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E m 2 oln E g i i 1 Reviews ‘Answers: (NMI) sessssseeenansnnctenantennes g 2o Oln BEE 1 Buck R. . 4 +4 encoding/nibbilizing..... Fi ga uck Rogers: Countdown to LC... i g onzIn g& i 5 Cracking BASIC protection 3 3 =5 14 8 5 z I 5 Paul A. Johnson. schemes .. <. = a8 Robin Locksley ... 2 SOG Ps ss r Donald's Alphabei Chase 6 rerio eit de 8 OSa lng 2: 5 Elvira, Mistress of the Dark ...5 Features, Notes & such: chen =: : . e 3 = sail ag Hi Jam Session .. 4 Speeding up Rocket Ranger.......9 VTOC Pe elie i x > wo BA Learning DOS 5 Ri and the catalog track..21 3 H a ocket Ranger Decoder CDA ...10 (ani go PY H 8 g z H Ladi... 4 Converting source code fr FINDER (a nibble count and RE : oe om. i a : a : : : Omnikey ULTRA 5 ORC MEA . gray byte finder) ................ 21 a S : 92 g r Reach ca 6 Curing the”Control Panel Lockout Softkeys: : 282 | The G ie : Blues” sbesasnseacsascsaaveaateunyeesseetse 11 In Search of the Most Amazing I Bre | 5 ‘i ‘onquest of the Galaxy 6 The Basics of Kracking (part 3) Thing : In ) 5 | ES iets ae as aaanent 6 Memory Moves, Binary Files & Lava Pits of Asnar .. 19 bee 5 | orlds of Ultima VI: Kramming for the Finals .......12 Muppets on Stage (3.5") He 3 5 | | The Savage Empire ............. 4 A few helpful hints ..13 Robocop é rece H Fast Frames, Updates, Etc. The Basics of Kracking (part ® Silpheed, V. 1.09 ...cecsssssseneeee 11 re ee 1 Lo-Mem Boots on a PC “Where do I begin?”.... AZ . i > 5 é i Omega 4 + 4 Conversion Chart .. APTs: OSs g i Indianapolis 500: The “Load Runner” Virus Fix Rocket Ranger 8 S Fs I Simulation . 8 Pirates or Saviors?........ o . i. g e | i. ' Pro Tennis Tour. 8 Update on Ultima V DCS Playing Tips: BBs 5 a Tangled Tales/PC .. 8 ACrash Course in Deprotection Robocop H rs tS : we Passion _— g Hardware & software Rocket Ranger 2B. co Bs : ing Commander .. 8 requirements +. 16 a § 390 @ ¢ H 8 e £ I Samples from the Boita How to: basic deprotection....16 iM coee = Fd > 3 a H a & i Company 8 Deprotecting single-load Where in Time is Carmen z 2 OF =| ls ; H Super Quest Champs? 8 PLOBTAMS ...csssssssesesessscseeeeees 17 Sandiego... as om I FS A Nibble counts & checksums ..18 \TItLTTttTLtitttitttttid Le - : Charles R. Haight Editor Karen Fitzpatrick Circulation Jeff Hurlburt Reviews Dave Goforth BBS COMPUTIST is published by SoftKey Publishing. Address all inquiries to: COMPUTIST 33821 East Orville Road Eatonville, WA 98328 (206) 832-3055 » COMPUTIST does NOT purchase editorial material. The entire editorial content consists of information submitted to COMPUTIST for publication in the shared interests of all COMPUTISTs. + Unsolicited material (manuscripts, letters to the editor, softkeys, A.P.T.s, playing tips, questions, etc.) are assumed to be submitted as letters-to-the-RDEX-editor for publication with all and exclusive rights belonging to COMPUTIST. + Entire contents copyright 1990 by SoftKey Publishing. Allrightsreserved. Copying done for other than personal or internal reference (without express written permission from the publisher) is prohibited. +The SoftKey Publishing assumesno liability or responsibility for the products advertised in this newsletter. Although we are usually pretty much in agreement, any opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of COMPUTIST magazine or SoftKey Publishing. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Rates (for 8 issues): US... ..$24 Canada/Mexico ..$34 USS. 1st Class ..$34 Other Foreign 54 + Subscriptions are sold by number of issues and not by month or year. An 8 issue subscription means that you will recieve 8 issues before you need to renew. It's when you will receive each issue that we're a little erratic about. + Domestic Dealer rates: Call (206) 832-3055 for more information. + Change Of Address: Let the U.S. Postal Service know that you are moving. Tell them that you want your mail forwarded. If your issue does not come to you in an envelope then you have a regular subscription and you must tell the USPS to forward your third class mail. Notify us as soon as you know your new address. When we receive your notice of change of address, we will send you an acknowledgement card. If you do not receive the acknowledgement card after 2 weeks, send another notice or call us direct. Issues missed due tonon-receipt of change of address may be acquired at the regular back issue rate. We are not responsible for missing issues 90 days after mailing date. If you do not receive an issue at the usual time each month, please call or write. ‘Apple® is a trademark of Apple Computers, IBM® is the [BM vwademark. NV , Readers Data EXchange New COMPUTIST readers using Apple IIs are advised to read this page carefully to avoid frustration when attempting to follow a softkey or entering the programs printed in this issue. What is a softkey, anyway? Softkey is a term which we coined to describe aprocedure thatremoves, or atleastcircumvents, any copy-protection on a particular disk. Once a softkey procedure has been performed, the re- sulting backup copy can usually be copied by the normal copy programs (for example: COPYA, on the DOS 3.3 System Master disk). Commands and control keys Commands which a reader is required to perform are set apart by being in boldface and on. a separate line. The return key must be pressed. at the end of every such command unless other- wise specified. Control characters are preceeded by “ctrl”. An example of both is: 6 ctrlP Type 6. Next, place one finger on the ctrl key and then press P. Don’t forget to press the retum. key. Other special combination keypresses include ctrl reset and open-apple ctrl reset. In the for- mer, press and hold down the ctrl key then press the reset key. In the latter, press and hold down both ctrl and open-apple then press reset . Software recommendations The Starter Kit contains most of the programs that you need to “Get started”. In addition, we recommend that you acquire the following: * Applesoft program editor such as “Global Program Line Editor (GPLE)”. Assembler such as “Merlin/Big Mac”. <Bit-copy program such as “Copy II Plus”, “Locksmith” or “Essential Data Duplicator”. +Word-processor (such as AppleWorks). *“COPYA", “FID” and “MUFFIN” from the DOS 3.3 System Master disk. s Super IOB and Controllers This powerful deprotection utility (in the COMPUTIST Starter Kit) and its various Con- trollers are used in many softkeys. (It is also on each Super IOB Collection disk.) 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. Laser 128: Your ROM includes a forced jump to the monitor. Press ctrl return reset. Apple Il+, //e, compatibles: 1) Place an Inte- get BASIC ROM card in one of the Apple slots. 2) Use anon-maskable interrupt(NMI) card such as Replay or Wildcard. Apple II+, compatibles: 1)Install an F8 ROM with a modified reset-vector on the computer's motherboard as detailed inthe “Modified ROM's” article (COMPUTIST #6 or Book Of Softkeys TIT ) or the “Dual ROM’s” article (COMPUTIST #19). Apple //e, //c: Install amodified CD ROM on. the computer’s motherboard that changes the open-apple ctrl reset vector to point to the moni- tor. (This will void an Apple iic warranty since you must open the case to install it.) Apple //gs: If you have the 2.x ROM, there is a hidden Classic Desk Accessory (CDA) that allows you to enter the monitor. In order to install the new CDA, you should enter the monitor (CALL -151) before running any protected pro- grams and press # return . This will tum on two hidden CDAs, Memory Peeker and Visit Moni- tor. Thereafter press openapple ctrl esc to go to the Desk Accessories menu. Select Visit Monitor and there you are. Use ctrl Y to exit. Recommended literature +Apple II Reference Manual (or Ile, IIc, etc.) DOS 3.3 & ProDOS manual *Beneath Apple DOS & Beneath Apple Pro- DOS, by Don Worth and Pieter Lechner, from Quality Software Typing Applesoft programs BASIC programs are printed in a format that is designed to minimize errors for readers who key in these programs. If you type: 10HOME:REMCLEAR SCREEN The LIST will look like: 10 HOME : REM CLEAR SCREEN Applesoft inserts spaces into a program list- ing before and after every command word or mathematical operator. These spaces don’t pose a problem except when they are inside of quotes or after a DATA command. There are two types of spaces: those that have to be keyed and those that don’t. Spaces that must be typed appear in COMPUTIST as special characters (0). All other spaces are there for easier reading. NOTE: If you wantyour checksums to match, only type spaces within quotes or after DATA statements if they are shown as (0) charactors. SAVE the program at periodic intervals using the name given in the article. All characters after a REM are not checked by the checksum program so typing them is optional. Typing Hexdumps Machine language programs are printed in COMPUTIST as hexdumps, sometimes also as source code. Hexdumps are the shortest and easiest 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 ($ and four digits) at the end of each line. When. finished, retum to BASIC with: 3D0G BSAVE the program with the filename, ad- dress and length parameters given in the article. Typing Source Code The source code is printed to help explain a program's operation. To enter it, you need an “Assembler”. Most of the source code in older issues is in S-C Assembler format. If you use a different assembler, you will have to translate portions of the source code into something your assembler will understand. Computing checksums Checksums are 4-digit hexadecimal numbers. which tell if you typed a program correctly and help you locate any errors. There are two types of checksums: one created by the CHECKBIN pro- gram (for machine language programs) and the other created by the CHECKSOFT program (for BASIC programs). Both are on the “Starter Kit”. If your checksums do not match the published. checksums then the line where the firstchecksum differs is incorrect. CHECKSOFT instructions: Install Checksoft (BRUN CHECKSOFT) then LOAD your pro- gram. Press & to get the checksums. Correct the program line where the checksums first differ. CHECKBIN instructions: Enter the monitor (CALL -151), install Checkbin at some out of the way place (BRUN CHECKBIN, A$6000), and then LOAD your program. Get the checksums by typing the Starting address, a period and the Ending address of the file followed by actrl Y . SSSS.EEEE ctrl Y Correct the lines where the checksums differ. Writing to the RDEX editor RDEX (are-decks) stands for: Reader’s Data EXchange. We print what you write. When you send in articles, softkeys, APTs, etc., you are submitting them for free publication in this magazine. RDEX does not purchase submissions nor do we verify data submitted by readers. Ifyou discover any errors, please let us know so that we may inform our other readers. Remember that your letters or parts of them may be used in RDEX even if not addressed to the RDEX editor. Correspondence that gets pub- lished may be edited for clarity, grammar and space requirements. Because of the great number of letters we receive and the ephemeral and unpredictable appearance of our volunteer staff, any response to your queries will appear only in RDEX, so it would be more appropriate for you to present technical questions to the readers and ask for their responses which will then be placed in the Apple-RDEX. How to get a free library disk Whenever possible, send everything on Ap- ple format (5.25" - DOS/ProDOS or 3.5" - Pro- DOS) orIBM format (3.5") disks. Other formats are acceptable but there may be some delay as we look for someone to translate it for us. (If you use a 5.25" disk, when we print your letter,we will return your disk with the current library disk copied onto it.) Use whatever text editor you like, buttell us which one. Put a label on the disk with your name (or pseudonym) and address (if you want to receive mail). Don’t reformat any pro- grams or include them in the text of your letter. Send Applesoft programs as normal Applesoft files and machine language programs as normal binary files. We have programs to convert them to the proper format for printing. If you are sending source code files, and you are not using the S-C Assembler, send them as normal text files. When to include a printed letter Don’t include hardcopy (printout) unless: a. You are writing about a bug or other printing error. b. You are writing to ask for help. c. You are answering another readers help re- quest. d. You are writing about your subscription or sending an order for back issues or software. Bugs, requests for help and answers to re- quests for help are bumped to the head of the line and go in the very next issue. All other letters are printed in the order that we receive them. Writing to get help When writing to request help, be sure to include ALL relevent information. The more information you include, the easier it is to find a solution, There's an old saying that goes “A properly framed question includes 90% of the answer”. How to get mail If you are interested in receiving mail from other readers, be sure that we have a current address. If you use a pen name and want to receive mail, we need to have your address. Our readers privacy is important, so we will not print your address unless you specifically say too. How to write to RDEX authors When writing to one of the RDEX authors. Write your letter and seal it in an envelope. Put your retum address, the authors name (as it appears in RDEX) and the correct postage on the envelope. Put this envelope into another and send it to RDEX. We will put the correct address on your letter and mail it for you. Check to the right of the authors name to see if the author is writing from a foreign country and include the proper postage. Help Line ‘These readers have volunteered their time to help you. Please call only within the given time frames (corrected for your time zone). No collect calls. Jack Nissel (Disk Protection, 7-10PM EST) (215) 365-8160 The BBS (Bulletin Board System) Dave Goforth is the sysop for the Computist BBS. The number is: (206) 581-9292. If you already have a User ID# and password, sign-on using the User ID#. If you are anew user, it may take a day or so to validate your new ID# and password. la DEPROTECTED backup copy: rightful. N You have a LEGAL RIGHT to an unlocked backup copy of your commercial software. 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 right to such a .«'It is 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)thatsuch anew copy or adaptationis created as anessential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or 2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be Any exact copies prepared in accordance with the provisions of this 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 title 17, §117 y, \ Readers Data Exchange COMPUTIST #78 U.S. $3.75 Canada & Mexico $7 |78 |COMPUTIST obvious but I wanted to tell you that the next one (#79) will be out early so we can catch up. extra large Product Monitor, another installment of Krackowicz and a beginners guide to copy deprotec- tion, the softkeys and APT’s kinda got lost. But don't worry, they’ll be back in time for issue #79. Some of the info is interesting and could apply to Apple IIs. A reader commented that he would be interested in a summary of any new technology that might apply to Apple II and Mac computers. Is this something that a lot of you would be interested in seeing? Write and let me know what you think. Write and let me know of any new technology that you have heard of. strated a 64Mbit chip. That’s right. A memory chip that stores 64 times more data than the 1 Mbit chips that are so common today. The really interesting partis that the chip only needs 1.5 volts to work and the speed is 50 nanoseconds. The lower voltage is good news for portables and the speed is faster than the 1Mbit chips commonly used today. (80ns vs 5Ons) Editorial message This issue is late. 1 know, it’s dumb to state the This issue also seems to be a bit sparse. Between an Postage pains The USPS has decided to raise our postal rates again. This is especially annoying as the bulletin that they sent me shows that the 3rd Class rates went up more than any other class. Regular subs are sent by 3rd Class mail. After this issue is mailed, I will be recalcu- lating the cost of postage. The new rates will be printed in issue #79. If you want to save a buck or so, send in your renewal early, before the rates go up. New Technology? I get a lot of magazines and technical publications. As an example, a Japanese company has demon- have 64 Mbytes. That opens the way for a microcom- puter to have 64Mbytes of RAM. That’s larger than most of the hard drives that computers are using today. (40Mbyte hard drives are the most popular size ac- cording to Micro-D’s dealer newsletter.) tasking operating system have been on my wish list for some time. What do you think? ders) everyone else did too. It took seven tries to get there, almost a year of delays, and it only took the court about 10 minutes to approve our plan of reorganization. And our lawyer said this was a simple Chapter 11 case. (Unbelievable.) So, the IRS gets to charge us interest & penalties and we get to keep printing Computist. That’s what counts! If you can spare so bucks, send a donation to our IRS fund so we can pay them off quickly and not have to pay too much interest and penalties. CDAs with lots of source code and explanations. One Computist reader sent a bunch of MAC softkeys, And there are a dozen disks that I’m going to check out as soon as this issue is put to bed. used) Apple II parts. When I get all of the info I’m going to tell you how to upgrade your Apple II and [1+ into a Ile or how to upgrade your Ile into a IIgs. Hopefully, since this is mostly used equipment (re- conditioned with warranties), the cost will be reason- able whatever that means. Stack eight of these 64Mbit chips together and you Sounds good to me. More memory and a multi- The Court, the IRS and Computist We finally made it to court and (wonder of won- What’s next Well, Vince Andrews has dropped off a bunch more Also, I’ve written to several suppliers of (new and See you in issue #79! Table of Contents Editorial Note.........sccssecsee RDEX Contributors ... Most Wanted Softkeys ... _ UNClassifieds .........00e0ee sibs van sncsnscnsseasoscceonse® 23 The Product Monitor Reviews Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday Crystal Quest .......sescsesseee Donald’s Alphabet Chase Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Jam Session ... Learning DOS Reach for the Stars III: The Conquest of the Galaxy, T ...........06 6 Sword Of Aragon ........sssssssssssssesssseeseeseeseeseee 6 Worlds of Ultima VI: The Savage Empire .. Fast Frames, Updates, Etc. Notes on Lo-Mem Boots (PC) Omega .. Indianapolis 5 Pro Tennis TOUur........scssecseeneeees Tangled Tales/PC . The Passion ........ Wing Commander Samples from the Boita Company Super Quest Champs? . Bomblets, not Bombs Getting the RED out.... Quick! Before she melts (Elvira tips) Vendors .... os COMPUTIST #78 Answers: IC... Paul A. Johnson . Robin Locksley . Features, Notes & such: Speeding up Rocket Ranger .... Rocket Ranger Decoder CDA .... Converting source code from ORCA/M to Merlin ......cccesssesssesseesssesneennees 11 Curing the”Control Panel Lockout Blues”.....11 The Basics of Kracking (part 3) Memory Moves, Binary Files & Kramming for the Finals A few helpful hints The Basics of Kracking (part 4) “Where do I begin?”... 4 +4 Conversion Chart “Load Runner” Virus Fix Pirates or Saviors? ........ Update on Ultima V DCS A Crash Course in Software Deprotection Hardware & software requirements . How to: A basic deprotection Deprotecting single-load program: Nibble counts & checksums .. Deprotection with a Ie/IIc Boot code tracing ........... Deprotecting under Pascal & ProDOS Using Non-Maskable-Interrupts (NMI) ..... 4 + 4 encoding/nibbilizing Cracking BASIC protection scheme: Half and quarter tracking Self-modifying code .... EOR & disk encryption VTOC and the catalog trac! FINDER (a nibble count finder) Readers Data Exchange FIND.CAT Enhancements Super 6.0 Fastcopy Enhancements Softkeys: In Search of the Most Amazing Thing Lava Pits of Asnar... Muppets on Stage (3.5"). Robocop ........... Silpheed, v. 1.09.. 11 APTs: Rocket Ranger .......c.ssccssessessessssssesseeeeseesneeneenees 9 Playing Tips: |S 0) 20,0)» 22 Rocket Ran ger ssvisscsscssescssssessssssscsercccoteasceteenes 11 IBM Softkeys: Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego .. Jeff Hurlburt The PRODUCT MONITOR RATINGS toh kkk tohtok Very Good *** Good ** Fair * Poor © Bad ©© Defective 6 TX Superb Excellent Now that you’ ve done with tannenbaums and roasung chipmunks on the open fire... Finally, you can relax and start cashing in on those juicy sales at the local computer em- pona. Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire kkk $59.95 for EGA-VGA 640K PC: 10Mhz, EMS mem recommended Origin Tump, tump, te-tump-tump-tump, ... strange drumbeats, twittering birds, exotic music and brightly lit jungle scenery all tell you “I’m notin Ultima anymore”. Actually, though, you are— only here the wizards are called shamen, the major monsters are pre- historic beasts, and no one is quite sure where “here” is! According to the 44-page pulp-magazine-style scene-setter booklet (“Ultimate Adventures”, Vol 59, No. 11), it all starts back in mundanesville with a too- real dream of a native beauty battling some kind of dinosaur, an oddly deformed moon- stone, AND an experiment gone awry in Professor Rafkin’s lab. TZZAPPOOM! You, a reporter named Jimmy, and Rafkin are moongated to Eodon, Ultima’s version of “Lost World”. The dream turns out to be an accurate forecast; soon you find yourself ona quest to rescue Princess Avela of the Kuraks (The girl) from the clutches of Darden the Huge, chief of the Urali tribe (The bad guy). Jimmy and Rafkin should be in your party; but your group was separated soon after arriving. You’ll have to find them (espe- cially since Doc Rafkin may be able to tinker up some primitive rifles and grenades to even the odds). Then, there’s the 500 square feet or so of lab that got teleported; it’s out there somewhere, just loaded with useful stuff. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of primitive weaponry and food— you can walk into any hut and pick up whatever you want; and some of the ‘monsters’ (like tigers and dinosaurs) can be skinned and eaten. Better yet, a Kurak war- riornamed Shamuru has volunteered to join. Funny thing is, the guy is a dead ringer for your old Brittania companion Shamino; he even claims to “know your face, from some- where ..,”! You do not, naturally, just walk over to the Uralis, bop Darden, and save Aiela. For Starters, the roughly 400 square miles of 4 Eodon is swathed in jungle flora, much of it impassable. Some of the fauna, like the man-sized warrior ants and snake women, can be pretty rough too. Numerous rivers and lakes plus limited-access cliff-ringed plateaus further multiply the effective dis- tance of any journey. Besides, of the eight known tribes, only Urali land is unmarked on your map. Most of the tribes are friendly enough; particularly since, as a real live adventurer, you’re just the one to trouble- shoot some knotty problem. The Barrako queen, for instance, needs someone to res- cue her daughter (another princess!) from a giant ape. The befuddled “Ultima-tized’ Zork? No; but close. Sup- plied with fold-out directions card, clever pulp “magazine”, and poster-size map, the first“‘Worlds of Ultima” release isa refresh- ing, high-entertainment-value new direc- tion from Ultima’s creators. Loom nk $59.95 for CGA-VGA 640K PC Lucas Films Insome time long pastor farin the future, most knowledge and power is the exclusive shaman onanisland is sure to be of help, once you recover his mind, stolen by a powerful rival far to the south. ... Ultima VI’ and ‘Sav- age Empire arrived in the same package. I chose to J play ‘Savage Empire first because 1. It has a neato § picture on the box; and 2. It’s a more recent release. (Also, good, sweet, lov- able, handsome King Lord British was getting to bea real pain.) From what I’ve seen of each game, the for- ws File “Edit Te ime Set Tempo... “vAtmosphere Sequence Riffs Sync To Measure Options Keyboard Index... Hide Piano Keyboard Set Song Length. For instance, you see sheep being lulled to sleep by a shepherd and a draft is played/ displayed. (“Aha”, you say, “I'll bet that’s the Sleep draft.”) To weave a draft you sound the appropriate notes on a staff at the bottom of the screen. (The farther you ad- vance in the adventure, the more notes are added to Bobbin’s staff and the more drafts hecanuse.) You record drafts (in the game’s Book of Patterns) in pencil, because, if the adventure is restarted, whoever plays will encounter different sequences. For the mu- sically adept player, an “Advanced” mode presents drafts as sound only. Supplied, with stereo ‘scene setter’ tape, on six (360K format) dis- kettes, Loom spans crys- talline cities, lush pastures, forge-lit castles, and the labyrinthine caverns of a dragon’s lair. The game is too easy to challenge ex- perienced adventure gam- ers for more than a few hours; but, of course, this was never the objective. Loom isthe computer ver- sion of the richly illustrat- ed fantasy lore book on your coffee table: nice to browse through and fun to share, especially with matsare virtually identical. All adventuring activity takes place on a high-detail ‘map’ showing each party mem- ber, any nearby natives or monsters, trees, cliffs, ladders, huts, and items. Your view is top-down, at a slight slant to allow a 3-D perspective. To enhance realism, there is always some animation (e.g. natives move around, rivers flow, etc.). Good AdLib sound effects supplement an excellent musical score; and you’ll find such expected embel- lishments as day-to-night brightness chang- es. You can converse with each of the nu- merous personages encountered via text in- puts— a picture temporarily replaces the map— otherwise, most adventuring control is via convenient mouse click-and-point. In “Party mode”, members of your group auto- matically follow your lead; but you can split-off and direct individuals. Savage Empire does not drench its con- siderable landscape— roughly equivalent in size to several ‘old Ultima’ continents— with hordes of monsters. Probably, it’s just as well. Lacking a tactical ‘break-out’ dis- play, combat in ‘Savage Empire is decid- edly clumsy; not, in fact, much better than Ultima Is large-map bump-into-and-bash format. The major benefit of combat, aside from clearing troublesome obstacles, is the resulting Experience boosts. These lead to Level advances, more hitpoints, and im- proved Strength, Dexterity, etc. attributes. Shaman magic, cast via assorted skulls and plants, is similarly low-key. The Eagle Eye, Heal, Protection, Charm ... spells are very helpful; but, your main ‘punch’ comes from mundane implements. The somewhat diminished role of con- flict means ‘Savage Empire is very good about letting you explore, soak up the atmo- sphere, and work out solutions in relative peace; and, with a large, attractive, chal- lenge-packed gamescape, there’s plenty to see and no shortage of things to ‘work out’. province of the Great Guilds: Glass makers, Shepherds, Blacksmiths, Clerics, and Weavers. When all but one of the Weavers is mysteriously swept away by some Dark Force, the fabric of time and spaces threat- ened; for it is Weavers who, on The Great Loom, craft the very threads of reality. Alas, the lone remaining Weaver is Bobbin Threadbare, a mere apprentice of the craft! As Bobbin your quest comes down to finding out who (or what?) is responsible for the disappearance of your fellow guild members; and, once you do, having the wherewithal to handle the situation. Your Book of Patterns (i.e. “drafts” or spells) is nearly blank; but you do know one, the draft of Opening (good for opening things and whisking aside curtains). You also possessa Weaver's Staff; and, as a member of the most powerful of guilds, youcommand some degree of awe from those you encounter. (Everyone, for instance, knows it is death to peek beneath a weaver’s cowl.) Once you’ve searched Weaver’s Island and discovered any drafts to be found there, your first major challenge is to find the way off and into the larger world and greater adventure beyond. The first time I started Loom it seemed certain that Lucas Films had decided to go ahead and produce a computer 4 movie. The game’s VGA artwork and smooth ani- E+ mation do place you IN ¢_ theadventurescape. Point to a hut opening, click, and Bobbin walks in. (The screen shows Bobbin in the hut). If you click on some more distant point (and there is some reason- ably direct way to get there), Bobbin will travel the path, diminishing in size as he moves away from the foreground. All complex actions are pre- choreographed; so, if you’re near some ob- ject you would normally use (e.g. a raft); the program will execute the necessary actions (you climb on). Add a vivid AdLib sound- track of Tchikovsky melodies and it’s no wonder the game is nearly as much fun to watch as to play (or that younger visitors still ask me how Bobbin is doing). Though Loom presents close-ups and verbose text for many of the shepherds, glass makers and others you meet along the way, virtually all player input consists of clicking some choice or playing four-note drafts. A draft is learned by encountering it in some context which hints at its function, Readers Data Exchange younger computists. Jam Session kr $49.95, for 768K Apple IIg Broderbund If the weekends and holidays seem to bring visitors flocking into your Computer Room, it’s a safe bet that at least one will come up with something like: “What’s all this stuff about ‘IIgs sound’?” You might boot-up Activision’s “Music Studio” or EA’s “Instant Music”; and your visitors will be suitably impressed. OR, you can go the ‘No Mercy’ route, start up Broderbund’s Jam Session, click on “Chicken Jamboree”, “Walkbass”, “Jamtana”, ... and just blow “em away! Jam Session doesn’t merely play twenty lively << STEREO >> arrangements, it SHOWS the players, in sound-synced ani- mated super-res! The five “groups” include Country-Westem, Rock, and Heavy Metal (four members each), plus a Blues duo and a Classical pianist. Adding to the fun, you get tempo and keyboard-jam control of riffs (runs of notes played as embellishment), individual “scale” notes, and sound effects (e.g. chicken “‘cluck, cluck”’s). These are arranged, by instrument, in the upper four keyboard rows— A, S, ...,’ may be “Guitar riffs”; Z, X, ...,/might be “Synth scale”; etc.. The Shift key switches to four more banks for a total of eight per song. Clicking “Edit” lets you add, delete, and change riff notes; and these changes can be saved to disk. As the name implies, Jam Session is chiefly for ‘play along’, not composition. Riffs can be fairly long and can greatly change song’s sound; but the basic melody remains. Similarly, clicking “Keyboard In- dex” shows current bank assignments; but the display cannot be maintained during play. You could make detailed notes and actually ‘arrange the music’. Mainly, how- ever, you’re supposed to ‘get a feel’ for what’s where and ‘wing it’ like the other members of the group. Sometimes, you’ll sound ‘just okay’; sometimes, especially with a little practice, everything will click into place and you'll sound Great! And, when you’re ready for that ‘special perfor- mance’, justswitchon the program’s Record option. Your masterpiece is ‘in the can’ ready for replay and saving to disk. At present, you can not import entirely new songs or graphics; nor can you change group-song matchups or instrument sets. Thatis, pending release of aFULL-featured Editor utility, the JS package doesn’t do Everything. Jam Session does deliver loads of entertainment, to say nothing of real IIgs COMPUTIST #78 user Satisfaction: “THAT’sNeat!”, “Wow!”, etc., etc.! Elvira, Mistress of the Dark kk $59.95 for EGA-VGA 640K PC (+ $12.95 for required Clue Book) Accolade When Elvira inherits the old family cas- tle, she immediately decides the sprawling three-story keep, towers, and battlements will make the perfect hor- ror-theme nightclub. (As for the dungeon, torture chamber, andcatacombs.., who knows?! If “Elvira’s” isa big enough hit, it could be ‘out with the cells and in with the sell’!) Unfortu- nately, the ‘old family’ has other plans. Like, when it comes to hot nightspots, these guys might as well be dead— well, in fact, they ARE dead, sort of. Thanks to great, great grandma (and sorceress) Imelda, there’s a vampire upstairs, a zombie in the kitchen, a werewolf in the stables, gremlins in the hedge maze, and ghoul guards roaming the grounds. If some- one doesn’t find The Chest soon and get rid of Imelda, things could get REALLY bad! Youalready know whom Elvira has hired to de-creep her castle. Your quest is to collect the six keys needed to open a hidden chest, find the chest, get the magical imple- ments, and zap Imelda. There is no “time factor” as such; but the ingredients for need- ed spells are limited and your attributes (e.g. Strength, Dexterity, Hit Points, ...) are diffi- cult to maintain. (Only weapons Skill im- proves steadily with experience.) Eventual- ly, your resources will run out. The chal- lenge is to complete the quest before this happens. Imagine a single-character, relatively ‘open-air’ version of FTL’s “Dungeon Mas- ter”/lIgs, and you’ ve gota pretty good grasp of Elvira’. Basically, ‘what you see is what you play’. This includes mouse ‘click-and- look’ exploration of therichly detailedcastle rooms, sheds, moat, gardens’s, etc. and combat. The latter is real-time and pits you against animated opponents in semi-arcade one-on-one slash-and-parry duels. (Magic can be used; but only when an enemy is first sighted, before he/she gets within ‘hand combat’ range.) You'll see ghoul guards wield their swords, werewolves transform and charge, Imelda’s handmaidens cast spells, vampires squirm and wail as you drive the stake home, and much more!— like Imelda herself, a killer falcon, brown- robed fanatics, and lots of Elvira!— all in animated VGA accompanied by AdLib sound effects and music. Also, besides a maggot-infested corpse, expect to see your- self with throat cut or torn out, face blue from lack of air, head bobbing in a kettle, «— Le. this game is not for the weak of stomach. Inthe realm of PC adventuring, Elvira’ is ‘leading edge’ stuff guaranteed to draw you into the scenario. Regrettably, unless fore- wamed (and forearmed), the game is all too likely to leave you wandering, winless, and wanting an explanation or two. The problem certainly isn’t “Realism”; the problem is “Faimess”. Elvira’ ’s world builders didn’t quite finish the job. Every role-play adven- ture begins with an unspoken contract: 1. If you use available information and resources ina moderately adept manner, you can suc- ceed without recourse to outlandishly good luck or ESP; and 2. Should you commit some fatal blunder, you will quickly be killed-off; NOT allowed to continue, zom- bie-like, on and on in ignorance. That a player might, deep into Elvira'’s quest, have good reason to wonder if he or she is ‘lost’, ‘dead’, with no hope of winning— this is bad enough. That your doubts are well COMPUTIST #78 founded, is even worse. You do not, for example, have any way of knowing that using up your crossbow bolts (e.g. to zap maze gremlins) leaves no way to kill the werewolf or the Grey Knight. Nor is there a waming that the plants, bugs, and other key spellingredients are limited, non-renewable resources. “Okay, NOW I know; so, the problem is fixed. Right?” Maybe. Misusing your cross- bow bolts is the only for-sure route toadven- turer ‘zombiehood’. Running out of magic or destroying an artifact could produce a similar result; but it’s less likely. Even so, after restarting the game one or two times, I finally consulted the Clue Book and ended up using it as a kind of second manual. Elvira’ is very good about permitting any number of speedy Saves and/Restores; it is rather weak when it comes to supplying critical information. A yery determined, experienced Computist feader might suc- ceed without the “optional” booklet’s maps and hints; but, I doubt that the experience would be especially entertaining. Too much Clue Book stuff belongs in the game pro- gram or in the manual as “Journal” readings, etc.. When you buy the game, get ‘the book’. After finishing Elvira’, I was mulling over some notes and trying to decide how the game stacks up when in walked Gorbash and Baywoof. Neither has won yet; but, despite having to rely upon the Clue Book, both gave it enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’s. With hints and maps, the game still offers a solid challenge; and, I admit, replaying most of the adventure proved to be nearly as absorb- ing as the first try. Even my six or seven attempts at the Hedge Maze (before finally “getting it right’) produced more fun than frustration. Yes, Elvira’ ’s design is seriously flawed (ie. the game, not the TV hostess). A player must use the Clue Book and is certain to spoil a few challenges. Another notable weakness is that 3-D views fail to show maze and corridor openings to the right and left. Together with the absence of a com- pass, this makes navigation a good deal more difficult than it should be. On the other hand, ‘warts and all’, the game IS fun to play— far too much fun to pass up. Supplied with manuals on both 5.25" and 3" media, Elvira' ’s displays, sounds, and scenario grab you, immerse you in the castle’s ‘atmo- sphere’, and hold you for 30-40 hours of horribly enjoyable adventuring. Learning DOS kh $50.00 for 256K PC Microsoft There are all sorts of ways for new PC users to get a handle on the Disk Operating System. One is to borrow someone’s DOS manuals (Baywoof loaned mea couple) and slough your way though each and every aspectof the system. Granted, there is some- thing to be said for learning-by-screwing- up: pain hurts, and, eventually, you avoid pain by doing things right. A better ap- proach, one a good deal faster and more ‘cost effective’, is to march down to your favorite software emporium and pick up a copy of Microsoft's Learning DOS. Now, suppose I were to ask: What must an instructional package do to ‘work’? “It should be fun”; “It should teach the materi- al”; “It should match the presentation to the user’s knowledge”; “It should reward suc- cess”; ... Fine. But, if the response was “It should place the user firmly in control of the presentation”, then give yourself a pat on the nose. If, after all, you want to become a skilled DOS user, then putting YOU incharge of the ‘what’ and ‘when’ of the presentation is the surest way to guarantee success. To accomplish this, Learning DOS first divides things into handy topic areas (e.g. Getting Started, Working with Files, Organizing Your Files with Directories, Using Installed Applica- tions, ...) and then lets you decide where to start. ‘Re- ally new’ PC users can begin at square one, witha key-by-key introduction to important keyboard func- tions. OR, you might try the Self Test and zero-in i} on the areas that need the most attention. Through- out the presentations, you can always PgUp to go back a frame or press Ctrl and choose from Print screen, return to the main Menu, hop to lesson Troubleshooting, see the Index ... or just Quit for now (with ‘Save’) and re- sume your DOS quest after lunch. Each lesson is packed with descriptions, examples, and chances for you to practice using commands and seeing the results. All of this, including work files and directories, is simulated; so, for example, there’s no need to worry when you try your first FOR- MAT. The package automatically adjusts coverage for the DOS version under which you boot (through version 4.00) and in- cludes separate sequences for users with a hard disk and those intending to use a ma- chine without one. (For-hard-disk lessons will run on a non-hard disk machine.) The proof of LD’s effectiveness came in going through the lessons. Despite hours of pouring through manuals, just a couple of LD sessions turned up several. new, very useful ‘discoveries’. (One of the big prob- lems in learning-by-manual is all those questions you don’t know enough to ask.) Better yet, the package includes a DOS Quick Reference you can copy to hard disk. Now, whenever you need to know what a command does, its correct format, see some examples, etc.; you can enter HELP and viola! , the Reference is ready. Supplied with 34-page startup manual (itself,ahandy DOS beginner’s reference), Learning DOS is every new PC user’s first genuine software bargain. OmniKey/ULTRA Keyboard for standard or (with optional key caps) Dvorak layouts tkkk $149.00 for PC XT, AT, Tandy 1000SX, AT&T 6300, and PS/2 except model 25 Northgate Computer Systems Like just about everyone else, when we went shopping for a PC our attention fo- cused upon factors like speed, display capa- bilities, hard disk performance, and sound boards. The unit’s “standard 101 type” key- board might just as well have been invisible. Toward the ‘close’, the salesman trotted out an optional same-price keyboard, which won. approval because it evidenced a slightly less mushy feel; and that was that— NOT acool move! In retrospect, it’s obvious that no secretary or other word processing pro would make such a mistake. They understand the importance of a crisp, sure ‘feel’. Partly, of course, the problem is that to even get your hands on a good keyboard in many shops, you must specifically ask to try one. It also helps to know what to look for. As noted in past joystick reviews, the major source of user discomfort and fatigue is not Readers Data Exchange high tension. Most often, when a low qual- ity, otherwise “okay” stick leaves the user oddly worn out after relatively little action, the culprit is absence of reliable feedback. This is the “shadow boxing syndrome”: the lessa joystick (or mouse + pad, or keyboard) ‘tells’ you about its status via touch, pres- sure, sound, etc., the more over-movement and extra effort you must expend to use it. A good keyboard ‘talks’ to your fingers and to your ears. Northgate knows about feedback; so, all OmniKey series keyboards employ ALPS click/tactile key switches. When you pressa c/tkey 1. you feel the key move down; 2. you’ feel and hear a THLICK! as the switch activates; 3. you feel and hear the key ‘bot- tom out’ at the end of the press. Your key- stroke is very similar in principle to the recommended correct golf swing or tennis stroke: power, contact, follow-through. The result is a natural, comfortable ‘feel’ vastly superior to the mash-and-clack (all-power stroke) response of low-quality units. The 112-key '/ULTRA places Function Keys 1-12 to the left (like the OmniKey/ Plus) and adds Special Function Keys 1-12 along the top. The latter, via an SF Select key, can be set to duplicate the Function Keys or as Shift +, Culr +, or Alt + Function keys. A second ‘setup key’, Rate Select, lets you set Auto Repeat rate (.54 - 125 charac- ters/second), the Delay between keypress and start of repeat (.20 - 1.85 seconds), and startup KB validation time (.008 - 1.85 sec- onds). These settings require just two key- presses. The '/ULTRA ‘wakes up’ with SF keys set as Shifted Function keys, a 10.9 char/sec repeat rate, .5 second Delay, and .008 second Validate. To accommodate MS DOS users, the \ and * keys are placed within easy reach just below Enter. Rear panel DIP switches let you swap these keys (to move\to the bottom. row) as well as rotate the positions of left Ctrl, Alt, and Caps Lock. A key cap puller and the needed alternate key capsare includ- ed. (The unit arrived with left Ctrl in row 3, which, as an also-IIgs user, suits me just fine.) To help avoid thecommon“U>S>A>”, etc. typo, you'll find a Comma/Period Lock key; and, for speedier numeric entries, Enter is duplicated just to the right of the numeric keypad. '/ULTRA adopts the generally preferred diamond Cursor key arrangement; and, for those used to the inverted-T pattern, sets the center “Omni” key to duplicate the Down Arrow function. Insert and Delete appear as extra-size keys just below the cursor diamond. Done in off-white “computer chrome”, '/ ULTRA boasts a slim 20.25" x 7.25" table- hugging 5Ib. metal case equipped with rub- ber-tipped flip-out angle adjusters. Low- glare white or gray key caps and LED status indicators in-set on a sloping panel above the numeric keypad round out the attractive design. Rugged, pretty, and a pleasure to use, the OmniKey/ULTRA lives up to its name from the moment you plug it in. Com- plaints? Well, it would benice if the ‘wakeup’ Key Repeat rate were higher; and, perhaps, the chord should be powder blue instead of gray. Neither ‘weakness’ appeared to bother the first visitor to try the unit. After a few minutes of DOS diddling, Baywoof just stopped and commented: “You know, this keyboard has a NICE feel!” I suspect his old “part of the package’ board is headed for the shelves. Supplied with comprehensive manual, chord, and dust cover, the ULTRA does carry a higher price tag than the average plastic-cased “101 type” unit. Still, this is a classic ‘you get what you pay for’ situation. Whether shopping for a new PC or upgrad- ing an established system, you owe it to yourself to check out the OmniKey/UL- TRA. As the chief connection between you and your PC, your keyboard can dramatical- ly impact productivity and enjoyment of a rather sizable investment. You might as well get a good one. (Other OmniKey boards include the / PLUS at $119.00, /102 at $99.00, and /101 models at $89.00.) Sword of Aragon tke $39.95 for CGA-EGA 384K PC Strategic Simulations As heir to the Duke of Aladda (recently slain in an orc raid), you inherit his dream: to bring peace to the West and East Realms by uniting the twenty feuding city states of the old Aragonian Empire. This is NOT, you soon realize, as easy as it i sounds, Several strategi- cally placed cities have ; beenundertheruleoforcs, § goblins, giants, trolls, or titans for so long that they have become veritable monster fortresses. Just to the north, a power-hungry despot, Pitlag the Pitiless, has begun to subjugate peaceful neighbors; and Aladda is certainly ‘on the menu’. Fortunately, Lord Pitlag’slogging operations £ have won the enmity of the West Elves; but you have yet toshow the mysterious forest dwellers that Aladda is any different. The Dwarves and Plainsmen are similarly suspicious of anyone claiming altruistic motives. Your big problem is Lucian III of Tetra- da, the old Empire capital in East Realm. He regards Aladda and other West Realm cities as ‘lost’, barbarous, and fit only to serve as pawns in his games of assassination and conquest in the wealthy East. Orcs, dark mages, and demons are a sampling of those with whom Lucian makes common cause, tosay nothing of his evil humanallies. Aside from ruling the largest city with the biggest army, Lucian poses another kind of obsta- cle: he is, de facto, “the Emperor”; YOU are merely one of many lords, and, at that, of a West Realm city state! Part of your quest (i.e. the “adventure part”) is to acquire the Crown of the West, Scepter of the East,.and other major symbols of legitimacy. Sword of Aragon is, primarily, a strate- gy and tactics challenge combined with a hefty dose of “Santa Paravia’” economics: rich cities with large, contented populations and developed industries produce the big- gest incomes and the most powerful armies. Each turn is one month, during which you spend income to build production, defenses, and armies in cities under your control. You also cement agreements with potential al- lies, move individual “commanders” and multi-unit armies (shown as stacked icons on the large, scrolling ‘empire map’), pur- sue wealth-enhancing rescue and monster- removal missions, initiate major invasions, and respond to various large and small-scale attacks. It is moderately rewarding to see city incomes grow, but the big payoff for your efforts is the chance to direct your custom- equipped and trained units of infantry, bow- men, cavalry, (horse bowmen, mounted in- fantry, etc.) together with individual Knight, Warrior, Ranger, Priest, and Mage com- manders in battles against computer-man- aged adversaries. Set on scrolling, multi- screen, ‘tactical level’ maps (complete with trees, bridges, walls, ...), these combats fea- ture partially-animated unit icons, flexible click-and-move controls, full-range equip options, and ready access to spell casting. (Depending upon Level, Mages, Priests, and Rangers can employ such powers as Tele- port Unit, Pyrotechnics, Disintegrate, Heal, Create Tower, etc..) ‘Aragon does not, however, favor a ‘special powers’-based strategy. Mages and Priests are very impor- tant, but slow to develop and few in number. The core of your punch remains the ‘grunt’: chiefly, heavy infantry backed by bow units. Itshould go without saying that one does not devote large chunks of column space to hints and advice (re. issue #75) for a game one does not like. As noted in the earlier column, you may encounter one bug: when responding to the initial game-protection 6 question, the correct answer will sometimes be the word after the one requested. Other complaints include sketchy documentation of unit characteristics and overly slow in- come growth. (Again, see issue #75 for “cures’). So much for the ‘warts of Aragon’. SSI’s Sword of Aragon is a unique, long- play strategy & tactics-plus-adventure chal- lenge offering multiple, speedy Game Save/ Restore, decent ‘old-PC’ sound, and crisp, colorful graphics, Restoring The Empire isn’t easy; but it probably supplied as much solid gaming ‘fun time’ as anything I played in 1990, Donald’s Alphabet Chase tok $14.95 for 128K Apple II Disney Software When Disney’s new alphabet game ar- rived, I popped it into a drive and started playing with barely a glance at the manual. The result was a ‘different kind’ of gaming experience. Moving from room ioroom inandaround Donald’s house, the player presses alphabet keys to help Donald find and chase down pesky “silly letters” (who swing from light fixtures, scamper along fences, hop on fur- niture, etc. before being collected). I quickly discovered that, when you get all the letters inany location (listed in a box at the screen’s upper left corner), the program plays a por- tion of the Alphabet Song; so, I tackled the chase on a room-by-room basis. One can, however, press any un-caught letter’s key; and Donald will go to the correct room and find the letter selected. “Cute hires artwork, nice animation, decent ‘old-Apple’ sound”, I decided, “but, really, too easy— there’s not even a score! Only a three-year-old could get much from this kind of challenge. .. Aha!!” Sure enough, right on the box it says “Ages 2-5, Preschool”. A “Challenge”, to be sure, is where you find it. For young pre-readers, pressing al- phabet keys— especially, A key to get a particular letter— can be a genuine chal- lenge as well as a valuable learning experi- ence. (In Center for Giftedness parlance, we are talking about developing eye-hand coor- dination, fine-motor skills, letter recogni- tion, ...AND slipping in a bit of ‘computer literacy’ preparation.) That the player gets to try out new skills On A Computer and Make Fun Things Happen— well, this is heady stuff indeed. Add the powerful bene- fits of parental involvement— a 12-page booklet suggests several parent-child ‘Chase’ activities—and you've gotastrong, attractive, and entertaining route to building Reading foundation skills. ORCA/M kk $69.95 for 512K Apple IIgs Byte Works All in all, there is probably no more rewarding computing activity than actually taking control of the machine. Mastering any of the “high level” programming lan- guages is a decent start; but, especially on the IIgs, the surest route is mastery of As- sembly Language. Unlike “machine coding”, where you go to the monitor and make entries like AS FE .. in assembly language you are using atext editor and can enter LDA $FE. If you’ve told the assembler that address $FE isnamed COLOR; then LDA COLOR is possible. Assembly language also permits Labeling any statement; so, instead of 20 00 03 to activate a sound effect, you might enterJSR HONK. Named variables and labels make it acinch, using a good edi- tor, to add, delete, and move around pieces of your program; and, natu- rally, the product is vastly easier to read and debug. Most of today’s assembly language packages are “macro assemblers”. This means that you CAN use and/or create macros (i.e. procedures callable via a label); not that you must. Almost certainly, you will want to make some use of the macros found in Math, Y/O and other Libraries. From the very start, ORCA/M (sometimes, in its nearly identical “APW” form) has been the standard IIgs development environment. Asaresult, familiarity with and access to the Byte Works product is assumed in pro- gramming examples found in Apple manuals and valuable learning aids like Exploring the Apple IIgs ($22.95) and Exploring Apple GS/OS and ProDOS 8 ($21.95, both by Gary Little, from Addison-Wesley). The same applies to on-disk programs and li- braries available as supplements to the Little books and Apple’s Programmer’s Intro- duction to the Apple IIgs ($32.95, from Addison-Wesley). Naturally, ORCA/M’s libraries of Equates and Macros ‘fit’ the Toolbox Reference volumes like a glove. AILORCA language packages, including Pascal, C, and Assembly, ‘operate under’ the ORCA Shell. The Shell is an operating system which, besides allowing access to ProDOS commands, ‘glues together’ the Editor, various language assemblers, as- sorted utilities, and the Linker. This does NOT, incidentally, mean that you must start up the Shell to run programs created using an ORCA language. You CAN create files which execute only when the Shell is active as well as Shell batch files; you can also create stand-alone “GS Applications”, CDA’s, NDA’s, etc., and, via the MAKE- BIN utility, produce old style BRUNable files. The Shell lets you customize your working environment (e.g. name a “Work Disk”, seta preferred printer init string, etc.) and, via the LOGIN file, have the system start with your preferred environment in place. Anadvantage of becoming familiar with the ORCA/M assembler is that, in the pro- cess, you become familiar with most of the “tricky part’ in leaning to use any language development system. In ORCA, only the particular language assemblers, Editor set- tings (e.g. tab stops, etc.), and Libraries change from language to language. Once you master the Shell, learning to program in any ORCA language is, chiefly, “just” a matter of learning the language. Currently, the Shell comes in two ‘flavors’: the all-text version, included when you buy ORCA/M, and the super-res windows-and-mouse “Desktop” version. The latter, supplied with current GS/OS, includes such advanced de- bugging features as single-step execution with variables monitoring and a graphics output window. “Okay; so, how do you write an assembly language program?” Here’s a typical exam- ple: 1. You boot the ORCA diskette. 2. Enter ASM816 to set the current language to As- sembly Language. (Your LOGIN file could do this for you.) 3. Enter EDIT BUGNOSE to edit the program named BUGNOSE. If the BUGNOSE source file (a text file) is found, it is loaded; if not, itisn’t. Either way, you end up in ORCA’s full-featured text Editor with tabs and other defaults set for Readers Data Exchange convenient Assembly Language entry. 4. You make any desired changes to BUGNOSE (or, if from scratch, enter your new BUGNOSE program), exit the Editor, and do a quick SAVE. 5. Now, entering ASML BUGNOSE will assemble and link your stuff and create an exe file which you can execute from the Shell by entering BUGNOSE. (NOT, of course, a good idea if BUGNOSE does something gross, like set- ting all RAM to FF’s.) 6. If you’d like to have BUGNOSE in BRUNable form, you can enter MAKEBIN BUGNOSE.EXE BUGNOSE.BIN. See, easy! So far, I’ve used ORCA/M to develop several utilities. While, in a few cases, the machine code entry route was a possible alternative, some projects (e.g. a super-res picture packer/unpacker called “Super Pac”) would have been nearly unthinkable. ORCA/ Mnow ships with the “ZapLink” version of the Linker; so, assembly-link time is better than ever— most ‘small stuff’ takes less than a minute. Assembler error checking, fortunately, is very good; and, thanks to the Shell ‘glue’, it’s a snap to hop back into the Editor, correct an error, and be ready for another try. Two caveats: though the system can work with one drive and 512k, life is much easier with two drives; and, to run with the super-res Desktop system, plan on at least 1.25MB of RAM. ORCA/M’s 370- page manual is comprehensive, well-in- dexed, and very readable; it is also not particularly well organized. Expect to end up with documentation plastered with your own index tabs. If, atlong last, you’re ready to create your own windows, use mouse inputs in YOUR programs, etc.. If, in short, you want the power (and fun!) of writing your own IIgs software, then get out your Toolbox Refer- ences, check out the books mentioned above, and, very definitely, check out ORCA/M! Reach for the Stars: The Conquest of the Galaxy, Third Edition kr $44.95 for 512K Apple IIgs Strategic Studies Group From the developers of such wargame favorites as “Panzer Battles” and “‘Ameri- can Civil War’”, Reach for the Stars III moves you into the distant future where battles decide the fate of planets and, even- tually, of the galaxy. This much-reworked version of the first Keating and Trout prod- uct offers 1-4 players a shot at the original scenario, a new Advanced Scenario, and (thanks to user-adjustable production costs, movement factors, victory conditions, etc.) countless variations of each. To facilitate one-on-one and solitaire play, any unfilled slots are taken by computer players. These can range from inept bunglers (i.e. “jelly rolls”) to Enhanced Veterans capable of putting together formidable alliances (i.e. “guns”), Anticipating that many spacewar jelly tolls will be attracted to the game, RFTS designers include a well-documented Tuto- rial Scenario. Here you get hands-on prac- tice with setting planetary production tar- gets to build ships, develop drive technolo- gy, enhance industrial capacity, .... Youalso explore prospects for expansion and man- age your military assets for defense and conquest, Like any reasonably complex piece ofentertainmentsoftware—the better flight/ combat simulators are a good example— RFTS takes some serious ‘getting into’. Pull- down menu/stat displays, quick save/load, and point-and-click mouse controls relieve players of most record-keeping and ‘bean counting’ chores. Still, you must enjoy the kind of planning and attention to detail that produce battlefield victories and strategic gains. If, in short, you are for-real wargamer material, then RFTS is waiting with crisp, colorful super-res star maps and a strategy wargaming platform good for many hours of absorbing play. COMPUTIST #78 Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday kk $49.95 for CGA-VGA 640K PC Strategic Simulations (Clue Book, $12.95) Hard upon a string of swords & sorcery victories, the SSI-TSR team has teleported their D&D adventuring model into the 25th century, and notamoment too soon, Led by Buck Rogers, New Earth Orga- nization rebels have just driven oppressive Russo- American Mercantile (RAM) forces from the planet; and everyone knows RAM will be back. It’s ‘No more Mr. fi Niceguy’, evenifitmeans total warandaCountdown to Doomsday! BeginningasnewNEO §j Tecruits, your party of six soon discovers that RAM is building a Super Laser to sterilize the cities of Earth. Closing down this project is your primary mission, one which takes you to an asteroid outpost plus several bases and vil- lages on Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Don’t expect to encounter many evil wizards; do expect tough meetings with RAM guards, pirates, desert apes, (hyper-snakes, etc.) and assorted ‘special purpose’ robots. Your par- ty will also face automated security defens- es, ship-to-ship combats, and dangerous boarding clashes. Occasionally, a friendly Desert Runner, reformed computer person- ality, ...,or even Buck himself will pitch in; mainly, though, saving Earth is up to you. After four long-play SSI swords & sor- cery quests, ‘sci-fi D&D’ definitely takes a bit of acclimating. While Magic is gone, your characters can acquire new “Skills” and a few weapons which approach the gratifying destructiveness of a Fireball. Tactical combat looks and works much like that in the S&S games; which is to say it works very well, offering quick, flexible click-and-point control. Still, while you can look forward to more varied tactical setups (e.g. more barriers, rooms to hole-up in, etc.), modern attack and defense options clearly lack the range supplied via magic. By“BuckRogersII’” (“RevengeofRAM”?), it will be time to uncover heretofore un- imagined Founder artifacts, psi powers, and Vulcan death grips. Boasting 3D-perspective forward-view VGA ‘exploration mode’ displays, AdLib music, and decent effects, Buck Rogers’ is the most attractive, smoothest running im- plementation yet of SSI’s popular questing format. Look forward to a reasonably flex- ible, clue-packed scenario, stiff combats, and 30-50 hours of entertaining sci-fi ad- venture. (Includes volume 1 of the Buck Rogers Inner Planets Trilogy: First Power Play, a TSR paperback by John Miller.) Crystal Quest kk $49.95 for 512K Apple IIgs Casady & Green When “Mocking Board” first delivered REAL sound to the II+/Me market I had the opportunity to try (and try, and ...) a simple, but clever demo arcade named “Thunder bombs”. WHY?, I kept wondering, was 1 playing this twitsy game? The answer was sound!— specifically, a very rewarding SFPLURT!!! synced toachurning ‘fireball’ whenever I popped an enemy ship. Well, ‘Crystal Quest offers a much superior move- around-and-zap-space-monsters challenge PLUS highly effective IIgs sound effects. Ineach of an (apparently) endless series of marauding monster “Waves”, the object is to mouse-guide your icon-sized craft around the screen and collect crystals. When you get them all, a Gate at the bottom of the COMPUTIST #78 screen opens and youcan zip through to face the next Wave. Hampering your efforts are mines sprinkled amidst the crystals and the need to adjust for momentum effects in ship movement and missile launches. Your Big problem is the monsters which periodically enter through portals on either side of the screen. Dumples squirm toward your ship and grunt, Pests lay mines, Zar- klephasers spin-off missiles, Menaces slide along the borders and fire laser bursts, etc... Popping these turkeys is very satisfying and makes it easier to collect crystals and grom valuable Smart Bombs (one of these wipes out all monsters currently on the screen). Potting monsters also ups your score; but the major boosts come form collecting special Super Crystals (which drift onto the screen and move around) and getting through a level in one piece. To encourage competi- tion, CC starts a ‘Today’s Top Scores’ list- ing each session and maintains a large all- time High Scores roster on-diskette. Whether or not to risk hanging around after a Gate is opened (to get all the Smart Bombs or wait for a Super Crystal) is up to you. Whether or not to quit play after a few waves probably isn’t. Crystal Quest is guar- anteed to grab any arcade devotee for hours of action-filled monster-sfplurting, Fast Frames, Updates, Etc. Stick-y Stuff OMEGA ® $29.95 Joystick for Apple II series and IBM Beeshu Size: 4.25"W x 5.0"D x 1.75"H x 3° Handle Centering Tension: approx. 70 gm. Handedness: none Centering Error: 2.8%H, 1.6%V Centering Defeat: none Movement Range (Horiz.): 70 degrees Useful Range (X/ Horiz.): 33 degrees Centering Adjust: two thumbwheels Connector: Apple DIN & IBM adapter Case Access: four screws, remove feet Available in lime green and three alter- native da-glow colors plus off-white, Bee- shu’s Omega boasts rounded contours anda smooth fire-button-topped lotus handle. PB1 (the second switch) is duplicated, left and right, on the top front of the up-sloping case. This is an attractive ‘gumdrop’, compact and light enough for hand-held or on-desk operation, IF, that is, it operated! The killer spec is “Useful Range”, the handle swing in degrees over which X output (Y for vertical swing) actually changes. Omega is an ana- log device; but with response end-points only 16.5 degrees from center, the stick acts more’ like a four-way switch. Occasionally, this won’t matter— as when a product cares only which direction you’re pointing. Too often, however, it will matter very much. All sorts of driving and flight/combat simula- tions demand close, full-range control for best performance. Taking on one of these with Omega is like playing with half your skill tied behind your back. Where are they now? As noted in past joystick reviews, the usual test procedure includes a week or so of ‘living with’ a stick. This turns out to be fairly revealing when it comes to evaluating user comfort and game performance, but doesn’t say much about longer term con- cerns. How does a stick stand up to contin- ued daily use? Do comfort and performance evaluations ‘prove out’ over the long haul? For starters, several sticks were picked- out by visitors, donated to PBS tele-auctions, etc. soon after the reviews. These include Wico’s second ‘Commander (gray case, rod-like han- | die), Suncom’s Tac 1+, Control Marketing’s Pro 6000, and Kraft’s Premi- um III (original, black- handle + red button ver- sion), All missed the long- term trial. Among the units des- 4 tined to ‘stay and take it’, the CH Products Flight Stick retains its excellent ‘command console’ feel and a solid hold on its position next to the IIgs. The venerable Mach III, another CH stick, continues to be a smooth, reliable performer after many, many sessions of “Elite”, “Conan”, etc. on the I+. Suncom’s unique Starfighter gets only an occasional workout. Thanks to pressure-transducer technology and bolt-anchored handle, the “fighter is perfect for high-energy visitors used to slamming around cartridge-game switcher sticks. (It’s a good bet that, around 2500 A.D., some archaeologist will dig up a ‘fighter and write a paper on the “indestruc- tibility of 20th century devices”. He or she will also, no doubt, comment upon the in- credible hand strength of earlier humans.) An Epyx 500 XJ has yet to reach me in ready-to-work form. Both of the repaired units continue to perform well enough on Apple applications which require just mod- erately precise centering and which locate ‘center’ near the middle of X and Y pot ranges. Being a hand-held-only unit and, at that, one incorporating interesting innova- tions that ‘kind of work’ (e.g. push-button centering), the 'X Jis, at best, a ‘second stick’ choice for the experimentally inclined user. Evil times have befallen one highly rated unit. Aftera few months of fine action-game sticking, the Advanced Gravis Analog Joystick (for Apple) developed a serious up-glitch in the vertical pot. I removed the defective resistance element— just un-sol- der the leads, pull out the wiper assembly, and pop out the element—and, sure enough, the resistance track showed a worn spot. More tothe point, the resistance layer proved to be so thin as to virtually guarantee a short life. A call to the manufacturer seemed to confirm this analysis but produced some good news as well. According to Ron Haidenger, Gravis product manager, the company switched pot suppliers several months ago (i.e. shortly after sending out the review sample). If you own a Gravis stick purchased after reading the review, there’s a good chance your pots are of the better quality variety. WHAT are they now?! In the highly favorable review of Sun- com’s Analog Plus, quite a bit was made of how nice it was to see pressure-transducer technology “come of age”. Indeed, WHEN ithappens, it will be nice to see. The "Plus is avery good stick loaded with design innova- tions; but it does NOT employ pressure transducers. (Well, it Looks, Feels, and Re- sponds like a PT stick; AND it’s from Sun- com, maker of “Starfighter”.) As fate would have it, Analog Plus is the only stick I did not completely disassemble and examine for the reviews. Recently, I opened the case to scrape off a bit of plastic so the centering adjustments would slide more easily. The white circuit board flopped out and the Truth was revealed! Readers Data Exchange Instead of the expected pressure sensor pads activated by rubber-tipped arms ex- tending from the handle, the 'Plus employs straight-line board-molded resistance tracks. Two wipers are mounted at right angles on separate slotted plates. (One has a horizon- tal slot, the other has a vertical slot. The bottom tip of the handle fits through both slots.) Moving the handle slides each wiper along its track to produce X and Y resistance outputs. (Clever!) The Analog Plus doesn’t merely “employ pots”; itIS a highly mgged, dual-output potentiometer. It also remains a popular, proven performer on “Stormovik”, “Stellar 7”, and many other PC simulations. (Hint: For better, more positive feeling trig- gers, open the handle and carefully remove the two springs.) My chief "Plus complaint, that centering tension may be too high for prolonged high- action applications, has proven out. On Or- igin’s “Wing Commander”, fifteen minutes or so of fierce space combatis likely to force most players to a two-handed grip. One solution is to switch sticks; another is to view this as an opportunity to build wrist strength. More daring users (with access to a pointy-tipped soldering iron) can disas- semble the case, slide out the resistance assembly, and ‘adjust’ tension by punching spots around the flexible ring which anchors the handle. (Remember, a decorative rubber boot surrounds the handle on top. Take care to punch only the ring.) Since the sliding plates are centered via springs on the resis- tance assembly, a circle of 8-12 small holes will reduce handle tension without affecting X-Y centering accuracy. Lo-Mem Boots As mentioned last issue, many of the newer PC games demand a hefty chunk of your 640K base memory. Some examples are “Stunt Driver”, “Ishido”, “Stratego”, “Elvira”, Stormovik”, “Altered Destiny”, “Prince of Persia”, “Savage Empire”, ... (i.e. not ALL of the ‘good stuff’, but you get the idea). Starting one of these from the usual Dosshell selector will result in mid-play bomb-out or, if you’re lucky, generate an immediate “Not enough free memory” mes- sage. One cure is to routinely rely upon mem- ory manager software to move chunks of startup applications out of precious ‘base RAM’ into either expanded or extended memory. Also, DOS supports moving some buffers and drivers into expanded memory. The ‘catches’ here are (1) The product to be run may, itself, want to use all or mostofany expanded memory; and (2) Your favorite DOS and/or any available memory manager software may not recognize the presence of your particular brand of expanded memory board. (Fortunately, most products which make use of expanded memory don’t care whether DOS knows about your board or not.) The alternative ‘cure’ is a good deal simpler and more straightforward. Vendors know when their stuff is ‘pushing the lim- its’. Typically, you will find some sugges- tion to the effect that if (?!) you experience loading problems, try booting with a bare bones DOS. Experienced PC types see this suggestion and don’t even bother trying a ‘standard’ boot. They pull out a lo-mem boot diskette and run the game with no problem. ‘What is a lo-mem boot (“LMB”) dis- kette? To create one, you stick a diskette into drive A and enter “format a: /s”. This for- mats the diskette and writes the three system” files DOS needs to perform essential func- ° tions, With current DOS versions, you can expect about 590K of free memory after booting such a diskette (DOS, etc. is using only about 50K). Since you will usually want a mouse driver, you should create an autoexec.bat file to load one when the LMB diskette boots. (Look at your ‘standard boot’ Autoexec.bat file to see how it loads the mouse driver.) For example, to startup the Microsoft mouse: ECHO ON Cc: cD \ MOUSE A: ECHO OFF ECHO Welcome to Lo-mem Boot. Here, the mouse driver, MOUSE.COM, is in the drive C (hard disk) root directory. Once the newly created autoexec. bat is writ- ten to your LMB diskette, booting it should install your mouse and leave roughly 580K of free memory. This is enough to run just aboutany currententertainment product with all of the ‘bells and whistles’ the program offers. There are a few notable exceptions. Giv- en the above setup, games like Origin’s “Wing Commander” and “‘Savage Empire” will run; but, for full sound and graphics, you will also need a few hundred K of eapanded memory. On a ‘286 PC/AT, this means you plug in an “Expansion Memory” board. (With 512K installed, typical prices start around $150.) To install a board’s Ex- panded Memory Driver (included on a dis- kette when you buy the board), you add a config.sys file to your LMB diskette. The following config.sys one-liner activates an Everex “RAM 3000 Deluxe” board: DEVICE=C:\EMM.SY¥S /C C800 258,00 Booting an LMB diskette with this config.sys and the autoexec.bat mouse in- staller will start DOS, ‘hook up’ expanded memory, and load your mouse driver. Since the ems driver uses some base RAM, ‘avail- able memory’ may drop to 569K or so. Applications which employ expanded memory (e.g. “Savage Empire”) allow for this. They demand less base RAM than some other large applications (e.g. “Elvira”) which use no ems memory. Soon, perhaps as early as spring, we should have a DOS which can handle ALL available memory. Once applications de- signers can easily ‘get to’ the EXTENDed memory most AT users already have on- board, LMB diskettes and/or tricky memory management utilities will be for “old DOS”- stuff-only. For now, make a couple LMB diskettes. Add the mouse installer (autoexec.bat) to each; add the ems installer (config.sys) to the one you'll boot to ‘turn- on’ expanded memory. Note: If you are a new or soon-to-be new PC user and much of the above vaguely resembles Greek (and you’re not Greek); then check out the review of Microsoft’s “Learning DOS”. Indianapolis 500: The Simulation tok Picking the 1990 ‘Sleeper of the Year’ was easy. Seldom has such a fine product received so little attention as Indianapolis 500' ($49.95 from Electronic Arts). Setup options include the expected choices of team & car (March Cosworth, Lola Buick, Pen- ske Chevrolet), action format (practice, qualifying, race) and race length (10-200 laps). After a few hours practice, you will want to check the manual and fine-tune car settings for Tires (rubber mix, pressure, and size), Shocks, Camber, Fuel, airfoil Wings, and Gear ratios. To give you a taste of how different settings affect handling and speed, three loadable settings arrangements are supplied on-diskette. Your own favorite set- tings can also be saved and loaded. Nice; but the game’s best up-front fea- ture is that, just seconds after booting, you can be in a car and racing with barely a glance at the manual or ‘setup card’. Joy- stick control is smooth, offering steady command of wheel position plus natural feeling (fwd/back) throttle and breaking positions. Zooming around the “Brickyard” your cockpit view shows crowded stands, pitstop lanes, flagmen, ... and the track- burning competition— all in colorful, ex- pertly animated 3d-perspective with solid AdLib sound. Alternative views include TV- type sky and track positions with option for instant replay (e.g. of those spectacular 8 crackups). So far, Indy’ 500‘ has been good for hours of first rate racing— and that was BEFORE I decided to look at the manual and ‘get serious’! (For CGA-VGA 640K PC) Tangled Tales/PC tok Yet once again there is cause for joy in PC-ville. Last year Origin’s whimsical three- part adventure eamed four stars as a II+/Ile release. In 16-color EGA the partially-ani- mated characters, scenery, maps, and dun- geons look even better. As in the II version, sound is zilch; but TT’s attraction remains. Expect an engaging, long-play scenario packed with interesting personages, places, and challenges. ($29.95 for CGA-EGA 384K PC) Wing Commander Supposedly, if some- one does high-action cockpit-view space com- bat in fast, smoothly-ani- mated, VGA with stirring music and decent sound (both via AdLib), the result isasure winner. If youadd a blow-em-away intro, insert movie-quality be- tween-mission scenes, and finish with thorough, attractive documenta- tion there SHOULD be absolutely no doubt. Why, then, doesn’t Origin’s ambitious new arcade quite ‘deliver the goods’? Call it“Sock”, “Punch”, “Pow”; whatev- er term you use for the moments when you fire off a shot (SHHVROOM!!, ...) and FEEL it take a bite out of the target— THAT’s what Wing Commander is miss- ing. A Kilrathi (the bad guys) Jalthi fighter swoops into point-blank range, you unload ablast, and ... nothing! “That’s because they have shields!” Uh, uh. Shield hits are sup- posed to flare and make a FRZZZZAP!! sound (or SZFOOFF!!), or something. And, at WC’ slevel of detail, at least some real hits should muncha piece out of the haul. Every- one knows that space fighters don’t auto- matically blow on the first hit. The ‘bottom line’ is realism. The closer a game gets to it, the more easily any ‘obvious’ omissions can render the whole thing UN-real. Flying a Wing Commander mission can be moder- ately entertaining; but, without ‘the Punch’, it’s too much like a pillow fight. ($69.95 for EGA-VGA 640K PC + 300K-500K ems) The Passion Fairhaven. sky in_the center of a magnificent tower. low-pressure challenge. Just turn on the radio (you get achoice of Rock, Country, or Classical music) and drive. Day becomes night, itmay rain, cows, slow-moving trucks, etc. may lumber onto the road, the highway patrol WILL be watching, and you may or may not place in the Top Driver’s roster (maintained for each section and thecourse). So what; this is laid-back “racing” in the California style. You’ ve got plenty of ‘lives’, five maps showing alternate routes, and miles of finely-detailed scenery to explore. The Biota Company A new IIgs educational software maker, Biota, has sent in a few beta samples of mfhead of you_is the villag Stretchi ig), leaming materials produced using photog- raphy-to-super-res techniques. The ap- proach, demonstrated via a nature learning uniton “Bogs”, looks promising. J.D. Curn- ow, the chief developer, did not say how close Biota is to some finished products— by now they may have several. If Education is ‘your game’, you might send J.D. a note and ask. Pro Tennis Tour tokk When you recall that the first video game was called “Pong”, it has to be at least a little ironic that tennis is the last popular sport to be successfully ‘computer gamed’. Blue Byte’s Pro Tennis Tour (from UBI Soft/ Electronic Arts) is the first simulation to deliver both the look and feel of ‘real ten- nis’. The “look” is a from-the-stands full- court view from behind the player figure you control. To get the “feel”, Pro Tennis’ combines just the right amount of player joystick input with plenty of realistic com- puter fill-in. On serves, you ‘fire’ to toss, swing a cross-hair aimer to your target area as the ball arches up, and fire to hit. On toward the he village is Supplied with manual and commands card, Pro Tennis Tour makes good use of ‘old- PC’ sound and smooth animation to guaran- teed many hours of easy-to-get-into, addic- tive court action. ($39.95, for CGA-EGA 512k PC) Super Quest Champs? Could be. In a recent letter, Brian Gillo- gly notes that he and his brother, Bob, not only reached the Mega Crown (thus restor- ing the balance of Science and Technology in the 23rd century), they have gone on to map every square of the monster-packed maze! Since Super Quest (a 1983 SoftSide telease for 48K II+/Ile) spans well over 1000 ‘rooms’ and game saves are limited to a few special locations AND there is no character res- urrection option— well, mapping the entire thing is an astonishing achieve- ment. Brianalsoasks about something which may have teased other SQ players: What's in the two ‘un- reachable rooms’ (#450 and #451)? Good question. Perhaps they will play some role in Super Quest I. Bomblets, Not Bombs Due to a typo error (mine), a few prod- ucts last issue ended up with ratings of Defective (6) instead of the intended Poor (®). Just cross-out the bombs and draw-in unhappy faces. While I’m on the subject; and, since ithas been a while since Ratings were last de- scribed, some explanation may be in order. To interpretarating, justimagine that you’ ve finished trying out the product and exclaim “Excellent!”. THAT is a four-star rating. “Unbelievable!”, “Awesome!!!”, etc. stuff which breaks new ground in some area (¢.g. graphics, sound, speed, etc.) may reach five stars. But, if you find yourself telling a friend “Oh, it was okay”, the product prob- ably rates just a one-star Fair. When an otherwise attractive product doesn’t work due to some fixable defect, it may be tagged Defective. Since the idea is to wam readers to “watch out, for now”, usual- ly, only highly-advertised, high-interest products are candidates. Nowadays, De- fective ratings are very rare. More often than not, I’m able to reach the vendor via telephone, obtain needed explanations and/ or assurances, and pass these along. Any review then goes ‘on the back burner’ in the expectation that the ven- Accolade’s third Test ee Drive ($59.95 for EGA- VGA 640K PC) matches you against a pair of com- puter competitors in a LONG-running California road duel. ‘Choice of eS —— ae ies se er dor will fix the problem and send me an update. On some imaginary Ss : +, Scale of Excellence, the { biggest gap is between Fair (x) and Poor. Were a friend to ask if he or she should purchase a Fair weapons’ includes Chevro- product; you might say let’s CERV III prototype (a real monster), Pininfarina’s super-responsive Mythos, and Lamborghini’s road- hugging Diablo— you are not, in short, exactly help- less! On the other hand, the computer guys don’t have to handle tricky turns with KB or ‘switcher’ stick, you do. “Whoa! My joystick says ‘Analog’ right on the case!” Maybe so; but, in TD-III/PC, ANY deviation from ‘center’ is treated like a KB keypress— that smooth-responding analog wonder might just as well be an Atari four-banger. You CAN leam to drive this way; but it’s never likely to feel ‘natural’, and switch-steering most certainly damps the ‘road feel’ characteristics of each car. Add just-adequate AdLib sound effects and the surprise is that cruising the five-section course (Scenic Coast, Coast Hills, Valley Farms, ...) tums out to be a very enjoyable, volleys, the cross-hair indicates where your opponent’s shots will land. Your main task is getting into position and timing your return button press, Distance from the ball, side, and timing all affect shot placement. Pro Tennis' includes a mode for practic- ing serves and returns as well as full-game workouts against a computer player. In Tournament mode, you compete in matches for a ranking among 64 computer players. The game also includes a second-human- player option; but, since only one player is allowed a joystick, you can write it off along with single-player KB and mouse options. Readers Data exchange agas: “Maybe, if ... “. You would never recommend a Poorly performing game, utility, or piece of hardware. This explains why so few Very Poor’s turn up. Poor is bad enough! Conversely, Good (tk) is, frequently, good enough. Depend- ing upon such highly subjective criteria as a game’s setting and scenario, the way a painter utility arranges its tools, etc., a two-star product could easily rank among your fa- vorites. Of course, if you like what a review says about a Very Good (ax) game, language package, plug-in board, or what- ever, your chances of getting ‘the right stuff” are even better. Basically, the ratings say what they mean. COMPUTIST #78 BN Teh te Getting the Red Out Granted, a software vendor has the right to protect its products any way it sees fit; and, when it employs documentation (in- stead of screwing-up the software), it de- serves a pat on the nose. The dark red code sheets technique employed by some ven- dors comes close to being an exception. It’s nice that they are machine-uncopiable (though, naturally, anyone determined to steal the product need only invest an hour or so to make a copiable hand copy). It’s too bad that, under normal lighting, the codes are nearly invisible. After missing the correct response twice on a newly arrived game employing tiny pnnt on such a red background, I was carp- ing about “protection that spoils player en- joyment ...”, when Gorbash tumed from a nearby computer and suggested: “Maybe you could bleach it out.” Well, when an M.LT. chemistry Doctor of Science says “try bleach”, you try bleach. Viola! A dip in a tray of Purex plus some drying/flattening between paper towels in an old magazine and the job is done. (Warning: bleach is bad stuff; so, be careful.) The red is gone and blue print stands out clearly on a light- yellow background. Magic! : Quick! Before She Melts Okay, the ghoul gleeclub crowding into Elvira’s castle may not melt, massacre, or otherwise dispose of her right away; but, it’s acinch property values are dropping like a rock. If YOUR creep cleanout chores are behind schedule, then maybe these hints (gleaned from play, NOT from the “Clue Book”) will help get Things moving: Your best bargain among the available spell recipes is “Spagetty Confusion”. Mine was good for many, MANY valuable Tan- gled Mind castings. The surest way to get through the Hedge Maze is to explore the whole thing. The idea istozapall of the gremlins BEFORE you get to their nest. Do frequent Game Saves. The best place to find bodies in the moat is in the middle channel. (Incidentally, it takes twenty ‘steps’ to go around the castle.) «Finally, here’s a little attributes booster suggested by Baywoof: Load your saved game into “Xtree’”” or similar editing utility; hop to the latter part of the file (around byte $5110); locate your Strength, Dexterity,and Resistance attribute numbers; change them to $63’s (99 decimal). Now, just save your enhanced character, swagger into the castle, and clean their clocks! (Note: I tried this and also upped my hitpoints as well. For best results, do a “Wooden Heart” heal after making thechanges and restarting the game.) Next Try not to empty your post-Christmas piggy bank on one spree. Incredibly, there is MORE to come! For example ... Altered Destiny (Accolade): TradingTV sets with a barbarian super-hero can get you into some very strange places. Stormovik (Electronic Arts): Armed to the teeth and hugging the ground at 900-plus kMh, you and your SU-25 attack fighter are just the medicine to cure a terrorist uprising in Eastern Europe. Star Saga One (Master Play): Questing “beyond the boundary’ puts you IN and in- control-of your own sci-fi adventure. Logo Plus (Terrapin): ProDOS comes to the realm of the turtle. Ishido (Accolade): Elegance, in stone! Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (Sir-Tech): Not Wizardry VI; a whole new Wizardry in anew VGA + AdLib format! Vendors Accolade: 550 S. Winchester Blvd., Suite 200, San Jose, CA 95128 atten: Mel: da Mongelluzzo (408-985- 1700) Ad Lib: 220 G. und-Allee East, Suite 960, Quebec, QC, Canada GIR 231 atten: Jill Carette (800-463-2686) COMPUTIST #78 Addison-Wesley Publishing: Route 128, Reading, MA 01867 atten: Abigail Genuth (617-944-3700) Advanced Gravis Computer Technology: 7033 Antrim Ave., Burnaby, BC, Cana- da, V5J 4M5 atten: Ron Haidenger (604-434-7274, in USA call 800-663-8558) Beeshu: 101 Wilton Avenue, Middlesex, NJ 08846 (201-968-6868) Biota: 551 Cedar St., Richland Center, WI 53581 atten: J.D. Curnow Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903 atten: Jessica Switzer (415-492-3200) Byte Works: 4700 Irving Blvd. NW, Suite 207, Albuquerque, NM 87114 atten. Patty Westerfield (505-898-8183) Casady & Green: 26080 Carmel Rancho Blvd., Suite 202, Carmel, CA 93923 (800-359-4920) Center for Gifted and Talented: University of Houston/ University Park, Farrish Hall #123, Houston, TX 77004 atten: Theresa Monaco (CH Products: 970 Park Center Drive, Vista, CA 92083 atten: Dan Hayes (619-598-2518) Electronic Arts: 1820 Gateway Drive, San Mateo, CA 94404 atten: Lisa Higgins (415-571-7171/ or- ders: 800-245-4525)) Epyx: 600 Allerton St., P.O. Box 8020, Redwood City, CA 94063 . atten: William Lanphear IV (415-368- 3200) Janklow Bender: 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 atten: Kim Adamo Lucasfilm Games: P.O, Box 10307, San Rafael, CA 94912 atten: Betsy Irion (800-STARWARS) dist: Electronic Arts Microsoft: 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052 atten: Marilyn McKenna (800-541-1261) Northgate Computer Systems: P.O. Box 59080, Minneapolis, MN 55459-0080 atten: Mona Hendrickson (800-526-2446) Origin Systems: 110 Wild Basin Road, Suite 330, Austin, TX 78746 atten: Greg Malone (512-328-0282) SQ Players: Brian and Bob Gillogly, 1073 CR 37, Fremont, OH 43421-9651 Strategic Simulations Inc.: 675 Almandor Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 atten: Linda Blanchard (408-737-6800) dist: Electronic Arts Strategic Studies Group: 1747 Orleans Ct., Walnut Creek, CA 94598 Suncom: 290 Palatine Road, Wheeling, IL 60090 (312-459-8000) UBISoft: 511 SirFrancis Drake Blvd., Suite C, Greenbrae, CA 94904 atten: Mkt. Director dist: Electronic Arts Walt Disney Computer Software: 500 South Buena Vista, Burbank, CA 91521 atten: Kirk Green (818-567-3340) re. Janklow Bender James A. Hodge CT Speeding up Rocket Ranger It’s time to take Rocket Ranger (by Cin- emaware) off of the Most Wanted list. It’s NOT COPY PROTECTED. A copy of a copy of acopy of the original plays the same game as the original. The only bug I found occurs after beating up the guard when you're rescuing Jane and Otto (Rocket Ranger “loses” his head). The aspects of the game that need attention are the lack of speed and a hard-to-read “Secret Decoder Wheel”. The game can gain speed from two sources. If you have 1.5 megabytes of mem- ory you can set up an 800K ramdisk and copy disk 2 (/Rocket.Ranger2) into memo- ty. This speeds the frequent disk accesses, saves the disk drive, and makes the game more enjoyable to play. The second source of speed would be a TransWarp GS from Applied Engineering. The TransWarp can reduce game time by half; time drops from the 2-2.5 hour range to about 1.25 hours, and Rocket Ranger becomes very responsive to the joystick. The only drawback to a game played at transwarp speed is that the Nazi guards are VERY difficult to beat by 1944, The solu- tion is to slow the TransWarp from “tran- swarp” to “normal” for fist fights that occur later in the game, and also if/when you getto the Moon. To enable access to the control panel requires an edit to the disk / Rocket.Rangerl . Perform the following edit: Bk = Byte = From $466 SIC 220000E1 68686818 (Author's Note: There should be a com- panion article in this issue of Computist about control panel lockout. See it for more detail.) Advanced Playing Technique for... Rocket Ranger Cinemaware The decoder wheel can be difficult to read. The numbers are small, and they are viewed through a piece of red cellophane. If you make a mistake selecting the amount of fuel, you (Rocket Ranger) either end up somewhere you don’t want to be, or dead (which is also where you don’t want to be). The decoder wheel problem can take a little (or a LOT) more work. A simple solu- tion is to print a copy of the decoder wheel in chart form. Such a chart was printed in Computist #71 on page 22, but it was poorly formatted and contained errors, A more dif- ficult, but more technically satisfying, so- lution is to implement the decoderasaCDA. Read on, and choose the method that appeals to you. To begin with, I printed my own chart using the following Applesoft BASIC pro- gram. I felt that I would need to enter less than half the numbers on the decoder to be able to produce a chart. The decoder had 27 * 27 (or 729) values, but 27 of them were zero (from point A to point A) and the values for point A to point B were the same as the values for point B to point A. It turned out that only 13 * 27 (351) numbers were need- ed. A small sample of the program output follows. Sample printout (partial) A A A B C L R T RA G A L A N E B A ZA R I N I OD I A T L A A I Cc ALGERIA 0 28 20 43 ARABIA 28 0 41 «57 ATLANTIC 20 41 0 32 BRAZIL 43 57 32 0 CANADA This is an (obviously) incomplete exam- ple of the output from the Rocket Ranger Decoder program, but I included it to show the format of the chart. It is 92 columns wide. To print it requires the ability to print inacondensed format (12 char/inch recom- mended) on an 8.5 inch page or a wide carriage printer with 15 inch paper (12 cpi still recommended). Once you get the pro- gram (by entering it, downloading it from the Computist BBS, or by getting the disk for this issue) you can fiddle with the format ‘till it suits you. Printer initialization strings are printed in lines 85 and 95. The format I finally settled on was to set the printer for 132columns, 12 char/inch (horizontal), and 8 lines/inch (vertical) in line 85, and change to6lines/inch in line 95. Thad to include top- of-form commands for my printer. Consult your printer manual for the printer control commands you'll need. Rocket Ranger Decoder 10 REM rocket.ranger decoder 20 DIM CNTS$ (27) , AMT% (27,27) 30 FOR I = 1 TO 27: READ CNT$(I): NEXT Readers Data Exchange 40 FOR I = i TO 26 50 FOR J =I +1 TO 27 60 READ AMT% (I,J) :AMT%(J,1) = AMT (I,J) 70 NEXT 80 NEXT 85 REM ? CHRS (4) “PR#1” init string - pg. wdth 12 cr lpi, tof 90 GOSUB 200: REM print heading 95 REM print init string - 6 lpi, tof 100 FOR I = 1 TO 27 110 PRINT MIDS (CNTS(I) +”... see vie dsye zis t= 14 120 FOR J = 1 TO 27 130 POKE 36,T: PRINT AMT% (I,J) 140 T=T+3: IF Ts 3) THENT =T+1 150 NEXT j 160 PRINT : IF I / 3 = INT (I THEN PRINT 170 NEXT 180 PRINT CHRS (4) “PR#0” 190 END 200 REM heading 210 FOR I =1 70 11 220 FOR J = 1 TO 27 230 POKE 36,(J - 1) * 3 +15 +A: PRINT MIDS (CNTS(J) + “...... a Ted 235 IF J / 3 = INT (J / 3) THEN A =A¢1 240 NEXT 245 A = 0: PRINT 250 NEXT 260 PRINT 270 RETURN 1000 DATA ALGERIA, ARABIA, ATLANTIC, BRAZIL, CANADA 1010 DATA COLUMBIA, CONGO, E.0 AFRICA, EGYPT, ENGLAND 1020 DATA FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, KENYA, LIBYA 1030 DATA MIDEAST, NIGERIA, PERSIA, PERU, SCANDINAVIA 1040 DATA SPAIN, SUDAN, U.S.A.,U.S -S.R., VENEZUELA 1050 DATA W.0AFRICA, YUGOSLAVIA - 1101 DATA 28,20, 43,37, 44,25,29, 21,16,14,17,15,31,10,19, 23,30, 50, 22,13, 24,36, 26, 40,18,12 1102 DATA 41,57,59, 65,30,18,14, 34,29,27,24, 26, 20,17, 31,12, 70,32, 33,19,58, 23, 61,37,22 1103 DATA 32,27, 34,37, 39, 33,18, 19, 26,22, 43,29, 31,35, 42,44, 25,17, 36, 23, 38, 30, 24,28 1104 DATA 49,27, 38,48, 52,50, 45, 53,47, 46, 42, 54,37, 61,25,55, 40,44, 41, 60,28,33,51 1105 DATA 28,56, 62,51, 31,36, 38, 39,64,44,47, 48,55, 40, 34,35, 57,10,41,26, 42,43 1106 DATA 52, 64,59, 47, 46,50, 48, 62,49, 57, 45, 66,17,51, 43, 61, 26,58,12, 39,53 1107 DATA 22,23, 36,33,34,32,17, 24,26,15,31,54, 40,29, 20,55, 39,50, 21,27 1108 DATA 15,37, 32,33, 30,14, 23, 24,25,19,67,35,31,12, 61,28, 60, 34,26 1109 DATA 27,24, 20,19,25,12,11, 18,17, 63,28, 26,13, 50, 22,54, 29,16 1110 DATA 08, 11,13, 40,21, 22,33, 29,53,15,12,30,32,19, 41,28, 20 1111 DATA 12,10,37,17,20, 30,28, 52,16, 09,27, 35,21, 42,25,15 1112 DATA 09,35,18,14,32, 24,58, 10,16, 29, 39,15, 45, 31,13 1113 DATA 33,14,12,29,25,57,17, 11,26, 38,18, 44,27,08 1114 DATA 28, 30, 22,27, 65,39, 36, 18, 63, 34,59, 32,29 1115 DATA 13,19, 22,56,27,15,16, 43,25, 46,26,11 1116 DATA 28,18; 64,21,25,23, 46, 16,52, 36,10 1117 DATA 34,49, 36,27,17,47,40, 43,16, 24 1118 DATA 72,26, 32,21,54,20, 62, 41,23 1119 DATA 60,51, 62,33, 66,20, 43, 61 REMpri 3 = INT « / 9 1120 DATA 20,31,37,14,47,38,18 1121 DATA 28,34,24,39,23,19 1122 DATA 56,32,55,22,25, 1123 DATA 45,24, 40, 42 1124 DATA 53, 44,17 1125 DATA 35,49 1126 DATA 30 Checksums 200-$2BED 210-$C09B 220-$7C80 230-$87D7 235-$E427 240-$D9E3 245-$4CA0 250-$2AF4 260-SDCBC 270-$2796 1000-$B10E 1010-$14E7 1020-$C277 1030-$3994 1040-SF8F8 1050-$c8DD 1101-$4cCco 1102-$54F1 1103-$6D5E 1104-$179B 1105-$DDB4 1106-$CFO7 10-$BADD 20-$1990 30-SSAA7 40-$3257 50-$7636 60-$237E 70-$04BD 80-SABA7 85-$8410 90-$5096 95-$8174 100-$4ABA 110-$2310 115-$1402 120-SF966 130-SABCB 140-$C37B 150-$551F 160-$2F1A 170-$20E7 180-$5212 190-$R25D Rocket Ranger Decoder CDA So much for the low tech approach. The work I did up to this point was preparatory to creating a decoder CDA. I had to be sure I understood the numbers and that I could get into the control panel. I tried implement- ing a CDA in ORCA/Pascal by converting the BASIC decoder