Atari Explorer Online: 9-Oct-94 #0312
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 10/12/94-04:31:57 PM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: Atari Explorer Online: 9-Oct-94 #0312
Date: Wed Oct 12 16:31:57 1994
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Volume 3, Issue 12 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 9 October 1994 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: ::
:: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI ::
:: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER ::
:: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE ::
:: ::
:: Published and Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by Subspace Publishers ::
:: All Rights Reserved ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Publisher ........................... Michael Lindsay EXPLORER ::
:: Editor .................................. Travis Guy AEO.MAG ::
:: Assistant Editor GEnie................ Ron Robinson EXPLORER.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor CompuServe.......... Albert Dayes AEO.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor Delphi......... Andreas Barbiero AEO.2 ::
:: Assistant Editor Internet........ Timothy Wilson AEO.8 ::
:: Atari Asylum ... [Closed] ...... Gregg Anderson AEO.7 ::
:: Unabashed Atariophile ..... Michael R. Burkley AEO.4 ::
:: Atari Artist ................... Peter Donoso EXPLORER.2 ::
:: User Group Coordinator ......... Ron Whittam EXPLORER.4 ::
:: Jaguar Editor .......... Dimitri M. LaBarge AEO.6 ::
:: UK Correspondent ............. Lea Anthony ::
:: ::
:: Contributors: ::
:: """"""""""""" ::
:: Stuart Denman, Matija Grabnar, David A. Wright ::
:: ::
:: Telecommunicated to you via: ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: GEnie: ST/JAGUAR RT Library 38 ::
:: CompuServe: ATARIGAMING Library 10 ::
:: Delphi: ATARI ADVANTAGE & WORLD OF VIDEO GAMES Libraries ::
:: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 319 ::
:: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 ::
:: ::
:: Internet mailing address: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com ::
:: FTP recent AEO issues from: rahul.net:pub/wilsont/AEO ::
:: Search gopherspace under "aeo" for back issues ::
:: ::
:: World Wide Web: http://bert.cs.byu.edu/~jaguar/ ::
:: ::
:: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu ::
:: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) ::
:: ::
:: AEO is also in file format on the Jaguar Mailing List ::
:: ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Table of Contents
* From the Editors ..................................... Floods and floods.
* Digital Briefs ....................... Computer, high-tech and videogame
industry news.
* Rare Gems ......................................... Quotes worth quoting.
* Jaguar Tackboard .................... IAJD, Jag mailing list, FAQ info -
Development list - KN move list -
Aircars - Jag dustcovers.
* Surfin' the Jagged Edge ............... AEO's new Jaguar Editor launches
his column of Jaguar news.
* Jaguar Review: Alien Vs. Predator ........ Tim Wilson takes the Edge off
of the wait for AvP with this
review of the golden version.
* Hard & Soft's Screen Resolution Enhancer ....... Speed up your Falcon030
with this hardware mod
from Germany.
* "From a Saved Backup..." .................. Cyberspace: the meeting room
inside your own home.
* Advanced Speed of Light ............ The author of this advanced picture
display utility shows us some
of its color handling power.
* The Unabashed Atariophile ................... PD and Shareware files for
_your_ Atari computer.
* Delphi Atari Advantage News .................. New features on the Atari
computer SIG on Delphi.
* Developing News ................... Compo Announces Screenblaster II
STraight FAX Upgrade
Towers II - PLIGHT OF THE STARGAZER
New CDs from IAR
New Horizons' TT RAM Offer
Flash II - Version 2.21
ExtenDOS Pro from Anodyne
DMC's New Calamus Modules & Upgrades
* Shutdown ............................ Around the world and up your block.
--==--==--==--==--
||| From the Editors ....... Atari Explorer Online: The Next Generation
||| Travis Guy
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.MAG Delphi: AEO_MAG Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Third time's the charm" or so the saying goes. Well, here at AEO
Central, we've had three floods due to tropical weather systems this
season. (We've just sloshed out from the third one last week.)
It seems that we're getting the floods instead of Jaguar owners - who
are still waiting for titles to appear. I'm happy to say that the end
of the long Jaguar title drought appears to be in sight. AvP, which
went into production several weeks ago is being promoted by a barrage
of television ads proclaiming its arrival on October 21st. A solid
date, at last.
More titles are about to leave beta test Real Soon Now, and the
oft-hoped for 30-50 games by Christmas looks to be attainable. If it's
not, it won't be for a lack of trying, and it won't be missed by much.
Welcome to the latest issue of Atari Explorer Online, your window on
events in the World Atari. In this issue, the big item is a review of
the final version of Alien Vs. Predator by our own Tim Wilson. Tim had
the chance to spend a lot of time playing AvP last week, and his
report on the game only scratches the surface of what I feel looks to
be the system seller we've all been hearing about for a year now.
As a matter of fact, the public's reaction to the dealer video that's
only been out for a few weeks has been nothing less than totally
positive. Former Jaguar bashers are taking a look at the low system
price and the titles to come and (while not giving in totally) picking
up a Jag of their own.
In other Jaguar events, Sega's settlement with Atari boosted ATC
prices up for several days, showing that the short sellers can't be
right all of the time. With the $90 million cash influx, Atari is in
the best position that it has been in for years: dynamite product,
anxious customers, money to push the product with.... Even Veronica is
starting to think that Atari will reemerge in strength.
Before I let you go, a staff item of note. Tal Funke-Bilu has been
moved into the testing department at Atari. Besides settling into his
new realm, Tal has had to drop his AEO post of Jaguar Junkie. (Atari
has this policy about members of the press having access to too many
confidential items, you see.)
So to take up the post of AEO Jaguar Editor, I'm happy to bring
onboard Dimitri LaBarge, Net surfer. Dimitri's enthusiasm in locating,
sifting and reporting items of Jaguarian interest should fit in quite
well here. Look for his column, "Surfing the Jagged Edge" in this
issue.
Showers are still around, but hopefully y'all will be getting a share
of the next flood that strikes these parts. A welcome share of titles
indeed, that will make the "fourth time the charm."
See you next time.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Digital Briefs - Industry News
||| By: Albert Dayes
/ | \ CIS: 70007,3615 GEnie: AEO.1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari News
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari & Williams Join Forces
Contact: Ron Beltramo Marivi Lerdo Terry King
Atari Edelman Williams Entertainment
408/745-8852 415/433-5381 903/874-2683
For Immediate Release
ATARI AND WILLIAMS ENTERTAINMENT TO CREATE 64-BIT VERSIONS OF POPULAR
ARCADE GAMES
Innovative Deal Brings Hot Games To Both Jaguar Fans and PC Game
Players
SUNNYVALE, CA (September 26, 1994) -- Atari and Williams
Entertainment have agreed to work together to bring vastly enhanced
versions of Williams' popular, classic arcade games to the Atari
64-bit Jaguar system and high performance PCs.
According to the licensing agreement, Atari will exploit the Jaguar
system's 64-bit power to create new versions of such Williams' hits as
Joust, Defender, and Robotron. These new games will offer features
such as first-person perspectives in a realistic, three-dimensional
environment. Atari then will market these games for its Jaguar
system, while Williams will license the new versions to market them
for high performance PCs. "64-bit power will make our best games even
better by creating a compelling, immersive, experience for players,"
said Byron Cook, president of Williams Entertainment. "We are very
excited about the Atari Jaguar 64-bit platform and are happy to
support it with our finest titles."
This is not the first cooperative venture between Williams and Atari.
Williams and Atari have been promoting the Jaguar 64-bit system with
Williams' Troy Aikman NFL Football through radio promotions in 25 top
markets nationwide. Williams will make the game available in November
on the Jaguar. Williams also is publishing a Jaguar version of its
popular game Double Dragon Five, which also will be available in
November.
Williams Entertainment Inc. is the new home video subsidiary of WMS
Industries, the company that created Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam video
games.
Since its release in November 93 Atari's Jaguar game system has been
named the industry's Best New Game System (Video Games Magazine), Best
New Hardware Systems (Game Informer) and 1993 Technical Achievement of
the Year (Die Hard Game Fan). Jaguar, the world's first 64-bit video
game system, retails for $249.00 and is the only video game system
manufactured in the United States.
Atari Corporation, based in Sunnyvale Calif., designs and markets
64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems and video games.
###
Jaguar is a trademark for Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
//// Sega Follows Nintendo's Lead
Contact: Sega Enterprises. Ltd. Atari Corporation
Richard Brudvik-Lindner Sam Tramiel
(415) 802-3657 (408) 745-8824
August Liguori
(408) 745-2069
Manning, Selvage & Lee (for Sega)
Brenda Lynch
(818) 509-1840
SEGA AND ATARI ANNOUNCE LONG-TERM LICENSING AGREEMENTS, EQUITY
INVESTMENT, AND RESOLUTlON OF DISPUTES
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (September 28, 1994) -- Sega Enterprises, Ltd., and
Atari Corporation (AMEX:ATC) announced today an affiliation that
includes several agreements designed to serve as the basis of future
working arrangements between the two video game manufacturers.
Under the terms of the agreements:
- Sega will receive worldwide, non-exclusive rights with certain
exceptions to Atari's extensive library of patents, a number of which
extend beyond the turn of the century. The agreement covers Sega, its
subsidiaries, its licensees, and its customers for more than 70 U.S.
patents and applications, for a fully prepaid royalty to Atari
covering the remaining 7 years of certain patents, amortized at
approximately $7 million per year. Atari will therefore receive a
total of $50 million, less Atari's contingent attorney fees and costs.
- Sega will purchase approximately 4.7 million shares of Atari
common stock for a total price of $40 million.
- Both companies will enter into software license agreements for a
specified number of games that would be made available on each
company's present and future platforms.
- Atari will dismiss its legal proceedings against Sega, and each
company will release all claims against the other.
The agreements are subject to approval by the United States Department
of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission under Hart-Scott-Rodino
and to certain other conditions.
"We are extremely pleased with this relationship that has potential
long-term benefits for both companies," said David Rosen, Co-Chairman
of Sega of America.
"We at Atari are very pleased with this new affiliation. The increased
cash position will be used among other things to enhance our marketing
position this fall," said Sam Tramiel, President, CEO of Atari Corp.
Atari designs and markets interactive multimedia entertainment systems
and is located in Sunnyvale, California.
Sega Enterprises, Ltd., Tokyo, is a nearly $4 billion company,
recognized as a leader in interactive digital entertainment media with
operations on five continents.
//// AvP Announced for Jaguar
Contact: Laura Paden/Patrick Toland
Edelman Public Relations
(415) 433-5381
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR COMES ALIVE ON 64-BIT ATARI JAGUAR
Video Game Magazine Reviewers Raving about Jaguar's "Best Game to
Date"
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (October 3, 1994) -- Move over Mortal Kombat II, on
October 21 the most sought-after video game will arrive in stores
across the country. The advanced first-person perspective version of
Alien Vs. Predator, available only on the award-winning 64-bit Jaguar
system by Atari, is already being considered one of the best game
titles in video game history by people "in the know" -- the video game
reviewers.
"Alien Vs. Predator is the best 3-D action game that I have ever
played -- the graphics and game play are second to none," claimed
Editor-in-Chief Dave Halverson of Die Hard Game Fan. "If you own a
Jaguar, you must own this game, and if you don't own a Jag, well, it's
time to get one. More games are on the way!"
Roaring into stores on October 21 at a suggested retail price of
$69.99, Alien Vs. Predator for the 64-bit Jaguar blows away prior
versions of the game with the most realistic graphics available,
amazing digitized sound effects and increased play variety. Alien Vs.
Predator is a Twentieth Century Fox licensed property based on the
films of the same names. Gamers can choose the Predator, Alien or the
Colonial Marine as they battle through different theaters of combat
including the Predator Ship, the Marine Training Base and the Alien
Ship, enjoying hours of different types of play.
"I was overwhelmed by the cutting-edge graphics and the innovative
game play of Alien Vs. Predator -- no question, it's the best Jaguar
game to date," said Paul Anderson of Game Informer. "The sheer size of
Alien Vs. Predator is amazing -- I've already spent 40-plus hours
playing as the Marine and haven't even tried the Alien or Predator
assignments. Alien Vs. Predator will keep the attention of even the
most seasoned game players."
"The sophisticated technology of the Jaguar platform allows for the
best in stop-motion animation, giving each character smooth, realistic
movements, and digitized sound effects that provide a dynamic audio
environment," said software developer Purple Hampton. "Alien Vs.
Predator is the best demonstration to date of what 64-bit technology
can provide in terms of sophisticated graphics, sound quality and game
play."
Atari's Jaguar game system has approximately 30 software titles
planned for release before the holiday season. Popular titles in the
works include Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story, Doom, Rayman, Troy Aikman
Football, and Kasumi Ninja.
"We believe that Alien Vs. Predator has true mega-hit potential," said
Atari Corporation President Sam Tramiel. "This is a great example of
Atari developing new games that use the full technological capacity of
the 64-bit Jaguar and taking home video games above and beyond where
they've been to date."
In support of this landmark game and the Jaguar system, Atari has
launched an aggressive, multi-million dollar advertising campaign that
includes a specific television ad for Alien Vs. Predator. The
advertising schedule includes national cable advertising in addition
to programming in 19 of the top spot markets that will deliver more
than 300 million targeted media impressions.
Since its release in November 1993, Atari's Jaguar game system has
been named the industry's "Best New Game System" (Video Games
Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993
Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan). The Jaguar is
the only video game system manufactured in the United States.
Atari Corporation markets interactive multimedia entertainment
systems, including Jaguar, the world's only 64-bit system, and the
only video game system manufactured in the United States. Atari is
headquartered at 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, California 94089.
# # #
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
ALIEN(tm) and PREDATOR(tm) are trademarks of Twentieth Century Fox
Film Corporation and used under sublicense from Activision.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Computer News
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Apple loses legal fight - Apple lost its $5.5 billion lawsuit
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" with Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.
Apple claimed that Microsoft and HP violated Apple's copyright/patent
by creating MS Windows GUI based software. The appellate court said
that licensing agreement between MS and Apple removed most of the
problems in the area of violation. Also that certain items like trash
cans could not be protected. Apple can appeal this decision if it
wishes to continue this legal battle.
//// Ultra SPARK - Sun Microsystems unveiled UltraSPARC, the
"""""""""""""""" company's next-generation superscalar RISC
(reduced-instruction set computing) microprocessor that will be
presented at the upcoming Microprocessor Forum.
Critical to supporting the networking needs of the global enterprise,
the 64-bit UltraSPARC is the industry's first processor with on-chip
multimedia support for desktop videoconferencing, real-time MPEG-2
decompression, video effects and texture-mapped triangle rendering.
The company estimates the multi-member UltraSPARC family's SPECint92
values to range from 200 to 400 with SPECfp92 values from 250 to 500
- the highest values in the industry.
//// Compact Crays - Cray Research announced the CRAY J916 system, the
"""""""""""""""""" first in a new series of low-cost, compact
supercomputers designed to operate as powerful simulation servers for
large problems that challenge or exhaust the capabilities of
workstations. The company said the new series is fully compatible with
Cray Research's entire line of parallel/vector supercomputers and is
expected to provide up to 12 times the price- performance of Cray
Research's successful CRAY EL90 compact systems.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Technology update
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Symbolic Times - Symbol Technologies a leader in bar code-based
""""""""""""""""""" data transaction systems, announced that
PDF417, the two-dimensional symbology developed by Symbol, has gained
the approval of and specification by AIM USA.
AIM, an accredited ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
Standards Developing Organization, recently announced the final
approval and publication of the new automatic data collection
technical specification for PDF417. It is called "Uniform Symbology
Specification - PDF417" and is available to organizations
incorporating PDF417 into their data-collection systems.
PDF417 is the two-dimensional symbology that encodes more than a
kilobyte of data in a single machine-readable symbol printed on paper.
With 100 times the information capacity of a traditional linear bar
code of the same size, PDF417 functions as a high-density,
high-capacity "portable data file" to provide low-cost access to large
amounts of information without referencing an external database.
While traditional bar codes, in use as early as 1973, function as
"keys" that access external databases, PDF417 stores the entire data
file in the code itself.
PDF417 serves as a paper-based communications protocol for
transferring data between computer systems without keying. The
symbology encodes full ASCII, numeric or binary data and uses
sophisticated error-correction algorithms to keep intact 100 percent
of the data even on damaged or poorly printed symbols. PDF417 is
unique in that it can be decoded by all existing bar code reading
technologies, including both CCD and laser scanners.
//// AT&T From Home - Most AT&T telecommuters believe they are more
""""""""""""""""""" productive working at home than at the office,
and almost two-thirds of their managers are enthusiastic about
telecommuting, according to a survey taken by the company. The poll
was part of "Telecommuting Day, "AT&T's first attempt to encourage a
company wide work-at-home day." About 22,500 AT&T people telecommute
regularly and about 2,500 tried it for the first time on September 20.
That morning, more than 7,300 telecommuters responded to a phone
survey, which covered these areas:
[] 23 percent had formal telecommuting agreements with their
management.
[] 76 percent of the experienced telecommuters felt they accomplish
more when they work at home.
[] When asked what they do with the time they save, 32 percent said
they spend more time with their families; 29 percent said they
use the time to do even more work; 21 percent use it to run
errands; 6 percent use it for more fun and 12 percent said they
don't know where the "extra time" goes.
[] 63 percent said their managers support telecommuting; 18 percent
said their bosses are neutral; 12 percent said their managers
have reservations about it, while 5 percent said they don't know.
Less than 2 percent said their boss is opposed.
[] When asked what method they prefer to cut back on driving their
cars to work, 61 percent said telecommuting; 28 percent said a
shortened work week (with longer hours); 7 percent said car or
van pooling; 3 percent said mass transit, and 1 percent preferred
to walk, jog or bike to the office.
Based on AT&T surveys, a typical telecommuter avoids generating 43
pounds of pollution, saves two gallons of gasoline and 41 miles of
travel a day by working at home. The average round-trip commute for an
AT&T worker is 70 minutes. The company has 123,000 U.S. managers and
expects half to experience "teleworking" by the end of the century.
AT&T has a total of 300,800 employees, including 53,900 outside the
U.S.A.
//// Private Satellite Bridges the Rim - TRW's Space & Electronics
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Group has signed an agreement
with International Telecom Japan (ITJ) which establishes the first
digital video circuit between the United States and Japan using a
private satellite system.
The new service, which uses a C-band transponder aboard a NASA-owned
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) stationed over the Pacific,
will allow ITJ to receive digitally compressed TV news and current
events programming from the United States on a 24-hour basis.
//// MPEG, the Second Generation - LSI Logic announced it has
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" developed the industry's first
single-chip, MPEG-2 audio/video decoder in an unprecedented five month
design cycle. The new product, called L64002, receives simultaneous
audio and video signals in compressed digital format and decompresses
them back into analog signals for television viewing and listening.
The L64002 will be used for cable, satellite and wireless interactive
digital video to transmit up to 500 television channels.
//// Chemical fingerprints - Lawrence Livermore scientists Brian
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Andresen and Walt Martin of the Lab's
Forensic Science Center have created a software package that
facilitates automated comparisons of chemical samples. The computer
program allows scientists to compare precisely the chemical
"fingerprints" of samples obtained from gas chromatography and mass
spectrometry. The software is adaptable to a host of clinical,
environmental and chemical applications.
//// Very High Speed Rocks In Space - Rockwell Aerospace has
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" successfully tested an
anti-satellite (ASAT) prototype kinetic kill vehicle (KKV) at its
laboratory in California, moving a step closer to a space-flight
technology demonstration two years from now if funding is made
available.
A KKV is an autonomous projectile that destroys its target through
direct impact at hypersonic velocity. The test, conducted by a
Rockwell team, proved the vehicle's ability to track a moving target
as its divert and attitude-control engines fired in response to
commands provided via its avionics seeker subsystem. The vehicle was
rigidly attached to its test stand, and its thrusters went through a
normal firing procedure during the demonstration.
The KKV is a fully integrated interceptor, which includes a visible
light seeker for target acquisition and tracking, a computer processor
that serves as the "brain" to direct KKV functions, and a multiengine
propulsion system that positions the vehicle for high-speed collision
with the target.
//// Security Canon - The newest weapon in the security industry is
""""""""""""""""""" the credit card-sized Optical Card from Canon.
The Optical Card is a convenient, durable and reliable means of
ensuring positive identification, protecting privacy and
confidentiality, and providing effective countermeasures against fraud
and impersonation.
The Optical Card delivers tamper-proof data storage to accommodate,
for example, a digital image of the card holder; biometric templates;
access, entry and exit logs; permits, visas, entitlements, eligibility
data, etc. This information is stored securely and cannot be changed
or deleted.
In addition, the Canon Optical Card is immune to the effects of
magnetic fields, radio frequency emissions and static electricity
discharge. These forces, which are commonly found, for example, in
industrial environments, hospitals and airports, can corrupt or
obliterate data which is stored on cards using electronic or magnetic
data storage media.
//// CD Verbatim - Verbatim Corporation and Sanyo Laser Products
"""""""""""""""" announced that they have signed a letter of intent
to form a joint venture that will become one of the largest
independent CD-ROM and audio producers in North America.
"Our facility already has significant capacity to produce both CD
audio and CD-ROM products," says Hidetaka Iijima, president of Sanyo
Laser Products. "An immediate expansion will allow the joint venture
to produce 50 million units of CD audio and CD-ROM discs annually. We
expect to increase the annual capacity to 100 million units within two
years."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Video Games
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Terror Acts Up - James Adams, leading news correspondent, and spy
""""""""""""""""""" thrillers author specializing in international
intelligence and terrorism operations, has joined with Activision to
write the first in a dramatic new series of interactive multimedia spy
adventures to be developed over the next three years. Adams joins
William Colby, former director of the C.I.A, to work with the
company's production team to provide a realistic and breathtaking
interpretation of real-life, post-cold war covert operations.
"Adams' latest non-fiction best-seller, 'New Spies -- Intelligence
after the Cold War,' initially caught our attention with its dramatic
insight into post-cold war intelligence. The book's basic premise
reflects the innovative approach we were looking for in developing a
groundbreaking, realistic, interactive spy-game series," notes Alan
Gershenfeld, Activision's vice president of Creative Affairs. "Adams'
in-depth knowledge, gathered during research for his overwhelmingly
successful non-fiction books and novels, and his first-hand tenure as
news correspondent on American politics, international relations and
intelligence matters, makes him the perfect candidate to script what
will be the start of a whole new genre of blockbuster espionage-based
entertainment."
--==--==--==--==--
||| Rare Gems
||| Compiled by: David A. Wright
/ | \ GEnie: DAVE.WRIGHT
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for September 11
to 17, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc.
and David Alan Wright. (Internet: CENTAUR@HARTFORD.COM) Compilation
copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or
monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is
retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and
other publications, may not be distributed without further
authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law.
Inspected by Number 6. --:Dave
===
There is something wrong with everything that is popular.
--Charles Fort
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. --Helen Keller
If an animal does something, they call it instinct. If we do
exactly the same thing for the same reason, they call it
intelligence. --Will Cuppy
It is the wretchedness of being rich that you have to live with
rich people. --Logan Pearsall Smith
It is better to live rich than to die rich. --Samuel Johnson
Some folks are wise and some are otherwise. --Tobias Smollett
Purrverse: Poem about a strange kitty. --Unknown
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for September 18
to 24, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc.
and David Alan Wright. (Internet: CENTAUR@HARTFORD.COM) Compilation
copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or
monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is
retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and
other publications, may not be distributed without further
authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law. Line
noise courtesy of Southern New England Telephone. -- :Dave
===
What one beholds of a woman is the least part of her. --Ovid
"BIGFOOT!" "I prefer the term Yeti-American." --Unknown
Change is legitimate and inevitable, for our language is a mighty
river, picking up silt and flotsam here and discarding it there,
but growing ever wider and richer. --Robert MacNeil
By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to
be a boss and work 12 hours a day. --Robert Frost
October 12, the Discovery. It was wonderful to find America, but
it would have been more wonderful to miss it. --Mark Twain
What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he
whispers. --Logan Pearsall Smith
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will
save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do
not bring forth will destroy you. --Jesus Christ, the Gnostic
Gospels
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for September 25
to October 1, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed
Noninc. and David Alan Wright. (Internet: CENTAUR@HARTFORD.COM)
Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each
weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this
notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print,
electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without
further authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright
law. This disclaimer will self-destruct in 3 s --:Dave
===
Any man not busy being born is busy dying. --Bob Dylan
Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.
--Groucho Marx
If you aim for the moon and miss, you end up in the stars; if you
aim for the barn door and miss, what you'll end up in isn't
stardust. --Robert Hutchings Goddard
When missionaries came to Africa they had the Bibles and we had
the land. They said, "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we
opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
--Bishop Desmond Tutu
It is not the writer's task to answer questions but to question
answers. To be impertinent, and, if necessary, subversive.
--Edward Abbey
A man is only as good as what he loves. --Saul Bellow
There is a good deal too strange to be believed, nothing is too
strange to have happened. --Thomas Hardy
--==--==--==--==--
||| Jaguar Tackboard
||| Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar
/ | \ Compiled from online and official sources
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Independent Association of Jaguar Developers
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The IAJD (Independent Association of Jaguar Developers) has started
accepting members on GEnie. The IAJD is a private group where
confidential discussions can be freely held. (Category 64 of the ST
RoundTable is the IAJD meeting place.) Consequently, membership in the
IAJD is limited to Jaguar developers who are registered with Atari
Corp. To apply for membership, send EMail to ENTRY$ on GEnie (or
<entry$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie). Regular EMail
correspondence with the IAJD should be sent to IAJD$ (again, or
<iajd$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Internet Jaguar Mailing List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Anyone with Internet EMail access can join the discussions on the
Jaguar mailing list. To "subscribe" to the list, send an EMail to
the following address: <listserv@ctrc.fs.saci.org>
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the EMail, include this
line:
subscribe jaguar-l FirstName LastName
(Where "FirstName" is your first name and "LastName" is your last
name.)
To send mail to be read on the Jaguar list, address your letter to:
<jaguar-l@ctrc.fs.saci.org>. It will go to the list server and be
sent to the over 250 readers of the list.
IMPORTANT: If your mail server charges you by the character or by the
letter, please be aware that the Jaguar list can generate dozens, and
up to a hundred EMails in a day.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar FAQ
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert Jung <rjung@netcom.com> maintains the Jaguar FAQ (Frequently
Asked Questions) file, an updated list of Jaguar specs and facts. The
Jaguar FAQ is posted to rec.games.video.atari on Usenet around the
first of every month, and can also be found via FTP, address:
ftp.netcom.com, in Andy Eddy's /pub/vidgames/faqs directory.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Developer / Game List 1.16
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Editor: The following developers, licensees and game titles have
been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of October 7, 1994.
Entries in the "S"tatus column reflects any "e"rrors, "u"pdates, "n"ew
titles, new "d"evelopers, or "?"uestionable listings since the last
AEO list. Titles in brackets (e.g. [Cybermorph]) have been completed
and are available in the US.
Expected dates are dates that have been provided by the developer.
Expected Date
or Titles
S Developer/Licensee Rating under development
" """""""""""""""""" """""" """""""""""""""""
20th Centrury Fox
Interactive
21st Century Software Q4/94 Pinball Dreams
3D Games - Rainbow Warrior
- MORE
4Play - StarBattle
Accent Media Productions - Varuna's Forces CD-ROM
Accolade - Al Michaels Announces Hardball
- Brett Hull Hockey
- Charles Barkley's Shut Up and Jam
Acid Software
Activision - Return to Zork CD-ROM
Alfaro Corporation
Limited
All Systems Go Q1/95 Hosenose and Booger CD-ROM
Q1/95 Video Jukebox (cart multiplexer)
- BIOS Fear CD-ROM
- (IR controller station)
American Laser Games - Mad Dog McCree
Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off 3 (for Imagineer)
- World Cup
Anthill Industries
Argonaut Software - Creature Shock CD-ROM (For Virgin)
Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000
- Chaos Agenda CD-ROM
- Club Drive
*5* [Crescent Galaxy]
- Highlander
- MPEG 1 and 2 carts
- Space War (was Star Raiders 2000)
- Tiny Toons Adventures
- VR Helmet
MORE
Atari Games Corp. - Arcade Games Using Jaguar
Attention to Detail - Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2 CD-ROM
- Blue Lightning CD-ROM
*7* [Cybermorph]
(For Atari)
Audio-Visual Magic
B.S.A.
Bando Svenska AB
Beris
Bethesda Softworks
u Beyond Games Inc. 1995 Battlewheels
Q4/94 Ultra Vortex
BitMotion Software
Bizzare Computing
Black Scorpion Software
Borta & Associates
Brainstorm - [x86 Jaguar Development System]
Brandlewood Computers
Ltd.
Bullfrog Productions Ltd. Q4/94 Syndicate (For Ocean)
Q4/94 Theme Park (For Ocean)
Cannonball Software
Celebrity Systems Inc.
Clearwater Software
Computer Music Consulting
Condor Software
Cross Products Ltd. - [Jaguar Development System]
Cybervision
CyberWare
DAP
Data Design
Delta Music Systems Inc. - Nanoterror
- Droppings
Denton Designs Ltd.
Dimension Technologies
Diskimage
Domark Group Ltd. - F1 Racer
DTMC - Lester the Unlikely
- Mountain Sports
- (Miniature Golf)
u Eclipse Q4/94 Iron Soldier (For Atari)
Electro Brain Corp.
Electrom
Elite
E-On
Eurosoft
Extreme
EZ Score Software Inc.
Factor 5
Flair Software Ltd.
Frankenstein Software
Funcom Productions a/s
GameTek Inc.
u Genus Microprogramming
Inc.
Gremlin Graphics Ltd. Q4/94 Zool 2
- UNKNOWN TITLE (racing) - MORE?
H2O Design Corp.
u Hand Made Software Q4/94 Kasumi Ninja (For Atari)
Q4/94 Jack Nicholas Cyber Golf CD-ROM
(For Atari through Accolade)
High Voltage Software - White Men Can't Jump (for Trimark)
- Ruiner (pinball)
Hisoft
Human Soft Ltd.
ICD Inc. - Cat Box (AV & comm expansion box)
u id Software Q4/94 Doom: Evil Unleashed
*8* [Wolfenstein 3D]
i-Space
iThink - (3D simulation)
Imagineer Company Ltd.
Imagitec Design Inc. *6* [Evolution Dino-Dudes]
*6* [Raiden]
- Freelancer 2120 CD-ROM
u Q4/94 Bubsy in Clawed Encounters
of the Furried Kind (For Accolade)
- Dino Dudes 2
Interplay - BattleChess CD-ROM - MORE?
Jaleco - Cisco Heat
- Bases Loaded
- MORE CD-ROM
JVC Musical Industries - Valus Force
Krisalis Software Ltd. - Soccer Kid
Kungariket Multimedia
Limelight Media Inc.
LlamaSoft *10* [Tempest 2000] (For Atari)
u 1Q/96 Defender 2000 (!!!!! :-) (For Atari)
- MORE MINTER!
Loricel S.A.
Lost in Time Software
Malibu Interactive
Manley & Associates Inc.
Maxis Software
Media Technology Scandinavia
Merit Industries Inc.
Michton Inc.
Microids 1995 Evidence
12/94 Commando
Microprose - Gunship 2000
- MORE SIMULATIONS
u MidNite Entertainment Q4/94 Aircars
u Q4/94 Dungeon Depths
Q1/95 Assault
Millenium/Teque *7* [Brutal Sports Football] (For Telegames)
Miracle Designs
Nebulous Games
Neon-Buttner
Network 23 Software
NMS Software Ltd.
Ocean Software Ltd. 12/94 Apeshi- (working title)
1995 Lobo CD-ROM
Odyssey Software Inc.
-unnamed- - -unnamed-
Photosurrealism - Galactic Gladiators
Phobyx
Pixel Satori
PIXIS Interactive - Neurodancer CD-ROM
Rage Software Ltd. - Rally
Rainmaker Software Inc. - Nerves of Steel
- Virtual Warriors
ReadySoft Incorporated - Dragon's Lair CD-ROM
- Dragon's Lair II CD-ROM
- Space Ace CD-ROM
u Rebellion Software Ltd. *9* Alien vs. Predator (For Atari)
(October 21, US - October 23, UK)
u Q4/94 Checkered Flag II (For Atari)
- Legions of the Undead (For Atari)
- Hammerhead
Rest Energy
Riedel Software Prod.
Scangames Interactive
Sculptured Software Inc.
Selgus Limited
Shadowsoft Inc.
Sigma Designs Q4/94 "Jaguar on a PC" PC card
Silmarils Q4/94 Robinson's Requiem CD-ROM
Sinister Developments
Soft Enterprises
Softgold Gmbh
Software 2000
Software Creations
Software Development Systems
Spaceball Technologies Inc.
Steinberg Soft-und-
Hardware Gmbh
Tantalus Entertainment
Tantalus Incorporated
Team Infinity
Team 17 Software Ltd.
Tecnation Digital World
Techtonics
Telegames - Casino Royale
- European Soccer Challenge
Q4/94 Ultimate Brain Games
- Super Off-Road
- World Class Cricket
Teque London Ltd.
Thrustmaster
Tiertex Ltd. - Flashback (for U.S. Gold)
Time-Warner Interactive - Rise of the Robots
Titus
Trimark Interactive
Twlight
U.S. Gold Ltd.
u UBI Soft International Q4/94 RayMan
- MORE (American Football)
V-Reel Productions - Arena Football
- Horrorscope
Virgin Interactive
Entertainment Ltd. - Cannon Fodder
- Dragon
- Demolition Man
Virtual Artistry, Inc.
Virtual Xperience - Indiana Jags
- Zzyorxx II
- Burn Out
Visual Concepts
n Visual Impact - Hyper Force
Wave Quest Inc.
Williams Brothers
Williams Entertainment 11/94 Troy Aikman NFL Football
Q4/94 Double Dragon 5: The Shadow Falls
WMS Industries
Zeppelin Games - Center Court Tennis
Pts Stars AEO Ratings
""" """"" """""""""""
10 ***** GAMING NIRVANA!!! - You have left reality behind... for good.
9 ****+ Unbelieveable GAME!! - Your family notices you're often absent.
8 **** Fantastic Game!! - You can't get enough playtime in on this.
7 ***+ Great Game! - Something to show off to friends or 3DOers.
6 *** Good game - You find yourself playing this from time to time.
5 **+ Ho-hum - If there's nothing else to do, you play this.
4 ** Waste of time - Better to play this than play in traffic.
3 *+ Sucks - Playing in traffic sounds like more fun.
2 * Sucks Badly - You'd rather face an IRS audit than play this.
1 + Forget it - ... but you can't; it's so badly done, it haunts you.
0 - Burn it - Disallow programmer from ever writing games again.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Kasumi Ninja Moves List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// The Orange Ninja: Habaki
Special Moves:
Ninja Fireball, Whirlwind Kick, Ninja Teleport
Death Move:
Power Head Smash
//// Chagi: The Kickboxer
Special Moves:
Knee to the Crotch, Hammer Kick, Fireball, Flying Eagle Kick
Death Move:
Slams knee into crotch, buckling opponent over, then shoves foot through
the opponent's chest.
//// Alaric, King of the Goths
Special moves:
The Goth Hammer, The Power Slide, Exploding Bamboo Stick,
Lunging punch
Death Move:
Exploding Bamboo In opponents mouth
//// Thundra, The Amazon Queen
Special Moves:
Flying lunge, Thunder Uppercut, Teleport, Bite opponent
Death Move:
Fly through opponents upper body.
//// Danja, The Urban Gang Leader
Special Moves:
Exploding Bolas, Side Teleport, Crotch Grab, Throat spike
Death Move
Exploding Bolas
//// Pakawa: The Comanche Indian Warrior
Special Moves:
Buffalo Punch, Throw Knife, Head Butt, Buffalo Jump
Death Move:
Scalp opponent
//// The Green Ninja: Senzo
Special Moves:
Ninja Fireball, Whirlwind Kick, Ninja Teleport.
Death Move:
Lift Opponent, and punch through Stomach
//// Angus McGreggor: The Scottish Brawler
Special Moves:
Fireball, Caber Toss, Head Butt
Death Move:
The head Pummel
//// Gyaku: No Information
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Aircars PR
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
MidNite Entertainment Group proudly presents:
AIRCARS
CATEGORY: 3D Science Fiction/Simulator
SYSTEM: Atari Jaguar 64-bit Interactive Multimedia
System
NO.OF PLAYERS: 1 to 8
DESCRIPTION: You are in a Post-holocaust era. A highly
technical organization has emerged to
re-organize society as they see fit, E.vil
B.ureaucratic N.uclear E.codestructious
R.ebellion S.ociety. You have been given
the responsibility to defend this new threat
to a decimated Earth. The only weapon that
can do the job is a prototype AIRCAR.
Capable of traveling over all terrain in any
conditions, this is more than an off-road
toy. Sophisticated electronic systems allow
this vehicle to install improved weaponry
and armour. Now you must go and kick some
E.B.N.E.R.S. butts!
HIGHLIGHTS: Fast paced action through a variety of
terrain and climates.
Upgrade your AIRCAR with weapons and armour
by scavenging wrecks, destroyed buildings,
and finding ancient treasures.
Battle various enemies to include tanks,
turrets, and other AIRCARS.
Up to eight players can play together on
separate Jaguars, through serial port
connection. (Possibly with the use of the
Catbox.)
For a realistic feel, AIRCARS uses 3D, stereo
16-bit sound, Gouraud shading with light
source and atmospheric effects to all objects
and terrain.
Suggested retail price at this time $54.99
Street date end of November - 1st week December
Any and all of the above subject to change.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jag Dustcover Proposal
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[Editor: This message was recently posted in the GEnie ST/Jaguar
RoundTable, and is copyright GEnie. Please note that the author, Rod
Martin of Network 23, is asking for EMails of INTENT. Anyone desiring
more information from Rod through the Internet should direct their
EMails to <r.martin22@genie.geis.com>.]
I'm now gathering information in the form of advanced orders, to see
what interest there is here.
The JagCover is sleek black nylon. Designed specifically for the
Jaguar, the JagCover hugs the contours of your cat and allows space
in the back for cables to remain connected. The edges are stitched
and bound for a high-quality feel that all your friends will envy!
The JagCover also sports the blood-red Jaguar logo.
I'm proposing a special GEnie early-bird price of $7.00+S/H until an
as-of-yet-undetermied date. After that date, the price will go up to
$10.99+S/H. DO NOT SEND MONEY NOW! I'm basically wanting to collect
intents right now.
If you have been desiring a cool dustcover for the world's most
powerful game system, please e-mail Network 23 at R.MARTIN22,
stating your name, address, phone number, and your intent to
purchase this fine piece of Jaguar merchandise.
Once I see there is sufficient interest, the JagCover will go into
production. I'm also looking into producing special covers for the
Jag+CD-ROM and a carrying case.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Surfing the Jagged Edge
||| By: Dimitri Mark LaBarge
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.6 CIS: 71501,3353 AOL: dimitril
-----------------------------------------------------------------
What's new in the Jaguar world? Well, for starters... I am!
My name is Dimitri LaBarge, and I'm the new Jaguar editor here at AEO.
Before we start summing up a couple of weeks of interesting, and even
stunning, virtual commentary and news flashes, let me take a moment to
get you aquainted with who I am. I'm a 25-year old screenwriter, a
recent transplant to Nashville from sunny Central California. When I'm
not writing scripts (SF and various dramatic film projects - for those
wondering, no, I've not been produced yet), I also run a little
desktop publishing operation on the side. I live with my wonderful
girlfriend Katie, nine cats who are affectionate in the most startling
ways, a big hunk of a dog named Zack (part pit-bull and part Jack
Russell Terrier), and of course, a Lynx and a Jaguar. Don't worry,
they're all tamed....
How does Atari connect with me? Well, they've been part of my life for
about as long as I can remember. Oddly enough, I never had a 2600 or
any of the early game machines; my experience began with an adoration
of my best friend's Atari 800 (and to be frank, endless hours of Star
Raiders, Rescue on Fractalus and numerous Infocom games). But my
association with Atari didn't really begin until I brought my first
520 ST into the house - and oh, what a machine it was! On it, I did
all my first graphics, I typed my first spec scripts on that machine
(for Star Trek: The Next Generation; alas, I never made my name there)
- I even used it to put together a high school news program for cable
television, using nothing more than WP 4.2 and Degas Elite). It was a
wonderful time, and it sealed my loyalty to Atari. Not long after, I
found myself spending hours on my Lynx, and now my Jaguar. I have a
fondness for the Fuji that I hope will continue for a long time.
But enough of this one-time-only swooning interlude... you're here for
Jag stuff!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// JAGDoooom
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Let's start with a post that originated with Id's John Carmack and
found its way all across the 'net - a first-hand report on Doom, as
well as his impressions of the Jag.
DOOM is allllmost done. Music and modem code is about all that's
left. Its good.
To address the two main topics of discussion:
Is the Jaguar doomed?:
This christmas will tell. If atari sells close to their estimates,
they will be a serious market target for next year.
I really don't think 3DO will bury the jag. Its too expensive, and
it doesn't have a technical edge to make up for it.
The sega 32x is a nice machine, and they are shipping good numbers
for christmas. It is less powerfull than the jaguar is when really
pushed, but it is easier to get things going at a decent speed.
The sony psx and the sega saturn will both cost $100 to $200 more
than the jaguar (CD machines). They are both more powerfull (to a
greater or lesser degree), but neither one will have a wealth of
games when they debut.
The ultra-64 is over a year away. It will probably be damn good,
but a year is a long time.
3D engines:
For 24 bit parallax scrolling graphics, the jag will outperform a
pentium, but it is only about as powerful as a low end 486 for
texture mapped games. Its not really an apples to apples comparison
because of the parallel nature of the jag, but that is a fair
aproximation.
The jaguar CANNOT make a fully textured, full screen, full
resolution game that runs at 30 fps. The bus will simply not take
that many accesses. The 64 bit bus will let you do really fast
shaded polygons, but texture mapping is done a single pixel at a
time.
DOOM had to be significantly reworked to get good performance, but
it wasn't designed from the ground up to take advantage of the
Jaguar. If I was designing a game from scratch for the Jag (I'm
not), I would target 20 fps with a 256*180 view window in 16 bit
color as a reachable goal. Doom runs 15 fps at 160*180 because the
basic design is non-optimal for the jag's characteristics. I wrote
it for the pc.
There are a lot of tradeoffs you can choose. AVP made very
different choices than I did. They have a lot more pixels on the
screen, but it runs slower (about 12 fps) and the engine is a lot
more limited. The engine is essentially the level of Shadowcaster
on the pc (90 degree walls, transparent segments, floor/ceiling
texture mapping, strictly diminishing lighting and a rear clipping
plane). They chose to use higher resolution bitmaps, so they have
less variety.
So what does all this mean? Let's take it apart piecemeal.
First, we have a real perspective on what Doom's going to be like on
the Jag. Because of the nature of the game - NOT Jag-specific - we're
probably not going to wind up with, speedwise, a version of a game
comparable with one running on a 33MHz 486 - albeit with vastly
improved 64K color and light banding (take a close look at the
256-color light-banding on your PC version when you're up close to the
walls, real close. It ain't purty, pardner). Advantages to the Jag
version, then? Well, Id's taking this opportunity to revise a lot of
the levels that they didn't like, so we're not getting a clone of the
PC version, but a sort of Doom Plus. Yes, there will be Jag-specific
mazes, and supposedly, a few surprises. There's no word on whether
that this is another one of the games that was upped to 4 megs, but it
sounds like that's what happened.
Carmack then talks about the prospects of the Jag, a Christmas
scenario that a lot of us agreed with. But in a great example of the
law of Funny How Things Can Change, I think Jag advocates and
naysayers will be doing some serious positive rethinking based on
recent events. But more on that, later.
As we speak, Id is now completing the connectibility portion of
JagDoom and is in final testing. Shawn Green reports that it's running
at about 20 fps now, the voicemodem option has been shelved, and Doom
may go to the masters soon.
Now for the most controversial portion of John Carmack's message - the
capabilities of the Jag. Are his facts accurate? Well, I don't think
it's that simple. As he speaks right now, yes, he probably is on
target. But the nature of the Jag is that we don't know what the
machine is capable of producing with hotshot coders. Many developers
have already described the internals of the Jag of having the kind of
open-ended expandability that the 2600 had (for those of you late to
that game, developers were able to find ways to tweak and spin around
the supposed capabilities of that machine for some amazing technical
results. For the time, of course). Even Jeff Minter has expressed
astonishment at the coding of a game like Iron Soldier, which came out
of nowhere and blew people away at SCES. All it took was one hot
programmer and a lot of enthusiasm. From this columnist's perspective,
that's where we stand on the debate about what the Jag can do.
(Incidentally, while of lot of the tech specs on AvP are probably
accurate, there's been no verification if John Carmack had gotten into
the final version of AvP. So his comments should be respected, but
with a question mark.)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// The Gamesmaster/EDGE Debate
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Well, we were waiting for some kind of word from reviewers on AvP;
last week we got it, and it wasn't good. A UK television show,
Gamesmaster, gave Alien vs. Predator a middling 83% rating. Two UK
magazines, Games World (75%) and EDGE (4/10) have also panned AvP,
while UK magazine Gamesmaster (95%) loved it.
Many Jaguarians were stunned. "What's going on?" they've asked.
Sadly, it seems that some British reviewers have either gone off
half-cocked with a half-finished version of AvP, or never bothered
playing enough of the game to get a feel for it. Here's an excerpt
from a post by Rebellion Software:
Gamesmaster [the television program] is produced about three months
ahead of time - so the version they were reviewing then was three
months old. What they had at that time was a pre-alpha version of
the game. We told them what else was going to be put into the game,
but the reviewers were, for some reason, not given this information
by the people who run Gamesmaster.
In fact, large areas of the map were not populated at that time;
the game was only two meg rather than four, so the majority of the
samples were absent. Worth bearing in mind that the testers at
Atari US kept on playing the game even when it'd been released as
they enjoyed it that much.
The review in Gamesmaster the magazine is, basically, completely
independant of the TV review; the magazine review was only about a
month ago, and so bears far more resemblance to the final game.
(though that was only two meg).
We are, as a company, not particularly happy with Gamesmaster.
Atari UK elaborated on this. Generally speaking, reviewers must obtain
permission to assume that the version of a game that they had was the
final version. Gamesmaster was NOT authorized to make that assumption,
but trumpeted it as the complete game. Unfortunately, there's not a
lot to protect any company from that happening to them. 3DO owners
faced the same affliction when EGM magazine reviewed an early version
of Way of the Warrior and smashed it. Now, GamesWorld seems to be
following the same sorry suit.
To put things in perspective: the -final- version of AvP has only been
available to reviewers for three, four weeks at most. Any magazine
will, by its nature, have at least a month of lag time or so - usually
closer to three. So these British magazines simply can't have a
version anywhere close to the final product. Some of their comments -
like complaints about an absence of enemies to kill - have to do with
the fact that creature population was one of the last things put in.
(Rebellion speaks of many enemies per level.) Knowing that
Atari/Rebellion told them of the changes to come (a standard practice
in shipping beta copies of games for review) makes this a sad
situation, really.
To strengthen their case, Atari UK distributed a list of quotes from
some early European and US reviews:
"The best action game ever issued on console......For the first
time a console game recreates the tension and atmosphere of a
movie" MEGA HIT 95% Console + Magazine (France)
"The finished result is stunning, the combination of the fluidity
of movement, eery sound samples and stunning visuals make AvP a
completely engrossing experience" 5/5 Movies, Games & Videos
Magazine. (UK)
"This is one compelling and addictive in your face title. You'd
have to be Rhino-scrubbingly mad not to enjoy this game" 95%
Gamesmaster magazine. (UK)
"Alien vs Predator is the best 3-D action game that I have ever
played - the graphics and gameplay are second to none". Die Hard
Game Fan magazine. (USA)
"I was overwhelmed by the cutting edge graphics and the innovative
gameplay" Game Informer Magazine. (USA)
"Fantastic graphics that recreate the feel of the Aliens movie
help make this one of the most addictive games ever" Sunday Mirror
(UK)
As this column was going to press, Rebellion added another statement
on the AvP review situation, this time regarding The Edge. While they
apparently did not have an unfinished version (or just barely
unfinished), this report may speak to their review process:
Firstly, we should point out to clear things up that the Edge did
in fact see a final version of AvP; at least, final minus possibly
a few days to a month. Gamesmaster, the TV programme, saw a
version dated around SCES or so.
Secondly, the guy who reviewed AvP apparently (and this, as with
the below, is hearsay, ect, ect, ect) may not have been the ideal
choice of reviewer;
Jason, MD here at Rebellion, sez:
"I recently heard that the guy who reviewed AvP for the Edge has
now left the organisation to take up his chosen profession as a
professional footballer. Apparently he gave AvP a 4 minute try out
and didn't know that there was a strategic element to it at all.
This is of course all heresay as I have no first-hand knowledge of
this guy at all - so don't believe what you read unless you want
to."
Gossip over, AvP was also (this from Jason Brookes, editor of
Edge) being reviewed immediately after Doom II (running on a
486DX2/66, which is apparently their yardstick for computing
power; and the Jag is, basically, not as fast as that -- Doom-like
games definitely benefit from throwing more raw CPU at them), and
the reviewer is reputedly a fanatical Doom fan, so AvP could well
have come off badly simply for not being Doom.
My point of view, personally; some of the points he makes are fair
-- for instance, the decompression does take a noticeable amount
of time. On the other hand, some of the things that he seems to
believe are disasterous are things that we put in there
deliberately; no ingame music, for instance, to add to the tension
so that when there /is/ a sound, it's that much more noticeable.
If what you're looking for is Doom, then fair enough, AvP is not
that. It's not meant to be, however, and that doesn't come across
at all in the review.
It's good to see a little logic come back in the face of ugly rumors
and cheapshots.
(BTW, UK television's "Bad Influence" is scheduled to take a look at
several Jaguar games in a week or so. Watch for it!)
What this all comes down to is this: if you're tired of this kind of
hackwork, don't stand for it. Voice your displeasure to the editor.
Write them a letter telling them to be honest when they're reviewing
unfinished versions. If this really bothers you, don't buy their
product and put change in their pockets, unless they support a
reasonable standard of accuracy. We are not juveniles and we will not
lap up whatever drivel they choose to shovel out to make a cheap buck.
Okay, my soapbox ranting is done. You can stop grimacing now....
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// REAL AvP reviews!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
But not all was glum in the world of AvP reviews this week. Zach
Meston, author of the upcoming Jaguar hints book and reviewer of AvP
for VideoGames review, was the guest at an IRC recently. Here are some
excerpts from the conversation, detailing his experience with the
FINAL version of AvP, which he's finished. [Summation written by our
own Travis Guy, who attended the IRC.]
In an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) with Zach Meston (writer for
VideoGames, etc.) Monday night, he said that VideoGames magazine
will be giving AvP an overall rating of 9. (Nine.) Graphics were
great, with the animation the major thing he found fault with.
(Good, but not as smooth as he expected.)
About the frame rate, "The frame rate in AvP depends on the
character you're using. The Alien can move FAST, while the Marine
kind of hobbles along. There's no slowdown even with large groups
of aliens coming at you from every direction. :)"
Zach said that the Alien & Predator games would more appeal to the
Doom crowd (shoot-em-up), with the Marine game being more for the
"deep thinkers."
Gamers can be a fickle lot, and when asked if he thought there
would be a post-release letdown in reaction to the hype that has
surrounded AvP (there was somewhat of a letdown following the
release of Way of the Warrior for 3DO), Zach replied that he didn't
think so, and remarked on the quality of AvP in comparison.
He was very pleased with the game. While he doesn't think that it
has the undefinable "Oomph" to be a system seller, he said it was
excellent. (In Zach's opinion, Iron Soldier qualifies more as a
system seller for Jaguar, as blowing up buildings grabs peoples'
attention easier.)
Near to the end of the IRC, Zach was asked if AvP was "terrifying
enough". His response, "Damn straight it was.... At least until I
got the motion tracker and knew where the friggin' Aliens were
coming from."
Not much to add to that. However, we have another note from a writer
for a German magazine called "Video Games". They have also gotten a
near final copy of AvP, and here are their impressions:
We had a 0.99 version of AvP her in our office for three days, and
about the only thing that was missing was the battery back-up. The
game is as fast as it needs to be. The graphics are incredible and
the gameplay superb. Especially the sound keeps on your toes at all
times, at least if you connect it to your Hifi-system. We couldnt
stop playing mainly because the games keeps you in suspense with
the scary sound effects. There is no non stop action in the game,
its more like the first Alien movie, where you are afraid all the
time of what might happen next.
I think the reason for the bad review is that the market for mags
in the Uk is very tough and everybody tries to be first with
reviews and previews and so they will review anything they can get
their hands on. I can assure you that AvP is a brilliant game and
we will give it around 90% which is extremely high for German mags.
If you have any more questions regarding the game, go right ahead.
So as Dana Carvey's George Bush would put it, "Early, unfinished
version - BAD. Final, finished version - GOOD."
But you probably knew that.
Oh by the way, to check out our review of the absolutely final version
of Alien Vs. Predator, stay tuned - it follows this column!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Highlander - The Animated Series
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Though the upcoming Jag CD-ROM game based on this new USA animated
series has generated some buzz, not much is known about it. So I took
a few minutes one Sunday morning to watch one of the early episodes of
this show as a preview to this upcoming series of CD-ROMs.
I won't go into the central concepts of Highlander, since a lot of you
are already familiar with them. This animated version is an extremely
frustrating extension of the movie and TV versions, a strange amalgam
of surprising sophistication and toned-down kidification. Death does
exist in this universe (as exibited by a flashback from the lead
character, carrot-topped teenager Quentin MacLeod, a sort of
Highlander-in-training; and yes, they do use the line, "There can be
only one"), and there is some swordplay, but other parts display signs
of intensely corny compromise. In addition to Quentin's mentor
Ramirez, they're accompanied by a little girl and a creature best
described as a cuddly warthog. The voice acting is hopelessly broad
and American, in the most Filmationesque Masters-of-the-Universe
style, as are the thickly drawn character styles. The series
ultimately grates not because of its shortcomings, but because of the
real potential hidden within. If the producers had more of a respect
for more adult-oriented forms of the art such as anime, undoubtedly
they would have come much closer to the kernal of promise this show
still holds.
Now, how will this show tie-in with the JagCD game? First, we know the
game is going to be a kind of spiced-up, smoother and more colorful
Out of This World, with lots of swordplay. The backgrounds are taken
directly from the animated series, and that's where we start to find
some serious positives. Examining the backgrounds closely, we find
gorgeous color palettes and a fine stylization that should give the
game a fabulous, unique look. If they have based their character
designs on those in the show, then it should also work fine. It's much
easier to take the character designs in a broad action form, rather
than any kind of character interaction. All in all, what has come
across in my viewing of this show is the development of fine concepts
fine for a video game; but as a work of drama, it has managed that
dubious feat of undermining its own ambition.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Williams Makes Nice!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
One of the more encouraging developments of the last couple of weeks
was a press release regarding a new agreement between Williams and
Atari: Williams and Atari have agreed to bring classic new versions of
games such as (but not limited to) Joust, Robotron and Defender to the
Jaguar. These versions will be dramatic 64-bit enhancements to the
original games, with such new goodies as first-person perspectives,
dynamic CD-quality soundtracks and mind blowing graphic upgrades,
while still maintaining the feel and spirit of the original game.
So what's coming? Well, Jeff Minter has announced that he's going to
start work on Defender 2000 this month. Not one to violate the
original concept of Eugene Jarvis, Jeff will maintain the original
side-scrolling concept, focusing on enhancements such as superior
graphics and snazzy new creatures; there also may be a first-person
bonus round added. (Incidentally, Jeff is moving to Sunnyvale in
November to facilitate his work for Atari. An early welcome to you,
Jeff!) Another game, 'Dactyl 2000, is due next spring from Atari -
this one is slated to be an exciting first-person rethinking of the
original Joust. A lot of enthusiasm has been expressed for this one,
and we'll forward to you the latest information as soon as it becomes
available.
So to what does all this add up? Well, if Activision does bring its
collection of classic 2600 games to the Jag as well as to the PC (and
the Jag is very prominent in their future plans, it should be noted),
adding to those being brought over from Williams, Atari will be in the
shining position in having an impressive library fueled by both
reinvigorated classics and exciting new concepts. In short, it has an
ace up its sleeve that no other company can really call upon - a rich
history.
So what games would -you- like to see culled from the Williams
archives? This columnist gives a somewhat impassioned plea for the
unparalleled Sinistar...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Other Game News
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
First, a little bummer... Rise of the Robots, being programmed for
the Jag by ArtData, will -not- be out this year, says Atari's Bill
Rehbock. However, it's a go for early next year. In a similar vein,
Beyond Games' Battlewheels is also scheduled for early next year.
But as with all good howevers, the sunny side: Battlewheels is not
going to be any cheap port, but a fully rethought, JagNetwork and
modem compatible game to serve all cheap desires of demolition. Right
now, Beyond Games is deciding between a number of approaches to take
with the game, trying to find out which will best use the Jag's
fantastic capabilities to the max.
And for the other Beyond Games product, a little something called
UltraVortex - toss what you've seen on your AEO SCES tapes, because
it's been 110% changed and enhanced since then. You won't find many
stronger Jag proponents than Beyond Games, which describe the Jag as
their "machine of choice" which lets them best fulfill their game
vision.
Also in game news, a report has now surfaced that two Ocean games,
Syndicate and Theme Park may now be in production! As always, we'll
get you confirmation as soon as it's available....
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Sam Tramiel Speaks
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This next item is a press report that in any other week, would've
been seen as a decidedly mixed report. During this week, though, it
was almost significant. From a Reuter's story, September 29th:
Atari Corp chief executive officer Sam Tramiel said in an interview
that the company expects to sell more than 200,000 Jaguar video game
units this year, compared with a current target of 300,000.
The story went on to say that Mr. Tramiel thinks Atari and Sega have
the best chances of survivng in the currently crowded video game
marketplace. The report ends with Tramiel dismissing Nintendo's Ultra
64 system as "extremely far behind", Sony's Playstation as arriving
too late, and a prediction that strong holiday sales would help boost
Atari past 3DO.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Sega Knuckles Under?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
But all this has -not- been the real news this week - which was a
bowshot that rocked the videogame industry and sent Atari stock
soaring over 20% in a single day. Yes, I'm referring to the
settlement Atari reached with rival Sega. You can find the press
release elsewhere in this issue, so let me add a perspective reported
in the San Jose Mercury News:
"Sega gets something for its money and doesn't run the risk of
losing a costly legal fight and emerging with nothing," said Andy
Eddy, senior editor of GamePro Magazine in San Mateo, publisher of a
magazine geared to video game players.
The whole Mercury News piece was quite a glowing report. So, what does
this mean in a practical sense? Sam Tramiel said that the $90 million
will be used to help expand and speed up development, which we have
all hoped would happen. A juiced-up advertising presence may also find
its way forward with this spare change. The consumer will probably
most notice the agreement's effects with the arrival of the Jag titles
(which, Mr. Tramiel has said, will begin porting shortly and are due
in the second half of '95). No Sonic (and I think we're all getting a
little sick of the rodent, anyway), but a Jag Daytona USA? Star Wars
Arcade? World Series Baseball? It's within grasp now.
That's the dish for this ish! Stay tuned....
--==--==--==--==--
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||| Jaguar Review: Alien Vs. Predator
||| By: Timothy Wilson
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.8 Internet: wilsont@rahul.net
----------------------------------------------------------------
Here it is, a review of the release version of Alien vs Predator (AvP)
for the Jaguar. The ROMs weren't in a case yet, but I did get a
manual. (Lots thicker than the previous games.) First up, it was the
release version, and I spent several hours playing it, everyone got
that? Good.
I'll let you know now that I'm an avid Doom fan, but I didn't like
Wolfenstein 3D. I've played System Shock & Blake Stone too, all of
the same genre: texturemapped rooms with beasties in them. Okay,
that's a generalization but it's supposed to be, it's the same genre
that Jaguar AvP is in. Don't expect this to be an "Oh Gosh!" nothing-
but-praise review.
If you haven't seen any of these games, I'll describe how they're
played. Basically, you view the world through your character's eyes.
The world is populated with objects residing in rooms made up of
texturemapped floors and ceilings and walls - meaning that, instead
of flat polygons or dull colors, the walls look more "real", since
photographic quality "textures" or images are mapped into the 3rd
dimension onto those surfaces. Also, your movements are not
constricted to 90 degree turns and 10 foot lunges - in AvP, the view
can be rotated smoothly around, and you move freely within the game.
If done right, the end result is amazing - you actually feel that
you're -in- the game. Things can come at you from any angle, so you
have to constantly look around and check for beasties. Again, if done
properly, this type of game can really pull you into the gaming drama.
So by now, I hope you've figured out that this isn't like the other
Alien vs. Predator games out there, namely Activision's SNES cartridge
and Capcom's arcade game, both which are side scrolling beat-em-ups.
Also, AvP is not a Doom wannabe, AvP is a slower paced game, so I
suggest those people who want a Doom-like game... well... buy Doom
when it comes for the Jag. I saw it the same day I played AvP - it's
running very fast, and the sounds are great.
Atari Jaguar Alien Vs. Predator is a total rush - the best ever
adaptation of a movie concept to the video game world. As you get to
play three different characters: the Marine, Predator, and Alien, you
get to use all of their gizmos, weapons and tenacity however you see
fit. I'll start with a run down of the characters, and why they're
on ROM.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Species Roll-Call
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// The Alien (Xenomorph)
This is a game of species survival. Your queen has been lost to the
Predators, and it's up to the Xenomorph soliders to get her back. Your
claw, tail, second mouth, and unearthly speed are your weapons. Unable
to heal yourself like the other races on the station, you have to
cocoon Marines to be impregnated with a Xenomorph egg. (This basically
"buys" you a new life after you die.) You may have up to three
gestating eggs at one time, but at least one must be full grown in
order for them to be of use. If you die with a fully gestated egg at
the ready, you'll start life again where you cocooned your victim.
You have free reign of the airducts, so it's easy to hide and wait for
your eggs to grow. This is probably the most challenging character to
play.
//// Predator
His is a game of sport, Predator style. The Predator in question is a
greenhorn, sent to prove himself in battle by eventually killing the
Queen Xenomorph to claim her skull. The only weapon availible at first
is the wrist claw. While the Predator does have the whole shebang -
wrist claw, "Combi-stick" (telescoping spear), killer discs, shoulder-
mounted plasma gun, medi-kit, and the cloak - the weapons are
activated as you gain honor points. You gain use of the Combi-stick at
150,000, the disc at 350,000, while the plasma gun is up somewhere
around 750,000. You get 5000 points killing a Marine with the stick or
claw, and 10,000 for an Alien. The catch is that you must kill while
uncloaked! Otherwise you -lose- honor points when you kill something.
(Sometimes, you get in a situation where you feel you have to play it
chicken and attack while cloaked. Don't get too caught up in playing
it safe though - after all, you're a Predator aren't you?)
With the cloak comes the Pred-o-vision, with 5 different filters
availible to you. Some are useful, and some can be inhibiting,
depending on your surroundings. The idea at the start of the game is
to single out a Marine (they like to travel in packs, but you can
catch one alone if you wait), uncloak near him (you can do so from
behind), gut him with your claw, then immediately cloak again. The
cloak is useless against Xenomorphs, and if you're not careful,
Marines can get a good idea of your presence.
//// Colonial Marine
The Marine's game is one of personal survival. Being the only human
alive on an infested space station (you've just been released from a
90-day brig sentence during which separate Alien & Predator invasions
of your station happened), you must gather clues from the various
computer consoles to figure out what occurred, and what you need to do
to save yourself. Hints gleaned from the data logs guide you to new
weapons and security cards. The cards are used to open certain doors,
or access certain computers. The weapons you gain help keep you alive
by allowing you do waste the aliens more effectively. They include: a
pump shotgun, a pulse rifle, flame thrower, and the best of them all,
the "smart gun". The motion tracker is around there too, but it has to
be found just like the rest. The Marine's job is to get enough
security level passes to set the base's self-destruct, and leave on
the escape pod. No easy task, since that requires searching 5 levels
(plus airducts) and 2 alien ships!
Yes, you will have to travel through the Alien-infested airduct
system, and retrieve items from both ships. Good luck, soldier.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Details, Glorious Details
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Each character has their own overlay for the keypad, and their own
Heads Up Display (HUD), the HUD is a ghosty image that can be
brightened or dimmed if need be. The Alien HUD shows the status of
your eggs to the left, and your three attacks and their readiness to
the right. Using a claw constantly will reduce its effectiveness.
Waiting between blows allows for the "pull back" of a big swipe to
happen. The Predator HUD has a sound oscilliscope and his medi-kit to
the left, and weapons active on the right. (The oscilloscope reacts to
nearby enemies, but I heard things better instead of watching this
readout.) The Marine's motion tracker (if found) is on the left,
weapons and ammo on the right. All scores are at the top of the HUD.
Each weapon has a number or letter by it, as a reminder of which
button is used to select it. All characters can bring up an automap
that is overlayed in the middle of the screen. The map rotates as you
do, so "up" is always the way you face. The map fills in as you move
along, but it is lost as you move between levels - which brings up a
good point, as you play, you are free to go anywhere you want, there
isn't some lame-o "boss monster" guarding the elevators or guarding
anything in fact. Zero boss monsters in this game, HOORAY!
The controls are similar for each. For the Marine & Predator, "A" is
use, "B" is fire, and "C" (in combination with Left and Right) is
"strafe", or side step. The number keys select weapons, "8" is the map
on/off, "7" and "9" are alternate "strafe left" and "strafe right"
keys. Pause/Option brings up the HUD brightness control and Save game
menu. "6" changes the vision filter for the Predator, and Option
toggles the cloak. The Predator can use Marine food and medi-kits, but
they are stored/ converted in the Predator kit, which is then
activated by pressing "5". This lets you heal when needed, and as much
as you need. The Marine will use up all of a medical kit, even if its
not all needed.
The Alien is a bit different though, "A" is claw/open door, "B" is
mouth, and "C" is tail. In order to Cocoon a Marine for impregnation,
you hit the Marine with a claw, a tail, and a claw. This brings up a
message saying "Cocoon the enemy!" as you walk over the Marine, you
hear a nice painful, gurgling sound, and the Marine is cocooned.
Most sound in the game is straight from the movies. The one to listen
out for is that characteristic Predator snarl if it's nearby (which is
always un-nerving, as Predators are deadly). The Predator also laughs
when a new weapon is aquired. (Billy's laugh from Predator 1.) The
Aliens squeal when wounded, and doors open up with that unique winch
sound.
The Marine mainly just "ooofs" and "arrghs", but they added a bit of
"cheese" to the Marine in that any time he gets a weapon or gadget, he
says something inane. For instance, while grabbing the shotgun from
the body outside his cell, you hear, "What on Earth got ahold of this
guy?" Upon getting the pulse rifle, the Marine busts out with,
"Alright! Bug soup!" Probably the cheesiest comment occurs when you
get the motion tracker, "You can run but you can't hide". The voice is
one of those Hell's Angels-whiskey-and-cigarettes gravely voices that
doesn't really match the Marine's face on the HUD. Thankfully, these
are few and far between, but they do peg the cornball meter.
There is no music apart from the title sequence. (Which uses
beautiful 24-bit rendered graphics.) During the game you hear the
humming of the life support or the thrum of the Predator equipment.
During a good fight (as the Predator), gun shots and flame thrower
exaust were all around as I quickly found myself outnumbered by about
ten Marines. It's a toss-up on whether music should have been in the
game. I would have accepted some original Aliens or Predator music
myself, but the lack of game music didn't annoy me though.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// The Good
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jaguar AvP can be an intense game. The save game feature is a godsend,
and there are 3 places to save your game at, so it's not like you have
to play your way through the game in one setting. Rebellion did a
great job on getting the atmosphere right: you have to wait for
airlocks to pressurize; changing vision filters sounds just like it
did in Predator 2; Aliens gather speed as they run; and their acid
blood splashes on you (causing damage) at close range. Scampering
facehuggers and Alien eggs that open when you near them are great
touches. (Open eggs produce face huggers so beware.) The textures used
are low contrast, so putting your face in the wall doesn't give that
big chunky pixel effect. There are windows in walls to look through,
and some doors as well. There's lots to explore, the levels are vast,
and I think it'll be a while before they are all mapped out in your
head.
One other good thing is that unlike Wolfenstein 3D, when you -know-
there's an officer or a guard waiting behind a certain door each time
you play, Jaguar AvP randomizes a lot of its enemies and items in the
station. This greatly enhances the game's replay value, as in each
game, you'll never really know what's waiting for you....
The game was a challenge, I don't believe I'd tire of it quickly. A
particularly heart-pounding moment occured once when I got a pulse
rifle - suddenly a Predator decloaked right in front of me. I let
loose on the trigger while the Predator cloaked again. Green blood was
still visible as I unloaded a good 3 seconds of pulse rifle ammo into
him. Finally, he decloaked and died. Whew! These Predators are tough
fighters, and will often stalk a hapless Marine.
(Just wait until you're playing the Marine and walking down an empty
corridor only to hear a voice come out of nowhere and whisper, "Over
here...". You'll learn to scoot pretty fast.)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// The Not so Good
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Alien bodies on the floor continue to hurt you when you walk over
them. I recall from the movies that the acid ate through floors and
stopped after about 3 minutes. Having just killed a bunch of Aliens,
and then having to walk through the remains all kinda grated on my
nerves, but you'd have to walk through a lot of acid to die.
Restoring a game resurrects all of the bad guys, so don't save in a
room where you just killed 10 Marines. (Like I did.) I would say a
good place to save would be in the elevator. (Or in an airduct, if
you're playing the Alien.) Restoring a game also resets the ammo and
medi-kits too.
Corellating the computer map with your map is difficult, since there
isn't a "north" or "up" on your personal map. It took me a while to
track down the various rooms I was supposed to go into.
Once I was playing the Predator and came across a Marine and an Alien
in the same room. This bothered me. Interestingly enough, I entered
the room and side stepped while watching the Alien. Suddenly, a flame
thrower burst came from behind me and wasted the Alien. Thanks, buddy.
The Marines are trigger happy to the point of stupidity. I lined up
about 5 Marines in a doorway and watched the guys in back torch the
guys in front. Maybe it's supposed to represent panic, but it's a
little too much.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Overall
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The Edge" magazine gave this game a 4/10, and said something about
lack of anything to do. Well, that's bullshit. It's true that it isn't
a shooter, but I got my butt kicked many-a-time playing each of the
characters. I'd say if you want a real killing spree, play the
Predator. Suspense? Play the Marine. And the real challenge of the
game is being the Alien. The -game- here is great, I had an excellent
sense of being the characters, and hey, the audio and graphics are
good too. I'm gonna buy this one.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Final Ratings
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Title: Alien Vs Predator JagNet: No
Design: Rebellion Players: One
Published by: Atari Corp. Available: October 21 (US)
Price: $69US October 23 (UK)
Here's the summary ratings:
"*" is a whole
"+" is a half
5 stars maximum
Control: **** Strafing is slow, but most moves are similar
between characters. No way of customizing.
Gameplay: ***** Lots of variety and freedom. I felt like I was
playing a movie!
Graphics: ***+ Better than Wolf3D and its clones, but it's still all
orthagonal. Great textures and a lack of chunky
pixelated walls.
Sound: ****+ Clean samples, very atmospheric, with only title
screen music. I miss the pulse rifle sound from the
movie.
Overall: ****+ It's gonna get a place in my library. We've gotten
what we were promised. I really hope Atari makes
this a pack-in.
What they mean:
***** Oh wow! Forget work! This is AMAZING!
**** Hey. Uh huhuhuh, this is cool. Uh-yeah! Cool! Hehheheh.
*** Well, it's better than watching TV.
** My, that OJ Simpson thing sure is interesting.
* Where's my sledge hammer!?
--==--==--==--==--
||| Hard & Soft's Speed Resolution Enhancer
||| By: Matija Grabnar
/ | \ Internet: matija.grabnar@ijs.si
----------------------------------------------------------------
Speed in computers is like money: You can never have too much. As soon
as the Falcon came out, there were rumours of speeders for it, with
names like Mighty Sonic and Skunk, and lately Overscan has been
raising a lot of eyebrows with its advertisements for its Afterburner
040.
Naturally then, when the Slovenian Atari representative offered to
install Hard&Soft's Speed Resolution Enhancer in my machine, I was
immediately interested.
The package contains two booklets, the first explaining the software
configuration (mainly for the screen resolution drivers) and the
second explains the installation of the hardware. The package also
contains a PCB, a 19 pin monitor adapter, various electronic
components to be installed on the motherboard, screws, a switch, a
small ventilator, and a floppy with the driver software. Everything
you need is in the package, all you need is a set of tools and some
solder.
DO NOT attempt installation of this speeder if you are not quite
confident of your soldering iron skills. Also, make sure the manual is
in a language you understand well (I don't know if Hard&Soft has a
non-German version). Even though my Atari representative knew what he
was doing (it was not the first speeder he was installing), the
installation took several hours. With me watching anxiously over his
shoulder, he soldered some wires to the motherboard, bent chip legs,
soldered in components and at last put in the speeder PCB.
Because Speed Resolution Enhancer can drive the video chip with as
much as 70MHz, it needs extra cooling. To achieve this, the internal
hard disk bracket is removed and replaced with one housing a
ventilator. The ventilator's leads hook up to the power supply without
soldering, and the hard disk gets fixed to the ventilator housing
instead of to the bracket.
A hole needs to be made in the housing to accommodate a small switch.
This switch is flipped to determine whether the processor's clock is
double that of the bus or not. The jumpers on PCB determine the
computer's bus speed after being turned on. You can select 16, 18 or
20MHz bus speed.
After a while you can tell from the memory test's speed what bus speed
is currently selected. I wouldn't have thought the difference between
16 and 20 MHz would be visible in the speed of the dashes, but it is.
After getting used to 20MHz booting, booting at a normal bus speed
seems to barely creep along.
Why is the top bus speed limited to 20MHz? According to people from
BlowUp (who certainly know their way inside the Falcon), while other
components have no problems with higher bus speeds, 20MHz is the most
that the blitter can handle. Anything more and the machine freezes as
soon as the blitter tries to draw the Atari symbol in the upper left
corner. Changing the bus speed with the machine running seems
infeasible: To change bus speed Hard & Soft supplies a simple
accessory, which forces a reset immediately after changing the bus
speed, thus ensuring a consistent processor state. Clock doubling
seems to be a less dramatic matter: You can usually toggle the
clock-doubling switch in the desktop without undue effects, but such a
switch causes some programs to throw random bombs and freeze the
machine. The bus speed setting survives all resets, including
CTRL-ALT-RSHIFT-DEL and reset-button hard reset. The jumper selected
speed is set only at power-up. This makes it possible to use backward
as usual, with the exception that you first have to switch to 16MHz.
Practically no utility programs seem to mind the higher bus and clock
speeds, with one important exception: the timing of transfers between
the CPU and the DSP when in 20/40 mode is disrupted enough that the
communication no longer works. If you need to use the DSP, you should
switch clock doubling off and use the 20/20 mode.
Just for comparison, I tested how long it takes to view a 640 x 497
JPEG using a registered version of GemView 3.03 set to variance-based
colourmap, with or without a DSP JPEG decoder at various clock-speeds.
The fastest, at 35.0 seconds is 20x20 mode, with a DSP decoder. DSP
decoder at normal Falcon speeds clocks in at 45.7 seconds, and just
slightly slower is non-DSP mode at 20/40, with 46 seconds. The normal
mode without DSP comes in last and takes 1:12.0 seconds. Of course,
viewing in monochrome mode would considerably faster, due to smaller
bus load and less complicated colour translation.
In general, the largest part of the speed-up is gained by the higher
bus speed, and not with clock-doubling, which is not surprising given
the lack of external cache on the CPU.
In addition to the speed increase, the board and software implement a
resolution enhancer, similar in concept to BlowUp. There are, however,
some significant differences.
The configuration program for the resolution enhancer seems seriously
concerned with your monitor and requires you to either select a
monitor from the list or to enter its data (maximum and minimum
horizontal and vertical frequencies). These limits are strictly
enforced. The user interface of the configuration program is more
fidgety than BlowUp's and I missed BlowUp's handy UNDO. Resolution
Enhancer, confident that it can't damage your monitor, is far less
willing to reset to the original settings, except when it calculates
that you have exceeded the factory limits of your monitor. However,
the state the configuration program returns to and the one displayed
on the sliders are not always the same. For best results, make sure
the screen driver is NOT running when you are configuring new
resolutions.
While the resolution driver lacks some of BlowUp's more advanced
features, like having 78Hz update in compatibility (ST) modes or like
sliding the sync frequency slowly, to draw the most out of marginal
monitors, it makes good use of the speed enhancement. Some of the most
dramatic resolutions come only when the bus speed is 20MHz, because in
those resolutions the problem is bus bandwidth and not monitor
capability. While I was unimpressed with the increased resolutions in
the monochrome area (where the limitation seems to be the quality of
the monitor), I was impressed with being able to coax out a 640x480
resolution in TC! In this resolution the screen takes up 600KB,
however, so I guess I will have to look into some memory expansions.
I was very concerned about the heating problems which might come from
the increased operating frequencies. However, I was pleasantly
surprised when I found that despite this summer's high temperatures
(32-35C), the machine did not get too hot even after several hours
working at 20/40 MHz, with the machine in its original case, not in a
tower.
The price of the speed up in Germany (and In Slovenia) is 400 DEM for
the kit and 100 DEM for the installation.
For the lovers of numbers, here are some more. To lha compress 29
files containing 4877077 bytes, it took me 10:55 at 16/16 and 7:15 at
20/40 - a 166% speed increase.
Last but not least, here is the GemBench result for my favourite
working resolution:
GEM Bench v3.40 Ofir Gal 14.1.94
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.04, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 2 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Ref = F030, 640*480*2
Speed enhancement 20/40
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 2.955 131%
VDI Text: 2.900 132%
VDI Text Effects: 5.935 139%
VDI Small Text: 3.210 132%
VDI Graphics: 5.600 165%
GEM Window: 1.170 130%
Integer Division: 1.235 250%
Float Math: 3.830 139%
RAM Access: 1.385 158%
ROM Access: 1.490 155%
Blitting: 0.890 129%
VDI Scroll: 2.180 130%
Justified Text: 2.750 131%
VDI Enquire: 1.295 132%
New Dialogs: 3.475 134%
============================================
Graphics: 135%
CPU: 175%
Average: 145%
With NVDI, results are screen: 423%
CPU: 98% at 16/16
and screen 599%,
CPU:171% for the 20/40 mode.
--==--==--==--==--
||| "From a saved backup...."
||| By: Ron Whittam
/ | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
//// Atari Users in Cyberspace.
In this column I hope to foster communication and support for 8-bit
and ST computer owners... presenting a positive and directive
approach. This will help to strengthen the users group base and
encourage the executive element.
If you have a question you would like me to answer, or a topic you
would like to see covered; send me EMail!
What would it be like if you could talk to an Atari Developer in the
comfort of your own home. "Impossible," you might say. You might live
miles from a dealer, Atari show, or even another Atari owner. This is
often the case for many Atari computer owners - not so any longer. The
miracle of telecommunication brings most anyone into your home. Do you
need something to spark your users group meetings. For less then what
it could cost you to attend a show, you could gather enough
information to fill your next meeting. While there are a few providers
that offer similar service, I am only familar with GEnie's "Real Time
Conference" or RTC. For the price of the connect time you could spend
two or three hours with Atari developers and retailers in one of these
conferences.
In the world of Atari: Computer owners, dealers, and developers are
not often near each other. Owners, dealers, and developers are few and
far between. However, "few" is a relative term. There are many, many
Atari owners using Atari computers. Its just a rare moment to see more
then 15 to 20 in one location. But the other day, I had the
opportunity to meet a developer face to face. I was in a room with
this developer and a host of Atari computer owners located all across
America in both the USA and Canada. Most amazingly, they all met in my
home....
The room was quiet. I had arrived early. I took a moment to look
around. Two others had arrived before me. The room was quite large
with one huge round table in the center. It looked like it could seat
200 people with standing room against the wall. The walls were lined
with doors. It seemed to me that there was one door for each chair at
the table. I stepped forward and took my seat. My name tag had my name
on it; but I was given a marker to write in an alternate name to be
known by during this session. I changed my name tag to reflect my
first name and then greeted the others who were in the room. More had
arrived while I was getting adjusted and I told them hello as well. A
few more arrived. I took a moment to go to out to the kitchen and get
a couple of pieces of pizza to munch on while I listened. I grabbed a
Coke as well. I settled back down in my seat and looked around again.
Seems that even more had arrived and the special speaker was here,
too. The room was no longer quiet.
The virtual reality of cyberspace brought this conference room into my
home, and me into the home of each person at the table. This amazing
feat of technology was made possible by General Electric's Information
Service; called GEnie. Connecting my Atari ST to the phone system at
2400 baud and using the "ST Aladdin" communication program for GEnie I
was able to interface with a large number of other Atari ST users.
This real time conference, or RTC for short, was called to order by
Lou, the moderator. He introduced the guest speaker and set up the
agenda. First the guest speaker would have an opportunity to talk
about his new product, then each person at the table would be given an
opportunity to ask him questions during the Q&A session. After that,
Lou would have some prizes to give away. Sounded great.
The guest speaker was an active developer on the Atari computer
platform. Ralf Doewich of Cybercube Research Limited. One of his
claims to fame is the CaTTamaram board that was developed for the
Atari Graphics Workstation, the Atari TT030. They have made some
improvements, enhancing the product and making it more compact. The
most impressive of its improvements was the increase in CPU speed,
48MHz. Running a MC68030 at 48MHz is screaming fast. The speaker
provided users with some handouts, here is copy of the spec sheet:
<CYBERCUBE> Here is a short list of the CyReL CaTTamaran features:
- Works with all TT motherboard revisions. Simple solderless plug-
and-play installation for the newer boards.
- Our highly acclaimed RUN-ME-FIRST Interactive Installation Program
features a graphical installation tutorial guiding the user through
all the installation steps.
- Increases the performance of your TT030 up to 150%!
- Easy-to-use CyReL Dashboard Utility to control the CaTTamaran speed
switching functions. Switch anywhere, anytime!
- Excellent compatibility with all existing software programs.
- Another reliable quality product from Cybercube.
- Best value for your money: revitalize your system for a little over
$2 per MHz! A great deal for just US $99!
<ST.LOU> Whew! Congratulations! Can you give us some test results?
<[Ralf] CYBERCUBE> Hmmm... I think I got some here... Here are some
benchmarks to show the kind of performance figures you can expect when
using the CaTTamaran in _COMBINATION_ with any TT-FastRAM board, a
ROM relocator and a replacement VDI driver like WARP9 or NVDI:
Integer TT030 ########## 100%
TT030 + CaTT ############### 150%
Float TT030 ########## 100%
TT030 + CaTT ################ 160%
ROM TT030 ########## 100%
TT030 + CaTT ################# 170%
RAM TT030 ########## 100%
TT030 + CaTT ###################### 220%
Averages:
Graphics: TT030 ##### 100%
TT030 + CaTT ################################## 681%
CPU: TT030 ##### 100%
TT030 + CaTT ######### 172%
Overall: TT030 ##### 100%
TT030 + CaTT ########################### 545%
As the meeting came to a close, people said their goodbyes and
retreated back through the doors from where they came. A few hanger-
ons sat around chatting about this or that. I could easily hear their
quiet conversations. Finally, I decided to leave as well. I said my
goodbye and was told "so long" by those who were left. I paused for a
moment before closing the door. I realized that I had chatted with
some of the best people on earth in the comfort of my own home. It was
a satisfying thought. I shut the door. And my life would go on;
somehow more enriched then before.
Ron Whittam is a Customer Support Specialist for a small software firm
in Boise, Idaho; and the President of the Atari Boise Users Group.
He can be contacted on GEnie (EXPLORER.4), on the Internet at
<r.whittam@genie.geis.com>, or on ApC BBS (208-362-1790).
--==--==--==--==--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
-- --
-- To enroll as a Delphi subscriber, modem call 1-800-365-4636. Press --
-- [Return] until you see "Password:", then type IP26 [Return] --
-- --
-- Answer all of the questions, and you'll be cleared for Delphi --
-- access in a few days. If you have questions about Delphi services, --
-- give a voice call to Delphi Member Services at 1-800-544-4005. --
-- --
-- --==--==-- Delphi Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--==--==--==--==--
||| ADVANCED SPEED OF LIGHT 3.x - Tips and Tricks
||| By: Stuart Denman
/ | \ Internet: sdenman@cs.washington.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------
PART I: Color
(c) Copyright 1994, Stuart Denman. All rights reserved.
This is the first in a two part series on how to change and enhance
images with Speed of Light Image Processor. I will assume that you
have obtained a registered or demonstration shareware copy of at least
version 3.3 (version 3.5 is the newest as of this writing.) I will
also assume that you have read the manual and understand the basics of
Speed of Light (SOL). Since I am the author, I have had many hours of
experience using and playing with the program. So as you can imagine,
I have come across quite a few interresting ways to change the look of
your images. In this first intallment, I will take a look at some of
the ways in which you can use SOL's color manipulation techniques to
enhance or do really weird things to your image's colors. In part II,
I will show you how to physically manipulate your images using
filtering (the most confusing, but powerful tool in SOL), warping, and
other tools.
//// The Color Manipulation Tools
Speed of Light has three basic color altering areas, and I will
discuss how to make the most of each:
1. Color Selection. This is controlled on the Options Dialog via the
color contrast and color selection method (and color rankings). Since
SOL stores the original image in memory, you can immediately see a
change in these settings without reloading the image. As of version
3.5, you can also specify how colors are selected from truecolor JPEGs
as well.
2. Color Transformations. These are also controlled from the Options
Dialog. Complex color transformations (histograms) are applied to the
colors in the original image before selection occurs. Additive color
transformations (the three slider bars that appear when "COMPLEX" is
not highlighted) are simply added or subtracted from the colors after
color selection occurs.
3. The Color Editor. This dialog allows you to edit individual colors
in your image. You can only edit the colors after selection occurs.
Once you edit them, you can either have SOL attempt to match the
image's colors to the new ones you created, or you can just alter them
as they appear in the image without matching.
//// Color Selection
This is the most important section to pay attention to if you have
less than a 256 color display (i.e. 16 color Low Resolution ST). I
will give values below with the assumption that you have only 16
colors. The better you undertand how SOL reacts to your settings, the
better your image will look. I almost always use "Frequency" as a
color selection method, so this is what I will focus on.
Images vary in what their ideal color contrast value is. To find it, I
usually set the three contrast slider bars at around 30 (40 on systems
with a palette of only 512 colors.) Then, I make sure that SOL alerts
me when it throws out too many colors during selection due to a high
contrast (this can be turned on in the Preferences.) Next I display
the image. If I get an alert box saying that colors were lost, I
reduce the color contrast down to 24 or so. I keep reducing until I no
longer get an alert box. This ensures that your colors are spread
evenly (as far as their relative contrasts) over the image. This may
sound like more trouble than it is worth, but if you really need to
have an image look good, this kind of fine user control is the only
way to go and is usually better than an automated approach.
Next, color contrast settings can be used for spreading out the colors
in the image in a more representative manor. In other words, if your
image has small areas of blue (shaded from dark blue to light blue)
and large areas of red (shaded from dark red to light red), you would
want more of your 16 colors used for the shades of red than for blue.
To force SOL to select the colors in this way, you would increase the
blue color contrast slightly (forcing the blues to be farther apart in
brightness) and decrease the red contrast slightly. Using the
contrast histograms (by selecting "COMPLEX" above the slider bars)
would allow even more fine control by allowing you to set the contrast
for each color depending on its intensity of red, green, and blue.
//// Color Transformations
Color transformations can be used both with greyscale and with color
modes. In greyscale modes, additive color transformations can be used
to add or subtract red, green, and blue from the grey shades. If I
want to make a rough change in the images colors, I will often use the
additive color settings:
-=> To make your image brighter or darker, change the three slider
bars to the same value (you can do this by moving one slider bar to
the value you want and then double-clicking on that slider to set the
other two to the same value).
-=> To create a warmer image, increase the red value a little, or
darken green and blue.
-=> You can also add blue, green, or combinations of the RGB colors to
the image to produce weird and interresting effects.
The Complex Histogram Transformations are much more interresting. As
each color is made up of Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) components, three
color transformation histograms are used. Each histogram takes the
value of a color and transforms it to a new color. For example, say
the color intensities range from 0 to 255. A color with RGB
intensities of R 0, G 255, and B 127 fed through a histogram that
looked like this:
255 HI|\
| \
| \
| \
0 LO+----
LO HI
0 255
would produce a new value of R 255, G 0, and B 127. This is because
the low values (0) map to the high values (255) and the high values
map to the low values. The values in the middle tend to map to
themselves (127 to 127). This histogram effectively carries out the
calculation Vnew = 255 - Vold. This is known as an inverting
histogram, and it can be used for simple, but interresting effects.
To get an inverting histogram, edit a color transformation histogram
and generate a 1-to-1 histogram. You can do this by loading the file
1_TO_1.HST included with SOL 3.x or create a Gamma preset histogram
with a value of 1. Then, Invert or Flip the histogram to get the
inverted form. You can also use the red arrow above the three
histograms in the Options Dialog to set all of them to 1-to-1, then
edit one of them and click on Flip to invert it. Inverting one, some,
or all of the RGB histograms can produce some neat effects:
[] The "Green People" effect. Inverting the red histogram makes black
into red, and colors with red in them revert to their blue and green
components. Since flesh tones are made up of mostly red, inverting
just the red will leave green and a little blue left over; hence the
"Green People" effect.
[] The "Neon" effect. Inverting the green histogram makes reds into
yellows, and dark colors into green, producing a brighter, glowing
neon effect.
[] The "Pastel" effect. Inverting the blue histogram produces subtle
blues and yellows in the image.
[] If two of the three histograms are inverted (any two) then it
produces effects of varying colors similar to the "neon" effect above
except that there is more of an inversion in the intensities (dark to
light and light to dark.)
[] Inversion of all three produces a "photo negative" effect. This is
what is known as a full inversion of the palette.
Brightening or darkening the red, green, or blue planes of the color
palette can be accomplished with the additive color transformations,
but can be more accurately be done using gamma correction histograms.
This is done by using Gamma presets with a value greater than 1 for
brightening, and less than 1 for darkening. Use a darkening gamma
correction on green and blue (leave red at 1-to-1) to produce a warmer
image in much the same way as was done with the additive color
transformations.
Contrast can be applied to single color planes (R, G, or B) to produce
interresting results as well. The files CONTRSTx.HST included with SOL
3.x can be loaded in for a varying degree of contrast. Using a
contrast histogram on green will bring out the reds, blues, and
purples in the darker and lighter colors. This is often a more subtle
effect than with using gamma correction.
Starting with these simple but interesting effects, you can learn to
draw custom histograms that fit your needs. If even more control over
your colors is needed, you can move on to the color editor.
//// The Color Editor
The Color Editor can be used to alter the existing colors in your
image, or to create new colors to draw the image from. Changing the
existing colors is straight-forward; just pick the color you want to
change from the image using "Select" from the color editor, then
change it. Make sure "Match" is NOT highlighted so that your changes
appear in the image when you display it.
Suppose that you are programming a game and you found a cool GIF that
would look great as a background. The problem is that the GIF has 256
colors but your game has 16 and you already know what those 16 colors
are going to be. Speed of Light can use your color palette to display
the GIF in the best way possible. So how do you get your game's
palette into SOL? There are two ways:
1) Create the colors by hand using the editor. Be sure to make any
unused colors the same as the first color (SOL will not use a
duplicate color). Creating them by hand can be a pain because you need
to know what all your colors are and where they are located in the
palette order. Versions before 3.5 ordered the palette in DEVICE order
(see below), but 3.5 allows you to edit the colors in VDI order (this
is the same order as the control panel.) Be sure you know what order
you are using. XBIOS(7,...) palette setting command sets the colors in
DEVICE order, whereas vs_color() sets them in VDI order.
2) Create your own .PAL file using a program. A .PAL file is composed
of one byte that tells how many colors are in the file (minus 1),
followed by a set of colors defined by 3 bytes each. The first of the
three bytes is red, then green, then blue. Another 3 bytes for the
next color follows, and so on. SOL loads in however many colors are in
the file, starting with color zero. A .PAL file is saved in whatever
order the palette was in when you saved it. Depending on your use, you
can switch to a different ordering before loading in a palette. The
following table shows how to convert from VDI to DEVICE order
(although Speed of Light will do all this work for you.)
VDI Color 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
DEVICE Color 0 15 1 2 4 6 3 5 7 8 9 10 12 14 11 13
This is for 16 colors. For 256 colors, entries 16-254 are the same for
DEVICE as for VDI, but VDI 255 goes to DEVICE 15 and VDI 1 goes to
DEVICE 255.
Once you have created or loaded in the palette, highlight "Match" so
that SOL will try to match the created palette to the GIF. Click on
"Display" to show it. Tinker with the settings to get the best picture
(add dithering, etc). If you go back to the color editor, you can see
the results of SOL's attempts to match the image to your palette.
Colors that SOL does not use in the image will be marked with a small
X. This means that SOL found other colors that were closer to the
original colors than this one.
This is just a short example to get you started. I often like to use
the "Gradient" tool to create shades of different colors that I think
would match the image nicely. I then display it (with "Match"
highlighted) and then go back to the Editor. From this point, I can
easily change a set of colors to something else, then view the image
again with "Match" NOT highlighted to see my changes. Say you have an
image of a red car, but you want it blue. Just use the editor to
change all the reds to the same intensity of blue, then redisplay the
image, making sure "Match" is off. If you leave "Match" highlighted,
SOL will try to find those red shades again, but since you changed
them to blue, SOL will use some other colors instead and your blue
colors will most likely be marked with X's when you return to the
Editor.
//// Closing Remarks
With some experimenting, you can easily find other color effects that
are not obvious at first. SOL provides a lot of tools; the key is to
know which ones to use, what your options are, and how the program
will react to your settings. I hope this has given you some insite
into SOL's color features. Next time, I'll give you some insite into
SOL's image manipulation features.
Please remember that Speed of Light is Shareware. This means that if
you use the program, I request that you send a donation to become a
registered user. Your support helps me to produce more quality Atari
software like SOL. Complete registration information is included in
the SOL manual. The unregistered version of SOL is available online on
Genie, Delphi, and Compuserve, as well as many Internet locations
including ftp site atari.archive.umich.edu. The filename is
SPOFLT35.ZIP. Updates can also be obtained from me (if you are
registered) by sending a blank disk and self-addressed stamped
envelope. See the manual for complete mailing address.
Speed of Light is (c) Copyright 1993, 1994 by Stuart Denman.
--==--==--==--==--
||| The Unabashed Atariophile
||| By: Michael R. Burkley
/ | \ Delphi: MRBURKLEY GEnie: M.BURKLEY1 I-Net: mrburkley@Delphi.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I've been BUSY the past few weeks. I went to the CT Atari Show and had
a great time. It was a lot of fun to meet people "in the flesh" that
I've gotten to know and like over the past few years being online. No
one looks like I expected them to look! Staffing a booth by myself
kept me busy most of the time, but when my voice got hoarse from
talking too much I went exploring about the hall. After two days I
left, lighter than I was when I went only because of the lightness of
my wallet (minus two pounds). Brian and Angela, that was an excellent
show (and an excellent dinner on Saturday night!). I'm looking forward
to next year.
As always, there is a pile of software out there for your Atari. This
issue represents a lot of housecleaning. Some of the below are files
which I've downloaded in the past (some the far past!) and are finally
getting around to describing, and some are new. Most of them I can
tell you where to find them, but some I've forgotten where I
downloaded them from, so you'll have to do some searching to find
them. Enjoy!
There are a number of Falcon related games and utilities out
recently, and here are just a few....
[] NEURONET is an "advertisement" for Neuromancer v.1.0 for the
Falcon030 computer. From Neural Net Now Software (NNNS), this amazing
ad in AtariWorks (AW) format (.STW, and it uses the fonts supplied
with AW) tells of the (coming real soon now) sophisticated CPU/CNS
(Central Processing Unit/Central Nervous System) interface for the
Atari Falcon030 computer. As the ad says, "Until now, entering
information into a computer required the use of cumbersome, time
consuming, non-intuitive input devices.... Neuromancer v.1.0 allows
you to input data directly from your nervous system into your
Falcon030.... (Installation by a liscensed neurosurgeon strongly
recommended.)" Created by Joe Rizzo and well worth getting! You can
read it even if you don't have AtariWorks (use a text editor and
ignore the garbage characters), but really, you ought to get
AtariWorks! Delphi.
[] TUBULAR is a Falcon-only version of the 50KHz musical piece
"Tubular Bells" from "The Exorcist" (the movie? Mike Oldfield is
listed as one of the keywords on this GEnie download). I suspect that
it must have some video component as well since it says, "NOT VGA,"
but since I don't have a Falcon I don't know.
[] UFO_WAR by Holland Game Design is a Falcon only blast 'em up,
joystick controlled game for two players. Two "super-races" from Sirus
are fighting it out for control of Jupiter (they discoverd that "very
habitable" planet and have come to colonize). Your ship can move and
fire in eight directions. It has some shields which can protect you
some, but watch out! Ten hits and you're a goner. It will run on a TV,
and a RGB monitor in the 256 color mode, (and uploaded separately, but
associated with this file is an overscan driver to allow you to get
768x240x256, non-interlaced on a RGB/TV). This is a Shareware game
with a real dumb restriction. No commercial services or PD companies
may copy and distribute this file without getting written permission
and paying a $30 fee to the author. He specifically lists some
Internet sites which may distribute the program, but that's it. How
does he expect to get his shareware program distributed if he doesn't
allow people to distribute it! As if he would expect a place like
Delphi (where I found this file) to pay him $30 to put it online. I'll
try to contact him myself at Joost.vanderleij@phil.ruu.nl, and perhaps
he will change his policy.
I sent Mr. vanderLeij a letter about his policy and I got this
reply back from him (the InterNet is pretty neat! It only took
one day to get a reply back from the Netherlands!). It was good
to hear his answer!
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I am glad that Ufo War despite the strict
regulation is being distributed. As Ufo War is not going to be the
succes it always wanted to be, I grant you the right to distribute
Ufo War. The policy is indeed a bit strict, but this way I have a
little more control about who distributes our little game. As we
have decided to leave the shareware, I will grant distribution
rights to any company who takes the trouble of contacting us
either by mail or e-mail. I would like to receive though any hard
copy publications you may have made for promoting Ufo War. If any
please send them to our adress. As we're now working on
commercial software, we will not disregard the PD/shareware people
completely. We will release a demo version of our next game
around 1-11-1994, which will be totally playable and may
distributed by any means neccesary, no matter how expensive (like
$7,- here in holland per disk!). This will only be level 1-10 of
the game, which will in itself be distributed through wholesalers,
retailers or ourself commercially. The cost of the game will only
be $29.95.
yours sincerely,
Joost van der Leij,
Holland game Design,
's Gravelandseweg 127,
1217 ER Hilversum,
The Netherlands.
e-mail: Joost.vanderleij@phil.ruu.nl
Here's the description of that overscan driver (uploaded with
UFO_WAR)...
[] MLTIBLOW is a small Falcon only utility which, when installed in
your AUTO folder, will allow you to get 768x240x256 (non interlaced)
on a RGB/TV. You can set and save the resolutions the way you prefer,
and you can switch screen modes without resetting. Docs included. The
only bad thing about this program is the hint that the programmers
might be software pirates (from their names and home base - L8er
Sledge & L.A. Looter of Hotline/ELITE), but they might not be, after
all. Let's hope.
See FRANTICK below for another EXCELLENT Falcon game...
Now for some utilities you might use at the bootup of your
computer....
[] BUFFICON by R. Beatty is a set of icons for STraight FAX and
NeoDesk. I have STraight FAX and it is a wonderful program. Buy it if
you need it, then use these icons! GEnie.
[] FAXICONS is a set of standard NeoDesk icons, with the normal icons
(disk, trash can and so on) and two fax icons. Run the NeoDesk icon
editor and double click on this file, then import the fax icons.
GEnie.
[] MY_BEST is a icon .RSC by Gerry Kichok which contains a STraight
FAX! icon and some of his other favorite icons (Geneva, ICD, Squish
II, Data Diet, MVG, Spelling Sentry. GEnie.
[] NEO4DEM2 is the NeoDesk 4 demo version (release 2 since the first
release wasn't Falcon compatible and a needed file was left out - both
by accident!). NeoDesk is a desktop replacement and more (I downloaded
this from Delphi on Aug. 20, 1994). I use NeoDesk 3 every day and have
been waiting anxiously for NeoDesk 4. Well, it's finally here, and it
looks pretty good (I just got the real NeoDesk 4 upgrade and it's
wonderful). One thing I am excited to see is background file copying.
Just about anything else you would want is here, too. Do you want your
desktop to look pretty with colored icons? It's here. Do you want it
to be extremely functional? That's definitely here! This is a demo so
it's limited in a number of ways, but you can get the idea of how it
works quite well thank you. Actually, you don't even need to get this
demo. Just go out and get NeoDesk 4! Color or mono. ST (even a TOS
1.0, 512K machine) through Falcon and MultiTOS and Geneva compatible.
This demo works best when run from a bare system (though of course you
can run NeoDesk 4 with anything and not have any compatibilty
problems!)
[] NEOPICS2 is a set of Degas med. and high res. pictures by Damien M.
Jones (the programmer of View II, that excellent picture/animation/
sound/text viewer). You can use them as backgound pictures in Warp 9
or NeoDesk (or any other utility which will display those pictures!).
The picture for NeoDesk has the NeoDesk logo imbedded in a nice
marbled surface. The Warp 9 picture just has the nice surface. GEnie.
[] NEWEOS01 is three Extend-O-Save modules by Charles F. Johnson of
CodeHead Technologies for Warp 9 v.3.80 and above. They are of the
CodeHead Digital Clock (an excellent clock and date screensaver which
shows the date and time, in multiple fonts and configurations bouncing
about your screen), Squiggly! (a screensaver which fills your screen
with an ever-changing configuration of squiggles), and, "Things That
Go Bump." (one of my favorites which has eyes peering at you from the
darkness--many or few, chirping or silent at your wish). They have all
been fixed to work in all Falcon screen modes, and can now save their
configurations even if the files have been renamed, as the MovePics
program does. You can run these as demo files by renaming them as
.PRGs. GEnie.
[] THRONE11 by John Eidsvoog of CodeHead Technologies is v.1.1 of
their amusing Extend-O-Save module, "Flying Thrones" (dated Oct.
1993). See flying and seat flapping toilets float across your screen!
Requires Warp 9 v.3.80 or higher for use as a screensaver, though you
can rename the file to .PRG for a 5 minute demo of the animation. This
file also includes their new version of Image Swap and some sample
images which will show you how to create your own EOS modules. Docs
included. Delphi.
And now for some games!
[] ABOMB is Abombinaball, a fast paced and infuriating puzzle game by
Martin Brownlow. The game has no plot, which is good, but it consists
of fifty levels of brainbending puzzles. Each level is made up of a
series of tiles, which more often than not make up a crude picture.
Most of these tiles will disappear when you jump off of them. On some
tiles there are bombs, and the aim of each level is to defuse all the
bombs by landing on them. The only problem is you can only defuse a
bomb while it is "counting down", and only one bomb can count down at
a time. In short, you have to collect the bombs in the right order
and before its timer runs out. Things get a little hectic! One nice
thing is that every fifth level you are given a password so you don't
have to start all the way back at the beginning. If you like the game
music you can save it to disk in .MOD format (what a great idea!).
Color only. Joystick controlled. Docs included.
[] ACCGAMES is the Desktop Entertainment Pack - Volume 1 by G.A.
Szekely. It contains three .ACCs (or rename as .PRG) for the ST-TT
computer. Each game was designed to appeal to children between 5 and
13 years of age (but I like them, too!) They are: Puzzle Slide where
the player tries to put fifteen sliding tiles in alphabetical order
(single person), Tic Tac Toe, and a variation of the board game
Othello called Flip Flop (TTT and FF are two player games, with the
option of having the computer be one or both players). Color or mono.
Docs included. Shareware. Delphi.
[] AGITATON is another facinating (and agitating!) program by David
Becker. As he says, "Agitation is easy to learn, tough to solve! If
you have very little patience or a short fuse, back off now. This is
the most indescribably difficult, infuriatingly impossible program you
could choose to run on your Atari!" That's true! Agitation takes a
Degas mono picture (some included and you can use your own, too),
divides it into 176 squares and then scrambles it. That's the easy
part. Your part is to put them all back together to see the whole
picture. The author includes a "Save" feature because he says that you
likely won't finish this all in one sitting! His docs are amusing,
especially his comments on the built-in cheat modes in the program. I
recommend this to you. Any ST with a mono monitor. Docs included.
GEnie.
[] CRYST2_2 is Crystal v.2.2 by Harald Simon (dated March 14, 1990).
This mono only game sets you in a world of fragile and not-so-fragile
crystals. But not to worry - your job is to smash them up - all thirty
levels of them! Using your joystick you control (hopefully!) the
bouncing ball, guiding it to the various blocks you wish to smash and
avoiding those which will do you hard. The graphics are crisp and
detailed, and the game is "easy" to control and pleasant to play.
German docs within German program (but that doesn't really matter).
ST--STE and Geneva compatible (at least). Delphi.
[] FFIIWAR1 is a set of eight basic and twelve advanced situations
for use with the Flight Simulator II World War 1 program. Takeoff,
Landing, Turning, High Alt. Scouting, Dogfighting (two kinds), High
Alt. Attack, and Repair & Refuel are the basic missions. Repair &
Refuel II, Hanger Front, Hanger Back, Hanger Loop, High Alt. Attack,
Storm Attack, Upside Down Attack, Ground Attack, Full Screen Attack,
Splitscreen Atack, and Dog Fights (two kinds) are the Advanced
situations. Docs included describing these and how to use them.
[] FRANTICK is the TT/Falcon version of Frantick by Dave Munsie (that
excellent and prolific game programmer). See FRANT_ST for the ST/STE
version). Dated August 14, 1994, Frantick is a game for all ST--Falcon
machines (with at least one meg of RAM). Frantick is aptly named for
for it provides you with a reflex-challenging, frantic experience of
blasting just about anything that comes at you on the screen. Make it
past the savage mutates, defeat the shrill assaults of deadly raptors,
out last the intense salvos of the blazer fighters, and you might
become a hero. Don't celebrate too soon, for the head hunters,
hardheads, sidewinders, sparkers, swarmers, and xasers will light up
your life if you let your guard down.
Can you defeat all 100 waves of the combat simulator? Probably not,
but you're welcome to prove me wrong! Do all of this to the tune of
multi-channel arcade sound effects, digital music with digital sound
effects, DMA background music (see FRANTRAK for the sound files for
use on STE and newer machines with at least 2 meg of RAM), and much
more. It is even compatible with the Jaguar Powerpad controller (on
STE and Falcon machines)! The TT and Falcon versions allow a super
fast Frenzy mode where you can really rack up the points (and die
pretty quickly, too!). There's even a two player mode!
This game is previeware. Try it and if you like it enough to register
you will get a key which will enable all the bells and whistles of the
game (not many of which are disabled in the first place!). Registering
will also get you a chance to win a Jaguar (high score wins!). Docs
included. Best when run from a hard drive, but a floppy system works,
too. Color only. Joystick controlled. I found this on Delphi.
[] FRANT_ST is the ST/STE version of Frantick by Dave Munsie (that
excellent and prolific game programmer). See FRANTICK for a more
complete description of this EXCELLENT game.
[] FRANTRAK is the audio file for use with FRANTICK or FRANT_ST. In
order to use these excellent digitized sounds you must have an STE, TT
or Falcon with at least two meg of RAM, a DS floppy or a hard drive
(believe me, the hard drive is MUCH better!). Eventually you will be
able to make your own audio disks for use with FRANTICK. Dave will
tell us more about that soon (register and I'm sure he'll tell you
personally!).
[] GRANDAD2 is Grandad 2: The Search for Sandwiches! This is a
graphical adventure game featuring the same crazy old man of "Grandad:
The Search for the Holey Vest." This one level shareware demo has
Grandad starting with a disadvantage--he's lost his pants. No longer
does he have his wheelchair. He's gone modern with a three-wheeler! Go
out and help Grandad find those sandwiches! This STOS game will work
on ST--TT machines. The uploader on Delphi couldn't get it to work on
his Falcon. I would recommend that if you have a Falcon you get
STOSFX30 which should take care of that problem. Mouse controlled.
Docs within program. Run from (two) floppy disk(s).
[] GROOMY by Bernd van Laak (dated August 30, 1990) is a very nice
mono only game. Mouse controlled, you guide your pointer around the
playing field capturing dots in a field of blocks. Unfortunately, some
of the blocks prohibit access to the dots. Here is where the friendly
block smasher comes in to help. Using your mouse pointer as a guide,
you cause it to bounce off of the indicated blocks until they smash.
Then you can get in to collect the dots. There is a time limit for
each level and there are 16 levels for you to work through. There are
also three levels of difficulty from which to choose. ST--STE and
Geneva compatible (at least). The program and docs are in German. I
liked this one!
Here are some picture files of Jaguar games. I don't remember
where I've downloaded them (I think GEnie) but I know that most if
not all of them are on both Delphi and GEnie.
[] AVP_1 is a set of three 24-bit 320x200 Targa game shots from the
Jaguar game "Alien vs. Predator." View using GEM View or PhotoChrome4.
[] AVP_PCS are three PhotoChrome (.PCS) pictures of the new Jaguar
game, Alien vs. Predator. Use PhotoChrome4 to view.
[] DD_TRGAS is a set of four 24 bit color Targa pictures from the
Jaguar game, "Evolution Dino-Dudes." You can view these with GEMView
or PhotoChrome4. These uncompress to over 960K between two files (so
you can uncompress them on a floppy system).
[] JAGWALL2 is a 24-bit Targa picture created by John Stanford using
Cyber Trace and CyberSculpt and Phoenix II from Lexicor Software. This
picture shows the Atari and Jaguar logos. View using GEMView or
PhotoChrome4.
[] JAG_WALL is a PhotoChrome (.PCS) picture created by John Stanford
using Cyber Trace and CyberSculpt and Phoenix II from Lexicor
Software. This picture shows the Atari and Jaguar logos. View using
GEMView or PhotoChrome4, or with the included PhotoChrome viewer v.2
(the PhotoChrome viewer is only for 8MHz ST/Es.
[] JAG_PCS is a set of four PhotoChrome (.PCS) pictures taken from the
upcoming Jaguar game, "Tiny Toon Adventures." They are excellent! The
first is of the Tiny Toons Logo with Babs and Buster, while the second
is of Buster standing at the crossroads (or rather crosscliffs) in an
alien desert landscape and trying to decide which way to go. View with
PhotoChrome4 or with the PCHROME3 viewer included with this file.
Color only.
[] KN_TRGAS is a set of two type 2 24-bit Targa files of the Jaguar game,
"Kasumi Ninja." One is a shot of the title screen and the other is of
two fighters battling it out in front of a doorway. View with GEM View
or PhotoChrome4.
[] RA_TRGAS is a set of eight type 2 24-bit Targa files from the
Jaguar game, "Raiden." I've played this game myself on a friend's
Jaguar and it's excellent! These screen shots don't do the game
justice, but they're pretty neat anyway! View with GEM View or with
PhotoChrome4 (both Shareware programs!).
And now back to our regular games!
[] LOV is a demo of the Legends of Valor text adventure (with
pictures) set in a magical kingdom (both good and deadly magic
abound). Ogres, taverns, spells (and mis- "spellings" to get you into
trouble), and more are to be found here. Color only. GEnie.
[] PUNT_II is a fun game. It's really quite easy to play (at first!).
All you (a Taz-like creature who has let his magician teacher's
changlings out of their cages) have to do is kick all the green
changlings into the cages on each level. The only problem is that they
keep moving and dropping off of the levels to which you kick them.
Docs in text and in the game. Color only. Joystick controlled.
ST--Falcon compatible. Delphi.
[] STOMP by Iain Melvin (dated Easter '93) is a most annoying game,
as the author himself proclaims. It even gives him headaches. I think
you'll like it! Simply build the word STOMP either horizontally or
vertically but in reading order to pass to the next level. Move blocks
by holding the fire button on your joystick. There are 35 levels and
none of them are impossible, some of them just seem so! I really like
this game. It excercises my mind. Color only. Docs included. STE
compatible (at least). Delphi.
Here are some interesting picture files I've picked up...
[] CYREL003 is a true color (999x638) .JPG picture showing three CyReL
SUNRISE M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Cards for the
TT030 and Mega STE. Use GEM-View to view. GEnie.
[] CYREL004 is a 431x515 .JPG picture showing four CyReL SUNRISE
M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Cards installed in an
external VME extender box. Up to four CyReL M16-1280 cards may be
connected to a single TT030. Use GEMView to view this file. GEnie.
[] FOODVAT is a .JPG picture (viewable through GEM View) of a huge vat
filled with some disgusting oozy material. The artist (D.Helmick on
GEnie) was inspired by the satirical science fiction roleplaying game
Paranoia. Rendered in Phoenix, using elaborate texture maps created
with Studio Photo.
[] NTREAL is a .TIF Raytraced picture entitled NTReal. This excelent
picture was created using PoV. This is a 320x480 resolution picture
(40 column, True Color, No Double Line) and is in .TIF format. The TiF
format was compressed in TruePaint to make for a smaller picture. FOr
best viewing on VGA, use GEMView in the above resolution. On a ST
monitor, any resolution with True Color will work, but Interlace ON 40
Column True Color is the best. Convert it to .TGA w/ GEMView 2.46 for
use with View24b. On an ST/e convert it to a 320x200 picture using the
Convert (^N) option in GEM View and TGA format (true color) and view
with Photochrome 4. GEnie.
Now do you want to create and manipulate pictures? Read on!
[] 3D2POV18 is the 3D2 to POV-Ray/Vivid Converter v1.81 originally by
Steve Anger and converted to the ST/TT/Falcon by Bill Devonshire
(dated 1994). It is designed to work with all TOS versions, and will
automatically detect if you have an FPU installed on your computer.
The docs are included in the program (run it and enter nothing on the
command line to get full description of parameters. Included is an
example .JPG picture created by POV and this 3D2POV converter. I found
this file on GEnie (it's also listed in another place on GEnie as
3D22POV2).
[] FRAC_ENG is the Fractal Engine v.1.0 by Daniel Grace B.Sc. and Mike
Harris (dated 1992). The Fractal Engine can be used to draw Mandelbrot
and Julia sets (abr. Mset and Jset) for eight different families of
complex functions. The program allows you to zoom in and out on both
Mset and Jset images, giving you the opportunity to explore the wealth
of geometric structures found within them. You do not need a deep
understanding of fractals to use this program. You can also create
animation sequences to make you fractal images move. Degas and
Neochrome format files are also supported to allow you to use the
images in an art package. Sample fractals and fractal descriptions
included. Color only. Docs included (they have a very nice
description of fractals in the docs).
[] GALLERY is Gallery v.1.0 by Stephen Jones (BOD of TTK), dated July
31, 1991. Gallery is a Shareware slideshow for the color Atari ST and
Spectrum 512 (compressed and uncompressed), Degas (compressed and
uncompressed), and NEOchrome pictures. It will allow you to compress
those pictures with Pack-Ice 2.40 (included). The slideshow has these
additional features:
- An editable scrolline on the title screen (for greetings etc.)
- Editable text information on the title screen (for name of
slideshow, credits etc.)
- Mad Max music on the title screen and during the slideshow
- Ramdisk Animation (Degas and NEOchrome only)
Docs included.
[] PIC_MON is the Picture Moniter v.1.2 by Craig Salter (dated Oct.
16, 1992). Pic-Mon is simply a picture converter with a twist (if you
don't know what a picture converter is or why you may need one then
read the section that follows), the twist is that instead of loading
Pic-Mon everytime you need to convert a picture, you simply follow the
normal procedures you would go through to load a picture of the
correct format, select the picture file you want to load and Pic-Mon
will spring into life and give you several options, including what to
convert the file to. Pic-Mon will even allow you to print out your
pictures on an Epson compatible 9 pin printer. This will interconvert
between Degas PI1,PI2,PI3, NEOchrome, and Degas Elite PC1,PC2,PC3
pictures. Docs included.
[] RAYDEMO is the English version of the RayStart v.1.1 ray-tracing
demo by Reinhard Epp. Ray tracing allows you to produce
near-photorealistic images and animation. The ray tracer can
accurately model such lighting effects as shadow, reflection and
refraction, magnification, mirrors, and textured surfaces. Raystart
has a built in Editor very similar to CAD-3D2 from Antic and is 3D2
file Compatible which means that you can use your Cyber Models (3D2)
with it. Distributed through Lexicor, this package presents you with a
very fast raytracer that is compatable with the ST--Falcon, including
those equiped with VDI compatible graphics cards. The save and Prism
Paint import features are disabled in this demo. While the program is
in English, the tutorial and help files are in German. Uncompresses to
1.59 meg. GEnie.
[] SNATCHER is The Supreme Screen Snatcher v.1.2 by Douglas Henderson
(dated Oct. 1, 1992). This AUTO folder utility is a memory-resident
utility that allows you to temporarily 'jam" the ST and then save the
currently displayed screen to disk (as a Degas picture). It also
allows you to search through the memory, looking for other screens or
even sprites, fonts etc. The Snatcher will also allow you to change
the scanrate. Once you have finished using the Snatcher you can then
cleanly exit and carry on with what ever you were doing beforehand, as
if nothing had happened. There are LOTS of options with this program,
and detailed docs on how to use them. Shareware. Delphi.
These next few files are for you programmers out there
(unfortunately, that doesn't include me!)
[] NIFTY is the Nifty Utilities STOS accessory by Robert D. Cooper.
According to the author "Nifty Utilities is the most useful STOS
accessory ever written." It will allow you to 1. Delete a file; 2.
Rename a file; 3. Provide you a Scancode and ASCII code with a
keypress; 4. Format; 5. Convert a number between decimal, hex, and/or
binary; 6. Set the keyboard repeat and keyboard repeat delay, and 7.
Set Function Keys - this is allows you to set each function key in
STOS.
[] PROED10F is Pro-Ed v.1.0f by Jerry Cole. It is a very nice Atari
program editor. PRO-ED was developed to meet the special needs of a
programmer working in assembly, C, Pascal, Forth or Fortran. The
author says this is the best one around! PRO-ED combines what he
considers to be a combination of the best features of prominent
editors organized in a system of mnemonic commands which are easy to
learn and remember. It's command structure is derived from EMACS with
heavy emphasis on overall consistency and simplicity, and uses a
integrated set of control keys, funtion keys, and detailed command
mode to get the job done. Extensive docs included. There is no word
wrap an an 80 character limit per line is strictly inforced. Color or
mono. Shareware. GEnie.
[] STGREP10 is ST-GREP v.1.0, a port by Ron Whittam (dated April 7,
1993). This utility will search a file for a given pattern. When it
finds the string it will report the strings location to the screen
(using a line #). This is great for a CLI that can redirect output to
a file or printer. Docs included. GEnie.
[] STOSFIX is a Replacement STOS loader by Mike Horwell (dated Sept.
1992). Just replace the current STOS loader (at the time of this
program BASIC206.PRG) with this file and STOS will work with ANY
version of TOS (well, at least the author thinks so, unless Atari
changes things some more!). STOS programmers check this out!
Here is a collection of interesting files which can be found in a
variety of places. Good hunting!
[] 520TO4MB is a text file and set of Degas pictures by Mark L. Dodge
which will tell you in detail how to upgrade a 520 ST to 4 meg of RAM
using 1 megabit chips. This is for those of you who know who to use a
soldering iron well! This file contains everthing you need that can be
packed on a computer disk. It has parts listings (like a damp sponge
to clean you soldering iron periodically!) and warnings (protect your
eyes!). Shareware (there was a lot of work that went into this!
Support shareware authors!) Uncompresses to 786K! I found this on the
TOAD Computer BBS.
[] MSTRPICE by Carlos Gonzales is a short text file and Degas picture
which shows his plans for making his mouse drawing tool he calls his
Mousterpiece. It it a frame work of wood to hold the mouse steady and
a side mounted cross hair to aid in tracing. Making this tool can
really help you to accurately and easily trace line drawings with your
mouse. This is the next best thing to a hand scanner! Delphi.
[] CAL_TIFF is a small program from Lance Squire of Glankonian
Software (dated Jan 31, 1994) which will fix the files saved through
the Calamus SL Bridge module so that you may get full color printout
when using the TIFF RGB(24 bit) or CMYK(32 bit) options. You must have
the Calamus SL Bridge module to use this file. Shareware. Docs
included. GEnie.
[] ASM_CPX is a group of nine .CPX files. They are all in German, but
you can figure them out. They are by Andreas Mandel "AsM." They are:
Boot Register - log your boot-ups
Mastermind - Puzzle Game
Solitaire - Jump the Pegs game
Horror Puzzle - 15 squares on steriods
Biorythm - Charts Biorythms
D Free - Shows free space on all drives
Telephone Index - What it says
Drucker - Printer Config
Monolupe - Magnifys - not sure how
[] CP151_16 is an upgrade patch for users of Warp 9 v.3.80 or above.
It will upgrade your Warp 9 control panel from v.1.51 to v.1.6. The
update adds a new feature to the Control Panel: the ability to
randomly load a different screensaver module on every bootup. Docs
included. GEnie.
[] CP15_16 is an upgrade patch for users of Warp 9 v.3.80 or above. It
will upgrade your Warp 9 control panel from v.1.5 to v.1.6. The update
adds a new feature to the Control Panel: the ability to randomly load
a different screensaver module on every bootup. Docs included.
[] CYPHERII is Cypher-II by Patrick Mallows (dated Jan. 1992).
Cypher-II is a security utility, which will scramble any ST file,
turning it into a sticky mess. Scrambled files really are sticky,
PRG/TOS files cannot be executed, text, graphic, data files etc. are
completely unreadable and useless. Scrambled files though, can be
easily and rapidly unscrambled. The author says his scrambling routine
is impossible to crack (until someone proves him wrong, he says!).
Remember your password! Docs included. ST--STE in any res (at least).
Shareware.
[] DEFSEL2 is "The Definitive File Selector" v.2.1 by David Lynx and
Andy Pennell (dated Feb. 21, 1990). These two guys have written a
replacement file selector which is so good that the Queen of England
has written her endorsement of it! Believe me, I read it right at the
beginning of the docs! (Could they have put some words right in her
mouth? Naaaa!). DEFSEL is really a very nice utility, but with some
limitations. It allows you to have a file path name of up to 150
characters (scrolling encouraged, please), to have your files sorted
by name, size, date, or extension, to pre-select and edit up to 10
file types to view, to delete files, get disk information,
configurable number of files able to view, a mouse accelerator, a
security delete option which really wipes your files without hope of
recovery (as a normal delete does not), and much more. You can control
this using the mouse and/or keyboard shortcuts for almost every
function. Wow! Extensive docs available. What are the limitations?
It doesn't work on my STE! TOS 1.0 is fine, but I don't know about
anything else. It also doesn't allow you to rename, copy or move
files. Shareware (take a peek at this, but MaxiFile from CodeHead
Technologies or the Universal Item Selector from A&D Software are far
superior).
[] DELBAK11 is DEL-Bak v.1.1. This is a program by M.J. Matts which
will delete all *.BAK file on your Hard Drive, even across hard-drive
partitions. Docs included. GEnie.
[] DESKCOPY is a very useful utility for you MultiTOS users out
there. By Roland Schorr, it will allow you to do all of the normal
file operations (copy/move/ delete/format/etc.) completely in the
background. It also gives you a recoverable trash can. Docs all in
German. GEnie.
[] LABP_USA is Laborant Professional 1.02 (USA) by Jens Schulz.
Laborant Professional is one of the most powerful universal chemistry
programs in the PD/shareware market on any computer system. Laborant
Professional provides you with a tool for daily laboratory work and
education. Compatible with any ST--Falcon computer, color or mono, in
ST med. or higher. Geneva, MultiTOS, MultiGEM, and MagiC all work just
fine. If you are working as a chemist, or studying to do so (or did do
that but now are working at another job... say as a pastor!) then
Laborant Professional is for you! Here are some of the things this
program can do for you!
- Stoichiometry with powerful formula-/equation analysis
- Data processing (Error determination, interpolation, approximation)
- Statistical tests
- Linear equation systems and matrix operations
- Thermochemistry (incl. databases)
- Reaction kinetics
- Chemical solutions and conversions
- Chemical calculation methods in a wide range
- Tables and exercisizing programs
- Import/export of measuring datas
- Integration of external programs
- TeX support
This version has detailed English docs. Freeware! Delphi.
[] MOUSDAT1 is a set of 16 colorful 3D mouse pointers for use with
Geneva (created by Al Fasoldt?). One of them is even a regular mouse
pointer (named REDARRW2.DAT) that is gorgeous red on color systems and
normal black-and-white on monochrome Ataris. These were created with
Charles Johnson's Mouse K-Mania accessory, and can be used on any
Atari if you get that Shareware accessory. GEnie.
[] PACSH246 is v.2.46 (dated July 17, 1993) of an archiving shell by
Holger Weets which uses a pleasing and easy-to-use desktop interface.
You supply the archive utilities (it's set up for TEN (10!) different
utilities - all the common ones and some not so common, to say the
least!), but this program does the rest. The program is in English,
but the docs are in German. It's not hard to figure out at all. ST-TT
and Geneva compatible in all res. (at least). Shareware. GEnie.
[] PALMASTR from CyberCube is a shareware utility which will allow
you to completely customize your color display on any ST--Falcon,
including those equipped with color boards. It will work in many modes
from monochrome to true color. Features smooth shading, cut & paste,
swap, copy, raibow, save & load, color to greyscale conversion,
palette and profile operation, multiple UNDO levels, gamma and level
correction, and many more. Shareware.
[] PDOS_112 is the newest version of PowerDOS (v.1.12). PowerDOS, by
Chris Latham, is a multitasking GEMDOS replacement kernal. Powerful
and fast (disk i/o times are many times faster than TOS), PowerDOS is
the heart of the commercial Atari networking LAN software/hardware,
PowerNET. This archive contains the newest version of PowerDOS (build
date of August 28, 1993), several PowerDOS utilities, a programmer's
document (with assembler macro and definition files), Note: Not
compatible with current versions of Geneva (it's being addressed).
Freeware. The only problem is that I got in touch with the people at
ViewTouch (the copyright owners of PowerDOS), and they were surprised
and upset that Chris released PowerDOS this way. It's their program,
they said, and he shouldn't have done that! I don't know all the ins
and outs about this, but in the end they said, "Oh well, it doesn't
matter. Go ahead and distribute it." So here it is folks! GEnie.
[] SHOWTIME is a small program which when run will flash the system
date and time (in military format) on the screen. When I say flash,
that's what I mean. Unless you use a program which can freeze output
to the screen (I use SilkMouse, the best little mouse
accelerator/screensaver, IMHO) then you will find it difficult to use
this program because the display comes and goes so fast.
[] SPACER is a simple program by B.MURAKAMI which will allow you to
speed up your hard drive access to a significant degree. You begin
with an empty hard drive and it writes a large "trash" file to however
many megabytes of space you wish. You then copy your permanent files
to the drive and finally delete the trash file. This leaves a large
empty space at the beginning of the drive. TOS will look in this space
first and write any files to it. So instead of having your permanent
files in this first looked at space, you can keep it mostly empty for
the files that come and go. This will save you time. Docs included.
[] TC_SHIFT is a set of programs (dated Oct. 1993) from CyberCube
which will allow you to configure your CyReL M16-1280 graphics card
into the True Color 'Alpha-RGB' Emulation mode (normal mode:
'RGB-Alpha') to adjust it for use with Calamus SL, Outline Art II, and
some other programs. GEnie.
[] TSHCPX_E is an AUTO folder program and .CPX which will give you a
recoverable trash can. Any file that you 'delete' will be moved to a
TRASH folder instead. Neat, and now in English too! GEnie.
[] XMON is v.2.3 of Doug Wheelers' complete replacement for the
driver supplies with the Moniterm Viking monitor. No known
incompatiblity problems, optional installation bypass, compatible with
any mouse accelerator, included screen saver, etc.. SHAREWARE.
[] ZFOLDER is a simple .ACC which will allow you to create a folder
while you are within a GEM program. ST--TT compatible in all res.
Shareware. GEnie.
[] LASSUS is a music font for Calamus found and adapted by Frank
Zimmerman (dated April 13, 1994). Now you can dig up you dusty and
forsaken musical scores, and go to work in your favorite DTP program!
He originally found this Calamus font in an unorganized state, but he
didn't leave it that way. Now you can use Calamus to easily print out
your low G to high C, eighth through whole notes. Some musical
notation is missing, but he offers you some work-a-rounds for that,
too. He includes a Calamus SL file and a 300 dpi IMG file setting all
of the notes out so you will know how to create them. Docs included.
Created using the Genus font editor by Gregg Rodgers. GEnie.
Here are some files I just downloaded from Delphi, but they
originated on the Soft-Logik (the PageStream People) BBS.
[] BJC800 is v.2.0.0 of a PageStream 2.x printer driver from
Soft-Logik Publishing for the Canon BJC 800 Bubble Jet printer. It is
for B&W printing only. Dated Aug. 17, 1993. Delphi.
[] DRIVERS is all of the import/export modules of PageStream 2.x as
of June 30, 1993. If you have PageStream 2.1 (or better yet, 2.2--get
the free patch program!) then you should have these files. How do you
know whether or not you need these? I guess I could list all of the
file names and their creation dates so you could check, but it's only
a 50+K file, so why don't you just download it yourself! Delphi, and
the Soft-Logik BBS.
[] FONTEDIT from Soft-Logik is a simple utility which will allow you
to convert Soft-Logik's Publishing Partner fonts into fonts useful in
PageStream v.1.xx. You can't create your own fonts with this utility,
just convert already existing ones to the "new" format. While I didn't
see where the docs mentioned this, the program requires at least one
meg of RAM and a mono monitor. ST--STE and Geneva compatible (at
least). Delphi.
[] HPDJ_ST is a set of three HP DeskJet printer drivers for
PageStream 2.x (dated May 15, 1993). They are for the HP DeskJet 500,
550, and 500c printers. You can use these to print your documents in
color (with the color printers) or B&W (with both). Just install these
into PageStream and print away! Delphi.
[] HPLAS_ST is a set of two HP LaserJet printer drivers for PageStream
2.x. They are specifically for the HP LaserJets II (p), III (p), and
the LaserJet 4. Delphi.
[] MACTOI is v.1.0 of a Macintosh to IBM/ST font converter by Don at
MegaType Software (dated: the files in the archive date from Jan. 13,
1991, but who knows if that's the creation date!). This program uses
the mouse and item selector (and some nice programming!) to convert
Macintosh Type 1 format fonts to the Type 1 format required by the
ATARI ST, and IBM PC compatibles. Written originally for users of
TYPE1CVT.PRG (from MegaType..$39.95), they decided it would be
benificial to all ST DTP users. Color or mono. Docs included. ST--STE
and Geneva compatible (at least). Delphi.
[] PFM2AFM by Ken Borgendale is v.1.0 (source code dated Oct. 14,
1991) of a program which will convert Windows .PFM files to .AFM files
required by PageStream 2.x. The .AFM file is an Adobe Font Metrics
file. This is an ASCII flatfile giving the metrics for a type 1 font.
PageStream requires this file to install a type 1 font. It also
requires the matching .PFB file which is the actual font. Many Type 1
PostScript fonts from non-Adobe sources are shipped for Windows with
the .PFM files, but without the matching .AFM file. This utility
overcomes that problem. Nowhere in the docs will you see a mention of
Atari (just Windoz and OS/2, though the included C source code has
been modified to work on an Atari). In fact the program itself only
mentions the Amiga port! But it runs on my STE (TT too), and that's
what matters! Delphi.
[] PGSMODST is a set of Assembly Language source code, includes, and
make files for the drivers and modules for PageStream 2.2. While not
PD, Soft-Logik Publishing is making this code available to you so that
you can (if you know how!) update the existing drivers and modules or
write new drivers and modules for PageStream 2.2. Why are they doing
this? The docs say that they are too busy working on version 3.0 of
PageStream **for the Amiga** to update the modules themselves <sigh>.
Now you can do it instead. But...numerous times in the short doc (the
code itself is not documented) Soft-Logik declares that they will not
support, answer questions, do anything at all for someone using this
code or a module derived from it (they just don't have the time or
resources). So... go to it! (Dated March 11, 1994). Delphi.
[] PPCNVT is a Publishing Partner to PageStream 1.x file converter.
Just run this program, input a Publishing Partner file (not many
people have them now-a-days, but maybe you do!), and tell it the new
name to save it as. The converter isn't perfect (routed columns get
set to unrouted, Tall and Wide do not get translated, but you can set
that later). Docs included. The author's name was not included.
Delphi.
[] PRINTERS is the latest version (as of mid-August, 1993) of a
series of 49 printer drivers for PageStream v.2.2x. Included are
drivers for the BubbleJet series and the HP DeskJet (through the 500C)
and a WIDE variety of other drivers (including two new PostScript
drivers (Color PostScript, too). Docs included. Delphi.
[] PSCRIPT is two PostScript Printer drivers for PageStream 2.x. They
are v. 2.2.11 (a general purpose PostScript driver) & 2.2.99 (for a
ColorPostScript, an Imagesetter, or a Lino Linotronic - or when
printing smaller than 8.5 x 11 inches). These two drivers are also
included in the PRINTERS file. Delphi.
[] RAW_2TGA is a program by BWD of Silkenware (released into the PD
on May 14, 1994) which will convert Raytrace .RAW format files into
Targa .TGA picture files. It uses the item selector to select source
and destination files, which makes it very nice indeed. It's very
fast, and the pictures created are indistinguishable from the .RAW
formatted picture it was converted from. STE and Geneva compatible (at
least). Written in GFA Basic. Delphi.
And now, just a few other files I've found...
[] AW_BORDR is a group of 16 boarders originally found in Gregg
Rodgers excellent Calamus-related program "Border Bundle." That
program creates .CVG formated boarders for inclusion in Calamus. This
file has taken those .CVG files and converted them to .GEM vector
graphics using Gribnif's Arabesque Professional. Now you can import
these boarders into Atari Works (a descriptive .STW file is included),
Calamus (still), PageStream, Easy Draw or any other program which will
allow the importation of GEM metafile (vector graphics). As with all
vector graphics, these boarders will print out up to the highest res.
your printer allows. Genie.
[] BRAIN21 is BrainWave v.2.1 by Christian Zuppinger (dated May 2,
1993) is a tutorial program. It asks you a question and you supply it
with the answer. If you're right it will let you know. If not, it will
let you know, too! It's all in German, but in the brief time I have
looked at it I've figured out a lot of it. There are German to English
and English to German questions, Portugese, Italian, Latin,
Neurobiology, Chemistry, and many more topics available. You can even
include pictures with your question sets. You can also build your own
question sets. This program has a neat interface (desktop). ST-TT and
Geneva compatible (at least). Delphi.
[] DCX220C is the newest version of DC Xtract v.2.20c by Paul W. Lee
(dated Jan. 10, 1994, but just uploaded Sept. 1994). This formerly
commercial ("bought through a store") program is now commercial
SHAREWARE ("paid for because you are honest"). DC Xtract is a
Wonderful archiving utility for all ST--Falcon machines. I thought it
was great when I bought it as a part of DC Utilities, and it's much
better now. Now this copmpresses/uncompresses all of the newest ARC,
LZH, ZIP, and ZOO formats (Deflate and LH5 compression supposedly, but
I can't get it to give me the ZIP choices), but you can select the old
compression routines (Shrinking and LH1) if you wish. I recommend this
program to you! It's great! One feature I like is that the program
will automatically choose the correct compression/ de-compression
routine based on the name of the file you are manipulating. Another is
the graphical progress report you get as you compress/uncompress your
files (it makes everything seem to go faster). Mouse and/or keyboard
controlled. Docs included. This program is now TOS 1.0 compatible.
Delphi.
[] LOGPRT is a series of printer drivers for Emagic's Notator Logic
(will work with Notator). This archive includes drivers for Brother,
Canon, Epson, Image, NEC, Seikosha, Star, HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet,
Atari SLM804, and others. Toad Hall.
[] MEMWTCH2 is Memory Watch v.1.2 by Damien M. Jones (the author of
View II - Wow! SoundLab - Wow! and much more - what a programmer!).
This is a neat little (using about 10K RAM) program/accessory which
graphically shows you the state of your RAM. It will show you the
biggest chunk of your RAM still available along with the total RAM
available (they are sometimes different depending on the applications
you are loading and unloading). RAM fragmentation can get especially
difficult under Geneva or MultiTOS, and this little utility can help
you to steer clear of many of the problems caused by this. Docs
included. Color or mono, ST--Falcon, Geneva and MultiTOS compatible.
GEnie.
[] COMPILING MINT is a set of six archives and one text file
providing you with the resources needed to compile MiNT (these
archives are available in one group on Delphi. The most recent MiNT
source, MINT110S, is available there <and on GEnie I think> as well).
You must supply the expertise! All of the files you need to compile
MiNT are here except for the Free Software Foundation's GCC v.2.5.8b C
and C++ compiler (you can find this on Delphi, too), and a good shell,
one that passes parameters such as Gulam or one of the version of
Bash. Here are some of the files which are included in this set...
- MNTOLB44 is the compiled MiNT object libraries.
- MNTINC44 is include files (.H) of the MiNT libraries for compilers.
- There are also two utility files: BUTIL33 and MGUTIL36
- BYACC is a port of Berkeley yacc (*not* BSD unix yacc, this is Pd)
for Tos using the Gnu C compiler. BYACC is an LALR(1) parser
generator which has been made as compatible as possible with AT&T
Yacc. The port was done by jwahar r. bammi.
- GMAKE362 is a port of GNU make v.3.62 to the ST by Frank Ridderbusch
(dated July 27, 1992). This is a port of GNU make 3.62 to the ST.
If you know what this does, you can use it. If you don't (like me)
don't bother!
If you've wanted to install MiNT on your hard drive system, but have
been put off my its supposed complexity, there are some files you
might want to download. Actually it's several archives on Delphi (see
below for their names). You do need your hard drive, because they
uncompress (when you weed out the older versions of the files
superceeded by the upgrade archives) to over 11 meg of data! David
Paschall-Zimbel worked up the original (in this case, version 2.0)
MiNT distribution kit, but with the files I'm listing you can upgrade
his kit to a newer version Some of the items included with this set of
files are:
* MiNT 0.95 (you can find the source code to MiNT v.1.10
online--see Compiling MiNT above)
* MinixFS 0.55.
* Gcc 2.2.2 (v.2.3.1 available in the upgrade pack, but the
newest version is GCC2.5.8b found on Delphi, too
* Bellcore Windows MGR.
* GNU utils including sed, fileutils, etc.
* Init 1.0 - the multiuser extension to MiNT.
* Nroff-compatible manual system similar to un*x
* Many MiNT-aware shells (tcsh, bash, ash, sh, mintshel)
You will require an ST(e) with at least 1Mb ram, a free HD partition
of anything up to 14Mb, and ~500k on C:\ You will also require at
least a 720k drive. Docs included. How to find these? Here are the
Delphi addresses (they are scattered a bit, and since I downloaded
these over 18 months ago they might be hard to find unless you have
them!)
MINT DISTRIBUTION KIT (the main file uploaded by J.J. Lehett)
MINT DISTRIBUTION KIT UPDATES
MINT KIT UPDATES
You'll need to use ZOO v.2.1 to uncompress these files. And I just
happen to have a description of that file, too!
[] ZOO_21_4 is ZOO v.2.1 release 4 by Rahul Dhesi (dated June, 1992).
Zoo is a compression utility that can be used to create and maintain
collections of files in compressed form. It uses a Lempel-Ziv
compression algorithm that gives space savings in the range of 20% to
80% depend- ing on the type of file data. Zoo can store and
selectively extract multiple generations of the same file. A program
is also included that can help you to recover data from damaged
archives. Zoo is now almost as efficient in compression of files as
the LH5 method (Quester LZH). This version is compatible with all
previous ZOO versions.
[] MONO261 is the Monochrome PUT Maker And File Converter/Merger
v.2.61 by Thomas Hopper (I downloaded this Aug. 22, 1994 off of
GEnie). This compiled GFA Basic SHAREWARE program loads Degas mono
images as well as GFA PUT and Screen files, and cuts portions of them
with a GEM rubber box. It will then save the cut portions of these
images in a GFA PUT file. It will also save any of these imported
images to a disk file in either GFA SCREEN or the uncompressed Degas
format. Lastly, it will merge a PUT file from either the memory or the
disk to the image currently in memory. Mono only. Docs included.
Shareware (with a very good offer if you register!). TOS 1.0-2.06
compatible (at least).
If you are a fan of Octalyser, an excellent Shareware .MOD editor
and player, you will like these six and eight channel .MOD files.
They won't play on Paula or JukeBox, but you can listen to them with
Octalyser or, on the Falcon, Megatracker and Digital). You can find
these on Delphi under the name: 6-8 CHANNEL MODS.
[] ETERNITY is a .MOD entitled "'Eternity' Necros" by PM. It is a
quiet and peaceful 8 channel Piano and organ piece.
[] ORBITAL2 is a six channel .MOD entitled "Orbital Delusions 1." It
is a quiet, but large sounding .MOD with an occasional hint of
oriental mystery.
[] SIMPLE-1 is an eight channel .MOD entitled "Simple Vision 1" by MC
JEE/Kamikazes." It is a quiet synthesizer piece. I liked it.
[] AXELF-8 is an eight channel .MOD song "Axel-f from the movie
Beverly Hills Cop. Well done.
[] DEEPNESS is an eight channel .MOD file entitled, "Deepness, the
Tune." It was taken from an IBM/PC demo. Don't hold that against it
though, because it's pretty good. The piece exhibits a fast and slow
percussive rythmn with snare and drum.
[] BOOM! is a .MOD file entitled, "Sonic Boom." I don't know why it's
called this because it's not booming at all. It has a pleasant
repetativeness about it. There is just enough variation to let you
know that you're not hearing the same thing again and again.
Back to programs!
[] RUFUS141 is the Rufus Telecommunications terminal program v.1.41 by
Michael Bernards (dated July 21, 1993). It is a very capable GEM-based
terminal program, supporting background z-modem transfers, vt-100,
vt-52, a built-in text editor, capture buffer, and more. It uses GDOS
(the GDOS clone, AMCGDOS is included), and several GDOS fonts are
included as well. It can be run as a program or as an accessory (just
change the name). The program and docs are all in German, but you can
figure them out. Compatible with MultiTOS, Geneva, Mag!X. Color or
mono. I found this on Delphi.
[] SPOFLT35 is the Speed-of-Light (SOL) image processor/viewer v.3.5
by Stuart Denman (dated Aug. 1, 1994). This version adds a huge number
of features and bug fixes to previous versions of SOL (the one before
this one was v.3.3). It's amazing all that he did, including a
significant speed increase. SOL used to be just a fast (according to
the author, the fastest, and he backs it up with figures) GIF viewer
for the ST--Falcon, allowing you to display 256 colors at once (even
on an ST) and allowing a color palette of tens of thousands on an
STe/TT.
Now SOL is more than that! It is now the fastest (again, according to
the author) JPEG viewer for the Atari line (for machines without a DSP
chip). This version also adds more image formats (now including GIF,
JPEG, .PI?, .PC?, .PNT, and .IMG pictures), more image processing
features, and many other impressive tools, including the most
extensive color map editing capabilities available on Atari systems.
This version includes the author's Filtered Image Scaling (FIS). FIS
is a technique is used to smooth out images that have been enlarged or
reduced. This is a powerful feature of this version and is only
enabled in the registered version (though some sample pictures are
included so you can see how it works). Low Rez color on ST/STe, TT
medium, and all Falcon resolutions, too. Also included in this file
are color and mono icons for use with the TOS 4.01 or higher desktop
and a neat little graphics and sound demo the author had lying about.
Docs included. SHAREWARE. Support shareware authors! I found this on
Delphi.
[] STKEEP is the ST-Keep Bulletin Board System v.5.7c by Andrew P.
Studer (dated July 10, 1994). At first, ST-Keep appears to be a
Citadel (room based) type bulletin board system. However, once you
begin working with it, you will notice that it takes on a very unique
appearance of its own along with adding a great many features not
found in Citadel programs. This will run on either a color or mono
system, only requires 512K RAM (but you are limited with less than 1
MEG in your choices) and a Hard Drive is absolutely recommended
(though you can get by with floppy drives).
This program allows up to 32,000 users, 32,000 rooms, 32,000 messages
per room, 255 floors, 255 doors (for on-line games, other BBS's),
ANSI, VT-52, IGS and ASCII graphics support! Supports Xmodem CRC,
Xmodem 1K, Ymodem Batch, Zmodem Batch, download ratios and more! Fido
networking, FidoDoor, and BinkleyTerm support. Modem transfers up to
14,400 baud (using XYZ201, included here). I spoke with the author and
in the next update he will include the docs for the following programs
(he included the utilities in this version): LZH201G, ZIPJr, and
FOLDERXXX. That's great! It's always nice to hear from an author who
listens! It seems that this program will do just about anything you
need a BBS to do. SHAREWARE (constantly supported) with no feature
disabled. Docs included. 991K uncompressed.
Here are some digitized sounds and MIDI related sounds and
utilities for you to review...
[] HALOWEN2 is a set of four .AVR sounds with a spooky outlook to
them. A wolf howling, a cat screeching, a creaking door and some glass
breaking. GEnie.
[] LOONY is a set of eight .AVR sampled sounds (at 12.5KHz which
maintains Falcon compatiblity). They are from the LoonyToon world.
They are of Bugs Bunny ("Goodbye... I hope don't think this was a bit
of heaven, 'cause it wasn't"), Buster Bunny, "Kaboom" (The Martian
saying, "Where's the Kaboom? There's supposed to be an
earthshattering kaboom!"), and more. All good! You can convert these
to .SMP format for GEMSound by using Soundlab if you wish. GEnie.
[] NIXNSHUT is an .AVR sound sample of Spock and McCoy arguing. Spock
says, "There's an old Vulcan proverb, "Only Nixon could go to China."
McCoy answers, "I'd give real money if you'd shut up!" Made using
Replay 4 cartridge and SoundLab.
[] NUTCRACK is about 10 sec. of an .AVR sound sample of one very
famous portion of the Nutcracker Suite ballet. It's one of the first
dances that Clara and the Nutcracker watch together.
[] SAMSOUNZsn is a series of .AVR sounds for use with Atari's new
System Audio Manager (SAM) for the Falcon. They are: Jackie Wilson
saying "Hey You!" and "Rrrrrreeet"; Jimi Hendrix saying "You Move Me";
Sammy Davis announcing "Hear ye, Hear ye, The Court's in session. Here
comes the Judge", and Undisputed Truth asking "Can You Dig It?" (this
last I cannot get to play other than as random hissing). I listened to
these using SoundLab (support Shareware authors!).
[] SAM_PLES is two .AVR samples. The first sample is of "The
Coasters'" Will "Dub" Jones "immortal words" of their Dec. 11, 1958
single hit, "Charlie Brown" asking, "Why's everybody always pickin' on
me?" It is an 8-bit mono 12.2 KHz sample. The second is of Bernadette
Cooper telling you to "Sample this!" which has been taken from the
title track of her solo album "Drama: According to Bernadette Cooper."
The upload for this says it is an 8-bit mono 33KHZ sample. SoundLab
says it is a stereo sample which must be converted to a lower sample
rate to hear. So I converted it to mono and 30KHz and it sounds fine.
GEnie.
[] SIMPSON2 is a set of five .AVR sound samples of the Simpson's TV
show. Sampled at 12.5 KHz, they are some interesting sounds! ("Hide
your Doodle!" "Don't have a cow!" "Eat my shorts!" "Be nice to your
sister" "We have to clean this up before Mom gets back.... We'll just
sweep it under the rug!" GEnie.
[] WORFALEX is two .AVR sound samples of Worf and his son Alexander
from Star Trek, The Next Generation. The first has Worf saying to
Alexander, "So... we are in law inforcement." Alexander replies,
"Right." The next sample has Worf saying, "Where are we? Alexander
replies, "Deadwood, 19th Century Earth." GEnie.
[] M1PRCTC2 is a Genedit file for Korg M1. It will give you several
songs to practice over with your sequencer. The M1 first has to be put
in the "50PRG/50COMBI/7700SEQ" mode before upload will take. Songs
include Giant Steps, Joy Spring, Rhythm Changes, Travis Walk, Funk
Blues, Blues Shuffle and One Chord Vamp. I found this on the Toad Hall
BBS.
[] EVERYBOD is a Genedit file for Korg M1. The song on the sequencer
is "Sweat," also known as "Everybody Dance Now." The M1 first has to
be put in the "50PRG/50COMBI/7700SEQ" mode before upload will take. I
found this on the Toad Hall BBS.
[] MT32EDIT is the Roland MT32 (or D110) MIDI editor v.1.1 by Chris
Rogers (dated Dec. 30, 1989). This program provides you with 64 user
memories to store you voices (which you can edit and store as you
will). Numerous voice samples are included. To run this you need the
MT32 or D110 connected. Color or mono. Docs included. Shareware.
ST--STE and Geneva compatible (at least). Toad Hall (listed there as
EDITMT).
[] TONY is the Y-Not Tony v.1.0 editor for the Yamaha TG-100 General
Midi tone module by Franz Branntwein and Stevie Victor (dated 1992).
It looks like one capable mono-only program. The interface is very
nice. It will allow you to store, copy, and transfer up to 9000
voices (depending on your memory). Extensive online help with all
sorts of features to customize the program to your liking. It even has
a built-in mouse accelerator, disk utilities, and more. It allows
access to your accessories and even provides you with a MineSweeper
clone for you to play with at your leisure! From Yamaha Germany, but
the program and help files are all in English. You need the Yamaha
keyboard to really use this program (though you can play the
MineSweeper clone without it!). ST--STE and Geneva compatible (at
least). I found this on the Toad Computer BBS.
And now for some other older GEnie files...
[] BARTON is a beautiful "oil painting" .PCS picture of a dark and
stormy sea crashing against the rocky shore. Very well done. Use
PhotoChrome4 or PCSVIEW3 to view. Color, 8 MHz machines only.
[] CREEK is a beautiful .PCS picture of a creek flowing under a blue
sky and though a green meadow. Snow covered mountains form the
backdrop to this peaceful scene.
[] GREATSAN is a .PCS formatted picture of a rolling brown-sand sand
dune. A single low tree stands on the crest of the dune in the
picture's background.
[] TMEADOWS is another beautiful .PCS picture. This one shows a tree
surrounded meadow. There is some standing water in the foreground of
the picture, but no obvious stream. In the background is a snow
covered mountain range.
[] CSP_PORT is a short GFA Basic 3.5e .LST file by Devin Balkcom. It
(when compiled) will allow you to display "Chaos Strikes Back"
portraits.
[] DAME is the Digital Audio Multilayering & Editing program v.3.2 by
OMT for the Falcon. You have to be careful in using this program
because it will always use the last partition of your hard drive to
record music. Why do you need to be careful? The first thing it asks
you when you run the program is if you wish to format your drive (or
repartition it, I'm not sure). Anyway, be careful! The docs tell you
how to connect a microphone, CD-Player, or DAT-recorder to your Falcon
input without blowing it out of the water. Lots of features for
recording your music (at 50 or 34 KHz).
[] DOODL1B is ST Doodle v.1.0b by David Munsie, the author of MAGE,
the excellent GFA Basic Game creator and more. This is a very nice
mono- only painting program with a pile of useful and unique features.
Kid tested, but you don't need to be "any five year old" to understand
and use this program. It contains over 40 drawing modes which allow
you to draw 3D figures quickly and easily, make beautiful flowing
shapes, and much more. If you register this you can print out (on an
Epson compatible 9 pin printer) pictures 14 feet wide by 9 feet high
(in multiple passes!). Sample pictures and docs included. Requires at
least one meg RAM, a hard drive, or a Double-sided floppy drive.
[] EOS_2 is the complete transcript of the Extendo-O-Save Topic on
GEnie and the Atari Roundtables from Feb. 6, 1993 through June 23,
1993. This topic is a place to discuss techniques for writing
Extendo-O-Save screensaver modules for use with Warp 9.
[] FLAGS is a set of four .EPS graphic flags released as an
advertisement of the Soft-Logik (PageStream folks) graphic library of
3D Flags of the World (150 in the set). The flags are stored in Adobe
Illustrator 88 EPS format for use with any program which allows
importation of this type of file (PageStream, et. al.). The four flags
included are of Cuba, the Marshall Islands, Sri Lanka, and Antigua.
[] FRCFLIGH is a Falcon-only demo which takes you on a "real-time
mostly 25 frames per second" flight through a fractal. Created by
Photon of Lazer/Independant, this file contains three "flights" of
about 1000 frames each.
[] GEMVOLPD is a demo of GEMvelope! the envelope printer v.2.9 by
Roger Richards (dated 1993). This program was created to fill a long
time need - to print envelopes with an Atari Laser Printer (and HP
Lasers and DeskJets, and just about any printer!). Laser (and most
other printers) will not feed an envelope in the standard horizontal
orientation for printing across it. GEMvelope! allows you to print an
envelope, fed the long way, on almost any printer. This includes
virtually all laser printers and most dot matrix printers. GEMvelope
uses GDOS because it has font rotation built in and there are nice
fonts available, especially now that Atari's FSM GDOS is available.
GEMvelope features:
- Import allows extracting an address from a letter in almost any
word processor format.
- Load-able and save-able addresses and configuration.
- POSTNET bar code printing. (This will save you 2 cents per letter
in the near future according to the US Post Office!)
- Adjustable positioning for different size envelopes.
- Mail merge allows printing many envelopes, each with a different
address imported from a database or text file you create.
- Fully compatible with FSM and bitmapped GDOS fonts (and Speedo
GDOS I suspect).
- A desk accessory version.
This demo is fully functional except for the following:
- You cannot Save or Load addresses and setups.
- Various Alert boxes are added to describe features and slow
operation.
- When POSTNET codes are enabled, a message is printed under the
address.
- Continuous (or batch) address merges are disabled.
ST/STe/TT compatible. Color or mono. Docs included. SHAREWARE. 40K.
[] GEMVLP_1 is the complete transcript of the GEMvelope, the GDOS
envelope printer for the ST Topic on GEnie and the Atari Roundtables.
This archive covers the period between December 27, 1991 and June 21,
1993. The discussion continues in Category 2 Topic 19 of the BBS.
[] KISS is an animation file which shows a woman (wearing a monocle!)
briefly kissing a man. The animation player is included.
Unfortunately, you have to re-boot to quit the animation. Nothing
spectacular here, but it is actual movie footage.
[] MASKFACE is a .TIF picture created using the Mask Module for
Calamus SL. This shows a picture of a young woman in a blocked off
frame. Next to that is a bold brush stroke. Further to the right is
the picture of the woman mapped onto the brush stroke. You only see
the portion of the picture which would be contained within the brush
stroke. It looks like you can do some interesting things with this
module!
[] MASKGRAG is a .TIF picture created using the Mask Module for
Calamus SL. This shows a picture of a graduated vector graphic
greyscale mapped onto a german word and overlayed on top of a textured
TIFF. This shows some of the interesting effect you can make with this
module.
[] MASKPHON is a .TIF picture created using the Mask Module for
Calamus SL. This shows a picture of an old-style telephone and a
silhouette of that telephone. Merging them together using the Mask
Module allows the background of the original picture to be excluded
yielding just the telephone. This feature is very useful when you wish
to flow text around a raster graphic element.
[] MASKSALM is a .TIF picture created using the Mask Module for
Calamus SL. This shows a picture of a group of body text that has been
combined with a graphic representation of a Salamander to produce an
overlay of different colored text which would sit on top of the
Salamander graphic. This 420K uncompressed image shows some
interesting "Escher-like" crossover effects.
[] MASKTOAS is a .TIF picture created using the Mask Module for
Calamus SL. This shows a picture of a piece of toast (nicely browned)
with an icon reminiscent of the rings left "mysteriously" in the corn
(or perhaps "wheat" would be more appropriate given the subject!)
fields.
[] MASK_FE is a .TIF picture created using the Mask Module for Calamus
SL. This shows a picture of masking effect achieved using the letters
F & E with three separate background graphics used as the mask. The
letter "F" was made from that same piece of toast you can find in
MASKTOAS! Very nice looking. 492K uncompressed.
[] MDXTITL2 is MDX Titler v.1.2 (uploaded May, 1993). This is another
utility by John Eidsvoog of CodeHead Technologies. Running as a
program or accessory, this program will allow you to title all of you
.MDX files. It requires MultiDesk Deluxe to be useful. This version
doesn't add any new features to the previous version except it is more
compatible with TOS 2.06 and the TT.
[] MJ_EXTRA is a set of extra tiles, layouts and tablecloths for
Cali-Co's Mah Jong Solitaire v.3.0. It features a tile set based on a
Scottish tune and a tartan tablecloth. This will also work with the
Mah Jong Solitaire 3 demo.
[] PIR_BBS2 is an Update and "Corrections" to The IAAD Report on
Software Piracy. I love it! In this article Dorothy Brumleve tells of
the software pirates who have contacted her and some of the comments
that they have made. It's a riot to see how they are trying to justify
themselves. If it wasn't so sad it would be material for a comedy act!
[] PRISM_1 is the Prism Paint topic on GEnie from Sept. 19, 1991
through April 20, 1993.
[] PSS480 is a program by Michael L. Silverstein (dated Dec. 1990) for
your Yamaha PSS-480 or equivalent (I'm not sure about the 680). This
program will send PSS480 voices and styles to the synth. It also has
an automation feature where data is sent based on a user-defined time
interval. Docs are included, as well as on-line help. It is completely
GEM Based so .ACC's should work. The GFA Basic v.3.07 .LST file is
included.
[] REPLICA is REPLICA v.1.40 by Dan Panke, the founder of ST PLUG
(dated May 11, 1993). REPLICA is a very simple file copier/mover that
works with all versions of TOS with any memory configuration.
Copy/Move as large or as small a file (up to 18 at a time from any
single or multiple location) you wish. Mouse controlled and uses the
built-in file- selector. This version allows you to check out the free
space on the destination drive and to deselect files you wish not to
copy/move. I especially like this because you can copy multiple files
from multiple folders all at one time. This can save you multiple
steps! If it could only copy entire folders then this program would be
perfect for me! Docs included. Color or mono.
[] RRT_BODY is the Railroad Tycoon Body, v.1.1 by Michel Boire (dated
1993). If you've played "Railroad Tycoon" from Microprose once you've
probably played it a lot, each time hoping that that time you would
become a Tycoon. Chances are though that you were kicked out of town
or simply went bankrupt! Didn't you get slightly frustrated seeing
that your competitors can lay down their rails anyway they want, often
using a configuration not allowed to the player... Well, no more...
The RRT Body is a save game editor which will allow you to get the
edge! While your competitors will try to make money delivering various
thing with a Grasshopper running at a maximum of 20 miles per hours
you will be able to run the same locomotive up to 995 Mph! You can
change and save many other settings as well (such as 'Horse Power' and
the price & year the locomotives will be released on the market). Docs
included.
[] RS_CDROM is a utility by Steve Hughey (the author of RATSoft/ST)
which will allow you to fix a problem which will allow many of you to
use CD-ROM's with RATSoft/ST BBS Software (it may work for other BBS
software as well). The title of this program is the "Read Only Device
Intercept Utility (dated June 20, 1993). Some archive utilities are
very fond of temporary files. These are created for whatever reason
the archive utility sees fit, often in situations where you would see
no need for a temporary file - but it's created anyway. This normally
won't cause any troubles, but you can't write to a CD-ROM and if an
archive utility tries, it's bombs-away! This little utility fits in
between RATSoft (or any program for that matter), and simply checks to
see if the archive you are accessing is located on a read-only device.
If it is, it is copied to a work drive (a HD usually), and then the
archive utility is called, now accessing the archive from it's new
location. Docs included.
[] SPEEDER is a very nice Falcon demo. According to the uploader (on
GEnie) this demo features "better-than-Super NES" scaling. Run this
and fly over some great looking texture mapped terrain.
[] STARPLAY is Starplayer v.2.7, a .MOD player program for use with
all ST--Falcon computers (but see below). Created by Ninja III, this
is a very pretty program with the .MOD name printed in flowing letters
across the screen (you can move them about with the cursor keys).
Online docs. Color only. The program screen says that it is fully
compatible with the Newline Startracker. I don't know what the Newline
Startracker is, but perhaps it is not NoiseTracker or SoundTracker
.MOD compatible, because while it would load any .MOD file I have,
display its name, and go through its pretty "demo" mode I could never
get it to produce any sound on my TOS 1.62 STE. I could not get it's
keyboard commands to work either. I ended up rebooting each time (and
this was with a bare system). Maybe you will have better luck!
[] STGD0593 is the May-June, 1993 issue of the ST Gaming Digest. This
"every game for the ST--Falcon" publication is edited by
Eric-Alexander Bitton.
[] SWEET_16 is the Sweet Sixteen MIDI Sequencer v.1.98 Demo by Rolf
Nilsson (dated Sept 4, 1992). Sweet Sixteen will work with all ST/STE
computers with color or mono monitor. GEM based, and with a built-in
multi-tasking which allows you to access almost all of the program
features at any time, this program is controlled via mouse and/or
keyboard. It has a resolution of 192 ticks/quarter note (PPQ). The
program allows you to record up to 16 different tracks in 16 patterns.
There are a zillion features to this program, but since I'm not a midi
musician I don't know how to describe them! Detailed docs included.
Registration brings you a version allowing up to 120,000 free events
on a one meg machine (the demo is limited to 3000). Sample songs
included. Geneva compatible.
[] TERMFIN is the Terminal Demo for the Falcon. This demo has 50kHz
.MOD sound, excellent graphics, and more. It uses the DSP chip to
bring you fast scrolling and graphic rotations. You need to use a RGB
monitor or TV to get the most out of this demo, though it will also
run in VGA mode (you get a larger screen and more colors in the TV
mode).
[] TERMINAL is The Packet Terminal program v.1.23 by Chris Strevens
(dated Feb., 1993). This GEM program will allow you HAM radio
operators out there to do binary file transfers through TNC's. It
contains an ST and an MS DOS version to share with a friend who only
has an IBM clone (since you both need this program to transmit the
data). Color or mono, though best in mono. Brief docs. ST--TOS 2.06
compatible (at least). SHAREWARE.
[] TTMON_1 is the complete transcript of the Monitor alternatives for
the TT from Jan. 20, 1992 to June 23, 1993. The discussion continues
in Category 28, Topic 11.
[] WARP is Warp v.1.1 by Timothy Scott Davis (dated 1993). This Warp 9
Extendo-O-Save Screen saver module shows the view of a 3D starfield as
you rush towards it. This version provides you with with options to
include from 10 through 250 stars visible (the lower number of stars
places less burden on your CPU), to control the speed of the stars
from very slow to quite fast (ditto on the CPU usage), to change
perspective (whether the stars come to you in a narrow or wide field)
and to call up an alternate screen (but I don't know what that
means!). It also includes improved monochrome support in that the
stars are larger and thus more visible.
And FINALLY(!) here are some last minute additions to this column.
I just finished describing them and I thought I'd put them in now
instead of waiting until next issue.
[] AEO_SCES is the 1994 Summer Consumer Electronics Show Report (SCES)
dated July 29, 1994. This issue is JAM packed with Jaguar news -
events that occured at SCES and news from the outside world. All sorts
of Jaguar games are described, information about getting a videotape
of SCES showing lots of stuff about the Jaguar including shots of most
of the games showing there. News about upcoming games, the Jaguar CD,
and much more. Delphi.
[] AFK_DEM1 is a sample picture created in the "Art For Kids" drawing
program by Moving Pixels (Tony Barker). This picture is in IFF format
and may be viewed using GEM View or the Image Copy 3 demo (or of
course, the Image Copy 3 program!). It shows a very detailed tree (at
least the crown is detailed and fractal-like) and a simple river,
field, and mountains in the background. Check out the Art for Kids
Demo, too. It's a magnificent program. Uncompresses to 104K. Delphi.
[] CHAOSSEQ is the Chaos, Fractal Fantasy .SEQ animation by Todd
Redden. He created this in 1991 using Fractal Fantasy and CyberPaint
v.2.0. This is an awesome fractal animation. It begins with the most
familiar fractal I know (the "squashed beetle" view), and with color
cycling and a zooming view, creates a vivid sense of moving down into
the depths of the fractal. Recommended. Color monitor, 2 meg RAM, hard
drive (or 81 track, 11 sector, 900K floppy), and ANIMATE4 (or View II
by Damien M. Jones) required to view. Delphi.
[] COWS_90A is Cows v.9.0 (I don't know where the "A" comes from in
the filename since it's not in the docs) by Joe Blenke (dated June 1,
1991). COWS! is a simple (although complex) off-the-wall science
fiction-fantasy type text adventure type game that can be played on a
BBS with other players or by yourself. Should you decide to accept it,
your (1st) mission is to seek out and destroy the Moovian Cow Base. If
you can do that you still need to continue your travels through three
very dangerous levels (and a multitude of sub-level scenarios), seek
out distant planets, find secret codes and passages. I found this
amusing to play (and I don't like text adventures that much). The key
to its attraction is that it is SO wacky! This is SHAREWARE that is
about 60% operational. The amazing part is that you don't realize what
you are missing in getting only 60%! As always, if you use it,
register it. It's only fair, and you will get a lot more for your
money. Color or mono. Docs included. STe compatible. Delphi (note:
this is the same file uploaded previously on GEnie, but that file
didn't have the "A" in the filename).
[] CYBERCAT is the ASCII text catalog of the CyberTech Computer
System's September catalog. CyberTech of New Mexico is the newest
Atari dealer to offer online support. This catalog, posted on Delphi
by Frank Succardi, the Owner of CyberTech Computer Systems, lists his
available software and hardware for you to peruse. CyberTech has been
selling Atari systems since 1982! I'm glad to see more Atari dealers
online! Delphi.
[] DARKLYTE is the Darklyte 1993 graphical adventure game by Howard
Tilley (dated April 25, 1993). This STOS game works with my TOS 1.62
STE and with the Falcon 030 when you use STOSFX30 (STOS fixer v.3.0).
The game is a space game similar to the Space crusade/Hero Quest. You
have four droids which you must control using your mouse. There are
four droids which are attacking you which you must defeat. The playing
field is a grass and pit filled grid in the middle of a blazing
planets and rocket ships background. You attack the enemy droids with
a number of possible weapons ranging from a stubby penknife to awesome
powergloves. Buy extra supplies, receive injections of energy, etc.,
etc.. This is an easily controlled and visually pleasing game. It
looks like you will have to strategize to win. Docs included. Color
only. Shareware. Delphi.
[] F030DEMO is the Falcon Demo Listing FAQ, or Frequently Asked
Questions. This FAQ is a text file by Mr.XY - GoreMaster of the
GoreZone (v. 0.9 from Sept. 12, 1994) which is a list of all demos he
has seen or heard of for the Falcon. It tells you what monitors you
need to run them and gives a rating for some of them. I would say that
if you have a Falcon this would be a very useful file! Delphi.
[] GVW_306 is GEM-View v.3.06 .PAX file, this being the main part of
GEM-View v.3.06 by Dieter Fiebelkorn (released in North America on
July 1, 1994). You will need to find GVW_DOC3.PAX, GVW_MDL1.PAX, and
GVW_TOL2.PAX from previous versions to get the full program (just do
an online search for GEM View). GEM View is a program I liked and used
so much that I registered it! This is a minor upgrade from v.3.05
(fixes some bugs, etc.). If you have a picture file, this program will
likely show it (about 35 _basic_ formats with support for variations
within formats)!
Previous descriptions of this program have run over a page, but this
time I'm just saying, "Get This!" if you work with images of any type.
GEM-View now comes in a modular format allowing you to customize
GEM-View to view the pictures you normally encounter (saving memory
and loading time). GEM-View is fast and will allow you to load and
display, and save pictures in a variety of graphic formats (including
JPEG pictures, in which format your pictures can now be saved yielding
huge file size savings!) in any desired resolution and virtual size
(BigScreen) on the ATARI ST/TT/Falcon series of computers. Most
Graphic cards work, too. This version includes a neat slide show
feature and an even more useful picture cataloging feature.
It's amazing how this program keeps on being improved! GEM-View is
either an .ACC or .PRG (just rename it). If your machine can't handle
the colors in the picture (ST Low doesn't have 256 colors to display a
GIF file!) GEM-View will massage the picture until it fits. You can
also adjust contrast, brightness, colors shown, cut and paste, and
more, all to make the picture look even better. Do you want to convert
a picture from one type to another? GEM-View will do that, too. I'd
better quit! A Zillion other features and utilities are included (WinX
2.10, GEMRAM v.1.5, VIDFIX, GEM-View, and more - all in the extra
files from previous versions). Color or mono. Delphi.
[] MAILINGS is an Atari Works Word Processor file (STW) plus a
separate ASCII doc file for the printing of #10 envelopes and 2.75x5
inch mailing labels for parcels, boxes, etc. Requires Atari Works with
Dutch font. That's right: both #10's AND Labels in ONE document, with
NO reconfiguring to print ANY combination! Tested on the DeskJet.
Requires a color monitor. File 3321 on the CodeHead BBS.
[] OCR130 is OCR v.1.30 by Alexander Clauss (Dated August 10, 1994).
This freeware program will allow you to load in a scanned image of a
text and train the software to recognize the letters and transform
them into straight ASCII text. This version fixes a number of small
bugs and adds some useful features. One very nice feature is that the
program and documentation has been translated into English, so now I
can figure out how to use the piles of features this program offers!
It even has online help using ST-Guide and 1st-Guide.
You can create font dictionaries for each of the fonts you regularly
experience and save them for future use. That way you don't need to
"train" the software each time, but if the software does make a
mistake, you can easily correct it. You can set the scanning to
various levels of exactness which will allow you to balance accurate
character recognition with speed of execution, depending on the
cleanness of your scanned .IMG. You can even tell the program to
ignore stray pixels, which could mess up your conversion big-time
otherwise!
There's a separate mode to handle images from drawing packages where
the texts were written using the system and/or GDOS fonts which takes
much less computer time. ST--Falcon compatible, color or mono, and
requiring at least 500K free RAM, this program seems to work as
advertised. It certainly works well on the supplied text image file
(which looked like a regular hand scan, i.e., pretty cruddy). Of
course, you will need a scanner to create the images to convert in the
first place (or know someone who has one!). I recommend this file to
you. Voluntary contributions to the author are most welcome!
[] OSUTILS is a set of two little programs which do nothing but turn
the Falcon030's overscan mode on and off. Install them on your desktop
for easy use! File 3316 on CodeHead BBS.
[] PLMPEG60 is Play MPEG v.0.60 by Griff, aka. Martin Griffiths (dated
Sept. 17, 1994). This Falcon-only DSP MPEG animation player is around
30 times faster than the generic MPEG player ported to the Falcon from
the NeXT (MPEGPLAY). THis one works in VGA and RGB, and switches res
correctly even with NVDI 2.5 on the Falcon. This is a demo, and waits
3 seconds when loading, as well as only working in grayscale. Docs on
ordering the full version are included. Delphi.
[] STEVES03 is the third edition of Steve's AtariNOTES!. Steve, of
Steve's Software, has produced this catalog using InfoDisk, the
Newsletter producing program from Fair Dinkum Technologies. Dated July
18, 1994, this catalog is jam packed with interesting articles
reviewing hardware and software, news about the BBS STeve's supports,
and (of course) pricing and availability of their products. An
interesting read. Thanks for your online presence, STeve! Delphi.
[] STNEWS92 is ST News vol. 9 issue 2 by Richard Karsmakers (the
author of the Ultimate Virus Killer distributed by Oregon Research
Associates as well as a number of other programs). ST News (dated July
23, 1994) is a fascinating disk magazine with an excellent interface.
It's full of wild interviews (with Stuart Coates, Dan "NeoDesk/Geneva"
Wilga, Anne "Dragonriders of Pern" McCaffrey, and more) , great
software and hardware reviews, game cheats, music, GFA Basic
tutorials, D-Day in Europe, Jaguar reviews, Falcon compatibility
lists, and more.
I had a lot of good laughs from one article by D.W. Stables telling
some of the interesting conversations he has had in Atari sales. I
really recommend it! It will work with any ST--Falcon, even on a TOS
1.0 1/2 meg machine). It does require a 81 Track, 11 sector formatted
double-sided floppy (900K) or a hard drive to run since it is over
890K. I will format a disk this size to send STNEWS92 to you. Instead
of the normal $4 for a single file copy I'm asking $5 because I have
to format a disk and copy the files to that floppy by "hand" which
slows things down considerably. It's still worth it! There is a zipped
file on this disk which contains programming examples. Use STZIP26 to
uncompress that file. Delphi.
[] SWABS is a program by Scott Ettinger designed to switch your
Falcon030 and non-VGA (MultiSync or Atari SC1224, or ?) monitor into
the 1600x600 mode (well, this one seems to do 1600x603). This program
allows you to actually use the 1600x603x16 environment for any
programs! The author reports that it looks great with AtariWorks! File
3318 on the CodeHead BBS.
Whew! That's it for now! I hope you enjoy searching through the online
world for these files. Hopefully the addresses I've given you can help
to find them. Let me know if I can help. Until next time!
All of these files can be found on one or more of the following
on-line services: Delphi (MRBURKLEY), GEnie (M.BURKLEY1) The CodeHead
BBS (213-461-2095), Toad Computers BBS (410-544-6999), and at Toad
Hall, now the official BBS of the Boston Computer Society
(617-567-8642) (as Michael R. Burkley). I've figured out how to reply
to InterNet messages if you write me at MRBURKLEY@Delphi.COM.
Drop me a line!
Michael lives in Niagara Falls, NY. He is a former Polyurethane
Research Chemist and is presently the pastor of the Niagara
Presbyterian Church.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Delphi Atari Advantage News
||| Courtesy: Gordie Meyer
/ | \ Delphi: BIBLINSKI
----------------------------------------------------------------
For immediate release:
In an attempt to make the Internet a little less daunting to access,
DELPHI's Atari Advantage SIG is now offering two new Internet features
to its members, both designed to make the task of maneuvering in and
around the 'net less intimidating for novice Internet users.
The first offering is called an Internet Gopher. First developed at
the University of Minnesota, Gophers use a system of menus to access
sites on the 'net. Simply choose an item number from the menu, and you
are presented with the next menu, until you find the particular thing
you want. The Gopher in DELPHI's Atari Advantage SIG Gopher currently
has a few Atari-specific Gopher sites on its menus, including the
HENSA site in the UK, and will be adding more as they are located.
The second offering, just out of development by DELPHI, is a means to
access the World Wide Web. WWW is another way to access sites around
the world, and uses a form of hypertext instead of menus. Because of
inherent delays due to using a packet-switching network for access,
the WWW access for DELPHI is currently limited to an ASCII based
interface. It displays pages in straight ASCII, using index numbers
for branching to other pages and file areas. (Those index numbers
appear within the text of the page inside square brackets, e.g. [1].)
WWW pages are maintained by people all over the world, with all kinds
of subject matter available. WWW pages with an Atari flavor have
already been added to the WWW menu, and each of them have additional
Atari-oriented pages that can be accessed easily and quickly. The ease
of using WWW almost assures it will be the future of Internet access.
Both of these offerings greatly decrease the effort needed to locate
and obtain information from the Internet. Program files, data files,
text files... all can be downloaded to your system with little or no
problem. Both offerings require that members have Internet access on
DELPHI, but at just $3 a month, the benefits certainly outweigh the
expense. Combined with DELPHI's 20/20 plan, you can access the
Internet for little more than $1.15 an hour. And, since DELPHI has no
surcharge for high speed access (up to 14.4 in some areas), it is
easily the most economical of all the major online services.
To sign up for DELPHI, simply use your modem to dial up 1-800-365-4636.
Press <RET> a couple times to sync up, then enter IP26 at the
Password: prompt. Or for more information, call 1-800-695-4005 and
talk with one of DELPHI's friendly Customer Service representatives.
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-- kit for free. --
-- --
-- --==--==-- CompuServe Sign-Up Information --==--==-- --
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--==--==--==--==--
||| Developing news!
||| Items of interest from TOS platform developers and supporters
/ | \ -------------------------------------------------------------------
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Compo Announces Screenblaster II
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Screenblaster II - The Falcon Standard
Screenblaster II is the resolution enhancement system for the Atari
Falcon030. Combining powerful performance, easy installation, and an
affordable price, Screenblaster II can increase the resolution
displayed on your monitor (number of pixels) over 300%.
Screenblaster II is simply plugged in between the computer and the
monitor adapter plug. An additional control cable is inserted into one
of the paddle ports. That's it! Hardware installation is complete in
seconds. Then with the Screenblaster II software it is possible to
select one of many extended resolutions from an easy-to-use GEM menu,
including 768x576, 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x832, and 1280x960. The
preset menus support VGA, SVGA, Multiscan, and Atari monitors.
New in version 2:
An entirely new, mouse-controlled Resolution Menu lets you select the
resolution and number of colors at bootup or from the desktop. The
menu has user definable options for controlling the menu's operation
and behavior.
The new Video Mode Generator lets you edit resolution menus to
customize the menus for your monitor. You can even create new
resolutions! Fast and easy to use, the Video Mode Generator gives you
the most your Falcon030 and monitor have to offer.
Screenblaster II also includes Screenblanker, a configurable screen
saver for your Falcon030 with Screenblaster II.
Screenblaster II is now available for $99.95.
Screenblaster II upgrade : Upgrades from version I are available from
COMPO Software for $25.00. The upgrade includes the Screenblaster II
software and the new Screenblaster II manual (hardware is unchanged).
COMPO Software Corp.
104 Esplanade Avenue Suite 121
Pacifica CA 94044 USA
Tel: 415-355-0862
Fax: 415-355-0869
GEnie: COMPO
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// STraight FAX Upgrade
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>>To all STraight FAX! 2 owners:
STraight FAX! V2.20 upgrades are available as follows:
Send your name, address, the 10 digit Registration Number and $5.00
(US funds only) to the following address:
STraight FAX! 2.20 Upgrade P.O. Box 122 Columbia, Maryland 21045-0122
USA
Do not include your original STraight FAX! 2 Master Disk. The 2.20
upgrade will be mailed to you on a new upgrade disk.
For upgrade orders outside of North America please add $2.00 (US) for
shipping costs.
In addition, upgrades may be ordered via credit card by calling Toad
Computers at 410-544-6943 and providing the information above, along
with a major credit card number. Credit Card orders may also be sent
to our GEMail address of "C.S.SMETON" on GEnie.
Please allow two weeks for delivery.
No version 2.20 upgrade orders will be processed unless a valid
STraight FAX! 2 Registration Card has been previously received.
As of this time all upgrade orders received have been processed with
the exception of one or two that forgot to include the Registration
Number, which are being processed this week.
There are a few "new" features in the official STraight FAX! 2.20
release that were not in the STraight FAX! 2.20 Pre-Release that was
sent in GEMail a few months ago:
- If Auto Receive is enabled or if a Scheduled Event is Pending or In
Progress and Scheduling is not paused, then the program will
automatically close an open dialog box, cancelling the operation
(i.e. exit as if the Cancel button is selected) after 5 minutes of
inactivity. This allows the program to resume normal operation if a
dialog is accidentally left on the screen. Note: there is no method
that allows the program to timeout from an Alert Box, the File
Selector or a menu that has dropped down from the Menu Bar.
- An activated Popup Menu will now automatically close (as if the
selection was cancelled) after 60 seconds of inactivity.
- In a View Window, the Clip Area can be restored to its previous
state via the Undo key. This allows restoring the previous Clip Area
when the Clip Area is accidentally changed.
- In a View Window, the contents of a Clip Area may be copied or moved
to another area within the image without using the Clipboard.
If either Shift Key is held down when dragging a Clip Area to a new
position, the mouse cursor will change to a solid cross shape. When
the left mouse button is released, the contents of the Clip Area
prior to the drag operation will be copied into the new Clip Area's
location.
If the Control Key is held down when dragging a Clip Area to a new
position, the mouse cursor will change to an outlined cross shape.
When the left mouse button is released, the contents of the Clip
Area prior to the drag operation will be moved into the new Clip
Area's location.
If the 'Prompt for Options when Pasting' Check Box is enabled in the
Clipboard Paste Options, then the Clipboard Paste Options dialog
will be displayed, allowing the 'Paste Mode' to be changed before
doing the copy or move operation. The copy or move operation may
also be cancelled. If the operation is cancelled, the Clip Area will
revert to its previous location.
The other Check Box parameters in the Clipboard Paste Options dialog
will have no effect on the copy or move operation as the size of the
source and destination Clip Areas are the same. If the Clip Area is
not moved (i.e. source and destination are identical), then no copy
or move operation will take place.
- STraight FAX! will now check for Mag!X (from 2B in Germany)
Multi-tasking AES replacement and disable using submenus or 3D
objects as these are not supported yet by Mag!X (although it reports
an AES version of 3.99, which indicates that these features should
be available). Mag!X will also be recognized as a Multi-tasking AES
and allow operation similar to that under Geneva or Multi-TOS.
- The problem that caused a Memory Violation error that killed the
STFAX process when initializing the FAX modem into Receive FAX mode
has been corrected.
- Cover Page Entry:
The 'Clear' button will clear all the fields in the Cover Page.
- Two new Error Alert messages will now be displayed:
"Error: Unable to execute the Speedo GDOS Printer Drivers utility!"
is displayed if STraight FAX! is unable to execute the Speedo GDOS
Printer Drivers utility (DRIVERS.PRG). The usual cause of this
problem is that the DRIVERS.PRG file is not located in the GDOS
folder (as specified by the PATH= line in the ASSIGN.SYS file) or a
folder that is listed in the PATH= Environment Variable.
Solution: Copy/move the DRIVERS.PRG file into the GDOS folder or a
folder that is listed in the PATH= Environment Variable.
"Error: Unable to execute the External Text Editor program!"
is displayed if STraight FAX! is unable to execute the External Text
Editor program specified in the File Preferences dialog. Verify that
the External Text Editor program file exists as configured.
- The FAX Send/Receive Receive Log Information dialog - The Entry
number field now displays the current entry number and the total
number of entries:
i.e.
Entry: 100 of 205
- Fixed problem with program asking to save the preferences when
exiting after the have been saved and not changed.
- Added new 'Sub Menus' Checkbox to the General Preferences to
disable the use of SubMenus (Hierarchical Menus). This Checkbox will
be hidden from view if the AES version in use does not support Sub
Menus. Some third party AES replacements do not handle Sub Menus
properly in their early releases. Disabling Sub Menus will allow
operation with these AES replacements.
- Added new 'Display Dialogs' Popup Menu to the General Preferences to
specify where dialogs are positioned. This popup has the following
choices:
At Last Position - Displays a dialog at the last position that it
was displayed at (This is how the program had
operated previously). This option allows
specifying the position that a particular
dialog will always be displayed.
Centered About Mouse - Displays a dialog centered about the mouse,
but constrained to the Desktop area. This
option will reduce the mouse movement when
using high resolution graphics display
(i.e. Moniterm and other graphics cards).
Centered on Desktop - Displays a dialog centered on the Desktop.
- Added a 'None' option to the Desktop Popup Menu in the Desktop
Preferences. The 'None' selection will disable the custom STraight
FAX! Desktop and use the default system Desktop. This may be
desirable when using a Multi-Tasking AES (i.e. Multi-TOS).
When the 'None' option is selected, the Color and Fill selectors
will be hidden from view.
>>To all:
STraight FAX! 2.10 and 2.20 can be run as a Desk Accessory (memory and
available desk accessory slots permitting) under normal TOS,
MultiTOS, Geneva, Mag!X, etc. It can also be installed from
MultiDesk/MultiDesk Deluxe, but it is should be installed as a
resident accessory in order to receive FAXes while a GEM application
is running.
When installed as a desk accessory, the Auto Receive mode will check
for an incoming RING on the modem and "take over" for the time that
the FAX is being received. Upon completion of the call, the control is
returned to the GEM application running.
Note: under Multitasking AES versions, the same functionality is
available by running STraight FAX! as a program.
>>To all:
Printing (received) FAX files via GDOS:
FAX files should print properly under all versions of GDOS, i.e.
Atari GDOS 1.1, Font GDOS, FSM GDOS, Speedo GDOS 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 and
5.0, as well as the available GDOS replacements. The problem most
people experience is lack of available memory and the proper GDOS
printer driver for the type of GDOS and printer in use.
With the exception of the SLM Laser GDOS printer drivers, the other
printer drivers return no status code of why a driver failed to load
or print, paper jam, out of paper, etc. Most likely the reason for a
failure is the lack of memory. It is best to check the available RAM
while STraight FAX! is running by using a utility such as the General
CPX in XControl. To this subtract the approximate size of the GDOS
printer driver .SYS file. The remainder is the approximate amount of
memory available for printing. For 300 DPI devices such as DeskJets
and LaserJets, 1 Meg free is what is recommended to have available for
printing.
Speedo 4.X and 5.X seem to use the same printer drivers, but Speedo
5.X does use more memory that 4.X, which may be the reason for
printing problems.
The printer drivers for the original GDOS are available from a number
of sources and some may not work very well and are very slow in
printing. The Font GDOS and Speedo GDOS drivers available from Atari
and Compo are generally alot faster and less buggier than the original
GDOS drivers. The one exception is the HP DeskJet 500 driver in Font
GDOS which has a serious bug that causes it to emit page after page
with random characters. This problem was corrected in the Speedo GDOS
release of the HP DeskJet 500 driver.
Note: The HP LaserJet driver may work with a DeskJet, but the
LaserJet driver will be alot slower because it does not use the PCL
Level IV compression mode for the bitmapped printer data that the
DeskJet drivers use.
If you are memory limited, try exporting the FAX files to IMG files in
STraight FAX! and try printing with another program, such as GEM
Output/ Migraph Outprint and GDOS, or Calamus. Note when using
Output/Outprint, be sure to have the Meta File Generation check box
enabled in the Conversion Preferences dialog, so that the .GEM file is
created with the .IMG file.
>>To all:
Generating FAX files (for sending) via GDOS:
The STraight FAX! Speedo GDOS printer driver should work with Speedo
5.X as well as Speedo 4.X. Again, memory limitation problems may be
experienced when using Speedo 5.X, due to its larger size.
Charles Smeton NewSTar Technology Management
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Towers II - PLIGHT OF THE STARGAZER
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
....... Is Coming Soon to a FALCON near you!
TOWERS II, is an RPG for the Atari Falcon 030 computer.
It features:
--> Smooth Scrolling.
--> Window (168x110) or full screen (320x200) movement.
--> Runs in True Color mode, and makes good use of color.
--> Plays MOD music at 50 Khz Stereo.
--> Sounds effects are in stereo.
--> Over three times the size of Towers for the ST.
--> Can be launched from MultiTOS or BlowUP.
--> Requires appx 2megs of Free RAM and 4megs of HD space.
--> Can run on a VGA monitor, RGB monitor, or TV.
--> Powerful spells and weapons.
--> Real-time combat.
--> And much more...
TOWERS II, is being released as a 'Try Before You Buy' product. You can
progress through several levels before you need to order the manual.
The Manual will Retail for only $24 US, and will be available directly
from us, or through participating resellers.
Date of release should be around late October, 1994. Screen shot TIFFs
have been released on several boards. Look for 'TOWRSIIP.ZIP'.
JV Enterprises
PO Box 97455
Las Vegas, Nevada 89193
(702) 734-9689
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// New CDs from IAR
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Visions CD Rom:
The Visions CD rom is a collection of 500 great photographs from the
Preferred Stock photo archives. All images are royalty free and come
in 640 by 480 and 800 by 600 resolutions. The images are categorized
into subjects are varied as: animals, art, backgrounds, churches,
fractals, holidays, plants, Eastern US, Western US, seasons, still
lifes, and ray traces.
These are top quality images that have a high degree of use. Visions
has a retail price of $39.99.
//// Sentimental Wings:
Sentimental Wings looks at the aircraft that helped set the pace of
the future, from the beginning of the Cold war through the fall of the
Soviet Union.
You get dramatic full color 24 bit images as well as 256 format.
Images were taken by long time aviation buff, Fred Lloyd, and have
not been previously published. They are all new.
You'll see pictures of such classics as the P-51, Mustang, P-40
Warhawk, the F-1xx series including the F-100, F-101, F-102, F-105,
F-106, SR-71 Blackbird, U-2 spy plane, B-47, B-52, the Phantom F-4,
and more.
All images are in GIF, TIF, JPG, and BMP formats for easy viewing with
your favorite image viewer. The CD is dated June 1994. Sentimental
Wings has a retail of $39.99.
//// QRZ Ham Radio:
The QRZ Ham radio Cd rom, version 3, has the most up to date US FCC
ham radio license information with 643,000 names, addresses and call
signs. All databases are in coma deliminated ASCII format.
Included are 115,000 call signs from the UK, Italy, and England. This
totals over three quarter of a million call signs and addresses!
USENET Ham Radio News archives
WAV files for TNC testing
Atari packet radio application
QRZ Ham Radio has a retail of $29.99.
//// Internet Info:
The Internet Info CD contains a sample of the wealth of information
available on the Internet. The Internet is a network linking
thousands of universities, research labs, and high tech companies
throughout the whole world. The Internet has been called the
"Information Superhighway".
You get 12,000 documents about computers and networks:
Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ's)
Internet FRC's and IEN's
Computer security documents
Internet network maps
Usenet technical discussions
Ftp sites and descriptions of the files they contain.
Extensive bibliographies and technical book reviews
Documents and standards from IEEE, ISO, NIST, and ANSI plus more
Like the Internet itself, the amount of information on this CD is
overwhelming! Internet Info has a retail of $39.99 It's All Relative
offers all the above CD's at $10.00 off the suggested retail price.
Internet Info ........................ $29.99
QRZ Ham Radio ........................ $19.99
Sentimental Wings .................... $29.99
Visions CD ........................... $29.99
Pick up a copy of ExtenDOS Pro too for only $29.99, $10.00 off the
suggested retail price.
Write:
Randall Kopchak
It's All Relative
2233 Keeven Lane,
Florissant, MO 63031 USA
All orders are shipped postpaid, worldwide.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// New Horizons' TT RAM Offer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
OK TT owners, hungry for RAM! Wanna load all those 24 bit
colour files? Need the room? Want expansion? Well.....
pricing has been confirmed with GE Soft and we have sourced
4Meg SIMMs to populate the board to your liking!
THE SALE IS ON!
---------------
The Sale hinges on a minimum prepaid order of 10 unpopulated
boards or it won't fly. So participation (i.e. orders) becomes
mandatory!
Pricing is: US$ CDN$
---------- --------- ---------
Unpopulated GE Soft TT RAM Board $ 369.99 $ 499.99
Populated 16Megs with 70ns RAM $1,099.99 $1,489.99
Populated 32Megs " " " $1,799.99 $2,489.99
Oh yeah..... did I mention...
this is for a TT/64 board!!
(The TT/32 has been discontinued)
Populated 64Megs with 70ns RAM $3,229.99 $4,429.99
RAM prices being somewhat volatile at best, we can only offer
populated boards subject to availability and price fluctuations
that may be beyond our control.
All boards will be test run before shipment to ensure the unit
functions properly and the RAM is reliable.
The prices DO NOT include: Brokerage, Duty, State, Local or
Federal Taxes. Canadian orders add 7% GST.
Allow $30.00 extra for UPS Express, insured delivery. Price
may fluctuate with exchange rates or pricing on SIMMs.
All orders prepaid VISA, MasterCard, certified cheque or Money
Order. We MUST HAVE a signed authorization from you to charge
your purchase to your credit card. A FAX of same with full
credit card information is fine according to our bank ;-)
If 20 boards are ordered, a further 5% price reduction will be
applied! But HURRY, pricing can change with the foreign
currency markets & SIMM prices!
Orders can be confirmed to:
---------------------------
Mail: New Horizon Computer Systems Ltd.
Suite 280, 11012 Macleod Trail South,
Calgary, Alberta,
T2J 6A5.
FAX: (403) 271-1398
EMail: K.BROOKS1
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Flash II - Version 2.21
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Missionware Software is pleased to announce the release of version
2.21 of Flash II. This is our fifth update. Flash II originally went
up for sale in April of 1992. Version 2.21 fixes a number of problems
discovered by our customers and beta testers over the past few months.
We've added a number of enhancements as well! If you already own a
version of Flash II just download the file F22UP.LZH and use it to
patch your current version.
Flash II is the update to the most popular Atari ST telecommunications
program ever! It's available exclusively from Missionware Software
and at an affordable price! Flash II is completely rewritten by Paul
Nicholls of Clayfield, Australia. But don't let that fool you! Flash
II has the same look and feel as previous versions of Flash...plus a
slew of new features to boot! And it's just as easy and fast to use
for the telecommunications beginner or pro!
The new features of Version 2.21 include:
* Fully Falcon030 compatible!
* Enhanced DEC VT Terminal emulations including the ability to swap
the functions of the Delete and Backspace keys for conformance to
standard DEC terminals.
* Enhanced ANSI terminal and graphics.
* History buffer is now included for Type Ahead editor.
* Full support for all Atari serial ports on TT030 and MegaSTe as well
as baud rates up to 153600.
* Terminal mode now displays either the real time clock or a timer.
When the timer is displayed, it now runs all the time.
* Search-Next mode added in editor. Control-F9 keystrokes can be used
for this new function.
* Enhanced DO scripting language, including:
PORT: Selects the port to be used.
CLOCK: Selects Clock display in terminal mode.
TIMER: Selects Timer display in terminal mode.
DBPATH: Sets path for Block file operations.
KERMIT: Selects various Kermit transfer options.
BREAK: Sends a BREAK during script operations
Naturally, all of your old favorite Flash II features are still
available:
* DO script files compatible with older versions of Flash!
* All macros use the familiar Flash DO script format!
* Easily setup the parameters for each BBS you call...this includes
everything from ASCII upload/download options to baud rate!
* You can program up to 20 individual and separate macros for each
BBS plus an additional 10 global macros !
* Displays RLE & GIF pictures either on or off line! You can also
save or load these pictures for later review!
* Supports the following terminal types: TTY, VIDTEX, VT52, ANSI,
VT100, VT101, VT102, VT200, VT300 & PRESTEL.
* Includes full support for RTS/CTS. This mode can now be turned
on and off by the user.
* Includes Automatic Answer mode!
* Includes Auto Boards mode - Preselect the board(s) you wish to dial
and when Flash II is launched either manually from the desktop by
you, or automatically by some other program launcher, Flash II will
wakeup and dial the board(s) you've got selected. It will also wait
for the proper time to dial these boards.
* Includes full featured GEM text editor with: merge, block
commands, cut & paste, search & replace, paragraph reformating; user
tab settings, page width, full keyboard cursor and delete control
and more!
* Supports the ST, IBM and DEC character sets, including IBM/ANSI
graphics characters!
* Includes Silent Line for background file transfers!
* Supports the following upload/download protocols: ASCII, Xmodem,
Ymodem, Ymodem-G, Zmodem, Modem7, WXmodem, CIS B, Kermit and SEAlink!
And all of these protocols are built into the program...no external
modules required!!!
* Zmodem supports the selection of AutoStart and Streaming options.
If you prefer to use an external Zmodem protocol with Flash II, you
can now force Flash II's Zmodem autostart mode to off. For BBS' that
don't support "streaming", this too can now be turned off.
* Logs all on line time and calculates your approximate costs for you!
* New version written in assembler! Fast!
* Runs on all ST, STe, TT030 and Falcon computers!
* Supports "Install Application". You can create a DO script that
can be used to launch Flash II from the desktop and force it to dial
up and go online for you, all automatically!
* Both the Terminal and Editor have been enhanced significantly for
both speed and ease of use. You'll be amazed at how fast the new
Flash II is!
Missionware Software's upgrade policy remains the same for the new
Version 2.21! We will continue to upgrade any old version of Flash!
(copyright Antic Software) for just $30 US, plus $4 shipping and
handling (US and Canada), $8 worldwide. Or, you can purchase Flash
II, version 2.21 outright, for only $49.95 US plus the shipping and
handling charges applicable to your area. To order, or for more
information, contact:
Missionware Software
354 N. Winston Drive
Palatine, IL 60067-4132
United States of America
Phone 708-359-9565
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// ExtenDOS Pro from Anodyne
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
ExtenDOS Pro: the complete CD solution
--------------------------------------
Now you can have your data and audio too! With ExtenDOS Pro, you can
play audio CDs as easily as you can access the data on CD-ROMs. Put a
CD-ROM in your drive, and access it like a large removable hard disk,
or pop in an audio CD and use the included program to turn your CD-ROM
drive into an audio player.
Audio support
-------------
ExtenDOS Pro includes the following audio
functions:
. play/pause/stop/eject
. track/index forward or back
. skip forward or back
. cd repeat/shuffle.
These are provided through an interface visually similar to a
standard audio CD player, with clearly-marked buttons and a complete
time/track display. If you have more than one attached CD-ROM drive,
you can control each of them individually from the same easy-to-use
control panel.
ExtenDOS Pro conforms to the proposed CD-ROM software interface
standard, simplifying use of CD audio by third-party products. Further
details are available on request from Anodyne Software at the address
below.
Data support
------------
ExtenDOS Pro also satisfies your CD-ROM data needs. You can access
any ISO9660 or High Sierra format CD-ROM as if it were a removable
hard disk, switch between supported disk formats without a reboot, and
access files of any size. It even provides a built-in configurable
cache facility to speed up data access. And with the right drive,
ExtenDOS Pro supports single-session or multisession photoCD as well.
Hardware requirements
---------------------
ExtenDOS Pro requires a SCSI CD- ROM drive connected directly to a
SCSI port, or connected to an ACSI port via an ICD AdSCSI (or
equivalent) host adapter. ExtenDOS Pro runs on all TOS- based Atari
systems, including the ST, STe, Mega, TT, and Falcon. Supported
functions depend on the type of drive:
Function Type of drive
-------- -------------
read standard CD-ROMs Any
read single-session photoCD Most current drives
read multisession photoCD Selected drives, including the
NEC 74-1/84-1 and the Toshiba 3401
audio control/play Any fully SCSI-2 compatible drive;
selected SCSI-1 drives, including
models from NEC and Sony
For the latest information on supported drives, please contact Anodyne
Software via GEnie (R.BURROWS1), or via the Internet
(r.burrows1@genie.geis.com), or write to the address below.
Availability
------------
ExtenDOS Pro will be available beginning 15th August 1994 at a
suggested retail price of $39.95. Order from your local Atari dealer,
or directly from:
Anodyne Software
6 Cobbler Court
Ottawa
Ontario K1V 0B8
CANADA.
If ordering direct, please make your payment by cheque or money
order, in US$ for shipping to the U.S.A., in Canadian$ for shipping
within Canada. Ontario residents please add 8% sales tax.
Upgrades
--------
Until 30th September, existing owners of ExtenDOS may upgrade to
ExtenDOS Pro by sending the master diskette plus $10 (including
shipping) to the above address. After that date, the upgrade cost
will increase to $15. The upgrade includes a new manual. Please make
your payment by cheque or money order, in US$ for shipping to the
U.S.A., in Canadian$ for shipping within Canada. Ontario residents
please add 8% sales tax.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// DMC's New Calamus Modules & Upgrades
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
September 21, 1994
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DMC Publishing Customer Mailout
The past few months have seen many changes within DMC in various
parts of the world. Some of the programmers that have been with DMC
since the beginning have left to form their own company, writing
Calamus SL modules, while others have come on board full-time. The end
result to you, our customers, is even more people writing Calamus SL
modules while another team of Programmers concentrates on both the NT
version of Calamus and NT modules. The benefits of such
diversification will become apparent once we announce the availability
of even more new modules for Calamus SL which we believe you will all
find of great interest.
-----
- SEPTEMBER 94 UPGRADE FOR CALAMUS SL -
At this time I am very pleased to announce a new and exciting upgrade
for Calamus SL. Besides the usual bug fixes, cleanup and performance
enhancements, mostly transparent to our customers, a few new features
are now available. The first and foremost is Spot Color. Calamus SL
can now accomodate not only Spot Color but the automatic generation of
4 color separation of spot colors.
Another new feature, that will become more important to us all as time
passes, is the new enhancement to the Document Converter that allows
bi-directional compatibility between the NT version and this new Atari
version of Calamus.
The new Document Converter insures compatibility between your Calamus
SL documents and the various NT versions of Calamus: for the DEC
Alpha, MIPS, IBM Power PC or Intel computers.
A new frame type is now available, called Uniframe. When you apply
StarScreening, (more on this exciting new module later) for example,
to a raster graphic frame, a uniframe will result.
The TIFF export driver has been enhanced.
Your cost to upgrade from your existing August or November 93 update
of Calamus SL is US $49.95 or $70.00 Cdn.
If you own a version of Calamus SL prior to August 93, the upgrade
cost is US $119.95 or $170.00 Cdn.
-----
- FONTS -
Effective immediately until October 31, 1994, accompanied by your
upgrade order for Calamus SL, all our original professional
typesetters fonts in-house, licensed from such world-famous font
foundries as AGFA, Berthold, Linotype and URW, are $10.00 each,
providing you select at least 5 typefaces. Pick and choose your
favorites and get your order in now.
All our Calamus CFN's from your Atari are compatible with the Windows
NT version of Calamus.
-----
- NEW MODULES -
- StarScreening -
I am pleased to announce the release of the new StarScreening module.
This means that in addition to the great control we have always given
you over Analog-based raster graphics and settings, we can now offer
you the latest technology, FM or frequency modulated rastering
techniques, also called stochastic screening. Further, unlike others
that now have this capability, we do not require a PostScript RIP,
using our own internal SoftRipping technology instead. This allows us
to choose to define an FM raster by individual frame, even mixing and
matching the two different techniques on the same page.
The StarScreening module allows you to output FM rasters on laser and
ink jet printers, up to a resolution of 750 dpi. It includes control
lines for the adjustment of color and black and white output.
Your cost for this extraordinary module is US $150.00 or $210.00 CDN.
Look for sample TIFF's uploaded to GEnie, Delphi and Compuserve with
Starscreening already assigned. Download and test the result on your
printer today. You're going to love it!
There will be a PRO version of the StarScreening module that will
handle greater than 750 dpi. A price for this module has not yet been
set. Please contact us directly if you require further information.
-----
- Blend Module -
I was just informed last night that this new module will be ready
about the time you read this. The Blend Module is a tool for creating
raster graphic areas with gradient fill patterns. Choose between two
types of blends; linear and circular. Within each type of blend there
are a number of user-definable options for creating various styles of
blends. Again, look for samples on Genie, Compuserve or Delphi. Your
cost for the new Blend Module is US $50.00 or $70.00 CDN.
-----
- PageTool -
A great new module, PageTool, has also just been completed. Page Tool
allows you to view all pages in a document in thumbnail format, on
screen, as well as moving, inserting or deleting them. Samples will be
uploaded the next few days to better illustrate the power of this new
module. Your cost for the new PageTool Module is US $50.00 or $70.00
CDN.
-----
For those of you still using an earlier version of Calamus SL prior to
August 1993, you R E A L L Y N E E D T O U P G R A D E at
this time. Here is what was included in the last major upgrade as a
reminder for those of you that have not yet replaced your O L D, O U
T D A T E D version:
The last version, prior to this release, was from November 1993,
which in turn, was a maintenance update of the August 1993 version in
which the overall performance of Calamus SL was dramatically improved.
A number of significant features were added as well as new features
and modules which were included at that time.
1. An upgraded Text Module now includes both an Anchor Frame function
and a Leader Tab function that allows the use of any character as your
assigned Leader Tab character. The module also includes an improved
spellchecker and separate hyphenation dictionaries, improved vertical
text alignment, improved EM-space handling, the ability to insert and
search comments, manual kerning, inserting text style and text ruler
information.
2. The new ROTATE.CXM module gives us the ability to rotate Raster
Graphics in any degree with or without anti-aliasing. This means that
if you rotate a graphic that has straight lines, anti-aliasing will
smoothen the settings and remove stepping.
3. The new COL_CONV.CXM Color List Converter module generates a color
list from graphics that have been imported from Outline Art and other
sources. It can also generate a list from free colors designed within
the existing document.
4. The new COMPRESS.CXM is a compression module designed to save you
storage space by compressing bitmap images when saving your document.
Documents saved with compressed bitmap images will automatically
uncompress those images when the document is reloaded into Calamus SL.
5. The new CYMKSWAP.CXM module swaps color planes.
6. The new LIN.CXM Linearity module allows you to set color values
optimized for your particular printer. This module will be of special
interest to those of you with any color printer.
7. The RASTGEN.CXM Raster Generator module has been upgraded.
8. New drivers enclosed with this upgrade for Calamus SL include:
GEMIMG export, CVG export, a RAW import driver for bit planes, an
improved TIFF driver, an improved TARGA driver, an RPS driver for
Repro Studio and an improved GEM Metafile driver.
9. Set Layout/Working Area does automatic generation of both
registration marks and crop marks, color plane names, double-page
overlap, user definable settings and master page printing.
10. The new document feature provides quick access to any document
loaded into memory.
-----
If you require any additional information on any of our Atari
line of products, please don't hesitate to contact us directly at:
-----
DMC Publishing, Inc.,
2800 John Street, Unit 10,
Markham,Ontario,
Canada L3R 0E2
Tel: (905) 479-1880 Fax: (905) 479-1882
Compuserve: 76004,2246
Delphi: DMCPUBLISH
GEnie: DMCPUBLISH
Internet: DMCPUBLISH@GENIE.GEIS.COM
--==--==--==--==--
|||
||| Shutdown ............................ Power off, EXIT, BYE, Logoff
/ | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------
We welcome feedback from all of our readers; feedback both positive
and negative. Whatever you think of our efforts, we sincerely would
like to know. Our EMail addresses are sprinkled throughout each
issue - with the new Internet gateway into GEnie, you can reach us
through the Internet also. Append "@genie.geis.com" to any of our
GEnie addresses.
Until the next issue of AEO, I remain,
Your Editor
Travis Guy
Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com
--==--==--==--==--
(This issue printed on recycled photons)
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DNFTEC
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#1
Wide_left > 2*(Wide_right)
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No Inflation Necessary
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine is a bi-weekly publication covering the
entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless
otherwise noted at the beginning of the article, to registered Atari
user groups and not for profit publications under the following terms
only: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and
author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted
upon approval of request. Send requests to <aeo.mag@genie.geis.com>.
Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All
material herein is believed accurate at the time of publishing.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS,
MultiTOS, NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari
Portfolio, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all trademarks or registered
trademarks of Atari Corporation. All other trademarks and identifying
marks mentioned in this issue belong to their respective owners.
--==--==--==--==--
Atari Explorer Online Magazine
"Your Source for Atari News"
Copyright (c) 1993-1994, Subspace Publishers
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:: Volume 3 - Issue 12 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 9 October 1994 ::
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