m POPULAR
with Home Computing Weeldy WEEKLY 27 February - 5 March 1986
^t'i.^6eatid(aii}weeMif Vol 5 No 9 Commodore set to launch 512K Amiga in Europe
IT NOW appears thai Com- West Germany - which will modore's much-heralded be an event similar to the In this Issue Ainiga micro will be Amiga's Dai launched in Europe as a US. Commodore also
plan > a large stand at Cebit, SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT machine cuitb me computer eshibiLon run- in the US, The' Eu' ning concurrently with the
Amiga looks sel lo be i Hannover Fair, one of Eu- as a 512K, Iwm diac rope's premier exhibinors, COMMODOREAMIGA system. In the Stales, il which runs from March 12-19. Unfar
available
We vnll probably sell il as a system m Europe rather than as components as m the US. and it wili probably be filed. But certainly the Amiga offered with S12K oi memo- ry." said Gail Wellington, Commodore's European soft-
Commodore Is currently gearing up for the Amiga's European launch on March S - m FranJtfurt Opera House,
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
• Infocom adventures to tiecome more widely available Special Amiga supplement • Modem approval delays reprinted courtesy of anger manufacturers Commodore Horizons • Britlst) Telecom's software magazine Influence expands
INSIDE ) DON'T MISS THE SPECIAL AMIGA SUPPLEMENT ) The Standard by Hhkh others Hillbejudqed.
software thot sets ttie slonaard tor others lo ^^ .=t ^^•'- grat^ics so loige and litellkeand sounO eflects so real, you'll belierevoijreallvcreattheballport<-ve5,voucan -^ olmosl smell tnstiot-dogs! -^ Soriy. we con'! supply ttie tiot-dogs; you'll
fiove to bring vouf own-but evening
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ByAccolade For Commodore 64 Cassene - M.95i Disk - t\A.n CONTENTS 4 NEWS Acbvision buys Infocom 10C0MMUNICATI0NS David Wallin discusses BuUe tin Boards 13 SOFTWARE
16 COMMODORE 64 Pail2Df the Greal Escape 18THEQLPAGE Three dunensional block graphs 25AMSTRAD More listing for the Amstrad word processor 26 BBC & ELECTRON The final part of Under the Mortuary
6 Letters 35 Top Tett Charts B Codewords ag New Releases 12 Rogue Program gg ^^^^ ^^^^ Populat'i four-pjge supplemenl on the Amiga, coonaajr of Comitio- 2Z Arcade Aveoue doie Honions ond Amiga UK autu on page 30, A hill IB-pago special appears in the Mudi unie of Contmodora Hojiiosis and Amiga UZ,
EDITORIAL
elf m party ow I TnAEIeT.aUlclecoiEunuiucdEiDiiAequipnieal-uipieiuing no^ane. Ihb company one woul'd eipect to end Mi Delflyd. casta and the complicated buxeaucTAc^ involved is Ibis way. infimaUDg Qie modem manuficturera. The head ot BAfiT, John Certainly the oojisu be preseniad with d choice Vevera, agiera Uiai changes are nseded. and he ha» idetu for Ihoae whore Ihe moai lechno logically advaii chflDgos, However, nnce BABT aimply laijiea out matnieooia laid deemed onaate lo ubs, ncemad are senously wanied before they can be unplemomed. about Ihe prospect o! binsolvency if the Whaj IS not in tiiiputE thai lelecommiuucaiions u equipment must selling Ihe modHma ai thoy watt th,«. to (our monthn for Ihe finished be rigorously lealed for aalely. Neither is i1 being diaputed Ihat the product lo be tested. cunomprocaduieiB unwieldy. There has recenlly ompclinvE wrangling and 111- a Now B the ame (ot them 10 unapproved modems which are widely available, but yon eaimoi get logelher and prea;IS to. > nmpler and tjuickar alternative to the legally link tham lo the telephone nehvorlt. One is - such Le Modem, j)reaani sysiem but a t does not slump on Ihe safety which comes with a free three month anbscnpnon lo MicIDnet, which, aapocl. Everyone agit It loke advantage of o
iOM^Ui Diua EldlyiHk
lln Hswputart Soul.$ttwi. LondmLondon 1 w^toijgeSs'jv1S7S Tm^t by IMhMet> Ii™rogi.phiD r E M Cimbaliim. Lcsacm 3WI, Tel Dl-lil
PopnUr Compadxg Weefcl*. Tel: 01-437 4343. Bow to lubmii uncles Aiticlea whit^arenibnunedlorpublicanonahouldnolbemorel iorlginal.lliBbiealnngthelawolcopynghllocopyprogiaL d aiibraii ihcm here -»o please do nol be lemplsd. We cannoi guarantee 10 lemm yout programs - Id your only copy iconnicy . fOpuiar Compiinng Weekly eaniHii accept any lesDonaibililvfoi anv ABC le pubUah.I.H.U sMiough.t... V „-, we mil alwiyi U] ourbesllomakesiueprogrimswotl, CamiiBlH Tnda XHOcUUaii Maguine of the leai Zt FEBRUARV-S MARCH tSSe News Desk Activision acquires British Telecom adventurers Infocom takes on
IN Hurpni 3 the reached a $7.5 Odin million (abom £5.3in) agree- company jid Iheir isspec- Intocom acquire Infocom, Ihe live share oldeis, but it will presenl around £3S, mew to BRITISH Telecom continues American company highly mean thathai Inlocom's adven- Activision UK's managing '" its computing acquisitions by " Rees-Pamall tegajded for i(s lexl adven- lures" will become much more director Hugh adding Odin Compute i said, excited lures, such as the Zork tril- widely available in (liiB coun- "We're very Graphics to the list ol those about this deal, and obviously administered by Tele- we're now worlditg on mai- coinsaft. ketiiig plans for the range. We intend to be very aggies- with games such as Nodes ol flive with the Infocom soft- Yssod. Arc of Yeaod and Rob- ware - we've all had a great admiration for Iheii producl Now, although Odm will re- main a separate company and n US i! currently its Liverpool premises, a number keep British Telecom will have ex- of companies, it 13 now one Oi clusive worldwide publish- the strongest software devel- mg, distribution and market- opment Gims in the US. ing rights for all further titles. This year, it has already new titles are set lor bought the American soft- Four BT-Odin the near ware house GaniBStar, from launch by m - nUKli. future: ICOPS, Spanacus a gladiatorial simulation. Liqui- dator and Khnsta.
ager. Phil Pratt does not feel any of the BT stable - Fire- bird, Rambird, Beyond and Modem firms angry at approval delays now Odin - will come into conilici with each other. "The doesn't bother MODEM compames m the UZ "One tries lo get the pro- operate in ac(»rdanca with competition it policy. have us. Beyond has its own mar- ate becoming incieaaingiy cess speeded up. but is government We unbelievable difficulties in recruiting keting set-up, and Odm will frustrated at the amount ol againat the most had said Naair profesBionsl engineers be- still be separate, Odm )u lime It takes to gat modems bureauciacy." natonal shortage, 1 basically needs good disti approved for uhb by Ihe Bril- Jessa of Wadord EleotiomcSi cause of a producl has more engirieers bution and financial iah Approvals Board foi Tele- whose Le Modem would like provide a communioationa (BABT). boen sent to BABT and ia, he and I would like lo but it's not They claim that the BABT's believes, three months away speedier service bureaucratic practice and tromapproval. "The mdustry Commodore's that the time application is date- time taken to lest the equip- moves BO fast, by "Every 13 approved, will have a stamped when il reaches us ment IS holding the proce- it we S12K Amiga dealt with strictly m dure up to the extent that the and is current- arrival. have modems are out of date by ready." Le Modem is order of We triangle, equipmeni out to and demonstrate at Frankfurt the time Ihey reach the mai- ly on sale, but its red lo send the seriously affect- labs tor tests, and on March S. will Include both ket. Some are now releasing says Jessa. is the the US and European originated unapproved modems foi we also have to visit with the emphasis Dataslar Sys- to check that il is up software, sale, which must have a red Barry Krile of factory (atrtoiy on business and utility pack- triangle to mdicate their non- tems agrees. "Our to standard, in only one way lo ages, although many Ameri- approvod status. has sew our Magic Modem "There's companies are planning and unless ii it in a matter ol days^ that's can is not illegal to sell unap- for approval, do It entertainment software. proved ieleconmiB equip- gets through soon, the factory by rubber-stamping the ap- plicationa, which is not safe," From Bntain, Precision, ment, but is against Ihe lav will have to close," ol Modem added that he best known for lis Supenmim for the buyer to connect such And Seith Roae Vevers delays are some improvemenls to and Superbase apphcation equipment to the telephone House says, "The hoped for the Commodore 64, i BABT was set spoihng British industry. By Ihe current system could be network. The Via has been made. "I shall be making a working on conversions: up at the request of the the dme a modem will produce ViEawntB; Torus present government speciii- Acqui.ii- groups to try to is implementing its cally to carry out approvals working the Vevars, change the system," he said. tion database, and ICL is de- rests, KB quality and safety For BABT, John veloping a graphics kernel Etandards havmg been drawn who set Ihe approvals board "These changes are de- reduce costs, bui system. A number of other up by Ihe British Standards signed to ultimate decision is the Iiistihite and designated by the ing PC software, Oie Secretary of State. DTI's." POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLV Product News
More products disc Opus upgrades Challenger for free £34.95,
for Pretext series The second title Is THE Chflllanger disc drive Opus is also keen to rea Pcomeige Plus, which is a for the BBC Benaa now comes sure potential frozn Amor buyers that tl raail merge program to be with B12K as standard. The Challenger is compatib used from wilhin Protext. [Is original S\ inch drive com- with the new BBC Master s OWNERS of Amot's Protein feamies include direct print- pnsed a double density inlei- Ties of micros, ing from disc without losing face and 3SSK solid state Ram Opus can be contacted at J the file in memory, cut and disc, with an eitra 236K as a OntiEide Way, Holmelhorp paste abihties, and simulta- £50 optional purchase. Industrial Estate, Hedhill. Su: neous piinling oi a text file Opus's sales director John rey (0737-65080), and word processmg. Harna claims that over a third
Piomeige Plus will coat anted tt £34.95 on disc and £34.95 on for ui Eprom. Details from Arnor at decided to include it with Ihe priaeE an Engliflh epelling The Studio, Ledbury Place. machine. dictionary o! 30,000 words, Croydon, Surrey CRO lET wi 111 the facility for the user to (01-688 6223), nary can be edited oi hsted, and vnii check files al a rale of Music linker system from Joreth 3000 words per minuie. The JORETH Music has produced loops with directed Goto user caji also find words with a Linker system to run with its commands. wild cards, and anagrams. Music Composer package on The Linker can be used as a Prospell can be used with the Commodore 64. sta2id alone package as well The real lime Linker sys- as within Ihe Music as Tasword. Amswotd and lem has aophisbcated looping Composer. disc it New Ward. On wiU features, such as the facihty The Linker costs £44.85 al - cost £24.95, on Epiora with present, but Joreth is current- ly reviewing all its retail eryday hfe of a police aupennlendenl.
Atari ST comms Details from Joreth Music, It costs £S.9H for the Spec- PC Ban 30. Evesham WRll 5EG {0386 831613). age for the Alan 330 ST, run- opera img system. The K-Comm package will cost £49.95 and will be lo record while loops, are laimched next month. Details playmg, create suli-loops from Kama at 13 Horseshoe - up to 128 in eighl tracks Park, Pangboums. Berks - within pans of the real (07357 4333].
DTI gives a million for schools modems THE Department ol Trade and Industry is to spend £1 schools Tandata 512 and milhon on modems for mid- Dacom 2133 AD models, with dle and secondary schools. a particular view to accessing
Maxwell buys source Informalion Service) software which 13 lo be set up later this distributor Software for Prestel and HOBEHT Mamvell has made also to be provided separate- computet market, after pull- ly by those compaiues ing out of the deal lo buy Sinclair Ee search last We are guaranleeing a modem for every secondary Maxwell's Mirror Group and middle school m the (Holdings) has bought the country," said a DTI spokesman. cro Dealer UK for £790,000. Any thai are left over will Micro Dealer was formerly go to independent schools graphic franchise group. own video films. Having designed with chosen preferably taken a tape or microdiive version, tune the oi saving some- videorecorder to channel 3G tei the hope peiceptive In set lo one else from a tew hoiiis for the Spectrum signal, Wold (or the Alan ST. How- o! desperate experimenting d, and play the DLAN Unfortunately, Screen with a soldermg-iroti, I have nile. no/ appear the v tips an mtetiacing the and Border do require further comment. processor called \st Word . some the This will m elude mail merge, Centromcs GLP prmter to the quite satisfactory, place Gem VTrile with Ut a spelling checker and was made by Atari ability TO paste-in graphics. sr pro! Word prograjTL consisnng ol; ClaiaScheybeieT a) Title in large capitals with the ST worldwide, not b) My name m lower case UK. Second, the PioducI DevelopmenI ac plug) si jual in the message to foUo,.., — c) Copyright uiti document aize in- maxim - Lid Green - 3, White - 2, Black creases to around 150 pages GST Holdings 1, Orange - diBconnect (cut d) DLAN A4 on a S20ST with a oi switches should Rommed operating system, off). The dip Half price (looking at job to change any of the a single be set as foUowa and although editing including paper and Jlthal the pnnler from the rear, and above, ae of this size is probably :o poml ¥(orking [torn lelt to right): mk, maintaining the spacing bad WP practice, the extra nodem price la not £100 - Left block - On, Off, Oft, OH, by use of Tab, lo four docu- but only half that £53.49, Ram enables up - qusrier's basic Off, Off, Off, Off, Right block ments ol over 30 pages lo be mcluding a Off, OR, Gerrard Maron subscription to Compunet Off, On, On. On, On, cable should be m FicstSlieet Foblen (plus p & p). And our tele- On, The Third, . . changed Serial port 1. "untidy ends" mentioned in phone nuniber has Contrary to what the prmt- the review or reported by to 01-939 8866. er majtual says, the left block users mill be sorted oui in a /aneFiriiank is block S. On these settings new version ol Isl Word lo be Vortex review perfectly This version the primer works released soon. "" '"^" ' " the review of the Vortex Teleserricea Lid with OuiU. ' will be made available to us- Computer In Psion expansion board for the (January grams, Listmga c Arostrad CPC464 9), that il would al- with 'OPENit channel. SER]: I mentioned Corrections emulation oi an Amstrad /jsF # channel" Make sure low 6128, Please note that the Rom In the Charts page last Session DevelopmenI: supplied with the week we incorrectly The 3-pin to phono cable at present board will not do this. Il gave Beyond as Ihe pro- supplied for a monochrome should not be loo difficult, I ducer of the Atari vei- monitor is wired mcorrectly unsol- would have thought, lor Vor- sion of Spy vs Spy 2. An loo. At the 3-pin end, produce a 6128 emula- nndeistandably mtSed der the white (furthest from tex to Databyle points out that the locatmg lug) cable, and opposite the piogiam la theiis. t&-solder il to the Inleiested parties can (unused) pin. This alters Ihe Jahn Matfhood intact them at 15 Wol- Kent 19a Crealack Stteel London SWIB ;onsidering Ihe OL. il
POPULAR COMPlfTlNG WEEKLY Save the Galaxy from the evil Alana 5TARSHI
1 liiiiTT'T^/T
A Strategic Action Adventure in Metaspace
" include: 1 2 Arcade and Strategy games in One Program 10,000 Metaspace locations Superb sound and 3D graphics -^ A major battle of wits
STARSHIP ANDROMEDA The final frontier in space exploration
Available from all aood sorcware reMHers - if ifs nal Cbere, plea&e under - cr in " pt case of Qitficulty send your cmsaed chegue/RD. iiiEidB Dul to Artalasoft U.K. LM., mcluaing your own name and address, to Ariolasoft U.K. Ltd., Suite 105/106. Asphalte House, Paiaoe Scraec, Lrnthai SW1E SHS. STAflSHIP ANOnOMEDA CB4 disk £12.99 ICaming soon on cassecce) Code Words
Name: David Levine Name: David Levine Age: 2a Lucasfilms programmer Favourite Programs:
for a syfitems soflware house i.nChica There's a few I respect, but few com- ai The rime. Around Ihree years ago I puter gamea have been any real rev- at LucasfilmB where my job eladon. i did hke Tempest in the bring slate program using' Ihav The :i scientUl was lo compulei applicanons into the programmer is. Rrst machine I ever had al of the ari games industry. lome was caUed an Imsai, il was buiil computer - first two games 1 came up with rom a kil and uaed a ZaO processor thai The Favourite Machines: Rescue on vaa around 1976. were BaSblazer and Fracalas. They were both created on The lira! piafessional program 1 ever Atari - there waa a directive not to 3 was a Umi ulility - I was workmg the rtible games so T think Iha Commodore 64 versions are definitely 1 would say that the most design integrity I've found in a computer is lo The idea s h both Ihose games waa the l*ic - a really profesaionally put- logelher machine. [he player a real sense of being in an allemalive reality. Computer scienasls had already developed mathematically Soffography. fine produced computer images to a BaOblaTier. parts of olhei games in- ' maths in- I techniques oi clutiing Raid on Fiacralus. imply never incorporated ' B. Rigorous application Hobbies: 1 It, though getting the the computing to time Outside of that I'm a commercial I pilot I lite to leach (lying when fullest advantage of the and machine hardware was an- other problem- PPC
When you've caught the comet..
COMET
^Sl^E^^ffif'
POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY Evfeshamitops
SHINWA/MICRO P. CPA 80 +
New NLQ PICA print style THE Standard PICA text (lOOcpsI True descenders on jpg etc. ELITE node giues ?6 colunns YEAR., CDUOISa Kle 9LVH 141 »lins E: N 1_ A F=% Q E: ID rncsd^ «us*c»>p-ra and •"'•"o«ip't» underlines nicely Sood italic character set
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97FESnUARY-5MAFICH13 Communications
:ethiBi on the phone and into your bill. How,
you may ask, do I do that? Well, on ITeCa, MicroGnome and all of thai kind of board (those that run on CommunTTel softwaie - Colour, one page Irarismitied al a time with the screen cleared first), when you get to a page that you like, memonse its name. This is in the lop right hand comer. For example, if Oie page ia about Itaoking, in the top right hand comer 1S00/7S OI-MUSSS might be written 'fiACKINGa', To get to S ManMI 300/300SI2OO/7S 01.346-7150 those pages from any other page just i CBBS-SW 3OD/30O&l2O0/ra 039243116 type •flflddn5#. The 'a' wiU come up on 7 TectmonudcB 1200/73 DI-4SD-97M ita own. it's 3 frame letter, a reference to B Tfdcan 300/300 i 1201/73 0628-46^1 the first page or any page in the section 9 DukCiyital 3O0/3D0& 120Q/T9 01-994-3847 "' " about hacking. lorBBS-Lonflon333/333 Bulletin Boards On the TBBS. NBBS, etc, it is pretty different. When menus appear, remom- ber the letter you need to get to a section I imBoaids^ and tip9 about phoning which you like, bo that when thai same menu next appears (this applies to moat hours 3 day. For those of yoii who give Computers By now if you own or have accees fo a a software but not all) you can press the religiously indined, call 0393 Z7E811. 300/300 modem I eipeci you have phoned quile same letter before the whole menu has Christ a on a few boarda. If you don'l yol have a baud, also 24 hoiiis a day. modem than I'd advise you to keep this Them 1 tip is about passwords. NEV- issue und yoa do get one. NBBS format. The firsi is 'MuaicTer and A bulletin board ia sunply a nerwoik cracks your password on one that's a dual baud rate board (in other you can dial up, look al iQ facilities, chat board and you have used the aame word words it's both 300/300 4 1200/73). You to olhei uaeirs and ao on. Because Ihece on another then if they log on to that one can contact it 24 hours a day, on 01-455- are so many, with their own characteris- theycan crack your password loo easily. 0843. Dcs, 1 have compiled a list which contains Also still on passwords use something And prepare yourself for the next the four things that look for mainly in BBs. simple but not youi name or an abbrevi- board - it's called Compost Heap! You 0622- User friendliness- how eaay is it to gel lo ation of it," can phone it 24 hours a day on the place you want and haw 'polite' la the a BB as hoot computer? fr/and/ySyBopsfsyBfeni operators)- On many BBs you have a 'chat mode' where you can type directly to the Syaop who can 'talk back'. Most boards have a Syaop who is fiiendly. doesn't mind a chat and ishelpful, and can tell you about their own BBC software, hardware, etc. Lois otSIGS (speciaJ interesf gioaps) - It's nice to have plenty of SlGs as the more there are the more likely it is that there will be some that you like. diQerent.
SBcurity Levels ~ I like there to be one managed to list security levels on BBs, On some soflwaie your password and the higher the aecuiity level, the longer
Alwaya log on to youi favourite boaida at least once a month as some BBs delete you from the disc if you go a month without logging on. When you log
on for the first time, you have to type in a code number for free. 46036. This too i your name, password, number, ate, and I'd like to try to complete a regular lop al if you get deleted liom the disc you have len o! Bulletin Boards up and down the Next week, I'll be lookmg one ape- lo type all of this again. country. Obviously, I'm going to need ciSc area of the boards- SlGa, or Special The boards on your list are likely to be your help in this, so start phoning round Interest Groups. different formats (eg, one may be and send me your votes at the address at David WaJlin MicroGnome and another TBBS - totally the bottom of the page. To get thmgs " personal top different!). Most of them are likely t kicked off, here's my own have any queries, tips or a call as well ten. If you think it's outrageous, give me .ako about any aspect you bve in London your own suggestions. of iracro commutiicalions, David 6B9 seem to be located), and different Wallin would love lo hear from you. boarda have different routes to diflerent Band Rati Write to him al PopuJitJ Compiitirg pages. Wailing and changing page after Mlcngnom* lSOO/73 Weekly 12-13 Lmle Newport Street, the previous page has finished bemg ! BluliFi 300/300 London WC2HTPP.
transmitted can coal you quite a few quid I CCCBB 30D/30D
ID COMPUTING WEEiaY bOhE
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iAlTLLPIr ninlH Irfx/Ptflii^e^Vpace sftTulation thai^wai^fected ^^P>e l^NatidB^CdfTimrteaGames^PampionsAiip MICRO MASTER AND PERIPHERALS , DISCOUNT SOFTWARE
TRADE ENOUIRJES 1 BVMAIL WELCOME
4S THE 111 ALTINGS. STAHSTEAD ABBOTS, WARE. HERTS
^ Camputer Games is a volatile business. You've got to moke the right decisions and work with thele right
we've beert:rt doimdoing people to be a success. At CRL ^ thai longer than most Componies have been in I
business. If you've got a progrom, you'll want the I worldwide distribution we take for gronted!ed and I the Software Development back-up we pride
ourselves in. If you re a designer, o progi or both, get in touch,
^^"" (20^ Mn.'^rnrr3HrS''Ji'm.|33'29'8''''' £J POPULAR COMPUTMG W •/4'J/J!'J.-i
given with their new release, What makes the release 06sidjan which Ihey are. jus- special is that there has been Nice touches tifiably, proud of. a lot of attention paid id the Wild card
tt must be said that Obsidi- graphics, four colour high- PTograin Obsidian Micro an breaks no new grounds in res mode, together with some PiogTBin Mini OSce ifMlcro Any Amalrad CPC Price its plot design, or indeed in very nice shading and stip- Amstrad 454/861/6128 Price
£7,95 SappUei Anic Comput- the look of the game. II be- pling effects. The movemenl Tape £14.95 Disc £19.95 Snp- ing, Main Saeet, longs firmly in the honour- of the aliens is also well de- pUei Database Publications, Brandeabuiton, Driffield able tradition of Pioject Fu- fined, although hard to get 65 Chester Road, Hazel Y0EE8RL. Navi! past. They follow fixed pat- Grove, Slodrporl SK7 5NY. Srrangeloop. Your space-suit- terns and you alviFays get hope that they are lioi\- ed charactBT has to propel snuffed out with the feeling '1 ©El enough not to take himself through the 2D maze almost did it that tune' - one of I Offence at this, bul Aitic of an alien craft, dodging var- the essential ingredienls for Ms have been responsible for ious alien nasties and solving an addictive game. IB o[ Il\e moBi Bpeclaculai- puzzles which really just con- ToDy Kendle spreadsheet, graphics, com- sist of carrying the right ob- municBlions, and a label ArtiHtraii. Howevt ject in the right place. printer. You are probably thinking that such a collection of programs for £20 must one else, and that people who chine code headers that c; mean thai they are of poor be nransferred but. when hE guahty. Well think again, it's Problems chme vnll always resent hav- loaded, switch the disc dni ing to rnesB around with slow FTognun Diskon Micro Any loading tapes and a spaghetti ing you mad w ' ' operated in either 20. 40. or Aittstrad CPC Price £13.99 of cassette machine wires. Si- BO column mode. The screen
SsppUai Siren Software, JS ren Software have produced ways getting belter and [ was Is divided into two distinct Bridge Street, Manchester M3 an extraordinarily powerful disappointed with how much areas. The lop two lines dis- 2RJ set of transfer utihdes starting you still could not transfer, with the outstanding but with the eiceptton of Dis- 1o disc transfer Discovery. covery this is probably the Tapeutilities will continue (o The second is Diskon which best release of its type to be big business until wiil transler cerlam problem progranu and run them. No- Tony Kendle
round to realising that table things it tackles are Amsttad have sold mote these which deserves ne disc syslems than any- and those piograms with ma- mention is the mailmerging facility. This allows the pro- gram (o pull data from a
est Infocom release to reach database fJe and mseri it into the UK, and without a doubt a document. Magicar the one with the greatest riaHB ata on disc (which explains The database is very easy le price tag). The responses to use yet eirtremely power- Piogram Hi!chhikers Guide Most things you can say re intelligent and the way u ful. Each record can contain
Micro Amstrad 6128/8336 about it have already been iticipatea your inputs is al- up to 20 fields of differing Price £24.95 SnppUei said: it follows the almo- ios! magical. lengths and data types, eg. NewBlar Software, 33 Middle- sphete of the books with ei- 's always h; i lot a game alpha, integer, decinial. etc. Ion Road. Brentwood. Essex. Having input all of your n then b SW> K'ln There can be few peo- atiln ple who have not search facility, allowing the heard oi the excellent use of wild cards, will mark Infocom range of adventures, any records found which it but until now it was only the meet the search criteria. Icy owners of American The spreadsheet program home computers. Atari and is the neil linle gem. When Commodore, thai could get a using the maximum column chance to play Ihera. Thank- width of 18 c fully some of them at least are now available for the large f&SlL'i spreadsheet and still hai memory Amstrad machines ililSIHSISg memory to spare. Thisahou nmning under CP/M+ (and be mote than sufficient fi faster than on the Commo- i« xttr U. h™. II1» iwr.l k.»», )» ™. M > Hanti »K
dore drives Lsiupect), II spreadsheet contains all tl
Incidentally I have been features of its expensive i« li told thai there is no lechnicaJ h h counterparts, eg, cell dupli. reason why they could not cation, aulo recalculate, aulo-
have rolsaaed it on CP(M 2,3 traoidinary success and the to hve up to a r for every Amstrad - the peo- puzzles are solvable as long great as this am Havingused Mini Office for
ple to complain to, loudly and as 3rou get the hang of the enormously the past few days 1
g, are the importers. lunatic logic. The descrip- advise you not to miss it. praise it too highly. TonRevii alive and above all genuinely funny - even Level 9, the felfefefefe 4:-tefc'fefe
27 FEBRUARY-^ I ry of what has gone before gghiuig for the throne wiU be Brainteaser as complex and tricky a game as you ever hope to play, Piogtam Crsck 111 Towbis especially without youi Micro Speclium 43K Ftlce memory. £9.96 SappUei Mitioisofl Ud, To progress anywhere in Headington Hil] Hall. Oxford the adventure you must make 0X3 OBW.
sential as this will determine ^^1 rack III IS a puzzle M ^ magaiine and this ^h^ game 19 based around Concise documentation is the two disc pack- il. Nol aurpciaingly ic'fl full of included in tiEainieasers. Bui my mind age, wilhalistof verbs which the game. was worldiig before t even can be used in opened the package. The Graphics are clear, quickly drawn and along with the words 'for , , . any age' al- ways seem [o indicate an un- lengthy lent descriptions da certainty about the product. Anakeiiing in a strange The game's idea is quite hospital bed you soon realize good. Trymg to find the se- Perfect world thai somebody is trying to kill Telarium claim there are 4C cret of Crack M rowers you. Making a quick escape possible endings and ovei forces you to investigate a Program Nme Princes In Arrir finds you outside the front 40.000 dxHetenl game varia- number of rooms collecting ber Micro CBM64 t disc door of one of youi sisters, tions, (I'm afraid I'm soil try- drive Price £1S.95 SnppUei when you suddenly, dindy re- ing to find the first ending) se arcade adventure! Instead, Telarium [Imput-Speaaliat member that you could never there is plenty of variations ir every room contains a pimzle Shops). trust her. Or the rest of your and to enter every chamber crazy family back in, where For anyone wlio has £20 tc you'll need some mental 3l on the heels of Per- was it? Something like end you have the opportunity H Telariums latest Ad- That was itl The one true, lo wm 3 bonus key in a game ol the Book, this time perfect world, ol which all on Roger Zetazny's others are imperfect ^i^i^
the puzzles, but it falls apan because of the presentation, which is decidedly leas than dress to a label. Operating a disassembly oi the code exciting and loolcs very Basic, system routines have already bemg examined. in and the nature of the games. All one been assigned a label and can Two pointers are pul at There's loo much reliance on therefore be called directly, your disposal and the block of mental arithmetic and old Piogiam Superpoarer ADM memory to be displayed is chestnuts like hangman. Rom Micro Amstiad CPC ly fasl: Miciopower lias specified using these point- AL of this may have been 464/664/6136 Price £39.93 clocked the program and ers. Having assigned differ permissible if it was aimed Supplier MictoPower, found it capable of assem- ent addresses to each point- squarely at a young audience Northwood House, North bhiig over 24.000 single state- er, you can toggle belw who would be amUBed il Street. Leeds LS7 2AA. ment lines per minute. the two areas of mamoty by "" slightly less cribcal. Indeed, Your source code is assem- piesamgthe "key. the presence of a cjuesdona bled using the command Esc The code in Ram can customising facility is obvi- A. following which you can edited by overtyping either ously geared to parents ^L life when h^ thoughts savethe object code, relocale ixadecimal value of the though it's syniploniatic of the byte paclcage that this is directly One suitable tool is the Su- Ascii/graphics section of the text. accessed via the main menu - perpower package, which is The command Esc J will display and entering al least make cheating call for so large thai it is supplied on append a new file onto the The final utility is a a httle brainpower. Unhappi- two separate 16KEproms. end of the source code pres- disassembler which converts ly too many ol the exercises The three utilities - assem- ently in memory. This allows any machine code program call for good keyboard blies, disassetnblies and back into it's original mne- knowledge ajid fast leading routines as Bias on disc or monics. The Superpower and response skills. separate bat commands. Bar disassembler vrill disassem- Recently ASM calls up the assembler Another powerful feature ble both Ram and Rom. The ware has begun ! come Of program, the screen svntches of the Bsseiikbler is lis ability result of the disasseittbly ci age and Mirrorsolt has lo BO column mode and the to shuffle blocks of source be clirecled to the screen, played a major part in that code around in work proces- printer, or even io disc • iraprovemenl. It's a surprise editiiig window. sor fashion. tape as a file. to see Ihem producing some- The asaemhiei's onlyahghl Bar MON calls up the ma- The ADM Rom must be thing like this, with too many eix:entriciCy is ihe fact that chine code monitor program. strong contender lo becon memories of the bad old days The display shows 16 rows of the defimti-ve maclune code utility for the Amstrad. haunting itl ;ted directly. An EQU 16 byres, the contestants of hB John Minion reglslers and the status of all ronReviE I "0" used earlier in the program flags, Preaamg the key ^ assigning will replace this display with '^ji;S^^'S: popuu^n C0HPUI1NG Wi Don't miss the BIG Fai Ihe lirsl limu Atan UK and all ihe major suppljei5 dI Atari hardware and software are pulling out all the stops to make the firai-euer Atari event of 1986! Atari Computer Show the lop event of the
Eveivone who's anyone In the Atari world will be there. Already many third-party suppliers are planning to use the show as a
launching pad for products still on the ATARI drawing board. COMPUTER If you're a long-standing Alan user Ihe show will bring you right up to daii! on all the exciting deueiopments now taking place expanding Atan world.
And i( you're one of the many thousands SHOW of newcomers to Atan computing it will open your eyes to the vast selection of Atari Champagne Suite, > >^- « g-.,^ i ^ hardware and software that is now available Novotel, for the whole Alan range. / 7 I I 8 9 Hammersmith, it's a show you cannot afford tn miss' London W6
ATARI
COMET
IT FEBRUARV-S MARCH IMe 1 ( S2
Commodore 64 GREAT ESCAPE i by G Mayhew
his week, the second and B Can you guide youi diac through Ihe be able to find the right port ft pan of Ihe game, Tasra, for aide o[ yout 84? joj^tick control? There's only one i Commodore 64. Will your daiagHtconupled? Will you find out. so gellrying.
3 FOR FID=4S152 TO 5J019:REflII D T=T+B 3 POKE RD.C-NEXT fiD 3 IFTOU?ej2THENPRIMT"[iftTfl ERROR";HKr
} DRTfl 129.169,13.141^26,3.169.192.141,21.3-53.96-162.0.24.62 501 DRTfl 6,48.144,8.189,1 ,43.73.1 357. 0,48, 232. 224. S-
504 DRTfl 49,234,173.1.208.261,212-240.3,238.1.208.76,49.2 9,298.281.25 2' .236.9,208,76,49.2, S. 201,235 506 BRTfl 240.3.238.0,206: .49.234,234,173.31.208.169.2: 6.133.196 507 DRTfl 169.4.133,252..i69. 194. 133.254, 160,0, 132. 195, 161 ,0,132.251
503 DRTfl 169.70,133.253, 177. 2S3. 145. 251 . 170. 1B9. 72, t 9C 45. 195 208
569 DRTfl 208.243,236, : 230,252,230.254,165,254.201,198 .298.231 510 DRTfl 95,234,32,2^ 93,169,45.141,3,220.173.31.203.1
513 DflTfl 32,3. 192, 32, 109,192, 169. 13,141. 248,7,169,1 11.39,206.2 ,31-293-4 ),7.3;
5 DflTfl 76,167,193,96.1 as, 201 . 255. 206, 233. 32. s EflTfi 193,120,169,49,1-" 165,234,141,21-3,88.173. 7 DflTfl 169,6, r 4,212, 141, Z. 141.6 312,169.12,141,1 3 EflTfi 9,141,'1,5,212,165,129.: 41,4.212,238-44,6, 162-50. le S DflTfl 02.203, 173. S2.2(. 9.141,32,288,136.266,342-20 3 EflTfi 173.44.6,261,51,""" 1,32-283-96,32-18 1 DflTfl 206 Z:.22e,2( .5,£20.!r3-16M-5-£ai-57,2 522 EflTfi 39. 5 169.4= 141, y,7e. .67-19S,2S8 3,5,162,2 523 DflTfl 9. .'3,19-I41-c 524 DHTH U. 525 DRTfl !,21 1,141,5,212 169,17. '-1 526 DflTR 34,1 "" "1.134. 2.1
3 BHTfl S 3 DRTfl KtS._i - ' 1 BRTfl 157 2 EflTfl 255.*^ 3 DflTfl 252,6 4 DRTfl 2S2,i,^ . 5 DflTfl 252,31-1 ^,o.0,e-y.o.e,l. ,27,27-2?
3 DflTfl 32, 1,8.23.28 3 DflTR 32.32,32 B DflTfl 32, 32-32.3 1,12.73,9 1 DflTR 34. 29.29.2 Z2,32,32 2 DflTfl 32. 32,32,3 .:;. 112,112 3 DflTR :,112,0, .,,3: ;, 32. 32.32 4 EflTR 32, 32,32,3 : :2.32,32 5 EflTfl 32, 32.32,3 32,32,32 e DflTR 32, j2,32.3 .32,32 6 32,32,32 7 DflTfl .32.67,6 1.32.32.32 S DflTfl 72, .72 72,7 72 72,32,32 .1 9 DRTfl 32 ,32,32,3 , .n G2,3^ DRTfl 32. 70,3,9, 1 DRTfl 67, 67,32,67 2 DRTfl :-i2, 32,112,1: .2,112 112.112,1
IF) COMPUTING WEEKLY Commodore 64
H H U 11 112 11^ '1 10 le 2 10 d^ i Jri t/ U t. iS4 DflTFI =! ^ 4B 43 ~2 ^ 30 M ^ 32 l.2 32 'a 155 EHTfl o J2 32 32 j2 33 j2 3 ^ ^ t.7 J2 J2 '^ 12? 356 IHTH 34 29 go 39 ^o 59 2« ' 3 2 '2 32 32 55' DHTh i2 j2 32 32 ^ 32 j^ ' ^ t tS ',; 107 32 = 559 DRTR ^ 35 9 /» 2 ^ y 32 ''2 *» 3a 67 32 6S Ee 32 ?-' 561 BATH 1 67 -^C 67 b7 6= 66 32 67 33 55 6t, 32 32 32 6tS S3 69 5b^ BfiTR 65 66 32 32 ; 10' Q 29 32 32 3= S^' 32 32 30 107 32 32 5b3 BFITfl S5 C6 3' 10' 3^ 10' 32 107 65 SG 3^ 107 68 70 69 32 32 564 DflTfi -^2 68 ^4 S" fi5 0- o2 ^2 J2 '5 9 "^ * 32 4S 48 j2 3^ j0 565 DflTfi a 68 '0 6" ' 32 3 'Z 2 32 32 J2 32 3^ 32 eS 54 b$ 36b DflTR 32 32 d2 68 70 S" c 'I i' j2 32 67 34 2= 29 29
TAe Rogue Program
TT FEBRUARY-! MARCH 1M6 -
The QL Page GRAPH LISTING byMUoyd
LlsUng 1 - This lie
chy ol pioceduia displayed wilhm th<
Iho doianll windom LiaUng 5 — This is a lest module whic up a two dimctiBional array o! data play, complete with dEscripiions (Di etei-paasmg abihty ol Ihc QL copea easily with Iha data anays; Lianng 3 eipeoiB » [wo dimensioiia] unaj vtiich it splits uiIq [h£ appropriate number of auigls dunflnaion
Alltiough the Smclau QL is sup- plied wilh Paion's Estel these is scope tor olhai types of graph. Thia aeriss of shod lisdnga makes fiU! use oi many SupetBaaic fealures to pro- vide ihree dimensional block graphs complete with scale, annotations and shading Although very flaxibla, thanks ID simcluied SupecBasic, the piogiam makes the computei do all the thinking the programmer need only provide the data, in the form ol an array, and set the window aiia.and location. The eesential elements of the pro gram are the Brst two listings, the second being a slave [unction of the [iist. By passing a numerical array to the cube procedure a single blocit graph is drawn in the default window. The setscale function contains an mtelligeni scaling routine and produces the back- ground for the block. The malrit proce- dtire displays up lo sin block graphs from data contained in a two dimensional array. The fourth listing is a a labelling routine and the fifth is a test module which creates its own data and calls the cuijeor mamjt routine to display it.
m Nolea - Alter calling the scale letting function this rouliiiB d [aces of Ihi le printed i colours selet the cunent Bcreon mode, fl iDpplo shading and f the cube is added using the FTLL
Lining - Ttua function initially clc am the default 1 ,a the OL'a q of the funcnoi
hEighi Q the block i!
alue IS taken c; Line ESS The ftinoion than draws and anno-
iR COMPUTING WEEKLV Once Bytten 31 eOWNESS ROAD ^^H J F^ LONDON SEB 2DG Phone Orders: 0I-B98 2911 L0
m TENS : i I pLAsnc UBovtr cAses Si" SS/DD 96TPr Si'DS'ODflBTPl E 3i- SS/DO 3}' DS/DD e; 5p BULK DISCS ^^ 5ii^5^ DISC ACCESSORIES F THIS IS f f THE f
PLUS VERY SPECIAL EITTRA DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE YEAR OF THE W A nTe D ! < ifpp ES I CodiDulars/Prlnlflfs/Disc Drive bIc. - ™Ty Wanted uigSFilly for CASH! TIGER ^ ave goL Ihe "WonOer Wallst Filler" walling to en^Bnga lot yaui home or busiioss micro sygiam Plione K»Hh McGowm 1 01-698 2911 (BflBr7l»pmMon-Ffl)lQiourTOP, TOPOFFER. sJl itlBf deal. We can supply ' - -
hanga fli '^^^T^^
D. S. Enterprises (01) 671 0209
DSQD ... £17.00
MajteU £ie.O( ... £20.00 3.S' Fuji....
MaxeU £37.50...... E35.W e guaianlesd ajul come packed in plastic dip & Cite type boxes. Drives QL, Spectrum or BBC Compalable Single 80 Track Dual 80 Track £87,30 E1BS.00 £100,00 £195.00 QL Software LalticBC £B8.00 Pascal (Full ISO) £87.80 Super Charger (Basic Compiler) £46,60 Ram DiBC (Ram Disk a Spooler) £9.76
Cosmos - £12,95 Tasprini £17.50
Toolkit n (Eprom version £29.9S Ice £44.9S Add oil's BiakEi(panderam{Miiac!e Systems) £115.00 (Including Ram Disc £123,50 Cumana Disc Interface £7T.S0 Dual 3,5" Drive + taleiface £260,00 COMET (Specltum or OL) Zero 2 [Tiirtle OL, Spectrum & BBC) £115.00 ' acia] digcountfl or complete packages oi lirge ordau. Call for lOils of all QL Qi- Speclium needs on 01-811 0209. lAlI piicei aie
: P4P and VAT). Make an cheques payable lo: David BlortSD. 25 THiJtT RIsB, London SWZ 2QP. ™h
17 FEBRUARV-S MARCH 1BH -AMIGAr-
THE SYSTEM EVERY working compuler, no mallei how sole rcsponsiblli:}' uf humble, is » complen machine made up of an syslein. Nevenlicltss, oKniirduiary variety or componenls. Whai simply It; using the makes a good computer, liowcvei. is noi four major chips as a guide. complodly bul [he qiralily of die compoueau Though much of the work carried out by and the effecliwiiess of the design thai ties a CPU on lesser machines is home by the rest those component! together. On both these of the hardware on the Amiga, the 68000 is counts the Amiga family repre.'ients a major still the heart of the Amiga *ysu:m, us it is of step forwan) in personal compulets, offering a level of power and perrormance simply not sojrfiislicaled personal computers. The CPU seen before in n personal oompulcr. In (his is the most flexible of Ihc Amiga's hardware article we intend to cast a quicL eye ova the in use, atrccplinij a massive range of
mttjor features of the Amiga that justify such seemingly extravagant claims. The power of Ihe Amiga rests mainly on everything else in the system and to carry out a collection of four chips never before seen by itself a wide t«nge of functions of which in combinadon — three of them never before other aspects of the system ate not capable. ar all — the Motorola MC6S000 central ,;wn Memory pn)ccs.sot unit, the .'UjNUS addnsi geneiBlar. the DENESE (or DAPHNE) display encoder Around the 6S000 is clustered the memory chip and the PAULA (or POFTIA) pons, of the machmc. consisting of a collection uf audio and UART chip. Based aroutid this "dynamic RAM" chips which must be ccnual core i5 256K of memory used by the refreshed roughly every 2 thousandths of a system to store the operating system of the second if Ihey are not to lose all record of the Amiga — the form of the memory mvolved data they coniain. The basic Amiga comes may be specially protected random access equipped, as mentioned above, with 2S6K memoiy loaded from disk when Ihe tnachine hytes of memory devoted to the storage Of the is fiisl powered up, or read-only memoty chips operating system of the machine and another with the openuing syjtem built in, according 2S6K availabtc to the user- Another 2S6k can this to the version of the AMIGA. Outside of 1 the form of a slol-i the staitdsrd Amiga comes equipped with 'hichci id the 256K uf random access memory available to from panrf of the machine. The arbitrary limil the usa, with Ihe option to expand up la 512K uf 51^ this imposes is nolhbig to do with the by Ihc simple utldilioii of a cartridge of extra abilides of (he 6S0O0 CPU, but lalhcr with ttieniory, or up lo 3 megabytes (8.38S,6aS Ihe three other specinlist chips, which are bytes) on a special eMernal memory board. designed to deal only with memory addresses
This is, of course, fer from the end of the falling in ihe fust ;I2K. The 68000 itself is stray. The full Amiga system is laammed with tpiite capable of dealing with in CKcess Of 16 hi-tech components and cap^Ie of expansion million byies of memory and provision i.i in a wide variely of ways, according to need. made to use this power hy mearu of an 68000 CPU expansion port on the side of the Amiga which, tunong other functions, allows the A full description of the Amiga, such as system lo be made up to a full K megabytes. you will Hnd in oui book, involves going AGNUS, which stands for the "Address beyond the individual components to their Generator Chip", is in many ways the key to parts and to the ways in which th^ y/ork Ihc fpeed of the Amiga in opeiadon. In this together, since very seldom is any function the sio^e chip are contained three crucial
l>OPUL*n COMPUTING w functions: tde varleiy of colours which a) The controls for Ihe "dircd memory Ihc system allows. DENISR makes it possible auxra" channels, whidi oliuw sevaai diffeiEnl for diis complex daia id be neat straight out parts of the system to access Ihe taemory. of memory, without having to be heavily withoui having to ask the CPU to boiii obtain ptucesscd, and thm to be rapidly tmnsformed ibc dala fioEn a specified location and/oi into a fotmat suiublc for the screen — thus place if into a specifield localion. The Amiga again relieving the CPU of a major task which has an astonishing 25 diiecl memory access Is otherwise cunslamly going oa The aildiiion ctiannds devoted K> funcliotis like audio, to this overall task. DENISE also handles the giaphics, disk drives and so on, and every one job of mining in the images of any sprites, of those channels is directly responsible for small graphics objects which are capable of relieving die CPU of a laak ihal IHkes up being moved around Che display rapidly,
much of its lime in lesser systems, indepenlly of anything else. Finally, as if these b) The "Copper" co-processor, which lasks A
IN OURovervitvi' of the Amiga >vc looked the sheer speed at which graphic objects can m iht main fraiures of [he Amiga's hardware be moved and manipulated, then that and noled ihat while they gave a guide lo amazement is really a product of the work copied into the tlisplay memory at the correa whal makes ihe machine tick, ihe only way of the blitler. point. to really understand il was lo look in detail Tlie name bliiter is short for "block imag These lauks. thoush simpte, are not stnal! at the individual funclion; that [hey iransfencr" and the purpose of the blittt — unless Ihey were carried out at the kind
petfonned. Nowehere i* that more true than is simply lo transfer blocks of ilala from on of speed that the blltter can achieve, the place in Ihe fiisl 512K of RAM to anothei Amiga would be almost impossible and Once again, as with much of the rest of (h hardware, this task relieves the eSOOOof lim In order < carry out such a transfer, the consuming chores which would rIow dow blitler needs only In he told where in memory Hardware thcsy in the ci ihe data (o be shilied is, wbeie it is being It fast shifted lo and how much there is tu copy.
of the internal BiorkingoFnew micros should no 10 In addition il needs to be told the size of the try not to turn off ihsir mind,"! at this point lines whidi make up the image it is copying. because what rollow.s is not too technical specifically designed For instance it might be being asked to
and. ID put it blumly. yuu cannot really The act of straight forward data shifting copy a small image 32 pLiris across and 20 understand Hic Amiga wilhough thinking is central to what the bliltcr don within the pixels high from an area of memory which Amiga graphics system — though Ihe bhiier reptesenls a total display 320 pisels across. that people have uf the Amigu is one of is nol necessarily limited in its application to In order to do thLs It will need lo be able to amazemeiil at the quality of its graphics and graphics, it wi!l just as cheerfully shift programs around in memory if beginning of the rectangle holding the image, necessary. Graphics is the major pick up the two I6-bil words of data thai defin 32 pixels and move them, then skip through (he memory lo ihe data representing Ihe second line of pixels in the rectangle. This
operation il would perform twenty limes and in doing so copy the spcified image, without The totally flejiible display of touching anything around.
le Amiga, with windows Pixels ing and disappearing,
(hviming behind one another. Simply mi 31 the lit I of Ihe abiiilics oft be. Oneoflh a display arises if the image to be placed oi the screen is not leclangular. or where the images to be placed on the screen need to be drawn from separate sources. In fact thai hlirier can cope unaided with a wide variety of situations like ihis because the AGNUS
chip provides it with 4 dedicated direct ccess channels.
is employed lo send the resulting oulput to the destination in mcmor>', !n calling up information from more than one source, the
blitter i.s equipped to carry out a variety of known as "bgici operation" such as AND, OR, INVERT, EXCLUSiVE OR. which allows pixels from one source lo lake prioriiy over others, lo be manipulated, lo be combined with others and so on. One frequent use of these abilities is 10 the fact ihat the blitiet
POPULAR COMPUTING Wl |i " r^*JU -^B
i^l^^ --
1 if, r diciUar pHIlero ii lo be placed on Iht icretn. Whai has tu be moved ^auluidly a reel angle comaioing chc circle and unwanted pnrls of (he reclangle may obllieraii somefhing importanl and is already displayed. Since ihe circlelimuhi-colDiired.lhereis no possibility of telling the Witter only ro transfer the pixels thai are not "background* uolor. Patterns -'Sffi^asSfes^.^'-?* In such ca«s Ihc ability to combine different sources con be uiied to make the bliltcr pick up say, a black copy of the circular pailem front one souice. The
circular pallem itself is then taken from memoiy as (be second source. Finally Ihe two are combined with ihe existing screen display (Ihe third source) so thai any pixels which be made to move pixel by pixel as if il were fall within the shape defined by the black completely detached from the playfield over ma.^k" are overwritten and any which fall which it moves with an action as smooth as outside the shape defined by ihc mask arc a full sprite, though the sobject is aculally
left unchanged. The result is Iticn sent out over a background that it can be used to pan of the playfield and caimoi move from along [he fourth DMA channel and the move objects around a display m much the playlleld to playfield Sprite-like objects circular pattern appears on the screen same way as "sprites" on something hke the whose movement is handled by the bliiler are without the least dtslurbanec to anything Conunodore 64 — independent small images here is sptcialist
around it. which are not pan of the main display and soflwan n the
So fast is ihc blitler al carrying out so c.tn be moved rapidly around. In doing provide t
complex tasks involving placing an image this ii is aided by another important fealure, iprite-like characlerlstics such as
, collision detection, priority on nd so forth. Fmally, apart from its role in shifting
memory Ihe hi liter is also used for two more specialised graphics roles, area filling and line ing. Filling an area with a color ot logical atension of its abilities
Il the outline of an object and to
;d for in a
iffcrcnt modes, sc I. textured. on, which is why the such speed at the drawn items, even lo Che extent of providing smooth aniraalion of several changing line-drawn shapes on the somelhing not seen before in a anywhere neat the Amiga's price BY THE BUTTER I IB «niL HBX, inc IB.
" SIE--' : is BiCH iMhjAg ei» Sg 'iS 'ii 0077 ///S6 outside London 0r25f563ror3 WORD PROCESSOR by Glenn Counsel!
This week more liEiing tor the Amstrad 464/664/6128 wordpio- ceeaor and a deaiTiiptiaii of some CTRL + R - Replaces ei i Ihe facilitieB available, ENTES - Moves to a n Cuiaot Op/Down - Moves the cursor up/down by one line unless il is al [he top/ bono m of the screen in whii:h case lyto Ihe led of the cursor. textscrollsby lOlines. CTRL - a - Saves the current leit file Sblft + Cntsor t/D- Moves Ihe ciiTBor under a given filename. Next week more listing i he top/bottom of the screen directly CTRL - L - Either loads a given file or, relating lo the bloclc manipulation func- eaa it is already there in which case il given a numeric leil width (4-7B tions. Meanwhile if you feel like a rest lest scrolls by 50 linaa. coliunsn), it will set up a new blank file, from typing, copies of the program can
CTRL CunoT U/D - Moves the CTRL I M - Displays the number of be obtained from C Counaetl, 216a Ban- aor to the top/boltam of the teil. hnes left for lext. bury Hd., Oxford for £7 (disc) or £3 Curioi Left/Right - Moves ihe cutaor CTRL - F - Searches for the given [tape). Please stale also whether you .e chatacler left/righl on the current character set fiom the current line down. require the version of the progiam to I line inverting the character under it. II lound il repoHitiona the lait with the
17 FEBRUARV-& MARCH 1S8B BBC & Electron UNDER THE MORTUARY
bySunilJagota
the bone, oi maybe you're now ... the end Is near, etc. sayad under the filename 'Prog'. This worn to j And a tape, direct- feeling plain lazy, copies of the progi Yes. thia weelt. your final helping code should be placed on of code for our arcade adventure ly alter the inaliuction program. can be obtamed on tape, by sending E4 Under the Mortuary. After this week, Beal of luck with the game - hope you 1o the author, Sunil Jagota. at 69 Coulls using the Hex loader we printed back in have as much fun playing il as we did. In Rd, Walkergate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne VolSNoS.yoQwillhavBafalockolcode. any case, if your fingers are already NE6 4RA.
POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY Arcade Avenue
your hyperapace locate and destroy the enoiny MQ". Well mence, when the break patlem appean the countdown continues. When you ToBurviiraroTainy length ol time you have docked you will be in Leesli's must look after yo r landmg sites. The space station. lulea are simple bi easy 1o forget if you "[1 also works with the galaclic hyper- have three MiGs on space system." onalandingsiteilis
ThankG for thai marvellous tip, Alex. destroyed (you wil heai an eiplosion i( You should have seen the Gimlnghl the sound is on), A ew landing site then pokes in an earlier issue o[ the magazine but luckily we have had Eomo more from tiie landing site starts off, that notorious liio (sorry about saying "If a tank moves to Home 5ase then the thai there wore only two o( you), the game will end and you will get the red Langley Blacken. scieen. (This will stay there until you Enter Ihis: play dead - ie, take your fingers off the keyboard,) "'You are particularly vulnerable Compilation disc when 3 landing site is destroyed and you get a new one at Home Base. Regular readers of (his column will "Tanks are targstfed to the landing probably remember a few sites so with one at the Base your Achilles months ago the letters and confu- heel is exposed. sion over whether the long awaited Halls ol the Things was to appear on the airborne go and destroy the four tanks to Amslrad. the east of landing site 0- Move your The good news, as anyone who went landing sites every 15 minutes or so." to the recent Amacrad show will know, is Sounds eiciting, and there is more that it is now here in the (onn o! a compilation diac from Design Design called Working Backurards. £14.95. You Finally filex, and all the others w able to smell the Binoke may be coming have wntlen in to ask. I'm sorry but t 'b finish with some pleas for off my computer - I was up until two am first Arcade Addicts ' Handbook was last lughl playing the blasted thing 1734 hmited print run that has conpletely sc Shelley Bacon of Eushey Heath has points). n for help with the AnF game The compilation contains all of its Egg 2 for her Commodore 64. Amslrad releases to date. Dark Star. 'tJan you please let me know what the Tank Buslers and On iJie Fun, and has the trick is in taking the basket to previously unseen HaBs as a bonus. 1 hold the milk in? think I'm nghl in saying thai the other "I have tried all maimer of games have only been available on tape up until now, so it looks like a pretty keep hold of this object with- good buy for the 8 1 28 or other disc drive out gettmg killed. 1 tried phon- mg AnF but found it has gone Those with tape machines, or virho already have one or two of the programs "I then earned on through need not despair - a version of Halls has various levels until reaching a also been promised for the new Forbid- one way system at about level den PJanef follow-up to Dark Star. 30 - can anyone help me with Incidentally, HaUs also comes with an - extra fealuie a character edilot so you Finally I have reached this can get your revenge on the Thmgs by rel without seeing any sign making tham look even more atupid, if of sugar and gifts as men- by no other way, Il'a my tip for the best Amstiad compilation. Whilst on the sub- You have obviously missed is ject another Amslrad game to look for it, Shelley, but in out back Gremlin's Gnunpy Oumphrey - an ex- issues you will find that we tremely well implemented cartoon-like havequiiea number of heated letters askmg what to do with Now then on with the tips - there's the baskets. To the best of my even inoi^e to be said about Elite'. Alei knowledge everyone has the Jones of Basingstoke has found a rather same problemi We eventually helpful bug in the Spectrum version, for D the sncius those who can't dock or mho can't get nap with past the attacking ships on the way to the real solution, but tl anyone knows belter, or has answers "First you must be in a space station to the other problems, please (say. Lave), Buy all the equipment you write and help Shelley and all want as normal and set your hyperapace coordinates to the planet you want lo go (0 buy any from us - try the Computer Finally Lee Mogfoid of Pilsey wants to to (say. Leesti),
'Leave the station and turn your I was intrigued to see a letter from the C^M games Matrix. Hower Bovver spaceship around at minimum speed Mirrorsoft, consisting of the "first of a and Ghoatbustera. until you are lacing the station. Stan to aeries of lips for the frustrated pilots of Tany Kendls enter it at maximum speed. About two to Stnke FoTce Harrier who are unable to
27 FEBRUARV-S MARCH 1MS :
Tony Bridge's Adventure Corner
in block, Ihough attraclive and colourful, ir Dm the Ouill ol Steven Pilgrim, kept me chaiactera) and very iew of the usual engrossed for some time. Despite Ihe adventure problenia (the Vorpal Sword odd sloppiness in layoui and so on, Ihe
and what you do ivith it - elaying the initial premise, the solving of three Jabberwodc - is there "simply (ot Ihoae quests, though a little unoriginal, proved who demand gratuitous violence in their quite enlenaining, and Ihe associalad games"l): Iha main occupation in this purales elegant in their logicality. Ed- adventuie in the riddle-solvuig. Typical ward Beck contributes Eye ot Vactan. this one, which unravels (he which appears to be set m a prehistoric 1 knol: plain then half of 3 and add again 5( must Und The Eye of Vartan (again, a one's final lellei - run or walk, device thai vrill save the world from the whichever 'a beltei:". dreaded Plague - or OuifTd adventures It's a lovely program, well-implemenl- about dreaded Plagues?) by entering ed (Ihough the aulhoi - maybe deliber- into yourself, whatever thai might mean ately?- has an almost consislem aversion - along the way, you'll indulge in a bit of to using the capital T.aBwellBBahigiily- monster-slaying, a touch of magic here Ten collection developed 'alternative' vocabulary) and and there, and Troll and Cyclop-baah- altracdvely presented, and I'm glad to I ential Solutions of London has see it available. read some runes. Again, this was quite ^ lecenlly released a vast amount The oUiois on Ihe tape are not of the diverting, being a not over-difficult ' ot budget arcade games and ad- same quality, ihough the avid adventur- romp tlirough an imaginary world.
iies- 1 haven't seen any of ihe indi- er vrill Bud plenty here 10 amuse, from
\1 programs, which retail at just easy to hard. They are all pu/Ifd and all Behind enemy lines for single games and £2.99 for the of standard layout, with the usual spali-
packs, but I havB managed to ing and grammar mialalces and all seem Rills of Tims, from Ihe same author as take a look at the 10 Adveniur i in their original form, with no Ziiun, Eeahires a Thorin-Iike character ipt by Central Soludons to present a named Dave- with-the-pointy-ears, who
price of many a total disa9tei,ji I uniform appearance - some have load- sits around scratching his armpit and believe thai 1 deieci the hand of Gilsoft ing screena, others go alraighi in to terse making random suggesdons of a dis- behind this project - either Central Solu- descriptions with no attempt at atmo- tinctly unhelpful nature. Your mission is tions is their own mark, or else they have sphere-setting. to return three relics of great power, Ihe o9-loaded a number of Che uiuuccessftil Jason and The Fleece casts you in the Golden Sword of Tyr, the lost Helm of
BubmiEsions: hul anyway, soma of Ihe Tole of Jason, and I imagma your task is Vidar and the Horn named Gjaller. Onite to fmd and equip the Argo and set sail lo amusing and colourful, though not al- fmd the Golden Flaeca. It's a big adven- ways properly debugged. Conunando, ture, »ilh little graphics depicting many from P Robinson, the author of the lost
of the objects, the game-play i Time Ouesl. concerns your exploits as a commando charged with returning a list d like D; of enemy agenis from behind enemy may. The title
Hon of one of Lewis Carroll's Alice illus- case I), Anyone wn< las seen Ihe fllm The final advenmre on the tape is TTte trations, and a prearr\ble tells the player jaeon and The Aigoi rIsviFiIi know what Hexagonal Moseam by Devlin and T .... J that the game is based on Cairoll's expect (and author Adrian Seymour Skidmore. Once you have managed to Tanglod Talesas well as his other works. manages a couple of nice plugs for gel past the security devices guarding As you start the game, you £ind that you Cilsoft along Ihe way). Ihe museum (and you'll need at least have apiece of siting in which is lied ten some of Ihe ten objects from Ihe starting knots. The objecl of the adventure is to Hunt through space location, but you can only cany five), untie the knots, which can only be done you can wander around the many galler- by answering a nuixibet of riddles set by Crystal Quest by Malm and Jones is a ies, each ol which contains a valuable Bve characters - they'll all be well- hunt through space for certain crystals known 10 you - The White Babbil, Mad which, when relumed to Earth. wiU save Hatter, (Caterpillar. Humpty Dumpty and the populadon from the ravages of Ihe The White Knight, plague. Sea of Zirun from Dave Walls you are given at each pomt lo escape Ihe
' ' Once this is done, you must then find (who X enough to provide his home guards. The author has an extremely Alice (only when you have address ihoae who wont Help) takes idiosynctalicview of spelling and gram- unravelled all the knotal and help her place, surprise, beneath the epony mar which makes the game even more
be Oueen'd, sea. Finding yourself trapped ; diverting than it mighl be othervrise. ons (illusiraied deiworld kingdom, you musi obtain cer- Time Quest was unfortunately not E and then present on my (ape. despite being ad- vettised on Ihe artwork - that's a pity, as one or two people have asked me for more information about this adventurB. This is 3 good collection - nothing too difficult, yel moat of the games will keep the adventurer busy for several ses- might hold treasure sions. Although software prices are a little loo high at the moment, neverthe- less the price of this package is sensible
taiing. Responses and a worthwhile investment . Next are amusing and Ihe week, a couple more collections to think adventure nps about. Central Solutions, 500 Cheaham House. ISO Regent Street. London WIR Dragon Slayer, SFA.
POPULAR COMPlfTING WEEKLY oin the revolution s Buy your introduction to the future The new Amiga represents a revolution in personal computers. Ttiis book is the authoritative Introduction to that revolution. The Amiga Handbook by David Lawrence and Marl^ England tal his is the first book for the Amiga. Buy the book and join the revolution To Theresa Loey, Sunshine Books 12/13 Little Newport Street London WC2H7PP Alternatively please debit my Visa Access Please send me copies of The American Express n Amiga Handbook ISBN 946408 91 2 Account number Expiry date at £7,95 (plus 90p p&p) per copy. Signed I would also like to subscribe to Name (capitals please). „ . Horizons Commodore monthly, Address starting with the Marcti issue which Includes a 16-page Amiga supplement. Annual subscription, £10 n C L A S S I F I E Df CALL JON BEALES on 01-4374343 f09. SEMI/DISPLAY ADVERTiSING ^^^^^^m AZED WORD COMPUTER SOFTWARE ^ 1 GAMES WARE ^SS" touEia ,,J^^^.r^^,, r»» jM!«imL„ q THE OL SPECTHUW IBC: EUCTHON """'""'""""' FORTHESPECnmUt TramM MmOtM lH»£3 «~ ' SPECIAL DEAL «D0/eilO/XL/XE OWNERS e.il.l:(l)!34)»13M rujj. | ^^, .,«.,, ™.-^ DS AND LOTS HORE FOR ONLY U MC P - SMIUNG SOFTWAflE. 2C DALE ROAD, MARPLE, 5T0CKP0RTSKG SHA CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Here's my classified ad. below.) ' RATES: (Please write your copy In capital letters on ttie lines S«nii-iftiplay:E7pBrsin9le column o. ClB55ifiafl DeDanmeni. Pogular Campuling WBeMy. | \H COMPUTING WEEKLY J wEXPRESS SPECTRUM,BBC andCOMMODORE I REPAIRS! Book your Classified or Semi-display advert by SPECTRUM — AMSTRAD — COMMODORE Credit COMPUTiR REMmS I III NOBLES COMPUTER i loaDom Card SpecL'iim. BBC, Atari, C REPAIRS I f ' Flepairs carried aut our own snglneers on site. I by ^ \M MUM 961 2112 K • All repaira cafry a 4 MONTH GUARANTEE H ELECmONIC niTEMS SERVKEI £ For estlmaiss phone or send your computer to NOBLES. £ PO. loi U3, LoMm NWIO U> Spsctrum Plus ....EH.BS Inc parts I S Commodore 64n/IC 20 , from ES.BS plus IS « BBC from £18.96 plus Call . Also repair specialists lor Amstrad and MSX computer U NO HIDDEN CHARGES Jon °\ •SPECIAL OFFER Beales o 5 FREE GAMES WORTH £25 OH 2 wltli Bacti Speclrom repair Trade/School and Cljb dis- J^ S counts arranged. Q 'For tree, no ot>llga1ion estimates ptione 01-4374343 computer to NOBLES lor ttie tasiesi, ctieapeai repi j g ESSEX. ^ NOBLES < 14-17 Eatlern Esplanade SouHMTid-Mi-Sca ] X Eswn VISA § 0703 e3377>8 63336f7/8fB I I 7 days a week. 24-hojr Answering Service SPECTRUM — AMSTRAD — COMMODORE MADCH 1H« POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKIV There's a Dealer near you ... 1 ^^mrrmmir^^ m^Fmm^m BIEIll^H ^^!I!niI3!l!I^^H D.G.BDTEIELEITMNICS OVITKIIS HECmPlIIER DEPOT BLyECfllP lOIIPITERillO!! IIIIigDUIIOID iSSIItHAWI SHEET IRIRIOHOSWORTRROAO IIILLERTHROID illKOHGIE!! GUStMIIili •ESTORimi LIVERP00LLTI2DI BIIIIHEIIUI DLESEIOITUS Ilh|l(1|33!39lt III; (Oil) 123137 Tll:|li1|IS4«I ~ Iel:(IS!S|l!0« ,.. I^HilUl^^^ ^JJJMtkUJ^H ^mna^^ hhbii^h smmsseee& KIEniDS HOIETSEntOffiOTEIS GlUiaCOIPOIERS imWIHOISE noRSEniiiD 1T1NI1I STREET iilREBOVLEMD IISIlEtl lEREFDROIRUIT tRIlLEI.SOSSEI GIAIS.ESSEl IEEDSI»!II wmwtm lll:11101MOIS7H! Iei:|D3IS|3!S!ll itiisjijeiiii iHUOIPDIEISIDIE ililONDOIIOII . WESniFF'OMEl IROIDWIICOMPOIEI CENTRE onSIOICOIPOTERSLIO IICIOTHB *"A ESSEI ISOIEEISIDIO II-!!RIGH STREET ihllRIET STREET I(I;P!1SJ!SS4 •ITEORO.RERIS lEItESTER TiraORTH,STIfFS Tiipsmm Tel:(ISI3|S!m Tll;|OI!IlS1M EiraiiPiiiiiiicowm! 3ii[HnELLHgn aNiinssvfiicEnE ^^rnmrm^im I LONDON 1 MBOOHSEI IMPflEBCUBSOCIlTES TRSIOJPOTERHITRE LOGIC SAIES FRttPOSI W:|I102)11(13I .. DTREIROIDH POIOIII TRSBOllNtSOOTHBITE [oaNgnnus ROLL cwmiM SHOmODIOID HOITRIDMIERSIDE LOHDWn G»EITIP«!(I ... T!l:01'SS:4W ,. (DttCramFirntRd) ^^^___^^^_ IISUDI ^^^m^^^H Iel:(l!ll|!mi ,.. IICDDDEIS FIST FDRWDCHPITER STORE INIROGIOIPOTEPS nHHUIICITIINPlUS illlDOHIIDGEWU a SHITR STREET ilHIil tlllEDDIES lOllllSEI WICI Mard Ill:WI31!H latlOHKKIM HsAra III SOUIHEND Tel:in2|!1St! .,. ^^TilTniTTl^^H GAIESMRCO RI1IT1S0FT«1RESR0P CDLCHESTEICOMPUrEICEHIlE IB IIS STREET iiCODITTIROOS ID NORTH STREET, RIIIERSlnl il SHOUT imSTIEEl lEEIS ASHFOUD, KENT LONOOlIi CDtllESTEII T*|li3!l(S0i2! lel: (02331 32597_ TelOI-mUSI lOILES ROHUCOMPOISRS SOEmRE STORE m TORI COaPDTEO CENTRE ll'ITEintlNESPHDE 3IRIGRSTIEET ISLOHDCmO !STONEG»TEIIC»0E LOIDOISin (ORI SinEIDWSB^ ESSEI R«HR Tll:S1«W6 Til: fllSii Il[|0II!|B13m TitnniS! pill CASH FOR BASIC ^comnoelonB GAMES w Code OK Ihc CM COMPLETE PIECE OF MIND FOR ONLY *3p PER DAY TOO GOO TO BE TRUE-J JUST FILL IN THE FORM BELOW AND WE WILL SEND YOU FURTHER DETAILS FOB YOUR PERUSAL OR FOR INSTANT COVER JUST PHONE IN YOUR DETAILS OR SEND THE COMPLETED FORM FREEPOST (NO STAMP NEEDED] AND WE WILL SEND YOUR COVERKIT BY RETURNI MOST MAKES AND MACHINES CAN BE COVERED INSTANTL Y. PLEASE USE THE FORM BELOW FOR A QUOTATION ON YOUR COMPUTER Telephonele your comcompulerpi Spectrum 48k E10.95 and credit and details Commodore 64 £21.95 lor rNSTANT cover. Commo0orel2e E2?.95 0388 777103 VERNSOFT MICRO COMPUTER PRODUCTS LTD FREEPOST SHILDON DL4 IBS PlaasB tick ~ Further Information — Quotation - Immediate ci Name Computer. Address.., Serial No Signature Access/Visa NO: nDnpaDDnDaDnGziDD NO STAMP REQUIRED Erili a, TUdsg u ADVEWTUHE I | help wiin Valkyne *aih Kirliby. ShtlbaiyFo Ty,«3„dWGai help in Eri^f The Vikijig. ft POPULAR COWPUTING WEEKLY Top Twenty (liuilH) 1 (4) YieAiKungFu (Various) Imagine Z Formula One Simulaior (Various) Mastertronic YisAiEraigFii [Imi9l>.| (5) 3 (1) KrnigFu Master (C64; US Gold 4 (6) Hyperaports (Various) Imagine 5 (7) Movie (Spectmm) Imagine G (2) Elite (Specrrum/Ce^/fiBC/Amsfrad; Acomsoft 7 (-) LordoftheRings [SpecUTim/Ce^/iflnTSIradJ Melbonine House 8 (3) Eidolon (C64IAlan) Aclivision 9 (-) Computer Hits 10 CVanous; Beau Jolly 10 (10) Winxei Games (Spectrum! C64jAinstrad) EpTx/US Gold 11 (12) Finders Keepers fVar-ious) Masteitronic 12 (15) BMXRaceraCSpewriini/CJS/Ce^; Maslertionic 13 (14) Commando (SpecirujnlC64) Elite 14 (17) They Sold A Million fSpertrum/CW/Ams/rad; Hit Scpiad (EijlLb)(Eijliib) 15 (16) Spellbound (SpectiumlAmstiad) Maslertxoitic iriiibinD SSSS 16 (9) Rock 'n' Wrestle fCe^J Melbourne House (recti* '"" (DIGslQ 13 (-) Caves of Doom (Speciruin\ CSif Amstrad) Mastertronic 18 (11) Action Biker (Spec(nun/C64/j^ran/C/ej Mastertionic 19 (20) Vegas Jackpot (Various; Maslerttonic ZD (13) Big Mac ['Ce^/Cie; Mastertionic rigucB compiled by GaUnp/MicioBcapc Readers' Chart No 62 ] W^iydllKEiptoduijFHT (MelbDHM (!) Coininando (SpeclnunlC64lCie) Elite Elite (SpectTainjCe4iBBC) jtueDira/Acomsoii i (!) Cilailiil (Sgptiiu) l?lb~ Lard o[ ths Rings (SpectramlAmstiad} Melbourne House S C03ipu(e[KiB(ia) (^uJcDt) £9.^ {!) Yie At Rung Fu (SpeclrainlCe4IAm3ltadlBSCIMSX) Imagine t I-) Sweet lS«piri«r) XSSf 1 |4) NighBhade nnUiuul X9^ Winter Games (SpeclTutnl CS4) Epyn/DS Gold B (ID) RepuiS S.iboleur (Spectrum) Masteitronic I [-) Sreve Davis Saooki Way of the Exploding Fisi (various) Melbourne House 10 H Di Who ml Hanibo (SpectramfCS4} Oeeam SpellbQund (SpeclTiirn) MasleTtroDic TheySQldaMiUion(Sm(SpecrrmnlCS4} Various Commodore 64 Now voting on week 65- £25 to win Each week Popular is compiling ilE n special software top le And each week we will send £25 to the person wtio sends in, with their chart votes the m ost original {witty , neal or clever -burneverrudejptiraseorsenlencemadeuf from [he lellers (you don' t have to use them all) in the titles of the top three pTogriTni in this week's Readers' Chail, published above. You can still vote in the chart without making up a slogan - but you won't be in will a chance of winning the priie. All you have to do ts fill in the form below (or copy it out if you don't want to dam age your magazine) and aend it off 1o: Top 10. Papular Computing Weekly, 13-13 Little Newport Street. London WC2H 7PP ID Wftdneiday IM HI 1S^,5^« (EpTi/mClin 3: Kypersporo My top Voting Week 6S "i! '-« YisAtliBigFii H (Hutulroidc) t,^ I nmpUri lir OiUd], New Releases A company quick oH the mark ENTERTAINING ' " n 12SK software e shops is CEL, with the Ihe 128, tlds is a good effort. It's always good lo see a : version of The Rocky program that's a little out of Horror Show. LitUe point m Pragram The Rocky Honor the ordinary and Cad 64 is wmg a game Ihafa JU3I thai. Certainly mterest- CAD64 It to! i while and is Price £8.95 ing and educatioiial, maybe Ely unchanged, but useful, this package givi Supplier CRL you some o! the facilities features ol Hjs new version. CFh Mouse found in 'real' computer The imponani thing is that 3 Kings Yard aided design tools and al- the sound is vastly improved, Carpenters Road lows you to draw shapes in using, as it does, the brand London EI5 3HD 3D and view them from II (well, terribly old and iated actualiy) fly sound Cad 64 la not totally ni chip. The sound is particular- TACTICS ei, It oHers rail ly imporlant m a game which features {though much e is based on a musical |ol Can anything ever hope to tended) lo a package mui aorta). compete with Qie immortal Best of all is the Time Waip Foolbal! Manager? The an- W 3D. (!f you ever se swer is possibly no, since FJi that sitdng in the bargai the beginning of Ihe game. At Cup Football by Virgin bucket lor SOp snap it up.) Games tries hard, but ulti- Cad 64 is, lo begin with, a at don't sound mately fails to recreate the simple but very neat liames- [I has to be said that level of excitement and sciHen design program, with all but the most com- adrenalin raised by that ven- with rubber banding, cir- plex objects this process is erable original. cles, squares and the rest. incredibly slow, neverthe- Not that FA Cup Football The point is, however, less there is a certain zen- doesn't have its good points. that what you draw is a like fascination m watching For one thing it's extremely it happen. detailed and accurately slices through an obje Fairly e:tperBive, but en- which define its three di- mensional shape. Havmg of game to Football Manager. described the shape m for one thing you have to puts the elements together Piogiam Cad 64 of the te and voile - the complete Price £14.95 you nee object. Micro Coranjodore 64 buff to begin with to really gel Having designed the ob- Sappllei Oipiieus much out of the game. TheSrruthy You must guide your teams from different angles, give Umtl through the various roughs of Church Farm the FA cup - your control is filling It m with a sort of dot Halley S( George hmited, shrewd tactics must shading. Finally, you can Nt Sandy animate the object, deler- BedsSC!S3HP edge of the playing style of minmg a start and finish This Week Double Tum S SBCB E5.M Vannin Southern Belle S BBCB r7.9S Hewson UrPunivBFsa Aic Wnrdrider Ell Commotio eM n!,95 US Gold F.A. Cup Football S fiS4 E7.9S Virgin Games C12.95 Arlolasott £39.95 Miciodeai The Force S CoFiiniodD DneManandhisOiDld ei,99 Masleii'onlc CAD« Ul iM E18.95 Orpheus Disc Help Taam Male lit Commoflo [34.9S Teai^UalBSottWi MCopy MrPuntveiw Arc [1.99 The Golilsn Maze FT»k Arc Eiearan £7.50 AarOvarl. Soulhem Belle S ElKlron 17.95 Hewson OLPuraBon Ul OL Eigen Software OLWtadowsdcons/Fonls t9,9S Eigen Sanware F.A.CupFootbgll S SDeclrum C7.M Virgin Games POPULAR COMPUTING WEEKLY ) New Releases one, though unlike the recent mastermind-like puizlea. Supennan bodge job. the link There is plenty of skilled joy- belmean the different aeo- stick jiggling stuff aa well, dons is achieved considera- including some particularly bly more smoothly here. It's a apace game, obvious- you try !o get your spaceman ly, and though there is rela- aboard another ship. Cvely linle blasting, there is Don'I be mislead, Starship lots of rooming through the Andromeda isn't like Eti/e. It galaxies and Qoatmg through is essentiatly a series of space. The objective of the games of quite different sotts game is lo giaap a crystal jomed together. That said, which hangs around the neck they aie very well joined lo- of an evil lyrant named Alana gettier and the detailed (yes, 3 woman evil tyrant!), graphics and neat plot help Getting the crystal mvolves the whole thing hang logelh- exploring the galaxy (boldly ei. I hked it. going or otherwise) finding a Proton lance pluB the two ele- Piogiam S!aiship ments that power it. then Andromeda al your leam puBhing Alana into a comer Price £]2.9S bnagine Elite style graph- (altackmg defensne 0[ bal- by taking ccmtrol of her MicTO Commodore S4 ics, faster and smoother, add anced) and m lalei slages of slarbases. Finally grab the Sappller AholasofI a planet the game there ia an option lo crystal and use il to repro- Asphalte House 1 little I bring on a subslilule. Thai's gram the Mindlotd computer Palace Street : tanks and London SHS lect supplies. There are hy- more or leae il so far as your which ia . . , well , , . dead SW!E involvemenl goes. pe rapace gates to fly through spinning. Battened [I's a curious game really, Despite an enormously {large wheel shapes) and strategies perhaps barely a game al all. complex plot, controla have BEEFED-UP nominal plot ThoBB who ais very lite rale in been kept down lo {more or to be learnt. The foolballing hiaiory may find less) joystick and half a dozen speaking puieiy from a tech- IE to prevent the complete your planel but much la enlenain Ihem, the key presEBs. Solving the nical point of view, the 3D destruction of less coinimtled probably game msana landing on plan- vector graphics in Bair!e of the point really is to blast and won't rate the game al all. els, searching other space- the Planets (Anistrad version) ships and aolvmg vaguely are considerably hatter than If the }dea of Elite without Progiam FA Cup Foolball those in Eirfa (Amstrad ver- the trading, with beefed up appeals lo you and Price £7.95 sion). This fact is sJl the I graphics Micro AmstTad your macho credibility can Supplier Virgin Gamsa game liasn't been widely put up with a spin off from a 3-4 Vemon Yard publicised. kids cartoon, then Battle of the PouobBlio Road In fact, in a curious way, the Planets is the game for you. Londcat Wll 2DX only ihing that may prevent the game becoming a posl- of the EUte space mega success is Planets the fact that it's ned m with £3.95 COMPLEX kids canoon program (same Aiaslrad Starship Andromeda from title) and some of the excel- t Mikro-Gen Uiat 15 Ariolasoft is a slrange Eort of lent displays, etc, look car- CenD game; son of strategy, son of Western arcade - it isn't tpiile either. Mostly it's several games m This Week WorplB S Epeclrura E9.95 AiguiPr Reading, Berks 1AZ, 0734 664646. Domark, 204 01-947 Software. 45 GIsdlBtof Arc Spactrum ISflK ax Domait Road, London SW20 8PN. 5624. Eigen 051-423 6201. DevttsCreim Arc SpactFiiir48K Et.99 Maslert BancroM Road, W.dnes. CMeshire WAS OLR, FfMayttistSlh Arc ScBCImm 4SK £S.9S Domarli HewBon, 7 Grahame Close, Blewbury. Oxon 0X11 9QE, 8-10 Paul Street. London Wlr Ksf, *d-advenlii 0235 832933, MaslertroniC. Arc-aicadB a-UUIIty 7DB. Mlcrodeal, 41 Truro Road, St Austell. Cornwall PL25 5JE. 0726 73456. Mikro-Gen. 44 The Broadway, Bracknell, Herts, 0344 427317. Team Male Software. DetKJen Green, Aardvark, 100 Ardleigti Green Road, Hornchurch, Essex Salfron Waldon, Essei CB11 3LX, 0371 830848, US Gold, RM11 2LG, (CM024) 4191B Argus Pre»«, Liberty House. 222 Unit 10. The Parkway Ind Centre, Heneage Street. Birming- Regent St. London W1R 7DB, Dl-439 0666. AriolasotI, ham 87 4LY, 021 359 3020 Vannin, 133 Boroughbridge Retail Audiogenic, 39 Sulton Industrial Perk. London Road. Road, York Y02 6AA. 27 FEBRUARY-S MARCH t9W : Puzzle No l»I In lite palace of King Abdul ol Maiapw stands a solid sphere cast from pure gold, and meaauiing aa many nublls in diajneler aa D( Ihe lok utUesa you happen In bo a delabase eali or a rahid hackor IS apheiB ia to be ThomaBalBoiuealechniquo^.aadooBjchn 'atdnetH author of aevaia] pdal-FlBnung Computer literate that Ihe taak em be done, h' :BBling eiamplo haa retpesled that it be c diDcrence between the smi win begin by leanilng Bulc. then gii Whal is Iho smallest size present Eute Bond sphBiea will i1 be cast? (Hint; There is no neei lo use PI or complicaied volume formulae if cone Mt in apace; although B]in£ pushed lius le awaiB oi Uia is remembered Ihat the ratio af ihe volumes i proponlanal lo Ihe cubes of their diameters] Ln the BOs computers have became glamar- Sslnliini le Foizla No 192 independently of the noil: anyone i nJoimed readei will apov Secondly, comput- The only examplH cl technique 4 1 coulc I use isn't pjiticularly exciting; watching lind OCCUC3 in Gavin Lyall'i The Cracat Lial omeone punchingliByBlH inherently dull. Lyall has piobably played with home comput CIS, and ta swaie at UiCic lunitsliona. The beic knows vimislly noihuiy about ihem; when hi idBt wiih jargon, and hop« thai lave 1o explain LI. Tor this 1 tn help i adviaable to hire on expert to 'hiow in a gun batlle ii tlungs weapona, Lyall makes no atfempi to The program naes four FOi/Wa« loops lo describe [Ite progiamming involTed (though leieiniine ihe poaiUena at which Ihe signs are 1 suapect that It wouldn'ibe more than 8-lOlt of B be inaerted. Aa Ihe row oi djgite nd don'i try lo gei loo eonijiHoaiect ia349«7S9" is held m suing ZS/, this aunng n an example ol technique I, see C ol the adiennue. Anyone vbo guesaea that I prefer the Lyall je 374 we Imd a paasege leading novel is, of courae. right. 1 don'l think Ihat . wlial I Ibmk he's dona, Horn your do- anyone would expect a noveliai to explain Winner of Punle Ho 102 cnpdoa, uaddajMlcft (0 :mpiiei which how a car, an alictaft. oi a camera works, in The wumer is C Lee o! Peel Hall. Mancheslei, rna.butiheiB'aiDmething il bringi out the worai In The closing dale for Puzzle 197 isH The Hackers M5roriadtelscflRxcI(xkiakpKXEssc3rsFe6d,(J\W;t^ ihe new 32-tit tiicros J g adji^ stace. «2'D T&eA a V Jr vjittile more than... BIVITEI Present the latest otficially licensed games irom GOOD BYTE PRESENT THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL OFFERS TO POPULAR READERS ALL PBICES INCLUDE PAP GOOD BYTE offer some of the most competitive prices for software available. If you don't see the game you require listed, please ring for the most up-to-date news on release and back catalogue files on 01-731 4607 Please note if yoni order exceeds £40 yon get 10% further discount Export orders add I5p per Upe. Lord Oi The Riaga Trade inqniiies welcome ElBCIriiiglide Send chequelPO to: Goodbyte E.L.W. DNTT 10-11 INPEBIXI. STUDIOS, INPEBUL BOAD, LONDON SW6 __ Tel: 01-731 4«07 E3 'f^rBi I wwiuti.n ^