Otherware

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Otherware / Otherware_1_SB_Development.iso / amiga / info / 5min0724.lha / 5-MinuteNews.txt

Wrap

Text File | 1992-07-24 | 34KB | 749 lines

Welcome to the ____ / ___) *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast / (_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ___) / (__ very weekend the *StarShip* on GEnie presents a new 5-MINUTE Weekend (_____) Newscast in Communications Room 10 in the Real-Time Conference Area. Featuring late-breaking stories from the Amiga community, these dynamic, scrolling newscasts cycle every 5 minutes, so you can stop by between 6PM and 3AM Eastern time on Friday, or 3PM and 3AM Eastern time on Saturday or Sunday and learn everything that happened during the preceding week. Industry news, product announcements, upgrades, rumors, special *StarShip* activities, trade show reports, GEnie usage tips, humor, recommended files to download... ... the works -- and it ONLY takes 5 minutes! Each 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast is available on *StarShip* Menu #10 during the following week. Periodically, newscasts are combined and made available for downloading from the *StarShip Library. ____________________________________________________________ // \ || -*- IMPORTANT! -*- | || | || As long as individual stories are kept intact and credit | || is given, this material may be reproduced in ALL or PART | || on a privately owned BBS or in a user group newsletter. | || See wording for proper credit at the end of this Newscast. | \\____________________________________________________________/ || | || | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to Denny Atkin, Editor of COMPUTE'S Amiga Resource, for his input. Here we go!... DateLine: July 24, 1992 This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. New National Amiga-Only Stores: Paragon Computers 2. National Amiga Exchange (NAEX) Available on the *StarShip* 3. LYRA Group Introduces Full Page Scanning for Hand Scanners 4. Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences 5. News from Supra Corporation 6. The Disc Company Upgrades: KindWords3 and MaxiPlan4 7. Digital Creations Releases RGB Converter for DCTV 8. Boom Box and Updates from Dr.T'S Music Software 9. Disney's Stunt Island Coming for Amiga *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 1st of 9 Stories ____ New National Amiga-Only Stores: Paragon Computers (_ _) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / *StarShip* News Network _/ / (____)n these times of nay-sayers and doom-bringers about our favorite computer, it's more than refreshing to learn that a new, national chain of Amiga-Only retail stores is open for business and gearing up for future expansion. Paragon Computers, with 5 stores in operation NOW, plans to expand their national-wide group to a total of about 20 computer dealerships in the near future -- all of them stocked exclusively with Amiga hardware and software. William Howell, President of Paragon Software & Electronics, the parent company headquartered in Colorado Springs, told the *StarShip* News Network he is convinced that Amiga-Only retailing is "the only way to sell Amigas." "People come into a store reciting system components they memorized last week," says Howell, "because that's what a friend told them they needed. They don't even know what it means when they talk about a 386 with VGA, 8 megs of RAM and a 40 meg hard drive." Paragon staff is trained to listen carefully and ask what the customer wants to do with his computer system. Then they SHOW him that the Amiga can do whatever they want, and do it better than any other personal computer on the market today. "We don't use the A-word much," commented Howell. "We sell features." Paragon Computer stores are open now in Phoenix, Arizona, Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Pensacola, Florida, with others scheduled to open later this year. Each store is an Authorized Commodore Amiga Service Center and carries a full stock of Amiga computers, software and peripherals; amazingly, even CDTV. They advertise hardware repairs in 24 hours backed by a six-month warranty, and will take your present Commodore system at any time -- working or not -- in trade for a more powerful Amiga system. They deal in both new and "pre-owned" Amiga products and honor VISA, Master Card, and Discover plus their own Preferred Member Paragon Credit Card which entitles holders to special discounts at any of their stores. The *StarShip* welcomes Paragon Computer Stores to the Amiga community. For more information including franchise opportunities, call 800-648-2887. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 2nd of 9 Stories ______ National Amiga Exchange (NAEX) Available on the *StarShip* (__ __) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / / / (_/ransform your used Amiga goodies into cash, or save a bundle by buying discounted hardware and software which other owners no longer need. How? The National Amiga Exchange -- NAEX-- founded by DC Computer Repair, lists hundreds of used Amiga items for sale by their owners. You can get this list two ways: 1. By calling NAEX at 703/620-9499 with your fax machine. Your machine must offer the new POLL feature in order to ask DC Computer's machine to fax you their list of products. Their current listing shows thousands of items, both hardware and software, running 7 pages long in small print. 2. Check the *StarShip* Library each week for NAEX'S most recent list of products in text format complete with phone contacts and a form for listing products you would like to offer for sale. (NAEX charges a small fee for listings.) The *StarShip* brings you current and future NAEX listings through an exclusive online agreement with DC Computer Repair. Download file #16498, NAEX0715.TXT, in the *StarShip* Library for their most current list of products, and watch for weekly updates. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 3rd of 9 Stories ____ LYRA Group Introduces Full Page Scanning for Hand Scanners / _ ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / __ / / _ ) (____/RICK, NJ (JULY 23) PR NEWSWIRE - The LYRA Group announced that the Tray, their highly successful hand scanner guide, now supports all four-inch hand scanners including black and white, gray scale, and color for PC, Macintosh, and Amiga systems. The Tray, a system which allows hand held scanners to be controlled with the precision required to produce full page, seamless images, incorporates a tablet/guide combination to prevent unwanted drifting during the scanning process, a common problem with hand scanners. "The Tray improves the performance of hand scanners by 100 percent right out of the box," noted company spokesman Alex Sass. "By preventing the inevitable waviness and distortion produced by unaided scanning, images are crisp and clear on the first pass. The Tray legitimizes the use of hand scanners in serious OCR and graphics applications." The Tray is designed to allow users to easily and accurately scan both vertical halves of a document 8-1/2 inches wide without moving or touching the original document during the scanning process. Then, using the software provided by the scanner manufacturers, the user can paste the two together to create seamless full page images. The LYRA Group is a privately held company specializing in products for scanning, graphics and OCR applications. The Tray has a suggested retail price of $49.95 and is available directly through LYRA. The company also announced the release of Version 2.0 of WIM, their Windows Image Merge software. Designed to be used in conjunction with LYRA'S the Tray the Hand Scanner Guide, WIM 2.0 allows hand scanner users to produce full page images with results rivalling that of flatbed scanners. The heart of the WIM package is a full auto-merge capability which allows users to capture images up to 8.5 inches wide with as few as three key strokes. WIM is capable of seaming images in as little as 60 seconds using a 386 computer. WIM 2.0 is fully TWAIN compliant allowing the software to be used with any imaging device which supports the TWAIN standard. WIM also comes with drivers supporting both the Logitech Scanman and Mustek hand scanner families including the Mustek CG-6000 Color Artist. Additionally, WIM 2.0 supports scanning, viewing, merging, and saving of True Color (24 bit) images. On monitors which can display only 256 colors, WIM automatically builds the correct color palette allowing True Color images to be displayed accurately in 256 color mode. In order to more effectively manage the enormous disk space required to store True Color and gray scale images, LYRA has added JPEG file compression capability to WIM 2.0. JPEG provides compression ratios of up to 20:1 on color and gray scale images. WIM also supports a wide variety of graphics formats including ZSOFT'S PCX, TIF (uncompressed, huffman, packbits, FAX, and LZW compression), Windows BMP, CompuServe GIF, and TrueVision Targa (TGA) files. WIM also includes a screen capture utility with 24 bit color support. WIM 2.0 has a suggested retail price of $79.95. For more information, contact the LYRA Group at 908/920-9667. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 4th of 9 Stories ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences | | _ _ | | / )_ _ / )_ _ | | __ / // ) / )/ // ) / ) | | ( (_/ // (_/ // // (_/ / | | \___/(_____((_/(__ / | | ___) / | | (____/ | | Except where noted, Conferences begin at 10PM Eastern Time in the Amiga | | Conference Rooms at Page 555. Amiga Programmers meet Wednesday nights | | at Pro/Am on Page 670. Amiga/GEnie HelpDesk EVERY Night at 9PM Eastern. | |___________________________________________________________________________| | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Humpday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | | Help@9EST| Help@9EST|Help@9EST| Help@9EST| Help@9EST| Help@9EST| Help@9EST| |__________|__________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________| | 26 HARDWRE 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | Aug 1 | |6PM:CLINIC| | o/~ | AmiGames | | New | Amiga | |5-MIN News| DeskTop | |!GiveAway!|v-v-Video!|*StarShip*|Party Time| | 3PM-3AM |Publishing| Mikey's | ------ | with | 5-MINUTE | -*- | |10:Imagine|with Mike | Music |Programing| Yury & | Newscast |5-MIN News| | Graphics |& COLORBAT| Night |at Pro/Am | Guests | 6PM-3AM | 3PM-3AM | |__________|__________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________| HelpDesk *EVERY* NIGHT @ 9PM Eastern Time! Got a problem? If you have questions about learning to use your Amiga, the *StarShip* or GEnie, we have answers! Stop by Conference Room 4 ANY EVENING from 9 to 10 EDT for live, on-the-spot help. *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 5th of 9 Stories News from Supra Corporation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ____ SupraFAXModem(tm) V.32bis wins Consumer Electronics Show / ___) "Innovations '92" Design and Engineering Award ( (__ \__ \ ___) ) (____/upra Corporation announced in July that its SupraFAXModem has won the prestigious "Innovations '92" Design and Engineering Award presented by the Summer Consumer Electronics Show. "This means," the award letter reads in part, "that your product is one of the most innovative consumer electronics products of 1992!" The SupraFAXModem combines high-speed (to 14,400 bps) data and fax communications in a small, sleek case with an alphanumeric front- panel status display. The SupraFAXModem V.32bis is available for $399.99 (suggested US resale at participating resellers; inquiries invited). Packages are also available with fax and data communications software, free offers from online services, necessary cables and a five-year limited warranty. A panel of judges including members of industrial design, engineering and consumer electronics industry press professionals reviewed more than 500 products this year. The award plaque is proudly on display in the Supra World Headquarters building in Albany, Oregon. Rockwell/Supra Technology Agreement Supra Corporation and Rockwell agreed in late May that Supra will write code to allow a Rockwell chipset-based V.32bis modem to fall back to slower speeds when encountering bad line conditions. At this time, most V.32bis modems on the market are not able to do this. Both the SupraFAXModem V.32 and the SupraFAXModem V.32bis will include this fallback feature beginning in June; Rockwell chipsets will incorporate Supra's solution by September. Supra Releases ROM Upgrade If you bought an early model of the SupraFAXModem and you didn't send in your registration card (shame, shame) then you may not know that Supra has released a ROM upgrade to V1.0 SupraFAXModems. We understand this new ROM fixes several small operational problems and that there is no charge for it to registered owners. For more information, contact Supra Corporation, 7101 Supra Drive SW, Albany OR 97321 USA or call (voice) 503/967-2400 during Pacific time business hours. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 6th of 9 Stories ____ The Disc Company Upgrades: KindWords3 and MaxiPlan4 / ___) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( (__ \__ \ ___) ) (____/ummer upgrades are hot. Here, from The Disc Company, are two of sizzlers. Compatible with Workbench 1.3 or 2.0, MaxiPlan4 can create new spreadsheets and improve your old ones more quickly and professionally than any Amiga product ever before. There's support for ARexx macros and user-definable page-breaks. Lots of colors and a faster, friendlier environment. MaxiPlan4 has over 22 major improvements. Like more charts, graphs and presentations, and a variety of data-viewing modes. You can create up to 50 charts per spreadsheet and zip through data with built-in macros. New Features MaxiPlan4 has fixed many of the old bugs from previous versions and is more solid than any of its predecessors. The upgrade consists of two new disks (Program Disk and Data Disk), new manual, and a new keyboard template. A warranty card will also be included so you will be eligible for free technical support. Here are some of MaxiPlan4's features: Workbench 1.3 or 2.0 Compatible Improved File Requester Print Preview Logarithmic scales for line, bar and XY Charts Interpolation Line for XY Charts New Gantt Charts for project planning New Word Charts for presentations Better control of printed output of charts Arbitrary text in charts using any standard Amiga Fonts Outline Mode DataView Mode - for database display ARexx support for macros 16 Color Mode Create up to 50 charts per worksheet Custom default "New" worksheets Set defaults for number of colors and resolution User-definable page breaks Printer Preference settings saved to worksheets Open Preferences from within MaxiPlan Desk Accessory menu enhancements New built-in macros for new features New keyboard template for the most commonly used commands Words Alone Can't Describe KindWords3 The new Human Interface Protocol in KindWords3 boosts your productivity and comfort with over 25 improvements, like automatic text-wrap around, imported color IFF graphics and use of up to 255 fonts per document including new high density printing fonts. KindWords3 has fixed all of the old bugs from previous versions and is much quicker in typing speed. The upgrade consists of 4 new disks (Program Disk, Dictionary Dick, Thesaurus Disk and Extras Disk), and a new manual. Some features include: Workbench 1.3 and 2.0 Compatible Uses the new Human Interface Protocol(tm) Use up to 255 standard Amiga fonts in one document Change font directory from within KindWords3 New high density enhanced printing Print using Amiga Fonts or printer's own internal fonts Improved typing speed Improved Dictionary and Thesaurus Wrap text around imported graphic files contour square shape Import IFF graphics of any resolution and color Headers and Footers for left and right pages Go To any page in the document Insert current date or time in different formats Page, Paragraph, Line, Word, Character and Picture counts Medium or High Resolution Mode Horizontal and Vertical Rulers Inches or Metric Measurements Toolbox for most commonly used commands Online Help Digital Clock Display Supports Bold, Italic, Underline and Color Styles Superscript and Subscript Adjustable Tracking (character spacing) and Line Spacing 2, 4, 8 or 16 Color Palette Control Preference setting accessible from within program Open KindWords3 from its own screen or on Workbench MaxiPlan4 normally costs $159, and KindWords3 goes for $125. Here's your chance to upgrade to either or both KindWords3 and MaxiPlan4 at special discounted prices. It doesn't matter which Amiga spreadsheet or wordprocessor you upgrade from. Just send ANY original disk from ANY Amiga spreadsheet or word-processing program with your order and you're eligible. Or if you have the front cover of any old MaxiPlan (or PlanIt) and KindWords documentation, rip out the appropriate one and send it in with your order. Print out this coupon and mail with appropriate material: ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | MaxiPlan4 KindWords3 | | spreadsheet wordprocessor | | | | The Disc Company | | | | | |Name____________________________ Send me __ MaxiPlan4 at $75 US ea $____ | | Send me __ KindWords3 at $50 US ea $____ | |Address_________________________ (CA residents + applicable taxes) $____ | | | |City____________________________ Total Enclosed $____ | | Published by | |Daytime Phone____________________ *StarShip* 5-MINUTE News on GEnie | | | |Personal and company checks only. DO NOT SEND CASH. No C.O.D.s. Make check | |payable to: THE DISC COMPANY and mail to P.O. Box 67713, Los Angeles, CA | |90049. Allow 3 weeks for delivery. For information call 3-310-207-1600; | |Europe 33-1-49-1-99-95; Australia 02-809-444. | | | |Both upgrades require Amiga 500, 500+, 1000, 2000 or 3000, Workbench 1.3 | |or 2.0, 1 MB RAM (additional memory recommended). Two disk drives or hard | |disk recommended. | |___________________________________________________________________________| -*- *StarShip* Amiga *Flash* 7th of 9 Stories _ Digital Creations Releases RGB Converter for DCTV / \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / - \ / ___ \ (_/ \_)n overview of the DCTV RGB Converter: What does it do: The RGB Converter takes the composite video signal from the DCTV and inserts it into the stream of RGB data. Any destination device such as a genlock, monitor or encoder will then have access to the DCTV composite image contained in the RGB stream. Although the image is in the RGB stream, it is still a composite DCTV image. It will not change to a pixel-based image but will retain the smooth look of composite video. How and where is it connected? The RGB Converter, for use with DCTV, is a small external device that plugs into the RGB stream between the DCTV and the RGB monitor. When used with an external genlock (like Digital Creations' SuperGen) it goes between the DCTV unit and the genlock. What can be done with a DCTV, an RGB Converter, and an RGB monitor? The main effect of using these three components together is that the DCTV output will behave like a normal Amiga graphics mode. For example, while painting in DCTV (on the RGB monitor) you decide that you need to change to a different font directory. You put the DCTV screen to the back and Workbench appears on the same monitor that you were just painting on. You do the font assignment and decide to take a peek at your painting. Using the mouse pointer on the drag bar of Workbench you pull the front screen down and reveal your DCTV image in full color. The top half of the screen is DCTV and the bottom half is standard Amiga RGB. Or you could make a slide show that contained a mixture of DCTV images ad images in normal Amiga modes. What can be done with the RGB Converter and a genlock? Using the RGB Converter, DCTV, and a genlock opens some interesting possibilities. Using a genlock and a standard RGB image gives you the ability to overlay all non-zero colors over video. Normally this cannot be done with DCTV images since they do not have a color zero. But with DCTV, a genlock, and the RGB Converter, it is possible to get the same type of overlay. Unlike RGB, where keying is done with color zero, the RGB adaptor uses luminance keying. The darkest color in an image can be turned transparent thus leaving your DCTV image floating over incoming video. Does the RGB Converter eliminate the need for a composite monitor? To some extent it will. However a composite video monitor will still be needed for the video preview mode when digitizing. Suggested retail price: $289.00. Scheduled to ship Monday, July 27, 1992. For more information contact: Digital Creations P.O. Box 97 Folsom, CA 95763-0097 Telephone: 916/344-4825 Fax: 916/635-0475 -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 8th of 9 Stories _ Boom Box and Updates from Dr.T's Music Software / \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / - \ / ___ \ (_/ \_)re you sick and tired of working? Do you ever wish you could bust loose and get crazy? Maybe play music that inspires people to PARTY, DANCE, and SCREAM? All this while you garner FAME, FORTUNE, and the ADULATION of millions? Well, look no further!... sort of. I have a program for you, and believe it or not, it's called BOOM BOX. It's only raison d'etre is FUN. Boom Box, and the original dance grooves that come with it, were created by people who KNOW about grooving. I am sure that you will absolutely flip out while creating your own funky raps; complete with scratches, breaks and digital effects. Even the good Dr. himself can mix with the masters using Boom Box. Be aware, Boom Box has nothing at all to do with MIDI, Post Production, SMPTE, or Pro Audio. It only uses the internal Amiga IFF samples to create FUN and EXCITEMENT. If you're between 6 and 60 and are BREATHING, you'll love Boom Box! Boom Box is a new, exciting, interactive music program that puts YOU in control of the baddest, freshest GROOVES this side of Hammer. Boom Box transforms your Amiga into a beat box and lets you trigger the baddest rap SAMPLES right from your computer keyboard. Anybody can create music that'd make even the best rapper proud. Can't Touch This! Boom Box features a totally interactive REMIX screen to add echo and digital effects to both the existing song files we include, or to your very own TOTALLY DEF arrangements. Loop sections of the grooves, repeat 'em, or just jam along by triggering our HEAVY GUITAR samples, assorted SCREAMS, turntable SCRATCHES - whatever! You're the Mix Master here! Boom Box runs on all Commodore Amiga computers, including the 500, with 1 meg of memory. 1 meg of chip RAM is recommended but not required. A hard disk is not required. Boom Box is Workbench 1.3 and 2.0 compatible. Some of Boom Box's outstanding graphics features include: Moving animated cassette tape display Tape recorder-like transport controls Animated VU Meters and Faders Boom Box Suggested Moving volume faders Retail Price: $59.95 Animated speakers Digital song position readout Digital Effects generator Online contest-sensitive Help Tempo/Grove control Sample playback Solo Pads - YEEEEOW! Pattern selector Icons for each "instrument" Copyist Companion Copyist Companion converts DMCS files to Dr.T's format. It preserves beaming, slurs, crescendi, all notes and durations, triplets, quintuplets, chords, repeats, endings, 8va, 8vb, variable measure widths, dynamic markings, and text. Copyist Companion lets DMCS act like a front end to Copyist and can speed your work by up to 80%. Copyist Companion is not copy protected and is painless to use. SMUS-It -- A cool utility you shouldn't be without! SMUS-It is a utility program which converts files saved in Standard MIDI File format into Amiga SMUS format. In the process it allows the operator to specify the IFF instruments for each track and save this information for each track in the SMUS file. SMUS-It is invaluable for users of KCS, M, Cub, MRS, AmigaVision, Showmaker or anyone who needs to convert MIDI files to Amiga SMUS. SMUS-It is not copy protected. X-oR -- Integrated editor/librarian and patch database X-oR supports over 100 MIDI instruments simultaneously through special profile modules. Profiles employ graphic sliders, envelopes, and other objects to edit parameters. Patches may be auditioned by playing scales with the mouse or master keyboard. Send/Get patches or entire banks from any instrument in your system. Snapshot your MIDI setup. Not copy protected. Suggested retail price: $325.00. 90 IFF Samples 3 disks of high-quality Amiga IFF samples consisting of assorted sounds ranging from pianos, basses, drums, horns, guitars, and percussion, to various sound effects. Sounds may be used with any program that utilizes IFF sounds including KCS, M, Cub, MRS, AmigaVision, Showmaker, and Bars & Pipes. The disks are not copy protected and you are licensed to use the sounds in any manner except that they must not be resold. You will find these sounds useful for extending your Amiga's capabilities in multimedia or creating your own musical performances with only the internal sounds or in combination with MIDI. Music Mouse -- Interactive, Fun and Creative Turns your computer into a musical instrument. Push the music around in real time with the mouse while accessing additional control options from the computer keyboard. You'll find a wide variety of instant possibilities for musical creation. Explore harmony, transposition, rhythm, counterpoint, dynamics and computer generated melodic patters. Not copy protected. Suggested Retail Price: $79.00. For more information on KCS 3.5, TIGER, QuickScore or the above products, contact your Amiga dealer or Dr.T's Music Software at 124 Crescent Road, Suite 3, Needham MA 02194, telephone 617/455-1454. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 9th of 9 Stories ______ Disney's Stunt Island Coming for Amiga (__ __) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / / / (_/he following details were taken from Walt Disney Computer Software's description of their new offering, Stunt Island, for MS-DOS machines, scheduled for release later this year. We present it here because Disney just announced that it will be available for the Amiga as well! Stunt Island The world of simulations will add a whole new category with the film studio world of Stunt Island: The Flying and Filming Simulation from Disney Software. This combination of flight simulator and movie-making program will break new ground with the decidedly different Stunt Island. Developed with input from Hollywood stunt directors, Stunt Island allows players to design, fly and film their own stunt films in a world of their choice. Flying between buildings, through explosions, under bridges and more can be done in this unique simulation that places the player at the controls of the aircraft. Using the tools of Stunt Island the player can fly, film, edit and then show stunt flying films of his own creation. There are 40 different aircraft, from WWI models to modern jets, from commercial planes to stunt aircraft, that players can utilize in their films. The set editor allows the player to modify any of the 20 existing sets or create new ones from scratch. There are over 600 different, complex objects such as landscape, vehicles, buildings and famous landmarks which can be combined into sets, around which stunts can be created. Players can even set objects in motion in conjunction with stunts and crashes. After the stunt has been filmed, in full 256-color VGA graphics, players can edit the film. By adding sound effects, music or voice-over and dialogue (using a Sound Blaster and microphone) in the edit room, the stunt film is complete and it is time to show the film in the Stunt Island theater. Scheduled for release in the fall of 1992, Stunt Island creates a whole new category in the simulator genre with the blending of flying and filming. Stunt Island will be available for MS-DOS compatible computers and support a variety of sound standards including the Sound Source and Sound Blaster. [*StarShip* News Note: Release date and retail price for the Amiga version were not available.] -*- We've got 'em ALL! Catch your limit of Fred FISH Disks from the *StarFish* Library. If you are after a SINGLE PROGRAM on a Fish Disk, SEARCH for it before downloading the disk. Most are available separately! _______________________________________________________________ | | | | | Permission is hereby granted to quote ALL or PART of this | | Newscast on a privately owned BBS or in a user group news- | | letter (*) provided you include the following credit: | | | | Reprinted by Permission from the 5-MINUTE Weekend | | News Network, a *StarShip*(tm) Production on GEnie(R). | | * /\ / | |_________________________________________________ ___/ \___ _| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \ oo / ~ . \ \__/ / _ (*) We would like to know about it / \ if you do, and you can tell us \ /\ / *FREE* by leaving Feedback to / \/ \/ \ the SysOps on GEnie Page 555. *StarFish* Librarian The July ViewPort, the *StarShip*'s Monthly Newsletter, is available FREE on GEnie*Basic! Open your capture buffer and select Menu #9 on Page 555. (Back issues are available in the Software Library.) ViewPort is FREE --- Don't miss it!