Softline Issue
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rtln 2 Things To Come h Ard Mhn rv 4 Orn f th Advntr Kn 6 Appl II Grph: Mppn th Mr Mz Kn Wll 9 Gr St: ll d Cht th Str Crft Glx f rrr n Varven 4 Sftr rn r: Ch It Sherwin Steffin 22 lr 20 Snn Up n S: An Intrv th Mr rll Greg Voss 22 Gln v 2 Stll ndn Editor 2 Margot Comstock Tommervik Mnn Edtr h Sr Jean Varven Art rtr 28 Kurt A. Wahlner Softln. Volume 1, Number 2. Copyright © 1981 by Softalk Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Softline is published on the fifteenth day of every other month by Softalk Publishing Inc., 11021 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601 as a continuation of the On-Line Letter. Telephone (213) 980-5208. Second class controlled circulation pending at North Hollywood, CA. Postmaster: Send address changes to Softline, 11021 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601. Composition by Graphic Typesetting Service, Los Angeles, California. Printing by California Offset Printers, Glendale, California. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, California. Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Inc., Sunnyvale, CA. Subscriptions: Softline subscriptions are free to owners of personal computers. In your subscription request, include your name and address, the brand, model, and serial number of the computer you own, and a brief description of your peripherals. If you do not own a computer, you may subscribe to Soft ln at a rate of $6.00 per year (six issues). Moving? Send new address and old to Softline Circulation, 11021 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601; telephone, (213) 980-5208. rtln Softline Staff A vlpn Crt nll, ptr zn fr th n M f nd I hv jt rvd r frt nd hv dvrd t. W bth d prrn nd r ptr Adntrtn (Appl II fr bn . vr, r bth vd blhr Al rv dvntrr nd lv r . At blhr Kn Wll bt r f rtl n Advntr vlpnt Gnrl Mnr Mr S nnll n, ntnd n r prv f n? It hld b fntn t h fvrt prr r Edtrl Edtr Mrt Ct rttn. rv Crl . rh, M.. 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Crltn vr, hvn t t fr ndvdl prr t ld At n nnll brt Mnn n rrttn drb t n thr prfl p f ftr. vd . dn ffn Ett, I G Ar Whtd n Sftlnr Sl pt " nftrr lft l," nd n pt f zn- dtr lttr, Id l t prnt n Advertisers br tht ntrt t r l tht "th prr t hh prnl ptr hv bn pt fr fr pln z ." h t rnt t rdr rv b MGr ll rh h tht 4 prnt f th rpndn Clft th thr ptr fr bth prfnlbn nd hbb, 2 prnt fr prfnlbn, 24 prnt tt , 2 fr hbb nl, nd prnt fr thr nnhbb . rnl Cptn tt tht th bn ppl ntntn Cptn Cvr 4 tn hr f rt h nrd fr 0 prnt n 80 t 0 prnt n 82, hl th hntrtnnt zr Mr St 24 f prnl ptr h drppd fr 4 prnt n 80 t 2 prnt n 82. Mrtnd 0 h InfWrld Sbrbr Srv fnd tht t rdr r vrhlnl ntrtd n prfnl ppl Onn St Cvr 2, , Cvr tn. h th bth prfnl nd prnl ntrt ttlld . prnt, th prfnl ntrt ln f nn Sftr 6. prnt nd prnl ntrt f 6.2 prnt. Othr xpl ld b td, ht thn t th I h Sftr Str 8 d. If t dn th n f th prnl ptr nftrr td, I blv th ld tll tht th vast majority of people buying their computers are buying by these t authors? I am a novice and am not yet familiar them primarily for business and professional applications. with computer literature, but I am sure these are certainly There is no denying that they also throw in a couple of not the first items by these very lucid and readable teachers. games for their own enjoyment and that of their family. Thomas E. Militello, M.D. The manufacturers' input from the marketplace and feed- Rancho Palos Verdes, CA back to you would hardly he considered lofty claims. If there Your magazine came as a pleasant surprise. I am especially are any lofty claims being made, they are coming from users. looking forward to Ken Williams's subsequent tutorial arti- In spite of the fact that the business/professional user cles on Apple hires graphics, since I have some ideas for dominates the marketplace now and will through 1982, I games I would like to program and sell. certainly send best wishes on your new magazine and look Some questions I would really like to see answered are: forward to reading those reviews that help me buy games 1. How do you utilize shape tables from assembly lan- for my entertainment and that of my sons! guage? I can do it in Basic, but assembly proves to be Bill Langenes, Advertising Manager confusing. Personal Software 2. According to the Apple manuals, a defined shape can Sunnyvale, CA be plotted in any of the seven colors (including black and n Appl Spnd lf It ln white). The whole shape is plotted in that color. So how I both appreciated and enjoyed my first issue of Soft ln. do you make multicolored shapes, such as the oranges in While I use my computer for home finances and in con- Broderbund's Alien Rain, the wolves and the ship in Sp nection with my work as a systems engineering manager, Eggs, and so on? Are they two different shapes plotted next I spend at least half of my Apple time playing games. I was to each other, or one shape with two colors? pleased to see that there was to be a publication that con- 3. I have yet to figure out how to make an explosion or centrated on games. collision check. For example, the bullet hits the plane. I would like to see your game reviews include tips on Both are defined shapes, so how does one tell when the obtaining high scores and, if possible, the scoring algorithm bullet has hit the plane? Also, how do you distinguish used by the program. I have not been able to figure out the whether a bullet hit it, or maybe just falling debris or one used by ABM. another paratrooper hit it (in which case it wouldn't Michael B. Goldsteen explode?) I've tried the PEEK (810) mentioned briefly in Brookeville, MD the Programmer's Aid #1 manual (Apple Computer, Inc.), Kd, Cnt, nd Qtn n Grph but that doesn't seem to work with Applesoft. I recently received the September 1981 issue of your mag- 4. I haven't been able to figure out how to, say, make azine, and was pleasantly surprised and delighted. something explode or have a sound effect (music, for I read your instructive article "Apple II Graphics," by instance) happen without stopping all the other action Ken Williams and I applaud your efforts. I want to con- (including your controls) completely. gratulate Ken Williams on the basic clarity of some of the Mark Seybold hardest material for the novice to understand from Apple West Covina, CA manuals and other publications. It's through fr, pn xhn f d that rft n b I bought my Apple II for pleasure and lean toward game an art: meaningful, nfnt, nd nflntl. The rr software. Most publishers handle game-oriented software as f th ptr v n this potential—the blt t fft a sideline and therefore do not come close to the depth you th way ppl pprh lf nd v th world, f only through give it. nrn thr n f plhnt nd pride in th Dean Peters lv. Hardly n unworthy hvnt nd dfntl th prv Lima, OH n f art. Thank you for including me on the mailing list for Sftln. Your ntrbtn t th nhnnt f ptr n I enjoyed the entire magazine very much, but I especially n art and simply plr r vr l n rt devoured the article by Ken Williams on Apple II Graphics. ln your nt nd nr to thr contributors' letters As a newcomer to computers (I have owned my Apple II nd tn ll b h pprtd. Plus for seven months), it is this type of article that I usually Through rtln, ll hv th opportunity to com- search for in a computer magazine, and usually don't find. municate with ppl of like ntrt drtl ppl h are The author has succeeded in clarifying the concepts of pursuing th l r, hthr hbbt or pr addresses and memory locations in a few pages of instruc- fnl.