1014 lines
28 KiB
Plaintext
1014 lines
28 KiB
Plaintext
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| ROVAC ZMAGAZINE |
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| Issue #171 |
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| August 22, 1989 |
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|Copyright 1989, RII|
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|This week in ZMagazine|
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New User Group Coordinator
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John Nagy
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ACTION!?--MAC/65? or...
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Ed Bachman
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1200XL Video Fix
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Bob Woolley
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Press Release
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Software Review: Gato
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Michael D. Bjorkman
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Software Review: Desert Falcon
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Dave Bambaloff
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Software Review: Winter Challenge
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Rich Link
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|NEW USER GROUP COORDINATOR|
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|by John Nagy|
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Reprinted from ST-ZMagazine #34
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ST*ZMag received word late this week
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that Atari has hired a new User Group
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Coordinator to replace Chris Roberts.
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After interviews with a number of
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candidates, Atari chose BOB BRODIE,
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president of the Atari Computer Owners
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of Orange County, California.
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ST*ZMAG and Z*Net readers know Bob's
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writing well, as he has been a
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contributer and associate staff member
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of our publications for some time. He
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most recently co-authored the
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introductory article on Chris Roberts,
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his predecessor in the position. Bob
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is well known to Southern California
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user groups, as he has been
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instrumental in a number of shows and
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projects there. He took a week off
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work at his own expense in order to
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coordinate Atari's appearance at the
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hugely successful NAMM show last
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winter. He also worked a lot at the
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Anaheim World of Atari show.
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Bob worked for BRINKS in a number of
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capacities, including developing a
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number of internal projects, that
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generally occupied 60 or more hours
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effort every week. The much-touted
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-overwork- that Atari expects from
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its employees should be a snap next to
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what Bob has accustomed himself to.
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While Atari President Sam Tramiel had
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asked for someone with a specific
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marketing background for the position,
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when Bob Brodie's name was brought up
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as a candidate, it seems a number of
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Atari officials piped up. We heard
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that Frank Foster in particular was
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backing Bob after witnessing his work
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at the NAMM shows. In the end,
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hands-on experience and user group
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know-how were the deciding factors that
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won the position for Bob over the other
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candidates.
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Bob's level-headed approach to problem
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solving and communicating have already
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impressed the Atari brass. He will
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work for Augie Ligori but be supervised
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in most matters by Sig Hartmann.
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Starting Monday at 1 PM Pacific time,
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Bob will be available for user-group
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contact at (408) 745- 2052. He will be
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moving his wife and children up from
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their Orange County home sometime in
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the next few months, and will commute
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on weekends til then.
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While his club will be sorry to lose
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him as President, and we at the ZMAGs
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will miss him as a regular staff
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member, Bob will undoubtedly remain
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active in a user group in the Sunnyvale
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area, and will continue to write
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articles for use in user group
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newsletters and online magazine,
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although with a different perspective.
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We congratulate Bob Brodie on getting
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the User Group Coordinator position at
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Atari. We are confident that THIS
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TIME, Atari chose someone who has been
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highly reccommended by users,
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publishers, and Atari executives alike.
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We predict that satisfaction all around
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will keep Bob in Atari for a long time.
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Unfortunatly, we have not been able to
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contact Bob to confirm this story, but
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hope to by next week.
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|ACTION!?--MAC/65? OR...|
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Where do I go from BASIC?
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|by Ed Bachman|
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Are you wondering why you're using
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BASIC (since most of your program is
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USR routines)? Is there something your
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just itching to do that can't be done
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in -good ol' BASIC-? In either case
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you're most likely considering another
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programming language. The purpose of
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this article is to discuss the ins and
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outs of (what I consider to be) the two
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best choices in a programming language
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for the Atari 8-bit: ACTION! and
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MAC/65.
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While I can in NO way make a choice for
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you, OR even do these two fine products
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justice, I will attempt to point out
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the strengths and weaknesses of each.
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YOU decide which is best for you.
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Using ACTION!
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ACTION!, currently distributed by
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ICD,Inc., is a high level, compiled
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language (BASIC being a high level
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interpeted language). ACTION! (like
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machine language) will add an extra
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step to your program development, the
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compile. However, the improved
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performance is worth the effort.
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First the good points...
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The most attractive feature of ACTION!
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is that it's a high level language.
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Ideas/functions can be easily expressed
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in just a few instructions. While at
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the same time ACTION! maintains a close
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tie to the machine level. Which is
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important in order to get the best
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performance from your computer. Data
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can be manipulated an a wide variety of
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ways, and it also supports complex math
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functions as well as logic level
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operations. This means you can handle
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numbers pretty much the way you did in
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BASIC with some -bitwise- operations
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that were previously unavailable in
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BASIC. A compiled ACTION! program will
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run up to 100 times faster than a BASIC
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program. ACTION! programs, using a
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-runtime library- can also be run
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without an action cartrige.
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When using ACTION!, you must learn to
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-structure- your programs. ACTION! has
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no -GOTO- instruction. You must -think
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thru- your program and arrange it so it
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can be accomplished in subroutines.
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The subroutine and the
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TurboBASIC/BASIC XE -procedure- call
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are very similar to the way one
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programs in ACTION!. It is also very
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easy to read an ACTION! program (once
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you understand the language). A far
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cry from jumping thru 100's of -GOTO's-
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in a BASIC program.
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On the down side...
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Being a high level language, you need
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either an ACTION! cartridge to run an
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ACTION! program or use a -runtime
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library- which you include in your
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program. This runtime library comes at
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extra cost (also from ICD). The
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runtime library also increases the
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final size of your program. There are
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many options available to the user
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during a compile, unfortunately many of
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them are very poorly documented.
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Further, as your programs increase in
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size, you will need to make
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-adjustments- in the ACTION!
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environment in order to handle more
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variable names and increased program
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size. While on the topic of size,
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after a point you MUST compile from
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disk, since ACTION! holds the compiled
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program resident in memory. Also the
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upper practical limit of an ACTION!
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program is approximately 20K of
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compiled code. Beyond that, you must
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make even more -adjustments- to both
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your program and the ACTION!
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environment. And finally, only now are
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reasonable tutorials becoming more
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easily available.
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Using the MAC/65
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I know this should be -machine
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language-. However, I feel if you
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decide to go the M/L route, get a
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MAC/65 since there is no better
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assembler/debugger for the Atari 8-bit.
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MAC/65 is also sold by ICD, Inc.
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Machine language is a -low level-
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language with each instruction being an
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actual operation performed by the 6502
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processor (one simple BASIC instruction
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may contain hundreds of these -low
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level- instructions)
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The good points...
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Machine language (M/L from here on in)
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is also a compiled language. It is
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even faster than ACTION! and another
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advantage is it's relatively small
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size. If there is something specific
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you desire the Atari to do, there's no
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better way to do it than in the
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computers native tongue. Using M/L
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allows you access to ANY level of the
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Atari (places where BASIC, and
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sometimes ACTION!, won't work).
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Further, the 6502 (your Atari's
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processor) has one of the easiest (in
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my opinion) to understand instruction
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sets of any processor. There is no
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limit to the final size of your
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program, and unlike ACTION!, it can be
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tailored to exactly meet a very
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specific function. By using the MACRO
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feature of the MAC/65, it is also
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possible to create a -pseudo high
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level- environment--defining a series
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of M/L instructions to a label, which
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then can be used like a high level
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command.
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An M/L program can be used by anyone,
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with or without cartriges. Further,
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there are fewer operating restrictions
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on an M/L program than a compiled
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ACTION! program (with runtime library).
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This is a rather detailed topic but in
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short, there are simply some instances
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where you must either re-boot or re-set
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after running a compiled ACTION!
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program (particularly if using a
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cartrige other than an ACTION! cart).
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Summed up, if you want your computer to
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-jump thru the hoop-, then M/L is the
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way to make it do exactly what you
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want.
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The other side of the coin...
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M/L, being a low level language, often
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requires dozens of instructions to
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accomplish even a simple operation.
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M/L source is also more difficult to
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read (since each programmer may choose
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to perform a task in a differing
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manner). Since M/L operates at the
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-system level- it is a bit more
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difficult to debug, and it's much
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easier to get an undesired result,
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since a typo often looks fine to the
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compiler. M/L therefore adds yet
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another step to program development,
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the -debug- process (this is true with
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ALL program development--just more
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necessary with M/L).
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The MAC/65 also has a few drawbacks of
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its own. The most notable--not being
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able to compile from a SpartaDOS
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formatted disk. Further, there is only
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addition/subtraction and bitwise logic
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available to the M/L programmer--no
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high level math operations are
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supported. You must write the routine
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to do so (you could also use the
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floating point routines in the Atari
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ROM.).
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In closing...
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How shall I tie this all together?
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Perhaps with a few recommendations.
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If you're looking for more power
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and speed but are not willing to skimp
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on mathmatic and string features, or
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perhaps you're thinking of -graduating-
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to a more powerful language than BASIC,
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then perhaps ACTION! would be better
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suited to your needs.
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If, however, you desire to get into
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system level functions, or need the
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ultimate in speed or the smallest size,
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then you would have no recourse but to
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choose M/L (I've used both over the
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last few years and have found a need
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for BOTH so I'm obviously no help!)
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I hope some of these observations can
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be of assistance in making an informed
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choice for your -next language-.
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Ed.
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|1200XL VIDEO FIX|
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|by Bob Woolley|
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8/20/89
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Got a 1200XL with bad video? With a
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few simple changes under the hood, you
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can get rid of that tearing, fuzzy
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screen and add separate CHROMA
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operation.
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Unlike the movies, the sequel to the
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CLRPIC modification is much -better-
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than the original. If you were
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disappointed that the CLRPIC mod did
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not allow for a COMPOSITE output, or
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felt intimidated by the lengthy list of
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changes in the original upgrade, then
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you are at the right place. This
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version only requires you to remove 10
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components and add 4 wires and 4
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components!
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IT IS STILL A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE SOME
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ELECTRONICS SOLDERING SKILLS.
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Also, these changes were developed
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empirically, which means I just diddled
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with the values until they worked. The
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output is very good--better than an
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800XL and, depending on your preference
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for overdriven characters, better than
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a 130XE or 800 in separate CHROMA or
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COMPOSITE video.
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On with the changes. As in the
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original CLRPIC article, I will list
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the existing component in the left
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column and what to put in it's place in
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the right column. A ---- indicates
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that nothing is to be connected and
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-wire- calls for a jumper, shorting out
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the part.
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REMOVE: REPLACE WITH:
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C115 10uf wire
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C60 100pf --
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R187 1meg 2.2K
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L15 820uh wire
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R188 750 680
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CR19 1N4148 --
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C119 3.9pf --
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C62 10pf wire
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R24 180 47
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R23 180 47
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Add a wire from R44 (either side) to
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pin 5 of J2.
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That's all!! Works fine on a number of
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monitors that I have. Now, get to it,
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Puff!
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Bob Woolley
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CompuServe (75126,3446)
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|PRESS RELEASE|
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August 19, 1989
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From Z Innovators and MAX Systems
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On August 17, 1989 an agreement was
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reached between Z Innovators, the
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owners and authors of the powerful 100%
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machine language bulletin board system
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OASIS, and MAX Systems, publishers of
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software for the Atari and Commodore
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8-bit computers.
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MAX Systems will now be the exclusive
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marketing agent for the OASIS BBS,
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thus allowing Z Innovators to
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concentrate on improving an already
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fine program without the need to deal
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with the details of order processing
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and advertising. This will allow for
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more efficient order processing and
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more time for the developement of
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external modules for OASIS BBS.
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OASIS BBS is a 100% machine language
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program that allows the BBS SysOp to
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start off with a small hardware
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investment of two floppy disk drives
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and a -stock- Atari 8-bit computer, but
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still have the ability to move up to
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a large scale system of 100+ Megabytes
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of hard disk storage as the SysOp's
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needs and budget call for.
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OASIS has been available for several
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years, first being release by the
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original authors/owners (Renner,
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Walden, and Newman of ARC fame) and
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later as a product of Z Innovators.
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Since taking over the OASIS project,
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Z Innovators has brought the program
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through several versions, each more
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powerful than the last, and has been
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the leaders in many areas of Atari
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8-bit BBS programs, such as File Mail.
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The most recent version of OASIS, 4.6A,
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includes the new Multi-Board
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Environment, or MBEs, that allow the
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Atari SysOp for the first time to have
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as many as ten totally separate
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bulletin boards online at one time.
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Couple the MBE power with OASIS's
|
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ability to send VT52, ANSI, ATASCII,
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and Commodore Color Graphics, and the
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SysOp has the perfect BBS for
|
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supporting many different computers.
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The first major project that
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Z Innovators and MAX Systems will be
|
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undertaking as a team is a complete
|
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re-write of the OASIS documentation
|
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into a comprehensive manual that will
|
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guide the new SysOp and -Old Pro- alike
|
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through the set up and operation of the
|
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OASIS BBS. This project is expected to
|
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take several weeks to complete,
|
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however, OASIS BBS will continue to
|
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ship to new customers in the meantime.
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Any new OASIS SysOps who order OASIS
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BBS before the new manual is completed
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will receive the manual as soon as it
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is completed.
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When the new OASIS SysOp purchases the
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OASIS BBS package, he gets much more
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than just a few disks. He also gets
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the support of both Z Innovators and
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MAX Systems. Z Innovators operates a
|
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support BBS in the Boston MA area and
|
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MAX Systems operates a BBS in the
|
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Sacramento CA area. Both Z Innovators
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and MAX Systems are also available on
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the GEnie network.
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The purchase price of the OASIS BBS
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package includes access to the Private
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Oasis Software Library and Bulletin
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Board areas of GEnie; access to the
|
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Private Oasis SysOp area of the
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Z Innovators BBS which will give them
|
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the ability to download any future
|
|
upgrades to the BBS; and access to The
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Breakfast Club BBS run by MAX Systems.
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Both of the BBSs above are PC
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Pursuitable and GEnie is a local call
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for most cities, although there are the
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normal GEnie connect charges.
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To order OASIS BBS, send your check or
|
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money order for $55.00 payable to
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MAX Systems to:
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MAX Systems
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Suite 6-216
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4005 Manzanita Ave.
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Carmichael, CA
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95608
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ATTN:Oasis BBS
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To see OASIS BBS in action, you may
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call either:
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Z Innovators XBN-II
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(617)380-7886
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or
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MAX Systems The Breakfast Club BBS
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(916)331-4722
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Both BBSs are 24 hours, 300/1200 baud
|
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ASCII/ATASCII/ANSI/VT52/CCG.
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On the GEnie Network, you may reach
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Z Innovators for technical questions in
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the Atari 8-bit RoundTable or at
|
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GE-Mail address <Z.INNOVATORS> or you
|
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may reach MAX Systems for sales
|
|
questions in the Atari 8-bit RoundTable
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|
or at GE-Mail address <MARTY.A>.
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The power of tomorrow is here today in
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the OASIS BBS by Z Innovators,
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presented by MAX Systems.
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Z Innovators
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and
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MAX Systems
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|SOFTWARE REVIEW: GATO|
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|by Michael D. Bjorkman, S*P*A*C*E|
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An 8-Bit Undersea Warfare Simulation
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Game!
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Cartridge from Atari Corporation
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$34.95 retail
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GATO is a game of undersea warfare
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loosely based on American submarine
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combat during World War II. Though
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GATO is not a rigorous simulation of
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World War II submarine warfare, it is a
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fine game and one which will give many
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hours of enjoyment.
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With the purchase comes one game
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cartridge and a 16 page manual. GATO
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requires a 48K computer--it will not
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play on a 16K or a 32K machine. The
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game also requires use of the keyboard
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and a joystick. For those who have a
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disk drive, GATO will record the total
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tonnage sunk on disk; the U.S. Navy
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equivalent to the arcade game vanity
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screen.
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The similarity to arcade games doesn't
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end with the vanity screen. GATO
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actually has more in common with STAR
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RAIDERS than it does with EASTERN
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FRONT. One must not run out of air and
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fuel (re: energy in STAR RAIDERS). One
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must return to the submarine tender to
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replenish fuel and torpedoes (re: star
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base to replenish energy). One has a
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map divided into sections with which to
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identify the location of the enemy (re:
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galactic chart). One can use Rapid
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Submarine Deployment to move from one
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sector to another (re: hyperwarp in
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STAR RAIDERS).
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The similarity to STAR RAIDERS should
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not be pushed too far though. GATO
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occurs in a -real- place; there are
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places to go, people to see, and things
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to do. Whereas the STAR RAIDERS
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universe follows more basic rules:
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blast Zylons until the clock runs out.
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GATO has a total of 10 scenarios to
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play: picking up a downed pilot,
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resupplying a spotter, 4 different
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convoys to attack, 2 scenarios with
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PTs, and 2 scenarios involving lone
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supply ships. My favorite scenario is
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the unescorted convoy. My least
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favorite is attacking the PTs at
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anchor. It's too easy to run aground
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and the PTs are too fast on taking up
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the chase.
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For the tourist, GATO has places to
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see. There are a total of 12 islands,
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and not all of them are patrolled by
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the Japanese. The islands have
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colorful names like -Main Island- or
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-Island in Quadrant 18-. All are drawn
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with pseudo vector graphics, thus
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making it impossible for the Japanese
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to sneak up on you from behind an
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island. The shoals around islands are
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marked on the quadrant map. However,
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the markings on the map only apply when
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the sub is at the surface. When
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submerged, the sub will run aground
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further out from the island. This
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feature of the quadrant maps is not
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described in the printed documentation,
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it is only mentioned during the on
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screen demonstration.
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Finally, there are two people to meet
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in GATO: the downed pilot and the
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spotter. The downed pilot has managed
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to swim to shore and is on the eastern
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side of the island in sector 14. The
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second fellow to meet is the spotter on
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the island in sector 18. Don't expect
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any fancy animated graphics when you
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meet up with these guys. In each case,
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once you've run across the individual,
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a simple message is written to the
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screen telling you the mission is
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completed.
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Mercifully, unlike some games which
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only have one level of difficulty, i.e.
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hard, GATO has 9 levels of difficulty.
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At the lowest level of difficulty it is
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easy to torpedo ships and avoid getting
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sunk, while at the higher levels it is
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more challenging.
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Several changes have been made to the
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historical Gato class submarine to
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increase the playability of the game.
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A typical torpedo run in GATO takes
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anywhere from a few seconds to a few
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minutes. Historically, it took tens of
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minutes to hours. To sink a ship in
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GATO all you have to do is get close,
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line the target up in the center of the
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screen and fire. Historically, two
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measurements of the position of the
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target were necessary to establish the
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target's heading and speed so that the
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computation for the torpedo's heading
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could be made. Once the computation
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was made then the torpedo could be
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fired.
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I think the changes made by the game
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designers have served to increase the
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playability of the game, so I have no
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qualm recommending GATO to arcade game
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players. The graphics are not state of
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the art as pointed out by the reviewer
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in the SEP/OCT '88 Atari Explorer.
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However, I have found some of the
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prettiest games for the Atari to be
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some of the most unplayable (e.g.
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KORONIS RIFT). Therefore I do not rank
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graphics high on my list of criteria
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for judging games.
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Unlike the reviewer in the October 1988
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issue of CURRENT NOTES, I found the
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Captain's Log save to disk function to
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operate as described in the manual.
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The first step was to format a disk
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with DOS 2.5 and use the -H- option to
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write DOS and DUP to the disk. Before
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booting up the game disk drive number
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one was turned on, the DOS 2.5
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formatted disk with DOS on it was
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inserted into the disk drive, and the
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disk drive door closed. When the game
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was first booted a file named
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CAPTAINS.LOG was written to the disk.
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This DOS file contains the list of
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ships sunk, and when initially written
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to the disk showed no ships sunk. Note
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that if you are sunk, then the
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Captain's log will be erased. Hence
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before embarking on a new mission it is
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advisable to backup the CAPTAINS.LOG
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file. Furthermore, if the option
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-5. RESET CAPTAIN'S LOG- is used in the
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main menu, then not only will the
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Captain's log in memory be erased, but
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so will your captain's log on disk.
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|SOFTWARE REVIEW: DESERT FALCON|
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|by Dave Bambaloff, S*P*A*C*E|
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Reprinted from Puget Sound Atari News
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Rating Scale (1-10 stars possible)
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Ease of use: *****
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Challenge: *******
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Graphics: **
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Documentation: ****
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Overall Rating: **
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From----------------Atari Corporation
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Format--------------Cartridge
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Object--------------Find jewels and
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shoot opponets.
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Price---------------$19.95
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Required equipment--any 8-bit Atari
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computer with at
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least 48K of
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memory.
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This is Desert Falcon! You're flying
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a great bird and picking up ancient
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Egyptian pharaohs' treasures. There
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are other mythical beasts such as
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blazing firepots and desert birds that
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are guarding the jewels you seek.
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Find hieroglyphics hidden in the
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desert sands and you'll gain powers
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that will make you invincibile, slow
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down or speed up time, double your
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fire power, and a few others. These
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are dependent upon the order you pick
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up certain hieroglyphics which are
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really just lying about the desert
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floor.
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Your great bird flys above the hot
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desert sand, and to pick up any item
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you must land. Watch out for sand
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crawlers. Now that your great bird
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is on the ground, he flops about to get
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somewhere. Take off again by pulling
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back on your joystick. When you've
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done enough looting you come to the
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howling sphinx that shoots back. Blast
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it between the eyes and the bonus round
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begins. This is where you pick up as
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many jewels as you can in a certain
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time frame.
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That's about it for this lame game.
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The graphics are 2600 vintage and play
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is difficult. Save your money or
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better yet, I'll sell you my copy.
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|SOFTWARE REVIEW: WINTER CHALLENGE|
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|by Rich Link|
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Atari Exchange of Louisville
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Just when you thought that there were
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no more new titles to be found for the
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8-bit Atari market, along comes Thunder
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Mountain with a game which many have
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been asking for...
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Winter Challenge--
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World Class Competition
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This is a collection of events from the
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Winter Olympics, along the same lines
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as Epyx Summer and Winter Games series.
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This package contains five Olympic
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events: Downhill, Ski Jumping,
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Biathlon (cross country skiing and
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shooting), Giant Slalom, and 2-man
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Bobsled. Each event pits you against
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the clock, and up to six players can
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compete at one time. Games may be
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played one at a time, in different
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combinations, or all in succession.
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Gold metals are tallied after each
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event to determine an overall winner.
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The game comes on two disks and
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occupies four full sides. A minor
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quibble here--the game has copy
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protection on the first side, making
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backups difficult. And the protection
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will not allow the use of high speed
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operation on modified drives. I've not
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tested it on an XF551 drive which runs
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at a slightly faster speed than the
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standard 1050 Atari drive.
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Playing Winter Challenge is an
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enjoyable experience. The games are
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well designed with excellent graphics.
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Scrolling backgrounds and interesting
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details abound thoughout the game.
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Game play is generally consistent,
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although the difficulty varies with
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each event.
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Starting with the downhill racing, you
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are pitted against an ever narrowing
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obstacle course of trees and occasional
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logs. Joystick movements control the
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speed and direction of the skier as you
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drift from side to side and jump the
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obstacles. One interesting touch is
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the -goggle view- in the lower right
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hand corner. This is a needed addition
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as there are times when the skier's
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body blocks your view of impending
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doom! This event was my weakest, as I
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struggled to reach the bottom. It took
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a second look to realize that each
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event can be replayed, something I
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missed in the instructions.
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The Ski Jump is a excellent looking
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event. As the jumper makes his way
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from to the starting line, you see a
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beautiful view of the slide with TV
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cameras and a full perspective. A tap
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of the joystick and you're off! Again,
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the stick is moved up/down and
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left/right to align the skis. Total
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points are awarded for both distance
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and style. A botched landing results
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in a frustrated skier pounding the
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snow! A total of 3 jumps completes the
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event.
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The Biathlon is a combination of
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events. The key here is developing a
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rhythm during the skiing portion, and
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smoothness in shooting. Points are
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given for speed and accuracy, with a
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heavy penalty for each missed target.
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Again, the graphics are outstanding,
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with bridges, streams and mountains.
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The Slalom is a 3 heat event racing
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downhill through a series of flags.
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Movement left and right is VERY quick,
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and more often than not, you will find
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yourself plastered against the fence!
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This one takes some work to master, but
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it is possible to complete the run. A
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slightly slower joystick response might
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improve the -feel- of the event, but it
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would probably make for a slightly
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harder game as well.
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The final event is my favorite. The
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bobsled run is a 3 to 4 minute run down
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a winding tunnel of snow. Here, the
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scrolling mountains and sky in the
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background, along with the trees
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streaking by make for an excellent
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looking game. A slight tap on the
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button applys the brakes, keeping you
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from being thrown up to the top of the
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wall with a resulting crash. The key
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here is concentration and quick
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reflexes. With a total of 3 runs, all
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of the players have adequate time to
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get the feel of the course. Winning
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can often be a matter of a second or
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less.
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So there you have it. Thunder Mountain
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has produced a winner with Winter
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Challenge, combining a good balance of
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playablity and stunning 8-bit graphics.
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In comparison to Epyx's Summer and
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Winter Games, it more than holds it's
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own in both looks and feel.
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| Rovac Industries, Incorporated |
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| P.O. Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846 |
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| (201) 968-8148 |
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|Copyright 1989 All Rights Reserved|
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Reprint permission is granted
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providing ZMagazine and the original
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author is credited.
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CompuServe: 71777,2140
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GEnie: ZMAGAZINE
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Source: BDG793
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ZMagazine Headquarters BBSes:
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Centurion BBS--(618)451-0165
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Chaos BBS--(517)371-1106
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Shadow Haven--(916)962-2566
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Stairway to Heaven--(216)784-0574
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