Cl"-UP ARROW
GRAPHIC SYMBOLS WILL BE REPRESENTED AS EITHER THE LETTERS SHFT (SHIFT) AND A KEY ("[SHFT Q.SHFT J.SHFT D.SHFT SI") OR THE LETTERS CMDR (COMMODORE) AND A KEY ("[CMDR Q.CMDR G.COMDR Y.CMDR H]"). IF A SYMBOL IS REPEATED THE NUMBER OF REPITITIONS WILL BE DIRECTLY AFTER THE KEY AND BEFORE THE COMMA ("]SPACE3,SHFT S4.CMDR M21"). 124
If the variable is not coming from data statements, then the problem will be a lit tle harder to find. Check each line that contains the variable for typing mistakes.
There is only one time a syntax error will tell you the "wrong" line to look at. If the line the syntax error refers to has a function call (i.e., FN A(3)), the syntax error may be in the line that defines the function, rather than the line named in the error message. Look for a line near the beginning of the program (usually) that has DEF FN A(X) in it with an equa tion following it. Look for a typo in the equation part of this definition.
[} "|GREEN|" = C0NTR0L6 R
typos.
This error message is always related to the data statements in a program. If this eiTor occurs, it means that the program has run out of data items before it was supposed to. It is usually caused by a prob lem or typo in the data statements. Check first to see if you have left out a whole line of data. Next, check for missing commas between numbers. Reading data from a page of a magazine can be a strain on the brain, so use a ruler or a piece of paper or anything else to help you keep track of where you are as you enter the data.
error.
H"IHOME1"=>UNSHIFTEDCLR/HOME 3 "[PURPLE]' =C0NTR0L5 PJ "IDOWNI" =CURSOR DOWN
zero to 255 to be poke-able. For example, the statement POKE 1024,260 would pro duce an illegal quantity error because 260 is greater than 255. Most often, the value being poked is a variable (A,X...). This error is telling you that this variable is out of range. If the variable is being read from data state ments, then the problem is somewhere in the data statements. Check the data statements for missing commas or other
It is important to remember that the 64 and the PET/CBM computers will only ac cept a line up to 80 characters long. The VIC 20 will accept a line up to 88 charac ters long, Sometimes you will find a line in a program that runs over this number of characters. This is not a mistake in the listing. Sometimes programmers get so carried away crunching programs that they use abbreviated commands to get more than 80 (or 88) characters on one line. You can enter these lines by abbrevi ating the commands when you enter the line. The abbreviations for BASIC com mands are on pages 133-134 of the VIC 20 user guide and 130-131 of the Commodore 64 user's guide. If you type a line that is longer than 80 (or 88) characters, the computer will act as if everything is ok, until you press RE TURN. Then, a syntax error will be dis played (without a line numberi. Many
people write that the computer gives them a syntax error when they type the line, or
that the computer refuses to accept a line. Both of these problems are results of typ ing a line of more than 80 (or 88) charac ters.
How to Enter Programs THE PROGRAM WONT RUN!! This is the hardest of problems to re solve; no error message is displayed, but the program just doesn't nan. This can be caused by many small mistakes typing a program in. First check that the program was written for the computer you are us ing. Check to see if you have left out any lines of the program. Check each line of the program for typos or missing parts. Fi nally, press the RUN/STOP key while the program is "running". Write down the line the program broke at and try to follow the program backwards from this point, look ing for problems.
IF ALL ELSE FAILS You've come to the end of your rope.
You can't get the program to run and you can't find any errors in your typing. What do you do? As always, we suggest that you try a local user group for help. In a group of even just a dozen members, someone is bound to have typed in the same program. The user group may also have the pro gram on a library disk and be willing to make a copy for you. If you do get a working copy, be sure to compare it to your own version so that you can learn from your errors and increase you understanding of programming. If you live in the country, don't have a local user group, or you simply can't get any help, write to us. If you do write to us, include the following information about the program you are having problems with:
The name of the program The issue of the magazine it was in The computer you are using Any error messages and the line numbers Anything displayed on the screen A printout of your listing (if possible) All of this information is helpful in an
swering your questions about why a pro gram doesn't work. A letter that simply states "I get an error in line 250 whenever I run the program" doesn't give us much to go on. Send your questions to: Commodore Magazine 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 ATTN: Program Problem Have fun with the programs! H
HOW TO USE THE MAGAZINE ENTRY PROGRAMS" The Magazine Entry Programs on the next pages are two BASIC machine language programs that will assist you in entering the programs in this magazine correctly. There are versions for both the Commodore 64 and the Commodore 128. Once the program is in place, it works its magic without you having to do anything else. The program will not let you enter a line if there is a typing mistake on it, and better yet, it identifies the kind of error for you.
Getting Started Type in the Magazine Entry Program carefully and save it as you go along (just in case). Once the whole program is typed in, save it again on tape or disk. Now RUN the program. The word POKING will appeal1 on the top of the screen with a number. The number will increment from 49152 up to 49900 (4864-5545 on the 128) and just lets you know that the program is running. If everything is ok, the program will finish running and say DONE. Then type NEW. If there is a problem with the data statements, the program will tell you where to find the problem. Otherwise the program will say "mistake in data state ments." Check to see if commas are miss ing, or if you have used periods instead of commas. Also check the individual data items.
Once the program has run, it is in memory ready to go. To activate the pro gram type SYS49152 (SYS4864 on the 128), and press RETURN. You are now ready to enter the programs from the magazine. To disable the Entry Program, just type KILL [RETURN! on the 64 or
SYS4867 on the 128. The checksums for each line are the same for both the 64 and 128, so you can enter your 64 programs on the 128 if you'd like.
Typing the Programs
All the BASIC program listings in this magazine that are for the 64 or 128 have an apostrophe followed by four letters at the end of the line (e.g., 'ACDF). If you plan to use the Magazine Entry Program
to enter your programs, the apostrophe and letters should be entered along with the rest of the line. This is a checksum that the Magazine Entry Program uses. Enter the line and the letters at the end and then press RETURN, just as you nor
mally would. If the line is entered correctly, a bell is sounded and the line is entered into the computer's memory (without the charac ters at the end). If a mistake was made while entering the line, a noise is sounded and an error message is displayed. Read the error mes sage, then press any key to erase the mes sage and correct the line.
IMPORTANT If the Magazine Entry Program sees a mistake on a line, it does not enter that line into memory. This makes it impossi ble to enter a line incorrectly.
Error Messages and
What They Mean
There are five error messages that the Magazine Entry Program uses. Here they are, along with what they mean and how
to fix them. NO CHECKSUM: This means that you forgot to enter the apostrophe and the four letters at the end of the line. Move the cursor to the end of the line you just typed and enter the checksum. QUOTE: This means that you forgot (or added) a quote mark somewhere in the line. Check the line in the magazine and correct the quote. KEYWORD: This means that you have either forgotten a command or spelled one
of the BASIC keywords (GOTO. PRINT..) incorrectly. Check the line in the magazine again and check your spell ing. # OF CHARACTERS: This means
that you have either entered extra charac ters or missed some characters. Check the line in the magazine again. This error message will also occur if you misspell a BASIC command, but create another keyword in doing so. For example, if you misspell PRINT as PRONT, the 64 sees the letter P and R. the BASIC keyword ON and then the letter T. Because it sees the keyword ON, it thinks you've got too many characters, instead of a simple mis spelling. Check spelling of BASIC com mands if you can't find anything else wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED: This means that you have either made a simple spelling error, you typed the wrong line number, or you typed the checksum incorrectly. Spelling errors could be the wrong number of spaces inside quotes, a variable spelled wrong, or a word misspelled. Check the line in the magazine again and correct the mistake. 3 COMMODORE M/CAZINE
125
Magazine Entry Program—64 The Magazine Enir\ Programs are available on (iisk.along with olher programs in this magazine, for S9.95. To order, contact Loadstar ai I -800-831-2694.
10
PRINT"[CLEARjPOKING
20
P=49152
:REM
-";
$C000
(END
AT
49900/$C2EC)
30
HEAD A?:IF
A$="END"THEN
40
L=ASC(MID$(A$,2,1))
50
H=ASC(MID$(A$,l,l))
60
L=L-48:IF
L>9
THEN
H=H-48:IF
80
PRINT" [HOME,RIGHT12]"P; IF
H>15
OR
THEN
L = L-7
70
90
H>9
L>15
:PRINT"DATA
H=H-7
THEN
ERROR
110
IN
LINE";
1000+INT((P-49152)/8):STOP
100
B=H*16+L:POKE :GOTO
110
IF
P,B:T=T+B:P=P+1
30
TO86200
THEN
:PRINT"MISTAKE
DATA
120
IN
PRINT DATA
—>
CHECK
DATA
1001
DATA
DATA
02,4C,74,A4,4B,4 9,4C,4C
1033
DATA
91,91,0D,20,20,20,20,20
1034 1035
DATA
20,20,20,20,20,20,20,20
DATA
20,20,20,20,20,20,20,91
1036
DATA
0D,51,55,4F,54,45,00,4B
1037
DATA
45,59,57,4F,52,44,00,23
1038
DATA
20,4F,46,20,43,48,41,52
1039
DATA
41,43,54,45,52,53,00,55
1040
DATA
4E,49,44,45,4E,54,49,46
1041
DATA
49,45,44,00,4E,4F,20,43
1042
DATA
48,45,43,4B,53,55,4D,00
1043
DATA
C8,B1,7A,D0,FB,84,FD,C0
1044
DATA
09,10,03,4C,84,Cl,88,88
1045
DATA
8 8,88,88,B1,7A,C9,27,D0
1046
DATA
13,A9,00,91,7A,C8,A2,00
1047
DATA
B1,7A,9D,3C,03,C8,E8,E0
1048
DATA
04,D0,F5,60,A9,04,4C,CA
1049
DATA
C0,A0,00,B9,00,02,99,40
1050
DATA
03,F0,F0,C8,D0,F5,A0,00
1051
DATA
B9,40,03,F0,E6,99,00,02
1052
DATA
C8,D0,F5,20,96,C1,4C,12
1053
DATA
C2,A0,09,A9,00,99,03,C0
1054
DATA
8D,3C,03,88,10,F7,A9,80
1055
DATA
85,02,A0,00,20,58,Cl,20
1056
DATA
8 9,C1,20,ED,C1,E6,7A,E6
1057
DATA
7B,20,7C,A5,A0,00,20,80
1058
DATA
C0,F0,D0,24,02,F0,06,4C
1059
DATA
A8,C0,4C,CE,C1,C9,22,D0
1060
DATA
06,20,8D,C0,4C,CE,C1,20
1061
DATA
BA,C0,4C,CE,C1,A0,00,B9
4C,1F ,C0,00 ,00,00 ,00,00 00,00 ,00,00 ,00,0D ,00,21
1062
DATA
00,02,20,74,C0,C8,90,0A
1063
DATA
18,6D,0 7,C0,8D,07,C0,4C
Cl,27 ,C1,2F ,C1,3F fCl,4C C1,EA ,EA,EA ,4C,54 ,C0,A2
1064
DATA
EF,C1,88,A2,00,B9,00,02
1065
DATA
9D,00,02,F0,04,E8,C8,D0
1066
DATA
F4,60,18,AD,09,C0,69,41 8D,09,C0,38,AD,0A,C0,E9
STATEMENTS":END
PRINT' 'DONE" :END
1000
1032
1002
DATA
1003
DATA
1004
DATA
0 5,BD ,19,C0 ,95,73 ,CA,10
10 0 5
DATA
1067
DATA
1006
DATA
F8,60 ,60,A0 ,03,B9 ,00,02 D9, 04 ,C1,D0 ,F5,88 ,10,F5
1068
DATA
19,90,06,8D,0A,C0,4C,1C
1007
DATA
A0,05 ,B9,A2 ,E3,99 ,73,00
1069
DATA
C2,AD,0A,C0,69,41,8D,0A
1008
DATA
88,10 ,F7,A9 ,00,8D ,18,D4
1070
DATA
C0,AD,03,C0,6D,05,C0,48
1009
DATA
4C,EF ,C0,E6 ,7A,D0 ,02,E6
1071
DATA
AD,04,C0,6D,06,C0,8D,0C
1010
DATA
7B,4C ,79,00 ,A5,9D ,F0,F3
1072
DATA
C0,6 8,6D,0 8,C0,8D,0B,C0
1011
DATA
A5,7A ,C9,FF ,D0,ED ,A5,7B
1073
DATA
AD,0C,C0,6D,0 7,C0,8D,0C
1074
DATA
C0,38,E9,19,9 0,0 6,8D,0C
1075
DATA
C0,4C,52,C2,AD,0C,C0,69
1076
DATA
41,8D,0C,C0,AD,0B,C0,E9
1077
DATA
19,90,06,8D,0B,C0,4C,67
DATA
C2,AD,0B,C0,69,41,8D,0B
1012
DATA
1013 1014
DATA DATA
C9,01 ,D0,E7 ,20,2B ,C0,AD 00,02 ,20,74 ,C0,90 ,DC,A0 00,4C ,A9,C1 ,C9,30 ,30,06
1015
DATA
C9,3A ,10,02 ,38,60 ,18,60
1016
DATA
C8,B1 ,7A,C9 ,20,D0 ,03,C8
1078
1017
DATA
D0,F7 ,B1,7A ,60,18 ,C8,B1
1079
DATA
C0,A0,01,AD,09,C0,CD,3C
1080
DATA
0 3,D0,2 0,C8,AD,0A,C0,CD
1081
DATA
3D,03,D0,17,C8,AD,0B,C0
1082
DATA
CD,3E,0 3,D0,0E,AD,0C,C0 CD,3F,03,D0,06,20,CC,C2
1018
DATA
7A,F0 ,37,C9 ,22,F0 ,F5,6D
1019
DATA
03,C0 ,8D,03 ,C0,AD ,04,C0
1020
DATA
69,00 ,8D,04 ,C0,4C ,8E,C0
1021
DATA
18,6D ,05,C0 ,8D,05 ,C0,90
1083
DATA
1022
DATA
03,EE ,06,C0 ,EE,09 ,C0,4C
1084
DATA
4C,4B,C0,98,4 8,6 8,4C,CA
1023
DATA
CE,C1 ,18,6D ,08,C0 ,8D,08
1085
DATA
C0,A9,20,8D,00,D4,8D,01
1024
DATA
C0,90 ,03,EE ,07,C0 ,EE,0A
1086
DATA
D4,A9,0 9,8D,0 5,D4,A9,0F
1025
DATA
C0,60 ,0A,A8 ,B9,0F ,C0,85
1087
DATA
8D,18,D4,60,20,A9,C2,A9
1026
DATA
FB,B9 ,10,C0 ,8 5,FC ,A0,00
1088
DATA
81,20,DF,C2,A9,80,20,DF
1027
DATA
A9,12 ,20,D2 fFF,Bl ,FB,F0
1089
DATA
C2,4C,D9,C2,20,A9,C2,A9
1028
DATA
DATA
11,20,DF,C2,A9,10,20,DF
DATA
06,20 ,D2,FF ,C8,D0 ,F6,20 BC,C2 ,20,E4 ,FF,F0 ,FB,A0
1090
1029
1091
DATA
C2,A9,00,8D,04,D4,60,8D
1030
DATA
18,B9 ,08,C1 ,20,D2 ,FF,88
1092
DATA
04,D4,A2,70,A0,0 0,8 8,D0
1031
DATA
10.F7 ,68,68 ,A9,00 ,8D,00
1093
DATA
FD , CA , D0 , FA , 6 0 , END
126
APRIL 1988
E||D
Magazine Entry Program—128 5
TRAP
200
10
PRINT"[CLEAR]POKING
20
P=4864
:REM
$1300
-"; (END
AT
5545/S15A9)
30
READ AS:IF A$="END"THEN
80
PRINT"[HOME/RIGHT12]"P;
100
B=DEC(A5):POKE :GOTO
110
IF
P,B:T=T+B:P=P+1
30
TO59382
THEN
:PRINT"MISTAKE DATA
110
IN
DATA
—>
CHECK
STATEMENTS":END
120
PRINT"DONE":END
200
PRINT:PRINT"DATA
ERROR
IN
LINE";
1000+INT((P-4 864J/8):END 1000
DATA
4C,1E,13,4C,3A,13,00,00
1001
DATA
8E,00,F7,00,42,41,51,57
1002
DATA
0D,00,0D,43,08,14,0E,14
1003 DATA 16,14,26,14,33,14,A9,00 1004
DATA
8D,00,FF,AD,04,03,8D,12
1005
DATA
13,AD,05,03,8D,13,13,A2
1006
DATA
4A,A0,13,8E,04,03,8C,05
1007
DATA
03,60,AD,12,13,8D,04,03
1008
DATA AD,13,13,8D,05,03,60,6C
1009
DATA
12,13,A5,7F,D0,F9,AD,00
1010
DATA
02,20,5B,13,90,Fl,A0,00
1011
DATA
4C,6F,14,C9,30,30,06,C9
1012
DATA
3A,10,02,38,60,18,60,08
1013
DATA
B1,3D,C9,20,D0,03,C8,D0
1014
DATA
F7,B1,3D,60,18,C8,B1,3D
1015
DATA
F0,35,C9,22,F0,F5,6D,06
1016
DATA
13,8D,06,13,AD,07,13,69
1017
DATA
00,8D,07,13,4C,75,13,18
1018
DATA
6D,08,13,80,08,13,90,03
1019
DATA
EE,09,13,EE,0C,13,60,18
1020
DATA
6D,0B,13,8D,0B,13,90,03
1021
DATA
EE,0A,13,EE,0D,13,60,0A
1022
DATA
A8,B9,14,13f85,FB,B9,15
1023
DATA
13,85,FC,A0,00,8C,00,FF
1024
DATA
1025
1036
DATA
43,54,45,52,53,00,55,4E
1037
DATA
49,44,45,4E,54,49,46,49
1038
DATA
45,44,00,4E,4F,20,43,48
1039
DATA
45,43,4b,53,55,4D,00,C8
1040
DATA
B1,3D,D0,FB,98,3 0,04,C9
1041
DATA
06,30,IE,88,88,88,88,88
1042
DATA
B1,3D,C9,27,D0,13,A9,00
1043
DATA
9L,3D,C8,A2,00,B1,3D,9D
1044
DATA
00,0B,C8,E8,E0,04,D0,F5
1045
DATA
60,4C,5C,15,4C,C5,14,A0
1046
DATA
09,A9,00,99,06,13,8D,00
1047
DATA
0B,88,10,F7,A9,80,85,FD
1048
DATA
A0,00,20,3F,14,20,AE,14
1049
DATA
20,0D,4 3,84,FA,A0,FF,20
1050
DATA
67,13,F0,D8,24,FD,F0,06
1051
DATA
20,8F,13,4C,8F,14,C9,22
1052
DATA
D0,06,20,74,13,4C,8F,14
1053
DATA
20,9F,13,4C,8F,14,A0,00
1054
DATA
B9,00,02,20,5B,13,C8,90
1055
DATA
0A,18,6D,0A,13,8D,0A,13 4C,B0,14,88,60,18,AD,0C
1056
DATA
1057
DATA
13,69,41,8D,0C,13,38,AD
1058
DATA
0D,13,E9,19,90,0 6,8D,0D
1059
DATA
13,4C,CF,14,AD,0D,13,69
1060
DATA
41,8D,0D,13,AD,06,13,6D
1061
DATA
08,13,48,AD,07,13,6D,09
1062
DATA
13,8D,0F,13,68,6D,0B,13
1063
DATA
8D,0E,13,AD,0F,13,6D,0A
1064
DATA
13,8D,0F,13,3 8,E9,19,90
1065
DATA
0 6,8D,0F,13,4C,0 5,15,AD
1066
DATA
0F,13,69,41,8D,0F,13,AD
1067
DATA
0E,13,E9,19,90,06,8D,0E
1068
DATA
13,4C,1A,15,AD,0E,13,69
1069
DATA
41,8D,0E,13,A0,01,AD,0C
1070
DATA
13,CD,00,0B,D0,20,C8,AD
1071
DATA
0D,13,CD,01,0B,D0,17,C8
1072
DATA
AD,0E,13,CD,0 2,0B,D0,0E
1073
DATA
AD,0F,13,CD,0 3,0B,D0,06
1074
DATA
20,89,15,A4,FA,60,98,48
A9,12,20,D2,FF,B1,FB,F0
1075
DATA
68,4C,AF,13,A9,04,4C,AF
DATA
06,20,D2,FF,C8,D0,F6,20
1076
DATA
13,A9,00,8D,00,FF,A9,20
1026
DATA
79,15,20,A3,15,20,E4,FF
DATA
1027
DATA
F0,FB,A0,1B,B9,EF,13,20
1077
8D,00,D4,8D,01,D4,A9,09
1028
DATA
D2,FF,88,10,F7,68,68,A9
1078
DATA
8D,0 5,D4,A9,0F,8D,18,D4
DATA
00,8D,00,02,4C,B7,4D,91
1079
DATA
60,20,61,15,A9,81,20,9C
1029 1030
DATA
91,0D,20,20,20,20,20,20
1080
DATA
15,A9,80,20,9C,15,4C,96
1031
DATA
20,20,20,20,20,20,20,20
1081
DATA
15,20,61,15,A9,11,20,9C
1082
DATA
15,A9,10,20,9C,15,A9,00
1083
DATA
8D,04,D4,60,8D,04,D4,A2
1084
DATA
70,A0,00,88,D0,FD,CA,D0
1085
DATA
FA,60,END
1032
DATA
20,20,20,20,20,20,91,0D
1033
DATA
51,55,4F,54,45,00,46,45
1034
DATA
59,57,4F,52,44,00,23,20
1035
DATA
4F,46,20,43,48,41,52,41
END
COMMODORE MAGAZINE
127
128 Users Only/The 128 Mode
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Continued from page 94
740
PRINT#4,TB$M1S'BIIH
745
PRINT#4,TB$M5$'BIMM
750
PRINT#4,TB$Ml$'BIII
Advertiser
755
PRINT#4,TBSM3S'BIKN
760
NEXT'BAEH
765
CLOSE 4:OPEN PD$'DNQQ
770
PRINT#4:PRINT#4,UNS"[SHFT
4,4,7:PRINT#4,
[SHFT
A]
[SHFT
C]
[SHFT
R]
[SHFT
S]
[SHFT
S]"UFS,,,UN$"
0]
[SHFT
D]
[SHFT
0]
[SHFT
N]"UFS:PRINT#4'DVKX
Poge No.
Abacus Software
1
1,41
Adams Software
2
59
Berkeley Softworks
3
20,21
*
65
4
49
Commodore Business Machines
*
C2,45,47
Brantford Educational
[SHFT W]
Reader Response No.
Briwali
775
AC=0:DN=0'CHUQ
780
DO
785
DO:AC=AC+1:LOOP UNTIL AC)O""0R AONB'JUCA
CL$(0,
CompuServe
5
19
790
D0:DN=DN+l:L00P
CL${1,
Computer Direct (Protecto)
6
120,121,122,123
Digital Vision
7
85
DigiTek, Inc.
8
37
Electronic Arts
9
C4
Epyx, Inc.
10
14,15,25,31
Free Spirit Software
11
55
Guitar Connection
12
113
Loadsfor
13
5
Microlllusions
14
C3
Micron Technology
15
17
MicroWay
16
57
Midwest Software
17
105
•
9
UNTIL
DN)O""0R 79 5
AC=>NB
UNTIL
"+STR$(AC),2)+"-"
CLS(0,AC)=""THEN
111 JWJB 800
805
DN=>NB'HIUQ
DN>NB'JUJV
A$=RIGHTS("
:IF
AND
D$=RIGHTS("
A$="[SPACE21
"+STR$(DN),2)+"-"
:IF CLS(1,DN)=""THEN "'JWTN
D$="[SPACE2]
XS=AS+LEFTS(CLS(0,AC)+ SP$,
36)+"
"+DS+LEFTS(CL$(1,DN)+SP$,
36)'JPPV
810
PRINT#4,XS'BEPE
815 820 825
LOOP'BAKI CLOSE 4'BBLE RETURN'BAQJ
END
128 Users Only/Simple Windowing Continued from page 97
EB'BEAE 2320
DATA
60,A0,00,A9,IF,8D,00,D6,2C,
00'BEWF 2330
DATA
D6,10,FB,AD,01,D6,91,FB,20,
C2'BEEG DATA
2350
02'BENH DATA E6,FC,A5,FC,CD,3D,0D,D0,03,
Montgomery Granl
18
51
A9'BEMI
Patech Software
59
27
Quanlum Computer Services
20
32,33
Rainbird
21
11
S&S Wholesalers
22
63
Soft Byte
23
113
Software Simulations
24
13
Strategic Simulations
25
2
SubLogic Corporation
26
39
Superior Microsystems
27
105
Tevex
28
61
Tussey Computer Products
29
6,7
2360
DATA
0C,F0,EC,60,E6,FB,A5,FB,D0,
Mindscape
2340
01,60,A9,00,60,A9,30,85,FC,
A9'BEXJ 2370
DATA
00,85,FB,A9,40,8D,3D,0D,60,
A9'BELK 2380
DATA
2390
DATA
04,85,FC,A9,00,85,FB,A9,08,
8D'BEYL 3D,0D,60,A9,D8,85,FC,A9,00,
85'BEVM 2400
DATA
FB,A9,DC,8D,3D,0D,60,A9,1C,
85'BEQE
2410
DATA
FC,A9,00,85,FB,A9,40,8D,3D,
0D'BEVF 2420
DATA
60,A9,D8,85,FC,A9,00,85,FB,
A9'BETG 2430
DATA
DC,8D,3D,0D,60,A2,00,A9,12,
2440
8D'BERH DATA 0 0,D6,2C,00,D6,10,FB,8E,01 , D6'BEUI
2450
DATA
A9,13,8D,00,D6,2C,00,D6,10,
FB'BEWJ
2460
128
DATA 8E,01,D6,60,G0,00,00,00, £J0'BBDJ
MAY 1988
•No Reader Response Number given af Advertiser's Request.