Home Computing Weekly Magazine Issue 091

Bonus ■ First new

Buyers' guide

What's what

in the world of

micros

Read our

analysis

before you buy

Quicksilva

Quartets of

quality

games-yours

for the

winning!

■ I

I

■

BBC/Electron

graphics

feature

Make the

most of your

micro

m

SE

1 f ORtHEZ*^' EtTRI "' 4B

Games to type

in for: VIC-20,

Spectrum,

SordMS,

ZX81

Stacks of

reviews for:

Spectrum,

Commodore

64, Electron,

Amstrad

CPC464,

I-99/4A, BBC

Plus: news,
your letters,
charts . . .

'Ill* ,111*1 III* llll*^

six-yard box. There

Is no time to control

the hall, your qlayer must commit himself!

to a snap shot on goal. .

SPECTRUM 48fc

— ft =

> -^

Match Day Is as compelling as
soccer itself You will marvel at
the depth of play and Pallcontrol
offered only In MATCH DAY . .
Shoot to win!

7-95 locecni 7-95

Ocean House ■ 6 Central Street- Manchester ■ M2 SNS ■ Telephone 06 1 832 6633 - Telex 669977

Ocean Software is available from selected branches of WOOtWORfH.WHSmTll.(^). r JBBEaBLUS*'tt,Riimb*lo<«t.eoairr

Spectrum Shops and all good software dealers. Trade enquiries welcome.

December a- December 10, 198a ho. 91

REGULARS

),10

T4

an

42

4^

SOFTWARE REVIEWS

Mysterious and exciting

Enter the tombs of doom or [ravel ihrough Viking Norway

16

ZZ

Take vour pick from this high-quality selection

29

C'rO in llic mi inn in Inn lli' lhum : jli him lie .|ti,i

30

Adventures lo stretch your menial abilities

38

Take your pick — all have been assessed by our panel

Software houses: send your software for review i
editorial office ai the address below, Coniact u
competitions and other promotions, too.

the
for

KM CO/TOI1G
WLW

mm mm

Home computer buyers' guide 23

PROGRAMS

Find the word -

Readers: we welcome your programs, articles and tips.

M o£tZ?

(;ruup BHor Advtrllwmfril M>n» B r[:

"^si-""

Argus Specialist Publicaiions Ltd.
No.! Golden Square, London WIR 3AB. 01-437 0626

IHI!. iUJ> 4JUJ2. Ttjik liimiliimim:

HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY 4 Dccembei

games that herald a new dawn

A new concept - all graphics, 3D, and 360° scrolling

Sports simulations
— that leave ^saiis

the rest Yacht

standing

i

M -,

Hill MacGibbon Ltd, 92 Fleet Street, Lond

New Orlc

From front page
excellent graphic commands
' ' i can give 3D effects. Oric
tally gone to town on the

Mr Everiss, formerly opera-
lions director al Imagine,
explained how sound is also
enhanced: "The Oric conlains a
Ol sound chip, which was never
used to the lull. The new
machine realiy uses the chip to

The IQ 164, as the machine is
curremly known, has black and

uprated fro

the

the ianguage, and one the

application.

"One of these cartridges will

hold 64K and the other 4BK of

ROM. and there'll be 64K RAM
n board. We're really giving
K user quite a lot of memory.
"It has an RS112 built-in, a
isc controller and a built-in

modem driver;' he went on.

"There's also two joystick

The machine will be supplied
with SupcrBASIC and one
ROM cartridge. As for soft-
l, here at Tansofi we have
something very innovative and
interesting up our sleeve, but
prepared " " "

t-iiriijieimn>

Mr Ever iss explained why
Oric hasn't fined the price for
the IQ 164 yet. "It all depends
on what happens with the
dollar, and what happens to
chip prices. If [he pound
strengthens against the dollar
and chip prices fall we will be
able [0 bring [he new computer
ou[ ai the price we want"

The 10 164 will be launched
first in France, where Oric
holds over 50 per cent or the
market. It will be marketed
there as the Stratos — a name
already registered by another
cnmpain in the UK.

"Our advertising agency
screwed up on the name" said
Mr Everiss. "The Atmos was
released as the firsi in a family

advertising agency forgot to
check was whether the other
names were registered here!'

The words come from the
Greek — atmosphere and
stratosphere, etc. And Oric is
now rather stuck for a new

"If any of your readers have
any suggestions, I'd be pleased

Popeye, the
sailor man

Popeye, dk'lranics' first licen-
sed game, is now available,
after 10 weeks of programming

The aim of the game is io
iild your "home sweet lion i
_.id you are cast in the role of
Popeye — who else? Bluto is
your arch enemy, and you must
vade him while you gather up
Jl your building materials from
the building site.

helps you by taking
back to the start.

Howe

:eof h

Bbyk

m supplied with han

Bluto is after you, and he
-ants to throw you off the
scaffolding into the sea. Olive
~ ' comes to the rescue by
.,..,.,,. ing you with the vital
spinach which makes a man out

Cost of the g

e: £5.95.

dk'lronics. Unit 6. Shire Hill
IndEsl, Saffron Wolden, Essex
CBIi 3AQ

Prices
slashed

Mastertronic, who brought you
cut-price arcade games, is
now launching budget -price

label

formerly Carnell Software.
However, the company decided
lo delay the launch of Se-Kaa
until now, and cut the price
from £7.50 to £2.99.

Se-Kaa is available fot both
Commodore and Spectrum,
and contains 96K of graphics

illustrated I
sentence analysis.

I'rc -Christmas releases on the

include Volcanic Dungeon and
Black Crystal lor the Spectrum,
at £2.99 and O.'W respectively.
Black Crystal will be available
for the Commodore in the New
Year.

Mastery is ion will remain a
separate label, at full-price.
Large format packaging and

company's hallmark
to Maslervision .

Martin A I per, M
managing director.

:r Adventurer in the field
of adventure games as we have
with Mastertronic in the field of
arcade games — in other words,
produce a series of good quality
programs at a very realistic

"Master Adve

scrolling graphics. For £2.99
you can expect programs of a
Quality which would normally
cost £B at the very least:'

venture on

Audiogenic has announced two
new graphic adventures for the
Commodore 64: Magic Stone
and Time Traveller.

Here's ihe plol of Magic
Stone in a nutshell: the stone in
question is reported lo ium lead
into gold. You musi find Ihe
stone and ihe experimental
notes, as well as ihe magic
word. The setting is a Transyl-

In Time Traveller you must
restore Ihe balance of lime,
which has been disturbed by the
evil Graf von Schwar/licr/m.
You have a few problems
though — you don't know your

I iirj III.,: 1

Master Adveniurer is the
label on which the low -cos I

Easy Engl

sh language

claimed to be

Se-Kaa of Assiah is ihe first

in the shoriesi

this adventure in September on

. 39 Simons Intl
Park. London Rd, Reading,
forks RG6 1AZ

OL monitor

launch of a new 14-inc
monitor for Ihe QL. The QLI4
cosis £199.99 and comes ' '
coiuiectini! cable, which plugs
uiiii [he KliB port.
1 1 is light-weight, and has

means that it's very portabli
The unit is all-black and has
detachable anti-glare tinted
glass front.

Prism's monitor provides full
A4-wid(h on Quill, greater
resolution for business graphic;
wilh Easel, larger record lay-
outs wilh Archive and a greater
number of columns visib'
Abacus, according to Pris

HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY J Dcci

COMPETITION

Ouicksilva
bonanza

32 packs of games to be won
— worth over £25 each!

THIS WEEK we're giving
away some greai packs of
Quicksilva games which will

impS? r.i.rirvito r

^sSSFW emiy uv Quidullv.

( (iinpiriiiipii. Il.imc (.iiiiiniiiin(!

ami seated in ■ separate envelope.

Pn/i«.ttillii. me ln.nH.K]iAi
wiilim >H Jay.ul lil,-l;N:,.;,!„„

ihc competition.

The rules

mil^'WO .11 \l£lj* ^pftplL-l |*,lbl
J'llv,[iuut A S.inv Tin* r^Mii^rin;, .

Quicksilva Competition

Knlrv Coupon

L J P R S T

X V U T P N M i

R B Z M B

P Z I V Q P

L V Y N T J

N B N I O L

APR I N A R

S N
U R

YMORPRUME
VNUTLPFMN
E Z
R T
G L
A T
H N
E J

C C L I B

E P L F S R J

E I H R K G J

S U O L D A I 1

P R T U I L |,

T L E Z N E |

I N T K C C I

T I R B B L Ni

WCDRDOUS I OANT I N J

OVPITGNIELBTAEB

NDCZLREEJKTHTETWJ

S T R N T I
D U T E L B A

P U R P L E T

u M
A E

R

D G C A I Hi
R I O R C h9

T L E S C H K

HOMfc COMPUT1NC. WEEKLY 4 Dei-ember

WORDSWORTH

THE GAME
FOR ALL THE FAMILY

BASED ON THE POPULAR "FIND THE WORD" GAME

A REAL TEASER AND CHALLENGE FOR

PLAYERS OF ALL AGES.

Any number of players can
join in.

Words are hidden in all
directions they can also link up
or cross each other too!

Try to beat th " "
at competitioi. lc »c. ;

Nursery rhymes, proverbs,
sayings can be used - even
foreign words -
Wordsworth© can cope.

• 26 levels of play * Use comput

if Up to 30 words can be * A game for

used in any game
' Endless hrs. of enjoyment* Competit'
if Easy to read re-defined * Every gai

characters challenge

■ Helps children spell a.

WORDSWORTH^ is available by
Mail Order from:-

Wordsworth Software Ltd
P.O. Box 304. Reading, Berks RG20RH

|~ ~ .^~**^ - - ■ • ▼ ^

\EE& To Wordsworth Software Ltd., P.O. Box 304,

Reading. Berks. RG20RH,

(BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE)

Please rush me copy(ies)

of Wordsworth • @ £5.95 each

GHt Wrapped □
I 1 enclose Cheque/Postal Order for
| £ : Payabte to Wordsworth Software Ltd.

. Name:

P Address:

I

I

I Post code: ■

:*m^:#REiy

THE CREV

Personnel
files follow-
yours to
command -
well almost,

mwDCaomss

SPECTRUM 48KCBM64

C16 first

Tyncsoft claims lo be Ihe first
company lo have Commodore
C16 and Plus/4 software avail-

NEW5

The Uvipac is housed in a 9
\ 80 \ 40 mm plastic case, and :
special lypc of discharge uilii' i

According to
Ground Controls, [he 230 or
110 volt mains powered unit
enables up to three EPROMs of

CASSETTE

WJ VALUE that's
te.0^ out of this world

50 GAMES ON ONE CASSETTE

, NOW AVAILABLE FOR O™™*™* ElECTRON Air
— OLUBaib Spectrum jfcapptc ATARI OR1C-1 ZXB1

mxMMiM -

Mb YorVlMrO. HG1 5BG Entfanil

slephone: 104231 504526.

HOME COM!'l.TIN(.i WEEKLY 4

Late starter

Although announced months
ii is only now thai PSS has
aged lo release Hyper

players can aci oui ihc mor
sophisticated manoeuvres o
BMX racing. Hyper Biker i
available on cassette at £7.95.

Royal romp

Henry's House is the Lille of
English Soli ware's new game
lor Ihe Commodore. As you
may have guessed, the siar
character is a little prince, who
> you on a right royal romp
through his new home. You go

extravaganza of domestic
actions'! according to
English Software.

The game is claimed to
feature the highest standard of
detailed hi -resolution animated
graphics seen on any game on
the Commodore 64. The game
features Pavloda last -load and
sis £8.95. Pre-release
. blii-ity for Ihe game states
that Henry's house is "a satura-
'y satisfying game for even
nost insatiable of players!
Tantalising and tormenting, but
at the same time rivemiigly
rewarding!" No, it's no: the
Cold Old Days, either.

Yes we have
no bananas

I lie I!

e of

interface, from
Castle Associates of Scarbor-
ough. The company claims it's
so simple to use, even a monkey
could operate it.

It is housed in a heavy duty
metal ease, to render it virtually
unbreakable in the hands or
students, and comes together

commits introductory programs
and experiments. Also included
in Ihc purchase price — £175 —
arc interface cables for
connecting the Banana to the

independent outputs driving
relays, and 8. +12 volt logic
signals for controlling IX
motors. Stepper moiors and
other devices.

According to Castle, "Ihe
Banana interface allows inter-
active control, adding a whole

Castle Associates, Salter Rd.
Cay ton Lower Rd Ind Esl.
tkarborouth, N York: YOU

Best selling
book

Frederick Forsyth's book The
Fourth Protocol was a best-
seller — and now the book has
been adapted into a software

The company behind the
project is Hutchinson Comput-
er Publishing and the company
claims that the game "will set
new standards for electronic

world of computer games all the
cxciiemcni of Forsyth's famous
suspense, his mastery of chilling
detail and a very clear insight

operations and you must track
down a deadly enemy at large in
England. Available late spring.

Spectrum and Commodore.

Hutchinson Computer Publisl
ulfc Hutchinson Use, 17-1
Conway Si, London W1P6JL

Amstrad
adventures

announced its second adventure
game for the Amstrad CPC464.
Fqrcsl at World's End is
graphical adventure which ct
£6.

Future titles from interceptor
for Ihc CPC464 are Jeweb of
Babylon and Heroes of Karn.

Arcade Hardware, 211 Horton Rd.

Fallow/field, Manchester M14 70E.
061-225 2248

FOR YOUR TI-99/4A

Axiom pa rail ell n cerfat:e [stand alone). . £107.35

Boxcar R5232 interface (stand alone) £109.95

Boxcar S2K RAM (stand alonei £125.00

Tl Logo II £73 95

Personal Peripherals Super Sketcti £65.00

Personal Peripherals Super St'k

(twin joysticks wired for T)99'4A) C24.95

5uper Champ (single Joystick forTii eia.95

Tl Per I p li era I Expan sl on Syst em ECall.

Tlgervlslons MINER 2049'er . . C2S.95

All items subject to avaiiaDiiitv
Wide range of Ti-99/aA related Items available

HOMIi COMPUTING WEEKLY 4 December V

COMMODORE C-1 6
AND PLUS 4
SOFTWARE
^STARTER PACK

AVAILABLE NOW FROM LEADINC
COMPUTER STORES OR DIRECT FROM
TYNESOFT FOR E14.95
INCLUDING POSTACE & PACKING

ADDISON INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, BLAYDON-ON-TYNE,
TYNE & WEAR. TEL: (091) 414 4611.

DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME
OTHER EXCITING TITLES AVAILABLE SOON

VIC-20 I

You must be
deft and
accurate in this
game with
excellent
graphics by
Paul Cockerton.
You have to
catch the
pennies and
stop them
falling in the
water

grab the chance of gaining an
(Ira 100 points, by dropping a
)in into the boat, which is
Hiving backwards and for-
ards with the tide, under the

Catch 'em

while you

can

t before attempting t<

bridge.

If you fail to catch a coin or
drop a coin into the boat you

25, 2

rint "a- ipoke 36969,240
iata3,7,3,I, 1,1,1,1
Ia*a0,0,0,l,l,3,3,2

lata], 2, 2, 4, 4, 24, 31, 16
at aB, IBS, I2B, 64, 64,96,224, 32

:atal5,8,B,l!,lB,lB,10,10
ato253,5,7,240,31 ,95,35,65
ataB23,S0, 112,7,252,253, 165, 165
at 3248,8,8,232,40, 40, 40, 40
datal0,10,10,10,18,10,10,10

dat 663,69,37,2 1,2 1,13, 5, 5

da t 340, 40,40, 48,48,40, 40,40
dat 363,32,47,47, 40, 40, 40, 40
dat 3240,29,2 13, 2 13, 93, 95, 95, 83
data?, 220, 85,35,22 1,2 13, 2 13,2 13
dat a234, 2, 250,250, IB, 10,10,10
dat a40, 45, 42, 40, 40, 40, 40, 40
dat 393, 85, 2 13, 33, 65, 83, 85, 33
data221 ,85,95,213,213,221 ,35,213
data 10,170,90, 10, 10, 10,10,10
dat a40,45, 42, 48, 48, 40,47,43
d at a8B, 95, 2 13,85,85,85,2 13,55
dat a5, 253, 85, 85, 65, 85, 85 ,85
datalB, 10, 170,98, 10, 10,250, 10
dat a47, 40, 40, 41 ,46,40,40,40
dat»255,24 ,86 , 129,6,8 ,4B,65
dats255, 12,3, 128,96,24,6,129

the bridge and your man,
automatically loads part t

Use abbreviations for BASIC
keywords and save and vi

date! ,2,4,9,19,37
d3tal2B, 132,160,1
datal70, 170,170,1

44,200,164,147,137
68, 168,168, 166,168

i datal38, 10,10, 10,13,10, 10,10

1 data 170, 170, 170,178,170.174,160,168

data 123, 130, 132, 137, 146, 164,200,240
: da + *36, 100,168,168,164,164,162,161
I data36, 38, 21 ,21 ,37,37,69, 133

data 128,64,32, 144,72,36, IS, 15
: data253, 128,152,164,164,255, 128,255
: 3ata255,0,24,36,36,255,0,8

da ta£55, 8, 24, 36, 36, 255, 0,235
; data255, 1,25, 37, 37, 235, 1,255
. data 123. 185, 169,159, 169,169,185,129
i datal, 2,4, 4, 12, 12,20,20

data 128, 64, 32, 32, 48, 48, 48,48
: data 126, 142,138, 138,138, 138, 142,128
: data 128, 252, 252, 243, 240, 225, 194,132

dat 33, 4, 24, 104, 136,168,216,136

a!32, 160, 152,

140,148, 164

.136

164,167,164

1 1 36 , 1 36 ,

a 1 60, 144,144,152,148,146,244,148
a 164, 164,164,164,164,167,164,164
3 148,148, 148,148, 148,244,148,148
a24 ,24 ,52 ,50, 16 ,56 ,65 , 130
i-716Sto7439!readaIpoKei ,a:next
i=7448to7679ireadbipoKei ,b inert
*« 36379, 33 ;pr lr>t SCTMB c :■[:■: ,

HOMhi.OMITIIV. tt

4 December 198-i

125 pr in* "EWMSJ—

:e63) , 131 i end

?52,23ipo*eS* ..IS :poK5?a, 1 28 H- -361
e366B3, 555 ipotie 36375, 23 !co=3B7E0
:e368£;S.I~Q

Sa:3l = in-t<nnd<U*8> + 7731 isosubl

HOME COMPUTING Wt-T.KI V 4 Dmrabcr 1984 Page i:

VIC-20 PROGRAM

715

OsubJSeta l=9H-22'Pt>K*3l,]60!poKegl»22+co,0ipDKeg

♦E2.203

720

os.jb 130 :sl-3 1+22 ipoKegl, 160 ipoKesl+22*co,0:poKes

+22,203

730

fp«*tf Ca 1+44X >226-theng 1 =3 1 *EE:gDsiib 1000 ! 30s itbS00

Sl'int <

710

c"bc4'10i i-f d = ?i-thsrid =0 1 901 ub800: go-to 130

v-0

760

or l=E54f o£B0s-t ep-1 !p«Keul,iinex-t!paKauI,Bidad + i

770

i-int"««M Ui»*«»il "(l«BscoreU"!sc;9o-to750

at- t = !5tT0s-tep-l!poKeu,t"ftjrK=254tol505tep-5"pokeu

15

SI0

tturn

900

-0ipoKegl+cc.,3:poKe9!,26!poKegl-EE, 160 1 1 -] - 1 ! i-eti

rn

1000

gl=9l-22ipoK«3l+co,0!poKe9l,22HpoKegl + l-K:o,0ipoK

egl+1,2

1010

Po«»gi-l+co,0lpoKe3 1 -1 ,205 t-f or 1 =215-to200s*ep- 1 ipo

1015

pok«gl-l,I60ipoke3l-l,lG0

1050

gl'gl-tESiretiirn

00 go;'jbB0P:[

Ph«* 14 HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY 4

Ingenious...

THE COMPUTER EDITION OF

.Leisure!
Genius

o^

tits

Waddinqtons

MONOPOLY

MONOPOLY

3 Montagu Row. London W1H 1AB

Mysterious &—■»
and exciting g=.

Adventure games of every i^Sn^

kind. Enter the tombs of doom li?3EES ! £

or travel through Viking P^V^U*

Norway

E6.95

ruro Rd, SiB

Witk ihi-^issellecomesaj
the Cuihtwri tluh-t/i-'.:.,.!.'!
Ift past iniiruciion booklet
Hifrr' nianii'.LT'p! — autographed: fe

mil ion and a keyU

A but the

wnslu

key:. But that's]

henyo

buyii

B.J.

1 bHtmctl

mi

92= J

no:,,-.

96'. |

H^^mr^^m^

WLLKI V4 December !W4

ZXB1 PROGRAM

Rack your
brains to come
up with the
right word.
Otherwise you
die. Hangman
conversion for
the ZX81 by
Timothy Pearce

Find the

word or hang

by the neck

Test your

computer at Hangman.

This is a "
loved game which we are now
bringing to your ZXS1 sc

Decide whether you
instructions. Then you'll sc
menu of nine categories
words. IT you want lo et

iwn word, pick 4. You
... _ _ asked to type in a single
word, with (ess than 15 letters
and made up of letters alone.

If your word doesn't meet the

anTy'ou^ee'BAD WORD on
screen. After the word has been
checked and accepted, a normal
will be set up. To enter a
guess press the relevant key. Do
not press NEWLINE. Repeated
letters and disallowed letters
ignored. Every

the puzzle
and need help, press NEW-
LINE. The screen will clear and
revert to normal, but an extra
been inserted in

the

plat

All

of the letter will
have been inserted.

Be warned: when prompted
with the question Another go?
Y/N, if you type N the program
will be lost.

160-240' pin opp

250-260 diraensio
280-320 pm appr

330-350 coudi »

391-440 set up «
450-4M iniiiali!

481 POKE II

490-500 initial!*

variables
510-410 .elect wo

740-790 I

lilKl-tSil .

10

24.

GOTO 22

HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY 4 December 1984

26 GOSUB 2W00

90 PRINT

NEEDLEWORK"
CBRS AND DR

120 PRINT

130 PRINT , , » i

14.0 IF INKEY*="" THEN GOTO 14-SJ

1*1 LET J(=INKEY(

1*2 IF CODE U*<29 OR CODE JS.>37

164- IF U=5 THEN LET

165 IF U=3 THEN LET ;
NG TERMS"

16S IF J=4 THEN LET :

"RELIGIC

=3 THEN LET M*r"MOU5EHO

IBS IF J=

THEN LET

»="AIRCRAF

N WORD"
170 IF U = B THEN LET
' MAHBR LEOPARD

:« = "35 COD
COW PJRANA
BERR ELEPHANT DOG CRT FLEA BUT

ITfcRFLY GORT RABBIT PYTHON RMRCON
DR PIG MOUSE FLY FOX JAGUAR MONK
EY TURKEY DONKEY HORSE SPIDER SN
AIL WOLF HU5KEY TIGER COBRA HUMB
'■ BULL CHICKEN TUNR PARROT"

ISO IF J=7 THEN LET W*="35 UOLU

UAUXHALL FORD OPEL GRANADA AVE

GER FIAT UNO UlUfl MAX I CAPRI FI

E5TA BRAKES LIGHTS CLUTCH PEDALS

ENGINE BOOT BONNET INDICATORS D

"5MB0ARD HIGHUAY ROUNDABOUT JUNC

TION RORD BYPASS MOTORWAY PETROL

GRRRGE RORDSTGN OVERTAKE UIMDOU

WHEELS ESTATE SALOON''

150 IF J=6 THEM LET WS="2S ZIP

BOBBIN TACKING UPHOLSTERY DRESSM

, hK.ING EMBROIDERY SATIN SILK MAT

ERIRL OUERSEUING HEM NEEDLE THRE

AD COTTON 6EUING STITCH VELVET D

1 UPION SPOOL HEMINO BUTTON BRSKET

ZIGZAG PINING COVER"

, 200 IF J = l THEN LET l.l(i"57 STAR

LIFTER GAZELLE IROOUIS SCOUT UHI

1 -....UIMD PEACEMAKER HURRICANE SPIT

-IRE GREIF COMET UfiMPIRE 3UPERFD

STRESS MUSTANG LANCASTER STIRLIN

G WELLINGTON KITTYHAWK SEAFIRE L

, X6ERATOR HERCULES CANBERRA STRHT

OFORTRESS MBRUT MOSS BERR BACFIR

E HAWKEYE BRDGER BLACKBIRD RTLAN

TIC ORION HA1JK HARRIER BUCCANEER

METEOR BRONCO TOMCAT HIRAGE HUN

TER rOXBBT DRAKEN JAGUAR BADGER

UULCRN M0HA1JK NIMROD 'J IKING -JIGG

I N FISHBED TIGER ETENDARD PMANTO

M EAGLE KFIR LIGHTNING GALAXY BE

AGLE HORNET"

210 IF J=2 THEN LET W*="26 FRID
GE FREEZER CUTLERY KNIFE FORK SP
OON FRESHNER SAUCEPAN A J AX SOAP
BLEACH BROOM TABLE DUSTER MOOUER
POLISH CARPET COOKER BUCKET FIL
T HY KETTLE POUDER TEAPOT FRIDGE
"OFFEE PEPPER"

220 IF J=3 THEN LET <J* = , '35 BBC

m-.ORM HTOM ELECTRON MODEM COREST

I ORE LINEPRINTER LASERPP.INTER DIS

C TAPE PUNCHCARD SPECTRUM KILOBY
TE BIT BYTE WORD KEYWORD FUNCTIO
N MRINFRAME MICRO COMPUTER PARIT
Y RANDOM BINARY CHARACTER SYSTEM

MEMORY OUTPUT SERIAL DRYRUN REC
CRD FLOPPY 5IGNRL UNIVAC DEVICE"

230 IF J=4 THEN LET W»-"3e JONA
H FONT PEU BIBLE VICAR RECTOR 3A
INT ANGEL CHURCH JOSEPH CHRIST T
NOMAS EXODUS PRIEST UERGER CHOIR

CRROLS SUNDRY BISHOP ROMANS JES
US CATHOLIC PROTESTANT BUDHIST P
RPTISM CHRISTMAS EASTER JUDAS L
5TSUPPER HEAVEN"

240 IF J = 5 THEN LET U*="35 TAPE
RECORDER ARMCHAIR VIDEORECORDER
INVRDE BOX HOUSE PHOTO CHEESE BU
TTER GALORE SflUING YACHT FILLED
GIBBET STUPID BOARD RECORD STITC
H FI5M CHAIR SOFA NEWSPAPER PLAN
T GAS ELECTICITY TYPEWRITER CARP
— " FLUTE CELLO LETTER ENVELOPE C

310 +

U*

CL5

LET COUNT =0

FOR 1=1 TO I

FOR 1=3 TO LEN

=COUNT+l
350 NEXT
360 CLS

390 FAST

THEN LET

PRINT AT i
""RSTUUWXY;
RINT ,,Tho
RINT P.T 20. _.
430 LET UC=0
4.40 PRINT AT 3,26;TS;"

490 LET ENDSPP,CE»0

S08 LET START3PRCE=0

510 IF J=9 THEN LET Q*=W» [3 TO
LEN UJ>

520 IF J = 9 THEN GOTO 630

530 LET P=(INT (RNDiCIIUAL W*(l
> *10j +UP.L U$iai)))+1.)

5*0 IF C» IP) ■"Y" THEN GOTO 530

550 LET CS (P) »"Y"

S60 FOR 1=7 TO LEN U*

570 IF W* (1)=" " AND START5PACE
=P THEN LET ENDSPACEiI

530 IF W*£I)=" " THEN LET COUNT
SPACE =COUNTSPACE+l

590 IF COUNTSPRC£=P THEN LET ST
rtRTSPACE=I

600 IF CDU
ENDSPACE=I

610 NEXT I

620 LET OS-W» CSTARTSPACEta TO E

658 NEXT I
660 SLOT'

)1 REH

630 IF CODE Gjails THEN GOSUB 1
'50
690 LET X=lCODE G*J -37

OC RAM

750 FOR 1=
760 LET B»
770 IF B* =
730 IF B$=G

• .:.■ , G s

LEN OS
("THEM

INT AT 22, I

G03UB 1S3

RETURN

FOR 1=2 TO

PRINT AT I,

'-3 3C NEXT I
9*0 RETURN

FOR 1=1 TO

18-1, 11 + 1; "

390 RETURN

OR 1=4 TO 1

i'ftf 10, S; "jfe 1
", AT

8,7; '

AT a,s

1220 RETURN

1&S0 PRINT AT 3,1

■ '; RT 10, 111 "B" J
1270 RETURN

1310 PRINT RT 10,
, '■■"; AT 12,7, "■";
U,6; "■■"

— =r«ZH RETURN
1360 PRINT RT 11,

■ " -. rt 13-9; ■'■"; RT

1370 LET

YOU LOSE. ,TH
";RT 22,23; Q

14.10 LET SC=SC+1

1420 LET TS=T5+SC

14.30 PRINT RT 3,2S;T=>

14-40 PAUSE 200

USB CLS

1*51 pl^NT^^OTMER GO (Y/N) "

PRINT "IF YOU UHNT R DIFFER
ENT WORD SETPRESS NEULINE"

430 IF INKEY*="Y

GOTO 360

490 IF CODE INKE

150C IF INKEY*="Y- AMD

GOTO 1S0

1510 IF INKEYS="N" THEN

1520 GOTO 1480

1521 REM flEBM~

1530 PAUSE 25

1531 PRINT RT 22,0;

154.0 PRINT RT 23,0;

DONE YOU WIN

1550 GOTO 1410

AND J< :>9 THEN
* = 118 THEN SOT
RND J =9 THEN

.571 POKE 1641

.572 PRI

"TYPE IN

.. SINGLE UOR
ITH UP T015 LETTERS AND CONTW
J.NJ.NG LETTERS ONLY"

1530 GOTO 1610

1590 PRINT "hTT«T'" iFga "

1600 IF PEEK 16442<3 THEN SCROLL.
PUT

fj2C IF

IF LEN

1640 FOR

:=1 TO LEW
,'■.56? IF CODE L<% (I.i <
63 THEN GOTO 1590
1660 NEXT I
1670 LET J=9
1680 LET US="01"+U*
1590 CL5

1760 LET RH=IINT (RND*£6

1770 IF CODE AS(RRJ-37=R!

QTO 1763

1730 LET LC=0

1730 FOR 1=1 TO LEN OS

1300 IF CODE GJ(I)=37+RA

T LC=LC+1

181© NEXT 7

1320 IF LC

1330 FOR 1=1

1S40 IF CODE

T CU=CUtl

13S0 IF CODE

INT RT 22,I*2;CHR$

1360 NEXT I

1370 LET 5C=SC-2

'■ «*O0 LET AS(RR)=CHRS CRA-f

GOTO 159C
OR CODE LJ 3

THEN GOTO 1760

Rfl+37 THEN LE

,■,110 PRINT "
N5»*»»"
2020 PRINT , ,
LECT THE
URNT TO HAUE
. IF YOU UANT
ORD THEN
,UI5 THRT YOU

*INSTRUCTI£

R UORD PICKED FROM
TO GIVE YOUR OUN U
SELECT NO. 9. THIS M

RINT "MRY TYPE ANY SINGLE
WORD CONTRINING LETTERS O

NLY !IF THE WORD IS LONGER THAN
15 LETTERS OR HAS HON RLPHHEETI
C ITEMS IN IT , IT MIL L BE REJECT
FD.THE SIGN l=K|«MM3B (JILL APPEBR

FIND YOU"
2040 PRINT "MUST RETYPE YOUR UOR
f.IF IT IS THEN CORRECT, THE SCR
EEN UILL BE THEN SET UP FOR IT"
2050 PRINT , , , , "ANY KEY TO CON"
NUE"

2O60 PAUSE 4E4
2070 CLS

2030 PRINT " IF YOU SELECT ANY „
F THE OTHERSTHE SCREEN UILL CLEA
R FOR A SHORT TIME AMD THE S
CREEN UILL THEN BE SET UP USING

R RANDOMLY SELECTED UORD FROM -
HAT CATEGORY"
2090 PRINT ,," TO INPUT A LETTER

JUST PRESS ITtNO NEED TO PRESS
NEULINE) .BAD LETTERS UILL BE IG
NORED RS UILL REPEATED LETTERS. "
2100 PRINT ,," IF YOU NEED A CLL
E THEN PRESS NEULINE AND ALL TM
E OCCURENCES OF ONE LETTER INTH
E UORD UILL BE DISPLAY ED"
2110 PRINT . . " BlgHggmB AFTER EACH

UORD IF YOU TYPE »»m"" PFTER T
HE QUESTION ""ANOTHER GO Y/N
•■" THE PROGRAM UILL BE LOST"
2126 PRINT " ANY KEY TO CONTINU
E"

2130 PAUSE 4E4
214.0 CLS
2150 RETURN

HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY 4 December ltK4 Pur* \9

SORDMS

Racing cars

speed is the essence of this game. Overtake cars, but avoid

crashing with them. You'll be surprised just what can be

done using 4K and sprite graphics. By HCW regular

Shingo Sugiura

This is a simple racing game fc
the tincKpandcd Sotd Mi
BASICM or BASIC-G.

middle o! ihc
avoid [he cai

c lefl and right

>ROCRJ

120

let viun = xnm + E(in:

if X

KIDM52 then let B t I I > -

nd

< 7 ■> -

9

130

if XKIIXG8 thsn let B<

I I >■

rnd(7)+3

1 48

iH<YHlIJ = 156J-t<VlUI) =

t 40>

>*<X1<II><X+16>*<M1<II>>X

: '-

r, let K R = 1

1 50

let KU=KU+l: if KU=65 the

n 1 e

t 5P<II> = 16=out & 2 B , & E 1

160

if KU-12S then let 5P<II

> = 20

IOUt £20>£E0

next I I

1 80

lOC 4 to XK, Kl 1 1 et K 1 =K 1

if Kl>200 then if XK = 60 t

1 et

Kl=-50:let KK=t81 else

1 et

K 1 =-100 : let XK = 60

190

i f • K R.= 8 then Soto 30

200

■Josub *CRPSH

goto 20

22BIIKIT

230

let SC=0

240

Print "B" Met X = 1 2 : 1 e t

)=90:let VI < > =-20: 1 et B(

t KU=a: let Kl =-508

250

let. Xl(n»20B: let Vl(l) =

-116

:let B< 1 > =S: 1 et SP<1)=S: 1

? '

XK = 6

i ! et KR =

260

out £28,£FFiout &20.SF0:

£20>SEF:out S20.SE3

270

for 1=1 to 11

^^m

280

O^^^H^^^^H" " : n ext : r et ur

rr

290SCRRSH

scod l,£44!3COl l.Siout

820,

SFF«out £20.SEFiout 6 2 , K

310

1 oc 1 to X , 1 50: I oc to-

40.1

50

320

lor 1=2 to 4 : 1 o c I to-40

, ! 5E

330

for 1=1 to 800: neit

340

mag 3: 1 oc 1 to K-B ,14

350

for 1 = 1 to 800!n<-xt

360

ma9 2110C 1 to-40.150

370

let SP=3: 1 et 5C-(-SC + KU)»

18:

et KU=0

3B0

Print eur*ort-11.8il"Voui

■: ■-■. a

Print cursor < 13, 10> S SC!

■1 MM

Print c u r 5 o r C 1 1 , 1 6 > 1 " R t

o P

ay " ; : out £20 . £FF

■ i i

if Peek<a702BJ<>20 then

goto 410

420

430SDEF 1NE

440

450

Print "H" = mag 2

460

stchr '•03191b070?8eldld

£40

4 ■■ ,.!

stchi- "Idlf937b7b7a?b07

841

4 88

stchr " c 9 S d 8 e e 7 B b Bb &

S42

■ ! ■■■■

stchr u b8f8c0dede5edee0

S43

Stchr " 8040012e5241064c

£44

5 1

Stchr "524a241S172S3040

£45

5 2 Q

stchr "40a040a449d4aS90

£46

5 \-

stchr "505858d40a800100

£47

5 •! ■■■-

stchr "07191blb030e0dld

£48

5 5 m

stchr "Idlf037b7b7a7f07

£49

•■■.,,0

stchr- "e098d8dSc070b0b8

£4A

5 r

stchr "b3fSc0dede5efee0

£4B

5 8 m

stchr "007f4b555555557f

£50

5 9

Stchr "?f7f7*7fl01S1810

£51

' .

.; | . ;-,

stchr "00fee2e2ee363af.=i

as2

1 i 3

stchr ■•*6cefefe000c8c08

£S3

6 2 u

for 1=1 to 3

1

-J. 3 i.-i

stchr "3030303030303030

see

1 +3

-;. .; a

stchr "808030808080S080

£81

I +3

c. ■■■

stchr " f9f0f0f0f0f0f0f0

£82

& -: e

stchr " f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f

SSI

.j. ;■■ <;■

stchr " f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f

£82

scod , £41 : sco! 0, 9

,;. -

scod 2, £48: sea 1 2. £'0 5

r n e

scod 3,S48:scol 3, E85

scod 4 . £50 : sco 1 4>S0D

HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY A Dereroh

It's your
choice

Take your pick from this high-
quality selection. Our
reviewers give you their
advice

Grand Prix

Manager

j. 48K Spectrum I

U £6 " 95

M Silicon Joy. 7A Richmond Hilll
r 4 Bourn cmomh BH: SHE

BUYER!

Specification ar
opinion of the keyboard,
creen: General details of tl
display. Resolution c
graphics refers to it
number of dots across an
down the screen, ihe n

.^pLii

colot

Sound: Audio ability.

Speed: Overall running speed.

Languages: Description of the
operating language of ihe
computer (usually BASIC)

Processor: Brain of the com-
puter. The best and most
common processor for home
use is the 6502 — in one of
its many versions, The ZSO is
also popular, but mainly in

AMSTRAD
GPC464

Price: E229, E349
Memory: 64K RAM 32K
ROM 142K usable)

Keyboard: Comprehensive type-
writer style, 12 user-definable
keys already defined as a
numeric keypad. Dedicated
cursor control keys, real space

Screen: Three modes, 640 x 200,
320 x 200. 160x200 in 2,4 or 16
colours selected from a palelte
of 27 and SO, 40, or 20
character per line Changing
modes does not increase
•nsumption.

Soph

: ll.i,<

the older type of business
machine.
I/O: This is a computer's means
of talking to the outside
forld. It can mean joystick

any other ii

Software: A brief word on what
kind of software is available
for the machine and in what

Opinion: This is what I think of
the machine after using it
and comparing it to all the
others in the test.

If you are buying a second
computer or upgrading, the list
of specifications should help
you in choosing a machine
which isn't loo far away from
what you've been used to. I
wish you luck, and rather you
than me!

included. Very good at certain
functions like graphics, sound

spaces everywhere which is very
awkward. The editor is also
rather crude. BASIC has some

Processor: Z80A.
Speed: Fast.

Software: Amsoft, the software
arm of Amstrad, is commis-
sioning as big a range of

There should be lots of games
out in the very near future. The
games currently out are very

: recorder. Reliability may
< problem as Amstrad has a
reputation for this. Tape
irders can be incompatible
i each other in fast mode.

ATARI
600XL/800XL

Price: E99/E199
Memory: 16K/64K
RAM {amount usable
varies with graphics
mode used) 26K ROM

Kevbonrd: Full typewriter stylt
keyboard. 58 kevs. foui

dedici

comprising five text modes and
1 1 graphics modes. Text is 40
columns by 24 lines in up to 256
colours. The graphics have a
maximum resolution of 320 by
192 in the biggest hi-res mode.
All characters are user definable
and come in predefined shapes
to stan with. Player /missile
graphics — like sprites — are
also available.
Sound: Four channel sound

Languages: Atari BASIC inclu-

Forth, Pilot, Logo, WSSMJ
Pascal, Microsoft BASIC. Two

also available.
Processor: 6502 A.
Speed: Medium to fast.
I/O: Serial in put /output port
along with two connectors for
two joysticks or paddles. Other
interfaces may be added via
interface bus. Slot for ROM
cartridges. Cassette port wil'
only allow connection of Atat
cassette recorder at £44.99, si
this must be taken into accoun
when considering costs.
Software: The XL series of soft
ware is compatible with older
models so lots of software :
sale from both Atari — w
has a library of 500 titles — and
from independents, including
US imports.

ATMOS

price: £99-179
Memory: 64K RAM
<47K usable In text
mode, S9Kin
ihics mode)

tiftS

Keyboard: Full typewriter. 57
keys, space bar, dedicated

definable function keys, two

functions per key.

Screen: 40 columns by 28 rows

display, two user definable
character sets, eight foreground
and eight background colours,
double height, flashing and
inverted attributes available for
each character. Graphics screen
gives 240 by 200 resolution.

tilioi

definable on a grid of 40 by 200.
In each of these areas the
foreground and background
can be defined in eight colours.
Flashing and inverted output is
also supported. In graphics
mode three lines at the bottom

HOMI COMI'l.TIM, UT-lkl V J Divtriibi.-'

of the screen also appear, and
these are the same as ihe text
mode lines.

Sound: Sound generator with
three channels and noise
generator. There is a certain
amount of envelope control.
Pre- programmed sounds to
produce pings and zaps, etc.
Sound is produced through an
internal speaker although hi-fi
output is available through a
DIN socket.

BBC-like BASIC planned.
Processor: 6502 A.
Speed: Fast.

I/O: Centronics parallel printer
port, user port, monitor port,
expansion connector.
Software: Badly supported
from day one. Range growing

Opinion: 1

originally compared
Spectrum, and this was .
as flu'v «ere outwardly
and look Ihe

Form of the de facto st
Microsoft BASIC. The 1

better, and ii
which is lacking in the Si
machine. Interfaces are buil
which would normally i
extra. The eilge that

The more reccm Spcctru

software due to internal di

BBC B

Price: £399
Memory: 32K RAM
(2SK to 9K usable
depending on

?raphics mode used)
2KROM

Keyboard: Typewriter style. 73
keys, 10 user definable function
keys, dedicated cursor control
keys. Space bar.
Screen: Very complex. The
simplest mode is Teletext
compatible and gives eight
colours, flashing characters,
double height, and block
graphics. Text is 40 columns by
25 lines. There are seven other

ranging from 540 by 256 hires
in two colours with 80 by 32 text
to 160 by 256 hi-res in eight
colours with 20 by 32 text.
All 256 characters are user
definable in all but the Teletext

Sound: Three channel music

with a noise channel through

internal speaker. Full envelope

control is available from

BASIC.

Languages: BBC BASIC is

included — a very compre-

hensive implementation. As
assembler is also built in for
machine code access. Forth.
Lisp and BCPL are also
available.
Processor: 6502 A.
Speed: Fast.

I/O: RS 432 and Centronics
printer pons. Four analogue to
digital converters for joysticks
etc, eight bit programmable
user port. The tube allows
connection of processors and so
on to disc interface. Econet
networking, speech synthesizer
can be added.

Add-ons: A great deal available
both from independents and

Software: A very large and well-
written range available, includ-
ing a lot from Acornsoft, the
maker's software arm. Many
educational programs of

Opinion: The BBC is an
excellent machine if you ignore
the high price. Support from
independent suppliers is -upcrh,
but Acorn has been slow on the
hardware side. The keyboard is
very good and there is a useful
set of function keys. The screen

computer is used by about 75
per cent of all secondary
schools, so it is good for
education as well as games. It

COMMODORE
C16

price: E139

Memory: 16K RAM
(12K or 4K usable
depending on
graphics mode used)

keys can be defined from
BASIC and ihe layout is
different. Separate dedicated
function keys and space bar.
Screen: Three modes from
BASIC, 320x200 and 160x200
graphics, 320 x 160 and 160 x
160 with five lines of text, and
40 x 25 text. There are 12!
colours and flashing all avail-
able at the same lime. The
BASIC'S graphic handling is
superb and unsurpassed.
Ouiside BASIC there are
another three modes and UDGs
vVhich need to be accessed by
POKEing.

'Sound: Two channels of sound
or one sound and one noise
channel.

Languages: Commodore
BASIC 3.5. A full implementa-
tion of BASIC with
and the most comprchensii
of graphis commands on any
micro. Assembler /monitor also
included. The screen editor is
superb and supports full screen
editing and windows.
Processor: 7801 (6502 compat-
ible).

Speed: Fast to medium.
Software: Four software
packages supplied as standard
— chess, two games, and a
drawing program. More soft-
ware should appear as lots of
these should be sold up to
Christmas.

lakes good use of all the Keyboard: Same as Con
ardware features. This dore 64 except that funi

^M un< i

Spectrum beater. The best vi
computer on the market, coi
complete with software ani

PLUS/4

Price: £299
Memory: 64K RAM 32K

ROM (60K or 50K

usable depending on

graphics)

Keyboard: Similar lo the SX64
in feel. Function keys can be
defined from BASIC. Cursor
keys set in a cross shape.

HOME COMPUTING WEI

Screen: Same as CIS.
Sound: Same as CIS.
Languages: 7801 (6502 compat-
ible).

Processor: 7801 (6502 compat-
ible).

Speed: Fast to medium.
Software: Four home/ business
packages built in — spread-
sheet, word -processor, data-
base, graphics. Games software
should appear as this machine is
compatible with the C16.
Opinion: As this computer can
run all CIS software, games
should be widely available after

64

Price: £199
Memory: 64K ram
(40K usable) 20K ROM

Keyboard: Typewriter quality,
67 keys, space bar, dedicated
function keys although full use
of these can only be had
through an expansion program.
Screen: 40 columns by 25 rows.
16 colours, all characters user
definable, lower ease, inverted
output, two character sets.
There are four different lest
modes but <he format is the

difference is in the handling of
the colour.

There are two graphics
modes, 320 by 200 and ISO by
200 resolutions in IS colours.
The difference is to do with
colour: one mode uses the
attribute system, similar to the
Spectrum, while the other uses a
palette system where each dot is

similar to the BBC or Dragon

Unfortunately the BASIC
does not support the graphics so
you must write your own
routines or buy a BASIC
extension. Modes may also be
mixed. Eight sprites are
available and although the
BASIC does not support these
directly, instructions are given
in the manual on how to achieve

Sound: Three channel music

.... waveform
selection. BASIC does not
upport sound directlv
although,- like the sprites,
instruction is given in the
manual on how to use sound.
Lincuaites: Commodore
BASIC supplied. Simon's
BASIC, Forth, Pilot, LOGO,
Pascal available from Com-
modore along with BASIC

Processor: 6510 (6502
compatible with memory
banking), Z80 available as
option.

I/O: IEEE 488 serial BUS.
RS231, user port, can ridge
port, two Atari-type joystick
ports, four analogue to digital
converters for paddles or
I'lopm'niiN.I joysticks.
Add-ons: Most of the VIC-20
add-ons produced by Commo-
dore will fit. Others are
exclusive to the 64 involve the
cartridge port, like the Z80
second processor with CP/M.
There is also a speech
synthesizer and several other
options, including 32 megabyte
hard discs and daisy- wheel
printers. Many add-ons avail-
able from independents.
Software: There is now quite a
lot of software around, both for
games and other applications.
With business software and the

peripherals, the Commodore 64
is one of the few computers

considered as an effective
business micro as well as a

Opin

ellent

romputer and the available

Loftware makes

features. The big

disadvantage is that the BASIC

simple, making it hard to

ite your own programs using

: sophisticated features.

Simon's BASIC, on cartridge,

goes some wav towards curing

this.

On the other hand, it is easy

use and memory space is not

:cd to provide fashionable

features at the expense of the

functions you really need. It is

almost totally compatible with

the PET series of computers

and the massive base of
software that provides. Com-
modore's own cassette recorder
must be bought at extra cost.
Although interfaces to domestic
recorders do exist, it is wise to
go for Commodore's reliable

DRAGON 32

Price: Less than £100
Memory: 32K RAM
(30K tO 24K RAM

usable depending
upon graphics mode

used) 16K ROM

no lower case or user definable
graphics in colour, but there is
an inverted output option. Text
mode docs have block graphics
in colour though. Graphics
mode: ranges from 256 by 1 92
- colour to 128 to 192 in

Text

supported in this mode.
Sound: One channel r

good software control.
Languages: Microsoft Extended
Colour BASIC included, ldemi-

BASIC. Other languages from
independents.
Processor: 6S09E.
Software: Quite a lot available
from Dragon and independents
and Tandy (but check).
Opinion: This micro is [In
by its very basic sound system
and its horrible text mode with
very limiting formats. The
BASIC is very good at mar "
iating screen graphics although

jf It, IIOMI- (l)MI'l IIM. Wl-I Kl V-l

get her much better

continuing availability

DRAGON 64

price: varies £200 +
Memory: 64K RAM (up

Dragon's big model offers three

emulation of the Dragon 32,
Extended BASIC with 48K of
usable RAM or what the
companv calls a "soft machine'.
In this mode the BASIC is
switched out for machine code
programs or to add languages
like Pascal. An RS:>: in terrace
is standard and the OS/9 multi-
user operating system can be

Price: £199
Memory: 32K RAM on-
to 12K usable
depending on
graphics mode used)
32K ROM

ke"°

though the numeric keys drjui
with the use of a function key.
Screen: Similar lo [he BBC
micro, except for ihe lack of
Teletext mode, sound and

Sound: One channel through
internal speaker, otherwise as

able.

I'riKi'-.wr: 6502A.

Speed: Medium.

I/O: None on basic machine

though there is an expansion

slot into which an expansion

board can be plugged giving the

same son of interfacing options

as the BBC but a! extra cost.

Software: A growing range as

software houses convert BBC

programs.

Opinion: As this computer is

very similar lo the BBC with

only some differences most of

Ml M I I I I I I I I'l'l |

M n I I M i I i ill |
/ i i i i i i i i i i r i i
i ri i i r ii i i i m
I l

Price: varies, around
£2 50- £300
Memory: usually 64K

RAM (24K usable) 32K
ROM

Keybn

I: .Ins

eonly

awful ones. Seventy- three key.
including five function keys and
dedicated cursor control keys.

Screen: Up to 40 x 24 KM with
256x1 92 graphics in IS colours.
All characters user definable.
Sound: Three channels plus

Languages: Microsoft MSX

Forth may be available.
Speed: Medium.
Software: Very little at present
although it may pick up as

ing their existing games to fir
MSX.

Opinion: MSX is not a single
computer, rather a single design
of computer made by different
Japanese and Far Eastern
electronics companies. The only
difference between models is
keyboard and external

ling,

: Yamf

light

option-, respectively.

This has the advantage that
all of the machines should be
able to run the same software
(although in practice this is not
so) and, lo a greater or lesser
extent, hardware.

The resulting compromise

. marketing, and price
rill determine whether these

Sanyo's MSX

SINCLAIR QL

Price: £399
Memory: 128K RAM
44K ROM (96K usable)

Keyboard: Plasuc caps on

machines had some problems
but latest models are OK. 65
keys including function and
cursof keys.

Screen: 512 x 256 in four
colours and 256 x 256 in eight
colours. This gives it the highest
resolution available but means
(hat games which need the
screen to scroll are difficult to

Sound: Beep.

Languages: SuperBASIC in

ROM. A very advanced BASIC

with many data structures only

languages. Limited editor.
There is a large range of
languages available, including
BCPL, Lisp, Forth and Pascal.
Processor: 68008.
Speed: Fast, but noi fast

I/O: Large edge connector and
two RS232 pons (not fully
implemented).

Opinion: This should have been
the major machine of 1984/85
but due to being launched
before it was ready and
software houses' reluctance to
duplicate Microdrive-based
software, it has failed to live up
to expectations. The 6BO08
processor is one of the favoured
chips among machine code

E COMPUTING w

BUYERS' GUIDE

programmers. Rumours of a
revamped machine abound and
with a i ape inter race this
' ! si ill be a major

SINCLAIR ZX
SPECTRUM

Price: E99£129
Memory: 16K48K RAM

Keyboard: Rubber mai type, 40
keys, no space bar, definable
function keys or dedicaled
cursor control keys, five or six
functions per key.
Screen: 32 colours by 24 rows,
bur only 22 rows arc available
10 the user. 256 by 176 high
resoluiion graphics supporled
by BASIC, iwo colour!, from a
pa let :e of eight are available in

Foreground and background
colours for each of these areas
an be selected as well as
hether the contents of the area
re flashing or not. Two levels
of intensity are also supported.

character are available.
Sound: Internal beeper.

Sinclair BASIC,
is an extended

ZXSO. The

cover structured programming

or aid functions and only deal

with the graphics and file

handling. This BASIC is very

non-standard.

Software: A lot of software is

available for almost all

applications, particularly

Opinion: When the Spectrum
first appeared it was an
innovation as the lowest priced

rived recently
with better technical specifica-
tions and more usable memory

The colour display is not
good and a colour display
cannot be produced on a few
colour TVs. With the Spectrum
there are a lot of keywords to be
fitted on a small keyboard.
Sound is through a beeper only.

SINCLAIR ZX
5PECTRUM +

Price: El 79
Memory: 48K RAM
(39. 5K usable) 16K
ROM

Keyboard: Membrane keyboard

with hard plastic uppers. Very
poor quality. Similar layout to
the ZX Spectrum but with long
space bar. dedicated cursor
control keys, and 14 other extra
keys. Key layout means that it is
difficult to play certain games

n translates i

press 5678 on the ..

Keys tend to fall off at regular

intervale and wear out within

Screen: Same as ZX Spectrum
Languages: Same as Z'

Processor: Same as Z:

Spectrum.

Speed: Same as ZX Spectrum.

I/O: Similar expansion port t

the ZX Spectrum but in

physical shape of the back o

the :

independent add-ons fitting
perfectly although nearly all can
be bent to Tit the back, although
this is not recommended.

Software: Same as
Spectrum although there are
some problems with key
scanning, layout, and labelling
as detailed above.
Opinion: When you consider

that a Spectrum ' is ]40

than a C16 with tape recorder
included: a Spectrum ' and a

than a Commodore 64, and a
Spectrum ', joystick interface
and a decent joystick cosi as

VIC-20

Price: E129

Memory: 6K ram (5.5K

usable) 20K ROM

Keyboard: Typewriter quality,
67 keys, space bar, dedicated
cursor controls, four user
definable function keys.
Screen: 22 column by 23 lines,
eight colours for text. 16 for
background, border and
graphics. All characters user
definable, lower case, inverted

possible

ith

;. Hi-

I60by 12S
SO by 1 28 in 16 colours.
Sound: Three channels and one
noise channel covering nine
octaves Lh rough TV speaker.
Languages: Commodore
BASIC supplied, compatible
with PET and Commodore 64.
Extended BASIC, at extra cost

and user definable function

keys. Forth. Coma! and Pilot
are available.
I'rm-i-ssiir: 65 02 A.
Speed: Medium.
I/O: IEEE -INK serial
RS232, user port, can _.
port, joystick port, two paddle
port (two analogue to digital
converters).

Software: Many cassette
and cartridges from independ-
ents and Commodore.
Opinion: This is a good

comes as a package containing a
computer, a cassette recorder, a
beginners" guide to BASIC and
a games tape, so the initial high
price for a 3.5K machine is
somewhat offset. The BASIC is
very easy to learn and is Micro-
soft-compatible. This type of
BASIC was first used by Com-
modore on the first w" "
available miero in 1977 so there
is a lot of compatible softwa
around.

The C16 is intended
replace the VIC-20. No mo
VIC-20s are being made.

Loony Lander

48K Spectrum

Vou get scans like a research

C2.99

worm's hideout. They all begin

Software Supers*™

to look and feel Ihe same after a

m.umi litem h^gti score of reio, a

^irm' nhii-mivcs. Once loaded.

tllCSMlgC .ippCJlCti 111 LMIiL'.M.II

rhis piece of software deserves

cmiiil ii,s!iK,iWvS>e called a ri|>-

(Ha you seem to be getting a lot

off! D.N.

2

objective and jilaymi; ■.tyti- m

instructions 30tt

i

payability 30%

iL-peHliie ver> quickly.

graphics 40Wi

1 The game isn't particularly

value for money 50%

i

EH'HxlSiS

Exa

1

I

SCi-fi

selection ^

Gauntlet
I2K Electron

£6.95

. licro Power. Shcenscai Hse,
SHeenM" Si Sough, Leeds LS5

If vou feel like going to the %;'X" "",:!: S™

moon or battling your way l™r 'Kr.HSfi!

through the depths of hostile ■;■„,.,.,. ... .

■ -;ss:„:i space, there could be ■ 1I, S"X, ,»,„, ..,._..

Ir:f iSia something here for you HffKrt «".»'." '■ "

' - ii.Toprevcnl.his>

Ziggurat

48K spectrum

Hrrr]

table

E2.99

»m

d .ii

tst-api' ;iutj idlk'il [he gold mm

dele

(5 IBS

As «a

Mystery and
drama

Here are a few adventures to
l stretch your mental abilities.
v Read what our reviewers have
to say

Escape From
The Planet
Brontltor
TI-99/aa £4.95

o the violent past.

|sh|™

i

I

The Prince
48K Spectrum

E7.95

C.C.S., 14 l.anBion.Way. Lon

suited to the votings user. This- mi out;iii> ,:l inc rmo. ;ui.l player*
program needs EitciiLied^.W taking on more than one role
BASIC I'.h.HH tii^li dcli-ad mse lit lht,''>-:ivh

■ ■ Ihc game. »hich is intrigue
inslniclions 75°/dHH Eaeh player has to approach

payability 80% ■■ the screen in turn to choose

graphics 95%HH helpers, ami 10 buy objects »hLcli

value for money 85 °"H V lhey lhink may hc,p lhsm ' Scl '"

r.ar.aT.».».i R8 s?«*Kr !°H!

,^|J| Possession III Illl' right ob.iv.CI,

Pane 30 HOME COMI'UTINli WLLK1 \ 4

SPECTRUM PROGRAM

If you think
that you can
survive the rat
race then try
this original
game by
Andrew Bird.
You'll need
fast reactions

Situation
vacant

sbsws? .

7*" ;#;;;■;■

GRADUATE REOl'Hlli

jfi™ W *E."''>':'

■

liiiMi Ci.MI'l riNG WEEKLY 4 Deter

SPECTRU

Listing

1 REM Typist required By A. G. Bird 19S4

2 PRINT AT 10,10;"Please Wait": GO SUB 9O00

3 POKE 23609,30: POKE 2365B.8: LET m*=""

4 BORDER 7: PAPER 7i CLS

5 PRINT AT 20,0; INVERSE 1; INK 2;" Typist Required "; INK 3;" By A. G. Bird.

6 INPUT "name ? "jn*: IF n*=m» THEN BO TO 10

7 LET m*=nS: GO SUB 7000

10 LET 1=0: LET ty=0: LET s=l: LET pl=BB: LET p2=B8: LET p3=S8

1? REM Draw game

20 CLS : FOR f = 19 TO 21: PRINT AT f,0; PAPER 1;"

"i NEXT f

30 FDR t = l TO 23 STEP 11: FOR n»12 TO 14: PRINT PAPER 2;AT n,*:" ": NE

XT n; NEXT *

40 FOR f = 15 TO 17: PRINT PAPER 2; AT f,l;" "[AT f,8;" " ; AT f,12;" ";AT i , 19; "

SO FOR -f=ll TO 12: PRINT PAPER 3;AT f,3;" ";AT f,14;" ";AT f,25;" ":

NEXT f

60 INK 0: FOR f=29 TO 205 STEP SB

70 PLOT f,116: DRAW 0,13: PLOT f+2,116: DRAW 0,13: FOR n=l TD 4: PLOT f,12a+n:

DRAW Il,n+2: NEXT n

SO PLOT -f+19,116: DRAW 0,13: PLOT f+21,116: DRAW 0,13: FOR n=l TO 4: PLOT f+21

,12B+n: DRAW -li,n+2: NEXT n: NEXT f

90 FOR f=4 TO 26 STEP 11: PRINT AT 6,f; INK 1;"AB";AT 7,*; INK 2;"CD": NEXT f

100 FOR f=2 TO 24 STEP 11

110 PRINT AT 8,f; INK 0; "M^B^N"; AT 9,* ; "OMV"; AT 10, -f ; "DaMMR"; AT 11, f;"

T ll,f+5;"T"

120 PRINT AT 15,f+l; PAPER 0;" ";AT 10,f+2; INK 7; N EF";AT 16,f+2; PAPER 7; I

NK 2;"IJ";AT 17,* +2; "KL"; NEXT f

130 INK 7: FOR f=B TO 1B4 STEP 00: FOR n=0 TD 10: PLOT f,69: DRAW n.lO: PLOT f*

64,69: DRAW -n,10: NEXT n: PLOT f,69i DRAW 64,0: NEXT t

140 FOR f=0 TD 12: PLOT O,0: DRAW f,23: PLOT 255,0: DRAW -f,23: NEXT f

150 INK 1: CIRCLE 20,155,15

160 PLOT 20,155: DRAW 8,0: PLOT 20,155: DRAW -11,6: BEEP .5,0

170 FOR *=0 TO 1: OVER f: PLOT 20,155: DRAW -11,6: BEEP .1,-30: NEXT f

180 FOR f=0 TO 1: OVER -f: PLOT 20,155: DRAW -9,11: BEEP .1,-25: NEXT f

190 FOR f=0 TO 1: OVER f: PLOT 20,155: DRAW -6,13: BEEP .1,-20: NEXT f

200 OVER 0: PLOT 20,155: DRAW 0,14: BEEP .05,50

250 INK 5.- CIRCLE 132,146,2

260 CIRCLE 138,155,4

270 CIRCLE 155,164,10

280 LET sandra=(INT (RND*4>+6> /10: LET hazel^CINT (RND»4>+6> /iO

290 RANDOMIZE

299 REM Main loop

300 IF 1=0 THEN GD SUB 5O00

310 IF RND>sandra THEN GO SUB 1000

320 IF RND>hazel THEN GO SUB 3000

330 IF tyX> THEN GO SUB 2000

340 IF PEEK 23560=letter THEN LET ty=ty+3: LET 1=0

350 LET s=s-.001: GO TD 30O

999 REM Typist 1 I Sandra >

1000 INK 7: PAPER 0: PRINT AT 9,4;"G " ; AT 10,4;" F"

1010 BEEP .03,-20: LET pl=pl-l

1020 PLOT 32, pi: DRAW INK 4; 15,0

1030 PRINT AT 9,4;" H"iAT 10,4;"E "

1040 BEEP .005,56

1050 IF pl>15 THEN RETURN

1100 GO SUB 6000

1110 PRINT AT 21,2; PAPER 1; INK 7; "SANDRA gets the job": FOR *=I0 TO 60 ST

EP 2: BEEP .02,*-10: PAUSE f/10: NEXT f

1120 GO TO 4000

1999 REM Typist 2 ( you )

2000 INK 7: PAPER 0: PRINT AT 9,i5;"8 ";AT 10,15;" F"

2010 BEEP .03,-20: LET p2=p2-l

•til HOMl-.COM]'! MM, ttl-l M Y-i

2020 PLOT 120,p2: DRAW INK 6; 15,0

2030 PRINT AT 9,15;" H";AT 10,15;"E "

2040 BEEP .005,60

2050 LET ty=ty-l

2060 IF p2M5 THEN RETURN

210O GO SUB 6000

21J0 PRINT AT 2i,2; PAPER 1; INK 7; "tael 1 done ! Y:IU get the jot,": FOR f-1 TO 4i

: BEEP .01, fi PAJSE 5-f/10: BEEP .01,f+2G: NEXT f

2120 GO TO 40C0

2999 REM Typist 3 ( Hazel )

3000 INK 7: PAPER 0: PRINT AT 9,26;"G ■' ; AT 10,26; ' F"
3010 BEEP .03,-2Oj LET p3=p3-l

3020 PLOT 20a,p3: DRAW INK 5; 15, u

3030 PRINT AT 9,26; " H";AT 10,26; "E "

3040 BEEP .005,58

305O IF a3>15 THEN RETURN

3100 GO SUB 6000

3110 PRINT AT 21,2; PAPER 1; INK 7% "the job goes to HAZEL"; FOR f-10 TO ,

STEP 2: BEEP .02,f-lO: PAUSE t/lOt NEXT f

3999 REM Results of test

4000 FOR f = l TO 500: NEXT f

4010 FOR f = l TO 100: OUT 254,,-f: OUT 254,100-f: NEXT *

4020 BORDER 3: PAPER 3: CLS

4030 PRINT AT 0,9; PAPER 4; INK O; " TEST RESULTS "

4040 PAPER 5: INK O: PRINT AT 6,0; PAPER f

ds per minute"

4050 PRINT AT 10,0;" ";n$:" ";£

4060 PRINT AT
4070 FOR f=0 TO 20
30; NEXT f
4080 PRINT AT 21

4999 REM Random 1=

5000 LET letter=INT
5010 PRINT AT 1.

5999 REM Test I

6000 FOR -f=0 TO
6010 PRINT AT

; INT ( (S8-p3)*s>; " words per minure"

l,f: BEEP ,02,f+10: BEEP .03, ++20: B£EF .04, f+

a any key -for another test ": PAUSE 0: GO TO 4

;CHR* letter; LET 1=1: RETI

PRINT PAPER 7; AT +,15;" ": NEXT f
PAPER 2; INK 7;" TEST OVER "
6020 FOR +=60 TO -30 STEP -5: BEEP .02,*: BEEP .Oi,*-lI BEEP .005,t-2i NEXT 1
6O30 RETURN

6999 REM Instr

7000 LET i*=" Following your appl icatior.for tr^e job of shc-rtn.
are now at the interview andthe Personnel manager requires you t<

g test at 3 o'clock to see haw good you are."

7010 LET i*=i*+" You mil sit in the middle of the other 2 girls .

finish the test before theifi if you are to get the job."

7020 INK 1: PRINT ; PRINT " Sear ";n*: BEEP .01,50: PRINT

7030 FOR f=l TO LEN i$: PRINT i*(f);

7040 IF iS(f)OCHR* 32 THEN BEEP .02,10: BEEP .01,4..): PAUSE 2

7050 IF f=32 OR f=64 OR f=9c, OR f = 12B OR f = lt>0 OR f = 192 01". f=224 Oi

SB THEN PRINT : PRINT

7060 NEXT f

7070 PAUSE 400; RETURN

8999 REM Graphics

9000 FOR g=6536B TO 61.527.- READ r: POKE g,r: NEXT g; RETURN
9010 DATA 84,56,68,94,56,0,0,0,42,28,34,42,28,0,0,0
9020 DATA 130,0,65,3,33, 16, 12,3,65 ,0, 130, 192, 132, a, 46, 192
9030 DATA 0,124,246,218,234,130,2,0,0,30,110,91,87,65,64,0
9040 DATA 0,0,0,0,124,230,242,128,0,0,0,0,62,103,79,1
9050 DATA 129,129,129,65,65,33,33,33,2,2,2,4,4,8,8,8
9060 DATA 17,17,25,38,66,90,126,60, 16,16,176,200,132,180,252,120
9070 DATA 0,0,0,0,1,3,7,7,0,0,0,0,128,192,224,224

9080 DATA 7,15,15,15,15,15,15,31,224,240,240,240,240,240,240,248
9O90 DATA 31,31,31,31,31,63,63,63,248,248,248,248,248,252,252,252
">100 DATA 63,63,127,127,127,127,28,0,252,252,254,254,254,254,24,0

HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY 4 Dccembc

tters Letters Letters Letters L<
ers Letters Letters Letters Leti

ij.ii'.iii'hh.m

I warn to ihank HCW lor

piinli-ii: programs for Ihc

d ' Anyi?y.To\'uT n i back ,0

mill 1 lii.i'nl leiel '1 to, „'.

My school has been

u:„>i,.:,, Pu. field's letter in
Ht_\VKK>ii„liit!, licpltud,

.srinric. liii, letter, l.iaham

fl'fJfid. I ju.l hope

i, ahs.diiu'K 11 1? li 1 when he

licyoiid do Lords of

learnt an cnormou, auiouni

Mi.lnichi and lloom Dmk',

primed" ■.,.„„-: Inn,: annul

aiiuhinc available. We

'Vr'i^i. "!:.,_-' i'i'r"[' "eel in
December WS4 Chihiir is
lailllcllill.c - brand tlCU

the Mmo. in i.. lie 45.

have been searehinc. tor

pii.-iblc. (lil.ol't is also

Mlhoueh liCW doc> inn

had ,:■„■ M,,,,,, l,ken duo
thcMpcetiumaud'll-W 4\

Clui.tma, and we are
almoM a, a lo„ a, 10 what

lh>, -liouid lealli help -lf,J

tlici .hould -tart a:, voune

thy pioci.tms thai are

10 Bel.

carcfulls ]i r l- [: n i- l- l 1 iluuei
l')K4. Unci' them ;n lea. I

iikkii enjoyable.
Ian V ill mm. Stniod

timid cue u. .nmc adsicc
mi ihc subject as we arc

bcilcr software for
Chrisunas. Already one
.ces .ol'Twarc hoa.c. I.ikmc

begin 10 worry that all these

■ mi iik^k^k^k^m

e'oen,,,"e"^Kt',c''",V,"o,,ld

'"yam'deiishted with ihe

if vou°tric7 l,ld b<: "" S0Od

464 and the prompi help

i' was icry wary of

game, which mieNl lit
couipati'd niih Monopoli.

CH-IEEMM

one, (01' the Chnslnia:,

computet name, and mule

£S.9S intludmg pccp' '"'

pn.tlti'cci my icani \.i

' Kecc'i'i'rll ?" I,a'd''' ;in

Helir Manning Rolhrrhnm

R W II Dastnt. (iullillord

programming behind me 1

!T"i inner, mill 1 would

unloinin.ilc tnishnn Willi .1

XL^^^^^^^^M

E^H^B

thai' need" r£o S p°e ™maTf3

keep .t

MlalK in, laull. 1 .cut ihc

lit W 1 11 ■■' 1 uiekaa 1

lamatiiinsitireplyloMrs

lib^mi-biii'ilteTcare'raany

ali.a,, :ca,l 'ill'", iOik'i

lapc (Ito.k Sli.iai 111 hack

on the day of release.

who.e Idler .111. puhli.lie.l

adulls (including in, mini,!
i,ho find them difficult to

gives a piud spread nl"

s.i'iii.l.n in Sosciuhci 1
cpcclcd .1 In (v.- relumed

It's an advent iir, 1 have
,,i.hci itn«\llcclin|'.,al„ml

ill HCW SB.
1 am very pleased to sec

ui, dei -.land and are very
1, ed I" them. My mum

(In Ihc one hand are food

Ihai mine and more older

mil iiciti Mile lion imylhinc

people and women arc

;w"™e y o n f

-uipii.cd uhen il rtlin IK'J
tin Iiil-.iI.ii li Noiempci.

icmch.es oThiiniour" on'lhc

computer,. 1 think thai 11 i.

other is the irrilatnic. lack ,.!'

c\p,,i ihcrc arc man, other

arc now well 'ctn'.in.lc,'! ii
ihc t i !!>■■. ftllJ.-aiiLllBl

nl,'' .'hitmt' .triic.' io
produce inr-.T.-Linjj ulililic
as well as arcade and

round .i ante in.ide ,11,11,1;

a save focililv.

There is .willing mo.c

EsnssrSfi;

1 think it'i reallv good

an idvemore and

c.pc.icil io hkc lllilll', ilk.

when 1 read letter' iron.

chance 10 die ii.uiil moan.

ha oV ,he S wh a o1e in i enjov

needleaoil. Ulkl eookerv.
The be.l iob- for -choc!

older people ,111 the HCW
leller, pate. 1 wa.s especially

nay Mil priiLiram 1, l,.| [lie

play less than' 1 would il' 1

leavers are in Ihc iiidu,;r,e-

\l'r.' \l,Ciinhy of South-

ampton.

Alio may t heartily

llovs aluays Ihink thai

Uieesler I.E2 IBP

Mark Lee, Malthv Tl-W/
•1 A Users Club

best ever.

SSV<{j»dSJ!

liii, cMicmcl, irrilatiiu.

f^T^^T-^ : 1.1

CH^HI

Ui Tomlinson. Hivinl

Many of the girls in my

To all chess playing HC'Vi

K^T^TT^^m

EZT^T^^H

So eome on girls, make

boy, ill eery many subjects.

sWcSwiS

I' !■!.! ? ,"■'-' M

SS£nS

and keep up the good work.

move problems?

Ilanv reader sends mean

complain, ahnul lilt lack nl'

Not given to w,i,in B Ictlm

wonE'^f'e^ vePsI^

Mary Steele. Hull

hilt pill, .1 Mr coin 1 "ill

software for families 10

1 s.-l ■ o;"'l;i'c epivloCni

iii.iio in, ,.1 die people who

■?',n-,'u,,. l,, '[| i ,c' r e n are"nine

bout/hi r * m S^mpw"! l 'a

At^t^ao/Amsofi ^"^ °"

e.p-.viall, plea.ed when 1

E"Iir::3E

sHBH;: ; i™

IhavenowhadmyCT'CibJ
I'm ■01,11 liv,, mi. nth, and
am dehcli-cd will, il. 1 haie

ill \V ,,ho ll.nc di-.cnelc.l

Send your letter!

to letters. Home

John (I. m. Ik-. 26 Western

1 am ISve.lr- nlduriihin

comnuilng weekli

Rd, Mdcrshnt. Hunts

,chnnl doe, 111,1 lei liait

pijiiuiii ilicir hia.u, 10 yood

London win SAB.

dad decided 10 bay llie
Commodore.
1 was beginning to feel

paeknme order, a. ",.[, luc
ill Ibeit last iiiaiM'iiic

Judith Wilson, Cutdiff

namcyourcomput
•r - trie best letter

1 am the proud owner of an

of software, cot a

Oric Aitnos. 1 bouitht the

™Mi" l ¥erY much"' When"!

older r rote, si lie problem.
(iiiiiiii-lK.iiiceompuierlhad

^^^^^^^|

micro? we li loan
Be storting

1 find ihai ihe ll.V-IIC i.

local .i.vtii, have had

send your tecnnlt-

al'i'i'l II"' "cii ' t <■- 'Hey

Code 11a me Matt in for

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HOME COMPETING WEEKLY 4

BBC/ELECTROI

■Jjal h-Ih

programs.

Before plunging in at [he

deep end I feci we should re-cap

Ihe basics of user defined

uactcr (UDC) definition on

BBC. The BBC's VDU

command is Ihe command used

n the programmer wants lo

I instructions to the "VDU

ers'l [he pan of the machine

operating system responsible

for [he priming and

manipulation of graphics on ihe

When wishing lo produce
UDC's we use ihe VDU23,n,n,
version of ihe
command, n represents the
identification number you have

followed by eight values which
inform the computer of the
shape to be drawn. Although
this may appear to be quite a
danniing task, the values
required lo produce a character
in [he shape of a man can be
calculated quite simply.

Firstly draw an 8 x 8 grid on a
piece of paper. Next, number
the columns from right lo left as
n in Fig.l. Using a pencil,
: the appropriate squares
' ve produced the

Figure 1

The VDU23 siatement is (hen
constructed by typing VDU23
followed by the idenlificaiio*'

mber (any number between
uA and 255) and ihe eight
values calculated using [he grid.
The VDU command calculated
from our diagram of the man is
shown in Fig.l.

To print ihe character, type
the following lines;

I REM Program I

HOW tO

create
multi-
coloured

UDCS

in this article John Revis

demonstrates how you can

take full advantage of the

outstanding graphic

capabilities of the

BBC /Electron

20 VDU23.224.60.60,24,I26,90.

90,24,60
30 PRINT CHRS(224)
40 END

Having RUN ihe program a
man should have appeared in
[he top left-hand corner of ihe
screen. To colour ihe character
amend Ihe program by adding
Ihe following:

25 COLOUR I

Running this program will
colour the man red. The man
can be primed in various sizes
by altering Ihe value following
the MODE command, but
please ensure that ihe mode
selected is a graphic mode, e.g.
■- the

character will i

ihe COLOUR
25 we could prim a coloured
character Vou have probably
also noticed thai the character
was only one colour. To gel
around the limitations of Ihe
commands as used so far. we
must look again ai the 8 * 8 grid
and oui little man.

In Fig. 2 we have decided
which colours are lo be used in
our character and divided him
into sections of similar colour.

As an example we shall lake
Ihe colour black as used for his
hair and shoes (Fig.3). These
give us the character definition
VDU23, 225,60.36,0,0,0,0,0,60.

We now repeal this procedure
for each of the other three
colours giving us a total of four
UDC's which should hopefully,
when superimposed, produce

graphics cursor. So far we hav
been using the text cursoi
which allows you lo prim
ASCII or use

position on ihe screen. In the
case of mode 1 ihis is a 20 x 32
grid. If we allempl w superim-
pose our four characters using
the lexl cursor, as shown in
Program 2. you will see ihai the
only visible character after
running the program is the last
character primed. In this case
it's the man's trousers.

1 REM Program 2

10 MODE 2

20 VDU23,225.60,36,0,O,0,O,

0.60 : REM Hair + Shoes
30 VDU23. 0.24.24,0,0,66,0,0, ;

41) VIX ::3.227,0.0,0, 126.90.0,

0,0, : REM Shirt
Sll VDU 23, 228, 0,0,0,0,0.24.24,

0. : REM Trousers
60 PRINT : PRINT
70 FOR N% = 225 TO 228
80 PRINT CHRS|N°.o):CHR

$(N<Fo<8)
90 NEXT Nfo
100 PRINT : PRINT
110 END

Immediately following the

characier on line SO there is the
statement CHRS(8); this is
required because having printed
the firs) characier ihe computer
automatically steps one charac-
ter space to the right wailing [o
the next character. CHRS

(8) fc

le left at

ihe next characier is therefore
primed directly on top of Ihe
first one.

The graphics cursor is much
more flexible lhan the text
cursor. It allows graphics to be
primed anvwhere on Ihe screen
using a 1280 x 1024 grid for its
eo-ordinaies. Il also allows
characters to be superimposed.
By using the command VDU 5.
the text and graphics cursors
become one. everything being
printed at ihe grarhics cursor.

Having combined the two
cursors you will find thai you
can no longer print at a
specified point on Ihe screen
using the statement PRINT
TABIX.Y); manS; Ihe
computer must now be given
specified co-ordinales before
using Ihe PRINT statement,
e.g. MOVE 640512 : PRINT
manS. This prints a man in the
centre of the screen. By adding
program 2
e [he effect of using

Upon running the program
the separate parts of our man
are rccombined to produce a
complete character and nol just

HOMl' COMJ'UTiNt; wll Kl V J Dcjunir

IZOGRAMMING

). It is

■ each pan a separate

GCOL to give colour to a

To avoid any confusion I

GCOI 0.1 (prim urn; ■
red) c

used i

computer expects the nci; iwo
values entered to be the mode
of plot ling to be used (User
■ ' p.262) followed by the
r of the colour in which
the graphics are to be printed.
By issuing this statement before
priming each character, as in
Program 3, we can create a
■n u It i -coloured man.

I REM Program 3

10 MODE 2

20 VDU 5

30 VDU23, 225. 60,36,0.0,0.0.

0,60 : REM Hair + Shoes
40 VDU23,226,0,24,24,0,0,66,

0,0, : REM Face + Hands
SO VDU23.227,0,0,0,I26.90,0,

0,0, : REM Shirt
ii VDU23. 228. 0.0,0,0,0,24,24,

: REM Trousers
70 GCOL0.I3J : CLS : REM

Colour background white
80 MOVE 640.512

REM Print multi-coloured

100 PRINT CHRSU8); CHRS
(OI;CHR$[0);CHRS(225);
0!RS(K);CHKS,nS); CHKS
(0); CHR$(5);CHI<!m:26>:
CHRSI8);CHR$<ISl.l MRS
(f)):CHRS(2);CHKi(2"i.
CHRi(Xl:CHR$(lXI.( HRS
(0):( l[RS(4i;C'HRSi:2"l

110 PRINT : PRINT

120 END

Program 3 certainly worts hut
is not exactly elegant It also
uses a great deal of memory
when line 100 has to be repeated
eachtime you want to print a
man during the game.

Once again the ever flexible
VDU command comes lo our
;: VDU 225 is identical to
PRINT CHRSI225). Line 100

n therefore be replaced with;

VDU 18.0,0,225,8,18,0,5,

but the wholi

coloured character or the man
can be printed at any lime in
the program by merely typing
PRINT manl

In Program 4 it is the Proce-
dure. PROCdefine character,
called at line 90, which is
responsible Tor assigning the
daia, necessary to produce the
mult i -coloured character of a
man. to the variable manS. The

lion (User Guide p.64) is used to
combine all the CHRS state-

100 in produce one lone -trine.
manS. This string, when

information required to carry
out [he colour changes and
cursor movements necessary to
produce our multi-coloured

which animated characters slow
down once the number of
animated characters being used
is increased. By clever use of the
techniques you now have at
your disposal it is quite possible
to print characters and give
them the illusion of movement
without constantly instructing
the computer to re-draw the
character in two different

makes use of the BBC's flashing
colours. If you, like me, have
ever ^ordered why the BBC
computer wasted one of its
colours by having bolh flashing
green-magenta and magenta-
green. then ponder no more.
The> are the very secrcl of the
technique.

he now has four arms, one pai
pointing upwards, the of. he
pointing down. This time w

will colour his stlirl and arms t
the elbow in magenta. For th
forearms poinliiiu upwards u
will use colour 10, flashin

for

1 REM Program 5
10 MODE 2
20 VDU 5

30 VDU23,22S,SO,36.(UUU>,
0,50 ; REM Hair and shoes

40 VDU23.226,0.24.24,0,0,0,
0,0: REM Face (no hands)

511 VUU23.2:7.(.},O.IJ,2?5,24,0,
0,0 : REM New shirt defini-
tion i.e. no forearms

60 VDU23,22S,O,0,0,O,0,24,24.
0, : REM Trousers

7(1 VDL'23,229,l2y.l2').(),O,0,
0,0 : REM Arms up

XII VDli:3.23(),O,O,0,O,l2y,l2V.
: REM Arms down

90 PROCdefine character

100 manS = a$ : REM assign
the contents of aS to manS

110 GCOL 0,131: REM Colour
ruckuround white

12(1 MOVE 640,512

130 REM Print multi-coloured

14(1 I'RINTmani

ISO PRINT : PRINT

1*0 END

170 DEP PROCdefine eharac-

180 RESTORE 260

190 aS = "" : REM ensure Ihe

100 FOR N»,'o = TO 34 :
REM number of items or

210 READcharfo
220 a$ = aS + CHR$(char%)
REM concatonate

260 DATA IS.0,0,225,8.18.0
1.226,8,18,0,5,227,8,18,0,
10, 229,8, 18,0, 13, 230, S.IK. I),

4,228

Upon running program 5 you
will see the weird effect of a
man with four arms, all flashing
different colours. You may
think at this point that the
whole experiment has been a
failure. If you have faith for
just a little longer, and replace
line 80 with the following, f"
will be revealed.

Now when you RUN t
program you will see that o
little character waves away
quite happily even though tl
program has slopped runnin_
With a little imagination this
technique can be used for
innumerable applications, e.g
rotating the blades of
helicopter or turning [lie wheel
of a car, and all without wasting
the computer's valuable

produce Ihe

HOME COMPUTING WiCKl.Y 4 ikvember 1984 Page 37

Mix and
match

I castle Assault!
I Electron £5.70 1

"mrm. it (

'iGrimsby DN.14 4QH

U Here's an entertaining same 'orB

Take your pick of this
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I;; *« c™ -*»*| been assessed by our panai of

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Combat Lynx
48K Spectrum

£8.95 B * S rtSSi &< S6

Combat Lyme is a real-time location of [he c
. ;. :- : . ■

rt.r.w. y.iii] l.ym helicopter and ll> All rhe keys

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mines. You also support [hose redefined.

ilecr the number strategy game thet

Pane Jt HOME COMPUTING WEEKLY 4 December 1

PERIPHERALS REVIEW

ram Turbo

Joystick

interface

Sinclair

Spectrum/

Spectrum +

£22.95

Fleet, [&mpshiie*GUI3 9PA

cj'i'i h;r.L I'jilcd [0 notie

inri^rd-.. Quid: i

<p the unil is A ROM
in with a hatch, for
iririuge games from

kit

erfacc 2's
joystick 1 . that is Keys 6, 7. 8.
9, and to lire, whilst the
right hand port is joystick 2,
keys i, 1. 1, 4- and 5. If.
however, the Turbo detects
that a game is compatible
with the Kempsion protocol
(IN 31). then the right hand
port automatically switches
o this, without your having
o do anything! Quite
magical!!

And that's not all! If your
same uses the cursor keys
instead, then switch off youi

Turbo

joystick

interface

David Martin takes a close look at RAM's new
Turbo joystick interface. Read what he thinks

your

designed for. the Turbo can
cope. This is really very

The whole thing came very
soundly packed, and is
accompanied by a thorough
manual which features some
useful do's and don'ts, and
tips for writing joystick

In use, the Tutbo is very
straightforward. You should
never need to disconnect it, I
say should, because although
RAM says the Turbo is
completely Microdrivc-com-
paiiblc and also

peculiar Microdrive failures

with the Tasman Printer
Interface. I hoped to avoid all

necting problem 1 , associated
with joystick interfaces with

I've paid a loi of m

the

problem. In addition.
games didn'i seem to like the
automatic switching to
keiiipsum facility, notably
Brant Bluff from Micro-
had (o use the

Sinclair protocol, or the game
crashed.

Overall then, a m
attempt to provide n
facilities than anyone else
within the confines of c
box, and that's what you pay
the extra for. 1 would like to
recommend it wholehearted-
ly, but, in view of the
upredictable quirks noted
above, I can't. You will 1
to decide for yourself
whether it will meel all your
requirements, and whether

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