||||||||| ||||||||| ST*ZMAGAZINE ISSUE #: 32 |||||||| |||||||| --------------------------------------------- ||||||| ||||||| August 4, 1989 |||||| |||||| --------------------------------------------- ||||| ||||| Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs |||| |||| PD\Reviews Editor: Alice Amore ||| ||| --------------------------------------------- || || CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE | ZMAGAZINE | --------------------------------------------- || || Reprinted permission granted as long as ||| ||| ST*ZMAG and the original author is credited. |||| |||| --------------------------------------------- ||||| ||||| Copyright ½1989, Rovac Industries, Inc. |||||| |||||| Post Office Box 59 ||||||| ||||||| Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059 |||||||| |||||||| (201) 968-8148 ||||||||| ||||||||| --------------------------------------------- NEW ADDRESS!!! CONTENTS ISSUE #32 ------------------ <*> EDITORS DESK...........................Ron Kovacs (Commentary and Update) <*> ZNET NEWSWIRE.................................... (Latest News Update) <*> PUBLIC DOMAIN SHELF...................Alice Amore (PD Round-up) <*> Hi-Res BOARD...........................Ray Irvine (New product) <*> ONLINE HARDWARE REPORT.................WK Whitton (Hardware news and update) <*> NEW SOFT..........................Albert Baggetta (New software) <*> LETTER TO COMPUTER SHOPPER........Robert Guadagno (Open letter to CS) <*> MEGA MODIFICATION..........................BDHALL (Upgrade Mega 2 to 4) <*> MONOCHROME PD GAMES....................Mark Quinn (Mono games of interest) <*> ZENOBOT'S GUIDE TO ST GAMES...................... (Gamers info update) <*> GENIE ST RT TOP 20 DOWNLOADS...........Sally Nagy THE EDITORS DESK ---------------- by Ron Kovacs Atari has officially terminated Chris Roberts, (see ZNET NEWSWIRE), and once again are left without a person to get the user group's organized, and a newsletter going. Let's hope the next habitant will pick up the pieces, get the job done, and move on to producing a newsletter that will keep the user base up to date. With ST-World cancelling the rest of the touring shows, (for now), it would be nice to see user groups pick up the void and get some AtariFests going. Atari has promised to make an appearance or assist, so the chance is there if your group is interested. September is only a month away and the promised releases of the many Atari products are only 30 days away. Keep your eyes open for Atari's press releases and announcements. One would expect them near the end of this month. As stated in earlier articles and comments made by Sig Hartmann, the only hold-up for US release of the PortFolio and Stacy are the FCC approvals needed. The products are already in release in Europe. The Texas World of Atari is just two weeks away, Migraph, along with 12 other companies have confirmed appearing. Missing from the show is User Group support. Richard Tsukiji told us earlier this week that there were no local groups involved, but a group from Louisiana was coming. ZNET NEWSWIRE ------------- ~ Atari's recently hired User Group Coordinator, Chris Roberts has been terminated, along with Assistant VP of Sales Joe Mendolia. Both men were terminated last Friday and have not been replaced. Presently, resumes and applications are being accepted by interested parties. ~ The Glendale Atarifest, a regularly scheduled event has been cancelled this year. Apparently a mix up with hall reservations has caused the show to be re-scheduled for 1990. ~ The San Jose World of Atari show has been cancelled by Richard Tsukiji, promoter and ST-World publisher. Efforts to confirm the story have been made but no official confirmation has been stated yet. Any shows discussed or planned after the Texas show are included. ~ NEC Corp. has dropped plans to increase its output of one-megabit DRAM chips. Reasons for the drop are from poor sales, but the 6 million per month production rate will continue. ~ Xebec Corp, manufacturers of Hard disk and controllers has filed for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code. When IBM cancelled a major contract in 1987, Xebec's revenues dropped and ends a two-year to re-organize the company. Portions of the company will continue to operate during the liquidation. ~ A 17-year-old Michigan boy has been charged with posting stolen long- distance phone codes on a bulletin board system operated in his home. Brent G. Patrick, alias (handle) "Shadow Stalker" online, was arraigned this week on one count of stealing or retaining a financial transaction device without consent. Patrick was released on $2,500 bond, pending an Aug. 11 hearing. The youth faces a maximum of four years in prison and a $2,000 fine if convicted. His BBS "Wizard Circle" has been closed. ~ Apple Computer has been awarded a five-year 30.2 million dollar contract to supply the federal government with Macintosh IIx systems as part of the Microcomputer Acquisition for the Postal Service. PUBLIC DOMAIN SHELF ------------------- by Alice Amore PACKER 2.0 ~~~~~~~~~~ This could start a revolution. PACKER takes a .PRG, .TOS, or .TTP file, squeezes away about 30% of the size, then saves it to disk. The new file can be run just like the original. Most programs will PACK, and only a few won't run properly once PACKed. UNPACK, which returns the PACKed file to its original size, is included. (Editors Note: After testing the above file, I found that load times on most packed files were increased. Although file size is dramatically reduced on some PRG's, the speed you lose is noticeable and annoying to me.) PRGMEN14 ~~~~~~~~ Dr. Bob's Menu Helper Program, version 1.14, by W. D. Parks is a "program dispatcher". First the user writes a menu (a simple text file) containing the pathnames for up to 8 often-used programs. As many menus as desired may be written and saved. After PRGMENU is loaded, click on any saved menu, and then run any of the programs on the menu simply by pressing a number key (1-8), or press ESC to exit to the desktop. (This kind of reminds me of my 8-bit days when almost everything was run from automenus.) ATTR2 ~~~~~ "The Attributer" by Tom Hayslett gives you file information that might be hard to locate by other means. Any hard or floppy drive can be accessed. The Attributer's menu lists all files on the drive, and contains a special column which alerts you if the highlighted filename is an archive, a directory, hidden, system only, or read only. Disk labels can be changed easily. Also included is information on free bytes, file size, date, and time. BLRUT14 ~~~~~~~ This is a collection of 20 utilities written by Bud Rasmussen in 68000 assembly language using the Assempro Assembler from Abacus. All 20 utilities are interactive and work in any resolution. A sampling: a one-track-at-a-time sector copier, a file copier, a text lister/printer, a directory copier, another track-at-a-time sector copier which will copy from A: to B: without prior formatting, same as previous but will format while copying, a copier/renamer, a sector-comparer of any two D/S disks, a disk information displayer, free memory calculation, ASCII code and scan code for any key, sector modifier, delete all files in root directory of A: or B:, directory lister for any drive, list or print all directories sorted by name or not, list or print the ASCII/hex representation for any file, list/print any directory sorted by name or not, ASCII/hex any sector, list any text file forward, backward, by line, by page. CACHEV3 ~~~~~~~ "Cold Hard Cache, version 3.2" is a disk caching program which works with hard drives or floppies. Disk caching is a method of storing the most-used disk sectors in RAM. This increases I/O speed quite a lot. CACHEV3 can be run from the desktop or as an accessory. You may choose the drives you wish to be cached and the size of the cache (128K should suffice). CACHEV3 is shareware from Robert E. Owens, III. FLAME_J ~~~~~~~ "Flamethrower Utility" by Tom Moore is a strange melange of useful and fun things. Its functions include: calling of the Universal Item Selector II, showing amount of free memory, setting of screen colors, setting of system date and time, set-up of printer for Epson graphic mode (960 dots), running external programs, three moire pattern shows, and a "fish tank" circle pattern maker (either round or ovoid). STOPDRV ~~~~~~~ Created by N. Weinress, STOPDRV eliminates the frustration on Mega systems of drives that won't stop whirring during warmboots or coldboots. This program goes into the AUTO folder. It will tell your Mega to check your floppy drives during bootup to make sure they stop whirring once the boot is complete. TWO SMALL ONES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following two programs are extremely small, but each can be helpful: DIRSLEFT will tell you how many directory slots are available on your disk. With the slot deficit on some versions of TOS, this can help you plan ahead. TRACKIT gives an on-screen readout of which tracks are currently being accessed on either floppy drive. (Use this to pretend that you're using an Indus GTS-100.) EAR2 ~~~~ EAR TRAINER helps music students of all ages gain the ability to recognize musical notes and the intervals between notes. Read the documentation before starting, or you'll have trouble figuring out what to do. Keys, scales (pentatonic, major, minor, chromatic), and number of octaves can be selected. A nice animated character (looks like Mr. T. to me) is on hand to show his approval or dissatisfaction. EAR TRAINER was written by F. Hundley. ADARDEMO ~~~~~~~~ This is a demo of the commercial program "A Day at the Races". Special praise should be bestowed upon Team Software for giving us a demo which truly is "self-running". An animated mouse pointer moves through the entire program from beginning to end, showing all features and how they're used. The program itself looks impressive. It simulates the racetrack environment complete with digitized sounds and real-time animated horse races. Features include 9 types of wagers, 4 race types, and 4 race lengths. The database tracks up to 500 horses, 50 jockeys, and 15 players. The program is GEM-based and entirely mouse-controlled. The demo runs in low res only. TWO ANIMATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EYENSKY is a professional-quality smooth animation dealing with telescopes and stupidity. It is a .SEQ file and will run using ANIMATE4. STHENGE is a breathtaking animation of a drone flying around the Stonehenge object. For those interested in graphics, read the documentation. It takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of STHENGE, and is very interesting. Run this file with ANIMATE4. HIGH RESOLUTION VIDEO BOARD --------------------------- by Ray Irvine I have designed a Video Board for the Atari ST/MEGA series that will offer increased screen resolution in both color and monochrome modes. Best results are achieved using a multisync monitor, but it will also support the standard Atari monitors at intermediate resolutions. I have fabricated the prototype hardware and using a multisync monitor have achieved 832 x 600 resolution in monochrome mode and 640 x 352 resolution in medium resolution color mode. It has also been tested at 704 x 480 on the Atari SM124 monochrome monitor. I am still in the process of testing other resolution modes for both multisync and Atari monitors. The final design will support 8 basic horizontal resolution modes including both multisync and Atari monitor compatible modes, selected under software control. The vertical resolution will also be under software control, with several variations available for each horizontal mode. The exact resolution modes are not yet finalized, however due to SHIFTER design limitations the horizontal modes will probably be multiples of 64 pixels (ie. 640, 704, 768, 832, etc.). The board is capable of resolutions in excess of 1024 x 768, however due to the manner in which the ST scans screen memory and the ST dot clock rate, the vertical refresh rate would become unacceptable. The production board would probably install in the SHIFTER socket, with the SHIFTER inserted into a new socket on the video board. There will be four etch cuts required on the ST motherboard and approximately eight jumper wires run to various places on the ST motherboard. Software support would consist of an AUTO folder TSR which would be activated by a "hot key" sequence during bootup, where the user could select the desired resolution mode. If the TSR was not activated during bootup, it would not install, and the ST would default to the standard ST video mode. In any case, reset or power-on would always place the ST in the standard ST default mode. I also plan to provide screen print drivers for Epson, HP, and Atari SLM804 printers to support the new video modes. The video board currently requires TOS 1.4; I can make it work with TOS 1.2, however the software required to do this is somewhat of kludge. It should be compatible with any properly written GEM software (ie. uses Line-A negative offset variables to determine video parameters). While a lot of software fails in this regard, many software packages are already being changed to conform to this for compatibility with the Moniterm monitor, the BigSceen program, and the Hyperscreen/Overscan modification. If an application works with the BigScreen program, it should work with my video board. I have performed sufficient testing on this board to believe that this is a technically feasible product, providing TOS 1.4 is available. It could work with TOS 1.2, however this would limit it's market. I would like to receive feedback from the ST community, users and dealers, as to how much interest there would be in the commercial release of this product. At this time, I would estimate a retail price of between $125- $175, plus installation. In the meantime, I will continue to test different video modes and work on the software. GENIE: R.IRVINE BIX: RFI U.S. MAIL: R.F. Irvine, 646 Pearson Rd., Port Hueneme, CA 94041 ONLINE HARDWARE REPORT ---------------------- by WK Whitton, Contributor Although things may well have appeared to be quiet on the ST front this last month, I can assure you there is a flurry of activity in the hardware arena that will tickle the fancy of even most pessimistic ST owner! The "Hyperscreen" mod for ST computers has been out for a short while, and is steadily being improved, and also several ST developers, such as Gadgets By Small, are incorporating support for it in their products. There are several things that needed tweaking though, and you can look for clear plans for this fine hardware mod in these pages in the near future. A topic which heretofore hasn't been discussed is installing blitter upgrades for STs that do not come equipped with them. If your 520STFM/ 1040ST has a pattern on the motherboard for an additional 64 pin socket, it is a basically a matter of removing the solder from the holes, installing the socket, and obtaining a blitter. You will note 2 "half- moon" shaped solder pads located adjacent to the newly installed blitter socket. These pads are marked W2 and W4 on the motherboard, and currently have solder blobs connecting both halves together. Use Solder Wick and remove the solder so that now these connections are open. Thats it! I imagine many dealers should soon start offering this type of upgrade. In order to assist you in this quest, you may wish to call Midtown TV at 216-633-0997 if you are having trouble locating the socket and/or blitter. If you own a version of the ST which does not have these traces onboard, you can obtain a board very soon from Jim Allen, Mr. Turbo16, that mounts in these units, and will allow you too to enjoy the benefits of a blitter. In order to install this board, or the Turbo16 for that matter, you will be required to remove the 68000 that is currently in your ST, and this could prove to be a ticklish task to be sure. The traces are extremely delicate, so take your time! There will be 3 ribbon cables that protrude from the blitter upgrade board. A pair of these cables are being provided so that you can plug PC Ditto II right into this upgrade panel, and the third is for extra expansion capabilities. The blitter upgrade panel will plug into the empty socket where your 68000 previously abode. As far as availability of the blitter goes, as of yet the dealership I work for has no problem obtaining the "under $60" chip, and I imagine your local dealership should have no problems either. I have heard a call from a segment of St owners that have asked for a "Floating Point" upgrade for their ST. This basically consists of a 68881, which is the companion to the 68000. It may interest you to know that this very upgrade, which includes a 68881-16, is currently available at Canadian Atari dealers for the exceptional price of $274! And this is the *Official* Atari upgrade to boot! Here in the USA I wouldn't look for this type of product from Atari anytime soon, although Jim Allen currently has said he will be producing such an upgrade for all current STs, but that project is currently still in the beginning stages of development. (I might add that the ST community is extremely fortunate to have such a fine developer in its camp, and hope you will all support him in his every endeavour.) During our all-too-short conversation, I tossed the idea of a memory expansion for the ST at Jim, and the quickness, and completeness of his reply was a very pleasant surprise! He explained how an upgrade to 8 meg on the St was not only possible, but rather an easy affair to arrange! This is of course is quite the opposite of what we all have been told by folk who approached the subject by merely quoting that the uncrossable "Berlin Wall" of ST memory capabilities is 4 meg. Here in the US we depend on the 3rd party developer to take up the slack where our computer manufacturer should be offering such an upgrade themselves! The last topic I'd like to touch on this week in is regards to a few upgrade related notes for the Mega STs. Dave Small was kind enough to relay the info for us that resulted in the cure of the intermittent crash problem on Megas by replacing/piggybacking the 74LS374s with Motorola equivalents if you should see the letters 'SGS" on the top of the chips. I'd like to suggest that there is a better solution. The 74LS version of this IC is capable of handling 24 milliamps of current. A much faster version of this chip, and one that is capable of handling double the current (48 milliamps) is the 74AS version. That should take care of your problems along this line....permanently. And if you are thinking of installing these heavier duty chips, what not perform a quick mod to add a little more "beefiness" to your Mega power supply. You will note a 3 pin header on the power supply panel with nothing connected to it. If you take a meter you will discover that the pins read 5v, Ground, and 12v respectively. The 12v supply is quite hefty, so well use it to help the 5v supply. Obtain a generic 7805 regulator (such as the LM7805 or UPC7805), and bend the pins slightly apart. Now solder the output pin of the 7805 to the 5 volt pin, the middle pin to ground, and the input pin to the 12 volt source. This little mod should go along way to assure that your loaded Mega doesn't suffer from the low 5 volt blues! NEW SOFT -------- by Albert Baggetta New_Soft is new and original software written by me in GFA Basic. This game, utility and application software is offered to the public at very low prices. I am asking for small compensation for the time I have spent working on this material, offered exclusively for the Atari ST computers. I did not write this software with the intent of making a lot of money. I did, however, want to learn how to program in GFA Basic. In the process I have learned quite a lot and have produce some rather unusual and, I think, useful programs which I am now offering for sale. Each program is the latest version and complete -- ready to run on your machine. In most cases I include the main program files, entertaining and informative documentation, accessory files needed for the program (screens, samples, etc.), and source code. Programmers may modify the source code and borrow from it at no additional charge. Hopefully my humble efforts will help some other programmers to create useful software. (I do ask, however, that you do not flagrantly copy and distribute the programs. No copy protection on these programs. None of these programs has been available commercially. I have, however, had several other programs published in ST Log and START magazine, in case you would like to see samples of my past work. (The current issue of ST Log -- August 89 #34 -- has my latest game ST Bingo.) The programs I am offering can be entertaining and useful in themselves. But novice GFA programmers, seeking new ideas and insight, may search through the source code for subroutines which may be freely included in their own programs. In addition I have included examples in the code and documentation which will prove instructional about animation, sprites, music, sound effects, GET and PUT, SETCOLOR, COLOR and other ways to use the GFA commands. Ok, so what are the programs and what are they going to cost me, you say. The following is a detailed list of the programs and the compensation I am asking. -------------------------------------------------------------- New_Soft Program List #1 -------------------------------------------------------------- "Celebrity Pseudonym" Age Level: Adult This is a trivia game. The players must guess the real name of the celebrity from the "stage" name given -- or vice versa. There are over 200 names on file in the program. The game may be played on an easy or hard level. Interface: Mouse Driven Folder: CELEBRTY Files : CELEBRTY.PRG Program CELEBRTY.DOC Documentation (Sorry, source has been lost for this) Rez: Low (preferred) Medium ------------------------------------------------------------- "Dodger Rabbit" Age Level: Children - Adult This is an 8 level maze-type game. You must guide Dodge the rabbit in his quest to collect jelly beans. He must dodge some obstacles and enhance his power by getting others. This also includes a guessing game (count the jelly beans in the jar) as a finale. Interface: Mouse Driven Folder: DODGER Files: DODGER.PRG Program DODGER.LST Listed Source Code DODGER.DOC Documentation Rez: Low Resolution ------------------------------------------------------------ "Invitation Maker: Documentus Officialis" Age Level: Adult With this program you will be able to create and print party invitations that have a "legal" conotation. Your friends will think they are being summoned or subpoenaed to court, but in reality it is just a party. Two types of "official" documents can be created. Includes code to show the use of menu bars in GFA BASIC. Interface: Mouse Driven (Menu Bar) Epsom or other printer needed to print the final documents. Folder: INVITE Files: INVITE.PRG Program INVITE.BAS Source Code INVITE.DOC Documentation ----------------------------------------------------------- "The Mummy's Tomb" Age Level: Children - Adult This is a graphic and sound game (actually several games in one) that takes the player on a journey into the hidden tomb of Epthos, a mythical and innovative mummy. Several challenges must be met before the player can successfully inscribe his/her name in the Hall of Conquers (which is saved from game to game). Lots of animation and sound effects included. Interface: Mouse Driven Folder: MUMMY Files: MUMMY.PRG Program MUMMY.LST Listed Source Code MUMMY.DOC Documentation CONQ.FIL Record of Latest Winner Rez: Low Resolution ------------------------------------------------------------ "Atari Phone Voice" Age Level: Adult This application will allow the user to make, save, load, play, and wipe messages for use with telephone answering machines. Synthesized voice records message along with option choice of sound effects and/or musical tune. You no longer have to record messages using your own voice. Program includes sample messages. Interface: Mouse/Keyboard Driven FOLDER: PHONE Files: GFABASRO.PRG (Free from Michron) SPEECH.EXE (PD Synthesized Speech Module) PHONE.BAS Source Code (Use GFABASRO.PRG) PHONE.DOC Documentation VOICSAMP.DOC Text of Samples ENGLISH.PHN Sample Message #1 SPACE.PHN Sample Message #2 ITALIAN.PHN Sample Message #3 GORDON.PHN Sample Message #4 Rez: Low Resolution ------------------------------------------------------------ "Shadow Letters" Age Level: Adult With this program the user can create screens in 3-D shadow letters in different fonts. Letters may also be "sliced -- full and half" for further special effects. Title screens may be viewed for special displays or the program can generate code that can be used in other GFA programs. These screens may then be used as titles for programs, etc. FREE: Specially designed slide show viewer that will allow you to view your screens saved on a separate disk. They must have a.SCR extender. Interface: Mouse/Keyboard Driven Folder: SHADOW Files: SHADOW.PRG Program SHADOW.BAS Source Code SHADOW.DOC Documentation SCRENVUE.PRG Free Viewing program SCRENVUE.BAS Source Code for SCRENVUE.PRG Adtl Folders: LST_SAMP Sample generated code screens SCR_SAMP Sample screen for SCRENVUE.PRG Rez: Low Resolution ------------------------------------------------------------ "The Collector" Age Level: Teen - Adult This is a database specifically designed for coin or stamp collectors (may be modified for other collections). At present it is set to hold 1000 entries, but modification can be performed to hold more. There are two versions: Folder COLLECT.HGH is for monochrome users -- Folder COLLECT.MED is for color users. (If ordering separately, specify which version you want.) Interface: Mouse/Keyboard Folders: COLLECT.HGH COLLECT.MED Files: COLLECTH.PRG/COLLECTM.PRG Program COLLECTE.DOC Documentation COLLECTM.LST Source Listing COIN.DAT Sample Coin List STAMP.DAT Sample Stamp List Rez: Medium or High (Separate Programs) ------------------------------------------------------------ "Random Numbers" Tutorial Age Level: Teen - Adult This is a tutorial I wrote exploring the use of the RANDOM command in GFA BASIC and how it can be used in programs and subroutines to produce random circumstances. Included are many samples of how to use RANDOM with graphics, sound and applications. The article includes a simple number guessing game, modifiable decision maker, random music generator and more. The novice to intermediate GFA programmer will find this helpful. Program samples are on the disk in low, medium and high resolution. Folder: RANDOM.TUT Files: RANDOM.DOC Documentation PROGRAMS 1 - 8 in GFA BASIC .BAS FORMAT ------------------------------------------------------------ "Scrambled Eggspressions" Age Level: Child - Adult In this two player game the players compete against each other and the computer's clock to try an put together to cartoon faces that have been scrambled together. The game also has a "blindfold" level which is very difficult. FREE: The game already has 22 cartoon faces built in, but I have included another bare bones program, a cartoon face editor, which will produce cartoon faces (or anything else) that can be merged with the source code to produce a more complicated game. Interface: Mouse Driven Folder: SCRAMBLE Files: SCRAMBLE.PRG Program SCRAMBLE.BAS Source Code SCRAMBLE.DOC Documentation Folder: BONESEDT BONES.PRG Free Cartoon Face Editor BONES.DOC Documentation for Editor Rez: Medium ------------------------------------------------------------ "Word Divisions" Age Level: Child - Adult This is a word game with a new twist. You must guess a word within a word with only a first letter clue and a definition. The program uses graphics heavily in the form of 6 miniature television monitors that project the clues. Code can be modified to add more words or to tailor the words to a particular subject, etc. Interface: Mouse/Keyboard Driven Folder: WORD_DIV Files: WORD.DOC Documentation WORD.LST Source Listing WORD.PRG Program Rez: Low Resolution ------------------------------------------------------------ "Zeek 'n Zak" Age Level: Child - Adult This is a chutes and ladders type game, with a new perspective. Zeek and Zak (two animated sprites that are adopted by the players) try to outrace each other to their favorite dring, purple root beer. This is an on-screen board game for two players that uses extensive graphics, animation and sound effects. The have also has an "auto-play" feature that allows the players to watch Zeek 'n Zak's artificial intelligence carry them through the game. Interface: Mouse Driven Folder: ZEEK_ZAK Files: ZEEK_ZAK.DOC Documentation Z_Z.PRG Program Z_Z.BAS Source Code Rez: Low Resolution Atari users who order the above will receive the latest version of the programs, registration for any updates to these programs should there be any, and complete documentation on disk in a neat form that may be printed on the screen or sent to the printer. If you send a copy of this bulletin along with your order, indicating which service you got it from, I will include another article of mine which gives tips for cleaning your Atari mouse and a way I have found to get your mouse moving more smoothly: "Mouse Cleaning". ------------------------------------------------------------ New_Soft Price List ------------------------------------------------------------ All 11 programs above $16.00 + $1.00 Shipping (Double Sided Disk -- All Files Arc'd) All 11 programs above $18.00 + $1.00 Shipping (Two Single Sided Disks -- Arc'd) Each Program Separate Ordered: $3.00 each. + $1.00 Shipping 3 programs for $5.00 + $1.00 Shipping Massachusetts residents must add 5% sales tax. |----------------------------------------|-------------------| | New_Soft Order Blank | | |________________________________________|____Price__________| |________________________________________|___________________| |________________________________________|___________________| | Shipping / Handling | $1.00 | |________________________________________|___________________| | Mass. Tax If Applicable 5% | | |________________________________________|___________________| | Total | | |________________________________________|___________________| |Check and Money Orders accepted | | | |Name________________________________________________________| |Street / PO Box_____________________________________________| |City/Town___________________________________________________| |State_________________________________ Zip Code_____________| |Please send order to : Mr. Albert Baggetta | | P.O. Box 351 | | Feeding Hills, MA 01030 | |____________________________________________________________| LETTER TO COMPUTER SHOPPER -------------------------- by Robert J. Guadagno Computer Shopper c/o Coastal Associates Publishing, L.P. 5211 S. Washington Ave. Titusville, FL 32781 Editor: In regards to your August, 1989 issue (Vol.9 No.8) of Computer Shopper "High Value DTP Solutions", I feel you have made a significant error in leaving out the Atari ST DTP package in your review. I own an Atari MEGA ST4 with the SLM804 laser printer, and extras, as well as an IBM clone, and an Amiga 500 (I purchased these other systems "just to have them"), and I found that as far as DTP applications, the MAC and Atari are the superior two for the job (I used a MAC while employed at the N.Y.C. Dept. of Health). My reasons for this, The Amiga has a perpetual screen flicker that unless you are playing a game, it could drive someone insane, the IBM Clone (with the configuration I have of 640k) is too weak to handle some complex DTP applications. On the other hand the Atari DTP package gives you a FOUR (4) Megabyte machine, a POSTSCRIPT compatible laser printer, and the software to start running, all for less than the MAC or the AMIGA (which comes incomplete), or the IBM/Clones (complete). I don't mean to sound like a deranged user that feels this machine deserves all the acknowledgment, I merely wish to point out if you are writing a NON-BIAS publication, you should review all the possibilities with the same attitude, rather than review "glorified" systems...I'm sure the same would apply to the NEXT system, and the "lower level" systems as well (the Commodore 64/128, Atari XL/XE etc., or the Apple 8-Bit systems). I will lastly add that the Atari ST can run the popular IBM, and MAC software faster than the actual machines can (Mac software 20% faster, IBM software at AT speeds). The point is besides the point, I know, but this too is good enough reason for a review, let alone a fair one. I thank you for your time, and the publication of a fine periodical. Sincerely, Robert J. Guadagno President, Atari Users Association Manager/Owner Software Spectrum MEGA MODIFICATION ----------------- by BDHALL (GEnie Address) If you have a Mega 2, but would like 4 megs of memory, in the eyes of Atari, you should sell your Mega 2 and buy a Mega 4. However, I disagree that you should have to do this, and thus decided to upgrade "the hard way" instead. If you have had no soldering or de-soldering experience this project is not for you. There are 18 pins on each chip socket, with 16 chips. That's 288 connections, each one has to be de- soldered and then re-soldered perfectly to work well. There are also a few resistors that you must add for a successful upgrade. And now for some legal mumbo-jumbo to keep me off the hook: This upgrade WILL violate any and all warranties on this computer product. I do not promise that this upgrade will work, and hold no responsibilities to the equipment or person doing this upgrade. Ok, enough of that. You will need the following products to do this upgrade: * 3-33 ohm 1/4 5% resistors * 16-1 Megabyte chips of the same speed as the present ones in your mega * 16-18 pin low-profile chip sockets * pair of needle-nose pliers * pair of small wire cutters * 25-35 watt soldering iron * 30-50 watt solder-sucker iron -or- solder braid * roll of miniature solder * small flathead screwdriver * medium-sized phillips screwdriver * can of solder flux remover * ohm-meter to check for shorts * And most important.... A GROUND (electrical) & A CEMENT OR TILE FLOOR to work on (So that you do not zap all these expensive parts, or your computer). Steps in upgrading a Mega 2 to a Mega 4: _____ 1). Open up plastic case by removing ALL the screws on the bottom of the case first. Then remove the top. Be careful with the clock cable, it is very fragile. _____ 2). Bend the RF shield tabs so that they are strait, and then remove the shield. Note, there is a tab underneath the disk drive that is hard to see (and get to). _____ 3). Unplug the internal disk drive from power supply and drive bus. To remove the power supply plug, use a small screwdriver to pry the connector clasp up. _____ 4). Unscrew the power supply, and unplug it from the board and remove. _____ 5). Turn the computer so that the expansion ports face you. Unscrew all of the screw posts. This is required for you to be able to remove the bottom RF shield. _____ 6). Now, remove the circuit board from the bottom of the plastic case. _____ 7). Remove the bottom RF shield from the circuit board so that you can access the bottom. _____ 8). Turn over the circuit board so that you can start solder- sucking out the solder where the chip sockets will go. This is the trickiest part of the operation. If you have never done this before, find someone else to do it for you (or at least show you how). There will be 16 blank chip areas, this is where your sockets will go. _____ 9). Now, check for any shorts that may have developed in solder- sucking. If there are any, correct them before continuing. _____ 10). Spray some solder flux remover on the back of the board (over a sink, or paper towels). This will allow for a better solder contact. _____ 11). Plug the power supply back into the board and plug in a monitor (DO THIS ON A NON-CONDUCTIVE SURFACE!). Turn the unit on. You should get the normal GEM screen in 30 seconds or so. You of course will not see any drive icons, as you have no drive attached. >> If you do not get this screen, but instead get bombs or wierd patterns on the screen, turn off the computer immediately and check for shorts. Correct these before continuing. _____ 12). Take the power supply back out (I bet you are getting good at this). _____ 13). Now, install the 16, 18-pin chip sockets into the newly solder-sucked holes. Make sure to put the notches in the same direction as marked on the PC board. A trick to keep the sockets in the holes while turning over the board is to bend opposite corner pins outward. You may wish to do one socket at a time, rather than putting them all in and then soldering them all at once. This is your choice :-) _____ 14). Again, put the power supply back in to check for shorts. After checking and correcting problems, remove the power supply. _____ 15). Now you need to install 3, 33 ohm 1/4 watt resistors in the empty resistor sockets located near the chip banks (normally toward the inside of the Mega). The direction does not matter, but they look better if your new resistor's stripes match the present ones. Put them in snug to the board, and then clip off the excess leads. _____ 16). Again, use the solder flux remover to clean up the PC board. This will make your project look more professional, and keep the flux from attracting dust. _____ 17). Now, install all of the 1 megabyte chips, making sure to put the notch in the correct position (Normally pointing to the middle of the Mega). Usually chips come too wide to fit in sockets, use the corner of a desk to gently bend all the pins on one side at the same time. Be very careful not to bend any pins while inserting them into the sockets. If you do, use the needle-nose pliers (after touching them to a ground) to straighten the pins. _____ 18). Install the power supply again and test for shorts. After all tests out ok, re-assemble the computer in exactly the reverse that you took it apart. _____ 19). You now have a mega 4! Enjoy. If you have any problems, leave me a message on GEnie to BDHALL. MONOCHROME PUBLIC DOMAIN GAMES ------------------------------ by Mark A. Quinn (The following programs run in monochrome ONLY, or with your current favorite monochrome emulator.) Filename: DRACHEN2.ARC Program Name: Drachen, version 2.0 Programmed by: Dirk Woitha English translation by Jochen Fass Drachen is a German PD version of the popular "Shanghai" game. Both are based on the Chinese game of mahjong. After the player gets past the title screen (a relatively easy proposition when the budding amateur takes into account what is coming next) he is greeted with five layers of tiles of various designs. By clicking on two matching tiles on the outer edges of any of the layers the player eliminates them two at a time. There are a total of one hundred and forty-four tiles. The "BAM, MUM, ORC and PLUM" tiles also match (trust me, they do) each other, as do the season tiles "SPR, SUM, AUT and WIN". The player must match all the tiles. If you're confused about any of this, you can watch a slow or quick demo of the computer playing itself and become incredibly jealous when it wins the first time around. The player can start a new game, re-start a game, show the next move (for the easily frustrated among us) or remove tiles (that's cheating!). There is even a high score screen. I must say that it's a pleasure to watch the tiles 'build' on the high resolution screen after the "New Game" feature is selected. If you downloaded the German language version, and didn't get this translated copy, you might want to (unless you have some knowledge of German, or don't mind referring to Mr. Fass' text file for the translation of the pull-down menus). Some features of the game have not been translated, however. Filename: BREAKER1.ARC Program Name: Super Break-Out, version 1.1a Programmed by: Mark Overmars Break-out isn't just a game, it is a cultural icon of our times. We went from mere obsession with the first version for the 2600 to the break-out point with "Arkanoid". For the uninitiated (!), in Break-Out games one's mission is to deflect a moving ball with a paddle toward rectangular objects until the screen is cleared. Now that we are about to break-in a new decade, should we expect this new entry to bring us to the "breaking point"? (Alright, I'll calm down now.) Not quite. Experienced players will find that the ball moves much too slowly for their tastes; arcade aces will file this away and get something more challenging. The ball blurs quite a bit when it moves, and the Continue option (which is supposed to continue play at the level the user was at when he bit the bat) won't do its thing above level 7. Still, for the rest of us, the game is a pleasant enough diversion for a Saturday night. The rectangles are nicely drawn, and the game has a level editor for the creation of customized levels. The more adventurous can edit the ASCII level files directly. Arkanoid addicts will recognize ideas from that game in Super Break-Out, as well as some new features. The very young may like the sound effects, though others may find them distracting. The background and sprite bitmaps were created with "Artist", a PD program. Mr. Overmars requests that interested users send their customized levels to him. Filename: PENTIMO.ARC Program name: Pentimo, version 1.10 Programmed by: Thomas Lorsch and Volker Weidner Another example of German PD, Pentimo looks exotic enough when first booted. As with many Tetris-type games, the objective is to fit geometrically-shaped pieces together, but with a difference: there is no real "time element" in this game; the pieces do not scroll down the screen, but are selected and placed in a grid until it is completely filled. Six sets of twelve geometric shapes, each with four grids, are available and can be loaded with the "andere" option (this program is entirely in German, but the gist of the whole thing can be gotten through experimentation and the PRINTME.TXT file Mr. Fass has graciously provided). The pieces can be rotated or flipped horizontally and vertically before they are placed in the grid. The default pieces are the prettiest--a few are almost miniature examples of pop art. Click on "zeige Demo" (only with the default pieces and not with all of the grids) and you're in for a treat: the shapes lift and fill the grid one by one. Additionally, the player can create a demo of each of his solutions to the puzzles. This game is well implemented. It is infectious. If you know of or are a puzzle maven, run to the nearest work station and immediately download PENTIMO.ARC at the highest possible baud rate. (Warning: to do this you need an ST system, a modem, a phone line, and you may have to load a terminal program first, so the nearest work station may not do.) ZENOBOT'S GUIDE TO EUROPEAN/US ST GAMES --------------------------------------- Ctsy 0 Mayer 5 Bulletin Board ACCOLADE ======== Test Drive II, and its companion disks (October/December '89). Also, a new golf game starring Jack Nicklaus (Super Leader Board?), Motocross (October '89), and Blue Angels (mid-october '89), a formation flight simulator. OCEAN ===== A Clive Barker book (the guy who did Hellraiser) is being translated to the ST. The book's original title is Cabal, but the movie and the game will be called Nightbreed. Spooky! New Zealand Story, cute coin-op guaranteed to give you cavities!!! Cabal, the trackball-operated two- player Operation Wolf ripoff. Guerrilla War (where the hell is it?!?), WEC Le Mans (Ditto). SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE ================= Falcon mission disks (with Mig 29 Fulcrums!!), American Corvette (the car), and Tank, an M1 Abrams simulation. BRODERBUND ========== Shufflepuck Cafe (the Macintosh smash!!), Wings Of Fury (the amazingly playable sideview WWII shoot'em'up), and Ancient Art Of War. GREMLIN ======= H.A.T.E. (Hostile All Terrain Encounter) looking like Mega Zaxxon; Ramrod (action/adventure with three-quarter perspective), Oanic Stations (round up runaway robots), Super Scramble Simulator (drive a dirt bike real slow while avoiding putting your feet on the ground. Requires a good sense of balance), Ultimate Golf, Rally Simulator, Combo Racer, and Centiblast. TEQUE ===== Continental Circus, finally a good racing game! Thunderbirds, featuring International Rescue; Passing Shot, conversion of a tennis coin-op; Xybots, the Atari coin-op for Tengen. PSYGNOSIS ========= Blood Money (Super Menace with two-player mode), Beast and Aquaventure. Psygnosis plans to release 17 games this year... THALAMUS ======== this new company is planning to convert a bunch of Commodore games to the ST. The first one is Hawkeye (platform shoot'em'up). Some future conversions include Armalyte, Sanxion (Currently out on the C64 by EA), and Bamboo. MIRRORSOFT ========== (includes Imageworks, and they distribute FTL and SSI in the U.K.): Xenon II, Megablast (with music by Bomb The Bass); Crime Town Depths, an arcade adventure with really nice "Blade Runner" graphics; Phobia, where you can get back at your fears (dentists, spiders, etc...); Bloodwych, a 3D RPG with simultaneous 2-player split-screen (Ballblazer/ Dungeon Master); Terrarium, a really bizarre game; Paladin, a game of knights, wizards and magic, using silhouette graphics and lots of animation; DDT, a cartoony arcade game; Interphase, 3D combat inside a mainframe. they import foreign software... MICROSTYLE ========== RVF, the Honda motorcycle simulator; Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace game; Xenophobe, the Bally/Midway coin-op. MICROSTATUS =========== Universal Military Simulator II, Dark Side and Total Eclipse (both by Incentive Software and both sold in US by Spotlight Software). Tower Of Babel, a 3D puzzler. TELECOMSOFT =========== (Rainbird/Firebird/Silverbird): 3D Pool, a very good billiards simulator that makes you believe you're actually there, thanks to a real 3D model of a pool table. Wow!!! Quartz, a multi-directional shoot'em'up. Blazing Barrels, game #5 from ICOM Simulations, makers of Deja-Vu (1), Uninvited (2), Shadowgate (3), and Deja-Vu II (4). Weird Dreams, a very strange action adventure. Rainbow Islands, the Bubble-Bobble sequel. Oriental Games (Sumo, Kendo, Kung-fu and one more sport). Mr. Heli (IREM coin-op), Verminator (bizarro sideview action/adventure), Rick Dangerous (hilarious jump/climb/shoot game), Elite II (by the original designer, David Braben, not Mr. Micro), Stunt Car Racer (3D driving), Tank Command (by Realtime, the Carrier Command designers, yeah!!!!!). MICROPOSE US ============ F-19 Stealth Fighter is coming out sometime in july '89. Also on the way: Pirates (high-seas adventure, strategic, tactical, swordfighting, the whole enchilada!) in July '89. Their next big projects are "M-1 Tank Platoon", a total simulator of the M-1 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT). It's by the Gunship/F-19 team! Sword Of The Samurai, a game along the lines of Pirates, but with many improvements, including AI enemies with their own goals and plans. And a rewrite of F-15 Strike Eagle. Seems they're still selling a lot of those, and they feel it doesn't represent what they're capable of doing. This new version will have swappable scenery with F-19 Stealth Fighter. Rat Pack, a sequel to Airborne Ranger; Red Storm Rising... HEWSON ====== Stormlord (no data available), and Astaroth (soon). The guy who wrote Custodian has written another game, and it's called Onslaught (that pretty much described Custodian!). Another game in development is Computer Maniac's Diary, no data on it though. BIG APPLE ========= Lasertrain, Fool's Errand, Harrier Strike Mission II (carrier-based operations), Oops! (maze/strategy game), Greased Lightnin' (probably a driving game with hot-rods), and Thud Ridge, a combat simulator of F-105 Thunderchief (Thud) missions in Vietnam, which will be sold in the US by 360 Software. MEDIAGENIC ========== Mediagenic is Infocom, Activision, Electric Dreams, and Gamestar. Power Drift (Sega coin-op), Ninja Spirit (ditto), and Attack Football, Galaxy Force II (Sega coin-op), Super Wonder Boy (Sega game system cart), all from Software Studios (Thunderblade, SDI, etc...). ACTIVISION ========== Altered Beast is almost ready, and Ghostbusters II is in the planning stages. Bomber by Vektorgrafix, an air combat simulator with four different planes: F-15 Eagle, F-111 (love missile?), F-4 Phantom and MIG-27 Flogger D (equal opportunity pilots!). PALACE ====== they have signed a deal with Delphine, a french record company. The first game to be released under the Palace label is Bio-Challenge (out now). The second game is Castle Warrior, a rather bizarre scrolling game. SIERRA ====== a female version of Leisure Suit Larry, Passionate Patty (Polyester Patty didn't sound so good!). GOLDEN GOBLINS ============== Grand Monster Slam (weirdo sport from Hell!), and Circus Attractions (circus games). MICRODEAL ========= Guardian Moons (space shoot'em up), and Fright Night (from the movie). MINDSCAPE ========= more british games, I suppose... LUCASFILM ========= Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. This game will have both an adventure and an action game rolled into one. 80% of the movie is supposed to be in the game! There will also be an action-only game available separately...PG MASTERTRONIC ============ (subsidiary of Virgin Records): Shinobi, the Sega coin-op. GENIE ST RT JULY 1989 TOP 20 DOWNLOADS -------------------------------------- Compiled by Sally Nagy File# Filename Uploader Qty Description =============================================================== 1). 11293 LGSEL_12.ARC C.F.JOHNSON 554 Little Green Selector 1.2 2). 10973 ARCSH199.ARC C.F.JOHNSON 548 ARC Shell v1.99 by CFJ 3). 11027 QUICKST.ARC DAREKM 533 QUICK ST 1.4 (color & mono) 4). 11028 REPORT95.ARC ST.REPORT 518 CURRENT EVENTS ATARI ST WORLD 5). 11098 REPORT96.ARC ST.REPORT 505 CURRENT EVENTS ATARI ST WORLD 6). 11297 REPORT97.ARC ST.REPORT 499 CURRENT EVENTS ATARI ST WORLD 7). 11103 STZMAG29.ARC ZMAGAZINE 483 Issue #29, July 14, 1989 8). 11100 LGSELECT.ARC C.F.JOHNSON 459 Little Green File Selector 9). 11080 DCFMT302.ARC S.FITZGERAL2 445 Latest version of DC Format 10). 11031 STZMAG28.ARC ZMAGAZINE 445 Issue #28, July 7, 1989 11). 11311 STZMAG30.ARC ZMAGAZINE 438 Issue #30, July 21, 1989 12). 11307 QUICKST.ARC DAREKM 434 Quick ST 1.45 - AUTO folder 13). 11471 REPORT98.ARC ST.REPORT 427 CURRENT EVENTS ATARI ST WORLD 14). 11295 CACHEV3.ARC R.OWENS3 398 Hard Disk Cache. 15). 10976 HDCHEK12.ARC W.LEDUC1 378 Hard disk test & analysis 16). 11474 STZMAG31.ARC ZMAGAZINE 357 Issue #31, July 28, 1989 17). 11470 PACKER.ARC STAN50 327 reduce size of programs!! 18). 11064 NULLFILL.ARC J.DEMBOWSKI1 320 Speeds up of PRG's,ACC's 19). 11029 HAPPY1ST.TXT DAREKM 298 ST XFORMER/QUICK ST announce 20). 11062 HDX301.ARC DANSCOTT 296 HDX utilities version 3.01 ======================================================================= Copyright ½1989, Rovac Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved ST*ZMagazine ======================================================================= Mans (Ditto). SPEC