IIgs Buyers Guide 1987 Fall

The Buyer S pie sg rat [aa Great Graphics lies Apple liGs Educational Software Roundup, Gourmet Gaming Reviews Of + New Hardwaré And Software + More Than 125° Apple HGS Product Descriptions G sone The most powerful Apple!Tin history it_Pict Mode Brush Color Font THE PARTHENON ICTINUS & CALLICRATES 448-432 BC. Acropolis, athens. Ifthe idea of getting a computer for the family intrigues you, then there’ one subject youd do well to study The Apple IIcs* There are more Apple’ IIs in more schools than any other personal computer. And the Ics is at the head of the class. Which is not surprising, After all, it has enough power to run virtually all 10000 Apple II programs. Up to three times faster than they've ever run before. What's more, Apple IIcs graphics programs let you use over 4,000 colors with near photographic realism. And its music programs let you simulate anything from a human voice to a symphony orchestra. “Amone, that is, who’ an artistic genius. But take heart, all the colors and all the notes are there. ©1987 Apple Computer Inc. Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks Andevery other subject. In short, the Ics runs programs that cover every area of human endeavor from writing a school paper to planning a company budget. Kids can study anything from ABCs to SATS. And anyone can learn to paint like Monet or compose like Mozart? All this on one of the easiest subjects in the world to master—the Apple Iles. Interested? Then why not pursue this subject with your nearest authorized Apple dealer. You'll find that once your ait sees and hears what the Apple Ics can do, the idea of owning any other kind of personal computer will be well, history « ‘The power tobe your best” of Apple Computer hn. Apple IGS and “The power tobe your best" are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. For an authorized Apple dealer near you, call 800-538-9696, ex. 600. pple2Online.co GROBNELGE N TS Editor’s Window.............3 The Corporate File Orange Micto, INC... ....seeeeeeee ee StyleWare, Inc... Features Great Graphics On The Apple IIGS......6 You don't have to be a budding Michelange- lo to make stunning pictures on your Apple IGS. Today's paint, draw and video- accessory products can bring out the crea- tive juices in just about everyone. The World's Best Dragon Slayer: Great Gaming With The Apple IGS... . .18 Software developers are slowly unraveling a wealth of game potential hidden inside the Apple IGS. For computer game addicts, the results are nothing less than spectacular. The Compatibility Question..... . anes As the Apple IIGS inherits the throne once occupied by the Apple Ile, users should ask, “How compatible is this beir apparent?” Read on—when problems present themselves, there's usually a solution. Educational Software Roundup; A First Look At What's New For TENE TADDICN UGS sia cspere orose tei ere sisiers 28 The Apple IIGS may be the ultimate teach- ing machine, and its new software has the potential to make learning an exciting—and colorful—experience. Apple ics The cover photo is a triple exposure simulat- ing a floating computer and mouse. Tass Times in Tonetown, from Activision, Inc. is on the computer screen. Photo by Greg Leary. Designed by Patti Walker. Other photography in this issue by: Rob Downey Product Reviews MultiScribe GS. sey! SoftSwitch . 2 38 Datalink . ae 2 AP onaes) OctoRAM and OctoRAM ESP 40 - 4 anes 42 oes 42 Comprehensive Product Directory Accessories : 44 Switch boxes, cleaning kits, dust cov mouse containers and more Books And Publications..............45 Literature of interest to Apple IIGS users Business And Productivity,...........46 Integrated software, accouinting packages, vertical-market software, desk accessori personal finance packages, word processors and more Creative Booed 52 Paint, draw, animation and music software Education . qiisoinwenpiascanntau ee Reading, writing, arithmetic and more Entertainment . weed een Als, 57 Basketball, simulations, adventures and more Hardware And Peripherals... . . 58 Extended memory boards, hard disk drives, graphics products, synthetic speech accesso- ries, modems and more Programming And Utilities............62 File recovery software, programming lan- guages and programmer utilities On-Line Databases... 6.05.00 e 0556 63 Information utilities available on-line Indexes Product Index........ Advertiser's Index. . . AT Entire contents copyright 1987 by Redgate Communications Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanics Guide is an independent including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Apple lIGS Buyer's imal; not affliated in any way with Apple Computer, Inc. but Apple Computer, Inc. has granted Redgate Communications Corporation the right to use the title The Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Apple lle, Apple llc and Apple lIGS are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., Used by permission, Redgate Communications Corporation is not responsible for the accuracy of product listings and descriptions. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be representative of the views held by Redgate Communications Unsolicited manuscripts and other materials will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited materials. Printed in the US. by R.A. Donnelley & Sons, Glasgow, Ky. The Apple lIGS Buyer's Guide is publi quarterly by Redgate Communications Corporation at 660 Beachland Boulevard, Vero Beach, Fla. 32963, 305-231-6904. Subscription rates: $14.00 per year; Canada $20 $4000. All orders are payable only in U.S. funds. Redgate Communications Corporation also publishes The Macintosh Buyer's Guide, COMPAQ—The Magazine For Compaq Computer Users, FYI—The Harris Magazine For Information Management, a series of computer books and other properties. The company also provides marketing communications services to a wide-range of high-technology clients. For more information contact Ted Leonsis, Redgate Communications Corporation. 2° Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com EDIE TRE Oo & ? s wWwWiInNnodDow Editor's Window The Shopping Syndrome You can call every dealer in town, cir: cle ads in the paper all day and still not have any idea what your total invest- ment will be, Why? Anybody who knows anything about computers will tell you that your initial hardware investment is just a starting point. The real expense— the one that can threaten your bank book in dribs and drabs all year—is software and accessories. The Apple IGS is a wonderful com- puter, but it takes software to unlock the sound, graphics and animation capabilities seductive on the showroom floor. Even then, great software will not be enough, Stereo sound may be sealed inside the Apple IIGS, but a special stereo board is required to get it out. Moreover, some of the more powerful packages may not operate up to par without extra mem- ory (translation: prepare to purchase an extended memory board). So it pays to shop around, ask questions and be con- vinced that each additional purchase ‘will be used and not forgotten. | 's not easy pricing a home computer, Where do you start? We think right here is as good a place as any, We're launching this magazine, the premiere issue of The Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide, because we want you to understand the Apple IIGS hardware and software market—what pro- grams are available, who the major players are, what's hot, what's not. After all, no other magazine caters just to Apple IIGS users. A lot has happened since the Apple IIGS was introduced one year ago. Some truly spectacular products have been created along with some mediocre ones. Others that were predicted to appear never materialized, Meanwhile, a lot of confusion has been generated over products designed specifically for the Ap- ple IIGS versus those designed for earlier Apple Ils that just happen to run on the ¢ this, and future issues of The Apple 1IGS Buyer's Guide, will help you cut through the confusion. In our com- prehensive directory, you'll find listed ev- ery Apple IIGS hardware and software product we were able to verify at press time. You'll also find a number of hands- on product reviews and some basic “how to” buying advice to help you along. If you detect a quiet enthusiasm for the Apple IIGS when paging through this magazine, please understand that we're cautious but not without spirit. I'm per- sonally a long-time Apple II user, as are all the contributing editors you see listed on the masthead. We appreciate a machine that allows us access to the hundreds of Apple II programs we've collected over the years and eagerly anticipate each new hardware and software product specifical- ly targeted for you, the Apple IIGS user. Are you ready to go shopping? If so, we're eager to help you along. —Paul Pinella, Editor-In-Chief The Apple IIGS Buyer’s Guide Publisher; Ted Leonsis Vice President/Editor-In-Chief: Paul Pinella Vice President/Creative Director: Mark S. Ballard Art Director: Patricia N, Walker Assistant Editor: Paulette Siclari Quality Control Manager: Ron Errett Copy Editor: Pat Little Contributing Editors: Philip Chien; Gail Hodgkiss; Carol S, Holzberg; Ken Landis; Owen Linzmayer; Mark Mathosian; Michael Meyers Other Editorial Management,Jordan Gold. Editorial Intern; Eric Tenbus Production Manager; Wendy L, McCloud ‘Typesetting Operations; * Kathaleen$, Ross; CarolynD, Sizemore Production Assistant: Barbara Struttman. Circulation Manager: Sandra J. Byrd Single-Copy Sales Consultant: Joseph J. Sparano Circulation Assistant; Karen Lindsey Advertising Sales: Kevin Fallon/Ted Ambro/Bill Jarvis, Redgate Communications Corporation, 660 Beachland Boulevard, Vero Beach, Fla, 32963, 305-231-6904 Client ServicesiAdvertising Sales: Sandy Van Salisbury Response Services: Tammy Smith Redgate Communications Corporation President: Ted Leonsis Executive Vice President: Alfred J, Mandel Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer: Jeff Parsons Vice Presidents/Directors Of Account Services: Jeff Lea; Diane Staley Account Management: Sophia Arguoyan; Kerry Bartlett; John Campione; Betty Clark; Donna DeBenedetto-Nitz; Tom Mierzwinski; Michael Minigan; Robert W. Nicholson; Penny Schneck; Kathleen Tagle; Lori Tracy; Susan Twombly; Jeff Job Senior Art Director: Russell Shoemaker Assistant To The President; Donna M. Philo Director Of Finance: Nancy A. Birt MIS/Facilities Manager: Tim Dunklee Advertising Finance Coordinator: Conrad Smith Accounts Payable Administrator: Brenda Simmons Receptionist: Julie A. Van Gaasbeck The Apple LIGS Buyer's Guide 3 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com THE Cc ORPRATE FILE Leveraging The Printed Page Art Scotten Orange Micro, Inc. or seven years, Anaheim, California-based Orange Micro, Inc. has produced accessory products for Apple, IBM and Commodore computers. The company now sces itself heading in an “Apple-only” direction, however. This includes two products for the Apple IIGS—ProGrappler and RamPak 4GS—introduced late last year. “Our GS products are beginning to do well in the market,” says Orange Micro President Art Scotten. “ProGrappler is one of a kind, and phone orders have becn pouring in for the JuiceBox, a new power supply system.” The ProGrappler board has been Or- ange Micro's biggest Apple IIGS seller. Made specifically for an Apple IIGS and replacing the Grappler+, ProGrappler al- lows users to take “snapshot” pictures of anything that appears on screen According to Scotten, ProGrappler offers a lot of special features that can be accessed through a IIGS’ Desk Accessory menu. “The main improvement over the old version,” he says, “is that ProGrappler permits you to interrupt a program, take a snapshot and print it. Without missing a beat, you return to the exact point in the program you left off.” The RamPak 4GS memory card, ex- pandable to 4 megabytes, is made by Or- ange Micro. Although there are several competing cards on the market, Scotten feels confident his will succeed. “This card is not a ‘dumb memory card.’ It pro- vides useful utilities)” he says. One such utility is cache memory, which sets aside an area of memory where often used routines or programs are preserved. If you wish to access a cer- tain program or routine in main memory, it can be taken from cache storage with- out accessing or loading a disk. RamPak was one of the first third-party IGS cards available. Although Apple's memory card outsells it, Scotten says he has been pleased by consumer acceptance. Orange Micro plans to reveal a few new IGS products in the near future. One of these is JuiceBox, a hardware device that provides protection against power fluctua- tions, heat and dust. “One switch turns on a fan, the computer and two AC out- lets, such as for a printer and a monitor,” says Scotten, adding that the fan brings a IIGS' operating temperature below 100 degrees and extends its working life. Scotten believes the IIGS market is fi- nally taking off. “The hoopla at the begin- ning died out because there was no extensive advertising,” he says. Scotten feels Orange Micro's sales will increase steadily, especially with a major promo- tion pending from Apple targeted at back- to-school and Christmas purchasers, Orange Micro was founded in 1980 by Scotten as a reseller of printers for per- sonal computers and terminals. In 1981, the company introduced the original Grappler. It followed that up with the Grappler+ card for the Apple II family. Scotten formed a division in 1984 to cre- ate new products for printer-related mar- kets. By 1985, Orange Micro's printer reselling business had expanded to 11 re- tail stores in the western US. To leverage its printing expertise, Or- ange Micro entered the desktop publishing market last year with Ragtime, an “in- tegrated page processing” program for the Macintosh. Last summer, Scotten an- nounced Orange Micro had passed the half-million mark in terms of units sold. According to Scotten, “Orange Micro will not be branching out to make products for any computer other than Ap- ple. The Apple line, with the IIGS, pro- vides plenty of opportunities." —Eric Tenbus 4 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com T HE Cc ORPRATE FILE The IIGS Commitment he importance of case of use is not lost on Apple IGS de- veloper StyleWare, Inc. “Some companies try to make the most powerful software available. We try to make software that is easy to use,” says StyleWare President Kevin Harvey. For a IIGS-specific software manufactur- ing company that is doubling its sales ev- ery four months, this philosophy has been successful. “Our growth this year has been phenomenal, and things are looking even better for the future,” says Harvey. Based in Houston, StyleWare was incor- porated in August 1985. “Before that, we were basically a garage software compa- ny," says Harvey, In March of last year, StyleWare released its first product— MultiScribe, a word processor for the Ap- ple He and Tle. “We knew if we could give Apple II users a program like those on the Macin- tosh, they would love it,” Harvey says. StyleWare officials felt the Apple TI market had become stagnant, with few new products that were truly exceptional. Older word processors had always used the Apple II’s text capabilities, but Style- Ware set out to bring a graphics-based word processor to the market “We priced the package at $39.95. Within a couple months, we sold thou- sands of copies and gained a loyal follow- ing,” says Harvey. The initial sales gave StyleWare enough money to produce and sell the product through standard retail channels, and sales continued to rise. With 25 employees, StyleWare has com- mitted its future to the Apple IGS. Products released by the company now take advantage of the many IIGS features. “The Apple IIGS is an ideal machine for consumers,” says Harvey. “It’s great for the home and children and it has all kinds of educational programs available.” StyleWare, Inc. Harvey stresses that the latest Apple IIGS version of MultiScribe, called Mul- tiScribe GS (see review, this issue), is a very what-you-see-is-what-you-get package. A user sees on screen exactly what will be printed, unlike many text-oriented word processors. According to Harvey, the speed and en- hanced memory of a IIGS make many things possible that have never existed on an Apple II computer before. One such capability includes use of multiple windows to edit a number of different documents simultaneously. An- other feature stems from MultiScribe GS’ color capabilities, which allow users to ex- tract color choices from a palette of 4,000 colors. “At first we thought color would be a gimmick, but people like it and use it regularly,” Harvey says. StyleWare sees continued market growth for its word processor in the IIGS home and educational markets. “IIGS users are mainly home users, and our product al- lows them to make nice printouts,” says Harvey. “It also carries over to schools. Teachers don't have to teach word processing in an archaic way. A IIGS gives kids automatic feedback they can under- stand and helps students who are afraid of computers.” An Eskimo tribe in northern Canada is using MultiScribe to write down their lan- guage. “They used the program’s font cdi- tor to create a special alphabet and are transcribing what has always been an oral language,” Harvey says. Another StyleWare’s product, TopDraw, is one of the first object-oriented ITGS graphics programs. “A user does not paint on a canvass-like environment, which sets TopDraw apart from other graphics pro- grams,” says Harvey. “Objects on the screen retain their identity, even when something is drawn on top of them. It’s basically like a superset of MacDrau:” Kevin Harvey TopDraw can access more than 4,000 colors and is useful for designing textures. “I's a great program for something like fashion design,” Harvey adds. StyleWare is unique because it's primari- ly a IGS developer, while most other publishers produce software for several different computers."We believed in the IIGS from the beginning,” Harvey says Because StyleWare has bet its future on the success of the Apple IGS, Harvey is pleased by dealer reports that IIGS sales are going well. As for future products from StyleWare, he offers this thought: “We're always thinking." —Eric Tenbus The Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide 5 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com G. R ASP He FE DES 3 GN Great Graphics On The Apple [IGS You don't have to be a budding n the forgotten da = : " computers, graphics \ £ Michelangelo to make stunning myth. Computers a punched cards for pictures on your Apple IGS. produced reams Today's paint, draw and output. One d i mous programm video-accessory products can sense of humor « puter to print out a Snc bring out the creativity juices picture consisted of various p. in just about everyone. signs and assorted other letters. Fr distance it looked like a picture of popular cartoon character Snc The resolution (dots per inct printout was very low, but it was as As hard-copy terminals were CRT display tubes, the graph ties of computers began t CRT terminals included gi sets, little blocks which could create crude graphics images, a! soon Snoopy pictures started to turn up d pretty on them. The Snoopy pictures, and other . = ~ graphic images, were pretty to look at, but they didn’t do anything. That changed [i with the introduction of animated com- puter simulations, moving cartoons and = computer games. By 1976, the first home computers usually included some crude form of 6 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com GRAPHITE DES IGN graphics characters or low-resolution graphics. Apple Computer, Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak wanted, and built, better graphics for the Apple II. The Apple II's graphic circuitry included the built-in capability for both low-resolution and high-resolution graphics. Since many users couldn't afford the computer at that time, massive amounts of memory required for high-resolution graphics (a whole 8K!), the low-resolution mode was provided. It oc- cupied the same portion of memory as the screen memory and didn’t steal any program memory space. The low-resolution memory consists of a 40-block by 48-block, 16-color display. The original Apple II demos included a rsion of the Atari Breakout game, a col- or Kaleidoscope, a math program, and a program which created various screen de. mos, including a tunnel effect, a spring, moving lines, and a color bar-test pattern. This last program can be seen as part of the special effects in the 1977 Patrick Duffy television series, “Man from At lantis, The high-resolution graphics consists of a 280-dot-by-192-dot four-color (black, violet, green and white) display in the original Apple II, Why those colors? It turned out that those were the colors produced by using the TTL chips which Woz used to design the Apple's video dis- play circuitry. Users quickly found out that it was easy to add two more colors, orange and blue, with the addition of two more integrated circuits (ICs). The first six thousand Apple Ils went out of the factory with four-color high resolu- tion, but the rest of the units all had six- color capabilities built in When the Apple Ie was introduced in 1983, the text display was upgraded from 40 columns to 80 columns. Along with doubling the text, it was decided to dou- ble the graphics resolution at the same time, and the Ie introduced two more graphics modes: the double low-resolution mode (rarely used), and the double high- resolution mode. Regrettably, no software support was supplied by Apple, but many second-party manufacturers have written routines for double high-resolution graph- Sophisticated real-time images can be captured with AST’s VisionPlus, then later manipulated in paint and draw programs. ics, and many programs use this mode for better-looking displays. Introducing The Apple IIGS Many new computers, including the Ap- ple IIGS, are designed with excellent graphics capabilities. With the GS standing for Graphics and Sound, the IIGS had to live up to its name and it does, with an advanced graphics generator. The IIGS supports all of the early Apple graphics modes and adds two new ones: the super high-resolution graphics modes. anded memory is what makes higher resolution displays possible. A super-high-resolution display takes up 32K of memory—I6 times as much as the low-resolution display on the original Apple II, and twice as much memory as my entire Apple II had when I purchased it in 1978! The super-high-resolution mode can be set to either 320 dots by 200 dots with teen colors, or 640 dots by 200 dots with four colors. Although 320-by-200-dot display seems at first glance to be a lower resolution display than the double high-resolution mode, it si actually looks better, due to better hard- ware, better displays and more colors, In- n 16 colors to choose ‘an produce a rainbow of stead of six, or from, the IGS ¢ 4,096 different colors. If you can imagine the color, the IIGS can generate it Most programs that use these colors Is of red, green and blue you want in each shade of color, Depending on the pro- gram, you may also have tint, hue or in- tensity bars that adjust the various colors together. Alternately, if you don't need color in your display, you can set your colors to shades of gray to produce high- quality black-and-white pictures. Ins of using dithering pixel patterns to create the illusion of gray scale, your palette can be set for different light levels. Many people have asked why the IIGS only has 200 vertical dots of resolution, as opposed to the 400-vertical-dot- resolution popular in other graphics- oriented computers. Couldn't the IG graphics generator be designed for a bet- ter vertical resolution? Basically, it's possi: have sliding bars to adjust the leve 8 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com MultiScribe cs 3.0™ The fastest, most powerful graphic word processor for the Apple® IIGs is now even more powerful — with MultiScribe Gs 3.0 Complete with the 80,000-word Merriam-Webster/Proximity spell checker and thesaurus, MultiScribecs offers the most sophisticated spell-checking and thesaurus tech- nology ever available on an Apple II. An on-line spell checker that not only checks your spelling, but also suggests valid alternatives to mis- spelled words — both typographically and phonetically. And a thesaurus that lets you find the most appropri- ate words for your work, by using 40,000 entry points to generate 470,000 possible synonyms! i The desktop publishing nm solution for the Apple Ics. Choose from a variety of type styles, character sizes, and fonts to fit your writing needs. MultiScribe Gs includes built-in object-oriented drawing, so you can add color shapes and lines to your documents ~ without using a graphics program. With the exclusive MultiScribe«s Color Editor, you can choose from 4,096 colors for your text and graph- ics. And MultiScribecs is compatible with all major [I¢s graphics programs. From the screen to the page — without surprises! All character sizes, print styles, and graphics appear on-screen exactly as they will when printed. MultiScribe Gs offers near letter quality color printing on an ImageWriter II™ and near typeset quality with a LaserWriter. ™ Bi Powerfully professional. MultiScribe Gs even includes power user features like direct AppleWorks™ word processing, file compatibility and keyboard com- mands for scrolling, selecting, and deleting text. MultiSribe cs and TopDraw are trademarks of StyleWare, Inc. Apple is a registered Apple Computer, tnc.. Macintosh isa trademark of Mac Spectacular Vernacular. fs fle xB) Formee feat Size Style Coy iaunes = Fat 3B halter = Tee SE +> B55 cicerat oy ferent character sizes, wx seadificrent ¢ lors Illustration Sensation. fr StyleWare, Inc. 5250 Gulfton, Suite 2E, Houston, Texas 77081 713/668-0743 (in Texas) 800/233-4088 TopDraw™ For those thoughts that just can’t be put into words, StyleWare has created ‘TopDraw. Like MultiScribe Gs, ‘TopDraw is designed to take full advantage of the capabilities of the Apple I1Gs. And TopDraw does it with flying colors - 4,096 colors, to be exact! The shape of things to come. The first object-oriented graphics program for the IIGs, TopDraw gives you the ability to create drawings based on shapes, or objects, which can be moved, edited and duplicated ~ giving you virtually limitless draw- ing potential. The color of creativity! ‘TopDraw lets you edit both colors and patterns. Draw with up to 38 color patterns at once, Use color patterns as line or fill patterns to create millions of color combina- tions. And because creativity isn’t limited to an 8% x 11 inch page, lets you print your creations y size you want ~ up to dozens of pages in length and width. ea Get serious. ‘TopDraw comes complete with all the tools you need to create professional quality drawings - movable palettes and user-defined rulers, grids, colors, and patterns. Create ellipses, rec- tangles, polygons and freehand objects, and a wide variety of lines and arcs, Print in beautiful color on an ImageWriter II. And because Top- Draw uses object-oriented graphics, its LaserWriter output is far superior to that of the bit-mapped graphics of paint programs. i | Seeing is believing! See TopDraw, MultiScribe Gs, and all the other creative StyleWare products at your authorized StyleWare dealer. Texter ademark of Apple Compute. Inc. Apple Hs, AppleWorks Imagerie Il and Laser ter are ademars of ne ta pd in Aone Comer KB PIEZO dn ic xn Delune Pit is trademark of lectronic Ars, ne G RAPHIC DESIGN ble to have up to 525 vertical lines on the screen. However, to do so would require the use of interlacing, a technique that leads to flicker, which is very tiring on the eyes. Restricting the vertical resolution to 200 lines produces a much more readable display. Another major decision in the design of the Apple ITGS was the use of the Ap- pleColor monitor. The monitor is fairly in- expensive and complements the Apple IIGS, both in the style of its case and its capabilities. Unlike most earlier Apple monitors, the AppleColor is an analog RGB monitor. RGB stands for Red Green Blue—the pri- mary colors of light. An RGB monitor uses separate signals for each of the three colors, instead of the combined signals used in composite monitors. With a digital RGB monitor, a signal can be either on or off, and the three primary colors can be combined to produce only eight colors. Some RGB monitors use a separate in- tensity signal, often referred to as an RGBI monitor to produce different shades for a total of 16 different colors. An analog RGB Thunderscan by Thunderware monitor allows much finer adjustments to color levels. Instead of just an on/off choice, each of the three colors can be set to 16 different levels, ranging from full off to full on. Consequently, Apple's latest approach to RGB allows for many different color and shade possibilities. For example, the color yellow actually consists of red and green, with both fully on. And purple is red at half-level, mixed with a small amount of green and blue. The analog RGB monitor and Apple IIGS combination produce a crisp, clean, and flicker-free screen picture with excellent resolution in all of its modes. Let’s Make A Video So, how can you use all of those fancy new graphics capabilities? Real-world graphics—including objects, video images, and drawings on paper—all can be con- verted into computer graphics, within cer- tain limitations. You can try to redraw the image in your computer, or use a hard- ware device that converts the image for you. A popular method of converting real- world images into computer output is to use a video camera. Just aim the camera at what you want, and its picture will ap- pear on your computer's screen, The conversion box which changes a video signal into a computer picture is called a digitizer, Currently, two different models are available for thé Apple IIGS, Digital Vision's ComputerEyes 2 is inex- pensive at ($149.90, including Apple IIGS software), although it is fairly slow. Just aim your video camera at any object and set up the software, Within six seconds ComputerEyes will digitize your image. Once digitized, the image can be print- ed to an ImageWriter or otherwise Clip Art: Software Shortcut To The Artist In You Draw and paint programs are both ex- cellent tools for artwork, but they're only as good as the person using them. Does that mean you have to be an artist to use a graphics program? No, but it does help. What you do with any graphics program depends partially on skill, experience and how much effort you want to put into the final output. A good tool which helps make your life easier is sets of pre-drawn pictures, or clip art. Clip-art diskettes typically are filled with assorted pictures that can be cut and pasted into your own masterpieces. You can obtain maps, animals, icons and more in clip-art disks. Unfortunately, clip-art disks aren’t always as compatible as pic- ture files, and as a general rule a clip-art image will only work with the program it’s intended to work on. I tried the Acti- vision Clip Art Gallery, and the Deluxe Paint att parts series. The Activision disk ($29.95) includes a variety of images that are saved in 24 cate- gories, from academia to fantasy and vehi- cles, All together there are 600 separate drawings. Any of the images can be grabbed with the lasso, saved in the clip- board and added to your own pictures. Electronic Arts has three separate addi- tional clip-art packages for $29.95 each. The Arts Parts series includes pictures and examples spanning a multitude of im- ages, including birds, dinosaurs, faces, graphs and holidays. When comparing the two offerings, the Electronic Arts clip-art pictures seem hard to beat. Besides the much larger library of pictures to choose from, the Electronic Arts images include real color shading, as opposed to the “cartoonish” style of the Activision artwork. In addition, I found the Electronic Arts library to be better ar- ranged, making it that much easier to find a particular piece of clip art. It is possible to make clip-art disks that are compatible with all of the different paint programs. Someday, some budding artist may decide to produce disks filled with clip-art for use in a variety of programs. 10 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com reste e Musical Group Never Make The Cover Of Rolie ae While most musical A L. groups would love to be on the cover of Rolling Stone, The Music Class” will settle for an appearance on your Apple computer. } Its playful graphics and challenging tests will guide you ee the principles of music. All you need to run The Music Class software is an Apple II"or IGS” computer with 64K memory. The five programs are: Fundamentals: Make sense of those skinny lines with blobs and tails. All the basics from rhythm to note reading. $49, Rhythm: What the exact dif- ference is between waltz, polka, jazz, rock, ragtime, and more. A comical guy by the name of Mr. Metro /f Cure is the teacher. $49, Ear Training: How to hear exactly what's ' happening in a piece of music. ; You'll never listen to The i again. $49. Music Symbols) | squiggles, blips, slashes and dots. You'll learn ighty musical symbols. $39. ie Musici ae Note Reading: Know what the differences are between an E,7\ speed Whether theyre. Flat eighth note and a B-Flat quarter note. This is where beginners or child prodigies. youy’]] learn to read music. $39. So order by calling toll free 1-800-843 1937 Or collect 612-854-9554. Ask about our Coda Catalog with just over 600 music software products. And get your music career rolling. Wenger Music Learning Division, 1401 E. 79th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 554201590 Fe | ©1987, Wenger Corp. Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com G RA PP HEC DES: L1G N oF [GUE Fait Text Loyout Grrange Color New aN Open. a Close Sove 43) Chooser . Page SetUp_ eg Print OPI: = T [duit al Ls) ® T Hl Tia (ca) - Oo 1000 [anal QO j Draw Plus by Activision manipulated on the computer screen (for nple, by shrinking or expanding). AST’s VisionPlus is more expensive at $399, but also much more powerful. The board digitizes standard black-and- white images at the rate of 15 times a sec- ond, thereby achieving a television-picture effect on your computer screen. In addi- tion, you can also digitize 640-mode, t and white-pictures ( or full-color images five times each sec- ond. Once pictures are digitized, you can zoom in on portions or stretch images. The AST software doesn’t support printing capabilities age to a dis! program A more unusual method for digitizing an image has been available for Macintosh users for a while now, and is just becom- ing available for Apple Il owners. The Thunderscan from Thunderware, Orinda, California, is a different kind of digitizer that actually reverses the operation of your printer. Instead of sending out graph- ics from your computer and printing with a ribbon onto a blank sheet of paper, the Thunderscan takes a sheet of paper with an image on it, “reads” it while it is being passed through the printer, and converts it into a graphics image on the computer screen. The Thunderscan reader uses an optical sensor that replaces your ImageWriter’s ribbon. Under program control from the per second), , but you can sav yel your im: ind print it with another Picture Brush Mode Special Font Prefs About Deluxe Paint Deluxe Paint II by Electronic Arts Apple, the ImageWriter's print mechanism is used to pass the image onto a sheet of paper under the Thunderscan’s reader. The di where it is converted into a graphics im: a is then sent into the computer age. Since the ImageWriter has a very pre: cise mechanism, very-high-density images can be converted. And, since most users already have an ImageWriter, the Thunder. scan package is less expensive than a vid: eo camera and digitizer combination One disadvantage is that you have to rearrange your printer, replacing the rib- bon cartridge each time you want to per- form a s Also, the printout you want scanned must be on a sheet of paper that gets creased when it passes through the printer. You cannot digitize real-world ob: jects with the Thunderscan, and you won't want to pass through anything valu- able, such as an important picture or contract There is a simple solution to these problems, though. Take a photograph of anything that isn’t on a sheet of paper. If it’s too valuable to risk passing through the printer, just make a photocopy, and Thunderscan the photocopy We found the video digitizers excellent for use with a video recorder or for use with a video camera for real-world ob- jects. With the proper setup you can start your own flea market “Computerized Pic- tures” booth. The Thunderscan, however, was unbeatable for digitizing most printed documents, including logos off letterheads and photographs, Painting And Drawing Grabbing a real-world image is fun and useful, but the most popular way to create a graphics image is through an art pro: gram. Art programs come in two categor- ies: draw and paint. A draw program treats the segments of what you are draw- ing as individual objects. If a picture con- sists of a ball, triangle and squiggly line, each of the three objects is saved separately in memory and controlled separately. You can move each of the ob jects separately, adjust their sizes and edit their shapes. If you remove an object on top of an- other object in a draw program, the ob- ject below will be revealed. In a draw program, objects are stored in memory, and the program uses the screen only as a display to show the user how the output will turn out. A paint program, on the other hand, treats the screen memory as the canvas that you are painting on. When you use a paint program, you're updating the video memory directly, thereby affect- ing what you see on the screen. In a paint program, once you paint one object over another, the object below is erased. The primary advantage of a paint program is that you're actually manipulat ing screen memory. Each dot on the 12 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com Simply The Best Submarine Simulation In The World! 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For ALL Popular Computers At A Suggested Retail Of Only $34.95; * Commodore 64/128 * Atari XL/XE * IBM-PC & compatibles Said EGA 16-color graphics) . ie le Bele (enhanced sound for Mockingboard Bor And At A nes al Retail Of Only $39.95 With Unique Machine-Specific Graphics and Sound Enhancements For: * Amiga ¢ Atari ST * Apple liGS (OW ReroMMiventinNvaley MOBIOs0 siooiyeris isi ‘Commodore, Amiga, Apple, IBM and Atari ar registered trademarks of Commodore Electronics Ltd, Commodore- ‘Amiga Lid, Apple Computer Inc, International Business Machines In.. and Atar Inc, respectively. Downloaded fromayww-Apple2Onlit GRAPHIC DESIGN screen can be set the way you want. The advantage to a draw program is that ob- jects can be moved and manipulated separately, and you can produce very- high-resolution pictures when you dump to a high-quality printer, such as the Laser- Writer. Some draw programs will support paint- created images and can grab a paint- created image for use within a draw-type document. Naturally, that paint image can- not be edited any further, and has to be treated as a single object within the draw program Which is better—paint or draw? It de- pends on what you a artists, a paint program is naturally better, but for an architect, a draw program is more suited toward moveable walls and furniture. What about an interior designer who requires both the needs of an artist and an architect? For many such people, both types of programs are indisper Both paint and draw programs are able for the Apple IGS, and there are several diffe Most of the programs are just being released grams are being reintroduced with new updates, One reason this process takes a long time; Apple's print drivers were just re trying to do. For ble. ail: ent versions of each one. s you read this, and early pro: introduced in late spring/early summer, and many programmers have been waiting to add Apple's drivers to their programs. All of the following programs have their roots in the first paint and draw programs designed for the Apple mouse environ: ment, but go well beyond the capabilities of their Macintosh forefathers. Here's look at two draw programs and three paint programs designed specifically for the Apple IIGS's capabilities The draw programs for the IIGS have their roots in LisaDraw, which was released in 1984 for the Apple Lisa com- puter and MacDraw. Since draw programs are object-oriented, rather than screen oriented, they're designed more for designers than artists. Both programs in- clude removable rulers (with both metric and American units) and grid lines, mak- ing it very easy to position objects exactly where you want them. TopDraw By StyleWare TopDraw is the first drawing-type pro- gram to be produced specifically for the Apple IGS. You can create a document as large as 64 inches wide by 88 inches long, with as many objects as your memory al- lows. The only practical limits are how much memory you have, how much pa- tience you have when your document is filled with objects, and the several minutes it takes to redraw the screen. The 187-page manual is liberally illus- trated with diagrams and examples, and a tutorial chapter shows you how to create an invitation with a drawing of a present, complete with ribbon and tag. A document in JopDraw can be shown normal size, reduced to fit on the screen, or enlarged to show its detail. The lines in a figure can be smoothed out to create a free-flowing curve and the sizes of lines can be adjusted. One feature I especially liked about TopDraw is the capability to save various default parameters. Your ruler assignments, colors, preferences, and pat terns can all be loaded automatically when you boot the program. One unique feature is that it can receive bit-mapped graphics (a paint-type docu- ment) from another source, whether it’s a digitized picture or a picture created with a paint program. Once converted into TopDraw, the bit-mapped picture then acts like a rectangle. Although you cannot manipulate the individual bits of the pic- ture enclosed within the rectangle, you can move it and adjust its size by ‘squeez- ing.” As you change the size of the rectan- gle, the picture within will squeeze and stretch to fit, making it easy to place paintstyle pictures within a ZopDraw document, Unfortunately, ZopDraw comes with the least readable menus of any of the pro- grams I tested. Since the program offers more menu details than the other pack- ages, it uses a smaller, less readable character set. In the deactivated mode the displays are hardly readable, and I found the active mode more difficult to read than standard Apple IGS displays, Even with the menu problems, ZopDraw lent results, produces ex @ File Edit View Arrange Font Style Options Windows TopDraw by StyleWare, Inc. is one of the first drawing-type programs available for the Apple IGS. 14 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com G E Aw Hise DES’ E1G_N Draw Plus By Activision Activision supports both draw- and paint-style programs. Their draw program is Draw Plus, a package that can create documents as large as 96 by 80 inches, containing several thousand objects. On an Apple IIGS equipped with 1.5 mega- bytes (MB), more than 16,000 objects are available. Draw Plus can enlarge a portion of a picture to four times its actual size, or al- low a “zoomed out” view for an overall look at a large document. You can change back and forth between the 320 and 640 modes without losing your image. In the 320 mode you'll get a true 16-color dis- play, but the 640 mode will produce much more legible text. While Draw Plus doesn’t have as many default settings as TopDraw, you can save your custom rul ers and menus for use each time you boot the program. All of these features help make Draw Plus easy to read and use. ure is its icons. Icons One unique fe are often used to simpli by substituting picture choices for menus or text-based commands. The program comes with pre-drawn icons for ever thing from printer choices (ImageWrite LaserWriter, etc.) to the space shutt! chemistry beaker and Groucho glasses. With the icon editor you can design and create your own 32-dot-by-32-dot full- color icons. The disadvantage to Draw Plus icons is that they're fixed. You can’t stretch them or change their sizes. Nevertheless, icons are very convenient to place as needed onto a document. And, since they can be stored to disk, icon libraries can be creat- ed with pr le icons that can be easily added to various documents. While Draw Plus can't receive a paint- type document from another program, it can create a paint document that can then be used with another program. Draw Plus would have been more usable, however, if it did have the capability of importing a paint document the way Top Draw does. ‘computer use Paint Programs Apple IIGS Paint programs all have their Fantavision brings animation and color to the Apple IIGS. founding roots in MacPaint, the classic Macintosh paint program by Bill Atkinson, The original MacPaint-like program for the Apple II family was Mousepaint, by Bill Budge. If you're familiar with Mac- Paint, any of the Apple IIGS-based paint programs will seem familiar and easy to use, but you'll find new capabilities with each program. The most obvious enhancement is col or. All of the paint programs support col- or and will print color pictures to the Apple ImageWriter II if you have a color ribbon. The paint programs are all intelli- gent, and each one will load standard-siz pictures created by the others, or digitized images created with any of the digitizers. Paintworks Plus By Activision Paintworks Plus looks and acts almost identically to MacPaint. It provides the same familiar set of tools on the screen: the lasso, paint bucket, eraser, pencil, etc. And not surprisingly, Paintworks acts like MacPaint. All of the MacPaint shortcuts and features are available, making Paint- works Plus both easy to use and fairly versatile. With Paintworks, you can design and paint an image filling an entire sheet of paper. Since the Apple IIGS’ screen can only display about a fourth of a page at a time, you'll first have to select what por- tion you want to edit. You can either window with all paint within a worksp: of your tools and menus available, or paint using the entire 320-by-200 screen. Besides choosing 16 colors to work with, Paintworks lets you save up to 128 sets of the 16-color palettes on your pro- gram disk. Specific palettes can be designed for specific applications (¢.g., an carth-tones palette for landscapes, a prima- ry color palette for pop art, a palette with dark blues and blacks for night sky pic- tures, etc.). If you have a specific set of colors that you'd like to save, the palette tables make it easy A unique Paintworks feature is its ani- mated displays. You can draw pictures resembling cartoons, each one slightly different that the one before, and combine them together into an animated cartoon. Paintworks \ets you compress them to- gether and select a display speed. The program disk includes a demo file show- ing a bouncing ball—complete with a shadow beneath the ball. My only complaint is that Paintworks doesn’t stop you from choosing bad color The Apple LIGS Buyer's Guide 15 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com GRAPHIC DESIGN combinations. It is quite easy to select the same background and foreground colors, making the display unreadable. The only solution to this predicament is to reboot your computer, 816/Paint By Baudville 816/Paint cxists in several versions avail- able for several different Apple graphics modes. Besides the 320 and 640 Apple JIGS modes, there are versions of 816/Paint available for the standard and double high-resolution modes of earlier Apple Ils, I examined the standard Apple IGS version, although Baudville informs us that the program operates identically in each of its four different versions. One nice 8/6/Paint feature is that it supports a variety of printers and inter- faces in addition to the Apple ImagcWriter and LaserWriter “standards.” Unfortunately, the Apple LaserWriter isn’t one of the printers 8/6/Paint supports. Another special feature of 816/Paint is its use of color palettes. While Deluxe Paint only uses one paint palette and Paintworks Plus can store up to 128 palettes, 876/Paint lets you operate on eight separate palettes at the same time. Unlike Paintworks's disk-based palettes, all of 8/6/Paint's cight palettes are in memo- ty at once, and you can create color pat- terns and spreads that cover several of the palettes. 816/Paint is much less like MacPaint than Paintworks Plus. There's a different approach to how tools are used. For ex- ample, no eraser is included to wipe out unwanted areas; instead, you select the drawing tool with a very wide white paintbrush: ‘Three easy-to-use separate zoom levels are included, When you zoom a picture, the left half of the screen shows the stan- dard size picture, and the right half shows the magnified portion. In the zoomed-in portion you can specify whether you want it to scroll as you reach its edges. There is one special utility program mentioned in the 49-page 816/Paint man- ual which hopefully will be available by the time you read this. FILE.UTILITIES is a program that should convert earlier Ap- ple standard and double high-resolution pictures into super-high-resolution pic- tures compatible with 8/6/Paint. For those of us with libraries of thousands of high-resolution pictures, this sounds cxact- ly like what we necd. Deluxe Paint By Electronic Arts Deluxe Paint is certainly the most powerful and sophisticated paint program available for the Apple IIGS, and probably the most powerful for any microcomputer. At $99 ($119 with a copyable backup) it’s probably also the most expensive. Besides handling all of the standard paint func- tions, Deluxe Paint will create 3-D per- spectives, 200m up to 16 times normal size, create permanent backgrounds, let you make a drawing brush out of any por- tion of the picture, allow for different gra- dients for shaded fills, specify the size of the grid you want to use, smear and smooth sections of your picture for spe- cial effects, and create stencils, among other exotic functions. You can edit two separate pages of art at the same time, using one page as a tem- porary storage location. Each of these pages can be up to twice as large as a standard super-high-resolution screen, and you can choose whether you want to use the 320-dot or 640-dot mode. In the 320 mode (standard super-high-resolution) you can choose 16 true colors; the 640-dot mode supports four colors. The 640-dot mode provides twice as much horizontal resolution, and is excellent for producing high-quality line artwork. A sample file on the diskette shows how the four 640-mode primary colors can be combined and shaded to produce up to 22 color combinations. You must choose whether you want 640 or 320 mode be- fore you start your document, though— once you start in one mode, there's no turning back! The only major function where Deluxe Paint lacks sophistication is animation. The demo disk does show several anima- tion examples, but these are all created by cycling colors. In comparison with the other paint programs, Paintworks has cx- cellent animation facilities, but no color- cycling capabilities; 8/6/Paint has no ani- mation, but excellent versatile color cy- cling through several palettes; and Deluxe Paint has no animation, and color cycling limited to the palette in memory. Deluxe Paint does include a safety fea- ture in its color palette choices, You can- not set the foreground and background color choices to the same value. If you try, the program will prevent you, and choose a close combination, The resulting combination may be difficult to sce, but at least it will be visible. One feature I found annoying is Deluxe Paint’s choice of keyboard equivalents, Most mouse-oriented programs have quick keystrokes that perform the same fune- tions as the pull-down menus; in this re- gard, Deluxe Paint is no different. However, Deluxe Paint doesn’t use the standard equivalents used in many other Apple programs. As a result, you have to look up the keyboard equivalents in the manual or cheat sheet. If enough users would complain about programs that ig- nore the standards set up by Apple, more programs would use identical keystrokes. Deluxe Paint docs include an excellent, although expensive backup policy. The program diskette is not copyable; however Electronic Arts will send you a copyable backup diskette, if you send them $20 and promise not to distribute unauthorized copies. Besides the program disk, Deluxe Paint comes with a “Bonus Art Disk” that in- cludes a varicty of sample pictures, in- cluding a self-portrait of author Dan Silva, along with the King Tut picture shown in Electronic Arts ads, animals, an Apple TIGS picture and assorted other pictures. Of course, the bottom line to graphics system is this—can it produce a Snoopy picture? The answer in the Apple IGS’ case is not only can it produce a Snoopy picture, but that Snoopy can move, dance and sing, all at the same time. —Philip Chien, contributing editor 16 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com Introducing 816/Paint. Take your Apple || to its limit, 816/Paint is the first graphics program that works with all Apple Hi-Res graphics modes, including the 4096 color Super Hi-Res mode on the Ics. All you need is an Apple lle, -Ilc, or Ics. 816/Paint gives you the tools you need for outstanding results, whether it’s illustrations for video slides, clip art for desktop pub- lishing, or just some creative fun, 816/Paint includes two ProDOS d a 3¥2" 800K disk for the Ics, and a 5/4” disk for Ile and Ile machin No matter which Apple || you own, 816/ Pc aint will deliver ur Many color and black & white printers supported, Appig ImageWriters, Eps@ns and more. kkk | 12K required | : | tretch or paint * Full-screen BS lites Color cyelesninationePeinia to ane ageWriter aserWritet pAVDVILLE ImageWriter II or LaserWriter Four more ways to make your Apple I shine. Award Maker Plus Video Vegas Take 1, Deluxe Version Choice of intricate , : Let your creativity soar with this video \ Hp s, illus animation studio. Winner, 1986 Classroom lake rsonal- Computer Learning Software Award. =, $39.95 French parchment le paper available at for 100 Includes free Animation Library. $59.95 Put the power of Take I graphics and ani mation in your own programs. Try the Take 1 Programmer's TOOLKIT. Easy enough for the novice BASIC programmer, yet power ful enough for the most serious applications. $60.00 et Ask your dealer for these Baudville accepted for phone orders. Call or ™ write for our free catalog today! 1001 Medical Park Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49506 (ered trademark of Appl ‘Writer are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc Downloaded fro, GAME § The World’s Best Dragon Slayer: Gourmet Gaming With The Apple IIGS Software developers are slowly unraveling a wealth of game potential hidden inside the Apple IIGS. For computer game addicts, the results are nothing less than spectacular. hen I first took a look at an Apple IIGS last year, T didn’t think, “Wow, I bet this computer would make a great desktop publisher.” Nor did I wonder how many symphonies | could compose on it. No, I was interested in the Apple IIGS for a far more mundane rea- son: to play games, In my opinion, there is no truer test of a computer's capabilities than a game. What other type of program combines so much artistic and musical creativity? The Apple IIGS has the ability to be one of the greatest game machines on the mar- ket, That's not to say it won't become a wonderful desktop publisher or a fantastic music composer; it will. An Apple IGS can use a total of 4,096 colors when displaying graphics. Compare that with the 16 colors on an Apple Ile or Tic; it’s easy to see which machine has more visual ability, The IGS also has a graphics resolution of 640 by 200 pixels (dots on screen), compared with 560 by 192 pixels for the Ile and IIc. 1 was most impressed by the IGS’ sound quality. With its 15-voice Ensoniq Digital Oscillator chip, an Apple IIGS has the ability to create extremely realistic sound effects or play great music. Add to this MDIdea’s Supersonic Stereo Card and your IIGS will produce a world of won- derful sound. Other factors that make the Apple IIGS a great game machine are its speed con- trol and mouse capability, The speed con- trol setting allows you to play a game using a IIGS’ native speed, which is ap- proximately 2.5 times as fast as a Te. If necessary, a IIGS can be slowed down to play games designed originally for an Ap- ple Ie. The 1IGS’ mouse capability allows the use of Macintosh-like pull-down menus in many currently available games, Some programs offer the option of using a mouse instead of a joystick, while others allow a mouse and the keyboard controls. So much for hardware potential. Now here's a look at some of the first software games available for an Apple IIGS. GBA Championship Basketball Basketball fans across the country re- joiced when Activision/Gamestar released GBA Championship Basketball Two-on- Two last year. Finally, there was a basket- ball game that combined arcade action with genuine strategy. Gamestar has 18 Fall 1987 se _ Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com-.--- posse = a GAMES improved its already excellent game with the release of an Apple IIGS version. Improvements to GBA Basketball in- volve graphic elements. One flaw with the original Apple version was the difficulty Of seeing player's actions. In GBA Basket- ball, a jump shot must be released at the precise moment for it to go through the hoop. In the original Apple II version, it was difficult to determine when that mo- ment occurred, The Apple IIGS version of GBA Basket- ball has nice graphic details; from the two opposing coaches to the detailed wooden floor. A packed house crowds both sides of the arena, cheering every slam dunk, blocked shot and three-pointer. The coaches sit or stand, depending on their blood pressure level (actually, their move- ment seems to be entirely random). Programming The Apple IIGS: An Interview with Ivan Manley Ivan Manley is a software developer at Seattle-based Manley and Associates, which develops programs for Activision, Electronic Arts and Springboard Soft- ware. Manley worked on Activision's Hacker II and Shanghai for the IGS. We asked him to give us a programmer's view of the Apple IGS. Apple IIGS: How did you get into Apple IIGS software development? Manley: About a year ago I got a preproduction version of a IIGS. I learned a lot about programming it by using the alpha version of the APW compiler, along with the GS Assembler. Apple IIGS: Were there initial problems converting programs from an Apple II to an Apple IIGS Manley: We ran into a slight problems converting Hacker II and Shanghai, Both programs had been originally written in C language. The alpha version of the compil- er had problems with C, so we ruled out using it as a development language for the IIGS. We ended up writing both programs in assembly language. Apple IIGS: What are some of the advan- tages of programming for the IIGS? Manley: In a IIGS program, the assembler language codes are more powerful, mak- ing it a lot easier to do a more complicat- ed program. Another advantage is graphics on a IIGS are superior. It’s easier to design the graphics for a game with the creative freedom the IIGS allows you. The Apple IIGS allows a programmer to have 4,096 different colors on one display Apple IIGS: What does the future hold for the IIGS? Will the machine make it in the marketplace? Manley: The machine's growth potential in areas of business and entertainment are excellent. The Apple Ie and IIc have reached their maximum software develop- ment potential. The IGS adds plenty of extra memory. It will definitely do well in the marketplace because it’s far more user friendly than earlier Apple IIs. The game begins with a close-up of a chalkboard in what appears to be a locker room. A user must choose whether to play a game, practice a bit or watch a demo. After choosing a one-player or two- player contest, joystick or keyboard con- trol is selected, Finally, the user must de- termine whether the game will be a “league” game or an exhibition game. The next segment, the “player draft,” is crucial. This determines how well you'll fare in league play. It is important to draft two players who complement each other on the court. It's difficult to win the GBA championship with no outside shooting or a lack of rebounding, Player skills are broken down into six categories; Inside Shooting, Outside Shooting, Dribbling, Stealing, Quickness and jumping Abi Once you've determined your player's skills, it's time to choose a teammate from a group of 10 “superstar” players h sus perstar is patterned after a present or past NBA great. The names have been changed, but it’s fairly obvious who's who. It doesn’t take a sports genius to fig- ure out who GBa's “Larry Berg” is pat- terned after, or “Julius Keith,” known to his fans as “Dr. K.” GBA Championship Basketball allows a user to set defensive or offensive forma- tions each trip down the court. While the choice of formations is limited (four defensive, five offensive), it's what you do from each formation that makes the game exciting. From a “Man-to-Man Light” defense, you can shift your player over to double- team the ball handler. You can also dare your opponent to take an outside jumper by putting both defenders “in the paint.” GBA Championship Basketball has many details necessary in a good com- puter sports simulation. Its combination of arcade action and basketball strategy make the game enjoyable for repeated play. Couple these elements with the detailed graphics of an Apple IIGS and GBA Championship Basketball comes up a winner. 20 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com GAMES Hacker II: The Doomsday Papers In Hacker IT from Activision, the U.S. government has uncovered a diabolical plot by the Russians to destroy the United States, The C1A wants you to save the country. All you have is a computer key- board a top-secret manual entitled Multi- Function Switching Matrix (MFSM) Opera- tor’s Manual, Volume 1. Hey, no one said it was going to be casy! The manual describes a machine patched into the security system at a com- plex somewhere in Siberia. The CIA has infiltrated the building with a couple robots known as Mobile Remote Units (MRUs), With your computer keyboard or mouse, you can control the MFSM, which in turn moves the MRUs (one at a time) around the Siberian complex. You are secking a notebook known only as the Doomsday Papers. It’s hidden in a safe somewhere in the complex. By searching with the MRUs, you can find the combination to the safe, find the safe and remove the papers. Like any security station, the Siberian complex is heavily monitored and guard- ed, Not only must you find the safe and discover its combination, you have to make sure no one sees you. If your MRU is caught, he will be crushed into a sar- dine can by a metal monster called The Annihilator, Knowing what to do in Hacker I] and actually doing it are two different things. It takes a couple tries to figure out the best way to sneak about the security com- plex unnoticed, Once you figure out how, it's a matter of timing, Obviously, my tim- ing is a bit off. I've been caught every time! Detailed graphics and excellent sound effects make this program a worthwhile purchase for all Apple IGS owners with a taste for espionage. Shanghai Simple games are often the most addic- tive. Think of games that have withstood the test of time: checkers, chess, backgam- Shanghai by Activision mon, gin rummy, Pac-Man. They have one thing in common: elegant simplicity. Shanghai, a recent Apple IIGS release from Activision, seems destined to join this group of gaming classics. Shanghai is loosely based on the an- cient game of mah-jongg. The object is simple: 144 tiles are laid out in “Dragon Formation,” which is sort of an extended five-story pyramid. Among the 144 Shang- bai tiles, there are 108 Suit tiles, 12 Drag- on tiles, 16 Wind tiles, four Season tiles and four Flower tiles. Once the tiles are laid out, you must remove them in pairs until none are left. There is a catch. Only matching tiles may be removed at the same time; not just tiles of the same suit, but identical tiles. Also, the tiles can only be removed if they are “free.” A tile is considered free if no other tile is on top of it and if it can slide out to the left or right. There are four different ways to play Shanghai: Solitaire, Team Effort, Tourna- ment and Challenge. The Solitaire and Team Effort games have no time restric- tions and may be saved for future play. An unlimited number of participants is al- lowed in Tournament play. In a Tourna- ment game, cach player has the same Dragon formation. The player who re- moves the most tiles is the winner. The game has a Help menu that allows you to back up a move, start a game over, show all possible moves during a turn or peck at the tiles on the lower levels of the Dragon. It also includes an on-screen in- struction guide and strategy sessions to improve playing abilities. Unlike the Macintosh version of the game, the IIGS version provides you with a three-dimensional perspective of the Dragon setup. The details and colors of the TIGS version are also much easier on the eyes than the black-and-white graphics on a Mac. Tass Times In Tonetown Tass Times in Tonetown is a tough game to describe. Perhaps I’m not “ultra plus chic” or “tass" enough. Jass Times in Tonetown is Activision's very bizarre computer adventure where you travel to another dimension in search of the mis- sing “Gramps.” Another objective is to ac- quire “tass” (which translates as “not looking like a tourist’’). A key to survival in Tonetown is to read the enclosed copy of the Tonetown Times. Clues that help you survive in Tonetown are in this paper. The front page includes a helpful story on Gramps and a story on Franklin Snarl, an evil alligator-like villain, Snarl is a real estate magnate who is buying up most of Tonctown. He's also the last character you'll see during this game, if you accidentally let your true tourist colors show. You are not alone in your search for Gramps. Your companion is Gramp's dog, Spot, who has been transformed into En- nio, a talking canine newshound, To Tonetown residents, Ennio is known sim- ply as “The Legend.” Ennio is more than a mutt; he’s a prize-winning journalist. What | couldn't figure out was, if this dog's so bright, why does he just smile and wag his tail when I ask him a ques- tion? Maybe I should have bribed him with a dog biscuit! Tass Times in Tonetown can be a frus- trating game. It doesn’t take too many wrong moves to have Franklin Snarl show up and kick you out of town for being a “stupid tourist.” Luckily, the program has a Quicksave option that allows you to save and restart a game at any point with- out going back to the beginning. The Bard’s Tale With its release in 1985 for the Apple Ile and Ilc, the original Bard's Tale set The Apple IIGS Buyer's Guide 21 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com GAME S&S Tass Times In Tonetown by Activision the standard by which all other adventure games are judged. It’s a game so detailed in design even experienced computer ad- venturers take months to complete it. Well, Electronic Arts has upped the in- dustry standards again with the release of the Apple IIGS version of The Bard's Tale 1. The game is the same; you still create a party of six adventurers who are in pur- suit of the evil Mangar, This time, howev- er, the game uses the considerable graphics and sound capabilities of an Ap- ple 1IGS, The game's opening screen provides a good indication of what follows. A lone bard, beautifully illustrated, sits on a stool, poised to play a tune. He precedes to strum and sing a song about the city of Skara Brae (where the adventure takes place). This “song” isn’t just a collec- tion of different pitched beeps, as in the previous version. Your Apple IIGS plays a song, complete with an accompanying lyre (or is that a “lute” the bard is playing?). The Bard’s Tale I is an ideal program if you want to see what an Apple IIGS can do, Michael Cranford, the game's designer, has programmed a challenging adventure that will keep you at your Apple for hours, perhaps months! The Tower of Myraglen The wind howls and whips about at a fevered pitch. Lightning flashes over head in the night sky, offering only flickering glimpses of a foreboding stone castle. Bat- tle horns trumpet, sending a chill down your spine. Thus begins your adventure in The Tower of Myraglen from PBI Software. A one-player adventure, you are one of the last knights of valor. Your quest is to seek out the Medallion of Soul Stealing hidden within the Tower of Myraglen. Be- fore entering the tower, your knight is giv- en a Ring of Unlimited Arrows, which will shoot arrows in any direction. On his quest, your knight finds plenty of gold and weapons, along with clues that help him (you) progress. The opening scene is the most impres- sive one in The Tower of Myraglen. The ‘The Tower of Myraglen by PBI Software, Inc, tower is impressively illustrated, and the sounds of a raging thunderstorm provide an air of danger, Unfortunately, it seems the designers spent most of their efforts on that scene, The game is a bit of a let- down after the initial tower graphics, Most of the time, your knight runs through hallways that all look the same, easily des- troying evil creatures that happen to get in his way. The Tower of Myraglen is played using the mouse and keyboard. Players have the option of using their keyboards alone, which may be easier. There are also op- tions to change game speed, prepare a new tower and save a game in progress. The game, which supports MDIdea's Su- perSonic Stereo Card, requires a minimum of 512K RAM, although 768K is recom- mended to get all sound effects. Coming Attractions By the time you read this, the games reviewed will have been joined by at least another dozen. More companies have made commitments to develop IIGS soft- ware, and the initial few that pioneered game software are stepping up their efforts. According to Stan Roach, director of marketing within the creativity division of Electronic Arts, the Apple IIGS represents a major step in the computer industry, “The IIGS takes the Apple computer from an appliance status (used only for number and data crunching) to an interactive medium status. Electronic Arts is very bullish on the IIGS,” he says. Activision, currently marketing five IIGS programs, is one of several companies in- creasing its production. According to Loretta Stagnitto, public relations manager, “Activision recognized this system would continue the tradition of the Apple II se- The IGS will be as widely accepted home and small-business computer as the Ie and Il Accolade, Inc. is also enthusiastic about the IIGS. The company has produced a IIGS version of its excellent golf program, Mean 18. It plans to re a IGS version of Hardball later this fall, What accounts for the delays in produc- ing game software for the Apple IG: Many companies took a wait-and-see tude, Phillip Adams, president of $ Holobyte, cites another reason, “From a software development standpoint, we didn’t have the utilities necessary to pro- duce software that takes full advantage of the graphic and sound capabilities of the IGS,” he says. Spectrum Holobyte converted its sub- marine simulation, Gato, over to the IIGS and is now working on Orbiter, a space- flight simulator to be released this fall. The Apple IIGS gaming future seems to be a bright one, In recent months, Apple has released its QuickDraw font manager and print manager utilities for the ma- chine. Apple is also releasing text-to- speech sound tools, which allow speech routines to be created more easily. With the advent of these utilities, the time has come for software developers to stop waiting and start programming. Fellow gamers. . warm up those joysticks! ll —Michael Meyers, contributing editor rie 22 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com CIO" MPA vi Bel) te inet ¥ If you receive a program on a 5.25-inch disk, there are ways to make it compatible with your IIGS. should work with little, if any, modifications. The most important software incompati- bility issue is disk format. Earlier Apple Ils use 5.25-inch disks, and almost all Apple Tle programs are distributed on 5.25-inch disks. A couple years ago, the 3.5-inch UniDisk drive became available, and soft- ware publishers started to distribute pro- grams on 3.5-inch disks. The 3.5-inch disks store more data, are more damage resistant and work faster than their older counterparts. Apple decided to make the 3.5-inch drive the standard Apple IIGS storage device. Most software publishers distribute pro- grams on 5.25-inch floppies, because they are less expensive to produce. And, in general, more Apple II users have 5.25-inch drives than 3.5-inch drives. If you receive a program on a 5.25-inch disk, there are ways to make it compatible with your IIGS. The most expensive, though most reliable, way is to purchase and use a 5.25-inch drive. Apple sells one for $299, but you can buy a third-party drive for less than half that price. Any external 5.25-inch drive designed to work with an Apple IIc should work fine with a IIGS, and adapter cables are available for earlier drives. Although the IIGS supports two 5.25-inch drives, one should be sufficient to transfer programs to 3.5-inch diskettes and run 5.25-inch format programs. Programs come in three categories: those that can be transferred without any problems; copy protected programs; and programs that are designed to work only with 5.25-inch diskettes. Regrettably, the biggest category is copy-protected programs. Many software publishers copy protect their programs to control illegal distribu- tion. For users who only want to make ar- chival backups, copy protection causes more problems than it solves. When at- tempting to transfer a program from a 5.25-inch diskette to a 3.5-inch disk, a copy-protected program will not operate. The only solution is to contact the pub- lisher and see if a 3.5-inch copy of the software is available. Many programs are designed to operate only on 5.25-inch disks. Some are in DOS 3.3, an early disk operating system that only supports 5.25-inch disks. Others, in- cluding disk diagnostic utilities, are designed to work with the 5.25-inch drive mechanism. Some of these programs can be converted to ProDOS (the all-purpose operating system) and 3.5-inch disks, but they may have to be modified. Some may not be fully usable on 3.5-inch disks. Making Transfers Fortunately, many programs distributed on 5.25-inch disks can be easily trans- ferred to 3.5-inch disks. To transfer a pro- gram, borrow a 5.25-inch drive and connect it to your system. Many dealers let you transfer programs on their demo units. If you purchase a program on a 5.25-inch disk, the dealer should transfer the program for you. Any standard Apple file utility program (Filer, Apple Desktop, SYS Utilities, etc.) can be used to format a blank 3.5-inch disk and transfer the files over from the 5.25-inch disk. Besides disk format, there are several other hardware differences between early Apple IIs and a IGS. Early Apples use a plug-in interface card with a clock circuit. A IGS has a built-in clock accessed through the Toolbox. Many programs are still distributed with an early version of ProDOS (ProDOS 1.1.1 and earlier), which doesn’t support the IIGS clock. If you re- place the ProDOS on the program diskette with a later version (ProDOS 81 1.2 or later), ProDOS will recognize the IIGS clock. Other programs are designed specifical- ly for, and will look for, a clock in the Apple's slot. These programs require re- writing or updates, if you want to use the IIGS clock. Communications Concerns The serial ports on a IIGS are different from an Apple Ile’s Super Serial Card and a Ilc’s built-in serial ports. Apple changed the hardware in the IIGS serial port to make it more compatible with the Macin- 24 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com €l(OLM PF AUT FF BoE LT Try tosh and AppleTalk network. In so doing, almost all communications programs designed to work with earlier Apple IIs re- quire an update from their publishers to work with a IIGS. Most Ile/IIc programs that print through standard print routines will work perfectly on a IIGS. There are some programs de- signed specifically for use with Ile/IIc seri- al ports that won't work properly on a IGS, however. While unlikely, it’s possible a few older programs will be incompatible with your Apple IIGS, due to hardware built into the circuitry of the IIGS (mouse, keyboard, sound circuits, firmware, etc). In these you'll have to get IIGS versions of the software. When you get your programs to run on your Apple IIGS, you may have to adjust to new syntax rules, For example, several changes have been made to the IGS key- board, which set it apart from the Apple Ile, Besides adding a numeric keypad and making the rd detachable, Apple moved a few keys and renamed others. The Open Apple key has been renamed Command, and the Closed Apple key has been renamed Option. When a program manual refers to the Closed Apple key, use the Option key instead. Another important adjustment is con- figuring your software. If a IIGS isn’t listed in a program's configuration routine, choose a 128K Apple Ie selection, if avail- able, Depending on your software, you may have to configure it so that you've got an Apple He with an extended 80-column card installed (these features are built into the Apple IIGS). An Apple IIGS has a serial printer port in slot 1, a serial modem port in slot 2, a mouse in slot 4, and disk drives in slot 5 (3.5 inch) and 6 (5.25 inch). An Apple IIGS is twice as fast as an Ap- ple Ile. Certain programs and hardware peripherals are designed to run at the Ap- ple Ile’s slower speed, however. The solu- tion for using these products is to select the slower Apple Ile speed through the IGS’ control panel, which is accessed directly from the keyboard. Apple II Updates Externally, a IIGS is physically different from other Apple II family members. Its two serial connectors use sub-8 connec- tors, its disk drive uses a DB-19 connector and its RGB video connector uses a DB-I5 connector. Apple dealers stock the proper adapter cables to connect a IIGS to a variety of printers, modems and serial devices. Make sure you use the proper IIGS cable. Don't purchase another cable because it says “Works on any Apple II.” An Apple IIGS is not just another Apple IL. Some interfaces may not fit into a IGS’ case, especially with a fan installed. If you have a joystick that attaches to the 16-pin internal connector, you may need an ex- tension cord if your joystick has a short cable. A card that plugs into the AUX slot or cassette port of a Ile won't work on a IGS. Fortunately, you won't need to plug too many Ile interface cards into a IIGS, be- cause the most popular interfaces are al- ready included. (A typical Apple Ie has three to five interface cards for functions that are already built into a IIGS). Most Apple Ile and Ic owners attach their computers to composite video moni- tors, although some use digital RGB moni- tors that produce 16 colors. An Apple IGS has a built-in analog RGB monitor in- terface that can produce up to 4,096 colors, and most IIGS owners use RGB monitors for their displays. An RGB monitor generates a different display than a composite monitor. Various graphics programs will look different. If this happens to you, it’s not a software bug that needs squishing: hardware incompatibili Graphics On The Apple IGS,” this issue.) Many hardware manufacturers have come out with enhancements to their Ap- ple Ie peripherals that use the IGS" ad- vanced capabilities. These enhancements may come out as firmware (ROM) up- grades or as software that provides a peripheral with new capabilities. A typical Apple Ie has three to five interface cards for functions that are already built into a IGS. What's the final word on compatibility? Rest easy—the vast majority of Apple II programs are well written and work on an Apple IIGS without any problems. Many manufacturers label their software and hardware “Works on an Apple IIGS,” mak- ing selection ea None of the rules for compatibility in this article are absolute. The only univer- sal rule is to check out every program on your Apple IIGS and see how well it works. —Phil Chien, contributing editor The Apple 1IGS Buyer's Guide 25 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com The best in all creation. However you express your creativity. In words. In pictures. Or both. Activision has the software for you. Paintworks Plus, Writer’s Choice elite, and Draw Plus. Graphics, paint and animation, word processing, and precision drawing for your Apple IIGS. All three look and work alike, with pull-down menus and simple, one- step mouse operations. All three work together, so combining pictures with text is as simple as cut and paste. Paintworks Plus—as powerful and versatile as your imagination. That's why this paint program is the top selling software product for the $. With all the colors and tools it takes to make a computer artist’s studio. Choose from the 4096 colors available to create just the right palette for every picture. Cut and paste images. Add titles and captions with a variety of fonts, styles and sizes. Bring your painted creations to life with a thrilling animation capability. = May 7-10, 1986 ey of Sen Frenciseo And now every Paintworks Plus package includes Giip Art Gallery, a library of over 650 vivid color images, FREE. If you can see it in your mind’s eye, you can picture it on your Apple IlGs —with Paintworks Plus. Writer’s Choice elite—your words never looked so good. Go beyond black words on a white screen. Write and edit in color—for emphasis, for fun, or to help organize your ideas. And when a picture is worth a thousand words, dress up your text with graphics from Paintworks Plus, Draw Plus, or Clip Art Gallery: Multiple windows let you work with several documents at the same time. Cut and paste lets you move text around —with a click of the mouse. Local rulers give you total formatting freedom and flexibility. 12 different fonts, in a variety of sizes and styles, give every word just the look you're looking for. Draw Plus. Power and precision .-in color. Forms, graphs and charts. Floor plans and perspective drawings. Logos, letterheads and layouts. Graphics for business or banners for fun. Whatever you want to draw or design, you'll draw inspiration from Draw Plus. And you can integrate your Draw Plus creations with pictures from Paintworks Plus and words from Writer's Choice elite. Use rulers and grids for added precision and drawing to scale. Add labels, legends and captions to your drawings, with 12 fonts in many sizes and styles. Draw a variety of perfect shapes— instantly —and create and save custom images, too, for instant drawing any time. Print what you paint, write and draw in color with the ImageWriter® II or in black and white with the ImageWriter or LaserWriter* Ask your retailer about Activision's great software for the Apple IGS. Or you can order by mail: call 1-800-227-6900. |ACTIVISION, ie Paintworks Plus, Writer's Choice elite, Dra Pls, and Clip Art Gallery are trademarks of Actcision, Inc. Apple, Apple IGS, Imageltriter, and LaserWriter are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. © Activision, Inc. Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com . EDUCATION Educational Software Roundup: A First Look At What's New The Apple IIGS For ust when you think your computer is state of the art, with the most advanced hard- ware and peripherals, Apple comes out with a new machine—the Apple 11GS. This computer sports a larger standard RAM (256K) than earlier Apple lis, speeds up many Apple 1! programs, offers beautiful color graphics and is capa- ble of spectacular sound. While the possibilities spark your curi- osity, at first you adopt a wait and see ap- proach. After all, rumor has it there isn’t much software to take advantage of all the new Apple IGS features. Incvitably, the day arrives when you visit your local computer store to try the Apple IIGS demo program. The graphics are impres- sive, and the sound is exceptional, The IIGS bug bites and your hunt for software begins. Like me, you probably use a computer for writing personal and business letters, Organizing your widget collection and sticking to a monthly budget. If you're a parent, you also use your computer to reinforce the skills your children learn in class, A computer does what no textbook can accomplish. It-combines sound, colorful graphics and animation in innovative ‘ways. It makes education a stimulating, challenging and fun-filled experience. It offers never-ending patience, immediate feedback without negative reinforcement The Apple IIGS may be the ultimate teaching machine, and its new software bas the potential to make learning an exciting—and colorful—experience. and a one-to-one teaching environment. With appropriate software, a computer can help your children do well in school. ‘What follows is a review of the first crop of IGS educational software. There are more programs available than you think. Some are new, some are renewed Apple If products and some are newly ported from other machines. All of them take advantage of at least one IGS fea- ture: increased memory, multivoice specch and sound capabilities, enhanced graphics, faster execution or the convenience of mass storage on a durable—almost kid- proof—3.5-inch (800K) disk. If you think of your computer as a valu- able educational tool, as commonplace as the TV or telephone, it’s time to consider a lIGS. The point is not to upgrade to a HGS because of hardware improvements, however. The crucial performance factors to consider are the quality and power of available software. Remember, too, that symphonic sound and flashy graphics real- ly enhance computer-assisted education. Kidstime II Designed for children ages 3 to 10, Kidstime I is a newly ported T1GS prod- uct originally conceived for the Macin- tosh. The IIGS version offers a Macintosh-style interface with a mouse as the input device of choice. There are win- dows, pull-down menus, icons, scroll bars and double-clicking for activity selections, Its two educational activities, ABKey and KidsNotes, use super high-resolution graphics, the IIGS built-in synthesizer chip. and 512K of memory. ABKey is for younger children, pre- school to kindergarten. It teaches upper and lowercase fetter recognition. Letters, pictures or both appear on screen, one at a time, two at a time or at timed intervals. When a matching letter or beginning letter of a picture-related word is pressed on the keyboard, a musical “reward” plays. The word also appears under its picture. It may be written in either upper or lowercase. Choosing more than one letter at a time may confuse very young users. For exam- ple, my four-year-old daughter thought the word “nose” began with the letter “x,” simply because they appeared on screen simultaneously. KidsNotes is an introductory music ac- tivity that allows older children to explore 28 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com ‘Software for the Apple TIGS Great Wave Software * gt Dowel oui ... THE ONLY PAli DELUXE Fill any area with a custom pattern or gradient color blend. Create tile or textile designs in seconds! FLIPS SHELL? SMOOTH FILL. BEND BEND ze BEND = SIZE its a dozen ways: flip, shear, blend, rotate, fill text. Design your own logos! INTRODUCING DELUXEPAINT Il. The images above were all produced with the most advanced paint program ever created for a personal computer. The only paint program that lets you zoom in to see your painting in four levels of detail, create custom gradient color ranges from a 4,096-color palette, freeze an image and paint over it, and do dozens of other things you never knew a personal computer could do. The program is DeluxePaint II. The result is more than just a pretty face GREAT GRAPHICS DeluxePaint II. With Delux perspective tool. So give life to static picture never been so easy. Or le Ilas. And the best reason to buy d dimension with the exclusive 3-D tions with the smoothing tool. And olors. Computer graphics have “THE BEST GRAPHICS PRODUCT OF THE YEAR: We didn't say it. The Software Publishers’ Association did—and gave us the award to prove it DELUXEPAINT Il. MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE. Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com T PROGRAM THAT CAN DO ALL THIS! Enter the third dimension. Turn 2-D into 3-D with a Combine text and graphics for educational click and get a new perspective! presentations. It's easy enough for kids of all ages. Zoom in through four levels of magnification and Create colorful presentation graphics like the pros. put the gleam in the ow!'s eye. It's a whole new world for business presentations, $50 Offer Extended! Upgrade any Apple IIGs paint program to DeluxePaint II Ifyou jumped the gun and bought Paintworks Plus"—or any other Apple IIGS paint program— here's your chance to get the best for HALF PRICE! Just send us $49.95 and the front manual cover from your current program before December 31, 1987, and we'll send you DeluxePaint II. (You save $50!) We'll even give you a 30-day, no-questions-asked, 100% money-back guarantee on this upgrade offer if you're not completely satisfied. How's that for backing our claim? DeluxePaint Il requires 768K of RAM. The upgrade offer is only available directly from Electronic Arts. Send check or money order for $49.95 (or VISA/Mastercard information) AND THE FRONT COVER OF ANY APPLE lias PAINT PROGRAM MANUAL (no facsimiles accepted) to ELECTRONIC ARTS INCIDER UPGRADE, Dept. |-10, P.0. Box 7530, San Mateo, CA 94403, Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. TO ORDER DELUXEPAINT II: Visit your retauer. I you cant find DeluxePaint Il there, call 800-245-4525 (in CA 800-562-1112), and place a direct order on your VISA or Mastercard. To, order by mail, send check, money order, or VISA/Mastercard information to Electronic Arts Direct Sales, Dept. I-10, PO. Box 7530, San Mateo, CA 94403, The regular direct-order price is $99.95; add $3 for shipping and handling (5 Canadian). There is a 30-day money-back guarantee on direct orders. Allow 6-8 wooks for delivery. Apple IIGS is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc, Paintworks Plus is a trademark of Activision, Inc. DeluxePaint Il is a trademark of Electronic Arts. —— a ee | ELECTRONIC ARTS® DELUXE CREATIVITY SERIES™ EDUCATION Kidstime II teaches young HGS users the basic elements of music and words. many aspects of music. For preschoolers to kindergarteners, there is an assortment of simple melodies, many of them nursery thymes. These melodics may be played by clicking the mouse on Play or on a song's name. Pressing the space bar will cycle through all the songs. As a melody plays, its notes are highlighted on an on-screen piano keyboard and musical staff. Older children will have fun altering the dura- tion, volume, and tempo of the melodies. Children enjoy randomly playing on the keys or creating simple melodies. They play the notes by clicking on the piano keyboard or pressing the keys on their Apple IGS keyboard. They can experi- ment with tempo, volume, simple key and time signatures, note lengths and pitch. It is possible to enter new songs, edit, play, name and save them. Kidstime I comes with a well-written manual that includes a section on basic musical concepts. The program is un- protected. Transferring it to a hard disk or making an archival copy is no problem. It uses lots of memory, so make sure your computer has at least 512K. Product: Kidstime IT Price: $39.95 Company: Great Wave Software; 5353 Scotts Valley Dr.; Scotts Valley, CA 95066; 408-438-1990 Requirements: Apple I1GS; 512K; 3.5-inch drive; RGB color monitor Explore-A-Story/ Explore-A-Science Series The Explore-A-Serics offers reading in- struction with the help of animated and interactive graphics. Students read the storybook and follow along on their com- puters by clicking their mouse devices to advance the pages. The pictures in the storybook are screen shots of the computer-generated graphics. Once they read and view a story, stu- dents can modify it by changing the characters, scenery or plot. Older children can type in their own text; younger chil- dren can select words from those provid- ed in a Picture Menu to label their on-screen creations. There are a variety of props, backdrops and characters from which to choose. Also included are “story starters.” These are scenes that can be used to generate original stories. One of the story starters is often a “word stack.” In “A Brand New View,” the story starter is an ordinary out- door scene with a number of words stacked in a pile. Students must lift words off the stack one at a time and move them to label the appropriate objects on screen, When their scenes are complete, stu- dents can save their work to disk and then print it out in cither black and white or color. A scene must be saved before a new file is opened or the work will disap- pear from memory. While the program disk itself is copy protected, teachers can reproduce the data disk for distribution to the class. . The disk utilities make it possible to reconfigure the data disk to work in a sec- ond drive. This cuts down on disk swap- ping during program operation. The vendor would do well to store both the program and data disks on a single 3.5-inch (800K) unprotected diskette, Pro- grams such as A Closer Look: The Desert use two student data disks. Combining in- formation would cut down on load time, make it easier to access data files and eliminate disk swapping. All products in the Explore-A-Serics se- ties have the same look and feel. They of- fer a Macintosh-style user interface complete with menu bars and windows. Each works well with input from a key- board or joystick, but clicking on a mouse is the simplest way to make activity selec- tions or move objects on screen. The pro- grams are not specifically designed for use with a IGS, but they work well the IIGS’ faster microprocessor. At the faster speeds, their animation is a joy to use. Programs in the Explore-A-Science series are aimed at a slightly older audience and require more developed reading and writ- ing skills. While there are only two pro- grams currently available, others are being developed. Tyrannosaurus Rex: Dinosaur Construction Kit was featured in the dino- saur exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. Each of the program's many 32 Fall 1987 Downloaded from www.Apple2Online.com ED U € A ¥ FO N activities is designed to teach students about dinosaurs and the paleontologists who study their fossil remains. As students read the activity book, they page through the T-Rex file. It contains seven scenes: Find the Fossil, Dig Up the Bones, Sort the Bones, Build the Skeleton, Uncover the Skeleton, Color TRex and Prehistoric Scene. Younger students and beginning readers will enjoy finding fos- sils, digging them up, coloring the dino- saur and composing prehistoric scenes—complete with wing-flapping pterodactyls and fearsome triceratops. In A Closer Look: The Desert, students learn about the Sonoran—the desert locat- ed in the southwestern part of the United States, Paging through the Desert file, they discover there is more to desert life than sun and sand. The students can peek into the holes of the saguaro cactus and uncover the under- ground burrows of desert animals. A closer look leads to the discovery of a habitat teeming with animated life. Bats fly, frogs bury deep into the sand, a turtle pokes its head and feet in and out of its shell, a scorpion comes out of the rocks to sting its next meal, an owl egg hatches and a spider emerges from its hole to catch a butterfly. The programs in both series are very open-ended, with plenty of opportunities for creative thinking and writing. Students will enjoy modifying scenes and creating new ones. Using the accompanying labels will help them improve their reading skills, The science modules will teach them more about the world around them. These programs are winners! Products: Explore-A-Story Series, for grades K-2; A Brand New View, Rosie, The Counting Rabbit, Just Around the Block, The Bald-Headed Chicken, The Napping Stack. For grades 3-5: The Lima Bean Dream, What Makes A Dinosaur Sore?, The Quasar Kids, Explore-A-Science Series: Tyrannosaurus Rex: Dinosaur Construction Kit, A Closer Look: The Desert (grades K-6) Price: $66 each Company: Collamore Educational Pub- lishing/D.C. Heath and Co. (in association with Learningways, Inc); 125 Spring St.; Lexington, MA 02173; 800-334-3284 Requirements: Apple Ile, IIc, IIGS; 128K; 5.25-inch disk drive; mouse, joystick or Koala Pad (optional); color or black-and-white printer (optional); color monitor preferred First Shapes First Shapes introduces Ted E. Bear, the first computer bear that talks. This in- teresting character offers five learning ac- tivities that teach preschoolers about basic geometric shapes: circles, ovals, squares, triangles and rectangles. The program is simple to use, as Ted E. Bear gives verbal instructions. Even the youngest preschool- ers can click their computer mouse devices and make selections from the pic- ture menu. In the module called Shapes, Ted E. Bear presents five geometric figures. Click- ing the pointer anywhere on his body causes him to say the name of each shape. The word for each shape also appears on screen. Children can click their mouse devices to make the