ACORN is a trademark of Acorn Computers Limited An ECC Publication December 1984 V ^ h ^tfis^fe % \s Shopping for Christmas down Memory Lane Bumper reviews Best program listings ' V / u^.A • I \ AVAILABLE FOR\\ 48K SPECTRUW\ BBC & ELECTRON Mall Order: Send cheque or P.O. payable to 'ICON' or :: : quote your credit card no. * ^b^v i ^w jKBr^^ - r'^p^-"^P^^W^P'^H , Selected titles available from: John Menzles, Co-op, 1 Harrods, Wildings, Granada and most good computer shops. lTTj Dealers contact: Centresoft, Express, 65 HIGH STREET, GOSFORTH, TYNE & WEAR, NE3 4AA. Tiger, Drakes, R&R. TEL: (091) 2646966 Page News Softscope Softscope Special 16 Christmas Competition 19 Incorporating Hotline 21 Acorn World Program coupon 46 Wider Basic course 47 coverage of Carrying case offer 49 Acorn scene MANY READERS will have Programs noticed a gradual change of emphasis in Acorn Programs in the last few months. We believe that Programs as the base of BBC and Electron com- Alarm 23 puters spreads and consolidates, our readers want, as well as listings and Grand Prix 24 programming advice, an accurate and up-to-date appraisal of latest develop- Christmas Carols 26 ments in the Acorn market. To bring Knockout 28 you this wider coverage, we are launch- ing a new section called Acorn World — Labyrinth 29 see centre pages. 31 Christmas would not be Christmas In the Mines without a thorough survey of the soft- Organic Blaster 33 ware scene and this month's magazine includes, besides a record five pages of Argon Attack 36 reviews, a nostalgic tour by Martin Inlay Printer 38 Cooper of games past and present which deserve a special place in any Shapes 42 software library — page 16. Do not miss our great Christmas competition on Dilph the Centipede 43 page 19. Star Wars 45 Once again, we have a bumper crop of readers' programs and a selection of the best begins on page 23. When sending your programs, please remember to include a brief description and a SAE for the return of the disc or /7Amm tape if it is not selected for publication. All programs must also be accompanied v/70x¥a by the coupon on page 46 or by a letter *•• stating that they are entirely your own Viewpoint in Profile of an Elite team IV Schools — a classiroom report vi Editor Nicole Segre Consultant editor Jeremy Richards Managing production editor Harold Mayes MBE Group art director Chris Winch Design/Illustration Adrian Chilvers Group advertisement manager John Ross Sales administration manager Wynne Clift Circulation manager Tim Stilwell Editorial assistant Sheri Souleiman Managing editor Nigel Clark Assistant managing director Barry Hazel Chairman Richard Hease. Acorn Programs is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of Acorn Computers Limited cassette to Acorn Telephone, all departments: 01-359 3525. If you would like to contribute to Acorn Programs, please send programs on disc or Programs, ECC Publications, 2 Newington Green Road, London Nl 4AQ. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped addressed envelope is enclosed. We pay a basic rate of £15 for the copyright of each program published. ©Copyright 1984 ECC Publications Ltd. ISSN 0265 4660. Printed and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, Warley, West Midlands. Distributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, 1 Benwell Road, Holloway, London N7. 01-607 6411. ACORN PROGRAMS December 1984 C SPEECH Speech Synthesizer for the BBC Computer • Totally unlimited vocabulary is now possible with the revolutionary "SWEET TALKER" Speech Synthesizer for the B.B.C. A or B Microcomputer, any series. • The CHEETAH "SWEET TALKER" simply plugs into speech socket IC99 within the computer. No soldering, no cutting of tracks, no headaches. fg wm9 1, • Based on an allophone system you can easily program any word, sentence or phrase and incorporate speech into your software games. • Fully tested and guaranteed. Complete with demonstration cassette and full instructions. I Price includes V A . Cheetah, products available from branches of Postage and Packing Delivery normally 14 days and I S^ WHSMITH $ Rumbelows Export orders at no extra cost Dealer enquiries welcome Send cheque/PO now to - Cheetah Marketing Ltd, Dept AP, 24 Ray Street, London EC1R 3DJ. Marketing Tel: 01 833 4909. Telex: 8954958. ACORN PROGRAMS December 1984 Foreign sales hamper growth ACORN COMPUTERS an- business range will be the AIS will be sold as a complete nounced record profit of second area in which Acorn is system." £10.5 million for the year to seeking to grow." The new system has taken July 1, 1984. Profit in the Meanwhile, the company more than two years to de- U.K. was £14 million, repre- has leapt into the future with velop. It uses one of the ma- senting an increase of 58 per- a new subsidiary called Acorn chines in the new ABC range cent over the previous year, Video. Based at Maidenhead, and a Philips laser disc to but overseas sales, especially the company will be produc- create linked frames in com- in the U.S., fell below expec- ing the world's first integrat- puter-aided teaching and tations. Commenting on the ed interactive video disc training programs. Drawing figures, Acorn chairman Her- system, the AIS. Priced at around £3,000, mann Hauser said: "The aim is to exploit con- the AIS is expected to attract room "Despite our disappoint- vergent technologies," ex- large educational establish- ment with the overseas per- plains an Acorn spokesman. ments as well as companies package formance, we consider the "Instead of different parts running staff training figures demonstrate a satis- from different makers, the courses. A COMPUTER-AIDED factory rate of growth." schematic drawing package With the population of Eastern push aimed mainly at home users BBC micros in the U.K. now has been launched by Data- Ara- around 370,000, and sales of AS PART of an overseas hopes to promote a new pen Microtechnology Ltd. the Electron reaching 90,000 sales push, Acorn Computers bised version of the BBC mi- Armed with the disc-based representative on a cro, with an Arabic and since its launch in October, sent a software, a Datapen light to the Gulf European text processor and 1983, Acorn predicts another trade mission pen, a BBC micro and a dot major business boost from States. Arabic keyboard. Acorn has matrix printer, a user can its sights set on the Middle sales of both machines in the Derek Lee, regional man- produce complex circuit dia- market. Christmas period. ager for the Middle East, East educational grams, power system dia- "The main growth area in BBC B TOP TEN grams, flowcharts and other 1985, however, is expected to professional and engineering Title Company be the sale of upgrade and applications. 1 Elite Acornsoft expansion facilities for the Up to eight computer 2 Frak! Aardvark Software large installed base of com- screens can be dumped to the 3 Fortress Pace Software puters," says Hauser. "Sales normal 80-column printer in 4 Micro Olympics Database Publications of the recently-launched ABC one pass. 5 Aviator Acornsoft Costing £19.95 for the 6 Stock Car Micro Power software and £25 for the light chip 7 Wallaby Superior Software Logo pen, the package is available 8 Smash and Grab Superior Software A ROM-based version of by mail order from Datapen 9 Ghouls Micro Power Logo for the BBC micro has Microtechnology Ltd, Kings- 10 Dune Rider Micro Power been released by Logo Soft- clere Road, Overton, Hamp- Figures supplied by W H Smith ware Ltd. Developed in the shire RG2 5 3JB. last two years, LSL Logo is written in Assembler and fits on to a single 16K EPROM chip. An optional utilities Development system disc provides the software needed to run turtles and the BBC micro owners will be sor, disc filing system and already expressed interest in BBC Buggy. The makers able to use the P-system oper- 800K dual disc drives. the system and other teaching claim that it is fast and easy to ating system which has al- TDI is the main distribu- establishments are expected debug, with nine debugging ready made its mark on other tor of the P-system, which to follow suit. Acornsoft commands and 22 error mes- micros such as the IBM PC was written in the U.S. "P- claims that its version pro- sages. A free 16-page booklet, and the Apricot. system provides a highly- vides the cheapest way to entitled Why Logo? accom- Marketed by Acornsoft productive development learn Pascal. panies the product. and developed by TDI, the environment," says a TDI The system is also aimed at LSL Logo is available by £299 package includes filer, spokesman. Programs written software houses, business us- mail order from Logo Soft- editor, utilities and compilers using the P-system are porta- ers and home micro enthusi- ware Ltd, 316a Richmond for UCSD Pascal and Fortran ble to other micros and it asts. A run-time system is Road, Twickenham, Middle- 77. To implement, the sys- includes automatic functions available from TDI, 29 Alma sex TW1 2PD. It costs tem requires a BBC micro to trace errors. Vale Road, Clifton, Bristol. £67.85 including VAT. with a 6502 second proces- The Open University has More news on page 6 ACORN PROGRAMS December 1984 Improving Breakdown figures good for protection business A NEW organisation has Club members are guaran- sion on every new subscrip- SLIMMERS provide a been set up to protect home teed a repair service plus free tion secured from a new promising new area for computer users against break- parts should a computer computer owner.