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************************************************************** STSTST STSTST STSTST ST ST ST STSTST ST ST ST ST ST ST ST ST STSTST ST STST STSTST ST ST ST ST STST ST ST ST ST ST ST ST ST STSTST ST ST STSTST STSTST STSTSTST "Your Atari ST Guide to the Universe" Copyright 1990 by ST-PLUG ************************************************************** Date: June 1, 1990 Issue: 13 ************************************************************** ^BONANZA.MSC We recommend using the text reader program PERUSER to gain maximum use of your screen as well as the pictures and sound that accompany this text file. **************************** NOTE: All URS Ratings and reviews printed in ST-PLUG are the opinions of their authors. Only use these reviews for product assistance and possible guidelines in selecting your next purchase. Remember, only you can judge whats best for yourself. Comments, opinions, review articles or product submissions may be sent to ST-PLUG at the following address: ST-PLUG 1670 Heron Rd., Box 22026, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1V 0C2 Tel. (613) 731-2779 GEnie: D.PANKE CompuServe: 73257,2635 **************************** What is the URS Rating? URS (Universal Rating System) is a program written to evaluate computer related products in categories pertaining only to the specific product. The URS program will then return a weighted overall value. **************************** CONTENTS: EDITORIAL THE WORLD OF PUBLIC DOMAIN (Article) THE PIXEL TWINS (Interview) LOTTO-FILE (Review) RISK (Review) DAY OF THE VIPER (Review) CLOWN-O-MANIA (Review) QUARTET (Review) STALKER 2.06 / STENO 2.03 (Review) WHAT'S NEW? THE 1990 CANADIAN ATARI USERS CONVENTION EDITORIAL ^BASEBALL.PC1 The 'Boys of Summer' are once again back on the playing field after a brief 'disagreement' period. I doubt you'll ever see ST-PLUG in this situation as no one at our end currently gets paid. As you know, we produce ST-PLUG for the love of the Atari ST and not for the love of money. Last issue we mentioned that ST-PLUG would have some important news. Well, we planned to have some changes made to PERUSER (our text reading program) but programming difficulties made it impossible for this issue. Look for future issues to enable Quartet music as well as special key entry combinations to advance articles, jump to the start of text, and more. Don't be totally disappointed with this issue however. Besides the normal news and reviews we did acquire distribution rights to Budgie UK products in North America. That's right. These fine software products (at pennies the price of commercial packages) can now be purchased from us. To read about Budgie UK software and ordering information, take a look at the file 'BUDGIEUK.TXT' found on this disk. I'm sure you'll be amazed at the quality for the low $6-$8 price you pay for each disk. I've received a few comments concerning the files that are contained on the ST-PLUG disk. In reply, I really don't know how readers can expect to receive a disk with Public Domain software and have everything on the disk be new to them. Remember, ST-PLUG is being sold world-wide and so we try to collect something from everywhere and place it on our disks. I feel that the PD software is secondary and that the product reviews and information is far more important. But, that's only my opinion. Lastly, if anybody has any demos, articles, etc., in their possession that they feel would be a worthy contribution to ST-PLUG, we'd be happy to take a look at it. Until next time... THE WORLD OF PUBLIC DOMAIN Article by Mark Essen Hello and welcome to the first PD section within ST-PLUG. Let me first start by telling you who I am. My name is Mark Essen and I am a student, entrepreneur, and all round nice guy from England. I've run many different clubs in the UK and now wish to expand. Because I am in the UK some of the demos mentioned mentioned in this article will not be available in your part of the world. I have therefore included an address of where these demos may be ordered from. If you don't know already, Public Domain is free to distribute among friends and shouldn't be sold. You do however have to pay for disks and postage. Well, thats enough of the boring intro so lets get on with the demo reviews for this issue. TITLE- The Lost Boys Transylvania Demo MUSIC: One looped track of Iron Maiden. Its clear and powerful yet it does get a bit boring. GRAPHICS: One average screen with no real fancy effects. If only they had tried a little harder. SCROLLS: Only one boring one which seems to drag on for a while. OVERALL: Its all very nice to produce demos like this one but its all been done before. If you're interested in heavy metal then get a hold of it. If you hate metal, stay away. TITLE- Music Maker Record Player MUSIC: Approximately 60 tunes which vary from VERY poor to average. GRAPHICS: Purely functional. USEFULNESS: Very good for musicians who own Music Studio. OVERALL: Very slow, very unprofessional, but good for users of the main program. TITLE- The Tex B.I.G. Demo MUSIC: 120 great pieces of music including 6 digitized ones. All from old Commodore 64 games. GRAPHICS: 3 bright and cheerful screens of special graphics plus the usual option screens. Very good indeed. SCROLLS: 2 very long and very interesting ones which are a joy to read. OVERALL: One of the best demos available at the moment. Get it! TITLE- The Lost Boys DEF Demo MUSIC: Over 50 superb pieces of music. For 1 meg owners there is a sample of S-Express. All of them from old games. GRAPHICS: Very nice in their own little way. SCROLLS: 7 of them, all of which are absolutely brilliant. OVERALL: Once again, you must get this one. It just shows what can be done with an ST and a great imagination. As you can read, my comments on each demo is brief. If should be noted that each of these demos is great in its right. Next time I hope to have more reviews as well as an interview with a top demo creator. If you are interested in PD software, these demos and others may be obtained from: The South West Software Library P.O. Box 562, Wimborne Dorset England BH21 2YD If you are interested in having a computer pen pal, then write to me at the following address: Mark Essen 26 Thick Hollins Drive, Meltham Huddersfield England HD7 3DL THE PIXEL TWINS (INTERVIEW) Interview by Lorraine Davidson In the UK, there are quite a few groups of programmers and artists who regularly produce demos and slideshows (e.g.- The Lost Boys, The CareBears and ST Squad). The Pixel Twins is one of the newer groups which is becoming quite prominent, so I talked to Nod, one of the members, about demos, public domain and life with the ST. Q: The Pixel Twins are fairly new to the PD scene. What have you written so far which PD supporters can buy? A: Well, there are SCI-FI SLIDESHOW 1, PIN-UP GIRLS 1 & 2, NOD-DEMO 1 & 2, PCM's SLIDESHOW 1 & 2, NEXT GENERATION, MOTLEY CRUE and AEROSMITH. Q: Who are the Pixel Twins and why that particular name? A: The Pixel Twins are Nod, PCM, Milli and Ed from London and LD and Prof. Fly from Scotland. The name - we were originally called The STBs but we decided upon something computer-related and jolly-sounding. Milli thought of the name while we were stuck on the motorway coming home from Stoke! Q: What are the Pixel Twins' plans for future demos? A: LD will be bringing out a slideshow later in the year, Prof. Fly will be doing the picture for another Motley Crue demo while I do the sample and we are working on a horror slideshow. Q: Why does the area of public domain appeal to you? A: Well, it's a nice way of getting our little programs circulated throughout the country, if not the world! Q: Which other PD titles would you recommend? A: In the demo department, The Lost Boys' DEFDEMO is good - and The CareBears' CUDDLY DEMOS. In the art department, PALART is good as you can get more than 16 colors on screen - the PD equivalent to Spectrum 512! Q: Shareware is a more popular idea in the USA than it is in Britain. Why do you think this is? A: I suppose most people using shareware in Britain find it awkward to send money to the US or Europe, where shareware is more established. Q: More generally, why did you choose the ST before other computers? A: The ST is simply a great machine for the money. Q: Which are your favorite commercial packages? A: When it comes to art, I always use DEGAS ELITE, STOS is good for programming - it makes demo writing fairly easy. My favorite games are ELITE, OIDS, ALIEN SYNDROME, BATMAN THE CAPED CRUSADER and BUBBLE BOBBLE until Prof. Fly and I finished it! And VIDI-ST - a good, cheap digitizing package. Q: Finally - what would you like to see happening on the commercial and PD fronts? A: Perhaps a 3D game which actually works and isn't horribly expensive! On the PD front, maybe a Best of the Year competition similar to the commercial companies. (NOTE: The Pixel Twins' demo 'NEXT GENERATION' can be found in the SIDE_B folder of this ST-PLUG issue.) AXEL'S MAGIC HAMMER Review by Barry Ough Rating: 735 Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd. Alpha House, 10 Carver Street, Sheffield S1 4FS Tel. (0742) 753423 Price £19.95 Packaging: 8 Documentation: 6 First Impression: 7 Originality: 7 Ease of Use: 8 Sound: 7 Smoothness of Operation: 9 Graphics: 8 Addictiveness: 7 Value for Money: 7 Overall: 7 You'll be taking on the role of AXEL, a courageous hero, whose beloved LUCY has been kidnapped. Lucy is being held captive in the dungeons of the Mystic Castle and is guarded by a very vicious dragon named NILMERG. (Did you happen to notice that Nilmerg is actually Gremlin spelt backwards?) Travelling through eight lands, you'll encounter many challenging adversaries before reaching the Mystic Castle. Armed only with a not so ordinary 'hammer', overcoming these perils should defy all odds. Triumph over the lava spitting volcanoes and dodge the lightning bolts while battling against the Gods in the Roman village... Avoid the acid rain and falling boulders through the cliffs... Out maneuver the penguins on the Ice Cap... Battle the spear throwing Pygmies and man-eating vines in the Tropical Jungle... Leap the pits of fire in the Egyptian Pyramids... Cross all eight lands and then, and only then will you encounter your greatest challenge of all. Defeat Nilmerg with your Magic Hammer and the beloved Lucy is yours. What can I say about this game but hold onto your joystick and hammer away for all you're worth. Axel's Magic Hammer catches your attention in a hurry and holds it just as well. I played Axel's Magic Hammer for hours and not only did the graphics impress me but the action was fast and steady. The object of the game is very simple. Use your magic hammer to break blocks as well as to destroy bad guys. At the end of each level you'll have to battle against a very large enemy who has to be hit more than once to be defeated. Once you have completed this challenge you'll be rewarded with a key which opens a hidden door (if you can find it). Once you've learned how to jump and use your magic hammer, Axel's Magic Hammer will provide many hours of enjoyment. This game does have some little extras to help ensure that nothing comes too easy and I'm quite sure that this game will deliver many hours of personal pleasure. LOTTO-FILE Review by Chris Samojlenko Rating: 710 SoftShop 255 West Benedict, Unit E, San Bernardino, CA 92402 Price $19.95 US Packaging: 5 Documentation: 6 First Impression: 8 Originality: 4 Ease of Use: 9 Sound: N/A Smoothness of Operation: 9 Graphics: N/A Addictiveness: N/A Value for Money: 7 Overall: 7 Are you a lottery addict that can't seem to win yet can't stop from spending those hard earned dollars on tickets week after week? Well, I may have a program for you. Lotto-File does with numbers what Mel Blanc did with voices, and that's almost anything you can possibly imagine. Lotto-File comes on one disk containing the program file, some sample number draws, and on-line documentation. This documentation can be printed out or you can access it from within Lotto-File itself. Lotto-File will run on any ST with TOS in ROM, a color or monochrome monitor and at least one disk drive. Thats a fairly basic set up so any Atari ST user should be able match the requirements. Lotto-File is an easy to use GEM-based program. It can analyze any set of numbers from 1/1 to 7/65. This should cover any lottery in your area. The program runs with GEM drop down menus and will also allow any desk accessories, if any, that you may want to load into memory. How Lotto-File works is simple. Everytime lottery numbers are picked you simply enter the numbers into the software and after a minimum of 26 past sets entered you can start accessing the features of this program. The features are many, including a variety of statistical charts, tables, and graphs. Lotto-File will even show you any trends that may be developing (hey, didn't you notice that 32 pops up a little more than 33? etc..etc..) Also included are interval/statistics charts and graphs, a number cross reference table, sum deviation graph, hit/skip graph, along with number pairings, cross-referencing and a database analysis that the player may use to narrow down a choice of numbers to play in subsequent drawings. Lotto-File also provides a variety of user definable methods for number wheeling or random generating sets of numbers. If you have an Epson compatible printer, there's an option to print charts and reports produced by the program. Lottery tickets may be stored to disk and are automatically checked for winning combinations. Lotto-File will work with any known lottery in the U.S.A., Canada, and Australia that draw from 1 to 7 numbers from a pool of up to 65 numbers. Bonus numbers, if required, are also maintained. Another big plus for Lotto-File is the fact that it is NOT copy protected in any way. This means making a back up copy or loading Lotto-File onto your hard drive is recommended. In summary, well, what can I say? Lotto-File practically has it all. I'd have to recommend it to any serious lottery player as I'm sure they'd find it of much use and interest. Now, if only Lotto-File could be modified to color in and buy the tickets. Could this update be in the making? (grin!) (NOTE: A demo of Lotto_file can be found in the SIDE_B folder on this issue of ST-PLUG.) RISK Review by Hilderic Browne Rating: 655 Virgin Mastertronic, Inc. 18001 Cowan, Suites A & B, Irvine, CA 92714 Tel. (714) 833-8710 Price $39.99 US Packaging: 8 Documentation: 8 First Impression: 8 Originality: 6 Ease of Use: 8 Sound: 3 Smoothness of Operation: 6 Graphics: 7 Addictiveness: 6 Value for Money: 7 Overall: 7 When I went to high school, more years ago than I like to count, I had a friend named Dave. I don't know if "friend" is the right word because Dave tended to be a bit of a pain sometimes... for one thing, he was after me every weekend to go over to his house and play strategy games. (This was long before the days of Dungeons and Dragons!) Most of these games seemed to take twelve or fourteen hours to play, not counting the three hours it took to wade through the rule book. Never the less, I wasn't very interested. After week upon week of excuses and refusals on my part, he began to ask less frequently and I begin to feel like a heel. You can probably guess what would happen next: once he slowed down to asking me only about once every couple of months, I'd eventually accept out of some sense of guilt, and that would set off the cycle of weekly invitations again! One of the easier and, to me, more enjoyable games we used to play was Risk. The board had a stylized map of the world divided into countries or regions and the players occupied these with armies and battled their neighbours for control. Now RISK has come to the Atari ST as a program from the British software company Virgin Publishing in an officially sanctioned reproduction of the Parker Brother's original. The screen is an "exact replica of the classic board game" (frankly, it's been too long since I played it for me to say, but it sure looks familiar), and up to six players in any combination of flesh-and-blood or silicon-and-copper can play. Your ST looks after all the computer players who come in three different skill levels. In addition, of course, it rolls the dice, enforces the rules, and looks after the proper sequencing of the game. The world map is too large to fit on the ST's screen all at once so RISK shows only a piece of it at a time. When it is a computer player's turn, the board is scrolled automatically to centre the current battlefield; when it is a human's turn, dragging the mouse with the right button depressed lets you position the map wherever you like. This works surprisingly well, although it's too bad the authors didn't elect to highlight the aggressor and defender on the map to draw your attention to the theatre of action. In the following scenario, we see Caesar with six armies (orange) take on Genghiz (brown) who has three: ^RISKASIA.PC1 By the way, I was surprised to discover that there are two rather different sets of rules in use on opposite sides of the Atlantic... the real one, that is, not the one of the board! RISK lets you use either, as well as a number of selectable "house rules": how many armies are permitted on any territory at one time, or making multiple troop movements at the end of a turn. Confuse and annoy your friends! Change rules on the fly! ...Actually, I think it's a nice feature: this kind of flexibility greatly increases the effective lifetime or durability of the program, in addition to making it a viable product in both North America and Europe. For one thing, it's almost like getting two --or more-- games in one. You can spend a long time figuring out the optimal strategies for the various methods of play. For interested aficionados of the game one major difference affects the number of armies you get for turning in sets of "Risk" cards. The UK version provides a fixed number of armies depending on the "suit"-- infantry, cavalry, artillery, or combination-- while the US variant escalates the number of reinforcements as the game progresses. This picture shows the exchange of a mixed set in the UK game: ^RISKMIXD.PC1 [Too bad the programmers couldn't spell "artillery!"] The style and quality of play on the computer's part runs from rash but easily defeated to careful and formidable. If you just want to waste away an hour or two, feel free to pick two or three "easy" opponents. On the other hand, if you want a challenge, try playing against one of RISK's "good" computer players. It's interesting to see how they play against each other, too. If you're really into relaxation, you don't have to play at all. Sit back, put on your war correspondent's hat, and leave the campaigning to your ST! And if you have no shame at all, you have recourse to two handy commands in the Options menu: CHEAT and CHANGE SIDES! The game is not without some problems. I found the use of dialog and alert boxes to ask for player input was annoying because the boxes tended to obscure information on the map I needed to see to make the proper decision (such as: how many armies do I want to attack with, or move up as reinforcements). And as we all know, GEM dialog boxes can't be dragged around on the screen. Once I was familiar with the game, I learned to study the map enough in advance to avoid this problem, but having to "second-guess" a computer program isn't very user-friendly! Sometimes, too, the messages flit by a bit too fast for comfort. It would have been nice to have a scrollable message area. The "Save Game" option on the review copy simply didn't work on either of the two computers (both TOS 1.0) that I tried it on. It invariably caused RISK to bomb. This might have been connected with a "disk error: retry or cancel" message that sometimes happened when starting the game. If it is genuine, it is a major shortcoming in the game. The sound effects are disappointing to say the least... just a kind of muffled 'twank!' whenever a battle is fought or a territory is counted. Perhaps Virgin didn't put in anything more elaborate because of concerns about machine-independence: they have also released RISK in versions for the Commodore 64, Amiga, IBM PC, Apple II, and Macintosh. Finally, given the fact that the game does exist on the Mac (and on the PC with a Hercules card), it seems a shame it won't run on a monochrome ST. It's low-rez or nothing. I would have thought that for the small additional effort, they could have tapped into a market of twice as many STs. So that's it. Risk has to be one of the best implementations of a "real" game that I've seen. I wish I'd of had it years ago. Better yet, I wish my old acquaintance Dave had had it! [Ignore the fact that the microcomputer hadn't been invented then!] Whatdoyah mean I can't play Diplomacy? ^FUGITIVE.MSC DAY OF THE VIPER Review by Michel Hebert Rating: 916 Accolade Europe Limited 50 Lombard Road, London SW11 3SU England Tel. (44) 1-585-3308 Price $39.95 US Packaging: 9 Documentation: 9 First Impression: 9 Originality: 9 Ease of Use: 10 Sound: 9 Smoothness of Operation: 10 Graphics: 8 Addictiveness: 10 Value for Money: 9 Overall: 9 You have to admit that although many computer games may look the same, not all will be appealing. Well, here's a computer game that in my opinion will satisfy any game fanatic. Day of the Viper is a futuristic strategy dungeons and dragons style game with plenty of action. The date is July 4, 2307 and you are on an attack frigate when suddenly you receive a distress signal. After reading the computer's message you blast into hyper-drive to the outer rim of space to the Targan system. Your sensor tell you that the entire star system is crawling with elite units of GAR's bloodless BioScan Corps. What's a GAR you say? Well, about 300 years ago a biotechnotic race was created. With a mind of a computer, the body of an assault vehicle, and the intuitive processes of a human being, a GAR can be a formidable ally or FOE. Finally, after a few decades of research and development, the GAR-1 (Genetic Android Race) was created. GAR was incredible. He performed the most dangerous and complex functions with ease and efficiency. Unfortunately, GAR had these "headaches", and with time went whackoid. Now, for three centuries, GAR as been rampaging through the defenses of the Sun League Defense Force (SLDF). Your mission is simple. Regain control of the SLDF Base Complex, five buildings, five floors apiece and as many as 50 rooms. You will be controlling Viper V, a powerful attack android. The Viper is controlled from a remote location by a highly-trained human operator, in this case you. But be careful, its not easy. The complex is filled with the most dogged storm troopers this side of the galaxy. To succeed in your mission: 1-Recover 25 floppy disks, one hidden in each of the 25 subfloors of the SLDF in order to built a hard-drive, then upload the data back into the Command Post Main Computer. 2-Find the Disk Controller Chip. 3-Find the Computer Interface Chip. 4-Find the Main Computer Room 5-Kill Lots of Enemy. Once the security system is reactivated, all intruders and ships will be eliminated. Day of the Viper comes with 2 unprotected disks, a 24 page manual and a coded slide rule for activating the game. The game has excellent sound and graphics. Although the layout of Day of the Viper gives you the feeling that you've played it before, I'm sure it was on a much lower complexity scale. This one is highly recommended. CLOWN-O-MANIA Review by Lennis Poupore Rating: 787 Star Games 708 W. Buffalo Ave., Suite 200, Tampa, FL 33603 Tel. (813) 222-0006 Price $34.95 US Packaging: 8 Documentation: 6 First Impression: 7 Originality: 9 Ease of Use: 7 Sound: 7 Smoothness of Operation: 7 Graphics: 9 Addictiveness: 9 Value for Money: 8 Overall: 8 After stumbling upon a mysterious map among the empty stands of the circus, Beppo the Clown gives up his circus life and goes adventuring. This map had shown Beppo the way to a strange land filled with valuable crystals; where thrills are many and success is only a dream. Beppo must be guided by you through 70 different labyrinths littered with crystals and populated with hidden dangers. Roaming razor blades can be gathered and used as weapons. Jumps (?) if caught will enable you to leap over precipices. Gather energy to move pyramids. Beamers will transport you to other beamers within the current labyrinth. (Are you confused yet?) Drop down tunnels to other platforms. Using trampolines and volcanoes will move Beppo up platforms. Stay clear of holes. Clown masks give extra lives. Power pills remove monsters from the screen. Blue plates increase your speed. Numbered plates give extra points and colored plates should be changed to one color. (Now I'm confused!) Clown-O-Mania reminds me of an off-beat Pac-Man game. Gathering all of the dots from the maze will advance you to the next level. Only problem with Clown-O-Mania is that the mazes are much more complicated than Pac-Man and have more things going on around the main character, Beppo. These differences are most noticeable during the game. The game lacks slightly on documentation. Clown-O-Mania is explained well enough but starting the game was confusing. I was aware that the game could be saved and continued but I didn't find out from reading. Before you begin a game you can enter a name to play under and start at level one or, you can select a name from the high score table. Selecting from the high score table will enable you to begin a game from the level where the high score name left off. Remember to leave the Clown-O-Mania disk unprotected if you wish to continue on from levels at a later date. Clown-O-Mania would be an awesome game (it almost is) if the labyrinth screens scrolled rather than flipped. Sometimes you have to do a little bit of eye searching to find Beppo as he doesn't always appear where you think he will. Collecting jumps and razor blades are a must to complete some of the higher levels. (Right now I'm a little stuck at level 9.) Just to comment on an observation concerning 'jumps'. You really don't jump as we know the word to mean but rather fade into the present location square, transport to the destination jump square, and then slide up out of the square. Not many arcade style games will allow you to pick up where you left off in a game. This is a much needed feature in some of the really difficult games. Clown-O-Mania is challenging and with the game continuation feature, this is one game I will definately complete. (P.S. I have been known not to keep promises on occasion. This is probably due to the fact that my time is valuable but, my intentions are always good.) QUARTET Review by Sam Gueydan Rating: 841 MichTron, Inc. 3285 Lapeer Road West, Auburn Hill, MI 48057 Price $44.95 US Packaging: 8 Documentation: 7 First Impression: 9 Originality: 10 Ease of Use: 6 Sound: 10 Smoothness of Operation: 7 Graphics: 8 Addictiveness: N/A Value for Money: 9 Overall: 9 For the average programmer, producing Music for their programs is a real unabashed pain in the you know what. Not many of us are musicians, so any theme music we might attempt to lay together ends up being of the 'Dinka Dinka Dunk' variety. The big software houses have professional musicians to produce their background and theme music and matching the quality of music from, say, Xenon 2 is nearly impossible. But now, MicroDeal has introduced Quartet, a high quality DIGITAL music editor. ^QUARTET.PC2 Quartet is simple to use and offers music entry either through the mouse or through a MIDI keyboard. It allows you to use four voices simultaneously, and has over a hundred instrument sounds available. Because Quartet uses sound samples (digital recordings) the music produced sounds like real music. Trumpets use real trumpet sounds, as do all of the instruments. You even have the option of making your own. The utilities bundled with Quartet allow you to convert ST REPLAY samples into Instrument sets (groups of sounds used in specific songs). The music plays through the monitor speaker, and is unbelievable. It's the closest thing to MIDI sound without a MIDI synthesizer. You CAN use a Midi board to input your music, and here is where Quartet really shines. Unlike other moderately priced music programs, (Music Studio, etc.) you can play real time, either for a single voice (while hearing the other 3) or to all four voices. Timing is kept automatically, and music input this way is ready to play with very little editing. I found that this mode worked especially well if you input your music slower than you want it played (which is completely controllable), but then, I'm not a musician. Better musicians probably would have no trouble playing in real time. Music input through the mouse, is nearly as easy. Clicking on one of the 4 voice toggles, allows you to edit the music in the different voice channels. You can change instruments anytime you like so you can write complicated drum riffs in just one or two voices. A good selection of standard note lengths are available, and are available through an ever present note menu. Note voices are accessible through drop-down menus as are the timing signatures. Quartet comes with source code for using your songs created with the program in your own programs in C, Assembly and Highsoft Basic. Unfortunately GFA is not supported (yet). With all these functions, Quartet is easily the best non-midi music editor available, but like most programs this one begs for an update. One of the worst bugs encountered is Quartet's inability to save files into folders. You can point to the folder but the file written is saved with the folder's name instead of the one it's supposed to have. Other problems are just quirks of the program. The music editor allows you to move whole blocks of notes up or down but its difficult to insert sharps and loops. I'd like to see notes play when you drop them as well. To edit a single sound for use with your music, you must first convert it with DIGITAL, then use VOICES to insert it into a song file, so you can load the voice file into quartet. It would have been much easier if instead of three programs, they were combined into one. Scrolling left and right with the mouse is more than a little clunky. Scroll buttons could have worked better, as it is, if you move the mouse while scrolling, you're very likely to bash your music. There is no way to play a combination of voices other than all four, or just one. But don't get me wrong, this is a great program, it is just like say - Pagestream, you've got to wait for the 12th revision to get a full powered copy. It will install into your hard drive, but the aforementioned problem with the folder makes it difficult to figure out where your file went. Buy this one anyway. Call write or yodel at MicroDeal to fix the problems. You'll have the most enjoyable, useful, and downright FUN music program around. STALKER 2.06 / STENO 2.03 Review by Dan Panke Rating: 870 Strata Software 94 Rowe Drive, Kanata, Ontario Canada K2L 3Y9 Tel. (613) 591-1922 Price $35.00 CANADIAN $30.00 US Packaging: 5 Documentation: 9 First Impression: 8 Originality: 8 Ease of Use: 10 Sound: N/A Smoothness of Operation: 9 Graphics: N/A Addictiveness: N/A Value for Money: 9 Overall: 9 STalker: STalker has slowly matured into becoming one of the finest terminal programs for the Atari ST. Operating as a desk accessory, STalker provides a simple, well organized method of 'bridging your gap' to the world of telecommunications. At first I hesitated in taking the plunge into a new terminal package. I was happy with the one I was using (even though I never really tried anything else), and I didn't want to learn something new. Why have I changed to STalker? Writing a review DOES require you to read and use a product and, after using STalker for a few days, I wondered why I never tried it before. The manual, doubling as the STalker/STeno packaging, is well-written and precise. The large, bold print of the manual stresses the simplicity of STalker. I always wondered why text has to be so small in manuals. I guess its to save on printing costs. Although the manual is easy to understand (it was for me) it is noted that 'if you are completely new to telecommunications, you may wish to check your local computer bookstore for texts that describe the hows & whys of modems, RS232 ports, baud rates, and so on'. An excellent authors touch to pick up any loose ends left in a very simple manual. What about the STalker software? Remember, I said STalker was an accessory. This means that the program can be called via the normal accessory way through any menu bar. Do this and you'll be greeted with the STalker window. Another click of the mouse button will bring up a menu window where a host of STalker options will be at your command. Some of the nice features of STalker include: -easy to set-up log-on sequences (a maximum of 5 set replies per phone number can be entered. This normally provides enough settings to gain quick and easy access right up to the Main Menu of any BBS.) -background file transfers. (Load STalker with just about any GEM driven program (or 'STeno')and you can work or play while STalker executes your download.) -should you be an owner of Shadow, STalker will allow you to interface with the Shadow driver. -a cash or time-on-line clock will keep track of things for you so you won't overspend you allowed budget. An audible warning will be given if you go over your set time limit. STeno: STeno is a separate accessory that lets you edit text files apart from STalker or used in conjunction with STalker to capture and edit incoming text. If you're familiar with GEM-based word processors, you won't have any trouble operating STeno. STeno uses a standard GEM window for display and offers all the standard options available in most word processors: cut, copy, paste, find, and change. One very nice feature that other word processors do not normally offer is font size changes. STeno has incorporated this feature to give you just that little bit extra. As an accessory, STeno can have its buffer size changed to edit bigger files if you so desire. As well, STeno can be renamed to become a program. Conclusion: ^STALKER.PC2 The difficulties I encountered with Stalker were minimal. I was disappointed that only 20 phone numbers and settings could be loaded with STalker. Twenty is probably enough for the average modem user but I'd like more. You can access additional numbers by adding more than one STalker accessories to you menu (STalker only uses about 100K) but I still felt the desire to have a load feature from within. Initially I encountered trouble logging onto GEnie and CompuServe. This was due to my lack of reading the 'READ_ME.TXT' file on the disk which explained my dilemma. STeno, well, I keep it paired with STalker. I have used STeno to compose messages that I wanted to upload on more than one BBS or to more than one person. Personally, I feel STeno could not make it as a product on its own, however, matched with STalker it is a welcome addition. (The author did point out to me that he's had several requests for STeno, by itself, for use with desktop publishing packages.) I was particularly impressed by the revision update technique. On the original disk is version 2.00 of both STalker and STeno. Whenever a minor update is made to either programs a patch file can alter the STalker/STeno version 2.00 and 'presto', you now have the most recent version. Of course this method won't work on a major revision but STeno and STalker are both finely tuned so I can't see anything major to come. I've encountered update patches on just about every major BBS but should you have difficulty Strata offers the updates by mail. What can Strata Software hold for us in the future? In conclusion could I simply say, "Compared to some other terminal packages, STalker makes their flash look like a spark?" WHAT'S NEW? * Bethesda Softworks informs me that the extra data disks for WAYNE GRETSKY HOCKEY will not be available until the end of May. This means that if you've planned to purchase the HOCKEY LEAGUE SIMULATOR, 1988 or '89 NHL SEASON DATA DISKS, 1989 INTERNATIONAL DATA DISK, or FIGHT VIDEO DISK, check with Bethesda Softworks first before ordering. Bethesda Softworks, P.O. Box 7877, Gaithersburg, MD 20898 Tel. (800) 677-0700 or (301) 926-8300 * By the summer, Cosmic Computing should have their graphic text adventure, THE DRAGON'S KNIGHT, completed. The Dragon's Knight is a twist on the damsel-in-distress theme where you, as a princess, must escape from the clutches of a dragon. A journey further awaits through strange lands to save your kingdom and perhaps to discover your true self. The adventure features 175 locations along with added commands such as OOPS, RAMSAVE and HELP. The expected price range should be between $15 and $20. Cosmic Computing, 8 Bell's Wynd, Lanark, Scotland ML11 7JF * ATTENTION GFA BASIC USERS! GBUG is the NATIONWIDE users group that can solve your programming problems. Take advantage of the Programming Tips, Members Feedback, News and GFA BASIC programming segments in the monthly GBUG newsletter. Subscriptions are $15.00 US for 12 monthly newsletters. (Make your checks and money orders payable to 'RASCOM'.) RASCOM, 22128 Newkirk Avenue, Carson, CA 90745 * CHRONOQUEST II: The Adventure Continues. Following on from the hugely successful adventure game Chronoquest, which involved you in a frantic race through time and the ages in the fantastic Time Machine Explora to find your father's murderer - you have now accomplished your task and are about to return to your family chateau, 1922. Explora is still there, but does this technological wonder invented by an old scientist an the beginning of the twentieth century have enough fuel to take you back to your origins? Unfortunately, the teleportation phase is disturbed by a major incident - a disorder in the temporal turbines has caused the engine to overheat and to use up too much of the metal essential to fuel the super-generator. Yet again, catapulted into the world of the unknown, you are going to have to use every last bit of intelligence to survive the trials that await you. Confront characters and situations from both History and Myth. From the Ancient Greece of Legend, through time, to the France of swashbuckling Musketeers. Can you live up to the cunning and strength of Ulysses, or the daring do and charm of D'Artagnon? There's more than your life at stake as you cross the paths of some of History's most seductive (and deadly) damsels, fearsome beasts, temperamental Gods and haughty heroes. It will probably keep you pulling your hair out for months until you put the enormous temporal puzzle together. CHRONOQUEST II features: - 13 different stages for maximum gameplay and varying levels of difficulty. - interaction and dialogue with characters through synthesized speech. - brilliant graphics and scenery. - 3/6 disks Price $49.99 US Psygnosis, Liverpool, L3 3AB, United Kingdom * Data East USA, Inc., an $80 million leader in interactive entertainment, has announced the appointment of Joseph F. Keenan as president. Keenan previously help top executive positions with Atari Corporation, Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre and, most recently, Wilkes Bashford Company. "Keenan, 48, brings more than twenty years of executive management experience to Data East, including positions in the electronic entertainment, business products and retail industries. He served as president and chief executive officer of Atari Corporation and was instrumental in developing the first successful video game. Data East USA, Inc., 1850 Little Orchard Street, San Jose, CA 95125 Tel. (408) 286-7074 * Strategic Simulations, Inc. has released a new historical war simulation - WATERLOO. Waterloo enables the player to re-create one of the greatest military battles of all time. Napolean and Wellington were the best tacticians of their day and the player has the chance to step into their shoes. Static three dimensional scenes of the state of the battle may be viewed from any position or in any direction and the battle is controlled by giving orders to the generals in text form. The generals "interpret" orders according to their nature, therefore an impetuous general will charge in with everything while a more cautious general will shell the enemy for hours. Waterloo is a complex game which is probably the closest representation of the battle of Waterloo ever to appear in any medium. Price $59.95 US Strategic Simulations, Inc., 675 Almanor Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Tel. (408) 737-6800 * Enter the Alien World and face one challenge after another in PUFFY'S SAGA, a multi-level arcade-style maze. As Puffy or Puffyn, your goal is to advance from one level of the maze to the next by collecting all the Pad Goms (power dots). You can also search for Magic Goms that will increase your abilities, your speed and the option to change you from Puffy to Puffyn. Race through the twenty different levels and settings, or explore each level accumulating weapons, energy and points. The secret passageways may hold keys to hidden treasure chests or Acid Puddles, one of the many enemies you must avoid. This arcade style game features colorful graphics and entertaining sound effects. Price $34.95 US Electronic Arts, 1820 Gateway Drive, San Mateo, CA 94404 Tel. (800) 245-4525 (415) 571-7171 * Effective April 2, 1990 Dr. T's will begin publishing the following products for the popular Intelligent Music catalog: "M" for the Atari RealTime for the Atari All customer service including upgrades, backups, and technical support will be handled through Dr. T's. Registered users should contact Dr. T's for more information. Dr. T's dedicated technical support number is (617) 244-1542. Dr. T's now has the most comprehensive line of computer aided composition software available for all popular computer platforms. Aquisition of the newly introduced "M" for Atari brings the total music programs for the ST to over 20. Al Hospers, Dr. T's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "I am extremely pleased with this arrangement. I have always personally admired Intelligent Music, their unique product line, and the vision of both their programmers and President Joel Chadabe. I feel that this is an extremely good match, as all of these programs fit in well with our concept and overall direction. M has become a classic whose usefulness and impact on the development of computer aided composition tools is immeasurable. And with the introduction of "M" for the ST, this power is available for this most creative computer." Dr. T's Music Software, 220 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167 Tel. (617) 244-6954 * Sega Enterprises and Electronic Arts Distribution have combined to release ALTERED BEAST for the Atari ST, a computerized version of the popular arcade game. Altered Beast is a two-player simultaneous game featuring outstanding sound effects and superior graphics throughout five rounds of non-stop action. Altered Beast is distributed by Electronic Arts under its Affiliated Label program. Summoned by Zeus, God of Thunder, you have been awakened from the dead to challenge the wicked Neff, God of the Underworld, for the fate of Athena. You are the Altered Beast bestowed with five formidable forces of transformation - each more ferocious, more overwhelming than the last. In this worldwide, #1 arcade hit you destroy Grave Masters, Chicken Stingers, Cave Needles and other treacherous foes. Price $49.95 US Electronic Arts, 1810 Gateway Drive, San Mateo, CA 94404 Tel. (800) 245-4525 (415) 571-7171 Sega Enterprises Ltd., 3000 Dunham Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel. (415) 854-8290 * Innovative Concepts (I.C.) has released their new Bulletin Board program which they feel has more features than any other available. STark BBS uses a GEM oriented "System Editor" taking you step by step through the initialization stages. Pre-formatted variable tags as well as hundreds of your own variable tags are at your command. Edit your own menus with STark's built-in text editor or use any word processor. Each loaded text file is checked by STark to see if it is a "Menu" file. You can define up to 64 keys in each command table. Great flexibility in STark allows text files, on-line games, menu file, or anything run from the main menu. Up to 256 message bases and 256 file areas can be established. This BBS program sounds too good to be true. To get a first hand view of STark in action call: STark Line One..... (502) 897-1589 (2400 baud) STark Line Two..... (502) 955-6955 (9600 baud) Innovative Concepts, 31172 Shawn Drive, Warren. MI 48093 Tel. (313) 293-0730 * The WordUp 3.0 Upgrade is now available. Neocept, Inc. has made some pleasant additions to their already great word processor. If you've purchased WordUp in 1990 you're entitled to receive the complete upgrade for $3.00. Past owners may obtain the update for $31.00. Here's what you get for you money: - a completely rewritten and typeset manual. - 116,000 word Spell Checker. - 470,000 word Thesaurus. - additional fonts. Serif, Book Serif, Sans, Book Sans, Typed, Corporate, Distinctive and Math. - all fonts and functions are operational on a 520ST - printout quality is twice as good. - import and export Word Writer and 1st Word/1st Word Plus documents. - multiple text columns easily specified. - automatic hyphenation is 100% accurate. - boxes and lines can be drawn around and between text paragraphs. - word count and free memory indicator. - many previous bugs fixed. My upgrade money is in the mail. As a word processor, WordUp 3.0 now appears tough to beat! Neocept, Inc., 547 Constitution, Unit A, Camarillo, CA 93010 * Do you have stacks of expenses and income receipts in a shoebox somewhere? Have you spent countless hours with an adding machine totalling all or parts of them? What to do with Tax collected versus Tax Paid? Or credit card/checkbook charges? What about the all important Profit/Loss statement for any time during the year? Do you shudder when you want to find a specific receipt that you know is somewhere? Would you like a Grand Total of Expense, Income, or any parts thereof interest you? With MINI LEDGER, simply input the Expense or Income data and let your computer do the work. Full Search and Sort database capabilities. ADD ENTRY keeps the file updated for additions. You can recalculate the entire Expense or Income sheets at any time. Perfect to do the 'What If?' changes. Full printed report capability is provided. Program flexibility assures that pertinent data can be either transferred to a file, or output as hardcopy. (A demo of this program can be found in this issue of ST-PLUG.) Price $34.95 US (plus $1.50 S&H) RASCOM, 22128 Newkirk Avenue, Carson, CA 90745 * FALCON for the Atari ST has been updated to version 1.2 along with the Falcon Mission Disk (Operation: Counterstrike). Changes to version 1.2 include: (1) The program is now shipped on GEM standard single-sided disks. (2) The program will now run on one double-sided disk if the user copies all files from Disk 1 and 2. (3) Falcon can now be run from a hard drive. (4) Both the disk drive light and motor no longer stay on during play. (5) There is a new control option called "Aerochopper" which allows the program to be used with a special control. (6) The program is now compatible with the Gravis MouseStick. Falcon runs on any ST or Mega with a color monitor. 1MB of RAM is recommended. Falcon retails for $49.95 US and the Mission Disk for $24.95 US. Registered owners of version 1.0 can update to version 1.2 by sending in their original Disk 1 and $7.50 US. Registered owners of version 1.1 can update the same way but with a minimal $3.00 US charge. Spectrum HoloByte, Attn: ST FALCON, 2061 Challenger Drive, Alameda, CA 94501 * DIAMOND BACK II (now sold with DIAMOND CACHE) provides a true backup at image backup speeds with power and flexibility. Here are just a few of the features packed into Diamond Back II and Diamond Cache: - 100% GEM user interface with online help. - Backup/Restore ANY number of drive partitions, directory paths, single directories, or specific files in a single pass. - Flexibility creation of backup sets. - Wildcard masks to include or exclude files. - Incremental backups by date/time or archive bit(TOS 1.4). - Load/Save custom backup configurations. - Automatic drive switching. - Full or partial restore. - Recreate original directory tree or specify new structure during restore. - Flexible disk formatting. - File compression and disk encryption available. - Disk usage estimation. - and much, much more! Diamond Back II is fast and now even faster with Diamond Cache. Diamond Cache is the fastest cache. It even includes a flexible print spooler that uses cache buffers to save precious ram. Price $59.95 US for Diamond Back II and Diamond Cache $29.95 US for Diamond Cache Data Innovations, Inc., 127 N. Front Street, Rising Sun, IN 47040 Tel. (812) 438-3733 * The recent European Computer Trade Show held in London was, for Elite, the perfect opportunity to launch the first three titles in a whole bunch of new acquisitions. These programs were: World Championship Soccer, Tournament Golf, and Last Battle. All three are licensed from the enormous Sega Catalogue, promising high quality, first class product, and each has been carefully selected on its individual merits. Indeed, Tournament Gold and World Championship Soccer are Sega's two most successful Sport Simulations ever! Prices TBA Elite Systems Limited, Anchor House, Anchor Road, Aldridge, Walsall, West Midlands, England WS9 8PW Tel. (0922) 55852 * ENTHUSIAST is a new magazine that is dedicated towards the Atari computer user. The magazine will support the ST's as well as the 8-bit line of computers. The magazine will be distributed widely throughout America and Canada and will be distributed FREE to all user groups interested. The concept of Enthusiast magazine is the same as shareware programs. A subscription fee is not asked but if the reader finds the magazine a valuable asset, the reader is asked to send in a $6.00 one-year subscription charge. (A sharemag?) By offering the magazine to everyone interested for absolutely nothing, advertisers will be supplied with a very large reader base immediately. Without any advertising, over 100 user groups registered for Enthusiast within the first week. This mag may not take long at becoming the #1 Atari specific magazine in North America. The first issue will be out in August of 1990 and will be set completely in black and white. This will keep printing costs down and will allow more articles devoted to readers. If you have any questions or would like Enthusiast to review and products, don't hesitate to call them. Enthusiast, P.O. Box 33411, Raleigh, NC 27636 Tel. (919) 851-5134 * Last issue we reviewed the GOOD Backup Utility version 1.4. Since that review an upgrade has appeared on our doorstep with several improvements. The technical details of this upgrade are as follows: - Previous versions would hang up when accessing sector numbers greater than 32,767. This prevented proper operation on partitions of between 16 and 32 megabytes. (This only affects users of Rainbow TOS. Before Rainbow TOS you couldn't create these partitions.) - Version 1.6 fixes several small problems in the formatting of disks, including the accidental writing of a "bootable" boot sector on the backup of the saveset data disk. This would falsely trigger a virus detector. - A new option for disk formatting, "EXTENDED", will format double-sided with ten sectors/track rather than the usual nine. - Version 1.6 detects write protected data disks and asks you if you wish to retry or continue. Disk error handling has been generally improved. - Previously, certain disk errors would generate a standard GEM error form, but without a mouse cursor for making a proper selection. These have been either eliminated altogether, or replaced with questions in the same style as the rest of the program. - When starting a second or subsequent backup, all fields in the user interface are reset to their original state. If you haven't already received you upgrade I'd suggest writing Tidbit Software for it. And, if you don't really know what I'm talking about here you may want to take a look at our review last issue. Tidbit Software Engineering Company, 25 Wood Lane, Maynard, MA 01754 Tel. (508) 897-7429 * Just received a review copy of Dragon's Lair on my doorstep this week. The program comes on 4 double-sided disks and resembles the same play style as Space Ace. If you liked Space Ace you won't be disappointed with Dragon's Lair. Look for a review on this one next month. Price $49.95 US ReadySoft, 30 Wertheim Court, Unit 2, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4B 1B9 Tel. (416) 731-4175 * Dedicated to bringing the message against drug trafficking and international terrorism directly into the home, Taito Software, Inc., a major worldwide supplier of Nintendo software, has developed "Wrath of the Black Manta", a dynamic video game developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Video game publishers frequently draw from hard-hitting current themes for storyline ideas. Taito has gone one step further by joining state-of-the-art technology with today's headlines to heighten player interest and increase entertainment values. "Wrath of the Black Manta" challenges the player with a ruthless, international cast of characters. Advanced graphics, sound effects and music at each of the five progressive levels of play provide dimension to the overlay of clues. Armed with an increasing array of weaponry, the player travels around the world from New York, to Rio de Janeiro, to Tokyo, tracking down clues, and, in the process, develops mental acuity and manual dexterity. The message "Black Manta" communicates rings loudly and clearly throughout -- the horror of drugs, and the crime it creates, must be flushed out and destroyed! I realize "Wrath of the Black Manta" is not ST related but the principal idea of learning and dealing about a worldwide problem intrigued me. Perhaps the development of games to save the environment, quite smoking, stopping alcohol or child abuse could be major factors in the development of education for our children in the near future. THE 1990 CANADIAN ATARI USERS CONVENTION - TORONTO, ONTARIO, APRIL 1, 1990 These are a few thoughts and observations on the Second Atari Users Convention put on by the Toronto Atari Federation. You can't really call this an annual event since the first convention was staged in November of 1988, but once more the Toronto Atari Federation has hosted a more than successful show. The show was held on Sunday, April 1 from 10 am to 6 pm at the Airport Hilton in Toronto and as of about 4 pm the attendance was approaching 2,000. There were almost 30 booths in the main hall with a few User Groups set up in the registration area. Exhibitors ranged from some of the area's larger dealers to some of the newer independent software developers, but the biggest news was in the hardware not only on display but for sale at the show. The Stacy in a 1 megabyte version with a single DD drive was in several booths for about $1800 Canadian and I saw quite a few going out the doors. The CD-ROM with a disk full of PD software was going for $750 and most dealers had a good supply of Lynx along with the usual 4 games. There was at least one Supercharger MS-DOS emulator in a 1 meg version on display, but only orders were being taken at the show, as well as a good supply of PC-Speed and Megafile 44's at several booths. Atari Canada had a large, well-stocked display in the center and showed everything from the full PC line (including the 20 MHz 386), to the CD-ROM, Lynx, Stacy and Megafile 44. ISD was very evident in the Atari booth and was featuring Calamus DTP as well as their new Outline to crowds that were amazed by the possibilities. They also had a Mega 4 with a math co-processor and Turbo 16 board using Image Systems color video board hooked up to a NEC D5 multisync monitor running the newest version of Dynacadd. All of this was being printed on a Roland Size E color plotter and has to be one of the best setups available on any machine. Ask anyone who saw it. Developers such as Strata with STalker, Gribnif with NeoDesk, ASDE with Geography Tutor, Branch Always with QuickST II, and D.A. Brumleve with her kids' programs were doing and excellent business as well as getting a chance to talk to the people using their products. A full slate of seminars in 2 adjoining rooms gave many of the developers and distributors a chance to demonstrate and talk about their products. In addition, Atari Canada's featured guest was Bob Brodie and he lived up to the rave reviews he has gotten from previous visits he has made in the US. While this show may not have been as large as some of those south of the border, it certainly was as successful. The support given by Atari Canada, not only in attending with a very professional booth, but in ensuring a good supply of the newest products were available, made everyone who attended feel that the Atari is a computer with a future. Terry Webb National Capital Atari Users Group, Ottawa, Canada.