Text content (OCR)
For The Serious User Of Apple ][ Computers
Issue No. 40 February 1987
Softkeys For:
Adventure Writer
Mychess II
Raster Blaster
Cranston Manor
Ghostbusters
E-Z Learner
American Challenge
Crime Wave
Core:
The Games of 1986:
a review
Feature:
Taking the Wiz out of
Wizardry (Page 16)
BULK RATE
U.S. Postage
COMPUTIST PAID
PO Box 110846-T puasome.. Wa
Tacoma, WA 98411 :
Welcome to COMPUTIST, a publication
devoted to the serious user of Apple ][ and
Apple ][ compatible computers. Our magazine
contains information you are not likely to find
in any of the other major journals dedicated to
the Apple market.
New readers are advised to read this page
carefully to avoid frustration when attempting
to follow a softkey or when entering the
programs printed in this issue.
@ What Is A Softkey Anyway? Softkey is
a term which we coined to describe a procedure
that removes, or at least circumvents, any copy-
protection on a particular disk. Once a softkey
procedure has been performed, the resulting
disk can usually be copied by the use of Apple’s
COPYA program (on the DOS 3.3 System
Master Disk).
@ Commands And Controls: In any article
appearing in COMPUTIST, commands which
a reader is required to perform are set apart by
being in boldface and indented:
PR#6
The key must be pressed at the end of
every such command unless otherwise
specified.
Control characters are specially boxed:
oP)
Press (6). Next, place one finger on [©
and press [PB]. Remember to enter this
command line by pressing (RETURN) .
@ Requirements: COMPUTIST programs
and softkeys require one of the Apple ][ series
of computers and a disk drive with DOS 3.3.
These and other special needs are listed at the
beginning of the article under ‘“Requirements"”.
@ Software Recommendations;
1) Applesoft Program Editor such as Global
Program Line Editor (GPLE).
2) Sector Editor such as DiskEdit (from the
Book of Softkeys vol I) or ZAP from Bag of
Tricks.
3) Disk Search Utility such as The
Inspector, The CIA or The CORE Disk
Searcher (from the Book of Softkeys vol II).
4) Assembler such as the S-C Assembler
from S-C software or Merlin/Big Mac.
5) Bit Copy Program such as Copy II Plus,
Locksmith or The Essential Data Duplicator
6) Text Editor (that produces normal
sequential text files) such as Applewriter II,
Magic Window II or Screenwriter IT.
COPYA, FID and MUFFIN from the DOS
3.3 System Master Disk are also useful.
Super IOB: This powerful deprotection
utility (COMPUTIST 32) and its various
controllers are used in many softkeys. This
utility is now available on each Super [OB
Collection disk.
M RESET Into The Monitor: Softkeys
occasionally require the user to stop the
execution of a copy-protected program and
directly enter the Apple's system monitor.
Check the following list to see what hardware
you will need to obtain this ability.
Coping With COMPUTIST
Apple { Plus - Apple //e - Apple compatibles:
1) Place an Integer BASIC ROM card in one
of the Apple slots. 2) Use a non-maskable
interrupt (NMI) card such as Replay or
Wildcard.
Apple ]{ Plus - Apple compatibles: 1) Install
an F8 ROM with a modified RESET vector on
the computer's motherboard as detailed in the
**Modified ROM’s”’ article (COMPUTIST 6
or Book Of Softkeys II) or the ‘‘Dual ROM’s””
article (COMPUTIST 19).
Apple //e - Apple //c: Install a modified CD
ROM on the computer's motherboard. Cutting
Edge Ent. (Box 43234 Ren Cen Station-HC;
Detroit, MI 48243) sells a hardware device
that will give you this important ability but it
will void an Apple //c warranty.
@ Recommended Literature: The Apple ][
Reference Manual and DOS 3.3 manual are
musts for any serious Apple user. Other helpful
books include: Beneath Apple DOS, Don Worth
and Pieter Lechner, Quality Software; Assembly
Language For The Applesoft Programmer, Roy
Meyers and C.W. Finley, Addison Wesley; and
What's Where In The Apple, William Lubert,
Micro Ink.
1 Keying In Applesoft Programs: BASIC
programs are printed in COMPUTIST in a
format that is designed to minimize errors for
readers who key in these programs. If you type:
1@HOME:REMCLEAR SCREEN
The LIST will look like:
18 HOME : REM CLEAR SCREEN
because Applesoft inserts spaces into a program
listing before and after every command word
or mathematical operator. These spaces usually
don't pose a problem except in line numbers
which contain REM or DATA commands.
There are two types of spaces: those that have
to be keyed and those that don’t. Spaces that
must be keyed in appear in COMPUTIST as
delta characters (*). All other spaces are there
for easier reading. NOTE: If you want your
checksums (See ‘‘Computing Checksums’’
section) to match up, you must only key in
(°) spaces after DATA statements.
@ Keying In Hexdumps: Machine language
programs are printed in COMPUTIST as both
source code and hexdumps. Hexdumps are the
shortest and casicst format to type in. You must
first enter the monitor:
~ CALL -151
Key in the hexdump exactly as it appears in
the magazine, ignoring the four-digit checksum
at the end of each line (a ‘*$”’ and four digits).
A beep means you have typed something that
the monitor didn’t understand and must,
therefore, retype that line.
When finished, return to BASIC with:
E003G
BSAVE the program with the correct filename,
address and length parameters given in the
article.
@ Keying In Source Code The source code
is printed to help explain a program’s operation.
To key it in, you will need the S-C Assembler.
Without this assembler, you will have to
translate pieces of the source code into
something your assembler will understand. A
table of S-C Assembler directives appears in
COMPUTIST 17.
@ Computing Checksums Checksums are
four-digit hexadecimal numbers which tell if
you keyed a program exactly as it appears in
COMPUTIST. There are two types of
checksums: one created by the CHECKBIN
program (for machine language programs) and
the other created by the CHECKSOFT program
(for BASIC programs), Both appeared in
COMPUTIST 1 and The Best of Hardcore
Computing. An update to CHECKSOFT
appeared in COMPUTIST 18. If the published
checksums do not match those created by your
computer, then you typed the program
incorrectly, The line where the first checksum
differs has an error.
@ CHECKSOFT Instructions:
LOAD filename
BRUNCHECKSOFT
Get the checksums with: & (RETUR) and correct
the program where the checksums differ.
@ CHECKBIN Instructions:
CALL -151
BLOAD program filename
Install CHECKBIN at an out of the way place
BRUN CHECKBIN,A$6000
Get the checksums by typing the starting
address, a period and ending address of the file
followed by a
xxx.xxx JY)
Correct the lines at which the checksums differ.
bg
You have a LEGAL RIGHT
to an unlocked backup copy
Our editorial policy Is that we do NOT condone
software piracy, but we do believe that users are entitled
to backup commercial disks they have purchased. In
addition to the security of a backup disk, the removal
of copy-protection gives the user the option of
modifying programs to meet his or her needs.
Furthermore, the copyright laws guarantee your
fight to such a DEPROTECTED backup copy:
“tis not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a
‘computer program to make or authorize the making of another
copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:
1) that such a new copy or adapation is created as an essential
step inte utilization ofthe computer program in conjunction with
4 machine and that itis used in no other manner, or
2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes
conly and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that
Continued possession of the computer program should cease to
be rightful
Any exact copies prepared in accordance with the provisions
ofthis section may be leased, sold, or otherwise transferred, along
with the copy from which such copies were prepared, only as part
of the lease, sale, or other transfer of all rights in the program.
Adaptations so. prepared may be transferred only with the
authorization of the copyright owner."”
United States Code ttle 17, §117 (17 USC 117)
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Graduace...
to the Senior PROM!
version 3.0
fi complete set of utilities
in ROM to examine, modify, A
and backup your Apple //e, //c software!
The Senior PROM is a hardware device with Machine
language utilities instantly available from any program:
-Enter the Monitor to examine or change memory.
* Display where in memory a program was running.
* Disassemble, view or save ANY memory.
* Instantly switch between two different 64k programs.
“Initialize and copy disks without booting DOS first.
~ Edit, search, and examine disks without booting DOS.
All utilities in ROM & instantly available at any time!
Sophisticated Sector Editor & Memory/Disk Detective.
Also, a program may be interrupted to examine or alter
memory, & then restarted, or saved to disk & restarted.
Includes many Machine Language utilities such as Step
and Trace, an Assembler, and more. Undetectable by
any software or hardware, doesn't use a peripheral slot.
Extensive documentation and guide to copy protection.
Economically priced at $79.95 for prepaid orders with
check or money order. Credit card orders available for
$88.95. Specify //c, or //e Standard or Enhanced ROMs.
For orders call 317-743-4044, 10-5 E.S.T.
or 313-349-2954 Modem 24 hrs. Not intended fon illegal ure.
Nutting ~dge \nterprises
43234c Ren Cen Station, Detroit, MI 48243
Save On Software
Recammended Literature| Software:
CO Beneath Apple DOS (Book) 316.00
_ Beneath Apple ProDOS (Book) $16.00
LJ Global Program Line Editor $35.25
CO Magic Window // (specify If or //e) $106.00
[] Bag of Tricks Il $39.75
Uircellancous
CO Donald Duck’s Playground
OC) Beyond Castle Wolfenstein
| Silent Service
O) Swashbuckler
0 Mychess II
Ghostbusters
Wizardry
Newsroom
***Shipping & Handling (per order)
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The Book Of Softkeys
Volumes I and IT
Legends tell of the days when the ancient back issues of Hardcore COMPUTIST were readily available Lo
anyone who wished to purchase them. Those days may be long since past, but the information contained in
these ancient documents has been diligently transcribed to the pages of a modern reference work: The Book
Of Softkeys.
From deep within the COMPUTIST archives comes a collection of softkeys originally contained in issues
1 through 5 and 6 through 10 (B,O.S. Volumes | and II respectively), The two volumes also contain some of
the more useful programs and tutorials presented in those early issues. The books make an economical
alternative to those rare (and unavailable) back issues of Hardcore COMPUTIST.
Volume II: Issues 6-10 ($17.95)
contains softkeys for: Apple Cider Spider | Apple Logo | Arcade
Machine | The Artist | Bank Street Writer | Cannonball Blitz | Canyon
Climber | Caverns of Freitag | Crush, Crumble & Chomp | Data Factory
5.0 | DB Master | The Dic*tion*ary | Essential Data Duplicator I & III |
Gold Rush | Krell Logo | Legacy of Llylgamyn | Mask Of The Sun | Minit
Man | Mouskattack | Music Construction Set | Oil’s Well | Pandora’s
Box | Robotron | Sammy Lightfoot | Screenwriter II v2.2 | Sensible
Speller 4.0, 4.0c. 4. 1c | the Spy Strikes Back | Time Zone v1.1 | Visible
Computer: 6502 | Visidex | Visiterm | Zaxxon | Hayden Software | Sierra
Online Software | PLUS the complete listing of the ultimate cracking
program...Super IOB 1.5 | and more!
Volume I: Issues 1-5 ($12.95)
contains softkeys for: Akalabeth | Ampermagic | Apple Galaxian | Aztec |
Bag of Tricks | Bill Budge’s Trilogy | Buzzard Bait | Cannonball Blitz |
Casino | Data Reporter | Deadline | Disk Organizer [1 | Egbert 1
Communications Disk | Hard Hat Mack | Home Accountant |
Homeword | Lancaster | Magic Window II | Multi-disk Catalog |
Multiplan | Pest Patrol | Prisoner II | Sammy Lightfoot | Screen Writer
IT| Sneakers | Spy’s Demise | Starcross | Suspended | Ultima II |
Visifile | Visiplot | Visitrend | Witness | Wizardry | Zork 1 | Zork II |
Zork II | PLUS how-to articles and program listings of need-to-have
programs used to make unprotected backups.
To Order; Send $17.95 + Shipping and Handling for Volume II and/or $12.95 + S&H for Volume |. Shipping and handling is $2.00
per book for US orders, $5.00 per book for foreign orders. U.S. funds drawn on U.S. banks only. Washington State orders add 7.8%
sales tax. Send your orders to: SoftKey Publishing,
PO Box 110937-BK, Tacoma, WA 98411
This month’s cover:
Graphics from Activision's “Little Computer People.”
‘Address all advertising inquiries to COMPUTIST. Advertising
Department, PO Box 110816, Tacoma, WA 98411. Mail
‘manuscripts o requests for Writor's Guides to COMPUTIST, PO
Box 110846-K, Tacoma, WA 98411
Unsolicited manuscripts are assumed to be submitted for
publication at our standard rates of payment. SoftKey publishing
Purchases all and exclusive rights. For more information on
submitting manuscripts, consult our writer's guide,
Entire contents copyright 1986 by Softkey Publishing. All
rights reserved. Copying done for other than personal or internal
Feterence (without express written permission trom the publisher)
's prohibited,
The editorial staff assumes no liability or responsibility for the
products advertised in the magazine, Any opinions expressed
by the authors are not necessarily those of COMPUTIST
magazine or SoftKey Publishing
COMPUTIST wil replace lost issues for 80 days following the
publication date. We cannot be held responsible for mail loss
beyond 60 days.
‘Apple usually eters to an Appie || computer and is a trademark
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COM PUTIST
Publisher/Editor: Charles R. Haight Managing Editor: Ray Darrah
Technical Editor: Robert Knowles Cireulation: Debbie Holloway
‘Advertising: (206) 474-5750 Printing: Valco Graphics Inc., Seattle, WA
COMPUTIST is published monthly by SoftKey Publishing, $233 $, Washington, Tacoma, WA 98409
salsa pends
softkeys:
7 Adventure Writer
by Jim S. Hart
72 Mychess Il
by Isaac de Pig
74 Raster Blaster
by Glenn Jones
beatunes:
70 The Disk Space You Didn't Know You Had
In this article, we explore putting as much on your commercial software disks as inhumanly
possible. by Phil Goetz
23 Taking the Wiz out of Wizardry
The secrets of how Wizardry stores character fete ae are revealed. by Rob Hall
26 Adding a printer card driver to Newsroom
This is part 1 of a two part series. In this installment, we show how to add a customized
printer card driver to Newsroom. by Jerry Lewis
core:
76 The Games of 1986 in review part |
In this part, we review the most popular arcade games of last year, by Jeff Hurlburt
neadens’ softkey & copy exchange:
7 Cranston Manor
by Lewis Clark
7 Ghostbusters & The Designers Pencil
by Jean-Michel George
§ E-Z Learner
hy Keith Duff
§ The American Challenge
by Larry Rando
F Crime Wave
by Danny Pollak
F Encyclopedia Britannica programs
by Jim S. Hart
department:
4 Input
Please address letters to:
COMPUTIST
Editorial Department
PO Box 110846-K
Tacoma, WA 98411
Include your name, address and
phone number.
Correspondence appearing in the
INPUT section may be edited for
clarity and space requirements. In
addition, because of the great
number of letters that we receive and
the small size of our staff, a response
to each letter is not guaranteed.
Our technical staff is available for
phone calls between 1:30 pm and
4:30 pm (PST) on Tuesdays and
Thursdays only.
Opinions expressed are not
necessarily those of COMPUTIST or
SoftKey Publishing.
//e Drive Adjustment
T want to thank the person who sent in the
letter concerning the adjustment of the internal
disk drive on the Apple //c. I was haying
problems copying some disks that required
decreasing the speed of the drive. Then I read
the article in COMPUTIST No. 32. I adjusted
the drive while using the “‘Check Drive Speed””
with Echo Plus.
T would like to know if anybody has
information on how to adjust the external drive
made by Apple for the Apple //c. Could
someone please give me information on this?
Jeffrey Whitman
Tewksbury, MA
Another Pirate Speaks
This concerns the letter from The Chemist
concerning the Piracy Rebuttal Rebuttal. I
understand completely there is no reason to
spend $40.00 or more for a ware. There is no
disk worth that much. I would have to get a
bank loan to pay back all the wares I have
accumulated throughout the years.
Ihave been a subscriber for almost 2 years
and been very happy. I also have every issue.
COMPUTIST is the best Apple magazine ever!
The Chemist talks about paying 40 dollars for
software, and he thinks that’s bad. Did he ever
think about this magazine, 40 dollars a year!
The good side of COMPUTIST is that it
helps me learn more techniques that other
people use on breaking wares, but then the
$40.00 I don’t like! 1 said at the beginning there
is no disk worth 4@ dollars, well there is no
magazine worth more than 25 dollars a year!
P.S. Hardcore COMPUTIST is still the
BEST computer magazine even if it costs an
arm and a leg to get it.
The Hood has spoken!
Lacrosse, WI
Mr. Hood: We agree with you that 40 dollars
a year is 100 much for COMPUTIST, That is
why starting with COMPUTIST No. 36, we have
lowered the subscription to 32 dollars per year.
Keyperfect Softkey
Like COMPUTIST, Nibble magazine has a
checksum program to find errors in programs
typed from the magazine. Unlike
COMPUTIST, Nibble charges $29.95 for the
program.
Not only that, but the program is protected,
although the default setting for the Copy ][ Plus
nibble copier copies it easily. The protection
is still a nuisance however, because I like to
have a number of utilities together on one disk
(lately on hard drive) rather than having to boot
a seperate disk for each operation desired.
It is fairly casy to remove the protection. The
following procedure describes how to do it.
You'll need a sector editor.
1) Copy the Keyperfect disk. COPYA will barf
on track $22 but we’re only interested in the
first half of the disk anyway.
2) Search the disk for the string ‘AD 30 BF
8D 21 20 20 00 BF’’ I found the string at the
beginning of track 07, sector 07.
3) Change the string to ‘‘AD 30 BF 8D 21 20
4C 13 20"
4) Write the sector back to the disk.
5) Use Copy J[ Plus utilities (or the //c utilities,
or the abominable ProDOS FILER) to copy the
file KEYPERF.SYSTEM to the disk of your
choice.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with it,
the Copy Jf Plus disk is a bargain just for the
utilites it contains, even if you never use the
bit copy system.
4 COMPUTIST No. 40
A surprising little program called ‘;ProDOS
Diagnostic Wedge”’ which appeared in the July
1986 issue of Call-A.P,P.L.E. made breaking
Keyperfect much easier. The wedge displays
on screen each call to the ProDOS Machine
Language Interface and waits for a keypress.
As Keyperfect booted, I could watch some
legitimate-appearing openings and readings and
closings of files. Then the wedge revealed a call
from address $2009 to read block $117.
Suspicion city.
That’s all for now.
Ann Onymous
Santa BArbara, CA
Dearest Ann: Thanks for the softkey. Did you
know that Keyperfect listings were used in the
movie ‘The Terminator" as diagrams
generated in the mind of the robot? You should
check out this movie to see the Keyperfect
listings and the Apple source code. In addition,
I'm sure you will also enjoy Arnold's rippling
muscles in the movie.
Senior PROM Service
T've been a regular subscriber since issue No.
4. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your
publication, It’s the only one I wait for each
month. I, like so many of your readers,
purchase software, then get really steamed
about having to send the software company an
additional $10.00 to $20.00 for back-up disks.
Your magazine really fills a need.
T am writing this letter not only to
compliment your magazine, but to let you know
how happy I am with a product you advertise,
and how helpful and supportive Cutting Edge
Enterprises is to it’s customers.
For those who are not familiar with the
company, Cutting Edge Enterprises offers the
Senior PROM, a firmware device that, along
with many very useful functions, allows the
Apple //e to reset into monitor at the flip of the
switch.
I did experience some difficulties with my
Apple //e when the Senior PROM was installed
(I got garbage on my screen while using
AppleWriter Il and AppleWorks). I promptly
contacted Clay Harrell of Cutting Edge
Enterprises, explained the problem, and
returned my Senior PROM for
repair/replacement. After fully testing the
Senior PROM he couldn’t find fault with it. He
asked for a detailed description of my computer
setup, peripheral cards and switch settings,
printer type, etc., and he asked for my
AppleWriter II program. He wanted to
duplicate my setup at his shop.
Once again, he couldn't find a problem in
the Senior PROM and thought I may have a
problem with my extended 80 column card. So,
Clay Harrell sent an Apple //e extended 80
column card through the mail to me to see if
that may cure the problem. Now if that isn’t
dealer support, I don’t know what is. How
many computer companies would be willing to
send that type of expensive item in the mail to
basically, a complete stranger?
As it turned out, when [had my Apple dealer
install the Apple //e enhancement kit, he forgot
to replace the Video ROM chip with the
enhanced one. That was the problem!! The
Senior PROM was fine all along, but
nontheless, Clay Harrell was so willing to go
well beyond any definition of good customer
service to help solve my problem.
Cutting Edge Enterprises returned my
AppleWriter program with my Senior PROM
and I returned the 80 column card to Cutting
Edge Enterprises along with my thanks to Mr.
Harrell for all his efforts.
I do hope that you will take the time to
publish this letter so that your readers can take
advantage of the capabilities of the senior
PROM and the super support Cutting Edge
Enterprises offers it's customers.
Mike Luker
Mission Viejo, CA
Some Softkeys
Here are a few easy to do, step-by-step
softkeys that could interest some people out
there,
Softkey for: Transend II
Requirements:
COPYA
A blank disk
Transend I
1) Run COPYA
2) At the first prompt, press
program.
CALL -151
B925:18 60
B988:18 60
SDBFG
5) Type ‘RUN’ and copy the disk,
6) Boot a normal DOS disk.
7) Insert Transend IT
8) Type ““MAXFILES1"”
9) Type “BLOAD
MODEM. WORK”.
to break the
BUFFERED
10) Now type “CALL -151"" and type in the
following changes.
8311:DE
9DBFG
11) Type ‘“‘BSAVE BUFFERED
MODEM, WORK, A$8200,L$18A0" (this is to
save your changes)
You now have a COPYA version of
Transend I!
Softkey for: Einstein Compiler
Requirements:
COPYA
A blank disk
A sector editor
Einstein Compiler
1) Copy your original with COPYA
2) Using a sector editor (EG. The Inspector)
perform the following sector edits on your
freshly made backup.
Track Sector Byte From To
$08 $04 $2A $80 $4c
$08 $04 $2B $8E $E2
$08 $04 $2c $co $91
You should now have a COPYA version of
Einstein compiler.
Jerome Thelia
Decorah, IA
Dam Busters and Star Trek
Now here is a couple of softkeys for Dam
Busters and Star Trek (the Kobayashi
alternative) ver. 1.1.
Dam Busters
Requirements:
Blank Disk
Dam Busters (Accolade)
COPYA
Sector editor
1) Copy original with COPYA or any fast
copier. Ignore errors on tracks $21 and $22.
2) Use your sector editor and make these
changes
Track Sector Byte — From To
$13 $B $2E $4C SEA
$13 $0B $2F $00 $EA
$13 $08 $30 $6 SEA
That's it.
Star Trek yer. 1.1
Requirements:
Blank disk (double sided)
Star Trek ver. 1.1 (Simon & Schuster, Inc.)
COPYA
Sector editor
1) Copy disk with COPYA or any fast copier,
Both sides.
2) Use your sector editor and make this change
on side B.
Track Sector Byte From To
$12 SOE $30 $DB: $60
That’s all for now. Your magazine is Great!
Steven Mood
Paris, IL
Small Softkey Blues
I would like to voice a complaint to the
readers regarding those very, very short
softkeys, In several issues, I have seen
deprotection procedures for various software
packages, which consisted solely of a sector edit
list, some which only require that one byte be
changed. Now I realize that not all of the
readers who submit softkey procedures are
machine language geniuses and hardware
wizards who can recite the nuts and bolts of
every copy protection scheme in existence. I
certainly am not one, but I would appreciate
a little insight as to what is going on,
My case and point, re: Mouse Desk softkey,
COMPUTIST No. 32, page 9. I purchased
Mouse Desk about five months ago to use in
conjunction with my RamWorks card which is
configured as a RAMdisk. However, since it
would reload Mouse Desk off of the disk
whenever I quit an application program, I
wanted to move Mouse Desk onto the
RAMdisk. It was then that I discovered the fact
that it was protected. I have called VersionSoft
and am waiting for a reply. Meanwhile, the
Mouse Desk softkey came in with
COMPUTIST No. 32, I felt an initial wave of
relief. The softkey looked simple enough,
change byte $53, track $0C, sector $04, from
DO to FO. To my dismay, DO appears over 100
times on the disk, 6 times on track $C and not
at all in sector $04 of that track.
It became apparent that my version of Mouse
Desk was different from the version used in the
softkey. Thus it is possible for files to have
COMPUTIST No. 40 5
gotten shuffled around and program code
relocated, but very unlikely that the copy
protection scheme would be changed at all, so
the softkey should still work, but the change
would have to be made at a different location
If the softkey had contained more information,
specifically, a search pattern consisting of two
or three bytes before and after the critical byte,
then we would know instantly (upon a disk
search) and conclusively, whether or not the
softkey will work for us. As of yet, I still have
no clue as to how I can deprotect my copy of
Mouse Desk,
Come on guys, give us softkey rookies a
break and help us out a little bit, okay? Thanks.
Brian Chinn
Seattle, WA
Mr. Chinn: We couldn't agree more.
Time Zone Troubles
Isaw in COMPUTIST No. 31, that you had
a softkey for Time Zone ver. 1.1. The softkey
defeats the nibble count alright, but apparently
Mr. Pollack did not bother to play the game,
because every time you tried to take an object,
the program would just tell you the object was
there and then print a description of the room.
‘The program must somehow check to see if the
routine was bypassed or if the routine was
altered. The bytes that were to be edited on disk
are at memory location $8D9 in memory, but
I could find no reference to this location so I
assume it uses nibble count checksums. Maybe
someone could help with this problem. For
those of you with Time Zone, here are a few
APT's,
1) Don’t enter the courthouse in Philadelphia.
2) Get the Boarding Puss for Columbus’ ship
for On Deck only.
3) Wait at the Russian Castle.
4) You cannot get the Emerald from the
Buddha.
Thave also discovered a way to cheat death
on the Sierra On-Line adventures one through
six. Anytime you die, press CONTROL-
RESET and the program will print ‘*Ouch!"’.
Then go on playing the game. For example, in
Time Zone, there is a buffalo herd stampeding
toward you. After you are trampled, hit
CONTROL-RESET and continue playing the
game.
Finally, I have one question, that I hope you
can answer. A program | have has every track
listed as track zero in the sector address
information, thus Super IOB cannot copy it.
Despite all my efforts at trying to ignore the
track check, I have been unsuccessful. I would
like to know if you or any of the readers can
tell me how to tell the RWTS to ignore the
track. Thanks for a great magazine!
Christopher Dean
Spring Hill, FL
Mr. Dean: Don't underestimate the power
of Super IOB. The following Super IOB
controller will copy a disk with every track
marked as 0. It is a direct descendant of the
controller for Rocky's Boots appearing in
COMPUTIST No. 14. Note that during the copy
procedure, the drive will recalibrate at the start
of every read cycle. If the drive recalibrates
during a read cycle, a bad copy will be
produced.
1000 REM ALL TRACKS ARE 0
1010 TK =0 :ST =@ :LT = 34 :CD=WR : POKE
48573 ,128
1920 GOSUB 490 :T1 = TK :TK = :CD =9 : GOSUB
100 : GOSUB 80 :S = - 128 ; GOSUB 130
1025 CD=RD :S=T1 * 2 : GOSUB 130 :S=2
1030 TK = PH / 2 ; GOSUB 430 :TK = 0 ; GOSUB 100
:$T =ST +1; IF ST <DOS THEN 1030
1040 |F BF THEN 1060
1950 ST = : GOSUB 130 : IF PH<LT * 2 THEN
1030
1960 GOSUB 490 :TK=Tl :ST=0
197 GOSUB 430 : GOSUB 100 :ST = ST +1: IF ST
< DOS THEN 1070
1080 ST = 0 :TK=TK+1; IF BF=0 AND TK <LT
THEN 1070
1090 IF TK < LT THEN 1020
1100 HOME ; PRINT "DONE* WITH* COPY" ; END
Coping with Copy Programs
I started out with a copy of Locksmith 5,
which did a fair job at best. Looking for the
ultimate copy program a dealer recommended
Copy ][ Plus, which turned out to be the best
so far. Then I came across COMPUTIST on
a magazine stand, which is the only way to go.
I then ordered all the back issues. However,
some programs refer to back issues that are no
longer available, especially volume 10 which
T’'m in need of. I received the Book of Sofikeys
volume I and had to wait a long time for the
Book of Softkeys volume Il to be compiled and
finally received it.
Reading in COMPUTIST No. 8 about copy
programs, I decided to get EDD III. The
program is good except for the problem of
entering the parameters manually. That’s not
much of a problem until you run across
programs that are hard to copy. It has been
always the case with me that it tells you to
6 COMPUTIST No. 40
recopy certain tracks if the program won't boot
or run. Those tracks are the ones with a dozen
parameters to enter manually over and over
again just to find that the program still won't
run!
1 noticed in COMPUTIST No. 30 a note
from a reader about an article in the January
issue of inCider about a program called Echo
Plus. There was an address and a price
($59.95). I ordered the program and ina short
time I received a letter and my check back
stating that I had to add shipping and handling
($5.00). So I sent it, Shortly thereafter, I
received the program. Talk about a
disappointment! Hoping it would copy the
programs that the other copy programs won't
this program won't either. In fact, I tried to
copy some programs that the other copy
programs did and Echo Plus still could not
However, it did copy non-protected programs
and some simple copy protected programs. I
read the book thoroughly and tried every
combination possible and still poor results.
They stated in the letter that if it doesn’t meet
with my expectations within two weeks to return
it, so I did!.
George Cawthorne
Mt. Prospect, IL.
Another Softkey
Herc is a softkey I have recently completed.
Reader Rabbit
1) Load the COPYA program.
RUN COPYA
2) Break the program and delete line 70.
70
3) Enter the monitor and change B942 from 38
to 18.
CALL -151
B942:18
4) Run COPYA and copy the disk.
Go
RUN
5) Format a disk. Use any name but HELLO
as the boot file.
6) Transfer all files from your copy to the
formatted disk (I use Copy J Plus 5.0).
7) Change the boot program to HELLO.
(Again, I use Copy Jf Plus.)
All done!
John Cotter
Bay City, MI
readers’ softkey & copy exchange
Lewis Clark’s softkey for...
Cranston Manor
Sierra On-Line
36575 Mudge Ranch Road
Coarsegold, CA 93614
Requirements:
Super IOB v1.5
A blank disk
BOOTI3 from DOS 3.3 System Master
DOS 3.2's RWTS in a binary file
Nibble copier and sector editor (optional)
Cranston Manor, published in 1981 by Sierra
On-Line, is the third game of the ‘Hi-Res
Adventure”’ series. The disk is protected by a
nibble count, and the whole disk is readable
under standard DOS 3.2 except track 0, sector
$A and track $18. Track $18 is used by the
nibble count routine and contains no useful data.
If we circumvent the routine which checks track
$18, we would have a working copy of
Cranston Manor.
The nibble count routine of Cranston Manor
starts at $9900 and is only executed once while
booting up. It decodes itself before executing
as shown here:
9900- Ad 00 LOY #$00
9902- Ad 55 LOA #$55
9904- 59 BE 99 EOR $990E,Y
9907- 99 GE 99 STA S990E,Y
QO0A- 88 DEY
990B- DO F5 BNE $9902
990D- EA NOP
After the program has checked the nibble
count, it will store a $60 at $990D and jump
to $9900 to re-encode the subroutine before it
returns. Since this routine is only for the
purpose of protection and is not needed for the
program itself, we could put a $60 at $900D
on the disk, and then it will not execute the
checking routine.
Since this program has many shape tables,
the program modified many subroutines inside
of the DOS and RWTS. Therefore the
deprotected disk will be in the DOS 3.2 format
rather than DOS 3.3. For the first method I have
given, you will need the DOS 3.2 RWTS ina
binary file.
1) Install the Cranston Manor controller (notice
the changes needed to make it work with DOS
3.3) into Super IOB 1.5 and RUN it. Answer
**Yes'’ to the format option.
2) When Super IOB is finished with the disk,
the nibble count routine will be removed.
To run this disk, you need to BRUN
BOOT!3 (from your DOS 3.3 System Master)
and when the program asks for the slot number,
put in the disk we copied by Super IOB and
press RETURN. Then the program will boot.
The disk produced by this method is not
friendly enough, since you always need to
BRUN BOOT13 first, and then run the program
(but you don’t need a nibble copier either.) If
you wish to prevent having to do that, or can’t
find a DOS 3.2 disk to get the RWTS from,
you can use the following method.
1) Use a nibble copier to copy tracks $0-$22.
2) Set your sector editor so that it reads and
writes DOS 3.2 sectors and change track $1F,
sector $B, byte $0D from SEA to $60.
Now you have a working copy of Cranston
Manor, and you may wish to store the original
in a safe place.
controller
340 POKE 9984 + (Al-T1) * DOS * 256 + ABS
(FAST * (DOS -1) -A2) * 256 +A3
yAd : NEXT : RETURN
405 GOSUB 366
610 PR#O : IN# ® ; POKE 860 ,MB ; POKE 861 LT
+ POKE 862 ,LS : POKE 900 ,DOS - 1
1000 REM CRANSTON MANOR CONTROLLER
1010 TK = :LT =35 :ST=12 :LS=12 :CD=WR
tFAST = 1
1928 DOS = 13 :MB = 138 ; POKE 775 ,96
1930 GOSUB 490 : GOSUB 610
1040 |F PEEK (TRK ) > 32 AND TK < 33 THEN Tl =
TK : TK = 32 : GOSUB 319 :TK =T1
1050 GOSUB 499 : GOSUB 618
1960 TK = PEEK (TRK ) :ST = PEEK (SCT) : IF TK
<>LT THEN 1036
1070 HOME : PRINT "COPYDONE” : END
1080 DATA 1° CHANGES ,31 ,11 ,13 ,96
10010 PRINT CHRS (4); "BLOAD*
RATS. 13,A$1900"
controller checksums
340 - $A295 1949 - $ALIC
405 - $E7CD 1050 - $1511
610 - $5032 1966 - $5013
1900 - $0F36 1070 - $4641
1910 - $DECO 1080 - $2760
1920 — $B9DD 10010 - $7908
1030 - $709D
Jean-Michel George’s softkey for...
Ghostbusters and
The Designers Pencil
Activision
P.O. Box 7287
Mountain View, CA 94039
Requirements:
COPYA
A sector editor
Two blank disk sides
The protection scheme is the same for the two
programs. Only addresses, values, tracks and
bytes change. On cach disk, there are three
protected tracks. The format of these tracks has
been modified: the address field epilogue is
changed. You can see it very well with a nibble
editor. That's why COPYA can’t read them.
Normally, this epilogue is $DE AA EB; on
these tracks, it is $DE xx EB (where $xx is a
byte different from $AA). The byte $xx is
different on each track:
Ghostbusters
Track = $xx
$01 SAB
$12 $BC
$13 $CD
Track — $xx
$3 $88
$4 $9C
$5 SAD
On Ghostbusters and Designer's Pencil, there
is a routine that modifies RWTS to load those
tracks and store the $xx bytes in memory at
addresses $00, $01 and $02. Then there’s a
jump to a decode routine that needs the correct
‘$xx bytes. So, we have to modify it: whatever
it finds, the right values will be used anyway.
First, we have to modify RWTS to copy the
whole disks with COPYA without checking the
modified address field epilogue bytes.
1) Boot a DOS 3.3 disk. Then enter the monitor
and make the following changes:
CALL-151
B99C:EA EA
3D0G
2) RUN COPYA and copy the Ghostbusters
and Designer's Pencil disks. Now your copies
are in DOS 3.3 format.
3) Boot your sector editor and make the
following changes to Ghostbusters:
Modify track $60 sector $0A
$52 SAS $AQ
$53 $04 = $BC
$59 $A5 «SA
$5A $04 $CD
$AA SAS SAD.
SAB $04 SAB
COMPUTIST No. 40 4
readers’ softkey & copy exchange
Write the sector back to the disk and you're
done with Ghostbusters,
4) Make the following changes to Designer's
Pencil:
Modify track $00 sector $OA
From To
$30 $85. SEA
$3E $00 SEA
$5E SEE $20
SOF $3E $2
While still working on track $0 sector $A, store
the following bytes starting at byte $A2:
AQ 8B 85 00 A9 9C 85 01 AD AD 85 02 60
Write back the sector.
The routine you just put at byte $A2 of track
$00 sector $0A of Designer’s Pencil stores the
right values in $00, $01 and $02 locations.
You now have COPYAable versions of
Ghostbusters and Designer’s Pencil!
This protection scheme is used in other
Activision games such as Space Shuttle. So if
you find some protected tracks like those,
search for zero page STAs (STA $01) to
locations $00-$02 ($85 00, $85 01 or $85 02)
with a disk searcher and you might fall on their
protection routine. Another hint: they use
RWTS and an IOB table to load sectors, the
same as in DOS 3.3. Good luck. a
deprotect il, follow the instructions below. You
will then have a COPYAable version of E-Z
Learner.
Step by Step
1) Boot your master disk.
PR #6
2) Remove your’system master and format a
blank disk.
INIT E-Z LEARNER
3) Boot the E-Z Learner disk and type
to break into Applesoft BASIC. This may take
a few tries because pressing IO) too soon will
reboot the disk.
4) Replace the E-Z Learner disk in the drive
with the disk you formatted in step 2.
5) Save the program.
SAVE E-Z LEARNER
You may note that line 1 of this program is
responsible for its ignoring of Applesoft
commands and the Reset key. You may want
to remove the offending code in it at your
convience. The resulting line would read:
1 B$= CHR$(13) + CHRS(4) : ONERR GOTO 169
+s
Larry Rando’s softkey for...
Keith Duff’s softkey for...
E-Z Learner
Requirements:
Apple 48K J{ Plus or better
System Master disk
A blank disk
E-Z Learner is a very useful “‘flash card’’
program. With it, you can make up “‘flash
card" like questions. After you have made up
the questions and the answers, they will be
reviewed by showing the question first. Then
you are prompted for a keypress, after the
keypress, you will be shown the answer. You
tell the computer if you got the answer right
or wrong. The wrong questions are reviewed
over and over again until you get them correct.
The protection used in this program was, as
far as I could tell, an altered version of DOS,
deleting or changing some commands. To
The American
Challenge
Mindscape, Inc.
3444 Dundee Rd.
Northbrook, IL 60062
Requirements:
Super IOB 1.5
A sector editor
The American Challenge is a sailing
simulation which has smooth 3D animated
graphics. The program can be played with onc
or two players. In 2 player mode you play over
a modem and race against each other as in real
life. You have a variety of different courses to
choose from and your choice of what type of
boat; motor or sail. A match competition pits
the top eight sailors against each other to win
a trip to Perth, Australia, where the next
America’s Cup race will be held in 1987.
8 COMPUTIST No. 40
The Protection
Examination of the disk reveals that the data
and address epilogues were changed to FF FF.
A copy could be made by disabling the RWTS’”
error checking and using COPY A, but a Super
1OB controller programmed to read those
particular markers is much more reliable (and
faster).
After making the copy and trying it out, the
disk drive rebooted after just a few seconds. 1
suspected there had to be a routine somewhere
in the program that jumped to $C600 (the
routine first executed when a disk is booted),
So, I searched for this routine using the Copy
Il+ 5.5 search function to look for the bytes
4C 00 C6 (IMP $C600) on the disk. The bytes
came up on track 0, sector $B, so I
disassembled the sector to see if there was any
thing that resembled protection code. Looking
through the code that was executed before the
$C600 on that sector I found the protection. It
did a series of BNEs (Branch on result not zero)
and BEQs (Branch on result zero) to a specific
location in memory which happened to be one
instruction above the JMP $C600, The
instruction it went to (DEC $50) was where the
program crashed and jumped to $C600. I
replaced the BEQs and BNEs to this location
with EAs (no operation) so that it wouldn't
branch to the protection, therefore skipping it
and continuing with the normal load. I booted
up with my modifications and the program
worked, but just to be on the safe side I searched
for the instruction(s) that accessed the DEC $50
just in case it was somewhere else on the disk.
Nothing turned up so track @, sector $B was
the only place containing the protection code.
The Procedure
1) Put the controller at the end of this article
into Super IOB and copy the American
Challenge disk.
2) Start up your favorite sector editor and make
the following changes.
Track $0, Sector $B:
byte From To
$24 FO 67 EA EA
$29 BO 62 EA EA
$2F DB FL EA EA
$39 FO 52 EA EA
$47 FO 44 EA EA
$54 OO 37 EA EA
$5D DO 2E EA EA
$6C Fo 1F EA EA
$78 D8 16 EA EA
readers’ softkey & copy exchange
3) Write the sector back out. Now you haye a
cracked copy of American Challenge. Smooth
sailing!
controller
1000 REM AMERICAN CHALLENGE:
1010 TK = 0 :LT=35 :ST=15 :LS=15 :CD=WR
FAST = 1
1920 GOSUB 170 : GOSUB 499 ; GOSUB 610
1030 GOSUB 230 : GOSUB 490 : GOSUB 610 : IF
PEEK (TRK ) =LT THEN 1050
1040 TK = PEEK (TRK.) :ST = PEEK (SCT ) ; GOTO.
1020
1050 HOME ; PRINT "COPYDONE” : END
5000 DATA 255 255 ,255 255
controller checksums
1000 - $3568 1049 - $C1OB
1016 $2544 1050 - $62C7
1920 - $C219 5008 - $4463
1030 -~ SF780 &
Danny Pollak’s softkey for...
Crime Wave
Requirements:
Apple ][ Plus or equivalent
Crime Wave
An INITialized disk
Crime Wave is a game in which you, the
policeman, drive around in your blue police
cruiser patrolling the city streets. Your objective
is to catch the bank robbers in the act or soon
after they rob a bank.
Crime Wave occupies tracks 0 through $11
with alternating address headers of D5 AA 96
and D4 AA 96. Both the address and data
ending marks are changed from DE AA to DA
AA. The following is how I went about
unlocking Crime Wave with a boot code trace.
The first thing we will do is load Boot! from
track sector @ of the Crime Wave disk. Do
this by entering the following:
CALL-151
9600<C600.C700M
96FA:98
9801:4C 59 FF
9600G
Bootl has now been loaded into page 8 of
memory. Mave it to $9800 and modify it so that
it loads Boot2 and then exits to the monitor.
9800<800.900M
9824:90
9827:98
9900:2C 81 CO 4C 59 FF
9600G
Boot2 has now been loaded at $900. Move
it up to $9900 and modify it by entering the
following:
9900<900.9F FM
9935:99
9938:99
9949:4C 00 60
6000;A9 2C 8D 10 01 A9 81 8D
6008:11 61 A9 CO 8D 12 61 Ad
6010:4C 8D 13 1 AY 59 8D 14
6018:01 A9 FF 8D 15 @1 4C 76 07
9600G
The game should finish loading and then exit
to the monitor. If it doesn’t exit to the monitor,
hit Reset and it will. Type in the following:
2300<800.8FFM
2400<8000.BDFFM
Boot the initialized disk and type in the
following:
CALL-151
800<2300.23FFM
TED:26 00 23
2300:A9 00 8D F4 B7 A9 @2 8D
2308:EC B7 20 E3 03 20 D9 03
C8 84
85 43
E8 BD
2328:3C 23 85 3F E8 20 2C FE
2330:E9 03 DO DE A9 60 85 30
2338:20 05 BD 60 80 24 61
5C9E:DE
5D35:DE
5D91:DE
614E:EA EA
BSAVE CRIME WAVE,AS$7FD,LS5A03
Now you have a totally unprotected version
of Crime Wave. The high scores will be saved
on track 2 sector 4, &
Jim S. Hart’s softkey for...
Encyclopaedia
Britannica programs
Here is a short softkey to deprotect the
cduactional programs put out by Encyclopaedia
Britannica. It has been successfully used on
Verbs #1-3, Pronouns, and Nouns without any
problem and should work on others in the
series. For the curious among you, the disks
have altered epilogues, a bad checksum here
and there, and the nybble translate tables have
been changed. The first POKE in line 1020 of
the controller below takes care of the altered
epilogues and checksums and the second POKE
in line 1020 takes care of the changed translate
table. The POKEs in line 1030 reset the values
back to normal for writing to the copy disk.
Steps
1) INITialize the blank disk, preferably with
a fast DOS.
2) Install the controller listed below into Super
IOB and copy the disk. Do not format the target
disk.
After the copy is made, boot it up. If you do
not get a “FILE NOT FOUND" error you are
done,
If you do get this error, look for a file with
the name of BOOT or LOAD. This is the boot
program name. Try again, INITializing the
blank with the name of the boot program you
found instead. Copy with Super IOB again and
you will have a deprotected copy of your
Encyclopaedia Britannica program, No more
long waits and replacement fees for backups to
arrive in the mail!
controller
1000 REM ENCYCLOPAED|A BRITANNICA
1910 TK = 3 :LT = 35 :ST=15 :LS=15 :CD=R
SPAST = 1
1020 POKE 47426 ,24 : POKE 47786 ,0 : GOSUB
490 : GOSUB 619
1930 POKE 47426 ,56 : POKE 47786 ,170 ; GOSUB
490 : GOSUB 616 : IF PEEK (TRK ) = LT THEN
1056
1049 TK = PEEK (TRK ) :ST = PEEK (SCT ) : GOTO
1920
1050 HOME : PRINT "COPY* DONE." ; END
controller checksums
Requirements:
Super IOB 1.5
A blank disk for each original
A fast DOS such as Diversi-DOS (optional)
A dislike for copy protection on eduactional
programs
1900 - $3568 1030 - SFFSO
1010 - $2445 104 - $1103
1920 - SCBB6 1050 - $1BC5
COMPUTIST No, 40 9
10
The Disk Space
You Didn't Know
You Had
by Phil Goetz
Many people have a good deal of
extra space which they don't even
know about: the unused tracks on
protected (or softkeyed) disks. In
many cases, these tracks can be used
for files while keeping the protected
program on the other tracks. If you
have private files (such as class
grades) this is a simple way of hiding
them, Using these extra tracks
involves three steps: determining
which tracks are in use, initializing
those that aren’t, and writing a VTOC
and catalog directory to track $11.
This should only be done to nibble
copies of protected disks. Never
initialize tracks on an original. Also,
I do not advise using this technique
‘on anything but games. You may lose
important data or programs if a
business or utility program crashes
due to this technique.
There are several methods of
finding which tracks are in use. The
casiest is to check a bit copier’s
parameter list for that program. The
tracks to avoid are the ones listed in
the parmlist. Another method would
be to use the disk scan utilitics on
some copy programs such as
Locksmith and Back-It-Up to
determine where there is data, but
nowadays this is highly unreliable. A
third method is to inspect cach of the
tracks and half-tracks with a nibble
editor, looking for obvious signs of
data on those tracks.
Another method is to open the case
of your drive and watch which tracks
the program uses as it runs. For a
description of how to do this, see
“Getting On the Right Track"’ by
Robert Linden in Hardcore
COMPUTIST No. 5 (or Book of
Softkeys 1).
Note that the first method relics on
the accuracy of the parameter list; the
second and third methods will not
point out ‘garbage tracks’? which
contain no data but are used to insure
that the disk is protected (i.e. nibble
count tracks); the fourth is reliable
only if you are certain that you have
watched every disk access that the
program will ever do. I suggest using
all four methods and playing it safe
when in doubt.
If track $11 is in use, don’t bother;
using this technique would be more
trouble than it’s worth. If it isn’t,
initialize all of the unused tracks,
using something like the INIT utility
in Beneath Apple DOS or Bag of
Tricks.
Next, copy track $11 from a
normal, initialized disk with no
COMPUTIST No. 40
programs on it to track $11 on the
protected disk. Then use a sector
editor such as The Inspector to read
track $11 sector @ from the protected
disk. This is the VTOC, which tells
which sectors are in use. The bit map
for track 0 is at $38-39. For an
explanation of the VTOC and the
track bit maps, see pages 132-134 of
the DOS Manual. After a careful
reading of those pages, change the bit
map to show track $11 and all tracks
used by the protected program as
being in use and the other tracks as
not being in use. Write this back to
track $11 sector 0. If you are using
The Inspector, press M to see a disk
map to make sure you have done it
correctly. Super Copy and Copy II
Plus can also show disk maps. None
of them, however, show anything
beyond track 34 ($22).
Now, when you boot the disk the
protected program will run, but when
you boot a normal disk you can store
files on the protected disk and use it
just like any other normal disk. I have
done this to backup copies of
Autobahn, Gorgon, and Snoggle
without any adverse effects.
ee nc
riter
Jim S. Hart
Codewriter Corporation
Requirements:
Adventure Writer original
A blank disk
A fast DOS (optional)
A file copy program
A dislike for copy protection
Adventure Writer is a program that allows
you to compose your own adventure games
(hence the name). I am an adventure game nut,
with the Ultima series being my favorite, so
when I bought Adventure Writer, I went about
seeing what the program could do. I was not
disappointed with it, except that it was copy
protected. Since I dislike copy protection except
for the fact that it was teaching me assembly
language, I went about relieving that one
problem. The cookbook instructions are at the
end of the softkey, but if you are interested on
how the protection was circumvented, read
on..
The first thing I checked out was to see where
data might be stored on the disk. Using EDD’s
“Analyze Original Disk”’ function showed that
there was no data on track $23 and that whole
tracks were probably being used. The next thing
to check was that the disk’s formatting was
normal. A random sampling of tracks with
Copy II Plus’ nibble editor revealed that the disk
was written in a normal format. Since the
format was normal I took a chance that the disk
could be CATALOGed. Sure enough, I was
right.
I then used Locksmith’s fast copy program
to make a test copy to work with. All was fine
until the copier reached track $04, sectors 0-1.
It showed these sectors as not being normal
while the rest of the disk was. Hmmm... could
it be that these two sectors had something to
do with the copy protection? Ignoring this for
the moment, I tried booting up the copied disk.
All seemed okay and it arrived at the main menu
all right. Each menu item chosen worked fine
with the exception of the ‘‘Run Adventure
Writer’’ option.
After choosing this option, the disk drive
came on, did some disk activity, and then
printed garbage on the text screen and died.
“‘Aha..."’, I thought, “those two sectors must
have been important.’’ I then followed the boot
process in regard to what files were run in what
order so that the guilty file could be found. The
boot progam, ‘*AW”’, BLOADs *‘AW.OBJ"’
and the displays the menu. If the “Run
Adventure Writer’’ option is chosen, a CALL
24576 is executed, which does a MAXFILES
1 then BLOADSs the binary files ‘‘DBASE”’,
“TABLE”, “EDITOR”, and
“INTERPRETER” (look at an ASCII dump of
the file *‘AW.OBJ"’ to see how I found these
file names). The next thing it does is call a
subroutine at $4001. This is where the
“DBASE” file was BLOADed in. At $4001
there is a JuMP to $454C. Success! Looking
around $454C you notice references to memory
locations $COE8-SCOEF (direct use of the disk
drive in slot 6). This must be where the
protection is lurking around.
After some inspection, I determined that the
protection code starts at address $457B and
lingers on for about 30 bytes or so. Should I
take out the call to the routine or satisfy it so
that it thinks that everything was okay? The
second option was the one I chose. At $4584,
the code checks to see if what was read from
those two odd sectors matches a table loaded
at $4641. If the result checks out (result = zero)
then everything is okay and the program
proceeds. Well, I figured that the easiest way
to fix this was to make sure that every byte
matched up and gave a result of zero. I replaced
the comparison instruction at $4584 (CMP
$4641,X) with a LoaD Accumulator with zero
(LDA #$00) instruction followed by a NOP.
The code will now think that every comparison
was equal and go about its merry way. The
protection scheme is history!
Step by Step
1) INITialize the blank disk, preferably with
a fast DOS. Use the file name “‘AW"’.
2) Copy the files from the original disk to the
newly INITialized disk.
3) Load up DOS and get into BASIC.
4) Put in the copy disk and load in the file with
the protection in it:
BLOAD DBASE, A$4000
5) Enter the monitor via CALL -151.
6) Replace the CMP instruction with LDA #$00
followed by a NOP.
4584:A9 00 EA
7) Save the file back to the disk:
BSAVE DBASE, A$4000, L$64A
That's it! You now have a deprotected copy
of Adventure Writer. I hope the techniques I
used can help out other folks who are trying
to deprotect their originals also. %
COMPUTIST No. 40 1
Softkey for
by Isaac de Pig
Datamost Software
Requirements:
48K Apple Il and up
A blank disk
A disk with DOS (any DOS)
Ihave seen Mychess II appear on the most
wanted list for several issues. I got a softkey
for this software and I think it can help the
people who have problem with Mychess II
Mychess is a chess game with 3-D action and
it is very interesting.
The Protection
‘The software is two sided and both sides can
be copied with COPYA. The back side is the
data disk and is not protected. The protection
on the program side causes the disk to reboot
before the game starts. The booting of the front
side is divided into two parts. First, all the data
is read, a title page appears and the drive stops.
After a key is pressed, the drive is turned, it
recalibrates and moves track $10 to check the
disk. If it is not the original disk, it reboots.
‘The protection scheme Mychess II uses is
probably synchronized tracks. Unlike other
softwares with the similiar protection, it can not
be copied with bit copiers. This is because the
track length of each track is shorter than usual
and the tracks are synchronized from track 1.
In addition, nearly all the data on the disk is
encrypted and making it difficult to find the
protection routine on the disk.
The Investigation
Since the data on the disk is encrypted, to
deprotect the software, I used the boot code
trace method. Following the normal procedure
of boot code tracing, that is:
CALL-IS1
9600<C600.COFFM
96F8:60 N 9600G
COES:
We get the following code:
8G1- LDY $0800 Load Y register with $01
804- BEQ $081F Not taken
806- LDA $830,Y Set sector to read
809- STA $3D
80B- DEC $800
8GE- INC $3F4 Set reset vector
811- LOY #802
813- LOA $840,Y
816- STA $3F2,¥
819- DEY
81A- BPL $813
81C- JMP $C65C Read a sector
81F- LDA #$00
821- STA $00
823- JMP $@8FD Run the code read in
Looking at this code, we find that after the
data on track @ is read, a JMP to $8FD is taken.
So, we get rid of this JMP to $8FD and countiue
the trace by:
96F8:A9 60 8D 23 08 4C 01 08
9600G
Cel
We find the code at $8FD is as follows:
8FD- BIT $CH10
900- JSR $FC58
903- LOX #$00 Read data routine
Q1E- STA SCOE8 Turn drive off
92i- LOX #300
92B- LDA $CO08 Read keyboard
92E- BMI $0938 if key press jump to $0938
938- BIT $0010 Clear keyboard
938- JUMP $8260 Jump to $B200
‘These codes show that after all data is read
and a key is pressed, it takes a JMP to $B200.
So, we have to get the code at $B200 by the
following method:
938:4C 59 FF
96 N 8FDG
12 COMPUTIST No. 40
Examining the code at $B200 we find a data
decoding routine at $B223 which ends at
$B262. This routine EOR’s each byte with its
previous byte. So, changing one byte here
would affect the whole page of data, The routine
is listed as follows:
B223- LOY #$FF
B225- LOA SBOFF,Y Load previous byte
B228- EOR $B100,Y EOR current byte
B22B- STA $B100,Y STA to current address
B22E- DEY
B22F- CPY HSFF
B231- BNE $B225
To decode the data, we use:
B263:4C 59 FF N B223G
We now have the data decoded and we can
start to find the protection routine. With the help
of the modified F8 ROM from COMPUTIST,
Isearched memory for LDA $C08C,X (BD 8C
CQ) and found the disk checking routine at
$182F. The routine is listed below:
182F- LOX $05F8 Load X reg. with $60
1832- STA $C089,X Turn drive on
1835- STA $00
1837- INC $00 No of retry to read $05
1839- BEQ $186E when $00 larger than FF
183B- LDA $CB8C,X Read address mark
183E- BPL $183B
1840- CMP #$D5
1842- BNE $1837 Branch not $D5
1858- STA $C@8C,X Read track and sect #
185B- BPL $1858
185D- ROL
185E- STA $02
1860- LDA $CO8C,X
1863- BPL $1869
1865- AND $02
1867- DEY
1868- BPL $1858
186A- CHP #$07
186C- BEQ $1872
186E- LOX #$FF
1870- STX $1
1872- LDA $00
1874- CMP $03
1876- BCC $187A
1878- STA $03
Check if sect 7 is read
when sector 7 is read
Set error
Get the max and min #
of retry to read $05
_Mychess II
187A- CMP $04
187C- BCS $1888
187E- STA $04
1880- LDA SIFF1 Track counter
1883- CMP #$11 Check # of tracks read
1885- BNE $1817 Branch to track seeker
1887- LDA $03 Compare the max and min
1889- SEC # of retry to read $D5
188A- SBC $04 (the difference should
188C- CMP #$20 be smaller than $20)
188E- BCC $1894
1890- LOX #SFF
1892- STX $01 Set error
1894- LOX SOSF8 Load X reg. with $60
1897- STA $C088,X Turn drive off
189A~ BIT $01 Check if $01 is #SFF
189C- BPL $18A1 Branch if it is not SFF
189E- JMP $8BA9 Jump to reboot routine
18Al- RTS
Examining the code at $1800, I found that
if the check failed, a value $FF is stored in
memory location $01. Therefore, we can get
rid of the protection by replacing the STX $01
commands at $1870 and $1892 with NOP
commands.
The Procedure
The main problem remaining is how to re-
encrypt the changed data so that when it is
decoded it will have our new NOPs. By
studying the decode routine, I was able to come
up with an encode routine. It is as follows:
800- LOY #$00
862- LDA $1800,
805- EOR $17FF,Y EOR pervious byte
808- STA $1800,Y
80B- INY
80C- CPY #$00
8GE- BNE $802
810- RTS
Now we are going to find where the data at
$1800 is on the disk. I used a pattern of 5 bytes
which is found at $1800 before decoding for
searching. With the help of the Core disk
scarcher, I found this pattern on track $03 sector
SOF.
We we can now deprotect the disk by reading
in the sector, decoding it, editing the data,
recoding the data and writing it back to the disk.
Since there are a lot of changes, it is difficult
to use Super IOB. To make it easier, I wrote
a program to do this job. Its disassembly is
listed below:
800- LDA #$08
802- STA $B7EB
805- STA $B7FO
808- LDA #$03
80A- STA $B7EC
80D- LDA #$0F
80F- STA $B7ED
812- LDA #$18
814- STA $B7F1
817- LOA #$01
819- STA SB7F4
81C- LOX #$60
BIE- JSR $03E3 Set A and Y registers
821- JSR $0309 Cal RATS
824- JSR $0844 Decode data
827- LDA #$EA Edit data
829- STA $1870
82C- STA $1871
82F- STA $1892
832- STA $1893
835- JSR $0855
838- LDA #$02
83A- STA SB7F4
83D- JSR $03E3
840- JSR $0309
843- RTS
844- LOY #SFF
846- LDA S17FF,Y
849- EOR $1800,
84C- STA $1800,Y
84F- DEY
850- CPY #SFF
852- BNE $846
854- RTS
855- LOY #800
857- LDA $1800,Y
B5A- EOR $17FF.Y
85D- STA $1808,
860- INY
863- BNE $857
865- RTS
Set 10B to read track 3
sector F to $1800
Track 3
Sector F
Read to $1800
Set read mode
Code data
Set read mode
Set A and Y registers
Call RWTS
Decode data routine
Code data routine
This program calls the RWTS to read track
$03 sector $0F into memory page $18 then
decodes the data and edits it. After that, it codes
the data and calls the RWTS to write the sector
back to the disk.
Step by Step
1) Enter the hexdump at the end of this article
and save it with:
BSAVE MYCHESS.FIX, A$800, L$66
2) Use COPYA to copy both sides of the disk.
3) Load the program
BLOAD MYCHESS.FIX
4) Insert the backup disk to drive 1
5) Run the program.
CALL 2048
6) Put the original in a safe place und enjoy the
backup disk.
Myches:
800: A9 00 8D EB B7 8D FO B7 $DA53
9808: A9 03 8D EC B7 AQ OF 8D $2984
9810: ED B7 A9 18 80 F1 B7 AD SFFOI
9818: 01 8D F4 B7 A2 60 20 E3 $3186
9820: 03 20 09 03 20 44.08 AD $401
0828: EA 8D 70 18 BD 71 18 8D $6268
9830; 92 18 8D 93 18 20 55 98 $acé9
9838: AQ 02 8D F4 B7 20 £3 03 $5380
9840; 20 09 03 60 AD FF B9 FF $4023
9848: 17 59 00 18 99 00 18 88 S6F89
850: CO FF DJ F2 60 Ad 00 B9 $9DA5
0858: 00 18 59 FF 17 99 60 18 $AAGB
860: C8 CO 00 DB F2 $9306
COMPUTIST No. 40 13
softkey for...
Raster |
by Glenn Jones
Requirements:
48K APPLE JI and up
A formatted disk with no HELLO program
RESET into monitor and save lower RAM
or a RAM card
When I received my last issue of
COMPUTIST I noticed that Raster Blaster was
‘on the most wanted list. This prompted me to
complete a softkey for this electronic pinball
game that I have been working on/off for the
last two years. If you just wish to make a
BRUNable backup of this game then proceed
to the cookbook part of the softkey at the end
of this article.
Raster Blaster was the first game I purchased
after getting my computer over 2 1/2 years ago.
A few weeks later I went to play the game and
surprise, it would not boot. Several tries later
the disk finally proceeded to boot up properly.
I think it’s time to make a backup.
Not knowing much about copy protection,
I tried first to make a copy with COPYA from
the DOS 3.3 system master but all I got was
an ‘UNABLE TO READ" error message.
Turning next to TRAX (a disk inspection
program from the Bag of Tricks diskette), I
inspected the tracks on the disk. The message
“UNABLE TO INTERPRET DATA”
appeared on the screen track after track. This
usually means that the disk uses some bizzare
format like half tracks and the TRAX program
cannot decipher this type of format. Based on
this information I decided to try several of the
bit-copiers that were available. Needless to say
[still could not get a working backup using the
supplied parameters and varying the speed of
my disk drives.
The Discovery
Upon discovering COMPUTIST sometime
later and following techniques suggested in it,
I tried to boot code trace Raster Blaster. Having
a limited knowledge of machine language at the
time, I quickly got lost trying to trace through
code conversions, indirect jumps through zero
page locations that changed everytime you
looked at them and direct use of the disk drive,
Finally, after long hours at my Apple, I gave
up and only played Raster Blaster on an
infrequent basis. If it was not for COMPUTIST
No. 19 which contained two the articles
“Double Your ROM Space”’ and ‘‘Towards a
Better F8 ROM,”’ I would still be using my
original disk. After making the modifications
outlined in the two articles I once more
attempted to make a backup copy of Raster
Blaster.
First of all, Raster Blaster is a single load
program that does not access the disk for any
nibble count checks or load any information
after it has finished booting. To see just how
much memory Raster Blaster needed to use, |
first filled the memory with a constant value
(I choose ‘*11**) from $800 to SBFFF. This is
done by turning the computer on, pressing reset
immediately, entering the monitor with
CALL-151 and typing the following:
800:11
801<800.BFFFM
Next, I inserted the original disk and typed:
COROG
I choose to interrupt the program when it was
asking for easy or hard play. Displaying
memory showed consistent 11's after SA800
and references to page’s 2 & 3 throughout
memory. This indicated to me that the program
lived from $200 to $A800. Since DOS occupies
$9600 to $BFFF I could not just boot DOS and
save the upper memory therefore, my original
solution was to save the code in the following
three pieces:
1) lower memory $0000 to $08FF
2) $0900 to $95FF
3) high memory $9600 to SA800
By using a DOS mover program to relocate
DOS to my RAM card I could then BLOAD
all the pieces back in at a higher memory
location and have a small routine relocate the
code to its original spot. At the time this worked
fine but it resulted in file that was 176 sectors
long and it required a RAM card for the DOS.
When I saw Raster Blaster on the
COMPUTIST No. 32 most wanted list, I
decided to go over my softkey and see if I could
not improve on it. The following notes have
14 COMPUTIST No. 40
lead to Raster Blaster being a BRUNable file
of 129 sectors. After the program has fully
loaded itself into memory using routines located
in text page | ($0400 to $07FF), it proceeds
to execute a fancy hi-res introduction title page.
The game then draws (moves) the main game
board and goes into a demonstration loop until
a button on a joystick/paddle is pressed. At this
point the game asks for ether easy or hard play.
This is the point where I determined it best to
interupt the game as it would make a good place
to restart it.
After hitting CTRL-RESET, I pressed the
**§"" key to save the lower memory. Starting
to browse at $2000 where the code is relocated
to, I did not find any rational code until $2200.
This code normally would be found in the input
buffer which is a good hiding place for the code
as it is wiped out when anything is typed at the
keyboard. There is also similar code at $2300
as well. Any rational code on pages 4, 5, 6 and
7 deals with direct access of the disk drive and
it is no longer needed. At this point I booted
up a DOS disk with no HELLO program and
saved pages 2 & 3.
BSAVE RB.LOWER,A$2200,L$1FF
1 started to inspect the higher regions of
memory after rebooting Raster Blaster and
again resetting into the monitor at the same
point. It appeared as if this code was responsible
for copying bytes from high memory to high-
res page 1 which would mean that this was the
title page routine.
Before going further there were a few things
to consider:
A) I wanted the whole program to load in using
DOS at its normal location.
B) Pages 2 & 3 would have to be restored to
their normal location as well.
After inspecting $800 - $9FF it appeared that
this memory would not be needed as well.
Through subsequent trial and error, I decided
that the last of the important information ended
at $85FF so I BLOADed RB.LOWER at
$8600. I also found it necessary to zero out page
zero and to reset the stack pointer to $FF. The
following is the relocation routine that I put at
$8800.
8800 - LOY #900 = Initialize counter
8802 - LDA #$00 Store a "0"
8804 - STA $0000,Y in the zero page
Blaster
8807 - LDA $8600,Y Get a byte from page 86
880A - STA $0200,Y and put it on page 2
880D - LDA $8700,Y Get a byte from page 87
8810 - STA $6300,Y and put it on page 3
8813 - INY Increment counter
8814 - BNE $8802 Loop until 0
8816 - LOX #$FF Set stack pointer
8818 - TXS to $1FF
8819 - BIT $C057
881C - BIT $052
881F - BIT SCO50
8822 - JMP $6770
Display the hi-res scrn
Entire scrn as graphics
Graphics on
Jump to "Hard or Easy"
‘The jump instruction at the end came through
searching for references to the game button
($C061). One reference at $6303 checks for a
key or button press. The next reference is at
$6760. Back-tracking from this point I found
what appeared to be the start of the game at
$672D. Locations are zeroed out and several
subroutines are called, one of which waits for
a button press before it returns to the main
stream, This is the demonstration loop. The
next bit of code stores a @ or a | at location
$672B for EASY or HARD mode. This is
where the program has to be restarted from.
The last thing to do to make the file BRUNable
was to set a jump at $09FD to my relocation
routine at $8800.
9FD:4C 66 88
Finally, one APT you now have available
before you save the game to disk is to change
location $680D which holds the number of balls
you are allowed to have for each game.
BSAVE RASTER BLASTER,
AS9ED,L$7E28
Step by Step
Saving lower RAM: Follow procedure 1 if
you have made the modifications from
COMPUTIST No. 19. Follow procedure #2 if
you have a RAM card.
Procedure 1
1) Switch to modified ROM while booting
Raster Blaster.
2) Wait till the title page ends and press a button
on joystick/paddle.
3) Hit CTRL-Reset.
4) Hit **S’* so that your modified ROM will
save of pages to 8 into $2000 through $2800.
5) Insert a slave disk and boot it
C6OOG
6) Save this lower memory
BSAVE RB.LOWER,A$2200,LS1FF
7) Reboot Raster Blaster.
8) Wait till title page ends and press a button
on joystick or paddle.
9) Hit CTRL-Reset.
10) Hit ‘‘M”’ so that your modified ROM will
put you into the monitor.
11) Insert slave disk and type boot it
C600G
12) Enter the monitor
CALL -151
13) Re-load the lower portion of Raster Blaster
BLOAD RB.LOWER,A$8600
14) Key in the following hexdump:
8800: AO 00 AS 80 99 00 00 BS $6B9C
8808: 00 86 99 60 02 B9 OO 87 $4297
8810: 99 08 O3 C8 DD EC A2 FF $4706
8818: 9A 2C 57 CH 2C 52 CO 20 $39F8
8820: 56 CO 4C 78 67 S$F5F8
15) Modify the program to jump to our routine
first
9FD:4C 00 88
16) Saye the resulting code:
BSAVE RASTER BLASTER,
AS9FD,LS7E28
Procedure 2
1) Turn your computer on.
2) Hit CTRL-Reset.
3) Enter the monitor and prepare your RAM
card.
CALL -151
C081 N C081
D000<D000.FFFFM
FFFC:00 BO
C083 N C083
4) Type in the following hexdump
BOG0:AD 00 BO OO 82 99 O08 22
BO08:B9 GO 03 99 OO 23 C8 DO
BO10:F1 4C 59 FF
5) Insert Raster Blaster.
6) Boot the disk
C600G
7) Wait till the title page ends and press a button
on the joystick or paddle.
8) Hit CTRL-Reset.
9) Insert your slave disk with no HELLO
program and boot it
C600G
10) Save the lower portion of Raster Blaster
BSAVE RB.LC.LOWER,
A$2200,LS1FF
11) Enter the monitor and change your RAM
card to just jump to the monitor on Reset.
CALL -151
C081 N C08
FFFC:59 FC
C083 N C083
12) Insert your Raster Blaster and boot it
C600G:
13) Wait until the title page ends and press a
button on the joystick or paddle,
14) Hit CTRL-Reset.
15) Insert your slave disk with no HELLO
program and boot it
C600G
16) Enter the monitor and load the lower portion
of Raster Blaster
CALL -151
BLOAD RB.LC.LOWER,A$8600
17) Type in the hexdump from step 14 of
procedure 1.
18) Modify the program to jump to our routine
first
9ED:4C 00 88
19) Save the resulting code
BSAVE RASTER BLASTER,
A$9FD,L$7E28
COMPUTIST No. 40 15
a review of...
The
Games
oO
1986
by Jeff Hurlburt
At the beginning of 1986 many software
sages predicted the year would be a notably dry
one for Apple gamers. With the //gs looming
on the horizon, so the reasoning went, vendors
would be reluctant to introduce products which
might have compatibility problems; and other
projects would go into a holding pattern as
developers waited to incorporate expected new
features. While it is clear that such factors have
impacted Apple game production, nothing like
the anticipated drought has materialized.
Of course, many products were already well
ulong the pipeline, destined for release no
matter what. Perhaps more important, the
installed base of old II's is truly awesome,
receiving additional support from
Commodore's 64 and 128 models. (Several
yendors routinely translate games designed for
the C64 to an Apple II format, increasingly
offering both versions in the same package.)
The resulting market has attracted an ample
supply of new products.
This month center stage belongs to new
arcade, strategy, and simulation releases. Next
time, Part Il will focus upon the new
adventures.
Since my goal is to help you squeeze the most
bang from your gaming dollar, each review
aims to provide the maximum information in
the space available. Compatibility and
peripherals requirements plus the number of
players (if multi-player) for which the game is
designed are shown ‘up front’. In the
descriptions I try to give you a ‘feel’ for the
game, what it does, and how it works. Critiques
and ratings wrap things up.
Comments and ratings reflect my evaluation
based upon playing a game and, usually,
watching as others play it. Each game is rated
in five areas and “‘oyerall”’ on a ten-point scale:
10=Superior (rarely awarded; indicates a
breakthrough of some kind), @9=Excellent,
07=Good, 05=Fair, 03=Poor, 01=Rotten.
Graphics (GRFX) is the first area rated. It
concerns quality of artwork, clarity, impact,
smoothness, speed, and realism. Good Support
Materials (S.M.) include clear, thorough
directions for play. In some cases attractiveness,
tutorial value, or effectiveness in creating
‘atmosphere’ may be important. Playability
(PLAY) relates to how much extraneous activity
is required to play the game. Good command
parsing (in an adventure), rapid ““saye”’ and
“‘restore”’ functions, efficient menus, smooth
controls, and readily available ‘“Help”’ screens
are features which enhance playability.
Difficulty (DIFF) is self-explanatory for
single-player games. For others it relates to how
much effort is required to achieve a decent level
of play. Unlike other areas, the rating here
simply reflects ‘level of. An “*8”" is “‘very
tough", which may or may not equal ‘“‘very
good’’. High Interest (INTR) games are good
at attracting and holding player attention.
Typically, these are the adventures you can’t
wait to continue and the arcades you play, and
replay, for hours at a time. The Overall
(GAME) rating amounts to a summary of player
reaction(s) during tryouts. For educationally-
oriented games, a second summary rating (/ED)
16 COMPUTIST No. 40
of educational value is included
It’s a good bet that you will want to obtain
several of the games showcased, so publisher
data and price are shown towards the end of
each review. (Occasionally a product is
available ONLY from the publisher.) Prices,
of course, are “‘list’' and so represent the worst
case layout. With a little careful shopping,
discounts of around 40% are not difficult to
find.
Fight Night
.
(Sports Simulation for one or two players)
Compatibility: 64K Apple I series
Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
OK, so the kid’s quick and his legs won’t turn
to rubber after a few tough rounds. The question
is, do you have the managing moxie to make
him the next champ?! Anticipating your reply,
Accolade is ready to give you a shot at the big
one. Starting with ‘building’ one or more
challengers, Fight Night takes you through
training, sparring matches, and finally the
championship tournament.
Your road to the bigtime begins with building
one or more boxers via the game’s
“Construction’’ utility. Here you select body
parts to match desired attributes such as
endurance and quickness. Additional
“*statistics’’ are then adjusted to fine-tune your
boxer in the areas of hitting power to/resistance
for blows to head and body. When everything
looks just right the new fighter is saved to disk.
(The same utility allows you to edit existing
fighters and even define a boxer for computer
control.)
Fight Night permits a total of eight boxing
movements (four stick positions with button up
or down) including blows to head and body,
fakes, guards, and forward/backward
positioning. ‘Training’ drills you in these
moves with a punching bag target with the
emphasis on rhythm. In ‘‘Sparring’’ you
practice moves and timing against another
fighter. Once you feel ready for the ‘real thing’,
matches are arranged in individual bouts with
set, computer-controlled contenders like the
“British Bulldog"’, or against selected boxers
(perhaps some from another player's stable) in
a small round robin tournament. During a bout
(three three-minute rounds), the round, time
remaining, and cumulative scores are displayed
along with bar graph K.O. susceptibility
indicators (so you know when to go in for the
kill). If neither boxer is K.O.'d, the decision
goes to the high scorer. winner of a
tournament becomes the ‘*Champ"’.
Offering perhaps the finest, most
comprehensive control of any one-on-one
fighting simulation, Fight Night closes the loop
by providing ample cues as well. Your
opponent's movements actually do tell you
something about what he is likely to do. Wide-
ranging speed controls permit setting the action
to a comfortable pace. The only notable
weakness is that, for player vs. player
matchups, one player must use keyboard
controls instead of a second joystick. Clever and
surprisingly addictive, Fight Night packs the
entertainment punch you've been waiting for
in a fight simulation.
Available from: Accolade, 20863 Stevens Creek
Blvd., B-5/E, Cupertino, CA 95014, (408)
436-0900. $34.95
PLAY DIFF
GRFX S.M
INTR GAME
9 #06 «96 OF 87 «87
Chessmaster 2000
(Chess Player)
(for one or two players)
Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
Requirements: One disk drive; printer,
SpeeDemon optional
Colossus Chess IV
(Chess Player)
(for one or two players)
Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
Requirements: One disk drive; 64K, printer,
SpeeDemon optional
For reasons not altogether obvious, chess
programs appear to arrive in flocks. Certainly
there was nothing last year, whereas 1986
brings us three new packages, two of which
qualify as serious challengers for the top spot
in Apple chess.
Playing the two programs re-enforced the
overall impression of quality and evoked just
a touch of deja yu. Chessmaster looks very
much like Mychess II, while Colossus bears a
strong resemblance to Sargon III (which just
happen to be the other two top notch Apple
chess programs). Both programs offer such
most-wanted features as solve-mate/problem
modes, take back, variable speed replay, side
switching, and board rotation. They permit
program vs. itself play and will referee games
for two human opponents. You can load, save,
and delete games and obtain a move printout
during or after a contest along with a board
diagram. Neither, unfortunately, permits a
graphics dump of the screen. (Nor does any
other chess program I've seen; but a regrettable
oversight even so.)
Colossus offers a black & white-only display
in 2-D and, with 64K, very clear 3-D.
Chessmaster adds an option for eye-catching
color (2-D or 3-D) and allows 90 degree
rotation in case you want a side view.
While both programs employ keyboard-only
entry for moves and setting up positions, the
Colossus on-screen cursor approach is more
convenient and natural feeling than
Chessmaster’s purely alpha-numeric system.
The expansion of available playing levels
marks a major improvement over earlier
designs. Chessmaster offers nineteen (five
seconds through 37.5 minutes/move); Colossus
allows direct entry of average move time (00:00
~ 59:59). Both offer an “‘infinite’’ (no time-out)
level for in-depth analysis. Only Colossus offers
a chess clock (dual presettable), a serious
tournament mode (with move and time
controls), the ‘‘all moves’’ mode for *‘five
minute chess’’, etc., and an “‘equality’’ mode
which matches program move time to yours.
Colossus program specs and functions
documentation is vastly superior to
Chessmaster's, which just barely describes key
functions. On the other hand, Chessmaster’s
well-designed on-screen menu makes it a much
easier to use program. Chessmaster comes with
anicely done booklet including a brief tutorial,
chess history, and a listing of the 100 classic
games (1620-1986) on disk. The Colossus
library includes 34 computer chess games
(1978-1984) plus 19 solve-mate problems.
Since Colossus files are unprotected, the
diskette is a gold mine of ideas for those
interested in developing their own chess
programs.
Unfortunately, chess programs do not smirk,
make snide comments, or look worried. They
may, however, achieve a reasonable
approximation via ‘‘technical information’*
supplied during a game’s progress. Whereas
Chessmaster displays only search depth, current
move considered, and a hint; Colossus presents
current best line, line currently being
considered, assumed opponent move, depth,
and evaluation scores. Thus, while well-
matched in strength, Colossus is by far the more
instructive, more entertaining opponent.
After playing several games against each
program at two minutes/move I had about
decided that Chessmaster is just slightly better
than Colossus. But, when I gave some ‘‘expert’’
and “‘A’’ (USCF) rated friends a shot, Colossus
seemed the tougher adversary. (After two
straight losses, one flustered player couldn't
leave the computer until he got his revenge.)
As to which of the ‘big four’ is the best
opponent, the newcomers appear to have a
slight edge, based mainly upon endgame
improvements. Otherwise, the human player's
style is a major factor. Chessmaster has the
largest opening ‘book’ and appears the better
positional player; Colossus is the better
tactician. All the programs are at their best
under pressure; but a tendency to over-value
material leaves them susceptible to involved and
arcane gambit lines. Programs do not risk
second-best moves in order to set traps, but then
they seldom overlook anything simple and they
never give up!
Even among today’s more computer-wise
players, the programs probably represent a solid
““C"', possibly ‘B” level challenge. Instructive,
good fun, and consistently tough, Chessmaster
and Colossus belong in the software library of
any serious player of the royal game.
Chessmaster 2000 available from: Electronic
Arts, 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA
94403. (415) 571-7171. $39.95.
COMPUTIST No. 40 17
Colossus available from: Firebird P.O. Box 49,
Ramsey, NJ 07446. (201) 444-5700. $39.95
GRFX S.M. PLAY DIFF INTR GAME
Chessmaster
08 06 a7 5-9 07 07
Colossus
o 607) 87 5-9 BB
acc Tem
| OOSHBRS
(Geopolitical Conflict Simulation)
(for one to six players)
Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
Requirements: one disk drive; joystick optional
Since the advent of personal computer
gaming there have been numerous attempts to
capture the excitement, complexities, and back-
stabbing intensity of war strategy/diplomacy
boardgames. While a few offerings, Dark
Forest and Lordlings of Yore for instance, have
proved very entertaining, no computer game
has seriously challenged the board game
favorites ‘*Risk”’ and ‘‘Diplomacy’’. Now SSI,
long respected for its battlefield simulations, has
taken up the gauntlet, Colonial Conquest is a
multi-player struggle for world domination set
in the days when every major power lived by
the motto: ‘‘Grom or be grommed”’!
A game of Colonial Conquest always
involves six players, one for each major colonial
power: England, France, Germany, Russia,
U.S.A., and Japan. Any or all positions may
be human or computer directed. Your goal is
to grom up on enough minor and poorly
managed major powers to achieve the preset
victory score. Resources include armed forces,
treasury, bases, and income producing
holdings. The game employs six hi-res maps
to cover the world and takes care of all record
keeping (except, of course, secret agreements).
Only a few minutes into a game I gradually
began to recall why it is that I and other war
strategy/diplomacy devotees conduct our
geopolitical conflicts via board games.
Naturally, fortifications, naval forces,
provisions for espionage and subversion, and
other such embellishments are welcome.
Unfortunately, a nearly unreadable display
renders the game, for practical purposes,
unplayable. Ownership of an area is signified
via color-keyed crosshatch patterns which blur
into each other obscuring borders and
obliterating naval base/fortification indicators.
Hopefully SSI will recall Colonial Conquest
perhaps with the aim of issuing an upgraded
display version on the //gs.
Available from: Strategic Simulations, 1046 N.
Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View, CA
94043-1716. (415) 964-1353. $39.95
GRFX S.M
rin
i
PLAY DIFF INTR GAME
ae
(War Strategy Simulation)
(for one or two players)
Compatibility: 48K Apple I
Commodore 64/128
Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
ul
series,
Demonstrating that wargames can indeed
make strange bedfellows, Gulf Strike matches
Tran and the U.S. (plus assorted minor allies)
against Iraq and the U.S.S.R. (plus assorted
puppets). Evidently, as 1988 rolls around, the
Iranians (annoyed with on-going Sovict support
for Iraq) significantly escalate aid to their
freedom-fighting brethren in Afghanistan. This
doesn’t sit at all well with the Russians (i.e. the
freedom-fightees), who have already spent
several years screwing up their attempt not to
botch things worse in Afghanistan than you-
know-who did in Vietnam. When the Russkies
enter the war on the side of Iraq this naturally
provokes the U.S. and concerned Persian Gulf
states to intervene in favor of their old pal, Iran.
Thus does Avalon Hill contrive to produce the
dream match of the decade: a U.S. vs. U.S.S.R.
mini-war where neither side can do much real
damage to the other.
Gulf Strike action embraces most of Iran, part
of Iraq, and other lands immediately adjacent
to the Persian Gulf. As a translated boardgame,
the computer version incorporates a scrollable
map with seventeen terrain features inflicting
varying movement costs. Among the ground,
air, and sea units you will find the expected
detail and differentiation optiuns for which
Ayalon Hill is justly reknowned. For example,
thirteen ground types include airborne, armor,
artillary, marine and infantry units in sizes
ranging from battalion through division. Each
has specific movement, attack, and defense
capabilities influenced largely by your choice
of formation. Air and naval units are similarly
diverse, with nearly thirty aircraft types in
various configurations and naval units ranging
18 COMPUTIST No. 40
from sub groups through carriers. Unless the
two-player version is selected, you
automatically control the U.S./Iran position and
all twenty-one victory point squares spread
across the map. During the standard 25-turn
game, your mission is to prevent the
U.S.S.R./Irag side from ever holding nine of
the squares.
All of this looked pretty juicy; but, perhaps
an hour into a game it became clear that
something was missing (something, I mean,
besides a skilled player). Sure enough, a
thorough check of the box confimed my worst
fears: Avalon Hill had, indeed, failed to include
the other computer! This is an unfortunate
oversight considering that only a small part of
the map is displayed at any time and that only
star and hammer & sickle identifiers appear on
the main map to locate units which may be
stacked eighteen (18) deep! Lacking the missing
computer, you must point to a map square to
obtain a ‘‘unit symbols display"’ in the **stack
window’ and then select a symbol to obtain unit
status.
If theatre commanders had to use Gulf
Strike’s format to fight their wars, the
battlefields of the world would be littered with
plowshares. Imagine, an attractive, well-
documented, fully functioning wargame That
nobody can play! Right-On, A.H.!
Available from: Avalon Hill, 4517 Harford
Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. (800) 638-9292.
$30.00
GRFX S.M. PLAY DIFF INTR GAME
Little Computer People
Discovery Kit
a
ay
“hal iil
ic : a
(Simulation)
Compatibility: 64K Apple IL series
Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
Probably, like any clear-thinking computer
user, you tend to view the occasional glitch as
having a ‘perfectly reasonable explanation’,
(power surges, component failure, even human
error). Such, in fact was the predisposition of
Activision's Glitch Research Team; that is, until
their amazing discovery that little human-like
people actually live in computers! We now
know that these Little Computer People
(“LCP’s”’) produce otherwise inexplicable
glitches largely by accident, though sometimes
out of boredom or in a bid for attention.
The above, at least, is the gist of Activision’s
press release. Well, I'm not just anybody’s fool;
nor am I the empty-headed, gullible tuft hunter
some may imagine. Immediately upon receipt
of my LCP research package I booted the
“House on a Disk’’ and waited to see what
might transpire. Imagine, if you will, my
astonishment when an honest-to-goodness LCP
showed up and shyly began to inspect the
offered residence! Before long I was filling the
water tank and leaving groceries and dog food
at the front door. An LCP, it seems, almost
invariably owns an LCD. (Indeed, Activision
has requested notification if an LCP fails to be
accompanied by his dog.)
As suggested in kit materials, LCP’s seem
to appreciate music and so record albums make
great mood boosters. (For a contented LCP, it’s
important to respond to mood changes.) Even
better, my LCP especially enjoys games.
enthusiastically playing ‘‘Card War’’,
anagrams, and draw poker. Verbal
communications are still at the rudimentary
stage. However if I type “Please light a fire”
or make a similarly simple request, he will often
comply.
Each research kit comes with full
documentation, a deed (for the house), and
suggestions for record keeping. Needless to say,
Tam thoroughly convinced of the significance
of LCP’s and the validity of the ‘House on a
Disk’ method. (Seeing, after all, is believing!)
Available from: Activision, P.O. Box 7286,
Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410.
$39.95
GRFX S.M. PLAY DIFF INTR GAME
Ogre
WW NU NU GNF NY NIN
Fie
inf 7Airw
eo le
(War Strategy Simulation)
Compatibility; 64K Apple IL series
Requirements: One disk drive; joystick or
mouse optional
By the mid-2Ist century effective
countermeasures have rendered tactical nukes
virtually useless. Taken along with the
development of bi-phase carbide (“‘BPC’’)
armor and atomic engines the inevitable result
is that tanks once again rule the battlefield. To
be sure, there are tanks and then there are
TANKS. The former, truly awesome by 20th
century standards, include the massive ‘*heavy
tank”’, long-reach **missile tank"’, and fast-
moving ground effect vehicle. There is really
only one TANK: the cybernetic attack machine.
Up to 50 meters in length and wrapped in three
meters of BPC plate, once launched these
unmanned juggernauts seek only to destroy; and
in the 21st century the TANK is called an
“OGRE.”
The Ogre battlefield is a 15x22 scrollable
grid of which about half is visible at any time.
Rubble and craters restrict or block movement,
thus giving each field a unique character. Each
contest involves three major phases: loading-
in or design of a battlefield, defensive player
placement of units and command post, entry of
the Ogre and subsequent battle.
Like many wargames, Origin System's Ogre
recognizes varying levels of victory. In the
single-player version your primary concern is
to prevent the destruction of your command post
(normally placed somewhere near the top of the
battlefield, farthest from Ogre’s entry point).
Only if a sizable chunk of your forces are intact
and the Ogre does not escape can you claim
complete victory. (A nice distinction, since the
Ogre is much more likely to ‘‘escape"’ all over
your position, reducing it to rubble.) In a two-
player game the Ogre player must destroy
everything to claim an unblemished win.
Of course, as defender you are not exactly
without resources, Along with the tanks already
mentioned, you may deploy long-range (but
non-movable) howitzers and BPC armor-suited
infantry units. In fact, though ‘‘standard game"*
battlefields, infantry, and armor units are
defined for scenarios involving the Mark Il and
even more powerful Mark V Ogres, the
program itself imposes no restrictions upon
numbers or placement of any unit or upon
battlefield characteristics. Add the option to set
the ‘‘skill level” of the Ogre you face (in the
one-player game), and the tactical possibilities
are endless.
The game is supplied with manuals, reference
card, and a plastic clip-on radiation exposure
badge which, Origin claims, *‘really works’’.
(I decided not to test it.) Setup is a snap,
especially if you start with one of the pre-
designed battlefields; and explicit pull-down
menus guide you through cach phase. With
smooth, clear graphics, sound effects, and
convenient, uncomplicated controls, “*Ogre""
amounts to the niftiest tactical wargaming kit
ever.
Available from: Electronic Arts, 2755 Campus
Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) $71-7171.
$34.95
GRFX S.M
PLAY DIFF
INTR GAME
08 78
Road Rally U.S.A.
(Educational Simulation)
Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
Requirements: One disk drive
According to the popular wisdom, if you
want to “Discover America’’, then the way to
do it is to hop in your car and go. Evidently,
some people at Looking Glass Software agree,
even going the extra mile to add a touch of
competition pizazz. In Road Rally U.S.A. you
race the clock as maps and clues guide your
t
i:
travels.
i
You are at
Houston. TX
If location. press RETURN
Your objective in this geography learning
game is to visit all designated sites before the
twelve-minute timer on your dashboard reads
*00:00"". After you select one of seven major
regions (Northwest, South Central, etc.) and
difficulty level, a closeup “‘section map”
appears showing your auto, highways, filling
stations, city markers, and such location clues
as barns, oil wells, and factories. At the lowest
difficulty level you will be directed to your first
target city by name; otherwise, you get a clue
(c.g. “‘Look for the cowboys here’’ = Dallas).
From here on the key to success is to locate
yourself on the appropriate region map card
(only the cards show route numbers and place
names) and to make use of the information
supplied on the back of the card to interpret
destination clues. Once you have figured out
where to go and the best route to take, you drive
to the target where you will be given the next
destination, An occasional car-crunching hazard
(falling rocks, etc.) and running out of gas can
cost you an auto (you start with three); so you
need to pay attention when your radio flashes
a hazard warning and keep an eye on your gas
gauge. When you reach your last designated
target the game is over and a score is awarded
based mainly upon time remaining, accuracy
of site identification, and cars left. (High scores
are not saved.)
Road Rally is a thoroughly enjoyable way to
get a feel for U.S. geography besides learning
some useful facts. Displayed and on-card maps
are accurate and highways approximate actual
routes. Well done sound effects and attractive,
smooth graphics round out a fine educational
experience.
Available from: Bantam Software, 666 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10103. (212)
765-6500. $39.95
GRFX S.M. PLAY DIFF
INTR GAME/ED
08 «08 08 05 06 897/07
COMPUTIST No. 40 19
Law of the West
(Conflict Resolution Simulation)
Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
Well, pardner, there's not much left of the
Old West, just a few dusty saloons, boring TV
commercials, and (thank goodness) some
computer games. In Accolade’s Law of the West
you are the sheriff of Gold Gulch, a rough little
Place straight out of *“‘Gunsmoke’’. Here you
encounter the expected mix of peaceful
townsfolk, drifters, crooks, bullies, and
desperados. Some will test your gunhand;
some, your nose for crime; and a few will try
your romantic expertise. Each, if only subtly,
challenges your authority and ability to maintain
order.
Law of the West operates very much like the
training villages employed by some law
enforcement agencies. You find yourself
standing near a saloon, bank, railroad station,
el nd someone walks out into the street and
begins the encounter. You might get **Howdy
Sheriff, I hear you're pretty fast with a gun”
from a desperado or ‘‘Hi Sheriff, I know a
secret; but I won't tell’ from the town brat.
The program then offers several response
options generally ranging in character from
wimp to hard nosed. Hach conversation
normally involves three or four such exchanges,
unless someone goes for a gun. In fact, once
you get the hang of aiming your '45, you can
guarantee that YOU won't ever be shot simply
by blowing away everyone you meet. (Except
that this approach pretty well ruins your
“‘innocent citizens killed’’ and ‘tromance’’
scores.)
Your principal aims in each encounter vary
according to the context. For instance, you
would like to become friends with the pretty
schoolmarm, avoid a shootout with a
gunfighter, encourage the town doctor to stop
drinking (otherwise he may not be available
i
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when you're wounded), etc. An overriding
concern is to prevent crime; so you may have
to dig to obtain warning of an impending bank
robbery. Each such alert switches you to the
scene and you have a chance to chalk up a few
“crime prevention” points. If you are not killed
first, after fifteen or so encounters the game
ends and your performance is scored.
Law of the West is attractive, fun to play, and
surprisingly challenging. Evidently, a fair
amount of thought went into the conversation
sequences (making the game an excellent model
for real world human relations training
packages). Except that high scores are not
saved, the main weakness is the obvious li
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