Z*Magazine: 25-Jan-88 #90
From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 07/24/93-09:18:27 AM Z
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: Z*Magazine: 25-Jan-88 #90
Date: Sat Jul 24 09:18:27 1993
______________________________________
ZMAGAZINE 90 January 25, 1988
______________________________________
Editor......................Ron Kovacs
Circulation Assistant.....Ken Kirchner
Circulation Assistant......Tony Santos
______________________________________
(C)1988 Syndicate Publishing Company
______________________________________
Regional ZMagazine Headquarters
XBN BBS..................(617)559-6844
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______________________________________
Xx INDEX 90
______________________________________
Editors Desk................Ron Kovacs
Analog Confrence................Delphi
News Station Command Guide............
ANSI Screen Codes..........Robert Ames
ATARI8 Zmag Directory.......Ron Kovacs
Programing in Basic......Jackson Beebe
Atari News Update................Antic
Software Review GACCRR..Lawrence Estep
MTOS Documentation Info.......Tom Hunt
______________________________________
Xx EDITORS DESK
______________________________________
Well, things are progressing slowly
since the system crash of a week ago.
The word is spreading around and I
hope everyone is still getting ZMag
without any problems.
As stated last week, you can call XBN
BBS if you were on the ZMag BBS and
continue with your access without a
delay or wait for validation.
ST-Report is a bit behind in
circulation due to some personnel
problems. We have made arrangements
with ST Xpress Magazine to publish
ST-Report on disk and through GEnie.
I will keep you all updated on our
status. If you have any text
submissions you are interested in
publishing, Please upload them to
XBN or Starbase I systems. I will
be calling these systems regularly.
This publication will begin a slow
change during the weeks ahead. So,
keep reading and watch.
On the homefront, Kovacs child number
2 is still refusing to appear,
however, it has positioned itself for
a soon arrival. I stay with my
prediction of 2-3/2-10...(you
probably dont care, but it will be
of interest to me....) Hmmmmmm
Thanks for reading and for all the
messages about supporting us.
______________________________________
Xx ANALOG CONFRENCE
______________________________________
Re-edited for ZMAG by Ron Kovacs
TEXT OF CONFERENCE ON DELPHI REGARDING
ANALOG BUYOUT
JANUARY 17, 1988
Andy> I'd, first, like to welcome all
of you attending this conference. My
name is Andy Eddy and I'll be
moderating the CO.
Lee> First, ANALOG has signed
contracts with a publishing company in
LA. That company is LFP, Inc....Larry
Flynt Publishing. We expect to have
the next issues of both mags out in 3
weeks. Let me give a few words about
the changes...First...Larry Flynt has
little to do with daily operations of
the company...as a whole. He will
have nothing to do with the editorial
contents of either magazine. Changes
you will see include new (glossy)
paper, a heavier stock inside as well
as a heavier cover. More color pages
thoughout, INCREASED distibution, Much
improved service, and a steady
frequency. What you won't see is ads
for Hustler and the like.
LFP, Inc. also publishes a Mens
fashion mag, a running mag, a new
automobile mag, a motorcycle pub and a
Heavy Metal mag. With many more non-
pornography titles on the way.
Andy> Thanks, Lee. So the fears..that
this will be anything like..Hustler
will not materialize. This will
remain the same Analog as before..but
with some changes in the "production"
end..not the editorial.
Lee> OK. There WILL be changes..
Because I won't have to deal with such
things (as much, anyway) as
distribution...subscription problems,
and production, I can spend more time
on editorial...that goes for Clayton
as well.
Andy> So you don't see anything but
beneficial changes for the mags?
Lee> Actually, let me say this...the
only way someone will know we are
owned by another company is a small
blurb on the staff page. As far as
changes go, I expect an even more
steady stream of quality editorial
since it will be the main direction of
our time working on the mags.
Maurice M.> Okay. I want to get this
subject out of the way now especially
in light of recent messages in the
forum. Certain people have hinted that
there will be changes in the magazine
because of whom the ownership is. The
point, I think has been refuted.
However, DF Scott has in recent
messages hinted that several of us
writers were in a "dillema" over the
ownership change and might no longer
write for ANALOG. I would like to put
to rest any fears readers might have
about mass-defection of writers by
asking you, Lee, if you are aware of
any other regulars "leaving" because
of this ownership change.
Lee> No, not at this time. Let me
respond to your comments. While I
don't whole heartedly agree with Larry
Flynts views. I am looking at what
that company can do for our magazines.
They don't know ANYTHING about what we
publish, they (LFP, Inc) are leaving
us alone in what we do. To them profit
is what they want, editorial content
is 100% up to what we do. They'll make
the magazine look better, distribute
it better, and put out a quality
looking product, it's still up to me,
Clayton, Maurice, Charles Johnson,
Andy Eddy, MAtRat and the rest to put
out a good magazine in product. To
answer Maurice's question, other than
Scott, no one has more than batted an
eyelash over the buyout in terms of
who it is. After the intial shock
wheres off on the buyer's name, they
settled in and want to get back to
work.
Maurice M.> Good to hear. I simply
wanted to address the subject because
I wanted people to be aware that Scott
didn't speak for all of us. I'll step
down now.
Lee> Last Monday is when Michael
Des Chenes and I signed. We are
waiting to get them back from LA now
then it will be official.
Clay> Anyone who is interested in the
terms of publication and how to submit
articles may send me a self-addressed,
stamped envelope and I'll see that you
get our writer's guidelines.
You can send requests to the PO Box 23
address in the magazines for now.
Andy> Also with Analog's liberal
policy of letting programs go onto
BBS's after 1 month from issue date
(that is right?), everyone gets to see
the stuff they publish.
Clay> Yes, Andy.
Mike Brown> Will we be able to get
back issues of both magazines and
disks as in the past? Or will these
"Classic" issues become collectors
items?
Lee> Yes! LFP, Inc is purchasing our
entire supply of back issues.
Including disks, 8-bit Extra's and so
on. We expect to offer disks at a
lower price and the availability
should be MUCH better.
JIMGAR> Thanks. My burning question is
WHY???? Wasn't Analog a profitable
venture?
Lee> WHY is a complex answer. First -
WHY NOT? ANALOG was myself and a
partner, Michael Des Chenes. As you
may have noticed, Michael never spent
much time on Delphi and while I have
gone to over 100 Atari shows and
ComDex's, etc., he has not. Michael
has been bored doing the same thing
for 7 years and wants to try something
new. In addition, I couldn't see the
company growing much further the way
things have been, so this gives us a
chance to expand greatly....plus I'll
be working on new publications, both
computer and non-computer related in
the next few years.
Also, LFP, Inc. offered us a very good
deal...and who really knows how long
Atari will keep going. This way I can
expand on my interests and do other
things along with the Atari field --
after all, I have been doing the for 7
years. A long time!
JIMGAR> In other words, the whole
thing got out of hand?
Clay> A company can only grow within
the facilities it has at hand.
Lee> Right...We needed to expand, and
as do airlines, insurance companies
and so on. We were bought out to
expand our capabilities.
WHITEWIZARD> you said that the analog
depends on the 8-bit...Does this mean
that you might stop publishing in the
future if the 8-bit fails (ANALOG, not
ST-Log)?
Lee> ANALOG depends on the 8-bit
market ...Lets say that advertising
right now isn't overwhelming and
ANALOG would most likly take a new
heading (orientation) in the event
8-bits REALLY dwindle. I could see a
change happening probably this year
some time...
WHITEWIZARD> Would you combine ANALOG
and ST-Log agian?
Lee> Again, it is mostly up to the
ANALOG staff, not LFP, Inc. Yes, I
could see us doing one mag--but here
is the problem. The ANALOG name is
the best known, if we put in ST-Log
then the mag becomes a general Atari
mag again. If we kill ANALOG and
continue ST-Log...well ANALOG has the
more known name and that would be a
mistake. Chances are ST-Log might
have some 8-bit coverage...but that is
all up in the air right now. When we
are in place after a couple months
we'll look at the whole picture.
MADMODIFIER> With many software
publishers spreading out to the
Amiga..... Is there any chance that
Analog might do the same?
Lee> I have plans to do another
computer oriented mag but can't say
much (exactlly nothing) about it.
MADMODIFIER> You mean we might see
AMIGA LOG <grin>?
Lee> No Comment.
But I hope to have a new project out
in late Spring.
Mike Brown> I would like to suggest
that you run some type of a readership
poll in your first new issue to
determine what your readership looks
like now.
Lee> Huh...in what way? Between ST
and 8-bit?
Mike Brown> Well I imagine that the
complexion of the readership has
changed somewhat. It might be
worthwhile from a marketing
standpoint.
Lee> You mean between 8-bit and ST???
Sophistication?
Mike Brown> Well that and just what
people are interested in reading
about. What their needs are "today".
Lee> We have the "bingo" cards in the
mag every month and poll those to see
what people are using...however we
have talked about doing another mail-
in campaign...a more in-depth look.
Remember that Delphi users are more
into their machines than many other
average users.
Mike Brown> Maybe, but I guess my
point was that at least in the 3 user
groups I belong to things are in a
state of "change".
STeve M.> What direction will ST Log
be taking in terms of content? General
readership, programming, or what?
Clay> I can't see much that will
change in ST-Log. Is there something
you WANT to see changed?
STeve M.> No, just was hoping there
were not going to be any drastic
changes now. Thanks.
Lee> I feel we have a good balance of
information, sophistication and
programs. I think Clayton, myself and
our new west coast person will have
more time to look at each issue well
in advance and look at it's contents
to see what blend of information it
has...thus boosting the magazines
quality...(not that it needs boosting
<grin>) in addition, hopefully we'll
add more pages too.
Clay> The combination we've had in the
past has worked out well, I think. I
don't see any reason to change it.
(More pages would be nice.)
Lee> No, I certainly haven't seen any
complaints about the balance of
material. Keep in mind that I'm
moving from New England (fresh air, no
traffic, nice scenary) to LA (smog,
Lots of Traffic and more smog) for the
CAUSE. In other words...If I didn't
see a tremendous potential in this I
would do it!
[Ed. Please read ST-Report 19 for the
complete discussion]
______________________________________
Xx NEWS STATION COMMAND SUMMARY
______________________________________
DIRECTORIES
Control-B
Directory and loading of Print Shop
Icons
Control-D
Directory and loading of Pictures
(.PIC)
Control-F
Directory and loading of Fonts (.FNT)
Control-R
Directory and Loading of Plates (.NST)
Note-For all directories except PRINT
SHOP, RETURN selects middle item and
ESCAPE aborts.
DISK FUNCTIONS
Control-X Format a disk
Control-S Save a plate
FONTS
Control-A Atari Font
Control-I Inverse Text
Inverse Key Graphics Characters
Control-F Font Load
(Arrows select-RETURN
loads center font)
Control-U Activate Loaded Font
MODE
Control-T Text Mode
Control-G Graphics Mode
PRINT SHOP
Control-B
Directory and Loading of Print Shop
Icons. Arrows select. RETURN loads
the LEFT icon. ESCAPE aborts choice.
Set size (1-3) by width command
(Control-W)
SPACING
Control-P Moves cursor up one line
for intermediate spacing
Control-semicolon Moves cursor down
one line for intermediate spacing
Control-W Set Width
Control-H Set Height
Control-L Line Spacing for text mode
Control-M Sets left margin
OTHER
Control-C Color (1=draw, 0=erase)
Escape Toggles between THE
PRESS and the EDITOR
Control-V Load short ASCII text
file (.TXT)
Control-J Use Joystick with
Graphics Mode
Control-K Use Koala Pad for
Graphics Mode
Control-P Plot a point of either
color
SHIFT-CLEAR Erases page
______________________________________
Xx OASIS BBS HELP
....ANSI Screen Codes....
______________________________________
Captured from the XBN BBS
|<<<<[XBN]|
| Msg. # |0069
| Sent To |All 01/20/88
| Post By |ROBERT AMES
| Subject |ANSI screen codes
If you have many IBM callers, you'll
be interested in using the ANSI codes
for SFUNCT.SUP. Here are some-
assuming I can upload to msg base OK.
ESC[#,#H -- moves cursor to #,#
ESC[#C -- Moves cursor # places
forward
ESC[#D -- moves # places back
ESC[s -- save cursor pos.
ESC[u -- restore cursor pos.
ESC[2J -- erase display
ESC[K -- erase from current col
to end of line.
ESC[#;...;#m -- set mode:
where # is:
0 -- normal
1 bold
4 underline (ibm monochrome
only)
5 blink on
7 inverse
8 invisible
30 black forground
31 red for.
32 green for.
33 yellow for.
34 blue for.
35 magenta for.
36 cyan for.
37 whtie for.
40 black background.
|[+-NPRAEDQMV?]|
______________________________________
Xx COMPUSERVE'S ZMAG DIRECTORY
______________________________________
by Ron Kovacs
The following text is the current ZMAG
directory in the ATARI8 SIG on
CompuServe. The reason for the
listing is to help the readers there
find specific article reprints and
Zmag issues, and perhaps help you
locate some of the older editions.
Filename Upload Date Bytes
--------------------------------------
65XE.TXT 13-Sep-87 15374
COLE.TXT 22-Sep-87 7208
COMDEX.TXT 04-Nov-87 2870
FCCLTR.TXT 08-Aug-87 12648
FCCPRO.TXT 08-Aug-87 39872
PCP.TXT 22-Sep-87 3807
SPACE.TXT 21-Sep-87 6178
SUPORT.TXT 06-Dec-87 3753
SX212.TXT 14-Sep-87 1430
XEGAME.TXT 06-Dec-87 8676
XEP80.TXT 21-Sep-87 1445
Z4880.TXT 19-Apr-87 19900
Z87IDX.TXT 16-Jan-88 25686
ZIDX2.TXT 29-Sep-87 8593
ZINDX.TXT 08-Jun-87 1932
ZJUN6.ARC/bin 09-Jun-87 11520
ZMAG03.TXT 26-Jun-87 21836
ZMAG09.TXT 26-Jun-87 23349
ZMAG31.TXT 21-May-87 36801
ZMAG32.TXT 23-May-87 17886
ZMAG34.TXT 30-May-87 24402
ZMAG35.TXT 30-May-87 25516
ZMAG36.TXT 30-May-87 25371
ZMAG37.TXT 30-May-87 25731
ZMAG38.TXT 31-May-87 27493
ZMAG39.TXT 09-Jun-87 25283
ZMAG40.TXT 09-Jun-87 31079
ZMAG41.TXT 09-Jun-87 22861
ZMAG42.TXT 09-Jun-87 24957
ZMAG43.TXT 11-Jun-87 33087
ZMAG47.TXT 26-Jun-87 22568
ZMAG48.TXT 19-Apr-87 20763
ZMAG49.TXT 31-May-87 21401
ZMAG5.TXT 06-Jun-87 16991
ZMAG50.TXT 08-May-87 21831
ZMAG51.TXT 11-May-87 20872
ZMAG52.TXT 20-May-87 32292
ZMAG53.TXT 22-May-87 23322
ZMAG54.TXT 01-Jun-87 31249
ZMAG55.TXT 05-Jun-87 30701
ZMAG56.TXT 07-Jun-87 23454
ZMAG57.TXT 13-Jun-87 30100
ZMAG58.TXT 21-Jun-87 23254
ZMAG59.TXT 12-Jul-87 28906
ZMAG6.TXT 06-Jun-87 30029
ZMAG60.TXT 05-Jul-87 29551
ZMAG61.TXT 11-Jul-87 23325
ZMAG62.TXT 17-Jul-87 23140
ZMAG63.TXT 25-Jul-87 22114
ZMAG64.TXT 31-Jul-87 31996
ZMAG65.TXT 07-Aug-87 28174
ZMAG66.TXT 14-Aug-87 33491
ZMAG67.TXT 21-Aug-87 30111
ZMAG68.TXT 29-Aug-87 20976
ZMAG69.TXT 04-Sep-87 28973
ZMAG70.TXT 12-Sep-87 23269
ZMAG71.TXT 18-Sep-87 21530
ZMAG72.TXT 25-Sep-87 25794
ZMAG73.TXT 02-Oct-87 21240
ZMAG74.TXT 09-Oct-87 26327
ZMAG75.TXT 16-Oct-87 32832
ZMAG76.TXT 23-Oct-87 30866
ZMAG77.TXT 31-Oct-87 30931
ZMAG78.TXT 06-Nov-87 31485
ZMAG79.TXT 14-Nov-87 39422
ZMAG80.TXT 20-Nov-87 28185
ZMAG81.TXT 28-Nov-87 19636
ZMAG82.TXT 05-Dec-87 18143
ZMAG83.TXT 11-Dec-87 35110
ZMAG84.TXT 18-Dec-87 27800
ZMAG85.TXT 22-Dec-87 36674
ZMAG86.XMO/bin 30-Dec-87 49024
ZMAG87.TXT 31-Dec-87 30456
ZMAG88.TXT 11-Jan-88 40299
ZMAG89.TXT 18-Jan-88 42237
ZMAGFC.TXT 23-Aug-87 20731
ZMAGIN.TXT 15-May-87 9459
ZMR19.86 06-Jun-87 21644
CHGO.MAG/bin O4-Nov-86 23552
CHGO.ZMA/bin 16-Oct-86 22656
CHICAG.MAG/bin 03-Oct-86 24576
CHICGO.ZMG/bin 19-Sep-86 10368
ZMAG11.NOV 23-Nov-86 19775
ZMAG12.XMO/bin 18-Dec-86 14592
______________________________________
Xx LEARNING TO PROGRAM IN ATARI BASIC
...Part 4 of a continuing series...
______________________________________
LESSON 2 Version 1.03
Variables, Reading data, Input, Math (C) COPYRIGHT 1986 by Jackson Beebe
This is Part 4 Lesson 2 of Learning to
program in Atari BASIC, brought to you
by Jackson Beebe. Contact me at the
address at the end of the lesson.
------------------------------------
FEEDBACK:
------------------------------------
Since Lesson 1, I have received
inquiries about what Disk Operating
System (DOS) I am using. I am writing
for Atari DOS 2.0s/2.5, as everyone
with an Atari has, or has access to
this DOS. Other DOS's allow variable
names beginning with #'s, and other
features. More discussion of DOS in
later lessons.
------------------------------------
VARIABLES:
------------------------------------
Two common ways of using numbers in
programs, are to use them as
CONSTANTS, or in VARIABLES. When you
simply use a number like 3, that's a
CONSTANT, because it's just and always
3. It doesn't change.
VARIABLES can hold different numbers
or letters at different times in a
program. For example, a payroll
program, could use the variables
EMPLOYEE$, RATE, HOURS, and SALARY.
These would hold new data each time
they calculated an employee's salary.
There are two kinds of variables.
1. Numeric Variables (numbers)
2. String Variables (letters)
Numeric variable names must start with
a letter, and may contain up to eight
uppercase letters or numbers
(alphanumeric data.) No spaces are
allowed. As a general rule, you should
keep variable names short, but use
names that suggest what they do. For
example to set up a numeric variable
to hold Fahrenheit temperature in a
conversion program, you could call it
FAHREN, FTEMP, F, etc.
String variables hold letters, or
words, sentences, etc. They must begin
with a letter, and end in a dollar
sign, as NAME$.
A quirk of Atari BASIC requires that
string variables be dimensioned before
use. This is done with the DIM
statement followed by the variable
name, and the maximum length the
computer should reserve storage
for.
For example:
10 DIM NAME$(20)
This reserves storage for a name of up
to 20 characters in length. If you
typed 25 letters for input, it would
only read 20.
If you forget, you'll get an error
message when you try and use a string
variable you haven't dimensioned. More
than one variable may be dimensioned
by separating variable names with
commas.
For example:
10 DIM ADDR$(20),CITY$(20),STATE$(2)
------------------------------------
LET STATEMENT: ------------------------------------
The LET statement, assigns something
to a variable. It could set X = 0, or
NAME$ = Jack. The official form of the
LET statement goes like this:
10 LET X=0
20 LET NUMBER=1024
30 LET TOTAL=NUMBER
40 DIM NAME$(25)
50 LET NAME$="George Washington"
etc
The way this ASSIGNMENT statement
works, is that it looks for a variable
name on the left of the equals sign.
It will take what's on THE RIGHT, and
put it into the variable on THE LEFT.
Got that? It loads from the right,
into the left.
10 X=256 (sets X equal to 256)
20 25 = SUM (*** WON'T WORK ***)
20 SUM = 25 (this is correct)
30 SUM = X (now SUM = 256)
It happens that you don't need to put
the word LET in there for it to work
(how handy), and in fact it is nearly
poor practice to do so. The 'hip' way
to do it is:
10 X=0
20 NUMBER=1024
30 TOTAL=NUMBER
40 DIM NAME$(25)
50 NAME$="George Washington"
We will use LET statements in EVERY
program we write, but outside this
lesson, probably never use the word
LET again! Interesting tidbit. We'll
see more examples as we progress.
Note that spaces between variables,
the equal sign, and constants, in the
LET statement are optional. Atari
BASIC is loose about this. Spread it
out if it looks more readable to you,
or eliminate spaces when you're
running out of room in a 100+
character line.
BASIC already has RESERVED WORDS that
cannot be chosen for variable names.
For instance, PRINT, STOP, END, SIN,
COS, TAN, RND, INT, and others cannot
be used for your variable names, as
the computer already uses those words
to call built-in functions. Remember
to check for this in programs you just
can't seem to de-bug.
Next week Part 5
______________________________________
Xx Atari News Update
______________________________________
ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT 1988
REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.
ATARI GETS TOUGH ON TV
BY Gregg Pearlman, ASSISTANT EDITOR
In the wake of a Christmas season in
which Atari Corp.'s video game sales
were more than twice those of the same
period last year, Atari plans to keep
the ball rolling by launching a major
first-quarter national television
advertising campaign featuring six new
commercials, according to Michael
Katz, president of Atari's electronics
division.
The commercials will be aired in the
top 30 markets in children's and
prime-time viewing hours and will
include syndicated and cable
programming.
Katz said that first-quarter spending
will be comparable to what Atari spent
in the fourth quarter of 1987 when the
company sold out of two of its three
game systems, the new XE Game System
and the older 7800.
The new Atari 2600 commercial, like
the previous one, uses rap music while
heavily promoting the new games
available for the 2600. The new XE
commercials include a testimonial/
endorsement commercial presented by
the presidents of four computer game
companies; a commercial comparing
Atari's baseball game with Nintendo's;
and three more promoting the range of
new games for the XE.
Atari also announced new playable,
self-running point-of-sale display
units for the 7800 and XE systems,
available at no charge to retailers.
ATARI PC: MYTH OR FICTION?
January 6, 1988 --
"I'm sure that I will never see"
"Atari's duplicate PC..." That song's
been sung for months.
There's been little evidence of the
IBM clone Atari started showing a year
ago. But according to a classified
advertisement in the San Jose Mercury
News, Atari is seeking a "Production
Development/Sustaining Engineer for
our growing line of PS2/PCAT/PCXT
systems."
So keep on your toes -- it may not be
far away after all.
ATARI NABS COUNTERFEITERS
December 17, 1987
Agents of the U.S. Customs and U.S.
Marshals Services seized 2,000
counterfeits of Atari's 2600 video
game system at Terminal Island in the
Port of Los Angeles on December 17.
The imitations were manufactured by
Fund International Co., Ltd., of
Taiwan, and distributed in the United
States by P.S.D. Inc. of Canoga
Park, California.
VIRTUSONICS LICENSING AGREEMENT
December 16, 1987
Virtusonics Corp., creators of the
Desktop Performance Studio, has
entered a development and licensing
agreement with 2nd Mate Systems, a
marine navigation software systems
company, to adapt and interface its
Virtuoso software technology with 2nd
Mate's computerized marine
navigational systems.
Boaters will now be able to plot their
courses and positions on computerized
charts using computers (such as an
8-bit Atari) and a monitor or
television.
A review of the Desktop Performance
Studio and an in-depth article about
Virtusonics and the Virtuoso Software
technology will appear in the April,
1988 issue of Antic.
ATARI WINS SHOOTOUT VS. NINTENDO
December 15, 1987
A U.S. District Court Judge denied the
request of Nintendo of America to halt
Atari Corp.'s television commercials
that said that more games could be
played on the Atari XE Game System
than on the Nintendo, according to
Reuters.
Nintendo had contended that the ads
were false and misleading, but Atari
was "confident of the outcome,"
according to Michael Katz, Atari's
president of entertainment
electronics. "The commercial was hard
-hitting but truthful, and we proved
it," he said.
The XE Game System runs all cartridge
-based Atari games, and a disk drive
can be added to run all disk-based
Atari games.
______________________________________
Xx REVIEW
GREAT AMERICAN CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD RACE
______________________________________
BY LAWRENCE R. ESTEP
Activision has produced many great
programs in the past few years,and
this review is of one of them. This
piece of software is one of many
classics from Activision software. If
you love a good challenge, then you'll
love this game!
The object is to race from a city on
the West Coast to a city on the East
Coast in a time that will place you
among the top contenders. You can also
race in smaller races, from one state
to another nearby state to gear up for
the final challenge. However, in all
races you have to be ready for
unexpected problems, such as road
construction, inclement weather, and
of course the dreaded radar-detector
and speed traps!
This game is unlike most, as this one
is always a challenge,no matter how
many times you play it. There is
always a new group of racers to
compete with, and always a new problem
that comes up!
This is one of the best racing
programs I've ever seen! The graphics
are great, and the competition is
thrilling!
Check out this fine program from
Activision, and continue supporting
this company, so they can bring us
more programs like this for years to
come!
______________________________________
Xx MTOS
______________________________________
by Tom Hunt
MTOS (C) 1988 SAMPLER
MTOS is a revolutionary new operating
system system shell for Atari 8-bit
computers with 256k(+) of internal
memory. This text is from the MTOS
sample with some of it's most
important features installed. The
features of this sampler are as
follows.
ALLOWS MULTITASKING OF 2 BASIC USER
PROGRAMS
ATARI DOS 2.5 COMPATABLE
SUPPORTS GRAPHICS MODES 0-6
GETTING STARTED WITH THE MTOS SAMPLER
Copy MTOS.COM onto an Atari dos 2.5
disk that does not have any
RAMDISK.COM on it. When this is done,
turn off the computer for a few
seconds, and turn it back on, with the
disk you just created in D1: drive.
Boot without holding down the option
key (basic enabled). It is suggested
that RAMDISK.COM is not on the dos
boot disk, since MTOS uses the
extended banks, and any files in your
ramdisk might get corrupted. Type
"DOS" from basic's "READY" prompt.
When you get to the DUP.SYS menu, type
"L" for binary load. At the next
prompt (for the filename,) type
"MTOS.COM".
After MTOS is done loading, you should
be looking at the Executor (aka Exec,
task-manager) screen. You can now
initialize 2 user tasks, which in this
sampler, is limited to basic. To
attach (view) a task, choose the
"view" option, choosing from the list
of active tasks. Limit your viewing to
tasks 1 thru 2, since tasks 3 thru 6
are non-existant in this sampler
version. If you followed the above
instructions, you should be looking at
basic's familiar "READY" prompt. To
detach from a task, just plug your
joystick in to the second joystick
port, and press the button. You will
automatically reattach to Exec.
MTOS stands for M.ulti-T.asking
O.perating S.ystem. It is more
properly called a shell, since it
works with your dos and the Atari o.s.
rom. It offers the Atari 8-bit owner a
new dimension of computer enjoyment-
the ability to run more than one
program at one time. I have designed
MTOS to place as few constraints on
people wanting to write programs that
will run under MTOS as possible. There
are a few constraints, however. Your
programs simply have to be "well
behaved" in that they can't
indescriminately go poking around in
memory, since our CPU doesn't support
protected modes. In other words, don't
expect your boot games to run under
M.T.O.S. User programs are limited to
16k.
Here are the features supported by the
full-blown version of MTOS, which can
be purchased from the address given at
the end of this file.
PREEMPTIVE MULTITASKING
ALLOWS MULTITASKING OF 6 TASKS (5
DEFINED BY THE USER)
(LIMITED) SUPPORT OF SPARTA DOS- COMMAND PROCESSOR
BATCH FILES
BINARY LOAD
BINARY LOAD FROM THE EXECUTOR
SUPPORTS INTERMIXED BINARY AND BASIC
PROGRAMS
SUPPORTS LOCALIZED CUSTOM CHARACTER
SETS
SUPPORTS LOCALIZED SCREEN COLOR
VARIABLES
SUPPORTS THE ABILITY TO CHANGE TASK
PRIORITY FROM THE EXEC LEVEL
EXTENSIVE DOCUMENTATION THAT ALLOWS
THE MTOS PROGRAMMER ACCESS TO SYSTEM
VARIABLES
PRIORITY SCHEDULING
SAMPLE BASIC PROGRAMS
PAGE 6 OF MEMORY UP FOR GRABS FOR USER
PROGRAMS
HIERARCHICAL FILE SYSTEM
(ALLOWS FOR SIMULTANEOUS FILE ACCESS)
100% MACHINE LANGUAGE
MINIMAL SYSTEM OVERHEAD
PAGES 0-5 OF MEMORY AVAILABLE TO M.L.
PROGRAMMERS FOR EACH TASK
There is a support BBS for registered
owners of MTOS, where upgrades,
*patches, and end user application
programs will be made available.
Technical questions from registered
users will be answered within 48 hours
on the BBS. We intend to enhance MTOS
nd support it's users.
PROJECTED ENHANCEMENTS TO MTOS
A TOOLKIT FOR MTOS APPLICATION
PROGRAMMING
INTERTASK COMMUNICATION (WITH TASKS
APPEARING AS FILES TO EACH OTHER)
MTOS FILE SERVER
SUPPORT OF HI RES GRAPHIC MODES
SUPPORT FOR THE 128K 130XE
NEW PRODUCTS
A SWITCHER THAT ALLOWS-
3 VIRTUAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS TO RESIDE
IN MEMORY AT ONE TIME (256K+). EACH OF
WHICH CAN BE CONFIGURED FOR A
DIFFERENT DOS. EACH IS A "SNAPSHOT" OF
SYSTEM MEMORY/CONFIGURATION,
INSTANTANEOUSLY SWITCHABLE WITH A
SHIFT-CONTROL KEY COMBINATION.
MTOS version 1.1 is now avalable for a
special introductory price of $15.00
which is current until March 1988.
MTOS ver.1.1 can be ordered by sending
$15.00 in check or money order to:
* DATAQUE
3308 PARK AVE. W.
P.O.BOX 134
ONTARIO, OH 44862
______________________________________
Zmagazine Issue #90 January 25, 1988
(c)1988 Syndicate Publishing Company
______________________________________
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