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HOW TO CHOOSE A NEW K! 



onnpuTE 



SPECIAL REPORn 



AUGUST 1993 



Ul^DOWS 




• 32-BIT SPEED! 

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• HP's lASERJET 4 
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"This is the new standard in multimedia entertainment " 
Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft® 



r One Gigabyte of groundbreaking full frame 
animation for the CD-ROM and complex 
graphic processing techniques including 
rendering and morphs! 



^ Musical soundtrack by The Fat Man of Wing 

^lommander™ fame as well as extensive use 

of digitized dialogue recorded by live actors. 



^ Based on an original story and screenplay 
written by horror author Matthew Costello. 



Distributed esdush'ely by 




THE Tlh aatST and IntcraclKt Oam aie llllltnillta oC Virgin Oma, lac. Viig'ui Is i 



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GAMESI 



Circle Reader Service Number 267 



cannpuTE 



VOLUME 15, NO. 8, ISSUE 155 



AUGUST 1993 



FEATURES 

6 

WINDOWS KT 

By Len Feldman 

Windows NT IS here and it' 

hot. But should you 

upgrade? 

16 

TEST LAB 

Edited by Mike Hudnall 

Test Lab looks at ten top 

Windows databases. 

60 

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME 

By Lamont Wood 

Inside the latest scam: 

desktop forgery! 

66 

PRODUCTIVITY CHOICE 

By William Harrel 
LaserJet 4 from Hewlett- 
Packard 

COLUMNS 

4 
EDITORIAL LICENSE 

By Clifton Karnes 

Ten best products at 

COMDEX. 

38 

NEWS & NOTES 

By Jill Champion 
Top computer news. 

42 

FEEDBACK 

Answers to tough questions. 

50 

WINDOWS WORKSHOP 

By Clifton Karnes 

Why Windows users need 

DOS 6. 

52 

TIPS & TOOLS 

Edited by 
Richard C. Leinecker 
Tips from our readers. 

54 

INTRODOS 

By Tony Roberts 
Should you always have the 
latest version of a program? 




Cover screen from Microsoft Dinosaurs. 



56 

PROGRAMMING POWER 

By Tom Campbell 
The scoop on True BASIC, 

58 

HARDWARE CLINIC 

By fylark (s/linasi 
More on MultiConfig. 

68 

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY 

By Rosalind B. Resnick 

Ten tips on how to choose a 

new PC. 

70 

MULTIMEDIA PC 

By David English 

/nfernnedia, the multimedia 

megashow! 



72 

ART WORKS 

By Robert Bixby 
By the books: ruminations 

and recommendations 
regarding computer books. 

120 

DOS 6 FIRST-AID KIT 

By Clifton Karnes 

Before you upgrade, read 

this. 

ENTERTAINMENT 
74 

DISCOVERY CHOICE 

By David Sears 

Stunt Island from Disney 

Software. 



76 

GAME INSIDER 

By Shay Addams 

What to expect from the 

computer industry in the last 

days of summer, 

80 

ENTERTAINMENT CHOICE 

By Scott A, May 
X-Wing from LucasArts, 

82 

GAMEPLAY 

By Paul C. Schuytema 

Games that let you design 

and run your own world. 

84 

WARS OF THE DISTANT PAST 

By Paul C. Schuytema 
Relive the days of chivalry 
and savagery on your PC. 



REVIEWS 

89 

AST 4/33S Model 123B, 

Microsoft Mouse 2.0, 

ManagePro, 

Arthur's Teacher Trouble, 

Doctor Schueler's Home 

Medical Advisor, 

YourWay, 

SimLife, 

VIRUSCAN, CLEAN-UR 

VSHIELD, 

Amazon: Guardians of 

Eden, 

Flight Simulator Add-Ons, 

Peachtree Accounting for 

Windows 2.0, 

Data Stor 486-25SX, 

DoDot 4,0. 

Space Quest V, 

Disk Manager, 

doubleRES 4, 

Follow the Reader, 

International Sports 

Challenge, 

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade, 

RoboCop 3D, and more. 

ADVERTISERS INDEX 

See page 97. 



COMPUTE {ISSN 0194-357>;) is published nnonlhly in the United Slates and Canada by COMPUTE Publications International Ltd., 1965 Broadway New York NY 10023-6965 Volume IS 
Number B, issue 155 Copyrighl s 1993 by COMPUTE Publications Internalional Lid. All rights rese.-vea. COMPUTE is a registered trademark of COMPUTE Publications International Ltd' 
Distributed worldwide (except Australia and Ihe UK) by Curtis Circulation Company. PO Box 9102, Pennsauken. NJ 08109. Disinbuied in Australia by The Horwitz Group PO Box 306' 
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o,1ices POSTMASTER: Send address changes 10 COMPUTE Magazine, PO Box 3245, Harlan, lA 51537.3041, Tel. (BOO) 727.6937 Entire conterls copyrighted All riohts reserved 
Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part wlihout written permission from the publisher. Subscriptions: US, AFO - $19 94 one year; Canada and elsewhere -$25 94 one year Slnoie 
copies szas in US. The publisher disclaims all responsibility to return unsolicited matter, and all rights in portions published Ihereot remain the sole property of COMPUTE Publications 
International Ltd Letters sent to COMPUTE or its editors become the property o( the magazine. Editorial offices are located at 324 W, Wendover Ave., Ste. 200. Greensboro NC 27408 
l6i, (yi9J 275-9809- ' ' 



Printed in the USA by R. R, Donnelley & Sons Inc, 
2 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



#R126607415 



Not just a new Sound Blaster: 
A new 16-bit audio standard 




Introducing the Sound Blaster 16 
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CItxie Reader Service Number 125 



EDITORIAL LICENSE 



Clifton Karnes 



Here's a list 

of tlie ten best 

products [ 

saw at this year's 

Spring COMDEX. 



Spring COMDEX, held this 
past May in Atlanta, Geor- 
gia, will go down in the his- 
tory books as the best 
COMDEX to date. Exhibit 
halls were jam-packed with ea- 
ger attendees, and a record 
number of exhibitors filled the 
show floors and demonstrat- 
ed an amazing assortment of 
cool new products. Here are 
the ten best products I saw at 
this year's show. 




10. Doublecase makes a se- 
ries of superlight, hard cases 
designed to fit almost any note- 
book. The Doublecase name 
comes from the case's de- 
sign, which uses two hard 
shells for each wall. The in- 
side of the case is dense 
foam rubber that you can 
mold to tit almost any note- 
book or laptop. Your traveling 
PC is probably as safe in a 
Doublecase as it is on your 
desk back at the office. Pric- 
es start at $59.95. 

9. Star has really upped 
the ante in color printers with 
its sleek, new SJ-144. This su- 
perb small printer uses a new 
medium to print color pages 
that are amazingly crisp and 
rich. Cost per page is about 
the same as with a color 
DeskJet, and the suggested 
retail price is $599. 

8. if you find yourself switch- 
ing screen resolutions in Win- 
dows, you'll love Any View 
from Binar. This clever soft- 
ware add-in lets you click on 
a button to go from 640 x 



480 to 800 X 600 to 1024 x 
768. You also get a virtual 
desktop, and perhaps most im- 
pressive of all, you can adjust 
your screen's scaling so rul- 
ers in programs like Word for 
Windows and PageMaker 
measure exactly one real- 
world inch. Neat. 

7. Image-editing and 
screen capture programs are 
a large, competitive category 
in Windows, and a new ver- 
sion of ImagePals (U-Lead) in- 
troduced at COMDEX goes to 
the head of the class. With ex- 
cellent tools for editing 
bitmaps, editing color, and 
capturing screens, all in a 
scrapbook interface, Image- 
Pals is fast, powerful, and 
easy to use. 

6. Intel's Pentium proces- 
sor has caused quite a stir in 
the last few months, and at 
this COMDEX we saw some 
of the first machines that are 
actually designed around the 
chip. The Pentium's potential 
is amazing, but hardware sys- 
tems and software must be 
specially designed to take 
full advantage of this poten- 
tial. When they are, perform- 
ance increases of nearly ten 
times over that possible with 
a 486 are attainable. Putting a 
Pentium in a 486 systenn will 
double your performance. 

5. Here's a tie. Corel and Mi- 
crografx have long been the 
two giants in the illustration 
program category. Both com- 
panies had new products at 
COMDEX, and both looked 
great. The programs seemed 
amazingly easy to use, even 
for nonprofessionals. Co- 
relDRAW! 4.0 includes every- 
thing but the kitchen sink in 
its box, and the company's 
selling the previous version of 
CorelDRAW! for $199, which 
is a super deal. Designer 4.0 
won't have quite as much in 
its package as CorelDRAW!, 
but you'll still find lots of good- 
ies including clip art, fonts, 
and a bitmap editor 



4. Last year, presentation 
programs became a major cat- 
egory. This year, multimedia 
presentation software is really 
hitting its stride, and the best 
newcomer is Compel from 
Asymetrix. It's easy to use, 
and it has all the tools you'll 
need to combine dazzling 
graphics, animations, and 
sounds. 

3- If you're in the business 
of creating Windows help 
files, RoboHelp 2.0 from Blue 
Sky Software is the most ad- 
vanced tool available. New at 
COMDEX, RoboHelp 2.0 
works with Word for Windows 
and, as the name implies, au- 
tomates help file creation, An- 
yone who's created help files 
by hand will appreciate the 
point-and-click ease with 
which you can build topics 
and jumps and include 
bitmaps in your help files, You 
can also compile and test 
your help files, all from a tool- 
box that RoboHelp installs in 
Word. 

2. Windows programmers 
and power users now have a 
high-powered tool to investi- 
gate what's going on behind 
the scenes in Windows. Win- 
Scope from Periscope lets an- 
yone spy on the Windows mes- 
sages, API calls, and hooks, 
Ever wonder what's really hap- 
pening when you drag a file 
from File Manager and drop it 
on Notepad? With WinScope 
you can find out. 

1. Page layout has long 
been the domain of ultraexpen- 
sive, powerful programs like 
QuarkXPress and Page- 
Maker. Now, PagePlus from 
Serif changes the formula 
with a program that's ultrainex- 
pensive and very powerful. 
This amazing program will do 
the lion's share of what the 
heavyweights do and at a 
price of $59.95. PagePlus 
even surpasses Quark and 
PageMaker in a couple of ar- 
eas, and it's easier to use 
than either D 



COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



Missi 



ission 




IBM Programming Systems introduces 
C Set++™ the most complete application 
development package you can buy for 
'OS/2® lis 32-bit C/C++ 
compiler lets you unleash 
all the power of OS/2 — so you can 
create the most advanced, high- 
performance applications. 

It has an extraordinary code optimizer with a 
full set of options. Even a switch to optimize for the new 
Pentjum'" processor. Plus a full set of class libraries, 
including application frameworks for PM, container 
classes and classes for multitasking, streams and more. 

There's also a full complement of other helpful 
features. Such as an interactive source level debugger. 

And the unique Execution Trace 
Analyzer traces the 

execution of a program, 
then graphically displays 
^^^ ^_,^^_^ diagrams of the 

^^^ ^^^nBiv" ^k ^L ^ii^y^i^- Pi^s a class 
^"^ ^"^ *^ ** T '^ library browser that 
shows class librEiry relationships. 

What's more, you get Workframe/2,™ a language- 
independent tool that lets you customize your own envi- 
ronment. It's adaptable and flexible — you can use any 16 
and 32-bit DOS, Windows™ and OS/2 took 







C Set ++ Technical Features 



ANSI C X3.159-1989 



NIST validated 



ANSI C++ X3J16 (Full ARM) 



180 9899:1990 



Global 



Inter- module 



Fundion inlining 



Instruction sctieduling 



starts 
here 



Upgrade until August 31, 1993, from C Set/2 or Work Set/2 
for only-Sl49. CD ROM prices slightly lower. 

To order C Set++ , contact your nearest dealer or caU 

1-800-342-6672 (USA) or 

1-800-465-7999 ext. 460 (Canada). "5"^"=="" 

Qearly, there's only one place to start. C Set++ . ^ " ~ ^ ~ ^ 

Manutacluref's suggested retail pries is S595. iBM and OSB are registered tradamarla and C Set ++ and Wbrldrame/2 aie Imdemar i<sor Interrtatlonal Business Machines 

Corporation, Ponlium is a tradsmarii ol intel Corporation. Windows is a Irademarlt of Microsoft Corp © 1993 IBM Corp. Circle Reader Service Number 207 







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NT PROMISES: MICROSOFrS NEX 





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-EN FELDMAN 




GENERATION OPERATING SYSTEM 



i^^ 



Microsoft's recently re- 
leased Windows NT (New 
TeclinolQgy) is a bold 
attempt to extend Win- 
dows' incredible marl<:et success far 
beyond individual desktop PCs into 
companywide networlo and essential 
mission-critical applications. NT is an 
industrial-strengtii operating system 
capable of competing head to head 
with OS/2 and UNIX, as well as a fully 
featured network operating system for 
both modest peer-to-peer networks (S 
la Windows for Workgroups) and large 
client/server networks (like those sup- 
ported by Novell NetWare}. Yet, to the 
average user, Windows NT looks and 
feels almost identical to today's 
Windows 3.1. 

To understand what Windows NT 
is, it's important first to understand 
what it is not. NT is not the next ver- 
sion of Windows 3.1 or Windows for 
Workgroups, although it can do virtu- 
ally everything that those two operat- 
ing environments can do, and far 
more. Unlike today's Windows 3.1, 
which is an operating environment 
that runs on top of DOS, NT is an 
entirely new operating system, built 
from the ground up to demolish the 
limitations that PC users and software 
developers have labored under for 
more than a decade. This means that 
NT can tackle sophisticated net- 
worked applications that are far 
beyond the reach of Windows 3.1; but 
as we'll see, it exacts a price in the 
form of hefty processor, memory, and 
hard disk requirements. 

NT's designers had to balance 
their desire to develop a state-of-the- 
art operating system, capable of satis- 
fying the computing needs of large 
organizations, with the knowledge that 
NT had to be compatible with the 
huge installed base of DOS and 
Windows applications. The result is a 
32-bit operating system that pays 
homage to many of today's most pop- 
ular computing buzzwords {multitask- 
ing, multiprocessing, objects, and 
client/server computing) while sup- 
porting 16-bit DOS and Windows 
applications. 

Leaving DOS in the Dust 

What are some of the practical 
improvements of Windows NT over 
today's DOS and Windows combina- 
tion? For one, Windows NT says good- 
bye to the memory management limi- 
tations of DOS. No more questions 
about vjhen and how to use extended 
versus expanded memory, and no 
more memory managers such as 
HIMEM, EMM386, or QEMM-386 to 
tweak and configure. Unlike DOS with 
its arcane segmented memory archi- 

8 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



lecture, NT supports a linear memory 
address space of four gigabytes (two 
gigabytes for programs and two giga- 
bytes for the operating system), which 
is more than enough for all but main- 
frame- and supercomputer-class 
applications. 

If you've tried to run multiple appli- 
cations at once under Windows 3.1, 
you know how limited Windows' capa- 
bilities are. Trying to print a long docu- 
ment or transfer a file by modem while 
working in your word processor or 
spreadsheet can be an agonizing 
process. Even worse, if any of your 
programs crash, it can bring the entire 
system to a screeching halt. Windows 
NT, however, eliminates these prob- 
lems with a sophisticated preemptive 
multitasking system that switches 
between programs so quickly and 
smoothly that, from the user's point of 
view, each program appears to run 
nearly at top speed. An even more 
sophisticated capability called multi- 
threading enables many programs, or 
in NT terminology, processes, to be 
broken down into two or more threads, 
each of which can be executed con- 
currently. Muitithreading enables NT 
to do many more things at once, and 
it's widely applied within NT itself in 
order to speed things up. However, 
programs must be written with multi- 
threading in mind in order to get maxi- 
mum performance. 

in addition, NT's virtual memory 
manager (which gives each program 
more room to run by combining avail- 
able RAM with hard disk space) pro- 
tects the system by keeping programs 
and system tasks from interfering with 
each other. If one program crashes, 
Windows NT itself and the remaining 
programs continue to run. The frustrat- 
ing General Protection Faults and 
freezes that are common in Windows 
3.1 are largely a thing of the past in 
Windows NT. 

For complex applications that 
require more power than one proces- 
sor can provide (such as sophisticat- 
ed engineering-design problems or 
transaction-processing systems for 
high-speed processing of sales 
orders or airline reservations), NT sup- 
ports multiprocessing. With this capa- 
bility, two or more processors can 
work in concert to execute applica- 
tions. In fact, by combining muitipro- 
cessing and multithreading, each 
processor can run different portions of 
the same application, or entirely differ- 
ent applications, in order to gain 
potentially enormous performance 
improvements. However, most appli- 
cations must be written from the 
ground up with multiprocessing in 
mind; otherwise, performance 



improvements are modest at best, 
Virtually no existing Windows applica- 
tions can take full advantage of multi- 
processing without involving extensive 
redesign. 

The Compatibility Suite 

Even though its internal architecture is 
completely different from that of DOS, 
Windows NT runs most existing DOS 
and Windows applications without 
modification. To do so, NT uses an 
emulator. Macintosh and NeXT users 
will be familiar with one such emulator 
called SoftPC, which completely 
reproduces the PC hardware architec- 
ture in software, so that DOS and 
Windows applications can run "inside" 
SoftPC under Macintosh System 7 or 
NextStep. Insignia Solutions, the com- 
pany that developed SoftPC, worked 
with Microsoft to develop a similar 
emulator for Windows NT called the 
Virtual DOS Machine, or VDM. The 
VDM emulates both DOS and the 
standard PC hardware, and it runs all 
DOS applications except those that 
bypass the operating system to talk 
directly to hardware, such as some 
games, CAD programs, and older 
applications that require direct access 
to hardware for acceptable graphics 
or hard disk performance. 

Windows applications also run on 
NT by using an emulator; in this case, 
an emulator called Windows on 
Win32, or WOW for short, runs on top 
of the VDM. WOW supports most stan- 
dard and enhanced mode Windows 
applications, but not Windows 3.0 real 
mode applications. (As with DOS, any 
application that bypasses Windows 
and directly manipulates memory or 
hardware is unlikely to work with 
Windows NT.) Multiple applications 
can run simultaneously inside WOW, 
but since the WOW environment so 
closely duplicates Windows, an appli- 
cation crash within WOW has a good 
chance of crashing other running 
applications and possibly even WOW 
itself, Unlike in DOS/Windows-based 
systems, however, a crash within 
WOW will not affect any other non- 
Windows applications. In other words, 
while existing DOS and Windows 
applications are no more "bulletproof" 
in Windows NT than they are today in 
Windows 3.1, the overall system is far 
more reliable. 

In addition to DOS, Windows, and 
Windows NT applications, NT also 
runs a limited set of OS/2 and UNIX- 
like applications. For example, NT can 
run character mode OS/2 1.x applica- 
tions. In reality, this feature is of very 
limited usefulness, because most 
OS/2 1.x applications have long since 
been upgraded to take advantage of 




CompuServe does Windows. 



Introducing a whole new way to look 
at CompuServe: CompuServ^e Information 
Manager for Windows (WinCIM"). It's a fully 
integrated Windows application, and lets you 
take advantage of Windo^vs 
when you're on CompuSer\'e. 
It'll make your session 
faster, more efficient, 
easier, and a lot more fun. 

With the help of icons 
and pull-down menus, you'll 
find your CompuServe time is almost effortless 
Cruise the forums, browse through your 
messages, download files — it's all about as 
simple as clicking a mouse button. 




And with WinCIM you can do more 
offline, too. That means everything from 
writing letters to reading the answers to your 
hardware and software questions can be done 
J much more economically. 

So take a look for yourself. 
If you're already a CompuServe 
member, just t)pe GO WINCIM. 
If you aren't, call us for more 
information at 1 800 848-8199. 
Either way, you'll soon see why 
the best view is the one from CompuServe 
Information Manager for Windows. 



CompuServe' 



The information service you won't outgrow.' 



SVimioui i^ a Irsdcmirlc <>f MicTowri Cor]Kir*lion. 



Circle Reader Service Number 108 



features 


MS-DOS 6 


Windows 3.1 


0$/2 2.1 


UNIX 


Windows NT 


Virtual Memory 


no 


yes 


yes 


yes 


yes 


Multitasking 


no 


limited 


yes 


yes 


yes 


Multitlireading 


no 


no 


yes 


some (a) 


yes 


Symmetric Multiprocessing 


no 


no 


no 


some (a) 


yes 


Portable 


no 


no 


no 


yes 


yes 


Access Security 


no 


no 


limited 


yes 


yes 


Graptiical User Interface 


yes 

(MS-DOS Shell) 


yes 


yes 


yes, multiple 


yes 


Requires DOS 


yes 


yes 


no 


no 


no 


Runs 1 6-Bit Real Mode Windows 
Applications 


no 


yes 


yes 


some (a) 


no 


Runs 16-Bit Standard Mode 
Windows Applications 


no 


yes 


yes 


some (a) 


most 


Runs 16-Bit 386 Entianced Mode 
Windows Applications 


no 


yes 


yes 


no 


' yes 


Runs 32-Bit Windows Applications 


no 


no 


no 


no 


yes 


Runs OS/2 Applications 


no 


no 


yes, all 


no 


l.x- character 
mode only 


POSIX Support 


no 


no 


no 


some (a) 


yes 


Supports DOS FAT File System 


yes 


yes 


yes 


some (a) 


yes 


Supports OS/2 HPFS 


no 


no 


yes 


no 


yes 


Supports NTFS 


no 


no 


no 


no 


yes 


Networking Built In 


no 


Windows for 
Workgroups only 


no 


some (a) 


yes 


Buift-in E-mail 


no 


Windows for 
Workgroups only 


no 


some (a) 


yes 


386 or Higher CPU Required 


no 


no 


yes 


yes 


yes 


(a) This feature is standard or optiona 


in some flavors of 


UNIX, while other UNIX variants r 


night not offer 


the feature at all. 



OS/2 2.x's Workplace Shell and 
Presentation Manager graphical user 
interface features. 

Likewise, NT is also capable of 
running POSIX I.O-compatitjIe appli- 
cations. POSIX is a U.S. govern- 
ment-specified standard flavor of 
UNIX that allows compatible pro- 
grams to be run on a wide variety of 
different computers. 

Unfortunately, most existing UNIX 
applications require more features 

10 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



and capabilities than those specified 
in POSIX 1.0. 

Further. POSIX doesn't yet support 
the X Window system or higher-level 
graphical user interface tools that are 
quickly becoming an integral part of 
most UNIX systems. Therefore, as 
with OS/2, Windows NT's POSIX sup- 
port is, for now, primarily a token ges- 
ture aimed at providing cross-platform 
compatibility, rather than an immedi- 
ately useful feature. 



Keeping Secrets 

As mentioned earlier, Windows NT 
includes sophisticated networking 
capabilities. Existing Windows tor 
Workgroups (WFW) users will recog- 
nize NT's networking features as 
extensions of WFW's capabilities. NT 
systems can share files, printers, and 
other resources {such as networkable 
modems) on a peer-to-peer basis with 
other NT systems, as well as with 
WFW systems. These peer-to-peer 



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networks don't require expensive ded- 
icated file and print servers. Or you 
can clioose to create client/server net- 
work configurations, witin NT systems 
acting as file, print, and application 
servers to other NT, WFW, LAN 
fvlanager, and DOS-based systems. In 
fact. Windows NT includes approxi- 
mately 90 percent of the functions and 
features found in Microsoft's LAN 
tvlanager 3.0. NT supports the network 
protocols used by LAN Manager and 
IBM's LAN Server, as well as the pro- 
tocols used by most UNIX systems 
and the worldwide Internet. 
Additionally, Novell NetWare users 
aren't left out; Windows NT systems 
can be connected as clients to exist- 
ing NetWare servers. 

A powerful networked operating 
system like Windows NT will usually 
be used in applications in which more 
than one user needs to use the net- 
work; otherwise, there's little reason to 
upgrade from Windows 3.1. As soon 
as multiple users begin to access a 
single system or network of systems, 
security becomes essential. Each user 
will have applications and data files 
that must remain private to him or her, 
while some programs and files will 
need to be shared by other users. 

More importantly, critical functions 
such as modifying operating system 
files and adding or deleting users 
must be strictly limited to authorized 
system administrators. 

Windows NT includes the Security 
Subsystem, which requires all users to 
log on with a unique user name and 
password in order to gain initial 
access and then strictly controls 
access to files and subdirectories 
according to rules set up by the sys- 
tem administrator. NT meets the U.S. 
government's 02 level of security, 
meaning that it can be used for mod- 
erately sensitive applications 
(although its safeguards are insuffi- 
cient for secret or even more sensitive 
data). By comparison, OS/2 has only 
rudimentary security features: it relies 
on LAN Server's network-based secu- 
rity for more extensive protection. 

UNIX, on the other hand, has had 
password protection and access con- 
trol features for years, but only recent- 
ly have some desktop UNIX vendors 
(Univei and SunSoft) brought their 
products' security up to 02 standards. 
These vendors require users to pur- 
chase add-on software to achieve the 
same level of security built into 
Windows NT. 

In order to keep track of who has 
permission to access which files and 
subdirectories, a file system (which 
manages the directories and file 
attributes for each hard disk) must 

12 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



maintain and update a great deal of 
security information. The FAT file sys- 
tem used by DOS and Windows 
makes no allowances for security, nor 
does it provide the fail-safe features 
required in mission-critical applica- 
tions, where a single disk failure could 
have catastrophic results. 

Windows NT's developers devised 
a new file system, called NTFS (NT 
File System) that works hand in hand 
with the Security Subsystem to keep 
track of security permissions for every 
file, subdirectory, and user. In addi- 
tion, for reliability, NTFS supports disk 
mirroring, in which two disk drives 
contain identical information, so that 
the mirror drive can take over instantly 
in the event of a failure in the primary 
drive. NTFS can also improve disk 
performance with a technique called 
disk striping, in which files are written, 
or "striped," across two or more physi- 
cal disk drives. 

Because each drive can read or 
write a different block of data from the 
same file simultaneously, the time it 
takes to perform disk functions can be 
dramatically reduced. In addition, by 
adding parity, which stores disk data 
with a small amount of redundant 
information, small data errors can 
often be corrected on the fly, and data 
damaged by more severe hardware or 
software failures can usually still be 
reconstructed. 

In addition to NTFS. Windows NT is 
also compatible with the FAT file sys- 
tem and OS/2's High Performance File 
System (HPFS), although NT's secuhty 
features can't be used with FAT or 
HPFS volumes. 

Intel and Beyond 

One of the most important and excit- 
ing new features of Windows NT is its 
ability to run on non-Intel processors. 
UNIX can run on a wide variety of dif- 
ferent computers, from desktops to 
supercomputers, but even today, DOS 
and Windows can run oniy on either 
Intel or Intel-compatible processors, 
or on top of software that emulates the 
Intel x86 architecture. In addition to 
Intel's family of 386, 486, and Pentium 
processors, NT supports the new gen- 
eration of high-performance RISC 
(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) 
processors that offer big price and 
performance advantages over CISC 
(Complex Instruction Set Computer) 
processors (such as Intel's x86 and 
Motorola's 680x0 families). Windows 
NT currently runs on MIPS 4000 RISC 
processors from Silicon Graphics, as 
well as on Digital Equipment's Alpha 
RISC processor family. Future support 
for Hewlett-Packard's HP-PA and 
Intergraph's Clipper RISC processors 



is planned, and IBM is rumored to be 
working on moving NT to the PowerPC 
processor family that will form the 
backbone of Apple's and IBM's next 
generation of desktop computers. 

Later this year, the first RISC PCs 
will begin to appear, using Alpha and 
MIPS 4000 processors. These PCs will 
be priced slightly higher than, and 
look and run very much like, existing 
high-end PCs; they'll have EISA-bus 
slots and support ISA- and EISA-bus 
expansion cards. 

For superior video display and 
hard disk performance, most will also 
support local-bus architectures such 
as VL-Bus or PCI. They'll use the 
same keyboards, mice, monitors, 
modems, phnters, and other peripher- 
als as conventional PCs, but instead 
of DOS and Windows, they'll run either 
Windows NT or a flavor of UNIX. 

These RISC PCs wilt run existing 
DOS and Windows applications under 
NT about as fast as a 33-MHz or 
clock-doubled 50-MHz 486-based PC 
does today under DOS, but they'll 
equal or exceed all but the fastest 
available Pentium chips when running 
native Windows NT applications, 
(Existing DOS and Windows applica- 
tions won't have to be modified in 
order to run on these systems, but 
new NT applications will have to be 
recompiled in order to run on different 
processor designs.) Windows NT will 
help to turn these RISC PCs into real 
competitors for Intel-based PCs and 
servers, and in so doing will help to 
drive down the price of high-end 486- 
and Pentium-based systems, 

NT Versus OS/2 and UNIX 

Windows NT is often compared to 
OS/2 and UNIX. In fact, when NT was 
first conceived by Microsoft, it wasn't 
called Windows NT at all, Instead, it 
was called OS/2 3.0, and it was 
intended to be Microsoft's next-gener- 
ation platform-independent version of 
OS/2. The split between IBM and 
iVIicrosoft sealed OS/2 3.0's fate, and 
the announcement of the ill-fated 
Advanced Computing Environment in 
the fall of 1991 by MIPS, Compaq, 
Microsoft, and others was the first for- 
mal acknowledgment that OS/2 3.0 
had metamorphosed into Windows 
NT. Today, Windows NT 3.1 will com- 
pete head to head with OS/2 2.1, as 
well as with a variety of UNIX flavors, 
including UnixWare (Novell/Univel), 
SCO UNIX (Santa Cruz Operation), 
Solaris (SunSoft), and NextStep 
(NeXT). 

The table provided on the preced- 
ing page summarizes the similarities 
and differences between NT. OS/2, 
and genehc UNIX. 




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The Price of Power 

Windows NT's power and flexibility 
has its price. NT demands faster 
processors, more nemory, and big- 
ger hard disks. Unlike Windows 3.1, 
which runs on virtually any 386, 486, 
or Pentium processor, f^/licrosoft 
states that at least a 25-MH2 386 is 
required for NT. In fact, anything short 
of a 486 is underpowered so far as 
NT is concerned. A 25-MHz 486SX is 
probably the minimum processor 
needed for adequate performance. 



Also, be prepared to buy more RAM. 
Until March of this year. Microsoft's 
stated goal was to make NT run in 
8MB of RAM with acceptable speed, 
but software developers who tested 
the first two beta versions of NT were 
dubious that Microsoft would ever 
achieve its goal. With the March beta 
release, Microsoft threw in the towel 
and raised the minimum requirement 
to "12MB of RAM, with the best perfor- 
mance possible only on systems with 
16MB or more. 

Finally, NT needs lots of disk 
space; the complete operating sys- 
tem, including networking, OS/2, and 
POSIX support, requires 80MB of stor- 
age. The complete Software Develop- 
ment Kit requires another 40MB. Swap 
files for virtual memory will require 
another 10-20MB, so depending on 
whether you1l be developing applica- 
tions or simply running them, you'll 
need 100-140MB of hard disk space 
just to get started. And don't plan to 
save money or slots by using Stacker 
or SpeedStor; at the present time, NT 
is totally incompatible with these utili- 
ties. In fact, NT doesn't even under- 
stand Microsoft's own DoubleSpace 
compression, which is built into DOS 
6. (Microsoft is working on a new NT 
disk driver that will be able to read 



and write DoubleSpace volumes, but 
it won't be available until sometime 
after NT ships.) 

Should You Switch? 

It's clear ttiat Windows NT is a big step 
beyond DOS and Windows, However, 
for the average home or small-business 
user, does it make sense to switch? 
The answer depends on how success- 
fully you can get your tasks done today 
with Windows 3.1. If you're constantly 
battling with DOS's memory limitations, 
if you need the ability to do both peer- 
to-peer and client/server computing, or 
if you want to move a favorite UNIX 
application to Windows, NT could be 
right for you, Keep in mind, though, 
that NT currently doesn't support multi- 
user capabilities with low-cost charac- 
ter-oriented terminals. Unless you're 
going to develop your own application 
from scratch, or move an existing 
application from UNIX to NT, be sure 
that your software suppliers are ready- 
ing NT versions of their programs 
before you take the plunge. Otherwise, 
you'll be stuck with expensive NT sys- 
tems that offer little practical benefit 
over what you're already using. 

On the other hand, if you're cur- 
rently using Windows applications and 
you don't really need the additional 



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power of Windows NT, or if you have 
an existing small LANtastic, NetWare, 
or Windov/s for Workgroups network 
and you're not planning to add lots of 
new users, today's DOS/Windows 
combination is probably fine for you. 
In fact, switching to NT might actually 
be counterproductive for two reasons. 
First, as I explained earlier, both DOS 
and Windows applications run in erru- 
lators under NT, not in the native NT 
environment. Like all emulators. NT's 
Virtual DOS Machine and Windows on 
Win32 exact a performance penalty. 

The second reason for not switch- 
ing is the extra expense involved in 
equipping each PC to run Windows 
NT. Applications that run perfectly well 
today on a 25-MH2 386SX will proba- 
bly need at least a 25-MHz 486SX in 
order to satisfy NT's requirements and 
still provide adequate performance. In 
addition, a system with 8f\/IB of RAf^ 
that's perfectly adequate for your cur- 
rent DOS/Windows needs will require 
at least 12MB and probably 16MB of 
RAM for acceptable performance with 
NT. For existing applications, you'l 
get even greater performance gains 
by upgrading your PC's processor 
and memory while keeping your cur- 
rent DOS/Windows software configu- 
ration. Your existing software will run 



significantly faster, and you'll be ready 
for Windows NT in the future. 

It you're willing to wait until some- 
time in 1994 for a "lite" version of NT, 
Microsoft is working on Windows 4.0, 
often referred to by its code name, 
Chicago. According to industry 
sources, Chicago will have most of the 
features of Windows NT except its 
ability to act as a server on client/serv- 
er networks and its support for OS/2 
and POSIX applications. Like NT, 
Chicago will be a complete operating 
system and thus will no longer require 
DOS in order to run. Chicago's memo- 
ry and disk requirements will probabiy 
be significantly more modest than 
NT's. For exampie, Microsoft claims 
that Chicago will be able to run on 
PCs with 8MB of RAM; however, keep 
in mind that up until March of this 
year, Microsoft claimed that NT would 
also be able to run in SMB. Also, indi- 
cations are that like today's DOS and 
Windows, Chicago will run only on 
Intel and Intel-compatibie processors, 
although that might change if NT is a 
big hit on non-Intel platforms, 

The bottom line is that Windows NT 
offers true multitasking, multithreading, 
and multiprocessing, along with exten- 
sive networking capabilities, while 
remaining compatible with most exist- 



ing DOS and Windows applications. In 
addition to Intel x86- and Pentium- 
based PCs, you'll also be able to run 
NT on RISC-based PCs and worksta- 
tions using MIPS 4000 and Digital 
Equipment's Alpha processors. 
However, to use NT with your present 
PC. be prepared to upgrade your sys- 
tem with a faster processor, more 
RAM, and a bigger hard disk. If you're 
a home or small-business PC user, 
there's little reason to switch to NT 
unless you really need one or more of 
its advanced features. Windows 4.0. or 
Chicago, due out sometime next year, 
promises to offer most of NT's func- 
tionality in a smaller package. In short, 
Windows NT is a powerhouse that's 
likely to be overkill for all but the most 
demanding applications, but it offers a 
first look at the future of desktop com- 
puting, Microsoft style. 



Len Feldman is the author o/^ Windows 
NT: The Next Generation, published 
by Sams Publishing. Mr. Feldman is a 
computer industry consultant based in 
San Jose, California: his clients 
include Borland, l-litachi, Radius, and 
Toshiba. He was formerly the chief 
sysop of CompuServe's l[^ultlmedia 
Vendor Forum. J 




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The Setiseware Comp 

circle RcadM Service Number 255 



TEST LAB 



Edited by Mike Hudnall 
Reviews by Tom Campbell 

This is an exciting time in the 
Windows database arena. 
And it's no wonder: Database 
applications are, depending 
on whom you believe, the most 
popular or the second-most-pop- 
ular use for computers. 

The arena wasn't always this 
interesting- When Windows 1.0 
came out in 1984, there was noth- 
ing. A few vertical market appli- 
cations appeared with 2.0, as 
well as a couple of failed Mac 
ports. Microsoft was curiously 
silent all this time, developing, we 
now know, Access. Microsoft was 
also well behind the market 
curve, for by version 3.1, 
Windows had a downright respect- 
able selection of database manag- 
ers. Approach Software released 
Approach 1.0 to great acclaim; 
it's at version 2.0 now and shows 
Windows at its best. 

SPC's Superbase had a com- 
manding lead of the market be- 
fore Access sold nearly a nnillion 
copies at the loss-leading price 
of $100: with its intelligent imple- 
mentation of a database-oriented 
BASIC, Superbase is still a pre- 
mier development environment. 
Fox Software, now subsumed by 
Microsoft, had done a great job 
porting its FoxBase dBASE clone 
to the Macintosh and was revers- 
ing the process when Microsoft 




■n,f/)T.'w'0"" 



16 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



bought Fox for a cool $175 mil- 
lion. The reversal was complete 
this year when FoxPro appeared 
on Windows, DOS, Mac, and 
UNIX — a desktop computer 
grand slam. Borland was hardly 
idle. It was developing a dBASE 
clone for Windows and reengineer- 
ing Paradox, its flagship data- 
base. After more than a year's 
delay, Paradox emerged from the 
chrysalis just in time to battle 
with FileMaker Pro, from that 
insanely great software company 
called Apple, 

As interesting as the market 
soap opera is, the products are 
much more so. These full-fea- 
tured database managers can all 
be used to create mousing, win- 
dowing, push-button database 
applications. With some of them 
it stops there; you can add push 
buttons, but not list boxes, com- 
bo boxes, or radio buttons. All of 
them import dBASE files — a 
great relief from times past when 
compatibility wasn't even men- 
tioned by database publishers. 
Some of them provide macro lan- 
guages and ways to replace the 
standard menus with your own; 
some don't. All have some form 
of network support, and many 
speak SQL; both of these fea- 
tures are left unexplored in these 
reviews because the typical COM- 
PUTE reader is a hobbyist or 
small-business person on a single- 
user system. 

Access, FoxPro. Paradox, and 
Superbase ail have programming 
languages of their own. Every 
one of them is expensive, and eve- 
ry one of them is a stunning 
achievement. At list pnce they're 
bargains; at the competitive up- 
grade prices, they're steals. You 
can't go wrong with any of them. 



AceFile 2.0 
List price: $199 

ACE SORWARE 

1740 Technology Dr., Ste. 680 

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(408)451-0100 



The middle tier is less predict- 
able. Its products range wildly in 
feature combinations; among 
them, Approach and FileMaker 
Pro are out-and-out winners. 

If your needs are simpler, you'll 
want to take a look at the sidebar 
describing Instant Database 
from Asymetrix, Data Manager 
from Timeworks, and FormWorx 
from PowerUp, They taste great, 
and they're less filling price- 
wise. Another sidebar covers 
CA-dBFast 2.0, a product that 
shipped too late for coverage in 
the Test Lab regular reviews. 

Some of the products covered 
in this Test Lab support an image 
data type for fields, but OLE gets 
extra credit because it can han- 
dle any data type, at no cost to 
the DBMS. Interestingly, few use 
the common file open dialog 
Microsoft began promoting with 
Windows 3,0, and too few sup- 
port data entry masks to restrict 
input to, say, a phone number or 
Social Security number style. 

All trends point upward; this is 
a healthy and impressive bunch. 
Installation programs are all com- 
petent at the very least, although 
some are called INSTALL, EXE 
instead of the more standard SET- 
UPEXE and some don't show 
available and required disk 
space. A goodly number offer 
something besides a full, default 
installation: sometimes a minimal 
installation and sometimes a cus- 
tom installation. 

All can print a report to a text 
file if you install the Windows 
Generic print driver, but that's a 
pain, I looked for plain text output 
without Generic. All of them have 
calculated fields, and all but one 
employ the standard Windows 
help system, Paradox uses the 
help system most effectively, with 
a number of well-thought-out visu- 
al metaphors that show we are 
only now beginning to understand 
the efficacy of hypermedia. 

If you've been thinking about 
graduating from Cardfile, go for 
it. The game has begun. 

TOM CAMPBELL 



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AceFile is a midrange product 
with a broad, sliailow feature set. 
In addition to using dBASE III 
PLUS data files as its native for- 
mat, AceFile boasts graphing, a 
dialer, and a rudinnentary mail- 
merge facility witfi a text editor. 

Because of its shallow feature 
set. AceFile is pretty easy to 
learn. Some things are a little awk- 
ward, such as its handling of 
index files, but if AceFile is your 
first database, these considera- 
tions are small and shouldn't 
affect your enjoyment, I find 
AceFile fairiy snappy, and it would 
be an even better performer were 
it not for bad handling of screen 
redraws. There's way too much flick- 
er when AceFile launches, when 
you quit, and when you enter da- 
ta or scroll through records in a 
multiwindow application. 

AceFile's idea of a complete 
database application is a "view 
set," a file containing the arrange- 
ment of windows, databases, 
and relationships in the applica- 
tion. Nowhere nearly as cohesive 
as, say, the equivalent applica- 
tion in Access or Superbase, but 
it gets the job done. 

While there's no programming 
language, AceFile has a wide va- 
riety of very useful functions you 
can embed in forms and reports; 



reports are especially flexible. It 
also has a macro facility, so put- 
ting together a view set as a turn- 
key application is straightforward 
with only a little study. 

The graph module is flexible 
and has a number of charts. It's 
not quite as visual as I'd like, tak- 
ing a fill-in-the-forms approach 
when direct manipulation would 
be more desirable. For example, 
you type in numbers for the 
angle and tilt of a 3-D pie chart, 
rather than rotating a model of the 
chart in realtime. 

Somehow I feel that the whole 
is less than the sum of its parts. 
1 probably wouldn't have noticed 
this had I not dealt with such seam- 
lessly integrated masterworks as 
Access and Superbase. For ex- 
ample, you can't have parts of 
several related files show up in 
the same window. Each must 
occupy its own window, leading 
to rather creative use of tiling in 
the sample applications. 

The manual is pretty good. 



Approach 2.0 lor Windows 
List price: S399 ($39 tor 
competitive upgrade) 

APPHOACH SOiTWARE 
311 Penobscot Dr. 
Redwood City. CA 94063 
(415) 306-7890 



although, despite a longish index, 
I was stymied when I tried to find 
out whether the program has 
memo fields. I couldn't find memo 
or field types \n the index, AceFile 
does indeed support memo 
fields, by the way, because it uses 
dBASE files as its native format, 

If you need a broad range of fea- 
tures in one box with a moderate 
price, AceFile is a good choice. 

Circle Reader Service Number 371 

APPROACH 2i) FOR 
WINDOWS 

Of all the "easy" Windows data- 
base managers in this roundup. Ap- 
proach and FileMaker Pro seem 
the best to me. While Approach 
lacks a programming language, it 
lets you create impressive turnkey 
applications very quickly. 

Approach impressed me right 
from the start. Its toolbar contains 
only the most-used features, so I 
found it the easiest to learn. Its 
menus are perhaps the best 
designed of any in the products 
I used, leaving the toolbar for 
what it's supposed to do — 
provide quick access to the 
actions that you'll perform most 
frequently. And let's face it: Icons 
are helpful if you already know 
what they mean; however, having 
to learn 30 or 40 of them can 
slow you down, even if you're the 




AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 17 



TEST LAB 




most determined power user, 

I found the manuals elegant 
and useful, with a well-written 
tutorial. Unlike, say, FoxPro's big 
tutorial, which targets experi- 
enced Xbase programmers who 
want to learn FoxPro's special 
features, the Approach tutorial 
teaches you both the product 
and database management at 
the same time. 

The Approach user's guide is 
equally good, making its few omis- 
sions stand out. According to the 
box. Approach allows you to "be- 
come productive instantly by 
providing turnkey business 
templates, " but I couldn't find 
templates in the index. 

This product's online help is 
fine, but what it calls an index is 
actually a table of contents. My 
biggest complaint about help is 
that you usually can't get it from 
inside a dialog, such as when 
you're adding a field to the data- 
base structure. The documenta- 
tion on importing and exporting 
data is the best I saw with any 
DBIvlS, The few connplaints I 
have are minor ones about an oth- 
erwise superb product. 

Approach was one of the first 
significant database managers 
for Windows 3.x, and it shows, I 
found the drawing tools parttcular- 

18 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



ly good, and they have a Group/ 
Ungroup feature, which lets you 
fuse objects together to form a 
Sfngle selectable unit. Need form 



letters? With Approach they're 
easy, and they're built right into 
the product. Creating a macro is 
a snap, although macros are 
somewhat limited and don't run 
very fast. The query mechanism 
IS so simple that it doesn't even 
have a separate name; it's just an 
extension of the Find dialog you'll 
see in most Windows applica- 
tions. While Access makes a big 
deal about its dynasets. 
Approach has had a similar fea- 
ture for a long time. With 
Approach, when you create a 
report, you can edit the records 
output by the report. They aren't 
called dynasets, but the effect is 
similar. 

An Approach application is 
held together by a "view" file, and 
view files do some amazing 
things. For example. Approach 
can use both Paradox and 
dBASE as native file formats with- 
out translation. Neither has a 



JA-DBFAST 2.0 



A few months ago, I questioned Com- 
puter Associates' purchase of both 
Clipper, a DOS Xbase compiler, and 
dBFast, a Windows compiler. Since 
they had different extensions to the 
dBASE language, I implied that per- 
haps CA had gotten in over its head. 

I'm happy to be proved wrong by 
release 2.0 of CA-dBFast— glorious- 
ly wrong. (Release 2.0 arrived too 
late for regular coverage. This pre- 
liminary look is based on just one 
day of examination, so bear In mind 
that it's not an exhaustive look. The 
dBASE compatibility helped me in 
this regard, because I was able to 
run a goodly amount of vanilla III 
PLUS code through,) 

Like Clipper, dBFast is an implem- 
entation of the dBASE 111 PLUS 
language. Wisely, CA has given 
dBFast a complete development 
environment with a multiwindow 
editor, a debugger, and visual report 
and form designers. The extensions 
to dBASE III PLUS are numerous- 
more than 350 of them, by my 
count. Many of them echo similar 
extensions to Clipper (array-handling 
routines, conditional compilation, 
binary file I/O), making it clear that 



CA is heading in the same direction 
with both products. 

Like FoxPro. CA-dBFast lets you 
create true Windows applications in 
dBASE style, Unlii^e FoxPro, CA- 
dBFast gives you true EXE file crea- 
tion at a price that competes favora- 
bly with those of Borland and Micro- 
soft language products: S550, ver- 
sus about $1,500 with FoxPro. The 
EXEs require some frightening over- 
head — a simple one was 500K — but 
the productivity gains are worth it, 

Version 1 ,0 was beset with prot)- 
lems and was so delicate that it 
often couldn't run even generic 
dBASE code. Happily, this seems to 
be a thing of the past, CA-dBFast 2.0 
has some incredible language exten- 
sions, a terrific language reference 
that's chock-full of examples, and a 
good debugger at a very competi- 
tive price. It has a bright future. 

CA-dBFast 2.0 lists for S550. For 
more information about this product, 
contact Computer Associates at 1 
Computer Associates Plaza, 
Islandia, New York 11788(800-225- 
5224 or 516-342-5224), 

-TOM CAMPBELL 
CIrcte Reader Service Number 330 



Bad Day ii Bagdad I 





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^Bfoderbund 



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Circle Reader Service Number 108 



TEST LAB 







DataBase 




counter data type, yet you can 
have them in any Approach 
database, because the view file 
manages them — an ingenious 
strategy. The README file is an 
Approach view file, giving a 
hypertext twist to the usual last- 
minute documentation along 
with a showy but useful illustration 
of Approach's assets. 

One truly non-Windows feature 
is that Approach is pleasingly 
fast, allowing you to scroll 
through records at a satisfying 
clip. All in all, Approach is prob- 
ably the best of the nonprogram- 
mable Windows databases in 
this Test Lab roundup. 

CIrcie Reader Service Number 372 

DATAEASE EXPRESS 
1.1 FOR WINDOWS 

DataEase is a powerful develop- 
ment environment for nonprogram- 
mers, though it has significant 
flaws. Designed more for corpo- 
rations than for individuals, it's 
built on a rock-solid data engine 
with numerous connections to 
minicomputer and mainframe 
database managers. 

While I found it more complicat- 
ed than the other nonprogramma- 
ble database managers, I also 
found that it can do substantially 
more in certain areas: queries, view- 
ing the data in different form con- 
figurations, and mainframe que- 
ries. Another feature geared more 
toward the corporate user, its use 

20 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



OaiaEase Express i.l for Windows 
Lisl price: $395 

TAEASE iNTERNATIONAL 
/ Cambridge Dr. 
Trumbutl.CT 06611 
(203) 374-8000 



of style sheets on forms, allows 
you to standardize on one or more 
visual themes. 

Some things just didn't sit well 
with me. For example, to create a 
table (database file), you have to 
choose File/New/Form and 
choose <NewTable> in the Select 
a Database Table column. It nev- 
er occurred to me to look there 
because most DBfvlSs keep the 
form and table separate. 

While most of the packages in 
this Test Lab offer a good number 
of sample applications, DataEase 
wins for real-life usability. You can 
modify the Club ParaDease and 
project manager sample apps for 
use in your own business, where- 
as the sample appiications that 
come with other products would 
be better thought of as starting 
points. The DataEase sample 
apps show a weakness of the over- 
all package, a cluttered design 
and overenthusiastic use of color 
that I found somewhat confusing. 



Compounding this, the sample 
apps seem to have been created 
for a Super VGA system:, so the 
text label Appo/n/menf became Ap- 
pointmen and DayMinder Person- 
al Plannerwas truncated to DayMin- 
der Personal Pla. Also, the sample 
application uses teensy fonts in 
some areas that users with less 
than perfect vision will find impos- 
sible to read. 

DataEase employs my favorite 
catalog approach of the bunch, 
giving it the edge for team pro- 
jects. The main window of the 
catalog is collapsible, like an 
outliner, and you can double- 
click on its elements to go direct- 
ly to them. Its support of graph- 
ics is a little iffy, requiring you to 
enter a filename for each graph- 
ic: you can't just paste it in from 
the Windows Clipboard. On the 
other hand, it supports all major 
graphics file types: Windows 
bitmap. Encapsulated PostScript, 
CompuServe GIF, Paintbrush 
PCX. Targa, TIFF, and Windows 
Ivletafile. 

DataEase wouldn't be my first 
choice for home or small busi- 
ness use. It's sufficiently eccen- 
tric and complex to learn that I'd 
rather go all the way and learn 
Access or Paradox. 

circle Reader Service Number 373 




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Circle Reader Service Number 164 



or lilt 



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otait 



TEST LAB 




J3 



flleMakerfi? 



FILEIVIAKER PRO 2.0 
FOR WINDOWS 

From the manual to ttie sample ap- 
plications to the software itself, 
this version of FileMaker Pro ooz- 
es quality. 

It's one of the first Windows 
products released by Claris, a 
wholly owned subsidiary 
of . . . Apple! Yes, the people 
who created the fvlacintosh final- 
ly wised up and started cashing 
in on the Windows market, which 
they indirectly helped to create. 
Filefvlaker Pro has attracted a iot 
of attention and deserves it. 
While you can exchange files be- 
tween the Macintosh and Win- 
dows versions of FileMaker Pro, 
this does not feel like a soulless 
ripoff. FileMaker Pro is one of the 
best examples around of how to 
create a great Windows product. 

Miscues are few and far be- 
tween, One of them is that there 
are two kinds of scroll bars, the 
standard Windows variety and a 
homegrown one. The radio but- 
tons aren't factory issue, either. 
This is no doubt an artifact of the 
common code base the program 
shares with the Macintosh ver- 
sion, but these features lumped 
out at me. And you can't get help 
from within dialogs, a feature I 
missed greatly but was able to do 
without because of the program's 
amazing design. The help system 
is a model for Windows applica- 
tions — another surprise given its 
ancestry. 

With FileMaker Pro, creating a 
database is easier than with any 

22 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



FileMaker Pro 2.0 lor Windows 
LIsl prlcB: $129 (during sneclai 
promollon) 

CLARIS 

520t Patrick Henry Dr. 
Santa Clara, CA 95052-8168 
(408) 727-8227 



other product in this Test Lab. An 
Options dialog for each field 
type allows you to override the sen- 
sibly chosen defaults, and it 
makes such tasks as defining the 
field as unique or uppercase 
downright simple. I missed logi- 
cal field types, but you can get 
the same effect by making the 
field a check box— arguably a bet- 
ter solution. Choosing a font 
brings up a visual representation 
of all the fonts on your system; 
I've never seen this in a Windows 
product, and it's a godsend. 

The Find dialog is secretly 
also a query mechanism, used to 
select records for reports. This is 
so subtly integrated into the pro- 
gram that there isn't even a sec- 
tion on reports in the manual. 

There is a macro facility that's 
limited but easy to use. As a pro- 
grammer, I found it limiting, but 
as a user in need of slapping 
together a database application 
fast, I found it agreeable. File- 



SPEAK UP! 

Is tfiere a group of hardware or 

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extension 7010102, The call 

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Maker Pro reads all the major 
graphics file types and then 
some, probably more than any oth- 
er DBMS in this roundup. The sam- 
ple applications have their own 
manual, so you don't have to doc- 
ument or create them from start, 
Its price puts FileMaker Pro up 
with the high-end programmable 
database managers, but I think 
it's justified by the sheer ele- 
gance of its implementation. It 
adds up to a brief learning curve 
married to an ample feature set — 
two qualities that appear often in 
Windows products but seldom in 
the same one. 

circle Reader Service Number 374 



= £ilc Edit Select 



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TEST LAB 



m "-"-' 




y 




Maionat DtmitHim Miii>ae"«mtS>.tienr/r Windci 



MICROSOFT ACCESS 
1.0 

Access typifies the worst and the 
best of Windows. It's big, slow 
even on a four-meg 486SX ma- 
chine, and complicated. It's also 
a masterpiece, an instant classic 
of Windows design. 

What makes Access special is 
the depth, richness, and integra- 
tion of its features. You can save 
a form as a report. You can edit 
the results of a query exactly as 
if you were using the data itself. 
Windows drag-and-drop features 
are used extensively. And often, 
a feature is so obvious that you'll 
use it without thinking about it 
because you're simply not accus- 
tomed to such an intensely visual 
environment. The manuals and 
sample applications look fine and 
do an amazingly good job for a 
1.0 product. 

Rough edges in this package 
are evident but few: The manual 
slips and calls the program 
Cirrus, its code name under devel- 
opment; I noticed a page refer- 
ence of ??? where the writer had 
neglected to fill in the number: 
and some simple tasks require a 
dip into the Access Basic pro- 
gramming language. 

I don't see this as an easy 
database manager, but the pro- 
gram's incredible power yields 
more per hour of learning than 
any Windows product I've ever 
seen. After a few serious months 
learning Access, you could cre- 
ate very sophisticated Windows 

24 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



Microsoft Access 1.0 
List price: $49S 

MICROSOFT 
1 MIcrosoU Way 
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 
1800) 426-8400 



applications in very few billable 
hours. It has the best macro 
facility of any of the databases 
reviewed in this Test Lab round- 
up, and when I checked Compu- 
Serve, I noticed that a fair num- 
ber of nonprogrammers are 
doing the job of programmers 
using macros alone. 

Access Basic is a strong, 
capable language, but you won't 
learn it fast. It looks a lot like Vis- 
ual Basic, but the two aren't com- 
patible. If you ve never used Vis- 
ual Basic. Access Basic will be a 
real stretch. There's an extensive, 
weil-written tutorial to help you 
bridge the gap. 

Not only can Access import 
data from a respectable variety of 
sources, but it can also "attach" 
dBASE and Paradox files and 
indexes. Attached files are left in 
their original formats, but they act 
just like they're native to Access. 
It's faster if you import them, but 
if you're not willing to entrust your 



current data exclusively to 
Access, you can have it both 
ways. Keep in mind, however, 
that importing has a hidden 
price. Access stores everything — 
forms, data, program code, 
reports, macros, queries— in a sin- 
gle file. So if you're developing 
Access applications for clients off- 
site, there's no comfortable way 
to update the code portion of a 
database without destroying the 
existing data, 

I must admit that my Windows 
system wasn't comfortable with 
only four megabytes of memory. 
IVIicrosoft optimistically lists two 
megs as the minimum working 
configuration, but don't even 
think about it. Be willing to accept 
the reality that Access is a 
resource hog. 

Access is a thrilling first 
release. Some features, such as 
data entry validation, aren't as pol- 
ished as they could be. IVIost oth- 
ers, such as its macro facility, 
drag-and-drop user interface, 
and Basic language implementa- 
tion, have already made it to the 
head of the class. If you're willing 
to spend some time with the man- 
ual, Access will handle any data- 
base management task you 
throw at it, 

circle Reader Service Number 375 



MIcrosoR Access [The Catcgoiles Forinl 



Mtc ttlil View Hecurds Window \U:\\i 
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MICROSOFT 
FOXPRO 2.5 FOR 
WINDOWS 

FoxPro is the one product in this 
roundup ttiat you must be a 
database expert to use, Users 
who don't already know an 
Xbase language need not apply. 
If you do know dBASE and want 
to move to Windows, this is quite 
simply a product without peer, If 
you want source compatibility 
among DOS, Mac, and LJNIX ver- 
sions of a serious database man- 
ager, it's ttie only game in town. 

FoxPro is an unabashed pow- 
er user's tool. While it will laugh 
in your face if you feed it a 
machine with less than a 386 and 
two megs, it gets more perform- 
ance out of that machine than 
any other Windows DBMS, (How- 
ever, all of the products in this 
Test Lab will do just fine for the 
typical COMPUTE reader, who 
usually has fewer than 20,000 
records in a database.) Typical 
FoxPro developers either are port- 
ing a DOS Xbase application to 
Windows or need its screaming 
performance on data sets with 
100,000 or more records. 

If you already know dBASE or 
Clipper, you can't go wrong with 
FoxPro, The dBASE language 



Microsoft FoxPro 2.5 lor Windows 
List price: $495 

MiGROSOFT 
t Microsolt Way 
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 
(BOO) 426-9400 



was already becoming Byzantine 
with version III PLUS, and the 
trend has continued to the behe- 
moth FoxPro is today As a pro- 
grammer, I'm particularly fond of 
FoxPro because the entire appli- 
cation can be represented in sim- 
ple ASCII program listing. This 
makes team development of pro- 
grams a realistic goal in a GUI 
world where maintaining source 
code for visual application envi- 
ronments is uncharted terhtory. 

While the ads proclaim FoxPro 
has an applications generator 
that will let you create programs 
without coding, don't be misled. 
The applications generator is 
weaker than those of Access and 
Paradox, and you'll have to dip 
into the source it generates pret- 
ty quickly Also, FoxPro is orient- 
ed to the creation of stand-alone 
EXE programs (with the purchase 
of the FoxPro Distribution Kit) that 
can use the Windows API directly, 
so language shortcomings can al- 
ways be patched up with C. 

If you know a variant of the 



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dBASE language already or are 
willing to learn it from third-party 
materials in order to make use of 
FoxPro's unique portability to 
DOS and UNIX, you'll be well 
served by FoxPro. If you need an 
easy-to-learn, easy-to-use Win- 
dows DBMS that holds your 
hand, look elsewhere, 

circle Reader Service Number 376 

PARADOX 1.0 
FOR WINDOWS 

Paradox gives you the best of 
both worlds: the assured maturity 
of a product created by an 
experienced design and documen- 
tation team and the freshness of a 
1 .0 version. Although Paradox for 
DOS has been around for years 
now, the Windows version is a com- 
plete rewrite with only data compat- 
ibility. Paradox is an awesome 
development environment. 

Paradox, like Access, is billed 
as being easy enough for an end 
user but powerful enough for the 
most experienced developer, I 
don't believe the former, but the lat- 
ter is true in spades. If you want to 
make full use of Paradox, you'll 
have to learn at least some of its 
ObjectPAL language, but your ef- 
forts will be rewarded handsomely, 

Paradox, long famous for its 
query mechanism, is even better 
as a Windows product, allowing 
you to edit the data set returned 
by a query Excellent under DOS, 
the form designer has no equal in 
Windows, Paradox thinks of eve- 

AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 25 



TEST LAB 



rything in a database application 
as an object, and you can bring 
up an object's properties by 
selecting ttie object and then click- 
ing the right mouse button. This 
brings up a submenu, and from 
that submenu you choose an item 
that brings up a property dialog for 
font or color or behavior at phnt 
time or whatever. Explaining this 
takes a lot longer than doing it, 
and I found it much easier to use 
than the property sheet Access 
brings up. While Access lets you 
see all the properties at once, 
they appear in a tiny system font 
that often doesn't fit completely in 
the box, The Paradox way was 
much more comfortable to me. 

Paradox has an industrial- 
strength report generator. It 
does the best iob of all the data- 



Si 



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City: WjVTnir. I iiriflDd 

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calculated field. A field tfiat displays ttie 
result oi some computation, usually 
based on otiier fields, Calculated fields 
require no space in a file because their 
values aren't stored, only displayed. 

catalog. An idea gaining currency in 
ttie last few years, tfie catalog is a way 
to store information about a single data- 
base application— the files it uses, the 
way data Is stored, the program code, 
and the visual attributes of the applica- 
tion's user interface. 

counter data type. A number that 
increments automatically when a record 
is added: normally, counter fields can't 
be edited. Useful for generating serial 
numbers and. more important, for guar- 
anteeing that no record in the database 
IS identical to another record. 

DBMS. DataBase h/anagement Sys- 
tem, such as the programs reviewed 
here. This is different from a database, 
which Is usually information that can be 
stored in categories, such as names, ad- 
dresses, and phone numbers. Lately, 
databases are being called tables, to 
emphasize the theoretical view of data 
as rows and columns. 

field. A single "unit" or category of in- 
formation: last name, first name, area 
code, phone number, and so on. Also 
called a row in a table. 

filter. A quick way to select records 
meeting certain criteria from the data- 
base. By convention, a filter can't be 



GLOSSARY 

saved and a Query can, but they are oth- 
erwise similar 

form. The user interface into which da- 
ta Is entered. Usually, the form is 
separated from the structure of the 
table (ak.a, database), and there can, 
in fact, be several forms per table. 

functloti (in forms and reports). All of 
the database managers in this roundup 
allow the use of built-in numeric and text 
manipulators such as SUU{). UPPER- 
CASE! ), and AVERAGEO: these 
are called functions. Sometimes the func- 
tions can be used only in forms, some- 
times only in reports, but usually in both. 
Functions work just like spreadstieet func- 
tions and can usually be similarly built 
up into complex expressions. 

index. Database records are stored on 
disk and copied into faster RAM only one 
at a time, while a ^ecord is being edited. 
An index contains a copy of a selected 
field from all the records in the database 
in RAI\,1, making it possible to navigate 
through the database in an ordered fash- 
ion without sorting the database. 

macro. A macro contains one or more 
memorized actions, such as positioning 
to the next record or choosing an item 
from a menu. Less complicated than a 
prtjgramming language but also less use- 
ful, macros allow the creation of turnkey 
applications by nonexperts. 

memo field, t^ost fields in a database 
are of fixed size— a 30-character last 



name, an eight-byte numeric field, a two- 
byte time field, and so on. Memo fields 
let you store arbitrary amounts of infor- 
mation, usually textual, without wasting 
space on the disk for records that don't 
have sjch information. Useful for record- 
ing patient histories, special directions, 
and sometimes more exotic values like 
images or sound. 

query. A way of finding records that 
meet selected criteria so a report can be 
printed. Queries are like filters except 
that they can be saved and quickly re- 
trieved for later use. Sometimes called 
fillers, 

table. Information stored in row-and- 
column format, sometimes called a da- 
tabase. Columns are sometimes called 
fields. The rows are called records. The 
old term for table is database, but that's 
slowly going out of style. 

turnkey application, A program written 
using the database manager that any- 
one, not just the programmer, can use. 
Normally, it has its own menu, help sys- 
tem, prompts, tables, data entry forms, 
queries, and reports, typically activated 
by push buttons or menu picks. 

Xbase. The most popular database lan- 
guage in the world is dBASE, so influential 
that it has inspired a horde of similar-but- 
not-identical counterparts: Clipper, Arago, 
FoxPro, and so forth, Xbase encompass- 
es all these entities, 

-TOM CAMPBELL 



26 COfulPUTE AUGUST 1993 



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NX-2420 ^Wm^^^S^^P^ 

Multi-Font ^wUSMiMmr^ 




We created our new line of laser printers 
under very strict guidelines. 





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Introducing the Star LS-5, LS-5EX and LS-5TT The LS-5 
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circle RMdtr Swvie* Hunter 203 



TEST LAB 




Borland 

Paradox 

for Windows 



bases surveyed here when creat- 
ing a default report or form that's 
based on several tables at once. 

ObjectPAL is a killer language. 
Borland made the right choice in 
creating a new language that can't 
use programs created for its DOS 
predecessor, despite the pain it 
will cause those with a big invest- 
ment in DOS Paradox code. Ob- 
jectPAL is documented brilliantly; 
its reference manual is by far the 
best of the bunch. You can learn 
ObjectPAL from the ground up 
through this manual and never 
have to purchase a third-party 
book. The ObjectPAL debugger 
outdistances all other debuggers 
for database languages. 

Paradox is a major achieve- 
ment and a product of staggering 
proportions. Among the program- 
mable databases, Access and 
Superbase are its only competi- 
tion in this group, and Paradox 
meets the challenge. 

Circle Reader Service Number 377 




28 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



Paradox 1.0 lor Windows 
List price: $795 ($139 while 
supplies last; call Borland (or 
inlormallon on tlie Super Pacit and 
Borland Office offers.) 

BORLAND INTERNATIONAL 
1800 Green Kills Rd. 
P.O. Box 660001 
Scolts Valley, CA 95067-0001 
(408) 438-8400 



SPCS PRIMABASE 11 

Scandinavian PC Systems' Pri- 
maBase is the least full featured 
of any database in this Test Lab 
roundup, yet it happens to be the 
only one guaranteed to pay for it- 



Who cares? Anyone whose 
business or club sends out a lot 
of bulk mail, Applying bar codes 
to the labels as the postal serv- 
ice requires is tricky without 
computerized help, but it can 
result in massive savings when 
you convert from first class to 
third class with machine-reada- 
ble POSTNET markings. 

Without the bar codes, 
PrimaBase would be better posi- 
tioned as an inexpensive share- 
ware database manager. Forms 
are sharply limited. For example, 
you can add push buttons, but 
their size, function, and captions 
are fixed — 17 varieties such as 
New, Edit, Search Next, and so 
forth, Reports are fairly good, but 





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self. That's because PrimaBase's 
main claim to fame is its ability to 
print all popular bar code types 
and then some; POSTNET, UPG- 
A, UPC-E, and others. 



SPCS PrimaBase 3.1 
List price: S349.95 

SCANDINAVIAN PC SYSTEMS 

P.O. Box 3156 

Baton Rouge. LA 70821-3156 

(800) 487-7727 

(504) 338-9580 



queries are little more than 
advanced Find dialogs and can't 
be saved. 

A handy little mail merge that 
you can use with Windows Write 
allows you to include text format- 
ting in the form letters that you 
create. This is certainly a novel 
and very appropriate use of 
existing tools. 

If you need to print bar codes, 
PrimaBase is well worth its 
$349.95 price. If not, you should 
probably look elsewhere. 

Circle Reader Service Number 378 




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Circle Reader Service Number 156 



TEST LAB 



LESS FILLING, FEWER FEATURES 



FormWorx 2.0 for Windows 

It would be wrong to call 'hese prod- 
ucts fuH-festured database managers, 
but they're handy tools in the fight 
against data glut. 

FornnWorx 2.0 for Windows (there's 
a nearly identical, compatible DOS ver- 
sion) is an intriguing package designed 
specifically for the creation of printed 
forms such as purchase orders, past- 
due notices, credit card applications, 
fax cover sheets, sales reports, and so 
forth. It also comes with a companion 
product named Fill & File, which ef- 
fectively turns FormWorx into an in- 
dexed database manager, complete 
with table lookups, default data entry val- 
ues, calculated fields, search and re- 
place, and customized prompts. 

As you might imagine, FormWorx is 
heavy on border patterns, variable 
units of measurement, alignment 
tools, and so on. You can ceate librar- 
ies of form objects or use the supplied 
ones. Hidden in the bacl< of the book 
is an invaluable discussion of how to 
use LaserJet output and manipulate the 
files from other languages (you can 
send the form out as an HP macro, a 
customized set of commands proc- 
essed directly by the laser printer). 

To ease form creation, there's a 
palette of "data objects," which con- 
strain data entry to the formats for Amer- 
ican currency, numbers, dates, times, 
five- and nine-digit ZIP codes, and sev- 
en- and ten-digit phone numbers. You 
can create custom input masks for 
those that aren't covered— for example. 
Social Security numbers, foreign tele- 
phone numbers, or European date 
styles. In all, FormWorx is a bargain 
and, with a library of 600 forms, may be 
less expensive than hiring an artist to 
rustle up even one simple form. 

To order FormWorx (S99.95), call 
(800) 826-0706 (in London, call 44-81- 
742-7222) or write Power Up, A Sub- 
sidiary of Spinnaker, 201 Broadway. 
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02021, 

Clrcle Reader Service Number 381 

Instant Database 2.0 

Instant Database 2,0 comes from 
Asymetrix, the company that 
brought you ToolBook. Written in Tool- 
Book, Instant Database exhibits 
some of that product's slowness, but 
not unbearably so. Instant Database 
has an 80-page manual that manag- 



es to cover most issues, but it leaves 
a few of them, such as the dialer, woe- 
fully short of full coverage. 

Instant Database is just that; you 
can create a database structure in a 
very few minutes just by drawing the 
fields onto a blank form. You don't 
bother with giving the fields types, 
such as number or text, and you 
don't even type in a maximum 
length, as is customary with most oth- 
er database managers. The result is 
a database that runs plenty fast with 
up to a few thousand records but 




then bogs down quickly. The report 
mechanism is quite limited, but it has 
a few useful options such as one to 
four columns, rudimentary mailing la- 
bel support, and conditional expres- 
sions. This last option appears to be 
quite powerful. 

If you're interested in multimedia 
computing, take note: With Instant Da- 
tabase, you can add animation, 
graphics, Asymetrix fvlediaBlitz 
scores. Wave audio, IvllDI audio, 
and digital video files to the record 
fields. The product also supports IVII- 
crosoft Video for Windows. 

If flexibility is less important to you 
than convenience, Instant Database, 
with 1 4 gorgeous but limited sample 
applications, may be for you. 

To order Instant Database (S95, 
S25 upgrade for users of Instant Da- 
tabase 1.0), call (800} 448-6543, or 
write Asymetrix a! 110 110th Ave. 
NE, Ste. 700, Bellevue, Washington 
98004, 
circle Reader Service Number 382 



Tlmeworks Data Manager 1.0 
for Windows 

Timeworks Data IVIanager 1 .0 for Win- 
dows wins the sweepstakes for best 
price-to-performance ratio in the non- 
programmable database category. 
For S60, you get a DBtyiS that com- 
petes favorably with AceFile and 
PrimaBase in most features, at a frac- 
tion of the price. 

While it's not possible for you to cre- 
ate forms with custom buttons or to 
replace the standard menus with 
menus of your own. Data IWanager 
does its job just fine, thank you. It 
has a toolbar with 12 icons and — 
miracle of miracles— they're actual- 
ly labeled! While this may not seem 
to be a great leap forward in user 
interface technology, it typifies what 
Data tvfanager is so good at; getting 
the job done. 

Timeworks' forms don't support 
data entry masks such as A" to 
force the input to uppercase in a 
text field. While I'd like that feature 
because of the flexibility it adds. 
Data fi4anager instead lets you 
bring up a Field Formatting dialog 
box, and here's where you see 
some of the program's flexibility It al- 
lows you to force text to uppercase, 
lowercase, or initial capital (very 
handy for entering names, unless it's 
one like deForest); round numbers 
up or down or truncate them; limit 
numeric and date values to a certain 
range; and set the precision for num- 
bers. Sure, it does mean that I can't 
create a data entry mask for, say, So- 
cial Security numbers, but it lets me 
do the most common tasks easily 

Calculated fields and reports 
make use of an expression builder 
that works in an easy, visual Win- 
dows fashion. Reports have all the 
standard features and, while there 
are no presets for Avery labels, the 
instructions for creating labels are 
crystal-clear. Tech support was not 
hard to reach — amazing for such an 
inexpensive product, 

At $60, Data fvlanager is a steal 
and quite good enough for most ap- 
plications. 

For more information or to order 
the product, call (708) 559-1300, or 
write Timeworks at 625 Academy 
Drive, Northbrook, Illinois 60062. 
Circle Reader Service Number 3S3 



30 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 




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TEST LAB 



<JDMib*^Sok!iUa,J9fL 



lEwfafl 

SUPERBASE 



I 




SUPERBASE 2.0 

Let's get one thing clear about 
Superbase from the start. You 
must know BASIC to use it prop- 
erly. If you know BASIC, good, 
because the Superbase dialect Is 
a good one. Superbase Is a 
mature product that's gotten 
rave reviews, and it deserves 
them. It's fast, easy to program, 
and wonderfully documented, 
and it comes with some bonus 
development tools that will make 
you even more productive. 

Superbase has all the bells 
and whistles you expect from a 
high-end Windows database 
manager: easy forms design, a 
complete and well-integrated 
query-by-examples mechanism, 
default creation of several dif- 
ferent kinds of reports, a dialog 
editor, and a macro recorder. 
The macro recorder is ingenious 
in that it generates code in 
SBL, Superbase's version of 
BASIC. 

Creating applications with 
Superbase is even easier than 
with Access. For example, you 
can attach SBL code directly to 
a button (or list box or whatever), 
whereas in Access you must 
attach the code to a macro and 
then run the macro from the but- 
ton. I also like SBL better than 
Access Basic because it's far 
closer to the spirit of BASIC. Soft- 
ware Publishing intimates in its 
literature that it will begin to 

32 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



Superbase 2.0 

List price: $795 ($199 (or 

competitive upgrade) 

SOFTWARE PUBLISHING 

3165KilerRd. 

P.O. Box 54983 

Santa Clara, CA 95056-0983 

(4081 988-7518 



make SBL more like Access Ba- 
sic, but I hope the plans don't 
pan out. While Access is quite 
powerful, it's harder to learn than 
Superbase. If you've been de- 
veloping applications in, say, 
PowerBASIC or QuickBASiC as 
opposed to Visual Basic, 
Superbase will make more sense 
to you. There's also a big library 
of canned SBL routines, so you 
could well put together a com- 
plete app with nothing more than 
(hose and some glue code. 

Superbase is very fast, too — 
one of the fastest of the DBMSs 
in this group. You can scroll 
through complicated forms even 
faster than with some DOS data 
managers. 

I do have a few complaints, 
though. I found that dBASE 
memo fields don't import proper- 
ly (they become ten-character 
text fields), and L could find no 
documentation addressing the 



pie rdil view Draw .Di;(irii; Mlilitifs (Iptions Help 




issue. The SBL reference manu- 
al, chock-full of useful example 
code, isn't Indexed, And I began 
to realize that the reason Super- 
base relies so heavily on what it 
calls validation formulas (which 
check to see whether you've 
entered information into a field 
properly) is that it doesn't have 
data entry masks, also known as 
picture fields. 

But you can't go wrong with 
Superbase, especially if you 
have experience as a BASIC 
programmer. Like dBASE in its 
heyday, Superbase is a full data 
management system with an 
easy-to-learn, state-of-the-art 
script language 

circle Reader Service Number 379 



NEXT MONTH: 

TEN FAST, 
POWERFUL, 

AND 
EXPANDABLE 

486 
NOTEBOOKS 



Farm Deslgfter- E:\OBDEHSVCUSTOMRF: Page-lt^it'a!!:-^^ 



SHIPHSE 



tint: Structure 



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flNS 




You've heard about if, you've reod about it, now expe- 
rience she breobhrough of Microsoft's* Flight Simulator'' 
v.5.0 with the breathtaking photo-realism of Mallard 
Software's new scenery. 

Never before seen real-tinne ray traced images lake 
you over terrain so real you'll be checking for a seol belt. 
Layers of realistic ciouds wisp post your screen just before 
completely obscuring your vision. Shadows change 
according to longitudinal and latitudinol position as the 
seasons and weather change along your course. 

The new satellite sceneries will take you over our 
nation's capital, Washington D.C. and ttie noturol vistas 
of ttie west coast; Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles ond 
San Diego. These images are so detailed and so real, 
you'll see what it really means to have a bird's eye view. 

So look for Mallard to bring you tfie most exciting new 
products in the coming months that will keep you on the 
edge of your seat and above all the rest. 



Mallard. 

For more information or to order coll 

1 -SOaWEB^FEET 

© 1993 Mallord Sopors, Inc 
Circle Reader Service Number 13B 



TEST LAB 





















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1 5 




WINDOWS V 

DATABASE 

FEATURES 


I 


AceFlle 2.0 

Approach 2.0 
for Windows 

CA-dBFa3t2.0 
DataEase Expres 


1 

i 

2j 


■ 


1 


o 


DATA TYPES 


i' 


















l-n.- •■ • 


.,^,.. 




Fixed-lenglh text 


■ 




m 




D 








■ 




Memo (variable-length text) 


■ 




■ 




m 








■ 




OLE objects 


-| 








3 








n 




Floating-point numbers 


■ 








u 








■ 




Currency 


n 








3 








□ 




Date 


■ 








■ 








■ 




Time 


-1 








■ 








"1 




Images 


-1 








■ 








-i 




True/false 


■ 








3 








3 




Counter/serial numbers "i 








■ 








3 


3 


DOCUMENTATtONjBgg 


f 


m 


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■:i 


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Tutorial 


■ 






m 


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■ 


■ 


Ouick-siarl guide 


■ 






■ 


■ 








n 


■ 


Number of example applications on disk 


6 18 




9 


7 




10 




3 


3 


Shows how to create an application Irom scratch 


■ 


3 




■ 


3 








■ 


■ 


Continuous page numbers (for exampie. 1-300) 


-1 -\ 




:i 


3 








■ 


3 


Sectioned page numbers (tor example. A1-A93, B1-B236, and so on) 


■ ■ 




■ 


■ 








3 


u 


PRINTING 




Tamp'ates for Avery labels 


■ 




■ 


3 


• 


■ 


3 


3 


3 


3 


Postal service bar codes 


1 




:] 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


■ 


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Envelopes 


3 




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dBASE III PLUS 


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dBASE IV 


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3 


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■ 


Lotus t -2-3 1.0 


■ 




■ 


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■ 


■ 


■ 


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■ 


Comma-delimiled ASCII 


■ 




■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


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dBASE Hi PLUS 


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■ 


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■ 


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dBASe IV 


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DATA ENTflY FORMS 


Picture lields 










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^ 


3 


Combo boxes 


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u 








3 


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List boxes 


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u 








3 


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Pusli Buttons 


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Check boxes 


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u 








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34 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



ADVERTISEMENT 



TECHNOLOGY UPDATE 



How to get surround 
sound without buying 
the theater. . . 

An amazing new surround sound decoder turns your 
existing stereo into a five channel home theater. 



B\/ Cluick Anton 

As much as I love reiUing vidoos, it's just 
not the same as seeing a inm-ie in a 
t theater. I remember the first time ! saw 
Top Gun. I nearlv jumped out of my sent when 
tlic planes flew overhead. One of the rensuns 
movies seem so real is because they use sur- 
round sound to make it seem like you're ac- 
tually there. Now, an 
incredible new de\'ice 
lets you use your 
stereo receiver to gel 
that same surround 
sound in your home. 

It takes more than 
just four speakers to 
get surround sound. 
You need to have 
some wav of separat- 
ing the signals. The 
new QI>1 Series II de- 
coder does just that, 
and in a revolutionarv 
way that rivals the 
best Dolby Pro-Logic 
and THX Systems 
available. 

Wins over critics. 
Noted audio critic, 
Len Feldman, review- 
ed the QD-1 for the 
September issue of 
Audio Magaziiw. He 
concluded that 
■'...the QD-l pro- 
duced a complete!}' 
accurate and realis- 
tic surround sound 
experience from a va- 
riety of videotapes 
and laser discs with Dolbv surroLmd en 
coding.,, the QD-1 delivers home theater soinid 
the wav it was nieant to be lieard." 




Brealtthrougli 'L minus R.' 

Back in the 1960's, Dvnaco dis- 
covered that in addition to the 
right and left channels, a "dif- 
ference" signal existed in a 
stereo recording, and aptly 
named it "L minus R." The QD-1 is able to de- 
code Dolby Surround 
signals in a videotape 
or a laser disc because 
those spatial and 
depth cues have been 
matrixed into the "L 
minus R" portion of 
the stereo soundtrack. 
It does so passi\elv, 
with no signal pro- 
cessing. What's more 
amazing, the QD-1 us- 
es your main stereo 
amp to amplify the 
rear channels. You do 
not need any addi- 
tional amplifiers! 
Concert hail sound. 
TheQD-l also decodes 
the ambience found in 
all musical record- 
ings. This sense of 
space, or concert 
hall acoustics Is pre- 
sent in all CDs and 
cassettes, especiailv 
live recordings. John 
Sunier of Auiiiophilc 
Eiiition, a nationally 
svndicated radio pro- 
gram, says "If you're 
a surround sound 
buff who loves to listen to music, you'll find 
this S79 passive black box superior to e\'en the 
S3000 TIIX or Dolby Pro-Logic processor," 




The Secret of Surround Sound 

Surround sound has become the rage of the 
■go's because it adds "depth" to stereo sound, 
giving you tfie home ttieater experience. Simply 
slated, it makes you lee! like you're actually at a 
concert or a movie theater, 

To "fill a room" with sound you need more 
than the two channels. And that's the beauty of 
the Dynaco OO-i, it provides five channels from 
any two channel stereo or TV. 

Dynaco offers rear chan nei speakers specif- 
ically designed !o integrate with the QD-1 de- 
coder. You may also need our center channel 
speaker, the Ai o-v. if your tv/o front speakers are 
more than eight feet apart. Adding this fifth 
speaker, or center channel, helps keep dialogue 
and importani localization cues centered. So you 
don'l need to spend thousands 
of dollars to enjoy sur- 
round sound. ^- J A 1^^ 



THE PASSIVE ADVANTAGE 



Passive. The OD-1 is passive, meaning it 
requires no AC current. It actually sounds 
better than active decoders, producing more clar- 
ity, more detail, no noise, a greater 
sense of space, and zero 
distortion, This superior 
passive system is a break- 
through unique to Dynaco. 



The QD-1 decoder makes your 
movies come to life. Surround 
sound brings the theater experi- 
ence home to you. 




Active. All Dolby Pro-Logic decoders 
(stand-alone or built-in units) are active. 
This means they decode and amplify the 
signal electronically. The active way 
induces noise and distortion, hindering 
the home theater experience. 
This is an example where 
"more is less." Spending 
thousands on an active sys- 
tem will not give you the 
performance of the QD-i. 




Quicl( and easy installation. Mook up is 
easy. The QD-1 connects to the speaker out- 
puts on your amp. Tlie speaker leads then run 
to each of your four (or fi\'e) speakers. The 
rear channel speakers mav be small; we 
recommend the 
AVV-ts at S99 a 
pair. They come 
with mounting 
hardware, a key- 
hole slot for flush 
mounting, and 
have an attrac- 
tive all-weather _. ,,,, , ^ , , 

The AW-1 rear cfianne! speakers 

gun metal alu- imegrateperfsclly mitt the OD-l. 
minum finish. 

Factory direct offer. The QD-1 is so new 
you won't find it at your local department 
store. To introduce this product, we are offcr- 
iiig it direct to you for a limited time special 
offer. By ordering now, you can sa\'e a sub- 
stantial amount of money. 
Risk-free home trial. Let's face it. The best 
wav to evaluate surround sound is in your 
home, not in a showroom. That's u'hy we're 
offering this risk-free home trial offer. 

We're so sure vou'll be delighted with the 
qualitv of these products and the surround 
sound experience that we are gi^'ing you 30 
days io try them for yourself. If they're not ev- 
ervthing we sav. rehini them for a full refund, 

QD-1 surround sound decoder S79 S6 S&H 

Speakers ilefi;,;imi hi/ Diptitco for Ihf QD-1: 

AW-1 Ueo rear channel speakers $99 S6 S4H 

A-10V shielded center speaker $59 $i S&H 

To receive this special pricing you must 
mention promotional cade Ct.!ll(l, 
For fastest service call toll-free 24 hours a day 

800-992-2966 

1^^ ^S^ ^^ i^^ 

To order bv mail send check or monf\' iirdcr for the 
tutiil *imount including S&H (VA fcsidcntii t\iid -^.5% 
^ales tax.) Or just charge it to your credit aird, cnclos- 
iii); your account number and t?>ip. dntt'. Sond to: 

INDUSTRIES 

2820 Waterford Lake Drive Suite 106 

Midlothian, Virginia 23113 

Circle Reader Service Number 175 



TEST LAB 



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WINDOWS p ii > 
DATABASE i U - 
FEATURES 1 1° I 


Si 


ti ^ ^i si 


1 


3! 
s 


St 

a y- 


FileMa) 
tar Win 

Micros 

Microsi 
tor Win 

Parado 
tor Win 

SPCSf 




Radio buttons 










■ 










■3 




a 


Mulliline edit boxes 










■ 










a 




May contain graphics 




















3 




Drawing tools (arcs, lines, circles, and so on) 










■ 










3 




Snap to grid when cresting forms 










■ 










3 




Defajll values 










■ 










a 




Can change lab order 










■ 










a 




Spelling checker 


-1 




-i 


3 










3 




Functions (simple programming in reports) ' ■ h ■ ■ 










a 




QUERIES 


f 


^^■H; 




Automatic creation/assistant 


-\ 




~i 


■ 


a 


a 


n 




n 




a 


Query by example 


1 




■ 


■ 


a 


a 


a 




a 




Expression builder 


■ 




■ 


3 


a 


a 


a 









Multiple AND/OR expressions 


a 




■ 


■ 


a 


a 


a 




n 




Wildcard/regular expression searches 


p 




n 


■ 


I 


a 


a 




a 




REPORTS ^ 




^M 


^^ 


.t:. 




^^ 


mi 


Can print date in header and foote' ■ 


■ 


u 


m 


- 


a 


a 


a 


NA 




Can pririi time in header and footer 


■ 


■ 


■ 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 




Can print page number in header and footer 


■ 


■ 


■ 


a 


a 


a 


a 


■ 


a 




Functions (simple programming in fonnsl 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


a 


a 


a 


a 




APPUCATION DEVELOPMENT 


Macros 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


■ 


a 


a 


n 


n 


a 


Script language 


Ll 





■ 


-I 


3 


a 


a 


a 


D 


a 


Can replace main menu 


-1 


-\ 


■ 


a 


n 


a 


■ 


■ 


n 


a 




Search for topics 


■ 


a 


■ 


■ ' ■ ! a 


a 


a 


m 


a 


Hyperlinked 


-I 


n 


■ 


3 


m 


a 


a 


a 


n 


n 


Table of contents 


■ 


■ 


• 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


Index 


■ 


1 


m 


n 


"1 


a 





3 


n 


a 


MISCELLANEOUS '' 


J 


^1^ 


^ 


^ 






^. 


Minimum disk space tor installation (in MB) 


25 


N>\ 




f , : ; 


a 


12 


2 


5 


Maximum disk space (in MB) 


A 


4.5 


7 


12 


3 


14 


16 


15 


2 


7 


Recommended RAM (in MB) 


2 


4 


4 


4 


4 


4 


4 


6 


2 


4 


Spreadsheet-style or "list" view of data 


m 


1 


m 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


Dialer 


■ 


:::i 


3 


3 


3 


3 


n 


-| 


3 




Network support 


■ 


■ 


«t 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


NA=not applicable or information for this feature not available 

■ =yes 3= no 

"Not automatic, but you san tweak the product to make it happen. 



36 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 




Role Playing Then. 



You push a button. You open a door. Leave the lite of paperwork and laundry, of squalling kids and car trouble. 

Enter new worlds. Of advciuure. Horror. Magic. Love. Death. Solve a niysrery. Save a kingdom. Live by your wits, tap 

the reserves. Find our who you are, the stuff you're made of. With the power of 1300 floppies on a single disc, 

CD-ROM LETS YOU ESCAPE INTO THE DEPTHS OF YOUR OWN IMAGINATION. 




Role Playing Now 



Video clip,'; from David l.yiich's culr 
film of Frank Herbert's famed sci-fi epic 
lu'iglucn the re.dity of dune ', .i5 you 
battle to control prodtictioii of the 
cnnsclotisncss-cxpanding spice .Melange. 



THE 7TH GUEST"; assembles a cast of 2,3 
actors I 24, including you] in the wotld's 
llrsi irue Intetactive Drama", sel inside 
the haunted hilltop mansion of twisted 
tovmakcr Henrv St,iuf. 



In FABLES AND FIENDS": THE 
LEGEND OF KYHANDIA'", yoii are 
the righifiil ptince ot Kyr.uidia who 
must recovcf the precious Kyragem, the 
source ol all the maiilc in the land. 



Circle Reader Service Number 122 

THE?tHC«STcndlplm«™l>iwoi>i»K«i»™t3dViglnaiira.liK ondTnbtytt, l™: B l992'...,)r,G£.™i l^c.-dI.io=vK, lt«ii6l«ir.=miii.fABtES4F1ENDSc«idmEIKaNDOfCTiiANt» 
iii«l:od«rn!j.uc^W»>MOdSwfc». he elWJWeslmotiSlodte. kit At iflkii ie>s™si DUrJf ,i = iTxterKik d C.TO [>» la«IW.J C<>pc»ir<»i o«d limad b, MCA/lh-^iol Mmhondang. he ' 



^ 



NEWS & NOTES 



Jill Champion 



Ergonomics helps 

Microsoft's 

mouse ease wrist 

strain. 



Of Mice and People 

Both Microsoft and Logitech 
have chosen this summer to in- 
troduce new ergonomically de- 
signed mice. Logitech, maker 
of the Kidz Mouse and mil- 
lions of OEM mice, made 
headlines two years ago with 
its new line of built-for-comfort 
mice. Its new three-button 
cordless mouse fits the palm 
pleasantly while substituting 
low-energy radio waves for 
the usual desk-encompassing 
tangle of mouse cable. The 
mouse can be sensed by its 
receiver over a range of six 
feel. Users can program the 
driver to interpret the middle 
button as a double click and 
the third button as a keypress 
(the default is the Esc key). 
The mouse is scheduled for re- 
lease in August. Its suggest- 
ed retail price is S149. 
Microsoft, also vy- 
ing for the 




Order of the 
Palm", intro- 
duced its latest ver- 
sion of one of the 
most successful ro- 
dents since Disney's. Its first 
redesign in six years boasts a 
more comfortable angle 
(while retaining ambidextrous 
operation), a thumb grip, and 
a weight over the ball for en- 
hanced traction. The new 
mouse driver (version 9) pro- 
vides many improvements to 
ease working in Windows, in- 
cluding an automatic snap to 
the default button in a dialog 
box, a magnifier for the two 
square inches of screen near- 
est the mouse pointer, and a 
wrap feature that moves the 
mouse pointer to the opposite 
side of the screen when you 



move past the edge. The se- 
rial version lists for $109.00 
and the bus version for 
$125.00. The software's sug- 
gested retail price is S19.95. 

New Deal 

Compaq Computer and Micro- 
soft have formed the Frontline 
Partnership, in which both 
companies will work together 
to develop products "that are 
the easiest to use and the sim- 
plest to install, with the best 
performance and value in the 
industry" — including desktop 
PCs, portable PCs. docking 
stations, and hand-held com- 
puters, according to a press 
release issued by Compaq. 

One area that the two com- 
panies plan to promote heavi- 
ly to PC hardware, software, 
and peripherals industries is 
the new Plug and Play ISA 
specification codeveloped by 
Compaq, Microsoft, Intel, and 
several other companies. The 
goal of Plug and Play is to cre- 
ate automatically self-configur- 
ing hardware and software. 

Easy Labels 

Whether you want one label 
or a hundred, forget your print- 
er. The LabelWriter II is a hard- 
ware/software combo that 
plugs into your computer's se- 
rial port, ready to produce la- 
bels in any quantity instantane- 
ously Running as a TSR pro- 
gram (DOS version) or a full- 
featured Windows application 
(Windows version), the Label- 
Writer 11 software gives you a 
number of options for creative 
label making, including scala- 
ble fonts and the ability to mix 
font sizes and styles on a line- 
by-line basis. Other features 
let you create time-saving la- 
bel templates, print POSTNET 
postal bar codes, and view 
WYSIWYG displays of each la- 
bel before printing. 

LabelWriter II uses a 1- 
inch printhead and retails for 
S249.95. The LabelWriter II 
Plus uses a ZV-i-inch print- 



38 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



head and retails for $299,95. 
For more information, contact 
CoStar, 100 Field Point Road, 
Greenwich, Connecticut 
06830-6406: (203) 661-9700, 
(203) 661-1540 (fax). 

Sounds like q Bargain 

If your budget can't handle a 
Roland MT-32. you might 
want to consider Modular Cir- 
cuit Technology's $49.95 Ad- 
Lib-compatible sound card. 
Called MCT-SOUND, the low- 
cost card is equipped with a 
stereo connector that allows 
external speakers, head- 
phones, or an amplifier to be 
connected. MCT-SOUND is 
available through JDR Mi- 
crodevices. JDR says that the 
card "makes the most of appli- 
cations by producing the high- 
quality sounds they're de- 
signed to create.'' 

For more information, con- 
tact JDR Microdevices, 2233 
Samaritan Drive, San Jose. 
California 95124; (408) 559- 
1200, (408) 559-0250 (fax). 

Photo CD Catalog 

Searching through tiny photo- 
graphs in a big stock-photo 
book is the old way of doing 
things, now that Kodak's new 
Photo CD technology allows 
high-resolution 35-mm film im- 
ages to be stored on a CD for 
review on a computer or TV 
screen. And Kodak has 
formed a joint relationship 
with L. A. -based Westlight, 
one of the largest stock-pho- 
to agencies in the world, to 
market its new Kodak Photo 
CD Catalog, which allows 
Westlight's photos to be 
viewed and manipulated on a 
Mac or PC. 

Ad agencies, publishers, 
or anyone else who uses 
stock photos in creative work 
"can review and discuss 
each photo in a conference 
room instead of crowding 
around a light table." says 
Westlight's founder, Craig Aur- 
ness. And once a photo's se- 



The best sound is not in tlie cards. 




Perk Lip your 
presentalions. Mal<e 
training more effeclive. 
And, put some guts 
into your gaming 
pastimes. Anytime. 
Aiiywtiere. In fact, if you 
ire not a card carrying 

member of the cuiniiulut ml. you fiave to hear 

PORT-ABLE Sound Plus from Oigispeech. You 

know, those real smart people who make simple 

sound solutions. 

PORT-ABLE Sound Plus is the first portable 

external sound peripheral to deliver 16 Bit CD 

quality music with stereo audio capabilities. 

And, since you just plug inio your IBIVl PC or 

compatible, desktop or laptop parallel port, you 

do not need an engineering degree or even a 

screwdriver, 

When you compare 

PORT-ABLE Sound Plus to 

any other external sound 

periplierals, you will see 

why anything else is just 

noise. PORT-ABLE Sound 

Plus is based on advanced 

Digital Signal Processing 

technology, so you 

will enjoy the greatest 




compression capability with the highest quality 
sounds. Here is something else that will be music 
to your ears. PORT-ABLE Sound Plus comes 
complete with everything you need including a 
high fidelity speaker and built-in micmphone. 
There is an "Audio-in" for a CD or tape player 
and a "Line-out" for external powered stereo 
speakers. Even a built-in smart parallel port pass 
through so you can keep printing. 

Whether you take your work across the hall 
or across the country, with PORT-ABLE Sound 
Plus, you have all the cards you need to play 
right in your hip pocket. The hinged design lets 
you flip up the unit if you are short on desk space 
or lap space. And, the power will always be with 
your whether you use rechargeable or non- 
rechargeable AA batteries. PORT-ABLE Sound 
Plus also comes equipped with an AC/DC power 
converter. 

As a bonus, you will get 
all the software you need to 
communicate. Like Lotus 
Sound" an OLE server lor 
Windows 3.1. WinReader for 
Windows 3.1, a handy text- 
to-spee:h utility. Digispeech's 
DOSTalkandDOSReader 
text-to-speech applications. 
Show & Tell For Kids "for 




inc. 



FOBT-ABLE Sourd Plys is a Iradsmaik ol Digispfecn. Inc All olHei produEl 
TiaTT^3ieIrarferrar^5 cr itgislcreii Iradem3rl,scl theinespeclivt owners 

Circtc Reader Service Number 188 



Windows - an easy to use MultilVledia Authoring 
program. It is also Sound Blaster and AdLib 
compatible. 

Why compromise on quality, portability, 
compatibility or affordability? When all the cards 
are on the table, PORT-ABLE Sound Plus from 
Digispeech, Inc. is your ace in the hole. 
Suggested retail is only $198.95, 



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To order or obtain more information about 
PORT-ABLE Sound Plus, write or call Digispeech, 
or. contact your local dealer. 

Sales Office: 550 fvlain Street, Suite J, Placerville, 
Califomia 95667. Telephone: (916)621-1787. 
Fax (916) 621-2093. 



ftlS'DCM'S.. 

Covffftnfli£ 




NEWS & NOTES 



Logitech continues 
its design 
excursion Into hand- 
friendliness 
with a new cordless 
mouse. 



lected, it can be quickly import- 
ed into a program like Pho- 
toShop to create a comp for 
the client. 

For Kodak, the move is a 
m.a|or rollout of its Photo CD 
technology into the profession- 
al and commercial graphics 
markets, not to mention bring- 
ing ever closer the day when 
visual information available in 
a standardized, multiplatform 
digital formal will be business 
as usual. 

For more information about 
the CD catalog, contact 
Westlight. 2223 South Carme- 
lina Avenue, Los Angeles, Cal- 
ifornia 90064: (800) 872-7872. 




Videogames on TV 

Don't look up if you hear a son- 
ic boom this fall. It's probably 
just Sonic the Hedgehog spin- 
ning faster than sound across 
your TV screen — on the new/ 
Sega Channel. 

The Sega Channel is a 
sign of these electronic 
times — the first TV channel de- 
voted to videogame playing 
and specifically to owners of 
Sega Genesis game ma- 
chines. Subscribers will 
choose from a wide selection 
of popular games, previews, 
and upcoming releases. 
News, playing tips, contests, 
and promotions will be fea- 
tured regularly. 

Set for test marketing this 
fall, the Sega Channel will be 
priced in the range of most 



pay-cable subscription servic- 
es and, if all goes well, could 
be available to all U.S. cable 
operators by early 1994. 

Digitize It 

A new service from Orbit En- 
terprises allows you to "sign" 
a digitized version of your sig- 
nature to letters, reports, finan- 
cial statements, or anything 
else you regularly print out 
that requires your John Han- 
cock. Orbit says the result 
looks hand-signed. 

To use the service, you 
send your signature to Orbit 
for digitizing. The company re- 
turns your digitized l!aserJet 
Signature fvlacro as either an 
easily installed DOS applica- 
tion ($75) or a TrueType font 
for Windows applications 
($95). To use the signature, 
Windows users simply select 
a signature font, type a char- 
acter, and choose a point 
size. DOS users enter a short 
printer command at the place 
in the document where the sig- 
nature will appear 

The Signature Macro 
works with most word proces- 
sors, including WordPerfect 
and Word, and it doesn't 
slow down printing time. 

For more information, con- 
tact Orbit Enterprises, P.O. 
Box 2875, Glen Ellyn, Illinois 
60138; (800) 767-6724. 

Your Health on a Data Card 

The newest thing to hit the 
healthcare industry is the Op- 
tical Card System, developed 
by Canon, that serves as a 
portable patient record The 
credit card-sized OC20 opti- 
cal card can store the equiv- 
alent of 1600 pages of text. In- 
formation is written to the 
card and read by a read/ 
write drive unit, the RW20, 
that connects to standard 
IBM PC/AT and compatible 
computers. 

Healthcare-system adminis- 
trators, insurers, and provid- 
ers currently conducting pilot 



projects with the card say it 
should help head off 
healthcare fraud and elimi- 
nate redundant medical pro- 
cedures — and therefore help 
contain costs. Also, you can 
expect improvements in the 
quality of your care "when a 
comprehensive, accurate, up- 
to-date medical summary — 
including full medical history 
and drug therapy — is immedi- 
ately available to a doctor dur- 
ing consultation." according 
to a press release issued by 
Canon. But healthcare is only 
the first application for the 
card. 

Possible uses for optical da- 
ta cards as storage media 
are almost unlimited. 

It's Virtually Golf 

The plaid high-waters are for 
real, but you'll only think 
you're playing 18 holes in Ha- 
waii when you swing a club 
on this virtual-reality golf 
course, where you'll see exact- 
ly where your ball would 
land — fairway, green, hazard, 
rough, trees — if you were play- 
ing on an actual course. Tech- 
nigen's Joytec Indoor Golf 
Center, located in Merv Grif- 
fin's Resort Casino and Hotel 
in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is 
where you'll find the thrills. 

Besides having fun, you 
might learn something, too, be- 
cause the computerized 
"green" you stand on analyz- 
es your stroke, weight distribu- 
tion, and other factors after 
every swing — it's sort of like 
having a built-in personal golf 
instructor. 



Companies or public relations 
firms with items suitable for 
"News & Notes" should send 
information along witti a color 
slide or transparency to News 
& Notes. Attention: Jill Cham- 
pion. COI\APUTE. 324 West 
Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, 
Greensboro, North Carolina 
27408. a 



40 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



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FEEDBACK 



Music by the 

numbers, 

time bending, bacl{ 

to BASICS, 

density readings, 

and more 



Music Man 

Years ago I ran across a BA- 
SIC program that would turn a 
PC keyboard into a simple or- 
gan keyboard. Can you show 
me how that's done? 

WILLIAM TAYLOR 
LOS ANGELES, CA 

Here 's a very simple record- 
and-play-back program that 
turns your keys A-' (the sec- 
ond tier of keys on a standard 
keyboard) Into the white keys 
on a piano. It keeps track of 
the notes you play and allows 
you to play them back at will. 

You might want to alter tlw 
program to request a file- 
name for your recording, be- 
cause the way the program is 
written, you'll overwrite your re- 
cording each time you play. 

It works better if you play 
staccato, because the operat- 
ing system's debounce rou- 
tine causes the note to be 
turned off and then back on 
as you hold the key down. 

We attempted an alternative 
version using the ON KEY com- 
mand, which worked very well 
but limited the keyboard to 1 1 
keys. With this version of the 
program, you can add to your 
keyboard whenever you like. 

IMPUT "(P)layback or 

(Rjecord"; a$ 
IF a$ = "r" OR a$ = "R" THEN 

GOTO record 
playback: 
OPEN "notefile.dat " FOR INPUT 

AS#1 

WHILE NOT E0F(1) 
LINE INPUT #1, aS:a = VAL(a$) 
LINE INPUT #1, aS:b = VAL(a$) 
SOUND a, b 
WEND 
GOTO ender 

record: 

SHELL "mode con rate = 32 delay 

= 1" 
OPEN "noleflle.dat" FOR OUTPUT 

AS#1 
top: 

a$ = INKEYS 
SELECT CASE a$ 



CASE "a": a = 451 
CASE "s": a = 506 
CASE "d": a = 536 
CASE "f": a = 602 
CASE "g": a = 675 
CASE "h": a = 716 
CASE "i": a = 803 
CASE "k": a = %2 
CASE "I": a =1012 
CASE";": a =1072 
CASE'"": a = 1204 
CASE"":a = 
CASE "q": GOTO ender 
END SELECT 
SOUND a, 1 
IF a = b THEN 
counter = counter + 1 
ELSE 

PRINT #1, STR$(b): PRINT #1, 
STR$(caunter + 1): counter = 
END IF 
b = a 
GOTO top 
ender: 
CLOSE 

Old Times 

I read somewhere that you 
can change the time and 
date of a file with some para- 
meter of the Copy command. 
I can't remember where I 
read it. Do you know the com- 
mand syntax? 

WALTER GREENWOOD 
SANTA ROSA, CA 

This technique was covered in 
the March 1993 'Tips & 
Tools" column. Use the Copy 
command with concatenation. 
If you want to change the time 
and date to something other 
than the current time and 
date, use the Time and Date 
commands first to change 
these settings in DOS. Then, 
use this command. 

COPY FILENAME + ,, 

This will change the file's 
time and date stamp to what- 
ever the computer's current 
time and date is. 

Norton Utilities has the com- 
mand FD that will allow you 
to set any date you wish 
for a file. 



There are ways to access 
the directory listing directly 
with Debug. Each directory list- 
ing is exactly 32 bytes long. 
Bytes 22-23 are the time and 
24-25 are the date. It's a little 
difficult to figure out the coding 
of these bytes, but if you're ad- 
venturous, you can alter them 
to reflect times and dates that 
can't exist, such as the time 
25:63:62 on the 31st day of 
the 13th month. 

We only mention Debug as 
an option because DOS's com- 
mand interpreter (the spoil- 
sport) prevents you from enter- 
ing impossible times and 
dates from the command line. 

Is There a DR in the DOS? 

You see the statement "Must 
have DOS 3.0 or higher" eve- 
rywhere. I have DR DOS 6.0. 
Does that fulfill the require- 
ment? What's the difference 
between MS-DOS 5,0 and DR 
DOS 6.0? Also, where can I 
get a BASIC language (GW- 
BASIC or QBASIC)? 

R G DINGWALL 
MEADViEW. AZ 

DR DOS 6.0 should perform 
properly with any program 
that requires MS-DOS 3.0 or 
higher The main difference be- 
tween DR DOS and MS-DOS 
IS the collection of utilities you 
receive with each one. One of 
the advantages of MS-DOS is 
that you get a free BASIC pro- 
gramming language with it. 
Bill Gates, the cofounder of Mi- 
crosoft, got his start writing BA 
SICs for microcomputers, and 
he 's never forgotten his roots. 
Gary Kildall, the founder of Dig- 
ital Research, got his start cre- 
ating microcomputer operat- 
ing systems. 

The only way you could get 
GW-BASIC or OB AS 10 with- 
out purchasing a Microsoft ver- 
sion of DOS would be by com- 
mitting a federal crime — cop- 
ying one of them from some- 
one else's DOS. We don't ad- 
vise that you do that. If you 



42 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



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gT-A i. n^ ^ g/T 



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E T H I I S ELSE 




SOMEONE ELSE 




SOMEWHERE ELSE? 











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^'^BPCP^^rjT^f^^W!^ 






> Sonrces indicate that a rival syndicate 
developed a dangerous new computer proffram, 



and our research boys want it. Your mission: 




build Company Agents using cybernetic implants 






and hi-tech weaponry. Utilizing action, strategy 



'^'.•i<^-V. 



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or a lethal mix of the I i tlkm Bt.utLTx«\ 



two. you can infiltrate 



p;-.'i-v.-:;'=i.r 



i 






^&A^\ 






fifty remarkably de- 



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. irn. •=:^'" 



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.a. 




To confiscate a copy of Syndicate, visit 



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the city. But expect rnaximum resistance. 



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ikin to the 
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but with over 
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MAC or PC Ultimate 
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Hot Software 



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trs simple. Fill ouf an eniry form, included in ail COGITO pack- 
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boms, if you reach level 120, write Itie pass^'ord code on your 
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Circle Reader Service Number 145 



FEEDBACK 



need a BASIC, "Feedback" 's recom- 
mendation would be to purctiase Quick- 
BASIC 4.5. PowerBasic Is supposed to 
tiave a new version out, but as of tliis 
writing, we Inaven't seen it. True BASIC 
is anottier contender. The ciieapest 
way to get a BASIC would be to pur- 
chase and install Microsoft DOS 6.0. 

More Density Problems 

My hotne computer has a double-den- 
sity disk drive. Wlien I purciiased 
some programs on higln-density disks, 
I was told tliat I could install tliem on a 
computer with a high-density drive and 
then recopy them to double-density 
disks so my computer could read 
them. 1 have tried this with several pro- 
grams, but it doesn't seem to work. I 
get an error message from DOS, such 
as Data error reading drive A: or Sec- 
tor not found: error reading drive A:.\s 
there a way to run high-density disks 
on my double-density drive? Is there 
something wrong with my drive? 

MICHAEL STAUFFER 
ALLEN, WY 

Ttie answer to your last question is 
tiiat there's probably nothing wrong 
with your disk drive. We suspect tliat 
you're using disks formatted as double- 
density in high-density disk drives. 
These drives leave narrow tracks that 
the relatively coarser heads in double- 
density drives have trouble locating 
and reading. Format some double-den- 
sity floppies in your computer, and 
then copy the files to them on a com- 
puter with a high-density drive. If this 
doesn't work, there's a possibility that 
your drive is out of alignment and 
will require the attention of a trained 
technician. 

in answer to your penultimate ques- 
tion, you can 't read high-density disks 
with your double-density drive. 



Do you have a question about hardware 
or software? Or have you discovered 
something that could help other PC us- 
ers? If so, we want to hear from you. 
Call our special "Feedback" line: (900) 
884-8681. extension 7010201 (spon- 
sored by Pure Entertainment, P.O. Box 
186, Hollywood, California 90078). The 
call will cost 95 cents per minute, you 
must be 18 or older, and you must use 
a touch-tone phone. Or you can write to 
"Feedback" in care of this magazine. 
Readers whose calls or letters appear in 
"Feedback" will receive a free COM- 
PUTE baseball cap while supplies last. 
Ws regret that we cannot provide person- 
al replies to technical questions. n 



Eiiitar 

Art Director 

Managing Editor 

Features Editor 

Reviews Editor 

Editor, Gazette 

Editor, Amiga Resource 

Senior Copy Editor 

Copy Editor 

Editorial AssistanS 

Contributing Editors 

Intern 



Clifton Karnes 

i^obin C Case 

DavfCi English 

Robon Bixby 

f^iko Hudnail 

Tom Nelsel 

Denny Aikin 

Karen Huffman 

Margaret Ramsey 

Pally Cillpam 

Sylvia Graham. Eddie Huffman, 

Tony Roberts, Karen Siepal< 

Kim Havlena 



ABT 

Assistant Art Director Kenneihi A. Hardy 
Designer Katie Uurdock 
Copy Production Manager Terry Casti 
PRODUCTiON 
Production Manager De Potter 

Traffic Manager Barbara A. Williams 



PnOGRAMMiNG & ONUNE SERVICES 


Manager 


Tioy Tucker 


Programmers 


Bruce M, Bowden 




Sieve Draper 




Bradley M Stnall 


ADMINISTRATION 


President, COO 


Kailiy Keeior 


Executive Vice President, 


William Tynan 


Operations 




Editorial Director 


Keith i^errell 


Operations Manager 


David Hensley Jr. 


OKice Manager 


Sybil Agee 


St. Administrative Assistant 


Juha Fleming 


Administrative Assistant 


Lisa G Caslnger 


Receptionist 


LeWanda Fax 


ADVERTISING 


Vice President, 


Peter T Jahnsmeyer 


Associate Pubiialier 


(212(496-6100 



ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES 

East Coast: Full-Page and Standard Display Ads— F^ier T Jorins- 
meyer. Chris Coeitie; COfvlPUTE Publications internalionat Ltd.. 
19GS Broadway. Mew rork, NY 10023: (212) 496-6100 Soutti- 
eas:— Harriet Rogers, 5C3 A St.. SE, Washington. D.C. 20tX)3: 
(202) 546-5926. Florida — \. M. Remer Associates 3300 t^JE 
192nd St., Suite 192. Aventura. FL 33160: (305) 933-1467, (30S) 
933-8302 [FAX). Midwest— Full-Page and Standard Display 
Ads — Starr Lane, hjatronal Accounts fvtanagec: 111 EastWack- 
er Dr.. Suite 508, Cnicagc, IL 60601, (312) 819-0900. (312) 819- 
0S13 (FAX). MoriliwGst^erry Thompson. Jules E- Thompson 
Co.. 1290 Howard Ave,, Suite 303, Burllngame, CA 94010: (415) 
34B-6S22. Lucille Dennis, (707)451-8309. Sou;bwest--lan Ling- 
wood, 6723 Eton Ave.. Canoga Park. CA 91303: (818) 992- 
4777 Product Mart Ads — Lucille Dennis, Ju.es F. Thompson 
Co., 1290 Howard Ave., Suite 303, Burlingame, CA 94010; (707) 
451.8209. U.K & Europe— Beverly Wardale. Flat 2. ID Stafford 
Terrace. London WB7 BH, England; 011-471l-937-l517, Ja- 
pan — Intergroup Communications. Ltd.: Jiro Semba, President: 
3F Tiger BIdg. 6-22 Shiba-koen. 3-Ctiome, Minato ku, Tokyo 
105, Japan; 03-434-2607 Classified Ads— Maria Manaseri, i 
Woods 01.. Hunlrngton, WY 11743: (TEUFAX) 1516) 757-9562. 

THE CORPORATION 

Bob Guccione (chairman and CEO) 

Kathy Keeton (vice-chairman) 

David J. Myerson (president and C£0) 

Willam F. Mariieb (president, marketing, sales and circulation) 

Patrick J, Gavin (senior vice president and CFO) 

Richafd Cohen (executive vice president and treasurer) 

Jen Winsion (executive vice president, corporate services) 

Hal Halpnar (vice president, director of manufacturing) 

Wifiiiam Tynan (vice president, technology and information 

services] 

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING 

Sr. VP/Corp. Oir.. hJew Business Develcpment: Beverly 
Wardate: VP/Dir., Group Advertising Sales: Nancy Kestenbaum; 
Sr, VP/Souibsrn and Midwest Advertising Dir : Peter Goldsmith. 
Offices: New York. 1965 Broadway, n™ York. NY 10023-5965. 
Tel (212) 496-6100. Telex 237128, Midwest: 111 East Wacker 
Dr, Suite 508. Chicago, IL 60601; (312) 819.0900, (312) 819- 
0813 (FAX) Soulb: 1725 K St, NW. Suite 903. Washinglcn. DC 
20006. Tsl. (202) 728-0320. West Coast: 6726 Eton Ave.. Can. 
oga Park. CA 91303, Tel. (818) 992-4777. UK and Europe: Flat 
2. 10 Stafford Terrace, London Wa7 BH. England; Tel. 011-4711- 
937-1S17. Japan: Intergroup Jiro Semba. Telex 
J25469IGLTYO, Fax 434-5970 Korea: Kaya Advlsng,. Inc., flm. 
402Kunshin Annex B/D 25M. Dohv/a Dong, Mapo-Ku, Seoul, 
Korea (121). Tel. 719-6906, Telex K32144K3yaad. 

ADMINISTRATtON 
Sf. VP CFO: Patrick J. Gavin; EVP/Corporate Sen/ices: Jen Win- 
ston: EVP/Graptiics Director Frank Devino; EVP/Ciroulation: 
Jarres B. f^artise; VP Director Sales Promoticns: Beverly Grei- 
per. Dir Newsstand Circulation: PSul Rolnick; Dir.. Newsstand 
Operations- Joe Gallo; Dir, Subscnption Circulation: Beatrice J. 
Hanks: VP Director of Research; Ftobert Rattner: Advertising Pfo- 
duction Director: Cfiarlene Smith; Advertising Production Traf- 
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FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: ATP 

A greafiijying sim ula tion for a 

frustration- free aviation 

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Six months of intensive real- 
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WINDOWS WORKSHOP 



Clifton Karnes 



For Windows 

users, DOS 6 is an 

upgrade that's 

definitely worth 

considering. 



DO WINDOWS 
USERS NEED 
DOS 6? 

If you live on a desert island, 
you may not have tieard 
about DOS 6. The rest of us, 
tfiougti, hiave been hearing 
about it a lot. And everyone's 
trying to figure out tfie same 
thing: Is it wortfi tfie $50 up- 
grade? The ones wondering 
the loudest are probably Win- 
dows users. Many of us, after 
all, don't have all that much to 
do with DOS. So is DOS 6 
worth the upgrade if you run 
Windows? In a word, yes, and 
in this column, I'll tell you why. 

First, there are several Win- 
dows programs included with 
DOS 6: fvlicrosoft Undelete, f^i- 
crosoft Backup, Microsoft An- 
tivirus, and a Windows-hosted 
compression information pro- 
gram that works with Dou- 
bleSpace. 

The Undelete and Antivirus 
programs are from Central 
Point Software, and they strong- 
ly resemble the programs of 
the same name in PC Tools De- 
luxe. The Backup program is 
a special version of Syman- 
tec's Norton Backup. These 
are all first-class tools that any 
Windows owner will be happy 
with. And to its credit, the DOS 
6 installation program automat- 
ically installs a Microsoft Tools 
group in Program Manager, a 
Tools menu on File Manager, 
and, if you're using Windows 
for Workgroups, four new but- 
tons on the File Manager's 
toolbar. 

Of these utilities, the Un- 
delete program is especially 
useful. It offers an easy way to 
recover deleted files, and it 
can be configured for three lev- 
els of delete protection. With 
Standard, a file can be recov- 
ered if it hasn't been overwrit- 
ten. With Delete Tracker, Un- 
delete stores some informa- 
tion about the state of each file 



to make successful undeleting 
more likely. And with Delete 
Sentry, deleted files are actu- 
ally spirited to a hidden subdi- 
rectory and held there as long 
as disk space permits. With De- 
lete Sentry, files can always 
be undeleted in perfect condi- 
tion as long as you don't wait 
too awfully iong. 

The Undelete command in- 
stalled in File Manager is very 
helpful, too. The Installation pro- 
gram puts this command on 
the File menu, and, if you're us- 
ing the Windows for 
Workgroups File Manager, it in- 
stalls an Undelete button on 
the toolbar. When you access 
Undelete from File Manager, 
Undelete opens in the directo- 
ry selected in File Manager. 
It's much faster and easier to 
select a directory in File Ivtan- 
ager than to use Undelete's 
Change Drive and Directory di- 
alog box. 

These Windows programs 
are obviously useful to a Win- 
dows user, but beyond them 
there are several other signifi- 
cant enhancements in this 
DOS. 

First, there's MemMaker. If 
you run DOS programs from 
Windows, this can be a god- 
send. MemMaker optimizes 
the way your computer uses 
UMBs (Upper Memory 
Blocks). On my PC, I'm run- 
ning Stacker, DOS network driv- 
ers, multimedia drivers, plus 
the usual stuff like 
SMARTDrive, Share, Mouse, 
and Doskey. Before running 
MemMaker, I had less than 
500K of conventional memory 
free in a DOS session, and 
some DOS programs just 
wouldn't run. After running 
MemMai<er, I have about 
570K of memory for DOS pro- 
grams, and everything runs 
fine. If you need more DOS 
memory, MemMaker alone 
may be worth the upgrade. 

The next DOS 6 enhance- 
ment that may be useful to Win- 
dows users is Interlnk. If you 



share information between 
computers, Interlnk is an easy 
way to move flies. With In- 
terlnk, you have a client ma- 
chine and a server machine. 
On the client, you run an In- 
terlnk device driver. On the 
server, you run an Interlnk ex- 
ecutable. When both pro- 
grams have been run and 
your computers are connect- 
ed with either a serial or paral- 
lel cable, the server's drives ap- 
pear as virtual drives in both 
DOS and Windows. 

If you run Windows File Man- 
ager on the client, you'll see 
the server's drive icons on File 
Manager's drive bar. You can 
treat these drives just like your 
machine's native drives. You 
can display a directory tree 
and file window for them, you 
can copy files to and from 
these drives, you can tile and 
arrange the drive windows 
mixed and matched with your 
native drive's windows, and 
you can run programs from 
them. 

The first time I ran Interlnk 
between my desktop and lap- 
top, I copied a directory and 
all its subdirectories from the 
client to the server by drag- 
ging and dropping. This is the 
easiest way I've seen to trans- 
fer files between machines. 

The last reason for Windows 
users to upgrade to DOS 6 is 
DoubleSpace, which can near- 
ly double the size of your hard 
disk. We all know fiow Win- 
dows programs gobble up 
disk real estate, and we can all 
use the extra space. Dou- 
bleSpace seems like a bless- 
ing for Windows users, but no 
other part of DOS 6 has 
caused as much controversy. 
Next issue, I'll talk about how to 
install DoubleSpace, how to 
use it, how it fares against Stack- 
er, and some DoubleSpace 
add-ons. If you want to go 
ahead and try DoubleSpace, 
please see my "DOS 6 First- 
Aid Kit" in this issue for some 
safety tips, D 



50 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



Pirates Has Gone Gold! 

The best adventure game ave. just got better! 

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circle Reader Service Number 1S4 



TIPS & TOOLS 



Edited by Richard C. Leinecker 



Dazzle yourself witli 
screen savers and 

get random numbers 
(or your batch file. 



Screen Saver fieaven 

Two readers sent in graphical 
screen savers that were writ- 
ten in QBASIC. Altiiough mon- 
itor manufacturers insist tliat 
llieir monitors won't be dam- 
aged it left on for extended pe- 
riods of lime, most people 
don't like to take chances. Be- 
sides, screen savers add an 
appealing, interesting look to 
w/hat might be a boring 
screen with a command line 
prompt. If you have DOS 5.0 
or higher, you should have 
QBASIC in your DOS directo- 
ry. If it's missing, try reinstall- 
ing DOS 5.0. 

You can run any one of 
these as an independent pro- 
gram. I'd suggest putting 
them all in a subdirectory 
where you can keep track of 
them, I put mine in a directo- 
ry within my DOS directory 
called SAVERS, All of my ref- 
erences will assume a path to 
the BASIC source code of 
\DGS\SAVERS, 

With QBASIC in your path 
and the code in a central loca- 
tion, you can type qbasic/run 
\clos\savers\saver1 .has from 
anywhere on your drive, and 
the first screen saver will run. 
You could also put this com- 
mand in a batch file to save 
typing. 

REM BASIC Source Code for 
REM Screen Saver 1 Display 
REM by Zach Dinkmeyer 
REM of Huntington Beach, 
REM California 
CLS: SCREEN 9 
RANDOMIZE TIMER 
DrawLoopI: 
x1% = RND * 638 
y1% = RND * 349 
x2% = RND * 639 
y2% = RND * 349 
c% = RND * 15 

LINE (x1%, y1%)-(x2%, y2%), c% 
Counter = Counter + 1 
IF Counter = 100D THEN CLS (0): 
Counter = 
a$ = INKEYS 

IF a$ = " " GOTO DrawLoopI 
SYSTEM 



REM BASIC Source Code for 

REM Screen Saver 2 Display 

REM by Jason Haimerl 

REM Df GconomowQc, Wisconsin 

CLS : SCREEN 1 

RANDOMIZE TIMER 

DrawLoDp2: 

x% = (RND * 30D) + 1 

y% = (RND * Z6D) + 1 

RESTORE 

FOR j% = 1 TO 13 

READ k% 

CIRCLE (x%, y%), k% 

FOR i% = 1 TO 5000: NEXT: CLS 

NEXT 

a$ = INKEY$ 

IFa$ = "" GOTO DrawLoopZ 

SYSTEM 

DATA1, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 

DATA 150, 175, 200, 225, 250 

DATA 275, 300 

REM BASIC Source Code for 

REM Screen Saver 3 Display 

REM by Jason Haimerl 

CLS: SCREEN Z: 

RANDOMIZE TIMER 

DrawLDDp3: 

x% = (RND * 155) + 1 

y7o = (RND* 1000) + 1 

LINE (y%, x%)-(y%, x%) 

x% = (RND * 2000) + 1 

y% = (RND * 155) + 1 

LINE (x%, y%)-(x%, y%), 300 

CIRCLE (x%, y%), 1 

PRINT 

FOR i% = 1 TO 1000: NEXT 

a$ = INKEYS 

IF a$ = " " GOTO DrawLoopS 

SYSTEM 

REM BASIC Source Code for 

REM Screen Saver 4 Display 

REM by Jason Haimerl 

CLS: SCREEN 1 

RANDOMIZE TIMER 

DrawLoap4: 

x% = (RND * 800) + 1 

y% = (RND * 145) + 1 

1% = (RND * 50) + 1 

CIRCLE (x%, y%), j% 

PRINT 

FOR i% = 1 TO 1000: NEXT 

a$ = INKEYS 

IFa$ = "" GOTO DrawLoop4 

SYSTEM 

REM BASIC Source Cade for 
REM Screen Saver 5 Display 



REM by Jason Haimerl 

CLS: SCREEN 1 

RANDOMIZE TIMER 

DrawLoQp5: 

x% = (RND • 800) + 1 

V% = (RND ' 100) + 1 

LINE (x%, y%)-(x%, 191) 

PRINT 

F0Ri% = 1 TO 1000: NEXT 

aS = INKEYS 

IFa$ = "" GOTO DrawLoopS 

SYSTEM 

With a little bit of effort and 
some programming savvy, 
you could turn these stand- 
alone programs into some- 
thing more. I wrote two small 
utilities and a batch file that 
use these screen savers. 

The first utility waits a spec- 
ified number of minutes. If 
there's a keypress, it returns 
with an errorlevel of 1. If the 
time has elapsed, it returns 
an errorlevel of 0, and you 
can execute one of the 
screen savers. It's called Wait- 
time, and to use it, you just 
type waittime followed by the 
number of minutes you want 
to wait. 

The second utility returns a 
random number as an error 
code. You must specify a max- 
imum value.. If you want it to re- 
turn values from 0-14, you'd 
type getrand 14. 

debug waittime.com 
File not found 

-e100 be 81 00 ac 3c Od 74 20 
-elOB 3c 20 74 17 4e ac 3c 30 
-ellO 7c 16 3c 39 7f 12 8a c8 
-e118 b8 Oa 00 f7 e3 3b d8 80 
-e120 e9 30 2a ed 03 d9 eb e5 
-e 128 Ob db 75 03 bb 05 00 b8 
-e 130 47 04 17 e3 8b d6 2b cO 
-e138 8e d8 be 6c 04 8b Oc b4 
-e140 01 cd 16 75 10 3b Oc 74 
-8148 f6 8b Oc 4b Ob db 75 ef 
-e150 b8 00 4c cd 21 bS 01 4c 
-e15B cd 21 
■RCX 
CX 0000 

:5a 
-W 

Writing 005a bytes 
■Q 



52 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



If you run Checksum (July 
1993 "Tips & Tools") on Wait- 
time, you should see the num- 
ber 10125 on your screen. 

Bradley M. Small (of Greens- 
boro, North Carolina) points 
out that if you change the last 
two lines of Waittime, the pro- 
gram will return the ASCII val- 
ue of the key pressed as an 
errorlevel. 

If you are interested in cre- 
ating this utility, give it anoth- 
er name because it isn't intend- 
ed to work with this series of 
programs, The following lines 
are the ones you should mod- 
ify in Waittime. 

-e15Q bS 00 4c cd 21 90 b4 4c 
-e158 cd 21 

If you make this modification 
and run Checksum, the num- 
ber 10264 should appear on 
your screen. 

debug getrand.com 

File not found 

-e100 be 31 00 ac 2c Od 74 20 

-e108 3c 20 74 n 4e ac 3c 30 

-e110 7c IB 3c 39 7f 12 8a cB 

-e118 b8 Oa DO 17 e3 8b d8 8D 

-e120 eg 30 2a ed 03 dQ eb eS 

-e 128 2b cO 8e dS be fO Q4 8a 

-e130 Oc 30 el Of 8a eQ fe c5 

-e 133 88 2c be 6c 04 2b d2 3b 

-e 140 d3 73 07 d1 e2 80 ca 01 

-e 143 eb f5 8b 04 d3 c3 23 c2 

-e 150 3b C3 77 d4 b4 4c cd 21 

-RCX 

CX 0000 

:58 

-W 

Writing 0058 bytes 

-Q 

If you run Checksum on 
Getrand, the number 11268 
should appear. 

Here's my batch file. If a 
key is pressed, the keypress 
is sensed, and the batch file 
simply quits. Otherwise, the 
batch file executes one of the 
screen savers at random after 
five minutes. 

Make sure that the batch 
file, QBASIC, and the two util- 



ities are in your path. 

ECHO OFF 

CLS 

REM First, we'll wail for a live- 

REM minute period or a 

REM keypress. 

WAiniME 5 

IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END 

IF ERRORLEVEL GOTO DOSAVER 

GOTO END 

: DOSAVER 

REM Next, we'll call the program 
REM that gives us a random 
REM number. The maximum value 
REM is 4 because we have five 
REM screen savers and our 
REM numbering starts at 0. 
GETRAND 4 

IF ERRORLEVEL 4 GOTO SAVERS 
IF ERRORLEVEL 3 GOTO SAVER4 
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO SAVER3 
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO SAVER2 
IF ERRORLEVEL GOTO SAVER1 

:SAVER5 
QBASIC ^UN 

\O0S\SAVERS\SAVER5.BAS 
GOTO END 

:SAVER4 
QBASIC mti 

\D0S\SAVERS\SAVER4.BAS 
GOTO END 

:SAVER3 
QBASIC flUN 

\D0S\SAVERS\SAV£R3.BAS 
GOTO END 

:SAVER2 

QBASIC ma 

\D0S\SAVERS\SAVER2.BAS 
GOTO END 

:SAVER1 
QBASIC /RUN 

\D0S\SAVERS\SAVER1.BAS 
GOTO END 

:END 

RICHARD C. LEINECKER 
REIDSVILLE. NC 

Deep Directories 

I often need to make directo- 
ries that have more than one 



new subdirectory when I'm or- 
ganizing my hard drive. For in- 
stance, I might need to store 
THIS. TXT in the C:\EDIT\- 
FILES\TXT subdirectory Nor- 
mally, if all three of these 
don't exist, you have to make 
each one. 1 have a batch file, 
called MMD.BAT which cre- 
ates them in one step and re- 
moves one more headache 
from the DOS prompt. 

©ECHO OFF 

IF"%1"=="" GOTO USAGE 
CnV NUL 

ECHO D IXCOPY%COMSPEC% 
%1\NUL 
CnV CON 
GOTO END 

:USAGE 

ECHO Usage: MMD 
PATH_TO_CREATE 
:ENO 

THOMAS E. HINES III 
KANSAS CITY, MO 

Maintain Your Cover 

If you're constantly putting 
new cards in your computer, 
you might be tempted to 
leave the cover off. Don't do 
it. The cover is important- It 
guards your safety, it chan- 
nels cooling air through the 
machine, and it protects the 
boards inside (one dropped 
paper clip or screw could 
wreak havoc on an open, run- 
ning machine), 

ROBERT BIXBY 
GREENSBORO. NC 



If you have an interesting tip 
tliat you thinP: would fieip otti- 
er PC users, send it along 
with your name, address, and 
Social Security number to 
COf^PUJE's Tips & Tools, 
324 West Wendover Avenue. 
Suite 200. Greensboro, North 
Carolina 27408. For each tip 
we publish, we'll pay you $25- 
$50. All tips submitted be- 
come the property of Genera! 
t^edia International. O 



Make batch files 
pause for a 
specified time and 
create whole 
directory trees with a 
single command. 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 53 



INTRODOS 



Tony Roberts 



How important 

is it to 

l(eep up with t)te 

versions? 



UPGRADE UPDATE 

Have you upgraded to DOS 6 
yet? Do you have the latest 
and greatest version of your 
word-processing program? 
How about the newest install- 
ment of your checkbook man- 
ager, the one with charts and 
graphs? 

My mailbox — and I'll bet 
yours, too — is often chock-full 
of upgrade notices for the soft- 
ware I own, and for some pro- 
grams I don't own. All this mail 
has me wondering how impor- 
tant it is to keep up with the ver- 
sions, software's version of sub- 
urbia's keeping up with the 
Joneses. 

The answer is not a simple 
one: It depends on how you 
use your computer and fiow 
you work. 

For starters, let's take a 
look at DOS 6. This is an inter- 
esting, but not a revolutionary, 
upgrade. In my case, it adds 
nothing to nny system that is 
not being accomplished by 
some other commercial or 
shareware program. 

Do I need DOS 6? No. 

Do I have DOS 6? You bet. 
After all, this is a DOS column. 
Its author ought to be in touch 
with the latest DOS product 
whether he needs it or not. 

Upgrade Rule #1: If your 
livelihood depends on the soft- 
ware, upgrade. 

Another issue to consider is 
support. Do you, or those who 
work for you, need help using 
your software? Do you rely on 
the software manufacturer's 
support staff to help solve tech- 
nical problems as well as to 
give you guidance when you 
don't feel like reading the man- 
ual? If so, it's probably a good 
idea to stay current for that 
product; as each day passes, 
the support staff will become 
less and less familiar with the 
foibles of past versions, 

Upgrade Rule #2: Stay cur- 
rent if you want handholding. 

When deciding whether to 



upgrade, you also must consid- 
er whether you're a loner or 
you share your work with oth- 
ers. In the desktop publishing 
business, for example, publica- 
tion files often are worked on 
by two or three people. Then 
the files are handed over to a 
service bureau for output. In a 
case like this, it makes sense 
to make sure everyone is up- 
graded to the same software 
level. 

Upgrade Rule #3: Stay com- 
patible with associates, ven- 
dors, and suppliers. 

Many software companies 
seem to have embraced the 
idea of annual upgrades. I'm 
willing to bet that I'll see an up- 
grade notice for my check- 
book/financial manager soft- 
ware this October. The pro- 
gram's been upgraded each 
of the last three autumns; why 
should 1993 be any different? 

Looking back at my re- 
cords, 1 see I've paid more for 
upgrades than for the original 
version of that program. But 
that's OK: the upgrades I've 
purchased have added impor- 
tant functions, made the pro- 
gram easier to use, and 
saved me time. I'm happy 
with what I've paid for. 

I did bypass last year's invi- 
tation to upgrade, however. 
The improvements in that up- 
grade centered on the pro- 
gram's new abilities to create 
charts and graphs pertaining 
to my financial situation. I 
didn't see how those multicol- 
or graphics would make me 
richer or better organized finan- 
cially, so I skipped the up- 
grade and saved a few 
bucks — a clear plus for my fi- 
nancial status. 

Upgrade Rule #4: Don't be 
swayed by the fancy bro- 
chures; it's up to you to decide 
whether new features are val- 
uable to you. 

Finally, be aware that com- 
puter and software technology 
is a rapidly advancing field. 
No program invented today 



will be worth much in five 
years. If you're buying soft- 
ware that's central to your busi- 
ness, plan to make regular up- 
grades to stay on the cutting 
edge. If you're a hobbyist, it 
probably won't hurt you to be 
a generation or two behind. 

Upgrade Rule #5: Software 
upgrades are a cost of doing 
business — budget for them. 

Now that we've looked at 
whether to upgrade the soft- 
ware you have, what about up- 
grading the software you don't 
have? This phenomenon has 
become known as the compet- 
itive upgrade, and for software 
addicts, it's one of the best 
deals around. 

Let's say you own Brand X 
word-processing program, 
which normally lists for S495. 
The maker of Brand Y word 
processor wants you to con- 
vert to his program, so he of- 
fers you a competitive up- 
grade for the price of $99. 
What a deal! You get a brand- 
new S495 program for $99! 

If you like to acquire new 
software, keep your eyes 
open for the competitive up- 
grade deals, and when the pro- 
gram you're yearning for goes 
on sale, snap it up. 

But competitive upgrades 
are a little unfair, and that may 
contribute to their undoing. 
Let's say you don't own a word- 
processing program. How 
does it make you feel to pay 
full price, when everyone 
around you buys a copy for 80 
percent off? 

1 find It hard to buy under 
those conditions. I'll stay on 
the sideline until the price 
comes down for everybody. 
Software companies are dis- 
covering that lower software 
prices translate into increased 
sales. Perhaps before long, 
the competitive upgrade pric- 
es will become the suggested 
retail prices. 

Then the manufacturers will 
have thousands of new poten- 
tial upgrade customers. O 



54 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



rNTRODUCING 

THE EXPERIENCE OF REAL PINBALL 



Dislribated By 

Bfoderbund 




mist 



e.5H5.S00i J^i 



AMTEX, the maker of 
the award-winning and 
critically acclaimed 
Tristan™, is proud to 
announce the release 
of Eight Ball Deluxe, 
the world's most popu- 
lar traditional pinball 
game. It's the first of 
many pinball favorites 
to be released in the 
"AMTEX Pinball Classics" 



Eight Ball Deluxe is all 

the fun and excitement of the original gome, captured in an 
awesome simulation. Amazing high resolution graphics, 
authentic speech, digital sound effects, plus all the 
mechanics of real pinball! 

After chalking up, you'll bank shots, rack up bonus points, 
then shoot for the exciting ond elusive Deluxe. All with 
three, fast moving flippers that allow for ball trapping and 



r strategic shot making - 

' ' a must for pinball 
' / : aficionados! 

;'^ ; ^ Imagine all this explo- 

'^ , \ sive action, without 

. waiting for a 



machine or the 
, need for a 
pocket full of 
quarters. And 
you can play 
with up to four 
players. So relive 
the exciting thrills of 
the arcade today with friends. Over and over again! 

Watch for more of the classic games you grew up with... 
"you big sausage!" 

For product Information, send your name and address to: AMTEX 
Software Corporation, P.O. Box 572, Belleville, Ontario KSM 582 or call 
1-613-967-7900 Fax: 1-613-967-7902. 
Suggested retail price $59,95 







AMTEX 





All <.od«moiki oro Iha properly ol lhe» <espeetiva componiffs. CopyrtgW & 1TO AMTEX SoIIwqid Corpoialion. " 1981 tIGHT BAIL DELUXE- II a Hodmoik ol Midway Monutoclurtng Company 
imoket! Dl BALiya pinboll gonns). Ussd undor license. Midway Monotocluiing Compony ii a sutjjitliary oi WMS INDUSTBIES. IMC. All rlghh latMVVd. 

circle Flasder S«ni)ce Number 157 



PROGRAMMING POWER 



Tom Campbel 



The only 

ANSI-standard 

BASIC 

implementation 

trom the guys 

who invented BASIC 



BASICALLY, A TRUE 
BARGAIN 

Continuing a BASIC hot 
streak (last month, we cov- 
ered the estimable PowerBA- 
SIC), we turn to an amazing 
bargain: The True BASIC Sam- 
pler Edition, a $15 version of 
the only ANSI-standard BASIC 
implementation from the guys 
who invented BASIC. 

John Kemeny and Tom 
Kurtz, two professors at Dart- 
mouth, literally created BASIC 
from scratch in 1964. They 
wanted a friendlier introduc- 
tion to computers than FOR- 
TRAN, then the state of the art. 
What is not so well known is 
that they upgraded their BA- 
SIC with astonishing speed, 
creating interactive versions 
that acted very much like 
QuickBASIC did 20 years lat- 
er. They gave the language a 
host of features yet to be 
matched in most other BA- 
SICS, such as matrix manipu- 
lation, advanced graphics, lo- 
cal variables, and required 
variable declarations, Kemeny 
and Kurtz were understandably 
embarrassed when simplified 
imitations of the very earliest ver- 
sion of their language were 
cloned on every machine from 
toy microcomputers to main- 
frames and their beloved crea- 
tion was then nearly throttled to 
death by programming cogno- 
scenti who judged it thirdhand 
and pronounced the impostor 
versions dead on arrival. 

It is also relatively uncom- 
mon knowledge that there is 
an ANSI standard for BASIC, 
ratified several years ago, and 
True BASIC conforms to that 
standard (QuickBASIC, GW- 
BASIC. and the like don't even 
come close). The obvious ques- 
tion is, of course, so what? 
QuickBASIC and QBASIC are 
the de facto standards, run- 
ning on millions of desktops, 
as opposed to perhaps tens 
or hundreds of thousands us- 



ing True BASIC. It would not 
be difficult to stop the argu- 
ment there. 

But an ANSI-standard BA- 
SIC has the tantalizing poten- 
tial of allowing, say, PCs, Macin- 
toshes, Amigas, and Sun work- 
stations to run the exact same 
source code. Kemeny and 
Kurtz finally wised up and 
formed their own company, 
one that now carries — sit 
down; you'll be shocked 
when you hear this — versions 
of True BASIC that run identi- 
cally on PCs, Macs. Amigas, 
and Sun workstations. True BA- 
SIC (it's the name of the com- 
pany, too. and it's located at 
12 Commerce Avenue, West 
Lebanon, New Hampshire 
03784: 800-872-2742, 603- 
298-7015 [fax]) also carries a 
host of True BASIC source li- 
braries for math, scientific, 
engineering, and some gener- 
al-purpose use. 

What's most exciting to me 
is that you can experience 
True BASIC yourself if you 
own a PC compatible (or if you 
slipped and accidentally 
bought a Mac) for only 
$14,95. This is easily the best 
demo package I've ever 
seen; it gives you a full version 
of the language, the ability to 
create files up to 150 lines 
long, and a 208-page paper- 
back book by the masters 
themselves showing you BA- 
SIC from the ground up, I got 
both the Mac and the PC ver- 
sions, and sure enough, the 
same source runs identically 
on the two machines. 

True BASIC is a very differ- 
ent animal from the other BA- 
SICS. Like QuickBASIC and 
QBASIC. it compiles pro- 
grams in the background as 
you type, so you get the 
speed of a compiler with the 
convenience of an interpreter. 
The environment isn't nearly 
as comfortable as QBASIC, al- 
though it's similar in concept: 
menus, an immediate window, 
and so forth. The problem is 



that it's clunky. You bring up 
a menu by pressing Alt-1 for 
the leftmost menu. Alt-2 for the 
one next to it. and so on. The 
help system, while user-exten- 
sible, is phmitive and requires 
that you press Ctrl-Break to 
leave a help screen. F1 isn't 
the help key, F10 isn't the 
menu key, and it can't find 
help files when run outside the 
directory It was installed In. 

True BASIC is very strong in 
the math and string-handling 
departments, TRUNCATE trun- 
cates a number to the speci- 
fied decimal places: MIN and 
MAX return the minimum and 
maximum of two numbers; pi 
is built in; there's support for 
natural, common (base 10), 
and base 2 logarithms; and 
more. There are whole groups 
of string functions not found in 
other BASICS. LTRIM, RTRIM, 
and TRIM removing leading 
and trailing blanks; CPOS 
finds the first occurrence of a 
character in a string; CPOSR 
does the same but from the 
end; NCPOS finds the first oc- 
currence of a character not 
found in a string; and 
NCPOSR does the same but 
from the end. There's a whole 
array (sorry) of matrix-han- 
dling statements and func- 
tions, and the graphics subsys- 
tem is far better thought out 
than those built into other BA- 
SICS. 

The sample edition is a roar- 
ing success, and my main crit- 
icism is a political one. The 
manual never mentions the Mi- 
crosoft; BASIC variants, prob- 
ably on the theory that there's 
no reason to aid the competi- 
tion. That doesn't make sense 
to me. I'd much rather the 
book contain a 10- or 12- 
page comparative analysis 
and conversion guide so that 
interested parties could con- 
vert their Microsoft BASIC 
code over to True BASIC. This 
would only increase its mar- 
ket, a move both True BASIC 
and we users deserve. G 



56 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



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HARDWARE CLINIC 



Mark Minasi 



DOS 6'S 

MullJConfig lets you 

combine several 

AUTOEXECBAT and 

CONFIG.SYS files. 



DOS 6's MULTI- 
CONFIG, PART 2 

In the June issue, I started look- 
ing Into MultiConflg, the new 
DOS 6 feature that allows you 
to unify your scattered CON- 
FIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT 
files. This month, we'll look fur- 
ther into MultiConfig's many 
capabilities. 

If you have a color monitor, 
you can customize the colors 
of your MultiConflg menu with 
the Menucolor command. It 
looks like this: menucolor fore- 
ground, [background]. 

Foreground and back- 
ground are numbers represent- 
ing the colors that the PC text 
screen can display — there are 
16 of them. Foreground is a 
mandatory value, but back- 
ground is optional. If you don't 
specify a number, then you 
just get the normal black 
background. 

I guess what troubles me 
about this command is the 
wasted time it causes. If you 
remove all the combinations 
where the foreground equals 
the background, there are still 
240 different foreground/back- 
ground combinations. Experi- 
ence has shown me that there 
are a fair number of people 
who won't rest until they've 
seen them all. 

So far, we've merged only 
one of DOS's startup files. Now 
that you've merged two differ- 
ent CONFIG.SYS files into 
one using MultiConflg, com- 
plete with a startup menu, 
defaults, timeouts, and even col- 
ors, it's time to see what 
MultiConflg does for your 
AUTOEXECBAT, And the an- 
swer is, "not much," 

There is, however, enough 
in the way of tools to allow you 
to link CONFIG.SYS configura- 
tions to AUTOEXEC.BAT con- 
figurations. Here's how. 

Let's return to the two-con- 
figuration approach we estab- 
lished in June. Suppose there 



are two AUTOEXEC. SATs, 
one for the normal configura- 
tion and another for the inter- 
link configuration. The normal 
AUTOEXEC.BAT might look 
like this. 

©ECHO OFF 
PROMPT $P$G 
PATH CXDOS 
DOSKEY 

The interlink AUTOEXEC.BAT 
might look like this, 

©ECHO OFF 
PATH C:\DOS 
INTERSVR 

I want to explain this so both 
batch veterans and begin- 
ners can use this information, 
so let nne first show the peo- 
ple who are comfortable with 
batch language programming 
how to put these AUTOEX- 
EC. BATs together into one 
AUTOEXEC.BAT Then I'll pre- 
sent a step-by-step formula 
for combining batch files that 
anyone who can use an edi- 
tor can follow. 

The key to being able to 
combine two {or more) AU- 
TOEXEC. BATs into a single 
batch file and then extract 
them as they were originally 
is an environment variable 
called CONFIG. It contains 
the name of the configuration 
that you selected — in our 
example, that means either 
normal or interlink. You 
then use "IF . . . ==" com- 
mands and GOTOs to control 
which part of the AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT file is executed. 
Here's what it would look like 
for our example AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT situation, 

©ECHO OFF 

IF %CDnfig%=normal GOTO 

normal 
IF %config%==interlink GOTO 

interlink 
:normal 
PROMPT SP$G 
PATH C:\DOS 



58 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



DOSKEY 
GOTO end 
:interllnk 
PATH C:\DQS 
IMTERSVR 
GOTO end 
:end 

Batch experts may look upon 
my approach in the previous 
example as being a trifle inef- 
ficient, but it follows a nice, 
simple formula that anyone 
can use to quickly combine a 
number of configurations into 
a single AUTOEXEC.BAT 
Let's see how to use that 
formula to assemble different 
AUTOEXEC. BATs into a sin- 
gle file. If we have three 
AUTOEXEC.BAT configura- 
tions that are named c1, 
c2, and c3, we could 
build our AUTOEXEC.BAT 
like this. 

©ECHO OFF 

IF %conlig%==c1 GOTO c1 

IF %conlig%==cZ GOTO c2 

IF %ctinlig7o=c3 GOTO c3 

:c1 

[put the g1 commands tiere] 

GOTO end 

:c2 

[put the cZ commands here] 

GOTO end 

:c3 

[put the c3 commands here] 

GOTO end 

:end 

This skeleton of a batch file 
is intended to underscore 
how to build an AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT that supports three 
configurations. You can easi- 
ly see how to extend it to 
four, five, or any number of 
configurations. 

It may be obvious, but I'll 
mention anyway that the lines 
in brackets shouldn't be 
typed literally; they're intend- 
ed to be instructions to you, 
not to be typed to the PC, 

Perhaps even more gener- 
ally, you can assemble a com- 
bined AUTOEXEC.BAT using 
this step-by-step method. 



Step 1: The first line of 
your combined AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT stiould be an 
©ECHO OFF. 

Step 2: Examine your CON- 
FIG-SYS's [menu] section 
tfiat you assembled previous- 
ly and write down the names 
of all the configurations. Take 
the name of the first configu- 
ration and incorporate it into 
an if statement that looks like 
this: IF %config%==[name of 
configuration] GOTO [name 
of configuration]. 

You should replace [name 
of configuration] with the 
actual name of the first 
configuration. Do that for 
each configuration name. 
For example, suppose you 
find that your CONFIG.SYS 
has a menu section that 
looks like this. 

[menu] 

menuitem standard, Normal 

stuff I use 
menuitem maxniemory,Set up 

to give maximum free 

memory 
menuitem wingcomm.Conflgura- 

tion to run Wing Commander II 
menudefault . . . 

That means that you have 
three configurations named 
standard, maxmemory, and 
wingcomm. (Notice that I 
didn't include the normal and 
interlink configurations. I 
didn't want you to start think- 
ing that they were mandato- 
ry.) You'd prepare the first con- 
figuration IF to look like this: 
IF %config%==standard 
GOTO standard, 

Notice that the ==standard 
is in lowercase. The case in 
the IF statement must match 
the case of the named config- 
uration, or this just plain won't 
work. 

You'd then assemble the 
other IF statements, one for 
each of the two other config- 
urations, and you'd have an 
AUTOEXEC.BAT that looks 
like this. 



©ECHO OFF 

IF %config%==standard GOTO 

standard 
IF %conflg%==maxmemory GOTO 

maxmemory 
IF %Eonlig%==wing(;amm GOTO 

wingcomm 

Step 3: Create a section of 
the AUTOEXEC.BAT for each 
of the configurations. Each 
section should have two 
lines. The first line is 
the name of the configuration 
preceded by a colon, and 
the second line should 
say GOTO end. The iast line 
in the batch file should say 
:end. [f you do that, 
your AUTOEXECBAT will 
look like this. 

©ECHO OFF 

IF %CDnfig7D==standard GOTO 

standard 
IF %contig%==maxmemory GOTO 

maxmemory 
IF %config%==wingcomm GOTO 

wingcomm 
iwingcomm 
GOTO end 
imaxmemory 
GOTO end 
istandard 
GOTO end 
:end 

Step 4: For each section, in- 
sert the AUTOEXEC.BAT for 
that section between the label 
with the colon at the begin- 
ning of it and the GOTO end. 
Save this file, and you're 
done. 

To put it all together, let's 
suppose the AUTOEXEC.BAT 
for the standard configuration 
looks like this. 

PROMPT SPSG 
PATH C:\DOS 
DOSKEY 
PRINT Id 
SIVIARTDRV 

The configuration for maxmem- 
ory looks like this. 

PROIWPT $P$G 



PATH C:\DOS 
LH DOSKEY 

And the configuration for wing- 
comm looks like this. 

CD\GAMES\WCZ 
WC2 

You'd insert these files into 
the AUTOEXEC.BAT that 
you're building, and your final 
AUTOEXEC.BAT would look 
like this. 

©ECHO OFF 

IF %coniig%=standard GOTO 

standard 
IF %conflg%==maxmemory GOTO 

maxmemory 
IF %conflg%==wingcomm GOTO 

wingcomm 
:standard 
PROMPT SPSG 
PATH C:\DOS 
DOSKEY 
PRINTS 
SMARTDRV 
GOTO end 
imaxmemory 
PROMPT SP$G 
PATH C:\DOS 
LH DOSKEY 
GOTO end 
rwingcomm 
CD\GAMES\WC2 
WC2 

GOTO end 
:end 

There you have it — a quick 
and painless way to integrate 
your configurations under 
DOS 6. 

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AUGUST1993 COMPUTE 59 





#" ■^%' 



;.<t 









The desktop pubiishtng revolution 

has made the persoaot compoter the playground of the 

forfer and the counterfeiter — or has III 



^^ure, you're an honest person. 
"v. Basically. But you've applied for a 
f nice job. and they want a letter of 
recommendation from, say, your col- 
lege department head. But all they're 
likely to get from that professor is a 
damning letter describing what you 
were caught doing while the lab 
burned. In fact, you have a letter tike 
that sitting in front of you now, written 
on university letterhead and signed 
by your professor. 

Desperately, you cast about for a 
solution to your dilemma — and note 
that your computer has a color scan- 
ner and a laser printer attached to it. 
So you could just scan in the letter- 
head and the signature, and write 
your own letter. 

Why not? Who would know? 

Forging Ahead 

Weicome to desktop forgery. It's a new 
scam many observers expect to snow- 
ball as technology makes documents 
easier and easier to reproduce, per- 
haps ending the concept of face value. 
And perhaps also changing the way 
some of our paperbound institutions 
function. 

Or perhaps not — because we still 
have those first two questions; 

Why not? Because it would be 
wrong (to paraphrase Richard Nixon). 



Who would know? The people who 
catch you. Because you're very likely 
to get caught. 

For instance, the printout from your 
laser printer could be traced back to 
you — although it's difficult to make 
such a trace, acknowledges fvlike 
Noblett, chief of the Document 
Analysis Research and Training Unit 
at FBI headquarters in Washington, 
DC. Fans of detective novels know all 
about how the FBI collects print sam- 
ples from typewriter brands and how 
every manual typewriter has distinc- 
tive wear patterns that can identify its 
output. Of course, hardly anybody 
uses such machines anymore, but the 
rollers and paper grabbers of laser 
printers do leave distinctive marks that 
can at least give away what brand of 
printer was used, Noblett notes. And 
scratches on the toner drum (if there 
are any) can be distinctive enough to 
identify an individual machine. 

So you resolve to get a new toner 
cartridge just for this scam. But after 
that, you run into a problem — the letter- 
head you want to copy includes an 
embossed silver logo. Your laser printer 
can't emboss anything, and no metallic 
(silver, gold, or bronze) toner is avail- 
able for laser printers, even if your 
scanner could pick up those reflective 
colors. That's why you see more and 



MOUNT JJ&ma COLLLGIL 

DRAMA DEPAHTMENT 




more letterheads printed with em- 
bossed metallic backgrounds, explains 
William Flynn, a document examiner 
and president of Affiliated Forensic 
Laboratories in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Anyway, you ponder, you also have 
to fake a letterhead envelope, and 
that's even harder. Indeed, sources say 
that beginners often give themselves 
away by overlooking the need for a 
convincing envelope. Or by leaving 
their fingerprints all over it, even when 
the document inside is surgically clean. 

Ah, you think, but what if I fax the 
letter? Everyone faxes everything 
these days. All faxes are black-and- 
white, so the ohginal color won't mat- 
ter. And no envelope is needed. 

So you whip out something con- 
vincing and head down to the copy 
shop to use the fax machine. There 
are other people there, too, nervously 
making photocopies of medical 
records, buying snapshot film, finger- 
ing check paper, and making furtive 
glances at the color copier. 

Are they up to something, too? you 
wonder. No, they probably aren't. But 
maybe it's just as well that you wonder. 

Paper Hanging 

Those people fingering the check 
paper in the copy shop can give the 
hives to someone like Susan Ivlorton. 
senior forensic document examiner 
with the U.S. Postal Service in San 
Francisco. While laser printers were 
once considered unsuitable for punt- 
ing checks, today even large payroll 
firms use them, leaving bank tellers 
accustomed to the sight of laser-pro- 
duced checks, she mourns. 

The result is that she has seen 
gangs traveling the country packing 
computers, scanners, and laser pnnt- 
ers. Arriving in a town, their first move 
is to rob a mailbox to acquire some 
checks that were mailed to, say, the 
local utility company. They will copy 
the account and routing code off 
some citizen's check and decide 
what branch bank that person proba- 
bly uses. Then they forge a large cor- 
porate or government check to that 
person, using information from other 
checks they found in the nnail. 
Packing a forged ID, a gang member 
will then go to a branch across town 
where presumably nobody knows the 
citizen and deposit part of that forged 
check. The check may be for $5,000, 
of which the forger takes $2,000 as 
cash, smiles, and leaves. 

The bank may admit it's been 
scammed, or it may seek to blame the 
innocent citizen. "Some banks are 
nice and cooperative, and some can 
hassle you for years," Morton notes. 



62 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 




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One check-forging gang was 
chased across Texas for about six 
months in the late 1980s, recalls 
Robert Ansley, corporate security 
manager for Dell Computer in Austin, 
Texas, then with the Austin police 
department. Armed with a stolen 
Macintosh and an ID maker stolen 
from a highway patrol substation, they 
passed more than $100,000 in bogus 
checks in Austin alone. But instead of 
hiring street people to go into the 
bank, as other gangs have done, they 
used the same woman over and over, 
and her description was sent to every 
check-cashing outlet in the city. A 
teller spotter her, she fled — and it 
turns out the gang had overlooked the 
detail of forging a license plate for 
their getaway pickup truck. 

Sources say other gangs have 
used laser printers to forge security 
ID badges to get into office buildings 
and steal the computers, nodding to 
the friendly security guard at the front 
desk while trudging out with their 
arms full, But they usually find that 
fencing computers is harder than 
stealing them, and get caught. 

Knowing this, perhaps you've 
decided that forging is not the career 
for you. And anyway, you're just one 
faxed letter away from a good job. So 



you fax your forged letter from the 
copy shop. Your prospective employer 
gets it. And sees from the ID line that 
fax machines insert at the top of each 
page that the letter came from the 
copy shop down the street, instead of 
that university three states away. 

The fax, and your job, go straight 
into the trash can. 

Copycats 

You're not alone in getting caught. 
Think back to the crowd at the copy 
shop. That medical professional was 
creating a new page for a patient file 
with some dates changed to make 
himself look like a genius instead of a 
quack. But at the malpractice trial it 
comes out that the page in question 
has one set of staple holes and all the 
surrounding pages have seven. The 
person buying the snapshot film was 
trying to back up a burglary insurance 
claim, but the insurance investigator 
checks the production code on the 
back of the film and finds it was made 
some weeks after the photographed 
jewelry was supposedly stolen. The 
ones fingering the check paper get 
caught as described. As for that furtive 
guy at the color copier — he's doomed. 
So, to return to our earlier question, 
does all this new technology mean 



our paperbound civilization is in dan- 
ger of coming apart at the seams? 

Apparently not, "We have not seen 
an increase in the amount of document 
fraud per se," says Nobiett. "We have 
seen more and more computer-gener- 
ated documents, but the total amount 
[of document fraud] is about the same. 
Computers have also made things easi- 
er for counterfeiters, but we don't see 
any more counterfeiters than before." 

So perhaps people have remained 
basically honest— although a few safe- 
guards may be in order. "We have 
been urging corporations to move for- 
ward with EDI [paperless invoicing, 
ordering, and so forth, using Electronic 
Data Interchange] for more and more 
of their business transactions and 
avoid paper, since it will become so 
vulnerable," says Donn Parker, com- 
puter crime expert with SRI Inter- 
national in Menio Park, California. 

Read This or Go to Jail 

Yes, modern color copiers make 
reproductions of paper money so 
convincing that they can often readily 
be passed, notes Gayle Moore, spe- 
cial agent with the public affairs office 
of the U.S. Secret Service in 
Washington, DC, 

And making such copies can get 



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S5,000, or both, siie adds. And you're 
likely to get caught because, while the 
reproductions may look good, they 
don't feel anything like paper 
money — they are far slicker. 

Meanwhile, new anticopying mea- 
sures are being added to U.S. curren- 
cy. Microprinting is being added 
around the outside of the portraits, 
which copiers will pick up only as 
fuzzy lines— which is all it looks like 
except under high magnification. And 
plastic strips are being added inside 
the paper itself — a copier won't repro- 
duce them, but they will appear when 
you hold a genuine bill up to the light 

Meanwhile, Canon USA is said to 
be adding anticounterfeiting technoio- 
gy to its color copiers. A Canon 
spokesman declined to discuss the 
matter, but other sources say the 
technology can sense the graphical 
patterns of U.S. currency in whatever 
it scans. If currency is detected, the 
unit wili spit out a black page. 

But serious counterfeiters are likely 
to eschew color copiers anyway, pre- 
ferring traditional methods, Moore 
notes. While a $47,000 color copier 
might give you seven copies a minute, 
you can churn out millions of bogus 
dollars a day with an offset press. So 



color copiers are mostly used for low- 
volume opportunistic counterfeiting, 
she explains. In 1991, the Secret 
Service busted 66 traditional counter- 
feiting operations, while seizing 52 
office machines that had been used 
for counterfeiting. But whichever 
method is used, there is usually some 
paper trail connecting the perpetrator 
to the machinery, she notes. 

Meanwhile, truly sophisticated 
counterfeiters are often too smart to 
waste their time producing money, 
preferring negotiable instruments iike 
stocks and bonds. Desktop forgery 
hasn't been much of a factor in this 
field, says Jack R. Calvert, director of 
the National Forensic Laboratory of the 
Criminal Investigation Division of the 
Internal Revenue Service in Chicago, 
since copiers still don't have the reso- 
lution to defeat the safeguards of the 
safety paper such bonds are printed 
on. Safety paper can have panta- 
grams (continuous background pat- 
terns) that appear only when a photo- 
copy is made, ink that appears only 
under special lights, or watermarks no 
copier can duplicate. 

"Things are not falling apart yet, 
but we are running at full tilt to coun- 
teract anything that might come out in 
the near future." he says. 



Meanwhile, perhaps you should 
consider joining the other side. There 
are estimated to be fewer than 600 
qualified document examiners in the 
U.S. and Canada, and the industry is 
looking for new blood. If you're inter- 
ested, George Pearl of Atlanta, presi- 
dent of the Association of Forensic 
Document Examiners, urges you to 
contact AFDE's membership director, 
Vickie Willard, at 526 Superior 
Avenue, Suite 740, Cleveland, Ohio 
44114, or (216) 574-2204. It takes 
about two years to learn the trade. 

Don't Do the Crime 

Don't do the crime. If you can't do the 
time, as the theme song from "Baret- 
ta" used to say, It's so easy to break 
certain laws with a computer that peo- 
ple sometimes forget they're engaging 
in criminal acts. You could make 
enough copies of WordPerfect in an 
afternoon to supply everyone on the 
block, but you would be breaking fed- 
eral laws by doing so — and more and 
more pirates are being caught and 
prosecuted. Scanning in a dollar bill 
takes seconds, and printing out hun- 
dreds of them takes only a few min- 
utes. But when you figure years behind 
bars into the equation, you just might 
not have time to take the risk, j 



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you with no reason not to buy it. 

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LASERJET 4 

It's no wonder that Hewlett- 
Packard's LaserJet printers 
are so popular. Hewlett-Pack- 
ard consistently offers great 
printers at incredible prices. 
The LaserJet 4 is no excep- 
tion, In fact, it's the best Las- 
erJet ever, and it's the best val- 
ue Hewlett-Packard has 
offered so far. With a suggest- 
ed retail price of $1,759 (if 
you look around, you can find 
one for around $1,400). the 
LaserJet 4 weighs in at $200 
dollars cheaper than the Las- 
erJet III. For the price, the Las- 
erJet 4 gives you four times 
the resolution, 37 more fonts, 
much improved print quality, 
and over twice the speed. 

f\/lany computer pundits 
have hailed 1993 as the year 
of the 600-dpi (dots per inch) 
printer. Why 600 dpi? While 
this seems like only twice the 
resolution of standard 300-dpi 
printers, it's actually four 
times higher. Smaller, tighter 
dots mean crisper, cleaner 
text. That means type in 
small point sizes (such as, 
say, 12 points or lower) main- 
tains its fine lines and stroke 
weights, and large text re- 
mains black and has smooth, 
sharp edges. 

But where you'll really no- 
tice the difference with a 600 
dpi phnter is in printing gray- 
scale and graphical images. 
Since laser printers simulate 
shades of gray by alternating 
black dots with noncovered 
white areas, 600 dpi offers a 
significant improvement over 
300 dpi. When you use a 600- 
dpi machine, what you wind 
up with is about four times the 
number of simulated shades 
of gray that you can get with 
a 300-dpi machine. 

Need more fonts? The Las- 
erJet 4 is more than obliging. 




It comes v/ith 35 scalable 
Intellifont outlines, including 
Garamond, CG Omega, and 
Albertus; plus it has a 
TrueType font rasterizer and 
the ten TrueType fonts in Win- 
dows — families of Arial and 
Times New Roman, as well as 
Symbol and WingDIngs. 

And, if you have a LaserJet 
4, you can also download any 
Intellifont or TrueType outline 
to the printer. PostScript 
Type 1 fonts are supported 
as well, with a $499 Post- 
Script Level II upgrade. (Post- 
Script is the standard lan- 
guage used by graphic art- 
ists and desktop publishers, 
They use PostSchpt printers 
to proof their documents be- 
fore taking them to service bu- 
reaus for a final, high-resolu- 
tion imagesetter output.) 

You can, of course, use 
Adobe Type fvlanager (ATM) 
to utilize Type 1 font technol- 
ogy on the LaserJet 4. ATM 
costs only $99, but before 
you buy it, make sure you 
don't already have a copy. It 
comes bundled with many 
popular word-processing, 
desktop publishing, and graph- 
ics applications. 

Just when you thought print- 
ers couldn't get any faster, 
Hewlett-Packard comes 



through again. The compa- 
ny's Printer Command Lan- 
guage 5 (PCL 5), the lan- 
guage used in LaserJet Ills 
and 4s, is already faster than 
most other languages — espe- 
cially the popular PostScript. 
But the addition of the 
TrueType font rasterizer and 
Windows TrueType fonts 
means that you don't have to 
wait for your computer to 
download fonts. The LaserJet 
4 comes with one of the fast- 
est processors in the busi- 
ness: Intel's 20-fvlHz 80960 
RISC processor. It also has 
increased data compression. 
What all these new enhance- 
ments mean to you is that the 
LaserJet 4 is one fast printer — 
perhaps the fastest eight- 
ppm (pages per minute) print- 
er available on the market to- 
day. Another terrific speed 
eniiancement you'll really ap- 
preciate is Hewlett-Packard's 
new Bi-Tronic bidirectional 
port. The Bi-Tronic can han- 
dle data transfers at up to 
156 kilobytes per second, 
which is a much faster rate 
than that offered by standard 
parallel ports. Depending on 
the speed of the computer it's 
connected to, the Bi-Tronic 
traditionally sends data to the 
printer at between 50 and 



66 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



150 kilobytes per second. So 
the only thing that will hold 
back the LaserJet 4 is the 
speed of your computer. 

The bidirectional parallel 
port also talks back to your 
computer, in a simitar manner 
that a serial port talks with a 
Mac. Wouldn't it be great if 
you could get a nnessage on 
your computer screen that 
tells you when your printer is 
out of paper or that notifies 
you of a paper jam, instead of 
your having to walk down the 
hall to see what's holding 
things up? The LaserJet 4 is 
capable of this kind of two- 
way communication with your 
con^puter. However, as of yet 
there is no software interface 
support for either DOS or Win- 
dows. In order for your com- 
puter to receive the printer's 
messages, support must be 
written into DOS applications, 

Windows users, take heart, 
fvlicrosoft is working on soft- 
ware to activate the Bi-Tronic 
interface under Windows. It 
may be available by the time 
you read this; check the Micro- 
soft forum on CompuServe, or 
look on the Microsoft BBS. 

All these wonderful frills 
aside, the question remains: 
How does the LaserJet 4 ac- 
tually print? I tested speed 
and output against a 
Lexmark 4029 600-dpi print- 
er. The Lexmark 4029 has a 
software option — the 4029 Win- 
dows Print Accelerator — that 
uses TrueType fonts to turn in 




record print times at 300 dpi. 

In some of my field tests, 
especially when I was print- 
ing pages containing just 
TrueType text, the LaserJet 4 
was a hair faster than the 
Lexmark 4029: however, the 
LaserJet ran at about the 
same speed as the 4029 
when I was printing pages con- 
taining graphics. 

The print-quality tests — in 
which I was comparing the 
smoothness of type, mono- 
tone graphics, and gray- 
scale photographs of the print- 
outs—revealed that Hewlett- 
Packard's Resolution Enhance- 
ment Technology (RET) is 
slightly superior to the 
Lexmark's Print Quality 
Enhancement Technology 
(POET). 

On the LaserJet 4, smal 
text (12 points and under) 
prints just a little crisper and 
large text (14 points and high- 
er) looks a little smoother. 
There is. however, a quite no- 
ticeable difference in quality 
when you use a nnagnifying 
glass to compare the print 
samples. The LaserJet 4 
prints text much better. 

Graphics and photographs 
also come out cleaner and 
with seemingly more shades 
of gray when printed on the 
LaserJet 4. I always thought 
that the Lexmark's halftone 
quality couldn't be beat — un- 
til I saw what came rolling out 
of the LaserJet 4. It's quite im- 
pressive! 

Once again, Hewlett-Pack- 
ard has done what it usually 
does better than anybody 
else in the printer market: It 
has created a fine printer at a 
fine price. As with the earlier 
LaserJets, this one sets sever- 
al new standards. 

First, although 600-dpi print- 
ing has been available for a 
while now, it has never been 



offered at such a reasonable 
price. Usually, if Hewlett-Pack- 
ard has it, everybody else 
soon will. Second, last fall 
Hewlett-Packard entered into 
an agreement with Microsoft 
to develop Windows-based 
printing standards. The first re- 
sults of this team effort are 
the resident TrueType fonts in 




the LaserJet 4 and the bidirec- 
tional parallel port. Count on 
the bidirectional port being 
the next-generation computer- 
printer interface, with several 
other printers sporting it by 
year's end. 

With all this, there are few- 
er and fewer reasons for busi- 
ness users to shell out the 
cost of PostScript. PCL 5 now 
offers scalable-font technolo- 
gy, higher resolution, better 
handling of vector (draw- 
type) graphics, on-board 
TrueType fonts, and a low 
price — all of which give the 
LaserJet 4 a true advantage 
over other 600-dpi printers. 

Do you need 600 dpi? 
Well, look at it this way: Con- 
sidering all the other features 
and the improved print 
speed and quality of this print- 
er, the higher resolution is 
just a bonus. If you're in the 
market for a new printer, un- 
less you are a desktop publish- 
er or graphics designer, you 
can't beat this one. d 

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AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 67 



PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY 



Rosalind B. Resnick 



It you look before 

you leap and 

buy exactly the 

computer you 

need, you'll tind the 

bargain mat's 

waiting for you. 



TO ERR IS HUMAN 

With all the great deals on com- 
puters these days, it seems as 
if you can't go wrong in select- 
ing a new computer. Surpris- 
ingly, though, many people do 
go wrong. 

Here are ten common mis- 
takes that computer buyers 
make and some tips to help 
you avoid them: 

Not asking yourself why you 
need the computer in the first 
place. Before you can shop in- 
telligently for a computer, you 
have to decide what tasks you 
want to use it for and what soft- 




ware you'll be using. If you 
plan to do mostly word proc- 
essing, for exannple, you can 
get by with a less powerful — 
and less expensive — comput- 
er than if you intend to do desk- 
top publishing or run lots of 
Windows applications. 

Not doing your homework be- 
forehand. While benchmarks 
and test procedures vary from 
reviewer to reviewer, product 
reviews can be a valuable 
guide to a computer's perform- 
ance. Don't forget that 
friends, colleagues, us- 
er-group members, and even 
bulletin boards can offer use- 
ful suggestions as to which 
computer to buy — and which 
computer to steer clear of. 



Buying too little random ac- 
cess memory. As the adage 
goes. You can never be too 
rich or too thin — or have too 
much RAM. Especially if 
you're planning to use soft- 
ware that runs under Win- 
dows. You're going to need at 
least 4MB of RAM; some ex- 
perts suggest SMB. "Sixteen 
would be even better," says 
Jerry Siegel, a computer con- 
sultant in Hollywood, Florida. 
Even with RAM prices higher 
than usual right now, it's one 
of the least expensive up- 
grades you can make. 

Buying too small a hard 
drive. Just a few years ago, a 
40MB hard drive was consid- 
ered quite roomy. But now 
that Windows has burst onto 
the scene, PCs with hard 
drives as large as 250MB are 
not uncommon. That's be- 
cause some Windows pro- 
grams, such as Word for Win- 
dows 2.0, grab upwards of 
10MB of hard disk space and 
require lots of room to run. 

Buying a microprocessor 
(CPU) (hat can't be upgraded. 
While the 386 computer you 
buy today may be adequate 
for now, chances are that be- 
fore long you'll need a PC with 
a 486 processor to run the new- 
est software. By spending a lit- 
tle more to buy a PC that's up- 
gradable, you won't have to 
junk the thing a year from now. 

Spending big money to up- 
grade your old PC. Now that 
computer prices are down, it's 
hard to justify the cost of out- 
fitting your old computer with 
a bigger hard drive or a color 
monitor. "Throw away and buy 
new," suggests Robbie Ro- 
bertson, a consultant in Water- 
loo, Iowa, "or better yet, sell 
the old while there is still a mar- 
ket for it, and buy new." 

Buying the latest and great- 
est system on the market. 
While you shouldn't buy less 
computing power than you 
need, there's no reason to buy 
more. State-of-the-art systems 



often carry a premium price. 
For example, a top-of-the-line 
PC equipped with Intel's 66- 
MHz 486DX2 chip sells for 
about $3,000 these days, 
while you can get a slightly 
slower PC with a 50-MHz chip 
for $1,000 less. If you're like 
most users, the difference in 
speed will be far less notice- 
able than the dent in your 
bank account. 

Failing to arrange for good 
technical support. Unless 
you're handy with a screwdriv- 
er and unafraid of tinkering 
with your AUTOEXEC.BAT 
file, you'il want to pick a PC ven- 
dor that offers prompt, reliable 
technical support. Some com- 
panies offer on-site service, oth- 
ers offer a toll-free hot line, 
while still others let you sink or 
swim on your own. It may also 
make sense to invest in an 
extended warranty. 

Paying cash. If your credit 
card offers a buyer protection 
plan, it's a good idea to use 
your card, rather than cash or 
a check, to buy your PC. This 
way, you're protected if the 
computer you get turns out to 
be a lemon or the company 
you bought it from goes belly 
up. 

Grabbing a deal that seems 
too good to be true. These 
days, some PC vendors are 
hawking 486-ohip systems for 
rock-bottom prices of under 
$1,000. But not all 486s are 
alike, warns Ytsroel Goodman, 
a consultant in Far Rockaway, 
New York. "[A low price] does 
not mean that [the company] 
put together a balanced sys- 
tem and then discovered to 
their delight that they could 
sell it for $995," Goodman 
says. "It means that they pur- 
chased the cheapest compo- 
nents they could in order to as- 
semble a $995 system." 

If you look before you leap, 
use your money wisely, and 
match your purchase to your 
purpose, you'll find the bar- 
gain that's waiting for you. D 



68 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 






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Circle Reader Service Number 149 



IBM STRATEGY 



A Train $34 

Airbucks $36 

Armada 2525 $29 

Ashes of Empire $46 

Battle Isle $32 

Battles of Destiny $36 

Breach 2 $19 
Buzz Aldnn Race into Space $42 

Caesar S36 

Caslles 2 $36 

Civilization $32 

Command HQ $19 

Conquered Kingdoms $36 

Conquest of Japan S3S 

Crisis in the Kremlin $42 

Dark Seed $28 
Discovery, Step of Columbus $34 

Dune 2 $44 

El Fish $41 

Empire Deluxe $37 

Global Conquest $34 

Lemmings 2 The Tribes $32 

Liberty or Death $37 

Lost Admiral $19 

Mega Lo Mania $31 

Mercenanes Tegel's $38 

New World Order $38 

Paladin 2 S34 

Perfect General $32 
Perfect General Seen Disk $21 

Perfect General Seen 2 $23 

Perfect General 2 $44 

Populous 2 $38 

Powermonger $34 

Railroad Tycoon $22 

Rules of Engagement 2 $38 

Second Conflict WIN $34 

Seven Cities Gold 2 $38 

Shadow President $39 

Sid Meirs Civil War $58 

Siege $21 

Siege Expansion Disk S19 

SImlife $41 

Spaceward Hoi $38 

Star Control 2 $36 

Star Legions $33 

Task Force 1 942 $39 

Theatre of War $17 

Theatre of War Sell $21 

Traders $19 

Warlords $12 



IBM SIMULATION 



Aces Over Europe $42 

Aces Europe Mission Disk 1 $27 

Aces Europe Mission Disk 2 $27 

Aces of the Pacific $42 

Aces Pacific Mission Disk 1 $27 

Allief Forces $12 

Air Duel $38 

Armoured Fist $38 

B17 Flying Fortress $39 

Battte Command $12 

Birds of Prey $32 

Car and Driver $38 

Dynamix Bundle $39 

F117A Stealth Fighter $42 

F15 Strike Eagle 3 $44 

Falcon 3.0 $48 

Falcon 3 Sceni Fighting Tgr $24 

Falcon 3 Seen 2 Mig 29 $25 

Great Naval Battles $44 

Great Nav Bat Super Ships All $19 

Great Nav Sat America in Atl $21 
Great Naval Battles Seen Build $28 

Gunship 2000 $37 

Jump Jet $39 

LHX Attack Chopper $17 

Mantis Experimental Ftr $39 

Maximum OverKilt $44 

Maximum Overkill Missionl $28 

Maximum Overkill MissiDn2 $28 

MegaForlress $12 

MegafDrtress Miss Disk $26 

Megafortress Miss Disk 2 $26 

Megafortress Mega-Pak $38 

Pnvateer $52 



PO BOX 234 

(CHESTER VT 05767 

Call 800-600-GAME 

Infl 802-767-3033 

Fax 802-767-3382 



IBM SIMULATION 



Red Baron $36 

Red Baron Mission Builder $24 

Seal Team $42 

Secret Weap Luftwaffe $34 

Secret Weapons Exp 1-4 ea. $21 

Silent Service 2 $19 

Sthke Commander $48 

Stnke Commander Spch Pak $24 

Stunt Island $37 

Test Drive 3 S29 

Tie Fighter $46 

Tornado $52 

Ullrabots Sanction Earth $39 

Wing Commander $19 

Wing Commander 1 Deluxe $48 

Wing Commander 2 $46 

X-Wmg $40 

X-Wing Mission Disk 1 $24 



IBM ROLEPLAYING 



AD&D Starters Kit $29 

ADD Collectors Edition 2 $45 
Bard's Take Construction Set $27 

Challenge of 5 Realms $44 

Champions $37 

CHARACTER EDITORSS $1B 

Cobra Mission $49 

Dark Sun $4B 

Darklands $3S 

Daughter of Serpents $32 

Dusk of the Gods $24 

Elvira 2 Jaws of Cerbeois $19 

Eye of the Behokjer 1 $19 

Eye of the Behokjer 2 $38 

Eye of the BehoUer 3 $42 

Heros Quesl 3 $36 

Legacy Realm Of Terror $34 

Legend of Valor $39 

Loremaster $39 

Lure of the Temptress $37 

Magic Candle 3 $38 

MegaTraveller 3 $39 

Might & Magic 3 $24 
Might & Magic 4 Clouds Xeen $36 
Might & Magic 5 D Side Xeen $42 

Pirates $3 

Pirates Gold $42 
PowerHlls BattleTech Bundle $32 

Protostar S42 

Spelcraft: Aspect of Valor $3S 

Ultima 6 False Prophet $19 

Ultima 7 Black Gale $48 

U Itima 7 Forge of Virtue $ 1 8 

Ultima 7.5 Serpent Isle $48 

Ultima Trilogy $39 

Ultima Tnlogy 2 $48 

Ultima Underworld $48 

Ultima Underworld 2 $48 

Unlimited Adventures $38 

Veil of Darkness $37 

Wizardry Tniogy (1-3) $32 

Wizardry B Cosmic Forge S34 

Wizardry 7 Crusaders S42 



IBM SPORTS 



■ID Boxing $17 

Amencan Gladiators $21 

David Robinson NBA Action $44 

Fat;e Off $9 

From Page Football $39 

Greens $34 

Hardball 3 $34 

Links Golf $29 

Links Golf Course Golf 1-7 ea $17 

Links Pro 386 Golf $36 

Links Pro Course Mauna Kee $19 

Links Pro Course Pinehurst $19 

Links Pro Course Baniff Spring $20 

NFL Proleague Football '92 $24 

Michael Jordan Flight Sim $33 

Tony LaRussa Baseball 2 $36 

Tony LaRussa 2 Manager Disk S18 

Tony LaRussa 2 Stadium Disk S18 

Tony LaRussa 2 Team Disk $12 

Wayne Grelzky Hockey 3 $39 

Worid Circuit $32 

AUG C0M1 



MULTIMEDIA PC 



David English 



There were a 

lot of new 

multimedia products 

at this year's 

Infermedia show. 



MULTIMEDIA 
MEGASHOW 

It's billed as the world's largest 
multimedia event, with over 
10,000 attendees and 150 ex- 
hibiting companies. Last year it 
acquired the weighty title of 
The Seventh Annual Confer- 
ence & Exposition on Multime- 
dia and CD-ROfvl. This year, it 
was simply called /nfermedia. 

On the conference side of 
intermedia, attendees heard a 
lot of talk about converging tech- 
nologies (though one speaker 
noted that "colliding cultures" 
would be a more appropriate 
way of putting it). Everyone, it 
seems, is either anticipating or 
dreading the coming merger of 
computers, cable television, 
broadcast television, publish- 
ing, consumer electronics, tel- 
ephones, movies, and the re- 
cording industry. Not surprising- 
ly, computer and software com- 
panies are rushing to form alli- 
ances with companies in other 
fields, so as not to be left be- 
hind. Microsoft, for example, 
showed a computer-enhanced 
television that lets you view re- 
altime statistics and order stadi- 
um tickets while watching a 
baseball game. 

fvleanwhile, back on the 
show floor, you could almost 
smell the optimism in the air as 
companies displayed their lat- 
est crop of multimedia prod- 
ucts. Warner New Ivledia daz- 
zled showgoers with Hell Cab, 
a nightmarish ride with a New 
York cab driver who is out to 
capture your soul. Stunning 3- 
D graphics and sound make 
this Macintosh CD-ROM a 
ride to remember. A PC ver- 
sion should be cruising the 
streets soon. 

f\/licrosoft announced three 
newCD-ROIvl titles, including fvli- 
crosoft Dinosaurs, a sumptu- 
ous look at everyone's favorite 
former earth rulers. Dinosaurs 
includes over 1000 high-quali- 
ty illustrations and photo- 



graphs, 200 background arti- 
cles, plenty of ambient sounds 
and growls, and even dinosaur 
screen savers, fvlicrosoft 
worked with The Dinosaur So- 
ciety to verify the information 
and included a section for us 
old fogies which explains that 
many of the dinosaur facts we 
learned as kids are no longer 
true. The other new Microsoft ti- 
tles are Multimedia Mozart: The 
Dissonant Quartet and Multime- 
dia Stravinsky: The Rite of 
Spring. LikeMultimedia Beethov- 
en: The Ninth Symphony, each 
contains a famous work of clas- 
sical music and a wealth of 
background information. 

DeLorme showed the foliow- 
up to its popular CD-ROM ap- 
plications. Street Atlas USA 
and MapExpert, It's called Glob- 
al Explorer, and it contains 
street maps for more than 
120,000 places worldwide, as 
well as detailed topographic 
maps for the entire world. 
Asymetrix introduced a power- 
ful multimedia presentation pro- 
gram called Compel, with exten- 
sive video, animation, and 
sound support. In a break from 
its usual hardware products, 
ATI demonstrated its new vid- 
eo editor, MediaMerge. It lets 
you edit video files, record and 
edit audio, and add a variety of 
transition effects. 

Other new CD-ROM titles in- 
clude Jazz; A Multimedia His- 
tory from Compton's NewMe- 
dia, which lets you hear as well 
as read about the legends of 
jazz, from Duke Ellington and 
Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis 
and Weather Report; Interac- 
tive Venture's Mayo Clinic Fam- 
ily Health Book, which includes 
45 animations and 500 color 
illustrations, in addition to 1300 
pages of interactive text; The 
Compleat Beatles from Comp- 
ton's NewMedia, which in- 
cludes the entire documentary 
film, TTie Compleat Beatles, as 
well as text from the book of the 
same name; Voyager's A Hard 
Day's Night (initially available on- 



ly for the Mac), which includes 
the entire Beatles movie, the 
movie's script (which can auto- 
matically scroll with the movie), 
and a preview trailer; TestDrive 
Software System, a new quar- 
terly CD-ROM from TestDrive, 
which lets you try out and op- 
tionally purchase major PC ap- 
plications; and the 1993 edition 
of the New Grolier Multimedia 
Encyclopedia, which includes 
dynamic maps and audio-visu- 
al essays. 

Adult CD-ROMs drew a lot 
of attention at /ntermedia. Pop- 
ular adult movies are now avail- 
able on CD-ROM. Titles include 
House of Sleeping Beauties, 
from Pixar; Hidden Obses- 
sions, from Romulus Entertain- 
ment; and Things Change; My 
First Time, from PC CompoNet. 
At a special session devoted to 
the future of erotic multimedia. 
Penthouse wowed the crowd 
with its first CD-ROM title. Pent- 
house Interactive. It lets you be- 
come the photographer in a 
Penthouse photo shoot, 

On the hardware front, you 
can now equip your PCMCIA- 
equipped laptop or notebook 
computer with a variety of mul- 
timedia options, including a 
sound card (MediaShare's Tem- 
po), a video capture card (Me- 
diaShare's Focus), and a SCSI 
adapter (Trantor's SlimSCSI). 
NEC showed the first double- 
speed portable CD-ROM 
drive, the NEC MultiSpin 38 Port- 
able CD-ROM Reader. Media 
Vision displayed its new Pro Au- 
dio Studio 16 package, which 
includes an improved 16-bit 
sound card, voice recognition 
software, and a small micro- 
phone. Creative Labs privately 
showed me its own voice rec- 
ognition software, which will be 
available soon for its sound 
cards, Finally Gold Disk dem- 
onstrated VideoDirector, which 
lets you use your computer 
to control both your home 
VCR and camcorder, allowing 
you to quickly and easily 
edit your videotapes. O 



70 



COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



ADVERTISEMENT 



TECHNOLOGY UPDATE 



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Amazing neio technology gives you the 
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Easy installation. The 

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Plus the wireless Chase 
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transmitter is onI\' $29. 




HOW DO THEY WORK? 



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Circle Reader Service Number 199 



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ARTWORKS 



Robert Bixby 



Symmetry blooms 

Irom chaos in 

Field and Golubltshv's 

Iracial primer. 



BY THE BOOKS 

Each month, we receive doz- 
ens of books for review. For 
some reason, most of them 
come addressed to me. Since 
this is a column about publish- 
ing, I thought I might take a mo- 
ment to talk about the books 
received as a group and to sin- 
gle some out for attention. 

Generally, computer books 
are here-today-gone-tomor- 
row books, temporally a step 
above periodicals: a slightly 
longer pause for paper be- 
tween the forest and the recy- 
cling bin. Not even used-book 
dealers are interested in old 
computer books. On the other 
hand, during their brief life- 
times, computer books are in- 
valuable. They need to be rug- 
gedly made, easy to read, full 
of reference material, and 
well indexed. The rigor of rap- 
idly creating good books from 
scratch that have a 6- to 18- 
month shelf life has been the 
ruin of more than one publish- 
er (and has caused more than 
one author to tear his or her 
hair out). 

Random House, like a lot of 
major publishers, is a relative 
newcomer to computer-book 
publishing. Its books are mark- 




edly more attractive than the 
general run of the mill. If you 
think you know what a comput- 
er book looks like, you should 
take a look at Random House 
Electronic Publishing's books. 
They use ample, but not exces- 
sive, color, and the covers are 
as attractive as those of any 
trade paperback. Look for Rob- 
in Raskin and Carol Ellison's 
Parents, Kids, & Computers 
(ISBN 0-679-73910-6, Ran- 
dom House Electronic Publish- 




ing, $20) if you want to see 
what can be done with comput- 
er books. 

We receive many books on 
fractals. I've probably seen no 
fewer than a dozen in recent 
months. These books general- 
ly have the look of a good art 
book, full of beautiful full-color 
illustrations. Symmetry in Cha- 
os: A Search for Pattern in 
Mathematics, Art, and Nature 
by Michael Field and Martin 
Golubitsky (ISBN 0-19-853689- 
5. Oxford University Press, 
$35) is a tittle more than the 
standard fractal book, in that 
it explains in layman's terms 
what is meant by symmetry 
and chaos. !t goes into the 
mathematics behind the frac- 
tal designs and even provides 
a collection of BASIC fractal 
programs. Having published 
books containing programs 
(and macros) myself, I can for- 
give the fact that there are 
some typos in the programs. 
Be forewarned: tJse a little com- 
mon sense when typing in the 
programs. You'll find some er- 
rors. I don't think there is a prac- 



tical way to eliminate them 
from program listings pub- 
lished in books. 

Computer art books come 
and go, but some have lasting 
and universal interest. The 
Computer Artist's Handbool< 
by Lillian F. Schwartz (with Lau- 
rens R. Schwartz; ISBN 0-393- 
02795-3, W. W. Norton. $55) 
tells you much more than how 
to draw a circle in a paint pro- 
gram. Lillian Schwartz is one 
of the true pioneers of comput- 
er art. She started creating art 
with computers before comput- 
ers were seen widely as a medi- 
um for art. back when the ini- 
tial stabs at computer graph- 
ics were being made in the in- 
ner sanctums of IBM and 
AT & T. She talks about how 
she created many computer 
masterpieces. Along the way, 
she drops hints for creating 
images and illusions with the 
computer, as well as describ- 
ing the circumstances of 
some of her great discoveries. 
You may recall that a few 
years ago an artist serendipi- 
tously discovered that the 
Mona Lisa was actually a self- 
portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. 
Schwartz was the discoverer 
of that secret, and the story of 
her discovery, complete with 
sketches and computer en- 
hancements of the painting, 
an x-ray of the Mona Lisa, and 
the original cartoon for the 
Mona Lisa are provided. In ad- 
dition to teaching a great deal 
about the computer as an art- 
ist's tool, Schwartz goes a 
long way toward showing the 
kind of innovative thinking an 
artist must go through in order 
to create original art. Virtually 
every page contains full-color 
computer graphics. 

Don't forget to write to me to 
let me know what you're up to 
in the publishing world. Re- 
member that I want to hear 
about your projects and your 
interests — and that I'm solicit- 
ing publishing and graphics 
tips for publication, □ 



NRI knows: The best way to learn to 
service todays computers is to actually 
huild a state-of-the-art 
computer from^ ^^^ -3IMi^ 
keyboard up. ^^B I ""^m ^ \ 





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^pprosTd unCErr Gl Bill, 
th«:kJ!o[d^Uth- 



(pleaig print) 



Age 



Address 



City/Staleyzip 



Accredited Membci. National Home Study Councji 



:j 



DISCOVERY CHOICE 



Land a 747 or a pterodactyl next to Big Ben — 
anyttilng's possible when you're the director of this film 
production and flight simulator package. 

David Sears 



STUNT ISLAND 

Back in the early 
days of filmmaking, 
daring young aviators 
often ended a day of 
breatfitaking aerobatics 
witfi grievous injuries. Dis- 
ney Software's Stunt Is- 
land — equal parts flight sim- 
ulator, production studio, 
and Hollywood magic — man- 
ages to extract the danger 
and intensify the fun. Sudden- 
ly those of us with the urge to 
barnstorm can prove our met- 
tle for some virtual dollars and 
even make some movies. 
More important, however, we 
can now go behind the 
scenes and play the roles of di- 
rector, set designer, property 
manager, and stunt man. 
Wearing all those hats proves 
an educational experience, 
and as an introduction to Hol- 
lywood-style filmmaking, it's a 
bargain that film school tuition 
can't hope to beat. 

Somewhere at sea, protect- 
ed from the pesky mainland 
safety regulations. Stunt Is- 
land waits, the site of count- 
less chase sequences, air- 
borne rescues, dogfights, 
and fiery crashes. The studio 
anticipates certain dire circum- 
stances and even provides 
hospital facilities to patch up 
stunt fliers, but fly straight. If 
you foul up too often, you'll 
flunk out of the competition. 

Besides just flying around 
the island scouting locations 
for stunts, flying in the Stunt Pi- 
lot of the Year competition is 
probably the best way to ac- 
quaint yourself with the envi- 
rons. Each stunt in the compe- 
tition is controlled by a script 
similar to the ones used to 
film entire movies. You'll have 
a limited number of takes to 
accomplish the stunt, but 
each failed attempt costs you 




and the studio money. Be- 
sides, you should perform dan- 
gerous stunts as few times as 
possible. 

In the competition, you'll 
shoot down a World War II Ze- 
ro, snag a balloon gondola us- 
ing a wingtip, pilot a hang glid- 
er into a medieval castle, land 
in a burger stand parking lot, 
egg-bomb the police from the 
cockpit of an angry duck, and 
much more. Through the com- 
petition, you'll encounter a 
few of the many planes that 
stock the prop department's 
hangars— everything from the 
Boeing 747 to the SR-71A 
Blackbird, the Sopwith Camel 
to the pterodactyl. Each of 
these aircraft handles much 
as you would expect it to, 
though to allow for seat-of-the- 
pants flying, the controls 
seem distilled down to a bare 
minimum. 

The simulator itself is top- 
notch, especially considering 
the number of planes availa- 
ble. Except for the organic 
craft, each vehicle offers a de- 
tailed cockpit view along with 



74 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



the traditional left, right, rear, 
and spotter plane perspec- 
tives — and what a view! On a 
speedy 80486, you won't no- 
tice any stick sluggishness 
even with 100-percent detail 
and dithehng options active. 
These and other simulation 
characteristics are controlled 
from a pop-up panel accessi- 
ble throughout the game. 

The island itself is small 
enough to cross in a Curtiss 
June Bug without too much 
monotony, but it's probably 
the largest back lot Holly- 
wood has ever seen. Practical- 
ly any action sequence imag- 
inable can be made here. 

Stunt Island's educational 
value doesn't lie in its nifty 
flight simulator, though the 
chance to fly the 45 available 
planes is worth the purchase 
price. Actually, Stunt Island 
gives you the chance not on- 
ly to fly stunts but to engineer 
and script them yourself. 

From the Set Design 
screen, you can select any is- 
land location as your site. 



Once you have a site in 
mind, stock your set! You 
may place up to 40 props on 
the set at one time, but only 
thie first 8 v/ill act as cameras. 
Of ttiese, slot 1 belongs to 
ttie stunt plane, and slot 2 to 
thie spotter plane. The rest of 
ttie slots can hold any object 
and be placed anywhere. 

The cameras can take the 
form of objects, visible or invis- 
ible. Even the stunt craft and 
the spotter plane can be- 
come any object. From the 
hundreds of props, you might 
find the letter W makes an ex- 
cellent and unique space- 
craft — and why not? It's your 
movie. Why not film an inva- 
sion sequence as angry con- 
sonants storm the earth? 
Props range from historic land- 
marks, such as Big Ben and 
the Eiffel Tower, to the more 
mundane, such as road 
signs and boulders. 

Positioning objects on the 
set and imparting them with 
motion characteristics such 
as pitch, yaw, and roll takes 
seconds using the pop-up con- 
trol panels. If you can imag- 
ine in 3-D, planning an interest- 
ing set takes very little time; if 
not, the superb 3-D modeler 
puts everything onscreen for 
you as you place it, from the 
perspective you choose. 

As mentioned, pilots com- 
plete stunts according to par- 
ameters set up by scripts. A 
script consists of events that 
you define using a set of intu- 
itive pull-down menus within 
the Set Design screen. For ex- 
ample, you might want the pi- 
lot to guide his Bristol Bulldog 
between two trees to the left 
of a road. From the menus 
you can define the area be- 
tween the two trees as a colli- 
sion window. Then, whenever 
the aircraft passes through 
the window, an event has oc- 



curred, and the program will 
follow further Instructions you 
give for that event. These in- 
structions can check time lim- 
its and aircraft speed, 
change the shape of objects, 
and trigger animation or 
sound. This abbreviated list on- 
ly hints at the potential hidden 
under the Event option. Any 
stunt you can imagine, you 
can script here, and the proc- 
ess is much less taxing than 
writing even a simple pro- 
gram in BASIC. 

At the screening room, you 
can view the dailies — so 
called for their timeliness. If 
you choose to record a free 
flight instead of a stunt, you'll 
see a pilot's perspective of 
the flight. If, however, you fly 
a stunt with scheduled cuts 
from camera to camera and 
choose Auto Editing, you'll 
see the sequence unfold 
much the way it was intend- 
ed, complete with point-of- 
view changes to props be- 
sides the aircraft and, of 
course, multiple shots of the 
same stunt. You can position 
the seven cameras with impu- 
nity. After all, in the virtual 
world of Stunt Island, both the 
cameras and the film are 
free, so you can use more 
than the average film budget 
could afford. 

No studio can complete a 
motion picture without this 
postproduction essential: ed- 
iting. Stunt Island gives you 
the opportunity to try your 
hand at a variety of tech- 
niques, such as cutting on ac- 
tion or using parallel action to 
heighten tension— and it also 
allows you to make some ter- 
rible decisions and put togeth- 
er a grade D film out of grade 
A takes. Essentially the edit- 
ing studio consists of eight vid- 
eo recorders that, if you use 
eight cameras when flying the 



stunt, will hold up to eight sep- 
arate roils of processed film. 
These recorders can also 
load stock footage from other 
stunts, should you care to 
open the vaults. 

To edit footage, you just 
mark the beginning and end 
of the footage you'd like to 
use in your film, using the log- 
ically labeled onscreen but- 
tons. Next, copy the footage 
to the destination VCR. As 
you switch from source deck 
to source deck, fast-forward- 
ing and rewinding, you soon 
develop a feel for construct- 



IBM PC or 
compatible (16- 
MHz saesx or 
faster), 2MB RAM, 
VGA. hard drive 
with 13MB free; 
supports most 
sound cards, 




ing believable action sequenc- 
es. The most valuable lesson 
that Stunt Island's editing 
room can teach neophyte film- 
makers is that inspired editing 
can sometimes salvage the 
worst footage. For this to hap- 
pen, editors must practice, 
and a few good books on ed- 
iting could prove invaluable. 
Aim^d at film buffs and 
flight-simulator fans, Stunt Is- 
land seems too rare and too 
powerful to simply be called a 
game. With its straightforward 
approach to moviemaking, it 
could find a home in film 
school editing classes, and it 
just might inspire the next 
Spielberg— possibly you. D 

circle Reader Service Number 392 



joysticic or mouse 

recommended— 

$59.95 

DISNEY SOFTWARE 
SOD S. Buena Vista SL 
Burbank, CA 
91521-6385 
(SOS) 688-1520 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 75 



GAME INSIDER 



Shay Addams 



From Hie classic 

Xanth series, 

Legend is developing 

Companions of 

Xanth, a fantasy 

adventure, 

tor summer release. 



BfGGER GAMES, 
SMALLER GAME 
MAKERS 

Since Links 386 Pro started 
the trend, everytining from 
fligtit Sims to chess, from war 
games to adventures is sport- 
ing SVGA graphics. A few of 
these include Buzz Aldrin's 
Race into Space (simulation), 
Empire Deluxe (strategy), 
Rags to Riches (business sim- 
ulation), Battlechess 4000 
(chess). Car and Driver (rac- 
ing simulation). Trump Castle 
111 (gambling), AV-8B; Harrier 
Assault (flight sim/war game), 
SVGA Air Warrior (flight simu- 
lation), the V for Victory series 
(war games), and Gateway 11: 
Homeworld (adventure). 

Among the most recent re- 
leases to show off SVGA graph- 
ics is Gateway II: Homeworld, 
Legend Entertainment's sec- 
ond graphic adventure based 
on Frederick Pohl's series of 
science-fiction novels. Instead 
of following the novels' plot 
line, designers f^ike Verdue 
and Glen Dahlgren relied on 
the environment of the stories 
to create a fresh episode in 
the Gateway saga, 

In this one you will travel the 
stars in your quest for the 
home planet of the Heechee, 




a mysterious race of beings 
on the far side of the universe. 
If you enjoy puzzles based on 
operating high-tech gadgetry 
and devices, Gateway II is the 
way to go. Many of the puz- 
zles revolve around such ob- 
jects, and some have their 
own custom interfaces that 
eliminate the need for typing 
or even picking words from a 
menu. 

Gateway 11 features more of 
everything that distinguished 
the first Gateway — digitized 
sounds, animation, and other 



tered Lands. SSI may even 
opt to do only a CD-ROM ver- 
sion of M. That's because 
many of the space-consuming 
graphics would have to be 
trimmed or cut completely 
from a floppy-based version. 
SSI was one of three major de- 
velopers that downsized in 
late spring. It lost 10 percent 
of the staff but, according to 
a spokesperson, it will still re- 
lease 15 new titles this year as 
scheduled. 

Sierra and MicroProse also 
reduced their staffs by 10 per- 




special effects. The puzzles 
will be just as difficult, so Leg- 
end includes a free hint book 
in the package. 

Legend is currently adapt- 
ing another classic series — 
fantasy instead of science fic- 
tion this time — as an adven- 
ture. The Xanth novels of Piers 
Anthony are the basis for Com- 
panions of Xanth, due out 
about this time. Legend also 
publishes Steve fvleretzky's 
Spellcasting quests, but the 
original r\/ladman of Adventure 
is up to something completely 
different in his next game, It 
will still be a comedy, though: 
Meretzky's last shot at a "seri- 
ous" adventure was A ivlind For- 
ever Voyaging, which some 
players dubbed A Game For- 
ever Voyaging. Look for it any 
day now. 

But don't keep looking for 
the PC version of M, SSI's sci- 
ence-fiction adventure. It's 
been postponed until next 
year, along with the Super 
NES version of Dark Sun: Shat- 



cent. Sierra had some hits last 
year, but reportedly took a beat- 
ing due to the high startup 
costs of The Sierra Network. 
Though MicroProse reported 
record revenues for the year, 
unfortunately it also posted re- 
cord expenses. 

Science-fiction scenarios 
continue to dominate the 
games scheduled for release 
as summer winds down and au- 
tumn kicks in. Two more sci- 
ence-fiction scenarios should 
be docking at a spaceport 
near you this month, each of- 
fering a different slant on 
spaceships and aliens. 

Tsunami Ivledia's Protostar, 
which is in the same vein as 
Starflight, will be ten times big- 
ger. Tsunami calls Protostar 
". . . our most graphically stun- 
ning game so far." That's say- 
ing a iot, considering the lush 
graphics of Ringworld. 

Origin's Privateer, set in the 
Wing Commander universe, is 
also scheduled to show up 
about this time. ts 



76 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



COMING SOON ... STAR TREK: JUDGMENT RITES' 



To Explore 
Strange 

New Worlds. 



ra.^ 



WWI triplanes heading straight for you at Warp 9 speed. Mysterious life . 
forms reported on dead planets. A primitive race with advanced technology., 
It'.s time to beam dtnvn to solve these and other highly illogical mysteries... 
and hope you come back alive. 

For more informatkm aJMut Star Trek: }udgmmt Rites, cull 1 -800-969-GAME, or see your local retailer. 



f^>^ 



•'Sii^JFiPJ-'vV ' ■•31 




© 199 1 liiHTjiby I'liLlLiciinns, Inc. All fights rcsvfveJ. '",® and © 1991 rjKinuiunt Ti 
tmJcniHTks 111' r;ir;iiiuHint ['icturt's. 




Interplay PrtxJuctions, Inc. 

b-lm-,CAW714 
{714)553-667« 



rcK iimi u.^.^, tmi-rpriMj ;irc 



r n 



W 




THE THRONE OF CHAOS 



4 



^^^'"^ 



•^ 



SP' 



■^ ^i 



he Dark Army encroaches. 



King Richard falls. And Scotia 



beckons you, laughing. 



In her mad quest for power, Scotia has ravaged the 
kingdom. She seeks the throne, yet it eludes her. 



Sh 



e's 2 



etting desperate. She's getting mean. 



vn, 



X 



mi 



\it\ 



c^ Can you stop her? do you dare? 



■ ^.^'y^h&^y:^ 






0^:--<^ 






» Make Friends and Influenee 

People- Cooperate with the helpful, 
sidestep the treacherous and destroy 



the dangerous. 



<^^ Quick and Easy Combat and 
Spell Casting. 



FEATURING 



^ Compass and Automapper 

Included - A d v e n t u re through 
ancient keeps and living forests. 
Lnearth hidden ruins and 
haunted caves. 

^ Indulge in a Land of Sc^nsory 
Delimits - Over 20 megabytes of 
compressed art and special 
effects. Actually hear the clash of 
steel! Feel the blows of terrors 
who slip beneath your guard! 



AN INSPIRED FANTASY 

RPG EXPERIENCE FROM 

THE DEVELOPMENT 

TEAM TFiAT CREATED 

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER™ I AND II 

Westwood 

Disiributed Exclusively by 

Available for your IBM PC. 

Eye of the Beholder I and 11 are trademarks of TS R , Inc . ^ 

The Eye of the iBeholder games,TSR, Inc. and SSI are not connected or relat^ 

^j^-any-way to the L§ijids of Lore game, Virgin Games, InG^or Westwood Studios, Inc. 

"tands of Lore is a li|demark of Westv/ood Studios, Inc, © 1993 Westwood Studios. Inc 
All Tights itserved:#irgin is a^^^^i^ 

Circle Reader Service Number t32 





ENTERTAINMENT CHOICE 




Holographic images and fluid 

gameplay help give this intense space-combat 

simulator its high replay value. 

Scott A. May 



X-WING 

It took some time and a lot of 
effort, but the Force is finally 
with us! X-Wing roars onto 
computer screens as the fur- 
ther realization of a dream 
that began in 1977, with the in- 
troduction of George Lucas's 
Star Wars. Though initially in- 
tended as a campy homage 
to Hollywood's pulp adven- 
ture serials, the film instead 
carved a permanent niche in 
popular culture. Ironically, 
while the cinematic effects pi- 
oneered by Industrial Light 
and Magic have moved light- 
years beyond Lucas's original 
vision, today's powerful person- 
al computers are only recent- 
ly catching up. You could 
say, then, that X-Wing has ac- 
tually been 16 years in the 
making. Spend some time 
with this landmark simulation 
and you'll agree — it was well 
wortfi the wait, 

LucasArts' creation invites 
obvious comparisons to Ori- 
gin's best-selling Wing Com- 
mander series. Both are simi- 
larly structured sci-fi epics, 
enhanced by cinematic 
segues, explosive sound ef- 
fects, and in-your-face 3-D ac- 
tion. The two products differ, 
however, in direction and sub- 
stance. Wing Commander 
couid best be described as 
an arcade-style space shoot- 
'em-up, X-Wing, on the other 
hand, strives to be the first au- 
thentic space-combat simula- 
tor. It succeeds brilliantly. 

The game draws its great- 
est inspiration from the origi- 
nal Star Wars saga, charting 
the formation of the Rebel Al- 
liance against the evil Empire 
and the construction of the 
genocidal Death Star. A 
lengthy animated introduction 
sets the stage, with addition- 
al background information pro- 



vided in the richly illustrated 
manual. Movie fans may be 
disappointed that such main- 
stays as Luke Skywalker and 
Han Solo are nowhere to be 
found. Instead, you become 
the lead character, fulfilling a 
destiny written in the stars, 

All action is initiated from 
the space port on the Rebel 
flagship Independence. After 
pilot registration — incorporat- 
ing the game's unobtrusive, 
manual-based copy protec- 
tion — you're presented with 
several paths to follow. Pilot 
Proving Ground is the logical 
first stop for rookie space pi- 
lots, as this is where you'll 
learn the fine art of flying the 
X-Wing, Y-Wing, and A-Wing 
Rebel ships. 

You're run through a series 
of holographic images that ap- 
pear as a maze of floating 
gate platforms, twisting and 
turning into 3-D space. Each 
round must be completed with- 
in a set time limit, which be- 
comes shorter the further you 
progress. This section offers 
your first taste of the game's re- 
alistic 3-D flight model and 
the remarkable control afford- 
ed by zero gravity. Complete 



all eight courses in a given 
ship, and receive an honorary 
flight badge. 

The next step in your train- 
ing leads to the Historical Com- 
bat simulator, where you par- 
ticipate in re-creations of actu- 
al Rebel missions. Six mis- 
sions of increasing difficulty 
are available for each ship 
type, allowing you to practice 
various skills in a series of com- 
bat, rescue, and reconnais- 
sance scenarios. This is also 
the best opportunity to familiar- 
ize yourself with each ship's 
tactical strengths and weak- 
nesses. Purely a simulation, 
with no impact on your pilot 
status. Historical Combat pro- 
vides invaluable hands-on ex- 
perience in almost every imag- 
inable confrontation. 

As they say. however, 
there's nothing quite like the 
real thing. At the heart of the 
program are the grueling 
tours of duty, three in all, for a 
total of 38 missions. You be- 
gin the game with the title of 
Flight Cadet, with the opportu- 
nity to advance five levels to 
the rank of General of the Al- 
liance Fleet, earning various 
medals and awards along the 



80 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



way. Mission types range 
from simple patrols arid brief 
interdictions to full-scale at- 
tacks and defensive stand- 
offs. Make it to the final mis- 
sion, and you'll re-create Luke 
Skywalker's bone-cfiilling 
trench run on thie massive 
Death Star. Completed mis- 
sions are automatically added 
to (he historical simulator, 

Preflight instructions are ap- 
propriately futuristic, featuring 
holographic map displays out- 
lining mission objectives, ob- 
stacles, and w/ay points. Mis- 
sions are timed and must be 
completed within extraordinar- 
ily strict guidelines. Unlike 
Wing Commander, where the 
story continues as long as 
your pilot survives, failure to fol- 
low exact rules here results in 
a failed mission. Unfortunate- 
ly, these rules are murky at 
best and are downright enig- 
matic at higher levels. 

This brings up X-Wing's 
most controversial point: In- 
stead of being a free-form 
combat simulation, it is rigidly 
structured, with only predeter- 
mined outcomes. Such restric- 
tions leave no margin for er- 
ror, thus discouraging sponta- 
neity and creative solutions. 
On the other hand, the game 
forces you to stretch the 
boundaries of skill and imagi- 
nation beyond what simple ar- 
cade shoot-'em-ups can offer. 
Though this causes X-Wing to 
be often outrageously diffi- 
cult, the result is replay value 
far higher than that of previ- 
ous efforts in the genre. 

Gameplay is tight, yet fluid, 
aided by spectacular graph- 
ics and sound effects. Cock- 
pit designs are handsomely 
rendered in 256-color bitmap 
overlays, with 17 different 
view angles. Main features in- 
clude forward and rear sen- 
sors with color-coded identifi- 



cation and quick placement 
of surrounding craft. The cen- 
tral combat multiview monitor 
helps you identify enemy 
ships, as well as scan for 
shield status, damage, and 
sections vulnerable to attack. 

One of the most useful 
skills you must learn is how to 
shift your ship's energy 
among engines, shields, and 
weapon regeneration. An R2 
Astromech droid serves as 
your copilot, reporting dam- 
age, performing repairs, and 
providing a communications 
link with other ships. It also 
allows in-flight access to sec- 
tor maps and a review of mis- 
sion directives. 

Weapon systems increase 
proportionally in power and 
number with each upgrade in 
ship design. X-Wings are 
armed with laser cannons 
and proton torpedoes, while 
the medium-range Y-Wings 
come equipped with addition- 
al icon cannons. The heavy- 
duty A-Wings pack the big- 
gest wallop, boasting an ar- 
ray of devastating concussion 
missiles. Weapons fire with a 
satisfying burst of light and 
sound. Destroyed alien ships 
ignite in breathtaking bitmap 
explosions. The fiery destruc- 
tion of larger ships is particu- 
larly well done, starting with a 
chain reaction of small erup- 
tions and climaxing in a thun- 
derous fireball. 

Outside views of all ships 
are rendered in solid-fill poly- 
gons, a design decision that 
pays off with superb 3-D mod- 
eling and a smooth, rapid 
frame rate, even on slower ma- 
chines. Although the publish- 
er recommends an 80386- 
based system, user-defined 
graphics detail allows the 
game to run surprisingly well 
on a fast 80286 machine. In 
addition to LucasArts' iMUSE 



interactive soundtrack, users 
with Sound Blaster-compati- 
ble sound cards will also en- 
joy crisp digitized speech. 
Few sounds are as chilling, 
however, as the unholy roar 
of TIE fighters screaming 
across your path. 

Perhaps the game's most 
dynamic and helpful accesso- 
ry is the in-flight recorder, iden- 
tical to one used in Secret 
Weapons of the Luftwaffe. 
Combat footage can be 
played from almost any point 
of view, during missions or af- 
terward in the space port film 



IBM PC or 
compatible (80386 
compatible 
recommended); 
TMB RAM 
(additional 
features supported 
Willi expanded 
memory); 256- 
color VtiA; hard 
drive; bigh-density 
floppy drive; 
joystick or mouse 
(loystick 
recommended); 
sunports Sound 




room. Use it to study unsuc- 
cessful missions to learn from 
your mistakes. Use the highly 
maneuverable free-floating 
camera as a sophisticated re- 
connaissance tool, exploring 
areas of this virtual reality oth- 
enA/ise unseen from your coci<:- 
pit view. 

Intense combat action and 
levels that rapidly increase in 
difficulty may keep X-Wing be- 
yond the reach of casual fight- 
er jocks. But for those with 
the skill and tenacity worthy of 
a Rebel space pilot, X-Wing 
brings the excitement born in 
a galaxy far, far away a little 
closer to home. n 

circle Reader Service Number 393 



Blaster, Ad Lib, 
Roland, Pro 
AudioSpectrum, 
and compatible 
sound cards; 
General MIOI 
supported— S69.95 

LUCASARTS 

GAMES 

P.O. BOX 10307 

San Rafael, CA 

94912 

(800) STAHWARS 

(orders) 

(415) 662-1864 

(Information) 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE B1 



GAMEPLAY 



Paul C. Schuytema 



Experience the power 

of being a 

goct— admired and 

hated— in one 

ot these fascinating 

simulations. 



CREATE AND 
CONTROL 

Do we have an innate desire 
to better humanity? Perhaps 
an entrepreneurial drive? Or is 
it smply an egotistical desire 
to play God? Whatever drives 
us, controlling a world with 
broad, sweeping gestures 
that affect untold numbers of 
people is deeply satisfying. 
Fortunately, with the aid of sev- 
eral excellent games, we can 
satisfy the lust for total power 
without any of the potentially 
dangerous repercussions. 



lous II, Civilization (Micro- 
Prose) is a tried-and-true 
game of civilization building. 
The game gives you complete 
logistical control over a bud- 
ding tribe of Homo sapiens 
which has just made the move 
from hunter-gatherers to vil- 
lage settlers, It's up to you to 
guide and develop this fledg- 
ling civilization first to world 
prominence and, eventually, 
to space migration to Alpha 
Centauri. 

In a wonderfully intuitive in- 
terface, you move from de- 
tailed control screens represent- 
ing single cities to a cartogra- 




Populous II 

Populous II: Trials of the 
Olympian Gods (Electronic 
Arts) is a true player-as-God 
game set against the panthe- 
on of ancient Greece. You as- 
sume the prowess of a son of 
Zeus and control the fate of a 
civilization of loyal worshipers. 
The game endows you with 
true Olympian abilities, allow- 
ing you to raze the land with 
the click of a mouse button. 
An unfaithful enclave resides 
along the coast? No problem, 
simply lower the ground into 
the sea and be rid of it. 

In Populous II you possess 
the ability to endow a leader, 
from Adonis to Odysseus, 
with heroic stature, enabling 
him to fight with valor and in- 
spire the moral fortitude and 
wonderment of his people. 

You can mold the world to 
suit your tastes as well as com- 
mand the devotion and ac- 
tions of the petty humans oc- 
cupying it. 

Moving a notch down from 
the godlike powers of Popu- 



Civilization 

pher*s-eye view of the whole ex- 
plored world. Every detail is at 
your control, from what advance- 
ments to pursue to what fields 
to irrigate to where to lay down 
the railways. 

You get a hands-on. what-if 
experience of developing an 
entire culture from the ground 
up. You literally create the 
world and administer labori- 
ous tasks, such as building in- 
frastructure or protecting the 
realm, to the citizens. You can 
even cause a revolution that 
causes the civilization to shift 
from one form of government 
to another. 

SimCity for Windows (fvlax- 
is) is the latest edition of the 
best-selling city simulator. 
Even more specific in focus 
.than Civilization, SimCity con- 
centrates your attention on de- 
veloping and managing a grow- 
ing city. By fully utilizing Win- 
dows' power to display simul- 
taneous windows of informa- 
tion, SimCity allows you to mon- 
itor the lay of the land and the 



block-by-block details of the 
city, as well as a host of 
graphs charting develop- 
ment — or decline. 

You still have a sense of play- 
ing God — or perhaps boss 
would be a better term— as 
you face block-by- block devel- 
opment of the city Ground 
must be bulldozed, power 
plants must be built, and sus- 
pension wires need to be con- 
structed. Roads must be laid 
to provide optimum traffic 
flow, and police and fire dis- 
tricts must enforce the peace 
and safety of the citizens. All 
of this costs money, of 

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SimCity 

course, so taxes must be 
raised and spent. 

Managing the design and 
development of a city or at- 
tempting to control one of the 
real-world cities included in 
the game, you get a feel for 
the interlocking nature of hu- 
man society and how one 
move affects many variables. 
In addition to the man-made 
variables, you must plan for 
and contend with natural dis- 
asters such as flooding and 
earthquakes — all the while 
keeping an eye on the mood 
of the populace. 

Power mongering: It's an en- 
ticing and disturbing human 
trait. Thanks to these great 
games, we can work through 
our delusions of megagran- 
deur on the privacy of our own 
PCs. Then all we must deal 
with is the very real potential 
of addiction. In the words of 
Edmund Burke, "Those who 
have once been intoxicated 
with power . . . can never will- 
ingly abandon it," n 



B2 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 





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^^'^n aqueduct, a castle, and a samurai sword — these three are 
yWm icons of the bygone days that we can now experience on our 
/^^PCs. The distant past was a time of radically different cultures, 
primitive technologies, and, of course, war, In the Roman Empire, 
cohorts (divisions of a Roman Legion) patrolled the provinces, repel- 
ling the barbarians and maintaining the emperor's sovereignty. In feu- 
dal Europe, barons battled barons for papal favors, the wealth of the 
land, and a chance to be crowned king. In feudal Japan, the code of 
honor known as Bushido governed the samurai, who fought across 
rice fields to strengthen the power of their lords. 

We can read about distant history because the actions of the 
movers and shakers of the time are recorded. But what was it really 
like? What was it like to make decisions in a time in which values and 
goals were radically different from those of today? Now we can find 
out. Several excellent computer games take us back through the cen- 
turies and allow us to learn history through action and strategy and to 
struggle for success much as the royalty of the time had to struggle to 
obtain and maintain power. Beyond being lessons in history, the 
games we'll look at offer serious challenges, forcing players to adopt 
strategies that fit within the context of the times they simulate. 

Caesar 

This game from Impressions takes us back to the first century B.C., 
when the first Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar, came into power. 
You begin the game with the title of citizen. You are the governor of a 
remote province of the empire. You must develop and nurture the 
province to prosperity in order to receive a promotion and relocation 
to another, more valuable province, With careful planning, proper trib- 
utes, and a warlike strategy, you can achieve the ultimate goal: being 
crowned emperor. 

You're forced to focus mostly on the capital city of the province 
and to guide its development. When the game begins, the province is 
barren; you find only a few small villages dotting the countryside. A 
fort rests where the capital will be built, and a cohort is ready for 
patrol duty. The capital is built from the ground up, with the social and 



'©y *^aul (T. 3chuytema 



political heart of all major Roman 
cities, the forum, at its center. tJsing 
an interface somewhat reminiscent of 
SimCity but far more detailed, you lay 
down roads and place residences, 
which begin as small tents. Water, 
certainly one of the prime require- 
ments for any civilization, must be 
made accessible, and reservoirs can 
be built to trap the water. Aqueducts 
can be laid to bring water into the 
fledgling city, and a fountain will make 
the water accessible. 

You continue to develop the city, 
enlisting the aid of your advisers at 
the forum. They give you advice such 
as which industries will likely flourish 
in the province and the proper alloca- 
tion of the plebs in the work force. 
Bath houses, plazas, hippodromes, 
coliseums, and schools can all be 
built 

The city-building aspect of Caesar 
is a fascinating voyage into the world 
of the Roman Empire. Impressions 
has gone to great lengths to make 
sure that the type of structures and 
the development of the city are in line 
with the historical and archaeological 
facts. As the city grows, you must 
build larger forums to effectively gov- 
ern the growing acreage. You get a 
real sense of being there. 

However, Caesar goes far beyond 
the construction of a city. By utilizing 
the forum's advisers, you gain insight 
into the multitude of variables affect- 
ing life in a Roman province, from 
conscription service to developing 
stronger cohorts. 

You must also develop the entire 
province, linking the small villages to 
your capital via provincial roads and 
linking your capitai to the imperial 
highway system. The game allows 
you to construct grand, sweeping 
walls and battlements, and you can 
build additional forts that in turn cre- 
ate new cohorts . 

Eventually, barbarians will rush in 
and attempt to capture your capital, 
and the cohorts must then be sent to 
attack. You control the formations of 
the units, and as a conflict progress- 
es, losses in numbers as well as 
morale are documented. 

Soon, Impressions will release 
Cohort II, which you will be able to 
link to Caesar. This will provide you 
with man-by-man control of the battle 
using Impressions' microminiatures 
gaming system. 

As a city management program. 
Caesar certainly succeeds, but as an 
entire game of provincial manage- 
ment in the Roman Empire, it is excit- 
ing and addicting — not to mention 
exhausting. 

B6 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 




9Jledieval Castles 



The medieval castie was not a 
structure meant primarily for 
defense; its purpose was to domi- 
nate, A castle could easily influ- 
ence lands within a 25-mile radius, 
since 30 miles was within a day's 
march for the average foot soldier. 

During times of attack, peas- 
ants, livestock, and property could 
be brought into the castle for pro- 
tection. The castle walls, as well as 
the height advantage for archers 
and for dumping all nature of 
things upon attacking forces, 
meant that an attacker would need 
at least a four-to-one advantage to 
have any hope of taking a castle. 

A castle was not merely the site 
of courtly love and stately ban- 
quets. The average castle generat- 
ed the clamor that our large facto- 
ries produce, and people v/ould 
have to shout if they hoped to be 
heard over the chopping and ham- 
mering. A castle, as opposed to 
earlier, fortified towns, was not 
community property; it was a per- 
sonal possession of the king, the 
queen, or a baron. 

Contrary to what many might 
think, the castle was economical to 
build. Labor was cheap and often 
free, and raw materials needed 
only to be amassed. In building a 
castle, the greatest cost was time. 
After the plague, though, the situa- 
tion changed, and labor prices 
rose because of the shortage of 
skilled craftsmen. 



Castles II: Siege & Conquest 

A medieval simulation based on four- 
teenth-century France, this Interplay 
game begins on January 1, 1312, just 
after the l^ing of Bretagne (the mythi- 
cal France in the game) dies without 



an heir. The kingdom is divided into 
territories controlled by rival lords who 
are all vying for the throne. To 
become king, you must unite enough 
territories to secure your strength and 
then petition the Pope for the right to 
wear the crown. 

Castles II is a surprisingly addict- 
ing game of logistics and aggressive 
acumen, making it a task-based 
game. This means that you initiate an 
action (which takes time to complete) 
and then wait for the results. There 
are three different general sets of 
tasks: administrative, military, and 
political. An example of an adminis- 
trative task is gathering timber 
resources, while a military task might 
be recruiting forces, and a political 
task might entail sending a diplomat 
to demand a tithe from a nval lord. 

Managing tasks may seem dry at 
first, but there is a real challenge 
inherent in the logistical distribution of 
task points to maintain an optimal effi- 
ciency. While tasks are the main 
means of controlling the game, you 
also have the opportunity to design, 
from the ground up, any of the castles 
you wish to build. The castle design 
portion of the game is intriguing, and 
you can place low or high walls, 
square or round towers, gates, moats, 
and keeps. You can choose to build 
the castle walls first or construct the 
keep first. If you design a truly mag- 
nificent castle, you can save the 
design for future use. 

In Castles II, not only is a castle a 
defensive tool, but it also assists in 
nearly every aspect of the game. A 
large enough castle will keep neigh- 
boring territories from revolting and 
can double the production rate of the 
territory's commodity. 

Combat can be handled as a com- 
puter simulation, or you can choose to 
make all tactical decisions on your 
own, controlling each knight, archer, 
or infantry unit individually. 

Diplomacy and careful planning 
are the keys to victory, but your for- 
tune may change unexpectedly due 
to some developing plot or rival 
alliance. Also, good relations with the 
papacy are imperative, since only the 
Pope can legitimize the crown. 

Castles II is a good-looking game 
in which most of the action occurs on 
a single screen. The only time the 
screen shifts views is during a tactical 
battle or when you choose to visit a 
territory to build a castle or check on 
its progress. The game also features 
a series of video clips which accom- 
pany important actions, most taken 
from the sweeping black-and-white 
epics of the 1930s and 1940s, 



the Cube of Powp 
of grand magic £ 
the destiny of XmUme >[.. 
Queen is prisoner and the 
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IBM SCREENS SHOWN ACTUAL SCREENS MAV VARY 



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Conquered Kingdoms 

QQP's ancient history entry is a 
medievaf war game in the same vein 
as the popular Perfect General series. 
You battle either the computer or 
another player (live or via a modem 
connection) in a game of geographi- 
cal conquest. 

In Conquered Kingdoms, you con- 
trol units which represent a group of 
individuals such as archers or 
knights. Each scenario begins with 
the selection of troops, using points to 
buy units and place them on the mul- 
tiscreen map. 

The game progresses in turns, 
enabling each side to move. Then, 
the battles are resolved, At first, 
Conquered Kingdoms seems a cryp- 
tic and abstract war game, but after 
severai turns, the depth truly comes 
through. Resources need to be cap- 
tured and managed, as do castles 
and towns. By carefully managing 
resources, you can create reinforce- 
ments that can be placed in any cas- 
tle you hold. 

Conquered Kingdoms is a game of 
details and careful planning, and a 
single scenario can easily last many 
hours. The excitement of controlling 
an entire army, piece by piece, in a 
giant medieval chess match, grows 
with every turn, and the ability to con- 
trol units in a semitactical sense 
allows for strategies regarding forma- 
tions and the development of lines of 
strength. By making the scale much 
larger than an actual one-to-one cor- 
respondence, you have the opportu- 
nity to react to and use a myriad of 
terrain types and to cover a lot of land 
in little time. 

QQP is noted for games that pos- 
sess simple yet sophisticated inter- 
faces, and Conquered Kingdoms is 
no exception. Virtually every action 
can be handled by intuitive mouse 
clicks, and the program takes care of 
all of the dirty work (like movement 
restrictions) by means of various ter- 
rain types and enemy lines of sight. 
The game truly allows you to concen- 
trate on organic strategy rather than 
on rules or icon manipulation, 

Because of the depth and chal- 
lenge of Conquered Kingdoms, it will 
be a long, long time before you'll be 
able to master all the scenarios and 
the incredible complexity of the artifi- 
cial intelligence of the computer 
opponents. Playing against a human 
opponent is even more rewarding, 
and it's especially exciting when you 
are playing by modem and seeing 
only the results of your opponent's 
actions (but you might want to find a 
local opponent or play through 

88 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



CompuServe's MTM service to save 
on phone charges for the lengthy 
calls). You can even play opponents 
by E-mail, utilizing a special save fea- 
ture of the game. 

Conquered Kingdoms also has an 
option that, while not exactly true to 
historical fact, allows you to control 
fantasy units such as trolls, dragons, 
and wizards. 



9lelive ancient 
history as you 

struggle for power 
in one of these 

addicting games of 
strategy. 



Conquest of Japan 

A tactical simulation of samurai con- 
quest from Impressions, Conquest of 
Japan brings sixteenth-century Japan 
to fife. The game consists of a battle 
between two daimyos (lords) on the 
main Japanese island of Honshu, 
each controlling five cities — and each 
wanting total control of all ten cities. 
One player can compete against the 
computer, or two players can go head 
to head. 

The game is somewhat reminis- 



iBuyer's Oiuide 

Caesar — $59.95 
Cohort II— $29.95 
Conquest of Japan — $59.95 

Impressions 
7 Melrose Dr. 
Farmington, CT 06032 
(203) 676-9002 

Castles II: Siege & 
Conquest — $59.95 

Interplay Productions 
17922 Fitch Ave. 
Irvine, CA 92714 
(800) 969-4263 
(714)553-6678 

Conquered Kingdoms — 
$59.95 

QQP 

1046 River Ave. 
Flemington, NJ 08822 
(908) 788-2799 



cent of the excellent Milton Bradley 
board game Shogun, but it features 
an extremely detailed combat system. 
The overall strategies of the game are 
straightforward: The game begins 
with the recruiting of five armies and 
the decision as to what portion of the 
forces to leave behind to defend the 
cities. 

Movement of the armies is a sim- 
ple one-step-at-a-time sequence until 
two armies run into each other. During 
the course of the campaign, the 
towns collect revenues that can be 
used to recruit more troops. 

Conquest of Japan comes alive, 
though, when two armies meet for 
battle. Utilizing Impressions" own 
microminiatures system, the battle is 
played out at a truly tactical level. The 
first step for a battle is to select one of 
the traditional troop formations, from 
the all-around Ganko (birds in flight) 
to the defensive Gyorin (fish scales). 
The view shifts to an overview of the 
battlefield, and orders can be given in 
nearly any combination or detail 
imaginable. 

The interface allows commands to 
be given to individuals, to a group 
(such as a line of spearmen), or to the 
army as a whole. Communication is 
important on the battlefield, and 
groups of troops must have a signal- 
man to follow your orders. If a signal- 
man is killed, another must be 
assigned, or you risk losing the units 
due to noncommunication. 

During the battle, all manner of 
information is available to you, such 
as morale and current attack strength. 
Perhaps the most powerful feature of 
the battlefield controls is the ability to 
alter, split, and regroup your forces 
into any of 24 formations. 

The incredible depth of tactical 
control takes a while to get used to, 
but complex and effective battle 
strategies are the result of a little 
patience. You can achieve the gen- 
uine feeling of commanding a six- 
teenth-century samurai army. 

In the Present Tense 

By combining many levels of game- 
play with historical accuracy, these 
games can truly be windows into sev- 
eral very exciting eras of our ancient 
past. Each of these games plays with- 
in the rules of its respective time peri- 
od, allowing you to step back and 
enjoy the decisions and challenges of 
those times while learning about the 
limitations and advantages of a multi- 
tude of tactics and technologies. A 
weekend spent in ancient Rome, 
medieval Europe, or feudal Japan can 
become an educational addiction. □ 



64/128 VIEW 



A veteran 128 publication turns its 
editorial eye on the 64 with the launching 
of JwiD Cities 128/64. 

Tom Netsel 



Gazette celebrated its 
tenth anniversary 
wlien the July issue 
rolled off the presses. 
That's almost 120 issues. 
(We missed a couple during 
the summer of 1990.) HUN 
made it to issue 99 before it 
closed its final page. 

Computer magazines 
come and go, and those 
that hitch their editorial wag- 
ons to one machine often 
experience a meteoric ride. 
Some flash onto the scene, 
burn brightly, and then fizzle 
away: while others maintain 
a steady glow. 

Gazette started its associa- 
tion with the 8-bit Commo- 
dores by focusing on the 
VIC-20 and the 64, adding 
coverage of the Plus/4, 16, 
and 128 when those ma- 
chines came along. When 
the 64 and 128 emerged as 
the leaders, we followed the 
numbers and concentrated 
our coverage on those ma- 
chines. Surveys tell us that 
70 percent of you own 64s, 

Few publications have de- 
voted coverage exclusively 
to the 128, Twin Cities 128 
was the exception. Founded 
by Loren Lovhaug in 1985, 
TO 128 was primarily a tech- 
nical publication that ap- 
pealed to 128 program- 
mers. It had its fans, but 
they were not enough to 
keep it in operation. It fold- 
ed in 1991. 

And then along came 
John W. Brown, president of 
Parsec. He bought the 
rights to the magazine a few 
months iater and resumed 
publication. Coverage at 
that time was still limited to 
the 128. 

When RUN died last 
year, Brown figured that his 
publication should offer 
some support to 64 owners 



in addition to the 128 
crowd. So with issue num- 
ber 33, Brown launched the 
new Twin Cities 128/64. Pro- 
duced on a 128-D with a la- 
ser printer, TC 128/64 de- 
votes about half of its 56 pag- 
es to each machine. Look 
for reviews, articles, GEOS in- 
fo, and technical pieces, but 
don't expect a large number 
of type-in programs. 

The cost for U.S. subscrib- 
ers is S24 for six issues. The 
magazine and companion 
disk cost $40. To subscribe 
or for more information, 
write to Parsec, P.O. Box 
111, Salem, Massachusetts 
01970-0111. You can also 
write for a free copy of the 
magazine. 

In addition to Twin Cities 
128/64, Parsec offers a vari- 
ety of disks, fonts, GEOS 
graphics, and other prod- 
ucts for 64 and 128 users. 
SIDplayer fans should note 
that COMPUTE has sold the 
exclusive distribution rights 
to the book and disk to Par- 
sec. That book/disk combina- 
tion should be repackaged 
and for sale by now. 

In "Upgrading Without 
Changing Platforms" (June 
1993), it was reported that 
Parsec had dropped plans 
to produce a board that 
would let a 128 operate at 6- 
12 MHz. Well, that wasn't en- 
tirely accurate. Brown told 
me that the company work- 
ing on the prototype had 
dropped it, but he stiH in- 
tends to produce it — and 
one for the 64 as well. 

Brown says the product 
is now an external cartridge, 
CMD compatible, that will 
plug into the expansion 
port. It wilf probably use a 
65C816 chip and operate at 
12 MHz. The cost is expect- 
ed to be about $200. D 



GAZETTE 

64/128 VIEW 



G-1 

A veteran 128 publication now covers the 64, too, 
By Tom Netsel. 

REACH OUT AND WRITE G-3 

Telecommunications can ease the loneliness of writing. 
By Karl R. Witsman. 

REVIEWS G-10 

KeyDOS ROM Version 2 and Risers and Sliders. 



FEEDBACK 

Questions, answers, and comments. 



G-14 



PD PICKS G-1 6 

fv^ille Bornes and Maximum Overdrive. 
By Steve Vander Ark. 

MACHINE LANGUAGE G-1 8 

Delete extra Returns that cause file to crash. 
By Jim Butterfield. 

PROGRAMMER'S PAGE G-20 

Celebrate this column's fifth anniversary 
By Randy Thompson, 

BEGINNER BASIC G-22 

Using BASIC to solve a homework assignment. 
By Larry Cotton. 



GEOS 



G-23 



Import graphics into your geoPublish documents. 
By Steve Vander Ark. 

DIVERSIONS G-24 

How the Multimedia Road Warrior got his name. 
By Fred D'Ignazio. 

PROGRAMS 

32 Sprites (64) G-25 

Midway Command (64) G-31 

Chase (64) G-34 

Memory Monitor (64) G-37 

Cubic (64) G-38 

Tlie Automatic Proofreader (64/128) G-40 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-1 




Writing is a solitary activity, but it 

doesn't have to be a lonely one 

if you use your computer to network 

^ I with other writers. 

By Karl Witsman 



# - . * 




If you're a writer, you know what kind 
of power a computer gives you — 
power that you never had with a 
typewriter. But if you use your 64 only 
for word processing or the occasional 
game of Space Invaders, you haven't 
explored its most powerful use. 
There's a great force out there just 
waiting for you to tap into it with your 
computer and modem. It's caliec net- 
working, and it can multiply your com- 
puting power and help your writing! 

Mosi folks using computers have 
heard of BBSs or bulletin board sys- 
tems. The popular notion of a BBS run 
by a teenaged hacker may have 
some validity, but many systems are 
run by serious computer enthusiasts, 
computer clubs, schools, and bus- 
inesses. Some are created for fun; 
others have a more serious intent. All 
require a modem to connect your 
computer to a telephone line. 

Running any BBS can be trouble- 
some and is definitely time-consuming 
for the owner or system operator 
(sysop). These are labors of love, 
since most BBSs bring in no money. 
Sysops usually appreciate any help 
they can get, even if it's only through 
the messages posted by callers, but 
volunteers can help in other ways as 
well. Many boards have areas devoted 
to special topics, and often these 
areas are directed by outside sysops. I 
have volunteered on more than one of 
my local boards to form a writers' area. 
This is a place where local writers can 
converse about literary topics, and this 
is the place where networking comes 
into play. 



To share the fun and information, 
try to find a BBS in your local area. 
If you can't locate one v/ith a 
writer's BIG, here are some you 
might want to try. Several of these 
BBSs have specific writing areas. 
Alt allow access up to at least 2400 
bps and run 24 hours. 

• Almost Paradise, Oakwood, 
Illinois: (217) 354-4711. The sysop 
is Chhsty Blew. Leave a message 
for Karl Witsman, user number 56. 
If I can find more BBS/writing infor- 
mation, I'll reply with it here. 

• Electronic Pen BBS, Harrington 
Park, New Jersey; (201) 767-6337. 

• Data Central, Indianapolis, 
Indiana; (317) 543-2007. 

• Heartland Free-Net, Peoria, 
Illinois; (309) 674-1 100, 

• Unique and Nifty BBS, Craw- 
fordsville, Indiana; (317} 364-9600. 

• Voyager BBS, East Lansing, 
Michigan; (517)641-4367. 

For additional BBS sources, try 
these publications or bulletin boards, 

• BBS Callers Digest. 701 Stokes 
Road, Medford, New Jersey 08055. 
Its BBS is The Livewire at (609) 235- 
5297. 

• Boardwatch Magazine, 5970 
South Vivian Street, Littleton, 
Colorado 80127. Its BBS number is 
(303) 973-4222. 

• Infomat Online Weekly PC News 
Magazine. For information about BBSs 
everywhere, call (913) 478-9239. 



Write Here 

On a BBS, writers can discuss any- 
thing, such as the mechanics of manu- 
script preparation, agents, who us- 
es/hates outlines, how to query about 
possible articles, or how to deal with 
deadlines, Some topics are even more 
involved, such as "Where does this sex 
scene fit into the story?" or 'How do I 
show my character's thinking process- 
es?" For questions that have no simple 
answers, the opinions of other writers 
can often prove helpful. If you're not a 
member of a writing group that meets 
in person, this electronic connection 
may be the only way to pick the brains 
of others in your field. 

Three Approaches 

There are three main ways to con- 
verse on a BBS. The first is simply to 
leave a message in a general mes- 
sage area and let other callers read 
and respond to it. In most cases, 
other callers can respond on the 
same message area or send you a 
private reply through electronic mail. 

The second method of exchanging 
information with other computing writers 
is through SIGs (Special Interest 
Groups}. As their name implies, these 
areas concentrate their focus on a spe- 
cific topic of interest and one could be 
devoted to writers. 

Echo, Echo 

The third, and most sophisticated, 
method of communicating on local 
BSSs is Echo messaging, Echoes are 
a number of BBSs that form a net- 



The commercial online services offer 
a variety of opportunities for writers 
to meet and exchange ideas. Here's 
a sampling of what's available. 

GEnie 

401 N. Washington St. 
Rockville, MD 20850 
(BOO) 638-9636 

Jack Smith, screen name 
Writers. Ink, runs the Writer's Round- 
table. The nonfiction group meets 
Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. General 
Writing meets Sundays at 9:30 p,m., 
and the Poetry Meeting is held on 
Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. Romance 
Writing meets Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. 
Alf times are Eastern Time. 

QuantumLink 

8619 Westwood Center Dr. 
Vienna, VA 22182-9897 
(BOO) 782-2278 



The Writers' Forum meets every 
Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. ET. Contact 
Karl Witsman, whose screen name is 
KarlWS. 

The Writers' Forum consists of a 
very imaginative bunch. After the 
main topic has been thoroughly dis- 
cussed, the group talks about current 
writing projects and other topics. 

DELPHI 

3 Blackstone St. 
Cambridge, MA 02139 
(800) 544-4005 

The DELPHI Wnter's Group is for 
all writers of fiction or nonfiction. "We 
do admit to being a bit mercenary 
about writing at times, but of course 
that's all a part and parcel of getting 
into print — our primary interest here!" 
says the introductory text. Features 
include a Critique Network and a 
special database for writers' 
resumes, plus public domain and 
shareware software for writers. 



Members are also eligible for special 
discounts on books, products, and 
supplies for whters. There are spe- 
cial databases for poets, screenwrit- 
ers, and fiction and nonfiction mag- 
azine and book authors 

Poetry Conference meets Tues- 
days at 9:00 p.m. ET, and the 
Creative Writing Workshop is held 
Monday nights at the same time. 
Contact persons are Ralph Roberts, 
whose screen name is Author, and 
Michael A. Banks, whose screen 
name is Kzin. 

CompuServe 

5000 Arlington Centre Blvd. 

Columbus, OH 43220 

(800)848-8199 

CompuServe has a Desktop 
Publishing Forum, a Desktop Vendor 
Forum, and Journalism Forums. 
Contact Don (76711,437) or Thom 
(76702,765) for more information 
about items of interest to writers. 



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work. Most of these networks are set 
up by sysops who know sysops in 
other towns. Using this system, a 
writer in Connecticut might leave a 
message on his or her local BBS. 
Around 3:00 a.m., the Connecticut 
BBS might call a BBS in New York 
and exchange messages, being care- 
ful to keep the writing messages 
separate from those dealing with 
computers, sports, and other topics. 
The New York BBS might then call a 
BBS in Ohio and repeat the process. 
In this way, the messages echo 
around the country. 

When I cail my local board, I can 
read the message posted by the Con- 
necticut writer and respond to it. Writ- 
ers all around the country have an op- 
portunity to respond, and these 
responses are entered into the net- 
work. In a day or so, after the BBSs 
exchange messages again, the 
Connecticut writer can read the re- 
sponses, as can all of the other writ- 
ers on the network. 

One such echo is the National Writ- 
ers Echo. I was a local monitor here in 
Danville, Illinois, on the Friendship 
BBS, which was run, before his death, 
by Terry Claybaugh, Through this net- 
work, I exchanged messages with 
many writers of varying degrees of 
fame, including Billie Sue Mosiman 
(author of Wire) and John DeChancie 



(author of the Starrigger series and the 
Castle Perilous series). 

Such free exchanges of infor- 
mation and opinions with other work- 
ing writers can expand your knowl- 
edge and help you keep track of up- 
to-the-minute publishing trends. All 
messages and mail are automatically 
date-stamped, so you can ignore old 
information and be aware of the most 
recent updates and changes. 

REF# 432 
POSTED: 04-20-91 
FROM: Karl R. Witsman 
TO: All 

Writers. I'm steaming mad! The U.S. 
Copyright Office has raised the copy- 
right fee from SW to $20 to register 
our works! This may be fine for those 
who write nothing but bool<s, but for 
those of us wishing to register short 
stories or articles, it's an outrage. 
Next time we must no! let this happen: 
next time we must unite and apply our 
skills in written communication in let- 
ters to the Copyright Office, Con- 
gress, and the president At five cents 
a word in a pulp publication, it takes a 
lot of words to earn $20. Let them 
charge bigger fees for books, and 
even bigger fees for screenplays thai 
are being produced into movies, but 
leave writers of features some slack. If 
you would like to vent your spleen, as 



! just did, be sure to talk to the right 
people — those at the following 
address: Copyright Office, Library of 
Congress. Washington. DC 20559. 

As you can see, a BBS can also be 
a good way to blow off steam and let 
others know how you feel about 
trends in the field. Let's face it, writing 
is a solitary profession, but it doesn't 
have to be lonely if you can reach out 
and telecommunicate with someone. 

Bigger and Better 

Commercial online services are the 
big alternatives to local boards. These 
are not custom networks, but gigantic 
groups serving thousands of 
subscribers with varying interests. As 
the word subscriber suggests, these 
services cost for membership. 

Some examples of such services 
are DELPHI, CompuServe, Quantum- 
Link, America Online, GEnie, and BIX 
(Byte Information exchange). Each 
service has its own pricing structure 
and fees, so a call to each would be a 
good idea for potential subscribers. 

Practically all of the major services 
have at least one area designated for 
writers. In some, you post a message 
as you do on a local BBS and then 
return in a few days to •'ead the 
replies. Many services also offer areas 
for immediate writing discussions. This 



Have you ever written an article and 
then spent months mailing it from 
publisher to publisher? Now you can 
submit your manuscripts electroni- 
cally through a groundbreaking step 
in publishing by Manuscript Mar- 
keting Technologies Incorporated. 

MMTI is not like other BBSs and 
online services. It offers writers a 
unique opportunity to submit articles 
or stories which are then offered to 
publishers electronically. More than 
500 authors from all over the world 
have availed themselves of this ser- 
vice so far, as have 140 publishers 
from the U.S. and Canada. 

Submissions can be made 
through special software for IBM 
compatibles which automates the 
process and records the article or 
story on disk. Macintosh users can 
use Microsoft Word format, which is 
then transferred to ASCII and then 
into the IBM-compatible program. 
Manuscripts submitted on paper are 
scanned through optical character 
recognition (OCR) software. 

Publishers can call MMTI's com- 
puter and set the parameters for 



what they're looking for in a manu- 
script. Let's say a publisher needs 
an article on homeless persons that's 
about 2000 words long. The publish- 
er specifies the subject, length, and 
format (article, screenplay, book), 
and the software displays only those 
works meeting the criteria. Within the 
fiction category, there are 26 differ- 
ent parameters, and there are 323 
categories in nonfiction. 

When a publisher finds an article 
that meets the criteria, the manu- 
script can be locked so that no other 
publisher can get it. The service then 
gives the publisher information about 
how to contact the writer. The pub- 
lisher and writer then work out a 
deal. Once the two parties come to 
an agreement, the publisher can 
download the work into the publish- 
er's computer. Little or no paper 
changes hands. Only the original 
disk and contract have to mailed. 

If you're a writer who's spending a 
fortune on postage in mailing heavy 
manuscripts from publisher to pub- 
lisher, this service might be the 
answer. It's also a good way to make 
simultaneous submissions for time- 
sensitive material. Each month, the 



writer gets a report of how many 
times the article was read and why it 
might have been rejected. This gives 
the author a chance to judge if the 
work needs further revision. 

The cost is an initial S25.00 fee 
and $10.00 per month. There is a 
storage charge of S.0001 per word 
per day, (A 6000-word piece would 
run SI. 80 a month.) There is also a 
$2.00 fee per disk . When compared 
to postage to mail the manuschpt to 
140 publishers, this is a very good 
deal. (Just sending a query letter to 
all these publishers would run 
$40.60!) 

For a full brochure and more infor- 
mation about its services, write to 
Manuscript Marketing Technologies, 
P.O. Box 234, Camden, South Caro- 
lina 29020. The telephone number is 
(803)425-1675. 

Remember, MMTI does not act as 
an agent, and it cannot offer you 
advice. The company merely offers 
storage and a distribution service. 
The software does not handle graph- 
ics or photos, but authors can leave 
a note in the manuscript if photos are 
available. 



G-6 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



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type of system lets you type in a ques- 
tion or comment wtiicti, is distributed im- 
mediately to ail of the users who are 
signed on in the area. In this way, 
dozens of writers can respond to your 
comments or questions within seconds. 

I host such an area called the 
Writers' Forum on QuantumLink. the 
Commodore-specific service. Up to 20 
writers meet in realtime once a week in 
either a lecture or discussion format. 

If you still wonder about how an 
online forum can help you with your 
writing, here are comments from 
some of the writers who frequent Q- 
Link's forum. 

"The Writers' Forum keeps me 
motivated. When I run out of ideas, 
the group fires me up! It's a great 
place to tall< to people all over the 
country who share a love of writing," 
says Marti Paulin. 

"If I didn't have the online forum, 
I'd have to drive 20 miles each way at 
night to get to my local group," says 
Cheryl Turney. 

"Where else can I talk with people 
as insane as I am, from all over the 
country? Seriously, the forum offers 
me a great place to tall< about what a 
writer goes through, with people who 
understand," says Eric Lopkin. 

"The forum fires my creative 



juices — and adds to my degenerate 
vocabulary." says Donna Carlene. 

"It's fun to chat with folks as poor 
and stubborn as I am," says Alex 
Tishcenko, 

"I enjoy the writing contest. It forc- 
es me to come up with things on a 
regular basis," says Mike Cervini. 

Even though I'm a forum leader 
and editor of "The Writer's Newslet- 
ter," I still learn something from 
speaking with other writers. We've 
also been fortunate enough to have 
guest speakers such as Arlan 
Andrews, Poul Anderson, and 
Lawrence Block drop in to answer 
questions and give writing tips. 
Occasionally an editor such as Eric 
Lopkin (Lopkin Publishing) or Tom 
Netsel {COMPUTE'S Gazette) will stop 
by to offer advice. And remember, the 
Whters' Forum on Q-Link is only one 
such network. Imagine what joys 
await you elsewhere. (See "Writers' 
Forums" for additional information.) 

Commissions and Submissions 

On the national services, you never 
know when you might speak with an 
editor who's loo!<ing for someone to 
write an article, and it could be a topic 
with which you're familiar. At other 
times, an online conversation might 



'SiJLLIV/Af\' 




&i 



"Someday I'm going to pull a Gauguin; chuck all this, move to Newark 
and devote myself entirely to computer art." 



G-8 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



spark an idea that could lead to an arti- 
cle or story. This very article was par- 
tially queried and updated via E-mail 
and online meetings on QuantumLink. 

Most sen/ices have online magazines 
or areas where you can submit work for 
others to read. This is also a great way to 
gain feedback on your writing 

Fiction is popular, and some areas 
ask you to post articles and nonfic- 
tion. Another area of considerable 
interest is poetry. Here, poets can 
post their works, and readers are 
encouraged to leave comments. 

Number: 3/26 -Doze with Prose — 

Poetry 

Date: 10:59p.m. Tues., May 19. 1992 

From : Paul ^57 

Title : More Poetry 

Today 

I remembered 

Our old phone number. 

Like a long ago children's 

rhyme 

It came back to me. 

I recall phoning late — 
On the road, still 
To tell you 
I'm OK: I'm alive. 
Sometimes breathless, 
Sometimes angry. 
You'd tell me 

— hurry home. 

A machine tells me that the 
number 

Is disconnected 
And I wonder 
Who calls you now? 

But more. 
I wonder 
Why I want to 
Still. 

—Paul May 27, 1990 

into tlie Future 

Computers are the writing tool of the late 
twentieth century, but networks are play- 
ing a major role as writing moves into the 
twenty-first. If you write with a computer, 
you owe it to yourself to use this tool as 
something other than an electronic type- 
writer. Use it to exchange ideas with 
other writers, conduct research, submit 
articles and ideas to publishers, get 
feedback on your work, and more. 

You could never have this amount of 
pov/er with a typewriter aione, so har- 
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you. Writing is an ancient art, but the 
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REVIEWS 



KEY[K)S VERSION 2 

Version 2 of KeyDOS Function ROM 
for Xhe 128 is simiiar to DOS for IBM ma- 
cfiines in ttiat it lets you change drives 
easily and defaults to tfie chosen 
drive until cfianged again. KeyDOS 
ROfvl is a chip that contains 20 func- 
tion key definitions and 20 utilities. 

It includes Swapper, a utility that 
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1581 Visual Partitioner, RAMDOS, 
GEOS SuperRBoot, Video Manager, 
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I was happy to find that installation 
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128's case apart, 2 minutes to install 
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er words, this doesn't take long to in- 
stall, even for a nontechnician like me. 
On boot-up, the screen will say HOLD 
ALT KEY DURING RESET OR SYS 
65366 TO ACTIVATE KEYDOS ROM. 
Position cursor over the SYS line, hold 
Alt, and press Return. You'll get a cop- 
yright notice from author Randy Win- 
chester and a message telling you 
that KeyDOS is installed. Here's a list 
of how KeyDOS programs your func- 
tion keys and some other cfianges. 

f1 — Load program 
f2 — Run program 
f3 — Disk catalog 
f4— Run 64 program 
f5— Type SEQ file 
f6— Scratch file 
f7 — Nev/ active drive 
f8 — Scratch and save 
Run — Boot disk/file 
Help — Drive # 

The Esc key offers many new com- 
mands when used in conjunction with 
other keys. Commands include Help, a 
compiler, a 1581 partitioner, a subdirec- 
tory key a batch exec key GEOS Su- 
perRBoot, CBfvl RAf\/IDOS, Diskmon, a 
monitor dump, Hexpert, a drive renum- 
berer, an UNNEW command, a screen 

G-10 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



dump, find and replace, an alternate 
screen, and more. KeyDOS is very use- 
ful for running a directory and for run- 
ning some programs. It's also cool for 
checking out SEQ files. It allows you to 
scratch an old file and rewrite a new 
file in one easy command. If you load 
it when you first power up, you can ex- 
amine what's on a disk without loading 
an extra program. 

The program goes downhill from 
there. I had trouble with the lockups 
and syntax errors. I needed to reset 
the 128 almost every third time I at- 
tempted different commands. The pro- 
gram includes a demo disk, but it 
wasn't helpful. It lists nine programs 
and four sequential files, but I was ei- 
ther denied access or else the 128 lock- 
ed up whenever i tried to load or run 
the programs. 

Two programs, Write-SEQ-File and 
Write-List-File, for instance, both tell me 
that I have no room. I must delete a 
function key's programming and repro- 
gram a key for these programs, but the 
manual isn't helpful in telling me how to 
do this. There are two separate func- 
tion keys for running 64 and 128 pro- 
grams. Unless you keep the 64 and 
128 programs on separate disks, 
there's no way of telling a 64 program 
from a 128 program. Having both 
types on one disk gives me an error 
message and forces me to reboot eve- 
ry time I choose the wrong program. 

The manual doesn't say which RAM 
expansion units work with KeyDOS. 
Since GEOS is the center of my world, 
I used geoRAM. I tried it and was told 
to put Desktop 2.0 on the REU, which 
I had already done. KeyDOS may 
work with another REU, but not with 
geoRAM. 

Don't worry if programs or files 
scroll off the screen when a directory is 
being listed. Go into Utility with Esc-1, 
and you have a lot of help at your fin- 
gertips. KeyDOS has 18 utilities; for- 
ward, back, select, unselect, toggle se- 
lection, select all, copy, select drive, 
directory, new disk/list, print, quit, re- 
name, scratch, type, unselect all, 1581 
subdirectory, and drive command. 
Type, for example, sends SEQ files to 
the screen in PETSCII, true ASCII, and 
Screen mode. 

This utility is great for renaming 
files, scratching files, and printing 



files, but it requires you to call up the 
directory again. The program doesn't re- 
display the directory by itself, but this 
is a small point. 

I gave an incorrect command to 
print, and then realized my printer was 
not hooked up. The program kept tell- 
ing me to redo from the start or enter 
a device number. It would have been 
handier to default back to the program. 
As it was, I had to reboot yet again. 

The compiler allows you to reassign 
functions to different function keys. You 
can save any new configuration to 
disk and reload it the next time you 
wish to use it. The 1581 Visual Partition- 
er lets you not only format a disk but al- 
so add a partition to a previously used 
disk. 

The monitor dump sends the moni- 
tor output to either a PETSCII disk file 
or a PETSCII printer. Diskmon and Hex- 
pert should be very useful for machine 
language programmers. 

With KeyDOS you can renumber 
drives, reset drives, run new collect, res- 
cue a deleted program, execute pro- 
grams on the alternate screen, install a 
find/replace/scroll utility, execute a one- 
drive routine, and run Screen Edit, 
Clock Manager, and Video Manager. 

With Video Manager, you can 
change the cursor's shape, flash rate, 
and blink rate. You can use an inter- 
laced monitor, and you can select 
from 80 colors for text and back- 
ground. The colors appear only as 
shades of gray on an RGB monitor. It's 
also possible to change the back- 
ground and text to the same color, mak- 
ing the text invisible. This can cause 
panic city the first time you do it. be- 
fore you figure out how to undo it. Be 
prepared for massive button pushing. 
I had to press f3 at least twice and 
sometimes three times before I could 
call up a directory When I accidental- 
ly changed both text and background 
to the same shade of gray, it took 
three pushes to change the color Of 
course, there's the good old reset but- 
ton (unless your screen is totally gray). 
KeyDOS is a specialized product that 
will appeal to some users more than oth- 
ers. Average users like me probably 
won't find it as useful as programmers 
will, If you're a programmer, you'll prob- 
ably love KeyDOS. 

DONNA CARLENE 



Aniigrav Toolkit 

PO^ Box 1074 

Cambridge. MA 02142 

$32,50 

Circle Reader Service Number 414 

RISERS AND SLIDERS 

Step right up and grab a Slider! Hop 
on board and tal<e a ride! No, I'm not 
talking about a new skateboard; I'm talk- 
ing about a new game from Micro- 
Storm tliat's called Risers and Sliders. 

When I first heard the name, I must 
admit, the first thing I thought of was 
the children's game Chutes and Lad- 
ders. Then, I booted up the game and 
discovered a maze that vaguely resem- 
bles the mouse-shaped symbol that 
the Disney channel uses as a logo. Kid 
stuff, I thought again. However, when 
I began to play, I quickly saw how 
wrong I was. This game is definitely not 
geared to the preschool crowd. 

Risers and Sliders is an arcade ac- 
tion game that offers 50 increasingly dif- 
ficult levels of play. The game's title 
comes from the red-colored Risers and 
the blue Sliders that you use to move 
swiftly around the screen. The Risers 
move your character up and down; the 
Sliders move you from side to side. 
There are also wedge-shaped Sliders 
that are a cross between the other two 
transports. They move more or less di- 
agonally on the screen. Of course, you 
can also walk your character from 
side to side, but he can't jump or 
climb. Using combinations of the trans- 
ports and walking, your goal is to 
move through the mazes, gather all the 
diamonds in each, and build up your 
score. 

It's not nearly as easy as it sounds. 
Learning how to move around takes 
practice. You have to move your man 
over the transport and press the fire but- 
ton while moving the joystick handle in 
the direction you want to travel. If you 
have good joystick skills, you'll proba- 
bly learn the game faster than I did. I 
have a tendency to overshoot the 
mark when I'm using a joystick. Do, 
that in this game, and you'll fall to your 
death. Even my joystick jockey teen- 
ager had to make several attempts be- 
fore clearing a level. 

For one thing, there's the pesky little 
critters called moths that can sneak up 



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Creative Micro Designs, inc. 



CNf^D 



Ontera: (OOfll 638-3263 
Inio: (413|52S^XEa 
BBS: (413)52M)148 



Circle Reader Service Number 139 



Upgrade your Crsntmodore ays tern I I 



Refurbished Hardware 



MONITORS 

1701- $219 

1702- $239 
1802- $259 
ie02D-$279 
1902- $299 
19a2A-$319 
1084- $329 
10e4S-$349 



DRIVES 

1541- $ 99 
1541c- $109 
1541II-$139 
1571- $169 
1581- $179 
1001SFD$139 
1530 Datasette 
B.I. Buscard II 



OTHER 
C64-$ 99 
64C-$119 
128-$179 
128D$329 
1660$ 29 
1670$ 49 
$ 39 
$ 59 



Books $10-15 Interfaces $35- $75 
Software $5-20 512k RAM Exp. $179 
Real Time Clock- extra $25 

Ask for anything! We 



New AFROTEK modems 

64/128/Ainiga-2400 baud 
User switch 
Convert -a- Com 

New CHD accessories 
Jif fyDOSC64/sx64 "system" 
JiffyDosl2e/128D "system" 
12 8 Kernal $55 64 Kernal 
Add'l JiffyDOS drive ROMs 
Ramlink, Ramcardll s bat, 
RL bat. $29 iMeg $59 4Meg 
Ramlink base$199 Ramcardl 

MEM DRIVES 1 
FD2000 $249 FD4000 

Extended Density disks (10 
may just have it! 



$119 

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NEW!! Catalogue Disk (64 format! - $2 (USA Ship. =15%) 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-11 



C64/128 PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE 

REQUEST FREE CATALOG or send S2 for sample disk and catalog (RE- 
FUNDABLE). Categories Include education, utilities, games, business, 
PRINT SHOP graphics, pre-tested programs and more. Rent for 75< or 
buy as low os SI. 00 p&r disk side or for SO* for 70 or more. S20 order 
gets 4 free disks of your ctiolce. 
NEXT DAY SHIPPtNGI SINCE 1 9B6 

^^ CALOKE INDUSTRIES (Dept. GK) 

I^WP' PO BOX 18477, RAYTOWN, tvIO 64133 



VISA 



Circle Reader Service Number 1S1 



DEPENDABLE SERVICE FOR YOUR COMMODORE! 



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C-64. 1541 

525.°° 



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charge, eslimaie only is $20. ' Include power supply 



503 Easi St. Deot, C 
Pittsfield, MA 01201 



AUTHORIZED COMMODORE 
SERVICE CEHTEH 



90 DAY WARRANTY 
ON ALL BERWRS 



TYCOM Inc. 



(413) 442-9771 



Circle Reader Service Number 242 



mw wmGs OF d 

THANDLE 



A TALE OF MYTF 

C-64 or C-128 in 64 mode 

ARCADE/ROLE PLAYING GAME 

Assume the role of Circe and Pegasus! 

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$19.95 Chedt or Money Order 

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RO. BOX 59t U9fiA1if, M t5t29 

Circle Reader Service Number 113 




COMPUTER REPAIR 



G4C: S5D.0D 
C128D: S74.95 



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Circle Reader Service Number 152 




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Mail List Manager. Makes rtiaillistfiHnagementaBnaplPrin! one record aiatme, pick amJdioose 
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Keystone Software Dept.G p.o. Box 8369 Piiisburgh, pa. i 5218 

412.243-1049 Fax: 412.731-2460 Hours: 9 to 5 Eastern Time 



Circle Header Service Number 170 



G-12 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



on you. They move around the screen 
unfettered by transports and can 
pounce rather unexpectedly. Their 
bite is deadly to you, and you have on- 
ly three lives to lose. You can evade 
the moths, or you can attempt to kill 
them. You do that by smashing them 
with your transporter. It's worth attempt- 
ing a kill since you'll earn an extra life 
if you manage to dispose of 12 of 
them. You'll also add five points to 
your score for each one of the moths 
you eliminate. 

Another danger when traveling 
through the mazes is falling. Be care- 
ful where you step! One false step 
and— BOOM! You've lost a life. In the 
more advanced mazes you'll also 
need to know whether or not it's safe to 
take the diamonds. You'll soon discov- 
er how disastrous it can be if you 
guess wrong. By the way, you get one 
point for every diamond that you col- 
lect. Whenever you earn 200 points, 
you will get another life. 

The screen border helps you keep 
track of how well you're doing. In addi- 
tion to the typical score information, the 
border flashes whenever you earn an 
extra life. It flashes blue for earning a 
bonus life on points and red for earn- 
ing a life for slaying those pesky 
moths. You'll want to get as many 
lives as possible because the dangers 
increase as you advance in the ganne. 

With 50 levels, this game is quite a 
value. Some levels are complicated; 
some are deceptively simple. Each has 
its own dangers. The game's designer, 
Daniel Lightner, knew how challenging 
the game was, so he programmed in 
bonus points for you at the end of eve- 
ry level. You'll get 600 points if you fin- 
ish a maze in one try, 400 points for 
two tries, and 200 points for three at- 
tempts. If it takes you more than three 
attempts, you get zip, I played a lot of 
practice rounds (my name for games 
in which I died} before I earned any bo- 
nuses. Maybe you'll do better. The 
game will keep you busy for several 
hours. 

That reminds me. Did I mention the 
clock? Well, that's another little surprise 
the designer added as a booby trap. 
You have to complete each of the maz- 
es in five minutes or less. Now five min- 
utes may sound like a lot of time to 
you, but you'll be surprised how quick- 
ly it will pass. Trust me on that, t lost 
more than one life running around the 
mazes, avoiding nnoths, and forgetting 
about the time. I soon learned to keep 
a closer watch on my time. 

Lightner tried to pack the screens 
with as many diamonds and obstacles 
as he could. However, I believe he 
could have done a better job on the 
graphics. Risers and Sliders doesn't re- 



ally utilize the screen as welf as it 
could have. The transporters are depict- 
ed as minuscule squares just a couple 
of pixels wide. Only their colors desig- 
nate them as anything special, The 
moths are a couple of tiny, intercon- 
nected loops. The fact that they were 
moving told me they were supposed to 
be the deadly moths. Even your char- 
acter is little more than a stick man 
that moves. I've seen better graphics 
on a 64. 

The attraction in Risers and Sliders, 
however, isn't the art. The difficulty of 
the game is its charm, i suspect once 
you discover this program, you'll keep 
coming back for more. 

MARTI WULIN 

MicroStorm Software 

P.O. Box 1886 

Sidney. MT 59270 

$24.95 ptus $3.00 for sfitpping and handling 

Circle Reader Service Number 415 O 



TYPING AIDS 

fvlLX, our machine language entry 
program for the 64 and 128, and 
The Automatic Proofreader are util- 
ities that help you type in Gazette pro- 
grams without making mistakes. To 
make room for more programs, we 
no longer include these labor-saving 
utilities in every issue, but they can 
be found on each Gazette Disk and 
are printed in all issues of Gazette 
through June 1990. 

If you don't have access to a 
back issue or to one of our disks, 
write to us, and we'll send you free 
printed copies of both of these 
handy programs for you to type in. 
We'll also include instructions on 
how to type in Gazette programs. 
Please enclose a self-addressed, 
stamped envelope. Send a self-ad- 
dressed disk mailer with appropriate 
postage to receive these programs 
on disk. 

Write to Typing Aids, COM- 
PUTE'S Gazette, 324 West Wen- 
dover Avenue, Suite 200, Greens- 
boro, North Carolina 27408. 



Send new product 

announcements 

and/or press releases 

on your 

Commodore 64/1 28 

products to 

Tom Netsel c/o 

COMPUTE. 



COMMODORE 64/128 

PUBLIC DOMAIN 
SHAREWARE PROGRAMS 

CALL OR WRITE FOR FREE 
DESCRIPTIVE CATALOG OF 
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DOMAIN & SHAREWARE SOFT- 
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THOSE OF LEGAL ADULT AGE. 

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Circle Reader Service Number 253 



Original Print Shop Graphics 
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AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-13 



FEEDBACK 



Updates and 

corrections to 

earlier 

programs, a 

program 

that calculates chess 

rankings, and more 



Bug-Swatter 

Steven Bakke noticed that 
Fastball (January 1993) high- 
lights the wrong item when he 
makes a selection from the 
menu. To correct this prob- 
lem, load but do not run the 
program. Then, type POKE 
2133, 201 and press Return. 
Save this corrected version 
with another filename. 

James T. Jones of Klon- 
dike, Texas, points out an er- 
ror in the April "Programmer's 
Page." When you run Sequen- 
tial File Printer, you'll get a 
FILE OPEN error message if 
you select the Print File op- 
tion. To correct it, change 
line 190 to read as foilows. 

190 PRINT#4,AS;: GOTO 160 

In the May issue, we pub- 
lished a review of Video Digitiz- 
er that is distributed by RIO 
Computers. At the end of the 
review, we inadvertently pub- 
lished the company's old ad- 
dress. The correct address is 
RIO Computers, 3310 
Berwyck Street, Las Vegas, 
Nevada 89121; (702) 454- 
0335. We regret the error. 

In "Screen Gems" (May 
1993), several readers spot- 
ted typographical errors in var- 
ious program listings. Bill 
Gisonda of Bethpage, New 
York, noted that lines 230 and 
240 of Brownian Symmetry 
should be numbered 250 and 
260 respectively. Also, lines 
150 and 230 should read as 
follows. 

150 IF Y > 100 THEN 80 
230 DRAW, (160=X)A/,100-Y 

Donald Klich of Mount Pros- 
pect, Illinois, spotted other ty- 
pos, which just goes to show 
what can happen when type- 
setters have to enter listings 
without the aid of The Automat- 
ic Proofreader. Curve Explo- 
sion would look better if line 



10 were entered as follows, 
10 COLOR 1,2: COLOR 0,1: 
COLOR 4,1 

In Trig Show, lines 270 and 
280 had some problems with 
an extra colon and a missing 
Return. The lines should read 
as follows. 

270 IF BB=0 THEN DRAW , 
X*25.5,100-FNY(X)*30 

280 NEXT: WAIT 212,1: 
RETURN 

In January 1993, we print- 
ed a request from a 128 user 
in Syria who would like to cor- 
respond with other Commo- 
dore users around the world. 
Here is his correct address. 

Ahmad Husam Mukhalalati 
RO. Box 10392 
Aleppo, Syria 

Chess Ranking 

I would like to start a chess 
club, and I have been looking 
for a program that calculates 
club members' chess rank- 
ings. Could you give me 
some help with a program? 

VINCENT SULEWSKI 
SOUTH HADLEY, MA 

Here is a simple program 
that calculates rankings after 
players have completed ei- 
ther one or a series of 
games. As players compete, 
they should keep tracl< of the 
number of games they play; 
their opponents' rantdngs: 
and their overall score for 
wins, ties, and losses. 

AS 1(5 PRINT" {CLR)" 

GX 2(5 rNPUfNOMBER OF GAM 

ES PLAYED";G 
MF 30 DEFFNF tX) = (99| (X/aa 

a) l/(l+(99f (X/830) ) 

) :REM{2 SPACES] RATI 

HG FORMULA 
PX 40 INeUT"YOUR RATING"; 

R 
KA 50 PRINT"OPPONENTS' RA 

TINGS?" 
CE 60 F0RB=1T0G 
KE 70 INPUT 
CP 80 X=R-0 
PP 90 IF X<-8B0 THEN X=-8 



ED 


103 


D=D+FNF(X) 


GH 


110 


NEXT 


RB 


120 


INPUT"VOUR SCORE"; 
S:S-S-D 


DR 


130 


IF R<21O0 THEN 170 


JD 


140 


IP R<2400 THEN 160 


JP 


150 


S=S*16:G0T0 220 


MP 


160 


S=S*24:GOTO 220 


KM 


170 


S=S*32:IF R+S+.5>I 
NT(2099) THEN 220 


MM 


183 


IF G<4 THEN G=4 


XH 


190 


IF S>32+(3*(G-4) ) A 
ND R+S+S-{32+(3*(G 
-4) ) X2100 THEN 21 

GOTO220 


KS 


200 


HJ 


210 


R-R+S+S-(32+(3* (G- 
4) )) :GOTO230 


GC 


220 


R = R + S 


GE 


230 


PRINT:PRINT"yOUR K 
EW RAT I NG I S " ; I NT ( 
R+.5) 


EE 


240 


PRINT: PRINT "AGAIN? 


HQ 


250 


GET A$: IF AS=""TH 
EN 250 


RA 


260 


IF A$<>"Y" THEN EN 

D 

GOTO10 


CD 


270 



A full-featured chess ranking 
calculator that keeps track of 
an entire club's standings 
would be too large to supply 
here. If a chess fan who pro- 
grams would like to submit an 
original program, we'll consid- 
er it for publication In the "Pro- 
grams" section. 

Scratched Commas 

In the March 1993 "Feed- 
back," you told how to 
scratch a filename that ap- 
peared in a disk directory as 
a comma. Your methods are 
fine, but there is a much sim- 
pler method. Simply enter the 
following line. 

OPEN15,8,15."S0:?":CLOSE15 

This question mark wildcard 
will erase any file whose 
name consists of but a single 
character. 

AL WILDEBMUTH 
RIVERSIDE. CA 

Thanks to Al and all the other 
readers who replied with this 
simple solution that slipped 
Gazette's collective mind. 
Just check the directory first 
to see if there are any single- 



G-14 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



character files on that disk 
that you wish to retain. If so. re- 
name them before deleting. 

Interest Calculations 

As an active participant in 
IRA distributions, I was very in- 
terested in IRA Minimum Dis- 
tributions (April 1993). I was at- 
tracted to lines 980, 990. and 
1000 where the interest calcu- 
lations take place. 

Years ago, I got involved in 
interest calculations, especial- 
ly after I read in a mathemati- 
cal journal that it was impos- 
sible to calculate daily com- 
pound interest (yield) except 
by the one-day-at-a-time meth- 
od, as used in the article. 

As an engineer, I find the 
word impossible to be incom- 
.prehensible, so I devised a 
means for making long-term 
calculations easy. As pub- 
lished, the calculation for a 
sannple 20-year projection 
and its 20-year payout sched- 
ule takes nine minutes and 42 
seconds. With my revision, 
the same calculation takes on- 
ly 7 seconds. 

Insert REM after line num- 
bers 980, 990, and 1000 to 
preserve the original code 
and then enter this line. 

985 SP=SP*EXP(1)T(365.25 
*LOG(1+IRfl65.25))+.001: 
SP=INT(SP*100)/100: 
RETURN 

The 365.25 allows for the ex- 
tra day in a Leap Year. 

LES WILLIS 
DELANO, FL 

Machine Language 

Over the years, your maga- 
zine has carried a column for 
machine language program- 
ming; however, I haven't 
seen any instructions on how 
to actually impiement the infor- 
mation. Is a special program 
required? 

EARL WOODMAN 
DILrXJ, NF 
CANADA 



When you start learning ma- 
chine language, the first 
thing you need is an assem- 
bler An assembler is to ma- 
chine language what the BA- 
SIC programming language is 
to programming in BASIC. It 
translates your commands in- 
to numbers that the computer 
can understand and use. 

Since it's difficult to write a 
program entirely in numbers, 
an assembler replaces the se- 
quence of numbers with stan- 
dardized mnemonics, com- 
mands that humans can more 
easily remember and under- 
stand. Here's an example. 

10 * = 880 

20LDA#147 

30 JSR 65490 40 RTS 

In this short program, when 
you enter SYS 880, the com- 
puter's screen clears. The 
147 is the number which 
clears the screen. LDA is a 
mnemonic that means Load 
the Accumulator a special ar- 
ea in the computer So 147 
goes into the accumulator, 
and the program moves on to 
the next instruction. JSR 
means that the program then 
Jumps to Subroutine at 
65490. which is the address 
in ROFv! which prints whatever 
character is currently in the 
accumulator The screen 
clears, and the program 
moves on to RTS. This com- 
mand. Return from Subrou- 
tine, causes the computer to 
leave machine language and 
return to BASIC. 

This program Is called 
source code, but you cannot 
run it as you would a BASIC 
program. The assembler 
takes this code and turns it in- 
to object code, poking num- 
bers 169. 147. 32. 210, 255. 
and 96 into memory locations 
880-885 

The computer doesn't 
have any idea what to do 
with LDA, but when LDA is 
converted into 169, it knows 



to load the accumulator It's al- 
so easier to remember LDA 
than 169. The 32 means JSR, 
2 10 and 255 is a two-byte ad- 
dress that represents 65490, 
and 96 returns the computer 
to BASIC (RTS). 

For those who don't have 
an assembler we often print 
the code in the form of a BA 
SIC loader The computer's' 
ML instructions are in the DA- 
TA statements. 

10 FOR A = S80 TO 885 

20 READ D; POKEA.D 

30 NEXT 

40 SYS 8BD 

50 DATA 169,147,32,210,255,96 

As with most Commodore 
software, finding a good com- 
mercial assembler such as 
Commodore Macro Assem- 
bler Buddy 64. or Merlin64 
may be difficult these days, 
but a number of public do- 
main programs are available. 
Gazette's own BASSEM (April 
and May 1990) is still availa- 
ble on the Best of Gazette Util- 
ities Disk ($13.95). 

Resume Typing 

I have some suggestions 
which might help Jack Christ- 
law, who was was having dif- 
ficulty entering programs in 
one typing session, 

Whenever I wish to stop typ- 
ing, I save what I have using 
the number of the next BASIC 
or ML line of code as the file- 
name. This assures that I'll nev- 
er use the same filename 
twice and I'll always know 
where to begin again. I also al- 
ways use a fresh disk with on- 
ly fvlLX or Proofreader on it. 

ARNOLD JONES 
STONE RIDGE. NY 



Send your questions and com- 
ments to Gazette Feedback. 
COMPUTE Publications. 324 
West Wendover Avenue, 
Suite 200. Greensboro, North 
Carolina 27408. n 



A question about 
maciiine language, 
and a tip 

aiiout saving partial 
programs 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-15 



PD PICKS 



Steve Vander Ark 



Take your 84 on a 

lOQO-mile road 

race; surprise an 

unsuspecting 

user who touches 

your keyboard. 



G-16 



MISCHIEVOUS 64 
AND MORE 

QuantumLink isn't the only 
place to find shareware and 
public domain files, but it's 
probably the best place. Q- 
L[nk has more files than any- 
body else — plain and simple. 

I have a copy of its catalog 
of files, a burly tome close to 
two inches thick and heavy 
enough to keep the door to ny 
computer room shut against 
my one-year-old. This hernia- 
inducer makes a valiant effort 
to list all 35,000 of Q-Link's pro- 
grams and files. Yes, 35,000! 
fvlake no mistake; if you're se- 
rious about your Commodore, 
you belong on the Q. 

If you aren't a Q-Linker, 
though, you can find good PD 
programs on any BBS that sup- 
ports the Commodore. Ttie 
Rogue River BBS in Grand Rap- 
ids, Michigan, has all the files 
mentioned in this column. The 
phone number is (616) 361- 
8267. Of course, all programs 
mentioned here are also on Ga- 
zette Disk. Here are my PD 
picks for this month. 

Mille Bornes 

Original author unknown. 
QuantumLink filename: 

rvllLLE BORNES. 3; uploaded 
by RolfB. 



I seldom play fviille Bornes. My 
wife and I bought it about ten 
years ago, and it's a great 
game. The problem is that I 
play it for blood, which is the 
way my wife plays Monopoly. 
That's why we don't play Mo- 
nopoly either, So when I 
found this one-player card pro- 
gram buried in the 64 games 
section of Q-Link, I got all ex- 
cited. Now I could stomp some- 
one at Mille Bornes without hav- 
ing to sleep on the couch! 

This version of Mille Bornes 
isn't glamorous, its entirely 
text with gameplay true to the 
original. You take turns with 

COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



the computer, playing or dis- 
carding cards from your 
hand, trying to accumulate dis- 
tance toward a goal of 1000 
miles, Along the way you play 
cards against the computer's 
hand and try to inflict your op- 
ponent with all sorts of calam- 
ities, including flat tires and ac- 
cidents. You see where atti- 
tude can creep into the game. 

According to comments 
posted on Q-Link about this 
game, some of its more ob- 
scure rules aren't supported in 
this version. I wouldn't know, 
since I don't play the original 
enough to remember any of 
the more obscure rules! All I 
know is that this little gem of a 
game Is addicting. 

The computer is a bland ad- 
versary, of course. I miss the 
scowl I used to get from my 
wife when I would gleefully 
siap down an accident card. 
She doesn't play Mille Bornes 
on our 128 much. She's too 
busy playing Monopoly on the 
IBM. 

Maximum Overdrive 
By Dan Komaromi. 
QuantumLink filename: OVER- 
DRIVE; uploaded by DigiDan. 

I'm not sure what category to 
put this piece of programming 
genius into — it's certainly not 
a game. But what the heck: 
Here it is, and it's absolutely 
my favorite 64 download of all 
time. Like I just said, it's not a 
game. It's not a utility either, re- 
ally. It doesn't exactly keep 
you glued to your monitor; in 
fact, it works the best when 
you aren't even around. 

Let me explain. Maximum 
Overdrive is the sneakiest buck- 
et of surprises you'll ever 
dump on your unsuspecting 
64. When you first run it, you 
are presented with a menu of 
interesting-sounding options. 
Once you make your choice, 
your beloved Commodore com- 
puter disappears and is re- 
placed by nothing less than its 



evil twin. Oh, it looks just fine — 
same blue screen, same friend- 
ly blinking cursor, same every- 
thing. But, oh, what horrors 
lurk v/ithin! 

For example, when you en- 
ter an innocent LOAD com- 
mand, the computer might 
snap back with LOAD IT YOUR- 
SELF! With another setting, 
your usually complacent 64 re- 
acts to a keypress by snarling 
that it's trying to sleep. It then 
turns off its monitor. 

There's a startlingly impres- 
sive self-destruct mode which 
really grabs your attention if 
you have the volume cranked 
up. There's even an option 
which looks for all the world 
like you've accidentally con- 
nected with NORAD comput- 
ers somewhere and have 
launched a few missiles. 

The author, who calls him- 
self DigiDan on Q-Link, has 
had his programs published in 
several magazines, and his ex- 
pertise shows in the slick inter- 
face as well as in the nifty 
screen tricks. He includes 
some extra touches, such as 
allowing you to disable the 
Run/Stop key and type in your 
own bits of nastiness for the In- 
sult section. Koramoni em- 
ploys some excellent raster in- 
terrupt effects, a good dose of 
SID chip sound magic, and an 
oversized helping of clever- 
ness to make your 64 go off its 
electronic rocker. 

The general idea :ts to set 
up your computer with one of 
these fake startup screens 
when you are going to be 
away from your keyboard. 
Should some unsuspecting vic- 
tims try to use it, they'll be left 
wondering how they managed 
to make the whole system go 
kaflooie when they just typed 
a simple command. I'm not 
sure why I like this program so 
much because I don't have 
anyone to pull these tricks on, 
but I get a bang out of watch- 
ing them run. 

I know. Get a life! TJ 



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MACHINE LANGUAGE 



??fe^-'"-sr"sr -v"-^a ■;-.,.i^3 



Jim Butterfield 



Read a file 

with BASIC'S iNPIJT# 

statement and 

chop any extra 

Returns that 

may cause a crash. 



G-18 COMPUTE AUGUST 



FILE-END TRIMIVIER 

Last time, we learned that a 
file that ends with more than 
one return can cause trouble 
when used with the BASIC IN- 
■ PUT# statement, Now, let's 
write a program to detect and 
correct this problem. 

A BASIC program will poke 
the ML code into place. 
Phase 1 then checks the file, 
and phase 2 copies the file, 
chopping any extra returns. 

The detection phase uses a 
brief ML program at $2200, 
decimal 8704, The file is cor- 
rected, if needed, by a longer 
ML program at $2217, deci- 
mal 8727. This is the code 
we'll examine here. 

File-copying programs 
must deal with ST the status 
word, found at address $90. 
We must read the ST value 
right after we reference a file 
so that it won't be changed by 
some other file activity. 

Our program reads from 
one file and writes to another. 
We must check ST (for end-of- 
file) after each read. We have 
an input character to dispose 
of, so we may need to write to 
the output file before we act 
on the end-of-file signal. 

We'll test ST right after per- 
forming an input and push the 
test results to the stack. Later, 
we'll act on those results. 

Here's a second puzzle. 
Our task is to remove extra re- 
turn characters from the file 
end. But, as we read the file, 
we don't know if we're near the 
end. We must not copy re- 
turns until we know it's safe. 

When we read a return char- 
acter from the input stream, 
we won't output it. We'll count 
it, using location $2100 as a 
counter. If we find more text, 
we'll output the correct num- 
ber of returns before continu- 
ing. I'll comment on selected 
parts of the program. 

Initial code zeroes the count- 
er at $221 7. We enter the main 
read loop, and the input 

1993 



stream switches to logical file l . 

We grab a character and 

test the ST variable, pushing 

the result to the stack with PHP. 

2221 JSR $FFE4 
LDY $90 
PHP 

We skip ahead if we didn't 
get a return. Return needs spe- 
cial work: We count it and 
then check to see if we're at 
the end of the input file. That 
information is on the stack, re- 
member? If we're not at end- 
of-file, we keep reading. 

CMP #$0D 

BNE $2237 

INC $2100 

PLP 

BEQ $2221 

If it's a return at the end of the 
file, we push the test results 
back on the stack and zero 
the counter to get rid of the ex- 
cess returns. 

PHP 

LDY #$0Q 

STY $2100 

The program reaches 
$2237, Either we've received 
a oharacter (still in the A reg- 
ister) which is not a return, or 
we're at end-of-file. Push the 
input character to the stack, 
disconnect the input stream, 
and hook the output stream 
to logical file 2, 

2237 PHA 

JSR $FFCC 

LDX #$02 

JSR $FFCg 

Is the return counter 0? If 
so, skip the next bit, 

LDX £2100 
BEQ $2250 

Location $2245 sends the re- 
turns using a loop. We'll omit 
that code. The next step out- 
puts the character that was 



receiv/ed. 

2250 PLA 

JSR $FFD2 
JSR $FFCC 

We check the end-of-input 
condition, still on the stack. 
We either loop or quit. 

PLP 

BEQ $221 C 

RTS 

Here's the whole program in 
the form of a BASIC loader. 



PRINT "FILE END TRIMMER 
- JIM BUTTERFIELD" 

DATA 162,1. 32, 19S, 255,1 

69,0,141,0,33,32,228,25 

5 

DATA 164,144, 240, JiSe.H 

1,1,33,76,234 ,255 

DATA 169,8,141,0,33,162 

,1,32,198,255 

DATA 32,228,255,164,144 

,3,281,13,286,12 

DATA 238,(1,33,40,248,24 

8,8,160,0,148,3,33 

DATA 72,32,204,255,162, 

2,32,231,255,174 ,8,33 

D.ATA 240,11,169,13,32,2 

18,255,202,209,248,142, 

0,33 

DATA 104,32,218,255,32, 

294,255,40,240, 194,96 

FOR J-87e4 TO 8794 

READ XlT-T+X 

POKE J,X 

NEXT J 

IF T011245 THEN STOP 

INPUT "NAMF OF FILE";FS 

OPES 15,3,15 

OPEN i,8,2,FS 

IUPUT#15,E,ES:IF E08 T 

HEN PHINT ES:STOP 

Sirs 8784 

CLOSE 1 

CLOSE 15 

IF PEEK(3449)<>13 THEN 

(SPACE}PR1NT "FILE DOES 
NOT END WITH <RETURN>. 

'■:END 

IF PEEK(B443)<>13 THEN 

(SPACE)PRINT "FILE ENDS 
WITH A SINGLE <RETURN> 

.":END 

PRINT "FILE ENDS WITH M 

ULTIPLE <RETURU> CHARS. 

n 

INPUT "SHOULD I CLEAN I 

T UP?";XS 

XS=LEFTS IXS.l) 

IF X;<>"Y" THEN END 

INPUT "NAME OF REVISED 

{SPACE(FILE";RS 

OPEN 15,8,15 

OPEN 2,8,3,"0: "+RS+",S, 

W" 

INPUT»1S,E,E3: IF EOO T 

HEN PHINT ES:STOP 

OPEN i,a,2,rs 

INPUT»15,E,ES; IF EOO T 

HEN PRINT ESsSTOP 

SYS 8727 

CLOSE 1 

CLOSE 2 

CLOSE 15 d 



B,5 


100 


XR 


110 


GS 


120 


AQ 


130 


HQ 


140 


HM 


158 


PC 


160 


RX 


173 


KH 


180 


RS 


200 


EJ 


210 


BP 


220 


AE 


230 


SG 


240 


XF 


380 


JO 


313 


FJ 


320 


OB 


338 


QH 


340 


SB 


350 


SD 


36(5 


GC 


370 


SE 


383 



XS 399 



XB 480 

HF 410 

AF 420 

AO 4 30 

AH 443 

DS 4 50 

MK 460 

PF 470 

CP 480 

OE 490 

OH 500 

PP 510 

EQ 523 



The Gazette 

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PROGRAMMER'S PAGE 



Randy Thompson 



This column 

celebrates Its fittii 

anniversary wlUi 

some more great tips 

sent In by readers. 



G-20 



HAPPY 
ANNIVERSARY! 

"Programmer's Page" is five 
years old this issue! It made its 
debut in the August 1988 edi- 
tion of Gazette. I'd like to take 
this opportunity to thank all of 
my readers for your interest; 
support; and, most important, 
your great contributions. This 
column, after all, is a forum for 
your programming expertise. 
To celebrate our anniversary, 
I've assembled a few of the 
best "Programmer's Page" 
tips ever published. 

Selective RESTORE 

This bizarre tip — written by 
yours truly — comes from the 
very first "Programmer's 
Page," This short routine re- 
stores BASIC'S data pointer to 
any line number, just like the 
128's RESTORE command. 
To use it, execute the follow- 
ing instructions once within 
your program. 

BD 1« POKE 784,16a:P0KE 765,12 

2;P0KE 786,0 
PQ 20 DEF FN RS |N| =USH (N) +POS ( 

Then, add the following com- 
mand to your program. 

X=FN RS{/fne number) 



In this case, line number is 
the line number of the DATA 
statement at which you want 
your program to READ. In oth- 
er words, RESTORE to this 
line. The line number can be 
a number, variable, or even 
an expression such as 
1000+1*10. If you want, you 
can replace X with a variable. 
Just be warned that the value 
of the variable used will be 
scrambled. 

Be especially careful when 
entering iine 20. A single typo 
could cause the computer to 
lock up when the program is 
run. Note that there are no 
spaces between the USR 

COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



statement, plus sign, or PCS 
statement. 

To ensure accurate typing, 
use The Automatic Proofread- 
er; see "Typing Aids" else- 
where in this issue. To heip fur- 
ther, here's an English transla- 
tion of how to enter those 
weird characters found within 
quotation marks in line 20: 
space, Ctrl-A, Commodore- 
U, space, Ctrl-T two Commo- 
dore-English Pounds, Shift-F, 
Back Arrow, Commodore-G, 
Back Arrow, L, single quote, 
and two Commodore-English 
Pounds. 

If you're looking for a chal- 
lenge, try to figure how this tip 
works — without looking in the 
August 1988 Gazette. 

MID$ Magic 

Most programmers use BA- 
SIC'S MIDS function on the 
right side of an equal sign, as 
in A$=fvllD$(B$,3,1). On the 
128, however, MIDS can also 
be used on the left side. For 
example, if AS equals 
123456789 and B$ equals 
ABC, the instruction MIDS 
(A$,4,1)=B$ sets A$ equal to 
123A56789, while the instruc- 
tion fVllDS(AS,4)=BS sets A$ 
equal to 123ABC789. 

Using this technique, you 
can stuff one character or a 
group of characters into the 
middle of another string with- 
out juggling LEFTS and 
RIGHTS functions. Credit for 
this useful string-handling ad- 
vice goes to Michael Ver- 
diguel of Lawton, Oklahoma. 

Unscrollable Lines 

Here's a short machine lan- 
guage subroutine from Sean 
Ganess of Woodside, New 
York, that protects the top two 
lines from being scrolled off 
the screen. You can still print 
text to these lines and erase 
them by clearing the screen, 
but they are unaffected by 
scrolling text. You might want 
to use this feature to display 
such things as your location 



in an adventure game or to 
show the disk drive status in 
a utility program, 

FR 10 GOSUB 3(500 :Er(0 

GF 3S00 FOR 1=828 TO g75:READ 

(SPACE}D:POKE I,D:C=C+ 

D:NEXT 
XK 3010 IF CO6370 THEN PRINT 

! SPACE !"ERUOR IN DATA 

{space! STATEMENTS": END 
CF 3020 SYS 828:POKE 59639, 1:P 

OKE 64982, 53:POKE 1,53 
HQ 3030 RETDRN 
FJ 3040 DATA 163,0,132,33,169, 

224,133,39,177,38,145, 

38,200,288,249,230,39, 

165 
QA 3050 DATA 39,201,0,208,241, 

160,0,132,38,169,160,1 

33,39,177,38, 145,38,20 

0,208 
KJ 3063 DATA 249,230,39,165,39 

,201,192,208,241,96,0 

To use this program,, simply 
GOSUB 3000 whenever you 
want to protect the top two 
screen lines. This subroutine 
needs to be executed only 
once when your program is 
first run. 

Missing Data 

Neglecting to put numeric da- 
ta between the commas in a 
DATA statement is the same 
as including the digit 0. For ex- 
ample, check out the follow- 
ing program. 

10 FOR 1=1 TO 10: READ D: 

PRINT D:NEXT 
20 DATA ,„„„,, 

Line 20 produces the same re- 
sults as the following. 

20 DATA 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 

If you are reading string da- 
ta—as in the command READ 
DS — the missing data is inter- 
preted as a null string. This 
tip came courtesy of Doug 
Ross of Merrickville, Ontario, 
Canada. 



Send your programming tips 
to Programmer's Page, COM- 
PUTE'S Gazette, 324 West 
Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, 
Greensboro, Nortli Carolina 
27408. We pay $25-$50 for 
each tip that we publish. □ 




Gazette 
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G-21 



BEGINNER BASIC 



Larry Cotton 



How many 

combinations of 

fives, tens, 

and twenties can you 

find that 

will total $200? 



BUCKS IN A POT 

Let's get back to reviewing BA- 
SIC statements, specifically 
FOR-NEXT loops. Here's a 
quick review. FOR-NEXT (or 
FOR/TO/STEP/NEXT as ttie 
Commodore 128 Program- 
mer's Reference Guide calls 
it) executes repetitive loops. 

We've seen how each FOR- 
NEXT loop requires seven sep- 
arate and distinct elements 
and Y\o^^ STEP can be less 
than 1 , more than 1 , or a neg- 
ative value. (Omitting STEP 
yields a step size of -i-l .) Here 
are some simple examples. 

10 FOR J = 1 TO 4 
20 PRINT J 
30 NEXT 



10 FOR J = 
20 PRINT J 
30 NEXT 



5 TO 3.5 STEP .5 



10 FOR J = 10 TO 1 STEP -2 
20 PRINT J 
30 NEXT 

A very common use for 
FOR-NEXT is to load arrays. 
We've studied arrays in this 
column before, but if you 
don't understand or remem- 
ber them, we'll get back to 
them soon. For now, just 
think of an array as a group of 
pigeonholes that need num- 
bers stuffed into them. The pi- 
geonholes usually have 
names such as A(1) or B(4). 
Here's how to fill a small one- 
dimensional array using a 
FOR-NEXT loop. 

10 FOR J = 1 TO 10 
20 A{J) = 25 
30 NEXT 

This simple pigeonhole 
stuffer will make each varia- 
ble A(1) through A(10) equal 
to 25. Here's how you can 
make the variables equal the 
counter as it's increased. 



G-22 



10 FOR J = 1 TO 10 

COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



20 A(J) = J 
30 NEXT 

You can read DATA state- 
ments and place them into 
the arrays, too. 

10 FOR J = 110 7 
20 READ 
30 A(J) = Q 
40 NEXT 

SO DATA12, 2, 52. 41.-3,3,5. 
-7.34 

After this program runs, 
A(1) will be 12, A(5) will be 
-3, and so on. 

Let's take another look now 
at nested FOR-NEXT loops. 
Here's an example. 

10 FOR A = 1 TO 3 
20 FOR B = 3 TO 4 
30 PRINT "A="A,"B="B 
40 NEXT B 
50 NEXT A 

The A loop is the outer one, 
and it loops a totai of three 
times. The B loop is the inner 
one, and it loops twice for 
each value of A. The use of 
the variable names after 
NEXT is optional, but it can 
help keep things straight. 

Now, let's get to the meat 
of this month's column. The 
other day, a friend called to 
ask for help with his third- 
grade son Derek's homework. 

The problem, as we under- 
stood it, was to calculate how 
many combinations of twen- 
ties, tens, and fives could be 
in a pot of $200. Naturally, I 
don't need much inspiration 
to write a BASIC program. So 
I wrote one to solve the prob- 
lem, and it just happened to 
use nested FOR-NEXT loops. 
Here it is. 

10 PRINTCHRS(147) 

20 INPUr'HQW MUCH IS IN THE 

POT";P 
30 TW=P^O 
40 FORI=0 TO TW 
50 R=P-I*20 
60 TE=R/10 



70 FORJ=0 TO TE 
80 C=C+1 
90 NEXTJ 
100 NEXTI 

110 PRINT:PRINT"THERE 
ARE'C'COMBINATIONS." 

Line 20 asks the user for a 
pot value. Enter the number 
only, not a dollar sign. Line 30 
finds the maximum number of 
twenties (TW) which can be in 
the pot. Then we start a loop 
in line 40 which counts up 
from no twenties to TW. 

Lines 50 and 60 calculate 
the maximum number of tens 
there can be in the pot for 
any given number of twenties, 
Our inner loop (J) begins at 
line 70 and counts up from no 
tens to the maximum number 
of tens for each value of I, the 
twenties counter. 

Inside the inner FOR-NEXT 
loop is another counter (C in 
line 80) which simply incre- 
ments every time the inner 
loop is used. For each num- 
ber of tens for a given num- 
ber of twenties, there will be a 
certain number of fives neces- 
sary to arrive at the total pot. 
Therefore, we've counted all 
the possible combinations! 

If there were ones in the 
pot, you would need another 
FOR-NEXT loop which would 
increment (or decrement) the 
fives while holding the twen- 
ties and tens constant. The 
number of combinations 
would become staggering. 

This seemed like a tough 
problem for a third-grader to 
solve. We discovered later 
that the actual assignment was 
to find just some of the possi- 
ble combinations — not all of 
them! Anyway, it was an inter- 
esting problem and a good ex- 
cuse to write a BASIC pro- 
gram. By the way, there are 
121 possible combinations of 
twenties, tens, and fives in a 
pot of $200. With larger pots, 
watch the time it takes to cal- 
culate the combinations grow 
exponentially. o 



GEOS 



Steve Vander Ark 



IMPORTING GEOS 
GRAPHICS 

Two of my favorite subjects 
are graphics and geoPublish, 
and last month I tallied about 
both. I described differences 
between geoPaint's bitmap- 
ped graphics and geoPub- 
iish's object-based ones. 

This fundamental differ- 
ence between the two formats 
is important for you to under- 
stand, lest you find yourself 
confused and frustrated. 
Once you get the hang of ob- 
ject-based graphics, though, 
you'll love the freedom that 
they give you to experiment 
and to create. 

Working with geoPublish, 
you'll most likely want to use 
clip art with your documents. 
Most of this art will be in 
bitmap format, which means 
that it's stored as a fixed set of 
dots laid out to form an image. 
This graphics don't use the 
same format as those created 
by geoPublish itself, but that 
doesn't mean that you can't 
use them. You can import 
these bitmaps very easily, 

Each mode of geoPublish 
has an import tool. In both 
Page Graphics and Master 
Page modes, the bitmap ap- 
pears where you click the 
cross hairs on the page. 
Once imported, the bitmap is 
an object on its own layer, just 
like any other object on the 
page. Remember, if you en- 
large this image, you won't be 
adding more dots to the im- 
age; you'll only be making the 
existing dots bigger, As a re- 
sult, an enlarged bitmap 
looks blocky and jaggy, Geo- 
Publish offers a smoothing op- 
tion which helps by rounding 
off some of the sharp edges, 
but this doesn't always make 
it look better. 

In Page Layout mode 
things work a little differently. 
You can still resize an image 
and change its attributes, but 



the way you move a bitmap on- 
to your page is unique to this 
mode. In Page Layout mode 
you create rectangular areas 
(regions) on the page in 
which to place text or, in this 
case, bitmaps. Before you can 
import an image, you must de- 
fine an area in which the im- 
age will be located. This re- 
gion can contain only the 
graphic or text file you specify 
for it. If you place a region on 
top of another region, you 
won't be able to see through 
the one on top. And if you 
place the region on top of a 
text region, the text will adjust 
around it. 

This is very useful for mixing 
text and graphics on a page. 
You can create a large text re- 
gion, then create graphics re- 
gions on top where you want 
the bitmaps to appear. The 
text will flow around those re- 
gions as pretty as you please. 

In Page Graphics mode, 
however, if you place a graph- 
ic in the middle of a text area, 
the two will just overlap. This 
also can be a useful tech- 
nique if you change the pat- 
tern of the bitmap to gray in- 
stead of black, allowing the 
text to stand out. But if you 
want text to flow around graph- 
ics, you'll want to import those 
graphics in Page Layout 
mode. 

Remember that I said that 
the regions you create in 
Page Layout mode are rectan- 
gular. The text will flow around 
that rectangular area, not 
around the edges of the im- 
age itself. There's no built-in 
way to make text flow around 
an irregular edge. You can sim- 
ulate this effect by creating a 
number of text regions, each 
sized to hold a few lines of 
text and each fitted to the edg- 
es of the graphic Image. The 
problem occurs if your graph- 
ic was imported in Page Lay- 
out mode. This mode won't let 
you cross its straight region 
edges with your text regions. 



If you import the image in 
Page Graphics mode it won't 
be visible in Page Layout 
mode at all, which means it'll 
be next to impossible to fit a 
text region next to it with any 
precision. Probably the easi- 
est way to simulate text flow- 
ing around an irregular graph- 
ic is to create text which has 
a built-in flow created by press- 
ing the Return key at the end 
of the lines in strategic places, 
then fitting the graphic to it in 
Page Graphics mode. 

There is one other way to 
get graphics onto your geoPub- 
lish page. You can first import 
them into a geoWrite docu- 
ment which you then import in- 
to your geoPublish document. 
The graphic gets imported as 
well as the words. It even 
keeps its formatting within 
that text area (centered, for ex- 
ample). This method works par- 
ticularly well if you want the 
graphics to be tied to the text, 
such as in a fancy headline or 
a letterhead. Of course, you're 
stuck with geoWrite's rather lim- 
ited photo scrap size. 

Let's think bigger for a min- 
ute. It can be a bit of a hassle 
to import photo scraps when 
they're limited to the size of the 
geoPatnt window. There are 
utility programs which will let 
you clip photo scraps as large 
as an entire page. One of the 
best, called Scrap Can, 
comes as a bonus on the geo- 
Canvas disk from Creative Mi- 
cro Designs. A shareware ex- 
ample is Scrap It (Q-Link file- 
name: SCRAP IT uploaded 
by TerryVT). These utilities will 
in effect let you convert an en- 
tire geoPaint page into a geo- 
Publish page, although the 
whole thing is then a single 
large object. You can also con- 
vert a geoPublish page from a 
series of layered objects into a 
large bitmap (in other words, 
convert it into a geoPaint docu- 
ment) with the program Paint 
Pages, which comes in the 
GEOS 2.0 package. O 



Get ttie most 
from geoPublish by 
importing 

bitmapped graphics 
and clip art. 



AUGUST 1993 COIvlPUTE G-23 



DIVERSIONS 



Fred D'Ignazio 



Who is that little guy 

rushing through 

airports with duffel 

bags shifted 

with more parts 

than a small 

eiecfronics store? 



G-24 COMPUTE AUGUST 



MULTIMEDIA 
ROAD WARRIOR 

My name is Fred D'Ignazio, 
but mosl peopie l<now me as 
tlie Road Warrior. For the past 
ten years, I've journeyed to 
more ttian 100 sctiool districts 
in Nortli America, Europe, and 
Australia as a multimedia evan- 
gelist — a Johnny Appleseed 
of new technology. 

My mission began in the 
mid-1980s in a kindergarten 
classroom in Cahaba 
Heights, Alabama. I had con- 
ceived a concept of class- 
room learning known as the 
multimedia sandbox. Children 
and teachers in the sandbox- 
es scavenged common items 
from around their schools 
such as a computer, a tape re- 
corder, a record player, a tiny 
musical keyboard, a VCR, a 
TV, a camera, and so on, I 
then taught them how to use 
$5 Radio Shack cables to con- 
nect these items into a chil- 
dren's multimedia publishing 
center, 

The idea caught on like wild- 
fire in the Jefferson County, Al- 
abama, schools. Pretty soon 
we had 13 multimedia sand- 
box schools and almost 100 
children, parents, and teach- 
ers who were learning to as- 
semble, troubleshoot, and op- 
erate these scavenged multi- 
media workstations. 

In early 1986 I was invited 
as a featured speaker to one 
of the foremost national confer- 
ences for computer-using ed- 
ucators. To prepare for the na- 
tional debut of the multimedia 
sandbox, I asked the confer- 
ence organizers for the basic 
elements of a scavenged work- 
station (a computer, VCR, 
camcorder, and so on) along 
with presentation devices 
such as a video projector and 
a speaker system for a room 
full of hundreds of adults. I ar- 
rived at the conference fully ex- 
pecting all the equipment to 

1993 



be assembled for me. After all, 
the Jefferson County kids and 
teachers had mucked around 
with this stuff for months. 

Boy, was I surprised! None 
of my stuff Vi/as ready. Techni- 
cians were scratching their 
heads and telling me that it 
was impossible to plug a com- 
puter's video-out jack into a 
VCR and that it was not appro- 
priate to use a common tape 
recorder as an audio input de- 
vice for a VCR. There were 
none of the Radio Shack ca- 
bles and adapters that I re- 
quired to integrate the little de- 
vices into a multimedia work- 
station. 

But 1 toughed it out. I reas- 
sured everyone that such 
things were being done every 
day by five-, six-, and seven- 
year-olds in Alabama. Then, I 
rushed out of the hotel and ran 
across town to a Radio Shack 
and quickly purchased £25 
worth of cables and adapters. 

Back at the conference ho- 
tel, I hurriedly plugged cables 
to the equipment and comput- 
er. A short time later, hun- 
dreds of people arrived for the 
demonstration of my multime- 
dia sandbox. I turned on the 
video projector. Uh-oh! The 
bulb burnt out. I turned on the 
large speaker that the hotel 
had provided for my sound sys- 
tem. No sound. No one could 
hear or see my stuff. 

I'd brought an hour's worth 
of videotapes and computer 
slides created by the Alabama 
children on their scavenged 
multimedia workstations. 
They included multimedia sto- 
ry problems formathciass;mul- 
timedia book reports and biog- 
raphies; and multimedia sci- 
ence projects featuring animat- 
ed iDlack holes, beating 
hearts, and dancing skele- 
tons. I also had a wonderful 
presentation by a team of kin- 
dergartners and sixth-graders 
titled "What Is a Principal?" 

I couldn't show any of it. I 
was stunned. What had be- 



come simple for us in my kin- 
dergarten classroom in rural Al- 
abama was impossible to dem- 
onstrate in a world-class tech- 
nology conference in one of 
America's largest cities. 

I survived that experience 
by calling my audience to the 
front of the room to see my 
stuff on a little TV and comput- 
er screen and to listen careful- 
ly to the puny sounds coming 
out of my portable speaker. 

That's the day I first be- 
came a multimedia Road War- 
rior. 1 vowed that I would nev- 
er be caught off guard again. 

Since then, I've traveled 
with all of my multimedia sup- 
plies squashed into four dura- 
ble Road Warrior bags. I carry 
the two smaller ones on board 
each plane and check the two 
larger bags. If the two larger 
bags don't show up at my des- 
tination, i can do a "Multime- 
dia Lite" presentation with the 
cables and stuff from the two 
carry-on bags. If I'm fortunate 
and the airlines doesn't lose 
the two bags that I've check- 
ed, I can put on a whiz-bang 
"Multimedia Classic" presenta- 
tion full of rocket ships blast- 
ing off, kindergartners' digital 
videos, and New Age music 
composed by deaf children. 

So if you're in an airport in 
the coming months, watch for 
me. I'm the small bearded 
man, rushing from one airport 
gate to the next, carrying two 
small duffel bags, trailing 
green and red Radio Shack ca- 
bles, and spilling stacks of CD- 
ROMs and disks on the floor 
behind me. 

It's a dirty, sweaty job, but 
some day, peopie will look at 
their gleaming multimedia TVs 
and remember the early days 
of multimedia, back to the 
days of spaghetti-like cables, 
the multimedia boxes that nev- 
er seemed to work together. If 
you jog their memories, they 
may even recall a little man 
with a vision — the guy they 
called the Road Warrior. □ 



PROGRAMS 



32 SPRITES 



By Bill Soudan 

As far as games go, most 64 users are 
aware that they normally are limited to hav- 
ing eight sprites (or MOBs, Movable Ob- 
ject Blocks) to manipulate. There are pro- 
grams, hov/ever, that can double or even 
triple the eight-sprite limit, but these pro- 
grams often impose restrictions or 
cause annoying flicker — making the ex- 
tra sprites almost worthless. 

Thirty-two Sprites lets you quadruple 
the 64's sprite limit without losing any flex- 
ibility while keeping flicker to the barest 
minimum. Thirty-two Sprites can handle 
up to 32 sprites at a time, and each 
sprite can be placed anywhere on the 
screen! 

Thirty-two Sprites is a BASIC program 
that lets you create a customized ma- 
chine language routine for up to 32 
sprites. To help avoid typing errors, en- 
ter 32 Sprites with The Automatic Proof- 
reader; see "Typing Aids" elsewhere in 
this section. Be sure to save a copy of the 
program before you run it. 

Getting Started 

Load and run 32 Sprites. After a short 
pause, a main menu will come up. 
This is where you can customize al- 
most every aspect of 32 Sprites. To 
change an item on the menu, type in 
the number in front of the parameter 
you want to change and press Return. 
If the parameter can be turned on and 
off, the program will first prompt you for 
the desired setting. Next, the program 
will ask you the new memory location. 
You can enter the new location in ei- 
ther hex (by preceding it with a dollar 
sign) or in decimal. You may simply 
press Return if you wish to leave the pro- 
gram at its default location. 

Menu Selections 

The first item in the menu is Starting Ad- 
dress. This simply specifies the mem- 
ory location where the machine lan- 
guage code for 32 Sprites will begin in 
memory. The next eight menu items cor- 
respond to the computer's sprite regis- 
ters. Each of these can be turned on or 
off, and each can also place the shad- 
ow registers anywhere in memory. 

Because there are only enough reg- 
isters in the VIC chip for eight sprites, 
32 Sprites must set aside a section of 



memory to handle 32 sprites. The hex 
and decimal addresses listed next to 
each of the sprite parameters indicate 
where in memory the shadow registers 
of that particular parameter will start. 
You can place these shadow regis- 
ters anywhere in memory. For exam- 
ple, the default Y position shadow reg- 
isters start at 52992 (SCFOO). To 
change sprite 1's Y position, simply 
poi<e 52992 (SCFOO) with the desired Y 
position. Each consecutive memory lo- 
cation controls the next consecutive 
sprite number. To change sprite 2's Y 
position, poke 52993 (SCFOI) with the 
desired number. This continues to loca- 
tion 53023 ($CF1F), which controls 
sprite 32's Y position. 

Temp Page 

The next menu item is Temp Page. 
This is a workspace m memory 256 
bytes long, required to sort the sprites 
from the least Y position to the greatest 
Y position. All 256 bytes are used, and 
this area of memory should not be 
used by any other program. 

Order Table 

Order Table is the next menu item. 
This is a 32-byte area needed by 32 
Sprites to hold the order of the sprites 
after they are sorted. 

Extra Y Table 

Because 32 Sphtes uses interrupts to 
function, changing a sprite's Y position 
while the VIC chip is drawing will 
cause that particular sprite to flicker 
and possibly will cause other sprites to 
flicker as well. The Extra Y Table is a 
copy of the Y position shadow regis- 
ters, and it is used by the interrupt rou- 
tine to prevent flicker. Again, this 32- 
byte area should not be used. 

How Many Sprites? 

The tast menu item lets you determine 
the maximum number of movable ob- 
ject blocks or sprites that you want to 
use at one time. This number can be 
changed to 16, 24, or 32. Note that 
changing this register changes the 
length of the shadow registers. If 32 
Sprites is set to 16 sprites, only IB shad- 
ow registers are needed. This should al- 
ways be set to the maximum number 
of sprites which you plan to use in 
your program. 



Generating 32 Sprites 

After you've set the parameters for 
your sprites, it's time to generate 32 
Sprites, which is a machine language 
routine. This is item 14 on the menu. 

A minute or two after selecting this 
option, the program wilt generate the 
code and supply you with its starting 
and ending addresses in both decimal 
and hex and with information on how to 
enable and disable 32 Sprites. The pro- 
gram will ask you if you'd like to save 
the ML routine to disk. Respond with / 
or W 

If you wish to save 32 Sprites to 
disk, press Y and the program will 
prompt you for a filename. Type in 
your choice of a filename and hit Re- 
turn. Make sure a disk is in the drive. 
Be careful because the program 
doesn't check for disk errors. 

After the program is saved or after 
pressing N at the save prompt, the pro- 
gram will ask if you want to print an in- 
formation sheet. The info sheet is sim- 
ply a listing of the starting and ending 
addresses of the ML routine; the SYS 
addresses that enable and disable 32 
Sprites; and a copy of the main menu 
parameters, with the on/off status and 
address. If you'd like a copy, turn on 
your printer and press Y. Once the print- 
out is completed or after hitting N, the 
program will clear the screen and end. 
The 32 Sprites machine language is 
now in memory and ready to be used. 

Your Own Programs 

With 32 Sprites, you can now write 
your own BASIC programs that contain 
up to 32 sprites. Before calling the SYS 
address to start 32 Sprites, your pro- 
gram must clear out the shadow regis- 
ters; otherwise, a screen full of gar- 
bage sprites will appear on the screen 
when 32 Sprites starts. You can do 
this by poking Os into the shadow regis- 
ters with something like the following. 

100 FOR J=0 TO 31: POKE 52g92+J,0: NEXT 

This line will set each sprite's Y position 
to 0. Don't forget to do this to any oth- 
er shadow registers which are being 
used, too. 

Once all registers have been 
cleared and/or set up as desired, use 
SYS and the starting address of the ma- 
chine language program. Thirty-two 

AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-25 



PROGRAMS 



sprites will enable raster interrupts, 
clear out the temp page, and begin to 
operate. 

The best way to handle the shadow 
registers is to define a variable at the 
beginning of the program with the reg- 
isters' location. Here's an example. 

110 YP0S=5Z992: REM Y POSITION 
SHADOWS 

Then to change any given sprite's Y po- 
sition, use the POKE command. 

120 POKE YPOS+5,100: REM SPRITE 6'S 
YPOS 

Note that you subtract 1 from the 
sprite's actual number. To change 
sprite 32's Y position, you'd add 31 to 
the YPOS. To change sprite 1 's Y po- 
sition, you could use YPOS plus 0, or 
simply YPOS. 

The shadow registers of High X bit, 
X expand, Multicolor, and Priority oper- 
ate a bit differently. Each of these reg- 
isters can be either off (by poking 
them with a 0) or on (by poking them 
with any number other than 0). 

Each of the sprite parameters you 
turned on before generating 32 
Sprites with its BASIC generator can 
be changed for each sprite by using 
the corresponding shadow register. 
Note that 32 Sprites doesn't change 
any registers in the VIC chip which you 
turned off before generating 32 
Sprites. 

For example, multicolor can still be 
used even if you didn't turn it on from 
32 Sprite's main menu. However, be- 
cause you told 32 Sprites to leave the 
register off, its shadow registers won't 
work, and you won't be able to tell 32 
Sprites v/hich sprites are multicolor and 
which are not. But you can change the 
actual register in the VIC chip. 

For example, if you decide before- 
hand that you are going to design all of 
your sprites in multicolor mode, you 
could turn off the multicolor shadow reg- 
isters before generating and then tell 
the VIC chip to display all sprites that 
it draws in multicolor by using POKE 
53276,255. 

32 Sprites won't interfere with the mul- 
ticolor register, and the VIC will display 
all eight sprites as multicolor. In order 
to display more sprites, 32 Sprites 

G-26 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



tricks the VIC into displaying either two, 
three, or four sets of eight sprites on 
the same screen. The VIC believes it's 
displaying eight sprites in all, and it dis- 
plays them in multicolor. 

Thirty-two Sprites can handle up to 
the maximum number of sprites you 
set for it on the main menu. Every sin- 
gle sprite can be displayed anywhere 
on the screen. Displaying more than 
eight sprites on a horizontal row could 
cause flickering and some distortion. 
Thirty-two Sprites operates at its best 
when the sprites are spaced out along 
the y-axis. Careful designing of game 
screens will prevent too many sprites 
on one row. 

You may have noticed there wasn't 
a shadow register which turns a sprite 
on or off. To do this with 32 Sprites, sim- 
ply set the corresponding sprite's Y po- 
sition to 0. This tells 32 Sprites you 
don't wish to have that sprite drawn. 

Hints end Tips 

Vl^hile greatly enhancing the 64's graph- 
ics capabilities, 32 Sprites is a ma- 
chine language routine which does 
take up processor time. The more 
sprites displayed on the screen and 
the more parameters set to on, the slow- 
er the computer runs. The best way to 
conserve speed is to cut down on the 
number of sprites. Of course, whenev- 
er you need all 32 sprites, this will not 
be possible. 

The other way to increase the 
speed of the computer is to turn off 
any unneeded sprite parameters. In 32 
Sprites' machine language routine, on- 
ly the parameters turned on are updat- 
ed by the program. The rest are left to 
the VIC chip to handle. Although it 
takes a minimal amount of time to copy 
a value from a shadow register to the 
corresponding VIC register, it becomes 
noticeable when you multiply this time 
by 32. 

The parameters which bog down 
the computer the most are the High X 
bit, X expand. Multicolor, and Priohty. 
Do without them whenever you can. Al- 
though the High X bit cannot usually 
be done without, Priority is rareiy used 
and can usually be set to off. 

The next way to conserve processor 
time is to place the sprites nearer the 
top of the screen. Thirty-two Sprites be- 
gins at the top of the screen and search- 



es down until it finds the number of 
sprites for which it was set. By placing 
the sprites closer to the top, 32 
Sprites will have to do less searching 
and use less processor time. 

You may notice some distortion of 
the tops and bottoms of the sprites 
when you're using 32 of them. This is 
because the computer may be too 
slow to update the VIC registers as 
fast as needed when the sprites are in 
certain positions. The best way to 
avoid this is to leave the top and bot- 
tom row or two of the sprite definitions 
blank. 

Because 32 Sprites is a raster inter- 
rupt, it does change the interrupt vec- 
tor at $0314-$0315. Machine language 
programmers can still use another inter- 
rupt, as long as it doesn't use another 
raster interrupt. Every Veo second, like 
the normal timer interrupt, and after all 
the sprites on the screen have been 
drawn, 32 Sprites jumps to the normal 
interrupt routine, usually located at 
$EA31 , This JMP is located at the start- 
ing address plus $61. It can easily be 
changed to jump to your own interrupt 
routine instead. Just remember to end 
your interrupt with JMP $EA31. 

Although 32 Sprites provides im- 
proved sprite capability and flexibility, 
it's not infallible. Placing the sprites in 
certain positions can often cause flick- 
er or cause some sprites to disappear. 
The best way to prevent flicker is to de- 
sign playing screens which space the 
sprites out along the y-axis. 

Since the VIC chip is actually limited 
to eight sprites, 32 Sprites divides all of 
the sprites into eight-sprite chunks and 
displays each chunk as one group. 
You still cannot display more than 
eight sprites on a horizontal line be- 
cause of the VIC chip's limitations. If 
you decide to put more than eight on 
one row, 32 Sprites will do its best to 
display more than eight sprites per hor- 
izontal line. 

How It Works 

Thirty-two Sprites works by use of the 
VIC chip feature called raster inter- 
rupts. The computer screen is redrawn 
every Veo second. After one screen is 
drawn but before the next one begins, 
32 Sprites quickly sorts the sprites in or- 
der from lowest Y position to highest Y 
position. On the screen, that is from 



the sprite closest to the top to the one 
closest to the bottom. 

The program then displays the top- 
most eight sprites and tells the ViC 
chip to let 32 Sprites know when these 
sprites have been drawn. Once the 
VIC chip alerts 32 Sprites, the screen 
is only partially redrawn. The topmost 
eight sprites have been drawn, but the 
rest of the screen hasn't been drawn 
yet. So 32 Sprites puts the next eight 
sprites into the VIC's registers, and 
they are drawn. This process repeats 
for each series of eight sprites. 

A Demonstration 

To give you some idea of 32 Sprites's 
power, try this demonstration program. 
The demo consists of a BASIC pro- 
gram and machine language sprite da- 
ta. Before you can run the demo, how- 
ever, you must generate 32 Spritess. 
Load and run the main BASIC pro- 
gram. Once the menu comes up, type 
14 and hit Return, When the program 
asl<s you if you want to save to disk, an- 
swer /and type in 32 for the filename. 
This is the name the demo searches 
for when it runs. Don't print out the In- 
formation sheet at this time. 

To help avoid typing errors, enter 
the demo with The Automatic Proofread- 
er. Save the program, before you try to 
run it. 

Sprite data is written in machine lan- 
guage. Enter it with MLX, our machine 
language entry program. Again, see 
"Typing Aids." When MLX prompts, re- 
spond with the following addresses. 

Starting address: C3A0 
Ending address: CAFF 

Since the demo automatically loads 
this data, save it with the filename 32 
DEMO.ML. Make sure that this file and 
32 are all on the same disk as the de- 
mo. Control the demonstration with a 
joystick plugged into port 2. 

32 Sprites 

KX 100 REM COPYRIGHT 1993 - CO 
HPUTE PUBLICftTIONS - RL 
L RIGHTS RESERVED 

HB 110 REM WRITTEN BY BILL SOU 
DAN 

HA 120 REM 

KC 130 POKE53281,0:POKE53280,0 
:PRINT"{CLR)" :ZP=191 

XX 140 PRINT"{CYN}{CLRl {H}(tJ} 



{BLUlfOfCYN} 
{14 SPACi;S}32 SPRITES " 
POKE 1063, 10 3: POKE 553 35, 
6 

PRINT"CBLU}i39 T>{LEFT} 
{INSTXT}" 

PRIMT:PRINTTAB(15) "<3}M 
A IN MENU" 

PRINT:DIH P$(12) ,P(12,1 
) ,HS(16) 

X$="0123 4 567 89ABCDEP" 
F0RJ=1T016:H5 (J-1)=MID5 
(XS,J,1) :NEXT 
FORJ=0TO12:READP$ (J) : NE 
XT 

DATA "STARTING ADDRESS" 
,"Y POSITION", "X POSITI 
ON" ,"HIGH X BIT" 
DATA "X EXPAND", "COLOR" 
, "MULTICOLOR" , "PRIORITY 
",''^£OINTER" 

DATA "TEMP PAGE", "ORDER 
TABLE", "EXTRA V TABLE" 
,"MAX # OF MOB S" 
FORJ=0TO12:READ P(J,0), 
P{J,1) :NBXT 

DATA 3,49152,3,52992,1, 
53024 

DATA 1,53056,2,53088,1, 
53120 

DATA 2,53152,2,53184,1, 
53216 

DATA 3,52736,3,52672,3, 
52704 
DATA 3,32 

FORP=0TO12:GOSUB1200 :N 
EXT 

PRINT" {YEL}14) {CVM}GE 
NERATE {WHT}32 SPRITES" 
W$="{HOME} {21 DOWN)" 
GOSUB1360:PRINTWS; :INPU 
T"t3}Y0UR CHOICE" ;C$ 
C=VAL(C$) :IFC<10RC>14TH 
EN340 

IFO12THEN470 
IFP (C-1,0)=3THEN423 
GOSUB136g:PRINTW5; :PRIH 
T"{3>SELECT: ";P$(C-1); 
" {WHT}1.<3} ON 
{2 SPACESH3J2. {WHT} 
{2 SPACES }OFF" 
GETAS: IFA$<>"1"ANDA$<>" 
2"THEN390 

IFAS="1"THENP(C-1,0)=1 
IFA$="2"THENP(C-l,a)=2 
GOSUB1360:PRINTWS; :ML$= 
"-1":INPUT"<3}NEW MEMOR 
Y LOCATION" ;ML$ 
IFLEFTS (MLS,1) ="$"ANDLE 
N (ML$) =5THENDS=MLS:G0SU 
B1340 :HL=D:GOTO450 
ML=VAL (MLS) : IFHL<0ORML> 
65535THEN460 

HG 450 P{C-1,1)=ML 

SS 460 P=C-1:GOSUB1200:GOTO340 

JF 470 IFC=14THEN510 



HP 


150 


DK 


160 


FP 


179 


RG 


180 


CE 


190 


RJ 


200 


RQ 


210 


EG 


220 


EP 


230 


DX 


240 


PM 


250 


FK 


260 


HE 


270 


QC 


280 


GB 


290 


EM 


300 


JM 


310 


RC 


320 


HR 


330 


EB 


340 


AA 


350 


JG 


360 


RA 


370 


AF 


383 



GD 390 

AR 400 
BJ 410 
CR 420 



JF 430 



JA 440 



AF 


510 


HQ 


520 


KK 


530 


DM 


540 


KB 


550 


KR 


560 


MM 


570 


GF 


580 


KG 


590 



CJ 480 GOSUB1360:PRINTWS; :PRIN 

T"{3}SELECT: {WHT}1.'C3} 
16 {WHT}2.'(3} 24 {WHT} 

3. {33- 32" 
EP 490 GETA$: IFAS<>"1"ANDA$<>" 

2"ANDA5<>"3"THEN490 
AG 500 P(12,1)=(VAL(A$)*8)+8:G 

OTO460 

REM GENERATE ML CODE 

RD=P(0,1) 

GOSUB1370 

PRINT" {HOME} {11 DOWN) 

{CYN)"TAB (12) "GENERATIN 

G ML. . ." 

DEF FNH (X>=INT{X/256) 

DEF FNL(X)=X-(FNH (X)*25 

6) 

PRINT" {DOWN}"TAB (9) "I.NI 

TIALIZATION CODE..." 

HP=a:GOSUBl440 

F0RJ=1T0P (12, l)/8: PRINT 

TAB (12) "RASTER HANDLER" 

;J:GOSUB1560:NEXT 
BB 600 AD=AD-34:DA$="A9FA8D12D 

0A9 008D00004C31EA":GOSU 

B1430 
XK 605 POKEAD-5,FNL(P(0,l)+ia0 

) :P0KEAD-4,FNH (P(0,l)+1 

00) 

GOSUB 1907 

DI=AD:DAS="78A9318D14 3 

A9EA8D150 3A9003D15D08D1 

AD0A9818D0DDCA90 0eD0DDC 

A993" 

DA$=DA5+"20D2FF5860":GO 

SUB143a 

GOSU81370 : PRINT" {HOME ) 

{7 D0WNl"TAB(16)"C0MPLE 

TG . " 
AS 620 PRINTTAB (5) "{2 DOWN}BEG 

INNING ADDRESS; "; :D=P{0 

,1) :GOSUB1300 
PF 630 PRINTP(0,1) ;" S"+AS:PRI 

NTTAB (5) "ENDING ADDRESS 

:{3 SPACES}"; :D=AD:GOSU 

B1300 
632 PRINTAD;" 9"+AS 

635 PRINT" {down} ENABLE 32 
{SPACE}SPRITES: 
{3 SPACES}"; :D=P(0,1) :G 
OSUB1300 

636 PRINT"SYS_";P (0,1) ; " (JM 
P{SHIFT-SPACE}$" + A$+") " 

637 PRINT" DISABLE 32 SPRIT 

ES:{2 SPACES} "; :D=DI : GO 
SUBl30a 

638 PRINT"SYS";DI;" ( JMP 
{SHIFT-SPACE}5"+AS+") " 

640 PRINTTAB{13) "{2 DOWN}SA 
VE 32 SPRITES ML?" 

650 GETA5;IFA$<>"Y"ANDA5<>" 
N"THEN650 

660 IFAS="N"THEN7ia 

670 GOSUB1370:PRINT"{HOHE} 
{7 D0WN3"TAB(5) "ENTER F 
ILENAHE:"; :OPENl,0 : INPU 
T#1,F$:CL0SE1 



JD 


607 


HK 


608 


HJ 


609 


HP 


610 



JA 
QJ 



JP 
QH 

FX 

AM 

KP 

RE 
KS 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-Z7 



PROGRAMS 



JD 680 print:printtab(15) " 

{2 DOWN} SAVING. ..." 
DQ 690 SYS57812 F$, 8 ,1 : POKE193 

,FNL (P(0,1) ) :P0KE194,FN 

H (P(0,1) ) :POKE174,FNL(A 

D + 1) 
XM 700 POKE175,FNH{AD+l) ;SYS 6 

2957 
KG 710 GOSUB1370: PRINT" (HOME) 

{10 DOWN)"TAB (10) "PRINT 
OUT INFO SHEET?" 
RP 720 GETfiS:IFA$<>"Y"ANDA$<>" 

N"THEN720 
SC 730 IFA5="N"THENPRINT"{CLR) 

":END 
K^S 740 GOSUB1370:PRINT"{HOME} 

{10 D0WN}"TAB(14) "PRINT 

ING. ..." 
MR 750 OPEN4,4,7:PRINT#4:PRINT 

#4:PRINT#4 
KE 760 PRIOT#4,SPC(23) "32 SPRI 

TES " 
QH 770 PRINT#4:PRINT#4:PRINT#4 
DG 780 PRrNT#4,SPC(23) "STARTIN 

G ADDRESS:"; :D=P (0,1) ;G 

OSUB1303 
GE 790 PRINT#4,P(0,1) ;" $"+A5: 

PRINT#4,SPC (23) "ENDING 

{SPACE}ADDRESS: 

{2 SPACES}"; :D»AD:GOSUB 

1300 
CK 800 PRINTi4,AD;" 5"+A$:PRIH 

T#4 
QX 802 PRINT#4,SPC(19)"SNABLE 

{SPACE}32 SPRITES: 

{3 SPACES}"; :D=P(0,1) :G 

OSUB1300 
SA 804 PRlOTt4,"SYS";P(g,l) ;" 

{SPACE} (JMP 

{SHIFT-SPACE}$"+A$+") " 
HC 806 PRINT#4,SPC (19) "DISABLE 
32 SPRITES: {2 SPACES}" 

; ;D=DI:GOSUB1300 
ES 808 PRINTtt4,"SYS";DI;" (JMP 

{SHIFT-SPACE}S"+AS+") ": 

PR1NT#4:PRINT#4 
BR 810 F0RJ=1T012:PRINT#4,SPC( 

16) ;P5(J) ;SPC(20-LEN{P$ 

(J))); 

AF 820 IFP(J,0)=3THENPRINTt4," 

N/A"; 
MX 830 IFP(J,0) =2THENPRINT#4," 

OFF" ; 
GJ 840 IFP(J,9)=1THENPRINT«4," 

ON "; 
RR 850 PRINT#4,SPC(5) ;P (J,l) ; : 

D=P(J,1) :GOSUB1300 
RX 860 PRINT#4,SPC(10-LEN (STRS 

(P(J,1)))) ;"S"+A$:NEXT 
BQ 870 PRINT#4:CL0SE4:END 
PJ 880 DATA 78,A9,<0+72,8D,14, 

03,A9,>0+72 
FS 890 DATA 8D,15,03,A9,7F,8D, 

0D,DC,A9,01 
EJ 990 DATA 8D,1A,D0,AD,11,D0, 

29,7F,8D,11 
JB 910 DATA D0,A9,FA,8D,12,D0, 



A9,00,8D 
SF 920 DATA <0+100, >0+100 , A9,F 

F,A2,00,9D 
FH 930 DATA <9,>9,E8,D0,FR,A9, 

FF,8D,15,D0 
RR 940 DATA 58,60,01,02,04,08, 

10,20,40,80 
DR 950 DATA FE,FD,FB ,F7 ,EF, DF, 

BF,7F,A9,01 
HK 960 DATA 8D,19,Da,AD,<O+100 

,>a+100,0A 
XB 970 DATA A8,B9,<0+101,>0+10 

l,eD,<0+95 
SC 980 DATA >0+95,B9,<0+102,>0 

+102, 9D 
8Q 990 DATA <0+96 , >0+96 ,4C,FF, 

FF,4C,31,EA 
KM 1000 DATA 00,<0+lll,>0+lll, 

00,00,00,00 
DH 1010 DATA 00 , 01 , 00, 00 , A2 , 00 

,BD,<1,>1,C9,1D,90,0E, 

A8 
GB 1020 DATA B9 , <9 , >9 , 30 , 04 ,C8 

,4C,<0+121 
DS 1030 DATA >0+121 , 8A, 99 , <9 , > 

9,E8,E0,<C 
HD 1040 DATA 90 , E6 , A2 , 00 , A0 , ID 

,B9,<9,>9,10 
BA 1050 DATA 4F,C8 , B9 , <9, >9 , 10 

,49,C8,B9,<9 
DK 1060 DATA >9,10,43,C8,B9,<9 

,>9,10,3D,C8 
XB 1070 DATA B9 , <9 , >9 , 10, 37 ,C8 

,B9,<9,>9,10 
DD 1080 DATA 31 ,C8 ,B9 , <9 , >9 , 10 

,2B,C8,B9,<9 
SM 1090 DATA >9,10,25,C8,B9,<9 

,>9,10,1F,C8 
AA 1100 DATA B9 , <9 , >9 , 10 , 19 ,C8 

,B9,<9,>9,10 
AC 1110 DATA 13,C8,B9,<9,>9,10 

,0D,C8,B9,<9 
GH 1120 DATA >9,10,07,C8,C0,1D 

,B0,AE,90,0F 
CC 1130 DATA 9D,<A,>A,A9,FF,99 

,<9,>9,E3,E0 
RB 1140 DATA <C,90,A4,B0,18 
RS 1142 DATA E0,08,B0,05,BC,<0 

+56,>0+56 
EE 1144 DATA 88 , 2C, A0 ,FF, 8C, 15 

,D0 
CD 1149 DATA A9,FF,9D,<A,>A 
BH 1150 DATA E8,E0,<C,90,F8,EE 

,<0+100 
BM 1160 DATA >0+100 , A2 , <C,CA 
BX 1170 DATA BD,<1,>1,9D,<B,>B 

,CA, 10,F7,XX 
PM 1180 END 

DE 1200 POKE214,S+P:PRINT 
BQ 1210 PRINT"{YEL}";P+l!" 

{LEFT}) {CVN}"PS(P) 
FF 1220 PRINT"(UP}"TAB(22) ; 
QJ 1230 IFP(P,0)=1THENPRINT" 

■t3}0N " 
HA 1240 IFP(P,0)=2THENPRINT" 

{4J0FF" 
MC 1250 IFP(P,0)=3THENPRINT" 



SA 


1270 


AX 


1280 


BD 


1290 


KF 


1300 


JA 


1310 


KA 


1320 


JE 


1330 


QP 


1340 


DA 


1350 


JK 


1360 


KB 


1370 


FS 


1380 


(3E 


1390 



{HED}N/A{3}" 

BJ 1260 PRINT"CUP}"TAB{26) ;P(P 
,1);"{5 SPACES}" 
D=P(P,1) ;GOSUB1300 
PRINT"{UP}"TAB(34) "$"; 
AS 

RETURN 

T=INT (D/4 096) :A$=H$(T) 
:D=INT (D-T*4096) 
T=INT (D/256) :A5=AS+H5 ( 
T) :D=INT (D-T*256) 
T=INT (D/16) :B5=A$:A$=A 
S+H5{T) :D=INT (D-T*16) ; 
BS=H$ (T)+H$(D)+BS 
AS'A$+HS{D) :RETURN 
D = 0:FORJ='3TO0STEP-1: Jl 
=ASC(MIDS (DS,5-J,1) ) -4 
8: IFJl>16THENJl=Jl-7 
D=D+(J1*16|J) :NEXT:RET 
URN 

FORX=2lTO24:P0KE781,X: 
SYS 59903:NEXT:RETURN 
FORX=2T024:POKE781,X:S 
YS59903:NEXT:RETURN 
DA$="68F00D":GOSUB14 3 
POKEAD, 18 5: POKEAD+1 ,FN 
L{P{0,l)+56-SB) :POKEAD 
+ 2,FNH {P(0,l)+56-SB) :A 
D=AD+3 

DAS="0D"+AAS+"8D"+AAS+ 
"FO0BD009":GOSUB14 30 
POKEAD,185:POKEAD+l,FN 
L(P(0,l)+64-SB) :POKEAD 
+ 2,FNH (P (0,1) +64 -SB) :A 
D=AD+3 

DAS="2D"+AAS+"8D"+AAS: 
GOSUBl430:RETaRN 
MP=1:F0RJJ=1T0LEN(DAS) 
STEP2:AS=HIDS(DAS,JJ,2 
) :GOSUB1450:NEXT:HP = 0: 
RETURN 

READAS: IFA5="XX"THENRE 
TURN 

IFLEFT$(A5,1)="<"THEN1 
500 

IFLEFT$(AS,1)=">"THEN1 
530 

A1=ASC (LEFTS (AS, 1) ) -4 8 
:A2=ASC (RIGHTS (A5,i) ) - 
48: IFAl>16THENAl=Al-7 
IFA2>16THENA2=A2-7 
P0KEAD,Al*ie+A2:AD=AD+ 
1:0N -(MP=0) GOTO1440 
{SPACE} : RETURN 
PL=0:IPLEN (A5)>2THENPL 
=VAL(MID$ (AS, 4) ) 
WGS»HIDS (AS, 2,1) :WG=VA 
L(WG$) :IFWGS>"@"ANDWGS 
<"D"THENWG=ASC (WG$) -55 

HS 1520 POKEAD,FN L(P(WG,1)+PL 
):AD=AD+1:0N -(MP=0) G 
OTO1440 :RETURN 
1530 PL=0:IFLEN(A$) >2THENPL 

=VAL(MID$ (AS, 4) ) 
1540 WG5=H1D$(AS,2,1) :WG=VA 
L(WG$) ;IFWG$>"@"ANDWG$ 
<"D"THENWG=ASC (WG$) -55 



EG 
FX 

CO 

CJ 



1400 
1410 

1420 
1430 



XM 


1440 


KG 


1450 


AX 


1460 


GS 


1470 


QB 


1480 


SE 


1490 


HK 


1500 


RA 


1510 



SP 

ER 



G-28 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



ER 1550 POKEAD.FN H(P(WG,1)+PL 

):AD=AD+1:0N -(riP = 0) G 

OTO1440 :RETURN 
BH 1560 POKEP(0,l)+iai+J*2,FNL 

(AD) : POKE P (0,1) +132+ J* 

2,FNH (AD) 
GF 1579 DAS="A200R0":IFJ=1THEN 

DA$=DA$+"00":EPS="08": 

SB=0 
HF 1580 IF J=2THENDA$=DAS+"03" 

:EP5="10":SB=8 
DA 1590 IFJ=3THENDA$=DAS+"la": 

EP$="18":SB=16 
QR 1600 IFJ=4THENDA$=DAS+"18": 

EPS="20":SB=24 
BE 1610 DA$=DA$+"84BF":GOSUB14 

30 
AG 1620 IFJ=1THENB1=AD:G0T0166 


,QS 1630 Bl=AD:DAS="B9":GOSUBl4 

30 
AF 1640 POKEAD,FNL(P(10»l)-8) : 

P0KEAD+1,FNH (P(10,l) -S 

) :AD=AD + 2 
AH 1550 DA5="300EA8B9<B>BA4BF1 

a6914CDl2D0B0FB":GOSUB 

1430 
CJ 16fi0 DAS="B9<A>A":GOSUB1430 
GP 1670 DAS="1O034C00O0A8":GOS 

UB1430 
SP 1680 DA$="B9<B>B9DO1D0":GOS 

UB1430 
HK 1690 IFP(2,0)=1THENDA$="B9< 

2>29D00D0":GOSUB1430 
ES 1700 IFP(7,0)=1THENDA$="B9< 

7>743":GOSUB1430 
BF 1710 IFP(4,0)=1THENDA9="B9< 

4>44e":GOSUB1430 
BQ 1720 IFP(6,0)=1THENDA$="B9< 

6>648":GOSUB1430 
GD 1730 IFP(5,0)=lTaENDAS="B9< 

5>543":GOSUB1430 
PP 1740 IFP(3,0)=1THENDAS="B9< 

3>343":GOSUB1430 
XX 1750 IFP(3,0)=1THENDA$="B9< 

8>aA4BF99":GOSOB14 3 
BB 1760 IFP(8,3)=1THENP0KEAD,F 

NL{2040-SB) :P0KEAD+1,F 

NH {2040-SB) :AD = AD + 2 
HS 1770 IFP(3,0)=1THENAA$="10D 

0":GOSUB1380 
QH 1730 IFP(5,0)=1THENDAS="689 

9":GOSUB1430 
PE 1790 IFP(5,0)=1THENPOKEAD,F 

NL(53287-SB) :P0KEAD+1, 

FNH {53287-SB) :AD=AD + 2 
EE 1800 IFP(6,0)=1THENAA5="1CD 

0":GOSUB1380 
XP 1810 IFP(4,0)=1THENAA5="1DD 

0":GOSUB1380 
FP 1820 IFP(7,0)=1THENAAS="1BD 

3":GOSOB1380 
QD 1830 PL=6:IFJ>1THENPL=25 
AF 1840 POKEBl+PL,FNL(AD) ;POKE 

B1+PL+1,PNH (AD) :DA$="E 

8EBC884BFC0"+EP$:GOSUB 

1430 



PQ 1850 
QG 1860 



BS 1870 



QS 1380 



QS 1885 
MK 1893 



XA 1900 



XG 1905 



SO 1997 



BK 1910 
FG 1920 



BE 1930 



D=254- (AD-Bl) 

IFD>129THENGOSUB13 00!D 

A$="D0"+RIGHT$(A5,2) :G 

OSLIB14 30:GOTO1880 

DA9="Fe0 34C":D=Bl:GOSU 

B1300:DAS = DAS+BS:GOSCJB 

1430 

DAS="AD<A>A30iaA8B9<B> 

B38E90 7 8D12D0EE0O0 04CB 

CFEA90 08D009 0A9FA8D12D 

04C31EA" 

GOSUB1430 

POKEAD-3 3,FNL (P(10,l) + 

3+SB) :POKEAD-32,FNH {P ( 

10,l)+8+SB) 

POKEAD-10,FbJL(P{a,l)+l 

00) :P0KEAD-9,FNH (P(0, 1 

)+100) 

POKEAD-ia,FNL(P (0,1)+1 

00) :P0KEAD-17,FNH (P(0, 

1)+100) 

P0KEAD-2,FNL (P (0,1) +97 

) :P0KEAD-1,FMH {P(0,1) + 

97) 

RETURN 

Bl=AD: DAS ="8900 30 3 00EA 

8B9<l>lA4BPia6914CD12D 

0B0FB":GOSUB1430 

P0KEB1+1,FNL(P (10,1) -8 

} :P0KEB1+2,FNH (P(10,l) 

-8) IRETURN 



32 DEMO 

XR 100 REM 32 SPRITES DEMO 

GA 110 REM 

FP 120 PRINT"{CLRHN) {H}":POKE 

53281, 0:POKE53280,0 
EH 125 IFA=0THEN A=l:LOAD"32 D 

EH0.ML",8, 1 
BE 127 IFA=1THEN A=2 : LOAD"32" , 

8,1 
JX 130 REM INITIALIZE 32 SPRIT 

E REGISTERS 
HH 135 DIM C(10) 
EQ 140 Y=52992:X=53024:HX=530S 

6:C=53120 
KE 150 P=53216:PR=53275 
AF 160 FORJ=0TO31:POKEY+J,0:PO 

KEX+J,0:POKEHX+J,0:POKE 

C+J , : POKEP+J , 14 : NEXT 
CS 170 FORJ=0TO63:POKE704+J,0: 

POKE8 32 + J, 0: POKE896 + J , 

:NEXT 
QF 180 FORJ=3T059:POKE332+J,25 

5: NEXT 
KD 190 P0KEPR,255:SYS 50080:3? 

S 49152:POKE53269,255 
PJ 200 DT$="{HOHE] {24 DOWN)" 
SS 210 PRINTLEFT$ (DT$,8) ;TAB (1 

5) "CCYK}32 SPRITES " 
JJ 220 PRINTTAB{9) "i7J-CUST0M 3 

2-£PRITE raster'^ 
EB 230 PRINTTAB(T5) "CONTROLLER 

M 

RB 240 PRINT:PRINTTAB{9) "YOU C 

AN DISPLAY UP TO 32" 
JD 259 PRINTTAB(6) "SPRITES ON 



{space}the screen at an 

Y" 

QS 260 PRINTTAB(7)"TIME. EACH 

{SPACE)SPRITE CAN MOVE" 
CQ 270 PRINTTAB (9) "ANYWHERE ON 

THE SCREEN." 
RK 280 FORCL=1TO10:READC(CL) :N 

EXT: DATA 8,2,9,10,7,1,7 

,10,9,2 
AX 290 FORJ=31TO0STEP-1:POKEP+ 

J,13;FORCL=1TO10:POKEC+ 

J,C (CD ;NEXT:NEXT 
QC 300 GOSUB 1010 
DF 310 GOSUB 1000 
XM 320 PRINTLEFTS(DT$,12) ;TAB{ 

7) "YOU HAVE FULL CONTRO 

L OVER" 
PB 330 PRINTTAB (7) "EVERY SPRIT 

E OPTION EXCEPT" 
AS 340 PRINTTAB (13) "Y-EXPANSIO 

N." 
RQ 350 FORJ=0TO31:POKEC+J,INT ( 

RND(l) *15)+1:NEXT:G0SUB 

1020 
RD 363 FORJ=0TO31:POKEC+J,2:NE 

XT:GOSUB1020 
FG 370 FORJ=0TO63:POKE832+J,0i 

NEXT 
RR 375 FORJ=0TO31:A=INT(RND (1) 

*3)+l:IFA=lTHENPP=13 
EQ 377 IFA=2THENPP=14 
RS 373 IFA=3THENPP=11 
JH 379 POKEP+J, PP:NEXT:CC=85 
DA 380 FORJ=3TO59:POKE704+J,IN 

T (RND(l) *256) :POKE396 + J 

,CC;CC=255-CC:POKE83 2+J 

,255 
KP 385 NEXT 
SK 390 POKE53285,7:POKE53286,1 


FK 400 GOSUB102O:POKE53276,255 

:GOSUB1020:GOSUB1020:PO 

KES3276,0:GOSUB1020 
BA 410 FORJ=0TO31:POKEP+J,13:N 

EXT 
ER 420 GOSUB1020:POKE53277,255 

:GOSUB102 0:POKE53 2 7 7,0 
FS 449 PRINTLEFT$ (DTS,12) ;TAB{ 

5) "MOVE SPRITE #1 

{2 SPACES}WITH JOYSTICK 
II 

JM 450 PRINTTAB (2) "IN PORT 2, 

{2 SPACES 3 PRESS + AND - 
TO CHANGE" 
EF 460 PRINTTAB (3) "SPRITE NUMB 

ER.(2 SPACES]PRESS C TO 
CHANGE" 
FJ 470 PRINTTAB (8) "COLOR. PRES 

S Q TO QUIT." 
BF 480 SYS 50272:POKE254,0:SP= 

1 
GE 490 POKE254,SP-l:PRINTLeFT$ 

(DT$,12) ;TAB(1S) ;MID${S 

TR$(SP) ,2) ;" " 
DG 500 GETA$: IFA9="+"ANDSP<32T 

HENSP=SP+1:G0T0 490 
EH 510 IFA$="-"ANDSP>1THENSP=S 



AUGUST T993 COMPUTE G-29 



PROGRAMS 





P-1:G0T0 490 






0560 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


19 


19 


19 


DD 


EJ 523 


IFA$="C"THENPOKEC+SP 


-1, 


C568 


19 


19 


19 


19 


18 


18 


18 


18 


E4 




(PEEK{C+SP-1)+1)AND15 


0570 


18 


18 


18 


18 


18 


13 


18 


18 


FB 


EG 530 


IFAS<>"Q"THEN500 






C578 


18 


18 


18 


18 


18 


18 


13 


16 


02 


GS 540 


POKE828,0:SYS 828 






C580 


18 


18 


18 


13 


18 


18 


13 


18 


0C 


GG 999 


END 






C588 


18 


18 


18 


18 


18 


18 


13 


13 


14 


DH 1000 


F0RJ=11T024 : POKE731 


.J: 


C590 


18 


18 


18 


19 


19 


19 


19 


19 


3B 




SYS 59903;NEXT:RETORN 


C598 


19 


19 


19 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


62 


DJ 1010 


FORJ=1TO1000:NEXT:RETU 


O5A0 


IB 


IC 


10 


10 


10 


10 


IE 


IE 


Bl 




RN 

FORJ=1TO500:NEXT 

N 






C5A8 


IE 


IE 


20 


20 


20 


20 


21 


21 


B5 


PQ 1020 


SRETUR 


C5B0 
C5B8 


21 
26 


23 
26 


23 

28 


23 

28 


25 
28 


25 
2A 


25 

2A 


25 

2A 


59 
D0 








C5C01 


28 


2B 


2D 


2D 


2D 


2F 


30 


30 


DB 


32 DEMO.ML 






C5C8: 


30 


32 


32 


34 


35 


35 


37 


37 


A6 


C3A0:73 


A9 00 8D 62 C0 A9 


C4 


05 


C5D0: 


39 


39 


3A 


30 


3C 


3E 


3E 


3F 


E8 


C3A8:8D 


63 C0 A2 00 8R 0A 


0A 


5A 


C5D8: 


41 


41 


42 


44 


44 


46 


47 


49 


F4 


C3B0:0A 


0A 9D E0 C4 8A 4A 


4A 


B0 


C5E0: 


4B 


4B 


4C 


4E 


50 


51 


53 


55 


17 


C3B8:4A 


4A 9D C0 C4 E8 E0 


20 


63 


C5Ee: 


56 


58 


SA 


5B 


5D 


5F 


60 


62 


42 


C3C0:90 


EB 58 60 39 00 39 


00 


DS 


C5F0: 


67 


69 


6R 


60 


6F 


71 


76 


79 


46 


C3C8:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


50 


C5F8: 


7C 


80 


83 


86 


90 


97 


A9 


A9 


9B 


C3D0:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


58 


C600: 


A9 


BA 


C0 


CA 


CD 


Dl 


D4 


D7 


0D 


C3DS:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


60 


C60S: 


DB 


E0 


El 


E5 


E6 


E8 


EA 


EE 


F5 


C3E0:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


68 


C610: 


F0 


F2 


F3 


F5 


F7 


F8 


FA 


PC 


47 


C3E8:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


70 


C618: 


FD 


FF 


01 


02 


04 


06 


06 


07 


30 


C3F0:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


78 


C620: 


09 


OB 


0C 


00 


0E 


10 


10 


11 


19 


C3F3:39 


00 39 00 39 00 39 


00 


80 


C628: 


13 


13 


15 


15 


16 


18 


IS 


19 


52 


C4e0:A2 


00 BD C0 C4 D0 24 


BC 


0D 


0630: 


19 


IB 


IB 


ID 


IE 


IE 


20 


20 


10 


C408:E0 


C4 B9 00 C5 9D 20 


CF 


IF 


0638: 


20 


22 


23 


23 


23 


25 


25 


27 


14 


C410:B9 


00 C7 9D 40 CF B9 


00 


FD 


0640: 


27 


27 


28 


28 


28 


2A 


2A 


2C 


ID 


C4ig:C9 


9D 00 CF C8 D0 05 


A9 


28 


C648: 


20 


20 


20 


2D 


2D 


2D 


2F 


2F 


FA 


C42fi:01 


9D C0 C4 98 9D E0 


04 


B7 


0650: 


2F 


31 


31 


31 


31 


32 


32 


32 


E3 


C428:4C 


50 C4 BC E0 C4 B9 


90 


DO 


0658: 


32 


34 


34 


34 


34 


34 


36 


36 


EA 


C430:C6 


9D 20 CF B9 00 C8 


9D 


82 


0660: 


36 


36 


36 


36 


37 


37 


17 


37 


FC 


0438:40 


CF B9 00 CA 9D 00 


CF 


A9 


C668: 


37 


37 


37 


37 


39 


39 


39 


39 


14 


C440:Ca 


C0 FE 90 07 A9 00 


9D 


03 


C670: 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


FD 


C448:C0 


C4 A0 00 98 90 E0 


C4 


39 


C67a: 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


3B 


03 


C450:E8 


E0 20 90 AD 40 31 


EA 


7F 


C680: 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


0E 


C458:30 


00 00 00 00 00 00 


00 


El 


C688- 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


39 


16 


C460:78 


A9 75 8D 62 C0 A9 


C4 


46 


C690; 


39 


39 


39 


37 


37 


37 


37 


37 


DF 


C468:8D 


63 C0 A9 00 85 FD 


85 


DB 


0698: 


37 


37 


36 


36 


36 


36 


36 


36 


E6 


C470:FC 


85 FE 58 60 A6 FE 


AD 


88 


C6A0: 


34 


34 


34 


34 


34 


32 


32 


32 


20 


C478:00 


DC 4A 90 03 FE 00 


CF 


6F 


CSAfi: 


32 


32 


31 


31 


31 


2F 


2F 


2F 


E8 


C480 : 4A 


90 03 DE 00 CF 4A 


90 


06 


C6B0- 


2F 


2D 


2D 


2D 


20 


20 


20 


2A 


2E 


C4B8 : 15 


48 BD 20 CF 18 69 


01 


IB 


C6B8' 


2A 


2A 


28 


28 


28 


27 


27 


25 


BE 


C490 : 9D 


20 CF 90 08 BD 40 


CF 


7B 


C6C0 


25 


25 


23 


23 


22 


22 


20 


20 


BA 


C498 : 49 


01 9D 40 CF 68 4A 


90 


04 


0608 


20 


IE 


ID 


ID 


IB 


IB 


19 


18 


F2 


C4A0: 15 


48 BD 20 CF 38 E9 


01 


B4 


C6D0 


18 


16 


16 


15 


15 


13 


11 


11 


20 


C4A8: 9D 


20 CF 80 08 BD 40 


CF 


95 


C6D3 


10 


10 


0E 


00 


08 


09 


09 


07 


SA 


C4B0:49 


01 90 40 CF 68 4C 


31 


00 


C6E3 


06 


04 


02 


01 


01 


FF 


FD 


FA 


CI 


C4BS :EA 


00 00 00 00 00 00 


00 


B7 


C6E3 


F8 


F8 


F7 


F5 


F3 


F0 


EE 


EB 


BC 


C4C0:01 


01 01 01 01 01 01 


01 


4A 


C6F0 


EA 


E8 


E6 


El 


E0 


DC 


DB 


D7 


33 


C4C8:01 


01 01 01 01 00 00 


00 


4B 


C6F3 


04 


CO 


CA 


CS 


C0 


BA 


A9 


23 


81 


C4D0: 00 


00 00 00 00 00 00 


00 


5A 


0700 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


8F 


C4D8: 00 


00 00 00 00 01 01 


01 


69 


C70B 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


97 


C4E0;3A 


4A 5A 6A 7A 8A 9A 


AA 


E9 


C710 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


9F 


C4E8:BA 


CA DA EA FA 0C 10 


2C 


F8 


0713 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A7 


C4F0: 3C 


4C 5C 6C 7C 80 9C 


AC 


F9 


0720 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


AF 


C4F8;BC 


CC DC EC FC 0C IC 


2C 


FA 


0728 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


B7 


C500 : A9 


97 90 8B 86 83 7C 


79 


05 


0730 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


BF 


C508:76 


74 71 6F 6A 69 67 


65 


3E 


C738 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


C7 


C510 : 62 


60 5D 5B 5A 58 58 


56 


81 


C740 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


CF 


CS18 : 53 


51 50 50 4E 4C 4B 


49 


34 


C748 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


D7 


C520147 


47 46 44 42 41 41 


3F 


07 


0750 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DF 


C528:3F 
C530:37 
C538:30 
C540:2A 
C548:25 
C550:21 
C558:1E 


3E 3C 3C 3A 3A 39 
35 35 34 34 32 30 
2F 2F 2D 2D 2B 2B 
2A 28 28 28 26 26 
25 25 23 23 23 21 
21 20 20 20 IE IE 
IE IC IC IC IC IC 


39 
30 
2B 
26 

21 
IE 
IB 


94 
89 
F7 
3F 
8F 
8E 
64 


0758 
C7 63 
C768 
C770 
0778 
0780 
C788 


;00 
:00 
:00 
:00 
:0O 
:00 
:0O 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


00 

00 

00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


E7 
CF 
F7 
FF 
08 
10 
18 



0790 


.00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


20 


0798 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


28 


C7A0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


C7A8 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


38 


C7B0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


40 


C7B8 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


48 


0700 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


50 


0708 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


58 


C7D0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


60 


C7D8 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


63 


C7E0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


70 


C7E8 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


78 


C7F0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


80 


C7F8 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


83 


C800 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


91 


C308 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


99 


C810 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


Al 


CS18 


00 


00 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


E3 


C820 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


Bl 


C828 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


B9 


CS30 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


0838 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


C9 


ca40- 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


Dl 


C848: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


D9 


0850- 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


El 


0853- 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


E9 


C860: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


Fl 


0868- 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


F9 


C870: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


02 


0878- 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


0A 


Ca80: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


12 


0388: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


lA 


C890: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


22 


08 98: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


2A 


C3A0: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


32 


CSAfl: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


3A 


C8B0: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


42 


C8B3- 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


4A 


C3C0: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


52 


C8C3: 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


5A 


C8D0 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


62 


C8D8 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


6A 


CflEO 


01 


01 


01 


01 


01 


00 


00 


00 


6B 


C8E8 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


7A 


C8F0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


82 


08Fe 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


BA 


C900 


32 


32 


33 


33 


34 


35 


36 


36 


EB 


0908 


37 


33 


33 


39 


3A 


3B 


3B 


3C 


51 


C910 


3C 


3D 


3E 


3F 


3F 


40 


41 


41 


BB 


C918 


42 


43 


44 


44 


45 


45 


47 


47 


7F 


0920 


4 8 


48 


49 


4A 


4B 


40 


40 


4D 


29 


0928 


4D 


4E 


4F 


50 


50 


51 


52 


52 


A3 


0930 


53 


54 


55 


55 


56 


56 


58 


58 


97 


C938 


59 


59 


5A 


5B 


50 


50 


50 


5E 


3D 


C940 


5E 


5F 


60 


61 


61 


62 


62 


63 


B9 


0948 


64 


65 


66 


66 


67 


67 


69 


69 


AF 


C950 


6A 


6A 


6B 


60 


6D 


6D 


6E 


6F 


55 


C958 


6F 


70 


71 


72 


72 


73 


73 


74 


Dl 


C960 


:75 


76 


76 


77 


78 


78 


79 


7A 


A5 


0968 


:7B 


7B 


70 


70 


7E 


7E 


7F 


80 


5D 


C970 


:80 


81 


82 


33 


33 


84 


84 


85 


E9 


0978 


:85 


87 


87 


88 


89 


89 


8A 


3B 


BD 


C980 


:8C 


80 


3D 


8D 


8F 


8F 


90 


90 


74 


0988 


:91 


92 


93 


93 


94 


95 


95 


96 


Fl 


099 


:97 


98 


93 


99 


9A 


9A 


9B 


90 


05 


0998 


:9D 


9D 


9E 


9E 


A0 


A0 


Al 


Al 


8C 


C9A0 


:A2 


A3 


A4 


A4 


A5 


A6 


A6 


A7 


0A 


C9A8 


:A3 


A9 


A9 


AA 


AA 


AB 


AC 


AD 


E5 


C9B0 


:AD 


AE 


AF 


AF 


B0 


Bl 


B2 


B2 


10 


C9B8 


:B3 


B4 


B5 


B5 


B6 


B7 


B7 


B8 


22 



G-30 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



C9C0 


B9 


BA 


BA 


BB 


BB 


BC 


BD 


BE 


FD 


C9CB 


BE 


BF 


C0 


C0 


CI 


C2 


C3 


C3 


34 


C9D0 


C4 


C4 


C6 


C6 


C7 


C7 


C8 


C9 


F5 


C9D8 


CA 


CA 


CB 


CC 


CC 


CD 


CE 


CF 


D5 


CDEB 


CF 


D0 


Dl 


Dl 


D2 


D3 


04 


D4 


4C 


C9E8 


D5 


D5 


D7 


D7 


D8 


D8 


D9 


DA 


0E 


C9F3 


DB 


DB 


DC 


DD 


DD 


DE 


DF 


E0 


ED 


C9Fa 


E0 


El 


El 


E2 


E3 


E4 


E5 


E5 


44 


CA0 


E5 


E4 


E3 


E2 


El 


El 


E0 


E0 


AS 


CA08 


DF 


DE 


DD 


DD 


DC 


DB 


DB 


DA 


C7 


cMa 


D9 


D8 


D8 


D7 


D7 


D5 


D5 


D4 


F7 


CA18 


D4 


D3 


D2 


Dl 


Dl 


D0 


CF 


CF 


C5 


CA20 


CE 


CD 


CC 


CC 


CB 


CA 


CA 


C9 


DF 


CA28 


C3 


C7 


C7 


C6 


C6 


C4 


C4 


C3 


10 


CA3a 


C3 


C2 


CI 


C0 


C0 


BF 


BE 


BE 


DD 


CA38 


BD 


BC 


BB 


BB 


BA 


BA 


B9 


B8 


FB 


CA40 


B7 


B7 


B6 


B5 


B5 


54 


B3 


B2 


6C 


CA48 


B2 


Bl 


B0 


AF 


AF 


AE 


AD 


AD 


F5 


CA50 


AC 


AB 


AA 


AA 


A9 


A9 


AS 


A7 


14 


CA5a 


A6 


A6 


A5 


A4 


A4 


A3 


A2 


Al 


84 


CA60 


Al 


A0 


A0 


9E 


9E 


90 


9D 


9C 


30 


CA68 


9B 


9A 


9A 


99 


93 


98 


97 


96 


4C 


CA70 


95 


95 


94 


93 


93 


92 


91 


90 


9C 


CA78 


90 


8F 


8F 


8D 


SD 


8C 


8C 


8B 


48 


CA80 


8A 


89 


89 


88 


87 


87 


86 


85 


64 


CA88 


84 


84 


83 


33 


32 


31 


30 


80 


05 


CA90 


7F 


7E 


7E 


7C 


7C 


7B 


7B 


7A 


60 


CA98 


79 


78 


78 


77 


76 


76 


75 


74 


7C 


CAA0 


7 3 


73 


72 


72 


71 


70 


6F 


6F 


DD 


CAA8 


6E 


6D 


6D 


6C 


eB 


6 A 


6A 


69 


88 


CAB0 


69 


67 


67 


66 


66 


65 


64 


63 


ID 


CAB 3 


52 


62 


61 


61 


60 


5F 


5E 


5E 


F5 


CAC0 


5D 


5C 


5C 


5B 


5A 


59 


59 


58 


A0 


CAC8 


58 


56 


56 


55 


55 


54 


53 


52 


35 


CAD0 


52 


51 


50 


50 


4F 


4E 


4D 


4D 


3E 


CADS 


4C 


4C 


4B 


4A 


49 


48 


48 


47 


F8 


CAE0 


47 


45 


45 


44 


44 


43 


42 


41 


4D 


CAE3 


41 


40 


3F 


3F 


3E 


3D 


3C 


3C 


A6 


CAF0 


3B 


3B 


3A 


39 


38 


38 


37 


36 


15 


CAF8 


36 


35 


34 


33 


33 


32 


32 


39 


B0 



Bill Soudan manipulates sprites in Gi- 
rard. Pennsylvania. 

MIDWAY COMMAND 

By Michael Sedlezky 
Midway Command is a two-player strat- 
egy game for the 64. You and a friend as- 
sume the roles of American and Japa- 
nese naval commanders during World 
Warn. 

Experience the Battle of Midway as 
each of you orders your powerful carrier 
forces into battle with each other. Your flo- 
tilla is made up of battleships, cruisers, de- 
stroyers, and aircraft carriers. There are 
14 vessels per side. Winning the game is 
accomplished by sinking your enemy's 
carrier. Your ships battle each other with 
cannon shells. 

Midway Command is written entirely in 
machine language, but it loads and runs 
like a BASIC program. To enter it, use 
MLX, our machine language entry pro- 



gram. See "Typing Aids" elsewhere in 
this section. When MLX prompts, re- 
spond with the following values. 

Starting address: 0S01 
Ending address: 1680 

The game is played on a grid 
that resembles a standard checker- 
board. Each occupied square con- 
tains a marker that indicates a 
ship. The American marker is 
black, and the Japanese marker is 
white. 

Use your joystick in port 2 to po- 
sition the game's cursor to select a 
square of your choice. As the cur- 
sor moves over a square, a view of 
the ship is displayed along with its 
type and two scale bars. 

Ship Strength 

One scale represents the ship's 
strength. This scale represents the 
amount of damage the ship can with- 
stand. As the scale decreases in 
size, the ship is in danger of sink- 
ing. Damage inflicted on any ship 
cannot be repaired. 

Ship Firepower 

The firepower scale represents the 
amount of damage the ship's guns 
will inflict on an enemy vessel's 
strength. This scale will increase if 
this ship fires the blow that sinks an 
enemy ship. As a ship gains expe- 
rience, it becomes a deadlier fight- 
ing vessel. 

Playing the Gome 

The game is played in turns. Each 
player has the option either to 
move or to attack. The American 
commander starts first. You choose 
one of your ships by selecting it 
with the cursor and then pressing 
the fire button. You then have the op- 
tion either to move or to fight by 
pressing a function key Follow on- 
screen directions. 

You finish a turn by selecting a tar- 
get square. The cursor is a green 
shade if the target square is within 
legal boundaries. In order for you to 
move onto a square, it must be un- 
occupied and within range. The bor- 
der flashes red if you attempt an il- 
legal move. 



Moving and Firing 

All ships can move at least one square 
in any direction. Destroyers can move 
two. 

To attack, you must select an enemy 
ship that is within firing range. Each 
ship has different ranges, and you can 
fire in any direction. The carrier cannot 
fire. A destroyer can fire a distance of 
only one square. Cruisers can fire two 
squares only; they cannot fire one 
square. A battleship can fire one or 
two squares. The battleship is your 
strongest piece, followed by the cruis- 
ers and then by destroyers. Protect 
your carrier at all times. 

Game Hints 

Whenever possible, force the enemy to 
move into your range of fire so you can 
get first shot. Use your cruiser or bat- 
tleship to finish off an enemy so you 
can increase your stronger piece's fire- 
power. 

Fight cruisers with destroyers. Use 
the destroyers' two-square advantage 
to jump to an adjoining square where 
the cruiser can't fire on you. 

If your opponent takes a defensive 
strategy, analyze the setup and probe 
the weakest side with your destroyers. 
Attack from different sides and try to 
draw the ships out of position. 

MIDWAY COMMAND 



0801 


ac 


03 


01 


00 


9E 


20 


33 


33 


4S 


0BO9 


32 


39 


00 


00 


00 


00 


27 


ID 


EB 


0811 


13 


09 


ID 


27 


27 


27 


ID 


ID 


30 


0819 


27 


27 


27 


27 


00 


00 


26 


24 


4E 


0821 


22 


28 


24 


26 


26 


26 


24 


24 


69 


0829 


26 


26 


2S 


26 


00 


19 


03 


00 


67 


0831 


00 


80 


00 


FA 


0B 


0F 


0C 


00 


BD 


0839 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


SF 


00 


68 


0841 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


51 


0849 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


0a 


00 


00 


59 


0851 


00 


00 


18 


00 


00 


82 


80 


00 


6F 


0859 


AA 


40 


02 


7C 


83 


05 


FF 


40 


2F 


0861 


00 


7C 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


90 


0869 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


79 


0871 


00 


00 


00 


00 


oa 


00 


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31 


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00 


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87 


00 


98 


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00 


00 


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91 


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30 


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99 


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01 


00 


00 


03 


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33 


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B8 


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FF 


00 


79 


FF 


00 


3F 


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41 


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FF 


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FF 


3F 


FF 


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0F 


FF 


C3 


03A9 


FF 


07 


FF 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


7B 


08B1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


CI 


08B9 


00 


00 


00 


m 


00 


00 


80 


00 


CA 


08C1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


Dl 


08C9 


80 


00 


00 


CO 


00 


00 


80 


00 


27 


08D1 


00 


D0 


00 


00 


90 


00 


00 


D7 


72 


08D9: 


C0 


00 


FF 


9C 


00 


FF 


FF 


80 


94 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-31 



PROGRAMS 



08E1 


:FF 


FE 


30 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


B7 


0BH 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


27 


0D41 


OE 


9D 


07 


21 


CA 


D0 


F7 


A9 


EF 


08E9 


IFF 


FF 


FF 


FE 


00 


00 


00 


00 


E9 


0B19 


03 


01 


00 


04 


03 


00 


33 


CF 


02 


3D49 


93 


29 


D2 


FF 


20 


D7 


11 


A9 


BB 


08F1 


.00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


02 


0B21 


7F 


0F 


FF 


7F 


FF 


FF 


3F 


FF 


31 


3D51 


OB 


8D 


35 


08 


20 


90 


13 


A2 


87 


08F9 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


80 


00 


0B 


0B29 


FF 


OF 


FF 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


0D59 


OD 


BD 


A9 


OE 


9D 


19 


04 


A9 


82 


0901 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


13 


0B31 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


47 


3D61 


37 


9D 


19 


08 


CA 


10 


F2 


20 


B3 


0909 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


IB 


0B39 


03 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


8F 


00 


6E 


3D69 


F7 


15 


A9 


00 


8D 


12 


CF 


8D 


DS 


0911 


03 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


23 


0B41 


03 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


00 


00 


57 


9D71 


13 


CF 


80 


19 


CF 


8D 


2D 


CF 


2B 


0919 


03 


01 


00 


00 


IF 


7F 


0C 


CF 


4A 


0B49 


03 


09 


09 


00 


00 


00 


03 


00 


5F 


0D79 


80 


2E 


CF 


8D 


76 


16 


A2 


00 


17 


0921 


3F 


FF 


FF 


IF 


FF 


FF 


OF 


FF 


E2 


0B51 


30 


83 


03 


30 


CO 


00 


03 


D3 


66 


0DS1 


AO 


IB 


20 


A5 


OF 


23 


3A 


10 


BE 


0929 


FF 


07 


FF 


FF 


00 


03 


03 


30 


FC 


3B59 


90 


93 


93 


90 


99 


F8 


E2 


00 


35 


0D89 


AD 


12 


CF 


D0 


DO 


A9 


00 


80 


29 


9931 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


33 


00 


30 


43 


3B61 


FF 


FC 


00 


FF 


FF 


F0 


FF 


FF 


7A 


0D91 


19 


CF 


AD 


0C 


CF 


F0 


11 


20 


27 


0939 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


80 


00 


4C 


0H69 


F0 


FF 


FF 


F3 


00 


03 


00 


00 


07 


0D99 


47 


OE 


20 


C3 


11 


A9 


09 


80 


E9 


0941 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


30 


90 


00 


53 


0B71 


00 


00 


03 


90 


33 


03 


00 


03 


37 


0DA1 


35 


OS 


20 


90 


13 


4C 


AF 


3D 


9B 


0949 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


5B 


0B79 


00 


30 


00 


00 


03 


03 


3F 


00 


AE 


0DA9 


20 


AD 


10 


4C 


9B 


go 


A9 


04 


6E 


0951 


00 


80 


00 


00 


90 


00 


00 


D3 


DB 


0BS1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


90 


00 


00 


00 


97 


0DB1 


SD 


24 


CF 


20 


2D 


0E 


AD 


23 


B7 


0959 


00 


00 


FF 


9C 


00 


FF 


FC 


00 


2F 


0BS9 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


00 


00 


90 


9F 


0DB9 


CF 


F0 


14 


A2 


8B 


A0 


53 


20 


4A 


0961 


FF 


FF 


00 


FF 


FF 


FE 


FF 


FF 


6F 


0B9I 


00 


00 


30 


00 


30 


00 


00 


30 


A7 


0DC1 


36 


10 


20 


E4 


FF 


C9 


85 


DO 


73 


0969 


FE 


FF 


FF 


FC 


00 


00 


00 


00 


CA 


0B99 


00 


00 


00 


00 


91 


00 


00 


91 


B8 


0DC9 


F9 


20 


10 


16 


4C 


01 


0D 


A9 


76 


0971 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


83 


0BA1 


00 


00 


9D 


00 


00 


7F 


90 


3F 


AS 


0DD1 


01 


8D 


2E 


CF 


8D 


76 


16 


A2 


A7 


0979 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


80 


00 


8C 


0BA9 


FF 


00 


IF 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A3 


0DD9 


0D 


A0 


A7 


A9 


00 


8D 


12 


CF 


50 


0981 


30 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


93 


0BB1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


C7 


0DE1 


8D 


13 


CF 


8D 


19 


CF 


A9 


10 


C5 


0989 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


9B 


0BB9 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


8F 


00 


EE 


0DE9 


3D 


2D 


CF 


20 


A5 


OF 


20 


3A 


F5 


0991 


03 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A3 


0BO1 


00 


00 


90 


00 


00 


30 


90 


00 


D7 


0DF1 


10 


AD 


12 


CF 


D0 


D9 


A9 


00 


FF 


0999 


03 


01 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


OF 


13 


0BC9- 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


00 


90 


00 


DF 


0DF9 


3D 


19 


CF 


AD 


OC 


CF 


F0 


11 


88 


a9Al 


00 


06 


7F 


01 


FF 


FF 


00 


7F 


B4 


0BD1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


80 


68 


0EO1 


20 


47 


0E 


20 


C3 


11 


A9 


OB 


83 


39A9 


FF 


03 


3F 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A3 


0BD9- 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


40 


90 


00 


F0 


0S09 


8D 


35 


08 


20 


90 


13 


4C 


18 


BO 


09B1 


00 


09 


00 


00 


09 


00 


00 


00 


C3 


0BE1: 


60 


10 


00 


E2 


E7 


00 


FF 


FE 


98 


0E11 


0E 


20 


AD 


10 


40 


04 


OE 


A9 


2B 


09B9 


03 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


CC 


0BE9: 


00 


FF 


FE 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DF 


0E19 


14 


8D 


24 


CF 


20 


2D 


OE 


AD 


A3 


09C1 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


00 


09 


D3 


0BF1: 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


08 


0E21 


23 


CF 


F0 


05 


A 2 


99 


40 


BE 


04 


a9C9 


30 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DB 


0BF9: 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


8F 


00 


2F 


0E29 


OD 


4C 


6B 


0D 


A9 


00 


8D 


23 


A8 


09D1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00. 


E3 


0C01: 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


19 


0E31 


CF 


A2 


3F 


BD 


50 


78 


29 


IF 


77 


09D9 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


C0 


00 


00 


EE 


0C09: 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


01 


00 


00 


25 


0E3 9 


CD 


24 


CF 


F0 


08 


CA 


10 


F3 


CD 


09E1 


FB 


03 


00 


FD 


CC 


00 


FF 


FF 


B6 


0C11: 


01 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


03 


00 


DF 


0E41 


A9 


01 


8D 


23 


CF 


60 


AE 


11 


04 


09E9 


80 


FF 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


0C19: 


00 


17 


FF 


FF 


FF 


42 


IC 


7F 


B7 


0E4 9 


CF 


BD 


50 


73 


8D 


14 


CF 


BD 


63 


09P1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


90 


93 


03 


00 


04 


0021- 


43 


3F 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


7F 


FF 


A9 


0E51 


90 


73 


9D 


00 


73 


BD 


DO 


78 


5C 


09F9 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


83 


00 


0D 


0C29. 


FF 


3F 


FF 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


11 


0E59 


8D 


29 


CF 


A9 


00 


9D 


50 


78 


AA 


0A01 


30 


00 


00 


00 


03 


00 


03 


00 


15 


0C31 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


49 


0E61 


9D 


D0 


78 


AE 


04 


CF 


8E 


07 


FD 


0AO9 


30 


30 


00 


00 


00 


03 


03 


00 


ID 


00 39 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


8F 


00 


70 


05 6 9 


CF 


AD 


76 


16 


8D 


08 


CF 


9D 


D2 


0A11 


30 


03 


03 


00 


00 


00 


01 


00 


27 


0C41 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


90 


90 


00 


59 


0E71 


00 


78 


AD 


14 


CF 


90 


50 


73 


BO 


0A19 


30 


6D 


FF 


FF 


FF 


OF 


FF 


FF 


04 


0C49 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


61 


0E7 9 


AD 


29 


CF 


9D 


DO 


73 


60 


AA 


5E 


0A21 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


7F 


FF 


34 


0C51 


00 


00 


00 


00 


80 


30 


00 


82 


EF 


0E31 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


F2 


0A29 


FF 


3F 


FF 


FF 


03 


00 


00 


00 


0D 


0C59 


A5 


28 


FF 


FF 


FE 


FF 


F3 


44 


7C 


0E39 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


FA 


0A31 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


45 


0C61 


FF 


FC 


44 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


41 


0E91 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


55 


AA 


55 


FF 


53 


0A39 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


4B 


0C69 


FE 


FF 


FF 


FE 


00 


90 


00 


00 


FO 


0E99 


FF 


81 


99 


BD 


BD 


99 


81 


FF 


7C 


0A41 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


55 


0C71 


00 


90 


90 


30 


90 


00 


90 


00 


89 


0EA1 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


BD 


0A49 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


5E 


0C79 


00 


90 


90 


00 


90 


00 


8F 


90 


B0 


0EA9 


0D 


09 


34 


17 


01 


19 


20 


03 


30 


0A51 


00 


80 


00 


00 


D0 


00 


00 


F6 


92 


0C81 


90 


90 


00 


00 


00 


09 


00 


03 


99 


0EB1 


OF 


OD 


0D 


01 


3E 


04 


20 


10 


IB 


0A59 


C0 


00 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


F0 


BE 


0CB9 


30 


00 


03 


00 


08 


00 


00 


13 


Fl 


0EB9 


0C 


35 


01 


13 


05 


20 


13 


05 


42 


0A61 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


FF 


75 


0C91 


00 


00 


08 


03 


00 


10 


03 


00 


EA 


3EC1 


OC 


05 


03 


14 


20 


01 


00 


05 


EA 


0A69 


FE 


FF 


FF 


FC 


00 


00 


00 


00 


CC 


0C99 


28 


99 


00 


38 


00 


00 


7C 


00 


42 


0EC9 


12 


09 


03 


01 


0E 


20 


13 


93 


C0 


0A71 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


85 


OCAl 


03 


6C 


00 


00 


38 


00 


00 


33 


CE 


3ED1 


09 


13 


96 


31 


20 


23 


36 


39 


EO 


0A79 


00 


00 


30 


30 


00 


00 


80 


00 


8E 


0CA9 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


09 


00 


90 


CI 


0ED9 


12 


05 


20 


07 


15 


0E 


13 


29 


DB 


0A81 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


00 


00 


95 


0CB1 


00 


00 


00 


09 


00 


09 


00 


00 


C9 


0EE1 


06 


37 


20 


20 


0D 


0F 


16 


05 


AA 


0A89 


00 


30 


03 


00 


00 


30 


90 


00 


9D 


0CB9 


09 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


09 


D2 


0EE9 


20 


13 


08 


09 


10 


20 


20 


14 


CI 


0A91 


01 


00 


00 


03 


30 


00 


01 


00 


23 


0CC1 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


01 


00 


DB 


0EF1 


01 


12 


07 


05 


14 


20 


13 


11 


9C 


0A99 


00 


05 


00 


03 


FF 


00 


00 


3F 


2E 


0CC9 


00 


04 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


08 


EA 


0EF9 


15 


01 


12 


05 


20 


06 


31 


20 


0F 


0AA1 


.00 


0F 


FF 


FF 


C3 


FF 


7F 


FF 


96 


0CD1 


00 


00 


10 


00 


00 


28 


00 


00 


80 


0F01 


03 


OF 


0E 


14 


09 


0E 


15 


05 


17 


0AA9 


FF 


7F 


FF 


FF 


00 


00 


00 


00 


9D 


0009 


38 


00 


00 


7C 


00 


00 


60 


00 


AE 


0F09 


20 


20 


20 


20 


06 


09 


12 


09 


C6 


0AB1 
0AB9 
0AC1 


00 
: 00 


00 
00 


00 
00 


00 

00 


00 
00 


00 
00 


00 
8F 


00 
00 


C5 
EC 


0CE1 
0CE9 


:0O 
:00 


7C 
90 


00 
03 


00 
00 


6C 
00 


00 
00 


30 
90 


38 
03 


B4 
02 


0F11 
0F19 


.OE 
20 


07 
01 


20 
20 


13 
04 


09 
09 


12 

12 


20 
05 


20 
03 


IE 
69 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


D5 


0CF1 


:flO 


00 


09 


03 


00 


00 


00 


03 


0A 


0F21 


14 


20 


08 


09 


14 


20 


13 


08 


32 


BAG 9 


:00 


00 


00 


C0 


00 


00 


80 


00 


EA 


0CF9 


-.00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


13 


3F29 


.05 


20 


09 


13 


20 


13 


99 


9E 


91 


0AD1 


:g0 


C4 


00 


00 


AC 


00 


00 


CF 


4C 


0D01 


:A9 


FF 


85 


FE 


85 


FC 


A9 


02 


D6 


OF 31 


:0B 


99 


OE 


07 


23 


01 


00 


05 


60 


3AD9 


:30 


30 


AC 


70 


00 


FE 


E9 


0G 


48 


0D39 


:S5 


FF 


A9 


22 


85 


FD 


A0 


00 


A2 


aF39 


:12 


09 


03 


01 


20 


17 


09 


0E 


93 


3AE1 


:FF 


FF 


00 


FF 


FC 


0F 


FF 


FF 


lA 


0nll 


:8C 


0E 


DC 


A9 


33 


35 


01 


Bl 


8E 


0F41 


:13 


20 


20 


29 


0A 


01 


10 


01 


6C 


0AE9 


:FF 


FF 


FF 


FE 


00 


00 


00 


00 


ED 


0D19 


:FE 


91 


FC 


C6 


FC 


C6 


FE 


D0 


F4 


0F49 


:0E 


29 


17 


09 


OE 


13 


20 


20 


07 


0AF1 


: 00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


00 


06 


0D21 


:F6 


C6 


FD 


C6 


FF 


A5 


FF 


09 


F4 


0F51 


:20 


0A 


01 


10 


01 


0E 


05 


13 


80 


0AF9 


: 03 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


3F 


00 


2D 


0D29 


:CF 


D0 


EC 


A9 


37 


35 


01 


A9 


13 


3F59 


-.05 


20 


13 


03 


09 


10 


06 


09 


82 


0B01 


: 00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


17 


0D31 


:01 


8D 


0E 


DC 


8D 


0B 


CF 


A9 


A0 


0F61 


:12 


05 


20 


10 


OF 


17 


05 


12 


BF 


0B09 


:00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


IF 


0D39 


:13 


8D 


18 


DO 


A2 


32 


BD 


39 


AC 


0F69 


:20 


13 


14 


12 


05 


OE 


07 


14 


82 



G-32 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



0F71: 


0S 


20 


15 


0E 


0F 


03 


03 


15 


BE 


llAl: 


8D 


15 


D0 


AE 


04 


CF 


BD 


D0 


80 


1301: 


03 


CF 


C9 


7E 


00 


06 


20 


B5 


23 


0F79: 


10 


09 


05 


04 


20 


03 


01 


12 


E3 


11A9: 


78 


09 


80 


90 


D0 


78 


20 


E0 


BD 


1309: 


14 


4C 


ED 


13 


AD 


03 


CF 


29 


4E 


0F81: 


12 


09 


05 


12 


20 


20 


02 


01 


33 


llBl: 


14 


AO 


0A 


20 


CA 


11 


88 


10 


05 


13E1: 


02 


00 


06 


20 


C9 


14 


4C 


ED 


25 


0F89: 


14 


14 


0C 


5 


13 


08 


09 


10 


63 


11B9: 


FA 


A9 


00 


8D 


06 


D4 


3D 


04 


3F 


13E9: 


13 


4C 


A7 


13 


AE 


07 


CF 


AD 


Bl 


0F91: 


20 


03 


12 


15 


09 


13 


05 


12 


C4 


llCl: 


D4 


60 


A9 


96 


85 


FE 


4C 


CE 


94 


13F1: 


08 


CF 


9D 


00 


78 


20 


6E 


14 


F8 


0F99: 


20 


20 


04 


05 


13 


14 


12 


0F 


BC 


11C9: 


11 


A9 


23 


85 


FE 


C6 


FF 


00 


7F 


13F9: 


AD 


04 


CF 


29 


3F 


BD 


04 


CF 


8C 


BFAl: 


19 


05 


12 


20 


20 


86 


10 


A9 


Be 


llDl: 


FC 


C6 


FE 


00 


F8 


60 


A0 


07 


A2 


1401: 


80 


07 


CF 


20 


E0 


14 


AE 


04 


66 


0FA9: 


00 


8D 


10 


CF 


80 


19 


CF 


20 


BA 


1109: 


34 


FD 


A9 


04 


85 


FE 


A9 


26 


04 


1439: 


CF 


BD 


00 


78 


8D 


08 


CF 


AD 


E9 


0F31: 


9ft 


13 


AE 


04 


CF 


BD 


50 


78 


36 


llEl: 


85 


FF 


A2 


00 


8E 


04 


CF 


8E 


CD 


1411: 


10 


CF 


F0 


IB 


AD 


0D 


CF 


CD 


14 


0FB9: 


8D 


2C 


CF 


F0 


EA 


29 


10 


CD 


9C 


11E9; 


05 


CF 


8E 


06 


CF 


A0 


07 


13 


DB 


1419: 


0F 


CF 


90 


03 


4C 


23 


14 


AD 


D7 


0FC1: 


2D 


CF 


Fa 


E3 


3E 


11 


CF 


8E 


AD 


llFl: 


A5 


FF 


69 


03 


85 


FF 


90 


40 


EB 


1421: 


0E 


CF 


CD 


0F 


CF 


90 


19 


A9 


8B 


0FC9: 


19 


CF 


8E 


2B 


CF 


BO 


D0 


78 


7C 


11F9: 


CE 


A5 


FE 


69 


00 


85 


FE 


9D 


15 


1429: 


0A 


80 


13 


CF 


4C 


62 


14 


BO 


EA 


0FD1: 


8D 


2A 


CF 


4A 


4A 


4A 


29 


07 


B4 


1201: 


00 


CE 


E8 


88 


10 


E9 


18 


A5 


7C 


1431: 


50 


78 


F0 


07 


29 


10 


CO 


20 


80 


0FD9: 


8D 


IE 


CF 


A9 


00 


80 


0C 


CF 


F3 


1209: 


FF 


69 


60 


85 


FF 


A5 


FE 


69 


E9 


1439; 


CF 


D0 


05 


A9 


0A 


4C 


62 


14 


13 


0FE1: 


8D 


30 


CF 


85 


C6 


A2 


29 


A0 


D8 


1211: 


00 


85 


FE 


C6 


FD 


10 


D6 


A2 


63 


1441: 


AD 


30 


CF 


F0 


15 


AD 


00 


CF 


9E 


0FE9: 


37 


20 


36 


10 


20 


E4 


FF 


C9 


DB 


1219: 


3F 


A9 


01 


80 


09 


CF 


A9 


07 


22 


1449: 


F0 


10 


C9 


04 


F0 


0C 


AD 


0E 


83 


0FF1: 


85 


D0 


26 


AD 


2C 


CF 


29 


7F 


19 


1221: 


8D 


0A 


CF 


A9 


00 


9D 


80 


CE 


69 


1451: 


CF 


F0 


07 


C9 


04 


F0 


03 


4C 


51 


0FF9: 


4R 


4A 


4A 


4A 


4A 


8D 


0D 


CF 


30 


1229: 


9D 


C0 


CE 


9D 


C0 


CF 


90 


50 


00 


1459; 


28 


14 


A9 


00 


80 


13 


CF 


A9 


01 


1001: 


8D 


0E 


CF 


0A 


8D 


0F 


CF 


EE 


3D 


1231: 


78 


3D 


23 


CF 


AD 


09 


CF 


49 


D0 


1461: 


00 


30 


77 


16 


90 


00 


78 


20 


CI 


1009: 


0F 


CF 


AD 


2C 


CF 


29 


0F 


AA 


09 


1239: 


01 


8D 


09 


CF 


A8 


B9 


36 


08 


FF 


1469: 


6E 


14 


4C 


9A 


13 


A2 


3F 


A0 


43 


IHllt 


BD 


E2 


12 


F0 


03 


8D 


30 


CF 


98 


1241: 


9D 


00 


73 


90 


90 


78 


CE 


0A 


2B 


1471: 


00 


BD 


40 


CE 


85 


FE 


BD 


00 


Al 


1019: 


63 


C9 


88 


D0 


CF 


A2 


03 


A0 


A9 


1249- 


CF 


10 


00 


AD 


09 


CF 


49 


01 


F0 


1479: 


CE 


85 


FF 


BD 


50 


78 


F0 


04 


90 


1021: 


01 


8C 


0C 


CF 


AD 


2C 


CF 


29 


4A 


1251; 


8D 


09 


CF 


A9 


07 


80 


0A 


CF 


65 


1481: 


A9 


24 


91 


FE 


A5 


FF 


18 


69 


70 


1029: 


80 


F0 


04 


A0 


02 


A2 


05 


8C 


81 


1259: 


CA 


10 


C8 


A2 


00 


BD 


9C 


12 


D4 


1489: 


D4 


85 


FF 


BO 


00 


73 


91 


FE 


50 


1031: 


0D 


CF 


8C 


9E 


CF 


SE 


0F 


CF 


E4 


1261: 


90 


E0 


CF 


AS 


BD 


68 


12 


99 


9F 


1491: 


CA 


10 


OE 


60 


AO 


05 


CF 


F0 


17 


1039: 


60 


A2 


0D 


8E 


10 


CF 


A0 


45 


03 


1269: 


50 


78 


A9 


01 


99 


00 


78 


BO 


94 


1499: 


09 


CE 


04 


CF 


CE 


05 


CF 


CE 


70 


1041 


23 


86 


10 


20 


9A 


13 


AE 


34 


99 


1271: 


04 


12 


99 


D0 


78 


BD 


AA 


12 


E6 


14A1: 


0D 


CF 


60 


AO 


05 


CF 


C9 


07 


20 


1049- 


CF 


EC 


11 


CF 


F0 


ID 


AD 


13 


16 


1279: 


9D 


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A8 


BD 


C6 


12 


99 


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F0 


09 


EE 


04 


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EE 


05 


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BE 


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18 


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0C 


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00 


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1281: 


50 


78 


A9 


00 


99 


00 


78 


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9C 


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60 


AD 


06 


CF 


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AA 


1059 


BD 


50 


78 


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29 


10 


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80 


1289: 


D4 


12 


09 


4 


99 


00 


78 


CA 


80 


14B9: 


0E 


AD 


04 


CF 


E9 


08 


8D 


04 


60 


1061 


2D 


CF 


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07 


60 


BD 


50 


78 


A9 


1291: 


10 


CB 


A9 


01 


80 


07 


CF 


80 


AB 


14C1: 


CF 


CE 


06 


CF 


CE 


0E 


CF 


60 


Fl 


1069 


D0 


01 


60 


A9 


0A 


8D 


20 


00 


70 


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60 


00 


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11 


88 


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07 


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00 


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41 


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69 


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1079 


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35 


03 


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20 


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12 


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14 


38 


39 


3B 


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3E 


3F 


31 


4B 


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EE 


06 


CF 


EE 


0E 


CF 


60 


AE 


03 


1081 


CF 


20 


90 


13 


60 


8C 


28 


CF 


2A 


12B1: 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 


2B 


2C 


Al 


ED 


14E1; 


04 


CF 


BD 


D0 


78 


80 


25 


CF 


08 


1089 


ft0 


3D 


BD 


B7 


0E 


99 


69 


04 


IE 


12B9: 


42 


43 


04 


45 


A6 


A7 


A8 


49 


13 


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BD 


50 


78 


29 


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1091 


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0F 


99 


69 


08 


99 


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03 


80 


12C1: 


4A 


AB 


AC 


AD 


AE 


Bl 


52 


53 


9A 


14F1: 


08 


15 


AA 


BO 


IE 


08 


80 


18 


41 


1099 


CA 


88 


10 


EE 


AE 


28 


CF 


A0 


88 


12C9: 


14 


55 


B6 


B7 


B3 


59 


5A 


BB 


3B 


14F9: 


CF 


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0E 


08 


AA 


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99 


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63 


10A1 


0D 


aD 


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0E 


99 


B9 


04 


CA 


16 


12D1 


BC 


BD 


BE 


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15 


27 


04 


15 


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7D 


OF 


99 


03 


05 


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25 


99 


00 


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38 


10 


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60 


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15 


00 


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63 


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15 


15 


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83 


05 


99 


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99 


92 


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01 


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15 


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61 


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03 


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99 


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18 


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20 


86 


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20 


70 


11 


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19 


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85 


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00 


85 


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35 


08 


99 


83 


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99 


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20 


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11 


88 


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20 


09 


13 


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17 


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48 


1529 


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00 


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5F 


72 


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04 


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80 


01 


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17 


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02 


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99 


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06 


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69 


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43 


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01 


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FF 


10 


20 


52 


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00 


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01 


CF 


91 


FE 


34 


1539 


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07 


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20 


99 


EC 


06 


99 


20 


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11 


CF 


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00 


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10 


0D 


RD 


01 


CF 


3A 


1541 


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07 


CA 


88 


10 


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AD 


25 


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78 


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CF 


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00 


9D 


69 


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03 


8D 


01 


CF 


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02 


80 


ID 


1549 


CF 


29 


40 


F0 


08 


A0 


00 


AO 


20 


10F1 


:59 


78 


80 


25 


CF 


BD 


90 


73 


6B 


1321 


:00 


CF 


38 


10 


E6 


CE 


02 


CF 


93 


1551 


18 


CF 


4C 


5E 


15 


A0 


0F 


AO 


El 


10F9 


:9D 


00 


78 


8D 


08 


CF 


AD 


25 


00 


1329 


:10 


00 


A9 


02 


8D 


02 


CF 


AD 


Bl 


1559 


18 


CF 


18 


59 


08 


80 


F9 


07 


8E 


1101 


:CF 


9D 


D0 


78 


20 


E0 


14 


60 


21 


1331 


:01 


CF 


49 


03 


BD 


01 


CF 


AS 


DA 


1561 


:ia 


69 


01 


80 


FA 


07 


A9 


21 


53 


1109 


:A9 


61 


8D 


20 


CF 


AD 


27 


CF 


47 


1339 


:FE 


18 


69 


28 


85 


FE 


AS 


FF 


08 


1569 


:80 


F8 


07 


A9 


FF 


80 


02 


DO 


IF 


1111 


:ED 


IE 


CF 


8D 


27 


CF 


30 


0C 


69 


1341 


:69 


00 


85 


FF 


CA 


10 


BD 


A9 


88 


1571 


:A9 


17 


80 


04 


DB 


A9 


12 


80 


07 


1119 


:AD 


25 


CF 


29 


F8 


0D 


27 


CF 


02 


1349 


t00 


85 


FE 


85 


FC 


A9 


04 


35 


25 


1579 


t0E 


DO 


8D 


00 


00 


A9 


6B 


8D 


22 


1121 


:8D 


25 


CF 


60 


A9 


30 


8D 


20 


DB 


1351 


:FF 


A9 


08 


85 


FD 


A9 


17 


8D 


A7 


1581 


:03 


DO 


8D 


05 


00 


8D 


0F 


00 


OF 


1129 


:CF 


8D 


25 


CF 


A2 


61 


A0 


70 


91 


1359 


:10 


CF 


A0 


17 


Bl 


FE 


29 


01 


00 


1589 


:80 


01 


D0 


8C 


28 


00 


8C 


29 


64 


1131 


:20 


86 


10 


AD 


2A 


CF 


29 


C7 


8C 


1361 


:AA 


BD 


36 


08 


91 


FC 


88 


10 


35 


1591 


:D0 


8C 


2E 


00 


A9 


37 


80 


27 


C5 


1139 


:8D 


2A 


CF 


EE 


IB 


CF 


AD 


IE 


3F 


1369 


:F3 


A5 


FE 


18 


69 


28 


85 


FE 


4A 


1599 


:D0 


A9 


85 


80 


10 


DO 


AD 


25 


64 


1141 


:CF 


C9 


08 


D0 


02 


A9 


07 


0A 


9A 


1371 


:85 


FC 


AS 


FF 


69 


00 


85 


FF 


A4 


15A1 


:CF 


29 


30 


F0 


05 


A9 


86 


4C 


45 


1149 


:0A 


0A 


0D 


2A 


CF 


80 


2A 


CF 


10 


1379 


:18 


69 


04 


85 


FD 


CE 


10 


CF 


14 


15A9 


:AD 


15 


A9 


06 


8D 


15 


00 


AD 


95 


1151 


:60 


A0 


0E 


20 


CA 


11 


20 


CA 


35 


1381 


:10 


08 


AD 


35 


08 


8D 


20 


D0 


76 


15B1 


:25 


CF 


29 


07 


AA 


80 


27 


CF 


Al 


1159 


:11 


20 


CA 


11 


EE 


01 


D0 


EE 


82 


1389 


:3D 


21 


00 


20 


6E 


14 


60 


20 


7F 


15B9 


:A9 


25 


9D 


BC 


07 


CA 


10 


F8 


FA 


1161 


:03 


00 


EE 


05 


D0 


EE 


0F 


00 


93 


1391 


:F1 


12 


20 


6E 


14 


20 


E0 


•14 


17 


15C1 


:AD 


25 


CF 


4A 


4A 


4A 


29 


07 


7F 


1169 


: 88 


10 


E8 


20 


D8 


15 


60 


A2 


71 


1399 


:63 


AD 


00 


DC 


C9 


7F 


F0 


06 


50 


15C9 


:AA 


80 


26 


CF 


F0 


08 


A9 


25 


BE 


1171 


: 0F 


A9 


00 


9D 


00 


D4 


CA 


10 


58 


13A1 


:20 


CA 


11 


4C 


9A 


13 


C6 


FE 


IF 


15D1 


:90 


EC 


06 


CA 


10 


F8 


60 


AO 


39 


1179 


:F8 


A2 


06 


BO 


2E 


08 


90 


00 


2A 


13A9 


:O0 


FC 


AD 


00 


DC 


80 


03 


CF 


20 


1SD9 


:09 


B9 


73 


0F 


99 


D3 


05 


A9 


26 


1181 


:D4 


CA 


10 


F7 


A9 


08 


8D 


18 


E2 


13B1 


;29 


10 


D0 


01 


60 


AD 


03 


CF 


2A 


15E1 


:20 


99 


83 


05 


99 


AB 


05 


99 


62 


1189 


:D4 


A9 


81 


80 


04 


04 


20 


CA 


08 


13B9 


:29 


04 


D0 


06 


20 


95 


14 


4C 


BB 


15E9 


:8C 


07 


99 


EC 


06 


88 


10 


?9 


7A 


1191 


:11 


A9 


80 


8D 


04 


D4 


A9 


01 


57 


13C1 


:ED 


13 


AD 


03 


CF 


29 


08 


D0 


8D 


15F1 


:A9 


00 


8D 


15 


00 


60 


78 


AD 


9A 


1199 


:8D 


01 


D4 


AD 


15 


D0 


29 


FE 


75 


13C9 


:06 


20 


A4 


14 


4C 


ED 


13 


A.^ 


BE 


15F9 


:14 


03 


3D 


73 


16 


AO 


15 


03 


6C 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-33 



PROGRAMS 



1631 


8D 


74 


16 


A9 


IF 


8D 


14 


03 


C8 


1609 


A9 


16 


8D 


15 


03 


58 


60 


78 


45 


1611 


AD 


73 


16 


8D 


14 


03 


AD 


74 


09 


1619 


16 


80 


15 


03 


58 


60 


CE 


78 


E0 


1621 


16 


10 


4C 


A9 


0F 


8D 


78 


16 


36 


1629 


AD 


7A 


16 


49 


01 


8D 


7A 


16 


6B 


1631 


BD 


FF 


07 


29 


01 


8D 


79 


16 


DE 


1639 


A0 


00 


AD 


19 


OF 


F0 


16 


AA 


16 


1641 


BD 


00 


CE 


18 


69 


D4 


85 


D4 


26 


1649 


BD 


40 


CE 


85 


D3 


AE 


79 


16 


F8 


1651 


BD 


75 


16 


91 


D3 


AE 


04 


CF 


C6 


1659 


BD 


00 


CE 


18 


69 


D4 


85 


D4 


3E 


1661 


BD 


40 


CE 


85 


D3 


AD 


77 


16 


09 


1669 


49 


08 


91 


D3 


SO 


77 


16 


4C 


6E 


1671 


31 


EA 


00 


00 


05 


00 


05 


00 


23 


1679 


00 


32 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


32 



Michael Sedlezky is a 35-year-old me- 
chanic and father of four children, i-le 's 
the author of Gazette programs Code- 
busters. Hover jet, and Checker Com- 
mand. He lives in Mississauga, Ontar- 
io, Canada. 



CHASE 



By Jon Piltingsrud 

You're at home, quietly studying with a 
friend, when a fanfare of noise erupts 
from your 64. It announces the arrival of 
a message from aliens who have taken 
control of your computer. The communi- 
que informs you that the advanced race 
has sent the two of you something impor- 
tant: a game! Before you know it, you and 
your friend are in deadly competition on 
the game's playing field. 

Chase is an arcade-style, two-player 
game for the 64 that requires two joy- 
sticks. The game consists of two pro- 
grams: Chase, a BASIC loader; and 
Chase ML, a machine language pro- 
gram, To help avoid typing errors, enter 
Chase with The Automatic Proofreader. 
See "Typing Aids" elsewhere in this sec- 
tion. Be sure to save a copy of the pro- 
gram before you try to run it. 

Chase ML is written in machine lan- 
guage. Use MLX, our machine language 
entry program, to enter it. When MLX 
prompts, respond with the following start- 
ing and ending addresses. 

Starting address: 2795 
Ending address: 3484 

Be sure to save the ML program with 
the filename CHASE ML on the same 
disk as Chase. Chase automatically 
loads this program when it runs and 
searches for that filename. 

G-34 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



The Rules 

When you run Chase, you'll see the 
message from the aliens. After you've 
read it, press any key, and you and 
your opponent will be on the playing 
field. One player operates the red disk 
and the other the yellow one. 

You'll see your weapons on the 
field. They resemble footballs. Each 
weapon is colored to match one of the 
players. The idea simply is to pick up 
your weapon and touch your oppo- 
nent, thereby destroying him. 

While the rules may be simple, exe- 
cuting the game plan isn't. Your oppo- 
nent will be trying to avoid you until he 
is armed. As powerful as these weap- 
ons are, they have a few quirks. You 
can hold them for only a few seconds 
before they fly from your grasp and 
land on another part of the screen. 

As you chase after your weapon, 
you may reach your opponent's first. If 
you touch your opponent's weapon, it 
win jump to a random location on the 
screen. To make the chase more inter- 
esting, each field has a number of ob- 
stacles scattered about it. 

To quit the game and see a tally of 
each player's kills, press the Q key. 
From the score screen, press either of 
the joystick fire buttons to resume. 



CHASE 

CS 19 



RB 


12 


HQ 


14 


FD 


16 


MC 


IB 


PH 


20 


HQ 


22 


EA 


24 


BB 


26 


HE 


28 


BC 


30 


JG 


32 


QX 


34 


MC 


36 


CX 


38 



REM COPYRIGHT 1993 - COM 

PUTE PUBLICATIONS IIJLT L 

TD - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

I PA=0THENA=1: LOAD "CHASE 

{SPACE}ML",8,1 

POKE56, 39:CLR:A=RND (-TI) 

:C=65520 

S=54 27 2:D=56 57 6:E=53 272: 

F=53265 

PO KEF, 0: POKE 53 2 8 0,0: POKE 

53281,0 

FORL=0TO2 3:POKES+L,0:NEX 
T 

PRINT 'MCLR}{6}{D0WN}";:A 
S="!#Sls()*+,"+CHRS(34) 
POKES+2 4 , 15: POKES +la, 128 
POKES +6, 255: POKES +2, 2 55: 
POKES+4,83 
P0KES+1S,RND (0) *5+l 
POKED,PEEK(D)OR3:POKEE,2 
8:POKEF,27 

FORW=0TO3:FORL=0TORND (0) 

*4 

PRINTMIDS (AS, IMT (RND(fl) * 

11+1) ,1) ; 

POKES+l,PEEK(S+27)/8:FOR 

T=lT05a:NEXT 

NE.XTL: PRINT" ";:NEXTW 



ER 


40 


MB 


42 


HH 


44 


AD 


46 


DJ 


48 


RR 


50 


XS 


52 


GD 


54 


RQ 


56 


RJ 


58 


EQ 


60 


HP 


62 


XC 


64 


QA 


66 



RE 68 



JR 73 



HS 


72 


GP 


74 


GK 


76 


RG 


78 


AG 


80 


GE 


32 


OR 


84 


FE 


86 


SK 


88 


EJ 


90 


HM 


92 


CK 


94 


CH 


96 


SG 


98 


EH 


100 


HM 


102 


AK 


104 


CQ 


106 


BA 


108 


GM 


110 


JH 


112 


XE 


114 


JF 


116 


BE 


118 


BA 


120 



PRINTCHRS (13)CHR.$ (14 5)TA 

B(13) ; 

READB$:IFB$<>"Z"THENPRIN 

TB$:G0TO32 

READBS:PRINTB$:P0KES+18, 

0:POKES+4,0 

POKE198,0:WAIT198,1 

POKE 8 2 0, 0: POKE B2 1,0: SYS 1 

0133 

POKEF,0; PRINT" fCLR}" 

P0KE7 8 1,9 -.POKE 78 2, 9: POKE 

783,a:SYSC 

PRINTTAB (9) " {GRN]/////// 

///////////////" 

PRINTTAB (9) "(RED) PLAYER 

(SPACE) ONE'S SCORE:"; 

A=PEEK(820) :PRINTA:PRINT 

PRINTTAB (9) "{VELlPLAYER 

[SPACE)TWO'S SCORE:"; 

B=PEEK(821) : PRINTS: PRINT 

:PRINTTAB (9) 

IFA>BTHENPRINT"{GRNl 

(3 SPACES} PLAYER ONE WIN 

S [" 

IFA<BTHENPRINT"{GRN) 

(3 SPACESjPLAYER TWO WIN 

S[" 

IFA=BTHEMPRINT"(GRN) 

(2 SPACES)THE GAME IS TI 

SD. " 

PRINTTAB (9) "//////////// 

//////////" 

POKE7 81, 24:POKE7B2,S:P0K 

E783,0:SYSC 

A$="PRESS FIRE TO PLAY A 

GAIN" 

POKED, PEEK (D)0R3:P0KEE, 2 

8:POKEF,27 

PRINTTAB(8) "{GRN}"; 

A=40:GOSUB90:IFB=lTHEN5a 

PRINTTABO) "{BLK}"; 

A=10:GOSUB90:IFB=1THEN50 

GOTO80 

PRINT AS; "[UP}":B=0:X=1 

IF (PEEK (56323) AND16)=0TH 

ENB = 1 

IF (PEEK (56321 )AND16)=0TH 

EN8 = L 

IFB = 0THENX = X + 1: IFXOATHE 

N92 

RETURN 
DATA LIVE BROADCAST WIT 
H 

DATA GAZETTE'S TACHYON 
DATA IMPULSE COPYRIGHT 
DATA CIRCA 1993. . .g@@ 

DATA GREETINGS FROM THE 
DATA PLANET ^-#S%*&&S(). 

DATA WE ARE WELL PLEASE 



DATA TO BRING YOU THIS 

DATA GAME PLAYED BY THE 

DATA COOL GUYS AND GALS 

DATA ON INHABITED PLANE 



TS 
GJ 122 DATA THROUGHOUT THE KNO 

WH 
CH 124 DATA STELLAR SYSTEM. 538 

EX 126 DATA WITHIN MOMENTS TH I 

S 
ER 128 DATA TWO PLAYER MARVEL 
DB 130 DATA WILL BE TRANSFERRE 

D 
AS 132 DATA TO YOUR REMOTE 64. 

GS 134 DATA FORTUNATELY ENOUGH 
HA 136 DATA FOR YOU- WE HAVE M 

ADE 
CK 138 DATA IT POSSIBLE TO PLA 

Y 
JH 140 DATA ON YOUR PRIMITIVE- 
JA 142 DATA ALBEIT JUGGERNAUT- 
FR 144 DATA COMPUTER INTERFACE 

CA 146 DATA COINCIDENTALLY- TH 

E 
RS 148 DATA AUTHORS ALSO HAPPE 

N 
BX 150 DATA TO BE AMONG YOU.@@ 

QJ 152 DATA THEIR NAME'S ARE. 

{SPACE). . 
RA 154 DATA TODD PILTINGSRUD A 

NO 
SX 156 DATA J0N{2 SPACESjPILTI 

NGSRUD.@@@@@ 
EH 153 DATA IF YOU HAPPEN TO R 

UN 
AK 160 DATA INTO THEM- TELL TH 

EM 
FS 162 DATA TO PHONE HOME.@@@@ 

EJ 164 DATA Z,. . .END OF MESS 
AGE 



CHASE ML 



2795; 


A9 


0A 


8D 


24 


2E 


80 


6F 


279D: 


80 


7D 


2D 


8D 


DC 


2D 


A2 


27A5: 


8E 


22 


2E 


8E 


6D 


2E 


8E 


27AD; 


20 


8E 


DA 


2D 


8E 


lA 


00 


27B5: 


8E 


19 


00 


20 


Bl 


28 


20 


27BD: 


2B 


20 


9F 


2B 


AD 


IE 


D0 


27C5: 


IF 


Dfl 


A9 


01 


80 


lA 


00 


27CD: 


IE 


00 


80 


B4 


2C 


4A 


8D 


27D5: 


2C 


90 


2A 


A2 


00 


20 


El 


27DD: 


S0 


02 


00 


18 


EE 


22 


2E 


27E5- 


0A 


3D 


27 


D0 


A9 


64 


80 


27ED- 


2D 


AD 


15 


00 


29 


FB 


80 


27F5 


00 


40 


02 


28 


ES 


03 


D0 


27FD 


78 


28 


9F 


2B 


58 


4E 


B3 


2305 


93 


31 


A2 


01 


20 


El 


2B 


28(5D 


03 


00 


18 


EE 


6D 


2E 


A9 


2815 


SO 


28 


D0 


A9 


64 


8D 


DA 


281D 


AD 


15 


D0 


29 


F7 


8D 


15 


2825 


:4C 


38 


28 


E0 


02 


Da 


08 


282D 


:20 


9B 


2B 


58 


4C 


38 


28 


2835 


:00 


F0 


0F 


A9 


7F 


3D 


00 


283D 


:AD 


01 


DC 


09 


BF 


00 


88 


2845 


;8F 


28 


AD 


7B 


20 


F0 


02 


284D 


:fll 


AE 


DA 


2D 


F0 


32 


09 


2855 


:29 


03 


F0 


OF 


C9 


03 


F0 



2E E3 
00 71 
7B 2F 
E8 CB 
9B 37 
AD 35 
AD 41 
B3 B5 
2B "iO 
A9 BE 
7B 04 
15 57 
05 3C 
2C C6 
E0 0E 
0A 86 
2D 27 
D0 27 
78 98 
E0 D3 
DC 40 
4C 7B 
A9 AF 
02 9B 
OB 2F 



2850: 
2865: 
286D: 
2875: 
2 8 7D: 
2885: 
288D: 
2395: 
2890; 
28A5: 
23AD: 
28B5: 
2aBD: 
28C5: 
28C0: 
28D5: 
28DD: 
28E5: 
28EO: 
28F5: 
28FD: 
2905: 
290D: 
2915: 
29ID: 
2925: 
292D: 
2935: 
293D: 
2945: 
2940: 
2955: 
2 9 50: 
2965: 
2960; 
2975: 
297D: 
2985: 
298D: 
2995: 
2990: 
29A5: 
29AD: 
29B5: 
293D: 
29C5: 
29CD: 
29D5: 
2900: 

429E5; 

'29E0: 
29F5: 
29FD: 
2A05: 
2A0D: 
2A15: 
2A1D: 
2A25: 
2A2n: 
2A35: 
2A3D; 
2A45; 
2A4D; 
2A55; 
2A5D; 
2A65; 
2A6D: 
2A75; 
2A7D; 
2A85 



20 CE 2C 
8E F9 3F 
03 4A 90 
FB 2F EE 
0D FD 2F 
FA 2F AD 
95 27 78 
8E lA 00 
D4 8E 12 
3D 14 03 
80 00 DC 
DC 80 0D 
D0 A9 0C 
8E 15 03 
80 21 00 
8E 2A D0 
3E 25 D0 
8E 29 D3 
DO F9 A9 
16 00 9 
FC 80 18 
03 80 00 
D0 8D IC 
3F 8E F9 
8E FB 3F 
80 02 00 
80 03 00 
A9 30 8D 
A9 F0 80 
A9 00 8D 
A9 11 8D 
A9 BF 8D 
3C 85 02 
2B 20 6E 
20 85 2A 
6E 2B 18 
A9 87 A0 
02 0A 0A 
00 85 03 

02 26 03 
2S 65 02 

03 85 03 
6E 2B 18 
02 E6 03 
6E 2B AA 
29 BD F4 
29 S5 06 
AE F3 29 
BD FF 29 
50 2A CE 

:1B 8D 11 

2A 08 2A 

2A 26 2A 

2A 4A 2A 

58 5C 5E 

5E 5F 5E 

5E 5F 5D 

5D 59 5A 

3F 3F 3F 

3F 3F 41 

:41 42 42 

;42 42 42 

;44 44 45 

;02 C8 C4 

; 2A A0 05 

;91 02 18 

;02 R9 00 

106 65 05 

:06 85 06 

;AA BD 20 



A2 CE 
BE FD 

09 8E 
35 03 
00 F8 
FA 2F 
A2 00 
8E 04 
D4 A9 
8E 15 
60 A9 
DD A9 
A2 2D 
A9 00 
A2 07 
E8 BE 
A2 02 
AD 12 
39 80 

10 8D 
00 AD 
DD A9 

00 A2 
3F E8 
A9 28 
A9 80 
A9 02 

05 D4 

06 D4 

01 D4 
04 D4 
18 D4 
34 03 
2B 0A 
A9 82 
69 04 
2B 20 
65 02 
06 02 
06 02 
85 02 
A9 8C 
65 02 
A9 82 
E8 86 



29 
A6 



BD FE 
85 06 
F2 29 
DO 60 
2C 2A 
26 2A 
56 57 
5F 5E 
5F 5D 
5C SE 
5A 5A 
3F 43 
42 42 
42 3E 
3E 41 
A0 00 
04 00 
Bl 05 
A9 28 
65 03 
85 05 
CA D0 
2B 85 



4A 90 
2F EE 
F8 3F 
AD FB 
A9 32 

10 FB 
8S 15 
04 8E 
31 A2 

03 A9 
7F 80 
F8 30 
80 14 
80 20 
8E 28 
26 00 
8E 27 
00 C9 

11 00 
16 DO 
00 DD 
OF 8D 
GC 8E 
8E FA 
BD 00 
80 01 
8D 10 
8D 0C 
8D 0D 
8D 08 
8D 0B 
A9 00 
A9 32 
8D F3 
A0 2B 
80 P2 
6E 2B 
85 02 
26 03 
26 03 
A9 3C 
A0 2B 
85 02 
A0 2B 

04 AE 

05 ED 
23 50 
29 85 
A2 01 
00 91 
00 00 
2C 2A 
4A 2A 
57 57 
5F 5D 
5C 5E 
5F 5E 
5A SB 

42 3E 
3E 3F 
3F 41 

43 44 
Bl 05 
F7 8C 
AC 84 
65 02 
85 03 
A9 00 
CD 60 
04 BD 



09 


EA 


34 


0B 


3E 


D9 


2F 


B6 


80 


27 


4C 


82 


D0 


E0 


0B 


52 


EA 


CD 


31 


94 


0D 


ID 


12 


B5 


03 


57 


D0 


E4 


00 


05 


E8 


38 


D0 


60 


FB 


20 


AD 


5A 


A9 


B7 


09 


72 


15 


03 


F8 


lA 


3F 


94 


00 


80 


D3 


80 


D0 


F2 


04 


34 


04 


7E 


04 


EF 


04 


72 


A3 


81 


A0 


IC 


29 


60 


20 


IE 


29 


CB 


85 


E3 


A 9 


C6 


06 


B6 


A 9 


SB 


65 


80 


20 


33 


90 


16 


20 


CA 


F3 


8B 


F5 


FE 


2A 


AC 


05 


2A 


23 


69 


A9 


4D 


08 


6B 


2C 


E9 


4A 


AF 


57 


C9 


5C 


ED 


5F 


AA 


5F 


76 


3E 


A0 


3F 


93 


3F 


0E 


42 


E2 


44 


5B 


91 


E9 


84 


B9 


2A 


BB 


85 


01 


A9 


61 


65 


53 


00 


22 


21 


2E 



2A8D: 


2B 


85 


05 


Bl 


04 


99 


00 


D8 


F3 


2A95: 


99 


00 


D9 


99 


00 


DA 


99 


00 


2A 


2A9D: 


DB 


C8 


00 


Fl 


ce 


Bl 


34 


80 


ED 


2AA5: 


22 


00 


C8 


Bl 


04 


80 


23 


D0 


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2AA0; 


CB 


Bl 


04 


8D 


IC 


2B 


18 


A9 


93 


2AB5: 


04 


65 


34 


85 


04 


90 


32 


E6 


8B 


2AB0; 


05 


A0 


00 


Bl 


04 


BD 


IE 


2B 


95 


2AC5: 


CB 


Bl 


04 


80 


IF 


2B 


18 


A9 


03 


2AC0: 


02 


65 


04 


85 


34 


A9 


00 


A8 


4 


2A05: 


65 


05 


85 


05 


AO 


00 


A2 


01 


6A 


2AD0: 


Bl 


04 


30 


04 


AA 


C8 


Bl 


04 


32 


2AE5: 


29 


7F 


C3 


8C 


ID 


2B 


A0 


00 


67 


2AED: 


91 


02 


C8 


CA 


00 


FA 


18 


98 


ac 


2AF5: 


65 


02 


85 


02 


90 


02 


E6 


03 


AB 


2AF0: 


AC 


10 


2B 


CC 


IF 


2B 


00 


06 


40 


2B05: 


CE 


IE 


2B 


D0 


CF 


18 


98 


65 


32 


2B0D: 


04 


85 


04 


A9 


00 


65 


05 


35 


07 


2B15- 


05 


CE 


IC 


2B 


00 


A3 


60 


00 


AO 


2B1D 


00 


30 


00 


2A 


2B 


2A 


2B 


58 


C6 


2B25 


2B 


58 


2B 


58 


2B 


0E 


0E 


02 


CI 


2B2D 


38 


01 


02 


C8 


C9 


0C 


03 


CA 


E3 


2335 


CB 


CC 


01 


02 


CD 


OE 


0B 


08 


AC 


2B3D 


C6 


26 


00 


C7 


C7 


26 


00 


C6 


9A 


2B45 


01 


04 


C6 


26 


00 


C7 


01 


02 


7B 


2B4D 


CF 


00 


oc 


03 


01 


02 


D3 


01 


P3 


2B55 


02 


04 


D5 


3E 


0E 


03 


03 


01 


01 


2B5D 


04 


BE 


26 


3F 


C0 


17 


04 


02 


4B 


2B65 


26 


00 


ci 


01 


04 


C3 


26 


44 


D6 


2B6D 


C5 


43 


98 


48 


20 


BE 


E0 


68 


76 


2B75 


AB 


68 


23 


28 


BA 


23 


9B 


SO 


0a 


2B7D 


A4 


64 


A5 


65 


63 


83 


20 


30 


9B 


2B85 


00 


00 


35 


10 


00 


03 


00 


85 


13 


2B8D 


28 


00 


00 


00 


89 


13 


8 


00 


91 


2B95 


00 


88 


2F 


00 


00 


00 


A2 


00 


39 


2B9D 


F0 


02 


A2 


02 


8E 


E0 


2B 


A9 


59 


2BA5 


96 


A0 


2B 


20 


6E 


2B 


IB 


69 


90 


2BAD 


35 


48 


A9 


91 


A0 


2B 


20 


6E 


5F 


2BB5 


2B 


18 


69 


lA 


AE 


E0 


2B 


9D 


63 


2BHD 


04 


00 


68 


90 


05 


D0 


98 


69 


37 


2BC5 


00 


0A 


0A 


E0 


02 


00 


01 


0A 


4D 


2BCD 


80 


E3 


2B 


AO 


10 


00 


30 


DD 


7F 


2BD5 


2B 


00 


E0 


2B 


80 


10 


00 


60 


82 


2BDD 


FB 


00 


F7 


00 


A9 


00 


80 


CB 


65 


2 BE 5 


2C 


8E 


B5 


2C 


8A 


0A 


AA 


AD 


EE 


2BG0 


CB 


2C 


0A 


A8 


4A 


CD 


B5 


20 


22 


2BF5 


F0 


50 


AD 


B4 


20 


39 


04 


2C 


19 


2BFD 


F0 


55 


38 


BD 


01 


D0 


F9 


01 


45 


2C05 


00 


B0 


04 


49 


FF 


69 


01 


99 


48 


2C0D 


BD 


2C 


38 


BD 


00 


00 


F9 


00 


69 


2C15 


00 


BD 


cc 


2C 


08 


AO 


10 


D0 


7D 


2C10 


39 


C4 


2C 


DO 


03 


A9 


00 


20 


00 


2C25 


A9 


01 


80 


B6 


20 


AD 


10 


D0 


88 


2C2D 


3D 


C4 


2C 


D0 


03 


A9 


00 


2C 


02 


2C35 


A9 


01 


28 


ED 


B6 


2C 


B0 


OF 


5D 


2C3D 


C9 


FE 


F0 


13 


18 


AD 


00 


20 


06 


2C45 


:49 


FF 


69 


01 


4C 


56 


2C 


09 


5D 


2C4D 


01 


F0 


04 


AD 


CC 


2C 


2C 


A9 


D6 


2C55 


IFF 


99 


BC 


2C 


EE 


CB 


20 


AD 


18 


2C5D 


.CB 


20 


C9 


04 


D0 


80 


A2 


03 


21 


2C65 


8E 


CB 


2C 


A9 


00 


9D 


B8 


2C 


20 


2C6D 


CA 


10 


FA 


A2 


03 


A9 


00 


AO 


18 


2C75 


:07 


48 


BO 


B8 


20 


80 


CC 


2C 


04 


2C70 


:6a 


2C 


CC 


2C 


30 


0B 


D9 


BC 


8F 


2C85 


:2r: 


BO 


06 


8E 


CD 


20 


B9 


BC 


19 


2C80 


:2C 


48 


98 


4A 


68 


B3 


01 


OA 


98 


2C95 


:88 


10 


DE 


AE 


CD 


20 


A9 


80 


EF 


2C9D 


:9D 


BB 


2C 


CE 


CB 


20 


D0 


CB 


El 


2CA5 


;A2 


03 


BD 


B8 


2C 


F0 


03 


CA 


49 


2CAD 


:10 


F8 


8E 


B7 


2C 


60 


00 


00 


7C 


2CB5 


:00 


30 


03 


00 


03 


00 


00 


00 


OE 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-35 



PROGRAMS 



2CBD 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


2CC5 


00 


02 


00 


04 


00 


03 


2CCD 


00 


A0 


0F 


8C 


05 


04 


2CD5 


D4 


A0 


0A 


8C 


06 


D4 


2CDD 


D4 


A0 


96 


8C 


0E 


D4 


2CE5 


8C 


10 


04 


A0 


03 


8G 


2CED 


ft0 


81 


8C 


04 


04 


8C 


2CF5 


A0 


40 


8C 


12 


04 


A0 


2CFD 


FA 


2F 


78 


A0 


80 


8C 


2D(35 


A0 


2F 


8C 


15 


03 


58 


2D0D 


29 


20 


20 


S3 


20 


23 


2D15 


20 


2F 


2E 


20 


7A 


2E 


2D1D 


2E 


es 


A8 


63 


AA 


A9 


2025 


19 


D0 


68 


40 


AO 


IS 


2D2D 


04 


00 


4A 


AD 


7B 


2D 


2D35 


CE 


7B 


20 


00 


40 


AD 


2D3D 


C9 


0A 


00 


0F 


A9 


02 


2045 


D0 


20 


9B 


2B 


A9 


00 


2D4D 


2D 


F0 


05 


CE 


7C 


20 


2D55 


A9 


06 


80 


7C 


2D 


AE 


2D5D 


BD 


7E 


20 


8D 


00 


D4 


2D65 


7E 


20 


80 


01 


D4 


ES 


2D6D 


2D 


E0 


0A 


00 


03 


AD 


2D75 


09 


04 


80 


15 


00 


63 


2D7D 


0A 


39 


35 


3E 


2A 


A5 


2D85 


15 


00 


00 


AD 


15 


D0 


2D8D 


D0 


4A 


AD 


DA 


2D 


F0 


2D95 


DA 


20 


D0 


40 


AO 


70 


2D9D 


0A 


00 


0F 


A9 


07 


8D 


2DA5 


20 


9F 


2B 


A9 


00 


8D 


2DAD 


F3 


05 


CE 


7C 


20 


D0 


2DB5 


06 


BO 


7C 


20 


AE 


7D 


2DBD 


DD 


20 


80 


07 


04 


E8 


2DC5 


2D 


80 


03 


D4 


E8 


SE 


2DCD 


E0 


0A 


00 


08 


AD 


15 


2DD5 


08 


80 


15 


00 


60 


00 


2DDD 


6B 


2F 


A2 


25 


31 


IC 


2DE5 


00 


00 


AD 


22 


2E 


F0 


2DED 


24 


2E 


C9 


0A 


D0 


07 


2DF5 


8D 


24 


2E 


F0 


05 


CE 


2DFD 


Dfl 


22 


A9 


06 


80 


23 


2E05 


24 


2E 


BD 


25 


2E 


8D 


2E3D 


E8 


BO 


25 


2E 


80 


01 


2E15 


8E 


24 


2E 


E0 


0A 


00 


2E1D 


00 


80 


22 


2E 


60 


00 


2E25 


IF 


15 


A5 


IF 


3E 


2A 


2E2D 


30 


00 


AD 


6D 


2E 


F0 


2E35 


6F 


2E 


C9 


0A 


D0 


07 


2E3D 


8D 


6F 


2E 


F0 


05 


CE 


2E45 


D0 


25 


A9 


06 


8D 


6E 


2E4D 


6F 


2E 


BO 


70 


2E 


sn 


2E5S 


E8 


BD 


70 


2E 


80 


08 


2E5D 


8E 


6F 


2E 


E0 


0A 


00 


2E65 


00 


8D 


60 


2E 


80 


08 


2E6D 


00 


06 


0A 


Dl 


12 


31 


2E7 5 


25 


6B 


2F 


00 


00 


AD 


2E7D 


4A 


48 


90 


lA 


AD 


F2 


2E85 


03 


03 


AD 


10 


00 


29 


2EBD 


F3 


2E 


80 


10 


00 


AO 


2E95 


8D 


01 


00 


4C 


AF 


2E 


2E9D 


00 


80 


F2 


2E 


AO 


10 


2EA5 


01 


80 


F3 


2E 


AD 


01 


2EAD 


F4 


2E 


68 


4A 


48 


90 


2EB5 


F5 


2E 


80 


02 


00 


AD 


2EBD 


29 


FD 


0D 


F6 


2E 


8D 


2EC5 


AD 


F7 


2E 


80 


03 


00 


2ECD 


2E 


AD 


02 


D3 


30 


F5 


2ED5 


10 


D0 


29 


02 


80 


F6 


2EDD 


03 


D0 


8D 


F7 


2E 


68 


2EE5 


9B 


03 


20 


9B 


2B 


68 



00 


01 


17 


00 


00 


FE 


8C 


00 


99 


80 


0D 


74 


A0 


23 


39 


11 


04 


6E 


0B 


04 


8C 


02 


3C 


IB 


14 


03 


32 


60 


20 


B8 


E7 


2D 


BA 


20 


FS 


08 


01 


3D 


CF 


D0 


29 


DO 


F0 


05 


59 


7D 


20 


69 


8D 


27 


Al 


3D 


70 


IC 


00 


25 


67 


7D 


2D 


CB 


E8 


BD 


97 


8E 


7D 


F0 


15 


D0 


D6 


03 


36 


66 


IF 


IF 


FA 


29 


08 


a a 


05 


CE 


4C 


20 


C9 


4E 


28 


00 


3D 


70 


2D 


56 


25 


A9 


04 


2D 


BD 


50 


BO 


00 


18 


70 


20 


12 


00 


09 


22 


06 


0A 


60 


Dl 


12 


10 


35 


AD 


65 


A9 


00 


B5 


23 


2E 


CC 


2E 


AE 


E2 


00 


04 


85 


D4 


E8 


07 


05 


A9 


DC 


06 


0A 


ID 


39 


35 


3F 


38 


AD 


69 


A9 


03 


A4 


6E 


2E 


7F 


2E 


AE 


lA 


07 


04 


36 


D4 


E8 


A5 


08 


A9 


FD 


04 


63 


4C 


IC 


A2 


09 


IF 


D0 


EA 


2E 


8D 


E7 


PE 


0D 


03 


F4 


2E 


77 


AD 


03 


69 


00 


29 


7F 


00 


8D 


E7 


lA 


AD 


28 


10 


00 


98 


10 


00 


07 


4C 


E2 


6C 


2E 


AO 


48 


2E 


AD 


06 


4A 


48 


11 


4A 


90 


29 



2EE0 


:03 


23 


9F 


2B 


60 


28 


00 


80 


9E 


311D: 


73 


03 


03 


OC 


07 


03 


7E 


30 


80 


2EF5 


:28 


02 


80 


AO 


00 


DO 


29 


0F 


A6 


3125: 


18 


0C 


F8 


30 


66 


66 


ac 


13 


76 


2EFD 


:49 


0F 


AA 


AD 


10 


00 


29 


01 


0A 


312D: 


33 


36 


FC 


60 


30 


13 


OC 


06 


50 


2F05 


•80 


3C 


2F 


13 


AO 


00 


00 


70 


41 


3135: 


73 


DB 


6E 


OE 


IC 


38 


00 


00 


B8 


2F0O 


6B 


2F 


80 


00 


00 


AO 


3C 


2F 


24 


3130: 


00 


00 


00 


CC 


66 


66 


77 


77 


9F 


2F15 


7D 


76 


2F 


8D 


80 


2F 


AD 


10 


IB 


3145: 


66 


66 


33 


18 


30 


66 


66 


66 


AA 


2F1D 


00 


29 


FE 


00 


8C 


2F 


80 


10 


2B 


3140- 


36 


70 


08 


00 


00 


FE 


06 


E6 


C0 


2F25 


DO 


18 


AD 


01 


00 


7D 


31 


2F 


66 


3155: 


3E 


13 


IE 


00 


FE 


18 


30 


FC 


56 


2F2D 


8D 


01 


DO 


AD 


01 


DO 


29 


0F 


64 


3150: 


06 


FO 


00 


00 


3E 


F0 


38 


F3 


19 


2F35 


49 


0F 


AA 


AO 


13 


D0 


4A 


29 


AO 


3165: 


3F 


F3 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


30 


64 


2F3D 


01 


3D 


8C 


2F 


18 


AD 


02 


D0 


50 


3160: 


33 


38 


70 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


38 


2F45 


7D 


6B 


2F 


80 


02 


00 


AD 


80 


37 


3175 


38 


38 


00 


00 


00 


00 


PF 


FF 


02 


2F40 


2F 


70 


76 


2F 


0A 


80 


80 


2F 


33 


3170- 


00 


00 


30 


7C 


06 


DE 


F6 


06 


0E 


2F55 


AD 


10 


DO 


29 


FO 


0D 


80 


2F 


A7 


3185. 


06 


70 


00 


18 


18 


78 


18 


18 


06 


2F50 


80 


10 


DO 


18 


AD 


03 


00 


7D 


BA 


3180- 


13 


FF 


00 


70 


06 


06 


10 


70 


BA 


2F65 


81 


2F 


80 


03 


00 


63 


00 


03 


3A 


3195 


00 


FE 


30 


7C 


06 


06 


30 


36 


AC 


2F6D 


00 


00 


FE 


FE 


FE 


03 


02 


02 


99 


3190 


06 


70 


00 


0E 


IE 


36 


E6 


FF 


FA 


2F75 


02 


00 


00 


00 


30 


FP 


FF 


PF 


04 


31A5 


06 


06 


00 


FE 


C0 


FO 


36 


06 


88 


2F70 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


FE 


02 


00 


DB 


31AD 


06 


7C 


30 


70 


06 


C0 


FC 


06 


54 


2F85 


00 


FE 


02 


00 


00 


FE 


02 


00 


E3 


31B5 


C6 


7C 


00 


FE 


06 


00 


18 


18 


39 


2F8D 


CE 


FA 


2F 


00 


08 


A9 


80 


30 


7A 


31B0 


18 


18 


00 


7C 


06 


06 


70 


06 


0B 


2F95 


04 


04 


80 


OB 


04 


AO 


FB 


2F 


12 


31C5 


06 


70 


00 


70 


06 


06 


7E 


06 


06 


2F9D 


F0 


21 


CE 


FC 


2F 


D0 


IC 


A9 


05 


31C0 


06 


70 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


30 


B2 


2FA5 


05 


80 


FC 


2F 


EE 


F8 


3F 


AD 


04 


3105 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


33 


2FAD 


F8 


3F 


C9 


D2 


00 


00 


A9 


00 


CC 


31DD 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


30 


40 


2FB5 


8D 


FB 


2F 


AD 


15 


00 


29 


FE 


D7 


31E5 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


48 


2FBD 


80 


15 


00 


AD 


FD 


2F 


F0 


2i 


00 


31E0 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


15 


15 


lA 


E8 


2FC5 


CE 


FE 


2F 


00 


10 


A9 


05 


80 


50 


31F5 


lA 


IB 


IB 


00 


03 


55 


55 


AA 


3A 


2FC0 


FE 


2F 


EE 


F9 


3F 


AD 


F9 


3F 


D8 


31F0 


AA 


FF 


FF 


00 


00 


54 


54 


A4 


54 


2FD5 


C9 


D2 


00 


0D 


A9 


00 


80 


FO 


IF 


3205 


A4 


E4 


E4 


E4 


E4 


E4 


E4 


£4 


49 


2FDD 


2F 


AO 


15 


03 


29 


FD 


80 


15 


60 


3200 


E4 


E4 


E4 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


02 


2FE5 


00 


AD 


IB 


04 


80 


01 


04 


80 


70 


3215 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


IB 


lA 


lA 


15 


6D 


2FE0 


03 


04 


68 


AS 


68 


AA 


A9 


01 


5F 


3210 


15 


00 


00 


FF 


FF 


AA 


AA 


55 


61 


2FF5 


8D 


19 


00 


63 


40 


00 


00 


05 


09 


3225 


55 


00 


00 


E4 


E4 


A4 


A4 


54 


09 


2FF0 


00 


05 


2C 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


23 


3220 


54 


00 


00 


54 


50 


58 


78 


68 


9E 


3005 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


7C 


06 


7E 


El 


3235 


E3 


28 


28 


28 


2B 


29 


20 


25 


ID 


3000 


C6 


7E 


00 


C0 


C0 


FC 


06 


C6 


CA 


323D 


35 


15 


07 


00 


0A 


2A 


2B 


20 


F8 


3015 


C6 


FC 


30 


00 


00 


7E 


CO 


CO 


54 


3245 


35 


15 


05 


0D 


B5 


05 


57 


sc 


25 


3010 


C0 


7E 


00 


06 


06 


7E 


C6 


C6 


50 


3240 


70 


00 


00 


50 


7A 


EA 


AA 


00 


B4 


3025 


C6 


7E 


00 


00 


00 


7C 


C6 


FE 


07 


3255 


00 


00 


00 


00 


AA 


AA 


AB 


00 


IE 


3020 


CO 


7C 


00 


CE 


IS 


18 


7E 


18 


24 


3250- 


03 


00 


30 


00 


B5 


D5 


57 


50 


A2 


3035 


18 


18 


00 


00 


00 


7E 


06 


06 


F5 


3265 


03 


00 


00 


50 


7A 


EA 


AA 


01 


65 


3030 


7E 


06 


FC 


C0 


00 


FC 


06 


06 


58 


3260- 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A0 


A8 


A8 


68 


33 


3045 


C6 


C6 


30 


38 


00 


78 


13 


18 


68 


3275 


68 


28 


23 


28 


28 


29 


29 


2A 


02 


304D 


18 


70 


00 


06 


00 


06 


06 


06 


63 


3270 


2A 


0A 


00 


00 


30 


30 


40 


AA 


A4 


3055 


06 


06 


7C 


C0 


C0 


CC 


03 


F3 


B9 


3285 


AB 


AD 


35 


00 


00 


00 


35 


05 


12 


3350 


CC 


C6 


00 


78 


18 


18 


18 


18 


06 


3280 


57 


5E 


70 


00 


00 


00 


70 


EA 


0F 


3065 


18 


7C 


30 


00 


00 


06 


FF 


FF 


00 


3295 


AA 


AA 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


AA 


A4 


306D 


DB 


03 


00 


00 


00 


FC 


C6 


C6 


F4 


329D 


AB 


AO 


35 


00 


03 


00 


35 


05 


76 


3075 


C6 


C6 


30 


00 


00 


7C 


06 


06 


31 


32A5 


57 


5E 


70 


57 


54 


5C 


78 


E8 


BE 


3070 


C6 


7C 


00 


00 


00 


FC 


06 


06 


A8 


32AD 


A8 


A3 


00 


30 


30 


AA 


80 


80 


BA 


3085 


FC 


CO 


CO 


00 


00 


7E 


06 


06 


FA 


32B5 


SF 


8C 


8C 


00 


03 


AA 


00 


00 


41 


3080 


7E 


06 


06 


00 


00 


FO 


06 


00 


Bl 


32BD 


FF 


00 


00 


03 


00 


AA 


02 


02 


02 


3095 


CO 


CO 


00 


00 


00 


7E 


00 


70 


7E 


3205 


FZ 


32 


32 


80 


80 


8F 


83 


30 


63 


309D 


06 


FC 


00 


18 


13 


FE 


18 


13 


06 


32CD 


AA 


00 


00 


00 


03 


FF 


00 


00 


87 


30A5 


18 


0E 


00 


03 


03 


C6 


C6 


06 


05 


3205 


AA 


00 


00 


32 


32 


F2 


02 


02 


16 


30AO 


C6 


7E 


00 


00 


00 


C6 


06 


06 


80 


3200 


AA 


00 


00 


80 


80 


80 


80 


80 


90 


30B5 


7C 


38 


00 


00 


00 


63 


6B 


7F 


46 


32E5 


80 


80 


80 


32 


32 


32 


32 


32 


59 


30BD 


3E 


36 


00 


00 


03 


06 


60 


33 


F6 


32ED 


32 


32 


32 


2A 


AS 


33 


3F 


FO 


B0 


30C5 


6C 


C6 


00 


00 


03 


06 


06 


06 


7D 


32F5 


D5 


54 


42 


A8 


2A 


02 


FO 


7F 


03 


30CD 


70 


38 


FO 


00 


00 


FE 


00 


38 


E4 


32FD 


57 


15 


81 


03 


00 


00 


03 


00 


33 


3005 


60 


FE 


00 


IC 


10 


10 


IC 


10 


3D 


3305 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


02 


60 


3000 


IC 


00 


IC 


00 


30 


00 


03 


30 


CF 


3300 


AA 


80 


0A 


AA 


A0 


0A 


55 


A0 


40 


30E5 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


00 


30 


46 


3315 


29 


55 


68 


29 


70 


68 


29 


FF 


E4 


30EO 


00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


03 


00 


30 


4E 


3310 


68 


29 


FF 


68 


29 


70 


63 


29 


01 


30FS 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


56 


3325 


55 


68 


0A 


55 


A8 


0A 


AA 


A0 


4A 


30FD 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


30 


5E 


3320 


02 


AA 


80 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


4F 


3105 


00 


00 


00 


7C 


06 


06 


6C 


18 


71 


3335 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


9B 


310D 


30 


30 


IF 


06 


06 


70 


00 


CO 


3C 


333D 


00 


03 


08 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A4 


3115 


7C 


06 


06 


C0 


C0 


CE 


OB 


OB 


08 


3345 


00 


00 


00 


30 


00 


00 


30 


00 


AB 



G.36 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



334D 


;00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


B3 


3355 


:S3 


00 


00 


00 


28 


00 


00 


AA 


A7 


335D 


00 


02 


96 


80 


00 


AA 


00 


00 


C9 


3365 


:28 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DF 


336D 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


03 


3375 


US 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DB 


337D 


00 


00 


02 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


24 


3385 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


02 


ED 


338D 


3A 


80 


0A 


AA 


A0 


0A 


54 


A0 


BB 


3395 


29 


55 


68 


28 


7D 


60 


29 


FF 


35 


339D 


63 


09 


FF 


68 


29 


7C 


68 


29 


36 


33A5 


55 


68 


08 


55 


20 


0A 


AA 


AO 


46 


33AD 


02 


A2 


80 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


CD 


3335 


90 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


IC 


33BD 


00 


00 


08 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


25 


33C5 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


02 


2E 


33CD 


0A 


80 


0A 


8A 


A0 


0A 


50 


A0 


BI 


33D5 


29 


54 


68 


20 


7D 


40 


03 


FF 


Fl 


3300 


60 


09 


FF 


68 


29 


70 


68 


20 


39 


33E5 


54 


6B 


08 


54 


20 


0A 


82 


20 


25 


33En 


92 


A2 


80 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


0E 


33F5 


00 


00 


00 


,00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


5C 


33FD 


00 


00 


08 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


65 


3405 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


02 


6F 


3400 


0A 


00 


02 


3A 


A0 


08 


50 


A0 


C9 


3415 


29 


54 


28 


20 


70 


40 


08 


3F 


02 


341D 


60 


00 


CF 


40 


29 


70 


68 


20 


AF 


3425 


54 


53 


08 


14 


20 


00 


32 


00 


lA 


342D 


02 


AO 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


BE 


3435, 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


9D 


343D 


00 


00 


08 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


A6 


3445- 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


02 


AF 


344D; 


0A 


00 


02 


88 


AO 


08 


50 


80 


C9 


3455: 


29 


14 


23 


20 


70 


40 


aa 


33 


26 


345D- 


60 


00 


CC 


00 


28 


70 


68 


20 


33 


3465 


44 


43 


03 


14 


20 


00 


82 


00 


4A 


346D 


02 


20 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DE 


3475 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


DD 


347D 


00 


00 


03 


00 


00 


00 


00 


00 


E6 



Jon Piltingsrud lives in New Richland, 
Minnesota. 

MEMORY MONITOR 

By Kenneth R. Warrick 
Several weeks ago, I was in a room filled 
with more than 200 people, demonstrat- 
ing a program that did a lot of string build- 
ing. After a while, the program came to a 
screeching halt by the inevitable gar- 
bage collection process. 

For more that a minute, I had all these 
people cooling their heels while my trusty 
64 did its housekeeping. I thought to my- 
self how helpful it might be to keep a run- 
ning check on the amount of string stor- 
age space still available. 

Of course, this number is what we are 
looking for when we execute the BASIC 
FRE command. But since FRE performs 
garbage collection first, it doesn't tell us 
how much space has been taken up by 
obsolete string fragments. An onscreen 
monitor that would keep track of space 



available would be just what the doctor 
ordered! 

That's what Memory Monitor for the 64 
does. It's a machine language utility that 
keeps track of the amount of free memo- 
ry remaining and prints it in the upper 
left corner of the screen. 

Typing It In 

Memory is a BASIC loader that creates 
Memory Monitor when it runs and 
saves the machine language program 
to disk with the name Memory Monitor. 
To help avoid typing errors, enter Mem- 
ory with The Automatic Proofreader. 
See "Typing Aids" elsewhere in this sec- 
tion. Be sure to save a copy of the pro- 
gram before you try to run it. 

Before I get into the program itself, 
here's a little of the process that went 
into its creation. 

Sparked by the creative muse, I 
thumbed through my copy of Mapping 
ttie Commodore 64 and 64C to find the 
location of the pointers at the begin- 
ning and end of RAM that's available 
for string storage. The end of the BA- 
SIC array storage area (+1) marks the 
first byte of the string storage area. 
This address is stored at 49-50 ($31- 
$32). Creating numerical variables 
tai<es up memory, moving this number 
upward and reducing the amount of 
space left available for strings. 

As strings are created, storage be- 
gins at 40959 ($9FFF) and moves down- 
ward toward the address found in $31- 
$32. Thus the low end of currently 
used string space marks the highest ad- 
dress still available for string storage. 
This address is kept at 51-52 ($33- 
$34). By subtracting, we could find our 
number. 

We don't want our monitor to take 
up any precious RAM, so we shouldn't 
write a long BASIC routine to do the 
job. A machine language routine 
that's hidden away would be best. 

Our routine should run unattended 
in the background without having to be 
called repeatedly from our BASIC pro- 
gram. The Kernal has in its bag of 
tricks a routine which every Veo second 
interrupts whatever BASIC is doing to 
increment the clock, control flashing of 
the cursor, update whatever needs to 
be on the screen, and check the key- 
board buffer for any keypresses. By 
wedging our routine in ahead of all 



these housekeeping chores, our task 
could be taken care of automatically. 

Getting back to our little subtraction 
problem, subtracting the address 
found at $3l-S32 from the address 
found at $33-S34 obtains our number 
in the form of two bytes in the mathe- 
matical formal of base 256, How do we 
convert this to decimal format that hu- 
mans can understand? Programmers fa- 
miliar with Kernal routines will recall the 
routine LiNPRT found at 48589 
($BDCD) which is normally used to con- 
vert the two-byte BASIC line numbers 
to decimal and print their ASCII repre- 
sentation to the current output device. 
That should take care of this project in 
short order. 

Wrong! The interrupt routine has a 
strict time schedule that will only allow 
us to wedge in a fairly short routine. An- 
ything longer will crash! That is just 
what LINPRT is — too long. Back to the 
drawing board! 

By writing an efficient routine that util- 
izes a large (2048 byte) lookup table, 
we can meet the time schedule. 
Those of us who hate mile-long lists of 
DATA statements will like how short our 
loader is. Our lookup table is created 
for us by some fancy mathematics in 
lines 30-60. 

The program searches the first part 
of our lookup table for the screen 
POKE codes (which for the digits 0-9 
are the same as their ASCII codes) for 
multiples of 256 (represented by the 
high byte obtained from our subtrac- 
tion) in decimal format. The results are 
parked in a five-byte holding area at 
$C800-$C804. 

The second part of the lookup table 
has the values of 0-256 (represented 
by the low byte) to be added into our 
five bytes, Later we correct for any of 
these sums that exceed 9 and make ap- 
propriate carries. Then, poke to the 
screen, color it white, and exit to the nor- 
mal interrupt routine. 

After reading the code for the work- 
ing routine from DATA statements and 
poking it into place, our loader creates 
the lookup table. It then saves the en- 
tire bundle to disk with the filename 
MEMORY MONITOR by calling the Ker- 
nal routine SAVE at 65496, 

Once Memory Monitor is on your 
work disk, you can load it with the ,8,1 
extension and run it with SYS 51205. 

AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-37 



PROGRAMS 



You can also load and run the routine 
from within a BASIC program with the 
following line. 

10 IF J=0 THEN J=1: LOAD "MEMORY 
MONIT0R",8,1 20 SYS 51205 

The manipulation of J prevents endless 
loop recycling since a LOAD com- 
mand from program mode automatical- 
ly executes a GOTO the first program 
line. While this may be done easily at 
the beginning of a BASIC program, lo- 
cating it anywhere else would require 
a first line of IF J=1 THEN XXX, with 
XXX the line with the SYS command. 

Here's an easier one-liner that may 
be located anywhere in your program. 

10 POKE 780,0: 0PEN8,B,8,1, "MEMORY 
MONITOR": SYS 65493: CLOSE 8; 
SYS 51205 

To turn off Memory Monitor and re- 
turn to guessing how much memory is 
left, enter SYS 51326. 

MEMORY 

DM 1 REM COPYRIGHT 1993 - COMP 
UTE PUBLICATIONS INTL LTD 

- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
HA 5 PRINT" {D0WN}WAIT 60 SECON 
DS. . .":PRINT"CREATING MEM 
ORY MONITOR" 
MC 10 FORI=51205 TO 51338:READ 

A:CK=CK+A:P0KEI , A: NEXT 
SC 20 IFCK<>16246THENPRINT"ERR 

OR IN DATA STATEMENTS ":E 

ND 
SX 30 F0HN = aTO255:JS = RIGHT$ ("0 

000a"+MIDS(STRS{256*N) ,2 

} ,5) :FORK=1T05 
JB 40 POKE48896 + 256*K+N,A.SC (MI 

D$ (J$,K,1) ) :NEXT:NEXT 
RJ 50 FORN = 0TO255: J$ = RIGHT$ ("0 

00"+MIDS (STR${N) ,2) , 3) :F 

0RK=1T03 
XK 60 POKE50176 + 256*K-^N,VAL(MI 

DS (JS,K,1) ) : NEXT: NEXT: OP 

EH8,8,8,"MEHORY MONITOR" 
DM 70 POKE250,0:POKE251,192:PO 

KE780,250:POKE781,138:PO 

KE782,200:SYSS5496 
JK 80 DATA 120,169,18,141,20,3 

,169,200,141,21,3,88,96, 

56,165,51,229,49,133,251 

,165 
BA 90 DATA 52,229,50,168,185,0 

,192,141,0,200,185,0,193 

,141,1,200,185,0,194,141 

HR 100 DATA 200,185,0,195,141, 
3,200,185,0,196,141,4,2 

G.38 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



00,24,164,251,185,0, 197 

,109,2 
QQ 110 DATA 200,141,2,200,185, 

0,198,109,3,200,141,3,2 

00, 18 5,0,199,10 9,4,200, 

141,4 
SF 120 DATA 203,160,5,162,0,13 

4,252,162,0,185,255,199 

,24,101,252,201,58,144, 

4,24 
HG 130 DATA 105,246,232,153,25 

5,3,169,1,153,255,215,1 

36,208,227,76,49,234,12 

0,169 
SC 140 DATA 49,141,20,3,169,23 

4,141,21,3,88,96 
HC 150 PRINT"{D0HN}ACTIVATE HE 

MORY MONITOR WITH SYS 5 

1205" 

Kenneth R. Warrick is a physician who 
lives in Charleston, South Carolina. 



CUBIC 



By Stephen A. Bakke 
Cubic is a logic puzzle for the 64. it resem- 
bles a brightly colored cube whose six 
sides can be twisted to mix up the colors. 
When the puzzle starts, the colors are 
mixed randomly. The object of the puz- 
zle is to maneuver the colored pieces so 
that each side consists of but one of the 
six colors. 

Presenting six sides of a cube on- 
screen at one time can be a problem, To 
get around this difficulty, Cubic unfolds 
the cube and displays the sides next to 
one another on the screen. 

Cubic is written in machine language. 
To enter it, use MLX, our machine lan- 
guage entry program. See "Typing 
Aids" elsewhere in this section. When 
MLX prompts, respond to the following 
starting and ending addresses. 

Starting address: 0801 
Ending address: 0EE8 

Be sure to save a copy of the program 
before exiting MLX. Although Cubic is 
written in machine language, it loads 
and runs like a BASIC program. Oper- 
ator input is controlled exclusively by a 
joystick plugged into port 2. 

Getting Started 

The top screen line is Cubic's status 
line. It displays the program name, num- 
ber of turns taken, and the best score 
achieved. Below it are six squares 



that represent the sides of a cube. 
Each square consists of 16 smaller 
squares of various colors arranged in 
four columns by four rows. 

To solve the puzzle, swap rows and 
columns of squares between the sides 
of the cube until all squares within 
each of the six sides contain a single 
color. Columns run up and down and 
are numbered 1 on the left through 4 
on the right. Rows extend left and 
right and are numbered 1 on the top 
through 4 on the bottom. 

The bottom screen line is used for op- 
erator input. Four inputs are required to 
exchange a row or column between 
two sides of the cube. Push the joys- 
tick left or right to highlight f?ow for row 
or Co/ for column. Press the fire button 
to enter your selection. 

The next entry determines the row or 
column. Push the joystick left or right to 
change the row or column number. 
Press the fire button when the desired 
number is displayed. 

Then select the cube number from 
which the swap is desired and press 
the fire button. Next, select the cube 
number to which the swap is desired 
and press the fire button again. The 
swap will occur, the number of turns 
will be incremented, and the bottom 
line will clear in preparation for the 
next move. 

The puzzle is solved when each 
cube contains only squares of the 
same color. The screen will remain un- 
changed while the border cycles 
through various colors until you press 
the fire button. After you press the but- 
ton, the best score will be set, the num- 
ber of turns will be reset, and the six 
sides will be scrambled in preparation 
for another game. 

CUBIC 



0801 


0a 


08 


OA 


00 


9E 


32 


30 


36 


2E 


0809 


31 


00 


00 


00 


A9 


80 


8D 


91 


AD 


0811 


02 


A9 


15 


80 


18 


D0 


20 


4C 


98 


0819 


03 


23 


33 


09 


20 


E8 


aA 


20 


A4 


0821 


80 


0D 


20 


07 


0A 


20 


F4 


0D 


FB 


0829 


20 


lA 


3B 


A9 


90 


80 


Dl 


OE 


B3 


0831 


8D 


D2 


as 


20 


D9 


SD 


20 


73 


37 


0839 


0A 


EE 


D5 


3E 


20 


6F 


0D 


4C 


EA 


0341 


FB 


0C 


A0 


00 


C8 


D0 


FD 


CA 


B6 


0849 


D0 


F8 


60 


A2 


00 


8E 


20 


D0 


81 


0851 


8E 


21 


03 


20 


44 


E5 


A2 


00 


0C 


0859 


A0 


05 


18 


20 


F0 


FF 


A9 


5F 


3A 


0861 


A0 


0E 


20 


IE 


AB 


A2 


18 


AS 


E3 


0369 


05 


18 


20 


F0 


FF 


A9 


80 


A0 


5D 


0871 


0E 


20 


IE 


AB 


A9 


3A 


A0 


00 


86 



0879 
0881 
0889 
0891 
0899 
08A1 
0SA9 
08H1 
08B9 
flSCl 
08C9 
08D1 
08D9 
08E1 
08E9 
08F1 
08F9 
0901 
0909 
0911 
0919 
0921 
0929 
0931 
0939 
0941 
0949 
0951 
0959 
0961 
0969 
0971 
0979 
0981 
0989 
0991 
0999 
9A1 
9A9 
09B1 
09B9 
09C1 
09C9 
09D1 
09D9 
09E1 
09E9 
09F1 
09F9 
0A01 
0AO9 
0A11 
0A19 
0A21 
0A29 
0A31 
0A39 
0A41 
0A49 
0A51 
0A59 
0A61 
0A69 
0A71 
0A79 
0A81 
0A89 
0A91 
0A99 
0AA1 



:A2 04 

:91 F7 

:A2 07 

:91 F7 

rA2 D4 

:86 F7 

:02 A9 

:4S AA 

:EE CA 

:A9 CA 

:AA E8 

:00 48 

:0E BD 

:EC 08 

:D3 E7 

:0E AE 

:A9 49 

:C9 OE 

:18 20 

:2n is 

;E8 BA 

:AD CC 

:0E 29 

:00 8D 

i0E 8D 

:CE 0E 

:20 67 

:09 20 

:7D 09 

:8A C9 

:48 8D 

:A6 09 

: 03 D0 

:69 50 

:69 00 

:CD 0E 

:F9 AD 

:69 AC 

:BD C4 

:F9 AS 

:AC S5 

:91 F7 

:DE 60 

:65 FB 

:e9 00 

:AD D3 

:FD E8 

:AD CF 

:a5 FD 

:FC 69 

:48 A9 

:0E 20 

:AA ES 

:CA CA 

:20 56 

■.Ah 18 

:0A 3A 

:29 07 

:20 21 

:EC 8D 

:CA 0E 

:0E A9 

:50 8D 

:0E 60 

:3D CD 

:0E AE 

:CF 0E 

:20 01 

:A3 48 

:Bl F7 



86 F8 
A2 IF 
86 F8 
A 2 CC 
85 F7 
91 F7 
30 8D 
EC D8 
0E AA 
A0 (?E 
8A C9 
AA BD 
3D 0E 
6 8 AA 
60 A9 
C8 0E 
AO 9E 
EE C8 
FO FF 
AB EE 
C9 04 
0E 0A 
0F 8D 
CC 0E 
CD 0E 
20 20 
09 20 
7D 09 
20 67 
06 D0 
Dl 0E 
68 A8 
ED 60 
8D CD 
8D CE 
6D Dl 
CE 0E 
8 5 FA 
0E 65 
F8 69 
FA AD 
91 F9 
A2 00 
8 5 FB 
8 5 FC 
0E A0 
E0 04 
BE 60 
AD D0 
AC 8 5 
00 8D 
24 0A 
3A C9 
60 AD 
OA AD 
E0 05 
3D D4 
AA 18 
0A 8A 
D5 0E 
90 0B 
50 8D 
C9 0E 
AE D4 
0E BD 
D5 0E 
BD BE 
0B 20 
20 8F 
8D CC 



A2 15 
8 6 F7 
A2 C8 
86 F7 
91 F7 
A9 0C 
CA 0E 
0E BD 



13 
20 
06 
43 



3D C8 
E3 8A 
00 48 
18 20 
20 IS 
3E AE 
A9 54 
C8 0E 
D0 CF 
6D CC 
D3 0E 
4 8 AA 
BD BE 
09 EE 
7D 09 
20 67 
09 63 
CF 60 
20 8F 
C8 C8 
18 AD 
0E AD 
OE 60 
0E 85 
69 00 
60 A2 
F7 85 
00 85 
D3 0E 
E3 E0 
13 BD 
85 FD 
69 AC 
00 91 
D0 DE 
Dl 0E 
0E 69 
FE 60 
D2 OE 
20 73 
FF D0 
IB D4 
IB D4 
30 03 
0E AD 
E0 05 
CD D4 
60 13 
A9 32 
C8 0E 
A9 02 
0E BD 
BE 0E 
BD B8 
0E 8D 
C3 0A 
09 20 
0E Bl 



86 F7 AA 

91 F7 CD 

86 F7 4A 

91 F7 B8 

A2 DD 10 

8D 86 C3 

A9 00 E5 

DE 0E E8 

FO FF 8 3 

AB 68 87 

El A9 38 

8D 09 5C 

0E 20 B4 

C9 06 2D 

AC C9 47 

F0 FF Dl 

AB AC A3 

Ca 0E B0 

A0 OE 3B 

68 AA 19 

60 18 5A 

0E 69 C3 

60 A9 88 

BD B3 4 2 

0E 8D E2 

CC 0E EF 

20 67 20 

09 20 01 

AA eS 0F 

A9 00 4C 

09 2^ 3F 

98 C9 15 

CD BE A8 

CE 0E BD 

la AD BE 

F7 85 D4 

85 F8 IE 

00 18 99 

F7 85 2F 

F8 69 51 

A0 00 05 

04 00 10 

C4 0E 07 

A5 FC 72 

8 5 FE 29 

FB 91 5B 

60 18 6C 

85 FB 35 

00 8 5 AC 

A9 00 A8 

8D Dl 40 

0A 68 A4 

E9 60 22 

29 07 B9 

29 07 84 
20 21 FB 
IB D4 26 

30 03 01 
3E F0 6E 
6A BD A0 
8D C9 53 
60 A9 B2 
8D CB 5C 
B8 0E AE 
80 CE 7D 
0E 80 5E 
D0 0E 03 
A9 00 F2 
F0 09 C4 
FB 80 C7 



0AA9 


:D3 


0E 


20 


0AB1 


:8D 


D3 


0E 


0AB9 


:0A 


68 


AA 


0AC1 


:D8 


60 


18 


0AC9 


:0E 


80 


CD 


0AD1 


:30 


80 


CE 


0AD9 


:6D 


02 


0E 


0AE1 


:0E 


69 


00 


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0011 
3019 
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r 50 00 

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; 14 IF 

tOD 00 



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FZ 60 A9 
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CD 0E BD 
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09 20 49 
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D3 OE DO 
F0 03 4C 

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20 18 20 
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04 D4 A2 
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06 D4 80 
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04 60 34 

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00 CF 00 
00 12 CC 
CC BA 92 
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20 54 55 
20 20 20 
20 23 20 
20 43 4F 
46 52 4F 
20 20 20 
00 50 52 
49 52 45 
4C 41 59 
4E 2E 2E 
35 40 4B 
2E 00 01 
00 06 3B 
00 00 00 
09 14 IF 
00 00 00 



A6 F7 
02 8D 
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02 80 
AA BD 
BE 0E 
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09 20 

3 3 00 
DO CD 
80 Dl 
00 68 
DO ED 
FO 08 
OF 60 
50 00 
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08 A2 
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BD 60 
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10 D0 
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CD 8 6 
F7 A2 
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BD 18 

04 A9 
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D4 BD 
00 04 
BO 16 

04 04 

05 10 
CF DO 
BA CC 
00 IE 
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20 00 
4C 20 
4D 20 
54 4F 
45 53 
20 54 
20 41 
2E 00 
2C 2C 
27 01 
2F 00 
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03 03 
00 00 



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C9 B3 
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CB E8 
B8 87 
80 B2 
20 OF 
09 67 
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OE 3D 
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60 B7 
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68 14 
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AE BC 
60 5C 
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A0 7B 
a0 DF 
C0 B0 
D0 A5 
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E6 83 

08 BD 
F7 36 
D5 F6 
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30 08 
18 80 
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43 DF 
05 13 
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CF B0 
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52 2E 
20 5F 
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53 74 
4F 50 
4 7 9C 
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2C 57 

02 EE 
00 05 

09 56 

03 38 
00 69 



Steven Bakke writes puzzling pro- 
grams in Aurora. Colorado. D 
AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE G-39 



AUTOMATIC PROOFREADER 



The Automatic Proofreader helps you 
type in program listings for tfie 128 and 
64 and prevents nearly every kind of 
typing mistake. 

Type in Proofreader exactly as list- 
ed. Because the program can't check 
itself, be sure to enter each line care- 
fully to avoid typographical errors or oth- 
er mistakes. Don't omit any lines, even 
if they contain unusual commands. Af- 
ter you've finished, save a copy of the 
program before running it, 

Next, type RUN and press Return. Af- 
ter the program displays the message 
Proofreader Active, you're ready to 
type in a BASIC program. 

Every time you finish typing a line 
and press Return, Proofreader displays 
a two-letter checksum in the upper left 
corner of the screen. Compare this re- 
sult with the two-letter checksum print- 
ed to the left of the line in the program 
listing. If the letters match, the line prob- 
ably was typed correctly. If not, check 
tor your mistake and correct the line. Al- 
so, be sure not to skip any lines. 

Proofreader ignores spaces not en- 
closed in quotation marks, so you can 
omit or add spaces between keywords 
and stili see a matching checksum. 
Spaces inside quotes are almost al- 
w/ays significant, so the program pays 
attention to them. 

Proofreader does not accept key- 
word abbreviations {for example, ? in- 
stead of PRINT). If you use abbrevi- 
ations, you can still check the line by 
listing it, moving the cursor back to the 
line, and pressing Return. 

If you're using Proofreader on the 
128, do not perform any GRAPHIC com- 
mands while Proofreader is active. 
When you perform a command like 
GRAPHIC 1, the computer moves eve- 
rything at the start of BASIC program 
space — including the Proofreader — to 
another memory area, causing Proof- 
reader to crash. The same thing hap- 
pens if you run any program with a 
GRAPHIC command while Proofreader 
is in memory. 

Though Proofreader doesn't interfere 
with other BASIC operations, it's a 
good idea to disable it before running 
another program. To disable it, turn the 
computer off and then on. A gentler 
method is to SYS to the computer's 
built-in reset routine (65341 for the 128, 
64738 for the 64). 
G-40 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



AUTOMATIC PROOFREADER 

CLR 

13 VE = PEF.K(772)+256*PEEK{773) : 
L0 = 4 3:HI=<!4:PRINT'MCLR) 
fWHT) AUTOMATIC PROOFREADER 
{SPACElFOR "; 
20 IF VE = '12364 THEN PRINT "64" 
39 IF VE=17165 THEN L0=45;HI=4 

6:WAIT CLR: PRIMT"128" 
4a SA= (PEEK(r.O)+256*PEEK{HI) ) + 
e:FOR J=SA TO SA+166:READ B 
:POKE J,a:CH=CH+B:NEXT 
50 IF CH<>2n570 THEN PRINT "*E 
RROR* CHECK TYPING IN DATA 
{SPACE} STATEMENTS": END 
60 FOR J=l TO 5:READ RF,LF,HF: 
RS=SA + RF:HB = ItJT (RS/256) :LB = 
RS- (256*HB) 
70 CH=CH+RF+LF+HF:POKE SA+LF,L 

B:POKE SA+HF,HB:NEXT 
80 IF CH022C154 THEN PRINT "*E 
RROR* RELOAD PROGRAM AND CH 
ECK FINAL LINE":END 
90 IF VE=17165 THEN POKE SA+14 
,22:POKE SA+18,23:POKESA+29 
,224:POKESA+139,224 
100 POKE SA+149,PEEK(772) :POKE 
SA+150,PEEK(773) :PRINT" 
{CLR}PRO0FREADER ACTIVE" 
113 SYS SA:POKE HI , PEEK (HI ) +1 : 
POKE (PEEK(LO}+256*PEEK(HI 
) ) -1,0: NEW 
123 DATA120,169,73,141,4,3,169 
, 3, 141, 5, 3, 8S, 96, 165, 20, 13 
3,167 
133 DATA165,21,133,168,169,0,1 
41,0, 255, 162, 31, 181, 199, 15 
7,227 
143 DATA3, 202, 16, 248, 169,19, 32 
,210, 255, 169, IS, 32, 213, 255 
,160 
153 DATA0, 132,180,132,176,136, 
2 3 0,180,200,185,0,2,240,46 
,201 
160 DATA34,208,8,72,165,176,73 
,255,133,176,104,72,201,32 
,208 
170 DATA7, 165, 176, 208, 3, 104, 20 
8,226,104,166,180,24,165,1 
67 
180 DATA121,0,2,133,167,165,16 
8,105,0,133,168,202,208,23 
9,243 
190 DATA202,i65,167,69,168,72, 
41,15,168,185,211,3,32,210 
,255 
200 DATA134,74,74,74,74,168,18 
5,211,3,32,213,255,162,31, 
189 
210 DATA227,3,149,199,232,16,2 
48,169,146,32,210,255,76,8 
6,137 
220 DATA65,66,67,68,69,70,71,7 

2,74,75,77,80,81,82,83,88 
230 DATA 13,2,7,167,31,32,151, 
116,117,151,128,129,167, 13 



ONLY ON DISK 

In addition to the type-in programs 
found in each issue of the magazine, 
Gazette Disk offers bonus programs, 
This month we present three spread- 
sheet templates that are ready to 
load into SpeedCalc or GemCalc. 

Bond Fund 

By E.A Ramirez 
Guaynabo, PR 

There are several ways to determine 
capital gains and losses for bond mu- 
tual funds, but the most advanta- 
geous to the taxpayer is by calculat- 
ing the cumulative price per share 
before each transaction. This template 
does that. Its printout is suitable for 
submission to the IRS as an adden- 
dum to tax forms. 

Mortgage Analyzer 
Decision Maker 

By Dave Pankhurst 
Montreal, PQ 
Canada 

With Mortgage Analyzer, you can see 
any year in the payback of a mort- 
gage, check the balance owed, prin- 
cipal and interest paid, total mortgage 
cost, monthly payments, and more. 

Having trouble making decisions? 
With Decision Maker, your 64 can 
help. List up to seven choices and the 
advantages of each one. Assign each 
advantage a numerical rating, and the 
computer will do the rest. 

Don't forget that Gazette Disk now con- 
tains public domain programs and 
shareware. For a complete rundown 
of the PD programs on this month's 
disk, see "PD Picks." 

You can have these programs and all 
of the iype-in programs found in this is- 
sue — ready to load and run — by order- 
ing the August Gazette Disk. The 
price is S9.95 plus $2.00 shipping and 
handling. Send your order to Gazette 
Disk. COMPUTE Publications, 324 
West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, 
Greensboro, North Carolina 27408. 
You can order by credit card by call- 
ing (919) 275-9809, extension 283. 



REVIEWS 



AST 4/33S 
MODEL 123B 

The Cold War may have end- 
ed, but that doesn't mean 
they don't build battleships 
anymore. 

The AST 4/33s model 
123B 486SX computer sys- 
tem is a welcome change 
from the recent spate of ev- 
er-cheaper, ever-more-short- 
cuts-taken, no-name sys- 
tems filling the pages of mail- 
order catalogs. At $1,895 
suggested retail with a 
street price of around 
$1,700, the system is com- 
petitively priced and offers 
more features than average. 

AST is a well-established 
American company. The 
company's Six Pack memo- 
ry and clock enhancement 
board was one of the few via- 
ble ways to make the origi- 
nal IBM PC (the XT) truly us- 
able in the early 1980s. In 
the years since, AST has en- 
joyed a reputation for build- 
ing solid, reliable systems. 

Of course, you may not 
have the room to dock a bat- 
tleship on your desk. The 
one real drawback to the 
123B is its larger-than-stan- 
dard size; 15'A x 6'A x 
16'/2 inches. The advantag- 
es of the unit could lead you 
to consider digging a larger 
harbor, though. 

There are good reasons 
for the 123B's bulk. The com- 
puter gives you four fuil- 
sized expansion slots, as 
well as two 5^/i-inch and 
two 3y2-inch drive bays — all 
surrounded by a solid metal 
case. You have all sorts of 
room if you want to add ad- 
ditional drives, internal mo- 
dems, and cruise missiles. 
Whatever. 

Installation's simple. Plug 
the monitor into the back of 
the computer (the connector 
will only fit one place), at- 
tach the mouse and key- 



board, then connect the pow- 
er cords to the monitor and 
computer. Turn them on. 
That's it. Both DOS and Win- 
dows are preinstalled on the 
hard disk, and the AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT file is programmed 
so that Windows comes up 
ready to use, 
It may not look like it's 



bine that with the quickness 
of a 486SX-33, and you'll 
find, as I did, that the sys- 
tem has very satisfactory 
throughput. Such Windows 
applications as CorelDRAW! 
and PageMaker — heavy sys- 
tem resource users — show 
nice zip. I was especially 
pleased with the quickness 




II may be built like a battleship, but the AST 4/33s model 123B 486SX 
runs tike a clipper, offering speed and expansion room. 



built for speed, but the 
123B is fast and powerful. 
The one I tried came with a 
120MB hard drive, 4MB of 
RAM, and a Super VGA dis- 
play. The amount of RAM is 
easily upgradable. The only 
blip in an otherwise beauti- 
ful design is that while the 
SIMM outlets — where the ad- 
ditional memory chips get in- 
stalled — are convenient, the 
sockets for adding video 
RAM can only be reached 
by removing the power sup- 
ply temporarily. This, at 
least, is a simple task, and 
the rest of the system's con- 
veniences make up for this 
minor inconvenience. 

The documentation is ex- 
cellent, with good illustra- 
tions of the procedures to fol- 
low for the various types of 
upgrades. 

Some of the 123B's 
speed comes from a large 
256K memory cache, cou- 
pled with a very fast Quan- 
tum 120MB hard disk. Com- 



of display updates for Co- 
relDRAW! figures that had a 
lot of fountain fills. 

Hardware settings can 
easily be switched through 
the BIOS setup routine — no 
need to take the case off 
and look for DIP switches. I 
found in my tests that the 
computer is above average 
in disk- and processor-relat- 
ed tasks, compared to ma- 
chines in a similar price 
range. 

We all know that comput- 
er technology changes rap- 
idly. The 1238 solves that 
problem by offering an easy 
upgrade path. Currently — 
for about $350 to $700— it's 
possible to increase the per- 
formance of the 123B (and, 
in fact, all of AST's Bravo se- 
ries) by adding a clock-dou- 
bler chip (DX2) and bring- 
ing its speed up to 66 MHz, 

Upgrading the processor 
is a relatively simple opera- 
tion. Just flip up the zero in- 
sertion force lever on the 



CPU daughter board, and 
the old chip jumps right out. 
insert the new chip, and the 
upgrade's done. This fea- 
ture and the 123B's overall 
solidity will let you keep the 
machine current with technol- 
ogy for years to come, thus 
making it a better invest- 
ment than computers that 
are harder to upgrade. 

Yes, the 123B /s built like 
a battleship (maybe that's 
what the B really stands for), 
but it's a fast, easily upgrada- 
ble, and solidly reliable behe- 
moth. 1 like it a lot. 

RALPH ROBERTS 

AST Research 

(714) 727-4141 

11.895 

Circle Reader Service Number 434 



MICROSOFT 

MOUSE 

It's no small thing to rede- 
sign an input device, espe- 
cially one with more than 60 
million users worldwide. Yet 
that's precisely what Micro- 
soft has done with its new 
mouse. In doing so, the 
mouse design team ad- 
dressed many questions 
that may not have occurred 
to users, and added fea- 
tures which, in retrospect, 
are natural and quickly be- 
come indispensable. 

First things first: The new 
mouse looks different- For 
one thing, it's a bit larger 
and longer than its predeces- 
sor. More importantly, it has 
a shape. Gone is the famil- 
iar bar-of-soap design, re- 
placed by a device with a 
graceful curve along its left 
side. Microsoft's mouse re- 
mains a two-button device, 
although the buttons are larg- 
er than on the classic 
mouse, 

At first glance, the new 
shape may seem off-put- 
ting. My initial reaction was 

AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 89 




REVIEWS 



The screen saver for 
high-powered PCs. 



^ 



Finally, there's a 
screen saver 
that shows off the 
blazing speed, 
stunning graphics 

- and spectacular 

sound* in your PC. 
ORIGIN FX delivers 256-color, high- 
res images" running under Windows 
- with 27 entertaining modules cre- 
ated hy origin's award-winning 
computer artists. 

Special Bonus: 

If you own Strike Commander, Wing 
Comm,incler II or Serpent hie, 
ORIGIN FX will play their cinematic 
sequences as separate modules when 
the games are installed on your 
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Circle Reader Service Number 163 



that the mouse was too large, that I 
would have to retrain my hand after 
years of using a classic mouse. The re- 
training took all of ten minutes. The 
curved shape makes the mouse fit the 
hand more comfortably, and its recen- 
tered weight helps it move more easi- 




The new Microsoft Mouse represents a 
positive evolution of a familiar device. 

ly. None of this should be too surpris- 
ing: The curve — indeed, every aspect 
of the device — is the result of intensive 
research into hand anatomy, postures, 
and ergonomics. Believe me, fvlicrosoft 
knows hands! 

Hands of all types, actually. Despite 
the curve's location on the left side of 
the mouse, the device is designed to 
work well for either right- or left-hand- 
ed users. Its size may make the 
mouse a bit difficult for small children, 
but it should be fine for teenagers on 
up. 

Other hardware features worth not- 
ing include a new, heavier cable, one 
that's less likely to kink. The center of 
gravity and the balance for the mouse 
are noticeably improved, and the track- 
ing ball rolls more smoothly. 

As important as the hardware is the 
software, and it's here that the mouse 
shines most brightly, f^^lany of the driv- 
er innovations are not only common 
sense, but also most welcome. A 
good example is the new "snap-to" fea- 
ture, which automatically directs the cur- 
sor to the screen's default button. 

Perhaps my favorite feature is the 
screen wrap. At last! Now, when you 
move the cursor off one side of the 
screen, it appears on the opposite 
side. A magnifier enables you to en- 
large sections of the screen for closer 
examination, while another feature relo- 
cates the cursor at the center of the 
screen should it get iost. 

After you get over the initial surprise 
of the mouse's new shape, you can 
see how sensible — even conservative — 



most of fvlicrosoft's decisions are. Yet 
it's tough to see what's been left out, 
unless it would be a completely wire- 
less version. (It would be nice, upon 
reflection, to have the mouse available 
in more colors than Microsoft white, 
but that's less a destgn than a market- 
ing criterion.) The mouse will, after the 
keyboard, remain the most important 
interface device for some time to 
come, and there's little doubt in my 
mind that ivlicrosoft's new mouse rep- 
resents an evolution, and a worthwhile 
evolution, in this device's usefulness 
and practicality. 

KEITH FERRELL 

Microsoft 

(800) 426-9400 

$109 

Circle Reader Service Numtjer 435 



MANAGEPRO 



Make no mistake: ManagePro is a tool 
for managers intent on managing peo- 
ple and information, and it places a pre- 
mium on making that information avail- 
able in a number of formats. Beyond 
the usual spreadsheet capabilities, it 
lets you access information about 
goals and the personnel in charge of 
meeting them in a variety of configura- 
tions: according to time lines, company- 
wide performance objectives, organiz- 
ational charts, immediate action lists — 
even individual employee personnel 
files. 

This Is software that not only lets you 
track your people and your goals but 
takes pains to coach managers about 
their responsibilities, too. As it says in 
the tutorial, the creators of fvlanage- 
Pro believe there are four key steps in 
managing people toward collective 
goals: set Ihe goals clearly; monitor pro- 
gress; give feedback and coaching; 
and evaluate, recognize, and reward 
everyone's contributions toward the 
goals. 

f^/lanagePro is written with that philos- 
ophy in mind. There's a people-status 
board that prompts managers to 
check on employee progress and offer 
feedback. There's an Advice feature 
built in that lets you access basic how- 
to people management tips as you 
pull people along toward your goals. 
(Ironically, though, the advice is so ru- 
dimentary that you may wonder how 
useful it will be to managers who work 
for companies sophisticated enough to 
make optima! use of the software.) To 
top it al! off, the creators of ManagePro 
go so far as to include a short pep- 
talk book. Managing People: Your Com- 
petitive Edge in the '90s. 

In terms of architecture, the software 
is divided into two main headings: 



90 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



Goals and People. The Goals side fea- 
tures a goal planner that elaborates on 
companywide objectives and spells 
out responsibility for meeting them, a 
goal-status board that offers big-pic- 
ture tracking at a glance, and a time- 
line feature that lets you monitor target 
dates for making it all happen. The Peo- 
ple side consists of a status board 
that offers color-coded prompts to 
make sure you're evaluating and com- 
municating with employees, a perform- 
ance data file that lets you compile 
performance appraisals, and a planner 
that connects the dots between people 
and objectives, 

ManagePro is commonsensical; it's 
a breeze to install and use. The learn- 
ing curve doesn't seem prohibitively 
steep, thanks in part to the excellent tu- 
torial built into the software. But you 
may be a while fathoming its many pow- 
ers. The makers recommend half an 
hour on the tutorial, but 1 lingered a lit- 
tle longer to learn my way around the 
extensive features, and I was glad I 
did. You may not need ail that Manage- 
Pro can do, but you needn't be 
scared away — even if it has more pow- 
er than you need right now. 

STEVE PERRY 



Avanios 

(800) 282-6867 

(510) 654-4600 

S395 

Circle Reader Service Number 436 



ARTHUR'S TEACHER 
TROUBLE 

Arthur's Teacher Trouble is the second 
in Br0derbund's series of interactive 
CD-ROM storybooks called Living 
Books. It brings Marc Brown's chil- 
dren's book to the computer screen 
with musical accompaniment, interest- 
ing animated effects, and a voice to 
tell the story. In it, you'll find the same 
storyteller theme, lustrous high-reso- 
lution graphics, onscreen play, and mul- 
tilingual narration found in Brgder- 
bund's original Living Book, Grandma 
'n Me. 

But unlike Grandma 'n Me, which 
was rated for children ages 3-8, 
Arthur is for somewhat more advanced 
readers, ages 6-10. Like Grandma, 
Arthur's tale can be told in English or 
Spanish. Language is an option you se- 
lect at the title screen, and from there 
you can also click on Preview to get a 
look at what's coming up in Br0der- 
bund's next Living Book. Then you can 
select whether you want to have the sto- 
ry read to you or to play inside it. 

If you have the story read, you see 
the text from Brown's story highlighted 
onscreen as it's read in Arthur's voice. 



Children can read along, recognize the 
words, and follow the animated action 
as Arthur and his friends struggle 
through Mr. Ratburn's third grade 
class and prepare for the school's big 
September Spell-a-thon. 

All this (and more) happens when 
you choose to play inside the story. Do- 
ing so takes you to an interactive 
mode which brings the elements on- 
screen to life when you click on them. 
Each screen is a page out of Brown's 
book, and the animated illustrations fair- 
ly duplicate those in the small bound 
copy that Braderbund includes with 
the software. 

At every turn, the reader gets intro- 
duced to subtle humor and imaginative 
activities that will delight children and 
charm adults. Arthur, like Grandma 'n 
Me, teaches as it entertains and lets 
children become players in the story- 
books they read. These Living Booi<;s 
delight at so many levels they'll make 
you want to buy a CD-ROM player if 
you don't already have one for your 
home computer. 

CAROL ELLISON 



Braderbund 

(415) 382-4400 

S44 95-359.95 

Circle Reader Service NumlKr 437 



DOCTOR SCHUELER'S 
HOME MEDICAL 
ADVISOR 

Healthcare reform comes in various 
packages, and this one — Doctor Schuel- 
er's Home Medical Advisor (Windows 
3.1 version) — is lively with colorful graph- 
ics, packed with information, and fun to 
use. 

The aim of Home Medical Advisor is 
to nurture informed healthcare consum- 
ers — a lofty goal that might help us to 
carve away at a national cancer 
called healthcare costs. It's produced 
by Pixel Perfect and written by 
Stephen J. Schueler, chairman of the 
Department of Emergency Medicine at 
Holmes Regional Medical Center in Mel- 
bourne, Florida. 

Home Medical Advisor is a handy re- 
source that you don't have to be a 
computer whiz to use. In fact, children 
and adults alike enjoy Home Medical 
Advisor at the St. Louis Science Cen- 
ter, where the DOS version of this pop- 
ular program is part of the Medical 
Technology Gallery. 

From abdominal pain to zinc oxide 
poisoning, you can find information on 
it in seven linked files: Symptom, Dis- 
ease, Injury, Poison, Drug, Test, and 
Health & Diet, You navigate the pro- 
gram with simple keyboard or mouse 



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Need a network at home? 
See page 91 

Want to speed up Windows? 
See page 55 

Don't like mice? 
See page 251 

What do you do when your 

computer won't boot? 

See page 1 

Need help organizing 

your hard drive? 

See page 35 

What is TrueType and what 

does it mean for you? 

See page 104 

COMPUTE 
MAGAZINE'S 
POWER TIPS 

has the answers to 

these and 

hundreds of other tips. 



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To order your copy send $16.95 plus 
$2.50 for shipping and handling (U.S., $4 
Canada and $6 other) to COMPUTE 
Books, c/o CCG, 2500 McClellan Ave. 
Pennsauken, NJ 08109. (Residents of 
NC, NJ, and NY please add appropriate 
tax; Canadian orders add 7% GST) All 
orders must be paid in U.S. funds 
drawn on a U.S. bank. VISA and h/laster- 
Card orders accepted; be sure to in- 
clude your card number, expiration 
date, and signature. Offer good while 
supplies last. 



REVIEWS 



commands, You can access informa- 
tion by clicking on menu buttons tfiat 
run along the bottom of the screen or 
by typing keywords in the dialog box 
for the Scan command. 

The Windows version of Home fVled- 
ical Advisor is a wonderfully souped- 




The Windows version ot Sciiueler's Home 
i\^edical Advisor is good for wiiat ails you. 

up model of the DOS version. Redraws 
are quicker, the color graphics spicier, 
and the information more complete. 
Now you can tell the doctor where it 
hurts in the Symptom File by using an 
anatomical drawing and simply click- 
ing on the part of the body that's under 
the weather. 

The Disease File offers detailed infor- 
mafion about the signs, symptoms, 
evaluation, and treatment of more 
than 500 diseases (50 more than in the 
DOS version). The Injury File Is a 
guide to more than 130 different inju- 
ries, the Poison File names some 500 
poisons, and the Test File gives you 
the lowdown on 130 of the most fre- 
quently performed medical tests. The 
Drug File is much more extensive than 
in the DOS version, which covered 
about 800 prescription and nonprescrip- 
tion drugs; this version tackles 1200. 

A new feature is the Health & Diet 
File, a cornucopia of tips for better liv- 
ing. It includes information on vitamins, 
nutrition, home safety, health, and trav- 
el, as well as a vaccination schedule 
for parents to refer to. 

Look for the CD-ROtv/| ver- 
sion — which promises to be even 
more visually exciting — in the fall. In 
the meantime, the Windows 3,1 ver- 
sion of Doctor Schueler's Home Medi- 
cal Advisor is one way the ordinary 
person can get a handle on the 
healthcare issue. 

SHERRY ROBERTS 



Pixel Ferfecl 
(800) 788-2099 
(407) 779-0310 
$87.50 

Circle Reader Service Number 436 



YOURWAY 



"Manage your time and contacts," pro- 
claims the tag line on the front of 
YourWay, a sophisticated and elegant 
variation on the old electronic-Rolodex 
theme. When you first call up this easy- 
to-install software, you see a card file 
laid out in front of you, surrounded 
along the edges by ali the icons you'd 





■1-- '^(1 \ 


j."^ 



T/ie complexities of YourWay pay off m its 
time and contact management capabilities. 

expect; day, week, month, and task- 
planner windows; cut-and-paste fea- 
tures; and file-search features. 

A built-in tutorial would've helped 
me digest more quickly the range of op- 
tions YourWay offers, maybe, but the 
one in the manual does just fine. Don't 
expect to get through it too quickly, 
though. The simple stuff — like access- 
ing and creating contact file cards, 
and attaching notes to them via the no- 
tepad accessory — is easy to learn and 
pretty self-evident. But functions like ed- 
iting and file searching get pronounced- 
ly more complicated. Nothing over- 
whelming, but you quickly get into ter- 
ritory that's less intuitive and less graph- 
ically friendly than the front end of 
YourWay. 

But once you've mastered the ins 
and outs of card file maintenance and 
use of the planner windows, YourWay 
has a lot to offer. Want an alarm to no- 
tify you of lunches, meetings, or any oth- 
er planned events? Easy. Worried 
about keeping your contact information 
organized? YourWay cross-references 
between the various planners and indi- 
vidual card files, so that if you set up a 
lunch with Tom Thomas on your daily 
events planner, a note of it will also ap- 
pear on the notepad attached to his 
contact card. If you place a call to 
Mary Watkins at 10;25 on October 8, 
that'll be recorded too. 

I found YourWay a little daunting at 
first, but I soon figured out that that 
was largely a graphic matter: Some of 
the information-configuration screens ar- 
en't immediately easy to grasp; they of- 
fer options that'll send you scurrying to 
the manual. Which is OK, because 
once you've learned it, the scheme 



92 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



isn't particularly complicated. 

The installation was easy, and so 
far, the manual lias never let me 
down — it's written in plain language 
and features a good index. The only 
drawback is that a piece of software 
this high-powered has given me an in- 
feriority complex about my list of con- 
tacts. If I'm going to stretch the capa- 
bilities of YourWay, I've got some se- 
rious networking to do. 

STEVE PERRY 

Prisma Software 

(800) 437-2685 

(319) 266-0260 

S99 ($69 from calalog) 

Circle Reader Service Number 439 



SIMUFE 



SimLife, "The Genetic Playground." is 
a new addition to Maxis's line of simu- 
lations/games/toys, such as the pop- 
ular SimCity, SimAnt, and SimWorld. 
SimLife's silicon-based computer 
world simulates many of the features of 
our very own carbon-based life. You 
build an ecosystem and fill it with life, 
then test your world by changing ge- 
netics and/or messing with the laws of 
physics. Toss in a disaster — drought, 
fire, flood, and so on — and see how 
your world adapts. 

To play you choose from six prede- 
termined scenarios, such as exploring 
how a desert evolves into a forest or 
finding out what led to the extinction of 
dinosaurs. There's also an experimen- 
tal scenario, where anything you say 
goes. (Flying llamas? No problem.) A to- 
pographical map shows you the world 
you're working on. Inside the map is a 
small rectangle called the Edit Win- 
dow. Scroll the Edit Window over the 
map to find the section of the world 
you want to look at up close. A Win- 
dows-like menu system enables you to 
easily call up world creation and con- 
trol parameters, For instance, are any 
of your plant and animal creations ex- 
tinct, and if so, why? What can you do 
to save those left that are in trouble? 

Life is complex, and SimLife has a 
lot of features, too— "more buttons 
than all the bellies in China," the man- 
ual declares. But, unlike life, SimLife 
has an entertaining and gentle online 
tutorial that introduces you to features 
one at a time. Additionally, you can lim- 
it or ignore many features so you won't 
get overwhelmed. The manual also of- 
fers a tutorial, reference, and education- 
al bibliography. A lab book walks you 
through putting an experiment togeth- 
er and charting data. 

SimLife gives you all sorts of interest- 
ing options. If you want to see what hap- 
pens to your world and its inhabitants 



in an evolutionary sense, for exam- 
ple, speed up the simulation, and 
the years and generations will zip 
by. If you're more interested in the 
day-to-day events during the life cy- 
cle of a plant or animal, all you do 
is slow the simulation down. With 
SimLife, you can do it all. 

BETH C. FISHKIND 

Maxis 

(510) 254-9700 

S69.95 

Circle Reader Service Number 440 



VIRUSCAN, CLEAN-UP, 
VSHIELD 

Every once in a while, a software com- 
pany comes aiong that just seems to 
do everything the right way and at the 
right time. fvlcAfee Associates is one of 
those companies. It has produced a 
line of virus detection, removal, and ear- 
ly-warning software that's head and 
shoulders above the competition. 

I've used one form of virus protec- 
tion or another since I was first ex- 
posed to computer viruses in college, 
but I always seem to come back to the 
McAfee products. The reasons are 
quite simple: They work, they work 
well, and they wor)< simply. 

I have encountered several viruses 
In my travels, what with being an avid 
user of bulletin board systems (BBSs) 
as well as a collector of shareware. Not 
only has ViRUSCAN (the virus detec- 
tor) never missed one, but CLEAN-UP 
(the virus remover) has never failed to 
remove even the boot-sector viruses. 

The really Interesting thing about 
McAfee products is that you probably 
won't see them in your local computer 
store. They're distributed througti the 
shareware or user-supported concept 
of distribulion, This means that you use 
the software and, if you like it (that is, 
it's a useful utility that you use with 
some regularity), you pay the author 
some registration fee. If you don't like 
it, you just quit using it. 

The other way you may get one of 
the McAfee products is if it comes 
with your computer. McAfee has 
signed bundling contracts with some 
computer manufacturers, such as 
Austin and Leading Edge. 

The programs come with very easy- 
to-read documentation that fully ex- 
plains all of the options available. I 
feel that a specific word of warning is 
warranted, though: When installing the 
early-warning software VSHIELD, do so 
after all networking and disk-caching 
software and before any shells such as 
Windows or fV!S-DOS Shell. 

Registration for personal use allows 



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AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 93 



P)Ope 



PENTHOUSE ONLINF'' 

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• Photo E-Mail 

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• PetPoints™ Awards 

Program 

• Low monthly and 

connect fees! 

Exciting news! Penthouse introduces an 
online service tliat's easier — and more 
fun— to use. Called PENTHOUSE 
ONLINE, this new seA'ice features 9600 
bps capability and "real-time" graphics— 
ainnost instantaneous online viewing of 
photos and E-(vlail with picture-attach 
capability. Send a message.. .and a 
photo.,.at the same time! 

Log on and access Chat, E-(vlail. 
Penthouse Letters. Penthouse 
Photos. ..pius special Navigation and 
Help areas. New areas are being added 
continuously- Navigate anywhere using a 
mouse or Tab key. 

The Penthouse photos you'll find on 
PENTHOUSE ONLINE are the same 
high quality seen every month in 
Penthouse. Our unique speed-view 
system lets you browse in 256-cotor 
VGA, then download the photos you 
wish to keep. That's right. View BEFORE 
you download. 

There's more! Keep up to date on 
national and world events, the financial 
markets, entertainment news and 
more. ...Thinking about travel? See our 
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area. ..And don't miss our DISCOUNT 
MERCHANDISE MART! Thousands of 
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To order your membership kit 
call 1-800-289-7368 or circle the 
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circle Reader Sendee Number 103 

94 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



REVIEWS 



you free upgrades and phone techni- 
cal support for a year. For business 
use, a Site license is required, !t entitles 
you to two years' worth of free up- 
grades and phone support. 

Another trait 1 find admirable is ttiat 
virus elimination is the company's only 
business. McAfee doesn't write DOS 
shells or word processors, just virus de- 
tection and elimination programs. This 
means that all of its efforts go into keep- 
ing viruses out of our machines. 
These programs prove that f\/lcAfee is 
doing its vi/ork well. 

BRADLEY M SMALL 

McAfee Associates 

(408) 988-3832 

S25— VIRUSCAN 

S35— CLEAN-UP 

S25-VSHIELD 

circle Reader Service Number 441 

AMAZON: GUARDIANS 
OF EDEN 

Rising from his desk, your boss, 
Wilbur Thornick. turns his back to you 
as he gives you the bad news. The 
expedition to the Annazon has been at- 
tacked, he tells you, his hands 
clasped behind his back, fingers twitch- 
ing restlessly. Your brother is missing. 

So begins Jason's (and your) adven- 
ture to find his missing brother. Allen, 
in Amazon: Guardians of Eden, What 
separates this from other adventure 
games is that the scene with Thornick 
is a minlmovie, Amazon has traditional 
adventure-type screens in which you di- 
rect your adventurer to Look, Open, 
Get, etc., combined with full-motion vid- 
eo sequences and synchronized 
speech that's anything but typical. As 
one of my friends put it, "Cool!" 

Naturally, there's a price to pay for 
such coolness. Eight megabytes of 
hard disk space is just the beginning. 
You can play Amazon with the mini- 
mum of hardware recommended, but 
to really get all that this program offers, 
you'll need a 386/33 computer, a 
sound card, and an SVGA monitor sup- 
porting 640 X 400 or 640 x 480 in 256 
colors, with VESA compatibility 

Amazon's story is patterned after the 
campy old serials from the 1940s and 
1950s, such as Flash Gordon, The 
Lost City, and Rocketman, Our story 
takes place in 1957, and you'll find vin- 
tage cars and TVs — as well as a vin- 
tage plot. The adventure is broken 
down into chapters, each with its own 
cliffhanger ending. To assist you on 
your quest to find your brother in the 
depths of the jungle, there's a player's 



guidebook and a pop-up online help 
window. 

The online help consists of three lev- 
els of clues, so you can make the 
adventure as challenging as you can 
handle. Begin with an intriguing, ob- 
scure hint. If that's not enough, there 
are two more levels of progressively 




You won't find a cooler system-resource hog 
ttian Amazon: Guardians of Eden. 

easier hints. But beware: The easier 
the hint, the more points docked from 
your overall game score, 

BETH C FISHKIND 

Access Software 

(800) 800-4880 

$69 95 

Circle Reader Service Number 442 



FLIGHT SIMULATOR 
ADD-ONS 

While several companies produce add- 
on software for Microsoft's Flight Simu- 
lator, none is quite as prolific as fyial- 
lard. Recently, Mallard has released 
many new pacl<ages, including Air Traf- 
fic Controller (ATC) and Pilot's Power 
Tools (PPT). 

ATC (originally called Tracon) is an 
impressive simulation that drops you in- 
to the seat of an air traffic controller, 
where it's up to you to get all aircraft in 
your sector safely to their destinations. 
To make the simulation as lifelike as 
possible, ATC's display includes a re- 
alistic-looking radar panel, complete 
with a continually circling radar sweep 
that updates critical data on the aircraft 
in your sector. In addition, menus 
across the top let you configure the sim- 
ulation to your taste and skill. 

As planes approach your sector, 
their flight plans appear in a pending 
queue to the right of the radar display. 
How you handle a flight depends on its 
flight pian. If a plane is just overflying 
your area en route to another location, 
you need do little more than keep it a 
safe distance from other flights and 
hand it off to the next controller. Take- 
offs, on the other hand, must wait on 
the ground until you release them. 



Landings are the real challenge in 
ATC. You must guide the plane into the 
airport at the proper altitude and angle 
for its final approach. As if this weren't dif- 
ficult enough, you frequently have sev- 
eral planes landing at the same airport, 
one after another. To add to the realism, 
digitized radio voices represent your com- 

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" H'IWFFJW - raw w Jtolmlfcyw CniUc 




Air Traffic Controller puts you behif^a the 
radar screen of a busy airport. 

mands and the pilots' replies. ATC, 
which includes both a DOS version and 
a Windows version featuring much-im- 
proved graphics, offers a gripping and 
educational simulation. 

If you've lost control of the dozens, 
or even hundreds, of files comprising 
the many scenery disks and other add- 
on modules you use with Flight Simu- 
lator, you might want to try Mallard's Pi- 
lot's Power Tools. Using PPT, you can 
use PKZIP to compress most files you 
need for Flight Simulator into related ar- 
chives, allowing you not only to save 
huge amounts of disk space but also 
to organize files into directories and re- 
lated ZIP files. Most of the tools includ- 
ed in PPT manipulate these com- 
pressed files. 

You might, for example, want to 
have a directory containing all the 
files, in ZIP format, from a specific scen- 
ery package. Then, to use the scenery, 
you simply select PPT's Copy Selected 
2IPs & Run FS option and tell PPT the 
file types you need for that current 
Flight Simulator session, PPT does all 
the dirty work, uncompressing the files 
into your Flight Simulator Directory and 
running Flight Simulator in the mode 
you've selected. After the Flight Simu- 
lator session, PPT deletes the files it 
copied, and, if necessary, updates 
your ZIP file with whatever files you 
may have changed during the session. 

Also included in this package is Mai- 
lard's Flight Planner. There are also util- 
ities to analyze and edit Aircraft & Scen- 
ery Designer files, convert Flight Plan- 
ner files into adventures for Mallard's Air- 
craft & Adventure Factory (AAF), and 
cross-reference various elements of an 
AAF adventure, plus even more. Pilot's 
Power Tools offers serious fliers pre- 
cise and convenient control over their 
Flight Simulator sessions. 

CLAYTON WALNUM 



Mallard Soitware 

(800) WEB-FEET 

Air Traffic Conlroller— $5995 

Circle Reader Service Number 443 



Pilot's Powar Tools— $39,95 
Circle Reader Service Number 444 

PEACHTREE 
ACCOUNTING FOR 
WINDOWS 2.0 

It's not often that an upgrade of an ex- 
isting software product looks like an en- 
tirely new package. Such is the case, 
though, with Peachtree Accounting for 
Windows 2.0. Peachtree built this new 
version from the ground up. and it 
shows. 

Peachtree Accounting is targeted at 
companies that employ up to 25 peo- 
ple, with revenues of less than a million 
dollars, though it's capable of handling 
much larger businesses. It was de- 
signed — like most other products in 
the entry-level accounting genre — to 
be used by people with little or no pri- 
or accounting experience. The pro- 
gram's new user interface will also 
accomnnodate individuals with little or 
no PC experience. 

A simple, friendly tutorial walks the 
new user through setting up the com- 
pany's books (13 sample Charts of Ac- 
counts are included), and an ongoing 
checklist outlines the logical steps re- 
quired to utilize features appropriate for 
the user's business, "Smart Guides, " 
which can be turned on or off, offer ex- 
tra help at selected screens, 

All of Peachtree Accounting's finan- 
cial functions — Accounts Receivable/ 
Invoicing, Accounts Payable, Payroll, In- 
ventory, Job/Project Tracking, Bank 
Reconciliation, General Ledger, and Fi- 
nancial Reporting — are fully integrated, 
so data entered in one area automati- 
cally updates any other affected areas. 
And unlike with most other accounting 
packages, you don't have to go 
through complex month-end closing 
procedures; the program automatical- 
ly assigns transactions to the proper pe- 
riod by reading the date. 

Peachtree Accounting is also the 
first accounting product to take fu,!l ad- 
vantage of three powerful Windows 
functions: Multiple Document Interface 
(MDI), Object Linking and Embedding 
(OLE), and Dynamic Data Exchange 
(DDE). This means you can keep mul- 
tiple windovk's open onscreen simulta- 
neously, customize forms by inserting 
graphic objects from other applica- 
tions, and exchange data with other 
programs. 

Though the documentation and the fi- 
nal version weren't available at this writ- 



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AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 95 



REVIEWS 



ing, the beta I saw looked 
more intuitive and full fea- 
tured ttian any similar prod- 
uct I've seen. The program's 
new look incorporates state- 
of-the-art Windows conven- 
tions: descriptive icons, real- 
life representations of graphic 
forms, and visual flow charts 
that guide you through an 
accounting process. 

One of the most potential- 
ly powerful new features of 
this upgrade is the Manager 
Series, which lets you "drill 
down" through the many lev- 
els of your cash, collection, 
and payables records, and 
provides graphical analyses 
and overviews of your com- 
pany's financial status. More- 
over, several new capabili- 
ties have been added to 
every major function of 
Peachtree Accounting, en- 
hancing the product's flexibil- 
ity, ease of use, and speed. 

There's a lot of competi- 
tion in the small-business ac- 
counting field, and a shake- 
out is inevitable. When the 
dust finally settles, however, 
Peachtree Accounting will 
likely still be around. 

KATHY YAKAL 

Peachtree Software 

(800) 228-0068 

(-504) 564-5700 

$169 ($79 for upgrade) 

Circle Reader Service Number 44S 

DATA STOR 
486-25SX 

The Data Stor 486-25SX, 
buiit around the 486SX, 25- 
MHz, 32-bit microprocessor, 
is as powerful as it is fast 
and efficient. 

While you'll want to note 
that this particular flavor of 
486 has no math coprocess- 
ing capability built in, most 
common applications don't 
need one. If you required it 
at a later date, however, a 
coprocessor could always 
be added or the CPU could 

96 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



be upgraded. 

Above and beyond the 
standard 4MB of RAM, 
there are up to 32MB avail- 
able by expansion. Expan- 
sion RAM is held in single 
inline memory modules 
(SIMMs), making upgrades 
and maintenance easy and 
efficient. A 64K hardware 



ISA local bus slot, tied to the 
system's own memory bus 
and allowing direct access 
to the CPU by peripherals, 
accommodates local bus 
add-on cards. The local bus 
adapters run at the same 
speed as the CPU for conse- 
quent high performance. 
To test speed and smooth- 




You're likely to find everything you need in the Data Stor 486-25SX. 
a computer that combines speed with power. 



cache, using fast static 
RAM, is a part of the moth- 
erboard and can be upgrad- 
ed to 256K. 

Because each machine 
is configured based on the 
needs of the specific pur- 
chaser, there's no standard 
configuration for the Data 
Stor 486, other than the ba- 
sic motherboard specifica- 
tions: a 1 : 1 interleave IDE 
hard/floppy disk drive control- 
ler, a game port, a parallel 
port, and two serial ports. 

Input and output is han- 
dled through AMI BIOS with 
on-board CMOS for storing 
the system configuration. An 



ness of operation, I ran sev- 
eral common programs on 
the Data Stor 486 and a 
Gateway 2000 386DX/33. 
These included Windows ap- 
plications such as MacDraft 
and Hollywood — which are 
heavily graphics and proc- 
essing oriented — and DOS 
applications such as Dance 
of the Planets, Color Works, 
and DeluxePaint lie, also 
heavily processing oriented. 
Dance of the Planets, in 
fact, needs a math coproces- 
sor to run at its best, yet it 
moves along at an accepta- 
ble rate on the Data Stor 
486. In all cases, the Data 



Stor 486 showed enough im- 
provement over its 386 equiv- 
alent to be the computer of 
choice if both were availa- 
ble and both were running 
the same software. 

To obtain data not biased 
by my own interpretation, I al- 
so ran the Norton Utilities 
SYSINFO program and 
looked at the benchmark 
tests. What the benchmarks 
told me was essentially 
what I experienced — signifi- 
cant speed in both file ac- 
cess and processing. With 
the IBM XT 8088 running at 
4.77 MHz as a base value 
of 1 in all indices, the Data 
Stor 486 has a computing in- 
dex (CPU speed) value of 
54, a disk-speed index of 
7.5, and an overall perform- 
ance-index value of 38.5. 
Compare this with the 386 
values — which are, respec- 
tively, 34.8, 7, and 25.5— 
and you have a 50-percent 
improvement. 

My review unit also came 
equipped with a Tseng 
4000 local bus video board 
offering Super VGA capabil- 
ity, a high-resolution moni- 
tor, a 207MB hard drive, 
high-density 5'/i- and 3V?- 
inch floppy drives, and a Lo- 
gitech Series 14 mouse. All 
of these were put through 
their paces, and nothing 
was found to be problema- 
tic or wanting, Also available 
for upgrades, but not includ- 
ed with the review unit, are 
fixed drives with capacities 
of up to two gigabytes, a 
Weitek math coprocessor, 
and, of course, multiple vid- 
eo displays and modems. 

This computer is a menn- 
ber of a family of Data Stor 
486 ISA Series computers. 
Depending on the flavor of 
486 microprocessor you 
choose, clock speeds may 
be 25, 33. or 50 MHz. The 
computer is fully IBM compat- 
ible, attractive, well de- 
signed, and easy to use. 



Advertisers Index 



Header Service Number/Advertiser 



Page Reader Service Number/Adverljssr 



Page Header Service Number/Advertiser 



Page 



1B2 8-Bit G-9 

299 Access Software 54,65 

AlCS - 31 

268 Amish Oullaw Shareware Co 114 

157 AMTEX Sathvare Corporation 55 

244 Antigrav Toolkil G-21 

29B Bare Bones Sodware A-15 

Bare Bones Software 114 

152 Bear Tectinologies G-12 

151 Bsar Technologies A-15 

BesI Personalized Bools 116 

12D Bstter Concepts A-7 

173 Blue Valley Software 114 

218 BodyCeilo 112 

138 Broderljund 19 

304 Cal Ad Soltwate 112 

181 Caloi<e Industries G-12 

155 CH Products 29 

149 Chips & Bits 69 

139 CMD/Creative Micro Designs G-11 

150 CompSuit 114 

114 CompSuit G-17 

108 CompuServe 9 

Computer Business Services 111 

2S4 Computer Friends 110 

Computer Technologies G-13 

Computers lor Tracis, Inc A-7 

175 Comlrad Industry , . 35 

199 Comlrad Industries 71 

125 Creative Labs 3 

123 Creative Pixels Ltd A-7 

113 Crealive Pixels Ltd G-12 

226 Crosley Si)ft*are 112 

144 CyberDieams 63 

161 Delphi 23 

131 OemoSource 113 

18B Oigispeecti 39 

180 Digital Directory Assistance 117 

187 Digilal Expressions Research A-19 

2S3 Disks O'Plenty G-13 

167 Disks O'Plenty A-19 

208 Disk-Count Software 101 

DSK Enterprises Ill 

182 Eagle Tree Software A-9 

143 Electronic Als 43.44.45 

FGIvl Connection G-17 

285 Finetasllc Computers A-9 

115 Free Spirit Software 99 

Gllda's Club 103 

177 Grapevine Group. Ttte A-27 



159 Grapevine Group. The G-13 

129 Heme Data Systems Ltd 116 

Hope Career Center Ill 

234 Horse Feathers Graphics G-13 

207 IBM 5 

30D ID B3 

145 InLine Software 46 

231 Jackson IVIarking Products Co.Inc 1!4 

Jasmine Multimedia Publishing 11 

140 JemmaSolt 117 

JP PBI^ Products by Mali G-11 

170 Keystone Sottw^re G-12 

197 KF PD Sotare G-17 

Kid Secure of America Ill 

178 LACE .■ ... 112 

117 Legacy Software tlO 

137 Legendary Design Technology A-26 

138 Legendary Design Technology A-19 

146 Living Proof. Ltd G-21 

255 Logitech 14.15 

26D Mad Man Software G-17 

138 P^allard Software 33 

194 IvIegageM A-19 

200 MIcroWagic Productions 116 

154 MIcroProse 51 

289 MlcroSlorm Software G-21 

191 fJeedham'5 Electronics, Inc 117 

124 fJeuraiink A-19 

135 fJew Horlzions Software G-21 

201 New World Computing 87 

133 Norrls Software A-27 

NRI/McGraw Hill 73 

141 Odyssey OnLine 114 

163 Onjin 90 

204 Origin 47 

164 Parsons Tectinology 21 

106 Panh Galen A-26 

273 Passport Designs .13 

250 PC Enterprises 112 

Penaragon Software Libiary 116 

107 Penthouse l^odem 115 

103 Penthouse OnLine 94 

153 Perforrjiance Peripherals 3-21 

189 Pixel Perfect 107 

185 Poor Person Software A-19 

1B8 Power Siiareware A-2B 

119 Prolessor Jones 117 

256 Pralit Group, The 109 

Pure Enlertainment 102 

198 Puzzle Faclory.The A-15 



Q Enterprises Software G-13 

257 Ramco Computer Sales . . A-27 

212 SaleSoft Systems Inc 110 

111 ScnoDl of PC Repair 110 

116 SeXXy 114 

171 Shareware Central 112 

148 Sierra OnLine 91,93,95,80 

109 Smart Luck Software 110 

176 SmailMicro Technologies Inc 112 

196 SMC Software Publishers A-19 

126 SoflShoppe 110 

195 Software Studio A-19 

210 SoftA^re Support International 110 

297 Software Support fntemationai A-27 

190 Software Support fntemationai G-7 

SOGWAP Software A-9 

SOGWAP Software G-9 

203 Star Micfonics 27 

130 StanNare Publishing Corp 113 

179 SubLogic 48.49 

147 Tfirustmaster . 113 

202 TIAS A-15 

242 Tycom G-12 

301 US. Robotics , . - IBC 

127 Value Software Inc 110 

132 Virgin Games IFCI 

267 Virgin Games 78,79 

122 Virgin Games 37 

17Z Wedgwood Computer 110 

Windows 900 115 

110 WOL/School of Computer Training 41 

Ciasslieds 118,119 

Product f^art 109,110,112,113,114,115,116,117 

104 COMPUTE Books 77,92,115,A.3,A.15 



COMPUTE Editor 900 line 93 

COfv!PlJTE Library Cases 104 

COMPUTE'S SharePak Disk Subscription 57 

Gazette Disk Subscription G-9 

Gazette Index G-21 

Gazette Productivity Manager G-19 

Gazette Single Disk Order G-40 

Gazette Specialty Disks G-5 



CREDITS 

Cover: graphic provided by Microsoft Dino- 
saurs; page 4; Hans Wendler/lmage Bank; 
page 30: Larry Ross/Image Bank; pages 
60-61: Rob Colvin; page 68: Curt Doty/ 
image Bank; pages 74-75: Mark Wagoner; 
pages 80-81 : Mark Wagoner; pages 84-85: 
Bryan Leister; page 86: Ben Simmons/ 
Stock Market; pages A-4-6: images ren- 
dered by Foundation imaging; page G-3: 
Pierre-Yves Goavec/lmage Bank. 



IMPORTANT NOTICE 

FOR 

COMPUTE DISK 

SUBSCRIBERS 

COMPUTE offers two different disk products for 
PC readers; the SharePak disk and PC Disk. 
SharePak is monthly and has a subscription 
price of $59,95 for SV-^-inch disks and $64.95 for 
3V2-inch disks. A subscription to SharePak 
does not include a subscription to the maga- 
zine. PC Disk appears in odd-numbered 
months and has a subscription price of $49.95, 
which includes a subscription to the PC edition 
of COMPUTE. You can subscribe to either disk 
or to both, but a subscription to one does not 
Include a subscription to the other. 



AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 



97 



SPEAK IP! 

\A/E at COMPUTE 

strive to provide you with the latest 

and most useful home, business 

and entertainment computer news 

and information. Now we're 

opening the COMPUTE EDITOR 

LINE-a direct link to our editorial 

staff that lets you truly participate 

in the shaping of COMPUTE 

Magazine. 

Using this program, you can 

comment on articles and features in 

COMPUTE. After hearing the 

introduction, you'll be asked to 

leave a message for the editor Your 

message will tie reviewed and may 

be published in a future issue. 



Here's how it works: 

1. Call the COMPUTE EDITSR 
LINE: 1-900-884-8681. The 

Charge is only SO. 95 per min. 

2. Select the month of the issue 
you want to talk about. 

3. Enter the extension number 
printed at the end of the feature 
or pictorial spread you want to 
discuss. If you don't have the 
extension number, just listen to 
the menu selections, and they 
will lead you to the proper 
extension for each item. 

4. Listen to the comment or 
information corresponding to the 
feature or pictorial you selected. 

5. Then, at the tone, leave your 
desired message! 

6. If you would like to make 
another selection, press " i( " to 
return to the main menu. 

PET INC, Box166, Hilywd.,CA 
90078. Must be 18 or older. 
Touch Tone phones only. 



REVIEWS 



There are three buttons at the front of 
the unit: a turbospeed button, a reset 
button, and the power button. Although 
a keyboard seems a mundane thing, it 
can make all the difference when 
you're using a computer, since it's the 
peripheral you have most immediate 
and lengthy contact with. The Data 
Stor 101 keyboard is IBM standard 
and has a terrific feel, with pleasing tac- 
tile feedback and a solid click. 

Case dimensions are 16-/2 x 1472 x 
7 inches. The interior is well laid out 
and is accessible with the removal of 
seven screws. 

With attributes ranging from a fast op- 
erating speed to a keyboard with a 
nice feel. I found plenty to like about 
the Data Stor 486-25SX. It's a well-de- 
signed, powerful machine. 

BRUCE M BOWDEN 



Data Storage MarKeting 

(303) 442-4747 

$1,685 

Circle Reader Service Number 446 



DODOT 4.0 

If you do a lot work with graphics, you 
can surely benefit from a utility like Hal- 
cyon Software's DoDot 4.0. DoDol is a 
veritable Swiss Army knife of graphics 
utilities, consisting of five separate pro- 
grams: DoDot, DoConvert, DoThumb- 
nail, DoSnap. and DoView. They per- 
form a host of graphics functions. 

The mam application, DoDot, allows 
you to fine-tune and transform images. 
One example might be converting col- 
or images to gray scale or black-and- 
white. It also lets you fax and scan im- 
ages. DoConvert is a conversion utility 
that supports conversion among 50 dif- 
ferent graphics formats, including oth- 
er platforms, such as Macintosh and 
Sun. DoThumbnail lets you catalog 
thunnbnails of images and search 
terms into an easily navigated data- 
base. DoSnap is a screen-capture util- 
ity that lets you save captures in sev- 
eral different formats. You can also 
choose between sending the capture 
to the Clipboard or to a graphics file. 
DoView is a graphics-viewing utility 
that allows you to view graphics by se- 
lecting them from the Windows File Man- 
ager or another file-management utility 

Most impressive is the speed with 
which each DoDot application per- 
forms its allotted task. I converted sev- 
eral 24-bit images to gray scale in half 
the time it takes other similar utilities. 
Conversion between file formats is al- 
so quick, and DoConvert is a batch 
converter, which means you can set it 



up to convert several files and walk 
away to do other tasl<s while the com- 
puter works. I was disappointed, how- 
ever, that you can perform only one 
type of conversion — say. CGM to 
PCX — per batch. Also, in my tests con- 
verting EPS logos to CGM, DoConvert 
dropped several letters, making the con- 
versions useless. But most of the file 
conversions worked fine. 




DoDot performs just about every graphics 
function you can think of 

DoThumbnail is one of the most ver- 
satile cataloging utilities I've ever 
seen. It catalogs graphics not only on 
your hard disk, but also on other sourc- 
es, such as CD-ROMs and remova- 
bles. When you access an image not re- 
siding on your hard disk, DoThumbnail 
tells you where to find it. Few of us 
have big enough hard disks to allow sel- 
dom-used graphics to occupy valuable 
real estate. DoThumbnail is also faster 
than CorelMOSAIC and some other cat- 
aloging utilities. 

Halcyon markets DoDot as the Com- 
plete Graphics Toolbox. While this pro- 
gram is both powerful and useful, it 
lacks a few basic features, such as sim- 
ple bitmap and vector editors, to be 
complete. Also. DoDot itself misbe- 
haved on my system, crashing often 
and causing me to reboot. Halcyon 
representatives say they haven't expe- 
rienced this problem. Granted, my sys- 
tem is more complex than many, but 
other Windows programs run fine on it. 

Those few minor drawbacks aside, 
this is a great utility. In particular, Do- 
Dot Is stronger at managing graphics 
than some other utilities. 

V/ILLIAIvl HARRELL 



Halcyon Software 
(4C8) 378-9898 
si 89 

Circle Reader Service Number 447 



98 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



msm Software 



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Shareware Ovorloadl - 600MB, all kinds oi apsllcaliors, ZIPPED' Lo'.s of Windows progs. & games 
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Edueallonal 
A Plus Grade Builder 
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Amanda Stories 
Amazing Uiiiverse 
American Indians 
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Arthur Teacher Trouble 
Barney Bear School 
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Biijle Lands 8 Stones 
Career Opponunilies 
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CiVil War 

Dinosaur Adwentures 
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Ecoquesi 
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European Monarctis 
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Moving Stomach Ache 
Nat Geog Mammals 
Our House 
Our Sofa' System 
Paper Bag Princess 
Scary Poems lor Rollert Kids 
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SLS Japanese 
SLS Spanish 
Slickybear Preschool 
Twelve Roads To Gettysburg 
US Civics 
US History 
US Presidents 
US Wars: Korea 
US Wars: WWII 
Vocabulearn Frersch 
Vocabulearn Spanish 

Enlertamm^nl 
Aegis Gljardian Fleet 
Air Warrior 
Arcade 
Battle Chess 
Beyond Wall Stars 
CD Game Pack! 
Chessmasler 3000 
Conan 

Conquest of Longbow 
Curse of Enchantia 
Dagger ol Amon Ra 



39.00 
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49.00 
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69.00 
69.00 
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69-00 
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59.00 
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69.00 
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Deadzone Jr 

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Future Wars 

Game f*1aster 

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Guy Spy 

House ol Games 

Iron Helix 

Jones in Fast Lane 

Jutland 

Kings Ouesi 5 

Klotski 

Loom 

Manhole 

Mantis 

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Pacitic Islands 

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Rotor 

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Seuenth Guest 

Sherlock Cons 1 

Sherlock Cons 2 

Sheriock Cons Del 111 

Software Jukebox 

Space Adventure 

Space Quest IV 

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sprite 

star ChiW 

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Who Killed Sam Rupert 

Willy Beamisti 

Wing CMDR 2 OPS 

Wing CMDR 2iUII Undrgrnd 

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UterB\ufe 
Aesops Fables 
Beauty £ Beast 
Complete Bookshop 
Creation Stories 
Desktop Bookshelf 
Don Quixote 
Elec Home Lib 
Goldilocks S 3 Bears 
Grandma & Me 
Great Literature 
Heather Hits Honne Run 
Litjrary of Future 
Magazine Rack 
Masterpiece Library 
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Moving G Me Stomach Ache 



69.00 
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Murmurs of Earth 
Pole/ 1 Wall 
Polar Rabbit 
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Readers Library 
Shakespeare 
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Sleeping Beauly 
SlorylimeVt 
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Slorylime V3 
Tale ol Peter Rabbit 
Thomas' Snow Suit 
World Greatest Books 

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Classic Collection 
Kodak Photo CD 
UPC Wizard 
Wuimurs ol Earth 
Nautilus Mini Subsciiption 
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Music i Sound 
Composer Quest 
Encyclopedia ot Sound 
Grammys 
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Mozart 

Sound Sensations 
Sound Way 
Sounds for Windows 
Soundworks 
Vivaldi 

Praaramminii 
C Source Users Lib 
CICA Microsoll Win 
Garbo 

0S'.2 Hobbes 
Programmers ROM 
Simtel 20 
Source C CD 
Technolools 
XI1R5'.GNU 

Befererrce 
Aircraft Encyclopedia 
Bible Library 
Bibles £ Religion 
Cinemania 
Colossal Cookbook 
Book ol Lists 
Bus.'.Econ Atlas IntI 
Compttjn Upgrade & Switch 
Consumer Information 
Crossword Cracker 
Desert StormiCoJ Cmm 
Drct & Lang 
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49,00 
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Encyc M'M 5.0, ST. 

Encyc Win 1 .0. S.T. 

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Guiness 1992 

Guiness 1993 

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Roger Etjert 

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Time Table History 

Total Baseball 

USA State Factl?ook 

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Shareware 
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35.00 Window Master 19 00 

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15.00 HotPix4 33,00 

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49.00 PC PIx 3 33,00 

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Order With Check. Money Order. VISA. MasterCard. American Express, oi COD Order by ptione. mail, or fax Mote there is [IQ iiurcnarge lor creoit card orders For the contiguous U S, CD. ROM software stiippng is 55 00 per jmlgi (notlitlB); 
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Free Spirit Software, Inc. - 720 Sycamore Street - Columbus, IN 47201 - Questions? Phone (812) 376-9457 



circle Reader Service Number 115 



REVIEWS 



DOSUTILS 



There comes a time in eve- 
ry disk's life where it sudden- 
ly begins to show problems, 
at least every once in a 
while. If you're lucky, you've 
been keeping regular back- 
ups and can safely reformat 
your hard disk. If you ha- 
ven't, you'll need a product 
like DosUtils. 

Sometimes just reformat- 
ting won't do the trick. 
Worse, the underused (and 
properly so) DOS VERIFY 
command doesn't do a very 
good job of verifying disk 
writes. What's more, DOS 
gives the hard disk several 
tries before it decides 
there's a problem writing to. 
or reading from, the disk. 
That why, for example, you 
might notice that a hard 
disk or a floppy has slowed 
down for no apparent rea- 
son before errors are report- 
ed. The disk may in fact 
have been defective for a 
while as DOS silently ig- 
nored the problem, stoically 
rereading or rewriting the 
disk until it got the job 
done. 

DosUtils handles a wide 
variety of tasks, it lets you re- 
cover deleted files; acts as 
a kind of super-CHKDSK 
with its SCAN function; 
reads, writes, and searches 
the physical disk itself; 
changes file attributes; tests 
the disk controller; deter- 
mines the speed of the disk 
controller; finds defects on 
the disk; and performs a 
number of related feats. It 
does these for all popular 
hard disk types: ST506 
MFfVl and RLL, ESDI and 
IDE, and SCSI. It can low- 
level initialize the ST506 and 
ESDI, but not the IDE or 
SCSI. A companion product 
from Ontrack, Disk f\/lanag- 
er, handles all drive types, in- 
cluding IDE and SCSI, 

I've laid on the alphabet 

100 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



soup for a reason: If you 
have no idea what kind of 
hard drive is in your comput- 
er or why you'd want drive di- 
agnostics or a better 
CHKDSK, this product isn't 
for you. On the other hand, 
if you're the local power us- 
er and find yourself doing 
drive maintenance only be- 



bag of tricks. Like 
CHKDSK, it cruises the en- 
tire disk in search of cross- 
linked files, bad sectors, 
and so on; but it roots deep- 
er than CHKDSK. It's almost 
as fast, however, and well 
worth the very slight time pen- 
alty. It took only a few sec- 
onds longer than CHKDSK to 




DosUtils is a powerful program for mainlalning hard drives, but it niiiy 
be more powerful than casual users need. 



cause everyone knows you 
can do it, DosUtils might 
just be the product you 
need. 

One very useful feature in 
DosUtils' DiskLook utility is 
the abiiity to back up critical 
sections of the hard disk: 
boot record, BIOS para- 
meter block, file allocation ta- 
ble, and root directory. 
Since most disk problems 
originate in those areas, 
backing them up frequently 
could well make or break 
your efforts to recover data 
when the disk starts to lose 
its mind. DOS doesn't give 
you any means of backing 
up just these items, and the 
BACKUP/RESTORE pro- 
grams found in DOS are 
best left untouched. 

The SCAN utility will also 
find its way into your daily 



scan my 400MB of disk 
space. 

I appreciated DosUtil's 
wide variety of command 
line options. While switches 
like Force XT mode or 
Force DOS 4 rules may 
sound like arcana, they're life- 
savers when you're working 
with a clone drive mecha- 
nism that didn't quite copy 
the programming interface 
correctly or you're working 
on a system that has ac- 
quired more than one ver- 
sion of DOS, (I once fixed a 
machine that was sputtering 
along with hidden system 
files from DOS 2.11. a COIVI- 
MAND.COM from DOS 3.3, 
utilities from DOS 4.0, and 
some leftover files from DOS 
3.0.) Unfortunately the 
Force DOS 4 rules option 
isn't explained anywhere in 



the manual, and I had to 
call tech support to find out 
what it does. 

The documentation is 
slim and missing a lot of tu- 
torial information that might 
sell more copies of DosUtils 
to slightly less experienced 
users. Many important func- 
tions are given no explana- 
tion at all — the programmer 
and the person who wrote 
the manual might have 
known what Scans (Write- 
read) all UN-USED data clus- 
ters meanl. but I sure didn't. 
There are other significant 
problems with the manual. 
There's no index, the print is 
very small, and some useful 
illustrations are marred by 
their execution — they literal- 
ly look as if they were done 
on a typewriter, 1 still found 
them quite useful, though, be- 
cause they explain different 
configurations of cables and 
interface cards. 

Is DosUtils worth your mon- 
ey? If you know you need 
It — if you need to revive 
hard disks on the job — prob- 
ably so. If your computer is 
new, and you couldn't tell a 
cylinder from a file if it 
jumped out of your system 
unit and bit you, then you 
should save your money. 

TOM CAMPBELL 

Ontrack Computer Systems 

(800) 752-1333 

$99.95 

Circle Reader Service Number 448 

SPACE QUEST V: 
THE NEXT 
MUTATION 

Hold on to your mops, boys 
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the other Space Quests re- 
turns, this time for a stint at 
StarCon Academy where, 
as usual, he's on cleaning de- 
tail. But wait! Our hero grad- 




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allies of Destiny 35" 
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Empire Deluxe 35 

Entr Pak Vfm (ea) 23 

Eric the Unready 35" 

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Ez Language Series 

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t=l5lir 44 

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Facts in Action 31 

Falcon 3.0 45 

Oper Rghl Taer 25 

Family Tree MaJef 42 

Fann Creativity t<it 18 

Fatty Bear Binhday3l" 

Femme Fatale 26 

F. F. Data Disk 21 

Relds Of Glory 33" 

Right Simul A.T.P. 37 

Right Simul (M.S.) 41 

AJf Trie Cntrir 34" 

ArcftrScen Dsgn 28 

Aircraft Adv FactrySS 

» 685 17 

#701 17 

Airport Facty Log 17 

California 37 

F S Pro 24 

Great Britian 37 

Hawaii 1 9 

instant facft Loc. 19 

InstAjmnt Pikjt Seen 

Japan Soenery 19" 

Pilots Pvm Tls 24" 

East/West U.S.ea 59 

Rescue Ar 911 17 

Scsrwry St A or B 37 

Scenery £nJm Ed 25 

Sound & Grap<iic 25 

Tahiti 19 

Western Europe 19 

Follow ttie Reader 29" 

Free DC 37 

Freddy Pharkas 39" 

FnDnl Paoa Sports 39" 

G-Force 19" 

Gambit 31" 

Game Maker 69*' 

Games:Summer Chicfl5 

GamesiWinter Chlg 35 

Gateway 35 

Gemlire 31 

Global Conquest 35 

Gobblins 1 or 2* 22 

Gods 25 

Grand Slam Brdge 1131 

Grandmaster Chess 36 

Great Naval Battle 43" 

Super Ships 20" 

Great Works 30" 

Gunship 2000 31 

Scenario Disk 24 

Guy Spy 29 

Hardball 3 35 

Data Disk ea 17" 

Harrier Assault 34" 

Headline Harry 37 

Health & Diet Pro 26 

Heaven & Earth 3D 

Heimdall 19" 

Hen3S 0( 357Ih 20 

Hole in 1 Golf Dbi 25 

Hong Kong MahiOflg32 

Hoyll Bk Game 1/3 30 

Humans 25 

Inca ■ 29" 

Incredible Machine 29" 

Indiana Jones 4 37 

Inspector Gadget 35" 

Island of Dr. Brain 29" 

Jack Nicklaus Signt39" 

Jeopa/dy Silver 25 

Jeopardy Super 25 

Jetfighler 2 39 

Adv. Mission Disk 19 

Bundle Price 49 

John Madden 2 31" 

Jump Jet 38" 

KGB 19 

Kkl Cuts 35" 

Kid Desk 25 

Kid Pictures 19" 

Kid Pix 35" 

Kid Pis Companion 25 

Kid Worits 2 35" 

Kings Ransom 34" 

Kings Quest 1 VGA 37 

King's Quest 6 45 

Knowledge Advent 42 

LALav( 31" 

Land Of Lore 34" 

Laffer Utility 22 

Legacy f4ecromancn9" 

Legend of Kyrandia 35 



Legends of Vabur 36 
Legion's of Krella 37 
Laisur Suit Lany 5 39" 
Lemmings 29 

Oh Ko Oata Addon 22 
Lemm.-Oh No Mora 31 
Lemmings 2 35" 

Litwrty or Death 35 
Life and Death 2 32 
Line in the Sand 25 
Unks 25 

Links 386 Pro 39 

Course Disk ea 15 
386 Courses ea 19 
Lord of Rings 2 37 
Lost file Sfierlck H 41" 
Last Troas Inlocom 42 
Lost Treasures 2 29 
Lost Tribe 25 

Lunar Command 35" 
Lost Vikings 29" 

Lure of Temptress 32 
Magic Candle 3 37*> 
Mantis 39 

Mario is Missing 35" 
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Markj Teadies Type 25 
Math Blaster Myst™29" 
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Math Blaster Wind 36 
Math Copter 25 

Math Rabbit 25 

Math Zone 31 

Mavis Beacon Type29" 
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WcGee 3 Pack 32 
Mega Lo Mania 29" 
Menial Math Games 37 
Mercenaries 37" 

MelroGnome Music 31 
Michael Jordon R>ght42 
Mickey ABC's, 

Color or 1-2-3's 19" 
Mickey's Crossword 19 
Mkkey Jigsaw Pzl 31 
Mickey Word Advent 25 
Micro Cookbook 4,0 32 
Mcroleagu 4 BaseB 32 
Miaoleague FB Dti 32 
Microleague Soccer 25 
Mk^osolf Golf 39 

Midnight Rescue 35 
Might & Magic 4 40 
Milffl Ditka Clltimt FB 37 
Millie Math House 31 
Mixed-Up Fairy Tale 30 
Mixed-Up Mother Gs30 
Monkey Island 1 or 223 
Monopoly Deluxe 34 
Moonbase 25 

Mystery at Museum 35 
New Math Rabbit 29" 
N,Y. Tmes x-Wofd 32 
NFL Challefloe Prem59 
NFL F.B. Konami 30 
NFL Video Pro 46" 
Nigel's Worid 31 

No Greater Glory 20" 
Nobunagas Ambition37 
Number Maze 36 
Omar Sharif Bridge 37 
Operation Neptune 35 
Orbits 29" 

Oregon Trail 28 

[feluxe 34" 

Origin FX 25 

Outof This World 36 
Outnumbered 30 

Pacific Islands 2 29" 
Pacilic Wars 47 

Paladin 2 35 

Paperboy 2 27 

Patriot 42" 

PC Globe 39 

PC USA 31 

PC Study Bible 42 
Peppers Adventur929" 
Perfect General 36 
Data Disk 22 

Phonics Plus 25 

Pirtate's Gold 38" 
Playroom w/ Sound 31 
Police Quest 3 39" 
Populous 2 37 

Pool Shark 19" 

Power Hits Kids 31 
Movies 25 

Sports 25 

Sd-Fi 32 

Batlletech-Mech 32 
Powermonoer 32 
Print Shop Deluxe 45 
Graphic ColL (ea) 30 
Print Shop. New 35 
Graphics (ea) 22 
Print Sp Companton 31 
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Prophecy of Shadow38 
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Quest for Ctoty 3 39 
Rags to Ricftes 35" 
Ranroad Tycoon 19" 
ReachForThe Skies19" 
Header Rabbit 35" 
Header Rabbit 2 35" 
Heady for Letters 35" 
Ready Set Bead 29" 
Head'nflotl VGA 31 
Reading Adv in Oz 36 
Red Baron 39 

Mission Disk 17 
Healms 19" 

Return the Phntm33" 
Hex Nebular 37 

Riders o) Rohan 31 
Ring Wo.-ld 34" 

Risk lor Windows 29" 
flisky Woods 25 

Road 4 Track Pres 35 
Road lo Rnal Four 37 
Robosports Wind 34" 
Rodney Fun Screen 31 
Hock i Bacti Studkj 35 
Romance 3 King 2 39 
Home 29" 

Rule Engagment 2 36 
Sargon V 36 

Science Adventure 42 
Scooier Magic Castie32 
Scrabble Deluxe 3 
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Seal Team 37*' 

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REVIEWS 



uales and, because of a computer er- 
ror in his favor, receives his first assign- 
ment: to captain ttie garbage scow Eu- 
reka. Once on board, Roger faces an 
insolent crew/ and a perplexing mys- 
tery; Someone out tfiere wants to put 
an end to StarCon. 

As always full of wry and often irrel- 
evant humor, this latest Space Quest 




Space Quest V otfeis a neorealistic 
approach akin to Star Trek, plus t]umor 

installment goes further than any adven- 
ture game has gone before, perhaps 
with the exception of Star Trek, the 
25th Anniversary Edition. The gags are 
uniformly hilarious, the animated 
shorts hysterical, and many of the prob- 
lems you must solve seem ridiculous. 
Those constitute the differences be- 
tween Space Quest V and something 
like Star Trek. 

These two games hold in common a 
revolutionary approach to puzzle-solv- 
ing: neorealism. For instance, to open 
a locked door, instead of employing a 
bizarre gimmick, you must take a hole 
punch found aboard the Eureka and 
punch a specific pattern in a business 
card. 

The once-useless plastic card be- 
comes a key that opens the door 
You'll discover the necessary pattern 
through extreme and unusual circum- 
stances, but those conditions make 
Space Quest V what it is: funny The log- 
ic involved augments the slapstick and 
elevates the game well beyond the mun- 
dane horde of other adventures on the 
market — many from Sierra itself. 

Space Quest V utilizes Sierra's impec- 
cable interface, allowing for nearly 
transparent character actions. And, 
like most other Sierra games, this one 
features a nonstop and appropriate mu- 
sical score. The graphics rank among 
the best standard 256-color VGA work 
done to date, while the animations rare- 
ly seem to "take over" and leave you 
with nothing to do but watch. 

A number of Space Quest V puzzles 
do require absurd timing — even saving 
games won't alleviate your frustration 



at Roger's 33rd death from pukoid spit- 
tle or the hours of dead-end maze-crawl- 
ing. These tedious arcade sequences 
aside, anybody with a hankering to ex- 
plore an alternate and spoof-filled uni- 
verse must sign aboard the Eureka. 

DAVID SEARS 



Sierra On-Line 
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/( tielps if you have a lairiy high ievel of 
expertise to maiie the most of Disk 
Manager's disl<-recover capabilities, 

DISK MANAGER 

Disk Manager saved my skin. 

As a fairly competent programmer 
and an acknowledged power user, I 
tend to be pretty good at diagnosing 
problems, weighing the values of vari- 
ous solutions, and advising others on 
both hardware and software matters. 
So the other night when my system 
hung and the IDE hard drive died 
white I was racing for a deadline, I was 
calm and collected enough to do what 
few of my peers would do in that situ- 
ation . , , I panicked. Some heretofore 
unknown fvlr. Hyde leapt out from a 
deep crevasse within my soul and 
took over my consciousness. When I 
av/oke, I realized I had done a FOR- 
fvlAT C: on my hard drive. This isn't a 
problem with most hard disks, but IDE 
drives are a noteworthy exception. Do- 
ing a low-level format is a no-no, ren- 
dering the disk unusable. 

Unless you have the astounding 
Disk Manager, which saved my bacon 
at 3:30 the next morning. Disk Manag- 
er would be worth its price if only for 
that feature because the IDE manual 
mentions dispassionately that the only 
recourse to a formatted IDE is to send 
the dhve back to its manufacturer. Not 
a good sign when it's 3:30 a.m. and 
your deadline is at 7:30, But Disk Man- 
ager does a lot more than just low-level- 
format IDE drives. It will do the same 
for any ST506, ESDI, IDE, or SCSI 
drive. It will add a soft extension to 



An invitation to join 



GILDA'S CLUB 

where membership means that people with cancer and 
their families do not have to feel alone any more. 




The hvme a! 195 West Hoiulon Street in New York City h 
to became the first of many homes of GILDA'S CLUB. 



As she fought cancer, Gildo Radner said that if was In 
Q psychosocial support setting for people with cancer 
ond their families — with therapy, lectures, workshops 
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renewed sense of control of her life. And now, GILDA's 
CLUB asks for your contribution to help establish centers 
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there would be such communities everywhere, free of 
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Become a Foundling Member of GILDA'S CLUB: 

For a minimurf] contribution of 
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CLUB. A membership card in 
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Founding; Mrmbff 
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GILDA'S CLUB 



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Yes, I would like to join GILDA'S CLUB. 

n I wouid like to become a Founding Member of 
GILDA'S CLLJB. (Minimum contribution of $500} 

D For a contribution of $1 00 or more, receive 
a GILDAS CLUB T-Shlrt. 

D For a contribution of $25 or more, receive o 
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©1993 GILDA'S CLUB 



COMPUTE 
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REVIEWS 



your BIOS to tweak drives with more 
than 1024 cylinders, allow you to boot 
from up to four operating systems, 
repartition your disk, change thie inter- 
leave and cluster sizes for each parti- 
tion, and more. It even checks itself for 
a virus infection on startup. 

The documentation is much too 
slim, relying almost solely on the online 
help, which isn't the greatest. It has no 
index and omits a lot of tutorial informa- 
tion that, say, the Norton Utilities and 
many similar programs offer. And 
some of the items simply aren't cov- 
ered at all. For example, the f\/lachine 
Information option gathers certain ver- 
sion data from the BIOS and DOS and 
displays it without explanation. 

The online help gives only vague in- 
formation about that particular feature, 
so I'll test you: Do you know what the 
"Model byte" is? I didn't think so. (It's 
a byte written into the BIOS by IBM; for 
example, 255 means it's an original 
PC, 254 designates an XT, and so on.} 
Not only that, but the model byte is giv- 
en in hexadecimai or base 16 notation, 
so you're shown not the vaiue 255, but 
FF, which is 255 in base 16. 

Another problem is that the se- 
quence of a particularly crucial set of 
operations (Initialize Disk Surface, De- 
fect Management, and Verify Disk Sur- 
face) all listed on the same menu 
wasn't given in the online heip and cer- 
tainly not in the manual, so I had to 
learn by time-consuming (and potential- 
ly dangerous) trial and error. In other 
words, you'd better be a power user 
if you buy this product because the 
documentation doesn't tal<;e your 
hand and lead you through each step 
the way Norton does. (To be fair. Disk 
Manager's manual states that you're 
expected to be an advanced DOS us- 
er, and Disk Manager handles many 
cases that Norton doesn't For exam- 
ple, it can read the disk even without 
a partition.) 

But what Disk Manager does, it 
does very well. It dispatched with the 
low-level format of both my 212MB 
hard drives quickly and efficiently. Dit- 
to for the resuscitation of the old 
Seagate hard disk on my seven-year- 
old AT, which I'd planned to shoot and 
bury in the backyard. It also deter- 
mined correctly the disk types of sev- 
eral other machines I tried, although it 
lets you override parameters that you 
determine to be incorrect. 

Other miscellaneous features are 
equally useful. For example, you can 
write-protect whole sections of your 
disk. While there's no password protec- 
tion or encryption involved, this is 



enough to prevent the casual or even 
accidental tampering that can trash a 
disk in seconds flat. Another fairly ad- 
vanced feature is the ability to alter the 
cluster size of your hard disk (in Eng- 
lish, that means you can choose be- 
tween speed and m:ore efficient use of 
hard disk space). 

Disk fvlanager is a great companion 
to higher-level disk-recover tools like 
Norton or PC Tools. If you're comforta- 
ble enough around DOS and PC hard- 
ware to know whether you need it, 
Disk Manager does the job. 

TOM CAMPBELL 

Ontrack Connpuler Systems 

(800) 752-1333 

$124 95 

CJrde Reader Service Number 450 



DOUBLERES 4 



Get 600 dots per inch from a 300-dpi 
HP LaserJet Series II or III! That's the 
claim LPAC makes for its doubleRES 
4. But the board does more than just im- 
prove the resolution of Windows print- 
ing; it also speeds up the process. 

As a computing veteran with years 
of experience, I've heard my share of 
unfulfilled claims. As a result, I installed 
doubleRES 4 with a bit of skepticism. 

For me. installation meant loading 
up the doubieRES 4 printer driver in 
the usual manner and inserting the dou- 
bleRES 4 board into the Optional 1/0 
port of my LaserJet Series II printer. 
Both of these tasks were relatively pain- 
less. Completing the installation proc- 
ess required changing the LaserJet's 
configuration using the control panel 
on the pnnter, (This was probably the 
most difficult part of the process.) 

With everything in place, I loaded a 
20-page PageMaker 4.0 file, which in- 
cluded a variety of line drawings and 
used several Adobe fonts, as well as 
about six screen captures. I was very 
impressed with the increased printing 
speed. The doubleRES 4 board in- 
cludes an Intel i960 microprocessor 
that does much of the work the comput- 
er usually does, speeding up printing. 

Once I finished my initial test, I be- 
gan exploring the options available 
with the doubleRES 4 printer driver. 
These included the capabilities of se- 
lecting either 300 or 600 dpi and choos- 
ing halftone quality printing options of 
53, 71, 85, or 106 lines per inch, an im- 
portant feature if you print halftones 
with a LaserJet, 

I did have an opportunity to try 
LPAC technical support. I use a Gate- 
way 2000 486 with an ATI video card 
that has an SVGA BIOS incompatible 
with the doubleRES 4 printer driver. 
LPAC did have an alternate driver that 



104 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



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LONGEVITY. 

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General Media International, P.O. Box 3226, Harian, lA 51593 



REVIEWS 



^gjdeastdl 



I downloaded from its BBS. 
The new driver solved a prob- 
lem I was having printing 
PageMaker files with run- 
ning heads. 

I also had a very simple- 
to-explain problem printing 
from Quattro Pro for Win- 
dows: DoubleRES 4 simply 
didn't v^ork with that pro- 
gram! LPAC has discussed 
the problem with Borland, 
and both companies are 
working on it. While I experi- 
enced no problems serious 
enough to scare me away 
from doubleRES 4, you 
should probably check to 
be sure that it will work with 
the software you need it for. 

I did, however, successful- 
ly use doubleRES 4 with all 
the other programs I tried. 
Printing multiple-page docu- 
ments with doubleRES 4 
was about five times faster 
than with the standard driv- 
er at 300 dpi printing from 
Pagefvlaker, Word for Win- 
dows, and WordPerfect for 
Windows. The quality of the 
printing was also improved, 
as you would expect with 
the increased resolution, al- 
though the visual differenc- 
es to the naked eye depend 
on the font, style, and size 
of ttie characters, especially 
if you use Adobe fonts. 

At $599, doubleRES 4 
isn't a cheap add-on. But if 
you need to upgrade your 
HP LaserJet for increased 
speed in Windows printing 
and for 600-dpi resolution 
{and still be able to print 
DOS applications at 300 
dpi) and if doubleRES 4 will 
work smoothly with the appli- 
cations you use, it's an excel- 
lent alternative to buying a 
new printer, 

STEPHEN LEVY 

LPAC 

(800) 225-4098 

(800) 262-0522 (in California) 

$599 

circle Reader Service Number 451 

106 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



FOLLOW THE 
READER 

Dick and Jane had better 
get a new agent. For people 
with access to computers, 
at least, educational soft- 
ware has made some old- 
school learning techniques 



park. Spring for a Sound 
Source (an extra $20 if you 
buy the Follow the Reader 
combination pack), and you 
can hear sound effects, as 
well as a narrator reading 
the sentences your child 
helps create. The program al- 
so supports other major 
sound boards, though I nev- 




One fine day, flickey woke up and 



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Tell Mickey Mouse where to go and he'll help you learn to read in 
Follow the Reader, a sequel to Mickey's ABC's. 



seem as archaic as horse- 
drawn transportation. A lead- 
er in the field has been Dis- 
ney Software, employing the 
most recognizable corpo- 
rate symbols this side of Joe 
Camel to make learning fun 
and multidimensional. 

In Follow the Reader, a se- 
quel to Mickey's ABC's 
aimed at ages 5-8, f^/lickey 
Mouse and the usual sus- 
pects traipse through a se- 
ries of gentle, child-guided 
adventures. The program is 
easy to install and use, requir- 
ing a 286 machine and oniy 
rudimentary mouse or key- 
board skills. Each screen of- 
fers a sentence with one or 
two variable words, giving op- 
tions for Mickey to do some- 
thing where he is or to haul 
his oversized ears elsewhere 
and do something there. 

Mickey can wash his 
ears in the bathroom, write a 
letter to a friend in his bed- 
room, or pick up trash in the 



er was able to get it to work 
properly using my Covox 
Sound Master II, 

It sounded great through 
the Sound Source, though. 
The graphics aren't quite as 
good as the sound, offering 
rich color but moderately jag- 
gy illustrations. Jaggy or 
not, though, the characters 
move and make noises in a 
way that kept my five-year- 
old son happy. He had no 
trouble with the interface, 
and I'm confident that Fol- 
low the Reader's intuitive, no- 
wrong-answers method of in- 
struction will boost his read- 
ing skills over time. 

Good help for grownups 
comes from the well-illustrat- 
ed manual and an extra ac- 
tivity guide for parents and 
teachers, the capping vir- 
tues of a satisfying pack- 
age. For young readers. Fol- 
low the Reader offers a 
good lead. 

EDDIE HUFFMAN 



Disney Software 
(800) 688-1500 
S49.95 

Circle Reader Service Number 452 



INTERNATIONAL 

SPORTS 

CHALLENGE 

International Sports Chal- 
lenge is another in a long 
line of sports simulations 
that attempt to reduce Olym- 
pic-level competitions to joys- 
tick tapping, twisting, and 
v^iggling. In this omnibus con- 
test you can compete in six 
events, including marathon 
running, diving, show jump- 
ing (horses), swimming, cy- 
cling, and shooting. Al- 
though all events must 
be played in a four-player 
mode, your computer will 
be thnlled to fill in for miss- 
ing humans. 

Unfortunately, Internation- 
al Sports Challenge has little 
to add to a leisure software 
market already glutted with 
superior titles. Fact is, this 
game is one frustration after 
another. The hassles begin 
from the moment you try to in- 
stall it onto your hard drive, 
since the manual only in- 
cludes instructions for run- 
ning the game, not for install- 
ing it. Luckily, typing the usu- 
al install reads the needed in- 
structions from the disk. 

Installing the game is on- 
ly half the battle, though, 
Once you get the title 
screen up. you have to fig- 
ure out how the menu 
screens work, They, too, are 
not documented in the man- 
ual, except in the sentence 
"Simply follow the onscreen 
prompts." Too bad the on- 
screen prompts neglect to 
provide the information you 
need. 

Once you get the game 
running, you face some of 
the most contrived controls 



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circle Reader Service Number 169 



seen in a sports game. In 
many events tlie controls 
are impossibly frustrating. In 
[he diving competition, for ex- 
ample, you must first get thie 
diver into thie air by tapping 
the joystick button when a cir- 
clelike object expands to its 
largest size. The circle ex- 
pands so quickly however, 
that the results boil down to 
chance. Once your diver is 
airborne, you must try to 
line up two small balls on 
the circle in order to exe- 
cute the dive properly. For- 
get watching your diver; if 
you even glance away from 
the control circle, your dive 
will be as professional as a 
belly flop. 

The show-jumping event 
is equally frustrating. Here, 
you try to keep a horse on 
course, making its jumps in 
the assigned order. Al- 
though the 3-D graphics are 
OK, the horse is ridiculously 
difficult to keep on track, 
making the event more frus- 
trating than it's worth. The 
other events suffer equally (I 
never did figure out exactly 




Experience the kind of pleasure normally associated with dental 
work v/hen you play International Sports Challenge. 



how the swimming event 
worked), with the possible ex- 
ception of the shooting 
match, which is nothing 
more than pointing and 
shooting. 

Finally, although the 
game claims to support key- 
board controls, there is no 
documentation on how 
those controls are implement- 
ed. If you don't own a joy- 
stick, plan to spend an hour 



or two figuring out which 
keys work with which 
events — a nearly Impossible 
task. Having a mouse won't 
save you, either, since the 
mouse works only intermit- 
tently. You have to wonder 
why they even bothered to in- 
clude such meager mouse 
support. 

In summary, this game's 
overly difficult controls, in- 
complete and confusing man- 



ual, and borderline graphics 
and sound yield a leisure 
product that's more work 
than entertainment. I haven't 
had this much fun since I 
had a tooth pulled. 

CLAYTON WALNUM 



ReadySof: 

(416)731-4175 

S49 95 

Circle Reader Service Number 453 



PUTT-PUTT JOINS 
THE PARADE 

If only we could relive our 
childhoods! Instead of de- 
ploying plastic army men or 
posing Barbie dolls, we'd 
play Putt-Putt Joins the Pa- 
rade, an instructive charmer 
chock full of bells and whis- 
tles. Even if your problem- 
solving and reading skills 
don't require further develop- 
ment, you owe it to your kid 
ages 5-7 to bring home a 
copy of this Humongous En- 
tertainment product. 

Putt-Putt, a cute little talk- 
ing convertible, wants to 

AUGUST 1993 COMPUTE 107 



REVIEWS 



join the Cartown Pet Pa- 
rade—quite the gala affair. 
To participate, he must find 
a pet, pay for a car wash, 
and snag a balloon. Kids 
take the wheel, using the 
mouse to move Putt-Putt 
around Cartown and acti- 
vate secret Click-Points. In ur- 
ban areas, kids have plenty 
to do mowing yards, deliver- 
ing groceries, and finding 
their way around town. Out 
on the open road, young- 
sters will find that almost eve- 
ry butterfly and flower ani- 
mates when touched. 

The problems Putt-Putt en- 
counters won't stump an ea- 
ger seven-year-old, but for 
younger adventurers, figur- 
ing ways around balky 
cows, tacks in the street, 
and busy intersections can 
take some time. Successful- 
ly solving such simple dilem- 
mas results in rewards of 
clever animated sequences 
and clear digitized speech. 
Putt-Putt also manages to 
teach a few ethics lessons 
without preachiness, For ex- 
ample, Putt-Putt must locate 
a missing child. Kids might 
notice that the distraught 
mother has a red balloon per- 
fect for the parade, but the 
game itself never mentions 
rewards for noble actions— 
until after they're performed. 
Putt-Putt finds the child and 
gets the balloon; kids just 
might learn that valorous ac- 
tion makes them feel better 
about themselves. Besides, 
doing the right thing is the on- 
ly way to "win" the game. 
Throughout, Putt-Putt and 
friends talk to kids via quali- 
ty digitized speech, offering 
hints and encouragement. 
Putt-Putt often reads words 
on signs aloud so that kids 
who can't read will be able 
to make valuable word/ob- 
ject associations. 

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade 
seems to borrow from the Lit- 
tle Golden Books tradition of 

108 COMPUTE AUGUST 1993 



charm with its anthropomor- 
phic fire engines and automo- 
biles, all of which smile jovi- 
ally As mentioned, the whim- 
sical backgrounds bristle 
with Click-Points that trigger 
amusing animations. The 
manual, suitably titled The 
Junior Adventurer's Hand- 
book, consists of connect- 
the-dots activities, pages to 
color, and counting games, 
to name just a few items. 
The Junior Adventurer's 
Toolkit completes the pack- 
age with a Putt-Putt pencil, 
sharpener, and box of cray- 
ons — quite an assortment of 
goodies sure to delight any 
child. 

So when the route cho- 
sen calls for a gentle intro- 
duction to computer interfac- 
es and hours of light-heart- 
ed play Putt-Putt looks like 
the king of the road. 

DAVID SEARS 

Humongous Entertainment 

(800) 245-4525 

S49.95 

Circle Reader Service Number 454 

ROBOCOP 3D 

Inspired by Orion Pictures' 
science-fiction thriller, Ro- 
boCop 3D unfolds in the 
crime-infested streets of Old 
Detroit, Here, the OOP Cor- 
poration plans to construct 
a new urban paradise. Delta 
City, Numerous project de- 
lays, however, threaten to 
cost the company billions of 
dollars unless it begins imme- 
diate demolition of existing 
buildings. lA/hen residents re- 
fuse to leave their homes, 
OCP sends armed Urban Re- 
hab units to violently expel 
all resisters. As RoboCop, 
you turn renegade to help 
the hapless citizens and 
risk brutal retribution from 
your greedy employer. 

Gameplay consists of sep- 
arate Arcade and fvlovie sec- 
tions. Arcade mode offers 



practice in five self-con- 
tained action scenarios: Driv- 
ing, Street Fights, Hostage 
Rescue, Flying, and Hand- 
to-Hand Combat. Whether 
buzzing skyscrapers in sim- 
ulated air combat, cruising 
the lunatic fringe in your po- 
ice cruiser, or busting 
down doors to search build- 
ings, you'll find that the de- 
signers successfully evoke 
the movie's gut-level sensa- 
tion of danger and despair. 
Both driving and flying— in 
your experimental, combat- 
ready gyropack — offer the 
most visually dynamic ac- 
tion, while the so-called ur- 
ban pacification scenarios 
prove utterly chilling. Only 
hand-to-hand fighting fails 
to excite, suffering from inad- 
equate design and a clum- 
sy control scheme. 

Movie mode brings all 
game elements together in 
an open-ended adventure 
spiced with cinematic-style 
segues, subplots, and 
seedy peripheral charac- 
ters. The only rules are to fol- 
low your prime directives: 
Protect the innocent, uphold 
the law, and serve the pub- 
lic trust. Failure to do so 
promptly ends your tour of 
duty. Movie mode offers 
enough variety, mystery, 



and explosive action to en- 
sure repeated play The big- 
gest drawback, lack of a 
save-game option, is sadly in- 
dicative of the game's Euro- 
pean design. 

Graphics are rendered 
with a pleasing blend of 256- 
color bitmapped static 
screens and fast-moving 3- 
D polygons. Though the 
game is considerably less de- 
tailed than others of its 
type, the first-person per- 
spective and murky mono- 
tones give this virtual world 
its dark, jagged edge. Miss- 
ing from the IBM version, un- 
fortunately, are the spine-tin- 
gling music and sound ef- 
fects that enlivened the orig- 
inal Amiga edition. The only 
other major weakness is 
strictly a matter of taste: 
Thick with violence and 
harsh ambiance, the game 
could prove too grim. 

Though decidedly not for 
all tastes, RoboCop 3D deliv- 
ers enough diverse challeng- 
es and heavy atmosphere 
to make it Ocean's best mov- 
ie conversion yet. 

SCOTT A, MAY 



Ocean of Amenca 
(408) 954-0201 
S49.95 

Circle Reader Service Number 455 O 



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The call will cost 95 cents per minute, 

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Circle Reader Service Number 256 



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R, Wcffeil'aien 3P -Vtm pt ■ FOWw N*a Oemum . Theohica b,iPaem: thm 

■inua Dgq'lEimlliagmd J-D£n|AKimllmgviE.(\'aA){S4xuk]DLua; 

9. Mfrfctfrad -tag Ibe UbynMti amtMl rune mf hurt iliiwi liie uKFrury. c^oicTK* 

IllC htcfKa [evd oTstnuiJ tCalinBnrf^iiIitwUlilcn Jibtwbr lo dilt {1 aa^y^ 

DKxknHVaA) (lluil DnvcHnnw rfUvuJK^ dwL«) 

iO CKlrworU -Ci^*mkle— Wk«iB««tthrafJK.O iwwfantt n MHtcrMdnOH 

petf anule ailinn pwK (^ O A ) { S B J 

}J'A.S'DJJ3'SAUt rSK.'f l-9DISIt5Q0a (Ul'^Q^ 
ana KittmNO * KA.N.THJNG 



CALL: 1-800-947-4346 

i-OR l-RI-.i; CATAl.OCHiK 



Circle Reader Service Number 2G3 



^nDGAM^ 



• IBM- AMIGA -C64 

• Send list for speedy reply 

• Top Prices Paid 

• Convert titles you've beaten 
or grown tired of to CASH or 
trade credit {20% more)! 

• Call or write for free catalog 
(specify computer) 



940 4th Ave #222 Huntington WV 25701 

1-800-638-1123 



^^^^^^'^-^■^^'^'a^'a. ;^^ 



THE MAGIC MIRROR ... a toolbox 
for your mind, E. Kinnie, PtiD., Clinical 
Psychologist, $39.95. 

MAGIC MIRROR II . . . experiences 
for your mind. $39.95. 

MERLIN ... an apprenticeship. $29.95. 

I CHING . . . ancient Chinese wisdom 
and propfiecy. $29.95. 

THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN ... a journey 
into anottier reality, f^ot for children. 
Male and female versions. $39.95. 

SCREEN SAVER . . . math art and 
fractals, lively and colorful. $19.95. 
Blue VaJfc>-, 29 Shepani Sl, Waltoa NY 13856 
MutetCurd'Visa l.«»o45«172 lifUr 5 (>.m.l 
Call or \iTite for free caraloij. 



SI 



Circle Reader Service Number 173 



- SIGNS ni\iD 

''^v RU6B6R STAMPS 

•^ For your oiun use or q 
profitable sideline business 




Self-Inking aniJ traditional 

knob handle stamps can 

be made for less tnan $1. 

Retail prices will start in 

the $10+ range, 



Informational signs, nameplates, 

control panels, name badges, 

and hundreds of other signage 

items can be made for pennies 

per square inch. 




JACKSON KdRKING PROIXJCn C0„ INC 

Brownsville Rri., D-200, Mt. Vemon, IL 62864 
Phone: 800-851-4J45 Fax; 618-£4i-77S2 



114 



Circle Reader Service Numtier 231 



SUPER SONIC 



TM 






SoNie 



0m[] 




For both Genesis^" and Game Gear^" 
Covers Sonic 1 and 2 

To order your copy send $12.95 plus S2,50 for shipping and handling (U.S., 
$4 to Canada and S6 other) to COMPUTE Books, do CCC, 2500 McCleilan Ave. 
Pennsauken, NJ 08109. (Residents of NC, NJ.and NY please add appropriate 
tax; Canadian orders add 7% goods and services Tan.) All orders must be 
paid in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. Offer good while supplies last. 

Sega. Genesis.GameGoar.iSoriclheHedgetBgaretfademarts of SEGA 01993 SEGA. All Ri^ts Resaval, 



File Edit Search Dial 1-900-454-4370 69e per minute 



WINDOWS 900 

The #1 Shareware Source For . . , 
a Business a Programming 
a Utilities d Fonts 
a Games o Graphics 



KJ 



LARGE m ADOLI AREA! 

Must be 18 or over to call- 



Use Your High Speed Modem & Call| 



900-454-4370 



2400bps •- 9600bps V.32A3is V.42/bis 8,r 




NO CREDIT CARDS 

NO MEMBERSHIP 

NO LONG DISTANCE CHARGES 

FAST, EASY ACCESS 



Cillan under fs years ol age MUST titvt parent's permission 



ORDER YOUR LIMITED-EDITION PENTHOUSE ONUNE 
9600 DATA/FAX MODEM TODAY AND SAYEl 



A CUSTOM, LIMITED EDITION PENTHOUSE 
ONLINE %00 DATA/FAX MODEM FOR LESS THAN $170! 

Penthouse magazine has teamed up with U.S. Robotics to 
offer a top-grade 96C0-bps data/fax modem for only $169 
(internal board) or $179 (external). These high-speed V.32- 
compatible modems feature V.42/MNP 2-4 error control, 
V.42bis/MNP 5 data compression, and throughput of up to 
38.4. The external model (shown) has a custom, limited- 
edition black case with the famous Penthouse Key symbol. 

Features include autodial and -answer, frequently called 
number storage, nonvolatile RAM (stores all modem 
settings), summary of current modem setting display, 
speaker with volume control, onscreen call progress 
reporting, five-year parts and service warranty, an extensive 
owner's manual, and a quick-reference card. The internal 
modem comes on a 10-inch board that fits all IBM PC bus- 
compatible computers, and can be addressed on COM 
ports 1-4. 

Pius, you will also receive the BLAST® FAX PC™ fax 
software, which lets you send or receive faxes from your 
computer. Compatible with all G3 machines, BLAST® 




ORDERS 

YOUR 

CUSTOM 

MODEM 

TODAY! 

FAX PC™ aflows transmission scheduling, hot-key faxing 
from within applications, background operation, and much, 
much more. 



Circle Reader Service Number 107 



Make Money With Your Computer 



Imagine owning a 
lifetime license for a 
patented product that will 
please adults, delight and 
educate children, and 
return high profits on a 
minimal investment. 
That's the surefire success 
formula that Best 
Personalized Books 
offers to distributors who 
are building strong, easy 
to run, highly profitable 
businesses. 

Charmingly illustrated 
by top artists, Best 
Personalized Books 
become instant favorites because 
the child is the star of each story 
and friends and relatives join in on 
every adventure. An extensive array 
of titles appeals to a wide range of 
ages and tastes, and includes well- 
written stories on religious and 
ethnic themes that reinforce family 




Willi a small investment, you can build a highly profitable business 
at home. Create personalized children's books with your computer. 

values. There's never a renewal fee, 
and new titles are available for just 
$5 per software update. 

Because no computer experience 
is necessary, creating Best 
Personalized Books is a snap. A 
comprehensive training manual 
shows you how to personalize a 



book in just minutes. And 
with Best's strong marketing 
program, you'll find seUing 
options are limitless. You 
can work at home, on 
location at malls, wholesale 
clubs, craft fairs, flea 
markets, or home parties, or 
in conjunction with local 
business or fundraising 
groups. 

Strong dealer support is 

a Best priority, as is the 

commitment to helping you 

make even bigger profits with 

other popular personalized 

items including audio 

cassettes, party invitations, hohday 

letters, birth announcements, 

calendars, and stationery for teens 

and adults. 

FOR A FREE KIT, CONTACT: 

liiwi Personalized Boaks Inc. 

475 Best Pi-rsomilizcil Plaza 

■l.lso Sixma Drive: Dallas. IW 75244 

(-/-/( .iff 5 -.mo 



SUPPORT 

YOUR 

ADVERTISERS 



TELL THEM THAT YOU 

SAW THEIR PRODUCTS 

ADVERTISED IN 

CDnnpuTE 



PENDRAGON 
Software Library 



Public Domain/Shareware for 

IBM & Compatibles 

ASP Member 

No Viruses * Latest Versions 
Over 2500 Programs 

FREE 80 page Catalog 

We also carry CD-ROM discs 

75 MeadowbrookRd 

E.Greenwich, Rl 02818 

(401)884-6825 for inquiries 



1-800-828-DISK 



IBM • PANASONIC • ZEOS • SHARP ■ AST 



mmm 



mI Solve Your Compatibilify Problems! Ie 



I AMI • PHOEHIX • MB BIOS • AWARD | 



8 Years o( ejpefience, unmalched in Ihc industrv 
WE STOCK THE LARGEST VARIETY OF 
ROM BIOS UPGRADES IN THE WORLD. 

WEWIUBEAT We also sell: 

ANY ROM BIOS ■ MEMORY UPGRADES 

COMPETTTORS ' MOTHERBOARDS.2BB-4e5 

PRICE-CALL • BIOS Reference Manuals 

US TODAY! • DiAGNOSTIC PRODUCTS 



FEATURES OF A NEW BIOS 



ijIKS : a.'S lli'.l: 



116 



StnartMicro 

TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 

■^L^M.f.W = l.1.',PI.II.U,J.!.llJJ,lli.lil^ 

• FREE CataTog * FREE Chip puller » FBEETech syppol | 

■ VoJurne [liscoi;nt5 ■ Uriv.SCorp. POs W&teorrra *Ssm^Os^ Siiipp'-ng jl 
* DEALERS WELCOME ■ Ca'i 'or special pficifig, fr^ &^ rewncrs kt! 

* ALlhorzsd Vicrcmcs BIOS DisirifcLlcr 



GATEWAy • EPSON • TANDY • DELL • NCR • EVEREX 



Cirr:le Reader Service Number 17S 




Magic Tricks 
on your PC!I! 

The only program In 
the world that can 
perform Magic.'.'.' 

For tha first time ever, your PC will amaze 
your friends with S stunning tricics: mind- 
reading, ESP, predictions. X-ray vision, 
and more. Easy to learn. Comes with in- 
strucLon manual and props. 

S22 + 3 s/h 

Send check or money order to 

MIcroMagIc Productions 

175 5th Avenue Suite 2625 

New York, NY 10010 

(212) 969-0220 
Requires IBM PC or compatible wrih VGA, EGA of 
CGA. Also. 10-lrick Professional uersion (S4S + S s/h| 
and 1-trick Demo disk (S3 t S3 srti} 



Circle Reader Service Number 200 



We need you. 



^ 



American Heart 
Association 



BASEBALL Vl^KETBALL • LOTTERY 



TBALL 



0\cr64','c 
Spri-nd Wins 
► Overall ' 



Artificial Intelligence 
Now Available 



Grid Master 
Pro Series 
Bookie Buster 
Collegiate 
Bulletin Board 



S 99.95 
199.95 
149.95 
199.95 
150.00 




Football Special 499.95 
(Includes all items) 

Shipping 450 



This year Prof Jones has 
added a sophisticated Neu- 
ral Network to the Football 
software that produces a 
higher win percentage than 
ever before. Get it now! ! 

f 



Call to Order, or for a FREE Catalog! 

1-800-553-2256 

PROF. JONES, INC. • 1940 W. Stale St., Boise, Idaho 83702 



THOROUGHBRED • GREYHOUND • STANDARDBRED 



Circle Reader S&rvtce Number 119 



PhoneDi 

Brand CD-ROM's 

The best quality, best software, best price. 

Locate lost family, friends and sweethearts. Find 
new suppliers. Begin a job search. Plan a trip. Verify 
credit applications. Locate debtors. Plan sales 
routes. Check for trademarks. And much more! 



PhoneDIsc USA 

Search residences by name. Search businesses by 
name, SIC code, business type, address or phone 
number . Narrow business or residence searches by 
state, city, street or ZIP. 

PhoneDisc' USA Business Only $99 

9.5 million U.S. Business listings. Just one disc 

PhoneDisc USA Residential Only $99 

75 million U.S. residential listings. Just two discs 

Buy both and save Only $1 59 



PhoneDisc Reverse 

Extend your search power! Same powerful search 
software as above plus telephone and address 
searching of residences too. 85 million businesses 
and residences. Just 5 discs Special Offer $349 
Buy just your geographic region Only $129 



Winner: IIA Best CD-ROM. OPA Achievement in 
Business. Accurate listings from Database America. 
C a 1 1 To rde r: Digital Directory Assistance 

1-800-284-8353 



5161 River Rd Bids 
Bethesda. MD 20816 



Circle Reader Service Number 16Q 




■ Easy to use soltware. on-line help, 
full sceenediior 

' Made in USA 

' 1 8, 2 Year Warranty 

' Technical Support by ptione 

' 30 day Money Back Guarantee 

' FREE soltV'/are upgrades available via BBS 

■ Demo SW via BBS (EM20DEIVI0.EXE) (PB10DEM0.EXE) 

> E(E)prams 2716 -8 megabit. 16 bit 27210-2724D.27C400S 270800, 

> Flash 28F256-28F020, (29C256-29CO10 (EMP-20 only)) 

■ Micros 8741 A. 42A, 42AH. 48. 49, 48H. 49H, 55. 87C51 , 87C51 FX. 87C751.752 

> GAL, PLD Irani MS, Lattice. AMD-16V8. 2QV8, 22V10 (EMP-2D only) 

■ J-UB,U,UJJIJI=l,UI.IJ.UJU 
NEEDHAM'S ELECTRONICS, INC. 



4539 Orange Grove Ave. 
Sacramento. C A 95841 
(Monday-Friday. 6 ani-5 pm PST) 



C.O.D, 



(916)924-8037 

BBS (916) 972-8042 
FAX (916) 972-9960 




Creating posters, memos and flyers with cartoon grapliics has never 
been easier. Cartoon Mania is an amazing new software that lets you 
create unique cartoons using hundreds of built-in clip arts. You start 
by choosing a background and then adding characters and objects to it. 
The clip arts of characters can change posture and facial expressions. 
They can jtunp, sit, run, cry, laugh and do dozens of other tilings. 
Change the size of characters and objects to create the proper 
perspective. Write the captions you want and then print it. Create 
posters, story books, birthday greetings, jokes and even memos. Order 
now and enjoy the benefits of Cartoon Mania immediately. 



List Price $49.95 
Introductory E>rice $34.95 
Buy now and save S15.00 
FL resident add 6% Sales tax 
Add $3.50 for shipping & handling 



^^ 



/7 



W 



^ 



Call (904) 483-2934 or send check/money order to: 



^emmaSoft 



circle Reader Service Numtrer 191 



12505 Pine Glen Drive, 
Leesburg, FL. 34788 

30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE 

Ctrcle Reader Service Number 140 



CLASSIFIEDS 



ACCESSORIES 



WHOLESALE BLOWOUT 



4B6/0X CLASS MOTHEH BOARD. 4 MB HAM, 1.2 S. 1.44 MB FLOPPV DRIVES, 245 MB IDE HARD DRIVE 
TWO SERIAL. ONE PARALLEL. AND GAME PORTS. 1 MB SVGA (1024 x 786 CARD, SVGA .28 Nl MONITOR. 
IDl KEYBOARD, MOUSE, CHOICE OF DESKTOP OR MINITOWER CASE. ONE YEAR WARRANTY 

486/33 486/50DX2 486/50DX 486/66 

SI 399 S1539 SI 569 SI 699 



We carry complete line o( PC products . . , Call us we are here la Listen 
One Step Ahead Systems 1-800-866-0806 

P.O. Box 632462. Richardson. TX 75060 Fan (214)418 136 



Circle Reader Service Number 370 



USED COMPUTERS 



IBM, COMPAQ, & MAJOR BRANDS 

Also IBM PCjr & CONVERTIBLE 
ACCESSORIES & SERVICE 

- MEMORY EXPANSIONS 

- DISK DRIVES ■ MONITORS 

- KEYBOARDS - PARTS 

- SOFTWARE 

MANY MORE SPECIALTY ITEMS 

FREE CATALOG 

214 - 276 - 8072 

(5omputeSi 

RESET PO, Box 161782 

— -^•^ Dep( C 

^- -^Garland, TX 75046-1782 
FAX & BBS 214-272 -7920 



Circle Reader Service Number 369 



Practical PC Security ZX^^l 



will teU you how to protect importfljii dam 
Fof Biiancsses and Individiaila 

FREE Software Included 

St^nd S22.95 MO or Check to: 

MJFConsiildng, Box 277 
Sew Albany^ MS 38652-0277 
SASE ior mof a irifo ard boijk Im 



Educatfon, Hvdwofo 
Puiwi^ds 
Encrypt on 
Backups 

Sourc«4 
Risks 



y^ 



circle Reader Service Number 368 



CABLE TV 



CABLE TV 



CABLE TV CONVERTERS 

Why Pay A High Monthly Fee'' 
Save $100s A Year 



• All Jerro[d. Oak, Hamlin, Zenith, 
Scientific Atlanta, and more. 

• 30 Day Money Back Guarantee 

• Shipment within 24 hours 

• VisayMC and C.O.D. 

No Illinois Orders Accepted 

Pu'crtaser jgrtes to tompiy wiih ^ii italp jna 

iedf'al lawi te^iramg piiv^lp o*neiship ol caBle 

TV equipmeni Cortsull local cable opfralor 



L&L ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING 
1430 Miner Street, Suite 522 
DesPlaines, IL 60016 

Free Catalog I ■aoa542-9425 
Information h708-540-U06 



Circle Reaider Service Number 364 



n 



CABLE TV 


WHY Ri;N t w ii[:n v(jl' can ow.\ 


ConvenLTs iiini Dcscranilcrs, Oak. Jcrrold 


SA. Pmilccr. All Brands. Toll Free 


l-800-S2ft-7623. 30 dav Trial period. 



CABLE TV DESCR4]«aSL£RS 

Converters & Accessories 

STOP RENTING!! 

SAVE MONEYl 0\FN YOUR EQUIPMENT 

All Major Brand Names • Loweel Prices!! 

FREE 30 Dav trUd • FREE CATALOG 

jUd-On Cable Co. l-80«»-3a4-8475y 

Circle Reader Service Number 365 



COMPUTER REPAIR 



AUTHORlZiiD COMPLJTER REPAIRS: C64/I28, 
1541/1571. SX6-1. 1280 & Amiga. Selling DTK-comp 
computers. Quick ser% ice-30 day warranty 
MOM & POP's Computer Sliop. I 14 N. 16lh. 
Bethany, MO 64424 (Klfi) 42.1-44(1(1 



EDUCATIOM 




1= 



How To Get 

A High-Paying 

Job In 

COMPUTER 
PROGRAMMING 



"■ jS"^*"^ Become more 
''^'** competitive in Ihe 
job market witti EDUCATION 

Specialized Associate degree an(j diploma 
programs in computer programming, com- 
puter applications, systems analysis, and !fie 
RPG III, BASIC, COBOL, and C languages by 

DISTANCE EDUCATION 
Call or wriSB (or college catalog and booklet "How to Get 
a Higti-Paying Job in Computer Programming." ^ 

1-800-765-7247 § 

PEOPLES COLLEGE OF INDEPENDENT STUDIES 

233 Academy Drive • P.O. Box 421768 

Kissimmee, FL 34742-1768 

Mamber. D,L. Peoples Group • Acc/edMil Mambef. NHSC 



Circle Reader Service Number 362 



In Computer Sciences 



• In-dephdegr&E^ programs ^h all ciMKShonK study ^^mt^^ 

• BS ccurss Khmi MSDCS, BASIC. PASCAL C, Dala Fi« .AMHRICAN' 
Piocessrg, Daa Siictj'R 4 Cwrasr.; s/iiin INST ITL'TE 

• MScCL'&M,rc.rfeSo!:Ag-eEngr«"^g Ar^rca Inle.iKnce ^^^■b* 
a>Jmu3i.ixi'i! COMPLTER 

Foi frK inlcmalon u!l 1-800-767-2427 SC I E \CES 

?ICI-CCM=™iaAve S'EuleZm-Smrjham.Al 35205 ^""^^ 



Circle Reader Service Number 363 



»-9388^ 



FREE CATALOG 

GUARANTEED BEST PRICES ■ [MMEDIATE SNIPPING 

APPLE ELECTRONICS 

3389 Shcfidon Si. ' Suite 257 
Hollywood. FL J3021 



Circle Rieader Service Number 366 



FREE CATALOG! 1-800-345-8927 
JERROLD HAMLIN OAK ETC. 

CABLE TV DESCRAIWBLERS 



• Special Dealer Prices! • Compare Our Liw fletail Prices' 

• Ofilers From Stock Shipped Immedialely! 
■ Guaranteed Warranties & Prices! ■ All Major Credit Cards 

PACIFIC CABLE CO., INC. 

7325 ;; ResMa, Dcpl 1112 Reseda CA 91335 

For cataipg. orde<s S intormalion 1-800-345-B927 



Circle Reader Service Number 367 



COMPUTER KITS 



PC-BLILD COMPLTHH KITS. THi; RECOG.NIZED LE.ADER 
in build-ii-yourself PC's. Ree'd by PC-Upgrade 
and Pop. Science. Used in schools and training 
pmijranis nationxvide. Free catalot: 1-K(X1-7')K -636? 



We need you. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



^ 



American Heart 
Association 



SltELETOX KEY 

FITS .MOST LOCKS 

Ibtilllocks, dnortocks. i: -.omc padlinivl 
^j\ Amazt Vuur Frkntt^ 

Willi A Lijtt Pitkini: litmoniiraiion, 
V™ t!cl 3 sized tension Lsys. ifK slide pick & prKiStf instmclions 
Note: Uiii device is 10 be used fur demonsiritlion purposes onls ! 
Satlsraclion tJuarantetd or Full Retund: 2 Weeks Delivery. 
To fel dlis eidliiiE device. Send -NOW only SU-M + 2 Silt [o: 
Safe .MariaJinj "(OH. Mofflgwners Ai NaJMF • HiidisiUe Mi aia). 




Closing date for September classifieds 

is June 15. 

Call/Fax your ad (516) 757-9562 



118 



CLASSIFIEDS 



SOFTWARE 



THE HOTTEST SOFTWARE-LOWEST PRICES! 

IBM & AMIGA sollvvare at prices so low -.ii; 
can't afford a larger ad. For a FREE catalog, 
send a SASE to: The Software Tree, 5198 
Arlington Avf.. H^m. Riverside, Co 92504 

WIN MILLIONS!! ORIGINAL I'lCK fi LO'ITERY 
system. Use matliematical equation to create, storc. and rclricve 
combos, Also available, a program to keep track of your hock- 
ey card collections. COMPU-DATA SYSTEMS. 6979 21st 
Ave. HTL., QUE., CANADA. H2A 2J1 (514) 727-1275 

WITH EMISOFT'S PASSWORD BYPASSER VOL 
eliminate annoyiog passwords, Disk Volume 1 only 
S34.95, or purchase separately onlj S5.(H). Min of two 
per order. Call today 81.1-841-8769. FREE S/H 

BLY/SELL LSED SOFTWARE! LOWEST PRICES! 
FREE LIST. Specify 64/128, Amiga or IB\L Centsible 
Software, PO Box 930. St. Joseph, MI 49085. 
Phone: 61fi-42S-«)96 BBS: 616-429-7211 

IBM - COMMODORE 64 A: 128 - AMIGA. 
lOOO's of PD/Shareware programs on KKI's 
of disks. Free listing or S I for large 
descriptive catalog (specify computer). 
DISKS O'PLENTY INC., 8362 Pines Blvd,. 
Suite 270B. Pembroke Pines, FL 33024 

USED SOFTWARE— FREE BROCHLRE, SPECIFY 
IBM, Amiga or C64/12S. We also buy used siftware. 
Send list. Bare Botics Software. 940 4th Ave.. 
#222, Huntington. WV 25701 or I-SO0-63K-1123. 

FREE UNIQUE IBM SHAREWARE CATALOG! 

Most popular programs-low as 99c per disk 

Bright Futures Inc. 

203-745-5322 

Compiiler Shareware/ASP Vendor 

FREE 0N-DISK-C.VrA1.0C.*FREE Disk Offers 

Toll Free Order Line - VISA/MC 

IkeaMo Em.. 255W 300N. Howe. IN 46746 

Voice/Fa\ 219-463-5246 

FREE! IBM PD & SHAREWARE DISK CATALOG 

Low prices since I9SS! ASP Approved Vendor. Finto 
Software, Dcpl. M. Rl. 2, Box 44, Rosebud, TX 76570 
or Voice/FAX (817)583-2151. VIS.A/MC accepted. 



SOFTWARE 



COMPUTE Classified is a low-cosl way to tell 
over 275,000 microcompuler owners about 
youf product or service. 
Additional Information. Please read carefully. 
Rates: $40 per ane, minimum o! lour lines. Any or a;l ol the 
(irsl line set in capital letters al no charge. Add S15 pei 
(ine for Oo!d face wOftJs, of S50 fOT itie entire ad se! in bold- 
face (any number ol lines ) 

Teims; Prupaymen: is required- We accept checks, mon- 
ey orders. VISA, or MasterCard 
General Infomiation: Advertisers using post office Box num- 
ber in Iheif ads myst supply permanenl address and 
telephone number. Orders *ili not be ackno'^iiedged Ad 
tviil appear m next available issue after receipt 

CLASSIf=IED DISPLAY RATES 

Classilied dspay ads measure 274" wide and are priced 
accoroinc] to neight. 1 " = 5285; 1 ■/?■ = S420. 2' = S550 

HOW TO ORDER 

Call Maria Manaseri. Classified t/acager. COMPUiE. 1 
Wtoods Ct . Huitingion. NY 11743, at 516-757-9562 



The ONLY Lottery Systems With 
PROVEN JACKPOT WINNERS 
are those in Gail Howar(i's 
SMART lUCm SOFTWARE 
Call Toll-Free 1-e00-876-Q-A-l-L, 
(See Her M in Product Mart.} 




Circle Reader Service Number 361 



IBM SHAREWARE 

Free catalog or S2 for sample & cata- 
log (refundable). Specify computer. 
CALOKE IND (B), Box 18477, 
Raytown, MO 64133 



Circle Reader Service Number 360 



BEST VALUE - IBM-APPLE SHAREWARE & PD 

CHOOSE FROM OVER 1000 DISKS. 

FREE CATALOG OR 52.00 

FOR CATALOG'DEMO (SPECIFY COMPUTER) 

MC VIS ACCEPTED. NEXT DAY SHIPPING AVAILABLE 

CHRISTELLA ENTERPRISE, P.O. BOX 82205 

ROCHESTER, Ml 48303-2205 



Circle Reader Service Number 359 



LATEST VIRUS DETECTION & ERADICATION 

PROGRAMS. Send only S3.00 S&H for all 
9 programs PLUS ijisl^ based catalog 
describing thousanijs of IBM shareware 
programs. Please stale disit size. 
AMERICAN SOFTWARE, P.O. BOX 509. 
SUITE M22, ROSEVILLE. Ml 48066-0509 



Circle Reader Service Number 358 



UNIQUE SOFTWARE! 



specially .«. 

• IDOO's of proqrams • ASP Member ■ 

• Lowest Prices Anywhere! • 

• Monev-Bacl< Guarantee! • 

' FREE DETAILED CATALOG • 



Dutstanding IBM softvyareselected 
specialty fdr Home ancTOffice use. 



THE PC ARCADE 



il'i [•jiijRTiTi ■ivi^^l'i^l A il it^'5 ■•i*T 

Circle Reader Service Number 357 



ADULT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE 

For IBM VGA, Color Mac. and Amiga, 

Check out our huge collection ot 

X-citing Adults Only Software. 

Free lists (You must be over 18). 

CLEARLIGHT SOFTWARE, Dept. CO 

P.O. Box 1411, Milwaukee, Wl 53201 

(414) 962-2616 



Circle Reader Service Number 35S 




SOFTWARE 



HAVE YOU WON THE LOTTEHV? 
DO YOU CWN LOTTO PCKEH™ 
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119 



DOS 6 FIRST-AID KIT 



Clifton Karnes 



MAKING THE BEST 
OF DOS 



Keep this handy 

if you're installing 

DOS 6. To find 

out more about 

DDubleSpace, 

see "Windows 

Workshop" 

in the next issue. 



120 COMPUTE 



DOS 6 has caused quite a stir 
recentiy, Judging from the 
sales figures, it's clearly an up- 
grade that a vast number of 
[X)S users want, but some peo- 
ple have reported problems, 
especially with two modules: 
DoubleSpace and MemMaker. 

At COf\^PUTE, six editors 
have installed DOS 6. All have 
used Memf^aker, three have in- 
stalled DoubleSpace, and 
none have had any problems. 
But since problems have been 
reported, we advise caution. 
Here's some advice on how to 
save your system if you have 
problems with DOS 6's Dou- 
bleSpace or f^emMaker 

First, IVlemMaker and Dou- 
bleSpace are complex applica- 
tions. If you're not familiar with 
drive letters, paths, and mem- 
ory addresses, don't install 
these programs yourself. Get 
a knowledgeable friend or co- 
worker to help you. 

The best defense is a re- 
cent backup. So before you 
do anything else, make a back- 
up of your hard disk. 

After you make the backup, 
restore a few files to make 
sure the backup is reliable. 
This is extremely important, If 
you need to restore later, you 
want to know how to do it, and 
you want to be sure your back- 
up fs OK. Now, make a copy 
on floppies of the software you 
used to make the backup, put 
the backup and the software 
aside, and relax. 

Let's tackle DoubleSpace 
first. This utility compresses 
and decompresses data on 
the fly and, for all practical pur- 
poses, nearly doubles the 
size of most hard disks. It will 
also slow down some 386 ma- 
chines. We recommend at 
least a 25-fvlH2 386SX with a 
minimum of 2fvlB RAM (so you 
can run SMARTDrive or anoth- 
er disk cache) for installing 

AUGUST 1993 



DoubleSpace. 

The first step is to install 
DOS 6, if you haven't already 
done so. Do this, and use 
your system for a day or two 
before you try installing Dou- 
bleSpace or IVlemMaker. After 
you and your system have ad- 
justed to DOS 6, defragment 
your hard disk. 

Next, before you run Double- 
Space, make sure you're also 
running any software that nor- 
mally creates virtual drives on 
your system (CD-ROM or net- 
work drives). This will help Dou- 
bleSpace choose a drive letter 
for its physical drive that won't 
conflict with your usual environ- 
ment. At COMPUTE, we've had 
no problems running SMART- 
Drive when installing Dou- 
bleSpace, but it seems wise to 
disable SMARTDrive for the 
installation. Creating your Dou- 
bleSpace volume may take sev- 
eral hours, so be prepared. 

Hopefully, everything will 
go smoothly After the installa- 
tion, you should be able to run 
SMARTDrive again without 
problems. If you do have prob- 
lems, refer to the paragraph af- 
ter the next. 

Consider the next month a 
DoubleSpace-testing period. 
Back up your important files 
every day and look for any 
signs of trouble on your com- 
pressed volume. At least 
twice a day run DBLSPACE / 
CHKDSK on the compressed 
volume to test it for integrity If 
you notice lost clusters, don't 
panic. Try disabling SMART- 
Drive's write-caching feature 
with the line smartdrvi. where 
/ is the letter of your physical 
drive. (You can easily reena- 
ble write caching with the line 
smartdrv i+.) 

If you do have severe prob- 
lems with your DoubleSpace vo I- 
ume, you can recover by fol- 
lowing these steps: Install DOS 
6 on a freshly formatted floppy 
boot from the floppy reformat 
your hard disk using the /s 
switch, reinstall DOS 6 on your 



hard disk, and restore your 
backup. If you want to go back 
to a previous version of DOS, 
install that version on the format- 
ted floppy and then on your 
hard drive. 

Now to MemMaker. First de- 
termine whether you need to 
run MemMaker at all. Do you 
have DOS programs that run 
out of memory? If you don't or 
if you're using Windows al- 
most exclusively, you proba- 
bly don't need to load device 
drivers and TSRs high. 

If you do need to load 
some programs into upper 
memory, do it manually first. 
Load the largest drivers first 
and use the keywords DE- 
VICEHIGH in CONFIG.SYS 
and LOADHIGH in AUTOEX- 
EC.BAT. To see how much 
memory you've freed, use the 
command MEM/C I MORE, 

Expehment with the order 
of the programs, too. This can 
make a big difference. If you 
can free enough memory this 
way don't bother running Mem- 
Maker. If you can't free 
enough conventional memory 
you'll want to run MemMaker, 
but first, do this: Create a sub- 
directory off your root direc- 
tory called BACKUP and copy 
your CONFIG.SYS and AU- 
TOEXEC.BAT files into it. (If 
you're running Windows, it's a 
good idea to copy your 
WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files 
here, too.) If there's trouble 
with MemMaker, you'll still 
have your original copies. 

Now, run MemMaker and fol- 
low the onscreen instructions. 
After MemMaker is finished, 
check your memory situation 
again. If MemMaker garnered 
more conventional memory for 
you, fine. If it didn't, go back 
to your backups. If MemMaker 
locks up when it's running, re- 
boot your computer and by- 
pass your CONFIG.SYS file by 
pressing F5 when you see 
Now starting MS-DOS .... 
Next, copy your backups and 
reboot your computer. a 




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