Full text of "Amazing Computer Magazine (May 1994)"

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Sneak Peek— Commodore introduces the 4000 Tower at Cebit.

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^ COlVIPUTTTsTG <

Yf>ur Original AMIGA " MmUhly Resotifce

k'iLaiiiJi

TECHNIQUE

Two Ways to Create Motion BIm
for Animations & Still Frames

In This Issue

•24-Bit Painting Technf
•Amiga IVIusic Utilities

• Deluxe Music 2.0
•Desktop Pubiistiing for Profit

Reviews

•ADI Junior
•MusicLab-IFS

• MicroBotics MBX- 1200zl
•OctaMEDPROvS.O

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CONTENTS

CanDo Tutorial, p.38

Daniel B. Wilgo

1313 Mooklngbird Lom
St. Louis. MO »1 23

1-<314)-55S«1212

Desktop Publishing, p.52

- ii

iMl !! ! l !!]l^MflM

DeluxeMusic2.0, p.63

24-bit Painting Techniques, p. 55

PD Update, p.30

fri

r rl I 1

I rli

s Issu

]

36 Amigas in Business

by Roger Thompson

A focus on Creative Equipment

International and their use of the

Amiga.

38 CanDo Tutorial

by Randy Finch

This month, Randy examines
SubDecks, Proportional Sliders, and
Custom Pointers.

45 Four IVIusic Utilities

by R. Shamms Mortler

Shamms examines four popular Amiga

music utilities: RiffGrabber, EmTrax,

Motzart's Music Master, and

KeyBangi,

52 Desktop Publishing for
Profit

by Dan Weiss

Resume design: A simple and prof-
itable way to break into the desktop
publishing field.

55 24-bit Painting Techniques

by Mark Hoffman

Mark reviews some basic painting
techniques and couples them with
more advanced methods to bring new
light to 24-bi1 painting.

63 DeluxeMusic 2.0

by R. Shamms Mortier

Shamms reviews this latest release of

the popular DeluxeMusic package.

85 Coming Attractions

by hienning Vahlenl<amp
A look ahead at upcoming Amiga
games including JetStril<e, Fighter
Duel Professional 2.0, Magic Boy, and
Seek and Destroy.

Volume 9
Number 5
May 1994

13 ADI Junior

by Eric Nixon

A review of this innovative learning

environment from Europress

Software.

15 MusicLab-!FS

by R. Shamms Mortier

Derive sound from fractal images with

this unique music application.

18 WlicroBotics
MBX-1200Z

by Rob l-iays

A review of this handy math co-
processor and 32-bit RAM add-on
card for the A 1200.

21 OctaMED Pro v5.0

by R. Shamms Mortier

Play eight separate channels of

interna! Amiga sound al once with this

utility.

Features

24 Online

by Rob Hays

This month Rob takes a look at the

Amiga services offered by

CompuServe.

30 PD update

by Henning Vahlenkamp

A look at the hottest shareware,

freeware, and public domain software

available. This month: MegaBall 3.0,

Motorola Invaders, NewWorld, and

more!

72 Digital Image Special F/X

by William Frawley

Add motion blur to your images in

ADPro with the help of ARexx.

Double Feature!

~ INSIDE ARexx & Digital Image Special F/X:

Easy Tvays to create motion blur eiOfects in ADPro!

OctaMED Pro v5.0, p.21

MusicLab IFS, p. 15

Music Utilities, p. 45

Dune II, p.87

Columns

8 New Products &
Other Neat Stuff

CD ADE, Montage Postscript Module,
Golden Gate 486SLC2, and LightRave
3. 1 are among the neat items in this
month's New Products.

26 cli directory

by Keith Cameron

Keith continues the glossary of

AmigaDOS terminology.

28 Bug Bytes

by John Steiner

Bug fix for February's Bug Bytes; Co-
processor selection on the A4000/30;
Expanding CDTV units; A2002 monitor
notes; Vortex board workaround.

59 ARexx

by Merrill Callaway

An ARexx program for ADPro to create

motion blur in animations.

'o8 Roomers

by The Bandito

NewTek, LightRave, CD-i, Commodore
Shareholder's Movement, 3D0, CD^^,
and of course, Commodore U.S.A. are
on The Bandito's list this month.

81 CD32 Reviews

Featured this month, Pirates! Gold
from Microprose, Diggers, Fire Force,
and Lock-n-Load, a collection of
shareware and public domain
software.

87 Diversions

This month: Dune II, Body Blows
Galactic from Team 1 7, Discovery: In
the Steps of Columbus, and Alien
Breed 2.

mmmsm

Editorial 6

List of Advertisers 80

Feedback... 34

Fred Fish Index 92

And Furthermore... 96

And fiirtliermore...

A4000 Tower

released on tli<

European front at

Cebit show.

Amazing Amiga

Amazing Comptilins For The Commoibtre AMIGA™

ADMINISTRATION

Publisher: Joyce Hicks

Amazing Computing For The Commodore Amiga''" (ISSN 1063-4647) is published
monthly by PiM Publications, inc. , CurranI Rood , P.O. Box2 1 40. Fall River. MA 02722-
2140. Phone 1-508-678-4200. 1-800-345-3360, and FAX 1-508 675-6002.

U.S. subscription rats is S29.95 foi one year. Subscrlpllons outside the US, are as
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all foreigrt rotes ore one-year only.

Second-Closs Postage paid at Foil River. tVI A 02722 and odditfonal mQilIng offices.

Assistant Publisher: Robert J. Hiclts
Administrative Assf.: Donna Viveiros
Circulation Manager: Doris Gamble
Asst. Circulation: Traci Desmarais

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PM Publications Inc., P.O. Box 2140, Fol!
RivSF.IvIA 02722-2140, Printed In the US. A, Entire contents copyright. 5 1993 by PiM
Publications. Inc. All rights reserved. No port of this public otion may be reproduced
without written permission from PiM Publications, Inc..

Traffic iVIanager: Robed Gambie
Production Manager: Ernest P. Viveiros

Additional First Class or Air Mail rates ovoiiobie upon reauest. PiM Publications, Inc.
maintains the right to refuse any advertising.

EDITORIAL

PiM Publications Inc. is not obligated to return unsolicited materials. All requested
returns must be received with a self-addressed stamped mailer.

Managing Editor: Don Hicl<s
Associate Editor: Jeffrey Gamble
Hardware Editor: Ernesl P, Viveiros Sr.

Send article submissions in both manuscript and disk format with your name.
oddress. telephone, and Social Security f^Jumber on each to the Associate Editor.
Requests for Author's Guides should be directed to the oddress listed above.

Video Consultant: Oran Sands
Art Consultant: Perry Kivolowit;

AMIGA™ Is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amigo, Inc..
Commodore Business f^ochines. International

Illustrator; Brian Fox

Contributing Editor: l^erriil Callaway

Csstitsutoied in the U.S. & ConcWa by

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ADVERTISING
Advertising Coordinator: Trad Desmarais

1-508-678-4200, 1-800-345-3360, FAX 1 -508-675-6002

Printed in U.S.A.

THE Amiga Imaging Specialists

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^ Amazing Compltixg

Got a Great Idea for a Program?
Make it Real with CanDo!

CanDo is a software aiUhoring system tliat gives you the power ol" a programming language, yet makes creating your
program's interface as easy as using a paint program. Because CanDo is tailor-made for the Amiga, all of the exciting
Graphics. Sounds, and mouse-driven Objects that are built into your computer arc at your llngertips. This gives you
everything you need to make your ideas come to life.

CanDo Makes real programs real easy.

Painlessly creating your interface is just the beginning. The key to making real programs is CanDo's English-like
.scripting language. Even if you're a beginner, you can slil! use CanDo's tools to write programs for you. While easy
to learn and use, the commands are so powerful you can create programs which would take 10 times longer to write
using a language such as C - even presuming you had years of programming experience.

CanDo Is programming far the rest of us...

Ordinary people all over the world are using CanDo to create real applications such as: databases, utilities, animated
multimedia presentations, kiosks, training systems, and all sorts of games. CanDo enables you to explore your
imagination and make the things you never thought you had the time or experience to do.

You CanDo It!

TRONICS

interoctive medi

InovQtronics, Inc. / 8499 Greenville Av^^ue /Tuite 209B / Dallas, TX 75231 / USA / Tel: |2 I4| :i40-4991 / FAX; (214) 340-8514
Inovotronics Ud. / Unil 1 1 . Enterprise Centre / Cronboine Road / Pollers Bai / He.ifordshire / EN6 3DQ / ENGlAND / Tel: +44-707^562861 / FAX; +44707^i60W2
Inovotromcs GmbH / Im Heidkamp 1 1 / W-5000 Cologne 91 / GERMANY / Telephone +49-221-875126 / FAX +49-221-8704747

Circle 1 14 on Reader Service esrtt.

\EDITORIAlCOmT

Much Ado About Everything

Prelude

I have "lifted" a piece from Shakespeare for
the second month in a row (List month 1 stole
from H<inilet).My only excuse is that the current
atmosphere from Commodore, its dealers, stock-
holders, Amiga users, and others sounds more
likcscenes from a Shakespearean repertory com-
pany every day.

Act 1 Scene 1
Sililoquy To A Board of Directors

Jeff Nioskow, a L.5. Amiga dealer with
Slipped Disk in Madison Heights, Michigan
called me shortly after returning from the Com-
modore Board of Director's meeting held in the
Bahamas on March 2, He h,id heard that there
was n lot being rumored about uhat occurred at
the BOD of C and he wanted to make certain that
we had the correct information.

InppreciatedJeff'scail.Bythetimehespoke
with me, I had heard a dozen d i f ferent accounts
of what had transpired at the meeting. 1 had
been told that the meeting lasted less than ten
minutes (almost everyone agreed to (his). I had
been told that the Board had gone through the
meeting with a script (one report said it was so
bad that at one point a board member apolo-
gized for starting to read another member's
part). ! had heard that the shareholder's move-
ment group had been able to give a fair and
influential presentation and 1 also heard that the
same group was considered ill prepared and
emotional.

Wha 1 1 had heard about Jeff \vas tliat he had
also been emotional and that the board \vas
unmoved. When 1 told Jeff this, he remarked
that that was not how it went, thai the board had
been recepti\'e, and that they had responded to
his points. In order to defend himself against the
rumors, Jeff asked if I would like to see a tran-
script of what he had said at the meeting. I not
only agreed, hut I told him 1 would print it.

Jeff Moskow to Commodore Board

"I'm sure there are some in this room wiio
feel that it is a magnanimous gesture when the
president of a troubled company '\'oluntarily'
takes a pay cut from SI million to 5750,000. As a
dealer whohas gone months without anv moni-
tors, who has gone months \vilhout anv Amiga
12U0 computers, there are adjectives other than
magnanimous that I'd u.se."

"I'm sure the question man\' dealers, stock-
holders, employees past and present have is
why, after years of financial disasters, after a
marketing program that lacks focus and vision,
after theamalcurish firingofiVlr. Rattigen which
look SIO million of resources which our com-
pany desperately needs, why after all this are
we left with the same top management?"

"With the changes in boards of directors all
across the coimtry, from IBM to CM where ive
see directors taking an aclive role in turning
armmd troubled companies, whv are we left
with what appears to be a 'rubber slamp' board
of directors?"

" In closing 1 ha vc got to con fess an undying
respect and admiration for General .Alexander
Maig. Years ago he found himself with a presi-
dent who was ineffective, who people had lost
confidence in and ^vhose decision making was
being called into queslion. Mr. Haig had the
courage to cons'ince that President to resign... I
onl\' hope that history repeats itself."

Jeff's points are well taken. They are only
slightlv diminished because the focus of his
scorn, the individual in charge of practically all
day today Commodore Business, was not avail-
able toattervd this less than regular meeting. His
presence was urgently needed eisev^'here. By
the looks of Mr. Moscow's rejnarks above and
those of countless other A miga owners, dealers,
and producers, they were right — his presence
has most definitely been requested anywhere
than behind the president's desk at Commo-
dore hiternational- My one regret is that we
ha\'e been unable to get ClL's President, Mehdi
Ali, to discuss these problems and possible so-
lutions "on the record."

Act 1 Scene 2
Dilulu's Caldron

While fire and yaivns were beingoxchanged
in the Bahamas, the electronic networks in the
U.S. were busy brow beating one of CBM L'.S. A.'s
last executives. Theston,' goes that John Dilulu,
CBM's head of marketing (and a whole lot more
these days), said somediscouraging \\-ord5 about
Amiga dealers and Amiga users to a couple of
American dealers at the Winter CES this past
January. Tlie dealers were more than a little
perturbed at the rebuff and made Mr. Dilulu's
statements public on the net\vorks. Naturally
everyone who read the remarks went ballistic.
The wires heated up and basically fried Mr.
Dilulu before he had a chance to respond.

In response, Mr. Dilulu, with an assistance
from Leiv Eggebrecht, will be on CompuServe
(according to an inside source) and attempt to
straighten out both what he said and what he
meant. Whether this ^\-ill be a live conference or
a posting with response to questions, i do not
know. What 1 do find interesting is that this is
necessary at all.

In Mr. Dilulu's defense, 1 don't know
whether he said those things to his own dealers
or not. Why would the head of marketing e\'er
act that wa\'? 1'et, how could the dealers have
misunderstood him so completeiv?

1 was also at CES and 1 can assure you, after
four days of constantly defending and promot-
ing the .Amiga and CD'-, it would be easy to
understand if, out of frustration and fatigue,
John Dilulu answered a question from a dealer
with less than the perfect answer. That is no
excuse. Weall luiderstand \ve are judged by the
moment and not our entire body of work —
ivhich is why our mothers always told us to be
on our best beha\ior. But il is understandable.

It is also understandable for two dealers,
upon hearing these words and being at a similar
stage o f frustration and fatigue, to feel there was
no excuse for such behavior and placed the
offending words in the public domain. As Jeff
Mosko\v demonstrated above, Amiga dealers
also face problems and many of those problems
come back to the things Commodore has or has
not done to help their business.

Act 1 Scene 3
Questioning

The Commodore .Amiga is a very good
computer. None of these problems appear to be
a question of Amiga quality or the platform's
ability. How have we come to the point that
loyal Amiga users consistcntiv beat-up on Com-
modoreate\ery opportunity? 1 know thatthere
are literalh' thousands of reasons whv these
actions occur. The reasons stem from countless
injustices that loyal .Amiga u.sers and dealers
contribute to Commodore. My question is not
about the reasons. My question is only why is
this so?

Loyal computer fans are never as loyal to
the maker of the computer platform as to the
computer itself. Apple has disappointed its us-
ers many times o\'er with erratic price struc-
tures, confused product lines, and an attitude
that at one time said .Apple lis fore\'er and a vear
later only sold Macintoshes. If anyone ever
wanted to define a Goliath company who had
consistently placed its corporate needs above
those of its consumers, IBM would be the best
case, Hovs'cver, both IBM and Apple hai'e a
radical following and superb market acceptance.
Why is Commodore so maligned?

The main question is \vhv are Amiga oivn-
ers so quick to believe the worst? V\niat is special
about the assortment of factors which comprise
the Amiga market that has made Commodore a
target for our scorn? Is it this same scorn that
makes Commodore executives feel so em-
battled? Is it this ten.sion between user and
producer that has escalated into a completely
ineffectual stream of bitter feelings between the
two groups?

Wecannot move the .Amiga further until we
answer these questions. Conmiodore will not
entice new users if old users are \ocallv disen-
franchised. Use rscannotget the computer equip-
ment they need and the support they want if
Commodore has gone deaf to their requests. We
are a marketplace that must work together, but
first we mtist understand why we are so far
apart.

End of Act 1

To be continued,..

Don Hicks
Managing Editor

Amaz/ag Computixg

ART DEPARTMENT PROFESSIONAL VERSION 2.5

The Best Don't Rest

ADPro is
ie only
nage proces
or to consis-
ntly rank in
ie Amiga's top
best sellers.

ADPro has won the
^mazing Computing Reader's
;hoice Award every time

ADPro is now more powerful and
asier to use than ever before

\/ith the track record and reputation
iDPro has earned, you might think we'd be
ontent to rest on our medals. Fat chance.

T fact, we've just made our biggest improvements
ver, including:

An all new (totally style
uide compliant) user inter-
ice where no major feature
; more than a mouse click
way

Support for many new
raphics boards including
le Video Toaster, Retina,
'icasso II and all EGS
ompatibles

Over 100 pre-written ARexx
programs ready to go

The best poster printing around,
especially on the new FARGO Primera
Dye Sub Printer

More special hardware support (like
the DPS PAR and Digital Broadcaster)

More image formats • More tutorials

More image processing operators
• And the list just keeps on going

= you're a seasoned professional, ADPro has been listed as a "Must
lave" for years. And if you're just starting out, you can't make a safer,
nore secure choice than the easiest-to-use ADPro ever.

io see your dealer right away and get the best — get ADPro!

PROFE53fNM
Madi CaiY

/frtog"-- '

Circle 102 on Reader Service card.

. _ __ -_ Circle 102 on Header service cara.

A ^P Ci 925 Stewart St. Madison, Wl 53713 (608) 273 - 6585

■ '■ »r^>«:^ . . n„,„^„, p,„,,«5inn-, i. , reoistered trademark of ASDG. Incorporated. Other trademarks are the property of their respective hole

NEW

PRODUCTS

and ot^e^f^ ne^at^ta^^

Family Tree Tracking

Your Family Tree GEDCOM

MVP Software announced Your Family Tree GEDCOM
($25), which works in conjunction with Your Family
Tree v2.0 or later to convert the information to GEDCOIVI
format and vice versa. Use GEDCOM to create either
a new database or add to existing data files. Also,
convert GEDCOM data to the Tiny Tafel format which
Is used to summarize the family names you are re-
searching in order to correlate data with others re-
searching the same lines.

MVP Software, P.O. Box 458, Allquippa. PA 15001,
(412)378-0411
Inquiry #207

Postscript Character Monipulatior^

Montage Postscript Module

The Montage Postscript Module ($299.95) allows MT-
Toaster and MT-24 Amiga owners to scale Postscript
fonts in real time at a Ins effective resolution. Users
can also add all of the special text effects the prog rams
offer to Postscript fonts. It comes complete with ten
special Postscript fonts with international characters.
Available in NTSC or PAL.

Innovision Technology, 1933 Davis St.. Ste 238, San
Leandro. CA 94577, (510) 638-0800. Fax (510) 638-
6453
Inquiry #209

Easy Editing for CanDo Decks

CD_ADE

CD_ADE\s a tool allowing CanDo authors the ability to edit their decks and
sub-decks in their favorite text editor. This tool requires CanDo 2.0 or higher.
By-passing the need to enter an object before being able to edit a script or
routine, CD_ADE allows the user to work with an entire deck as a text file;
create generic INCLUDE libraries of commonly used objects, scripts, and
routines; quickly change the order of all the objects in the deck using the cut/
copy/paste features of a text editor; globally search and replace variables,
objects, or code; and quickly locate segments of code so that you can recall
the lines of text but not the object that contains them.
Creative Logic, P.O. Box 743271, Dallas, TX 75374, (214) 432-9824,
Fax (214) 393-0007
Inquiry #208

Synchronicity

XSync

The XSync is an auto-configuring expan-
sion card which fits internally in the A2000,
3000, or 4000. Fully populated, it includes
a vertical interval time code reader, a lin-
eartime code reader, and dual serial ports.
The serial ports can be hardware config-
ured for RS-232, RS-422, or MIDI. The
time code readers on the card, may be
used to sync the Amiga with external
timecode from video or audio tape sources.
The serial ports provide two extra serial
channels for the Amiga.
ZEN Computer Services. 2 Silver Birch
Grove, Swinton, Manchester, M27 5FZ,
UK, +44-61-793-1931
Inquiry #221

Amazi,\g Computing

CATCH THIS.

Introducing FreshFish™ , a unique CD-ROM
series that provides the Amiga community
with hundreds of megabytes of the very latest
in freely redistributable software.
The FreshFish
CD-ROM series
is produced
directly by Fred
Fish, who has
been working to
supply Amiga
users with high-
quality, freely
redistributable
software since
the Amiga's
introduction in
1985. FreshFish
CDs, published
every 6 to 8
weeks, contain
over 100 Mb of

newly submitted material in both BBS ready
(archived) and ready-to-run (unarchived)
form. Also included are over 200 Mb of
ready-to-run GNU software (EMACS, C/C++
compiler, text processing utilities, etc.) with
full source code included, and up to 300 Mb of
other useful utilities, games, libraries, docu-
mentation and hardware/software reviews.

Two compilation CDs will also be available.
The FrozenFish™ series will be published
every 4 to 6 months as a compilation of the
most recent material from the FreshFish CDs.

GoldFish™,a
two disc CD-
ROM set, will
be available in
April 1994.
This set will
contain the
entire 1 ,000
floppy disk
"Fred Fish"
library in both
BBS ready and
unarchived
form!
FreshFish,
FrozenFish, and
GoldFish may be
purchased by
cash, check (US dollars). Visa, or MasterCard,
from Amiga Library Services for $19.95 each
(plus $3 shipping & handling in the U.S.,
Canada or Mexico, $5 elsewhere).
Fax or mail orders and inquiries to:
Amiga Library Services
610 North Alma School Road, Suite 18
Chandler, AZ 85224-3687 USA
FAX: (602) 917-0917

Circle 106 on Reader Service card.

MEW

PRORUCTS

Faster Processins for PC Side

Golden Gate 486SLC2

The Golden Gate 486SLC2 ($999) is built on the same card
design as tine vortex Golden GFate 486SLC. Tlie Goiden Gate
486SLC2 comes with a SOIVlHz 486SLC2 processor, 2.5IV1B
RAIVl. fioppy disk controller kit, and IDE hard drive interface.
The board contains four industry standard 30-pin SIMM sock-
ets and is expandable to 1 6MB RAM. There is also a socket for
an optional 80C387SX-25 math coprocessor. The Golden
Gate uses the Amiga serial and parallel ports and the Amiga
mouse is emulated as a Microsoft serial mouse.
GMR Productions. 3835 Richmond Ave., Ste. 138, Staten
Island. NY 10312, (718) 967-1509. Fax (718) 948-0893
Inquiry ^2 W

Multi-lingual Word Processing

Rashumon 2.3

Rashumon 2.3 is a new version of the nnulti-lingual

word processor for the Amiga, This version has full
Postscript support including Type-1 multi-lingual fonts.
Other new features include a multi-lingual keymapping
system, new font manipulation functions, and AGA
support,

HarmonySoft, 69 Jabotinsky St, Givatayim 53319, Isreal,
Fax +972-3-315-967
Inquiry #21 1

Network News

TSSnet v2.5

This version of TSSnet (S395) supports SANA-II Ethernet
communications. Commodore'sSANA-ll Nslwork Device Driver
Specification provides a standard software interface between
networking hardware and software. This allows multiple net-
works to share the same Ehternet card. Other features of
TSSnet 2.5 include a new manual, mail fonwarding, improved
node listing in the network Control Program, and improved
AmigaDOS 2,0 support.

Tirunder Ridge. Inc.. N9353 Benson Rd, Brooklyn, NY, 53521,
(608) 455-1039, Fax (608) 455-1317
Inquiry #212

P^ Moving Mention...

Design Mirage

Design Mirage, your interactive multimedia specialist has

moved. The new address is:

101 North Spring St., Ste. 2200

Bellefonte, PA 16823

(814) 353-9051

Fax (814) 353-9060

Inquiry #213

Ranting & Raving

Ligh1Rave3.1

Warm & Fuzzy Logic announced the latest update to
their revolutionary LightRave product. LightRave v3. 1
($499) is now totally compatible with the 3.1 version of
Lightwave 3D. Other features of the new release in-
clude faster HAM rendering, complete PAL compatibil-
ity, easier installation, and custom resolutions. LightRave
requires Lightwave 3D 2.0 or later to operate.
Warm & Fuzzy Logic. 2302 Marrioi Road, Richmond,
VA 23229, (804) 285-4304
Inquiry #214

^^^^■j

^^^^^1

[\\UU\l

llie 'Rmttiiimulfdor

■

^' Wum and 9\.\7.7y logic

Get your product listed in AC'S New Products &

other neat stuff. Send press releases and review

copies to:

New Products

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140

Fall River, MA 02722

10 A3fAzr.\c; Computimg

^mi »

Resolution

•1 •]

from your AMIGA'
DTP & Graphic
Documents

v/:iriauiHiMiiv4iiiiilliiirMk'iair.(UMiininil[ifiii«UiiHiiiyvilttBiiuviaiiiiiiiik»<irilVK'iiJiaih:u4iiiiiit< v>ci'<jii'jiit4

bureau that recognizes your AMIGA file formats. Your search is over. Give us a call!

We'll imagesct your AMIGA graphic files to RC Laser Paper or Fihn at 2400 dpi (up to 154 Ipi)
at a extremely competitive cost. Also available at competitive cost are quality Dupont
ChromaCheck™ color proofs of your color separations/films. We provide a variety of pre-press
services for the desktop publisher.

Who are we? We are a division of PiM Publications, the publisher of Amawig Computing for the
Commodore AMIGA, We have a staff that really knows the AMIGA as well as the rigid
mechanical requirements of printers/publishers. We're a perfect choice for AMIGA DTP
imagesetting/prc-press services.

We support nearly every AMIGA graphic & DTP format as well as most Macintosh™ graphic/DTP formats.
For specific format information, please call.

For more information call l''800-345'3360

I Just ask for the service bureau representative.

MEW

Team 17 CD>^ Double
Packs

Team 17 has released two
double packs of games for
CD3=. Project X and F1 7 Chal-
lenge features the classic
Amiga shoot-em-up Project X
and F17 Challenge arcade
racing game. Alien Breed
Special Edition and Quack
features the space adventure
of Alien Breed and the cute
platform game Quack. All
games remain more or less
unchanged from the original
Amiga releases, although they
have been adapted to make
use of the CD^^ gamepad and
its buttons. More titles are on
the way.

Team 17, Marwood House,
Graden St,, Wakefield, West
Yorkshire, WF1 1DX. UK,
0924-291867
Inquiry #215

Turbo Plus Extension

The Turbo Plus Extension is
specially designed for AMOS
and AMOS Pro. It attaches to
the AMOS or AMOS Profes-
sional system and gives you
130 new high-speed com-
mands. Turbo Pius allows the
creation and manipulation of
maps and levels that are hun-
dreds of screens wide and tall
with a minimum of memory.
More features include easy
use of full color graphictext as
well as the ability to move
hundreds of stars under inter-
rupt control; manipulate indi-
vidual bitplanes and bitwise
operators; replace zone com-
mands with more flexible fast
check commands; and create
and manipulate vector ob-
jects.

Playtieldl, P.O. Box 450884,
Sunrise, PL 33345-0884,
(305) 848-7969, Fax (305)
846-8338
Inquiry »216

CAD Quarterly Commences

XPress

A quarterly newsletter for Amiga users of all experience levels interested in 2-D and 3-D CAD.
Written by professionals using the Amiga, content is primarily focused on X-CAD Pro and X-
C-4D3DwithregularfeaturearticlesonDynaC/^DD, P/an 3.0, and /I utoC/^D. Coverage includes
reviews of commercial and PD software, tips and techniques, commentary and graphics topics
such as painting, 3-D modelling, and desktop publishing.

Bob Miller-Rhees, 8231 NE Paulanna Lane, Bainbridge Island. WA 98110, (206) 842-6331
Inquiry ^2 17

Major MediaPoint Update

Media Point release 127

Activa announced the release of the latest update to their Med/aPo/nfpackage. This release has
a host of improved features including faster dithering of pictures, fast calculation of best color
palette, special genlock remapping, importing of DBase files with selectable record fields,
improved broadcast limits, and the ability to save pages as IFF files for use in other programs.
The player has also been improved so that 24-bit pictures can now be shown on AA machines
in 256 colors without remapping them in the page editor.

Activa International, EEMNESSERWEG 51-A, 1251 NBLarenNH, The Netherlands, 31-2153-
80-639, Fax 31-21 53-80-679
Inquiry #218

Creative Coding

CopyCode 2.0

CopyCode 2.0 ($25) is a Morse code trainer for the Amiga. Audio frequency, volume, weight,
character formation, lesson length, and hide/show text are adjustable by the user. CopyCode
2.0 contains all the characters on the FCC exam and more. Practice with 14 predefined
character groups or create your own groups using the unique on-screen keyboard. CopyCode
contains thousands of random but repeatable character sequences. Lessons may be recorded
and printed.

Sensible Software Solutions, 4951 -D Clairmont Square, Ste. 262, San Diego, CA 92117-2798,
(619) 453-9446
Inquiry #219

Making

Interactive Digital Book on the History of Games

CBP Publications has just released Geofery Williams' History
of Games, a digital interactive hypertext book. It is marketed as
one of the most extensive games h istories ever written. It goes
beyond traditional publishing by incorporating a powerful graph-
ics based hypertext interface, allowing the reader to click on
Interactive '^°"^ °'' '^®^ words to jump to other subjects, follow hypertext
links, or play the game described inihe text. The topics covered
include board games, card and dice games, arcades, the
history of computer games, gambling, and more.
CBP, 1833 Verdugo Vista Drive, Glendale, CA 91208, (818)
240-9845
Inquiry #220

History

12 Amazing Computing

REVIEWS

ADl Junior

^1/ Eric Nixon

Five years ago, when I bought my
original Amiga 500, 1 was hoping my
very young children would oppreciare
the computer's user friendliness, while
being stimulated and entertained by
the wide variety of programs available.
Unfortunately, the number of educa-
tional software titles released has been
very limited and the quality, generally,
not up to the usual Amiga standard.
Thankfully, that situation is beginning to
change, due to the arrival of many high
quality imports from England.

Europress Software has developed
Into the leading creator of Amiga
educational products, starting with the
Fun School programs and their many
offspring, the ADl series, and now the
ADl Jun/or titles. ADl Junior is o modular
series buiit around a central "environ-
ment' that allows children as young os
four to learn obout the computer. The
modules subdivide the program into
Counting and Reading and age groups
Four/Five and Six/Seven; these are each
available as separate titles. The

program is compatible with ail Amigas.
even the AlOOO, and requires no
additionol memory.

The main environment is filled with
a myriad of activities for your child to try
out. They con click on virtually any item
on the main screen and discover
entertaining animations, including a
rocket ship that blasts off, orbits around,
and lands, a faucet that turns on in the
garden; creates a puddle, and has a
little fish jumping In It; ond on apple tree
with a hungry bird hiding in the leoves.

Whenever the yellow mouse
pointer hand turns red, it signals that
double clicking the mouse button will
lead your child Into one of the 1
programs on the environment disk. The
variety of these programs is astounding.
Your urchins will be introduced to a
clock that shows what events are taking
place at every hour of the day; o
garden where you plant seeds, watch
them grow, then pick the flowers; a
simple note pad. and d picture
construction game where you pick
various items and paste them on a
choice of landscopes. There is also a
poinring program, an hilarious portrait
game thot resembles a computerized
Mr. Potato Heod, a jigsaw puzzle gome,
end two non-educational games— one
a car racing program and the other a
simple Arkanold clone.

If this sounds like enough to fill a
disk, you are wrong. Nearly oil of the ten
activities include a discovery level,
where your kids can get a feel for the

May 1994 13

R G ^ I E n s

program, and three increasingly difficult
levels of learning. This allows children
from four to seven to start of the
discovery level and progress to the most
difficult level at their own speed, while
having fun the whole time, As with most
of ADI Junior's requesters, picking the
correct level is child's ptay. A box pops
up center screen with a clown Juggling
one, two, or three balls. With minimal first
time assistance, your children will master
this and oil the other requesters in the
program.

After many days and weeks of
enjoying the environment disk, your
children may start to osk, "What else
can we play?" . This is where the
modules come In, On two additional
disks youTI find the actuol educational
parts of the program, where your oge
four/five or six/seven children con learn
counting or reading. Each two disk set
contoins one age group and one
curriculum. This part of the program is
accessed by clicking on the school
house In the main environment. The
computer then prompts you to insert
one of the other disks; the disks are
clecriy labelled and most four year olds,
with a little initial instruction, should be
able to perform these disk swaps
without your help.

After the disk Is loaded, a new main
screen comes up with 15 more octivitles
specifically related to your child's age
and reading or counting requirements.
This section is still fun, but is noticeably
more structured; youf child will be asked
to solve real problems and will be
rewarded every five levels with a candy.
If you quit the program correctly, you'll
discover that one of the apples on the
tree in the main environment has been
replaced with a candy. This is o visible
record of your children's progress every
time they restart the program; you'll
enjoy seeing the smile on their faces
and the pride they have in their
accomplishments.

Almost Perfect

If I sound like i'm writing an
advertisement for ADI Junior, it's
because this is a nearly flawless series of
programs that will delight any child,
while giving them some solid learning.
Of course, that's not to say I don't hove
a few minor quibbles.

Occasionally, you'll run across
British words that are foreign to us, lorry,
the English word for truck, being the
most common. Rather than ignoring
them, I like to make these words into a
learning experience for my children; I
explain that a lorry is what they call a
truck in England, which is a countp/
across the ocean.

The game has an almost perfect
copy protection scheme for the age
group that's using It. There are two little
books, one with an elephant on the
cover and one with a cat. The child is
asked to find the animal on the correct
colored page that matches the one on
the screen, for example, a lion on the
yellow page. Beside the animal is a
shape. Match the shape to the correct
one on the screen and a little clown
jumps for joy. Choose the wrong shape
and he sobs uncontrollably. Everything is
visual - the animal, the color, and the
shope - except for the instructions to tell
you whether to choose the elephant or
cat book. These are written out os
words. A small detail, but it spoils an
otherwise perfect copy protection
scheme.

After reading the combination PC/
Amiga manual, you'll discover the
Amiga version is missing a few of the PC
features, especially additional sound
modules and hard drive installability, The
Amiga version does not recognize a
second disk drive, so there is more disk
swapping than there should be. As well,
when you're prompted to inserf a new
disk, you must wait for a few seconds,
then click on the mouse button to get
the computer to recognize the new
disk.

In order to save your child's results
from the learning area, he or she must
exit the program correctly. This involves
clicking on the little computer screen In
the bottom right corner, waiting for the
disk prompt, inserting the environment
disk, waiting for it to load, then quitting
the moln environment. The total time is
several minutes. This can be a bit of a
headache, because when children this
age decide they're finished playing,
they mean it. You'll be hard-pressed to
get them to hang around for an extra
five minutes, but if they don't, they'll
lose accumulated candies and lower
their overall scores.

Copying the Copy

if you have two children using the
same program, you might be advised to
make an extro copy of your disks. I'm
not sure this is strictly legal, but it will
save you some teary eyes later on. The
program is really set up for one child to
use. In our household, my six year old
son got to the program first and
managed to coilect lots of candies on
the easiest levels: once a level is
completed you don't get any more
candies. This left only the more difticult
levels for my four year old daughter.
Consequently, she has never been oble
to earn any sweets for herself, a major
blow to her young ego. If I'd known this
before, 1 would have had each child
work on a separate copy of the
program.

These are such minor problems, I
feel almost embarrassed mentioning
them. Overall, ADI Junior is so thor-
oughly entertaining and educational.

ADI Junior

Europress Software Limited

Europo House, Adiington Park,

Macclesfield, England

SK10 4NP

0625 859333

Inquiry #222

14 AAiAZf,\G Computing

REVIEWS

Mus/ci.ob-/FS (MLIFS) from Digital
Expressions Research is like HollyWare's
MustoX with on ottitude. It is also loosely
related to software from anothier
developer. PIXound from
Hologramoptior-ie, in that they both
operate by tronsformirig visual data into
audible sound, But MLIFS is radically
different from even its closest neighbor
in how it does what it does. Digital
Expressions Research has another
product that I wrote on in an earlier
/Amoz/ng issue: Video Music Box. I
mention it to point out that one
developer con creote two products as
different from eoch other as night and
day. While Video Music Box produces
wonderful melodic soundtracks that are
universally adaptable to 99% of any
commercial soundtracking needs you
might have, MUFS Is a tool meant to
delight the more experimental com-
puter musician, Not that you can't use it
to develop video soundtracks as well.
As long as the visuals you ore targeting
take on some of the some experimental
edges.

The MLIFS manual is very thorough
and clear, and it's a good thing too.
The areas of exploration in sound it
offers are phenomenal, and without the
qualify of its documentation the user
would be hard pressed to achieve
creative access to the tools.

What MLIFS does

Simpiy put, this software allows you
to Import (and even create) various
f rectal images and then it takes the

MusicLab-IFS

R. SImmirts Mortier

same data as an instructional path for
sound generation. It works with a
maximum of eight "frocks" or "chan-
nels" (in the cose of MIDI), each of
which hold either an 8svx internal Amiga
sound sample or address a specific MIDI
channel (chosen from 1 to 16). In case
you're wondering, you can also address
both internal 8svx and MIDI samples at
the some time, as long as your somples
fit info the eight instrument tracks
provided. This is one aspect that again
makes me think of Music-X's same
option, except that Music-X allows more
than eight channels.

A simple walk through of its
operation is in order. The primary
building block of MLIFS is an "IFS code".
IFS codes can be either fractal or non-
fractal. This "code" is a specific type of
algorithm, and usually consists of from
two to twenty afflne transforms. A
transform combines a rotation and/or a
scaling with a fronsiation. Each of these
transformations in MLIFS has seven
coefficients, six representing the actual
transformation ond the seventh the
probobilify of its use. All of the data
associated with each transform is
editable, and appears on screen in
graphic os well as numeric form. There
is a more technical explanation of these
terms in an appendix in the monuol. A
thick library of IFS codes resides on the
disk.

Selecting an IFS code and loading
it info the program is the first step in the
process. From there. "Render" is
selected on the screen. The shape of
the rendered data begins to appeor,
becoming clearerondcleareras the
iterations progress. It is suggested in
the manual that you use the dato after
only a few thousand iterations, and shut
rendering down at that time. I have,
however, allowed the process to
continue to about 100,000 iterations,
providing more data so that the
resulting composition was thicker (more
sound), A minimalist might do the
opposite.

Next, one selects the "Score'
button. The data thot appeors by
default in one color (yellow) on the
graphic screen now is tronslated into a
multicolored "score". This score can be
played by simply clicking the mouse, It
loops until stopped. The score created
can also be saved for later retrievol and
play. You con layer as many IFS codes
over each other as desired, even
modifying areos of some of them in the
process (magnification creates blockier
and slower sounds), When you are
satisfied with a score, It can be
translated into a "sequence", and saved
out OS o standard MIDI or SMUS file.
Figure two demonstrates what an MLIFS
score looks like when saved out as a
MIDI file and imported Into DMusic 2.0.
Most serious Amiga music applications
allow you to import MIDI files, and some
address the SMUS configuration as well.
This means that the results achieved in
MLIFS can be ported to 99% of other
Amiga music packages without a glitch.

e,8s

8,85
-8.26

-8,85

8,13

8.3

8.75
8,84
8,29

8,22
8

9.17

8,16
8,16
8,17

e.66E

8,81

8,18^

Figure 1. The visual here, originating
from a MLIFS IFS code called "Fern", is
transformed into instructionol data that
MLIFS uses to form the basis of a
playable musical score.

May 1994 IS

REVIEWS

Optional Tweaking

If all you could do was to create
scores by following the simple mettiod
above, MUFS would be a bargain. But
ttie tale is deeper yet. This software is
loaded with options that allow you to
finely hone your composition in a
variety of ways, Let's look at some of
them.

First, as hinted at earlier, you can
alter the imported IFS codes in two
ways: by reworking the numerical data
and by altering the graphicol structure.
The first operation is easily accom-
plished by simply t/ping new numbers
into the seven associated string boxes.
The second operation is not as obvious.
The graphical data is contained in the
codes skeletal underpinning, associated
triangular structures with moveable
control points, automatically creating
new coded data. There is a quick render
feature which allows you to preview the
new structure.

MUFS allows you to define and use
scalar PreSets in your musical creations.
By bringing up a PreSet menu, you can
scroU through a list of choices for up to
32, Choice cannot be edited or
changed, It is a chromatic scale, and
with most IFS coded scores, produces
the most cocophonous results. Other
choices abound in the list, however, like
pentatonic, whole tone, diminished,
dominant, end modal scales. These
shape your creations into more pleasing
sound structures. You can apply these
presets in real time white your composi-

Above right: Figure 2. Here we see the

"Fern" score after it was saved out as a

sequenced MIDI file and imported into

DMusic 2.0. From here, it can obviously

be tweaked further and saved out

again for performance or recording.

Right: Figure 3. MUFS tias a wealtti of

options that allow you to reconfigure the

output before a score is either played or

saved. For MIDI users, MW$ allows the

adjustment and alteration of samples

and A/IIDI channels, as well as diverse

orctiestrotion and the monipulalion of

parameter limiling.

tion is playing by accessing the "Apply
PreSet" window. This allows you to alter
the "Root" of ony scale (from C to B)
and also to choose from any of the
Presets in an instant. The sounds
change accordingly. This is especially
effective when using a MIDI moaule.

Another alteration MUFS allows is
the editing of the scores Orchestration
Parameters. Here you can cause each of
the eight ports to generate from to 4
voices, while setting the high and low
notes sounded by each instrumental
channel (89 to CO). The "Resolution'
of a score indicates what the nototed
value of a sequence will be, from whole
notes to various triplets to sixteenths.
A "Parameters" menu allows the
alteration of transposition options for
each of the eight tracks, MIDI patch
(sample) numbers, prioritization levels,
and left/right Pans for stereo systems.

A separate "Filter Definitions"
window allows you to create your own
scalar patterns, though I must confess
that the on-board library of patterns
already is chock full of most of the ones
you will need. By indicating your one
octave scale with an on-screen key-
board, you con create all of the Western
scales necessary.

The Note Editor

it's not necessory to export your
compositions in order to do some major
tweaking — MUFS has Its own Hoie
Editor. Here you can set the time
signature, insert parts, adjust octave
porameters.ondpreview-piaythe
results.

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.ons Research

1 tiB8;|B7$

l6 Amazing Computing

REVIEWS

The One-Stop-Music-Shop

Blue Ribbon SoundWorks' One-
Stop-Music-Shop, a fine synth engine on
a card, is fast becoming on accepled
standard for Amiga musicions. it
couidn'f be easier to address from
within MLiFS. Just go to the OSMS
directory and ciici< on the "Loop Bock'
option, making sure you have a seriai
cable connected to your MiDi box from
the computer. Voiial MLiFS addresses ail
the OSMS MIDI samples!

Suggestions

Ttie first is to enlarge the instrument
tracks to sixteen, the standard MIDI limit.
This would allow thicker layering of
samples, and more variable frocks.
Secondly, an addendum to the manual
to provide a more in-depth tutorial on
what actually happens when on IFS
code is edited, either graphically or
numerically (though a reference is
made in the manual to suggested
further readings). This would allow users
to develop a better understanding of
how certain editing principles effect the
coded outcome. I imagine this informa-
tion would be rather deep and limited
to those users who are attracted to
experimenting in this orea, but it might
also invite the accumulation of knowl-
edge by those unaware of the bridge
between moth and visualization, and
would be a terrific tool for learning in
the clossroom as well. Third, make the
IFS skeletal triangles splined sources, so
that unique curved surfaces would
result. Perhaps the math involved would
be too complex for the Amiga to
handle, but what a possibility for
experimentationi

Conclusions

Anyone who likes to experiment
with music creation on the Amiga, from
the novice to the professional, would
find this software useful. I think you'll find
it all the more valuable if you have a
MIDI synth connected, but it also has
the capacity to do some very interest-
ing things with on-boord 8svx samples. It
is not copy protected, and will work with
WB 1.3 and beyond, requiring only 1MB
RAM in the process. The manual that
accompanies it is a terrific aid in the

learning and creative process, Digital
Expressions Research is working on an
upgrade that should be available by
mid-Spring or before. Nice stuff I

MuslcLab-IFS

Digital Expressions Research

W6400 Firelane 8

Menasha, Wl 54952

(414) 733-6863

Inquiry #223

Comments?

Wrtie to the author:

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140

Fall River, MA 02722-2140

M ike 24-Ba

U;eTkt*«JtSal!!

6^5

TheTAlO/S/

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J: . Lowest Cost

Price Video Option

ftetargetable Graphics
FCC Approved
Paint Progra'Ti
ZorroII&III
6U-Bit Display Controller
t^ultJmonitor Support

EG5

Workbench Efniilation
PrograTifnable resolution ^^

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Tech Support (8 1 0) 960-8750

Sales (810)960-8751

Fax (8 10) 960-8752

The E^5lc
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Circle 1 94 on Reader Service card.

May 1994

REVIEWS

MicroBotics MBX-1200z

Rob Haifs

The Amiga 12CX3 is a great
computer right out of the box.
including the Advanced Graphic
Architecture chipset, a 68EC020
CPU running of ld.3 MHz, two mega-
bytes of Chip RAM, an industry standard
PCIs/lCIA slot, and IDE hard drive
intertoce built in. However, it is a fact of
life dictated by the Amiga's hardware,
that programs operate slower when
forced to use Chip RAM exclusively. This
is because the custom coprocessors will
interrupt the main processor when they
need to manipulate graphic or sound
data that must be stored in Chip RAM.
The solution to this problem is to add

what is known as Fast RAM to the
system. In fact, it is called "Fast" RAM
because the CPU doesn't hove to wait
for the coprocessors in order to use it.

With the Amiga 1200 there are two
ways to add Fast RAM to the system; the
PCMCIA slot, and the expansion
connector located in the so-called
"belly slot" on the bottom of the
computer. Adding RAM via the PCMCIA
doesn't increase the performance of
the system, and may actually slow it
further. This is becouse RAM odded here
is only 16 bits wide, and since the
68EC020 is a 32-bit processor, it has to
access the RAM twice for ever/

operation. Ram added to the internal
slot can be 32 bits wide, and thus
impose no performance penalty to the
system.

Since the release of the Amiga
1 200, there have been many different
products releosed to take advantage of
this internal slot and enhonce the
computer, These range all the woy from
boards that odd only a battery booked
cSocl<, to boards thot include 68040
processors, RAM, and SCSI interfaces.
The one l chose falls midway between
these extremes in both price and
features,

The MicroBotics MBX1200Z
includes a real time clock, 32-bit RAM,
and a math coprocessor. The clock is
used by the system for date-time stamps

Table I

Test

Base

FPU

32 bit

Ram & FPU

EmuTest

2.56

5.07

WritePixel

3720.10

3720.11

5520.84

5520.80

Sieve

15.29

15,29

12.67

Dhrystone

3267.51

3267.55

5917.32

5917.31

Sort

22.10

15.39

Ellipse

13.02

9.56

Matrix

6.48

4.04

4.40

IMaih

11.05

8.94

MemTesi

3.30

7.25

TGTest

1065.28

1065.27

1282.90

1282.94

LineTest

1295.10

1295.16

1382,51

1382.43

Savage

332.24

5.99

190.27

5.98

FMath

41.87

6.92

21,78

6.85

FMatrix

13.78

10.56

8.18

8.74

BeachBall

305.51

35.77

176,28

30.38

InstTest

809,143.89

809.142,52

1,647,441.88

1,647,440.30

Flops
TranTest

0.0135

0.1859

0.0235

0.1941

427.11

22.20

241.41

14.54

F 1 race

230.22

8.82

132.54

8.10

CplxTest

20.79

14.09

11.50

9.40

18 Amazisg Compvti\o

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$999*

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Circle 120 on Reader Seryrce card.

REVIEWS

on files, ond also by any program that
displays the time or date on screen,
such OS Commodore's Clock program
provided v/ith Workbench. A standard
lithium watch battery maintains the time
and date when your system is turned
off. and should last three to five years.
Replacing it is a simple matter of sliding
the old battery out and the new one in.
These batteries currently sell for less than
five dollars.

The MBX1200Z supports the
Motorola coprocessors, olso known as
Floating Point Units, or FPU's, because of
the type of math they ore designed to
perform. A 14.3 MHz 68881 math chip is
standard with the board, and 25 or 50
MHz 68882 chips ore optional. These
chips will speed up most math-intensive
programs tremendously. If creating ray-
traced scenes is your favorite computer
post time, you definitely need a moth
coprocessor.

32-bit RAM is added to the board
via a SIMM socket, SIMM stands for
Single Inline Memory Module, and has
become a standard way of odding
RAM to many computer systems. Each
SIMM is a separate printed circuit board
containing RAM chips and support
components. There are mony different
types of SIMMs ovoilable, so if you plan
to supply a SIMM yourself for the
MBX120QZ, be certain to obtain the
proper type, This board uses the same
type of SIMM as the Amiga 4000. o 72-
pin SIMM organized as 1 , 2, 4, or 8

Correction

In the April 1994 issue of

Amazing Coinputiui^, AC 'J.4, we

listed an iiicoirect iiddress for

Interactive Video Systems in the

Mo^ ieMaker review. Tiie correct

address is:

IVS

14S(M Beach Blvd.

LaMirada, C.\ 90638

(714)228-2040

Fax (714) 228-0348

BBS (714) 537-2751

megabytes by 32 bits. Since the board
has only one socket, be sure you know
how much 32-bit RAM you will need
before buying.

The documentation Included with
the board consists of a single, double-
sided sheet. This may sound skimpy, but
it odequately covers installation of the
board and SIMM, setting the four
jumpers to configure the board, and a
troubleshooting section. A floppy disk is
also included with nnemory testing
software.

Installation of the board normally
consists of removing the hotch cover on
the bottom of the Amiga 1200. lining up
the connectors, and pushing the board
home. For some reason, however. 1 was
unable to install the board in my
computer this way. After many at-
tempts, I finally removed the case as if I
were installing a hard drive. With this
done, I could see that the metal shield
over the motherboard extended far
enough into the expansion compart-
ment that it interfered with the
MBX1200Z, The solution involved
loosening the screws holding the shield
and raising it up enough to allow the
connectors to meet. The entire process
took only a few minutes, much less than
I had spent trying to install the board
normally. This oppears to be a rare
problem, as l have heard no other
reports of problems instailing this
particular board. Be warned that
opening the case may void any
remaining warranty on your computer,
unless done by an outhorized service
person.

Once installed, the design of the
MBX1200Z places the components and
Jumpers toward the outside of the
computer. This makes it a simple matter
to add or change SIMMs, or change the
configuration jumpers with the board
remaining installed in the computer.

OK, how much of a difference
does 32-bit Fast RAM or a FPU chip really
moke? To find out, I used version 6.5 of
LoMonte Koops' excellent program,
Amiga Intuition Based Benclimarl<s. AIBB
includes 20 tests to evaluate system
performance on the CPU and chip
level. Input/output and disk operations
are not tested. What follows is o list of
the tests performed, and what form the
results ore reported in.

Tests such as these are mainly
useful in making comparisons between
systems, rather than os absolute
indicators of system performance. All of
the tests were conducted on the same
Amiga 1200, with the only difference
being the addition of the MiBX1200z
board. Configuration jumpers were set
to enable or disable the 32-bit RAM,
and AIBB used 69020 compatible
instructions. I ran the test series four
times. First with the standard system,
next with the utilization of the FPU, but
no RAM. The third test run utilized the 32-
bit f?AM but not the FPU, and finally with
both the RAM and FPU enabled. Table 1
contains the results. When broken down
this way, it is easy to see which opera-
tions benefitted from the 32-bit RAM,
and which benefit from the FPU.

!n the following tests, o higher
number indicates better performance,
in all other tests, a lower number
indicates better performance: EMUTest,
WritePixel, Drystone MemTest, TGTest,
LineTest, InstTest, and Flops. MicroBotics
has been supplying peripherals for the
Amiga since the original Amigo 1000
was released, and has always had a
reputation for quality products. When I
called the supplied tech support phone
number, a recording advised that the
MicroBotic product line had been
purchased by a company named
Paravision. The recording went on to say
that technical and support personnel
from MicroBotics had been hired by
Paravision. When I colled the new
phone number. 1 received fast, courte-
ous answers to my questions.

Unless you really need a much
more powerful CPU. or the flexibility of a
SCSI interface, the MBX 12002 is an
excellent choice, it provides the Amiga
1200 with o significant performance
boost at a modest price.

MicroBotics

1251 American Parkway

Richardson, TX 75081

(214)437-5330

Fax (214) 437-9714

Inquiry #224

A .\tAXt.\<, Cum I'l ti.\g

R E V I E n «i

OctaMED Pro v5,0

R. Shawms Mortier

OctaMED is the rave music
program in Europe, and has been for
quite some time. As an Amiga musician
and soundtracl< designer, I can tell you
ttiat OctoMED's reputation as deep
music software is based upon options,
uniqueness, and application possibilities.
One reason that it is not as well known in
North America as in Europe has to do
with packaging. OctaMED boasts no
packaging, and even the documenta-
tion has to be ordered separately. This is
from the days when it started out as o
sharewore item, and old habits are not
broken easily. Not that it lacks docu-
mentation altogether. The software
comes with AmigaGuide help files. If
you're like me, you can even take the
time to clean them up (take out the
unnecessary code calls) and print them
out.

What makes OctaMED different?

The "Ocfa" in its title refers to the
fact that OctaMED can play eight (not
four) separate channels of internol
Amiga sounds at once, It is much more
geared as on Amiga internal sampled
sound player than as a MIDI accessory,
though it has MIDI capabilities too.
There is some loss in the quality of the
sounds when eight are targeted at the

same time, but not enough to interfere
with most opplications. The additional
sounds (from 5-8) are sounded by
mixing each with channels T-4, ond
then sounding two in unison. .. a novel
approach to expanding the limited
Amiga 4 channel copocity. But this is
not the extent of OctaMED's oltered
Amiga personality.

OctaMED targets 8svx samples in a
way that makes it as much a sample
editor OS a composition tool or se-
quencer. You could purchase it for its
sample editing alone, saving out edited
samples for other Amiga music pro-
grams to load and use. You con record
samples with it as well, just as you can in
other dedicated Amiga sampling
software. Any OctaMED song can have
up to 64 samples it colls upon. All of
these samples ore stored in a list and
are instantly brought up by an assigned
macro key (01..,0A.,,10...IA...). To this
end there is a Somple Editor screen (see
Figure 3) that shows the graphic of any
sample, allowing you to reverse
selected ranges as well as to perform all
of the standard cut/copy/poste editing
desired. I loaded in samples from a
variety of sources, and was able to edit
them and save the new versions without
any problems. The display con show the

OctaMED Professional V5,80f - SongI <unnane(l>

BI12

S£]81/91 ^2Ji£|8ei/B91 ^881/881 fij8B8/B8e;

J Edit _| Space _| Chord Q\ On/Qf f IJJJJJJJJJJJJJJjJ^JMJjII:

£lav Song [ Cont Song 81 |tj^[

Plav Block Cant Block

|0|
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STOP

4Ch Inst Parans.

B8:B8| r| OlSPD| e33

t;dit Sanple...| Edit SyntliS.,,

J 86 J \Q\m

001
002
003
004
005
006
0O7

00000---
00000 —
00000 —

00000

OOOBO

eooeo —

00000

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eeooe —

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00000

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OOOOG

ooooe

OOOOG

ooeoe

OOOOG

oooee

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waveform as "lines' or "pixels" (okin to
aifbrushed dots). If Pixels are chosen,
then you con set the density in a range
from to 50. You can freehand draw
Info the waveform with either lines or
pixels to alter the sound. One of my
favorite features is the numeric somple
tuner, allowing you to set an A-440 tone
with no sweat.

Many of the Sample Editor's
commands ore nested In the menus,
though a full selection of keyboard
equivalents are listed for every
OcfoMED choice, Through use of menu
commonds, you con add echoes to the
waveform. You can chonge the
volume, pitch, and the mix between the
sample arid another waveform placed
in the buffer. You can also perform
operations I haven't seen on other
sample editors like boosting the filter,
adding "noise" (making a sample sound
grittier or for creating drum sounds), and
creating full four-voiced chords from the
sample.

Four ways to sample

OctaMED allows you four seporate
sample qualities to address: Samples,
External Samples, Synthetic Samples,
and Hybrids, "Samples" ore the normal
Amiga 8svx variety, but the developer
promises to implement 16-bit samples as
soon as Commodore releases 16-bit
audio cards as o standard. "External
Samples" are like normal Amiga 8svx
samples except that another two
octaves are odded at the bottom of
the range. "Synthetic Samples" are very
interesting alternatives in this software,
as they are quite easy to create and
take very little storage space when
saved out. They are developed by
altering sample waveforms (you can
free-drow into the waveform, for

Figure 1. OctaMED's "Trocker Editor"
displays notation in data form, ollowing
finer control over Itie parameters.

May 1994

R E \ I E H S

OctanED Professional V5,eef - Song; <unnaned>

£(av Song | Cont £on9 | 91 |JM

Play Block Cint Block 4Ch

STOP

Inst Parans .
QISP&I 833

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Edit Sanple..,|Edit SpthS...

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example, or mix waveforms together).
Synthetic Samples sound like what they
ore. robotic synthesizer tones. Up to 64
waveforms con be defined for one
SynthSound. "Hybrid" sounds are
ordinary samples treated with most of
the SynthSounds editing tools, and they
produce a unique blend of audio
worlds.

OctaMIDI

OctaMED allows 1 ,048,560 bytes in
MIDI messages, more than enough for
most uses There is no info in the
documentation on how to set up to
address the One-Stop-Music-Shop
(OSMS), but it isn't that hard to figure
out. First, go to the MIDI menu in
OctaMED and turn MIDi on. Then switch
the "Loop Back' function of OSMS on in
your Bars & Pipes directory (or wherever
else you've stored the Loop Back
module). Then go to the Instrument
Parameters requester thot Is accessed
from the main OctaMED screen. There
you will find both a MIDI chonnel slider
(listed as to 16, with being "off") and
under which you'll find a "Preset" slider.

Top: Figure 2. The OctaMED "Notation

Editor" uses a traditional staff display for

notation.

Right: Figure 3. Ttie "Sample Editor"

gives you complete control over ttie

editing of Imported samples.

Presets are the actual voices of OSMS (1
to 128, with being "none"). Then you
con ploy your OctaMED song through
the One-Stop-Music-Shop synth! If you
wont to have some percussion fun with
your OSMS, put the MIDI channel on
" 10", turn on "extended Presets" (0 to
2800), and set the PreSet at 1841 (set
"Transpose' to 24/6), The Presets over
128 on the OSMS ore keyboard splits,
and PreSet 1 84 1 is a split between a
steel drum and percussion sounds,
allowing you to literally ploy a Carib-
bean suite from the Amiga keyboard.

OctaMED Song Creation

Creating songs in OctaMED is a
building block process. OctaMED uses
"tracks" (up to 64 and not limited to

multiples of 4) to build "blocks" and
"blocks" (up to 1000) to create "songs".
There may be up to 999 entries in any
playing sequence. You can choose to
save songs out as connpfessed files,
something no other software offers at
this lime (OctaMED uses a PowerPacker
library to do this). Song creation in
OctaMED is by far the most complex
process, and points out o need for
much clearer guidance.

Conclusions

In other Amiga music softv/are
samples are the secondary aspect of
what is created. Not so in OctaMED.
The sounds, it seems, are primary, ond
the sounds deternnine the "blocks" or
sections of a sequence (song). For this
reason, OctaMED does not load in
either MIDI, SMUS, or any other alien
song-file format. Loading in a DMusic
song, for instance, leads to unexpected
results. OctaMED is a universe unto itself
as far as other compositions go. It is
obvious from the lack of o full selection
of notation units (no triplets or anything
smaller than sixteenth notes) that the
standard compositional aspect of
OctaMED as compared to other Amiga
software is lacking. On the positive side,
however, is the capacity of this software
to create some extremely interesting
sequences, as long as you mean to play
and record them while the software is

OctaMED Professional V5,fl8f - Song! <unnaned

22816 «Iype.,,

AMAZtNG CoMI'LJiya

R E V r E n s

DctaniD Professional n.mt - Song; <unnaned>

£lav Song Cent jong

en; a

OrchHitI

d| Sanple Editor

D Synthetic Sound Editor

< Copy Copy >

< Exchange >

— 1 1 ( 1 < I I 3 I 1

< flix <

Range Rli

Haveforn: [F|?eB/B89 <|>|
Length: |J128

tieu Haveforn

Delete Last

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iange;

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delete Current

iopy

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Reverse « »

-t — t — I — I — I — I — I — ( — I — * — t — * — * — I — t-

Drau Mode

&| Pixel

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Speed;
Volune f? ■;!>

riTEl

882 82

883 83

884 84

885 85
Uk 86

Insert Delete

Iransition

Range [8~(<|>|
^ End \n<\>

Have f3_<j2j I Cursor: l< | >K |~

Figure 4. The "Synthetic Sounds Editor" allows you to create instrument sounds from

basic waveform editing.

up and running. The Amiga l<eyboard
also con be used as a sample player as
it is fully mapped as would be an
attached l<eyboard. You can actually
ploy and record a melody while at your
Amiga (shades of Aegis' SONIX). This is
good news for users who insert sounds
to videotape.

Though you can start your learning
cuA/e by referring to the AmIgaGuide or
by printing out the docs, this software is
way too complex to learn by those
methods alone. I would advise ordering
the legitimate documentation immedi-
ately after you get this software. I might
even suggest that the real-deol docs be
included by the developer — this is the
professional thing to do (guided tutorials
are an absolute must-have here!). The
notation alternatives have to be
seriously expanded, and the sooner the
better, There should be Save alterna-
tives that address at least the (VIIDI file
format if not SMUS. and perhaps Load
options OS well. Developers have every
right to expect users to spend time
learning from experimentation, but users
have a right to expect dedicated
tutorial help along the way in order that
professional results can be achieved.
After all. any serious user has more than

one software package to master, and
each demands time and energy. As for
the Hard-disk instollation procedure, it
should mal<e use of the standardized
Commodore process, which among
other things adds items to your user-
startup sequence automatically. This is
good software that can be great in time
with a little more attention to clarity,
user documentation (tutorials!), and
more handshaking with peer products.
Without some attention to these fixes,
this software will never reach its
potential on this side of the ocean,
except for a small dedicated audience
of experinnentalists with more time to
spend than most of us, I look forv/ard to
reviewing OctoMED 6.0.

OctaMED Pro v5.0

DevWare

12520 Kirkham Court / Suite 1

Poway, CA 92064

(800) 879-0759

Inquiry #225

24-Bit

For Your An%igal

At la>i: Th^n i< d Jioicc of sCiwnsr^i~L
for the professioriil r<: :::.;:, :i!:g,
two iiexKi Anv'Cii s/^ca/;. l-f-ln: color
flatbed scasmai from .\ lip\ii'li, the
A4S^i^. di MSZ400. Boil; offer ,'jiikk
installkt^in, mse-ofuse, mui superior
quality scans with iia Itxira cables or
fofiware to buy. WbetKcr you need
hi^-res iiiingti fcr \\:tir Toaster or
\ 'idco Animation, 15b grcpcak images
for DTP work, or full jmge scans for
text processing, the AIS scries helfis yoti
get .the job done right!

■ 2 Models to ciioose from, with 600 DPI.
MS 1200 -3 Passes; MS2400-1 Pass.
Higtier DPI po^ible wilh software
interpolation.

Over 1 6,7 million colors; 256 true greys:
lialf tone and line art scan modes.

iolorKilPra, saves 24 bit IFf AlFf and
ore. Scon size limited only by ovqiiable

liord disk space.

Free Migraph OCHtext reader.

■ ; SCSI cable and lermlnatof.(or quicker
'scons. ' ^.

■ Optional transparency ad^perand sheet
feeder.

See your local Amiga dealer or

call Aiigraph direct to order your

Z4-bit flatbed scanner today..

Call NOW!
800-223-3729

J^l^^

'kX

;>tliGn4PHi

32700PQdficHwy. S. #14

Federal Way, WA 98003

Tel; 206 838 4677

Fox: 206 838 4702

Works on oil Amigos wilh 4MB RAM, 68020
or higfierCPU, and a SCSI port.

Circle 130 on Reader Service card.

May J 994

amiga telecommunications

If you were to stop ten people at random and ask them to name an online
service, chances are most, if not all, would come up with the name
CompuSer\'e. The reason for this familiarity is the fact that CompuServe is the
largest online service around. Since being acquired in 1980 by tax preparation
firm H&R Block, CompuServe Incorporated has been busily expanding its
holdings, and now consists of several different companies. The component we
deal with online is known as CompuServe Information Service, or CIS for
short. This month we'll be looking around the Amiga section of this giant.

Like GEnie and mosl other services, CIS provides a menu-
based intertVice to its users, tf you use an IBM compntible or
Macintosh, there are several graphical interface programs available
from CompuSen-e, but Autopilot is the only graphical option for
the Amiga. See the February Online for a description of AutoPilot.
To find the Amiga section from the opening menu, choose 11 for
Computers/Technology, then choose 2 for Hardware Forums, then
choose 13 for the Commodore and Amiga Forum. Or from any
CompuServe prompt, type CO AMIGA.

The Amiga section is divided into four Forums: Amiga Arts,
Amiga Tech, Amiga Users, and Amiga Vendor. Each Forum
contains its own message, file library, and conference sections. One
of the major differences between CIS and GEnie is the way the
message base is organi;;ed. On GEnie the messages are sequential
by date and lime of their posting. CIS organi;^es the messages by
their threads. What this means is that when you pick a topic of
messages to read, von read through the original message and then
all replies to it, as v\'ell as replies to any of the replies, in the order in

which they were posted. This has
the advat\tage of allowing you to
follow the topic through to its
conclusion before nio\'ing on to
another.

Right: At CompuServe's main
menu, type GO AMIGA to
access the Amiga forums.

Left: Whot sort of topics do the
individual Forums contain?
Amiga Arts is the place to go
for everything of a graphical
nature. The AmigaTech Forum
includes topics concerning
programming, system
software, and authoring
systems AmigaUser is the
Forum devoted to user
applications.

Amazing Computing

What sort of topics do the individii.il Forums contain? Amiga
Arts is the place to go for everything of a graphical nature. As of
February, topics include Drawing and Painting, Desktop Video,
Music and MIDI, Rendering, Animation, and Multimedia. The
AmigaTech Forum includes topics concerning General Program-
ming, C Programming, Assembly Programming, ARexx, System
Software, Authoring Systems, 2.0 Programming, and Amiga UNIX.
AmigaUser is the Forum devoted to user applications. It includes
the topics, Communications, Word Processing/ DTP, Persona)
Applications, Business Applications, Using 2.0 - 3.0, Amiga
Amateur Radio, Amiga Hardware, Bridgeboard/AMAX, CDTV,
and International Amiga. Amiga Vendor is the spot for company
support topics. Companies represented are Central Coast, ASDC,
NewTck, Impulse, New Horizons, Black Belt Systems, Syndesis,
INOVAtronics, AutoPilot, GVP, DKB Softv\'are, SofUvood, Oxxi/
Precision, Right Answers, Soft- I.ogik, MicroBotics, and Utilities
Unlimited. If you are having trouble with products from any of
these companies, this is where you can get answers straight from
the horses' mouth.

One other area included in the Amiga section of CIS is the
Amiga File Finder. While files can be searched for within each
individual Forum by keyword and age, searches can take a while if
you don't know in \vhich of the forums the file is located. The File
Finder is a specialised database of the most popular files in all of
the Forum libraries. While File Finder's lists may be a few weeks
old, (for instance, on February 13, files were current as of January
19), it provides a much more flexible way to find specific files. You
can search by topic, file submission date. Forum name, file type, file
extension, file name, or submitter's user ID number.

Speaking of files, CompuServe follows the more restrictive
naming conventions imposed by MS-DOS. This limits file names to
a maximum of eight characters followed by a period and three
more characters. This extension usually refers to the compression
program needed to expand the file to its full size. These limitations

make the 1-ilo Finder the preferred xvay to locate a particular file. Of
course if you are looking for a neiv file, you may have to search the
individual libraries.

CIS has a reputation of being overpriced, I have even seen it
abbreviated as CIS. Considering the breadth of services available, it
is not that far out of line, and the rates dropped as of February 6,
making it even more affordable. There are several different pricing
plans, but the standard is as follows: The monthly nxembership fee
is 5S.95. Connect time is hilled in one minute increments, and when
using CompuServe's own communication network during
e\'enings, \veekends, and holidays, baud rates of 300 through 241X)
are S4.80 per hour, and 9600 through 14,400 are S9.60 per hour.

Tt) find the nearest local access phone number for your area,
set your communications software to seven bits, even parity, and
one stop bit. Have your modem dial 1-800-346-3247. This will
connect you to a database that will search for CompuServe access
numbers. When yoLi find your local number, you can call using a
demonstration account which will let you see what the service is
like. When your modem connects, press return. At the "Host
Name" prompt, type CIS, and press return. When prompted for
your user number, type 77770,101, press return, and for the
passwt)rd, type FREF-DEMO, and another return.

That's all for noiv. Have fun exploring, and see vou online!
Remember, 1 can be found on CompuServe as 72764,2066, and on
GEnie as R.HaysS.

•AC*

Please Write fo:

Rob Hays

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140
Fall River, MA 02722-2140

May 1994

cli

Keith Cameron

directory

AmigaDOS Glossary
Part II

As you may recall, last month I began a glossary of terms related to
AmigaDOS and the Shell. This month I will continue that glossary, beginning
with the letter 'D'.

Many screens, including the Shell, have a depth gadget in the upper right
corner. The depth gadget looks like two boxes, one filled in and overlapping
the other. By clicking upon the depth gadget, you can move the screen from
front to back or vice versa. Such a gadget is vital for multitasking.

Sometimes in the course of executing AmignlXlS commands,
you send information from a source to a destination. The destina-
tion can be a file or a directory. It receives the information sent. A
good example of this is the COPY command, when you copy one
file from one director}" to a destination directory.

A directory is common to all computer systems. It is a location
for storing data, such as files and other directories. These files can
be anything from script files to \vord processing files to computer
programs to anything else. From the command line, most systems
use the word directory to refer to this feature. However, other
terms may he used from a more "user-friendly" environment. From
the Workbench, for example, such a storage device is referred to as
a "drawer." I believe they are called folders on the Macintosh. .A.nd
on the File Manager on MS-DOS Windows, they are called
directories but resemble file folders in icon appearance. A. compro-
mise, 1 suppose. From my experience, I do not believe that people
use directories to their full benefit. Imagine a filing cabinet. You
would have se\'eral drawers in a filing cabinet, and each drawer
would probably contain numerous file folders. Every time you filed
a paper, you would probably put it into a specific file rather than
simply toss it into any of the several dra\vers. Yet, on a computer,
people do not seem to "file" documents into specific folders
(directories).

Most people know what a disk is. However, as a novice I
remember being confused by the term hard disk. I had only
experience with the old Apples at the time, and all of them used the
old 5.25 disks. A (ew years later, still knowing %'er\' little about
computers, I encountered my first Mac and the 3.5 diskettes. These
were harder than the 5.25 floppies, so I assumed they were the
"hard" disks, which [ was just beginning to hear about. (You can
stop laughing now; 1 never claimed to be the brightest guv around.)
I then learned that the hard disk is located inside the computer.
Today, there are various disks. Some are double-sided and double-
density; others may be double-sided and high density. The high
density diskettes can store more information. There are now
compact disks as well. All refer to different methods of storing
information, and all hold different amounts.

Document is ba.sically a synonym for file. It refers to anything
produced by an application. However, in the earlier days of
computers, it often referred specifically to files produced by word
processors only.

Documentation is similar to a manual which tells you how to
operate a program. Usually this term is used in reference to
shareware programs.

AiHAzi.vG Computing

I'erhaps tlu' niosL import.ml U'fm of all is DOS (Disk tlpoi.il-
ing System). This is wliiit I'L-allv tliiis [ho conipntor. It is softuMri',
ot'teii a collection of commands, th^it operate the computer.
Unfortunately, different computers use different systems. Amigas,
of course, use AmigiiDOS, while most IBMs and their compatibles
use MS-DOS. BeCiUise of this, Aniig.i soflw.ire, in genonil, will not
run on [BMs and vice versa.

An editor is n program that allows the user to create or alter
files. The most common type of editor is a text editor, which is
similar to a word processor but minus the luxuries. The traditional
Amiga text editor is FD. Text editors are not intended for lengtliy
works; they are quick and simple. They also produce ASCII text, so
anything that vou produce on a text editor can be read by other
computer s\'stcms if they can be transferred to those systems \'ia
telecommunications or other methods.

Sometimes the commands you try to execute are not successful
and you receive an error code. Most manuals provide information
about the error codes and what they mean. For example, error 103
means there is a lack of RAM.

As you can tell, execute is one of mv fa\-orite terms. U simply
means to run a program.

As I've alreadv indicated, a file can be a word processing
document, a scrip! file, or a program. It is simply a collection of
data in a single location.

One of the first things you must do after liuying a box of disks
is to fonnat those disks. An unformatted disk is not ready to
receive and store information. A disk can be used on anv machine,
whether an IBM, a Mac, or an Amiga. Bv formatting it, vou prepare
the disk to receive information from one of these systems. Format is
also used in reference to how AmigaDOS commands are to be
written. A format is much like a formula. To make the command
work, all parts of the format must be accounted for. In word
processing, format can be used to refer to the appearance of a
document. It concerns things like the font used, the size of the font,
how the document is arranged, and other similar items.

Global is a term \-ou \vill see the more you learn about script
writing, programming, and other technical aspects. Its opposite is
local. Global means that all processes, applications, and other
programs will be affected. Let me share a recent example. One of
my students was producing a u'ord processing document [ust a few
days ago. Suddenly, he hit some key combination that he could not
recall, but it caused characters to appear doubled. In other words, if
he hit the letter 'd' once, two 'd's would appear. Not only was the
word processor affected; the command line, other word processors
and editors — everything — was affected. The effect was global.

You may have run across the term hierarchical. This simply
means the Amiga can ha\'e directories (drawers) which can contain
other directories, which can contain other directories, and so on,
and so on, and so on. All of these directories can, of course, hold
files as well as other directories.

In a recent article, I discussed the history buffer of the Amiga
Shell. This buffer can store the most recently used commands
executed from the command line so that vou can later retrieve them
by using the arrow kevs.

If you use the command line regularly, you won't see manv
icons. Icons exist in the GUI (Graphical User Interface — in other
words, the Workbench) to represent files, directories, and other
items. You select such icons by using a mouse.

.■\s kild hy .AC Tech «iA and Amiga Wivrld Aa^. '^)3...

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ol F-Basic since 1988. Packed wilh new features,
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friendliness of BASIC. Compatibility with all Amiga
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Speaking of icons, if you like using them, you need to be
fnmilinr with .info files. Every icon hns nn .info file. You can .idd
icons to files that don't have icons liy copying other .info files and
giving them the same niime as the file you wish to attach it to. Of
course, you ha\'e to make sure it is the same type; that i.s, put tool
icons on tool programs, disk icons on disks, and so on.

Before vou can use a disk, you must initialize it. Tliis is the
same as format, which was tiiscussed earlier.

Numerous AmigaDOS commands are internal. This means
they are built into the computer. Such commands respond more
quickly than commands which have lo be loaded Irom either a disk
or oven the hard drive.

That's all for this month, i-lopefullv you are finding these
terms useful. I would suggest that you cut them out and keep them
handy next to vour computer. 1 have always found that manual
glossaries are inadequate because thev arc too technical for simple-
minded folks like my.self.

•AC-

Please Write to:
Keltic Cameron

c/o Amazing Computing
P.O. Box 2140

Fall River, MA 02722-2140

May 1994

lips

hints

workarounds

suasestions

updates

fixes

Bug Fix in February 1994 Bug Bytes

l-irst tllinj;s first, wt' li.iw to coravt .1 huj; loiind in the I'rhrtiiln/
1994 Bug Bxffci. MnrkOdeli included a script that somehow h.id j^olten
incorrectly formntted when it was printed in the issue. Here is the
corrected script.

[JB0;Morltl:enchl.3/c:/AB0i5iiTO: DHCl:Horltb«nchl.3

J modify above "DHOiWorJtbenchl.S" r^feEincea to point to your Byeten'B

J HHl. 3-BCorage directory

TO;c/VerfliaD >NILi graphics, libf&ry 37

■m-.S/tl KOT WASH

1 then «E ASE IH KICKSTART 2 .
TO:c/AHfligil >MIL: TO:
Execute a: startup- SegVBiic:e2.D
Quit
£!■•

!t!na KE AM IN KICKSTAET l.J
TO:c/I£ EXISTS TOjc/MoveS^S

TO:c/MoveSYS cd TO: ;77 429
Elge
TO:c/AflBign C! TOsc
A««lBn SYS: TO 1
AiBign devs: SYSidevB
ABBign ContB: S¥S: fonts
A««l5n 1: SY3:1
Asaign libs: SYSilibs
ABBlgn B: SYS: 8
tndlf
Aasign TO:

Execute B:Startup-Se<iueBCe
Quit
Indlf

Co-Processor Selection on the A400D/30

lid Jakober •iont t-N!ail regarding Da\e Uerard's request for
intormation on using a co-processor in an A4CMK)/30. He writes:

Yiirt L-(i(r tell Disiv Bcuni Ihtii \/i'u am ;iii( alhvrii nCC or FCA h/pc
co-pivcesscnm tin- processor I'oiml ofl}icA40(X)/030. Tlicrc is a pliucfor each.
Tlieoiieyou itistall is sekcied witha jumper. If you use the spteirt clock specii
(25 MHz) or insttill n faster dock, it is also selecteil ti'itli a jumper.

David King also sent E-Mail regarding his experience in installing the
FPU. He writes.

In response to Dave Berard's request about adding a FPU to the A4000/

030: 1 workfora hca! Amiga store in LasCruces. NM. Ahmta weekaxoltnrs
sent to a customer's home to install a FPU in his A40l)0/(W. The tech support
people niv boss called before seiidinj( me out "claimed " it was n P/iiy And Co
operatiou. Not in this case.

Ml/ instructions uvre to install it 40 MHz 688,^2 in n A400GAm (25
MHz). TIte problems I had, and I'm a E. E. and have been working on A mi^tis
since 1 986, were as follows:

(a) t wasn't given n 40MHz cltKk cr\islal/chip.

(b) I wasn 't giivu am/ A4(K)0 specs on adding an FPU

(c) I didn't have a clue if it needed a PI.CC or PGA (given a PLCC)
(...and I had to drive SO miles to install the stupid thing).

Results:

(a) The A4(KX) does have a Si/stem Clock/A Itematc C/offc jumper, so I figured
I'll run it at 25MHzmnvand add llw40MHzdock later. (Running slow isn't
the problem, but a 25MHz pari at 4liMllz would have been).

<b) Getting to the hoard required removing thecovcr, removing the hard drive
(fourscmvs right on top), removing the front plate (seven little plastic tabs,
squeeze with needle-nose pliersi, remove floppy assembh/ (two scmvs, under
t'roul plate). Now pull Iheboardout.Thisisal! in the "A4(l()0"kK)klhnl comes
with ifour machine, but under "Adding a HD", "Adding Floppy Drives",
"Cbaiiging the CPU hoard" sections. None of this was hard (actually quite
easy compared to some A2(HKi/A30(}0 systems I've dealt with.) Overall, it's
easu to get to the CPU board, even for a novice.

(c) With the board rcmowd, I saw a surface mounted EC030 and some holes
ivhich appear to be for adding another CPU instead of the surface mounted
one. Thercare tivo jumpers, ALT/SY5for the clocks undone filled FPI,CC/
FPCA. This board had a PiCC socket next to the CPU mid stmie holes (I
assume for a socket for a PGA. the PLCC/I'CA jumper headed over in this
direction).

After studying the baird, I installed the PLCC iiSHSl in the socket. The
jumpers were already set for a PLCC and the system cliKksived. I then put
the whole mess together (includhig removing the tuv 1MB SIMMs and
replacing tliem with a 4MB SIMM, and changing llw Size jmnpcrlThe
machine REFUSEl^ to bn't,evcn thehard drive wouldn 'I power-up. This lead
me to think something was shorting. I never found a short, but I removed the
FPU and everything loorks. After looking at the CPU board, J noticed a set of
holes (like for a jumper) marked Ins/Dis. I don't know if this is for Installed/
Disabled or something else (maybe not ei'en the FPU eivn though il 's right
next to it). After talking to the tech people, they still say it's Plug and Co.
Ma\/bc, maybe not. Given I was on a liglil scliedule, I haven't played with it
enough to know. Maybe it just needed to he removed/reseated to work, t dot i 't
knonK (git'eii the owner really wants a40MHz FPU, I am looking into adding
the faster clock and liaven't tried putlhtg it hack in.)

Allinall, il SI lOULL'twork.but il didn't in thisease, which I wouhlsay
tSN'Tagoml example. If Dave or anybody else wants lo try this, Vd say buy
a 25MHz (so you don't have to add a faster clock) and spend A LOT of time
making sure EVERYTHSNC is seated right. II should uvrk. And don't add
am/thing else at the same time. Maybe tlie RAM I added got seated properly
when I removed Ihc FPU and was the root of the problem. Who hioti'S.

Dove Soper of Bitburg, Germany notes that

The A4000 sold in my theater of operations comes equipfvd with a
nvision 2 daughter board. The CPU daughterboard isfnicd with one PLCC
socket and drilled out trace leads with no socket for another processor and
Ofvillator. In Europe and in most corners of the outer markets, the PGA type
chips are much cheaper. A lot of us old users hap))en to have PCA co-
processors on boards that no longer get any use. By carefuUi/ s<'ldering the
PCA co-processor into the open traces on the end of the daughter board, the
same results can be achieved (and will void the warranty just as quickly.)

28 Amazing Computing

Expanding Your CDTV

Ktibi.'! I King lit Bcnvic, iVID writes to reply to (ho questions raised
by Micliiicl Blalvclv concerning CDTV expansion. In iiddition to mv
specific suggestions, hie pro\'lded tlie following informntion.

1. SCSI Did- mlaplerg. The Winter '94 ACs Guide (I'ligc U3) listi
SCSI-TV from Amitrix Development in Alberta, Canada as having the little
adapter card required to eonncct external SCSI devices to the CDTV.

2. Memory expan'^km. I liiuv iiwtaHedn DKB MefiiChip 2llOO/50Unnth
a 2 Megabiftc Agnus chip and doubled imi Chip nwnmn/. The personal
memory card siof on the front of the maehine iat delivered) can hai ullc a 64KB
or 2S6KB memory module, but this is not really available an RAM unless you
write 60\iiecuftoin code, Ryconneetinga coupleofjumpem inside theCDTV
(you iiitia! gel the scheiualics la locate tlieni),i/ou can increase the addressing
range of the memory module to IMIi. Hut, yon probably Cinniot find a
PCMCIA card xoilh the correct pinout.

3. 1 haven't tried to do this. I have an A2S{)0/20 and anAMmTf25. \Ne
just use tlw CDTV to play games, watch CD+C disks, or play CD 's. Whatever
is used would Imve to fit fl.AT onto the bSlltlO CPU eliip socket, as there is
less than 0.5 inch clearance to the lop of the ease.

4. Check the dealer and the ACs Guide. Seivral vendors offer keyboard
adapter cables for the CDTV,

5. / haiv successfully used I'arNET. i'ul ParNF.T rcijuires a 'CUS-
TOM* cable, not a standard one. The other option is to get a 25-pin straight
through male-male cable, and use the Radio Shack P/N 276-1403 RS-232
Shielded lumper Box to cross conned llie proper lines as per the ParNET
documentation.

Also, Mark Raymond wrote to tell us .ibout his specific solutions to a
couple of Michael Blakely's questions.

2) Yes, it is possible to add a hard drive. AdlDE. by ICD, works very
well Depending on which monnling kit is ordered, eillier a 2.5 " or 3.5 " drive
can he installed. Because of the extremely limited space ii i the CDTV, I added
tlic 3.5" drive in an exteninl case. The case I used is a PC standard external
model toiih its oivn {totver su; fly. I also had to modify the driiv's ribbon cable
so it would reach to the external drive.

2) The CDTV can be accelerated to an extent . I 're installed an AdSpeed
in ijii/ CDTV. It's only l4MHz, Ind it is faster. I've had no conipatibility
problems with any of the CDTV titles that I liaxv.

To be honest, I have the AdSpeed/AdlDE combo board. This board has
BOTE! the IDE i)iterfaceand AdSpeed in one package. If yon buy each board
separately, they stack up and won't allow the case to close.

Tliankstoever^'one who wrote with informiition regard ingCDT\' and
its a\Milnble accessories.

1 MB Upgrade and the A500

Mr. Davmon also commented on a couple of other topics. In the
November 1993 Bug Bytes, the viability of upgrading an A500 to l.MB
chip RAM was discussed.

Since the release of the A570 drive, Commodore has rescinded the
stnlement regarding A5(K) motherboard modification. In fact, the "one-mcg-
hack" is THE upgrade given to you when you buy an A570. (CDTV programs
EXPECT one megabyte of Chip RAM > So there is no longer concern about the
conversion. You STILL must Imveit done by an authorized servicecenter, and
if you ptirclmse an A570 CD-ROM drive this service is free.

A2002 Monitor Notes

Mr. Davmon also commented about the .^^2002 monitors men-
tioned in the October 1993 Bug Bytes.

I haiv seen four A2002 monitors (including the one I usi' on my A500)
exhibit the same problem that Mr. Clayton describes. In addition, it lakes

about 40 miitiiles ofmtnn uptime before it can display a PALscreen. Aiiotlicr

problem of most A2002 monitors is that they "POP" rather loudly on
occasion. Tofixlhehi-res interlace problem, you nutst "plai/" with the Z'ertical
hold on the fron t of the nwn itor -you xoiU notice Hat as you turn the knob, one
sel of scan lines will move upand down the screen. You must center THESE
lines in between the lines u'hich aren't moi'ing. For monitors that pop, you
have to lake the monitor apart ami eoniieei the large aluminum heat sink lo
ground. Due to the design, oneoflhenu'tallabson the heat sink is close enough
to a trace on the nmlherboanl to arc intermittently. Connecting tlie heat sink
to ground should fix the problem. (Other monitors affected by the "pop"
include some lOSO, lOS4,and I902A monitors.)

Screen Mode Utility Problems

.Mr. Daymon pro\'ided an example of how some software can
cause other software to fail to operate properly. He notes.

Regarding a problem I sent in a while ago, I mentioned that, after
loading certain programs, the ScreenMode utility would cease lo function.
Some programs need some sort of "console" window on llw Workbench, so
llieyopenalxl pixehvindowforoulpul upon running — and they don' I close
Hie windoii' upon exit. The windoivs are rendered in a color that is not
detectable on the screen. A properly -written update of any said program
should "clean up after itself' and not cause this problem.

Vortex Board Worftaround

In the Februarv 1994 column, Mark Odell commented on a
question hy Juan Nunez in the 6/'33 issue. Hov%-ard Clayton sent E-
Mail with a soktlion to the proMem, He writes.

The answer Ifou ndlo the problem tvas to A miga Format the Hard Drive
toilh IBM partitions hetti>een Amiga partitions. This leaiies a boundary the
PC2S6 can find. Otherwise it oiilu formats and finds 1/2 of the allocated space
iftlic IBM sections are last. Don't knoiv but it worked for me. I set mine up
asDH(hlBM:andtheuDHl:

That's all for this month. If you ha\'e any workarounds or bugs to
report, or if you know of any upgrades to commercial soft^vare, you
mav notify me bv writing to:

John Steiner

c/o Amazing Computing

Box 2140

Fall River, MA 02722

...or leave EMail to

John Steiner on Portal

73075,1735 on CompuServe

Internet mail can be sent to

J ohn_Steiner@cup. porta 1 .com

FAX John Steiner at (701 )280-0764

{8:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Central time, Monday-Friday)

•AC*

May 1994

BY Henning Vahlenkamp

This month's column has a special AGA games ft)cus; the four
games examined either require AGA or offer AGA enhancements.
They are ail system-friendly and hard disk installable — things
man)' of their commercial counterparts could learn. There still
aren't very many AGA non-conuiiercial games, but as these show,
the existing ones ha\'e much to offer. And I'm betting more are on
the way with the proliferation of AGA Amigas,

The programs mentioned here are usually downloaded from
Aminet (flp.wustl.eduipub/aniinct) or FUNET (ftp.funet.fiipub/
amiga) on the Internet. They also should be available via other
sources such as online services (Portal, Delphi, etc.) or EJBSs. Unless
other\vise noted, thev work with all .Amigas and AniigaDOS 1 .3+.

MegaBali 3.0 (shareware, $15)

bif Ed Miickcy

Aminet; /game/fliisc/KegaBallAGA.lha

MegaBali, without a doubt, is the premier non-commercial
Arkanoid clone, even surpassing some commercial ones. The
premise is simple enough: use your patidle to bounce a ball around
the screen in order to eliminate various configurations of bricks.
Eliminating all of them takes you to the next of the 50 boards.
Sometimes when the ball hits a brick, a "bonus piece" drops down.
These pieces have 14 different, imaginative effects ranging from
changing the size of your paddle to ending your current life. The

color of a brick determines its point value; 1 especially like the
flashing "exploding" ones which rack up many points bv setting off
chain reactions with neighboring bricks.

Working with all Amigas, MegaBali autodetccts AGA. If
found, you get 128-color graphics, and if not, you get the usual 32-
color ECS graphics. Everything is top-notch, from the design to the
graphics and sound. Sending in the shareware fee means a few
hundred more boards to plav and a board editor. Really good stuff.

Motorola Invaders 2 (AGA, 3.0+)

In/ Martin Reims

AjTiinet : /$aKe/ahDot/D:Dtorin2,dr.s/game/Bhoot/inotorinv.(iiM

I'his game's "Space Invaders" theme is nothing new, but its
knockout audiovisual qualities should appeal to AGA owners. In
Motorola Invaders 2, you control a small spaceship at the bottom of
the screen, trying to blast through eight levels of "virus" aliens;
actually, they look like stick-figure faces with arms, legs, and no
bodies. The screen literally swarms with them, making your three
li\'es seem meager. By level three, things really get challenging.

Aside from the frenetic animation, you're treated to great 24-
bit Copper backgrounds, 128-color graphics, and a truly awesome
sampled .Metallica soundtrack. This extra\'aganza requires 1.4MB of
CHIP RAM, and remember to switch to a P.'\L screenmode before
running it to a\'er( a crash. Motorola In\aders 2 is not only
playable, it's also something to reach for when showing olT vour
.Amiga.

Top: Motorola Invaders 2.
Rigtit: MegaBali 3.0.
Opposite Top: UChess 2.54.
Opposite Sottom: NewWorld 1.31.

30 AAtAZrj\'G CoMPVTfSG

NewWorld 1.31 (shareware, $25; 2.04+)

bij Kevin A. Roll

Amineti /gazEe/niBC/KewWorLdlSl.lha

Based on the classic Sei<eii Cities of Gold released a decade ago
for the C64 and other 8-bit computers. New World recaptures the
magic of that game on the Amiga. Your goal is to set sail from
Europe and explore n new (randomly generated with an included
program) continent, while interacting with its natives. Trading with
different villages and establishing friendly relations is easier than
conquest, although you can choose either path. Scoring is based on
how much you discover, not on how much gold you accumulate.
Gold, however, is still necessary for return trips to Europe to buy
additional supplies such as ships and goods. Furthermore, the
crown grants goid for your discoveries every time you return, and
you can play indefinitely.

New World may sound simple, but there's a lot of subtle
strategy involved. For example, since ships can carry a limited
weight, you must maintain a good balance of men, food, and goods.
And wisely building forts and caching supplies pays off in the long
run. The depth of play makes it that much more fun.

Requiring ]MB of contiguous memory and a 68020 or better
for optimum performance, this game uses its own 32-color screen
with resolutions of 640x400 for AGA Amigas and 320x200 other-
wise. Reminiscent of Seven Cities, a window in the center of the
screen depicts an overhead view of your surroundings, and
movement is accomplished via joj'stick. Status info appears around
the window, and the various requesters and menus are self-
explanatory. Even those not familiar with Seven Cities will quickly
get the hang of New World — a great disco\'ery in shareware.

RSys 1.3

by RolfBoehme

ftnlnet! /util.'moni/RSyaVl_3.1ha

1 may have spoken too soon last time {AC v9.3} ivhen 1
proclaimed Xoper 2,4 to be the most comprehensive Amiga system
monitor. Upon recently disco\'ering RSvs, 1 was pleasantly
surprised to see its wonderfully refined menu/gadget driven
interface. There's no command line here.

RSys opens a window on Workbench with an array of 16
buttons at the bottom for its most common functions. .'Ml other
functions are accessible through plentiful menus. It can display at
least as much information as Xoper, if not more, but getting that
information is quite a bit easier. RSys also displays Preferences
configurations, custom chip and expansion hnrdvvare info, as well
as en/decrypts and finds files, among many other niceties.

Unfortunately, all the documentation is in German, so unless
you can read that language, you're on your own. Then again, if you
understand the Amiga well enough to make sense of the informa-

lULiiiii ui.jJiiaiij

M :

ilia 1^ /.M L^

n"u

iiCh«.»» Jr. :
9: d7d£

A •:./A 'JM '^ _

kA ^fi^A • I'-a ,
JM ':M A UL^

tion RSys provides, you probably won't miss the documentation
too much. To completely replace Xoper, KSys needs to track
everything dynamically, including CPU usage which it doesn't
show at all. For instance, if you have a task list displayed and then
quit one of those tasks, the list isn't updated automatically; you
have to click on a button.

UChess 2.54 (2.04+)

by Roger Uzun

Aiftinftt: /gfliDo/thlnk/UChess254.1ha

ygaiite/thlnk/UChes&254Patch.lha {upgrade patch!

While a great many Amiga games are written for the lowest
common denominator, this isn't one of them. UChess, an Amiga
port of the public domain CnuChess chess program, comes in two
versions, each of which demands a poiver premium. The low-end
version requires at least a 6S020 and 3.5MB of FAST RAM, while
the high-end is optimized for the 68040 and 8.5MB of FAST RAM,
Both pro\'ide a 640x480x256 color display with the Multiscan
monitor driver, as well as a less attractive 640x400x16 color display
for non-AGA machines. The author claims this is the strongest
chess program for the Amiga, and considering the hefty memor\'
requirements for the artificial intelligence, 1 am inclined to believe
it.

Upon loading UChess, you'll see a beautiful — at least in 256
colors — 2D chess board occupying most of the screen and small info
windows for each player and the general game status. Menus offer
features including any combination of computer and human
players, three skill levels, loading and sa\'ing games, computer
thinking time limits, and movement hints. Tlie game editor allows
you to set up custom boards, but makes this process tedious by
requiring you to type in algebraic chess notation for each piece.
Although this notation also can be used during play, clicking and
moving pieces with the mouse is far easier. By the way, UChess
saves transcripts of games as log files too.

Besides a simpler board editor, the only other sigruficant
impro\^ement I'd like to see is a 3D board. If you want an excellent
game that takes advantage of your powerful Amiga, definitely
check out UChess.

•AG*

Please Write to;

Henning Vahlenkamp

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2 J 40
Fall River, MA 02722-2140

May 1994 31

C^e^at te^atn matee c<jOf^£ too/^t/vef*-, , .

nmazm^ Com^uC/k^, tm ^ih^t moHtkm nmaa maa'azm, ias adapted to tie,
eHf-0f^-CMf(^/f(^ /feeds' o^tke> nm/^a u^ef*-^ to isMm hi'-tk tke, ^est ix^ot^matioKj

on time, am in tie ccea/^est mam&f^ PossiHe,

Amazi/(^ Compat/K^ kas aiojau^ made a eomm/tment to tke Amim commmta,

and ekes up to tkatki^k standaj^d o^ oaaiitu, eack montk

&^ ii^in^iK^ its' f^endef^S' tke iate^t Arnica k&ws and itt^omation ^Mm a/^oandtkeaiok.

Amazing Compatin^, ACs TECH, & ACs t^Of/D^

a/^e tke best t^eso(JU^ces KOt^ an^ Amiaa aset^.

0^^

^(7/^e

r\ff(Qz/n^ Compa tm &: tke nffdo^d

1; 1; I: I; t

!• I- 1° I' I

Feedback

Letters to the Editor

The Netherlands — Make Fred Fish Easier to Read.

FIJI— Please Review the CEI 4000M.

U.S. — Get Commodore U.S. to Talk More.

Dear AC,

I would like to comment on Mr. C, Stone's idea in your Feedback
column for|aniuiry, 1994 regarding the black and blue Fred Fish Disk
list.

I am \-ery surprised and verv disappointed. A color background
is very nice indeed to watch and vje^v on fractals, soflwaru reviews,
etc., but it is difficult to study the Fred Fish Disk column of this recent
issue. Black text on a rather dark blue color background is extreme.
I'erhaps a light color can be used instead to satisfy a reader like Mr.
Stone.

"...it was very hard for me (and

probably other readers as well) to read

your Fred Fish column with this

unreadable text."

1 am \erv interested in the Fish collection in every issue. If there
is something useful, after reading your review column, 1 can copy this
particular Fred Fish disk number from the local computer hobby club.

Now mv great disappointment. I am an old man of almost 70
years of age and, upon receipt of the latest issue of your magazine, it
was \'ery hard for me (andprobablv other readers as well) to read your
Fred Fish column with this unreadable text. This is especially difficult
in this dark Winter period. Although, I think even with the bright light
of Summer it ivould be ver\" hard to read this text even with the useof
binoculars. The idea is not to strain your eyes...

In conclusion 1 would suggest that you print this ro\'iew once
again as a supplementary copy with black ink on a white background.
This doesn't need to be fancy with a colored background because it is
only text!

Yours very truly,

K.H. Tjoa

The Netherlands

Dan- Mr. Tjon,

Ymi «rf correct. Altliotigli uv had chosen n lighterbackgroiittci, the color
came back a hit more intense than wc had expected. In this ifstic ive have
dropped the cyan froiti 100% to40%. Unfortunntel]/. desktop publiMiig can
still go awiy when you are not lu }vrfect si/iic/i Tc/f/i \iour printer.

Tlie reason far the color is to make the listing stand out, not hide it. II
has been imfartunale that the last few nio}!ths have been so crowded in tlie

issue that ive liave not been able to continue running the Fred Fish Disk list
with screen siuils. We hope to do this once again so llial lliis section is iwt
"onlti text. "

Due to tile large number of articles in AC, I cannot honor your ret]uest
lo reprint the section. I can land ioill) send you or ami other reader loho
retjiu'sts it, thi^ section reprinted on white.

Imiglit also remind you that a full text of the collection 's latest versions
of each program areavailahle in AG's GUIDE To The Commodore Amiga.
AC'S GUIDE IS our best avenue to keep you as up to date on the changes iji
the Fred Fish Collection as possible. It is also a very good reference for
counnerciiil hardware, software, and services on the Amiga — sorri/, that was
a fliameless plug.

—ED

Dear AC,

In vour December 1993 editorial you stated that unnamed sources
said Commodore U.S. had record sales for both the A!2()0 and the
A4t)0t) in the previous quarter. As you hinted. Commodore nc\'er
announced this or any other U.S. sales figures.

I f you information is correct, 1 am very confused by John Dilulu's
infamous comments at the CE5 regarding the attempts to discontinue
the 1200 and the 4000/311 in the U.S. I know this is too obvious a
question, but if U.S. sales are good, why give up on the 12U0 and the
U.S. home market, and why is it not possible to justify the expense of
ad\'crtising stateside? If you have any sources that might answer this,
I would be most curious as to their reply.

Letmecomplement\'ouon vourinter\iew with Lew Eggebrecht.
This is exactly the type of press that we the Amiga community are
searching for. While the nets are filled with rumors and flames on
everyone from Mehdi .Ali to the^voman that answers the tech line, you
publish an up-front and frank discussion with someone actually "in
the loop." I encourage this wholeheartedlv and urge vou to pursue this
course to the limit of your resoLU'ce. A British magazine runs a monthly
column from the head of Commodore U.K., David Pleasance, which,
though mosth- hype, serves a purpose t^^•o fold. It reassures readers to
Commodore's user commitment and it remo\'es the featureless wall
that exists between the end user and management. Amiga users more
so than any other platform are acutely tuned into the fate of their
computer manufacturer. I suggest n similarcolumn, though hopefully
more meatv, would be a valuable resource to the U.S. Amiga commu-
nity.

If such a comniitmcnt is not forthcoming from Commodore U.S.,
intcr\'icws with Geoff Stille\', John Dilulu, Jeff Porter, John Cambell,
Irving Could, Mehdi All, and the PR firm for CD^-, Anthony Franco,
Inc., would each prove to be welcome additions to your fine magazine.

Aii.izi.\G Computing

Like wise any follow-ups with Mr. [ii^^gcLirecht would be .ipprccinted
as he now seems to be the sole member of senior management who has
a vision and direction for llie Amiga.

Finally let me suggest to further your position as the Amiga
resource that along with \'our FI- guide vou publish the names and
addresses of key CBM personnel. All uf these arc a\ailahle but pub-
lishing them in a single comprehensive source would be greatly
appreciated.

Eric A. Pot .
Chicago, IL

Dcnr Mr. Pot

TImnk i/ou for \jnnr kind wordf. Yen fiii^;ft'slioi\ cmicemmg ndditiona}
infcn'icivs with key Commodcrc personnel in a niontSily coinmn icas voiced
in this column last month by M r. Doug Libby ofChico, CA . My answer to you
remains Ihcsamens my nnfivcr to Mr. Lihby,uvlmi'e consistently sought this
type of feedback from tlie Ovnmodore exeaitives and we ivill continue to do
so.

J belirje that the only way Commodore can work its way through the
difficulties it currently finds itself in is to turn to Amiga users for support.
Unfortunately, cmnmcnts such as those co)i!ribiifcd to Mr. Dilulu arc not
going to help the cause.

Due to file world-ioide prableins with CBM (please sec the editorial on
page 6 of this issue), it is extremely urgent that CBM move quickly to clear
up any misunderstandings and use all their resources to promote the Amiga.
However, these same prohknis have created smaller staffs loho are very
overtoorkcd. The rcsull is it has become even more difficult to gel these staffers
"on the record." But, never fear — we will not slop.

—ED

Dear AC,

1 read the review of the shareware program MegaD in the
November 1993 issue, and ultimately bought the current registered
version. I was looking for a replacement for Diskmaster 2 (Progressi\'e
Peripherals and Software is out of ((the Amiga)) business), and was
not impressed \vith the cxpensi\'C Dircilort/ Opus 4,0.

i am more than delighted with MegaD!! The program is tremen-
dously customizable, fast, stable, and intuitive. MegaD is much
superior to Diskmaster, and far more affordable than Dircctorv Opus.
A big selling point with MegaD is that it creates a small panel on the
Workbench, and does not interfere with your access to other volun^es
and programs.

MegaD is good enough that it should be licensed hv Commodore
and pro\-ided with all new machines. 1 highly recommend it as the best
directory utility available for the Amiga.

Sincerely,
leffrey T, Powell
West Covina, CA

Dear AC,

The Neio Products column in the Mairh 1994 Aiiiazing Computing
mentioned a new multimedia workstation hullt around the Amiga
4000. The article was entitled CEl 4tlt)0M and credited Creative
Equipment International as the manufacturer, reader inquiry #205.

I am very interested in obtaining further information on this
product. At present 1 l!\e in Su\'a, Fiji In the South Pacific where my
\vife is a diplomat wUh the U.S. Embass\'. When we return to the U.S.
in 1995, 1 think I'll be in the market for a neiv, more poi%'erful computer.

My current dilemma is that I am torn between two options: 1)
investing in a new 4000(1 currently use an Amiga 500 with extra RAM),
and 2) ditching Commodore altogether and going o\'er to the Macin-
tosh camp. After vears as an Amiga owner, r\'e become convinced
that the management at CBM have no interest in promoting their
computers, despite the interest that Newtek's Toaster and Hollywood
have sparked in the Amiga, 1 have no confidence that they will
support the advance of the 4000 line should I opt for that choice.
An3^vav, I'm thinking that perhaps this new workstation might allow
a compromise.

Could you please forward my request for information on to
Creative Equipment International or, failing that, send me the address
so that 1 might write them directly? Also, do you think there is a chance
that A^mziiig Computing might write a review on the CEl workstation?
I'm sure the literature provided by them will all be in glowing terms.
An independent and unbiased assessment would certainly be valu-
able.

Finallv, my congratulations to you and all the contributors to
/4»m;t>igC(wr;:»f/)i^' for a very entertaining and informative magazine.

Sincerely,

Stephen J Hatton

American Embassv — Suva Fiji

Dept of State

South Pacific

"If such a commitment is not

forthcoming from Commodore U.S.,

Interviews with Geoff Stilley, John

Dilulu, Jeff Porter, John Cambell,

Irving Gould, Mehdi Ali, and the PR

firm for CD^^, Anthony Franco, Inc.,

would each prove to be welcome

additions to your fine magazine."

Dear Mr. Hatton,

We have faxed you r request for more informutioi i directly to CE!. There
is also an article on page 36 of this issue cojicerning CEi and its useofAmigas
in even/dai/ business.

CEI has also agreed to supply us with a unit for review. 1 can 't promise
ivhen the revino will be seen (I only received their promise yesterday),
however, we will do everything we can to get a penelraling look at this i urn-
key solution as soon ns possible.

For more information concerning CEl, vou can reach theni direct al:
Creative Equipment International, 5555 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL
33126. tel (305) 266-2S0(),fnx (305) 261-2544.

—ED

Send tetters to Feedback

c/o Amazing

Compiiling

P.O. Box 2140

Fall River, MA 02722

•AC-

May 1994

AMIGAS IN BUSINESS

by Roger Thompson

Amiga Operations at Creative Equipment International

The Amiga computer has always been known as the powerhouse when it comes to graph
ics and video. Thousands of applications abound in these creative fields, but to the
casual observer, it appears the Amiga has no place in business. This, of course, is far from
the truth. Unbeknownst to most, Amigas are being used by all types of enterprises. These
include videographers, retail stores, printing shops, small businesses, and even large busi-
nesses to control day to day operations.

An outstanding oxamplo of this is CruntiVL' liqiiipmLMit hitemn-
tional (CEI) which hjis a large, fiillv integrated Amiga business net-
work. This network is used for a muUitiide of business activities all
revoh'ing around the Amij^a.

Creative Equipment started as a Commodore auth^)rized dealer
in U>77 selling the original Commodore PET Computer. In the past
few years it has grown to one of the largest multimedia distributors in
the world. CEI currently distributes products such as Amiga, New Tek
Video Toaster, DKB, GVP and manv other products exclusively to
authorized dealers in the United States and Latin America. The
likelihood is the .'^miga which you own has at one time or another been
in a Creative Equipment International facility'. Even though the exact
numbers were not divulged, CEl being a pr!\'a(eiy held concei'n,
probably tens of thousands of Amigas ha\'e been processed through
CEI facilities. It is impressive to walk through one ot'CEl's warehouses
and sec thousands of Amigas neatly stacked up on one side, hundreds
of Newtek Video Toasters on a rack, hundreds of GVP products on
another and so on.

CEI's neetis are similar to any other major business ctincern, i.e.
in\'entory, accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger,
shipping, payroll, return authorizations, tracking, order processing,
publicity, etc., and arc all handled with .Amiga cotnputers. During a
recent visit to CEI's Miami fncililie.s, I received a comprehensive four,
Their Amiga networked system currently connects -42 Amiga 40110/
040s with monitors, with a squadron of different printers, bar code
scanning equipment, 3 modems, 2 CD-ROM drives, and a host of other
peripherals. Not a PC in sight. All machines are fully integrated and
networked .

When the building was designed, every office received multiple
ethcrnet ten base-T drops. All the A4000/040s are populated with
1 8M Bs a nd the Com modore A2Q65 ethernet ca rd . Some 4000s contain
additional peripherals such as GVP's multiserial card, bar code scan-
ners, etc. The Commodore ethernet card has an ALII coiinector and a
thin-net connector. In order to con\'er! to ten base-T, Ansel transceiv-
ers were utilized throughout. Each computer is directly connected to
a concentrator which throttles the ethernet flow. In addition, if a
problem arises \vith an ethernet card or a
transceiver, the rest of the network is not
affected. Haiing worked in a facility
with n large computer network and ha\'-
ing seen one defecti^■e machine bring
down anentire network, it'sob\ious that
CEI has made every effort not to let that
happen. All crucial machines are further
protected by uninterruptible power sys-
tems. There are even provisions for em-
pknees to call and connect to the net-
work with their Amigas from home.

Enlan-DFS networking software from
Inter works is used to manage the net-
\vork. Enlan-DES is a true peer to peer
networking svstem. Due to the hea\'y
traffic, CEI put in place an Amiga 4000/
040 to be utilized as the "file ser\'er." The
"file server," e\'cn though not a real file
server in the normal sense, has two high
speed SCSI-H 2.1 Gigabyte hard disks
dri\es. One is used for all transactions

Amazi/vg Computj.\g

while thcothcr is used for mirror hack-
Lips which are iiutomalicnlly con-
ducted nighllv through an Arexx pro-
gram. This proprietary Arexx pro-
gram which CEI refers to as the
"Watcliman" not only backs up the
hard drives but also generates non-
time essentia! reports and updates.

The disks are split into multiple
partitions which include a plethora of standard Amiga programs, a
partition that contains the business activities, a partition for personal
data, and a partition which controls the printers. AH employees can
use any of the Amiga standard programs from their own workstations
includinj; desktop publishing, calendar scheduler, paint programs,
demo software, etc. All graphics, including dealer bulletins, mailouis,
and advertising, are done utilizing this network.

The power and beauty of the system lies in a custom program thn t
was written and modified over the years by a CEI staff programmer
using Sbnsi'4 from Oxxi. Since record locking is not supported by the
current release of Sbase4, the programmer used a number of sema-
phores to prevent other individuals from editing the same record
simultaneously. The program uses point and click menus and is
written to allow any non computer literate person to operate the entire
system. The volume of information tracked by the system is truly
spectacular. Data including dealer sales, product serial numbers,
motherboard re\'isions, contacts, production batches, etc. are all accu-
rately maintained. Tofacilitatctheorderprocessing,e\'ery item which
arrives at CEI receives a unique bar code. Warehouse persormei are
issued portable laser bar code readers. As orders are processed and
shipped, each item is scanned and recorded. This information is
downloaded to the Amigas at the end of the day for night processing
by "Watchman."

Another of the interesting aspects of the s\'stcm is the wav printer
management occurs. Included in the hventy printers are two high
speed bar code printers, one high speed line printer, eight laser
printer's, fise laser/fax printer, one I'argo Primero color printer, and a
number of dot matrix printer (labels, shipping tags etc.). Any person
can print aiiy document on any printer without ever having to leave
his/her desk. Tlie hard disk contains directories that refer specificallv
to a corresponding printer. The user prints di recti v from the applica-
tion to thedireclory assigned to tiie printer chosen. An Arexx spooler
program checks tiie directories and, when it finds a document, sends
the output to the correct printer. This process is totally transparent to
the user.

By utilizing the laser/fax postcript printers, anyone can create a
document on their favorite program and faxitdirectiy from their desk.
Tlie custom program allows for dealer quotes to be created and
automatically faxed within seconds. On my recent visit it was amaz-

ing to see the volume of activity processed ivith Amigas. Hundreds of
machines, peripherals, and software are shipped out every single day.

The CEI facilitv also has an impressive multimedia conference
center. An Amiga 4(,)I10 running Scala is connected to an IKEl profes-
sional video projection system with surround sound. Presentations
caii be created bv any employee on any workstation and then pre-
sented in the conference room. CETs employees are required to create
and present departmental updates to all employees using Scala Muiti-
Media. This is done on a weekly basis.

As if this isn't enough, telephone lines are monitored by Amigas.
Strict tracking as to whom thesalespersons call, duration of call, time
of call, and zones, arc maintained in a database. This allows the
supervisors not onK' tojudgeactual salesperson performance, but also
allows management to determine the best long distance telephone
services. There is no time card machine visible anywhere on site, of
course the employees log in and out on their Amiga 4n00s.

CEI staff like to tell the story of an I15M mainframe salesperson
who, after seeing e\'erything the Amigas were doing, decided not to
submit a proposal.

Thesvstem is far from complete. Tliestaff keeps coming up with
new creati\'e ideas to make life easier or increase productivity. The
programmer continues to make improvements on a daily basis. "It is
ob\'ious that we ha\'en't e\en come close to reaching the full potential
of the Amiga", the programmer savs.

At this time CEI has no plans to make their svstem software
commercially available. If Amigas can handle this extremely large
complex operation, it can probably handle any business need. CEI
calculates that the Amiga nehvork has saved hundreds of thousands
of dollars over the cost of a mainframe, which proves the Amiga also
means business.

•AC*

May 1994

CanDo:

An Interactive Authoring Tooi

Part 9 — SubDecks, Proportional Sliders, and Custom Pointers

by Randy Finch

In this installment, I discuss a CanDo deck named ColorChange that
can be used with other CanDo decks. It contains one card, named
ChangePalette, that uses buttons, proportional sliders, and custom point-
ers to allow screen colors to be changed, copied, exchanged, and interpo-
lated. This card can be displayed from any CanDo deck using CanDo
commands that treat ColorChange as a subdeck. To illustrate how the
ColorChange deck works, 1 created another deck named Colors that uses
ColorChange as a subdeck.

The Colors Deck

LLsting 1 is a print-out of the Colors
program; Figure 1 sho\\-s it's interface. Tlie deck
contains ono card, MainCard. It is a low resolu-
tion (320x200) 32-coior window containing 32
horizontal color bars, one for each color in the
palette. There is a button labeled "ChangeColors"
in the lower-right corner of the card. Pressing this
button causes the ChangePalette card in the
ColorChange deck to be activated. Before
di.scussing how this is done, let's take a closer
look at MainCard.

MainCard has three scripts associated with
it: Aftcr/\ttachment, Before Detachment, and
MessageHromSubDeck. When the Colors deck is
first activated, MainCard is attached, and its
AfterAttaohment script is executed. This script
first determines the number of colors available to
the card via the system variable, WindowColors.
Because color number.s start at zero, one is
subtracted from this number and assigned to the
variable MaxColor. Thus, for a 32-color window,
•VlaxColor equals 31.

Next, the value of the variable. Invocation, is
checked. This variable wiil be equal to zero when
MainCard is attached for the first time because all
unassigned numerical variables default to a \'alue
of zero, Invocation is assigned a value of one later
in the script. When In\'ocation equals zero, the

global routine GetColors is executed. This routine simply assigns
the red, green, and blue component values of each color in the
palette to arrays named Red, Green, and Blue. Next, the window
colors are set based on these array variables. Why bother determin-
ing color values and then immediately setting them ft) what they
already are? Well, it turn.s out that whenever a card is attached,
CanDo always resets its colors to the defaLilt colors regardless of
what thev were when the card \vas detached. Therefore, if
MainCard was just one card in a multi-card CanDo deck and the
ColorChange deck was used to change its colors, these colors
would be lost when the card is detached and later reattached. For
this reason, the BeforeDetachment script executes the GetCoiors
routine. This saves the current palette so it can be restored when
MainCard is reattached. The color component values must also be
determined the finst time the card is attached !o prevent all the
colors from being set to black, since the Red, Green, and Blue array
elements default to zero before they are initialized. Also, within the
same loop that sets the window colors, horizontal color bars are
drawn.

When the ChangePalette card is about to tenninate, a message
is sent to the parent deck, in this case Colors. This acti\'ates the
MessageHromSubDeck script. Up to ten parameters can be passed
to this script; they are automatically assigned to the system
\'ariabies Argl-ArglO. Only one parameter is passed from the
Changeralettecard, the string "Quit". The ClosePendingWindow
command closes anv requester windows that ha\c terminated
execution. Next, the PirstCard command is used to actiwite the first
card in the deck. Since MainCard is the only card in the deck, it
terminates and then reactivates. This, of course, is totally unneces-

Amazing Computing

sary, but it illustralus haw tlu' iil'W colors for the card are saved as
the card detaches and then reset as the card reattaches.

When the ChangeColors button is pressed, its OnKelease
script loads the ColorChange deck into a buffer named CC. It then
opens the ChangePalcttc card using the OpenRetiiicstcr command.
Alternatively, the OpenWindow conmuind could be used. There is
only one difference between these two commands. OpcnRequester
opens the subdeck card and pro\'ents user interaction with the
parent card until the subdeck is exited. OpenWindow opens the
subdeck card and allows user interaction with it and the parent
card simultaneously.

The ColorChange Deck

Listing 2 is a print-out of the ColorChange program; Figure 2
shou'S it's interface (as it appears on the MainCard card from the
Colors deck). This card's window settings are shown in I-i^ure 3.
The origin is set to (20,20) so it will be offset slightly when it
appears on top of another CanDo card. It's size is 200x140, smaller
than the lowest resolution of the Amiga (320x200). It is important
that the window bo set to open onto the curreiit screen. If not, the
ChangePalette card will appear on its own screen, obscuring the
parent card that invoked it. It is also important to make the
ChangePalette card a 2-color window. This allows the card to work
with any parent card. When CanDo attempts to open a window
onto the current screen, it checks the size of the ^vindow and its
color depth. If the window is smaller and its color depth is less than
the screen, CanDo opens the window onto the screen, increasing
the window's color depth if necessary. If the color depth of the
window is greater than the screen's depth, the window opens onto
its own screen. Thus, by making ChangePalette a 2-color window, it
will work with a parent card of ani,- color depth.

Tlie ChangePalette card consists of two area buttons, six text
buttons, and three proportional sliders. The two area buttons,
CurrentColor and Palette, are in the upper-left and upper-right
comers of the card, respectively. Ciu'reritColor is only used as a
border for a color swatch of the current color and has no scripts
associated with it. Palette is used as a container for swatches of each
color in the palette.

Three of the text buttons, Copy, tixchange, and Spread, are
located between the tu'o area buttons. Copy is used to copy a color
to another location in the palette. Exchange is used to exchange two
colors in the palette. Spread is used to create graduated intermedi-
ate colors between two colors in the palette.

The remaining three text buttons, OK, Cancel, and Restore, are
located at the bottom of the card, OK is used to accept the current
palette and return to the parent card. Cancel is used to restore the
original palette and return to the parent card. Restore is used to
restore the original palette without returning to the parent card.

The tlirce proportional sliders, Red, Green, and Blue, are
located in the center of the card. They are used to adjust the red,
green, and blue component values of the current color. Tire letters
R, G, and B to the left of the sliders indicate which slider is used for
each of the color components. Also, the numbers to the right of the
sliders indicate the current value of each color component. These
numbers can range from zero to 255.

oICq lors

irfiOiiiiiMiTiiiiniiiiiiirmiiir

ChangeColor-s |

Figure I. The MainCard Card

□ ICO tors

Q [Change Palette

Copy I

Excti I

Sprd 1

■ ■-

_D-

R C

1153

a 255
Restore |
_( Cancel (

^^^^^w^!?!

ChangeColors ]

Figur^e 2. The ChangePalette Card

n \^

Tit It Kfta=n( PalelTT

! Open the gindou onto,..
I _i our oun private streen,

__ the Horkhench screen.
i _! Puhtic Screen iii...ii:t ined Scrttn Hawe

^ tht currint icreen.

Attributes.

Objects

Options

Colors

Origin X Y

j^Nomil Nindou
Ukialtable Modes,.

ll iM~l HjgJ T"
Cdorif r~

I Scripts...
UKfliMlTmi Resized

Bttivitri

J PUtupi Hiddw -

Undefitifil lw9s

Deictivated RppEvent
Cancel

Figure 3. LUindoLU Settings for the ChangePalette Card

The AfterAttachment Script

When the ChangePalette card is first invoked with the
OpenRcquester command in the parent card, its AfterAttachment
script executes. This script determines the number of colors in the
card's palette from the system wiriable WindowColors. Remember,
CanDo automatically adjusts the number of colors to that of the
parent card. Next, the number of rows and columns to he used for
displaying the color swatches in the Palette button is calculated. A
simple algorithm is used. When the number of colors is eight or
less, the swatches arc displayed in one row. When the number of

May 1994

Ppoport mna

/Edibr

1 IS:

Ui'r.nmv.

Hmt

Style

RutoKnob

Inagr

Lfft l"'!',*! Bight

Position ■ . KnobSlK

■ 1 -- ■ iU i' ITS 1

r^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l

Ok Cuul 1 [Border .1^1

^vv^4i^^j^^ang|fflHB

Ftqurc 5. Proportional Sbder Settinqs

colors is greater than eight, more rows are used. Be aware that if a
screen \\-ith moru than 32 colors is used (such as when using some
of the new AGA graphics modes), the algorithm may need to be
changed. Once the number of columns and rows is determined, the
position of the upper-left color swalch and the spacing of the
swatches are calculated. Then the swatches are drawn using the
.AreaRcctangle command.

The draw mode is set to JAM2 so that u'hen the color values
are prinied next to the proportional sliders, the new numbers will
completely OA-eru-rite the old ones. Next, the characters R, G, and B
are printed to the left of the sliders. Finally, PenA is set to zero
(background color) with the SetPcn command, the global routines
Box, SetProps, and GetColors are executed, and the \'ariable
PendingCommand is set equal to "None". The global routines and
the variable PendingCommand arc discussed below.

The Box Routine

The Box global routine draws a rectangle around the currently
selected color swatch in the Palette button. The pen number to use
for the rectangle is passed to the routine as an argument and is
referenced as Argl.

This routine first determines the row and column of the
current color. .Next, the coordinates of the upper-left corner of the
rectangle are calculated. The current color is temporarily set to the
value of Argl, the rectangle is drawn, and the current color is reset
to its original value. Notice in Figure 2 that the color swatches are
separated from each other by one pixel. The rectangle that is drawn
around the color swatch makes use of this space.

The SetProps Routine

The SetProps global routine sets the knob positions of the
proportional sliders and prints their corresponding values to (he
right of the sliders, This is accomplished by first determining the
red, green, and blue component wilues of the current color. The
GetRCB command rehjrns a value from zero to 255 for each
component. These values are printed to the right of the appropriate
slider using a format that always priiits three digits regardless of
the number of digits in the values. For example, values of 0, 5, 25,
and 142 are displayed as 000, 005, 025, and 142. Next, the position of
the knob for each slider is set using the Setl'ropPosition command.
The sliders arc discussed in more detail later.

The GetColors Routine

riie GetColors global routine stores the red, green, and blue
component values of each color in the palette to the array variables
R, G, and B. This allows (he colors to be restored later using the
ResetColors routine.

The ResetColors Routine

The ResetColors global routine restores the original palette
colors stored in the 1^, G, and B arrays. It is used by the Restore and
Cancel buttons.

The Copy Button

The Copy button is used to copy the current color to a
different location in the palette. First, a color is selected in the
Palette button making it the current color. Next, the Copy button is
pressed. Tliis activates the button's OnRelease script which changes
the pointer imagery and sets the \'nriable PendingCommand equal
to "Copy". Finally, another color is selected. The red, green, and
blue component values of the first selected color are then copied to
the palette location of the second selected color. The actual copying
takes place in the Palette button's OnRelease script.

The pointer imagery changes after pressing the Copy button to
provide visual feedback that an action is pending. The pointer
imagerv is shown in Figure 4.'\. The SetPoiuter command is used to
display this pointer. It has one argument, a string containing the
name of the brush file containing the pointer imagery. As will be
seen later, the default pointer can be restored using the SetPointer
command with no arguments.

The Exchange Button

I'he Exchange button is used to exchange hvo colors in the
palette. The button works the same as the Copy button. A color is
selected, the Exchange button is pressed, and another color is
selected. The RGB component \'alues of the tvi'o colors are then
swapped. The OnRelease scrip! for this button uses the brush
shown in Figure 4B for the pointer imagery. .Also, it sets the
variable PendingCommand to "Exchange".

Listing One

LiBCing 1. ColDro P@C>c

I>eck "Colors"

Time 14;X5:37

' Date 01/17/94

* Card (si in d*ck.

* Card -MaisCard-

* 1 Cardial, 1 were printed.

• Hacural order of Card*

• Card "MainCBra**

• Global Routinels) in deck.

• poucine "GetCclors"

1 Global routltj«B(B)r 1 were princea.

• card "MainCacd"
AfterAttach3ier.t ; used to be AfterStsrcup
Let HaxCoiQ£"WlEdDwColi3rs-i

Nop; Get colors the Cirfit tiae this routine ejtecucos
If invocatlotisO

Do -GetColors"
Endlf
Let InvocatiOP.»l

40 Amazing Computing

The Spread Button

The Spread button is usud to create smoothly varying colors
behveen two colors in the palette. The button works the same as the
Copy and Exchange buttons. A color is selected, the Spread button
is pressed, and another color is selected. The RGB component
values of all the colors between the two selected colors are changed
to provide a smooth transition. The OnHelease script for this button
uses the brush sho\\-n in Figure 4C for the pointer imager}'. Also, it
sets the variable PendingCommand to "Spread".

The Palette Button

The Palette button acts as a container for the color swatches
representing the current palette. When the button is pressed, its
OnRelease script is executed. This script first calls the Box routine to
overwrite the rectangle around the currently selected color with the
background color, effecti\'ol\' erasing the rectangle that was
previously there. Next, the location of the pointer is determined
from the system variables MouseX and MouseY. The pointer
position is used to calculate the selected color swatch's row and
column so the pen number of the color can be calculated. The RGB
component values of the current pen, PenA, are stored.

At this point the script determines if there is a peixding
command by checking the value of the \-ariable PendingCommand.
If its value is "Copy", the RGB component values of the newly
selected pen are set to the \'alues of the current pen, effecting a copy
of the color.

If PendingCommand is equal to "Exchange", the RGB
component values of the newly selected pen are obtained and the
current pen's ^'alues are set equal to them. Then, the newly selected
pen's RGB eompiment values arc set equal to the original values of
the current pen, thus effecting a sivap in colors.

If PendingCommand is equal to "Spread", the RGB compo-
nent values of the current color and the newly selected color are
determined. The difference bet«^een each of the three component
\-alues is calculated and an increment is set for each based on the
number of colors between the two selected colors. Then, all of the
intermediate colors are set based on these increments.

.After handling any pending commands, the newly selected
pen is made the current pen using the SetPen command,
PendingCommand is reset to "None", and the pointer is reset to its
default imagery by issuing the SetPointer command with no
arguments. Finally, the large color swatch in the CurrentColor
button is updated, the proportional sliders are adjusted, and a
rectangle is drawn around the new current color swatch.

The Proportionai Sliders

There are three proportional sUder objects. They are named
Red, Green, and Blue. Each slider has two scripts, OnNewPosition
and OnRelease, associated with it. OnNewPosition executes when
the knob within a slider is moved. This is done by clicking on the
knob and dragging it or clicking in the slider container to either
side of the knob. The OnRelease script executes when the mouse
button is released.

The OnNewPosition script determines the new position of the
slider's knob. The sliders are set to vary from zero to 255 (Figure 5).
This range corresponds directly with the RGB component values of
the colors in the palette.

The size of a slider knob is adjustable. The knobs for the
sliders on this card are set to a size of 10. Be aware that the actual
maximum value that a slider can have is determined by the left side
of the knob. Therefore, the actual maximum value for a slider is

Lot I>0

Ihtpi ?ut color ractangl«B on th« card

Mop; The color arrays uaed in the SetRQB conajand are aiiiiffned in
Nop; tie GetCol&rs routine
Loop
SotEGB I,HediI!,Green[Il.Blue[I]
SetPen I

XreaRectangle 20, 15+5'I,280, 5
Let I»l4l
Until I>KaxColor
Soascript

SefdreDetachiQent ,- used to be OaFlniehup
Nop: Get new colore to use when this card is reattached
Do "GetColore"
EndScrlpt

HeBsagePromSubDeck
Let HeBsagQ>AJol
If HeflaaffB»"Ouic"
CloBePendinsWlndow jCloflo palette req before nejtt coaniaRd
FirBtCard ;Heattach card to Bhow that colore are chajigod
Endie
SQdScript

Window "DBerWindow
Definition
Origin 0,0
Size 3:0,300
Title "Colore"
HmnberOfColore 33,69632

KlndowColora 0.1,0 .• Detail. Block, aackground
WiDdowQbjecta CLOEEflOrroN

KindovFlago ACTIVATE SEPABATESCREES TOFROMT
EndScript
OnCloBeButton

Quit
EndScript
EndObject

TextButton "Chanjacolcrs-
Dof initioQ

Origin 132,179

Font -diainond",12 ; FoatKana, PointSizB

Printstyle SHADOW ,2,3 ; stylo, Jenl, Pen!

TentColore l.CHOBiSAL ,- PonA, PeBB, DrawMode

Text " ChangeColore *

Border BEVEL ,2,1 , BordsrStyla, MainPen, ExtraPen

Highlight COBPLEHEST

ButtonPlaga NONE
EndScript
OnRelease
LoadSuiiDcck "CanDoiOeckfl/Col&rChaage",
OpenBequestar "CC", "ChaagePalette"
EndScript
EndObject
' End of Card "HaiaCard"

^ Global routine "OetColars*
Let r-O
Loop
GetROB I,Red!lI,Green[I],Blue[II
Let Iilfl
Dntil I>MaiColor
' End of routine "CetColorfl"

Listing Two

Llatitig J. ColorChaage Deck

* Deck "ColorChange"

* Time 01:15:13

* Bate 01/23/»4

* CardlB) in deck.

* Card "CbaEgePalette"

* I Card(B), I were printed.

Ma r 1994

1-1

fl.

Copy . br

B , Exchange . br

Spread . br

Fiqure

4. Pointer Imager q

Right-KciobSizo+l wlK-re Right ^uid KiiobSi/u .uc deiinod *ih shown
in Figure 5. When tho knob size is K). the v.iluo oi Ri^ht must be 264
for the maximum v^ilut? of the slider to eL-junl 255.

The position of a slider knob is determined with the
GetPropPosilion command. The OnNewPosition script uses this
Viilue to change the appropriate RGB component ot the current
color. Also, the slider value is printed to Ihe right of the appropriate
siider using the current color. This provides instant feedback of
how the current color is changing with slider knob movement.

When the mouse button is released, the OnRelease script
exccules. It prints the final value of the slider. Also, just in case the
slider was adjusted while a ct>mmand vs'as pending,
rendingCommand ts set equal to "None". Finally, the pointer's
default imagery is restored.

The Restore Button

The Restore button is used to reset the color palette to its
original colors when the card was activated. Its OnRelease script
calls the ResetColors routine to accomplish this task. Also,
IVndingCommand is set ei^ual to "None", and the pointer's default
imagery is restored.

The OK Button

The OK button is used to accept the current palette with any
changes that have been made and then exit the deck, returning
control to the parent deck. It's OnRelease script sends a "Quit"
message, using the SendToParentDeck command, to the parent
deck and then quits,

The Cancel Button

The Cancel button is used to reject the current palette and then
exit the deck, returning control to the parent deck. It's OnRelease
script executes the ResetColors routine, sends a "Quit" mc^ssage to
the parent deck, and then quits.

Conclusion

i hope this installment helps vou to better e^pieciate the
power of CanDo. When I first concei\'ed this progtaftt, 1 expected it
to be quite involved. However, the more I coded, the more amazed
J was at how easy it was to implement.

ffaCiural order of Cards
Card "CbangBPaletta"

Global Rouciiie(s) in dec)c.
Routine "Box"
Routine "GflCColora"
' RoticiDe "ReaetColors"
Pautiae "SetProps"

• i Global routincBlB), i «ere prlncad.

' Card "CbangePaleEie"
AfterAttachaeat ; U8ed to be Af terStarcup
Kop ;Get nunber of cclcrs on acraan and
Kop ; detennine nuniber of fowa and colunaiB for palette
Let MaKColor=WindowColorB-l
Let NusLRo-rfEsHindowCDlorsHB
If Nu^tKQWfl =
Let NuaSowfl^^l
Let NuitiCalfl=HlndowColorB
Else

Let NumCola^S
Endlf

Hop ;Set upper left corner of palette area and
Nop ; the increment size between color blockai
Let StartX-lOO
Let StactV-1?
Let In[:K°BO/t<hii3Col0
Let IncYo40/NumRow8

Hop jLoop to create rowa and oolumna of the color palette
Let I-O
Let J>0
Let S=tl
Let Y-0
Loop
Loop
SetPen i*Ji*MuiDCola

AreaRestisgle StartX*X. Startr*¥. mcX-l, IneY-l
Let 1=1*1
Let X«X+IncX

Until I-^fUJnCola

Let 1-0

Let J=J*1

Let X=0

Let y=¥+lncY
Until J^KuQJlows

Hop ;Set draw node and print RGB beaide the alldera
SetOrawKode JA»2
SetPen 1

PrintText "R", 10,69
PrlntText "G", 10,79
PrintText "B", 10,89
Hop iBraw a rectangle around color &
SetPen
Do "Box", 1

Hop .-Set the sliders' posltlond for color
Do "SetProps"

Hop ;Got the screen'a initial color*
Do ^GetColorB"

Hop ,-Ho pending command when unQif clic)ta on palette
Let Pendin3Commanda'"N0ria''
EndScript

windcv "UsBrwindow
Definition

Origin 20,30

Size 200,140

Title "Change Palette"

NumljerOEColora 2,69632

windowColora 0,1,0 t Detail, aloek. Background

WindowObjectS CLOSEBOTTOH DRAGBAR

WindOwFlaga ACTIVATE TOFRONT
EndScript
OnCloaeButton

SendToParontDecJt "Quit"

Quit
EndScript
Endabject »

AresSutton -Palette"
Itefiiiition

Origin 97, IS

Size 95,43

Border D0U3L2BEVBL ,2,1 j BordarStyie, HainPen, ExtraPen

HiShllght KOHE

ButtonPlags HOHE
EndScript

42 AMAzr\a Computing

OnRaleaae
ptj ''Bqx'',0 ;lJn-hlffhllglit current color
Nop ; Che t ermine neuly selected color nuiriPer
Let CurS-MouseX
Let CurT=HQuBeY

Let CurRDw=Min( [CUirY-Stajrt¥)MncY+l,NumR£>WB)
Let Cij:rCol=Kin< |CjrX*StartX)AIncX*l,thifflCol«)
Let PbuHuoicB* (CurRow-l) + (CurCol.-l)

Hap ;6ec current pen's colors and handlo pending commands
QetRGfi FenA, Red, Oreen, Blue
If PendingCoiiiiiiand-*'Copy"

SetRGB PenNus, Red, Green, Blue
ELself ?endin7CDMaond-"'Exchange''
GerRGB PenKu3i,Red2, Greene. Blue2
SetRGB PenA,Red2,Green2,Slue2
SetRGB PenNum, Red, breen, Blue
Elnelf PendingConniand^"Spread''
Let PenDif f-AbBolute{PenNum-PenA)

It PenDif£>l /Only do this is pen epread is 2 or more
Let StartPen*Min*PenA, PenHumJ jlcweet pen number
Hop ,*Make sure low pen in <color> and high in <eQlor>2
If StartPgniPenA
G«tRGB PenA,Hed, Green, Blue
GetBGB PeiiKum.Red2,Green2, Blue2
Else
GetRGB PenNuiD, Red, Qreen^ Blue
GetRGB PenA,Red2«Gree[i2,Blue2
End If

Wop .-Determine the color diffs between adjacent pena
Let RedInc=(Red2-Red!/PenDiff
Let GreeiiInc-(Green2-Green) /PeoDif C
Let Bluelnc>i(BIueZ-Blue)/PenDlf£
Mop fLoop to set intermediate pen colors
Let CurPen^StartPen+I
while CurPen<"St»rtPen+PenDlff-l

Let NewRedaRed-* [ CurFeD-£;tartl>er.) 'Kedlnc
Let NewticeenTC^regn^ (Curfen-StartPen) *GreenlQC
Let Kewfllue=BIue+(CurE"en-StartPen) •Bluelnc
SetRGB CurPen , MewRed , MewGreen , h'ewBlue
Let CurPen>CurPen+l
GndLoop
Endlf
End If

SetPen PenNua ;Kow malce current pen the selected pen
Hop .-Reset pending coEEaand and pointier
Let PeiidingCoiiinLand=''None"
SetPo inter

AreaRectangle 10,17,20,33 /Update current pen box
Do "BetProps" ;SeC the proportional objects' values for new pen
Do "Box",! jHighliglit new pen color
EndBcript
EndObject

AreaButton "CurrentColor"
DeEinitioB
Oriffin 8,15
Size 24,43

Border DOUBLEBBVEL ,2,1 ,■ BorderStyle, KalnPen, ExtraE'en
Highlight NONB
BUttOnFlaga NOKE
EndScript
EndDbject
AreaProp "Red"
Definition
Origin 24, £9
Size 140, a
Hoverype HORIZONTAL
Range 0,264, 1, 10
VisibleRange 10,1
InitlalPosition 0, 1
gropBorder TRUE
EndScript
OnHcwPseitioa
GetPropPosition ''Red.",NewpoB
GetRGB PenA.Rad.GreeBjBlue jGet old color
SetRGB PenA,NewPos,Gieen,Blue ;Set new color
Nop ."Print new Red value using color PenA
PrintText FQnnatValue(HewPos, "000") ,170,^9
EndScript
OnRe lease

Hop ,- Print Red value using color 1
Let APen^PenA
SetPen 1
PrintText Format Value I NewPos, '000 "K 170, 69
S*CPen APen

Nop I In case this button was pressed after the Copy, Exchange,
Nop ; or Spread buttong, reset pending carmiand and pointer
Let £'endingCoinniand="blone''
SetPointer
EndScript
EndObject
AreaPrbp "Green"
Definition
Origin 24,79
Size 140,8
Move^pe HORIZONTAL

Range Q, 264. 1, 10

VisiblaRangc 10,1

InitlalPosition 0,1

PropBorder TRUE
EndScript
OajfewPosition

GetPropPosition "Green" rHewPos

GetRGB PenA, Red, Green, Blue jOet old color

SetRGB PenA, Red, NewPoB, Blue jSet new color

Nop ;Print the new Green value using color PenA
PrintText FormatValue(KewPo8,"D00" }, 170,79
EndScript
OnRelePse

Nop ,'Print nev Green value using color 1

Let APon=PenA

SetPen I

PrintText ForaiatValuelNewPos, "000"), 170, 79

SetPen APen

Hop ;In case this button was pressed after the Copy, ExchaagOj

Nop ( or Spread buttons ^ reset pending command and pointer

Let PendingCoimnand="i4one"

SetPointer
EndScript
EndObject
AreaProp "Blue"
DMflnition

Origin 24, B9
Size 140, S

MoveType HORIZONTAI*

Range 3,264,1,10

VisibleRange 10,1

InitialPosition 0,1

PropBorder TRUE
EndScript
OnHewPoaition

GetPropPosition -Blue-,ilftwPoa

OstRGB PenA, Red, Green, Blue ;Get old color

SetRGB PenA, Red, E>reen,NewPoa ;Set new color

Hop ; Print the new Blue value using color PenA

PrintText FonratValue(KewPait, "000" ) ,170,89
EndScript
OnReleaae

Nop :Print Blue value UBing color 1
Let APen=PenA
SetPen 1

PrintText FormacValuelHewPoa, "000") ,170,39
SetPen APen

Nop ; In case this button vas pressed after the Copy, Exchange^

Hop ; or Spread buttons, reset pending coco&and and pointer

Let Pei]idlngCoitraand*''Hoae'*
SetPointer
EndScript
EndObject
TextButtoa "Copy"
Definition

Origin 38,13

Font "topaz", 6 ; FontHame, PointSize

PflntStyle SHADOW ,2, J j Style, Penl, PBn2

TexEColors 1,0, NORMAL ; PenA, PenB, DrawMode
To:£t " copy "

Border bevel ,2,1 ; aqr^erStyle. MainPen, ExtraPen

Highlight COKPLEMENT

ButtonFlags KOKE
EndScript
OnRe lease

Hop .-Turn on Copy pointer and assign pending conmaad fDr

Hop t the Palette button

SetPointer "CanDosBruBhes/Copy.br"

Let PendingCorainflnd=''Copy"
EndScript
EndObject

TexEButton "Exchange"
Definition

Origin 3B,31

Font "i.cpnf.S ; FontHaaie, PointSize

PrintSCyle SHADOW ,2,3 ; Style, Penl, Pen2

Textcolors 1,0, NORMAL ; PenA, PeoB, DraVKode

TftKt " Exch "

Border BEVEL ,2,1 .- BorderStyle, MainPen, Extrafen

Highlight COMPLEMEHT

ButtonFlagE NO!^
KadScript
OnReleaae

Nop ;Tum on the Exchange pointer and set the pending coiBaand

Nap ; for the Palette button
SetPointer "CanDo: Brushes/ Exchange. br"

Let PendingCoicimaiid="Exchaage"
EndScript
EndObject
TextButton "Of
Definition

Origin 12,133

Font "topaa-.a s FontNane, PointSize

PrintStyle SHADOW ,2.3 ; Style, Penl, Pen2
TextColors i,0, NORMAL ,- PenA, PenB, DrawMode

May 1994

A'rvi" ami I'i'viM'it
iniriuhicroiy kiiH'
Jhr Amiga nimjiiilcr.'

Vfom

C.P. PRODVCTIOSS

^ AN INTRODUCTION TO THE AMIGA:

^ OPERATING SYSTEM^

Ai /tnf,' Here is a L'omprt;hcnsivc. >fep-by-slL'p i:indo. c\pi;iincil m tlear
and sinlple bnfjuug&v wiih numcrouis examples. hiiUs ;imj lips in n uiumul
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( I' I'R()nLCllOSS.]*.O.BON l{l.\ ST PlilLkS. PA 1*^47U

Circle 110 on Reader Service card.

Text " 0]^

Border BEVEt ,2,1 ; BorderStyle, MainPen, ExtraPen
Highliffht caMPLEMEST
ButconFiags SOsH
EndScript
t^aKeleaoe
SfindToParentDeck "Quit" ;Lct parent Keow we are chitting
Quit
EndScfipt
EndObject

TfiKtButton -Cancel'
l>efinition

Oriffin 121,123
Pont "topaz", 8 ;

PfintStyle shadow .1.1 ; style, Penl, Pen2
TextCclarB l.O.NOFHAI. ! fenA, PenB, DrawHode
Text " Cancel "

Border bZVEU ,2,1 j BordefStyle^ SlainPefi, ExtraPen
Hiahiigb-. cokpi-ement

ButtOEJiags K0M2
Endscript
OiiReleBse
Do "RefletColors"
SendToParentDeck
Quit
EndScript
EndObject

TextEutton "Sestare'*
Definition

Origin 64,104

Font "topaz", B ; FcntMone, PointSiae
PrintStyle SHADQ-ff .2,1 ; Style, Penl, PenS
TextColoiTB l^O.NOBMAL i P«nA, PenB. Drsv'Kode
Text " Eeetore "

Border BEVEL ,2,1 i BCFdarBCyle, HainPen. ExtraPen
Highlight COMPLSHEHT
BuiitQnFlags SOKE
EndScript
OnRelooBB
DO "Resetcolors" ?ReitorB the original colors
NOP rin caB« thia button wa» prtssed atter tHe Copy, Exchnngs,
NOP ; or Spread buttona, reoet pending comaand and pointer
Let E'endingCoi«aaEd«''HDnB''
SetPOtnter

FontNamef PoifltSize
Style, Penl,
fenA, PenB,

fRBBCore original colors

"Quit" ;Let parent Itnow we are quitting

EndScript
EndObject

TextButton "Spread"
Definitiou
Origin 18,49

Font "topaz", 8 ; FontNama, PolntSize
PrintStyle SHADOW ,2,3 ; Style, Penl, Pen2
TextColorg 1,0, NORMAL ; PenA, PanB, DrawHode
Text - Sprd "

Border BEVEL .2,1 ,■ BorderStyle, MainPen, ExCraPen
Highlight COMPLEMENT
ButtonFlags NOME
EndScript
OnRelease
Nop jTurn on tlie Spread pointer and set the pending coinMind
Nop ; for the Palette button
Set Pointer ■'C«nDo:BniHheB/Spread,.br"
Let PendingCoitaiiand<"Spread''
EndScript
EndObject
* End o£ Card "ChangePalette"

■ Global routine "Box"

Wop ,- Determine the row and column of PerA

Let Row=PenA%B

Let ColuJiin«PenA//S

Hop jDetennine the top left coraer for the highlight box

Let Top5:Starty+Row»IncY-l

Let Left^Stari:X*Coliimn*lncX-l

Hop rDraw the highligbt box using the pen nuinber passed as

Nop ; an. argusent to this routine

Let APen=?enA

SotPen Argl

DrawHectangle Left, Top. IncXfl, IncY+1

Setf en APen
• End of routine "Box"

■ Global routine "(SetColora"

Mop 7 Loop to get all the rqB values for the pens

Let 1=0

Loop

GetRGB I,RtI].G[l!,B[I]

Let 1=1*1
irntll l>HaxColor

■ End o£ routine "GetColorB"

' Global routine "BesetColora*'

Mop jLoop to set all pen colore to original colors obtained

Wop ; in GetCclars routine

Let 1=0

Loop
SetRGB I,R[I1,0[I],BII]
Let I-I+l

Until i>MaxColor

Do "SetProps" ;Set the proportional objects' values
■ End o£ routine "Re«etColors'

' Global routine "SetProps"

Nop ,-Get PenA'B colore, print values, afid set proportional

Nop ; objects' values accordingly

Let APen^PenA

Set Pea I

GetHSB APen.Sed, Green, Blue

PrintText FormatValue [Red, "OOO" I , 170, 69

PrintTeaet FormatValue {Green^ "OOO" ) ,170,79

PrtntText ForEnatValue(Blue,"000"K 170, B9

SetPropPosition "Bei3",Red

SetPropPosition ■"Blue", Blue

SetPropPoaition -Orean", Green

Set Pen APen
* End of routine "SfttProps"

•AC-

Please Write to:

Randy Finch

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140
Fait River. MA 02722-2140

44 AMAZf\G CO.MPLTISG

Four Amiga Music Utilities

You Should Be Aware Of •

li. Slia)iinif Moiiii'r

Having written articles on most of the major Amiga music
packages over time, I'm finding that a number of excellent second-
ary packages ha\'e tended to go unnoticed and unreported. One or
more of the following programs might be just what you need to
enliance your video/animation work, or as a needed utility to
support your musical ventures on the Amiga.

• RiffGrabber

• EmTrax

• Motzart's Music Master

• KeyBang!

RiffGrabbsr 1.8 bv Nick D idkousky

Inport froit DncS

Create Custon

PERFORM
Rec ord

Playback

Stop

MIDI In

MIDI Out

- PREFERENCES •
^Ne tronof^e ON

Tenpn

RiffGrabber 1 .0

Do iu)l pMs this software up if you Me .in EA DMudc 1.(1 user.
It adds a process to DMusic that the program itself should have
definitely considered far its 2.0 release, if not sooner. This is the
capacity to record MIDI sequences that are quantized according to
the needs of the player/composer, and not limited by mechanical
quantizing that has to be se\'erely edited on the notation screen.

"Quantizing" in electronic music gives the composer the
ability to set the time values of input notation so that what appears
on screen matches the composers desires. If you set the quantiza-
tion at eight notes, for instance, you can peck away at the keyboard
at wh.ite\'er speed is comfortable for \'ou, not worrying if some of
the notes you play are of larger or shorter duration than eighth
notes. The screen will interpret every kej'press as an eighth note

regardless. That's OK when
you plan to use notes of all one
tkir.ilion, or when vou are
pLiniiing to edit the time
values later. It's not OK when
you .ire <i musician that thinks
on your feet or an improvisor,
and you want the exact
duration of the notes that

To Dries via RRexx '

Hrit* snus file

Quant Lzat ion

nRoxx jiLitpt path
Ran:

0aiI3XO33XKi]

by Nick Oidkouskv

Quant ixat ion Spec 4f icat 1 1

atp Note Tr ipleti?
8th Note Triplet^.'
16.th Sexluplets?
8th Quintuplets?
16th Quintuplets?
8th Septuplets?
16th Septuplets?

I h irt y-se c o nda QK ,

Hlnlnun •
Yes

of notes in Tuplet

Yes

Figure 1. The RiffGrabber
screens ore deceptively
simple as compared fo the
complexity of their purpose.

May 1994 45

you're playing to be recorded to the sequence that appears on Ihc
screen. This means that if you allow a phrase to bleed over a timed
bar-line, the program will not attempt to "correct" it for you, but
will take it exactly as it is.

The RiffCrabivr screens are extremely simple affairs, and you
should need little explanation or reference to the manual to get
things up and running, especially if you are an experienced DMusic
user. The first RiffGrabber screen has a series of buttons that ask
you to determine MIDI in/out channels, selected recording tempo,
and whether the on-bnard metrnniinie should be loggled on or off
(this provides a "countdown" before plaving commences). You can
import a number of measures from DMusic to record to, and also
send D.Music a .sequence via its ARexx port (being sure to send the
recording to a number of D.Vlusie measures that are empty)- A
"Create" option allows you to select a number of measures and a
lime signature to record to.

The real magic of this software is on the Quantization screen.
There, in addition to being able to quantize a sequence in any
selected parameter, you can leave all or anv selected number of
possibilities on, getting a much more natural fee! when the
recording is done. The selections range from 16/32nd notes to a
series of "tuplets": quarter and eighth triplets, sixteenth sextuplets,
eighth and sixteenth quintuplets, and eighth and sixteenth
septuplets. Anv of these can have input as to the denominator of
the temporal signature. Just as a MIDI quantizer, this is one of the
bust and most optional around.

Though I call this softivare a utility' to DMusic, it can also be
used as a stand-alone sequencer thai records performances direcllv
to a setup of blank measures of any time signature (Create Custom).
Once recorded, you can save the sequence out to a SMUS file
(meaning that in addition to DMusic, you can send the SMUS file
out to MusicX 2.0 or any other SMUS compatilile program). The
onlv thing 1 can think of adding is the capability to quantize in
sixty-forth notes in some future revision, because DMusic 2.0
addresses sixtv-forth notes.

EmTrax

If you are invoh'ed in producing soundtracks for video, then
there is little doubt that this software will delight you. Its concept
and operation is extremely simple. EmTrax is a series of four
separate IFF sequence and soundfile libraries that loads into RAM
when accessed. You can load in all four if vou have enough
memory. Once loaded, each of the samples is represented on-screen
b\' a button. The beauty here is instant needed embellishment
soundclips at your disposal. You can also get a recordable test tone
by pressing "T" at anv time.

.All four libraries contain a whopping 176 sound effects, and
they're split up to give you groups that are simitar. The disks are
distributed as QuarterBack archived files, and have to be decom-
pressed using QB. The four modules consist of the Music Embel-
lishment Library (ME), the Real World Fantasy (RWF), Real World
Cartoon (RWC), and the Impact and Rude Noises. All of the
sequences and samples are artfully recorded and extremely useful,
some of the sequences lasting many seconds. What I like most is
that you can click the mouse on as many samples as vou want in
any succession, and they will play exactly in that order. Many
effects also loop very well when clicked more than once. It is to our
fortune that the developer says that this is an expanding library,
One suggestion I have for the future is to have one of the libraries
be OiiL'-Sli'p-Mufic-Shof sequences re.idv to go. Wouldn't that be
interesting? As it is, however, this is a qualitative production tool
readv to go.

Mozart's Music Master

Teaching music theory and music appreciation classes is an art
form in itself. 1 have done it for many years, and the deeper you go
the more creative you have to become in the classroom. As a
teaching aid, this small Amiga program is one of the most excellent
learning tools 1 have ever seen, and, most iniportantlv, heard. With
this software, you can learn to read music notation in four different
clefs, leam interval theory and ear training (I was embarrassed at
my first scores), leam to identify the four standard scales (Major

___^_^__

^^^^^^

^_^_^_

^^^^^^^

^^^^^^

^.^___^

pnsELica

RDYRL
OPERER

gusFEnsE

OPERER

STflTIOn
I.D.

PERC. I
flCCERT

ROYAL
CLOSE

THE
ERD

DRUm
ROLL

RO^RL
QPLilER

gusp^nsE

OPLilER

sTPTion
l.J.

PERC. 2
flCCERT

RC^'flL
CLuSE

IRDVinG
RIGHT
RLDRG

pRUlDRQLL
CVmBQL

RD^HL
OPEflER

HEHE cnmES

THE BRIDE

flCDUSTIC
CLOSE

PICCOLO
ERD

RDYHL

COnCLUDE

r-Y.i.

ISLE
inTBO

EVEniRG
REWS

BAD
JOKE

flnOELIC
CLOSE

PICCOLO
IIITEHLIJDE

THERE

ERD
SPOT

BROUGHT

TO YOU

FHOm

OUR

SPOnSDR

CROSS
THE LIRE

HflRmonic

PICCOLO
ERD 2

HAPPY
EVER
AFTER

DUITIB
FiniSH

GORG
BIG

GORG

FRIRY
IR

FRIRY
OUT

FRLL
LRRD

JUGGLE

CYRIBOL
ERTICE

ABOUT

PERC. 1
LDDP

mUSICRL
EmBELLISHRlERTS

PERC. 2
LOOP

QUIT

Figure 2. Here's
one of the four
EmTrax screens,
bursting with
usable sequences
for video
production.

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MI230XA

Hlgli speed 68030 Accelerator

W/32 Bit RAM

Board up to 12s

MB RAM, Math

chip Option,

includes Realtime

Clock

40 MHZ 68EC030

50 MHz 68030 w/Miviu
50/0/0 $379

50/50/o$5gg ''^^"° 40/33/o$399

0-... 40/0/0 $299

MBX 1200Z

MATH CHIP 32-BfT WIDE RAM And REAL TIME

CLOCK FOR THE NEW AMIGA 1200

FPU. 52-Blc Memorv.vJ/Clock, Calendar i Bat. for tne 1200

14MHZ 68881

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The only ALL IK ONE single board Solution
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ACCEr.ERATION ^'ET^^^ORKI^'G
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TWELVE GAUGE

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50/0/0 $499

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ONES
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16-Blt. 32 Voice,
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stereo aualo. am
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proprtetar/ DSP. 20 h2 10
2CKHZ frequency response.
2 stereo outouis at Jam
Into (00 Ohms, mtesfatf!)
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STEREO SPEAKERS

Just plug Into any Amiga
Stereo ou tp ut for clear au aio

HD/4 Amplified
Computer Speakers

Dual 3.5" dvnamic drivers & built-
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ccurate

$49

HD/1 Amplified
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control batance l levels, amm

Optional

Power Adaptor $9

XL DKIVE-HIGM DENSITY

Hlqh Density External Drive for
any Amiga formats l.7eHB with
standard DD Disks compaticie
for PC Disks requires worl;
BencnM or above

internal for ^ ^^
A20oo/Aaooo S165

SUPERJ AM ! BARS & PIPES PRO 2.0

creite accompj-
tiiments, sounu
tracks, styles
grooves quickly
easily Stereo
TufboSounds, 2
^ octeve chords,
visysl volume i
caminj

NEC Multrspin 38 :^..^ §389

NEC TripleSpeed 3XP $499

TEXEL 3028 Internal $399

units are Amiga reaay • SCSI interface required

• A

' includes ASIM CD software *
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Power Tools Kit..,

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SWIPTV MOUSE

True Three-Button, use with

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A- 1200 RAM Expansion

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Multi-PJatform crj phics Conversion

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X-Caiibur

A-acco/OM RAM. Expansion S Accelerator.
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RFIOIVI

OREGON

HESEAHCH

lig@](I][L©S®DD!]i]{a

MegalQsound Is
anatnailngly
low cost, full
featured, 8 Bit
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that's not all lit
also features
Direct- to- Disk
Recording of
samples. Up to 56kHz sample rate.

OSPUS^ fl® Hereisthe Low-Cost, IS BitstereoSampier
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lMmS)W(S}S!M? &Mi, Video digitlz-sampllng all in
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as 16 channels of Mioi, 32 tracks, sequencer One Plus inclufles easy
to use Diamond Drag editing.

i2X§W[pQl@ S Fast. Assembly language programming
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Debugger, and FAST Assembling. S^S

We,^ from- WMM^mSm

_, _ _^^ __^__.^ The Only Expansion Device y

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you

need for your Amiga 4000 (or Amiga
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expansion is on a single board that installs into the CPU slot- Not
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FEATURES warpEngine GVPoao/40 Fastlane

28MHz, 33MHz. 40MHZ versions YES NO NO

2SMHZ Upgradable to 33 and «)MHz VES NO NO

ExpanOable Onboard to l28MegaBytes Ram YES NO YES

Built in SCSI-2 HarO Drive Controller YES NO YiS

Uses industrvstancard SIMM Modules yes NO NO

Uses any Combination of SIMMS YES NO NO

Allows use oftheMemorvfrom the Amiga YES NO NO

RETINA

ZABIt Frame Buffer and worltber^ch Im-
UJ»ll3n, Analog l?Cfl output BOQxSOO Fufi
Z4&IT 16.7 million color Olsptav- Non^
Interlaced full ivoriibEntli Emuiaticn wltn resoiLtion such as loranse or
12!0il(!2J In 16 colors or even more! Up to 2*3X1K»! Flint orogram comes
ivith Retina, Ttie Beilna can still He oseo to display 24Bit graphics while
emulating wortbencn. Requires the !,0 or greater operating system.

W/2MB....^Si§ RBllna Viaeo Enender

.„„^ S-VHS4Compositeout.„.$12i(

W/flMB.... «S«il 10BS ADAPTEB.... $2fl

Internal for the A2000. ac;^^

3000. AiND flOOO, *'sg;i=
Y/C Version S459

New Externals |^|

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race.

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and EBrt direct to narcdisi:, PiavDack from
HaraDisit no to ts channels in i6Bil 64 Time?
OverswmDing. 16 sampling rates. Freq.
Response 10 Hz to 20 KHz. SimuitaneoLjfi
Record I
PiavCatkfrcmHardDrtve.

24 Bit RealTime Video
Digitizer AGA Support
Digitizes Full Prame
in 1/50 of a second

Tiuitaneous

or uaron^ ^s A ASe« -AmigaDos : w or Rigfier

MuttiUverfarADPro Isacamccs-ring/iavfnng
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Inproves ftDPro's impressive array cf com-

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*129

Sunaard Pairtide and fiea! Viono
Kinematic animation System far ^ A A
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Ud-

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I If If

Color

The WE13» £ P,i,S2i53 let you scan t6 7 mi;:lDn :olor5,
2S6 true nrf vs £ li ne art Pertec: for tne icasier &
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• 5M«»ii WSiHfflJpasJSanninj IJOOCD' MS1200
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• COicrWt P:d ■ MVM IJ-b-t iFFrttFF and niors:
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Colorlhir^V"

T^ree scanneri in one! Scan cdor, true graysc^l'
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MONOCHROME \

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A4000 AT Internal w/cart $S99

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105Mb cartridge $79

D/\T/Vi= l_Y E F

A1200 External IDE Case

install Your Favorite 3.5" Hard Drive '_

Includes all cables
arid connections.

MOI^TACE-:r.::,:

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MULTI-SCAN 15-40 KHZ

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IDEAL FOR VIDEO!

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OPUS

Realize your full productivity with Directory
OPUS! OPUS allows you to easily manipulate
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A "must-have" for hard drive owners, use
OPUS once, and you'll never want to be
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CanDo!

The canDo software authoring package
allows you to take advantage of the Amiga's
powerful architecture, regardless of your
technical abilities. You can program
anything from a simple presentation to the
most advanced professional application
program in record time. In short, CanDo
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p/cit^^^^'^^

both for a low ^n
price of... tj

PROFESSIONAL PAGE 4.0

ALiiomatlc Cenle functions automate most routine

Dsge Bvout and dtp tasks. Page Denies automatically

create custom page layouts Function Denies provide

new ease of use and user custom iiation of program.

fJew features Include: urjdo Putton Irregular tert

wrap, ennanced color separation and under color

removal algprlthms. auto-tiling ftr output of larger

pages.

PROFESSIONAL DRAW 3.0

An objea-orlented color grapWc design and

Illustration tool, now has dynamic hot link to Pro

Page 3.0, and more than 30 automatic function ana

tool Denies for fast, efforfless creation of

profess ionai-quaiitvarnvDrk. Over 275 ARexx

commands allow user to edit or create Denies Text

and color nandllng. enhanced color separation, auto-

tiling, undo, redo. Includes i«-olecedipart

collealonand utility allowing structured oraAlng

clips to be converted to IFF DItmaps.

The leading M»ti in
Amiga rat Ultort.

^ew

Edge Is an easy-to-use, professional-quality

text editor ideally suited for notes, scripting

and any other forms of text manipulation.

Features include; unlfmlted number of files,

i unlimited number of windows/file, infinitely

configurable user interface, fast search &

replace, full arexx support with macro recording AREXX

controllability, multi-level undo, extensive "on-line" help

comprehensive paragraph formatting and IVIUCH more'

The Leading Edge In Amiga Text editors.

GIGAMEM

CigaMem virtual memory system lets your
Amiga utilize unused hard drive space as
RAM, eliminating the need for additional
hardware! With Cigamem you can run
memory-hungry programs (such as Art
Department, Lightwave, CanDo and
PageStream) without running low on
memory.

Requires an 020/030/040 based Amiga w/lth
MMU and OS version 2.1 or higher.

ANNOUNCING

NEW FEATURES:

• 3-D planet rendering-experience
3-D pianstary motion!

• View images In 2S6 colors (8 Olt ACfti

• 8,000 sample stars from the Hubble Cufde Star Catalog
116 million starsi More Hubble data available seperateiy.

• Intuitive tool pallette

• Greater selection of arexx commands

Hardware Requirements:
AmigaDos 2.0 or greater
2MB RAM. and Hard, drive

/f^CALIGARI BROADCAS

up to 8000 X 80DC pixel resolution. Direct support for
single frame controllers. 3D Studio and wavefront file
compatible. Animatabie, Deformations, iff 24 output,

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CALICARI 24

Modeler renderer and animator

employing virtual realitv technoiogv: Full

object editing functions including point

edit, real-time feedback using a virtual

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for textures and output.

P^geSti:eam3X). ^^24

The Ultimate desktop puDiishing program! PagesstreamS prov.des

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color witn PAtJTO^JE® colors and gradient fills Import and export

text and oraotiics In many formats and see pictures In full color

on screen 4CA compaPblel Automatic Flash macros auton-jie

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and three associaled Minors), and have search access to a dictionary

of graphic musical symbols. All of this is done completely interac-
tively with well designed multimedia screens and attendant sound
files. We are not speaking of Liej;inner's level material here (though
even lieginners can learn a lot wilti llii^ software), but tests and
challenges suitable for graduate music students. Notes that are part
of the testing system can be displayed above, on, or below any of
the four chosen staves. If you're sure enough of your knowledge
and brave, you can turn on the automatic timer as well. Just as in
any game en\'ironment, your score appears on the screen. When
you pick correctly, you are rewarded with a lovely sounding cello
chord. When you make a mistake, a humorous voice says "ooopsl I
didn't know my own strength." llelpful text can be displayed at
any time. My only suggestion for a future sister product might be
for "Coltrane's Music Master", a similar system that u'ould
encourage learning within the context of jazz (tetrachords and
substitutes, blues and other \,v/ oriented scales, and rhvthmical
variations). A series of these programs dedicated to various world
music styles would make an awesome multicultural teaching
library, and might also be reworked into a CD^2 dj^^; a verv
worthwhile teaching/learning tool.

KeyBangI

This is the simplest of the four packages we mention here, and
its name tells all. If you have a toddler that is attracted to the
computer but is t(X> young to do more than poke a kev here and
there, then this is the software for you. Evervtime any mouse
button or keyboard ke)' is depressed, a random picture together
with a random sound (boings, bells, whistles, voices...) responds.
The software is \'ery customizable in that \'ou can adjust the load
paths by playing with the .info file. The developer promises that
more sophisticated modules are due at a future date.

There is no way to multitask when this program is loaded,
which is probably n smart idea (can you imagine your curious two
year old suddenlv gaining access to vour hard dri\'c?). Now if 1
were to purchase this software to entertain mv two }'ear old, 1
might consider buying another keylioard strictly for that purpose.
After all, "banging" on the computer keyboard over a long period
of time could cause some interesting anomalies the next time you
load vour high-end
productivity software. This
is definitely an idea that
might introduce the
computer to young children
as a fun experience, so that
later on they will be less
likely to feel any anxietv

about using it. It's well worth thinking about purchasing. This

software is the Amiga multimedia software with the youngest
target audience that I could imagine. It could also be developed to
include different levels of plav and response, and might make
another useful CD^~ product.

AC*

Figure 3. Two ol Mozart's

Music Master's screens

are shown here. This

software is meant for

both classroom and

home.

tl0zart'& Kusic roaster.

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IBs

RilferG robber
Didkovsky/NerveWare

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EmTrax

Animatics
PO Box 158

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Inquiry #203

Mozart's Music Master

DevWore

12520 Kirkham Court / Suite 1-FL35AB

Poway, CA 92064

(800) 879-0759

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KeyBangI

The Krueger Company

1544 West Mineral Road

Tempe, AZ 85283

(602) 820-5330

Inquiry #205

Please Write to:

R. Shamms Mortier

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140
Fall River. MA 02722-2140

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May 1994

Desktop Publishing
for Profit

^1/ Dan Weifs

Over the past issues we have looked at many ways of making money witli
desktop publishing. It truly is a business that Amiga users can get into with a
relati\'ely small investment and solid determination. The problem has been that no
matter how determined you are, the world's economy has been in a bit of a slump.
The worst part of this is that many people, possibly including yourself^ have been
caught in one of the "downsizings" going on where they work.

Siirprisinglv though, this m^v he the vcrv key to gcttini; ynur desktop publishing business going. The trick is that in
order to get biick into the job ni.irket, most people need a good resume. These are not easy things to ^vrite, and the competi-
tion for what is considered a good resume has become fierce. It used to be that a cleanly typed one page resume ivas the
mark of ,1 profe.'isionnl. This is not necossaril\' true now. Desktop publishing hns become the critical hallmark of the new
generation of resumes, simple word processing will not do.

All this leads to a stiff demand for people like you that can pull together the tools of the desktop publishing trade and
create dvnaniite results. So let's dive in and look at tlie business of resumes and how to achie\'e job winning results.

The Business of Resume Writing

1 o rescirch this article I \\'ent to the local quick copv chain store. There thev do a booming business in resume
preparation. The person I spoke tt> said that it was about 2.^".. ot all their desktop publishing business (interestingSv enough,
in\ itations, something we just looked at, makes up close to another 25"i> of their business). The going charge for just laying
out a one page resume, getting a camera ready copy and the file on disk is thirty dollars. The second page is twenty' dollars
more and the third page is fifteen. A four page resume, such as the one U'e will create, would cost eighty dollars and you
still don't have ^■\n\ copies of it to send out!

.'\s vou can .see there is mone\" to be made. The tools vou need are the ones \'oii alread\' ha\e if vou do anv desktop
publishing; vour computer, the publishing software, and a good printer. The printer part is crucial since so much is based
on visual quality. If you do not ha\e a PostScript printer, I would suggc>st that you create PostScript files of your documents

and go someplace that has a PostScript
printer to print them. 1 know that this
will eat into vour profits, but qualitv' is
evervthing.

Keeping the customer satisfied

The first and most important
thing to keep in mind is that more so than
any other publishing project, vour
customer's job is really on the line here.
The poiv'er of the resLime vou create can
make the difference between getting or
not getting an interview. Be sure to sit
down with vour customer (or yourself if
\'ou need a resunrel and really look hard
at what kind of resume is needed. These
questions will help vou know what
information to emphasize. Some
questions to ask are:

Dl ■ Rmuii> Doo 1 B3M !3

ltd

Daniel B. Weiss

1313 Mockingbird Lane

St. Louis, MO 63123

1-(314)-555-1212

Schooling

Drexel University of Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Bachelors 0' Science in CorTiputer Science
Special studies in the areas of natural larigi.iage processit
compiler design and operating syslein tlioery.

Nesharniny Senior High School

Work History

So't-Logik Publishing Corporallon

Vice President of Research and Devloprnent

Involved in inanv oroiecls related to the develoornent of rS

n
c

QiBBK

♦ 1*

52 Amazijvc CoMi'uriNG

Resume Designing:

A Simple & Lucrative Way to Enter the

Desictop Publisiiing Field

1.) How important is past experience versus past schooling?
2.) How important is it to have a listing of all previous jobs

versus just the good ones?
3.) How conserwitive or liberal is the job market that I am

trying to enter?
4.) How long have 1 been working in the field and is that an

asset or a liabilitv?
5.) How much of an asset or liability is my age?
6.) Do I have to worry about being under or over qualified?
7.) What do 1 want a perspective employer to know about

previous jobs I ha\'e held?
8.) Do I have some solid references lined up?

That may seem to be a long list, but it is really only the most
important questions. As time goes on you will find that there are
many subtle questions you need to ask to get the best results.

Starting at the beginiaing you need the following information:
Name, Current .Address, Schooling, List of previous jobs, dates
when they were held, positions held, and duties performed.

This is what makes the backbone of a resume. But, if you
siniplv lay this all out in a boring straightforward one page manner,
the resume will get lost in the stack with all the rest. I've been on
both sides of the equation. I ha\e seen my resume in a stack and I
have tried to go through a stack. The boring ones are easy to ignore.

The last question you need to address before starting is how
many pages do 1 want this resume to be? Manv books will tell vou
that the resume should be a one page synopsis of \our career and
only exalted individuals should have more than one page. I think
that is hogwash. I look at the siiie of a
resume as a bell curve relating the
stages of your career to the number of
pages. When you first start out
applying for your first job, you are
hard pressed to fiil a page, and when
you have reached the "John Sculley"
corporate CEO level, the need for a
resume has diminished considerablv.
In between the need to toot )'our ou'n
horn is significant.

If you can do it nicely with text
no less that 11 points (a ven- readable
and compact size) and a font no more
compact than Times-Komnn, then stick
to one page. If you have to leave
things out and abbreviate the
information, it's time to move up to
four pages.

Four Pages

Htnv do we make the leap from one to four pages? The jump
comes from the simple fact that vou want all of the resume read. It
is an a.\iom that people don't look up, and that you can hide
anything if you glue it to the ceiling. It Is also an axiom that if you
put something on the back, no one will read it. Logically adding a
page lo a one page rcsimie would simply invoh'e stapling the
second page to the first, and many people do it that way. The
problem is that the second page can easily become detached and
lost. Along with that last page can go more than half your career.

Tlie solution is not to copy the second page on the back of the
first, as mentioned abo\'e this is sure death. Instead, copy the pages
side by side on a piece of 11x17" paper. Then fold the paper down
the middle and make an 8,5x11" brochure out of it. This kind of a
layout is very easy to do even if you can only print out pages that
arc 8.5x11". Now vou have created a resume that stands out in the
stack.

The Four Page Layout

Start out by creating an 11x17" page with two columns, a one
inch margin on all sides, and a one inch gutter. The important thing
is to keep the design light and open so that the reader can quicklv
find \vhat they are looking for. Too manv resumes read like the fine
print in a contract, dense and \vithout any visual cues. Start by
placing the clients name at the top of the left side of the page
centered in the column. Place it in about 18 point tvpe in the demi
or bold weight of the font family )'ou will be using. Remember the
person's name is VERY important and should really stand out.

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May 1994

Follow tlx' n.inu' with current address and phone information. This

is the second most Important piecs." of informiilion. If they can't get
a Iiold of you, thcv can't gi\ e vou the job.

Next place the relevant non-career experience (schooling,
training, and retraining) in chronological order with the place the
experienced was gained left justified and the associated dates right
justified. These are the most important pieces of information so be
sure to ha\-e them clearlv visible. Thev should also be in the demi or
bold \veight of the font and set at 12 or 13 points.

Points of Style

You may ha\-e noticed that I have not recommended underlin-
ing anything yet. This form of highliting is a throwback to the davs
of typewriters when holding was not possible. Using holding gives
the document a consistent feel and is better at calling attention to a
given piece of information. But no matter how you feel about
underlining never use all caps to call attention to information. This
makes for a verv unprofessional and unreadable line of text. Of
course the usual rules of lavout that ive have covered here before
apply, don't use more than one or two different fonts, be sure to use
tabs instead of spaces for alignment, use the grid for placement of
objects, and don't go too close to (he edges in case the page gets
copietl.

The Works

Next comes the actual work experience. Tliis is perhaps the

most important information in the entire resume. There are two
wavs that vou can approach the presentation of the jobs. The first is
a traditional strict reverse chronological order listing. The most
recent job you held (or your ctirrcnt job) followed by the next most
recent and so on. This is what you will see in most if not all
resumes. The second approach is more daring but puts your career
in a better light. Choose the most relevant job, or the one you are
pn)udest of and place it first. After all, the a\'erage reader may not
get past the first or second job anyway. If you have rele\'ant
experience but it was farther back in your career it may get ignored.
But be sure that you don't succumb to the urge of altering the dales
when you rearrange your resimie as this can be grounds for
dismissal if vou do get the job.

Rir each job list the title of the position you held, your normal
duties, and special achie\'emcnts or projects. Try to avoid jargon
and phra.seologv specific to your field. While it i.s great to he able to
speak the lingo, very often the personnel department is the first to
read the resumes and they won't have a clue as to what you are
saying.

Following the schooling and job history, what you put next is
verv subjective. If you are in a field v\'here there are professional
societies, list these and what offices you may have held. If you are
in a field that has special courses or certifications (hazardous waste
handling training for example) then list them at this point with a
heading of "Awards and Certificates". If you received special
awards like "Salesperson of the year" or "Special Bravery Award"
place them here as well.

Finallv, if there is shll space, place some intereshng, but maybe
not job related information about yourself. For instance, special
hobbies, personal achievements, or organizations can often round
out what can be a very two-dimensional representation of you.
Remember part of the reason for an interview is so that the
perspecti\e employer can get a chance to meet the person behind
the resume. Who knows, the recipient of the resume may share
your hobby or have been involved in the same organization. But
don't put too much of this type of information in, only a few lines at
most.

The last pieces of information to put on the resume are the
reference.s. These are very important, but vou should not de\ote loo
much space to them. Simply give the name of the per.son and how
they can be contacted. You may choose to leave them off the
resume and simply put the line "References available upon
request." Hither way be sure that your references are good
references. It is amazing how many people thought that their
references would ne\'er be contacted and put down people who did
not give a good opinion of the person. Avoid this mistake.

Shaping It all up

Well, )ou've typed it all in, and vou'vecome Lip with a half a
page too little or a page too much what do you do? In the case of
too little, upgrade to 13 point and use a font that does not have tight
letter spacing. To give you a feel for the letter spacing of your font,
take a paragraph and set it in se\'eral different fonts all at the same
point size. The smaller paragraphs have tighter letter spacing, the
larger ones have looser spacing. Belie\'e it or not, you can pick up a
half a page just by increasing the point size and choosing a looser
font over a page and a half of text. Don't push these tricks too far;
14 point type is too big for a resume, and the typeface "Hobo" is
unprofessional.

In the case where the inside pages are not enough, feel free to
spill over onto the back of the folder. Before 1 said that the back
page is death, and generally it is, but we use it here because: 1) This
is the last of the information and none of it (hopefully) is job
historv) and 2) The back page of a brochure gains more attention
because of its uniqueness.

Up Front

We now need to address the front page. This will be the first
thing the recipient sees. Whatever you place here, the name should
be a key part of it. A basic design can feature the client's name
along with a simple under or over accent line. An over line is what
manv news stations use when showing the name of the anchor or
reporter. Another choice is to use a relevant piece of clip art printed
at 10''" gray to form a watermark like effect, in less conservative
environments, you can be more creative, perhaps by creating a
solid fill of the client's name repeated over and over again in outline
form with onlv one occurrence filled in.

The final word

So now you have put the resume together, what do you do?
First get it laser printed of course. Then get the resume copied onto
nice resume paper. Some gtxid papers to consider are referred to as
laid bond. Also paper with a high cotton content looks very
professional. Of course these papers cost more, but the effect is very
important. Many of the recycled papers are popular right now, and
depending on the job, you may score points by using recycled
supplies. Be sure to get matching en\'elopes and paper for cover
letters. Also be sure to offer a service to your client writing and
printing cover letters using the same fonts as the resume. Remind
vour client that wfule your service may cost money, if it lands them
a job, it is all worth it.

Well, that wraps up another project and hopefully puts you
further down the trail of ha\ing your own desktop publishing
business.

•AC*

Please WrUe to:

Dan Weiss

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140
Fall River, MA 02722-2140

54 Amazing Computing

The way the computer can simulate
real-world phenomenon is nothing short of
incredible. People are programming com-
puters to perform tasks that just a few
years ago were unheard of. One of these
simulations is the ability of the computer to
mimic real-world painting, especially in the
fine arts. Throughout this article, I will go
through some of the basic steps of how I
lay "paint" down on the computer screen
and then how these steps can be applied in
the painting of an actual finished picture.
For this tutorial, I used EGS-PAINT, the
painting software that comes bundled with
the GVP Spectrum graphics card.

There are two basic kinds of techniques
used in the making of "Rhonda," the piece that
opens this article; one invoh'es the blending
method and the other invohes the use of the
airbrush. We shall look at each one of these
techniques in turn.

Blending

The blending method is a rather simple yet
powerful technique in the application of paint. I
have found this little gem useful not only in my
computer artwork, but also in my traditional
artwork — especiallv watercolor. In its simplest
form, it involves laying down a stark, opaque
color or value; then, a blending algorithm is
applied that makes the harshness less notice-
able. This technique is useful in the anti-aliasing
of lines and curves, but it can go much farther
than that. If the afore-mentioned bold area is to
act as a boundary layer between two different
areas in the picture, then the blending tech-
nique can be used to separate the two areas
much more dramatically. In the most dramatic

Right: This portraif, 'Rhonda", was created
using the techniques described by the

author.

May 1994 55

sense, blending just one side of ihe bald oren can give the illusion of
depth.

To illustrate this point, open .1 blank screen in a paint
program. Next, using a small brush, draw a eur\'y "doodle" similar
to the one in Figure 1 . Now, enl.irge the brush and select the blend
or similar function in the pninl program. Next, in order to get a
really good view of the blending area, magnify tv%'0 or three times
and begin blending the inner area of the doodle. After some time,
the doodle should start to look like a "cliff" or ledge between the
left side of the screen and the right side, as shown in Figure 2, For
even more dramatic effects, another doodle could be placed on the
right side of the original doodle and blended out on the opposite
side; this could give the impression of a plateau or upland area.

Airbrush

The second technique involves the use of the airbrush tool,
and this application of paint can be equally as dramatic in creating
areas of relief and elevation, To use the airbrush technique, simply
start spraying the paint on the screen. Be careful, though, to select
where the spraying occurs. Tn,- to duplicate the results in Figure 3,
where the picture tends to suggest "craters" or holes in the ivhite
background. Take time to experiment with these techniques,
because they are used quite frequently in the next section.

Before explaining how 1 painted "Rhonda," 1 must stress that
these techniques are in no wav limited to the painting of portrai-
ture, but caii be applied to just about anything from the abstract to

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the real. It is very important to see that these techniques arc not
"written in stono," but are tools to be applied in almost any
circumstance.

The Process

To start off, the painter must define the palette of colors thai
the picture will require. Tor "Rhonda," I used the palette shown in
Figure 4. When 1 actually started to paint the picture, I blocked in a
solid, flesh colored area, and lightly "sketched" in the major
features of the face; e.g., the basic outlines of the eyes and nose. This
is shown in detail in I-igure 5, where I have enlarged the area
around the eye. This is the point \vherc the two painting techniques
start to come in handy, as this eye area appears to look \X'ry flat and
uninteresting. To make this eye stand out, I used a darker valued
flesh color and traced around the outline of the upper eyelid using
the normal or solid color painting mode, as is also shown in
Figure 5.

The next step is to blend this area outward and upward to
make the eyelid appear to have depth and form. To accomplish this,
I used the blend function in EGS-Paint, just as in ti\e above
example. However, in EGS-Paint, the blending tool does not blend
nearly enough for the effect needed here, and so I went to the
second technique: the airbrush.

Using a similar value and a relatively large brush, I began
spraying the area abo\'e the eye, being careful not to hit the actual
eyelid. The reason for this is that the area just above the eye is a
"receding plane," meaning that it docs not catch the light that
shines upon it, but instead lies in shadow. The eyelid, on the other
hand, tends to behave as a protruding plane, which does catch the
light. After performing these tasks, I filled in the eye with a very
light flesh tone. The white of the eye is not really pure white, but a
very liglit version of the flesh tone. I then traced the darker flesh
value on the under side of the upper eyelid and around the bottom
eyelid and blended them as well. These steps are shown in Figures
6, 7, and 8.

The next step is to place the iris in the area of the white of the
eye. To accomplish this, I could have used the circle or ellipse tool;
but because part of the iris is obscurred by the eyelid, 1 chciso to use
the freehand tool. I used a value of blue, shown in Figure 9.
However, this circle of blue does not look quite right. To fix this, I
again went to the blending tool and applied it to the edges of the
eyeball, (o smooth out its jagginess. I used a medium to large sized,
round brush to place the pupil on the eye and blended this in a

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May 1994

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similar fashion. Next, to simulate the
slight shadow that the eyelid can cast on
the eyeball, I relumed lo the norma!
solid painting mode and placed a rather
dark value on the area between the
bottom of the upper eyelid and the
eyeball, and then blended this. To a
smaller degree, I repeated the process
for the bottom eyelid.

To create the sligtit highlight on the
iris and pupil, 1 turned to the airbrush
tool. 1 reduced its settings lo about 60'X5
and positioned the pointer right where I
wanted the highlight to appear. I then
carefully clicked about two to three
times, so as to not applv too much paint.
1 completed the eye by applying a darker value in normal painting

■ mode for the eyelashes, later smoothing them out with the blending
tool. These steps are illustrated in Figure 10.

The nose is painted using the same painting techniques, but in

different ways and combinations, I-irst, [he nose is sketched in;

I second, the darker areas are painted in using solid color; third,

3 these areas are blended out; and fourth, the airbrush is used to
'I

■ paint in areas of differing value and color. The beginning and end

of these steps is shown in Figures 1 1 and 12, Tlie rest of the painting
was completed using, the same techniques described abo\'e, with
; some mixing of the t«-o iii the process.

Experimentation

just some of ihe things that I find helpful in painting are
I variation and experimentation. Tor example, in tC.S-Paint, the user
s can assign one color to the left mouse button and another color to
the right button. By using this process, he or she can paint much
more rapidly and spontaneously- If the color gets too dark in a
specific area, then hit the other mou.se button and lighten it up. If
the reverse is trtic, then use the opposite mouse button to darken
the area. Very .smooth texturing can be achieved using tfiis method.
The second point, experimentation, is also very important. Paint
piograms are very unique among painting media — most of them
have an "imdo" feature. This feature alone practically begs for
experimentation, because if the painter makes a mistake, so vvhat?
He or she can always hit that magical undo function and try again.
It is by trying and failing and trying again that the artist becomes
better at the trade. So go ahead and give it a whirl, and have some
fun!

•AC*

Please Write to:
Mark Hoffman

c/o Amazing Computing
P.O. 80x2140

Fall River, MA 02722-2140

AMAZiyc Computing

%? .^L .^L

bif Merrill Cnlhnviu/

What is Motion Blur?

This month we feature a program sent in by Andrew M. Osiow from Foster City, California. He has
written a program to approximate motion blur in animations. If you have ever photographed something that is
moving too fast for tiie shutter speed of your camera, the resulting picture has "motion blur", a smearing of the
object in the direction of its movement. The camera failed to "stop" the n'^otion in sharp focus. You will
witness the same type of blurring if you \'iew one frame of a video or one frame of a movie of a moving object.
Computer animations, mimic movies, except that each frame is a cartoon drawing instead of a photograph. If
e\'ery frame is exactly sharp in an animation, however, some kinds of motion may appear inexplicably jerky.
Where rapid motion is concerned, an animation can benefit if it mimics motion blur as it would be found in a
movie. If we could mimic motion blur in our animations, then they would appear to run smoother at any given
frame rate.

Evolving a Model for Motion Blur

Andrew's idea to model motion blur is simple, elegant, and
easily done using Ari Dcpmimait Pwfi'<fiounl ,-ind ARexx. Andrew's
original program loaded an animation frame in ADPro, then
composited one or more of the next frames in sequence, starting at
50% mix and decreasing the mix proportioii.ilelv. The composite of
a frame with one or more "ghosi frames" is intended to mimic the
normal motion blur tliat would occur if this were a movie. Andrew
put in features to allow you to pick how many frames to composite
(2 or more); the ability to select the input/output formats; the
director)' to .save to; and the option to specify ihe range of frames to
blur. After experimenting with the program, I found one logical
flaw that needed correcting, and a few technical errors, but bv and
large the listing here is what Andrew sent me.

MAIN INHOrC ^

1 .«. ^ /

IBS* ^^^^^ ROTRTION

aiiosT irinBE ^W"-

1 KMILBBB •"'

noURE 1 nDTIOH BLUR ^'

An ARexx Program for
ADPro to Create

Motion Blur in Animations

My only problem with the logic was the sequence in which

Andrew's original program loaded the frames. He started with
frame On\, loaded it, and proceeded to composite frame 001 at 50%
\vhich gives each an equal weight. Ho\ve\er,
assuming the animation runs forward, the
motion will be from frame 000 to 001.
Compositing these h\'o frames equally, does
not convev the direction of motion. We need
to load frame 1)01 first, insuring that none of its
colors are transparent so that it will stand out.
Then we need to composite frame 000 at 50'lri
mix with the color zero transparent. This
results in a sharp frame 0(11 witli a ghost frame
UOO, which is the correct direction the blurring
should take: backwards. In the case of
compositing several frames, say three, we start
\\ith frame 002, and composite frame 001 at
50";,, and frame 000 at 33".,. I only had to
change a few lines of code to accompiish this.
All of my changes are noted in the listing.

May 1994

How to Use the Program

^Dur animation tramus must be in a diieulory witK no otliur
similarly named files. Andrew's naming convention is the same as
DPaintlV's: filenameN'N'N where filename is the prefix and NNN is
an integer number for the frame sequence. Launch ADI'Ko. Start
MotionBhir2.rcxx from a shell. Select the input (Load) and output
(Save) formats as the ADPro reque.sters come up. Next a file
requester comes up. Select just one of the frame files. The program
determines the frame prefix and range from this. I added a
requester to let vou input color zero (the one to make transparent
for the "ghost" images. Next select the low number and the high
number of the range of frames you want to blur from their
lespective ,'\DPro requesters, followed by the number of frames
you want to composite (the BlurLactor}. Finally select an output
director)' (different from your input directory, as the output files
have the same names as the input files!), and the program creates
vour new frames. You may then make them into an animation to
see lioiv thcv look, and if acceptable, copy them over the originals.
You will come up a few frames short because of the compositing
together of frames: one frame shy for BlurFactor of 2, two frames
shy for BlurFactor=3, etc.

I think that the program is a good start to the technique of
motion blurring. There is no reason you should not experiment
wHh the blur operator, convolving, and the other operators to
process your ghost images, before they are composited. You only
have to add a line or two of code. You could use the Alpha channel
to alter them beforehand, as well, or you could manually bhir each
neu' frame for a better effect. The illustration shows frames from an
animation of a three bladed propeller \\'ith a BlurFactor of 2. One of
tliem leaves the "ghost" image sharp and in the other, I manually
blurred the "ghost" image in Deluxe Pmiit IV, using the Smear and
Smooth fimctions. V\'ith motion blur, onlv three frames of
animation give the impre.ssion of a whirling propeller. Remark-
ably, the sharp ghost images straight from the program seemed to
give J better effect than a more "true to life" actual blurring of the
image. Remember not to save your results over the originals until
you are sure!

1 don't think that this program ought to be used on a whole
animation. Where it would really help is in making aninibrushes
which would then be added to the whole animation. Candle

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ROTRTION

flames, bird or insect wings, running legs, and such movemenls ,ire
ideal subject for this treatment. Regular, rotating objects also
benefit from the treatment. Don't forget that you can use ADPro's
FRED (Frame Editcir) to composite entire animations together, so
vou aren't just limited to aninibrushes. The point is that the
blurring program works best when vou can make color zero (such
as black) transparent in the "ghost" images.

Notes About ttie Code

1 he program neetls to read an entire director)', so it loads the
rexxsupport librarv' if it's not already listed. Andrew uses the pos()
function to determine if it is in the list. A Position of zero means it's
not there. I'd prefer to use "IF ~show('L',LibName) then ..."
because it Lises only one fLinction instead of two. Next the program
looks for ADPro, and if it's not running, the program quits. Trv
improving on the program to load ADPro if it is not running.
ADPro is .set up by specifying the ADDRESS "ADPro", PORTRAIT
orientation, and unlocking the Palette. Next the program requests
the user to specify the Load and Save formats. 1 substituted mv
own code here but included .'Andrew's /■* commented out */,
because he does have some useful code for when you want just the
file name from a directory with a complete path attached. He used
the Geti-ile requester to find a loader and a saver, which works but
it requires that extra code. The latest .ADPro supplies two com-
mands to obtain a user's choice from an internal list. The list is sent
back with the selected entry in quotes as the first word in the string.
We only have to parse it off to get our answer and we don't have to
do all those string manipulations. GetList serves to return the
string of loaders or savers, and ListView puts them into a requester
from which to choose.

We need to get one of the animation frame files in order to
determine the "prefix" in front of the number (format: prefixNNN
where NNN is an integer, the frame number). We need to strip off
the path from the file name, and .Andrew does it by using the
position of either "/" or ":" depending on what kind of path it is.
He uses a LastPos() ARexx function to find the position in the string
where the break should occur. He then gets a File name and a Path
string. The little do loop originally had "1=1 to length(file)" as an
additional iteration specifier, but that is superfluous. The While
condition is sufficient to strip the numbers off the prefix.

The DirString assignment
clause uses the rexxsupport
function showdirO to get a
string of all the files in the
directory path. Andrew
apparently doesn't like the
ARexx Parse instruction,
because he uses a Do loop to
extract each ivord from the
string. Andrew's code works,
but Lises two functions which
execute slou'er than a parse
insfruction. In general,
functions operate slower than
instructions. Convince yourself
that the first \wo lines may be
rewritten as

GH0S1 IriHUL

FRftMceee

FIGURE 2 MOTION BLUR HND HRND PRINTING

Amazimg Co.%u'i-ri.\G

Do while DirString -= ''

Parse var DirString TestWord DirString

which accompilish tht' siinu' thiiiR as Andrew's code. Once in the
loop, e.ich file nnme in tlio direclory is tested to see if the leftmost
chiiracters match the filcriiime prefix. If it docs, a comparison
operator < or > is used to find the greater and the lesser of two
strings (ARexx allows value comparisons of strings or numbers).
After all files in the directory ha\e been looked at, a Lou-N'iimber
and a HighNuniber are computed bv stripping off the leftmost
prefix characters leaving just a number. Andrew made a mistake
here by trying to nest the DelS(r() ftinction inside a SlripO function.
His intention was to remove leading O's from the number. In
ARexx you don't need to strip off leading O's from numbers; ARexx
will do it for you. Stripping off leading O's from '000' results in the
null string, and an improper default number in our ADPro number
requester. Tine corrected lines are shown. I added the requester to
get the RGB values for the transparent color and used a default

black. The program parses the /\DPRO_RESULT into RGB
which are used later. It would probably be a good idea to code
some error checking anil fall back values, here. We now select the
range, the Blurl-actor, and the oiitpnt directory, all Lising ADPro
requestors.

Andrew opens a console for program output, then proceeds to
u-riteinO messages to it. He made a technical error in not using Call
wrilelnO- His use of writelnQ alone, causes error messages if vou
use WShell or run this program from an ARexx host applicatitm
program. The Amiga Shell isn't an ARexx host, so Andrew didn't
see the errors coming back. The kosher way to perform a function
where you don't want the return value is to Call it.

New Sequencing

The Do Number loop iteration specifiers were rearranged by
me lo count differently from Andrew's original program as we
mentioned before. Suppose we have 10 frames 000-1109 and want to
blur 3 at a time. The Do lixip counts from Low\'umber+Blurl"actor-

1 or 0+3-1=2 up to 9. So we load frame 2 (the third frame), and
composite frame 1 and frame behind it at 50% and 33''ip respec-
tively. Because we start with groups of frames that are composited
into one frame, the sn\'e frame nimiber needs to keep track. My
extra code with the amount to decrease (dec) and SavcFile are
meant to save the result into a properly numbered frame. In our
example above, we start with frame 002 and 5a\e into frame 000 if
we ha\e a BlurFactor of 3, and 000 as the lo\v numbered franie.

.After Andrew writes some lines to the console, we come to the
Load command. 1 modified this too so no color is transparent and
the first image of our set will appear brightest. That's what the -1 -1
-1 arguments are for, 1 modified the next Do loop as well, to take
the next lower frames from our initial one and load thorn. We need
to count both down AND up, because the lower the frame number,
the greater the divisor of our CompositeFactor. 1 let the iteration
specifier count up from 1 to dec or BlurFactor-1, and then sub-
tracted this increasing number from Number to get the decreasing
frame number n. Ttie divisor becomes i-!-l which yields the
sequence 50"o, 33".., 23"ii, etc. for the compositing amounts u-hich
use Andrew's internal procedure round() to calculate. When it
comes time to load (he composite, I added the to mean that
black is transparent and won't be composited. If the key frame is
on a black background, the new frame's background will not

composite uilh the key frame image. My final modification was to
change the Save "R.^VV" to save "IMACh" so that 1 could see it on a
normal screen. If \'ou are making 2-1-bit animations, change this
back to "RAW".

It would be ftin to add some modiiles to do some operations
on Ihe "ghost" frames before compositing, but as it stands the
program's simple approximation helps to give rapidly moving
animated objects a realistic motion blur. Andrew has some good
ideas, and his approach to ,ARexx programming showcases some of
the incredible power of ARexx to manipulate strings. Keep up the
good work Andrew, and thanks for sharing your program with us!

Listing

HoClonBlur:

Usflo ADPro to produce a new serleB of animation £r.ajneB, vrhere each
new frame (nl is a 50/50 compoBlte of the ffamefi n iund n-1. The
end roflult is aa aerieo of framee onu phorter thao the criginal.
The user nay specify the cutput directory.

The last trams of the old series is not deletedr and it is u|3 the
uBer to realize that tbisframe has no motion blur if the userchooBes.
to overwrite the original frames (not reconnaended! ) .
The proyran only requires the user to input one file front the
icage directory cancainiag frames o£ the animation uhich KU5T be in
the foro^at f ileprefixlffiN where HVH is an integer. The user can also
limit the range, or specify what file for?LBt to use for input and
output. All valid fraaea vill be processed in ssceni^iitg order.

By Andrew h. Osiow C 1992 Second Sight
Hodified by Merrill Callaway, 1994 as noted.

OtTIOMS RESULTS
ADDRESS "ADPro"

SL = 'OA*X

LibNaiae ■ *rexxBupport . library'

if poB ! 'ADPro' , show(ports) } -0 Chen do

say "ADPro has not been found.'"

exit
end

if posfLibName , shaw( 'Libraries' J ) = then addlLb(LibNa3ie ,
if poB(LiblfajQe , show{ 'Libraries'} > = then do

OKAYl "CQLld UcyL AM The Rexx Support Library"

exit
end

ADPR0_TO_ FROST

ORIEHTArrON ■■ PORTRAIT"
PSTATUS "UNLOCKED"

/* 12 lineA by M. Callaway

** LifltView io much cleaner than GetFlle

** when you warit the user to choose

•* from an internal liat. 5fou don't have

** to delete the path from the file naao*

GETLIST LOADERS

lietzADPRO RESULT

LISTVIEW "'Select Loader" 10 sort itenB liac

IF ac -= then exit

PARSE VAR ADPRO .RESULT Istring .

LFORKAT Istring

GETLIST SAVERS

list=W3PH0_RESnLT

LISTVIEW "'Select Saver'" 10 sort items list

IF RC -= then exit

PARSE VAR AOPRO.RBSULT sfltring .

SFORMAT BStrlna

-30 , 0)

/* Original code commented out.

May 1994

"ADPR0:Loadera2" ADfUOftfiSULr

tFOWIAT

GETFILE "'Select Load Format.

if HC -' Q Chen exit

LrorBitType - AEPEO.RfiSULT

Position = lastpos(''/'',IjForna.tTypeJ

if Position = then Position » iaatposf '':",LFoETaatTypQ)

LPomatType ^ right (LForraatTyper Length (LFonnatType) "-Position)

LPORMAT LPormatType

SFOBHAT

GETFILE --Select Save Format.'" '•ADPR0iSavors2'' ADPHO.RBSOLT

if BC -= Chen exit

SFormacType = AEPHO RESULT

PDBltlon = lastpoB("/"iSFormatType!

if PoGition = D then Position = laBtpoH(":",SFoniiatType)

SFormatType = right (SFarmatTVpe, Length (SFormatType} -Position!

3F0RHAT SFormatType

finish of original code commented out */

GETFILE '"Select a tile from the directory'"
if HC -= then exit
FilePoth = AD?|10_R?SUL7
Position = laatpafl{'*/'',Pilepath)

if position = then fosition - lastpos(":i'',FiIePeth)
Path > left (FilePath, Position]
File > delstr(FilePath, 1, length(Path) )
Prefix ' File
Lowest > File
Highest = File
/• 1 line by M. Callaway "/
do while datatype (right (Prefix, 1) 1 > HUM
Prefix = left (prefix, length(Pref 1x1 *1 I
ond

DirString = shoudir [Path, 'f )

/* 2 lines by M. Callaway •/
PO WHILE DirString -» • '

PARSE VAE DirString TestKord DirStriag

/* original code corraented out. . .
do HunJwr = I to words (DirString)

TestWord = wordtDirString.Kuaiber)
coamenteiJ aut--- '/

if left(Testword,length{PrefixM = Prefix then do
if TestHord < Lowftat then Lowest = TestHord
if Testword > Highest then Highest " TestWord
end
end

/* 4 llncE Eodified by M. Callaway '/
LowWiaiiJber = DelBtr { Lowest < 1, length tPref is) )
aighUunber = ^lStr(HigheGC, 1, length(Pref Ix) 1
GETSTRIHG '"RGB for Color 0"' '"O 0'"
PARSE VAR AUPRO.RESULT RGB.

QETKTJHBEfl '"Low # In the range:"' LowK-amber LowKustber KighWaaifcflr

IF se -5 THEN EXIT

[/oWNunber = ADPRO RESULT

GETNVMBER '"High tt in the range:"' KighNuicber LcwWun±)t!r HighTiuiier

IF RC -= THEN EXIT

HighNumber ^ XDPRO_RESULT

KaxircLiai=HighM'j]iLber-Lo'i«*hiint>ertl

GETNUMBER ' "JJuaber of Blursyf rame; '" 2 2 Maxicrjai

IF RC -■ THEN EXIT

BlurFactor = ACPHO.RESULT

OETDIR "'Select Output directory*" Path
if RC -^ than exit
OutPath = ADPRO_aESULT
OutPath = strip(OutPath)

If (right (OutPath,!) -n -;-) & (right (OutPath,! J -» -/-)
then OutPath > OutPath II "/*•

ADPRO TO BACK
if - open( 'console' , ,

'con:296/70/22E/i21/MotiO!iBlur by Second Sight
then exit 20

1992/«OSIZ£','W')

/• 6 lines Dodified by M. Callaway •/

Call wrlt,eln( 'consola' , "HotionBlur online. " 1

Gall wrltelnCcojiflole' ,"Load Focmat is " II LFormatType M " >")

C^ll writeln('conflole',"Save Fonnat is " II SFormatType II *.")

Call writelni 'console' ."Range s " II LowNuaber M " - " || HighHumber W

",")

Call writelnt^console' J "Input directory is "

Call writelnCconBole' , "Output directory is "

/* 2 lines iBodifled by K. Callaway •/

rfeC"BlurFaetQr-l

SavePtle = Prefix tt eiffht{Ku34>er-dec,3, '0' }

if exists(Path I I IiugePile} thea (Jo
Call writeln( 'console'," "J

Call writelnt 'console', "Leading " 11 ImageFile II ".")
address "ADPro"
ADPRO.TO.PRGMT

/* 1 line DodiEied by H. Callaway '/
LOAD Path I E ImageFile D 100 •! -1 -1

if RC -= then do

DKAYl "Could Not Load" Path || InageFile

exit
end

/• 4 lines modified by H. Callaway */
Do i=l to dec
n=MuiEber-i

Heitlmage = Prefix II right (n, 3, ' ' )

CocqpoeiteFacCor = rounddOO/ ( i*ll )

Stuff > "Ccoposing " 1] Hextloage II *■ at " II CompOAiteF^ctox' It

/* 1 line added by M. Callaway •/
ADPRO_TO_aACK

/* 1 line modified by M. Callaway */
Call writeln( 'console', Stuff )

/* 1 line modified by M. Callaway (t c:i B is color */
LOAD Path 1 I Hextlmage Co^positeFactor RGB

if RC ~= Chen do

OKAYl "Could Not Load" Path I I ImageFile
exit
end
end

EXECUTE
ADPRO^DISPLAy
PAUSE 50
ADPRO_UNDI SPLAY

/• 2 lines modified by M. Callaway •/

PileString = OutPath II SaveFile

SA^^ FileString "IMAGE" /" change Co "RAW" if this is 24-bit */

if RC -- then do

OKAYl "Could Hoc Save" FtloString
exit

end
ADPRO_TO_EACK

/* 1 line modified by M. Callaway •/
Call writeLn( 'console' , XmageFllQ 1 I " is Blurred.")
Call writeLa( 'cooiole' , "Saved as 'M SaveFile)
end

address "ADPro"

ADPRa„TQ_FROKT

Okay2 "Exit ArtDept?"

if RC -- then ADPRO EXIT

exit

round: procedure

parse arg nusi±)er

nunib©r=t rune (nunber' 10 )

if right (nuiEber, 11 > 4 then number = number

numbe r = nunber^l

return number

•AC"

/• 1 line by Ji. Cslliwil' •/

do Number a LowHunibBr+BlurFactor-1 Co HighNumber
ImageFile = Prefix II riglic{SUJsbar,3f '0' J

Please Write to:
Merrill Callaway

c/o Amazing Computing
P.O. Box 2140

Fall River. MA 02722-2140

AMAZjyG COMPUTI.XG

Deluxe Music 2.0

by R. Sbamms Mortier

For all the users and fans over the years who have waited patientl}^ for
Electronic Arts to upgrade their premier music composition and sample
playing program for the Amiga, the wait is over, histead of a simple upgrade
to an already useful product. Deluxe Music 2.0 has been redesigned from the
ground up by the Amiga author who created MicroIIlusions' MusicX many
years ago, David Joiner.

A Walk through the Sound Gates

As is always the case with Electronic Arts documcntntion, the DMusic mnnunl is clear and tlwroii^h, cantaining
extensi\'e tutorials, references, and appendices. For new users, the tutorials walk voli through every aspect ot the program.
Vintage DMusic users, however, will find that they need little preparation before charging ahead at full steam. The method of
addressing the One Step Music Shop is rather complex, and an accompanying manual addendum lists the process very clearly.

Notes can he entered in a score in a number of ways ways: by opening a prevituisly siived score (newer DMusic 2.0
CMUS scores, MusicX scores, SMUS scores, older DMCS scores, as well as MID! files); by dragging notes, rests, and other
accidentals onto the staves; by entering notes and/or chords from the on-screen keyboard; or by entering them from an
attached xMIDI keyboard (with MIDI acti\e). Once the notes are on the screen, they cm be mo\'cd and altered by clicking/
dragging and using the myriad of menu options available. Saving your work gives you the choice of CMUS, MIDI, or SMUS
with or without embedding the actual samples in the file.

One of the new features that 1 really enjoy as a way of teaching students about the complexities of Western music is the
"Set Key Signature" menu. This baby is all new and all neat! It has a circle-of-fifths diagram on the side. When you click on

one of the key signature areas.

JSf

i Sele ct GB

{TR-I J '<•="• *

r^~ »- i«*"

a I Unt It led-l

IgJlJE:

DliusiC 2.B

a great upgrade

of a uondrous

«us i c progran

f roM

Electronic Arts-

JB,

Enter Notes in Score 0-| Single Motes

ffTMMffmW

Enter Rest | fldvancp |

it lights up and displays the
actual kev signature on an
associated staff. Wherever you
have placed the arrow cursor
in the score is where the new
key signature ivill be added.

Figure 1. The new DMusic 2.0
Interface has an expanded
toolbox and all-around new
look fronn its predecessor.
An easy to use menu allows
you to work in a variety of
screen modes. This is 8-color
Hi-Res Interlace.

May 1994

Aiiiazing's only competition.,.

"...most
iiiforniative.
Would he lost
without it."

AltW.

Keep up the
good work.*'''

"Creative,
- -^ fiuictional

\ / i (^^^ V x. resource...

"Simply the
hest..."

Sync Tlp«_^

"Everytliiug au Auiiga user
eouhl ask for aud more..."

Amazing Computing/or the Commodore Amiga .AC's GUIDE. -AndAC's TECH provide you
with tlie most comprehensive coverage of the Amiga — coverage you would expect from the
longest-running monthly Amiga publication.

The pages oi Amazing Computing bring you insights into the world of the Commodore Amiga.
Ytju'll find comprehensive reviews of Amiga products, complete coverage of all the major Amiga
trade shows, and hints, tips, and tutorials on a variety of Amiga subjects such as desktop
publishing, \'ideo, programming, and hardware. You'll also find a listing of the latest Fred Fish
disks, monthly columns on using the CLI and working with ARe.xx: and you can keep up to date
with new releases in "New Products and Other Neat Stuff."

Amazing Computing

...is its sister publications.

((.

Wlial a jireat
hook!"

^C IKCil/ivW/c;^!

A Look at

Compression.*^

•A ••ttf wo» *3 C
-Hug* »*uri&wi. '(v'* ^

"...first, only,
and as always,
Ix'sl technical

resource.

*)•>

imi

AMIGA

POWER

"The 'Bihle'
for the

"...like havmg a
lihrary at your
uiger tips.

-.>A.

rdKMM

The GUIDE

tor even'
Amtell user!

Amiga...

•>•}

"Great for anyone wanting to
know more ahoul their Amiga!"

AC'S GUIDE to the Commodore Amiga is an indispensable catalog of all the hardv^-are,

software, public domain collections, services, and information available for the Amiga. This
amazing book, updated every six months, lists over 3,000 products!

AC'S TECH for the Commodore Amiga pro\ides the Amiga user with valual:ilc insights into the
inner workings of the Amiga. In-depth articles on programming and hardware enhancement are
designed to help the user gain the knowledge he needs to get the most out of his machine.

To subscribe, call

1-800-345-3360

■ liJllHIJ.IIMg

S-L

J1 \J^

Select d

|TR 1 J ■■=:"■ ■

>• !«»-»

la. g I Unt it led-1

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Pi Setup for Staff tH

□ 1 Set

T ine S

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l"^

<J2J4

Beats per Measure
Beat Curat ton
ear Xine Signature

1 BppIv and

Ctose 1 Rpplv [

£ance I

J Enter Notes in

staff Nunber : ^^jn"
Space Rboue: 4 J

add staff 1

delete Staff |

Space Below:

Hide Staff

Hide Xnstrunents

Hide l^ey/Clef

■>/ 1 Staff Sound Qn
■>/ 1 Show £lav Stvles

XranspoBe: CSenitones)

£orit I nue

D I Score Setup

Bars Per L ine ^^J ^ lop Margin Cinches) | 6 . BB |

Score Uidth <Inches> | 6. 88 | Left Indent «First Staff) | 6 . 1 3 |

Screen U idth | CEenaining Staves) | B . 1 3 |

Efinter Hidth| ■>/ I P^ged Score | 2 Tracks per Staff

apd j f y

£anc e I

Page 1

_j -< 1 > i:^r

Left: Figure 2. tn Hi-Res
Interlace, you can open
as many nr>enus as you
desire on tiie same
DMusic screen. Of
course, managing all of
the data while creating
a composition con be a
visual challenge.

You can apply it either up or down. Lil<e other menus, you can leave this one on the screen to
interact ivith as you discover the need.

Another new feature i.s the ability to add space to the on-screen score by "Space Above/Space
Below" settings in the Staff Setup requester. Adding space abo\'e and /or below a staff is vital
when the score contains bunches of hard to read notation, or when the notes jump octaves and
more in a radical fashion. As you move these space sliders, you can see the score change accord-
ingly- This requester itself is class-A designed, allowing multiple staves to be bracketed in four
alternate ways. You can show or hide {for viewing and printing) the key signature, the instrument
names, the Play Style numbers, or the entire staff. You can also select to toggle the sound on or off.
The design of this menu alone deserves an award, and will doubtless garner the praise of many an
electronic musician.

•iJill»JMIL4(«-J|-.|
a I Untitled- 1

'^ J LJ J J I

6 f' e i J

^gggp

n I Sel Play Slyle

S 6

Play Style Ql

6pply and Close I Applyl £ancel|

□ I MIDI Setup

I MID! Active

I Send MIDI Clocks

y^ 1 Send Prosrar^ Changes

Output Link I out>B "
Input Link jin.B

I MIDI Input Enabled

Input l^elay <seconds> I
e.75 ■ l l

line Source Nane ) Main

Use

Cancel

nr ^

I Set Instrur^enl

I Sfie ct Q3
jtR.l J "="' ■

3.1 flH >

Page U..

01 -Accordion

InstnuHent Nunber*; p&j^:

Adti I &<l:ei^fe 1 : gay-

Pan -■:'■-■ M ■ i Transpose;

MIDI

1 MIDI Enabled

j Use MIDI Volune

Pros ran:
Cbannel:

Id:

|B:::

-|<|>1

Internal Sounds

Sariple
Menory
Octaves
Author

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saiwi«3 orr

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Insert Insfru»ent Change

Exit

Amazisg Computing

Left: Figure 3. A new MIDI
menu allows you to set
the necessary MIDI
parameters. The "Set Play
Style" menu hos a new
controller that wallts you
through alt of the
possibilities while easily
interfacing with selected
notes. The numbers
attached to the notes
here indicate the number
of the Ploy-Style settings
so you can see what they
are at a glance for
editing.

DMusic "Macro"mania

Ni>l lo bo Icfl beliind in iho rusli of Amiga programs ol' e\'erv
sort to include an ARexx port, DMusic 2.0 includes a module that
allo^v's you to incorporate ARexx scripts and assign them to
function kevs as Macros. Obviously, you have to have ARexx
installed on your system, and it must be up and running to take
advantage of lliis new DiVUtsic capability. In addition lo allowing
you to assign any of the ARexx scripts on-board In a macro key
(scripts that alKnv vou to add or delete a measure at Ihe touch of a
function key for instance), DMusic's macro options are much
deeper and extensive. You can, for example, turn Macro Recording
on, perform a series of operations, and then turn recording off and
save the .ictkms you just recorded to disk. Next, you use an "assign
Macro" command to glue the Macro to one of the ten function keys.
Now every time you press that function key, the whole scries of
operations you recorded is repeated again in the score. Tlie onlv
problem is thai DMusic should allow for mote than ten Macro
scripts {ten is the number of function keys on the keyboard). This
operation is so useful for composers that I would hope that a fairly
quick upgrade will at least allow for Shifted Function assignments,
so that the number of possible Macros is increased to twenty. Other
additional kev configuration.s would allow even more Macros in fhe
future. You can't have too much of a great thing-
Changing Fonts

You can alter the fonts that DMusic uses in two separate and
important ways. By selecting the "Display Settings" (the place
where the screen resolution is changed and /or set) vou can alter the
screen fonts used in all of DMusic's menus. This makes the screens
variable according to need. Users with vision problems, for
instance, might benefit by using a larger type size, especially
necessary when working on a f li-Res interlaced screen. 1-ven more
importantly, you can change the style and size of the type used to
indicate Ivrics and other needed markings in your conipo.sition.
When vou click on the letter icon, a mo\'eable box where your text
is to be placed appears on the screen. In addition, a separate icon
.section appears in the toolbox allowing you to change the default
font, make the type bold, underlined, or italicized.

If you plan to print out your score, 1 would suggest that you
ahvays use one of the CG fonts, since they will appear far less jaggy
when the composition is printed. I had trouble getting DMusic to
address mv PostScript printing capabilities, and spent .some time
speaking with an liA representative about this, lie informed me
that DMusic works best when booted from a non-hard dri\-e
Workbench. I did get this to work, but only after making a separate
copy of DMusic to floppies and booting from a Workliench disk- It
seems a big price to pay for addressing PostScript, but it seems that
"some of the programs" on your hard drive (EA mentioned the
problem occurs most when certain I'D programs interfere with
DMusic's PostScript output, but didn't mention any specific
sofnvare) conflict with the printing pathways. If this is so, it should
be addressed ASAP, since 1 can't imagine any serious electronic
musician being too pleased with non-PostScript output, nor will it
make folks happy to run DMusic from floppies. In the previous
DMusic version, printing was also a problem. To get 1-li-Res output
you had to access a separate program, a time-consimiing and often
frustrating adventure. Tliis lime, printing is simple and sharp, and
is accompanied by a special requester ("Print As.-") that ailo^vs you

lo aller several output parameters from within the program. I had
no trouble gelling ultra-sharp iiotation output with my 1 IP-Ill
Laserjet, but not when 1 booted from the hard dri\'e with the
PostScript cartridge pi ugged in.

Tempo tempore'

DMusic 2.1) not only allows you to target each division in a
measure for a uniqLie tempo setting (allowing songs to speed up
and slow down infernallv), but it also prints tempo Gqui\'alents to
the screen. In DMusic, the tempo equivalent is written as the
number of quarter notes occurring in a minute of time for the
section of the piece indicated. A very welcome addition indeed. The
"Ornaments" selector ("ornaments" refer to volume indicators for
notes like "forte", "pianissimo", and the like) also brings up a
handy separate menu bar of choices for fine-tuning the \'olunie
levels of a piece.

Conclusions

Just as no Amiga visual artist would be caught without
owning DPaint, so no serious (or even playful) Amiga sound artist
will be satisfied \vilhout owning DVIusic 2.0. I also appreciate the
addition of MusicX files as an import option to the package. I
would like to see an indicator added in Ihe future thai allows
targeted measures to be repeated according lo user input, not just
twice as a default. Obviously, ! would also appreciate easier and
more direct access to PostScript output. Da\'id Joiner has integrated
the work of DMusic's original creator, Geoff Brown, into a seamless
blend of comfortable interface and the latest in accessible, state-of-
the-art tools. The more you know about creating music, the more
useful you will find this package to be — though it invites creative
exploration by the novice as well.

•AC*

Deluxe Music 2.0

Electronic Arts

P.O. Box 7578

San Mateo, CA

94403-7578

(415) 572-ARTS

Inquiry #200

Please Write fo:

R. Shamms Mortier

c/o Amazing Compuiing

P.O. Box 2140
Fall River, MA 02722-2140

May 1994

oomers

in/ The Bniniito

[Tliese statemi')i!s and pwjeciions presented in
"Roomers" arc rumors in the inirest sense. The
bils iifiiiforiimtioii are gatltercit in/ ti tliird-purtif
source from whispers inside Ihe industry. At
press time, tliese rinimrs remain unconfirmed
and are printed for entertainment value only.
Acccrdinghi. tlic staff and iissociales of
/I mazing Computing eannol he lietd
responsible for the reports made in this column. 1

Big Changes At NewTek

NewTL'k, iirv;ii.ibl\- llii' most impnrt.int
Amiga developer of all, is undergoing some
major iilterations, and that's of Interest to all
Amiga fans. Here's the news: Paul Montgom-
ery', NewTek's vice president, has left the
company. He wasn't the only one; well -known
Toaster Girl Kiki Stockhammer, marketing
mavcn Mark Randall, and several others (in-
cluding software and hardware engineers)
have also departed. Apparently, the depar-
tures are the result of disagreements over
corporatedirection, though exact Iv what those
disagreements are is still not known to the
Band ito. But it's clear that, in the end, NewTek
is entirely owned by Tim Jenison, and what he
says, goes. Apparently, the people leaving
NewTckcouldn'tchange|enison'sniind about
what directions the company should Like,
and they chose to lea\'e instead of implement
policies they didn't agree with.

This comes as a shock to long-time
Nev\'Tek vvatchers, v^■ho watched Paul .Mont-
gomer\' and Tim Jenison take NewTek from
an obscure Amiga developer to the i-mmv-
award-winning darling of Hollywood and
international media. Perhaps the stresses of
such tremendous growth had a part to play in
this rift.

So what does this all mean? Well, it's
certainly not going to be easy to replace the
people who have left NewTek. I'aul
Montgomery's ceaseless promotional ability
and marketing vision, Kiki's matchless abil-
Itv to demonstrate product, and all the other
highly skilled people who arc leaving (nearly
a dozen all told) arc a tough bunch to replace.
Then again, NewTek still has no effective
competition for their flagship product, the
Video Toaster; they're about to ship the
Screamer, the eagcrlv awaited rcnderhig en-
gine; ani.1 thev ha\e other products already
far a long in thedevelopinent process. NewTek
still has many dedicated and highly skilled
employees, and can certainly find nei\' ones
to fill the gaps left by this departure (though
they may not be as good, and il niay ta kc some
time to find them). In the short term, this
probably won't affect NcwTek's sales. What
happens in the long term depends on the
people that NewTek finds to fill these posi-
tions, and the directions thecompany chooses
for the future. The Band ito will keep an eve on
Topeka, and when something happens, you'll
know about it.

And what about the ex-NewTek em-
ployees? Certainly they could all find other
jobs without any trouble. But when so nianv
people lca\'e at once, you do have to wonder
if they have plans to form a new company.
This is, after all, the classic Silicon Vallev
pattern: New companies form when key em-
ployees leave old companies. And NewTek is
certainly a Silicon Valley company in spirit, if
not in location. The Bandito's spies will keep
a watch on what may happen, and loval
Roomer-followers ivill be the first to knOH- if
something is going on.

Mail Order Raw At Not Being
Toasted

I iere's some more NewTek news;
NewTek has announced that Toasters will no
longer be allowed to be sold through mail-
order. They will only be a\'ailable through
certified dealers; that is, those dealers who
NeivTek has determined arc sa\'yy enough to
offer extensh'o on-site ser\'ice, support, and
training. Of course, this means that the Video
Toaster price is much less likely to be dis-
counted; dealers will need the extra margin in
order to pav for all those ser\'ices.

The Bandito suspects that .NewTek is
looking for u-ays to cut their support costs,
which mu.Kt be amazing considering the fact
that the\- still havea toll-free support hotline,
unl i ke most of t he hard ware or software busi-
ness these d ays , 1 f Ihe dealer is savvv enough,
they can handle problems so .NewTek won't
have to, and e\'erybody makes more money.
Except for the customer, that is. Then again,
not too many hobbyists can really afford the
Toaster, anyway. Not until they come out
with n S.'^y.^i version for CD'-, that is. Sav, you
think there would be a market for that? The
Bandito would sure like one; it sound.s like
great fun for parlies.

LigtitRave

In case you haven't been following cur-
rent events in the world of Toaster add-ons,
there's been some interesting maneuvering
going on. Oneofthebiggest selling featuresof
the Video Toaster is, of course, its 3-D soft-
ware Lightwave. Some people even call the
Video Toaster a dongle that enables \-oti to
run LightVVa\-e. Of course, those folks spend
all their time rendering LightWave scenes,
but still, there's a lot of them.

Amazi.\g Computing

Anyvvciy, iiiiiny people would liku lobL'
nble to get LighlWiivc without h.u'iii}; to buy
thcentire Video Toiister package. And there's
n large number of Video Toaster owners who
would like to be able to split up their render-
ing tasks among several Aniigas without hav-
ing to buy each Amiga a Video Toaster. So far
NewTek has let drop some vague hints about
a stand-a lone version of LightWa\'o, but never
anvthing definite. So into this obvious prod-
uct opportunitv marches LightRave.

This product allovvs you to run
Lightwave without a Video Toaster. Ironi-
cally, for a program that's designed to let the
user defeat a dongle, LightRave itself comes
with a dongle. The Bandilo has heard that
someone has figured out a way to defeat
l.ightRave's dongle, but that may not be too
important, because NewTek has come out
with version 3.1 of LightWave. The new ver-
sion 3 . 1 Toa s te r so f t wa re f i xes so me bugs and
adds a few minor features, but the primary
reason for the software upgrade is to make
IjghtRave inoperable. Are you still following
this?

Of course, the LightRave people are de-
termined to find a vvav around the 3.1 prob-
lem, so we mav see \'ct another round of this
tit-for-tat. Of course, the people who figured
out how to defeat the Lightl^ave dongle mav
try and figure out how to defeat the new
version of LightRave that's figured out how
tt) defeat the new \'ersion of LightWave... The
Bandito's processor is getting overloaded try-
ing to follow this. Maybe life would be sim-
pler if NewTckjustdecided to sell a versionof
LightWave that doesn't require the Video
Toaster. Wouldn't it?

I Note: Sec ilw New Protiucts mid OtiKr Nait Stuff
seclion of this issue for the aiiiumucemeiit of
LifiltlRcwe 3.1. This version is compniihie with
NewTek'sUf;hlWm'e 3.1.1

Do Do That 3-Do That You Do So
Well

The latest news on 3DO: thev onlv sold
some 22,000 units over Christmas, which is
just a tad less than the 100,000 units they were
expecting to sell. This has created a great deal
of consternation, as you might expect, and
some quickstrategv rethinking. So here's what
the bright boys at 3DO have come up with:
they're offering two shares of 3DO stock to
the manufacturer of any 3D0 box for e\'ery
unit they sell d ui'ing 1994, Yup, so i f Panasonic
sells 100,000 3D0 players, they get 200,000
shares of 3DO. And since 3DO stock is hover-
ing around S23 per share right now, that's not
too shabby an offer if the stock price stays in

that \icinitv. Immediatelv upon the heels of
this announcement, Panasonic announced
that they'recuttingthepriceof the REAL 3DO
player to S499 from S699. You can expect thai
to drop at least once more this year, too.

3DO is also entertaining some other
ideas. 3DO on a card for PC clones? That's the
latest plan to revive the sagging fortunes of
the once white-hot media company. Seems
like thev want to expand the market base for
games do\elopers (and all the other de^elop-
ers, which at this point aren't many once you
take out game de\elopers). This card may
come out by the fall, and the price will prob-
ably be about S300. Still doesn't seem like a
deal to the Bandito, not when you can get a
CD'= for $399 list The Bandilo still thinks that
a CD^- card or complete multimedia upgrade
kit would be a fine idea for PC clones, and a
great way to sneak the Amiga into millions of
PCs- Maybe that's where 3DO got the idea,
from reading old Banditti columns.

Meamvhile, it looks like the software
drought for3DOis finally ending, what with
several dozen titles shipping recently. There's
now a lot to choose from, though it's still not
clear that there's any software out there that
people ha\e to ha\'e so bad they'll spend S499
on hardware to play it. The problem is com-
pounded by the fact that many^ 3DO titles
aren't exclusive to the hardware; developers
are porting their titles to PC and Mac CD-
ROMs, and even to Sega CD. So 3DO has to
compete with people add i ng CD-ROM d rives
to their computers at the high end, and with
Sega CD's at the low end. Will they survive?
Hard to say at this point. It's certainly going to
be tough for them, and it won't be any easier
for Commodore and CD"'-, which has all the
marketing problems of 3DO and then some.

Say, anvone else notice how 3DO tried
real hard before the machine shipped to con-
vince everyone that the 3DO machine was for
education, multimedia, reference, movies, and
anything but games? And if you look, all the
software that's available for it is.. .games. Gee,
didn't the same thing happen with CD-I (oh,
excuse, please, the NEW spelling is "CD-i")
and CDTV? You'd think these companies
would learn from experience, wouldn't you?
Guess everyone except the companies mak-
ing the hardware figured out that these CD-
ROM hoxesare just game machines no matter
how yoLi try to make them look like some-
thing else.

Nobody seems to ha\e learned that les-
son except Commodore, which is trulv amaz-
ing considering how many other obvious
things they've managed to ignore in their

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corporate history. Be that as it may, Conimo-
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movies on it.

CD^^ Pulls A Fast One On Philips

Occasionally, Commodore does pttll off
a clever trick, C'\'en though you may not hear
about it. The Bandito has uncovered one of
Commodore's cleverest jests, which in\()lves
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liigt'bv sabotaging Ihisngrcvmcnt. They struck
a socrL't iIlmI with I'.iranKJUiit so that the first
SO titk'.s released would luily work with
Philips' CD-i players, and not according to
the sland.ird agreed upon. Afler that,
I'arnmount's releases would adhere to the
standaii), but Philips ho)ied (o gain a com-
petitive advantage omong the early .idopters
of CD movies.

Ah, but Commodore was wise to this
maneuver, and quickly managed tt) reverse-
engineer the process and implement a fix in
CD'-, .so ihat all CD" players can play these
supposed IvCD-i-only mo vies. Philips is N'OT
happy about this.as they are touting that their
CD-i players are the only things around that
can plav Ihe first CD mo\ies.

Unfortunately, Commodore hasn't man-
aged lo tell the world about this nifty feature
of CD'-, so much of the advantage gained by
their slunt is lost. Unless, of course, loyal
Amiga fans let people know that CD'- can do
this.,.

Connmodore Shareholder's
Movement Preparing Torpedoes

Well, the long-a« aileii Conimodore an-
nual shareholder's meeting has finally been
announced. By She time you read this, it will
have been held, and the ISandito u'ill try to
have a report for vou about the events. Of
course, it's inilikelv that ibis meeting will be
terribly well attended, since it's being held at
the exclusive Lyt'ord Cay Club in Nassau,
Bahamas. -Are vou willing to bet that anyone
who looks I ike an a\'ernge Commodore share-
holder won't get very far.

Remember to vote for those directors
who are nominated this time; Irving Gould
and Alexander M. "I'm In Charge Here"
Haig, Jr. Of course, vou may not want to \'Ote
for them if you think that the company's not
doing so well ihese davs and needs a change
of management. Then again, it's pretty clear
that the average stockholder's opinion isn't
going to make much difference.

Oh, a nd there's one other importa nt item
on the agenda: A change in the company's
articles that remo%'es the current 3/4 majority
of all outstanding shares required to imple-
ment certain things like merger.s, sale of the
company, transfers of stock or assets, or loans
o\er $U) million in value. And since you've
got complete confidence in the current com-
pany management and boa rd of d i rec tors, the
Band ito is certain you'll be happy to tu rn over
to them the power to make those decisions.
Won't you? Why, how cynical of you to think
thatCommodoremayhavesometbinginmind

when thev put this item on llu' agenda. You
probahlveventhink that Commodore doesn't
want to hear from 3/4 of the shareholders.
Mv, mv, vou certainly don't trust the current
management of Commodore, do vou?

If you're interested in all of this, you
might want to be in touch with the Commo-
dore Shareholder's Movement. You can call
Mike Levin at 703-787-8217 on evenings and
weekends, or write to; CoiTimodore Share-
holder Movement, PC Box 82%, Philadel-
phia, PA 19101.

Commodore Australia For Sale

Is this a harbinger of things lo come?
Commodore's Australian business unit is
being sold due to dire financial straits. .VJax
Donnellv of the accounting firm Ferrier
l-lodgstm has been appointed administrator
of CBM Australia, apparently after the
company's directors considered the personal
implications of CBM's financial liabilities.
Things are so bad that Commodore Australia
is unable to pay off past due loans, despite
sales of AUSS-10 million over the past year.
The two major creditors are Commodore In-
ternational and the Westpac bank. Kind of
interesting, don't you think, that Commo-
dore is foreclosing on their owtt subsidiary?
Apparently the chances for Amiga sales in
Australia are .so poor Commodore doesn't
even want to be there any more. They can't
compete against the PC clones, so they're
giving up. Tlie Bandito only hopes that this
isn't Commodore's master plan forother coun-
tries where they haven't been doing so well.

World Of Commodore Show
Cancelled

Unfortunatciv, there's more bad news
for the .Amiga market these days. Tlie X'eiv
York World of Commodore show, originally
scheduled for April S-11), 1944, has been can-
celled. According to a brief public statement,
checks recei\'ed for pre-regisfration will not
be cashed and, when possible, returned. As to
\vhether there will be another World of Com-
modore show in \'ev\- York or elseuhere,
they're not saving. From what the Bandito
heard. Commodore pulled the pi ttg by decid-
ing not to appear. Kind of an odd way to keep
interest going in their computers, wouldn't
vou sav? The Banditosupposes that they didn't
think CD'-s would go over so well with Amiga
fans, which is pretty silly. Amiga fans are
practicalK- the onK' people whoareeven av%'aTe
of CD'-, since Com mod ore h as Ix'en ca refu Ito
keep a very low profile about the product.

Amazi.s'g CoMi'irisG

Do you use

Anyway,disappearingtradeshowsareaverv'

bad omen, and the Bandito hopes that Com-
modore does all they can to make sure that
this is the last such show that they skip.

Commodore Canadian PC Line
Sold

Commodore, finally realizing that mak-
ing and selling PC clones is a tough business,
has sold the rights to the Commodore PC
brand name in Canada to 3D Microcomput-
ers Wholesale and Distribution (Canada) Inc.
They'll take over marketing and selling
Commodore's DOS-based PCs in Canada. The
new lineup from 3D Micro includes seven
systems, all based on an Intel 486. Two are so-
called "multimedia" PCs with CD-ROM
drives and sound cards; you know, ersatz
Amigas. All the PC clones have4MBof RAM,
MS-DOS 6.2, Microsoft Windows, and Mi-
crosoft Works.

In December, Doug MncCregor, presi-
dent of Commodore in Canada, said his com-
pany decided to tu m the DOS line over to D so
it could focus on its proprietary hardware: the
Amiga personal computer and the newly in-
troduced CD^- S''"'"-' machine.

"We're finding it very difficult to com-
pete in the MS-DOS marketplace right now
and make money/' he said. "We have to put
our emphasis and focus on the Amiga, and
that's the way that Commodore can be suc-
cessful." Commodore Canada continues to
market DOS machines to government, educa-
tion, and institutions.

1 lo ho, Doug, you shoulda said that
Commodore's finding it difficult to make
money in any market these days. Dofiniteiv a
good decision to ditch the PC clones, though,
and focus the company entirely on Amigas.
Too bad they couldn't ha\'e figured that out a
couple of years ago.

Commodore Marketing In Hot
Water

The Bandito just has to pass along this
fascinating tidbit that's been floating around
the electronic data streams. It seems that an
Amiga dealer claims to have had a brief chat
with John DiLuUo, head of marketing for
Commodore US, at the Winter CES show in
I..as Vegas. According to this Amiga dealer,
DiLullo had some interesting things to sav
about the Amiga, CD'- and Commodore's
plans. The way the Amiga dealer tells it,
DiLullo made it clear to the dealer that Com-
modore felt that Amiga dealers shouldn't be
carrying CD'- (only mass-market stores

should), that Amigas had no real future as a

computer e.vcept in a very tinv niche market,
and that Amigas couldn't really compete
against 386 PCs.

Now, these comments were posted lo
\'.irious networks, and word of this actually
got back to Commodore, and DiLullo claims
that he was misinterpreted and misquoted.
Of course, in cases like this it's always hard to
figure out exactly what was said and (more
importantly) what was meant he various com-
ments. There are a few things that one can
derive from this whole incident, though. First
of all, it's clear that Amiga dealers are still
being treated assecond-classcitizens by Com-
modore, and they aren't getting a clear mes-
sage about what's going on with
Commodore's fu tu re plans. Second , that Com-
modore isn't communicating \'on,' well with
anybody, else this sort of misunderstanding
would never happen.

Has Com modore bothered to com mu n i-
cate to the press, the dealers, and the users
what its plans are for the Amiga and for CD'-?
N'ot really. Sure, we have plenty of cheerful
statements from Lou Eggcbrccht about all the
neat hardware that they're working on in the
labs, but that doesn't really address the issue
of what dealers are going to be allowed to sell
and when. Maybe it's just that Commodore
doesn't know what they plan to do; but that's
a pretty frightening thought, isn't it? If Com-
modore would like to stop endless specula-
tion and inflamed rumors from circulating,
all they have to do is talk to the world about

what they're doing.

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May 1994

DIGITAL IMAGE SPECIAL F/X

PART VII: Motion Blur

by William Frawley

Inin?;oI X

DiHiiUd illusions

c ac/7

Molioiiiiku'adpio -Mvva-V

With a passionate desire for photographic realism, this month we'll give ADPiv'a Composite Control
requestor a thorough workout when we learn how to create tlie illusion of movement by adding
motion blur to still images.

The Goals

Now that almost every application in the image processing genre has some sort of motion blur
effect, namely IiiiagcFX, SinagcMnstcr, and now an interesting new shareware offering from Norway
called Di}iilal llluskms by Tonny Espeset, it's time that we the people who are still using ADPro bring
it up to specs in this department. With the included ARexx script, it's as simple as entering a few
parameters. Once we learn the theory behind motion blur, we'll discover how to realize a related
photographic effect, the technique of multiple images, or as it is sometimes called, stop motion.

If you're fortunate enough to have ImageFX, you'll find that even more variations of motion
blur lay untapped in it's regionalized, brush processing abilities. By utilizing brushes, you do not

need to create ma.sks to localize
the effect of motion as we would
ha\-e to in ADPro. Therefore, it is
best to use ADPro /ARexx when a
global motion blur is desired and
ImageFX when only a portion of
the intended image is to be
processed. Even though ImageFX
does have a global motion blur
convolution and a good one at
that, using ADPro with ARexx
allows you to \'ary more
parameters to produce some
wildly interesting mutations. Be
sure to uncomment the appropri-
ate lines of code to take advan-
tage of this. Since 1 do not own
ImageMaster, I cannot say for
certain what the extent of
possibilities are with that
application.

Now that we have an idea of
where we're going, let us take a
brief look at the origins of motion
blur as it relates to the field of
photography, cameras and film.

C ~.Cf z

rcr

FIGURE1

Compartscn Tests

Amazhvg Computing

The Drama of Motion

One greal .idviintnge thu
camera lens has over the liiimnn
eye is the ability to capture the
nuances of motion thai esc.ipe our
ordinary perception. Photographs
have the ability to freeze an
instant of time, allowing us a
glimpse into the unfathomable
dimension xvhich is inseparably
entangled in the other dimensions
of space supporting our existence.

However, not every instant
will be frozen in the frame. There
are times when photographing
that some blur u-jll result. It is this
blurring that conveys a sense of
motion, hence the term, motion
blur. There are several factors
responsible for this occurrence of
blurring.

One reason may merely be a
shaky hand at the helm. But aside
from the accidental, there is also
the purposeful. Photographers
will sometimes pan the camera
with a moving subject in order to
keep the subject sharply in focus
to freeze the moment, thus
blurring the background in the
process. This effect can be seen in
any sideline sporting event
photograph. There is also the
opposite, where \vv have a
stationary camera, a slow shutter
speed, and a moving subject. This
option freezes the background
and effccti\-ely motion bluni the
subject, this time emphasizing
movement. Exceptions to this
technique are cases vs'hon the
subject is moving directly toward
or away from the camera, a
condition where mo\'ement is less
apparent.

Ironically, most artists try to
avoid this motion blur situation,
except when the effect is intended
to mimic the reality of motion,
which is the reason why most of
the high-end animation software
available have included this

feature. For instance, animating a moving starfield without a
motion blur effect will look rather mechanically unreal, as 1
soberingiy discovered in an Aladdin^tD project involving a space
scene.

For some photographers wishing to overcome the elfects of
motion blur and opting to preclude the use of panning, choosing a
faster shutter speed helps. However, this does not come without a
price, for an increased shutter speed means less light reaching the
film. Therefore, the aperture (Amazing Computing, Vol. 4 No. I,
p.67) must be opened wider to allow more light through. Unfortu-

nately, this results in a reduced depth-of-field, a condihon that is
sometimes not desirable.

Finally, the panning technique combined with a stow shutter

speed can be used, for example, to convey an even greater sense of
the speed by panning with the subject in sharp focus running
against a blurred background, while simultaneously showing the
blurring of the arms and legs in movement. As you can sec, motion
blur can be used in many ways for a variety of artistic purposes.

May J 994

.ous Settings for Mean-

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The Science of Stop Motion

Discussion of niolion blur wdiild not be cnmplctc without a
briuf riu'iition of tlu' multiple image tL-chnique, or stop motion
photography. Especially rele\'ant in portraying high speed action,
this method allows the capture of a succession of movements in a
single fmme or image to emphasize the subject's flow of motion.
There are tu'o basic approaches.

The easiest is to use an autowinder attachment with the
camera so that the shutter opens and closes in rapid succession but
the film stays on the same frame. This builds up a series of images
on one frame. It is also possible, with this technique, to pan the
camera ivith the subject to again blur just the background, thus
enhancing the effect of viewer motion.

The second approach in\'oK'es the use of a stroboscopic flash
unit to produce pulses of light with rates of 50 or more per second.
Most effective in a darkened room, the flashes of light will freeze
the subject in the act of motion while the shutter speed is set
extremely low or left open completely for the duration of move-
menl. This results in a series of extremely fluid images detailing the
movement of the subject which the human eye would normally be
oblivious to.

With this exposition on motion now under our belt, let's trv to
duplicate these effects with ordinary still images or photos which
you have created or scanned.

Motion Blur in ADPro

1 ake a look at any motion blurred image and you'll notice that
the blur becomes increasingly transparent as it trails off from the
primary origin point. Ideally, the easiest way (o accomplish this
effecl would bo to pick up the subject to blur as a brush, feather the
edges, and with a straight line tool, slamp the brush down over the
original and drag in the desired direction using a \'ariable flow rate
so the strength diminishes over the length of the line. Since ADPro
does not have these features our efforts will be to achieve a global
motion blur, ivhere hopefully (he blur will stand out more in the
primar>- area of interest of the image and the effect on the back-
ground will be subdued.

The means to achieve this
motion blur effect lie solely with
ADPro's compositional ability,
namely in the Composite Control
requester. With it, we'll try to
duplicate the effect mentioned
previously by compositing the
same image onto itself "n"
number of times, starting "n"
pixels away from the original,
and each time decreasing the
offset and Mix value as we "build
up" the image to its original
position. Here, n represents the
length of the motion blur desired.

Reducing the Mix values
after each step may seem
contradictory to increasing the
weight of each succeeding image,
but remember that each current
Mix value reduces the weight of
all previous images by that
percent. When we wish to linearly
reduce the weights in a multiple
composite procedure, computing
the proper Mix values for each
succeeding step, or more importantly, the initial Mix value, can get
a bit tricky. The proper Mix values are a function of the length of
the desired motion blur, the initial Mix value, and the amount the
Mix value is decreased for each succeeding composite step.
Altering these three \'ariables can produce some wildly unexpected
and unsatisfactory results. I've included an ARoxx script that will
help you see hou- the final weights of each composited image vary
with different initial Mix, Length, and Decrement values. See
Listing 3 at the end of this article.

In a nutshell, the process is as follows. Load in your image, Tor
faster processing, copy this image lo RAM: as well. Decide on the
length and direction for the motion blur. Turn on Composite and
load in the image you saved in RAM: or from the original storage
medium if memory is sparse. In the Composite Control requester,
enter an X or Y Offset that is double the blur length you chose and
in the appropriate direction. If your desired angle is anything but in
the cardinal directions of N, S, E or W, you'll have to convert that
radial vector to Cartesian coordinates. This is one of the reasons
why using the ARexx script is much easier. Next, enter a value of 50
for Mix and accept the requester. Repeat this process "Length"
amount of times, reducing the Offsets by 2 and Mix by 1 each time
through. Finally, once you've completed this process, composite (he
original image again, but this time with no Offsets and at a Mix thai
is proportional to the blur length, somewhere between 10 and 31).
This step strengthens the original image relative to the motion blur.
I must point out here that for blur lengths greater than 50, the
initial Mix value should equal the length value. If it doesn't, the Mix
value will reach zero before the Offset does and the final
composited images will have no effect. Studying the ARexx script
will make this more clear. 1 think you'll find that using ARexx will
expedite matters considerably, especially if longer motion blurs are
desired.

Well, that's the theory behind computer generated motion
blur, al least my theory. Next, we'll take a look at some variations
on motion blur. But first, let's examine «-hat might be involved if we
want to localize the motion blur to a particular element in ADPro.

74 Amazing Computing

Regionalized Motion Blur Masking

Assuming that you do not iiave one of the image processing
applications that have regionalized processing, restricting motion
bfur to a particular area of an image using ADPro requires the
additional ser\'iccs of a paint program. DPaint will do nicoJv-

i'or this process, you wtiuld first add the motion blur to the
image as previously described or use the included ARexx script.
Save this motion blurred image as a 24-bit file, convert it to a hi-res
16-color ILBM, and save then save it again. Import this ILBM into
DPaint and mask out uMth black e\'ery part of the image except for
the area of the desired motion blin-, which you u'ould then mask
out with white. Save this image over the old one.

Back in ADPro, composite this new fLBM o\'er the 24-bit
motion blurred image, masking out the \vhite area. This leaves the
24-bit image with the selected motion blur elements surrounded bv
black. Save this file o\er the old 24-bit motion blurred one.

Finally, with Composite off, load in the original, unblurred
image. Turn on Composite again and load in the 24-bif motion
blurred image. This time mask out the black portions and .Mix at
100 with the original. Check vour results. You should have ended
up with specific motion blurred areas composited onto the
unaffected original image.

The Ghosting Effect

Just for fun, here's a quick and interesting effect I discovered
while experimenting with motion blur. This technique works best if
the image Is of a person or familiar object. Load in an image and
blur it approximaioly 10 times. Save it. Load back the original
image again. Now composite the blurred image onto the ivriginal
with an X Offset of either -60 or +60, depending on where vour

subject is in the frame. Use a Mix value of about 50'Ki. The result
should appear to be a ghost of the main subject.

The Stop Motion Fornnula

Where the motion blur technique conveys movement through
blur, the stop motion method freezes the subject in a sequence of
incremental lime snapshots. Therefore, each image in\'olved must
contribute equally to the composition, as opposed to the motion
blur effect where each successive image's contribution decreases.

Essentialh' then, the only difference between achieving a
motion blur effect and a stop motion one lies in choosing the
appropriate Mix values and the order in which each succeeding
image is composited. In other words, instead of laving do'ivn the
images farthest to nearest and decreasing the Mix \-alue by 1 each
time, the stop motion technique begins compositing with the
original at full weight with each successive image n using a Mix of
100/n. So if there are 5 images, each image would then contribute
100/5, or 20%, to the total composition. Let's gi\'e it a trv.

For realistic results, the images chosen should be slight!)'
different from each other to show some kind of change in progress.
It would also help if the subject was shown over a solid background
so that background could be masked out when composited over
each successi\'e image. |-lowe\'er, if none are a\ailabie, simpl)' use
an iniage which you feel is appropriate. For tliis exercise, let's try a
five-image stop motion effect, where each image will then
contribute 20% to the o\'erail composition. Let's assume you ju.st
have the one image on which to u'ork.

In ADPro, load in the image and then turn on Composite.
Load in the image again and in the Composite Conti'oi requester,
set the Mix \-aluc to 100/2, or 50%. Adjust the X Offset to +25 or -25,

MotionBluradpro vl.O

Hotion.BlurH,adpro vl.O by William Frawley
January 20, 1994
Adds simulated global action blur to loaded image.

Usages Call £rom a function key in ADPro by renaming
this progrram in one o£ ADPro's hotkey naming
conventions (xFy.adprol where x-QualifyerKey
and y-l-Of or use the ARexx macro script
FO.adpro included with AEPro which allows the
user to select any ARexx script via a handy
file requeoter.

MOTE: Image is bufEered in RAM: to expedite

coxpasiting. Lar^e images and blur lengths
will take quite some time on uneccelerated
machines.

OPTIONS RESULTS

/■* Load rexxmathlib. library for trigonometric functions ■/

IF ~SHOW( 'L' , 'rexxmathlib. library' ) IHEK,
CALL ADDLIB{ ' rexxmathlib. library' . 0, -301

ADDRESS "ADPro"

ADPRD_TO_FR0HT

Ask user for Length of blur. EJefault is 40.

Lengths4d

/• Default Length */

GetKuiflber '"Enter Motion Lengthi"' 40 5 60
IF RC- = THEH CALL Failr'Wrong Parameter!")
Length=ADP?lO_KESDLT

/"* Ask user for blur Angle. Default is o (to the right)**/
/"* "/

GetKunher '"Enter Angle (0=rt laO^left):"' 359
IF RC~-0 THEN CALL Fail{"Wrpng Paraaieterl")
Angl e =ADPRO_RESULT

/** Ask user tor beginning Mix value. Default is 50.

Hix=50 /• PefauXt starting Mix */

/**** HOTE: Uncomment the following lines for greater •***/
/**** flexibility and experimentation! ****/

/•

GBtllumbflr '"Enter Beginning Mix:"' SO 1 100

IF EC--0 THEN CALL Fail ["Wrong Parameter!"!

Mix=ADPRO_RESULT

/** Ask user for Mix Decrement value. Default is 1. **/

/* Default Mix Decrement */

May 1994

depending lui whicli direction you Wiinl tlie mtilitm to occLir. If vou
have a solid, one-color background, enter this color value in the
RGB transparency {gadgets. Accept the requestor. Now repeat this
pmcedure three more times, except each time increase the X Offset
by another 25 and cliange tile Mis level to 100/n, where n is the nth
image you're compositing. That's it. Pretty simple, huh? Let's
briefly examine some of the more important points of the ARexx
scripts.

The Scripts

;\s VOU can .see, first we'll need to load iii the
'rexxmathlib. library' because later in the script se\'eral important
arithmetic and trigonometric math functions will be used to
translate from the polar coordinate svstem to the Cartesian
coordinate the direction and length of our motioti blur vector. See,
calculus docs come in handy.

When AKexx/ADPro asks for the blur Angle, "0" refers to the
bku' tra\elling in the positive X direction (to the right) and "180"
means travelling in the negative X direction (to the left). Naturally,
a value of say "135" would point the tail of the blur in the 10 o'clcKk
position.

Next note the two sections of code that are commented oLit.
When uncomnienfed, the user will be asked for a beginning Mi\
value and a Decrement value other than the default values.
Experimenting vvith different values for these variables will
produce some wild and weird results, most of them unsatisfactory.

Next note the line 'TempPic="RAlVI:Templmage.24'". Mere,
ADPro saves out the current image to RAM: so operation.^ are
speeded up when tlie same image is loaded back in multiple times

in the conipiwition process. If you leel that you don't have enough
memory, change this path to some location on 3'our hard or floppy
disk.

When we finally reach the "Do It!" section, note that in the
main DO loop the initial index "i" is started at Length*2 and
subsequently decremented Liy 2 each time through. This will cause
the first irnage to be composited at a distance of twice the user's
request for the length of the motion blur with each subsequent
image stamped down 2 pixels away from its neighbor. Why you
ask? Because the fineness of detail for the blur is not paramount for
the motion blur effect to appear convincing. We can afford to skip
e\'ery other pixel in the composite process because each image will
play a part in filling in the gaps.

Conclusion

The rest [>t the code is either pretty self-explanatory or
commented appropriately. Shice the StopMotion.adpro script is
rather similar to MotionBlur.adpro, I'll leave it up to you to figure
out its essence. I've also included TestMix.rx if vou would like to
see how entering different \-alues for Mix, Decrement, and Length
will affect the final weights of each indi-i-idiial image in the
composite process. SimpK' run it I'rom a shell and he prepared to
pause the output a couple of times for examination.

Well, I hope this topic has been helpful in your continuing
quest for knowledge, and [ urge you to try out the scripts. They'll
reduce the amount of time needed for this process considerably.

/••*• HOTE! Uncommfint the following lines for greater ****/

1
1

/**•» flexibility and eiperimentacionJ ****/

(end cGinmen.t)

•/

/•

IF Aiigle=90 1 Ar.gle-2?0 THEN Angle=Angle+l

GetKumber '"Enter Mix Decrement:'" 1 SO

IF RC-«0 THEN CALL FfllH "Wrong Parameter ! ")

FadssAngle'U, 14159/180) /' Converts degrees to radians

Dec = ADPRO. RESULT

•/

f** ...

/** Do It: i

k*/

/•• Save Current Ipiage Ten^rararily to RAH; to expedite •■/
/•• coiflpoBiting proceee, ■■/

/** **/

LPormat -IfF"

TempPica "HAM ; rearpTnmge . 24 "

tt Length>SO THEN MlK«Length /• Adjuot Hix if aver 50

SFormat "IFF"

PrevSFzADPHO result /• Get previouB SAVE format */

pO i=Length*2 TO 2 BY -2 /■ Double the starting position

/• to increase the blur effect

Save TempPic "RAW"

X=TaimC(S0Rr{POWER(i,2)/a*-POWERlABS(TAH[Rad3!),2n 11
y^TR^C ( S RT i POWER 1 i , 2 ) - POWE R 1 X , 2 ) 1)

/** •-/

/*■• The following conditional "fudges" the angle ov&r ••/

IP Angle>90 K Angle<270 THEM X=-X /• Translate coords

•/

/•* by I when it is ecjual to 90 or 270 degreea, as the "/

IF Angle>0 S. Angle<lBO THEH Y=-Y /' for ADPro system

•/

y trigonemetric function TANGENT is undefined (or "/

/•* reaches infinity) at chess values. See grAph below. ••/

Load TempPic X ¥ nix /• Composite pic at current off-

/" set and mix value

•/

/* UCart commeat)

1 *

Kix-Mix-Dec /• Decrement Mix value tor next

1 *

/* time through the loop

1 *'

E»D

1 *•

HevfHix=TRUNC( (2/5}*Length+6} /* Calculate a nev Mix value

/• based on selected length
Load TempPic HewMix /* Recomposite at no offset and

•!

•■ 1

y* a ne'w calculated mix so as

1
» 1

/• to strengthen original image

A /U.IZ/.Vf, CdMI'tniNG

StopMotion.adpro vl.O

SCopKotion.odpro vl.O by William Frawley

February 11, 1994

CosipOsites a series of rel«t«d imageB to siiiiula.te
BE&p toot Ion photography.

: Select a series of viaually related imagea
UBino the GetFilea requester, then choose an
oCfflet value to seperate each image. The
Eirsc icmgfl selected will be the anchor.
Finally, enter the direction oE travel angle.
For example, ^0" would arraage images as if
coming trora right side of screen, whereas
"IBO" from left. For best results, iiaages
should contain a aolid background color for
core eCfective matting.

This uses ADPro'a GetFlles function to select
ttultiple files. However, t.his function is
inconpatible with the public doniain progran
Kagic File Requester. Disable this before

uflin^l

•/
*/
'/

*/
*/
*/

OPTIONS HB$tn^T3

/• Load ceHonathlib. library £or trigonanetriz functions •/
/•* -_ •*/

IF -SHOWCL', 'rfijtxmothlib. library' ) MEN,

CALL ADDLlBi 'rexxmathlib. library' , 0,-30)

MJMESS "ADPro"
ADPRO TO_FRONT

/■* Aflk user to select a list of files.

GetPiles '"SHIFT-CLICK files to be processed. ■ "'
IF RC'-O THEM CALL Failr'MhoDps:")
FlleLisc-ADPRO.REStJLT

/" AbJc user far hlup Angle. Default is ;co the rights**/

•/

GetHumber ' "Enter Angle (O-rt laOaleftl!"' 359
IF RC-"fl THEN CALL Fall(*Wrong Paraseterl ')
Angle-ADPRO_RESirLT

/•• Aslc user for offset between images.

•/

GetHuiBber '"Entor Offsets"' 35 I 100

IP RC— THEK CALL FailfT^rong Parameterl")

OE£set-ADpftO_B£SULT

/•• Ask user if there is a solid background for maaJiing ••/

Okaya '"Solid Background? OR-yes CAKCELnno"
IF RC-D THEH Solid-O
ELSE Solid-1

/"• cleanup! **/

ADDRESS COMKAMD 'CiDelete' TempPic

SPoraac PrevSF /• Restore original §ave format •/

/•* txn *•/

OJcayl ^"FiniBbedl"'
SXIT

^. .,<»«*«««*. ***.«* IMTEHNAL FUNCTIONS •«•--••• t» . »■•.••• /

PARSE ARG Text
Okayl Text
EXIT 20

RETURN

/*• If Solid backffrgund, then get color v&luea
/•' ■■/

GetNuinber '"Enter RED value;"' 255

IF RC-.O TKEH CA1.I, Fail("Kroiig Paranecer ! " 1

Red"ADPRO_HESlJ!.T

GecNumber '"Entet GREEN value:"' 255
IF RC-={J THEH CALL Fail ("Wrong Parameter!"!
Gr«eH"ADPRO_HESULT

GetNumb*r ' "Fnter BUTE values"' 255

IF KC-.O THEN CAtL Faill'Ttrong Paraneterl')

Blue.ADPRO_Il£SOLT

/■• Parse Filelist
/•

n-0

DO HHILE FLleLiat

*•/

!• initiallzD (ile I index »/
/• ahh, the beauty of arexxi •/

PARSE VAH FileLiiat File.n FileList

n-n+l

END

Adjust Anijle and convert to radians for trig functB

/•■ •■/

IF Angle*90 I Angle*3?0 THEN Angle^Angle+l

RadB«Angle* (^ .14159/lBO) /* Converts degrees to radians ■/

•*/

LFOrMt -DKIVEBSAj,-

DO 1«0 TO N-1

Diit.i-OEfset

/■ H equals number of files we paraed •/
/" and begin array indejc with xero ■/

/* Distance from anchor iGtage */

May 1994

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ScMilt C: Profit or lass from
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ScMih I: Capital Bans S
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K=TRUKC(SQRT{P0WER(DisC,2}/(l+PQWER(ABS(TAN(Ka[i@J ),2))))
Y=TRDHC(SQRT(POVrBH{DisC,2}-POWER(X,2)n

IF AngloSO t Aiigle<270 THEN X--X /• Translate coorde '/
IF Angle>Q £ Angle<180 THEN y=^-¥ /* £or ADPro ayBtem «/

Hlx=TRtmCUOO/a + X) 1

/' Calculate Mix percentage so */
/• that ith image contributes */
/* equally to composition */

IF Solid=l THEN DO /• If user has a "golid" bdckground ♦/
Load File.i X T Hix Red Green Blue
IF HC-zO THEN CALL Fail(-Load Failed!")
EFTD

ELSE DO

U3n<i Tile.i X Y Mix

IF HC-=0 THEN CALL Tail ( "Load Failed!")

Okayl '"Finishedi

INTERNAL FUKCTIQNS

PARSE ARG Text
Okayi Text

EXIT 20

RETUFLH

TestMix.rx vl.O

TestHix.rx vl.O by WilliaEi Prawley

February 11, 1994

Cosiputes the final weights at each image in a siult-
iple composite proceEs allowing for changes in the
initial Mix value, Decrement, and magnitude of the
initial Offset cr length.

USAGE; Run froni a shell:

l.> run rx TestMix.rx
Or to aavG the output to a file:

l.> run rx >Path/output . t3Ct TestHix.rx

OPTIONS RESULTS

NUMERIC DIGITS 2 /* Accuracy to two decimal points •/

say "Enter starting Mix value 11-100): '

parse pull Mix

3ay

Bay 'Enter Mix Decrement value (1-50): ■

parse pull I>gc

Bay

say 'Enter Length of blur (1-60): '

parse pull Length

a ay

Hix-Hix/100
MixWeight=l-Mix
Dec=Dec/lGO
MixValue.JiO

DO 1=1 TO Lgngth /* Initializes each images Mix value */
HixValue.i=Mix

DO j=l TO i-1 /* Opdatee each inages Mix value */
MixValue . j «MixValue . j -HixWeight
END

Hix=Hix-Doc
HixWeight*l-Hlx

DO k=l TO tength /• Outputs each images final weight •/

MixValue. k-MixValue.k*100
IF HixValue.:t<l THEH HixValue.k=0
eay 'Image I' k ' Value is; ' HixValue.>:
END

•AC*

Please Write to:
Wiiliam Frawley

c/o Amazing Computing
P.O. Box 2140

fail River, MA 02722-2U0

AMAZiyC COMFUTIXG

4.:

\\i:\\^\MiG,\

A Look at

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i\'^

• •kMtoMDi

Hill

J> C

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Reviei^t"

Pirates! Gold

Piraks'. Cohi is an action adventure game in u'hich you take on
the role of a pirate and plunder ships and towns in the New World
for profit. You can choose to either become part of a famous
expedition or start off on your ou'n voyage. The goal is simple:
acquire as much money and ships as you can and retire a wealthy
pirate. Keep in mind that you ha\'e a crew who is just as eager to be
rich as you and you must collect enough riches to keep them
satisfied or they will mutiny.

Adversaries are plentiful. The French, English, Spanish, and
Dutch have many colonics and ships in the Caribbean. You can
attempt to side with one of these forces and get paid for fighting
their battles. Or, you can go independent and fight whoever comes
along.

Gameplay is sometimes slow but still interesting. Battles can
take place at sea and on land and may involve the use of your
ship's guns or test your skill at sword play. There are plenty of
opportunities for battle. Be wise in what you do to your enemies at
sea. Whenever possible, capture the opposing ship. It will come in
handy as your riches grow. Remember, you need to store your loot
somewhere. The amount of cargo you can carry is limited by the
total amount of storage space of your armada. The number of ships
you can have at any one time is limited by the number of trained
crewmen you have available.

A map tells you the location of each town and gives informa-
tion on the town's wealth and defenses as well as nationality'. You

can choose to attack the town, sneak into the town, sail into the
harbor, march into the town, or leave. Sneaking in is the least
treacherous. I would only recommend sailing into the harbor if you
have allied yourself in some way with the town's home country.
Once inside the town, you can visit the local merchant, the tavern,
the bank, shipbuilder, and the governor. The merchant will trade
goods with you. The ta\'ern can be a source of valuable information
and occasionally, ne«' crew members. The shipbuilder will buy or
repair your ships. The bank will divide your plunder among your
cre\v. Hint: when vou di\'ide your plunder, you are left with the
ship and crew you began with. It is a good idea to sell all excess
items off before dividing the booty. The governor in a town can do
many things for you. He may ask you to go on a special mission,
offer you a Letter of Marque, or attempt to recruit your services in
some wav. The governor can also grant amnesty and reward your
pirate for a job well done.

Control of the game is simple with the direction pad and the
red fire button on the controller. You guide your ship around the
Caribbean in search of treasure and loot. The map in your cabin and
information gathered from towns ivil] assist you in deciding which
town to plunder next.

The manual gives an overview of some of the more famous
pirate expeditions and an index of ships used at that time. The
.A.GA graphics are good. Gameplay can be slow at times. It would
have been nice to see more than one "town setting" for variety.
There are some ob\ious lefto\'er elements from the floppy version
of Pirates! Gold but the elements seem to have been adapted well to
the CD''- controller.

.fSJUuM.ZJ^

Diggers

Diggers operates under a simple premise. Choose a race of
diggers from the planet Zarg and mine for hidden treasures, lost
civilizations, and other goodies. You are in competition with other
diggers trying to gain the most wealth from your finds.

This game is something like Leniniiiigs without a cause. You
control the actions of your diggers. Direct them, outfit them with
tools, and select from a menu of tasks for each to perform. You
must watch all of your diggers carefully so that they do not wander
off into trouble. It is easy to lose members of the digging party to
hidden traps and various elements of certain digger death.

May 1994

b
<

Atnazing Computing

;lt Imiks .11 till' AMOS Mirt

i lij;hlinht^ ImluJu,

" Extending Ihe AMOS Sprt," V^aw ^-ii

I unci km.

" Business Carda," St>il-Laf;ik'> Dan Wt■i^Si;ivL■^^:^^i1V',^L■p|h!lllcJ^iJl

on hinv to Creole vnur nvvi^ bu**inL'ss cirds.

■'AD1D12," .^ K\ww by Kick M.in.is-i

AND! A ipctiil wwaV. pftfvicw ti( Iho One-Slop Musk Shop (rnm

Hluc Ribbon St ciimplcic coverage of the IVOCA Tuiontut

»' Vnl.S, Ni..\ March l^W.'i

l[i(dT[lilj;h(s Include:

"Babylon 5," ihi? Ami|;.i changes the way TV shows nro nuido. by Its

I'nul Kobloy

"AmigaVision PrnjccK," hy Wiilijm Murphy

"Art ExprKsion," n,■^i^.'^^ bv MithII C.ilLn%iiv

PLUS: Crejfive bmint-s* forms ft CES Winip r '9J

*■ V(v|.9,No.-l,Aprin'«3

Hij^hlights Indude:

'TriplePljy Plufi& SyncPro", ri?\'ifWsof Iwogreal music pfoducts

by Rklv M.in.is.1

"CanDo," a re\u'\v of thi- appliCiiUsin devfinpmenl system from

[N'OVAlri^inics b) Ri^i Hjyt->

At-SO: Super VidfoSlol ioi April, ARr\*, cli, and great Diversions!

# Vol.g, \o.S. Mjy IW5
Ki);hli^htsllncludi':

"Directory Opun", rvvipw ii( thf latwt vorsinnof C^irecior)' C>pusarul

A >(.irt-up tiilonjl by Morrill Callaway

"Media Madness," i-xplnre* the inside of Blue Ribbon Soufvdworks

[n.'w NU-dij Madness, by TtKlor Fay & David Miller

"Sup«TjAM I.I," A KWKw of the Iatc?st relejw of Superf AM! by Rick

M,1 11.1^3

"ImageFX," ri'view bv R Sh.inims Mnriii-r

ALSO: Super VldcoSlot forMay—TllP New r.rjphif-. Modes!

¥ Vols, \o.*i. June 1*W>

Hi^hli^ht?; Include

"AMOS Turns Prof rssional"' jevicw of a major upgrade hajlfd as a

comprehcnvivt' dt-vflopm^nt ^ysiem, by Jimmy Row

"Searching Medical LiterahiiB," usinR 'bf Amiga to !.jp the vast

n-sinirci'S of rneiliial on-line s*.'r\ico. b\- Dr. Mich.iyl Tubin

ALSO; NcwslcHcr DiMtign, ARetx Progeamming, Hot Pivpntjrini

*■ Vol.5. \o.7, July l**3

Htphlighls In^Uide:

"TypeSMrrH 1^, rei iew of Soft-Logik's new font editor, by Mt-Trill

Callaway

"Op^lFainl 2.0," review oi the latest vCTsion of this paml proftram for

the Op-ilVisicin board, by R, Shamms Mortier

"Slruclured Drawing," basic features and advjmciNl iL-L'hnitiiJi"*. by

Dah Weiss

"UcluufPaint IV AGA,"' review of the lati-st pimt packAgv ior thy

■Mi.-V machilH'-'. bv R Shjmnts Mortier

ALSO^ Super VidroSlot ARet*. and Npw Produeis!

# \'ol.3. No 8. August 1993
Hif;hlij;h!s fndude.

"Amigj Vision Professionar, review Commodorv's upgraded

.iutht)ring svsifm, by [X*uglas f . Nfjikiikihara

"Art Department Prule^ionjl 23," h'vicw of iht- laii-si releaw.* of

Adl'ro inim A^t.X», b> Memll Callaway

"Profession al Pagt 4.0," the latest incarnation ol I'ro l*age. by Kick

M-masi

" ISeudo Radiosily Effects," why ray triicing is not an atcuratif

iiu>dtTl kit true li;;;ht beh^ivior, by Mark Tloffman

"T-Rexx ProfMiianai", a review of the latest release of T-Re.>n from

f\SOC,. by M«;rril| Callaway

ALSO: AC Phone Book; A directory of Amiga Devclopcni!

# \'ol.S. Nn 4. September f^7>
Hij;hl]j;hls Inf lude

"Adventures with Aladdin^F-ut III tii this luional seriL-son Aladdin

\D, by R. Shamnv% Mortier

"Can Do," Fits! inst.iHment of this series ior CanDo programmer!), by

Randy Finch

"Caligari 24," Roview of version 3.0 of this 24-bit *<>f twajv, by R.

Shamir^ Mortier

"Coming Attractions," A look into the future altractions in Amiga

^;anie?., by Henning \'ahlvnk,imp

ALSO: WOCA— Australia & Summer CES!

* Vol.M. Nil lU.tViolxT l'w:i

I I]ghlighl> Include;

"Making Wives", t-ocus on the wa\ e requt'ster in Part l\' tit thu

Aisddin M,Tii,->. R. Shamms Mortier

"Clouds in Motion," Animated L-louds. in Scenery Animator, by R.

Shamms Mortier

"Media Madncis," Discos er what it can do for Bars&l'ipfs, by Ri<;k

Maiws,!

"Barsi Pipe* f^rofeMionil 2.0," rpvieiV by Kick Manosa

"Bernoulli MulliUisk !50", A ^e\ie^^' of thisgTMt lomt-ga drive.

ALSO: Comnuidorc's new CD3ill

*■ Vol.S, So 1 1. November 1993

ilii;hlight>lncliidL-:

"CanDo". This installment ttn ers developing a aistom object by

combining ?Anvral Mandard CanOc* obfiKts, by Randy Finih.

"Brilliance," A complete review of this hot new pami ai^d animalinn

priigr^m from ISi^iial Cn-ations, by Frank McMahon.

"Online," Tin- mlrtxluction of Ihi-s new telecommunications column

for the Amiga, by Rob Hays.

"Gel Graphic Digital image F/X," The introduction of AGs new

graphic^t■o]um^. by William Frawley.

"Picasso IP", A review of one oi the K*^t new ^aphics cards aviiilable.

by Mark Ricknv

ALSO: WOC'A Pasadena: Cammndorc inlradutes CD'32! Plus, the

incredible LighlKavc, a Video Toaster emulator!

»■ Vol.8. Xo 12, IX-ccmber 1^3

Highlights Include:

"CanDo Tutorial". Basic concepts behind animations and

prt?sfnlalion^, by R.indv Finch.

"LightRave Review," A review of this uniques Tixisler emulator, by

?h^mrtT- StorlKiT.

"Online," Ibe intrcHduction of this new Lt'lecommuniiations column

for \W Amiga, by Rob Hays.

"Get Graphic; Digital Image F/X," Tlie mtri*duction of .AL's new

graphics cohmin. by William Frflwley.

"Video Toaster 4000 Review", A reviev.' of the latest V^ideo Toaster by

Shamms Mortier.

ALSO: 3995 Reader's Oiioce Awards^

*■ Vol/J. Nol.Unuary I?94

Highlights Include:

"Designing Holiday Cards", Using your fa\orile DTP pn-gr^^nih to

cn-Jle holidav cards, by Dan Weiss

"Accent on Multimedia," First m a sf fus expbnng the history and

concept*; behind multimedia, by R- fihamms Mortier.

"Primera Printer," Review of Ifui low end, iiurxpcnsive color printer,

by Memll CcLlIaway

"Commodore 1942 Monitor," In-dt'pth study of this comprehertrive

Amiga paint paikage. by R. Shamms Mortier.

ALSO: Commiodnrc Sbairboldera Movement

if Vol.y. No 2. Februar> 19^4

Highlights Include;

"Amiga on Inlemet". EKploralion oi Uitcmet and iis services, by

Henntng Vahlenkamp,

"EGS 28/24 Spectrum." A review oi this hot graphics card fn>m G\T,

by Mark Hoffman.

"Magic Lantern" A new animation compiling program for all Amiga

displav m!HJt>,bv R. Sh^.mms Mortier.

"Gel Graphic; Digital Image F/X," Using AKew Opal Paini, ADl'ro.

anj tX'luxel'amt ro pri-Kes> miag*'^. by William Frawjey

ALSO: Eiclusive inler\'iew with Lew EggebrechI!

* Vol.**. .\o 3. Niarch 1994

Highlights Include:

"Amiga Star? at Medical Convention", Medici multimedia on the

Am>iga. by MichiuO Tobin, M- D-

"CanDo v*. HELM," Head-to-head review of rwo leading Amiga

auttioring svsiems, bv Rai^d\' Finch.

"FD Update," TIils month, a description of AlnXPatch 2 9 and other

shareware and fret-^vare utilities, by Henning Vahlenkamp.

"Scala MMSOO," A review of the program belieied to bv "hot sluif

for anviine (.Itiing interacHve mMia ivork, bv R. Shamms Mortier.

ALSO: And furthermore: The Amiga takes thf Stage in the

Broadway production of The Who's Tommyl

tiim

^ Tipl

rAC'^ IKii \\A "v \o ]

Hi^hii^^hi-liuliiJ.-

"CtmiiMu Ctimputi»^'vC++/' A ri'vn-i\ i.it ^lll^>;^l.■.ll rmv C tmiipikTbv

l-ttri*^l Arm '111.

"■ProRrjmminp llii? Ami^j in AMcmbly Ljnf;u;igi7 Part 5," by V%'il]iiini Nti-

"xMake Your Own 313 VcgHJliim," l_.iur.i Morrisun ^ho\\> huw lu ust-

PLUS! The HotLixi ks Developer's Toolkil ON-DiSK!

rACv ri:ciL\'p!-.\\u-:

Hi^hlij^hts [iKlude:

"Ole," An .iK.Hii'xi.inu' |voji;r.unimi.l in AMt>S H ASIC!, by Thomas |.

I'sht'lnititi.

"Progrjrnmmg tlic Amiga in A^^suinbly Language I'arl 6," bv William iVii-

"Wrapped Up with TruL* ^ASIC," Ifxt iirid tiraphics wrapplnj; modiik's

in True BASIC, by Dr, Uuv M. Nuzzo

"AResL.x Disk Caialogcr,'' An Ainit^atX^Sn-LanipuLvtor that priKJuccsa tc\t

filecont.iinini; snlDrmaliH,)!! about iKl' fUi'ppv disksvon ivanl catalogi/d, bv

T. DarrL'IW'L-^tbr.kik rr- .

AND LOTS MORF ON DI5K1

*■ AC'S TF-CH, Vol. 3, Nti3
I li)^lili>;hl> IiKludo:

"Kl'xx Kainb*nv Library," A rr\"ti'W b\ Mfrrill C.illawav
"I'roBrjmming llie Amiga in Assembly," b\ William >leL'
"All Vou Evt'r W^iitod lo Km»w Abmii Miirphing," An in-dt'pth livtik at
nUiTpliiii^ lor lmaj;ini'b\" nrunoCo>ta and l.ticia Darsj
"Custom 5[> Graphics I'ackagc Fart I," IX'si^ning a custom 3D graphics
P.icLij:;l' bv l.mr^t M(iri--soii

liuild .1 Si'iiind |ii\>liL'k I'urt,' A siinplf hardivaro projocl /or an additional
jiL'\^!ick p(>rt bv Ia^]llt■^ Halktv
AND LOTS \JORfe ON DISK!

r AC'S TECH. Vtvl, 3, \'o, -I

Hi>;hU,i;ht> InikidL-:

"CustiiTn 3D Cirjphici t'jckjgc i'arl 11," t'ul thi- Jini?;hmj; toiichi-;- oil

WHinnvn t;rapliiL> iMi.ka^t'bv Uiura Morisstm.

"TruBASlt Input Mask, An iiitiTi-slingTnu-BASIC ulility b\- T.

D.irrt'11 WL-sibrook.

"Time Efficient Anjmalkms," Maku up t'i>r k>st time with thisgrodt

animation iilililv bv Kobt-rtGalk*!.

"F-BASIC 5.0,"'A ri-viciv of this ialwl VL-rsion of F-BASIC bv h'U

StL-in.

PLUS: CD32Devehipment Irtfol

* AC'sTkCH,Vol, 4, No, I

Hi};Iiili^hts InckidL-:

"Artificial Life," Artificial lift", iiMelMsL'na' .ind trthi-r tfchnical tidbifs

in thi^ piLVi-. b\ John lovinc

"HugL- Numbers Fart I," Crfiitivu numbi-r crundiinj;;, by Michael

CreiblLng-

"Pseudo-random Number Generation," Generating sequences of

rJiiLtoin niimbof^— ahuost. bv CristoplH'rlL'nriin^s.

"Draw 3.[)," IXk'-t pri/t* srktiHU'i in '\MC>S t'rnk-ssinnal, by T. DaraMl

WV'slbrook.

"Programming the Amiga in Assembly Language," Complcv

functions , lire evplored.by WilM.un ['. Niv.

"Writing a Function Genie (ur Pro Draw/ Create a calendar

bf^inning OcIoIkt 1SH2. bv Keith D. Broivn.

1-800-345-3360

Complete selection of Amazing Computing and AC's TECH AVAILABLE!

li^

WHAT HAVE YOU HEHN MISSING Have you missed information on how to add ports
to your Amiga for under S70, how to work around Dcli(xvPiiiut's lack of HAM support, liow to
deal with service bureaus, or how to put your Super 8 films on video tape, along with Amiga
graphics? Do you know the differences among the big three DTP programs for the Amiga? Does
the ARcx\ interface still puzzle you? Do you know when it's better to you use the Cl.I? Would
you like to know how to go about publishing .1 newsletter? Do you take full advantage of your
RAMdisk? Have you yet to install an IBM mouse to work with your bridgeboard? Do you know
there's an alternative to high-cost word processors? Do voti still struggle through your
directories?

Or if you're a programmer or technical type, do you understand how to add 512K RAM to
your 1MB A500 for a cost of only S3(l? Or how to program the Amiga's GUI in C? Would vou like
the instructions for building your own variable rapid-fire joystick or a 246-grayscale SCSI
interface for your Amiga? Do you use easy routines for performing floppy access without the aid
of the operating system? Hov\- much do vou realh' understand about rav tracing?

can be round in
AMAZING COMPUTING and AC's TECH.

JIL

CMtmxMxmxuin

Perhaps the most impressive element of this game is fhe
graphics. They are sharp, dear, and take full advantage of the AGA
chips. Gameplay is slow and often times confusing. It can quickly
become difficult to keep track of your diggers.

The game starts by picking a race of diggers and a zone in
which to start your digging. Once a zone has been completely
mined, either by your crew or your competing crew, you move on
to another zone. As long as you have diggers alive, it is possible to
move on to other zones. The more zones you can successfully mine,
the more wealth you will gather.

Fire Force

Fire Force is a sophisticated military' shoot-em-up in which vou
take the role of a commando on a special mission. There are four
different missions froin which to choose. You are given an
assortment of weapons which help along the way. When you kill
off an enemy soldier, it is also possible to take his weapon and add
it to your arsenal,

Plaj' here is slow. When your commando is dropped off,
invariably he starts with a dagger as his weapon, It is necessary in
most cases to change this weapon immediately or be killed. The few
seconds it takes to go to select the necessarj' weapon from your
arsenal is quite often enough time for the first enemy soldier to
approach and attack you, which frequently leads to your death.
Although it takes quite a few hits for you to be killed, you onl\' get
one life. Once you are dead that's it, time to start all over.

One of the first screens you are presented with allows vou to
select a commando for battle. Here is where it gets confusing. All of
the commandos on the screen are either dead or retired, making
them unusable. The option you have here is to either select an
existing soldier or enter a name for your own. It is not possible to
select an existing soldier until you have created a few good men.
From there, you select a mission and arsenal and move on to play.
Control is lacking. This game would be better served by a joystick
instead of the pad. Your commando can jump, crawl, duck, and
cUmb, Shooting control is difficult in any position other than
standing still, Also, your opponents appear to have the abilitj- to
fire faster than you, which puts you at a distinct disadvantage.

Most shoot-em-ups are fast moving and feature rapid or
continuous fire capabilities. This game may be sophisticated but by
no means is it fast-action, it would be nice to think that the inability
to get through the first level of any of the scenarios does not bias
this review but the fact remains that it is extremely difficult to
accomplish this. Perhaps it would be more enjoyable if the speed
were increased along with the number of lives you are allowed.

Lock-N-Load

Lock-N-Lond is a collection of public domain and shareware
games designed for use on CD'^ CDTV, A570, or any external SCSI
CD-ROM drive. There are nearly 1000 games all together. There are
some drawbacks to this disk. Not all of the games are 2.04 or 3.0
compatible. Some require specific Kickstart versions or extra
memory to operate. This will cause a problem on CD'- machines.
Many of the games require a keyboard for certain functions. Also,
of the thrity or so games tested, all required that the machine be
reset in order to quit. This may be different on CDTV or on an
external CD-ROM device.

AMIGA CD

Commodore

Keep in mind that the games are public domain and

shareware items. Many have the PD look and feel. This is truly a

great collection, but CD^ owners should beware that not all of the

software on the disk will be easily accessible. This is perhaps best

suited for players with an external CD-ROM or a CDTV equipped

with a kevboard and mouse.

•AC*

Lock-N-Load

Northwest Public Domain

P.O. Box 1617

Auburn, WA 98071

(206)351-9502

Inquiry #230

Pirates Gold

MicroProse Ltd.

The Ridge

Chipping Sodbury

AvonBS17 6AY

England

Inquiry #231

Fire Force

International Computer Entertainment, Ltd,

Bridge House

Merrywolks Stroud

GLOSGL5 IQA

England
Inquiry #232

Diggers

Millerinium Interactive Ltd,

Queen House, Mill Court

Great Shelford Cambridge

CB2 5LD

\ England

\ Inquiry #233

Games provided by
British Magazine Distributors & Amigaman

Amazing Computing

Coming
Attractions . . .

by Henning Vahknkamp

IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER sneak peek at more new Amiga games. All of
these games are either available now or should be available soon. Since demo
copies were evaluated for this article, some features or specifications may be
subject to change.

tiri-i'i-fft'#>'wtf<riiittitit>jiiWti>twor«

FlaverOptlon-s... I Rlixratt... I Koalitlii. . ■ < cimt... I Colors.. -1 Saue f

' ^%>^ BEGIN FLIGHT

FIGHTER DUEL PRO 2

by JAEGER SOFTWARE

Fighter Duel Pro (FDP) fans, rejoice; FDP 2
(Jaeger Software), the sequel to that acclaimed game, is
now a\^ailable. All the great features of its predecessor
{AC V8.2) are still here, and there are a raft of new ones.
Topping the list is support for 640x400 DBLNTSC or
DBLPAL screenmodcs on AG A Amigas, eliminating
interlace flicker and boosting graphics speed. Other
improvemenls include nine more planes, a slick new
pre-fligh( interface, realistically depicted bullet
trajectories, and two player modes where one player
acts as pilot and the other as gunner! The memory ante
has been raised to 2MB, and FDP 2 can exploit faster
processors too. Full 256-color support seems to be the
only thing missing in this superior flight simulator -
perhaps in the next version,

SPLIDD (the Society of Particularly Undesir-
able Dastardly Dudes) is planning to take over the
world, and you as a top agent must fly secret missions
against their forces before they have a chance to carry
out their evil deed, Yes, that's actually the plot of
Jetstrike (Rasputin Software). Tongue-in-cheek plot
aside, the 135 available missions range from taking
reconnaissance photos to catching falling spies. The
large selection of 40 different aircraft includes a dragon
for good measure! Getting the hang of flying takes
some practice, making the training missions a welcome

Above Left; Rasputin's Jetstrike.

Left: Fighter Duel Pro 2 from Jaeger Software.

Opposite Top: Quack from Team 17.

Opposite center; Seek ond Destroy from Vision
Software.

Opposite bottom: Entertainment Intemotlonal's
Magic Boy.

May 1994

foiUiiri.'. Even if you don't succeed in a mission, it's fLin simply In
crasli your plane into the sido-sirolling scfnerv to see the great
efforts the programmers lavished on tliis sequence.

In Magic Boy (Entertainment Intern,! tional), you, as a wizard's
apprentice, must rescue your mentor by progressing through
multiple platform worlds with eight levels each. Since it was
designed for young players, the challenge isn't too great, and the
few almost-too-cute-to-kill enemies follow very predictable paths.
Making use of lots of rainbow backgrounds, the graphics certainly
arc cheery and colorful. The music sounds as though it was lifted
from a "Popeye" cartoon.

Ori/hmd (Magic System) is a graphic ad\'cnture in a similar
vein as many Sierra games, '['he demo takes place in a countryside,
but doesn't gi\'e any clue about the plot, or the game's unusual
name, for that matter. As in the newer Sierra interface, there is a
panel of icons from which you can control fhings simply and
effectively. It's obvious from the demo that Dryland has some
rough edges in need of smoothing; your character can't walk
around simple obstacles when you click on a destination on the
screen, and the text suffers from glaring grammatical errors. The
graphics also appear a little rough, while the heavy, industrial
music seems out of place.

Qivak (Team 17) is a basic Nintendo-esque platform arcade
game. As you may have guessed from the name, the main chaiacter
is a duck, and he needs to collect all the keys on each screen-size
level to escape to the next one. Of course ail the requisite powor-ups
(fruit, gems, etc) are here, and, naturally, his weapons of choice are
eggs. I'lentiful enemies and many randomlv falling objects can
make Qwak pretty darn difficult. Eispecially well-tailored to the
game, the music, which somehov\- suggests synthesized singing
ducks, is better than the fair graphics. Simultaneous two-player
action makes it more interesting, tliough.

Svck ami Dcstnn/ {Visioii Software) is exactly the name of the
game irt this exciting shoot-em-up. From your Apache helicopter,
you'll fly various missions to defeat the enemy forces, usually
involving the decimation of militarv installations and hostile
helicopters. The technical highlight here is the overhead view
scenery ^vhich spins around 360 degrees depending upon how vou
move your onscreen Apache. Lots of digitized speech, such as
"Finish 'em off!" when you're doing well and "We're going down!"
when you're not doing so well, compliments the frenzied firefighls
that often erupt. Quite a bit of fun.

A combination of Populous and SiiiiCit)/, The Settlers (Blue Byte)
seeks to recreate a quaint medie\'al world. Your task is to build
your kingdom while tliwarting your computer-controlled oppo-
nents who try to build their own. As in similar games, a great deal
of strategy is involved to manage your resources, huild efficiently,
and keep things on track. Your kingdom doesn't evolve culturally
or technologically, and you don't really ha\'e any awesome godly
powers, so it's necessary to think in more down-to-earth tornis.
There are a huge number of options arranged in a com^enient icon
interface. Ever\'thing is presented \vell, especiallv the intricate
animation of the dny settlers going about their lives. This one looks
like a winner.

Sj'nce Hulk (Electronic Arts) is a derelict ship that was lost
through warp space tra\-el, These derelicts sometimes return to real
space, but with nasty creatures called Ccnestealers aboard as
stowaways. As heavily armed Space Marines, your team's job is to
exterminate these aliens. Tlie game's main interface is a set of five
windows through which vou can see the inside of a space hulk in a

^-W ^^■I^H

^^^^1^ ^^^^1

; <2>

<S> 1 , '^^'='

first person perspecti\'e, one window per Marine. Basically you
directly control one Marine, and command the others. Although a
freeze button gives you time to issue commands, that time is
unfortunately short. Graphics are a bit grainy. On the whole, Hiini
Cling, offering true multi-player support, is similar, but better.

•AC-

Please Write to:

Henning Vahlenkamp

c/o Amazing Computing

P.O. Box 2140
Fall River. MA 02722-2140

Amazi.\g Co.mpvtixg

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

by jeff James

Allhough Us first attempt
at bringing Frank Herbert's
epic science fictinn no\'cl of
sand worms and guild
navigators to the computer
screen met vvitii limited
success. Virgin Games returns
once again to Arrnkis vvith the
release of Dime U: The Biiildiiii^
of a Di/iiafh/. For this second
Dune game. Virgin pooled its
resources with veteran game
developer Westwood Studios
(£yf of the Beholder, Legend of
Kt/rnihiia) to create a product
with a stronger emphasis on
wargaming. In Dune 11, the
player's goal is to raise the
battle standard of one of three
sides — called "Houses" in
Dune parlance — and use the

resources of the selected
House towards the conquest
of the planet Arrakis. Unlike
the original Dune books and
movies which cast House
Atreides as the protagonist,
the player can pledge
allegiance to the brutal
Harkonnens or the Machia\'el-
lian Ordos.

Unlike conventional
vvargames that employ a rigid
turn-hascd style of gnmeplay,
Dune II — the first installment
in Westwood 's new "Com-
mand and Conquer" product
line — throws everything at the
player in real-time. Nine
missions are included, each
progressively more difficult
than the last. In terms of

gameplay, Dune II plays like
an addictive blend of SiinCitit
(Maxis) and 77ii' Perfect General
(QQP), laced with a strong
dose of the Dune ethos. Like
SimCity, Dune 11 requires you
to don the hard-hat of a city
planner, using an attractive
mouse-driven interface to
create a wide varictv of useful
structures. Concrete slabs
serve as the foundation for
other buildings: wind traps
provide water and power,
while refineries are used to
convert harvested spice into
credits. Once you tire of
building boring civilian
structures, Dune II allows you
to trade in that dented hard-
hat for a worn battle helmet,
allowing you to construct a
wide range of military
ed i f i ces — incl ud ing barracks
for your soldiers and tank-
production facilities.

All three Houses share
the abilitv to build certain
standard units, such as
harvesters, trikes, quads,
carryalls, combat tanks, and
siege tanks. In addition, each
f-Iouse can construct several
unique items. House
Ha rkonnen can produce the
De\'astator, a nuclear-
powered combat tank. House
Ordos is able to construct the
Deviator, (a missile tank
armed ivith nerve-gas-tipped
warheads) while House
Atreides can employ the Sonic
Tank (which uses focused
sound waves to destroy
enemy structures and
vehicles). Regardless of the
House you choose to play,
learning to master both She
military' and resource
management aspects of the
game is essenhal to \'ictory-

In order to make Dune II
small enough to run on 1MB
Amigas, Westwood had to
eliminate some of the digitized
speech and sound found in the
IBM version. The speech and
sound effects that do remain
are still of excellent quality,
although the background
music is rather, well, boring.
Thankfully, music can bo
toggled on and off by
accessing a game options
control screen. Dune II doesn't
look like an IBM-port, with
responsis'e gameplay and
crisp, colorful graphics. The
game evinces an eye for detail,
too: moving tanks leave tiny
tracks in the shifting sand, and
friendlv units can accidentally
damage and destroy each
other in a pixelized version of
"friendly fire." ->-

May 1994

Body Blows Galactic

byjason D'Aprik

Dune II does support a
hard-drive, and will multi-task
if you have enough free RAM
on your system. The program
operates a trifle sluggishly on
slower machines, although
owners of accelerated Aniigas
are treated to quick, respon-
sive gamepl.iv in all but the
most cluttered of on-screen
battles. Strangely, support for
modem and serial-link play —
nearly de riguour in \vargames
nowadays — is conspicuous by
its absence, as is support for
the 256-color AGA chip set
found in the Amiga 1200/
4000. The included Amiga
addendum card is rather short
on information, (although the
50-page instruction manual is
filled with helpful hints and
playing advice) and the
included hard-drive installa-
tion program is scarcely
documented at all.

If most of the aforemen-
tioned gripes sound as if I'm
picking nits, vou'd be right.
There simply isn't much not to
like about Dune II. Most of
these quibbles will be
addressed when the second

game in \Vest\vtxid's
Command and Conquer series
is released sometime in 1994.
At press time, Weshvood
hadn't decided whether or not
to release an Amiga version of
that game, although a version
for the CE>52 ^lay be in the
offing. I can't help wishing
that Westwood v\'ould also
consider a CD'^^specific
\-ersion of Dune II, filled with
the extra digitized sound and
music found in the IBM
\'ersion of the game. Although
it's not ^vithout flaws. Dune II
is undoubtedly one of the best
PC to Amiga game conver-
sions to hit the shelves in quite
some time. An addictively
plaj'able wargame placed in a
futuristic, sand-swept tableau.
Dune II will undoubtedly add
some spice to your Amiga
game library.

Dune II

Westwood Studios

5333 South Arville, Suite 104

Las Vegas. NV 89 11 8-2226

702-368-4850

Inquiry #226

In the world of fighting
! games for the Amiga, the Body
\ B/ou's series is definitely tops-
no doubt. After playing the
ni iginal Body Blows until I
could play it no more, I was
excited about the impending
release of this sequel and with
good reason. As of now. Body
B/[tirs Galactic is the only
Amiga fighting game in town.

With t^veh'e characters,
only two of which are from the
first (Dan and Junior have
returned), science fiction
worlds as the backdrops, and
a variety of different charac-
ters that is quite stunning,
BBC is something to behold.
No more of the clone
syndrome that the original
Body Blows suffered from,
these characters are really
something.

The graphics are nicely
done in the same cartoony
st)'le of Street Fighter 2,
particularly Kai-Ti who is sort
of a revamp of the original's
Maria and has a much
improved graphic look. The
joystick control is the same as
the original, which, while very
responsive, I found disap-
pointing on a number of
levels. Hold the button and
press in any of the eight
directions for any number of
very coo! attack moves, just
hold the button in for a second
or two and the character
activates his or her special
move. This system is great for
combos, but proves extremely
annoying during certain
situations.

The biggest complaint I
have about this system is it is
rather primitive to still use a
single fire button controller,
especially with a fighting
i;ame. Compare these
characters' twenty moves each
ivith any of the other fighters

out there with hordes more
moves and you'll know that
something's not right. In the
least, separate kick and punch
buttons would have almost
doubled the move potential
and provided more fighting
enjoyment. In the upcoming
CD^2 versions, I hope that
Team 17 will rightly fake
ad\'antage of the six button
controller, then they really
would have a main contender
in the fighting arena.

Another note about the
joystick control is that a high
block requires the button
pressed and the joystick held
back, while low blocks simply
require the joystick held back.
Tl 7 should have followed the
Sired Fighter 2 method of just
pressing back for a block,
because, inevitably, right as
Phantom is about to start his
Super Swoop special move, I'll
trv to block and instead of
pressing straight back, I'll
accidentiv hit a diagonal, my
character will perform an
attack move and, conse-
quently, get his butt kicked
across the screen.

It's not a very pretty
sight, suffice to say, and I
don't enjoy it when this
happens. Also, the power bar,
which has to power up before
you can perform the
character's special move,
lengthens each time you use
the special po^ver, which
makes it rather precarious to
attempt it, even though the
computer uses it's special
move like there's no tomor-
row.

Instead of having to
choose from just four( three
actually) characters as with
Body Blows 1, you can choose
any of the twelve to fight
through the game, which is
great. 1 thought wow! 12

88 Ajuazi.kg Computing

characters, finally, something
to match the other fighters on
ni)' faV'Orites Ust. And I was
happy, too, until I started to
complete the game with the
different characters.

This game, despite the
manual, has no end boss and it
has no ending sequences.
When you win, uith any
character, all the game
displays is a close up of your
fighter and a big "Congratula-
tions!" I wanted to cry when I
saw that, but thought, no it
must be a mistake.

Aside from the anticli-
mactic endings, (he sometimes
annoying control mechanism,
and the fact that I would have
liked to have seen larger
characters, I enjoyed Body
Blows Galactic as a straight
forward fighKng game. I don't
imagine thai the genre on the
Amiga wili be improved
beyond this. The characters
are all very imaginative.
However, I wish that some
fictitious backgrounds on all
the characters were included,
to make the game seem more
familiar. All the backdrops
and the character graphics are
drawn extremely well and the
sound effects are also suitably
brutal. Like the first, it features
not just the straight arcade,
one player challenge, but two
player \'ersus and tournament
mode which allows several

Amiga players to battle it out
in a fight to the finish.

There arc sensible
options to customize the
game, like turning off the
timer and setting the matches
to one or three rounds, which
is great if you just want to play
through a quick game. The
game takes place in six
different "planet" locations,
where you will fight each of
the planet's two, drastically
different, champions.

If you're a fighting fan,
looking for a properly done
Amiga version of the genre,
then this is as good as it gets,
despite its flaws. The twelve
characters make it the largest

fighting game (to my
knowledge), aside from Street
Fighter!: Turbo on SNES, that is
available on a home machine,
and adds greatly to play value.

Still though, in the
manual to the first Body
Blows, Team 17 tells us that
they checked out aU the other
fighters available for the
Amiga. Well, they were
looking in the wrong place.
Tliey should have gone to the
arcades to check out the
competition, because that's
where it's at. The Amiga was
the original high tech arcade
machine and there's nothing
any other console machine can
do that it can't.

I don't want to seem too

harsh to Body Blows Galactic.
It's greath' improved over the
first, packed with digitized
voice, great looking characters,
cool moves, interesting
backdrops, and challenging
fun. Fighting games are my
favorite genre of games and a
good deal of that affinity
comes from the fact that
designers of these games put a
lot of effort into making the
games a kind of interactive
story, as if these characters
actually had something to do,
someplace to go, and fighting
was going to get them there.
It's just a good thing that in
Body Blows Galactic getting
there is fun enough to
overcome the disappointment
of actually arriving.

Body Blows Galactic

Team 17

Ma wood House,

Garden Street

Wakefield, West Yorkshire

WFl IDX England

Tel: 0924 201846

Inquiry #227

May 1994

Alien Breed 2

by Jason D'Aprilc

AUeu Breed 2 is likely to

be one of the biggest Amiga
releases of the new year and
it's not hard to see why. The
sequel to the hugely popular
and excellent Alien Breed
Special Edition, AB2 is
csscntiallv the same as its
predecessor, only better. For
those who aren't familiar with
the first, or this sequel, .Mien
Breed 2 has basically the same
plot as the movie Aliens. Nine
years after the main characters
of Alien Breed cleared out an
alien infested outer space
research center, a distress call
from a Federation colony on
planet Alpha-Fi\'e leads the
Inter Planetary Corps (or IPC)
to send out one, or h%'o
marines, from a group of four

different characters, to

investigate. Sure enough, the
planet is knee-deep in alien
infestations, along with the
system's own automatic
defense systenis that have
gone awry.

Alien Breed 2 is played
from a completely overhead
perspecli\'e. like the first, hut
this time the character
animation is much improved
over the original- on par with
the Bitmap Brother's Chaos
Engine. The graphics in the
game are absolutely stunning
and the atmospheric sounds
are just as perfectly done.
Control involves a combina-
tion of using the joystick (to
control your character and fire
your weapon) and keyboard

(to activate computer
terminals, map systems and to
change weapons} and is also
excellent.

As with the original, in
AB2, the characters go through
a huge complex, perform
certain tasks, then rapidly
lea\'e the level before the self-
destruct sequence runs down.
All the while they're dealing
with not only a myriad of

different alien creatures, but
the outpost's insane computer
defenses. On all the levels,
there arc always supplies,
such as moncv, ammo, keys
and first aid to pick up and
utilize.

Unfortunately, .Alien
Breed 2 is definitely far from a
perfect game. The characters,
when you first start the game,
each have certain supplies that

Discovery: in the Steps
Columbus

by Jeff James

Released to roughly

coincide with the 500th
Anniversary- of Columbus'
fateful 1492 ocean voyage.
Impressions' Discoiviy: In Ihf
SU'j's ofCoIiimhiii allows you
to personally discover the
Now World. It's all here. From
funding the construction of
your first sailing vessel to
trading with Native Ameri-
cans, Discovery offers an
intriguing look at the events
which led to the disco\'ery and
colonization of the Americas.

Play begins with the
gamer choosing a game type,
selecting a nationality, and
then purchasing the sailing
vessels needed to discover the
New World. Eight different
ship types are available for

purchase, ranging from a tiny
merchant vessel to a wallow-
ing Man o' War, bristling with
cannon and musket-wielding
soldiers. Ships can be ordered
about by a simple mouse-click,
and can be given a variety of
movement orders. Discovery's
playing interface does a
laudable job of mimicking the
cur\'aturc of the Earth's
surface. Ships sailing towards
the top of the screen will
gradually disappear over the
horizon, revealing only the
tips of their sails before
vanishing. When one of your
ships discovers land, you can
plant your colors and be the
first to colonize the Neu'
World. Your first settlements
will be ports. Using the

mouse, you can direct the
settlers that soon appear to
perform a varietj' of tasks,
including colonizing new
land, building bridges and
exploring new territory.
Certain goods can be grown
(corn, sheep, pigs, etc.) or
mined (gold, iron, silver, etc.)
near your settlements, perfect
for trading with nearby
villages and local natives.
Finally, a trading screen
allows you to sell your goods
to the major trading ports of
the world, including London,
Genoa, Istanbul, and other
large markets.

Once you tire of trading
with your opponents, you can
achieve your objectives the old
fashioned way: by blood-
thirsty conquestl When you do
choose to match wits and
muskets uith your enemies.
Discover^' gives you two
outlets for youi aggressive
tendencies: sea and land
combat. When two hostile
ships meet on the open sea.

the action shifts to a sea battle
screen. All the ships involved
in battle are displayed, along
with n healthy number of
combat options. Possible
actions include boarding the
enemy vessel, opening fire
with cannon, and attempting
to negotiate. If all else fails you
can turn sail and attempt to
outrun vour enemy, although
a ship laden with cargo won't
flee very quickly. On land, you
can order your soldiers to
attack enemy settlements,
repel attacks from natives and
construct forts for a superior
defensive posture.

Although combat does
plav an important role in
Discovery, the game does
attempt to cling — albeit
somewhat tenuously — to the
actual historical events of
Columbus' discovery of the
New World. Occasionally the
game will pause to display an
informative screen of text and
graphics, informing you of a
historical event which

Amazi.\g Computing

como wilh Ihem, but tliat's
about the onlj' variation
between them and it's not
much of one.

In nddition, the game
won't let the chiirnctcrs
negotiate through tight spaces,
even when it looks as if they
could get through. This defect
is extremely annoying when
you're surrounded by hungry,
homicidal aliens and is <i
kickback defect from the first
Alien Breed. 1 didn't like it
then and 1 really hate it now.
Fortunately, such tight
negotiations are not prevalent
throughout the game.

This flaw, hovv'cver,
really adds up in tu'o player
mode. As with the first, tliis
game is extremely trouble-
some in two player mode. In
AB2, the characters keep
getting in each other's way.
The game also tends to suffer
because it is a sequel with little
in the way of improvements
that are anything more then

occurred on the same date as
Hie current year in game time.
In addition to those edifying
animated segues. Discovery's
87-page instruction manual
offers a great deal of meaty
historical information on
Columbus and his accomplish-
ments. Although the first half
of the manual is devoted to the
usual game manual topics,
(i.e., game tutorials, objectives,
etc.) the last half is filled with
over forty pages of historical
information, with topics
ranging from the negati\'e
impact of colonization on
Native Americans to the
exploits of Cortez and Erik the
Red. It isn't quite National
Geographic, but Discovery's
manual is a good read
nonetheless. A 17-page
technical supplement and a
map entitled "The Journeys of
Columbus" round out the
package contents, providing
installation advice and an
overview of Columbus'
voyages, respecti\'ely.

cosmetic; the new faces and
new places just didn't make
me feel like 1 was playing
anything that felt new, as the
first did.

Aside from lu'o brief
outdoor levels, the whole
game, es.sentially, looks just
like the first. It's not much
longer then the first. It actually
felt shorter, because I found it
so easy to win. I won't go so
far as to say that the game is
easy — it isn't. However, I was
able to \vin Alien Breed 2 in
about three days on the
normal level and didn't find
much of a difference between
the two difficulty levels of the
game, except that the bosses
were harder to kill on expert
level. Without n dotibt, I
expect AB2 to provide a great
deal of challenge and thrill for
any gamer.

There arc only two
"boss" creatures in the game,
and on top of that, one of the
two bosses is not even an

Discover}' ships on one
diskette, and does support
hard drive installation.
Unfortunately, the installation
program only recognizes dhO;,
dhl: and dh2: as valid hard
drive volumes, forcing some
Amiga owners — including
this reviewer — to break out a
trusty text editor and
manually edit the installation
files. I did manage to install
Discovery on my A1200, but it
would onlv boot from hard
disk when I turned off CPU
caches, selected a .NTSC
display and the ECS chip set
from the .A1200's early startup
control panel. Granted,
Discovery has been available
for the Amiga for quite some
time, making it unlikely that
Impressions had newer
Amigas in mind when
Discovery was released.
Nevertheless, updating the
program \vith an improved
hard drive installation utility
and 256-color AGA chip set
support would go a long way

alien, but an
o\ersiied rotor that
spins around the
room! The other
major disappoint-
ment was the
ending. Let me first
note that Alien
Breed Special
Edition had the
absolute worst
ending I have ever
seen. It's all text and actually
insults the plaver for not
cheating to get through it.

Now, since AB2 is not a
budget title, I made the wrong
assumption when I thought
this horrible ending trend was
simply a fluke. .Alien Breed 2's
ending is not quite as bad as
the first, though; at least you
get to see the tail end of a
spaceship flying in the clouds.

Alien Breed 2 also works
on the most miserly password
system I have ever encoun-
tered. Remember Chaos
Engine's very particular.

towards making Discovery a
more attractive purchase for
Amiga 1200 and 4000 owners.

With Discovery,
Impressions has attempted to
straddle the entertainment and
educational sides of the
computer software fence with
one product. Unfortunately,
the product serves neither
category well, If you're keenly
interested in the colonization
of 16th Century America,
Disco^'ery won't disappoint.
However, gamers looking for
a more gut-wrenching gaming
experience may want to sail
past Discovery and pick up a
copy of Impression's Caesar
instead.

Discovery: In the Sleps of

Columbus

Requirements: 1 MB RAM

Impressions Software

7 Melrose Drive

Farmington, CT 06032

(617)225-0848

Inquiry #228

character sensitive, only after
the completion of a complete
vvorld password system? ^Vell
that's generous compared to
AB2's. There are about fifteen
le\'els in the game and, count
'em, there are a grand total of
tivo passv\'ords.

On the other hand,
although 1 haven't found any
yet, I'm betting that there is a
bucket load of cheat codes toi'
the game, which always adds
to diversity. Also, I am
extremely grateful to Team 17
for leaving out the hideous
Fire Doors from Alien Breed
Special Edition. These
nightmarish blockades would
irre\-ersibly trap you in the
first game and were quite
despicable. In addition,
ammunition is thankfully
gj\'en with a much greater
degree of generosit\' here, so
it's doubtful that you'll run
oLit of bullet rounds.

Even with the faults I
ha\'e laid out. Alien Breed 2, as
a whole, is an excellent game.
Fn the two player mode, it
certainly has a great deal of
play value. Also, I find myself
waiting with great anticipation
for the upcoming CD"
versions of both AB2 and the
first Alien Breed.

Alien Breed 2

Team 17

Marwood House,

Garden Street

Wakefield, West Yorkshire

WFl IDX England

Tel: 0924 20 1 846

Inquiry #229

May 1994

V^Pred

f \/^ Coll

Below is a listing of rhe latest addEtions
to the Fred Fish CollecTioa. This ex-
panding library ot freely redistributable
software Is the worf< of Amiga pioneer
and award winning softv/are antholo-
gist. Fred Fish. For a complete list ot all
AC. AMICUS, and Fred Fish Disks,
cataloged and cross-referenced for
your convenience, please consult the
current AC'S Guide To The CommO"
dore Amiga available at your local
Amazing Dealer.

AmIQWK OWKMail format offline

message system. Allows reading of
OWKM31I format offline message
packets popular with many bulletin
board systems (BBSesK f^eplies
can be edited using any text editor
and packed for transfer at a later
lime. AmiOWK has been lested with
many OWKMail systems for IBM
and Amiga based BBSes, Requires
Workbencti 2.04 or higher. Release
2 version 2.2, an update to Release
2 version 1 .0 on disk number 907.
Binary only, shareware. Autlior: Jim
Dawson

DMon DMon is a multi-purpouse utility
written for the author's personal use
during program development. II is a
Monitor, Dissassembler, Debugger
and deveJopmenl system. You may
find similarities to Amiga Monitor by
Timo Rossi, but DMan is different, it
can dissassemble and debug 63x)<!c
software in User and Supervisor
Mode- If you do not know whal that
means, then do not use DMon!
Version 1 .86, binary only. Author:
Andreas Smigielski

fd2pragma A small utility to create

prototypes for the Aztec C compiler
or the Aztec Assembler from FD
files as they are distributed from
Commodore with the Include tiles.
Includes C-source. Author Jcchen
Wiedmarn

PriMan A configurable. Style Guide
compliant task priority manager.
Along the same lines as TaskX.
PfiMan is font-sensitive, resiseabte.
uses a slider gadget to change the
priority of any task, and has buttons
for sending a Ctrl-C signal to a task^
or removing it from memory.
Version ij . an update to version
1.0 on disk number £f28. Freeware,
includes C source. Author Barry
McConnell

TrashlconA WorkBench 2,x application

icon to delete files. Puts an icon at a
user defined position on the
WorkBench screen, then deletes all
files that are dragged onto it.
Vereion 2.3, an update to version
1 .4 on disk number S71 . Binary
only. Author Mait McPherson

Yass Yet Another Screen Selector, a
commodity with several nice

features such as: Completely
controllable via keyboard (of course
you can use your mouse, if you
really want to): Shows Screens and
Windows (option); Shows
PublicScreenname or ScreenTtBe
(option); Ability to change the
default Public screen; Opens
window even on non-public screens
{option). Font-sensitive: flesiieable
window. Version 1.1. binary only.
Author: Albert Schweizer

EJSd_EiahJ3JsltM7

fwlandZOOOO Demo version ot a

revolutionary fractal program that
makes it far easier to explore the
Iwlandelbrot set. Mand20ao is
compatible with all Amigas. It has
separate caic routines that have
been optimized for the 68000,
6B020, 68030. 68040 and 68831
processors respectively. It
automatically detects these to
ensure maximum performance.
Mand20OO also makes full use ol
AGA graphics when available. A
number of enhancements since the
original demo version. Version
1-102. binary only. Requires OS
2.04. Author: Cygnus Software

NewTool A program that will quickly
replace the default tool in project
icons. You can specify the tool to
use, use a tile requester to pick the
tool, or allow NewTool to
automatically choose the proper
toot depending on the file type.
Version 37, 1 95, WB 20+ required.
Binary only. Author: Michael J
Barsoom.

ScreenSelect A commodity to change

screen order by selecting a screen
name from a lislview. Also allows
binding of hotkeys to any screen
with a proper name. Suppons
automatic activation ol windows
(remembers last activations) when
changing to new screen, is
configurable with Preferences
program, has a fufl intuition
interface and is font sensitive
(including proponional fonts).
Documentation m AmigaGujde.
ASCII and DVI formats. Requires
AmigaOS 2.04 oriater. Version 2,1,
an update to version 2,0 on disk
number 915. Binary only, freeware.
Author: Markus Aalto

SMaus A highly configurable "SUN-
mouse" utility, implemented as a
commodity with a graphical user
interface. It activates the window
under the mouse pointer if you
move or after you have moved the
mouse or if you press a key. You
can specify titles of windows whidfi
shall not be deactivated using
wildcards, Requires at least
AmigaOS 2.04, uses locale, library if
available. Includes english and
gemr^an bocs. german and Swedish
catalog file (english language buift

in). Version 1 .24. an update to
VI, 57 on disk 868. Shareware,
binary only. Author: Stefan Slicht

SleamyWindows A small yet very useful
commodity that increases the
priority of the owner task of the
active window, and restores the
task's priofily when the window
becomes Inactive unless someone
else modified the task's priority
meanwhile. This is version 1 .0.
includes source in Oberon-2.
Author: Franz Schwa rz

Fred Fish D isk 946

ADis A 63000+ disassembler which
can automatically recognize data
and strings put into the code
segment. It also generates only
those labels that are really
referenced. The generated file will
often be reassemblable. In V 1.1,
ADis is capable of recognizing all
68020 and 68831 instructions even
with the 6&020's extended
addressing modes. ADis will also try
to resolve addressing relative to a<i,
which many C compilers use in a
small memory model. Version 1.1.
binary only. Author: Malin Ape!

Snoopy Enables you to monitor library
function calls of any library you
wish. The idea of course came from
SnoopDos by Eddy Carrolf. but
Snoopy is different in approach and
purpose. Snoopy has no specific
patches for specillc functions it is an
all-purpose tool to monitor 'ANY'
library call in 'ANY' system library.
Version 1.4, includes assembly
source. Author: Gerson Kurs, FH
Muenchen

VirusZII Release II of this popular virus
detector that recognizes many boot
and tile viruses. The fUechecker can
also decrunch files for testing. The
memory checker removes all known
viruses from memory without 'Gunj
Meditation" and checks memory for
viruses regularly. VirusZ has easy
to use intuitionized menus including
keycuts for both beginners and
expenenced users. Release II
versions of VirusZ raqu re 082. 0+.
This ]s Release H Version 1 ,00. an
upgrade to Release I version 3.07
on disk number 902. Binary only,
shareware. Author: Georg Hbrmann

Fred Rs h Disk 949

BBBBS Baud Bandit Bulletin Board

System. Written entirely in ARexx
using Ihe commercial terminal
program "BaudBandit". Features
Include up to 99 tile libraries with
extended lilenotes, up to 99 lully
threaded message conferences,
number of users, files, messages,
etc. are only limited by storage
space, controlled file library and
message conference access for
users and sysops. interface to extra
devices like CO-ROM and othere.
atl treated as read only, complete

Email with binary mail and multiple
forwacding, user statistics including
messages written, files uploaded or
downloaded, time, etc, plus much
more- Now includes a complete
offline reader/answer called
bbsQUlCK.rexx. and Call Back
Verification for local callers. Version
6.5, an update to version 5.9 on
disk 883- Includes complete AReux
source. Author: Richard Lee
Stockton

TitleClock A little commodity (about 3k)
that throws up a dock in the top
right corner ol a screen s titlebar. It
may be set up to display itself on
one or more screens without
running multiple copies ol the
program. It may also be set to
follow your default public screen
and also to always display on the
frontmost screen. Version 2.7*
binary only. Author: Ander$
Hammarquist

Fred Fish Disk 950

BBDoors A collection ol rexxDoors

adjusted to work with BBBBS 6.5.
Includes comolete ARexx source.
Author: Richard Lee Stockton and
various others.

bbsQUICK An ofllne re ad/re ply/up load/
download module for BBBBS.
Complete GUI with support for
multipfe BBBBS systems. Version
6 ■4 and update to version 5,9 on
disk number 883. Includes complete
ARexx source. Author Richard Lee
Stockton

BusyPointers A collection of busy pointers
for use with 'NickPrefs , {NlickPrefs
can be lound on disk number 760).
Author: Dan Elgaard

ClockTool A simple CLI utility do perform
operations on the batl ery- backed -
up and/or system cfock, eg display
either/both, set one from the other,
increment, and log. Most of these
features, paniculariy those
accessing the battery- backed- up
clock, are not avarlable using
current AmigaDos commands.
Version 1.0, includes source.
Author: Gary Duncan

Enforcer A tool to monitor illegal memory
access for 68020/66951 , 66030.
and 68040 CPUs. This is a
completely new Enforcer from the
original idea by Bryce Nesbitt. It
contains many new and wonderlul
features and options and no longer
contains any exceptions for specillc
software. Enforcer can now also be
used with CPU or SetCPU
FASTROM Of most any other MMU-
Kickstan-Mapping tool. Major new
output options such as local output
stdout, and parallel port. Highly
optimised to be as fast as possible.
Version 37.55, an update to version
37.52 on disk number 912.
Requires V37 of the OS or better

Amazing Computing

and an MMU. Binary only. Aulhon
Michael Sinz

PayAdvice Easy-to-use pay anatysis
program which is easily configured
lo deal wLih ihe way deductions are
made from your salary. Useful for
investigating just how large a slice
o1 your hard earned cash ends up In
the hands ot the tax man. or to
make sure thai your employer isn'l
dedLJCling more from your wages
than he should. Version 3 00, binary
only, shareware Authors: Rchard
Smedley, Andy Esketson. Roden
Hart

Sushi A tool to intercept the raw serial
output of Enforcer 2,Bb,
Enforcer.megastack 26. f^ Mungvyall,
and all other tool and application
debugging oulput that uses kprintf,
Ttiis makes it possible to use serial
debugging on a single Amiga,
wiltiout interlenng with altactied
sehal hardware such as modems
and serial pnnte^s. Sushi also
provides optional signalling and
buffer access to an external display/
watcher program. Version 37.10, an
update to version 37.7 on disk
number 733, Binary only. Author:
Carolyn Scheppier

Fred Flah Disk 951

IconMiser Intercepts attempts tiy programs
to create icons and substitutes
images or Icons yoj prefer m their
place. Easy to configure, works witti
1.2 or above. Supports icon drag-
n-brop with 2.0 or above. Version
2.0, binary only. Auttior: Todd M.
Lewis

MaxonMAGIC Demoversion ol the

commercial program MaxonMAGC
an animated screenblanker and
crazy soundprogram. The complete
version incEudes 15 different
blankers and two disks full of
samptes. The demo is almost
ccmptetely operational. Settings
can't be saved and It will also
remind Ihe user that it is a demo
every now and then. Author; Klaus-
Dieler Sommer, distnbuted by
MAXON CompLter

Fred Fist! Disk 952

MachV ReJease 5.0. version 37.5 of the
tiolkey/macro/multi purpose utility.
You can record keystrokes and
mouse events, manipulate screens
and windows, popup a shell, view
the clIptMard, blank Ihe screen and
much more. This release has a
complete ARexx interlace, so you
can execute ARaxx programs and
functions from hotkeys and store
results in environment variables.
The optional title bar clock is an
AppWinbow. Ycu can drop an icon
in the cEock and its name Is set tn a
vanabfe for use in macros. The
documentation has t>een rewritten
and includes Two indices. This is the
freely distributable release ol S.O. It
is the same as the registered
version except this version has a
"%velcome" window and has a limit
of 25 macros. It has been localized
for deutscti and francais. Requires
OS2,04+. This is an update to
MachlV on disk njmber 624. Binary
only, shareware. Author: Brian
Moats, PolyGlol Software

UUArc UUArc is an archiving system
designed to enable easy
transmission of binary tiles/archives
over communcalion links only
capable of using ASCI I. such as
Electronic Mail. It encodes binary
tiles into files containing only
printable standard ASCII
characters- Written primanly for use
with GuiArc to add IJUEncoding/
UUDecoding lacllilies to it, il takes
similar command line options to
other commonly used archiving

programs. This is version 1.3, an
update to version 1.1 on disk 912.
Public domain, includes source.
Author Julae Brandon

Fred OstLmaltaK

AmigaToNTSC AmigaToNTSC patches
graphics.tibrary so it will think you
have an NTSC Amiga.
Amiga ToPAL will patch it to think
you have a PAL Amiga. Custom
screens will open m the mode
selected- Vei^ion 1 2, an update to
ver^ioTf 1 .0 on disk number 575-
Bfnary only. Author, Ntco Francois

AppCon Declares the actual CON:*

window as an AppWindow and lets
you drop your icons in this window,
Then, the name and path of the
icon are inserted into the current
command line exactly as II you
typed them with yojr keyboard, but
slightly faster' Version 37,177.
includes source Author. Sleptian
Fuhrmann

Bytefilter Lets you lo filter out specified
bytes fronn any file, so you are ab^e
to extract the texts from a binary
file, for exampie. This is version
1.20 and It uses jhextras. library,
which is included in the libs drawer.
Freeware, includes source. Author:
Jan Hagqvist

EasyCatalog An IFF-CTLG catakig file
editor From now on. you can just
enter she text for Ihe catalcsg and
save it Existing catalogs can be
loaded and changed. Requires
Kickstart 2.x of higher. Englisli and
Duicti (Nedertands) catalogs
supplied. Version 0.6i3. b^na^y only.
Author: Jeroen Smits

ISAM A Sen/er, library Even novice
programmers can slo/e and/or
retrieve database records
Powerful, multi-'user', almost
unlimited number & size ol records/
files. Dtifferent users may access
same file, fiie and record locking
{exclusive or shared), muliiple keys/
tile. Keys may: ascend-'descand,
have unique/repealable values, be
up to 499 bytes. Many record
retrieval rrrettKXls. Recover Index
file if lost or corrupt. Deleted record
space reclaimed. Small server is
(ess than 51 K; Resident tjbrary less
than 9K. Usable Irom C/Asm./
ARexx/etc AmigaOOS VI 2 and
up. Shareware, binary only,
examples w/source. Version 1 ,03,
an update to version 1 ,01 on disk
number 765- Author: Scott C.
Jacobs, RedShift Software

LHADOpus An ARexx scnpt for

Directory Opus 4.1 1 that lists the
contents of ltia-arch;ves in a DOpus
winttow. Allows extract, delete and
add operations on specilic files of
the archive. Version 1 0, freeware.
Author Michiel Pelt

Fred Fish Disk &54

MFT Multl- Function Tool- A little

assembly program (just over IK)
that can perform all ol the lollowmg
DOS commands: RENAME.
DELETE. I^AKEDIR. WAIT,
FILENOTE. Useful for disks where
every byte counts and you don l
want a bunch of bigger utilities
taking up room. Current version
does not SLippon pattern matching.
Version 1 ,03. includes source in
assembler. Author Ttiorslen
Stocksmeier

SCAN6BO0 A specialized Caiabase
program to store frequencies and
station names lor shortwave
transmitters. Il can also control a
receiver for scanning frequency
ranges- Version 2.38. an update to
version 2.33 on disk number 864.
Birnaiy oaly. Author: Rainer
Redweilt

Fred_e5iLPJsK,a55

DIxGaiaga A shool'em up game.

Deluxe version ol an old classic.
Version 1.0. binary only, shareware.
Author; Edgar M. Vigdal

MuroloUlilSeveral CLI orscnpl based
utilities. Included are: Button - A
little utility that opens a re<tuesler
with custom text. Useful for batch
and scripts; C64Saver - A utifity that
reads C64 basic programs,
decodes and saves them in a
readable file: Calendar - A utility
which prints a monthfy calendar ar>d
some inlonnation atxiut the days:
CarLost - A utility that causes DTR
to drop on the sertal port; CDPIayer
- A utility to play a mustcal CD on
CDTV or A570; Ffi/lBadFmt -
Intuition based utility which fomiats
BAD floppies and makes them
useable; KickMaker - A utility to
create a new KickStarl disk with the
last version of kckslarl on it... For
A3000 owners only; SefTesi • A
utility that opens a window and
stK}ws the status of sehal port
signals Switch - A utility that opens
a little centered window, that t^s
custom text and two buttons for
choice, Most programs require
OS2.04^, some source included.
Author: Felice Murolo

PFS A filesystem for the Amiga.
Offers higher performance on all
operations and tull compatibility with
AmigaDos. Requires Kickstart 2.0
or higher. Shareware release 1.0,
version 6. 1 1 . Binary only. Auttior:
Michiel Pelt

EU:^l&b.DI&le9&6

DDBase A simple database program.

Features: Up to ^500 records, up to
20 fieida'record; Draw up to 10
Bevet/FlipBoxes. Box. Circles;
Import/Export data as ASCII or
Superbase: Uses external fields
(ASCII/IFF). Installation utility
provided. Version 3,00, requires
OS2.X or greater. Binary only,
freeware. Author: Peter Hughes

FWsynth A program to create sounds with
FM. synthesis. Il has six operators, a
realtime LFO and a free editable
algorithm- Tt^e sound can be piayKi
on the Amiga keyboard or on a
MIDI keyboard which is connected
to the Amiga, The sounds can be
saved in IFF-8SVX <one or five
octave) or raw format. FMsynth has
an AREXX port now. Included are
230 FM sounds. Version 3.3, an
update to version 1 . 1 on disk
number 895. Shareware Author:
Christian Sliens

SetDelMon A small utility to set the
system's default monitor during
WBStartup or lo zap the default
monitor on the tly. Possible default
monitors include Pal, Ntsc, EurD36,
Super72. DblNtsc and OblPal.
Version 1.2. indudes source in C.
Author Franz Schwarz

ErBiUBiftb.Di»h_957

PARex PAI^ex IS a program which

allows you to piocess files, mostly
textliles. whereby strings can be
replaced by another, text between
two strings can be stripped, stnngs
put in lower or upper case. PAHex
supports normat text searching.
Wildcard searching, context
remembering and word-only
searching. Usmg data scnpts
enables the use of an unlimited
numbef of such replace commands.
Each replace command can be
individually controJIed All ASCII
codes can be used in the search
and replace stnngs. even entire
files, dates, times, can be inserted
in such strings. Custom formatted
hexadecimal output is also
supported- Over twenty ready to
use progran^ scripts are included to

perform simple tasks as: converting
(ties between different computer
systems, stripping comments from
source files, finding strings in files,
converting AmigaGuide files to
normal text files,... even automatic
version updating of source files. By
Ihe way, v3.00 is abaul two to more
than twenty times taster than Ihe
previous versions, and us supplied
in english. gemtan, french. and
dutch This is version 3.00. an
update to version 2 12 on disk
number 859. Binary only (bul Ihe
source is available), shareware.
Author: Chris P. Vandierendonck

VChess Fully lunctional shareware
chess game completely written In
Amiga Oberon. Features: selectable
screen type (can run right on the
workbench screen); sizeable board;
Two- human. Computer- Human and
Computer-Computer play modes:
Load, save games: Load^save^pnnt
moveiist; Use/save openings: Tirrw
limits; Solve for mate: Selectable
fonts. Setup tioard; Rotate Ixjard;
Show moveiist: Show thinking; ...
and more. Requires OS2.0+, and
sliould run even on low memory
(51 2K} machines if the opening
library is not used. Version 2.0.
binary only, shareware. Author:
Stefan Salewskj

Ffed-Fl&h.DiflK.aSS

Alert A small command to display

texts in a recovery-alert. Works on
all machines with Kickstart V33 or
higher. Version 1.1, includes
souroe. Author: Ketit Hunn

Fed-CASE A graphical environment

to design flowcharts The source
code generator generates direclty
compilable C source. The
genemted code can be compiled on
other computer systems. I.E. you
can generate source code for a C
compiler on a UNIX operating
system or a PC operating system.
Version 1.0 (demo version), binary
only. Author: Chnstian Joosen. Ron
Heijmans

TestMaker NOT just a test creator

for teachers. Ten years in
developing, this one makes up
tests, review sheets, quizzes, etc.,
in a vanety ot formats, and helps
the teacher maintain a question
database for use in most subjects.
Version3.12, binary only (Compiled
HiSofi Basic), shareware. Author:
Bill Lunquist, Bob Biack

Fred Rsh Di sk 959

AmigaOiary AmigaDiary is a handy
workbench tool of the type that
currently alMund office PC's. It is a
mouse driven diary capable ol
storing ail personal events and is
the perfect solution to all those
forgotten birthdays, missed
appointments etc. Version 1.13,
binary only. Author Andrew K.
Pearson

HQMM Hero Quest MapMaker. With
HOMM, you can create your own
missions lor Hero Quest, the board
game. You can place all objects
that are in the Hero Quest set
(doors, traps, furniture, nronsters
etc.) on the map and you can write
your own story to go with it. All this
will be printed out in the sam« style
as the onginat Hero Quest
missions. Version l.ll, requires
OS2.0+- Binary only, freeware.
Author: CamieJ Rouweter

IntuiMake A loot for developers, created
with the intention of building
complex projects, with an easy lo
use graphics user interface. No
further knowledge about
conventional makes is needed,
because Intuimake does not deal
with script liles or things like thai.

May 1994

Requires OS2.0+. Version 1.2.
bma'v only. Author 6jdm E Trost
and Dirk O. Remmell

Imperial An onental game in whch you
have to remove liies trom a layout
{like Shanghai or Taipei)- Every
game has a solution snO tfiere's a
layout editor. English NTSC version
and French PAL version supplied
Some other versions available from
the author. Version 2,0. binary only,
shareware. Author Jear-Marc
60URS0T

Minesweeper Yei another minesweeper
gafTW. This one forgives tha player,
when he bits a mine, il r>o usetui
ifilerences coulcJ be made from the
exposed information. The element
ot luck is sharply reduced First
version, binary ortly. Aulhor: Donald
Rebte

PowerPlayer A very powerful, user

friefidly and system friendly modulo
player. It can handle nearly all
modute-formats. can read
powerpacked & xpk-pacited
modules and comes along wilti rts
own powerfu! cruncher that uses
lhaDi[.libraiv. Has a simple to use
userinierface and an ARexx pon,
has locale-support and a nice
Installer script for CBM's tnslaller
utility. Version 4.0, update to
version 3.9 on disk number 863.
Binary only, shareware. Auttror:
Stephan Fuhrmann

EtESLEi5h_DL5k_9Sl

FIVE-STAR Demo verston of a

powerlul prediction tool lor LOTTO,
POOLS. SWEEP. DIGIT (eg 4dl
and HORSE (races) systems
available worldwide. The program
uses an identical framework for all
five systems but they are run
completely individually so that any
number ot them can be used
simultaneously. All records,
updates, predictions, beis and
results are stored separately and
can be saved to djsk of sen! to the
pnnier at any lime. Thts demo
verHon is supplied witti a very basic
manual arvd is completely functional
except for data (nput Version 1.0,
binary only. Author Joe Taylor

MPMasterA useful MIDI program thai

enables to transmit/teceive samples
via MIDI between the Amiga and
any lUIDl device that supports the
MO Sample Dump Standard
tOTwai (such as the Yamaha SYB5
synthesiier). It has a WorkBench
intefface. can pfay samples and all
settings of the sample can be
rTKxSried before transmissior\.
Includes a csrcuit to build a very
smafi MIDI interface Distnbuted in
(wQ langtiages: English and
Spanish. Requires WorkBench 2.04
or higher. Version 1 .2. binary only,
freeware. Author- Antonio J. Pomar
Rossello

EtfiiLRsh Pisk 9§_2

EnvTool A too! lor a projecl icon, born out
of a severe need to atlow users to
usa Vieif own tools for reading doc
files, viewing pictures, editing files,
etc. EnvTool will send the
associated file to either tne tool
specified by an environment
variable, or a selected default tool if
the environment variable is not set.
Version 0. 1 , includes source in C.
Auttror: Dan Fish

EZAsm Combines 68000 assembly

language with parts of C Produces
highly optimized code. Uses C-like
function calis { supports a]l 3.0
functions ). taglisls. braces, "else",
■-fd' support, and much rrvore.
Comes bundled with A6fik and
Blink, for a complete programming
environment. This is version 1.8. an

update to version 1 .7 on disk 699.
Includes exan^le source ar^
executable files Binary onty.
Author' Joe Siebenmann

MuchMore Another program Itke

"more", "less', "pg'. etc. This one
uses lis own screen or a public
screen to show the lejrl using a
slow scroll. Includes built-in help,
commands to search for text, and
commands to prrnt the text.
Supports 4 color text in bold, ilatiCt
urdBJilined, or inverse fonts. Can
load xpk crunched files. Has a
display mode requester. Is locaJized
with German, Jlalian, French, and
Swedish catalog files. Supports
pipes. Requires KickStart 2.04 or
later. This is version 4.2, an update
to version 3.6 on disk number 935.
Includes source in Oberon-2.
Author: Fpidtjol Siebert. Christian
S liens

ToolAlias Provides a mechanism for

rerouting specific programs to other
programs. For example, with
ToolAlias. you could reroute all
references to ':c/muchrTK>re' to use
'sys:utilrttes/ppmore' instead, so tliat
when browsing documents on a
Fish disk, you gel to use your
favourite text viewer, rather than
loading the one specjfted m the
document's ToolTypes- Requires
OS2.0+, Version 1 02. Includes
source. Author: Martin W. Scott

Touch Another Amiga version of the
Unix utility witti the same name.
Touch changes the date and lime
stamp ot all specified files to the
current date and time. This version
wtll also create an empty file (like
the Unix version) if the specified file
does nol exist. Version 1.2, an
update to version 1 .0 on disk 919.
Public domain, includes source.
Author: Kai Iske

Fred Fish Disk 963

BootPic BootPtc shows nearly any IFF
picture that you like while your
system is initialized after a reset.
Additronally, it may play a MED-
Module. Requires OS 2.0 or higher.
Version 3 1 . 3 major update to
verston 2.1 b on disk number 71 8.
Binary only. Author Andreas
Ackermann

Codecrackor Another fi^asterlVlind

clone. Difficulty level may be sel by
selecting the numtjer of color
columns and the number of different
colors to choose from. Documenta-
tion contained within the program.
Version 2 23, binary only. Auitior:
Michael Heirieke

SIOD An interpreter for the algonthmic
language Scheme, a dialed of LISP
developed at MIT. Siod is a C
implementation that covers a large
part of the standard and can be ain
with a small amount of memory
(also runs on old A500 NOT
expanded) It is the ideal tool lo
learn tlie language or for
expenmenting with funciional
languages. Version 2.6, includes
source and examples. Based on the
original code from Paradigm Inc. An
update to version 2.4 on disk
number 535- Author: Scaglione
Ermanno

Split! A high-speed file splitter. Splits
a large file into several smalfer files
(size IS user-definable}. Due to the
use of a 32k buffer, Splits is up to 14
times faster than the competition.
CLI interface. Originally created for
transporting large document.
Version i .0, binary only. Authw"
Dan Fraser.

Angie ANother Great Intuition

Enhancer commodity that can be
used to assign AngleSequences

that can consist of dozens of
Intuition related actions, arbitrary
dos commands and jr^pu! event
dala to an unlimited number of
hotkeys Fufihetmo^e. these
AngeSequences can Ik executed
via ARexx Angies capatNlities
include auto window hunting, auto
ActiveWinTask priority increment.
TWA' window remembering, auto
DefPubScreen definition, etc. Angie
comes with a comfortable Intuition
user interface and is completely
localized Includes English and
German documentation and
German catalog. Version 3.6, an
update to version T6 on disk
number 938, Binary only, giltware.
Author: Franz Schwarz

NewDate A replacement for the
Amiga DOS command 'Date'
Besides the usual date options,
NewDate enables date output In
yoiiF own defined format, NewDate
currently Supports 18 languages:
Engjsh. Ge/'man. French, Dutch,
Italian, Spanisii. Portugese, Danish,
Rnrish, Swedish, t^ofwegian.
Icelandic, Pofish. Hur^gartan.
Czech. Romanian. Turicish and
Indonesian, Version 1.20. an
update to version 1 1 on disk
numbef 859. Binary only, freeware.
Author; Chns Vandiereridonck

RlVer This program searctws an

embedded version 10 in a f Je. L*e
the Version" command you can
check the version and revision
number of a file. Vou can also add
this embedded version ID as a
filerxjtc, or print it m a table where
each held of the lO is dearly stated.
You can also construct your own
version comment using embedded
version ID fields. Version 2.30, an
update to version 2.00 on disk
number 787. Binary only, freeware.
Author: Chris P. Vandrerendonck

Stocks Demo version of a stocks
analysis program. Provides
powerful technical analysis using
numerous studies including
Candlesticks, traditional bar charts,
3 moving averages, MACD,
SlOchaSlics, Gann. TrendUnes,
%R. Average Volume and more. It
generate buy/sell signals based on
customizable trading rules and
graphs daijy. weekly, and monthly
charts using a simple ASCII data
file fonriat compalabie with
CompuServe histoncal data.
Displays on Workbench or Custom
Public Screen includes on-line
AmigaGuide help text Requires
OS2.0t. Version 3 02a, binary only.
Author; James Philippou. Bug-Free
Development

[:!fifiLElSh.D(sK,965

CDPlay A small CD Player designed for
(be Xetec CDx Software. The
program uses a smaSI window that
opens on the Workbench screen.
Smaller with many more functions
than those on the player that is
supplied wiith the Xetec Software.
Version 2.01 , binary oniy. Author;
Nic Wiison

UChess A powerful version ol the

program GnuChess version 4 for
the Amiga. Pfays a very strong
game of chess. Code has been
rewritten and data structures
reorganised for optimal efficiency
on 32 bit 66020 and better Amiga
systems. FUly multitasking,
automatically detects and supports
640X480X256 colOr AGA mode
machines, and does not at any time
BUSY wait Requires a 58020030/
040 based Amiga computer system
with AmigaOS 2,04 or la!er and 4
Meg of ram minimum. Special "L"
version optimized tor 66040 and

requires 10 Meg of ram minimum.
Supports a variety of standard
features such as load, save, edit
tjoard, autoplay. swap sides, force
move. undo, time hmils, hints, show
thinking, and a supervisor mode
thai wiii allow two humans to play
With the computer acting as a
'supervisor^. Version 2.69. Source
for this version may be found on
AmigaLibDisk966. Author: FSF,
Amiga Port by Roger Uzun

fi:ed Fish Dish 966

COTV-Player A utility for a.\\ those
people, who'd like to ptay Audio
CD's while multitasking on
WorkBench. Jt's an emulation of
CDTV'S remole control, hut is a little
more sophisticated. Allows access
to the archive even without a
CDROf^ drive (i.e. AiyilGA 500-
4000), although you can't play a
CD. Program and KARAOKE (live
on-screen) included. Recognizes
CDs automatically. Wofks on all
CDTVs. AIVIIGA CD 32 and all CD
ROM emulating the cdtv. device or
cd.deuice. Version 2.31, an update
to version 2.05 on dislc 894.
Freeware, binary only. Author.
Daniel Amor

FHSpreadA Spreadsheet program that
uses its own custom screen. Can
be switched between hires, taced
and PAL. NTSC- Should work on
any amiga witn at least 1MB.
Version 2.01 . an update to version
1,71 on disk number 387 Binary
only. Author: Frank Hartog

UChessSrc Uia archive of all the

sources necessary to build UChess
version 2.69 as contained on disk
number 965. Author: FSF, Amiga
Port by Roger Uzun

Fred Fish DisKjaei

tconTrace Use this program to find out

which tooltypes a program supports
and which icons il looks for,
KickSlart 20 or higher required.
Thiis is version 2.02, binary only.
Author: Peter Stuer

MULusr An obiect oriented system to
creale and maintain graphical user
interfaces. From a programmer's
point of view, using MUl saves a lot
of time and makes life much easier.
Thinking about complicated terms
like window resizing or font
sensitivity is simply not neccesary.
Ol the other hand, users of MUl
based applications have the ability
to customize nearfy every pixel of a
program's interface according to
their personal taste. Version 1 .4 .
this is part 1 of a 2 part distribution
and contains the user system The
developers support package can be
found on disk number 968,
Shareware. Author: Stefan Stuntz

El^(lEISb.Pl5k 969

Disklnfo A replacement for the

AmigaOOS 'Info command, but can
additionally give more extensive
inHormation on the disk (volume)
and/Of on the device in which the
disk is inserted, Version 2.00. an
update to ver^on 1 00 on disk
number 783. Binary only, freeware.
Author: Chris P Vandierendonck

JustLook A collection of routines for

controlling the mouse and keyboard
Ihj-u gene rat ton of 'Input Events'.
Implemented as object code to be
linked with your programs, Thjs ts
for application writers who like to
include HowToDo programs with
ttieif applications. Users can
actually see how to do things, rather
than describing them in document
files. This IS not a recorder, mouse
and keyboard events are generated
in real time and so the software
adapts Itself to changes at a
particular execution. Includes

94 Amazixg CoMPiT/xa

example programs and source in C
and assembly. Author: Kamran
Karimi

MUl dev An object oriented syslem lo
create and maintain graphics! user
inierfaces. From a programmer's
point o( view, using MUl saves a lot
of time and makes life much easier.
Thinking about complicated lemis
like window resmng or font
sensitivity is simply not necessary.
On tl^e other hand, users of MUl
based applications have the ability
10 customize nearly every pixel of a
program's interface according to
Itieir personal taste. Version 14.
This is part 2 at a 2 part distribution
and contains the developer support
package. The user system can be
found on disk number 967.
Shareware. Author; Stefan Stunt;

PowerSnap A utilily that alJows you to

use the mouse to mark characters
anywhere on the screen, and then
paste them somewhere else, such
as in another CLI or in a string
gadget. Checks what font is used in
the window you snap from and will
look for the position of the
characters automatically.
Recognizes all no n -proportion a I
fonts of up lo 24 pixels wide and of
any height. Works wilh AmigaDOS
2.0 in both shell and WorkBench
environments. This is version 2.2.
an update to version 2.1 b on disk
781- Binary only. Author: Nico
Francois

Fred Fi sh Disk 969

ACE ACE is a Freeware Amiga
BASIC compiler which, in
conjunction with A69K and Blink,
produces standalone exec u tables.
The fanguage defines a large
subset of AmigaBASiC but also has
many features not found rn the
latter. A simple graphical front-end
(Integrated Development
Environment) is also provided. This
is written in ACE- Version 2,0.
freeware, binary only. Author: David
Benn

DOSTrace SnoopDOS done with a

lot more whistles and bells: session
history, commodity, and can trace a
lot more functions than SnoopDOS.
KickStarl 2.04 or hhgher required.
This is version 2,13, binary only,
Author; Peter Stuer

LazyBench A fittle utility for lazy

people wilh a hard disk crammed
full of goodies v/hlch are too diHicult
to reach because they are buried
away in drawers inside drawers
inside drawers inside drawers...
La2yBench installs itselt as a
commodity, adds an item under the
Workbench "Tools" menu and wails
In the background. Use its hot key
combination to pop up Its window
and select an item from the list
displayed, Ihus launching your
favourite application without
messing around wilh windows and
drawers. Font sensitive. Style Guide
compfiant and fully configurable.
Requires AmigaDOS 2,xx or later.
Version 1 . 1 4, an update lo version
1 . 1 2 on disk 935. Binary onfy.
Author: Werther 'Mircko' Piranj

SysJnfo A brand new release of this
popular program. It reports
interesting information about the
configuration olyour Amiga,
including some speed comparisons
with othef configurations, ver&ons
of the OS software,, and much
more. Version 3.23. an update to
version 3. IB on disk numtjerSeO-
Binary only. Author: Nic Wilson

Fr ed Fisfi Disk 970

ADM A comfortable and flexible
add/ess database wilh font
sensitive windows, comrnodity

support, application window
supped, an ARexx-port, public
screen support, and totally
contrDllable from the keyboard, tt
includes user flags (grouping),
email support, and freely
configurable label printing. It can (ill
out letter forms and call your word
processor, print remittance orders.
(fiaJ numbers, and has onTine help.
Requifes AmigaDOS version 2.04
or later. Version 1 .30, an update to
version 1.01 on disk 847. German
version only. Shareware, binary
only. Author: Jan Geissier

NoNTSC Converts NTSC-Screens lo
PAL-Screens- It links inio Ihe
OpenScreen- Routine and looks at
the height ol every screen opened.
If a has r^TSC-Heighl (200 Pixels).
It is converted lo PAL-Height (256
Pixel] Aulhor Thorslen
Stocksmeier

UUCode Optimized uuencode/uudecode
programs. Designed to be reliable
and fast. Also includes 68030
based versions. V36.6. inctudes
source. Author: Ralph Seichter

Fred Fish.PisKJ97A

Disklnfo A ropiacement for the

AmigaDOS 'Info' command, but can
additionally gtva more extensive
information on Ihe disk [volume)
and/or on the device in which the
disk is inserted. Version 2.00, an
update to version i .00 on disk
number 733. Binary onliy, freeware.
Author; Chris P, Vandierendonck

QDisk A WorkBench utility that will
monitor the space usage of any
mounted Af^lGA DOS volume, like
your hard drive or your floppy drive.
ODisk wiil also notify you if a
volume becomes loo full. Comes
with a preference editor to
customize QDisk to your needs.
Version 2.01 . an update to version
1.1 on disk 903. Freeware, binary
only. Author: Norman Baccari

Yak Yel Anolher Kommodity.

Features a sunmouse that only
activates when the mouse stops.
KeyActivale windows, cJick windows
to front or bach, cyde screens with
mouse, mouse and screen
blanking, close/zip/shrink^en large
windows wilh programmable
hotkeys and a lot ol other
configurable hotkeys Fully localized
English language builtin and
provided catalogs for Dutch.
French. German. Italian and
Swedish. Documentation in English,
French. German and Italian.
Includes installer scripts and C
source. Version 1,57, an update to
version 1 ,52 on disk number 912.
Auihor: Gael Marzlou & Martin W.
Scott

Fred Fish D isk 972

Icons A bunch ol -J -Color Icons from
which you may find something
suitable for your particular
WorkBench environment. Author
Magnus Enarsson

IntellnsideA cule little play on the

marketing motto of that "other"
family of microprocessors ...a
WorkBench TrashCan Icon. Author:
Unknown,.. (Unconfessed?"?)

Mofelcons Another bunch of Icons

(6-Color this lime) from which you
may find something suitable lor
your particular WorkBench
efivironmonL Author: Dan Elgaard

OuickFtle QuickFite is a flexible, easy to
use flat file datatiase Files can be
larger ihan available ram. but as
much of the file as possible is kept
in ram lor fast access. Features
include: multipFe indexes that are
automatically maintained; character,
date, integer and floating point data
types, up to 250 characters per field

and 250 fields pef record; form and
list style displays and reports;
uniimited number of views for each
lite; fast sorting with multiple SOrl
keys; improved search function;
fields can be added, changed, or
deleted at any lime: flexible ascir
export/import; flexible multi-column
label printing. Runs on WBl .3 or
later and should be OK with 51 2K
ram. Version 2.02, an update 10
version 1-3-3 on Disk 919.
Shareware, binary only. Author
Alan Wigginlon

RCON A replacement for the CON: -
Handler ol Amiga-OS 2.x / 3.x. Has
many new features jnduding
scrolling back text which has
disappeared, enhanced copy &
paste support, window iconification.
output logging, print window
contents, and much more. This is a
demo distribution of a shareware
product. Version 1.4, an update to
version 1.0 on disk 930. Binary
only. Author: Gerhard Radatz

Fred Fish Dis k 973

TexlPlus A TeX frontend word processor.
TPP provides ladlities for ladles,
lists, mailmerge. footnotes,
inclusion of ifl-graphics, an ARexx-
Port (122 commands), prinllng via
the prinler.device (no TeX needed
for this), and full OS2.xx/3-XX
compatibility. Makes use of
PasTeX, Geofg Hessmann's Amiga
implementation of TeX, or
AmigaTeX of Radical Eye Software,
which is supported from now on.
New features: user definable
menus, keymap. and macros;
completely localized (available
languages; english, deutsch);
clipboard support; AppWindow.
Applcor^; 11 new ARexx
commands. This is version 5.01 . an
update to version 4.1Q on disk 845/
846. Shareware, binary only.
Auihor: Martin Step pier

EK!dJiSllJ)J&K5I4

DDLl The Dunihoand Duniho Life
Pattern Indicator (DDLl) is a
program that asks you quesboRS in
order to determine your Life
Pattern. The Life Patterns
correspond to the sixteen
psychological types measured by
the Myers-Bnggs Type Indicator
(MBTI), and they are represented
by the same ai^breviaiions- By
using knowledge that Terence
Duniho has added to the study of
Type, this program also checks
itself by asking supplementary
questions about other preferences
that correlate with a person's type.
Author: Fergus Duniho

KingCON A console-handler that

optionally replaces the standard
CON:' and 'RAW:' devices. It is
100% compatible, but adds some
VERY useful features, such as:
FiJename-completion (TAB-
expansion); A review- buffer;
Intuition menus; Jump scroll
(FAAST output!). Cursor-positioning
using the mouse: MC6S020-
optimized version: And more...
Version 1.1. requires 0S2.x, binary
only- Author: David Larsson

MathPiot A function plotter with lin/log
plot, a complete KS 2.0 intefface.
and ARexK support. Needs
Kickstart/WorkBench 2.0 and
mtool. library (included). Version
2.20, an update to version 2.07 on
disk number 916_ This is a Demo
version with some options disabled,
requires a key tile for tuil
functionality. Shareware, source
available from author. Author
Rudiger Dreier

Fred Fish Disk 975

CLlExchange A 592 byte CLI

replacement for the standard CBM
Exchange utility The only
difference is that Exchange has a
graphical user intertace while
CLIExchange has been designed to
be called from CLI so ft can be used
within scnpls, menus, docks oi
hotkeys. You need at least 2.04
system release. C source included.
Author: Gael Marziou

OleserZug A nicely done

WorkBench "Worms" type game,
where the object is to gobbte up
pieces makrng yoursell longer and
longer, while avoiding running into
the walls or your 'tail". Features 3
different speeds, high score list,
pause and help keys. Version l.2a.
binary only. Author: Juha
Vehvil^inen

ITF Amiga port ol ITF4 01. ITF

stands for 'InlocOm Task Force".
There have been several ports ol
Infocom interpreters to the Amiga,
but none of this program. The
interpreter supports vl, v2, v3
{Zorki to Stationfall), v4 (Trinity,
Bureaucracy, etc.) and v5
{Sheriock, Beyond Zork etc.)
games. This Is more than any other
freefy distributable interpreter. V/ith
this interpreter you can play ALL the
games in the LT0I2 package for Ihe
IBM PC, by copying the datafiies
with CrossOOS or similar, then just
funning this interpreter. Requires
OS 2.0+, Binary only. Author:
InfoTaskForce, amiga port by David
Kinder

PCal Creates a very nice looking

postscript calendar. By default.
PCal simply prints an empty
caler>dar. Its real power is in its
ability to place 'events" in
appropriate days on the calendiar,
thus allowing Ihe user to create
personalized catendats. This is
achieved through the use of a
"calendar, da I" file that has
extraordinary ffexibiliiy. Auihor:
Patrick Wood. Joe Brownlee. Andy
Fyfe, et al.

To Be Continued..

In Conclusi on

To the best of our Knowledge, the materials
in this library are freely distributable, This
means they were either publicly posted and
placed in the public domair^ by their authors,
or they have restrictions published in their
files to which we have adhered. If you
become aware ol any violation ol the au-
thors' wishes, please contact us by mail.

IMPORTANT NOTlCEf
This list is compiled and published as a
service to the Commodore Amiga commu-
nity for informational purposes only. Its use
is restricted to no n -commercial groups
only! Any duplication for commercial pur-
poses is strictly forbidden. As a part of
Amazing Computing^", this list Is inher-
ently cop yrighled. Any infringement on this
proprietary copyright without expressed
written permission of the putJlishers will
incur the full force of legal actions.

Any non -commercial Amiga user group
wishing to duplicate this list should contact:

PiM Publications. Inc.

P.O.Box 2140

Fall River, I^A 02722

AC is extremely interested in helping any
Amiga user groupsin non^commercial sup'
port for the Arnica.

•AC*

May 1994

4000 Tower at Cebit

Bound for Europe,
No news for North America

MARCH 1994, Hanno\'er, Germany — Cebit is the largest computer
fair presented on the European continent and it has long been the
site of large, extra\'agant displays by Commodore to the European
marketplace. AC has discovered, at press time, that Commodore
will unveil the new Amiga 4000 Tower at this year's event. From a
list of the proposed specifications (all specifications are subject to
change), the to\ver configuration for the 4000 should )'ield an
enormous amount of room for graphics, video, or other advanced
uses.

The Amiga 4000 Tower resembles an advanced PC clone In a
stylish case. The thirty-five pound, floor standing tower has room
for three externally accessible 5.25" drive bays as well as two
v'ertical 5.25" bays. Tliere is an additional 5.25" vertical boy
accessible internally. The 5.25" bays can also be fitted with 3.5"
devices. The Tower also includes space for up to two internal 3.5",
duel speed, high density, floppy drives (one drive is standard with
the machine).

The 4000 Tower sports an internal SCSl-Il interface. The 16-bit
SCSI-11 controller has support for up to se\'en internal or external
SCSI do\'ices and it will support SCSI-II FAST mode. Support for up
to two 16-bit AT IDE units is also included.

The MC68040 (running at 25MHz) is mounted on a removable
card which occupies the CPU slot (same as on the standard Amiga
4000). Five Zorro 11/111 (lOO-pin) Amiga expansion slots, four PC/
AT expansion slots (in line with three Zorro slots), and two Amiga
\'ideo expansion slots (in line ^vith t^vo Zorro slots) pro\'ide the
internal expansion possibilities of the 4000T v\'ith a 240 Volt power
supply for support.

Early reports say the 4000T will be shipped \v'ith 4MB of 32-bit
FAST RAM and 2MB of 32-bit CHIP RAM. Like the 4000, expansion
is available through four 72-pin SIMM sockets alloiving a maxi-
mum of 16MI3 on-board FAST RAM using 4MB, 32-bit SIMMs.
Additional memory is possible through the use of memory cards by
third parly developers using the AUTOCONFIG utility. The ROM
is Kickstart V3.0 in 32-bit.

The 4000 Tower maintains the integrit\' of the Amiga 4000
with the AGA custom chip set. Resolutions from 320 x 256 to 1280 x
512 (more with overscan including 800 x 600) with video support
for both PAL and NTSC resolutions are standard. The 4000T also
demonstrates no change in the standard color palette of 16,777,216
colors with 2 to 256,000 user-deKnable colors displayed on the
screen.

The video display output will work with RGB analog VGA or
Multiscan monitors (not all modes are supported on non-multiscan
monitors). As in the standard 4000, the horizontal scan rates are
15KHz to 31KHz and the \'ertical scan rates are 50Hz to 72Hz.

If yoy move the 400Q Tower logo from the smoked
bezel to the white area, you will see Ihe final
design according to inside Connmodore sources.

External ports on the 4000T include: Keyboard port. Parallel
port. Serial port, t\vo mouse or joystick ports, right and loft RCA
stereo audio outputs, a \'ideo port, a floppy drive port, and a
HDB50 female SCSI-II connector. There are also no surprises in
sound w-ith four channel stereo produced on 8-bit D/.A converters.
Of course the 4000 Tower will ship with AmigaDOS 3.0 including
CROSSDOS®— an MS DOS® file transfer utility. An internal
speaker, battery backed real time clock and calendar, security lock,
external MUTE switch and LED indicator, as well as a standard
keyboard and mouse round out the unit's features.

Delivery

while no dates are a\'ailable for the Amiga 4000 Tower's
release in North America, according to Commodore European
sources, the machine is due to begin shipping in Europe at the
beginning of April. Even the European sources did not have a price
for the product at press time.

Commodore's 4000 Tower has been anxiously awaited by high
\'olume Amiga users to fill expansion requirements. With tv\'o
internal video expansion slots and a large capacity for several hard
drives (based on SCSI-II FAST mode), Amiga owners can now
utilize more than two advanced video or graphics display products
in the same computer without constantiv reinstalling them. With
such an ob\'ious market for the Amiga 4000 Tov\'er in tlie U.S.A. for
Video Toaster users and others, it is surprising that Commodore
has not ye( announced its North American distribution date or
pricing.

•AC-

Amazing Computing

S- VIDEO AND COMPOSITE

GKNLOCK AND OVERLAY

SYSTEM

VS^

■ Only hroadcasl i|uulity S-Viiico gctilotk
lor less than SI 00(1

■ ACA compatible. Compaiible with all
Amiga models

■ Two independem dissolve tontmis

■ Software controllable

NEW

SuperGen SX

WP'- $749.00

The Oriyinul

SuperGen

l»K( JADCAST (Jl AI.ITY ('l)MP( )SH [-.
<;ICNL()CK ANDOVKRLAV SYSTKM

i.^iai VJ^ SuperCJen

^^e^. $549.00

SiiperGen2000^

UROADCASr QUAl,! I ^ lOR A2(I(M»
WITH nill.T-IN I'ROC-AMr"

r.Ti=cT,r^ Super(ien 2000s
$1195.00

THE FUTURE IS HERE

Create speetacuiar true color animations on
vour Ami 2a,

Kitchen %^
Sync %

TWO COMPLETE ^ » O
TIME BASE CORRECTORS ^
ON ONE CARD!

Paint, digitize and display Ix-awiCul Uill color
composite video images on any Amiga.

Capture an image in 10 .seconds from any
color video camera or stable video source.

Full-featured paint, digitize and conversion
software included.

Compalitile with AGA I2(M) and 4000
Ainigas in NTSC/PAL modes. Two to four
times (he speed of AGA animations (DCTV
\s. 1 lAMU I with greater color and resolution.

Compatible with all popular .^D, rendering,
and uraphies packages including:

AD-Pro. .Aladdin 4D. AmigaVision.
Brilliance, Cailigari. Cinemorph.
nratt4D, ImageMaster, Imagine,
LiahiWave, .VlorphPlus. Real 3D.
Seal a. Scenery Animator. Sculpt.
VistaPro. and manv others...

NEW

DCTV
(NTSC or PAL)
$299.00

The Kitchen Sync provides luo channels of
lime base correction - the perfect low cost
TBC solution for the Video Toaster"'.

With a Video Toaster, the Kitchen Sync
provides a complete A/B roll editing system.

Two compkle infinite window time base
correctors on one IBM AT/Amiga
compatible card.

•Absolute IO()C{ broadcast quality

• Composite or Y/C video in

• Includes ca.sy to use external control panel

• No waveform monitor needed

• Variable speed strobe

• Freeze Frame, luo rock-solid Freeze Fields

• Low power consumption

• Lowest TBC price per channel

• Works with consumer grade VCRs

kTiT,

Kitchen Sync
$1295.00

RGB CONVERTER

.•\ I lows the use of
DCTV with standard
RGB monitors (1084)
in standard NTSC or
PAL modes. .Also
permits ihe use of
exiemal genlocks like
ourSupcrCicn.

Genlock Option

Rci|uircd to synchronize the Kitchen Sync to
an c.Mcnlal video source.

Genlock Option
$150.00

NEW
PRICE

RGB Converter
$199.00

S-VHS Option

kequired to enable S-VHS/Hi-X IV/C)
video oiilpuis.

S-VHS Option
$99.00

I H FREE SHIPPING E3
^ on all VISA & MC orders in the US.

LCOD - Cash only - add $10.00.
Call by 2:00pm PST/5:00pm EST for same day shipping.

DIGITAL

Worldwide Distributors and Dealers Wanted. Inquiries invited.

CALL
DIGITAL

--^DIRECT

1-800-645-1164
B Orders only

9:00ani lo 5:00pm PST M-F
For technical information call 916-344-4825

A T I O N s p,0. Box 97, FolsomCA 95763-0097 'Phone 91 6*344'4825' FAX 91 6'635'0475

SuperGen SX, SuperGen, SuperGen2000s, DCTV, DCTV RGB Converter, and Kitchen Sync are trademarks ol Digital Crealions, Inc.
Video Toaster is a trademark of Newtek, Inc. IBM and IBM AT are registered trademarks o( IBM, Inc. Amiga is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc.

The Reviews are in...

The program is so fast
and flexible that it makes
its Amiga predecessors

- feel like the old Doodle!

.program on the
Commodore 64. Nothing
out there can match its
feature s^t. and it's the
one paint program I've
used that's so fast that it
never _gels iQ^e way of
your crp ijm^,.

October a93;j(UK)

-For 'j'pHy years. DPaint
ruled the roost when it
came to supplying
incredible graphics power
at an affordable price, but
no longer Brilliance has
assurned centre stage and
is now the Amiga 's number
one ad package."
C U Amiga,
January 1994 (UK)

"Brilliance is now —
leaving DPaint trailing in its
wake — the best art
package available for the
Amiga. It's very hard to
express why I'm so taken
by Brilliance, there's just a
feeling of 'nghtness' about
the way that it works."
CU Amiga,
October 1993 (UK)

■7^y

"After using Brilliance for

just a couple of days, I'm

hooked. It is the only

package to be released for

the Amiga which can rival

DeluxePaint for animation

capabilities, and it is a

class act."

Amiga Down Under

Nov/Dec1993

(New Zealand)

"Excellent! Brilliance is
loaded with useful drawing
and animation features,
but it's not just the sheer
number of tools on offer
that impresses. Two other
big points arise. First, the
program is very easy to
use, thanks to its intuitive,
flexible and well thought-
out panel system. The
second major factor is
Brilliance's speed. Even in
HAMS mode, everything
zips along beautifully
quickly."

Amiga Format,
October 1993 (UK)

"It took a while, but Deluxe
Paint IV has finally met its
match. If you're looking for
the best AGA paint
program on the Amiga,
look no further than
Brilliance. "
Amazing Computing,
November 1993 (USA)

RIWANCB

Professional Paint & Animation

nOITAL

ANNOUNCING
VERSION 2.0

Version 2.0 of Brilliance has been
designed with productivly in mind.
Several new (eatures enhance
B already powerful program,
bures like Flip Frames tfiat
* IS the animator to Hip through
(ings. Rub Thru that make
compositing easier. Load and
Save fween paf/is enabi ing much
longer and repealable brush
moves. Faster and more accurate
Tweening. True View option (or
magnification. And much, much

Brilliance!
The best just got better!

"Brilliance is user friendly,
doing an excellent job with
nearly every function and
option that it offers... "

AmigaWorld,
December 1993 (USA)

"It is solid as a rock. Never
have /known a first version
of any program stand up
like this or be so perfectly
polished."

Amiga Shopper,
December 1993 (UK)

...Brilliance
kicked Tut's
Butt!

COM PARE I DeruxeFairillV Vs. Brilliance

Overall Speed

Picture Size Limited By:
Chip RAM
Total RAM

Number ol Brushes

Number of Anim Brushes

Number of Screens

Levels of Undo

Levels of Redo

Load/Save Paths

Flip Frames

Realtime Preview Mode

Full Screen HAM Gradient Fill

Max # of Colors Gradient Fill

True 24 Bit Editing

Load DCTV Pics as HAM

Max Animation Speed

Ground-up Design for AGA
* Limited only by total RAM

Slow I Fast

Still Not Convinced?

30 Day Money Back Guarantee

when purchased directly from

Digital Creations as a Competitive

Upgrade to Ver. 2.0.

Call 800-645- 11 64 to order.

Digiliil Crvnlions. i'O Box 47. I-dIsoiu. CA y.iTd.^-tMW?

Product Inlbrmation 9 1 6-.144-4S23 • FAX '> 1 0-6.^5-0473 • Onlers 8(K)-()45-l 164

Circle 10a on Reader Service card.