Skip to main content

Full text of "Amiga Computing 1-117 (June 88-Oct 97)"

See other formats 




November T 989 


V Cave Runner: Ameiing 
Boulderdash-like game, 

• Track Record Test your 
high speed driving. 

* Pretext: Printer Power. 


• Wow!: like man, arm 
like colours and space. 

• Galtoy: Tip top art. 

% Heavy Demo: TOO fish 

• Atree: Oise utility 


Fall instructions are in the November issue of Amigt Computing 


PLUS much, 
much more! 


A MEGABYTE OF SUPERB SOFTWARE 


113 1C §§jj 


IQUBI 

fcfiS* ^ -£ - *i - •% - •*> - ^ i-" 


BLADE 




WARRIOR 


T tie beast was present in 
the land and from tower 
to tower the sorcerers 
voice called upon him* 
As night encroached and 
set the sun to (light, 
so his legions made ready 
to conceal the tablets 
that would see daylight 
banished forever. 


n\ 

if 


So, as the same last 
bloody light drained 
from cast to west, the 
paladin came forth, ready 
to do battle against the 
legions ol the night, 
using all his might and 
shill in this tale of 
swords and sorcery. 


5 r 


f 1 * 1' _ J Tr l r \ 

y ' , .xx ) 

Haa 


^ A 


^ % 


Screenshots from Amiga version 





Atari ST, Amiga, !B/ 


PL and 


eompatifc 


Allirrorsolt Limited ftwifl House tlS Southwark Street London SEl OS AX' Telephone Ol L+5+ 

X NJli4XU-d^^ d=h I d i-} 1 1 1 i i | H I i d W M d'i I * IX l 








Morey saving combi nation pack raBlur.ng bom Cashbook 
ConSroitBrind Final *ccaun)a- Saw EKl 00 _ __ __ 

£69.96 


Are you absolutely in your Usman idling hit yob 
correctly? Psjn your own ter w Tii mu, ttiiB inancrdriven 
program w>fi calculate y&jf iiKonis la- i ability M la- yean. 
■nclLdecii and pc-*«x pennant (ads sbcwi your lai poiiiicn 
Ifau can pwferm wham ?’ ctelculacvtn to discover wajts to 
Fii«iinn44 your iai lability Intact tr-a program will advise 
you on Iboga auch aa iFyou area rmm*e man, *h#itr it 
would be advairjannus |o haw your wife i mwi™ ibjK 
tapanteh' or i« A1 this prc# who -nows you will probably 
hod lhal P TP wn pay 1c* iteed m lai saving* iha "nfl lime yai 

UMSl! 

■■ stqph«s& " 

July 0ft - PTP user run 


DAY-BY-DAY 


An e&pollHni way to organised With n you'll bo rem«ndad 
or birthdays and other anrvitersirias. rr**n™j* and 
appcoitma rtf*. phono atilt in make and so or As with an 
D-jiia pioduca -‘nponinQ irYtormarliDri ■«. aimplicitv 'Isatfanl. 
mm afutared, you can search tor keywords Or lor part tul*i 
evens such at mrtvjiys to ita when oh ra coming tip. 
me jijm ntonilvwM-WdB.y planner. autom 
overdue Hppoinmnerm. mnnm and w*rt iirnimary an a 
glance f cr leu ih*fi CH pus a ahe ideal way to make am* 
yOu never miss mat >.rrportartf occasion atpn' 

£20.96 


£39,95 




HOW T 


CREDIT ( 


a Ua ratijuJ af over £2 jCEH! 


Avai l able to the trade fi 
Digita, GEM, Greyhound, 
HB Marketing, ' 


INTERNATIONAL 

erious software at a sensible price " 

II software written in the UK. Prices include VAT & P & P (add £2,00 for export} 


03 

Post: Digita 
Black 


Distinctly Digita 

Cleverly written and always favourably reviewed in the press, 

Digita produces a range of powerful, low cost software for the home 
and business user. 


DGCALC 


The Itteeal and moot powerful apreeidabeel ava -abte in till 
pres bracket with El 2 rowa by S? column* gwng you of w 
Celia *a wito <1! Dipdi pvoActe. the opanlttsn. ok tbe 
program iii:la*ity Ituughl out fiairg flitter menu, mouse ™ 
command driven ynjll be able to stan u*mg u rtthm mmitfet 
- oven it you'vs n*w*r lmo □ apreadshete Before Some & 
too leiiuim wFwh make it auch good value are the fiwrtirg 
of ASCh bln to* iKegritKHi with cme* program* «d|uateble 
column width endlen pwiiicw progf ammitHs toncltm keys 
; macro* i and a unique window-ng. taokrty. so toal yoo can 
rook ad diKmwii parte cH a short id the s*m* lima 


E-TYPE 


you *nu neve to pnnt names and addresses al art wnm 
places on anwelopes. o' do you ever newd to n* m tricky 
tom* or iiwocei wtient the »it Ma w be m asadly the nght 
plec* 11 lAmlly you haw to da A by hand, or gel your iruay 
tad rypawnter out dJ toa arboard and dwr it cdl Well rws 
arrumcre Th* Emitted tVPfwTiteimriiiBlDrms your 
cnrppuier and printer into a tiAty hedged typewriter 
supporting bold, imdirllne. italic and outer :*C«l>lM 
Becauee ii con display and print told tNSTAWlV ikhi cii»|irw 
up your lonm. press Return and Space a tew time* Ip move to 
Ihe correcl pi**, and (h»n ataat typing ABariaihrtly you can 
ertteh to |ina+ylin* mpda, which otters word-wrap 
jiahtmahon and proportUHVAl spacing, so ihaC you C*n odd 
a*h hue batore d a printed. £33 35 


MAILSHOT 


I you aw need » send out mailings or print I 
know how ikh»y and hmeconsum ng it pan be mating * jrn 
all Ihe iab*te ara pnfitrt correctly Well uaw tel char a a tom} 
d ihe pul Bette usa Mailahot actoally ahowa you the ab*s 
on- acraen. 'you can type n»m aa and aihdie»«>n«iictly the 
ccmed place 8 h 1 mteellten than. T*» letoeria are ammited on 
l a conlliuiiH sheet, allowing you to scroll 
backwards andforwante. to search fur p^ntoularteywcudspi 
to edit arrtnw vtfi the mir-mnm at 1 urt Fttilit*! hOUde 
SBtremg, dcfleclion al dLpItoalB labels, sotting leren 
surra mei| 9 labels acroa*. 999 cope* cri ai*y lab«t Thtp ha* 
to b* Ihe * :mpi«4’ and most eAecme method el c^eabng a 
mailahot availflole. 

£24.95 


MAILSHOT PLUS 


Adsaoced ^wticn d Uiil«ft« tot W» bum 
lijllair 0} ftitra taedilira. 

' insegraten wnh ornsr scAwarei|uiiiig ASCII hlte'' 

, cclumn.MabalB.ted tuiwnfcy i date! Far iBtephona lists, etc! 
■ A siBamemo lines par Iwel Iwto dataultel "syahnnta 
coo rq. dating and adding menegrt to e*ch label 
' drtfwni liyD.ii* tut'iiDte For hor iibrflaJ and vertical 


CASHBOOK COMBO 


FINAL ACCOUNTS 


The program w-'i la 
CorttoKr and oroduce a c<nrplaie ate te iccoune inctuding 
■ Trinr Snlrtrr* ' Frhdirig Bid Prolit ard uOH ACKiurt 
r Baunoe Sheet ■ ttotes to 1t» Acceunti 
" FuHAocounbng rauoa 
All rqpdrte may ba produced at any lime, wtto 
UHcpara? vetoudget hgune. it required The bKl'ty to 
periuw ihrtn doftnfiwm ijuickly sauratBky. and regularly 
i* &f ewmaua hate >" running any bininesa. large or amall. 
since one ahowi the trad prtehibiity iicbidwrt irtd Iha other 
m* **Btt itrangth erf itw hiAnriti to inr me d asaea and 

IJ&IMS £29-95 


CLASSIC INVADERS 


Escape mom enjculim atreu wito tha clasan apace i nvader 


£14.95 


£49.96 


PERSONAL TAX FUNNER 
























November 79gg 


•SSys? 1 " 

* *ort*t: p fin[ej ^ 


0 man-. eran 
s space. 
& Top an, 

'o: TOO fish 
u(ifity. 


>Wruct f0ns 


*rs mthi H 0V9mb&! 


SNOW 


AMIGA SCKNK 


AMIGA 


WOR1JI 


machine code 


SOFTWARE 


PKIVrKK 


Managing Ed'/Jof 

Derek Meakin 

Editor 

Simon Rockman 

Assists at Editor 

JefT Walker 

Staff writer 

Mr Veilch 

Ptvdudm Editor 

Peter Glowr 

Ait Editors 

Mark Nolan 
Dour Steele 

News Editor 

Don lewis 

Advertisement Manager 

John Snowden 

Advertising Saks 
Wendy Colburn 


EdilKUL 

0277 234431 

Admin iSlralimi 

•rwfw 

Admtkiiqc 

8645 mm 

KubtcrifriioM; 


Tetoewn [ioU: 

JSMAtiMI 

tdei: 

SM1 181 

fir 

IKS B7S9W. 

Pustel Uiilbm: 

BllSHM 


Published by: 

Database Publxalinn* Ud. 
lumps Kqusr, Adlrngton Park, 
Arlington. Matulesfield SK10 4NP. 

ISSN OMZ-SMlli 

Amima [ionputint wfk-onis, iitid« fnr prubli-- 
uJticin M*1er»l sbnuld be typed w comput-tT- 
pnrtlefUnd p**kr»il'|dwfaliHpitEd Prawns bsl- 
np should be urnmpmid by riisr. PIgue efltkiie 
i SUmped. wlkddressrd envrlupe, (rfhffW lb* 
ntwn of fnalehii annri be Kiiimled, Ueurtii- 
luliani can only ha accepted lot puhhrjlion by 
Drtabw Pablicitona Ud w j* ilkights basis 
ig lmDltilbasrtAlblicitiw Ud- ha malera! mat 
Ik lepewtowd wi wlwk a El purl wilbnuL wtiftra 
permission While every die is 5ifcrfi. the pub' 
Wun rannnl be held legally pespanaWe tnr any 
errcm in articki. latinos inr advertisement. 

Amp Cbmpuli^ r( M irKle^nifem 1 pu-hfo-jiiim 
m f CjMmxfat RwiBBs WarJraei (UJLf Ltd is 
nix' mywntiliAr for any nflfte articles irr fho issue or 
Ibr any flf ihf upnums nprased 
haras trade disttihulmn. Eufopms! Salts and His- 
tiihuhcm Lmilei Hail I. BurptSs Head. Ivihouw 
U ». Haslin^. East SUMPi tNB INR. U M2\ 

tiara. 


7 LATEST 

NEWS 

High performance network. Who won 
the hard discs. Profile name change. 
Meet the new Nic and loads of other 
news and gossip from the (tenches. 


6 : 

The suruir 
A map sbi 
products a 
Commodo 


93 

A beginner's 
directories a: 
Amiga opera 
those who ai 


I lL THE VERY LATEST 
JL Jt GAMES NEWS 

Ninja Warriors - Virgin pushes back 
beat-em-up boundaries. Who is 
Elvira? Sword of Twilight, 

Go Id runner 3d and more. 


Maim,? a splash . . . Pn%e 49 


49 


I SILENT 
TYPE 

What's small and squirts? No not an 
Gutspan - a new printer that doesn't 
break the bank. Stewart C Russell 
dots the i’s. 


53 


THE ACTION 
STARTS HERE 
|olyon Ralph explains the joys of 
sprites unlimited thanks to the 
Amiga’s super-powerful hardware. 
Share and enjoy his programs secrets. 


58 


I CHESS 
PIECE 

Who is the king of the castle? Akstair Peter Cereso 
Scott plays the top chess programs count and g 

against each other to see who really pretty boxes 

has the finest game, set and match. route to fam 


cm I K IMSC 


J .1 « 

JL JL PAGES 

Cave Runner, a reader's incredible 
submission with more playability 
than many a full priced game. Track 
Record, Baby you can drive my car - 
well this Norwegian would. OK so 
the game's from Sweden but it's close 
and great fun. Peter Ceresde’s Prolexl 
helps lo polish up your printing. 
Gallery, art for art's sake. Demo, 
where you Seam how to produce 100 
singing fish - but no loaves. And for 
the sensible disc user the A tree utility 
which looks after directories without 
roots showing. 


The Third t 
only the che 
the Amiga 5 
Rupen Gooc 


AMIGA ARCADE 


4 AMIGA COMPUTING November iM 3 















■CONTENTS! 


sium cA'tm 


ROLL UP, WIN 
A HARD DISC 

The surviror's guide to the PC Show, 
A map showing where lo find Amiga 
products and a look at what makes 
Commodore the star. The people and 


the products behind the computers 
you know and love. A detailed 
insight into what the Amiga has to 
offer. Plus an unbeatable chance to 
win one of three Commodore A590 
hard drives if you use our special 
discount voucher for the Commodore 
Show in November. 



IS 



UNDER THE 
WORKBENCH 

A beginner's guide to sorting out 
directories and other mysteries of the 
Amiga operating system explained for 
those who ere afraid of the CL1. 


1 1 

JL JL VF KILLER 

A new look for Max the Hacks does 
not mean he's had his hah cut 
Loadsa tips for Archipelagos, Indy 
Dragons Lair. Pop and more. 






GAMES REVIEWS 




ft* 


\vnRi)PR(«:i-:ssi\<; 



vl f| using 

%J VF PROTEXT 
Peter Cere*ole knows that impressions 
count, and getting your printer to do 
pretty boxes and a signature is your 
route to fame and a new ribbon. 


113 


TOUR RIGHT 
TO WRITE 

The universal cure for sick discs, 
mice and programs. Did Angus get 
lost? Problems with icons and who 
was who in last month's magazine. 



Invincible Indy . . . Page 110 



I I PRETTY 

JL vF mm speedy huh? 

The Third Coast Accelerator is not 
only the cheapest speed up board for 
the Amiga 500, it is one of the best. 
Rupert Goodwins sings ils praises. 



ANMAGIC 

ANTICS 


Digital video effects are the key to a 
professional looking production. With 
some skill, patience and plenty of 
memory you can make the grade. 



• Garfield - silly smile, silly game ft Join Arthur on a quest 

• Paladin. - nothing acts faster 9 Unravel the Legend of Djel 

• Ride into the Battle Valley of death ft Dunk some point with Basketball 

ft Demons Winter of discontent ft Go underground with Black Magic 


November 1939 AMIGA COMPUTING 3 











a!d oxford softworks a!d 

*CHESS PLAYER 2150 

Winner 1989 British Open Personal Computer Chess Championship 



the£ 

PERSONAL 
COMPUTER 
SHOW 

2 ? SEPTEMBER - t OCTOBER 19B9 | 

EARLS COURT LONDON 

SEE USON STAND NO. 2543 


I'Ytonp uter 
fJaOOs 12= 13 


srii 

& 

lAli 

Hi 

m a 

1' 

m 

■J 

iii 

■ 

I Mb 





Chess Player 2150 is the strongest and most versatile chess program yet, with the most advanced 
graphics and widest range of features available, many of which have never before been implemented on a 
personal computer. 

Chess Player 2150 has just defeated all opposition to win outright the British Open Chess Championship. 
Every possible feature is included stunning 2D/3D display, take- back move, massive openings library, 
simple mouse driven input, full menu control, save/load games, many classic games on disc r speech ; 
teaming, total on-screen information, special modes for beginners, actually rates your play on the 
international ELO scale and much, much more CHESS PLAYER 2150 £24.95 


international ELO scale and much, much more 

k Jjt ' * 

The London School of Bridge's 

BRIDGE PLAYER 2150 

GALACTICA 

with Integrated Tutor 

INTEGRATED BRIDGE PLAYER AND TUTOR, WITH 
POWERFUL CARD PLAY AND WEALTH OF SUPERB 
FEATURES, OFFERS YOU HOURS OF ENJOYMENT IN THIS 
CLASSIC GAME OF COMMUNICATION AND SKILL 

The BRIDGE PLAYER, designed for players of all standards, 
gives literally millions of possible hands, simulating the game 
with full realism. Bidding uses the ACOL system with Stayman, 
Blackwood, Gerber, Grand Slam Force and Unusual No-trump 
conventions. 

The BRIDGE TUTOR contains 1QG tutor hands, selected by 
co-author, Nicola Gardener, World Bridge Champion and 
Olympic medalist, ranging from fairly straightforward hands to 
endpiays and squeezes, 

+ bidding and play with full information displays 
4 post-mortem facilty 
+ scoring of hands to rubber 
4 input own hands, save/Eoad hands to d sc 
4 solves double dummy problems after trick eight 
4 special cheat options: bias the deal, peep at cards 
4 comprehensive manual with detailed advice on play 
4 and much, much more 

We h fl think you'll be truly amazed at the power of this world 
beating Bridge 

BRIDGE PLAYER 2150 GALACTICA £29.95 

OXFORD SOFTWORKS is a division of: 

CP SOFTWARE, Stonefield House 
198 The Hill, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX8 4HX 
Credit Card Hotline 0993 82 3463 


BACKGAMMON 

PROFESSIONAL 

Backgammon, one of the world’s most ancient games, has 
been played for thousands of years in all parts of the world. 

BACKGAMMON PROFESSIONAL is fully featured, including 
the doubling cube, input your own or random dice, variable 
playing speed, full scoring. 

Easy to use, menu driven and great graphics. 

BACKGAMMON PROFESSIONAL £19.95 


ORDER FORM 

I Please rush me the following titles for my Amiga;- 

! PRODUCT PRICE QUANTITY 

I Chess Player 2150 £24.95 

I Bridge Player 2150 Galactica £29.95 

! Bridge Player 2000 £19.95 

I Backgammon Professional £19.95 

I Postage to Europe per item £2.00 

S Air postage ex Europe per item £2,50 
! UK post and packing included 

emu no PI ease debit my Access /Vi sa card 


che-Que/Postal order to the value of; 


i Post Code 









Joining the 
big league 


We name 
hard drive 


CONNECTING computers is 
big business. RS232 is fine 
for Jinking two machines to 
play Populous, but when 
you want a realty big net- 
work and have a lot of data 
to transfer something really 
meaty is needed. 

The big boys use Ethernet 
to link workstations to 
mainframes, PCs to PCs and 
most industrial computers. 

Hydra Systems, a British 
company, has developed an 
Ethernet card for the Amiga 
which provides compatibili- 
ty with Amiga and industry 
standard hie systems. 

The link is up to 1,000 
Limes faster than other net* 
works, making it an effec- 
tive way for a number of 
Amigas - or any other 
machine - to share a hard 
disc. 

There is a card version for 
the A2QUQ with a cheaper 
external unit for the A50Q, 
Such a set-up is ideal for 
educational establishments 
which often want to link 
large numbers of computers. 
Ethernet can cope with up 
to 8,000 users at a time. 

The software has been 
written by Perihelion to 
integrate well with the 
Amiga operating system, 
w T hile Hydra has developed 
the hardware which is 
already installed al a num- 
ber of clients. 


Now your Amiga can talk at 10 megabaud 


Hydra has a long history 
of producing Commodore 
networks, which made the 
Pet a sensible solution for 
businesses which needed a 
multi-user system, 

Ethernet will take the 
Amiga into advanced Fields 
where it can be used as a 
fully blown workstation. 
For more details contact 
Hydra Systems on 0203 
471111. 


Track on 
new tack 

AMIGA specialist Track 
Computer Systems (0773 
531991) has moved into 
multi-format with the open- 
ing of its first retail outlet in 
Derby city centre. It hopes 
to obtain authorised status 
for business sales of Amiga 
2000s, 


winners 

YOUR response to the 
Vortex hard drive competi- 
tion was tremendous, with 
nearly 4,000 entries. And 
we had to open them all 
because a fool of an editor 
forgot to ask for entries to be 
marked with the name of 
the competition. 

It was interesting to see 
how f far flung some readers 
are. Lots are in the armed 
forces, we had a big 
response from Scandinavia 
and one entry from Tehran. 
A large number of forms 
were rejected for cheating, 

AU the entries were put 
into a big plastic bag and 
jumbled up. The first one 
we drew was wrong - IBM 
invented the bard disc. The 
winners are; 

Mark S. Smith from 
Belfast, Mr P. Lambert from 
Fa ken ham, Norfolk. 1. 
Timson from Clitheroe, 
Lancs., Nigel L Jones From 
Guilford, Surrey, Mr K. P, 
Gray from Hexleyheath, 
Kent, and Claes Svensson 
from Sweden. 

Congratulations to you 
all, 40 megabytes of joy will 
be dispatched to you. 

Commiserations to every- 
one else. Thank you for 
entering. 


Computer animation draws Festival crowds 


fudging the entries 


MARTIN LOWE of Amiga 
Centre Scotland is the driv- 
ing force behind an annual 
exhibition at the Edinburgh 
International Festival which 
aims to transform computer 
art from the static to the 
dynamic and give the pub- 
lic a chance to use the same 
tools as the artists. 

The first Exhibition of 
Computer Animation was 
held last year, and generat- 
ed so much publicity that 
this year's event took place 
with more extensive adver- 
tising and better prizes. It 
was in three parts - an exhi- 
bition, a competition and 
workshops. 

The exhibition consisted 
of 10 animations running on 


Amigas, Only one. Busy 
Bee, used an A 2000. It 
showed a bee created with 
Sculpt -An! mate 4D flying 
figures of eight in front of a 
Tom and Jerry cartoon 
stored on video disc. To 
help this along, the A2000 
had 8 meg of ram. 

The other animations 
used ASOOs expanded to 1 
meg, and the favoured 
graphics package seemed to 
be ScuJpt-Animate 4D, 
Animations of Heath 
Robinson style machines 
moving balls around in 
unlikely ways w r ere popular. 

Ttek showed the Starship 
Enterprise racing past Earth 
and firing laser guns. Luxo 
► 


AMIGA SCENE 


November I9tw AMIGA COMPUTING 7 






Yes, for three exciting days In 
November, Computer Shopper will 
turn Alexandra Palace into the 
world's greatest computer show. 
Everything you need for business 
and leisure computing will be 
available under one roof - with 
experts to help you make the right 
choice! 

The Computer Shopper Show is your 
chance to meet the dealers with the 
bargains, the manufacturers with the 
latest machines - and to take away 
the things you buy on the day f 

Auctions, demonstrations, 
competitions . . . everything that 
you've ever wanted from an 
exhibition will be happening at the 
Computer Shopper Show - the only 
show for the direct buyer and the 
ultimate computer shopping 
experience! 

And, with Computer Shopper you 
know you'll save money! 

Why not start right here! By ordering 
your tickets in advance you will save 
£££st Simply complete and return 
the coupon with your payment or 
telephone the Credit Card Hotline on 
051-357 2961 to place your order. 

freccsli DrMkrcflnfc 

Toptaofi yw order I rf Pm**, j HBS, dwi &U54S3W- Mmol** u 

^ your M* iwn« ^ order. 


WHEN IVJU DU I 

OUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE! 


Ye f Plow J«Kl me m ticket! for the Show! 

t 

U Adult ticket* it £3 {Save £ H) 

J _ Under 1 fa tickets it £2 (Sivt £ 1 !) 

□ -Family ikkets - admits up to 2 adtiJts- 


and 7 children - £9 (Save £5!) 
would Ike to pay by - 

□ Cheque mid! pysblt to Durinu bMmtor* Ltd 

□ Credit card QAttesi QVia Bcpiry Due 

No. I I 1 I I M 1 ,LI 

Signed . — 

Narrt* — . ■ 


Postcode 


Pl»s* rttunv yoiw compteted order form » ■ 

Th* Computer Shopper Shew Tdut Offet, Ditabu! Exhibition! 
Lti PO Ek)i 1 Eftesmm P On. Sowdi Wirril _ A_76_9_ 


TELEPHONE HOTLINE 
Place your orders for tickets by calling 

05 10 5 7 2 961 


The 

Computer Shopper 
Show 

Alexandra Palace, London 
10am-6pm Friday, November 24 
lOam-Spm Saturday, November 2S 
TOarrMpm Sunday, November 26 


Over 250 stands serving every 
major make and model - the 
ultimate computer hypermarket, 
packed with pre-Christmas 
bargains and offers. 

Incorporates the Amstrad 
Computer Show, the Atari 
Computer Show, the Electron & 
BBC Micro User Show and much, 1 
much more! 

On-site car parking for hundreds 
of cars - ideal for taking away 
your computer bargains on the 
day! 

r Excellent public transport network 
with courtesy coach link to the 
local British Rail station, 
r Special show features and 
entertainment to make your 
shopping experience fun! 
k Special discount tickets for under 
16s and family groups. 

Sponsored by jj^ J 

Ominsed by MABASE 

Organ rset) Ey EXH1H n0NS 


Computer shopping is fun at 
the ComputerShopper Show! 


/ 



■ AMIGA SCENE I 



Amiga 2000 
card modem 

FRONTIER software, the 
company with an unrivalled 
reputation for sorting out 
customer’s problems, has 
supplemented its range of 
Supra hard drives with an 
approved version of the 
Supra 2 4 0 0 z i internal 
modem. This fits into an 
Amiga 2000 slot, freeing the 
serial port for other uses. 

The card works at 2400, 
1200 and 300 bits per sec- 
ond, It fits into any Amiga 
slot, it is 1QQ per cent Hayes 
compatible, works with all 
popular comma programs 
and comes with software 
which allows you to use 
more than one modem at a 
time. 

The price of £169,95 
includes VAT, The modem 
is guaranteed for a year, and 
Frontier is running a 90 day 
money back offer. For more 
details call the company on 
(0423] 567140, 


New games 
on MicroLink 

NEWS of improved services 
came in thick and fast on 
the run-up to October 1 
when communications ser- 
vice MicroLink left British 
Telecom for the indepen- 
dent Istel network. 

They include the arrival 
of two major multi-user 
games. 

Bloodstone has been 
hailed as the first of a new 


generation of multi-user 
games, It is a huge role- 
playing adventure capable 
of supporting millions of 
characters. It combines lov- 
ing. killing, buying and sell- 
ing in an environment 
which can be constantly 
changed. 

Federation II has more 
than 900 locations and has 
been described as a cross 
between Monopoly and Star 
TYek, 

Following the changeover 
on October 1, 98 per cent of 
people in the British Isles 
can now access MicroLink 
for the cost of a local tele- 
phone call. 

Micro on 
the air again 

AMIGA owners who missed 
the first broadcast will have 
a second chance to listen to 
Radio Four's computer 
series Applying The Micro, 


"This series looks at some 
of the newest practical uses 
for micros in business, 
music, education and in our 
daily lives and examines 
their potential", said pro- 
ducer Clive Williamson. 

Transmission dates are 
Saturdays October 14, 21, 
28 and November 4 at 5pm, 
The four programme titles 
are Computers Everywhere, 
Computers in Business, 
Micros in Education and 
The Musical Micro. 

Green joins 
the team 




Slot in Supro modem 


From page 7 


Teenager depicted two 
Anglepoise lamps playing 
table tennis, 

Franklin Fly was the most 
imaginative demo using 
Deluxe Paint III. It showed a 
fly buzzing around land- 
scapes, through windows, 
and finally landing on the 
Queen's nose, causing her to 
roll her eyeballs. 

The competition attracted 
20 entries on disc and video 
tape. They were to be 
judged by three experts 
from different disciplines: 
Len Breen of Middlesex 
Polytechnic, which spe- 
cialises in research into 
computer graphics, Nick 
Masters, a TV production 
editor, and jack Gramon, a 


graphic designer. 

The prizes were impres- 
sive, including an A590 
from Commodore, a genlock 
from Marcam, a graphics 
tablet from Tech ex, six 
copies of Photon Paint from 
Micto Illusions, two copies 
of DigiPaint 3 from Newtek, 
and a day in a video studio 
from Advanced Video 
Technology. 

Despite suffering from the 
programmer’s voice-over in 
a heavy German accent and 
the after effects of NTSC to 
PAL conversion, an exhibi- 
tion program on video drew 
crowds. Caligari is billed as 
the first 3D graphics pro- 
gram with a 3D (solid 
graphics, not wireframe) 


editor, rather than 2D win- 
dows, It looks fast, easy to 
use and effective. 

Most of the people who 
took part in workshops had 
never used a computer 
before, so the shop's staff 
gave half hour courses on 
Deluxe Paint III, This was 
enough for several people to 
wave their chequebooks. 

Despite the cramped 
premises the second 
Exhibition of Computer 
Animation w f as most enjoy- 
able. and should have per- 
suaded visitors to think 
beyond the Spectrum and 
accept that the Amiga, alone 
among personal computers, 
dan produce stunning, life- 
like animation. 


HELPING to keep Amiga 
Computing the best read 
around is Nic Veitch. He has 
been working freelance at 
the magazine for some 
while, having written both 
serious reviews, like the one 
of Sculpt- Animate and 
loads of games reviews 
under the pseudonym of 
Green. You can usually spot 
one of his reviews by the 
Pink Floyd lyric buried in 
the text. His favourite game 
so far is Falcon, and his 
least favourite is Stag (easi- 
ly). Nic has already been 
sent on a number of mis- 
sions. including a visit to 
interview Elvira. Sounds 
fun - read about it in Amiga 
Arcade. 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 9 





AMIGA SCENE ■ 



ParSec’s 

progress 

GRAPHICS professionals 
will welcome l he Amiga 
version of the powerful 
ParSec graphics board 
which will be ready by the 
end of the year. 

That's the promise of 
Elm tech Research (021-472 
5719) which has been bom- 
barded with pleas from 
Amiga users since ParSec 
was developed for the Atari 
ST. 

Martin Lockhart of 
Elmtecb told A m i g a 
Computing; "ParSec for the 
Amiga is the next project 
we will be looking at Once 
we go into full production 
for the ST and get rid of a 
lot of back orders, work will 
start on the Amiga and we 
are confident that it will be 
ready by the end of the year, 
We will be selling it for 
£918”. 

ParSec is described as a 
single board microcomputer 
utilising Texas Instruments 
TM3 34010. a 32 bit proces- 
sor running al 50MHz at a 
speed of 6.25mips. 

Elrntech's specifications 
say its screen resolution is 
programmable from 640 x 
480 to 1024 x 768 with a 
choice of 16 colours a line 
from a palette of 4096 for 
the basic 4768 model and 
256 colours a line from a 
palette of 16,777,216 on the 
8768 upgrade. 

Genlock and digitiser 
modules are also scheduled 
for release by the end^pf the 


Purser is on its my 


year, aimed at cost effective 
production of broadcast 
quality graphics. 

The ParSec can communi- 
cate via SCSI ports, allow- 
ing for the connection of 
mass storage devices such 
as CD rom/ram t video discs 
and hard discs, 

A standard KS232 imple- 
mentation will provide for 
hard copy output to include 
XY plotters, laser, dot 
matrix and colour thermal 
transfer printers. Input 
devices can also be support- 
ed including graphic tablets 
and mouse controller. 
Applications currently 
under development include 
a 3D CAD/CAM package, a 
molecular modelling pro- 
gram, a Unix shell with the 
possibility of X- Windows 
and an art program Chimera 
f(x) which is intended to 
compete with Quantel, Sun 
and the like. 


Epyx 

designers 
move on 

DAVE Morse and R, J, MicaJ, 
two of the original designers 
□f the Amiga, have been laid 
off by Epyx along with 85 
per cent of the staff. The 
company was responsible 
for Summer Games and a 
number of other Amiga hits. 

Dave and RJ went to Epyx 
alter they left Commodore - 
which had then taken over 
the former Amiga company 
- where they were responsi- 
ble for the development of 
the Amazing Lynx handheld 
games machine, which is to 
be manufactured and mar- 
keted by Atari. 

This leaves the Lynx 
development system, which 
is based on an Amiga 2000, 
unfinished 


PREMIA vl.CD 

Orn: ThvrjcE 


k) Prnpr Printer (Pu'tPSGH' ’ Olrw.Yars _ l 

mfi Pres: |? Set: Oil L*yai>t: 1 iwrtu 


QNKiSEBD 


INVOICE 

feted field we 
field 4 : Addi-eu I 

ri.li C • A rl H r~ ■ x r J 

Imlu HNrfti 

Bel 

f L B 9 □ 3 . HQ-DFESS 1 

Field ( ; id dr ti* 5 
Field 7 S Bel Hir j 
Field 1 : Del Mir 2 
Field I : Bel flder 3 





Field IB ; Bel Rddr 4 



Field 11 ; Bel iddr S 
Field II r lelephone 
Field 13 i Fie 
F ield 14 : Cuuti 

F 1 1 1 d 1 5 : l nMo it t <n 








BATE 

Tn>r «e* 

Field 11 i descrlptSflii 1 

flTTiTTTimnimTT 



F Ir Ld 11 * ! Unit Cdil 1 


J 


. Lenfltii=1B- 

«« io ipvtj *4 t nd ** tc r«lte 

lilUMHlUlHB I UtimW 


Deigning a new layout with Prodata 


Prodata gets 
the vote 

FIRST with the news, 
Amiga Computing featured 
a story last month on 
Profile, the new database 
management program from 
Arnor designed to comple- 
ment top-selling word pro- 
cessing package Protext. 

Profile was a working title 
for this new product, hut 
since then Arnor has decid- 
ed to market it under the 
name of Pro data. 

Price £55 until the end of 
November and then £79.95. 


Amigas run 
satellite 
TV game 

TWO Amiga 2000s have 
played a vital part in one of 
the launch programmes for 
the British Satellite 
Broadcasting TV network 
due to start up next year. 

The Satellite Game will 
be one of its first offerings 
and real-time 3D animations 
for the programme are being 
produced with the Amigas 
by software bouse 
Incentive, 

Contestants will be in 
teams of three, aged from 11 
to 16 and will take on the 
adventure fantasy game in 
the studios of Anglia 
Television, 

They will have to meet 
the challenge of Enigma, a 
massive satellite bomb sent 
to threaten the earth by an 
alien intelligence. 

Incentive was asked to 
develop the animations 



after the programme pro- 
ducer, Tim Child of 
Broadsword Television 
Productions, was impressed 
by the graphics of its Driller 
game. 

“What was needed was a 
total solid 3D environment 
and he felt we were the 
people to do this", said 
Incentive's Andrew Taite. 
“We are using two Amiga 
2060s with 68020 accelera- 
tor boards to speed them up 
and our Freescape system 
to make a really lifelike ani- 
maled environment in 
which the players can move 
around”. 

Keen games players will 
stand a good chance on this 
programme which is very 
similar to traditional com- 
puter games. Broadsword 
are ing for teams to lake 
part. They must be between 
11 and 16 by January 1, 
1990 and should apply to 
Broadsword Television 
Productions, Anglia TV, 
Anglia House, Norwich, 
NRl 3JG, 


JO AMIGA COMPUTING November J 939 




in 


>s have 
] one of 
mes. for 

telli te 
etwork 
r sar 

ne will 
If e rings 
nations 
e being 
\migas 
bouse 

be in 
rom ll 
on the 
line in 
nglia 

* meet 
jma, a 
b sent 
by an 

:ed to 
tions 

w 



pro- 

I of 
sian 
?ssed 
tiller 

, r as a 
nunt 
the 
said 
aite. 
aiga 
I era^ 

] up 
tern 
ani- 
: in 
love 

will 

this 

ery 

am- 

ord 

ake 

een 

r J. j 

■ to 

on 

rv, | 

:h, 



sYpoio 

EaPiIESS - 


THE ANSWER TO 


▼ SVMCRO express is a high speed 
DISK DUPLICATION SYSTEM THAT WILL 
PRODUCE COPIES OF YOUR DISK IN 
AROUND 30 SECONDS!! 

V ^ r °.^ ?r T m I* VdTm • **" * -ort, hy tontiolUnj 

f E “ , J*J™ (he AMIGA died delve cesuollei 

chip, high aptcdi ft gtnl data accuracy ut ■chicnd, 

f SSEu'TSrtSE.^"" "“*'*“* *"* 

W Ver T ****&* to «*e, requires on wmi knowledge, 

T Otbar formats such u FBM. MAC Etc. 

W ldetJ fo1 cIuJm - ™W group* Or just for your own disks. 

W No ” ! * re wsiitng KTDund for ftrur disks to copy. 


YOUR DISK 
DUPLICATION 
PROBLEMS 


ON BOARD CUSTOM LSI CHIP 
MAKES THIS UNIT EXTREMELY 
SMALL A EFFICIENT* 


r , f ' I'Jflfl coi-rnicin- act hz'-f^kT 

nn^ ,r ^! rs "? 3 * r ™ ndotM « ■“Ihimr* the U W 
□f II * products Tor lltr tepradurilnn trt 

msinisL 

Thr Iwrit up rurlLll,** (A !hl» praturl m dralpwtl f 
° h ^' " nft ** ,C ,U, ' h “ (*bte dMiulH malerldl. 
Uw Ittfh diwd l«i*ira t |SA W anftw* R whffl pemuUMatt lo 
lllrtfcr n F9Mi. li- up been clearly given 
M is tUsaaj lo tmlur cop**. ™i ^ ^ ^ or 
rt^rwhl UMtMlaL vtlwiL 1 hr permit , a f thr 
^■VTlghi owhr.r. nr i.Eirlr IkrlH 



Prcbs&tr tfea Only duplication system you wJU aver need I 


ONLY £34.99 

COMPLETE HAROWARE SOFTWARE 


If you don't have a second drive we i 
supply SYNCRO EXPRESS 
together with a drive for 

ONLY £ 104 . 99 . 



SP 1 1 SCANNER/ 
PRINTER ONLY 


UNBEATABLE 

VALUE 


£449.99 


INC. VAT + PP 




i 


*tS!E 


xj 


A Ti^llE 200 DPi 
FLATBED SCApflerl, 
PilipTEil 


UNBEATABLE 


VALUE 


FLATBED 


200 


SCANNER 


DPI 


PLUS 


BUILT 


IN 


PRINTER!! 


FOR 


LESS 


THAN 


£ 450 !! 


complete 


with 




/edit 


picl 


Very 


c omprehenslve 


Capture 


Writing 


Cul/Pute 


Ftiu ting 


LoeiI ft Sue aflmtgei. 

T (U.e to yot,, fevottrlt. gr.phl„/DTr . nrJ , u , m 

f ..hMttn Bden, « U y «„ 


Up to IB grey ■ 
1 mages. 


■ or W*«k ft white modes - giving you s 
i to buy. 


BUT THAT'S NOT ALL... 


^ ??*? P11 ™ 11 300 D P‘ ■ « ** «» * superb Imago prater 

giving high definition output print, of .crated en 


TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? 


▼ Te*,Ju-tp re „.t*rt «vdltwiUd e UYers.„«rb 

photocopy of your oiigloAl in stcdedi! ^ 


WHY NOT BUY ONE AND SEE . YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED! 





STEREO 

SAMPLING 


AMIGA PRO SAMPLER STUDIO + DATEL JAMMER 



M Full Wdl Interface for AflOO/lOOO/ 
T 2000 (please slate model), 
f Compatible with most leading Midi 
package* (including D/H-tule). 

^ Midi la - Midi Out x3 ■ Midi Thro. 

S Folly Opts Isolated. 

ONLY £34.99 


DATA 

ACQUISITION 

UNIT 



ONLY £99.99 


KUU STATE A9TOMI 000/2000 


A TOTAL MIDI MUSIC 
PACKAGE 


9 Turn your Amlji Into s sophisti- 
cated measuring instrument 
capable of aw**ud^ m wide mage 

f of data Inputs. 

Simple h display mnti from 
microseconds to bourn- with 
amplitudes ftom mlllvnlt* tp 50 

TOitS. 

Iff A Hardware/ Software package with 
very high *p«- Including; - 
DIGITAL SCOPE DISPLAT 2 channel 
inputs . Manual or continuoa display . 
Tlmebaae SOOnu/dlr to 20ti*/div 
accurate to SAj. 

S 8 hit flash conversion jlnt a 
million samples/aoc. 

PLOTTER DISPLAY 

9 Timebs»e range 1 sec to lObrs per 
plot. 

All laaturas found on units coaling 
thousands of pounds. 


PRINTER LEADS 


T 25 pin D' to 36 way Centronics 
parallel lead. 1.2m Length. 

▼ AO 00 or 1000, please state. 

ONLY £8.99 



UNBEATABLE VALUE PACK - THE YAMAHA SHS 10 FM MIDI 
COMPATIBLE QUIT AR-STYLE SYNTHESISER, THE ACTIVISION 
MUSIC STUDIO SOFTWARE PLUS THE MIDIMASTER INTERFACE 
TO CONNECT TO YOUR COMPUTER 


YAMAHA SHS 10 FM 
SYNTHESISER KEYBOARD 

9 Superbly styled guitar-type 
keyboard with shoulder strap. 


¥ 

¥ 


A multi channel sequencer with 
realtime Input and full editing 
facilities. 

Completely menu driven - full 
Mouse control. 



VIDEO 

DIGITISER 


9 256 i aH display with IQ grey 

T levels. 

9 Realtime frame grab 1/OOth 
se c o n d. 

9 Take* standard composite Video 
input from camera or Video 
recorder. 

¥ Screen update 1 frame pereecoud. 
single. cOntLnuem, nr buffered 
display. 

B Load. Save facilities including IFF 
Save 

9 Edit picture, cut, copy, paste and 
undo, 

S Special effect*, revent, negative, 
mirror, enmpreaa. etc. 

9 increase the width of the display 
to 320 X 256 automatically OT 
manually. 

9 Plugs into the parallel pool a i your 

T Amiga 1000/500/2600 
9 Cornea complete with Its own 

T power peek 

ONLY £89.99 


^ Very simple to use, 

MIDIMASTER INTERFACE 

This unit connect* your computer 
to any HIQ1 iutrument. 

Fully O-ptP Isolated HEDI EH. MIDI 
OUT. MIDI THRU. 

Just plug In and go. 

FREE CABLES 

3 metre long MIDI Cable* - 
completely FREEH 
Inarm ally £6.99) 


FOR ONLY 

£ 99.99 

NO MORE TO BUY!! 


¥ 

¥ 

¥ 

¥ 


AUG 4 










NLYE59.99 


COMPLETE WITH DELUXE PAINT II A 
DELUXE PRINT FOR ONLY £189.99 


HOW TO ORDER 


Switch lA/vvt with nr itch tupplitd. 
Fitted in minutea - no Hld«iid| etc. 


ONLY £34.99 

FOR VERSION WITH CLOCK/ 

CALENDAR 


DATEL ELECTRONICS LTD., FENTON INDUSTRIAL ESTATE 
GO VAN ROAD. FENTON, STOKE-ON-TRENT. ENGLAND, 


EXTERNAL 3.5 DISK DRIVE 


EXTERNAL DRIVE SWITCH 


GENISCAN GS4500 AMIGA 


REPLACEMENT 

MOUSE 


51 2K RAM 
EXTENSION CARD 


LOW COST BAR 
CODE READER 


BY PHONE 

BY POST 

a*E- as 

07S2 744707 

ei 

Send chequr-i/POa made 

34hr Credit 

payable to 

Card line 

-Dud Electronic!" 










Amiga Arcade 



Looking good for Christmas 





VIRGIN’S big shot at the 
Gtinstmas mini bur ona siol 
is The .Sales Curve's conver- 
sion of the Ninja Warriors 
com-op. It is being coded bv 
Kandom Access, the same 
team that brought von 
Silkworm (96%, Amiga 
Computing, July i mQ ) and 
wil] feature some very 
advanced features to keep 
the action going at a break 
neck pace. 

Like moat 16 bit games 
these days, backdrops and 
sprites will be loaded in as 
and when they are needed. 
Where Ninja Warriors will 
differ from the resl. howev- 
er. is that it will load the 
next sequence on that level 
while you are still finishing 
ott the baddies on the cur- 
rant screen. 

Incredibly the gameplay 
does not slow down while 
this is happening, Well, not 
so you'd notice. If you study 
Ihe sprites very carefully 
you may detect a slight hes- 
itation in movement, but 
Ibis is totally transparent to 
the player in the heat of the 
oattle. 

The game is set in e 
future world where the evil 
dictator Bangler controls the 
army, police and criminal 
underworld. 

Some brave members of 
the oppressed population I 
dacule to rebel. In despera- [i 
tinn they build two lethal 
fighting machines - th 


Ninja Warriors. 

Armed only with a knife 
a Jid a limited supply of 
shuriken each, the two 
robotic freedom fighters - 

for this is a one or two-play- 
er game - have to bailie 
their way through six levels 
or enemies in order to con- 
front and kill the dictator in 
tits lair, 

Each scene will pit you 
against Bangler's massed 
troops - knifemen, gunmen, 
grenade launchers and 
nerce dogs - plus additional 
enemies, including a 
hunchbacked ground spi- 
der. the ninja swordJady. a 



It could have been svorse = // 
could have been q Dragon 32 



14 AMGA COMPVTtNC November 1M9 


HOLE-p laying freaks will 
soon be able to get together 
in groups of one to three to 
ploy Sword of Twilight, a 
new fantasy game from 
Electronics Aits. 

Written by Freefall 
Associates, authors of the 
classic Archon. Sword of 
Twilight promises high 
quality graphics, an atmo- 
spheric soundtrack and 
sophisticated character 
interaction . 

It is a world simulation 
involving characters with 
memories , attitudes and 
appetites, plus lands with 
time and tides. 

"The program has a 
unique conversation sys- 
tem says EA's user-inter- 
Jace Lesley Mans ford. " It 
breathes life into the games 
characters ", 

Watch out for it if you 're 
going to the PC Show. 



REVIEWED 


All the latest news on 
the games software scene 


big dude called Iron Arm 
with an axe and ball and 
chain r a fire breather affec- 
tionately known as Death 
Breath, a sniper, some bats, 
a few laser firing robots and, 
of course, the giant tank. 

The soundtrack is from 
the arcade machine, loving- 
ly transcribed on to the 
Amiga by the programmer, 
Ronald Piekel Weeserick, 
using his own software 
written specially for the job. 

The first level music has 
been commissioned and 
will definitely be there, the 
second level tune maybe. If 
you've played the coin-op, 
you know how good the 
music is. In japan you can 
buy the soundtrack on cas- 
sette, 

So watch out for Ninja 
Warriors in the run up to 
Christmas, We think it's 
gonna be hotter than July, 


FANCY infiltrating the 
Russian Red Army, bat- 
tling with dinosaurs and 
having n go at a mechani- 
cal ape ? And all this in 
the guise of a female? You 
do? Then what you need 
is Stricter, the new coin-op 
conversion from Capcom , 
Battle your way to the 
snow-capped peaks of 
Siberia, hack your way 
through the southern low- 
lands where jungle tribes 


lurk with sharp spears 
and poisoned arrows, 
then return to Moscow to 
face the Grand Master of 
the Red Army, 

The future of the west- 
ern world depends upon 
your success in this ulti- 
mate confrontation, it 
says here . And you play a 
sissy female? Hmmm . 
We're off to Australia just 
in case , 



I bet she drinks Carling Black Label 


Running for a golden hat-trick 


DESPITE the poor sales of 
Goldrunner 1 1 , which 
Microdeal blames on piracy, 
the company is excited 
about its new release, 
Goldrunner 3D, pro- 
grammed by the same team 
that made Falcon a huge 
success. ■ 

So it'll come as no sur- 
prise to you that 
Goldrunner 3D resembles a 
flight simulator 

Graphics have been 
pushed well past their theo- 
retical limits by use of a 
cunning screen splitting 
technique involving a mix- 
ture of 32 and 16 colour 
modes, giving a wide 
palette yet retaining high 
animation speed - 8 frames 
per second, enough to allow 
five big 3D baddies on- 
screen at once. 

Listen out for the sound- 
track - an inspiring 200k 
rendition of the Mars theme 
from Holst's Planet Suite by 
the popularly acclaimed 
David Whittaker. 

Amiga Computing was 
given a sneak preview of 


what to expect. In a reversal 
of current trends, all the 
graphics were developed on 
the Amiga and ported 
across to the ST, 

The game features some 
absolutely stunning anima- 


tion sequences. The ship 
handles and feels much like 
the F-16 in Falcon, 

It looks good, it sounds 
good, but will it play good? 
Watch this space to find 
out. 



Microdeal calls them Rexxons. but 
that's a Kiingon ship if ever l saw one 


THIS MONTH 


91% Continental Circus 
89% Waterloo 
83% Arthur - The Quest 
82% Oil lrnperium 
73% Paladin 
69% Beach Volley 
63% Omni -PI ay 
Basketball 
59% Steel 

56% Demon’s Winter 
55% Black Magic 
50% Battle Valley 
49% Legend oFDjel 
39% Garfield - A 
Winter's Tale 


MAX HACKS 


• Archipelagos 

• Chariots of Wrath 

• Dragon's Lair 

• Forgotten Worlds 

• Indiana Jones 

• Out Run 

• Populous 

• The Krystal 


Gallup Chart 



New Zealand Story 
Ocean 
■ £24,99 

7 

A Kobocop 
M Ocean 
m £19.99 

1 

NE 

3 

i Falcon Missdcm 1 
E Minoreofl 
1 £19.99 

4 

i 

J Populous 
ZL Electronic Arts 

T am 

1 

m Kink Off 

1% Anm 
V £19.99 


1 

A hnnbaid RAC Rally 
U Mandarin 
V £2435 

10 

m Tot Drive 2 
/ Accolade 
1 £24,95 


NE 

i 

| Falcon 
1 Mirroraift 

1 am 

9 

( 

| Grand Pmi Occult 
1 Accolade 
# £24.93 


NE 

1 ( 

\ Rick Dangerous 
1 Firebird 
| £24.99 


NE 













f 


y) 



Two big bits for me r Elvira ... No, l said bits 


FIFTY years after the war to 
end all wars {part II), Britain 
is once again on the brink eff 
invasion — this time one 
which she will no doubt 
welcome with open arms, 
The threat comes from die 
multi-million dollar media 
machine that is Elvira^ a 
cult figure in the States and 
Australia, whose worldwide 
popularity exceeds that of 
many heads of stale, She 
certainly works harder than 
most of them. 

After the offer of a rare 
one-to-one interview, the 
most expendable member of 
the staff (Green ] was 
despatched Mayfair wards, 
equipped only with some 
essence of garlic and a list 
of every Van Helsing in the 
telephone book. 

Starting out in a small 
Hollywood TV company, 


Ihe Elvira character devel- 
oped from a mixture of the 
terrible. script she was given 
and Cassandra Peterson’s 
natural comic ability. Not 
quite what the TV company 
wanted, but with eight years 
of fantastic success it is 
obviously what the public 
were after. 

Enter stage left Tynesoft 
Looking for someone to pro- 
mote its w r a r e s in the 
colonies. Seeking advice 
from a New York agency* 
Tynesoft was told that 
Efvira was the star il needed 
(anyone who rates Attack of 
the Sflft Woman as a good 
film can’t be all bad). A 
mutually beneficial deal 
was struck. 

From a simple endorse- 
ment of Horrorsoft's 
Personal Nightmare, the 
relationship has developed 


1 guess t look a wrong turning. Urghhh... 


to the paint of an Elvira 
game, going under the same 
title as her film, Elvira - 
Mistress of the Dark - 
recently released on video 
over here. 

So watch out for waves 
upon waves of Elvira mer- 
chandise - comics, records, 
even a pinball machine. 
Elvira confesses to be a bit 
of a pinball freak. 

The game takes some 
ideas from the film and re- 
works them into a different 
plot, Elvira has inherited a 
ring and a castle in England 
where, shortly after moving 
in, she experiences some 
trouble with ghosts and the 
undead, The player assumes 
the role of a con man who 
has been contracted to clear 
up the matter. 

If you think that 
Cassandra Peterson took a 
back seat in all this, then 
you are wrong. Never one to 
sit back and relax, she 
insisted on taking an active 
role in the game's develop- 
ment, 

"I re-wrote some of the 
script Tor my character". 
Cassandra told Amiga 
Computing, "and 1 made 
them change it from a neck- 
lace to a ring so it would tie 
in with the film better - 
things like that”. 

Expanding on the totally 
icon-driven nature of 
Personal Nightmare, the 
updated user interface now 
has “fluid" (as opposed to 
rigid) selection panels and 
more sensible control over 
objects. 

the realtime action Fight 
sequences feature 12 frames 
of animation each and, says 
Ty n e s a ft , use more 


advanced combat rules than 
most current games. 

In this land where adven- 
ture and role-play meet, 
more emphasis is placed on 
tactical advantage and the 
swings made rather than on 
a set of numbers claiming 
you are invincible. 


Book sand. Song by 
The Police, wasn't it? 

TAKE one man whose sole 
aim in life is to complete 
the mission on which his 
father perished and sprin- 
kle that with the savage 
danger dwelling on fSe 
African horizon - from rest- 
less nomads , angry natives 
and hungry cannibals t to 
bloodthirsty dinosaurs , 
lecherous animal life (that's 
what is says here!} and very 
unhappy witchdoctors. 

All this adds up to 
System 3's new arcade 
adventure, Tusker - a three 
level jaunt in search of the 
much fabled elephants' 
graveyard , 

Should be out by the time 
you read this. 


Horror soft hypes it up 


16 AMIGA COMPUTING November i960 


tal 

Ty 

ath 

evr 

pi. 

re£ 

an 

tin 

the 

pr< 

wi 

get 

an 

ne 

by 

Bl 

Ro 

rer 

afl 

alt 

J 

on 

fog 

ve: 

fro 

far 

da 

I 


I 

It i 

HI 

bi| 

tir 

co 

ei 

m 

aw 

fm 


CB 

Si: 

ni 

th 

mi 

th 

fn 



I 


The game is the first to 
lake full advantage of 
Tynesoft's adventure cre- 
ation system which allows 
everything to be written in 
plain English, This is 
realised in greater output 
and smaller development 
limes, the graphics being 
the only bold up, 

A Midi sound track is 
provided, enabling owners 
with suitable hardware to 
get extra enjoyment. A full 
and impressive four chan- 
nels have been constructed 
by fezz Woodroffe, ex of 
Black Sabbath and the 
Robert Plant band - you 
remember them, they come 
after Pink Floyd in the 
album racks. 

Jezz is currently working 
on a new album which will 
feature a slightly re mixed 
version of the Midi music 
from the game. 

All this an five discs (so 
far) with a projected release 
dale of Halloween. 



Your sister should know 



It looks like this and iVll Zw ant in November on the US Gold label 

HE is credited with the 
biggest selling album of all 
; time - more than 40 million 
copies sold - and has won 
eight Grammies, seven 
music awards, four video 
awards plus the BPI award 
for best international artist. 

He performs sell-out con- 
certs all over the world, 

* Since 1980 he has achieved 
. nine number one hits on 
the Billboard Hot 100 - 
f more than any other artist 
this decade. 

He has received an award 
\ from the President of the 



United States for his many 
amazing achievements. 

He’s big, he’s bad, and 
he’s signed with US Gold, 

The question is: Who is 
be, and what’s the name of 
the game? 

Answers on a postcard 
please to: Michael Jackson ’s 
Moon walker Competition, 
Amiga Computing , North 
House, 78-84 Ongar Road , 
Brentwood , Essex , CMJ5 
9BG. 

Bundles of T shirts and 
posters up for grabs. Closing 
date October 31, 1989, 




November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 17 






Dangerous 


The ultimate golf sin 



We can t waif for this cine 



Ace guards his packed lunch in q scene 
from Don Bluth 's animated epic 


daring and 


delinquent 


KEEF the Thief was aban- 
doned as a baby outside the 
Temple of Mem, All say ah. 
The priests attempted to 
train Keel in the ways of 
Mem - goody-goody stuff 
like battle and magic and all 
that - but he mastered none 
of them. Instead he trained 
himself to be a lea-leaf. 

He was banished from the 
temple and left to survive in 
the Tri-city area, using his 
skill at thieving and his 
basic training in the priestly 
arts. 

Exploring the city, he 
hears rumours of powerful 
weapons, strange cities and 
of Telloc the god king who 
once ruled the city by virtue 
of a magic statue. 

When he was overthrown 
the statue was broken into 
six pieces and - you 
guessed it - scattered about 
the kingdom, Keef decides 
to embark on a quest... 

Electronic Arts PR person 
Lesley Mansford told Amiga 
Computing : "Keef the Thief 
features stunning graphics, 
great music and lots of 
humour". 

Out in October some 
time, price £24.99. 

THE development of 
Mars Cops, the space age* 
arcade adventure from 
Arcana , has been arrest- 
ed for the fourth time. 

We told you in 
September how two pro- 
grammers had walked off 
the job and how company 
boss and chief program- 
mer Max Taylor had 
locked himself away in a 
secret Edinburgh hide- 
away to finish the game. 
Well, the situation has 
changed yet again . 

"We have now got 
someone else working on 
it", says Max, "We hope 
(a have it ready bv the 
end of the year". 

Will we ever see it? 
Answers on a postcard 
please fo»« 


HOW can you possibly top 
Dragon's Lair? Simple, the 
same way as the arcade 
game did. The sequel to 
Don Bluth's animated 
arcade antics was Space 
Ace. 

Predictably this has fob 
lowed Dragon s Lair to the 
Amiga, The program has 
been written for Readysoft, 
the people who brought you 
Dragon's, and will be sold 


here by Entertainment 
International, 

The plot is one of a brave 
space adventurer {you), a 
pretty girlie, and an evil 
man (no. not Nigel Lawson). 

Rescue girl from dragon - 
sorry, man - and make off 
in your spaceship. 

Expect it to cost squil- 
lions and use more discs 
than Sony makes in a good 
month, well six actually. 


GOLF has always been a I pr 
difficult game to simulate 
accurately on a computer. til 

It's the huge number of fac- 
tors that does it. In real life I of 

even the simplest thing - I se 

the flight of a ball, for I ts 

instance - is affected by a | st 

multitude of parameters, in 
this case ranging from the 


physical characteristics of 
the ball itself through to the 


atmospheric conditions at I tl 

the time of flight, t] 

When designing Greg j n 

Norman's Shark Attack - 
Ultimate Golf, the program- 
mers at Gremlin Graphics 1 t 

decided that the only way 
to produce a truly realistic 


simulation was to include 
as many of these factors as 
possible. 

They took real holes and 
real courses and created 
accurate 3D models from 
them, including height and 
vegetation information. 
They simulated global 
weather conditions for all 
1 2 months of the year. Then 
they took professional 
advice on how to create, not 
only a golf game, hut a 
teaching aid as well, 

At last, eight man-years 
later, they believe that the 



The mathematically modelled world 


13 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1S89 


3 P 










AMIGA ARCADE ■ 




If simulation 


Walk like an Egyptian 


product they have produced 
is worthy of the title 
Ultimate Golf, 

The realtime animations 
of the golfer are digitised 
sequences of Greg Norman 
taking shots. Digitised 
sound effects accompany 
the action. And arguably the 
most important feature of 
any golf simulation, the 
screen update time, is faster 
than all its rivals - some- 
thing of which the program- 
ming team is particularly 
proud. 

The game features a mul- 
titude of levels, from a sim- 
ple arcade style swipe-aba ut 
to very accurate simulations 
of foursomes, greensomes, 
fourball and normal single 
games. Both match play and 
strokeplay scoring methods 
are implemented. 

A computer caddy can 
give you advice on what 
club to select and how to 
use it. There are many dif- 
ferent swing styles and 
spins to choose from, along 
with diagrams showing how 
the bail will travel, A true- 
to- life handicapping system 
ensures that the game gets 
harder as you get better. 

If you want to check out 


SOMEWHERE in the 
labyrinths of the Eye ot 
Horus, the new arcade 
adventure from Logotrort, 
lies the awesome presence 
of your evil half-brother, 
Set. Such is Set’s power 
that he can animate hiero- 
glyphics, which peel off the 
murals and attack you. 

Your quest is to search 


out the seven pieces of the 
late but great Osiris (your 
father] and return them to 
the proper burial chamber. 

As if that plot wasn't 
enough to make you buy 
the game, Logot ron is 
putting an entry form in 
every Eye of Homs to win a 
trip to Cairo. Yes, seven 
days (and nights) for two 


people, flight and three star 
hotel included, Can *t be 
bad. 

fane Smilh, Legation's 
newly appointed marketing 
person, told Amiga 
Computing : “We chose 
Egypt because we felt it 
was more appropriate to 
Eye of Horus than 
Blackpool”, 


of Gremlin s Ultimate Golf 


The Ultimate Goff team - Richard Hiff takes a swing at Foul Blythe 
while Clive Branwell and Simon Blake pander their personal handicaps 


Very pretty, but will it have French gameplay? 


FOR three years French pro- 
grammer Paul Cuisset has 
been quietly working on a 
new type of computer go me. 

He worked out, all by 
himself mind you, that 
more people would enjoy 
playing adventure games if 
they didn 't have to type in 
so much text , So he 
invented a new system that 
uses the adventure style 
within an animated game. 

Obviously Paul has not 


heard of Cinema ware - a 
similar system from the 
USA which spawned 
Defender of the Crown at 
the dawn of the Amiga. 

Anyway Paul has sold his 
system - Cinematique - to 
Delphi ne Software , and the 
first game to be developed 
on it is Future Wars: Time 
Travellers . 

We think you can guess 
the plot , Look out for it 
about PC Show time . 


the scenery there is the abil- 
ity to walk around the 
course to visit every tree, 
bush, bunker, lake or piece 
of rough land. 

Computer controlled 
players can be set at any 
rank from novice to profes- 
sional if you're feeling real 
lazy, just sit hack and watch 
the game being played by 
four Greg Normans, 

To top it off, a disc-based 
database will hold up to 100 
players and their personal 
attributes. ”AI1 that is miss- 
ing”, says programmer Paul 
Blythe, “is the birdsong. 
And if we had more room, 
we'd have stuck that in 
too”. It'll be out in 
November* so you’ll have 
plenty of time to practise for 
the 1090 Ryder Cup team. 




November 1909 AMIGA COMPUTING 19 


* 10 Stir flam** 


KLEt SPECIAL 

nmftUQo ::::: 

* Photon Paint 

* Mdum Mat 

rat * &j*tcov*f 

ALL FOR £375 


J|S^>Electronics 



PRINTERS 

PwiphHf all 1 35 4 , - 

£17* 

StwLCI* - 

. £175 

1C ID Colour — .. 

£220 

51*f 1024 1* 

£290 

1A 

£450 

to hhyi £244 

EpaonLQHQ — - — ■ 

. . £310 


T4PJ 

Epson LfllSM™ — S*™ 


EpHnf»0|Mwki4~ 


Pwwacnk. 1*81 - 

NSCP23DD ... 


AmBtrHl DMP fflfr . - 

PaiwwnteKKP 11W 

PjIFIBMnati Pi 1JD — 

ManneMnann Tally l*T*l 


Jtwlips BS33i HwtHof . 


. E255 
. CSS 
_ C136 


OUBtCmi 
JiV darning KK, 

UcHHiaai 

Kannlfc WBwgjiiDr — 

t imba — — ™ 

Qtick. Oun^M-u— t- 

Chaltengaf — — 

Shariah 1S+ — * 

Mach 1 , — — ~— 

OulcapaySKpwtKBni - 


Canmedwt 1«4$ Col. Hontler.- 

A501 Ham fcipaililO^GlMls ■■ 

Commodore *1*1*15’ MV#- 

Cumana CASS* 3-5" Qrtva ■ PSAJ — E1« 

Cun®™C«M<JMfii»’[lrti® — **** 

Cvnana CAS 10005 5-25 Drive ■ P8J-- ElU 

ASflOWmbHD — «* 

HUSS 

m (5,9* 

M7.2S 

E5.T5 

H,W 

BJ9 

EBJi* 

om 

mm ,_ 1650 
__ EH H 
tHJW 
C14J» 

Caw Pn> Sc« — *** 

CompPro EMftl — — * — — ■ — G1H30 


EH® F 
IU® F 
*14* F 

. tu.® f 

.. EH® I 

. Eli* I 

lit® I 
.. Ill® I 

.. t14.« I 

.. E«*M I 

El*» 
IH® 

., flaw 
... El 4. 10 
.. ElfiBd 
. EH® 

. E19M 
. 114® 

... na.rt 
114 BU 
... Ilf.® 

... EIVM 
... EI*M 
... EH» 
EHM 
m* 

. Ef® 

. Ill® 

... III.® 

... flArt 
Ei4.n 
EHM 
.. EH)» 
Ell M 
Ell® 
Ell.® 

. Ill® 

... EI4.® 

. EHLH 
E1E90 
. E14® 

Ell® 

1 15.® 
Elf.® 
EH® 

... Elf ® 


1 14.® 
II*® 
III.® 

. Eli® 
.. ill® 
E 1 4 9* 


40mb HARD DISK VORTEX 

* ErC-mb um»FTruilBd 

* Fast arid ftsliaWn __ 

* 3 (Mika 4 Ha*d® £549,90 

* 12 Month* Warranty 
a Th« Utility SoHwiiif 

* AuWwtPiBWb 1 

ii=iiiin^PisiBWHii^snnFsifi 

Uvincod Amiga BASIC - — d*-® 

Amis* 3£> Grtphto* Ptob BASK— ttWS 

Amiga AppAcetioe* i . minm E16.94 

Amiga AawmWy Ling Prog— — MOS 

Amiga BASIC Ins*** 4 A* tIB.SS 

Amiga C For Beglnrwrt_ _ tlftAS 

Amiga DOS India A Oirt — — — EtMS 

Amiga EMS Manual . — P*® 

Aml^DOSOiAckRar™™ E13J4 

Amiga DOS Har OuW* — E”® 

Amq> mak0irw*6™WfrA0U.™ — 07 ® 

ArTUgiOdOrmjNflalourtT#*^^. CITJfi 

Handbook . - Cl 655 

Amigo Harders r* Bnf Manual Casa 

Amiga nmrilon Bar Manual m 


PROFESSIONAL 
I" SOFTWARE 


Aegis MmHtof ilnugst 

A4*MDraw2M0_ 

AagiiMcdaHarlD 

Aagrt Sonin . - ... , 

Aagm Audiomaatar II 

AAgiEVidnoaeaptlD... 

Aag I* WktoaWtr 


A Taft 111... 

BUS PC — 

Bandwnirk Wodulu 2 ._ 
Biitchar.. 


ic — 


Cwnie Sattnr WL 
Comic Snltar Art £ ... 
Comic Sell® Art 3... 
Cambridge. Dap — 


_ C15J5 
„ El +55 

AmkH MfcraoorteASCPrtjg Ode Cia+5 


Anwtjia MacWn* Lan 


Amiga Prog Handbook Vni 1 — C23S4 

AmlgaPTcgHiindlifKikVoia...^ — — — .. £&* 

AmigaTritfcilTlp*— — — t14JB 

Amiga Tor Barman— .._.™ — dSt* 

BacwnJng an Amiga ArtM — cta4 * 

BaglitnMaCbuHhi to th* Amiga™., E1B56 

Compul^ilAtBartHrtfcnlia — 

Compuia’i 2nd &oafc;*f Affliga u .„..„^ C1*B5 

El«nenifliy Amiga Ba ale ........... tl+55 

IneUfi AnagatlfapWca — — £*** 

kniib Iha AmHw hWi C 2nd — E2D.94 

Kickstarl GukM to the Amiga- 

KM *lh* Amiga t1+»5 



E» 


. - £22 


. rsToo 

Hall ire Pninnll 

MS 


.... CM 


160.90 

nh^ft tnT'h" 





£16.90 


Q8J0 



niQ^aM 



c a» 


£28, W 


£3BJ» 


. C1*JW 


, E36.9C 

Dynamic Drums 

B7S0 


Pragnammwa Ouido id flw Amigp-. — Q35S- 


AMIGA 2<MW==^>"*;S| 

4 B200 Modal 
■ 20 MB Hard CMak 
* PC-XT Brldgn e«f* 

* floppy Drt* 
a 1 084 Stereo Colow MpnHof 
ONLY Ei520 



PROFESSIONAL 
SOFTWARE Cont 




£4750 


525fl0 


£25 JO 

HarculaB Copy 

Elk JO 


. £39.9* 


E1&9Q 

KnM Word! II 

£32.90 

Lanka 5.0 Daw 

_ tms 

1 jgfrti CjfTWI, ***"" 

. £38J0 

MCC PianM 

. ESflJ* 


m in 

Mac ru Asaafti Uar — «- 

. C47.70 


ra sn 


(46.30 

FMia^l* 

, Elfl-M 


. E7ft» 


£S3 


C195 

r i i m-jj rtfl# 

Hi 


i 

'"" 


Prpffal»on*l Drew — 

_ tflf.90 




£111 


Et6.® 


02 


£55 

Supafbana F*rf**M ... 

EMJM 


EB 


tl® 

gcu^l JO , 

ru® 


MS 


_ 02 


. ... £95 


E32.® 


£57 JO 



WftnlPfir1>tfl47 

..... C1M 


CIS 


. CIS 


leisure aonwAiie 


LMi,^wiikaavSN 


fif» 

t10» 

H® 

tit® 

E4® 

ffl® 

Hi* 

ti4« 

. t14« 
Li*® 

. CHH 
Eli® 
ti*® 
tld® 
tli» 

. P4W 
.. Ei&H 
EiS® 
EH9K 
Eld® 

. tl4» 

na® 

E>i® 

. E.l$» 

nr® 

nd® 

Eli.® 

a® 

EitH 
£l<» 
Ilf® 
[14 JO 
EI+® 
Eli.® 
Eli® 
EH® 
Eli W 
. Ell® 
Ell® 
E14» 
114 W 
[14 « 
.. PAW 
EM® 
EH« 
£li« 
EH® 
_ 114® 
Eli® 
_ Eli® 

. E'4® 
Eifi® 

Ell ® 

Eld® 

ns.® 

EI4 JO 

a.® 
Elk® 
Eid® 
. 114® 
•EI4.® 


I ajtrt '.4 OH 
L»Jtrt <f nw F«(rt 

LMinMiin 

LmnjLM M 


, tlAM TltFMmain 

. E'i® n»p Stoma 

El>» Tl4a«»* 

Eli® Tgif Haul 

Ell.® Tor* 4 Mu* 

.. 114.® TMfl — - 

flf.® Ti»c*» 

['A® rttdtoAilnp' 

E14.M n®»i®' 

Eli® ima 

Eli® Tmhnifiitiwhe 
Elf.® T^DnrmwuCai 
114.® TirtOTui 
EI4® TVSwrtiFanw..., 

EH id Tjplfdl 

Eli® TfldocrOMd.. 

E14® LpnulF 

Ell.® I)M1» — 


Ell® 


fl4® 

fl4® 

. Ei4W 
. [1400 
EH® 
Eld® 
Eld® 
tifl® 
EiAH 
... tl4.« 
EtiH 
EH® 
EH® 
Elf W 
tll» 
. ti»M 
. ti4® 
. £ii Od 
EH® 
EH® 




in® taragsu* 
£14.® Wkm4 - 
£15.10 Vi*(il« 
. [ 14 SO fHji 
Lkffi ‘WM i 


1 1fi.ffl ftotpraCuafii 
[ 14.® WRIJld..... 
r'4E0 Wn 
EI4D fMpdaw 
Ci«® nalWld 
iii r. iftrtj Cw4 1 udi 
£14® #rtll4CFiB®l 
£14.® AH I ■ 


Eli.® 

MX 
Eli® 
t!*« 

Ed® 

Ed® 

III® 
n«» 
riAJO 

El 4® 

Elitd IWMUI .... 

Eli® imTiKta . 

Eli® JiLkhKUua&a 

. Ell® Mm 

E14.® ja*nntot««Efm 
E14.U ll*i« IK OH 

Eli® ■ 

a® 

. Ell® 

£11® 
ill® 

tiArt rii im w 
ti*rt “■ 

E’iSd 
Ell® 

Ell® 



jhMEnimCirtW^f 1 

Ell® Vh'Pt - 

Ell® 


Eli® 

Ell® ArH!Mft*aFta*»i' 
HI® ILF.* . 

E 14 .® Iirtrr M 

fl|.® *I*FlW 
E1+® «w.. 

HA 
EH® 

£11® 



Ell® 

Ell.® 

III.® Tifk to 
tit.® T W t4w>Z... 
ETA Si- ThfOto®.... 


Government. Educational, Corporate 
and Export Orders Welcome 



E1B.® 

£11® 

III® 

til® 

rs.® 

EH® 
EH® 
EH® 
til® 
til® 
Eli® 
EH® 
EH* 
CHW 
EM® 
f17« 
Ell® 
[tt® 
EH® 
t*® 
CH* 
til® 
E15® 
[i*W 
... iHM 
._. EH® 

. EiT® 
(IT® 

... ElT® 
tl*« 

. m® 

. EHM 

. EMU 
EH* 

.. EH® 

_ tH.® 

Ill® 

. m» 

. EHH 
. E'iW 
... EH» 
EH® 

.. lid® 

. IH« 

. tHW 

InSK 

._.. t»? H 
.. EH® 
._ EH® 
(IT® 

. Ill® 

av> 

.... Pi® 

EtEK 

..... £U» 

... EH® 

. !HW 
. _ fHW 
tH® 
., nt® 
EH® 

EH® 

_... EH® 

(If® 

tH® 

117® 

EH® 

EH® 




■ GAMES ■ 


tit wr n a n/rTn \ t t 



\ QU don't need to be seven 

I feet tall and come from 
Harlem Lo play basketball. This 
seems to be the message from 
SportTime in this release, which 
aims to combine action with coach* 
ingstralegy. 

The game claims to offer a new 
system of simulation programs 
where additional modules can be 
added to your existing system by 
“clipping the coupon"' and sending 
it to Uncle Sam (don't forget the 
zip codej. A very interesting ploy, 
getting people to pay for additional 
features which should have been 
included in the original game. 

The game setup is under the 
guise of installing separate mod- 
ules - these are the modules that 
you have to pay extra for. 
Admittedly it may have bean diffi- 
cult to fit all those features in 
memory simultaneously, but it is 
still a bit much to ask people to 
pay for the same game more than 
once, no matter if you can view the 
court from above, from the side or 
from inside a cheerleader's T shirt, 

SportTime claims that this is a 
step forward in games technology, 
as is its system of flow control, 
where instead of controlling your 
team at all times you merely take 
over at a crucial moment. 

This makes it easier lor them to 
program and harder For you to play, 
as your star player suddenly halts 
underneath the basket and stands 
motionless before disappearing 
under a tonne of opposing players. 
Should've been ready, shouldn't 
you, ■** 

Admittedly there are advantages 
to this system. It is possible to get 
used to it after a while, and having 
the computer do half of your 
moves does mean you can last out 
a match without the inevitable joy- 
stick wounds. 

Aside from chosing the initial 
team, the coach has other impor- 
tant duties to perform. Strategic 
use of timeouts can swing the 
game* not only by giving you the 
chance to make team changes, but 
also by breaking up your oppo- 
nents' attack. A keen eye for a bar- 
gain, and the willingness to torture 
your team in the training camp, are 
also useful, 

Do well in the League and you 
get to travel all over the place for 
the playoffs. Which w r ay is 
Wyoming? But the competition is 
tight for the glory spot at the top. 



TWp's company. Three's a basketball game 


Players" performances also seems 
to depend on how important the 
match is - a very realistic feature. 

Other features include recruiting 
your team from the various college 
leagues, so exploitation is the name 
of the game, conning poor students 
to come and play for you and then 
chucking them out when they gel 
injured beyond repair. That's the 
way of the world - wall at least it 
is in America, 

By far the most entertaining part 
of the game is the pre-match pre- 
view' and half-time roundup hosted 
by those two lovable rogues, Nick 
and Bob. A well animated and 
detailed synopsis of the state of the 
teams, and roughly how badly 
beaten you will be, follows. 

Someone certainly went through 
hoops to write the manual - 56* 


pages hill of diagrams, every menu 
item explained in the most exact 
detail and the worst spelling. 

There is an overall polish to the 
game which is hard not to respect - 
except, that is, for the game dis- 
play, The bottom 56 lines are alter- 
nately filled with garbage or the 
top of the referee, waiting to pop 
up. Obviously on an NTSC screen 
this doesn't matter, but we are not 
Airstrip One yet, 

Aside from that, everything is 
graphically good, though some of 
the action is a little on the small 
side. 

As a simulation. Basketball falls 
down on playability. There isn't 
enough range or depth to the 
action, the experience being more 
like watching a game being played 
rather than competing yourself. ’ 


As a management exercise there 
is a little more s cope for interest, 
more to watch for and more feeling 
of actually being on the bench. My 
impression is that the game has 
fallen between the tw r o baskets. 

Green 


f Jtfnri-Mriv /jfj.'iAf'fiwiI/ 

U4M 

Mintisutftr 



Overall - HJ% 


Going two 
far one 



Nov&mbitr 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 21 






Joust when you thought it was safe. . . 


I Above moor 


St John's Dau , 


rou are hovering over the moor. To the west lies the p<jge 0 f the 
enchanted forest, and to the northwest is the forest proper 
Below you to the east is the thick cloud of fog, and south of that 
you can see the castle. The roofs of the town lie to the south 
and the meadow outside the town lies to the southwest * 


22 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 


|Y G n it's nothing to do with | 
i M Dudley Moore, this is Arthur 
as in the ancient Saxon king. No, 
not Arthur Negus, Look FI1 start 
from the beginning, shall 1? 

There are many versions of the 
Arthurian legends, hut all of them 
have one or two things in common 
- Lancelot, jousting, a round table. 
Camel ot and, of course, a magical 
sword called Excalibur. 

But here the tales begin to differ 
For instance, one school of thought 
talks of the "sword in the stone 11 
being Excalibur, whereas Geoff of 
Monmouth Insists that the magical 
sword was given to Arthur by the 
Lady of the Lake at. a later date, 

In actual historical fact there 
was no jousting, Camelot was prob- 
ably a collection of tenrs rather 
than a stone castle, and the table? - 
yes, it was more probably square. 

As for Arthur himself, much 
mystery and debate surrounds the 
legend, as it does the life of Christ, 
and it is contested with an almost 
religious fervour. 

In its version of the legend, 
Infoeom has compromised, weav- 
ing most of these stories into the 
plot. Some of the other mythical 
Figures and places that emerged 
from this period are drawn into the 
story. 

This is quite pleasing as it gives 
the player the real feel of this most 
magical of times without giving the 
answers away if he or she already 
knows the mythology. In fact, this 
adventure concentrates on the peri- 
od leading up to Arthur becoming 
king, of which not very much is.* 
known, historically or otherwise, 

The story opens in the church- 


Go worth 


yard where the sword in the stone 
is being kepi. The local bad guy, 
King Lot, is determined that he 
will be High King of England, so he 
half-inches the stone and pretends 
he has pulled the sword out. He 
plans to he crowned High King on 
Christmas Day, in 72 hours' time. 
With the help of Merlin, Arthur 
must find some way to stop him, 

Unfortunately Merlin reckons 
that Arthur isn't yet ready to be 
King, First he must prove that he is 
wise, brave, chivalrous and experi- 
enced enough to be leader of all 
England. He also must find a way 
into Lots caslle to find out what 
the evil person is up to. 

Various mini-quests will take 
Arthur into the surrounding coun- 
tryside to face magical knights, 
wild animals, mythical beasts and 


enchanted forests. 

The usual Infoeom Help menu is 
included, probably the best help 
system in the world. Clues are 
revealed ranging from the so 
obscure that the author didn't real- 
ly know what was going on, to the 
thunderingly obvious which every- 
one's pet hamster, or even mother, 
would twig to. 

Some problems are merely a 
question of having the correct 
objects or having previously com- 
pleted some other part "of the 
adventure, others require a great 
deal of logic and, I venture to say, 
at least one peek at the hints. 

There is a variety of screen 
modes, incorporating text only f 
graphics or a rather useful mapping 
mode which allows you to use the 
mouse to click on any adjacent 


location or to choose a direction 
from the on-screen compass. This 
is a great aid to rapid travel, espe- 
cially in later stages where you 
may find yourself rushing back- 
wards and forwards quite a bit. 

Parsing is very good throughout, 
with the exception of the ,J say’ r 
command, which, is a bit strange in 
its usage. But It's seldom, needed, 
anyway. Graphics are pleasing 
throughout, although I belong to 
the school of thought that you only 
look at the picture once, so it is a 
bit of a waste of space. 

Infoeom is quite good about this 
since there are only three full- 
frame pictures, the rest being con- 
fined to a small, but nevertheless 
attractive, graphic in the lop cen- 
tre. They do say, after all, that sixe 
doesn't matter - it's where you put 
it that counts. 

Arthur, like most games from 
Infoeom, is a highly polished 
example of the state of the art in 
adventures. Yet unless one is very 
careful with the hints, it can be 
over far too quickly. 

Lucinda Orr 


oy a fearsome rooKing Kmgnt in Diack armour. 
>say “Want to buy some Drugs?'! 


Have you 
jof any 
Paladin? 


Aunt 


Irdmeplai 





© J 93SSEGA ENTERPRISES L T& 


S 19.99 

*@£9.99 

*@£14.99 


\PECTRUM 


^mRJsiNMASlSRTROmCUb. 

lemon Vard- 1 19 Portobelto Road- London W1 1 2bX 


imfrnemwd u» der (term* from $tfa £mt etptttfS Ltd., Jmpw, and 
*> errr tradtfmarki afSdfm Btttrpritti Ltd* 








■ GAMES 



AL-ADD-IN? Wassai then? A 
new hoard for European 
screens? Oh, you mean Paladin as 
in Paladin and the Lamp? No? 
Hang on, I’ll look it up in the dic- 
tionary--* Ah. Paladin: A knight 
errant, a paragon of knighthood. 
Hmmm. doesn't say anything in 
here about running around killing 
and maiming and relieving people 
of their wealth. 

As a young hopeful, you are 
striving to become a fully fledged 
knight in Arthur's court, in order to 
prove your worth you must tackle 
hazardous quests, rescuing damsels 
- some of whom look more wanton 
than distressed - and fighting off 
dragons, all in the interests of self- 
improvement, 

Wouldn't it have been easier to 
do a course with the OU? 

To aid you in your quests you 
will always have a small band of 
witless comrades-in-arms, or can- 
non fodder, depending on how 


honest you tvanl to be. Their job is 
to do all the dirty and dangerous 
work while you reap all the glory. 
Well, that's what being a knight is 
all about, isn't it? 

However, the first puzzle any 
aspiring Galahad must solve is how 
to get the game started, Not as easy 
as it sounds, First of all, unless you 
want your gallant hero to be called 
0 ran don, you have to call up the 
quest designer and create a new 
Paladin with a decent name like 
Honecrusher, Once saved, you 
must quit back to Workbench and 
click on Paladin proper. 

After battling with the obligatory 
copy ■protection password, nothing 
happens, Time to look at the manu- 
al again. Select New from the first 
pull-down menu and your quest is 
begun, Or rather, your quest to 
begin vour quest has begun, 

Now do battle with the fearsome 
requesters, which want to know 
everything about all the files 



Nothing trcls faster than Paladin 


Paladin seems to need. These 
requesters lack the simplicity with 
which they are normally endowed 
and can become quite a chore, 
alternating incessantly between 
using the keyboard and the mouse 
instead of the option of one or the 
other. 

The quests range in difficulty 


from Easy (read quite hard) to Very 
Hard (read impossible) and are 
designed so your character can 
gradually improve over each quest 
until he tries out for his knight- 
hood, 

The improvement made each 
lime depends on how active the 
character has been, so pop out from 



24 A MICA COMPUTING , November 19BB 








■ GAMES ■ 


Li'fe J s a taidi , ta you many one 

behind your human shield every 
now and then and kill a half-dead 
monster just to keep up appear- 
ances. 

The quests are entertaining and 
the graphics are generally good. 
Some sound effects are relatively 
pleasant, but being subjected to 
them constantly would give even 


the most patient of knights cause to 
reach for the volume control. 

Various aspects of your knight- 
hood are tested - like your ability 
to bounce swords off your bare 
chest, laugh in the face of dragon's 
breath and, most vitally, how fast 
on your feet you are. 

One of the most important 


things to master is the deployment 
of your minions and making sure 
they take out a fair number of bad- 
dies before they get it, as they more 
than likely will. 

Amulets, potions, weapons and 
the rest of the department store list 
of objects which litter dank hovels 
and enemy castles are present in 
cornicopial plenty, all waiting to be 
picked up and horribly visited 
upon their former owners. 
Encumberance rules are properly 
applied to movement. 

The icon-driven system of man 
management is unnecessarily com- 
plicated by the addition of com- 
mand combinations, such as Ah 
plus left mouse button, in order to 
change a character's direction. 
Someone should've told Artronic 
that a mouse was meant to make 
things easier. 

The quest builder gives the 
scope to design new adventures far 
your friends or alter the present 


ones to make them easier or harder 
to your preference, Subsequent 
data discs are planned which will 
interface to the present system. 

While dispensing with some of 
the raw randomness of true role- 
playing, there is more of the fee! of 
actually participating in a proper 
adventure. So if any man would be 
a knight and follow 0 king, follow 
Paladin. 

Lucinda Orr 





Yes, E/gAt put 0/ ten owners wAo expressed a preference said Meow 


dreams, his movement is terribly 
slow. It's like skiing through trea- 
cle. 

Logs, trees, bushes, shrubs and 
other obstructions scroll up all to 
be avoided, it isn't too easy swerv- 
ing out of the way, so jumping is 
the best bet. Going over the ramps 
with a jump sends him flying 
through the air, a much quicker 
and safer way than skiing along the 
ground. 

On the bottom of the dream 
screen a little vignette of Garfield 
looks sleepier and sleepier each 
Lime he falls foul of an obstruction. 
To keep his dreamself awake, 
Garfield must swerve violently 
towards the edge of the screen with 
his mouth open in order to inter- 
cept the local villagers who stand 
with plates of cake and food. 


Unfortunately no sooner does 
Garfield see the nosh than the 
holder of it has scrolled past out of 
sight. There's nothing for it hut to 
keep jumping. Even if he ran't hear 
the sound of skiing or very little 
else except for some tuneless dirge 
in the background- 

Eventually Garfield finishes the 
course and staggers into a lasagne 
factory. As he sits down to scoff, he 
knows that he's more like the 
Martin Bells of the skiing world 
than the Franr Klammers. 

Then Garfield finds himself 
wandering around a very blandly 
painted factory, trying to turn 
valves so that a supply of feed gets 
through to various chocolate egg- 
laying chickens. 

Up conveyor belts and down 
poles, up and down in lifts, and 


more jumping and trying to turn 
those infernal valves, and then 
wandering all the way over to the 
one screen which tells you how 
many chickens out of four you've 
fed. 

All the while Garfield is getting 
sleepier, and although there's bits 
of food around, there isn't enough 
since a randomly appearing Odle 
keeps pinching it. 

Poor Garfield, even if the lack of 
food wasn't making him sleepy, the 
boredom of the factory would. Tim 
watches on, and cackles manically, 
But now he finds himself on ice 
skates, tearing around a pond lit- 
tered with snow, tyres, and half of 
the sprites from the first game. 
Only he's going too fast and he 
cani slow down unless... Crunch? 
He's stopped now, but as soon as 


he starts up again In the quest to 
find the missing chocolate egg-lay- 
ing. chicken, he's racing along. 
Even the ability to turn 90 degrees 
instantly doesn't help when you 
hardly have time to see. Oh no, a 
dead and... Crunch! 

Thai's it for poor Garfield, his 
alter ego from dreamland returns to 
his captive computerised torso and 
shivers under the blanket. Garfield 
can only sit and wail, and hope 
that some talented individual with 
the patience of job can finish the 
game and rescue him from this 
nightmare that The Edge created. 

Duncan Evans 


A inker's Tab 
Thn Edge 



Overall - 39% 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 25 







■ GAMES 






Several bridges too far 


Rtiltiv l a/if r 

£7. ( i,!.W 

Htmstm 


Overall - R'\% 


Put a tiger in 
vour tank 


N UCLEAR missiles are rather 
annoying; all they ever seem 
lu do is cost a lot of money. I mean, 
you could use a pair of (hem as 
clothes poles, tomato supports or 
post-modernist garden ornaments. 

That's what happened in Battle 
Valley, The local terrorist com- 
mune simply couldn’t get their 
fatigues the kind of greenish khaki 
that they liked. What they needed 
was a proper drying facility, and 
since the nearby nuke base was 
being dismantled, they borrowed a 
couple of medium -rangers for the 
back lawn. 

They weren’t any use - the rope 
kept slipping off the nose cones - 
so they had to find a new r use for 
them. They hit on the ingenious 
idea of holding the western world 
lo ransom. Since all the other 
nukes had gone, they had some 
bargaining power. 

This is Not On; apart from the 
fact that it's not sporting, there’d be 
zilcho game otherwise. In their 
usual way, the Pentagon can't han- 
dle it* so they call in a mercenary - 
you, 

You've got to destroy all the ter- 
rorist bases and get the missiles 
into as many pieces as a tank shell 
can render. You've got a helicopter 
to do the ground work and a tank 
to do the rest. Slightly unconven- 
tional. true, but it seems to work. 

So you fly along, taking out any- 
thing which could harm the tank f 
and winching in new bridge sec- 
tions to allow ibe lank to cross the 
rivers, 

The chopper's missiles mafce^ 
short work of the gun emplace- 
ments and SAM launchers, but 
have no effect on the outposts, 


Down in dumps 

That's why you must use the lank. 
Otherwise it would be a Silkworm 
clone. Except Silkworm doesn't 
have a narrowed down screen - 
Battle Valley does, 

It isn't plain sailing in. the bank. 
Some surface installations are too 
hidden for the helicopter to get so 
they need a little working over 
before they see the merit in explod- 
ing. 

The terrorists have thoughtfully 
left piles of ammo fust where a 
careful pilot or driver might Find 
them -how fortuitous. 

It's not that straightforward, 
though. You have to use the winch 
from the helicopter or a complex 
crane arrangement from the lank. It 
can prove a little difficult, ft's 
much easier just to crash and 
restart, with full ammo, but with 


5IM seconds less. 

Battle Valley w r as originally a 
budget release on the older 
machines, and to say that you can 
tell is a bit cruel. Multi-layer 
scenery scroll, with very fine detail 
and good perspective, doesn't 
come cheap. Nor does well 
planned and executed sound 
effects and a bearable tune, even 
though the latter started life on the 
C64's SID, 

It’s just that the the gameplay is 
missing the elusive spark that is so 
raie at the £2.99 price point. But if 
we splash ont £20 on a game we 
want - unless we're on a tax loss 
hinge - a hit of lasting enjoyment, 
or ai least a high that no volume of 
black coffee could ever produce. 
Well, maybe not, but hopefully you 


Hewson could have done us all 
a favour and converted Anarchy its 
other famous budget game, which 
didn't have graphics, but did have 
captivating gameplay. Battle Valley 
tsn h l actually bad; it's quite dever 
inside, but dull on the outside, and 
consequently unremarkable. 

Slewart C. Russell 


26 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 







TIME is a visual feast with over l!MI locations andscores ofanimated characters. 
A lar^c orfaftnig space station 1<> ex plore, time machines to discover and journeys 
to make into the past Bravethe battlefields of the Crimea, escape the lions of the 
Circus Maximus and locate die Amulet of Merlin, 

TIME is the journey of a lifetime' 


Only possible for AMIGA and ATARI ST £2 ( >. l W 
Over 3 disks tm ST and 2 disks nn Amiga 


EMPIRE SOFTWARE 4 THE STANNFTTS LAINOON NORTH TRADE CENTRE 
BASILDON ESSEX SST5 6QJ PHONE (0268) 5411 M 



■ GAMES ■ 


DEMON’S WINTER 

When hell freezes over 



Mother Superior meets m old flame 


P EOPLE who like playing 
Dungeons and Dragons but 
don't fancy spending their time 
collecting multi-sided dice general- 
ly progress on to computers, which 
have their own set of dice and are 
less likely to accidentally misread 
them at a critical moment - an 
understandable excuse in the semi- 
darkened hovels such people tend 
to frequent. 

Software houses, although per- 
haps a bit slow on the uptake, now 
knock out DftD type games by the 
basketful! - they know a good 
thing when they see one (Oh 
yeah?) and they also know a goad 
thing when they see a bad one. ■ 
Most of these games have a sec- 
tion for character generation fol- 
lowed by the main part of the 
game, an adventure of some sort, 
usually some quest randomly 
punctuated by sending lots of 
happy-go- lucky monsters which 
frolic across your path to wherever 
it is they go when they have been 
dismembered and trounced upon. 

Demon's Winter, unfortunately, 
is no exception. 

To start with, you must create a 
party with five members. If your 
name's David Owen you already 
have one. The party can be made 
up of any of the usual character 
classes - paladin, ranger, barbarian, 
monk, wizard, thief, cleric and so 
on. 

Each character must also choose 
his race, but unfortunately no indi- 
cation is made of which race is 


suited to which type of persona. 

Characters may be added to or 
removed from this list at any lime 
but there must always be five mem- 
bers of the party before you can 
enter the adventure, even if some 
of them are dead. Once again, a bit 
like the SDR 

Death is but a mild inconve- 
nience, a slight malady that can 
easily be cured for around 90 gold 
pieces, no questions asked, no 
money back, no guarantee. Healers 
skilled in the art of resurrection 
abound, which is just as well, 'cos 
the Reaper is outside and he's in 
his working clothes. 

Yon begin in some ruins. It is a 
good idea to visit the nearby village 
and buy some fearsome weapons 
before you run into anything nasty. 

Monks can be quite good at 
karate, but anyone else without a 
wuapon would best spend their 
attack period looking for something 
big and solid to hide behind - like 
the monk. 

Wizards are pretty good guys to 
gel to know, too. They may be 
rather weak, but even the lowest 
novice can unleash horribly 
destructive power with a softly 
spoken magic spell. 

Once suitably equipped you are 
prepared for, well, exploring and 
things I suppose, or whatever else 
it is that archetypal heroes do. 
When you enter a village a series of 
gadgets appears with all the possi- 
ble moves yon can make, You can 
visit the pub, go to church, have a 


kip in the inn.,. 

Similar gadgets appear when 
you make camp. You can go hunt- 
ing, pray, go to sleep, along with a 
whole host of other options. It is 
annoying that you have to make 
camp to examine the characteris- 
tics of your characters or to equip 
them with weapons, 

Thera are objectives, things to 
obtain, places to explore and a 
small number of puzzles to solve, 
but most of your time will be spent 
beating off random assortments of 
lad guys who are out to spoil your 
day. 

The fight scenes are She most 
disappointing part of the game. 
The graphics could have been done 
better on a Spectrum, the sound 
effects are easily surpassed by 
those of the Oric, Basically you are 
left with a program that would run 
more happily on an 0 bit machine, 
Lucinda Orr 


Dmttm s llfaJtT 

£24M 

SSI 


Atmosphere 

Graphics 

Gamespfay 

Value 


Overall - 56% 




P ROGRAMMERS are inevitably 1 
interested in either beer, sd- [I 
ence fiction, JftRR Tolkein, or all I 
three. This means that if they canT I 
work an alcoholic spaceman into a I 
game, they will turn to the mysteri- !j 
□us and occult, as in the case of I 
this latest offering from Tomahawk, I 
the French software house respon- I 
aible for Emmanuel. French pro- i 
grammers are obviously interested I 
in one more subject. 

The use of wizards and magic to I 
form the basis of a plot is not what ] 
you might call startlingly original; I 
even the early adventure games on I 
the First mainframes used magic as 
an major plot device* 

It was therefore with totally 
un bailed breath that E switched oft 
my extra memory and re-booted 
Legend of Djel to see what sort of 
magical mystery tour I was letting 
myself in for. 

The booklet accompanying the 
game is a wonderful example of 
what 1992 holds in store for us. II 
attempts to set an atmospheric j 
scene, and fails miserably, 

Why do our European friends 
insist of translating instructions 
themselves? Would it cost too 
much to ask someone who had at 
least glanced at an English-to- 
French dictionary or listened to 
BBC World Service to look over the 
instructions? Here is one of the 
best lines: 

"rtf the moment of confronta- 
tion ym will be projected into". 

Sounds very painful, and proba- 
bly illegal. 

The story eventually forthcom- 
ing from under this Euro-mountain 
of mismatched prose is the usual 
soap opera set in a land in the far 
future. 

You play the part of a wizard 
called Djel - pronounced gel, as in 
the stuff Green puts on his hair - 
and your career goals are to rescue 
a girly, save a country 1 from starva- 
tion and cure a major outbreak of 
foot-and-mage disease. 

Every self-respecting wizard 
keeps abreast of new technology, 
and Djel is no exception. He has 
the latest version of Workbench, 
which is covered in many up-to- 
the- moment utilities, 

Comms are handled by the most 
modern multi-rate crystal ball, 
with hardware error correction. 
The database system is managed by 
the latest version of dBrain 
(Dragon's Brain}, 


20 AMIGA COMPUTING November *909 






GAMES 




' 


A cauldron in the library ? She 1 a cooking the hooks 


Many more systems tasks are 
also covered, all accessed by click- 
ing on the easy-to-use rat, or, 
mouse, using the standard Wimp 
system - Wizards, Icons, Magic and 
Potions, 

By clicking on the various icons, 
Djel can check up on his status, or 
even pop out to a different country. 
This is achieved by playing with 
an animated icon on the for wail. 

A problem presents itself once 
each new location has been lire- 
somely loaded From disc. These 
problems are usually little more 
than doing the right thing at the 
right time, but occasionally vou are 


thrust into comba! with a hideous 
monster from another dimension. 

Combat may be of a physical or 
a mental nature. Being a devout 
coward, when Djel is under my 
command he always tries to out- 
think his opponent. This is 
attempted on a small grid where 
Djel and his enemy take it in turns 
to move a playing piece and place 
blocking moves. Whoever gets 
totally blocked first, loses. 

The other action sequences are 
far bom state-of-the-art, Although 
the graphics are occasionally won- 
derful, their animation isn't. It is 
therefore best to think of them as 




Minor, mirror on the waH 

little breaks from the puzzling side 
of the adventure, 

This is, of course, where it ail 
falls down, because the adventure 
side is not particularly mind-shat- 
tering. The use of the mouse auto- 
rustically limits the player's 
action and can lead to the very 
unscientific approach of clicking 
everything in sight, To try to solve 
this problem your total number of 
clicks is Limited. What a cop out. 

fahn Kennedy 


Lry'iul ni'Djrl 
Ttnmlumk 




November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 29 










f 



GAMES 


STEEL 

Forging a head 


uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiititiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiintiiiiiiiii 



IV r fo:rC a depmssingty stupid rate! 

S TEEL is a blend of pig iron 
and carbon which cao be 
manipulated by temperature to 
give the desired qualities - high 
carbon content hr strength, low 
content for flexibility, Sleet, it also 
transpires, is a new game from 
Hewsan. 

If you were cool and hard with- 
out a hole in the middle then you 
would probably be a steel commas 
do, a man with a mission - sorcy, a 
robot with a mission, 

Your task, should you decide to 
accept it (this review will self 
destruci in five seconds - or sooner 
if the editor gets his hands on itj is 
to board a spaceship whose robotic 
crew has gone rogue. 

Shut down the system by deacti- 
vating the Ijnninals [this is -highly 
irregular, Dave) and plugging in 
some cartridges that you'll find at 
various points about the ship. 
Exactly why von should do this is 
never explained, nor why you in 
particular should do it. An 
android's lot is not a happy one. 

To deactivate each terminal you 
must play a sub-game. These are all 
exactly the same, shooting holes in 
moving conveyor belts, against the 
dock, All very reminiscent of an 
old arcade classic called Phoenix. 

These sub-games are not particu- 
larly taxing and not fatal If you 
should manage somehow to lose, 
they just knock a bit off your ener- 
gy and let you get on with it. 

Aside from Insidious sub-games, 
rogue robots patrol the corridor 
waiting to deal out summary jus- 
tice to any infiltrator. These 
mechanical meanies come In three 
flavours - big ones that bounce off 


you, little ones that shoot at you 
and medium smd ones that shoot 
at you and then bounce off you. 

And remember, bouncing sure 
means trouncing - they'll kick 
seven shades of alloys out of you if 
you let them. That's what you get 
for pretending the danger's not 
real. 

When you're feeling down there 
are frequent fuel stops where 
points make energy increases. 
However, il is rare that the 
denizens of such areas will leave 
you in peace for a complete refuel. 

Control of your man of steel is 
very frustrating. OK, he moves up 
and down corridors pretty well, 
but just try shooting something. 
You have to be moving towards 
them. And why are you trying to 
shoot them? Yes, it's to stop them 
from crashing into you. Very clever. 

Hazardous assignments are one 
thing, but trying to complete them 


with a lumbering hunk of junk is a 
complete no-bratns volunteer job. 

If there is one thing that makes a 
game melamorphi&e from a chal- 
lenge into that great spectre of frus- 
tration, it is game play purposely 
designed to make the game harder. 
It is equally an admission of failure 
on the programmer’s part if he 
can’t make the game tough enough 
without imposing seemingly sense- 
less limitations on the player. 

Agreed, it’s quite hard, but so is 
building a Ferrari out of Swiss 
cheese. And at least you'd get on to 
Wogan if you did that. 

The game is not too bad graphi- 
cally. Excellence in this depart- 
ment is really the hallmark of 
Hewson games, and although this 
one looks a little strained in places, 
it s still well above average, There 
isn’t much by w r ay of animation, 
but then there isn’t all that much to 
animate. 


The wandering monsters play no 
real part in the plot, they're just 
there to gat in the way, They’re not 
even consistent, because they don’t 
travel from one screen to the next - 
they're just random annoyance. 

With a plot similar to Paradroid, 
and from the same software house, 
you are forgiven for thinking that il 
may be more than just the same 
tired old maze stuff- but it’s not. 

Green 


Overall - G3% 


Mow ffiftrtg 
the bus now. 
□frig ding 


30 AMIGA COMPUTING November 19R9 







lav septei 


MINQSCAPE INC 


Available for Amiga, ST, 
IBM and compatibles, 
Commodore 64. 
Amstrad and Spectrum 


Mindscape international Limned, PO box 1019, 


Fssex BN84DW. Tel iOM 486) 545 547 



■ GAMES I 



\\J is it like to ran Waterloo 
V V Station? Can vout ticket 
collectors hall the advance of the 
fare dodgers or will they be able to 
regroup under the dock? In an 
exciting new wargame from PS5-. 
What? Nothing to do with trains? 
Oh, that Waterloo. 

Ahem, Napoleon was famous 
not only for his brandy, but also for 
his Waterloo, of which it has been 
said that all great men will meet 
theirs (and not only by Abba}. 

So it was that on the Ifllh June 
1815, Wellington found himself on 
top of a hill in central Belgium 
looking across a very narrow valley 
at the massed guns and troops of 
Napoleon's army. An awesome 
sight, for Napoleon had arranged 
his larger number of men on the 
opposite face so as to he dearly 
visible, thus gaining the maximum 
psychological advantage, 

Wellington faced the most 
uncertain battle of his career. He 


could not count on the Prussian 
reinforcements arriving in time, 
much of his army was made up of 
1 semi-skilled militia forces, and 
arguably the greatest general of the 
period had his HQ some two miles 
south of him. 

What would you have done? 
How would you have fared in one 
of the greatest battles of all time, 
where defeat and victory depended 
as much on reacting quickly to 
chance and providence as it did to 
well laid battle plans? 

FSS has produced a package 
which attempts to miniinick faith* 
fully the conditions and atmo- 
sphere of that most historic of 
moments. 

You may take charge of either 
the French' or the Allied armies to 
see if you could have changed his- 
tory 1 . 

What sets this apart from other 
battle simulations is that there is 
no godlike overview of the entire 


field of combal - you can only see 
from a ground perspective. If you 
want to make things even more 
realistic you can choose only Id see 
the field from your HQ, meaning 
you will have to move around a lot, 
which is dangerous and time-wast- 
ing- 

Another way in which Waterloo 
surpasses other wargames is the 
intelligence of the company com- 
manders. In the early 19th century, 
due to lack of efficient communica- 
tions most company commanders 
felt free to "interpret” orders from a 
higher authority in cases when 
they felt the order was out of date 
or where they had a special local 
knowledge not possessed by iheir 
general. 

This means that Wellington and 
Napoleon did not directly com- 
mand their troops, more sort of 
request them to do something. This 
can get very frustrating when 
troops refuse' to advance, or worse. 


go charging unsupported into the 


It becomes easy to understand 
how certain generals were more 
favoured and given command of 
larger numbers of troops or more 
important positions on the Field, 
Messages, orders and battle 
reports must all be sent by rider, So 
by the time information is 
recLBved, if it is received, it may 
well be too late or hopelessly out of 
date, 1 once received a battle report 
from a front-line general more than 
six hours after I asked him for it. 

Clearly a lot of important deci- 
sions have to he made intuitively 
with little or no knowledge of the 
current situation. 

The command parser is fairly 
intelligent, All the orders are gra- 
matically correct, but it can he a lit- 
tle pernickety about the spelling of 
obscure village names. 

Graphics are OK, but can be 
painfully slow in places. They are 


■ ■iklllMHUKmmUfLW 


Let’s play at being Nakajima 


! 


UMOUR has it that the 
Japanese intended Id call this 
game Continental Circuit. But fol- 
lowing an ancient oriental tradi- 
tion, established by mis-naming 
Monkey Kong as Donkey Kong, 
Circuit begat Circus. 

And given the size of the teams 
of mechanics, engineers and bim- 
bos who follow Murray Walker 
from country to country, perhaps 
the term circus is better suited. 

As racing games evolved from 
Pole Position they earned more car- 
like characteristics. Visit an arcade 
to see how realistic they have 
become - Ferrari Fl style gearbox- 
es, hydraulic seals and machines 
which make the earth move. 

The magic spark plug in CC's 
engine was a pair of 3D glasses 
bolted on to the cabinet. While 
these are available for the Amiga at 
£80 a pair, not many people will 
own them. It's a shame, because 
they are spectacularly effective. 

Recreating on-track antics is dif- 
ficult on a computer, and a number 
of approaches have been tried. 
Some games like Grand Prix 
Circuit and Ferrari Formula 1 aim 



to be accurate simulators. Some, 
like Crazy Cars and Outrun, are 
just a simple blast down the high- 
way, Continental Circus straddles 
the central reservation between the 
two. 

The fun is certainly there. Your 
yellow Lotus squeals away from 


the grid. The aim is to finish the 
race further up the rankings, This 
does not mean winning, just over- 
taking enough cars. You start in 
100th place and have to make it to 
flOth in the first race. 

The circuits mirror the real 
Grand Prix circus, starting in Brazil 


visiting Monaco, Germany and 
most of the major venues. Being a 
mere island olf Europe. Britain 
doesn't merit an entry, but then the 
designers would probably have 
used Silverstone, which doesn't 
merit an entry. 

Each race is started by a bimbo. 
She is probably a mathematician - 
with a figure [ike that she should 
be. It is the same girl for every race. 
She must own the card which says 
5 seconds. 

To get the smoothest start, accel- 
erate while the first {red) light is 
showing, ease of! Tor the second 
and then floor it as the green light 
comes on, A technique you will see 
practised every Saturday night in 
Romford, 

It can rain. That's the way of the 
world. While a downpour makes 
flowers grow and birdies sing, it 
also makes Pirellis spin. This dras- 
tically efforts the handling of the 
car - you have to enter corners 
wider and slower. In some coun- 
tries you can lake liberties and 
bump over the curbs. In other 
places you must stick to the road. If 
it rains in Monaco you are don e 


3Z AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 



■ GAMES ■ 











Order : ORANGE ORDER PONSONBY TO ATTACK 
THE ENEMY 1 MILE SOUTH OF LA- HATE AT 

1 c. AH ^ 


Today m send football hooligans 

mare than adequate to play the 
game, and a nice touch is the rav- 
ing mouse, which can identify 
most buildings and troops. A 


shame the pointer couldn't have 
been used for giving movement 
orders. 

if you only ever buy one com- 


puter battle sim, make it this one. 
This is the most camp tele and real- 
istic wargame 1 have played. 

Lucinda Or 


Ki-jIimm 


S»ral<*> 


filMBMQ 


Value 


Overall - 89% 



Where are the elephants? 


for. Part of the skill of the game lies 
in knowing the circuits. In America 
the first section is very short. You 
must get there without incident to 
earn the extra time. You need to 
make firm decisions. Dither about, 
unsure as to which side to overtake 
a slower car, and you'll end up 
crawling over his gearbox. 

The accidents are fun to watch - 
an idea which will appal true race 
fans. Your first bump will set your 


engine smoking, a short while later 
it will burst into flames. I had a car 
like that once. If yau don’t make it 
to the pits ta get the inferno extin- 
guished the car will blow up. 

The pits aren't as detailed as 
those in the arcade, which is not 
surprising. The explosions are a 
good deal more feeble, which is a 
shame. 

The gam ep lay has been accu- 
rately carried across from the 


arcade, along with the graphics and 
sound which were ported from the 
coin-op. 

This is the best game Tuque has 
produced. I'm sure this is partly 
down to The Sabs Curve, which 
managed the project for Virgin. The 
graphics are great. This is a fine 
example of how an arcade game 
should be converted to a home 
computer. 

Simon Roc km an 



Navumher 1M9 AMIGA COMPUTING 33 





r 



■ GAMES ■ 


H E walks through the swing- 
ing glass doors and smiling 
at the receptionist, doffs his cow- 
boy hat and neatly throws it to a 
nearby hook before opening the 
panelled oak doors to his office, 
"G'morning GR. I've got the 
president on line one for you." 

“Put him on hold Marybeth, 1 
have to put out a contract dh the 
head of Rockman Oil and then I'm 
jettEif out to Oman to show ihose 
johnny- Arabs how a Tfejran puts 
out a rig fire” 

it's just another Monday morn- 
ing in the life of one of those breed 
of men whose wealth comes out a 
hole in the ground,, or sometimes 
the sea bed. He’s rich, he's mean, 
he's got big boots and he's not 
afraid of stomping all over people 
with them. 

With the moral judgment of a 
Pershing missile and the playful- 
ness of a rattlesnake, he means 
business and he is mean business. 
He is an Oil Man. 

With five million greenbacks at 
your disposal you take over as MD 
of a newly formed oil business, 
hoping to forge a dynasty from 
Dallas to wherever it was the 
Golhys came from. And why stop 
there when there is a whole world 
to exploit, er, explore? Buy up 
parts of Europe, Malaysia, the 
Middle East, Turn Alaska into one 
giant well, grab that cash with both 
hands and make a stash. 

But be careful. In the oil busi- 
ness everybody is a slippery cus- 
tomer. You may find you're out in 
the Ukraine putting out malicious 
fires when you discover someone 
back east is stealing your money. 
Get back home and pul the screws 
on before they put you to the wall. 

The opening sequence deter- 
mines your preferences for corpo- 
rate logos and office furnishing, 
which provide the backdrops for 
the rest of the game, so make sure 
you pick one you like. El is not 
compulsory to smoke cheroots, but 
an ashtray is provided anyway. 

Activating the computer icon 
treats you to a very nice simulated 
Amiga Workbench, where most of 
your transactions take place. You 
can buy and sell the world from 
here, provided you have the neces- 
sary. Everything done by modem. 
Perhaps MicroLiftk will open an 
Oilnet gateway soon. 

After prospecting around and 
finding a suitable site for your first 


black gold mine, you can elect to 
farm out the actual drilling to sub- 
contractors or gel the bit between 
your teeth, or rather into the 
ground, yourself. This leads into 
one of the three arcade sequences 
in 01, the drilling scene. 

It looks quite pretty, with lots of 
stuff going on and numerous 
gauges telling you everything you 
wanted to know about drill bits but 
were too coo] to ask. 

Actually this is one of the sim- 
plest parts of the game. Just keep 
the drill bit in the middle of the 
circles displayed top right and 
everything should come up rosy, or 
more preferably black, since red oil 
might be difficult to unload, except 
maybe to make pink paraffin. And 
you've saved yourself around Si, 5 
million into the bargain. 

Opffn your desk drawer and you 
will find papers enabling you to 
contract a little subterfuge. Think 


those guys are getting loo big for 
their cowboy boots over at All 
American Oil? Go see how they 
like their storage tanks being blown 
upE 

If your own rigs catch fire you 
can either jet out there yourself, 
saving some cash, or give the job to 
the strangely Familiar sounding Ted 
Redhair. Doing it yourself means 
parachuting out of an MF! trans- 
port plane into the affected area, 
Obviously more than just a nose for 
hydrocarbons is required to be a 
successful oilman. 

This second arcade sequence 
has you running up and down toss- 
ing sticks of dynamite down bore 
holes and running for cover before 
they blow. 

Soap Fans will be disappointed 
to note that the final arcade 
sequence is nothing to do with kid- 
napping rivals' children, nor is 
there anv provision for alcoholism 


or killing your own grandfather to 
pay back your cousin for running 
away with your wife, Please, this is 
a serious simulation.. 

No, you have to connect two 
sides of the screen by putting 
together pieces of prefabricated 
plastic piping. 

Occasionally someone will 
phone up and offer yon a contract 
for supplying a particular region. 
Long term contracts can be very 
lucrative and may mean the differ- 
ence between survival and corpo- 
rate takeover, but the penalties can 
be great. 

Graphically stunning, this game 
exhibits a degree of polish which is 
Ear beyond that of the average offer- 
ing, while the gameplay - taking a 
poor second plat* - is sufficient to 
sustain interest at a reasonable 
qlavel The only major failing is the 
time taken bet ween screens and the 
bad structuring of some of the 
menus, 

ReLine, after their last hit, 
Hollywood Poker Pro, proves once 
again that a mixture of good graph- 
ics and loose morals can produce a 
highly playable product. 

Green 




i 


34 AMIGA COMPUTING November 19S9 









Digital Magic Software 



Compost 

THE Souths leading Computer by post service 



CREDIT CARD MAIL ORDER 




AMIGA A500 
+ FREE £220 SOFTWARE 

• ZYNAPS • HELLBENT * KNIGHT ORC# MERCENARY 
• POWERPLAY* CUSTODIAN • NEBULUS • SKY FIGHTER 
• 20 OLD GAMES * MOUSE MAT • BUNK DISKS 
• PAINT PACKAGE •JOYSTICK 

£339 


AMIGA A 500 

INCLUDING: • MOUSE • WORKBENCH • UTILITIES 
• MANUALS • BASIC • TUTORIAL • TV MODULATOR 

£289 



AMIGA A500/1 084 IS) MONITOR 


£469 

AMIGA B2000 



INCLUDING: • MOUSE • WORKBENCH • BASIC 
• UTILITIES* MANUALS 

£799 


AMIGA B2000/1 084 (S) MONITOR 
£875 


PRINTERS 


Citizen 120D 

Citizen 1 BQE 


£105 

£126 

HP Dukfet + 

NEC P2200 

£544* 

,£2&4 

Citizen MS-PISE 


.£169 

NEC 1 P 64 

£419 

Citizen HQP4Q 


,..,,£299 

NEC P7+ 

£530 


wiuorn ■■ - ; : c |.i Tiatt „,„ii,i . r ratu rf + 

Citire n HQP45 C 299 Panason Ic KXP1O01 £1 26 

Epson LX4OT ,£142 Panasonic KXP1 130 ,£156 


Epson LXB50 £169 Panasonic KXP1 124 £256 


Epson FX105C 

, £379 

Star LC 10 

£129 

Epson LCMOQ . 

,£205 

StarNXIS 

£290 

Epson LQ550 

,,,£272 

Star LCZ41 0 . 

£257 

£p$bn LOSM 

£404 

Star XB24KJ „ 

„£41fl 

Epson LQ1Q6Q 

£549 

Star XB2415 

£540 

Epson LO2560,. 

- £047 

NEC P7+ Colour 

£623 

Epson -DFX5Q00 

£1079 

Star l CIO Cftrxjr 

£194 

HP DeskJet., 

,,£449* 

Xerox 4020 Colour 

£949 




'v 


“SIC 


LC1 0 

1_£129> 

COLOUR PRINTERS 

C«tuen HOP40 „ 


COMPUTEP PRINTERS 

LC24-1 0 
£250 


.^-LCIO 
COLOUR; • 

- £160 v 


LASER PRINTERS 

,. £349 Brother HL-®e £1409' 


Citizen WSP5Q £360 E pson GQ5000 

Citizen MSP&5 £400 Mewled Pwdtard 

Hewlett Packard Pain t Jet ........ £6S9' Lasa r Jel IJ 

NEC P6+ £504 Star LP0 Cl 249 * 

*lnc. I year on site maintenance 


ACCESSORIES 


AMIGA EXTERNAL DRIVES 


AZOOO ACCESSORIES 


DRIVES 


AMIGA ACCESSORIES 


AF330 3.5 Drive ........ 

RF302C3.5 Dove. 

Cumana Cax 35 4E ...... 

A1 01 03.5 Drive ......... 

No MDC30 3,5 Drive .. 


£S9 inc 20Mb Hard Disk £399 tne 

.,.,£35 «£ AMIGA or USDOS 

£99 me XT Bridge Board ,£399 * VAT 

£99 Inc AT Bridge Board .,,£675 * VAT 

ESS Inc INT Genl nek „ „ „ £ 1 79 * VAT 

B Mb RAM/B with 2 Mb RAM ....£649 * VAT 
2nd Drive 3t/2 £75 t VAT 



Triangle 2tJNib Hard Disk ,..„..„£469 * VAT 
Vortex, A500 Hard Disk 40 Mb .,.,,£510 inc 

Triangle 40 Mb Hard Disk £579 + VAT 

CumanaCSA 354 ,,..£99 Inc 

Cumana CD A 350 £199 + VAT 

Cumana IMB 51/4 £115 + VAT 

External 2nd Drives from „.. rr EBS Inc 

New A50Q 20Mb A59Q HQ ,£3BQ Inc 

CBM 1044 S Stereo £239 Inc 

CBM 1901 £149 Inc 

Philips CM0052 £260 <nc 

CBMCGA Compatible 

Philips 6*33.. £229 Inc 

CBM 1900 Mono El 29 Inc 

Atari 124 Mono £129 Inc 

Atari. SC/1224,. £259 Inc 


AS01-S1 2 K RAM . 
Meuse Mat,, 


Amiga Dust Cover 

TV Modulator 

Steel Monitor 

Standard Amiga 5205 T 

Steel Double 

Monitor Stand Amiga ST 


^ Cl 29 Inc 

£4.95 Inc 

.,,.£4.95 Inc 
,,£21,95 Inc 
,,£15,95 Inc 


,,,,.£25,95 Inc 


COMMODORE 064 


€64 Hollywood Past 
CS4 Home 

Entertainment Pack 

1541 C11 51/4 G&t 

Drive 

1561 31/2TS00KC64 
Drive 

Oceanic 41/4 C64 Drive 


,,£149 Inc 
,,£199 Inc 
..£145 Inc 


_£ 129 I nc 
,,£125 Inc 


0202 292195 


Open Monday to Saturday 10am - 5.30pm 
ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT 


MAIL ORDER HOT LINE PHONE 0202 292195 

DELIVERY UK MAINLAND 

SAME DAT DELIVERY - CALI FOB DETAILS 

Ccnuunuhln: £2 * VAT pip 

Hardwire: 4 wwfktnB days £5 1 WT per bo*. NwC wrkrnfl stay CIO t VAT per box 


UNIT 6, FOREST CLOSE, EBBLAKE IND ESTATE, VERWOOD, DORSET, BH21 6DA 


36 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 


















Designer £99.95 
Professional £299.00 


Platinum Works! £179 


s>. 


x 


V 


V 


O 


4 




.69.95 


BOOK NOW! 
For our next | 
Video & Graphics 
Weekend Course 


Publishers’ Choice £ 99.uu 
Professional Page £199.95 
Pagestream £1 99.95 


DIGIPRO 

V\l V 

Pro Video Plus £249. 95 
Video Effects 3D £159.95 
Photon Paint 2 £79.95 
Deluxe Paint 111 £79.95 
DigiPaint 3 £79.95 


Phone 

0703703010 


Amiga 2000 XT HD System 
from only £16.29 pw lease-hire 

A500 Starter Packs 
from only £3.77 pw hire-purchase 

Written details on request 


Superpic 
HP PaintJet 
DeskJets 


£569.00 

£914.99 

£579.00 


Call for your 
FREE video 


Star LC24-10 £343.85 



DIGIPRO LIMITED 

0703 703030 

Enterprise House, Howards Grove, 
Southampton SOI 5 PH 
All Prices Include VAT 

Orders over £50 Postage & Packing Free 
Add £1.00 Postage & Packing for all other orders 
Please phone for prices 
outside the U.K. 



Genlock* 

8802. 880G, NEC IK I 
MAGN1, MINIGEN 
and the long-awaited G2 


20 MB PC Hard Drives 
for 2000XT Systems at 
the absurd price of 


£ 169.99 


Authorised Commodore Amiga Dealer 

Export, Government, MOD and Educational Orders Welcome 
Hire-purchase and leasing finance available. Diglpro are licensed credit brokers. 











MA 11 

ORDER 


MAIL 

ORDER 



SOFTS ELLERS 

6 Bond Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 1 JB 

5a Dog's Head Street, Ipswich, Suffolk (Retail) 

36a Osborne Street. Colchester, Essex (Retail) 


24 HR. MAIL ORDER PURCHASE LINE (0473) 257158/210605 






. 15 .® 

... It 99 

. 19 33 

AtfdhCi-v r 3 old*n S h h 

19 59 

... I 6 .M 


...1199 

14.99 

Afliralh 

15 B 

1 «® 

apr ........ 

... .... 13.99 

13 .® 



It 98 

Action 1 or 2 1 Corns li'iion] 


13 9 

□ 9 la nr n ■‘if PflUJAF 1 QQfl 

1539 ...... 

15.99 

Balance Qi rnwar i ™ 

IF Sfl 

. IE. 39 

Paa-’nariari 1 iP wnFlUN! 

1599 

™ 1 W 


BirAnk Knight* .. 

Biuttchiu 

Batman (Tti* Won 
eumirk — _ 


—.IF® ... 

13 .® ... 

-■ -H® .. 

11.99 . 


19 99 

11.31 


. 16,99 


Buck Valias - 

Beeil.u 


,„ 11 S 


.It® 
..is® 
... 16.88 


cnise HQ — — — 
Chios Slr*tJ 9 *ck - 


1189 


5 ™ * . 9 „ _ “ 

13 ® 

1 3 99 

Cftfail uu — 

.13 99 .. ... 

iEqa 

r P ftPI,p+ Fhrnpn 

. . . 16.98 

16 -B 

Contjnv n til 

. 13 99 

13 B 

C hf nett at Wrath .. 

IS® — 

- 16 ® 


Darkl'd* 
Dahwa Music 
Dikixa Punt 3 




.... ... 1318 . .... 

- IfJT 

_. 13 ® 


ii m 

15 .® 

inMcbon , 

ii® 

_.I 2 ® 


_. 1 JB ... 

17 ® 

!!! 3 n J r ?w r ■■■ 

11 99 

16.99 


IE 99 

16 ® 

Kiet 

IS® 

_.isa 

l^lct Off - 

12 .® 

........ ii® 

Kryatil „ 

19 ® ■ 

19 ® 


HARDWARE 

ALL OUR H WEJWARE INCLUDES VAT "ID 
FREE DCUVERV UK MAINLAND ONLY 


Licence to KM 

LitfjreSu4 Lury? 
lightlgrt* iCnmmlil an) 
Dmturd RJLC. R.ihf ...... 

Lords o( The ftiimg Sun 
Left Ninja l — 


AMIGA 500 

Wfl 14 K 4 Uart 13 Tutorill Etfra i. MwJ* anal Manuala. 

£36896 

AMIGA BOO 

AS above + 10 Game Peck end Photon Plaint 

t»J 6 

AMIGA 500 + 10 WS 

Colour Monitor Pack Inc ID Free Gamea^oton Paint 

ci$oo 

MkHtoohreme Monitor 

B 9 .M 

1084 * 

Colour Monitor. 

£ 249 ® 

512 A EXPANSION 
+ Clock Card 

EBttf 

EXTERNAL DRIVE 
Cumena 1 Megabyte D.S, 

»Jt 

ATARI 520 STFM 

Mouse, Manual!, Basic and Language Disc. 
£24395 

ATARI 520 STFM POWER PACK 

2 D Gem**, Busin eta Organiser, 1 st Batk, Mwle 
Maker and Joystick 

£349 85 ] 

ATARI 1 W 0 STFM 

With Modulator. Mouse and Manuals - 

ATARI 520 STFM BUSINESS PACK 

At above with Database, Spreadsheet, 
Wordptooaaaor and 5 T Beale. 

£448 95 

ATARI SCI 22 * 

Colour Monitor. 

OStJfB 

ATARI SMI 24 

Monodhrom a Monitor. 

(ASM 

EXTERNAL DRIVE 
Cumin* 1 Megabyte D.S- 
£ 108 * 



... — 5T, rt ^. 

wae a 


.1139 

.^1539 


13® - 

- ,15-99 

MirraprtT# Koooor .. . 

... „„ .,..15.® 

15® 


is.® 

. ....15.® 

JfJ 

ii? qa 

1359 

Miirr1#r in VsrHC't 

1J5.SS 

— ™„„ 16-® 


1599 

...15® 

fdinifl Wirrkir 

13® 



13 99 

18® 


. „ IS® 

IS® 


Niuromintir 


..17.99 

..1649 


0 p Ati on T huHid % f bo ft .j . .. 

L t3® ., ■■■, 

„,16.» 


ID® .... . 

19.® 


lS.B 

15® 


.11® 

11® 


..15,® 

IS® 

PHb Of Radiance 

.. 17.® 

(7.M 


Populous „ 

Papulous Data 0«*u ^3® ■■■ 

PowefdfSraii 17/99 ■■■ 

Precious Maul (CwipaiCenl _„^.__16.® ... 

Ptemiar CoHatlien [CmnpilaB&nj 1|® - 

Parson il MuTHmara 1399 

Pr*SitHr_ ™ V18B - 


.... 9.99 
... 1 7.99 
,„lt® 


..19,99 

, 16 .® 



is® 

15 ® 


13 ® 

15 ® 


, ta m 

...... 15 ® 


. 16 .® 

IS.® 

Pin Ic- Stilton _ _ 

,...1399 

13 ® 


IS® 

IS® 


13 .® 

13 ® 

Deis lor Tkna B if d 

11 ® 

13 ® 

.. . 11 ® 

15 ® 


... 13 .® . 

16 .® 

y 'SinBVTDU r 

. . 15 .® 

15 ® 


..... 13 ® — ■ 

18 ® 


IE 09 

11 .® 

Si m T"h a R i ia nfi®f 

13 .® 

16 ® 


15 .® 

IS® 

Riinhnu, IttlluU ... 

. .. 15 .® 

ts.w 


Jqyitfck £*tandera 
4 Player Adaptors 


£SS& 
£5.95 
£5 8fi 


ilgaMo 
Holder + Met 
ST Mouse + 

Holder * Met 
Cheetah 1?5 Joystick £6.95 


£29 9S 


Konly Navigator 
Joystick 

pra 5000 Joystick 

Pro 5000 Clear 
Pro 5000' Extra 
Disc atoraga Box 40 
CilC storage BOX 50 
Dual Covers 


£11.95 
£11.95 
£12-95 
£13.95 
£5.95 
£7 95 
£595 



13® 

13® 

Sill C K, 

19.® 

19® 

Sp4SdtHi-lt 

.,..13® ,---— 

13® 


13® 

„13® 

Stim _ AA ,j W - — 

13® 

13.® 

ftnWr — ■ 

...._ 17.® - 

..... 17® 


.13 M .... 

-..,13.® 


13® 

13® 


13® 

19® 

^ ytff.il 

13® 

4HH*~ll.M 

Stave Divii Snookar 

ST 0 S 

13® 

.13® 

19® ._ 


fkiinr ■B-m Car 1 If P AJHnUiVticWkl 

17® 

13® 




m® 

e^nhh “ "" 11® 13.® 


£t?lK Fighting Man 

Scroll .„ 


...... 13.98 .. 

_ 1 LH 


Sword Gf Twitight 

Slarwir-i Com piSidoi 


13.® 
. ILK 
... 17® 


.15 99 
...1599 

19 ® 

16 ® 


CHEQUES AND POSTAL ORDERS PAYABLE TO SOFT SELL 
ERS POST AND PACKING FREE IN UK. OVERSEAS FI 50 per 
Hern. Subject to avrtitrtbi lity and price chgng.D withdill 
notice. Not nil lilies released attune e»l flomg to press. 

I Shop prices may vary, bin pcnonal callers can claim 
advertised discounts on production ol Cut otf slip. 


Supir Wumlerboy 

11® 

If p 

.... 1B.3S 

..,.19® 

Sleeping God Ua . . .... 

...15® 

...15.® 

liiifj f rfftm niifmni 

.^..,.1S« 

._.16,» 

r 1 # g 4. |TiiHfTl|l®lU4inp murr-m— -n — 


..16.® 


IE H 

11® 

Trivial Ptneiit jfi mlty Editiori f ™ 

— - 

IS® 

1VH 

iMihrehaNe*'" - - ...ll® - IS® 

7 1599 li.® 

mS.lT ‘ ” lS® .15® 

10® 10.® 

VwrmrtniTtir — 

15.® 

13,® 

13® 

Watartoo — «« 

WJEC,UMan* — 

15.® 

13.98 

... IS® 
. 16.9 

Kanaphribi , — 

V 7 . 

IIS — ‘ 

16® 

ji- utou . .....13® 13® 


TITLE 

COMP 

COST 





















^ 3 Jb & TOTAL COST £ 







Name...™ 

Address.. 



33 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1939 



17Bit Software 


PO Box 97, Wakefield WF1 1XX, England, 
s 0924 366982 


★ Amazing PD Discs! ★ ^ hbl 0 ■ That bit better than the rest! 

* Amazing Disc-Magazines! * J w M MJ m For the very best Amiga PD 

* Superb PD Packs ★ I M I I Only the best material used, 

it Massive User-Group * B JL Satisfaction Guaranteed! 


Now there are in excess of 500 17Bit PD discs to 
choose from! Catalogue-disc just £1.50!!! 

AVAILABLE NOW FROM 1 7BFT 

The music creation pack featuring music composing utilities by Brian Postma 
and Andreas Tadic, both programs rival "Soundtracker” for both use and 
features... these two amazing discs plus two discs containing hundreds of 
instruments for use with either program. Plus the latest issue of Newsflash' 
the J7bit/UGA Disc-Magazine. Plus membership to 17Bit. Plus the very latest 
up-to-date catalogue disc. All this (6 discs and membership) for the 
incredible price of just £15 (inc P&P). 


17Bit Software, PO Box 97, Wakefield WF1 XXX, England. 
Tel 0924 366982 (Ansaphone after 5.30pm) 

Music pack available to current 17Bit members for just £10 (does not include disc-mag or membership) 


j 


Track Computer Systems 
Authorised Amiga 2000 Dealer* 

To Avoid Grey Imports Buy Only 
From Official Dealers* Full Brochure Available* 




Hardware 


full technical support on all sales by mMMODORE trained sTafv 

Amiga Hard Drives 

Amdrivc 30 Mb £399 

Amdrive 50 Mb £475 

Commodore ASM 20Mb £399 
Vortex 40 Mb £573 

Tnck Drive SO Mb £740 

S upt* 30 Mb £699 

Supra 60 Mb £11,99 

A 2000 Duvet 

litiptCE poa 

Hand Drive Controllers 

Track Control £169 

(inc hec) SCSI 

ANY SCSI DRIVES CONVERTED 


We pride ourselves on our excellent service 
Please call into our shop or phone us anytime for sales or 
advice* Our trained staff will he only too pleased to help. 

HOW TO ORDER TRACK PRODUCTS 

Mike Cheques. PdbUI Orden. B anken Draft* payable lo Trick Computer Syrtani. 
All pried ut fully inclusive of VAT A po*u.ge, We site ofFo credit, pleoe phone. 

LINES OPEN UNTIL 9pm WEEKDAYS 
0773 53I99I 0860 639081 

FAX 0773 765721 


Commodore !0S% £240 

Mira C MSS 33 £240 

StwLClOCblflitf £225 

SistLjCIO £169 

Estemil Floppy Drive £95 

Combiicc BMo populated 2Mb £599 

B&W ScinncrinE Sodwne £229 

Grcyacile Steaitrter itoc Software £344 

Digl View Gold V3 £129 95 

PaMd Palette £1650 

Control Centre Els over A5Q0 £49.95 

5 1 2 & RAM (very fast) Eipinsisii £ 1 49 

Xe im 4020 kk Jet Prnn* £1400 

Supetpie £599 

Full range of hardware for nil formats 
Please call for out extensive Hpxhure 


TRACK COMPUTER SYSTEMS, SYSTEMS HOtjSE, 
IX BRAEMAR AVENUE. EASTWOOD 


Callers Welcome for special opening offers 
at our new shop 
Blacksmiths Yard, Sadler Gate, Derby DEI 3FD 


Prettal 
Word Perfect 
WP Library 
[«kirim 
Kind Wadll 
Tvowrllc I 
Award Milner Win 
BAD Dlik Oprlmlur 
BBC tin Ulster 
Butcher 

t.illsjtjuputr 1.BS 
CL limit 
fTygniu U PrcT 
Dlikwkfc 
MU M«t*r 
tKri hkOua 
llrnie Accoanli 
werwlnikiwi 2,5 
Pr^Jtrt D 
QiurtirbHt 

Superback 

T*U Ed mill 

Vlrm Infecilwi Protection 

K.Cop, 

Amlklt 

Annl£adM Tooilwa 


14641 K Spread 2 
fiw MhIfIsh Plua 
IH. Pi |t fetter 
I1M Prorculnu] Pipe 

IfJAJ pytill.hrrf Chflkw 
tH.il AniEiulDf'linatH 

134.74 Impact 

134.74 Camk .^fUr 
HW3 Dnipi ID 
IK.H Dlglpalnt 111 
ITS. II Farm ■ In Flight 2 

134.74 Movk SiUcr 
iTS.il Ptc Video Fins (Pal) 
£34.74 Pro Video Plua Font Set 1 
£43,43 Prc Video Plua Font Set 2 
<34.74 Scvipl 3D tPelj 

116.04 it-ulp( 3D Ac limit (fel) 

1 40. S3 Sculpt 4I> 

IJ4.74 The Director 
<43,43 Tht Blrwtor Toolkit 
145.65 Super Sue Prete«l*ul 
£52. 1 3 TV Trft (Pal) 

134.74 TV Shew (Pal) 

126.04 Video iriTKtl 3D 
tK^S Video Generic MaHer 
£43.43 Video Wipe Mi iUt 
134.74 C-Ula 


£5113 

1130 

144LS2 

1316 

1S9.PI 

iw.oa 

£55.™ 

£43.43 

I49J2 

£SAM 

£104 

MU 

t3lT 

£S6.FI 

HA.M 

run 
13 Of 
<364 
15113 
£24.04 

an 

UfLB3 

W4L11 

£139 


Delude ProduaMIcef 
Deluxe Mink Curat Set 
Deiujw PHolo Lab 
■Super twfr fTriMUi 1 
Deluxe Paint 111 
Deluxe Print IJ 
Deluxe V ideo 
Deluxe Pilot IL'D Print I 
Small Bui Am Plua 

JSCutpl 4DJur lor 
P»*r Flipper FX (Pi ft 
IbioLon Paint 11 
Zuetrnpe (PsJ) 

Interfoni 
(3a Is Retrieve 
M krrfkhe Filer 
Data Relrleve Prof 
Mlcrofklw Filer Pin# 
Argil Draw 2 MM) 

X rad Deilgner 
Profifilwul Draw 
Pro Board 
Pro Net 
ADrum 
MukK 
VDriliee 


Fa££ 


£111 

UILB4 

«flL(4 

fas.*! 

iff. 54 

44147 

UAU 

UAft 

1115 

Il« 

lice 

<71.21 

IS4.fl 

rn.fi 

IStl.WJ 

Iifl.51 

UI7 

ms 

£135 

lM.fl 

im 

iiTj 

I1W 

I3A74 

ll» 

I] H 

£fr7.5f 




Full demonstration facilities available 
Hardware & Software 

To enable YOU to make the RIGHT decision* 


512K RAM Latest Spec ONLY £99.95 


EVERY PRODUCT NOT IN STOCK 
IS USUALLY AVAILABLE NEXT DAY 

Acquisition 1 .3 rrp £249 Track Special £99 
Professional Page, Clip Art, Templates 
np £349 Track Special £212 

Offer applied while pack* 3ul 



Nuvamber 19R9 AMIGA COMPUTING 39 







Personal callers welcome 
Opposite Fulham Broadway 
Tube Station - District Line 


SK MARKETING 

► ► ► COMPUTER SUPPLIES 4 4 4 

10 Fulham Broadway, London SW6 1AA 


LONDON’S LEADING 

-<Mmbga 

DEALER 


AMIGA HARDWARE 


AMIGA 500 + 
FREE SOFTWARE! 

* Amiga S00 + TV Modulator 

* Nebulus * Eliminator 

* Custodian * Power Play 

* Mercenary I * Zynaps 
rt Helfbernt * Knight Ore 

* Shy Fighter * 4 PD Games 

* Fantastic* F3 Joystick 

* Amiga Dustcover + Mouse 
Mat 

ONLY £369 Inc. VAT! 


COMPARE OUR PRICES BEFORE ORDERING 
FOR U NBE ATAB LE OFFERS! ! 

Export, Govern merit and Educational orders welcome 

Amiga 5Q6 

Including:- 

, Mot**, Workbench, Utllklee. Menual*. 
Tutorial, Modulator 

SKM price £34* 


AdWKtod Amiga BASIC 

Arrtga 3D Gmpftka Ptog BASIC ... 
Amga Applfctowi 

-n,5 18,46 
£16.06 

AMIGA 500 * 

cdcc anEYUume 

Ami^a AE5*mt>7 Lang Prpg .. 

Arrtga BASIC lr»ld* A Out 

£13,90 

£■0 95 

Arrdga C tot Begin n*'* ,, , 


1084 Stereo Colour Monitor 

Ahiga DOS IimMb A Out 

Amga DOS Manual 

El 8.45 
££2,96 

£509 Inc VATI 

Airiga DOS Quick Ref«r*ncQ 

Aniga DOS Rd Guide 

£13.95 

£14.95 


All Prices Incl VAT 
Carriage Free/Mail Order 
immediate Despatch 


LbUMtlD:U,l.l,l*IBffl5H 


AnifTsador/lmagae . 
Animator .. 


- EM.95 


-0955 


DOT MATRIX PRINTERS 


AS«3 £0MS Hand Orta m „.^£374 r ® 

Vwita 4D@M Hard drive „ £329 

Pnllipe aeaa Meniw £239 95 

Commodore 1QB4S Cod, Monitor E25955 

A5Q1 Ram E ipantincuCtocK. . .... £ 124.06 

Commodore A 101 Q 3.F Drh*,.„ „ ESfl Q0 

Cumena CAS 354 3,5' Orta * PSU pga 05 


COMMODORE 
AMIGA 2000 

A Latest 62000 Model 
* 1 084 S Cdour Stereo Mortiisr 
★ 20Mb Hard Disk 
* PC-XT Britfgeboarrf with Floppy 

ALL ONLY £1495 


CQMPUTtHPRWTFRS 

Slar LK1 0 M uBItom Print** • £195 

Slar LClO Conjur Printer — C213 

Sla/ NX 1 5 1 2ttps 30n|ql 36oot EZ&9 

Star LC24-10 Least 2* Pin Machine C3» 


EAfctA&ONC PRrN TF fts 
Panasonic KX-P1124 

Draft - iSOCpa. NLO - S3 cp* £305 

Panasonic KX-PllSO 

Draft - 13Sq». NLX -3sepa Etgo 


CONTROL CENTRE 

IntlajTtJjfiranfform tour Arnica 500 Into an 
A 1 QQOvOOO 'look a l.k*f- wthioyt any modifr 
Milan » the carputw. Sinply flip the 
'conlrol □Bfimo' war ihe Am«a 500 and bn 
[Maw d fe* colour mafleft and contour 

- Hide* untidy conrwtlona * rear tri AS OO 




£44.95 


htofcii dttk drlvw, genlocks eta. 

* Easy access 10 (oyf tick pan* 

* MwiltDf sits about A SCO 


Arrdga DisX DrhfM Inside 4 Oul .£27.95 

Arriga Gd Gtaptm Sound Teteeo £17.45 

Arriga HandtooA ttSJW 

Anig* Ha/*rar* Rad Manual ff R .frS 

AJTija Intuition fled Manual E22.95 

Andrei Machine Lang (Stride £19.05 

Amiga Machine Language Cl 4.95 

Amiga Mcraaeh Basic Prog. Guide £18,45 

Amiga Prog Handbook Vol 1 £23.95 

Amga Prog Handbook VoL 2 £23.95 

Amiga Programmers Glad* „,. H £16.95 

Amiga Programme! Guido £16.45 

Amiga ROM Kamel Raf Man Exec £22.06 

Arrig* ROM Kamel Ref Mon Lb , rag 

Arrtfla Sytlam Programmers Guide .... £32.95 

Amiga. TncAt and Tqpi ■— £14_S5 

Amiga l« Deginruri ......,,.£12.06 

Becoming an Aniga AiTiBl £18.45 

Beginner* Guide to the Amiga —.El 6.05 

Confute'* Fsi Book of Amiga — m ,„,..£i6.95 

CorrpurWi 2nd Book o! Amiga ^,£16.06 

Elemental? Am^ga BASIC — £14.05 

inside Amiga Graphic* .,£10,95 

InaJdB the Amiga wfthG gnd Ed «... £20,06 

KJdatan Guidato lha Amiga „„„.fia.96 

K*h A th« Amifla ..„£is.9S 

More Tip* 6 Trteki lw Amiga E1B.45 

Progwnmari Guide 10 the Amiga C23.06 


Afllmaof 3D — pguag 

Comic Setter , ,M4 0ft 

Draw Pit* 149.96 

Deluxe Paint II — £ 49.05 

Deluxe Palm III C64.9S 

Deluxe Pthc 2 £ 39.95 

Deta» Mimic Const ruci km „._^£(W.i 6 

Dek«a ProdudHoos — £ 06.05 

Deluxe Phodolab £fi* 05 


Deluxe Video 

Dglvtew Gold 


GH A Basic intarpreier „ 

Hisoft Devpat V? 

Hlaoft Lattice C 

l-fome Acoounla 
Impact,. 


,, ft 30. 05 
....£40,95 
..-.£42,95 


Inatanl Music „ 


.. C54.0S 
-£21.05 


K-Spwad l| .£40.95 

K-Data T ....... P4 05 

K -Gad got ..... £19^95 

K-Texi El* 96 

.... — ^£3195 


Kind Wwd*_ 

Mallahol ,, LI . E21 05 

Mailshot Pij* — ’"fAfiy 

MCC AssemtHer , 6*9.« 

WOC PaecW -,- ;iu ,„ ES7.96 

Photon Pain! £ 49.96 

Photon Paint 2_., E540S 

PftXext £g4 B6 

Publishera Choice £ 74.95 

Seut* 3D £70.00 

Sonlx — 09.95 


--E54.&5 


LEISURE SOFTWARE 


Superbjse Personal — v u 1 1 

Superb** Personal II E&siftS 

SuperbH Pjofaselmai — 

Superplan E80.05 

W«tal — £ 100.95 

— — — — £90.95 

Wordpertect £i 59.95 

idatrap (5 In 1 package) £70,06 


2^*“* 

FSfilar ,£14*) 

Atfvanod BU a full tar .... _£14® 

*Hn Jcgipn — ElfljBO 

Mm Mam „..eu.M 

*^5- EH* 

Xrmon It „ f 14 95 

4ikkic4 l EiSM 

AraxiiTh* w«1tf n H biyr EUSfi 

AjttrWi .(tug 

S2 — — ni« 

Bmna a Pwr IEV0 (riSec 

_ti«0 

lirtiMnin Pitta _ r t J 84 

£53S tae» E I tns- 

;***Tdi; C1AA4 

Rmbtet; £1 Ms 


□tutor DngcPi ... 
Dragon. L«r 

DraUfiBi 
Drifeir . 


tHJO 
C11.DS 
-fiuo 
El 3 DC 
. fl&tO 
OJDS 
E1SM 
EKBO 
-EI4AS 


[Xripan khsiu- 

tkr’g™ tawr t*tr 

tit* 

EnenttbthX [1 <h 

weep - fi i» 

IV Six* Hi Fir lu .pin 

FM* r £1M| 

FkfewiiMmnfilAt „,__,_(140 b 

HmimMi'Uuxi Ota £ 545 * 

FtrurlfumJi j £1MS 

fie * Fwwi — Pin 


kxtoxtoJettj Cn*ta ■ -- fu« 

...— ft AM 

Inlsmrton* SajEtf £14 % 

IW Trader EHW 

*!* — — EM* 

M*fe to Outrun 

*tai, — EI7.II 

Jantote ._...p?4| 

ANirMyopto nrti __BH( 

fata fii ? _ ™£1 1 Vi 

WA» iij» 

XmaArew PI4S 

K*tg nr OlEaas 

kUB ftjiiia hdt £1746 

<WtPlQ* Pi 91 

Mttf — — „tim 


I^rfi* hkxn Day 


— mso 

El74i 

— ..... £1745 

£1M( 

_,n74i 

— ns jo 

E1J» 

— fis.De 

.....AMD 

__„ne« 
- — E17A5 
-ElfM 
i' r 4 sa 


UwDen BrkxAu pj* 

Strt th™ wend aia*ir __dljg 

Story 80 FU1M | „„£1 5 *) 

EtadRgitor — E1T45 

Stop £1*85 


bxtnarapntoari 
fe*ai H^Cu .. 


Bwcma to Taught .. 


0 . 1 ( 1 = Quen ..£1745 

El?.« 

P7.4S 

Bermudi p«tod £1T4£ 

Bella r Dtirl Thui Alan P)» 

taOiaitngi...^. £1590 

Surte dxrnnmfc £IUI 

[10 99 

. P74t 

&kMl IAm*y..._ 

g2ggnz z:Sf* 

MXmliCimu _ _P4» 

Ciptan Bine __ — PiM) 

CipliMFux.. P0 84 

□■rnrCuiwntt* ,_...PS SO 

CtoW toirrwi — PT4S 

Cft«*taiMte(3dt E 1 5 DO 

Olid Bbtoct. Sfdt ti s h> 

GMEtaeFItoft £it«0 

n»umi«1« 70QO Clfk? 

CNago « pi'jg 

aeettofag|l„ .„£uati 

Cnui&inua ™„.,DJ*3 

Cmaukrihl PS 90 

t— -UAH 

CnmePirdri 

C«y&« £14 « 

Cruy i,in 2 r £1690 

Cuitatton PASS 

Diqr TToaeun ___ n &5D 

bAUfll* 

iXiWx to ft* Can BOn 

ggSl;, UAH 

tilpWJI El 5 DO 


flltoll &--nu»1ar ! 


„.QOt 


MtoNI Mange I 2 . PGJ5 

Fototol htarigrr 2 £l ]« 

FetndiAaw tarto .... 

GXHfc Caquiror pj K 

CSikaprai Dfflw tiijti 

tune* Wntir Eetton ... iu.DO 

tetWH — ,£1*91 

(»**„ £1745 

Camtkt II ... P7,;( 

PptaWtos™,..^ pise 

ER Oimxwintoj Pwtbtor ,.P7IS 

*55 oi oo 

£13 SO 


Unkrtart Bltob pi.45 

UWA n tytf 

Ugwd al tk gamt nml „PU* 

U«wi fitot Lififji P*4S 

tatswi Stolliriy ? .uses 

Uw» to m fiS DO 

totartiucedfy _*t!J0 

Lc«tt to Eh* FKam Sm .... pc « 

ttoTrtmrtar po« 

MuiiWuCSkBi JUiiiiSoi: ... £ia&5 

toyW Sgt^ mm 

M-MA6W — 

El] BO 


itotoOnitto alO.ikwTnnfi . R4N 

5*3 — USM 


TitoraCag . 
tirrarrmJt _ 


. P3« 
tins 
... t' 1 9o 
.PLOD 
PDW 
£17 DO 
^£KF» 
,._£«» 
EG* 

£l4 DO 



—PI* 
— P4» 
£lEJ0 

Tnlprtn H ... 

I Bf 45 

C2QLB0 

flitwii to tic 

IhilmtMxto 

... .£11*0 

Htto Define 

TTitedr 

pi go 

Hted Bfaslira 

tliH 

^Hrrtirhta 


Bradwm 

P4« 

Tine « Itoga .. 

“~zr"S!S 

Kralltl*** 

— PS* 
DO BO 

Hint) to Ln 

PS 80 

Hdkm Oxntof 

. El 7D0 
_..PAH 

£1 7.* 

TmrolftM. 

P7.41 

flAin 

Aanantfc (ncwraiii <lim 
Aixi luGjudat 

Tratoiultov^ 

m Pi* 

kirgw III Cum 

... ElVH 




PSJ« 


1 IMITCT 


T« . . ‘ 

. E17* 

Tiwliiflynto* 

-fit* 

TVSnchirntoMI 

£19.H 

LUtome* 

£HM 

UfMHtoUHkry tobtoi ...£li|)0 

UiBMW 

, pi BO 

Vldhiifc 

hi k 

'Uin.i =.n it 

Vtan 

£18* 


, £17 ,46 

WrtAe ■ 

. P D DO 

MrlnUndtoHrli 

£13* 

kVl lodu. jj«1 

. £l)DS 

Wtoitf .. 

H7H 

Wlntsr Oymped 

Cta.fls 

Wiard wua 

PT4S 

WiJM ..._ 

. EIT4S 

WDiUCtatiUatortHwH 

EU« 

World Taj-** 

■£12*S 

KHWfl III 

(itn 

HexnBhca* 

PAM 


btMt Ctlton 

^urStof 


_P7*i 

VIM 

PM5 

- £1SH 


WdtnyM 


Odd Hih _ 


drmd Pfm Q^PJI 

CtoVtoNliMd ^ p i eo 

Gu'diP' — J1DDS 

Htrtey* _p*90 

s**"'- £’J« 

mktmfu „pob 

Hutas to Bit Linoi P74S 

Nrum aw __ nsoo 



leundtoBh^ta tlUt 

KiTUn UIuq Ukiini PI DO 

MuriFe n*d Oclobir pus 

. £17.41 


tog* Mnue&ta f*, 

MgMradlf 


-E1BS0 
... ElBK 
,., £1L« 
£80.50 
— PCM 
..P7.4S 
..CUBE 

ns.od 


bnm^totntatoe 

MF#wni 

Hum. dim. 


■■■■tPI.EO 
fl S.BO 
■ P5B0 
£14* 
■ PC* 
ti4ja 
PS DO 


LIMITED OFFERS 


Ferocflrt WnrtJi . 


* Hlral. hut ... 


...PI* 

— PUD 

- CI71S 


£14* 

— £1*95 
— PUS 
-,.,PKJ0 

-PS90 

*n4WftadHKtoe £14* 

OAfan toinm P*jg 



0D«i»«il*W P74( 

<A*to : — „ffRM 

_.ps* 
u PM0 

USM 

.. niso 

PAM 


Sim fou Hlnur , 


HlQISf -- 

tofftm* 

Mp Blraen 

8<™™r%a 
Hgaia Quut; 


PA* 

£16.40 

..tiBes 

LtllH 

-PSW 

...P7fl0 

cues 


pobo 
- ia« 

flS.DO 

,_P0» 

eh go 

6« Bbri 177% 

IMW u.^ CIOM 

CwtogCmd Pm _P?5 

LM'rtgB — E77S 

Lnianai p DM 

ta* RulMBagH^mH 

faleid Dtory .....fu* 


ko*a A 

mSm- 


— £S4! 

— 

....pj* 

-Paso 

,...PD.« 

.ElZJK 

POM 

-PQM 

-EM* 

..EI0H 


Pmoito torarmii 


f 1)95 

PCM 

-,UT,4& 

— P74S 

nr*i 

£U» 

- PS* 


01-381 6618 

(24 Hour*) 
Caller* Welcome 
Fax No, 01 Ml 052® 


ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT/CARRIAGE FREE 

All pete** ar* eubjact to ehangw without further notice. All good* subject to evailability 













What you’ll find 
on our cover disc 


♦****££ 

* °888p 


" Ask 



Cave Runner 


O OCCASIONALLY 

sociDDne writes a 
truly amazing game, A pro- 
gram which is so fantastic 
that it sits beside the com- 
puter at all times. A game 
which gets played for years , 
Tetris, Elite, Manic Miner - 
mention any of these to a 
fanatic and watch his eyes 
glaze oven 

Mention Bouiderdash to 
our editor and his fingers 
twitch with excitement. It's 
the only game he's got up in 
the middle of the night to 
play. 

So when a distinctly 
Bolderdashish game called 
Cave Runner came in, 
Simon [the Ed) decided that 
he ought to test it. Testing 
took the Form of three weeks 
exhaustive playing. And he 
still hasn't finished It, 

There are 26 screens. You 
must whizz around each of 
them collecting the star- 
shaped jewels. The amount 
you have left to collect is 
shown on the top line. Pick 
up enough and the screen 
will flash. Head for the near- 
est yellow exit square to 
move to the next level 
before the meanies get you. 

Cave Runner is truly 
addictive, Have you over 


TRUE go men players won't 
read this bit , huf some 
a d vice on the tougher tasks 
always goes down well. The 
second screen, Song, has all 
the diamonds you need, but 
you can score points by 
dropping jewels on the pur- 
ple peril. 

The first tough cove is 
Blow Out, screen D, You 
only have a limited time , 
which means faking some 
risks, picking up some jew- 
els while others are falling. 

Dig through to the rock 
above and to the left of the 
bombs. Clear all three lines 
of earth from there to the 


played Tetris? This is worse! 
Your brain goes into autopi- 
lot when you stop and you 
lie in bed awake solving 
Caves in your head. 

There are two types of 
monsters. Avoid or kill to 
survive. Purple meanies are 
stupid. They move in 
straight lines and arc easily 
avoided. The groenie mea- 
nies are smarter. They run 
around the edges of walls. 
The best thing to do if you 
come across a monster is to 


next rock to the left. Then 
release the bombs . 

The bubbles will rise , float 
into the meanies and show- 
er back as jewels. As soon as 
you have 99 red baubles * 
hot -foot it to the exit. 

The clue to Enigma is that 
bombs blast meanies , so 
you'll have to figure out a 
way to clear a path to the 
bombs without getting 
eaten. 

Path of Doom and Spiral 
are good places to practice 
precision moves, a skill 
you 7/ need far Bun Babbit 
Bun . 


run away. Very fast. 

[f you feel brave you can 
try' to kill them. As you dig 
subterranean tunnels you 
will happen across rocks 
and jewels. Drop one of 
these on a meanie and it 
will he zapped, turning into 
nine jewels as a result. On 
many of the screens this is 
the only way to collect 
enough jewels. 

The inanimate denizens of 
the underground are strange. 
Bubbles float to the top of 
the screen when released. 
These kill purple meanies, 
which die in a shower of 
jewels, but just get eaten by 
green ies. 

Yellow changers turn ris- 
ing bubbles into falling 
rocks, falling rocks into jew- 
els and jewels into rocks. 
Bombs kill green ies and 
explode if dropped. This 
will take out all but the 
tough walls. 

Fungus doesn't appear 
until well into the game. 
The blohby coloured globs 
pulse effectively. They will 
grow, engulfing and destroy- 
ing monsters, filling the 
earth, making a distressing 
whining noise all the while. 

Small areas of trapped 
fungus turn into jewels, 
areas over 100 squares 


which get trapped inside 
walls turn into rocks, 
although this is a rare occur- 
rence. And if the fungus 
grows to 256 squares, it 
explodes into nothingness. 
Watch out for falling jewels, 

If you get trapped by the 
funguses, press T to advance 
the time and end the screen. 
Press Q if you want to quit. 
P lets you visit the bathroom 
- and you thought it stood 
for Pause. 

Amigo Computing is priv- 
ileged to have such a profes- 
sional game on the cover 
disc, It was written in pure 
machine code by Rudi 
Martin and Neil Cooper, 
third year computing stu- 
dents at Glasgow University, 
with help from Gaz Dickson, 
who designed a lot of the 
screens as well as making 
silly suggestions, Gaz has 
just finished his second year 
of an electrical engineering 
course. 

They got their Ami gas It, 
6 and 4 months ago, Neil 
has had a Spectrum and 
Amstrad 4G4 before and 
Rudi a Spectrum for about 
five years. The Amiga is 
Gaz’s first computer. 

Well done lads, we can't 
wail to see your next offer- 
ing. 


Caves to be careful in 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 41 






COVER DISC / COVER DISC / COVER D 




Track Record 



I F your interests include 
fast cars, bendy roads 
and Sweden, then not only 
are you very strange but you 
are also in luck because here 
is a brand new hot-off-the- 
press FD game dealing with 
at least two of those sub- 
jects. 

Starting off somewhere in 
the north of Sweden, fabled 
home of Abba and Volvos, 
and ending up down at the 
bottom, you can choose to 
race at any one of 10 tracks. 
Using a Joystick, move the 
flag up and down the tracks 
and press Fire to see that 


highlighted circuit (it will 
load from disc). Push the 
Joystick right to the Go posh 
tion and press Fire to play 
that track,. 

Control of the car is by 
joystick only. Hold Fire and 
push forward to accelerate, 
pull back to brake, In order 
to maintain some sense of 
adventure here, well leave 
you to work out how to steer 
left and right by yourselves. 

Due to typical interven- 
tion by the Norse gods, some 
of the tracks are icebound , 
which w T ill seriously effect 
your traction. Your tyres 


will no longer grip the tar- 
mac like gunmetal magnets. 

Other problems to get to 
grips with are the usual 
assortment of bends, sneaky 
chicanes and the odd spot of 
astroturf that someone 
seems to have left lying 
around. 

All races are against the 
clock, with the best times 
for each track kept and 
saved to disc for posterity 
when yon quit. Times are 
counted in some strange 
units which defy being relat- 
ed to anything meaningful. 
This may explain a few 
things about Sweden, 

So if you want fun excite- 
ment and really wild things 
then join the Romanian 
Cossacks, But if you want to 
bum rubber, play this. 

Track Record was written 
in Lattice C ( v 5,02 ) by 
Anders Bjerin, who is resid- 
ing in Richmond at the mo. 
We wanted to pay him 
money for the game, but 
Anders wants it in the pub- 
lic domain, Tt hurls to lose 
the money," he says, 'since I 


The 

heavy 

demo 

H oly zarquon. the 

singing fish are in 
the demo! This month the 
hard working folyon Ralph 
shows the less enlightened 
how to use sprites - a 
whole teaming shoal of the 
things. 

The demo gets its name 
from the heavy music track 
written by Steve Hogg, 
Hook it up to your hi-fi 
NOW. 



The scrollv seems to have 
been designed to give you 
retina damage. We assure 
you that can read it if you 
concentrate hard enough. 

Finally, which of Jolyon's 
demos would be complete 


without spurious comments 
about Poland? You too will 
be able to make mysterious 
remarks about Pastern Bloc 
countries if you follow his 
tutorials and examine the 
source code on this disc. 


42 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 


TRACK RECORD is truly 
public domain software , 
No payment is asked or 
expected in return. You 
may copy and distribute 
this program freely, but 
may not exchange it for 
money without prior per- 
mission from Anders 
Bjerin , whose copyright 
the program remains . 


would then be able to buy a 
video digitiser. Maybe I'm 
crazy." 

Your not crazy, Anders, 
just extremely philanthrop- 
ic, Can’t wait to see v2, by 
the way. 


Wow! 



L IKE, hey man. If all I 
that arcade stuff is I 
leaving you feeling uncool 
and heavy, why not let your 
mind slip into something 
more mellow and get to 
grips with the Wow! experi- 
ence? 

Instigating this incredibly 
awesome sequence of 
psychedelic delights is sur- 
prisingly easy - just click 
on the most obvious icon. 
Turn on, tune in, but like 
hey brother, don’t drop out 
cos you’ll be needing some 
vague remnants of intelli- 
gence to work the controls, 

OK man, take a picture of 
this: Abandoned room, the 
Lights are down, listnin' to 
Meddle or maybe Dark 
Side. Get comfortable, look 
around, find your own 
ground. 

Now you will have to 
communicate with the 
mouse. The really cool cats 
may be able to use some 
astral inference or telekine- 
sis here, but for the more 
green and submarine you 
can just push it around, 
however much this may go 
against your tendencies 
tmvards non-aggression. 

Feel the vibes permeating 
your, for want of a more hip 
term, essence, 





—L 




11 

is 

>1 

IT 

0 

i- 

y 

if 

k 

i 

G 



E VERY now and then, 
space and quality of 
material permitting, we will 
be including some reader 
submissions of artwork in 
the Gallery - giving our tal- 
ented readers a chance to 
show off to their mates and 
become incredibly famous. 
We might even pay you. 

Following this philosophy 
we have three examples of 
the standard you will have 
to achieve. 

Messenger of Death is an 


atmospheric and highly 
detailed offering from Euan 
Sey in Bucks, He has an 
ASOO with extra memory, a 
1 084 5 monitor and uses 
Photon Faint and DPaint III 
for all his artwork. This 
amazing pic was produced 
with DPaint in 16 colour 
medium resolution mode. 

Next we come to the 
excellent Face of 88 from 
Jason Gee, Jason, who is 
studying at art college, pro- 
duced this wonderful por- 


trait to prove that you don't 
need a digitiser to get a life- 
like image. Drawn with 
DPaint III, interlaced and in 
32 shades of grey. 

Last up is a submission by 
Paul Smith of Twickenham, 
which we have called 
Shaken and Stirred. Paul is 
not very forthcoming on 
how he managed to produce 


this masterpiece so we can 
only guess. It is 16 colours, 
overscan and interlaced. 
That's it for this month s 
gallery. Don't forget if you 
have some work you’d tike 
to see on our cover disc, use 
the submissions form and be 
sure to include details about 
yourself and the equipment 
you use. 


DISC ,/ COVER DISC ,/ 





Vote! Vote! V 


OK. you've had four cover 
discs now, and we’ve had 
four chances to show you 
what we think you want, 

Every month there’s a 
huge box of demos, reader 
contributions and shareware 
to sort through. We want to 
know if we are rejecting the 
right ones. 

Score each category below 
from D (waste of space) to 10 


(gimme more). Below each 
category there is a cover disc 
example of the sort of pro- 
gram we are talking about. 
Please don't be a dunce and 
score the example program, 
it’s your marks for the gener- 
al category we’re interested 
in. 

It's your disc. Tell us what 
you want on it t and we ll do 
our very best to oblige 


When you feel the time is 
e right, press the left mou$e 

button. This will unleash a t 
shall we say, pictorial 
f expression of sound and 

b space stretching into infini- 

5 ty 

t Further manipulation of 

c the numbers on the key* 

board will allow you to 
change the basic elements 
of the screen + while your 
preference for some sort of 
environmentally aware pat- 
tern can be indicated via the 
1 function keys. 

Let the music flow 
t through you and through 

, I the mouse creating light 
i dreamy sequences, then 

rapidly change patterns and 
elements for a crescendo. 

For the totally ultimate 
experience, sell off all your 
flares to Oxfam and equip 



your pad with wall-to-wall 
monitors. Far out, 

Oh, and remember - don't 
put washing up liquid in it* 

The dude who created 
this cognisential interface is 
one Dug Bartham from 
Lincoln, who started out on 
the road to enlightenment 
with a ZXS1 aged 13. 

Since then he’s aged 
seven years, moved for a 
while to a QL, but now uses 
an expanded A500 which 
communes with a 
Centronics GLP printer. 

Dug's outlook on life is 
influenced by Fat Freddy's 
Cat and the yearning to ride 
a spadehead. He related his 
heavy concept to his Amiga 
with the help of Lattice C 
(v4 00), This his first ever C 
program. We dig, Dug, Real 
cool. 


Article tie-ins 

(Eg: Playing with Printers) 


□ 


Game pokes 

(Eg; Cheats for top games } 


□ 


Hacker demos 

(Eg; Zo wee, The Hqavy Demo) 

Reader submissions 

(Eg: Motion Maker, Cave Runner) 


□ 

□ 


Music to listen to 

(Eg; Erm. nothing as yet) 


□ 


Shareware CLI utilities 

(Eg: DiskSalv , Atree) 


□ 


Playable commercial 
games demos 

(Eg; Chariots of Wrath) 


□ 


Full shareware games 

(Eg; Hack Record} 


□ 


Gallery 

(Eg; Messenger of Death) 


□ 


Shareware applications 

(Eg: IconMoster, PowerPacker) 


□ 


Listings from the magazine 
(Eg; The Model Universe } 


□ 


Usable commercial 
applications demos 

(Eg: Pretext, Home Accounts } 


□ 


Fast your ballot form to: Cover Disc Survey, Amiga 
Computing r North House t 78-84 Ongar Road, 
Brentwood, Essex f CMis 9BG , To roach us by 
October 31. 


_ 


1 

November J9S9 AMIGA COMPUTING 43 



COVER DISC y COVER DISC V COVER I 


W HEN you need to 
copy a lot of files,, 
or even just one, aren't you 
appalled by the way the task 
can turn into a nightmare. 
Wrestling with the vagueries 
of AinigaDos, even for expe- 
rienced veterans, can be a 
major pain. This is just one 
of the areas where Atree can 
help. 

It is an advanced disc file 
management system which 
triumphs over other offer- 
ings in this field by its suit- 
ability for single and dual 
drive users as well as those 
lucky enough to have won 
hard drive competitions. 

It must be run from the 
CLL If you want you can list 
current devices as parame- 
ters and Atree will automati- 
cally take a directory of 
them. Perhaps something 
like this: 

Run Atree DFQ: RAM: 

You can type this into the 
CLI the cover disc leaves 
open for you. 

If you try to run Atree 
having booted off any disc 
other than the cover disc, it 
will respond with a 
requestor telling you it is 
unable to find an important 
file. This is because the file 
it requires needs to be in the 
SY3;S directory, in other 
words the S directory on 
your boot-up disc. 

Also saved in the configu- 
ration file are the paths and 
names for any utilities you 
might want to use with your 


files. This means you can 
combine file reading utili- 
ties and the like with Alree, 
using them without ever 
leaving the Atree environ- 
ment. 

For example, if you look 
in the menu Configs:5et 


of the program, telling it 
where various things should 
go, what colours to use and 
so on, rather like a mixture 
of a standard startup- 
sequence and Preferences, 
Details for setting up a 
config file are explained 



Paths under Text Reader 
you will see that we have 
entered Qview. Using the 
hot key F2 you can now 
read the currently highlight- 
ed file. 

There are slots for many 
applications such as IFF 
display programs and 
archive" utilities. 

The configuration file in 
question is Atree, config, 
which handles the startup 


fully in the documentation, 
but if you are happy with 
the way we have set it up 
then you can just copy the 
file from the S directory on 
the cover disc to wherever 
you need it 

One of the salient features 
of Atree is a graphical rep- 
resentation of the directory 
tree, displayed down the 
left hand side of the screen. 
Enabling you to view your 


Problems with your disc? 


4 IF you subscribe to 
Amiga Computing and 
your disc has been dam- 
aged in the post, please 
send it to: Database 
Direct , Amiga Cover Disc , 
FREEPOST , Ellesmere 
Port t South Wirrat L65 
3ER. You will be sent a 
new disc, 


• IF you are not a sub- 
scriber and your disc 
does not work, please 
send it - within two 
months please - to: 
Protoscan Ltd, Amiga 
Cover Disc, Burrei Road, 
St Ives , PB17 4LE , You 
will be sent a new disc 
with our compliments. 


4 IF you damage your 
disc - for instance if the 
dog has chewed it or your 
mum has washed it - you 
can get a new one by 
sending £1.50 to 
Protoscan Ltd. Please 
make your cheque or 
postal order payable to 
Protoscan Ltd, 


44 A MiG A COMPUTING November 1989 


directory structure at a 
glance, it will also provide 
the inexperienced with a 
valuable insight as to what 
is really happening on their 
discs. 

Meanwhile, down the 
right hand Side pf the screen 
is a list of the files in the 
currently highlighted direc- 
tory, Changing directories is 
achieved by clicking the 
pointer under the relevant 
entry in the graphical tree. 

This makes access to low- 
level directories faster and a 
lot easier, especially if you 
are in the habit of naming 
directories Even_more_stuff 
_Part_l , or whatever. 

One point to note here is 
that although Atree will 
recognise these long directo- 
ry names, they will be trun- 
cated to eight characters in 
the display. Similarly, file- 
names in the right hand side 
of the screen will be truncat- 
ed to 25 characters. 

This may seem like a bit 
of a limitation, but it makes 
the tree a lot easier to deci- 
pher, which is the whole 
point of the thing. 

Taking up at least 100k of 
memory, Atree may seem a 
bit of an extravagant waste 
of ram. But bear in mind the 
acres of features involved — 
although some of them are 
disabled in this demo (you'll 
get them when and if you 
register}. 

Basically you can do 
almost any kind of file 
manipulation you want. 
And since this is the main 
reason for using the CLi, 
much of the tedium can be 
bypassed. 

Manipulation of Hags and 
names and all of those sort 
of things is possible, all 
commands being performed 
on a single file, or if you 
prefer on a whole series of 
files which you have pre- 
pared earlier by "tagging" 
them. 

If you need a management 
system to find your way 
around the management sys- 
tem, you can set up to three 
place markers - very useful 
for flitting between the 
squalid depths of directories 
so deep they were consid- 













ered as the fourtli option for 
the Channel Tunnel. 

One of the features to 
watch out for is Prunes 
which will cut off the 
branch of the tree you are 
sitting on. Make sure you 
really want to do this. It 
saves time - you can delete 
a load of stuff all at once 
without having to go 
through and delete all the 
files in a directory first, but 
it also leaves you without a 
safety net. 

Atree is a very powerful 
utility, giving fast and easy 
access to all your files. Head 
the instructions on the cover 
disk and give it a go. It's 
more than a utility - it's a 
way of life. 


Don’t be a 

software 

sponger! 


THIS version of Atm 
supercedes version l.i 
and contains a great 
many of the future 
enhancements listed at 
the end of the doc file 
accompanying that ver- 
sion . However , most of 
the new routines have 
been rendered non func- 
tional - you will have to 
become a registered user 
to get the fully functional 
version of Atree Vl.3 . 

Atree is freeware at this 
time, ft may be freely dis- 
tributed. but not sold j by 
anyone , If you like it 
please support the author 
and become a registered 
user by sending $20 to: 
Don Schmidt, 9425 
Stanfield Court t Stockton , I 
California 95209 . 

A fully functional ver- 
sion of Atree vL3 will be 
returned to you. 
Registered users will he 
entitled to one free ver- 
sion update and to 
reduced mtes on all sub- 
sequent versions. 


mam 

COVER DISC 


R £ 1,000 


WE are always looking for original con- 
tributions for the Amiga Computing 
cover disc, ff you think something you 
have written or drawn is good enough 
to share with everybody else who reads 
the magazine, send it along and we will 
have a look. 

If we like what we see, it could earn 
you up to £1 ,000. 

Please let us know which files, if any, 
your submission needs from the 
Workbench disc. If it is clickable, feel 
free to design an original icon. But don't 
make it too big. And please use the 
standard Workbench colours. 

Bear in mind that a program which 
does not run on a 512k machine would 
have to be exceptionally good to make it 
on to the disc. 


Remember that Amiga Computing 
will only buy your work on an all rights 
basis. We are not prepared to buy the 
rights to programs which are already in 
the public domain or have been spread 
by any other means. 

Please enclose this coupon, or a pho- 
tocopy of it, with your submission. 
Include a file on the disc with full doc- 
umentation, your name, address, phone 
number and a few details about you and 
your kit. A mugshot would be nice, but 
isn't essential. 

Oon t forget to duplicate on the disc 
labe] the program name, your name, 
address and phone number, [f you want 
your disc back, enclose the correct 
amount in stamps. 


Name 

Address . 


-Age.,. years 


„ After . 


Daytime phono..,,,, 

Evening phone — 

Submission name Gr 

Submission size,,,, 

bytes in total 

NOTE: We will accept submissions up to 50Uk in total length, including 

tZTTT V h l Sh ° lter ^ ur submission, the better chance U 

hu^l t^L 8 0n 'j C u iSC - lf tt is 3 com P iled Dr assembled program 
mUude all the source code, but do not count this in the size of the submis- 

br , isf du ® crip f lon of >'™ r submission below. If it consists more than 
this formSSsa^' ^ A "“* an ex,ra sh ^ nf P*P- «° 


Sign t his declaration: 

heim f |°K r iSC iS ?V“- [ didn '' nick :t off someone else. It hasn’t 
been published before and [ haven’t submitted it elsewhere because I want 
Amiga Computing to publish it. 


Signed,, 
Date 


T J ° f i ™ alkar ’ Arai 6 a Computing, North House, 
/o-64 Ongar Road, Brentwood,. Essex, CM 15 9BG. 











THE CHEAP 


AMIGA MEMORY UPGRADES AVAILARL 


Memory Expansion Systems Limited aim to supply the cheapest 
memory upgrades available for the Amiga range of computers. 
Our half megabyte card for the A500 has dropped in price to 
£79.95 .We are now able to offer large ca 


competition at £369.00; two megabyte 
i 

o 

Friday. You can place orders 


I 


n-o 


>at( 


sr 


1 


week-ends. Trade enquirie 


m 

£369 


ced 


10 mo MEG 

CULL III DETAILS 

and *1 000 a{£ priced at 

E V . AvJr.g similar 

liable to take 


ansion 


pgrades 

00 

Ql*U u 




£399. 

products tip y £ y £ e‘g p A 
calls from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday. You can place 
orders at any time by calling our 24- hour,$even-days-a-week 
answering service. All orders are normally despatched same day, 



Send cheques to: Dept AC 
Memory Expansion Systems Ltd. 

Britannia Buildings, 46 Fenwick Street, 
Liverpool. L2 7NB 


(051)236 0480 



(051 ) 236 0480 • 24 Hour Sates 
(05 1) 227 2482 • 24 Hour Fax 



CAVENDISH 

DISTRIBUTORS Ltd. Fax*.®** 



Computers: Sales, 
Services and Training 


AM1GAS 


Amiga A500 £349 inc VAT 

Amiga A2000 POA 


DRIVES 


3.5 1 MB £85 inc VAT 

Amiga A1010. £129 inc VAT 

Supra 30 £625 inc VAT 

Vortex 40 £529 inc VAT 


MONITORS 


Philips 8833 £229 inc VAT 

Philip® 8852 £269 inc VAT 

Amiga 1084 £269 inc VAT 

NEC Multi Sync 3D POA 

Samsuga POA 


LASER PRINTERS 


HP Laseget II POA 

Epson GQ3500 POA 

Panasonic HL8 POA 

Olympia Laser 6 POA 

Olivetti Laser POA 


1 PRINTERS 

Epson LX800 

£171 inc VAT 

Epson EX80CU, 

£431 inc VAT 

Epson LQ500 * 

£289 inc VAT 

Star LC10 

£179 inc VAT 

Star LC10 Col 

£239 inc VAT 

Star LC24-10 

£289 inc VAT 

Panasonic 1081 

....£155 inc VAT 

Panasonic 1180 

. ....POA 

Panasonic 1124 

....£289 inc VAT 

NEC P2200 

£279 inc VAT 

NEC P6+ 

,....£51 7 inc VAT 

NEC P7+ 

,...£661 inc VAT 

Citizen 1 20D 

£130 inc VAT 

DM 1Q5S Col. Printer 

£199 inc VAT 

DM 100S Mono Printer 

£149 inc VAT 

| MUSIC SOFTWARE 


1 VIDEO + SOUND 

Rendale 8802 

£259 inc VAT 

Minigen 

£105 inc VAT 

Digiview Gold V.3 

... £119 inc VAT 

Digipic Frame Grabber 

£249 .95 inc VAT 

Deluxe Paint til 

...£09 inc VAT 

Pro Video+... 

POA 

Digipaint III... 

POA 

SOFTWARE 

Professional Page 

POA 

Page Setter 

POA 

Lattice C 

POA 

Superbase Personal 

POA 

WordPerfect 

POA 

Protext 

POA 

X-Cad 

POA 

Sculpt 4D 

POA 

Sculpt 3D 

POA 

C- Light 

POA 

Vidi Amiga 

POA 

Fantavision 

POA 

C.B.M. Enhancer Software .... 

£14 inc VAT 

ACCESSORIES 


Pro Sound £55 inc VAT 

Pro Sound Gold ...£70 inc VAT 

AMAS ...£80 inc VAT 

Futuresound A500 .£139 inc VAT 

Music X .£239 inc VAT 


Mouse Mat £3.50 inc VAT 

Kempston Mouse £28 inc VAT 

Dust Cover £5.95 inc VAT 

Joystick from £5.50 inc VAT 

Disk Box (80 cap) £8.95 inc VAT 

Printer Cable £9.95 inc VAT 


CAVENDISH DISTRIBUTORS LTD 

209-212 TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, LONDON W1 9AF 
Telephone: 01-323 4761 Fax: 01-255 1591 

Showroom at C.D.L. Systems, 

85 Tottenham Court Road, London W1 



Mali Order Welcome 


Many offers at Show Prices 


Education and Government Sale 

Phone 01-323 4761 


Ex VAT 


Export welcome 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 47 

















r 


GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFTS 



AMIGA 500 XMAS PK: Free BMX Type bike, 
4 Christmas games one of wtiich is BATMAN, 
F.S.U. mouse, modulator, first tutorial and 
Work Bench 1.3 

ONLY £369.95 * £5.00 P+P 




FREE when you buy the Amiga 500 Pk of the 
A5QQ/1Q84S monitor Pk youll get a bike free. 
Normal RRP £39*5 


A500/1064S XMAS Pk: Same as the Amiga 
500 Xmas Pk but with a 14 inch stereo colour 
monitor (This Pk Inc. the blka) 

ONLY £590. + £10.00 P+P 



ztzcma 


comp 


MPS 1230 Primer: A 9 pin dot matrix printer 
dual interface compatibile with A500 or C64. 

ONLY £169.00 + £5.00 P+P 


T 



7*$*'ti*t*& nsfrtiP 


A1010 ExL Disk Drive: 3.5“, Capadty 380K 
ONLY £90.95 + £3.00 P+P 



A590 20Mb Hard Disk: 20Mb Hard Disk, 2Mb 
Ram, 

ONLY £399.00 + £5.00 P+P 




colour, 60 column display compatible with 
A 500, G64. 

ONLY £229.00 * £5.00 P+P 


HOLLYWOOD Pk: Inc Commodore 64, 1530 
data recorder Quick Shot II joystick + 10 great 
Commodore Pk games, 

ONLY £139.95 + £5.00 P+P 


EXCLUSIVE CONTROL CENTRE A500 



ONLY 

£ 39.95 

INC. 


MOUSE + JOYSTICK PORTS: These a/e posi- 
tioned on the far right hand side of the machine to 
save the obstruct bn of disk drive. 


Please make cheques / 
POs to ELECTRA COMP. 

All prices indude VAT. 


VAT 


SERIAL OR PARALLEL EXTENSION PORT: You 

have the chobe of either. This enables you to model 
your centre to your needs. 




Ebctra Comp Dept 33 
10 BARLEY MOW 
PASSAGE, CHISWICK, 
LONDON W4 4PH 


FREE MOUSE HOLDER: Every Centre is designed 
tor every convenience. 


TRADE AND EDUCATIONAL ENQUIRIES 
WELCOME: If you deal with the Amiga 500 and you 
feel the Control Centre A500 will be an excellent 
addition to your shop then just send some info on 
your business and well send you out an infer mat bn 
pack. 


DELIVERY NEXT DAY 
AFTER DESPATCH. All 
goods are tested before 
despatch to ensure you get 
them in excellent condition. 


Prices subject to availability 
and are subject to change 
without notice. 


AND MUCH MUCH MORE 










■ REVIEW ■ 



I NK JETS arc the Aminas of the 
printer world. They’re not the 
most common, nor are they the most 
powerful, hut given the right things to 
do they’re streets ahead of all but the 
most expensive machines. 

Since nothing solid actually hits the 
paper, inkjet printers are very quiet. 
They have no pins or ribbon to wear , 
out. All in all, they’re a different class 
of beast from the humble impact dot 
matrix. 

You may not be immediately 
familiar with the name Diconix, 
which is part of Kodak - which is 
better known for paying Jimmy Nail 
lots of money for adverts. The printer 
itself uses a trusty Hewlett Packard 
cartridge system, so the device isn't a 
bodge job by some fly-by -night 
manufacturer. 

It’s a compact unit [356 by 233 by 
73 mm] and light at 4,5 kg. About a 
third of the unit is empty space, since 
the power supply is external and the 
inkjet unit doesn’t require much in 
the way of cabling. 

The hack quarter contains the usual 
tractor and platen unit, which always 
looks as if it would jam, but rarely 


Diconix 300 Inkjet 
Printer doesn’t try 
too hard to make an 
impression. Stewart 
C. Russell looks at 
the strong silent type 

does. As with most newer printers, 
the fanfold paper can be parked out of 
the way to allow the use of single 
sheets. 

The fairly -accessible DIP switches 
allow the printer to think it's an Epson 
FX 100+ or an IBM graphics printer, 
running at 960 or 1280 dots per line. 
The front panel gives yon the chance 
to form feed, forward and reverse 
linefeed, and change the font. 

Five fonts can be selected from the 
front panel - Quality, NLQ, Draft, 
Script and Condensed, Quality is 
better than you’ll ever get from a nine 
pin printer, and on good paper rivals 
the best 24-pins. 

NLQ is very nearly as good as 
Quality, but is half as fast again. Draft 


and Condensed are both very speedy, 
hut suffer from being rather dotty. 
They’re legible, and that’s what 
matters. Script is that awful muck 
handwriting NLQ font that annoying 
mailshots and people with ageing 
IBM typewriters use. 

As ever, the printer’s speed is 
quoted in cps, a rather misleading 
Figure where paper handling is not 
taken into account, Diconix quote 258 
cps for Pica Draft print; on average 
[including line and form feeds] 1 
managed 104 characters per second 
out of it. This is fast considering that 
it can chunter away at that speed all 
day. 

NLQ gave a healthy 40 characters 
per second, while Quality managed 
27, These are still good, and still way 
under what Diconix would have you 
believe. Condensed mode and Script 
are well nigh the speeds of Draft and 
NLQ respectively. Paper feeds are 
especially fast, even in high-res 
graphics mode. 

A bewildering variety of font 
options can be added to the main 


Nt number 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 49 



p 


REVIEW 


[outs. Elite (12 characters per inch 
instead of Pica’s 10). Doublewidth, 
Double Height, Italic (in Epson mode), 
Bold, Doubles trike. Underscore and 
Overscore are all possible, and can all 
be mixed. 

Unfortunately, the AmigaDos Ansi 
printer driver doesn’t recognise half of 
these, so they are only available via 
direct programming of the parallel 
port, which can be done with some 
jiggery pokery from AmigaBasic, With 
a full specification driver, the text 
output capability could rival a 
dedicated text formatting system. 


Non-gloss drip 


C HANGING the ink cartridge is 
completely straightforward; the 
unit clips into a small cradle by the 
platen roller. As far as can be 
ascertained, the unit contains all the 
ink jets and some controller circuitry, 
and looks as if it is disposable. 

At £15 to £20 per cartridge, running 
won't be cheap, even though the 
cartridges last well. The jets are kept 
clear by doing a little test squirt on to 
a blotter at the side of the platen on 
starting from idle, This ensures that 
print quality is good no matter what 
ink density setting is used. 

The Diconix 300 is small light, 
fairly fast, very quiet - and matches 
cream Amigas very nicely into the 
bargain You can conduct a normal 
conversation with the machine 
running, and the unit isn’t any noisier 
on heavy print densities. The fan on 
some laser printers makes more noise 


U NTIL recently inkjets only 
worked satisfactorily on 
specially coated glossy paper 
which cost the earth. They leaked, 
smeared and dogged, and in the 
earliest days were little more than 
an airbrush on a plotter base. 

Time and technology have 
changed, mostly due to Hewlett 
Packard’s research and 
development work in Drop On 
Demand print mechanisms. 

Drop On Demand printers use a 
tiny electrical signal to fire an ink 
particle at the page. The jets are 
fine enough that no ink will leak 
out unless the jet is activated. 


than the Diconix printing at full tilt. 

If a new driver was written for it, it 
would be the perfect choice for 
Amigans everywhere. As is. only most 
(not all) of its functions are available 
to you. 


I 


NKJETS are famed for their 
graphics prowess, and the 
Diconix 300 is no exception. 
Unfortunately Preferences EpsonX 
driver sends the printer soul- 
searching into self test, EpsonXOld 
works fine, but as it has a maximum 
vertical resolution of 72 dpi, and 
those dots are extremely fine, the 
output is poor. 


The Desktop Ink Jet Printer Features 


i (tea 3 general 

to 80 column? at 10 


t l , i f,iMv functional tfrop-ciTi'-<Ja»mnd I 1 * printer 

■ tf lre machln.-- M=t- ir to print rfocUtaPtits r^ulrli-u up to TO column? av iv 
rJr inch -*jch financial ana prices? «n'i report-. hl*i 

' '"■’r.k^T ■ F' ii, ... ... cort-ueBCilidtM It* > 

q^al ny letters, toenwfonda, greifiN? , Chari*, 

| coinpnt t slKe and h 
(iro Juc t l V I tf enl M*i riLeiimn t 
uvu l I .it*1 ** T such ifl-s cumtTOid, 

■bold, propurttHTwi stating- H"“ coniUomr 


nti any oViir corrw&pcmdent* , 
not** sal- H tb* perfect .laptop 

tont . Fluo many •'.pocial font eho 1 are 
-umith--*.** rt ,,d Wdtf r ll m , rt&J*CSm 

t.h*»* o exciting f oa t.ur as : 


It prints graphics: 



* Print Quality: Draft, NUQ. ?rd Quality 

* H«dlBT cut 3 h?et a fanfold - plain psfser 

■ Quiet Operations decibels 
a power CoftsumpUhni L eaa than Jfilf 

* Oonpati bl 1 1 ty : Epson and IBH cmilttlM 

* Pent SBlettlm; i 00 * font gafjationa 

, Geepact £ 1 » ; 13,7 - .1 nchfs-i 

* Easy to yjies Sail-wteBitlC pap«r loading 

Which fll Iowa cut sheet paper to he u.-wd 
wlllwt rtortvai of fanfold paper - 


The following character set 


SABCDFFOHI JKLHNOfORSTUVVKy I [\ I _'*bcdef»hl J klJnnD^atuvway? [ , ) * 

c U*i A i A 1 i J * A£ tJEOUfl u 9 twt * * 1 1 5 6 " J* J ' < \ ] j H J 1 \ . . _ 1 


is available in each of the following fonts* 


I i ri 


0raft 12 char«t^* par i«h, 310 par- wond, ?nd M re* J 

... io c hdracter* p*r I nth . ;:S 8 per nti* BU p»r line 

— - iz Character* per lm*. per second, and » pw ll* 

, n nmr Inch.. 61 POIf second , flnd SQ per line 


The IBM driver (or MPS-1000 as it 
is called) works when the printer is 
switched to IBM mode — one of life a 
pieces of inescapable logic. 

Unfortunately, the driver trims I he 
last 20 (or so) pixels off Ihe edge of the 
screen if the printer is set to 960 dots 
per line. Normality is regained by 
switching to 1280 dots per line mode, 
but then the whole dump is about half 
the area of a full size image. 

Dumps are produced remarkably 
quickly with good contrast at the 
lowest resolution. Six passes are made 
at highest resolution; this gets the 
paper really wet, and can sometimes 
get smudged by the bail-bar rollers. 

Unless you are doing purely 
monochrome work, there’s very little 
point in using the higher resolutions - 
sometimes they come out as a near- 
uniform shade of black. With 
Preferences 1 Smoothing on in high 
resolution, Notepad output becomes a 
thing of groat beauty. 

Unfortunately, using IBM mode has 
its disadvantages. Some programs, 
notably X-CAD Designer, bypass 
Preferences and drive an Epson 
directly. Epson and IBM commands 
are usually pretty close, but they do 
differ wildly where graphics are 
concerned, so X-GAD doesn t plot 
properly, The IBM mode cannot 
handle italicised text; Epson can, but 
the loss is not major since you could 
use the Script font instead. 


REPORT CARD 


DeskTop 300 

Bieoiiix 

£441.00 


EASE OF USE ... 

Quick and dean to set op. Very 
compact r With all controls accessible . 


SOFTWARE . 


Good results in IBM mode , although 
many of its features aren't available 
from the standard Preferences driver. 


SPEED , 

Very fast paper throw gi ves a goad 
average speed. Pleasantly quiet at any 
speed. Manufacturer's figures a bit 
fanciful. 


Drflt t 

NIA ■ 


VALUE...... 

Very good deals available, but ink costs 
could be high . Worth the price just for 
the silence, 


OVERALL 


A great printer that Preferences spoils 
bviwd aianagpntenf, Fast graphics 
dumps, smooth text output and low 
noise are the main a/trerefions. Cries on 
for o custom driver. 



E 

7 (3 dlB LB ff ©®MP>dj)TO<ii 


AMIGA SOFTWARE 

Battle Chess r#i . .£18.50 

Blood Money ......... .... ,£16.50 

Bloodwych ...... , £16 50 

Daily Double Horae Racing ,.£13.50 

F.16 Combat Pilot ..... ...£16,50 

Falcon F16 £19 50 

Falcon Mission Disk ,... £13.50 

Gretzky Hockey .. ,.,,£16.50 

Gunship..., ..... ,,..£16.50 

Hawkeye , , £13 50 

Kick Off £13,50 

KuSt £16.50 

Leon ardo ... „ £ 1 3.50 

Lords of the Rising Sun ,. T< £19.50 

Microprosd Soccer ...£16 50 

Mr Heli .... ..................... £16.50 

North & South ., £16.50 

Passing Shot ..... ..£13,50 

Quest for the Time Bird ... £16.50 

Rainbow island .... £16.50 

™ sk - - .......I^eisiso 

Robocop ............. £16.50 

RVF Honda ,... £17 50 

Sh i nobi . 1 3 so 

Shuffle Puck Cafe £13.50 

Targhan * £16 50 

Vigilante ....... £13.50 

Waterloo ..... £ie 50 

Xenophobe II £16.50 

Xenon If ....... ...,.£16.50 

3D Pool ^ £16.50 

PRINTERS 

STAR LC10 mono inc, Cable £179,99 

STAR LC10 colour inc. Cahfo .,...£219,99 

CITI2EN 120/D Inc. Cable £139 99 

EPSON LX80O . £109.99 

STAR LC24/10 inc. Cable ......... ..£299 99 


AMIGA 


AMIGA 500 £359.99 

Inc. Modulator, Workbench 1.3, Mouse. Manuals + Leads 

AMIGA SPECIAL GIFT PACK All for only £399.99 

Amiga 500 irw^Modulator. Workbench 1.3 and Manuals, 10 games and Photon Paint or 8 
games, 24 PD titles + Joystick. Either of above plus 80 cap disk box. 10 x 31/2" disks 
mouse mat, dust cover 

AMIGA 500 + DELUXE PAINT 2 + DELUXE PRINT £399 99 

AMIGA 1 MEG £ 439.99 

Inc. Modulator, Workbench 1,3, Mouse. Manuals + A5Q1 RAM Expansion 

AMIGA 500 + 10B4S Med Res Colour Monitor 
AMIGA 500 + MUSIC X 
AMIGA ART + ANIMATION PACK 

Amiga 500 + 1/2 meg expansion + Deluxe Paint 111 

AMIGA B2000 

Inc B2OO0, XT Bridgeboard, A2090 20 mb Hard Drive + 10S4S Monitor 

A 501 1/2 MEG RAM EXPANSION £129.99 


£589.99 

£549.99 

£549.99 

£1499.00 


MUSIC & SOUND 

Aegis Sonis V.2 


„ ART & ANIMATION 

Llghis, Cams, a. Acton 


Aegis Audiomaster II 

AMAS 


Deluxe Paint 1 l/Deluxe Prim Combo 

Deluxe Paint III 

£57 99 i 

Future Sound , , 

£74 95 

Digiview Gold 

"'£1295® 1 
.£10999 1 

Perfect Sound 


Aegis VidftoscapG 3D Wi++Wp „„„ 

Oomc Setie/ BMuttHuiii .. 

Pro Sound Designer Gold ,,,, 

DR Vi KCS 


Movie Setter 


.£159,95 

Minlgen (Genlock) , 

Cl 04 99 1 

Eidersolt Midi Interface 

£24 95 

Deluxe Photo Lab ..... 

FV) qcf 1 

Patel Midi Interface 

£34 95 

Deluxe Video 


nii/rtTm ir 11 H n iw^r 

fC(| QQ 

Photon Paint II 


uynaimic ururns , 

Dynamic studio 

Video Effects 3D 


Studio Magic 


video Wipe Master 

Aegis Animator 

... 559.99 1 

Adrum 


Aegis Animagfo 

E62.99- 1 

Deluxemusic 


Aegis Video TlUec „S".ZZ 


Music X (Out Now) 

Dr Ts Midi Recording Studio 

..£199.99 

Comic Setter Clip Art Disks 

Fantaviaion 


, ,.£52.95 

icon Paint ... ... 



A501 RAM Upgrade 


Workbench 1.3 Enhancer , 


Disk Drive Cleaner 


Mouse Mat (Soft) 


A50G Dust Cover 


Amiga to Scan Lead 


Quicks hot l| Joystick 


£0x31/2" Disk Labels ... 

,„.,.„£1,50 


MONITORS 

Commodore 1034S £259.99 

Philips 8S33 ,.£ 229,99 


All prices include VAT. Please send Cheqires/F.O, Made payable to; 

TlMdlBlL® M ©©ttfllPOTfllM® 

DEPT AC, CROMER HOUSE, 

CAXTON WAY, STEVENAGE, 

HERTS. SGI 2DF 

* CREDIT CARD HOTLINE: 0438 361738 ★ 

FAX: 0430 740 794 

I ... * . lf you do send cash please send it Registered. 

All Goods are sent First Class/Registered. Please add £ 3,00 for outside U.K, 
Large Orders le. Amigas, ST. Monitors etc. are always sent by courier. 
Please add £ 6 . 00 , if you require Next Day Courier Delivery on other items. 

AH pnceft are correct at lime of going 10 Ptw, and are subject 10 tfanpa w^hoyl prior notice. 


80 Capacity Disk Box ..,...£6 50 I 

Monitor Covers From,,, ,,.£6.95 

A50Q Power Supply £62.50 

Modu lator . , , ..., ..... ..£24,99 

B/W Handy Scanner .,,.,£209,99 

Philips AV7300 Tuner for monitors ,,,£69.99 

Modems from £69.99 


DRIVES 

I Curnana 1 Meg 3,5" with or/off .... £94.99 I 

NEC 1 Mag 3.S" £64.99 

I Vertex 40Mb £499.90 I 

Amdrive 30Mb . w .„ " fgWJ W | 

I Amdrrve 50fctb . ,,,£469.99 J 

I AS 90 20Mto (with optional ram upgrade) ,,,,£389.99 


EM 

TOP QUALITY 1 

31/2" OS/DO 

. 

GUARANTEED i 


BULK DISKS 1 


Sb“ j ^M E W prices: 


£7 50 

....£16.90 
..,.£32,25 

m £62 50 | 

200 — £123.00 

PRICES INCLUDE LABELS 

Add £5.50 for SO capacity disk box when ordering 
disks or £4.50 when ordering 50 or more disks 








MEGA '45' PRICES! 



Amiga 
Atari ST 
IBM PC 
Spectrum 

CC4 

Amstrad 


MEGA '45' PRICES! 



TOP 

30 

laU 



57 

pe 

Spectmm 

664 

/4*n&iad 

t- 

XENON ll-MEGABLAST 

(Image Work*) 

£ 15,45 

£15.45 

£ 16.45 

WOT 

AVAILABLE 

AVAILABLE 

av-GSae 

2 - 

BATMAN THE MOVIE 

mhmph (Ocean) 

£ 16.45 

£13.45 

YCXJMUBT BE 
JOKJNK3I 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

3- 

BL00DWVCH 

(Image Works) 

£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

4- 

GEMINI WING 

(Virgin Gaines) 

£13.45 

£0.45 

AVAXAfMF 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

5* 

LIFE & DEATH 


£ 17.45 


J& u 

WOT 

AVAILABLE 

AVAUBtE 

AvtiSfelE 


STUNT CAR 

(Mien Shins) 

£ 13.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 9.45 

£ 9.45 

£ 9.45 

7- 

SHINOBI 


£13.45 

£0.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.75 

£ 6.45 

S- 

A.P.B 


£045 

£0.45 

£ 16.45 

AVAILABLE 

avaTSW 


9- 

XENOPHOBE 

*. (Micro Style) 

£ 16.45 

£0.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 6.45 

£6.45 

£ 6.45 

fa 

R0B0C0P 


£ 16.45 

£ 0.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 6.45 

£6.45 

£ 6.45 

ff. 

BEACH VOLLEV 


£ 16.45 

£045 

AvISW 

£ 6.45 

£6.45 

£ 6.45 

f2- 

INFESTATION 

.... (Psygnosis) 

£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

avIIBW 

AVlS&W 

nvA&LE 

AVAILABLE 

f3. 

MR. HELI 


£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

AVAILABLE 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

/4- 

F-16 COMBAT PILOT 


£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

Av/SkE 


AVAAABLE 

t5- 

VIGILANTE 

(US Gold) 

£13.45 

£045 

£0.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

96- 

DYNAMITE DUX 


£ 16.45 

£045 

AVAILABLE 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

17- 

PAPERBOY.. 

(Elite) 

£0.45 

£045 

NOT 

available 

MOT , 
AVAILABLE 

AV/t/Saf 

AVAILABLE 

t8- 

RICK DANGEROUS 


£ 16.45 

£0.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

f9- 

POPULOUS-PROMISED LANDS (E/A) 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

HOT 

AVAILABLE 

MOT 

AVAILABLE 

ava’&e 

AVAHJVLLE 

2 a 

LIGHT FORCE 


£ 16.45 

£16.45 

NOT 

AVAILABLE 

MOT „ 
AVAILABLE 

avaaable 

MOT 

AVAILABLE 

St- 

HONDA RVF750 


£15.45 

£045 

AVAILABLE 

avISble 

available 

AVAAABUE 

22- 

RED LIGHTNING 

(US Gold) 

£ 16.45 

AvIS&LE 

£ 18.45 

AVMABLE 

aviBSWe 

avaSjjhe 

23- 

RAINBOW ISLAND 


£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

“SESST 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

24- 

INDIANA JONES / LC 


£ 13.45 

£ 0.45 

£045 

£ 6.45 

£ 6,45 

£ 6.45 

25- 

THE HEW ZEALAND STORY 


£ 16.45 

£0.45 

J8S 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

26- 

IVANHOE 


£ 16.45 

£ 0.45 

NOT 

AVAILABLE 

AVAILABLE 

avJKSWe 

avIKWe 

27- 

FALCON MISSION DISK VOL l.(Mirrorsoff) 

£ 13.45 

£0.45 

AvlS^E 

NOT 

AVAILABLE 

avalable 

AVMjZsLE 

28- 

HIGHWAY PATROL 


£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

£ 16.45 

awGSW 

AVAMBLE 

available 

29- 

QUARTERBACK 

(Virgin) 

£ 13.45 

£045 

£ 16 45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

3a 

CABAL 


£ 16.45 

£045 

NOT 

AVAILABLE 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 

£ 6.45 


f Tt(zphont: (07\ 
Tfk&st ... 
AffpritW uic/ude 

Sid goods art dispa 



52 AMIGA COMPLETING November 1989 



■PROGRAMMING ■ 


The action 
starts here 


H ARDWARE sprites are very 
similar to bit planes, the main 
difference being that they can only be 
16 pixels wide and can only use three 
colours, although you can combine 
two to make on© sprite with up to 15 
colours. 

You may wonder if there are any 
possible uses for something that is 
only 16 pixels wide. Well, there are - 
plenty. The mouse pointer, for 
example, is a hardware sprite. Indeed, 
this month's cover disc demo uses 
advanced techniques to display more 
than 100 of them. 

You have to do a lot of messing 
around with pointers and other such 
things to move a bit plane around the 
screen. With sprites it's much easier - 
at its simplest you put the horizontal 
position in one memory location, the 
vertical byte in another and, Hey 
Presto, your sprite has moved to 
another part of the screen. 

Now for the meaty bit. How do 
sprites work, and how are they used? 

The Amiga has eight hardware 
sprites, used by accessing registers. 
The hardware has to be told the 
horizontal position of the sprite and 
the actual data to be displayed. It has 
to be told this for each and every line 
of your display that the sprite is on. 
How can you tell the hardware what 
it needs to know for each scanJine? 

One way is to set up an enormous 
copper list with lots of data, like 
Figure 1. However, as you may have 
guessed, there is a much easier way to 


Machine code 
maestro Jolyon Ralph 
shows you how to get 
it on the screen, and 
shake it all about 

display sprites. What you do is set up 
a direct memory access (DMA) 
channel for them. 

Anything that is moved to and from 
memory and external devices, or both 
- such as the screen, disc drive, audio 
ports and so on - can be transferred 
by one of two methods. The first is to 
use the 68000 - by reading a word 
from memory and sending it to an 
audio port, for example. The second 
method is by using the co-processors, 
which is invariably the fastest way 
and frees the 6B000 to do more 


interesting things than moving data 
around, 

S ETTING up a DMA channel is 
simple. You tell it where your 
data is, what you want to do with it - 
which in our case is to display a 
sprite - when to stop, and Bob's your 
unicorn. Your sprite appears as if by 
magic. 

The Amiga has eight dedicated 
sprite DMA channels, one for each 
hardware sprite. However, if you are 

MIT for th« beginning of tine t* 

RQVE the horizonuL sprite position 
<on Ly needs to be done onceh 
HOVE the data for sprite iiigt. 

WAIT for the beginning of tine X+1, 
HOVE the data for sprite idgs, 

WAIT for the beginning of line JE+2, 
HOVE and so on... 

Figure /: The data list for a simple 
hardware sprite 

using an overscan screen - one with a 
width greater than 320 in Jo-res or 640 
in hi-res - the co-processors have to 
get the extra time needed to display 
more of the screen from somewhere, 
so you lose the last four sprites. 

Each pixel in the sprite can be one 
of three colours, or transparent so it 
shows the bitplane, or other sprites, 
underneath. So, each pixel needs two 
bits of colour information. 

And because a sprite is 16 pixels 
across, 32 bits of colour information - 
or two words in programmers' lingo - 
need to be read from memory each 
scanline. 

The colour of each pixel is 
calculated by taking the 
corresponding bits from each word. 
Look at Figure II to see the address of 

► 



November lflSft AMIGA COMPUTING 53 



COLOUR REGISTERS (+|dff000) 


Bit 

from 

word 

two 


Bit 

from 

word 

one 


Sprites 
0 and 1 


17 *1a2 

18 *1a4 
14 *U6 


Sprites 
2 and 3 


Sprites 
4 and 5 


TRANSPARENT 


Sprites 
6 and 7 


21 tlaa 

22 I lac 

23 $lae 


25 «1b2 
25 |1b4 
27 $1M 


# addr 

> 

29 Slba 

30 11 be 

31 II be 


I s colour number, addr z offset to add to IdffOOO 


Figure II : The 
colour registers 
that correspond 
to the bit 
patterns In fire 
sprite data for 
aoe/i of the 
sprites 0to7 


A 

the colour registers that correspond to 
the bit patterns in the sprite data for 
each of the eight sprites, numbered 0 
to 7, 

Sprites are grouped into pairs for 
the colour allocation* so you can have 
four different colour combinations. 

The sprites take their colours from 
the standard palette, using colour 
numbers in the range 17 to 31, which 
means they can have independent 
colours from the rest of the screen 
only if a screen of fom or less 
bitplanes is used. Colours 1G, 20, 24 
and 2B are not used because these are 
the ones which correspond to the 
transparent elements in the sprite. 

Now that you know how the sprite 
colour data works you can convert 
your graphics to the correct format for 
use with it. The easiest way to do this 
is to use the IFF Converter program 
supplied on last month’s cover disc. 
Load in the IFF picture containing the 
sprite you want to create - make sure* 
for the moment, that you only have a 
two bitplane (four colour) picture — 
and choose the Save Sprite option. 

You can save the sprite either as a 
binary file, which you can include in 
your program with the INCBIN 
statement, or as a source file, which 
can be incorporated into your source 
code* 

Note that the source code which IFF 
Converter generates is meant for the 
K-Seka assembler. To modify it to 
work with Hi Soft Devpac you will 
need to add a space before each DC.W 
instruction. Do a global search and 
replace for "DC.W" with * DC.W". 

OK. Back to actually setting up the 
DMA channel. You have to create a 
data list somewhere in chip memory 
and point the sprite DMA register to 
its start address. We’Ll come to that in 


a minute, but first a word about the 
data list* which consists of two 
control words followed by the sprite 
data. The format of the control words 
is shown in Figure HI. 

HO to HS is the horizontal position 
of the sprite, FO to F8 is the first 
scanline that the sprite is to be 
displayed on (the vertical start) and 
NO to N8 is the scanline after the last 
line of the sprite is displayed (the 
vertical end + 1), Note that each of 
these values is nine bits long. This is a 
messy number of bits to work with. 

Very often programmers ignore the 
three end bits in control word two. 
This has the advantage of ease of use 
- you only have to change one byte 
for horizontal or vertical positions - 
but has the disadvantage of only 
having a two-pixel accuracy for 
horizontal positioning. 

For fast moving sprites this is not a 
problem. You only need to set bits F8 
and N8 if your sprite is displayed in 
the PAL area - the bottom 5G 
scanlines that are never used in ST- 
ported games. 

Bit 7 in control word 2 is the 
special attachment hit. This can 
combine two sprites together to form a 
single 15 colour sprite. 

Now for an example of how to set 


up a rough sprite in the middle of the 
screen. First, calculate your graphics 
data. We will use a simple spaceship 
sprite. three lines deep. Our spaceship 
will have the following data, where 1* 
2 and 3 are different colours : 

anon mu mono 

G1123ZJZI23Z111G 

0001111111111000 

This needs to be converted into 
proper sprite data. In practice you’d 
rarely do it by hand. You would draw 
your sprite using DPaint or the like, 
save it as a screen, load that into IFF 
Converter, choose Save Sprite from 
the Project menu and cut the sprite 
out. 

Pretend we've done all that and the 
sprite data comes put like this: 

ooom liiimooo^ooooooooooooooD 

01l0i0l01l1»1110,0001111111111000 

0001111111111000,0000000000000000 

Next we calculate the control 
words. Let’s say the sprite's vertical 
stajt will be at $90, This is the 
scan line number - the same number 
you would put in a copper list WAIT 
instruction. 

Our sprite is three lines deep, so the 


CONTROL WORD 1 


Bit 

15 

14 

13 

12 

1 1 

10 

09 

08 

07 

06 

05 

04 

03 

02 

01 

00 


F7 

F6 

F5 

F4 

F3 

F2 

FI 

FO 

H8 

N7 

H6 

H5 

H4 

H3 

H2 

HI 

CONTROL 

. WORD 

2 


Bit 

15 

14 

13 

12 

1 1 

10 

09 

08 

07 

06 

05 

04 

03 

02 

01 

00 


N7 

N6 

N5 

N4 

N3 

N2 

N 1 

NO 

SA 

00 

00 

00 

00 

F0 

N8 

HO 


Figure III : The 
control words 
format for the 
sprite DMA 
channel 


54 AMIGA COMPUTING November 19B9 


■ PROGRAMMING ■ 


dc.v IflOJb, J930G ; control Mords 
dc.n acOOOllllllll llO€D # S!OQODODCK]&OOOOODO 
4c. u ^OIIOIQIOIOIOIIID^OCOITI1 11 11 11000 
dc + u KjJOOll 11 11 til IQODj, j£0000D0D0Q0{10D000 

dc,i 0,0 ; tnd Figure TV; The data list /or a 

simpfe hardware sprite 


vertical ond value will be one line 
lower than that, at $93. We will not 
bother with one-pixel accuracy* and 
we are not using the PAL area, so we 
will choose a horizontal start value for 
Hi to Hfl of $5b, a position roughly in 
the centre of the screen. [Note that 
this will be half the value for the 
equivalent hill horizontal start value ' 
because we are ignoring bit 0 and 
starting with bit 1.) 

This gives a control word 1 of $9D5b 
and a control word 2 of $9300 - 93 
because that is the end value and 00 
because the last byte in control word 2 
is only used in special circumstances, 
which we'll cover in a future article. 

We then create a data list, like that 
in Figure IV, containing this data. 
Remember to allocate this to chip 
memory with a SECTION 
xxx,DATA_C command: 

The sprite list must have two zeros 
on the end otherwise the DMA 
channel thinks you are setting up 
another sprite for it to display. You 
can display as many sprites as you 
want with one DMA channel as long 
as there is a gap of one scanline 


between each of them. This gap is the 
scanline where the control words are 
read in by the DMA, so no graphics 
data can be read that line. 

When you have your data list you 
must put its address into the 
equivalent sprite DMA pointer, which 
is a hardware register. As the address 
for your sprite data is a 32 bit value it 
will be have to be split into two words 
for the registers to be set from the 
copper list which have to be updated 
every vertical blank period - every 
l/50th of a second on a PAL machine. 

These sprite DMA pointers start at 
$dfflZQ. The register is named 
SPROPT and is split into SPROPTH 
[$120) and 5PR0PTL ($122). Set up 
your copper list to put your data list 
address into these registers at the 
beginning of ©very frame, and your 
sprite will then appear. 


Moving the sprite is easy, you only 
have to change the control word. All 
the weird objects moving horizontally 
on this month's cover disc demo are 
moved by adding or subtracting a 
value from the second byte of the first 
control word. This is all that is 
needed if the first bit of the horizontal 
position register is ignored. 

Moving vertically is slightly more 
involved because you must change 
both the vertical start and the vertical 
end position. 

Now youVe set up one sprite, try 
your hand at setting up all eight and 
and moving them around the screen 
in different directions. No listing this 
month, this is your first solo flight. 
Any probs, write to me care of the 
Editor. 

• NEXT MONTH: Collision detection. 


EAZYPRINT COMPUTERS 

Authorised Amiga Dealer 


TELEPHONE AND FACSIMILE INFORMA TION 
Amiga Sales A Support (0932) 780103 
PC Sales A Support (0932) 783364 
Facsimile (0932) 783364 crt. 200 


* Call for latest pricing on Amiga 02000 vl,3 Base Units * 

1 084 Monitor: £21 5 1 4‘ High Res: £668 1 5* High Res; £769.00 

21* High Res: £2409.00 20 Mb Autobooti Hard Disk: £639.00 
40 Megabyte Autobooting Hard Disk: £1052.00 
XT Bridge Card : £528 AT Bridge Card : £749 
8Mb RAM Card (2Mb) : £649 68020 Coprocessor : £1405.00 
PAL Videocard : £99 Internal Genlock : £249 A3 Tablet : £550 
G2 VideoCemer : £595 Rendale 8806 : £695 Magni : £1 1 95 

* NOTE : Fully Configured systems comprising of above com 
ponents at 10*40% Discount. Please call for quotation & catalogue. 

SOFTWARE - AMIGA DESKTOP VIDRO 

AniMagic : £75 VideoTrtler : £1 1 0 VldeoScape 3D : £135 
ProVideo Plus : £199 PVP Fonts (1,2) ; £99ea P.A.S.E : £69 


Our New Comprehensive Amiga, PC, Macintosh and peripheral 
catalogue is now available at the cost of £1.50. Free to B20GG Clients 
Please call one of our sales representatives to order your copy today. 


Eazyprint Computers are a fully authorised Amiga 
2000 System Centre. We are also authorised dealers 
for all major peripheral and software companies 
developing for the Amiga. Our current portfolio 
includes the Ricoh 6000PS PostScript Printer, the G2 
VideoCentre, The Video Toaster, as well as all of the 
major video production software, such as ProVideo 
Plus, Video Effects 3D, Calligrapher, AniMagic and 
Wipe Master. 

We also supply PC Hardware and software products 
for use in conjunction with an Amiga 2000 Bridge- 
board. All peripheral cards are subject to a 24-Hour 
Bum In. Complete systems installed free of charge. 
Formal Training and Bespoke programming services a 
speciality. Please call Mat Lemmings or Lee Hoidaway 
for Amiga pre-sales enquiries, Steven Maton or 
Andrew Neville for information on PCs, General 
Amiga software enquiries to Marion Lemmings. 


249 Staines Rd West* Sunbury^on- 
Thames, Middlesex. TW16 7BH. 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 



FASCINATING 

COMPANY 



THE DISC COMPANY PRESENTS THE PERFECT COMPANION FOR YOUR AMIGA : 

THE STARTER KIT, A COLLECTION OF SUPERB GAMES AND ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE 
WHICH WILL BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOU AND YOUR COMPUTER. 


KindWords 2.0 



Simply., the world's Pest 
selling Amiga word-processor 
-with a 100,000 word British 
Dictionary and 470.000 word 
Thesaurus. 


Crazy Cars 



Stunning graphics take you 
on a hair-raising ride 
through America, 


FusionPaint 

An easy to use paint package 
that allows your imagination 
to run wild. 



Super Ski 



All the thrills without 
the spills! Compete in 
the downhill race, 
slalom and giant jump. 


Miniature Golf 

Select your course, 
your clubs and don't 
forget to shout "Fore!!!" 



STARTER KIT 


MAKE FRIENDS 
WITH YOUR AMIGA. 
INTRODUCE IT 
TO THE PERFECT 
PARTNER. 


* 69,95 

inc.VAf 


Both kfts are available from: Addons: Southampton; SDL: London 01-300 3399: GEM: Harlow 0279-412441; 
HB-Marketlng: West Drayton 0895-444433: Amiga Control Edinburgh 031-557 4242 or Microdeaier: Milton Keynes 0908-74000. 
For Further information contact The Disc Company ; Paris 33-1 45 53 10 53. BP 435.18 , F- 75765 Paris Cede* 16 







I 


WHETHER YOU'RE RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS. A LOCAL CLUB OR A BUSY HOME : 

THE HOME OFFICE KIT INCLUDES EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT. 


KindWords 2.0 


The ideal Word-processor 
for impressive, accurate 
business communication, 




An incredible DTP system 
to produce professional 
brochures, newsletters etc... 


Maxiplan 



1.9 


The best selling Amiga 
user magazine spreadsheet 
award winner. 


Info File 



A powerful database which 
can store all your information. 
An inclusive set of ready made 
file formats helps you get down 
to business from day one. 


CaleFonts & Artists'Choice 

Over 35 purpose-designed 
professional fonts. 

A fabulous clip-art library 
of over 200 graphics, 

HOME OFFICE KIT 


r NovoXB 

V :l =tl. 

BaselDB *£* 


GET ORGANIZED 
WITH THE BEST HOME 
PRODUCTIVITY KIT 
AVAILABLE FOR 
YOUR AMIGA 


£ 149,95 

inc.VAT * 


Both kits are available from ; Addons: Southampton ; SDLi London 01-300 3399; GEM; Harhvr 0279-412441; 
"^Marketing West Drayton OS 95-44443 3; Amiga Central Edinburgh 031-SS7 4242 or Mletod&itet; MlitOn Heynes 090874000. 
For Further information contact The Disc Company: Paris 33-1 45 S3 10 S3. BP 43S.16 , F-7S765 Parti Cede* l$ 






B EFORE I start, word about 

gradings. Under the EJo system, 
a player who has played sufficient 
competitive games is given a number, 
known as a grade, which is a 
reasonably accurate description of his 
playing strength. Elo grades range 
from 700 for the beginner to 2,800 for 
a world champion. 



The first human 
versus computer 
chess match 
was a disaster. 
The computer 
got frustrated 
working out 
each move 
on paper ; the 
human got 
bored waiting 
up to half an*- 
hour for each 
move. Things 
have improved 
since then, as 
Alastair Scott 
finds out 




The average of all graded players, 
who make up about two per cent of 
all chess enthusiasts, is about l t 50Q, 

A good club player will normally be 
graded 1,850 to 1,900, 

The big three Amiga chess 
programs are Logotron's Sargon HI 
Chess, Colossus Chess X from CDS 
and Chessmaster 2000 by The 
Software Toolworks, 

S ARGON III is a small program, 
only taking up 105k. Even 
better, it runs from Workbench and 
can multi-task. On a 512k Amiga you 
can have three games of chess 
running at the same time. And it has 
an impressive pedigree, having been 
written by Dan and Kathe Spracklen, 
the people who wrote the software for 
the first commercially available chess 
computer back in 1977. 

Because of its size, Sargon is 
definitely no-frills. There is no 3D 
board, but a very clear 2D one makes 
up for this, with colours set by 
Preferences. 

Presentation is excellent. Full use is 
made of pull-down menus and 
requesters. The pieces move quickly 
and smoothly, rotation of the board 
through 180 degrees being almost 
instant. Moves can be spoken as they 
are played, and the voice used is more 
pleasant than most Amiga speech, 

The game has nine playing levels, 
with only the lowest three - 5 
seconds, 15 seconds and 30 seconds 
per move - giving a reasonable length 
of game, as these times are very 
approximate. One time it took almost 
two minutes to make a move on the 
lowest level 



A 68,000 move opening book has 
plenty of variety and some dubious 
lines. The full board editor is the best 
I've seen on the Amiga, and there is 
an ” infinite" playing level which, in 
principle, allows mates of any length 
to be solved, given enough time and 
patience. 

No printer facilities are provided 
but games can he saved and loaded 
via either a dialogue box from within 
the program or an icon on the 
Workbench screen. The moves can 
also be saved as an Ascii file, ready to 
be loaded into a word processor. 

There are 107 'great games” and 
various other positions ready to be 
loaded in and replayed, although the 
comments in the manual about them 
are very terse given that Sargon III is 
targeted at beginners, 

A very elegant program which 
packs a lot into a small space. 


58 AMIGA COMPUTING Nnvemhrr 



■ REVIEWS ■ 


JCSS^r.' 




Your ho vo? 


Colossus X‘s 3D board can he rotated or tilted ft? view from many angles 


C OLOSSUS X is an upgrade from 
the 8 bit Colossus IV, written by 
Martin Bryant, an expert with 12 
years' experience of computer chess 
programming. 

No multitasking,, but Four sets of 
chessmen (standard, oriental, 
futuristic, mediaeval), a good 3D 
board which can he tilted and rotated, 
and a very poor 2D board which is 
small and over elaborate compared to 
the clear black and white board in 
Colossus Chess VI. 

Sprite movement is jerky. There is a 
bug in which part of the display is 
obliterated when a piece moves along 
the eighth rank. Non-Intuition and 
suspiciously Gem-like menus are 
used, with hot-key shortcuts. Silence, 
beeps, voices or continuous music can 
accompany your moves, and the 
program can speak in five languages, 
with all text altered to suit, 

An infinite number of playing levels 
are available with six different time 
controls, including “all moves in x 
minutes' 1 and “y moves in z hours", 
all chosen from foolproof menus. A 
full board editor, albeit with clumsy 
control, is provided. Mates in Five, as 
well as selfmates and helpmates, can 
be solved. 

There is an 11,000 move opening 
book. The program, more often than 
not, plays unusual and dubious 
defences. The book can be altered via 
a crude text editor — certainly not 
recommended because the master disc 
is altered and a crash while accessing 
the disc may corrupt it. This 
happened to me, CDS replaced my 
disc. 

If you play an opening which is not 
in the book your next ft^w moves will 
he saved to disc for future referenced 


This slows the program down to a 
snail's pace, and again there is a 
danger of crashes. 

Endgame play is very good, but that 
opening book needs revision to 
eliminate some of the had lines. 

Games can be saved and loaded. 

The disc directory is not displayed on 
screen, so if you forget a filename 
you'll have to fish out your CL1 disc to 
read it. There are 29 human v 
computer games and 10 problems on 
the disc. Moves and the board 
position can be printed. 

Al l sorts of extra weird and 
wonderful options round the program 
off, including Blindfold Chess, where 
you hide one or both sets of pieces, 
and Play to Lose, an easy mode for 
beginners. 

Colossus X is a reasonable program 
which could have been much better. 
The graphics are so-so and the 


program is strangely sluggish, taking a 
few seconds even to clear the screen 
and set up the starting position. It 
gives the impression of being a badly 
ported ST program. Gimmicks like the 
fancy chess pieces and continuous 
music would be better removed. 

HESSMASTER 2000 is the best 
presented chess program Tve 
seen on the Amiga, with largo, clear 
2D and 3D boards, full use of 
Intuition, hot-key shortcuts, smooth 
sprite movement and silence, speech, 
beeps or bursts of music to 
accompany your moves. 

Unlike Colossus X, which uses a 
separate screen to display the list of 
moves and its train of thought, 

Chess master 2000 uses small 
windows which overlay the main 
board and which can be closed in the 
normal manner, Open several of these 
windows at once on a vanilla A500 
and you may get to meet the guru, 
There are 12 playing levels, all of 
the form "x moves in y minutes", and 
a full board editor - up to mates in 10 
can be solved. There is a 20,000 move 
opening book. One interesting feature 
is that there is a Coffeehouse mode, 
for interesting but possibly unsound 
play. 

Best Move suffers from a lack of 
randomisation - once Chessm aster 
2000 and my FDE chess computer 
played two identical 60 move games 
in a row, the probability of this 
happening by chance being over one 
in ten thousand. 

Games can be saved and loaded as 

► 


1 

■ 


■ 

i| 

D 




■ 

1 

■ 


■ 

1 

D 


■ 

i 

■ 


■ 


D 

tl 

■ 

i 

i 

■ 

■ 

M j 

i 

■ 

■ 

1 

■ 


■ 


■ 


Sargan III is definitely no frills' There is no 3D board 



November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 89 



The word is PROTEXT... 

Now available - Version 4.2 of Arnor’s acclaimed word processor 

PROTEXT k very fast! Unlike the majority of Amiga word 
processors PROTEXT scrolls very quickly and redraws the 
screen in next to no time. We have achieved this by 
developing our own screen handling routines - much faster 
than the standard ones. 


PROTEXT uses the Amiga , WIMP 1 interface fully and 
supports pull down menus, use of the mouse for cursor 
movement and block copying and window resizing. 
PROTEXT makes full use of Amiga Preferences settings 
and is fully compatible with the Amiga’s multi-tasking 
operating system. 


Protext is the result of 4 years of development. Unlike the 
majority of competitive programs Protext is 100% British 
and is being developed further all the time in response to 
the needs of British users. Registered users are always 
informed when upgrades are available. 


' Prate n realty is the best text processor on the Amiga" 

STi AMIGA FORMA J 2$ 39 

'Pretext the real joy comes only from using it I can say 
without any tear of contradiction it is the best word 
processor available at the price, in my view, at any price in 
fact.' AUI 3f89 


A brief summary of some of Protext’s features ... 


Background pri nting ed it/create fu rther tiles while p ri nter is busy 
Box manipulation move, copy, or delete any box as well as blocks 

set over 50 options to your own preferences using 
our menu driven configuration program 
add/delete words to/from supplied 70000 word 
English dictionary. Create your own dictionaries, 
copy flies, erase, rename, type, create directory, 


Configuration 

Dictionaries 


Disc utilities 


Exec files 
File conversion 
Find & replace 


change directory, remove directory, catalogue files 
store sequences of commands In files for easy use 
flexible file conversion utility for other WP files 


Formatting 
Headers & footers 

Help 

Keyboard macros 


Line drawing 
Line spacing 
Printer support 


Program mode 
Proportional text 
Quick dictionary 
Ruler lines 


; auto-indent; set tab stops 
wifi print proportionally spaced, right justified text 
dictionary held In memory is very fast 


very powerful and fast with many options. 

Foreign languages 10 built in keyboard languages Easy to use 
accented letters: a»gdu&iG£iLi6&i , i etc. 
auto -reformat; reformat para, block or whole text, 
up to 9 lines of text, different even/odd headers 
and footers, auto page numbering, footnotes, 
edit and command help available on-screen 
string any sequence of letters together on a single 
key e.g. 'Yours sincerely". Load and save macro 
key files. Special recording mode as you type, 
ideal for drawing lines flncl. comers) around text 
variable in half lines, including 0,14,1, VA, 2 ; 2W, 3 
works with any parallel or serial printer. Wide range 
of printer drivers supplied, Inel. lasers and 24-pln 


,ry held U 

any number of ruler lines to define document layout 
left/rlght margins and normal/decimal tab stops 
Spelling checker check whole text from disc or memory, or as you type 
Suggests alternative spellings. Works with foreign 
Languages 

Symbols full character set available on screen Character 

symbols may be redefined 

Time and date time shown on screen. Insert time or date into 
document 


help you to start using Protext 

two documents in memory, copy text between them 

direct printing for envelopes etc, 

retrieve text deleted in error 

quick count at anytime, whole text or just a block 

anagram and crossword solving features 

on-screen bold, underline, italics 


E rinters; or create your own drivers or edit ours. 

old, condensed, double strike, elite, italics, 
enlarged, pica. NLQ, subscript, superscript, 
microspacing, proportional spacing, any other 
printer fonts 


Tutorial files 
Two file editing 
Typewriter mode 
Undelete 
Word count 
Word puzzles 
Wysiwyg 

The most comprehensive mail mergeprogram available. Use it for labels 
personalised "standard letters', club mermoership lists, and much more; 

* read data from flies from any database or spreadsheet program 

* ask for variables from keyboard ■ display message while printing 

* include file for printing ■ reformat whilst printing 

* conditional printing and repeat-until loop constructs 

* numeric calculations and string expressions Including substrings 

* commands to write information to a separate file 

* operators + r ,*J, , IN. NOTIN 


* ■ Protext is a professional word processor 
If you want a fast efficient program for processing words, get PROTEXT 


Latest News and Announcement 

Version 4.2 is now available. Enhancements indude:- 

+ Revised and improved 300 page manual and index 

* Current date and time are available as single key strokes 

* Improved memory allocation and smaller program makes 
better use of your memory. 

* Scroll Lock function pauses after displaying a screenful of text 
Upgrade price from v4. lx £15 Please return discs. 

AVAILABLE NOW 

"PROOAT A" - the Amor Database for FC^ST/Amiga. 

{See our advert elsewhere in this issue} 


ffefeasmff fut/rm/crospoteatia /. . , 


Amor Ltd LA Cl 611 Lincoln Road Peterborough PEI SNA. Tel: 07SS 68909 (24 hr/ Fax: 0733 67299 


PriCe3 IBM PC Atari ST Amiga 

Protext v4.2 £99,95 £93.95 £99-95 

German Dictionary £19.95 £19,95 £19-95 

Demonstration discs available - please phone 


All prices include VAT, postage and packing. 
Payment by: Access / Visa { cheque f postal order. 
Please make cheques payable to Amor Ltd 1 . 


FHWL 


60 AMIGA COMPUTING November J9S9 



■ REVIEWS ■ 



CH2000 

FDE 

Col X 

Sargon 

TOTAL 


NATE IN . . . 

TWO 

THREE 

FOUR 

Cnessi'nast.ar 

*■***■ 

11*01? 

0011*1 

1011*1 

12* 


FOE 

1 sec 

5 9 0C 

33 sec 

F0£ 

•00*100 


1 10**1 

*111*1 

10* 


Colossus X 

3 Sec 

5 sec 

45? sac 

COfcDS&US H 

nooio 

001**0 


0**111 

si 


Chessmaster 

3 sac 

54 sec 

5i e sec 

Sargon III 

010040 

*000*0 

1**000 


4* 


Sargon III 

—— 

S3 sec 

695 300 


The league table after a two-month round robin , each match consisting Figure U 

of six gomes. One for a win , half /or a draw Speed of response 


< 

well as erased ur renamed. Moves can 
be printed: Chessmaster uses proper 
algebraic notation (Bg2 or NxeS) as 
opposed to Colossus's o ver-fussy 
notation (Bfl-g2 QrNf3xe5) or 
Saigon ’s mediaeval notation [F1-G2 or 
F3xE5), 

There are 1Q0 grandmaster games to 
look at, including some recent 
Kasparov-Karpov battles. 

Chess master 2UUU is the best 
presented and the strongest program 
of the three on trial here. Its only 
weakness is its endgame. The 
upgraded Chessmaster 2100, which is 
presumably even stronger, is due for 
release any moment. 

A LL three programs obey the 
laws of chess, including 
under promotion and draws by 
threefold repetition of position and 
the 50 move rule. They can all force 
the standard mates, including the 
difficult King, Bishop and Knight 
against King. 

All three programs announce mate. 
Colossus X and Sargon HI resign 
gracefully in lost positions, Sargon III 
allows you to offer draws, and will 
declare a draw when there, is not 
enough material to force a win - King 
and Knight versus King, for example. 

I decided to set up an allplay-all 
tournament between the programs to 
find the strongest. FOE is my Fidelity 
Designer Excellence, a dedicated 
chess computer which cost £155 and 
which has an advertised US Chess 
Federation grade of 2, 08 3- Each 
challenge consisted of a match of six 
games at 30 seconds per move or 
nearest equivalent. 

The result, as shown in Figure L 
leaves little doubt as to which 
program is the strongest player. 

Chessmaster 2000 has a good 
opening hook and a very powerful 
middlegame in which it frequently 
builds up strong attacks from nothing. 
All three of Its losses were in the 
endgame, in which Colossus X, if it 


managed to survive, outplayed it. 

Colossus X would have done better 
if it had desisted from playing odd 
openings which gave it poor 
middlegame positions, made worse by 
a stolid and unadventurous playing 
style - three of its games against 
Sargon IH were over 100 moves, 

Sargon ill s style is attacking, rather 
like Chessmaster 2000, but less 
successful because it is unable to plan 
in depth. All three of its draws were 
by repetition, when it had a superior 
position but ran out of ideas. 

The Fidelity computer did well, 
except against Chessmaster 2000 
when it repeatedly lost in the 
middlegame. After a long book 
opening - up to move 20 in both cases 
- it is remarkable how the FDE 


neglected his queen side and how 
quickly Chessmaster 2000 took 
advantage. 

To test processing speed I set up 
mates in two, three and four, and 
asked the programs to solve them. The 
results are shown in Figure 11. The 
blank in Sargon ITIs results is where, 
despite prodding, it refused to find 
mate in two. It took four seconds to 
find mate in three instead. 

The FDE dedicated computer, as 
you would expect, is the fastest. There 
is not much to choose between the 
three Amiga programs in speed. 

All three programs will give most 
players a good game, and are about a 
fifth of the price of a chess computer 
of similar playing strength. A bargain 
in anyone’s book. 


OVERALL RATINGS 

Col X 

Sargon 

CM2Q00 

| Esti rusted ELO 

1000 

1650 

1950 

Presentation 

13* 

12 

15 

Fl 0 xibil ity 

12 

9 

10* 

Ease of use 

12 

15 

13* 

Range of options 

10* 

12 

13* 

2D board 

5 

13* 

15 

3D board 

13* 

- - 

13* 

openings 

7* 

to* 

13* 

Middlegame 

10* 

12 

15 

Endgame 

134 

10* 

1C* 

TOTAL 

1309 

1944* 

20?0 



Chessmaster 2000 - king of the Amiga chess castle 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 61 




COME 2 Williams Clowes Street 

TO THE Burslem 

PROFESSIONALS! !!! Stoke on Trent 

ST6 3AP 

NOW TAKEN Tel: 0782 575043 


AMIGA 

REDUCTIONS 


12.95 

7.95 

5.95 
5.95 
5.95 


Manhunter in New York .. 29.95 

Garfield 24.95 

Phantasm ......24.95 

Hyperdrome 19.95 

Artura 19.95 

Mr Hell - 13.95 

F-16 Combat Pilot 24.95 15.95 

King of Chicago 29.95 

willovT 
RRP £29.95 
Our Price £5.95 


8.95 


AMIGA 


AMIGA 


SPECIAL OFFERS 

SPECIAL OFFERS 

Wicked 

,.24.95 

9.95 

Vigilante 


9.95 

R Type 

,.24.95 

9.95 

Postman Pat 


7.95 

Time Scanner 

...24.95 

9.95 

Populus 

......24.95 

17,95 

IK+ . 

,.24.95 

9.95 

Jug 


7.95 

Xbots 

.,24.95 

14.95 

Forgotten Worlds 

19.95 

14.95 

Rainbow Island 

_ 

15.95 

3D Pool 

24.95 

15.95 

Running Man 

,.24.95 

9.95 

Gold Runner II 


6.95 

Lombard Rally 

.,24.95 

14.95 

Pirates 

24.95 

15,99 

Deluxe Paint 3 

...79.95 

54.95 

Honda RVF 

24.95 

15.99 

Rally Cross Challenge .. 

- 

15.95 

Karate Kid ii 


6.95 

Hostages 

,.24.95 

7.95 

Warlocks Quest 



5.95 

Leather Goddess 

.,29.95 

6.99 

Tanglewood 

^ 

7.95 


Targhan ....- 15.95 

Running Man 24.95 9.95 

Passing Shot - 16.95 

Peter Beardsleys Football24.95 7.95 

Pacland 24.95 7.95 

Gold Rush 29.95 12.95 

Leisure Suit Larry 1 24.95 12.95 

Police Guest 1 24.95 12.95 

Nigel Mansells G Prix 24.95 5.95 

After Burner 24.95 9.95 

Roger Rabbit 29.95 7.95 

Krystal 29.95 12.95 

Pioneer Plague 24.95 4.99 

Paper Boy - 16.95 

Vindicators 24.95 9.95 

Xybots 24.95 15.95 

Fire Power 24.95 6.95 

Tracers 24.95 3.99 

Ebon Star 24.95 3.99 

Galactic Invasion ™,.:.24.95 '3.99 

Action Service 24.95 3.99 

Thexder 24.95 3.99 

Marias Xmas Box 24.95 5.95 

Space Quest 1 24.95 12,95 

Space Guest 2 24.95 12.95 

Real Ghostbusters 24.95 9.95 

Robbeary 24.95 5.95 

Hound of Shadow - 16.95 

Marble Madness 24.95 7.50 

Outrun 19.95 7.50 

Bards Tale 24.95 7.50 

Incred. Shrinking Sphere 24.95 5.95 

Beast 24.95 

Academy 24.95 6.95 

A.P.B - 15.95 

Armageddon Man 24.95 3.99 

GFL Football 29.95 4.99 

World Tour Golf 24.95 7.50 

Mini Golf 19.95 6.99 


HIT DISCS Vol. 1 

Gold Runner, Slaygon, 
Jupiter Probe, Karate Kid 
II 

RRP £24.95 

Our Price £9.95 


Soldier of Light - 7.95 

Bards Tale 2 24.95 16.95 

Silkworm 19.95 

Millenium 2.2 24.95 


12.99 

15.99 


Nord & Bert 29.95 

Sherlock 29.95 

Bureaucracy 29.95 

Plundered Hearts 29.95 

Hint Books for the above 
only £2,99 each 

Rick Dangerous - 

Deja Vu 29.95 

Wanted 19.95 

Billiard Sim .....24,95 

Division 1 .....19.95 

Stargoose 19.95 

Fun School 2 6-8 ..24.95 

Fun School 2 8-12 24.95 

Fun School 2 over 12 s. ,.24.95 
Dungeon Master (1 meg}24.95 

Elite 24.95 

Hellfire Attack 24.95 

Falcon Mission Discs each19.95 

Bloodwytch 24.95 

Populous Scenery Disks 

Kult 24.95 

Fiendish Freddy - 

New Zealand Story 24.95 

Red Heat 24.95 

Roho Cop 24.95 

Proprietors FA and RA Beech 


6.99 

6.99 

6.99 

6.99 


15.95 

8.99 

4.99 

4.99 

5.99 

4.99 
12.99 
12.99 

12.99 
15.95 

15.95 

3.99 

13.95 

15.99 
7.95 

15.99 

19.95 

16.99 
16.99 
16.99 


Waterloo - 17.95 

Leathernecks 6.99 

Photon Paint (no box!) 

just disc + instructions . 79.95 19 95 

Faery Tale Adventure 44.95 8.95 


For 1 month only: 

Garfield I 
and 

Garfield II 

RRP £39.90 

Our Price £16.99 


ALIEN 
SYNDROME 
on offer at 
£7.95 


We offer a fast reliable service 
Cheque's P.O's to: 

CASTLE SOFTWARE 

Any games not listed phone our 
Hotline now on 
0782 575043 

Please state Amiga when ordering. All orders 
under £6,00 require ?5p towards P&P. 

Over £6.00 PAP Free 


&2 AMJGA COMPUTING November 1999 




AMIGA 
AUDIO 
DIGITISER 

- NEW. CHOOSE MONO OR STEREO VERSION 
Both Amiga audio digitisers gi* superb pHrlormance, unsurpassed at the once. Mo 
s^fwart? is suppled, since they are fully compatible with f^rfect Sound. Prosound 
Dessgrwr, Aud«ma5t«, and Oatel's Praartipler Sampling rales up to SDK Hz a re possible 
depending upon the software. An audio lead is supplied tor connecting to the headphone 
socket or hne output of a rad®, personal stereo keyboard etc. Fufl instructions are 

thfl morw veiwl also has an L E D - o«rlbad indicator. A puWie domain 
J“ J ?Jf terkSliep ' dlsk ftavaiti!bEe which has demo rtrtions of Audiomaster & Perfect 
Sound etc. 

^ui?d 0 workIhop disk“ 7 MP0ST FR£E stereo DIG T4 R £wrrH0^slfi 
ADAPTOR FOR WOOO eJS 





EXTERNAL 3 5" DISK DRIVES 


• B0OK FORMATTED CAPACITY 

• THROUGH POST * VERY QUIET OPERATION 

• SLIMLINE STEEL CASE * LOW POWER CONSUMPTION 

5* DRIVE WITH QN.OFF SWITCH £79.99 POST FREE 


AMIGA MONITOR & PRINTER LEADS 


RGB TV A MONITOR LEADS 

We nave leads to connect all AMI GAS to your Tv or colour monitor 
provided it has an RGB input socket. All toads give a much clearer 
picture than using (he AMIGA MODULATOR, permit ALL 4D05 cotoura „ 
to be displaj«d and include the audio lead (to give stereo with stereo tv'st « 

ORDER AL | FOR TV’s WITH 21 PIN EURO tSGARTj SOCKET 

^ ElDEJ - IT¥ SONY GRUNDIG, NORM ENE DE , ETC. ONLY £10 99 

F EFK3L| S0N TV’s WITH 7 pr 8 PIN Dl N SOCKET. v , 

MODELS MODI 4 MC05, ETC ONLY f 10 99 ^ I 

ggfg * L 4 Ft >R HITACHI & GRANADA TVs WITH 7 PIN DIN ' 

SOCKET MODELS CFT 1444, ETC.. ONLY £10.99 

AMJGA TO MULTISYNC MONITOR (analogue RGB) ALll . 

MANY OTHER AMIGA MONITOR TV LEADS LISTED IN OUR FREE CATALOGUE 
OUR LEADS ARE GUARANTEED TO WORK WHERE OTHE RS DON'T 1 
LEADS AlSO AVAILABLE FQR Afftffl ST RANGE PLEASE CONSULT US IF IN DOUBT 


NEW - MONITOR SHARER 


SHARE 2 COMPUTERS WITH ONE TV/MONITOR 
Plug-in the scart leads from any two computers eg AMIGA & ST, and ^ 1^ -* 
connect the SHARER to the tv or monitor's start socket. Just press 
ine switch to instantly select either computer m swi £16.99 * ^ 

OTHER LEADS 

AMIGA 64 EMU LATOR LEADS * EL 1 ONLY E4 i*a 

MODULATOR EXTENSION LEADS " ££[ } S3ly Is « 

AMIGA PRINTER LEAD - Parallel Type L5M long aSp 1 ONLY S'S 

AM IGA ASOOi'BBC E MU LATOR LEAD ... .^ !"* 85 

AMIGA A500 TO SERIAL [R 5232) PRINTER 1.6m ONLY £4 99 

AMIGA A500 TO MODEM <25W'D') 1,5m 'fiS6 ONLY Moo 

AMIGA NULL MODEM LEAD — LINKS TWO ASOQs 1 5m RS5 ONLY E7 99 

»«|GA TO HIFI LEW? 3m 2 PHONO PLUGS E«H ENoL h!!S3uS w 

AMfGA TO HIFI LEAD 5m 2 PHONO PLUGS EACH END Hl2 ONLY £S 99 

OTHER LENGTHS Of LEAD AVAILABLE - PLEASE SEE OUR CATALOGUE 

EXTERNAL DRIVE SWITCH FOR DFl ADE3 ONLY 99 

EXTERNAL DRIVE SWITCH FOR DFl & DF2 I A^ilmY ElO M 

PLEj^E STATE WHICH AMIGA YOU HAVE WHEN ORDERING 


MOUSE/JOYSTICK SWITCHER 


• WMME UMFUAWi^fG MOUSE WHEN JOYSTICK REQUIRED 
■ FXTEWJS THE PQRT FOR EAfilfff NCCfSS 

• SWES WEAR | TEAS ON THE HOUSE Pom 

• PUSHBUTTON SWITCH CAM Bf OPERATED 
WHEN THE COMPUTER IS ON 


NEW COMPACT DESIGN 


..£12,99 Order §s QJAl 



AMIGA MINI STEREO AMPLIFfERS 


MlNIAMP 2 combines a mini stereo power 
Imp with two neat speaker units which connect directly to your 
AMIGA. They are ideal for use with mono tv's & monitors, 4 simply 
plug m lor instant stereo sound WII be amazed at the difference 
MIHIAMP 2 WITH REMOTE TOLUME CONTROL 4 ALL LEADS ONLY £19.99 

MUNI AMP 4 comprises separate 4 watts per channel high quality mini stamp amplifier 
with SondspMkar-'headphone sockel, separate speaker units with 4 H twin cone drivers, 
mams power pack S connecting lead for AMIGA t 

OMJ BE USED AS WAL KM AN BOOSTER & WITH OTH ER COMPUTERS * 

Ml NiAMP 4 STEREO AMPLIFIER SPE AKER SYSTEM MA4 £34, » 


NEW - AMIGA MIDI INTERFACES 


MIDf INTERFACE 1 FOR A50Ck'2DCG OR A1000 MIF1 £29 99 

This has MIDI IN.0UT1 THRU sooiietS. ’ ^ __ 

MIDI INTERFACE 2 FOR ASO0.'2O00 OR A100D MIF2 E34.99 * "V 

JifthasMIDI IN, MIDI OUT, MIDI THRU plus 2 UNIQUE switched MlOf OUITTHRU 
SOCKETS to sa« you having to- swap MIDI leads when using more than one MIDI 
instrument. FREE MIDI LEAD WITH BOTH INTERFACES 


SUNDRY ITEMS - BARGAIN PRICES 


SONY 3.5 " DISKS 100* Guaranteed DS/DD disks 

10 £12 99* Postage Lowest Prices.... ftr 25 £28 49 Post Free 
Lowest Prices Par 50 £55.99 Post Free Lowest Prirs* fw irw yon oo iwi Frtw 

l: : smoked U£UO^l£ OSW ONL?U™ 

i g SKBOX FOR 30 DISKS. SMOKED L ID: LOCKABLE. DSB6 . ONLY £9,99 

A500 DUSTOQVER, ANTISTATIC TYPt, ADCl ONLY £4 99 

A4 NON SLIP MQJSEPAD, AFMi ONLY £4 99 

H4RD D'^WEMOW EX RANSJON^ VIDEO 
^fiCTEO SOFTWARE It BOOKS - PHQME FOR OHJR FREE 20 PAGE CATALDGUE. 
TIRADE ENQUIBies WELCOME Ptease add 75p pan postage ^ packing to outers under £15,00 

EXPRESS DfLJUjrfiV Cl » FKrp 



M.A.S.T. 


TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE 


**** IMPORTANT ANO UN CEMENT AAA* 

Th* CfmNv* poopl# at Mamorv (, Si o rag* Technology, the oomppoy 
fampuB throughout tha world forda*lgnfng and mMufaHcsurlng compact 
lower power peripheral* for the Amiga announce the arrival of a 
computer chow tu beat all computer chow*. Ve*. Ifa poedble to buy mir 
product* at show price* from th* comfort of ymir own home. 

But only until November ISth. 1999 

PJaaae nolo that our normal soiling pricaa are shown In { ) 

THE ULTIMATE EXTERNAL FLOPPY DRIVES 
COMPARE THESE SPECIFICATIONS WITH OUR COMPETITORS I 
UNIWUVE~ SPECIAL SHOW PfWC£ - £49 09 (ffl.m INC, VAT 

I # Super Slim Unt 
• Very Low Power 
* No CM Eking 
• Wf*y be Switch Dim bled 
i 1 Year Limited Warranty 


• Each Drive Fully Te«M Prior 
to Diapateh 

* Opgrada Policy t Buy ■ 
UflldrfVo and hay* fl Factory 
UjJfl reded to *> Twin Drive 


MICBOMEGS™ 



i SpeeWesdon at above but Irvsludm option to power top 
drive from 9 voflpluQpedL There era «|«o Two drive OhibW 
diubte swflchee. 

| • PluaCS Carriage 

SPECIAL SHOW PRICE - £79.99 (£99,95| INC. VAT 

41 ^ for the A501 

fY" Jrl Sj UftAAtS Mleromega f* only half Itw vTze of the 
^ to* power. Naturally, It Include* * 
SaneiV backed dock end InLSwfah, Ihe power^jl SAV twitch 
Crttt ahowa you to run Au» BotHfng ST2K S/W. Nb fumblino 
L^ider Che Domputar trying id llnd a mechanical evltthl v 

IVIINIMEGSTH 50071000 RAM EXPANSION MODULES 

faitgss'jsair^ 

• Airtp Configure 

• lew Power 

• 1 Meg DRAMS 

• RAM Tachometer 

• Auto Configure LED 

• Very am air afze 3" X S 25* x 0,625' 

• Ziro Wafl State* 

• Com padbfe with . AS 01 

• Plu* ££ carriage 
Pop Ufa fad to £f2X.£f4S.S5 (£1?gjf5) tnc VAT 
Paputmrad fo I Mmg £739. SO (£379.95} tno VAT 

Pop Ufa red fo 2 Meg £399 . 95 (£47995) (n t VAT 
FAOtory upgrade only £79.95 (£$9.95} Per SJ2K 



m tommlttod to providing the latett leefinotogy pt th* moat 

■ ?^r TXT bRA^SKKJS eroenSrSaS b JE5* 

power l Jvieg DRAMS, Durekrtllnu and olanned nrAducs r>n,» ^,111 


to* V ^ infernal 5 12K «p*nalon card to uae the 

Siir,S!S SI BSSrtSS ^ VSSh SK ™ 

AMISA-A-TOSH DISC DRIVE FOR AM AX - 
SPECIAL SHOW PRICE - £149.99 (£199, 9EJ INC. VAT 

Ma<3rn ^ h compatible 3.5.' Happy Drive fof lab 
00 Amiga Run Macln»*h eyitam dSkadlr*o«V with 

coMpLfTEwrrH wra * 1 - ««• ■ 

THE DOING OPTICAL MOUSE - 

SPECIAL SHOW PRICE - £69,99 [£79.99] INO VAT 

At late an alternative to the *x3 a tfng Mpufil The Sairvg 'Optical' Mouae f . the hlehM 

SSKSS 0 "" ™** vtKJ r “ n YOdrSSg fc ^™S2!iSSS 

and the 300 op> a D ra, tfviiy » twice that of the atandatd Amiga moua*. Th* bJttttna 

ss to e Th * re im b * iai ^ uan ior 

^ 6 * V** mou “ P* d with non Blip becking. 

ALL Amiga compular*. Special introductory Pdea ONLY£T995 ina 
Hrghiy R«om mended for all AiVOeaign Padtagea, ^ 

BARGAIN BASEMENT 

Tltojlnt telling book ‘Prafettranal reatAtl with D paint II: + accompany, in I djafc* 
FREEf ■ Special shew price - «a|y£17J§ tas, Tka Ideal Chriaba** Gift 

Mane Bound digitizer complete with aoAwem and lead* - only tIU iac 
Slam aeund digitizer cemp late writ aottwarw and la ads mbf EB.99 la*. 

$lar*c mini apeakert A aaiplifiar whi val cdatrol/laaib. ^ only £11,5* j K 
Tha bactHrili! aneiogiie jayrtcA yoka k, r mblogica FS11 and the new Falcon - aah 
IIIJIhk, T 

Dyaan DVDD branded disks pecked in plastic beat* - only flLSfl lor tan. 

Sony OS/DO hulk discs pecked la plastic bain - only £11.18 ter 10. 

MEMORY AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGY. INC. 


MA IT, {iiltHTQ 
UNIT 1 0IPPEN r 
BRODICK, ARRAN. 
SCOTLAND, KA27IRN 
(Q77ftttfZM 


M ASX U.SA 
Ml E.BENATAR WAY, 
CHICD.CA959I 
(till 34? 62TI 


NLA1.T. AUSTRALIA 
IM1 RUCKUND im££T d 
Ei ROADWAY, NSW 7W7 
{1212117411 
FAX: (82| 2*17414 


F^ICESj 1 SPECIFICATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPI/TING 83 







AMIGA SUPER CARD 

- Kickstart 1.3 

- Anti Virus 

- Floppy Speeder 

- Boot Drive Selector CQQ Q*\ 

- Back Up Program 

- Functions under - Error Messages 

F-Keys - Shortened Reset 

- Mouse Driven - Extra Utilities 


AUTO BOOT NEC HARD DICS 

A500/A1000 

20 MByte £399 

40 MByte £499 

60 MByte... £599 


AUTO BOOT NEC FILE CARDS 

A2000 

20 MByte. £379 

40 MByte £479 

60 MByte £579 


GENLOCK A500 MINIGEN 

- PROFESSIONAL GENLOCK A500 £95.00 

- Low cost, enabling you to merge computer graphics 
with five video & record the results on a VCR 

RENDALE 8802 
GENLOCK A500 £189.95 

GENLOCK A2000 £189.95 


DIGIVIEW GOLD 


X COPY 2.0 Hardware Version 
X COPY 2.0 Software Version 

- No. 1 Copy Program - Parameter copy 

- Backs up commercial software 

- Update service: Send version t.o + 
£7.50 to upgrade 


VIRUS PROTECTOR 

- Hardware and software 

* Place hardware between external 
drive and computer 

- Protects internal and external drives 

- Always present after warm reboot 

- Gives alarm signal if a virus is found 

- P rotect s agai nsl 1 6 V iruses 


KICKST ART 1 .2/1 .3 CARD 
£49.99 


RAM EXPANSIONS 

A500 512K 

- Upgrade to 1 mbyte, fitted in seconds 

- With dock, battery operated to 
retain bma/date. On/off switch 

A 500 1.8MByte (512k Ram) 

- Board to add 18 A * internal memory to 
your ASOO 

With Ram I S MByte 
A 5 00/ A 1000 2 MByte Internal 

A500/A1 000 2MByte 

- 2 Mb ram expansion A5QQ/A 1000 

- simpfy plugs into expansion port 

A2000 2MByte 

-6 Mb board , 2Mb Ram 


Now you can switch between Kickstart 1.2/1 .3 
Supplied with Kickstart 1.3 
Easy to fit 


AMIGA DISK DRIVES 

3.5" EXTERNAL DISK DRIVE £79.00 

DSD D SLIMLINE DRIVE lncl “* s 10 ■** teks 

3.5" WITH TRACK DISPLAY £99.99 

Includes 10 blank disks 


5.25" EXTERNAL DISK DRIVE £99.99 
40/80 TRACKS IBM Inclurfas 20 blank disks 

COMPATIBLE 

5.25" WITH TRACK DISPLAY £119.99 

Includes 20 blank disks 

ALL DRIVES 

ON/OFF SWITCH AND THROUGH PORT 


A500/A1 000/A2000 jfll 
LIGHT PEN Vi 

- Including Software Driver 

£49.99. 


Photon Faint 2.0 etc 



-W T ^ y% y\ Suite 1, Wickham House, 

M ' g # / MJ £. y/l/|/| 2VpperTeddingtonRd, 

tLt/jD Oo i/t/C/ sssr&f**' 

_ JW; 0LS77 PJPtf. Fux; 01-977-5. 

DO YOU OWN AN AMIGA COMPUTER? 


Fvr everyone who owns one of these computers, CLUB 68000 offers members software, hardware and accessories at 
huge savings off recommended retail prices ! Each item has been carefully chosen to offer the best value and quality . 


HERE'S WHAT YOU GET. 


When you join you will receive a free games compendium and a free catalogue every 3 months 


AMIGA TOP 100 GAMES 


AMIGA PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE 


64 Emulator 2 =0 
Aegis Draw 2003 
Monitor 3 Tj 
AqjutSann 
fieflrt Audio™ ster? 0 
Aegit Videotape 3D 
AegiCl^n^Cknm, Adm 
Aegi« VideoLiller 
An) magic 
Aztec C Pror 
A life III 
m PC 

Benchmark Muduk 2 
SutChef 2 0 
Comic Sellar 
Comic Setter Ail 1 
Comic Setter Art 2 
Comic Setter Art 3 


&J , AB**k3.0 
Ekiidtpei ir 
Gflffitsa 
Her Die* Copy 


Critic* Choice 
DCS TmNHk 
C iQiviw Gold 
OiQlue* Cflpyatand 
Deluxe Paim IN 
Deluxe Murc 
D eluxe Vkfeo 


1 .3 t hfcnual 

Hoi Copy Pfdgnr 


CLUB 68000 INTRODUCTORY OFFER 

Fill out this coupon and return it to CLUB 68000 Ltd. Youronlycommitment is to pay £10.00 for one year’s mem bership 
of CLUB 68000. Mail this coupon to CLUB 68000 Ltd., Suite I, Wickham House, 2 Upper Teddinjjton Road, 

HutnnLiTi WlnL- L r i n nri., H Tl P wrrw^m jrm rr B f 


Name 


Type of computer 

D Cheque enclosed 
L) Vii*/Acceii/Muicr. No. 


£ 10.00 


u Postal Order 

Sofi-wnm Pwi & Pkckaem* within itfaa !TO ut EEC £ I JOOt titm BftC £3,00. Sofa 
lludtein; Caurwuemitt £6 


Mtafbunw 

?4» 

Alien Legion 

... 24 M 

Ajterofh 


Airlwrne Ranger ... 

Arc ^1 pel mat 

,™.„ 2499 
24.99 

Beam ... 

24.99 

Bib Ctialknge 

2494 

Bomber 

2499 

Bavarian II 

24.11 

Battle Hawks 1942 _ 

24.99 

BlMdemld* 

2egg 

Balirce al Power 1990 

Blood Mowf „ 

24.99 

24.09 

Batlta Cries* , „ 

2e.99 

BlOOdwyrli 

24.99 

Cramc Pirate 

19.99 

CofcjMui Ctte** X 

Chao* Strikes Badt 

Cap&ne 

.29.99 

19.99 

24 99 

CaUfomii Game* 

24.99 

Oragone Lair 

44.96 

Dungeon Mister ■ .,. 

, 24.99 

Denirli 

Dragon Ninii 

. .. 24.99 
24.99 

DOmlnador 

19 99 

Demon* Wkrtwr 

24 99 

Carkside 

_24.®Q 


P«ll ol H*dunce 

24 99 

f O.W 

Powartkomt 

,24.» 

24.99 

Pole* Quart II , 

24 99 

Popub* 

Ptab* 

24.99 

24 99 

Pintaa. 

24 99 

Pacleirt 

19 90 

Precloua Mrtal . . . 

Peroral FticNmue 

Pool 

Rural aig Mw 

24.99 

29.99 

Z4.99 

24.99 

Rotocop 

24 99 

Rim Th* Gaunt let 

Rad Mart _ 

24.99 

2499 

Mmoii 

Savage 

._1999 

24,99 

Skewing God* U* 

StavsDanl* Snooker 

Shoot Em Up Con. Sal ..... 
Spaadk»ll..^H.„ 

...... 24.99 

19« 

.».« 

24.99 

Sugidrt 11 



E Ills 

* 24,99 

Fligl* SlmiAitof || 


Fafcon f 18 

29 99 

Fed 01 fr*i Trader a 

FIB Com bet Pilot 

- 29.99 

....2499 

Forgotten kftrflda 

1999 

Flymg Shark 

1999 

Gun* Mg 

Game* Wkmar Edition . 
Rybrt* _ 

24.« 

2499 

High Steel 

1999 

HLA.T.L 

1999 


19.99 

Honda RJ 

..... 29 99 

Horoaa of th* Lane* 

——m.. 24.99 

Inlargeptor 

.... 24.99 

indkta Jon*e 

,...24.99 

Aiwa 

1999 

KWiWf„__ .... 

19.99 

KUt 

... ~<HM 

Kryrtal 

29.99 

KlnfpQim IV 


Lorde ol Ih* Rklttfl Sun 

2999 

Lombirt FUC .... 

24.99 

Lekum Sun* Larry 1 1 .... 


Lart Nlnji It 

2499 


Animal Hem 

6995 

Pnnt Utility 

49.45 

Prof. DnmnTt**,.,_ 

29.95 

Spnadrt«Bt . 

. .. 39 95 

Prog Llllika 

59 95 

Gfaphca 

39 95 

Utility 

39.95 

DrtKt op Vrtaa 

59.95 

uiniir— 

29.95 

Cad thx/Tachfiie: 


Educitton (2^, H, £12) ., tftK 

AliliTiaEkn 

49.96 

Ping Language 

■^,■*.95 

SteWng Chadw 

31.95 

Guru Bustar 

39.95 

Cow Program 

24.95 

Financial N11 .., 

29.95 

Cad Cam 

54.9$ 

Com rnjnktl lom 

29.9$ 

ttordprooe«Of 

49.95 

Irtngnled BuMbMa . 

11495 

Prog Langtrtga „ 

249 95 

Prog Language 

.... .359.95 

Maimarga 

49.95 

D**kleo Vdw 

S495 


Cad Cam 

229 9$ 

Cad 

819$ 

Music 

51.95 

MuSir^Midl 

59.95 

Cad Anlrmliofl 

...149.96 

Dwkto# Vidao 

,..69.45 

Ckrtttop V<iwo 

119.95 

Graprilcs 

74 95 

Prog. Language 

249.95 

Com mu n leal Ion* 

79.9$ 

Cominiinlcalie™ 

..119 45 

Prog. Language 

, 139.4G 


. 29 95 

OTP Comic 

49 95 

Sutler Hemet 

,1995 

Funny Rgur*i - 

.... 19.45 

Science Fiction 

14.45 

Font Editor , 

. 6445 

Wordi'D.BMrtSg«ad ...... 

..149 95 

UMltle* 

....49 95 

Video Dlgitfear 

.14446 

Cooyitind 

. . 89.95 

Graphic* 

.... 79.96 

Uitic 




Announcing PRODATA - the Amor database 

Software for the 1990s 


Amor, the makers of PROTEXT, are pleased to 
announce the arrival of our complementary database 
program, PRODATA. 

This is the program that our customers have been 
requesting for years. Prodata is an ideal companion to 
Pretext - It uses the same key strokes and many of the 
same concepts, so Pretext users will immediately feel 
comfortable. Prodata offers the same standards of ease of 
use and flexibility as Protext. 

But you do not need Pretext to use 
Prodata - It la a powerful database 
manager In its own right, ideal for all 
your filing applications The program 
uses a simple set of menus which 
may be used with the keyboard or a 
mouse, as required. 

Prodata is being launched simul- 
taneously for the IBM PC and 
compatibles. Commodore Am Lg a and 
Atari ST, at a special Introductory price 
of £55, available only until 30th 
November 1909, The recommended 
price will then become £79.95. 


Prodata is exceptionally veregtilei- 

You can keep data files which are automatically sorted as you add 
Information. The type of data can be very varied, ranging from simple 
names and addresses to inventories and catalogues and even invoices 
and records of transactions. 

You can keep the data sorted in several different ways. e g. by name, 
number, date. Almost instantly find information using any of these sort 
keys. 

You can design different ways of presenting the data, e.g. straight list, 
address labels, tabulated data 


Variable length fields, Up to 300 fields per 
record. Dote (Itet automatically axtendwd M data «* 
entered. Extra fields may 6#- oddad al any time. 

Indexed files may hav* up to 5 IndaxM, Which, 
may um auppl*m*n1ary sort field! (nirtantfy switch 
Jnd*k« to change aorilng method. 

Flexible layout design Includes Said, tad and 
variable terns. line dfawlng mods far boxes. layouts 
wider and Longer than screen fare* with automatic 
scrolling, formartlihfl of Items (decimal plftoaa, 
| U silly, ceotrlngli. printer attributes (bold, italic etc) 
both global and oh each tern, spactal 'tttfech* 
oflhtHriea to join harm. Dupfhate layout Faculty.. Up 
lg lOC different layouts. 

Printing. CompraltertiAte Uri q< printer driven, full 
UM of printer oonlrol codes, option* to set all 
margin fixes, headers end (peters, m icrospac-ing 
used to giva c-orted output In proportional tonlt, 
background printing, print Co printer of to a disc file. 

Filtering ar data ui»ng any expression. PlBete 
dored with descriptions, selectable from rttahU. You 
can instantly switch between displaying all records, 
those selected, or olhate IndiriduaJ records may be 
de-seteclod after filtering. 

Importing and exporting of date in different 

formats suitable tof fllhar software including PiDttod- 
Selectrve Importing allowing data to ba checked and 
l la imported. 


Save £25 

on 

PRODATA 


Select flflU BME 

FLfld I l AAArrss 3 
f fell I C Wrist I 
Field I : Address S 
Meld ? : let #«r 1 
Field t ; Del Addr J 
Field 1 i Dei Addr 3 
Fill! II I Del Addr i 
Field 11 t hi Addr 5 
Field 11 : letEphenr 
Field 13 ' fii 
field 14 1 Contact 

Field IB : drier Lot inn 1 
Field 11*: Unit felt 1 


Tee lift = (Ml, Pei - (3,111, Ltefth'IS. 


‘mm 


Designing a new layout 



fir 1 1 {Sb M 


feanttf 

in PC iT 

■lets 

34 HuLbcrru Hn 
Lmer BUrastil ey 

Hlllaa-«tetr-thr->IU 

HLttaflihLn 

Alii 3B1 


PntDt Ate 

7113 


13/B/B1 

MfeHq 

4447 

fab 

Fnfasri 

yi/it 

antes 

Td te 



Displaying and entering data 


Using Prodata Is simplicity itself : 


A!! facilities are accessed from a few 
simple to use menus, To set up a new 
database file you merely need to enter 
names for each data field - you need 
not concern yourself with the size of 
fields or the type ol data to be stored or 
even the total number of fields, 


Undo changes. The most ntcand data ehangaa / 
delations / Insertions bra loggeer and may 
reverted to allow you to eorred rndHtekM easily. 
Password protection 5 lewd, ability 
prated individual tayeuta la raaliid access to 
Mitfate* date. 

File management screen with Rectory map. 

bh, copy. type, attribute dispmy and 


Powerful expression evaluator P rewi£»« 
data catoutatisns, substrings, conditional 
tap* anions, rounding . The teiull of an expression 
can ba assigned to a (laid throughout the database, 

Date entry verification Reids may ba 

required to ba irdager. number or data Within a 
given rapga, or a String aubj*ct to a maximum 
length and mast 

Data, editing With ability to duplicate an amriing 
record. Insert and overwrite mod*, insert and detata 
Ikrre that automi/lically mows Helds up or down, iwap 
characters, convert to upper or lower case, change 
layout or fnctak from dlsptey mode, finds IhdivIdVftl 
record almost instantly. 

Aritomat}ona,t compatibility include* lull u» 

of accented characters including correct sorting, 
keyboard canflgutabla to 10 different national 
layouts, printer drive re supplied to prirri Special 
characters, 

Menu driven amp*e, easy to un system, Of 
menu* and pop up windows. Keyboard or mouse 
may be used. 

Plus macro record mooe. batch delete facility, 
configuration program, example date riles, an 
serein Indication Of boW, underlining, italics, 
compraJieneJw manual. 


Speciai Introductory Offer - Open until 30th November i960 

Prodata ia available NOW at the introductoty pries of juat £55 
Or, buy Pretext (our renowned word processor - see txir other ad in this issue) 
at the same time and save even more - the combined price is just £125 

Credit card orders wfll be despatched by return of post. H paying by cheque please el tow 1C1-H day* tor del wary. 


Save E55 
on PRODATA 
+ PROTEXT 


ORDER FORM - Sand to address below 
Please send me (indicate where applicable): 

PRODATA £55,00 (reduced from £79.95) 

PRODATA + PROTEXT £1 25.00 (reduced from £179.90) 

Computer: PC / Atari ST / Amiga Disc size: 5VV* / 3^ 
Payment by: Access / Visa / Cheque / Postal order 


Name 

Address 


Postcode 


AMIGA COMP 
1 1/88 


Credit card no, _ 


Expires /_ 


tWI/^ZI 


Amor Ltd {AC/, 611 Lincoln Ro&d, Peterborough PEI SNA. Tei: 07 SS 68909 {24 Ar/ Pax: 073 S 67299 


as AMIGA COMPUTING November 1939 




I** la ££#I i » 7 Mi! s s 


id 

le 

js 





fl, 

►ft 

it, 


w 

w 

er 

id 

of 

or 


t» 



COMPUTER 

SHOW 


»he/’ 9 °nCon’' nod !e 

f" toth /repo rf „wsof fw fl! 

AsP cC 'fS>f ed ?in^ ,dy , 

Asp rfftgSt)** 

r a \\W w 



the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 



So what is 





M ANY people who will have picked this 
up at the PC Show won t know ivhal an 
Amiga is. You may think you know what an 
Amiga is, but be prepared to be surprised. The 
Amiga is a schizophrenic machine. Initial 
design was started al a time when games 
consoles were an incredibly good way to make 
money. But the designers wanted to produce 
something better than the best games machine 
anyone could dream of, They wanted to build 
a computer. 

The hardware was designed in Silicon 
Valley to produce a combination of custom 
chips which would share the burden of 
running a program. Most small computers can 
only do one thing at one time. So if it is 
playing a tune it cannot clear the screen, or 
add two numbers. 

The Amiga designers reasoned like this: 
Why not have special chips to do the special 
jobs. This good idea was not original. But 
putting such technology into a home computer 
was. Previously multi -processing had been the 
province of big and expensive mini 
computers, 

The software was written in England, Agam 
it represents a radical advancement in 
technology. The AmigaOos operating system 
has a pedigree which evolved from mainframe 
computers; the Amiga was the first home 
machine which was powerful enough to run 
it. 

The biggest featner in the AmigaPos cap is 
multi-tasking. It treats the machine as a 
collection of parts, not as a whole computer, 
Programs decide which parts they need at any 
one time and share the resources, The result is 
more than one program can be run at once. 

For a while rival manufacturers poo-pooed 
the need to do this. Today they are just 
starting to produce software which multi- 


60 AMIGA COM Pirn MG Nosier I W'J 


tasks. The IBM version is still incomplete, 
needs a very expensive machine and has little 
software to go w r ith it. Apple has announced 
some software for next spring; it will also need 
an expensive computer. 

The Amiga is still the only computer which 
can multi-task and share the burden of sound 
and graphics with separate chips, The 
hardware w T hich makes the Amiga the worlds 
best games machine is the platform for 
software which makes it the w T orld s best 
business machine. So it is not surprising that 
the computer w'hich does everything better 
than its rivals suffers a bit of an identity crisis. I 
The two identities are reflected by the two 
machines, although deep down they have a 
common heart, the uses to which they are 
commonly put reflect the diversity of the 
Amiga's abilities. 


The Amiga A500 

THE baby Amiga is the machine most 
schoolboys dream of - a lb bit 6BOOO 
processor, synthesiser quality sound and a 
palette of 4,096 colours. With 512k which can 
easily be doubled to a megabyte using a slot in 
card, the A 500 is a powerful games engine. 

The work of manipulating the high 
resolution graphics is eased by advanced 
custom chips. These provide sprites - images 
which can be moved over a picture on the 
screen without interfering with the main 
display - hardware scrolling which allows 
the view r on the picture to tilt and pan without 
the need for complicated calculation, ru. 1 
sounds stored as digital waveforms which can 
give compact disc quality speach or music. 

All these features are powerful, yet they 
don't sap the SSOQO's strength. The 880k disc 






an Amiga? 




the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


drive built into the side stores more 
information than rival systems. 

The unique Amiga Workbench is a friendly 
way to use the machine. By keeping files and 
programs in drawers even large capacity discs 
are easy to handle. Programs can be rurt, files 
copied deleted and shuffled all without a jot 
of typing. Running more than one program is 
simple thanks to Workbench's windowing 
system. 

The protocols for using Workbench are 
carried through to the programs themselves. 
Commodore has issued guidelines to 
programmers which mean that once you have 
mastered the use of one package the rest are 
easy to learn, 

The Amiga 500 is expandable. Ther£ is a 
huge selection of add-ons from both 
Commodore and independent manufacturers - 
graphics tablets, processor cards, hard discs, 
memory expansions, video and sound 
digitisers and a some weird and wonderful 
tools such as 3D glasses, 

The A5G0 is an amazing home computer, vet 
[ it needs no extras. The machine can be 
plugged into the family telly using the 
supplied modulator unit to get you up and 
running. 


The Amiga A20G0 

WHILE the Amiga 500 is a powerful home 
machine the A2000 finds its place in 
businesses. El shares all the powerful features 
of the A 5 00 but adds more scope for 
expansion. The machine comes with one 
megabyte of memory and can easily be 
expanded to nine megabytes. The 16 hil 
processor can be upgraded to a 32 bit 6BQ20 


with a plug-in card. This quadruples the 
performance of the Amiga, with substantial ly 
greater improvements in maths-intensive 
work. 

A number of hard disc controllers give you 
the choice between price and performance. 
Hard or floppy drives can be fitted in the 
Amiga's 3.5in and 5.25in mounting hays. 

The Amiga 2000 can be made IBM 
compatible. With either the 8088 XT to 80286 
AT bridgeboard installed the Amiga will run 
the vast array of PC programs. II does this 
without losing the Amiga's ability to Multi- 
task, While only one PC program can be run at 
any one time, the Amiga can run as many 
programs as you can fit in memory. Datum can 
even be shared between PC and Amiga 
software. 

The Amiga 2000 will accept PC-compatible 
cards to give a complete emulation. Not only 
do you have two machines in the box. you can 
use both of them at the same lime, 

The Amiga 2000 is the professional video 
user's first choice. The vast array of video 
titling programs and hardware to interface to 
TV equipment means that it is used in 
television sludios throughout the world. 
Commodore and independent companies are 
working on special effects peripherals which 
manipulate images. 

The Amiga 2000 boasts a custom video 
socket which allows high resolution monitors 
to be connected. These are ideal for desktop 
publishing and spreadsheet work. Industry 
standard Ethernet cards allow the Amiga to be 
networked to most other computers, from the 
biggest mainframe to the humblest PC, sharing 
data and making you more productive. 

The Amiga 2000 is an advanced multi- 
tasking computer. It leads the way whether 
you work or play. 


November JIMS AMIGA COMPUTING 69 




HflRUJi 



POWEPPLAY pack i 


ALL OUR AMIGA ABOO PACKS CONTAIN MACHINES 
WITH THE FOLLOWING STANDARD FEATURES 

*51 2K Ram • Kiekstart 1.3 

M Meg Disk Drive *Two Operation Manuals 


• 4096 Colours 

• Multi Tasking 

• Mouse 


I Workbench 1.3 System Disk 
► All appropriate Connecting Cables 



POWEPPLAY PACK 2 


If you thought P overplay Pack 1 
. was good value just look at 
y * our Powerplay Pack 2! 

C\x 1 


s^V 60 1 


GRAPHICS HARDWARE 

DIGIVIEW SOLO SUPER PIC 


□igilH* sufec rdOLH imigti n IFF 
Pomut «i jl ronliihtsia fcw2 to 
*Q$6 atom 1& Mfl r 4flO 

pjssts | njqi.»rgi 8 b W, Df cotour 
*'1ti 0 fr W mods vifleo camera. 


Eland **rt lahiw insum 

nsfciifl ham* graltiw nnq 
wdn Ceph« mpM dqAud rttm 


only £139.95 


PANASONIC 
VIDEO CAMERA 


e uiivi e 1 50th lit 
1 Indudn (ierton In ihaitn 
Ait^k i]R^ri ir*> imm( wlta 

Supowli iP Amqa maUura 

mkHmg krtirUa pit Qupjcin 

ONLY £549.00 


High. quality high inaiAniM iiwft 
«t« Ctrwtl ulul For tytHmg 
mippM wit* Mns mwwpmwed 


only £249.95 


MINIGEN 

Add computer ) 


wl» nn*t C rmpctfri ram Arrkqg 5 
Hal end " BHHStie mini 


GALL FOR details AW prices 
Df H1UMIKATH COPY STAID 
FOR VIDEO CAMERA DIGRtSIHG 
DF StiLIS EG. PHOTOGRAPHS. 
GRAPHICS ETC 


MOVIE MAGIC AT ONLY 

£113.85 




PACK 2 contains lh& super 
Pcwetplay Pack 1 “ plus a Philips CM 8B33 
Stereo High Resolution Colour Monrtor 
(HIGHER SPEC, than 1G84S) See those 
games - Hear those games . . . 

WITH ADQEQ REALITY! 

(N B Pwrttpitv Path 2 doesn't mdude a TV Modriab?) 


Take our NEW F^werplay Pack 2 and add a 
Commodore MPS 1230 printer for that 
COMPLETE AMIGA HOME 
ENTEFITAI NM£ NT SYSTEM" 0 fl (V 

Tv suhadtuta the MPS <230 fa attathe/ 

pnnlar /n nar range. rmpN deduct 
£139.96 end add me puce of the 
eftemative chosen 


OflN ■' rt 

£729 


POWER PL AY PACK 4 


Tate our NEW Powerpliy Pack, 3 
replace Itie games software with an 
extensive business package 
THE WORKS - Integrated w.o. marl 
mefge, spreadsheet, pro database, 
multicolour graphics etq„ etc, 


WE 

MEAN 




To mhctrtute the MPS 1230 for another 
pmm ip our tenge, itmph deduct £1 39.96 
and add the pnca of the aftemet/ua chosen 


£729 


ACCESSORIES 

TAILORED AMIGA QI - 

DUST COVERS 0NLY 

I Also available for most monilor^ponTers. etc.} 


JOYSTICKS . 
ZIPSTICK SUPERPRO 


HEW LOW nm 

£ 15.95 


aulafn. 12 month wonm 

MICROBLASTER 
COMMODORE . . 
A501 RAM PACK 


£ 12,95 

£ 139,95 


Gaun CBM 512k EXTRA RAM mill -ml & 


dbd; (to NUT rraihli Am^a *wmntV 

CBM 3.5' DS/DD 
BLANK DISKS 

Boa ut iBi blank disks 

BULK PACKED DISKS 

Tat 35” DS/DD Dub 

OR wdh Ibraty case 


£ 14.95 

Call tor qo. 


till til (WUtT 
AirtMiit! 


£9.95 

£10.95 


HARWOOD’S - THE NAME YOU CAN TRUST 




ORDERING MADE EASY 

H ORDE Ft &Y PHONE-Simply call our 24hr Hotlinn 
using you* Access, 'Vi&.i or Li tmUard Charge C*rr|i 


s 


ORDER ESV POST ‘Make cheques. bankers bu'ldmg 
society drafts or pascal orders payable io GORDON 
HARWOOD COAflKJTERS INS Penwonl or 
business cheques require 7 days clearance from 
date of r$c*ifjt Nitcwe despatch! 

PAY AT YOUR BANK- It you wish to pay t w Credit 
Gtro Tt anafer ai yoyi owp bank, phwip fijr ifetipls 
FftEE POSTAL DELIVERY goods in UK Mainland 
(6-7 d!*y dalivary) OR COURIER SERVICE ■ Add 
£"& per ma|or item meKt working day delivery 
UK MamJand (Odn^i nnunnlly despatched on 
ilayd receipt n< iisymenf or cheque clearance 


COMPARE OUR SERVICE 

After you've purchased from Harwoods we ll 
still be here to completely satisfy you Should 
ary pfobloms arise, 


12 M<£)NTH WARRANTY - IF gcnjrt* to ba 
Z Faulty within 30 days at purchase they will be 
” * replaced with A NEW UNIT. For the remainder ai 
eftn Guarantee Period, all warranty repairs will b« 
made FREE Of CHARGE' 

£> COLLECTION FACJUTY-Any faulty computer dr 
^ monitor will Ij* cpNetitedlrCim your home FREE OF 
CHARGE Wlthm this Guarantee PenodM' 


k 


FULL TESTING PROCEDURE- AH computers are 
^ thoroughly tested prrar la despatch. 


CREDIT TERMS 


Gordon Harwood Cdmputefii are iinerised broken 
and facilitie* to pay using our Budget Account 
Scheme are offered on must items. APR 25.2% 

1 2-3G month eredn sale terms ane svarlubl© to mcKt 
adults. Simply phone or write end we will send wntten 
details along with an application torm. I Applications 
are required in advance.! 


□ 


Credit terms with pt without a deposit can 
be tailored to suit your needs. 













GORDOfl 

HARWOOD 

HARWOOD 


HARWOOD COMPUTERS 

DEPT A GO SB-71 HIGH STREET 
ALE RETON - DERBYS ■ DE5 7 DP § 

Tel: 0773 836781 Fax: 0773 831040 

■MHP 


4Y/24HR ORDER LINE- 0773 836 78 1 © 


£399 


30 MEGABYTE A500 HARD OISK 

Fteal poworfor your Amiga A5QG . connects directly through 
sidecar esjrtfiswi bui 111^ reliable, huitt-in power supply 
styled to match yaw Amiga A500. 

MEGA STORAGE , 

AT ONLY 

Also available 50 mb version £475 

indudcN 1 yr reptecemPTl warranty USE. riplHwifli 2 yr fwaHahlR 

COMMODORE A59D 20Mb HARO 
DISK FOR AMIGA A500 r s 

• Auloboot on Amiga 

(t.3 ttickstart onlyl NEW LOW PRICE* 

• Sockets for 2 Mb H AM £»Q7Q 

expansion L W / U 

• DMA 

VORTEX 40 MEGABYTE HARD DISK 

New concept jn disk storage NLW LOW PRICE 1 

• Amiga A500/1000 Ayi AQ 

{ others available] L 5/ 5? 

HARWOODS SUPERSLIM 3 5 DRIVE 

• Throughput NEW LOW PRICE' 

• On/ Off isolator switch £_/4 95 

CUMANA DISK DRIVES 

CAX 354 CAX 1000 

3 S' 2nd Onv* 125" 2nd Drive 

£94.95 £129:95 


10 FREE blank disks 
|W«*> £10.96) 


to FREE BLANK DISKS 
(Worth £3.95} 


/ SAVE MONEY/ 
f SAVE DATA!/ 




AWARD MAKER PLUS £33 35 

Creates tartficitei ami rwwu, n a vraty of 
JtytlJ. ttw flfWTtj nut m black m ufam. 
landscape til pwtiart. 

PflOff &5I ONAL PAGE Vt 2 £229-36 

The ultimate in fJ culflu Arcnp DTP packages 


SOFTWARE 


ruausiKfls choice mms 

The [Bdoge curwe ' Kndwwila V?'. 'Pagesettw 
VI t. 'Artels CtoM' and 'The bMdkiw' 

X GAG DESIGNER P99 36 

Ported start in mrn|MtK- Btild design 
WE STOCK A VAST RANGE OF SOFTWARE TOO MUCK TO LIST HERE AT ODJAFfTlTlVt PRICES 
FOR A WHOLE HANOI OF COMPUTERS AND GAMES CONSOLE* PHONE US NOW!!' 


AEGIS VIDEO TITLES Eli 95 j 

Use wflfi Geriocka. a.g Mtfipffl rtt 

THE WORKS C7MS I 

Mlbe^ntod W.p. mwImPHfl ^msdshaet m> j 

•du^atmsa, rnuttmtow ymplbcs «t 
WORKBENCH U £1436 | 

La berl versmn ilf Amiga D S 


PRINTERS 

All printers in our rings *re doi matrix and Include 
the Ipllowitig Natures . 

Standard centronics parallel port ter direct connection 
to Amiga. PC*. ST. Archimedes alt. Trader and friction 
paper feeds and FREE sonnatter cables 
CHI ZEN 1 ZOD fill 2 yeir warranty 

Very reliable lew cost printer, interohHnt|Mbli interfaces 
avBilahte tor RS232 or Senal tyf* to CBM 64 etc. E14S9S 

COMMODORE NIPS 1Z30 

ManiitKtiiffld by Wwett* built m dual CeMTarew ard B4 type 
anal interfaces Connects to 064/128/18/44 and 

Amge etc. £U9JS 

STAR LCI0 MONO 

Multiple Furrt options Iran Irons panel excellent paper handling. 
□64/ 1 28 version available £179.96 fWPft 

STAR LC1 0 COLOUR 

Colour version of the paptAac LC1Q allowifig the eftact of fid 
colour on screen dumps (rer^ws colour punter dnvinfl 
solreren-1. D64/128 version available £209-95 OJ**5 
STAR 1C 24 10 

24 Pei version of Ihe popiAar LC sreres with otcephunai letter 
pint a-jukly NEW LOW PRICE! £249 95 

All mu Si a pmntis an lull UK spec Miidv are speiJttafy raarulacIwaJ 
bv ilJi Jape* tei sail in Ihu UK a***. FImw b? *«bh ifr*i tump wn spin 
5&J prnlns hie being uiiqHioiLf irhpolM ijjwttl IFe whiles d Star 
MiLiomcs UK These jrmlara da not cany a S-lar UK warranty, ind «ill ncl 
be nreesd tnv Ihrein ihpuii ih* ncfri jhie thtse may be nwialjta due 1 b 
'-.jiM aupph lACiirnp&ttrt tr UK spec pnnles may be mrafmssd by Ihpn 
three fin UK rppe mams plug vtfiibH is mouldri te The am rafrfa ' 


VISIT OUR SHOWROOM 


MONITORS 


PHILIPS CM 8833 STEREO 

(Higher spec than 1DB4S) 

Full 14 High ResaluhDn Stereo Colour Monitor 

• Twin Sp&okeis 

• High Centre si Tube 

• Scert EurO'Canmctor littad as standard 

• Green screen switch for enhanced text mode 

• RGB. fll. TTl. ccnoposite video- and stereo audm 
mputi 

• Can also be used as TV with tuner ot VCR 

• Supplied with lilting stand 

• Compatible with most micros 

• Wilb FREE lead lot computer of your choice 

• Only (rum Harwoods 
1 year replacement warranty 
far maior faults 

COMMODORE 1084 

Full 14" High Resolution Cotour Monitor 

• RGB. Al, TTU composite video and audio inputs 

• Scan Euro- connector fitted as standard 

• Supplied with cables lor A50Q. CGA PC, 
CT6-64-12B 

• Can also be used as IV 
with Inner or VCR 


£229 


£209 


FHeane call to sse un wh«ra our full range of 
gctoertiHetl penducts AND MORE rs or' sale We 
will be only too pleated to demunsuate any item 
of hardware or software and a hd£t of peripherals 
and accessaries. 

REMEMBER WE ARE NOT JUST 
ANOTHER MAfL ORDER COMPANY 

All prices sfe what YOU PAY, and there are 
NO HIDDEN EXTRAS. VAT & Postage are included 
and are correct at lime of gmng IO press 
E, Er 01 Dffers subject to availability mid are ciirra*iity 
advertised prices. 



[ Beef Up Your AMIGA System 

fi^RAM Expansion^ 


1 r 


SupraRam 

2000 



• 2, 4, 6 and SMB configurations - Lets you run larger and more 

available sophisticated programs 

i Installs easily into any AMIGA - Allows creation of large and very 
internal expansion. slot fast RAM disks 

■ Easy to expand from initial * One Year Guarantee 
conliguration - start with 2M8 
and add RAM at your 
convenience 

* 6M0 configuration allows 
maximum benefit from AMIGA 
bndgeboard 


2MB 

£399.95 

4MB 

£599.95 

6MB 

£79995 

SMB 

£999 95 


SupraRam 

500 

■ 7 a MB RAM board increases 
A500 RAM to 1 M8 

* Built-in battery backed dock/ 

calendar ^ 

* Easy instalation - simply plugs 
into memory slot on underside 
at A500 



Only 


£99,95 


ommumcation 

SupraModem 

2400 



* Works with all t.Vf/C.A 2000 
computers 

* Half card fits any AMIGA bus 
slot 

* Supports up to 5 modems per 

AMIGA 200(} 

■ Works with most commercial 
telecommunications software 


L. 

r 1 


> 100% Hayes compatible 

► Asy nchro nous 2400/ 1 20 0/300 
baud operation 

■ Fully CCITT compatible 

* Auto answer/auto dial 

■ Adjustable volume speaker 

* One year guarantee 

2400zi £169 95 

External 2400 £169.95 

(Works with any system) 


* All prices include VAT and 
delivery 

* Frontier Software are 
Supra Carp's only official 
UK distibutor 


I 


.J L. 


Frontier Software 
P O. Box 113, Harrogate, 
North Yorkshire HG2 OBE. 
(0423) 567140/530577. 
Fax (0423) 522874 




L 


Hard Disks 



* Easy to install 30 or 45MB hard 
drive with suitable interface 
(2000 internal) 

* WordSync (2000) or expansion 
port (500) SCSI interfaces 
available separately 

* WordSync interface transfers 16 
bils at once, giving DMA speed 
without DMA hassle 

* WordSync interface offers super 
smooth sound, video etc with no 
interruptions for disk access 


* Compatible with Workbench 1.3 


auto booting and fast file system 

* Twelve month guarantee 


30MB AMIGA 500 SupaDriV* 
45MB AMIGA 500 SupraDnv* 
(With E*pgras*en Pprt interface! 

£599.95 
£699 95 

30MB AMIGA 2000 SupraDrive 
45M6 AMIGA 2000 SupraDnye 
(With WordSync Interface! 

£549.95 

£649.96 

A2tKXl WordrSync Interface 
(Just add any SCSI Hard Disk) 

£189 95 

i ^ Expansion Pori Interlace 
IJirei add any SCSI Hand Disk. 
Power Supply and Case! 

£109.95 



JEFF EARL is the most 
important man in 
Commodore UK, He is 
not the most senior, nor 
the most technical - be 
is marketing manager. 

His job is to make sure 
Commodore computers 
regain the top spot in 
the UK, a position they 
held in the early 198Gs. 

The UK renaissance 
for the 1990s has no bet* 
ter focus than Jeff, who 
has worked for Apple 
and more recently for 
Toshiba, where he spear- 
headed that company's 
growth from nothing to 
being the major manu- 
facturer of IBM portables 
and Desktop portables. 

He is one of a number 
of industry high flyers 
who have joined divi* 
sions of Commodore 
around the world, and 
he states: "The reason 
Commodore has spent so much money on a 
professional portfolio of people is to provide a 
foundation for new product introductions". 

The Amiga is such a flexible machine that it 
needs someone with Jeffs abilities behind it. 
Both the man and the machine understand 
AmigaDos. MSdos and Unix, jeff Earl sees the 
flexibility of the Amiga as its major strength. 
The Amiga 500 reigns supreme as a home 
computer. Atari has tried to ape it by adding 
more colours, stereo sound and hardware 
scrolling to the ST. It still lags behind in every 
respect. The Amiga is a winning machine", 
says Jeff. 

While software houses used to write for the 
ST and then consider a port, more and more 
now view the Amiga as the lead system. It will 
be interesting to see if there is a move among 
software houses to support 1 meg machines. 
The A5G1 ram pack suffered \vhen ram prices 
rose early in the year. With the problem sub- 
siding, we may see the price reviewed, "It will 
depend on supply and demand", says Jeff, 

Just as impressive is the Amiga 21)00. Jeff 
describes it as Commodore's best kept secret. 
’The more I see", he says, 'the more I realise 
its power is in its flexibility. 1 was at Apple at 
the time of the Lisa and during the early days 
of the Mac, The 2000 has some benefits that 
Apple would love, such as colour, from its cre- 
ation, And we've continued developing 

The analogy that the Amiga has been like a 
Lisa - a really desirable but flawed machine 
which only took off when it was revised and 
became the Mac - is often used by developers, 
Jeff sees the trigger to the Amiga's launch 
into the big time as being Workbench 1.4. 
"Maybe the OS wasn't what it could have 



JEFF EARL 


Commodore's 
man in the 
hot seat 


been, but 1,4 is so differ- 
ent perhaps it should bo 
called 2.0", 

There will be develop- 
er guidelines to provide 
a consistent user inter- 
face, expanding on the 
current requesters. These 
guidelines will encom- 
pass Amiga Unix, sd that 
the high flying executive 
can switch between an 
Amiga tinder AmigaDos, 
Amiga running Unix or 
the company mainframe 
running Unix, without 
having to be aware of 
which machine or oper- 
ating system is doing the 
work. 

The Amiga, and in 
particular the A20DQ t 
needs some software 
support, There will be a 
concerted effort by 
Commodore to get the 
big Apple and IBM soft- 
ware houses to wake up 
to the advantages of the A2000. Workbench 
1,4 and future Amiga machines are the tools 
with which they will do this. 

The Amiga will become a very different 
computer when it runs Unix. It is an operating 
system fraught with politics. In a similar way 
to the Workbench upgrade from 1,3 to 1,4, 
Unix is about to be upgraded from v3,2 to v4 - 
pronounced five point four. 

Amiga Unix, which is catted Amix, will be a 
very polished program. "You can't go in w r ith a 
product which looks right but falls over", says 
jeff. While techies may be happy with some of 
the fundamental parts of a system, Amix will 
go beyond this and provide a friendly, Mac- 
like environment. 

This philosophy of getting the product right 
extends to all future Amiga developments. It is 
the reason why we will not see Workbench 
1.4. the enhanced chip set, nor some of the 
hardware Amiga Computing has talked about 
recently, until the New Year. 

Part of the reason for this delay is to allow 
developers to get to grips with the new sys- 
tems and reduce the problems inherent in 
making changes to an established computer. 

There is going to be an amazing change 
between now and next July, predicts Jeff Earl, 
who has tremendous confidence in the hard- 
ware designers. Commodore is looking for 
growth in four areas - the leisure industry, 
with PCs, where it wants to be a leading sup- 
plier of high power 80486/&03&6 machines, 
with Unix systems and with desktop porta- 
bles. 

With Atari on the run. Commodore is gun- 
ning for Apple and Compaq. Jeff Earl is one of 
the team which will make it happen. 


THE& 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 




November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 73 





the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


___ 



Simon Rockman checks 
out Commodore’s 
A590 Hard Drive Plus 



See the Hard Drive Plus an the Commodore stand 1 


A NYONE who has added an A5 01 or 
second floppy to thoir A500 will know 
that it makes a big difference to the useablity 
of the system. That change is insignificant 
compared with the advantages offered by a 
hard drive. 

The A59G is smart, coloured to match 
recent, cream A50Gs - early ones were nearer 
1o white. The styling matches that of the 
computer and it is small and neat, partly 
because the foolwarmer power supply sits on 
the floor like the A 500 unit. 

The front has lights which show when the 
drive has power and when it is being 
accessed, The back has an RS232 lookalike 
connector which is actually a SCSI 
(pronounced scuzzy) port for connecting more 
drives, tape spoolers or even some laser 
printers. There is a socket for connection to 
the power supply brick, and a row of four 
little DIP switches. Two switches look after the 
device numbers for adding extra drives, a 
third is reserved for future expansion and the 
last one sets the system to autoboot if you 
have a 1.3 Kickstart rom in your Amiga, 

Fitting a special dip, then slotting the drive 
on to the side of the computer needs a bit of 
courage and a hearty shove. It means that the 
whole unit is solid, Assuming you have a 


Kickstart 1.3 mm and the switch is set on the 
drive, power to the computer sets the unit 
humming noisely into life. Workbench 
appears in about 15 seconds depending on 
w hat Startup-Sequence has to do, Kickstart 1.2 
owners will have to boot from floppy. From 
then on your Amiga is transformed. 

Buying an A590 nets you three separate 
units in one box - a ram expansion a bard 
drive controller and the 20 meg hard drive. Up 
until now getting this kind of kit together was 
a techno junkie s dream and sane user's 
nightmare. 

Ram expansion is the simplest feature; 
getting to the sockets the hardest part of 
Installation, The outer casing, the drive and 
then a metal cage have to be removed before 
you can get to the slots. This jigsaw r puzzle is a 
result of keeping the unit small. Since you 
only install ram once it is worth it. 

Memory can be expanded by adding chips 
to give 512k, one or two meg in addition to the 
ram fitted in your computer. It is worth noting 
that the memory in the drive runs faster than 
either the ram in the computer or the A501 
expansion unit. 

Speed costs: The chips which need to be 
Fitted are rated at 120 nanoseconds, This is 
pretty fast. Size counts: Each chip stores 256 




74 A MICA COMPUTING November 






the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


16 

it 

h 

n 


fi 


e 

d 

P 

is 

s 


if 

d 

e 

a 

i 

s 

? 

i 

l 

i 

I 


by 4 hits, or one megabit per chip. To keep 
power consumption down and so keep the 
heat generated to the minimum, the chips 
need to be Cmos, as opposed to the cheaper 
Ninos. A setup with ail the sockets fHlod still 
gets pretty warm. You will void the warranty 
if you fit Nmos chips. All these factors 
combine to make the parts expensive. Suitable 
chips cost around £20 each. You'll need 16 
chips for two meg so it is not surprising 
Commodore sells the unit empty. 

Commodore is proud of the design work it 
has put into the interface — lessons were 
learned with the A2090 and A209Ga. The new 
interface will cope with big drives up to 600 
megs, and you can attach eight drives at a time 
using SCSI, There is no through bus, so you 
can't plug any peripherals into the A59U. 

Getting data to and from the computer as 
fast as possible is the interface card's primary 
job. For this reason it uses direct memory 
access (DMA), Non-DMA drives use the 
central processor to read bytes from the disc 
and shove them into ram, A DMA drive uses 
its own custom chippery. This is not only 
quicker, it allows any other programs your 
Amiga may be running to work at normal 
speed. 

Two types of drive can be connected. XT or 


SCSI. Ooth are better than the ST-506 sold 
with A 2000s and IBM typo PCX Unfortunately 
SCSI drives are expensive, partly because 
there are so many fEM clones in the'world ST- 
506 drives benefit from economies of scale, 
partly because SCSI drives are made to a 
higher spec. 

A 45 meg SCSI drive without controller card 
will set you back £500. Commodore has 
compromised and fitted a cheaper 20 meg XT 
drive. This seriously affects performance 
when compared with more expensive systems. 

Speed freaks can either whip out the XT 
unit and raid the piggy bank to fit a SCSI drive 
- bye-bye warranty - or add an extra drive 
externally. This should see the performance 
improve from a data transfer rate of around 
150k per second to a theoretical rate of more 
than a megabyte per second, but lor that you 
will be paying over £1.000. 

What makes the A 590 special is the care 
with which it has been designed, Any faults 
are the result of having to keep the price 
down, something Commodore should be 
praised for. 

I here is a rash of hard drives appearing at 
the moment, most of them are at least 40 meg, 
but they will all have to go some to beat 
Commodore's Real Thing. 


November 1369 AMIGA COMPUTING 75 



EUROPE'S LARGEST CHAIN OF 
AMIGA CENTRES 


DIAMOND COMPUTER 
SYSTEMS LTD 

114 Lodge Road 
Southampton 
Hants 

Tel: 0703 232777 
Fax No: 0703 232076 


DIAMOND COMPUTER 
SYSTEMS LTD 

Phone for details 

WALES 

& 


LAN COMPUTER 
SYSTEMS LTD 

1045/1047 High Road 
Chadwell Heath 
Romford, Essex 
Tel: 01-597 BB51 
Fax No: 01-590 8959 


LHC MICRO SALES 

121 Regent Street 
Leamington Spa 
Warwickshire 
Tel: 0926 429211 
Tel: 0926 312155 
Fax No: 0926 863234 


SOUTH 


S. WEST LONDON MIDLANDS 

INTRODUCING THE NEW DIAMOND VALUE PACK 


Amiga A500, Mouse, Workbench, BASIC, Tutorial, Utilities, Manuals, T.V. Modulator, Plus Ten Star Value Pack 

SELECT TEN DIAMONDS FROM THE LIST BELOW: 


Quickshot I# 

Quickshot II ♦♦ 

Mouse Mat* 

A5O0 Dust Cover ♦ 

Marble Madness* 

10x3,5' D/S D/D Disks** 
Amegas * 

Three Stooges ♦♦ 
Goldrunner* 

Sprifz** 


Drum*** 

Art of Chess* 

Barbarian lilt Warrior* 
Buggy Boy* 

Ikari Warriors * 

Insanity Fight* 
Mercenary Comp* 
Terrcrpods* 

Vixen * 

He Ilf ire Attack* 


Photon Paint** 
Thundercats * 

Hellbent * 

Better Dead Than Alien * 
3.5‘ Cleaning Kit ♦ 
Backlash* 

Driller* 


Winter Olympiad ^ 
International Soccer* 
Wizball ♦ 

Quadralien * 

ECO* 

Attack ♦ 

Hacker II * 


ONLY £379.00 inc 


DISK DRIVES 

A590 2CM t> . 2M t> RAM - [325. 

49Mb, AulobtioL Fast File for 
B2GG0-E495* 

External 3.5' Drive with on/off switch & thru port 
only EC5+ 

Internal B2QOO Drive- £59* 

32Mb PC/A20DQ Portionable Hard Disk- £209* 


MONITORS 

1004 (CBM)-Elft* 

10S4S (CBM) -C19S+ 

PfilJipS 6B33 - Cl B9+ 

Philips m2 - C209+ 

NEC Multisync II- £399* 

2DT Multisync - £1095* 

New Diamond Multisync Monitor £395 


PRINTERS 


Nam LX -400 - Cl 45* 
Epten LX-M0-E1M* 
Stir LC- ID - C129 
Stir UJ- 10 Colour -(199 
Dfcimttle ?□ - £1 20+ 


LjG-24-IO-CIM 
KXP11 24-C249 
Stir Llf«ra -T1Z4** 
PuimchiIc K3CP - 1 1 80 - Cl 59* 
Epson LQ500-Gr»* 



10.... 
25 

50 .. .. 

100.. 
200 ... 


TOP QUALITY 
3.5* DS/DD 
GUARANTEED 
BULK DISKS 


PRICES INCLUDE LABELS 
Add E4. , &5 for 00 cap 
Disk Bex Gnly when □ rderirvg Disks 


13.00 

.,,,..25 00 
....... 48.00 

....... 94, 00 


Ouickshot 1 

Quickshot 1 Turtio 



AUDIO VISUAL PACK 


B2000 

49 Mb Hard Disk 
8Mb Ram Board 
Rendale 8302 Genlock 
D Paint 111 
TV Show 

ONLY £1754 


DIAMOND SOFTWARE CLUB - Tel: 0703 338933 

FOR THE FIRST TIME WE ARE OFFERING AMIGA COMPUTING READERS THE CHANCE TO JOIN OUR SOFTWARE CLUB FDR ONLY £20 
WHA TOO i GET AS A MEMBER? 

As a member you will receive 30% off retail or all latest software, a Bi-monthly newsletter {from Sepl), a free T-shirt, one free title from the list below, and 
access to our software part exchange library at 1 14 Lodge Road, Southampton. Also members receive cut price arcade use. 

| nni / MARBLE MADNESS ECO DRILLER BUGGY BOY 

LU U ft WINTER OLYMPIAD GOLDRUNNER I NT. SOCCER BACKLASH 

CLUB SPECIALS: VIXEN BARBARIAN HACKER II HELLBENT 

STARGOQSE QUADRAUEN HELLFIRE ATTACK WIZBALL 

ASA MEMBER YOU MAY PURCHASE ANY Of THE ABOVE TITLES + HUNDREDS MORE FOR JUST £7.95 
PHONE US TODAY FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO JOIN 


HOWTO ORDER; 

Cheques or PO's made payable to the relevant 
companies . Access/Visa orders welcome 

AH prices exclude VA T unless otherwise staled 


Tele phone: 

Southampton - 0703 232777 
London- 01-597 0&51 
Midlands - 0926 312155 


Software Club Users Lina - 0703 232 777 
Software Hotline- 01-597 8851 
B2G00 Hotline - 0703 232777 
Export Hotline - 01-597 flflSI 


7ft AMIGA COMPUTING November 1 969 




CHRISTMAS 
SALE 

NOW ON! 


GENLOCKS 

Rendale 8802 £189 

G2 Genlock £595 


62000 VI. 3 Rev 6 

32 Mb Hard Disk 
XT Bridge Board 
Philips 8833 
(Import pack) 


£1095+ 

VAT 


SPECIAL OFFER 

Diamond Drive & 
Diamond A501 Ram 
Expansion, with 
FREE Utilities soft- 
ware worth £49.95 

* Fully shielded ram 

* Battery backed-up 

clock 

* Two year guaran- 
tee 

£159 + VAT 


TOPTEM 
GAMES 

RRR 

1 Populous £24.99 

2 Powerdfome „ *.,*..£24.99 

3 The Duel .,... ,— £24.99 

4 Silkworm —.£19.99 

5 Grand Prix Circuit £24 95 

6 New Zealand Slofy ..... . £24.95 

7 Dungeon Master £24.99 

8 Indy . £19.99 

9 Elite £24 99 

10 Licence to Kill ,£24 99 


62000 Klckstart 1.2 Rev 5 

2D Mb Hard Disk 

XT Bridge Board Cl o yi c 

1034 Monitor 1 1 LhU-t 

(U.K* Machine) VAT 


AMIGA 1000 

2 Mbyte 

Populated Starboard 


£389 inc VAT 


UTILITIES 


Publishers Choice 

£69.95 

DPaint III 

£59,95 

X-Cad Designer 

£69 95 

Kindwords 

..,£34.95 

X^Copy 

.......... 9.95 


TOP SELLING 
NEW RELEASES 

Mr Diamonds Utility Disk. ,,£49.95 

RVF Honda.— „.„£24 9E 

Vigilante £14 99 

Gemini Wind £19 99 

Leonardo ~..£ 19.99 

F16 Combat Pilot —.,£24 99 

Populous Scenery Disk £9.99 

PHONE FOR 
DISCOUNTS! 


DIAMOND 

MULTISYNCH 

MONITOR 


£395+ 

VAT | 


DIGITISING 

PACK 

Digiview Gold 
Camera 
Copy Stand 
Digi Droid 


A500 



BUY 

SELL 

A500 New to 
3 months old 

£215 

£259 

3‘6 months 

£199 

£239 

512 months 

£173 

£219 

1 year or more 

£159 

£199 

All machines with 
T.V, modulators 
Workbench disks 
Extras Disk 
+ Manuals 


A1000 

£150 

£199 


MUSIC PACK 

A50Q 

Mr Diamond Midi Interface 
Music X 

Mr Diamond Ram Exp 
Yamaha Keyboard tD4S 


PHILIPS TV MONITORS 

TV 15 inch remote control El 89 

TV 15inchFASTEXT E229 


SfavBmtter tititfJ AMIGA COMPUTING 77 



^^th^hrough eacn Q f 


u -' e ^ your powers of ear, 
t^eyottete the mountatn 


wett-eqwpped workshop 

At»i S 


' JL G 


AM 

lanlrJA 


Five . . . four - . . three . 

Kaif ftwrf Group A Veira Coswonh roars away from [he 

starting tine, skidding round hairpin bends, as you speed through 
unfamiliar, ever-changing terrain in a race where every fraction of a 
second counts! 

Lombard RAC Rally recreates al\ the excitement of the world-famous 
rally - with ttie help of RAC drivers who guarantee its authenticity 

Complete ttie five stages - down winding tracks, through verdant 
forests and over precarious mountain ranges - with ttie additional 
hazards of night driving and fog. 

Repair damage and add new features to your car In the workshop, 
and earn money for spares by taking part in a TV interview. 

This is the official simulation of a lifetime will your skills measure up 
to the challenge? 

• inside every box: A defatted 16-page booklet containing a 
history of the ratty and technical specification of the Coswonh, 15 
maps to help you plot out your course, and a colourful sticker to 
commemorate your participation In the rally 


SOFT W A R E 


* a two * i - one . , . 

‘Totally addictive ,,,a breath of fresh air' - Atari ST User, January 09 

‘Thoroughly engrossing . . . highly recommended. . . the best controls Vve 
encountered h any computer race game ' - Computer and Video 
Games, January 89 

The definitive racing game , Overall 95% r - Computer Gamesweek, 
November 5-1 5, 1983 

An absolute must? - ST Action, January 89 


Please send me Lombard/RAC Rally for; 

“ □ Atari ST □ Amiga □ PC □ PC |3'//) 

msn r*»i . tsimi |S7Z9i 

□ I enclose a cheque for E24 9S E 

made payable to Mandarin Software 

□ Please debit my Access/Visa number; 




Mamp 







Pmtrrvle 


□diabase Direct. FREEPOST Eltesnwme Pon, South Wlrrii* LiS 3EB 
Tei: OST-357 ZTfcl . Postage; Add £2 Eurotfae/Qyeneas E5 

amcii 


tn association witti 








Please enter me for I ho draw to 
win an A590 Hard Drive Plus, 


Name 


Address 


OFF ADMISSION TO 
THE NOVOTEL 
COMMODORE SHOW 


THE& 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


THE PC Show is a great place to see what the 
computer world has to offer. But wouldn't it 
bo nice if there was a show which did not 
split up the interesting Commodore machine 
with boring Apricots, Acorns and Ataris? 

Have no Fean the Commodore Show is here. 
Well, not here exactly, it's at the Novotel in 
Hammersmith, The show runs From November 
17 to 19 and is the ideal place to pick up some 
bargains with only 30 shopping days left until 
Christmas, 

Details of the attractions are still sketchy, 
but you can he sure Commodore will lav 
on something special. This is the latest 
in a long tradition of Commo- 
dore Shows which date back 
to the lime when computers 
wore short trousers. You pro- 
bably won’t find a copy 
of the Supersoft Guide J 
to Peek and Poke on the 
Pet, hut you will find 
the very latest games, 
peripherals and k 

utilities all at knock jfl 
down prices. 

The exhibitors form 
a Who's Who of the 
Amiga world, so of course 
Amiga Com fluting will be there 
to answer your questions and 
take vour money. 

But the best news is that Commodore is 
running a competition for readers. Take the 
form below along to the show and you will 
save 50p on the admission price of £5. You 
will also be entered for a free draw to win a 
Commodore 20 megabyte A 590 Hard Drive 
Plus. 

At the end of each day all the entries will be 
collected and a winner picked at random. 
Only one entry is allowed per person, but 
photocopies are acceptable. Winners will be 
notified by post. 


Visit London, go to the 
show and win a 
hard drive 






SPECIAL 




THE& 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


C OMMODORE'S A262Q is a neat densely 
packed expansion card that plugs into the 
Co-Processor socket in an A2QOO., It will not 
work in an A500, 

Installing a CBM 68020 card is a trivial 
matter. Power up, and if all goes well, you 
should be welcomed by that familiar left hand 
holding that familiar disc? Why is that guv left 
handed? The artist who drew it was right 
handed, copying his left hand holding the 
disc, so they say. 

Holding both mouse buttons down with 
your right hand and pressing various other 
pointy-parts of your anatomy on Ctrl-Amigo- 
Amiga you get a menu of three configurations. 
You can either boot into a vanilla AmigaDos 
68000* snpa-doopa AmigaDos 68020, or even 
68020 Unix if you have the software. If you 
don't bother holding down your mouse 
buttons on startup* the machine will default to 
AmigaDos 68020* unless you have been 
playing with your jumper switches on the 
main board. 

The A2620 board comes in its minimum 
configuration with a 14.3MHz 68020, 2 
megabytes of fast 32 bit ram (100ns), a 
14,3MHz 68881 (that's a math coprocessor to 
you and me] and a 14.3MHz 68851. The last 
chip is a memory management unit (MMU). 
These perform virtual memory* and address 
translation tricks required by Unix and other 
power-operating systems. If your 68020 card 
hasn’t got it, then you can't run Unix, 

Maths freaks can change the 14.3MHz 68881 
for a 25MHz one and move a jumper on the 
hoard. This will speed up things like ray 
tracing, hut if you have looked at the price of 
25MHz 688815 you are likely to have decided 
it is belter to grow old waiting than blow your 
savings on one chip, 

The 68020, being a 32 bit processor, isn't 
being run at full tilt unless it finds 32 bit ram. 
The Commodore's A2620 runs its clock at 
twice the standard speed of an Amiga, making 
it twice as fast, but the 32 bit ram and 
sophisticated cache inside a 68020 ends up 
quadrupling Ihe speed of a standard Amiga, 

For mathematical applications this will be 
even better, as the 68881 can do some things at 
10 or 20 times the speed of the normal Amiga 
math routines can manage* and if you use 
Workbench 1.3 the improvements will often 
he transparent, Ah, the advantages of a proper 
operating system. 

Commodore’s 32 bit ram is autoconfigured 
to reside in the system's 24 bit address range, 
What that means in layman s terms is that it 
will work with existing hardware devices like 
DMA hard disc controllers and video boards. 
The A262Q design is flawless. 

The public domain benchmark SI claims 
that Commodore's 68020 runs at 4,5 to 4.8 
times the speed of a standard Amiga, They 



also claim that equates to 15 times the speed 
of an IBM PC, though I'd argue how they 
worked that one out. Lies, damned lies, and 
benchmarks, 

I tried a few of my own kludged together 
benchmarks. Like putting individual 680D0 
instructions in a tight loop and seeing their 
relative performance compared to a normal 
Amiga. In most cases my tests proved a figure 
of four to five times the speedup. With real 

One day all Amigas will be 
made this way. Jez San 
gets a taste of the future 



m AMIGA COMPUTING November 





world programs like assemblers and compilers 
the difference is staggering, 

ignoring the unchanged disc performance, 
most programs show a three or four times 
speed improvement overall Even programs 
that run solely from chip memory like 
StarGlider 2 show significant Improvements, 
although only about two or three fold. This 
thing really flies. But then, you get what you 
pay for. 

During my one-month testing of the CBM 
A2GZD I found that most programs would run 
I perfectly on it. Some self-booting games may 
suffer problems due to the Amiga running 
unexpectedly fast. The good thing about the 
Commodore card is that if you find a program 
that doesn't run, you simply do the five 
fingered salute - both mouse buttons, and the 


normal three fingered one - and vou can boot 
into a 68001) minus the 68020 and 32 bit ram, 
A very effective bridge across the 
compatibility gap with some games, though 
with business or productivity applications 
there should be no compatibility woes. 

Today the A2620 may seem like an 
expensive luxury, but it points the way for 
Amigas of the future. Chip costs mean that we 
won't see 68020 based ASOOs for a long while. 
But when it comes the upgrade will be simple. 
Then there will be room lor the nexl power- 
users card - a 25MHz 68030, which is already 
at the prototype stage. 

A2620 

Commodore 0628 770088 
£l,4Q5+vnt 


demon 


the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


November 1988 AMIGA COMPUTING 81 







communications 


mkfoUoh 


This autumn has seen a vast expansion in the 
number of services available on MicroLink — 
together with the opening of new telephone 
access points a!i over the UK. Today 98 percent 
of subscribers can connect their computer to 
MicroLink at the cost of a local phone call. Find 
out more about what MicroLink offers by 
mailing the coupon below. 


Please send me Name 

more information Address 

about the services 

now available on — — — “ — “ ~ — — — 

MicroLink 

SEND TO: MicroLink, Europa House. AdJington Park, Adlington, blaccfa&field SKtO 4NP. 



Find 
out 
all the 
facts . . 



M icrol.ink turns any make of computer, from the 
inexpensive home micro to the most sophisticated 
business machine, into a complete communication 
centre. It becomes a teiex machine, a fax machine, an 
electronic mail terminal, a retrieval tool that lets you 
search out and store data from the world's leading elec- 
tronic libraries. It gives you instant access to the credit 
status ot every company in Britain. It keeps you up to 
date with all the latest news, sport and weather. It 
becomes a giant catalogue that lets you order goods 
directly from your keyboard. And it is always in action - 
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Through Microl.ink 
you can key into more than 1,200 business data- 
bases. And you can communicate directly 
with other services, from Britain’s Telecom 
Gold to electronic mail networks all 
^ round the globe. Anti the cost' 

From as little as 25p a day. 


What the NEW 

microLiok 

also offers: 

• Send a telex for 20% 
less than Telecom Gold 

• Exchange mail with 
100,000 users of the 
JANET network 

• Global links with 
all leading electronic 
mail systems 

• Fast, efficient and 
economical translation 
service in any language 

• Error-free file transfer 
using Kermib Xmodem or 
Y modem protocols 


• Local access points in 70 
countries throughout the world 

PLUS the myriad of productivity 
tools unit leisure facilities that 
have helped to make MicmUnk the 
service it is today - from business 
advice to fret t downloaded software,, from 
mortgage quotes to digitised satellite weather maps- 


the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 



WHO would you want on your side in a 
bundle? The Caped Crusader seems a good 
choice. Commodore and Ocean have 
teamed up the Amiga with Batman to pro- 
duce an amazing Christmas bundle. 

This is the first time an unreleased pro- 
gram has been put into a bundle and it 
looks to be a winner Some computer manu- 
facturers stick whatever they can get cheap 
into bundles. Commodore has concentrated 
on quality, 

Still Batman is not alone. The pack con 


sists of a modulator which lets you connect 
the Amiga to an ordinary TV and four pro- 
grams, Batman, Interceptor, New Zealand 
Story and Deluxe Paint II. 


BATMAN 


THE biggest film of the year has spawned 
the biggest project for Ocean, A large team 
of programmers, artists and games design- 
ers has been assembled to work on the dif- 
ferent levels. Experience the danger of tak- 
ing on the foker within his chemical works. 
Fly the Batwing to take out the poison bal- 
loons and drive the Batmobile for all you 
are worth to get to the church on time, 
where the flat faced felon who put the fun 
into funeral is tolling a bell - for you. 



F/A 18 INTERCEPT® 



REACH for the sky is the best-selling Amiga I 
only game of all time. Based on one of the 
most modern attack aircraft the US has to 
offer you have to stop some F-lfis from 
defecting, protect the President and take 
out some MiGs, 

Other missions include a head-to-head I 
confrontation with a low-flying cruise mis- I 


64 AMIGA COMPUTING November lit/} 9 







NEW ZEALAND STORY 


ARE you a man or a mouse? Well a Kiwi 
actually. The cutest Kiwis are to be found in 
Ocean s coin-op conversion. This is a game 
which shows that the Amiga can be every 
bit as good as an expensive dedicated 
arcade machine. 


You guide a character around the islands 
of New Zealand, Armed with a bow and 
arrow you can pick up extra weapons with 
which to fend off bats, flying cats and evil 
frogs. Well no one asked for realism in com- 
puter games. 


the£ 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 



DELUXE PAINT II 


EVERY computer has one program which is a 
lynchpin in its development. The BBC had 
Elite, the Archimedes had Zarch and the 
Amiga has Deluxe Paint from Electronic Arts. 
This is the program Andy Warhol used to 
demonstrate the Amiga at its New York 
launch. This is the program which is used to 




site and an attack on a submarine. 
Brilliantly designed to teach you the basics 
of controlling your plane. 

Dare you fly under the Golden Gate 
bridge? Can you land on the carrier? Take 
an F-16 up for a spin or even shoot down 
the President, Interceptor offers the perfect 
cross between a game and a simulator. 


design a million alien sprites. This was the 
program every Amiga owner should have had. 

Then things changed. Deluxe Paint got bet- 
ter. The program which was first written to 
show off the Amiga when it was launched 
grew up with the machine. The result was 
Deluxe Paint II, A fine and polished art pro- 
gram which provides everything you need to 
draw, design and paint on the screen. 

Beyond this there is animation, a feature 
offered by Deluxe Paint III which needs an 
expanded Amiga. 

Deluxe Paint II is more than a fun tool. It is 
an introduction to using the Amiga, The rules 
you learn for loading and saving pictures, for 
selecting colours and brushes and for running 
the program are all carried through to other 
Amiga programs. Learning is fun 



Noi'ttmber 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 85 






FUTUREPLACE COMPUTERS 

12 Loampit Hill , Lewisham, London SE13 7SW. Tel. 01-692 8700 


ALL GAMES SOFTWARE AT 30% DISCOUNT 


AMIGA A500 
GAMES PACK 

Includes AMIGA A500 Computer 
Mouse, Power Pack, Leads, TV 
Modulator. Plus 10 Great Games. 
AMEGAS 

THE ART OF CHESS 
BARBARIAN 
BUGGY BOY 
IKARI WARRIORS 
INSANITY FIGHT 
MERCENARY 
TERRORPODS 
TH UNDERCATS 
WIZBALL 

ONLY £389.00 

Including VAT and Delivery 


3 1 /, 


DOUBLE SIDED DISKS 
DOUBLE DENSITY 
2 135 TPI 


10 £9.50 

25 £22.50 

50 £43.00 

100 £84.00 

Please add £1.50 P&P 


SHOP HOURS 
Mon. to Fri. 10 to 6 pm 
Sat. 9 to 6 pm 


AMIGA A500 

Includes TV Modulator. Power Pack, 
Mouse, Leads, Workbench 1.3, 

RRP £399.00 
Our Price £369.00 

Inc. VAT 


SOFTWARE 

DISCOUNT 


CHART 

RRP 

OUR PRICE 

£12.99 

£9.00 

£14.99 

£10.50 

£15.95 

£11.00 

£16.95 

£12.00 

£17.95 

£12.50 

£19.99 

£14.00 

£22.95 

£16.00 

£24.95 

£17.50 

£29.99 

£21.00 



Amiga 501 Expansion 

£139.00 

Amiga to Scad Lead 


Mouse Mats 


Amiga 2nd Disk Drive 

£89.00 

100 Cap Disk Box 

£10.50 

50 Cap Disk Box 

£8.50 

Amiga Dust Cover ,.,..... 



STAR PRINTERS 
NEW LOW PRICES 

STAR LC 10 COLOUR PRINTER NOW ONLY £219 00 

STAR LC 10 PRINTER NOW ONLY £159.00 


CITIZEN PRINTERS 


CITIZEN 120D 9 PIN DOT MATRIX £138 00 

CITIZEN 180E 9 PIN DOT MATRIX £159.00 


MONITORS 

PHILIPS CM8833 14" MED RES COLOUR MONITOR 
2 SPEAKER STEREO IDEAL FOR THE AMIGA 
OUR PRICE £235.00 INC. VAT 

CREDIT CARD HOTLINE 01-692 8700 

Please add £1.50 to all orders under £75.00. All prices include VAT 

Access - Visa - Diners Club - American Express 








YOUR MISSION IS TO GET THERE. ^ 
SANTA CLAWS IS OUT TO STOP YOU. 


BE THERE AT THE NOYUTEL HOTEL, 
HAMMERSMITH, BETWEEN 
(7-19™ NOVEMBER 1989 
WHATEVER HAPPENS, PONT 
MISS THE COMMODORE 
CHRISTMAS SHOW f* 


TICKET PRICES 


ON THE OQQR 


ORDER NOW 


■<• 1 , 1 : 


£5-00 

£3,50 


£4.50 

£3,00 


iJ-crr 16 


Family [2 adults ■& 


up Co 3 under 16s] 


£15.00 


£13.00 


Return Ittis coupon to; Commodore, FREEPOST. 
Ellesmere Pert, South Wirral, L65 3EB. 

Please send me (specify number] uckete 

for the Commodore Christmas Show 1939. 


Cheat Santa Claws - buy direct 
from our Dealers! 

Come and see... 

LATEST GAMES 
EVER POPULAR C64 
AMAZING AMIGA GRAPHICS 
SOFTWARE AND PERIPHERALS 
VIDEO AND AUDIO EQUIPMENT 
FREE DEMONSTRATIONS 


Look out for special deals 
and Christmas bargains! 


I enclose a cheque/PO lor f _ 


. Cheque Nn_ 


Please charge my Access/Visa card £ , 

to* no. i i i i i i i i i i i i i i m 

Ejpry date Signature 

Title: MrLH Mrs LI Miss LI] Ms LH Other (please specify) . 

First namejsj Surname 

Address 

— __ Postcode 


Credit card orders on: 061-357 2961 


C s Commodore 

WE'LL HELP YOU SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY 





THE& 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


S O you thought you might like to go to the 
show, It is the best chance you have to see 
what the major computer manufacturers, 
software houses and everyone who is part of 
the microcomputer world has to offer 
It is a big, big show, so this is your guide to 
where the very best Amiga goodies are to be 
Found, 

The main attraction, of course, is the 
Commodore stand, 

join the throng in the arcade to sample some 
of the latest games. Your admission fee of 50p 
will go to the Save the Children fund. 

The stand is divided into different areas 


which show the varied uses to which an 
Amiga can be put. This is your chance to meet 
and talk to Amiga experts. 

The Commodore theatre is more than just a 
comfy place to sit down and plan your attack 
on the rest of the show. 

There will be a rolling sequence of 
informative demonstrations with the emphasis 
on productivity from Wednesday to Friday, 
and games on Saturday and Sunday, 

With your most comfortable shoes done up 
tightly, elbows sharpened for the crowd and 
this map you should have no problem in 
seeing everything vou want to see. 


Who is 
where at 
the big 
show 


Leisure Hall 

Accolade 

O Active Sales and 
Marketing 
o Activision 
« CDS Software 
O Domark 
O Elite 
49 Grand slum 
Hewson 
Infogrammes 


o 
o 

CE> Interceptor 
til Konix 
€& Kry salis 
Level 9 

til Microdeal 

Microdigitalsoft S.A. 
m MicroProse 
til Mindscape 
€E> Ocean 
<J> Prism Leisure 
43 j> Psygnosis 
til Roland 

Softek/The Edge 
#£> Titus/Entertainment 
International 
€Z> Tynesofl 
& LIBISoft 

US Gold/Gremlin 
til Virgin Mastertronic 

Central Hall 

Amor 

& CDS Software 
Cheetah 
& CRL 

Glentop Press 
Lpgotron 
Rom bo 



88 AMIGA COMPUTING Nava ntbttr 1889 





• ‘Your chance to 
I meet the experts’ 



THtfi 

PERSONAL 

COMPUTER 

SHOW 


SPECIAL 


November 19&9 AMIGA COMPUTING 89 






512K RAM Expansion 
with Clock 
for Amiga 500 
Features: 

•k RealTime Clock with High Capacity 
NICAD Battery Backup 

★ Memory Disable Switch 

★ Low Power Consumption 

★ Latest Technology 1MBit RAMS 

★ Low Chip Count for High Reliability 
■k Direct Replacement for A501 

Expansion 

ONLY 

£99.95 


SPECIAL OFFER 
£12 OFF 

Listed price when you return this advert together 
with your cheque/Po for either RAM Expansion 


Only from ASHCOM. 10 The Green, Ashby-De-La-2ouch. Leicestershire, LE6 5JU 

Telephone: (0530) 411485 


0530 411485 


Original ASHCOM 
RAM Expansion 

ONLY 

£89.95 

(Limited Stock;} 


44C256-12 
DYNAMIC RAMS 
£15 inc. VAT 
each 


Alt prides include VAT and Delivery. 
British made. Trade Enquiries Welcome. 
Please make cheques & PC's payable to 
As he om 




Travel the globe 
with the besi in 
simulation software: 
UFO"*, Right Simulator™, 
ThunderChopper ri \ and 

Stealth Mission . Discover the 
world with Scenery Disks, Flight 
Controls I, and other supplements 
to qur Integrated High) line! 

UFO, Flight ThuFidciChiifipHrr, 

Ifft. Sleflllh) Million. Fllqfit Cpnlrat* I iw 
iraderraih* ol SubLOOlC Cwp, ISM screem 
shewn. CNher computer versions mav vary. 


30 AMIGA COMPETING November 19B9 




THIRD COAST AMIGA HARD DRIVES 
& TAPE BACK-UP DEVICES 


TAPE 
BACK-UP MOW “ 
AVAILABLE FOR 
ALL AMIGA'S 


PROCESSOR ACCELERATOR 

16Mhz Chip with support Of MC6891. Wtll offer 65-1 00% more performance 
on your A50G/A1 0MVA2000, Compels with 8K Data Cache. 
Available in kit form or can be Installed by Third Coast Technologies 

£149.00 


MONITORS 


SC 12M 289.00 

Philips aa»3 _ ri11 2i8u0o 

PhHf* ftass -..ZZ- 

Philpe AM 6702 12" Hlflti Ftoe Monicw 90.90 


PRINTERS 


Star LC10 Mono . , IBSJOO 

Star LC1 & Colour . , jlij 33 a qq 

Alarl SLM 804 Printer - , ,, 1217.CB 


AMIGA COMPATIBLE HARD DRIVES 

Xetec 45 Megabyte 

1 1 Mil 1 i 64 K/Byte Cache Head Park 

£799.00 

Xetec 85 Megabyte 

11 Midi 64 K/Byte Cache Ftead Lock 7 ... 

£989.00 

Xetec 96 Megabyte 

25 Milli Head Park with Head Lock ...... 


Xetec 150 Megabyte 
16 Milli Head Lock Auto Park 

£149500 | 


FLOPPY DRIVES 
FOR THE AMIGA 


Chocu from Tuac the besi name in the Industry 

Replacement 1 MrtwiB Drive require* minw idjoHmem to Amiga W 

Eternal 1 MByie Floppy Amiga * 

wflu PSU. 3.5 .. , 74 £9 


External Trian^a with Track 

Counter 3.6 

Eflftmal 5:25 Drive with PSU 
Etflemai whh PC-DIttO 5.25 ... 


..,.$4,99 
.. 1 10. DO 
..17B.B9 


MUSIC PRODUCTS 


MM5CGO ST Uueio System . , 
Mouw Music.. 


Pn Sound Dss*g n&r Gold , , 


HARD DRIVES FOR THE AMIGA 


22 MrByte (Formatted) . 
32 WByie (Formatted) . 


.359.00 

..439.00 


AMIGA PRODUCTS 


Amiga 500 * A52Q TV Modulator + Temtar cptwi _ r .._.-_ r r .. , ,,,£359.00 

Amiga 500 * A520 TV MnduUlOf + A* ml lea pxk * Ten* Ur option , r C*59,QQ 

Armga 500 * A52Q TV Modulator * A50l Ram Expansion * Dr^jonH Lair 

* T«n*tar option „ _ 4 , £ 599.00 

Amiga 500 computer + Commodore 1Q43S Stereo Medium Reaction 

COlSur Monitor * Tentfjv option . £849.00 

Arnga 2000 - computers 

Arnga 2000 Computer ♦ keyboard ■+ Tenstar games..,, £090.90 

Arriga 2000 Computer + 1D4BS Medium Resolution StoreO Monitor 

* Tenstair Games option £1 209.00 


155 M/BYTE TAPE BACK-UP FOR AMIGA 
COMPLETE HARD DRIVE RANGE » 


A External enclosure off DMA EMOLTT 
A Battery backed! dock 

* 50 way SCSI OUT 
A SCSI ID selector 

* Comes complete with own case A power supply and Host Adaptbowd 

* Will support internal SCSI Hard Dnve 

A EnslaJia! ion si mpJy involves connecting tape drive into Atari them connecting 
Hard Drive imp output of tape drive 

FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY £649 INC. VAT 


50 M/Byle (Formatted) + „„,„ ...... .,„„.54S P 00 

S5 MByte (Formatted) M&cft load AutoPark Fun SCSI 25 mil secs ,,,...,...599.00 

45 MByte SCSI Drive Witfl Tape Back-up „ 999.00 

50 MByte SCSI Drive wttft Tape Back-up 11i9 r 0Q 

115 M/Byte (Formatted) . „ S99.00 

150 MByte (Formatted) .. 1263 00 

65 M’Byte SCSJ Drive with Tape Back-up , 1349.00 


THIRD COAST DIY KITS 

(Everything to build your own Drive) 


Tool Box lot Amiga A500. Allows expansion for A500 user. Offers support of 
any A3000 product ie Hard drive. 8 Megabyte Board, This box with two slots 
ensures any A? OOP product will work with your Amiga £299.00 


RLL Adaptec 4070 w Qmti 3527 controllers (giving 

50% more out of any dove * twice the speed) 

A&t&c 65 wall PSUs . 


£96,00 

£39.00 


Enclosures (as above ■ including fan, Astec - 
everything bar drive) .£299.00 


THIRD COAST RAM UPGRADES FOR 
AMIGA RANGE 


Hurricane 66020 Acwforaior Guard tor *2000 „ 
Hunlcane Acaatarajor Board tor A2QQ0 ... 
Eprom Prograrmw 


Call 

... £94.99 


85 M-Bylo (MadwiJcal hHd parhl comjlsle , 


W OO | 


Mannesman Taiy 130qw . 


.. 1M.00 irtc lead 


ADDITIONAL PERIPHERALS 


Ksrrpfrtan Data Scan 1^ Amiga Range, features 200dpi, 105mm wide Z59.0Q 

TracldbaJI lot Amiga 23.99 

Rapiat»menl An^a Mauw (2 Button) r r , r , „.„.. H . H ..^SS4^9a 

Kerrpslon Data Mouse toT Amiga 26-49 


Kanpeion Oala fat 27.05 

Video DigiiBBr far Amiga (toe Colour Soft) 

ProtoSsiorial Video OiglfiBar (me Colour Soft).. 140.00 

RGfl colour Splitter Iq* Colour Cameras „ r „ „ J LL1 L 90 .gg 

VkJeoiaiiiT Bletaxt Adaptec 99,99 

Scanner 200 Dpi (Cop*er. Scanner. Printer) , 449 .DO 

Scanner 300 dpi 84 Grey Inc pant sc#t 999 00 

Scanner 300 Dpi OCR Reading soft 249.00 

Profess tonal Genlock AD Amga'* 499 00 

Mouse Time Cl** lor A50GAlCiOaA2000 £24.09 

Vtfeo Adapters for Airvga allwra Video taping with RF £79.09 

Mlnigan Cantock for Amiga A 500 EB9 00 

x-spen 3-0 glasses (nt*lkw tor Cad Cam Uquid Crysiat Shuttering efl’ea grves a 

new ouiiook on your Amiga , ..^Eiaa.gg 

Rendale Genkjck A500 , T , „m ro „., IJ „,.. E1B9.9S 

Rendate Genlock A2000 ,, 1M _„. giag gg 

1084 S High fes Monitor L1 " ,E 2 ?f|ry| 

^--..-J™ZZ £226.00 

£215.00 

— — — CMS.00 

— £74 M 


Philf» HQh Rea AS33 ' 

Commodore 1 C»4S stereo MonNor Colour .. 

Commodore XT Gndge Boaid 

Future Sound 500 

Ubukided Stock on *1 primer rfctone 
lor one month only. 

A-Ma* Maonrofth EimJaiDf with 2 Mae Roms .. 


Wfc acotpr Bank Drafts. Company and Persmai Cheque# and afco Access and Visa 
Catdt. Atfprces hdudj VATaf f£% A hi! warranty is oftfeveeforr asirptraduefs, 


Full on© year warranty, ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT! Trade and University enquiries welcome. 


& 


THIRD COAST TECHNOLOGIES 
Unit 8, Bradley Hall Trading Estate 
Standish, Wigan WN6 OXQ 

Tel: 0257 426464 Fax: 0257 426577 


November 1389 AMIGA COMPUTING 91 
















The Game Creator 


Unleash the awesome 
power of your Amiga 


Creator for the At aii ST has n ow bee n tot ell y re- 
written to bring onl the maximum from your 
Amiga . 

► AMOS makes the most of the Amiga's 

unique facilities ; 

» Animate up to 4B software sprites and 32 
hardware sprites on screen at once 

• Create up to eight separate screen scrolling 
areas 

• Define up to eight screens each with its own 
resolution, bit map, position on TV, colour 
palette™ in low or high res, ham mode or dual 
play fie Id mode 

• Program the copper list with ease 

• Play music files on interrupt [supports So nix 
and Soundtracker files) 

• Super- fast window and text routines 

► AMOS is a delight to use: 

• Lockable procedures, no line numbers, multi- 
stat ament 1 Ines f sophi sticalcd scrol I i ng ed i tor 

• Choose from more than 350 different 
commands to produce the results you w r ant 
with the minimum of fuss 

• Hold up to four programs and 12 accessories 
in memory at once 

• Store music, sprites, IFF picture files and so 
on in memory banks which you can load and 
save independently of your'progr&m 

• Port §TOS programs to your Amiga 

• Works on A5Q0 with single drive 

• Supports hard disc drives 

• Add new commands with ease (3D routines 
for example] 

► What you get; 

AMOS Basic, sprite editor, sprite grabber, music 
ed itor , cop per 1 ist edi tor , t h ree com plet e games , 
Basic manual. Accessories manual, reference 
card and much more - all for just £49.95, 

AMOS will be one of the hottest releases in the 
Christmas period. For a detailed spec and the 
latest updates , please write to: 

AMOS Information, Mandarin Software, 
Europa House, Adi ington Park, Adlington, 
Macclesfield SK1G 4NP. 

E 



Qz commodore 




FROM £349! 


AMIGA 


I Amiga ASM complex, now only £349 

£429 


£615 


Amiga AS00MM wflh ignoM 
higb-raa mono monttn* 

ATn'qj A5MM with A1EH4S 
N-ros plefea colour mcndor 
■ Amiga B20M vwih 1.3 Ph«n« 

i &Ghwafrt & 1MB <hp-RAM (UK version) 
Print! Iirrlud* VAT. d*ltv*r> A warranty, ■ A ml^l I32WKJM AS above plus PhOn* 
Plait* add f it far ovarnlghl dallvarv, A 1 M*S Stereo COfcMlf monitor 

M eyilam* era tested before despatch. | Amiga B2flhW JTTM Aa ibowj, Phone 
On-lit* maintenance optima avallaMa. ply* PC-XT tmdge board S, 5^ tJTIVB 


■■■ Amiga iQOO Presentation and AudbVlaufi! lyalamm ... Call 


PERIPHERALS 



I AJ630 Fjur.r^o Card 

I A22BS PC -AT board & sF efrrv* 

I Asosa pc-xt board * ah *iv* 

I 02058 0WB Board. 2MB w»t Ad 
| RAM lor *t eve. per 2MB . . 

I 20MB Aimg-ajMS- Dos hard G-tks 
I »MB auiotwoi hard dirt* kem .„ 
I WMB *u to bool hard dirts Irom ... 
I Flicker Flaor Multipcan Adaptor 
I NEC ft Lniarnal dnv« 


I ft DS/DD drtrtfiw, po* TO £ 1 0 

I A501 plug-m RAMtelock 512K £119 

I IMB/tSMB ptog-lrt RAM/tkrck Phone 

| NEC ft han-lwght d»ve NEW1 £S9 

| ASM 20M 6 auicocoi hard dksk £ 375 

IRAM1M ASM, £175 

I Amdriv* 50MB SCSI hard d*sk £459 
I 19WM high-res mono fnimior £l 15 
B MPS 1 230 1 20 epa draft. 30 NLO £ 1 49 
I Starve to MulMgnl Printer £179 
I Star LCTOC colour. 120 cp a. NLO £229 
> HP DeskJet* 300 Olpj inkJ*L, B /w £ 695 
I HP PaintJet colour Inkjet ISO dpi £899 

■ DKY12D0 A3 Q pen plotler £1159 
I Trackball MramHBa £59 


I Vortex 4QMB TBit hard disk: sulobools from 1.2 Roms! £529] 


r 


\Ji 


TELETEXT 


Mry not anjoy Ih« Fra® Teletext databases 
wrth Ihe MkroTerrt Totaiteirt adaptor... Fully 
programmable, with Faster! Family, instant 
access to last 1 6 pages, double page view. 

leFeioftware loader, aulo-starVbackyckind 

operilioiT. .. Pages can spoken, primed aa ASCII or grapnel, Saved w ASCN or IFF files.. 
With digital tuning lor ayalal ckur dolour TVftound rocdpitori 00 any AlO0T/1OB4/CWflffi33 
Mow displays Mialtni waaiNr* map* tool Auaiiibte bom Stock tor only £11*1 


AMIGA 




/77 PRODUCTIVITY 

-\JAmiga\ 


Super Basa Perform 

■ SuparBaae Partonai 2 

■ -- Pro.Paaalon.il v3 
9 SuparRin 

a Mulplih £M 
a VluWrlle Daaklop v2 
B Pagaabaam vl.l 
B ProTaaalonal Pag* v 1.2 
B Paraonal Tax Planner 
B AC Basic vlj 
9 Sup*rB*ck 
a Doi’ 2 -Ooe 

B B.A.D. Disk Optlmri*f 
B KlndWord* vj 

■ Publlshvr'i Clide* 
a ProT*Vl v4 

B Amiga C lor Beginner* 


Utile* C vs El 7 B.bs 

B UtIFe* C ** 2M.il 

CM Emulator v2 11h 

PC Emulator vl.l Hit 

BBC EJiuiliter v 13 44 ** 

Workbaneb irlJ Enhanear IS** 

Relational database powar, wtthooi pro 9 MSWnlng.l 39 

A* above, plus ism, mai m*rg*. bafeh entry *« 42 ji 

With Fur mi Edhtrjr end DML programming language 154 at 
Pro Spfe*dah«ei with busings graphics, Isna planner 67 is 
Uhimaie Amtga spreadsheet, * terd/graplwca/speeph BB.as 

High parformanoa desktop WP. now wflh HQ tool* 49 is 
High guality output, PratotoncM/PosiScrlpi corrprtbto 149 as 
Include* WP, Oarttop. colour Mparmton*. GAB 1 49 is 

UK Income T« compulation program, kom D*gHa 19 is 
By Absoft. Gompiles Anvga Basic. . FASTI 1 29 as 

Backs up 20MB in 20- mnutos. *r*y Amiga hard -drlva 37 is 
Reads A writes MS-DOS on sh 4 j)‘ Arnga drives 
Speodn drsk *0 dm up to 500X. WerkBench or OJ 
£44 vs a System PtrOt^irmnsr's Quids 
Hi; I Amiga Bask inside L Out 
79. as B ArntgaDoe Inatd* A Out 
1i.is B Amiga 3D Graphic Prog. In ELule 


B Amiga C Advanced Programmer* 24 is B Amiga Tricks 4 Tip* 


34. 15 
34 as 

32.15 

14. IS 
l4as 

1 4 iS 
14. is 




■Jk 


CREATIVITY 


a Artlmagk 
B Design 3D 
B DlglWorh* 

B EHglpalnl 3 
B D* Luis Paint 111 
! Photon Paint H 


CC4.1* 
49. st 
M ss 

62 *s 
ev.ts 


Muitc-X Without doubt the best pece at MIDI software to debar tH.« 

Scu Ipt- An lmala 4D 3D graphic* and anmahon tor the professional user 349 n 

Sculpt 40 Junior As Sculpt 4Q above, without HAM ray-tracing 104 » 

Sculpt Animat* 3D XL Much lister then Scupll 30, witti 24-brt pUne aption I24.*5 

Pro- Video PAL Plu* Professtonal video lifter with tonta, extra lonts available 149 n 

12*12 Graptuca Tablet wflh Fast driver software 425 os 

Broadcast quality genlock lor the prolassninaJ user (Hod 
£ 114.41 BMIntGen »is 


B SummaSkileh Plu* 
B PAL RendJla Pro 
a Prorasslooal Draw 
9 A*gls Draw W# 

I X-Cid D**1gnsr 
a Jt-Cid P rota** tonal 


£114* 
mis a Dlgivisw Gold 

44 15 i F*n tivl lign 

3M IS a ftigeFUppar * F nt 


1» is 
34.il 

7* is 


BIB IF YWJ WANT IT TOMORROW... CALL ITS TODAvl Ot4 01-444-7254 BIB 


Pnwi ars POST FREE 4 induds VAT 
Order by phon# with your cnsdft card, 
or s*np c nequ*' , PO or yourcredk card 
number. CWgibI order* wsteoms. W* 
desp alch asms day by FIRST CLASS 
post. Fists* mow a days tor Mhwy 
at hardware order* Prices a r s quofed 
tuPjtC1 10 av*ila|bilirv n«4. >h 



lakeside house, Kingston hill, Surrey, ktitot. tel 0t-M«-me 



■ AMIGA DOS ■ 



m Wm rn- 


* / A A 

T{ ?* t * *'»&, * •/• a 

4 *'*Ui / 

■ . / 


Si 




Simon Hackman 
,coi]WS to the rescue with 
some hints lin'd tips for CLi newcomers 


the Workbench 


S INCE Amiga Computing began 
sellotaping a disc to the front 
cover we've become aware of just how 
neglected CLI is. Most Amiga owners 
would be surprised to discover that 
lots of programmers never use 
Workbench. This is because they have 
learned that bv using the CLHhey can 
be much more productive. 

[f you have come to the Amiga from 
a CG4 or Spectrum, an awkward 
concept you have to grasp is that of an 
operating system [GSJ, which is a sort 
of management Language for the 
computer In the same way you may 
have used Basic to create a file 
handling program, the OS will handle 
all your Basic programs, as well as 
any data files, script files and other 
languages. 

It acts as a middleman between you 
and the hardware of the Amiga, and 
without it that's all the Amiga is - a 
heap of hardware, By having a multi- 
tasking OS. the Amiga has more in 
common with mainframes than it 
does with feebler micros. Indeed, 
AmigaDas is based on Tripos, an 
operating system pioneered on a small 


| mainframe computer at Cambridge 
• University. 

Your way into this QS is through the 
CLI. From WB you can order your 
programs by putting them into 
different drawers. All your pictures 
should go into a DPaint, Spritz or 
Photon drawer, depending upon 
which program you use, Basic 
programs should go into a Basic 
drawer. This makes finding everything 
so much easier. 

Even if you are the type of person 
who tidies up by pushing things under 
the bed, and thinks the best way to 
organise a bedroom is to have the most 
often played records on lop of the 
most often w r orn clothes, you should 
keep your discs tidy. 


Y OU can read a directory of the 
^ whole bedroom by standing in 
the middle of the room and looking 
around, To look at everything on a 
disc means examining everything, and 
this is tiresome. A pair of Reeboks is 
physical, a letter to your pen friend in 


Boston invisible, 

But if the letter is in a drawer an 
the disc called Letters-to-Lucy, you'll 
find it straight away. The CLI way to 
do this is by creating a directory. 
Drawers and directories are the same 
thing, the only difference is that a 
drawer has an icon to be seen by 
Workbench. One thing you soon learn 
is to keep directory names short. So 
instead of calling the directory 
Letters-to-Lucy, call t| just Lucy. 

Remember, you can access drawers 
from the CLI but you cannot access 
plain directories from Workbench 
because they have no Icon. 

To create the directory you must 
use a CLI command, Makedir Lucy 
will create a directory which 
branches off from the directory you 
are in. But it does not put you into 
(hat directory. To look at any files 
which are there you need to use the 
CD. change directory, command. 

Enter the Dir command and you 
will see Lucy {dir} listed on the disc. 

► 


Mowmber 1989 AMIGA COMPUTtNG 93 



■ AMIGA DOS 


4 

Type CD Lucy and you will be moved 
lo inside the Lucy directory. If you 
type Dir again you will see no Tiles 
listed. You can gel back to the 
previous directory by typing CD /, 
which will change ‘up 11 to the parent 
directory, the directory which 
contains the current directory, 

All disc manipulation is easiest 
with two drives. Pop your day -to- day 
copy of Workbench - not the original, 
which should bo in a safe place - into 
the internal drive, known as DFO:. Put 
this month’s Amigo Computing cover 
disc into the external drive, DFl:. 

□ pen your Workbench disc and click 
on the CLI icon. This will put you in 
the top directory of the internal disc, 
which computer techies call the root 
directory; because all the other 
directories branch out from it. 

Using the CD command you can 
explore the cover disc. Type CD DFl:. 
including the colon. The colon tells 
the OS that you are talking about a 
device and not just the name of a file 
in the current directory'. Now type Dir. 
This will show you what directories 
are there. You can CD to any of them. 
Use the mouse to re-size the CU 
window if it is too small. 

Jl may look primitive, but in its 
incarnation as a Shell with 
Workbench 1,3, CLI can be your 
friend. The reason it is called a Shell 
is because it covers the CLI, making it 
easier to use. 

AmigaShell users can replace a long 
series of opening drawers and mouse 
clicks with a line of type. They can 
start a program and get going without 
having to wail for the program to load 
and then summoning up the right File. 

I'm writing this art icta*using 
Protext, Now I won't be able to finish 
the whole lot in one go. so I'll need to 
reload the article at some time. 1 can 
either click on the Protext drawer, 
click on the Pretext icon, call up the 
Project menu, select Edit mode, 
catalogue the files, highlight the 
November sub-di rectory, change 
directories, list the files, highlight 
UTW (which is the name of this file) 
and then load it. Or 1 can go into CLI, 
assuming I didn't startup in CLI t and 
type Protext/ Protext Fast HD :Pro text/ 
November/ UTW. It works. IV® just 
done it. 

The computer knows where to look 
for everything because l r ve told it. 
Protoxt/Protext means look in the sub- 
directory and run a program called 
Protext, The next bit is the name of 
the file. It is called UTW in the 


November sub directory of the Protext 
suh-directory. 

S HELL, is more than just a quick 
way of getting into programs, it 
offers access to the AmigaDos 
commands which allow you to view 
or delete files and directories 
regardless of whether they have icons. 

In addition to this housekeeping, 
you can do some weird things. From 
the sensible List >FRT: DFO:, which 
lists the contents of a disc to the 
printer, to the silly Type >SPEAK; 

DFO :sf startup-sequence, which gets 
the computer to read out what is in 
the startup -sequence file. 

The “>” symbol is a re-direction. 
Think of it as meaning “to", SPEAK: 
is a device. Remember that 
AmigaDos’s heritage dates back to the 
time when computers and alt 
peripherals were big expensive boxes. 
It thinks the printer, the screen and 
even individual windows are separate 
units. 

You can use the Copy command to 
move data between these units. Using 
Workbench 1.3 the keyboard is a 
device called NEWCON:, You can 
make a simple typewriter with the 
command Copy NEWCON: TO PRT:. 
To stop everything that you type 
appearing on the printer, hold down 
the Ctrl key and press V This Ctrl— \ 
is the AmigaDos character for the end 
of a file - it tells the Copy command 
that it has reached the end of the 
document you are typing and can 
stop. 

Sceptics should bear in mind that 
some commands just aren't available 
from Workbench at the present time, 
like the quick formatting option. If 
you want to re-format a disc, that is 
totally erase a disc which has already 
been formatted, it is much quicker to 
do so in the CLI using: 

format DRIVE dfl: KANE NyMsk ftUICK 

The QUICK option tells the OS just 
to rewrite the boot and root blocks of 
the disc, and not to bother laying 
down tracks for the actual data since 
they already exist Another option, 

NO ICONS, which you can type before 
or after QUICK, prevents a Trash can 
drawer from being created, something 
else you cannot do from Workbench. 

The Shell also allows commands to 
become permanently resident in 
memory, which frees single-drive 
users from the '‘Please replace volume 
Workbench in dffi: 1 ' syndrome. To 
make the most common commands, 


CD and List, reside in memory enter 
the following: 

Resident c:CD 

Resident c:List 

The c: before the command name is 
very importanl because it tells the OS 
where to look for the file - in the c 
directory on the disc you booted with, 

Another useful feature of the Shell, 
and something which WB 1.2 users 
haven't got, is the Alias command. 
This not only allows you to rename a 
command to something with which 
you are more familiar - for example, 
PC owners may wish to use: 

Miss Pet Petete 

in order to make the Delete command 
the same as its MSdos counterpart - 
but it can also be used to substitute for 
a long string of parameters. If 1 wanted 
to list only those filenames with a 
,doc extension for instance, 1 could 
create the alias: 

Alias DocList List # 7 . doc 

Now typing DocList will let me to 
see all the docs without looking 
through the w T hole directory, and 
without having to remember the 
unconventional AmigaDos pattern 
matching symbols, hash and question 
mark. 

Additional parameters may be 
passed to the alias by use of square 
brackets. To abbreviate the Type 
command, for example: 

alias T Type C] 

This allows you to enter T Filename 
to gel the same result as Type 
Filename, 

The proper place to put all your 
aliases is in the s: Shell-Startup file. In 
fact, have a quick look - Type s:Sholb 
Startup - and you'll find a few already 
set up. I've added these to mine: 

iUaa tye (iid-cLi 
alias deL delete 
alias md sakedir 
alias L s list nodates 
Alias dump type l] hti 
alias print type Cl to prt: 

Get to know the CLI. By learning alt 
the clever tricks hidden within the 
commands you can become much 
more productive. Why work so hard 
when you have a computer as 
powerful as an Amiga to take the 
strain? 


04 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 


1 


1 






A ATARI ST and G= AMIGA 


Sixteen Bit Superdeals from the Sixteen Bit Specialists! 

CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE! When comparing prices remember ours include fast delivery tay courier. 


520 STFM Power Pack 
£359.00 

Inc. VA T and Next Day Delivery 

Power Pack Includes: 

* 520 STFM 51 2K Keyboard with Built in 1 Megabyte disk drive end TV 
Modulator 

* Over ESSO worth ol games software, inducing OutRun, Gauntlet 2. R-Type, 
Space Harrier, Super HangOn and 1 s more Top Games 

* Organiser Business Software including WQftDPROCESSOR. SPREAD- 
SHEET and DATABASE. 

* First BASIC and First Music Uiility Software. 

* FREE JOYSTICK AND FREE MOUSE MAT WORTH £4.95. 

* All leads, manuals PIUS MOUSE and Iree mains plugl 

REMEM BERI Many ST's do not come with BASIC - ours come with ST 
BASIC REV □ by Metacomeo, 


Amiga A500 Games Pack 

£389.00 

Inc. WIT and PJgxt Day Delivery 

Game Pack includes: 

A Amiga A500 512K Keyboard with Built-in 1 Megabyte disk drive 
A Free TV modulator worth £24.99 allowing you to use the Amiga with a 
normal TV 

A £230 worth of Games. Software, including BUGGY BOY, MERCENARY, 
BARBAREAN, W1ZBALL and six more games 

* PHOTON PAINT or SPRITZ GRAPHICS PACKAGE worth over £50,00 

* FREE MOUSE MAT worth £4.95 

* Amiga BASIC, Amiga EXTRAS 1.3, Workbench 1 .3 PLUS the Amiga Step 
by Step Tutorial 

* All leads, manuals PLUS MOUSE and mains plug! 



520 STFM Explorer Pack 
£279.00 

* Explorer Pack includes 520 STFM 51 2K Keyboard with buill-in 1 Megabyte 
Disk Drive and TV modulator 

* 1 FREE Game, ST Tutorial and METACOMCO Basic worth £25.00 

* All Leads. Manuals PLUS MOUSE and FREE Mams Plugl 
A Free mouse mat worth £4.95 


Amiga A5QQ SlsndAlone 

£369.00 

A Amiga A500 as above but without !he £230.00 worth of Games Software 



Amiga A500 Business & Games Pack -JftjMlfc- 
£459.00 

Includes everything in our Amiga Games Pack PLUS a Comprehensive Suite 
of Business Programs including. Scribble II WORDPROCESSQR, Analyse II 
Spreads heel and Organise Database. 


1040 STFM Midi Music Pack 

£439.00 

* Includes f megabyte keyboard plus Pro 1 2 Midi Music Software 


1040 STFM Business Pack 

£439.00 

Business Pack Includes: 

* Atari 1040 STFM Keyboard with i mag memory and 1 meg built- In disk 
drive plus TV modulator 

* £305 worth of Business Software including MICROSOFT WRITE word 
processor ftlSO), SUPERBASE PERSONAL Database (£B0) and VIP 
PROFESSIONAL Lotus 1 23 Spreadsheet done (El SO), Metacomco Basic 
(£2$) 

A AH leads, manuals and mouse. 



AMIGA 1 MEG! 

£499*00 

Announcing the new Amiga 1 meg - an A500 system with Fitted 1 megabyte 
memory expansion and clock card PLUS TV Modulator and DRAGON'S LAIR 
a six disk 1 m eg megagame 1 



AMIGA 1 MEG + 

£519.00 

Our Amiga 1 meg + also Includes the £230 worlh ol games software normally 
given with our A50O Games Pack, 


MEGA 1 Business Pack 
£529.00 

Features: 

* Separate Keyboard and System Unit 

* AN the Software included with 1040 STFM Business Pack 

* Bitter chip installed for faster gPaphies 

Inc SM124 Mono Monitor £628.00 




EXTERNAL DISK DRIVES 

Atari SF31 4 l Megabyte .£139 00 

Amiga A 1 01 0 1 Megabyte £139 W 

Cumana ^ Megabyte Atari &r Amiga £99 95 

NEC 1 Megabyte Amiga £09.95 

Atari Megafile 30 Hard Disk F449 fin 


ACCESSORIES 

Duickshot II Turbo Joystick ....£.3.95 Branded Memorax 3.5' DS DQ Disks 

Competition Pro 5000 Joystick .,..£13.95 Box of 10 £13.95 

Competition Pro with Autofir# .... £14.95 Mamurax Disk Box 

Kortix Speeding Joystick £11 .95 For 40 3 5' Disks £8 95 


Red Mou se Mai with Amiga 1 ogo . £5.95 Amiga 1 H Meg Expansion £i 1 9.35 

Rain blue Mouse Mat C4.95 Control Centre Atari or Amiga £39.35 

Contriver Amiga and ST Mouse with FREE Holder and Mouse Pad £20.95 

New! Commodore A590 20 meg hard disk £369,00 



Star LC24-10 24 pin ind, lead SnSmigX.ff.^^.. £279 00 

Star LC 1 0 i nclud ing interface lead lor ST/Amiga E 1 69 00 

Scar LCtO colour including interlace lead for ST/Amiga £21 9.00 

Citizen 1200 including interface lead ForST/Amiga ,,..£159.00 

SEICOSHA 90 COLUMN PRINTERS - AMAZING PRICES 

Serkosha 9 pin NLQ including interface lead for ST/Amifla £ 109.00 

Seikosha24 pm LQ including interface lead for ST/ Amiga .,.,,£259.00 


MONITORS 

Commodore Amiga AlfJ84 Stereo colour Momlov me, lead C239 00 

Atari SCI 224 Colour Monitor inc. lead . £249 00 

Alan SMI 24 Mono Monrior including lead £T04 -DO 

Philips CM0833 Stereo colour monitor Inc. lead for ST or Amiga — £229.00 


CREDIT CARD ORDERLINE 0908 378008 (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm) 

To ordw #ilhw call ihe o*atw1inei Sboiw with your credit card details 00 ! maka a cfwquft'PO payable to. Digicam Computer S&rytceg 
and send il wflh ytwr ardar lathe address below. Caters are afeo mosi welcome at the adless below 


DIGICOM 

UnH 36, Whartslde, Fenny Stratford, MILTON KEYNES MK2 2AZ 

All prices Include VAT end next day delivery by courier. 



J — R 


USING 


D 


IOTEI 


> —i I !-- i— ™~[ — ]- 1 

>LS 0 i LIME SPACING ZERO 


For instance, to go into Souvenir here, 

>GC 27 102 6 ; SWITCH SOUVENIR ON 

Ah E Dolores on the Pyramids! 

>LS 1 ; LINE SPACING BACK TO ONE 


Figure 1: Switching to Souvenir font mid-line on the NEC F2200 


P RINTERS are important. Why 
did you get Protext? Why did we 
all get it? Why did we got computers? 
It's a well known fact, so well known 
that it might oven be true, that more 
computers are bought for word 
processing than for any other use. 

And Protext, the Amy, the second 
drive, the mouse, the rat's nest of 
^vi^es and the list of commands blu- 
lacked to the wall are all simply ways 
of talking to the printer. Then the 
printer talks to the outside world. And 
that’s the way it’ll be till we go 
straight into the cerebral cortex. 

If you want to know what /frof will 
he like, read Nuuroinancer and Count 
Zero by William Gibson. But till then, 
thank heavens, only printers count. 

Nobody real reads anything off a 
screen. If you’re in any doubt about 


this, ask yourself why fax has taken 
off the way it has, and why only 
breaks like journalists or people like 
us use Email or post discs. 

So, the printer is more important 
than the computer. Definitely, By your 
printout shall you he judged. 

If you use a Cray XMF and a 
DMP-1, then everyone will know 
you’re a nerd. But with a Vic 20, 
Postscript and a LaserJet, you could 
write to Mikail Gorbachov. Or even to 
Raisa, 

So the thought is this; If you want to 
do something, work out if the printer 


can do it, if necessary by going back 
and overprinting the last character, or 
by going into - shudder! - graphics 
mode If the printer can do it, you can 
do it with Protext. It may not always 
be Wysiwyg, but that's the price you 
pay for speed. 

Protext, like all good word pros, is 
terrific at talking to printers. For 
instance, printers come with manuals 
of varying opacity, but they all seem 
to include Basic programs to send 
codes to the printer. Forget it. Protext 
makes it a hundred times easier. 

The direct way is to use the >OC 
stored command. For instance, 1 
always fancied printing something 
really small. This trick will work with 
any Epson compatible. It was last 
month’s parting shot, and it goes: 

>0C 27 65 6 15 27 GJ 1 

To save you looking it up in the 
printer manual, which could be a 
boring japlish experience, the codes 
27 65 6 change the printer to half 
linefeeds, 15 switches on condensed 
mode and 27 83 1 goes into subscript. 
The result needs a magnifying glass to 
read, is quite useless except for 
footnotes of an obscure kind, and is 
rather fun. 

To unwind the effect, you put in the 
opposite codes, 

Now you can do this another way, 
The subscript and the condensed 
codes are supplied in the printer 
drivers. So you could go Ctrl_xs and 
Ctrl_xc and have a stored command 
>LF0.5, No sweat. But I find it easier 
to have the >OC line stored as a File 
called TIN YFRINT_0 N , and merge it 
where 1 want it. 

There are other things. On the NEC 
P2200 that I use there are various 
fonts like Souvenir, QCR-B (the font 
we use for listings in Amigo 
Computing) and Super Focus, which 
kind of SHOUTS at you. They all 
have their codes, and you can switch 
them on with >OC, But that only 
works well if they run from the start 
of a line. 

There is a w ay of using >OC codes 
to make something happen in the 


Playing 

with 

jn fliers 
miners 

IIIIIIVI9 
IIIIIIVO 

PI IIIIVI <9 


Printing is 
such sweet 
sorrow... 

Or rather, 
it's not... 

Peter Ceresole 
shows you 
how printing 
can be fun 


96 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1999 


middle of a line. It involves splitting 
the line at the change* putting the 
>OC command on the next line and 
then, below that, starting the new text 
at the correct column across the page. 

If you set the line spacing to zero - 
>LS 0 - before* and reset it to one, or 
whatever you're on* after, then it 
wot ks * Have a look at Figure L 

Geddit? It can be useful, But in 
1 general life's too short for that sort of 
' thing. No, it's time to hack the printer 
driver, 

i I The manual’s useful here. What am 
i I saying! It's always useful. Especially 
if you load your printer driver into 
PTotext and sit there with the printer 
manual and the Protext manual 
together* having a good old stare, For 
i I example* 1 see that under ! T in 

NECP220Q.PPD, which is the one for 
me, is the sheet feeder code. Now I’m 
not that rich, so in my case "P 1 is 
spare. 

You can edit the printer driver file 
just like an ordinary' text file, which it 
is, except that it's in Program mode, in 
i I this case I make the line: 

cc *f r =?7, 102,4 t V f 102,1 

So now Ctrl-xf toggles between 
Souvenir (27,102*6J and Courier 
(27*102,1). But only on my NEC 
P2200* of course. 

You can do exactly the same to add 
codes for your favourite printer 
manoeuvres. A good trick is to keep 
the original printer driver saved 
i : somewhere - it’s on the master disc - 

I and then experiment. 

You don't have to get it right all at 
once, you can experiment bit by bit. 
Browse through the printer manual to 
see if there are things you'd like to do, 
and try them out with an >OC code. If 
you like it, bung it into the printer 
driver. 

You can, of course, change the 
codes using the >CC "change codes" 
option, building up a file that you 
load each time to modify your printer 
i driver, I've always felt that if you 
really want these changes, then put 
them straight into the driver. 

One of the nicest tricks is to get the 
printer to draw the IBM double line 
box characters. The Amy supports 
single line graphic box drawing on 
screen, but I feel the double boxes are 
much , much nicer. If you look in a 
printer driver that supports the IBM 
j characters - EPSQN24.PPD for 
i instance, on the September cover disc 
- there's a clearly labelled section that 
looks like Figure Ha, 


■ PROTEXT ■ 


Converting the 
EPSON24.PPD 
printer driver to 
do IBM double 
line graphics 


rem Aitga Line graphics 

rc 


rc 

h4 

rc 


rc 

*?8=lcQ 

rc 

m=* ci 

rc 

I9a=fc2 

rc 

Ifrb-fc3 

rc 

I9c=*ct 

rc 

m=#c5 

rc 



ren Anita double 

rti line graphic* 

rc 

I95=#ba 

rc 

m=m 

1 rc 


rc 

i9i=i a 

rc 

#99-#c# 

rc 

*9a=#cb 

re 

*9b=lcc 

rc 

cd 

rc 

tf?d=lce 

rc 

#9e=#bc 


Figure Ho Figure lib 


The numbers on the right are the 
hex values for the IBM line characters. 
About the only thing I hold against 
Amor is that it does everything in hex. 
I guess Mark Tilley must have funny 
hands. 

Anyway, if you change the numbers 
so they look like those in Figure lib 
you can use Pro text's line drawing 
abilities to draw better boxes. I've 
saved the modified printer driver 
under the original name BOX.PPO* It's 
on this month's cover disc in the 
Playing-with-Printers drawer. 

Next up is drawing the double line 
box characters on screen, Might as 
well keep this contemporary and 
Wysiwyg and things like that... 

Use the Symbol command, and an 
Exec file* Symbol defines screen 
characters. It's very simple to use 
indeed, but it helps to do a little 
preparation. 

Take* as an example, the character 
that represents two lines crossing 
[generally called a cross, Brian). It is 
character #9d on the Amiga, which is 
sent to the printer as #ce, or 206 in 
civilised numbers. 

It looks like the cross in Figure III 
and it is defined on screen with the 0 
x 8 grid it is drawn on, It's worth 
making a file which is a pageful of 
these grids* about 12 of them, which 
you print and use to design any 
characters you want to get on screen. 

The extensions to the right are to 
enter the numbers for each row of the 
character, A black square is a one, an 
empty square a zero. So the top row of 
the cross character is 01 100110, which 
is binary for 102. The next two rows 
are the same* but the fourth is 
1 1 100111. which is 231. And so on. 

It helps if you’ve got a programmer's 
calculator for the binary do -decimal 
conversion, If not, never fear, there's 
one called PCALC in my drawer on 
this month's cover disc* along with a 
GRID 1 prepared earlier,,, 

So the way to get that cross drawn 


on screen* instead of a simple cross, is 
to type: 

syibst m 10-2 102 102 231 0 231 102 

102 

at the command line, and press 
Return. But you want to get a whole 
lot of characters redefined this way* 
and you want to do it without typing 
more than the strict minimum of stuff, 
so make up an Exec file. 

Create a file in Program mode with 
all your Symbol commands* each on a 
separate lino, with a carriage return at 
the end of each* not forgetting the last 
one. Guess who fell into that trap a 
few times. If you save it with the 
name, say BCJXEX, then whenever you 
Exec* or better still just x, ROXEX at 
the command line, it will execute 
each line in the file in turn. 

And because you wan Ido load the 
new printer driver to print the new 
characters, you can add "pr box ' as 
the last command. The complete 
listing is in Figure IV* 

Now Pro text will draw IBM double 
box characters on screen* and print 
them if your printer supports those 
characters. 

If you want to revert to the standard 
screen presentation* you'll either have 
to reboot, which doesn't bear thinking 
about* or make up an equivalent file of 
Symbol commands called UNBOX 
which redraws the normal characters 










00100110 = 102 









01100110 = 102 









011001 10 = 102 









11100111 = 231 









= 0 









11 10011 1 = 231 









01 1001 10 = L02 









U1 100110 = 102 


Figure Hi; Working out the Symbol 
numbers for the IBM double line cross 


Navantbcr 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 87 




&yibol 195 Id? 10? 1 D2 ID? 10? IQ? 10? Id? 

syitol m Id? 102 102 no 6 230 ID? 10? 

syibol t97 D 0 0 254 6 210 102 1Q2 

syibal m 10? 102 102 103 96 1?7 0 0 

syibol 199 10? 102 102 231 0 255 0 0 

sylbol 09a 0 0 0 255 Q 231 ID? 10? 

syibol m IQ? 102 102 103 96 103 102 102 
syniioi 09c 0 0 0 255 O' 255 0 0 

s tMo'l m m 102 102 231 0 231 IQ? 102 

syibol 09 b 10? 102 ID? 230 6 254 0 0 

symbol 09f D 0 Q 1?7 96 103 102 102 pr b*i 


Figure IV 


on screen. You can't mix the single 
and double boxes on screen unless 
you reassign a second set of keys to do 
it 

What you can do is mix them in 
printing by using the stored command 
>PR BOX when you want the double 
boxes, and (say) >PR NECP220D when 
you want to revert to normal. 

In the meantime, the sky's the limit. 
Try typing in Figure V. saving it in 
Program mode as ABC and then 
executing it. Note that I've abandoned 
hex in the interests of sanity. 

Then type your alphabet, an 
appropriate term here. If you want to 
print this lot, change the printing 
codes by using >KC stored commands. 
Like this; 

>rc "a" 224 
>rc "b” Z25 
>rc “c' 1 226 
...and so on until... 

>rc V 239 

Those stored codes call be saved as 
a file that is merged by an extra line 
on the end of Figure V, 

By the way, there's a reason why l 
prefer to send the new box characters 
by modifying the printer driver - most 
of the key strokes have already been 
put in there by the hod wrote the 
driver for Amor, so there’s less work 
to do. 

In the case of the "abc*..* the Amiga 
codes are the same as the printer 
codes, so they’re not in the printer 
driver. In that case, it's just as easy to 
use >RG 

If you're using the demo version of 
Protext, however, you’ll have to go the 
>RC route because the printer driver 
may be too big to load. 

You'll appreciate that to get back to 
the standard screen font you’ll have to 


symbol 9? o Q m 204 204 204 116 0 
syibol 93 0 120 2Q4 243 2D4 243 192 192 
symbol 99 0 254 193 192 19? 192 2?4 0 
symbol 100 0 0 254 100 tOB 108 ?38 0 
syibol 101 0 0 ?54 10? 48 102 254 Q 
swot 102 0 0 0 127 190 198 124 0 
syibol 103 0 0 ?30 10? 10? 126 96 224 

symbol 104 0 0 254 48 40 54 28 0 

syibol 105 124 16 1?4 214 214 124 16 124 
syibol tOfr 0 124 198 17D 186 170 198 124 
syibol 107 0 0 124 190 190 108 238 0 
syibol 100 0 124 96 1?0 204 204 12Q 0 
syibol 109 0 0 10? ?19 219 10? D 0 
syibol 110 D 2 6 124 ?2? ?46 124 19? 
syibol til 0 0 124 198 11? 198 124 0 

syibol 112 Q D 124 198 198 198 198 0 


Figure V 

have an Exec file that restores the 
standard characters. This is not trivial, 
but Figure VI should get everything 
back to normal. 

Finally.,, oder endlich, as they say 
in Proworl... graphics in Protext. Yeahf 
Although Pretext has this wonderful 
relationship with printers, graphics by 
numbers are frankly hell. 

In quad density they're just 
ridiculous. But on the right day they 
can be rather fun. 1 think it needs a lot 
of time, rather like re-reading all of 
Hardy’s novels on holiday. Does 
anybody really do that? 1 know some 
of my friends claim tew 
As a straight bit of vainglory I did 
my signature, in double density, J 
could have had a go in quad density, 
using all 24 pins, hut so far no day has 
appeared on which it might be fun, 

It requires preparation, again. 

Print a grid, as before. This time it 


syibol 97 0 0 120 12 1?4 204 110 0 

syibol 98 224 96 1?4 102 102 102 2?Q 0 

syibol 99 0 0 60 102 96 102 60 0 

syibol 100 23 12 1?4 204 204 204 118 0 

syibol 101 0 0 60 102 126 96 60 D 
syibol 102 23 54 48 120 40 48 120 0 
syibol 103 0 0 6? 102 10? 62 6 124 
syibol 104 224 96 124 10? 10? 10? 250 0 
syibol 105 24 0 56 24 24 24 60 0 
syibol 106 6 0 14 6 6 102 10? 60 

syibol 107 m 96 102 108 120 103 230 0 

syibol 100 56 24 24 24 24 24 60 0 
syibol 109 0 0 108 254 214 214 198 0 

syibol 110 0 0220 102 1Q2 102 10? 0 

syibol HI 0 0 60 102 102 102 60 0 
syibol 112 0 0 220 1Q2 102 124 96 224 
pi- necp?2D0 


Figure IT 

has to be bigger, but that's OK because 
I've done it for you. It’s in my drawer 
called BIG-GRID. If your printer can't 
handle IBM line graphics, you’ll have 
to photocopy Figure VII instead. 

The lines to write the numbers on 
stick down instead of sideways 
because that’s the way the printer 
reads the bytes. Now. you draw 
whatever you want to reproduce over 
the grid, remembering that it will turn 
out two characters high in this case, 
and be as long as you have the 
patience to make it. The grid in Figure 
VII is nine characters long. 

After you’ve drawn your 
masterpiece or signed your name very 
big, work out the binary numbers 
represented by the black square s> in 
columns rather than rows, and write 
them down. You’ll have two numbers 
in each column, one for the top eight 
squares, the other for the lower eight. 



98 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1989 


■ PROTEXT ■ 


Then send the codes to the printer 
line by line. 

When it came to do a signature I 
chickened out and kept it small, one 
line high. The codes in Figure VIII are 
for an Epson compatible, in 24 pin 
mode. You need to load it in and print 
it. 

The first code is a gentle printer 
reset. The next line sets the printer 
head to a position where 1 want the 
signature to start. The third line puts 
the printer into graphics mode (24 
pins, double density) and tells it how 
many bytes of data are coming. After 
which comes a football field full of 
data, 

All this could be in one damn great 
>GC statement, but that's a nightmare 
to enter, so 1 prefer to break things up. 

As you can see, it's a terrific sweat. 
The result is shown in Figure IX. 

It ought to be possible to do letter 
headings and such like. But unless 
you're a true masochists not this way. 

I suspect the best would be to use a 
drawing program and adapt the screen 
print program to send the codes to a 


Figure VIII 

disc file. 1 can't believe that this 
would present too much trouble to a 
programmer, which I'm definitely not. 
Then you could get the codes you 
wanted into an >OC file. It sure as 
heck wouldn't be Wysiwyg* but it 


might have its charms. 

In the meantime, Figure VIIT lives 
in my drawer on the cover disc as 
SIGNATURE. It works. It’s no earthly 
use. I guess it's a perfect example of 
playing with printers. 

• NEXT MONTH: Getting comfy' with 
Pretext Wallowing like a little pig in 
sugar. 



27 64 


>0E 

0 

4 243 0 4 243 0 11 4 0 

11 4 0 

>oc 

27 36 120 0 


>oc 

28 

B 0 28 8 0 0 30 0 0 30 0 0 99 

>EK 

27 42 33 110 0 


>oe 

0 

0 99 0 7 HI 0 7 141 0 

9 16 0 9 

>ac 

0 0 7 0 0 7 0 Q 14 

0 0 14 Q Q 224 

>oc 

16 

0 14 100 0 14 10Q 

1 26 0 6 

>oe 

0 0 224 0 i m o 

3 128 0 13 2 0 

*oc 

Q 

0 141 0 0 141 D 1 26 0 


13 2 0 49 15 0 49 

13 1 194 49 1 

»0« 

225 0 6 225 0 11 2 0 11 

2 0 28 14 

>oc 

194 49 4 4 193 6 4 

193 

>ac 

0 

28 14 0 16 11! 0 16 113 0 33 

>oc 

24 27 6 24 27 4 96 

124 12 96 124 

>oc 

131 0 33 131 0 2 12 0 2 

12 

>oc 

12 129 240 48 129 

240 48 127 193 

>ot 

0 

4 56 0 4 56 0 7 192 0 

7 192 0 8 

>ot 

192 127 193 192 3 

4 254 3 6 254 

>cc 

D 

0 8 0 Q 48 28 0 48 28 

0 65 231 

>oc 

n IS 3 12 15 3 16 

112 2 16 112 

>DC 

0 

65 231 0 135 4 0 135 4 

1 56 24 

>ac 

2 97 192 4 97 192 

4 

>0C 

1 

56 24 2 192 124 2 192 

124 

>0G 

131 0 8 111 0 S 12 

0 62 12 0 42 

>0 £ 

5 

0 130 5 0 130 14 3 131 

14 3 131 

>oc 

16 1 195 16 1 195 

12 2 6 32 2 6 

>QC 

2< 

i 13 4 24 13 4 32 17 4 

32 17 4 0 

>oc 

64 13 24 64 13 24 

123 14 96 128 

>f>C 

31 

1 8 0 33 B 0 32 8 0 32 

B 0 0 16 

>QC 

14 96 123 1 123 128 t 123 0 2 12 

>0C 

0 

0 16 


>oc 

o i n 


>e 

13 

10 27 64 



Figure VH1 


PUBLIC APOLOGY 

M.D. Office Supplies would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all its 
competitors. We shall with immediate effect supply direct to the public, 
Computer discs. Storage boxes, etc. AT THE FOLLOWING AMAZING PRICES 


3 


U" 


OS DD DISCS & BOXES 

25 DS DO & SO BOX - £21.95 55 OS DD 4 1 00 BOX £40, 9S 

35 DS DD k 100 BOX .,.£30.95 6S DS DD & 100 BOX £44.95 

45 DS DD & 100 BOX E34.95 75 DS DD & 100 BOX .£49.95 

1 50 DS DD & 2 1 DO BOXES £89 95 

ALL DISCS ARE CERTIFIED 1Q0% ERR OR FREE - GUARAN TEED 


3 


i/ 11 


5 


,, DS DD DISCS & BOXES 

II 25 DS DD 96 tpi plus 50 BOX £11,50 100 DS DD 96 tpi plus 1 00 BOX £28.50 

50 DS DO 96 tpi plus 100 BOX £16.50 200 DS DD 96 tpi plus 2 100 BOXES £52.99 

1 75 DS DD 96 tpi plus 100 BOX . . . £22 50 300 DS DD 96 tpi plus 3 100 BOXES .. .£71,99 

ALL DISCS ARE CERTIFIED 100% ERROR FREE - GUARANTEED 


5 


i ■» 


HIGH DENSITY 5.25 1 DISCS 

IS 5.3- OS WQ 1.6MB plug 50 BOX -CIS H 

H 5.HT OS HO I.SM0 plus IM BOX £37 86 

in S.25- DS HD I .(MB plus 1D0 BOX — ».» 

HIGH DENSITY 3.5" DISCS 

HOStiO 3 r discs ~e» » 

» DS H D 3.5T 0 i SCS Wflh *6 Cn parity Bcn ..... — 

SO D5 Hi) U* DISCS Mh >0 Cl P*«ty B an 


£52.99 

£B1.» 


BULK BUYERS 

1KTDSDD 3.STP! _ 

£99.99 

150 DSDD 3.5TPI 

£87.99 

m DS DD ism 

f U4.99 

5WQSB-D3.BTP1 

£239,99 

250 DSDD SC2STPI _ 

£B4.99 

&O0DSDD5.frTPl 

£119.99 

1000 DSDD 5 25TP! 

£21999 


VISA 


M.D. OFFICE SUPPLIES 

1 8 CRESCENT WAY. FARNBOROUGH. KENT BR6 9LS 
TELESALES HOTLINES: 0689-61400 

Education & Government orders welcome 


★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★■A 1 * 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 



★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 

★ 


All prices include VAT Wil Delivery UK. only Education £ Government orders welcome Supplied subject to availability- E/OE 

November Hitts AMIGA COMPUTING ‘JS 




Lad broke Computing 

Interna tional 

'The Country's Leading 16 Bit Specialist " 




i 


33 Or rusk irk Road, Preston, PR I 2QP, \ 
Qoert j A4on- ~ Sat. 9:30 am to S:00 pm 


YOU CANT AFFORD TO SHOP ELSEWHERE LOOK AT THESE PRICES (INC .VAT) 


Md f Lilli Irt-idd fri® In purhuM X 

V*T uNP MlA'EH.V * wSm. 1 


r iim " -*■«* •**»*,“ 5»3 .h**nif«wi nlhrt vkk bn mH *p4h I. jmM Ibnmiu hid is ntw WYSIWYG. ALL fftfCEl INCLUDE 

rJ]Q0 iMalial LK.hm,i fay 4Hi»xm »ffl. All mu .r>J „ »£>g1 la dtany *^^L^k»J>hnnf far llxrtprra, jnlU^^o. ■Mafw, re dwr. hura to LtJt.li 


Amiga Upgrade Hoards 


S/2 A RAM Extension Boards 

1 Ay M fltb/e with w wiiheviiMteadkrfcfoiL * Pfim aawi(r ASffijfef 

toe sotdmofJ ' Jr /ft* frvvidrd !v switch RAM to font ' B*ttirr 

Imckvd cmimshdstoei rtitiai tiataAimtr on Mwt^k off- * A ration fo w 


Software 


At Least 70% Sxxwf oftdf_ 16 bit gtsnes software. 


without chct. 
withe fact 
Without ckxi 
with cioci 


(mpOfathttcd} 


(pOf4thted> 

(populated* 


£19.99 

£3/99 

££7.99 

£99.99 


MMauiai Docomsi 

kkp 

£19.99 

£24.99 

£29.99 

Ma.tianun QmnW 
£19.99 
£24-99 


New Low Price Quality Disks 


All WIT llillLE AW top ifOaU^ inij-, Mm'ell W K*0 JJfOlfuCti, hot lIkhp 
ihipjili. All dUlis tarr) ui uhi-onillltoiHJ tifclLirw guvanfiw. 


ftr Price 
£tS99 
£19.99 
£2X99 

£699 

£9.99 


Quality 

10 

too 

Sony Branded 
10 
too 


IS" D/S Boxed 


fSW 

£ 70.09 


£0,00 

£42.99 


£ 10,00 

£09 


5,25-D/S [Wed 


£4,50 

£40 


£5,50 

£45 


Repair Centre 


Qlr Tnimed trflinwri. van m*ir all (iHftlwarif Ln4udjnK in rtufenun 

lime in tLHti(naLi:vu rii«- W* tun Mfunge pitk*ip For prompt (Mhvxy to 
wr*dv« f« £11.5U Ntxl tky twtftt return f9.W, 


R&vae for frmf srkei. SAE for t*taJbgi.v 
Ffnr drfh-Hv (Mnirimid UK onlvl wi utden. £40. 
f« oftfcft umfa £40 itdd £2.50. 

Pboiic Ft* l-adbrukc Coot putiftg'i A 4 fill bed icar»w. 
Tlik 300 dpi mc annef cm five high tfuEfty ram. (or 
DTP uni dher ^ptiaUam. (AthEja and STI, 


Mooc far djfTircot capacity disk bores and care tits. 


Peripherals 


Traktr bull Kli u mouse £24.99 
DCOM Auto line jgj-iiEct £9,99 
A nl Biotic irauu it mil 1S.99 


PRO 5UW jovtlic* 

hr iw; will 


H ,., £i99 

Moddalor for *i*e villi Tv £24.99 

PflOUM/JcwitisJl etlonsLiai 


New Low Price Printers 


Star LC 10 £169.99 

Slur LC ]0 Cofoi* £219.99 

Star LC 24/10 £259,99 

Ecwtm LQ 500 £219.99 

Citiwn m D £139.99 

Ph™ /«■ cdfara All p-inlwE Li>rw iwnpkl* wilh 



Amiga drives 


Vwt n 40V»B(ST & Airily) £499.99 

Supra 30 MB £ 674.99 

Third Corn 65 MB £659-99 

1 Mg Uppi^, dirHWf fwiifhi 

and ihrotieh j»rt. £79.99 

Trinnitk £ oitwrii ahmt 


Monitors 


PWHijn SW3- Colm* Monilw, £249.99 

Phil[i|» 15" FST Ramore. Scwt inpril. Tv wilh 
40 miwr pr«cb. £234,99 

Fhillijw 14“ Remote, $cwq irtpul, Tv with 
Fiwlesl nnd V) loner pteaeis. £234.99 

All monilpn come with gti fc Airiija <1 l. 


PACK / £309.99 

ImLudti Ajtilbj A500 Lompuitr. TeiBUr puck of ttn unum ami Mpuse. 
PACK! £447.99 

ImliMki. AiTiLjpi A 500 Lornpuliir. 512 K RAM E.tl«ai«i , Toninr 

,■••• ‘ Vl-.tii^C, 


Great Vatuc 

Ann pit Fucks 


PACK 2 with Chet £436.99 

PACK 3 -PACK / + CMSS33Coi Moo. £399.99 
PACK4~PACK2 + CMA£UCoL Moo. £697.99 
PACK 4 wkh eJbct £70699 


(0772)203166 Fax 561071 


il l»at?4ini iHine nr Vil»* Mirfcelbi| Lnniinf 



ibSdBki^oowii 
* hi IQ dkkA - tZISack 
U <r wmhUh -£2J0 twh 
PriiK iniJLiie Dil£, IrtClM* PltE W>ti* laboL 
Mi D and. phone od«n ncenwl: befon wxh 
dtiAiatdWurTmdaxOtURANTr.lTl 
Deduel U freen ihfM prim if rending ycur 
own tJani dltki 


PUBLIC DOMAIN 
LIBRARIES 

All supply the same disks - don’t they? 


SOFTViLLE COLLECTION 

i; j We have collected the best from around! the world and compiled 
| them into our own coltec I ion, so good other libraries sell I hem 
□s is! Mow over 400 disks - select front the BEST! 


A 

NEW 
FORCE 
ON THE 

AMIGA - UGA >v 4 

Available exclusively I form SOFT V i 1 F 

\4 

**** Below is a small selection **** 

OSO m - 11 5 mU iraip IndUdinE DUELLTN^ ELECTRIC DREAM, WOLF ct Iha DESTJtl 
LISO «2 - Hip NKtudini NEVBUEMXNQ ilOKlC ROfHXJuC FEEL THE KYTHM 

USUD1- 16 mortly ptetum imr#d k t. tlBakm. Gr~l 6paa piaya aJcr.* ■ tkpf ■bqpd 

U6LJD4- 9clahM (rtrt) Thu Daj4 Lori 1 , cne ft leatling (atf«y ArtiflA bntl \*1* 

USUOS- Pibukuu Ilklnhow rf "DmW^Iib 4ac±linlr pbtuna + ftr«t tun pliyi ikwi^L 
UHUSJ - 19 *«I bim. iwU?. SJSORJIIA. CAME OVER, ftmjftE mtE POWERFUL 
UMCJS7 - Sane <f tha but Amiga muidut vrok Lh^u kr (hit dak, 9 |nut ax^ 

UHUSI 2 - mlfiw uuhdkk 1 , 1 (ft«t v-jm induled, ftowt Ni amwirai 

ULN 7 * - I gffcatiScmo'i incJudu TEARDROPS, ANOTllLR. MDGATtCTURE at tfc 
LflMTIt- 4 ijrTMi driru'i R 0 CCR RAatUT, WCRUMb AClD PC-MQ, OOCL 

UAKFMI- 2 uitmalxA^ STAMP and UGA lo^iTW&rf tha wry htat yotill «■ on your Am%*. 
UAHLHS— 1 aninwtkmi, HAPFY GUY, WINDOW mi F 15 MDLRCR - Lncrad i±i 
USl'tQ- iOUNDMONTTOR phu dhen, k m fr'b your own grwd von#: fcr your duno'd 
USPEEIO T 1 IF. MIJSJC CCMPOSFit jiiii* mm.™rte™ at; ptpi ibrk W d*ma 

U 6 PIL 11 -GAME MUSIC CREATED, phu od m, brOiLant pn^run and uili ua. 

Ltcf wondCKd y*htTt Iff Eft ihvsv rcullv unusual utilities from? 

OUTlU -BOOT EM, UBWIZARU MAST ERL 10 DNLAH, SWIR-JT BACKC H.MEJ SlC, 
CRUNCHER, SIIOWFONTS BOOTCONTHOL BOOTUNE, BO UED 4 TOK «* «*; 
UUT 1 L 4 -MODULE PLAYER, GHANDDOOX MOUSEBACJK, BOOTCOPY, BROWSER. 

FOimDI ANIMATOR. RNDnLE. DE-lOONISER.MAKEPLAY, MAKDOOPY tu 
UHT 1 L 7 -PLST CREATOR, IBOT LEU BOOTUP, GETFAST. BOUNCEPICL, BOOT la AC EH. 

5 CROLLMAKER, BOOTOONTBOL SUFEJmEV* VIRUS HU NT, PRESET ED ata. 


If you want to know more 
about the BESTT 
Send S,A,E (22p stamp) 
and state AMIGA for your 
FREE 60 page catalogue 


SOp YOU COLLECT DEMO’S DO YOU? 

>F214 - De ATS TAR MEGADEMO * Sia?Jy the BEST - 2diski - £5 
)F25^ - The WALKER demo, brilliant animal - Jipeg veriloa 
>F2S5 - The WALKER2 demo, the legend cooiinuet - 1 meg version. 
►F2D6 - NOKTHSTAIUFAIRLlGirr Megademol - 2distf - £5 
>t’20S - ROBO-COP demo, sampled from the smash hit movie! 

►F260 - MUSIC MODULES for use with GHOSTWRITER (Uspec4) 
IF267 - PHALANX BEATBOX - Loads of I.MJarre type kk igsl 
IF274 * PHOENIX MEGADEMOl - One of the best demo compilations 
get this for your col lection nowf 
|SOF277 ■ SARGON MEGADEMO - Fabulous loading screen, Jove id 
|SOF278 - ALCATRAZ MEGADEM03 - Brilliant select loci ( 

|SOF308 - MAHONEY/KAKTUS music/demo disk with over 40! songs 
1SOF318 - MADE IN HEAVEN from KYLTE MTNOGUE - Very good 
sample and yery popular now - 2di*kj - IS 
ISOF327 - GOLDISK (EMI of Ivory) more great music how do they do it? 
JSOF547 - QUADLITE MEGADEMO/J UKEBOX 64, wry different! 
|SOF352 - VISION MEGADEMQ, some more brilliant graphlcs/music on 
this, their latest demo disk. 

|SOF3S5 - IT WALKMAN MUSIC DISK, one of the very latest, and one of 
the very best around. 

ttXJS we have the Largest collection of FRED FISH disks in the country, 
the latest sent to us monthly from the man himself. WE ALSO STOCK 
TheEA 1IG, SLIPPED DISK, PANORAMA, A.P UC collections 
and a selection from the AMICUS collection. 

So^ if you want CHOICE md SERVICE, come to 
SOFTVILLE, BRITAIN NO.l DISTRIBUTER 


SOFTViLLE 

Unit 5, Stratfidd Park, Elettra Ave, Waterlooville, Hants 

P07 7XN. 24hr Orderline on 

PI 0705 266509 

— N 1 Fax 0705 251884 













The Micnotext Adaptor turns your Amiga into an advanced Teletext IV 
giving you fast access to any of the free pages from Ceuta* nr Oracle- 
Hundreds of pages constantly updated to give you the very latest 
information,, at the touch of a button. 

The mouse may by used to select any page then print it or save it to disc 
Saves may be compact or lPF r it can read out the news and is easily 
pnjgrammed to do all these things automatically, With true TkstTexl', the 
system knows what pages are likely lo be selected next and gets them in 
advance making them available instantly. Many more facilities are also 
provided. The Adaptor connects to the Parallel port, your printer is then 
reconnected to a socket on the Adaptor and when the computer is not in use 
you can watch TV on the monitor! 

"A highly recornmerded purchase” 

Amiga Computing - Feb 'B9 

At only 024 .SO + VAT for an advanced Teletext TV, its excellent value for 
money, VHF/UHF International version; £169.50 


E3 MICROTEXT® 

Dept AG, 7 Birdlip Close, Horn dean, Hants POS 9PW 
Telephone: (0705) 595694 



DELTABASE A 

YOKE STYLE JOYSTICK FOR 
FLIGHT SIMULATOR II 

DELTABASE A Flight Simulator Joystick £29.95 

FLIGHT SIMULATOR II £24.95 

VOLTMACE 

Unit 9, Bondor Business Centre 
London Road, Baldock, SG7 6HP 
Telephone 0462 894410 

Prices include VAT 8t 1st class post 
Dealer & Distributor terms available 



AMIGA 

COMPUTING 


Mai I Order Offers 



Don't miss these 
back issues 


Mby TKW issue 


June 1989 issue 


Deluxe Feint il> - The number one art program gets better 
with animation. Scorpion heads up the games The 
Aprodraw graphics tablet, using lines from Sasic. Sculpt- 
Animate 4D reviewed - a bargain at £40fP The best bf (he 
Public Domain and the CMl processor accelerator run 
through its paces il UMH?. 


Exclusive review of Commodore A590, X-Cad designer, the 
Amiga program which leaves AuroCid m (he Shade 
Pegestream - quality DTP on a low budget. Essential tips oit 
how (o make more room on your Workbench disc. Musical 


scores lan out of tan with Dt. Ts Copyist Professional. 
Teaching is more importaht than Education, a look at 
- Amiga's m schools. Plus a packed games review section, 


August 1989 issue 


Gold Disk's MpvieSatter - cartoon capers un-screen. GFA 
Basic masted.. The Amiga Show in the B- g Apple. Prettier 
icons with icon Faint. Opus-1 plays specialist music. Learn 
how to use functions from Basic and (he Move command 
from machine code. Sam Littlewood looks at the different 
forms of ray tracing and rendering, Tfl Sketch dreggecf to the 
trasbcan, WordPerfect Library fares a little hatter. Plus a 
mega collection of games including the earth-shaneung 
Populous and the Truly cosmic Cosmic Pirate. 


First sensational cover d*sc Trained Assassin, Raider end 
more. Vortex hard drive review. &&33D runs slow, 
Powardrome, 3D Pool. Retype and Balance Of Power eh get 
the joystick treslment. The model universe gives you a Sasic 
Solar system. Cure the hard disc blues - how to use prep 
and format to optimise disc performance 


September 1989 issue 


Bumper business disc. Day by day. Pretext and Home 
accounts lead the wav How to program Copper lists from 
assembler and meus from Basic. SuperPie - Ihe best frame 
grabber around. Power Computing's Turbo 3 is the besl buy 
per megabyte hut with 100 meg on line it's an expensive 
proposition. Epson's LQ-660 top notch 24 pin colour. 
Programming ethics co ntested Argonaut Vs Ariadna, 
Devices; explained under ihe workbench Turn your Amiga 
into an Apple Mac with A- Max Dean Friedman on music 
plus some amazing games reviews. 


October }$S9 <ssue 


DTF without GBH to the wallet, kiddies software. A 32 bit 
HK12Q processor decelerator Making the most of macros 
with Proiext. Dean Friedman on samplers. Low pnee ray 
tracing. How ip hit the hardware for scrolling. Stmctuf# 
within Bas>c. bads of games reviews including the amazing 
10U% Xenon 2 end a superb 14 program cover disc- 


TO ORDER PLEASE USE THE FORM ON PAGE 121 


November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING t&t 





Filled with frustration while 
DPaint fills with a pattern? 
Worried by caffeine 
con si i m ption d uring ray 
tracing? Perhaps the answer 
is an accelerator. Rupert 
Goodwins looks at one go- 
faster board that gives any 
Amiga a boost up the 
benchmarks 


comes with a discful of software, and 
small manual. 

Like all accelerators, it requires you I 
disembowel your Amiga - and thus 
your guarantee - so it's not suitable 
for those with screwdriverphobia, Jt 

However, for those bold enough 
to wield a in Torx (the special 
tool needed to prise an A 50(1 JM Mp 

apart), installation is fairly ■ 

simple, 

Once the top of the 
case is off, and the * 

extensive tin sheeting 
that shields the circuit 
board removed, the jj^H 
existing Htt (inn chip j^H 
has to be extracted, 

Commodore has so far 
socket ted all its 
68000s. so it's just a 
matter of taking a 
small screwdriver and 
levering out the chip, 

The accelerator 
board plugs in its a 

place; the only problem 
E encountered was that a ( 

number of components 
on the board around the ^^^k 
socket were as tall as the 
original 68(100 and w r ould 
short against the new board. 

My solution was to carefully 
bond away as many of the compo- 
nents as could bo so bent, and pro- 
vide a sheet of plastic to insulate the 
bottom of the board - but there’s / 
nothing in the manual about this b 
and if I hadn't spotted the problem L 
there could have been a very J 
expensive firework display. J 

Once plugged in, the Amiga m 

should work as before. Until ™ 

you run the special software 
provided, I he board runs at the 
same speed as the original 
chip and this should mean 
that all software works as 
before. 

Certainly, with the accel- 
erator installed but not 
activated, all my games. 


lUe ACK in I he days when computers were sci- 
AJ mice Helium a man called Parkinson formu- 
lated a law: "Work expands to fit the time 
available". He would he pleased to note that the 
same holds true in the Silicon Agt> - as manufac- 
turers ediurn mit faster machines, the software that 
uses them eats every ounce of performance and 
si ML leaves us poor users asking for more. 

While 10 years ago, mic.ro owners sal around 
waiting for their Pels to reformat a page of text 
nowadays we alt make coffee while the computer 
rotates a complex, three-dimensional picture of an 
aardvark. It’s true of all computers, hut on a graph- 
ically superb, multi-tasking Amiga it's even easier 
to run oul of processor steam. 

The official cure for I he wait-a-bit woes is a 
more expensive, faster computer. Unfortunately 
Commodore has been just as tardy in producing 
anything with more whizz than the 7.1 MHz B800Q 
for the Amiga 500. The MHz is the indication of 
speed - one MHz (megahertz) is one million 
“ticks" a second. 


1 HE 68000 processor can take anything from 
4 to 158 licks to do one machine code 
instruction, but the average is somewhere between 
H and 16. Thus a fifiODO at Amiga speeds can man- 
age rather under a million instructions a second, 
although in practice the video and audio bits can 
si© w (lungs down more than a lilt In, 

So how about buying a faster processor chip? 
1'he Third Coast Technologies accelerator is just 
that - a board with a 16MHz 68000, some extra 
bils Ui link it into an Amiga and to generate the 14 
million pulses that drive the w r hnle lot along. It 


102 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1080 


m HARDWARE ■ 




Utility and general purpose software worked 
as if nothing had changed. Compatibility, 
in this respect, is excellent* 

Nobody pays £isn for a 
board that successfully emulates 
a slow 68UtH) though, so the 
next step is to kick in the 
high-speed mode. To this 
end. a program called PA 
+ l is provided. Click on it 

from your normal 
j Workbench screen 

and the chip switch- 
es over to 14Mhz. 
Click again, and the 
chip goes back to 
the normal, slow, 
^"V compatible rate. 

If you use the CLt 
^ to run PA, you can 

I give it some 

parameters, which 
produce inform n- 
Hf tion about the sys- 

tem t control the 
i speed or the option- 

m ^^g al mathematics chip. 

fcs r ^^g The maths chip 

^^g option - not provided 
J^HF with the review hoard — 
is designed for people 
J^^g who intend to do a lot of 
floating point mathematics 
on their Amiga, it uses a 
Motorola 88881/2 chip, which 
does in hardware what the Amiga 
normally does in software. 

It’s like having a calculator 
to do long division instead of 
working I he sums out by hand, 
and can give spectacular 
increases in speed with cer- 
tain software. Since this 
HH includes Workbench 1.3, a 

** \ lot of software, such as 
, Hisoft flask, automatically 

t y.vT J i caters for I he maths co- 

I WCA i» 

processor •. 

5? A rit* .. » . 1 

B In some cases IVs 

n r j * possible to go hundreds 

times faster, but only 
-i ~\ x , i\ Cr B with software that 

spends most of its 




lime squirting very precise numbers through for- 
mulae. 

Most people don’t need a 68881; for those I hat 
do. the fact that this board makes it possible to 
plug one into an Amiga should be reason enough 
to buy it. Be warned, though, that there are no 
details about the hardware installation in the 
instruction book, so you'll need to get in contact 
with the distributors first. 

There's plenty about the software implications 
of installing the chip, however, so you should be 
able to work out whether your software will work 
faster or not. 

Other software on the disc includes a Few demos 
and a couple of tests. The demos are simple and 
unexciting, apart from a PD Mandlebrot program 
(MandFXP) which is as beautiful and intriguing as 
the mathematics it demonstrates. 

The Mandelbrot set shows a whirling, contorted 
pattern that gels more detailed as you zoom in on 
a feature - it's an excellent test of a computer’s 
graphical and computational prowess, VVilh the 
accelerator board in, the Amiga Finishes a screen 
between 30 to 40 percent faster than before, 

The computer doesn’t go exactly twice as fast, 
because the processor has to share the memory 
from which it reads instructions with all of the 
other special Amiga chips, 

These chips control sound, display, disc drives 
and other parts of the computer, and all of these 
need to be able to override the processor in effect 
turning it oTf while they do their jobs, 

F ITTING everything together is one of the big 
problems of computer design, and the 
Amiga does it rather well. This does mean that 
increasing the speed of just one part of the system 
won't speed everything up, and that the most you 
should expect from the processor accelerator is 
around a 40 per cent increase. 

Lots of software won t exhibit even this, 
although anything that waits for the processor to 
work things out will benefit. 

Programs that work better include Pixel Paint. 
Deluxe Paint 111, Amiga Basic, Devpac. anything 
I hat writes a lot of text on to the screen. Sculpl 
and others of similar Ilk, Games don't benefit 
much, both because they tend to use their own 
loader programs - and thus never give the user a 
chance to run PA - and also because they can be 
tied to the speed of the computer’s video display. 

► 


Wnvember IMS AMIGA COMPUTING 103 


Hobbyte Busbyte Computer Centre 

10 Market Place, St. Albans. Haris. 

^Sl. Albans (Q7Z7J 41 39G f 56005 


Unit t<3, Arnd«tfl Canire, Luton, Beds. 
Luton (0562] 4S7T95V41 1261 


AMIGA ACCESSORIES 

BBC EMULATOR 

£39,95 

CW EMULATOR 

£59-95 

A 594 MODULATOR 

I23.SS 

A 591 RAM EX PA NSION 

ri 15.00 

MINIGEN 

£99,HS 

DIGITISING PACK with 

I32S.9S 

Camera, ni|lkLew Gold D^uhln 
PRO SOUND DESIGNER GOLD 

£t¥.« 

MIDI INTERFACE MM30QG 

124,95 

CASIO MT 240 KEYBOARD 

£119.95 

.MODEM HACK, AD 'A A HAYES V2U23 

£249.99 


Ce«wtod4re lu *!«-**• 
Centre, Principle 
Educe MDn.il Bailor inri 
Arr-lgi 3000 

Cent** 

NO DEPOSIT 
INSTANT CREDIT 
(PERSONAL 
CUSTOMERS) 
AND LEASING 
TERMS (LIMITED 
COMPANIES) 
AND PLCs) 
AVAILABLE, ASK 
FOR DETAILS 


FANTASTIC REDUCTIONS ON AMIGAS 

AMIGA 2000 AND ACCESSORIES vad 


AMIGA 2 WO, Muuh, Wfc bench, Basic, LUlltki, MmhuIi nw 

AMIGA lH« f 10S4S MONITOR, 5,5" AND 5.15* DRIVES AND £l»9 

BRIDGE BOARD taking PC eonijkiti.hllllj^ 1.3 K5 If speeded 
AS ABOVE, PUIS AMIGA/PC DOS 2« MB HARD DRIVE £l54S 

AS AN V ABOVE. BIT ALSO WITH THE WORKS ADO 150 


Nat* that special prices are available for other Amiga con* 


A205S H MM R A M EX I'A NSION, PGFU1AT ED TO 3 M R £444 

n 79 off-AXSI XT BRIDGEBOARD WtTH 5_15 " JM KH DftfVB £2$0 

A22M AT H M I [JtiKItC 1 A R |J WTTI 15.25" 1,2MB DRIVE £SS9 

- SPECIAL* - AMM/2W2 Iff MB PCf AMIGA DOS HARD DISC &J9 

* HOW AVAILABLE * ■ A2090AIW9I 20 MB AUTO BOOT HARD DISC £479 

A2HM/1BH 49 MB AUTO BOOT HARD DISC £750 

A2»0 I STERNAL G ENLOCK II H T 

*2359 BROADCAST QUALITY GEN LOCK/KRA MEG R ABBER £54 5 

A2C32 PA L COMPOSITE VIDEO CARD £69 

A2Q1B INTERNAL hS" DRIVE tlflS 

A lilt) iM-36 CO-PROCESSOR II 045 

14" HIGH RES COLOUR MONITOR <Nh4i video Card & Cahlei) £579 

CA ALLS HIR llKCM £19 

V| DEO CARD FOR IIRCM (FUCKER FIXER) 12 99 

CHERRY DIGHIS I St; PAD AND DRIVER £4«v 

mu. muY*T 


AMIGA 500 PACKS: 

GAMES PACK 

toe. Modulaler, 24 ganm an 4 iliaca: Aftidc, Advailun, Board and Shmat-Em-up pinn. 
Sporte plus I idditidjul Lodi v IduaNy picbjinl kidih from (hi fnllnwinjt list; 

r!ii Kind inn, Rng^i KnbbiL Power Play, Mercenary, No Excuse*, ZnapK, hiebuloiii, Star 
Kay. Sprite Paint £.3 49 Inc VAT 

Aim with SSI If monitor AND LClO colour Printer OAR int VAT 

AIR MILES PACK 

Inc. Modulator, Z4 gsmts u& lour tlk't Arcadr, Adventure, Hoard and Shnnl-mn-up 
games. Joystick, plus: 3 additional Individually bused ^umfN, Sprite Art pick AND hOO 
AIR MILES [Paris or AfttMterdom U 450] £344 Inc VAT 

Abo wilhUil manilnr AND LClP colour Printer £799 Inc: VAT 

PROFESSIONAL PACK 

Inc, Modulated, 24 ^aitm an 4 dke: An:idr, Advinlur*. Board and Shaotemup sunn, 
pluF! Th( Works Spreadsheet, Militu, Word PtuiMnr £433 inc VAT 

OR FubliEhen Choice £4 M inc VAT 

Also with 493 300845 manilo r AND LG 1 0 colour printer ADD £394 

A500 EDUCATIONAL-PACK - PHONE FOR DETAILS 


AMIGA 500 HARD DISC DRIVE 

£369 inc vat 


COMMODORE MONO 

PC, 'AT/ 386a ARP SALE 

PC 10 SINGLE DRIVE 549 434 


PClfl DOUBLE 0 HIVE 599 534 

PC20 Wl TH 20M B M ABO DISC 799 6B9 

PC 20 WITH 35MB HARD CARD 949 779 

PC40 AT SI MGLE DRIVE 1 299 1 065 

PC40 WITH 40 MS HARD DISC 1 699 1 393 

PC40 40MB HD.'AOMB T S I H MR 1 949 1 596 

Peso 3B5 51 ?K0 SINGLE DRIVE 1249 1029 

PCS0 2.5 MB SINGLE DRIVE 1999 1549 

PCGO WITH 4D MB HARD OISC 2349 1039 
PC60 40MB HD.40MB T/STHMfl 2099 2229 

PC60 WtTH BOMB HARO DISC 2549 2099 



COLOUR 
HRP SALE 

ECQ 

RHP 

BALE 

699 

599 

943 

749 

:SE CBM MACHINES 
743 553 539 

790 

959 

939 

1099 

946 

999 

699 

1149 

939 

N,'A 

HA 

1549 

1270 

NA 

NA 

1699 

1557 

N A 

HA 

Si 93 

18P3 

1399 

11 59 

1449 

1199 

2149 

1779 

2139 

I6l9 

2549 

1999 

2593 

21 49 

2699 

2394 

2949 

2439 

2749 

2269 

2799 

2316 



ORDERING 



Phatcav Pmnl II £62 95 
behi .e pBinl III £62 95 
Transformer £19 9$ 

X CAD Designer £Sifl9 

XCADPrcIfteentf cm 94 

PuOliShOJ i, iT.n :>o* £73-95 

&.1c*Chei» E' 199.95 


E2S.SE 

All tort;. 1 W4 oN 
HE'ST PRICES ON ALL 
SOFTWARE- WE CAN 
NORM ALL7 MATCH OB 
BEAT AMIf QENXJINE 
ADVERTlSEO PRICE. 
Sntfwalo price. Irtfi VAT A RP 


To piece your oi 
ardor nr dMcIiI order. plus 
tePttw heap tar nest d ey cam la* dall vary 
and VATte Ctepl.AC.. HeWsyl* Computer* 
Ltd,, 10 M«« Apt Place, St AH* re, Haul* AL3 
5 DC, w «a* elth t ropy *t ihU ad. it out 
brine ime In 9 l Alben# *n d lutan. Vw may 
'"a phene ymir wdar 1 o &ur eatoa daak on 
ATbena (HT 27 .I 56065 . AcmH-Vlaa and 
afilelal arriara Irom jsrernnient, 
nducitiaml madleil aulharlUaa end PLCa 
juteppherf. 


h-iTi. lamp n lire* if trie* c » r p *r*- *ai i»e|*o, ■» ^ui|, *l4#*r a a ea. 



C 

Public Domain Disks 

We have a large number of Public Domain 
Disks in stock, including: 

Fred Fish 

TBAG 

Amicus 

Send now for your fn 
simply send order di 
cheque (Plus £1 P&P) \ 
Comput; 

1-5 C3.0Oeach 
5-9 £275 each 

£2.59 such 

catalogue, < 
etails with you; 
payable to Ami 
ing 

Dr 

r 

tech 

j 


New To PD? 

Try our PD Starter Disks, especially 
prepared tor the new user: 
Games 1 £3,00 

Graphics 1 £3-00 

Utilities 1 £3-00 

Or try ail 3 for only £7.50! 

Please add £1 P&P to all orders* 

Commercial Software 

The Works! £64.95 
X-Cad Designer 82.95 


Portree PD Catalogue send your name and address lo: 
Am tech Computing 
2 Cowdray Close 
Lordswood 

Southampton SOt 8EB 


Public Domain Software 
for the Amiga 

from £3 per dii 

* Over 5 
* Membership 
* Fast 

sk all inclusive 

OOdEsks! 

■ riot necessary 
Service 

We have one of the larges 1 
colled Ions of PD software lor me 
Amiga in Irie UK, 

We currently stock: 

OFISH 1-204 
Q AMICUS 1-26 
O SLIPFED DISK 1-40 
O FAUG HQTMIX 1-75 
O PANORAMA 1-71 
O AUGE 1 25 
OT- BAG 1-23 

All trie above are £3 each + 1 EREE 
when you order 10 

t catalogue disks available al £5 
which give details of the above 
collections 

Our own special selection 
£4.00 each 

O APBL #6 CLI HELP 
> Cmnriread by CLJ? Tha one'* lor yw 

O APQL 41 LANGUAGES 
Lilt, P' oJog. Lt>aa. Forth 
O ftPDL fE AMIGA DISK DOCTOR 
Life tawing pfflara/Tte 1 
O APDL f 1 4 BEST ARCADE GAMES 
O APDL 115 BEST BOARO GAM£S 
BackdnmmDn. Othello, VahtKt fU 
O Ai"DL r17 PUSkN ESS COLLECTION 
Ethlor. SutejtfthBEt 3 Dalaaaac 
O A^Dl HI DATABASES 
Keep 1 rach cH yppr date 
O AP0L iT47 ADVENTURES VW ? 

Caillt A graphic atkentp?* 5 WVPral 
lead adventures 

O APOL #43 C COMPILER ASSEMBLER AND 
LINKER 

a APDL /4 4 WORD PROCESSING 

Word Prottesw A SpeHchficker 
O APDL « 5 PUZZLE l STflAT EOT GAMES 
L> APDL Hfl MAGNIFICENT FORCE II 

HARDWARE: 

External Disk Drive £65.95 
Amiga A5Q0 £360 
All prices are fully Inclusive of 
VAT 

* JOIN THE CLUB! interested In 
joining our user club? Write or 
phone for details * 

20 Great Tunes. 

O APDL m FRACTAL GENERATORS 

O APDL 453 UNKNOWN 5 DEMOB 

Sumrti «ye-poppin-g dernot W4h great musk 

O APDL W JUMe COMMAND 
Mlftical Invuicn 3 

O APDL *55 CHET SOLACE SHAflEWARE 
EXTEyiVAfiANZA Some crl the besi 
Shareware program mei on eaey-10-Ute 
nwinu driven dan 

O SPFCIAL Sian tell (1 MB'| Superb PD game 
l&r th™ wilti \ Mu 3 duns ffl.00 

Wf'Se or phone for a, FREE List 1 

THE AMIGA PD LIBRARY 

Dept. AMC, 140 Rushdate Road r Sheffield, S8 9QE 
PD Hotline 0742-S88429 (9am-9pmt 


104 AMIGA COMPUTING November 1089 




■ TOP HEADING ■ 


M 

Some, like Battle Chess, do work bet- 
ter. 

There is a switch on the board itself 
that forces it to start up in 14MHz 
mode. While using it like this l didn't 
find any incompatibilities, even in 
famously badly behaved programs, 
but there's always the chance that, 
once the Amiga's case is back together, 
that a game will be found that refuses 
to run. 

Another switch on the board speeds 
up the computer when it’s using its 
rom and this helps with anything that 
runs under the Workbench and uses a 
lot of the Amiga's own windowing 
functions. 

The hoard itself, the documentation 
and the state of the disc with the soft- 
ware on all point to the review ver- 
sion not being quite shtppable, 
Everything works, but the board has 
various last-minute wire patches, the 
serial number's written on a splodge 
of Tipp-Ex and it all looks a bit hasty. 

The board will be most attractive to 
people who are doing a lot of compu- 


tation, whether for its own sake or 
with graphics thrown in as well. 

I can see it finding a home in video, 
where valuable time is wasted as the 
ordinary 68000 trudges through 
another client's logo rotating against a 
sea of green, in universities and for 
the keen developer. 

T HE design seems solid, and 
compatibility not a problem. 
The games players out there will be 
better off buying that extra chunk of 
memory or a disc drive, although the 
keenly competitive might relish hav- 
ing a turbo-charged Amiga just for 
pose value. For this market, it might 
help if Third Coast printed some 
sticky badges to adorn the outside of 
the computer. 

More seriously, the accelerator is a 
nice product with well-defined areas 
of appeal. I'm going to miss it - espe- 
cially when exploring the deeper 
recesses of the Mandelbrot set - but 
nowhere near as much as 1 miss that 
hard disc. And no, before you ask, it 
doesn't speed up those floppies... 


REPORT CARD 


Amiga Processor Card 
Third Coast Technologies Md 
025? 42(54 &4 
£149 Lac. 


EASE OF USE ... 


You need to he bravo to plug it in but 
once installed it 's simple enough . 


SOfTHA/Lfc\, 


Minima/, hut sufficient to prove that 
there is a worthwhile increase. 


™ r nm TTTTTn 

A useful improvement but not as 
spectacular as the Commodore '020 
card for the Amigo A 2000 



The cheapest of the processor add ons 
this is also one of the best. 


OVERALL 71% 


Highly recommended , // only as a way 
to add a maths co processor. 





TEL: 0983 79 496 


ACCOUNTS 

Otsk T'jp Budget 19.9 1 

Homs Account!...., 2392 

PinhiMd Account* 

Utfutoi _-4t 40 

S.B.A. tort 1 Mb ...^ 69.62 

S.B A. Cash 1Mb ..... 59.60 

COMMUNICATIONS 

A Talk; PIuj GT.S7 

BBSPC.. 6675 

KCamm ? . ..... 23 92 

RutwComm 68J7 

DATABASE MANAGERS 

Acquisition Vl 3 159.115 

QaU Ratrima Pro 160.77 

tlB Man 10664 

Fofm Mailer ijhpriea) ..,-,4002 

K Data., — 3&M 

Mailshot Plot 37 95 

MicrobaM 17.91 

Microfichi Tilnr Plus 117.76 

Micrdiclie Filar 56 66 

Prated Filar 19,76 

SuperbMd Personal 2 £6 93 

Superba« flfdsuwnal 164.91 
SupartHiK Panonal 44,16 
DESKTOP PUBLISHERS 

CHy DnkV2.4 119.63 

PsgaSittar 56. 61 

P^ealream IMS...... 119.63 

Pftf«|iUflfliP«e1M0 799 99 
EDITORS 

CHfrvin £d Pretaswetaii 59.60 

GRAPHICS 

Ajiimagic ,.,.6S.97 

C Light 44 65 

Comic Sutter 1MB 9976 

Deluxe Paim III 1MB 6D.95 

Deluxe PtulDlab 49.91 

Deluxe VMu ...._ 54.97 

Oeiign 3t) iM& 59 60 

D*. hint 3 .4991 

Mgm* Setter 55 39 

Phrtoti Paifil II 61.67 

ProfEtiiorul Draw . 9962 


Sculpt 40 Animal* Junior 69 93 

Tim DMelior 41 66 

TiiitoSi1rtr3D 99 62 

UVdea Trflar .... .60.50 

Z&Blrape . 79.61 

HARDWARE 
51 2K ASDORAM 

Expiniigij ...99.8? 

A5fl0 JOMI Hard Qiik 369.84 
A.M A.S, Mid-. Sywsm .,,,,77.74 

Dig! View Gold ........ 10*94 

Garni, T5* BLrnun 54.97 

m\ Jester Iff 34.H 

NEC 3.5' DriwiSwiteti . . 76.69 
SUrLCI 0 4 Cable .15667 
Star LC 10 Col 4 Cable 214 32 

Slir LC15 6 Cask 3 19,63 

star LG24-10 & Cable 249.73 
Star LC24-15 £ Cable 389.65 
PACKAGES 

PuSliehe'B Chcnca 69.9? 
The WofAl Platinum .. 1 59.85 

The WwNi 72.45 

PROGRAMMING 

Artec C Dmetapar 139.64 

DfuswZ 44.85 

0J*ic . 56.88 

Ultica C 5 ,174 60 

Moduli 2 Slanaird 77 28 

True Banc S3 62 

SOUND 

Qekixe Matin Gwial, Set .49 91 
Initanl Mink 22.77 


Muaic X ^..164.62 

SPREADSHEETS 

Dig ic*k 3D.36 

Superplan 69.97 

CiP Profwexjnal 73.3? 

UTILITIES 

Amiffadaa Exprtti ... 24.94 
Amiffadas. TacHbaa .... 39.79 

Amihit far Bepnnef* 29.90 

AR«x Language 76.90 

SAD fliak Optimiser 33 56 

BBC Emulator , 3633 

£i»k Mailer Hou«ke«f er 35 99 
DCS 2 DOS Fill Transfer 35.6® 
Enhancer 1.3 Warttoncb 14.72 

FACC 2 Due Cache 21.39 

Family Tree Genealogy . 39.79 
Got! 3 Guru Irterceptar 27.83 
Majudceh UlilfliW ....... . SO 1? 

Prbjatl D Backup 6 Toole 30 8? 

Pretext Office 2S.91 

Soparbac k H/D Backup .. 39.79 
V^ue IrIkI PjclBdkin . 34 96 
Word Perfect Library 66 09 
X Copy 2 Backup 6 Editor 1 7 94 
WORD PROCESSORS 

Kindworde? 36 80 

MicrateKt 17.64 

Outline iCaaa Drguniaar . .35 68 

Prtferf 6662 

Tnnetrlpl ........ .. 32 69 

WordperfeM . 159 85 

Wriis S Filt TMB 6966 


Ricltird Howe 6 Angm HunmiH 
Applied Rial arch Kamel 

Corn Firmheui*. Cliale Green, Uenlnor, P03B 2 LA, U.K. 

POSTAGE: UK Free. Software La Eurepa E4 r te World £6 
COMPANY: An-ga-H'. ipeciaHH, eslab" shed 3 year* 
CHEQUES: Lcrioan SteApg Payable to A.fl K pfcaae 
VJLT.: JUjriMi iidkjdt (fit VA.T. at 15% 
EXPORT: Remwa U K. VAT [=Prica7t.15|i 


DESPATCH: Uiuilly with* 48 hours 
PRICES: Are eubiecl lo e hinge 

QUICK ACCESS TO OVER 14S9 AMIGA PRODUCTS 


AmigaTEX 

AmigaTEX provides a powerful alternative in document 
preparation. It enables you to typeset complex or long 
documents, especially those of a technical nature such as user 
manuals or journal papers, tt gives you true typeset quality with 
kerning, ligatures, full floating accents, mathematical and 
technical symbols and the ability to produce tables and special 
formats. AmigaTEX will accept Input from any test editor or 
word processor and with its built-in screen previewer, a 
document formatter of mainframe power becomes available. 
Also included with AmigaTEX are LaTEX - a document 
formatter with dozens of preformed styles, SliTEX - a slide 
generating macro, and BibTEX - a bibliography database 
program. AmigaTEX Is fully fie compatible with other versions 
of TEX. 

Printer drivers are available for most printer types and the conv 
plete set of Computer Modern Fonts is included A companion 
program META FONT is available for those who wish to create 
new fonts or modify existing ones, 

AmigaTEX is £125 and printer driver sets [laser series, 
Epson FX series, NEC P6 and Epson LQ series, HP 
DeskJet) are priced at £75 each. METAFONT is £50. 

A31 prices include VAT and carriage. 

Access and Visa accepted, 

For further details and free demo disk write or call: 

THE TEXT FORMATTING COMPANY 

14 OSBALDESTON ROAD, LONDON N16 7DP TEL: Ot-S0€ 1944 


Sovembvr 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 105 







ALL OUR PRICES INCLUDE CARRIAGE & VAT 

HSV COMPUTER SERVICES LIMITED (AMC) 

23, Hampstead House, Town Centre, Basingstoke, RG21 1LG. 


3 1/2" DS/DD Disks Bulk • Fully Guaranteed 

JO 20 2ffi S3 1SQ 

7 95 1 5.50 22.50 29.50 35,50 69.95 


1 


Lockable Disk Boxes 

50x31.2" .. .. £5,95 

100x31/2" £7 95 


Accessories 

3 1/2“ Clearing Kit , £ 4.95 

Amiga 500 Dust Cover „„ £4.95 

Amiga 1 000 Dust Cover £9.50 

Mouse Mat (Foam) .., +ttHt( ,..£5.95 


Stationery... Stationery... Stationery.. 


9.5" X 1 r 60gsm Micro- Pert all edges 
True A4 70gsm Micro-Pert all edges 
True A4 90gsm Micro-Perf all edges 
True A4 1 OOgsm Micro-Pert all edges 
(coloured - Cream, Blue, Grey or White) 


500 

im 

2.000 


£9.50 

£15.95 

£8.50 

£12,95 

£23.95 

£9.75 

£14.95 

£27 95 

£16.95 

£31 95 



Labels 3, 5 M X 1.5“ (1 across) 
Labels 3.5" x 1 .5" (2 across) 
Labels 4.0" x 1 .5“ (1 across) 
Labels 4.0" x 1,5* (2 across) 
Labels 2.75" x 1 ,5 H (3 across) 


1.000 

2.000 

4,000 

£525 

£9.50 

£17.95 

£575 

£10.50 

£19.95 

£5.75 

£10.50 

£19,95 

£575 

£1 1 .95 

£22.95 

£4.75 

£8.50 

£15.95 


Credit Card 

Hotline 

( 0256 ) 463507 

Faxline 

( 0256 ) 841018 




Orders under £8 in value carry a small order 
charge of E2 


fDUCAIfOMU SOFTWARE 


SPELLBOOK 

Simple to use. Mouse 
controlled spelling gome. 

Forgei the keyboard. 
Improves hand/eye co-ord. 
Extremely effective and 
entertaining educational 
program. Two age ranges 

- 4 6 and 7 + £19,95 



THINGS TO DO 
WITH WORDS 

3 programs to consolidate spelling word 
and sentence structure. Anagrams: 
rearrange ihe words. Word Hunt: discover 
wards within wards. Jumbled Sentences; 

make sense From sentences Mouse 
controlled with no keyboard distraction 
£19,95 


THINGS TO DO 
WITH NUMBERS 

Maths from a different angle! 

Time Teller:- Tell the lime using the mouse 
12 hour ond 24 hour dock. 

All Aboard: multiplication and division 
needed to answer these. 

Book Search;- subtraction and addition 
handling small numbers. £19,95 





\ JK 



U 


SPELLING PACKS 

4-6 or 7+, Two complete alphabets of words and 
pictures on 2 disks. Expand the words on offer 
through 'Spellbook! Gain inspiration to design your 
own pictures with Alphabet Creator £14,95 


T - 5 1 ease send me ihe Amiga version 
1 SPELLBOOK (4-6) □ 

, THI NGS TO DO WITH WORDS 
■ THINGS TO DO WITH NUMBERS 


19 Quarry Hill Road Tonbridge 
Kent TN9 2RN 


KS 


I 

I 

t 

I 

(.. 


SPELLING PACKS 


(4-6) □ 


?+□ 

□ 

□ 

7+D 


“I 
I 
I 
I 
l 

I 

Please make cheques aj>d PQ - & payable ip Softstuff and send to: 

1 9 Quarry Hit I Road, Tenbr I dge , Kant TN9 2RN. T >1 l 0732 351 234 j 


NAME- 


ADDRESS- 


) ( tfi AMIGA COMPUTING November 19B9 










I COMPUTERS LlTD 

to Peterstield Avenue, Slough, Berkshire SL2 SDN 
Tel: 0753 35557 Fax: 0753 511122 


Condition* ol *»!■ 

' AH prices Exclude VAT and da- 
livery charges 

* EAO€ all prices !»ub|ed to 
thange without notica 

* All colledkms madki by prior ar- 
rangement !rom twr MftfttUM 

■ Potato £1+VATfor»nium- 
abta and EH+VAT hr all ether 
deroi lor raurt day detwary 


AMIGA HARDWARE 

A SCO Complrte J®*-™ 

A5W+TV Modulator - 3G3-M 

A5D9+E200 worth gafrtM t TV Mod 33S 0D 

ASDD+ 1 084$ H,iRbb Cal. 499.00 

A500+ Philip! Msd Cot _ 473-GO 

AMIGA 5QH PACKAGE 
■ Amiga 500 ewnpulsf 

* 1DB4 5 Colour Monitor 

* Photon PaiM 

« Kind Word! ward jjrocwEDt 
Kind Wards Incfcidm B 90.000 word W 
dictionary, spflllctiacker and maiJmsrBB 
PRICE ON LV £565 

AMIGA ACCESSORIES jjri ^ 

A501-512K. Ram 113™ 

fi*« titling if bough! With Amiga 6Q0. 

TV Modulator tPf» 

Mouse Mat - 4 00 

Amiga ta Philip lead _„.10.00 

Amiga, to Pnfler Isadi - «. 10 00 

DATAPLEX OR IVES 


Ep»on LX400 ... 
Epson FXB-5Q .. 
EjrtOnFXIKa • 
Epson FX 1 D6Q .. 
F r. =• ' - EXW0 
Epson EXlOQO 


66.00 

63.00 

.... 106 00 


.. 14500 
... 310.0ft 
. 399.00 


. 410,00 
...425.00 
.561.00 
,249 00 


f pion 10550 

Epson LQ8W 

755«1 

445 Oft 

Epeon LQ3GD 

525 DO 

Epson LOl 060 ...... 

Hewlett Pickard 

Think) e| 

654.00 

2*5.00 

343M 


41200 

Daskjel 

443.03 

Dllkjat * 

535.00 

PainW . • ■ 

—665 00 

Rugjrtd Wrfl« 

AIL Hawtelt Packard 

B65 00 

Prlntirt came wiihl2 


1MB 3.5" External OrivE . . . 

lMa 3.5' IntornaJ Driwfr 

1Mb 5.25' Floppy Drive 

AMIGA HARD DRIVES _ 

2ftMb Dm* ASWQOD 329.00 

30Mb A5KV1DO0 - S29.00 

40Mb DrivaASOOriOOO .450.00 

‘■m 910 00 

Plaasn ring far nflier capacity drama 
PHILIPS MONITORS 

CM 5033 1 4' RG B-CVBS Mon .. 1 09.00 

&M7723 14' Amber Monitor 39.00 

CM3B53 Hi Rh* Col Mem 249 Ofl 

PRINTERS 

AmiVad L035DO Cl 195-00 

Amitnd EWIP4QQ0 .... 207.00 

AmBtrad 105000 Dl - 31 OM 

Dot Mllrti Rangi 

Citizen 12M 110,00 

Citiziflii 1B0E 2?,00 

New 24pin Sw4t 24 255.00 

Cdlour upgrada lot Swdl 42 M 

All Gitfiw primer* ewne with 2 yaai warranty 


month* omits warranty 
Siar LC1 0 Mono 

Star LGlO Cotour 

Star LC24 10 


NEC P22D0 

NEC P6+80 Character . 

NEC P7*1 36 Character ,. ... 
Colow Upgrad* K(t 
Panawn i« KXPlMl 


135.00 

175.00 

225.00 

257 00 

...._ 414.0ft 

534 .DO 

.... . .30.00 
128-00 


Spatial Odder while ilDtltl left 
Pinncmit KXP1124 239 OP Inc 


Eibli 


ShuttaetEr ...... 

Panasonic KXP1180 • 

Pan«wic KXP159? • • 

Pawionic KXP1595 
Panasonic KXP15M 


NEW ManneBmann telly Launch Offer 

MT01 {OoL Matrix) — - - 

Sheelleedat 

Serial UF - 

BJ86Q4IS 

VifKiue ribbons in lt«k, please tall lor p 

Fast. Professional and Efficient 
repairs etrried out. 


39.00 

...165.00 

253 00 

344 00 
.. 428.00 


... 110.00 

B2.O0 

. .. 67.00 


SPECIAL OFFER * SPECIAL OFFER ★ 


Buy my AIM09 Pact and re«iv B oitrF FEE STARTER PAC« Jlnclud^iD 
Dovnaiin DisksV EmlinQ Amiga users cir Huy our SPECIAL PACKS lor £30 Inclusive. 
AM IGA A 500 P ACKS 

PACK A Amiga A 5 M*M«iBetMsdulat«*Our_Special PkK "‘“'"J 

PACK l a5 k»15m»^2S!i 5 Pick -gg g 

PACK f ASOOwiiihMjRHW^ oriu tart w i-AI OEui . 39 

PACK G Amiga MWeMfli«*HwliiMnfe*1DlO Disc D^e+Aegns Sonix+Our Spaciaf P*ck “Jj ” 

AntiQI ErtBrnaJ Disk Drive wilh through partAjittbto wrilch "™n nS 

AT Smlgehoard * 

Fir AMIGA B2 DOD (tag I V au r *l«l>l Pf!« , 

Incre/a* Ihl spend m your Amlg> with our fi90» PrO£«»r — ■■ D “- M 

Dgnbli 11» speed dl tour Amigi willl lh* AtEilimtar C jrd with Ihl H.3 M Hi fiflODti t 

Dptlanil IE MHifiBsai Ce Prttestof - 

tncnixe the spied nl ynui XT bridgiboirt wilh out V20 Upgrtda 


Add' KWT-F i cTprocwior la your XT RridgebMrtVPC 

Upgrade yeuNUnlBI ID60 with QUr 10286 Card ....From 090 

AMIGA PUBLIC DOMAIN DISKS 


Wd hjye over BflO PD Diuke Hi air Lflmry which indvde Fish Oilkl, . Amicw Tbags APD1- Quads. Eech 
PD eottB O 00 indlusivB w buy 10 and gst 3 Disk calalogue costa tS.M (2 diaki). Buy a 
complete Sibla (-Did and New TmiarnentJ lor only £3 5ft <3 desks) 

1QOV* guaranteed error free 

iiuiniuriFra HRANDiD 

3 5'DSDD tllUft per bra -ollO SDKYi3MjVEflBAnM 

w« Sffi—JzrSSKSSSIS 

Amgi lor Biflinnvis tl* B 

BetQmiqin MfUlA'Iitf ill .45 

EUqinAaia CyidelD nwAmua ..tlt.B 
tflmuf i 1 1t 800* 9* An-10* .. . Iti.te 
Dimpidt 2n0 Bo* nl Aiin III. » 

ElmWiljrv Bauc 114 W 

iruHtBAmpGrieeiC* Eli.BS 

irrtidaAmiDiwnri c » 

KiEiijt*nGuidnrsr Amis* E13 B 

Kids »m i** Am#* tia M 

Men TnCKS H Tip* m , is 


AMIGA BOOKS 

fv-i0i iwmwa-a FW ..C22 B 

A-ngJ lirUllhcn ft|l Manml ..fit I* 

Anvgi Maehin* Lms Guin* . . .ilt.iS 
AiriflJ MLK'inal inguigi . ,| 14 .« 

Am MtlCMfl 5»SC Pra0 Cu M EH u 
frnfl Prifl Hindbotfi ito 1..Q3.I5 
Amrgl P-tifl H^hmilt Vft » 

Arr<0] Piog GU<Of ..HI.B 

Am BnriMrniilW MV tl* £T2 » 

A*n Rhti K wn Rff Mjn Lib Otvm.lS 

Anitgi SyaiinB PW0. Guide — _■ ------ t m « 

Amis* T*icln 4 tip* , El* B Pregummei* Gu* l« Mig* na » 

Wi atw Hock Cornnottore 64 b JfJD PC Compiles. Pegasus Seflwra'SiaiiCMry, 

Ptm& ting fa 

AH price* aid metusws rf VAT CqodB era d«palehed wilhir, 21 houre of dsared tranBadflfl. 
Parsenal DnSar! watwme. PImbb send yaur choqueiruslal Ordm lb' 

QUADSQFT COMPUTERS 

Unll SDfi, 203/213 Mare Slrtel Lcndon E6 3QE 
Telephone; 01^533 51 16/Qfl-BO 564231 


M». Am«i Bede - — E1J.« 

Amiga 3E SnphM p'Ufl Baitfll.B 

AF«0aApDic*;<ors , ...E11.H 

Arnji As*. Lang.^rog ....^...IK.IO 

Anug* Qasn Ini Cfl H Out H l-H 

AirifliM&liTiiiHAftUl .TIMS 

AjnipCOSMFrfl *23 « 

ArtBJ DOS OuefcW -pa.m 

Angj DDS.R#. CiHH Xli B 

Amig*Cil«0nvaK«rtl*t ftJ *27 » 
Amiga G D. Sojid ..XIT.fS 

ArifiJ HandtMWK Hi. IS 



AMIGA 500 PACK 1 

Amiga SOO (1J3 ROM) 
Mouse + P.S.U, 
Modulator 4 Loads 
Workbenrfi 1.3 
6aB*t 1 .3 * EkM* 

The Very Pirsl TvtonaJ 
introduction to tni Amiga 
60 p 0 wfif.G Supplement 
Amigo Basic 
DM 


AMIGA 500 PACK 2 

Pad*. 1 pi Li! die following : 
IKan WarriQrt + Inaanity Fighl 
' Mmtenary 1 * Art Chefca 
TerrorpOCH 4 ThuKMretfi 
Barbarian 4 Buggy Boy 
Amegae + Wlzball 
Phoiqn Paint 
C379.M 


[s& ftbaghine. Starter P aik 


A2000 SYSTEM 1 

Amiga 2000 
A 1 064S Mo«lor 
A2WO 2 CMb Hard Drive 
PHONE - While stock! lan« 


A 2000 SYSTEM 2 

Amiga 3ffl» 

A 10845 Monitor 
A20RB PC' XT Brid^ebosrd 
A5«3 20Mb MS-DOS 
Kenl Drive 

PHONE ■ Wtiiie stocks last! 


Hllacti HV720 . — £19199 Oemonll »1-M f,?iL™i 

PwBWfc WV1WKI Ot^ner A M M . ‘ 

Bmm lens ?«.M . Perfe ct Sound 

lenmlens . <"«fiA .. — . 


DigiTi«RS 


Digipec . £162.99 

Digiviffw GOIl* £12699 1 a — ^ t ■ eAi.r-W^ Adantor £5 9ft 

Ramtto VidL-Amga ... Eg M ir CM8833 . .C24.&ft g W4y WOf . . ' £ 4 09 

Guperpe; E461.99 philipi 14’ 8CIM52 - £M3|? RS232'M-MM-Fff-F DelexBCIO.M 

I — TTT — —\ N£C 14' Multisync. . £617.99 RS23? M, M^M-F/F-F Sid ... £5 99 

p?te GFNIOIKH I imn -I Cr-^l Class 


UrneMZOO — 

Miracwri WB3D00 E304.99 

Mtracom W^iWW . - £154 98 


Cables 




Cant Pnrfler - Mima M'-*9 

Cerfl PrirdEt - SIS £7 99 

[rnwn'Mcmtor fed 

Four-W^y Adaptor .. £5.9ft 


Ma^igen 

MiniST' 


amsssL-M % tz, 

SiSctet £131 » 5 ! ^ 8Wt 

A52ftMfl dlHltor E2 3 9B T 

on I— 


TRitJG | Moutt CflNTROLtEM | 

--T9J .99 ComrivEr Mouse tor Arriga£24.99 


[ Printer* - Matrix 


MP5123G Pnnter E1W.9J 


Graphic Teaim 1 ertuen swN 24 


S&B^S»s-:sa 8 ««• & 2 HS 8 

£jj|ga Wirrw 


£327 « 

..£369.99 


[ Blaki Punt DSjDD I. 

10 K Sony Bulb Unbramtoi DO 89 

IftnSwiy Branded . £13 99 

10 ji TDK Branded £19.99 


AlftOOM Mono Monitor 

A! 010 Disk Drive 

AISSZMoum .. - 


4 TaDfcel 

•■•flSJS EasylWTabkrt 

U50 ya „ . ' e-unfch 


£SS-S Epson LX6W ' ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ KZTftft 
|g}|{ S^ochASL-ftCAI M .£277.99 


Mouse MM 
MOuie BracAM 
10 SONY MF 2 DD Disks 
6ft Capsclly ESbK Storage Box 
3.E’ Head ciaaner 
A5CO Dust Cover 
ONLY £25' 

■Wun pueha»4 with atff Amfll 
«mpuWf...onwiimiapl as i vmt\* 
pack, pof Ampi ftjrdiiafrd 


*2000... P.0A 

A20OQ 4 A10S4S - P.0A 

A2024 NRw Mona Monttor PO A. 
AJftlDIntomalOrtffi . PGA 

A2TO0 2ftMb Hard Dove . P OA 




Ditx Stora«e/Mud 
Mum,.. 


£135 99 3.5' ID Capacity BOX 


[ Piss Pmm -»FiwV | 

CuimnaiMbS.S- £86.99 

CununalMb 5.25' £122.99 


Slar IC-lftCoiow.... ^rr 

Stir LC24-10 £26B»S 


ymiiTERt - Ini Jet 


caMnPJlWU 

HP OeskJeit 


A2D90 2GMb Hard Dnve . P OA __ 

A2G93 20Mb ATbODt Drive P.0A [ DiSK ORIVfl “ HahU 

«DK 40Mb IVbool Dove P O.A t „ r — , — 

4209? 20Mb MS-DOS Drive PDA Amdrive 3«3Mb ^72.99 \ PftldTERS - UlE* 

». ■ £435 99 “ — 


£504 99 

£693 93 


Muchlanioui 

feSEBE Bil 


ALL PRICES INCLUDE 
V.A.T. AND DELIVERY 
(U K. ONLY) 


CaurltfiOveraBa-B 

rates 0 


A20B6 PC-XT Bixdgetxard P GA. Amdrirt 5ftMb £435 99 

A22B6 PC-ATBndgctKUra P.DA Vortex 4QMb ..... £497 

A2D58 RamEnpansoo P.0> r - — — - ■ — 1 

A262Q 6Bd20ffiMB1 . - P0* MhH E PUIPMEin 

JiSiSS^ PGA ECE Midi Interlace M7.9? 

ES pS tfikaiiMDr'" P0A Mastor interlace 

A2032 PAl Came Wd Card P.DA Omega MIA Intertiw 


So cntiwi rni'inn £1497 99 DuslCwsr AIDBAi'lGWS .£5-89 

i! SfS2W— BSS8 8SSS2:S2E, 


SCABWER* 


Advanced Airx&a Basic , . .£16.36 
Amgs 30 Graphic Prog .. £13 45 
Anuga Applications £16 95 
Arfaga Assembly Lang Prtig£lft 6(1 
AmiDi Bask Inside 6 Out £tB 95 
Amiga C Adv PrograminBre£22.95 
Armga C tor Bepimws . ...t 13.45 
Amiga DOS Inside 1 Old ,,£10.45 
Armga DGS Manual . . £22 95 
Amiga DD5 Re# Guide £14 95 
Amiga Drives Inside 6 Out £27.95 

Affligi for Beginners £17.95 

Amiga Handbook . £15.95 

Armga Mach LangGuida £21 95 
Aimga Machine Language £14 95 
Amiga M.'S BASIC Prog 

Suite £18.45 

Amiga Proa Guide - 
ccmipuie 


£1745 


Amiga Prod Guide - Weber£1B.45 
Armga TncxjlTips 


L.gj j.,3. HVMU»Liir mi* . £9 93 

£166.99 $ y ao Capacity Boa £9.99 

£217 89 3_5‘ 150 PwjO Bex .. £14 99 

3 5' Head Cleaner . .£5 39 


Central Demise £45 9ft 

Dust Cover A 500 . E5.99 

Gust Cove* A19QQM £5 83 


muipiNji liimiu 

Monitor Stand - Univiml £17 98 

\ Wtouse Bracktfl E3.9ft 

Mouse House £7.98 


cjt Qg i — “““ — “* mouse rwusc ‘I” 

£30 99 B4W Handy Scantier El M.99 Mouse Mat c/w Amga Logo £6.89 
EJ9 99 Gray Scale Handy Stanner£7B8 99 Printer Stand . £13.99 

PAL comp VM «ra . kua ” 1 

PleftSt ring fw psice*/a«ilibility im i ny hardwaie^ofttwy^ef iphesols ftfll Nfled (PuH price lisi Qftreq uesi I 


.£14.95 

Beginners Guide- to' . £16 95 

CorT^nite'S iStEtoc*' £16 95 

CfliriHlto's 2nd Book' £l6 8* 

Elerranlaiy Amiga BASIC £14 96 

Hardware Hot Man £22 85 

Inside ArridP GraphkS £16 96 

Inside Die AmgawilhC . £29.95 
fnfluftten Rd Manual . . £22 96 

fickstart Guide £13 & 

Procremrrers Guide lo" ..£23 85 

Prog Handbook Vol 1 £2396 

Prog Handtiocsk Vol 2 £23 85 

Rom KantiJ Bet Man - 

Aulod . £26 K 

Rom Kemal Rd Man - 

Exec ...._ £22 95 

Rorn Kemgl Rel Man 

Lib £32 96 

Sysfem Prog Guide £32.95 


66900 ksem Lang Preg 
Programming The 68GHH 


£1995 

£2195 


Ste pur Advert ise- 

irwfil kn Last or Next 
Month's Amiga Com- 
puling tor Business.' 
Productivity Software 


aae m** ^oqum/pWial orders to SOfTMACHINE. AH prim are .nduSiivo ol V.A.T, 

(All price* correct St time al gO#g 10 proas.) All Items subjwa to awatebitily 

Pepi AMC 11, 36 Guernsey Road, Sunderland SR4 &RR Telephone: 091 3&5 7928 


40 (i:'5Jl Flight Sura 
40 Menu Great Right 5 
Flying fig hi SirmialtH 
Flying on instruments 
GL-nship Academy 
M Filter School II... 
Laaming to fiy 
Su S Gommandf r 


£3 85 
£14 95 
£7 85 
£9.85 
£14.95 
£14 95 
£14.95 
£12,95 


November AMfGA COMPUTING W7 


■DEVELOPERS! 


Communicate 
with 


Simon Rockman explains where 
you can get tree help 


Commodore 


Help! f need somebody, 
help 1 Not just anybody. 

T HESE immortal words weren’t 
written about Commodore UK's 
technical support department but I’m 
sure that if Paul McCartney had been 
an Amiga developer instead of the 
greatest lyricist the world has ever 
known he would have been thinking 
about Or Rahman Haleem, 

The good doctor will cure your 
programming ills if you are a 
commercial Amiga developer. 
Commodore Amiga Technical 
Support (CATS) exists to help 
promote programming on the Amiga. 

The department issues regular 
updates on changes and revisions, it 
has full documentation for the Amiga 
and system software including notes 
from developers’ conferences around 
the world. You can get early versions 
of new software releases — registered 
developers were the first people to 
have Workbench 1*3 antfsome 
already have test versions of 1.4. 

You can't be expected to own all 
the different combinations of Amigas, 
ram expansions and processor cards, 
so Commodore provides a laboratory 
for registered developers to use if they 
want to test a program. 

Developers are allowed to buy 
limited quantities of development 
equipment at a discount and 
Commodore will spread word of your 
work around the development 
community - provided you want 
them to, of course. Possible marketing 
opportunities could arise world-wide. 
CATS advice is to think European 
Market, 

CATS will keep secret projects 
secret, but will look out for two 
people duplicating effort and warn 


them if they are going to be 
competing in a very small market. It 
is unlikely that anyone will sell 
enough interfaces to a Cray 
supercomputer to justify parallel 
effort. 

To qualify for these benefits you 
have to be made of the right stuff. 

You should have produced at least 
one commercial product, although not 
necessarily for the Amiga. 

Commodore is keen to attract people 
from the Apple, Atari, PC and 8 bit 


scenes. There is no charge, so if you 
want to join fill in the form below 
and send it to: 

Dr Rahman Haleem, 

Technical Manager, 

Commodore Business Machines Ltd, 
Commodore House, 

The Switchback, 

Gardner Rd, 

Maidenhead. 

Berks 
SL6 7XA. 


Name....*, . ....................................... 

Company ......... 

Address..,,,.,,, ..... * 

Telephone ........ ...... ". ... 

Electronic Mail accounts held (MicroLink/ OX/Com pun et) 

What Amiga projects you are working on? use a separate sheet if 
n ecessary .......... 

What commercial products have you been responsible for and who 
published them? 


Other computers you arc developing for,. 
Category of Amiga developments 


□ Hardware 

□ Comma 

□ I/O 

□ Graphics 

□ Storage devices 

□ Audio 

□ Video 

□ Go-Processor 

□ Other 

□ Software 

□ System 

□ Games 

□ Utility 

□ Business 

□ Language 


□ Specialist 

Programmers areas of specialisation 

Confidentiality: Please specify if you would like any of this information 
to be kept confidential. 


me AMIGA COMPUTING , \ovember 1989 



FIRST 

micro 


HARDWARE & SOFTWARE 
SPECIALISTS 

SHOWROOM 

1 13 LANSDOWNE ROAD 

BOURNEMOUTH DORSET 



EXC. VAT 


@ (0202) 24927 


£5 DELIVERY 


AMIGA A500 


INCLUDING:- 

- MOUSE - WORKBENCH 

• UTILITIES * MANUALS 

- BASIC ■ TUTORIAL 

* TV MODULATOR 

£289 

AMIGA B2000/ 
PHILIPS 8833 


INCLUDING:- 
• MOUSE ■ WORKBENCH 

- BASIC - UTILITIES • MANUALS 
■ XT BRIDGE BOARD 

- 20Mb HARD DISK 

£1299 

AMIGA B2000 


INCLUDING - MOUSE - WORKBENCH 
* BASIC - UTILITIES • MANUALS 

£799 


AMIGA A500 

+ FREE £220 SOFTWARE 

INCLUDING:- 'PURPLE SATURN • HOSTAGES 

• INTERNATIONAL SOCCER ■ WINTER OLYMPIAD 
- SPITTING IMAGE • STARGOOSE • BACKLASH 

■ QUADRALIEN • ELIMINATOR • 20 P/D GAMES 

• FANTASTICK F3 JOYSTICK f E 

-TV MODULATOR 1 u 


AMIGA A500/ 

1084(S) MONITOR £476 


AMIGA B2000/ 

1084(S) MONITOR £1049 

INC ACCESSORIES 


A 500 HARDWARE 


A.50G + TV MOD E305 

A500 + £200 of GAMES £339 

A5M+ mfl4(S) HIGH 

RES COLOUR MONT £476 

A5M + IBM DRIVE ,..,£399 


AMIGA EXTERNAL 
DRIVES 


Cumana Cax 354E ..... £79 

AFS80 £78 

RF 302C £74 

Supra 20mb HAi gk £499 

* All drives imb + erv'otf switch * 


AMIGA ACCESSORIES 


A50l-5l2k RAM .. 


... El 09 

TV Modulator £22 

Mouse Mai * £4.29 

Amiga dust-cover £6. 89 

3,5 13STPI D&OD,..~ £9.99 



A2000 HARDWARE 


A2000 + imb RAM«««... -~£8«9 

A2D00 + 1 004(3) monitor 
+ bridge BD + 20m b l^disk ...El 369 

A2000+ 1064(a) £1049 

aomb hard disk £M9 

XT bridge BO £299 


A500/A2000 

MONITORS 


1084(b) High res monii £209 

Philips CM8833 HiQh res £199 

1901 C64 ■ cotour ...Call 

1900 C&4 Mono ..£11 8 


PRINTERS 


star LC10 (P) 130CDS ,,,.,^£137 
Star LC10 Colour 

Star LC24-10 (24 dirt) ,^...£249 

Citizen 1200 .-E105 

Commodore MPS 1230 ...£119 

Panasonic KXP1124 (24 pirt) ..£279 

Panasonic KXP 1081 £149 

Epson LX8Q0 £138 

Epson LQ&OO £2$Q 

Epson FX8S0 £409 

Epson FXlC&O £382 

Epson EX800 CJ69 

Epson EX 1000 £4lS 


COLOUR PRINTERS 


Citizen HQF40 .. £352 

Epson EX1000 £343 

Hewlett Packard Pai.nl Jal £669' 

NEC P6+ **.£469 

NEC P/+ ..£569 

Star LClO ...El 93 


Xerox 4020 



LASERS 

Citizen overture 

HP Laseriet II 

.£1199 

£1825 


BUSINESS S’WARE 

AEGIS Softix 

Animated Images 3D...... 

City Desk, „ r 

Sale £ 
„ w £39 

...„£» 

..,..£69 

Deluxe Video 

Deluxe Music, „ 

£49 

£49 

Deluxe Painl. 

Dig.suew Gold 

^.£49 
..... £99 

Home Accounts 

Ma lahot Plus _ 

£19 

,....£39 

Maxi plan A50G ............ .. 

£69 

Music Studio ... „ ..... 

„...£23 

Organiser II ^ 

Page Setter 

.,.,..£49 

£89 


Page Flipper Plus. £24 

Photon Paint _ „...£49 

Photon Video Ring 


Professional Page 

Pro Writer 2 .........Ring 

Publisher Plus ,.E69 

Sculpt 3-D Animate .£102 

Sculpt 3-D £63 

Superbase II £59 

Superbase Personal ..£44 

Superbase Professional El 6 9 

TV Show/Text..„ + ^.....£79 

Word Perfect 42 £169 

Works' _ E69 

Zumafonts £25 



Hugely successful 9 pin printer, the 
Star LC10 provides 4 NLQ lonts (wifi 
96 print combinations) at 36cps and 
1 44cpS drall, Has a large 4K b offer and 
IBM/parallel interface built in, Includes 
a comprehensive front panel operation 
and leaturos paper parking, al owing 
single sheets io be used wthout re^ 
moving tractor paper. 


ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT 


CREDIT CARD MAIL ORDER 
AND EXPORT HOTLINE 

£7 (0202) 24927 

OPEN MON-SAT 9am-5.30 pm 

All prices and manufacturer s specifications 
subject to change without notice. 


I To; First Micro, 1 3 Lansdowne Road. Bournemouth, Do*set, BHt 1 RZ 
J 1 wish io order 

I 


I 


My computer is u 

I enclose cheque/ PO for £ 


_ inc VAT. 


1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 




ES 


_ Signature 


Address 


_Td No: . 


Savambar 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 109 
























EXPLORE brave new islands with the Archipelagos cheat. You have 
to solve Archipelagos one and two. Press return to select an 
archipelago and type 8421 and press Return. Press Return again and 
you can select any archipelago 
from 1 to 9999, 

Every fifth archipelago in the 
first 100 is the most interesting, 
as these have been p re-designed 
by the programmers. There are 
many very tricky and highly 
complex island complexes to 
be seen, 



Tips 
and 
cheats 


Max " The Hacks” 
Tennant presents 
winning ways for 
the games he plays 


w 

rrt 

GET further in US 

Gold's over-rated 

w 

scrolly blast with this 


tip from B. Mitchell: 

1 

Type ARC then press 
the Help key while on 
the litle screen. This 

c 

CD 

4-» 

will load up a two 

player game. During 

□ 

play press the S key 

00 

to go straight to the 

u 

shop and the N key 

o 

to skip to the next 

h 

level. 



HERE'S a way to make that crusade 
for the Holy Grail more than a little bit 
easier. Remember the bit in the film 
where Indy has to walk across a 
crumbling floor? The letters that are 
safe to tread on spell out IEHGVA. 
Type this string into one of the 
loading screens. 

You only have a short time to do it 
and, like Indy, only one chance, 
Getting this right is more than a little 
tricky. If it does work - and it is 
unlikely that it will first time around 
- you will have infinite lives. 

To get the icons press 1 and to skip a 
level press L. You can fast forward 
through a level by pressing 2. Use this 
and the quest is more like a stroll in 
the park, 


MARTIN Hemming 
from Redditch has 
written in with an 
observation about 
The Krystal. If you 
make Sir Dancis 
Frake face away 
from you and leave 
the machine alone 
for 30 seconds his 
trousers will fall 
down. Thanks 
Martin. A game 
and a Speedking are 
in the post to you. 


110 AMIGA COMPtmNG November 1889 








Out Run ■ Chariots of Wrath ■ Populous ■ Dragon's Lair 


■ MINTS ■ 


KARL Donovan from Berkshire has 
written in with a complete solution 
for Dragon's Lair. It isn’t one of those 
long-winded solutions that gives a 
load of joystick movements, simply a 
key combination. 

Press ESC R/LN7 simultaneously 
just after the credits finish loading 
and the screen will flash, then press 
the joystick button. This produces a 
demo mode which runs the game from 
start to finish, lotting you see those 
last few screens. 



THIS tip from Mr Mitchell is a long list of Populous 
worlds, which brings to a close the tips on Populous, 1T1 
just list the last few: 451 Timoxlug, 455 Killmng, 460 
Bilemet, 467 Bugikeend 1 470 BindeoncL 476 Suzylow* 

466 Swakoppal, 493 Ringapal and finally 494 Weavuspert. 
There is also a special level: 999 Killuspai. 



Write to Max 


GAME Killer is always on the 
lookout for hot tips, so if you have 
found a cheat mode, bug or written 
a poke then drop it in the post - on 
disc if it is a long listing. If your 
work is used 1 11 send you a game 
drawn at random from the goodie 
box and a Konix Speed king 
joystick. 

To speed up getting the prize to 
you please cut out, photocopy or 
copy this form. It will be used as 
the address label to send out your 
parcel. Send the form to Max “The 
Hacks" Tennant, Game Killer, 
Amiga Computing, Second Floor, 
North House, 78-84 Ongar Road, 
Brentwood, Essex, CM15 9BG, 



SPEEDING along in the fast lane is 
fun, but it can be even better with this 
tip from Mr Mitchell: During play 
type RED BARCHETTA, including the 
space. Now you can press S and go to 
the next stage, or press T for more 
time. 


RESCUING a princess is all in a day's work for the player in Chariots of 
Wrath, So what do you do if you want to skive off? Well princesses still 
have to be rescued, but with infinite lives it is so much easier, and 
getting those infinite 
lives is not at all 
difficult, as Mr J Gower 
found out. 

Push the joystick 
forward when you 
are First asked to press 
Fire and you will have 
more lives than you 
know what to do with. 


I have supplied tips/ pokes/ cheats for 


Name 

Address,, 


/ confirm that the information / 
have supplied is mine , if hasn’t 
been published elsewhere and 
I haven’t sent it to anyone else , 


Signature 
Date, 



November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 111 










Raider 


TO ORDER 
PLEASE USE 
THE FORM 
ON PAGE 121 


Home Accounts /J&w Day by Day 


The program lets you set budgets and control up to 13 separate 
accounts, with optional printouts of any data Within seconds of 
loading your data disc you can check your budget or any account 
and even display or print the data in bar or pie charts. 

Day by Day replaces your manual system for diary, 
business organiser, notepad, planner, reminder and so 

It's suitable for both business and home applications, including 1 
numerous useful functions which serve every requirement 
Among its many features are : 

* Calender/diatv/piannef 1 Updating of regular appointmente 

f Categories such as bills, birthdays, and * Comprehensive search facility 
letters * Automatic reminders 

1 Appointment sorting * Al-a-glance week and month summaries 

1 ’Urgent' notice board * Print option 

'Overdue' nolice for forthcoming events 1 Grouping of related messages 
Both of these powerful programs are excellent value on their 
own, but if you buy this exclusive combination package we ll 
knock £20 off the combined retail price, 


Skill and determination 
are the qualities you'll 
need in vast amounts if 
you're going to fully 
master this game, 


Your mission consists of collecting pods by 
hovering above them and switching on 
your tractor beam, but all the time you 
have to take into account the effects of 
inertia and gravity, controlling your ship as 
smoothly as possible - to avoid colliding 
with the planet below. 


Ing graphic s are wonderfully drawn and 
smoothly scrolled in alt directions. Every 
landscape is a joy to look at and explore... 
delicate, addictive gamepfay". - John 
Kennedy, Amiga Computing. 


Home Accounts has been designed to make full 
use of the Amiga's features, giving you the 
widest range of home accounting facilities 
available at this price. 


RRP £19,95 
Out Price 

£ 12.95 


Trained Assassin 


This blockbuster combines the best 
features of some of the most popular 
games ever to have appeared an the 
Amiga 

It features five action-packed levels 
with different varieties of scrolling 
and gameplay, with the fifth level guaranteed to raise 
your joystick's temperature by a few degrees |if not 
your own}. 

"Trained Assassin is of a standard that could probably 
survive unaltered in a real arcade - few games could 
manage that '. - Stewart Russel, Amiga Computing . 


RRP £24,95 

Our Price 

£ 1&95 


Disc bargains! 

Send for the full version of the great programs 
on the Amiga Computing cover disc - and SA VE £43! 


Chariots of Wrath 


£ 16.95 


Chariots of Wrath combines the best features of some of the 
greatest games ever to have been written, resulting in an 
action-packed mega adventure. 

Each phase of the game features impressively designed graphics, 
superb sound effects and highly addictive game play. 

As you traverse through the levels, amassing firepower and points, you'll find you just 
have to keep coming back to complete that next level. 


RRP £24,95 

Our Price 


£ 34.90 


■ LETTERS 



s 


I 


RECENTLY my Amiga has been doing 
strange things. Tell me if this is the 
work of a new virus* After a while 
programs on the disc - generally in 
the c and libs directories - start to 
develop read/write errors, tf 1 install a 
disc with the noboot option, a boot 
track is re-written* 

VirusX 3. 10 cannot detect any virus 
and nor can Virus Killer, and Install 
Check says its legal. Surprisingly it 
seems to have no effect on non- 
standard discs* such as games. 

Paul Kerrigan. 

Coventry. 

Sounds like an attack of IRQ. A copy 
of VirusX 3 .20 will fix that. There is a 
similar non-boot block virus which 
VirusX cannot spot . This produces 
messages about Greenpeace, and 
you'll need to be something of a 
progtamming wizard to get rid of it. 


Wrong route 

FAT Angus (Sweet PD, July 1989 
Amiga Computing] must have been an 
something stronger than Britvic if he 
believes that his Londonward rail 
journey from Birmingham New Street 
took him to King's Cross, 

Perhaps he should take up train 
spotting. 

Gtyn Williams, 
Sin fin, Derby. 

Brilliant! Well spotted. There are frn? 
gomes in the post to you . 

Sick mouse and slipped disc 

IF you have problems with the 
buttons on your mouse, open the case 
and put a 1mm piece of card, cut to 
the approximate size of the silver 
contact, on the leaf contacts, then 
replace the screws. 


This works because the upper leaf 
sometimes becomes indented from 
where the point of the button is 
continually pressing down on it, The 
piece of card ensures that the whole 
leaf is pushed down instead of just a 
single point. 

Recently 1 bought some “lifetime 
guaranteed unbranded" discs, only to 
find that half came up with read/write 
errors when I tried to format them, 
Diskdoctor didn’t have any effect, 
so I tried the Discwipe function found 
on the Project D utility followed by 
Diskdoctor, and they all formatted 
without a problem, 

V S Kirby, 
Stanmore* Middx. 

Thanks for the tips. Some discs are 
formatted as pari of the testing 
process. Because this is not the same 
as an AmigaDos format it con cause 
problems A few attempts at using 
format might erase all the an wan ted 
information. 

Beware false Icons 

\ WANT to use IconX. I have made an 
icon image, changed the default tool 
to c/iconX, copied IconX into my c 
directory. When 1 boot up from the 
disc and double click on the icon it 
loads IconX but does not execute my 
batch file. 

If I boot up with Workbench with 
the disc in the other drive everything 
works correctly. Please could you tell 
me if there is something else I need of 
the Workbench to make IconX work, 

\ am very pleased that you now 
offer a disc on the front of the 
magazine. Here are my ideas on what 
you should include; 

A game demo (one is enough), a 
dark blue Workbench screen, some 


programs on disc. 

Any chance of an assembly 
Language course? The overall 
magazine is very good, 

Andrew Wood, 
Sittingbourne, Kent, 

Well, if you will persist in reading 
other magazines you'll be fed duff 
information on how to use IconX. The 
program needs RUN and CD copied 
from your Workbench disc. You 
should either put them in the root or 
the C directory. Thanks for the 
coitiments on the disc. 


Suffering CLI 

HAVING only owned my Amiga for a 
Few months l am having some . 
difficulty understanding the manuals. 

I can't understand CLI, apart from the 
simplest commands, If you could do a 
series covering it I would be most 
grateful. 1 find my Workbench 1 .3 
manual impossible to understand. 

How do I use the utilities and Basic 
program on the disc that came with 
the August issue? 

Duncan Hayes, 
Higher Blackley. Manchester. 

// everything on the disc was geared to 
new users it would soon get boring , as 
new users became old hands , The best 
bet is to get hold of the book 
Amigados by Mark Burgess. It is 
published by Dabs Press at £14.9$. 

Your bookshop should be able to 
order it if you quote ISBN 1-370336- 
47 -X \ or contact The Computer Store 
on 021-770 0483. You may be having 
problems finding programs an the 
disc because they are in directories. 
You'll need to use the CD command to 
get to them. 

The Basic program is also in a 

► 



November 1989 AMIGA COMPUTING 113 



■ LETTERS 


4 

subdirectory on the disc . The 
AmigaBasic manual is quite good , 
read up on how to use the Chdir and 
Files commands, then bad the 
program from the cover disc into 
AmigaBasic , 

There are a few lines which cause 
syntax errors. If you delete them 
everything will be tickerty-boo. 

Digging through discs is very much 
simpler if you have a second drive , 
and answering your questions is 
easier if you tell us what kit you are 
using . 

Mastering graphics 

WHEN 1 was at school I wrote a horse 
racing game on a BBC Master. I have 
since converted it to my xAmiga. I used 
a user-defined character for a horse, 
and progressively moved it from one 
print position to another across the 
screen. 

J have the whole game, addictive as 
ever, working fine, except that I have 
stars running about, 1 would prefer to 
have all the realism of having real 
horses losing me money. 

Ralph Bolton, 
Guildford. Surrey, 

Programming the Amiga is a fair bit 
harder than programming a Beeb, but 
the results are worth it . Pages 38 to 94 
in chapter 3 of the Amiga Bosk 
manual detail the Object command . 

You will have to use the Object 
editor to draw' the horse . huf then 
from inside the program voa can 
make all the horses move smoothly. 

Lost for words 

HAVE collected more than 70 extra 
fonts on two discs and use them with 
the Workbench Notepad with good 

results. 

However, I cannot find a way of 
incorporating these extra fonts when 
using KindWords2, I would like to use 
them via the external disc drive but I 
cannot get KW2 to read fonts. 

Derek Oakley, 
Middlesbrough, Cleveland. 

Well done , we Ve never met anyone 
who has had good results from 



Notepad before. KindWords only 
supports if? own Superfonts. To use 
proper Amiga fonts have a look at 
Excellence or Pen Pal. 


Who was that? 

YOU don’t know your left from your 
right! The picture on Page 37 of the 
September issue looked a lot like jez 
San and net Dave Parkinson, And the 
one on Page 36 looked just like Dave 
and not Jez, I think you have made a 
mistake. 

Wendy Mount ford. 
Mill Hill, London, 

Yes, guilty , slap on the ‘cuffs, sorry , I'd 
send you a prize for being so 
observant, but as you have been going 
out with fez for nearly two years Ed 
hope you could fell the difference * 


Joining forces 

VERY good mag, the August issue, 
plus a good disc on the cover. What 
sort of lead would J have to use to 
connect two xAmigas to play 
Populous? Where would \ get hold of 
one? I believe you have to use the 
serial port. 

Secondly, in the, Gauntlet l] package 
it describes the use of the printer port 
to control two more joysticks with the 
game. 1 rang the people at US Gold 
but they said it was Just an Atari ST 
feature. 

Does anyone know a way to use this 
on an Amiga and if so where to get a 
suitable interface to control the four of 
us who want to play? 

Cpl Elsdon, Coldstream Guards, 
Camp Administration Staff, 
Moscow Camp. 

Wow, we've never had a letter from 
Moscow before . Trilogic does a 
suitable lead for connecting two 
Am /gas, and had an advertisement on 
Page 87 of the September issue where 
it was listed os on BS5 costing £7.99. 
You can call Trihgic on 0274 091 7 75. 
Sorr y, can f help with the Gauntlet 
problem. 


Bound over 

SINCE 1 bought the First issue of 
Amiga Computing when visiting 
London, which sure is bigger but not 
nearly as beautiful as Helsinki, lVe 
been a subscriber to it {not London, 
the mag]. Amiga Computing is 
definitely the best Amiga specialised 
mag available. 

But where have the great binders of 
yours vanished to? I haven’t seen any 
advertisements for them despite the 
41 pages of ads, is this a trick to sell 
back issues when readers have lost 
their old ones? 

My First little problem is a lead. I’d 
love to use my monitor A! 08! as a TV 
set, and managed to do this via a 
video recorder. But because I don’t 
need a video, I'd like to have a little 
tuner for selecting channels and a lead 
from the antenna socket to my 
monitor. Is this reasonable, or should I 
buy a cheap video? 

The second problem is somewhat 
strange, As I recently made a little 
Basic program, I needed to use my 
printer, NEC CP6, which usually is 
great - more dots than most lasers, 
with colour. 

But when I tried to guide it with 
escape codes, nothing happened. 

Word processors can do it and 
graphics programs can do it, I can’t, 

Kalte Sa aria ho, 
Kirkkunummi. Finland, 

Right O. my fine Finnish friend. 
Binders cost £ 4.95 , They are always 
available from Database Direct at the 
address on the order form near the 
bock of the magazine * 

A few TV tuners are available. 
Philips do one , but the best buy is 
probably the Microtext adaptor which 
offers teletext. We reviewed it last 
February; it costs £143.52 for the UK 
version and £ J 94.93 for the interna- 
tional unit , 

Your last problem is Microsoft *s 
fault. AmigaBasic won't LPRINT 
escape codes, you need to talk to the 
printer as a device using OPEN "PRT" 
FOR OUTPUT AS #8 and then print 
to it using PRINT#8, although just 
testing this out crashed the machine . 
AmigaBasic is one of the nastiest , bug- 
ridden programs fa grace the 
machine's ram. 


114 AMIGA COMPUTING November litas 



BYTEBACK 




Ring us now! 0636-79097 we F re programmed to help 




DELIVERY 

SERVICE 

. and the keenest prices 


GUARANTEED RETURN OF POST Delivery on ALL Stock items! 


INTERNATIONAL ORDERS WELCOME 


ONLvTb GAMES cont. ONLY! ■ HARDWARE ONLY! ■ CHILDRENS ONLY 


Ahernaie Realty 
As! math .. 

Balanced Power 1990 

aaimbc , 


..13.00 
, 10.00 
.. 1 6.90 


Ba/barian 2 , t . m 

Baida Tale ™. 

Baidfl Ta)« 2 .......... 

BaiPS ChftK rr— n r- 

Balflehawta 1042 .. 


.. iG.90 

.,16.90 
.18.90 
_ 18.90 


Neuremanwr 

Mew Zealand Slory .. 

Night Watt 

tkwa 

Pad and 

Pacmenla 
PflLftdln ., 


..18.90 
.. 19.90 

8.90 

,..,PQA 
... ta.» 
.13.90 


AMIGA A500 Computer .. 
1064-S Monitor, 

A501 RAMA^wkEspamlen - 
mkilGEN 


Passing Shot.,.. 
* Ouse! .. 


.. 16.90 
.. 16.00 
.. 10.90 


STAR LClO Printar (Mono) 
STAR LC10 Printer (Co KM) .. 
{All punters .ndude iwwii] 


990 
..250.00 
.,129.00 
.,69.90 


,190.00 


Curium* 3.6* l Mb D*k Drive .. 


(shadow of the beast ... 

... 24.90 

Populous 

* , PrcwTisad 1 and^ ilpiinjni 

IZZZZIZZZ IB-00 

6 90 

30 MEG Supra Hard Disk 

599.00 

1 (PLUS T-SNrr!) 

Pally C m Cftadeng* , . 

13.00 

Iart & MUSIC 

ONLY! 


.. ffl.90 


Bktod Money .. 

Btoodwych 

Btsfflbduial ,,. 
Captain Blood .. 


Carrier Command .... 

Cm 15* Warrior 

ChasamaEler 2000 , 

Chrono Qu«t , 

Chuckle Egg 
Chuckle Em 2 ...... 

Colossus Chau K 


Conrika Europe ., 


Corruption .. 

Dark fusion 
DariiStoe. r _ 
Dement Winter , 
Debars 


.... 16,90 
.... 16.90 
... 13.00 
... 16.90 
.... 16.90 
... 16.00 
16.90 
.... 18,90 
...13.® 
—.13.90 
... 16.90 
.... 16.90 
...16 90 
...16 90 
...16.90 
.... 19.00 
_ 14.90 


XENON II - MEGABLAST 16 90 


Dragon Ninja ... 
Falcon mm „™, 


Fasl Break 

Federation d Free Traders .... 
Ferrari Formula On* . 


Fiendish Freddie's Big Top , 



,.^^,.,^,...29.00 

'Scenery 7 r e or 11 
‘E urops or Japan scenery . 

13-00 

13.00 

Football Director 2 

13.00 

Football Manager 2.,., 

13.00 

Forgot! en Worlds 

16.00 

Fusion 

14.00 

F-16 Contiai Pilot 

10,00 

Gatolregons Domain 

, 13-00 

Garfield 

Garfield - Wlniers Tale 

Gauntlet 11 

16.00 

16.00 

10.00 

Golden 0*dies 

6.00 


1600 

Htoh sSm 

13-00 


Honda RvF .. 

Hybrls 

Indiana Jcmea Last Crusade , 
Interceptor . 


miernalen&J Karate Plu* .. 


.... 16-90 
... t(.90 
.... 1690 
,,10.00 
,,16.00 


|^APgR&OY.^^~~: 


J«;k Nicklatrt God , 
Journey _ 


..19.90 j 


Kennedy Approach 
Kingdom d England , 

Kt<f m „-,,,- r „ r „, r, 

Lancelot „ 


.. 19.90 
19 90 


Last Ninja 2 

Leader board Birdie 

Leonardo - 

Lorrtowd RAC Flally 
Lord* of Ihe Rising Sun 

Menace 

MtHemum 2.2 ..... 

Monopoly Deluie „. 

Mctdprpse Soccer 


16.00 

..... 16.00 
..,,.16.90 

13 90 

16.90 

16,90 

13,00 

.._. 16.00 

19-90 

13.90 

19.00 

13.00 

16.00 


I RAIN BOW I3LANOB 


JSJfl] 


16.90 

..... 13,90 
.,.,16.90 

17.00 

19.00 

i a.oo 

,..19.00 


Rick Dangerous 

1000 

AfltaMp , 

. . . 10.90 

Scrabble Defuse ..... 

1390 

ShadDwgete 

, ,18.90 

Shoal em up Conir ruction 

19 90 

Skweek 

10.90 

Spat» Harrier 

13.00 

$oace Oueel 1 1 

. .18.90 

Sieve Ctovns World Snooker 

1390 

Slip PokftT 2* , i inf if i irni i- 

,^-9.90 

*Dasa Qmk 

6.90 

ST0NT Cltfl 

..16.90 | 

Super Hang On 

10.90 

SwMd of Sedan ,. 

16.90 


16.90- 


, . 13,00 

Thundarblrtls 

19.90 

Test Drive II 

...10.00 

‘SupHCUl - 

., ii.H 

‘CilHomis Challenge 

-,11,90 

Total Eclipse 

16-90 


TV Sports Football .. 
Uliana IV .. 


War In Middle Earth , 
waertoo , 

World Tour Goif , . 
IftkMcKradwn, 
Zany Gal 
30 Pool 


COMPILATIONS ONLY! 


THIAD (VoL21 

Menace, BAAJ, Tetri* 

THE LIGHT FORCE . 


Voyager, R-Type, 
bnal Karate Plus 


Xenon. Capt. Stood 
nLArkanpid li 


IT® 


Crazy can. 

THlfliVo LfVl„.-., 

Barbarian. Btarall 

Qglflndg fl[ 1 Tb Ci 


mrm 


HT WSKSjVolTijr 

dddrunrH 


HIT DISKS (Vql 21 
Major Me 


runner. Karate Kid- II 

J^aitar Probe, Slaygon 


16,00 

Major Morton, Tens Bandit 
Lwelltiwneck. Tangtowood 
MEGAPACK 16.90 


Winter □ I 


(Ouse Trap, I 
HyTrpiad, Sui 


ikkfe Miwton 


. 16.90 


Thar tiding. Kan. G.P. LB Vegas 
Grid Start. Flight P*#i 737, *R35 


W Show 
Comic Setter 

Movie Seder 

Deluxe Pitot 2 .. 


Deluxe Paint 3, 


...30.90 


Deluxe Print 2 _. 
i PhotoLat) , 


Detune Music Con. Set . 
Design 30 


DfGfVlEW GOLD (PAL) 11 9.90 


Director (The). 

■Director Toolkit .. 
■*> Fancy 3D Fonts , 


,42.90 


liwlarri Music .„ 
Modeler 3D ..... 
Photon Paint 2 
Pbmsie.^^. 


30.90 
..,.,29,90 
16.90 

50.90 

sa.90 

37 90 


. 14.00 
, 10.00 
.. 16.90 
,18.90 
,10.90 
,16.90 
.19.00 
,18.00 
, 13.00 


GHAPHIC STARTER KTT .59,90 

Aogia Animator, Aegis Draw. 
Aegis Images. Clip Art + Arazoks 
Tomb (Super'b Graphic Adventure) 


Sorvix 

54 90 

“Sord* Soundtrack 

12.90 


STARS WARS TRILOGY 16,90 

Stan Win „ Empire Strike! Back, 

^ Rexenffa nl Iha Jedl ^ 

THE STORY SO FAR 13 00 

Ihari Warners, Bahleshps 
Bugay Bay. Beyond be Palace 

Wt&m UitAL 


X-Cad designer , 
Zoetrqpe 


BOOKS {Abacus) ONLY 


Airiga for Beginners 

Aniga Base Inside and Out 

Madline Language 

Trie la «d T|pa 

System Program* 

Arrtga DOS Inside and Out ... 
Disk Diwh Inside and Out ... 


..12.90 
,18.90 
.. 14,00 
„ 14.00 
,32.90 
.. 10.90 
.27.90 


AtMOh AC Basic 3 

Abedtl AC Fortran 

Altec C D^flioper 

Aztec C Prates stomal .. 


GFA Bilk (V.3) 

50.90 

Hleofl Se.ic 

64.90 


Hieott Oevpac (2) ....... 

Uoduta 2 Oeveiopere , 


,..44.00 
.. 1 14.00 


Afi Zoo .. 


.,0.60 


Dediral Dungeon ,.20.00 

Fun Sdrool 2 (Under S) — 13-00 

FunSdigoiatOloa),.,, 13.90 

Fun School 2 [Over 8) 1 3.90 


Robot Reatfera 19.90 

(Story wrtih epeech] 

QiUhi LMe. Awpi Jtwmm Lffl. ftfl*. 

Ttvettem. ueetFM Hwi eri 1 


Ppistman Pal .. 
Mateft.lt 


, ,52.50 
... 69.90 


6,90 

,,.27.50 
_ 29.00 


DISKS (DS/DD 3 . 5 "! ONLY! 


, 59.00 
.,49.90 


KAO Disk* - 100% Guaranteed I 


34.90 

,,,,..49.90 

,.,.,..70.00 

„,, r 40 r 0O 

50-00 


SONY Boxed - 100% Ouariinleedi 


ACCESSORIES ONLY! 


Locking Disk Bdx (50r) 
Locking Disk Bex {10&+).,. 
MerSeBw(Hd*de150|.. 


,29.90 


; Furry Mouse Covert , 


0.90 

.... 19,00 
,6.90 I 


Mouse Bracket , n 
Mouse MM 
Keyboani&wf 


,3.90 

,,5,90 

,5.90 


AnsgaDOS Tootaw .... 
BBC Emulator 


...30.05 

.39.00 

,24.00 


X-Copy - NEW Version 2 29.90 

The best Amiga Disk copier 


Pro Sound Dulgner .69.90 

Sol** 30 (PAL) 59.90 

Sculpt 4D Junior 09.90 

SOUlpt 4D ..-.m m . . . » 330.90 


DlglCelc 
DOS lo DOS . 


Excatance , 

Home Accnurrta 


.,-29-90 

,.39.00 


139,90 

22.00 


,79.00 

.04.00 


indudes: Page Sutler i, 2 
Kind W<jfde 2. HeariHne Fontspaok 
Artels Choice Anpadt 


Pnoied D, 20.00 

Ram Manager ..,.,,,.^,.,.,.^.2.68 


i Platinum 

Virus Kller .. 


.m,«4290 

,9,90 


Disks to aDGonpany books ,13.90 


LANGUAGES ONLY 


,159.90 
100 90 
..129.90 
„ 130 00 
112-50 


WORKBENCH 1.3 (NEW) 14,00 

Works Plallnum. 130.00 


JOYSTICKS ONLY! 


Joystick: a Mouse Exlemlon ,,-,,.,4.90 

JcMtlCk Lead - 3 mattesl,. 4,9Q 

W \l CARDconlroller 3-B0 

Chulenger 6.90 

Quldcstnl II , , „,tm 

Ou Ides hot II Turtle .0,90 

NavsgMor 12.90 

Ctixa (NEW 12.00 

4 (CLEAR) 13.00 


Cmlaer (CLE 
Compel il :r, 


1 Pro 5000 14.00 

Competlion Pro Extra 15.90 

■ ■■■ J e Joystick 1 0.00 

tax HACEMAKER 26.00 


Tho above is just ft smoll selection of our VAST stock of AMIGA software! 
C alien welcome; Normal Office Hours - 24 Hour Telephone Service 1 ! 


Cheque, postal 
orders or credit 
card facilities 
are available 


BY 1 

’EBACK 

DEPT AC. G MUMBY CLOSE. NEWARK, NOTTS NG24 1 JE 





November 19#‘J AMIGA COMPUTING 115 


















Are you new to the Amiga, 
fin if tog ft tfifficu/t to 
harness the power of this 
amazing computer ? t then 
what you need is help from 
the largest group of Amiga 
enthusiasts in the world, * 

Members recehre:- 

* Excellent discounts on software 

a Technical support and on line help 

☆ Superb hardware reductions 

* A bi-monthly newsletter of over 60 pages! 

* Access to a PD library of over 300 disks 

* Use of the groups Amiga only bulletin board 

☆ Discounts on books 

H AMIGA H 

DON'T HESITATE - JOIN NOW and start to 

appreciate what Amiga computing is all about. 
For further details write, enclosing a stamped 
addressed envelope to: 

The U.K. Amiga User Group, 
66, London Road, 
Leicester. LE2 OQD. 

Or Telephone : 

Leicester (0533) 5S0093 



VideoStudio for the AMIGA 


ss 



I 'Cafrpr&twTE ve in tTs ' 

« -Vtf toStvdb nyvauds groaf/y" 


VIDEO 


SPECIAL 

EFFECT* 

Time 

FUNCTIONS 


THE ZVP VOE OSFUDtQ PACKASE B A COMPLETE E AS V-TO-USE VIDEO POST- 
PftOOUCTlOH SOFTWARE UTILITIES SU-JTE, FEATUSW 

* A chace k«n Up CtfcAXl 

* A WJfpy snWpWFed* Win* ind Hard* tm 
hr uu wrin gwilocn*4 (Mn. 

* Cy*lim»*M9 SwfcjnOkX* ami U4tde4»L «Wt* ¥TH 

* A HCpwebN -*4ti OpUcni *fA M AnddalA. Irani • died ay Ml 


# A Men WP wfi mM-Wlwr lent tperaAm 

# A StN'Qi M«r wth mot*! amit rrciiHjnlW aodtkifl. 

* A Suhd im «ih cdkxtr Lagc arid M CuL f««* Pwit qftana 

* 2Q \mt*. MU gdd. IlMrc A Undwlin* ilyl— and GuCr*.' Drcp-Piedow 


* Orwtay nmhtilMar n< pirtjie Mm (IFF] gwviMbfi paaii 

peeMpt cr «VH« dgifc«vrtr4fn* 71UW 

tpcrkng c4 Font* tn+HH ai\w pniuii. 


y nmpiMr wifi ri! VCR A TV* <04 t**y ba 


VlOCOSTU&IO pfoduo** an r 

a witmA H fttjut** *fi Ami** A5W1WQ or 3000 ocmpatwMn £ Mdimad 1 


Mbyi* t»+f®+nr 

VIDEOSTUDIO la available now k* 

M* 


...... C20T.OO 


f u rm 

-j-l iJTjUil ALL GENUINE MANUFACTURED ITEMS 



rMT 

Mailgen Pr«lse*lanAl CSanlock 


Rendaie AB806 Pfoioswnal Qantocfc m . ... 

. ....CALL 


Minigen + V'baostudiO & 


Handala A 8 Bffi 4 VldwwtudW .. 
Randal* AfiRffl 4 - Pro VKta Plus ™ 


ALL PRICES INCLUDE UK VAT 4 PSP. Send POChequos to: 

_ MAZE TECHNOLOGY 

20 Woodlands Road, Walthamstow EI73LS 


.. £S#v* £1Q0)£2*S 
., (S>v* El 30) £41* 


^Msii order ottlf 


01-520 9753 


UNBEATABLE PRICES FROM 
MANSFIELD COMPUTERS 



5.25" disks in polybag with 
labels, sleeves and write 
protect tabs 

25 D/5, D/D 43 Ipi disks ,£8.95 
25 0/S. D/D 36 tpi disks . C9-5Q 


DISK BOXES 


| 3,5 T 40 cap 


3 5" 60 C3fl InckaUlf 

. XT 15 

5 25' 50 cap Idtkabl* 

...fus 

| 5 25* 1D0 cap Irckflblo 



BULK DISKS WITH 
2 FORI LIFETIME 
WARRANTY 


3J ■ DISKS & BOXES 

W3.5 J G/S.M) 135 TPIdhki in 

wlwlebw ,....,.£1,30 

25 3.5- DOS. D/D 135 TPI diikft in 4D 

cap disk bon .C 22 .S 5 

4Q 3 V D^S, [W0 1 35 TPI disks in flO 

cap lackabls bw m.K 

753 V D/S. tuD 135 TPt di*kt IP W 


up bckaAlc bo* .......... 

ID 3.5' H«flh Density (2 mep) 
wMI* b&< 


. E5* 

dlsits >n 

X1U5 


$2S DISKS A BOXES 

25 5 25" p£. twD TPI dilkft in 50 cap 

lockable ba* £1L1& 

5D 5.25 J 0 A. D/O 96 TPI dtiki in \W 

tap locksbie bos .,.....£ 24. 15 

10 5-25* Hich CEttihy ’ 6 mcfl drfk? ui 

bos ....“ .Z..UJ5 


SPECIAL OFFER 

Whan you purchase one of the above items why no! Veal 
yourself to our super accessories 

Du lu* MouM Mj! £1J9 

3 5 * Head ClHFH -G 75 

<M Address Labtlt 
3’fri VM 

50 3 S’ Disk Labe 5 5Dp 


Holder 


5 25‘ Head ClMfW 


1 .020 Add-f &s Label* 


3WNivnr M ~ M ..* 

14^0 


| Atmeniwr all dlah* «r« wrllfled 1«% In* ind At* *upp)M I 
with Ml user seta. Phj* out irmUng t lor 1 llfatlml WAfranly 


SArKfarobwit your Qftftr (£>.■ 

Mih»riald Compuler* 33 Alban Strael, Marmrield, Notts. NG1S 1 EA- 

r*i. was 3i M3 Fin wail ^aa-we 

All prices Include VAT A b&Nvwy In U.K. HMM 
24 hour answering service 
Allnr ■Bpm phona 0623 653512 ind leave your ord*i- 


Hampshire Micros 


STAR LC10 

Black ribbon C^M WAT 
Colour ribbon CS.00+VAT 



MONO 

n *1,35 (£129.00+ VAT 

COLOUR 

£194.35 (£ 16/9.0&4-VAT} 
(with cable 4 paper) 


STAR LC10 

(2* pin) with cable 6 paper 
£228 JS (£199 004 VAT) 

CIUKI1120D 

with cable & paper 
£124.26 (£106 OO 4 VAT) 

Panasonic KXP1 061 

with cable & paper 
£148.35 (£1 n 00+VAT) 

Citizen 180E 

with cable A paper 
£1 41 . 35 (£1 29.06+VAT) 

Panasonic KXP1 130 

with cable & paper 
£166 .75 (£1*5 GO* VAT) 

Epson LX800/400 

wi th cable & paper 
£1 51 . 7D (£1 38-OO+VAT} 

Philips CM8833 

Him cable 

£21.5.05 (ET1B7.W+VAT) 

Epson LQ40D 

(24 pin) wifi cable and paper 
£247.29 (E^IS.OO+VAT) 

SPECIAL CAM PftICES 

A50O + Modulator £3*9 Inc. VAT 

A&00 * Mod 4 CMB833 £5*5 Int VAT 

lensfcj Games P«* £20 Int VAT 

Cumana CAX35* £73 Int VAT 

DISKETTES 
(IlfeldTH wimtnM 

(100% certified error tihb) 

10 3.5" 135tpl DS/DD E8.S01nc.VAt 

50 3 5" 1 35tpi DS/DD £39iiO Inc VAT 

PCI 0 Single Mono £482 + VAT 

PC10 Dual EGA £810 + VAT 

(Ptione for full range) 

100 3-5' 1 35lpl DS8JD .... £77,50 Inc VAT 
50 Disk box hinge & lock ,. £5,95 Inc. VAT 
100 Disk box hinge 4 lock £6.95 Inc. VAT 


Pftane rer our lull catalog w/tust plica. Fast seivioe 6 12 monttis guarantee 
Prices subject to change. We are closed Saturday 
Postage £1 .00 +VAT (£1,15), Secvricor £7.00 + VAT (£8.05) 


Hampshire Microcomputers 


Unit 11, Kingdom Park, Sooemwirth, Titchlield, Hants PD15 5TJ 



116 AMIGA COMPUTING Number 1989 







■DESKTOP VIDEO ■ 


Slip slidin'away 


John Kennedy creates 
some special effects 
with Aniinagic, but 
finds that his 
memory lets him 
down again 

O NLY on the Amiga could this 
happen, Here is an art package 
that needs at least one megabyte of 
memory to run, but won t let you 
draw anything. Here is an animation 
package that won t do tweaning, Here 
is a large box containing two discs 
and a 90 page manual So what does it 
do? 

Animagic is an editing package for 
animation files. It takes pictures and 
animations created with other 
packages and puts them through a 
digital effects unit 
Through the wonders of interchange 
file format (IFFL Animagic can be 
used with any of the animation 
packages available for the Amiga 
which save data using the Anim 
protocol. Such programs include 
VideoScape 3D ( Lights! Camera! 

Action! and Deluxe Paint III 
Zoe trope , which received a rave 




review several issues ago, comes with 
a program to turn its animations into 
Anim format, MovieSetter uses its 
own format and is not compatible. 

Animagic allows you to load in an 
animation and edit individual frames. 
You can take the last few frames of 
that huge cartoon you rendered with a 
3D package, and instead of re-doing 
the entire thing, which could lake 
several days, you can adjust frames 
individually. 

Or what about adding titles to your 
animation? Easy, just append the text 
frames. You can also adjust the 
colours and create colour- cycling 
animation. 

Although editing animations is 
useful, the really fun part of the 
package comes when you start playing 
with the digital effects editor. You 
camt have failed to notice digital 
video effects (UVEJ on television. Take 
a look at the opening logos of the 
various ITV stations for example. If a 
logo zooms in from the left or 
constructs itself out of tiny squares, 
then you're looking at a DVE. 

Top of the Pops would be sunk 
without its DVE machine. As the 
various camera images all peel back to 
reveal the latest appalling number 
one. busy in the background several 
thousand pounds worth of electronics 


is beavering away, folding Kylie 
Mmogues face into small pieces. 

The Channel Four logo, where lots 
of pieces fly in to form the shape of 
the numeral four, is a computer 
animation rather than an effect 

A digital video effect machine takes 
a finished drawing and manipulates it 
electronically, usually through a very 
expensive mixture of both analogue 
and digital computer technology. It is 
this machine that Animagic tries to 
emulate, using your beloved Amiga 
and as much bolt-on memory as you 
can afford. 

You are supplied with a fixed 
number of DVEs, alt stored on disc. 
This may seem limiting, but the huge 
number of possible variations will 
mean that you are rarely stuck for an 
effect. Once you have tailored the 
effect to exact requirements, you may 
save it back to disc for future use. 

One of simplest DVEs is the slide- 
in, The picture moves in from 
underneath in a slanted perspective 
view and expands into the centre of 
the screen. By selecting the Grid 
option from the DVE menu screen you 
can split the initial image into four 
separate screens that slide in. Then 
you can give each a progressive delay. 


November J989 AMIGA COMF1 niXG 117 






■DESKTOP VIDEO 


so first the top left quarter slides-in, 
then the top-right and so on, 

Or would you rather they slid in 
from the top of the screen? No 
prohlem, just click this little 
unidentifiable icon and they float in 
over your head in exactly the same 
way that bricks don't. 

A preview option will display your 
effect in wire frame, which avoids 
wasted afternoons as the computer 
renders your animation after which 
you decide you don't really like it. 
Other PVEs include spinning and 
expanding routines. And you can lift 
away one picture in a page-like 
fashion revealing another image 
underneath. 

Shadows can be added, so all the 
little parts of the image flying around 
will have little boxes of colour 
following them, A strobe effect is also 
available, where each frame carries a 
vestage of the previous drawing. This 
makes movement appear much 
smoother and interesting, although it 
takes a lot longer to draw in the first 
place. 

V ARIOUS three-dimensional 
effects are available, such as a 
rotating box with two of your 
drawings appearing on the inside and 
outside faces. When turned into a 
continuously Looping animation, this 
sort of spinning effect is ideal for a 
moving company logo at the start of a 
fiim, or even just sitting in a shop 
window. 

Where the DVEs become really 
cunning is that instead loading in a 
still picture to process, you load in 
another animation. This means the 
original moving pictures will be dealt 
with as though they were a static 
display, which results in some 
seriously weird and wonderful 
animations. 

Using Animagic is a little daunting 
to start with. When it first boots up 
you are greeted with an opening 
screen and an error message to the 
effect that you haven't specified a 
start drawing or animation. This 
doesn't really seem fair, but after 
apologising you can load your data 
and the program will grudgingly let 
you use the main control bay. 

This Huston mission control 
loo ka like is littered with tiny icons. 
The designers of the Wimp 
environment would turn in their 


mouse houses if they could see this 
display, because rather than 
simplifying things all the controls do 
is intimidate the user. What is the 
point of several icons which all look 
the same performing different 
functions? 

Eventually you get the hang of what 




a particular left pointing arrow does, 
but it takes time and a lot of looking 
up in the manual As such, the 
manual is very satisfactory, with lots 
of step-fay-step examples and the 
obligatory American telephone help 
hotline. It might be marginally 
cheaper to fly out and discuss your 
problem with the programmers than 
use this phone number, but it is 
always nice to have the option. 

Memory is a real problem. Although 
the animations are buffered to disc as 
they are created, the finished product 
must be able to exist in the computer s 
memory to be played back. If you 
want to piay with an interlaced HAM 
digitised picture, then 1 meg isn't 
enough. 

If you are the sort of person who is 
able to afford vast quantities of ram, 
then you will probably also own a 
6 a 02 0/66881 accelerator board. This 
being the case, you will therefore bo 
completely overjoyed to hoar that a 
version of the program is supplied to 
make full use of this hardware, which 
will speed things up accordingly. 

Unfortunately the program does not 
have a robust feel to it. It crashed not 
just once, but several times, because l 


clicked loo quickly on an expanding 
icon. Single drive users will gnash 
their teeth as the program gums yet 
again simply because they forgot to 
swap discs before selecting an option. 
This is nothing more than sloppy 
programming and should have been 
sorted out well before the package 
went on sale. 

It won't crash straight away of 
course. First it will spend 15 minutes 
doing 99 per cent of the animation, 
fhen it crashes. Why do programs like 
this rarely look ahead to see if enough 
memory is available? The answer is 
because they don't know exactly how 
much memory they will need. But 
they could make a good guess, 
couldn't they? And give us the option 
to continue ot try for something less 
ambitious. 

T HE average A500 user could 
have some fun with all the 
special effects, hut will never be able 
to use the program to its best 
advantage without several megabytes 
of ram, a genlock and access to some 
hi-tech video editing equipment. 

Nevertheless, for those who want to 
smash Uncle Fred's face into 255 
spinning pieces, Animagic could be 
worth the asking price. It emulates a 
piece of television studio hardware 
called a digital video effects unit that 
costs several thousand pounds, and at 
the moment there is no software 
around that produces comparable 
results. 


REPORT CARD 


Animagic 

J IB Marketing 0B95 444433 
£70.95 


EASE OF 

With hieroglyphic icons and dodgy disc 
and memory handling, things could be a 
lot better. 


Not foal. Add 3 to the score if von have 
an accelerator board. 


VALUE , 

You. 'll spend a fat of lime with this 
package. But for the money it could do 
more , and do what it docs better 


OVERALL 51% 


Good fun and potentially useful for 
animation freaks who wont to produce 
stunning special effects. Add 20% if you 
have 2 megs or more. 


US AMIGA COMPLETING Sovtiinbtfr t&S9 









Mail Order Offers 



EDITOR 


To order yours, please use the form on page 121 


When you're developing 
software, the last thing you \ 
want is to hang around for ages 
while your assembler processes 
your code - when you could be 
getting on with further program 
development. 

But now all that wailing's a thing 
of the past, because ArgAsm from 
Argonaut Software is a revolutionary 
machine code development system. 

It assembles at an incredible 
rate of 250,000 lines a minute! 

- at least live times taster than 
anything else, and over 100 times 
faster than the original Commodore 
assembler - and it remains fully 
compatible. 

What's more. ArgAsm is the first 
assembler to be compatible with all 
the three major assemblers; Assent, 
Devpac and Cape. So if you're 
looking to upgrade, the chances 
are you'll be instantly right at home 
with ArgAsm. 

And lor a limited period we're > J 
exclusively knocking £5 off ■jn-' *'* 
the recommended price. -ga 

If you're serious about V 

producing professional [ 

quality software - fast, \ 

this is THE assembler for j 

you. But remember, this T 

is a limited otter, so to J 

be sure of your copy jC 

place your order today. Yp 

Release date: October 10. Jr f 


ArgAsm 

Probably the fastest 
assembler ever 
for the Amiga! 


Exclusive 
price for 
readers of 


£ 54.95 

RHP £59.95 

-SAVE £5! 


assembler 


✓ Fast one -pass design 

✓ Code limited oily by memory 
*Y Unlimited number of labels 
tf Long label names 

✓ Unlimited macro nesting 
*Y Unlimited include nesting 
%y Indude binary data 

v* Exit a -helpful error messages 
^ Instruction cycle timings 
*Y Processor flag display 


✓ Multi (asking 

✓ Full multi file capability 

✓ Unlimited split views of files 

✓ Cut/paste between windows 
*Y tnsert/delele blocks etc. 

i y Full configuration fad tl lies 
i y Save/resiore environment 

✓ Extremely fast text scroll ing 
*y Fast page update rates 

✓ Assemble from any window 
*Y Works on Workbench screen 


November 1W9 AMIGA COMPUTING 119 







1 



[J Get BATH/iam 

y MSOLUTEi 
when y 0 <, £ 

VIM to Am/e* j? 


TM & © 1964 DC Comics Inc. 


MAIL ORDER 
OFFER 


TO ORDER YOUR 
i SUBSCRIPTION 
I USE THE J 
1 FORM ON I 

m page 112 A 


Offer* subject 
So a variability 


Valid m 30.1 1.89 


All subscriptions 
indude cover disc 



Annual Subscription ^SSSfc 

Including Batman the Movie (UK only) 

(se* opposite) 

12 months 


UK £29 95 9558 

Europe & Eire £34 .95 9543 

Overseas Airmail £49.95 954$ 


24 months 

UK £54 95 9560 

Europe & Eire £63.95 9549 

Overseas Airmail £9 1 .95 9551 



9559 



9544 



9548 



9567 

9550 

9552 


1 Orders received by November 5 will commence with December issue 


Back Issues 

(tee page 101) 

May 1989-Qctober 1989 bundle 

f Add £3 Europe S Etfe r E12 OuersMfi 


May 1909 
June 1989 
July 1989 

* Aygusi 1 909 

1 September 1989 

* October 1989 
‘totiudet cover dec 


It 12.95 9859 


1=1 


£2.10 971 1 

£2-10 9712 

£2.10 9713 

£3.10 9714 

£3.10 9715 

£3.10 9718 


Lombard RAC Rally 

(seepageTW 


£24 95 


9029 


Protext Version 4 


Lancelot 

(SSB page $6j 


9522 1 | 


Time and Maglk 

(see page $6) 


9800 | | 


Cover disc Offers 

(seepage 112) 


Trained Assassin 

£19.95 

9850 

Raider 

£14.95 

9$49 

Home Accounts/Day by Day £39.90 

9851 

Chariots of Wratfi 

£16 95 

9857 

iooi 2 



Under 6 years 

£19.95 

9842 

6 to 8 years 

£19.95 

9843 

Over 8 years 

£1995 

9844 


ArgAsm 

(seepage 119) 


Dust Covers 


E4.0S 


9507 


Mouse Mats 


9508 | j 


Binders 


1= 


Disc Boxes 


£4.95 


9860 |— | 


Transparent 

calculator 



Tick here if you are ordering 
the calculator 


9854 


£7,95 

Tick here if you are spending £25 or more 
on reader offers (excluding subscriptions) 
and wish to claim your FREE calculator 9053 f 1 


For Europe S Eire add £3 towards postage 
For Overseas add £5 towards postage 

TOTAL 


Send le: Database Direct, FREEPOST, 

Ellesmere Part, South Wlrrel LG5 3EB 

(No stamp needed 1 posted in UK] Please allow up to 28 days for deiivary 

Order at tny ritm cf the day or night 


Payment: please Indicate method (✓) 


.* 11 I I I I 1 1 I 1 I I i I 1 


Telephone: 051-357 2961 


OnrfM vie Fmtc 
0S1-357 2flU 


Orders by P/eetel: 1 I Okdfcv rtii Mfc 

Kay 1 », fa n 6HSMM3 1 MAGOO 


UicrUinlL 

MAGD0 1 


□ Cf*aq uaturochequo payrfcle 
lo Amiga Conpuilng 

Name 


date - 


HD 


_ Signed . 


Don's forget It? give your name, sddrem emf credit card number AMC11 


Daytime telephone number in case oF queries - 







Price* include 
VAT and 
Delivery 
within UK 


A -Cad Translator 

A-C Lias I l Compiler ... 

Aegis Draw 2000 

Amiga Cynthia ..... 

Aztec C Compiler (PiofJ ........... 

lilJC limuialoT ............. 


1102.95 

4121.75 

4170.00 
..475.99 

4151.00 
,.441,00 


Comic Sriter ...h.- .£59 95 

Critics Choice <CompJ ............. £11 9.00 

Design 3D £64 .80 

Disks - 10 x DS/DD £12.58 

Sura mer Sketch Plus Drawing 

Table! £435-00 

3,5* Disk Drive *,£9^50 

Futu resound .......479-95 

Genlock 8602 £225-00 

Genlock 8H86 (l*rof.) .... ...£6 J5.00 

"IntelLigenl Music 1 ' ..........£133.00 

Lattice Amiga Dos C V5 .... - ,..,£175.00 

Waits hot Pin*..., ™..„ £38-50 

Mailer Track Pro 

(64 track seq) £254-00 

Movie Setter „„,.,.£55.QQ 

MuiicX ,,.£182.00 

PigMCfeam CXpub. Partner. 


FraQ 

Photon Video Cel Animate 

Prof. Video Plus 

Prof. Otaw ITmrl „ mrm „„ 

Prof- Page V]- 2 

Publishers Choice 

Sculpt 3DXL 

Sculpt 4D,.., „ 


,£139.00 
..£75.50 
.£189.95 
£110.95 
.£195.95 
. £79 95 
.£11100 
.2369.00 


ALL GAMES - OLD 
AND NEW 


ALL KUMA SOFTWARE 


ALL AEGIS SOFTWARE 


ALL CYBER SOFTWARE 


GOOD SELECTION OF 
BOOKS AND HARDWARE 


Sculpt 4 DJnr. 

Studio Magic 

£99-95 

........ £71.95 

Superto&e Personal U . 

.£74.95 

Supetbaac Prof. VJ 
Suptrpit Digitizer 

...,,£182 95 

.... £495.00 

The Wools CPtalinunO 
Video R fleets 3D 

£149.95 

...... I12OL00 

Video Genetic Master 
Who* What? Where! When? . 
Word Perfect 4.1 

£57.95 

£60.50 

..... £179.95 

Workbench 1.3 

£32,95 

X C»d Designer 

£89,95 

X Cjcffv 

i.19.95 



JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T SEE IT - DOESN'T MEAN WE 
HAVEN'T GOT 1T1! 

Fur furl her information,, send LAKC.E stamped Self addressed envelope 


Mike cheques payable to "COTTAGE SOFTWARE" and send loi 

P.O. BOX 8, SHAW, OLDIIAM, OL2 8QN 

Tel: 0706 845365 


ADVERTISERS' 

INDEX 


Amiga PD Library »,1 CM 

Ami^hst ,....105 

Amiga Users Group 

Antioch Com puling 104 

Applied Rnsoarch Kcrnol ...... IDS 

Amor - . 60,68 

Aahcnm . 430 

Byteback .1 15 

Calco Software ...... 92 

Castle Gornputora ....82 

Cavendish Ihslribulinn 4? 

Commodore UK.... 87 

Compost 

Computer Shopper Show,.,., 8 

Ottago Software ... 1 22 

C P Software- „„B 

Dataplex ,, ......107 

Dniel Electrooict...,^....™.,, 11*13 
Diamond Computer, . , , , ,„ 76,7 

Digicom..... - .,—99 

Digipro ...37 

DigiiH International ..85 

Digital Magic.,,, 35 

Due Compan y „. r ,„58,5 7 

Euzyprinl ,—..98 

Electcomp .......48 

Entertainment International...,, 27 

First Macro 109 

Fran tier Su ft wore 72 

Fulurepliace Computers ,84 

MA.S.T.IU.K,)... ..63 

Gordon Harwood Comp. .....70„7i 


Hampshire Micro Compiler?) .118 


Hnbbyie Computing.,.- ....104 

Home Based Business.., ,,...,-,-1 22 

HSV ...106 

KLK Electronics 20 

Ladhroko Computing 100 

Mandarin Software 78,86 

Mansfield Computers 11 6 

Maze Tuchnalogy 116 

M D Office Supplies 99 

Memory Fit pans ion Systems ....46 

Micro Link „ 82,83 

Microtext — * .1 81 

Mindscape International ,...31 

Mirrorsofi ,,..124 

Pas Iron be ,,-,.,,.,-....2,3 

Quad soft Computers 167 

Seventeen Bit Centro ., 3fl 

Shield Computer Services 122 

Silica Shop 123 

SK Marketing. 48 

Sofimada ine - ..187 

Softsellers., —,,.38 

Softs toff ...106 

Soft villa ..................100 

Sub logic, 90 

Third Coast Technologies,-.,— 91 

Track Computer Systems 39 

Treble H Computing... ..51 

Trllogic --63 

Virgin Mastertronic.. .23 

Voltmace 1 81 

WTS Electronics 122 

Xonon Technology 52 


MAKE YOUR /AMIGA EARN! 


Yes making money with your Amiga becomes incidental when you 
know how. Your micro is, if only yci/knew it, a gold mine. The size and 
make is irrelevant. Make the initial etlort NOW by darting your own 

home based business. 

Tbts may be the most important move you will ever make! 
REMEMBER: You'll never get nch by digging someone eise's "ditch", 
Anyone in the country, including YOU, can become vary rich in a 
relatively short period of lime just by doing a few basic things! li’s more 
rewarding than playing games. The benefits are many and varied. Full 
or part lime For FREE details send S.A.E, lo 

SOUS 1 ASBU t 

mw&zzmam 

31 PILTON PLACE (AM7) 

KING AND C1UEEN STREET 
WALWORTH. LONDON SE17 1DR 



SPECIAL OFFER 


ABOQ's * £35.00 FIXED PRICE REPAIR ★ ST’s 

includes - courier delivery, parts, labour, full service and 
V.A.T., 90 day warranty, 5 day turnround 
(subjaci to parts availability) Collection can be arranged, £1 f .50 extra, 

All our engineers are fully experienced in 16 bit technology 

Repairs undertaken on Amiga 2000, Atari Mega ST a Printers, 
Monitors, V.D.U.'s etc. and most Business & Home Computers, 
low cost maintenance agreements avaifabte . 
Educational & dealer discounts given. 

SHIELD COMPUTER SERVICES LTD 
50 Fllrton Road. Urmston. Manchester M 31 3 AB 
TeL 061-747 3165 Fm: 061-747 0515 



W.T.S. ELECTRONICS LTD, CHAUL END LANE, LUTON, BEDS, LU4 8EZ 


ATARI ST/AMIGA 


Simply send your machine along 
with a £1 5 diagnostic Tee aiM. 
you will be sent a written X 
quotation Tor the cost of 
repairing your machine. 


Computer repairs 


FIRST AID 
FOR 


TECHNOLOGY 


0582 491949 (4 LINES) 


I 









FREE! 


WORTH OVER £»» 


C s Commodore 


FREE! - AHT OF CHESS - by 


FREE! - TERRQRPODS - by Psygnos s 


£346 

The Amiga 500 is one OH a oew breed gl technologically 
advanced computers, which are now emerging as the new 
standard Tor home computing, based .around (he new Motorola 
68000 chip The A500 has 5l2K HAM and a 1Mbyte double 


.95 

+VAT= 

£399 


sided disk drive built-in It can be connecied directly to a wide 
range of monitors, or to a domestic TV set through a It/ 
modulator Designed with the user in mind, ihe A50D leaiyres a 
user friendly WiMP environment and comes supplied wild a free 
mouse And, when you buy your Amiga from Silica Shop, the 
UK'S Mol Amiga specialists, you will experience an after sales 
service lhai is second to none, including a technical support 
helpline and free newsletters and price lists Return (he coupon 
below for our current information pack., which will give delays of 
the Silica service and ihe very latest Silica Amiga offers EtOE 


FREE! - MERCENARY COMP - by rvuvn^en 


WHY SILICA SHOP? 


BafarE yjLi decide when fa buy yolj Cammodara Arruga ciynpulp 
; !■•■■! fOu e&nitfttt rtry car-rljilf WHERE you c-uy d Thom are 
MAM LOir\fdHiei *lo car c4ter you a Luinpdier a lr*r (#i ijifiertti and 
Ihe top »(*■ aeilHftg lihes Th#fe are FEWER campor-ES whc can b 4 I*h a 
■ id* rings flU product* tot yout COUpLler -s v»f-i .J-i Cspefl SdviCE BKd 
tietp whon you p**d i! Ihwe i* OHkV ON|- company who CAP provide 
line ai gpil range □! Amiga related jirnljcti rn the UK J lull rimn Amiga 
i0ecidliEt lechnipal heipkire and: •> dcplh aMe-r u«i support incmdirg 
iree 1’ewsienefs fl^d Jnocuuwa delivered m yuui duo *-& sa iumg » you 
require ahai yo« pyrehsse *dor GOfliputpr That &ne !i SJefca 

Shop We nnvn been exiabluhad in Ihg nprno ccvnpul#. Ntln hjr If-vi yiwus 
and ear ndw claim Id meH Out cuitamen pequirBnnBnli wild an ac.ri.racy 
and utxleiuarvFrfg wmeft ia seetma » none Here are juai some nr inn 
llwrgtwecfln oirer you 

THE FULL STOCK RANGE; The4wgE5.l range ol Amiga 
related peripherals. accessories, books and software irv theTlK 

AFTER SALES SUPPORT The stall dc Smcd Shop riro 
dedicaled to help you to get me best from your Amiga 

FREE NEWSLETTERS: Mailed direct lo your home as 
soon as we print them, featuring otters =ma latent release? 

FREE O VERNtGHT DELIVER Y: Or, al I hardware orders 
Ehippftd to Silica Shop customer* within ihe UK mamLand 

PRICE MATCH PROMISE: wy will m>rmdily match Our 
compel nors otters on a 'same product tame price' basis 

FREE TECHNICAL HELPLINE : full lime team ol Amiga 
technical expens lo help you with your technical queries 

But don't |oit lake our word lor d CtMwpJeie and rcium Ihe 
coupon below lor our ialesl Amiga kBrature and begin lo 
experience the Silica Shop specialist Amiga service 


l.!l'ii'T..li;il^l 


A500 Computer 
TV Modulator 
Photon Paint 
TenStar Pack 

TOTAL RRP 
LESS DISCOUNT 

PACK PRICE 


£399.99 

£24.99 

£69.95 

£229.50 


£724.43 

£325.43 


£399 


1084S MONITOR PACK 


A500 Computer £399.99 

10845 Colour Monitor £299.99 
Photon Paint £69.95 

TenStar Pack £229.50 

TOTAL RRP: £999.43 
LESS DISCOUNT: £350.43 

PACK PRICE ass £649 


SILICA 


When yuu buy the Amiga SM from Silica Shop, you will ftol owy 
gel a h'jjh jjower. value for money computer we will also give 
you some spectacular free gilts First of all. we are now including 
a tv modutftlOr wilft every AJjflO siand alone keyboard so you 
can plug your Amiga straight inlo your Tv at home irhe 
modulator g not nchided w»ln ihe A5D0' A10&45 pack as H is not 
required fdt uS# With monitors j Secondly we have added a free 
copy of Pholon Painl, an advanced graphics package ynfh an 
RflP ol £69 9^ tasl land by np least 1 1. so mat you tan be 

up and running slraigm .away we are g vi "g away lire sensetiona! 
TENSTAR GAMES PACK with eveiy AiDO puich.nKi(J al Silica 
Shpf. This pne- leatures Itn lop fim ga rites which have a 
combined RRP of nearly £230* Return the coupon lot detail 


FREE TENSTAR PACK 


When you buy your Amiga Mfi 
Irem Silica Shop, we want lo 
ma>.K Sum you yel llhr Ipnsl 
daai poss-t-e Inal is why we 
are giving #wpy the TENSTAR 
GAMES PACK worth nearly 
£J3Q absolutely FREF wri I h. 
erery AHH punchased rrom us 

Th* TenStar Games Pac* inc- 
ludes ten iitles roe me A 500 
each indrvKkiwiiy packaged in 
its own casing wiih inilrufrlicim 


Amegas 
Art Of Cbtss 
Barbarian, UIL Warrior 
Bu^gy Boy 
Ikari Warriors 
Insanity Figfil 
Mercenary Comp 
Tenrorpodi 
Tbundercalt 
Wirbali 


£24.94 
£19 95 
£24.95 
£24.95 
£24.95 
£19.95 
£24.95 
£24.95 
£24.95 


TOTAL RRP: £229.50 


£229 50 


YOU OWN AN AMIGA? 


If ym Bheidy ?wn «n Amiga ccmpuier mi would line lo be *e&siared on uu mailing k« as an 
*Tiiga uSei le* ua -now V .* will ne pirwwd JO sand you C0fl*» Ol OW priCH lists me newfilailefS 
FHE.E OF CHARGE as (hey become i.jHiblr Campmla Ihe Cbupan and rrt| ( m it Id qijr Siifcup 




^XSilk: 

| PLEj 


>: Silica Shop Lid. Dept AMC0M n/M, M The Mews. Hattiertey Road. Sidcup, Kenl Ml 4 4DX 

PLEASE SEND ME FREE LITERATURE ON THE AMIGA 


'TsxV 
I IGA | 


bnnch ane Mqir erpeie-iiodiij b apetmliat ArmgB a 


SILICA SHOP: 


SIDCUP (£* IVLail Order-) 01-309 1111 

P-4 Tihr* Me tv>, Haihorfey Road, Sidcup, Kent. OAm 4DX 
Df*EN MON-SAT j)j m - j. LATE MIG HT: fftsDAY 9am - 7pm 


LONDON 01-580 

S2 Tottenham Court Road. London. WtP ORA 
QPffW: MOM-SAT 9 30*fn - ffdqpm LATE NIGHT: NON€ 


UOISTDOW Ol-GEB 1234 ext 3014 

SvHndgtt h M r t Poor), Oxford Street, London. W1A 1AB 


I 

I 

I 


Mr/Mrs/Ms: 

Address: 


initials 


Do you already owm a computer 
yi so. which oob do you own- 7 


Kurreme. 


Postcode: 


I 

I 

I 














< 



RIOR 


I he beast was present in 
the land and from tower 
to tower the sorcerers 


voice cal 


Screens Lots |rc»m 


encroac 


i his legions made ready 
to conceal the tablets 
hat would see daylight 


forever 


ic same 


!rame< 


from east to west,l 
>a!adm came forth,! 
to do battle against 


legions oi 


using al 


swor< 


sorcery. 


rccr 


lirrorsol 


lOLJSC