Full text of "Atari User (UK) Issue 02"

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A Database Publication

Full listing of

In-depth appraisal of
Atari's latest machine

Atari
, Insights

Write your
own programs

Getting to grips
with binary

Synchronise
your sound

■ Welc

TO ATAR
MAG^

(IF YOU'RE WOT YET AN

The only way to make full use of ATARI USER is to
become one. And Ihe easiest way to do Ihat rs wiih
ATARI Personal Computer Packs.

There isn't a better way to get Into computers.
There isn't a more comprehensive starter pack.
Only ATARI could give you a 64 Ram memory, cas-
sette 'soundthrough' capabilities, a maximum of 256
:olours on the screen at onetime and 4 'sound' voices.

A AtARIBOQXL PERSON

COME_
kl USER
^ZINE

1 1 ATARI USER, STOP HERE.)

I I No one else could offer you all this power ai these prices.

I 1 And, as eveiything comes together, you can make the most

I of the unbeatable ATARI 800XL straight away.

I Without doubt, ATARI Personal Computer Packs are the

easiest way to get into computers,
I The only difficulty Is deciding which one. Now read on

□ NRLCamPUTERPHCKS

miifesEdiroi

CliflMoKniglit

Mike Bibbv

AlanMcUchlfli

Kevin Edward!

Pele Bibbv

Peier Glove.

HeetharSheld.

MikeCowlev

John Riding

UErrismgSale

EdironnChie

Editorj

: 061-45GB835

: 061-456 8383

; 061-4563500

Subscriotion

s- 061-4B00173

ism B u'Z'

News

Beginners Y

This month Mike Bibby -^
gets you staned in writ- %^/
ing your own programs.
You'll soon be saying
"programming is easy".

Analysis

With the Atari 130XE now in the U - ta
shops, we bring you an analysis of this | | ^|
new machine and present the firs'
program showing how lo use the exlr
memory to good effect.

Bit Wise

Do your sums in binary n

' Contents

with Pete Bibbv's crea- kj^,
tive use of the SOUND
command.

home

I fei.

'wfc

5UhF£

Guide the frog
over the river t
classic.

the road and
in this arcade

gmjy
48j

Random
JV umbers

If it's a random byte
VQu're in need of, read
Kevin Edwards' article -

Graphics

Dave Russell continues his series with I R Al
an introduclion to Graphics [Wodes 1 l*-"^l

A dventuring

arguments lor C (\^

graphic adventures and we give you a | ^ '-'I
brain-bending puzzle to solve before
next month.

Mai/bag

Microscope

Take a closer look at this etcha-sketch j^ /I

Order Form

Take out a subscription for Atari User R
-ata special introductory offer, Or buy '

comms J

^^l^b^

Some of the most exciting developmen
microcomputing are taking place in the fie
communications. In this special 1 2-p
section we bring vou the tow-down on lin
your Atari to the outside world.

• Peter Atkinson confesses that he's hoc
on hacking.

• Bulletin Boards explained by Peter To
with all the latest Atari-based bulletin b

s in numbers tor you to phone.

dof • Basildon, gateway to the world via the

age ITECs bulletin board.

Idng • MicroLink, tlie exciting new micro com-
munications system tailored to your needs.

ked Full details of the service and the facilities it
offers can be found in the centre pages,

otill, • Why use serial transmission? Robin
ard Hudson explains.

EUROPES LEADING

SOFTWARE

EXPRESS

WTCH-eUT R3R RJfOXER THWIUNG M3VEmjRE5 CF ,,.
CAPIWN SeFfWARE IN THIS M««aNEi£eN 1(^1

SEND SAE FOR OUR PRICE LIST.

HOTLINE

jrSTONEYHURST ROAD /n91\ ^R4 ?H\R(\

ERDINGTON, BIRMINGHAM B24 8HA \\MC I f »JU*t \MUUV

STs on way
to whack
the Macs

BARRING a major hiccup, offering Gem onlv on

the first 520ST mac Ninas will

ba arriving in the UK within haue it on ROM by thi

days of this issua of Atari machine cjnss inlo Ihi

Uaot hitti

standi, and

■hordy sftennrardi

( to ApplBS E2,000-plijf

However the 520STs \

GUESS who's reading the
Atari User? Find out on
Page 9.

Line up to become a
millionaire...

ATARI bass Jac

llie United Stales are currently And the final v

vuntrng software for the 52037. Tramiel . . .
■■[t doesn't slop IhBre, -Evflntiially w

Britain campanies ara also in on the act.

iy 54,500 for the

1 syslerr

luming lots of brlgM 15-vear-

Exciting,

saysW.H.

Smitii

HE AlBM 130XE h,

Probe into cut price games

SHARING
THE GOODIES

The Atari lOBO disc diiva i
bslng stocked or a trial basis b
live branches - Blrminghan

Are YOU a first rate
PROGRAMMER?

Then join the P rofessionals/

Award-winning Database Software needs
more programmers, both for freelance work
and permanent positions.

Applicants must be fluent in both Basic
and machine code on at least one of the
popular micros, and preferably have
experience of others.

Experience in the software industry is not
essential, but obviously candidates must
have written good quality software in the
past and samples will be required.

Pay is negotiable, depending on age.
experience and qualifications. There are
excellent prospects for hard working, skilful
programmers.

Peter Davidson, Software Manager, Dalabeae Software,

Eiitapa House, 68 Chester Road, Hazel Grove,

Stockport SK7 5NY.

I, Thfl oHer stated: '

GooddeaUays

XlhW has hit back aL alle- h _ ■

jatiors bv a prcmln.., UK AfQI"!

disiribLilior. company that a daal |I I if I I

iffarBd bv ibe corporation WDS n»«*l ■

irin the520STar

Heir of
the dog

News

130 ST
misses
Hanover
Show

Mystery monitor

Good
reception

software currenlly a\
the 800XL - asli
around 3,000 tilles.

Precision Software
rewrites for XE

ilude Easy Scri

biding its limE bafora launching Euch as v

versions for the 520ST. other data
Aireadyinthepipelireforthe These ■

130XE is the cDrrpany'6 well and Spell

known Sunerbase ranga - the 200,000 copies, and Suparbai

SupBcbase database, Super- 64, which has sold 70,000.

, and Supsttype.
e ST i-erslons.

ablefnrtheSTIa

Mid John Iran- £1,000 fc

le ST fits into this i

Seal of
approval
from the
man at
the top

ATAHI User has alrsadv

ip aides: "Hs Bhowad it to
varybodv - and I maan

verybodv".

Tlie launch issue's cover
depicted Tramial's head
carved out o1 stona along-
side tha likenesses of the
four United States
presidents to be found on
IVIount Rush mo re.

And this prompted the
comment from one US Atari

THIS month wo aro goin.
__jin to writo our own programs.
Nothing spectacular mind, but
enough to glue vou a quiet glow
of satisfaction. Firstly, lot's dis-
cuss what we did last month.
We learned ihat to "talk" lo the
computer me had to speak to it in a
language it already understood,
called Basic. We also learned how to

print out messagss, or strings as they

to do the sum 4+4 we typed:
PRINT 4+4 [Return]

/vhere [Return) means vou should

computer. Hopefully it then responds

■GOOD MORNING'

PRINT "GOOD MORNING"
[Return!

"Good Morning" by using:

providing we use our Caps propi

Notice that PRII^T itself remaii

capitais. This is because it is a spi

Basic word - a keyword. Forthe I

symbols for which
respectively. Notici

PROGRAMMIN

EASY

[Return]
PRINT 'EASY"
[Return]

We need to give the compute

1. Prints out PROGRAMMIN

2. Prints out IS

3. Prints out EASY

in sequence, without slopping t
us what to do next. Such a sequf

pressed Return (assuming we'd typed
it correctly).

Sometimes, though, we want to

called .

proerar

Beginners | —

your CAPS on
you won't fall

) error ■

memory. To see Ihe list, typ
LIST [Return]

1» PR»I "pnoGRAimiG"

3« mm "tdsv"

/ Start to writs your own programs
I in PART TWO of l\/IIKE BIBBY's
guide through the micro jungle /

numbered sequence of 8i

PROGRAMMING

EASY

RUN [Return]

I see printed out:
PROGRAMMING
IS
EASY

you don't do this the pre
typing in might get jumt
previous one -you'll set

You probably ihir
haven't got a progra

n going to ask you to do
i test your faith in me I
creen by typing:

PROGRAMMING

SIMPLE

program you w
alter line 30.
Changing I

implar - iust type in th

30 PRINT "SIMPLE" [Return]

LIST [Return]

fou should obtain Program

IB PRINT "PROEttaMIING"

1» PHMI "15"

3S PRIIIT "SKfLE"

Program II
should revea

RUN [Return]

You shouliJ now get the ravissd
If you accidentally tvped line 10 as:
10 PINT "PROG RAMMING"

3uld get an error message.

To rectify such mistakes, simply

tvpH the correct yersiun of line 10

r editing, a
for a while.
all simply rt

Vinually ad of them have two things

• They make vilal teaching points

the first place).

• The output -that is, what appears

and in many cases there a re far easier
ways of doing it

you can oniy improve by doing it. not

ahead and try It - you can't hurt the
computer from the keybnard, so lal
your imagination run riot.

Vou'll learn far more from your
own examples than you will by merely
echoing mine. And the good thing is
that you get such prompt feedback

So what I'd like you lo do now is to
spend a good time writing simple
"message" programs for the com-

for each instruction. It's also good
policy to LIST your program before
you RUN it, just to make sure that all

PROGRAMMING

11 PIIIT

-PnaAinNt-

» PUNT

•IS"

25 PRINT

■NSTNEN"

31 PRINT

'SH»LE"

20 and 30. Even though we entered i

memory in its correct numerica
position. Try running the program a:
final confirmation.

s go up in steps of 10 when
n for when we are patching

19 PRINT CHIII12S)

It PRINT "«T»Rr-

31 PNINT "BSER"

Program IV

typing each line.

Wow LIST it. Is there

phantom

line 25 in there? If so, you

iidn t type

NEW after the last proc

lines 10, 20 and 30 ot

the lates-

program have replaced th

se lines in

the old program. But a

the new

program doesn t have a 1

r program

The moral is to use NEW before

entering a new program.

If you have got an un'

25, dont worrv - you ca

easily ge

rid of It by typing;

25 [Roturn]

This will delete the lin

since you

replace the old Iine25wil

a new line

which contains nothing -

which the

method holds good for deleting an'

line from a program -Sim

lytypeou

ss Return,

I'd better explain wh

at line 10

lents of 10, each li
; after PRINT.

25 PRINT "RATHER" [Rotum]

Ifyou list it you'll see thai Ihe program

Beginners | —

PRUT CHRJIllS) 1

raiiT

PBUT

■ftTllRI"

ptinT

PBMT

■USES"

Program V

It PRIRI CHRSdtS)

ProgrBm VI

The oulput vou will gat is;
HELLOOUTTHERE

Try to get the message lo appear
legibly by rewrlling the program with
appropriate spaces in the strings.

pletely differenl.

Try running Program VIII. I I
the affect is pretty impressive.

So far alt our programs ^

The ability to repeat a simple
operation rapidly is what gives
the Atari much of its power

TEEL"

3«

?RIiT

■OIZZT"

60T0 1

•

what you have typed in. This program
shows how, with the addition of one
tine (line 601, you can obtain a huge
increase in the amount of output. It is
this ability, to repeal a simple
operation rapidly, that gives the Atari
much of its power.

If things are happening a little too
fast for you, you can temporarily
suspend action by pressing;

[Control] + 1
[Control] + 1

I (line 10)

FEEL (line 20)
DIZZY (line 30)

0. It duty does so and

(line 10)
. (line 20)

mil it reaches line SO,
lacktoline lOandsoon
Notice that when the
it scrolls up to make

ime for such a condition
, where you keep on

i oi t

It useful machines
unconditional loops

e program

IS PRINT
2« PRIM)
I« PRINT
4« PRINT
GS PRINT ■■
it PIINI ■'
7* PRINT "
M PRINT "
n PRINT "
lU PRINT
111 PRINT
i.lt PRINT
IM PRINT

II MINT CNR1III5I
Zl PRINT "THIS IS"
n PRINT "VERY S1LL«"
4R tOTS IB

Part of the new Atari generation

THE first Atari computers, in the
days when Acorns were only
found on trees, wore rovolution-
orv to say the least. The 400 and
800 - both initially with Sk and
subsequently with a massive 1 6k
- featured such undreamed-of
features as 256 colours, multiple
sprites and a four channel sound

' upgraded

Assessed by
ANDRE WILLEY

jitportabla, a

leSBXEM
hav'a Midi

; 800X1

3 64lt,

iced (

Id work correctly or

Ihe 16/32 bit ST range V
music interfaces buili in.

Atari could neither conlirm or deny
tills, but did confirm that currently all
production efforts are being chan-
nelled into prouiding good slociss of
the 130XE, and in getting ready lor
tlie launch of the new 5Z0ST in
May/June.

The XE range will support a whole

One Interesting point is that the
graphics symbols are now printed on
the front of each key, making typing
programs very much simpler.

The power switch is at the rear,

the transformer lead. Also provided
□n ihe rear panel are TV and video
outputs, the serial bus conriector for

and although there is no
i interface, the enpansion

130lt t

The Trai

□OS 2,5, an upgrade of t^
2,0. It will s"

aid DOS

, .. ill of the

,,^., ,he extra RAM of Ihe

130XE and files from the abortive
DOS 3,

The 1 30XE itself is a very sleeli
light-grey unit, looking similar to the
keyboard portion of an IBM, The keys

: an 800XL Basic will
its "Ready" prompt
tart to program, load

« feel a

The 65XE (a re-packaged 800XU
ill probably not see dayiiglit while
e 800XL is still in the shops. The
mours say that Ihe 8 bit portable
iXEP has been scrapped in favour of

The function keys (Start, Optlo
etc! now lie just above the ma

sophisticated Basic, dan'
Iry Basic-XL from OSS. Tl

(player/missile graphic:
advanced record handlif
matted PRINT Btaiem
spaed memory access ai
fjll string handling, full (

■- — ■-■•

«•■

complete programs to type in at the

basically a 12Bk version of the

800XL, and is upwardly software

The appendices cover pin connec-

compatible, The styling, keyboard and

tions, accessing the extra RAM and

documentation have been vastly

Error messages. 1 feel that the book

improved and lets hope that the

still doesn t go far enough and that

rather minor video problems will soon

some menllon at least should be

be sorted out.

made of file handling (such as OPEN,

Still, at £169,99, it is a very good

CLOSE and X10), PEEKs and POKEs,

buy indeed, offering far more for the

ARRAYS, maths functions and the

price than the equivalent CBM, Acorn

memory map.

or Amstrad offerings. 1 don't really

My other gripe is the location and

construction of the cartridge socl^et.

It Is very difficult to insert cartridges

into the back of the machine, since

you can't even see the socket without

■

leaning over the computer. Also

third-party cartridges have a

this wasn't quite as bad as the famous

Sinclair "Ram-Paclt-Wobble" and it

caused me no problems during

testing wUh AtariWriter, Actionl.

Basic-XL and Atari Anist. it could well

cause problems as the unit gets older.

1 was, however, pleasantly sur-

prised by the manual. It is well laid out

and a good introduction into pro-

gramming in Basic, 1

It clearly explains the keys and |

houv to write simple programs, with

examples throughout and a set of

However, Ihere is a loophole that
Atari has exploited in the 1 30XE, The

Why nol, for instance, have two sets
of 64k, storing your progiam in one

Ols area, although we can change
to oj[ advantage Issb program
listing on nexl page).

Your Basic program will start at
lojt 2k, which leaves a nice blocis
froiTi 16k up to 32k or S4000 to
S7FFF in hex, relatively free.

You can tell the computer to use
ither the "normBi" $4000-S7FFF
lemory, or one of four other "hidden"
liocks inside the maciiine. Four iots
of 16k being the extra 64k, of course.

soooo

ApprQX

$4000

$8000
SAOOO
SCOOO

e™rv

$0000
$4000
$BOO0
$C0OO

'in

a for OS

Basic

Via bark
\

VQUr Basic program

(if

•="■

..»

Bank 2

B,.„,0„

Opsrating Bysterl

Bank 3

n Table 1 you can see

he eight

for use

how ihev are allocated

-think of

"switch on" an empty block of

m as two sets of four blocks. You

tell the computer that whenever

data, eel up screens, or anything else

n S4000

you wish within that area.

$7 FFF, you really mean

to talk to

After you have finished working

of blocks 0, 1, 2 or 3,

with the extra block you give another

POKE and your Basic program is back

gram that extends th

oughout

SI of the 37k free m

mory to

By the way, DO remember to make

[he start of the program it
I memory switching anc
n GOSUB to it wheneve.

m/code

2 1

med: BAO

tejittorful

description)
jDndarybanka

ddressi

2 1

[Na

™.='Jr

m'sL°o1s'

selBclBitI
dBscription)
condary bank

ddress)

1 CPUbankenablelCBE)

1 =6502 uses Normal msmory bank at $4000

5 1 Video bank eneblelVBEl

1 = Antic uses Normal memory bank at $4000
= Antic usas Eitended memory bank at $4000

(Unused or the 130XE1

•7 1 Sslf-tasiROMsaleW
l=RAMen8blBaatI5000
□ = Selt-iast HOrul enabled at $5000

-Analysis

? example program
3l memory, or one

'■"•'•"""■

not quite a

you remember thai an Atari actually
has two, not one. CPU chips. The
6502 is the main one. which does all
of the work for Basic and input/out-

:allad Antic whi.
devoted lo generating t
display. This also accesses
order to do its jab. You cai
and the 6502 lo acces:
banks of memory.

ForE

mple.

le 6503 W

c progra

■r?) It

plished both tasks at the same time.

You can't of courES tell the CPU to
change the display data while you're
in this mode — il doesn't see the same
memory as the display chip.

This means that any graphics
commands, PLOTs and DRAWTOs,
etc.. must be done when the CPU is
accessing the memory containing the

program is switched off. Y
till use SETCOLOR, thouj
doesn't actually change t
Its of the display area.
! memory location is used
I all of the switching. This
in 54017 (SD301 for machi
sers). Each individual bit wit(
ication does a different jab,
jsdinTablelMsi

ilh's

always be 1 ,
le (from Basic, that

you switch il offl. This giv
value of 128 + 64+1 lor
POKE into 54017. The

the POKE,
the POKE,
the POKE,
(he POKE,

CPU 'Normal' M<

POKE,

CPU'Enlended'r

POKE.

ANTIC 'Normal'

the POKE,

ANTIC Extended

the POKE.

To set the memc

POKE 54»7,l»Itlltl64Ii
Of POKE 54817,253

Example 1: To set the CPU t

PDKE S4B17,l)]'t4t8<'J7

POKE wn,i.n*12f*»

You will quite quickly gel usei
working with location 54017 a

:e your program Is

memory you can always switch off
and start again if things go wrong,

IMy special thanks to Software
Express, of Birmingham, for The kind
loan of the very first 130XE in Bruin.i

rrecl. and SAVE it. When yr
aatlem will quickly be drav
II be left on the screen while tl

A ATARI*
ZOOMSOFT

SOFTWARE SPECIALIST

ADVENTURES

' Analysis

CPU

ANTIC

BANK

VARIABLES

Sets CPU mode for subrou

FUNCTIONS

1010 GOSUB to set colours.

1070-1120 Get a key. If 1-5, GOSUB
Esc. exit to Basic. OtharwlE

1 170-1 190 Set Antic and colours for [

1240-1260 Set Antic and colours for [

1310-1330 Set Antic and colours for i

1370-1390 Set Antic and colours for i

1440-1470 Set i

1520-1530 Subr

1580-1590 Subr

Well -named
Colossus

COLOSSUS CHESS 30

ENGLISH Software ate rol what
ColOMiH Chaw 3.0 package In

arthek^literature, and even in

nK&' "^

T**-— ,, ._ J

the manual, it's billsd as "the be

St chess playing program for

^^^HP^ !g i"

Maybe that only makes il a bi

chess programs for the Atari.

uld fare in the bigger pool that

t what If offers.

IwssgladtDSeetf^attheoroa

to specify your move. You simply

position it on the piece to be

moved, press Return, position 11

press fletum again.

^^^^^^^

the more common ■■e2-e4-

used to sat up and solve chess

say much, Ihere'satableattne

Colossus to be up there with

problems, and not lusi the

to do it that way,'.he program

usual ■white to move and

the results of Colossus v The

Colossus Chess 3,0 comes
on 4BK cassette or disc, with

As chess programs go this

type*

The program was tested

prices of £9,95 and £12,95

respeotively. To call it the best

consider its slanbarb of game

home computer chess pro-

chess program for the Atari

gram ever to be able lo solve

ines ranging from the ZXai to

the Apple, Against each one a

series of 1 6 games was played

Dave Ruaull

levels can be saleeted by

""«■ ^^^ .^.^

number of whites and blacks

program has to select a move,
be selected or you can play an

probably fair to say that
Colossus is the best chess

Colossus beat them all -
most of them by 16 games to

One for

all-the-movee same in whicti

Atari,

nil, Sargon 111, widely recog-

the total game time is

You can even introduce a
handkap for the program lor

The manual gives a good
description of all the features
and how to use them, and fully
describes all the different

nised as an e«cBlleni program,

Chess, another Atari version,
went down 12-4, while Atari's

joystick

yojrself if youre that good) by
putting soma time on one of
the clocks before the game

sections of the screen display.

Knight Mk II won only three of
its 16 games.

jockeys I

There's an "equality ' mode

presentation is awful. It's

Chess Z.O for the Commodore

AS they say on all the best

in which the program will try to
keep its clock as close as

printed in black on red paper-
not a pretty sight.

64 was advertised as "the
finest chess program ever

awards shows, I'll take them

It looks to have been

we reviewed Smash Hits

photo-reduced to A5 slie from

volumes 3 and Z, this month

A4 dot matrH printer output.

fared against its predecessor.

which doesn't help, and you'll

There are plenty of other

Martin Bryant we can assume

it opens with Jat-Boot Jack,

read the loading instructions.

that 3.0 would win . , . but by

This is probably the best '

what margin? How much

known of the English SofP«are

''°esen?ria«A!isef''ul tutorial

program is anything more than
a big fish In a little pool we

"^/Tthe manual t'oints out.

games, which is presumably |

the same set of results could

volumes. It's a good game, so '

option which will sh=w all

its game.

not be guaranteed in every set
of 16 games. Nevertheless,

Next is Dan Strike* Back,

even if the results are taken as

the EeHuel to Diamonds from

The program can also be

mVJo sZeds. which doesn't

only a rough guide, they show

Volume 2- English Software

Software | —

Dan sallies forth

f Hyper

■, with the room. Fortjnately.raspon

sally well the joystick is excBllBtil.

RrefleellBadifficultga

enBEcrolls anyw/iere-and thofrustral

gel

fe addict. Captain Sticky's from bottom to top, giving the thing ,„^ ..,= ,=.j„,cu

his is miles members of the family, scroll in the other direction. challEnga, this one's for yoj.
riginal. it's Finally, RrellBBt calls for The game requires a bll of All in all. it you're a joystick

Diayeditlo. level of Brecislon. Your task is selective shooting, and a lot of ^alje foi money at E14.95''for

idy s got to steer your space cruiser precision steering. If you hit the tape and £17.95 for the

Next comes Hyperblagt.

populated by tanks. It's s sort

^^r^r^]Jmesl

KEEPAN EYE OPEN

stick and thumb plenty of
rcise as you dodge the

ONE of the features of the new
Atari disc package is the
inclusion of a new adventure
game. The Pay-Oft. For-

FOR LUIGI

emy, although it has the

tunately for this reviewer, who

mpiest space warp ive ever

already owns a complete Atari

but the writers were one jump lead the villain of the piece.

tween levels so the quality

available In Its own right from

success was nothing more New Jersey in search of a

'all good Atari stockists".

than a pipe dream. fabulous gem which, word on

n Captain Sticky's Gold

The game Is a double first
for Atari, being both their first

acles 1 soon found plenty answer to all your problems.

plains hapless crew

disc game and also their first
adventure. Based on this

ia\ life places to explore Yet the greatast crime has

gold. LBvell starts off nice
d easy, with only some fish

hope that it won't be their last.

avared a malevolent sense tlonally 1 might add) by the

d an air leech to avoid while

Despite the racent trend

re grabbing the gold.

B in the car park. enough rope to hang himself.

ng used up all the time

text-only game, Ullled in pub-

1 fact 1 found myself more While it is possible to gain

re under water. You can

adte'ntur'e""'Ti;is'm7y''beseen

position and deliberately eiplore it, despite the do?y
"dying" in order to enjoy the guard - one very imponant

ng, but there is also a time
ge which shows how long

in some quarters as Atari once
more swimming against the

author s sense of humour, piece of equipment is secreted

have left to complete the

When you've collected 10

adventurer''wiN asMrt."^ '^^

yourself into the character the out difficulty. In tact, you've

s of gold you move to the
t level, where things are a

lime hoodlum determined to

stake your last few dollars on a

alion calls for desperate m BBS- an adventure such as The

— Software 1

A micro version
of Indiana Jones?

It, Quicliclaw, 3 Raj diamond

Id s Slone fat, 'a _

CollHoiing gold bars on the by misjudging

ay to boost your points score earlier leap?.

The quest starts on a ted mega lung Ci

id as you Ofogress to Ihe eels, though

Then

giant arts - different haiards nun
Contact Willi any of tHese, get

OUTDO THOSE GREMLINS

5 Gold Qftering, Mr

s get more often th

Paul HSMiitt

Features • Play the computer or a friend • Computer
player gets tougher as you do • 64 BattJe combinations
9 Separate battleground screen # Medieval pieces
like the wizard and the sorceress - magic spells and a board ^
that changes as you play • Deluxe boxed package JrKludes
full instruction and hints manual • Joysiicic controlled *

A message from

to all owners of

ATARI, COMMODOf^E 64, BBC B,

ACORM ELECTROM and AM5TRAD Computers...

Software companies grow d'

seems fromtfienumDerofnewcompanlesEpringingupeuery

ETIGUSH SOFTlMftRE was launched three years ago with a
smashing little game for Atal Computers called AIR5TRIKE 1,

whlchqulcWy becameoneofthemostpopularU.rt programmed
gamesfortheAtarl. I

Then as now, Atari Computers were amongst the most
advanced on the planet, but they were aTRIFLE enpen5|we!
But we knevj that prices would come down, and f -'
people would soon appreciate the great range o,
Atari software produced by ErtGLISH 50r^^W^RE.
But Atari owners used to be a funny lot, being '- -
to utter such gems as'

■'ltcan'tbeanycop,lfltco5t5lessthanfM" /^f9.95
Honestly, that's what they used to say I Anyway,
In the face of this rather strange attitude, we wen
ahead and committed the ultimate sin.

ATARI QAMES AT £9.95!
IWe expected some slight resistance to these
prices from Atari owners who only equated high
quality with high prices, but we were wrong:
Everybody thought the prices were great, and tf

VJs even produced the fantastic ATARI CASSETTE

EMhArKERat£7,95, a superiD utility program for

BASK program me rs

5o now, for those of you who might have missed out on

all our excellent Atari titles, we ate releaslngsomething

very, very special:

ATARI 5HA5H HITS Volumes 1, 2 and 3

from EMQLISH SOFTWARE.

Five great games on one cassette for only f 1 4.95,

or Oh diskat £17.951

Each cassette features our top-rated JET-BOOTJACK plus four other popular tit

tomissoutonthebestrangeofUK produced Atari4O0/aO0/60(WL/8O0?^Lsoftwarefor52Kmachlnes. If your

dealer does not yet have them In stocH, ask him to order them from his nearest Atari wholesaler. It will be the best

Atari buy YOU will make all year I

We have also Just released COLOSSUS CHESS 5.0, the best chess program available anywhere lor

Atari4O0/e00«X>;^L/800>;Lcomputerswllh46K Uervpowerful.wlthlotsofexcellentfeatures

For ourgood friends with other home computers, ourprogrammers are busy producing orlglnalgamesfor you as

well Thi/arealllllustratedonthlspage.HEHRY'SHOUSEor ■ " -"=' -"' '" """^ ■^'-"-.--k^

Electron are now available at selected branches of W.M. SMITH.
Selected EngHsh Software titles are available at: HARRODS and
selected branches of: LASKVS, BOOTS, GRAH ADA COMPUTER
STORES. CD.OFSTORE5. THE5ILICA5HOP Mall Order and

ftetall and all good software stores.

THE EMQLISH SOFTWARE COMFWHY
1 north Parade, Parsonage Garderra, MarKhester M60 ISX
TFWDeEMQUIRIES WELCOME: 061-835 1358

le Commodore 64, and JET-BOOT JACK or

PROGRAMMERS AHD PROGRAMS
URQH1TLY REQUIRED!

— conTACTUsnow—

ENCUSH SOFTWUtE..

-TXFTWffll..

comms

Find out how to

use your A tan

to link up with

the world

networ/( of

Happy davs. or a( least they werE for
to a more itmndane lave-hale relalions

me. Still, like all infatuations it gave way
ip. Micros were stilt exciting, but the first

communications

thrills had gone, never to be recalled, t
inlfoduced to the world of comms, Th

t least that's what I thought until 1 was
en that was it. Gone was the debonair,

in this special

"man of the micro wodd", "1 can tak
II yoj're woridering what comms

Ataris or leave them " attitude, 1 was
e hacking fraternity 1

12 page section

- in this case, communications

between micros via the telephone

U.^l.. J -.

_ 1. ■ ■

lines. It sounds so innocent, doesn't
it? Then 1 suppose heroin doesn't look
loo bad, but once you get hooked . , .

Hooked on nacKing

It started when a friend of mine
who works for Atari User lent me a
modem - that's the gadget for

PETER ATKINSON confesses

attaching a micro to the phone
system - and his black book of
bulletin board numbers.

A bulletin board is just an

his communications addiction!

carry the phone numbers of other

own electronic mailbon. H, like me.

electronic noticeboard that you can

boards, which carry numbers of yet

you can't wait to open your mail inttie

leave messages on. And, of course,

other boards ... and so on ad

morning, you'll enjoy logging onto the

infinitum.

system (as ringing it up is known).

users leave,

Of course, as with all addictions.

There's a fresh crop of letters every

It appears innocuous enough.

you move on to harder stuff. My

few hours.

doesn't it? But its not. From my first

encounters with bulletin boards led

When 1 first logged onto it,

session 1 was in its grip.

IVIicroLink was in the development

The messages are absolutely

No hobbyist bullerin board this, but a

stage, so there were only magazine

fascinating. There are people asking

nationwide commercial network

editors and the like to write to, Sy the

for (or supplying! help with program-

based on a series of powerful

time you read this, though, there

ming problems, people swopping

should be hundreds of real people

sharing the fun.

software packages (especially