Shareware Solutions II Volume 3 Issue 3 1996 10 Kohn Joe US

Shareware Solutions II An Exciting Apple II Journey Into The Future Volume 3, Issue 3 December, 1996 Never Mind Gus, Here’s Fast Eddie Meet Fast Eddie Today, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about a product that is being developed by the Swiss based Bright Soft- ware programming team. Fast Eddie, currently running on the systems of only a few program- mers and selected testers, pro- vides Apple IIGS emulation for Power Macintosh computers. Work on Fast Eddie started in late 1994 when Andre Horst- mann (known for his Shadow- Write and Hermes GS/OS word processors) was thinking about programming a simple 65816 emulator. Over the course of time, I joined Andre and the 65816 interpreter slowly but surely evolved into a full-blown Apple IIGS emulator. A friend of ours, Urs Hochstrasser, wrote an Apple II monitor clone (running cooperatively under the emulator) which simplified de- bugging significantly. Fast Ed- die is currently in late alpha test stage, and we plan to re- lease a public beta test version in early January, 1997. Our ultimate goal is to provide former Apple II users with a highly compatible IIGS system. For this reason, Eddie emulates “metal” — this means that Fast Eddie does not substitute Apple II software routines to run un- der MacOS, but instead makes the emulated software think that it’s running on an actual Apple IIGS. This approach By Henrik Gudat results in slightly slower execu- tion speeds but offers the best possible, Operating System-in- dependent emulation. From the user’s point of view, Fast Eddie behaves just like a ROM 01 or ROM 3 Apple IIGS. We have chosen to emulate both IIGS ROM versions in order to provide total compatibility with all IIGS software. The program emulates the 65816 CPU, Apple II memory with “lan- guage card” RAM, 128K Ile slow RAM, as well as Apple IIGS- specific fast RAM. Furthermore, Fast Eddie supports most video modes (possibly all in the final release) such as 40/80 text dis- play, lores, double-lores, hires (monochrome), mixed hires, dou- ble hires and, of course, Super Hi Res. Unlike other emulators being developed, Fast Eddie uses color palettes very similar to the IIGS, which is essential for displaying color cycling, a concept present in many fast action arcade games. On the peripherals side, you'll be pleased to learn that you'll be able to connect up to eight 3.5" disk drives; theoretically, Fast Eddie can manage up to 100 devices, but the operating systems seem to be confused by the sheer amount of storage. You can use a proprietary disk format (CoolMedia) or disk im- ages created by DiskCopy, a popular disk copier from Apple Computer. As a bonus, Fast Eddie recognizes ProDOS disks inserted into the Mac’s built-in SuperDrive; ProDOS disks are mounted automatically and do not interfere with the MacOS. None of the other emulators un- der development support native Apple IIGS sound without any ifs, ands or buts. Fast Eddie is about to change that, as we have given Fast Eddie a very powerful sound emulation component that emulates the IIGS Ensoniq sound chip. You can choose among various settings, in- cluding output to a Dolby Sur- round Pro Logic pre-processor. The biggest drawback in the Mac’s sound department is the excessive CPU load when play- ing sounds; therefore, we have included a custom sound mixer that takes care of sound mixing at nearly warp speed. We have also thrown in a few goodies that greatly speed up sound em- ulation such as automatic sound shutdown (SonicSense) and a Mac-friendly sound mapping scheme (Smart Voice Cancella- tion). What’s Missing? There are a few things that we have not yet addressed. Fast Eddie does not currently support serial ports, and some programs that access the 3.5" disk drive directly do not yet run. Both of these sins of omission are on our to-do list; actually, we’re cur- rently working on IWM emu- lation for enabling FTA-style software with non-standard cus- Shareware Solutions II 1 Shareware Solutions II Volume 3, Issue 3 Shareware Solutions II is pub- lished by Joe Kohn, 166 Alpine Street, San Rafael, CA 94901- 1008. Publisher/Writer: Joe Kohn Roving Reporter: Cynthia Field Contrib. Writer: Steve Disbrow Proofreader: Jane Kos Entire contents of Shareware Solutions II copyright (©) 1996 by Joe Kohn. All rights are reserved. Nothing may be re- printed or reproduced, in whole or in part, in any media without the prior written consent of Joe ‘Kohn. Available by subscription only, several options are available: |A) The first 18 issues: $55 for US/Canada; $75 elsewhere. B) The next 6 issues/Renewal: $25 for US/Canada; $40 else- where. Make all checks payable to Joe Kohn. US Funds Only. No charge cards, purchase orders or COD orders will be accepted. This newsletter was created entirely with an Apple IGS. All articles written in AppleWorks Classic. Page Layout prepared in AppleWorks GS. Printing was done on a Hewlett-Packard ‘LaserJet IIP Plus, connected to the IIGS courtesy of Vitesse’s Harmonie. The use of TrueType fonts is courtesy of WestCode Software’s Pointless. E-mail Addresses: CIS: 76702,565 GENIE: JOE.KOHN INTERNET: joko@crl.com DELPHI: JOE_KOHN tom loaders to run flawlessly. What Do You Want To Know? Typical questions we receive are: how much? how fast? when? We intend to distribute Fast Eddie as a $25 shareware prod- uct, so anyone will be able to afford Apple IIGS emulation on his or her PowerMac. Your mon- ey will buy a solid emulator that should be running at stock TIGS speed (on a 66 Mhz Power Mac) or faster. You, the user, will notice that the emulator is wrapped into an extremely easy-to-use, intuitive front end. We will look into hand-crafting faster code once Fast Eddie is running flawlessly. Just in case you have access to the world wide web, you can check for the latest news at the Apple II Emulation home page: http:/ /www.komkon.org/ ~stiles /emulation /apple2 A direct link from the above site to the Fast Eddie home page should be available shortly. If you still have questions, you may contact me via e-mail at: gudath@ubaclu.unibas.ch (NOTE: A public beta test ver- sion of Fast Eddie will be avail- able from Shareware Solutions II on January 1, 1997 or shortly thereafter. Fast Eddie will be supplied on a single 1.4 mega- byte HD disk. Please send $5 to cover shipping costs for the beta test disk, but do not include a shareware registration fee, as that is payable directly to Bright Software.] @ 2 Shareware Solutions IT Grapevine Wolfenstein 3-D In early November, I had the opportunity to visit Logicware, a California based software com- pany that specializes in 3-D action arcade games. Although the games they produce are pri- marily for use on such diverse systems as IBM PCs and 3D0 game machines, the program- ming staff at Logicware is com- posed of a veritable who’s who of TIGS programming superstars, including such luminaries as Bill Heineman, Greg Temple- man, Eric Shepherd, Michael Lutinksi and James Smith. It was quite a pleasure to re- ceive a guided tour of the Logic- ware offices, a tour conducted by none other than Burger Bill Heineman himself! Although high powered, high end Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems Workstations were spotted eve- rywhere, it was a real joy to ob- serve at least one Apple IIGS in every office. Although Logicware fills its coffers by producing game soft- ware for other computer plat- forms, it’s evident that the staff has not forgotten its Apple II roots. After all, Logicware is cur- rently finishing up work on one of the most eagerly anticipated TIGS games of all time: Wolfen- stein 3-D. Logicware provided me with a pre-release version of Wolf 3-D nearly a year ago, and although that early version was certainly playable and enjoyable, it was far from complete. The updated December, 1996 version that I saw at Logicware literally knocked my socks off. A symphonic musical sound track had been added, and many of the graphic screens had been fine-tuned and enhanced. To say the least, Wolf 3-D was quite impressive. Several weeks after my visit, I was thrilled to see the following message posted by Eric Shep- herd on Genie’s A2 Roundtable: “On Sunday, November 17, you will be inserted deep behind en- emy lines. You will infiltrate the darkest of the Nazi prisons and you will probably not return. You are the one hope the Allied forces have of learning the terri- fying secret of Castle Wolfen- stein. “And this weekend, you will experience the beginning of one of the greatest adventures of all time. And that will only make you want more. At long last, it’s time to get psyched! “The first publicly available beta version of Wolfenstein 3-D for the Apple IIGS will be re- leased on Sunday, November 17, 1996!” The reaction to that announce- ment was incredible. Within hours, scores of eager IIGS own- ers downloaded the public beta version from the Logicware world wide web home page (Attp:/ /www.logicware.com) and from Genie’s A2 Library. To say the least, they loved it. The first public beta release in- cludes only the first three levels of the game, and a save game option has not yet been imple- mented. Due to copyright issues, the 780K sound file that was found on the earlier version was missing from the public beta Volume 3, Issue 3 release, but all those sounds are being re-recorded and should be part of the next beta release. Logicware uploaded the Wolf 3- D beta because they need feed- back. For that reason, they placed a restriction on the re- distribution of the Wolf 3-D beta release; they currently only want people with ready access to e-mail to test out the game. However, Logicware does plan to release the completed game in early 1997, and when it is released, it will be freeware. At that time, it will be available online and from Shareware Sol- utions II. The Wolf 3-D beta release re- quires a IIGS equipped with a standard ADB keyboard, a hard disk drive with at least 2 megabytes of free disk space, and 4 megabytes of RAM. It re- quires System 6.0 or later, and although an accelerator card is strongly recommended, it is not required. So, get your trigger finger ready and get psyched! The long wait for Castle Wolfenstein 3-D is nearly over. Brutal Deluxe’s LemminGS Wolfenstein 3-D isn’t the only TIGS game nearing completion; by the time you read these words, or shortly thereafter, Brutal Deluxe’s LemminGS should be completed and avail- able exclusively from Shareware Solutions II. By mid-October, Brutal Deluxe had progressed so far with their implementation of LemminGS that the game entered into beta test phase. Ten Apple IIGS enthusiasts were hand picked by Brutal Deluxe to “play test” the program, and within days, they were clamoring for more. The first Internet e-mail that the beta test team received con- tained the first 30 levels of the game. Within a day or two, they started posting messages of praise online. Jawaid Bazyar said: “It’s awesome, and those who know me know I don’t say this lightly. This is fantastic!” Tony Diaz said: “LemminGS is great! A rare one in my book, it really brings out the GS in IIGS. I’ve not seen such smooth animation since The Immortal.” Geoff Weiss said: “The first thing I have to say is this is cool!” Robert Rivkin said: “The more I play the game the more fun it is. Excellent sound and graphics, as usual with Brutal Deluxe.” Russ Nielson said: “I’ve already stayed up most of one night playing (ahem, testing) LemminGS§. It is simply incred- ible!” And your humble pub- lisher, with his typical flair for the dramatic, said: “I have just seen the future of Apple IIGS gaming, and I’m blown away!” Since then, the beta test team has received five updates, with each one containing bug fixes for minor problems that had been discovered. Each e-mail update also contained 10 or 20 more LemminGS game levels. By early December, 91 of the planned 92 levels had been com- pleted. Brutal Deluxe’s LemminGS is an intriguing and addictive strategy game that should prove to be immensely popular with game players of all ages. As the game begins, LemminGS drop through a trap door at the top of the screen, and your job is to guide them safely back to their home. But LemminGS, as you probably know, are cuddly yet suicidally stupid creatures who Shareware Solutions II 3 will blindly follow other Lem- minGS, even if it results in their death. They therefore need all the help they can get in order to survive the dangers that lie on their long and perilous path homewards. To assist the LemminGS, you can choose to grant certain Lem- minGS with skills which can be chosen from the panel of icons at the base of the screen. Once a suitable Lemming has been chosen from the hundreds on screen, you can turn it into a climber who can scale vertical surfaces, a floater whose para- chute assures him a safe de- scent, a blocker who can tempo- rarily hold back fellow Lem- minGS, a builder who can con- struct bridges or stairs, a bomb- er who can blow up obstacles, a basher who can dig horizontally, or a miner who can dig diago- nally. Of course, it takes more than just skills to successfully guide all the LemminGS home. One of the biggest challenges of the game is that on each in- creasingly more difficult and challenging level, only a limited amount of LemminGS can be granted skills; you must there- fore choose wisely which Lem- minGS to assist. The other chal- lenge is that each level has a strict time limit in which to guide a required percentage of the little creatures home. As you clear each level of LemminGS, a password is dis- played on screen. If you quit the game, you can simply re-enter that password the next time you play, and the game will resume where you left off. Brutal Deluxe’s LemminGS has a wonderful 13 song MidiSynth- based soundtrack, lots of sound effects, and fluid animation. 4 Shareware Solutions IT LemminGS will ship on three 3.5" disks, and it requires Sys- tem 6.0 or later. Although a hard drive is not required, it’s certainly recommended, and you will need to have at least 2 megabytes of RAM. As stated all along by Brutal Deluxe, their implementation of LemminGS was undertaken as a way for them to express their thanks to all those IIGS owners who have made Convert 3200 such a raging commercial suc- cess. It’s been Brutal Deluxe’s intention, from the outset, that they wanted to give LemminGS away as a “Limited Edition” game only to those who had purchased Convert 3200. Brutal Deluxe stresses that the game is free for purchasers of Convert 3200. They have, how- ever, authorized Shareware Sol- utions II to charge a $5 shipping and handling fee that should help to offset the costs of disks, disk labels, disk mailers and airmail postage to anywhere in the world. Therefore, effective January 1, 1997, or shortly thereafter, Bru- tal Deluxe’s LemminGS will be available exclusively from Shareware Solutions II for $5, but only to those who have pur- chased Convert 3200. Convert 3200 is a speedy IIGS graphics conversion program that is available exclusively oe Shareware Solutions II for 15. If you're unsure whether or not you want to invest in Convert 3200, please be aware that there will also be a demo ver- sion of Brutal Deluxe’s Lem- minGS available. That demo will contain the first ten levels of LemminGS. If you'd like to give LemminGS a “try before you buy” test drive, the Lem- minGS Demo Disk is available from Shareware Solutions II for $5. Mark Twain Video The GravenStein Apple User Group has been meeting the needs of Apple IIGS owners in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 10 years. For the past five years, I have been proud to serve as Vice President of Grav- enStein. But, like so many other Apple II only user groups, Grav- enStein started having severe financial problems several years ago, and sadly, the board of di- rectors watched as, each month, the treasury contained less and less money. Drastic measures were needed if the user group was going to stay alive and well, and creative fund raising efforts had to be instituted. One of the fund raising efforts resulted in a public demo of the Mark Twain prototype IIGS computer, and that in turn, re- sulted in a 96 minute videotape that, in essence, provides a complete guided tour of the Mark Twain prototype IIGS computer. In the video, you will see a 1981 vintage Ile prototype. You will hear me talk about my 1991 meeting with the executives of the then Apple II division when they publicly announced the Mark Twain computer. You will see me remove the cover of the Mark Twain and give a “guided tour” of the insides. And you'll see me demo, almost as an af- terthought, some IIGS software titles that, just like the Mark Twain, were never released. The VHS videotape is available for $20 if sent to a US address, December, 1996 or $25 for international orders. Please specify if you want the video in NTSC (US) or PAL (International) format. The vid- eotape is available exclusively from the GravenStein Apple User Group, and all proceeds from the sales of the videotape will benefit GravenStein’s ailing treasury. Send a check or money order (in US funds only), and made pay- able to GravenStein Apple User Group, to: GravenStein Apple User Group c/o Mark Twain Sales PO Box 964 Petaluma, CA 94953-0964 Educational Software Teachers and parents of school aged children will be pleased to learn that National School Products, a mail order software vendor, has published the 1997- 1998 edition of its catalog, and it contains nearly 100 pages of hard-to-find and classic Apple II educational software titles. National School Products pro- claims: “We offer the largest se- lection of Apple software avail- able anywhere in the world today.” Looking through the catalog, it would be difficult to dispute that statement. Although National School Prod- ucts does charge the full retail price for its software, they have just instituted a new policy that makes all of their products much more price competitive: “Buy two programs from this catalog and get a third program of equal or lesser value — free!” For additional information, or to receive a catalog, contact: National School Products Volume 3, Issue 3 101 East Broadway Maryville, TN 37804 800-627-9393 423-984-3960 800-289-3960 423-983-9355 voice) voice) fax) fax) Where Are They Now? * SuperClock is a sophisticated TIGS Menu Bar shareware ana- log and/or digital alarm clock that was included on the May, 1996 Genie A2 Disk of the Month. Lionel Saugrain, the author of SuperClock would like to let you know that the address included with the US release of Super- Clock is no longer valid. His new address is: Lionel Saugrain 4, Passage Jacquard 74960 Cran-Gevrier France * Beverly Cadieux, the pub- lisher of the highly acclaimed AppleWorks oriented TEXAS II newsletter, has recently moved. Her new address is: Beverly Cadieux Kingwood Micro Software 2503 Sherbrooke Lane McKinney TX 75070 972-562-6335 (voice) Quick Takes * Clayburn Juniel has recently released Music Composer v4, a IIGS program for music crea- tion, editing and playback. Previous versions of Music Com- poser were available as share- ware, but v4 is now a commer- cial software product available exclusively from Juniel’s own Effective Software Solutions. Music Composer has the ability to load in Music Studio, Sound Smith, SynthLab and Standard MIDI files, and allows you to edit individual notes, chords, measures or tracks. What distinguishes v4 from pre- vious versions is that the pro- gram now sports a sheet music interface that allows notes to be entered via a spreadsheet. Mu- sic Composer can also accept musical input via a MIDI key- board attached to the IIGS. Whether music is entered manu- ally via the spreadsheet, loaded from disk, or composed with a MIDI keyboard, Music Compos- er can save files in SynthLab or standard MIDI format. The cost of Music Composer v4 is $45.11, plus shipping and handling, and sales tax where applicable. Anyone who has pre- viously submitted shareware fees to Clayburn Juniel can de- duct those fees from the price of Music Composer v4. For additional information, con- tact Clayburn Juniel at: Effective Software Solutions 1928 E. Camelback Road #623 Phoenix, AZ 85016-4143 602-274-6905 (voice) 602-274-6851 (fax) clay1@primenet.com hitp:/ /www.primenet.com | ~clay1 ¢ IIGS programmers may be pleased to learn of the recent re- lease of the QuickFix Multipli- cation Library for use with ORCA/M. The author of the li- brary claims that it provides high speed multiplication rou- tines that accelerate integer multiplication routines three Shareware Solutions II 5 fold over standard multipli- cation routines. Because the routines do not rely on using a lookup table, they free up two banks of RAM and can therefore easily fit into the cache of today’s hardware accelerators. Documentation included with the package tells how to also use the routines from assembly and from the “C” language. Ken Richardson, the author of the QuickFix library routines, states that by using the library, he was able to “speed up a graphics algorithm from 2.5 minutes to 40 seconds.” The cost of the QuickFix Multi- plication Library is $24.95, and that includes a license fee to use the routines in any personal or shareware programs. A license for commercial software is also available. For additional information, con- tact: Ken Richardson 829 N. Second Street, 1st Floor Philadelphia, PA 19123 215-923-2355 ker103@email.psu.edu * Alltech Electronics has just recently updated the Focus utility disk which is included with the Focus Hard Drive. The software update now allows Focus Hard Drives to contain up to 99 DOS 3.3 partitions, each being 143K in size. If you own a Focus Hard Drive, you can download the updated software from the Alltech Elec- tronics home page on the world wide web. If you own a Focus but are unable to download the soft- ware, contact Alltech to receive an updated Focus utility disk at no cost. Alltech Electronics 2618 Temple Heights Oceanside CA, 92056 619-724-2404 (voice) 619-724-8808 (fax) http:/ /www.allelec.com @ Modem Madness Public Access Lynx It’s ironic that while many Apple II users desperately crave a graphic based browser for the world wide web, many Mac and PC users admit that “surfing the web” using Netscape is so slow that they often turn off the graphics capabilities. In fact, due to the inherent slowness of graphic based web browsers, many Mac and PC users have recently started to jokingly refer to the world wide web as the “world wide wait.” Apple II owners who access the world wide web do so by using lynx, a speedy text-based web browser that resides on their Internet Service Provider’s com- puter system. Using lynx, Apple II owners can quickly navigate the web, and instantly jump from site to site without being slowed down while waiting for graphics, many of which add 6 Shareware Solutions IT very little in the way of content, to be displayed. Despite that fact, many non- Apple II related web sites cater to Netscape users, and more and more, we encounter sites that take advantage of features that exist only in Netscape. Fortunately, the lynx develop- ment team is committed to up- dating and upgrading, and v2.6, which was released in Septem- ber, offers a number of improve- ments over past versions. Per- haps the most important up- date is that lynx now handles imagemaps, tables, and frames much better than did the older versions, and many sites that previously looked horrendous are now most pleasing to the eye. Another major improve- ment in lynx v2.6 is that it’s now possible to download inline graphics by pressing the “*” key; once this key is pressed, an in- line graphic link magically appears, and inlines can then be downloaded just like any GIF or Jpeg graphic. Another conven- ient feature of lynx v2.6 is that when using the “g” (goto) com- mand, it’s no longer necessary to type in a URL’s “http:/” prefix. Not all Internet Service Pro- viders have updated lynx yet to the most current version, but you can still use lynx v2.6 thanks to a handful of public ac- cess lynx servers. There are sev- eral different methods available to access those public servers. Using your older version of lynx, you can access public access lynx v2.6 servers from the following URL: http:/ /www.crl.com /~subir/ lynx /public_lynx.himl There are also a number of pub- lic access lynx sites that can be December, 1996 reached by opening a Telnet con- nection to any of the following systems, and entering the login and password information after the Telnet connection is estab- lished: public.sunsite.unc.edu (login as: lynx) cwispub.unh.edu (login as: cwispub) sailor.lib.md.us (login as: guest) philadelphia.libertynet.org (login as: liberty and enter password: guest) Genie, Delphi And A2 For the past several years, all of the Apple II and Macintosh Roundtables on Genie have been managed by Syndicomm, an independent organization that runs the Roundtables un- der contract to Genie’s owners. Unfortunately, Genie has been sold twice during 1996, and sev- eral of the owners of Syndicomm question whether Genie will be able to remain in business for very much longer. While hoping for the best, Syndicomm is pre- paring for the worst; they have recently set up new Apple II and Mac forums on Delphi. The problems started in Janu- ary, 1996, when General Elec- tric sold GEnie to Yovelle Ren- aissance. The new owners rap- idly changed the name of the system to Genie, but of even more consequence, doubled the minimum costs to use Genie and infuriated many members by giving them only a few days notice of the steep increase. Although the A2 Roundtable re- mains very active, many long Volume 3, Issue 3 time GEnie members dropped their accounts. With many fewer members using the system, Yo- velle started closing areas on the system, and the numbers continued to drop. A vicious cycle had started. By the time KansasFest rolled around, dire rumors and stories were starting to circulate. One of those rumors indicated that when Yovelle took over, Genie had 100,000 paid subscribers, but by July, only about 10,000 paid subscribers remained. At KansasFest, I had a long talk with one of the owners of Syndicomm, and he clearly indi- cated, without coming right out and saying it, that a new home was needed for the A2 and Mac Roundtables. Less than a month later, Genie was sold again, this time to IDT Corp, a company that provides long distance telephone service. At the time, rumors circulated that IDT purchased Genie as a way to enter into the Internet Service Provider business. Despite all the recent changes to Genie, Syndicomm’s A2 re- mains the premier online serv- ice for Apple II owners. But, Syndicomm does not intend to be hurt by events totally outside their control, so they recently contracted with Delphi to set up shop there. For now, Syndicomm will manage the Apple II and Mac forums on both Genie and Delphi. Presently, Delphi’s A2 Round- table can be accessed from Delphi’s menu of services. Just choose the Computer forums, and then pick A2. A2Pro is not yet available from the menu of services, but it is currently open for business. To get there, just type GO CUST 110 from any Delphi prompt. Also, please come visit II Scribe, an inde- pendent forum for those who write about the Apple II; to get there, type GO CUST 11 from any Delphi prompt. Delphi is quite affordable and has a number of different sub- scription options available. If you already have an account on an Internet Service Provider and have the ability to open a Telnet session to delphi.com, then you can get an account on Delphi, with unlimited access, for as lit- tle as $35 for an entire year! The most expensive form of Delphi access is less than $24 a month and that provides unlimited ac- cess to both Delphi and to the Internet! Complete details on all of the various access costs and options are available by accessing the Delphi home page on the world wide web at: http:/ /www.delphi.com Alternately, you can dial 800- 695-4005 to speak to a Delphi representative, or dial 800-695- 4002 with your modem. At the username prompt, just enter JOINDELPHI and at the pass- word prompt, enter 9610sdi Please note that since the Del- phi Apple II services are quite new, everyone including Syndi- comm staff, is still learning how to use this new system. Despite that fact, several of the new Apple II forums already contain hundreds of messages. On your first visit to these forums, you can display all of the previously posted messages at once by is- suing the read new ns ft com- mand from the following Delphi prompt: “FORUM> Reply, Add, Read”. Shareware Solutions IT 7 Another hint that will help those who open a Telnet session to Delphi — if you plan to down- load software from Delphi’s lib- raries — you'll need to open your Telnet connection by typing: telnet -8 delphi.com While you're getting used to Delphi, feel free to drop an e- mail to joe_kohn In conclusion, I’d just like to re- mind people that, at this point, no one really knows the fate of Genie. If you have an account there, don’t panic. Instead, save the above information and if, one day, Genie is unavailable, you'll be able to find all of your old Apple II friends on Delphi’s A2.6 The Apple II The Year Of The Web The Internet experienced explo- sive growth in the past year, and 1996 is sure to go down in history as the “Year of the World Wide Web.” No matter where you turned in 1996, it was simply impossible to over- look the voluminous number of references to world wide web sites that started to appear in every form of the popular media. In the past year, we started to see world wide web addresses (called URLs, short for Uniform Resource Locators) listed in newpaper and magazine ads, displayed in television commer- cials, shown on movie posters, and flashed on screen during televised sporting events. As the world wide web grew and grew, so did the number of Apple II related home pages. Now, online Apple II resource guides abound, many Apple II hardware vendors and software developers have set up shop on the world wide web, and infor- mation about all of the major Apple II print publications can be found on the web. Although the Internet has had a large amount of Apple II related information and software avail- able for the past several years, it has never been easier, more convenient, or faster to access that data than it is now. 8 Shareware Solutions IT On The World Wide Web The world wide web, however, continues to grow and change, and that makes it difficult for any listing of Apple II web sites to remain current for very long. But as 1997 begins, the fol- lowing Apple II related web pages ought to keep you and your web browser busy and happy for months and months and months to come. Resources And Links * Nathan Mates maintains the most informative and compre- hensive Apple II site on the entire world wide web! Nathan personally maintains and up- dates the semi-official Apple II FAQ (Frequently Asked Ques- tions) file which includes exten- sive information about the Apple II in general as well as a thorough overview of using an Apple II to access the Internet. Additionally, Nathan provides technical information on up- grading and modifying Apple TIGS accelerators, furnishes in- formation on IIGS sound and music capabilities, and main- tains information on such far reaching topics as Apple II pro- gramming resources, CD-ROMs, and the use of floptical drives with an Apple II. There’s also an extensive set of Apple II related links. It is imperative that you read the FAQ if you are a new Internet user. You can find all these resources, and more, at the following URL: hitp:/ /www.visi.com | ~nathan /a2 ¢ Neil Parker maintains an ex- tensive list of Apple II resources and home pages that are avail- able on the world wide web. Al- though slightly out of date, the number of active sites accessible from this listing is quite large. The URL is: Attp:/ /www.moxienet.com | a2ftp.html ¢ Myles Fudge has recently made available his extensive listing of Apple II sites on the world wide web, and this listing is as up-to- date as can be. When accessing this site list, you’re never more than one or two clicks away from 95% of all that is Apple II re- lated on the web. The URL is: hitp:/ /www.io.org /~crownmi | a2.html Apple II Companies ¢ The ByteWorks produces pro- grammer languages and com- pilers, end user software such as Quick Click Morph and Quick Click Cale, and it sells all of the Apple II developer information that was formerly available from both Apple Computer Inc and APDA. The URL for the ByteWorks home page is: December, 1996 http:/ /www.hypermall.com | byteworks / * DigiSoft Innovations produces the Golden Orchard CD-ROM and the Twilight II screen blanker for the IIGS. The URL for the Digisoft home page is: http:/ /www.hypermall.com | digisoft | digisoft/ ¢ EGO Systems, the former publishers of GS+ Magazine, sells back issues of the maga- zine and software that was orig- inally published in GS+. Ad- ditionally, EGO Systems is the distributor for many IIGS pro- grams, utilities and hardware products from 3rd party devel- opers. The URL for the EGO Systems home page is: Attp:/ /www.hypermall.com /ego ¢ InTrec Software publishes the highly acclaimed telecommuni- cations program ProTerm. The URL for the InTrec home page is: hitp:/ /www.intrec.com ¢ Kitchen Sink Software pro- duces a number of Apple II edu- cational programs as well as System II, a software system that provides Apple IIe and IIc users a JIGS Finder-like inter- face. The URL for the Kitchen Sink home page is: http:/ /www.kitchen-sink.com | ¢ Procyon produces GNO/ME, a powerful UNIX-like shell for the IIGS. The URL for the Procyon home page is: hittp:/ /www.hypermall.com | companies /procyon | ¢ Seven Hills Software produces a very large number of software Volume 3, Issue 3 products for the Apple IIGS. Among some of their most popu- lar products are: GraphicWriter III, Spectrum, SuperConvert, Express, TransProg, Kangaroo, Independence and The Manager. The URL for the Seven Hills home page is: http:/ /www.nettally.com / shss / * Roger Wagner publishes the critically acclaimed hypermedia program HyperStudio. The URL for the Roger Wagner Pub- lishing home page is: http:/ /www.hyperstudio.com/ * Scantron Quality Computers is one of the largest Apple II mail order vendors, carrying both hardware and software products. The URL for the Scan- tron Quality Computers home page is: http:/ /www.qualitycomp.com / ¢ Alltech Electronics, based in Oceanside, CA, is a phenomenal source for both new and used Apple II hardware, peripherals and software. The URL for the Alltech home page is: http:/ /www.allelec.com/ * The Apple Resource Center (The ARC), based in Tracy, CA, is a source for both new and used Apple II hardware, periph- erals and software. The URL for The ARC home page is: hitp:/ /www.thearc.com * Vernier Software sells prod- ucts that are of interest to home hobbyists and science teachers. If you have any interest in inter- facing your Apple II with a pH meter, a temperature measure- ment system, a robot, a photo- gate timer, a motion sensor, a voltage meter or a temperature probe, you'll be in 7th Heaven when you access the Vernier home page at: http:/ /www.teleport.com / ~vernier /appcat.shtml ¢ SHH Systems is the German manufacturer of the Turbo IDE hard disk controller card and the BlueDisk floppy disk drive controller card. The URL for the SHH Systems home page is: http:/ /users.ids.net | ~kerwood | shh.html * Sequential Systems produces a large number of Apple II hard- ware and software products, in- cluding RAM expansion cards, the RamFAST SCSI controller, the discQuest series of CD- ROMs, and a large assortment of Apple II interface cards. You can visit the Sequential home page at the following URL: hitp:/ [www.sequential.com | Apple II Publications ¢ The Apple Blossom (TAB), published by Steve Cavanaugh, is a general interest 12 page Apple II bi-monthly newsletter. The URL for the TAB home page is: hitp:/ /users.aol.com/ newblossom | The AppleWorks Gazette (TAG), published by Howard Katz and Christian Serreau, is a bi- monthly disk-based publication that focuses on AppleWorks Classic. The URL for the TAG home page is: hitp:/ /users.ids.net | ~kerwood | tag.html ¢ Juiced.GS, published by Max Shareware Solutions IT 9 Jones, is a quarterly 24 page newsletter that reports on the Apple IIGS. The URL for the Juiced.GS home page is: http:/ /users.ids.net | ~kerwood | juiced.gs/home.html *¢ Softdisk G-S is a disk-based monthly publication that in- cludes articles, reviews, and high quality IIGS software. The URL for the Softdisk G-S home page is: http:/ / server1.softdisk.com / sd/sub/sdgs.html *¢ Shareware Solutions II should hopefully need no introduction. The Shareware Solutions II home page contains, along with links to other Apple II world wide web sites, the most com- plete and up-to-date catalog of Shareware Solutions II prod- ucts available anywhere. The URL for the Shareware Solu- tions II home page is: http:/ /www.crl.com | ~joko Software Archives The two largest Apple II soft- ware libraries on the Internet are those found at the Califor- nia Institute of Technology (Cal- tech) and at the University of Towa. Although both sites have been online for many years, accessing them has never been easier than by using the world wide web instead of the older and archaic method of ftp (file transfer protocol). It must be noted however, that in recent months, both of the major Apple II “ftp archives” have had some hardware prob- lems which have made the sites periodically unavailable. On a more positive note, both sites have recently installed powerful 10 Shareware Solutions IT “search engines” which make it much easier to find specific soft- ware titles. Also, please note that if you are new to downloading using the world wide web, it is imperative that you first read Section 31 of the Apple II FAQ, as that section explains exactly how you must first configure your web browser in order to successfully download Apple II software from the web. ¢ The Caltech ftp software ar- chive can be found at the following URL: ftp:/ /babylon.caltech.edu/ Zocalo /pub/apple2 The brand new Caltech ftp soft- ware archive search engine can be found at the following URL: hitp:/ /apple2.caltech.edu/ cgi-bin | netfinder / netfinder.acgi * The Ground ftp software ar- chive resides on a 1.6 gigabyte hard drive that was purchased by contributions from Apple II users worldwide. It resides at the University of Iowa, and without a doubt, it’s the largest library of Apple II software a- vailable anywhere on the Inter- net. The Ground URL is: file:/ /ground.isca.uiowa.edu / apple2 The recently installed Ground search engine at the University of Iowa resides on a different computer than does the actual Ground ftp archive and because of that, the files may not be quite as current or up-to-date as the Ground computer. It’s com- mon to see a 24 to 48 hour lag before file names appear on the search engine. You can access the Ground search engine at the following URL: http:/ /liquefy.isca.uiowa.edu / 4/ground /apple2/ Programmers On The Net * Richard Bennett has been pro- gramming the Apple II since 1979, and in recent years he has produced a number of remark- able IIGS products for Seven Hills Software including Ex- press and the recent Graphic- Writer III v2. He has also been involved with updating other Seven Hills products including Spectrum and SuperConvert. Long before he became involved with Seven Hills, Richard was writing Apple II and IIGS free- ware software, much of which was never readily available out- side of his native Australia. That’s all changed, of course, thanks to the world wide web. On Richard’s home page, you can now download his IIGS Classic Desk Accessories, GS/OS Inits, GS/OS drivers, programmer util- ities, games, and HyperCard TIGS stacks. The URL for Richard Bennett’s home page is: http:/ /www.ozemail.com.au/ ~kashum /software.html * Charles Hartley’s software is no stranger to the pages of Shareware Solutions II; several of his remarkable programs for the Apple II and IIGS have been strongly endorsed within these pages. Since he is a retired educator, much of his software is geared towards students, but if you are an adult, please don’t let that prevent you from visiting his site and downloading some of his wonderful software. Some of December, 1996 the software originally ap- peared on Softdisk and some of it was originally released as shareware; it is now all re- classified as freeware! On Charles Hartley's home page you'll find sliding puzzles, sev- eral variations of Tic Tac Toe, a letter find game, maze games, word games, strategy games, HyperStudio stacks, vocabulary crossword puzzles, the highly acclaimed Computer Keyboard- ing program which teaches how to type, and several versions of Scavenger Hunt — a wonderful and challenging game of trivia based on geography. The URL for Charles Hartley’s home page is: hitp:/ /www.iglou.com / qwerty * Clayburn Juniel’s home page offers freeware and shareware ProDOS-8 games, HyperStudio New Button Actions, user tools that GS/OS programmers can use with their own software, IIGS utilities, Classic Desk Ac- cessories, New Desk Acces- sories, Finder Extras, various programs that playback IIGS music and sound files and dis- play IIGS graphics, older ver- sions of Music Composer before it became a commercial IIGS program, and a demo version of Music Composer v4. The URL for Clayburn Juniel’s home page is: http:/ /www.primenet.com | ~clay1 * Eric (Sheppy) Shepherd is a prolific Apple IIGS programmer whose work has been written about in this newsletter several times. Despite the fact that he closed his account with a local Internet Service Provider when Volume 3, Issue 3 he accepted a job at Logicware, his old home page still appears to be alive and well. If you’ve ever wanted the complete SheppyWare collection of IIGS utilities, then visit Sheppy’s Software Superstore. For the time being, you can access Sheppy’s Superstore at the following URL: hitp:/ |www.cris.com | ~sheppy | software.html Other Sites Of Interest * Logicware is currently putting the finishing touches on Wolf- enstein 3-D, and you can now download the latest beta ver- sion, or if you come back in a month or two, you'll be able to download the completed game. The URL for the Logicware home page is: http:/ /www.logicware.com | wolf3d_gs.html * Gus and Fast Eddie are the two Apple IIGS emulators that will, when released, allow own- ers of Macintosh PowerPCs to run Apple II and IIGS software. You can learn of the latest developments of these works-in- progress by visiting the fol- lowing URLs: http:/ /users.ids.net /~kerwood | gus.html http:/ /www.komkon.org/ ~stiles /emulation /apple2 * Steve Weyhrich wrote a fascin- ating and detailed 23 chapter book length history of the Apple II computer. You can read it online or download it from the following URL: http:/ /www.hypermall.com/ History / * Tony Diaz of Alltech Elec- tronics collects rare and hard-to- find Apple II equipment. He also has the ability to digitally photograph his treasures, and his web site currently includes several hundred scanned Jpeg format photos of his rarities. Tony’s site is an evolving digital museum that every Apple II owner should visit! hitp:/ /www.hypermall.com / ~tdiaz ¢ As the long time Vice Pres- ident of the GravenStein Apple User Group (GSAUG), I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t tell you about one of the largest Apple IIGS User Groups in the entire world. You can visit Grav- enStein online at the following URL: http:/ [www.crl.com /~mpearce / GSAUG/Apple.html Search Engines Every once in a while, you may actually want to use the world wide web to find information that has nothing at all to do with the Apple II. Or you might even want to use the web to try to track down a long-lost friend. When those non-Apple II needs do arise, you can often find the information you are seeking by accessing a search engine. AltaVista is the most powerful search engine available and it’s really the only one you need to find information. The URL is: http:/ /www.altavista.digital.com The WorldPages will help you find US addresses and phone numbers for individuals or busi- nesses. The URL is: hitp:/ /www.worldpages.com | @ Shareware Solutions IT i Lies, Lies, And More Lies The Fuss Over Gus If you read the last issue of Shareware Solutions II, you know that Gus is an Apple IIGS emulator for the PowerMac. You also know that Gus was demon- strated at the recent Kansas- Fest and caused quite a stir. What you might not know is that Gus was supposed to enter “open beta test” in mid-Septem- ber (to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the IIGS). Unfor- tunately, September has come and gone, and Gus is still a no show. I suppose he’s off at the Taco Bell having a snack with Mark Twain. TCP/IP For You Or Me? What's the status of the fabled TCP/IP for the IIGS? Nobody GNOs! However, I have been hearing that several folks have decided to stop waiting for the announced product and have be- gun writing their own TCP/IP implementations for the IIGS. Don’t Ask Me! I Don’t GNO! So, with TCP/IP in limbo, where does that leave the new version of GNO? Why, it’s waiting for the release of TCP/IP of course! Not Dead Yet If you called the EGO Systems toll-free number in the last month or so, you probably got the dreaded “no longer in oper- ation” announcement and de- cided that they had folded. Not so! My former boss, Steven “Pin- head” Disbrow announced on October 1st that EGO Systems was disconnecting the line as a cost cutting move. Apparently, the move backfired; not only were costs cut, revenues took a 12 Shareware Solutions IT By Professor G. S. Gumby nose dive too. (I guess nobody bothered to call their other number when they got the re- cording from the toll-free line.) In the meantime, EGO Systems is still in business! You can reach them at 423-843-1775, 423-843-0661 (Fax) or e-mail them at diz@chattanooga.net Have We Got Video? Speaking of EGO Systems... where is the KansasFest ’96 video? According to the same press release, EGO Systems planned to have the video done by the end of October. My sources tell me — in typical pro- grammer geek-speak — that it'll be ready when it’s done. Tiger By The Tail A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by an Apple II pub- lisher who had some very ex- citing news. Apparently, a large video game manufacturer has licensed the Apple Ie technol- ogy and is about to release a portable Apple Ile clone. This machine is supposed to be very small (no monitor) and able to run any Apple Ile program in existence. The catch? Well, the thing doesn’t have any slots and it doesn’t have a disk drive! Ap- parently, software has to be put on ROM cartridges and loaded from there. Is it just me, or does this strike anyone else as a really dumb idea? Speaking Of Web Browsers Rumor has it that a certain TIGS programmer has resumed work on a web browser that he started over a year ago. He shelved it because of the “im- pending” release of the TCP/IP software. He’s dusting it off now for pretty much the same rea- son. Ask Mr 8-Ball It’s rumor roundup time! Time to check with my favorite source and see what’s true and what’s not... Gumby: I’ve heard that Tony Diaz (who, at KansasFest 96, showed everyone how to stuff a JIGS into a Mac Portable case) is working on a way to stuff a IIGS into a Newton Message Pad. Has he completely lost his mind? 8-Ball: Without a doubt. Gumby: It’s been reported that a certain Aussie IIGS program- mer has begun a grassroots campaign to get the Usenet newsgroup — comp.sys.apple2 — wiped off the face of the earth. He says it’s because nothing productive or positive is ever posted there because a small group of mental midgets have scared the other participants away. Is this true? 8-Ball: Without a doubt. Gumby: Lots of folks say that the Apple II community doesn’t have any influence left. But I’ve heard that the main money- maker for Genie is the Apple II Roundtables, and that Apple II owners are the main reason Genie is still in business. True? 8-Ball: Without a doubt. Gumby: You seem to be saying “Without a doubt” a lot today. Statistically speaking, this is very unlikely. Did one of the cats knock you on the floor and damage you? December, 1996 8-Ball: Most likely. Gumby: Well, then, we’d better wrap this up before one of us starts leaking blue fluid. But first, one more question: Gus (the IIGS emulator) is very cool, and it is just a matter of time before it’s released, however, how it will be distributed is still undetermined. I’ve heard that the most likely method will be for Apple to just give it away over the Internet. True? 8-Ball: Without a doubt. @ Using The Print Gocco Multicolor Printer With Your Apple II Creations Color Your World Fifteen years ago, the ability to print a BASIC program listing or a homework assignment in black and white was cause for celebration. Today, by contrast, computer stores and mail order companies are selling color printers like there’s no tomor- row. Color is here to stay, and nowhere is that more apparent than in desktop publishing where a smidgen of color can really brighten even the most technical prose. Unfortunately, many of us are familiar with the faded, washed out colors you usually get from an ImageWriter II. (The Print Shop IIGS, which generates beautifully crisp and brilliant colors, is a noteworthy excep- tion.) But maybe you’re not ready to shell out several hun- dred dollars for a Hewlett-Pack- ard DeskJet printer and the driver software you need to use it with your Apple IIGS. The good news is: there’s an under- $100 multicolor printer that you can use to generate attractively colored creations of any descrip- tion with any Apple II and any drawing, graphics or desktop publishing program. The count- less gift and personal items you Volume 3, Issue 3 By Dr. Cynthia E. Field can make include greeting cards, note paper, name badges, business cards, small signs, invitations, stationery, pin-on buttons, and more. If you're thinking, “I'd like to be able to do that with my Apple II,” you’re a prime candidate for a Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set. This economical kit includes the printing unit itself, a lamp unit, and a startup supply of flash- bulbs, screens (stencils), and color inks. And, yes, batteries are included! (See “Color Re- sources” for the toll-free num- bers of two suppliers of the Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set. You can probably also find the kit in local art stores.) How Print Gocco Works This amazing little printer give impressive results. Yet it is simple enough for kids to oper- ate. First, you create a note card or other design on your Apple II. Print the design on any printer and then photocopy the print- out. (You can use laser printouts themselves in lieu of photo- copies.) Place the photocopy on the Print Gocco platform. Insert two flashbulbs into the lamp housing and secure the lamp to the Print Gocco unit. Place a hi- mesh screen into the Print Gocco unit and press the handle to flash the bulbs. The heat from the bulbs burns the carbon toner particles on the photocopy and, in so doing, creates microscopic holes in the screen. This trans- fers the design to the stencil. Next, squeeze color ink from a tube onto appropriate areas of the screen to color your design. You can use one, two, or several different ink colors to create monochrome or multicolor de- signs. Bright, pastel, and fluo- rescent color inks are available for less than $3 per tube. You can pre-mix inks on an artist’s palette to create custom hues. You can also create color gra- dients and rainbow effects by squeezing different color inks side by side directly on to the screen. Finally, place a blank piece of paper or card stock on the Print Gocco platform. Press down on the handle. The force that is applied causes a minuscule amount of ink to flow through the pores of the screen onto the paper to transfer your multicolor design. You can easily create hundreds of copies of a design from a single screen. All you have to do is re-ink the screen Shareware Solutions IT 13 when the ink runs out. Sample Print Gocco Project Printing pre-stamped postcards to give as gifts is one of the most popular Print Gocco proj- ects I have done. Although I use an Apple IIGS and AppleWorks GS to create my design, you can complete this project with any Apple II and Publish It! or any another program that lets you mix text and graphics. You can also complete this project by using a word processing pro- gram to type the text. Then cut out some printed clip art with scissors and use a glue stick to add the graphics to the text. The following instructions assume that you are using the same GS setup as I do: 1. Purchase a batch of 25 pre- stamped postcards from the Post Office. The stamps on the cards I use have a picture of a red barn on them. The quantity you purchase is up to you, but 25 cards make a nice gift and cost only $5. Because the post- age is 20 cents per card, you es- sentially get the card free. 2. Peruse your computer clip art files for a graphic that would be appropriate for the card’s in- tended recipient. For the post- cards I made for Joe Kohn, I selected a picture of a computer from Publish It!’s “Computers” file. For a sportsperson, you might select a tennis racket or a golf club. For a musician, you could choose musical notes or a staff. 3. Convert the clip art, if neces- sary, so that you can use it with your desktop publishing pro- gram. In order to use the double hi-res computer graphic on Joe’s cards, I converted the Publish It! clip art to Apple Preferred 14 Shareware Solutions IT Format with Seven Hills’ Super- Convert 3.01. I saved the con- verted graphics as “Computers.- SHR’. 4. Launch AppleWorks GS and create a new graphics document. Choose “Import File” from the File Menu, select the “Com- puters.SHR” file, and click on the Open Button. Click on “No” when asked about matching colors. You will be printing the design in black and white. 5. Use the lasso or marquee to select the graphic. Copy it to the Clipboard. 6. Start a new page layout document. Choose “Page Setup” in the File Menu. Make sure that “US Letter,” “Full Size,” portrait orientation, and “Verti- cal Condense” are selected. 7. Paste the graphic from the Clipboard. Resize the graphic, if necessary, to fit in the space a- vailable on the postcard. Switch between “Fit in Window” and “Actual Size” modes (Options Menu) so that you view your design-in-progress from both perspectives. 8. Use the text tool to type the return address of the person to whom you will give the post- cards. Experiment with differ- ent fonts, styles, and sizes. If you use Westcode’s Pointless software, your text will be more attractive. 9. Arrange the postcard’s text and graphic so that they will fit in the left-hand side of the post- cards you purchased from the Post Office. Make a practice printout and hold it up to the light with a postcard. Resize the text and graphics until they fit. 10. Save your design as “Post- card.XX” where “XX” is the gift recipient’s initials. Print the de- sign in “Best” mode using a good quality ribbon. Photocopy the printout. 11. Cut out the photocopied de- sign and temporarily attach it to a postcard using a small piece of cellophane tape or adhesive wax. (You can purchase adhesive wax sticks from most art and office suppliers or by mail.) 12. Place the postcard-with-de- sign on the Print Gocco platform. Insert the flash bulbs and hi- mesh screen. (You will also add the blue plastic filter that comes in the Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set. Complete instructions are included with the kit.) 13. Squeeze the Print Gocco handle to develop the screen. Separate the photocopied design from the postcard so that you can use the postcard in step #15. 14. Add color ink to the screen. (If you are creating a complex multicolor design, you can use the supplied felt blocking mate- rial to keep the ink colors sep- arated.) 15. Place a postcard on the Print Gocco platform. Orient the card so that the design will transfer to the correct position on the card when you press the unit’s handle. 16. Print each of the 24 re- maining postcards by hand by repeating step #15. Place the printed cards on a table or hang them on an indoor clothesline to dry. The ink remains wet for a while and will smear if not al- lowed to dry completely. 17. You can use a 4" x 6" box photo frame to hold your post- cards and an inexpensive pen. December, 1996 (The recipient can use the box to display a photograph when the postcards are used up.) 18. Wrap the gift and wait for that look of surprise on the re- cipient’s face. Conclusion The Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set is one of the best investments an Apple II user can make. This desktop printing unit is safe, reliable, and a snap to use. You can create almost anything imaginable with the computer hardware and software you al- ready have. And, while this may sound like heresy, you can also screen-print any designs or drawings that you do by hand. With or without a computer, you should take a close look at the Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set. Color Resources Dick Blick Art Materials Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set $89.90 + shipping PO Box 1267 Galesburg, IL 61402 800-447-8192 309-343-6181 Jerry’s Artarama Catalog Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh Set $84.99 + shipping PO Box 58638 Raleigh, NC 27658-8638 800-827-8478 919-878-6782 @ Bright Software Games Shareware Solutions II has been chosen by Seven Hills Soft- ware as the exclusive distribu- tor for both of Bright Software’s games for the Apple IIGS: The Gate and Space Fox. The retail list price for each game is $49.95, but in keeping faithful to the “Such A Deal” concept that was pioneered by Share- ware Solutions II, you can now purchase both games for less than the retail price of just one of the games! Each game now costs only $20, plus $3 per order for Priority Mail shipment to a US address or for air mail ship- ment anywhere else. The Gate The Gate, supplied on two non copy-protected disks, is a fast action arcade game that bor- rows many elements from role playing adventure games and from strategy games. The Gate is no mere shoot ’em up game, although it appears to be just that the first few dozen times it’s played. In many ways, The Gate resem- Volume 3, Issue 3 Such A Deal! bles a Nintendo game, in the sense that it gives the player a top down view of the action. It’s filled with an abundance of monsters, mazes, mayhem and music, but it requires following a strategy and learning from your mistakes. At first glance, The Gate ap- pears to be just a simple maze game. As it starts, you find yourself sharing a Super Hi Res jail cell with a dying man. He offers you a means of escape from your cell if, and only if, you agree to embark on a quest to rid the land of Divesia of Darg, the evil Firemaster. Thus be- gins an adventure that might last months. The Gate can be controlled by keyboard navigation keys, or by joystick. In order to catch up with Darg, you'll need to stay healthy, eat lots of good food, and shoot wave upon wave of guards and monsters. At first, it appears that all you'll need to do is navigate your way through a series of mazes. But, following that simple yet logical course of action will be a deadly mistake, as there is much more to The Gate than initially meets the eye. The eight page manual that comes with the program is pur- posely quite cryptic, and it will provide no real help in winning the game. So, after getting killed off quickly, you might start to realize that there must be more than meets the eye. As the man- ual suggests, there may be con- cealed treasures anywhere along your route. So you'll start to dig for treasures everywhere you go. Some of the rooms will yield hidden gold, always good for buying extra armour or for health restoration, while other rooms will display very odd mes- sages that make no sense, at first. After finding hidden mes- sages that say “Vladorf, the wise, owned a lot of books” or “the entrance to the library is well hidden,” you might get the idea that finding the hidden lib- rary may help your quest. The game is filled with word puzzles that must be solved, and it’s filled with hidden dan- gers and enemies galore. Every room in the castle that you're trying to escape from holds some Shareware Solutions II 15 type of monster to battle, ob- jects to pick up, hidden objects that are necessary for you to find, and perils galore. Some ob- jects that you may find, if you’re persistent, will allow you to complete the game. Others will allow you to elude an invading horde; the lightning bolt weapon will destroy all the enemies in a room. Pick your weapons care- fully and don’t waste the powers they grant you. If you play strategically and wisely, you'll be doubling your score with each new game. Play foolishly, and you'll be left wondering what you could have been doing dif- ferently. If you want to succeed, you'll need to think and you'll need to never make the same mistakes twice. You can think of The Gate as a thinking person’s shoot ’em up arcade game. If you like arcade games, you'll like The Gate. If you like role playing adventure games, you'll enjoy The Gate. If you like mazes, you'll love The Gate. The Gate has so many dif- ferent aspects to it that most TIGS game players are bound to enjoy it. Space Fox Space Fox, on the other hand, is just an old fashioned fast ac- tion, outer space shoot ’em up arcade game. It’s like a combin- ation of three old arcade ma- chine classics — Space Invaders, Defender and Galaxian - updated to take advantage of the superior IIGS graphic and sound capabilities. Unlike The Gate, all that counts in Space Fox is a steady trigger finger and the ability to dodge alien spacecraft, meteor showers, space worms, Slimers, ice caves, and The Brain. As the game starts, you have 16 Shareware Solutions IT five ships to complete your mis- sion and destroy The Brain. Those ships are barely ade- quate. As you zoom across star fields at warp speeds, you'll see various bonus objects that you'll try to steer over. Some of the bonus objects can increase your fuel capacity, some can increase shield capacity, some can add new weapons to your arsenal, and some can make your old weapons more proficient and deadly. With enemies constant- ly scrambling through the un- friendly skies, you may lose quite a few ships trying to steer towards those bonuses, but with the added fire power you'll at- tain, it'll be worth it when you’re successful. There are a total of ten levels, and each level gets progressive- ly harder. You clear each level by blasting everything you see. On the lower levels, each enemy spacecraft can be taken out of action with a single shot. On higher levels, you'll be meeting enemies that need ten shots to be taken out of action. Some of the enemy spacecraft are even equipped with radar, and will hunt you down and release a single well aimed shot. As you clear each level, you'll have an opportunity to dock at a space station. If you can maneu- ver into the docking bay, your ship’s shields will be recharged. As each new level starts, you'll immediately notice that your adversaries have become more ferocious and more deadly. You will therefore need all the help you can get. Space Fox is supplied on two non copy-protected disks, and the game is hard drive in- stallable. One disk contains the game itself; the second disk con- tains ten astounding songs that comprise the musical sound- track. If you like fast action ar- cade games, you're bound to en- joy Space Fox. Ordering Information The Gate and Space Fox both re- quire a IIGS with 1 megabyte of RAM, and at least one 3.5" disk drive. They are currently avail- able for $20 each, plus $3 per order for shipping. As always, Shareware Solutions II can accept payment by check or money order only, made pay- able in US Funds, to “Joe Kohn.” Send all orders to: Joe Kohn c/o Shareware Solutions IT 166 Alpine Street San Rafael, CA 94901-1008 (Note: A preview/demo disk that allows you to play Level 1 of The Gate is also currently available from Shareware Solutions II for only $3.) @ Shareware Solutions He/IIc/IIgs A2 Disks Of The Month The October, 1996 issue of the Genie A2 Disk of the Month includes the July and October issues of GenieLamp. Software for the Ile/IIc on this disk includes two programs from one of my favorite programmers: December, 1996 Charles Hartley. One of those is Scavenger Hunt, USA Edition, a wonderful educational game of geography trivia. The other is Computer Keyboarding, a fan- tastic program that teaches how to type accurately. There’s also a disk drive speed test program and a set of programmer util- ities that includes a set of am- persand routines that work with the Beagle Compiler. Lastly, there’s SwapSCSI, a new com- mand for Basic.System that al- lows you to swap logical drives around on an Apple brand Rev C SCSI card. Software for the IIGS on the Oc- tober, 1996 DOM includes Cool- Writer v3, a (cool) freeware word processing program. The November, 1996 issue of the Genie A2 Disk of the Month includes the August and No- vember issues of GenieLamp. Software for the Ile/IIc on this disk includes a sampler issue of The AppleWorks Gazette (TAG), a wonderful AppleWorks oriented newsletter on disk. The TAG Sampler includes both ar- ticles and new applications for use with AppleWorks. Addition- ally, there are reviews and ex- cellent tutorials. If you’re not yet a TAG subscriber, this Sam- pler issue is sure to make you one. Additionally, you'll find some more Ile/IIc software from Charles Hartley, including his Intermediate Typing tutorial program, and the Junior Edition of Scavenger Hunt USA, a ver- sion geared towards youngsters. You'll also find the latest ver- sion of Geraldine Wright’s Pix- Whiz, a color graphic editor for use with The New Print Shop; PixWhiz is actually much more versatile than the graphic editor Volume 3, Issue 3 that is part of the New Print Shop program. Software for the IIGS on the No- vember, 1996 DOM includes a Finder Extra by Clayburn Jun- iel — rBundleBanger — that al- lows you to continue to use your older (pre-System 6) style Icons even when a GS/OS program employs the newer System 6 style rIcons. There are also sev- eral IIGS games that require “Reflexion” from SoftDisk G-S. The above A2 Disks of the Month are available from the Shareware Solutions II library, on 3.5" disk only, for $5 each or $8 for both. Just The FAQs For many years, the Internet has experienced a constant in- flux of new users, some of whom encounter confusion when in- itially using such a vast and un- familiar system. For that rea- son, a wonderful tradition was founded on the Internet’s Use- net discussion areas — the Fre- quently Asked Questions file, or FAQ for short. The intent of FAQ files is to supply informa- tive answers to many common questions. Apple II users on the Usenet have seen FAQ files updated and expanded on a regular ba- sis, and they have witnessed an increase in the number of Apple II related FAQ files available. Initially, the Usenet’s Apple II FAQ file taught “net newbies” all they needed to know in order to navigate the Internet. Over the years however, the Apple II FAQ file has expanded in size and scope and it now supplies detailed answers to many com- mon and general Apple II re- lated questions. What the Usenet’s Apple II FAQ file does not answer, other FAQs do. Shareware Solutions II has col- lected a number of different Ap- ple II related FAQ files, in- cluding ones that address such diverse topics as: the Apple II, the Apple III, Floptical drives, CD-ROMs, using high speed modems, GNO, fixing Apple II monitors, SCSI, sound and mu- sic, accelerating the Zip GS or TransWarp GS, networking, and programming. To round out the disk, there are several other in- formative but non-FAQ format files included that address the current status of GS/TCP, de- scribe common ProDOS com- mands and list common GS/OS error messages. Just The FAQs is available from the Shareware Solutions II Lib- rary, in either 5.25" or 3.5" disk format, for $5. Russ Nielson Collection In early 1993, inCider Magazine published my Shareware Solu- tions column entitled “Space Wars Ile.” That article was pri- marily about Russell Nielson’s fun trilogy of outer space share- ware shoot ’em up games: Battle Zone, Creature Features, and Ship Zone. As wonderful as those Ile/IIc games were, a number of years went by before Russ returned to programming games for the Tle/IIc. But, the long wait was worth it, as his recently released game of Sorry has to be one of the most wonderful and enjoy- able Apple II games released during 1996. Sorry is a one or two player word guessing game that is a var- iation of the popular game of Hangman. In it, players try to guess a word by entering letters Shareware Solutions IT 7 one at a time. Each game is composed of five rounds, and on each round, players are allowed up to five incorrect guesses before the game ends. The words to guess are con- tained within nine different databases and each database can contain up to 999 words. Russ has supplied word data- bases in the following catego- ries: general terms, math terms, cities, states, countries, movies and sports. You can use Russ’s databases as is, or you can mod- ify, edit or delete words from the supplied databases. It is Sorry’s flexibility that makes it a wonderful addition to the classrooms of the world, as teachers can supply their own custom word lists in any category they choose. Playing Sorry reminded me of just how much I liked Russ Nielson’s past efforts, so I went on a quest to collect every Ile/IIc program that Russ has ever cre- ated. The results of that quest can be found in this collection. In addition to Sorry and the out- er space shoot ’em ups, there’s an incredible array of Applesoft Basic games that Russ has cre- ated. And what a collection it is! Russ has been so prolific that his collection takes up a full 3.5" disk, or three double-sided 5.25" disks. With that amount of soft- ware, youre sure to find a great number to enjoy. The Russ Nielson Collection is available from Shareware Solu- tions II, on 5.25" or 3.5" disk, for $5. Please specify which size disk you prefer. @ Shareware Solutions 640 Mode Clip Art If you use a desktop publishing program to produce brochures, greeting cards, signs or news- letters, adding clip art graphic images can really enhance your creations; that is, if you can find a collection of clip art images that are in the same 640 Super Hi Res graphic mode under which IIGS desktop publishing programs operate. To assist desktop publishers in need of 640 mode clip art, I have amassed an incredible number of graphic images over the years, and have spent countless hours converting those graphic images into 640 x 200 Super Hi Res mode screens of clip art. Some of the original graphics were Print Shop format, some were for Print Shop GS, and some were Icon files for the Macintosh. Using a variety of file conversion programs, paint programs, and utility programs, I have created 74 graphic files that contain at least 1,000 18 Shareware Solutions IT small clip art graphic images. 38 of those files contain black and white clip art images; the remainder are in full color. Using the Marquee tool in your favorite desktop publishing, hy- permedia or paint program, you can easily cut and paste any of the graphics into your own artis- tic creations. In addition to the 74 screens of clip art, this disk includes PicViewer - Brutal Deluxe’s freeware Finder Extra that al- lows you to view graphics by simply double clicking on a graphic file. The 640 Mode Clip Art disk is available from the Shareware Solutions II Library for $5. Fun And Games This disk should help you get through many cold winter nights, as all the IIGS software provided has one purpose, and one purpose only — your enter- tainment. The programs fall UGS into two broad categories: games and graphics. In the graphics category, you'll find Henrik Gudat’s Mandelbrot, a IIGS program that creates dazzling fractal images. In addi- tion, there are five animated demos that display constantly changing colorful kinetic images for your visual pleasure. In the games section, you'll find six great ones that will warm your heart. There’s Richard Ben- nett’s sliding puzzle game Puzz- Bucket. There’s also a game of Concentration, a card game named Let It Ride, a wonderful implementation of Yahtzee, a board game named Knockout and a wild and wacky strategy game called Sewage. The Fun And Games disk is available from the Shareware Solutions II Library for $5. Ordering Disks When ordering disks from the Shareware Solutions II Library, December, 1996 please order by disk name and specify the disk size you want. All prices include shipping and handling. Please keep in mind that you are still obligated to submit shareware fees directly to the author of any shareware program that you like and con- tinue to use after the initial evaluation period. Please honor the requests for submission of shareware fees, but don't feel obligated to pay shareware fees for software that you don't like. Checks or money orders, in US funds only, can be accepted for payment of disks from the library. Please make all checks payable to Joe Kohn. All disks are guaranteed to be free from any computer virus or physical defect. Disks damaged in the mail will be replaced free of charge. To prevent problems at a later date, you are advised to copy all disks, and to store the originals ina safe place. @ Fun With Applesoft BASIC Each of the following Applesoft BASIC programs will produce endlessly repeating graphic patterns on the Hi Res screen of any Apple II. In order to run these programs, you will need to run the program Basic.System that is found on your Apple II System Disk. Once Basic.System is run, you will see the Applesoft Basic prompt: ]. At that prompt, type the following programs, pressing your Return key after entering each program line. When you are finished entering a program, you can type the RUN command from the prompt and the program will run. You can also type the SAVE command, followed by a single space and then a name of your choosing (as in SAVE Program) to save the program to disk. If you encounter a “Syntax Error” when running any program, use the LIST command to display the program listing, and that will help you find your typo. To stop any program, simultaneously press the Control key and the C key, and then type the TEXT command. Have fun with these! 0 REM Poor Man’s Tunnels of Armageddon 1 REM By Paul Creager 2 HOME: GR: COLOR = 1: PLOT 19,19 3 PLOT 20,19: PLOT 19,20: PLOT 20,20 4FOR J = 2 TO 20: COLOR=J 5 HLIN (20 - J),(19 + J) AT (20 - J) 6 VLIN (20 - J),(19 + J) AT (20 - J) 7 HLIN (19 + J),(20 - J) AT (19 + J) 8 VLIN (19 + J),(20 - J) AT (19 + J) 9 COLOR= 0: HLIN (21 - J),(18 + J) AT (21- J) 10 VLIN (21 - J),(18 + J) AT (21 - J) 11 HLIN (18 + J),(21 - J) AT (18 + J) 12 VLIN (18 + J),(21 - J) AT (18 + J) 13 X = PEEK ( - 16336): NEXT: GOTO 2 0 REM Coil By John L. Graham 1A=8* ATN (1): B= 36:C=A/B:D=2 2E=60:F=D* D*A/F:H=30 31=190-2 =I1/F:K=100 4L= 140: M =0: HGR2 5M=M+1 6N=(M-2* INT (M/2))*3 7 HCOLOR= N: FORO =0 TOF 8P=0*G:Q=H* COS) 9R=L-K*COS(P):S=H+0*5 10 FOR T= 0 TO ASTEPC 11U=R+Q*COS(T) 12V=S+H*SIN(T) 13 HPLOT U,V: NEXT: NEXT: GOTO 5 0 REM Stars by John L. Graham 1 DIM A(1000),B(1000) 2C = 138/0.5%3 3D =94/0.5 * 3: HGR2 4 HCOLOR = 3 5 FOR E=0 TO 1000 6 A(E) = 140 + ( RND (1)-0.5)%3*C 7 BR) = 95 + (RND (1)-0.5)%3*D 8 HPLOT A(E),B(E): NEXT 9 HCOLOR= 0: FOR E = 0 TO 1000 10 HPLOT A(E),B(E): NEXT: GOTO 4 0 REM Patterns by Geraldine Wright 1 HGR2: P = 1.57: A= 90: B=27:H=A-B 2 HCOLOR= 3: FOR G = 1TO .2 STEP - .2 3 C = 140 + H* COS (-P) + B * G * COS (AB * P) 4D =96+H* SIN (- P)+B*G* SIN (AB* P) 5 FORI= -91T0 990: J P/90 6 E=140+H* COS (J) +B* G* COS (-AB* J) 7F=96+H*SIN (J) +B*G* SIN (-AB* J) 8HPLOTC,DTOEF:C=E 9D =F: NEXT I: NEXT G: END Volume 3, Issue 3 Shareware Solutions IT 19 F____ TRAFDOOR CURSOR LEHHING LEHHINGS “OF RESCUED REMAINING IDEHTIFIER CURSOR HE IH FLA‘ LEHAINGS TIHE WALKER J OUT 2 IN 204 TIME 4-10 fe a +45 tou + SCREEN AREA = | i aie Ee ra (den enter Teer HHOLE LEVEL CH br Joe Kohn Shareware Solutions LI 166 Alpine Street San Rafael, CA 94901-1008 FIRST CLASS - AIR MAIL