791 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
791 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
_____________________________________
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ZMAGAZINE ^^^ -MEMORIAL DAY 1987-
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ISSUE #53 HOT ATARI NEWS AND REVIEWS
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_____________________________________
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PUBLISHER/EDITOR
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RON KOVACS
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_____________________________________
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ASST PUBLISHER: KEN KIRCHNER (KHK)
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REVIEWS: ERIC PLENT
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_____________________________________
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Xx Zmag May 25, 1987
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<*> TOP STORY
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ST Transformer Approved
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<*> CEBIT Part 2
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Concluding report from Antic
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Online.
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<*> HARDWARE REVIEW
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80 Column Card (XEP80)
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<*> SOFTWARE REVIEW
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GBA Basketball from Gamestar
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<*> Publishers Page
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_____________________________________
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Xx Zmag Top Story
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....ST-Transformer Approved!!!....
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_____________________________________
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Reprinted From MICHIGAN ATARI
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MAGAZINE by permission.
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By John Nagy
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DAREK MIHOCKA's ATARI
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800-in-an-ST-Program WILL BE RELEASED
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with ATARI's approval!
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NEIL HARRIS, spokesman for ATARI, has
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agreed (in a public message on the
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GEnie ATARI SIG) to allow both USE
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and DISTRIBUTION of the ATARI code
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within Darek's emulator. The
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permission is contingent on Darek's
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PUBLISHING the SOURCE CODE for his
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emulator, so that other programmers
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may be able to add their efforts.
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Neil says the object of this move is
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to increase the likelyhood of a truly
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versatile, full-speed emulator.
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As it stands now, the ST TRANSFORMER
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uses largely custom routines modeled
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after the ATARI ROM, with some code
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grafted into the program at startup
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by a port of the TRANSLATOR DISK (or,
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in another version, they are already
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within the emulator program). That's
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what ATARI had said that Darek could
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not legally do.
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At the BUFFALO ATARIFEST in late
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April, two user groups showed Darek's
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-ST TRANSFORMER- in operation. The
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author sent both the GENESEE ATARI
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GROUP (G.A.G., Flint, Michigan) and
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the WESTMORELAND ATARI COMPUTER
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ORGANIZATION (W.A.C.O., North
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Huntingdon, Pennslyvania) copies of
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the public domain emulator for
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demonstration only. Interest at both
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tables was brisk despite the
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uncomplete state of the program and
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the current slowness of execution
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(20%-40% -normal- speed depending, on
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the program). ATARI tried to ignore
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the demos.
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WACO members quizzed ATARI reps over
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the actual status of the TRANSLATOR,
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which was sent to all registered user
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groups for free distribution. Sandy
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first said that it WAS NOT SENT and
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remained ATARI'S property, then
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admitted that she didn't know for
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sure. At issue was what restrictions
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(if any) can now be put on the uses
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of the disks after years of free
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distribution.
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An intriguing facet of the conflict
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appeared when a program called XLFIX,
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available for sale in ANTIC
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MAGAZINE's public domain library, was
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found to work as well or better than
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the original ATARI disk. There are
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several other translators and
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operating systems available (both in
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the public domain and commercially -
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BOSSXL, NEWELL OSN, etc.). It
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appears that ATARI would first have
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to legally assert ownership and
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control of ALL the -translators- in
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order to get any legal claim against
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Darek for using one or more of them
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in his 800 emulator.
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The dark prospects of long and
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possibly unsuccessful legal action,
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together with petition drives,
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newsletter editorials, and comments
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running in most major
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telecommunication services and
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magazines - all in support of the ST
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TRANSFORMER - now seem to have gotten
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through to ATARI.
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In May, Neil Harris went on record
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saying that if Darek would only put
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his program source code in the public
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domain for further development by
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other programmers, then ATARI would
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give their permission for use and
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distribution of their operating
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system.
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Darek Mihocka was unwilling to
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release his source code as public
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domain, for he would then have given
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up any rights to his efforts.
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Fortunately, ATARI softened their
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position, changing their demand to
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simply the PUBLISHING of the code,
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with the rights to his work remaining
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with the author.
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Darek had previously contacted
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several other major ATARI-interest
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magazines about the possibility of
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their publishing the TRANSFORMER and
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source code in copyrightable form,
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but was turned down by each. The
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main reason was ATARI's vocal
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objection to the project and its
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legal questions. However, Neil
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stated in his May 15th messages that
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ANY magazine would be satisfactory,
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and that a formal proposal letter of
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permission would be sent within days.
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Richard Frick of ATARI called to
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confirm this on May 20.
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Darek will have the consent needed
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for any interested magazine to
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publish and distribute the ATARI ROM
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with the emulator, as well as any
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parts of DOS and BASIC that may help.
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Availability time, publishing
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timetable, and even which magazine
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will offer the program can only be
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guessed at. It is clear that
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wherever it is printed, ATARI wants
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no restrictions on distribution
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(i.e., ANTIC and its -no BBS- rule).
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Frick indicated that ATARI could
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influence ANTIC on this issue for
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this particular program if
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neccessary.
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All the flap hasn't slowed Darek's
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progress on the continuously
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developing project. He added SOUND,
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GTIA graphics, DOS MENUS, JOYSTICK
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CONTROL, and yes, PLAYER-MISSLE
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graphics to the already fairly
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capable emulator. The PLAYER-MISSLE
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routines were completed and donated
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by another sympathetic programmer.
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Speed improvements continue to be
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made.
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Throughout the months of discussion
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on the subject, Neil Harris and
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company at ATARI kept asking -Why
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would anyone want to use 8-bit
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software on an ST?-... Perhaps a
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much better question is -WHY NOT?-.
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WACO and other user groups WANT an
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emulator to provide SOME kind of
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link, however flawed, between the two
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products of ATARI CORP.
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Distribution of a successful emulator
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disk by ST dealers might be all some
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8-bit owners need to convince them
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that it is time for a system upgrade-
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or at least assure them that an
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upgrade in hardware won't mean an
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instant loss of 100% of the software
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they have grown with for years.
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Supplied by the CHAOS BBS (517)
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371-1106
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[Ed.]
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For a more detailed report on this
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story, Please read the June 1987
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issue of Computer Shopper Page 142!]
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_____________________________________
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Xx CEBIT 1987 Part 2
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...ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT
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1987. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.
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_____________________________________
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PART 2
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BY CHRISTIAN SCHMITZ-MOORMANN
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Let's start with new languages.
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Although there are many already, even
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more languages are offered for the
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ST. Some people even say that there
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is no other computer with more
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different languages available --
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languages not only for developers.
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Again, HEIM-Verlag has something for
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us. It is a powerful version of
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PROLOG that also supports GEM. The
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package consists of a compiler/
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interpreter system with around 140
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functions. It is called SALIX-PROLOG
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and costs around $120.
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More sophisticated is MProlog by
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Berlin-based Epsilon. MProlog is also
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available on other computers like
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VAX, Macintosh, IBM etc. It costs
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around $500 (?), and is designed for
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professional use.
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SMALLTALK-80 in its version 2.1,
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which has been ported to the ST by a
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group from Dortmund-university, is an
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object-oriented language which means
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that all is done by sending messages
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betwwen objects.
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Another language with an unusual
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concept is FORTH. LMI put out its
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FORTH-83 compatible version for the
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ST. This version is also compatible
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with other LMI-Forths for other
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computers. Alas, it does not support
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GEM, but it at least supports the TOS
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functions.
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A language that becomes more and more
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interesting for the hobbyist is
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MODULA-2. MEGAMAX is turning out its
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version and probably will be a worthy
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competitor against TDI.
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Not only new languages were shown.
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BASIC in new and more powerful
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versions enjoys a glorious revival.
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Three different BASIC systems were
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shown.
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First there was GfA who showed
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version 2.0 of their interpreter and
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the almost final version 1.71 of
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their compiler. Frank Ostrowski, the
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author of GfA-BASIC is now busy
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writing a GfA-macro-assembler, lets
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wait and see. GfA will be represented
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in the US by MICHTRON.
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The second BASIC shown was OMIKRON-
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BASIC which comes on a plug-in board
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for the ROM-port. It is even faster
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than GfA-BASIC in most functions, it
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calculates up to 19 decimals,
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supports matrices and a C-standard
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GEM-interface. It is MBASIC-
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compatible and there only is one
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problem. By the time it was
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published, most people had already
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bought GfA-BASIC.
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The third newcomer has another nice
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feature. True-BASIC is available for
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ATARI, IBM, AMIGA and MAC and between
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these it is fully portable. Like
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OMIKRON it offers matrices and it
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supports the full new ANSI-standard.
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It also has a special library for 3-D
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graphics.
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BUSINESS...
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There were quite a few applications
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presented, but most programs were
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dedicated to the German market with
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special attention to the German tax-
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system and other uniquely German
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necessities. Among those that are
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useful for any businessman was
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LOGISTIX, an integrated software
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-package which includes a
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spreadsheet, database, timeplanner
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and graphics. The demonstration was
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quite impressive, and the product
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seems very capable, but I'm not an
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expert in spreadsheets.
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Another database was presented by
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ATARI itself. ADIMENS-ST is fully
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GEM-integrated (well almost),
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extremly fast, powerful and a high-
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quality product. To bad it still
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lacks a programming language, which
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for me as a developer is
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indispensable. ATARI said it is
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underway, though, and should be
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available by July.
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A real goody was a piece of
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integrated software which was
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presented by a Yugoslavian firm. Its
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name is 'STEVE' and it is the most
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flexible spreadsheet I've seen, yet.
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One can do everything and nothing
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with it. It can be used as a
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spread-sheet naturally, a database,
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text-editor, graphic editor and
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mailing list facility. It allows
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user-definable function keys, two
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keyboard-tables, several fonts,
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abbreviations and dictionary in the
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text-editor and more. The program
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will retail in Germany for around DM
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250, which is about $110, but that
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was the maximum price. I'm waiting
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for this program!
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Again, ATARI offered '1st Word Plus'.
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This program cures most of the errors
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and oddities of the original 1st Word
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and adds some nice new features as
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well. It is going to be really
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difficult to make a choice between
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1st Word Plus and BECKER-text since
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both have nice features the
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competitor does not have and as well
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there are still wishes I have for
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both.
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TOOLS
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G-DATA, based in Dusseldorf, has been
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known over here for its quality
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utility software. They have improved
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some of their old programs and added
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new ones including a program to make
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a Hard disk capable of auto-booting
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and several programs to make backups
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of a hard disk which has some nice
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features including data-compression,
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and file size of more than disk size.
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The most powerful tool for disk-
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repair and editing is T.L.D.U. by
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FOCUS. This firm has made disk-
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monitors for years. T.L.D.U is fully
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programmable and the disk comes with
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some example-macros which offer a
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good way to learn the necessary
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commands. The programming language is
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very C-like. The current release does
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not read or write some copy-protected
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disks, but an update has been
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promised for June. T.L.D.U. also
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includes a disassembler and an
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extensive manual.
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KUMA presented its late releases of
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K- SWITCH and K-RESOURCE.
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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Finally there is some movement in the
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German mailbox and telecommunication
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community. Some good programs were
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at the show. DELUXE-Term supports
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GEM and is somewhat equal in comfort
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to FLASH, but it is possible to use
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1200/75 baud which is necessary for
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BILDSCHIRMTEXT, the German version of
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VIDEO-TEXT services.
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Another program, again offered by
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ATARI themselves, is 1st Terminal,
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that is completely GEM-based in
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conjunction with PROFIBOX, an
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excellent mailbox program. It is even
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possible to select from the PROFIBOX
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menues using your mouse when
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utilizing 1st Terminal.
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Both programs, the box and the
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terminal program have been written by
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Brain-Works from Rosenheim in
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Bavaria.
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Harm-Bastian (HABA), which resides in
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Hamburg, has released its HABACAD-PL
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layout program. The program
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addresses only professional
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hardware-developers and the price of
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DM3000 ($1200) seems rather hefty.
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No GEM support, but powerful routing
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routines.
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On the lower end of the price scale
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is STAD a drawing-program for 2-D and
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3-D objects. There are up to 15 2-D
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pages and an extra 3-D part. STAD
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offers the usual and some extra
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functions including sending/receiving
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via the serial port. The 3-D part is
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object-oriented like in EASYDRAW, the
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2-D part is not.
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However, it is possible to
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interchange data between the parts,
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thus allowing for a 2-D object-
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library. STAD also includes animation
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and 'realtime rotation'. STAD retails
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for DM 179.-($90).
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FINISHING UP
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A program I could not classify, but
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which I found a very appealing
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possibility to learn is 'SKYPLOT
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plus'.
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Just about anything that has to do
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with astronomy is in this program.
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Calculate eclipses, conjunctions,
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trails of selected comets or planets
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and stars. Two databases for the
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stars, one with 610 and one with
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15,383 stars are integrated. It is
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possible to find out how the night
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-sky above your house looks like, by
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putting in your geographical
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position. This program has much more
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possibilities. It retails for DM
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200,- ($100).
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I know that many things were
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described much too superficially, but
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this report was intended to give you
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an idea of what is happening in
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ATARI's stronghold. ATARI has sold
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over 120,000 STs (all models) in
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Germany alone. ATARI Germany has made
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up for almost 30% of ATARI's sales in
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1986.
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_____________________________________
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Xx Hardware Review
|
|
.....XEP80 80-Col. Board.....
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_____________________________________
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Copyright 1987 Antic Publishing Inc.
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XEP80 (80-column card)
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Atari Corp.
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1196 Borregas Avenue
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Sunnyvale, CA 94086
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(408) 745-2000
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$79.95, 16K disk
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It's here. Arriving at Antic just as
|
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we were about to go to press, the
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long-promised XEP80 80-column box is
|
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being manufactured at the Atari
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Corp.'s Taiwan manufacturing center
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and should be available in stores for
|
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$79.95 by the time you read this.
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The XEP80 displays 80 columns and 24
|
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rows of readable text on your screen.
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On monochrome monitors, this text is
|
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razor-sharp. It's also quite
|
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readable on a color monitor, though
|
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naturally the characters are smaller
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than standard 40-column Atari text.
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|
Either way, the XEP80 is far superior
|
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to any software-only commercial
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products that produce an 80-column
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display.
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COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE
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|
|
According to John Skruch, Atari's
|
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Associate Director for Software,
|
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AtariWriter 80 -- a new 80-column
|
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upgrade of the AtariWriter Plus word
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processor -- was undergoing final
|
|
testing at deadline and should also
|
|
be in the stores when the XEP80
|
|
arrives in June 1987.
|
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|
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AtariWriter 80 and a new 80-column,
|
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single-density version of Atari's
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Silent Butler personal finance
|
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program will be the first commercial
|
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software that runs on the XEP80.
|
|
However, early prototype versions of
|
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the XEP80 box were sent to major
|
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publishers of 8-bit software -- such
|
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as Batteries Included, Broderbund,
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XLEnt and OSS -- with the expectation
|
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that existing products will soon be
|
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updated for 80 columns.
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|
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Inexpensive 80-column trade-up prices
|
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for users of the existing AtariWriter
|
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Plus and Silent Butler will be
|
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offered by Atari, according to
|
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Skruch. But no prices for the
|
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software have been set as of this
|
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writing.
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|
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USING XEP80
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|
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The XEP80 is about the size of a 1030
|
|
modem (5 3/8 x 9 1/4 x 1-3/8 inches)
|
|
and weighs in at two pounds. It can
|
|
easily fit atop your disk drive.
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|
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The XEP80 connects to your Atari
|
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through either joystick port 1 or 2.
|
|
An XL/XE RCA-jack video cable carries
|
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the signal from the back of the XEP80
|
|
to your monitor. (Atari says the
|
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XEP80 display will not be
|
|
satisfactory on a televison set.)
|
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|
|
Keeping the system running is a small
|
|
9-volt power supply, the same power
|
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unit used with the 2600 videogame
|
|
system and the still-awaited Atari
|
|
1200-baud moderm. Note: The power
|
|
supply that came with our prototype
|
|
XEP80 tended to grow unusually hot.
|
|
|
|
The XEP80 also includes a parallel
|
|
printer port that uses the same
|
|
25-pin cable as the ST. If you hold
|
|
down the [SELECT] key when you boot
|
|
your computer, the XEP80 will serve
|
|
only as a parallel printer interface
|
|
-- without turning on the 80-column
|
|
display.
|
|
|
|
UTILITIES AND DEMOS
|
|
|
|
The disk that comes with the XEP80
|
|
contains the AUTORUN.SYS file which
|
|
installs the handler (which is only
|
|
about 200 bytes). Commented
|
|
MAC/65-compatible source code for the
|
|
handler is also included. Atari's
|
|
Lane Winner is credited as the main
|
|
designer of the XEP80 system.
|
|
|
|
The disk also features a number of
|
|
impressive demonstration programs
|
|
written in BASIC and assembly
|
|
language, as well as detailed
|
|
documentation and utility software
|
|
for inserting 80-column handler
|
|
rountines into your own programs.
|
|
|
|
The XEP80 handler introduces several
|
|
new commands to Atari BASIC. These
|
|
take the form of XIO statements
|
|
which:
|
|
- Invert the screen colors
|
|
(default is white text on a
|
|
black background).
|
|
|
|
- Enable underlining.
|
|
|
|
- Produce a blinking cursor.
|
|
|
|
- Mix double-width or double-
|
|
height text with standard-size
|
|
text.
|
|
|
|
- Mix blinking text (any width
|
|
or height) with standard text.
|
|
|
|
- Enable character-by-character
|
|
horizontal scrolling with a
|
|
POSITION statement and an XIO
|
|
statement.
|
|
|
|
The XEP80 is immediately compatible
|
|
with all software that supports E:
|
|
calls -- such as Atari BASIC
|
|
(versions A, B and C) and Atari DOS
|
|
2.5. During our tests, the XEP80
|
|
didn't work with DOS 2.0.
|
|
|
|
GRAPHICS
|
|
|
|
Built into the XEP80 is 8K of static
|
|
RAM, which is used as a screen
|
|
storage buffer to operate the display
|
|
faster. The XEP80 has two complete
|
|
character sets built in, the standard
|
|
XL/XE special character set and
|
|
Atari's international character set.
|
|
|
|
The XEP80 can draw high-resolution
|
|
bit-mapped graphics covering as much
|
|
as half the screen. However, the
|
|
80-column drawing routines are much
|
|
slower than standard 40-column
|
|
drawing. It took five minutes to
|
|
draw and fill a golfball-sized circle
|
|
in Graphics 8.
|
|
|
|
Drawing isn't simple either. The
|
|
PLOT and DRAWTO statements are not
|
|
supported and text windows are not
|
|
allowed. If your program crashes in
|
|
the middle of one of these lengthy
|
|
and complicated bit-map operations,
|
|
the display remains in bit-mapped
|
|
mode. You must reboot and start
|
|
again.
|
|
|
|
SUMMARY
|
|
|
|
If you're serious about an 80-column
|
|
display, the XEP80 won't disappoint
|
|
you. The text is outstanding on
|
|
monochrome monitors and acceptably
|
|
readable on composite color monitors.
|
|
Beginning and intermediate BASIC
|
|
programmers will want to explore new
|
|
ways to use the XEP80's additional
|
|
XIO commands. Advanced BASIC and
|
|
assembly language programmers will
|
|
enjoy adapting the XEP80 handler to
|
|
their favorite business software,
|
|
word processor or telecommunications
|
|
program.
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Xx Software Review
|
|
.....GBA BASKETBALL.....
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
GBA Basketball By:GAMESTAR $39.95
|
|
Reviewed by J.C. Cobb
|
|
|
|
GBA Basketball resembles ONE-ON-ONE
|
|
basketball for the eight-bit
|
|
machines, in as much as the play is
|
|
reatively the same, except that there
|
|
are two players per team instead of
|
|
one.
|
|
|
|
The scoring is the same, with two and
|
|
three point goals, foul shots, and
|
|
fouls. However, in GBA Basketball,
|
|
you have the option of setting your
|
|
offense or defense before the
|
|
beginning of each trip down court.
|
|
There are five diferant offensive
|
|
sets you can use, and four different
|
|
defenses.
|
|
|
|
Before beginning play, you have a
|
|
chance to select different talents
|
|
for your player, and designate skill
|
|
levels for each of those talents. You
|
|
then select a teammate from a list of
|
|
ten GBA 'superstars'. Try to pick a
|
|
superstar to compliment your player.
|
|
For example, if you set your player
|
|
to be a good inside player, then pick
|
|
a teammate who plays well on the
|
|
outside. I have found that making
|
|
yourself an excellent inside player
|
|
works quite well.
|
|
|
|
Now you have several options. You may
|
|
opt to practice for a while; where
|
|
you have a choice of one or two
|
|
player practice, play 'around the
|
|
world or 'horse'. If you are ready
|
|
for championship basketball, you may
|
|
move on to the real game. Either play
|
|
your team against another
|
|
individual's team, play your man and
|
|
another person's man against the
|
|
computer, play your team against the
|
|
computer in an exhibition game, or
|
|
play your team in league play.
|
|
|
|
League play is probably the best
|
|
aspect of this game. You take your
|
|
team into a 32-team league, play five
|
|
games against the other teams in your
|
|
division, and if you win the
|
|
division, you go to the playoffs.
|
|
There are four divisions (North,
|
|
South, East, West), each harder than
|
|
the previous, and you may place your
|
|
team into any division you like.
|
|
|
|
The mechanics of GBA Basketball are
|
|
relatively simple, with all the
|
|
action coming from the standard
|
|
joystick and fire button. Move the
|
|
stick to pick offensive and defensive
|
|
plays when prompted, then use the
|
|
stick to move your player and shoot.
|
|
Holding down the button allows you to
|
|
shoot the basketball: tapping the
|
|
button allows you to pass the ball to
|
|
your teammate.
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Xx Publishers Page
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Due to late breaking stories this
|
|
past week, scheduled articles for
|
|
this issue have been rescheduled for
|
|
a future edition.
|
|
|
|
If you are a reader of Computer
|
|
Shopper, you will notice some
|
|
commentary about CompuServe, Zmag,
|
|
and myself. The article was based
|
|
upon actions which took place during
|
|
a few week period in March/April of
|
|
this year.
|
|
|
|
In a conversation with the Atari
|
|
CIS SIG SysOps over the last few
|
|
weeks, all of our problems have been
|
|
ironed out and hopefully any future
|
|
misunderstandings on my part or
|
|
others will be quickly resolved.
|
|
|
|
Look for more information in future
|
|
editions of Zmag.
|
|
|
|
The Data Library on CompuServe will
|
|
soon contain all issues of Zmag. I
|
|
am currently reformatting and
|
|
producing the older editions into
|
|
40 column ascii editions. They will
|
|
be uploaded a few at a time. Look for
|
|
all of them shortly.
|
|
|
|
If your BBS carries Zmag, Please get
|
|
your name to us so that we can update
|
|
our Systems list. We will send this
|
|
list to CIS and GEnie and publish in
|
|
a future edition.
|
|
|
|
With this issue we celebrate our 1st
|
|
year of publication. Thanks to
|
|
everyone for the support over the
|
|
last year. Help us grow bigger in
|
|
1987/88.
|
|
|
|
Thanks for reading.
|
|
_____________________________________
|
|
Zmagazine Issue #53
|
|
May 25, 1987
|
|
(c)1987 Syndicate Services
|
|
Please Contribute!!
|
|
_____________________________________
|